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marypsue · 3 months

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find the word!

I hadn't even heard of this kind of tag game until @monsterhunting tagged me! What a great idea.

The words Grace gave me are lean, stare, change, pull, and trust. I have to see if they show up in any of my WIPs, and then post the snippet they appear in if they do. This was an exercise in discovering how much I overuse certain words, so I sort of...picked a WIP for each word, and then picked the best snippet if there was more than one result. Samples under the cut!

lean

From why can't we be ourselves like we were yesterday, the Steve/Nancy/Jonathan bodyswap AU:

“Great.” Robin hands him the video she’s holding, piling it on top of the stack in his hands with a careful little pat, before starting to back away. “Just – man the counter, do those rewinds, and don’t – go anywhere.” “Where do you think I’m going to go?” Jonathan asks, but Robin’s already hurrying towards the door behind the half-wall with the garish neon Family Video sign. Robin pauses just long enough to lean back around the wall and catch Jonathan’s eye. “Just don’t go anywhere!”

stare

From that same small town in each of us, the Stranger Things ageswap AU:

“You know something,” El says, her face getting scary again, and just like that, the decision’s made for Mike. “Not about Joyce,” he admits. “But my friend Dustin didn’t show up for school today. Nobody knows where he is. The last time anybody saw him was leaving this after-school science club last night.” Mike meets El’s scary stare, and adds, “And I know he doesn’t have…gifts.” Will’s voice, his eyes, are sympathetic, but his words are definitely not. “If the lab’s people shot El – maybe Dustin and Joyce were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” “What – are you saying he’s dead?” “He could be,” El says, all soft, like that makes any of this better.

change

From former heroes who quit too late, the third and final part of the AU where (almost) all the Stranger Things kids have powers:

“Why did you say,” Lucas starts, cautiously, “ ‘while I’ve still got the chance’?” Mike looks up. He’s a little surprised Lucas even noticed that. He’s a little surprised Lucas has to ask. “One or more of us dead. That’s what Barbara said, right?” Lucas frowns at him. “That was if we can’t change it. It’s not guaranteed.” “Yeah. But we haven’t changed it, yet, have we? We don’t have the spy, we don’t know what’s going on with the Russians, we haven’t even been able to tell Hopper and Mrs B…and it’s already the fourth.” Mike laces his fingers together and pulls his palms apart, looking down into the basket he’s made with his hands. “We’re going to stop – whatever it is. I know. That’s what we do. It just – I just -” “It feels like you’re running out of time,” Lucas offers, and Mike shrugs. “I guess. It’s just – if the Mind Flayer really is back, or if there’s another monster, and it goes after us…” He has to swallow, hard, suddenly. Trying to breathe in this entryway is like trying to breathe soup. “El’s going to fight it. You know she is. She’s gonna be right out there in front of us, throwing the first punch.” Lucas nods. Mike pushes himself up out of the chair. Suddenly, he can’t stand the scratch of the woven fabric against the bare backs of his knees. “It just feels like I should say something, first. But she’s not making it easy. Come on, we’re gonna cook alive in here before Nancy and Jonathan get back.”

pull

From Something Borrowed, Something Blues, the sequel to Reincarnation Blues:

After a moment of apparent deliberation, one of the dryads gestured, and the branch Mabel had been trying to pull away from the woman’s face suddenly slithered away. The rest of the vegetation webbed around her started, creakily and in lurching, jerking movements like old stop-motion animation, to retreat into the soil. Two of the dryads had already gone to join their sisters trying to battle the flames. The third paused only long enough to catch Mabel’s eye and give her a long, hard stare, before hurrying off to join them. The second she was free, the woman Mabel had taken for Grenda gasped in a breath and then asked, almost demanded, “Mira?” She was looking right at Mabel. “No, sorry,” Mabel said. “Hey, how’d you get inside a tree?”

trust

From Blood Will Out, the The Lost Boys pseudo-sequel-slash-reboot fic featuring an OC sister duo and vampire girl gang because I am nothing if not Predictable:

When Edgar comes back, it is, unsurprisingly, with an implement of vampiric destruction. But the stake he holds out to Jamie is offered blunt end first. “Keep this on you at all times. Especially while you’re in Santa Carla. It might just save your life.” Jamie hesitates for a moment before taking it from his hand. It’s a beautiful piece of woodworking, unadorned, a little more than a foot long, turned and varnished so smooth and perfect that the grip sits satiny and comfortable in her hand with no risk of splintering. The end is sharpened to a point so fine she nearly pricks her finger on it. It’s surprisingly heavy in her grip, too, solid and dense. “Thanks, but -” Edgar cuts her off before she can finish the thought. “Don’t let my presence and my fearsome reputation lull you into a false sense of security. There’s still a serious undead element active in this city.” He pauses for just a moment, the only sign he’s uncertain at all, before adding, “And you can’t trust your sister.”

I'm going to tag @daddygrandpaandthebeaver, @mickeymagpie, @amethystunarmed, @enquiringangel, and @gretchensinister, and my words for you are: sharp, take, moon, pile, and dream.

#chatter #this is mary's fic tag #stranger things #why can't we be ourselves like we were yesterday #stranger things ageswap au tag #former heroes who quit too late #the hawkins indiana psychic baby boom #gravity falls #transcendence au #the lost boys #blood will out #oh look at that i finally got a canon character into blood will out

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maguro13-2 · 5 months

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War of Shadow Realm ~ Origins of the Ink Demon Part 10 ~

"During the Black Arms Invasion - 6 Years ago"

Shadow (in his super form) : Only one thing left to do.

[The Messiah - Yutaka Minobe]

Black Doom : Shadow, what are you doing?

Shadow (in his super form) : Now to put the past behind me. Chaos...CONTROL!

(teleports the Black Comet outside of earth, where it becomes ARK's target)

Black Doom : Shadow! Don't do this to me! I'm the only relative that you've ever got! You wouldn't do this to your own father, would you?

*DBZ SFX : ENERGY POWERING UP*

Black Doom : No, shadow! Shadow, please! No, Shadow, no! No, no...NOOOOOOOOOO!

*DBZ SFX : ENERGY BLAST*

*DBZ SFX : LOUD EXPLOSION*

"6 years later..."

Shadow : So with Black Doom, being only the relative in the family, fueling his hatred against Mobius, The Death God Grim manage take his soul away and sent him to the inferno, just to believe that the villains in our universe were always full of stubbornness since the ancients arrived on the planet. But with the Black Arms Invasion coming to an end, who's responsible for this madness that harmed Mobius to fuel the hatred between humans and Mobians, and even intergalactic beings?

Sonic : You alright there, Shadow? What's bugging ya?

Shadow : Oh, nothing bothers me. I was thinking about the incident since the Black Arms invasion. That "other" incident.

Sonic : What? You talking about the Gizoid incident back in 2003? That incident was Eggman using Emerl to put Mobius in danger after his weapon on the death egg was destroyed. But I now remember that I realized he was reincarnated into that Gizoid back in 2004. It hasn't been like this since the Dreamcast era ended in 5 years.

Tails : Hardly to tell you guys, now you thinking about these incidents we're starting to kicking it up a notch. But in the real world AU, the Space Colony ARK is in really hot water right now, when this declaration of war is going to destroy the world, but we do know is that the Real World AU is being collided with the Ohkuboverse and it could really rip through the fabric of space time. However, that's only a facade.

Knuckles : A facade? Heh, what is this, Neo Contra from 2004? All I'm saying that this Soul Eater nonsense is blowing everyone's mind since their show had failed due to the unknown circumstances at Square Enix. We don't know what was Japan thinking that not all Japanese animation we're failures, but the studio did a pretty good job on the reboot of Fullmetal Alchemist. In fact, I got the voice of that Flame Alchemist Colonel Roy Mustang. What new voice did you get?

Sonic : I got Roger Craig Smith, that did Batman and Chris Redfield from Resident Evil.

Knuckles : Well, I guess Egghead still have his voice since 4kids had him dropping the balls of being the Mike Pollock guy. No wonder his old voice sadly passed on since he voiced in one of those games in the old days.

Sonic : Way to hang it. It's been like this since the Olympic Games with Mario to defeat our respective foes to save Canada and London. I wonder what's he up to now? (Mario appears on the screen)

Mario : Good evening, Sonic. How is my rival/smash fighter friend doing on stopping the conflict?

Sonic : Oh, hey, Mario. Yeah, yeah, there's a war going on. What's the sitch? How's everything going on in the war zone?

[Tense - Kenichi Tokoi]

Mario : Not to worry. You see we had a problem back at Nintendo in 2009. But since you made the agreement of becoming a Smash Fighter along with Snake, we decided to give you information on that Square Enix representative. This Maka Albarn we interrogated with, isn't appeared what she used to be. Turns out that she was actually a disguised form of someone that looks alike her. (Shows a photo of Bendy and his lover Inky Albarn in a black dress)

Sonic : Who is that?

Mario : This one on the left is cartoon legend Bendy the ink demon, and over on the way right here is his ex-lover, Inky Albarn, or should I say the Demon Queen of his world!

Sonic : So, the protagonist of Soul Eater is...(flashing images of Inky wreaking havoc and attacking people)

Tails : A fake! So the protagonist of Soul Eater was actually the queen in disguise? How did you know she was Bendy's former love?

Mario: Because the bratty teenagers from Soul World were bamboozled by this imposter who was trying to conquer the real world in inky darkness and enslave all of mankind. But poor, poor, old Bendy and friends could not take his lover's evil ways anymore. So to put a stop to the queen's reign of terror, he helped the technicolored toons Cuphead and his companion Mugman to defeat her instantly and therefore imprisoning her underneath the studio that is responsible for the creation of Bendy's world and was remained sealed away. Until now...

Sonic: So, a couple of colored toons managed to defeat her and eventually saved the world of toons and the real world itself. So what happened after her himprisonment?

Mario : However, not all things were going great in Real World AU. So, since her defeat, the queen discovered that a man named Atsushi Ohkubo wanted a new Japanese manga after Shotaro the Dokeshi's tale has mysteriously reached his end and named the title Soul Eater, a title that he got it from the weapon wielded by PSO NPC Kireek.

Sonic : That's not how it happened, you know what really after her defeat, Inky Albarn had stood underneath the Studio of Bendy's World for a long time, but before the 21st century hits, the queen had an idea of getting the perfect disguise, by becoming the hero of Soul World as we all know it!

Shadow : And not to mention it, the queen had framed the "real" Maka Albarn in her demon form to cause the incident that took place back in the 2000s. But to prove her innocence, Grim the mobian death God had no choice but to help her out and set out on a request to find the queen to put up her wicked ways against humanity!

Sonic : I gotta agree with it to you, Shadow. It's much more than that to stop a demon's reign of terror that could easily destroy the world, the real world.

Mario : So, do you agree with terms of using the powers of the Chaos Emeralds? And I will offer you a smash ball if you don't mind.

Sonic : So much for shadow of being a stuck up assist trophy. And I only have one arrangement song for Angel Island that Senoue always forget, but you're absolutely right about that, we'll use the power of the emeralds and take down the queen itself!

[SA2 (ver.B+C) - Jun Senoue]

Tails : Meet us there!

Sonic : Come on guys, we got some baddies to take down, stopping their reign of terror, and kicking their butts!

Knuckles : It's only a matter of time before Neo Metal Sonic plans to take over the real world, we don't have much time left before the planet is done for! Then I'm right with you guys!

Silver : Don't forget about me!

Sonic : Silver, you're going with us too?

Silver : Look, back in rivals, I just wanted to apologize how harsh I was back then, and I had to help you defeating Solaris, that turns out to be a science experiment that went out of control.

Knuckles: Hey, remembered Espio helped you out on defeating the ifrit? That monster released by Eggman Nega was it? Grim manage to help you and Epsio to track down that nasty descendant of his, who knew capturing Chao to feed the Ifrit was about committing Chao genocide? That Eggman Nega fella sure knows his place.

Sonic : Mario, you got yourself a deal. We'll put an end to this conflict once and for all! Just leave the world to the fastest hedgehog there is!

Shadow : Well then, LET'S GET MOVING!

~ Sixtieth Scene: A Hero's Warm Welcome ~

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mookie--jam · 2 years

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Chapter 7 (Part 1): The Death of Me (Empty Canvas)

The day I had been dreading had finally arrived. It was Thursday, D-Day… The day of Mookie Blaylock’s first ever gig. Ever since Monday I had been dreading this day. For fuck’s sake Stone, what the hell is wrong with you. I’m here for less than a week and you already want to play a gig? He’s absolutely insane. He’s mental, he’s nuts, he’s ridiculous. And I… I’m a nervous wreck.

This is the one thing I forgot to tell my band members about when it came to music. I have a horrible case of stage fright. We’re talking deer-in-headlights-paralyzing-stage fright. With Bad Radio it took me about three months to muster up the courage to actually go up on stage. And after that it took me six more months until I finally felt somewhat comfortable on stage. And this was in San Diego, where I basically knew everybody in the crowd.

I’ve been in Mookie for less than a week and I’m in a city where I barely know anyone. How the hell am I gonna do this? How the hell did this day creep up on me so quickly?

In the days leading up to today all melted together in a big blur of rehearsals, middle of the night song writing, wondering around town and by far my favorite part; Lola. We’ve somewhat established a routine. She’d normally get off work around eight in the evening and mostly come home straight away. I’d be done with rehearsals by then and usually we’d spent about two to three hours, talking about nothing and everything all at the same time. We’d have some tea (I never was a huge tea fan -usually coffee all the way- but she somehow got me hooked on it. I think it’s kind of a Pavlov effect, associating one thing with a reward of some kind, the reward in this case being Lola), listen to some music, smoke up an entire packet of cigarettes between the two of us. She’s become my favorite thing about Seattle.

And she’s gonna be here, as in tonight, at the gig, as well. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Maybe it’s a good thing, because it might be good to see a familiar face in the crowd, it might be soothing. On the other hand, the thought of fucking up in front of her might be more nerve wrecking than anything else at the moment.

We arrived at the Off Ramp about an hour ago. The first thing that we did was soundcheck. It went surprisingly okay, though I couldn’t completely hide my nerves. My voice was a little shaky. And it’s only gonna get worse with more fucking people. Stone noticed.

“Vedder, are you coming down with a cold or something?” he asked.

“Nah, it’s nothing. I’m just a little nervous, that’s all…” I muttered. To which McCready’s immediate response was to hand me a bottle of Jack Daniels., accompanied by the words: “This should calm your nerves right down.”

So after the soundcheck I decided to get away from the guys. Especially the reincarnation of Steven Tyler and Joe Perry from the 70s, also known as the Toxic Twins… By which I mean McCready and Cantrell.

We’re opening up for Alice in Chains tonight. They go on at 10, which means that we go on around 9 and play about a 45 minute setlist. It baffles me that in six days we were able to write the songs for an entire 45 minute setlist and even had to select our songs since we had too many. I guess that’s the good thing about it. We work great as a studio band, but how do we work as a live band? A live band with a singer that will go mute as soon as the stage lights go on…

I’m sitting on top of the Off Ramp Cafe. I snuck out of a back window and scaled the fire escape up to the roof. Next to me is the bottle of Jack Daniels Mike gave me, still untouched. I’ve been sitting here for about half an hour and my butt is getting frozen, but that seems more plausible right now than going back to the dressing room and having everyone run around me screaming. It’s 8 o’clock. We go on in about an hour. In the past half hour I’ve contemplated making a run for it about seven times. I’d just leave without saying a word, make my way back to San Diego and forget all about my little Seattle escapade. The worst thing is that my confidence at this point is so low, that it actually seems like a good, solid choice. And I’ve contemplated jumping off the building once. It’s not high enough of a fall to get killed, but it would surely break my legs. Which would lead to two things: 1) Stone would somehow find a way to get me on that stage with shattered legs, and 2) after they eventually fire me from the band after the whole debacle and send me back to San Diego. I wouldn’t be able to surf for at least 6 months whilst my legs are healing. So not a plausible option at all.

Something pulls me from my thoughts, it’s the sound of the creaking fire escape. Someone is coming up. Someone is coming up indeed, because I see a hand gripping onto the ledge of the roof. I stand up and walk towards the edge again to see who it is. It’s Lola. I quickly stretch out my hand, which she takes and I help her get on top of the roof.

“Eddie, what the hell are you doing here?” Lola asks me after I’ve pulled her up onto the roof.

“I could ask you the same thing”, I say looking at her. She’s wearing a pair of high waisted jeans and a black blouse. Her hair is being held back by a scarf that’s tying it loosely in a pony tail. Some of the shorter pieces of her hair are loosely framing her face.

“Well I’m just exercising my climbing skills as per usual before I see my friends in concert…”, she says with a level of sarcasm that would make Stone proud, before continuing. “What the hell do you think I was doing? I was looking for you!” she shouts out, not particularly angry, but I still feel guilty. She was probably worrying about me. I should’ve let her know.

“Looking for me..” I repeat her words, mostly out of confusing. Why does she even care about me?

“Yeah, looking for you”, she says and gives my a jab in my ribs. In the mean time we’ve gone and taken a sitting position on the edge of the building, both of our legs, swinging off the edge into nothingness.

“Stone is freaking out”, she continues as she leans her head on my shoulder. It’s already pitch dark outside and the temperature has dropped quite a bit already. “He thinks you might have run away”, she finishes her sentiment. She lifts her head from my shoulder. I know she’s looking at me. I can feel those big Bambi eyes on me. I can even tell the way they’re looking at me, without even having to have to look at her. They’re looking at me questioning, hesitantly, waiting for an explanation for my behavior. And somehow there’s a bit of understanding in them probably. I do not want to verify and I just keep looking at the skyline in front of us.

“He was not too far off”, I eventually mumble, feeling guilty for letting her wait for answers. Especially after she climbed on top of a fucking building to get them.

“What do you mean?” she sounds ever so slightly confused.

“Running away seems like a very plausible idea right now”, I elaborate a bit on my thoughts, not wanting to explore them too much. She’s gonna think of me as a coward. She’d probably laugh in my face.

“So you’re nervous”, she says putting one and one together. I just nod. I feel her hand, gently on the side of my face as she softly guides me to meet her gaze. Oh those eyes, they’re gonna be the death of me one day. She’s not really looking at me with pity though, it’s more a kind of understanding.

“Terrified”, I decide to clarify myself. Her thumb is stroking cheek. Without even noticing it, I lean into her hand a bit more.

“Why didn’t you say something?” she says in a soft voice. When I look from her eyes to her lips for a second, that sweet smile is playing around them again.

“Because I figured we wouldn’t do a gig for a least a month”, I mutter my logic. I decide to close my eyes and take a deep breath. Trying for the umpteenth time tonight to calm down. But this is the first time some of the stress that has been taking me hostage, seems to have left me.

“Yeah, it’s all happening quite soon isn’t it?” I just nod, eventually deciding that if I ever want to get this stage fright thing of my chest in some way before I go on tonight; that this is the moment to do so.

“Yes and it’s scaring the shit out of me. I barely know the guys, I know no one in the city. I’m just the guy from San Diego who’s gonna fuck everything up…” I say, trying to find my words, but being somehow unable to actually say what I’m saying. It’s frustrating, but somehow I can’t completely explain the stage fright thing. I don’t even know if I can explain it to myself. I try to find more words, wanting to explain further, but they’re stuck in the back of my throat.

Her hand falls away from my face, the sudden lack of warmth sends a shiver down my spine. Lola’s taking the scarf out of her hair. Once she’s done that she pulls my right hand towards her and starts tying it around my wrist.

“Here”, she mumbles as she ties a knot into it. Looking closer at it, I realize it’s a black and white paisley print scarf.

“Thanks, but what is it supposed to do?” I ask. I know she’s doing some kind of gesture, but I can’t completely place it. Is it supposed to be a sweatband. Thank God, Lola is not the kind of person to be easily offended. She chuckles a bit and tucks a piece of hair behind her ear.

“Something to help you a bit”, she mumbles. We’re both looking down at my wrist. She knowingly, me on the other hand, I’m still a tad bit confused.

“It’s a little reminder”, she says, her index finger tapping on the knot on the inside of my wrist.

“Of what?” I finally manage to get the words out of my mouth. That’s the bad thing about my stage fright. It renders me speechless already about half an hour before the show.

“A reminder that you do know someone in the crowd”, she says and there’s that soft smile again, playing around lips, “Someone who you may not have known for that long, but someone who cares a lot about you and knows you’re gonna do great.”

And it that moment the doubt that was clouding my mind about my sentiments towards her goes away and everything is crystal clear. I’m in love with her. I’ve fallen head over heels for her and I don’t even know her a week.

“Thanks…” I mumble, but my mind is racing with a million thoughts. I lean a bit closer towards her. Our faces are only inches away. I want to kiss her. I want to kiss her so badly. “Lola… I…”

“Yes, Eddie…” My mind must be playing tricks on me, she sounds somewhat anticipating and I swear I feel her inch closer as well.

“I…” my breath is catching in the back of my throat as I put my hand on the side of her face, wanting to guide her closer.

It all stops with an infuriated shout: “Vedder, this is not the fucking time to start your Broadway career by getting to know your inner fiddler on the fucking roof. Get down here, we’ve got a gig in 30 minutes!” It’s Stone. For fuck’s sake Brick! Is what I want to shout. Fucking hell, if only he’d arrived just fifteen seconds later, probably less. That’s all it would have taken. Fifteen fucking seconds Stone, fifteen fucking seconds!

Lola and I are still frozen in our positions, now looking at each other, not really knowing what to do. Lola clears her throat.

“Stone, we’ll be down in 5 minutes” she shouts down. She’s however not looking at him, she’s still looking at me. There’s something sad in her eyes. I can’t really place it, though. “Promise!” she adds.

“You better”, I hear Stone shout from the ground. A second later I hear the sound of the door to the backstage close and Lola and I let out a sigh we didn’t even know we were holding.

There’s a bit of relief in her eyes and I completely understand at. If only Stone had walked in on us kissing. We’d never hear the end of it. We both let out a little laugh.

“Let’s go downstairs”, I eventually say. I’m gonna have to go there eventually. I can’t fucking run away. I’ll just have to suck it up and get over myself.

Lola nods and we slowly make our way down the fire escape stairs and then climb back through the window of the storage room we both separately had gone through to get on that fucking roof.

I realize there’s about ten more minutes until we go on. I don’t know how McCready does it, but he seems piss drunk, but at the same time he’s shredding away at his guitar on the couch in the backstage. I decide to avoid Stone and just go to Jeff, to explain him my behavior quickly since he’s the more understanding out of the two. Jeff just nods at my explanation, shaking it off as first show jitters. Jeff explains it to Stone, who is now completely calmed down. Stone just nods, I can see he’s nervous as hell as well. Eventually they tell us we have to go on in five and all of us start making our way towards the side of the stage. Apparently there’s about 250 people. Oh great, exactly what I need.

Every step I take feels like stepping closer to hell. I know I want this. I want this so fucking badly, but on the other hand I just want to pull an Iron Maiden and run to the hills.

“Hey, Eddie”, I see Lola from behind a curtain. She gestures me to come closer and I comply.

“Yeah” I say walking behind the curtain. We’re completely hidden from view, no one can see us.

“You okay?” she asks me, a bit of worry in her voice. Oh please don’t.

“As good as I’ll get”, I whisper, wringing my hands together in an effort to try and get rid of some of the stress.

The next thing she does, completely catches me of guard. She places a soft, swift kiss on my lips. Before I even knew it was happening, it was over, a second, that’s all it took to sweep me of my feet so hard I nearly face planted into the fucking floor.

“What was that for?” I ask frenzied by confusion.

“To calm you nerves”, she explains, like it’s the simplest thing in the world, adding a wink. But I know her. It’s not just that. This wasn’t nothing to her. This meant something. It must’ve meant something. It needs to mean something.

I pull her closer by her waist and kiss her again. This time not a one second peck. I’ve been wanting to kiss her ever since I first laid eyes on her and I know the situation is not ideal -since we have a two minute time limit hanging above our heads, but I can’t contain myself anymore. At first she’s surprised, back then she pulls me closer and starts kissing me back with the same feverish passion. One of arms is around my neck, her other hand is is tugging at some of the hair at the nape of my neck, her fingers tangling into it and it’s driving em insane in the best possible way. Her lips feel like heaven and I don’t want this kiss to end, but I’ve got to be on stage in about one minute and if Stone sees me missing he’s gonna murder me in front of the entire Off Ramp.

“What was that for,” she whispers and I feel her hot breath on my face as we break apart.

“I’ve gotta go”, is all I manage to say and I know I should detangle myself from her, but I don’t want to let her go.

“What was that for?” she asks again, a little more persistent and I feel her tugging at my hair again ever so slightly. Oh for fuck’s sake, if she keeps doing that, we’re gonna have to find a broom closet, because she’s driving me insane.

“I’ll explain after the show” I quickly say and pull her in for one more kiss before I have to leave. This one even more hasty and feverish than the last one.

“Oh you’ve got a lot of explaining to do”, she says after we break apart once again, this time more definite as I release my grip on her waist. She’s still holding onto me, though the hand that was at the back of my neck is now on the side of my face. Our foreheads are leaning against each other and we’re both slightly out of breath.

“I will”, I promise her and I feel a wide smile creep on to my face. I pull myself away from her completely and take a step backwards, ready to disappear through the curtain.

“You better”, she says with what seems to be just as wide of a smile as mine. Her hand grabs onto my wrist and I can’t help myself and pull her in for one more kiss. She chuckles against my lips as she kisses my back, even though I feel her softly pushing against my chest. “Now go”, she says, still laughing as she pushes my though the curtain back to the side of the stage where the other guys are waiting.

“Where the hell did you come from?” McCready asks me slightly slurring.

“Restroom”, I simply say as our cue is given to go on stage. I look down at my wrist as I take those final steps to the stage. The black and white paisley scarf is still there. I’ll be completely fine.

#pearl jam fanfic #pearl jam fanfiction #eddie vedder fanfic #eddie vedder fanfiction #grungefic #grunge fanfic #grunge fanfiction

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bella-donna418 · 3 years

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Intertwined

A/N: My submission for #valentinesdaywithhange!

Special mention: @hangelab

Also some good ol' LeviHan fluff meal for y'all LeviHan shippers out there (っ◕‿◕)っ ♥

S/O = Significant other (in case you don't know OwO)

~~~

"Some say we are all bound to a person via red string, but is it a string? Or was it because of... history?"

~~~

Legends say that everyone is bounded to their s/o by an invisible red string that represents fate.

It even says that once they passed by each other, they'd feel something pull them to the other.

For other versions, some might feel an electric shock course through their veins making them jolt and instinctively look back to the path they came from.

Others say that when you're s/o is near, you feel the instinct to look for them.

If both parties did the same thing mentioned, it would lead to a relationship and such...

But what if it were only the history of your past life? How it was meant to be before—but didn't happen?

Is it a restart of the relationship?

~~~

It was another day today. And guess what? It was Valentine's day!

A day where you can decorate your place with hearts or roses—stuffed animals even.

A time where you can be free, find love or spend the day with them, relax and eat lots of chocolate while watching romantic dramas and everything!

However, one woman seems to be spending it all on her work—literally.

Everyone was on their agendas except Hange since she'd rather work and be busy than celebrate something she finds as a distraction of some sort.

She didn't even notice how her housemate, Nanaba—went to go on a date with her s/o, Mike. She only took notice when she tried calling Nanaba, but received no reply.

She groaned and laid back on her bed—now staring at the ceiling as a hanging cupid cutout was swinging around due to the air produced by the dorm's air conditioner.

"Pfft—Valentine's day, eh?" She chuckled lightly to herself as she got up, dressed up—brought her bag, and went outside to get coffee or sweets while she won't feel alone inside the apartment.

~~~

It was still snowing, the cold breeze sweeping around making it a great time to warm yourself up with your lover—or friend if it counts.

She was walking on the sidewalks, passing by cafes—filled with couples who seem to be having fun talking about their days—Hange ignoring it and going inside a cafe alone.

Most cafes were filled with couples or people dating—some groups of friends laughing.

So when she got inside, she was greeted by sounds of chatting and coffee being brewed.

Hange's lips formed a smile—being infected by the joyous atmosphere around her as she walked towards the counter.

"Ah! Ms. Hange!" Moblit beamed at her—Hange greeting him with a good afternoon.

"You've filled again, huh?"

"Every Valentine's Day." He chuckled.

"The usual?"

"Mhm! Just add maybe a chocolate-filled croissant or two."

"On it."

Hange smiled and paid—then went to find a seat for herself.

After a few more minutes of looking, she finally found a space—between couples, precisely.

She was bored so she decided to try and do some progress on her reports to give to Erwin—even for a fact—she finds it sometimes excruciating.

Minutes later, her order finally came and she thanked Moblit for it—receiving a smile from him.

She immediately went back to her work—her fingers typing swiftly as she took a bite out of her chocolate-filled croissant, eyes still locked on the screen.

A good hour and a half passed and someone was standing in front of her.

Like the oblivious woman she is, she was snapped back to reality as a hand slammed on her table.

She looked up and saw the man—glaring down at her.

"May I help you?" She smiled sheepishly as she fixed her glasses.

He only closed his eyes and sighed.

"I said can I take a seat here? The other seats are taken by people."

Hange immediately scanned everywhere around—he was right, it was all filled.

"Sure." She said simply and got back to work.

The man across her brought out his laptop and began typing for some document needed for his maybe work.

Hange shrugged and decided to introduce herself to him—it would feel weird to sit in front of someone you don't know right?

She gulped and began to speak.

"I'm Hange, Hange Zoë by the way."

"Levi Ackerman." He replied, sipping on his tea as he reread the contents on his screen to see if it had anything wrong which gladly didn't, and continued.

"Let me guess, a report for your boss or something?"

"None of your business, shittyglasses."

Hange was taken aback by what he called her—first day and a nickname already?

Too bad it appears like an insult of some sort.

But what felt strange was that—it felt nostalgic and it somehow felt nice hearing it.

"Sh-shittyglasses?" She asked while pointing a finger to herself.

"One look at you, it’s obvious that they looked like they fell in a pile of shit." He said, not even looking at her.

"Hmm... makes sense.” She laughed a bit.

“To be honest, I find you quite familiar, but I can't put a conclusion to my hypothesis yet."

He looked to her—a brow raised in confusion.

"You wanna hear about it?" She said, clasping her hands together.

He only gave her ‘tch’ as a reply and shrugged—Hange taking it as a yes.

"So do you believe in reincarnation and fate being together?"

"Sure." He replied with a blank face—no signs of interest shown.

"Hm... I kind of believe it myself and somehow when I looked at you—I find it nostalgic as if I met you from somewhere before."

"You're crazy." He clicked his tongue.

"Maybe I am. I barely sleep as well." She laughed—not caring about the one-sided conversation at the moment.

"Hm... do you also feel the same?"

Levi looked at her eyes—strange to feel the same.

"Maybe." He muttered.

Hange kept talking, forgetting what she was doing earlier. She feels quite happy to at least have someone listen to her, even though she gets no reply.

They stayed this way for about 2 hours—Hange explaining everything she knows so far and how reincarnation might be real as well as fate that bounds someone to the other.

It was now about 5 pm and the cafe is still filled with people, not as much as it was before earlier in the morning.

The two remained, their orders close to finishing while they kept doing their businesses too busy to talk to the other.

A few more typing on his keyboard and Levi finally finished. He stood up and grabbed all his stuff and Hange took notice.

"You're off now?" She said, kinda sad to have him leaving now.

"Tch. I won't stay at all. This is not anything or any date." He stood up and began walking away.

Hange smiled sadly but noticed something—a white card-like paper put underneath her cup.

She reached out for it—opening what's inside and read it silently.

~~~

09xx-xxx-xxxx

I do feel familiar with you.

Meet me here again at 7 pm if you’d like to talk.

Later, Hange.

~~~

Her eyes gleamed as her heart suddenly beat a bit faster—heat traveling to her cheeks along a nostalgic feeling coursing her veins as her lips formed a small smile.

Is this a date?

A date with someone she only met just now?

But she did feel nostalgic—might as well try it out and say yes.

Maybe a red string was bound from their past lives before.

She put the card-like paper in her pocket and began packing her things up leaving the cafe to maybe prepare for this if it were a date this Valentine's day.

Maybe when Nanaba hears about this she might end up squealing.

She does, however, look forward to this—skipping her way back to her apartment.

~~~

A/N: Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Decided to try joining in 😂😂😂

And since I also realized that most of my content is mostly angst + EreMika.

So decided to do fluff with LeviHan!

#valentinesdaywithhange #levihan #levi ackerman #hange zoë #happy valentine's day #levi x hange #aot #snk #shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #levihan fluff #fluff

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llogllady99 · 3 years

Text

INTERMISSION

CHARACTERS | Levi, Erwin, Hange, Petra, Nanaba, Mike, Eld, Gunther, Oluo, Moblit

RELATIONSHIPS | Erwin x Levi

Genre | Reincarnation, Afterlife

IV | Afterlife, Hurt/Comfort, Reincarnation, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence. Alternate Universe - Modern Setting/ Reincarnation, Fluff, Reunions, Introspection.

SUMMARY | Levi dies and reunites with Erwin and the others in the Afterlife.

WORD COUNT | 2.5k

It was one of those sunny days that Levi passed away. The kind of days that occurred in the middle of summer, sun shining proudly in the centre of the sky, beaming with light in all directions; its yellow rays placing gentle kisses and giving shape to everything around them. A breeze blew gently, ruffling the blades of overgrown grass, flowers, and other plants that were blooming by a pristine and crystalline river. A river so clean and fresh that even the tiniest of rocks could be visible. Southern Magnolias, Flowering Dogwoods, birch, and oak trees lined the river and gardens of the people resided in the area. On such particular days, Levi could be found gardening away his late adulthood; his garden was the most clean and organised with freshly mowed lawn and colourful flowers, trees, and bushes placed meticulously around the alleyway that lead to the entrance of the house, the backyard, by his windows and entrances, and inside the house. Therefore, it should have been no surprise when Levi spent his last day doing exactly that: cleaning, organising, and arranging things.

It came unexpectedly, like death often does. It should have upset Levi, he was still considered too young to die by the rest of the world, but he himself couldn’t have been more happier, more relieved, and at peace. It had started with a soft breeze, blowing through his now white strands of hair that were still arranged in the same familiar undercut and under his white cotton dress shirt that was a bit oversized. Then came a wave of unfamiliar fatigue, causing Levi to lie on his back on the grass, his eyes now on the sapphire sky, watching the different sized clouds move along in slow motion. Somehow he knew his time had come, he always had great intuition. With black now cornering his vision, the man closed his eyes, letting the sun rest gently on his face, warming him one last time. He smelled the sweet aroma of his flowers, he listened to the almost silent buzz of a bee in the distance, appreciating the things he had become so used to. Finally ready, Levi inhaled deeply, and with a contented smile spreading on his tired and wrinkled face, exhaled slowly as everything went black, sounds and sensations ebbing away gradually.

However, the world didn’t stop, the sun still shone, the birds still sang their relaxing songs, their high pitched chirps sounding through the valleys, the wind still blew, and the clouds in the sky still travelled their never ending journey; a perfect day for humanity’s strongest soldier to pass away.

Levi was now engulfed in deep darkness, thick and relentless. Silence reigning over the infinite void. It wasn’t a heavy silence or an uncomfortable one but rather comforting and warm, making him feel at peace in god knows how long. He looked down at his hands, they weren’t wrinkly anymore but soft and smooth again. He was back in his original form, his old inky black hair hanging daintily on his forehead, his cheekbones once again high and sharp, his eyes now a strong grey steel, and his lips rosy red. His body was also young again. Now that he was in this purgatory of sorts, a giant screen appeared in front of him, displaying moments from his life in chronological order. He saw himself as a baby, his mother cutting for the first time his hair in an undercut, his mother telling him stories, embracing him, loving him. Then came her death, her horrible death, leaving Levi alone. His uncle Kenny made his appearance on the screen, taking him under his care, teaching him how to fight and defend himself after walking away never to be seen again. It showed how he met Isabell and Furlan, the days they spent together in the underground. The blonde boy reading to them by the fire, Isabell snoring in Levi’s lap, his hands in her hair, twisting the ginger strands, Levi defending the redhead in a fight, and Isabell telling them jokes one night whilst playing cards. All of the precious moments now unfolding before his eyes. It made Levi’s heart swell with happiness at seeing their faces again. He had forgotten their faces after so much time but seeing them now reminded him of their bond, their brother like bond. Then he joined the survey corps and shit hit the fan.

Next came memories of joining the survey corps, of seeing Erwin for the first time, their first kiss, first time making love, moving in the same room together, going out with his comrades, Hange, Nanaba, Mike, Moblit, everyone made an appearance on the screen. Then came the brats, their round baby faces and bright eyes full of determination. Retaking wall Maria. Erwin’s death…

It displayed the four years in between their battles. The years when he moved in with Hange and having tea with them every other afternoon before making the plans for the attack on Liberio. The shit show started, the whole fucking rumbling, Eren going batshit crazy, Mikasa killing him, and them staying behind in Marley. His friendship blossoming with the other two brats and finally tasting true freedom, a world with no walls where the sky was the limit. Other sequences also played, like how he returned to Paradis, Gabi and Falco’s visits, who were now married and living happily in some exotic country, and then the day he died. He would have argued he lived a beautiful life, one which he certainly didn’t regret, but after Erwin’s and Hange’s death his only purpose was to survive the day, get through it and ignore the sinking feeling in his gut.

If this was the after life, why wasn’t anyone here? Did he do something wrong? Where was Erwin? Didn’t he promise he’ll be waiting for him? For the first time in the darkness, Levi felt suffocated, he couldn’t breathe, the overwhelming feeling he did something wrong washed over him, imbuing his every cell and tissue. Luckily, before he could finish that destructive train of thought, a glimmer of white appeared in the distance. As the small dot got bigger and bigger, Levi realised it was some kind of vortex that was sucking everything in it, including him. It sucked in his feet first then his hips, stomach, arms and finally his head. Everything went white around him, his spirit was travelling with so much speed that he felt he was inside an airplane engine, the turbines spinning faster and faster, the noise getting louder and louder, and finally the plane took off. As the noise reached its apex, Levi’s surroundings became silent until he was pushed out of the vortex and into the afterlife, the one in which his comrades also seemed to be.

Levi landed bottom first and with a thud, his backside coursing with pain. He flinched and got up. He scanned his surrounding and noticed that in the far off distance there was a group of people. Relief washed over his entire being as the feelings of panic and loneliness left him entirely. One by one he willed his feet to move, each step becoming more hurried, until he broke out in a run. The shape of the group was getting bigger and bigger as Levi closed the distance between them. The closer he got, the more he could make out their faces. Wait! Was that blonde and messy brown? Hange and Erwin? Happiness started blossoming in his chest, like a bush of Camelias in spring, the flowers opening up more and more, becoming bigger and bigger covering the whole green bush with their beautiful pure white and milky pink. A smile grazed his features and tears started falling down his face, each droplet streaming down his jawline then falling on the ground behind him.

“Erwin!” Levi shouted, finally getting his lover’s attention. Erwin turned, wide eyed as he recognised his voice and broke into one of his famous full mouth grins. He extending his arms, inviting the raven in. Levi gladly took that invitation, jumping on Erwin and sending both of them tumbling down, wrapping his arms tightly around the blonde, sniffling that familiar cent of cologne and tobacco. “You waited for me! I can’t believe you waited.”

“Of course I did, in fact all of us did. Look around Levi, we’re all here.” Levi lifted his face and looked around, his eyes landing on Hange grinning maniacally at him, Nanaba and Mike close to each other, Moblit, and his squad.

“Heya guys! Long time no see I guess.” Levi stood up from Erwin and made his way in between the group, taking everyone’s faces in. They were all here. He looked in Hange’s direction, they now looked truly happy without a care in the world. He approached them and wrapped them in a tight embrace, one which he so seldom offered when they were alive.

“Hey short stuff. Gotta admit watching over ya from up here got kinda boring. You were never up to any shenanigans, you just sat there all day reading your damn newspaper and drinking that awful tea.” Hange playfully reprimanded him. Levi snorted then play kicked their feet. Petra came up and hugged him from behind, burying her soft ginger hair between his shoulder blades. She inhaled shakily and choked out:

“Missed you so much, Levi Heichou.” Levi turned around and tucked some of her hair behind her year, setting his hand on her cheek, rubbing with one thumb a tear that spilled from her left eye. The raven then wrapped her tightly in the same hug he’d given Hange, burying her small head in his shoulder. “Missed you too.”

Mike came up and sniffed his hair, his nose scrunching up taking up as much of the sent as possible and his eyebrows furrowed in concentration, trying to pin point the smells. He then patted Levi on the shoulder and told him:

“You still smell the same, maybe except with a hint of a flowery touch to it.”

“Always so romantic.” Levi replied, shaking his hand like brothers do. Nanaba came up behind Mike and offered him one of her beautiful smiles. “Great seeing you Levi, but Mike,” she then grabbed the tall man’s hand pulling him towards her, “it’s time for us to go.”

“Go where?” Levi asked frantically, he just got here why were they going already?

“We will get reincarnated, me, Mike, and Erwin.” Nanaba replied casually as if it was the most natural thing. Levi started hyperventilating.

“Why?” He croaked. “I just got here, you can’t go! Not yet! Erwin please don’t go!” He looked around and found the blonde standing next to Mike, he grabbed his hand tightly, urging him not to go, however it was for nothing as his lover wouldn’t budge.

“I can’t Levi, my time has come.” Erwin grabbed both of his hand and kissed his knuckles and fingers, rubbing them against his cheek. “I need you to watch over me and when your time comes too, join me. We’ll meet again, in a world with no titans and infinite time on our hands. We will truly be happy there.”

“Fine, but promise me you won’t do anything stupid Erwin. Wait for me.” Levi demanded, raising himself on his tip toes and pulling Erwin down for a passionate kiss. After they parted, Erwin stepped next to Nanaba and Mike again and waved his big hand at the others before all three of them vanished from sight.

Over time, the same exact thing happened to the others. Eld and Gunther went, shortly followed by Auruo, the other people also gradually disappearing to god knows where. After some time, only him, Hange, Petra, and Moblit were left. Now it seemed that Moblit’s time had come too, if the bear hug he gave Hange was anything to go by. Offering them one last kind smile, Moblit vanished, leaving now only the three of them. Hange cried that day, harder than he ever saw them do it and Petra rested her head on Levi’s shoulder, sorrow and longing also emanating from her being. For a few years, all they could do was watch. Watch Erwin’s seventh birthday party, Mike and Nanaba chewing on their toys, Eld being adopted, guess he didn’t have much luck in this life either, Gunther ride his bike, Auruo playing his first song on the piano and so on. On a not so special day, when they resumed their seats and watched over the others, Hange stood up and with a kind smile and wave their hand they vanished too. Levi cried and so did Petra, they missed their friend dearly but it was bound to happen. A few short months after Petra also left, leaving Levi alone, drowning in the familiar feeling of loneliness.

A month after, Levi got visitors in the after life, they were Armin, Mikasa, and Annie. They greeted their captain and took their seats next to him, joining him in watching over his friends.

“I guess now I have you brats to watch over me when I’ll go down there.” He joked, getting a pat on the back from Armin.

“Hopefully, in the next life I won’t be a midget anymore, You guys don’t know how fucking hard that has been for me.” That earned him a laugh from all of them. Over the next two months all of them got closer together, Armin and Mikasa telling him about how his death impacted everyone. Apparently it has been a national funeral, all the nobles and even queen gathering around his coffin. How ironic.

One day, Levi woke up groggier than usual and much more heavy. It felt as if the ground was pulling him towards it. It was no doubt: his time had come. Armin was the only one that was watching the world down below, Mikasa and Annie sleeping soundly a few feet away. Levi sat next to him and cleared his throat, redirecting the blonde’s attention to him.

“This reincarnation thing is so beautiful, getting a second chance in a world not as cruel as ours.” Armin began. “I’m glad we aren’t stuck here forever, it gets more boring every day.”

“Try doing that shit for seven years.”

“That’s really long. I can’t stand this place anymore and I’ve only been here for what? Two months? If you don’t mind me asking, who was the first to go?” Armin asked, a little bit shy in case he was prying too much.

“Erwin.” Armin’s eyes widened. “Yeah, I just got here and he was already gone. But now is my time and I’ll finally be reunited with him.” Levi stood up and grabbed Armin’s hand also pulling him to his feet. “See ya Armin, you were always my favourite cadet.”

Bringing his fists and arms to his chest, delivering his last salute to the 15th Commander of the Survey Corps, he vanished, white clouding his vision. Everything went black afterwards.

The next time Levi opened his eyes, he was crying his eyes out and shouting like a mad man, his little legs and arms kicking and moving in all directions. He had been born into the new world.

Notes:

A song I would recommand while reading the fic is It's been a long, long time. Anyways, thank you for taking the time to read it and notes and comments are welcomed, Obviously, I do not own Attack on titan or any of the characters that take part in it. They are inspiration for my works and I love them to the core. Thank you again lovelies for taking the time to read it! <333

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theficplug · 4 years

Text

|Next Lifetime|Erik Killmonger|

previous chapters : Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

erik killmonger x black reader

|part 4|

warnings: um definitely smut this chapter at the end. so 18+ for this chapter! and a possible trigger warning for grief but i promise it gets better and its a romcom.

synopsis: reader grieves Erik until she doesn’t (i’m trying not give too much away). This one is a long ass chapter. So, grab you a snack and something to drink! I hope y’all like it.

“You promised on our birthday that you would give me something far more special than the charms you would gift to me. In 2018, you wanted to avenge your birth parents and you went off and did something foolish and when you- when they returned you to me you were-.” you struggle for a bit to find the words to explain it all to him as he takes a step back to gather himself.

He rubs his eyes before grabbing your arms gently and massaging them . He leans down to look you in your eyes before asking “Ma, did you take something before I came to pick you up? You alright? Cause what you saying don’t make no sense at all... Your pupils don't look dilated though.”

“I know how this must sound. Batshit crazy. I know it sounds crazy to me too. I’m still trying to figure out if I’m losing my own damn mind. I don’t know how or why. I just know that you came back to me.” you say to him and he shakes his head.

“Erik. You’re talking about your ex boyfriend...The one that passed... . Alright, I’m going to take you home now... I still don’t understand what’s going on here and I’ve had about all I can take of trying to understand what’s going on here.” N’Jadaka says quietly to you before going around and opening your car door.

The drive was silent as you picked at your nails and let the soft r&b roll over the tension between the two of you.

Your own thoughts were going in about a billion different directions again. It didn’t feel right to just sit on all of that and not say anything at all. As ripped from a science fiction film as it sounded at least he knows.

He was never one to think quietly because you could practically read his thoughts with the changing of expressions across his face.

The relief of seeing your building washed over you as he offered to walk you to your door.

It was bittersweet because there was still so much of him in this different version of him. Even when he was upset with you or livid with whatever ghost that was haunting him back then, he still showed nothing but tenderness to you.

You nod and give him a small smile before following him up the stairs , to your elevator, and finally your door.

“I know that this is a lot. I mean who in their right mind would be able to process all of that.I wish there was any other way to say it... But thank you, I had a really nice time.” your soft words snap him out of staring at your face as if he was trying to piece it all together.

He knew deep down that there was something about you and what happened that weekend while dreaming in colours and other worlds but he couldn’t wrap his head around all of this happening in real life.

You lean up to kiss his cheek and he grabs your shoulders softly. “With all due respect. You seem like a lovely person and a good woman, but I just - this all a lil too weird for me and I don’t think it’s a good idea that we continue seeing each other.”

He kisses your hand and leaves with one look over your shoulder as you call out “Meet me at our spot. If you are still anywhere in there. You’ll know what I mean.”

“What the hell happened ? I didn’t expect you back until tomorrow morning?” Iri says as she settles on the other side of the sofa and patted the spot next to her as you kick off the sandals and lay your head on her lap with tears already prickling your eyes.

“Oh you didn’t? Please don’t tell me you told him about the soulmate reincarnation thing? Sweets, you probably scared the hell out of that man. We needed you to keep that waaay down in the vault.” Tiki adds as she pops the cork off the bottle of wine in her hand and pauses the movie playing on the screen in the background.

“Here’s what we’re gonna do . You’re gonna text him and tell him that you had just gotten your wisdom teeth removed earlier today and the meds had you unexpectedly zooted as fuck. “ Iri suggests and you chuckle softly.

---

Meanwhile at N’Jadaka’s house he was already being pestered by Lina and Penn for some type of details about what happened during the date. Orleans was already in the kitchen cooking and ear hustling but went back to his conversation on the phone with Big Mike when he realized there wasn’t any tea.

“I don’t feel good. I’m finna go lay down. I’ll talk to y’all in the morning”. He says simply to them before trudging his way to his part of the house.

They had been friends since college and just got used to the idea of living together as they did in the dorms so they made it work after graduation.

It helped them save money for when they finally separated and all of their schedules kept them busy so they didn't have time to get sick of each other. They also knew him well enough to know when something was bothering him and to leave him alone when he gets this moody.

"What the fuck?" He whispered under his breath

"What the fuck was all that?" He continues talking to himself as he strips and walks past the bathroom mirror to the shower.

He stops when something catches his eye. He sees a birthmark on his chest that almost resembles the shape of claw marks. He lets his fingers linger over the mark for a second. Thoughts of a panther mask clouded his memories for a moment before he shook his head and entered the shower.

---

A few hours later of talking through it with your girls about possibly seeing a therapist about all that's going on and you were ready for bed.

It didn't take long to drift off, you were ready to put the whole thing behind you.

The familiar setting of purples , pinks, and hues of blue came into focus and you looked around letting the butterflies land on you again.

You walk through the flowers and find Erik sitting by a stream of water weaving some of the flowers together.

"What the hell, E?" You ask as you run over to him and wrap your arms around his neck

He turns to you and smiles big , his dimples on full display before shrugging.

"It ain't perfect but it's the best I could do. They said it's like a do-over or something like that. I get a second chance but as a result of the way I did things the first time it's a lil different. Like when you restore a computer and it lose all it's files and shit. I get a new life but I'm still kinda stuck. I kinda like it though. I don't remember all the other shit when I'm awake. It really is like starting over. Shits crazy to explain when you think about it. But for you , you already know. I'd find you in this life and the next and the one after that. I don’t think I’mma ever fully remember what happened with all of that when i’m awake. I’m cool with it. It ain’t something I’m tryna remember." He says tipping your chin up to look at you and kissing you softly

"I know. At least I get to hold you in the real world. It's just different. But guess what I saw today? I seen that bench that you and me signed all them years back. It's still there." You say to him and he places the lil flower bracelet around your wrist as y'all sit and talk for the rest of the night.

By the time you wake up with the aroma of breakfast wavering throughout the loft you feel a little better about the whole situation with Erik, not Erik.

You opened your phone and sent him an I'm sorry gif with a few extra words inspired by Tina's wisdom tooth lie.

After easing into the kitchen and standing in the doorway you see the two lovebirds dancing around the kitchen singing to each other and laying food on the plates.

"Morning lil sleepy head. Don't forget that I'll still be coming down to the center with you today for the seminar. You hungry?" Iris asks as she places the plate in your hands with a kiss to the top of the head.

"Of course. There's a young girl, Sophie there that I really think would love to talk to you. She's just starting her transition. And her parents are wonderful but they don't really have much money. She hasn't really had the chance to get more “feminine” presenting clothes and she likes makeup. " You say and she nods catching your drift.

"Well it'd brighten anybody's day seeing a beautiful successful trans woman like myself honey. But let's lift her spirits even more. I'm gonna bring some of the makeup I got from pr packages and some of the clothes from this collection. I really hope it helps." She answers and Tika just saunters over to her proclaiming her love for her.

"Alright alright alright. I get it. I'm single as hell." You say laughing softly

---

Two weeks ticked by with radio silence on N'Jadaka's end. After the 4th day when he gave you the cold shoulder at a coffee shop, you decided to stop trying.

Maybe it wasn't fate and maybe you were just believing what you wanted to believe.

You reason with yourself as you walked around the loft making notes about the new housing project you were working on.

Finally having the house to yourself with the lovebirds gone for the day on a little adventure. You got to work budgeting and calling different areas to rent out apartments to you for women and lgbtq+ with housing insecurities.

Your ramblings and thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door , thinking that Iri or Tika left something behind.

"I told you to take your sunscre- Daka?" You question as he stands in front of you

You cross your arms and furrow your brows while waiting for an answer from him.

He stands for a moment like he’s trying to gather all of his thoughts together in a way that makes sense to both of you.

"What're you doing here?" You ask putting your hand on your hip.

He drops his shoulders and lets out a soft sigh before looking at you.

"I didn't wanna believe it. What you said that night cause like how the fuck does something like that happen? I’mma be honest. I wanted to just believe that you were a lil off and leave it at that but something keeps telling me that you right. I can't remember shit before college and all I wanted to do was be with you. From the moment I met you in the store. I was like, this is it. This is what's missing. A piece to a puzzle that's all jumbled up." He admits and you nod slowly before letting him in.

You walk around the kitchen getting a cup of tea for yourself and sitting a cup of coffee down on the counter for him.

“Don’t worry it’s black, I know you dont like it sweet.”

"You know I didn't exactly expect my fiancee that I buried months before to show up at a damn supermarket of all places. This isn't some movie or fanfiction. These kind of things don't happen in real life. Daka you, you had claw marks all over you. The last time I laid eyes on you. And now you're here in front of me. I thought that I was losing my mind." You say and he starts to unbutton his shirt.

"These." He says peeling his shirt off and showing you the birthmarks on his chest and shoulder.

You trace your fingers over it before leaning your head on his shoulder.

"I asked my parents about my childhood and when I passed by my old neighborhood a few days ago andI remembered some things. I remember what happened to my other parents, in pieces. Shit’s brutal." He says dropping his gaze

"It's okay." You whisper to him and wrap your arms around him. You rocked him for a moment letting him let all of those feelings wash over him.

He embraced you for a moment before kissing you tenderly. You tug at his bottom lip before deepening the kiss when he press you against the counter.

"We'll figure it out... Something telling me I'd be a fuckin fool to lose you again." He says quietly against yours lips.

"Are you gonna make love to me or are you going to keep looking at me like that?" You ask as he studies your whole face like he's looking at art.

"A memory. It's you. We stood right here and I kissed you the same way. You were saying something like "you bring yourself home to me"." He says and you nod frantically, holding him closer to you.

"I did. It was right before you left." You admit and he nods before lifting you up onto the counter and kissing you heatedly this time. He kisses down to your breasts before looking up at permission from you to unhook your bra.

Always a man that knows what he's doing. He takes kisses around your breasts and nipples. He takes his time to lick and caress you until he works his way down.

You shake your head yes before moving to slide off your panties but his kisses and his mouth is already beating you to it as he kisses down to your thigh.

He slides your panties off with his teeth and tosses them over his shoulder.

You tilt your head back as you feel him wasting no time massaging over your clit and working you over with his fingers, curling them and stroking you gently.

Your soft moans fill the room when he hooks your leg over his shoulder and begins to suckle your clit softly , swirling his tongue over it.

"Tika will kil- Ooh god. How does your tongue feel like it's vibrating?" You ask and he only chuckles and grips onto your cheeks to bring you closer to him.

He was feasting on and devouring you like he was going to lose again and you could grind your hips down against his tongue and moan his name sweetly.

He didn't stop his tongue or fingers working in you until your legs are shaking and you're gripping at his head.

"You have- fuck. I'm a squir-" you moan his name brokenly while trying to get out your words and lean back for a moment licking his lips before realizing what you're trying to say.

"Hold that for me. I wanna come with you." He says to you and you pout and protest as he removes his fingers. He picks you up off the counter and carries you bridal style asking you which room is yours.

"Left , left." You giggle into his shoulder as he helps you slide your dress off and you unbutton his jeans for him.

You capture him in a kiss for a moment feeling his soft plump lips against yours again for the first time in what feels like forever.

"It's been a long time since I've done all of this. . . Gentle." You say and he runs a calloused finger over your cheek moving a curl away from your face as he looks at you.

He gets a quick flash of a memory of you and him in bed. You wore a smile on your face before telling him "happy anniversary".

He trailed his fingers down your body remembering almost every scar , every moment.

When Erik got to a scar at your side. He chuckled, unlocking a memory of you two running from the neighborhood rottweiler , Smokey.

That old ass dog hated you and he hoisted you over the fence first after being out late one night in high school. The gate had caught your side when you jumped.

Erik felt so bad he brought you food from anywhere you wanted everyday from to school for a month.

He leans down to place open mouthed kisses to it.

He traced over your thighs to the cellulite and stretch marks remembering when you first got them.

He was moving homes at the time and he wasn't ready to be further away from you yet. You two just sat for hours at the park in the grass, talking.

" You know white men behind all of that anyways. They want y'all to feel like you gotta look the same way. That's how they make them billions. My mama had 'em . Yo mama , and generations back. And it ain't ever stop them from being the women they are. Besides if any dirtneck nigga ever try you , just tell me. Imma handle it." He would say as you sat with your head on his lap, staring at the sun setting, knowing good and well your grandparents were gonna ground you for being late when you get home.

They never did though cause you were with Erik they knew you were gonna be alright.

"Nothing to worry about. I… I've never done any of that stuff before…Have you?" you question hesitantly as you stare off.

"Tisha. From Ms. Wilkes class. We was coming from the kick back-"

"Uh uh . That's your business , you ain't gotta tell me all of that." You say slightly upset at the fact that Tisha of all people was his first.

----

"I got you." He says kissing your forehead then your nose before hooking your leg over his hip and easing into you slowly while his lips are still on yours. His eyes never left yours as he cupped your face sweetly like he didn't want to lose you again.

In this moment he gets a glimpse of prom night and how things changed between the both of you forever.

He wraps his hands around your waist. One of his hands splayed across your belly.

He remembers the pregnancy scare you both had afterwards with him holding your hand and telling you no matter what happens he wanna be there for both of you.

Luckily, nothing came of it but you were definitely closer because of it.

You let out an open mouthed gasp at the feeling of being so full of him after so long.

You rest your hands on his neck and shoulder and he bottoms out fully settling into you as he moves his arms next to balance himself.

You close your eyes as he begins to stroke into you trying to set a rhythm for you as his praises for you fall from his lips.

He kisses his way down your neck licking the marks that are already starting to form there.

"My lil baby." He mutters out after licking a freshly formed hickey forming on top of your breasts.

You open your eyes slowly , looking at him and the way he's looking at you .

"It's been way too long since I've heard that from you. You're remembering?" You ask quietly as you let out a soft moan.

N'Jadaka's muscles flex and tighten as he picks up his pace. His abs clenched as he pulls out almost completely and filled you at a different angle.

The sounds of your moans filling the room with every stride and stroke of his hips, it seems like you're closer to floating in space. The man was fucking you like his life depended on it and at this point all you could do is wrap your arms around him again to comfort you as he shutters and rolls his hips deeper into you. Your walls tighten around him as you relish in the feeling of him.

"Fuck. I remember all of it." He says half chuckling at the way it's coming to him and half nearly in tears cause he really missed being with you.

"I also remember that this is your favourite position cause you like to see my face." He teases before leaning down to kiss you again with them plump ass lips.

"E?" You ask , grabbing his face with trembling hands.

"Baby?" You ask again

He moves his hands from your waist and places your hands in his. Then moving them above your head as he flashes in between making love to you for the last time and now.

You roll over with him and place your hands on your chest riding him slowly getting the rhythm as he strokes into you from below.

He laughs softly when he realizes what you're doing.

"Are you spelling my fucking name , baby?" He asks and you tell him that you can spell both.

You let out a whimper when he brushes your spot and let him take over as he runs his hands over your thighs to your butt and over your back as he strokes into you.

He plants his feet on the bed and work your hips in rhythm with him.

It didn't take long for you to orgasm with a loud shriek of his name . You had forgotten how he gets when he's close as his hands on gripping all over your thighs and your back. You were already feeling sensitive with your second orgasm coming through and this man felt like he was trying to put it in your belly.

He rolls you onto your side giving it to you deeply.

With a loud hiss and panting from him he cums , holding you in his arms.

"I don't think it has felt like that since our birthday last year." He says into your ear as he pulls you closer into his arms.

He engulfs you fully in his embrace and presses a kiss to the side of your head.

You laugh softly and roll over to face him , resting your forehead against his.

"I remember. You took me to Paris. I had never been and at the time I was obsessed with everything Parisian. We fucked on the balcony and somehow I ended up popping the straps to my favorite dress. You still owe me by the way." You tease and he shakes his head laughing.

"I think we ended up saving they marriage from across the way though. They was arguing the whole time. Then they gon watch us like we ain't see them." Erik says laughing as he squeezes your thigh playfully.

"I know they was trying some things." You joke

"I missed you so much. You don't even understand." You admit with a somehow saddened and relieved expression.

"I know. I want to start over this time. All of that Erik Killmonger shit is over with. I wanna keep the name N'Jadaka and just start over. All of that was too heavy on me to carry. I wanna let it all go. I wanna do it right with you." He explains

"Good because if you put me through that again. Wakanda will be the least of your damn worries." You say to him and he nods giving you his word, sealed with a kiss.

"It'll be alright. Everything happens for a reason. And I think that right now a bath needs to happen and I'm gonna need you to do that thing again that you did in the kitchen cause I'm tryna figure out when you learned that-"

At some point after the bubble bath/ shower combo you were both out like a light until Iri and Tika decide to come busting in like they usually do with little gifts and food for you.

"Guess who's your fave- SHE GOT A WHOLEASS MAN IN HER BED" Iri announces to Tika before your pillow hits the door as she closes it.

"Sorry about that. This is kinda our cuddle hour so they're used to just coming on in." You say sleepily and he just laughs it off while holding you closer.

"It's all good. I remember that I ain't know them much before but when we did spend time with them, they were good people." He says, still trying to piece it together.

----

You fell asleep more peacefully than you had in a long time. Now granted, good sex didn't fix the many layers of issues and mysticism surrounding everything.

But for now, you knew that you had him, you had your girls, family and your business. Everything felt alright again.

Right up until the point of sleeping through the first alarm to meet the property owners.

"Bae. Bae your phone going off." N'Jadaka whispers in the dark room , voice still riddled with sleep and grogginess.

"Shit. Shit. I'm gonna be so late." You call out , quickly jumping out of bed and stumbling around the room.

It takes you about 25 minutes to speed through getting dressed in your best skirt suit.

N'Jadaka sits on the end of the bed putting on his shoes and watching you shuffle around.

He had offered to drive you there and stay with you and check out the property with you.

He slows you down by grabbing you by your arms gently and placing a kiss to your lips.

"Good morning, handsome. Let's go"

You walk through the living room with Iri and Tika already posted up in the kitchen placing two breakfast burritos in a container to grab and go.

You grab your things from the counter all while thanking them and jetting towards the door.

"Good luck pooh!" Tika calls after you.

"Byyyyeeee Dakaaaa" they call out after him

---

"Here it is . These are the apartments. I know they don't look like much now from the outside. But from the pictures it looks great. And they'll be safe and comfortable here-" you babble on to N'Jadaka while you both stand outside of the building where Erik grew up , until you notice two women walking to a car that clearly wasn't from this area.

You notice Shuri and your breath hitches in your throat.

Frozen in your anxiety, the seconds ticked by and it was too late to leave. She looked you dead in the eye and then at N'Jadaka like she had seen a ghost.

She gasped and Nakia followed the eyes before back into the car.

"SHURI WAIT - PLEASE" you yell out to them but the car was already speeding away.

tag list : @doublesidedscoobysnacks @chaneajoyyy @mirandkimy @doitforthevine67 @amyhennessyhouse @dasia21 @depressionandfandomsinc @sinfully-dope @ambitionwood @heybriheyyy @wholelotta-melanin @theesotericqueen @mbakuwife @spookys-girl @teardropzih @bigchoose @ceo-of-baby @sweetpeachjones @lost-ssoull @shyblackgurl @justpeachee @nijajoha @imayhavemisunderstood @beautifullmelodyxx @alookintohersoul @rbhp @champagnesugamama @just-peachee @almeda-344 @mahogany2021

#black panther #erik killmonger #black panther smut #erik killmonger smut #Erik killmonger x Reader #fanfic for black girls

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missblissy · 4 years

Text

Rebirth (Chapter Seven)

Alastor X Human!Reader ((Reincarnation!AU))

Prologue || One || Two || Three || Four || Five || Six || Seven

Everything about this city was beautiful. From street lanterns to the very distinctive architecture. New Orleans had this magical air to it that made everything seem romantic and otherworldly. You had never been here before so you got caught up in all the sightsees. You were still in the elegant red dress that matched Alastor’s crimson suit.

Your arm was looped with Alastor’s as the two of you walked down busy and noisy streets. Many people were out and about, bar hopping, drinking, dancing, singing and enjoying the night. Apparently, there was this bar that you just had to see, according to Alastor.

“It’s lovely in there, it’s much like a music lounge!” Alastor told you with a smile. You could see the genuine happiness on his face as he talked about this bar, “I use to go there all the time when I was alive,”

“How do you know it’s still there?” You asked him while raising a brow, “Didn’t you die like…” When did he die again? Uh oh, you forgot, “Um… You died a long time ago, right?”

Alastor flashed a quick toothy grin and gave you a side glance, “1933. Just because I’m dead doesn’t mean I don’t keep tabs on the living world,” He then nudged you lightly, “I bet I know more about today’s news than even you do.”

You rolled your eyes, tempted to say something snide, “You sound like an old man. I watch the news, just… not every day. Or week,” You tried to defend yourself. Alastor’s low chuckle caused your cheeks to burn red, “Where the hell is this bar?” You shifted the conversation, “I’m ready for a drink,” And a big one at that.

“Almost there, my dear!” Alastor promised, “What’s your drink of choice?”

You looked at him and thought, “What was my favorite drink when I was a demon?”

A very dark look overtook Alastor’s features. You saw his teeth grow in size, his mouth twisted into an unnatural grin, “Blood,” He said wickedly. The dark look was gone, his teeth were back to normal and his smile was more relaxed, “Oh! You meant alcohol!” Alastor started to laugh at his own dumb joke, “Haha, you enjoyed gin, vodka, tequila. You had an uncanny taste for clear liquor and often refused the darker ones, like whiskey and rum.”

That was very different from now. You kind of hated alcohol and you’d only drink it if it was fruity and sweet enough to mask the gross burning liquor, “Mhm, not the same,” You shrugged, “I’m basic, give me a Mike’s Hard or a Twisted Tea. It’s can’t taste like shit.”

“All liquor tastes like shit,” Alastor hummed with a single chuckle. He wasn’t wrong there. Only a few minutes passed before he suddenly stopped in his tracks in front of an old rickety wooden door.

You were confused, what was here? It was just a dark pine door stuck between two buildings. There was no sign and no address. Nothing but a door. Alastor quickly swung it open, you saw that immediately behind the door was a dark stairwell leading below ground. You followed Alastor into the cellar with caution. There was a second door at the bottom of the stairs and Alastor thew that one open too. Music and smoke wafted from within. It smelled musty and thick of cigarettes.

How could you have not guessed? You walk into a dark underground bar and lounge. The lights shined low rays, making it easy to hide in the shadows. The floor was covered with a thin and dirty green carpet. The walls had wooden paneling that went about a third of the way while maroon wallpapers climbed to the ceiling. There had to be a few dozen people already in there. You took a look over at Alastor and saw stars in his eyes.

Little did you know that this was the bar where Alastor wasted away most of his life. It had barely changed. Sure there were new paintings and pictures, but so what? And yeah, there were dozens of TVs and speakers littering the walls now. Other than that, it was the same. Same gross green carpet with wine stains spotting all over the room, there were still green stain glass lights hanging from the ceiling, the bar looked exactly the same and there was a nice new pool table in the corner. Further back in the larger room was a small stage completely void of anything. Dozens of little tables scattered the room. This place was big enough to fit at least 80 to 90 people. It made Alastor incredibly happy to be here, even if it was some several decades later.

The two of you walked over to the bar without a word spoken between you. There were lush and comfy stools with soft green cushions for a seat. You gazed at the other people hanging around the bar. There was an older woman smoking a cigarette at the very end as she drank her margarita and played on her phone. A few seats away from you was a young man covered with tattoos and piercings.

Alastor quickly leaned on the bar with a smile. You stood beside him and you didn’t understand why you felt so nervous. It made you feel awkward to stare at him so much. You couldn’t help it though, his looks kept drawing you in. He looked rather dashing in the suit. He knew how to pick colors that complemented his features. He looked better without his glasses on too. You could see the dark and haunting color of his brown eyes. When he flickered his gaze towards you, you quickly averted your eyes and watched the bartender sluggishly walk along the bar.

He seemed tired and overly sleepy. The bartender shrugged as he asked, “What can I get for ya?”

You quickly looked at Alastor with a nervous expression. Luckily he was a man of action, “Two whiskeys, my good friend!” He tapped the bar twice with his hand and gave a large grin.

While the bartender got your drinks, you peered along the counter. That man with the tattoos was looking at you. Then at Alastor, then you again. The way he stared made you suspicious of him. You looked away from him as the bartender returned and slid two glasses towards you and Alastor.

“Give it a try, darling,” Alastor eyed you as he grabbed his own glass, “It’ll only bite a little bit,” Then he winked at you. It took you by complete surprise and you were quickly flustered. At the same time, he pulled a little black case from one of his pockets and unclipped the latch. As he flipped it open it revealed several dozen cigarettes tucked neatly in rows. Alastor swiped one quicky then snapped the case closed. You watched as the cigarette lit itself alive as if my by magic. Alastor wasn’t even looking at you anymore. This was the first time you saw his human face without some sort of smile. He had a soft and blank expression as he took a drag of the cigarette. Why did he make it look so…. attractive? He even did a french inhale, slowly passing smoking from his lips and inhaling it into his nose.

As much as you hated the burn of alcohol, you quickly grabbed your own drink and down a large gulp. Your heart was fluttering in your chest and you couldn’t stop it from beating harder and harder as every second passed. Once you placed the glass down you quickly rushed your words out, “I- uh!” You coughed and cleared your throat, “I need to you the restroom!” You actually needed a second to calm down, “I’ll be right back,” You flashed a little smile on your face as Alastor watched you with amusement.

“Take your time, dear,” He gave a sneaky and snide smirk, he was beginning to bring the cigarette back to his lips, but you quickly turned and walked off as calmly as you could.

Alastor watched your every step until you found the bathrooms and disappeared around a corner. He could finally let out the soft sigh and relax a little. Everything was going perfectly so far. All he had to do was keeping working his charm and soon you’d be his once again.

He took this time alone to reflect on the entire situation. Alastor flicked the ash off the end of his cigarette into an ashtray. With his free hand, he reached for his whiskey. As happy as he was to be here, it brought him a small sense of sorrow. It was beginning to become more and more clear that you were not the same person you once were.

It pained him because he was realizing that the person he was looking for was dead and gone forever. No matter how much he tried, he’d never have his beloved wife back. He couldn’t deny it however, he stilled felt a deep love for you even if you weren’t exactly the same. Little did you know, Alastor had come to terms with spending the rest of your natural mortal life with you, simply because he couldn’t bring himself to kill or even harm you in any way. He also felt the need to protect you from any harm as well. He wouldn’t allow you to killed in any way unless it was on your terms.

He wasn’t entirely sure why he felt this way. Maybe it had to do with the fact that your soul wasn’t tainted enough to go to hell, or maybe he loved your soul’s newfound purity. Maybe it had nothing to with anything, he couldn’t be sure. He had shut himself entirely off from his emotions the day you were reincarnated. It had been a long time since he explored the thoughts and let them run free in his mind. There was a strange uneasiness that overcame Alastor at the same time. He looked around and found the man looking at him, the one with the tattoos.

How interesting, Alastor watched this stranger begin to approach him. A little smile lingered on Alastor’s face. He wanted this man to go away and leave him alone, “Hello!” Alastor lifted his smile some more, “What brings you over here, my good fellow?”

The tattooed man was a little surprised at Alastor’s straight-forward approach, but other than that, he didn’t seem to fazed by it. Alastor could smell the pot and vodka rolling off of this stranger. It didn’t take a whole lot to see how intoxicated he was. There was even a drip from his nose and Alastor had no doubt that it was induced from a little knife bump of coke. But he smelled something much stronger, it was the soft and dull beat of blood rushing loosely through this drugged-up man. It was intoxication, it made Alastor’s eyes grow a little wider as he stared harder at the man.

“I wanted to know ‘bout that lady of yours!” The stranger slurred slightly, “She with you?”

“Ha!” Alastor enjoyed the stranger’s bluntness, “Something like that!” He bared his teeth with a smile, “I think there was someone more of your taste out on the corner there, old sport!”

The stranger laughed loosely and shook his head, “Aha, hmhm,” He sucked in a quick breath, “I was thinking you’re more my type. Or the both of ya.”

Alastor’s smile melted only slightly as it became more thin, firm and pressed. Why couldn’t he think of anything to say? He didn’t think this would make his as uncomfortable as it did. Panic leaked into his bloodstream for the first time in decades. How was this possible? He felt a bead of sweat form at his temple. Then a whisper crawled into his ear, saying, He’s only a human. Scare him away.

So he took a quick breath in and Alastor smiled calmly, “You don’t want to walk down this road,” He closed his eyes and smiled some more, “There’s nothing here for you!” His voice was bouncy and happy despite his true feelings hidden below his throat, “Nothing but a dead end!” Alastor smiled away.

But the man was either too drunk or stoned to hear the ominous threat in Alastor’s voice, or he just didn’t care. He leaned forward slightly, “You sure? I’ve got a ton of X and coke- Oh hey-”

You had just shown back up and you could feel the terrible tension in the air. The tattooed man was swaying on his feet and he had a sloppy half-grin on his face. Alastor, however, had dark eyes boring into the man and a smile on his eyes. His unblinking stare was menacing, “Hey,” You frowned. At the sound of your voice, Alastor turned his head quickly and he looked at you. He didn’t say anything though, “What’s.. uh… going on?” You looked between the two of them.

The stranger shrugged, “Just trying to see if ya’ll are interested in a little party-”

You quickly held up your hand, making him stop talking. This is why you hated bars and drinking, well… you mostly just hated drunks. Nothing was more dully and stupid than a drunk person, in your opinion. You frowned at the stranger, “I’m going to have to stop you right there, thanks but no thanks, we’re not interested.” You learned a long time ago that the only way to get them to go away is to tell them to fuck off, “Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to get back to enjoying my night.”

The man gave you a swore face, he shrugged again, “You’re loss,” The mood changed and he didn’t seem so happy anymore. He left with a flip of his long hair and muttering something under his breath.

You heard a sigh next to you, and you saw Alastor’s smile drop down to a mild grin. He seemed… upset? You weren’t very sure, “You okay?” You asked.

“I hate humans,” Alastor grumbled, “Primitive, primal, promiscuous. Utterly useless creatures,”

“What? Don’t like guys flirting with you?” You started to slowly chuckle at him. Was this what he was like when he was flustered or mad? It almost made you laugh. He just looked bitter with a dumb smile. Maybe it was because he was in his human form, but he didn’t look as intimidating or scary without all the evil demon teeth and claws.

“I’m not a fan of the outcome,” Alastor looked at you from a side glance. He waved a hand, “Fornication is utterly disgusting,”

Oh. You blinked, slowly understanding what he was trying to say, “So you’re like… Asexual?”

Now Alastor gave you a confused smile, “I wish I could go through mitosis,” He gave a weak laugh after that.

But you giggled behind your hand for a second. Oh, how the tables had turned, “No, Al,” You saw him perk up at the nickname, “It means yours not into fornication.” It looked like he started to understand, “You know, some people are homosexual? Hetero? You’re Asexual,” To help further your point, you dug out your phone and opened up the web browser. You did a quick google search then showed him.

He was wary, but he looked at your phone, quickly reading the words, “Hm,” He hummed, “Well would you look at that!” There was a smile on his face. He gestured for you to come and sit beside him again.

You climbed back into your bar seat once again and Alastor turned so he could face you. His cigarette was long burnt out and gone and he didn’t hesitate to pull another one out. He offered you one but you shook your head lightly, “So many things are different,” Alastor mumbled from behind the unfiltered end of the cigarette, “You used to smoke a pack a day,” He chuckled softly.

“Yeah?” He knew he had caught your interest. You perked up in your seat and even scooted a little closer, “What was I like? Like… aside from being a demon and your wife. Like personality and attitude?”

He couldn’t help the sweet smile from curling on his face, “You were very hardworking. People praised you for your incredible loyalty as well. But you were also uncontrollably emotional,” You faintly remembered the book saying something about that.

“What else?” You wanted to know so much more. You wanted to know everything you could know about your past self. It was an obsession you couldn’t ignore anymore.

“How about we focus on this version of you?” Alastor smiled a little more and gave a raise of his brow. You felt flattered that he wanted to know more about you. You remembered that you still had a glass of whiskey to drink.

As you grabbed the glass and took a sip, you asked after a brief moment, “What do you want to know?”

Alastor leaned forward and rested his chin in the palm of his hand. There was a light and spark in his eyes that made your hight jump a little, “Anything,” He said with a smile.

_________________________________________________________

“-I was so scared. He looks at me and says, ‘You lit?’ And I was…. I was totally baked out of my mind. It was the first time I… ya know? Aha- And my professor is looking at me and the whole class is! I almost started to cry but then he sharted to shake his hands and go ‘No, no, no! You eat that cookie! You stay lit!’ And he just goes on teaching!” There were about six or seven empty glasses next to you. A smile was on your face as you told some stupid story from your freshman year of college.

Alastor was listening intently with his own smile to match. He held your hand in his as they rested together on the bar, “Ya know I was always a fan of opium every now and again!”

For some reason that made you laugh a little, “I’d never do something like that,” It was safe to say you were tipsy. Maybe a little bit drunk. Just a little. Alastor, on the other hand, didn’t seem the slightest and he drank more than you, “Like you said. I’m just a goodie goodie.”

He chuckled and gave a grin, “I also said we could change that.”

“You said a lot of things,” You smirked. The last..? What time was it? Well, you had spent some time talking to Alastor. He asked about your life, your birthday. He found out you had no siblings and that your father was dying. He even wanted to know about what school you went to, what classes you liked. You didn’t expect him to be so curious. He cracked a joke every now and then and tease you for something silly.

It was nice to just… talk to him like this. It was almost like he was a real person who wanted to get to know you. A little voice in your said It’s almost like I’m on a date with a real guy who… likes me. You shook that voice away. And caught Alastor staring at you. You laughed nervously and said, “What?”

He just shook his head slowly then shrugged, “Nothing… You’re just very pretty. I like this version of you. Some things are the same, like your eyes and your smile. But others are different,”

“Like what?” Damn it! You couldn’t stop the little smile on your face.

“That’s not important,” He quickly dismissed your question, “It doesn’t matter whats different and what’s the same. I’m just happy to spend time with you again.” Why did that answer make your heart flutter?

His hand was still holding yours and you couldn’t deny that comfort you felt from his touch. It was familiar in a way that you just couldn’t describe. It was almost addicting in away. You could feel your soul reaching out and trying to touch Alastor.

What time was it again? You pulled out your phone and looked at the clock. You almost jumped out of your seat and lost your mind, “It’s three in the morning!? I have classes at eight am! Fuck!” You ran a hand through your hair then looked at Alastor, “This is your fault,”

He grinned, “Skip classes tomorrow, sleep in,” His voice called out and tempted you.

It sounded nice, but you knew better. You shook your head, “No, I need to go to bed, can you take me home?” You looked at him and waited for him to say something but he just grinned a sneaky little toothy smile, “Please?”

“Alright,” He finally said. He closed his eyes and with a smile, he snapped his fingers quickly. There was a static sound of white noise and suddenly you were outside your apartment door. Odd. Why didn’t he just teleport you guys inside? What if your door was locked?

Alastor quickly took your hand in his and brought your fingers up to his lips. He placed a kiss on them, holding your hand there as he gave you a look that gave you chills, “I had a lovely night with you, my dear. Until we meet again.” He placed another kiss on your knuckles. You wanted to say something but he quickly faded into a swarm of misty black shadows. He was gone before you knew it and you were alone with a might need for him to come back.

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adultswim2021 · 3 years

Text

Aqua Teen Hunger Force #25: “Super Sir Loin” | August 31, 2003 - 11:45 PM | S03E07

WELL WELL WELL, if it isn’t another one of these ones

Meatwad gets all into a new rap artist named Sir Loin. The TRUE fans will note that he sounds suspiciously like M.C. Pee Pants. Well, it turns out it is him, reincarnated, explaining that he was sent to Earth to satisfy some kind of hellish mission on behalf of the devil. Or something. Or, no, actually it’s something else. I just remembered it. Goddamn, I truly have nothing to say about this one. The M.C. Pee Pants episode is not a favorite of mine, and this is a lesser sequel to that one. It’s fine. There’s decent bits in it. Shake makes Meatwad eat sand and then calls him “the rudest person I know”, so it’s all worth it I guess.

Hey, there’s a scene where we see piles of donated food (which is part of Sir Loin’s nasty scheme) and there’s a few pizzas in there. I guess I’ll include this in the Adult Swim pizza canon. What a thrill.

MAIL BAG

Lets start this off right with KON:

Penguins Behind Bars, Birdgirl, Tuca & Bertie... all female-driven Adult Swim projects must be avian in nature due to a misunderstanding on noted Anglophile Mike Lazzo's part about how the British use the slang term BIRDS

This seems right to me, and you’ll recall that the reason he doesn’t allow women in his writers rooms is that they all “shit piss and lay eggs out of the same hole and I just ain’t got that kinda time”. Didn’t make that much sense then, but now it’s starting to.

what is up, my chubby friend. Enjoying the blog. Loved sealab back in the da day.

... thank you. Lotta positivity in the DMs lately. Thank you.

Do you think black stereotypes like meatwad are gonna make enjoying this show on HBO Max even more of a hassle? You know he's not voiced by the guy from becker (but maybe frylock is).

Becker on: RACE RELATIONS “I don’t care that Hank Azaria is a honky-ass cracker, dat n***a funny”

Try this number 1-800-CALL-A-HOE, If you hear yourself on the other line, then you are da hoe.Why did you send this twice! I’m starting to think that YOU are the one who is… the hoe

Honestly your mockery is rape-like and I am genuinely disturbed by it. Will be reporting. Thanks.

"I have a distaste for when TV networks protectively pull fan-supplied copies of rare TV shows or even commercials they have no intention of making available themselves, so this is about as happy an ending for Penguins Behind Bars as it deserves." Is it just me or did you use almost this exact same paragraph for something else that was once lost but then put on adult swim's website? Right down to the "happy ending" part. I feel like I'm having deja freakin' vu here.

I have a feeling you are in a group DM with me where I said something very similar. I even went back and re-read it and it’s very close except the phrase “happy ending”, which was somebody else, so I guess I kinda stole a little:

#adult swim #aqua teen hunger force #adultswim2021 #pizza

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nomanwalksalone · 4 years

Photo

BOOK REVIEW: COOL TOWN

by Réginald-Jérôme de Mans

“Aye. Looked for It. And I found it. Miles Standish Proud. Congratulate me.” That unmistakable nasal whine. Those lyrics, unforgettable to me after thirty-odd years, now echoing out at me from a neighbor’s backyard speakers as I walked my dog late one evening past his socially suspect get-together. It took me past all right, rewinding like a tape the few of us who cared, who knew, could stop at just the right place in a beaten-up boom box to cue up a track on Life’s Rich Pageant, the old R.E.M. album. Old: one of the ones Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Bill Berry and Mike Mills wrote before they hit it big with Green and Out of Time and “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” on the soundtrack to every godawful disaster movie. Lines from “Begin the Begin,” the opening track on that album, which I played over and over and over along with all of my R.E.M. albums in high school, almost furtively, then defiantly, against the late 1980s prep school hegemony of the Dead, the Eagles, and whatever other music could be sanitized by decades of acceptability, like prep clothing itself – deeply familiar weapons of exclusion.

At that time my listening choices felt tantamount to subversion. We listened so often we memorized lyrics like the secret readers in Fahrenheit 451, at least the lyrics to the songs Stipe enunciated. Famously elusive, mumbled and indirect, many of his songs were like codes, with meanings no more than roundabout guesses. All that and more came back hearing that snatch of song, and reading Grace Elizabeth Hale’s incredible Cool Town: How Athens, Georgia Launched Alternative Music and Changed American Culture. In it she not only clearly and thoroughly tells the fascinating story of the Athens scene around University of Georgia that gave rise to R.E.M. and so many other acts, she captures and conveys the liberation, joy and sweetness of youth.

Athens! A college friend from Chattanooga, Tennessee used to drive down there on weekends with her girlfriend to stalk the legendarily beautiful Stipe (the closest they got was letting him bum a cigarette). Hale brings together various elements at the tail of the 1970s that led to the first major breakout band from Athens, the B-52s, who began as a party band playing camp callbacks, a rock band incarnation of a John Waters film. When they debuted there were no studios or real rock clubs in town to play at. Everyone knew each other, helped each other along.

They knew each other because they were so few, creatives, rebels and slackers among the thousands attending the state’s public university. Borrowed vans helped them schlep the nineteen-hour drive up the Eastern Seaboard to CBGB and other clubs in New York City where they shot to national prominence. And in their wake Athens became a terroir, a place-name suggesting the cultivation of quirky talent. Of a crucial nexus of people who didn’t want to be pinned down by the epithets others had for them, in fact who wanted to create their own, perhaps labile, meaning.

A memory, 1990: waking up momentarily in the middle of the night parked at a rest stop somewhere in the Northeast during my own road trips up and down the East Coast to my auto-reversing Walkman inexorably droning through Fables of the Reconstruction, R.E.M.’s third album, over and over like a sinner damned to eternal reincarnation.

Even though their early success seems minor compared to their 1990s mainstreaming, R.E.M.’s takeoff in the early 1980s made Athens a destination for musicians and bands seeking credibility, or simply a haven: Matthew Sweet and Vic Chesnutt, among other household names, along with dozens of other acts who peppered college radio. And R.E.M. helped the playlist of college radio, with its funky, ersatz, underground connotations (a friend at what was once called the best college radio station in the country told me of refusing to buzz the singer of Violent Anal Death into the building at 5 AM because she thought his band name was a joke), become its own genre, college rock. That scrappy independence, forged in opposition to fratty accessibility, to the unexamined privileges of superficial enjoyment, gradually became a Leviathan of its own, an all-encompassing alternative rock genre that swallowed up the radio dial.

Hale wisely rejects the narrative cliché of origin, rise and fall. Athens evolved; multifarious venues (such as crunchy diners hosting bands and readings) bloomed like spring flowers on magnolia trees; existing barriers to entry such as presumptive whiteness made themselves felt; new barriers such as the disassembling of accessible public education arose. She also wisely rejects the cliché of a final redemption, choosing instead to suggest a hope that the conditions that brought together a community of originals and others can arise again in some other way or form, somewhere.

Community. Because we felt ourselves apart and when we found each other, tried our hardest to communicate it, so deeply and longingly, but like Stipe obliquely…

#rjman #reginaldjeromedemans

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perfecttimeseleven · 4 years

Link

Perfect Times Eleven Ep. 1 TRANSCRIPT

ACT ONE

SCENE ONE

REMINGTON

Goddamn it! You really think tying a tie wouldn’t be this hard.

VOICE FROM PHONE

And that, my friends, is how you tie a tie!

REMINGTON

(overlapping)

No! No it’s not! Fuck you!

VOICE FROM PHONE

Hope you found this video helpful. Hit up that “like” button below and don’t forget to subscribe to my channel for more pro bro tips from Menswear Mike! Hang tie-ght. Haha, get it? Just a little joke for ya on this fine Menswear Mike Monday morning.

(REMINGTON grabs her phone and turns the video off.)

REMINGTON

Shit. Ah.. maybe if... nope. That’s worse. Is that a zit? God hates me.

(exhales)

My name is Remington Long and I am here because I hear eleven voices in my head and a teacup chihuahua tried to claw my eye out — no. That’s too on the nose.

(pauses)

My name is Remington Long! How are you? I’m perfectly sane! Fuck. Uh...yeah, no. I’m already talking to a mirror. Who’s gonna believe that? Okay. My name is Remington Long, and oh, heavenly therapist, please bestow the blesséd knowledge upon me so I can maybe, maaaaybe have a shot at normal life. Except, y’know, my life’s already fine, except sometimes animals attack me, I guess, like the chihuahua from yesterday. So I actually don’t know why the hell my parents are paying you. But yes! My name is Remington Long and I’m here for a heaping helping of therapy! Fuck yeah! Ugh.

(1. Therapy Upstate.)

REMINGTON

THERAPY. THERAPY UPSTATE.

IT’S UNFAIR TO ME. Here, I’ll give it to ya straight —

WELL, KIDS, YOU KNOW YOUR PARENTS THINK YOU’RE REALLY PSYCHO

WHEN YOU’RE FORCED TO HIKE OVER TO DELAWARE COUNTY FOR

THERAPY UPSTATE.

I’VE LIVED FOR EIGHTEEN YEARS LIKE THIS! I THINK I’VE GOT THE HANG OF IT BY NOW.

DON’T NEED SOME PRETENTIOUS PRICK’S USELESS SHIT ABOUT MEDITATION OR HOW

TALKING ABOUT MY FEELINGS WILL MAKE EVERYTHING SO, SO MUCH BETTER!

PLUS, HE’LL PROBABLY BE OLD AND WEAR ROUND GLASSES AND A TARTAN SWEATER.

Ugh, I can see it already, HE’LL SAY

”TELL ME ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS” AND I’LL BE LIKE ”ERR, I GOT NONE!”

AND THEN WE’LL JUST SIT, STARE AT EACH OTHER FOR A BIT

IN SILENCE TILL THE SESSION IS DONE.

Plot twist! WE’LL. FALL IN LOVE

HE’LL TREAT ME WELL BUT I’LL GET HIM FIRED

FOR HAVING RELATIONS WITH A MINOR —

Wait. No. I’m eighteen. I’m an adult. Shit.

A WHOLE ASS ADULT BEING MADE TO GO TO

THERAPY. THERAPY UPSTATE.

WHERE THERE’S TONS OF TREES AND ALL THE STORES CLOSE AFTER EIGHT.

I’M JUST CONSIDERING EVERY POSSIBLE SCENARIO IN AN ATTEMPT TO PREPARE ME,

SO I WON’T HAVE TO GO TO MORE THERAPY UPSTATE.

SO I’VE GOT VOICES IN MY HEAD! WELL, I CAN STILL HAPPILY EXIST!

I CAN’T EVEN HEAR THEM IF I KEEP THIS TACKY BRACELET ON MY WRIST.

AND EVEN WHEN I DO, THEY JUST...REPEAT ELEVEN RANDOM WORDS.

(REMINGTON unclasps her bracelet and it drops to the ground.)

REMINGTON’S VOICES

(jumbled and overlapping)

HARVEST, OCEAN, CREATE, CHANGE, FIGHT, ART, FAMILY, FREEDOM, JOYCE, TRADITION, BIRDS

REMINGTON

See? THEY AREN’T THAT ANNOYING AND THEY’RE QUITE EASY TO IGNORE

JUST LIKE REAL-LIFE PEOPLE THAT TO ME, KINDA BORE.

WHAT WOULD THIS THERAPIST KNOW THAT I DON’T ALREADY

ABOUT WHAT I’VE DEALT WITH MY ENTIRE LIFE? OH, YES, I’M FEELING PETTY ABOUT

THERAPY! THERAPY UPSTATE.

THEY SAY THIS IS NOT UP FOR DEBATE

BUT I’M AN INDEPENDENT MAN WHO DON’T NEED NO MAN

TO SHARE ALL MY CARES WITH AT THERAPY UPSTATE.

I KNOW I’M A BURDEN! I DON’T WANNA BECOME MORE OF ONE!

STOP THROWING MONEY AT THIS! IT WILL NOT GO AWAY.

SAVE THOSE FUNDS FOR MY COLLEGE, OR, BETTER YET, ACKNOWLEDGE

THAT I WON’T GO TO COLLEGE, AND THAT IS OKAY!

I CAN BE NORMAL! I’LL DO FINE! I PROMISE! I PROMISE! I PROMISE.

THERAPY. THERAPY UPSTATE.

YOUR PARENTS SEE YOU CAN’T HANDLE YOURSELF...HOW GREAT.

IT’S A MARK ON THE CALENDAR TO CONFIRM THEY’VE RAISED

A DISAPPOINTMENT, A HOPELESS, CRAZED

FREAK WHO THEY HAVE TO CODDLE, WHO AIN’T GOING ANYWHERE AT THIS RATE!

OH, PLEASE HAVE SOME HOPE IN ME!

I DON’T NEED HELP TO COPE, YOU SEE!

DON’T WRITE SOMETHING FRIGHTFUL

ON MY PERMANENT RECORD OR I’LL NEVER GET A JOB I DON’T HATE!

OH, PLEASE, DON’T SEND ME TO THERAPY UPSTATE!

ACT ONE

SCENE TWO

DR. MORELLO

Yes, uh, hello, Remington.

DAISY

Remington? That’s fucking wack! Remy, like the rat!

DR. MORELLO

Daisy. Language!

REMINGTON

Uh, hi.

DAISY

I’m Daisy, Ratatouille!

DR. MORELLO

My name is Dr. Morello.

REMINGTON

Yeah, uh, my parents told me about you.

DR. MORELLO

Good. This wasn’t what you expected, was it, dear?

REMINGTON

Oh. Uh, no. Don’t get me wrong, this is a very nice house, but yeah. Like I was expecting some really clinical looking...space? You are also not what I expected, but, uh, in a good way! This...is also...such a warm color scheme I’d never have imagined...

(catches herself going off topic)

It is very nice to meet you, Dr. Morello! How can you help with the, uh, voices in my head thing?

(pauses)

Shit. Sorry. I mean, shit, oh sh-...sorry. Shouldn’t have cursed. I didn’t mean like you’re seeking me out to help me, I’m the one seeking your help —

DAISY

You’re making it worse, nerd.

REMINGTON

Yeah, also there’s, uh, Daisy? Um, there’s children here. Didn’t expect that. Who? Why? Uh, who’s the other one?

DR. MORELLO

Ohh! Yes —

REMINGTON

Yes, there’s children here.

DR. MORELLO

Yes, yes. Remington, I would like you to meet my other patients. Come over here! Be polite!

JAY

Ugh.

DAISY

I said hi to her already!

JAY

Hi, I guess.

REMINGTON

Okay, I can respect a girl with a well-defined aesthetic —

JAY

Then why are you dressed like a sad lawyer?

DR. MORELLO

Kids, this is Remington’s first appointment, and you both know what that means.

DAISY

(bored)

I’ll get the fear-puke bucket.

REMINGTON

The what?

DAISY

Wait. Hold the phone. Hold on. Remington Long...Are you the kid who got attacked by the...

JAY

Oh, wait, yeah! Shiiiiiit!

(DAISY and JAY try to contain their laughter.)

DAISY

...teacup chihuahua?

(JAY doubles down in laughter.)

REMINGTON

(unamused)

Yeah. Nice to meet you.

DR. MORELLO

Kids, be nice. Okay, now this is Jay.

(DAISY and JAY calm down.)

REMINGTON

Who’s already mocked me twice. Good start. Hello.

JAY

(clears throat a little)

Hey —

DR. MORELLO

(interrupting)

Now that that’s out of the way —

DAISY

(exiting)

Fear-puke bucket time!

REMINGTON

Okay, what does that mean?

DR. MORELLO

(ignoring her)

— let’s get down to business. Now — That bracelet on your wrist. It’s the accessory you use to block the voices out, yes?

REMINGTON

Yeah.

DR. MORELLO

And when you take it off, can you describe what these voices are like?

REMINGTON

There’s like, a lot of them, and they just say words, I guess. It’s overlapping and each voice says a word, and then that just repeats, like, I don’t know, over and over, like —

JAY

Like a broken record in your brain.

REMINGTON

...Yeah. What she said.

(turning back to DR. MORELLO)

Wait, so all your patients have the same problem?

DR. MORELLO

Essentially, yes.

(pauses)

Of course, I do too.

REMINGTON

What?

(DAISY enters with a big yellow bucket, which she plunks in front of REMINGTON.)

DAISY

Fear-puke bucket time.

JAY

It’s always more like panic attack puke, if anything —

DAISY

Yeah, but that doesn’t have the same ring to it.

REMINGTON

What’s this for?

DAISY/JAY

Just in case.

REMINGTON

Of what?

DR. MORELLO

Remington, this isn’t some disease or disorder. You see, ah, living things have a soul, right?

REMINGTON

Okay, yeah, I guess?

DR. MORELLO

Well, souls don’t die with the living thing. They go on to inhabit another body.

REMINGTON

Reincarnation?

DR. MORELLO

Yes, some call it that. A transference of energy. A shift of...ah, physical matter around an entity, a...crowding of energies for space, a—

REMINGTON

Wack.

DR. MORELLO

Wack indeed, Remington.

REMINGTON

So my voices are some byproduct of, like, reincarnation?

DAISY

Sorta.

DR. MORELLO

If the soul lives a good, fulfilling, pure life — at least, as the books say — such a thing -- a “pure life” -- is hard to define, it gets reincarnated as human.

REMINGTON

And if it doesn’t?

JAY.

It turns into an animal.

REMINGTON

Damn, that’s rough.

DAISY

(to JAY)

She’s taking this surprisingly well.

DR. MORELLO

People who hear these voices are people whose souls have been reincarnated as human for several lifetimes in a row. The voices are remnants of previous human lives.

REMINGTON

So what you’re saying is voices mean there’s, like, dead people in your head?

DR. MORELLO

That’s putting it a little crassly, but...yes.

REMINGTON

So...there’s dead people in your head?

DR. MORELLO

Yes.

REMINGTON

All of you?

DAISY/JAY

Yeah.

REMINGTON

Me?

JAY

(a little irritated)

Yes!

REMINGTON

So this is some kind of therapy for dead-people-in-your-head...people? Fine. But why do these dead people say random words? Does it all mean anything? Am I just really stupid and not connecting some obvious dots?

JAY

Yes.

(DR. MORELLO stands up. 2. Dead-People-In-Your-Head People.)

DR. MORELLO

NOW, A SOUL MOVES FROM BODY TO BODY,

BUT EACH LIFE LEAVES ITS TRACE.

A SINGLE WORD FOR EACH HUMAN

TOO OFTEN THOUGHT ABOUT TO ERASE

NOW WHEN SOULS HAVE BEEN REINCARNATED

AS HUMAN SEVERAL TIMES IN A ROW

IT GETS TO THE EXTENT WHERE THE SOUL IS SO HUMAN,

ITS HOST HEARS ECHOES OF LONG AGO.

DR. MORELLO/DAISY/JAY

EVERYONE’S GOT DEAD PEOPLE IN THEIR HEADS, PEOPLE!

JAY

ONLY WE’RE THE LUCKY BASTARDS WHO CAN HEAR ‘EM.

DR. MORELLO/DAISY/JAY

THERE’S NO WAY TO MAKE ‘EM GO AWAY!

DAISY

NO MAGIC PILL, POTION, OR SERUM!

JAY

SO USE THEM TO YOUR ADVANTAGE IF YOU’RE NOT A LITTLE BITCH —

DR. MORELLO

Jay!

DR. MORELLO/DAISY/JAY

WE’RE ALL DEAD-PEOPLE-IN-YOUR-HEAD PEOPLE

DAISY

AND THOUGH IT SOUNDS A BIT DARK,

WE’VE JUST INHERITED SOULS FROM PURE AND WHOLESOME

FOLKS WHO’D CLEAN UP LITTER IN THE PARK!

REMINGTON

OH, SO USE THEM TO YOUR ADVANTAGE SINCE THEY’RE ALL LITTLE BITCHES —

DR. MORELLO

No! WHAT JAY MEANT IS WE CAN LEARN FROM THEM.

YOU’LL FIND THEY’RE NO MYSTERY!

IF YOU

DR. MORELLO/DAISY/JAY

CONCENTRATE ON ONE WORD,

DR. MORELLO

YOU CAN UNLOCK A HISTORY.

WE’RE TIES BETWEEN GENERATIONS

WHO OBSERVE AND PRESERVE

THIS SOUL’S UNTAINTED PURITY

SO WE GET THE NEXT LIFE WE DESERVE!

DR. MORELLO/DAISY/JAY

WHEN YOU’RE DEAD-PEOPLE-IN-YOUR-HEAD PEOPLE,

No pressure, but your past lives all were really good...

WE’RE SORTA RARE, SO WE’D SORTA CARE

TO NOT GO EXTINCT...UNDERSTOOD?

DR. MORELLO

SO WE ALL CONSIDER BEING MORE SELFLESS...

JAY

NOTE THE KEY WORD THERE IS “CONSIDER”!

DR. MORELLO/DAISY/JAY

WHEN YOU’RE DEAD-PEOPLE-IN-YOUR-HEAD PEOPLE,

YOU’RE WORKING FOR A HIGHER PURPOSE!

THERE’S SO MUCH MORE TO EXPLORE;

WE’VE BARELY SCRATCHED THE SURFACE!

BUT, BEFORE WE START, HERE’S THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION...

DR. MORELLO

How many voices are in your head?

REMINGTON

Eleven.

DAISY

Holy shit.

JAY

Are you sure you’ve counted right?

REMINGTON

Yeah, I’m fucking sure I’ve counted right after 18 years of counting! What’s so weird about eleven?

JAY

Nothing. You just beat my record of ten.

REMINGTON

SO I GUESS I’M A

DEAD-PERSONS-IN-MY-HEAD PERSON!

I’M GLAD TO BE JOINING THE TEAM.

I’LL TRY TO CALMLY ACCEPT I’M AN ANOMALY

AND NOT FEAR-PUKE OR SCREAM!

I’M READY TO GET STARTED WITH THIS THERAPY!

DR. MORELLO/DAISY/JAY

Yeah!

SHE’S A DEAD-PERSONS-IN-HER-HEAD PERSON

JAY

Having eleven isn’t problematic at all!

DAISY

SHUT UP, YOU CUCK!

PETER

IT’S JUST OUR LUCK

THAT YOUR PARENTS GAVE ME THAT CALL

DR. MORELLO/DAISY/JAY

‘CAUSE NOW, YOU’RE HERE WITH US!

ALL

AND WE’RE ALL

DEAD-PEOPLE-IN-YOUR-HEAD PEOPLE!

EACH HOUSING A VERY NICE SOUL.

THOUGH WE’VE GOT DIFFERENT NUMBERS,

WE’RE ALL PARTS OF A WHOLE!

DR. MORELLO

DEAD-PEOPLE-IN-YOUR-HEAD PEOPLE,

DR. MORELLO/JAY

DEAD-PEOPLE-IN-YOUR-HEAD PEOPLE,

DR. MORELLO/JAY/DAISY

DEAD-PEOPLE-IN-YOUR-HEAD PEOPLE...

REMINGTON

THERE’S DEAD PEOPLE IN MY HEAD!

DR. MORELLO/JAY/DAISY

OH YES, THERE’S DEAD PEOPLE IN HER HEAD!

WHY STRESS? THERE’S DEAD PEOPLE IN HER HEAD!

GOD BLESS! THERE’S DEAD PEOPLE IN HER HEAD!

#transcript #px11 #perfect times eleven #Remington long #Rupert morello #jay mazziotta #daisy noxx #episode 1

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the-doctors-strays-blog · 5 years

Text

Regeneration

with travelxhopefully, from ryanxsinclair - dropped

“Right, so you used to be a bloke. That I get. What I don’t get is why you were glowin’. It was right freaky.“

Oh, she had been glowing? Makes sense, she supposes. It tended to linger for several hours, keeping on changing in the ‘background’ so to speak.

❝ Residual regeneration energy. See, when we’re mortally wounded or jus’ get too old, we regenerate. Create a whole new body and keep on keepin’ on. It releases a massive amount of hormones called lindos, burning every cell in me body and rewritting my DNA, my brain and my personality. S’why I was a bit confused when we first met. My brain was still cookin’, rewrittin’ itself and changin’. ❞

Lots of information. Slow down a bit.

❝ It ain’t the first time I’ve done it either. First time bein’ a woman, though. ❞

Oh my stars! M’travelin’ through the universe with a video game character, Ryan thought. It was like when you ran your character off a cliff, but the game didn’t save right and you ended up at the bottom, with one less life than before. Nice, easy short cut. Or like reincarnation.

As always, the Doctor was speaking like she was on fast forward, but he caught most of it, even the nonsense words like ‘lindos’. After what he’d seen of the Doctor before, he decided to just take her word on it. She died an old Scottish bloke and turned into a pretty blonde. Okay. She was alien, after all, so why not? “Wait, your whole species does it? Doesn’t that get confusin’, everyone changin’ their face? And do you have a choice, or is it a sort of random avatar sort of thing? And the glowin’ light, if it was healin’ you, then why’d it float away like that?”

❝ Yep! At first, yeah, but we’ve got a way of just… knowin’ who’s who. Can’t really explain it. ❞

For a second, she paused, trying to come up with a good way of putting it. Oh! She’s thought of what to liken it to.

❝ S’like when y’get your hair cut. Or change your clothes. Y’look a bit different but it’s still you. It’s a gamble really. Though I ‘ave seen a few choose what they wanna look like. I never really bothered t’ try. ❞

She gave a shrug at that. Why bother? Let it happen and what she got, was what she’d stick with. It didn’t matter to her what she looked like, so long as she kept on being the Doctor and helping those who needed it. That was all that mattered.

❝ Dispersing, I guess. Eventually it just fades. Very handy though. Helped me survive crashin’ through the train roof. Never wanna do that again. Y’think that crane was high? Should’ve seen how far I fell. Still, can’t blame her. I’d toss me out too if I got wrecked. ❞

“Getting a haircut doesn’t normally involve dyin’. That would be a really, really bad haircut.” Ryan leaned against one of the golden, crystalline columns that lined the TARDIS’ console, trying and failing to picture the Doctor as anyone else than she was now. He believed her, entirely, he accepted it, but it was hard to imagine. She was the Doctor. “Sort of a big change, whole new body.”

An entire world where people just grew a new body when they died, lived their lives over again. That had to be incredible - your loved ones never actually being gone, just changing a bit, and knowing that if you messed up being young you could try again eventually.

“Doctor,” he began, with a weighty pause after, for it felt a bit strange asking - maybe she didn’t have a world, maybe her whole race just went bouncing about in space in blue boxes, “maybe before you take us home, could we stop off on your world? Planet of the Face-Changin’ Time Ladies, that has t’be cool.“

❝ True. ❞

Was her only response to the hair cut comment. It sure would be a bad hair cut. Going in to get it done and bam! You’re dead. Awful business. Anyway. Moving on. She simply nodded as Ryan spoke again, silently agreeing. A very big change indeed, over and over again. It never got any less painful but it was better than alternative.

❝ Yeah? ❞

She answered, resting back on the console as she waited. Something in his pause had her a little concerned. Was he going to ask a heavy question? It sure felt like it. Annnnd he did.

Any traces of happiness drained from her face at the question he asked; Gallifrey. He wanted to visit Gallifrey. Of course. She should’ve seen that one coming. Talk highly of your species and they’ll wanna visit your home for tea and biscuits. Her tongue darted out, wetting dry lips and lowered her head, turning her attention to her boots.

❝ ‘fraid not. I mean, it is cool. It used to be cool. But… ❞

She shook her head; she couldn’t, for multiple reasons.

❝ I can’t go back. I won’t go back. Sorry. ❞

Ryan looked at her in concern - he hadn’t imagined that she’d react like that, drawing into herself. He’d always gotten the impression that she didn’t tend to head home very often, but he’d just figured she was like the people who’d left Sheffield after school and now only ever came home for Christmas, and sometimes not even then.

“M’sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I just figured, we go to all these places, and your world…” This ship… Her ability to cheat death and survive a fall through a train… All the beautiful insanity of this life, on the TARDIS… How could her world not be cool? “It was just an idea, s’fine,”he shrugged, trying to play it off as nothing, and not missing the way she looked down at her boot, which wasn’t nothing, “Are you, you know, fine?”

Oh. She didn’t mean to make Ryan feel bad. It just brought up bad memories she’d rather not think about but… maybe she could give the vaguest of explanations so that the other could understand why she didn’t want to return.

Her head lifted, forcing a smile back on her face.

❝ S’okay, you didn’t upset me. I just… ❞

Another pause, struggling to find the right words to say. Funny, that. The Doctor struggling with words when she’s always so bubbly and talkative. But talking about Gallifrey is something she needs careful words with.

❝ It was beautiful. The second sun would rise in the east and it’d make the forest glow like it was on fire. And one of the moons shone so bright you’d see it up there with the sun. At night, the sky would turn a warm orange, and you’d see all the stars the universe had to offer. All the stars we were only allowed to watch. Oh, but the golden fields, and the slopes of red grass I used to run through when I was a kid. ❞

A pained but adoring smile on her lips. It was beautiful, and they were good memories. But it also hurt. She spoke lovingly of it, even if there was sadness in her eyes. She’d love to return, but there was a reason she left in the first place.

❝ I’d love to take you back there but they won’t welcome me back with open arms. Why would they? I stole a TARDIS and ran away. Broke their rules. But who needs ‘em, am I right? I’ve got you guys ‘n’ the whole universe out there to explore. ❞

That wasn’t all but it was all she was willing to say right now. A grin was back on her face, wiping away any sadness she had displayed. Focus on the good things. Her fam. The TARDIS. And their adventures. It was all she needed.

“You stole the TARDIS?“ Ryan blurted, almost more surprised that he wasn’t surprised than he was surprised about that particular revelation. Why did that fit so well? He’d never been quite able to imagine the Doctor picking the TARDIS out of a line of blue boxes like a car lot, and her confusion over the controls had dissuaded a theory that she’d built the ship herself. But stole it? It suited, somehow, her way of approaching life, breaking the rules and putting them back together for the better. “So what,“ he joked, “you afraid you’ll go back and get her repoed? Sounds really amazin’ though, your world. You know, sometimes I think Graham still half-believes you’re joshin’ on the whole alien thing.“

He strolled around the console. Flying around the universe in a stolen time machine with a blonde alien who sounded like she was from Yorkshire. He’d never get used to this, he never wanted to get used to this. “What d’you mean though, only allowed to watch? Why’d they go and build a bunch of time machines if they weren’t goin’ to use them? S’like those people who buy action figures only to stick the boxes on a shelf.” He’d once made his mate Mike livid when he was about ten and he’d pulled one of his ‘collector items’ off a shelf to play with it. Mike had only ever come round his place after that - Ryan was half sure Mike, or Mike’s dad, had secretly banned him from their house.

There was a simple ‘yep’ and a nod in reply to his question, a smile on her face that showed that she didn’t regret it for a second. The TARDIS was her ship, her home, and she wouldn’t trade it for anything. It gave her a chance to explore everything she had dreamt of visiting, to take part in traditions and meet new species. Who wouldn’t love a ship that can give you everything you’ve ever wanted?

❝ After everythin’ we’ve seen, it’s hard to deny that I am. ❞

She shrugged a shoulder. It’ll sink in eventually. Sometimes it takes a while, and sometimes they get into it immediately. She’s pretty sure that Graham is on board with it all, even if he still questions her choices of running into danger sometimes. Less so now, thankfully.

❝ ‘Cos of the damage the Time Lords did. They changed events, took part in wars, messed with things they shouldn’t have ‘n’ it caused the Eternal War. Minyans almost went extinct after we gave ‘em technology that couldn’t use responsibly and the Time Lord’s meddlin’ on Klist accidentally reversed evolution for the inhabitants there. Drove ‘em all mad. After that… Rassilon issued the non-interference policy. Only allowed to observe ‘n’ not get involved. ❞

A rule which the Doctor breaks frequently despite saying they weren’t going to interfere. Sometimes she just can’t sit back and do nothing when there is injustice happening to the people in front of her. Especially when it takes lives. The only times when she can’t do that is when it’s an event that is a fixed point in time. An event that she can’t interfere in no matter how much she wants to.

❝ You can guess how much they must’ve loved me, eh? They forced me t’regenerate and exiled me to Earth when I broke the policy. So, y’know. Try t’avoid ‘em. ❞

Non-interference. That was so not the Doctor, no matter how much she might insist that they not interfere on different planets or different times they nearly always ended up fixing something, changing someone’s life, saving someone. He could see why she didn’t get on with her people and beyond that… they’d executed her. And for what? Saving people. Although it wasn’t the same as it was on Earth, being executed when she could just take on a new body, all of his desire to see her world flickered to nothing in a moment.

“That’s horrible,“ he said. “That wasn’t when you fell through the train though, yeah? ‘Cos you said the TARDIS was explodin’. How long ago was that then, the whole exile thing?“ She’d gone through a few regenerations, he knew; there was the grey haired Scotsman, and a few she’d mentioned before that one in her various stories.

“I mean it could be worse though, Earth. All the worlds in the universe and you seem t’come here a lot.“ Other than mistaking a hotel tycoon for Ed Sheeran, she almost got more pop culture references that he did. And they ended up on Earth nearly every other trip - although maybe that was for their sake. He almost wondered if she’d spent more time on Earth than on her own world - maybe Graham was right, maybe she wasn’t as alien as she liked to claim.

#travelxhopefully #travelxhopefully: Regeneration #Ryan Sinclair: Thread

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llogllady99 · 3 years

Text

We’ll meet again

CHARACTERS | Levi, Erwin, Gabi, Falco

RELATIONSHIPS | Levi x Erwin

GENRE | Angst, Characters death

IV | Characters death, talks of reincarnation, mourning, angst, heavy angst i think, Erwin’s grave

SUMMARY | It was the 14th of October and Levi had just come to visit his late lover’s grave: Commander Erwin Smith, dragging Falco and Gabi with him.

WORD COUNT | 2k

Droplets sharp like knives rained down relentlessly against the jagged and worn out headstones in Paradis’ graveyard, further eating away at the already damaged and weathered rock. Puddles have formed in the depressions of the little allies that snaked in between the graves, gravel and dirt mixing with the glacial downpour of mid October. Trees, specifically three or four oak trees and five pine trees that were placed in acute measured intervals, were dripping with water, their leaves ruffled violently by the gale that accompanied the rain. The clouds and sky were a dark grey, occasionally splitting when lightning broke through, immediately followed by the roar of thunder, silencing and drowning out every sound present in that moment in the valley and everything in its vicinity. When such events did not occur, the high pitched squeaking of a wheelchair and its occasional bumping into small, misplaced bits of gravel could be heard, accompanied by short and light footsteps following it closely could be heard.

In the terrible weather, that had decreased the visibility exponentially, three figures could be distinguished making their way through the alleys of the graveyard: the owner of the wheelchair, a man in his forties with onyx black haired and with an enormous scar deforming his once perfect face, and two children: a girl with chestnut brown hair the same colour as her eyes and a boy with blonde hair and hazel golden eyes. Their destination was still unknown as the boy had trouble following the instruction the man in the wheelchair voiced, his tone growing more aggressive by the minute, his excitement and eagerness starting to show. But as time progressed, their destination seemed to be at the far back of the cemetery, where a massive white marble head stone laid, seemingly unaffected by the furious torrent around it. It was the 14th of October and Levi had just come to visit his late lover’s grave: Commander Erwin Smith, dragging Falco and Gabi with him.

Seven years had passed since Erwin’s death but it still felt like it was yesterday. The pain, regret, and love were still as intense as they were when the man took his last breath, abruptly raising his hand up asking that damned question again before inhaling and exhaling shallowly. It was a cruel world they had lived in back then and certainly letting Erwin rest had been the best decision and one of the greatest gestures of love Levi had done for him. They all suffered so much, him most out of them all. There was no point in bringing him back and let those regrets and guilt pile up even more. Sometimes, selfishly Levi would allow his mind wonder and wish his lover would be there again with him, if only for a little bit, enough to witness the world they were in now. A world with no more wars and hardships. He would also imagine their life together: buying an apartment together in the centre of Mitras, raising a few pets together, getting married for real, adopting, and taking him to the ocean, a wonder which Erwin never had the chance to experience. Levi would have shown him all the weirdly shaped shells that Armin was so passionate about, the colourful fishes that swam where the water was deeper, and the way the sun rose from the water, painting it in vibrant yellows, oranges, and reds.

Levi had also told Gabi and Falco about Erwin, telling them about the greatness of his Commander, their relationship, and about his last moments. The children had been surprisingly understanding, Gabi’s prejudice’s long forgotten, and had offered him great comfort telling him they wanted to know more and actually meet the man, well what remained of him. Levi reckoned that there would only be his bones, if they had not turned to ashes those seven years, and maybe a phew strands of his infuriatingly beautiful golden hair, a feature of his which the raven adored. Therefore, here he was, looking down at the white marble headstones, emotions and memories flooding back in again. He briefly showed the children the headstone and then asked for a little privacy. With sympathy, they obliged and walked off in a random direction through the cemetery, each equipped with a black umbrella, shielding them from the torrential rain.

Now alone, Levi readjusted his umbrella so it sat upright without his support, then reached for the bag that rested against one of the armrests. It was a brown leathered sling bag which he took from Erwin a while ago. He had found the bag while gathering his things from his office when they came back from the expedition. Back then it had brought back memories of secret picnics in flowery meadows on their days off. Erwin always had to drag him by force because Levi didn’t know how to let go, comfortable in his routine. Looking back now they should have done that more often. He missed the whispered I love yous, make outs with flowers in their hair and dirt on their clothes, half-assed sandwiches stollen from the barrack’s kitchen. Now, besides Erwin’s cloak that was neatly folded and handled with the utmost care in his apartment back in Marley, the bag was a reminder that Erwin had indeed lived among them, that he was not some figment of his imagination. Inside it he had stored a mini wooden and golden gramophone. It had been a gift from Onyankopon, because the man had noticed his enjoyment and fascination with music. After carefully placing it in his lap, next he took out a small record that he gently placed on the gramophone. Looking back at the headstone he tried to imagine that Erwin was there, in his Survey Corps uniform with a warm smile on his face staring back at him. Levi lifted his chin, looking into his lover’s eyes, but to an outsider into pure nothingness. Now in a wheelchair, he was even shorter than him, albeit at his one meter and some hope, he didn’t have much to compare to Erwin in the first place. But now it seemed as if their faces were miles away.

“Listen carefully now big guy, I’m about to play you my new favourite song.” Levi smiled then proceeded to gently place the tonearm over the disc record. The disc started rotating, then the sound of trumpets sounded through the horn and into their surroundings. After a short intro, it sang:

We'll Meet Again

Don't know where, don't know when

But I know We'll Meet Again

Some sunny day

Keep smiling through

Just like you always do

'Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away

So will you please say hello

To the folks that I know

Tell them I won't be long

They'll be happy to know

That as you saw me go

I was singing this song

We'll Meet Again

Don't know where, don't know when

But I know we'll meet again

Some sunny day

We'll Meet Again

Don't know where, don't know when

But I know we'll meet again

Some sunny day

Keep smiling through

Just like you always do

'Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away

So will you please say hello

To the folks that I know

Tell them I won't be long

They'll be happy to know

That as you saw me go

I was singing this song

We'll Meet Again

Don't know where, don't know when

But I know We'll Meet Again

Some sunny day

As the song came to a stop, the disc record spinning slower and slower, a stray tear found its way on Levi’s cheek, streaming down fast at first but as it reached his jawline, it faltered for a little then fell on his shoulder, colouring almost imperceptibly the grey suit a darker grey. The gramophone, now ceasing to emit any kind of sound, was tucked right back to its fateful place in Levi’s bag. Rearranging it so that it rested again comfortably against the armrest, the raven turned his attention to the imaginary Erwin that stood motionless on his own headstone, staring back with the same vibrant cerulean eyes and soft smile. Usually, Levi would have felt unnerved by his stare, always reprimanding him with a “What you looking at, creep?”, but now he missed it dearly, the longing clawing at his chest and making it hard for him to go through with what he had to say next. So, ignoring the lump forming in his chest and the tears that threatened to fall, Levi opened his mouth and began to talk:

“Do you know why I like this song, Erwin? Because it reminds me of all of you. You, Hange, Mike, Petra, my squad, the brats.” Stopping to regain his composure, he inhaled and counted to three as Gabi had once told him, then continued his speech. “Do you wanna know what I did in the three years I wasn’t allowed to come to Paradis? I travelled. Like a lot. All over the world. I finally got to live for real. Getting to see all those place, the people, and cultures had been fascinating. However, one thing had struck me deeply: Buddhism. Such a strange name for a religion. And guess what, it has nothing to do with the walls or bad or wrong. It just is. One central belief of this religion is reincarnation. The concept had comforted me greatly. Life after death. Death is a natural part of the never ending cycle of life. Death leads to rebirth. It also claims that a person’s spirit remains close by and seeks out a new body and a new life.” Levi gulped then wiped away a few tears that had fallen. “But I don’t want you to find a new body. I don’t want any of you to find a body yet, I want all of you to wait for me. Wait for me, Erwin! Wait so we can start fresh together. Tell the others to wait for me too. Wait for me!” Levi had started to shout, desperation making its presence known.

He wanted to meet Erwin again, to fall in love with him all over again, to hold him, to be together again. If Erwin had reincarnated again, there was no way for Levi to meet him now, to fulfil all of his heart’s desire, and when he died, there would be no after life with Erwin. The only way was for them to wait for him so they can start fresh again.

“But who am I kidding? I only believe in this shit because it’s the only way to cope.” Levi brought a hand to his temples and massaged them, as another headache began to throb through his head. It had started to darken outside, they needed to get going, otherwise they would miss the ferry back to Marley. Hesitantly he called for Gabi and Falco to come get him. While he waited for them he told his lover one last thing:

“I have followed every order of yours, completing it. I chased Zeke for four years, all because I promised you. So, I also want you to promise me one last thing. Promise me we’ll meet again.”

The figure of Erwin standing on the grave vanished, leaving Levi alone. The raven rubbed away one last tear and greeted Falco and Gabi that were patiently waiting next to him. The three of them made their way out of the cemetery, Levi not sparing a look back. If he knew Erwin as well as he thought he did, he was confident they we’ll see each other again

They will meet again, one sunny day.

Notes :

The song for this fic is Vera Lynn - We'll meet again. I also posted it on Tumblr. Thank you for taking the time to read it! As always, I do not own Attack on titan or any of the characters that are in it. This is just a fanfiction inspired from the show! Thanks again and notes and comments are always welcomed. The gif was originally posted by @vialesana and Tumblr showed it to me.

#aot fanfiction #aot fanart #levi ackerman #levi aot #erwin smith #erwin x levi #gabi braun #falco grice #mourning #angst #love #reincarnation #attack on titan fanfiction #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #fanfiction #snk fanfiction #books & libraries

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adambstingus · 6 years

Text

Every Halloween, I Have A Story I Like To Tell

I liked Ben, I really did. I mean, he was a nice guy. We had some fun times together in college, messing around the dorm, going to parties, all the dumb shit that college guys do. He was cool and all, but he was a little pretentious. Well, I guess the word he used was artistic. He thought he was real smart, spent a lot of time trying to prove it to everyone. He had his own blog developed to film critiques not the big ones, though. Just little indie productions because nothing else was worth his time. When he got like that, he could be pretty insufferable.

Perhaps the most annoying thing that he did was performance art.

Now, I dont wanna be the guy who says that all performance art is dumb. But yeah, no, all performance art is dumb. Oh, look, youre on display painting a picture of Jesus from your own urine, how original and edgy! Maybe Im a little jaded, but it always seemed so contrived to me. Unfortunately, Ben really loved it. He thought there was something beautiful in art that was physically living and he devoted an embarrassing amount of time to it.

Anyway, I hung out with Ben a few times after college, but we mostly just met up to do some heavy drinking and maybe hit a strip club or two. He considered THAT performance art as well, which was just fine with me, it gave me an excuse to waste some ones. Since we didnt hang out very often, I had a bad feeling when he contacted me about a month before last Halloween.

He called me up at about seven in the morning on a Saturday, which is too early to even consider waking up, in my opinion. I answered in a daze and he started running his mouth like crazy, as though afraid that, if he didnt get it all out at once, he never would.

Mike, hey, Mikey, listen, buddy, I need your help, okay? Okay, okay, Ive got this idea for a performance and, well, its going to be , you know? So good! Its going down on Halloween. Can you come help? Look, Ill even pay you, man. Fifty dollars. So how bout it?

Now, Ive never cared much about Halloween one way or the other, and Im a pretty easy guy. Fifty dollars to probably just sit there and run a fog machine or some bullshit? For the right price, I could even pretend that I wanted to be there. Besides, what else are friends for?

A few days later, he gave me the details. To be honest, I was a little shocked when he sent the email. I know that performance art is intended to be edgy and can sometimes get a little dangerous, but this seemed downright negligent.

Mike:

Thanks for agreeing to do this for me! Ive talked to a few other people, but they werent really comfortable with it, for reasons youll probably be able to figure out. Of course, I understand if you want to back out, but I think you are probably the most reliable person I know. Its really not that big of a deal, Im sure youll agree.

As Im sure youve noticed, vampires have become very prominent in the media as of late. I say vampires because they are beginning to deviate so wildly from the traditional myths that they resemble forest fairies more than anything else. Altruistic? Sparkly? Whiny? Give me a break. We need more Dracula! We need more Carmilla! We need more death, destruction, and blood!

My performance will center on the theme of rebirthing the vampire. For the vampire to be reborn, he must first be buried. To turn peoples attentions back to the myths of old, I will be doing just that: I will be burying the vampire.

I have a group of viewers signed up already to participate in the performance, so you dont need to worry about that. Im going to plant a series of vampire-themed clues around town for them to follow. The clues should be pretty simple, and it will probably take no more than an hour to an hour-and-a-half for them to find me.

Here comes the somewhat controversial part. Essentially, for this performance to have any semblance of meaning, I need to be buried alive. Dont worry, its perfectly safe: I have a buddy from back home who is building me a coffin with a hole in the top. Ill be fixing it with a pipe that will stick an inch or two above the ground. That way, I wont run out of air. Ill also have a few necessities in the coffin in case something happens: food, water, and a flashlight.

Once they arrive at my grave which will be completely vampirized they will be provided with an array of shovels and will bring me back to life, a reincarnation of the true mythological history of vampires.

Here is where you come in. I need you to bury me. In addition, I need you to be my safety net: if they cant find me, if something goes wrong, if I become sick, I need you to be the one to get me out or call the police, if necessary. Ill also need you to decorate my grave, make it really creepy dont worry, Ill send you some blueprints.

I know this is a little stressful and it may take some time for you to decide, but, rest assured, this is a completely safe project. Theres no danger of suffocation and the coffin is sturdy, so its very unlikely that it will collapse. I really just need you there for support and the actual hard work of burying me.

What do you say? Id even be willing to up your pay to a hundred dollars, if thats what you need.

Let me know!

RIP,

Ben

I stared at my screen for a few minutes, completely dumbfounded.

Once I cut through all the bullshit about art and vampires and rebirth, what it came down to was death.

This guy actually wanted me to almost kill him.

I mean, sure, it probably WAS safe. But my mind went over the plan slowly. What if I couldnt get him out in time? One shovel and a pit of dirt wouldnt be a fast job. Furthermore, what if something happened to me?

Before making a decision, I sent him another email asking if he was really sure he was up for this. Of course he knew, he said. And then he said something that would always stick with me.

Art must be a little dangerous, my friend, for it to be real.

A month later, I found myself standing at the foot of a grave. It was six feet deep and perfectly rectangular. Sitting at the bottom was a tapered coffin covered with black lacquer, a white skull painted on the top. In the eye of the skull was a hole just big enough for the PVC pipe. Stenciled underneath was a line from Dracula: Denn die Todten reiten schnell.

I stood there like an idiot, waiting for Ben to show up.

In the end, Id decided to go along with his stupid gig. Ben was a stubborn bastard, and if I didnt help him, someone else would. At least, thats the justification I gave myself. But the real reason was that, deep inside my heart, his words were still echoing.

Id ended up doing a little more work than I had intended. For one, I had to place his stupid clues around the city. It wasnt hard work, but it took some time to get them all in the proper places. Luckily for Ben, they were pretty obvious clues. There was no need to worry that his participants would be unable to find him.

Ben had set up the grave and the coffin a few days prior to Halloween. It was out in the woods just on the outskirts of town, no chance of it being disturbed. Id tried to talk him out of burying it the whole six feet down.

If something happens and I need to get you out fast, what will I do? Cant you put it closer to the surface?

Ben had just shaken his head in exasperation. You just dont get it, do you? It has to be done right. Remember what I told you.

So I shrugged and let him mess around with whatever dumbassery would get him off.

I was just beginning to wonder if I should have brought more beer this promised to be a long night when Ben showed up.

I had to restrain my laughter when I saw his getup. A cheap Dracula costume from Wal-mart had never looked so pathetic, especially when topped off with those cheap plastic fangs. Hed greased his hair back and painted on a widows peak.

I couldnt resist. Wow, seriously, dude?

He gave me a stern look. Its a comment on the commercialization of vampires and horror as we know it today. He fished around in his pocket and pulled out a walkie talkie. Here, take one. The range isnt very far, but my cell phone wont work that far underground. Youll have to stay nearby. Let me know if youre going out of range.

I shrugged and took it. Okay, but you brought your cell just in case, right?

Nah, what good will it do if it doesnt work?

This guys batshit insane, I thought. But he handed me the hundred dollars and, suddenly, it didnt seem to matter anymore.

I helped him into the coffin and shut the lid. He seemed pretty calm if it were me, I knew Id be having a panic attack. I fit the PVC pipe into the hole. It slid in perfectly snug. I climbed out of the coffin and grabbed my shovel, taking one last look at the shiny black peeking out from the dirt.

With a resigned shrug, I started to shovel in the dirt. Okay, well, he asked for this, I thought.

It took almost a full hour to get all the dirt piled in. The PVC pipe was just barely visible over the grave. I piled the earth around it to hide it as well as I could. Then, I set up the rest of the grave: a hideously gothic headstone made of Styrofoam, and cheap Wal-mart flowers. Once it was finally finished, I sat back against a tree and waited.

There was an awful lot of waiting to be done.

Three hours later, his participants still hadnt come.

Hed buzzed in on the walkie talkie a few times, asking if theyd shown up. I continually answered in the negative, wondering how long hed be willing to keep up this charade. He must be getting worried, I thought, staring at my watch. It was already 10 pm and not a soul to be seen.

Hey, Mike? Something must have happened, I dont think theyre coming. Can you get me out of here? Bens voice crackled and faded in and out of the static fuzz. I took another swig of my beer and heaved a sigh.

Of course they werent coming. They were frantically searching for the last clue. My hand crept into my pocket as I felt it folded there, the creases poking at the soft flesh of my palm.

Mike? Are you there? Did you go out of range?

I turned the walkie talkie off. I didnt need it anymore, anyway. Carefully, I picked up a handful of disturbed earth from the top of the makeshift grave. I poured it down the pipe and listened.

I heard the muffled exclamation, the series of expletives. I thought I could hear a thumping sound he must be hitting the top of the coffin. I smiled a little to myself as I poured some more dirt in through the pipe.

Bens struggles got louder and I felt a certain heat rising up in me. Oh, I knew it could be good, but I didnt know it could be good. This was incredible. This was perfect. This was .

Eventually, I grew bored of shoving the earth down into the coffin. I could hear Bens screaming and sobbing reverberating up the pipe. I yanked a handkerchief out of my back pocket and stuffed it inside. I made sure to plug it up good and tight.

It would only be a matter of time, now. Assuming he could regulate his breathing, he could possibly have a few hours. But I knew he was panicking. And that would simply serve to shorten his time.

The pounding grew weaker as I finished my beer. Once I was certain there was no saving him, I went to finish my work.

Ben was right everything really did go off without a hitch. I dont know what I was so worried about.

Id gone to find his lost sheep, the wayward participants who were scrambling in frustration for the last clue. I scolded them for making us wait so long, acted the part of the reluctant friend indulging his lunatic companion. I took them out to the grave. It was now past midnight.

They sat hushed as I gave the stupid speech that Ben had prepared for me. Everything seemed normal Id made sure to stow the rag before anyone could see it.

Friends, foes, and everyone in between. Tonight we gather to resurrect the ancient horror that has plagued mankind for centuries. Its tale, once a gruesome epic of blood and seduction, has become nothing more than commercialized fodder as society has aged. Now, the time has come for the phoenix to burn and rise again. So, too, shall the blood-soaked visage of the vampire! My voice resonated throughout the woods, and the morons in attendance clapped as they all reached for their shovels.

We dug him up in about half an hour. It was much faster work with his host of suckers. It was good that we reached the coffin quickly, because I could barely contain my excitement.

Two of the men opened the coffin and screamed. The women leaned in over the grave to peek as well, full of expectancy. There was something dreadful about the scene, to be sure.

Bens face had gone gray, sprayed over with a few specs of dirt. His hands were bloody, his fingernails pried off. Deep scratches decorated the top of the lid. The men who had opened his tomb dragged him out in a panic, unsure if this was part of the performance or not. A few moments of silent listening at his chest produced no heartbeat. The proclamation was definitive: he was dead.

They screamed. They called the police. They alternatively looked at his body and shielded themselves from its horror, enraptured yet struggling.

They ignored me.

But that was fine. It was fine because they were admiring my work, the work of the artist. Finally, I had been given this opportunity to prove my worth. Finally, I had found my sacrificial lamb. And it had been a rousing success. The heat raging in my body affirmed that much. I didnt even care if I was caught, so long as I could have this moment to hold for the rest of my life.

Ben was right. I should have known a man of principle never lies. And I owe him a debt of gratitude, for realizing the artist within me.

Art must be a little dangerous for it to be real.

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/every-halloween-i-have-a-story-i-like-to-tell/ from All of Beer https://allofbeercom.tumblr.com/post/172357360662

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