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darkdevasofdestruction · 3 years

Text

An Angel and A Demon ~ Pyramid Head x Reader

Update 2: My laptop restarted when I was in the middle of writing this, and trust me when I say it, I am positively pissed off, and I want to end my days, that's how bad of a day this was.

And I didn't leave the house.

That says a lot about today...

Update 1: But, without further ado, I was half-way writing this story, and I received this ask, and let me tell you...

helloooo, i absolutely adored the fanfics you wrote about kazan and danny🥺 could i request one where pyramid head is just really whipped for and in love with the survivor! reader but he doesnt know how to announce it to them so he brings her random ,,gifts" in and outside the trials and protecting her bc well, im pretty sure he cant speak so he doesnt really have any other options on how to express his feelings??

I live for it.

Bless you for sending me this, it's the reason I'm still sane right now.

I love you, baby-cakes.

Update 3: I want to kill myself so bad. Just smash my head on a wall until it explodes or sth. I was so happy with how this imagine turned out, only fuck fucking tumblr to just fucking delete EVERYTHING just as I was about to put the last gif and hit POST NOW.

--------

For the 5th time writing this :

FUCKMEDADDY - but this time - FUCKMYBRAINSOUTPLEASEIWANNADIE

Thanks.

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Hell - What was that place, anyway?

Some would describe it as an infinite ocean of flames and lava, where it's eternally melting-hot, and a bunch of hooved, horned, tailed red demons torture you with acid, with their red pitch forks, or boil you alive in their cauldron for soup. Or maybe you just get tortured by Stalin, who knows?

But never would have anyone thought that 'Hell' could look so...Normal. Well, normal in a very demolished, desolate, ravished way, but still...Normal, by human standards. Albeit, the never-ending loop of madness, anguish, agony and desperation of getting killed in different gruesome ways or fleeing for their lives and feeling a myriad of emotions pumping adrenaline through their veins so badly that their anxiety-meter skyrocketed to abnormal levels.

All this darkness, this hatred, this...Everything...It changed all the survivors. They became selfish, stubborn, rude, some even went as far as to sacrifice their fellow survivors in trials, just so they could survive. It was a complete mayhem that defied all kinds of reason, normality, morality or even ethics. Everyone became devoid of any laws that used to bind them to their humane sides, and now, you weren't sure if the killers were saner than the survivors or not.

But even in this abyss where you couldn't even see your hand in front of your very eyes, there was a little star - A beautiful angel radiating brightness and warmth, someone who was somehow able to guide everyone's straying souls with her benevolence.

In reality, she was merely a survivor, not the little lantern from an angler fish's head, but she treated everyone with such an untainted kindness...It was beautiful, and yet, unrequited for most parts. Everyone was still putting their own lives above all - And who could condemn them? - Perhaps their cowardice, for the girl preferred to save her fellow survivors as much as possible, even if that oftentimes assured her place on the hook, to be a sacrificial lamb for the Entity.

On the other hand, she rarely ended up on the hook - Most killers prefer to kill her themselves, instead of letting her become pray for the horrible Entity who tortured so many of them for refusing to cooperate - The Trapper, Evan MacMillan - He knew the best, with those hooks digging into his flesh, impossible to extract. He was the first to protect this girl. It wasn't much, but if he had to, he'd rather give her a swift, painless death, than seeing her without that serene, angelic smile on her face, as the Entity feeds on the last bits of her soul's beauty, the last parts of her humanity.

The other Killers were confused at the Trapper's actions, but little by little, they began to understand why this girl was so precious and special - And this domino effect hit Rin Yamaoka next, with Y/N stopping in the middle of a chase and taking off her jacket, just as Rin was about to butcher her with her katana, and she smiled, extending it to her. 'You must be cold' she said, realising that the Spirit was merely wearing a few bandages, not even her school uniform, or her kimono.

The ghost girl was shaken up by this, and told the others at the killer camp, but they just shrugged it off - Rin was a little girl who faced close to no kindness, they weren't surprised she was so taken aback by such a feat. That is, until Adiris, in a particularly terrible day, when everyone at the camp was staying away from her, as her profane censer wasn't able to cover the stench of rotting flesh - Y/N came over, taking out a small yet elegant glass bottle with pink liquid on it, spraying some on her - And now, The Plague smelled of roses and vanilla - 'You can come to me for perfume whenever you want, I always carry some with me!' she grinned at the Babylonian High Priestess, before leaving back to the survivor's camp site, leaving the ancient God symbol to stare with her mouth agape at the girl.

These words began to spread, and it was no surprise when the killers saw Susie clinging and begging her Legion friends to spare Y/N, for she was there to hug away her worries more than once, to tell her sweet words, to play with her hair and play the guitar whatever songs she wanted to hear, to get reminded of her home - She was so home sick that she freaked out, but now she was better, thanks to Y/N - 'I know you miss home, but sometimes, home is where your best friends are, and all three of them are here!' she tried to encourage the cute pink-haired girl who could only squeal and hug her new friend.

Even Ghostface wasn't exempt from falling to her charms, and they would often take silly selfies and mess around, making fun of the old horror movie tropes and doing lots of puns and pranks - So much that she even got his trust to be told about the Danny/Jed thing, and how he began his killer profession - 'You're a very talented photographer, Danny! You deserved all that recognition you got, both as a journalist, and as a killer!'

And very soon, Y/N found herself in the crushing arms of an overprotective Anna, humming her mother's lullaby together with walking through the forest, Y/N making flower crows for all the female killers at the camp site, and little by little, she somehow managed to worm her way under everyone's skins.

Y/N was the survivor with the highest survivability percentage, and maybe the Entity sometimes got pissed off, but at least she still got killed sometimes, so who cares? Well, that was soon to change as soon as a new Killer was added to this sick game - Pyramid Head, the terror of Silent Hill, as Cheryl, the new Survivor, called him - or The Executioner, as he was known now. He was ruthless, merciless, grotesque - He had his own criteria of killing, his own moral compass, ethics, conscience and understanding of the concept of life and death. Nothing that could compare to the visions of humans, clearly - Everything was gravitating around Divine Retribution and Justice, but the from the outside, he was nothing but a killing machine.

He would kill everyone and anyone that crosses his path, without fail.

Y/N felt like her fortune ended completely the second she found herself in the new, overly cramped map, with Pyramid Head as the killer - She couldn't help but run around like a spazzic meerkat, trying to find and fix as many generators as possible, without having to get face to face with the walking hazard...

Only to run past a stuck Pyramid Head.

Slowly backtracing her steps, she saw the mountain of a man with his metal pyramid stuck in the frames a low window which he tried to walk over. He was trashing like a raged bull trying to attack a matador, but it was clear he was getting nowhere with this.

"H-Hey, u-uhm...Need some help?" she asked in a soft, careful voice, almost like a meek cat trying to test the waters, but in return, he started groaning even louder from the wrath he wanted to unleash upon the whole world. "Okay, uhm...I think I saw a can of vaseline in one of the chests around. I'll go fetch it and I'll come back for you. Don't move." she said, only to then realise how horrible that sounded, considering the situation, and it only seemed to anger the killer. "...I'm sorry, ignore me, I'm an idiot." she slapped herself pretty harshly before bolting out of there trying to find the chest.

However, Y/N cursed herself for not having perfectly memorised the whole map by heart already, since she found the vaseline can after the 3rd chest, and then, it took quite a while to find the bloody window that got the killer stuck - And by the time she got there, she was dead tired. "Okay, I'm here, I found the vaseline! Let's try to get you out of here." Y/N muttered as she put her feet on the low window pane to get to his level. "If it's not too much trouble, could you please hold onto me? I can't balance myself with both hands occupied, and I'd rather not fall." she explained as she opened the vaseline can, only to shiver as she felt two big, strong hands getting a firm grip on her hips. It was almost...Endearing, were she not too busy trying to get the killer unstuck. She kept massaging the metal edge, trying to push and pull, also praying to whatever deity that existed in her human world that she had her tetanus shot done on time - Until finally, she was able to get hear a loud screech, like a pop, and the killer got unstuck, and in the process, he stumbled backwards, while Y/N fell down on her butt.

"Ouchie..." she muttered, rubbing her back and sides to take away the pain surging through her body. "Are you okay?" she asked, almost intuitively, without realising it at first, until she heart a low grunt that brought her back to reality. "O-Oh...! You have glass shards stuck in your side! And you're bleeding too! Hold up, let me help." she hurried to his side, while the killer merely stiffened, feeling her delicate, slender fingers tracing his body, while he heaved and slouched his shoulders from the repressed wrath. "It may sting a bit, and I'm really sorry, but I promise it will be better soon." her voice was so motherly and warm, which also resonated in her actions, as she gingerly took a water bottle and imbued some tissues with it, to wipe away the blood smearing down his skin as she extracted the glass shards, and then..."This is grandma's marigold ointment. It's really good, and it smells nice." she explained as she carefully smeared a thick layer of the yellow ointment on the biggest wounds, while the little ones were covered by smiley-flower patterned plasters. They were cute, and colourful, and they never failed to make her smile. "Okay, there we go, all better! I hope you'll feel better very soon!" her voice got a tiny bit more cheerful and upbeat.

It made the Killer think about a trillion things, as he stepped in front of her, towering over her like the Empire states building next to a smiling pomeranian. What was with this girl? Why did she help a killer? And why did he feel so...Warm inside? He could sense a foreign kind of luminosity, a naivite and innocence that he only witnessed in children and animals. This woman in front of him was untainted by the darkness and evil of the world.

It didn't matter how many hardships she's been through, or how much sadness she had to endure - Her soul remained as pure as any snowdrop, as the first snow of winter, as the fleece of a baby lamb who let out its first 'meeeeh' to its mamma sheep.

He couldn't allow this human to be maimed in any way - Not by the world, not by the Entity, and certainly not by him. - Screw the Entity, Pyramind Head kills by his own rules, and now, he was blessed to be faced with a human who bore no real hatred for her peers, or for the world, despite the horrible situation she was thrown into.

He didn't understand, obviously, especially as he remembered the myriad of abominations that lurked through Silent Hill, all of them created by the torment of humans - The very torment that distorted their own reality, which resulted in him needing to solve the purpose as The Executioner - Eradicating the world of all evil.

"Th-This sword is so heavy...H-How can you carry this around like that...?! Your muscles must be so strained and sore...Y-You really need a massage, I'm sure." she stuttered as she tried to lift the much taller and heavier sword from the ground, only for the brute to simply bend and pick it up with extreme ease, putting the girl to shame with her complete lack of strength. "Hehe...You're really strong. I'm embarrassed now." she chuckled softly, scratching the back of her neck.

Before she could leave or do anything else, Pyramid Head picked her up by the throat, careful not to hurt her or restrict her air intake - I mean, how else was he supposed to carry her so he wouldn't hurt her with his metal head or sword? - and it was pretty clear she didn't feel any malevolence from him, as she clinged on his forearm, trying to keep herself up, only to be dumped on top of the hatch, as the killer pointed towards it, so she would leave.

"O-Oh...! Thank you so much! You're really kind! I really appreciate this...I-I know it probably doesn't matter much to you, since you'll be doing this over and over again with all the survivors...But I really appreciate you for your kind gesture, and I appreciate you for being so nice with me. Thank you. Take care!" her dazzling smile lit the whole place up, but he couldn't talk, nor could he tell her how he should be the one thanking her for showing him that, despite the hundreds and thousands of years he had to roam the 'Earth' and execute the injust, miracles still existed.

As soon as she reached the survivor's camp, everyone cheered for her, asking how in the world could she have escaped the wrath of the butcher. "Oh, but he wasn't that bad. In fact, he's much more humane than I anticipated! I think he has a beautiful, blooming heart!" okay, she's lost it - the other survivors thought - but even so, she's always been a bit...Out of it, so who cares?

It took quite a while for the other three survivors to reach the camp, all bloody, in fact, like the new killer, who dragged himself with the same menace to the Killers' camp. "How the hell did you manage to survive?!" they yelled at her in utter shock, seeing that she got out of there unscratched. "Oh, you see...I found the hatch." she shrugged simply, not wanting to give away that the person who massacred those three was a soft one and he basically threw her down the hatch to her safety.

As she took a twig to roast a marshmallows, she noticed how Pyramid Head was standing much farther away from the rest of the killers - She knew that silent killers were bound to stay away from the more obnoxious one, remembering how Michael Myers almost killed Ghostface and The Legion at least a dozen times - But this time...He seemed kinda...Lonely? So Y/N took the matters into her own hands, roasted another marshmallow in another twig, and when it was done, she went to the killer's camp, calling out the lonely one's name - She has no idea why, but he actually followed her, pushing her further deep into the forest, until he was sure nobody was going to hear, see or interrupt them...

"Hey. You seemed pretty lonely out there...I thought you could use a friend. Thank you again for what you did at the trial...Here, this is a marshmallow. I don't think you've had many before...Cheryl told me of that horrible place you had to live in...So I hope this will make your day a bit better!" Y/N extended one of her hands towards him, so he could take the marshmallow - And a long, black tongue erupted from underneath the pyramid, snatching away the fluffy marshmallow and gulping it in one go.

What the hell was he turning into?

A towering man built of pure muscle, wrath and divine justice, with a pyramid representing the evil of humanity burdening his body, and a sword taller and heavier than the average human being constantly dragged in one of his hand...He now was a slave to a cute, innocent girl who was putting flower plasters on his minuscule wounds that would heal in a heartbeat regardless - He saved this girl who was now offering his these soft, squishy things that tasted overly sugarly, just like her upbeat and cheerful personality - If he could eat her, he was sure she would taste even sweeter than this - A sickish kind of sweet, that is.

She was indeed a beautiful angel in this tragic hell. But he didn't wait to snatch the second marshmallow either.

"Ah...! You liked it, didn't you? Well...Next time, I promise I'll give you more!" she grinned at him the same way a princess would to her chivalrous knight who saved her. The since he couldn't talk, silence took over them - It wasn't an uncomfortable one, per se, but it made it feel as if the conversation was over. "W-Well...I'll guess I'll see you around! Take care and I hope to see you again soon!" she waved cutely, trying to turn around back to her camp, only to feel a rough hand on her shoulder, turning her around and urging her to stop and wait for him and he went deep into the forest, leaving her alone and undefended by the potential malevolent forces of the forest.

When he returned, however, he stepped right in front of her, creating the perfect shade as he towered over her - Then he kneeled in front of her, so he would reach her eye sight, then he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and put a beautiful pink flower - As pink as the blush that started creeping on her face - He wanted to see her luminous face better, to highlight her dazzling smile and her glimmering eyes as the warm, silver light of the mother moon caressed her face.

Y/N felt her heart picking up the pace - It was beating so much faster than ever before - But this time, it wasn't out of fear or anything negative...It was something good. Something she never felt in her life, especially with her human acquaintances from back home. None was as chivalrous and gentle with her as this butcher of tormented souls - The bringer of justice, the merciless Executioner who was supposed to end the life of every living being that would cross his path.

It was insane how every Yin finds its Yang, even if that comes in the form of a little lamb of a small, frail girl, and a huge abomination of a brute man who knows nothing but death, bloodshed and carnage. It was truly crazy how opposites attract, and here she was, holding the killers large hands and gingerly putting them on her face, leaning into his touch - She felt safer now than ever in her life - Now, in the arms of an ancient killer.

An Angel and A Demon brought together in a perfect union.

As she leaned down, she touched the metal of the pyramid where she anticipated his forehead would be with her own forehead, and closing her eyes, she finally felt herself calming down. There was no need for words, actions spoke louder than anything, and she appreciated it...She appreciated him.

"Thank you." she whispered to him, knowing that yes, even though nobody else would hear it anyway, it was much more intimate than anything she ever experienced.

She was hooked.

Hope you liked my completely shameless pun, I couldn't stop it, especially after the pain I went through trying to write this...3 freaking times.

Yay.

#dead by daylight #dead by daylight x reader #dead by daylight imagine #dbd #dbd x reader #dbd imagine #silent hill #silent hill x reader #silent hill imagine #pyramid head #pyramid head x reader #pyramid head imagine #red pyramid #red pyramid x reader #red pyramid imagine

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mermaidsneedwater · 4 years

Text

you see his baby photos

photographs for this post are here

⇒ jaebeom

“Jaebeom will kill me if he knows we’re doing this.”

“Doing what?”

You and Jaebeom’s mom whipped around from the couch to see him standing in the doorway.

“Uh, nothing!” You panicked. “Just trying to decide what we should eat for dinner.”

Not believing you, Jaebeom walked to the couch to see his childhood photographs sprawled out over the coffee table and couch.

“Eomma!” He groaned.

“Don’t be mad at your mom!” you said, “I begged her to let me see them.”

Grumbling, he sat next to you on the couch as he looked through the photos on the page in your lap.

“Whatever, you were going to find them eventually.” He shrugged.

Taking that as his blessing to continue, Jaebeom’s mom showed you a photo of him as a chubby baby, sitting happily on a swing.

You were unable to contain your delight as your mouth formed into an o, “Jae you were the cutest baby ever! I just want to gobble you up.”

“Yeah, he was.” His mom remarked fondly.

“Was?” Jaebeom asked slightly irritated.

“Not so much anymore with those awful piercings.” His mother disapproved, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

Shocked, Jaebeom placed a hand over his heart. “So mean. I took it out for you.”

“And you look so handsome now without it.” His mother remarked, not looking up from the photo she was looking at. “Don’t you think Y/N?”

Blushing, you placed your hand on his cheek, “I think he looks handsome all the time.”

⇒ mark

You held the photograph of Mark and compared it to his face. You bit your lip, not wanting to say what you thought.

“What? You look like you want to say something.” Mark said, noticing your reaction.

Exhaling, you answered. “Yes, but don’t get mad.”

“I won’t now tell me.” Mark insisted.

He sat on his knees by the box of his memorabilia, interested in hearing what you had to say.

“Did you ever watch this cartoon, Crayon Shin-Chan?”

“Maybe? I think I used to watch it on Saturday mornings.”

“You look exactly like the main character, Shin-Chan, in this picture,” you said holding up the photo of mark as a baby.

Mark looked at you blankly.

“Okay let me show you.” You said.

You googled a picture of the character and held up your phone and the photograph side by side.

Inspecting the two, Mark rolled his eyes. “I don’t see it.”

“You look identical!” You exclaimed.

Shaking his head, he kept sorting photographs, “nope. I don’t look anything like him.”

“How do you not see it!” You said. “If you were a cartoon you would literally be Shin-Chan.”

“Babe, that would be like if I told you that you look like Spongebob.”

“Hey! That’s not even a remotely fair comparison.”

“Exactly. Which is why I’m saying I don’t look like him.”

“Fine, agree to disagree.” You said, “even though I’m clearly right.”

Mark looked at you, but couldn’t help but laugh at your comment as you both kept sorting through photos.

⇒ jackson

Jackson was no help when it came to these kind of things.

His mom had texted you, I sent you some of Jackson’s baby photos. Let me know which ones you think are cute and I’ll get them framed.

Simple enough right? Not quite.

The afternoon had stretched into the evening as you and Jackson reminisced and discovered the pictures.

“You were so energetic.” You commented, holding the photograph of baby Jackson between your fingers. He stood smiling in a victory pose “I wonder...”

“What?” He asked, curious at your thought.

“Do you think we would’ve been friends as kids?”

“Ha! Absolutely not.” Jackson replied instantly.

“What? Why?” You frowned.

“Princess let me tell you something. Back then? You were so out of my league.” Jackson explained. “I would’ve never had a chance of being friends, much less your boyfriend.”

“That’s not true.” You protested. “I was pretty shy, you would’ve thought that I couldn’t speak.”

Shaking his head Jackson took the photograph from you and set it down on the table.

“Well then why don’t you tell me what you think.” You said, interested in hearing his theory.

“Gladly. We would’ve been classmates, I would’ve definitely had a crush on you, but being the immature person I was, I would’ve teased you incessantly. You would get so annoyed with me, but would eventually come to realize it was my stupid ways. I would eventually get the courage to ask you out, but you would let me down easy.” Jackson mapped out.

“You make me sound so unattainable.” You pouted. “I’ll tell you what I think. We would’ve been friends, you were class clown so everyone would’ve been friends with you. I would’ve had a huge crush on you, but I never would’ve said anything because I was so shy. Eventually, we’d graduate never being more than friends.”

Soaking up your story in silence, Jackson finally remarked. “I’m so glad we didn’t know each other as kids.”

⇒ jinyoung

“Oh my god.” You covered your mouth to muffle your laughter. “Jinyoung what is this?!”

You pointed and flipped through his baby photo album that contained not one, but three pages of Jinyoung sulking at various places.

“I knew this was a bad idea,” Jinyoung grumbled sitting back on the couch.

On this uneventful afternoon, you’d decided to do some cleaning in your apartment, only to discover a box of photo albums Jinyoung’s parents had sent over to your apartment many months ago. Unfortunately for Jinyoung that meant more reminiscing over his baby photos and less cleaning.

“You were such a sulky baby!” You exclaimed. “Oh gosh, this one is the best.”

His ears perked up as he leaned forward to look at the photo you were pointing at.

In the photograph Jinyoung stood pouting, his large ears pointing outwards as he stood straight. He seemed to be dressed in a turquoise crocheted tank top.

“I was probably annoyed with something very reasonable!” Jinyoung attempted to defend.

Looking at him with an eyebrow raised, he held his hands up in defeat. “Fine. I was upset because my mom wouldn’t stop taking pictures of me. But don’t you think you have any photos throwing fit?”

“I definitely do, but not to the varying extent that you do,” you replied.

Narrowing his eyes at you, he spoke “alright, I think I’ve seen enough of my embarrassing pictures for the day.”

“Hey, at least you grew into your ears,” you giggled, poking his side.

He turned to give you the same sulking look as the photograph. “You’re lucky I love you.”

Turning to look at him, you continued flipping through the book, “I love you too,”

You leaned to kiss both of his ears “especially your ears” you then leaned in to peck his lips, resting your forehead against his “and your face when you’re sulking.”

⇒ youngjae

You sifted through the photographs of Youngjae past on your coffee table.

JYP had asked Youngjae to send in a baby photo of himself as a special photo card option for their next comeback.

Stressed and overwhelmed by the pressures of idol life, Youngjae had delayed this task by weeks.

As you cooked dinner, you glanced at Youngjae’s phone to see a message.

You need to send in your baby photo ASAP.

You finished cooking and headed to your albums. There were too many choices. Flipping through the albums you narrowed your choices down to three photos. Laying them out on the coffee table, you folded your hands on your lap contemplating.

Lost in thought, you didn’t even realize Youngjae had awoken from his nap until he wrapped his arms around you.

“Hey,” Youngjae said, his voice still groggy. “What are you doing?”

“You’ve been putting off sending your baby photo so I thought I’d help you out.” You informed him.

“Thank you darling.” He kissed your cheek before sitting down next you.

“Any thoughts on which one to send?” You turned to him. “I narrowed it down to three. I know which one I think you should send in, but it should be your choice.”

Scanning the photos in front of him, Youngjae finally spoke, “let’s point to our choice at the same time.”

“1”

“2”

“3” you said at that same time.

Looking to where your fingers pointed you smiled.

“I guess it’s settled then.” Youngjae laughed.

The photo you’d both picked had been one of Youngjae and his father. He was holding his son as Youngjae drank from a bottle.

“I love this photo, you look just like your dad.” You told him. “The resemblance is uncanny.”

⇒ bambam

“You look so innocent.” You showed Bambam the photograph. “What happened to you?”

Bambam looked up from his phone to see his baby photo on your phone.

“Hey! How did you get that?” He said.

“Your sister sent it to me.” You replied nonchalantly. “She sent some real gems.”

“Since when are you and Baby texting about me?” Bambam asked, curious.

“Maybe a month?” You said, thinking back to the first time she texted.

“A month!” Bambam exclaimed. “Oh god.”

“Oh god is right. I can see why you’re a performer now, you’re a natural.” You told him.

Leaning his back on the couch, he sat up thinking about your earlier comment.

“What did you mean I was so innocent.” He pouted folding his shoulder. “I’m still squeaky clean.”

“Oh please, the Bambam I know now is literally the guy who texted me last week after work that he wanted me on the bed and ready for his big–“

“Okay! I get it.” Bambam interrupted.

“See? Not so innocent.” You said. You held up his baby photo “This baby on the other hand, total angel.”

⇒ yugyeom

“Y/N don’t look at that.” Yugyeom said.

Ignoring his warning you continued flipping through his childhood album. You looked up to see your man child of a boyfriend towering over you and pouting.

“These are so embarrassing, please don’t.” He pleaded with you.

“You were so cute!” You countered. “Please let me see them. I think you were adorable.”

Giving in, he sat next to you on the couch. “Fine. But I’m going to go through them too.”

You both sat on the couch, placing the album between you.

“Are you wearing roller skates in this?” You pointed to baby Yugyeom’s feet. “I wanna hear the story behind this.”

“Oh man, that was before I cut my head.” Yugyeom reminisced.

“What?!” You said, shocked that he had been in so much danger.

“Yeah. My dad had taken me and my brother out to rollerskate. I was so stubborn as a kid, I refused to wear a helmet.” Yugyeom recounted to you. “Things were fine until I tripped on my skate and ended up hitting my head on a rock. There was blood everywhere”

“That must’ve been scary.” You said, leaning on his shoulder.

“I think my dad was more freaked out that me. Luckily I only needed two stitches.” He rested his head against yours. “I still have the scar.”

You leaned back as Yugyeom pulled his hair out of his face. Lifting it up, he revealed a scar going into his forehead.

Reaching out, you gingerly touched it. Pressing a kiss to your index and middle finger you placed it on the scar.

“How come I never noticed this scar before?” You wondered aloud. “It makes you look sexy.”

Scoffing, Yugyeom released the hair he was holding. “I was such an idiot. Hopefully our kids don’t turn out as dumb as me.”

Your eyes widened slightly at his words. Hopefully our kids don’t turn out as dumb as me. He was thinking about that?

Taking in your reaction, he lightly coughed, “I mean you know, in the future. The very far future.”

You smiled, kissing his cheek. “I hope they can dance like you. It would be a shame if they got my two left feet!”

return to masterlist

#got7 #yugyeom #jinyoung #jaebeom #bambam #mark #Jackson #youngjae #got7 reaction #got7 reactions #got7 imagines #got7 masterlist #ahgase #igot7 #mnw works

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sweetchup · 3 years

Text

Red Roses & Holly

Type: Feitan x reader (Spiders’ Way)

Prompt: Chokorēto Ngày lễ — A modern day Holiday celebrated by those who don’t celebrate Snow Goddess Day. These people will instead make Chocolates with flowers that express what they love and cherish about friends or family members. Ex: Chocolate bar with Sunflower petals says they love how happy or loyal that person is.

Author Note: This is a holiday special on the already written story called Spiders’ Way. Which you can check out in the normal masterlist Under “Spider family”. Also don’t use some of these flowers in real life to add to chocolate. I didn’t check if some of these were edible or not.

(Prompts & Rules) (Holiday Masterlist)

The chatter and joys of glee from children fill the school as the first bell rings. Even Kai himself is laughing along with his friends as they walk into their first class of today. Afterall, it was the last one until Winter break and Kai was actually excited.

Giving one last word to his friends, Kai sits down at his assigned seat. As he sits down, Kai chooses to fix his uncomfortable uniform as the teacher clears his throat to speak. “Children, Children, please quiet down now.”

Slowly, the chatter of the other kids in Kai’s class quieted down and the teacher continued speaking. “As everyone knows today, Thursday December 10, is our last day of school before we return back in the new year.”

A couple of cheers and high fives from the other students are heard before the teacher shushes them.

“Due to most students already finished with their studies and teachers just needing to enter grades, we have created a kind of school wide fun zone to keep everyone entertained.”

Kai and his friends look at each other grinning as the teacher goes row by row to pass out a map of the school. Looking at the map drawn, Kai sees different festive activities taking place in certain classrooms.

“Now please remember to be respectful, children. We don’t—“ The bell suddenly goes off. Usually it was to signal the change for classes but this time it was to allow children to start exploring their activities. “Well you can go but be safe!”

Kai opens the door for some of the girls in his class, some giggling as they pass, before leaving himself. As Kai walks in the hall he is suddenly hit lightly on the back.

“Hey Kai! Man, what are you thinking of doing?” Rye questions, swinging an arm on his friend’s shoulder.

“I bet we should go to the gym, there should be some sort of fun thing to be done.” Calvin shouts, catching up to the two. Kai only shakes his head at his friends suggestions. He already had decided on what he was going to do.

“Well, you guys can go enjoy that but I’m going to do Mrs. Minsieur class.” His friends turned to look at him confused.

“You sure about that? You want to do an activity with the foods’ teacher?”

“Yep, but I’ll try to catch up later to play a round of dodgeball in the gym with you guys.”

His friends shrug at Kai’s strange behavior, though they choose not to question him. Afterall, Kai could act strangely at times. Kai’s friends give him a brofist as they part ways at the central hallway. “Okay dude, see you later then.”

—.—.—.—.—

“🎶Last Snow Goddess I gave you my heart but the very next day, you gave it away 🎶” You sang softly along with the radio as you put the plate of toast on the table. It was December 11th, Snow Goddess Day and Chokorēto Ngày lễ. It was 10 o’clock in the morning yet you were still the only one awake at this time. Mostly since you wanted to allow Kai and Feitan to both sleep in more. After all, both of them seemed to deserve it. “🎶This year, to save me from tears. I'll give it to someone— Oh good morning sweetheart.”

Stopping your singing, you turn down the radio as you spot Kai making his way down the stairs. When you turn back around, you giggle as Kai gives you a hug still only half awake. Softly you smooth out his bed head as he leans into you.

“ ‘morning mom.” Kai finally responds back as you place a kiss on his forehead. Bringing him back from a sleepy daze to what’s going on around him.

“I hope you are hungry sweetheart because I already made breakfast.” You murmur into his forehead. “I’m going to wake up Feitan so he can eat with us as well.”

“ ‘Kay” Kai mumbles letting go of you to grab a glass of almond milk to drink. Suddenly, however he stops when he realizes something. “Wait mom!”

You humm and turn around quickly. Once you see what Kai was holding out towards you, you couldn’t help but let out a small aww. Taking it carefully from him, you look at the nicely packaged chocolate.

“I made you your favorite chocolate and added Daisies and Hydrangeas. Daisy because I’m glad you are my mother and Hydrangea because I’m grateful for you always being there for me.”

Quickly, you capture your son in a hug so he doesn’t see you wipe a couple of tears of joy from your face. As you do that, you can somewhat blurrily see Feitan at the bottom of the stairs raising an eyebrow at you. You mouth a “I’m okay” to him as you wipe the last one. “Well, I’m glad you are my son Kai. I love you so much, you know that right?”

“Of course mom!” Kai shouts back happy as he doesn’t let go of you. Even as Feitan approaches, who only rolls his eyes at the boy while grabbing a cup of coffee. For a kid that could burn the world around him at any moment, he sure loved his mom to death.

“I was going to give your’s and Feitan’s chocolate at dinner but I think it will be okay if I give it now.” Reaching behind you into the drawer, you grab two bars of chocolate. “This one is what I made for you Kai. It’s a dairy free chocolate with Yarrow and White Clover. I chose Yarrow and White Clover to express the fact I will always love you and be thinking of you.”

Kai smiles happily at you, before quickly unwrapping his chocolate and taking a bite. You giggle as he hums in delightment, “Mmm. Mom it’s so good!”

“I’m glad you like it sweetheart. Oh! And Feitan here is yours.” You embarrassingly say as Kai let’s go of you to go eat. Shakily, you hand the man you love a bar of chocolate. “I know you don’t exactly have a sweet tooth but I made you one. I chose Red Roses and Sunflowers. Of course red rose to say I love you, but I also chose Sunflowers because I’m glad how loyal you are to me.”

You nervously fumble with your fingers as you watch Feitan take a bite, “I-is it good?”

“No,” He states, causing Kai to whip around, a piece of pancake in his mouth. Already plotting Feitan’s death.

“O-oh you don’t have to eat it then. I understand sin—“ Before you can finish what you are saying Feitan shuts you up with a kiss. You hear Kai gag slightly as you two pull away.

“Me just messing with you. It very good.” Feitan chuckles out, reaching into his pocket to hand you a chocolate himself. Based on the package it seemed like he bought his instead of making it. But to you it didn’t make it any less special. You were happy just to get a chocolate from Feitan. Afterall, you thought he didn’t like the Holidays. Giggling out of happiness, you place a kiss on Feitan’s cheek.

“Yuck. I’m out of here. I’m going to go play with my friends at the soccer fields for a while.” Kai shouts out as he puts on his shoes. Clearly not wanting to see Feitan kissing his mom anymore.

“Okay sweetheart be safe!”

Once you hear the door close you continue what you were doing.

“What flower did you choose, Feitan?” You ask excitedly. The package was a blank white and didn’t seem to specify.

“Open it to see.” Feitan mumbles, taking a sip from his coffee as you huff at him.

For some strange reason it took you awhile to open the wrapper since the plastic was weirdly thick. Either that or you were too excited to see. Though once you were able to open it up and peer in you can’t help but gasp. Due to how surprised you are, you nearly drop the chocolate bar which Feitan thankfully helps you catch.

“F-fei. You— are you telling me what I think you are telling me?,” You mumble out as you take another look at the flowers in the white bar of chocolate. Even though only one flower was used, you wouldn’t have it any other way. That flower was the red salvia. The flower that means Forever mine.

As you finally take your eyes away from the bar of chocolate to look at feitan, you can’t help but cover your mouth to stop yourself from crying. Even though Feitan hadn’t done anything extravagant. Even though he hadn’t given you a big speech about how much he loved you. Even though he hadn’t gone down on one knee to you. You could tell how much this man loved you by the fact his usual dull eyes lit up love as he held out an engagement ring to you.

Nodding your head because you couldn’t trust yourself with words, you allow Feitan to put a ring on your finger. Your perfect dream ring in fact.

Once on, you give the man soon to be your husband a kiss.

“I love you Fei.” You mumble against his lips before he kisses you again to tell you he loves you back. You let out a small giggle at the fact that even in a moment like this Feitan is still a man of few words. “Is this why Kai was acting strange all week? Because I’m going to be marrying you?”

You hear Feitan let out a light chuckle, but not for the reason you think.

“Actually, Me didn’t tell boy.”

“Wait— wHAT?!”

—.—.—.—.—

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Kai let out a loud sneeze.

“Damn. I know it’s been cold out recently but It’s not that cold enough to be getting sick.” Kai mumbles to himself as he rubs his nose.

“Hey Kai~!”

Kai turns his head and sees a group of girls from school that were in his year. All of which giggled and whispered to each other. Kai gives the group a charming smile and waves at them, causing some of the girls to blush while others let out a strange noise.

Though he was acting polite to the girls, all he wanted to do was get out of there. Even though they all looked pretty and wore nice clothing, Kai honestly felt they were complete garbage. All they cared about was looks and popularity, choosing to bully those who didn’t act like them.

As Kai begins to walk away to get out of there, suddenly an odd color of brown is seen in the mix of the girls. Looking closely he sees a girl on the ground attempting to pick up her knocked over stuff. Ah, another victim. This girl doesn’t even look to go to our school. How shameless.

For some reason, without a second thought, Kai goes over to help the girl. He doesn’t know why he wants to help but for some reason his feet force him forward.

“What are you—“ Kai sends a glare to one of the girls who tries to say something to him. Scaring the whole group off. What was he thinking? He’s breaking his normal everyday boy act by doing that—

“T-thanks but you didn’t have to do that…” The girl mumbles out shyly as she continues to put things back in her bag. Kai doesn’t answer right away as he continues to pick up the dropped cards.

“It’s not a problem—“ Kai cuts himself off as he finally looks up and gets a good look at the girl he helped. And, oh wow, she took his breath away.

As he looked at her, he for some reason couldn’t pick what he liked best about her. Was it perhaps the silk blonde hair half tied up with a ribbon or was it her doe like sapphire blue eyes? Maybe it was those. Though, he can’t help but also notice that the sight of her cute button nose that struggled to hold up her big glasses is what catches his attention the most.

Quickly, however, he corrects himself. It wasn’t any of those. As the girl before him flashes a small smile as she grabs the cards from his hand, her cheeks slightly puff out just like small chipmunks do. Man, it was decided from that point on that he absolutely adored those chubby cheeks of hers.

“Holly? Holly!”

At the call of her name, the girl before him suddenly turns around and looks over to a man exiting a store. Who for some reason oddly looked similar to a Sheep.

The girl now known as Holly looks back at Kai, “T-Thanks a lot! I have to go now but I hope we see each other again.”

Kai stands up with the girl but when he attempts to walk away, or perhaps with her, he feels as if his feet are cemented to the ground. So he instead just chooses to watch the girl walk away.

“Oh there you are! Holly Hill, where did you run off to?” The big sheep man asks, grabbing the girl’s hand and walking away with her

“Sorry Ginta. I was looking at something!” Holly lies lightly. Quietly, Kai watches as they disappear off into the crowd and are no longer seen nor heard.

After a couple of moments of calming his heart, Kai lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Still with a dreamy look on his face, he begins to walk away to go to the soccer fields. Pleasantly under his breath, he murmurs,

“Holly Hill huh?..... what a nice name…”

#hunter x hunter #hxh #feitan #feitan portor #Phantom Troupe #hxh holiday

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ranger-kellyn · 4 years

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11 Favorite Excerpts

In honor if it being the 11 year anniversary of the first fic I ever posted, Platinum Bound, I thought I’d list out 10 of my favorite excerpts from everything I’ve posted so far, 1 from something I haven’t posted yet, and then kind of just. Talk about it~

As always, feel free to talk to me about any of my fics, no matter how old or new~ I’m very vain~<3

1 - Come With Me - Prologue - 03/02/2015 - Completed

A day that was supposed to be filled with sorrow and mourning had turned out to be very lovely. The cold that had long persisted since November had decided to lighten its icy grip on this one day in particular. It was almost a tragedy in itself that the weather failed to match the mood by pouring a relentless downpour. Rain was fit for a funeral. Not sunshine.

The opening to Come With Me has always had a special place in my heart, and while I know my writing has gotten better since then, I always hold up this opening as like...my premium brand, I suppose. I love the mood the prologue sets up for Siebold’s side of the story. Mismatched weather. His parents having the same death date. A sense of odd relationship dynamics with them. Clear indication that there’s going to be a lot of conflict with Jean as shown by Diantha, Siebold’d childhood friend, who has a clear disdain towards him. CWM may not be my BEST WORK, but it’s probably one of my favorites. ALSO....come on...the restaurant’s name is Apple of The Earth, which is a direct translation of pomme de terre, which is French for potato. And like???? i just get a little kick out of it every time

2 - It Takes Two - 12/16/2014 - Oneshot

Siebold chuckled. “A water dark type? My, my. You’ve already put yourself at a disadvantage. Cress shook his head. “Don’t give away your secret ingredient just yet, Siebold. Leave something to the imagination, please,” he teased.

If there is ONE THING I LOVE it’s writing flirty banter for these two, and this fic if full of it. My first fic for Cress/Siebold, staking my claim on the pool noodle that is this ship. I AM the captain of this pool noodle

3 - Second Chances - Chapter 7 - 06/14/2017 - Ongoing

“It was supposed to be me!” . . . Shaking, she stopped herself in the front hallway. Looking over the large, glass-famed map, she felt as though she was leaving her own body as she slammed herself against it in a last ditch effort to feel something other than emotional pain. In an effort to put a physical wound to her emotional one.

There’s plenty of happier lines from this fic I could choose. Ch 10 had a section I was considering instead, but I think this emotionally charged section has always stood out for me. I like to generally characterize Cynthia as someone who is in control of her emotions, or at the very least, is very good at compartmentalizing things, but here, she absolutely loses it. No rationality. No seeking help. Just raw pain. It was supposed to be me. Because it was! It absolutely was! In the previous chapter you learn that Diantha had fully intended to propose to her! But was instead manipulated by her mother and manager into leaving Cynthia. While Cynthia didn’t know that, we do, and that makes that line so much more painful to me. I swear. ONE DAY. I’ll actually finish this fic.

4 - Fortune and Fame - Chapter 1 - 03/23/2016 - Completed

“The best part of that outfit would be taking it off.” Her mouth turns into a smile. “I should think so,” she tells you.

Second person POV is a HUGE pain in the ass, but I still love this silly little fic, and I love this silly little moment EVEN MORE. What can I say. I love flirty banter. This whole fic was an absolute experiment, and while it certainly could be better, considering 2POV is not something I regularly work with, I’ve never been too upset with it.

5 - Stockholm - Chapter 4 - 06/20/2016 - Ongoing

“You’re my mission and my mission alone. I don’t need outside help,” he tells me. I catch myself about to laugh. “Figured you would welcome it seeing as whatever you think you’re doing to me clearly isn’t working.” He moves closer, enough for me to feel the warmth of his body, but it’s only when I think he’s looking at my lips do I come to my senses, pulling my legs up to my person, and pushing back up against the wall. “I would say it’s working just fine.”

i like to think of this fic as me playing in a sandbox. i don’t REALLY know what i’m doing, but i’m having fun, and that’s all that matters. This is a fic I had been thinking about for the longest time. I abandoned it back in 2016. I don’t really remember why, but I posted the first update early this year, and I just. I’ve been loving it since. I haven’t played in first person in SUCH a long time, it’s just nice to play in the space, and explore a darker emotion I guess. Game verse Commander Saturn/Dawn is always a weakness of mine

6 - Shadows of My Heart - Chapter 4 - 02/22/2011 - Completed

Looking at Kellyn, I notice that he has taken his jacket off and is now offering it to me. Shaking my head, I tell him that I can't take it, even though I would love nothing more than to take him up on his offer. He walks closer, smiling as he places his jacket over me. Now, the only thing I hear is the sound of the rain bouncing off of Kellyn's jacket, and the sound my own heartbeat. I'd have to be crazy or dead to not be blushing right now, and obviously my pulse is still going…

if you’ve followed me for a few years, you might think this is a weird pick for me. i complain about it a lot. i experience a lot of visceral cringe whenever i reread it (Like i did just now searching for a section i liked) But that’s why I like it. I love having this visible benchmark of where I’ve come from, and where my ideals have shifted to. I’ve always written Kellyn as my Ideal Man™© and in this fic he is suCH A “NICE GUY” AND IT’S JUST. SO BAD. I’M SO GLAD I’M NOT WITH THE KIND OF PERSON I USED TO WISH I WAS WITH. This fic is, at best, clumsy. Younger me was venting a LOT of stuff. Everything I put Rhythmi through in the fic, I was dealing with irl, and NOT handling them well. I never recommend this for reading, but I list it here because it’s like looking in a time capsule.

7 - Washington Blues - Chapter 2 - 04/30/2012 - Abandoned Work

Looking back up at me, the afternoon sun shines on her face. As if I needed to be reminded that she is very pretty. “I believe that it is too soon to be giving a definite answer, but,” she pauses to brush some hair behind her ear, “I do believe I am going to like it here.” I nod, liking the answer she has provided. I put my pink bag over my shoulder, and step down the stairs. “That’s good to hear. I do hope you come to love our little band,” I say, putting a little emphasis on “our”. Hopefully she will start using that term as well.

This fic has been abandoned since 2012, but as I was rereading it just now, I...felt a weird urge to give it a second chance? Marching band was my EVERYTHING in high school. It was basically my personality. It and Homestuck. If nothing else, I think I might give this fic a redo, because it’s something my younger self would have loved. I had so many ideas I wanted to explore and I think it would be a fun space to explore. Just reading it I got the most tactile memories of band camp, from the sounds, all the way down to the god awful smells. One day I’ll give this fic another go, but probably in 3rd person lmao. Also, it’s kind of funny. I remember holding this fic up as like. My Magnum Opus. I considered chapter 1 to be the BEST thing I had written up to that point. Now? It’s so fucking D RY......and no real person talks like they all do l m a o I love being able to see how far I’ve come.

8 - Hindsight - Sometime Feb 2014? - Oneshot for an old RP group

This question led him to placing both of his hands in his lap. “I would never describe her as winter. It’s the season she hates the most. From what I’ve gathered during our travels together, understandably so,” he answered, not meeting her eyes.

While this fic is OLD it holds a very special place in my heart. I had stopped writing for a while. For about 2 years nothing I wrote ever really panned out, and joining that RP group was literally the best thing I could have done for my creativity. It was so much fun, and I met some truly incredible people thanks to it. Literally, everything I’ve written since I attribute to that group. <3 I may not talk to most of them anymore, but I have some of the best memories of that time, and I just. Genuinely don’t think I would have HALF of what I have written now if it hadn’t been for their support. <3

9 - Ours For The Taking - Chapter 2 - 01/28/2012 - Abandoned Work

Killing is in the nature of almost every Pokémon, but we humans have inhibited that out for the most part. It doesn't take much to trigger the instinct though. A couple kills and then they thirst for blood.

Now i know this looks like a WACK ASS PICK. It’s been abandoned since 2012. It’s bad. It’s gore. It’s bad. But that’s exactly why I picked it. That, and I know it would chap Farla’s ass bc she told me years ago how awful this fic was. The whole reason my writing confidence took a blow. I can look back and know that this fic wasn’t great, but I hate for my younger self that they were knocked down like that. You can’t learn the boundaries of your writing until you try to push them. Maybe I could have turned into a great gore/horror writer if I hadn’t been knocked down? Who knows? But because of that negative experience, I now approach all comments I leave on fics with “unconditional positive regard”. I firmly believe if someone wants con-crit they’ll ask for it, and even then, I’m not someone who is going to offer up that criticism. That’s not my jam. I’m just here for a good time. This fic may be bad, but that’s why I love it. I love how over the top, 2Edgy4me the two chapters are.

10 - Getaway Car - Chapter 5 - 01/01/2019 - Ongoing

Pulling away just enough to make them look at one another, Cynthia looked her over. She was getting more drunk admissions than she ever thought she would, and she was in no frame of mind to worry about pushing her luck. “How did that make you feel?” she asked. She let her hand trail down her arm as she spoke. “Grounded. Like nothing else in the world mattered except us in that moment. I wasn’t worried about filming, deadlines, what people might say or think, or– anything, really. All that mattered was the calm you brought me, and how without meaning to you’ve made me feel like the most important person in the room.”

It’s no secret that Getaway Car is like. MY BABY. This is MY FIC. MY BABY. I CHERISH THIS FIC FOR SO MANY REASONS. I like venting through characters, and this fic is no exception. But I loved writing this moment specifically, because it just...I think it encapsulates everything Diantha has been looking for. She lives a charmed, chaotic life. Up to that point in the fic, she’s with a man who can’t really be bothered to give her the time of day, but also can’t handle the idea of letting her go. Without meaning to, without necessarily trying to, Cynthia makes her feel like the most important person in the room. She grounds her, and someone who lives a star-studded life needs that. This fic is my baby. My everything. It’s probably what I’m known for at this point, and I’m A-OK with that because these two are my everything. (ALSO, I specifically posted this fic when I did to get Farla to leave me a review, and had a good laugh about it when she did. My “bat shit crazy” plot device has ended up being my most popular fic~)

11 - Namtaflu - Chapter _ - Draft from NaNoWriMo 2019

The sound of something rising to the surface of the water attracted everyone’s attention. Turning their eyes towards the water, one by one, countless Starmie and Staryu began to surface, floating atop the water, their bright gem center’s shining in the moonlight. “Oh, wow,” Bianca said, holding the Audino closer to herself. "What are they doing?” Hilbert asked, turning himself so he wasn’t having to strain to look at them. Cheren shrugged. “They’ve always done this.” "They’re looking at the stars,” Hilda added. “It’s what Nona would always tell me. She said she read it in a book somewhere. They surface at night to look at the stars, and they’ll even start blinking here soon.” As she said it, from out in the distance, quick flashes of red began to move along the waves, reminding both her and Cheren of fireflies from further south. Soon enough, the entire shoreline was filled with the water pokémon blinking away at the stars, almost as if they were communicating with each other, or even something else. A few Audino continued to sit with them, everyone moved to silence by the display, afraid to make a single noise, not wanting to scare them at all and make them stop. The display moved in waves, like a heartbeat, ebbing and flowing. At times they were bright enough to cast a glow onto the shore, and at others it seemed like they had collectively stopped for the night. Once Broadway and Manhattan had decided to retire for the night, the group came to an agreement that it was time they retired for the night as well. They had stayed up long past sundown, but it had been worth every second.

I won’t be posting this fic WELL until my three current ongoing fics are completed, but this fic is pretty much everything to me. I first got the idea for this fic back in 2013, my senior year of high school. I wrote the first draft my first NaNoWriMo in 2014, and did a second draft of it last year. This fic has evolved SO MUCH, but this last draft is where I’m REALLY happy with it. I firmly believe there’s never a “right time” to write a fic, but I also believe this fic absolutely benefited from me not posting it after that first draft. They’re almost two entirely different stories. The original had a lot of unhealthy relationship dynamics, and this time, i decided, FUCK THAT, and now it’s a hilda/hilbert/cheren/bianca poly fic ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ I can’t wait for the day when I actually get to share this fic with the world.

#writing tag #my fics #i spENT ALL DANG DAY ON THIS

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go-events · 4 years

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GO Rom Com Spotlight: @portablechemist

The gorgeous @portablechemist (OTHER REFS) has claimed Love Actually to adapt for Good Omens in the Good Omens Rom Com Event.

For reference, here’s a little background about the source material!

About Love Actually: Nine intertwined stories examine the complexities of the one emotion that connects us all: love. Among the characters explored are David (Hugh Grant), the handsome newly elected British prime minister who falls for a young junior staffer (Martine McCutcheon), Sarah (Laura Linney), a graphic designer whose devotion to her mentally ill brother complicates her love life, and Harry (Alan Rickman), a married man tempted by his attractive new secretary.

We spent some time chatting about how the adaptation is coming so far, as well as future plans for it! Now, get to know @portablechemist a little better!

* * *

goromcom: Starting with something about you, you know how if you open a Tumblr chat with someone you haven't chatted to before, Tumblr tells you two things they post about? I wanted to tell you that yours reports that you post "about #tru and #:d". Those are some really fun tags, and I browsed your :d for a minute and had several giggles, so thanks for that!

portablechemist: Oh, that's so accurate, I love it :D I'm glad it gave you a laugh!! The #:d tag is all stuff I want to be able to find quickly to cheer me up, so I'm glad it makes other people laugh too :P

goromcom: But let’s move on to your rom com, Love Actually. Has this movie been a favorite of yours, or is there some other reason you chose it?

portablechemist: It's one of my favorite Christmas movies specifically, and I try to make a point of watching it every holiday season - Love Actually (along with Doctor Who and the IT Crowd) was part of my introduction to British media, so it holds a special place in my heart. As soon as I saw it on the list of choices, though, I immediately knew who I wanted Death to be, and that was enough to write the rest of the story :P

goromcom: So interesting that it would be that casting to cement the idea in your mind! Now I can’t wait to see!

What's your favorite moment of the movie and are you looking forward to presenting it in your adaptation? Any loose plans for that scene that you can share?

portablechemist: There are a few moments that I really love - Hugh Grant dancing through the PM house, Rowan Atkinson doing up the necklace at the jewelry counter, and the bit where Jamie (Colin Firth) learns Portuguese and goes to France to confess his love to Aurelia (Lúcia Moniz) - but I think my favorite bit is the montage of the PM going door to door in Wadsworth to try to find Natalie. Loose plans for that scene include Gabriel making his way through Hell to find Beelzebub, because she's the only being he respects. But that's ALL it is - respect!

goromcom: Do you plan to stick very closely to the beats of the original story, or make bigger changes?

portablechemist: I'm sticking pretty close to the original beats of the story - it's still set around Christmas time (the chapter names will be the weeks until Christmas), there'll still be a school play with lobsters, etc., but those beats are wrapped in a new story. It's going to be set during the first Christmas after Armageddont, when Heaven and Hell have sent their own agents to Earth to get Armageddon II going. While this story line is the plot device driving the story forward, I'm focusing more on the individual couples/groups and their personal struggles. There are parts of the fic which are definitely more serious, but overall, I'm going for the same light, kind of silly tone that the original movie had (which will lead to some ridiculous scenes I am very excited to write).

I'm also doing my best to remove all the problematic bits (because yikes there are a lot of problematic bits).

goromcom: I know a lot of people are making little nips and tucks here and there to their rom com storylines, and it’s another thing I’m very interested in watching how it pans out as the stories begin to post.

But let’s see if I can charm one more little nibble about your story plans away from you. What's an interesting decision you've made in your planning so far--a notable casting decision, a changing of venue, or some other plan you have to paint Good Omens all over your rom com?

portablechemist: This was the one I cast immediately - I've given the role of Colin (the guy who desperately wants to sleep with someone and thinks American girls will find him more attractive) to Death, and the roles of the American girls to the Four Other Horsemen of the Apocalypse. In this version, Death's lonely after War, Pollution, and Famine are destroyed, and God gives him the advice to find some new friends. I was really hoping to see the FOHA in the Good Omens show, so this is me bringing them in!

I've also recast Billy (the singer) as Agnes Nutter, and I'm rewriting the Christmas song to be one of Agnes's prophecies :D

goromcom: Oh my, Billy Mack is my favorite in the original. But before you reveal too much, I’ll cut off the previews here and move on to my favorite final question.

Tell me something "good". It can be something big or small. It can be a charity you think is doing good work, or you can talk about how great your pet is.

portablechemist: I mean, I think this whole thing you've put together is amazing - I've never felt more welcome in a group of folks online. Even though I mostly lurk (because life is crazy), it puts a huge smile on my face every time I see a new emoji or a brand new work from someone. This is so special and I want to thank you for putting it all together and doing all the moderation :)

goromcom: Oh my, blushing super hard over here! I’m really enjoying the whole thing and I really have fun with the whole group. :)

portablechemist: Outside of that, an organization I really enjoy is Little Free Library. They're a great way to bring reading to communities that otherwise might not have a lending library, and they also donate books cost-free to libraries in need around the world. You can do everything from donate money to build a Little Free Library yourself, if you're so inclined. Their website has resources to get involved, and the world map can let you know if there are any libraries already near you.

goromcom: Oh, I adore Little Free Library. Check that link out, everyone! Such a sweet and wonderful project.

And speaking of wonderful projects, make sure to catch the GO adaptation of Love Actually, coming soon!

#goromcom #goromcom spotlight #good omens #portablechemist #love actually

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a-bear-at-hogwarts · 5 years

Note

answer everything on the talk about the muse asks uwu

LEE I HOPE YOU KNOW I WOULD DIE FOR YOU thank you so much oh my g o d Literally every ask; all about Dahlia Goldman!! :>!!

🍯 for a food headcanon

Dahlia is allergic to a substance called theobromine!! Usually the biggest trouble it causes her is chocolate, as anything much stronger than a white to very milky usually has enough to cause her trouble, but it would take an astounding amount to actually kill her - same story with caffeine!! It’s linked to how her biology is affected by the Sítheach curse, giving her physical traits usually associated with bears

🥛for a drink headcanon

Dahlia cannot stand pumpkin juice - it’s not the taste or anything, but it just feels so slimy and pulpy and gross and she absolutely loathes it

🐢 for a mental health headcanon

Dahlia’s environment growing up instilled in her the belief that she can’t fully trust anyone - not her friends, not her family, nobody. Her heart is open and she grows to care for people almost too fast, but she just can’t shake the voice in the back of her mind that’s a constant reminder she doesn’t know for certain that she’s safe around these people. In large part this is due to her mother - from childhood she enforced that people hid things, and that could be highly dangerous. In addition, her father was killed by a man he had thought was his friend - in actuality he’d been a sleeper agent for the Death Eaters.

Knowing everything she does, it takes her a long time to relinquish anything that can’t be reversed.

🦄 for a physical health headcanon

Okay. The Goldman’s?? Buff as hell.

From the fact that martial combat is something Sítheach legacies are raised into so that they can defend themselves, to the specific Goldman wariness that encourages the family to maintain their physical condition, to the fact that the curse increases their mass both muscular and otherwise in order to make the transition from human to beast less straining on the body, its a rare Goldman that doesn’t look like an extra from a Viking documentary. In addition, there aren’t many who don’t have a story-map of scars across their skin from various misadventures.

⌛for a sleep headcanon

Up until year three, Dahlia was trying her very hardest to just not sleep. There were too many people around for her to risk transformation, and she just plain didn’t want to. Why should she sleep and risk all the negative that came with it?

But then Talbott appeared, and gave her an option - and she became an animagus.

It was such a huge risk, considering Sítheach legacies were completely outlawed from becoming animagi centuries ago. There would have been no trial for her if she had been found out. But for the chance to rest peacefully, to sleep through the night without the gnawing fear that she would have hurt people or destroyed the life she’d built in the magical world, for the way it muffled the Call to the quietest whisper at the edge of her consciousness - it was more than worth it to her. And she gained a confident along the way :>!!

💕 for a love headcanon

Oh What a disaster she is. On one hand, Dahlia is a master of under-the-table flirting that leaves you breathless and asking questions. If she’s interested romantically, she lets you know in actions rather than words - singing a specific song in your general area, dressing slightly differently around you, making special note and adjusting accordingly. But the second you actually do something overt in response?? An absolute mess

All of a sudden words aren’t working and she can’t look anywhere without flutters - she has no idea what to do with her hands, and often seems almost scared to touch whoever she’s interacting with even if she was holding their hand or dancing with them only a moment ago

(remind me to talk about my ideas for how she and Merula first begin to realise their feelings because it’s a thing I wanna expand on :>!!!)

💣 for a stress headcanon

Unfortunately Dahlia’s approach to stress is pretty similar to her approach to most emotions she doesn’t want - repression. Just ignore it and it’ll go away eventually!

When she can’t deal with a buzzing mind, too full of thoughts and worries, she does something until she’s exhausted - fistfights the dummies in the duelling room, runs until she can’t anymore, anything really. Just so long as it drives her out of her head.

😵 for a sickness headcanon

Oh Dahlia is almost always in the hospital wing - before she learnt episkey, she was a regular due to her constantly getting scrapes and bruises she just paid no attention to at all until the teachers forced her to get them looked at. She doesn’t get viruses or bacterial illnesses very often, but when she does it’s denial city - what do you mean I can’t go to class it’s just a runny nose and a cough I’m fine

🤲 for a religious headcanon

The Goldman’s aren’t religious per se, but there are some folk-superstitions that stick. There’s a horseshoe over their door, and lavender in the pillows - and not one of them will ever set foot in a faerie circle.

🏡 for a home headcanon

When they first bought their property, the family house was in shambles. Dahlia’s mother and father worked on it together, her mother doing the physical placing of new beams and other physical elements while her father handled the magical parts. It became sort of a patchwork tower, adding bits as they needed them - it doesn’t make sense per se, but it’s still home. And at the end of the day, it was the only place Dahlia felt secure for the longest time.

🍬 for a family headcanon

Mama Goldman is a 7′2 absolute beast of a lady who can and will kick your ass if you give her reason to. She’s known as one of the most dangerous members of the Sítheach legacy, constantly alert and never unarmed.

She’s also the dork who looked at a florists son, a big nerd who would Not Stop Rambling to the pretty and ripped lady who agreed to go get coffee with him about how muggle understanding of plant families could influence potion making and thought “Oh I can’t not marry him”

Dahlia is very much a mamma’s girl in a lot of ways

💼 for a work headcanon

In the future, Dahlia finds employment as an instructor for an elective course available to aurors in training! Hand to hand, escapism and muggle interactions are all handled in her classroom ^-^

⛈️ for a sadness headcanon

Okay so

At the beginning of the canon storyline, it’s been two years since Jacob has vanished. The likelihood of missing persons returning to their families decreases by the hour - something the Goldman’s would definitely know.

Dahlia believes Jacob is dead all the way up until he appears again. They all do. They buried an empty grave for him, they mourned, and as the years passed they moved on.

It utterly destroys Dahlia to know Jacob is alive, for two reasons; the first is that she stopped looking for him, they all did - during her investigation of the vaults all she was searching for was a body to bury. The second is that he reappears right as there’s strife amongst the family that he knows nothing about. Hell the summer before he’s found she buries her uncle.All she knows is that she couldn’t handle mourning him again.

😡 for an anger headcanon

Anger isn’t something Dahlia feels like she’s allowed. It’s too dangerous, too much of a risk for her to hold on to something like that because anger leads to adrenaline, and adrenaline leads to the change, and the change leads to bloodshed-

but oh, sometimes she just can’t help it. There’s so much anger that simmers below her constraints, bitterness at how she’s treated by ministry and adults and frustration at herself for her fear and closed-off nature. Sometimes she just can’t bottle it, and when that happens she usually takes it out of a training dummy. Better than taking it out on a person.

💩 for a ridiculous headcanon

The real reason Dahlia never actually met her DADA teacher before Rakepick was because it always took place during the time of the day she was most tired, so she would just sleep through it every time.

What? She’s got teachers permission and already knew basically everything being taught. It was fiiiiiiiiiine

🌼 for a happiness headcanon

In quiet moments alone in her room, Dahlia enjoys playing the guitar. She can play half a dozen love ballads, a handful of old folk songs, a couple popular pop songs. It’s what she does when she feels safe to lose herself.

After a couple of years of friendship with Talbott, he’s the first person she feels like she can play in front of while he’s visiting over the summer. He’s quiet as she does so, usually absorbed in whatever else it is that he’s got in his hands, most often a piece of writing. It’s a part of their mutual understanding that they don’t interrupt each other, but that they’re simply content in the company.It’s nice, after spending so long afraid of contact, to just share one of the tiniest parts of yourself that never ordinarily sees the light of day

#Asks!!#long post tw #jkbhjv . he c k thank you so much for enabling me this was so fun ;A;!!!

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kasnoyoullgetintrouble · 5 years

Text

On Maters Related to Love- WIP

(I don’t know when I will finish this but I thought I might as well post what I have so that I won’t forget about it, so take my half finished oneshot about how lovable Zevran is)

Contrary to popular belief amongst their rag tag crew of misfits, witches, and other undesirables, Zevran and Valonyla’s relationship wasn’t just sex. If Valonyla had to put it on a scale of sorts, she would say at least 47% of their relationship was about sex. For some that number was too high, for others it was to low but in Valonyla’s opinion, it was just right. Their chemistry was just right, Zevran’s wiliness to try new things was just right, the pleasure was just right, everything was just right. That wasn’t to say, however, the sex was bad or average, the exact opposite actually. The sex was absolutely mind blowing, just as Zevran had proclaimed, but it was the ‘no strings attached’ policy the came with it that made the whole dalliance just right for Valonyla.

Valonyla wasn’t looking for a steady relationship, especially not after what happened to Nelaros back in Denerim. Granit, the two city elves never really had a ‘steady relationship’ since they had literally just met before the incident but it was something Valonyla had desperately hoped would come with their marriage. She had hoped to just settle down, to start going steady, and to begin the family she had so desperately prayed for when she was young and bright eyed. But what did she get? She got nothing but bloodshed and the fate of all of Fereldan placed on her shoulders.

So, what if she didn’t want something ‘steady’ now anyways? Valonyla didn’t want it and according to Wynne, she shouldn’t have it either. As a Grey Warden she needed to stand vigilant and strong, a beacon for hope and the warrior of peace. She needed to place the lives of others above her own because that was what she, albeit begrudgingly, signed up for. And although it would have been nice if Duncan were to have explained all this to her earlier, rather than have some old bitty from the Circle do it instead, Valonyla decided not to brood over it like she once had after meeting Wynne.

It was because of all these things that Valonyla gave so little fucks on how others felt about her and Zevran’s relationship because it wasn’t inherently wrong and Valonyla, in her opinion, deserved some pleasure from the whole Blight ordeal. They were friends (at best), who bonded over slightly crude jokes, their infatuation with knives, and their mutual approach to casual sex. If something happened to Zevran Valonyla would, no doubt, be sad over the lose of a good friend but she could live on and continue her duty as a Grey Warden because of what they were, friends. The sex was an enjoyable side benefit that Valonyla would fight anyone over if they ever dared to tell her how ‘inappropriate’ it was considering her ‘duty.’

It was this ‘duty’ that kept her from many things. A warm bed, decent food, a roof over her head and, most of all, companionship. Sure, Valonyla had the rest of her misfits to lean on but that wasn’t companionship, it was trust and a few unfortunate events. Though the terms were rather similar, companionship meant more to Valonyla because it was a choice she had made to be a part of. Trusting someone was easy given the right circumstances but finding someone you enjoyed spending time with was difficult, especially so considering Valonyla’s circumstances.

And that was what made up the 53% of her and Zevran’s relationship, companionship. It didn’t mean they were dating or romantically involved, as Wynne would put it, but from the outside looking in it rather seemed that way. Valonyla didn’t want it to be love, because love was just too much for her now already cluttered plate. Love was the knotted ball of yarn Wynne joked about herself unraveling as she knitted stockings or the glittering necklace that adorned Morrigan’s chest. Love was everything Valonyla would rather push away into the deepest crevices of her mind and burry with thoughts and memories she hoped to forget someday because it was, ultimately, pretty and complicated.

But companionship was different. Companionship with Zevran was late night poetry readings, which where done in outrageous Antivan accents that left Valonyla laughing her way into tears late in the night. Companionship was Zevran sweeping her up into a dance around the campfire, only to look like idiots in the process because they needed an excuse to touch, to hold one another. It was also the two bickering over which boot, leather or fur, was better just because hearing the other’s voice was comforting. It was… well you get the gist.

Although it might seem like love it was, under no circumstances, love. Valonyla forbid it because she did not want something as complicated as love in her life after all the shit she had been through and she was sure Zevran was no different in that regard. Of course, as fate may have it however, things were bound to change.

They had just gotten done with one of their little ‘romantic escapades’ in Valonyla’s tent, leaving her exhausted but buzzing from orgasm. Had they done this earlier in their relationship Zevran would have been gone by now, suited up and ready for battle as he marched off towards his own tent for the evening, now not so much. Valonyla laid sated and naked, covers wrapped around her hips leaving her chest exposed to the amber light emitting from the lantern beside her. Zevran, on the other hand, was leaning over Valonyla, his face hidden in shadows but his golden eyes shining with curiosity as he traced patterns over her skin.

Now, Zevran chose to stay. Valonyla wasn’t sure when it started happening, but she didn’t particularly care either.

His fingers traced tantalizingly against her skin from the soft spot behind her ear that made Valonyla’s toes curl, down to the dip in her collarbone and then to the valley between her breasts. There was something reverent in Zevran’s touch, even as he mapped out every scar that marred her chest or belly, his touch stayed tender and soft. It was a strange feeling, something Valonyla had never been accustomed to before now, with anyone. Anytime someone got this intimate with her, their touches were heated and passionate like a roaring fire in the winter and when everything was all said and done the fire was subdued and all that was left was the cold. What Zevran was doing made her feel special, maybe even important. A part of Valonyla whispered she should stop him, that Zevran was crossing a line she needed to keep for the two of them to allow this casual fun to continue with no strings attached, but it was quickly smothered when Zevran placed a gentle kiss one of her nastier scars on her abdomen.

She liked it, Valonyla really liked it, but she just couldn’t understand why.

“V, might I ask you a question?” Zevran whispered against her pale skin, his breath sending a slight tremor up her spine.

Valonyla looked down at Zevran, giving her response little thought because in her eyes, it didn’t need any. “Of course.”

Zevran smiled at her lack of hesitance before his eyes dipped back down to her abdomen. Following his gaze, Valonyla’s mouth formed a small “O” as she realized what his question might be. He was looking, and now tracing, the small but angry looking scar located directly above her hip bone. It was a nasty looking thing that Valonyla had come to terms with long ago that it would never simply ‘go away’ like Soris had told her. The skin puckered and appeared misshapen in its heap of discolored and mutilated flesh leaving a permeant eyesore for all to see.

When she glanced up to see Zevran’s reaction, however, it made her eyes go a bit wide and her chest tighten. His expression didn’t appear disgusted but instead looked painfully sad, worried even. She reasoned he was just imagining the pain behind such a horrendous wound, but the way his eyes shimmered and his lips frowned told her otherwise. It told Valonyla he really truthfully cared, and the thought was almost physically painful because that wasn’t what their relationship was about, or at least it shouldn’t be.

But, like most things that bothered Valonnyla in her life, she pushed the thought into the back of her mind and averted her gaze from his handsome face and back to her abdomen.

“You want to know how I got that beauty?” Valonyla asked, masking her alarm from earlier with her usual sarcasm.

Zevran laughed with that stupid yet insanely charming laugh he reserved for their evenings together, which nearly left Valonyla undone. The laugh was like silk against smooth skin and the feeling of wine slithering down one’s throat, deliciously sinful. Valonyla thanked Andraste in that moment that the sound had graced her ears yet again, even if it did make her seem a little foolish.

“Yes, very much so,” Zevran paused, brow furrowing in thought before he turned to look at Valonyla. “Unless it is something you wish not discuss then, I won’t pry.”

Valonyla blinked at Zevran owlishly for a moment, her mind and heart racing under the sudden onset of emotions. Shockingly enough it didn’t feel like Zevran was prying, even if the scar was

#zevran #dragon age zevran #dragon age #dragon age 2 #dragon age inquisition #female warden #warden tabris #female warden x Zevran #oneshot

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littlewanderer1998 · 3 years

Text

Lucas and Cole’s Pink Sky

The sky is upset and its cries about to pour down soon. Lucas looked up and the thunders began to roar than usual. It was not like this when they first discovered this spot in their neighborhood. His friend Cole, an adventure lover who would want to be a ranger someday introduced him to it. Every afternoon, when the sun is about to kiss the hills and the sky turned in a cotton candy pink, they would climb up the only narra tree on the field filled with makahiyas. With their own expedition journal, drawing different adventures they would like to encounter someday.

“Someday, I would like to be a storm chaser. When everyone is fearing destruction, I will be the one to study it!” Lucas looked at his friend’s big brown eyes who can’t believe with what he just said. He drew himself on their journal, facing a humungous tornado.

“Wow! I never knew you had it in you Lucas! Okay, while you are chasing storms, then I will be the protector of the forest from bad and greedy people!” Cole stood up on the branch they are sitting and put both of his hands on his waist beaming with smile. The light from the pink sky and peering sun illuminated Cole’s face. Focusing on it, Lucas thought he was beautiful, full of ambition, and dreams in life. It was just another normal day for him and his friend, dreaming about the future they are about to hold.

Cole left a note in his notebook the other day in class. He was supposed to meet him on their spot for today. 5:30 passed and Lucas watched as the clouds began to look heavy. There is still no sign of his friend which is very unusual because he was never late. Especially, if he was the one who tells them to meet up on the dot.

“Rain, rain go away. Come again another day. We like to climb the tree today. Rain, rain go away.” Lucas looks up as he began to shake his foot on the ground while clenching the sidewalk he was sitting. He glanced from left to right looking from afar. Not even a shadow of the one he was waiting for showed up.

The thunders let out a loud scream and the raindrops fell hard. Lucas zoomed straight ahead on their tree while he puts his bag on top of his head shielding himself from the cold. He checked his watch and it was pass 6 o’clock, he is sure his mom would scold him for staying out this late. Still hoping to see his friend, he waited. How would he call himself a storm chaser someday if with this only little rain he would give up right? The rain stopped and the sky turned into pitch dark but there is still no Cole who would greet him with his usual “Ahoy friend!”

There are no stars that night, only the lamp posts guided Lucas on his way home. Disappointed, he went straight to his room not even hearing the lecture of his mom about coming home late. He hugged his pillow and lay on his bed. His mom slowly opened the door and she saw her small Lucas on his bed then heaved a huge sigh as she enters the room.

“What happened dear? Did you fight with Cole?” she puts her hand on top of his head and stroke his hair. He heard his mom’s gentle voice and began to peek at her from his pillow.

“Cole did not come to our spot today. He promised he would be there.” Tears are now rolling on his cheeks, and he is having a hard time breathing out the words, so they all tumbled down to one another and escaped between his cries.

“Oh honey, maybe he did not mean to upset you like this. Maybe something came up for him to not meet you as he promised to.” She hugged him tightly and gently rub his back trying to calm him down.

“But you said promises are not meant to be broken right?” breaking from the hug, he looked at his mom with disbelief. He cannot imagine that she is allowing someone to break his promise even though she told him a hundred times to never break his to someone.

“Even though we do not want them to, sometimes they do honey. But that doesn’t mean they don’t love us. Maybe there might be a reason why they broke it.” His mom explained in a calm and nurturing voice.

Lucas did not reply. All he can think of is how his best friend forgot about him. He is lonely, angry, and worried at the same time. This is his first time experiencing a bunch of emotions all at once and he cannot seem to handle it. Everything is too much.

“I’ll wait for you on our dining room. Let’s eat dinner now honey. I cooked your favorite Adobo.” The door closes. Adobo does not seem to be the answer to his problem right now. How will he find his best friend? Is he hiding somewhere?

Later that night with those heavy thoughts in his mind, he keeps on changing positions to have a peaceful sleep, but his body betrayed him. His senses heightened as he feels the cold breeze coming from his electric fan. He hears the ticking of the clock, the paper flipping from left to right, the rustling of leaves from his window, and the chasing cats on his house’s roof. He can feel the wind that night blew harsher than usual, and the trees seem to knock on his window. Inviting him to look outside. His electric fan is not helping either because it was also competing with the other noises. The papers on his desk are dancing through the air of it. It became intense until he heard a whooshing sound and the next thing he knew; his papers were scattered on the floor.

He does not want to open his eyes. For all he knew there is a white lady standing over his window looking at him. But curiosity overflowed in his brain, so he decided to carefully stand. As he looked around, he saw nothing but the papers on the floor. Lucas picked up the papers and found Cole’s note about the meet up that was supposed to happen hours ago. He felt veins popping on his temples when he saw it, but something was on that note that he did not get to see before. There is an arrow pointing for him to peek at the back.

At the back of the paper, there was a poem that says:

If I’m not on our spot,

I’m in a place where the cross is red,

And the beds are white.

Now a journey for you to plot,

Where a dog barks with dread,

And a street was flooded wiped,

White capped people will not let you in,

But my room is close when your birthday begins.

Suddenly, an imaginary glowing light bulb appeared in his mind, and it was then that he knew what his friend means. He was challenged on a journey. A quest he needs to accomplish on his own. Ready to face it with his game face on, he grabs his backpack and removed everything inside it in one drop. He gathered everything he will need: a bottled water, Boy Bawang, Cheeze Curls, and an egg sandwich, journal and a pen for recording his adventure, a stress ball to play with, wallet, extra shirt, handkerchief, some mints put in a Ziplock bag, phone in case of emergency, and the improvised map he drew after reading his best friend’s poem.

Everything is set and the only thing he needs is to write a note for his mom. He placed it in a scented envelope and carefully slip it in his parent’s bedroom door. Lucas only uses his scented envelopes in special occasions, and he can say that this one by far is the most important event ever happened within his 11 years of existence here on earth.

Before he opened the door, he let out a huge sigh and convinced himself, “I can do this!”. He turned the knob and a dark street welcomed him. It is only 5 o’ clock in the morning when he looked at his watch. The lamp in front of his house kept turning on and off. His heart is thumping like crazy as if it wants to separate from his body. Lucas knew this challenge is going to be tough especially for a boy like him. But with his heart on his sleeves, he tightened his grip on his backpack and took his first step outside.

He walked, and walked, and walked. The street is like a never-ending line. He calculated the time he will be in his friend’s location; it will take 8 hours if he will walk this slow. So, he picked up his pace and began to jog. Everything was going smoothly except for the fact that he is growing tired, and he is covered with sweat. The hard rock heavy bag almost dragged him from walking, and he is losing his balance. He passed by Cole’s house, the playground near it, the field, and their spot. Looking at it appeared to be melancholic around this time.

Hours have passed and he can feel himself slowing down on walking. He needs to take a break so he decided he will run one full blast and rest once he reaches the corner street. However, he did not know that there was an uninvited guest waiting for him in that corner. The big white stray dog growled louder than a motor and showed its pointy sharp teeth. Ready to attack any minute and tear Lucas into pieces.

“What should I do?” He muttered to himself. He immediately scanned the street for protection. Nothing! There is nothing to protect him! He began to panic as the dog continued to bark furiously at him. It was backing away while walking around him as if examining him. Then, he noticed something odd. The dog was poorly hurt. He can see the red slashed wound near its right foot, and it looks painful. Then his eyes wandered next to the dog’s tail. It was tucked between its hind legs while its both feet were shaking. The dog was obviously just scared. A wave of empathy filled Lucas and he cannot help but wipe a tear that escaped from his left eye.

“Oh, poor boy. Who’s this cruel to hurt you? Don’t worry I won’t harm you.” He bended on his knee the same as the dog’s level and did not look straight into its eye. He remembered reading it before online. Slowly, inch by inch, he walked with cautious attempting to be near the dog. The dog is now shaking, and it has a pair of sad eyes. He waited for a minute before the dog walked warily towards him. It started sniffing him and began to wag its tail when he saw Lucas taking his egg sandwich out from his bag. “Here, you can have this. You need this more.” Lucas said, while feeding his favorite sandwich to his new friend.

“Why are you here alone? Where are your friends?” He whispered softly to the dog, but it only looked up at him with confusion in its eyes while it was trying to process what he just said.

“You know what? I’m traveling on my own too. Because I’m looking for my friend.” Lucas then started telling the whole story to the dog from the beginning up until the current part of his journey. Not minding whether the dog understands it or not, he was very eager in telling his story. As he looked at his watch for the time, he knew he needed to leave.

“It was nice to meet you! I need to go now my friend. Goodluck with your own journey.” He was sad on parting with the dog, but he is already behind his target time to reach his friend. So, he stood up and walk without looking back at the dog. He knew that once he looks back, he will be tempted to stay with it for a long time, so he continued on his journey. Little did he knew that his newly gained four feet friend was following him from behind.

It was at 12 o clock when Lucas decided he will take a break for a while. Unlike yesterday, he can see the sun highly up and brighter. He was sweating like crazy, and his mouth is all dried up. So, he got his bottled water from his bag and raised it up on his mouth. However, someone snatched it away from him before he could get the taste of the cold thirst-quenching drink.

“Hey! That’s mine!” Lucas hurriedly tried to catch up with the boy who just stole his bottled water. And as if it were a miracle, he heard a loud bark. It was the stray dog he befriended earlier. It was like a cheetah zooming towards its prey from behind. The next thing he knew, the dog was on top of the back of the boy holding his water in its mouth.

“How come you’re here?! Did you follow me? Oh, thank you!” The dog walked towards him and handed him the bottle. It was panting hard, and he can see how much energy got drained from it. Lucas shared the water in the bottle with the dog. The dog happily obliged itself and hungrily drank the water. It perked its ears and tail with excitement of the cold drink refreshing it.

“Hmm… now that you are following me, I should give you a name! Oh, I know! Narra! You are going to be called Narra like the tree with its strong branches and trunk!” Narra liked his name right away and licked Lucas’ face with full of adoration.

Together, they continued the journey. They saw tall buildings standing side by side to each other, stores that offer colorful things and delicious food, and busy people walking as if they are running out of time. He wanted to share about the new world he witnessed that day with his best friend. Lucas can’t wait to see Cole’s reaction about the things he is about to tell him.

Suddenly, as they began to get closer to Cole’s location, the clouds covered the sun, and everything went dark. Thunders started roaring and birds flew around seeking for shelter. As he looks up, the rain is signaling Lucas that it is going to fall hard.

“Oh no! Let’s go Narra!” but as soon as he said this, the rain started falling. Every drop seemed to echo, and Lucas’ clothes are now dripping wet. Narra barked at him and pointed at a small shed near the Seven-Eleven store. They waited but it looks too impossible for it to stop soon.

“You’re wet son. Do you have an exchange of clothes?” An old fat lady asked him. Her hair was neatly tied in a bun and he can see her one and only tooth with her huge smile. She was wearing a yellow dress while holding a large woven tray filled with candies.

“It’s okay. I brought an extra t-shirt.” Lucas proudly took his shirt out of his bag and show it to the old lady in front of her.

“Wow! What a responsible boy you are! How come you are here all alone in a big old rainy city? Where is your mom?” She motioned her hand on an empty stool next to her asking Lucas to sit with her.

“I am looking for my friend. He is in that tall white building over there.” Lucas sat next to the lady while pointing at the direction he was talking about.

“You’re at the near end of your journey then! That’s so close from here. However, you have to wait for the rain to stop first. What happened to your friend by the way?” she curiously asked.

“I’m not really sure. All I know is he left me a note asking me to go to where he is. By the way what’s your name? I’m Lucas.” For a minute, Lucas became a bit worried about what the lady said to his best friend.

“Oh! My name is Martha. I’m a street vendor here selling candies for five years.” She offered a candy to Lucas, but he politely declined it. Instead, he grabbed his Boy Bawang in his bag and opened it.

“Five years?! That is so long! Do you want one?” He then offered his Boy Bawang to the lady.

“Of course! I wouldn’t say no to food.” She gave her palm to Lucas. He observed the variety of lines in her palms as if telling different stories, she encountered. He then shared the Boy bawang with her.

“Martha do you have a best friend?” Lucas looked at her in the eyes. Martha gazed at the two innocent eyes who is looking up at her hoping for an encouraging answer.

“I once did. But the thing is, as you grow old there are times that you may lost them, and you just have to move on with your life.” She gave a real answer. No more and not less than what she has been through. She knew Lucas is a smart kid and smart kids do not want to be treated as such.

“What’s the name of your ex-best friend then? How come grown-ups always say about moving on stuff? Aren’t you supposed to fight for what’s making you happy?”

“Sometimes Lucas, life has hidden monsters along the way and sometimes these monsters may also be the person you are walking with. In an adult world, you have to take care of yourself first or else you’ll lose that.” She pointed at Lucas’ heart.

“Then I will just not grow up! Even though I can’t be a storm chaser anymore I’ll just stay with my best friend forever.”

“Oh honey, you still have a lot of things to learn in life. I know that you know you cannot not grow up just like that. One way or another, you will. You just have to be prepared for that.”

“I will! Cole and I have a strong bond and not even growing up can tear us apart. You’ll see it! Every year we will visit you to prove it.”

“Promise?” Martha offered her pinky finger to Lucas amused about what he just said.

“Promise” Lucas sealed the promise smiling and just like that, the rain stopped, and the sun began to peek at the clouds again. Narra barked at him and he then knew he needed to go to his final destination.

“Martha, I need to go now! Thank you for accompanying us!” He stood up and waved his hand.

“Don’t forget to go to a comfort room and change your shirt!”

“I will! Bye!” Lucas said as he was running without looking back. Rushing towards the place where his best friend is. Where his happiness is.

A few minutes of running and walking, a tall white building greeted him. It was humungous just as what he thought. Lucas wondered how he will be able to find his friend while avoiding all the people in a white cap and uniform. He then saw a sign “NO PETS ALLOWED.” With a drawing of a dog and a red cross sign over it.

“Narra, I’m so sorry. Even if I want you to meet Cole you must stay here. Just wait for me okay?” As if Narra understood, he backed away and sat on a corner. Lucas then hurriedly went inside the building before a guard notices him.

Cole said that his room is near his birth date and Lucas’ birthday is on June 30. So, it is either Cole is on the 3rd or 6th floor of this building. He narrowed down the rooms he is going to look for. He then learned that these specific rooms are 305, 307, 629, and 631. Elevators are dangerous to use right now because once he saw it there is an employee inside who is assisting everyone who goes in it. He is more likely to get caught there so he had no other choice but to rush on the stairs and go to the 3rd floor first.

As busy like it was on the first floor, the third floor was no different. Everyone was running around and rushing. There are people on benches waiting for their numbers to be called. He began looking for the rooms and as soon as he saw it, he was disappointed for the thought that none of it was the room he expected it to be. The first room, room 305 was an optometrist’s office while the second room, room 307 was just a storage room for medical supplies. As he was about to go out, a nurse called him out.

“Hello there little boy. Where’s your mommy? Are you lost?” He can’t think of anything that moment, so he just nodded.

“Don’t worry. Come here let’s find her.” The nurse took his hand and as they were about to walk, he lets go and run the other way around faster than he could ever run. As he went around the corner to go to the stairs, he noticed a janitor’s cleaning trolley and hid inside it for a while. He then heard the nurse’s heels coming.

“Where did that boy go?” Lucas heard the nurse went upstairs calling for him many times but after her voice fade, the trolley began moving. The janitor is now moving him on an unfamiliar place, and he does not see it because the cover is blocking his view.

Then he tried to think and listen to his surroundings. The busy like noise turned down and all he can hear now is the music from the janitor’s earphones. He remembered the song. It was one of Cole’s favorites, “You’re My Best Friend” by Queen. He remembered how fun it was blasting the song on his room while they are dancing like no one exists in the world other than them. The moment when the bridge of the song came, the trolley stopped. He heard the janitor opening a door and closing it and as soon as he was comfortable enough that the janitor was no longer there, he went out.

He saw that he was in front of the men’s comfort room. So, he walked away and look at the sign where he is already. But there are no signs, instead there are only doors on the corridor but even the doors do not have a room number on them.

It is now past 6:00 pm, he can see from the windows that sky is turning into yellow orange now. If Cole were here, he would be delighted to see such view. Knowing that he was this high up, he is sure he is near on the 6th floor now, so he continued up until the last door and saw that he was on the fifth floor. Two more flight of stairs and he will be able to see his friend!

So, Lucas wasted no time and ran his way on the 6th floor. It was this time now. His heart is pounding like crazy while he is now in front of room 629. He slowly turned the knob and peeked inside. Instead of Cole, an old man welcomed him. He was holding a picture and looking at it intently.

Lucas was about to close again the door when he heard the old man started talking without looking at him.

“You know kid, it is rude to open someone’s room without planning on visiting them.” The old man smiled but still not looking at Lucas. He is now watching outside the window; the yellow orange light covered his face.

“I’m sorry, I was just looking for my best friend.” Lucas closed the door behind him and began to walk towards the old man’s bed. He was thin and very wrinkly. If a tornado is close to them, Lucas thinks the old man would be taken away right away because he looks like he weights the same as a paper.

“Oh, lucky! You have a best friend? You know, I once had a best friend too, but I lost her.” He said while looking at the picture. Lucas grab a chair nearest to him and sat on it.

“How come?” He tried to take a peek on the picture but on it there was only a faded black and white playground.

“We used to play here as kids. Never knew one day, life can be harsh when you are an adult to the point where you can lose someone so important to you.” He now looked at the old man’s face. He may not be crying but his eyes were sad looking at the picture.

“You lose someone important just because you are an adult?” Lucas curiously asked. Because if it is like that, then just like what he told to the old lady, he really does not want to be an adult anymore. Even if it is meant not being a storm chaser.

“It’s not like that kid. Sometimes there are hidden monsters along the way in life. It can be the person you are walking with but most of the time it can also be this.” The old man pointed at Lucas’ heart.

Then everything that the old lady said on the waiting shed near convenience store flashbacked on him. Being an adult is a lot to handle. The other said I might lose my heart along the way now the other one is saying my it can be a monster too once I become an adult. Lucas did not respond to what the old man said because of everything that is going on his mind.

“Well, have the best of luck on finding your best friend!” the old man touched Lucas shoulder and smiled. He saw the yellow orange sky behind the man turning into pink. It is Cole’s and his favorite sky. He then smiled to the old man and bid goodbye. This time he knew where his friend was and as he opened the door on room 631, the room seemed to be bursting in pink color from the sky. Cole is looking out the window and his back is facing Lucas. It was beautiful. Lucas did not notice the big hospital equipment around Cole, neither did he noticed Cole’s new shaved head. The only thing he is looking right now is his best friend. The Cole he was too afraid to lose, his buddy.

He slowly walked to Cole but before he took his first step, his best friend turned around and saw him. His smile glowed the room.

“I knew you’d make it.” Cole looked directly into Lucas’ eyes amazed and full of delight. Lucas then walked straight to his friend’s bed.

“What happened? Why are you here?” Tears are starting to form on his eyes, but he did not let it happen. He wanted to show Cole how strong he was to handle this surprise. It was then he noticed how tiny Cole looked in his hospital gown and the hair that used to be as black as a coal was now gone.

“It’s fine. I’m alright Lucas. You’re here! You cracked my poem and found my room congrats!” He hugged his friend tightly. Lucas looked at their expedition journal. There is a new entry which what Cole drew. Cole and Lucas sitting on a branch at their favorite narra tree; the cotton candy pink sky, their favorite sky was beautifully painted as the background.

“I drew that while I was waiting for you.” For Lucas it looked pretty. He can see the weak strokes his friend’s fragile hands made and touch it. He sat on Cole’s bed and told him his adventure from the beginning where he met Narra, the promise with the old lady, up until the old man in room 629.

It feels like the first time they went up on that narra tree together. Two friends sharing stories of their different adventure; one with independence and the other with bravery. Their laughter and giggles filled the room and together they sighed and smiled as they look at the pink sky from Cole’s hospital window. It was still majestically beautiful.

“Do you think our friendship will last for eternity?” Lucas asked without taking his eyes off from the pink sky.

“Do you really have to ask that?” Cole looked at Lucas. Together they smiled and they both knew the answer. That day, the pink sky witnessed Cole’s and Lucas’ promise to a never-ending friendship.

#friendship shortstory

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iphoenixrising · 7 years

Text

Dr!Tim: London Bridge is Falling Down

Anon asked: How would his vigilante boyfriends react were Doctor!Tim to actually get hurt at some point? Be it just by a simple mugger or even accidentally via their own hands? Up for any more of your lovely drabbles?

Second Anon asked: Up for some more Doctor!Tim? Maybe something soft and fluffy this time? If Tim came home from a long, long shift and just crawled over into his boyfriends laps asking for a bath and some warm cuddles? Where could it go..?

Arkaedia wanted Dr. Tim in the field a bit and totally had the bridge idea, so I’m covering three in one with this little thing. We needed bad ass Tim, some hurt!Tim, and some soft and fluffy. Welp, here’s my attempt and making it all come out in the wash.

(FYI: @satire-please, @poison-basil, and @the-sky-is-a-lie are all my babes to read this when the muse was being mean)

Ride-alongs are his and now for something completely different.

It’s a chance to get out of the hospital, to ride with the EMTs, to take a chance looking for bolt holes and hidey places where criminals, victims, and nice vigilantes might, you know, hang out. (And if he totally has those spots mapped from his time running the streets of Gotham, well, then there’s that.) Besides, Kerry and Hailey, his partners for the night (and the same EMTs that kind of knew the night company he kept since that one time with Robin almost dying had him flagging down the ambulance for a bag of O pos), were so on to him about having a boyfriend that he’s having fun making them guess all the deets.

(But, he did tell them it’s “boyfriends” just to hear Kerry’s mad cackle and get a high-five from Hailey.)

There had been a few instances of need, shortness of breath with a little chest pain and numbness on the side down in the Narrows (yeah, he knows meth when he sees the effects, thanks). A kitchen fire in the Upper East Side neighborhood (his parents had lived here once, lived this life) with a bewildered housewife looking ashamed at leaving the oven on while he bandaged her hand and suggested a trip to the ER for just in case. (Of course not, Harold wouldn’t hear of it).

Even cooler, they’d received a call to swing by Arkham Asylum to check up on Nora Fries (even though he’s been one of the doctors permitted inside the Asylum, and one of the fewer that has taken the weak vitals of Mr. Freeze’s wife, it’s still a creepy place to go) when the power grid blipped for a few seconds. Any time the complex machinery keeping Nora alive in suspended animation has any kind of issues, the administration contacted one of four physicians in the Tri-State area Fries will allow anywhere near her.

Luckily, Dr. Drake is already en route.

Kerry is talking over the radio to the on-call guards at Arkham as they’re half-way across Trigate Bridge, and Hailey is detailing her Princess Serenity Cosplay for this year (and yes, she has the wig because some people do it right. He used to LARP when he had time, so they have plenty to bond about)—

When the first explosion rocks the ambulance, Kerry jerks the wheel hard, the instincts bred from running headlong into typical Gotham catastrophes shown when the ambulance balances precariously on two wheels for long, heart-stopping moments before slamming back down on the pavement, bouncing all three of them around.

The consistent traffic around them, however, not so lucky.

“Hold on!” Kerry turns around to the doctor and second EMT, eyes wide and knuckles white on the wheel.

The first car slamming into the side is poor timing, hitting hard enough to throw the ambulance into oncoming traffic in the other lane, supplies flying all over the place. The next hit is enough to break the windshield, which lets in the sound of screaming and shit just breaking on the bridge all around them.

Even after a toss into some very painful metal cabinets with supplies, Tim is just dazed enough to pick out some very, very not good sounds of heavy iron bending. He sucks in a breath because all the evidence is there.

So many people are going to die (and they might be thrown in that mix). The ambulance is five miles out from Gotham and another three from the island housing Arkham with a whole lot of Atlantic right under them. If supports have been blown, then it’s only a matter of time how long the structure would hold.

They had to get people off as fast as possible; they had to assess as many wounded as they could and get off this fucking bridge.

“Everyone all right?! Kerry! Tim!” Hailey shoves the gurney off her legs, swimming up from a pile of gauze pads. Dazed but functional because he’s the only one in the ambulance that’s come to realize oh shit time has kicked in.

(Then again, he is the pet doctor to a horde of terrifying vigilantes. That just gives him an edge in the ‘blow shit up’ department.)

He climbs up and over the front seat, looking at the blood on Kerry’s face from the glass.

“We need to get out there,” the EMT is saying, hands shaky. “Whatever happened, people are going to be hurt—”

“Explosion,” he fills in both EMTs in while flicking a penlight in her eyes, happy for no concussion and, you know, being alive (for now). “Something exploded on or under the bridge. We need to assess who we can, load up, and get the hell off as soon as possible.”

“I’ll phone Dispatch, but I have no idea how the mainland wouldn’t have heard it already,” Kerry shakes herself, finally lets go of the wheel. The soft burr of accent soothes over the resounds crash and sharp, biting sound of twisting metal. He grins a little and quickly puts a few pieces of tape against the cut high on her forehead, glad there was no concussion to worry about. Once they get outside the ambulance doors, though, all bets are off.

“Supplies,” Hailey mutters to herself, snatches up satchels, stuffing them full so each EMT can carry two-at-a-time. As usual, Doc Drake has his own bag around his shoulders, impressively staying with him through that little shift in gravity. “Okay! We get out and start prelims. What’s our radius? I mean, we can’t cover the whole bridge.”

“As far as we can,” he takes his time to scan outside the broken windshield, already reaching for the door, “I’m going to take off, get as far as I can, so don’t wait for me. You two take as many as this rig can hold and get to safety. I’ll hitch a ride with someone before it goes.”

“I don’t like that idea,” Hailey fills in, coming up between the chairs to give her partner a once-over, handing over supplies.

Kerry seconds that sentiment, “there’s no guarantee you’ll get another ride, Tim!”

“Someone needs to get between both points.” And yes, it’s reasonable considering half the bridge if pretty much gone and the other half is full of overturned cars, people panicking, broken concrete, and more chaos than he’s ever seen (and that? Is saying something). “There’s probably another ambulance somewhere further down anyway, so it’s fine. If not, then there’s plenty of functional cars already on the road.” His jaw tight, tingling with get ready, Tim eyes the two EMTs also with game faces on. (Really, all the fuckery that goes on in Gotham bonds people.) “We get out, get who we can, hit up as much trauma care as possible, and get the hell gone. Agreed?”

Hailey grins at him, heads to the back of the rig, readying the gurney to pull out. Kerry just sighs a little and gives him a decidedly arched brow, “sorry, Doc, doesn’t look like you’ll be gettin’ that easy night after all.”

“Believe it or not, I’m okay being busy,” he banters back so they both have a second of normal before the time to rock, and lets her call in to dispatch.

He takes a breath to prepare himself for whatever he’s going to face, and finally rips open the passenger side door as Hailey knuckles-down and shoves the damaged back doors open right with him, throwing themselves into the fray.

As expected, it’s fucking chaos.

The Trigate Bridge is the third longest on the East Coast, spanning from Gotham, breaking off to have a double-lane highway to the smaller island housing Arkham, and continuing on to the mainland near Somerset (thus Trigate, three directions). The explosion(s) were apparently meant to take out key supports and maybe send thousands of people into the water below with a mass of debris and oncoming death. As far as he can see, spans of the bridge on the north side and east have felt the burn. (Two sides the bridge were set with explosive charges…) Literally. Hunks of bridge and probably crucial structure have already been sacrificed to the murky water below, and the loud, creaking groan is only a punctuation on how close the whole thing is from giving way. There’s no way to assess how close they were to impending doom.

However, the next layer of oh shit are the vehicular accidents lining the bridge due of the explosion. On both sides of the ambulance, there’s screaming, burning, crumbling holy fuck going on.

Tim takes in a deep breath, the smoke starting to fill the air, gauging the areas of most need that he can immediately see. The plan starts to form even as he’s tapping the special clip on his name tag. (The one Dick switched out last week and thought he wouldn’t, you know, notice.)

“Okay, Kerry gets to stay close and prep as much room as we’ve got,” the doctor turns in a circle, trying to place the immediate need during their very critical time window. “Hailey, take north. I’m going down the east side toward Arkham. Try to get anyone that can drive to start heading back to Gotham. Take anyone that needs transport, stabilize as you can.”

The two EMTs are wide-eyed, looking at the aftermath with professional assessment since horror and fear have to be on the backburner. Hailey squeezes his shoulder before she’s off to the blue SUV turned on it’s top and a teenagers trying to get out the window.

“Promise me!” Kerry snatches his arm before he even moves, “get off this bloody thing before it goes!”

“Scouts honor,” his vision narrows down, mind working with all the evidence and perceptions.

“All right! See you on the other side,” and Kerry is off too, slinging the satchel securely over her shoulder and moving, already gloving up, fast and efficient even with the owfuck. She’s checking on the driver of the car that hit the ambulance in the first place, taking his vitals and pulling the crushed door open with strength alone. A grim smirk is the last thing he’s got, and Tim takes off in the opposite direction, running full tilt through the wreckage, climbing over busted concrete and overturned, empty cars, checking them out before he moves on.

With the blood pounding in his ears and screams echoing all around them on the open water, he’s trying to keep an eye on the damaged bridge, check structural failure so he know about how much time he’s got before more important pieces would start breaking off. (Far out he sees the line of white ships that could very well be the Coast Guard on the way because a little bit of help here would be just fucking stellar).

He’s already gloved up by the time he gets to the car hanging perilously close to the edge of the damaged bridge, the skid marks telling the story on how that happened. A bigger sedan had knocked into the little car, sending it skittering through the protective barriers and almost over. The thing is only precariously out of the water by sheer willpower and the rusty bumper snagged on a broken support line. The driver is terrified, one hand extended over the back where a small, blonde child (like Layla) is clutching a worn-out teddy.

(Cass is on after school babysitting duty. It’s fine, they’re fine. Dick is probably going to be called in to the Police Station once they hear about this. Jay might have woken up with the explosions. Steph is at Mercy and everyone is fine.)

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he talks fast, stepping carefully, already reaching the back door. “I’m right here, and I’m going to get you out. I need you to hurry, okay?”

“Mommy!” The child screams out when the car inches forward, tilting down more to the churning waters below.

“Karmen,” the wide-eyed mother puts on the voice, “take his hand and get out of the car. You need to get out Right. Now.”

The kid is panicking, and he completely understands, but, well, impending doom. The wrong move, the wrong breath, and the thing is going over, taking them and him with it. He moves carefully, gingerly, sweat making its way down his back with how he maps out the right way to keep the thing from going over. “It’s okay, Karmen, right? Hi, my name’s Tim.”

“H-Hi, Doctor Tim,” the child whimpers with tears in her eyes as she’s squishing further back in the leather seat, looking from him to the Atlantic Ocean through the windshield.

“What’s your buddy’s name, Karm?” He gestures to the stuffed animal she’s clutching like a lifeline.

“C-Carl. He’s Carl the Bear.”

“That’s cool. I used to have a Bear I called Robin. Made him a mask and everything.”

She blinks at him and her expressions changes into something like Steph’s right before she calls him the Nerd-Wonder (and yes, he’ll take that title, thank-you very much).

But it’s fine. It’ll be easier to her to jump if she’s laughing at him instead of terrified.

He gingerly pops open both doors on the driver’s side, tries to keep the weight dispersed to the back of the car, “Okay, Karm, time to listen up. I want you, Carl, and your mom to jump out when I give you the signal. I bet you can jump really good, right?”

“Y-Yes. I-I’m a good jumper.”

“Awesome. I need you to jump the very best jump ever, okay? Can you try that for me?”

But her eyes are filling up again, going from her mom to the churning water and back to him. “I-I’m scared, Tim! I’m too scared.”

“I know you are, but it’s okay. As long as you do what I say, you’re going to be fine.” And it’s a crazy balancing act to keep the doors open, try to make sure the weight doesn’t shift enough to send the car plummeting the long and painful way down into the water.

“Please,” the mother gasps out, eyes wet and dazed from fear, “please save my baby girl. Please don’t let her drown.”

“We’re working on saving you both. So when she jumps, so do you. I’m right here, and I’m going to grab you, so just Get. Ready.”

His hands are out, his other eye on the mother’s trembling hands as she gingerly unclicks her seatbelt.

“Mommy,” Karmen whimpers again, a terrified little girl.

“I love you, sweetheart. I love you so much,” and the crack in her voice is enough to make his chest tight, to make sure he’s got them. “Get ready to jump to Tim, okay? Mommy’s so proud of you, my brave girl.”

When those eyes came back to him, wet but resolute, he knew they found the next kick-ass vigilante someday.

“Okay… Jump!”

He snatches with both hands, fast, pulling, throwing the three of them away. Mother and daughter watch as the car goes over, gripping each other tight, and Tim is absurdly glad for quick thinking and shit like gravity.

A rudimentary line of cars is flowing off the bridge at slow speeds, pausing to let others on foot get in. Carrying Karmen and gripping her mother’s arm, Tim flags down a truck with a few people already in the back. He lowers the tailgate and holds his charges up for waiting hands to pull the small family to safety.

“Tim!” Karmen calls as the truck pulls off, the strangers checking over her and her mother for serious injuries, “Tim! Thank-you! Thank-you!”

But her hero disappears into the smoke from the burning bridge, she only catches his back as he runs further into the crisis, one hand thrown up over a shoulder in a bye-bye, before he’s out of sight.

Four people are trying to push back a car pinning a young woman to concrete debris. He’s one of those people, muscles straining with effort. When she’s free, one of them has a working vehicle ready for transport.

(Gotham never ceases to amaze him. In a city usually overrun with every flavor of psychopath, you have to be resilient and adaptable. The people, however, always seem to come together in times of crisis and crazy assholes trying to demolish the city. It’s amazing when things like kicking bad guy ass brings out the best in people.)

Tim does as much trauma care as he realistically can, talking quickly to one of the people riding with her, giving rapid instructions for her to tell responders off the bridge.

The next breath, he’s pulling up metal and concrete, yelling with the effort, forcing his tired muscles to give more when some relatively unharmed civilians attack him with thank God hugs. The little blonde boy looks dazed, blinking with blood in his eyes from a nasty scalp wound, but remembers his name is Leo and he’s ten, Dr. Tim.

It takes a second to lift the kid up and brace the Father with his other arm, the group making a beeline for an empty vehicle that might still have keys in it. (None of them judge him when he cracks into the steering column and hot wires the damn thing. Because, you know, he has other hobbies.)

In no time, he’s using some pieces off a ‘79 Honda Civic to immobilize a broken leg, splints it like a boss.

Charlie is seven and has a better iPhone than he does. The bus full of first graders on their field trip out of Gotham are calm, but the bus is done for. He manages to rope three transports, checking quickly over the class, and helping their shaky teacher get on the flatbed. Charlie give him a low five and they’re gone while he pulls the first aid kit out of the bus for just in case.

Streams of cars are passing him by, some stragglers helping others, and it’s moving fluidly enough that he can guess emergency crews are on the other end, flagging traffic to get the evacuation moving. He’s caught by the arm a few times, but just puts the usual amount of authority to make people thinks he’s in charge of something before he takes off to the next cry for help.

Climbing over a ten car pile-up is a tricky enough business with things pretty much holy unstable, Batman.

He slices his damn hand open on a broken window, loses his grip for a breathless, heart-pounding second. On the way down, he manages to tape gauze over the bleeder and see that his phone—

The screen is cracked to all hell.

Fuck. He can’t even call for a very nice pick-up right about now.

The bridge gives an abrupt groan, a sound reverberating down his spine, making the oh shit feeling swell in his gut, the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, and every instinct in his body screaming to run. He tries to move (but there’s nowhere to go). The hard twang echoes when a few of the supporting cables lining the bridge snap, iron bending dangerously, concrete on either side starting to crumble and break.

He can’t throw himself out of the way fast enough, gets knocked off his feet, slams into crumbling debris while more falls around and on top him. A hard chunk pins him, agonizing, terrifying. His leg is wedged by iron, sharp, biting pain from his calf and the torn, jagged bicep trying to lever enough strength to shift something to free him without bringing more down on him. With other frightened screams and groans of almost giving up happening further down the bridge, he doesn’t have time for a whole lot of this bullshit.

He calculates fast and furious, gauging the stability of the pile he’s under and starts kicking at the concrete with his other foot viciously. Sweat and blood makes his gloves slippery, makes him pant with a strike of panic while he pushes harder against the shit blocking out the light.

Tim has to shake himself, yell at the stupid fucking debris (Damian will never let him live it down if this is how he dies. Seriously). One more hard kick and a piece crumbles enough to get his damn calf through, gives him the leverage to shove the piece at his back away, climb up and out, to cough and gasp in a breath of dirty Gotham air.

There’s a few sparse people still running. One stops long enough to help him out, pulling him quickly with both arms locked around Tim’s upper chest. “It’s going to collapse! You’ve got to get out of here!”

“I have to see if there’s anyone else. Get going!” Tim gives him a shove and takes a long moment to assess. He still has time. Dammit, he still has time. So he takes off again, making his leg work, holding the bag to his side, unconsciously fishing out a new pair of gloves.

He hits the halfway point where the bridge bisects, going toward Arkham or toward Somerset, glad he can’t see anyone in the long, damaged span of twisted, falling iron and crumbling supports.

Still, he’s limping, dropping some random blood spots from his shredded calf while he checks abandoned cars and piles of debris for a last, frantic attempt. Even with the leg as it is, he can start back now and make it in less than fifteen minutes, maybe even get one or two more that might have been missed. He can still try, dammit—

But as luck would have it, his calculations are off, and he runs out of time.

His heart takes an abrupt journey to the back of his throat when the heavy twang from earlier echoes again. Faster, heavier as the support cables give way in rapid succession. The tension finally enough to start the unavoidable collapse. Helpless, he’s alone for a far as he can see, watching the cables snap, each one flipping sharply out of control because of the tension, slamming into remaining cars and breaking up more concrete. The echo makes a roll of dread hit him stomach, the things snapping all the way back to main Gotham and the inevitable destruction ensues as sections of the bridge start to crumble at the lack of support. A large section twenty feet in front of him gives a sick, metallic scream before the whole damn thing drops a foot down, and the loud snap catches cottony as all he can do is watch the section break apart and drop down into the ocean.

Can’t go that way.

Swallowing down his thundering pulse, his hearing goes wonky even before he’s spinning, throwing up his arms when the progression keeps going, snapping cables right past him. He’s not fast enough to dodge a mess of concrete from a flying cable, taking the heavy hits to his back, trying to keep his feet under him.

The horror movie moment when he looks over his shoulder and sees the rest of the bridge for the next mile finally give way, the concrete and supports under the thing cracking, crumbling, falling into the ocean (no way for the Coast Guard to make it anywhere near here), puts enough fear that he can keep his feet under him. The only way to go is toward Arkham (the horrible irony, being safe at the asylum known to house crazies of all flavors), and he makes himself run. He has to try staying ahead of the crumbling concrete quickly gaining on him. And even with the pain in his calf, the agony in his back, the burn in his lungs and thighs, the way his eyes are getting wet, making the way blurry and unfocused, even if it is so pathetically, sadly useless because there’s no way he’s going to outrun this.

He’s going down in the murky Atlantic, buried under cars and shopping bags with milk and eggs, under girders and cables and concrete. He’s going to be down there with anyone else that didn’t make it off, and he couldn’t even say goodbye to Dick or Jay or Steph or Ives because his goddamn phone is busted. He couldn’t say he is so fucking sorry about this. That no matter what, he loves them. They are his family, all he has in the world, and they are the best. And if he could only—

There isn’t time now, and the realization, the fucking agony of it strikes him as the ground under him gives a sick lurch, slamming down abruptly on the weakening lower support beams, giving him some kind of false hope while at the same time, bringing him to his knees.

He holds his breath, shaking, bent over, eyes wet, and just please, please.

He doesn’t want to leave them.

A drop of blood from his cut cheek hits the pavement and groaning metal tells him it’s so far past too late. Gravity falls out from under him as the supports under this section of the bridge finally give way. The immediate weightlessness makes his stomach lurch sharply and fear strikes in his spine, getting him on his feet for the last-ditch attempt from his brain pan has him leaping up on a bumper, breaking the windshield in his mad dash without enough breath to really make it.

But again, he’s got nowhere left to go when the world falls out from under him, and his heart gives a hard, painful beat.

His brain blanks out when he’s hanging suspended in mid-air for terrifyingly still moments caught in time, and everything is in a crazy kind of slow motion; the sounds of the world around and under him are muted and cottony, only his panting breaths echoing in his ears. The only thing he can see is Dick’s face relaxed in sleep, and Jay’s eyes, so blue, when he’s laughing—

The choking sob makes it up out of his throat, spilling out instead of I love you, I love you and I’m sorry.

Because he is. Fuck, he is.

Somewhere along the way, somewhere between a dying vigilante on his fire escape and now, he’d come to believe in them wholeheartedly. Knew they’d never abandon him, never hurt him, never die on him even if they risked their lives every night. He believed in their strength and their convictions, believed they would fight through Hell itself to make it back to him.

They would never leave him the last one left standing.

(And how fucking ironic is it that he’s the one going to leave them? The Joker would really get a kick out of it.)

His chest aches with the revelation (or the fact he literally can’t get enough air), and God, he only wanted to a few minutes, a few seconds even, just so they would know, so he could just tell them—

(Even though they were both his Robins, he’s in love with Jason and Dick, not Robin, not Red Hood, not Nightwing...and now they’ll never know. It’s too fucking late.)

Everything.

The world comes back abruptly when the weight of his body takes over and he starts to drop, his medical bag caught up at his side.

Already grieving for them, for his only family, Tim closes his eyes while the sounds of cars and debris, of shit breaking and falling, of the fucking world ending in the depths of the ocean, all of it infiltrate, give him a sense of how fast it’s going to be over. There’s always a chance, always a plan, but with his leg torn up, he won’t be able to swim with enough strength to get back to the surface before his air runs out, taking into account he doesn’t get crushed by the pressure and debris already down there—

(But...but at least, his brain does him a solid in the seconds before he’s going to die, just a little reminder that he should be grateful he’s had them, to think about all of them, and all the good times, all the love and laughter, all the things they gave him with hearts open. At least....at least he had that much.)

And he’s not sure if his eyes are wet because he’s crying or because of the air, but the pain, the fear, the sensation of falling, it’s Death opening up its’ great maw, ready to chew him up and spit out his slightly damaged soul.

(I love you. I’ve never had anyone to love like this. I’ve never wanted to love like this, but now that I have, you two are all I never knew I needed.)

He hopes they don’t mourn, he hopes they keep moving, he hopes they take care of each other. He hopes they remember him without remorse or regret. He hopes he doesn’t make some imaginary list of things they never finished.

He hopes they know without hearing the words one last time.

(And fuck, now that is him crying, isn’t it?)

The rapid blast, a sonic boom, hits his senses, cutting through the thousand things in his head, even with the air rushing around him dampen everything.

Tim doesn’t open his eyes until the last second (because who really wants his last sight to be of his family), gasping in hard enough to be fucking painful because it’s like he’s a nine-year-old kid again, standing down in alleys or crouched on roof tops clutching his camera. It’s the same awe and amazement because at this very second, he’s watching the Dark Knight in all his fearsome power fly.

The silhouette has dropped out of the dark shadow against the sun, thrown himself out of the plane without a thought, the tracking signal bringing him right here where he feared the young doctor would be in the middle of the mass crisis.

(He didn’t need Dick’s panicking tone to get his ass in gear because Tim’s signal wasn’t moving off the bridge by the time the first sections broke apart.)

Tim’s lungs scream for air he can’t seem to get, his eyes going wide as the Batman swoops down a flawless arch, arms tight at his sides to be even more aerodynamic and forces the speed of the fall, determined Tim isn’t going to hit the damn water. (Hold on, Tim. Hold on.)

He’d yell if he could, tell B it’s too close, there’s no way he could pull up in time, to save himself. (Gotham would always need saved, would always need him.) But no words can escape and his eyes are blurry enough that the dark shadow is fuzzy, the whiteouts gone for electric blue eyes. He can’t even gasp as the Batman reaches him mid-death drop, catches him with an arm that has to be made of iron.

The abrupt change in direction almost makes him vomit, only strength of will keeping him from painting the vigilante’s back with stomach juice.

Even though his brain pan is fried, he gets handfuls of leather and Kevlar, fists tight his shaky hands into the cape while he tries to get his air back and hides himself, huddled against all that strength.

He might have been more terrified (since, you know, imminent death) than he let on because he has no clue how they’re just suddenly in a plane, sitting his shaky ass down on one of the seats in the back while B is kneeling down with his leg in both gloved hands. B must have taken his satchel off, laid it down somewhere, and the arm of his scrubs is torn open to the bleeder on his bicep.

His mouth opens, closes wordlessly because he’s trying so hard to say it, “thank-you for coming for me.”

“Calm down,” is a little less the night than in his usual dealings with the Batman, “you’re going into shock.” And B doesn’t wince for the obvious damage done to Tim’s leg, but it’s a close thing. Instead, he is very relieved he’s not going to have to be the one to tell his sons their significant other met his end at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

The Batman’s (Bruce’s) voice gives him a little bit of air back, just enough to wheeze, “th-thanks...for the save.”

Still, he’s blinking rapidly, shaking too much, hitting the wrong side of adrenaline and fear, wrapping his arms around himself to try and stop it.

“The Coast Guard is already on site, taking care of people. So far, the fatality numbers are incredibly low for an incident of this magnitude. I’m sure you played a hell of a part in that.”

But Tim’s still on the mindblown side of things, woozy and light-headed, still not feeling the real owfuck of the sitch yet to say much. The leg of his scrubs is finally just ripped away so they can both look at the raw hamburger he’d been trying to run with. “Hn. The boys aren’t going to be happy about this, Tim.”

“I…” The boys. Oh God, he’s going to see Dick and Jay and flip the utter fuck out. “I-It’s-it’s okay.”

Inside the cowl, B arches a brow (oddly enough, that’s what Robin might say. Any of them.) “That’s the adrenaline talking. You’ll feel it soon enough.” B turns just slightly, “Bat Computer. Alert Agent A. We need prep for an incoming.”

He gets a little less fuzzy as the whole alive thing sinks in. So, time to make his brain switch gears from perpetual screaming to oh, who’s the bad guy of the week again?

“Anniversary,” he tells the kneeling vigilante, “B, it’s the anniversary.”

The cowl pauses in looking over his injured leg and slowly moves up until those eyes are on him, gears turning.

“Sal Maroni’s trial was ten years ago today.” His voice is hoarse, but dammit, he’s right on this one, leans forward enough to grip the dangerous gauntlets in one shaking hand. “It’s...it’s too good for Harvey Dent to pass up. He had the bridge set with charges, and there’s another one. He’s going to set a second one because that’s how he works with his shitty traps, and you have to find it, B. You have to...”

And it’s a crazy thing, seeing the Batman smile.

“Dick told me you were good,” is a calmer voice, one laced with amusement. “I contacted Gordon hours ago when I suspected Two-Face would have something devastating on the roster for tonight. Police crews have been combing the city and all his old hideouts while I’ve been researching in the Cave. He only sent the clue to GCPD an hour ago, and if Dick hadn’t been on shift, I wouldn’t have gotten it in time to stop the Robinson Bridge from blowing up already.”

Tim blinks, leaning down almost in B’s face, staring into those eyes while his brain catches up.

No other hurt civilians. Damn...the day is starting to look up. Well, you know, World’s Greatest Detective, of course he would have figured it out in time.

“O...Oh.”

B presses his shoulder, casual strength making him sink back into the chair.

“Again, good work, Tim... I’m not going to stop being surprised about your “hobbies,” am I?”

“I’ll try to keep you riveted.” But he’s sinking down with things like blood loss, trauma, and utter fucking relief, tongue getting too thick in his mouth to be especially witty.

“Do that. It’s a nice departure from the normal psychos I deal with. And by the way, don’t move. We’re going to do a full assessment once we land. I’m sure Alfred is already wearing a path in my Cave.”

Tim blinks, tries to nod but the motion is a little jerky and uncoordinated. Conversation apparently over because the Doctor is sinking deeper into shock and has lost enough blood (for a civilian) that the vigilante is concerned, B stands up and fishes a blanket out of a storage compartment, wraps it around Tim’s shaking form.

“Just relax and try to stay awake. We’ll be home soon.” And the cape swishes with a sigh of sound, being easy while the plane rumbles under his ass.

(He probably imagines a gloved hand resting on the top of his head before B strides back to the controls and takes the plane off autopilot. Not that it matters because his brain is pleasantly all about white noise when he starts to crash from the adrenaline overdose.)

And since he’s very, very safe in the plane, by himself while B’s back is turned, he fades in and out, holding the blanket to his chest tightly, his eyes filling up and clearing out at odd intervals. He’s about forty percent with it, drifting in and out with calculations and diagnosis from the bridge skimming over his thoughts, taking completely by surprise when the cockpit is invaded by whirling tornados of concerned boyfriends.

(His heart picks up, and Tim tries to shake off lethargy and strain because they’re both so fucking beautiful right now.)

“Tim! Timmy!!” Dick looks haggard, his eyes astoundingly blue.

Jay is right on his ass, jaw tight with obvious worry, “JesusfuckingChrist, Sugar.”

Dick is still in his uniform, tilting Tim’s face up to look in his dazed eyes with such utter relief he shakes a little with it, those steady hands weak for just a moment in time (I love you. God, I love you). Jay leans in around that hand and presses a fast, hard kiss to the top of his head, and goes for the blanket, knows he’s looking for something. He gets jackpot when the scrubs beneath are blood-stained, torn and dirty, making Jay’s heart beat just a little faster.

“B, what the fuck? Couldn’t cha at least bandage our boy up a lil bit?!” He bites it out sharper than intended, but his boy ain’t looking good, and the last images O managed to get off the bridge cameras as they went down is the mound of debris falling right on top a kid in scrubs. He and Dick had only been reined in by Dami and Alfred with appropriate threats of tying them down should they even try it. (He can take Demon, but Alf? Nope. That’s a fight he’s always gonna lose.)

“We weren’t far.” B defends lightly, pushing his cowl off and kneeling by Tim’s feet again, unabashedly gripping an ankle to stretch the leg out of the blanket so the owfuck can air out. “I also wanted Alfred to look at this before I did anything.”

“Oh my God, that’s a lot of blood.” Dick is now even more concerned, latching on tight and pressing him close.

“Damn right it is.” Jay and B exchange the look.

“It’s okay,” he mumbles against Dick’s hand on his jaw, staring dazedly up, eyes sluggishly sliding to Jay. “I’m okay.” Because, dammit, looking at them, being absurdly fucking grateful for this, for them, everything is really just…

Fine.

“Yeah, Timmy, just fine. Right here with us, ain’t cha?” Jay crouches down, and he’s careful, easy about it when he takes a wrist and gently unwinds the dirty, frayed gauze to the nice slice taken out of his hand.

“Fuck.” Because that ain’t good. Timmy’s a surgeon, lives by his damn hands. “We need ta getcha bandaged up. Let Alf gedda lookit that leg.” Jay shoos Dick back so he can wind both arms around their civilian sweetie and lift him, blanket and all while B holds the leg up and stable, walking back without a hitch with the doctor between them.

And laying there in Jason’s arms, it gives Tim plenty of time to stare up at his profile, trace the line of jaw and the crooked line of nose with his eyes and be utterly grateful. So, so grateful.

(I’ll never deserve you, but I’ll never stop trying either.)

Alfred and Damian are monitoring the clean-up from the bridge, leaving the live footage as Jay and B ease Tim down to the medical gurney. It’s second nature to press his mouth to the top of the doctor’s head while B just smirks to himself and lets Dick slide around them to be on Tim’s other side.

Jason steps away to scrub and glove fast while Dick stays holding on a little too desperately and Alfred begins preliminaries. Dami does his usual, “tt,” and goes back to monitor the sitch (but the little asshole always looks back when he thinks they don’t know any better.)

Once B is satisfied Timmy is in good hands, he starts up with the search for Harvey himself and tracks the police reports Dick happened to copy while they were hot off the printer.

Jay is absurdly careful, even by Alfred’s standards as he stitches the slice in that precise hand and fervently hopes he’s not doing more damage.

Slightly slurry, tired with strain now that the adrenaline and other stimulants in his system have worn off (chemicals balancing, he thinks slowly, and added opioids because it took a bridge collapsing to admit he was completely in love with these two. Fuck, is he really that dense?), he answers Dick’s careful questions as well as he can, rambles on about the car pile-up, the people he hoped were able to get help, the sound of the cables snapping (that’s a sound he’s never going to forget), the new iPhone he is going to get. To try staying out of the way without going too far, Dick lays his head beside Tim’s on the pillow and listens, squeezes his hand at the hard parts.

He vaguely remembers, “need...need to know if my EMTs...made it.”

“B is looking into it. We’ll have an update soon, okay? Just relax, baby.” It’s something soft and sweet to his muddled brain (Alfred...must have given him something before starting on his leg. It’s a distant, dull thing.)

“I should...I should go to the hospital—”

Jay pauses in finishing up with his bicep, raises a gloved finger to wag close to his face, “don’t cha even try it, pal. Steph already said they got the sitch under control.”

“Nu-uh, Timmy. You can’t even stand right now, so you’re going about as far as the main floor.”

“But…”

There’s no use in trying to argue. He’s one against four (and dammit, five because Damian is standing right by Dick’s hip, arms crossed over his chest and glaring at him for upsetting Grayson. Dammit, Drake, he’s a Robin that needs Peace and Quiet. Shut these fools up and give in.) Still, he says he can walk, really it’s fine, but Dick gives no shits getting to be the Bat carrying him this time, talking low and soothing while taking him upstairs in the Manor and pretty much deposits him in the utterly comfortable sitting room on the First Floor.

There are blankets and food, intermittent sleep between episodes of some reality show, and one or the other of his significant others close while the sedatives and antibiotics run their course in the first few hours post-injury hours.

Night must be falling because at some point, they’re talking about Two-Face and the second stage of his dastardly plan.

Later, he’ll vaguely remember his leg and other bandages taken off, being held in warm water while the dirt and dried blood is washed off with careful, patient hands (someone is holding his leg out of the bathtub and being so absurdly gentle). Hands in his hair to get the worst out, but the sedatives and painkillers make him useless to do much more than lay there and let it happen.

Time skips and he wakes up in the middle of a massive bed, half-aware enough to know his leg is on fire and just, fuck it all hurts.

There’s cameras apparently everywhere because Alfred and Jason are through the door before he even makes it to the edge of the bed. He gets one vigilante boyfriend crawling in with him to keep him down, pills to swallow and tucked back in (after the butler quickly assesses under the bandages).

Jay talks low and soothing against his temple, while the pain eases and things are just… good. So, so good.

A few days later, Tim Drake is laid up on his couch with his healing leg wrapped up and elevated on a few pillows (even though the thing is really much better, Alfred, you don’t have to call for an update every day anymore. It’s...it’s really thoughtful though). Since his significant others have that kind of humor, Scrubs is playing on the television and a scattering of things are literally everywhere. A laptop is open on the floor with half a dissertation on the effects of Joker venom on cellular growth, a copy of Catcher in the Rye is stuffed between the cushions, a knitting project pokes him from a corner in odd moments, a manila file folder with notes from the recent bout of tainted heroin is dangling just oh so enticingly on the stand closest to him (dammit, Dick. Touché).

Tim gives it ten minutes after his significant others leave for patrol (finally) before he looks around his empty living room with narrowed eyes and gingerly pulls his foot down off the cushions and plants it on the floor for literally the first time in a week.

(The first three days of being carried—even by Damian, believe it or not—were actually kind of nice. By day six, however, the novelty had worn very, very thin.)

So he might be grinning a little to himself since he sounded completely sincere when he promised Jay he was not going to get up while they were on patrol, that he had everything he could possibly want right here, and they had to get going because Gotham needed them. He made sure to catch the shadows falling from his fire escape before he even turned in his seat, gave it an extra few minutes for, you know, just in case.

So he’s got a hand on the arm of the couch, ready to shove himself to his feet and just go into his kitchen to make a damn cup of coffee himself thank-you very fucking much, ready to put weight on the injury.

(Really. He should have known better.)

The abrupt, jarring slam followed by the mini-tornado doesn’t even give him a chance.

The move is too fast for him to counter, but he’s just suddenly held high up against a broad chest, staring up in the blue eyes of Superboy, noting the obvious displeasure by his frown and drawn brows.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” is more deadpan than he imagined, which just makes Superboy frown that much harder.

“Yo! Doc Drake!” Kid Flash is right there, holding a hand out for a serious high-five. “Totally nice digs, man. You? Are so obviously in the mode.”

The annoyed noise comes all the way up from his toes because this? This is just not even necessary.

“I can’t believe they’re wasting your time with this,” Tim groans aloud, doing such an epic facepalm the sound echoes. “It was just...a collapsing bridge, okay? I’m really fine.”

But when he looks up, really looks, something is just off because—

Superboy is in jeans and a plaid shirt, sporting a pair of wire-framed glasses. Kid Flash has no mask or body suit, but huge sneaker and—

They’re not in the masks.

He sucks in an abrupt breath and almost chokes.

“Oh yeah,” Superboy looks at KF all nonchalant. Just, you know, NBD man, here’s our secret idents.

“It’s cool.” KF shoos the shock away, “Dick said you were totally on the level, so we’re good showing you the real faces, you dig?”

“I...Are...are you sure you’re okay with this?” He can’t help but ask, looking from one to the other.

The super clone just shifts his weight to hold him up by one arm and stick the other by his chest, “Conner Kent.”

Dumbly, he shakes the hand, staring up at the blue eyes crinkling with mirth.

“Bart Allen. Time traveler extraordinaire.” Bart completely takes the initiative and shakes his hand super-fast.

“Ah, yeah, wow...this is- this is kick ass. Welcome to my humble abode. Make yourselves comfortable.”

Both Titans give him wide grins and Conner turns to gently put him back down on the couch. Bart fluffs the pillows before his legs goes right back where it was before.

“I’m going to make some coffee,” he hedges, “you know, my leg is just stellar, and I should start putting weight on it—”

“Dick and Jason would probably kill us in horrible ways if we let you do that,” Conner shrugs easily, “so it’s okay, I’ll make you some coffee.”

The loud gasp by his television makes both of them crane around to see Bart going through his X-Box One games with huge eyes.

“I want to play this one right now,” the speedster bellows, swinging Arkham Knights around in one hand.

His inner nerd sparked, Tim grins a little viciously, “I already beat it, so all the cheats are unlocked.”

“Holy shit, man! I totally call Batman!”

“I want Harley Quinn,” Conner calls on his way to the kitchen, “if I’m going to watch someone run for an hour, I want it to be someone with a sweet ass.”

“Totally feel that,” Bart nods while he sets up the game. “How about you, Tim?”

“Robin,” he says quietly, “I’m usually Robin.”

He gives them both a hundred vigilante points because neither of them say a word.

#dr!tim #yet another drabble #because why not #love my anons #thank-you for the love in my inbox #tim drake #dick grayson #jason todd #the littles!#my fic #my writing #my muses are with me on this one #bad ass tim so beware

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davewakeman · 4 years

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Talking Tickets 31 January 2020

Hey There!

Thanks for being here again this week. If you are enjoying this newsletter, tell your friends and colleagues to sign up by visiting this link.

Yesterday saw the release of “What Matters In Tickets Now!” an ebook that I put together in partnership with my friends at Booking Protect.

I can say that this is one of the coolest things we’ve pulled together so far: 40 perspectives on the world of tickets and how to make more sales! It is great!

In conjunction with the launch of the ebook, we are putting together a special webinar with key ideas, takeaways, and action items to make the ideas from the ebook take hold in your organization. The webinar will be Wednesday, 26 February, and we will have a landing page to sign up ready for next week’s email, but if you want to make certain you get hooked up…reply to this email.

To the tickets!

————————————————————————————————————

1. Kobe Bryant passed away in a helicopter crash in the Los Angeles area:

Like all of us, Kobe Bryant had a complex history. And, one of the more mature things I’ve learned over the years is the understanding that no matter how you feel on a topic, your feelings are valid. So I am cognizant of the people celebrating his life and pointing out his failings, all of those feelings are valid.

I mention that because I don’t want to make a values-based judgment on this story, but I did want to discuss this because I think it highlights a few big points about what sports does for us and why sports and live events matter:

First, this story reflects the power of community that live events foster. I heard Bill Simmons talk about how Kobe’s death feels like it is hanging over the community. This is in death, but if you look through history, you’ve seen how sports also has pulled communities together, if only for a short time like when the Caps won the Stanley Cup.

Second, this story points to the irrational nature of our likes, dislikes, and fandom. As many announcers pointed out, most people never met Kobe, so they didn’t know him, but they felt a real pain at his loss. While, I’m looking at this through the lens of Kobe, this equally applies to any athlete, team, or star. I mean, I have no rational reason for disliking the Oklahoma City Thunder, but because I was a Supersonics season ticket holder when I was a young adult, the ache of the loss of the Sonics is still there.

Finally, it reflects the power of shared experiences. Sometimes, in a world where everything feels like it is on-demand or at our fingertips, we can miss shared experiences and that should be a lesson that we apply to the way we present events.

2. The Super Bowl is on Sunday and the death of the NFL seems to have been a myth:

The challenges and opportunities that the NFL are looking at over the next few years likely deserve its own series of blog posts, but right now you can’t help but respect the turnaround that they NFL and its teams have managed.

$16B in revenue, rating increases, new stars, and more.

The article above does raise a lot of good questions about where the business will go next with gambling, chord cutting, and changing tastes of modern consumers.

But as we head into the Super Bowl, we can learn a lot from the NFL like how consistency and focus can help you weather a storm; how to monetize an audience; and how to respond to drops in business.

Plus, this year’s Super Bowl is an especially hot ticket!

My question to you is who do you have in the game and what’s the score? I’ll come up with some prize for the person that picks the winner and is closest to the score. I don’t know what it will be, but we can figure out something fun…maybe buy you a drink or something.

3. StubHub could face legal action in the UK for deceptive pricing:

I’m not an anti-trust lawyer, but my lady is…so I don’t know the legal ramifications of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority’s investigation into the merger of StubHub and Viagogo, but I can guess stories like this don’t help the merger in any market that is investigating it.

Unless you live in the United States where anti-trust enforcement hasn’t really been very strict for 30+ years and the rule of law seems to be optional in a lot of cases lately.

The context of a story likely helps a lot of you:

In the UK, the secondary market isn’t as big of a part of the ecosystem as it is in the United States. While resale has become more common over the last few years, professional trading is often frowned upon.

My argument to the traders that I am in touch with has often been that if you want to work in resale and be a valued part of the system, you have to work to constantly improve your value, deliver something differentiated from the primary market, and be above board in your business practices.

So a story like this hits right at the heart of what folks dislike about professional “touts” and the secondary market in general.

Add this to the public’s distrust of Viagogo and you can see that this isn’t helpful to any ongoing investigation of their merger or further or greater public acceptance of the secondary market in the UK or other countries around the world.

4. Live Nation’s updated consent decree is filed:

There was a few things going on with Live Nation this week that probably were worth paying attention to:

First, the consent decree. The new filing shows that Live Nation and Ticketmaster broke the decree on, at least, 6 occasions.

Live Nation pushes back talking about 6 alleged instances in around 5,000 deals.

A new $1M penalty for each transgression, a deal cut quickly, and dropped at a time totally designed for people not to notice it!

It looks like a victory for Live Nation to me!

Second, Live Nation is building a war chest to acquire more businesses.

There is a lot of consolidation in the ticketing technology area going on right now and I don’t know if or when there will be some sort of correction.

What all of this massive amount of consolidation signals to me is that there is room for smaller and nimble competitors to swoop in and win a lot of business because as these companies grow larger, it is going to be incredibly difficult for these companies to service everyone effectively.

Finally, Live Nation completes the acquisition of the UK’s largest concert promoter.

Over the next few years, this will bear watching because industry practices and consumer protection laws are much different in the UK and how this impacts the distribution of shows and Ticketmaster’s ability to win more business in the UK bears watching.

5. The CoronaVirus is causing troubles for sports business:

A few weeks back I had Greg Turner come on the podcast to share a bunch of stuff about China with us. Due to the nature of the Chinese internet and the way that they control access to websites and other things, that conversation was corrupted due to some technical difficulties and we figured out a way to rerecord our conversation to make sure we could have a proper chat.

On this new conversation we talked about a bunch of stuff, but we got into the conversation about the virus and how it is causing the cancellation of the X Games, the World Indoor Athletic Championships, and the Chinese Basketball Association is postponing play during the crisis.

Greg has a lot of insight into the situation in China, but seeing the AFL’s conversation around their annual China game continued to raise these issues for me and begged a couple of questions:

What’s the long-term impact of a virus or outbreak like this?

How do we prepare for these types of outbreaks when we can’t and don’t know when they will happen?

What would you do if something like this started during a big event like the Olympics?

These are complex questions and they mirror in many ways the questions I raised when considering the impact of climate change on events a few weeks back.

—————————————————————————————————————-

What am I up to this week?

I’m posting a few podcasts including Episode 100. Who will my special guest be? You’ll have to listen to find out!

I recaped INTIX on my blog and TicketNews as well.

I’m in DC this week! If you are in town, let me know.

My travel schedule is starting to take shape and I can confirm I’ll be in London from 10-16 April with a trip to the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the top of my must-do list!

I’m also planning a series of workshops for the spring in London, Manchester, and Edinburgh. The details on this are still being mapped out, but if you are in the area of one of these places and want to be kept in the loop on these special events, reply to this email.

I’m working with some sponsors that will enable me to offer tickets to these events on an invitation basis. So, get your interest into me and let me know I’m looking at the right places to take my show on the road.

Please follow and like us:

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Talking Tickets 31 January 2020 was originally published on Wakeman Consulting Group

#kobe bryant #marketing #nfl #sales #super bowl #tickets

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laureviewer · 7 years

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Pokémon Sun & Moon: A Review

As a lifetime Pokémon fanatic, I couldn’t wait to walk into the local Game once again to pick up my very own copy of Pokémon Moon, even at 24 years old. After the explosion that was Pokémon Go causing a bigger stir than Team Rocket “blasting off again”, the shop was decked out with Poké merchandise, including hats, shirts, keyrings, and cards, and Pokémon was proved more popular than ever. And the icing on the cake? It came out on my 7 year anniversary, so my boyfriend and I could be geeky together (we would have been anyway, but hey, Poké-versary it is).

The concept is very much the same as the first Generations Red and Blue: you are given a pocketable creature from the local Pokémon Professor, and set off on an exciting adventure [with little more than a phone and backpack] from your mum. The aim, of course, is to train your cute little lizard into a mighty dragon of destruction to defeat eight gym leaders and become Pokémon Master, all whilst thwarting your rival and Teams of evil trainers along the way.

Even the basic concept of Pokémon games as outlined here is challenged right from the outset. In Sun and Moon, you move from Kanto, where Red and Blue are set, to Alola, the new Hawaii-esque region. Here you experience a whole new culture in the Pokémon universe, where instead of Gym Leaders and the Pokémon League challenge there are Trial Captains, Island Kahunas, and the Island Challenge, where trainers have to undergo all of the islands’ trials and battle Totem Pokémon, the guardians of the respective islands. Indeed, the region has a very tropical feel to it, with palm trees, warm and friendly people, and rituals that one feels would emanate typical Hawaiian practices if the world of Pokémon existed, such as worshipping the great Pokémon spirits called Tapu which protect each island and serve as deities for the islanders. This brings a fresh new feel to a franchise that could very easily become dull after over 20 years, and makes the game really stand out from its predecessors.

The starters are what everyone gets excited about when new Pokémon game is announced – how they look, their evolutions, and their types (although they’ll always be some variety of water, fire and grass, of course). While the first few games’ starters hold a special place in my heart, probably due to the originality that the first generations could have as the franchise was so new (eh, who am I kidding, it’s nostalgia through and through), there are a couple of gems in Sun and Moon. It was a toss up between the grass/flying Rowlet and fire-based Litten, but I eventually gave into my kitten-loving self and chose the latter. Though a grass/ghost final evolution was a tough one to ignore, as that match-up is so rare and original. On a replay, that would be my pick.

But oh my Arceus, what was the water starter? It starts off cute, fine, has potential, though it looks a lot like Pokémon X and Y’s Oshawott, which also looked like some sort of clown for some reason. Then its second evolution really does look like a clown with a skirt and pompoms on its ears, and then its final evolution, while slightly better, is just a weird sensual mermaid water/fairy type. Not a fan, and once I traded it over to my game just to ensure a water Pokémon made it into my party, it’s also not that exciting to battle with either.

All in all, the starters were okay, but nothing can ever beat my lovely fave Cyndaquil. Or, you know, freaking Charizard.

The main difference between Sun and Moon is as their names suggest: while Sun is a ‘normal’ Pokémon game, insofar that during the day according to your DS it is also daytime in the game, Moon is set 12 hours behind. Having got Moon, I have to say that the time difference didn’t make as much difference as I thought it might. In Pokémon Crystal, my favourite Pokémon game of all time, playing at night meant you could catch a wide variety of Pokémon that you couldn’t during the day. In this new generation, however, the time of day didn’t seem that much different – useful if you only tend to play at a certain time during the day. So, while I was worried about getting Moon in the first place, don’t worry – though if you want an Alola Vulpix, like I did, you may want to consider getting Sun instead!

This brings me to one of the biggest pulls of the games: Alola Pokémon!

Pokémon Sun and Moon, much like Pokémon Go, obviously wanted to draw in old fans as well as new. Alola forms are Generation One Pokémon, but like we’ve never seen them before – Alolan Vulpix is now an ice type, while Alolan Marowak is a ghost/fire type, while Alolan Meowth looks slightly seductive with his dark upgrade. All-in-all, it’s a clever way to engage the older generation in the new game, although it was quite difficult predicting the type advantage if a rival trainer threatens to bring one out, as both the old and the new Alola types exist in this game, and so you’re never quite sure if you’re going to be facing the old favourite or the new Alolan Dugtrio with its luscious head of locks.

Ever since Generation VI (X and Y) the item Exp Share has reverted back to its original Generation I function, which means that if you turn it on, all of your Pokémon receive experience points (EXP) regardless of which Pokémon you are actually using to fight. While for some this feature may be very useful as it means you only need to use one Pokémon in theory to level all of them, it really messes with my OCD. I want to use all of my Pokémon, regardless of strength or type, and Exp Share negates that purpose. Also, Exp Share seems to make all of your Pokémon level at a very fast rate, meaning that towards the end of Moon I was finding that the big battles such as the Pokémon League, rival and Island Kahuna battles seemed incredibly easy compared to early games. However, this may be less a problem with the games and more the fact that I am a 24 year old adult playing a game intended for children…

There are many more incredible and exciting new features in this game, including the Rotom Pokédex which is a Pokémon database with a Pokémon trapped inside it (a bit horrendous when you put it like that), which talks to you and also guides you around the map of the region, which is big enough to definitely get hopelessly lost in. Not only this, but there is a market in the map now so you can see where you’re meant to be going, which if you’re awful with directions like me (even in games), this is a massive advantage. The updated Pokégear, your display, also introduces new interesting features not seen before in past games. Festival Plaza, for example, lets you interact with friends or players around you, allowing you to chat and battle over Wifi or direct link. Pokémon Polago is a bit redundant after you have enough beans, but they allow you to gather enough said beans in order to feed your team in Pokémon Refresh, which is by far the most useful aspect of your Pokégear (obviously other than your actual Pokémon, and the items, and the map… shhhh). I recently had a battle with James, and learnt its incredible advantages – he had never touched Pokémon Refresh, while I consistently made sure to go in periodically to feed, stroke and ‘love’ my little guys, increasing their happiness, satiety and enjoyment. In battle, this means that your Pokémon really feel a strong connection with you, and every so often they will dodge a move in time with my shout, refrain from fainting to stop me worrying, and perform critical hits to be praised. Not only did this give me a really annoying edge over James (and I WON!), but it also encompasses all that the Pokémon franchise has been rabbiting on about throughout all past and present games: love your Pokémon, rather than use them simply as tools for fighting, and you will become ‘the very best, like no-one ever was!’. Plus I now get to gloat, muahaha.

Ride Pokémon are also a fantastic new feature in the game. Throughout the game, you can get a (SPOILERS) Tauros for charging, Lapras for surfing, Machoke for, uh, carrying you and pushing things, and a Charizard for flying, amongst others. While this is a great idea, I did actually miss the level of strategy that came with HM moves. The Hidden Machines that you couldn’t remove from your Pokémons’ movesets meant that you had to ensure you had a diversity of different types of Pokémon or ‘HM slaves’ that could learn a few of the moves that were necessary to navigate the whole game, such as Whirlpool to get rid of whirlpools in your way and Strength to move obstructive boulders. The graphics are cool with the new Pokémon though, which have definitely graduated from the default Lapras sprite you got with ANY surfing Pokémon.

God knows what Pokémon this was...probably a Feraligator.

The gameplay actually divides me as a seasoned Pokémon player. The animation, while of course utilising far better graphics than games gone past, actually takes ages in comparison, meaning that battles that shouldn’t take very long take ages watching the Pokémon charge up their moves, shake their tail, or . This is particularly apparent with Z-Moves, another new feature in this game. The Z-Moves are extremely powerful all-out moves you can only use once per battle, mediated by Z-Crystals which you can find or earn throughout the region by doing the Island Challenge. These moves, while graphically impressive, take ages to complete – for example, Litten’s final evolution’s Z-Move involves the Pokémon taking their rival to a boxing ring and charging at them with all its power. It’s useful in those tough battles, but hard to decide when the best time would be to use your only Z-Move, especially when you don’t know whether the Pokémon to come out next is stronger or weaker than the last.

Finally, I must talk about the one thing that really affects my opinion of any game: the story. The story is kind of a mind-screw at this point, with (SPOILERS) a fashionable woman, Lusamine, with an overly fanatical love of beauty unleashing Ultra Beasts, Pokémon from an alternate dimensions, into Alola and wanting to enter Ultra Space, said dimension, herself and stay there with the only things she’s attached to. Throughout the game, we learn that she has abused her two children, Gladion and Lillie, by abandoning them and neglecting them throughout their lives. This brings a very interesting dynamic to a Pokémon game that we haven’t seen before – many children and even adults playing this game may find this storyline particularly harrowing due to their own neglected childhood, and so could prove to split opinion with how Lusamine is treated by her children at the end of the story. All in all, it’s interesting, and her motivations are understandable but not so much that they are devoid of mystery.

As a veteran Pokémon player, I’ll always be biased. But this game is a lot of fun, and benefits from all of the interesting new features such as Z-Moves, Pokémon Ride and Alolan Pokémon. The new Pokémon themselves are interesting, without the ‘running out of ideas’ feel of some of the new Pokémon from other generations, such as Trubbish and Klefki (wow, a pile of garbage or a set of keys as your animal friend, who wouldn’t want that?).

The only massive thing I would change is the Exp Share function. I hate having to use it to be powerful enough, but when I do, I’m completely OP and don’t get to use some of my ‘weaker’ Pokémon as much – and for some reason, I feel bad if I don’t use all of them at least sometimes. This may be put down to how I also play games such as Skyrim and Final Fantasy XV – I must complete all of the side quests as well as the storyline, no matter how many I get. Maybe I’m just a perfectionist like that.

My badass team.

#game review #pokemon #pokemon sun #pokemon moon #lapras #vulpix #game #girlgamer #review

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charllieeldridge · 4 years

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Digital Nomad Guide to Living in Penang, Malaysia

I am no stranger to expat life. I’ve lived in London, Cape Town, and Brazil. But in December of 2012, on holiday to Penang, something drew me in and grabbed hold of me.

By September 2013, my husband and I had sold everything and were living in Penang — an island off the west coast of Malaysia.

What exactly drew me in is challenging to pinpoint, but what has kept me here is easy to explain.

Walking around George Town (the capital city of Penang) is like stepping back in time. It was listed as a UNESCO heritage area to preserve the bygone era and architecture.

Centuries-old shophouses are still in use today but with a trendy new boutique hotel just a few doors down. It’s both historical and modern. Its crumbling walls give way to contemporary street art murals. It’s this mashup that makes it so exciting!

When you are sick of the hustle and bustle of George Town, take a quick ride to the Botanical gardens. Besides all the trails, you’ll come across monkeys, sea eagles, and monitor lizards. It feels like I’m living in a National Geographic magazine.

Living in Penang affords all the modern comforts needed for a home, but it’s still raw enough to keep it interesting. In this guide, I’ll share everything you need to know about being an expat in Malaysia and living in Penang.

What It’s Like To Be An Expat in Malaysia?

My everyday life is much the same as it was in Chicago. I still have to work (albeit, remotely from home), I still have to do the laundry, the grocery shopping, and the cooking. You know, the usual stuff that makes up our daily lives.

But the backdrop has changed considerably.

My life is exotic in ways that have become intrinsic to me now. I often have to remind myself of how different I used to be.

Just today, as I was sucking the juice out of a prawn head (sorry vegans), I commented to my hubs that I would never have done that while living in Chicago.

These days, we won’t buy prawns unless the heads are on, it’s the best part. And it’s how everyone eats them here in Malaysia.

It is our new normal. And it couldn’t be further from our old normal. Those are the kinds of little things that make being an expat in Malaysia exciting. It’s pushed me to grow.

Kirsten and her husband enjoying Chinese New Year in Penang

I’ve never felt anything but welcomed by the locals, and I feel like I’ve become part of a community.

Since everyone speaks English here, it has been easy to adapt to my adopted home. I never had the frustrations of getting lost or feeling out of place because I could just ask someone for help.

I think that played a large part it settling down without too much culture shock.

What Are The Best Areas to Live in Penang

There are a few places to live in Penang, but some are more desirable for expats than others. Here are my recommended areas to live:

George Town

George Town is the heart and soul of the island and the reason people travel to Penang.

It is definitely my first choice for any digital nomad living in Penang. It’s also where most of the co-working spaces will be.

The town has an eclectic mix of highrises and temples, street food stalls, and white table cloth restaurants.

It’s listed as a UNESCO heritage area, so wandering around the streets feels like you are in a living museum, one where you get to appease all of your senses.

Everything is within walking distance in George Town, so you won’t have the added expense of transportation.

Gurney Drive

This is another popular area full of apartments in Penang. It’s a 15-minute drive north from the heart of George Town. But this neighbourhood is all about shopping and modern-Western conveniences.

It’s where there are two major shopping malls — Gurney Plaza and Gurney Paragon. Aside from stores like H&M, Top Shop, Sephora, and Mango, there are little boutiques, grocery stores, gyms, and movie theatres.

This is a super modern area, without the charm of George Town. If amenities are what you are after, this is a good area to live in Penang. But if you want to be a part of the allure of George Town, you’ll need to take a bus or a Grab car into town.

Tanjung Tokong & Tanjung Bungah

These two areas are about 20-25 minutes north of Geroge Town. Both areas are packed with locals and expats living in Penang. They are neighbouring towns and are often intertwined.

It’s located right in between George Town and the beaches of Batu Ferringhi, which is why we chose to live here. It’s really the first suburb of George Town with walkable beaches.

There is only one co-working space in the area, but if you can work from home, this is one of the best areas for living in Penang.

This area is real-life Penang. There are only a few beachside hotels, so it’s not a very touristy area. It is a bit sleepy, especially at night. There are plenty of restaurants but no real nightlife to speak of.

Batu Ferringhi

Batu Ferringhi is another beach area in Penang and definitely the most touristy one. There are bunches of restaurants and high-end beachfront hotels, but not a lot of conveniences for living. There is no major grocery store and only a small market.

This area is the furthest from George Town and has no co-working spaces. You will need transportation to get into town and it will take about 30 minutes.

If you are going to be living in Penang for a few months, Batu Ferringhi might be too far from George Town unless you plan to have transportation.

The Cost of Living in Penang

The low cost of living in Penang is one of the biggest draws for many digital nomads. Few places have all the modern comforts needed for a digital nomad lifestyle with such incredible affordability.

In other words, you get a lot of bang for your buck.

Let’s start with housing…

Accommodation Costs in Penang

This is where you’ll spend most of your budget. Albeit still a small amount.

Depending on your style, location, view, and the amenities of the building, you can find rents starting from RM2000-6000 ($450-1380 USD).

A lot of the apartments in Penang have large spaces, gyms, and pools, which adds to the cost.

If that isn’t important to you, you can find accommodation on the lower end of the price spectrum. Older buildings with the same amenities also are cheaper than the shiny new highrises that are all over town.

Food Costs in Penang

Penang is known for its cheap street food. Not just because it’s cheap, but because it’s crazy good. Legendary.

It’s just as easy to find a RM5 ($1.15 USD ) plate of delicious noodles as it is to eat a lobster buffet for hundreds. It is cheaper to eat out than cook at home, so most locals eat out almost all of their meals.

Food is very cheap, but alcohol is not. We spend way more money on booze than we do food when we eat out.

Street food prices:

Char kway teow – a famous local noodle dish is RM5 ($1.15 USD)

Assam laksa – fish-based sour noodle soup dish RM5 ($1.15 USD)

Chicken Rice – a big hearty dish of rice mounded with chicken, all covered with garlic chilli sauce. It comes with soup. RM7 ($1.60 USD)

Satay – marinated chick on skewers cooked over charcoal 10 skewers for RM12 ($2.75 USD)

Grocery prices:

Chicken – RM17 ($3.90 USD) per kilo

Pork – RM17 ($3.90 USD) per kilo

Large bag of fresh veg from the market – RM25 ($ 5.75 USD)

Bottle of wine – RM45 ($10 USD) Booze is expensive here

Can of local beer – RM8 ($1.83 USD)

Transportation Costs in Penang

Public buses cover the whole island and range from RM1.40-4.00 ($0.32 – $0.92) depending on the length of your ride. However, if you stay in George Town, you’ll only need them if you decide to go to another area of the island.

You can also rent a bike, scooter, or car if you plan to stay elsewhere.

Grab (Malaysia’s version of Uber) is by far the best way to get around the island. It is more expensive than buses, but it is faster and way easier. They are still very cheap. From our condo to the airport is a 1-hour drive, and it only costs around RM35 ($8 USD).

Best Restaurants in Penang

When living in Penang, street food is a must. It takes on a few different looks here.

There is the general street-side stall that they push into place right before mealtime, but there are also hawker centres or food courts.

Not like the food court you’d find in a North American mall with McDonald’s, KFC, and Sbarro Pizza. Here they are packed with food being cooked to order using recipes handed down from generation to generation.

A hawker centre is where you can go to find 30 or more different “restaurants” or stalls under one roof. It’s where the locals go and where you will likely spend most of your time stuffing your face with all the local dishes.

Red Garden

This is my favourite hawker centre. It’s in the heart of George Town and where Anthony Bourdain ate when he filmed here. It’s one of the biggest in town, so you’ll be able to try everything your heart desires.

However, if you get overwhelmed easily, don’t worry – the locals are super friendly and love talking food.

If you see someone eating a dish that looks good, go ahead and ask them what it is. They’ll tell you what it is and happily help you make some good choices. Click here to find Red Garden on the map.

Kimberly Street

By day, Kimberly Street is any normal road in town, but at night, street food stalls are pushed into place, and it starts humming.

There aren’t as many choices as at Red Garden, so it might be a great place to start without getting overwhelmed. Click here to find Kimberly Street on the map.

Kebaya

After eating street food for so long, once in a while, we want something a little nicer. We don’t go here every week, but for special occasions, Kebaya is the best.

It is located inside the 7 Terraces Boutique Hotel. From the antique plates to the food, the attention to detail is incredible. This is Nyonya food at it’s finest. The kind of food that has 25 ingredients to each dish yet tastes like your auntie made it. It has soul.

They serve a price fixed, four-course meal. You can pick your courses from a long list of options that has something for everyone. The price is RM128 ($29.50 USD), which is an incredible bargain for what you are getting.

You can’t even get two martinis for that price in a nice restaurant in Chicago where I’m from.

How to Find Apartments in Penang

Finding short term rentals used to be very challenging. Nowadays, more and more are cropping up, especially in George Town and Tanjung Tokong/Tanjung Bungah.

However, the shorter the term, the higher the price.

Airbnb is ubiquitous on the island and one of the best ways to source apartments in Penang.

Another option is Agoda. They showcase condos and homes for rent. Some hotels offer long stay promos so it’s worth checking into that as well.

In the last few years, the number of serviced apartments has increased as well. Serviced apartments always have housekeeping and a kitchen so it’s homier than a room in a shared apartment.

Whichever route you choose, negotiate your rent. It is very common here, and the longer you stay, the more negotiating power you have.

What’s The WiFi And Data Like?

Believe it or not, we have faster internet here than we did in the US. A lot of areas on the island have a fiber optic system, which makes the internet lightning fast.

We’ve had Digi since we moved here and found it to be the best overall internet service on the island. You can buy a Digi Sim card at the airport.

A lot of the apartments in Penang have free WiFi. As do the cafes, restaurants, and every co-working space. Keep that in mind when buying a SIM card.

No matter how much data you buy, you can always top it up at a 7/11 or local convenience store.

Digital Nomad Groups and Co-Working Spaces

As a digital nomad living in Malaysia, work is part of your everyday life. There are almost a dozen co-working spaces in George Town to choose from. Here is a list to get you started.

Scoopoint has a very laidback vibe. They have a nap room, a hammock, a party, and a play area. But it’s not all play and no work, they just believe in balance. It is a space geared toward creatives with hot desks and dedicated desks. Monthly hotdesk rentals got for RM280 ($64.45 USD). Click here for details.

@CAT has a totally different vibe than Scoopoint. It is geared toward tech entrepreneurs and start-ups. The goal is to make Penang even more innovative and start-up friendly. Monthly fees are RM300 ($69 USD) for a fixed desk. Click here for details.

MSOGO is inside Prangin Mall in George Town. The space is massive, so it will be easy to find a quiet spot. It’s bright and extremely colourful. If you like a zen-like working atmosphere, head elsewhere. There are various seating areas throughout the space as well as a kitchen and a game area. Monthly hot desks are RM300 ($69 USD). Learn more here.

If you arent looking for a co-working space but still want a sense of community, check out the Penang Digital Nomads Facebook group for all things digital nomad.

Pros and Cons of Living in Penang

Since I’ve been an expat in Malaysia, I can honestly say there are more advantages than disadvantages. But no place is perfect. Here is my list of the biggest pros and cons of living in Malaysia.

Pros:

Low cost of living

Almost everyone speaks English

It’s very safe

The healthcare is excellent

Locals are very friendly

The food is delicious

Affordable travel anywhere in the region

It’s multicultural

There is a large expat society

Cons:

We chose to move to Penang so clearly for us there are a lot of pros. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t some cons as well. Here is my list of the most significant disadvantages of living in Malaysia.

The public toilets are pretty gross

Not a lot of care for the environment – people litter because “someone else” will pick it up.

Driving is pretty insane

No such thing as customer service

Booze is expensive

It’s really far away from my family in the USA

Things To Do in Penang

There are so many sites and things to do in Penang that I’m still discovering new things, even after 7 years. These are some of the must-see places while you are living in Penang.

Khoo Kongsi

This place is my favourite Chinese temple and Clan House hidden away in the heart of George Town. It dates back to the mid-19th century but has been painstakingly restored over the years.

It is incredibly ornate with its mosaic dragons on the roof, black and white drawings of mythical creatures, gold-gilded doors, and carved windows. It brings you back to opulent times.

Kek Lok Si

As one of the largest Buddhist temples in Southeast Asia, it is a must-see while living in Penang.

This temple has instagramable nooks around every corner and over a million images of Buddha within its complex. They started building it in 1885 and are still constructing new parts today.

The 36-metre bronze Kuan Yin (Goddess of Mercy) statue was the latest addition. There are gardens to stroll through, and a turtle pond on the grounds.

The temple is a bit outside of George Town, so you’ll need to take a Grab or a bus there, but it’s worth it.

The Habitat on Penang Hill

Penang Hill is the highest peak in Penang. If you are struggling with the heat and humidity of the island, take the funicular to the top and get a drone’s view of the whole island.

On a clear day, you can see the island of Langkawi, and Thailand.

The Habitat is an eco-tourism site with a canopy bridge and walk, a nature trail, and a zipline. But the focal point is the Curtis Crest Tree Top Walk. An oval-shaped walkway on top of the trees.

Street Art

Penang is renowned for its ever-evolving street art. There are maps for it, festivals around it, and new pieces popping up daily. The best thing to do is wander the streets of town and find it as you go. Half the fun is hunting it down.

Some are tiny little scenes in the back of a dilapidated alley. Others are welded iron and tell the story of Penang’s history.

Final Thoughts

There is something for everyone in Penang. It has nature, art, food, history, and culture. And for expats and digital nomads, it has the extra important things — fast internet, friendly locals and a low cost of living.

It is easy to fall in love with Penang. More and more digital nomads are calling this little gem of an island a temporary home.

Most people don’t stay here long enough to get the full effect. But if you stay a month or three, you’ll discover it is a perfect concoction for nomads and anyone else looking for a new adventure.

Note: The images in this post are courtesy of Shutterstock.com. Click here to learn more about their royalty-free images and videos.

The post Digital Nomad Guide to Living in Penang, Malaysia appeared first on Goats On The Road.

Digital Nomad Guide to Living in Penang, Malaysia published first on https://travelaspire.weebly.com/

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jumpchain-drop · 4 years

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Chapter 4.13: 5.25 Years

Year 6, day 91: As we defend the Firma Fortress and the towns from monster attack going into the back half of the decade, I felt it pertinent to go through all the resources that we managed to get together. And by “get together,” I meant “buy all the way back at the beginning of this thing.” Something I really wished I did a lot earlier.

First off was our own personal fleet of ships: Cody’s shop boat, Shadow and Zorro’s submersibles, and (if they were here) Timothy. Plus whatever Maria and Tooty’s boats were, once we managed to get there.

We also had a large number of mason jars – or, to use the Zelda vernacular, Bottles – and “complimentary coupons” for Beedle’s shop. One each for each of us, except Shadow who got two Bottles because apparently he was down to pocket change at the time. So far, all the coupons had done is cause Beedle to give its user a very weak compliment. As well as prompt that from anyone we showed it to. Kinda next to useless. Though the Bottles have been in constant use by us to store things like health potions. Cody’s bought a copy of the recipe that turns Chu Jelly into potions and has set up large stores of potion in the Warehouse, so we won’t be out of stock for the rest of our stay here on that front. He wants to look into setting up a Chu breeding pen in the Warehouse, but we’re currently a little short-manned for that.

Cody and Zorro had started out with each of three decorative flowers on pot-like pedestals. They made good inventory for awhile, as every time one was sold, two more appeared in Cody’s shop’s storage lockers or the Warehouse. Eventually we stopped selling them to keep them from running roughshod all over the Warehouse and had to dump several in the ocean. Cody traded these with other merchants (which, thankfully, didn’t cause them to multiply) to get other decorative items, such as flags and statues. We’ve kept a couple of those for taking along, especially since they don’t multiply. I like the Hero’s Flag the most; I had a badge of it for my 3DS, but never had any idea before that point what it actually was.

Cody also started with this gold membership card from Beedle. He could get at least 10% off any purchase anywhere with it, and somehow even increase the prices of his own inventory by 10% without anyone batting an eye. Combine this with his hard bargaining skills, and I wasn’t kidding when I said Cody makes for a scary business mogul. Thankfully he’s mild enough to fund expanding and building the towns in the first place instead of monopolizing everything.

From what I remember of Bolt’s items – which is, y’know, everything – he had another bottle that came with a constantly hot serving of soup made with love. And probably also actual ingredients, he refused to share. He also had his own bag, though it was different from the mailbag I had, as well as a telescope and a Tingle Tuner. I’ve had to meet Tingle a couple times when one of the treasure map configurations proved too difficult to figure out, and he’s chill enough. Cody at least managed to bring his prices down from obscene to slightly less than Disneyland would charge for it; if we had the technology to reverse-engineer the Tuner, he probably could’ve put the weird little man out of business.

Along with an identical version of Bolt’s bag, Shadow got a Hyoi Pear, which let him command seagulls. Which we could buy, and the Warehouse only replaced the previous used one once per week. In all fairness, he had no idea what he was getting into.

Along with the aforementioned wallet of bottomless money storage and her Deku Leaf, Elmily had two bottles that were noticeably different from the others. These purified and filled with life any water left in them for a few hours, which made them great for growing plants. It even got rid of the salt content if it was taken from the ocean. This comboed nicely with a power that accelerated the growth of plants she tended to without even taking into account her natural green thumb as a Grass-type, and we got enough food and Reviver Seeds to outlast any siege, with enough bumper to sell in Cody’s business. She also got a leaf-based musical instrument that vaguely resembled a violin; while she got lessons from Makar on it that I sat in on with the Mind Strings, it was sadly different enough that I only got a vague sense of how to play my own instrument. So much for the easy way of soothing Anita’s heart.

Zorro, bless his heart, had the most surprising choices. Not the telescope, he just wanted one of his own, but the other things. Apparently several locations within the Great Sea were available to purchase, from Outset Island to the Forsaken Fortress to the Tower of the Gods, but none of the descriptions (as far as they could remember) specified anything about what would happen after the world ended. It wasn’t like any of those places could fit in the Warehouse, after all. But you know that island cabana that was owned by that schoolteacher that Link could come to own after bribing her with enough shinies? Zorro owns it. We legally owned an island that we could’ve used as a base this entire time and he didn’t tell us. I asked as calmly as I could, with Terra holding my hand just in case, and he said that I looked so deadset on taking on the Fortress as our home base, he didn’t want to ruin it for me.

I don’t deserve this kid.

And finally was our collective weapons assortment. Apparently one of the choices gave an option of two weapons and not a lot of limitations on what exactly besides weapon and shield. My hammer and shield came from that choice being forced on me. Hylians, A.K.A. everyone else but Terra, got it for free and they took it aside from Cody (he told me it slipped his mind from being overwhelmed by the whole process), so altogether, those produced one hammer, one sword, one lance, three shields, two daggers, and one boomerang. And then there were the special swords that were separate purchases.

Bolt had gotten a copy of the depowered Master Sword that he used almost exclusively instead of the plain sword he got. It had also gotten a bit of a chargeup for a while during the last leg of Link’s quest, but it since faded after the Earth and Wind Temples flooded. Most of the time he fought with it, though, he filled it with his own electrical power; since we had come here, he had managed to learn Discharge. The most fascinating part about this was that it showed me the interesting difference between human world and Mystery Dungeon Pokémon – he still had separate PP stores for each move and could always use them at full power, as could Cody, while Terra, Shadow, Manaphy, and I had a single PP well for all our moves but only half the strength if we weren’t in Pokémon form. In any case, Bolt had taken it with him when he left.

But that pales in comparison to what Zorro got. For no other reason than name alone, he had bought the Phantom Sword. By itself, it was merely effective at damaging incorporeal enemies like ghosts at any time instead of having to wait for them to make themselves vulnerable, as well as providing some resilience to time-based effects. What made it so extraordinary was the hilt had a slot in it that fit my Phantom Hourglass perfectly, providing a perfect place to hold and use it in a combat situation instead of trying to fiddle with a thing on my belt.

So I, along with Elmily in human form who could pass as a Hylian named Terra easily enough, recently started taking up swordsmanship training with Orca on Outset Island. My hammer delivers a strong enough blow, but against Anita, I’m going to want the power of the Phantom Hourglass as easily accessible as possible. Elmily, meanwhile, wanted to mitigate how relatively useless being a Torterra on a sailing ship was when it came to combat (especially if it was one we didn’t want to sink in the process) and most of her moves, and while she was bipedal on the Isle o’ Hags, she still fought primarily as a Torterra; she needed to learn how to fight with a human body so she could provide all the help she could. I can trust Shadow to watch Firma Fortress while we’re on the other side of the ocean for this.

#jumpchain #a man chooses #jumpchain a man chooses #story #layer 4 the legend of zelda the wind waker

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go2lehladakh-blog · 4 years

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Up the Memory-Plain: Through the Spectacular Passes of Leh-Ladakh

The visit to Leh Ladakh is all you need for a sabbatical to mind, whereas the clean air and spectacular views are soothing to the soul. Find out more about my experience of embarking on this awe-inspiring journey to the snow-laden peaks and glass-clear lakes.

“Gar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast, hameen ast-o, hameen ast-o, hameen ast”

What more is left to be said, for Kashmir, after this epic verse of Amir Khusroo. Heaven on Earth dwells in Kashmir and its Ladakh where the angels rest. That is the beauty of this place!

Ladakh - the utopia for every traveller’s wanderlust. How can I decipher the trip was, the awe-inspiring journey to the snow-laden peaks and glass-clear lakes? A visit to Leh Ladakh and it’s obvious why the undisputed beauty of this union-territory is a subject of dispute amongst India, China and Pakistan.

This dream destination can be found in every travel enthusiast’s bucket-list, and everyone is keen on making a mark in life by crossing the boundaries of this magnificent valley-land. A road trip to Leh Ladakh is an adventure to soul and potion to eyes. If this doesn’t motivate to give up everything and visit the place, nothing can, and I guarantee there isn’t a single living soul who won’t crave being there.

Mountains are calling!

The visit to this breathtaking place is all that’s needed for a sabbatical to mind, whereas the clean air and spectacular views are soothing to the soul. I was desperate to tick-off this place from travel-list and took upon the first opportunity I got in July to experience this mesmerizing place.

The Summer-Time Euphoria

Usually, the dare-devils seek out to visit Leh Ladakh during the winters as the snow brings out another beautiful side of this region. Still, the months between June to September are considered the most comfortable timings to plan a trip.

My Leh Ladakh Tour package was planned with two other friends and we opted for the most suitable time, i.e., Mid-July for our trip. Our mundane summer holidays experienced an upheaval of adrenaline rush. A boys’ trip to Ladakh is undoubtedly a dream come true.

Safarnama

This exciting trip was all mind-mapped to us. Our soul was feeling all zen already, and our heart was leaping out just by imagining the pictorial showreel. But the first thing to experience these wondrous moments in real life was actually to reach the place.

The easiest way to get there was by Air, but when have been a squad of all-boys been rational? Hence we opted for what any other guy who was just dying out to be called as an adventurer would do, we travelled, obviously, via Bikes. For road travel, there are two routes to reach Leh, the ground-place of Ladakh:

Leh- Srinagar Highway

Leh- Manali Highway We heard and read a lot about the Leh-Manali Highway route and hence decided on taking it up for the inception of our journey.

The Leh-Manali Highway

We hired our bikes, the ones with Tibetan flags and all from Manali and rode away towards our destination. This ride was all the more challenging and fun with the increasing altitude and diverse landscapes. Whether it be passing through the vibrant and crowded Kullu valley via Rohtang Pass or the completely isolated tracks through Nakee La, it felt like we have entered a lively painting where nature seems to be the artist.

We took our time juggling between exploring, riding and relaxing. In theory, it was a dream-journey, but life teaches us that to fulfil dreams practically, you need to pay the price of hard work and challenges. This is the first life-lesson the valleys of peace taught us. It took us three days to reach Leh. The major challenge of this journey was adapting to the climate and altitude.

The Beauty called Leh

As a local idiom describes, only the best of friends and worst of enemies pay us a visit is what the loving and heart-warming people of Leh believe. Through Leh Ladakh Tour Packages, there are several sightseeing spots and scenic views. The complete region is a delightful palette With different colours of nature.

Throughout the trip, there were various places and spots whose names came across before us, were in the middle-school Geography classes. Our journey and stay through Leh Ladakh was evidently bountiful for the peace of our mind and soul. While enjoying delicious meals and the company of complete strangers, we understood the compelling power and attraction value this place holds.

Back to Reality

We visited Kargil and paid our tributes to the other places as well as bowing before the other auspicious places in between. It was another three-day journey of coming back after life’s most mesmerizing trip of mine. The Leh-Srinagar route is also very scenic with lakes filled with shikaras. Whether it be the Kargil War Memorial, Gurudwara Patthar Sahab, the apricot village or the peaceful monasteries, you are all set for the blend of fun, adventure, cultures, peace and pride.

The best Leh Ladakh tour packages include the following spots:

Nubra Valley: The tranquillity of Ladakh lies in Nubra. Set amidst the famous pass Shangri La and dividing the Karakoram ranges from Ladakh range, Nubra valley is majorly famous for the sand dunes and camel rides.

Pangong Tso: Pangong Tso or Pangong lake is iconic due to the famous Bollywood scenes shot across there. The migratory birds and the colour changing, soothing water must be an important reason you feel very close to divinity here.

Khardung La: The highest motorable pass in the world. Although this is the most zealous ride as you can feel the thrill and thunder of being at the pinnacle of excitement as well as there are various issues like low temperatures, sudden climate change, inappropriate health, etc. Hence, it is advised that to fully enjoy and experience the fun, take your health seriously.

Magnetic Hill: It had been fabulous of an experience. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a trick of science or a natural phenomenon, but this has been an awe-inspiring experience coming across this pace. It is said to be the only anti-gravitational spot of India and vehicles go in the opposite directions when followed the instructions written on board there.

Leh Palace: it beholds the royal dignity and is a nine-storeyed building with specific views of the most breath-waking beauty of the city views.

Hemis National Park: Ladakh also abodes India's one of the largest National Parks in its territory. Said to be the only national park of India in the north of the Himalayas, it resides in the snow leopards as well.

Tso Moriri Lake: This is the eternal place where time seems to be stopped. It feels like painted with the gradients of sky and aqua colours and yet feels more appealing than any other scenic beauty.

Zanskar Valley: The unexplored landscapes loved for their serenity, and adaptable climate calls for a visit to the Zanskar district of Kargil. During the coldest of days, as the Zanskar river freezes, the Chadar Trek expedition becomes a hot-talk of the town, and everyone is interested in being a part of the world’s most famous and challenging trek.

Gurudwara Patthar Sahib: A very auspicious place bearing the imprints of Guru Nanak Dev Ji in between the stones. People of every religion bow down here.

Kargil War Memorial: Built by Indian Army, in the year 1999, this is a memorial of commemorating the soldiers martyred in the Kargil war. This place holds a special place for national pride and honour.

Monasteries: While taking a bite of the Tibetan culture blended with the Indian one, Leh-Ladakh has various numbers of monasteries, wide-spreading the zen culture across the world. Some of them are Samstling Monastery, Diskit Monastery, etc.

Some of the facts that should be taken care of while planning a trip are:

To ensure you have all the required documents and their sufficient copies to take permissions and easy access.

To carry a proper medical kit along with yourselves.

To have enough warm clothes

To keep a prepaid sim handy as there are all sorts of networks and permission protocols to follow.

To acclimatize yourself according to climate and weather beforehand

To plan out the staying options prior to the visit, since there is a scarcity of hotels on the road.

The trip to Leh Ladakh was full of enthusiasm and over-excitement, though there were times we think better plans could’ve been drafted. But all that ends well is perfectly well. This unforgettable experience has become a page in the diary of my memory which I keep revisiting, again and again, to be at peace just by thinking about the good times.

#Leh ladakh Monasteries #Zanskar Valley #Tso Moriri Lake #Hemis National Park #Leh Palace #Nubra Valley #Pangong Tso #Leh Ladakh #Leh Ladakh Tour package #road trip to Leh Ladakh

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terryblount · 5 years

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Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Review

First off, this review is spoiler-free, apart from the introduction. The screenshots are mostly from the first area, and I’ve tried to avoid even the tiniest reveal past the start of the game. Please go on and read without fear of something being spoiled for you. I’ve made sure of this.

I will confess it from the very beginning, I died more than twice! I have no clue how many times I died (there’s no in-game counter like in Dark Souls 2), but my death count was probably well over a hundred times. This was just my first play-through.

No, you cannot go over there. This is not Skyrim!

Sekiro Versus Past Games

Even though death is a constant, I believe the developers, FromSoftware, did a fantastic job with Sekiro. Before I discuss this modern game, let me look at at the previous games. First, note that I’ve played all the Dark Souls games (Demon’s Souls and Bloodborne too).

However, I was never a huge fan of the previous titles. I’d play them, but I wasn’t the guy who replays the games numerous times with different classes and weapons. I would usually do one ‘new game plus’ run and then move on. Below are my reasons.

Starting with the Souls games, I dislike the fact that you can play the whole games only by pressing R1 for a normal hit and O/B for rolling/evading. Plus I passionately dislike the roll mechanic. It looks so stupid while wearing armor or carrying a weapon bigger than yourself.

In the Souls games I had to adapt to the games’ limitations. I played a sword and parry-shield warrior in order to perform riposte attacks and get the wonderful gut-stab animations. Back-stabs were preferred as well.

Bloodborne is another story since they replaced the combat roll with a cool looking dash-evade, and once I realized how visceral attacks worked I was all in! I loved countering and delivering massive damage to enemies, but the lack of proper finishing animations still held back my enjoyment.

Another problem with the prior games was the very limited storytelling, and when combined with the lack of suitable counter/evade mechanics and stylish finishers, I wished for more.

I can wish no longer because by the grace of Buddha (the game’s deity) Sekiro remedies all these issues and gives me exactly what I’ve wanted. As a result, I’ve played the game twice on PC and once on PS4 Pro, having more than 150 hours in total. (I played on a console with my best bud, who is a damn master by the way, in case you are wondering why on earth I endured the poor console framerate).

Difficulty

FromSoftware specializes in third person action/RPG hardcore games for many years now, even the ancient Tenchu series was hard as hell, maybe not like Ninja Gaiden but still hard enough to make you unleash you rage on your favorite gamepad and regret it later at your local game store register.

The major factor of difficulty was the save system. If you died in these games you had to replay the whole map and back then combat was not great, the game focus was stealth and as a ninja your best bet for survival was to sneak around and perform stealth finishers. If I remember correctly in open combat you could actually die from one hit thus making stealth the only viable option; at least in most cases.

Wolf’s face after he finds out that he looses half his gold and XP every time he dies.

Story (Introduction Only)

Let me start with a little bit of story since Sekiro features a more traditional narrative style. Wolf, the main character, was an orphan until a master shinobi (a ninja of sorts) called Owl recruited and trained him to follow something called ‘the iron code.’ The game begins with Wolf protecting a young boy called the Divine Heir.

Feast your eyes upon my pre-order bonus skin! So worth it!

As the game goes on, you learn through various cutscenes about something called the ‘Dragon Heritage,’ linked to resurrection. Soon enough a villian emerges that wants to steal his power, and Wolf must go on a journey to find answers and protect his charge.

To say more would reveal too much. The story is not amazing or even fresh, but it works quite well in a game like this. It’s very easy to follow compared to the previous games wherein you get most of the story through item-description lore. You can still find lore through items and conversations like prior games, in case you are wondering.

Most importantly, in Sekiro I felt I had a story reason to push on–something to look forward to. Also, the different endings feel much more connected to the story.

NPCs, Voice Acting, & Audio

The NPCs are quite interesting and most of them have a back-story. It’s up to you to decide how much you’ll learn. Finally FromSoftware has added moving lips to characters. The lip-syncing is horrible, but this is still preferable to ventriloquist NPCs.

They voice acting is decent. I especially liked Wolf’s voice. There’s a option for Japanese acting with subtitles, but I didn’t try this. Some people might prefer the original language, but I’m not one to read subtitles through the whole game, no sir!

The music and sound are pretty great, which is expected of a FromSoftware game. I do appreciate the inclusion of more ambient music in Sekiro. The dead silence of the previous games drove me insane. They even implement fight music for every encounter, but I just wish there was more diversity in the tracks.

The boss music is pretty damn good; particularly the special boss music. Something I didn’t like was the sound of a few effects like the deathblow which was way too abrasive and loud. After listening to it a thousand time it becomes quite annoying.

At last piece and quiet. I despise this place. Probably you will as well.

Graphics, Controls, UI

Graphics are pretty good but nothing fancy. At least the game runs well, even better than Dark Souls 3. By adjusting a few settings I had a stable 60 FPS at all times, and if put everything on high I never dropped below 50 FPS. For a more detailed analysis please read the Sekiro Performance Analysis in case you haven’t already.

The only thing I didn’t like was the white fog covering much of the game’s environments. I was stuck with this on the PS4, but on the PC I used ReShade to sharpen the image clarity.

The controls and UI are very similar to previous titles and they work just fine. The same goes for the menus. You can even enable dynamic UI which adds to the immersion but it might kill you if you don’t pay attention.

I didn’t try to play with mouse and keyboard. I did play though with both an Xbox and a PS4 gamepad, and both performed excellently. Personally, I prefer the XB1 gamepad because of the larger L1 button, which is the most vital button in the game.

Gameplay

Now let’s get to the important stuff; gameplay. This has always been the heart of the previous titles. This time around the gameplay is much more focused. Combat is fast and brutal, but it can also be slow and methodical while you wait for the right opening. I find this much better, even though some players will unquestionably have a problem with the combat.

The enormous difference with the previous games is the existence of ‘posture.’ You build up posture by taking hits and blocking enemy attacks. If the posture bar fills up you get staggered, which drops your guard and gives you only a slight chance to dodge out of the way.

The exact same thing works for the enemies, but when you fill their posture bar you can perform a deadly finisher which guarantees the total demise of your enemy no matter the amount of health they have left. This only works on normal enemies since mini-bosses and bosses usually have more than one bar of health.

Fundamentally the combat is very straightforward and you will mostly use four buttons for block, attack, evade, and jump. In a sense the combat is simple, but it’s also deep and rewarding. You can guard almost every attack without losing any health as long the attacks do not feature elemental attacks or grabs.

The only downside of blocking is that you get posture damage, and if you keep your guard up your posture drops much faster. In the Souls games, guarding would regenerate your stamina much slower, but Sekiro actually doesn’t have stamina at all. You can attack and run as much as you like, which is quite liberating.

This is the place where I bathe in blood. The blood looks a bit funny sometimes. It must B positive!

Guarding, Deflecting, Evading, No Rolling

Sekiro heavily depends on guarding and deflecting. In fact, it’s the only viable way to progress through the game. If you can’t get the precise timing down, you simply won’t survive this adventure. There is no other way.

To reiterate, the ideal way to play is not to simply block all the time. You want to press block the moment you’re attacked to deflect incoming attacks. This timing inflicts major posture damage, and as stated above leads to unique finishers.

On a more technical level, this precise blocking gameplay could very easily be a major issue for Souls and Bloodborne fans. The roll of past games is gone. There is a dash/sidestep evade, but there are no ‘iframes’ (invincibility frames) like before. This means you’ll very often get hit during evading. For me it wasn’t an issue since I avoided rolling in all the previous Souls games. I found deflecting much easier compared to the prior parrying system, actually.

Combat Tips & Strategies

In Sekiro even if you don’t time it perfectly you can still avoid damage if you keep pressing the guard button. I found holding the guard button and momentarily releasing it works better for deflection compared to tapping at the last second, at least in my experience.

Evading usually works well on larger enemies and for some un-blockable attacks. My suggestion is to forget everything you learned from the prior games and follow the game’s instructions to the letter.

Jumping is also a key feature like never before. Jumping was never a combat mechanic in prior games, but since you are a shinobi (ninja), it would be dull if you didn’t have the ability to do so. You can even do a wall jump that look pretty cool and has a couple of different animations depending where you aim.

Speaking of animations they smoothed out the walking and running animations, so you no longer see the weird ‘stutter-step’ when you walked or ran on stairs, rocks or uneven ground.

That is how you properly use your enemy’s blood for face paint!

Some enemies have special heavy damage attacks which cannot be blocked. There are three different attacks: thrust, sweep, and grab.

Thrust attacks can be deflected or countered with the Mikiri counter in which Wolf performs a unique animation by dodging into the attack and inflicting major posture damage (if performed correctly).

The sweep attack cannot be parried or evaded, you can only jump over it, and if you time it right you can jump towards the enemy and do a jump kick in the face which also inflicts major posture damage.

Grab attacks usually require quick side-stepping or backing up. Some trial and error is required.

Speaking of various counter-skills, these counters are essential for survival. If you don’t master them you’ll ultimately hit a wall, making the rest of the game a headache (or impossible). My suggestion is practice – practice – practice until you feel confident you can easily execute these counters.

Something else you might want to keep in mind is the ability to run while having an enemy locked, without losing the ability to deflect, guard or hit, it only adds a slight delay to each action. This can be very useful when you battle large enemies and you need some space for a breather or simply a hit & run approach. You can even run and slide underneath enemy attacks.

Last but not least, the posture bar is tied to your health, meaning that if you are at max health your posture bar will be larger and will drop faster. On the other hand, if your health is at 50%, the bar will be smaller and will drop at a slower pace. In Sekiro, it’s very important to be fully healed before facing your enemies and I also recommend doing some damage to your opponents first before start deflecting and countering (in order to avoid wasting posture damage).

Not an RPG, Pausing

Sekiro features no classes, armors, weapons, or anything of the kind. There is only one armor and one sword which you will use through the whole game, and there are only two stats: vitality/posture and attack power. These stats are leveled up mostly by defeating bosses.

Therefore, this is not an RPG. This is a clear-cut third-person action/adventure game. However, there is still much to explore, secrets to find, and items to collect.

A bit random, but since Sekiro is strictly single-player, there is pause –actual pause. No more dying because someone is calling or ringing the door bell or trying to chat with you. Thank you FromSoftware, very much appreciated.

Say hi to your new best and only friend.

Experience Points, Skill Trees, Prosthetics

Experience points still exist, which you get from killing enemies and spend on skills points. You start with two skill trees, the shinobi and the prosthetic. Several more skill trees unlock as you play. Some skills require more than one XP point and many skills must be unlocked sequentially.

All skill trees have an ultimate skill. I personally feel these are not worth it. The passive skills provide much more constant help. Active skills are called combat arts and you can only have one active, but you can switch at any time.

The shinobi prosthetic is Wolf’s new tool that will lend him a…hand (sorry, I couldn’t resist) to overcome the difficulties of his epic journey. The prosthetic can be fitted with different offensive and defensive tools. You start with the grappling hook which you can always use at anytime as long there is a grappling point somewhere nearby. You can equip up to three different prosthetic tools, and can always change at anytime from the pause menu.

I bet this is super uncomfortable, but I am pretty sure nothing beats dying hundred of times.

They only limitation to the tools are the available uses. Every tool (except the grappling hook) uses spirit emblems which you can buy with gold, loot from dead enemies, or even find in the open. Some tools use only one emblem while others might use even more. Also keep in mind that some combat arts also use spirit emblems, so make sure you’re prepared before fights.

You can upgrade all the prosthetic tools giving them different abilities. In order to upgrade them you will need gold and materials. Most of the these are pretty common while others are very rare and have a specific number in each play-through.

Impressive Level Design & Enemies

The level design is pretty damn impressive, even if it’s not so interconnected like prior games. You will still find shortcuts, hidden pathways, and special rooms. Most of the areas are quite different from each other and feature unique enemies that fit the theme.

As always, you are free to explore. There are many hidden surprises, and it will take some effort to find them all since it easy to even miss whole areas, like past games. You can even find hidden bosses.

I am seriously thinking of jumping to my death rather than facing what’s behind me.

There are loads of enemies in the game, from overfed lizards, which you can skateboard, to big angry roosters! I prefer to fight humanoid enemies, and the majority of enemies are indeed of a humanoid nature. Although, they are usually larger than you.

Also note this is a “mano a mano” combat system, you will not be able to fight a group of enemies efficiently. What I like most about combat is you will eventually be given the chance to perform a glorious and utterly satisfying finisher that feels so damn good after a difficult battle.

There are many mini-bosses (some might say too many) with only a few re-appearing with a different colored textures. The mini-bosses range from easy to quite impossible at first, especially if they have more than one bar of health.

I found the main bosses; with some exceptions, easier compared to some mini-bosses, but of course there are a couple of bosses that will most definitely give you a fight to remember. One of the main bosses gave me the beating of my life, but when I finally won I’m pretty sure the whole neighborhood heard my winning roar!

Overall, I enjoyed most the boss fights (especially the unconventional ones) because you don’t usually fight big monsters where you chop their feet until they drop dead.

The Difficulty Question

So about the question I have been seeing everywhere…”is it difficult?” Absolutely! Is it impossible? No, absolutely not. For me this game was easier compared to the previous FromSoftware games. This is because of my play-style, so if you were a parry shield player you might find this game very feasible.

Now if you are a hardcore rolling player then you are out of luck. This game will be very difficult for you unless you forget everything you already know. Trust me; you will not survive by evading even if you find a mod that replaces the dash with a roll. There is a guy in the starting area which can help you train and train you must, young shinobi!

To repeat myself, there is no stamina and your posture drops way faster while blocking, so the game is trying to make you realize that you must play a certain way in order to survive.

There are some nice features that make the game easier. With the help of the grappling hook you can disengage from combat at anytime and heal in safety (except boss fights). There are several passives skills tied to health. Falling damage is minimized, and the game has a sort of sticky movement system on some cliffs and tree branches.

The checkpoints are usually very close to each other, and even if you die to a boss you can easily use you enhanced mobility to rush through the enemies and face the boss again in some seconds. So this is nice.

Another huge feature is the resurrection system. You can immediately resurrect at your spot of death, although there’s a cool-down of sorts on this feature. Did I mention the most important thing though? Stealth.

I love that the resurrection mechanic is part of the story, well played From!

A Robust Stealth System

What kind of shinobi (ninja) would you be if you couldn’t sneak around and stab people in the back, from above, or even from below? You can crouch and limit your visibility up to a point. The enemy AI is very simple and brainless. This is intended in order to make stealth more useful. Of course, you are free to play how you choose, but stealth makes the game much easier in parts.

Stealth is incorporated into nearly the entire game. You can perform stealth finishers on almost every enemy apart from some mini-bosses and main bosses. Stealth is the best tool to easily clear areas.

Other Points & Problems

Some bosses are surrounded by annoying enemies. Some might find this a bit excessive since boss fights are generally challenging enough without extra enemies.

Some ranged enemies do “auto-aim” with their attacks. This can be aggravating when a throwing star magically curves and chases you down. Not all ranged attacks behave like this, though.

The camera has some issues in closed spaces and with larger enemies. Most of the top tier skills are sort of rubbish. Enemy AI is plain stupid, but as I mention before I believe this is intended.

I can literally see through him! The camera can be troublesome up close.

A few bosses feel like a chore, and some of them are stupid hard, not because of their difficulty but because of their number of health bars.

You cannot sheath your sword for some reason. The regular deathblow animations need more variety. The requirements for one of the endings are just ludicrous. No one would ever think of doing what is needed in the right order on their own.

The new game plus mode is fine but I don’t see any reason to give it a go more than once since there are no major changes to enemies or loot.

The combat can be a bad thing for some people as well. It’s a very focused combat that some will find fatiguing.

Conclusion: I Loved It!

All in all I had so much fun with this game. I’ve been waiting for a good triple-A ninja game since Tenchu. Sekiro delivers intense sword-clashing combat and the feeling of being a real bad-ass ninja.

Combat never felt so rewarding for me, and almost every new encounter has taught me something new that helped me along the way. I find this reward of personal growth more satisfying than some sword or trinket I might not ever use.

This game is without a doubt not for everyone. The lack of classes, armor, weapons, and online play will keep some people away. However, if you’re open to something new and have much patience for precision-timing games, your efforts will be rewarded.

Fitting music

Diverse areas

Precision combat

Good exploration

Creative enemies

Great PC performance

Some dumb AI

Camera issues

Dull new game plus

Weak ultimate skills

Couple of chore like Boss-fights

Playtime: 150+ hours total. Two PC play-throughs. Once on PS4 Pro.

Computer Specs: CPU: i5 4440, GPU: MSI 960GTX 4GB, RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X 8GB HDD: Crucial 275GB MX300, OS: Win7, 1080p

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Review published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

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