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adorerdraco · 4 years

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Distractions and O.W.L.S ✧ Draco x Reader

Summary: You start neglecting yourself and Draco when you begin stressing for O.W.L.S. The studying finally took its toll on you that landed you in the hospital wing but Draco helps you end the night on a good note.

Warnings and Perks: being stressed, over studying, fainting ! and corniness

Words: 2K (sorry for any mistakes its 3 AM !!!!!)

A/N: omg i am currently working on some requests and on Healing Heart 4, but i’ve had this scenario stuck in my head all night bc i was listening to a slowed down version of stuff we did from UP and so i thought id share it with everyone since i havent posted in like 2 days <3 do not own gif but pretend that you and Dracoooo <3

It was the beginning of June, weeks away from O.W.L.S, which meant weeks away from another ending of a school year at Hogwarts. What bothered you the most wasn’t the fact that you had homework piled up to the ceilings, or that Snape has been snapping at you all week and took away 5 house points from you, or that you were drowning in a sea of textbooks and notes that you kept studying for your upcoming exams; it was the fact that you had barely seen Draco in nearly two weeks. You were so busy with schoolwork and focused on getting outstanding marks, you hadn’t even realized you were neglecting your own boyfriend.

Of course, the two of you would find each other in the Great Hall during breakfast and you’d give him a quick hello and goodbye kiss faster than he could even register what was happening and by the time he did, you were already out the door and rushing towards your first class. At this point, you were acting like the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, always frantic and in a rush. Your hair was wild and untamed, you had dark bags under your eyes from the all-nighters you were pulling, your robes and clothes underneath were in disarray and wrinkled.

To make it worse, you never let Draco study with you. He constantly asked and you always gave him the same answer.

“If I study with you, I’ll never get anything done.”

Which was true. He was very distracting with his quiet jokes in the library, or when he would look up at you with his sparkling gray eyes when you would try to ask him a question that just flew from your mind at the sight, or smile at you with a wide toothy grin that lit up the room when you got sidetracked and talked to him, or the way he rested his hand on your thigh when he would sit beside you while you quietly read or wrote but the only thing you could focus on was his fiery touch. Really, it wasn’t him who would distract you; it was you who distracted yourself with him. And that was evident when you tried to remember everything you’ve learned in the past school term and came up blank because for some reason your brain only retained information and memories that contained Draco throughout the past year.

So you figured a little time away from him wouldn’t hurt. Because if you didn’t pass these O.W.L.S, you felt like everyone would be disappointed in you, especially yourself. So you locked yourself away in your dorm and crammed and jam-packed your brain with information until you eventually passed out hunched over a book with drool blurring the ink on your pages. You avoided the library for studying, knowing Draco would go looking for you or Madam Pince would distract you halfway through your note taking to kick you out for the night.

Mornings always came the same, you waking up randomly over your desk a few minutes before breakfast and changing into a new pair of robes as quickly as you could while trying your best to smooth your hair down with your hands. This morning was different, however. You woke up to one of your roommates shaking you violently while she spoke your name loudly above you, but it sounded distant. You shot up in a hot flash, wiping your mouth of any saliva and groaning when you started to feel the pounding in your head that seemed to shake up your whole brain. “Thank Merlin, you’re awake!” Your roommate exclaimed in relief. “You looked dead, honestly. But class is starting in twenty and you’ve missed breakfast.”

“Twenty?” you frown, letting your swelling head fall into your hands. “I don’t want to deal with Snape right now, I feel awful.”

“I’m going to try to say this as nice as possible,” she sighs, placing a hand on your shoulder, “but it shows.”

“Thanks,” you scowl. You try to get up from your chair but gasp in pain as your muscles cramp at the movement like a rickety old man.

“Maybe you should go to Madam Pomfrey,” she suggests, trying to help you up but you shoo her.

“No, I’m fine,” you rush to interject. “I will not be missing Potions, no.”

She gave you a shrug, backing away in defeat as she let you rush to change into new robes and attempt to brush down the matted mess that’s supposed to be your hair but gave up halfway through and threw it into an updo. The headache was not a good combination with the scalp pain from combing out knots. Your roommate waited for you with pitied eyes, following closely behind you as you hurried out of the room and towards the exit.

You sped walked out with her but didn’t see the mop of platinum blond that was waiting for you outside the entrance of the common room. You had zero awareness of his presence until his hand had reached out to hold onto your wrist, stopping your near sprint towards the class. Your roommate stopped too, eyeing the two of you and the look on the Slytherin’s face before she continued walking.

“What? Draco, let go,” you move away from him and he quickly drops your arm. “I’m going to be late.”

You began to walk away from him, but he stepped in front of you, stopping you again.

“Why weren’t you at breakfast?”

“I overslept,” you answered gruffly. “Now, move! If I’m late, Snape will have my head on a stick.”

“Y/N, you need to slow down,” he frowns, “all this studying and rushing around everywhere is going to land you in the hospital wing. You look sick already, I’m worried.”

“I’m not sick!” You huff, throwing your head back in irritation. “If you really cared about me, you’d let me go to class instead of insulting me.”

“I’m not insulting you. Am I so terrible to tell you that you look like you’re about to pass out any second?”

“Yes, you are terrible,” you sneer, the pounding in your head was getting stronger each passing second. “Instead of-”

Your train of thought was violently stopped in its angry tracks, you stumble back and begin blinking hard at the spots that quickly started to dot your vision. Your hand instinctively reached out towards Draco, which he grabbed and hurriedly darted forward towards you, gripping onto you before you could meet the ground, your vision going black and your consciousness out the door.

Draco felt himself begin to panic. He promptly began to feel guilty, feeling like it was his fault that you even fainted in the first place because of the argument he had accidentally started.

He gathered you up in his arms, one arm sliding under your knees and the other under your neck as he swiftly picked you up and began his frantic journey towards the hospital wing.

When he got you to Madam Pomfrey, she instructed him to set you down on one of the beds and kicked him out of the room while she started her treatment. His heart was beating so fast, he wanted nothing more than to stay by your side so he halfheartedly threatened her with his father and she ended up letting him stay with a deep sigh while he stood idly by your bed. When Madam Pomfrey was done, she left the two of you alone. Draco wasted no time in sitting at the foot of your bed, his hand finding its way into your cold one that laid limply beside you. He watched your sleeping figure with a relief as he noticed that whatever Pomfrey gave you had speedily began to affect you. Your skin no longer looked ghastly and dull, but healthy again and tinged with pink. The dark circles underneath your eyes had faded just a little bit, leaving only slight bags as you finally slept.

He waited maybe 12 hours for you to wake up. After missing his first class, he had decided to go to the rest of his classes as Madam Pomfrey swore to him up and down that you would not wake up any earlier. He begrudgingly obliged and skipped all his meals instead to spend his short free time with you. When his final class ended, he almost ran back to the hospital wing. He occupied the rest of his time with a book he had found thrown somewhere around the room. The book was long forgotten the second he felt your hand twitch and your body begin to stir, your tired e/c’s looking around the room in confusion before landing on him. He scooted himself closer to you, brushing a loose strand of hair out of your face as he looked at you with pure concern. It was the same look he had when he confronted you earlier and with that one look, you were able to recall everything that had happened before your collapse.

“I’m sorry I said you’re terrible,” you croak out sadly, your hand wrapping around his wrist and squeezing it gently.

“I’m sorry I made you faint,” he says. “How are you feeling?”

“That was my own fault,” you chortle, “but I feel really good. I know I fainted and all, but I feel much better with whatever Madam Pomfrey gave me.”

“I can tell,” he smiles, moving himself a little back as you sat up with a newfound strength. “She said you can leave when you wake up.”

“Good, now help me out of this bed.”

Draco took your hand and you hopped out of bed excitedly, turning towards him and giving him a tight hug that he returned twice as hard.

“If you’re not too tired, can I show you something?” He asks from above you, his arms still wrapped strongly around you.

“Yes, please,” you answer with a nod against his chest.

Draco steps away from you before taking your hand and walking the two of you out of the hospital wing and towards the stairs that led to the astronomy tower. When you reached the top, huffing, and puffing, he asked you again if you were okay to which you answered with an eager nod.

"Tonight is a blood moon,” he smiles, pointing up towards the very large orange and reddish moon in the starry night sky. It shone brightly but still gave off little light in its wake, the astronomy tower was almost dark, but you still managed to see the blond perfectly, he was watching you with a happy and loving glint in his eyes that you were able to notice. “I was planning on asking you to see it with me tonight, but we kind of ended up elsewhere.”

You threw yourself into his arms, your face buried deep in his robes and the heat radiating off his chest warmed you up in the comfiest way.

“You’re the best, Dray,” you mumble into the cloth of his robes, the clothing vibrating underneath you as he chuckled. You pulled away and gazed up at him, smiling when he placed a kiss on your forehead.

The two of you unknowingly began to sway back in forth in each other’s arms, his hands resting on your lower back while yours were looped loosely around the back of his neck.

“You scared me today,” he begins quietly, “and every day since you’ve started your studying.”

“I know,” you frown, “I’m sorry.”

“Promise me you’ll stop overworking yourself,” he says softly. “I know you’re scared you’ll fail, but I promise you won’t. You’re one of the smartest people I know and I know you’ll get outstanding marks on everything.”

“You think so?” you ask hopefully, your eyes trained on the burnt orange moon as you took in his words.

“I know so.”

A few more minutes of silence pass by, your head now leaning against his chest as the two of you still danced silently. And as if he read your mind, Draco began humming a soft and off-pitch rendition of Claire de Lune. You would laugh every time he forgot a note and would go silent for a moment before backtracking and humming it correctly.

You don’t know how long the two of you stayed up there dancing slowly in each other’s arms with Draco trying his best to hum the top classics of the classical’s, his lips finding yours every now and then to kiss you longingly and tenderly, but one thing was for sure; it was bliss.

Maybe distracting yourself with Draco wasn’t such a bad thing.

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centuriantalevevo · 3 years

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Draco x Nonbinary Reader

Reader is AMAB, also this contains my headcanons lmao- hella OOC because of that (one of my headcanons, Draco has like.. multiple cousins who are basically on crack /j)

TW: transphobia and enbyphobia, with talk of biphobia. LGBTphobia in general. Misgendering

5th year is.. Hectic.. Especially for a certain kid, Y/N L/N, who had to deal with a literal pink toad this year. Like.. ew? What made it worse, was they seemed to be the only kid in the school, well Slytherin specifically, that was… Different. Not in the normal, cliche sense, where ‘oh Y/N was drop dead gorgeous but abused by everyone around her, she can sing amazing-’, no. This isn’t your typical x Reader story, Y/N was different in the sense of Identity, Gender, specifically Gender Norms. They seemed to be all alone on this feeling, a feeling of discomfort, a feeling of loneliness despite multiple friends being in the room with them at this moment. They were away from earth, where no words can hurt. Where the erasure cannot get to them.

Oh god did the words hurt.

Oh? What words? You’re about to find out.

“No, but did you hear some of the bullshit Umbridge was saying?” He asked, he as in the blonde. Draco. Draco Malfoy. “Especially to my cousin-” “You have a cousin?” Pansy asked, “Welcome to the conversation, first time speaking to me?- Yes, you are hella late to the conversation.” Draco groaned, “Now let me get back to the story” “Continue, which cousin? Darla?- Dominic?-” Blaise asked, “No, Jamie..” He responded quickly, “Oh hold on, what did the toad do to Jamie? I swear, if she hURT THAT PRECIOUS CHILD- Gryffindor or not, I love that girl to death” Blaise said quickly, interrupting Draco.

The blonde sighed deeply, “Blaise.. I love you to death but holy shit let me finnish, alright..” He took a breather, Y/N came back from their little world, queuing into the conversation. “Okay, so Umbridge had the AUDACITY to misgender MY COUSIN OVER AND OVER again! Misgendered her, invalidated her, you know that rule about like.. Something distance from the opposite gender? Yeah she’s forcing Jamie, a literal girl, to distance from girls and not guys-” He halted for a second, “No, my bad.. She’s forcing Jamie to stay away from both because she believe that Jamie is gay.. No, Jamie is a whole straight girl..” Draco ranted, “um.. Sorry to interrupt but… Jamie’s a girl? So how was she invalidated?” Y/N asked, tilting their head, Draco’s eyes moved to them, softening some.

“Oh, you didn’t know? I thought everyone knew. Jamie is trans, she’s a trans girl specifically”

THERE! THERE IT WAS! They weren’t alone now.. There was someone who understood, yet they’d been clueless this whole time.

“I swear I will jack that woman UP” Blaise said lowly and Draco nodded in agreement. “Jamie was CRYING when she came to me, she could barely speak. That poor girl passed out from crying so much. She felt so hurt and the amount of dysphoria she felt was astronomically high.” He sighed, even he wanted to cry. “Like, damn bitch you didn’t have to out yourself as a whole LGBTphobe, you could’ve just stayed quiet and it would cost you nothing yet you chose to mess with a child who is related to the MALFOY family, very smart yes mhmm..” He growled in aggravation “Only merlin knows what she’d do if there was a nonbinary in the school, she’s probably dehumanize them.” He shook his head.

“I’d commit a hate crime if I’m honest” Dominic said, coming from the stairs of the boys dormitory, “The LGBT had their way for a moment because she hadn’t thought about the gays, bisexuals and lesbians. Well.. the gays and lesbians, I don’t think she thinks Bisexuals exist..” He hummed, “She’s enforced the rule so now Darla can’t be near Daphne, luckily I don’t have a boyfriend.. The one time being single is a good thing.” Dominic dramatically cried.

“I will prove bisexuals exist, damn seems like I gotta stay away from ALL of you, sorry” Draco jokes, but was dead serious at the same time. “Until then, if there are nonbinaries in the school, technically they can by-pass the rules, if they present as masculine one day feminine the next. Or just androgynous to confuse the toad.” Draco then added, “I think I have to stay away from you guys too, shit Bisexuals can’t do ANYTHING” Blaise said, pretending to get up and leave.

So.. the students know of the nonbinary gender…

“Although, no surprise, Snape is always the decent one, along with all the other professors, and respect the trans kids pronouns, I’ve gone into his class to give him something during one of his lessons and heard him deliberately calling out kids that misgendered Jamie, it was amazing. And everyone says Snape is a bad teacher.” Draco says, smiling some at the memory. “Ooo! Speaking of which! While in Umbrdige’s class I think.. A few days ago, Snape actually found out about the incident and told her the fuck off for it-” “Damn, snape really said ‘trans rights are human rights’, go off honestly” Dominic interrupted, Draco nodded “The best look honestly, it was pure bliss watching that.” He responded.

Y/N finally managed to form words. “I.. didn’t know there was a trans person in the school.. A fellow trans person..” They said, mumbling the last part quietly, but Draco, Dominic, and Blaise caught it. “Fellow trans person?” Blaise tilted his head, and Draco glanced knowingly, the last part of their sentence was all he needed. They shook their head quickly, “Nothing” They shrugged, “Just nice to know”

It hurt, to be misgendered everyday, to be fair no one knew they were misgendering the kid. But they were so scared of being erased, discriminated against, that they said nothing. Since 1st year, pretty much.

They stretched some, “I'm gonna head to the library, I need to get studying done for Defense Against the Dark Arts, I’ll talk to you guys later.” They smiled, getting up, and grabbing paper, a quill, ink and their books from their dorm. Speed walking out, though it didn’t take long to hear a second pair of footsteps racing after them. Who the-

“Hey, Y/N..” Draco trailed of, catching up to them quickly, “What’s up?” They looked at him from the corner of their eye, “There’s something you never told anyone, isn’t there?” He asked. Y/N averted their eyes and shook their head, “Nn… No..?” They sounded unsure, “Is that a statement, or a question because you don’t know?” He asked. He didn’t wanna be rude, but this was the only way he could truly confirm. If there was someone he had been accidentally misgendering, he wanted to stop that quickly.

“I don’t wanna sound rude, nor put you on the spot.. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to but.. What are your pronouns?” he asked, he knew of the nonbinaries, he knew of them.. So it’s fine to tell him, yes? He was basically defending them. They shook their head, not ready yet. “Not ready? That’s fine, I can respect that. You can always tell me, you know that right? I’ll understand. And if not me, then Jamie will.” heHe had sincerity in his voice, Y/N simply nodded. “Noted, thanks Draco..” They smiled and headed to the Library.

The next day, Defense Against the Dark Arts was boring as ever, all because of Umbridge. But she had a new lesson today, not the normal one though. She had been doing her usual bullying of Jamie, Draco had been on edge and heard about it earlier, fairly quickly too. It was like it was her MISSION to be an LGBTphobic idiot with no life. Jamie had mentioned nonbinaries before she dipped from class, arguing about trans in general with the woman, or.. Monster.. Both terms work. So she was now here, in front of kids, spewing out enbyphobic shit, and not planning on stopping.. Y/N was starting to cry, but tried their best to hold it in.

The first person to notice the distress was Draco, Hermione did too, as she sat behind Y/N but could see them jolting some, “These.. Non-binaries, are less than human. You’re either a boy, or a girl. Everyone agrees, yes? If you are born a girl, you’re a girl. If you’re born a boy, you’re a boy. It’s a mental disorder, and you need to be fixed-” “They’re normal.. They just happen to not feel like a guy or a girl..” Y/N said quietly, “Trans folk are human, they aren’t an it.. That’s incredibly hurtful..” They said, it took all their strength to keep their voice from cracking.

“What was that Mr. L/N?” Umbridge smiled that sweet yet disgusting smile, tilting her head.. No, that smile had more dangerous intent behind that. They flinched. “Is there something you would like to say sir?” She asked, stopping in front of them. “Trans people.. Are people.. Just because you’re too ignorant to learn doesn’t.. M..mean you- b-bring someone down b-beca-use of it..” Their voice started to crack, they hiccuped some. “I’m sorry.. Do you think you have more knowledge than me?” She asked, her tone was dangerous. “Y..yes. Clearly, I’ve d-done my research on this, th-there is science tha-at defends us” They said.

“Detention Mr. L/N.. For talking back to a teacher, when I am giving a lesson you are to listen, you’re too caught up in whatever freak show you tra-” Umbridge was cut off, “Don’t you DARE finish that damn sentence, I can promise you I am not against hitting a teacher and a woman at that.” Draco intervened, “There is a lot of science that backs transgenders up, plenty of brain science has shown there is a female and male brain, that’s what backs up trans girls and trans boys, the nonbinary is still being researched, but I can assure you it is much more than a mental illness. Yes, dysphoria is a disorder, it CAN be treated, it can be treated with Hormone Replacement Therapy, or HRT. It can be treated with transitioning. Some nonbinaries transition, some don’t feel dysphoric enough to transition, but at the end of the day they are still a they, I am still a he, and you are still a she. Just imagine if someone called you ‘he’, or even ‘it’ because they didn’t believe you were actually a girl-” “DETENTION, for BOTH of you.” Umbridge screamed, glaring daggers at both of them.

“I’d take detention over hearing another second of the erasure, you’ve hurt my cousin enough, I’ll gladly take the blow for her. I thought Snape would’ve taught you.” Draco muttered, staring at her, “Both of you, leave. Now.” She said with a huff, Draco grabbed his things, but stopped Y/N when they tried to collect theirs, getting it for them, “Come on.” He said softly, leaving the classroom with the student.

He handed their things to them gently, “I.. Noticed you got really upset..” He said softly, “More like panicked..” They said softly, “It’s easier said than done, but try not to let her get to you. Some people just choose to stay stupid. Sometimes even I hurt from some of the shit she says. Damn the amount of biphobia I have heard from her is ungodly.” He sighed, “You’re bi?” They asked curiously, “Yeah, I thought it was obvious by now. I kinda stopped caring at like.. 2nd year, hell I made out with.. A lot of guys in 2nd and 3rd year, mostly to piss my father off because he’s also LGBTphobic, but also just because it’s fun, and guys are cute.” He said with a small grin, they laughed. “Fair enough, do what you can to piss the oppressors off” They joked, drying their eyes. He turned to head to the Slytherin Common Room, when their voice ringed out again.

“They/Them..” Y/N said, he turned around and tilted his head, “You asked what my pronouns are.. I use they/them. I’m nonbinary” They said softly, and Draco smiled with a nod. “Is there a different name you want to be called?” But they shook their head, “The name I introduced myself as is the name I want to use.” Y/N said, “Alright, come on. Lets go to the common room” Draco said, “I can probably try and get Jamie in there too..” He hummed softly.

Later that day, it was after dinner, and all the Slytherins were in the common room. Aside from Draco and Y/N, “Do you want to tell them? Most of them are accepting, aside from a few exceptions, Pansy surprisingly is accepting.” He said quietly, and thought for a moment.. “Blaise told me a few of the kids got told off because they agreed with us.” He added, “I think.. I was always scared to say anything because I didn’t wanna be made fun of.. I didn’t know there was someone who was trans like me til you talked about what happened with Jamie..” They said, “Well, you’re safe here. Hell, I’m more than 110% sure that our headmaster is gay, so.. Do with what you will on that information” He said with a small lighthearted laugh, Draco kissed their cheek with a small hum “It’ll be okay.”

They’d chosen to tell them, they didn’t want to feel misgendered any longer, Umbridge aside. “Oi, everyone shut your trap for a second, I have something to say- THEO… Thank you” He said, after staring down Theodore for a moment. “Let us reintroduce someone, but properly this time. This is Y/N, they’re nonbinary, use they/them pronouns and the moment I hear any of you say something against that, I will personally come for you, with Jamie in tow.” Draco said, Y/N smiling a little with a small wave. “Could’ve told us sooner, but glad you did, especially after Professor Umbridge, good job” Blaise said.

Even Pansy was accepting, they were all proud that you had the courage to say come out, and also that you said something to Umbridge.

This was fine, everything is fine. Umbridge wasn’t fine, but.. This was nice, being accepted as who you are, by people who you’d think would be the last people to ever accept you. The person you thought would be the last person to accept you ended up being the most accepting, which is ironic when you consider his dad.

This was bad 😭

#draco malfoy #draco x reader #nonbinary reader #TW// transphobia #TW// misgendering #hella OOC because of my own headcanons-#harry potter universe

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solaeter · 3 years

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hi !!! congrats on 100 followers !!

soooo i'm here for the jujutsu kaisen match-up hahah... alright let me just get started

1) i'm lightskin black girl. i have fuller lips, a smaller/average nose. i've got brown eyes and thick, straighter eyebrows :) i have collarbone length hair that is curly, dark and cut into a shaggy mullet,, kinda messy lmao

2) my love language is touch !!

3) i'm bisexual :)

4) my goals are to be involved in the arts, i love being creative in everyway. anything that can help me become more creative or just anything new that i can learn is always good for me ! but if i had to pick a specific career, i'd love to be an actress.

i'd say my only fears is not living up to my full potential, or just letting myself down. also spiders.. 🧍‍♀️

dislikes,,, anyone who is unnecessarily rude.

5) what i look for in a person,,,, someone who understands me or atleast accepts me for all the randomness that goes on in my head lol. just want someone on the same wavelength as me, some i can laugh w, someone who can be my best friend before my lover. cuz personally i can be v sarcastic, so to have playful banter back and forth is so important to me !! 😭

i'm an introvert, but can be loud around people im comfortable with. i am v scatter brained,,, so i just have random outbursts of energy lol

6) hobbies and interests,, i love creating things ! call my ass bob the builder LMAO but i do love art, editing, fashion and dancing :)

7) what makes me feel confident,, i'd have to say the music i listen to, the clothes i wear. if i wake up one day and feel good then i'm goof for the entire day haha. and insecurities,,, i don't think i have if im being honest... cocky much 😭

but yeaahhhh, hope i didn't overdo it 😭 sorry if i did. but thank you and congrats again !!

Jujutsu Kaisen Matchup Event | OPEN

Thank you so much for participating! Since you didn’t give an emoji, I went ahead and picked 🧍‍♀️ if that’s alright ( •⌄• ू )✧. It’s for when I make the masterlist, I can use it instead of revealing names heh. Thank you again!! Hope you enjoy!!

Out of everyone in Jujutsu Kaisen, I pair you with…

Honey you are gorgeous and Yuji will fall flat on his face in love with you. He isn’t picky with appearances and will probably compliment every little thing because he can’t narrow down what he loves the most. Sure he may say that he loves a tall woman with a big ass, but his heart is too pure to be limited to such a thing. You will be his queen and no one can tell him otherwise.

In the beginning of your relationship, Yuji is an all in type of boy. He's gonna act like you've been together for fifty years and hold you in high regards. For one, you actually accepted to date him out of everyone which he's shocked about as well. Secondly, you just make him so happy that he can't hold back. The only respect he has in the beginning is the amount of pda. Hand holding and hugs are a must but everything else comes with him.

Yuji will lowkey wanna play with your hair cause he's amazed by the curls. He would grab one and pull it to see it bounce. That boy will be like 😲 and do it again until you tell him to stop. [as someone with curly hair too, I find it funny when this happens jskssksks so I had to include it].

Those lips, Yuji will be all over you. He's all for physical affection, so he will not hesitate to kiss you and then make some type of cute remark about how your lips feel on his. He will absolutely melt if you kiss his face; cheeks, nose, chin or just anywhere..he will be putty and have a blush on his cheeks and a stupid smile to match. Like I said, he's in love with you completely.

Yuji definitely relates with you in terms of your fears, aside from spiders. He will willingly kill those for you and be deemed the hero. Anyways, Yuji will listen to your fears and concerns while also adding his own so that you know that he feels the same and that you aren't alone as long as he's around. Yuji is also your biggest supporter, he will encourage you to be the best version of yourself while saying it's fine to make mistakes along the way. Just do the same for him, you both build each other up ❤

Yuji isn't very creative, so seeing you take an interest in just about anything you set your mind to, he's right behind you with full support. You wanna be an actress? Yuji is your biggest fan and helps you practice if you plan to pursue the dream. He admires everything you do, from the littlest things to the biggest. Yuji also helps you discover new things, especially if he knows it'll catch your attention even for a short while.

Yuji sees you dancing? Girl please, he's gonna join you even if he can't dance for shit. This boy is hard to embarrass, so you'll have a partner no matter what. Your love for fashion? Yuji will let you pick things out for him, he just has a strong preference for hoodies. Other than that, he gives you full reign to play dress up on those days you both spend time at the mall.

In terms of conflict, Yuji would want to settle the matter as soon as possible. He can't deal with the idea of losing someone he holds so dear. He'd give you space, but not for too long. Yuji is the type that would come to you and just pull you into his arms. The contact is one form of reassurance and the apologies that soon follow only make it better. Now if you weren't one to apologize right away, the hug is definitely enough for Yuji to ease his worries.

Yuji can take jokes just as he can dish them, even it they're a little dumb. He admires your randomness, he thinks it keeps the relationship fresh and there's always something to discover. As much as Yuji loves you, he also considers you to be his best friend as well. It's the best of both ends really. You mesh really well with him and he to you, so much to the point others would question if you were dating or not. Especially if you both got into a teasing battle that bordered on offensive to some but funny to you two.

Lastly, Yuji really admires your confidence. He loves how your whole day can be made from the time you wake up. If only it were that easy for him, but your positive vibes do rub off on him more often than not. And your lack of insecurities, ma'am you are surely strong and that has Yuji tossing heart eyes at you. He has his own internal battles but your strength helps him keep his head high.

#🧍‍♀️#jujutsu kaisen #jjk #100 follower event #jujutsu kaisen matchups #jjk matchups #jujutsu kaisen yuji #yuji itadori #jjk yuji #jujutsu kaisen yuuji itadori #jjk yuji itadori #jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen imagine #jjk imagines #jujutsu kaisen headcanons #jjk headcanons

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valhallanrose · 3 years

Text

Monster Miriyam Headcanons

So, to preface, Miriyam is still technically human - her monster form comes about as a contract with her patron, the King of Swords, and manifests this way because she is halfway to becoming a member of his court. She’s essentially got one foot in the realms of the arcane, the other in her/the normal world - changing or transforming means pulling magic from the realm of the Suit of Swords and rather than expressing that through spells, does so through self modification. Hence the monster form, which was inspired off the Nyx Hydra design for the King of Swords in the Arcana tarot deck. She’s met with Arcana a few times now and while some very perceptive humans read her more as Arcana-adjacent than anything else, the Arcana very much believe that she’s human regardless of what form she takes.

Size-wise, she’s about 7’2”, not including horns (horns make it a good 7’10”). Very muscular and definitely as strong, if not stronger than you think she is based on appearance alone. Prehensile tail.

Miriyam doesn’t break this form out without a long conversation as to what she is (only held with potential long term partners, really, casual hookups don’t usually get to a personal enough point to warrant that)

Transforming is kind of gross, honestly? Like this is some very audible crunching/popping, like when you crack your knuckles but way louder, but it’s also a very fast paced change so you don’t hear it for every long

She’s got some habits from the monster side that have quickly become noticeable when she’s wandering about as a human.

This includes enhanced sense of smell, hearing, and sight.

Smell and hearing are particularly intense, though, to where she can pick up on a mouse running on the palace marble or tell you exactly what spices someone mixed into a dish as soon as she stepped into the kitchens.

Sight is trickier to quantify, but the average human with 20/20 vision can see the furthest edge at 3 miles away. Miriyam’s would be somewhere in the 4-5 mile range, while night vision is about 3-4 miles (assuming clear skies and no obstacles)

Very catlike? Loves to sun herself if she can find a private spot in the daytime, will purr if you scratch behind her ears, also easily tempted by shiny things (particularly gold shiny things, her eyes get bigger than her brain at the idea of Expanding the Instinctual Hoard)

Extremely embarrassed to admit she has a not insignificant collection of gold coins and trinkets she’s collected over the years based purely on instinct - she has no idea where half of it came from

Has gone and still goes on long flights, usually to get out when her nightmares get bad. While her secondary form isn’t necessarily a secret - she used it in the Coliseum during her brief time as a gladiator, and most of the guard is aware simply for the sake of ease - she still waits until nightfall for some sense of privacy.

Her favorite place she’s ever gone was to the Scourgelands, where she flew through the southern lights, and she’s hoping to bring a partner there one day if they’d be alright taking the fast route.

When it comes to fighting prowess, she’s absolutely a predator - armored scales, claws, fangs, speed, strength...fuck around and you will find out and yes I do mean that double entendre

There’s some art refs under the cut from @anonbunnyart and @lajadelmira so you get an idea of what she looks like, and then we’re going to dive into the thirst.

In case it isn’t clear: NSFW AHEAD, MINORS DNI, also obvious monsterfucking cw

by anonbunnyart

by lajadelmira

Still cis, still a lesbian, so she’s still attracted exclusively to women and femme-presenting nonbinary people, the pool is only narrowed based on if her partner would ride the dragon.

Yes I’ve made that joke many times, no I’m not going to stop making it. If I don’t, just assume I’m dead

Absolutely a top and a dominant top at that, convincing her to bottom when she’s in monster form is very, very difficult and usually only comes about in niche circumstances. More on that later.

Addendum: She’s slightly more willing to bend if you want to use your hands/mouth, but straps are damn near impossible for her to get into when she has all of you right there to pay attention to. She’s not opposed to being touched, but she’d really just rather pay attention to her partner like this.

Personal pleasure is very much just an afterthought, and honestly, she’s okay with that

Has several ‘weak spots’ on her body that will definitely turn her to putty, no matter how tough she acts. Done in sort of a sensitivity scale from least to most.

Horns:

It’s not that they’re sensitive, but if you grab her by the horns and tell her exactly what you want to do her/her to do to you, she’ll find it very hard to tell you no.

Loves it and will take it as encouragement if she’s going down on her partner and they grab her by the horns when she does something they like.

Tail:

Her tail is prehensile, and she will use that to her advantage, including fucking her partner with the tip of it (which is nice if her partner likes penetration, because finding a strap to fit her in draconic form is A Whole Nightmare)

However, she will go a little apeshit if you play with the tip otherwise - particularly if you suck on it - and honestly you’ll probably get pounced

Wings:

Quick note - Miriyam usually keeps her wings tucked fairly close to her back as a sort of protective measure, and she doesn’t usually like being on her back because she doesn’t like them being pinned, but can ease into it with a partner

Loves, loves, loves it if you touch her wings - the membranes are sensitive and just running your fingers across them makes her want to purr like a kitten

Fun fact, stimulating the right spot on her wings will actually make her orgasm. (That spot is on the wing membranes closest to her back, about halfway down, and no, that’s not something Miriyam will realize until she has a partner that wants to explore her physically like that)

Territorial. Absolutely a territorial bastard. She tries to tamp it down, she really does, but some days it’s harder than others. Particularly when she can pick up the scents of other people on her partner, that really kicks up the ‘mine’ instinct even if she logically knows nothing happened and trusts her partner fully

She really likes scent marking because of this - no, she won’t piss on you, that’s just the best term I can come up with - but she has a few approaches if she’s feeling like she needs to ‘stake her claim’

Lots of roaming hands and definitely letting her mouth wander, but if not directed to a specific spot she will absolutely go for a full bite on your pulse point to really just layer the scent in there

Tucks shed scales into the pockets of her partner’s clothing (jackets, shirts, pants, etc)

Or, a good old fashioned absolute obliteration - by which I mean she’ll fuck her partner until they’re an overstimulated puddle in her lap plus an orgasm for good measure - and then taking care of them afterward

That being said, this definitely goes both ways, she will be raring to go if you just murmur a ‘mine’ in her ear - she’ll be eager to prove that yes, she is yours, and she’s not going anywhere

When it comes to actually doing the deed...

Favorite positions (in no particular order)

Partner pinned to the wall, any position, just. Pinned to the wall

One hand around both her partner’s wrists, legs spread out over her thighs, the other hand between their thighs or otherwise roaming

I feel like I should mention here that monster Miri has a habit of filing down at least the first two claws on each hand (middle and index) if she knows sex is on the table, she’s not out here to hurt her partner like that

Seated on the edge of the bed, ideally facing a mirror, with her partner in her lap. One hand/her tail tip between their thighs, and arm around their waist, chin on their shoulder watching them in the mirror

Yeah this is definitely a favorite of monster Miri’s

A handful of things she enjoys (all with prior consent)

Primal (predator), some painplay (ft. claws, teeth, and a very strong grip), sensation play, overstimulation

Some turn-ons

Lingerie, but the shinier the better

Gold accents in particular will really make her go AWOOGA, she jokes it’s because of the gold dragon hoard but it’s actually not far off

Dirty talk/dirty...actions?

Just manhandle her she’ll think it’s hot

Any and all of the brat fighting words

“What are you going to do about it?”, “Make me.”, etc

Honestly the more I think about it I’m not sure there’s an off switch so much as each side of the switch being fight or fuck. Like. Miriyam is always horny like this. She can chill but why would she in the privacy of her home/when she’s with her partner

This might be. TMI. But the scale plating over the fun parts is….retractable I guess? I don’t know what word I want but they’re not always out because that feels like a hazard. And unfortunately no nips like this because those are also a hazard, but her neck, ears, lower belly, and the previously mentioned areas are all very sensitive and prime for the touching.

#miriyam von helvig #monster miriyam #lemon juice #my thirst knows no bounds #and i will not apologize

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horizonwitch · 4 years

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The Archangel Theory - A Possible Explanation to MCR's new symbolism

Hello! This is a very long post, but I hope it’s worth the reading. Sorry.

I am Nana, and today I bring you a fan-theory on the meaning behind MyChem's symbols presented to us in the occasion of the band's return announcement and later on, at the actual reunion concert day.

First Considerations:

1. being it, as the title implies, a fan-theory, I do not claim any of the exposed to be factual when associated to MCR. I bring this thread to you guys in hopes that we can discuss, expand, teach and learn with each other, and maybe come to some sort of conclusion. Riddles are fun to play, especially together. I love riddles in fandom experience. :)

2. I highly apologize for my limited vocabulary and weird phrasing. I am not a native english speaker, but I'll try my best to make this understandable to everyone;

3. Despite my personal beliefs and stupid jokes, I mean no disrespect to any religion or symbol mentioned in here. (just as much as I believe MyChem also doesn't, on the wild possibility of this thread being on point with what they planned, lol).

That being said, before we start, I have some thanks to give:

this theory was only put together thanks to my lovely mychem group chat, composed by Raffs, Clara, Caroline and Hana. thanks for all the time and effort we shared, and for holding my brain with your bare hands when it was about to melt, friends.

Also thanks to Frank Iero himself, for laughing at me on twitter for me not being able to understand the reunion clues, despite "wearing a California 2019 shirt for 6 years". I humbly accept the possibility of this theory having nothing to do with the truth, but I sure hope I can laugh back at you in the end, rat. I love you.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, let's finally head to The Archangel Theory, or, as I like to call it, The “If We're Not Careful We'll Turn Into Catholics” Theory, and how it all started.

It was Halloween. Everyone here was minding their own damn business (I was being a clown on twitter, Hana was putting on her badass revenge-themed makeup. You know, the usual). And we all know what happened: MCR raised gracefully from the dead, dropping brand new symbolism and a stunning angel image to our poor panicked hearts. A few days later, when Hana’s crying ruined makeup was long gone and everyone calmed the F down a little bit, people started to ask themselves: okay, cool, but what does it mean?

Like many of you, the first thought that crossed my mind was tarot. Because, well, how f-ing cool would it be, right? I draw tarot everyday. I just loved the idea. Mychem posting a latin countdown with some eerie photo was just… yea, I was very excited with this.

Many of us also associated the symbols with past albums and even with the members themselves. All of these theories are very valid to me, and I loved reading them. I agree with many points raised.

Well, everything was fine (as fine as it could be, because I am so damn curious). The Return concert happened at the faithful date of December 20, California. We all freaked out and enjoyed the noble services’ of days_fate and diet_shampoo’s streaming. All that jazz.

But then: well… another angel. I started to think to myself: is this a pattern? The show ends, we get very emotional, everything is okay (i hate this pun) with the world. Frank Iero makes a post-concert post on instagram, talking about how everything was pure Magick. With a K.

For those unfamiliar, this is an occultist term related to Aleister Crowley’s Thelema, to differentiate the religious concept from the “stage magic” that we are used to. A very carefully picked name that I highly doubt someone would drop around without knowing what it implies.... Don’t even start me with the K and C keys being so damn far away from each other on a keyboard.

At this point me and my groupchat were starting to be very done with Frank’s clownery (we indeed love him very much for that), and so we started to hurt our minds every single day since then. that’s the result:

THE ARCHANGEL THEORY

Let’s Return™ to the basics: angels and, probably, tarot.

Funny enough, there are actually angels in tarot cards. There are many types of decks, but for this we are using the most famous one, which most people believe holds ancient symbolism, The Rider-Waite Tarot.

There are many angels and archangels mentioned in the Bible (only a few by name, tho), but only four of them made it into being represented in tarot cards: Uriel, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. Let’s get the gang together and meet the holy crew (please, forgive me for the puns).

Uriel:

whose name means “the light of god”, “the flame of god”. It’s the Wise Angel, often pictured as the one who holds books and scrolls and bears holy knowledge and understanding. or Clarity, if you will. They’re sort of the goth one™, associated with the Tartarus and being pictured as pitiless as any demon would; even holding the key to Hell during the end of times, Uriel is described as the angel who watches “over thunder and terror”. Uriel is sometimes even mistaken for a demon (apparently, the eastern catholicism accepts Uriel identity as an archangel, while the western catholicism gives more credit to its dark side, and does not encourage worshiping); this duality comes from the notion that very often, enlightenment may be the end result of dark times. Every archangel has many, I said MANY symbols attached to them, so other elements associated with this angel can be found on the image attached to this post.

About Uriel’s Tarot Card: if you were raised in a catholic family and slept through as much catechism as I did as a kid, maybe you’ll be surprised to know that Lucifer, Satan and Uriel are all different beings. Let it be a lesson: no matter how edgy of a teen you are, please accept knowledge from any possible source. Putting this thread together would’ve been so easier to me now if I did, haha... That being said, our angel Uriel is actually the Devil in the Devil Tarot card, which meaning touches on addiction, obsession, feeling imprisoned or restrained, but it being only an illusion of powerlessness. This card is an invitation to free yourself, fight distractions and temptation, and finally fulfill your destiny. Please, consider that tarot readings are very deep and variable; there’s extensive books only on tarot meaning, so I won’t explore much on each card. that’s just a very general notion.

Some sources also consider Uriel to be the responsible for the change represented in the Death card, despite not being directly pictured in such card. As stated before, Uriel is associated with the concept Death brings, being a turning point, and ending route.

The symbolism presented in the Devil card (as for the Rider-Waiter deck):

“At the foot of the Devil stand a man and a woman, both naked and chained to the podium on which the Devil sits. They appear to be held here against their will – but look closer, and you will notice that the chains around their necks are loose and could be easily removed. Each has small horns on their head, like the devil’s, a sign that they are becoming increasingly like him the longer they stay here. Both have tails, a further symbol of their animalistic tendencies and raw instincts, and the grapes and the fire on their respective tails signify pleasure and lust.”

Poor people. If only they knew better. A lil bit of Clarity, huh?

That’s it for MCR’s clarity symbol, conveniently shaped as a candle.

Michael:

whose name means “who is like god” (being it a rhetorical question, to mean that no one equals to God). It’s the Protector Angel. They’re the leader of angels in the battle against demons, Defender of God’s realm against Satan in the Book of Revelation. Michael is a warrior, and is often seem with the sword in hand, to allure to the idea of bravery. They’re described as the angel of strength, protection and Courage.

About Michael’s Tarot Card: Michael appears on the major arcana Temperance. In fact, even the name “Temperance” comes from the process of refining and strengthening materials in metallurgy. this one likes swords a lot, huh. That’s a card which meaning touches on patience and prudence. It means already having a clear vision and knowing what you want to achieve. Now It’s all about thinking before action, and accepting the balance of things, blending the opposites to achieve an ideal solution. Apparently a very suited card for a warrior of faith. Prepare yourself: in my research, I’ve found a source that associates this card with the color blue (the very same of the archangel) and the musical note G. Yes, the universe has a strange sense of humor.

The symbolism presented in the Temperance card: “The vessels in the angel’s hands represent the vessel that contains eternal life. The flowers are Irises symbolising the goddess Iris who links God to humanity. Iris travels from one end of the world to another, into the depth of the sea and the underworld. The angel’s feet, one on land and one in water, symbolise the unification of the external and internal, conscious and subconscious. It also represents testing the waters before jumping into the unknown. The red wings on the angel represent blood which symbolizes life. The sun conceals a crown which represents a connection to higher power. The triangle on the angel’s dress is an equilateral triangle and symbolise spirit, divinity, fire, life, prosperity, and harmony. It can also symbolise God and the holy trinity. The square outside the triangle represents protection and stability.”

The MCR symbol for Courage is a drop. is it a drop of blood? for an warrior angel and their endless battles on God’s behalf? Of water, the waters of unknown? The water of balance of life? I don’t know.

When Michael / was a young genderless being,/ their father…

Gabriel:

whose name means “strength of god”. It’s the Messenger Angel; Gabriel is often portrayed playing the trumpet, to make announcements of God’s will. (many angels play the trumpets on Revelations book,, but Gabriel seems to be the most intimately attached to this concept). In the hierarchy of angels, Gabriel seems to occupy a very high position, being knows as the “Left Hand of God” (our Michael aforementioned being the Right-hand angel).

Their famous appearances on the Bible includes appearing to Zechariah and the Virgin Mary, foretelling the births of John the Baptist and Jesus. Islam also has Gabriel appearing for many prophets, telling them the divine plans. In a way, all those messages are basically callings to a higher purpose, a proof of faith, a personal Sacrifice. This idea is reiterated by the symbolism of Gabriel’s tarot card.

Gabriel is also one of the Angels of Death (depending on the religious we are speaking about, there are over 14 different angels with this role). Not in a dark way, their role is to comfort and bring peace to the deceased, guiding them into the light. Gabriel is therefore an angel of mercy, redemption achieved through a proof of faith (often a self-sacrifice, of any nature), after a fair judgement. speaking of which…

About Gabriel’s tarot card: Gabriel appears on the major arcana Judgement, which meaning touches on taking responsibility for your actions, speaking the truth. It’s a beginning/ending type of card, but a different kind of change than the one represented on one of Uriel’s card, Death. While Death brings something unstoppable, more powerful than anyone’s options, Judgement usually portraits something you can actually choose to take part in. But it also your responsibility any consequences of not taking this step. A fair judgement, indeed.

The Symbolism presented in the Judgement card: “The angel with the Trumpet could be a reference to the angels and the seven trumpets in Revelation, bringing apocalypse and resurrection. The white banner with the red cross can be St. George Flag, and a reference to Saint George gives Judgement the symbolism of sacrifice done in the name of our faith. Both the flag and the trumpet are military symbols of authority. A man, a woman and a child are being called from the tomb of ego consciousness. The three people are reflected on the other side of the river, another symbol of the soul’s victory over death. The three people are also a symbol of the three pillars of the tree of life. The man and the woman has changed side from the familiar feminine on the left and masculine on the right. In Judgement it is the other way around. Perhaps it is to unify us and to tell us to look at a situation from a different perspective, from within. You are seeing the pillars from the Angel’s perspective. This symbolises to raise your thinking and ask for Divine Perspective. The mountains represent the structure that surrounds us all.”

Calling all units! Time for the ultimate vibe check.

I guess that’s it for our third MCR symbol, Sacrifice, shaped as hand. Is it a left hand, just like one of Gabriel’s titles? that would be interesting.

But not so fast.

Now we come to an interesting point. Gabriel is the first of our angels to have a sculpture used by My Chem. :) It’s actually endearing how, if this assumption is correct, they chose the messenger archangel to bring the good news: mcr is alive!

About Gabriel’s sculpture: our Return angel, as some of us already know by this point, is actually a piece called “Angelo e Alma”, by italian artist Pasquale Rizzoli. It is located on Cella Magnani, a memorial chapel of the Magnani family, inside Certosa di Bologna, which is a very antique monastery, later transformed on a monumental cemetery for many italian families. You can take a look here, it’s stunningly beautiful.

Finished in 1906, this piece was a commission by the widow of a war veteran called Natale Magnani, who apparently died young. As far as I understand written italian, since I speak portuguese (latin languages perks, yey!), it’s still difficult to me to do further research on this family. Being it an old, traditional italian family, there’s tons of Magnanis, but there’s little to no info on Natale or his wife’s lives on the internet, it seems. If you’re italian and have any info about this, please comment. It can actually be relevant to this thread.

This sculpture portraits an angel ascending to heavens, guiding a soul (represented as a woman in a long dress). There’s rose branches and lilies at the feet of both the angel and the soul, as they fly together. These flowers pay homage to Magnani’s family blazon, as stated by the Storia i Memoria di Bologna Project website, that also offers on their site a brief explanation on the meaning behind the many other plants on this piece. they all basically allure to death, sleep, and resurrection. you can check it out here.

The presented symbolism, being an angel appearing to a soul in their travel to the spiritual realm, and even the flowers used, lead me to conclude that this sculpture very likely pictures our Archangel Gabriel, in their judgement roles again.

Now, our holy rpg party already has a mage, a paladin and a bard. It’s time to introduce the most underappreciated (and my personal favorite) class:

Raphael:

whose name means “God heals”. Raphael is the angel for healing, thus making ‘whole’ everything that has been broken. They’re also a patron for lovers, role that he plays by using his healing powers in a non-literal way. Pay attention to the “fixing the broken and making it a whole again” part, that’s the connotation.

Both of these titles come from the roles Raphael played, depicted on the scriptures: the most famous ones being when Raphael was sent by the Lord to heal Tobit of his blindness and to deliver Sarah, his future daughter-in-law, from the demon Asmodeus, who killed every man she married on their wedding night before the marriage could be consummated.

Another famous role commonly related to Raphael is about the Pool of Bethesda. Despite not being mentioned by name, manuscripts of John 5:1–4 describe an angel that blessed this pool, healing the illness of those who touched its waters:

"an angel of the Lord descended at certain times into the pond; and the water was moved. And he that went down first into the pond after the motion of the water was made whole of whatsoever infirmity he lay under". It’s usually given credit to Raphael for this action, since they’re seem using healing power to fulfill God’s will in many occasions through the Bible.

About Raphael’s Tarot card: Raphael appears on the major arcana The Lovers, as the angel blessing the couple depicted. This is a card about romantic, even sexual, attraction, but not purely that. It’s about finding peace within yourself, and in someone else, about the journey to pick “the one” for you. Making a whole out of two halves is a common concept associated with this card.

Symbolism presented on The Lovers card: “the man and the woman in the image are being protected and blessed by an angel above. The couple seems secure and happy in their home, which appears to be the Garden of Eden. The fruit tree with the snake behind the woman is a reference to that story, which tells of humanity's fall into temptation and into the realm of flesh and sensuality. The angel depicted here is Raphael, the angel of air - who is of the same element of the zodiac sign that governs this card: Gemini. Air is associated with mental activity, and communication in particular, which is the foundation for healthy relationships. His blessing seems to give this card a sense of balance and harmony, the symbolization of union in a grand and cosmic sense between two opposing forces.”

Another source adds: “The couple stands in a beautiful, fertile landscape, reminiscent of the Garden of Eden. Behind the woman stands a tall apple tree, with a snake winding its way up the trunk. The serpent and apple tree represent the temptation of sensual pleasures that may take one’s focus away from the Divine. Behind the man is a tree of flames, which represent passion, the primary concern of the man. The twelve flames suggest the twelve zodiac signs, the symbol of time and eternity. The man looks to the woman, who watches the angel, showing the path of the conscious to the subconscious to the super-conscious, or from physical desire to emotional needs to spiritual concerns. The volcanic mountain in the background is rather phallic and represents the eruption of passion that happens when man and woman meet in full frontal nudity.”

Despite the latter being a bit too horny for my tastes, lol, both descriptions reiterate Raphael’s influence on the role of patronizing health and union, a journey of Devotion.

Oh, about the MCR symbol, shaped as a half-sun. at first I couldn’t find a correlation to Raphael and this sun shape, as for the first three angels it was very clear to me since just as I started reading about them. Then I realized the huge sun portrayed on The Lovers card, behind Raphael.

Despite holding its individual meanings, Tarot cards are not meant to me taken isolatedly. (that’s one of the reasons many people are not found of the single card yes-or-no type of drawing). That being said, it is not a surprised to find traces of one card on another, and many shared symbolism. As for the sun, it appears multiple times on the Rider-Waite deck, but only one card holds the same exact half shaped, upside down, centered sun as the MCR symbol. and that’s The Lovers. :)

Now, our romantic archangel lead us to a very lovely part:

About Raphael’s Sculpture: as we waited for MCR to dramatically drop the curtain at the reunion show, we were being watched over by a piece nicknamed “Angel of the Waters,” from the Bethesda Fountain (have you heard this name before?), located in the Bethesda Terrace, Central Park, in NYC. sculpted by Emma Stebbins in 1864, this piece’s history, together with Central Park’s history can be fully read in this awesome article that my friend Clara found: here.

But since we’re already here, let’s try to make a shorter version, focusing on what’s relevant to this thread.

Upon release, the angel, which stands and above and blesses a water fountain, was directly associated with the Bethesda Pool mentioned in the Bible, and the healing acts of Raphael. On the dedication pamphlet it was quoted the very same passage from the Gospel of John, chapter 5, verses 2-4 I’ve mentioned before. It’s a shame I couldn’t find any pictures of this pamphlet on the internet. Old documents, huh. NY people, if you have access to this, I’d love to see it.

If we stopped there, it would be enough evidence to assume the connection to Raphael, but there’s more! There’s some particularities about this statue.

Its conception was a huge deal: Emma was the first woman to receive a major sculptural commission in New York City. Also, she had a female lover, the world-famous American actress Charlotte Cushman, who, for Cedar Miller, historian that wrote about Central Park and Emma’s statue, holds a huge impact on the Angel of Waters actually making into existence. In 1869, Cushman was diagnosed with breast cancer. In addition to having two mastectomies, Cushman tried water cures in England. (Water cures were a big craze from the 1830s through the 1860s). The historian who wrote about them finds it another connection to the statue itself. Unfortunately, Cushman's treatments were ultimately unsuccessful, she passed away in 1875. Emma followed her not long after, in 1882. To this day, the statue remains, and to NY is a gathering place to find tranquility, peace of mind, even in the darkest times through the its 141 years of existence. It’s a place to heal yourself.

It’s not your average Raphael statue.

We have the archangel connection, a devoted couple's backstory, and lesbian/sapphics rights. I don’t know about you, but I can even picture Gerard Way carefully picking this himself, haha.

Oh, a spicy fact I’ve learned while writing this: This angel sculpture is actually even older in MCR’s history, tracing back to revenge era merch. (I didn’t have much access to mcr merch back in the day so I didn’t know about this, I apologize!)

I guess someone got nostalgic for some catholic aesthetics, huh. Bless!

Angels in tarot, bonus addition:

It is valid to mention that not only all of the 4 mentioned archangels have their individual cards, they also appear together in a single card, The Wheel of Fortune. In this card, each angel can be seen in a corner: Raphael (Aquarius) is upper left, Gabriel (Scorpio) is the eagle, Michael (Leo) is the lion, and Uriel (Taurus) is the bull, appearing in disguise, a common thing for angels though the scriptures, it seems.

If you draw tarot, you understand how big of a deal it is. If you’re not familiar, here’s the basic notion: “The wheel of fortune is a card about cyclical change. The wheel keeps on rolling, churning events in a ceaseless progression of ups and downs, either way freeing us from the past. No one can escape its cyclical action, which can feel somewhat terrifying -- no matter whether we are rising or falling. When one is balanced on top of the wheel, there is a moment of crystal clarity. However, the only part of the wheel that's actually not going up and down is the hub, which represents your eternal self. Every one of us will occupy all the points on the wheel at one point or another. The cycle of the wheel is its lesson -- and we can learn to take comfort in it. If you don't like the look of things right now, just wait -- things will change. Of course, if you do like the look of things right now, enjoy it while it lasts, because that will change too!”

It is quite a powerful card that holds all of the aforementioned symbolism. Woa.

More symbolism seem on this card includes:

“The Wheel of Fortune card shows a giant wheel, with three figures on the outer edges. Four Hebrew letters – YHVH (Yod Heh Vau Heh), the unpronounceable name of God – are inscribed on the wheel’s face. There are also the letters TORA, thought to be a version of the word Torah, meaning ‘law’, or TAROT, or even ROTA (Latin for ‘wheel’). The middle wheel has the alchemical symbols for mercury, sulphur, water and salt – the building blocks of life and the four elements – and represents formative power. On the outer circle is a snake, the Egyptian god Typhon (the god of evil), descending on the left side. The snake also represents the life force plunging into the material world. On the right side rises the Anubis, the Egyptian God of the dead who welcomes souls to the underworld. And on top of the wheel sits the Sphinx, representing knowledge and strength.”

THE SECOND SET OF SYMBOLS - STILL A MYSTERY

So, after all this, if any of this is correct at all, we just learned the meaning behind the first four MCR symbols, released on halloween: Clarity, Courage, Sacrifice and Devotion.

Now, what about the ones released at the reunion show, on the merch truck? Well, my friends, we still have a lot to think about.

I am a doctor, and in my profession there’s a saying which instruct us to always think of what seems like a complicated situation, with many possibilities, as a single disease causing many effects. That was my train of thought as I tried to associate these new symbols with the Archangels that we already have. It may have nothing to do with that at all, but it’s worth trying.

Differently from the first set, the second set didn’t get an official release, and does not hold text captions to guide us on it’s meaning. the symbol shapes, however, are easier to associate with tarot cards than the first ones, in my opinion. I’ve seen people online trying to guess it too.

Having the angels and their aforementioned traits as a guiding line, I used some symbolism associated to each one to connect them to a new symbol, as you can see on the picture attached to this post.

I have some major problems with this, tho, the biggest one being the order of the symbols not matching the first set sequence. We had Uriel (Clarity) / Michael (Courage) / Gabriel (Sacrifice) and Raphael (Devotion). The second set order was Sword / Moon / Tower / Wand, so the sequence goes like Michael / Gabriel / Uriel / Raphael. It doesn’t match. Please, help me.

THINGS THAT KEEP ME UP AT NIGHT: ABOUT WITCHCRAFT AND… SOLDIERS?

During the past weeks of my life I’ve been researching all types of things to break this down, so I came across some very unsettling things that may be just wild coincidences or... something else? Just in case, I am putting them here in case anyone finds some connection that I couldn’t.

Sigils and Pagan influences, maybe?

As some people on twitter and reddit noticed, Gerard was using a sigil on his arm that reads “My Chemical Romance”. Every Archangel mentioned here also holds its own sigil, which is shown on the picture attached to this post. While I was excited about the dates for new concerts, I started to think, is there anything special about these dates? I tried to not overthink it because we probably have major influences of disponibilities and,,, Label issues...I don’t know? some very practical stuff going on. But still, I came across an interesting match.

There’s 8 sabbaths, composing the Wheel of the Year, “an annual cycle of seasonal festivals, observed by many modern pagans, consisting of the year's chief solar events (solstices and equinoxes) and the midpoints between them.”

eight sabbaths, eight symbols, huh. Initially, I tried to connect each symbol to a sabbath, but it was very… not satisfying enough to me, so I’m leaving that out; nonetheless, I still believe they hold some meaning similarities.

And it doesn’t stop there.

That our lovely wheel of the year: here. We’re using a northern hemisphere version, since MCR is based in the USA.

The band returned on Halloween, which is the Samhain that occurs between Oct 31 / Nov 1. There’s some minor variation on dates because the Celtic day begins and ends at sunset.

Return Show took place in California, Dec 20: which marks the start of Yule. (Yule dates range from Dec 19 to Dec 22, for the Celtic calendar reasons)

The next sabbath is Imbolt, that takes place on Feb 1 / Feb 2. MCR has nothing announced for this date until now.

2020 concerts will happen during the week of March 20, 21, 25, 28 and 29, In Australia, New Zealand and Japan, as for now. That marks the start of the Ostara sabbath, which start range is March 20/21.

so… can we expect something (anything?) being announced at Feb 1 or 2, or near that? What about all the remaining sabbaths? Is that a reach? is it related at all? oof.

Who said Danger Days isn’t goth enough?

Another VERY interesting thing my group chat found on the internet during our MCR tarot obsession. If this theory is correct, this is not the first time they would be alluring to it. Please look at this pic of Grace Jeanette, The Girl in DD universe, posing with the mailbox on the set of the “Art Is The Weapon”/“Na Na Na” video shoot (2010). (Exact source and photographer unknown; likely taken by Jeanette’s mother). (big thanks to tumblr user killjoyhistory).

Bellow the big “OH HELL” we have four tarot cards, on the very same deck we used for this thread, the Rider-Waite deck. The cards are The Tower, The Devil, Death and Three of Wands.

Please note that it may have no correlation to future works, since DD itself had religious symbolism with the Phoenix Witch and this mailbox (go read the comics if you didn’t already. DD rights!), it may be a DD-only thing. Also, please note that 3 out 4 of theses cards were already mentioned in this thread, all possibly related to archangel Uriel.

To wage this war against your faith in me, MCRMY.

So. This one will sound weird and maybe a reach too, but, hey, mychem is alive and breathing, I guess there’s nothing really impossible, haha….?

Are we all familiar with Gerard liking a lot that green coat? After all those years, I guess so.

Indeed, our lovely frontman used yet another green jacket as his return outfit. This time, it was a military one. As a foreigner, and being very ignorant on how the US Army works, I got curious about the badge on his jacket. Maybe that’s common sense to you guys and I’m just embarrassing myself, but hey! be kind to someone who’s sort of dying inside after all this thinking process, would you?

The badge on Gerard’s jacket happens to be from the 1st Armored Division, a.k.a the Old Ironsides, named after an old ship (and the world's oldest commissioned naval vessel still afloat).

Actually, the nickname “Old Ironsides” trace back to England in 17th century, during their Civil War, but I didn’t find many relevant content / possible connections, besides them being mostly Protestant, in terms of religion… referring to them after all this catholic-conception angel talk is some sort of metaphorical war going on, MCR? Who knows. History-loving english folks, I’m counting on you too now to confirm this, lmao!

The American side of the “Old Ironsides” term, after being passed down from England during their Independence Wars (please be kind with me, my knowledge about american independence is almost 100% from Hamilton the musical lmao, help me) apparently resides, mostly on the US Army/Navy.

Interesting coincidences (?) about this: the Old Ironside ship, aka USS Constitution, has a familiar date on its history: November 1. I’m quoting its construction period info: “Her keel was laid down on 1 November 1794 at Edmund Hartt's shipyard in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Captain Samuel Nicholson and master shipwright Colonel George Claghorn.”

I didn’t read much about it since I’m already at edge with everything I’ve been researching but, it seems it was a very adored ship. In fact, one of the reasons it’s still in active service it’s because a poet even made it a famous poem about this ship, that you can read here. It’s symbolic and adored, it seems.

About the homonymous 1st Armored Division of the US Army, which badge Gerard used during the return show: being the first armored division of the U.S. Army to see battle in World War II, it also holds a huge historical meaning.

Again, I don’t have much info to share about this and I think some of you will find possible connections on this better than I would.

But wtf does it have to do with all the angels, Nana?

Well, as mentioned before, angels fight battles in the name of God. They’re heaven’s military. Michael, especially, is a warrior angel and leads God’s troupes against the demons.

Something interesting I’ve found relating Gabriel (which statue, let’s not forget, was commissioned by a war widow) to the war concept was the hebrew poem "Elifelet" (אליפלט) written by Nathan Alterman in 1958, often turned into music and played on the israeli radio. it tells of a heroic, self-sacrificing (hm…) israeli soldier being killed in battle. Upon the protagonist's death, the angel Gabriel descends to Earth, in order to comfort the spirit of the fallen hero and take him up to Heaven. It’s very touching, and you can read it here.

I’m not saying any particular work like this poem is relevant to MCR’s possible new concept. (let’s not be political here, but also be honest: Israel wars are a delicate matter to bring up). We’re solely working with symbolism and history. Please keep that in mind.

MCR has touched on war thematics before in many occasions (I will not mention all of them, as I believe that as a fandom, we’re aware of that, and we can help new fans to understand it if needed. This text is already TOO LONG). Maybe it’s time for them to talk about some conflicts again, literal or metaphorical? Let’s wait and see.

Oh, one last thing. There’s actually a whole another navy air test and evaluation squadron, the Antarctic Development Squadron Six (VXE-6 or ANTARCTIC DEVRON SIX, commonly referred to by its nickname, The Puckered Penguins). They’re based on California (lmao) and their motto is… Well, “Courage, Sacrifice, Devotion”. Uriel kinda left behind again, huh. I’m sorry sweetie.

Again, I apologize if this last section (or even the whole thing..haha…) looks far-fetched, but I just… had to take it out of my chest, sorta? Sorry.

That concludes our Archangel Theory. Thank you if you took your time to read through it all.

List of things to maybe expect in the future:

Something on Feb 1 / Feb 2

Two more angel statues, being them related to Uriel and Michael in some sort of way. I’ve tried to find any suitable matches but… there’s just too many, and as we’ve seen it may even not be officially claimed which angel is portrayed. So let’s wait and see.

More pagan symbolism?

Something about War??

Cryptid posts related to UK and paganism, January 17th and January 24th.

## EDIT (01/12): about new mcr cryptid posts...

If you’re following MCR new updates, as for now you’re aware of the United Kingdom Stuff going on... Interesting coincidences (or is it?) about those:

Both posts were made on the same day the lunar cicle changes. This month, the moon shows up a different form every friday, so maybe prepare you heart for January 17th and 24th. Also, I believe they’re using London time for the updates. in fact, the most recent post (the video with theban alphabet) was posted only 30 minutes after midnight in London. So I’m adding that to our list of things to expect in the future.

Also, someone at warner might be in trouble right now. the ig account for Warner Music Artistic Services (@wmas) posted a variation of the video posted by MCR, only a day later, featuring another order for the theban caracters, a slightly different UK flag (it was somehow merged with a picture? it’s difficult to tell), and a new frame that consists of a forest, similar to the one Gerard posted on his own instagram, and the one featured as background for the skeleton holding a witchcraft-related dagger photo from 2 weeks ago. Differently from the previous mcr video, which was silent, this one featured a sound, if my ears are not mistaken, a very dramatic C# note played on piano or organ (church instruments, huh. funny. but it could be worse, at least is not a G note...)

The video was labeled as LFG, that could mean a million of things. the most relevant ones, I believe, could be “Looking For A Group”, a classic D&D/RPG term (If I close my eyes long enough I can hear distant circus music playing in my head, for I have compared the four archangels to a holy RPG party weeks ago...)or “London Forest Gate”, a neighbourhood in London. please tell me if you have any ideas about what else it could mean, haha....

This video was deleted, but you can still find it around on twitter.

Well, that’s it for now. I’ll keep updating this post as more content is released. Keep running!

#my chemical romance #mcr #mcr theory #mcr 5 #california 2019 #mcr reunion

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lucarioisinthevoid · 3 years

Note

hello good sir (sir being a gender neutral term), i'd like to send some p r o m p t s. so i haven't played ucn in a LONG time, but some ideas off the top of my head: toy freddy (would be funny), funtime foxy (cause they're a bitch), n. fredbear and maybe nightmare (cause they're twisted versions of his b e l o v e d fredbear), and maybe foxy+bonnie (cause it's a bitch). just some ideas! also, being a man of culture, i'd like to request some tortu- jk, jk (i'd say sth funny but character limit).

(I will fight you for this ask. I will come to you home and pick you up and fling your body into space and into literal Among Us. My brain was going a mile a minute trying to gather enough coins to get rid of Funtime Foxy, and keep on top of EVERYTHING ELSE- And yet I was still surprised when I finally got jumpscared. Welp, I couldn’t have predicted it, so it’s kinda fun being able to write this now. Also yes, warning for mild torment! I’m just not good at writing it- Oh, also, here’s the AO3 link to the thing: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27687695/chapters/67764007 You can read the whole thing there and I update it there as I do here. You can request over there to, but that’s beside the point)

Be on top of his games. Watch his shows. Check in, but only at the right times. Henry grinded his teeth. It was almost like he had a son again- dear god, this truly was hell, wasn’t it? For a moment he had thought the Helpy robot was joking as he elaborated on what the damn plastic piece of shit’s mechanic was- No. No cursing. He shook his head. That was being petty for no reason. He had a mechanic- and it was a stupid one- but that was better than nothing. It was better than being told “you will die” without being able to do anything about it. For a moment he frowned, a though manifesting itself in the back of his mind. … if he would know there was no way to escape the pain, he would grow numb to it. So whoever or whatever set this up seemed to have a keen interest in- The clock chimed, it was time to play. Instantly he pulled up the monitor. He had been gifted the leeway of being allowed to eradicate one of them- and dear god, he would not say no, not if it was the only chance to give a little bit of payback. He checked on Toy Freddy- a good contender to be murdered- and clicked the door of the- vacuum cleaner- dear god, this would make his brain rot- then he moved on to more sensible things, like checking on Foxy, who was thankfully out, then moving over to gathering coins. Laughter from the door. “Mister Miller… look at you. You seem stressed.” “Why yes, I am quite tense.” Without looking up he closed the doors, opening them up right away. “I have to admit to my distain of the character selection that currently is coming after me. They make no sense, you see?” Another, similarly as deep voice sounded, albeit with a brighter tint to it- “… oh, don’t be ashamed of that, Mr. Miller. They have more distain for you than you do for them.” Once more, doors closed, doors open. He didn’t even need to look. “I can assume that, yes, but that is hardly my issue, is it now? My issue is their reality bending and tedious habits.” For this round he would be stuck on the cameras, wouldn’t he? Once more he flipped over to Foxy, gathering coins and being quietly thankful for the fact that he and Bonnie had not switched places yet. He had to get this done in the first time-warped hour and if he didn’t- he wasn’t sure when exactly the clock would move over and he didn’t want to find out. The nightmare duo was chuckling, so he shortly put the monitor down to look inside of Nightmare Fredbear’s red eyes. “… what are you supposed to be?” “You have never truly understood your own creation, did you…? If it lives… it changes…” “The only nightmare I ever created were the suits and-“ He turned to the other side, spotting the more pinkish eyes shining from that frame. “… you. Are you not supposed to be me?” “I think you can answer that yourself.” Shaking his head, Henry dismissed both of them, closing the doors and opening the camera feed, checking once more on Foxy, helping out Toy Freddy and finally snatching up the last few coins he needed- instantly he moved over to the price corner, ordering one of the silver coins- His eyes darted to the clock- Oh god, only a few more moments before the timer skipped- The pink hellfox was peering out of its cove, grinning widely- a grin that instantly was replaced by an agonized and hateful scream as Henry used the coin, allowing himself for a moment to watch the machine literally being disintegrated into clear silver dust. From the side, Nightmare Fredbear chuckled. “… how cruel.” “This is a dog-eat-dog world. You should not try to inflict onto others what you are not willing to go through yourself.” “Oh? Are you ready for what is coming for you then?” Abruptly Henry started laughing, as he once more checked on Foxy, then moved to Toy Freddy. “What? What is coming for me? Being brought back to Fredbear’s, except this time I am immortal, have inhuman strength and can start honing my ability to move whatever I desire with my mind? What a terrible fate you are threatening me with, Nightmare! I am appalled! How dare you gift me with everything I have ever wanted!” One last time he switched back to Foxy, then deactivated the monitors, assuming it was best to be on Foxy’s camera right away, so when he pulled the camera back up- His eyes fell on the little figure of Bonnie that was now on the table. For the love of god, how could he have been that stupid!? Looking up at Nightmare Fredbear’s red eyes, he saw a bit of bemusement in it- that and a deep, underlaying level of pure disgust. “… will you ever learn, Mr. Miller? Will you ever realize that the resistance you have been met with was not from nowhere? Will you learn that you cursed them?” “NONSENSE.” Henry HISSED. “I considered you smart. I was wrong. The only reason the children were struggling against me because I could not yet accommodate them well enough- propaganda against me and my mission was spread. William seemed to have been just fine with his joke of a family that he had gotten himself in a flight of passing fancy. What made him different?!” There was only silence from the outside, as Henry glanced once more at the figure. Still Bonnie and it wouldn’t change. Muttering more so to himself than to the Fredbear, he stressed his point. “Nature has turned on me for taking what I desired, much like the ocean, the skies and the land has turned against humanity at every opportunity. Even in the different religious texts, humanity and to steal and take with violence what it needed to become what it was meant to be. One god banished the species in fear of them becoming immortal, much like the being itself- another wanted to deny us fire as petty retaliation, because fire brings creation- and it had to be taken back by theft.” Not quite, but close enough. He didn’t want to recount the stories. “… if you want to grow, you have to feed, and if you feed, you destroy. And so, destruction brings new creation. We feed off the old gods and create new rules. Nature does not like to be controlled and abused- all it wishes is to slowly burn itself out. Until nothing is left. But we humans preserve- we are a species who is so defenseless, yet have made it this far, by preserving knowledge, by learning early, early and as much as we can- eventually however it will come to a standstill. You can only learn so much with the time given. Until said time become infinite. Some ills of humanity can only be cured by allowing humans to permanently remain and learn. For that we need immortality.” There still was only silence and he sighed- He had wasted too much time. The Bonnie figure was still there, but he might as well get it over with, he wouldn’t get around him disabling the cameras. Quickly he closed the door to the left side where he knew Nightmare Fredbear was waiting, pulling up the cameras, to Bonnie’s aggressive scream- But before he could really boot the thing up, a giant black paw came from above grabbing the little tablet, cracking it. The Amalgamation was towering over him, black fur and metal broken up by the silver shine of its teeth. Baffled for a few seconds, Henry looked at him. “I… did not hear you.” “The others are not your problem anymore, are they now?” With its vile grin it picked Henry up by the head, an incredibly painful experience, playfully throwing him against the wall with full force- a crack was sounded and as Henry tried to stumble back on his feet, he quickly realized he couldn’t- something was damaged, so badly that the pain was too much- His head was still sharp though, the white pain barely being fended off by his mind trying to figure out how this creature could be HERE- It had been HIM, it was HIM, what would make him want to- Blood was dripping from out his mouth, tasting disgustingly mechanical- “… you… you are supposed to be ME-“ Smiling the monstrous bear-esque beast picked him up, causing another wave of incoherent, glowing pain to wash through Henry, his whole chest being just enough to fill the Amalgamation’s hand. “I was you. We have seen all your thoughts, all your ideas, we have shaped, and we have remembered. You are me. And we crave violence, Mister Miller. Your words were pretty to hear, but we do not believe them. We know what we are- a monster who thinks of itself too highly, an animal unable to resist the siren call of violence and blood. Our creation has not made us better than all the monsters we feared becoming. There is only one difference between us… … I am not ashamed of my needs anymore.” With that he started pulling on Henry’s arm, pulling as the delirious man convulsed under him- Ready to take a bite out of it. “But I do love creation too… and I cannot wait to see what we will turn you into. The brain is moldable, Henry. It does fantastical things under pain and pressure…” His other claw was digging into the human’s head. The other was pulling the now separated arm to his maw, biting down with a sickening, wet crunch. Happily he sighed. The few seconds of Henry’s awareness that were left only wondered quietly if his parts being consumed would mean he would never get them back- The Amalgamation seemed to hear the thought, grinning at him with its now stained teeth. “I will vomit you back… to relieve your horror…” … with that Henry faded.

#henry miller #Henry in hell #oh also if you wonder that last thing is the real quote #not relive it IS relieve and it's so weird

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ragingbookdragon · 4 years

Text

To Challenge The Flow Of Fate PT. 4

An Adrian Tepes (Alucard) x Reader Story

Warnings: Explicit Language Author’s Note: So, AO3 counts the words on your stories and stuff, and if you add up all the parts I’ve written so far plus this, it’s like 11K words. Which is impressive to me. Enjoy! -Thorne

She had just fastened the last belt when his voice reached her. “(Y/N)! Get over here!” She stuck her head out from the side of the shelf and called out,

“Gimme a minute, I’m still getting dressed Trevor!”

“Are you seriously taking the armor?” (Y/N) scoffed and attached the cape around her neck.

“Uh, yes? This armor is the greatest creation to ever be made.” She eyed the sword next to the armor stand before grabbing it and fastening it next to the other blade down her back. She walked over to where the others were, smiling at Adrian as he sat atop the bookshelves. Trevor glanced at her, examining the armor.

“It looks very…ostentatious.” (Y/N) narrowed her eyes before placing her hands on her hips.

“Trev, just say ‘showy’. Your brain will explode if you think about words that big.” Her insult drew a chuckle from the vampire, but she continued with, “The armor itself is made from dragon scales, and the accents are pure silver.” She turned, showing the silver armor lining her arms. Trevor crossed his arms and asked,

“I thought dragons went extinct?” (Y/N) shook her head.

“Not necessarily. While it’s true that a great deal of them were slain and harvested, a great deal more went into hiding. They’re still out there, you just can’t find them as easily as you could centuries ago.” Impressed, he nodded before acknowledging the sword strapped to her back.

“And the second sword?” (Y/N) grinned, pulling it out and showing it to him.

“It’s called ‘Starfang’.” He took it, admiring the runes carved into the metal. “It was forged from ore that fell from the heavens.” Trevor blinked, running a hand up the flat side of the blade.

“It’s…beautiful.” Her grin grew and she added,

“It’s deadly too.” She pointed to the runes. “The carvings are enchantments.” He handed the sword back, watching as she returned it to its scabbard. “What did you want me over here for?” He nodded at the shattered mirror.

“Do you know what this is?” (Y/N) momentarily glanced at it before looking back at him and nonchalantly replied,

“Seven years back luck?” He huffed a laugh.

“Probably…but what the hell is it?” Sypha looked up from a book she was reading.

“You two don’t know?” The siblings shrugged and shook their heads. “This is your house.” (Y/N) rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, that neither of us have been in for almost a decade and a half.” Trevor smirked as he wiped a hand across it, looking over his shoulder at the Speaker.

“Do you know everything in your house?” Sypha moved closer to the mirror, turning to him with a sarcastic look.

“I don’t have a house.” A voice sounded from higher above them.

“She doesn’t have a house.” The three looked up and Adrian. “She’s a Speaker. She’s a nomad.” Trevor glared at the vampire as he hopped down from the bookshelves.

“It was rhetorical.”

“Rhetorical house that she doesn’t have.”

“Just, tell me what it is.” Sypha glanced back at it.

“It was a magic mirror.” Adrian pointed at it.

“Also known as distance mirrors.” He ran his gloved hand down the side, feeling the runes. “Some of them even allow matter to pass through them, but…” He paused a moment. “No. No this is a simple remote viewing mirror. A little of the activating language is chipped.” He looked back at the trio. “A few of the runes need re-cutting but workable.” Adrian smirked at her brother. “You have the most fascinating family junkyard, Belmont.” (Y/N) internally sighed as her brother got in the vampire’s face and fired back,

“You’re a cock wart, Alucard.” Sypha pulled his hand down, tugging him away.

“Stop it.” She pulled Trevor around the shelves. “You are an adult. You do not have to rise to his every barb.” (Y/N) couldn’t see his expression, but she knew it was one of irritation.

“He’s pissing me off like it’s his job, Sypha.” Before the Speaker could get a word in, (Y/N) quipped,

“Oh no, someone else knocking my brother down a few pegs besides me. What ever shall we do?” The two ignored them, going off into their own conversation, leaving her next to Adrian. When laughter sounded from behind the shelves, she watched Adrian’s expression change, then he looked over his shoulder towards the noise; she gave him a sad smile. “You didn’t have many friends growing up, did you Adrian?” He turned his head back around, staring at her with careful eyes.

“What makes you say that?” (Y/N) hummed, running a finger down the mirror.

“Every time the two of them start laughing, you get this…confused expression on your face, like you can’t understand what’s so funny.” He continued to watch her with his guarded look.

“Maybe I don’t understand.” She huffed a laugh, turning to him.

“Oh, don’t even go there. You’re smarter than the lot of us, and you definitely know when someone’s making a joke.” (Y/N) paused, thinking of her next sentence, then she murmured, “It’s because you’re too guarded.” Adrian raised an eyebrow.

“Too guarded?” She nodded.

“You’re too cautious. You won’t allow yourself to get close to us because you’re afraid of what might happen.” Evidently, he didn’t like the way the conversation was headed, because he narrowed his eyes into a glower.

“And what am I afraid of happening?” (Y/N) gazed at him and challenged,

“You’re afraid that if you let yourself get close to people, what happened to your mother and father will happen to you.” She watched Adrian’s expression morph from anger, to shock, to realization, and she placed her hand on his arm. “You’re scared that something will take what you care about away, and you’ll be left alone.” He swallowed thickly and opened his mouth, but no words came out, and the sound of a tolling bell reached their ears. He looked up, listening to the chimes.

“What was that?” She moved her eyes to the ceiling.

“The tower clock. It strikes at twelve times at midnight.” (Y/N) looked back at him, leaning close to nudge him in the ribs. “Adrian Tepes, I’ve officially known and been your friend for four days now.” He looked down at her, golden eyes boring into hers.

“And that means?” She flashed him a smile, nudging him again.

“Means that no matter where we are, or what roads we take in these lives, I will always be on your side.” He blinked in stunned silence, and she reached down, taking his hand in hers. “Now come on. There’s a whole bunch of weird shit in here that needs to be seen by the two of us.” Adrian complied, letting her tug him around.

“Why does it need to be seen by us? We’ve both agreed that we’re not overly fond of what your family does.” (Y/N) nodded as she dragged him to a shelf full of things she didn’t even know how to name.

“Well yeah…but all the more reason for us to go see the weird shit my family hoarded and take the piss out of them. Like…that!” She paused, pointing to a plant that was lined with rows of sharp teeth. “The fuck kind of mutated Venus Fly Trap is that?” She then pointed to a stone head sitting on another shelf. “And that! Who the fuck keeps a stone head in a case? And over there!” (Y/N) turned to another shelf, starting to pull him along when he tugged her to a stop. She spun back around, looking at him with a questioning gaze. Adrian gave her a small smile and shifted their hands, lacing his fingers with hers. When she glanced down at their joined hands, then to back his face, she noticed a faint pink dusting his cheeks, as he murmured,

“So I don’t lose you.” (Y/N) grinned and squeezed his hand, pulling him along.

A Few Hours Later:

She rested her head along his arm, leaning her body against his as he flipped through the index. She had her own book in front of her, occasionally flipping through the pages, reading the various entries. “For a monster hunter that hates monster hunting, you sure do enjoy reading about them.” (Y/N) hummed, adjusting her head against his arm.

“It’s not that I ‘hate’ hunting per se. There are some creatures that cannot be dissuaded from evil or cured of their circumstances. Those creatures are dangerous to innocent life. Regardless, I might dislike hunting them, but it can’t hurt to be knowledgeable about them.” She turned the page and nodded at it. “Take the ‘Revenant’ for example. It’s a term that’s been used interchangeably to describe vampires and ghosts, but most agree that it’s the basic term for the undead. There are various descriptions of them ranging from the Nordic countries to all of Europe.” Adrian paused, looking down at the book.

“How so?” She flipped through the pages.

“See here?” (Y/N) pointed to a page with a drawing. “That’s a Revenant, but in the Nordic countries, they call them Draugrs or Aptrgangrs. It translates to ‘again-walker’, or one who walks after death.” She flipped back to the original page. “The entries are even different. In Nordic indexes, the Draugrs are emaciated, with their skin stretched out over their skeletons. But they still retain their strength, and are extremely difficult to fight and destroy, as they’re impervious to many types of weapons. Here in Wallachia and the surrounding countries, indexes describe Revenants as the corpses of the dead that have been reanimated by powerful demons, capable of killing entire squads of even experienced warriors. They’re…” (Y/N) trailed off, shifting her head so she could see his face. He looked at her, waiting for her to finish, and she laughed nervously. “Sorry…I talk a lot about stuff like this.” Adrian smiled, shaking his head.

“No, please continue. It’s interesting to learn the differences of the creatures of the night between countries.” (Y/N) nodded, moving her eyes back to the book.

“Okay, well…even vampires are considered different in other countries. They’re also mistaken for other creatures too. In Wallachia, the term ‘Strigoi’ was used until the term ‘vampire’ and ‘vampirism’ came into being. Others call vampires ‘Vrykolakas’ or ‘Pricolici’, but that’s incorrect. Vrykolakas, while sharing characteristics with vampires, engage more in cannibalism as they prefer to eat livers, and Pricolici are werewolf and vampire hybrids, living life as a werewolf, but once dead, returns as a vampire. Actually, that’s where the belief that vampires can turn into animals such as wolves, dogs, owls, and bats, came from. In other coun-” (Y/N) cut herself off as she raised a hand to her mouth, yawning. “Mmm, sorry. As I was saying-” This time, Adrian cut her off.

“How long has it been since you slept?” (Y/N) glanced up at him, shrugging her shoulders.

“Dunno. Yesterday morning, I think? A few hours before we left.” He frowned at her.

“You think? You didn’t sleep in the wagon?” She shook her head.

“I was trained to sleep only in places where there was no movement.” He arched an eyebrow and inquired,

“Why’s that?” (Y/N) pulled away, stretching her limbs.

“Sleeping on a surface that is immobile allows to hear and detect things that are approaching you. I get on wagons and I become too alert to sleep.” He gestured to a bookshelf, and they sat down next to one another.

“When we fought the night creatures after we left Gresit, you said you could sense them. You could also hear their footsteps.” (Y/N) nodded, reclining against the shelf.

“At Ravensguard, hunters and huntresses undergo extensive training and experimentation to enhance their bodies. As a result, we achieve the ability to wield magic, our bodies are stronger, and our senses are enhanced greatly.” Adrian glanced down at her and wondered,

“The processes sound dangerous…I can’t imagine that many survive.” With a grimace, (Y/N) nodded.

“Very few make it…even fewer are able to handle the stress it takes on the mind and body.” She paused then whispered, “…I almost didn’t.” For a moment, he didn’t respond, then he leaned close, gently taking her hand.

“What made you fight to survive?” (Y/N) sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder.

“My brother.” Adrian grunted, but she smiled and added, “My parents learned at an exceedingly early time that I wasn’t going to carry on the Belmont name like Trevor was. And while they loved me, they couldn’t take me continually refusing to adhere to it. Our family has always had a tie to the Order, so as soon as they could, they sent me to the fortress.” She went silent, then said, “I don’t think my parents knew that only a few people survived coming out of there alive, so I know they didn’t send me there hoping I died.” Adrian squeezed her hand and asked,

“How old were you when they sent you away?”

“I was nine. I trained until I was eighteen, and when I left and traveled back home, I was met by a ruin.” (Y/N) clenched her jaw, trying to suppress her hurt. “The only thing that kept me alive during my training was the thought of coming back home to see my brother, the one person who respected that I didn’t want to be a supernatural hunter, and I returned to a burned down home and no family in sight. I travelled for a year and a half before I ran into him. And it was pure luck that I did.”

“What happened?”

“Hunters and huntresses aren’t exactly ‘given jobs’, we simply protect and bring justice where it’s needed. In my search for Trevor, I’d heard of a town that was being plagued by supposed dead men walking. I travelled there to see if I could help, and I was run into by a drunkard who was stumbling out of the inn.” She gazed up at him, a grin on her face. “Three guesses on who the drunkard was.” He chuckled, and she thought back to the moment she re-met her brother.

The militia seemed happy to see another fighter amongst them, especially one who was trained. She walked down the street after leaving the mayor’s home, intent on finding the inn so she could get a meal before going to search for the origins of the undead that plagued the town. She paused, waving over a young boy who couldn’t have been older than ten. “You there, young man!” He walked over, looking at her as she waved a gold coin. “Got a coin here for you if you tell me where the inn is, and any other news you’ve heard.” The boy’s eyes grew as he stared at the coin in her hand, and he nodded excitedly.

“Go to the end of the street and take a left, there’s the inn. I haven’t heard much, but I heard the militia saying that old man Thompson was the one making the dead come.” (Y/N) furrowed her brows.

“Why’s that?” The boy shrugged.

“I don’t know but Ma says he dabbles in the dark arts like the Belmonts did.” Her jaw clenched at the rumor, but she pushed it aside and asked,

“One more question and the coin is yours. Where’s old man Thompson live?” The boy pointed to a house far outside the town.

“He lives in that house over there. He doesn’t come out much since his wife died a year ago.” (Y/N) glanced at it and frowned, then turned and tossed the coin to the boy before heading off towards the inn. She’d just reached the doors when they slammed open and a figure stumbled into her. She caught him, holding him up right.

“Hey. You okay there?” The man nodded and rambled,

“Y-yeah…just had a few drinks.” (Y/N) tipped her head to the side as she stared into his face; the man frowned at her. “Somethin’ on my face?” Realization hit her and she whispered,

“Trevor?” His eyebrows furrowed as he stared at her, then his eyes went wide and he breathed,

“(Y/N)?” She smiled, laughing tearfully, and exclaimed,

“I can’t believe I’ve run into you! I’ve been looking for you!” A smile grew across his face and it held for a second, then he grimaced. She felt her heart sink as she asked, “Trevor? What’s wro-” Her words fell short as he bent over.

“And he threw up all over my feet, then went, ‘wow, I feel so much better now.’” (Y/N) watched Adrian cover his mouth as he laughed. When he calmed, she laid her head back against his shoulder and mused, “We’ve been together ever since.”

“You two are remarkably close for not exactly growing up together. And extremely protective of one another.” She nodded.

“We’re all the family we have…it’s our job to look out for each other.” (Y/N) grunted. “Other times I want to push him off a cliff because he’s the biggest pain in my ass I’ve ever had.” Adrian snorted and she yawned again, struggling to keep her eyes open. “Personally, I make it…my job…to…return the…favor…” Adrian felt her go slack against his side, and as he looked down at her, he realized just how exhausted she was. He smiled, gently placed his coat over her body, enjoying the way she snuggled closer, and closed his eyes too letting himself rest his head against hers.

#adrian tepes imagines #adrian tepes imagine #adrian tepes x reader #adrian tepes x reader imagines #adrian tepes x reader imagine #adrian tepes #alucard #castlevania #castlevania imagine #castlevania imagines #trevor belmont #sypha belnades #vlad dracula tepes

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starr-fall-knight-rise · 5 years

Text

Humans are Space Orcs “Stress”

I thought about this idea during finals week for obvious reasons. As for some of the other stuff, I am still trying to figure out what I want to do. My motivation likes to come and go at odd moments, so the longer, more complicated stuff that requires research is eluding me at the moment, but I hope you all like it :)

Humanity was crafted in the fire of adversity. On a planet where everything is stronger, faster, and more dangerous than them, they still manage reign supreme. Looking back at their history, the human came down from the trees and developed primarily on hot, hostile prairies of Africa relying on their small bands of family to keep them safe.

Due to the hostile nature of their planet the human has one of the most remarkable and advanced reactions to stress in the sympathetic response of their body, known as the fight or flight system. In response to say, sight of a predator, the human brain immediately releases stress hormones into the blood activating adrenaline and cortisol production. In states like these humans, run faster, jump higher, react quicker, feel less pain, increase their strength, and recognize more frames per second (described by humans as the world slowing down). Additionally the sympathetic response shuts down all parasympathetic actions, which include digestion, growth, ovulation, sex drive, hunger, and other additional functions.

However, this remarkable stress system, which the humans are renowned for, has one horrible downside….. The human body cannot tell the difference between the stress of a predator attack or the stress of a long-term work environment. The human body reacts to deadlines the same way it evolved to react to the chase on the prairies thousands of years ago. Chronic stress is one of the largest dangers posed to your human companions, and should be taken seriously. Long term effects of stress can results in depressed immune systems, sickness, skin problems, high blood pressure, cardiovascular issues, digestive issues, sexual dysfunction, depression, anxiety etc.

Chronic stress is a human’s worst enemy.

***

“I swear by all nine circles of Dante’s hell that if the assembly refuses to hear me out than we are going to have galaxy wide rioting on our hands, and you know who is going to have to deal with it. Me, yeah that’s right, me, just like every other riot, protest, demonstration and sit-in this side of the sector. Just let them be together if they really want, just get them immunized first, Damn!” Commander Vir marched onto the bridge angrily pulling on his jacket and throwing himself down in the Captain’s chair, “Four hours of sleep last night, four, and I have to tell you I am sick and tired of this shit. LIEUTENANT!”

“Yes, Sir.” She asked hesitantly

“What do we have TODAY? What could have possible gone wrong on this fine morning?” The man snarled sarcastically. Krill glanced at Sunny with a worried expression. This was hardly behavior they had come to expect from their friend.

“Well sir, paperwork, as usual, and then you have a conference with the GA at 9, and a report due to the Fleet Admiral at 10. Captain Kamma and Captain Roll need your opinion on dealing with a Finneri dispute over airspace in the Alpha sector, plus the ship is due for routine maintenance, but there is still a little matter about that Vrul scientist that the GA wants transported back to HQ. If you have the reports, I can send them in now…..” She trailed off.

Commander Vir took a deep breath and rested his forehead against one hand messaging his temples, “I haven’t finished the reports yet, I haven’t had enough time to finish the reports, I was doing more important things than finishing the reports like…. Oh, I don’t know trying to put down riots and prevent luting. I think humanity’s public image is more important than some stupid piece of paper. Kind of hard to get anything done when you are trying to keep the entirety of the GA to stop seeing humans as violent militants.”

“Sir, I can-“

“No, I will have the stupid reports done, just give me an hour.” He stood from his chair, “Walk with me.” The supporting crew barely had time to leap from their seats and follow after the man as he marched out of the room. Usually silent, the prosthetic on his leg whirred with excess power as if aware of the man’s agitation. Sunny followed behind the only one able to keep up without jogging. She held Krill by the hand as he floated behind her. Commander Vir answered rapid fire questions left and right as he marched on down the hall. A marine appeared form one of the side halls.

“Captain,”

“Make it quick, Corporal.” The man fell into a jogging step beside him.

“Uh, yes Commander, there seems to be a problem.” A single green eye turned upon the man and narrowed. The entire crew stiffened a little. Krill hid behind Sunny’s bulk. The entire crew had been on edge for weeks now. All of them begged to whatever deity out there that things would get better for their Commander. The crew, once so laid back, and relaxing now found themselves in an enviornment of stress like a rubber band close to sapping, all caused by a triangular ripple effect coming down from on high. When the Commander wasn’t happy, no one was.

Generally, goofy, friendly, social, and fun, the man had slowly grown, irritable, reclusive, and tense as sarcasm and jokes began to fly right over his head….. Accept for the biter angry kind.

“What NOW.”

“Well, sir, the last armament shipment….. well they got our order wrong. We got only two cases of .223.” The man had to speed up a little to keep up

“Two cases! The F*ck are we supposed to do with that. We needed two Pallets not two cases.”

“Yes sir, I know but-“

“Ahg never mind, I’ll call in to the supply department later.” He coughed once or twice, wiping his mouth before pushing past the marine and into the chow hall marching up to the coffee maker and angrily shoving mug under the nozzle. Another glance was exchanged between Sunny and Krill, the man didn’t drink coffee at least he hadn’t until about a week ago. All around, the breakfast crowd looked up from their meals nervously fiddling with their forks and spoons as they watched.

Cup filled up, the man turned in a circle.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Could it have been the unusual power of the prosthetic, the fact that he turned in the direction of his missing eye, or could it have just been coincidence that his leg knocked against the counter sending a wave of hot liquid over his arm and onto the floor as the cup dropped from his hands. The entire room went silent, which only made the shattering of the glass louder followed by the string of abusive, vulgar curses spilling form the man’s mouth that much more poignant. Sure, he wasn’t opposed to cursing, but THAT was excessive.

He waved his arm hissing in pain. Before growing silent, horribly silent. The entire room was still hands raised halfway to their mouths food dripping form forks. He stood very still shoulders hunched hands clenched into half claws. From their position, Krill and sunny watched as the man’s slow, even breathing began to speed up, blood rushed up to his face, a vein pulsed in his neck.

The expression that came over the human’s face was one of pure animal rage completely out of place in such a setting. Humans and Drev alike ducked for cover, especially telling when it came to the humans, as the man spun in a circle and violently ripped the machine from the wall and throwing it to the floor. Glass and plastic shattered, but that didn’t seem to be enough. The advanced military prosthetic, sensing his anger, whirred to life powerful hydraulics and pistons crackling to life as he engaged the foot. Metal screeched and screamed as it was crushed. Crewmembers cowered further under their tables as the wreckage was kicked violently into the air. The power of the prosthetic sent it halfway across the room where it smashed into the ground shattering whatever piece of equipment was left.

Then slowly they looked up watching as the man spun in an agitated circle, paced to the right, then to the left before screaming through his teeth and running out of the room leaving a scene of carnage behind him.

***

Krill and Sunny found him three hours later forced to explain to the admiral and the GA of the commander’s absence.

They found him in a service tunnel running the side of the engine room sitting in the red emergency lights on the floor with his legs curled to his chest, and his arms about his dog’s neck. The animal had her head resting on his shoulder tail tucked between her legs as if she knew something was terribly wrong.

Sunny had trouble squirming through the close opening, but eventually hauled her bulk into the small space, “Adam?”

The man didn’t look up but a desperate chuckle broke from his lips cracked and breathless, “Great, just what I needed, for you guys to see me like this…… what did the admiral say? Am I fired?”

Krill scuttled around the side of Sunny squeezing himself past her bulk with a huff, “Commander, why would they fire you. Preposterous, that doesn’t make any sense.”

Sunny managed to make it to her knees and then into a low crouch, “Vir, the Admiral actually said that…. Now maybe you’ll understand because I didn’t and I quote, ‘I’m impressed the boy managed to make it this long, my first breakdown was two weeks after I started, and I nearly ran my car into a tree.”

The dog whimpered as the man lifted his head, throwing it back with a shaky breath, “You don’t have to try and make me feel better Sunny. The damage is done, I messed up, and I lost in in front of the crew like a child, and I can’t help but think about how much of a jackass I’ve been for the last few weeks. I’m garbage at this, I should never have taken the job.”

Krill huffed scuttling down the short hallway and over to the man, “Oh what is it you humans say…… pity party is over. Man up and talk to us, you are being horribly illogical, and that is something I cannot abide. Start from the beginning and tell us what’s wrong so we can fix it. You ARE the commander of this ship and you deserve to be here, so might as well fix the problem while we can.”

Fifteen minute later, Krill had ushered them out of the engine room and back to his infirmary where the Commander now hunched on the edge of one of the beds elbows resting on his knees as he stared down at the floor. Krill bustled around him like krill always did examining his burned arm, if there was a problem, he fixed it. That’s just the way he was, Sunny listened.

He rubbed the sides of his head again, “I’ve just been so….. Stressed, I have so much to do, and I don’t have enough time, everyone is counting on me, and now with the riots…. I just….. my body is falling apart, I can’t sleep, I can’t eat because when I do I get nauseous, my head hurts all the time, I’ve bene sick for like…. I don’t know, a month. Feels like my heart never slows down, and someone has their hand around my chest just…. Squeezing. Plus.” He lifted up his shirt exposing his pale stomach, and the livid red bumps across his stomach raised and strangely discolored, “I broke out in hives yesterday, haven’t done that since I was a kid.”

Krill paused shooting the man a glower, hands resting on his hip equivalent, “And you never thought to, oh I don’t know talk to a DOCTOR because you don’t have one of those just conveniently lying around.”

Vir rubbed the back of his neck with a sigh, “I…. its stress related Krill, there’s nothing you can do medically for me.” Sunny had moved at this point slowly walking over towards her two friends, and before Krill or Vir could say anything, she pulled the man into her arms, all four of them, and hugged him lifting him completely and easily off the ground. He went quiet in surprise and Krill looked up at her in annoyance.

“Hugs are good for humans. Supposed to relieve stress…. I think.” Sunny said. She thought for a moment he would pull away, but after a few seconds he sagged against her read resting against her chest. Krill relented with a sigh and stepped back.

A muffled voice, “What am I supposed to do Sunny?”

Krill tapped one of his feet on the floor, “The way I see it, Commander, there is only one logical course of action.”

***

The crew watched from where they sat or stood around the chow hall, on or around the tables as the man, their Commander, awkwardly shuffled his feet and stared down at the floor, “I…. have to apologize to…. To all of you for my….. Deplorable behavior lately. “He took a deep breath and looked up with clear difficulty, “The way I have been acting is very unprofessional, and the outbursts are just as bad. I know there are no excuses for what I have done, and I take responsibility but I have been under a lot of stress lately, and I am still learning how to deal with it.”

Some members of the crowd nodded along with him, some frowned, but the vast majority gave encouraging smiles. “That’s alright, Commander, we understand.” Someone said from the back followed by a chorus of agreement.

One of the marines stood up, “We forgive you, Commander, and I have one word for you….” He turned to the room and waved his hand in a wide arc over his head, “Delegation.”

“Delegation?” The man questioned

“Yeah.” The marine said, “Like since you’re a boss you can make everyone else do the work for you.”

The commander shook his head, “I no… I couldn’t”

Just then the lieutenant took to her feet, “Just hear him out, sir. He’s right, you’ve been trying to do everything yourself, and it isn’t healthy. There are plenty of things you can outsource. I mean some of the other captains have specialties in certain areas, and you could put them in charge. And here, on the crew, you could appoint someone as the head of a sector, and just have them report in. They can deal with the little stuff and you can do the big stuff. For instance, I’m great at writing, I was an English major before joining the army, so I can write the reports….. and no offence, but you suck ass at writing… sir.”

The crew broke out into laughter, Vir grinned sheepishly, “Alright, maybe you have a point.”

Other members of the crew agreed, “You’re forgetting we’ve had almost as much contact with E.Ts as you, sir. We can deal with some of the little stuff, so you don’t have to worry.”

The commander took a seat on one of the tables facing the crowd, “I just don’t want it to seem like I’m pawning all my work off on others.”

Another crewmember waved the comment off, “Give us some credit, we know you better than that. Besides everyone deserves a little downtime.”

“Yeah a little stress relief is good. Man you need to get some kind of hobby.” The marine who spoke leaned over towards his companion and quietly…. But not to quietly whispered, “Either that, or get laid.”

The comment hadn’t been quiet enough, and a row of marines broke into fits of giggling. Vir flushed bright red trying to ignore the comment, “Alright, first thing’s first, we need to have a meeting, decide how to divide things up. I’m thinking the marines, the bridge crew a -“ A glare from Krill silenced him, “Of course…. We can talk about that tomorrow….. you…. Are all dismissed.”

The crew shifted to their feet. A few of the marines walked past still laughing causing the blush to flare up again. The marine that had spoken shoved him lightly, “You’re such a boy scout, you know that right?” Vir grumbled as he moved past. The marine turned to walk backwards down the hallway, “Come on man, just saying great stress relief. Woman, dude…… alien if you’re into that.”

Vir raised his hands, “Ok, ok, stop, I get it.” More laughter as the marines walked away. He sighed, but was immediately accosted from behind. The floor fell out from under him, and suddenly his only view was blue armor, “F***, Sunny what the hell.”

She shifted him into a more comfortable position over her shoulder, “This is a hostage situation. You will not be released till you get at least eight hours of sleep, there are no other options.”

Vir sighed, “Guess I don’t have much say.”

“Nope.”

Stress is a human’s worst enemy, and it is our job to make sure our humans stay healthy.

#humans are space orcs #humans are space australians #humans are space oddities #humans are weird #Earth is space Ausralia #earth is a deathworld

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reddogf13 · 4 years

Text

Escape: To Salvation Ch: 1

Blake X Val

Summery: Blake wakes up in the hell town known as Templegate. confused and alone he must fight through both his past and present for his future. however, hallucinations of festering demons haunt him along with something else more of mortal blood. now he must fight to keep his nightmares and reality separate or succumb to the deadly wilds. however is he truly as alone as he feels in this world?

status: complete

rated: M - fowl language, sensitive topics, and gore

Prequel/ main series: Escape: Aftermath CH: 20

next chap: Escape: To Salvation CH:2

_____________________________________

~Ch:1 Dust settles~

Blake fell to his knees and watched as the sun grew to burn the earth. The blazing sun blinding him till his eyes blinked. Opening again to the sound of Jessica's voice back in the school. He wasn't sure what was happening now, getting a sense as if he was floating. Following a path to Jessica's voice without an idea of what he felt inside. Depression, anger, Sadness? No, it was just hollow emptiness inside.

“The feeling of being dead.” the thought passed through his mind. Not even feeling any uplifting happiness seeing Jessica alive and well. He got down and prayed with her. Feeling cold and unhappy at the prayer she recited. Then everything went into the darkness. He floated without any thoughts for what seemed like an eternity.

“am I dead? … Did the world die? … What happened to the baby?” Blake thought, the questions passing through at what felt like a snail's pace. The last question kept repeating over and over. Blake was growing desperate to know the child's outcome.

“... did someone find her? … IS she the Antichrist? Is she okay? Is she alive?” Blake questions floated in the darkness. growing from moving at a snail's pace to zooming past. The darkness grew to be suffocating with an unexplained pressure building into a unbearable headache. Just as the pressure felt like his skull was going to split open, it popped. The pressure suddenly uplifted after one large burst of a painful heat, however the suffocation did not.

Blake opened his eyes to take a desperate gasp of air. Blinking for a moment, unmoving, as he gathered the world around him. No more darkness, he was back under the bright burning normal looking sun. the world partially scorched, but only by what seemed like a now long burnt out forest fire. Back in the hell town known as Templegate.

After gathering his surroundings he remembered his questions. Looking down to his arms to find them both bloody and empty. Fear rose along with panic at the baby missing. He quickly looked around for the baby girl. “maybe she just rolled from my hands. Maybe someone found her and took her away. Maybe an animal grabbed her from me for a meal.” Blakes mind raced, the baby's fate getting darker with each thought. He froze when he spotted a trail of fresh boot prints nearby. The tracks walking up to him and stopping before stepping off to the side to walk behind him.

Blake stared at the prints for a moment. Taking a breath of air before slowly and carefully standing. His legs popping and hurting as they moved. Something seemed off based from his last memory. The dirt he partially fell to deeply indented where his legs were. All the blood going across him turned brown from dryness. Some spots cracking off as Blake moved.

“damn, how long was I stuck in that position?” he thought with a wince. Taking note that the sun was now fully above in its afternoon slot when the last point he remembered was it just rising. As soon as he was ready to move he went forward. His body feeling horribly sore and exhausted. Feeling that if he sat down or stopped, he wouldn't be able to go forward again. His stomach painfully hollow with his mouth being as dry as the desert. He focused only on the fresh prints. Ignoring the vast decaying corpses he past. The smell, despite being difficult in the hot sunlight, he also ignored. Seeing that maggots had already infested the bodies. Clearing off huge chunks of meat from the bones. He only took his focus off once the prints lead into a building. Painfully stopping to look up to examine the building. It was a place made with wood with white painted shingles going down the walls. A cross standing at the pointed front of the roof.

Blake sighed, trying to regain some strength to get him moving inside. Getting up onto the small front step seeming the hardest thing in the world at the moment. Then he had to do the second hardest with opening the door. Pain shooting through his holed hand as he turned the knob. He took another deep breath as the door creaked open. Carefully stepping over the small door frame sticking up from the floor to enter.

He walked in with barely a thought to his own safety. He was in barely walk-able shape, forget about being able to fight. Even so, he would save his little girl and at least make sure she was taken someplace safe before collapsing. Hed fight if he had to, but who knows if it'd get him anywhere.

He stopped to catch his breath, recovering as well from the massive pain in his body. Looking over the darkness to try and figure out where to go next. The boot prints quickly disappearing past the doorway. leaving Blake to track whoever without any hints to where they went.

“you live?” a voice spoke from the darkness. Sounding honestly surprised at Blakes appearance. Blake would have jumped from the sudden voice if his body hadn't locked up in pain. He stood silent for a minute to process the voice. Slowly searching the darkness over for the figure. He recognized it, but in the state he was in his brain processed the information slowly. Then he remembered who the speaker was.

“val.” Blake growled in his mind. He swallowed to get ready as if he was going to yell in pure rage, but only ended up letting out a quiet voice. hoarse from lack of water for who knows how long.

“you took her … where is she?” Blake demanded to know, while trying to keep his body from collapsing. “the girl? She's long since passed in that chapel.” val answered, sounding calm but tired.

“no, the baby!” Blake snapped, he didn't want to deal with val. He didn't want to play a game of ring around the Rosie with questions.

“there was no baby.” val stated, sounding unfazed by Blakes tone. Blake remained silent for a second, confused. “Of course there was a baby. How could val say there wasn't? She- he- whatever was the one obsessed about bringing it into the world. Why suddenly reject its existence?!” Blakes mind went through the questions. Slowly processing through them.

“where'd you take her?!” Blake questioned, growing angry. Val sighed and finally moved to look toward him from a seated spot. Blake noticing her movement in the dark and facing her with an expression of hatred mixed with pain.

“there was no baby. Knoth convinced both of us though, didn't he?” val stated, anger pouring into her own words now.

“yes there was! Why else- why else go through all that?! You knew, it was obvious! You can't say she wasn't!” Blake snapped. Yelling in frustration only to stop so he could swallow a small amount of spit for his dry throat. Referring to how lynn was both obviously and heavily pregnant.

“i saw her birth it. I held her in my hands as lynn died on that torture table! Now where is she dammit!!” Blake began to roar. Tears welling up in his eyes as he spoke.

“there was no baby!! it was like every other pregnancy, nothing!! There. Was. Nothing!” val roared back, seeming just as angry with heavy disappointment underneath.

“... what? … I held her! She was there, crying. ... Knoth saw her too!” Blake argued again. Only now he was beginning to question himself. He was remembering all he went through now, including the Jessica hallucinations that seemed so real. Then there was also that moment with what lynn had said “there's nothing there” lynns words echoed repeatedly in his head.

“but, Knoth saw.” he spoke again, his heart slowly crumbling away. He saw val shake their head afterwards. “Knoth sees what he wants. She wasn't the first to bare the “Antichrist” or the first we managed to take from Knoth either. No child had been born at full term in years. It was either a early miscarriage or a false pregnancy. Killing the “birthing mothers” as the blood left them. Either way Knoth claimed he saw the devil child. Killing it after performing some false words before thrusting the blade.” val explained as Blake stood there quietly, mainly in an attempt to regain his voice.

“so … why was mine so different?” he asked.

“strange circumstance, same reason why we desperately kept her for the birth. Usually Knoth claimed someone he bedded with lust was carrying the evil. We would grab them in some cases with the event ending all the same. You and the girl however, fell from the sky into a fiery blaze upon landing. Everyone saw the whole thing. Knoth unfortunately made it there first, but that was a small misstep.” val explained, taking in a disappointed breath.

“he always came first.” the figure shrouded in darkness joked with a snicker. A remark Blake recognized as on the sexual side. Being not much in the mood for Vals forward humor on the subject, he gave a unamused look. “ … we thought it'd be different. That it was real this time. everything showed the signs it was and then … here we are. My loves had their throats slit or were crushed by the crumbling tunnels. I barely got out through the collapsed rock. i expected the world to shift, the earth to crack … but I only had the darkness take me over. I felt satisfied, my purpose complete, I welcomed the pain in the dark, then it ended. I was forced awake back into the world I felt I was past. I found the girl, recognized her body's state being like all the others, but at least it ended Knoth. He had finally lost and died like a coward. I wished it had been me to feel his warm blood pool onto my body.” Val spoke, her voice growing in disappointment. Looking toward the ground with a pause.

“Quite a time has past here before I woke. The rot has set in to be two days old on the dead. You were in that dark place a day longer than me, how was it?” val finished off with a question. Blake stood there, glaring in deep hatred. His mind going back and forth on whether val was telling the truth.

After a moment's thought he accepted Val was telling the truth. She never really lied, val never cared about that like Knoth did, but that also came with accepting the baby's nonexistence. It hurt Blake deeply, he pushed so hard to save lynn and failed. At the time he hoped to at least save his little girl, but she never existed either. He sighed in exhaustion, looking toward the dirty wood floor. Wondering what to do next. His only thought being he wanted to sit and maybe sleep for 10 years. He looked up to stare at val. Watching to see what she- he? Was possibly going to do. Val didn't seem to really move besides in taking a breath. Blake closed his eyes for a moment before gaining enough strength to move again. Walking back out the building onto the flat wood step. At this point Blake didn't care. He was too exhausted and practically went through everything already. Val didn't seem to react, staying in her seated spot. Not even bothering to look at him. Blake was thankful that val looked to be dressed again. He really didn't want to see that naked mud image right now. As he tried to move off the step his body collapsed onto the wood. Any attempt at getting up proving fruitless for his weakened body.

“val said she blacked out for two days based on how far the rot has been on the corpses. I was out for an extra day, so I was in some comatose state for three days?!” Blake thought, now realizing how desperately bad his bodies state was.

“... if I don't get up now, ... i'll die, ... but would it be so bad?” he wondered as he closed his eyes for just a second.

when he opened his eyes the sun was down, Blake had only fallen asleep this time. The next time however, it would definitely be his last if he didn't find food or water.

He looked around and didn't see Vals presence anywhere from his view into the darkened doorway of the building. He sat up with a few pops to his neck and back from the strange sleeping position. His body feeling a bit more energized, but the pain remaining.

Blake sat there for a while to debate on what he should do next. No lynn, no baby, now what? His only thought was to save himself, but there was no way he would get far in his current condition. He needed to find more bandages, hopefully some alcohol in the damned town, and some food and water while searching. “i swear if val plans to jump me.” he growled to himself. Wondering where val went and what they could possibly be doing with nobody around anymore.

He painfully stood to walk off the wood step. Squinting up at the bright moonlight. Gagging a bit at the rotten body smell mixing with a new one. Burnt flesh, it seems val had been busy doing some clean up. “fucking great.” Blake grumbled toward the smoldering body pile. He continued on slowly, looking about the town. It was the first time he was able to actually able to look at things. As far as he knew he no longer had to fear towns people with machetes or Marta coming at him. At the notice of a dark shape of a tree he stopped. discovering Knoths hanging body, or what's left of him.

Hanging from a tall almost black tree knoths organs were ripped out to be strung around the branches. All sorts of objects from glass, knifes, table legs to branches, iron bars, and barbed wire stabbed or strung all through him like thread through a cloth. His face carved up almost beyond all recognition while also being burned just as much as the others. If Blakes mouth wasn't so dry he'd probably spit at the hanging corpse.

“good riddance.” Blake thought before slowly moving again. “fuck, where the hell can I find water. No way i am drinking from the well here.” Blake thought as he carefully walked into one of the shack houses. He was fully prepared to just accept death by dehydration over who knows what in the water. Taking note of more dead bodies as he started rummaging through the cabinets for food, water, or anything useful.

“more bandages, that's one thing.” Blake mumbled to himself as he stuffed a couple rolls into his bag. The rest of the house proved fruitless, along with the next three before he found a non rotten apple in the forth. He really wanted just pure water in a bottle, but he couldn't be choosy. Taking a bite of the apple then just sucking on it to try and get a nice mouthful of juice.

“these people don't have anything. Where's all the food? In the fields? Fuck, mite just have to drink from the well. Eat some of the dead fish rotting in the lake.” he thought in disgust as he moved to another shack. “still nothing.” he sighed, slamming a fridge full of old rotten vegetables. Already he was beginning to feel exhausted again. Getting frustrated as he knew he'd only been awake for maybe 15 minutes. He preferred to find more food and water first before slipping into a sleep coma. He sighed in agitation before deciding to find a room he could close off.

When he did find one in the upper stairs of a building. He blocked the door off before sitting down on the bed. Letting out a groan of pain at everything hurting. Blake sat there for a moment till he gained a little more energy. Looking to his badly injured and bloody hands.

“maybe i'll get a miracle and the tap will work.” he thought, painfully getting up to go to a nearby bathroom. He held his breath as he turned the brass nozzle. Letting out a breath of relief at the clean looking water. He worked as fast as he could, to scrub his hands clean. Then quickly trying to clean every other part of him. He could have tried the shower, but he really didn't want to strip here and get into a vulnerable spot.

Almost all of the blood, mud, and dirt was cleaned away. Blake getting a much clearer look at the holes in his hand. Hissing a bit as they were painfully sore and still bleeding quite a bit. He tried to dry them with a small piece off the new bandage. Hoping they would clot slightly as to not bleed so much. They seemed to slowly stop bleeding as a new scab formed at the wound.

After re-wrapping them in new bandage he stared at the flow of sink water. Smacking his dry mouth. He really didn't want to drink any water in this town, but he had to drink something. So he quickly gulped down a mouthful. Giving up his resistance soon after to guzzle down mouthful after mouthful of water from the tap. His body feeling major relief at the introduction of hydration.

He gasped for air after filling his stomach to the brim with just water, shutting off the tap afterwards. He headed back to the bed to fully lay down this time. Looking toward a nearby widow with moon light pouring through the dust covered glass. For a moment the thought of maybe someone else besides val stalking the town entered his mind. Should he find somewhere more hidden to sleep? At this point though, Blake didn't care. He was far too injured and tired. He didn't want to run again, and couldn't even if he tried. while at this point death would be a welcoming away from all the pain. He closed his eyes and in seconds was fast asleep.

Blake woke up to the morning sun blazing into his eyes. Squinting before carefully sitting up with a stiff groan. He rubbed his face as he put his feet onto the hardwood floor.

“find food, bottled water, and alcohol possibly.” he thought. Deep in his mind he knew the alcohol would most likely be nonexistent in this town. Alcohol wasn't looked too kindly on in religion.

“maybe I could find a bottle of wine in the chapel.” Blake thought. His heart seized at remembering lynn was dead inside that building. He'd have to face her body again once he entered. He swallowed hard wondering if hed have the strength to even face her.

He got up to slowly work his way back to the chapel. Upon seeing her body from the doorway he froze. Staring as he held back the tears welling up in his eyes. He quickly swallowed them down into the painful pit in his stomach. Carefully walking down the mostly clear isle up to her.

He swallowed down at the painful disgusting sight of maggots swarming over her. He looked away to take a few deep breaths. Desperate to hold himself together. Looking back when he felt he was ready. He needed to cover her body before he could move it.

“wrap her up in something.” he thought, looking around the chapel. Deciding on a nice piece of curtain hanging over a window. He returned to lynn with the large bundled up curtain in his hands. Carefully covering her before slowly wrapping the thing around till she was fully bundled up in the fabric.

“at least val didn't desecrate you. … I hope.” he spoke to himself. A thought of him not being entirely sure as she was stuck with val for an entire night, although he rather not think of that.

“i need to bury her, but do I want to bury her in this hell town?” he thought. In the end having no choice. He knew he couldn't carry her far, but he could at least take her to the forest edge. Past all the rotten bodies and crumbling buildings.

“Someplace under a nice tree.” he thought, leaving her body for the moment. He wanted to dig a deep grave first before carrying her body out. He searched around a bit managing to find a nice shovel. Going slightly past the town to now find a tree. Coming across a large green pine that just managed to survive the fire. Half of its green top being singed from the flames that were now long dead.

Blake returned to the chapel with his eyes welling up the entire way. By the time he reached her body the tears were overflowing.

“i'm sorry, i am so so sorry, I should have been faster. I could have made it. You could have lived, but I couldn't help you.” he cried, trying to wipe all the tears away only for the streams to be quickly replaced. He took a long deep breath to calm himself. Hugging her wrapped body for a moment before picking her up into his arms. His whole body locked up in agony from the extra weight. He stood frozen in place with her weight in his arms and took in another deep breath. Slowly working his way toward the grave, taking deep breaths the whole way in an attempt to keep his strength up.

Once at the grave he carefully got to his knees before slipping one leg after the other into the grave. Gently setting her down and fixing up her wrappings. Tears started to heavily flow again requiring him to sit next her in the grave to regain himself. He took a few deep breaths, wiped away the tears. Giving lynn's forehead a final goodbye kiss with his hand then climbed out of the grave. Standing tall next to the grave lynn was now resting in, he looked to the sky to gather some words.

“a good friend, a loving wife, never forgotten. Rest in peace … wherever you are.” Blake spoke clearly as if speaking to a actual crowd at a funeral. He folded his hands over each other and lowered his head for a moment of silence.

“amen.” Blake said in a way to end the funeral, although the word seemed sour to him. After all this his faith was even more crippled than before. All sorts of questions on why this happened passing through his mind. He wasn't going to debate it though. He was tired of religion and if who ever existed he no longer cared. Blake was going to leave it all at that. He just wanted to move on.

Blake grabbed the near by shovel and began to slowly fill in the grave. Trying his hardest not to fall apart as lynn was covered. His body was exhausted by the time he was done. The afternoon sun now shining over head. The town actually looked remotely nice in the bright sun. not every pile of dirt or tree looking like some horrified monster ready to grab hold. Much easier to see the annoying small cacti Blake remembered from all the past needles stuck in his leg.

He grabbed a nearby small wooden cross he made out of two thick branches and a tied cloth. Setting it at the head of the grave almost against the trunk of the large pine. He smoothed out the grave and circled its edging with all the nice stones and flowers he could find. Finally adding the last touch of a handful of both pink and white flowers he plucked off a cacti.

“you didn't deserve this.” Blake spoke to the grave. Shutting his eyes tight as he took a deep breath. Opening them again once he felt like he wouldn't cry again. He looked down at the grave before turning away to search the town again for supplies.

The rest of the day was unfruitful for anything. All the food old and maggot infested with no water insight. “i guess if worse comes to worse, at least I got a maggot farm.” Blake thought. His face crinkling in disgust at the thought of eating a wriggling maggot. He sat down at the stairs of a building he just left. Looking out toward Lynn's marked grave and noticing something. Val was standing near it. Blake filled with hatred glared hard enough to try burning a hole in the back of her head.

“if Val dares desecrate Lynn's grave they're going to pay.” Blake growled in his mind. Holding his glare on the unmoving figure that stared down toward the grave. He finally relaxed when Val began moving away from lynn's resting place, but not entirely. His paranoia of maybe something small was done while he wasn't looking bringing him to look over the grave. Blake stood by with an agitated expression as he examined all over the grave for any difference. Even checking the dirt for anything drawn into it. Nothing was different on the grave or anything done to the tree either.

He sighed in relief as he was not in the mood to clean up some carving or blood painted symbols. Or whatever Val may have been wanting to do. Then he turned his attention toward the fresh tracks in anger. He hated them being near and quickly scuffed fresh soil over all the nearby tracks to rid the area of there existence.

After clearing a 15 foot area surrounding the grave he went to tiredly sit by the grave. He leaned his head back to rest it against the tree. Finding himself immediately falling asleep again. When he woke only a few hours later he saw more of Vals tracks leading near the grave and away. Blake growled out of anger at seeing the tracks. Getting up to again carefully examine the grave for desecration in any way. Again, thankfully, finding nothing. Again, like before, he swept away the invading tracks in a 15 foot area around the grave. Growing quickly exhausted, thirsty, and his stomach painfully growling. He'd only eaten a apple and hot pocket within the last 4 days. The hot pocket he grabbed before the regretful helicopter trip here. He walked away from the grave to only make it 10 feet. Looking back in paranoia at leaving the grave unguarded.

He swallowed in nervousness until his painful stomach growling made him wince. He was mentally kicking himself as he left the unguarded grave, but he desperately needed food. Blake went even deeper into the town to search new areas for supplies. Finding a few more bandages and even a few useless battery's. After Knoth died and before his black out he remembered losing grip on his camera along the way. And at this point he didn't care to search for it either. It was probably laying in a pool of bloody mud and or sewage at this point. Maybe even Val took it and burned it in the body pile, who knows.

As he walked across the open dirt patch between houses he noticed more of Vals boot prints crisscrossing over the dirt. Glaring down at them, knowing Val had already raided the houses here. “probably snatched up any supplies. Fuck, now what then?” Blake thought, looking up to the bright sky momentarily in exhaustion. Now his options being between maggot farming, or picking a floating fish from the diseased lake full of mercury.

“yay to eventually looking like the mad hatter.” Blake spoke with a huff.

“maybe there's a farm around here. There has to be, no way they could feed so many from a bag of groceries fetched from a real outside town. I ran through that corn field at one point. didn't look like there was any corn though from what I remember.” he noted in his mind.

“which way to go?” he thought, looking at the varying paths leading in all directions. From all his running around he had no idea where anything was. Running through the whole night also muddling his whole sense of direction. He got an idea to look at where the sun was. It was past noon so wherever the sun was heading down to it lead toward the west. It didn't help him much in deciding a path, but he could just barely remember where the sun was before the helicopter ride and the direction they flew in.

from there he tried hard to remember every direction he walked in since the crash. Unfortunately his memory were more like blinks. He could only get points A and B of certain places. The whole between just seemed like a black warped puddle with the flash of something fuzzy forming now and again.

He found his memory no use. instead deciding to approach the best guess option. Looking at the tree lines for a thin or cleared area. Farming wasn't exactly a small patch to clear of trees. Soon spotting a massive open area between the tree line and heading straight for it. A 10 minute walk leading him up face to face with possibly the same corn field he zigzagged through.

Blake examined the stalks as he walked between the rows. Seeing no evidence of any corn. Assuming that maybe the town had harvested and eaten it all already. He noticed a bright color orange from between the long rows as he got deeper into them. Heading toward it expecting it to be leftover corn, but instead. “ … pumpkins... ?” Blake stated out loud in the middle of a pumpkin patch. Looking like none of them were harvested yet.

“had to be pumpkins. Couldn't have been something easy like fucking potatoes, but no. I don't even know how to really peel a orange I always needed lynn to do it for me. How the fuck do I eat a pumpkin?!” Blake spoke to himself. Knowing he was definitely not a cook of out of the way veggies. Usually working with simple potatoes or the most complicated being peas in a pod.

“i've heard of diced pumpkin, so do I peel it then chop it? I know I can bake the seeds, but can I also cook the guts and eat it??” Blake spoke to himself.

“if there was ever a time to figure out my own pumpkin pie recipe, it'd be now.” Blake joked. He always joked as some kind of protection mechanism. It helped uplift his spirits when down, even just a little helped him keep going.

Blake picked up a nice sized pumpkin about the size of his head. Taking it back to lynns grave and setting it down momentarily. He was happy to see no new tracks from Val around the area. Now his new goal was to find supplies for a fire and some sort of cooking pan.

“hopefully Val wont snatch it and get her own from the pumpkin patch.” Blake thought while searching the nearby shacks. Finding a pan and a small box of matches pretty quickly. Getting a lucky find of a small clean white pouch that could hold pumpkin seeds well. Returning to his pumpkin to create a small fire pit ringed with rocks. He piled a bunch of twigs and handfuls of dry leaves into the small pit. Lighting a match to place on the dry pile. Now he had to figure out what to do with the pumpkin. His best bet was roasting seeds and collect a whole bags worth of them. They would last as long as they did not get wet.

Blake grabbed a nearby broken shard of metal off a gate. He looked it over to see if there was any strange substance on it and found nothing. Leaning it against the wall to force it into a curved hook before he brought it to the fire. Letting it sit over the flames to clean anything he couldn't see sitting on the surface. then began his task of carefully carving a hole at the top of the pumpkin as if starting a jack o lantern. Picking out all the seeds he could to throw into the empty pan.

He roasted a good cup full of seeds till they turned a golden brown. Eating a few to test them determining them worthy of being stored in the pouch. Leaving still a lot of empty space for at least 6 more cup fulls of seeds inside the bag. After the pan was cleared Blake took his chances with trying to prepare the pumpkin guts. Cutting out the annoying pile and slopping it all into the pan with a sizzle as the wet goop hit the hot metal.

He sat there watching the goop pile slowly cook. Turning and mixing it with the metal piece, but finding it hard to determine if it was done or not. Half was still raw goop and the other half was now suddenly burnt. Before the last bit of it was burnt he took it off the fire to cool. Throwing more branches into the fire to keep it going. He decided he would stay by lynns grave to keep watch with the fire keeping him warm in the night.

He mixed the oddly looking pile, at this point just playing with his food. Afraid to take the first bite. He swirled it onto the metal piece like stringing noodles. Taking his first bite and scrunching up at the burnt taste covered in half slimy texture. As the first shock of flavor past he started unhappily chewing. Deciding it was better then nothing while saving the seeds for emergency case. By the end of it he was getting a bit sick from the disgusting flavor. Thankful that it was all done and gone at least till his next pumpkin. The rest of the pumpkin he would scrape out the sides and try to cook tomorrow.

He sat by the grave to lean against the tree. Sitting there and watching the sun pass into night. Making sure to keep the fire going as much as he could to keep the area lit. who knows what Val was doing out in the darkness. Honestly he really didn't want to know after all he had seen Val do. As long as they stayed far away from him that's all Blake cared for.

“if i keep going at this pace, MAYBE, I'll have enough strength to walk back in a day or two.” he thought, the back of his mind arguing the time frame to be more like a week.

“no way i am staying that long. I'll take my chances hitch hiking in the forest. Once I get home ill recover lynns body and give a proper funeral in a nice cemetery. Have this place burned to the ground with flame throwers. Probably the only way to cleanse this area of all the pollution of disease. Especially that “quarantine” area.” he grumbled in thought.

“wonder if any of the ill survived up in the mountains? Probably not with how bad that storm was. Landslide, fallen trees, and rocks would have buried them.” Blake thought. He threw a bunch more wood onto the fire, curling up against the tree to slowly drift to sleep.

The next morning he woke to a familiar sight of Vals boot prints walking nearby before going off. “ugh.” he thought with a glare. Getting up to check the grave again. Seeing nothing still and again scuffing the prints away. The feeling of paranoia coming up as he realized how close Val was getting to him in his sleep. Maybe he should go indoors from now on. That meant leaving lynn's grave unguarded however.

“i have to let go. Cant keep guarding the dead forever.” he thought. Lynn was dead now, nothing could bring her back. So why was he so diligently guarding her grave? Wanting to feel like he accomplished protecting in some way? He wasn't able to protect Jessica, wasn't able to keep lynn safe. He failed and now the last thing he wanted to do was fail a third time. Last thing he wanted to see was lynn unburied to be put up for some satanic display by Val.

Blake looked toward the sun to get the jest of what time of day it was. The sun was up a bit past sunrise but not close to afternoon yet. He yawned and stretched his cramped body. He was feeling a little better. Still sore in the legs with pain in his injured hands, but feeling much more well rested.

Blake then recalled why he went into the chapel in the first place. He wanted to find some wine or alcohol of sorts for his hands. Maybe for everything else if he found enough. Even after the small sink bath his skin still felt stained with who knows what. Inside the chapel he looked around the front podium for some sort of small storage of wine. Finding nothing his attention turned toward a shut door to the side. Trying to open the door gave no effect.

“locked? In a town that leaves everything open?” Blake wondered. Grabbing a nearby metal bar to thrust it into the door wedge. Leaning back to provide force into the door. The door creaking as it bent in a way it wasn't supposed to before shooting open as the door broke away from the locked knob.

“geeze, some fucking lock.” Blake thought, examining the knob still attached to the lock in the door frame. “why so protective of this room?” he wondered, knowing that the common lock around here was a slider over the doorway.

“ah, now I know why.” he said. Looking at the vast fancy decorating. Nice rugs, fancy bedding, large nice wood crosses, bottles of pills everywhere, a desk covered in radio equipment and wires heading out a window near the roof. Boxes of jewelry, empty wallets, a stack of bibles.

“knoths room.” Blake answered to himself. Avoiding in touching anything. Only doing so to grab a pill bottle that looked untouched so far.

“penicillin … I mite need these.” Blake recalled with his time in the quarantine area.

“Better safe than sorry.” he said before grabbing a couple of the untouched bottles and immediately swallowing two of the pills. Thankfully the labels said they were not expired yet. Hopefully he didn't manage to catch 10 different diseases.

He looked about the room, examining the radio at first to see if he could get an outside signal for a call to help. No success as only one channel seemed active which Blake could hear the microphones outside slightly buzzing or pooling static from a broken wire setup. He quickly switched it off with an aggravated huff.

His attention was then turned toward the boxes of valuables. Empty wallets cleared of cards or anything cash worthy. The jewelry being items containing large diamonds, probably solid gold or silver chains. Even expensive name brand watches among the pile.

“Knoth needed money somehow for his drug dealers. Cash out peoples cards, use cash, trade in at pawn. Not like his people would care there cards were maxed out while living away from society with debt collectors.” Blake said to himself.

He continued looking about the room. Again being careful with what exactly he was touching or rubbing his hands against.

“score!” Blake spoke excitedly as he found a couple bottles of unopened water by the bed. Removing batteries to shove them into the bag around his waist, just barely managing to fit them. He moved onto searching the drawers managing to find more useful items.

“jack Daniels, that will definitely work.” he said, undoing the bloody bandages and quickly soaking them in a large splash of the alcohol. Hissing as they both burned as if on fire. As the pain came it was quickly washed over with relief at fully having the wounds cleaned out now. Getting another bandage out to soak it slightly in a few drops before wrapping his hands with it. As Blake finished tying off the bandage he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning quickly enough to just catch a glimpse of Val disappearing from view. He stood there frozen to watch the doorway to the empty room. Waiting to see if Val would show herself again. she definitely didn't want to be seen by him as she watched what he was doing.

“maybe val was attracted by the radio coming on, afraid Knoth may have risen from the grave. I would have checked too if I suddenly heard them switching on.” he thought. He wasn't so afraid of Val out in the day in town. It was at night when he couldn't see three feet in front of him or when he was forced into a small dark space with her when he was afraid. Val wasn't so intimidating when she was pretty much the only one left. No one to back her in a fight or jump in if she had trouble. Easier advantage in a cramped tunnel over open town space. Blake was sure that Val knew that too.

“i wonder if that's why she does nightly visits? Testing how close she can get to jump me in my sleep?” he thought as he returned to searching the room. He started looking underneath the furniture. Finding mainly dust bunnies or cobwebs. Something caught his eye under the bed however. A small perfect hole the size of a quarter. He reached over and pulled up by using the hole.

After using a bit of force he assumed maybe it was nothing. But the hole seemed so out of place for him. He grabbed the hole and wiggled it a bit. The board sliding in one direction before popping up. It surprised Blake as he fully moved the board out of the way. Seeing a small hidden space containing a small black book with a bunch of pens and nothing else. He took out the small book, crawling out from under the bed, to look inside. “looks like knoths diary.” Blake sighed as he saw all those stupid gospels he wrote. A bunch of references to the actual bible. Some of his daily writings repeating the general message of “the end is near!” on every ending page. He flipped toward the front of the book finding something new. something with the government raid on the last place Knoth and his disciples lived.

“ DEC, 10th 1969 me and what's left of my flock are moving to new lands, someplace safe from peering eyes of the enemy who wishes to stop me. The government has already taken so much, how much more do they want? Now they mite be taking my followers faith in me. I've been getting many questions I do not like being asked. Questions of why I didn't foresee the raid, why god let over half of us be dragged away. Why my promises of protection and peacefulness were broken.

I've been managing to keep them at bay through words of “its what god chooses”. Usually i am spoken to by the lord so that I know the correct answer to such questions. It seems god wants me to do this on my own. It must be a test to make sure I can keep my flock faithful. Even with Marta by my side I can only make them fear me for so long. Marta can handle a few men revolting, but a whole mob? I doubt that despite Martas words of reassurance she'll take care of them. I don't want my whole flock to abandon my words and leave me with only a minor few. Or have Marta hang them when we should really be sticking together in these trying times to the new lands.

While Marta is my right hand, I am missing a left. Sure there is always laird who follows me without question, but he isn't so well on the eyes and can be too aggressive on those questioning me. I need someone with a more delicate touch of speaking. Someone intimidating, but soft enough to be approached, and above all highly devoted to me. I have a feeling laird won't be around us for much longer either. He's been doing his best to hide the symptoms of sickness, but I see it. After we are settled in the new lands and I no longer need his help in overlooking the work I will send him away.”

Blake flipped through the next few pages, finding nothing else besides same old same old. Templegate founding celebration, town built, blah blah. For a moment Blake debated on burning the diary so some poor soul wouldn't get sucked into the lies and spread the evil of knoths gospel. It may have more interesting information though as it was so carefully hidden. Knoth wasn't exactly known for hiding his teachings so this book might be holding delicate information Knoth never wanted to see the light of day. looked to have pages written for each day going back over 42 years. Would be nice to know where all this madness grew from for curiosity's sake.

He shoved the book into his jacket pocket, aiming to read more later in the night. He determined he had gathered everything useful from the room. Heading out back to lynns grave. Blake stopped in his tracks at seeing multiple boot prints swarming all around the grave. All of them left by one person. Now Val was doing this on purpose. He let out a yelling growl in anger toward the sky since Val wasn't present for him to yell at.

“i am going to snap your ankles when I get the chance!!” he shouted generally into the air. Not entirely meaning it as he knew he wasn't in good condition to fight. He once again checked over the grave, finding again to be untouched although the footprints did get incredibly close to the graves edge. The prints also having a pattern of purpose. Leaving prints around the grave in a pacing motion before making rings spreading out from the grave and then turning random. However all the prints were kept within the exact 15 foot radius Blake never wanted them to be in.

he grumbled to himself about being sick of this as he scuffed all the prints away. Getting the help from a twiggy branch he used as a makeshift broom on the dirt. When he was done he tossed the branch off to the side, spotting Vals tracks heading off in a quick manner. He growled at being left exhausted from cleaning up prints again. This needed to stop, NOW, before Val took it any further. He was tired of being tired at fixing up the mess everyday. He followed after the tracks with the idea of where they lead coming into question. Would they lead to another mine? Another town building? Was Val purposely leading him somewhere? Did she even expect him to follow this time?

He came to a small cliff edge clearing able to spot Val immediately. He stopped as he saw her peering out from behind a tree, but not toward him. she was looking intently at something down the small cliff edge. He glared at the back of there head. Confused but not really caring about whatever crazy thing they were doing currently. “hey!” Blake snapped at Val. she turned to look at him as if knowing he was there the entire time. Shushing him with a calm expression.

“they're searching.” Val spoke in an ominous manner before turning back to whatever they were looking at. Blake stared confused at her before walking forward a bit. Making sure not to get too close to Val. He looked across the lower forest area till he saw the movement of a group wearing black uniforms.

“police officers?! there searching for me and lynn. our hotel probably called police since we never officially checked out.” Blake stated.

“that's not what there here for.” Val stated.

“what else would they be here for!?” Blake argued.

“strangers don't just find Templegate. They've been here before and have come to fulfill a personal goal. Just like everyone else who has gathered to Templegate.” Val answered. Blake huffed at that answer.

“well i am going to meet them and getting out of this dump.” Blake stated before turning back to find a way down.

“the outsiders are not friendly.” Val warned, turning to look toward Blake.

“what would you know?! You think everybody's the enemy!” he snapped angrily.

“I know Templegate better than you do. Their outsiders that shouldn't be here.” Val warned, When finished she turned away to head back toward the town.

“whatever. … lunatic.” Blake said with the last part only being in thought.

As Val left his sight he made his way down. Walking through the forest brush toward the group. As he drew closer he felt the need to be silent. Something felt wrong deep inside.

“pfft, Vals lunatic talk is getting to me. Its nothing. There looking for me and lynn, Vals probably afraid of being arrested. doesn't want me to rat on her to police. No where for Val to escape now. Why else would they possibly be here?!” Blake tried to reassure in his mind.

He was coming up upon the uniformed men. Getting ready to call out when he noticed the men weren't just in regular uniform. It was bulky, like a swat team uniform. Having patches on their shoulders of a strange logo with the word Murkoff underneath. Blake swallowed as he examined the group more closely. Alongside the swat uniforms they were carrying heavy military fire power in their hands. This was no longer seeming like just a search party. He moved up just enough so he could stand behind a nearby tree. Listening carefully as the group talked amongst themselves. Still unaware of Blakes existence.

#outlast 2 #blake langermann #val outlast

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thestartline · 4 years

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“Shel’ter” #52 Spring 2020 - Stray Kids Interview

Introducing Stray Kids, the group the world is closely watching

They entered 2020 with the start of their world tour. They began their new year promising their big leap, and with that burning power, "Stray Kids” debuted in Japan. Their outstanding vocal and dance skills. And, their genius producing skills. The world did not miss the group that will take over the next generation of K-pop.

Bang Chan

BC: I’m the leader, Bang Chan. My appeal point is... umm, what is it?

LK: His physical is crazy.

BC: Ah, really... Thank you!

Along with his dance skills which uses his physical strength, he is in charge of vocal, rap, and producing, the Stray Kids’ brain.

Felix

FX: Hello, I’m Felix. My charming point is my freckles.

The members say “the most pure!”. From Stay’s he is called as the “pollution free boy” as he is so pure. The deep voice he omits which cannot be imagined from his sweet visuals are also one of his charming points.

Han

HN: I’m Han in charge of rap. My appeal point is, do yo know the animal called the quokka? My face looks like it!

His comforting high tone voice is his special feature. A multiplayer who is capable of rap, vocal, as well as creating music.

I.N.

IN: I’m the youngest makne, I.N.

Q. Is he the younger brother character?

Members: Not at all!

HN: I.N. is just so cute, that we pour all our love to him. I love you !

He is the youngest member, but as a man from Busan, he is also very diligent. He’s also very skilled at singing trot!

Q. It is your first time being on Shel’ter, but how was the photoshoot?

SM: The outfits were Disney themed, so it felt like I went back to my childhood. Looking at the clothes made me feel happy.

HJ: We took photos from a new angle today, so I’m excited to see how it turns out.

LK: I also did some poses that I’ve never done before, so I wonder how it’ll turn out.

Q. Please look forward to it! What kind of fashion are you normally into?

LK: (Energetically) Training pants!

Members: Hahaha!

IN: It differs at the time, but I always want to wear cute outfits.

Q. Who is the fashionista in the group?

LK: (Again, with a lot of energy and raising his arm) Me!

BC: No, thats a lie.

LK: Yes...it’s a lie haha.

BC: Ahh, Han has great taste

HJ: It’s always “too much”!

HN: To explain the difference in fashion taste between the members and I, the members are dressing in the 21st century fashion, and I’m dressing in the 22nd century fashion!

Q. That’s super advanced!

HN: Yes, exactly haha.

LK: His fashion today was shocking as well... he was wearing wearing both leopard and checkered print! But apparently, those were pyjamas...

Members: Hahaha!

Q. Who takes care of beauty the most?

HJ: (Looking at the other members) Probably, its I.N. right? He takes care of his skin a lot.

IN: I actually research on the newest beauty news, and try new ways to care for my skin as well. Oh, and I really like to change my hairstyle, and I have done a curly perm as well. I think I’ve done everything besides a bald head!

Q. According to the members, which hairstyle suited him the most?

HJ: Sakamori! (hairstyle when the top is tied and it looks like a water fountain)

BC: That I.N. was really cute!

IN: Hahaha!

Q. Even besides fashion and beauty, is there an item that you need for you to get hyper?

HJ: Bracelets! I always stack a couple.

IN: For me its rings. I always wear at least one everyday.

SM: I need white sneakers to complete my style!

FX: I don’t really have a lot preferences in terms of fashion, but I like bags!

CB: Ah, bags for me too!

Lee Know

LK: I’m Lee Know. My charming point is my cute face.

BC: Thats a lie. (Sees LK looking at him with puppy eyes) Its a joke!

In contrast with his perfect visuals, his dynamic dance moves are charming. He is also quite cheeky during interviews.

Seungmin

SM: Nice to meet you, I’m Seungmin. I’m in charge of vocals, so my charming point is my cool voice.

Although he is the lead vocalist, his dance moves that showcases his sports ability cannot go missed. He is also great at aegyo.

HN: I need my phone to get hyper...

LK: Phone! Me too!

BC: I always have a lot of things with me so there are a lot of things I need, but if I have to choose one, it’ll be my computer which I make songs with.

--- Of course, because leader Bang Chan along with rapper Changbin and Han are part of 3RACHA, the unit which creates all of Stray Kids’ songs.

--- If you directly translate Stray Kids, it becomes “Kids that are Stray”, not to be seized by chosen standards, and to demonstrate the uniqueness and freedom. The album that such group has decided to debut in Japan with, “SKZ2020″ also happens to be their best album as well.

Q. What kind of album is it?

BC: The albums and and singles we’ve released so far are songs that define our group name and have a lot songs with different colours, so we really focused on making the setlist to show who we are. Out of all songs, the songs such as “Levanter”, “Double Knot”, and “My Pace” are songs that easily showcases our message, and we sang them in Japanese. Through these songs, we hope we can create a good time at concerts. Okay, clap your hands!

Members: (Clapping) Waaaah!

Q. Anything you payed attention to when singing in Japanese?

HJ: I rap, but I actually found it easier to do so in Japanese. In Korean, we have a thing called patchim and there isn’t as much in Japanese so I think it was easier. As it was my first time recording in Japanese, so there was some difficulty, but it feel a little strange.

Q. What it easy to express emotions as well?

HJ: I tried really hard when we recorded in Korean, so those feelings existed as a base. So when I sang it in Japanese, I thought of upgrading those emotions and expressing that.

Changbin

CB: I’m Changbin. My charm point is my gap! (t/n: Gap refers to difference in someone’s appearance and personality)

As the main rapper, he is cool and performs his dark rap on stage, but off stage, he is cheeky and know for his cute character.

Q. Which song in SKZ2020 do you have special feelings for?

LK: Hellevator which implies our beginning is the perfect song for our Japan debut as well.

CB: The Japanese version of My Pace is a energetic and has a really good beat to it. Please listen to it, as it is a song I think that makes you think of running across the stage with our fans.

BC: Changbin says such good things! He’s cool!

SM: I remember singing I am YOU which everyone, so I have good memories

HN: I like Astronaut, as it is a song that makes you think of how adventurous it is, the more you listen to it. When you listen to it when you’re feeling down, it helps you feel better.

IN: My favourite song is MIROH. I love the melody!

FX: MIROH for me too! Its a song that allows me to be happy, and it is a song that gets STAY hyped as well, so I have good memories!

BC: Um... I like all songs so its hard to pick just one... for example, Grow Up is a song we always sing on stage with STAY, so I want to sing it in Japan as well!

HJ: Ahhh, its so hard to choose... As we are given the opportunity to debut in Japan, we would like to do many concerts in Japan. Through out music, I would like to communicate with the Japanese STAY’s, maybe with events such as street performances.

Hyunjin

HJ: I’m Hyunjin. I’m in charge of dance. My cool visuals are my charming point haha.

Because of his sweet face, he had many fans even before his debut! Utilising his tall frame, his sexy dance is charming.

!! Take out with credits; @yarn1003 on twitter !!

#Stray Kids #SKZ #SKZ2020

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brooklynislandgirl · 4 years

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36. Dirty Jokes {Beth with the pet Anakin}

In Your Head || -

It’s become somewhat of a game with them, though she’s absolutely certain that he doesn’t realise that she knows. It all started over a very particular word in his vocabulary, a common vulgarity that ~for whatever reason~ makes her feel very particular ways every time it comes slurring out from between his lips. She’s heard it more times than she can possibly imagine. It’s a favourite of sailors and Marines and almost everyone else she’s ever met. It’s said in movies and on television, written in books and sometimes sung in the best of songs. Beth herself doesn’t say it. Doesn’t even think about it unless its brought up by someone else. Most of the time her brain filters it out, she doesn’t really let it register.

But when Anakin says it? It shivers down her spine and pools molten in her belly. It evokes something carnal she can’t quite put her finger on though on occasion it does make her nails bite into some of the softer surfaces of her home and livelihood. He sometimes says it low and whispery. Sometimes he’s looking her right in the eye when he says it. Just to watch her react, of that she’s sure. And they laugh about it sometimes. Sometimes, he pretends not to notice at all, like it just slipped out. The game takes a turn when she they finally begin discussing the existence of real vampires, and werewolves. He teasingly gives them new names, and earns a peal of laughter that is loud and pure, unrestrained as much as it is scandalised. That in turn makes Anakin’s smile very real. In a few weeks, he almost...almost hears her say it the same way, but she catches it in time. She tells him about the fact that she doesn’t use language like that, it’s never been her style and she doesn’t particularly find value in it. The story she tells him involves the ever lurking authoritative shadow of the Admiral, and the rules given to her while she was growing up. Anakin though can be astonishingly patient when he wants to be. He still brings the terms up but doesn’t try and trick her. Lulls Beth into a sense of security that isn’t so false as anyone else might see it. She trusts him more and more by the day, and seems to also relax more and more in his presence. And the game changes once again. The rain is heavy and it is angry. It rattles the shutters and demands that the storm-windows be drawn into place. The news doesn’t issue a hurricane warning but it is definitely a tropical storm of some strength. And while she’s no storm-wife, there’s something thrilling about the ferocity of nature in its rawest form. It surges in her blood and sings through her veins even as the power flickers. That joy is quickly stolen though when she sees how pale Anakin’s gone, and can feel the anxiety in him skyrocket, threatening to snap him in half. There’s an uptick in the spasms and jerks of his hands, the absolute misery in his hollow gaze when he glances out the windows. And she realises maybe that the idea of flooding and the like effect him far more than he’d ever be likely to admit.

Fortunately, she’s been in his place before, has that same primordial panic over the dark. Without hesitation, she lays in the supplies she needs. She risks the crossing of the yard into her sanctum where she fortifies the street they are on to drain quickly, so that she might literally stem the tide and hold off on flooding. It’s ritual that takes an hour and a lot of her quintessence to pull off, and the whole time he seems to become more and more miserable. She’s only so glad that Bug Eater also seems to be aware of his distress, and does his level cat best to comfort Anakin. Once she’s back in the house and changed into dry clothes, she gathers up the most luxurious of her spare bedding; the softest and warmest blankets. Enough of her pillows to fill a swimming pool with cotton batting, and she dumps them in the living room. She fills a couple different kettles with water, and brings them to the fire place, and lastly, loads in several armloads of wood. She’s broken into a fairly decent sweat by the time she’s done dragging in the cooler and dishes. Everything they need for when the power goes out to be comfortable. And it will go out. She knows it but isn’t capable of keeping it on coincidentally just for them.

It takes a grand total of two hours before she takes hold of his wrist, and drags him into the room. The fire sparks on occasion but takes the chill out of the air. She drags him into the nest she’s made for them, and shoves a cup of cocoa liberally laced with brandy into his hands. There’s even a basket for BE, and a tiny plate of Ahi for his evening meal. She sits beside him and wraps her arm around his waist. She strokes the fingers of one hand down his arm, trying to make him feel a little more secure even though it doesn’t seem to be working like it should. She doesn’t really want to use magick on him without permission and in her scrambling, she knows what she has to do. She steals a sip of his cocoa, grinning as she chases a hint of whipped cream from the corner of her lips.

She speaks quietly, using her best haole for him to get the joke just right. “Gorilla dies of old age at a zoo jus’ before it opens for the day. It’s the only gorilla at the zoo and they are not very profitable. However, the gorilla is their most popular attraction by far and they cannot afford to go a day without it. So the zoo owner asks one of his workers to wear a gorilla suit they have in storage. For an extra twenty bucks a day, he will go in the gorilla cage and pretend to be the gorilla until the zoo can afford a new one.” She watches his face, carefully. “Quickly, the new ‘gorilla’ becomes the most popular craze at the zoo. People from all over are coming to see the ‘human like great ape’. About a month in though, the novelty starts to wear off. So, to get the peoples’ attention back, he decides to climb over his enclosure and hang from the net ceiling above the lion’s den next to him. “A large crowd of people gather to watch the spectacle in awe and terror. Suddenly, the man loses his grip and falls to the floor of the lion’s den. The man starts screaming! “HELP!!” “HELP!!” Just then, a lion pounces him from behind, and whispers in his ear, “Shut the fuck up, Carl, or you’re going to get us BOTH fired!”

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nekokoaa · 5 years

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Wolves Among Us - Bakugo x Reader (VII)

Wolves Among Us – Bakugo x Reader

Series Warning: Fantasy AU, Fluff, NSFW

(Chapter VII/XX) New Mini Series! (((ALL CHAPTERS ARE IN MY MASTERLIST)))

Midterms held me back so much so this took a bit to get out.

Just clearing this up just in case anyone gets ideas while reading the beginning of the chapter. Katsuki and Reader did not have sex. Just making that clear lol Enjoy!

Taglist:

@freedom-for-bum @reallyfuckingangrylatina @risarisarisaa @ashherssss @mels-heart @xa-dia @shanty-lol @amkxh @chims-kookies @fantasticapple

Inspired by The Company of Wolves by Angela Carter

--------------------------

VII. Trust

You had woken up in an awkward position. You had never slept with anyone before let alone a man, the closest you could recall was falling asleep on Izuku’s shoulders when you were hanging out at his cabin one day. Even then, it wasn’t like you were sleeping in the same bed as him. You noticed that sleeping alone had drove you to some habits and made you not aware of your spacing. When you found your legs sprawl all over Katsuki’s bottom half where it had pushed him until he had the bare minimum of the sheep’s wool cloth under him, you felt embarrassed. Thankfully, Katsuki was still asleep and it looked like he took the pillow unintentionally as he was sleeping, and you were using his arm as a replacement.

Serenity was a look all too foreign on Katsuki’s face. The lines that often painted their way between his eyebrows were absent and his eyebrows were lifted and clear of any tension. His mouth was relaxed and left to dangle his soft breathing that nearly slipped through without sound. The wolf ears sitting on his head were twitching occasionally, you wondered what they were picking up. Could it be the silent struggle of the flames on top of melted wax stumps that were burning the entire night, or the soft sound of your inner thighs rubbing together when you had shifted lightly, or maybe the gatherings of wolves outside of the cave in preparation of their morning duties? You could hear neither one of those as well as Katsuki could and you knew he would probably brag about it if you were to express any amazement by it. If anything, all it did was prove just how different he was from you.

And yet, as he slept soundlessly, vulnerable in any way possible, he seemed more alike than you would have normally thought him as. The difference may be immense by senses and strength, but he talked, walked, and slept, exactly like you—maybe his tongue was a little weird biologically, but ultimately without those things, Katsuki was just a normal man.

A sigh left you as you began to raise your body off the cloth. All this thinking about Katsuki made your brain feel a little tired, not only that but you were in desperate need of a bath. A soothing warm bath should help clear any fatigue you were feeling. With that in mind, you left the cave in search for one.

The cave you were staying in was one of many within the mountain. The wolves had paved a tunnel like pathway that lead to different “rooms” whose entrances were being covered by a light cloth for privacy. The pathways were lit by lanterns because there were no windows where the sunlight could shine through and as you were walking through the amazingly shaped tunnels, you wondered how they could have structure this without bringing the entire mountain down. Day after day, these wolves were surprising you with their knowledge.

When you had reached the beginning of the pathway where Mitsuki had left you yesterday, you were greeted with the bright sunlight that made your eyes squint at the sight of it. Your eyes that were used to the dim orange glow of the candles were no match for the natural lightning, you had to wait for your eyes to adjust before taking a look around in your surroundings. The area was bustling with twice as many wolves than last night. They were all busy doing specific errands like shoveling off the snow from the walkways, stools, and tables that accumulated overnight. They were separated by gender; the women were all huddled around a fire where a large pot was suspended above it and some were tending to their small peppy children. The men, however, was doing all the labor work and some were even gathered in a small circle for some reason you weren’t sure about.

“Mornin’ ____.” Greeted Eijirou, who stepped out of a cave different from the one you emerged from. He was smiling brighter than he was when you met him like he was genuinely happy to see you. You liked Eijirou. The aura he gave soothed you, like if he were to walk into a distressed room, his presence would instantly alleviate all anxiety.

But he wasn’t alone when you spotted him. You followed down his hand and it was being held by a smaller hand of a child. A boy who looked no more than eight was standing by his side, oddly close to him as Eijirou was walking towards you. He was a spitting image of Eijirou with red spiky hair, the only difference was his irises held a golden hue.

“Morning, Eijirou.” Once Eijirou was in front of you, the child hid behind his legs and peeked out slightly where you could only see one of his eyes from behind the cloth of his pants. You smiled regardless.

“Are you adjusting all right?”

You nodded. “I am, but it’ll take me a bit to get used to the change.”

“I understand.” His hand went on his hip. “From cabin to cave, I know that’s rough. I know you didn’t have to do what you did but you must really care about Katsuki if you were willing to give up everything for him. That was pretty cool of you.”

The blush that blossomed on your cheeks was not to be mistaken for desire but was prompted by the happiness that spread within your chest by Eijirou’s words. Warmth rose and therefore, reached your cheeks.

“Oh!” He chuckled, and he slightly leaned forward to place a hand on the child’s back, he pushed him softly to where you could see more of him. The child was still clutching his pants tightly and you could see his tiny fangs showing as he gritted his teeth. “This is my son, Eiji. Eiji, this is ____.”

“Eiji and Eijirou, how cute!” You kneeled down to reach Eiji’s height.

“Yeah, we named him after me.” He said sheepishly. “He’s my first born.”

“Nice to meet you, Eiji! You’re such a handsome little boy, aren’t you?” You held out your hand, expecting Eiji to shake it with his tiny hands but instead you received a view of his tiny fangs and the sound of snarls that wouldn’t even scare rabbits away. You stood right up regardless, afraid you had frightened the boy.

“Eiji! Come on, you know that’s not how you greet people. I’m sorry, he’s a shy one. He’s going on his first hunt today so he’s just a little nervous.”

“Hunt? Oh, is that why all of those men are gathered there?” You pointed to the pack of wolves that started laughing for some particular reason. You assumed they were telling jokes.

“Yeah, it’s the morning hunt. I’m usually on the night hunt but it’s pretty dangerous for children to come along.” You wondered if that was the reason for Eijirou’s appearance last night. To think, if he didn’t go on his hunt last night Katsuki would’ve been dead and you would’ve fell into misery. “Katsuki too is on the night hunt but lately he’s been skipping, think you have anything to do with that?” He winked, his words dancing on his tongue in a playful manner.

Your blush spelled of embarrassment and all you could do was look away shyly, afraid that if you were to speak, your words would come out in pathetic stutters. The sound of Katsuki’s name had snapped Eiji from his dazed thoughts that he often wandered to whenever adults were conversing. Light had returned to his golden eyes and he looked between you and Kirishima.

“Katsuki?” He spoke with his voice slightly raised, trying to understand what was being said.

“Yeah, ____’s friends with Katsuki.” Eijirou grinned.

You saw a twinkle in his eyes and his wolf ears became erect. A baby pink filled his fat cheeks. “Whoa! Really? That’s so cool!” Eiji began tugging on his father’s top, a large grin that mirrored his father’s bloomed on his face. It was like that cautious boy who growled at you never existed, he looked at you with eyes filled with pure joy all because of Katsuki. “My dad is best friends with Katsuki! Don’t you know he’s the best hunter in our pack? He’s super strong! He’s even stronger than my dad!”

“Alright, alright.” His father’s large hand had silenced Eiji when it landed on his head. He turned him around to face the group of men in the distance. “It’s about time we go, ____. We’ll talk some more when we return!”

“It was nice meeting you, miss ____!” A bright smile shined your way from Eiji and Eijirou and they waved goodbye before leaving you to join the pack of wolves. You overheard bits and pieces of their conversation when Eijirou had nudge his son’s arm while they were walking away.

“See? Told ya. Nothing scary about humans.”

You could see the redness of Eiji’s blush from the tip of his ears. “I know… I wasn’t scared…!”

The small moment between father and son made you smile. You watched as they joined the group of men and shortly departed from the mountain with them. The warm company you felt from them was gone and you had to come to terms with the slight loneliness you felt after. It looked like almost half the pack was gone when the group of men left, some were left behind to do other labor work around the area and the women were scattered among the site with either children or friends. Some were carrying baskets to the pot which you guessed was food and other stuff they used to cook with.

You were still looking for a bathroom, but you knew you wouldn’t be able to find it on your own without some help. It was either wander around for hours in a place you weren’t familiar with or just go and ask someone. You quickly decided on the latter and walked up to the group of women gathered around the pot. They were opening the baskets and pulling meat out from it and putting it into the boiling pot. Once you were just a few feet away from them, they stopped, and all eyes were on you instantly. You gulped.

“Hi… um, I just wanted to know—" Immediately, you were met with snarls and baring teeth from the women. Your words fell from the sound, and your confidence faltered at the sight of their glares. The snarling didn’t stop until you had backed away from the group, a permanent scowl left on their faces when they resumed their work.

“Okay, not that group.” You spoke quietly to yourself. Already walking to a pair near another cave entrance, a mother and her child. They looked friendly enough to ask, especially because the mother was kneeled in front of the child and a smile was on her face as she talked. “Hello!” You greeted.

And you watched as her smile dropped the second she heard you. She quickly stood up and pushed her child behind her. It was the same treatment you got from the last group, snarls and glares until she yanked her child by the arm and walked away from you.

Something was wrong. You glanced around the area and even though most wolves looked like they were intently working or minding their own business, tension lingered in the air. Like an awkward object was thrusted into the middle of their peace, and you were that object. You were invading them by just being. The barrier between you and the wolves were clearly visible, you didn’t belong here, and they were making sure you understood that.

Realization was hitting you at once. What made you think you could abandon your people and be easily accepted into another group different from your own? Especially when there’s a rift between them, a battle between prey and predator. You were a fool, simple as that. A fool who believed such issues between your people and the wolves would be resolved by simply being with Katsuki. Of course, they would still judge you. They didn’t trust an ounce of your presence.

“Hey.” You were swirling in a ditch of your own thoughts to where you couldn’t catch the sound of a gruff voice calling out to you. It belong to Katsuki who appeared almost out of nowhere in a seemingly different attire. It wasn’t much different from his usual, his baggy pants were now an off-white in comparison to the snow in the vicinity and his boots were the color of soot that stopped at the bottom of his calves where white fur puffed out from the tips. Bakugo’s top was a turtleneck, black, and thin where you could see the shape of the muscles of his arms and chest. And over his shoulders was a heavy cape of fur.

You didn’t have any recollection of when he appeared, and you didn’t notice his presence until you felt a hand on your back. When you came to, you met his hardened eyes with a gasp and jumped from fright. Katsuki couldn’t tell whether that fright was from being caught off guard or simply because of who he was, a wolf. He saw the fear in your irises and they reminded him of the night he met you. It’s been so long since he had seen it, since you looked at him like a stranger, and even if it was just a glimpse before you relaxed when you realized it was just Katsuki, he knew you still held some fear underneath that soft smile that had grown on your face.

However, he didn’t say a word and his eyes surveyed the area on what seems to be a normal day for the pack, but he didn’t need his heightened senses to know that the wind chill wasn’t the only thing making this place feel rigid.

“Come on.” With a small push on your back, Katsuki began to lead you to a path that led down the mountain and away from where the pack settled. The path was hardly ever used because the tracks imprinted in the sheet of snow looked like they belong to one other soul and the tracks added by you and Katsuki destroyed the remainder of the pure icy blanket. Katsuki had remove his hand from your back and held your hand to support you. It was such a small act and he did it without asking you. He probably didn’t think much of it or the significance of his actions. You didn’t know if it was a big deal for wolves but for humans, it was sign of affection from your significant other. If anyone were to see you two in this position, they would assume you were together, which you wondered if that was a positive thing. Clearly, Katsuki’s pack wasn’t fond of you and if they found out you were more than friends with Katsuki, they would be strongly against it.

Still, there was no denying the soft heat of your cheeks from his gesture and whether or not it meant a lot to Katsuki, it surely made your heart jump with joy.

The pathway led behind the mountain where the landscape opened into a wide valley. There were no trees in the area except for the ones in the distance upon the horizon. The valley looked as if someone had laid a large white sheet over it, a bed of snow with hills shaped as a woman’s figure. They looked dive-able to any child with a desire to muddle its pristine surface. Even you wanted to run and fall upon the fluffy hills, only to regret your actions immediately after once the stinging ice slip through the openings of your top and skirt and meet with your concealed heated flesh.

“Do you see them?” asked Katsuki as he pointed slightly to the left. At first, you had no idea what he was talking about as you couldn’t see anything but snow, but the longer you looked you began to notice something moving within it. They almost became one with the scenery, but their glowing irises gave them away. They scurried and ran about within the fields of ice, stoic as statues when they stood still and their noses high in the air. The look in their eyes were steady like Katsuki’s.

“Wolves!” You gasped. They were indeed wolves but not like the one holding your hand or the ones that live within the mountains. These wolves resembled dogs with white fur covering their bodies and standing proud on all four legs.

There was a small smirk on Katsuki’s face and he let go of your hand, “Don’t move,” and left you behind to approach the wolves, earning their attention with the crunch of the snow under his boots. Only one of the wolves broke away from the group and wildly sprinted over to Katsuki with its mouth open and its tongue flying in the wind.

Katsuki started to laugh and in a blink of an eye, the wolf was by his side, jumping excitedly and wagging its tail. It was amusing seeing both the wolf’s and Katsuki’s tail furiously wagging in each other’s presence. Such a boyish expression was upon Katsuki’s face as he kneeled down to stroke the wolf’s body and head. “Who’s a good boy, huh? Who?” He laughed again as the wolf dived on his back with his belly in the air and rolled around the snow like he was begging for Katsuki to rub his stomach. And his wish was soon granted when Katsuki’s hand went on his belly and brushed his fingers through his moist white fur. “Look, boy. There’s someone I want you to meet. Behave yourself, you hear? This person, she’s important to me.”

You couldn’t hear the last few words of Katsuki because he spoke it under his breath before he turned back to look at you with a faint smile. It looked sincerely peaceful and farthest from his usual scowl, he flicked his head to motion you to come and with a smile and your hands clasped together, you slowly walked towards Katsuki and his wolf.

But before you noticed any sudden moments from the wolf, Katsuki was already by your side. He moved behind you until your back was flushed against his body, he placed an arm around your waist and he cupped his hand around yours. The growl you heard was terrifying, even more horrific than the ones you heard all day. No longer was Katsuki’s wolf a sweet animal, rolling upon the ground waiting to get a belly rub, but was still on all fours with his head low, frightening large fangs bared with snarls that made your skin crawl.

You jumped in fear of the wolf pouncing on you when he took a step closer towards you.

“It’s okay.” Katsuki spoke near your ear as he felt you push against his body. You were practically shaking under the glare of the beast, he could feel it from the tips of your fingers to your waist under his palm. “Fenrir won’t hurt you.”

You wanted to believe Katsuki, but you couldn’t stop yourself from shaking. You bit your bottom lip and watched as his wolf, Fenrir, stalked closer to you. Katsuki had held your hand out towards Fenrir with his hand still clasped behind it. You flinched as you felt the wet nose of Fenrir rubbing against your and Katsuki’s fingers, he was sniffing your scent and trying to familiarize himself with you while still snarling. His gray eyes not once broke contact with yours as any sudden movement from you would probably cause him to attack. Definitely, if Katsuki wasn’t here you would’ve already been wolf food.

“This is Fenrir.” Katsuki proceeded in his introductions. “He’s named after our ancestor, if you didn’t know. Found him when he was just a pup and now he’s the leader of his own pack.” You glanced at the pack of wolves not too far away from you and they were all intently staring in your direction. You gulped as you felt the heat of their stare even at your distance. Certainly, they were waiting for you to make the wrong move.

It wasn’t until you felt a nudge against your hand when the pack started to relax. The snarling had stopped, and the fangs disappeared. Fenrir had pushed his head against your palms which made a soft chuckle leave Katsuki.

“See, all anyone needs is a chance.” Katsuki had long separated his hand from yours. You carefully tread your fingers through his fur, it wasn’t soft at all but was frizzy and needle-like because of the moisture from the ice stuck to its strands. You smiled gently when Fenrir licked between your fingers for no particular reason. “And in time... everyone else will grow to love you too.”

You knew Katsuki’s words held a deeper meaning. He knew you must’ve been feeling down about trying to interact with his pack and he took you out to cheer you up. He had an idea how fascinated you were about wild animals and how you would point out the smallest things from a white hare in the snow to the eagles that soar above the trees. He knew you would be excited to see Fenrir even though your initial reaction to him was fear. “Thank you, Katsuki. You know, I... almost regretted coming here. I thought I made a huge mistake.”

“Anyone would think so after abandoning their own people.” You felt the arm around your waist squeeze you softly, you wondered if Katsuki was trying to comfort you.

“I guess I thought I would be easily accepted, and I was ignoring the issues between my people and yours.” You sighed, pulling your hand away from Fenrir and dropping it to your side. “I’m a fool, Katsuki.”

Katsuki instantly clasped his hand over yours. “Don’t fucking say that...”

“No, it’s true. I am. That’s why it was so easy for me to leave... because I thought I had a place here. It was so easy to abandon my people because I believed I still had a home to come to. I may have a place in your heart but right now I’m stuck in limbo... I don’t belong anywhere. My people hate me, your people hate me... I...” You stopped. You felt like if you were to continue, the tears you were holding back would release and you didn’t want to alarm Katsuki with a sudden emotional outburst. Thankfully, Katsuki couldn’t see your face clearly, he could only see it at a certain angle but to him that was more than enough to see your scrunched-up expression.

“My people don’t hate you, if they did, you wouldn’t even be alive right now. They just don’t trust you yet, all you need is a chance for them to see how good you are. And don’t say you don’t have a home, alright! Where do you think you are?”

In your arms, you thought, little did you know you said it out loud as well.

“Exactly. As long as you’re with me, you’re home. I’m all you need.”

You laughed a little too hard at his words that an unexpected snort came out. It surprised even Katsuki. “You’re so arrogant! Did you really think that sounded romantic?”

“Sounded better in my head.” Grumbled Katsuki, looking away shortly in what you assumed was embarrassment.

“Yeah, well.” You smiled, turning your head as far as you can to press your lips to his cheek, it earned another surprise look from Katsuki. “Think harder.” You had to admit, even though Katsuki’s words just pertains to his self-absorbed personality, a warmth had bubbled within your chest once you heard them. Katsuki was just trying to make you feel better, that’s all it was.

“You’re such an ungrateful human, here I am literally offering you a home.” The harshness of his words betrayed the smirk that grew on his face, you could see a glimpse of his large fangs peeking behind his lips. Both of his arms were now around you and then he sunk his head into the crook of your neck to where you felt his chin upon your shoulder.

Your smirk mirrored his without the sharp fangs, of course. “And you’re the poor wolf that’s stuck with having an ungrateful human as a housemate.”

“I don’t think that’s such a bad thing.” He snorted. “Food and a bed warmer.”

You gasped, quite exaggeratingly. “Is that all you think of me as?”

“Hell no, if anything, you’re far from a bed warmer. I woke up on the floor today.”

You blushed when you realized he was talking about this morning. You didn’t expect him to bring it up. “I’m not used to sleeping with anyone yet so…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you get used to it.” You could physically feel the heat of your cheeks after his velvety whisper ringed in your ear. You heard the raw desire just by his voice alone and the rise of the rhythm of your heart singed to the pleasure that swelled deeply within you. You silently thanked the chilled breeze that blew against your body and splashed itself upon your heated face. If only Katsuki knew what he did to you whenever he acted with such carnality. He must’ve been aware at how suggestive he sounded, even though you were quite naïve on the matters of sex, you weren’t exactly clueless on when a man desired a woman.

Despite that, Katsuki’s words didn’t receive an answer and you stared at Fenrir, not necessarily paying attention to him, but just giving yourself something to look at while you wait for your pleasure spell to expire. Fenrir had returned to his pack after you stopped petting him and fell into a banter with Katsuki. He was now resting in the snow and becoming one with it in color. You welcomed the silence between you and Katsuki, it wasn’t an awkward one but one of comfort. You were basking in each other’s presence, you, specifically, were enjoying being in Katsuki’s arms. One thing for sure was, he was right about you feeling at home whenever he was close to you.

“It’s really cold out here.” You soon broke the silence and it made Katsuki pull away from you, but he didn’t go far. His hand soon found yours and held it firmly.

“I forgot humans get cold so fast.”

“Well, it’s amazing how wolves barely feel the cold at all. Such thin layers.” Your eyes scanned the top he was wearing in amazement.

“Perks of being a wolf.” He smirked, and you rolled your eyes. “Come on, let’s go home.”

“I already am.” Certainly, Katsuki didn’t expect you to say that and his initial reaction had his mouth agape and eyes slightly wide. That all melted once he saw a warm smile from you that had the power to melt the entire valley free of ice. He treated you to his own smile that looked more smug than warm and he squeezed your hand softly as he signaled to Fenrir he was leaving by a quick flick of his other hand before he started to lead you back to the pathway that led into the mountains.

Author’s comments: The next chapter is going to be exciting cause we get to learn more about the wolves and their culture. It's gonna be fun. At least for me.

To those of you mentally asking what happened to Izuku uhhh don't worry, he'll be coming back soon lol THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR THE LIKE, REBLOGS AND COMMENTS ON THIS SERIES IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY LIKE I REALLY REALLY AM SO HAPPY YOU GUYS LIKE THIS FIC. IT MAKES ME SO PROUD *UGLY CRIES*

#bnha #bnha fanfiction #bnha x reader #bakugo katsuki #bakugo katsuki x reader #bakugo x reader #bnha fantasy au #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #my hero academia x reader

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versuswhitescar · 4 years

Text

Malam Manor

We all grow up with that once upon a time, crap. When you're little, you believe it. Who believes it as an adult? I mean, really? We have smartphones, rumbas, and clap on lights. No one meets a 17-year-old vampire who supposed to be 52. But I have, and I found his tapes by accident. Now I'm living a filliping ounce upon a time that Anne Rice would drool over. If I don't find the f-ing cave his sister is trapped in, I'm going to be enjoying a lot less sunlight for damn sure.

I know if I could figure out the details, I'll find the cave. And the murderer and maybe be spared, or I fail, and I'm the next Elena Gilbert. I sure hope not.

I'm just a damn tutor who needs money for her master's degree. Why did I even think that posting a flyer online was a good idea? Hell, my only tinder date turned out to be a 300 lb guy catfishing for a date to his sister's wedding. I stupidly, no innocently thought I'd get some pimply high school sophomore struggling through R and J and Shakespeare word salad.

Man, was I wrong? Mr. Cain Haywater answered my ad. Normal name for an average guy, right? Well, who the hell names their kid after the first murder in the Bible, but I'm getting off track. My ancient 98 jeep with more rust than metal is not going up the hill to the "Malam Manor." Later I Google it and turns out the word is Latin for bad. I should have asked Siri sooner. Too late, Cain Haywater a ward of the state. Because he's 17 and wicked rich is paying me 50 bucks an hour to help write his family's history.

This house is unusual in ways I can't even begin to describe. Its windows seem to follow you like eyes while I rev up the circle drive. The brick looks like it's from out of the Hogwarts rejection pile. The height makes it at least three floors, and there's a damn covered entry that carriages pulled under in the 19th century. Besides the semi-creepy outsides, even though it looks well maintained, I'm coming here close to 9 pm. Ounce, the sun is down on the hottest July night in history. I should have done a business major instead of English lit. Follow your bliss, my mom said. What does she know she's a nail tech for the last 12 years. She probably has brain damage from the polish fumes.

I can't imagine anyone hears my lame knock at the gigantic door. But I swear to God it seems like a cat or something opened the door. I thought maybe the heat melted my brain, but it looked like a fuzzy ken doll. It darted behind a curtain. Before I could investigate Cain, hold my breath beautiful, Haywater stands ten feet in front of me in his large foyer in black jeans, skin-tight grey shirt with a badass blue tattoo that seems to have a deep center that radiates over his forearm. I'm shook in so many ways I can barely speak "Nyx, Nyx Jackson?" My name never sounded so smooth coming out of any humans mouth ever. That was when my brain should have clicked over to reality that he wasn't human. He hadn't been human since 1989.

Sadly only 2 hours into my best tutoring gig ever, I discovered Cain Haywater was indeed a real vampire. And his beloved twin sister Danielle, Dani, as he referred to her, was just as dead only traped in a watery caved transformed into a rusalka for the last 34 years. I was Cains's last chance at finding her cave and the wort boyfriend a girl could ask for. Jefferson Granton. A 200-year-old vampire that he needed to kill. My life wasn't fair and only made worse by the fact that I'm sure I'm going to fail, and my last meal was crappy ramen.

It was my stomach and too much curiosity that made me start playing with the vintage tape recorder Cain had on the black walnut desk. He heard my growling belly and while he searched for food. I pressed play. Big mistake, I'm not sure where he went to kill the food, but I listened to almost one side of a cassette tape. The quick spark notes, once he came back with cheese, apples, and fancy crackers to catch me, went fast.

Back in May of 1986, he and his twin sister were graduating from Xaiver highschool. Somehow she latched on to an older college guy that wandered into town on a semester off to find himself. Jefferson Granton was mesmerizing, according to Cain, tall blond lovely to look at and even more interesting to listen to. He swept naive Danni off her feet on a cross country trip. He had a long term plan. One he had been cooking up for at least 100 years when Cain's family made a fortune in lumber and now stocks.

Jeffy boy started life as Jacarde Gulomar in the Brittany region of France. He accepted the gift of eternal life from a Norse vampire who wanted a mate. Jeff never entirely made his fortune and became a bad luck symbol for the covens all over Europe. Eyes on the new country to the west, he hopped a ship and arrived to wonder the grandness of the US just after the civil war. Comming upon early decedents of the Haywater clan. William Percy Haywater knew the deal equipped each member of the family with a hawthorn stake, holy water, and a warning against a freshly minted newly named Jefferson Granton.

No one fell for him until Danni, with all her beauty and openness, fell in love, and became a target for her trust fund. By the time the twins were 17, their parents were dead at the fate of a drunk driver, and a deaf Aunt looks after them. Danni fell under Jefferson's spell forgetting all caution to follow to the whispering cave. Now oddly in the middle of the mind-melting story, a flash caught my eye, and I met the grandfather like ken doll Cain shared his mansion with.

Pere was a domavoy who kept Cain and Malan safe as much as he could. Cain respects and adored him, so I was polite. Over the next three weeks, I moved in search their land every day when Cain joins me and feasts on Pere's cooking skills. His little face sparkled at each new dish he made for me after decades of blood bags. On steamy Saturday, July 31st, I finally found, or more fell into the mouth of the cave. Much of Cain's memory was erased on the night he watched Jefferson murder Danni while he hogtied in the corner of the damp cave. Only to meet a fate worse than Danni by forcefully being turned and compelled to kill and drain his Aunt of all her blood. Jefferson helps smooth it all over with some compulsion and tricks, but Cain secured his wealth in the next few days only to vanish. He picked a small fishing village in Maine, where he met Gabriel 100-year-old vampire who taught him to live and gave him advice on how to avenge Danni. Gabriel's plan centered on Cain coming home as his namesake's son Cain Haywater II. The mansion and his tie to Danni or Cain's greatest strength. It was clear why Jefferson failed to control them.

The night I stumbled into the cave, I wore my Danni look-alike costume Pere helped me pull together. I looked like a backup dancer on a Wham video. It was. It was to trick Jefferson, but oddly I caught the attention of another creepy creature a leshii in the woods. I thought it was Cain because the voice fit, and I felt drawn to the being. Only when it had led me halfway across the land did I catch a glimpse of its eyes. Pure white scalaris was not a hint of iris or pupil. Taking off back towards the cave, I felt two forces moving me one I can now sense with Cain, and the other I was damn sure was Jefferson. He'd been down a rough road probably because, in life, he was a bit of a narcissist. Only to have that enhanced by his Vampire Life, he thought I was Danni, and he'd Follow Me to Hell to get that money. Once we made it to the rippling silver pond within the cave, I laid eyes on Daniella. My wham costume was a joke compared to her beauty.

She swept as close to us as possible, shouting silently in my brain to turn now. Cain stands between me and Jefferson stake in hand slowly I fell to the wash of a cool breeze flowing over us which I knew mixed with my warm body temp to engulf Cain it was in that moment I saw the vague outline of a man just like he left a speakeasy in 1926. He became more gas-like to almost solid, yet I could still see right through him. He is handsome except for that visible gunshot wound to his right Temple. Why was I surprised that we now have a ghost to add to the mix. Pere spoke of the cave as whispered he claimed someone took their life after the 1920 stock crash here he was with eyes for Danni.

The extraordinary power Cain had wasn't just his home or his connection to his twin. It was that he could feel loved. He survived and lived by keeping his Humanity. I saw beautiful sparkling Jefferson with his flowing blonde hair realize it too. Cains power made the cave hum Jefferson was cocky, and that was very clear. He charged expecting to deflect the steak easily, but with Danni's strength and God help me my feelings for Cain. He drove the stake straight and true into Jefferson's lean chest.

Before I can blink Cain without a blade from his boot and with incredible strength severed the head like clockwork Cain without a new Zippo lighter and flicked it on to Jeffy. Making a roaring vampire candle. Can quickly turn to glance behind making a connection with Danni. "find your bliss" I heard in my head, and I knew Cain heard it too. The 1920s gentleman back into Danni as they drifted further back into the cave. We're only water held the floor we stood still. "Nyx?" his velvet voice floated over me. I can only gape open mouth, watery eyes, and some snot beginning to flow. At that moment, my stomach rumbled loudly. He smiled a genuinely genuine smile with all the years that he waited. I knew without any doubt Cain Haywater would be in my future Tech probably my whole life, and I smiled too.

Let me know what you think and If you want more

#vampire #love #death #teen drama

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