#left so some of the panels r supposed to be read right to left and it throws me off even more but i dont wanna change the post | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

professionalsimpfor2dboys · 3 years

Note

uhh .. any tips on how to play obey me 😀 LMFAO its so confusing ,, do I just play the main story and ignore the chats bc main story stuff hasn't happened to me and I think I read way too far ahead??, sorry if this is sudden LMFAO

hii!!

okie, so some tips!

so, the chats that pop up usually don’t really pertain to the main story anyway & are just for fun most of the time. I believe most chats are time-based, so you likely won’t be getting chats that are past your current place in the main story unless a certain amount of time has past! so, you can read them no problem most of the time since they’re mostly just for fun fillers and such!

in terms of winning dance battles in order to get to the next main story part, your cards are EXTREMELY important!

you can acquire cards from gacha pulls in Nightmare (as you likely already know) and also by combining card pieces that you obtain from “pop quizzes” which are essentially special events that are available for a certain timeframe.

(If you haven’t noticed, parts of the story & dance battles are called “lessons” & events are called “pop quizzes” since it’s supposed to be that we are attending RAD and doing schoolwork there.)

From highest level to lowest in terms of card rarity (ie. power potential) is UR+/UR, SSR, SR, R, & then N (anything below SSR doesn’t matter in terms of using for dance battles BUT some of them have wallpapers, outfits, & chats that you can unlock in “Devil Tree” which I will get to later!

Basically, you should prioritize leveling up your highest power potential cards first! I recommend having a strong enough card in each sin category since each dance battle varies in what sin they focus on (which you can see in the top right corner of each dance battle panel), which is Red: Gluttony, Blue: Pride, Yellow: Greed, Green: Wrath, Pink: Lust, Orange: Envy, & Purple: Sloth. It also helps to have two strong cards for each sin but with different characters on them since then they both can be used in the dance battle that wants that sin, but that’s more for when you already have strong cards & have the time to level up more. It also may help leveling up your cards with the best special skills! Any special skill that bans the opponent’s skills are extremely helpful, but honestly just having high level cards is the most important.

In order to continuously keep leveling your cards, you will need to unlock places in Devil Tree that you do so by using Grimm (easy obtainable through clearing lessons you’ve already obtained 2 or 3 stars on by clicking the Clear x5 button, though note that this uses AP, or through “:D Jobs”) and also items used to strengthen cards (they vary, but are usually obtainable through specific lessons that give those specific items or during Levi’s Otaku Boot Camp that comes around every once & a while to help with getting these items. it will tell you if you have the correct amount to unlock spaces in Devil Tree & if you don’t then it will show you specific lessons that give you those items).

Memory cards are also really important (but your main cards should be your priority nonetheless). You can obtain memory cards through “Chapter M” in “Nightmare” and they essentially work the same as cards.

There are also items called “glow sticks” that help you win dance battles that you buy from “Akuzon” with Devil Points. They’re extremely helpful, especially once you hit about lesson 30. I, personally, always only buy rainbow ones since they strengthen your cards much more than the other colors and pertain to everyone, even though they cost more it’s worth it in terms of strengthening.

During dance battles, you’ll see bars under your characters (on the ride side) that pertain to when their special attacks are ready. I recommend clicking them as soon as they are ready, so there is more time for the bar to regenerate & for them to be able to use their special attacks again.

so, yeah! that should be the basics & what is the overall priority of obey me! I hope it helped & promise you’ll get the hang of it lickety-split!

here are some actual “tip-tips” that are really helpful to know: (these are actually really helpful)

you are essentially given a free 18 devil points EVERY DAY by completing 7 of your daily to-dos, which are very easy to complete! I recommend doing it everyday bc it really adds up! (the daily to-dos refresh at 11 pm)

If you’re struggling with not having enough AP, then there is a deal that saves Devil Points that available once daily. Once depleting your AP to below 10 I believe, they will offer you 600 AP & some Grimm for only about 10 Devil Points. TAKE IT! It’s a wayyy better deal than manually buying AP with Devil Points.

Similar to the last tip, you can save money on rainbow glow sticks once every day. Simply lose a dance battle (making sure you have at least 20 Devil points) and they will offer a deal for 5 rainbow glow sticks, some Grimm, & some AP all for just 20 Devil points! mind you, one rainbow glow stick from Akuzon is 6 Devil points so do the math.

You’re smiley face character doesn’t ALWAYS dictate if you’re going to win the dance battle or not. The smiley face can be blue & crying & you can still win as long as you look at your opponents’ special skills & your total strength is only a few thousand points below that of the opponents. I recommend your smiley face character to be smiley when the opponents have any stun, paralyze, or confusion special skill that keeps your characters from being able to use their special attack. You can gauge how many glow sticks or leveling up you need by just going into the dance battle with either nothing or a few non-rainbow glow sticks equipped & seeing how far away you are from the line/the opponents special attack pattern.

Since the opponents’ special attacks pattern usually changes with every attempt at a dance battle, some of their patterns may be more advantageous to you than the others. If you have rainbow glow sticks equipped & believe you can win by trying again, simply close out of the game completely and reopen it. It will ask if you want to resume where you left off which you will click “resume” to & then it will restart the battle with your glow sticks still intact. This had saved me so many times. ESPECIALLY LESSON 4O’s BOSS BATTLE LEGIT JUST KEEP DOING IT OVER & OVER & YOULL EVENTUALLY GET IT!!

In terms of the fun customization part of Obey Me like the profile pics, Majolish outfits & wallpapers, special chats, etc. I found it extremely helpful to just go through Majolish & click on the item you want. It will tell you the card you can get it from & whether you have it or not!

Oh, & choosing the characters with sparkles around them for :D Jobs gives more of a chance of special drops!

Make sure to make a obey me save password for if you ever delete the app/get a new phone! They also reward you with 30 Devil Points if you do so, so there’s rly no point not to.

For surprise guest combos, you either memorize them or find them on google. But I can give you the main ones here off the top of my head:

Any of the brothers if they ask for a high-five EXCEPT FOR LUCIFER, SATAN, & BEEL: high-five, Head-rub, Head-rub

If Lucifer or Satan ask for a high-five: high-five, YOUR right/THEIR left shoulder TAP, hand tap (they usually have it on top of their chest)

If Beel asks for a high-five: high-five, chest-rub, chest-rub

Mammon if he says “muahahaha”: Head-rub, YOUR right/HIS LEFT arm rub, face-rub

Lucifer if you get 3 stars but he doesn’t ask for a high-five: lip-rub, Head-tap, Hand-tap

I think that’s all I can think of for now! maybe I’ll add more if it pops up! I hope this helped & sorry it got so long haha. I hope anyone who reads this enjoys Obey Me as much as I do! I honestly can’t wait for their sheep plushies I KNOW they’re inevitably going to come out with :D

#obey me #obey me shall we date #demon brothers #obey me fandom #otome game #obey me tips #obey me dance battles #obey me! shall we date?#obey me lessons #obey me pop quiz

156 notes · View notes

antiloreolympus · 3 years

Text

10 Anti LO Asks

1. you know whats also bad about the red eyes? not only do they look awful on persephone's pink color, they're not even a unique feature? like we've seen hades' eyes go red, we've seen eros' eyes go red, and ares' eyes are ALWAYS red, so even this idea its her "unique queenly trait" doesnt even hold up?? because we've seen it on other characters before?like at least the blue glowing eyes looked unique and even gave her a possessed, otherworldly look, something with the red eyes just dont have.

2. The faces in the latest ep (not fastpass).... Ew

3. I saw someone praise lore olympus art, specifically the ones where Apollo is playing his lyre and Daphne is covering her ears while her hair is split in two (yuck! Bad decision looks awful) so we can see Apollo, the one where she transforms into her hibernation state (weird perspective, chin and neck, I think, also what the hell was that supposed to be?) and the last one before cutting to Thanatos (which, I admit looks a little better that the other but I still got distracted Apollo's arm among other things).

Now, Rachel is a professional artist like 15-25 years older than me (I dunno her age) drawing one of the most liked webtoons.

I feel like I'm nitpicking or being too harsh or crazy because I think it is a little terrible and this person thinks it's amazing and I know art is subjective and all but like the difference of opinion is jarring. I am by no means a professional and my art leaves a lot to be desired and I guess I don't have incredibly high standards (or do I? I'm second guessing). Is it really that good?

Because I know that Smythe commits more than a few anatomy atrocities. I wanted to redraw a few panels two years ago and I noticed a few things that Don't Work Like That.

4. ok but that other anon is right. we shouldnt have to go off old tumblr asks or random tweets to understand what's going on and who the characters are. rachel doesnt realize you have to actually write whats going on, not putting the readers on a scavenger hunt trying to figure out what they're even reading.

5. im honestly surprised LO hasnt ruined more mother figures at this point. maybe maia will be next and depicted as neglectful and hermes is only the way he is because hes acting out to be noticed by her, maybe dione will slut shame aphrodite, who knows, the possibilities are endless when its about ruining every mother figure to prop persephone and hera up and to avoid giving the characters actual personalities that isnt dependent on mommy/daddy issues.

6. I hate the clothing choice for Daphne in run for your life. It felt like she was drawn in a sexualized manner when she shouldn’t have been because she was running away from a r*pist. Like she almost had a nip slip, we almost got her ass, it was like Rachel was trying to fit her butt and chest in a lot of the frames like some video game with the token woman character. Like if a different dress was choosen or how she made Daphne tie the dress, I just feel like Rachel can’t draw outside of pinup sexy that well. Like sexy is fine for sexy scenes but running away from a r*pist is not sexy. (I probably sounded really lame, but the way Rachel presents the story in a feminist way but can only draw one way in not even the same style is annoying)

7. Things I think would have been better for the story instead of focusing so much on HXP

-Expanding on Minthe’s and Hades beginning of their relationship (he couldn’t of fallen for her since she didn’t laugh at him and when she yelled at him said it’s not your fault but you have the hat I think that would have added to his character more to see him more than a 40 year old who hits on barely legal)

-Leto’s kidnapping of Demeter. Both we/are close with Hera, and probably know or each other or may have been friends. Like I wanna know how Leto kidnapped her but also how are they interacting since they probably know each other and Demeter probably had Hera’s back when Hera ended their friendship.

-Ares return to Aphrodite. We don’t get to see much of her character but we know this is something she’s wanted, but they way it was handled was so flat, We assume Aphrodite told Ares that his gf slept with his father to save their son but we don’t actual read any words between the couple. And then they’re living together. I wanna see how they actually interact and stay together like their better moments. Like how well did he settle in, did they talk about how long he left for or is he mad like come on that’s something interesting but I feel like RS can’t write outside of HXP

-the deal with Echo. Why do people think Echo could possibly be Hera’s gf if she’s her assistant. Yeah they do dirty work together BUT I didn’t get a wiff or sexual tension or anything. Was it that she was there with the doctor? It just seems like Hera is that CEO trope who has the assistant always by her now.

-a little more of Pysche and Aphrodite friendship. Like Pysche says Aphrodite is lonely (and we can assume a part of that is Ares) but also because she “doesn’t have many friends” so why not a solo scene of just the two of them being actual friends. Like what did Aphrodite say when she brought back a purple nymph that was gonna help them with their work.

-Hermes not talking about Persephone. I feel like that 99% of what his character is and then just a little bit of himbo.

-Maybe Thantos and Minthe started flirting/hooking up. We’re they friends first or flirts first? Was it after Hades and Minthe got into a fight or something else? What did Thantos like about Minthe and what does she like about him? Why did she stay with Hades with Thantos was there (it’s not like she wanted to be queen of the underworld) How did Thantoas and Thetis meet and become friends? Idk if I was seeing two guys and one of them actually liked my friend I might consider leaving Hades for him. But again hades did have the power to control everything in Minthe’s life (job, home, everything) I do like Daphne and Thantos But I feel like the transition could have been better if we knew more, but again RS can only focus on one thing and that’s HXP.

------FP Spoiler/Mention------

8. FP SPOILERS— I’m done. I’m really done. We called it. We FKN called it. They got married behind the readers back, Demeter didn’t respond to the question as she actively avoided it and time was up, Apollo is somehow involved in the trial- THIS WHOLE THING IS A MESS AND IM TIRED OF HOPING THAT IT GETS BETTER. Four FKN years of this??? I’m done with this Webtoon even though I’m FKN stuck in it. I’m so FKN done.

9. Fast Pass spoiler (kinda) OH MY GOD, I JUST REALIZED THE POMEGRANATE PIN IS JUST PASTED ON EVERY FRAME, NOT EVEN RE DRAWN FOR PERSPECTIVE, NO, JUST COPIED AND PASTED, REGARDLESS THE OUTFIT ANGLE AND LIGHTING, IT'S HILARIOUS!!!I mean, I knew the art was decaying, but this just made me laugh out loud of how bad it looked.

10. persephone’s pomegranate pin just looks like a giant fly that landed on her and won’t leave LMAO

#anti lo #anti lore olympus #lore olympus critical #lo critical

43 notes · View notes

petri808 · 4 years

Text

Hauntober prompt Crystals

Nalu requested by @p-r-i-d-e007 AU story with POV switch.

It was a little nerve wracking to bring Natsu back to her home for the first time since they’d started dating two months ago. Up until now, they’d taken things slowly to test out the potentials of a relationship. Dinner dates, movies, walks in the park, just the typical stuff young people do, and yes they passed first base last week when he’d invited her to his apartment.

Lucy really liked Natsu. He was sweet and caring, a bit goofy and silly, but fun to be around. There was never a dull moment whenever they were together. The man was also— hot, like legit firefighter, well built, smoking hot! How he was still single, she had no clue, but Lucy was happy to have landed someone like him when she hadn’t even been looking. Talk about when a blind date goes, right!

“Well, this is it.” Lucy holds the door open for Natsu as he walks in. “It’s not very big, but I loved some of the old architecture of the place.”

He’s immediately greeted by an excited, medium sized white dog. “And who’s this guy?”

“That’s Plue, don’t worry he’s harmless.” Lucy closes the door. “Would you like a tour?” She questions, holding down the nervous energy bubbling inside of her.

“Sure!”

Lucy walks them around the place, showing him each room. The house was a two bedroom, one bath with a living room/dining area, and kitchen separated by an island countertop. It had wood paneling for walls and hardwood flooring except in the kitchen and bathroom which had tile floors. One bedroom had been turned into an office space where she worked on her novels. There, shelves were covered with books of all kinds.

“That’s a lot of books,” he chuckles. “You read them all?”

“Most of them. Some of it I picked up for research, but these,” Lucy shows him a special area, “are my published stories. It’s not much yet, as I build up a name for myself.”

“That’s already a lot considering you made your dreams come true.”

The blonde blushes at his sweet words. “Thank you, Natsu.”

Back in the living room, Lucy shows his her most prized collection. “And this is the real reason I bought this house.” She runs her hand on the edging. “When I saw it had this built-in recessed spot, I knew it would be perfect for my stones. I put up the glass display shelves and hired a carpenter to put up the glass doors.”

“Wow, that is a cool collection! Wouldn’t have pegged you for a rock collector,” he chuckles.

“I know, it’s kinda weird, but I’ve always loved finding interesting stones and crystals.”

Natsu pulls her close and kisses her on the lips, “it’s not weird at all. Better than my old Magic card collection.”

She giggles, “I don’t know, aren’t those worth a lot now?”

“Not in the condition I left them in,” he laughs.

“Oh,” Lucy giggles again, her anxiety slowly melting away. “So, um do you wanna watch a movie or something? I could make us dinner too.”

He rubs his stomach with a silly grin. “Mmm, a home cooked meal? You don’t gotta ask me twice!”

When Natsu leaves Lucy’s home later that evening, he returns to the fire station riding on a mental high. What lucky star had he wished upon to catch such a beautiful and smart woman like Lucy? They were different yet complimentary, her book smarts to his street smarts. But the best part was how comfortable he felt around her. In just two months Natsu felt like they’ve been friends for years and there was nothing he wouldn’t already do for her.

The life of a firefighter had its ups and downs, one of which was the schedule. Four days on, three days off takes time to adjust to, but it made sense to make sure they didn’t burn themselves out; no pun intended. He spends the down times searching Google with an image in his head of the perfect gift to give to Lucy. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was looking for but when he finds it, he’ll know it’s the right one.

‘Perfect!’ Click purchase. Done.

A month later, he takes her out to an expensive restaurant in town. At first Lucy had balked, it was too extravagant! But he’d persuaded her that he just wanted to do something special for their third month anniversary. That made her chuckle. Who celebrates a third month of dating? He did, that’s who when it comes to a woman he was head over heels for.

The night goes well and the meal divine as expected of the place. Natsu places a wrapped box in front of Lucy. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing fancy. Just a small gift for you.”

Lucy’s eyebrow raises as she reaches into her purse and pulls out a small wrapped box of her own. “Jinx! I got you something too.”

Natsu laughs. “Then we’re even.”

They both take their boxes and open them. Natsu being the first. “Wow, this is pretty awesome!” He holds up the flame shaped pendant. “Does it mean anything?”

“It’s called red tigers eye. Supposed to be good for energy and vitality, you know cause your job can get pretty demanding.”

“So, it’ll be my lucky Lucy charm?” He winks.

Lucy blushes, “you goof!” She finishes opening her gift, chuckling dying away the moment her eyes come to rest on its contents. “Oh my! You got me rose quartz?!” It was a beautiful, uncut piece too!

“I think you already had it, but when I was searching it said this one was all about love and new beginnings so I figured one coming from me would be more meaningful.”

She shifts over to hug him excitedly and plant a big kiss on his lips. “I love it!”

“You really love it?” He smirks.

“I really, really love it,” Lucy grins back. “In fact,” she runs her finger down his chest, “I think you’ve earned your home run...”

To give an idea of Lucy’s collection:

#hauntober #nalu #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #nalu au #crystals prompt #nalu drabble #nalu fan fic #fairy tail

52 notes · View notes

stranger-who-writes-fiction · 3 years

Text

♫ Surfing on a soundwave, Swinging through the stars, Take a left at your intestine, Take your second right past mars!

On the Magic School smelly space bus! ♫

SPOILERS for Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #2!

This is a comic where, the longer I sit with a particular issue, the more I’m like, ‘yeah. Yeah. YEAH.’

It’s dense in a way that invites the reader to go through it multiple times, and rewards additional readthroughs.

Also, it helps that the art is FREAKING AMAZING.

Seriously. Evely and Lopes should draw and color everything, forever, always.

(I will honestly be shocked if they don’t get an Eisner nom for this book.)

Anyways, all of this to say: Another issue that I enjoyed. It has one of the most genuinely sweet Supergirl moments I’ve seen in the comics in a good long while.

So, if you’re looking for a quick thumbs up/thumbs down rating, thumbs up!

If you’d like some SPECIFICS, though...

THE STORY

King is an evil genius because we don’t pick up where we left off--rather, we start in the midst of the Space Bus journey.

There is technically a Big Action Scene, but I was honestly surprised by how...casually? the story progressed.

Essentially: Kara and Ruthye are forced to travel by bus because 1.) Krem stole Kara’s rocket and 2.) this corner of the universe doesn’t have the right stars, so Kara’s still recovering from being under a red sun for an extended period of time.

The bus makes occasional stops; they encounter a space dragon; Kara takes some Red Kryptonite and saves the day; they eventually arrive on a planet with a yellow sun.

And again, all of this occurs with a kind of...breezy ease that I was not expecting at all.

I assumed that the space dragon fight would make up the final moments of the issue, after having built up the problem to a point where Kara needed to intervene.

But, noooope. The space dragon happens somewhere in the middle, which helps sell the central idea that this is simply Kara’s life. She’s been there, done that. She’s a badass who takes it all in stride.

But! Important to note! Ruthye still marvels at the sight of Kara taking out the space dragon, as well she should, because:

OH MY GOD. THE aRT.

There’s only so many times I can say, ‘it’s phenomenal, it’s gorgeous, it’s stunning’ before sounding like a broken record.

But it is. It truly is. This is the prettiest monthly book on the stands right now.

(Realizing I’ve been spelling Ruthye wrong this entire time, maybe? IDK. Apologies if I have.)

It’s in the final moments of the book that we learn what transpired after Krem shot Kara and Krypto and fled: Kara managed to get Krypto and Ruthye to a healer, and then passed out for a week.

Ruthye and Kara recovered, buuuuut...

Krypto is still very near death because the arrow was poisoned.

The healer can’t treat him until he has a sample of the poison.

Which Krem has.

(See where this is going?)

So! Kara regains her powers! Ruthye has a super on her side! KRYPTO’S LIFE HANGS IN THE BALANCE!

Gimme. Issue. 3. STAT.

THE CHARACTERS

Very much enjoyed Ruthye in this issue!

There’s a really tricky balancing act you gotta pull off when writing child characters; you don’t want to just write them as tiny adults, but you also don’t want to be obnoxious or cloying in trying to write ‘true-to-age.’

King gives himself a bit of a cheat, by setting her up as a rock farmer from a...what would you call it. An old-fashioned planet? And thus the kind of character who had to ‘grow up fast’ and behaves more maturely than your typical pre-teen might.

BUT! IMPORTANTLY! This is tempered by placing Ruthye in situations where her (understandable) ignorance is challenged/put to the test. Like, yes, she is mature, and well-spoken, and utterly tenacious, but she’s also out of her depth, and still in need of help and guidance.

(Which is how we get to The Best Scene which I’ll get to in just a sec.)

TL;DR - this issue has really sold me on Ruthye as our POV character and I am officially Invested in the relationship between her and Kara.

Speaking of...

It’s KARA-CTERIZATION TIME!

So, okay. There’s some ‘eh’ stuff in this one, but, BUT!

We got the goods again.

And by ‘goods’ I mean this:

Whatever other nitpicks I have (and I do! Have one! Which I’ll get to!) THIS. This right here! This is Supergirl. This is Kara.

And what a beautiful line to introduce this moment:

“And it began--as most things begin when you’re dealing with Supergirl--with a moment of kindness.”

It’s the same gentle concern we saw in the previous issue, where Kara knelt down to address Ruthye eye-to-eye.

Here, Kara’s facial expression, and the way she takes Ruthye’s hands and shows her what to do...

It’s just. SO SWEET.

Ahhhhh it’s so good. :D

So good! In fact! That the above scene offsets my one complaint, which is that Kara came off as harsh, IMO, when addressing the bus passengers, looking for Red K.

Other good stuff from this particular portion of the book: we get Kryptonese (maybe? I think?) And a mention of Kara’s mother being strict about certain things, which is in keeping with the 2000s series version of Alura.

Ruthye also asks if Kara ever tried to avenge the death of her family/culture and she says no; Ruthye says that she heard a lifetime of regret in Kara’s response, which I suppose could be read one of two ways:

1.) That she regrets her choice not to avenge them, or 2.) that she regrets not having the option to avenge them, as there was no one person to punch, no single action that could rectify the destruction of the entire planet.

I personally prefer the second reading.

Which I suppose contradicts the recent-ish “Killers of Krypton” arc, but who knows what is and isn’t canon anymore, honestly. XD

As for the rest of the issue! I found myself thinking of a Grant Morrison interview, actually.

Morrison apparently met a Superman cosplayer at a con and that’s when the character clicked for them: “[The superman cosplayer] was so in the character, but what really got me was the way he was sitting. It was this absolutely relaxed pose with one knee up and the arm bent over, and that’s what broke Superman for me. Suddenly I realized that Superman wouldn’t be a poser, he wouldn’t be a Muscle Beach steroid guy; he’d actually be completely relaxed because nothing could hurt him. He could be so open and friendly to everyone because no one can punch him or hurt him. He can’t get a cold, or be damaged by anything you’re carrying or wearing. For me that was the power of that, whether you want to frame it as magical or not, it actually informed the stories I wanted to write. I felt I understood him in a way I hadn’t until that moment.”

That’s always stuck with me, the idea that Clark would be the most at-ease, chill guy you'd ever talk to.

And THAT, I think, is what we’re seeing here with Kara. That at-ease-ness.

But in a way that is distinct from Clark! In the above quote, it’s clear that Morrison thinks it’s Clark’s powers that are the reason he can be so relaxed and at ease.

But Kara is de-powered here. So why is she so chill?

Because Kara is an alien.

Kara’s in her element, here. She’s used to space travel, she knows the ins-and-outs, she’s not shocked by any of the weird stuff they encounter on their journey.

Love it. LOVE. IT.

I am SO GLAD that King decided to go with Kara being the wizened mentor, as opposed to the naïve kid learning to be tough. It’s a much more interesting angle, IMO.

Also NO MENTION OF RIVALRY BETWEEN KARA AND CLARK. WOO. LET’S KEEP THIS ROLLIN’.

Alright, last, but certainly not least:

THE GOOD BOY! KRYPTO!

When I tell you I stress-read this entire comic first thing in the morning...XD

And I am STILL stressed. And a little sad that Krypto doesn’t get to go on another space adventure but! This is MIGHTY PREFERABLE to what I *thought* was going to happen, which is that Krypto would die from his injuries, and Kara would likewise be out for revenge.

Fortunately, that is not the case!

So like, the stakes?!?! Suddenly sky high. Find that dirtbag Krem and GET THAT POISON BACK TO THE HEALER!!

ART and MISC. STUFF THAT I LOVE

I generally don’t like to post entire pages of a comic, or panels without context, but the...reach? of this blog is extremely limited so. I think we’ll be okay. XD

So, alright! Some moments that I particularly enjoyed!

One of the panels that Mat Lopes shared early on!

I want this lettered version on a mug.

(Also she looks very ’Grace Kelly-ish’ here.)

Love Kara’s facial expression and her line about space travel being more fun when you can fly.

From the same portion of the book--such a neat detail that Kara keeps her cash in her sleeve!

Another set of panels that I think Tom King shared a few months back.

Love Kara’s little smirk, and the, “I’m wearing a big yellow S on my chest, and a very fashionable red skirt.”

It IS fashionable. WE SUPPORT THE SKIRT, IN THIS HOUSE.

Also the slrrrrrrp. XD

It’s good.

Okay, 1.) VERY COOL SCI-FI DESIGN and 2.) that line is great. “Can you feel it, Ruthye? We’re getting closer. The stars are changing.”

Mmmm, them good cosmic Kara vibes.

Kara’s attitude about the Red K here is fun, like, ‘WELP, sometimes you turn into a monster, sometimes you don’t!’ but again, the line is what gets me.

“Did my hair move?”

“I do not believe so.”

Honestly? I could post the whole comic here. Evely’s vision of ‘public transit, but space’ is just so immediately...not ‘real’, necessarily, because there’s such a fantastical element to it all, but it is fully realized. I think I used the phrase ‘lived-in’ and that’s it--this world feels like it has always existed; every grimy nook and cranny, every rando space bus traveler.

And Mat Lopes’ colors!

There are like, five distinct color palettes at work in this issue, and Lopes handles them all masterfully.

I think my favorite is the...I’ll call it ‘ethereal space aquarium’ lighting in the bus as they view the space dragon.

The glow and the shadows and the blues and pinks...

GGGGGGGGAAAHHHHHHHHHH so goooooooood

So, yeah. :D

I am very much enjoying this weird, wild ride with small, precocious Ruthye and wizened, crusty Kara. XD There’s some stuff that I don’t *love* but my goodness, it could be a lot worse!

Let us end on the beautiful title page:

#long post #supergirl: woman of tomorrow #supergirl: woman of tomorrow spoilers #dc comics #kara zor el #comic thoughts #comic opinions

4 notes · View notes

blazehedgehog · 3 years

Note

You've said a few times that you won't do a "Definitive Way to Play" for Sonic Adventure 2, but why specifically is that?

Because it just doesn’t meet my standards. I suppose I’ll go in to some more detail:

For me to make a “Definitive Way to Play” video, it kind of has to meet a wishlist of features I want for that game. Sometimes, that’s as simple as “make it playable on modern Windows.” Sort of like Sonic R, right?

For Sonic Adventure 2, on the surface it kind of looks like a decent port, but there’s a ton of little things wrong with it. SPEEPS has been doing a very good job fixing a lot of the game’s graphical problems. Fixing the broken lighting, restoring the textures, correcting level layout problems, things like that.

Which almost qualifies for a video. I’ve actually come really close to starting a script.

The real issue left in the Sonic Adventure 2 HD port is the controls. Grind rails are straight up broken. Sonic Adventure 2 is supposed to have this system where you hold a direction on the analog stick to lean in to turns while grinding. It requires a delicate touch -- it’s like balancing in a Tony Hawk game. You can’t just jam the analog stick all the way to the left and expect everything to work fine. By properly maintaining balance on a grind rail, you don’t lose speed going around turns.

That doesn’t work in the HD port. Like a lot of Sega’s HD remasters, the analog stick ranges don’t get read properly, so balancing on grind rails ends up being really glitchy, where Sonic’s animation jitters around a lot and it’s hard to find that balancing sweet spot.

Until that specifically gets corrected, I will not ever consider the PC version of Sonic Adventure 2 to be “fixed.”

Now, as part of SPEEPS’ “Hedge Panel” mod, you can turn on an option for “Modern Style Grinding”, but all that does is turn off leaning entirely. It helps a lot, but I’m looking to preserve the original Dreamcast gameplay, not remove it.

#Anonymous #questions #sonic adventure 2 #the definitive way to play #speepshighway

14 notes · View notes

mor-beck-more-problems · 4 years

Text

Burn Your Bridges || Morgan, Constance, & Remmy

TIMING: Current

PARTIES: @whatsin-yourhead @constancecunningham @mor-beck-more-problems

SUMMARY: Remmy makes good on Constance’s request to sabotage Morgan’s plans, but things quickly go terribly wrong.

CONTAINS: soft zombies

Constance had asked Remmy half a dozen times if they were sure they would do this for her. Did they mind if Morgan would be angry? Did they think this was a betrayal of her trust? She needed this, she wouldn’t ask if she didn’t need it. And was it still alright? Would they still do it? Remmy said they would, they would, they would. And Constance tried to believe them, but when she saw them leave the house and begin the long walk to Morgan’s home, Constance couldn’t help but follow behind and drift away in order to watch them. She made herself a nice roost in a cluster of birch trees in someone else’s garden and saw Remmy go in. A minute passed, and then more. Remmy did not immediately run straight out, and the road to the stable where Morgan kept her automobiles was empty. They couldn’t be conspiring with her directly. Constance observed the house, still curtained and dark, with rapt attention. Could Remmy truly be doing what she asked? Even if the reasoning she gave had been nothing more than her own welfare? She hadn’t known that was something people were capable of doing. “My heavens…” she whispered to herself, a smile growing slowly on her face. Perhaps Remmy had some grasp of their will after all. Perhaps the reason they believed so determinedly in impossible kindness was because they created it themself. And just when she thought that she would be allowed no more hope on this day, a blue automobile pulled into the road, with Morgan driving inside.

She didn’t know if this was fate or the betrayal that she should have expected, but Constance did not need to know for certain in order to take her chance. And it wouldn’t be an attempt on her life, it would just be another game, a little...fun.

Morgan left work as soon as her class was over. She had some calls to make, she needed to look through some texts. She had a few students she was leaving on read that needed her attention, but she felt so close to putting everything together, and if she could get more of that knocked out, maybe she could slow down, take a break, actually enjoy making dinner as much as she used to. She got out of the car and headed inside when she heard a splash in the pool. “--Mina?” She asked. “Hey, Mina, did you need something?”

She came around the side of the house and into the back yard, surveying the scene. She didn’t see her friend or any sign of straggling company. But the light was on in the shed, so Morgan jogged quickly to turn it off. She didn’t check the salt lines like she normally did. She didn’t imagine that there would be anything waiting for her inside except a space she had neglected to clean up. So when the door shut behind her, there was a gasp of time where everything still seemed alright. Then the lock clicked shut on the outside.

“Mina--?” She tried the handle, rattling it hard. But she hadn’t seen Mina. Maybe she had missed her at the bottom of the pool. “Deirdre? Deirdre, I’m--” But Deirdre knew that being shut up was one of Ruth’s favorite punishments for her. Deirdre would never. Was it the mushrooms? Did her mushroom self resent her for how things had ended? Morgan threw her shoulder against the door. That was how people did it in the movies, right? “Deirdre!” The lightbulb in the shed burst and sparked before going dark. Morgan screamed.

‘Don’t freak out, don’t freak out, don’t freak out…” She just needed to break the door. She was home, she was safe. Her trembling fingers barely grazed the handle before a scalpel went through her palm. Morgan screamed again, “Help me!” She swiped blindly in search of who was in there with her. She’d tear them to pieces, she’d end them and eat their intestines for desert, she’d-- Morgan only caught air. The dark was thick, absolute as nightmares. No shadow, no taxidermy, no weapons. Morgan’s thoughts drowned. She was back in her small room, barely bigger than her bed, banging and begging through the door to be let out. She would be good, she’d get the equations right, she was sorry and she would do so good if her mother would please let her out. She slammed against the door with all her weight. “Please--!” She wailed.

Remmy hands vibrated as they shuffled through Morgan’s collection, trying to figure out what in there was actually used for exorcisms and what was just random shit. Her notes made no sense, either, so that wasn’t any help. Someone would be home soon, they knew that, and though they could probably talk their way out of being caught in the house, they didn’t want to have to lie. To Morgan or Deirdre. And really, they just didn’t want to see Deirdre. They didn’t need that guilt right now. But they weren’t even halfway through grabbing the right items when they heard a scream and pounding. “Morgan!?” they shot up quickly, running around to the back of the house. The pool was empty, but when they looked out across the yard, they noticed the shed door closed. It was rarely closed. And the sound was coming from there. They raced out and across the yard, yanking on the door. “Morgan!?” they called out again. “Morgan, open the door!” A chill ran through them. No, it...it wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be possible. “Constance!” they tried this time, calling through the door. They slammed against it. Once, twice. The door burst open, the paneling splintering. And there she was, standing beside Morgan. “Constance, don’t! Don’t do it! You said you wouldn’t do it!”

Morgan always put off breathing for too long. If it wasn’t right away, she couldn’t convince herself to keep up with the beat. Air came out of her chest in shrill gaps. She couldn’t remember why she was supposed to be fine, she needed to get out, she couldn’t be trapped in the dark again, she couldn’t stay. Another blade slid into her, this time at her throat. Morgan clawed at it, grunting as she struggled to cry out again. Someone would hear her, someone would come home…

The door split open and Morgan stumbled back, falling to her knees as she struggled with the scalpel on her still-healing hands. Her eyes found Remmy, wide and desperate. Please help me, please help me, please...

Constance lost her concentration and her calm when the door opened. The next scalpel she’d been toying with clattered to the ground and she looked at Remmy with guilt. “I wasn’t going to kill her, it was just--” A game? “Please don’t be mad, she’s fine, she’s just scared!” And scared was so much less than what Morgan Beck deserved.

“Scared!?” Remmy balked, rushing to Morgan’s side, yanking out the knives that had been slid into her flesh, throwing them far away. “You were trying to kill her!” They kneeled between Constance and Morgan, caught between a battle they were just now realizing they had no say in. This war would continue until one of them was gone for good, and they weren’t sure they could stop any of this. They looked sharply at Constance. “Get out!” they said to her. “Leave, now!” They didn’t want to force her out just yet, but they definitely were inching closer to the salt lines on the floor, ready to grab some if they needed. They didn’t want to hurt Constance, but it was clear, now, that she didn’t trust Remmy to keep their end of the bargain, and that she would take things into her own hands.

“I wasn’t killing her! I swear, Remmy, I didn’t even come here with the intent of-- I needed to know if you meant anything you said!” Constance cried. And weren’t they proud? She’d reached through the roof and crushed the lightbulb so carefully with her hand. She wasn’t even angry, she didn’t even care that Morgan had things so much nicer than her, it was just a bulb and the glass sounded like chimes as it fell and the scream Morgan gave was so harmless. “Remmy, I just needed to know. I’ve never been able to trust anyone before, and then she just arrived, and you couldn’t be interrupted!” She reached for another thread to pull on, something to make Remmy look at her differently. “Remmy, please!”

Morgan gasped, clinging to Remmy with shaking hands for support as she dragged herself up to her feet. “W-what...what’s happening…?” She could see outside behind Remmy and flailed, unsteady on her feet, desperate to get to the fresh air. “R-remmy--?” She croaked, pushing against them, trying to move them outside. Faint puddles of black formed formed on Remmy’s shirt. Her foot slid out from under her, but she held on and tried to push. Out, she needed out.

“What do you mean you weren’t killing her!?” Remmy shouted. It felt like just another betrayal, another yank of their heart, another person taking advantage of their kindness. All they ever wanted to do was help. And people kept pulling them down and using them. Throwing that decision of softness in their face. “There was a scalpel in her neck!” they growled. “Leave, now. Get out of here.” They looked at her sternly, “before I make you.” And back at the mansion, they’d have a long, long discussion about this. Morgan was shoving against them, desperate to get out, and they took her by the arms and lead her out, making sure Constance didn’t follow. “Go inside,” they ushered to her, “hurry.”

“I wasn’t!” Constance said. “She doesn’t even bleed, how could I! Please!” But Remmy’s eyes had turned hard as everyone else’s in her life. She fled through the back wall of the shed and ran to somewhere, anywhere else to be.

Morgan staggered on shaky legs, still gasping and whimpering to her panic. No. Not inside. She stumbled to the fence that bordered the yard and sunk to her knees, pawing at the shallow trench she’d dug around the house. There was so much less salt than there should’ve been, and maybe it was all for nothing. She gathered as much into her fists as she could, heaving until the worst of her shaking had passed. She was in White Crest. She was safe. She was home. And the last thing she was going to do was go inside. She wasn’t leaving herself alone and she wasn’t staying still without something to protect herself with. The world spun, fuzzy and heavy like a twist-a-whirl. The last few minutes were putting themselves together in her head. Remmy. Constance. Together. “Where--is--she?” She asked, forcing her words through gritted teeth as she fought herself for control. “And what...were you doing...in my house?”

Morgan didn’t go all the way to the house, but Remmy wasn’t about to push her into anything. They followed slowly behind her, making sure Constance did as she was told and left, before turning back to her. “Hey, you’re okay, it’s okay--” they started, but the words that whistled through her grit teeth made them freeze. “She-- she’s gone,” they said, trying to keep their voice steady, “she’s gone, Morgan.” They bit their lip for a minute, before stopping just short of her and kneeling down to meet her level. “I was...looking for your exorcism stuff,” they said, deciding here, in this moment, they could not lie to her. They would not. She deserved the truth after what just happened. This was, after all, their fault. “I was going to get rid of it.”

Morgan had one moment of relief between hearing that Constance was gone and the words that came after. In that time she managed to release the salt from her hands and cling to Remmy for a few seconds more as her body settled back in place. She was in White Crest. She was with her friend. She was okay. Remmy’s words came to her delayed and muffled, rolling slowly into her like waves. “M-my...exorcism. But I’m almost done. I-I just need to find someone.” Why would Remmy do that? She had long figured out that they didn’t exactly approve of her actions, but they’d respected her enough to stay out of it. This wasn’t like Remmy. Remmy wouldn’t do this to her. Morgan turned to look at them, searching their face. “And you...you know what this means to me. I don’t understand. And didn’t you see what she just--” What she had done to her. Constance had no way of knowing how many times Morgan had been dragged into her room and locked up, but she had done it all the same. And she had delighted, it seemed, on running her through with Deirdre’s scalpels in the dark. Not for revenge, not to kill her, just for fun. Because she could. And then something else clicked into place for Morgan, something Constance had said. I’ve never been able to trust anyone before, and then she just arrived, and you couldn’t be interrupted… “She put you up to this.” Morgan couldn’t push herself away from Remmy fast enough. Without their support, she was a teetering mess, but she didn’t care. “She...trusted you? Why would she trust you? Why does she even know you?”

Remmy waited, silently, for the pieces to fall together. Morgan pushed away from them and they stumbled, not looking at her. While they were shameful of going behind her back to sabotage her attempt to torture someone, they would not apologize. Even if she hated them, they weren’t going to let her ruin herself like this. Just for revenge. Hands dug up grass as they sat across from her. “She did,” they answered softly, “she does.” Or, well, perhaps did at this point. Remmy had probably ruined that, too. Could they not save anyone? Not Lydia, or Deirdre, or Cordelia. Not Constance. Not Morgan. They held back the pain burning in their stomach and grit their teeth. “She knows me because...I ran into her in the park. And I know you were trying to-- Morgan...you want to torture her. Are you really going to sit there and tell me that I’m supposed to just let you do that? After everything you’ve been through? After everything we’ve been through? Seriously?”

“Yes!” Morgan screamed. “Especially for those reasons, Remmy!” She had known, always, no matter how quiet and accommodating Remmy was that they hadn’t believed in what she was doing. But this-- coming back to their house, the house they’d left, just to take her chance away from her-- Morgan didn’t know who or what she was looking at anymore. “How do you not understand that neither of us would even be in this shitty situation if it wasn’t for her? I wouldn’t be dead if not for her! I would still have magic! I would still have parents! Parents who gave a shit about me, who loved me! She is everything I have been through. And you don’t get to force me to roll over and just keep taking it and taking it and taking it just because you don’t like it!” Her voice ran raw and ragged as she struggled to breathe. She rounded on them, fists clenched, still trembling and crying, but no less furious at realizing that Remmy cared more about the ghost that had undone her than their friendship. “Tell me why,” she said, choking down a sob. “Why does she get to be your pet project, you new friend, after killing my whole family with her curse, killing me, but my house is the one you can’t stand to be in. Tell me why that is, what I did to you. Because I don’t get it. I don’t get any of this from you.”

“I never said you should just roll over and take it!” Remmy found themself shouting back, wondering, suddenly, where this anger was coming from. Hot tears stung their face and they wiped at them furiously. Their decisions were tearing them apart, but they couldn’t think about that right now. “What happened to you was terrible! What happened to me was terrible, but that doesn’t give you the right to hurt someone back! She’s a child, Morgan!” An angry, upset, lost child, but a child all the same. Her life may have been sacrificed for darkness and cruelty, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t been taken too early. From what Remmy had pieced together, Constance’s life was nothing but pain. And they understood that. They understood the anger that came with that. If Remmy had died and come back, too, they were sure they’d be just like her right now. “She’s not my pet project, Morgan! She’s a fucking person who, might I add, you brought back to this world! She didn’t choose to be here! She doesn’t want to be here! And you just-- you really think hurting her is going to solve anything? Help anything?” They shook their head. “No, no-- what doesn’t make sense here is you. You, who has always been soft and kind and gentle to me and others you love and care about. I don’t understand what you want from this, Morgan. Why is it so important to you that she suffers? Haven’t we all fucking suffered enough? Why does there need to be more?”

“Oh, please. You can dress it up however you want, but letting her--no, I’m sorry, giving her peace in a cozy magic circle on a goddamn platter, the same peace and sleep that you and I are never going to have, is asking me to do exactly that. And that is not something you get to decide for me. She destroyed my life. Me. From minute one, I was a thing of her magic. And getting even an ounce of freedom from her made me this!” Morgan pulled on her fingers. On anyone else they would have at least dislocated, but on her they hung bent like misshapen claws and moved slowly back into place. Morgan wrung them out to speed the process along, still shaking her head at Remmy’s inability to see her, to see what this meant. “I know I’m never going to get to be alive again, and I am never going to get those places inside of me that were magic back. I know that, I don’t know why you and everyone else think I don’t know that, but I do,” she wept. “So I am taking back from her what little I can. I am taking back my choice to do what I want, what I see fit, not running scared or working against some timeline of doom she’s set up for me. Stars, do you have any idea what it’s like to live like--” No. Of course Remmy didn’t. Remmy never would. Anyone who might have understood the dread that had consumed Morgan’s mortal life was already dead and destroyed. “I am taking back my power,” she said, more quietly this time. “I don’t need to feel the universe inside me to work my will. My soul is still a witch, and I will make sure she knows that when I watch her end.” She sniffled. “I am the same person I’ve always been, Remmy. Kindness, balance, autonomy, fairness, it’s all still important to me. It’s just that I’m finally taking my turn to decide what’s fair, and this is what I want. It’s not going to make up for a hundred twenty whatever years of suffering, but it’s going to be all I have. It’ll be enough, and then it’ll be over.”

“That’s not the same and you know it! Just because we don’t get something doesn’t mean you have the right to deny someone else that!” Remmy roared, feeling anger pulsing up through their arms and into their head, making them dizzy. They wanted to hit something again and it made them feel sick. They’d never wanted to feel like this again. But it was an inescapable part of themself and the guilt they felt at it made them turn away from Morgan, repulsed by the idea that she had made them feel this way. “Killing and torturing her isn’t going to give you back anything!” they finally said again, bile in their throat, a bite to their voice. An ice they hadn’t known was possible to be present in them. “You’re not taking back your fucking power by killing someone, ghost or not. And if you think that’s the truth, then, I--” they hesitated, the words building in their throat like lava, burning to get out. Remmy clenched their jaw, clicked their teeth, “then I don’t know who you are anymore.”

Morgan flinched at the cut in Remmy’s voice. Remmy, who hadn’t hesitated to walk to her house with bags full of ice cream when she thought she’d lost Deirdre for good. Who’d let her punch them until she fell over because they understood she had no other way of exorcising the rage trapped in her. Remmy, who tried to understand everyone, turning away in anger at Morgan. At who she was. “Then you what?” she snapped, suddenly stiff and cold. “That’s not what you were going to say. Or maybe you think I can’t handle it. Like I don’t know what you walking away like that means already?” That same rage that overtook her in Remmy’s yard was back again, cording through her arms, begging to be let out, to punch, to break, to hurt. “I’ll do you one better and say it first. If you can’t even admit that I might have a point, if you can’t even pretend to see where I am at, enough that you think you’re entitled to choose for me, then you are not my friend and you can leave. Now!”

Tears raced down Remmy’s cheeks in hot paths. Shock registered in their chest first, then their head, their throat. “What-- no, I-- M-Morgan,” they stuttered through the words like this was the first time they’d ever heard them. They shook their head, wiping more tears away with calloused palms. “That’s not what I-- I wasn’t going to say that, how can you--” they reached towards her, dirt stuck under their fingernails. “I wasn’t going to say that! Morgan, I-- I’m mad but I’m not-- i would never say that to you! I-- we’re-- don’t say that!” they scrambled towards her, reaching out again, “don’t say that!”

Morgan flinched back, whimpering as if Remmy’s touch might hurt. “You say that like I haven’t seen you cut two people out of your life already,” she murmured. “And it’s really not complicated math. You think what I’m doing counts as killing her, which you hate, and you think her killing me and everyone I cared about before coming here is okay enough to make her worth hanging around because it’s in the past or she looks young or--I don’t even know. And you can’t even admit that carrying over a hundred twenty years of cursed, fucked up trauma passed down to my miserable mortal life, might just be a good reason for me to have the say in what happens to Constance. And I just can’t handle hanging on and begging you to see me and where I am only for you to realize in another week or a month that you can’t and I belong off to the wayside somewhere. I don’t have it in me so please just go. And don’t come back unless you have something different to say.” Morgan turned away from Remmy and their earnest, pleading face. She had already lost more than she’d ever reckoned to Constance, she didn’t need to watch Remmy’s love for her fade out too. She wrapped her arms around herself and trudged into her empty house.

“Morgan!” Remmy called out, standing up on shaky legs. “Morgan, I-- I never said any of that! How-- how could you think I would feel that way!?” they stepped forward, but Morgan shrunk away from them. They shivered, folding into themself. “I’m trying to keep you from killing her! From making yourself into something you’re not! You don’t have to do this, you have a choice! You can be--” their tongue caught again, but this time, they pushed past every feeling inside of them to get the words out before Morgan disappeared into her house, “You can be better than Lydia!”

Morgan froze in the doorway. Maybe she should have expected a parting shot from Remmy, maybe she had hoped too hard that she would get the kindness of slinking back into her house and holding herself together as much as possible until Deirdre got home. But she hadn’t expected that name to come from Remmy like that. “If you think that I could ever be like that, if that’s what you think I’m--” Morgan couldn’t even make the words come out. “Then I don’t know how you were my friend at all.” She ran the rest of the way and slammed the door shut behind her.

#wr remmy #wr chatzy #wr remmy chatzy #wr constance #wr constance chatzy #burn your bridges #wickedswriting

10 notes · View notes

straynstay · 5 years

Text

Double Knot theory

this might be completely wrong, sorry lol it took me the whole day to come up with this, my head hurts lol

Alrighty peeps, here I am again with another attempt in trying to understand what’s behind the minds of SKZ when it comes to concepts, so I’m gonna analyze Double Knot on my yeezys after watching several times all their MVs (yes, I’m crazy lol). I’m not gonna be able to put pics of everything here cause tumblr sucks sometimes, but you can check the MVs to see what I’m talking about in case you don’t remember or didn’t notice. BARE WITH ME CAUSE THIS IS GONNA BE A LONG RIDE!

Starting with District 9 (where it all began), we have Mr. Bang Chan (the one in charge of their duties, therefore the leader) that sees a red flower and realizes that something is not right because if everything is monochromatic, how can there be a red flower? A glitch? An abnormality in their reality?

I think that the flower is a Poisenttia, but I don’t understand much of flowers, so I might be wrong. But if it’s really a Poisenttia, it could mean that the flower is pointing them to “salvation” since, according to Google, this flower is used during Christmas to symbolize the star of Bethlehem which led the Wise Men to where Jesus was born. So maybe the flower is showing that there’s a way out of this controlled reality they’re in? Maybe... (or maybe the flower will lead them to the big boss).

Moving on, Chan runs away to find that one of the drones that was watching them has crashed with a glass (?), making him place his hand on the panel that is projecting their world, and it wobbles (idk), meaning that they’re in a fake reality (everything is not what it seems!!)

Chan then hands out red papers with an encrypted message (I tried really hard reading what was on it, but it looks like and alien language or sth) to all SKZ members and they all get inside the bus (I’ve always wondered who’s driving the bus…) to break free from that reality and they enter another reality, a post-apocalyptic one, kinda lol, which is District 9 and they think they rule it cause they raised their flags there (but they’re not the ones in control, sorry boys)

And at the end we see the Stray Kids logo with black letters and the K in red. My mind went crazy and thought: S T R A Y K I D S = 9 letters, but one is different. > 9 boys, but one is different. Who? I think is Hyunjin because he’s the only one that looks at Chan after receiving the paper to escape and because he’s the one that the camera shows right after we see their logo on the floor lol So what I take from this is that Stray Kids now has become a glitch in their perfect system, but Hyunjin is not completely okay with it.

Moving on, in Mirror (not Miroh) we have Hyunjin alone in a room with 9 chairs, which I think that while the others left, he stayed behind. He’s writing on a piece of paper: who am I? where am I? I am not me (and the pencil dramatically breaks). They repeat several times “I don’t even know who I am, I just came along as they told me to” so I’m assuming Hyunjin is the one who’s still lost while SKZ is trying to break free, and maybe he’s having a hard time trusting Chan cause in the end Chan and Hyunjin are facing each other (don’t fight boys lol).

And I say that Hyunjin is the different one by watching subtle things in other MVs (like Voices, MIA, My Pace...) in which the scenario changes suddenly when his part comes, or when it doesn’t glitch as much as the others, etc., which makes me believe my theory that he’s the odd one, the one that actually doesn’t want to be part of the group.

May I add that in My Pace they’re all stepping on red pamphlets on the floor that says “Just stay in my lane”… and they’re not staying in their lane anymore? (you can’t control SKZ trying to take over the system).

Now we move on to I Am You MV which is the sequel to My Pace, right? So we see them after glitching a lot in My Pace and they’re still being watched, but now Jisung breaks a surveillance camera lol and they move to another post-apocalyptic scenario cause, let’s be honest, who would live on that rooftop with drawings of a couch and a plant if it wasn’t for the end of the world? But what called my attention was the fact that we see Jeongin’s reflection on a puddle and we see two moons (hi Side Effects and Double Knot), they’re on the move on a truck instead of a bus, and we have an interesting scene with Chan and Jeongin’s reflection becoming one (so they’re indeed in this together), but what about Hyunjin? Well, we see him assembling something like a bat-signal that has SKZ logo on it as if he’s now calling for them…but by the end of the MV their logo still has the K as the odd one out.

So what’s all this about? In my weird mind, Chan discovered that they were living a lie, being controlled and told what to do and decided to break free from all of it, and while the others seem to agree, Hyunjin isn’t fully convinced about it. Maybe he’s scared? He doesn’t know who he actually is, since they all seemed to be in a mind controlling environment being watched 24/7, so he’s lost. The albums go like this in the storyline I’ve created in my mind: I Am Not = I’m not who I think I was, my life has been a lie; I Am Who = who am I? everything is a mess while I’m searching for my own self at my own pace; I Am You = I’m a glitch just like you.

NOW WE MOVE ON TO THE CLÉ SERIES!! (I swear to God SKZ is trying to give me a headache cause I’ve never used my brain this much before in my life lol)

In Miroh (not Mirror lol) we all know now that they are trying to overtake the system. They were able to enter the surveillance room and find those who they thought were controlling them. There’s some signs I was able to check in Miroh during the parade (that I haven’t noticed before) that are quite interesting. The first one says “There is no Tarzan in City Jungle”. Tarzan is considered a wild man, someone who’s not behaving the way society demands since he was raised in the jungle among animals. The other signs say “Something happened, nothing changed” and “The world is the same”, so I’m assuming that society is celebrating the fact that the faulty/glitched ones (the “Tarzans” aka SKZ) are long gone now – since District 9 –, and everything is back to normal with everyone behaving like they should and the system functioning perfectly, but they don’t realize that SKZ figured their way into the City Jungle (aka the central part of the system) and are gonna make a mess in it lol

I have already analyzed Side Effects (you can check it here), but I’m gonna go even crazier now and assume that Side Effects is also them being chased by the “boss” after what they’ve done in Miroh, and they have to follow unlocked roads in order to lay low and not be captured. Maybe that’s why Hyunjin is the nervous one in the MV, fighting Seungmin (cause he’s about to register with a camera where they are and what they’re doing) and Felix (who wants to leave the cart, their ‘safe’ zone), because he didn’t want to be there in the first place. His lines in the song shows he’s afraid and doubting himself.

But at the end of Side Effects, Hyunjin is now converted to SKZ’s cause, if that makes sense. After everything they’ve gone through, everything that happened in Miroh and the other MVs, he’s finally part of the group. So Chan, as the leader, reaches out to him, and Hyunjin accepts, leaving a key behind – which I think might be what he was holding onto since District 9 (cause they all had separate rooms in that ‘prison’ and that key looks like a regular room key and not one of the fancy keys that show up on Double Knot). Now they’re gonna walk their path as a unit, not individuals.

Alright, that being said, I’m gonna move on to Double Knot. In Double Knot we see them walking on a road that looks almost exactly like the one they’ve been staring at in Victory Song in a city with two moons, so that means that after running a lot in Side Effects, they’ve reached their destination = the city. 9 fancy keys appear on top of some maps, so I’m assuming everything is complete now. We see an Astronaut billboard and we also have “take off” being showed in a bracelet, a ring, a necklace, and on the road. I’ll comment on those two later.

Right, so here comes the fun parts of this analysis. When Jisung (?) ties his laces, the ground becomes glitched as if something (aka SKZ) is interfering in the system (we can see signal written, so it means ‘no signal’ or ‘error-signal’).

And now EVERYTHING STARTS TO MAKE SENSE! Because SKZ now knows that since everyone is in this together after Hyunjin decided to join them in Side Effects, they can play with the glitches! Let me try to explain it better: after watching this MV and the others, I now see their concept kinda like Wreck It Ralph, if you know what I mean lol They’re not where they were supposed to be and they’re glitching inside a world that’s being projected to them, a fake world in which someone is in charge, but they broke free from that control, so now that they’re complete as a unit, they can be like Vanellope and play around with the faulty system that can’t handle them, meaning that they’re free and can go anywhere, change from one to another, lag the system and confuse the hell out of whoever is still trying to stop them.

This MV has more glitches and interferences than any other one, so it probably means they’re closer to the end than before. I don’t know if they’re trying to reach the main core or anything like this, but I do believe that this is not the end for them, I still think that there’s a final boss even after Miroh... but this is just me guessing lol

Minho, Jeongin and Seungmin see that they’re still being watched by a drone (kinda like District 9) and they’re recognized by the system (can you see their names on the side of the screen right below Stray Kids?), maybe the system is trying to get rid of the glitches?

Hyunjin is running alone on the street until he reaches a crossroad (now he doesn’t have to choose which road to take, he can go anywhere) and then after running some more he finds a key with the SKZ logo on the floor. This key is the same key that Chan uses to unlock the Yellow Wood on the elevator, btw, and the same key that we see him trying to open the white door with; the same door that Chan peeks through the key hole and sees himself and the SKZ on the sky, somewhat in a heroic kinda pose, right?

“ERROR-SIGNAL” shows up at the end when they’re all together, and we see that the Stray Kids logo is now all white (they’re all the same now). At the end, there’s blue while we see the interferences, which I think is because they’re gonna go up to the sky in Levanter.

THEY’RE GONNA TAKE OFF TO THE MOON!!! or not lol mark my words: Stray Kids everywhere all around the UNIVERSE! the world is too small for them now! The MV also shows “the owners of Clé”, meaning that they’ve learned how to make the system work for them now. GO, STRAY KIDS!

Something weird that I noticed while watching the MVs is that they’re always on rooftops (in Victory Song, Voices, I Am You, Miroh, etc), as if they’re trying to reach higher than that, but can’t or don’t know how to yet. They need an Astronaut to help them Take Off (see what I did here?), and I believe that the answer is behind the white door that Chan is about to open. Now I have no idea who or what might the astronaut, or what’s behind that door, but I hope we get more answers in Levanter.

Wow, I think I wrote a lot and there’s still much more that we can talk about this MV and SKZ’s concept. Maybe I’m dead wrong, but this is how I interpreted the story, so feel free to discuss your ideas with me if you want to~

STRAY KIDS MAKE ME PROUD AND THAT’S ALL THAT MATTERS ♥️

#stray kids #stray kids theory #stray kids comeback #double knot #skz #stray kids reactions #bang chan #woojin #lee know #changbin #hyunjin #jisung #felix #seungmin #jeongin

376 notes · View notes

naturaldisasterfanfiction · 4 years

Text

21. Part 2

Placing my bag on the table in my kitchen, everyone is ever so quiet, not a word is being spoken. They know I didn’t know want them here, I said to it to them. Especially Keeis, I said for him that he can have his bitch in this home but nobody else, there is a shift that has happened now, they were laughing but not anymore, maybe it is me. I am angry, I just feel like I want to beat a nigga up. Turning around slowly, looking around the room. They are all staring at me “you had a good holiday with Royalty?” Keeis asked, I want to fucking beat his ass “I want every bitch out of my home” I said, I don’t care who they are “what did I do? I literally been sat here and even cleaned your home” Krista said “if I wanted a maid I would have paid for one, don’t fucking piss me off, get the fuck out” not only did I have to leave Robyn, now I got these fucking idiots here. Grabbing my phone from my pocket, seeing the caller ID “what’s up?” I answered the call from Ant, he ain’t called me in a while “heard you was back bro, where you been? You want me to come up?” pulling a face “uh nah, I am good. I just came back now; I need to sleep and whatever” which I do “sleep? Chris you don’t sleep, anyways. I have a little something for you, Drake got his album coming out, he lost your number and he is asking for you to get on the track, I heard the beat. Perfect for you, come down. I said for him to wait until you come back, I honestly feel like this song will be a good one. Two legends coming together again” I sighed out “I am going to sleep, so I am good with that” I am being deadass with it too “don’t be fucking stupid Chris, everyone talking about how you dumped your son in Germany and took Royalty to Mexico, you look bad. Drake need you on a track, fucking grow up nigga. He is paying well too, come over” he put the phone down, it is just a song and I suppose it would be good money.

I don’t like this home; I just feel bad vibes from it. From police raids, orgies, drugs, it’s just a mess and I don’t like it. I went to my bedroom and there was some peace there, but I don’t like the vibe, but I need to go and meet up with Drake in the studio now. Walking down the steps “I’m going now, and Krista if I see you here I will fucking drag you out myself” seeing TJ doing whippets on my couch, I sighed out shaking my head. I am stuck between being in my home alone or having these here and I am not winning in this. I would go to my mother’ home but she will question me and talk shit so I can’t be bothered “Keeis” walking over to him “what’s up?” he said “you think I am a joke, like when I speak to you am I just a fucking joke to you?” I asked “nah” his ass is on some shit, he is always fucking high “right” standing next to him, staring at him in annoyance balling my fist up. I punched Keeis in the stomach, which was a low blow and winded him, his girlfriend screamed out. Keeis fell forward “seeing as nobody listens to me, I said get out. All of you” staring at them, I am being deadass. I rather be alone actually, I can’t deal with the drugs in my home anymore, it’s just throwing my urges to my face “you punched your own cuz? Chris what the fuck?” Hood said, staring at Hood and he knows I am being deadass with this.

Watching from the cameras, they left finally but they think I am a crackhead, an unhappy one but I’m not, I just wanted them to go and get out of here away from me. They left their mess here, it’s like they only listened when I had to act in violence which sucks but whatever. Robyn hasn’t even got to London yet; I am missing her like crazy already but I don’t want to trigger her again and she is crying so I will just keep it to myself. Now I need to find out about car shipping, I want to send one of my cars, maybe two to London because then I can drive my own cars there, I mean I sound crazy because they may tell me to go but I doubt it, then again I don’t. Looking down at my phone ringing in my hand “Robb” I wonder if he is calling to talk to me or was it Keeis crying down the phone “hey cuz, Keeis said you punched him? Why? We family, he ain’t like the people you hang with” raising an eyebrow “you don’t call me, and you call me for this? How about you ask Keeis, I told him to keep niggas out of my home and he invites them, like you no good nigga calling me for that, get off my nuts bruh” disconnecting the call, I now know that my family will assume I am having a breakdown when that is wrong, I am just done with it.

Watching Mijo walk over to my Bentley, he is laughing and I don’t know why, I thought I would come and pick up Mijo and take him with me, see what is good with him “I was like who the fuck is this dark skinned nigga, you turned into a dark skinned nigga, wow” dapping him as he sat in my car “well Mexico was hot, you should see Royalty, she worse then me” placing my phone in the middle panel smiling “good hearing you after so long, I called you but then you didn’t pick up. I saw you was on holiday with Royalty, you know how good that is to see!? You took little queen on holiday; I loved the pictures too. Family first, you know that” nodding my head “yeah, thanks for coming with me to the studio. I kicked out the OHB niggas you hate, I am just done bro. I am done with that life, I am sick of it. The drugs, I ain’t had that shit for weeks. Can you tell?” looking at Mijo smiling “you look happier, I can see it” he nodded, I sighed out “and I clocked some shit right, I read your post. And it read really rubbish feeling bih. And I was like huh, so I am reaching but then shade room comes on my feed and are clocking shit saying r is for Rihanna, so I am like Robyn Rihanna Fenty? So now I am like huh? Nigga, you did that shit on purpose” Mijo and I both looked at my phone that is now ringing, he gasped and so did I, like I didn’t know I have her number “noooo?” he said, picking my phone up from the side “nooo” he said again, answering the call “hello shawty, you get there?” she should by now “we’re going to land now, I just thought I would tell you because it’s late and you should be asleep” she is right I should be “I will be going to sleep but I need to go to the studio. Let me know when you’re in bed” I want to know every moment “were them idiots there?” she asked “of course, I punched Keeis but I will tell you this tomorrow. I need to go inside” Robyn groaned out “that is no good Chris, ok. I miss you already” smiling lightly “I miss you too, love you” I wish I were with her.

Mijo doesn’t know if to laugh or what, he is in shock “that was Rihanna, like what? Uh, no!” his face dropped “no fucking way, no Chris. Oh my god!” Mijo shouted out jumping in the seat “what?” I said ever so innocently, Mijo placed his hand over his mouth like he is holding in a scream. What is wrong with him, is he ok “Chris?” he moved his hands back “what?” is he dumb “I have worked it out, I know you fucking assholes! I know you both so much, oh my god. She is pregnant, and I know you. You both had sex at the party, she is pregnant, you are the dad and you put this shady picture of a ring. You eloped with her! Rihanna is being shady with who the dad is oh my fucking god!” I had to laugh, because he does know us “you kick my car anymore I will have to kick you out” Mijo is too excited “I am just fucking siked!” he shouted, I didn’t even need to say shit “so tell me, am I wrong?” he said, I shook my head smiling “but you can’t tell a soul Mijo, I am ditching Cali and going to London. I came here to take care of some stuff” I was not expecting this reaction from him, my face softened “are you crying?” I said “fucking happy for you, you two idoits! You go Chris, don’t look back. Hear me? Don’t fucking look back, I was scared I would lose you” Mijo grabbed the back of my neck “you don’t let a fucking clown ruin this, or anyone. You go to London and be the dad you are, you do it!” he pointed at me “I am happy for you, nobody fucking knows you like I do” Mijo got me choked up here now.

Getting out of the car, we got to the studio eventually “come here, my nigga fucking did that” Mijo attacked me in a bear hug “yo” I said laughing as he hugged me “I fucking saw the post, I just started adding shit together. I fucking know you both Chris! I ain’t dumb” patting his back letting a sob out, I just thought Mijo would also have shit to say because nobody is ever happy for me “fucking crazy shit but happy for you, you go there and you get the life you deserve. You deserve the happiness ok” Mijo moved back “nigga, I got my family now. I want you to have your family, I ain’t here for that shit anymore. I see you drugged up, I hate that. I had to leave you, I had to go away for my kids. You know how happy I am to be sat on the couch with my kids jumping on me and baby mother there? Happy as fuck, I tried that shit and I was close to losing it. Maleah needed me, and I needed her. My son is a cool nigga but he also needs the right path. Now it’s your time, I want to thank Riri man, that fool don’t know what she done. That hurt me, you were so lost. I want you to go, don’t fucking look back at those niggas!” wiping the tears that fell nodding my head “I didn’t think you would be happy for me, you was so negative about the party, you was just not happy about us you know” I said because he really wasn’t “I didn’t want her to play with your mind because you was already a fucked up mess Chris, I was scared for you because you get crazy lost but this!? Wow, you both did it, you did it without a care both of you. I knew it” Mijo ain’t stupid, he does know us “so you legit going to just run to her yeah?” nodding my head “I am straight moving without anyone knowing, Robyn will be the one to announce it, and then everyone will find out but you know now. Royalty knows, she was there for the day. I have pictures” digging into my pocket “wow! Little queen knew before me? I understand, I am so fucking hype. Like this is what you needed” opening my photos, and it’s the first picture to come up “this is us” turning the picture to him “oh wow, look at Rih yo. She looks well, I mean wow” I grinned “that’s my wife, I am happy. I am just sad that I miss her but I am happy. Appreciate you bro, I am sorry for being a dickhead with you” I have been a dickhead to Mijo, I haven’t been here for him as a friend but when I call he is here for me.

Dapping Ant as I made it to the studio session, I just want to get it over with and then I can go back home “you are glowing” he said, nodding my head laughing “well, it’s that holiday glow. Royalty loved it there” walking into the studio seeing Drake’ people, to be honest it is full of his people but it doesn’t bother me, we don’t have no issues now, we are cool with each other but I hate that nigga still, he wants to use me, I can use him too. He a whole goof “my nigga Chris” dapping Drake and then he hugged me “I lost your number; I text Ant for it. I am sorry but you’re here, I am very happy you are here. I heard this song and I said it would be perfect for you” he talks too much “cool” walking off to sit down, I didn’t tell Robyn about this because it’s not relevant and also she don’t need to know right now, she won’t care about it anyways. Sitting down on the couch “let’s hear it then” I said to him, Mijo sat next to him “you looking good breezy, happy? Is it the new cologne, I don’t know it’s something about you” Drake pointed laughing, this nigga is weird at times, but he is a whole goof I guess.

Staring at Drake and then looked at Mijo, he doesn’t know what to say and I have to keep my calm “what you think?” Drake asked, hearing his verse makes me want to punch him in the throat “uhm” rubbing the top of my head “don’t you think that is like a low blow, I mean who cares about Rihanna right?” why do I sound like the logical one here “Drake been tasting his tears from the amount of times he been crying that much, we had to ask him are you the dad. Shit, he ain’t the dad” one of his friends said “but you blatantly made a diss song because you’re upset, I ain’t going to be involved in that” shaking my head “it’s not a diss song, I love Rihanna I do but she played us, she plays everyone. She uses me, and then get pregnant by some random person and has the nerve to hide like anyone cares, she didn’t even clear up the rumours that I wasn’t the dad, I wish I was but that is not the point. She is a bitch, she played petty with me. I am too, and that isn’t the song, I just wanted you to hear it” I can do this, I am not going to let nobody stop me with this “right” I breathed out “Drake, you know Rihanna think she above everyone but she still be running to you. She thinks she a bad bitch, but came to you” they are massaging his ego “you invited me to a Rihanna hate club? You set me up or some shit? I ain’t fucking with this” getting up from the couch “she dogged you out too Chris, you telling me you haven’t?” I need to go, I shouldn’t have came to this shit in the first place. Side eyeing Ant as I left the room, I am being so calm right now but he deadass clowning my wife that she is a whore and a single mother, he called my child fatherless “I am proud of you” Mijo said behind me, I am really trying to remain calm.

#Chrianna FF #Chrianna #Chrianna Fanfiction #Fanfiction #Fanfic

10 notes · View notes

asoftervirge · 4 years

Text

Of “Love” & Murder - (8/13)

CHAPTER TITLE: Intelligence is Lethal and Deadly

RATING: M PAIRINGS: P. Sanders/V. Sanders (main/one-sided); R. Sanders/V. Sanders (former); V. Sanders/L. Sanders (former); V. Sanders/D. Sanders (former); Remy/E. Picani (side); T. Sanders/OMC (mentioned)

CHAPTER WARNINGS/KINKS: Murder, Arsenic Poisoning, mentions of Lying, mentions of a False Past, brief mention of Alcohol, minor Religious Allegory, introduction to Janus Sanders CHAPTER SUMMARY: Logan tells Patton all about his death.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: And now, the death of Logan! Plus, we get the introduction to the last of Virgil’s spouses! :D Not a lot of triggers for this chapter, but it’s still a death chapter, so please take care of yourself if you decide to keep going! And in case anyone was wondering, Logan’s death was inspired by an Italian novel, and actual arsenic poisoned books that are currently housed in the University of Denmark. Have fun reading everyone! xx Virge

INSPIRATION: This post by @phantomofthesanderssides

AO3 || Buy Me a Ko-Fi!

Patton’s heart dropped to his stomach. Like with hearing the method of Roman’s murder, his face grew pale and his hands started quaking. He could swear that his legs were also buckling and quaking underneath of himself.

“You—” he almost didn’t know what to say. “Y-You were poisoned?!”

“I hadn’t realized my sentence has fallen upon deaf ears,” Logan’s mouth twists into something almost cruel. “After hearing of Roman’s ultimate demise, I did not realize that hearing Virgil is capable of committing such horrific and murderous atrocities is still hard so conceive.”

Again, Logan didn’t have to be mean about it, but it’s true! Even after hearing Roman explain how he was murdered; Patton was still in some form of denial. He’s been seeing Virgil for over a month now, and he’s just now discovering the truth about him? It was like he was in a nightmare! And, in a way, he is; a nightmare where he isn’t sleeping, which seems to be much worse.

He didn’t have it in him to ask how, he didn’t even know if he could. Poisoning was poisoning, it was so linear that there is almost no need for an explanation. And yet, Logan was willing to give him one.

“It appeared to be a normal day for the two of us. We woke up together, made and had breakfast, then spent some time by ourselves— I was working on essays for journals and drafting a possible novel idea. Virgil isolated himself upstairs in his office doing whatever he tended to occupy himself with— but that didn’t mean we did not spend quality time together. We would have afternoon tea, then then dinner, and after that we would spend some time reading in the library before we would go to bed.”

“It was very unexpected,” the novelist’s frown grows deeper. “Virgil seemed…almost normal, as normal as a murderer can be. I failed to see him poisoning my possessions, I failed to any murderous paraphernalia in the manor, and most importantly, I failed to see the truth behind all the niceties. I failed to see how I had fallen into the trappings of evil.”

Patton’s heart sunk lower in his body. Logan’s fancy way of words almost made is seem crueler.

Xe continued on. “I was here in the library, simply enjoying my novel when he came in with a tray of drinks and snacks. Then he left and returned with a box for me, a box containing my favorite work by Agatha Christie. One could say that I was touched by what he had gifted me. I absorbed myself in the novel, but I slowly started to have an upset stomach. I drank my tea in hopes that would help me, but then an unbearable pain quickly took hold of my being. Sweet-sounding words were then cooed into my ear, but they didn’t hide any cruelty. And finally, blackness.”

…

Virgil shuffled about the kitchen, humming a tune under his breath as he finishes preparing drinks for himself and his new spouse Logan, French press coffee and green tea respectively. The kitchen still faintly smelled of the dinner they had just had together moments before, a dish that was a particular favorite of the novelist.

(Even though xe was going to die soon, he figured he would give xem the same treatment he did his first husband. Minus the whole drowning and choking, that is.)

He also got started on biscuits and cake for themselves, grabbing dishes of butter, marmalade, chocolate sauce, and jelly spreads— which was an unabashed weakness of Logan’s.

All that was needed was one more finishing touch.

He made his way upstairs and into his office. Sitting on his desk was a decorative box, but he wasn’t focused on that just yet. He rummaged through the drawers before finally finding what he was looking for.

It was a small bottle filled with a white powder.

Any normal person might confuse it with everyday things like flour or baking soda, but Virgil knew exactly what it was and what it was used for.

Smirking, he grabbed the bottle and the box before taking them back down to the kitchen.

He opens the bottle, making sure he doesn’t inhale any of the toxins, before dumping some into Logan’s tea. He quickly puts the bottle away before stirring the contents together so it would dissolve.

When it did, he finally carried the tray to the library where he knew his second partner would be.

Sure enough, Logan was reclining in one of the chairs closest to the fireplace. One hand was holding xyrs book securely so it wouldn’t fall out of xyrs lap, while the other was perched on xyrs chin. Xyrs dark blue eyes were looking at the text in deep fascination.

Virgil couldn’t help but peak down and look at the cover.

Cosmos by Carl Sagan.

He liked talking about stars and constellations and whatnot with Logan every now and again, but sometimes he would get annoyed because the novelist would drone on and on. He often wondered how xe was able to do that publicly, every single day and not annoy people. Then again, the panels and conferences they would attend (much to Virgil’s chagrin) would often have people that shared in xyrs interests.

In a way, xe almost reminded him of Roman, what with how he would talk about Disney and Broadway musicals all the time. The only difference was he didn’t hear singing constantly coming from the novelist’s mouth, if any for that matter.

(Such a minute thing almost made Virgil miss the late actor…almost.)

A soft clearing of his throat got Logan’s attention.

“Ah, Virgil,” Xe sits up a little straighter and closes his book, but not without putting a page-marker in it. “How are you this evening, my moonlight?”

Despite his dark motivations, Virgil couldn’t help the tiny blush and faint growl. Damn this nerd for saying something so simple yet making it affectionate at the same time!

He quickly recovered however. “Oh, I’m doing just fine, starshine.” He says as he sets the tray down on the table beside Logan. He moved closer and gave him a small pinch to the corner of his lips. (This was their special way of expressing love to each other since neither were very affectionate people). “Reading anything special?”

“Nothing that I already didn’t know about,” xe tells him, showing him the cover. “But it’s still an exciting read regardless.”

Virgil hummed. “Well, I’ve brought some tea and biscuits for us before bed. I even brought your favorite jellies because I know you can’t resist.” He snickered at the noise Logan made. “I’ll be right back, just have to get something else from the kitchen.”

“Alright.”

His devious smirk returned as he slipped out of the library and back into the kitchen where he left the box. He grabs it and returns to see Logan still preoccupied with his current book.

The wealthy man cleared his throat once more, signaling that he came back.

Logan looked up. “Oh, you’ve returned.” Xe noticed the box Virgil was holding. “What is that you’re holding?”

“Just a little something special for you,” he says with a sweet-looking smile. “Here. Open it.”

Setting down xyrs book and taking the box, Logan opens it and is surprised by what was inside.

“Is— Is this a copy of my favorite Agatha Christie novel?” xe asks in astonishment as xe pulls out the copy of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. “I-I…I don’t even know what to say…”

“Maybe a thank you?” Virgil snickered.

Logan cleared xyrs throat, faintly blushing in embarrassment. “Y-Yes. Yes, I suppose— Uhm. Th-Thank you for this, Virgil. It is a very thoughtful gift coming from you.”

“Anything for my new spouse.” He gives him another pinch before taking his mug of coffee.

No more words were spoken between the two as they read from their respective novels. The only sounds made were the crackles of the fire and the occasional turn of a page.

Virgil couldn’t help but look to see how Logan was fairing. He watches with a hint of amusement as the novelist was more absorbed in this book than the last. He hadn’t even touched his tea yet!

Although he wanted to frown at that, he didn’t.

He knew better.

The time will come eventually.

What he did notice was that Logan read (or maybe skimmed?) the pages then lick at xyr fingers before flipping to the next one.

Virgil hid his victorious smile within his mug. He sprinkled the corners with that exact same powder he dumped into the tea, so at least xe were ingesting it. But it wasn’t enough to garner a true reaction out of xem just yet.

He goes back to his book, but still looked up at his spouse every now and again.

Things started to get interesting sometime after.

Logan let out a quiet grunt, which wouldn’t be a big deal had it not been for what Virgil had done to the book and tea. He watches as the novelist tries to play it off.

“You okay there, starshine? Got a headache or something?” He feigned concern, watching his second victim for any tell-tale signs that the poison was slowly taking effect. He then sees xem drinking xyr tea, hoping that would help ease his pains.

That only made things worse, however.

Logan began to cough, and again, it wouldn’t be something to worry about had it not been for the blood that appeared on his hand.

“Are you sure you’re alright, L? That was a pretty hard cough.” Virgil continued to fake his concerns.

Logan coughed again, waving him off. Xyr hands started to shake as xe brought xyr cup to xyr lips. “Y-Yes,” xe reassures. “I-I’m alright, Virgil.”

Xe think xyr fine. How adorable. Virgil had done his research; it takes about a half an hour for an eighth of a teaspoon to kill someone. He put in a little more than that, just for good measure.

Virgil kept staring at his spouse, watching every little thing that went on. It was intriguing, if he were to be honest.

Preoccupied with his dark thoughts, he didn’t realize Logan’s eye roll into the back of xyr head, and only became aware of his surroundings when he heard the thud of his spouse hitting the floor, a book falling right beside xyr body, and xyr glasses flying of xyr face.

With a smirk, the widower slid down to the floor, holding Logan’s head in his lap. He pets xyr hair, the very thing he remembered the novelist doing to him when he (pretended to) have anxiety and panic attacks. All the while he whispered quietly, knowing Logan would hear but wouldn’t respond to.

“Oh, Logan. My brilliant but naïve starshine. I think I forgot to tell you something. There might have been a little…surprise in both your tea and your book. Yep, a surprise. What was it, you might be asking? Well, if you hadn’t already deduced it— and I doubt you have— it was a bit of arsenic that I keep in my medicine cabinet.”

He chucked sinisterly while Logan seized in his arms, all the while, petting xem like xe were some sort of sick puppy.

“How does it feel, Mx. Oxford? To know that your death was caused by the two things that had meant the absolute world to you?”

Logan jerked violently, foam starting to slip past xyr lips. Virgil laughed.

“The minute I heard you come into my old bookstore, it seemed like a sense irony was on my side. And you were such an easy target too! All I had to do was debate with you, butter your ego up with flattery and you followed me like a schoolboy getting praise from a teacher.”

Virgil’s smirk grew wider, almost to where he was smiling.

“Too bad it wasn’t gonna last. Like I did with Roman— you’ve heard about him, haven’t you? The Scarlet Rose from my first marriage? — I had to get rid of you eventually. And now, I am.”

Logan’s body jerked violently again, foam now pouring out of xyr mouth and down xyr chin. Xe kept coughing, blood turning the foam pink and red in places where blood clots came out.

“Now, just sleep, Logan. Sleep and dream of those oh so wonderful constellations you kept ranting about to me~”

Suddenly, after Virgil’s last coo, the novelist stilled. The blood and foam slowly stopped leaking out of xyr mouth, but xe already drench the now two-time widower’s hands in red.

Virgil fished cleansing wipes out of his pocket and cleaned his hands as best he could. He knew he would have to get the peroxide out later. Right now? He was going to finish reading his book.

Allowing Logan’s head to thump to the carpet underneath, he stood up and simply sat back down in his leather chair, acting as if nothing had happened.

He flipped the page and chuckled at the short story he turned to.

Edgar Allan Poe’s “Murders in the Rue Morgue.”

Devilishly ironic.

Name: Logan Oxford November 03, 1954 - April 18, 1978 Cause of Death: Arsenic Poisoning Accidental Suicide

…

Patton felt tears burning his eyes once more as Logan finished his recollection. The novelist looked down at the floor, xyr hands were behind xyr back so the confectioner couldn’t see how they were shaking in slight rage.

He didn’t know what to say, he couldn’t say anything. All he did was sniffle and wipe his tears.

“I was stupid to play it off as nothing,” Logan says, a cold anger slowly seeping into xyr voice. “I should’ve recognized the symptoms of arsenic poisoning.” Xe huffed something akin to a laugh. “It’s indescribable…watching your spouse place your head in his lap and pretend to comfort you in such a sickening way. All the while telling you it was his intention to kill you.”

First with Roman, and now Logan?… He still can’t imagine it, it all sounded so horrible.

Suddenly, something that the novelist said resurfaced in his mind.

“Wait,” he says with a small crack in his voice. “Did you say…Virgil worked in that bookstore?!”

Logan nodded. “That’s what I hypothesized from his words. He didn’t seem all that comfortable with being there the first time we had met, last I recall.” Xe tell him. “While it is not a lot of evidence, there is no way he wouldn’t say that to me— as I was dying, mind you— if it wasn’t anything but the truth.”

All of this was changing everything for Patton.

Virgil originally worked in a bookstore? He lied to him from the first moment they met? His heart was slowly breaking. If this was just one thing Virgil lied about, then how many more lies did he tell him? And, most importantly, how many of them did he fall for?

“I’m not one to beg,” the novelist tells him. Xe looked at him with a small hint of desperation in xyr dark blue eyes. “But you must leave this place at once, Patton. We are warning you because we do not want another person to fall prey to Virgil’s inhumanity.”

Patton was surprised by how tiny his voice became.

“Logan—”

“I’ll have you know that we are not saying this to scare you,” Logan’s eyes sharpened, causing the confectioner to coil back in surprise. “We all have been flattered by his smooth praises, compliments, and other methods of blandishment. He made us feel good, made us feel more appreciated than how we were before we fell into his hands.”

The novelist’s shoulders slumped and now xe were looking at him tiredly. Xe were tired. Tired of all the emotions xe had suppressed while xe were alive. Now, they were finally breaching up to the surface.

“Listen to me, Patton. There is much more to your life than just having Virgil in it. You have accomplished so much before you met him, and you will be able to gain so much more if you leave.” Xe explain. “Love makes people do extremely irrational things. It makes them pull stupid actions, and this, is one of them. So please, heed our warning and escape this manor. Escape Virgil.”

“…I promise.” Patton says in a whisper, another one that had a lie burning underneath it.

Feeling satisfied, Logan nods and fades away. The fireplace flickers out the second xe vanished.

Two stories down and only one remains.

With a sigh, Patton leaves the library with a gentle shut of the doors (or as gentle as double-doors can close). He curled forward as he rested against them.

His mind was swimming with emotions, primarily those on the negative end of the spectrum. And despite the deep (very deep) desire to run and never look back, he still didn’t have it within him to do that just yet. He needed to know who the one in the suit was, what role did they play as Virgil’s last husband (or spouse), and how did the two-time widower destroy him too.

So, Patton forced himself to straighten up and made his way to the back of the manor.

Light shined from the glass door of the conservatory, sending him a small amount of comfort as he stopped in front of the walnut door. He looked up and down it, observing the serpentine engravings marked on it. Then, his gaze settled on the cobra-looking door handle.

After inhaling and exhaling a deep breath, he inserts the key and moved his wrist. It finally clicked open after a few minutes of jimmying with it. Feeling emboldened, he pulls the door back and walks inside.

It was an office, he realizes. A simple, yet fancy looking office.

The carpeted floor was a dark green as opposed to the dark blue ones in the library, and instead of silver embroidery, it was detailed in gold. The desk was mahogany wood and in front of it, were two black leathered seats.

A file cabinet rested against the wall right of the desk, and a glass tank (maybe for fish? reptiles?) rested left of it. A bar was to the left of the door, no alcohol was stocked on the shelves, aside from a crystal platter holding cups for vials of stock and whisky.

Behind the desk was a beautiful, ornate glass window that shined moonlight thanks to the parted dark green and gold curtains. Photographs hung in various places on the walls, many of them were newspaper headlines — headlines of famous court cases, many of them won.

Patton closes the door.

“My, my.” A deep, silky voice rings in the air. “It amazes me how an innocent little lamb continues to wander far from the comforts of Eden.” The confectioner shivers at the sound. “But I wouldn’t want to be a lost sheep forever. One must return to God soon, or he shall be slaughtered by the wicked Devil himself.”

Patton looks around to see where the voice was coming from, but he couldn’t find anyone. Then the leather chair slowly swivels around to face him.

The person sitting in it? Was the one in the third portrait.

The one in the suit.

“I’ve been expecting you, Mr. Hart.”

#Sanders Sides #Patton Sanders #Logan Sanders #Virgil Sanders #Janus Sanders #Moxiety #Analogical #Anxceit #death tw #blood tw #poison tw #Of Love & Murder

3 notes · View notes

tessatechaitea · 4 years

Text

Cerebus #8 (1979)

This cover doesn't help me remember what this issue is about.

Having only ever read the first half of Cerebus via the collected stories in the Cerebus phonebooks, this is the first time I'm seeing most of the early covers of Cerebus. I probably started reading the monthly issues during "Flight" but had purchased the "Melmoth" back issues. So I'll be getting a lot of new material in the covers and the Aardvark Comments section all the way up through "Jaka's Story." In Note from the Publisher, Deni explains that Cerebus is currently selling 4,000 copies a month. That's four thousand dollars a month! Of course, Dave probably has to sell at half the cover price, so maybe that's more like two thousand. And then there's the expense of paying for your own printing and shipping. I have no idea what that might cost but let's pretend it's another thousand dollars. That leaves Dave and Deni with one thousand dollars per month before taxes and art equipment! And I know I'm being way too optimistic so let's say it's more like $750. In Canadian dollars! That's probably about five hundred American dollars! But then again, this was 1979 dollars and cars were about six thousand dollars back then. You could buy a house for twenty grand. So by Issue #8, Dave was either really starting to make a lot of money or heading toward financial ruin. I'm not sure why I even began this paragraph when I have no idea what I'm talking about. Although, four thousand copies of an independent comic book by the eighth issue? That's good fucking marketing. No wonder Dave Sim became the God of Self-Publishing. In his Swords of Cerebus essay, Dave Sim continues to explain how he was growing as a writer and artist. It's the kind of thing a fan of Sim's work enjoys reading but not the kind of thing that I can make entertaining in a brief synopsis. So fuck off to the next paragraph already. We're done here. At the end of the last issue, Cerebus escaped his battle with a gigantic Black Sun spider god. But he did not escape as unscathed as I maybe led everybody to believe. He was actually bitten and poisoned by the thing and now he's wandering the desert (unless it's the tundra (which is probably a definitive desert but what am I? A reader of The Farmer's Almanac?!), hallucinating and probably dying. Some Conniptin soldiers find Cerebus and take them back to their Commander's quarters. The Commander isn't the main leader of the army; the main leader is some cocaine snorting prince who thinks he's a god. He wants Cerebus made into a bath robe which would mean Cerebus would get the last laugh. Because remember how badly Cerebus' fur smells when it gets wet? Ha ha! That joke was so funny Dave used it five or six times in the Bran Mak Mufin issue. The Captain and the Commander make plans to oust the young Lord and take over the army themselves. But they need Cerebus by morning for their plan and Cerebus isn't healthy enough. So they take him to the army's doctor for a few Star Trek jokes that seem cheesy and overly done (but maybe not so much in 1979? Or is that the whole point of the running joke here? Because it's a tired format that Sim subverts at the end?) but which ends with a pretty fantastic punchline.

To really appreciate this joke, I think you have to remember what the world was like in 1979. If you weren't born or cognizant of the world at that time, I can't explain it to you. It's like trying to explain Ringo's obsession with the hole in his pocket to somebody who has never seen The Yellow Submarine and who also doesn't know who The Beatles are and has also never heard music or seen animation. Yeah, the 70s were that fucking cool.

The Captain and the Commander take Cerebus out later and point him in the direction of a campfire. They tell them the men around the fire drugged him and they should pay. Feverish and sick, Cerebus runs up to the small camp and begins slaughtering the four men around it. He hallucinates that three of them are Elrod and one of them is Sophia. So what the reader learns this issue is that Cerebus is ready to kill all of the other characters of his comic book at a moment's notice. How The Roach and Weisshaupt and Elrod and Rick and Astoria and Cirin last as long as they do is a miracle. Or it's just part of the contrived story. I guess if it were real, it would seem like a miracle. But since this is all written by Dave Sim, it's just the way it was meant to be. I'm not sure what their eventual plan is for Cerebus as this just seemed to be a test. I guess he's their Manchurian Candidate? The four mercenaries Cerebus killed were Hsifan. The Commander and Captain are Conniptin. I have no idea what these things mean. I think Hsifans make really good ninja assassins though so killing four of them is pretty damned impressive.

Like I said. Killing twenty-five Hsifans is pretty damned impressive.

This story highlights one of Cerebus' bigger life problems: he's constantly being pulled into other people's stories. If he's not trying to steal some treasure to get more gold crowns so he can drink more ale, he's slaughtering other mercenaries to get more gold to drink more ale. And when he's not doing either of those things, it's usually because he's gotten caught up in somebody else's story. I suppose that's what you need to expect when you're some kind of prophetic Messiah. Your story has already been told and you're just time's puppet. But — and I think this is the most important part — something about being an aardvark allows Cerebus to tell destiny and fate to fuck off. So quite often, Cerebus just walks away from the story he got sucked in without a care to its resolution. It has something to do with aardvarks being soulless and less with aardvarks being hermaphrodites. Because I think maybe that's just Cerebus. The Commander and Captain want to make Cerebus their new leader because they can't stand the selfish, greedy fops who rule. The Conniptin motto is "Might makes right! Fight, fight, fight!" Which you really can't argue with unless you're a talented fighter. So Cerebus is offered the job which he can refuse if he doesn't mind having his guts spilled on the floor.

Seems like Cerebus' future is pretty cut and dry. If you forget that he's an aardvark.

Cerebus decides he'd rather escape than be a puppet of the Commander. But after knocking out the guard and trudging some way across the snow, he thinks twice. He decides having a warm place to sleep and free food are a better deal than running for his life from vengeful Conniptins. He also likes the idea of leading an army. If you're not into Cerebus as a mercenary captain, don't worry. It won't last more than one issue!

Damn, I'd forgotten about this line. It used to be one of my favorites to quote whenever being offered some payment or reward of some kind. "What's better than X? Mayhap two Xes!"

Fred Hembeck writes in to Aardvark Comment this month as well as, if not as famous as, David R. Wooten. Pretty sure I've seen David's name in quite a few letters pages of DC comics. The Singles Page is a strip by John Barclay called "Small Potatoes!" It's twelve panels of a couple of guys singing "Dude Looks Like a Lady" on, I guess, a street corner. They sing, over and over again, "DooDuckGlackaLayda!" It's social commentary of some sort. I think. Maybe he's just making fun of the repetitive nature of the song, or any song you're forced to hear out in public by buskers and bucket drummers. Who can tell?! Humor was different in 1988 (the Singles Page is only from the Bi-Weekly! That's why the date is different from the comic). Cerebus #8 Rating: A. There's something happening here. What it is ain't a standard comic book. But it's not what a lot of people thought of as an underground comic book. For one, not once has Cerebus walked around with an erect penis. What was this nonsense not being published by DC or Marvel but also not being weird animal porn that is also personal confessional?! I wish I hadn't been so ashamed of purchasing adult material that my mom might raise an eyebrow at but then say nothing at all. One time she cleaned my bathroom where I had a playboy under the sink. Instead of saying anything, she just straightened it up and left it. I couldn't look at her for weeks. Although I was pretty relieved because at least a week before that, I had about twenty Playboys in there! I can't remember why I moved them but at least she didn't know the extent of my wanking! She probably thought, "Oh how cute. One magazine! And the centerfold is an African-American lady. My boy ain't no jerk off racist!" instead of thinking, "How many fucking porn mags does he need? Does he do anything but jerk off? Oh God! I'm not touching anything of his ever again! Plus isn't this copy of Penthouse the one with an underage Traci Lords?! I wonder how much that will be worth in thirty years?" Of course she thought that last thought not realizing that thirty years later, it would be considered child porn. No, I don't own it anymore, you pervs. I threw out all of those porn mags when I went to college because I didn't know where to hide them! Also I was underage when looking at the Traci Lords' Penthouse so it wasn't weird. She was older than me in those pictures!

#Dave Sim #Cerebus

7 notes · View notes

numba99 · 4 years

Text

Fatal Attraction

Summary: When a mysterious man shows up at your job, you find yourself inexplicably drawn to him - and him to you. But behind the beautiful face is the dark lifestyle of a man who has made his wealth through becoming the most powerful drug dealer in the city. Word count: 2.7k

Song (new thing I wanna try for this series first song is the general ~vibe~ im going for with this) Him & I by Halsey and G-eazy

Warnings: OKAY SO this is gonna be a long one. Obviously this whole fic is going to have drug mentions in it. I want to be clear that I am not trying to glamorize/condone drug usage. We are all adults and can make decisions on how we feel about that kind of stuff on our own. This is merely a work of fiction and I completely respect you choosing not to read it for whatever reason. I am not 100% sure what’s going to come out as a I write this but I imagine there will be mentions of violence (though I have no plans nor interests in writing about violence explicitly), smut, weapons, etc. I will put more specific warnings on each part, but I wanted to give a general idea so you don’t start something you wouldn’t be comfortable finishing. okay thats enough of that, let’s get to the good stuff.

It was a Friday night like any other. You stepped out on to your personal stage for the night, wrapping you hand around the silver pole in the center. It was cold and familiar, the sensation always flipped a switch in you. It was time to work. A slow, sexy R&B song spilled out of the speakers as you began a sultry walk around the pole. You noted the faces in the crowd, painted blue by the clubs low, mood lighting. They all melted together, a sea of desperate men with fantasies playing in their heads. Then you spotted him.

He showed up a little over a month ago, and since then has came in week after week. He always sat in the back, always by your stage. You had some frequent flyers, but no one like this, no one like him. He didn’t so much as look at any of the other dancers. He was there for you, you could feel that even from across the room.

And yet, you never felt uncomfortable by his presence. In fact, you looked forward to it. You couldn’t be certain, but you thought he was keeping at an eye out for you. You noticed he was always with another man, who was suited and stood behind him. If a patron got too in your face, he’d whisper to the man he was with, who’d then pull aside whoever was bothering you. Without fail they scampered away every time. You never heard what was said, but the look on the other guys face told you it wasn’t very kind.

He tipped handsomely as well, though he never put the money on you. While the other men would clamor to slide single dollar bills in your lingerie, he’d have his “sidekick,” as you dubbed him, lay a single hundred dollar bill stage after every song... and then drop off a few hundreds before he left for the night. Some nights he'd tip you more than you could make in a week.

Though his presence seemed benevolent enough, you were a bit cautious of him. You wondered what this mystery man wanted, why he was watching you. In this industry, you learn to become suspicious of men that pay too much attention to you. You’ve dealt with many creeps in your time stripping, and you wondered if he was just rich and shy, waiting to build up the nerve to make a move on you and hoping the money he was dropping would soften you up.

As fate would have it, tonight would be the night you’d get your answer.

Your club’s manager Rick, who was as sleazy as sleazy gets called you off the stage for a private room booking. When you were lucky, or unlucky depending on how you looked at it, a man would book you for some time in one of the private areas. During this time you were either giving him a lap dance, or worse, acting like his therapist. You lost count of the amount of times you got alone with a man and he just broke down crying about his wife or shitty life or something you didn’t care about. It was a 50/50, but you put up with because they made you good money.

“Who’s the lucky man?” you deadpanned.

“The dude back there,” Rick replied, nodded to your mystery man. You cocked a brow, shocked that he was requesting alone time with you when he hasn’t so much as sat front row for one of your dances. You had no idea what to expect, but you had a strange feeling growing in your stomach that there was more than meets the eye with this man. You never really got nervous for these things anymore, it was just part of the job, but something about finally being face to face with him was making your heart thud.

“Put on a good show for him would ya? Man spends a lot when he is here. Don’t need you fucking it up,” Rick said as he chomped on a stale-smelling sandwich.

“What room?” you asked, ignoring his stupid comments.

“Three. Get naked if he wants, I want that money y/n,” Rick replied. You turned around flipping him the middle finger as you walked away. It was supposed to be club rules that your bottoms always stay on... and it was also supposed to be club rules that guys weren’t allowed to touch you outside the private rooms. However, Rick could turn a blind eye if money was being made for him.

You knew you were at the right room, the sidekick was standing outside like a guard. He stepped aside for you without word, allowing you inside. Odd, but you’ve seen enough weird shit here that it didn't phase you. The door clicked shut and you spun around, finding the mystery man alone on the cushioned booth. The lights were low, but you could see him so much better now. His hair was slicked back into a low bun, face framed by a well taken care of beard. You couldn’t tell the exact color of his eyes in the lighting, but they were mesmerizing even from a distance.

“Sit,” he said softly, patting the spot next to him. You approached cautiously, keeping your eyes on him the entire time. It always raised your suspicion when a man didn’t ask you get on top of him right away.

“Please don’t tell me you’re one of those dudes who’s going to tell me I’m too good for this and you want to save my soul,” you said as you sat next to them. You’ve gotten a few of those holier-than-thou types in your time here. It was funny how when you told them you were not interested in being “saved” they still wanted a lap dance.

“I don’t think you’re someone who needs to be saved,” the stranger replied simply. Interesting.

“What do you want then?” you questioned.

“I’d love to know your name,” he replied, “ Your real name.”

You weren’t supposed to give out your real name at the club, but Rick never followed his own rules, why should you. Besides, he did say to give him what he wants.“I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”

He cocked a grin, laughing lightly. “I’m Mika.”

“Mika,” you repeated, your voice just above a whisper. You weren’t sure why, but it felt like such a victory to know this man’s name.

“Sounds a lot prettier coming from you,” He commented, “And yours?” He tilted his head slightly as he looked at you, sending your stomach to your feet. Closer up you could see his eyes were a rich hazel. They seemed to pierce through you; you felt exposed under his gaze... and not just because you were in lingerie and he was fully dressed. You almost felt as if he knew what you were going to say before you could get the words out.

“Y/n,” you told him.

“Beautiful name,” he replied, “Fitting.” Mika had an innate charm to him, making all his words sound so much sweeter. His comment was simple, cliché really, yet it brought a blush to your cheeks.

“Is there something I can do for you?” you asked, trying to remember why you were here.

“I’d like to take you out,” Mika replied, “If you’d like of course.”

Of course you would, but it wasn’t that easy. “I’m on shift for another couple hours,” you told him.

“Let me see what I can do,” Mika replied. Before you had a chance to ask what he meant by that, he called in his sidekick, who’s name you learned was Chris. Mika whispered something in his ear, handing him a thick wad of cash. Chris walked away without a word and Mika smiled at you. “Give it a minute.”

You weren’t sure what to make of all this, but you didn't really have time to process it. Just moments later Chris was back. “You're free to go whenever you want y/n,” Chris informed you. Of course, Rick never met a pile of cash he didn’t like.

“So what do you say?” Mika asked, flashing a warm smile. How could say no?

“Let me get changed,” You replied, standing up, “But just so you know, this club is filled with cameras. If you’re planning to take me somewhere and kill me or something, everyone is going to know it was you so don’t bother.” Felt like good measure to add that in.

Mika chuckled, “You’re smart, I like that. But don’t worry y/n, you’re safe with me.” You had no reason to believe him, but for some reason you did. He told you he’d be waiting outside his car for you, and with that you went back to the dressing room. You wished you had worn something nicer than just a pair of jeans and an old tee, but nothing you could do about that now.

You hurried out, not wanting to bump into Rick and deal with any of his stupidity. You were giddy as you stepped out on to the street, feeling like you were playing hooky in high school. Mika was right where he said he would be, leaning against a blacked out SUV. It looked sleek and expensive, much like him.

“Uber black?” You questioned.

Mika chuckled, “No, it’s mine.” Damn, who the hell had room for a car like this in the city? Mika helped you into the back of the car, the front occupied by the driver and Chris.

“Do you always travel with a pose?” you asked.

Mika pressed a button in side panel of the door and a divider went up, separating the two of you from the pair in the front. “Now it’s just me and you.”

“Still doesn’t answer my question,” you noted.

“Fair enough,” Mika replied with a hint of a smirk, “Typically Chris is always with me and the driver comes with the car so if you consider that a pose, then yes.”

“More people than I travel with,” you replied, “And who is Chris to you?”

“A friend,” he replied simply. Right, because everyone’s friends follow them around like a guard dog, you thought. You didn't want to push him too much, he was still a stranger after all.

“You’re good at not answering questions,” you noted, looking out the window. “Do I at least get to know where we are going?”

“Well the only places open right now are-”

“Bars and strip clubs,” you answered for him.

“Right,” Mika nodded.

“Well if it doesn’t make a difference to you I’d prefer a bar,” you replied.

“I had a feeling you were going to say that,” Mika smiled, “How about one drink at the next bar we pass? I don’t want to keep you too late.”

“I’m good with that,” you nodded. Being that it was New York, the next bar popped up right away. Mika had the driver pull over and let told him to wait here as he helped you out of the car. Chris asked if he should come in with you guys, which you thought was a bit strange, but thankfully Mika told him he’d be fine on his own.

The bar was a small, a real hole-the-wall type place. The guests didn’t look too savory, but they were all far into their drinks to notice you. Mika sat you down at the furthest end of the bar, away from everyone else. The bar tendered begrudgingly asked what you two wanted, though you didn’t blame him for the attitude. You guessed you met similar people in your lines of work, so you totally understood.

“Just a vodka soda with extra lime, please,” you told him.

“Have you a got a vodka preference?” Mika asked.

You let out a short laugh, “Whatever’s cheapest.”

Mika bit back a smile, turning back to the bartender, “Whiskey neat for me. Give us whatever the best stuff on your top shelf is.” He tossed down a hundred on the bar top. That changed the guy’s mood.

“Of course, sir,” he scooped up the bill and scurried off.

“You toss around hundreds like they’re single dollar bills,” you said.

Mika shrugged, “I like to be generous.”

“A generous man with a great job,” you replied as the bartender placed the drinks in front of you two.

Mika smirked as his lips touched the glass, as if you’d shared some inside joke. “You could say that.”

“So what is it then? What do you do?” you asked, sipping your drink. You knew you were supposed to think it was so much better because it was the fancy stuff but to you vodka was well... vodka.

“I’m in business,” he replied simply.

“Oh come on,” you rolled your eyes, “That’s like me just saying I dance.”

“Does the distinction really matter?” Mika asked.

“Yeah, because people might assume I’m a Rockette meanwhile I’m just a stripper in a shitty club,” you replied before taking another long sip. Okay maybe there was something to this fancy shit.

“But either way you are still a dancer, so the statement isn’t false. Why not let people believe what they want?” Mika replied.

You let out a groan, “You’re impossible. But you are good at that thing you’re doing.”

“What thing I’m doing?” Mikas asked laughing lightly.

“The whole dodging questions with other questions thing,” you replied taking a swig of your drink. You were almost done with it; it went down smooth despite the familiar burn.

“But not good enough for you not to notice,” Mika pointed out.

“Definitely not,” you shook your head, “Nothing gets past me.”

“We’ll see about that,” Mika mumbled into his glass.

“Will we?”

“Maybe,” Mika replied, “If you go out with me again.”

“So I have to go out with you to get answers?” you questioned.

“You don’t have to do anything,” Mika replied, “But if you want to get to know me more, a second date would be a good place to start. That’s typically how these things work.” He added the last part in with a teasing grin.

“Touché,” you replied, “I’ll go out with you again.” Not just because you wanted to know more about what he does, though that was a motivator, you were just so intrigued by him.

“Lucky me,” he smiled. With that you both finished up and Mika left another generous tip. As you walked out of the bar, his hand found your lower back. You could feel the warmth through your shirt; it spread through your body weakening you in the knees.

He settled next to you in the car, closer than he had before. You suddenly caught a whiff of his scent, an intoxicating mix of earthy-warmth with just the slightest hint of sweetness. You found yourself staring at his neck, wishing you could burry your face into it and drink in the scent as you kissed at his skin.

“Your number?” You shook yourself back to reality, realizing Mika had been speaking to you. The way he looked at you made you feel like he knew exactly what you were thinking.

“Sorry,” you mumbled, a blush rising to your cheeks as you took the phone from his hands. You tapped in your name and number before handing it back to him, resolving to not let yourself get so wrapped up in him like that. At least not while he was there to witness it.

“Well it was nice to finally meet you,” Mika said as the car came to a stop outside your apartment.

“Likewise,” you replied, hopping out. You turned around, allowing yourself one last look at him.

“I’ll be in touch about our date. Have a nice night y/n,” Mika replied.

“You too, Mika.”

You let out a long sigh as you made your way up to your place. You felt like you needed a drink more now than you did before that date. There was something about Mika that you couldn’t quite put your finger on that felt dangerous. Not that you ever felt unsafe with him, it was the opposite actually, but being with him felt like an adrenaline rush almost. Like you were doing something you weren't supposed to. Whatever it was, you knew there was more to this man than meets the eye. And you were determined to find out exactly what that was.

#fatal attraction #mika zibanejad imagine #mika zibanejad smut #nhl fanfiction #nhl imagines #new york rangers imagine #new york rangers smut #m zibanejad

42 notes · View notes

arthistoryhelena · 4 years

Photo

Hieronymous Bosch (1490-1500), ‘The Garden of Earthly Delights’ [Oil on Canvas], Museo del Prado, Part 2 of 3

Welcome back for part 2 of this extremely exciting triptych! This analysis has been split into three (much like the triptych itself) - the last post explored the actual formal characteristics and structure and the religious context within which it was made. This part will look at the contents of the left and central panels, and the last part will explore the final panel and any other bits and bobs not already discussed.

let’s commence!

l e f t p a n e l

The left panel is the Garden of Eden, and art historians view this as a depiction of the moment God gave Eve to Adam. I have some opinions on this, but perhaps this is not the best platform to remind people that women are not objects to be given to men, so I shall refrain.

Adam has a bunch of emotions, obviously, because he’s never seen a woman before. He’s surprised at God’s presence, is reacting to an awareness that Eve is the same as him, and he is feeling a primal urge to reproduce (sexual arousal for the first time).

There are also many different animals to be found in this scene, some of which are exotic and are thought to be included to appeal to knowledgeable and humanist viewers of this work (the Renaissance was all about learning and going back to the superior knowledge of the Classical Age - think Greek and Romans, philosophy, new science). Animals include: giraffe, elephant, lion with prey, birds, winged animals, fish, person with duck beak reading (mood), cat with lizard, and rabbits.

The rabbits that are found behind Eve are supposed to be a symbol of fecundity, and the dragon tree represents eternal life. A snake around a tree and a creeping mouse nearby are also both universal phallic symbols. The snake may also allude to the temptation of Eve that ultimately leads to the rest of the scenes in the panels.

c e n t r a l p a n e l :

The central panel draws many parallels with the first panel, particularly in composition. The skylines are the same, and the pool in the centre resembles the lake in the other scene. This may have been practical - Bosch probably didn’t want to make life more complicated for himself - but also visually links the two concepts of the Garden of Eden and the Garden of Earthly Delights together.

Instead of the scene being a paradise, many people are depicted as enjoying pleasures. The centre frame could therefore be an allegory of spiritual transition or a playground of corruption.

On the right hand side, there is a group of four individuals, three of which are covered in light brown body hair. Some art historians argue that these representations of wild/primeval humanity symbolise an alternative to civilised life, whereas others connect these figures to whoredom and lust. From my 21st C perspective, I would link them to animals and backwards evolution, but famously there wasn’t that knowledge about evolution until the 19th C, and it is unlikely that it would have been depicting groups of people from other continents. Yes, there were monstrous races, but these usually featured stuff like having dogs’ heads or having no neck. Your average medieval Dutch person probably had no idea what a gorilla was anyway. There wasn’t a developed patriarchal structure that put races in a hierarchy, so this theory is unlikely to ring true because it assumes a modern narrative, which just didn’t exist. Hair, however, was associated with puberty, being one of the visible changes that all genders went through at a certain age, so will inevitable be linked with sexuality. This holds a lot more weight, and I would be inclined to go with that.

Anyway, enough about hairy people!

Weird things in the painting:

A man lying on a strawberry

Giant ducks playing with tiny humans

Fish walking on land

Birds living in water

A passionate couple in an amniotic fluid bubble (gross)

A man inside a red fruit looking at a mouse in a cylinder

In this painting, there is an inconsistent perspective, if any. In the foreground, there is no order, and instead there are small designs where proportion and logic are abandoned. Bosch has employed depth, but one-point perspective hasn’t been used. This will be a cool new technique popularised by the Renaissance, but clearly Boschy-boo has not got the memo.

There is great emphasis on the two sexes attracting each other amongst oversized fruit. Fruit obviously is a symbol of reproduction, and everyone’s naked, which is another less-than-subtle way of bringing lust into the painting.

There are no children or old people - this scene exists beyond the constraints of temporal reality - so this panel could indicate that there is no consequence to the people’s actions (or so they thought!?!?!). Some imagine this panel to be an illustration of the world if Adam and Eve have never been driven out of Eden, or if humans could return again to Eden after working away the Original Sin (Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil). Is this heaven??

In the background of the central panel, there is an ascending figure who appears to represent the end of the binary of the sexes. There is also reference to a snake biting its own tail (a symbol of eternity) in a knight with a dolphin tail sailing on a winged fish; the knight’s tail curls back and touches the back of his head.

PART 2/3

6 notes · View notes

jovialyouthmusic · 5 years

Text

The Many Lives of Drake Walker

A Royal Romance multiple AU fanfic

If you’ve not read any of the above, or Protect and Serve, this will absolutely not make sense. If you’re not caught up on P&S, briefly Sophia and Riley were kidnapped by Justin but rescued by Bastien, Drake and his men. This is the story of Drake and Riley behind the scenes afterwards

Word Count 2797

A/N Protect and Serve is getting over long, so I wanted to give Drake his own few moments with Riley - so here it is. There will be more. oh - and...

Happy birthday to @drakeandcamilleofvaltoria You said you liked this series so I hope you enjoy it xx

Recovery

Drake paced up and down the waiting room, pushing his hair back from his forehead. I waited patiently for him to stop, playing with the pendant that confirmed that this was ‘my’ Drake in the digital world that I visited from time to time. I may just have crossed the line, I thought. At last he stood still, turning to me, his face set with anger.

‘Okay, We all – all of the Drakes here – took a hit when one of your ‘friends’ killed off her Drake’ He gestured with his fingers on the word ‘friend’. ‘But Les, you know that when you write, it directly affects me - as I’m your personal whipping boy’ he grimaced.

‘But Drake…’ I started. But he waved my words away with a sweep of his hand.

‘So, it turns out that Drake wasn’t dead after all so it was okay in the end. Then you made up for me not being the main character in Protect and Serve by making a side plot where I hooked up – well not exactly hooked up because you took it away from me – with Riley’ I opened my mouth to speak, but he stopped me again.

‘So you not only had your main character – but MY love interest kidnapped by Justin’ he was really getting wound up, and I tried making a placatory gesture, which he seemed not to notice. ‘And then you go and let your Sophia get whisked away by Bastien on a freaking motorbike for some R and R and leave me holding the baby.’ He sat and rested his head in his hands.

‘This Riley’s not self aware’ he said, lifting his head up and looking at me ‘she’s broken up, Les – she doesn’t understand she’s just an actor.’ He looked at me pleadingly ‘Every time someone reads it she has to go over it again. I know you made Sophia take the rap for her, but the poor girl’s still confused.’ He stopped, and I took a deep breath, waiting for a moment to see if he had anything else to say.

‘I’m sorry Drake, I guess I got caught up in it all. I mean to write you a scene but I just haven’t seem to have gotten round to it. I have to engage folk and I’m on chapter 32 and Liam hasn’t announced his choice of suitor yet.’

‘Yeah, and I’m left wondering if I’m taking a bullet again’ he growled. I took a deep breath

‘Okay then, how about we play a scene together – no writing, I’ll take over Riley and we’ll work it out together. You can have free rein within the restraints of the plot line – how does that sound?’ He looked at me sideways

‘You’ve not done that before’ he said ‘You’ll feel everything Riley does but you’ll be self aware – but you should have some control. I think’

‘You think?’ I said ‘That’s – not very reassuring’

‘It depends on the writer and the scene’ he said ‘If it’s very strong you can get lost – not for long though. He took a deep breath ‘When?’

‘How about now? I’m alone at home, I won’t be disturbed’

‘Okay’ he said’ slightly sceptical ‘Where shall we take it up?’

‘How about when Drake opens the cell door?’

‘Okay, I think you should just be able to jump in to the nearest Riley’ he said. We walked out into the hallway where Riley sat waiting for a reader, blank and limp. Drake pulled her gently to standing – he was so tender it almost made me weep. I stood behind her, closed my eyes and walked forward until I ‘felt’ her, like putting on a glove. I opened my/her eyes to see Drake gazing at me softly.

‘Okay Les, picture the scene and I’ll be with you straight away’

Riley’s POV (Les’s thoughts in italics)

It was cold. I sat in the corner of the cold stone cell. I had heard sounds from the cell next door a little while ago, then the door had slammed shut, I heard voices outside and then silence. I thought I could hear Sophia weeping – or was it my imagination? The stone walls seemed to absorb sound and dampen it to nothing.

Noise – door opening, footsteps – was it Justin come back to give me his horrible ultimatum? I felt sick dread, though somewhere underneath I was calm and I knew what everything was going to be alright. I braced myself as I heard the key in the lock – and gasped in relief as Bastien and Drake appeared in the doorway. I cried out Drake’s name as he came forward, Bastien retreating to go to Sophia. I leapt up and threw myself into his arms.

‘Riley, it’s okay, I’m here’ he said, then quietly ‘Les, are you there?’ I drew back, puzzled

‘What was that?’ I asked, but strangely I found myself nodding. A strange expression crossed his face – hope, and worry and puzzlement.

‘Okay, we’ll have to play it out’ he said, and again I nodded without meaning to ‘Follow my lead and we’ll see how it goes’

Heck this is weird – I can’t speak, but I can move. I’m not sure Riley likes it – she’s a little puzzled. Hopefully I can take us from scene to scene and not have to go through real time experiences.

Drake held me, soothing me, telling me everything was alright, that Bastien had brought some of his men and had taken the castle.

‘Are you okay? Did they do anything to you – did they hurt you?’

‘I’m just a bit battered and bruised’ I said ‘Justin told me – oh God, he’s a monster’ the tears came and he held me until I could speak again

‘He told me I had to choose – he’d hurt me and leave Sophia alone, but it was plain he was going to tell her the same. I told him to stuff it up his…’ Drake put his finger to my lips

‘Okay, I get the picture. Did he do anything?’

‘Nothing more than threatening me, but I heard him go in to Sophia – he spent longer than he did with me, then someone came to fetch him, I presume that was when you arrived’ I felt safe in his arms. I was so angry that Justin had reduced me to this weak heap of flesh, scared of my own shadow, looking for assailants in the shadows. Right then, I didn’t want him to leave me for a second. I hoped against hope that Bastien really had control of the situation.

A little voice in my head, one I haven’t noticed before said it’ll be okay Riley. Drake will look after you. I wondered if I was going crazy, but remembered that odd things happen under stress. He led me out into the chamber, past Bastien and Sophia. She had a blanket round her shoulders and he was holding her, and Drake motioned that we should leave them alone.

‘Are you hungry?’ he asked ‘or tired – or do you want a shower?’ The poor lamb didn’t seem to know what to do but he wanted to comfort me. All I wanted was to be with him – or maybe I wanted to punch Justin. I ground my teeth at the thought of what I wanted to do to him. Drake looked at me sideways, and whispered

‘What next? I’m running on empty’ I rub my tummy, not intending to, but I do feel hungry.

‘Food’ the word came out of my mouth unbidden, and I add ‘I’m hungry Drake, we had water but nobody thought to bring us anything to eat’ He smiled, taking my hand

‘Well that’s easy’ he says ‘I make a mean pancake’

Somehow I seem to skip where we go or what we talk about, but I’m left with a faint memory and a full belly. It’s interesting to see inside the thought processes of a character. I suppose these lapses in memory are normal for her – or maybe it’s a process of becoming self aware? Now then, she’s a strong woman, let’s bring it out in her. She’ll bounce back pretty quick, and with Drake to help, she’ll be back to normal.

‘Perhaps a shower and some rest’ Drake said ‘I’ll take you to the rooms Sophia and – where I stayed when we came here’ I looked at him sideways.

‘Justin said something about you sharing a room’ I said sceptically. He grinned lopsidedly

‘Bas told me not to let her out of my sight, so we pretended we were an item, and shared a room’ He saw my expression change ‘Nothing happened Riley, we took it in turns to sleep. There was one time we were both in bed – well, she was under the covers and I was on top. There was no touching’ I narrowed my eyes, knowing there’s something he wasn’t telling me. But that little voice in my head said He’s besotted with you. From the moment he saw you. I half believed the voice, but I had to know for sure.

‘Tell me, Drake’ I said, half in control of myself, half not. ‘Tell me how you feel. About me – about her’

‘Okay, but not here’ he looked at me hopefully ‘Let me take you to that room, the fire will warm you up.’ He lead me along corridors, up flights of stairs, up a grand staircase and more corridors and into a wood panelled room. Some of the corridors seem blurry – but then I had just been through quite an ordeal. I could have sworn when we entered the room the fire wasn’t lit, but the next time I looked it was blazing away. There was a huge four poster bed, and Drake sat down, patting the space next to him.

‘Okay, when I first met Sophia she shot me down’ he said ‘I have to tell you, before I met you I was a player, she was new blood and I wanted to – well you get the picture, women were just notches on my bedpost’

‘Before you met me?’ I asked. He nodded

‘Yes, you got under my skin, Riley. Everything you said provoked me, and I was snarky back. I – I realised I wasn’t interested in anyone else.’ He rubbed the back of his neck ‘Normally I’m a smooth talker – ask anyone. But you made me feel like a tongue tied teenager. You still do’ I put my hand on his

‘I could tell you were fighting it’

‘Well, you were supposed to be here for Liam. But what you told me the other day hit me for six – that he had a crush on me, that he’s attracted to both sexes. I didn’t see that coming at all’

‘So I’m free to choose who I want – and I want you, Drake Walker. Do you want me?’

‘Of course I do – you know I was getting ready to – well, to consummate our relationship when you went missing. I was half crazy with worry’ I frowned – sometimes I forgot things. I know we were in the stables together – Drake kissed me but I didn’t remember much until I was bundled into the back of a the van. As if he knew what I was thinking, he took hold of my hand.

‘You’ve been through a lot, Riley, and I understand that we might take a little while to get back to where we were. But I’m here for you – I’ll do anything necessary to help you get over this. Just let me know if I’m getting it wrong – hell, tell me if I’m getting it right, I’m not sure exactly what to do.’ There was a knock on the door, and Drake went. He came back with a suitcase.

‘Hana sent a bag with some clothes’ he said ‘So you can shower or bathe and have something to change into’

‘Thanks’ I walked Riley through to the bathroom. She’s not been as traumatised as Sophia, so she’s able to take a shower without freaking out. It was an odd sensation as the water flowed over her/my skin, but I went through the process and we both felt clean and refreshed. We went back to the bedroom clad only in a towel. I realised that was a little intimate for Riley, as she and Drake had only made out together.

I felt shy as I walked back into the bedroom. Drake stood by the fire, and turned to look at me. His eyes travelled up and down me, but it was respectful and reverent, and he was a little embarrassed too, as he looked away.

‘I – I’ll go shower myself’ he said ‘though I don’t have a change of clothes’ I smiled

‘Perhaps my dressing gown will fit you, it’s not fitted’

‘Uh thanks, I’ll try it’ he left me to dry myself by the fire, relishing the warmth on my bare skin, brushing my hair and running my fingers through it beside the flames to dry it. I fished out a pair of silky pyjamas from my bag, and put out the dressing gown for Drake, who came through with a towel wrapped round his waist, his hair damp, looking sheepish.

Something inside me recognised his broad chest, his flat belly, strong arms, sparse dark body hair. Part of me found it new and exciting, though I wasn’t nearly ready to continue what we started earlier. I pointed to the dressing gown hanging on the chair next to the fire. Drake came closer to the fire and bent over to do the same as I had to dry his hair.

‘Woops, towel nearly went’’ he grinned awkwardly, hand grasping it as it came loose. We were close, almost kissing distance, but I moved away to give him some privacy, turning my back for him to change. I couldn’t help laughing at the site of him wearing my flowered silky dressing gown. The fabric clung to his contours and left almost nothing to the imagination around his groin. I put my hand over my mouth and spluttered with mirth.

‘Oh hell honey, I think you’re better off nude’ He stood with his hands on his hips, a half amused look on his face.

‘So you think this is funny?’ he asked, waving his hand over his genitals

‘Hell yes’ He sighed and sat by the fire

‘Well, I’ll sleep here in the easy chair’ he said, and I chuckled

‘you will not, Drake Walker, you’ll sleep in the bed with me.’ He raised his eyebrows

‘Yes Miss’ he said sardonically, then more seriously ‘Are you sure?’

‘Well we might not make the bed rock this time round, but I’d appreciate you being close. I still feel like Justin’s going to burst in and…’ I shuddered, and he started forward and put his hand on my shoulder.

‘Hey, look at me. You’re safe now’ he said ‘I’ll not leave you. Tell me if there’s anything I can do’

‘Is the door locked – are there any secret passageways in this castle?’ He smiled and walked over to the door to prove it was locked.

‘I don’t know if there are any secret passageways – I do know of some that Liam and I explored years ago, but this part of the castle is solid.’ I yawned

‘I’m pretty beat, I think I’ll turn in’

‘Okay, how do you want me?’ I raised my eyebrows.

‘it’s okay to touch, but safe zones only’

‘Safe zones? Oh – I gotcha’ he said. I climbed into bed and he stood by the bedside fiddling with the belt of the dressing gown.

‘I uh – I have my boxers on’ he said ‘They may not be fresh on but it won’t scare the horses’

‘Honey, if you scare horses, a pair of boxers won’t do the job’ I smirked. He rolled his eyes and let the gown drop to the floor.

‘You’re always on the ball, you know that?’ I sniggered, and he made an exasperated noise as he clambered into bed.

‘How about I’m the big spoon’ he said, and I turned my back. I felt the bed shift, and his body was warm behind mine, his scent soothing me, his hand on my hip. We barely touched but I felt safe. ‘Is this okay?’ he asked

‘Mmmm’ I replied, already feeling myself sink toward sleep.

We were back in the waiting area, and I stepped back out of Riley, Drake there to support her and then place her carefully in the chair.

‘Good job Les’ he said ‘She seems happier now. Next time she plays through she’ll cope with it better’

‘We can carry it on next time I’m here, get her a bit further’

Sure, why not’ Drake smiled ‘It’s a date.

@emceesynonymroll @sirbeepsalot @cora-nova @stopforamoment @drakeandcamilleofvaltoria

@drakesensworld @katedrakeohd @pedudley @indiacater @texaskitten30

@be-still-my-aching-heart @hopefulmoonobject @dcbbw @classylady1234 @fromthedeskofpaisleybleakmore

@bbrandy2002 @rainbowsinthestorm @nomadics-stuff @gardeningourmet @furiousherringoperatortoad

@kimmiedoo5 @bascmve01 @cgd03 @ibldw-main

#the many lives of drake walker #drake fanfic #drake x riley #drake walker #drake x mc #the royal romance au #royal romance fanfic

48 notes · View notes

imagine-lcorp · 5 years

Text

To Be a Hero (Part II)

A/N: Hello guys, how is everybody doing? how’s work? school? the family? Doing good i hope, because in this imagine...Lena is definetly not okay...Sorry I turned this into an angsty fic, but you know sometimes you get ideas...Anyway please forgive the long wait! but i hope you like it and sorry again for the looooooong wait, i have a couple of request still pending but we are getting there! kudos to y’all beautiful beans <3<3<3

Lena Luthor & Metahuman Daugther R//Word Count: 1,717

- Part I - Part II - Part III -

The first time Lena ever held you in her arms she knew a few things right away. One, you were a pretty tiny thing, so fragile, that she couldn't fathom how it was possible for humans to be this little at the start of their lives. Two, you were going to be loved. After all, there was already a long line of uncles and aunts ready to fill you up with affection and she was, of course, already in love with you. Three, she would do anything in her power to make sure you were safe and sound, no matter what it took, and you were going to grow up a strong and fierce child. However, she never imagined just how strong and fierce her little girl would be, ready to take on the world, and she never imagined it was going to be the world the one to take on you. It was not the way your life was supposed to be.

Lena knew that much as she read the reports over your last mission, over and over again. The words slowly losing all meaning the more she stared at them trying to understand what had happened and why it was you the one disappearing from the face of the earth. The reports, however, were as clear as they could be.

She had received a call from the DEO while you were still having breakfast. You were trying to convince her to take you to the office since you had heard somewhere she was working on some old project involving nanotechnology you didn't want to miss it. She refused at first, not wanting you to miss school, but you complained saying the educational system in the country didn't work for you and you could learn more in her lab. Lena almost gave up as you displayed a pout she was sure Kara had taught you, even though she had denied it. But Lena didn't have time to yield at your adorable face when the sound of several explosions around the city made her stop dead in her tracks.

"Mom!" You shouted and ran towards her as the blast of a close explosion shattered the kitchen windows.

Lena barely had time to notice she was standing in the DEO bullpen with you by her side and it took her another moment to shake off her initial stupor.

"(Y/N)? Are you okay?" She turned quickly to look at you.

"I'm fine, mom." You said and turned your head to look around. "But what is going on?"

The whole department was already on the move, Alex and Winn were over the control room, giving orders and mobilizing unities around the city.

"Let's find out, sweetheart." Lena said as she moved towards the control room with you closely following her every step. "Alex?"

Alex seemed to be on edge, looking at the DEO screens and talking with someone over her comms, but she turned at the sound of her voice. "Oh, thank god you're here. I was about to call you. Are you okay?"

After assuring her you both were fine, Alex didn't waste any time and explained briefly that a threat from an unknown source had been made public. Winn displayed a video on his screen. Somebody, wearing a golden mask over their face and with a distorted voice, called upon the citizens in National City, they who let the city get infected for too long with the alien disease that put in danger the human existence. They proclaimed a bomb that would destroy the whole city had been placed in the hopes people would learn from their mistakes. Lena heard you said you recognized them as a Lost Son of Liberty.

Kara and Alex had told you about them when you joined the DEO and they were finally able talk to you about their jobs. Lena recognized them too, although she had knew them as the Sons of liberty and meet their number one fan. It had been a long time ago, before you had been even born. But even when the organization had been dismantled, those who still believed on that hateful speech were lurking in the shadows, not with the strength or numbers fear had given them before but a few they were still around and their message was clear. They wanted the city destroyed.

"...like the gardener, we will burn the field infested by briers and thorns, and false gods, so it will be healed and made anew-" The voice claimed solemnly.

"After the video was over seven bombs went off around the city." Winn stopped the video and showed a map of the city instead, marking the points where an explosion had been registered.

Lena and you watched in horror as one by one the points appeared on the screen. Those were locations Lena knew by heart as they were all schools, clinics and shelters with a large majority of alien population. Lena had organized and attended several charity events to help them and you had volunteered at some of them during summer.

"How can we help?" You asked. The determination in your voice, the serious expression in your face and the concern in your eyes, it all seemed to Lena like you had grown a little bit older.

Alex then continued to explain they had reason to believe they were hiding a much bigger bomb around the city. The destruction of those locations had been only to instigate chaos. If the Lost Sons of Liberty wanted to destroy the city, they would do it one way or another.

So their action plan was simple. Winn showed you another city map divided into several quadrants. They were trying to scan those areas as fast as possible with the help of J'onn and Supergirl to search for the bomb, as James and Maggie were already aiding the police department, keeping people from hurting each other on their own panic.

Lena teamed up with Winn in the control room, exploring every possible plan they could fathom to keep the people and the city safe. Finding the bomb before it exploded was first on the list and you were needed to help with that. You went to suit up and appeared a minute later, ready to go out.

"(Y/N), Kara and J'onn are done with these areas but we need a hand to do it faster." Winn explained.

"Alright. Do we know how much time we have?"

"No." Alex said plainly as she handed you your ear comms. "We don't have any clues as to when the bomb will go off so we need you to search as best as you can. Once you find it, we will be guiding you so you can dismantle it safely."

"Okay." You said trying not to let your worry show at the idea.

"Remember we're here looking for it too. If anything happens, you won't be alone out there." Lena reassured you.

"Don't worry, tootsie-wootsie." Said Winn with a grin. "We got your back."

Lena saw you take a deep breath and smile shyly at the silly nickname Winn had been using for you since you were a baby. She smiled too as she wrapped her arms around you and placed a kiss your forehead. "We got you, sweetheart." "I know, mom." Your mom's words helped you regain confidence and you took a moment before disappearing within an aura of energy, knowing she would be there with you whatever happened like she always did.

If only she had known that was the last time she would get to see you, she would have held you tighter and never let go.

Lena put herself on sentinel mood the second you left the building, rushing towards the panels and screens. Winn and the rest of the team were scanning the whole city in search of any clue that could lead to the bomb's location. She put herself to work too, pulling her own resources to speed up the search and following your every move around the city. She watched you on radar, passing from section to section in the blink of an eye.

However, as the minutes passed, Lena realized they had a ratter complicated task at hand. The Lost Sons of Liberty had been cautious and smart enough to hide their tracks that it was taking all of their efforts. This was a race against time and they had to be faster and smarter, and as it turned out, you were the fastest.

"Guys?" Your voice came over the comms.

"(Y/N)" Lena responded immediately, stopping everything she was doing at the sound of your voice. She looked for you on the radar but your signal was gone. "Where are you?"

Alex got closer to the screens. "We can't see you on the radar. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm downtown, uh, underground." Lena thought you started to sound tired. "I think...I think I found it."

"What exactly did you find?" Lena asked.

The bomb exploded about 1600 feet below sea-level across the Pacific Ocean. After the moment of detonation followed a shock wave of whitened sea water of approximately 800 feet in height. No damage was reported near any city or coast as the blast occurred at a distance beyond the reach of the 20-kiloton nuclear bomb, the report read.

"Lena?" She heard Kara's voice call her from her home office's door. "It is time."

Lena raised her head and nodded slowly. She stepped out of her chair, leaving the files reports above her desk with one last glance. No damage but one casualty, Lena thought with unshed tears.

As she walked with the procession towards the cemetery, she tried to put her feelings in little boxes like she used to. Otherwise, it would have been too much for her to bear. The soft wind so out of place, the silence filled with the sound of the bagpipe and its solemn and sad tune, the color black dressing every of her friends around, the empty casket she had to follow and watch as it was being buried. Only then a box opened without her permission. It was not the way your life was supposed to be. That much she knew, and she finally let the tear come down her face.

#lena luthor #lena luthor imagine #lena luthor imagines #To Be a Hero #Part II #request #lena luthor & daughter reader #metahuman!reader #metahuman reader #daughter!reader #daughter reader #luthor!reader #luthor reader

159 notes · View notes