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afairmaiden · 2 years

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The Others (Part 1)

This is part 1 of my entry for the 2022 Inklings Challenge (@inklings-challenge). I don’t know if it’s going to be finished by the deadline, but I wanted to get something up at least.

“And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” John 3:19-21

I remember thinking the woods were beautiful.

I remember everything, even the things I was supposed to forget.

In fifth grade we took a field trip to the preserve just north of the city. There were twenty-six of us, plus the teacher and teacher’s aide, and for once they let us choose who we would be paired up with for the day. I waited quietly, watching the others make their choices, until the only other person left was a girl named Jess. I was secretly glad, because I’d always thought she was cool, even if no one else did. Her hair was too long and her clothes were strange-looking, and it was no secret that she and her brother didn’t get enough to eat because her parents could barely support one kid, let alone two. Still, she was always nice, and I was excited to have a chance to hang out with her.

It was a warm day at the very end of April. No one was saying much on the bus. We just watched as the scene outside changed from close gray skyscrapers and pavement to fields of windmills and sparkling solar panels under the open blue sky. Finally, we came to the entrance of the preserve, where a uniformed guard waved down at us from his post high up in the watchtower and opened the gate for us.

We parked by an open grassy area bordered by flowers and trees. There was a large welcome sign and a stand with a physical guestbook where we spent a good ten minutes struggling to write our names with the old-fashioned ballpoint pen that was attached to it. The teacher was annoyed, but I noticed her name didn’t look much neater than ours. I remember it was bright, almost too bright, and far too open and exposed for my liking. It was quiet as well, which seemed strange after the constant humming, buzzing, rattling, whirring sounds of the city, not a sound to be heard except the occasional breeze rustling the leaves. A couple kids nervously asked if there were any animals, but the park ranger who was leading the tour assured us there was nothing to worry about; the animals were in another part of the preserve, and there were cameras everywhere. It was perfectly safe to go exploring.

After a brief tour, we were allowed to wander around on our own, so Jess and I split from the group and went down a trail where some flowers were growing. We read the signs – there were roses and lilies, violets, baby’s breath, white chrysanthemums, pink carnations, monkshood, rhododendrons, tuberose, sunflowers, and snapdragons. We went further down the path, where the bushes grew taller, talking a little as we went, but mostly admiring the scenery. The path went up and up, then turned a little until we suddenly came to a tall chain-link fence. We could see beyond it that everything was wilder, and here we heard other sounds. I thought I heard running water below, and Jess gasped and pointed at something that might have been a bird.

We stood there for a few minutes just looking when I thought I heard something else that I couldn’t quite name. It slowly grew louder, and with it, the light seemed to grow brighter until it was nearly blinding and I had to shut my eyes. I don’t know how much time passed before the noise stopped and I heard my name being called. I looked up to find the teacher’s aide, Marcy, coming toward me. For a second I froze, because she was usually in a bad mood, but she seemed unusually cheerful and started talking as though we were good friends.

“Found you! Well that was fun, wasn’t it? I love it out here, don’t you? But it’s time to be heading back now.”

I looked around to see where Jess had gone but couldn’t see her anywhere. I began to panic and opened my mouth, but found myself unable to speak as Marcy drew nearer, looking entirely oblivious to what had just occurred.

“Come on,” she continued brightly, taking my hand. “Remember what the ranger said? This is public land that’s open to everyone, so you can come back anytime you want.”

I finally found my voice, but all I could say was, “But…Jess—where—”

“What’s that?” Marcy asked. She looked confused. Just then there was the sound of a horn honking. “You’ll have to tell me on the bus. We don’t want to be late.”

We arrived at the bus just as everyone else was getting on. I continued to look around, but Jess remained nowhere to be seen, a fact that seemed entirely lost on both the teacher and the park ranger as they called roll from the guestbook and told the driver that everyone was accounted for. Marcy sat next to me on the bus and made small talk the whole ride back.

When I got home, I used my mother’s computer to try to look up Jess’s family in the building directory, to see if she had gotten home another way, but they weren’t there. Their names, numbers, everything was gone. It was like they’d never even existed.

***

I knew when the lights started flickering that it was only a matter of time. It was hardly a surprise; the factory had been short on people since long before I started working three years ago, we’d been losing people every year, and there was no one to replace them. Over eight hundred apartments in the building, and now less than fifty were occupied, all the other businesses were long gone, services had been cut to the absolute essentials, the elevators were down every other week, and the food seemed even more tasteless than usual. I tried to tell myself it would be alright, that buildings closed all the time, and we’d just be reassigned to an identical one a few streets over, where we’d probably be doing the exact same jobs even. All the same, when the notice finally came from management, my heart started racing and I started having trouble breathing normally.

For half a minute, I actually considered making an appointment with the building therapist. Even if it was an obvious trap, I almost thought it would be worth the risk of being red-flagged for instability if I could actually talk to someone. Fortunately, the moment of insanity passed, and after we were dismissed, I made my way down to the wellness lounge instead, to release the negative emotions in a safe, positive way.

Gina, our resident Lightbringer, was already there, looking perfectly serene and shining as brightly as ever. She greeted me with a warm smile and a slight bow, which I returned, relieved that even if she guessed my true feelings, she wouldn’t mention it. Acknowledging the darkness might dim her own light, and she couldn’t risk that, especially when she appeared to be preparing for a display.

“So, a change is coming,” she said in her usual dreamy tone, closing her eyes and sighing deeply. “What a wonderful opportunity for growth.”

My smile felt somewhat strained as I nodded mutely.

“I’ve been thinking,” she said, suddenly fixing her eyes on me intently. “How would you like a change of pace? You’ve certainly distinguished yourself as a model employee during your time here, but I’m afraid that even in a larger factory, your opportunities for advancement will be quite limited. You’re very bright, you know—” She smiled as I stared back in shock. “Far too bright for a place like this. You may not see it, but I do. You have a gift, and I’d hate to see you sell yourself short. Now, the ranger service is looking for qualified applicants, and I think it would be just the job for you.”

I wasn’t about to argue, but I hardly know what to say. I’d ended up here precisely because I’d never been particularly gifted at anything. Decent, yes, solidly average, sure, but gifted? She seemed to sense my hesitation because she smiled encouragingly and put a hand on my shoulder.

“I’m going to put in a recommendation for you, and I expect to hear something soon.”

***

A week later, I boarded the subway with everything I owned packed in one backpack and one standard issue rolling suitcase. I had assumed I would be moving close to the preserve, so I was surprised when I put in my number and discovered that the training center was at the heart of the Inner Circle. Apparently this was news to my fellow passengers as well, as a number of excited whispers suddenly broke out. Though everything outside the windows was flying by in a blur, we knew we were getting close as the light seemed to change, and when we came to our stop fifteen minutes later, we found the station looking bright and clean, the people professional and put-together, and the technology state-of-the-art as interactive holographic displays offered travelers assistance at every turn.

We were met by a man in a tan uniform who scanned our cards and ushered us into an elevator marked ICTC – Authorized Personnel Only, which brought us to a spacious meeting room on the twentieth floor, which looked much like the wellness lounge in my old building, except the walls and furniture were a rich dark red rather than plain white, and instead of harsh white LEDs overhead, the room was faintly illuminated by a soft blue glow coming from the edges of the carpet. In the center of the room, a table of food had been laid out, and a pleasant-looking woman invited us to help ourselves and have a seat while a number of other uniformed individuals took our belongings to our rooms. There were about twenty of us in total, and we all sat a little awkwardly as we waited for the orientation to begin.

It began slowly. After we finished eating, the next hour was spent signing the usual liability paperwork before receiving a series of inoculations we would need to work around actual wildlife – rabies, Lyme disease, a number of diseases I assumed had been eradicated centuries ago and others I had never heard of. Then while we were all feeling a bit sore and slightly sick, the woman who had greeted us took her place at a podium in front of the room and began began to speak.

“I hope you all understand what a great honor it is to be chosen for this program,” she said. “We’re doing very important work here, work that keeps not just the preserve, but the whole city safe.”

She began her presentation on local wildlife, making use of a holographic projector like the ones we had seen below.

“This is a chipmunk. This is a squirrel. This is the sound of a mountain lion screaming.”

This continued for a couple hours before it was time for lunch. More food was brought in, and after a while, we began to relax and even started talking a bit. When it was time to start again, the lights dimmed, and the instructor once more took her place at the podium, this time making use of a large screen on the wall. Her expression, which had seemed pleasant at first, now appeared somewhat forced as she smiled down at us.

“You should know,” she said quietly, “that we’re not alone here.”

She waited a moment for the sentence to sink in before pressing a button, and a map of the city, outlined in blue, appeared on the screen.

“Here, you see, is the city. This—”

She hit the button a second time, and the map zoomed out slightly, revealing a larger area outlined in yellow.

“This is the border of the old city. And this—”

She hit the button once more, and the map zoomed out until the city was a fraction of its size, a spot of gray in a sea of green. She pointed to an area about a hundred miles southeast.

“This is where we believe they’re located.”

“There are people out there?”

The question came from a girl near the back, who immediately turned red and clapped her hands over her mouth. Everyone stared at her, then looked to the instructor awaiting her response. Finally, she spoke.

“No,” she said slowly. “We don’t think they’re people.”

The rest of the meeting was kind of a blur. The instructor explained that they were known simply as the Others. We had first made contact with them about two hundred years prior, and considered them not exactly friends, but allies. They had helped us develop certain technologies that had allowed our city to survive the Long Winter. Even so, they had never sought to interfere with our governance, but seemed content to keep an eye on things from a distance. But lately, she said, there had been some...concerning developments.

“Wildlife behaving strangely. Unusual weather patterns. You may have noticed that the wireless network has been a bit unreliable at times. And the issues with the electric grid haven’t been limited to older buildings.”

As if on cue, the lights flickered once...then twice.

She continued, “Meanwhile, they’ve been increasingly unresponsive to our communications.”

She turned back to the map.

“We call it the Dead Zone. All technology fails there. Signals get scrambled. Video feeds freeze up. Satellites can’t get a clear picture. Large crafts are too conspicuous. Small crafts get knocked down or blown off course by strong winds. Even our...alternative methods have proved ineffective. We don’t know why, but we don’t think it’s a coincidence. If we want answers, we’re going to have to go down there ourselves. Or I should say, you are going to go.”

She paused again before continuing, “It may be dangerous. In the early days, we agreed to certain boundaries, and there’s a possibility that crossing into their territory will be considered an act of war. That is why it is absolutely imperative that we all demonstrate our unwavering commitment to walking in light.”

Her smile never faltered, but I imagined there was a flash of warning in her eyes.

“Now, you are here because we have faith in you. And in order to prepare you further, we have invited Lightbringer Gina Avery to assist in your training, beginning with a special display after dinner.”

***

The display that evening was even more spectacular than usual. As always, we filed into the room in silence and took our places on the floor, careful not to bump into each other as the door shut, leaving us in utter darkness. We remained in silent meditation for a few minutes before we heard the sound of low, distant rumbling start, and began to see the faintest glow of red rising from the floor, revealing the dark silhouette of the city skyline with clouds flying low overhead. Then came the sound of a bell, and Gina began to speak.

“We have gathered together this evening to remember. To look into the shadows of the past, the dark times of blindness and ignorance and despair, and to recognize how far we have come.”

The rumbling grew louder, and the moment she finished speaking, there came a sharp crack, and for the briefest moment, the room was illuminated by a flash of red as if lighting had struck in our midst. Several people screamed. I remembered watching displays with my mother as a small child and how I would instinctively reach out for her at these times, and how on those rare occasions she would pull me in and hold me close, stroking my hair until it was over.

Gina continued, “We remember the times of inequality and suffering, when greed and selfish ambition dominated, when prejudice and superstition made people afraid.”

As she spoke, the lightning continued, illuminating larger silhouettes like monsters rising above the city, bent on destroying it. Greed was a tall, thin man with glowing green eyes counting out bills. Ambition was an ancient barbarian with a sword, cutting down everyone around him until he was the last one standing. Superstition was a group of people bowing before strange symbols, then turning to attack one another. These images lasted only moments before the lightning ceased, leaving the city illuminated by dancing waves of red and orange, like fire.

“But now...” The flames froze. “We know better.” They faded. “We suffered great losses...” Utter darkness once more. “But we have survived and advanced as a civilization.” A hint of white on the horizon. “We have learned to live in harmony...” The city suddenly illuminated by millions of points of yellow light from every window. “To embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion in all realms of society...” The sky turned a brilliant pink. “To care for the earth and all its creatures above our own convenience...” Purple. “To sacrifice our own desires for the good of others...” Blue. “As we meditate on these things, we shine with the light of the universe...” The ceiling above now filled with millions and billions of stars and swirling galaxies. “We give no place to the darkness. We banish from our minds all fear, all anger, all selfishness, all lies of the past that would drag us back into the shadows of disharmony. We will not allow our lights to be dimmed.”

[part 2]

#inklingschallenge #team chesterton #genre: intrusive fantasy #imagery: light #story: incomplete

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bomnun · 2 years

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I recall someone saying Jinho didn’t like Dawn for reasons I do not remember (and that annoys me!) . Tbh, as a Uni since 2017, I felt like Dawn did not really want to be in the group and was grabbing onto Hyuna’s fame, now that we know what we know

putting my response beneath a read more bc i feel like it's going to be pretty long, and also i don't want anyone to use this as ´, like, a serious reason to dislike any part of this because it's complicated and as we're not any of the 11 people directly involved we really only know a fraction of what really happened.

i've heard that about jinho and dawn as well,, and i can't really begin to guess if that's true or not. all that's sure is that they weren't as close as dawn was with, like, hui, kino or yanan. iirc the "evidence" people use is a vlive from dec 2016 where dawn says "being together as 10 is the most important" and jinho says "he's lying", but that could just be them joking around.

plus a video a few days before dawn officially leaves the group where jinho says their formation looks neater now because they're an odd number and looks around... 🤷🤷 (this one i actually managed to find) could just be him taking the piss at the absolute mess then too, or spoiling that the official announcement is coming two days later. who knows.

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interesting. as i...was not a uni back then i didn't catch that, but sort of realized retroactively that, maybe he didn't want to be there lmao. basing this mainly on the fact that in his 2019 solo debut documentary he talks about feeling empty even though he "should" have been happy after debuting and doing well, and how he prioir to that was the least interested/motivated trainee and couldn't make himself keep up with how hard everyone else was working.

i cannnot find thissss again (but i k now this happened so if someone has the link or knows which show at least... please tell me) but in like one of his first official schedules after leaving cube he and h.yuna were on a radio show together and he made some slightly pointed comment about how he's "much more comfortable with ´just hyuna than ever with that group" too .

those things make me wonder if he'd have left the group eventually scandal or not. i don't reaaaally want to speculate/guess too much on their inter-personal relationships because it makes me feel uncomofrtable and feels invasive and... what do we know anyway, but, idk, i really get hints that he wouldn't have stayed until now even without the controversies.

#ask #anoymous #it's a topic we could discuss more for sure !#send me another ask or a message if you want #i was not present in 2018 so this is very patchy

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redratt · 1 year

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I wanted to see how my comic style looks when i color it, so i sketched up some of the characters and did a little rough design pass (i tried something a little neater for Sleetspar, and I don't really like it lmfao). These are three of the pack leaders (and one of the second and commands) that form the Eventide Cohort, which is a large group of various wolf packs who have formed this... little kingdom of sorts, this concordance, after a devastating war. Doeshriek, Foxjaw, and Deerrush are all survivors of the war, with Doeshriek being the only one who is beginning to show her age -- the other two were quite young when the war started. Deerrush is the only surviving child of Hawkstorm, one of two tyrant pack-leaders whose ambitions ignited the worst conflict the region had ever seen. However, her pack is also the biggest -- and the most dedicated to ensuring the war doesn't happen again. Sleetspar was born in the aftermath, so she doesn't really remember it, and so she struggles sometimes to understand the old wounds that others carry. I wanted to do the color designs on these four because they've been my main practice in my sketchbooks for making sure i have defined differences in my silhouettes, but also just... trying to push my style, making my wolf characters less standard in appearance. Plus, nobody here is a POV character, really -- they're all important, but none of them have a chapter/page from their perspective, because I ... I mean, honestly, because I feel like it would give too much away to do so. I've been working on and off on a detailed -ish document for the setting that i can refer back to. it's not like...you know, an encyclopedia, but i want to have all my ducks in a row, so to speak. Especially once wolf politics start to get pretty complicated.

#wolf art #wolf oc #feral oc #character design #character reference #worldbuilding #world building #feral design #wolf design #grunge style #sketch dump

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theteasetwrites · 2 years

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The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning

Chapter 32: Some Sunny Day

❧ Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader ❧ Era: Season 5 ❧ Pronouns: she/her ❧ Warnings: mild swearing, scary situation, blood and gore ❧ Word Count: 6.6k

❧ In This Chapter: Your long-lost brother invites your group to his settlement, but Rick and Daryl are skeptical of him, needing to meet his community on their terms.

❧ A/N: *deep breath* You guys... it's finally happening. We're officially going to be introduced to Reader's brother! Congrats if you guessed correctly (also no worries if you didn't, I was trying to give as little detail about him as possible). At first, I was considering making Negan her brother, but I just couldn't see it. However, I can definitely see Aaron and her being brother and sister based on their personalities. Plus, I love Aaron and Daryl's dynamic in the show, and now that they're gonna be connected in this way, it makes it even better. I mean, this gif says it all, am I right?

Aaron beamed at you, tears welling up in his eyes.

“(Y/N),” he said.

When he said your name, you knew for sure it was really him, and you sprinted to him without hesitation. You threw your arms around him and nearly knocked him over onto Daryl, who stood behind him, watching his every move.

He flinched when he saw you running to him, but it happened so fast there wasn’t anything he could do.

This was the Aaron you had told him so much about, the older brother who represented to you something so different from what his older brother did. To you, Aaron was a friend, a shoulder to cry on, a comforting presence in your life.

Merle was nothing like that. If Daryl cried in front of him, he’d call him a pussy. He could never really be himself around Merle, and he never really felt safe with him. It took Daryl a long time after his death to realize, but he never needed Merle. Merle needed him. Needed him to fuel his ego, to be his punching bag, to make him feel important.

When he saw the way you hugged Aaron, your eyes shut tight and your arms interlocked around his neck, he knew your relationship to your older brother was much different than his. It was… fair. Healthy. Stable.

Still, he didn’t trust him. Daryl couldn’t afford to trust anyone outside of your group anymore.

No one else trusted him besides you. At least, not at the outset. The man hadn’t said a word to your group except to you, Sasha, and Maggie. Now, the others were waiting for an explanation for why he was here.

Moreover, waiting for you to stop crying. “Oh God!” you cried. “You’re alive!”

You pulled back and took his face in your hands, studying it with bewildered eyes. He looked largely the same as he had the last time you saw him, bright blue eyes and a cheerful smile that could light up a dark winter sky. The light brown curls sprouting from his head were kept neat and tidy, certainly much neater and tidier than your hair, or anyone else’s hair for that matter. His clothes were clean, too, and overall he looked like the world never ended.

“It’s really you.”

He laughed. “It’s really me.”

You laughed, too. “I—I can’t believe it.”

Your eyes never left his face. They searched every nook and cranny for a crack to pull back the mask and reveal a totally different person, one more rugged and hardened by the fallen world, but it was him. It was the same Aaron.

“Ahem.” You heard Rick clearing his throat from behind you.

Turning to face him, you moved aside and allowed Aaron to introduce himself. You understood that they must have been a little confused. You were too.

He took a deep breath, then held his hands up a bit when he realized he had several guns pointed at him. “Hi.”

There were a few moments of awkward silence as Aaron looked at Rick, aware that he was your group’s leader. Though he would have liked to catch up with you, it seemed he had a reason for being there other than you being his sister.

“It’s nice to meet you.” He stepped forward to outstretch his hand, but a few more guns cocked at him, and Daryl stepped forward to grab him if he didn’t stop in his tracks. “Um…” He turned to look at you. “I’m… (Y/N)’s brother.” He swallowed hard when they continued pointing at him. “Unfortunately I don’t have the birth certificate to prove it.”

Rick was silent, and you were still too dumbstruck to say much of anything.

“There something you need?” he asked seriously.

“He has a camp nearby,” said Sasha. “He wants us to ‘audition’ for membership.”

“I wish there was another word,” Aaron said. “‘Audition’ makes it sound like we’re some kind of a dance troupe,” he laughed nervously. “That’s only Friday nights.”

When no one laughed, or eased up on him, he shook his head to disregard his blunder.

The family curse—social awkwardness. Saying the wrong things at the wrong time. He was definitely your brother, no birth certificate needed.

“Um, and it’s not a camp,” he continued. “It’s a community. I think you all would make valuable additions.” He looked over to you. “And… not just because of (Y/N).”

You smiled at him, still sniffling at his appearance in front of you.

“But, it’s not my call,” he said, turning serious again. “My job is to convince you all to follow me back home.”

You looked to Rick to see if you could read his face. It was hard with the large, untamed beard he had been growing.

When you couldn’t read his stone cold face, you turned to Daryl. His eyes were already on you, skeptical of the whole situation. You silently begged him to ease up on your brother. Either he didn’t register it, or he ignored it.

Of course, Daryl believed you—Aaron was your brother. There was no doubt about it, the resemblance just in the eyes alone was evident. The problem was that he couldn’t trust him, even if he was your family. The situation seemed odd to him, the idea of someone recruiting others to join their community… it couldn’t be.

“I know,” said Aaron. “If I were you I wouldn’t go either. Not until I knew exactly what I was getting into.” He turned to Sasha. “Sasha, can you hand Rick my pack?”

She hesitantly did so, and Rick set it down to begin opening it. “Front pack,” he continued, “there’s an envelope. There’s no way I could convince you to come with me just by talking about our community.”

You could tell Aaron was putting on his most professional demeanor. You watched him practice for several school presentations back in the day, and that was always how he spoke. He could be very charismatic when he wasn’t being awkward. That was something you, on the other hand, were still working on.

Rick pulled out the faded envelope and began to open it.

“That’s why I brought those.” He nudged his head towards the photos. “I apologize in advance for the picture quality,” he laughed nervously. “Uh, we just found an old camera store last—”

“Nobody gives a shit,” Daryl growled at him.

Aaron turned to face him for the first time, and you narrowed your eyes at him, warning him not to harass your brother lest he face your wrath later.

He didn’t even look at you, just kept glaring at Aaron, who nodded at him in acknowledgment.

Aaron swallowed hard, slightly terrified of the man behind him. He was shorter than Aaron, but a hell of lot stronger and meaner looking. Moreover, Aaron had been watching your group for a few days, and Daryl seemed the least friendly, despite his evident care for you. He was, in a sense, like a guard dog—territorial and defensive with strangers, but fiercely loyal and devoted to his people.

“You’re absolutely, one-hundred percent right.” He took a breath and turned back to Rick as he thumbed through the blurry black and white photos. “That’s the first picture I wanted to show you because nothing I say about our community will matter unless you know you’ll be safe.”

The photograph was of a sturdy metal wall propped up with large beams at a forty-five degree angle.

“If you join us,” he continued, “you will be.”

The others were silent again. Aaron kept talking, and you were starting to see that he should probably shut up.

“Each panel in that wall,” he went on to continue, “is a fifteen foot tall, twelve foot wide slab of solid steel, framed by cold-rolled steel beams and square tubing.”

You would have thought he was a car salesman in a past life with the way he was speaking. “Nothing alive or dead gets through that without our say-so.”

Rick stood up and exchanged a look with you. You weren’t crying anymore, but you were silently telling him that you weren’t going anywhere without your brother, or Daryl, yet the looks Daryl was giving Aaron were discouraging you.

“Like I said,” Aaron continued, “security is obviously important. In fact, there’s only one resource more critical to our community’s survival.” He turned to give you a heartfelt smile. “The people.”

He looked back at Rick, who still wasn’t impressed. If anything, he seemed a bit peeved. “Together, we’re strong,” Aaron said.

Aaron, I think it’s time to shut up.

“You can make us even stronger.”

Rick looked down at the photos again. “The next picture, you’ll see inside the gates.”

Aaron. Shut. Up.

Rick was still looking down as he strutted towards your brother. “Our community was first construc—”

Rick socked him square in the face before he could finish his sentence.

You covered your mouth with your hands, then knelt down by his unconscious body. “What the hell did you do that for?!” you yelled at Rick with a furious quiver in your voice.

Daryl leaned down beside you to make sure he was unconscious.

“We gotta secure him,” Rick said to you, looking at you callously. “Dump his pack, let��s see who this guy really is,” he instructed Carl. You scoffed, cradling your brother’s head in your lap. He was very out.

“He’s my brother!” you said. “He’s a good person. What, you think he’s gonna try to cook us for Sunday brunch?”

Well, that did almost happen the last time you tried to trust someone. Still, this was Aaron you were talking about. The guy couldn’t hurt a fly. Literally—he always tried to catch and release them when you were kids.

Rick narrowed his eyes on you. “Doesn’t matter who he is, he could be a threat.” He looked around at the others. “We need eyes in every direction. They’re coming for us. We don’t know how or when, but they’re comin’.”

Your eyes widened and you turned to Daryl, who was busy tying up his hands and feet. “Daryl?” you asked quietly. “Daryl?” He didn’t look at you. You huffed and took off your jean jacket to bundle it up and tuck it gently under Aaron’s head.

“This is bullshit,” you said to Rick, standing up to face him. “You’re getting worked up for no reason. He’s trying to help us. I bet he’s the one who left us that water, for Christ’s sake!”

Maggie stood by your side. “Me and Sasha, we didn’t see him. If he had wanted to hurt us, he could’ve.”

You loved Maggie. She always had your back, believed in you.

“Anybody see anything?” he ignored you both.

“Just a lot of places to hide,” replied Glenn as he looked out the barn door.

“All right, keep looking.”

You palmed your forehead and rested your other hand on your hip, all the while sighing in frustration. You knew Maggie had your back, but you were sure Rick and Daryl didn’t. As things so often turned out, the “alpha males” of the group were in charge.

Bonobos are matriarchal, you thought. Maybe we should be more like them.

You shook your head of your intrusive thoughts and knelt back down to check on Aaron. You noticed he was sweaty, so you aggressively yanked Daryl’s red rag from his back pocket as he was walking by and used it to dab Aaron’s forehead.

Daryl flinched at your sneak attack, and you glared up at him before noticing Aaron was coming to.

His eyes fluttered then met with yours. He smiled deliriously. “That’s a hell of a right cross there, Rick.”

“Sit him up,” Rick said to you.

Maggie knelt down next to you. “I think it’s better if he—”

“It’s okay,” Aaron said.

“He’s fine, sit him up,” commanded Rick.

You glared at him, too. You had more than enough glares reserved for him and Daryl today.

He groaned as you and Maggie pulled him up so he sat upright on the barn floor. “You’re being cautious,” he said. “I completely understand.”

“How many of your people are out there?” asked Rick.

Aaron shook his head. “No matter what I say, you’re not going to trust me.”

“Well, it’s hard to trust anyone who smiles after getting punched in the face,” Rick replied.

“How about a guy who leaves bottles of water for you in the road?” he asked.

Daryl looked at you sternly, then stepped forwards. “How long have you people been followin’ us?”

“Long enough to see that you practically ignore a pack of roamers on your trail. Long enough to see that despite a lack of food and water, you never turned on each other… and when I saw (Y/N) was with you, I had to reach out.” He looked over at you. “You’re survivors,” he said to you. “And you’re people. Like I said, and I hope you won’t punch me for saying it again, that is the most important resource in the world.”

The air was thick with silence again. Aaron sighed. “What would it take to convince you that I’m telling the truth?”

A lot.

Aaron had told you all there was only one other person out there with him. The rest were at his community.

Michonne, Maggie, Abraham, Rosita, and Glenn agreed to scope out the area where Aaron said the cars were parked. Aaron had thought the whole thing through—they came in separate cars so there’d be room for all 16 of you to come back with them.

Back at the barn, Rick had the rest of you patrol the area in case of an attack, and he questioned Aaron.

You pleaded with him to let you stay with your brother, but he refused.

When you were finally alone with Daryl on patrol, you gave him the scolding that had been burning up inside you since he first pointed his crossbow at your brother.

“You think he’s dangerous, too?” you asked him pointedly.

“He could be.”

You scoffed. “You don’t think I know my own brother? He wouldn’t do anything to hurt us!”

Daryl huffed. “You ain’t seen him in almost two years. You got no idea what he’s done or who he’s hung with and you wanna just drop everythin’ and follow him to fantasyland?”

“Even if he weren’t my brother, I’d still give him a chance. This place, it could be our last shot at a real home. Someplace permanent. Look around, Daryl!” You gestured to the woods surrounding you. “There’s nowhere to go. We can’t stay out here any longer. It won’t go well.”

He shook his head and inched closer to you. “It could be a trap, (Y/N).” He spoke softer now, trying to take into consideration how sensitive you were. “Just ‘cause he’s blood don’t mean you can trust him.”

Your eyes widened. “You gave us all a hard time for not trusting Merle, and you followed him blindly based on the same logic—he’s your brother. How is this any different? If anything, Aaron hasn’t shown any signs of working with someone like the Governor or tried to harass any of us. This time, we actually have a good incentive to trust him. He could save us!”

Daryl was quiet again for a while. “Ain’t sayin’ he’s like Merle, just sayin’ we can’t trust anyone these days.”

You shook your head. “Just give him a chance. I did with you, bringing you back to my camp. It was a risk, but it worked out for the better. Can’t you take one chance on him?”

When he remained quiet, you stepped closer to him and gave him those doe eyes again as you cupped his cheek. “Please, Daryl. Can you be with me on this? It’s the right thing, following him. I know it.”

He was caught between a rock and a hard place.

Of course he wanted you to be happy, to be safe. If Aaron was telling the truth about this “community” he had, you wouldn’t have to run around anymore. He saw the photos; it was secure. It could be made even more secure. Daryl would do anything for you, if he had to get his hands dirty to keep you safe he would.

On the other hand, Aaron could be lying. The world changed people. In two years, your brother could have become a completely different person. You yourself had changed a great deal since the beginning, though you were the same person at your core, just a little more acclimated to your surroundings. Still, he could be lying.

He laid his hand over yours as it rested on his cheek, the stubble tickling your soft palm. “Can’t promise anythin’,” he said.

You tilted your head. “Can you try? Try to trust him?”

Daryl was silent again for a while, chewing on the inside of his lip as he searched your face for the answer. Of course, he found it there.

“Mhm,” he mumbled. “I’ll try.”

When the others came back, they came in the two vehicles Aaron had said were nearby: a small sedan and a motor home, the latter of which had a stash of canned food, further proving that Aaron had a community in which they could hold that much food.

They brought the stash inside the barn for Rick and the rest of you to see for yourselves. Turning to Aaron, where you were knelt beside him, Rick held up one of the cans. “This is ours now,” he said.

Aaron sighed. “There’s more than enough.”

He was always so agreeable. If you knew anything about Aaron, it was that he hated conflict. If he had it his way, everyone in the world would jump rope on rainbows and make a daisy chain that stretched around the globe twice over. Though he was older than you, he seemed younger than you in a lot of ways. You both believed there was good in the world, even after the turn, but Aaron always wanted to change the world.

“It’s ours,” Rick reiterated. “Whether or not we go to your camp.”

You closed your eyes and let out a sharp sigh. What else did he need? Aaron was telling the truth about the cars, you could all see that now as you stood together in the barn.

“What do you mean?” Carl stepped up to ask his father. “Why wouldn’t we go?”

“If he were lying,” Michonne added, “or if he wanted to hurt us… but he isn’t, and he doesn’t. We need this. So we’re going, all of us.”

There were your tears welling up again in your eyes. You smiled at Aaron and rested your hand on his shoulder. He looked at you with all the brotherly love and pride in his eyes he had throughout your life. When you learned to ride a bike, when you finally aced a math exam, when you passed your driver’s test on the first try, when you graduated college… seeing his face again, so genuinely loving and full of joy, it gave you another reason to live.

“Somebody say something if they feel differently,” Michonne’s voice brought your attention back to the others. You looked around nervously, hoping Rick wouldn’t keep protesting what everyone else in the group seemed to want.

You gulped when your eyes landed on Daryl, sitting across the barn from you. There was no way you weren’t going back with your brother, and there was absolutely no way you were going anywhere without Daryl or the rest of your family. If he protested, you weren’t sure you could handle it.

Daryl looked at you when he felt your familiar gaze, so soft and appreciative of what he had to say. You always thought he was an important member of your group, and that his word was just as strong as Rick’s. To you, the person who loved him more than anyone else in the world, his word was like a dictation from a god.

His face was muddy and his eyes were tired. He chewed the inside of his bottom lip as he studied Aaron, then slowly turned to you. “I don’t know, man,” he finally said, moving his gaze back down to his feet.

Your heart dropped into your stomach as you were sure he’d say it was a bad idea, that Aaron couldn’t be trusted.

He looked back up at you. “This barn smells like horse shit.”

You closed your eyes in relief and squeezed Aaron’s shoulder.

Now, Rick had to make the final verdict. If Daryl was okay with going, Rick would have to be. “Yeah,” he said. “We’re goin’.”

You pressed your head against Aaron’s forehead and the two of you shared a joyous laughter.

“So where are we going?” asked Rick. “Where’s your camp?”

Aaron cleared his throat to maintain his professionalism. “Every time I’ve done this, I’ve been behind the wheel driving recruits back.” He looked back at you worriedly. “I believe you’re good people, I bet my life on it. I’m just… not ready to bet my friends’ lives on it just yet.”

You nodded your head in understanding.

“You’re not driving,” said Michonne. “So if you want to get home, you’ll have to tell us how.”

There was some argument about the time and route the group would take to get there. Aaron insisted upon taking Route 16, a route which his people had cleared. Rick, however, was settled on Route 23.

Rick also thought it would be a good idea to leave at sundown. Of course, no one really liked that idea. Rick insisted that arriving at the community under the cover of night would better allow your group to leave if they thought something wasn’t right.

Aaron insisted, again, that no one was going to hurt you or your people. Still, Rick wasn’t taking any chances.

You admired that Rick was trying to protect your group, but he was putting you all in danger by taking a route that hadn’t been cleared and doing it at night. You tried to see his point of view, but you were clouded by your emotions. Your brother was trustworthy, you knew that, but the others didn’t. It was an odd position to be in, torn between your biological family and your found family. You supposed you knew how Daryl felt now when he had to choose between you and Merle back at the prison.

The difference was, you weren’t going to make that decision—you were going to have both of them somehow, and you’d fight tooth and nail to get them to get along.

Passing the North 23 highway marker, you sat in between Aaron and Michonne in the backseat of the sedan, with the motor home closely behind you.

In the front seat, Rick sat in the passenger side while Glenn drove with Aaron’s directions. He refused to give your group the exact location before you hit the road, so he agreed to point you there as you went along.

When Rick curiously opened the dash, he pulled out a pile of license plates, all from different states. Massachusetts… Texas… Michigan…

You peered over to see what he was looking at. When your eyes hit the license plates, you nudged Aaron to get his attention.

“Oh,” he said, noticing that Rick had found his little collection. “I’m trying to collect all fifty states. Put them all on a wall in my house.” You laughed a little. Aaron always loved collecting things, anything he could get his hands on.

He went through phases. For a while, he collected baseball cards. Then, it was postage stamps and coins. When he got really into Star Trek, he collected all the comic books (and threw a tantrum when you removed them from their vacuum-sealed plastic to read them). When the two of you and a few of his friends took a road trip around the country, he collected Christmas ornaments from each state to hang on the tree in his apartment during the holidays.

You collected, too, but he was almost obsessive about it. With you, it was antique tea cups, books, postcards, and, of course, clothing and lingerie. When Aaron got his driver’s license, he would take you to your local antique shop almost every weekend to scavenge for treasures together. You usually came out with a bunch of junk no one else wanted, but you two saw the beauty in them when no one else did.

“You have your own house?” Michonne asked, the phrase seemingly foreign to her.

You were so lost in your memories that you forgot Aaron had mentioned his home. You looked at him curiously. “It’s… an actual house?”

He smiled at you. “See for yourself.” He nudged his head down towards the envelope peeking out of his pack near your feet.

You bent over and opened it up to look at the photos the first time for yourself, allowing Michonne to see as well.

The photos, indeed, were blurry and overexposed, but you could make out a porch with a railing, and a solar panel in the background. Flipping to the next photo, you saw the house from the front. It was a two-story home with side paneling and manicured shrubs lining the path to its entrance. You could tell it was built not too long ago since the style was contemporary, yet had a charming suburban feel to it.

It was nicer than your childhood home back in Tuckahoe, at least in terms of newness and size. There was no comparison to your studio apartment back in Athens, which was about a quarter of the size. Those were the only homes you had ever known before the turn, and after that, your homes were more or less bunkers. Though you had a special place in your heart for every place you had stayed, even if it was just for a night, you couldn’t deny that a home of your own sounded like a dream come true.

You beamed up at Aaron, and he was smiling too. “I knew you’d like that one.”

You handed Michonne the other half of the pictures, and suddenly she seemed disturbed. “Why don’t you have any pictures of your people?” she asked.

Aaron’s smile faded and he gave her a confused look. “Oh, I took a picture of the whole group, but I didn’t get the exposure right.”

You turned to Michonne with a concerned look on your face.

Don’t change your mind now.

“When I tried to develop it later, it just—”

“Did you ask him the questions?” Michonne asked Rick.

Ah, yes. The questions.

Rick had developed a three-question system when interrogating potential new members of your group. It became an unspoken rule amongst your group that it was a requirement for admission.

“No,” Rick replied.

Michonne turned back to Aaron with a serious visage. “How many walkers have you killed?”

You never really understood that one. It was either zero or too many to count, but you guessed it was good to know how experienced they were.

Aaron furrowed his brow. “I’m sorry, what?”

“How many?” she repeated.

You gulped. You could cut the tension in that car with a knife.

“I don’t know, a lot,” he said.

“How many people?” Michonne continued.

Aaron was silent for a moment. “Two.”

You closed your eyes. Please don’t turn on him.

“Why?”

“Because they tried to kill me,” he told Michonne seriously.

A splatter of blood hit the windshield as Glenn plowed through a herd of walkers. Within seconds, you were going through a tunnel of bodies that darkened the front window until nothing could be seen past the blood and gore.

Burning rubber, Glenn abruptly halted the vehicle. You tried to turn and see if the motor home was still behind you, but it was too dark to see anything. At least, that’s what you told yourself.

Hopping out of the car with the others, Aaron still inside on account of him being tied up, you knew now that they really weren’t there. “I don’t seem ‘em,” said Rick.

“No, they’re gone. They got away,” you said, hoping it to be true.

Rick nodded to you, then looked over at Glenn. “All right, we’ll circle back and find them. Let’s go.”

“They’re okay?” Aaron asked frantically.

“Yeah,” you assured him.

Glenn wiped off as much blood as he could before struggling to start the sputtering engine.

“Come on, come on,” he muttered.

You could see the blurry red tableau of walkers stumbling towards your car, so many of them that it was the only sight for miles.

“We gotta get out of here,” said Aaron.

No shit.

“Let me see what I can see.” Michonne got out and began removing the accumulation of walker limbs from the hood.

“They’re coming right for us!” Aaron yelled.

“We know,” retorted Rick.

“We need to leave, now!” he continued.

“Calm down,” you reassured him. “We’re going to get out of this.” It wasn’t often you had to be the calm one. That was usually his role.

“Hold on,” said Glenn, noticing the bright ball of red light streaming into the black sky from a distance.

“Is that a flare?” you asked.

“Shit,” muttered Aaron, his eyes widened and his lips quivering in fear.

“Aaron,” you asked, now sharing in his fear. You didn’t know where the rest of your people were, where Daryl was, and you didn’t know if Aaron really was hiding something now. The herd of walkers surrounding you was just the icing on the shit cake. “What’s going on?”

“Who did that?” Rick asked.

Aaron looked at you. “I need to leave.” Your eyes widened in fear.

“No,” you said. You weren’t ready to lose him when you had barely even spoken to him yet.

“Let me out,” he said to Rick. “I need to get outta here, it’s over.”

“What’s going on?” Rick asked.

“Let me out!” Aaron bellowed. You had never seen him so worried in your life.

Michonne was standing by Aaron’s door when he managed to kick the door open and push her to the ground in the process. You quickly got out the other side and called after him. “Aaron!”

You and Michonne started running to follow him into the woods. “(Y/N), Michonne, leave him!” Rick yelled.

Michonne turned to face Rick while you kept running after your brother. “We need to find our people,” she said. “They saw that flare, they’ll think we shot it. It’s how we find ‘em!”

Rick, Michonne, and Glenn caught up with you, and Aaron was running not too far up ahead, just enough for you to be able to follow him.

Raising your handgun, you began shooting at the walkers from the herd that surrounded your group.

In the chaos, you and Glenn were separated from Rick and Michonne. You were both backed into a dense woody grove as you fired relentlessly at the incoming walkers. With so much going on around you, you didn’t hear the walker behind the two of you. It grabbed onto Glenn and pushed him to the ground. Before it could take a bite out of him, you shot it point blank, then lifted him up to his feet. “Come on!” you yelled, trying to follow Aaron’s tracks, which would surely lead you to the flare and the rest of your group.

Continuing on with Glenn, you heard grunts coming from nearby. “Get off!” the voice yelled. Aaron.

You didn’t say a word as you barreled towards his voice. “(Y/N)!” Glenn yelled out to you.

When you found him, his hands were still tied as he leaned up against a tree and kicked at the walker that was hounding him. You were out of bullets now, so you raised your axe and hurdled towards him without hesitation, taking the walker out in one fell swoop.

You looped your axe around your belt and pulled your knife out to cut Aaron’s binds. Glenn caught up with you then. “Let’s go!” he yelled to you.

Your eyes bored into Aaron. “You’re coming with us, wherever we go.”

He nodded. “We’re going to Alexandria.”

Figuring that was the name of his community, you agreed and pulled him by the hand to begin running with you and Glenn, searching desperately for your people.

When you caught up again with Rick and Michonne, they were in trouble, as was wont to happen.

The herd of walkers had split off into smaller groups, and one of them was now hounding them. Approaching the two of them from the back, Glenn handed you and Aaron his spare guns and you began shooting at the walkers, taking them all out with impressive speed.

Rick and Michonne turned to the three of you bewildered. Aaron raised his hands and laid the gun on the ground. “If you really want to tie me up again that’s fine, but hurry up.”

Rick picked up the gun. “There’s no time,” he said. “We’re goin’ that way.

Approaching the water tower where you were sure the flare came from, Rick whistled a short tune to signal your group in case they were there. Sure enough, you heard the response whistle ring out as you rounded the corner.

You saw Daryl’s muscular frame step out into the alley. He held his crossbow in one hand and waved his other arm to signal you closer as he whistled.

He quickly ran back to bang on the door and alert the others, then you both ran to each other and embraced tightly. “I was worried sick,” you sighed.

“Me too,” he said, caressing your head with his free hand.

Soon, the others ran out, Maggie and Carl leading the way to hug Glenn and Rick, respectively.

Drenched in sweet relief, you hugged Maggie, Carol, and Carl as they were the ones you were particularly close to.

“Eric?” Aaron called out. “Eric?” He looked around frantically as you pulled away from Maggie’s embrace in confusion. She looked at you knowingly.

When a faint voice from inside the building called out, “I’m here!”

Aaron bolted towards it. You were about to follow him, but Daryl grabbed your arm. “You all right?” he asked.

You nodded and smiled at him. “I am now that I know you’re all right.”

He brushed his thumb up and down against your face. It was tired and covered in blood. “Everythin’ go okay?”

You sighed. “About as okay as it can get nowadays. We lost the car.” You peered over Daryl’s shoulder to look at the door Aaron had gone through. “I’m gonna go see what’s going on.” You planted a kiss on his lips before jogging into the building.

When you found Aaron, he was kissing another man.

He didn’t even notice you standing in the doorway. “Aaron?”

He separated his lips from the other man, whose ankle appeared to be injured. He must have been the one to set off the flare.

“(Y/N),” he stood up from where he was kneeling beside the sitting man. “Uh, this is Eric.” He gestured to him. It wasn’t the ideal introduction to his partner, he thought, but it would have to do.

He smiled at you, and gave you a small wave. “Hi.”

You looked back to Aaron with wide eyes.

You knew Aaron was gay. You were the only person he came out to, shortly after your father passed away. You knew he was interested in men before that, though. In fact, you knew since you were a teenager.

Still, it was a surprise to know he had found someone in the apocalypse just as you did.

You broke out into a joyous smile. “Nice to meet you.”

He laughed, his friendly face the perfect match for Aaron’s, you thought. “We’ve kind of already met. Aaron and I have been following you for a few days now.”

You turned to Aaron, Eric’s statement reminding you of a question you wanted to ask him. “Why did it take you so long to show yourself to us?”

Aaron shrugged. “Well, your group isn’t exactly the most… open. I thought it would be best to get just a few of you to take me in. Guess it worked.”

You nodded. “Guess it did.”

You all decided to stay there overnight and start fresh in the morning to travel the rest of the way to Alexandria.

In the morning, you wasted no time getting on the road. You spent most of the ride in the front of the motor home with Daryl and the others, while Aaron stayed beside Eric as he rested in the bedroom portion.

“Knock, knock,” you said, slowly pushing the door open as the motor home rattled back and forth. “Mind if I join you?”

Taking one look at Eric, you could tell he was out. He had been given lots of pain meds that must have made him drowsy. Aaron nodded. “Not at all.”

You sat yourself down on the other twin bed Aaron was perched on as he watched Eric sleep soundly in the other.

“How did you meet him?” you asked, sure to keep your voice down so not to wake him.

Aaron smiled. “We have a lot of catching up to do, don’t we?”

You laughed. “Yeah, we do.”

“Well,” he sighed, thinking back in his memories. “We met in Alexandria. Not too long after the turn.”

You collected your thoughts in silence for a few moments. “I, uh… I tried to get into contact with you. When things were going bad,” you said.

Aaron looked at you solemnly.

You tucked a stray strand of hair behind your ear. “I was on my way to Atlanta, on the 85.” You stared intently at a speck on the wall of the motor home, remembering that night. “We were locked down at the library. When it wasn’t safe there anymore, I packed up my things and went to find you. I kept trying and trying, leaving messages on your machine, then I called Mom. She didn’t answer either.” You took a deep breath.

“I called you too,” he said. “Soon as things went bad, I called your apartment. When I got there…” he trailed off. “When I got there, the place was overrun. Roamers everywhere. I thought you were…”

You nodded, knowing what he thought. “I thought you were too.”

He sighed, then spoke again. “I just kept going, up to Virginia.” He laughed. “I guess I just didn’t know where else to go. When I got there, I found Alexandria. They took me in, welcomed me. I’m telling you, (Y/N), it’s like this place was completely untouched by the dead. It’s like a dream.”

You smiled at the thought. “And then you met Eric?”

“Yeah,” he said, looking at you with so much joy at the memory. “It was love at first sight.” He looked up at the ceiling and raised his hands with exaggeration as he uttered the cliché.

You laughed. “I’m glad you found someone. He seems like a good guy.”

You hardly knew him, but any friend of Aaron was a friend of yours, and Eric was even more than a friend. He was the love of his life.

Aaron gave you a mischievous smile, the kind of smile only an older brother could give his little sister. “What about Daryl?”

You raised your eyebrow. “What about him?”

He laughed. “Come on, (Y/N). I’ve been following you around enough to know that you two are together.”

Your cheeks reddened as you looked away shyly. “We’ve been… together for a while. We met at the beginning too.” You shrugged. “I guess it was also love at first sight.”

He shook his head and smiled. “Never thought you’d be with a guy like that.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”

“You know… I mean, he just seems kind of… different from the other guys.”

“Is that a good thing?” you asked.

If Aaron and Daryl didn’t get along, you’d probably tear your hair out in frustration. The two most important people in the world to you simply needed to get along.

You knew it would be a process. Aaron was an extrovert, Daryl was an extreme introvert. They certainly had some things in common, including a love of nature, but their personalities were just so different, and Daryl was already skeptical of him from the get-go.

“Yeah,” he said, much to your relief. “For one thing, he seems to actually care about you.”

You smiled. “So, you like him then?”

Aaron sighed. “I do. He’s…” He tilted his head back and forth as he tried to search for the words to describe the dirty, crossbow-wielding redneck his little sister had been shacking up with. “He’s a little… grumpy, and…”

You rolled your eyes. “Standoffish? Harsh? Ornery? Mean?”

Aaron laughed. “Yeah, a little, but I’ve seen how he is with you and your group.”

You nodded. “He’s a good guy,” you assured him. “Once you get to know him, he’ll be lot nicer. He’s just got this… this shield, you know? He doesn’t know if he can trust you yet. He’s like that with everyone at first.”

“As long as he’s good to you,” Aaron said, “that’s all that matters.”

You felt him wrap his arm around you and bring him in for a side hug, to which you snuggled into his shoulder and smiled.

“He’s one of the best men in the world,” you said. “He’s saved my life more times than I can count, and I’ve seen him put so many people before himself. You’re going to like him, I know it.”

Aaron nodded. “I will, and you’re going to like Alexandria.”

Thanks for reading! Likes, reblogs, and comments of any kind are always appreciated!

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jishyucks · 3 years

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It's the Thought that Counts ‣ njm

‣ genre: implied f2l, fluff, pining, female reader

‣ wc: 1.3k

‣ summary: In which you're Jaemin's plus-one to a wedding and questions start to run through your head rent-free

‣ an: (pretend Jaemin and Jaehyun are cousins in this)–idk if this is cute, but it was cute to me (◕‿◕), it's lowkey cliche but who doesn't like cliches... anyways, gonna start writing 'shorter' scenarios so I can post more frequently, enjoy!!

There was no denying that you’d rather be at home binge-watching a kdrama right now instead of attending a wedding. But because Jaemin had asked you to be his plus one ever so cutely, you couldn’t help but give in to his pleas before he could even begin his nearly endless tangent about why attending weddings was somehow significant to other events in life.

You had nothing against weddings, in fact, you’ve watched the Crazy Rich Asians scene so many times you can’t even count every single time you did, but it was the formality that made you not want to go. Though it was understandable why it was a formal occasion, you wished you didn’t have to care so much about what you wore just to go. Yet here you were, sitting in the passenger’s seat of Jaemin’s car all glammed up to go to his cousin, Jaehyun’s, wedding

“The guys are going, too, so not everyone will be complete strangers,” Jaemin mentioned, “I wanna see your reaction to them in suits and ties.” He turns into a parking lot in front of a venue that was completely packed. You could see other guests making their way into the building, smiles plastered effortlessly on their faces. You figured that this wouldn’t be that bad, especially because of how joyful the occasion was.

Jaemin pulls into a free parking spot, double-checking his reflection in the mirror, “Why didn’t you tell me my hair is all weird?”

You shrugged, “I didn’t think it looked bad.” And it was true, Jaemin looked good no matter how he was styled, but you swore to yourself you were not going to admit that out loud. Especially not to Jaemin.

You hear him huff before reaching up to fix tufts of his hair to look neater. He pats it down before nodding in satisfaction and turning to you, “Are you ready?”

“Yeah, especially since it took you long enough to fix your hair,” you joked. Pulling the car door handle, it pops open, allowing you to slip out easily. Jaemin follows in pursuit, dusting off his suit as he stands up.

“Ya! Na Jaemin!” You look around almost instantly, trying to pick out who called your best friend from the fairly large crowd of people. After a short while of searching, you finally identify them. Among those entering the wedding’s venue, you find the one and only Lee Jeno waving his arms shamelessly to catch yours and Jaemin’s attention, “Over here! Jaemin! Y/N!

You smiled and waved back, trying not to laugh obnoxiously at how ridiculous Jeno looked. As you and Jaemin begin making your way to him, you could see Mark and Chenle join Jeno at the curb, waving along.

“You guys look handsome as always,” you compliment, wondering why Jaemin wanted to see your reaction as if you’d be laughing your ass off at the sight of boys in suits.

Mark beams, “You look beautiful, as always.”

You miss Jaemin throwing a look at Mark before turning to you, “Hey, you didn’t say that to me…” You turned to find Jaemin looking back at you with a pout and a puzzled set of eyebrows, “Don’t I look good?”

You feel your heartbeat quicken in pace at your friend’s wish for a compliment, “Only a little.” A lie. He looked the most attractive out of basically everyone present, but you knew that if you did end up telling him that he looked handsome as hell, it was you who was gonna be losing your shit and not Jaemin. Jaemin would use this opportunity to tease you, and any boosted attention from Jaemin was basically someone asking to be punched in the gut (and hard).

Ignoring the stank glare Jaemin gave you for your reply, you turn back to Mark, Jeno, and Jeno, “Anyways… Where are the others?"

“Inside getting seats,” Chenle replied, “I guess we should go in and join them.” The rest nodded, all turning towards the building and following the other guests through the many entrances. You stuck by Jaemin’s side, who had suddenly gone quiet at the sight of all of his relatives and family friends

“Jaeminie! Is that you?” Out of nowhere, an older boy approaches your small group on the way to the main ceremony area. Jaemin motions for you all to go ahead of him, “Wait! Who’s this? Your girlfriend?” Before you could leave Jaemin’s side to follow the other three, the curious look Jaemin’s relatives had been giving you stopped you in your tracks. He was talking about you.

Jaemin abruptly chokes on air, brows raising in a slight panic. His attention shoots towards you, eyes wide at the assumption, “Oh! Nononono, this is my–uh–really good friend, Y/N!” He laughs awkwardly and turns back to his relative. Did you notice the way his ears turned red?

You would be lying if you said that that hurt a bit, but it was true. You nodded, “Nice to meet you!”

“Y/N this is my cousin, Youngbin,” Jaemin introduces, “Well, Youngbin, nice talking to you, but we really need to get to our seats before they’re gone.”

“No problem,” he smiles, “My mom’s holding my seat, I just had to go find something.” Jaemin nods before maneuvering you towards the actual ceremony area, leaving Youngbin without hesitation.

“I’m sorry about that,” he mumbles, “He’s always been really blunt and stuff.” You two spot the others sitting closer to the front but still in the middle seats.

“It’s okay, Jae,” you say, “It happens.”

Jaemin could only respond with a smile before you both were settled in a spot together between Donghyuck and Jisung.

“You two look cute~” Donghyuck whispers into Jaemin’s ear. There was a hint of a joking tone lining his words, yet Jaemin could sense he was serious.

“Hyuck, shut up,” he whispers back, poking his thigh, “My cousin already mistook her as my girlfriend and she looked offended.” The guests were quickly getting settled, meaning that the ceremony was about to begin.

“You do look like a couple, though, not gonna lie,” Donghyuck shrugs and shifts away into Mark’s side before Jaemin could even attempt subtly poking at him again.

“Yeah, whatever,” Jaemin mumbles. I wish.

The ceremony soon begins, shutting up any ongoing. conversation within the room. Everything went as planned. It was just like they were in movies or shows or books. The groom’s reaction to the bride’s entrance was your favourite part; the reactions of the guests to the bride was a beautiful experience too.

Throughout the entire ceremony, you couldn’t help picture how your wedding would be like or how you would want it. Yes, it was somewhat selfish thinking about yourself during the joyous occasion of another, but there was no stopping your active mind, especially since you were currently attending a wedding.

Would it be better for there to be many guests or only limited to close family and friends? What about the colours? A theme? Which of your friends would you choose as the maid of honour? Where would want it to be?

You let your thoughts run free while miraculously still paying attention to the emotional ceremony. At one point during the vows, you felt a tear threaten to fall, but you sucked it back in.

If someone had been able to read your mind, they were probably drowning in countless of your questions to yourself. It was then the final question had somehow overshadowed the previous ones.

At that moment, the minister spoke with his chest, “You may now kiss the bride!

Watching the two newlyweds lean kiss, you feel yourself unconsciously turn your head up to look at Jaemin, who had been completely stuff throughout the wedding.

Who would your groom be?

As the guests all begin to clap for the couple at the front of the room, your eyes settle on Jaemin, heartbeat skyrocketing.

Jaemin was already looking back at you. And little did you know, he was asking himself who his bride would be.

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smutty-ki113r · 3 years

Text

🎥It’s been so long 🎥||

Comfort one-shot reader x creepy pastas (Slenderman, Jeff, Toby, E.J, BEN, Sally, Masky, Hoodie, Jane and L.J.) ((Beauty and the beast spoilers))

Inspired by: The living tombstone

The following morning you got ready to go to Hollywood studios. It was pretty chilly so you wore a jacket, bunched up in the car with everyone else. On the way there BEN wouldn’t stop talking about the new Star Wars exhibits.

Parking in one of the spots you all rode the tram to bring you to the entrance. All of the creeps stood in awe at the decorations at the entrance. Slender had to shoo them to disperse before they could hold up the other people coming in. Jeff looked irritated, probably cause he left his knife at the hotel as instructed.

A lot of people were dressed as people from the 50’s and such for Halloween weekend. Some of them gave strange looks at your groups’ costumes, but there was definitely compliments too. At least L.J was happy because there were less annoying children.

First up was the tower of terror, which you guys had a hard time finding since it was to the farther side of the park. BEN kept whining that he wanted to go to the Star Wars rides, but Jeff and you were pretty headstrong on wanting to go on this one.

The line was long too, about an hour in the hot Florida sun. Thankfully it was windy, and you sat on the ledges for the wait. Hoodie and Sally opted out since she was too short and he had a slight fear of heights. Slender could actually fit this time so he was pretty excited.

Jeff was pretty restless the whole time, fiddling with his hands in his hoodie pocket. BEN sat next to you on the ledge with his head on your shoulder, he seemed tired. Probably because he brought his Nintendo and played it all night even though you advised him not to.

Eventually you all made it inside where you looked at the “spooky” decorations. If slender had a face he would have one of disgust at the cobwebs. There was no comparison to his mansion, not creepy at all -in his opinion.

“Spooky does not mean unclean” he kept muttering to you guys telepathically.

Jeff rolled his eyes and Masky nodded his head, his arms crossed as you guys moved along. Then you were moved in to a separate room to watch some recording giving a backstory to the hotel. You were really focused on the video, there was even ominous music in the background.

There was this annoying whirr in your ear, you had to swat off the wind blowing on it. If the place really was haunted you were the victim. You felt a pair of hands grab your waist and you jolted, looking behind to find a cackling BEN.

“YOU SHIT” You slapped his arm- obviously- he deserved it.

He kept trying to fend you off until Masky gave both of you a really dangerous look. At least you didn’t need to be scared of ghosts anymore, Masky was the scariest thing there. Plus, BEN wasn’t exactly a terrifying ghost with those cute ears of his.

Finally it was time to get on the ride, slender looked really excited in his own way. He had his hands over his lap, the seatbelt buckled securely. You sat on the end with Jeff next to you and BEN next to him and then Toby after.

LJ was on the row behind you with Masky and EJ, you gave them a look as the cart moved. Then the doors opened and there was a stiff in the movement. Abruptly it shot upward, staying still for a second. You got to look at the beautiful view of the whole park before it dropped.

You felt your stomach drop as you clenched your hands on the handles, screaming along with LJ in the back. Glancing at him you saw the feathers on his shoulders fly up at the fall, Slender had his arms up, it was adorable. Toby was CRYING, holding onto the handles for dear life just like you.

After a few times of rising and going down Jeff started yelling at BEN, “STOP TAMPERING WITH THE CONTROLS”

“I’M NOT” he screached, holding onto his hat and trying to shake off a clingy Jeff. The outdoor daylight flashing onto his face, making his wide smiling face illuminate.

“STOP IT BEN” he kept repeating until there was one last drop. He gave a sigh of relief.

The people on the opposite rows looked mortified, scooting past you as you checked the pictures. They were absolutely hilarious, Jeff was gripping on for dear life to BEN, with Slender blocking the family in the back row and there was an open mouth shot of you.

It was a bit dizzying, so you held onto BEN until you regained your balance. He was a bit shocked too, a look of terror displayed at how Jeff yelled at him 50 feet in the air. Toby was pretty petrified too, his ticking increased and you had to rub him on the back to calm him down.

“I liked it” E.J said, shrugging at the picture and moving to the exit. Masky agreed with him, going to find his buddy Brian outside.

Toby needed something to take his mind off of the ride, so you took him and Sally to the Beauty and the Beast show. E.J tagged along too, which was pretty bizarre but hey maybe he liked theatre. The others went to the guitar ride while you waited for the next show to start.

The four of you sat in a back row to have the whole view of the stage. Needless to say that Toby and Sally really enjoyed themselves listening to the actors sing. When the conflict started Sally got anxious and you had to hold her in your lap.

Jack was quieter than usual watching the show, occasionally shushing Toby’s whimpers so he could concentrate. Gaston got on stage and started singing about killing the beast. You looked over at EJ who had his fists balled up in rage, he was really getting into it.

Giving a snarl when Gaston killed the beast but a huff of approval when he turned out to be okay. He didn’t say it but he kinned the beast, and he secretly wanted the happy ending. When the show ended you could have sworn there was tar rolling down his mask, you have him a little pat of affection.

He smiled at you under his blue mask and stood up, excusing himself for a moment. You shrugged as he went behind the stage, probably to get a snack. Leaving the gaston actor with one less kidney than when he started the show.

Then you pushed him out of there with the other two creeps, going across the road to find the rest of the group at the guitar ride. Slender was outside waiting with Hoodie and Jane, Sally ran up to give him a hug.

“They’re in the line for another round” he sighed, “go join them” he called to you and E.J.

You swerved through the other people, excusing yourself because you had to find your group. They told you all about how exciting it was, in the dark and super fast. Jeff was ranting, impatient once again. When you got inside BEN played with the marbles on the door, Masky was shooting him a disapproving look.

Jeff and BEN went in the cart in front of you, you went with L.J who wouldnt stop grinning. It would have been creepy if you weren’t used to it, but the lady making sure you were buckled seemed pretty terrified. Masky and E.J were behind you.

The car took off with a blast, music bursting in your ears as it climbed the tracks. You were overwhelmed with glowing decorations and unplanned curves, taking loopdy loops and hearing BEN and Jeff scream in delight.

You had to give heavy pants when it finished, catching your breath from all your screaming. You laughed along with L.J, whose hair was messed up. Reaching over to make it neater as the cart reached the exit point. The pictures made you cackle, especially since Masky and E.J on the same row had the same void expression.

After that you all headed to the toy story world. Admiring the green army soldiers and amazing childish scenery on the buildings. There were giant abc building blocks and gears making it seem like you had really shrunk.

Upon seeing the Toy Story mania BEN was teething. For some reason Jane too.

Finding out soon enough when she made you ride with her. Basically it was you and Jane in one cart with Jeff and BEN in the next.

She ignored the objective of the game and instead focused on shooting Jeff with the lasers. You kept telling her she had to shoot them at the targets but she shoved you off.

“I need to shoot this fucker” Jane kept muttering.

“You’ll never get me Jane!” Jeff yelled back.

Jeff aimed his cart towards you guys and started fighting back with the light filled lasers. You and BEN looked at each other like 😐, it was useless to break them up.

So you tried to win as much points as you cold but eventually BEN got more, he probably cheated. He did a little victory dance as you exited, you would definitely hold that against him later.

Slender wanted to go on the movie ride, which Jeff protested against but he wasn’t given much of a choice. Slender really liked the infographics and the interactives. Appreciating the realistic scenarios from the Indiana Jones movie and the Wild West.

Jeff did have a laughing fit when he saw the Alien from the Alien movie, saying it looked just as bald as slender. You were sure to give him a smack at that too. Overall though, you all enjoyed it, even Masky did too.

Next was the muppet show, so you all headed that way. While you all waited for the next viewing to start Toby was playing with the 3-D glasses. He kept walking with his arms out and pretending to be dizzy. Then he started “accidentally” bumping into Masky, poor Masky.

Thankfully for him, the doors opened and he sat as far as possible from Toby. You were sandwiched in between him and BEN. You guys lightly chattered until the lights dimmed and you had to put on your glasses.

L.J was having a laughing attack during the show, joined by Sally who actually really liked it. Then there was a part where the little muppet started spitting water, landing onto the audience. Now here was the part where a certain someone started screeching like a little girl, and it wasn’t Sally.

Benny was shivering in fear trying to cower on the floor, your ears rung as you tried to calm him down. You had to assure him like 20 times for him to come back, drying his seat so he could go back. Jeff was laughing but you quickly shut him up.

“It’s gonna be ok BEN, the show’s almost over” you said, giving him your jacket to warm up.

To compensate for BEN’s panic attack you convinced Slender to go to the Star Wars world next. At least BEN was pretty excited for that one, so you managed to diverge his attention to that instead.

His eyes widened and he started jumping up and down when you guys got there. Since there were so many rides you guys started just by walking around. It was pretty incredible, like straight out of the movies.

The architecture was amazing, with rusted technological buildings and the makeshift rocky terrain. The roofs of each buildings were domes, most of them were circular and extraterrestrial.

The stone was so realistic, some the walls were painted with a light aquamarine and some buildings with a yellow. The roofs were made up of a chipped bronze.

Even the ship which stood at the center was unbelievable, Slender made you and BEN take a picture together. You could see the grin of a lifetime on his face follow as you waited in line for the live action ride.

It was so fun! Even slender loved it, he knew he intimidated the storm troopers and if he could grin it would be a smug one. The design of the ride was amazing, the inside was like the real ships.

After you bought BEN a green milk and got a Blue one for yourself. It was sweet on your tongue, cold like a slushee too. You let BEN try yours after he gulped his own down and then he nagged you until you let him have the rest of it.

The next ride was the interactive one, this time you went with Masky and Hoodie. He had been quiet most of the time but this really fired him up. It was a three person ride, the mission was to get to a certain planet in the galaxy while escaping an evil ship.

Masky took all the control on this one, he was the pilot. He put Hoodie as the repair guy and you were the ammo man. He was solely concentrated on maneuvering that ship, swerving left and right like a pro. When the other ship started attacking he began commanding you too.

“SHOOT” he yelled back at you. He sure was bossy sometimes. “ARE YOU SHOOTING?”

“I AM” you said, pushing the button a million miles a minute to see the red laser shoot out on the screen.

Your wrist hurt from how hard you pushed it time and time again. “SHOOT THE GODDAMN SHIP” he said before you landed a good shot and got it out of the way, giving a sigh of relief that he would stop telling you what to do.

Hoodie was on repair duty so he just made sure you guys stayed a flight, silent and concentrated on his task.

Coming out of the Star Wars world you guys moved on to the Indiana Jones show, leaving Toby and Sally at the Frozen sing along with L.J as a chaperone. He was in literal hell, with so many little kids. He did like any reasonable adult and left, leaving the irresponsible person and Sally alone.

The Indiana Jones was one of the evening showings, probably the last one of the day before the main event. The whole thing was really thrilling, full of action and suspense. It was very exciting, and Jeff got a little too hyper.

He saw the weapons and started bouncing his legs on the floor. You eyed him suspiciously for a bit, he got so pumped he started raging. Luckily you covered his mouth before he could start yelling.

The smiling killer gave you a deadly look as he took his illegal knife out if his pocket. The very knife he promised he left at the hotel. You wondered how he snuck it in, probably his pants this time.

“You fucker” you deadpanned, moving out of his knife range. This was all while Indiana Jones was rolling over makeshift buildings with that dramatic music in the background. Thank goodness for the music, or else people would start calling security.

“BEN, E.J, HELP ME” you whisper yelled at them. They took Jeff by the arms and made him calm down, through your hand he gave muffled remarks.

His lidless eyes only widened as swords came into view, he simped over those blades like no other. Pulling and fighting for you to let him go, he wanted to cause rampage with his knife.

“I COULD BEAT THE SHIT” he paused to lick your palm which you made a squirmy face at but refused to let him go “OUT OF THOSE GUYS” you took his knife at this point.

You had to keep him restrained until the show ended, meeting up with the other half of your group then as you were walking to the restroom your group was encountered by a double line of storm troopers.

They stopped to make a round, approaching Masky and E.J, since they had masks. First was E.J, where they interrogated him with questions about if he with the first order cause or not.

“Are you part of the resistance” the trooper asked in a filtered voice.

“No” he said calmly.

“How can we know for sure?” the man in the white suit asked.

“I’m not one of the good guys, trust me” he said with a light chuckle. You laughed a little too and they moved to near Masky.

“Trooper get back in line” they said. You almost levitated, it was so funny you had to take a picture. Side by side his mask kind of resembled the storm troopers’.

“I’m not one of you” he said, boiling with anger as a few other troopers marched their way over to him.

“So you’re a Jedi in disguise then?” Another asked, face inches away from Masky.

“No” he said, the boy was about to burst with rage, too serious to take this as a game and gripping his fanny pack in anger to refrain from punching the guy.

The commander in a black mask passed by and spoke “Cleared”, the troopers dispersed, leaving a less distressed Masky behind.

Jeff was laughing at least, and L.J too, who appeared behind you mysteriously. Slender towered over him and asked where Sally was, the monochromed clown just gave a toothy smile and told him he dropped them off at the little mermaid show.

When that was over you guys got good seats at the fantastmic show, with the exception of BEN who feared water and was still having flashbacks from earlier. He gave rounds on the guitar ride with Jeff who opted to skip out with him, its not like he could sit still any longer too.

You hoped they didn’t kill anyone (they probably did), while the show went on. It was a beautiful display of lights in the water. There was a story told on the mountain and then the dancers came out. You smiled at the sight, it was another heartwarming day spent with the creeps. Holding Sally in your lap as she squealed at the pretty lights you were happy and at peace.

#slenderman #creepypasta #ben drowned #jeff the killer x you #jeff the killer x reader #jeff the killer #slenderverse #ben drowned x reader #masky x reader #creepypasta masky #brian thomas #eyeless jack x you #eyeless jack x reader #eyeless jack #ticci toby #jane the killer #sally williams #creepy

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takerfoxx · 3 years

Text

The Owl House, Season 2, Episode 4, "Keeping up A-Fear-Ances," First Impressions!

Oh, my God, they actually went there.

Okay, so one of the many things I love about today's cartoons is that in addition to the sharp writing and all of them being unashamedly weird, there is a trend of tackling tough topics, even ones that are currently highly controversial and relevant.

Which means today we are blessed with a freaking episode about the anti-vax movement on a Disney cartoon.

I mean, that's what it's about, right? Eda and Lilith's mother is rejecting actually proven methods of keeping the curse at bay and risking her health and money to acquire a bunch of psuedo-science (or, well, psuedo-magic) "cures" for Eda's curse. Her desire to do so is certainly understandable. It's clear that she does care deeply for her daughter and will do anything to help her, but her fear, desperation, and love causes her to cling to anything and anyone that'll tell her what she wants to hear, leading her to get taken advantage of and ultimately put the very daughter she was trying to help in danger.

GEE, I wonder what THAT sounds like!

Look, I'm not going to beat around the bush. I've always detested the anti-vax movement. Not only is it the work of charlatans and fear-mongers, not only does it prey upon the fears that many young parents have about their children and exploit them, but it also harms the very children that it claims to protect. Plus, as an autistic guy, I sort of take the whole, "Vaccines cause autism!" thing a little personally, because not only is it untrue, but it comes with the implication that people would rather their kid be dead than end up like me.

This last year or so has only deepened that disgust, as ludicrous conspiracy theories have spread like wildfire at a time when we needed to listen to science the most, causing people to eschew the very things we need in order to get through the pandemic (vaccines, masks, social distancing, cleanliness, etc.) and declare them to be part of some dark plot to brainwash people, which does and has gotten hundreds of thousands of people killed! Hell, I have many people buying this bullshit in my own family, people who I love and care about deeply, so it hurts seeing them buy into all of that harmful misinformation, putting themselves and others at risk. There was a huge blow-up at Thanksgiving just because I suggested keeping gatherings into small groups instead of one big one, one that still hasn't healed.

But the worst part is that I know that, as bad as those beliefs are, they do come from a good place. People are genuinely scared, and that makes them listen to liars and swindlers, fear-mongers pointing fingers at those trying to help and declaring them to be the actual fear-mongers. And that sucks because as much as I want to just blow up and tell them that they're being stupid, I know that it will only make things worse. It's something I genuinely don't know how to approach.

So yeah, I understand why Gwen is the way she is. Doesn't make it any less infuriating, or the harm she causes to her daughters any less real, but she's not inherently a bad person. But sometimes harm done out of a desire to do good is even worse.

And in our b-plot, we also find out something interesting. Turns out that rebellious rapscallion Eda was the golden child, while dutiful and talented Lilith was overlooked and neglected, despite all of her incredible accomplishments! Y'know, you have loving families in cartoons, you have toxic and dysfunctional families, but here we have a family that is both. They do all care about each other, but they're all so wrapped up in their own issues that they often don't see how they're hurting each other. At least now those rifts are starting to heal.

Now, granted, everything did wrap up a bit neater than I would have preferred. Like I said, this episode's themes hit really close to home, so having Gwen just suddenly realize the error of her ways and have everything smoothed out with a bunch of hugs and apologies felt a little too easy, but it's a kid cartoon, and I applaud them for even tackling these subjects.

Though I'm not sure what Gwen said about her needing to accept the curse. Like, the wording sounded like one of those LGBTQA+ allegories you often see in cartoons, but it's curse, and we have canon LGTQA+ characters. Magical AIDS, maybe?

And in lore business, we find out that Eda came across the portal completely by accident. We also find out that long ago, some human slipped through the cracks and wound up in the Boiling Isles, only to mysteriously vanish. Gee, I wonder who that could possibly be?

Though I wouldn't be surprised if Belos turned out to be a red herring. Regardless, he's still the number one suspect.

And finally...Wow. Okay, Luz has a creepy doppelganger, who supposedly is also the one who had been sending her mom those notes. Y'know, I think Eda might be the one responsible. We already know how attached she is to Luz, so it wouldn't surprise me if she cooked something up to keep Luz's mother to come looking for her.

Though given how I feel about Frankenstein's Monster-type characters, I'd really like it if Creepy Luz ends up becoming her own character and befriends her "sister." I'd like it a lot.

#the owl house #toh #eda clawthorne #lilith clawthorne #gwendolyn clawthorne #luz noceda #emperor belos #reaction

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parkertech · 4 years

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Tattoos & Tears — CHAPTER 4

a/n: on everybody's 18th birthday, they get a tattoo of their soulmate written on their wrist. for you, it's your best friend who you thought you got over. who even has a girlfriend of his own.

warnings: swearing, mentions of drinking, jealousy, angst

———————————————————————

MJ was rudely awoken by the morning sun blinding her eyes. She mentally cussed it out in her head, before checking the time. She groaned at the realization that she had to get ready, and turned over patting Peter’s shoulder.

“Pete...wake up...” she whispered. It was Peter’s turn to groan, and he buried his face in his pillow, his eyes still closed. MJ giggled at how much of a couch potato he was being, before running her hand through his hair.

“It’s 7:00 Peter...come ooonn...” He only groaned even louder in protest. He could feel MJ’s body heat, and instead of it being comforting, he found it the opposite. He scooted slightly away from her, and sighed feeling the cool mattress under his skin.

“I don’t wannaaaa...the days gonna be full of boring lessons, and boring teachers, and boring people...”

“Yeah, everyone’s basically boring.” MJ replied. She jumped out of Peter’s bed, grabbing an outfit she left in his closet. “Well, besides your friends, of course.” Peter hummed and nodded in response while MJ left his room to his bathroom to take a shower.

With MJ’s last sentence, he was reminded of all his friends. MJ, Ned, Betty, Y/N...

Wait, Y/N!

He shot up from his bed, realizing he had a big priority on his hand today. All the memories of last night came back, and he mentally cursed himself all over again.

Okay, he needed a plan. That was his thing, that’s how he got MJ as his girlfriend. And that worked out. Even though he technically couldn’t check any of those things off...

Peter started making the list mentally. Okay, step one. Apologize for being a dick. Even if he wasn’t secretly sorry. It was Brad Davis for crying out loud! But that still didn’t mean he controlled you. Step two, basically be your bitch. That would soften you up a bit. Hand her the homework if she needs it, give her notes for the day, etcetera, etcetera. And if all else fails and you’re still mad at him, step 3. Leave her alone.

But what if he doesn’t want to?

No no, not about you, Peter.

If you were really mad, you would just need space to soften up. Then he’d try again. Peter took a breath, letting his plan sink in, before getting ready for the day.

MJ beat Peter to school, when she realized she was going to be late if she waited for him. As she was taking out all her textbooks and notes for her next class, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. She turned around, only to be cornered by Peter himself, who had a bright smile on his face.

“Hey, you.” He said cheery. MJ couldn’t stop the matching smile that came across his face.

“Hey to you, too.” Peter chuckled a bit before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her lips. MJ’s cheeks immediately flared up, and she could tell she was blushing. There was a slight fire in her that she couldn’t put out if she tried.

But Peter didn’t feel it.

He was expecting the butterflies, and the flushed cheeks, but he felt nothing. The only thing he felt was a slight discomfort, as he pulled away with a confused look. He could hear tingling, and knew it was his spider sense.

“What’s wrong?” MJ asked. Usually he would continue his affection, but apparently today was different. Peter turned to look down a hall, and his spider sense turned off once he saw you.

Except you weren’t alone.

There you were, leaning against your locker with a bright smile on your face, laughing at something Brad Davis said. He had a casual arm leaning against the locker above you, and he was slightly towering over you. Peter also took in your appearance. You were hearing a white, long sleeve scoop neckline shirt, along with a dark blue denim skirt that stopped in the middle of your thighs. You had soft, yet gentle makeup on your face, and your hair was a little more neater today.

You were dressed to impress someone.

And that someone was Brad.

Peter grit his teeth a little, before turning back to MJ.

“Nothing, just thought my spider senses sensed danger.” MJ nods with an ‘oh’ face, before turning back around and continuing rummaging through her locker. Peter took this chance to look back up at you. Brad was now smiling at you, and he could see his eyes trail up and down your body. Peter’s chest grew tight, and he felt that familiar jealousy from last night, all because he was checking you out.

Jesus, why was he being so weird?

He knew it was a problem if he could address it himself. MJ shut her locker, and grabbed his hand. Peter took the hint, and walked her to her History class, but his eyes never left the not -so-subtle flirting Brad was doing. And he could tell you enjoyed it.

But little did Peter know, he was far from right.

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Peter looking at you. You knew you needed some kind of way to distract yourself. Plus, you needed to keep your lie going. You killed two birds with one stone, and pretended to be interested in Brad. You felt a little bad, honestly. Brad didn’t deserve to be lied to of such a thing, and it made you feel more guilty when you could tell he was into you.

It was easy to pretend to have the same feelings. You giggled at all his jokes, even if they weren’t that funny, maybe touched his bicep a bit, but that was it. The only thing motivating you was imagining it was Peter. You heard the bell rung, and turn to your locker grabbing one last book.

“That’s us. Do you wanna walk to class together?” See, if this were really Peter, you’d be a stuttering, blushy mess. But it isn’t, so you’re not. Brad smiles at your offer before nodding.

“Yeah, maybe we could also sit next to each other?” Brad really was too naive for his own good...you wanted to sit with Peter, but he was probably sitting in between MJ and Ned by now.

“Yeah, I’d like that.” Brad waited until you locked your locker before walking down the sea of students to your class. It was silent except for his little comments, but it was a kind of peaceful silence. As promised, you and Brad took a seat in the middle next to each other.

Peter was occupied talking to Ned about his new Millennium Falcon LEGO set, until you walked in the room. With Brad. God, why is he always there?

He practically glared daggers at him, and he pulled a seat next to you. Of course, he was sitting next to you now. He only temporarily moved his eyes when the teacher came in to start the lesson. He stole occasional glances, and when the teacher assigned partners for a new project, guess who volunteered to be your partner?

“Okay, so we can continue doing this at my house?” You asked Brad. Peter growled a little. You just started talking to him and he’s already going to your house? Great.

MJ spotted his tense stance, and gently put her hand on his shoulder. He flinched a little, but nonetheless played it off.

The bell finally rung after what felt like an eternity, and MJ telling him to wait for her was the only thing stopping him from speeding away in annoyance. Him, MJ, Betty, and Ned, all sat in a table, across from each other. He expected you to sit next to them per usual, but he didn’t see any sign of you.

“Guys, do any of you see Y/N?” He asks. Betty’s eyes widen a little at the mention of your name, but she plays it off by looking around. She spots you a few tables down, and points.

“There she is.” He looked where Betty pointed. You had one of your notebooks open, writing away to it. Peter didn’t realize it, but he was admiring how your tongue poked out a little when you were very concentrated, and when you brushed your hair behind your ear because it was getting in the way. It showed more of your face, and for some reason that made his heart swell. As quick as the view was memorable, it became trashed the second Brad came into view. You looked up at him and smiled for what felt like the hundredth time that day. When Brad sat down next to you, he notice he had two trays of food, and handed one to you.

Get a load of this fucker.

Peter was full on fuming now. He could tell you were having fun with him, and it just made the anger in him rise even more. He knew the rest of the day wasn’t gonna be good if he kept seeing you two like this. Most of the lunch period was spent looking and glaring at you and Brad. Peter rarely payed any attention to his friends’ conversations, and only responded with one worded sentences. MJ noticed him being off, because she notices everything, and thought he was having a bad day. Maybe it was just this once. She decided to give him space. If something was wrong, he would tell her. She was certain of that.

“I’ll be right back.” He mumbled to his friend group. Betty and MJ eyed him, and Betty’s eyes widened when she realized he was walking to you.

Does he know? Did he somehow figure it out? Shit shit shit shit!

Peter sat across from you, which snatched your attention from Brad to him. You smiled at him while Brad just gave him a weird glance.

“Hey, Peter! What’s up?” He furrowed his eyebrows at how friendly you were being. Were you really going to act like last night didn’t happen? Or was he making it a big deal when it really wasn’t?

“Can I talk to you? In private?” He glared at Brad a bit, and it was very noticeable. You were about to call him out on it, before Brad intervened.

“It’s cool, I’ll just throw away our trash and let you guys talk, okay?” You nodded as Brad took your tray full of trash and his own, going over to the trash bin.

“So what did you wanna talk about?”

“I wanted to say sorry...for how I acted yesterday...” Peter’s aggressive demeanor was quickly turned into a shy one just by standing across from you.

“Oh, that? It’s okay, I was just in a snippy mood. Probably because of the alcohol.” It was easier to sugarcoat it instead of telling the truth. Eventually he’d wonder why you were so mad and figure it out. Peter wasn’t stupid, just not that observant.

“No, I feel like it was my fault mostly. I mean I’m the one that brought it up, even though I know I can’t control your love life, I’m sorry about that too, and I-“

“Peter I said I forgive you. It’s okay.” You stopped him mid rambling and his cheeks flushed in embarrassment. His palms suddenly became sweaty and he placed them on his thighs instead of in front of him on the table.

“Okay. Cool. Yeah.” You nodded and he awkwardly nodded back, before going back to his seat. He joined in MJ’s conversation a little unwillingly, while Betty took her chance to sit in front of you this time.

“What was he talking about?” She whispered. You shot your head up from your notes and furrowed your eyebrows.

“What?”

“He doesn’t know, right? About your tattoo.” Your eyes widened and you looked around, making sure no one heard you.

“Betty! Ssh! Don’t say it so loud! No, he doesn’t. He was just talking to me.” Betty sat there staring at you for a few seconds before asking another question.

“When are you gonna tell him?” You scoffed and shrugged before turning back to her.

“I don’t know. I don’t think I have to. The tattoo is probably wrong anyways.” Betty furrowed her eyebrows.

“I’m sorry, why are you acting like it’s not a big deal?”

“Maybe because it’s not. A flaw could’ve happened, who knows.” Betty glared at you, obviously annoyed. How did you go from having a full on panic attack to acting like it’s nothing?

“Really? So being in love with him isn’t a big deal?” You clenched your jaw, just wanting her to stop. You didn’t want to think about anything of last night, and Betty wasn’t really helping.

“I was drunk, okay?” But you meant it.

“I don’t think you would have a full on breakdown about that, even if you were drunk.”

“Betty, I don’t want to talk about it anymore, okay? I’m hanging out with Brad, and I think I might actually be into him. I don’t want a stupid fucking tattoo to ruin that for me!” Betty was way more confused now. But she didn’t have the energy to argue. She rolled her eyes a little, putting her hands up in defense, before leaving the table and going back to Ned.

When school hours were over, Brad went over to your house as planned. MJ went over to Peter’s house as usual, except he wasn’t as enthusiastic about it. He’d rather be alone. With you.

That was all that was on his mind. You, you, you. He mentally scolded himself, constantly repeating that he had a girlfriend to focus on instead. To get his mind off of you, he decided to go through a Star Wars marathon with MJ. He ignored her protests and stayed silent, which was unlike him. He’d banter to her saying it’s overhated, but he didn’t have the energy today.

The distraction didn’t work, though. He knew literally every line, what was going to happen, yadda yadda yadda. It just made him more bored. Peter looked down at MJ spooned up beside him, her eyes closed and her breathing slow. He carefully and cautiously moved out of his place between the couch and her, and didn’t waste any time to put on his red and black spandex and jump out the window.

When Peter started patrol, it was near sundown. When he checked his phone, it was 12 in the morning. He knew MJ would be up by now, and the thought of that annoyed him. He didn’t know why, but now he kind of found the thought of hanging around MJ really negatively. It’s not her as a person, it’s hanging out with her as her boyfriend. As Peter stared at his bedroom window, his thoughts ran wild.

Did he want to break up with MJ?

Peter knew the answer but wanted to try and prove himself wrong. He knew he couldn’t. But he didn’t want to hurt MJ. Sure, breakups happen, but someone gets hurt. He doesn’t want to hurt anybody. Especially someone as good as MJ. The thought of it made his eyes water. Peter pinched the bridge of his nose, squinting his eyes shut and groaning a little.

“Peter, is everything okay with you?” He heard his new A.I.—E.D.I.T.H. ask. He figured out a way to transfer E.D.I.T.H. to his suit, since the glasses Tony gave him were a bit too big. He never threw them out, of course. He wanted to keep some part of him, besides the suits he made for him.

“Yeah, everything’s fine, E.D.I.T.H.” He knew based off his annoyed and upset tone he was far from right.

“Your heart rate hasn’t been picking up whenever you’re around Michelle.” E.D.I.T.H. stated. Great, he was trying to doubt himself and here goes a computer who literally knows everything. “Is everything okay between you two? I don’t see you argue.” That last word made his mind flashback to yesterday. When he was on your fire escape. It made his heart clench in the worst way possible.

As if the poor boy hadn’t been thinking enough, he went deeper into his mindset. And the deeper he went, the more and more you came up. He saw your smile, how bright and happy it was. He heard your laugh echo in his head, remembering the corny science pun he told you that made him laugh too. He kept getting flashes of you looking at him, of him spending time with you at your place, and how every time you were around you made him smile. He felt that tingle in his stomach, and his hands getting clammy under his suit, and hearing his heart beat in his ear drums. All of this was obvious signs of nervousness.

Peter also thought about MJ. But her smile wasn’t that bright. Her smile didn’t make him mimic it. Her laugh didn’t have as much power as yours did. He saw their moments together, but MJ being replaced with you. He felt his heart tug painfully, instead of any nervousness, and all of a sudden the lightbulb in his head clicked.

“Peter?” E.D.I.T.H. called his name one last time. Peter’s voice cracked as he finally replied to her.

“No, E.D.I.T.H. Everything is not okay between me and MJ...”

———————————————————————

a/n: hehehe that cliffhanger

Taglist 🏷 (requests are open!)

@marvel4geeks @ladykxxx08 @chloecreatesfictions @joyleenl @witchything @pluckypete @yourneighbourhoodclown @whatareyouhidingpeter @elamvlfoy @trumpettay

#peter parker #peter parker imagines #peter parker x reader #spider-man #spider-man far from home #spider-man homecoming #spider man far from home imagine #spider man homecoming imagine #tom holland #peter parker x you #spider man x reader #spider man x you #tom holland x you #tom holland x y/n #tom holland x reader

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its-abbyyyyy · 3 years

Text

10 Tips for Freshmen Year

1. Be prepared!! (but not too prepared)

I know that you may think you know this already, but on my first day of freshmen year I came to class with a thirty-pound backpack and could barely move by the end of the day. You really only need the bare minimum (notebook, pencil, other stuff on the syllabus), so don't waste your energy carrying around stuff you don't need! Also, take advantage of your locker.

2. Take awesome notes!

If you're in an exciting class, you'll want to absorb as much knowledge as you can. If you're in a boring class, you'll want to have something to do. Either way, notetaking is the way to go. I always bring one notebook to school to save space in my bag, then when I get home, I recopy my notes into different notebooks to make them neater. Another tip- do each chapter or unit with a different colored pen. For example, I did one chapter in orange, another in blue, another in green... This makes it a lot easier to find information you need when you're studying. Even when the teacher doesn't insist on taking notes, they will help.

3. Study. Study. Study.

When I was in middle school, I never really learned how to study effectively. One big tip? Make flashcards on actual paper. Even if you don't use them much, writing and searching for the information will help you remember so much more. Having a parent or family member quiz you is great, but studying with a friend in your class is so much better. They'll know more of the material than a parent, plus you're guaranteed a good time. I've studied for biology a lot this year with a close friend and not only did I get good grades, but I also had some of my best memories of freshman year.

Also: word clues help so much, especially when you're trying to memorize people for history or something. I had a hard time during the evolution unit remembering the names of scientists, so I came up with clues. For example, Thomas Malthus proposed that humans would grow faster than food needed to supply them. Malthus -> Mouth-us -> food.

4. Be yourself and be confident!!

I know, I know. But hear me out. High school is all about finding your people and you aren't going to find them if you spend all your time pretending to be someone else. Not everyone is going to like you, no matter what you do.

I have a really difficult time with the confidence part, but one thing that has helped me is having a morning routine. Before I get out of the car in the morning, I always say to myself, "Carpe diem. Seize the day. Make your life extraordinary." (yes, I'm a movie nerd. how ever did you know?) But whatever works for you!

5. Try new things. You won't regret it.

I tried sooo many different things: I became a part of the band, I joined clubs, I was on the track team... Not all of them worked out for me, but the ones that did, I wouldn't trade them for the world. I'm not the most athletic person, but the track team gave me a whole new community and an extraordinary role model for a coach, and this was all because I stepped out of my comfort zone.

I also tried band this year, and I'll admit that I was skeptical that we would play lame music or everyone would be better than me. I was completely wrong and now the band is like a second family to me. Even if you don't think you'll be good, even if you aren't super excited about it, try it. Maybe you'll hate it, but maybe you'll love it or even just make a few friends along the way.

6. Talk to people!

I know this one's obvious, but I feel like it should be said. Some of my best friends now, I just met them by making small talk in class. Get to know a few people in each of your classes and extracurriculars well, then just tag along with them and you'll eventually be absorbed into their friend group. At the beginning of the year, I was a loner and always read my book during lunch; now I have three different groups to sit with! It's always worth putting yourself out there, trust me.

7. If you like someone, wait a week or two.

Liking someone in high school is a constant struggle between throwing caution to the wind and not embarrassing yourself. My rule of thumb is to wait two weeks. A lot of times, your crush is just based on looks or a first impression, or you're just liking someone for the sake of liking someone. But if you still have feelings after that long, well... you only live once. You might as well have some crazy stories to tell someday.

8. Be polite to your teachers!

No one likes a teacher's pet, but just being polite can go miles. Just wave in the hallways, say "hi" and "bye" at the beginning and end of class, and answer a question every now and then. In my Spanish class this year, a lot of people were standoffish towards our teacher and ended up getting called on more than people raising their hands, so...

It really helps build relationships as well. Getting early to band class on Mondays and talking about music with my teacher allowed me to use the practice room instead of going to a study hall twice a week. I greeted my English teacher at the beginning of every class and asked her about a book I had recently read and I got an amazing final grade in the class. I waved to my computer science teacher in the hallway and ended up being able to watch Netflix when I was done with my work.

That being said, don't take advantage of their generosity!!

9. Always take someone up on the opportunity to do something fun.

I shied away from hanging out with people outside of school at the beginning of the year, but I eventually came out of my shell. Going on long drives, jamming along to music in study hall, or just playing a simple game of football can easily become your favorite part of the year. Don't miss out on it!

10. Make friends with the upperclassmen.

Seriously. This helps you out so much. They can give you so much advice because they were just in your shoes, and they can even help you with homework and help you out with your teachers. If you're doing a sport and you get to know a few juniors and seniors, then you've got a built-in support squad. I was on a team this year and the loudest cheering didn't come from my friends, it came from the upperclassmen. They really aren't scary, more often than not, they take you under your wing and guide you through high school.

Having upperclassmen as friends also comes with a huge advantage. I tried out for the musical this year and didn't get a part, but I got to know a bunch of juniors in the band that happened to be theatre kids. Now, they say that they will spend hours helping me with my audition and even fight to the death to make sure that I get a part. (hopefully they were being dramatic.)

A side note to that- get to know people in your own grade as well. You don't want to have friends that are all juniors and seniors because they will graduate and it'll break your heart.

Bonus tip cause I feel like it- take care of your mental health!!

This is so important. If something about school is affecting your mental health drastically, talk to a parent or a friend or a teacher or the school counselor. I reached out several times this year and it was terrifying but it helped me so much.

Your mental health should come before your schoolwork. Always.

If you need a break, take a break. Drink water. Have a snack. Listen to music. Sleep. Go on a walk. FaceTime a friend. Do whatever you need to do, and if you miss an assignment because of that, chances are that your teacher will understand.

If you ever need someone to talk to, I'd be happy to help out! <3

#advice #mental health #high school #original post

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broken-clover · 4 years

Text

AU-gust Day 8- Superpowers/Superheroes

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

So apparently when I say ‘these are very long, maybe I should make them less long next time’ it apparently means ‘WRITE NEARLY 5000 WORDS AND SUFFER’ I’m having. A day. Not a bad one just. A Day. This more or less feels like a pilot episode for something honestly.

Please do not ask why I keep writing Sin because there is no answer.

Ky had left him in charge of the scanner. Again.

And Sin knew why he had done it, why he always left him sitting in the high-backed chair perched in front of an array of high-tech computers while he and his friends leapt into action. It wasn’t because Sin was any kind of tech genius. It was because it was the best way of keeping him out of the way.

They didn’t even pretend like it was a real task in need of doing. Sol had already rigged the scanner so that it would send notifications to the entire team as soon as it picked up anything suitably peculiar. Ky’s excuse was that they needed him to watch it and make sure the scanner didn’t malfunction, but it never did. It was just a good way to keep him from running around while Ky couldn’t keep an eye on him.

Well, he could have brought him along, but whenever he suggested, Ky just had to get all uppity about it, and say in so many words that he didn’t want his precious baby boy going on dangerous missions, except he’d say it in a way that made him sound completely reasonable and rational, even though he was a teenager now and he was tired of spending time in front of the monitors and doing nothing but sitting on his ass like a useless idiot.

He shifted to prop his chin up on his other arm. The scanner did another rotation around Illyria, but no notification popped up, just like the last thousand or so times. Ugh, he’d been here for hours, when were they going to come back? The distress call had come from the complete opposite side of town, but considering that half of them could fly, and Ky himself could turn into a goddamn lightning bolt, they were awfully slow. So much for ‘just a quick mission’ like he had promised.

Groaning, Sin abandoned the chair and left it to spin behind him. He left the completely empty computer room to head into the equally-empty kitchen, hoping to find something to munch on. In between Sol’s beer bottles, Testament’s vegan snacks and Chipp’s leftover Japanese takeout, there was a plastic-domed pastry box. His excited smile melted off as soon as he pulled it out and peered inside.

“Thank you for keeping our city safe!” Said the fancy frosting letters. Yeah, he knew where it was from. The local orphanage had sent it after Ky and his friends had stopped Judgement from blowing up half the city last week. Because they were a bunch of good-samaritan do-gooders so compassionate and helpful that they got fucking cake from orphans.

He still cut a big piece from it before shoving the thing back into the fridge. Hey, cake was cake. Plus, he could get a kick out of ruining the letters and part of the bright yellow smiley-face under it.

At least being stuck at the base meant nobody raised a stink over him sitting on the meeting table. Sin was careful not to leave any shoe tracks on it, though, after Ky had chewed him out for it the last time. Personally, he thought having a white table was stupid in the first place, but that was the design Ky liked. It was the same reason they had the big sweeping ceilings, elaborate carvings along the walls, and a special designated chair for each of their official members, individualized by their names and insignias (Because his dad really was that fucking cliche)

In between bites of cake, he toed at the fancy lightning bolt carved into Ky’s chair, with ’Thunderseal’ written out above it. Sin remembered when he used to chase his father around the house, pretending to be him with a construction-paper mask and towel cape. He had utterly idolized Thunderseal, and dreamed that someday he would be able to take up the mantle when he became a real hero. It wasn’t a dream he clung onto anymore. Just the shadow of being his son was big enough.

Sin tried to take his mind off things by pulling out his phone. Maybe May would be up for a chat.

‘Anything going on w/ u?’

May always had her phone on her, so it didn’t take long before his pinged with a message. ’Just finished a job! Hbu?’

‘Send pics?’ Just his luck he got her while she was out working. At least maybe he could get a few cool pictures out of it.

Just like last time, it barely took a minute before she responded back with a pile of photos. All of them had May smiling with her teammates in uniform, along with a very irritated-looking (and very wet) tied-up criminal. He’d hoped that the pictures would have cheered him up, but all it did was annoy him further. She was younger and smaller than him by a lot, but she was allowed to go out on dangerous jobs.

Mer-May, the absolute darling of the Jellyfish team of superheroes. Even though they weren’t from Illyria, he still saw stories and photos about them in the paper. They looked like a real team. They probably took all their team members out on missions, and when they didn’t, he bet they had a much better reason than needing someone to watch the scanners.

’Great job! :D’ he messaged back with stiff, trembling fingers, before an errant current made his screen crackle and explode in a burnt cloud.

“Oh for fuck’s sake…” Why did that always happen when he got frustrated, this was his twelfth phone in the last year! Like he needed one more thing to be annoyed about.

Sin was sick and tired of being inside. He abandoned his half-eaten cake at the table and headed for the entrance, swiping his jacket and a spare mask on the way out.

++++++

Nobody gave him much of a second look as he slid along the wires twenty feet off the ground. Anybody who even noticed the crackle of electricity in the first place regarded him with complete nonchalance. Superpowered individuals had become a lot more commonplace, especially with the formation of publicly-known groups like the Jellyfish and the Guardians of Illyria. It was practically a celebrity subculture. Just a fixture of daily life. People with powers no longer had much of a reason to hide anymore.

In his absentmindedness, he nearly fell off-balance and slipped from the wire he was on. He wondered if Ky ever did that on the job. He might’ve been the team’s shiny poster-boy, but he wasn’t as perfect as everyone always acted like he was. It didn’t stop the newspapers and nighttime TV reports from painting him as some flawless guardian angel. Even when he was little, they were always talking about Ky.’s exploits, how he made Illyria a safe place. For the longest time, all that praise had convinced him his father could do no wrong.

Sin remembered the times when he would hold his father’s hand as they skated across the powerlines, helping him keep his balance. Sin always kept his eyes peeled for trouble, and whenever they spotted a kitten stuck in a tree or someone struggling with groceries, Ky would let him take charge to ‘save’ the civilian in need. He used to love the slightly-exaggerated smiles from grateful people and congratulatory pats on the head from his father, but it all felt so infuriatingly patronizing now. He didn’t want to be stuck helping old ladies cross the street while his father and his friends fought the real villains and saved the day. It never felt like he was helping anyone in the long run, he was just doing errands for people and nothing more than that.

He skidded to a stop on an electronic billboard, slid down the maintenance ladder, and found a place to sit. From his jacket pocket, he pulled out a tiny battered book and pen.

‘Sin the Superhero!’ was scrawled across the front in faded, childlike handwriting. He skipped past the scribbled-over and torn pages in the front half, all practically carbon-copies of Ky, until he reached the more complicated doodles and neater handwriting.

‘Hero Name Ideas.’ The list had gotten longer recently, but still none of them seemed to fit him right. He scratched off a couple of older ideas and jot down ‘Livewire’ and ‘Sparx’ at the bottom. Mmm, no, when he wrote them down on paper, that didn’t seem right, either.

“Ughh, why is this so hard!?” Sin groaned to himself, closing the book and smacking himself in the face with it. He wasn’t going to be Thunderseal. No matter what, he was not going to be Thunderseal.

He’d thought of skipping town and joining the Jellyfish, but May’s manager Johnny said that they only accepted female members. There were a few others scattered across the country, like the ones down in Kagutsuchi, Remnant, and Inaba, but they seemed so different from what he was used to, Sin wasn’t sure he’d fit in even if they let him join.

He spotted a convenience store half a block down. Maybe he just needed a snack to help him think. He hadn’t gotten to finish his cake, after all.

Sin slid back up onto the powerline and followed the sidewalk until he found a wall generator to jump into near ground-level. The light burst that followed him when he landed startled an older woman as she headed back to her car, but otherwise nobody paid attention.

The convenience store was awfully quiet for the afternoon, but all it meant was that he could scour the aisles for something to eat. They didn’t have anything meaty, so he settled for red licorice. It almost looked like meat.

“Would you like a bag?” The cashier asked, with the usual feigned-cheer that minimum wage barely afforded.

“Nah, I’m just gonna eat it now.” He replied, digging for a few spare bills in his back pocket.

When he found the money and went to turn back around, he spotted an ominous smear of crimson in his peripheral vision. Out through the front windows, a peculiar-looking girl was stumbling across the parking lot barefoot, stained in what appeared to be blood.

“The hell…?” Sin murmured. He realized he still had money in his hand. “Oh. Shit, uh, keep the change!” All but throwing the money at the poor woman, he grabbed his licorice and bolted out the door, taking a moment to swing his head around to find that girl again before running after her. “Hey! Hold on a second!”

Maybe he was too loud, because she immediately flinched and threw up her arms to cover her head. “I-I’m sorry!”

“You’re...what?” He skidded to a stop right in front of her. Yeah, that was definitely blood. The girl didn’t seem to be in a good condition, if the stumbling hadn’t already given it away. All the bloodstains appeared to be coming from the numerous wounds on her body, mixed together with a handful of ugly violet bruises. “Man, you look in bad shape. Did you get attacked?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” With her arms still covering her, she crouched down and began trembling.

Sin’s features softened. “Hey, I’m not gonna hurt you.” He crouched down next to her, trying his best to sound harmless. “Okay? Not gonna hurt you. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“Y-you aren’t?” A single diamond-blue eye peeked between trembling fingers.

“No, I’m not. Are you in danger? Do you need someone to keep you safe?”

She gave him a slow, jerky nod. “Ok! I can do that. My house is really safe, my dad’s a superhero so you don't have to worry about people getting in unless you want them to! Why don’t we go there, and then I can get you some bandaids?”

Another little nod. “Sounds like a plan, then!” He took her hand, helped her back up, and turned in the direction of where he’d come from. “It’s over this way, so we can-”

“No!! No, no, we can’t!” She suddenly shrieked, trying to pull herself from his grip.

“Woah, woah!” Sin let her go in his shock. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t go! I can’t go!” She cried, tugging at her pale pink hair with both hands. “I can’t leave without my sister!”

“Your sister? Where is she?”

Her expression grew haunted. “Oh...oh no...I left her behind...I promised we wouldn’t be separated…”

Sin tried to quell the growing feeling of excitement unfurling in him. Yes, this girl was clearly in need of help. He was finally doing his first real job as a hero, without Ky getting in the way! And he’d found it all by himself! But he needed to keep serious.

“Don’t worry. We’ll get your sister.” He gave the girl a confident grin. “Can you show me where she is?”

Another nod. “Uh-huh. I can show you.”

“Think you can show me from the rooftops? It’ll be faster that way.” She didn’t pull away again when he started leading her towards the generator he had jumped out of.

“Huh? There’s no ladder, how would you- aaaah!”

Sin scooped her up before taking off up the wires to the roof. “I’m a hero, too! I can follow electric currents! So if you can point me in the direction of- oh.”

The sudden movement had apparently freaked her out, and both of her trembling arms were tightly wrapped around him for stability.

“Oops. Um, sorry about that. I forget the vertigo is really bad the first few times.” He tried giving her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “But I promise I won’t drop you, okay? I just need you to show me what direction you came from.”

It took her a moment to unbury herself from her place in his jacket, but she reached out to point towards the heart of Illyria. “That way. It's by the big building with a cow on the roof.”

His grin came back as Sin felt the sparks fly off his feet. “Say no more!”

++++++

Sin had never been to this part of town before, on the ground or otherwise. It seemed like a perfectly nice neighborhood, but for some reason, there was just something that felt...off.

He tried not to worry about it. “Hey, so you didn’t tell me your name. I’m Sin! What should I call you?”

The girl in his arms seemed to have finally gotten used to the harsh movements, only wincing when the harsh wind blew the hair in her eyes. “E-Elphelt.” She said. “My name is Elphelt.”

Weird name, but he didn’t say anything. Even if he wanted to, he was interrupted by her pointing him left. “R-right there! The big white building!”

“This one?” He asked, sliding up onto the roof of what he could only guess was a large warehouse. A few trucks were parked out in front, but he didn’t see any people, nor were any lights on inside. “Are you sure this is it?”

“Mmhm!” She nodded vigorously, though the fear had come back into her eyes. “Please! I can’t leave her behind!”

We’re gonna save your sister, don’t worry.” Sin put her down on the roof next to him, and began searching for some kind of way in. “How did you get out?”

She walked towards one of the building’s edges and peered down. “Stairs! There’s emergency stairs by the windows!”

“Stairs?” He headed off after her. Sure enough, a set of metal stairs snaked down the building’s side. “We can get in through one of those windows!”

The two of them ran down a few flights, only stopping when Elphelt pointed one out. “This one! I think it’s this one!”

“This one?” Sin repeated back. He crouched down to get a good look at it. “I don’t think it’s latched; it should probably just slide open from the bottom.”

“Okay, then let’s-”

“Wait-” He grabbed her hand a half-second before she could slide the window open. “There’s an alarm. It’ll trigger if you pull it open.”

Elphelt recoiled immediately. “How can you tell?”

“I told you I can ride currents, right? I can sense them, too.” He put a hand on the wall next to the window. “Feels like there’s a whole security system set up and wired to the same main hub.” Elphelt was tearing up again in the corner of his eye, and he raised his free hand to assure her. “Don’t worry. Each window has its own sensor alarm. If I can just overload it…”

Sin pressed his eyes shut and willed a bolt of electricity into existence. He slid it between his hands a few times before feeding it into the sensor. After a moment, he felt the current split off between the window and the rest of the system as the wires melted and the plastic exploded.

“Okay, just hold your breath…” He put his hands on the sill. In one motion, he jerked it open and...no alarm.

“Phew…” Elphelt shook her head in momentary relief, before tensing up again. “We have to hurry! We have to hurry!”

She squeezed herself inside before he could even think of doing it himself. Once she had gotten inside, he wormed in after her. “Yeah, of course. But why do we have to hurry? I don’t think anyone’s here.”

The building was as dark inside as it had looked outside. The room they had been dumped into had a high ceiling and a concrete floor, but was nearly empty aside from some storage crates. At least, they looked like storage crates, he couldn’t really tell. From another pocket, he pulled out a rechargeable flashlight, funneled a bit of electricity into it, and switched it on. A narrow slice of light cut through the empty room.

It fell on Elphelt’s horrified face. “El? What’s wrong?”

“We have to hurry.” She spoke in a trembling whisper. “We have to hurry before mother comes home.”

He wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but it seemed important to her. “Okay. We’ll go quickly. What room is your sister in? Can you show me?”

The hallway was slightly lighter, but no less empty. Had everyone gone home already? Then again, he had no idea what this building was for in the first place, maybe there never were people at all. He couldn’t see any security cameras on the ceilings, but even if they were there, he doubted they would be able to see much.

He followed Elphelt down a couple sets of stairs. They both kept their backs pressed to the wall, their footsteps light, and their guard up. Sin glanced over his shoulder every few seconds to be absolutely sure they weren’t being followed.

At one point, Elphelt stopped and held a hand out to him. “I think this is it.”

Compared to the rest of the building, he could sense a veritable feast of electricity coursing back and forth beyond the door they were staring at. It seemed logical that if she was anywhere, it would be in there.

The new room was a stark difference in just how blindingly white it was. Sin had to blink and cover his eyes for a minute while he convinced himself that he was not actually going blind. Elphelt seemed unconcerned with the sudden change, and walked deeper in without him.

“Elphelt! Wait!” He hissed, blinking to clear his vision. The blurry edges eventually smoothed out and sharpened. “Woah…”

Just from a wild guess, it had to be some kind of laboratory. All the glass, fancy equipment, and desks looked like something from the sci-fi shows Sol liked to watch. What kind of science exactly, he had no idea. But it didn’t matter. He had to help Elphelt. Where had she gone to?

“El?” He called out, still trying to keep himself from being too loud. It was a bright white room and she had bright pink hair, how could he not find her in two seconds?

Sin felt his stomach growl as he began to search. Absentmindedly, he pulled out his abandoned licorice and peeled a strand off to eat it. “El?”

He thought he had spotted a flash of pink, but when he approached it, he found a strange pile of pink mush in a large clear dish. He didn’t have the slightest idea of what it was, but it unnerved him. Sin put down his licorice on the tabletop and reached for a glass rod that had been left near it.

What did he think would happen if he prodded it? That was another question he couldn’t answer. It made an odd, gooey noise as the tip sank into its surface. It had looked solid, but the more he pushed into it, the more the glass vanished, even when he thought it would have gone all the way through and come out the other end.

“Sin!”

“Elphelt?” He looked up from his impromptu experiment. Why had he let himself get distracted? Sin pulled the stick back out and set it on the table, and reached for his-

“Where’d I put my licorice…?”

“Sin! Please!”

“Coming, El!” That was more important. He ran off towards her voice. The tables gave way to what he could only describe as giant stove burners built into the ground. “Where are you?”

“Over here!” He saw a hand in the air and headed towards it. It was actually Elphelt that time, instead of some weird arm-monster, thankfully.

“There you are. Jeez, you’re fast-” His eyes went wide.

There was...a girl, suspended in some sort of glassy prison. It hovered over one of the weird floor-burner things, spinning around and around as the room’s lights glinted off it. The girl inside didn’t seem especially bothered by the spinning, or the fact that the ball was barely big enough for her to fit inside. If he didn’t know any better, she looked completely unconscious.

“What the hell?” He looked at his companion. “El, is this her? Is this your sister?”

“Ram…” She said, more to the other girl than to him. Her eyes had gone wet with tears again.

There was an electrical current running under the burner. Without thinking, Sin shoved his hand into it and discharged a bolt of electricity.

He was pretty sure he felt the fluid splattering on his face before he even heard the glass break. The overload of energy had not only shut off whatever the burner was doing, but forced the ball to shatter. He heard Elphelt dive to the ground behind him. Any of the glass that exploded onto him was melted by the heat of his lightning. The smell of ozone and the backlash from overusing his powers was making him dizzy, but Sin tried to focus on what was around him.

Once the chaos had died down, Elphelt crawled back out from the table she’d hidden behind. “Sin?”

“El.” He sent her a dopey, tired smile. “I got it.”

“Ram!!” The girl hurried back over to kneel down by the unconscious body. A few glass shards had nicked their skin, but there was nothing especially worrying. Elphelt seemed to be far more concerned with Ram than she was about her own injuries, anyway. She scooped up the other girl and held her close, placing a hand on her chest as she began murmuring something incomprehensible. Sin watched a faint pink glow envelop her hand and flow into the other’s body.

“Elphelt?” He asked in quiet awe. “You have powers?”

Whatever she was trying to do, it seemed to have worked. As soon as the glow faded, Ram began to rouse.

“Mhh...Elphelt?”

“Ram!” El hugged her sister tightly as her shoulder began trembling. “Oh, you’re awake, you’re awake. I promised I wouldn’t leave you.”

“Elphelt…” She put a hand on her sister’s back and smiled gently. “I’m okay.”

“Th-this is Sin!” When she regained some of her composure, Elphelt pointed at him. “He helped me save you!”

“Yeah. But El, you said we had to hurry, right? We should leave.”

“Oh! We need to leave fast, you’re right.” Elphelt stood back up, but she appeared remarkably calm. In fact, she was smiling. “But we can go even faster with Ram!”

The girl nodded in silent agreement. She looped a hand around her sister’s waist, before beckoning Sin over.

“Faster?” He was confused, but he complied, stepping closer so Ram could grab him by the middle. “I’m not sure what you me-EEEEEAN- !”

The question was answered for him very quickly. His feet were off the ground before he could blink. Ram was shooting off towards the nearest wall, and he had absolutely no way of stopping her.

“Are you insane?!” They were going to fly headfirst into a metal wall! Sin absolutely couldn’t handle hitting something that solid that fast, but he didn’t have any electricity left to try and shock her into dropping him. All he could do was watch.

There was a horrific crunch, and everything went black.

And then blue, as they passed through to the other side without a scratch.

Sin hadn’t realized he was screaming in terror until he stopped. He saw a massive gaping hole in the metal when he turned to look back, but he couldn’t see a single scratch on him, or his questionably-deranged pilot.

“It’s okay, Sin!” Elphelt called. “Ram’s really strong!”

‘Strong’ didn’t seem like a very good explanation on how they hadn’t just smashed their collective heads open, but really, after everything he had been through, it seemed stupid to ask questions.

++++++

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU RAN OFF??”

Sin winced, pulling the receiver away from his ear. “I know, I know, dad, I messed up-”

“MESSED UP??” Ky’s voice shouted back. “You ran off without telling anyone! I thought you had been kidnapped!”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry.” He said. “But I promise I can explain everything. I need a ride back, do you think you can come pick me up over by Bishop Bakery? The place over at the corner of Hansen and 15th?”

“All the way out there?! Sin, what are you doing in the north district in the first place?”

“Uh, that’s a bit of a long story…” He turned to look at his two new companions. Elphelt kicked her bare feet under the bench as she watched the cars go by, and Ramlethal was sitting cross-legged and bobbing her head back and forth to a song coming out of a nearby radio. “A really long story. Why don’t I tell you all about it over leftover cake?”

++++++

A dark shadow slid along sterile white walls, pacing back and forth and back. Immaculately manicured nails drummed against a pale sleeve, the only giveaway against a perfect porcelain mask of calmness.

“So they both ran away…” A melodic voice echoed off the high walls. “I never would have expected such ingenuity from her.”

The room went quiet for a moment. “Still, nothing I can’t handle. A few steps to shuffle around, but in the end, those girls saved me quite a lot of effort. Brought back to the Guardians on a silver platter! What a stroke of luck.”

She paused. “Oh? The boy? Just another pawn, easy enough to handle. His powers are little more than parlor tricks. I’ll have no trouble disposing of him as soon as he becomes a nuisance."

Another pause. Slowly, the porcelain mask began to crack. “Is that so?

In the blink of an eye, she lashed out to grab one of the trailing tubes. It was squeezed in a white-knuckled grip until the flow was dammed. “Now, you aren’t getting all high and mighty on me, are you?” She asked in a sickly-sweet voice, putting the smiling mask back on. “Don’t forget who gave you all of your shiny new toys. If it weren’t for me, you would still be rotting away in that hospital bed, where nobody could hear you.”

She took a moment longer to grab onto the clear plastic, then let it go. “I’m glad you’ve decided to cooperate. I helped you for a reason, you know. I saw the potential you had...Ah, I ramble so much.” She shook her head. “I’ll leave you to your work. And don’t forget to get plenty of rest. We have so much work to do, and so little time…”

The shadow moved away, melting into all the others with the sound of clicking heels. Once it was far, far away, the faint hum of magic sounded. From another pool of darkness, a half-eaten package of red licorice floated into the faint light. A single braid was pulled out of it, and invisible fingers peeled a stand off to carry it into an awaiting mouth. Artificial strawberry, what a peculiar flavor.

“So…” A silent voice echoed in the darkness. “...Sin?”

#AU-gust #superhero au #writing #guilty gear #Sin Kiske #Elphelt Valentine #Ramlethal Valentine #I will now proceed to bury myself in my front yard

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harrisirfan21 · 3 years

Text

Manchester: The City You Need to Visit

Birthplace of musicians like Oasis and The Smiths, two rival football teams, a marvel in the Warehouse venture, Manchester can be a significantly more unique spot to visit. From world-renowned dining places into out there art screens, cutting-edge theatre as well as modern art and revelation of history. Manchester is the central hub of attention for all those who wish to have a memorable experience.

The expansion of this town's sports and entertainment centers has dramatically improved its charm to tourists, making it among the most significant regions to head into in northern England.

Consequently, if you're in want of just a small inspiration to get another day trip, then listed here are the very best things to do in Manchester. Just take one of those Manchester airport taxis and be on your way to these terrific locations!

Castle field

Castle field can be an ideal spot to start researching Manchester. The wood fort has been rebuilt and enlarged and rebuilt, this time around from rock. A village was located nearby that provided supplies for soldiers, but afterwards, the Romans abandoned it. Located with all the Bridgewater and Rockdale Canals, the Museum of Science & Industry and the older Roman fortress around Liverpool highway it houses a few of Manchester's most useful independent pubs and bars, plus a variety of those town's very best eateries. It is ubiquitous on sunny days or if Manchester United are playing in your house.

Old Trafford is simply a 30-minute walk away over the canal towpath, together with ships rushing into the scene from Castle field. You can take any taxi to Manchester and ask them to take you to the Castle field or Old Trafford.

Old Trafford

Old Trafford was the federal match's gem and managed to become just one of football's most energetic amphitheaters. Even though other stadiums are also absolutely enclosed, Old Trafford's absolute dimension still leaves it even a neater sight. Over the last few years, this has been steadily worked upon, escalating its capacity to a surprising 74,879, which causes it to be the most significant Club in Britain.

The stadium's side segments are in excellent condition with their ability to provide a capacity for 3,000 away fans who can be easily accommodated. Entry into the arena can be gained from being searched through a steward and then putting your ticket to some virtual barcode reader.

The Lowry

The Lowry Galleries Showcase varying exhibits by Britain's best-loved artists. In addition to LS Lowry, paintings, music, sculpture and pictures from all around the whole world are nestled inside.

For families coming into the area, kids will adore the Lowry, having its glowing reddish staircases, sloping blue crimson and red walls; however, in addition to this, it also has loads of hidden corners waiting to be found out.

Together with baby-changing, jar and food-warming centers, push-chair accessibility, as well as gift suggestions that can interest youthful people by the retailer - The Lowry caters to your entire group's requirements.

Plan a visit to observe reveals, music and performance in a few of both theatre areas. Entry into the gallery is completely, absolutely and totally free but there might be penalties for modifying displays, and also costs fluctuate for theatre demonstrations.

The Whitworth

Before the absolute most current renovations, the gallery was built for 100,000 people yearly, but tourist numbers experienced doubled achieving 190,000, making several regions of the gallery congested.

Its galleries and their contents are visible in the surface, using all the aim of enticing new crowds right into the distance. You’ll have to get out of your Manchester taxi in order to see it, though.

About three of those four galleries are remodeled to demonstrate that the 19th-century barrel-vault ceilings and yet one is wholly fresh, though an understanding studio, examine center, and collections accessibility zone also have been included.

Indeed, The Whitworth is also home into an eclectic and broad selection of contemporary and historical artwork, fabrics and backgrounds.

John Ryland’s Library

For several those novel fans and admirers of centuries-old structure, John Ryland’s Library could be where to determine. It's a stand out neo-Gothic constructing found on Manchester's occupied Deans gate. Also as well as it's turned out of cultural price, it is but one among the absolute most popular holiday destinations at the town center. There was also an estimated 40,000 novels in one's center of the library set at that time that it had been headquartered in 1899.

The 12.5 million pounds allotted to its college of Manchester, which oversees the library, also included both the recovery of the current composition and the building of the brand new expansion that residences 10,000 terminal yards of books and boosts access across the catalogue.

Nevertheless, the quest for comprehension is not precisely what everybody else might imagine it to be. That's the reason why the library is known because of its infrastructure too. They built the structure with small actions and gave it even roofing that was nearly like an apartment. It allowed light into the library without disturbing the surrounding constructions due to a very minimal entrance block.

Victoria Baths

The Victoria Baths intricate was made by Manchester's original metropolis Architect Henry selling price and started in 1906. These were designed to resemble something along the lines of "a drinking water palace".

Widely recognized as probably the absolute most striking and high tech illustration of civic people baths, Victoria Baths can be a historical place everybody else should visit. Partially renovated and available as a legacy tourist attraction and events place, there are three vacant pools (among that will be floored more than) plus a Turkish Bathrooms suite and lots of temperate areas.

Victoria Baths offer three entrances and three different swimming pools: Men 1st-class, Men 2nd-class and Women.

For 86 several decades that the bathrooms supplied the two leisure and facilities that were essential. Personal bathrooms and laundry had been placed there next to three pools along with Turkish Bathrooms.

Once you’re done with your tour, just call a Manchester taxi airport and share all the fun you had with your loved ones back home.

#UK #airport #taxi #cab #coach

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couldnt-think-of-a-better-name · 5 years

Note

I think all your theories might come true. You were right about zazie it reveals he is five and Phil is older than him in the volume 14 extras. So zazie can't be Leslie.

I don't think I could possibly be right about everything. Shirai-san is very good at coming up with unexpected twists...

So I think it's very difficult to get all predictions right, but at the same time, his plot is also extremly consistent. So if you think logically, it is easy to clear up some things.

Due to the timeline of lambda not even existing in plans when Leslie was shipped, I found that theory extremly unlikely. I was happy that it finally got debunked by the omake! Proves that Shirai is consistent with the timeline.

I guess the rapid growth must have had a big strain on Zazie's psychological development. However, his real age is a big plus for my other theory on Zazie...

Where he is the final, perfected version of a series of genetic engineering experiments in lambda to create easily controlled superhumans that started with Adam.

In that theory the first generation test subjects would have names starting with A, like Adam and the last series of tests with Z, like Zazie.

That theory would require Adam to be one of the oldest experiment subjects at lambda, and Zazie to be one of the youngest, which fits with him being 5.

Also, if they really went through the alphabet from A to Z in naming the various genetic experiment subjects, that may explain why Norman's group has so many clone looking people...

Notice that all of these clones look suspiciously like Adam, and Norman.

I know a lot of people assumed that they may be used by Norman as cannon fodder, or even that they have been created by Norman as an army....

However, wouldn't it be a much neater explanation if they were all the different series of genetic experiments by lambda to create superhuman soldiers, but now used against those who created them?

I still think Norman may be the control subject in the experiment, the one person kept and raised in conditions as normal as possible, to be a basis for comparison.

Whereas everyone else had growth acceleration experiments etc done to them on top of the genetics.

In any case, I think the resemblance is way too much to be a coincidence, and Zazie's face may be obscured to hide the surprise of looking like Norman too.

I wonder if it is down to genetic relation to control these super soldiers, since then it makes sense for Norman to be so good at controlling them.

That would also mean that it would have made sense for Peter Ratri to use his own genes for the study, if he wanted to take control of them later. Which ofc would explain why Norman looks so much like a Ratri...

Can't wait to see how this theory works out!

#yakusoku no neverland #tpn #tpn spoilers #tpn theory #the promised neverland #tpn norman #peter ratri #ynn #tpn zazie #tpn peter #tpn adam #tpn leslie

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caseybanning · 4 years

Text

The New Recruit

((a roleplay log from myself, @captainjanegreene, @ghosttmachine, and @zackoak from about a year ago, whoops. no big content warnings except maybe for a hand injury. not sure if Fay has their own RP blog?))

MONTHS IN THE PAST

The Dire Warning rests at dock, taking on cargo and crew for its next journey. Visible on deck is its infamous captain. Jane Greene was, legally speaking, perfectly within her rights to step into London, but, practically speaking, could not do so without inviting every other kind of trouble imaginable.

Make sure the blacksmith actually finishes this time," Casey's exhausted voice carries, coming up over Tallulah's deck. The captain, a scraggly-bearded fellow smelling of salt and tobacco shook his head.

"No second chances at zee. I've got a man who can finish in half the time."

Casey frowns, stopping at the bow to run their hand over the broken railing. "Fair enough," they concede, looking out to the docks. Zailors were milling about, quickly carrying cargo to and from the ships, boiling steam churning up from the pipes as one readies to head out, a familiar tall figure a couple ships down watching--wait, what?

Fayçal wanders the docks, scanning the ships and those accompanying them. They were searching for someone that met the description they had been given. They had been told that the captain they were looking for was rarely in London for long, and as such, were beginning to lose hope that they would find her. That is, however, until they saw someone that fit her description entirely that they had no doubt in their mind was her. They began making their way through crowds of zailors towards her ship.

Jane may have spotted Casey; she's looking in their direction, and while she doesn't wave she at least nods, and does a sort of beckoning gesture with her head.

(Down below...)

Fayçal finds that the crowd of zailors dries up a bit closer to the Dire Warning. It's clear that this is a pretty dangerous ship to sign on with.

(Aboard Tallulah...)

The zailor follows Casey's gaze over to the Dire Warning and chuckles. "Careful with that one, she's--"

Casey is already partially down the staircase before hearing the end of his sentence. They almost run into a red-headed person who'd been staring up at Jane's ship ("Sorry!! So sorry!") before making a quick pace up to the stairs leading to the deck.

"Jane?!"

Fayçal hesitates before the ship when they see the others avoiding it, and hear the whispers and mutterings of passing zailors. They watch the ship for a moment before they are bumped into by someone else, running on to the ship and calling for Jane. That was all the more confirmation of her identity they needed.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Fayçal follows Casey onto the ship.

Jane stands with open arms, grinning as Casey approaches. "Good to see you, Casey. Been a few months, I suppose?"

"Oh, just a few," They smile, giving her a warm hug. "It's good to see you too. I hope the zee has not been too cruel." There is a moment where it seems like they are about to say something else, but then pauses at the sound of footsteps close behind. Casey turns, seeing the person from before, and shifts a little to make they were standing partially in front of Jane.

"I'm truly sorry about earlier." Casey says. "I didn't mean to shoulder you, but if you needed to talk it out, we shouldn't be here to do so."

"Oh! No, no, it's fine," Fayçal says, raising a hand defensively. "I didn't come here for that. I was actually hoping to talk to, ah, Captain Greene," they say sheepishly.

"Here to sign on? Let's have a look at you, then." Jane steps forward and circles Fayçal once, assessing them. They keep talking to Casey, however. "I hope you'll stay for tea once I'm done here? I figure we can catch up a bit more personally than through letters."

Casey is watching Jane circle the stranger with a slightly amused grin. "My business here is nearly finished... I'd love some tea." They tilt their head, studying Fayçal from where they're standing. "Have you ever been at zee?"

"I have, though not extensively," Fayçal says, glancing over at Jane as she circles them. They try to push the image of some small prey animal being circled by a hawk out of their mind. "I've also sailed on the surface, but I understand that's not entirely comparable."

"It's not, but your old skills will still help. What's your name, then?" Jane steps back. Their eye bores into Fayçal, or maybe that's just the way Jane's face looks.

Casey leans in to Fayçal. "She's really a wonderful woman when you get to know her. Not entirely intimidating such as on a first glance." They said with a small smile.

Fayçal gives Casey a slight smile before glancing back up at Jane. "My name is Fayçal Descoteaux."

"French, eh? Alright, Fayçal." She says. "If you know enough about sailing I doubt you'll get under our feet when we're under way, but there's a few other things I have to check. Strike me." She instructs, with her tone obviously indicating she's not in the mood for objections. Casey is quick to stifle their surprise laugh, instead hastily coughing and stepping off to the side.

Fayçal looks up at Jane in surprise, before quickly looking her over. They knew there would likely be a catch to this- perhaps she would try to dodge or otherwise deflect the hit. This meant they had to act quickly if they wanted it be effective at all. They throw a hard punch at the most effective place they could reasonably reach- in the center of her torso, right under her ribcage. Jane grunts a bit, but far more important to Fayçal is the feeling of their fingers... crunching as they impact the armor hidden beneath the coat.

Fayçal quickly pulls their hand back, gasping and cursing under their breath. What the hell? They quickly look over their hand, then back up at Jane, surprised and perhaps a bit afraid. Had this meant they had failed her test? Surely she didn't actually expect them to have known she had armor on.

"Welcome aboard, zailor." Jane says with a grin. "Let's get that patched up and get some tea brewed, then."

---

In the ship's kitchen, there's a table and some stools and a whistling kettle. Jane proves to be quite a skillful surgeon, and quite a bit cleaner and neater as well; Faycal's fingers are now comfortably numb and bandaged up.

"You would have passed if you'd gone for the face as well, but I like that you went for the rib shot. Shows you're thinking about more than my eyepatch." Jane says conversationally. "Tea should be in the cupboard right there, Casey." Casey patters about, retrieving the tea but also taking note of the ways Jane has secured the kitchen. They expected no less for it to be a central hub of safety, considering the who the captain is.

"I don't recognize most of these labels," They remark, carrying over a few selections. "It all certainly smells of tea, but... different."

"Some of them are from South, near the Mountain. They'll clear a cough right up." Jane says absentmindedly as she finishes patching Faycal up. "There. Now, keep in mind... if we're boarded or otherwise find yourself in combat, and you see something wearing a coat, be wary of striking it with your bare hand. There's no telling what's under there."

"I don't think I would have been able to reach your face well enough to actually hit you anyway," Fayçal says with a light laugh. "And yes, I'll be sure to keep that in mind," they say, and glance down at their bandages. "Thank you again for patching me up."

"It's not a problem. We have quite a good surgeon working on this ship, but if they happen to be occupied you're always welcome to come to me for help. I do my best to take care of my crew and compensate them fairly, but I won't hide that we go to dangerous places and engage in dangerous business. That little test of mine covers quite a few bases, though... fighting instinct, reflexes, response to commands... pain threshold." She grins at that morbid little joke.

"Nobody surpasses Jane in the pain threshold category," Casey chimes in, settling down on a stool. "That's one test that is rarely won."

"If you're in a situation where you're being tested at that level I'd be more concerned about you simply surviving than how well you're dealing with the pain." Jane volleys back.

Fayçal laughs, albeit somewhat nervously. As time goes on, they were less and less sure that this was a good idea. However, that was not going to stop them. "I'm assuming you do that test with every new person who wants to join your crew?"

"Aye. That's one of the reason I don't get the crowds some of the other ships do. Word gets around. Lots of zailors figure the Zee is dangerous enough without a madwoman who ventures its farthest reaches at the helm."

"Once you're in Jane's crew, however," Casey says. "You may find this is a startlingly safe ship. There is no protection left aside, so in truth she's probably the most sensible captain you'll meet. Everyone else is frightened."

"Were you on her crew?" Fayçal asks, giving Casey a curious glance.

Casey's smile is wry. "I just know her very well, and hear reports back from her crew. Her and I go back a few years."

Fayçal nods, and decides it'd be best not to question further. "My apologies for interrupting your visit with her."

"This meeting was a happy accident. You weren't interrupting anything." Jane says.

"Plus, the Dire Warning is set to head out of London as soon as everything is ready." Casey says. "You jumped on at precisely the right time."

"I don't stick around long. There are groups who have... issues with me being in the area." Jane says.

"So I've heard," Fayçal says, frowning slightly. "You've got, ah, quite a reputation."

Casey, remembering the tea would be well brewed by now, starts pouring everyone's cups. "Rumours evolve and spread quickly in London. By now the most vile of the lot probably spreads the rumour that Jane ran from London and created a colony that cannibalizes infants."

"It's easier for everyone if I keep my visits short, at the moment." Jane says stiffly. "So, Fayçal. Are you prepared to witness the sights of the furthest Zee?"

"I'm about as prepared as I think I could be," Fayçal says sheepishly, and takes the cup of tea in their non-injured hand.

Casey is quiet, casting a brief glance at Jane before looking back to Fay. "What stories have you heard about the risks that could occur at zee?" They ask.

"Well..." Fayçal says, considering the question a moment. "I've heard of many different kinds of sea-monsters, and a place where everything talks, and some place up north with deadly cold. I've also heard a great deal of stories of people going mad out there."

"All true. Some of the more straightforward things, really. Madness is a genuine threat. The Zee is vast and dark; our lights can only define so much of it at any time, and there are many things out there happy to snuff those lights out if they take notice. I've had a great deal of experience and practice sailing safely, but you must understand: you will need to learn how to wrestle with and overcome your terror if you're going to spend any length of time at Zee."

"That is precisely why I'm not a zailor," Casey says, pointing at Jane. "The sense of terror. I've been at zee, to the Iron Republic, but that's an experience best done once."

Jane nods solemnly at Casey. "I've learned to deal with it, but I'm sure you've heard the stories of how I must be a madwoman, doing the things I do, going the places I go." She grins at Fay. "Perhaps I am. But I've learned a great deal. I've gained quite a lot. You could too, in time."

"For my sake I certainly hope so," Fayçal says with a laugh. They take a sip of their tea, and look back up at Jane. "Are you leaving later today? I'm assuming you're not staying in London long."

Jane rummages in their coat for a fine-looking pocketwatch of some silvery metal; it seems to be made of proper clockwork, not of moon-pearls. "Hm... Tomorrow morning. I've got to give my existing crew time to enjoy themselves, after all."

"Any longer and certain unsavoury individuals will catch wind of her arrival here," Casey says. "But still enough time to try to relax and breathe for a moment... if you need me to hand off some information to Roland, I can do that tonight."

"Oh, yes, thank you for the reminder." Jane nods appreciatively. She goes to one of the cupboards, open it, removes a panel in the back, and then removes a panel at the bottom of that, then catches the sorrow-spider that leaps out of it with one hand; it's tossed to the floor and crushed underfoot a moment later, before she finally retrieves a small water-proof sack that seems just the right size to contain a journal of modest size. "Nothing he hasn't anticipated, I should think, but still useful." She tosses the sack gently to Casey.

Roland's office was one of the most luxurious in the city, provided your standards were nuanced. There were no particularly gaudy displays, noting that, at a glance, would speak to opulent wealth... but simply existing within it for long enough would allow anyone with the eye to realize how comfortable the space was, how perfectly adjusted the feel of the space and its contents was, and how quietly stupendous the contents within were.

After knocking on the door and letting themselves in, Casey finds that both Roland and Elizabeth are already there. Roland is at work, hunched slightly over the desk as he reads reports and writes notes, while Elizabeth has set herself up in the corner with an easel. Dressed in a manner that would be scandalous to a stranger but which Casey knows from experience is simply what Elizabeth finds comfortable, she works steadily at a canvas, her eyes lovingly examining Roland every so often.

Casey has found themself settling on the chaise-lounge in the corner after hanging their coat up. "Jane acquired a fresh new crewperson for her ship... hopefully they'll last." They remark, flipping through but not really observing her notes closely. They're not one to follow zee life too closely. "She sends her love too."

That lights up Elizabeth's face. "If you manage to catch her before she leaves again, give her mine as well? Hopefully we'll be able to arrange for her to actually come into the city next time."

Roland looks up and smiles. "Oh, good. Has she been keeping well?"

"About as well as one can when living on a ship," They reply, standing back up to hand Roland the notes. "Whatever is in here was well protected behind several layers of security." Casey glances at Elizabeth with a silly grin. "Does she have any secret family recipes she'd like to keep safe?"

"Knowing our family, I doubt it." Elizabeth's brow wrinkles for a moment, before returning the silly grin with one of her own. "She might have learned a thing or two of her own out on the Zee, though. Perhaps we can convince her to make some fish next time."

Roland sorts through the notes, then stands up, walking to a map of the Zee with them in hand. "These are supply lines and patrol routes for the Khanate. Places to avoid and blind spots to get through. If what I have in mind long-term will work, this is important."

The Dire Warning rests at dock. Most of its crew are out reveling; only a handful are at watch. They nod to Casey as they arrive, clearly familiar with them. The smell of darkdrop coffee wafts from the brew-up they have going.

"Captain's belowdeck. She'll be glad to see you before we ship out."

Beaming, Casey gives a courteous nod to the crew and a little wave. "Many thanks!" They call out as they stride aboard, making their way below deck.

The ship used to intimidate Casey only slightly, knowing there are far more hidden traps and defense mechanisms than one could immediately see. Regardless, they're at Jane's door in moments, and they knock thrice upon it.

There's a sound of heavy bolts sliding into the door, before a tiny slit opens near the top.

"Oh! One moment, Casey."

It takes several seconds for Jane to disengage the rest of the traps and locks, before the door cracks open. Jane is in her nightwear, her prosthetic detached for the evening. Casey can see a new scar along Jane's collarbone. "Come on in. I was just updating my charts."

Jane's room is somewhere between a fortress and museum. She carefully locks the door behind Casey. "Elizabeth is well, I hope?"

"As always," Casey responds, removing their coat and setting it aside. "Working on a new painting last we met. You'll have to come back when it's finished."

Their eyes wander the room, trying to pick out what's new. Nothing seems to catch their interest until they look at Jane. "Hopefully you haven't had too much trouble.."

"I've been well enough." Jane says, rubbing her shoulder where skin met the prosthetic's mount as she double checks her charts. She always seems at least a little self-conscious around Casey. "Maybe next time I'm in port I can sneak out to see her."

" That can definitely be arranged," Casey says, grinning. "We can all have a meal together and try to catch up! Make it a family affair. I have ways of sneaking around," They move to sit near her--just arm's length, as they sense she seems cautious, and continue. "I make a great body guard in a pinch too, should it come to that."

"That would be lovely." She does turn and grin at the bodyguard comment; absolutely towering over Casey and with the kind of build one associates with the battle-nuns of Abbey Rock, she doesn't seem the sort to need a bodyguard. "I have little to fear if you're watching my back." That part's completely sincere, at least. Jane takes a seat and lets her arm rest near Casey.

Their hand moves to rest stop her arm, then down to clasp her hand. "I've missed you," they say quietly. "Your reasons for staying away are valid, but the city feels strange without you here."

Casey glances at her. "Do you ever consider staying for good?"

"Of course. How could I not?" Jane's eye squints as she frowns. "But it would mean putting Elizabeth, and both you and Roland, in danger. Its easier for everyone if my enemies think I'm already out of the way. Besides, the pull it would take to make them forget what I've done to them..." Jane leaves it unsaid. Casey already knows a couple of the figures who would prefer Jane never step foot in London again.

"I'm capable of dispatching the risk," They say. There is a hardness to their expression, an almost too-direct way of looking at Jane to indicate they're serious, and then it fades. "Again... only if it comes to that. I've my own enemies to track and monitor."

"I appreciate your capability, but I have no wish to force you to bring it to bear. As you say, you have problems of your own." Jane squeezes Casey's hand. "Perhaps we'll see. Time might make them feel they have better things to focus their attention on, though my encounters with Hell's ships at zee suggest they're willing to bear the grudge for as long as it takes."

Casey sighs, leaning up against Jane's shoulder. "I hope your tiny new recruit can withstand it. Hell will remain here for long after we're all gone."

"Considering some of the things Roland has tasked me with finding out, he may have a plan for that. As for my recruit... We'll see." Jane grins. "I've got a feeling they have quite a respectable amount of resolve." Jane's hand lightly grips Casey's waist.

"With the size of their overcoat, I imagine it'd have to be a lot of resolve, I mean... what else would that, uh.." their thought trails off when they catch Jane's eye.

"Conceal." Casey says. "...how late are you planning on staying docked?"

"Til' morning. We have quite a few hours."

Casey awakened groggily at the gentle shaking of their shoulder.

"I'm shipping out soon, dear. I've got tea ready, but it's time you got back on shore, I think." Jane had set a steaming cup of tea next to the bed; the good captain was looking perhaps a bit disheveled, her unbuttoned coat still open and her pants a bit loose, but she also wore a gentle smile. To Casey, it might as well be the only thing Jane needed to wear.

"Mmm. Don't you have time for-"

"I don't." Jane said, her face growing a bit stern. "And you know that well." She sat on the edge of the bed, cradled the back of Casey's head, and pulled them into a deep kiss. Once their lips released each other, she whispered. "Another time, I will. But we both have things to see to. "

Casey did their best to delay. Underwear was lost, and all-too-rapidly found. A second cup of tea was requested. Finally, a mostly-clothed Casey was gently but firmly guided off the ship by Jane, even as she attempted to stifle giggles at the increasingly unlikely efforts of her lover.

#fallen london #rp log #words words words

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