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stubbornnesskeepsmesane · 2 years

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Speak Ill Of the Dead Chapter 1

This is a fic loosely based on a larp loosely based on the M*A*S*H tv show. Which is loosely based on a film loosely based on a book loosely based on a war, but not the one that it’s about. Basically what I’m saying is don’t expect historical accuracy here.

=-=-=

Through early morning fog I saw raindrops large as tears crashing down onto blackened earth, as though they were trying to batter Korea into submission. Hell, the United States army had been trying a long time with no success, might as well let the rain have a go. Better raindrops than blood, and there's been a whole lot of both these last two years. I turned away from the window and back to the desk I was about to lose.

The name's Mouse, though my dog tags call me Captain M. Richards. Three guesses what the M stands for? Yeah, right first time. Bunch of jokers in the army and I am not a vindictive person but if I ever get my hands on that Walt Disney, it won't be pretty.

I'm a shrink for my sins. Also known as the doctor who worked all the way through med school, then retained to get some extra qualifications, just to get dismissed as a drop out who couldn't hack real medicine. Most people don't even believe I've got a medical degree at all.

I would ask what I’d done wrong to get stuck in a MASH unit, but I knew exactly what. Do your job too well and you too will get a visit from some MPs with an exciting new opportunity to fall down some stairs. I woke up with a three day headache and a brand new commission to the MASH rotation. It’s not fair, but then if you’re looking for fairness the army is not the place to find it.

So here I was, "accepting" a transfer to the Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals rotation. First stop, the 7040. They needed someone to tell them whether or not it was crazy to want out of this mess. Apparently they needed a qualified professional to tell them that.

There was a file, but I didn’t have the heart to read it. I knew what it said

There would be surgeons, all of them crazy. In the army surgical corps, you’re either a high-functioning alcoholic or you ain’t functioning.

There would be nurses, and if I was really lucky they’d have already given up on caring. Idealistic young kids who get into nursing to help people and save lives, then find themselves 5 miles behind the line looking at broken young bodies with old, old eyes. If I'm lucky, they won't try and take me down that spiral of despair with them. Pity luck ain’t my specialty.

There would be Corpsmen, stretched to the limit but grateful to be somewhere that wasn’t meant to be under direct fire. It usually was, but the fact it wasn’t meant to be maybe counted for something.

Then there was the rest. There was usually a preacher of some flavor, Padre or Rabbi or some such. I didn’t get on with preachers. Promises of heaven don’t mean much when you’re living through hell every day. There might be locals or interpreters or any of the various hangers on you find around army units. Some people looking for hope, and others looking to prey on the first lot.

Yeah, I didn’t have to look through the file to know what I was getting. I turned away from the window and took a long pull on my cigarette. Right now I wasn't focusing on what I was getting, but on what I was losing.

It wasn't a good office, but it was mine. The frosted window was as cracked as the leather on the couch and didn't so much keep the wind out as funnel it into a freeze ray like a dime store superhero. The Military Hand-Book And Soldier's Manual of Information, that uplifting volume of heroic wisdom, was doing military service holding up the corner of my desk, and Freud's Interpretation Of Dreams was my favorite coaster. The drawers rattled, the door stuck, and the whole place smelt of gin.

That last might be my fault.

Still, bright side to everything, it wasn't gonna be my problem for too long. As of 0800 tomorrow I was M*A*S*H 7040's problem. Good luck to them.

-=-=-

We had been flying for several hours when Cody, the taciturn helicopter pilot and my current best friend - at least until we landed - shouted something at me and I strained to catch it over the tremendous racket of the helicopter. The air was screaming in pain as the blades sliced the clouds to ribbons.

"What?" I yelled back, giving up completely on the pretense of having been paying attention. Cody glared briefly in my general direction, but was concentrating more on keeping the bird in the air.

"I said, brace for landing!"

The chopper lurched once and then dropped towards the dusty ground. I assured myself this was meant to happen and moved on to more immediate things, like not losing my lunch all over Cody. He seemed like a stand up guy with a fine right hook and didn't need that kind of distraction while he was busy trying to stop the ground from doing what it does best.

Somehow, the chopper came down with a few jolts that did no more than rattle a few bones. Resisting the urge to count my fillings, I thanked Cody for an excellent and pleasant flight - it doesn't do to be too blunt to someone when they're your only getaway driver - and he tipped his hat in silent acknowledgement as I promised to buy him a drink later. Something told me I might need all the friends I could get here.

For lack of any better welcome, I picked my way through the dust and stones down the slight incline towards the haphazard collection of tents that comprised my life for the foreseeable future. Or until I was forgiven, or the war ended. Or hell froze over, which seemed the best bet from the three options.

That aside, it felt rather strange that no one had come to meet me. Even if only to tell me to beat it. As I got closer though I realised why: the helicopter wasn't the only thing screaming in this camp. I must have come hot on the heels of a full crop of wounded so the fact that no one was left free to notice my arrival was either a glowing testimonial to their dedication or a sign of how desperately short staffed they were. I wasn't betting a nickel on option one.

My bet was confirmed when a one eyed corpsman ran past me, not even casting her one eye on me but instead straight over charging over to Cody.

"How many wounded? We've not got room!"

As Cody offered reassurance that he'd only brought one person and I was pretty healthy, I looked at the dame shouting at him. Somehow managing to be lanky yet short, she looked like she could do with a week in bed but I wasn't going to be the one to tell her. She looked like she could swing a punch too, and it would hurt through sheer force of will. I caught her on the shoulder as she hared off back again.

"Shouldn't you be in a ward somewhere? Sergeant." I added, spotting the insignia. Her eye was clearly a recent loss. The bandage was clean but fresh and the skin around it was as angry as the other eye looking out at me.

"There's no room, didn’t you hear me? We've not got anything we need right now."

"Sergeant Richards, call me Mouse. I've got medical training, where do you need me?"

She pointed out a large tent which, now I looked I could see was the epicentre of the activity. I nodded grimly and set my direction. No telling where the camp commander was, but there was a nurse who was clearly the one running the show just now anyway. I approached her as she was stepping back from one whimpering patient and was briefly pausing before moving onto another.

"Major Richards, call me Mouse. I'm a doctor, where do you need me?"

She paused, I'd clearly caught her interest with such an unexpected offer. She tucked a lock of black hair behind her ear as it escaped from her hat.

"They sent us a doc? We've only been asking for a year and a half"

"Not quite, major. I'm a shrink but I got my MD first."

"Figures" she groaned. I decided not to take it personally. "Major Carly Browning, head nurse. I'm not letting you into the O.R. when you don't know your way around, but you can still be helpful. Here."

I followed along behind as she set a sharp pace towards the post op ward

"Just out of surgery but she's running a fever and I'm not pulling any of the surgeons out to find out why. Third degree burns, right side denucleation"

Another one? That would make a total of four people I'd met here and four peepers between them. Maybe that was why they'd called me in, one of the docs had turned collector. Wouldn't be the first time I'd seen that. Wouldn't be the second, either. I grimaced.

"What's his prognosis?"

"She'll live. Probably won't thank us for that."

Major Browning pointed out a woman in standard army drabs, her eyes coated in bandages and blood, dressings all down one arm and second degree burns along the other. Probably could have done with bandaging too, but I was glad they'd left her one hand to interact with the world. I could trace exactly what happened along the lines of the scarring. A fire had caught her from above and right, probably a roof or covering, and she'd thrown up her hands to protect herself. She was sitting in one of the ubiquitous wooden chairs that subbed for bunks around here, and I didn't have to see her face to see how scared she was.

"Thanks Major. I'll take it from here."

She shot me a grateful look and dashed off to the next emergency. I picked up a chair and put it down silently in front of my new patient.

"Hello private. I'm Doctor Richards but you can call me Mouse, everyone else does." I spoke gently but clearly. She jumped and looked around, or at least tried to. So she still had her hearing. "I'm just going to put my hand on your left shoulder so you know where I am, and then I'm going to sit back in front of you." As I spoke I did as I described, and even that gentle human touch made her snap her arm up to grab mine. Carefully reaching around the worst of the damage I softly moved our hands together to rest on my knee, but I didn't let go.

"What's your name, private?"

"Thorpe, sir. Gail" She whispered, intubation and anaesthetic having finished the work the fire started on her throat. With my free hand I flagged down a passing nurse and angrily demanded a drink for her. When I saw how few staff there were though, I was mollified a little. It may have been a necessity rather than an oversight. Still needed fixed though.

"OK Gail, I'm getting you a glass of water, that'll help with your throat. Feels a bit rough, yeah? Yeah, don't worry, it's meant to. The knock out gas does that to everyone. Nothing to worry about. Where do you come from, private?"

She hesitated before croaking out "Baltimore"

"Baltimore, eh? Colts fan then, you have my sympathies. Look Thorpe, I'm not leaving you but I need to reach over here to get your chart so I'm getting to let go your hand for now but I'm still here"

"Tell me honest doc, how is it? Its bad, isn't it?"

My heart sunk to my army issue size 9s. I guess it was too much to have hoped that someone else had told her. The worst part of any medical job.

"Just give me a minute here, I wasn't the doc who did your surgery so I need to check. I'm gonna need you to drink the water that's coming and then I'll take your temperature and get your answer on that for you."

She managed a faint smile, though it clearly hurt.

"I think I've had all the temperature I can take for one day."

That's the spirit, kiddo, I thought to myself. It was hard to estimate her age, with no face and no skin to go by, but there was no way she was north of twenty five. That's no age for life as you know it to end.

As she drank the prescribed glass of water I flicked through her file and revised downwards my estimation of her age. I could see what Browning meant about her not thanking us for saving her, she had a long slow road to recovery to go and it was going to be painful. Her temperature was elevated but not unreasonable under the circumstances, but I ordered a course of penicillin just in case. Burns get infected extremely easily and this was about as far from the best of circumstances as it was possible to get.

I kept her talking, making sure she was lucid and trying to stave off the emotional shock a bit. She was a shop clerk in civvy life, drafted into hell a year ago. Helped run a girl scout troop. Her files showed she'd had terrifyingly little by way of pain relief other than the general anaesthetic, she was criminally low on painkiller. Kid should be so full of morphine by now that she could fly off to Seoul without waiting for the helicopter, instead she was wincing at even the slightest movement. I resolved to speak to someone about that when I could - some nurses are so scared the patients will get addicted that they leave them in agony instead. Also, it certainly didn't make this bit any easier.

"OK private, I've read through everything and I've examined you too. Are you ready to hear how you're doing from me, or would you rather wait till they get you to the experts in Seoul?"

She swallowed. It looked painful.

"Just tell me doc. I'm ready to hear it."

They always say that. They never are.

"Kid, there is someone up there who likes you a whole lot. Most people would be dead after what you went through, but you're alive and you're going to stay that way. That said, it's not going to be an easy few years' recovery..." She visibly flinched at the word years, but held her nerve. "... but I can promise you we'll get you back leading your girl scout troop with a purple heart to go with your badges. As soon as your buddies are out of surgery you'll all be on your way to the proper hospital in Seoul where you'll start full recuperation ready to fly home to Baltimore."

There's no good way to deliver this kind of news. I've tried many methods and it turns out there's no good way to tell bad news. There's only bad ways and worse ways.

"The surgeons here are extremely skilled and they did all it was possible to do" I lied. At least, I assumed I did. Odds are they were either hungover or amputation-happy or just plain incompetent, but a comforting lie is always better. "They were able to save the use of your hands and one eye but I'm afraid your right side sustained..."

I wasn't able to finish that thought before she burst into silent and clearly painful tears. Believe it or not that's one of the better reactions - it meant she believed me, which meant she could stay dealing with it. I reassured her that she'd still live well with one eye and the burns wouldn't hurt forever and she could wear her hair over it and look like Veronica Lake. Slowly the sobs subsided and by the time Cody was ready to take off she was able to go with dignity to her new life.

I stood up, my thighs burning from having been squatting so long, and belatedly hoped that someone had thought to offload my kit bag before Cody flew it out of my life.

The camp was strikingly quiet after the chopper took off. Like after the tornado, as the survivors pick through the wreckage trying to find a lifeline back to normality. Beds were stripped and cleaned, and surgeons wandered around in blood stained gloves until someone stripped them back too. Conversations were muted as everyone fell to their role whether that was counting the pills or moving the bodies. The padre was working overtime, two had been brought in dead and one had joined them before the sawbones had finished his ministrations. He floated through the crowd in ridiculously ornate vestments which I was later to learn was his way of showing respect. A shamrock in a sea of khaki and blood.

It has long been my opinion that if you allow yourself to fade into the background you'll spend your life there, so I set about finding the name on my transfer papers. Nobody with a sufficiently high number of stripes presented himself so I went to the OR to find instead someone to ask for directions. Looking around the tent, I ticked through first impressions to find the best doc to ask.

Alky.

Greenhorn.

I ..... I'm gonna say probably The Reason They Sent For Me.

Burnout.

Greenhorn seemed the best bet for a sensible answer.

"Hey, the name’s Richards. I’m looking for Colonel Bailey?”

She looked up, surprising me. You don’t see that many dames in the OR, and her short hair and slim build had misled me.

“Funny, you don’t look like an MP.”

“Next best thing, sweetheart. I’m a head shrinker.”

She smiled slightly “Bit late then. He went AWOL two weeks ago.”

“What?” Takes a lot to surprise me, but that’ll do it. Every time. “I thought he was the commanding officer here.”

“He was, until he went AWOL two weeks ago. I shit you not, he just upped and left in the middle of the night, him and about half the corps. No one knows why."

Wow. This place was crazier than I'd thought - and I pride myself on my cynicism.

"So who is in charge here?"

She nodded over to Burnout, who was sitting with his head in his hands looking like a man who's quit smoking at just the wrong time. Given the circumstances I couldn't blame him. I thanked her and went over.

"Need a smoke?"

He looked up briefly and waved away the suggestion.

"I quit thanks. Who're you?"

I showed him my transfer papers.

"Major Micky Richards, call me Mouse. Army psychiatrist just transferred in sir and I understand you're in charge."

"So they tell me" I wondered briefly if he was going to stay sitting but he got to his feet and I found myself looking him squarely in the chest as we saluted each other. "Major Edgar Sharp, surgeon and currently base commander till we find the old one." Something in his mind caught up with the conversation and he raised a questioning eyebrow. "Major...?"

I smiled "I always like to see that in a commanding officer, you're the first one in camp to notice. Sharp by name and nature I see. It’s a quirk of my job, I always have honorary rank the equal of whoever I'm talking to. Means no one is spilling their guts to a subordinate, and means I can order anyone to stand down if their mental state demands it."

"Can you demand I step down please? I've had enough of this. " His tone said he was joking, but his eyes told a different story.

"Sorry Major, you seem way too competent to me."

"Figures. OK Mouse, I'll get Ruby to assign you some quarters. You here for anyone in particular?"

"I was hoping you could tell me that, Major. Usually they have the psychiatric cases lined up and ready for me" I didn't make any suggestions, but could see the sawbones I'd had concerns about was now alternating smoking and swearing, two hobbies which rarely work well together but he was making a good fist of it. Sharp caught my glance but clearly decided not to engage.

"It wasn't me who sent for you but now you're here, fill your boots. I'm sure you'll find someone to talk to."

"I usually do" I saluted politely and went off to find out who Ruby was. After a little investigation I learned that Ruby was the one-eyed firecracker who had greeted me at the chopper and who was until recently the company clerk and exactly the right person to speak to about sorting out a bunk but as of three weeks ago, that duty fell to a man who apparently revelled in the name of Quacks. Quacks however was proving a lot harder to find and I ended up taking a whistlestop tour around the whole camp before using my brain and going to take a break in the clerk's office to let Quacks come to me.

It was a fairly well-appointed outfit, with a working tannoy, a reasonably modern typewriter and a few pictures to remind us what we're fighting for - and I don't mean mom's apple pie. This kid had a good eye for the ladies, and the men. Or maybe those were Ruby's. I sat back in the only chair, flinging my boots up on the desk. Take a chance to rest when you can, that's always been my motto.

One of my mottos. I have a few, and I can change ‘em when necessary.

I had barely closed my eyes when the door clattered open. At least, I think I had. It'd been a long day. A young kid with a harassed expression came in, gave a yelp of surprise, and dropped all the papers he was carrying. I smiled, and raised a toast from my hip flask before offering him the same courtesy.

"Ah, the elusive Quacks. You'll forgive me, no one felt like giving me your real name."

"Corporal Mallard, sir. Declan Mallard" It struck me that if his accent was any more southern it'd be trying to secede from his body. He tried to accept the flask at the same time as picking up the files, and ended up baptising whatever he was writing about in neat gin. I decided to take pity on him and gave him a hand.

"Captain Richards, better known as Mouse" Quirks of the job be damned, I wasn't giving one inch when my comfort was on the line. I did help him with the files though, too many years of experience allowing me to run a practised eye over then without being too obvious about it. Nothing particularly exciting but that was interesting in and of itself. Duty rosters should definitely have a lot more names on them than I was looking at.

"Quacks, when was the last time you had R&R?" I hadn't intended to get involved this early, but I couldn't help myself. Unfortunately, he misunderstood my meaning.

"It's fine sir, sorry sir. I just slipped, I didn't expect to see you here sir."

"Oh no, no that's ok." I hastily explained myself. It never does to make an enemy of the man who got to choose my bunkroom. “I more meant that it seems really short staffed here. I get that the colonel went AWOL but even so, it just seems really short staffed. Any I wanted to make sure that you’re getting to have some rest.”

"Oh. Sorry sir, I didn't think of that. Its been a while for most people but, uh, Colonel Bailey wasn't - that is, he generally felt that you could get enough of a break on the base so people generally didn't."

Jeez. Maybe the best thing this guy could have done for the unit is run out on it.

"Gotcha, yeah, I've heard of that a few times." I stayed non-committal for now, it’s not my place to get involved until I absolutely have to, and that's usually a few days in at least.

We haggled out a decent place for me to hang my hat, sharing with a couple of others but not too many. Not everyone was happy with a shrink in their room anyway. Cody had indeed had the good sense to leave my kit bag in the dust so I had the essentials - a packet of smokes and my spare hip flask. So armed I returned to the mess tent to spend the evening getting acquainted with my fellow inmates and it was only as the sandman started doing his rounds that it occurred to me I'd never asked about Private Thorpe's pain relief.

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fostersffff · 2 years

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The Big Gundam Watch, Part 8: Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway

As mentioned back in my post on Unicorn, my whole reason for skipping ahead in the Gundam production order was to arrive here, at the most recently released story (as of this write-up), Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway. After watching Char’s Counterattack, my most pressing question was about what winds up happening with Hathaway, son of MY MAN BRIGHT NOA, considering there’s no real resolution to his story. It seems that Yoshiyuki Tomino had that on his mind as well, as the original light novel series that this movie was based on, Hathaway’s Flash, was actually the first thing he wrote following Beltorchika’s Children, way back in 1989. Evidently, this adaptation has been a long time coming! Unfortunately- and I should’ve anticipated this- I didn’t quite get all the answers I was looking for, since this is only the first of three adaptations of Hathaway’s Flash, and the next one seems to be slated for 2024 at the earliest. What I did get, however, was the best Gundam movie I’ve seen so far.

THE STUFF I LIKED:

It’s kind of unbelievable how much better this movie looks than Narrative. In fact, I’d go so far as to say this is one of the best looking anime movies I’ve ever seen! The animation quality is consistently excellent, and has some real standout direction for its action setpieces, including the non-mecha stuff.

Because the original Hathaway’s Flash light novels were made back in the late 80’s/early 90’s, it has that era’s mecha design sensibilities, resulting in FUCKING YUGE mobile suits. I already knew exactly how tremendously gigantic the Xi Gundam was thanks to the model kit, but this also extends out to the grunt suits, resulting in designs that are, in essence, Zakus and Jegans on steroids.

Having an entire action sequence dedicated to having to navigate a mobile suit battle in an urban area on foot was really good. It’s happened in previous stories, but this one feels different, I think because Hathaway is focused solely on survival, and not getting to his own mobile suit to join in the fight.

This movie also does a very good job of highlighting how significant it is that the Xi and Penelope can actually fly on their own without needing a base jabber or a transformation (like the Zeta’s Waverider Mode) that compromises their ability to fight. This results in a really tight blend of dogfighting and regular mobile suit close combat for the finale.

It’s difficult to pass judgment on any of the characters at this time, on account of the fact that this is just the first of three installment. That being said, I do like the core cast that we’ve established so far, and I’m looking forward to learning more about them:

After “loser sociopath from Twilight Axis” and “loser sociopath(s) from Narrative”, Kenneth Sleg and Lane Aim are breaths of fresh air. Sleg comes across like a guy prepared to start the second coming of the Titans because he’s such a cop, and Aim is a delightful villain-aligned boy scout. I’m half expecting Sleg to shoot Aim in the back of the head in a later installment, because of Aim’s staunch refusal to fight dirty.

Gigi Andalucia feels like a “what if” version of Quess, if she was was slightly more emotionally mature and worldly. She has the same childish approach to big problems that Quess had- Quess believed Char should kill everyone on Earth because people are bad, Gigi believes the less violent alternative to Mafty’s terrorist activities is to simply become a perfect, benevolent dictator- and obviously they share the same incredibly strong Newtype intuition, but she’s a much more enjoyable character on account of those personality tweaks.

Hathaway is the most mysterious of the core cast, on account of the fact that we just don’t get a lot about his personal motivations (more on that later) or what he’s done in-between Char’s Counterattack and now. There’s plenty to be inferred- more than enough to explain why he’s doing what he’s doing- but I’m definitely hoping for more in-depth looks at him over the course of the next two movies.

The dub is also really great, and I think the core trio is cast perfectly.

Caleb Yen nails down a very neutral, aloof tone of voice that suits Hathaway perfectly in this story, but he also has a very slight lisp that keeps the character from sounding too gruff or old.

Aaron Philips’s performance as Kenneth is dripping with a Chris Parnell-esque smarm (Cyril from Archer, Jerry from Rick and Morty), so that no matter what he’s saying or doing, you know that deep down inside this dude is a fucking asshole.

Megan Shipman rounds it out as Gigi, and keeps the character sounding as dynamic as she needs to be for how many different faces the character wears, whether it be totally self-assured flirty empath or completely falling apart and vulnerable.

The opening theme for the movie, Möbius, is a hell of a composition, and further enhanced by cohesive English lyrics that serve as a mission statement for Mafty Navue Erin. In particular, I’m really fond of the lines “I’ll do it for the better, for all of us / I’ll tear apart the dark möbius”, which is a cool way to refer to the endlessly repeating state of the Universal Century. It’s also apparently also a callback to the ending song of Char’s Counterattack, Beyond The Time, the full title of which is actually Beyond The Time ~Beyond the Möbius Universe~.

THE STUFF I LIKED LESS:

Listen, I know, I understand, Char Aznable Is Important. He is without a doubt one of the most important people in the Universal Century, both in-universe and in a meta sense. Of the original four stories that make up the foundation of the setting, he was heavily involved in three of them, and even completely orchestrated one of them. Hathaway is literally picking up where Char left off, so the comparisons are absolutely warranted. But I think I’m tapped out on people being compared to Char. Maybe I’d feel less negative about this if the villain of Narrative wasn’t the lamest possible version of Char, but both times Mafty was compared to Char, I just felt exhausted.

Other than that, this part is going to be pretty sparse, on account of the fact that most of the things I have issues with are things that are likely to be addressed in future installments (and if they aren’t, I’ll address them then).

For example: The entire reason I skipped ahead to Unicorn after Char’s Counterattack was to see how Hathaway processed what happened sooner rather than later. We get an answer to that: he’s started a terrorist sect dedicated to bringing down the Federation, who have staunchly refused to do literally anything in the wake of... well, everything that’s happened over the past 25 years. But I was more interested in him, personally, and how he’s dealt with the fact that he murdered Chan. That isn’t answered, but when his participation in the fighting is brought up, he’s visibly uncomfortable discussing it. What’s more, the story goes that he stole a mobile suit and “shot down an enemy”. Does that mean Hathaway lied about who killed who between himself, Quess, and Chan? Did the Federation cover up Hathaway killing a friendly, possibly at the request of Bright? Or does the light novel that this is based on use the Beltorchika’s Children version of events, where Hathaway actually did kill Quess?

The only other thing that jumped out to me that doesn’t fit that “they’ll cover it in the sequels” territory is Hathaway’s bizarre response to walking in on Gigi changing. Like, he busts into her part of the room, basically unannounced, and then criticizes her for “running around naked” when it seemed to me like she had just gotten out of the shower? I thought maybe it would be followed up on later, with Hathaway just being uncomfortable with women in general as a result of trauma from Quess’s death, but he doesn’t really have any issues with the women of Mafty. Just a strange scene.

There is one nitpick I have about the design of the Xi Gundam, and it’s something I mentioned back when I was gushing about the Unicorn Gundam: I really do not like the trend of going for one solid color with a few accents over the traditional Gundam color scheme. Looking up pictures of the Xi as it appeared in the light novels, where the chest piece is a really rich blue and the white is really bright, and then comparing it to the movie version where it’s all a much duller shade of white except for the dark navy leg pieces made me real sad. Let Gundams be colored like Gundams, realism be damned!

I will give the movie version this, however: the tweaks they made to make the head’s “sideburns”, the v-fin, and the flight unit’s wings longer are very nice.

Oh and also boohiss Hathaway remembering Quess fondly. Of course he does, but boohiss.

OTHER OBSERVATIONS:

This lady just running full-tilt into the wall completely shatters the dramatic tension of this scene. I get it, in the same way that I get that her husband, as a Dipshit Scumbag Federation Official, would start mouthing off to the armed terrorist, but it’s just so comical. It’s not a negative thing, though, because this makes Hathaway turning into Jason Bourne a few minutes later way more intense.

This isn’t really a negative either, but it is sort of a bummer to me, personally, that after Unicorn reconciled Bright’s original design with a more grounded style, that they still present Hathaway with normal eyes. I suppose you can’t really give your main protagonist Tintin eyes in 2021 if they’re meant to be an emotional cornerstone, but eh.

“Mafty Navue Erin” is such an insane name, even by Gundam standards. Gigi explaining it’s a combination of words from three completely unrelated languages helps it make sense for why it sounds so bizarre, but that’s a pretty impenetrable (and non-threatening) name for a terrorist sect.

Speaking of Gigi, there was a thing I noticed early on in the movie, when she shows her tablet to the hijacker and the screen rotates like an iPad. I noted back during the original series how funny it was that despite taking place in the space colony future, they still had wired receivers and cameras with film, and now we’ve hit the opposite end of that spectrum, where modern tech is now popping up in the series after so many years.

A lot of city names get tossed around, and I continue to be terrible at geography, but the scene where Hathaway and his Mafty allies eat at a Jollibee made me go “oh, this movie takes place in the Philippines”. I’m not even Filipino myself, I just know from cultural osmosis that Jollibee is Filipino McDonalds.

Huge shoutout to Random Cab Driver for addressing something that seems to go critically unexamined in the setting: most people don’t give a shit about the state of the Earth or Newtype philosophy or other big picture concepts because they are just trying to fuckin' live. We should all strive to ensure that we make things better for future generations, but it’s hard to care about what’s going to happen a thousand, a hundred, or even just ten years from now when it’s a struggle to live today.

BOY SPOTTED!!! Which actually brings up an interesting point: Hathaway’s Flash was written like 15 years before the Unicorn light novels, and Unicorn chronologically takes place before Hathaway’s Flash, so I wonder if anything that happens in Unicorn will come up in the next two movies. Maybe not, since the two stories are operating on much different scales- Hathaway takes place almost entirely in one city in the Philippines and Unicorn happens across the entire Earth Sphere- but it was kind of weird to see Amuro again after he and his girlfriend and his girlfriend’s boyfriend/his boyfriend fucked off to the afterlife.

IN CONCLUSION:

Like I said way at the top, Hathaway is easily the best of the Gundam movies I’ve watched. Maybe because it only had to be one-third of a whole story, it never felt like it was rushing to get where it needed to go in the way Char’s Counterattack and Narrative did. It does feel primarily like the setup for what comes next, but it stands on its own well enough as an action thriller that I can heartily recommend it, even knowing how long it’ll be before we get the continuation and resolution to this storyline.

Now that I’ve seen Hathaway and have thus achieved as much closure as I’ll get for Char’s Counterattack for the forseeable future, I’m going to be taking another break from Gundam to watch some other stuff. But when I come back...

youtube

Next up: Mobile Suit Gundam Wing! I’m finally getting around to the Western entry-level Gundam series, and the timing of this decision coincided nicely with the 25th anniversary of Toonami. They even reassembled their legendary promo narrated by Peter Cullen with HD footage!

#Gundam #Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway #Gundam Hathaway #Hathaway #Hathaway's Flash #The Big Gundam Watch #anime #long post

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storydays · 3 years

Text

Season 1, ep 7, p2

(3rd POV)

You hummed softly, walking down the hallway with some fire flakes in your hand, and paused seeing Korra spying through a keyhole. You went to grab her shoulder when she stood up straight with a horrified look on her face. "Kor--" she ran down the stairs before you could finish your sentence.

You followed her, slower, and listened to her babble an excuse. "I forgot it's my turn to airsit the babybenders..I-I mean babysit the airbender kids. See you later!" They turned to you with confused looks and you shrugged, swallowing more fire flakes. "It's one of Aunt Pema's daily baby checks." Nevermore squealed in delight as she ate majority of your fire flakes.

"Hey!" You splashed her with water, making the little hothead sizzle. Everyone laughed at the two of you, the old butler even concealing a chuckled behind his hand. "She's been getting so fiesty lately and I don't appreciate the rebelliousness, young lady." You complained and then chided the dragon.

"You know, I read something in a book that says animals tend to imitate their loved ones behavior." Asami teased, making you playfully roll your eyes. "I've been hearing that a lot," you sigh, making your bangs puff in the air slightly. Nevermore curled on your shoulder, chirping happily. "Come on, let's go find my secret stash of fire snacks." You grinned, as Mako and Asami laughed before following you to get some snacks.

*Timeskip*

You blinked, as your Aunt, Uncle and friend storm up to the Sato mansion. "What's going on?" Mako demanded, pushing Korra's shoulder, wincing when you gripped his arm. "Why are they asking more Hiroshi more questions?" "I overheard him on the phone yesterday. Asami, I don't know how to tell you this, but I think your father might be involved with the equalists." "What?! I don't believe this!" She stormed towards her father's office. You followed her, trying to calm her down.

"A-Asami, maybe this is just a misunderstanding." She turned her green gaze to you, "Don't talk to me, (Y/N)! You were in on this, and you didn't think to tell me?!" Your (e/c) eyes burned sadness into Asami's, as she stalked off. You sigh, running a hand through your hair before trailing sadly behind her, before walking into the office, standing in the corner. You studied everyone from the corner of the room, and you were biting the inside of your lip before closing your eyes, listening to everyone's breathing, and focusing on what Toph taught you.

"My father is innocent. Just because we're not benders, doesn't mean we support those awful Equalists." She went to stand next to Hiroshi. "Is that this is about?" He demanded. "I can assure you, I have nothing to do with those radicals." Mako butted in, "Yeah, you don't know your're talking about Korra." Mako accused. "I overheard you on the phone. You said that Cabbage Corp investigation bought you time, and your getting ready to strike. Explain that." Korra placed her hand on her hips, staring into the man's eyes.

He chuckled, before looking into the Avatar's eyes. "This is all a misunderstanding,resulting from the Avatar's over-active imagination. My number one competitor was knocked out of the game. It's providing me with an opportunity to strike the market with a new line of Sato-mobiles. It's just business--"

You studied everyone from the corner of the room, and you were biting the inside of your lip before closing your eyes, listening to everyone's breathing, narrowing on Hiroshi's breath hitch. Your (e/c) eyes flew open as you declared loud and cleared, "Liar." All eyes turned to you as you approached the now sweating man. Asami looked at you with hurt and betrayal in her face.

"(Y/N), how could you? You've known my father for a long time, and you know he's not apart of th-" "And you know me, Asami. I was listening to everyone's breathing, and Hiroshi's hitched when he spoke just now." "That doesn't mean anything!" (E/C) eyes stared into angry green, as everyone watched you silently. "I was trained by the Greatest Earthbender of all time, I'm a spiritual master, and a waterbender master, if anyone knows about lying signs, it would be me. I'm sorry that your sweet fantasy is being destroyed, but---"

SMACK!

A sharp sting burned on your cheek. You met her emerald eyes, and with a bright red handmark on your cheek, you turned your eyes to your Aunt. "I know your troops are outside and waiting, but you should use your seismic sense and you'll find something in the workshop behind the house. Clearly, I'm not wanted here, so I'll be anywhere else." You avoided Asami's gaze and stalked out, and hopped onto your polar bear dog. You clicked your tongue and soon you and Neo took off. Your (e/c) eyes watered, from both the wind and from the pain you felt in your heart. You willed them away, and the next thing you knew, you were by a secluded part of the park, no one around. You hopped off Neo, and knelt by a nearby pond, placing your hands in the water, before soothing your stinging cheek, wincing at the faint scratch marks from Asami's nails.

'You know, Cub,' you didn't jump when Neo laid next to you, watching you carefully, 'It's okay to cry when your heart aches.' You shook your head, settling into a lotus position against him. "No, I promised someone special to me that I won't ever cry. That I'll be strong." He rumbled against your back, with a disapproving growl. 'I sincerely doubt that's what she meant.'

You huffed, your bangs puffing slightly. "Hush, 'm tryna meditate." The animal growled again before leaving you to find peace.

*Later that night*

You jumped up using a water shield to block an incoming attack. "You've got to be quicker than that, Auntie." Your eyes softened as your Aunt jumped down from a tree. "I thought I'd find you here." Lin said, gruffly before coming over and sitting next to you. She held out a bag of food, and Neo perked up sniffing in the bag for something.

Lin chuckled amused, before reaching in and handing Neo his treat before turning to you with a concerned frown. "Eat, (Y/N), I know you haven't eaten since breakfast this morning." At that moment, your stomach growled, just as the scent of Lin's meat and vegetable wrap hit your stomach.

Not many people knew, but the latest Chief of Police was an excellent cook.Whenever you were in need of some tough love, you went to Lin and that's exactly what her food was. She chuckled as you devoured the wrap. "Hungry, mali heroj (little hero)?" You hummed in affirmation as you swallowed. "For your food? Always." She watched you with gentle eyes. "I'm worried about you, (Y/N). Everyone is, you haven't been yourself in a long time." You put your wrap down and stared at the twinkling stars, thinking about your vision during this last meditation.

"I'll be fine, Aunt Lin. I'm just..." "You are not alone! You have people who love you,and want to help you, but we can't if you continue to block us out." You turned to her, before she held her arms out. You fell into her warm embrace but said loud and clear: "Maybe it's safer for everyone to stay out. Maybe...I don't want anyone to be burdened with my problems. Not even Gran-Gran has any advice for what's going on. No one can." You gripped her waist, and stiffled your sobs against her heart.

Now, not many people could break her walls, but from the moment she met you, you wormed your way into her stone cold heart, and she loved you like a son, and hated seeing you in pain. This was part of the reason she hated the world, when you were a child you were so open and full of love for the world, but then reality hit you way too hard, way too early. You learned to be strong at a young age, and survived things no grown adult could handle.

You were breaking, and you were breaking fast, and she knew what she had to do when she got you home safe in your own bed.

Even though you're 19, you are still a child, and like all children...

you still need your father.

#lok masterlist #male reader x legend of korra #legend of korra imagine #lok x reader #x male reader #lok

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johannstutt413 · 3 years

Text

(requested by mathmaticalknight)

Blemishine was in the Engineering Department, hiding from Zofia with her fellow tech-heads as she often did, the day she first encountered the Nian. She’d heard rumors about the meandering meddling metallurgist and her amorphous armaments, but it was only when the Doctor finally gave in and let her work with the Department that the Kuranta came into contact with her.

“Workshop #3 just sent up the results from their latest alloy test,” Passenger reported matter-of-factly. “No progress.”

“I’m definitely starting to see why we haven’t figured this thing out. It’s like the metal is...alive.” Blemishine was watching VODs of Nian’s combat performance to try and get some new data-

-which meant she was the perfect target when the real Nian arrived and glanced over her shoulder. “Well, you look like you’re having fun.”

“She’s incredible, isn’t she?” The knight looked over her shoulder, realized it was THE Nian standing over her, and with a blush said, “You’re incredible.”

“A lot of people don’t trust me, that’s true. I’m gonna borrow her, alright, Elliot?”

The Liberi waved an arm. “Bring her back in one piece.”

“Oh, you know I’d never hurt a hair on her head.” She hooked one of her arms under one of the Kuranta’s and pulled her out of her chair. “Let’s go.”

“Ehh? O-okay! I’ll be back, Passenger!” And without any resistance, Maria was off on an adventure.

At least, she thought that’s what was happening, though the Nian didn’t exactly explain as they walked through the corridors of Rhodes Island in the direction of the shuttle bay. “What’s your name, kid? I haven’t seen you around much.”

“Blemishine’s my codename, but you can call me Maria.” Honestly, she’d prefer the latter. “Is it true you’re not a Rhodes Island employee? I know you spend a lot of time in Engineering, and I mean, you’d have to be a smith to have a weapon as cool as yours, but I’ve never seen you in person before.”

“Closure offered me a job, but that’s not why I’m here. You like shopping? We’re heading into town.” Now wasn’t the time for worrying about the future; she did that plenty on her own, especially with Dusk around now.

The knight shrugged. “Auntie and I go every now and again, and when I needed new parts for my projects I’d go out to get them, but since I started helping out at the Department I don’t have as much time for that.”

“Projects?” Nian smiled to herself. “Like trying to recreate my weapon? I hope y’all figure it out.”

“Oh, that’s for the Workshop, it’s fun but not really the kind of thing I’d do in my free time, you know? I’m a mechanic at heart, and now that I’m working for the Department, maybe they’ll let me supe up one of the shuttles. I used to have a car that could get some real speed going before I became a competition knight...”

Thinking about the past was just as bad, but fortunately they’d reached the shuttles. “So you wanna mess around with one of these?”

“We’re here already? And yeah, that’d be really fun! They don’t run on quite the same intake system I’m used to, and I’d have to make some openings in the hood to fit everything on I’d need to, and then there’s the nitrous canisters- oh, there I go again.” Blemishine didn’t know many people who actually wanted to listen to her talk about this kind of stuff. “Sorry about that!”

“What do you mean? Keep going! I hate when people try to tamp down on their enthusiasm just to make other people happy, and you were really building up steam there.” Plus, she was super cute when she got excited.

Maria blushed again. “Alright, but only because you asked. So obviously we’d have to start with taking one of these babies apart - I think I could get Broca to help out with that, it really takes two people to get a car onto a maintenance lift when you’re trying to keep the engine cool - because they won’t let me look at the schematics yet even though I asked Closure specifically if I could...”

The entire drive into town was essentially like that; the knight went into the blow-by-blow description of what she wanted the shuttle to look like under the hood when she was done, and Nian only occasionally interrupted with an insight or a question to help her along. She was impressed with how much the Kuranta actually knew despite not having much opportunity to act on that knowledge back in Kazimierz (Nearl’s sister, no question about where she was from), but more than that, she was reminded of some of her old acquaintances who used to get the same gleams in their eyes when talking about sword-smithing or armor-forging. This girl wasn’t like her usual kidnappees for sure.

“-Hey, Nian?” Blemishine looked out the window. “I think we drove past town.”

“Did we? Shit, I guess we did.”

They weren’t turning around. “Are we gonna keep going?”

“Just a little bit.” The Nian smiled to herself. “I was going to take you shopping, but since we’ve been talking about cars, there’s a place I wanna show you. Might help out with this plan you’ve got.”

“Oh, it’s not really a plan, just some ide- is that a junkyard? Out here?!”A sign poked out from behind a dune. Looks like her birthday’d come around early this year.

The smith laughed. “You sound like a kid going to the candy store.”

“Candy can’t take you a hundred kilometers away in an hour, though, and that’s much more exciting than some sugar!” Maria giggled. “Not that I’m against sugar.”

“I can take it or leave it. There was one place I visited that had these cinnamon-pepper candies; those were more my style. Speaking of style...” They pulled into the lot, broken-down vehicles already visible from the entrance, and the tour began.

Well, less of a tour and more of a scavenging run; this wasn’t a museum, after all, and Nian never left home without a few tools. The Kuranta popped the hood on the first ground-level car within eyesight, putting on a pair of goggles and pulling a tool roll seemingly out of thin air. “This one’s in great condition; how’d you end up, little guy? Don’t worry, we’ll be gentle. Hey, Nian, could you help me roll this one forward a bit?”

“I’ve gotcha.” She popped open the door on one side, Blemishine did the same on the other, and the two pushed the car to where there was plenty of room on all sides. “Looking for something specific?”

“Just want to double-check a few things. How’d one of RI’s shuttles end up out here, do you think? I mean, if we had the keys, I’m sure we could get this one to run again, no problem...Do you hear that?”

The Nian sighed. “The rustling from over there? I heard.”

“Hands up!” A gruff voice barked as a small gang of bandits mobilized from behind other junk piles, crossbows trained on the pair. “Thanks for the fresh wheels, ladies. Toss us the keys and leave, and we won’t have to get nasty.”

“What kind of gang sets up shop in a junkyard? You can’t possibly make enough stops to survive,” Maria observed, hands still below her head.

The presumed leader, a Sankta with a black halo, spat on the ground. “Don’t change the subject. Hands, up, or your pretty little friend gets it.”

“Which one of us is little?” The other Defender asked casually, a pool of silver forming around her feet. “We’re about the same height, after all.”

“...Well, boys, can’t say I tried.” The Sankta fired at the Kuranta-

-and missed, partially because his target rolled out of the way, and partially because there was now a lump of metal where his Adam’s apple had been. Nian’s malleable murder-metal formed a curtain around her as she started walking forward with a smile. “Well, boys, you picked the wrong couple to rob.”

“Couple?” Blemishine asked as she reemerged from cover, sword and shield at the ready. “A couple of what?”

“A couple of-” At that moment, a bolt detonated against her tectonic armor, blasting shrapnel through and into her shoulder, and the Beast awoke.

A few minutes later, after the junkyard had had a proper bloodbath, the Nian was sitting on the hood of the car they’d rolled out while Maria patched her up. “Exploding bolts? That’s higher grade gear than your average bandit, isn’t it?” The knight asked

“Probably. Not that we’ve got to worry about it now.” She felt the debris-free gashes knitting back together in the Kuranta’s light. “I need a snack after that. Mind if we head back to town?”

“Nah, I don’t mind; there’s an ice cream shop that Surtr recommended I’ve been meaning to try. We can get a milkshake with two straws, like in the movies.”

Nian would have rolled her eyes if that didn’t sound like something she wanted to try. “You’re the first person I’ve dragged out with me who wanted to make a date out of it.”

“You’re the one who called us a couple,” Maria replied with a momentary smirk. Momentary because she wanted her next words to have the proper gravitas. “But I meant what I said earlier. You really are an incredible person, Nian, and now that we’ve gotten a chance to talk, I know it’s not your weapon we should be trying to emulate at the shop, but your spirit.”

“...I haven’t heard praise like that in a long time.” The Nian slid off the car.

Blemishine stepped off to walk back to their shuttle as the other Defender took her hand. “I don’t know if I’d call it ‘praise-’”

“What else do you call complimenting a goddess?” That stopped the knight in her tracks as Nian walked around her. “And praise of that calibre deserves a blessing.”

“You’re seri-” Whatever thought Maria had loaded up crashed to desktop as the ‘blessing’ in question turned out to be a kiss.

It was a good thing the smith’s eyes had closed before their lips connected; she might’ve gone blind from the Kuranta’s flash of light otherwise.

#arknights #arknights fic #blemishine (arknights)#nian (arknights)#tmw you wrote three pages because it refused to wrap up in two #maria is faqing cute #dunno if i have her voice right yet #but i'll be getting plenty of practice with the next few fics...

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tchallasbabymama · 3 years

Text

M’Baku’s Love- Chapter 2

Sorry, had to repost it. For some reason it was all blacked out on mobile? Idk, it’s weird and I’m still trying to understand tumblr.

Anywho, here’s Chapter 2 of M’Baku’s Love. Check out my masterlist HERE to read chapter 1 if you haven’t already, and take a look at my other stories as well. As always, let me know what you think or if you want to be tagged in anything. Enjoy!

Word count: 2689

M’Baku pulled up to the Outreach Center a little earlier than necessary on Tuesday. He got out the automated car and leaned against it, crossing his arms as he scanned over the building and its surroundings while reflecting on the mission at hand. If they were successful, thousands of Black children, millions if they expand, would be given a better education and connected to their old, pre-colonizer ways.

He smiled at the thought and turned to grab his things, when he noticed a small rainbow dash from the other side of the parking lot into the building. It took him a moment to process what he saw, but he realized it was Miss In a Hurry, rushing yet again. He smiled fondly and shook his head before heading towards the Outreach Center, opening the door and heading inside the cool, air conditioned building.

Once the chief settled in his office he went over the assistant files one more time, preparing for their interviews. He went over his upcoming day in his head and remembered that his meeting with the head of the Arts Department was at 11. He smiled to himself, dreamily, at the thought of her bright teal hair and her deep dark eyes, but shook himself out of it when he was interrupted by a knock at the door.

“Mr. M’Baku?” a tall, slender man who looked to be in his early twenties stood in the doorway dressed in slacks and a button-down.

“Yes, who is asking?”

“Deontae Greene, I’m here for my interview,” the young man introduced himself. They shook hands and the interview began. Truthfully, M’Baku didn’t need to interview the other candidates, he had already decided on hiring Deontae the moment his interview ended. He went through the motions of the second and third interview, focusing on the clock more than the interviewees. As soon as his third interview ended, he called Deontae to offer him the position, then went for a quick walk around the center to stretch his legs.

M’Baku found himself outside one of Shuri’s STEM courses, watching as the middle school aged children learned coding languages. She waved him in, and he tentatively stepped inside.

“Everybody, this is M’Baku. He’s the leader of the Jabari tribe in Wakanda.”

A chorus of “Hi M’Baku” erupted from the room, and he smiled before greeting them back.

“Mholo, children. What are you working on today?”

A little girl in the back with braces and pigtails was the first to answer.

“Princess Shuri is teaching us how to make computers work by telling it what to do in different computer languages.”

M’Baku looked at Shuri in confusion and she waved it off to explain later.

The large chief walked around the room to get a look at what they were doing, but quickly made it back to the front of the room when he caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall.

“I have a meeting, or I would stay longer princess.”

“Go, and don't be a stranger to this side of the center. Technology isn't all bad,” Shuri said with a wink as he left and shut the door behind him.

M’Baku’s long legs carried him back to his office in record time, where he was met with the sight of the head of the arts department sitting cross-legged in the chair outside his office, writing in a notebook.

“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, I wandered down to the STEM wing and lost track of time,” M’Baku rambled on until she looked up at him. Today she had on gold wire-rimmed glasses instead of her red cat-eye frames from the day before, and he liked that he could see her eyes better with this pair. When their eyes met his heart thumped a little louder and his skin felt a little warmer. He watched a small smile brighten up her face as she set her notebook down before unravelling her legs to stand up.

“I wasn’t waiting long. Plus it was your turn to be running late this time,” she responded. M’Baku gestured for her to enter the office first and she obliged before perching cross-legged in the chair across from him. He rounded the desk and sat down, looking into her eyes.

“I do not believe we were properly introduced to one another,” he held out his hand to her, shaking it from across the desk. “I am M’Baku, as you already know from yesterday.”

“Monae Johnson. It’s nice to officially meet you, M’Baku. And my apologies about the other day, I accidentally took a nap and woke up with barely enough time to- I’m rambling, my bad, I do that sometimes.” She rubbed the back of her head..

“It is no problem, really,” more than anything, M’Baku found her adorable.

“So did you end up trying the place I suggested?”

“Yes, I am actually glad you ran into me. I loved The V Spot. It was an excellent recommendation, thank you.” M’Baku had to give props where they were due and this woman definitely knew food. “You must tell me, what else is good in the area?”

“There’s so much! What do you like?”

“I am new to most cuisines, but I am open. Our meeting ends around lunchtime, would you care to accompany me and show me something I might like?”

Monae’s chest tightened up at his seemingly unintended double entendre. The man before her was fine as aged wine and she was having a very difficult time concentrating on the conversation, instead wishing she could see how soft his lips are. She looked down at the ring on her left ring finger and sighed, knowing she’d regret her decision.

“I’d love to.”

______

“You’re a vegan, right?”

“Vegetarian, but vegan is fine.”

“Ever tried Indian food?”

“I cannot say that I have.”

“Come on, there’s a place around here with some really good lunch specials. I hope you like it.”

“Well your last suggestion was superb, so I trust you,” he said with a wink. Monae blushed and turned away, but not before he noticed. M’Baku fought to contain his smile and cleared his throat. “So are you from Oakland?”

“Nope, I’m from Nashville. A southern girl at heart,” she said with her best southern debutante affectation. “I came to Cali for college and just never left.”

“What made you stay?”

“Honestly? It never gets cold here, not the type of cold that seeps into your bones anyway. The worst I’ve felt here is chilly. I’m not made for anything below 50 degrees.”

“As chief of the Jabari I must say I am a little offended, Miss Johnson.”

Monae’s face twisted up, but then softened when she saw the glint in his eye. Was he flirting?

“My apologies, your highness,” she said with a curtsey. “But I’ll admire it from afar.” Her ring flashed in her line of vision, but she shook it out of her mind.

“Besides, you are wrong. Anything over 40 degrees is unfit for habitation. The weather here makes me want to crawl into my refrigerator.”

Monae shivered at the thought.

The two of them arrived at Bombay Palace and since he trusted her judgement, she ordered for the table. The waiter took their menus and quickly brought their waters with lemon slices.

“Are you a vegetarian as well?”

“Um sometimes. I don't eat red meat, but I still eat fish and poultry on occasion. I’m mostly plant-based though. I read that the Jabari are pescetarian, what made you switch over?”

“You have been reading about us, eh?”

“Well I like to know who I’m working with, and I imagine that over the next few months we’ll be seeing a lot of each other, so yes I read about the Jabari.”

“Yes, I would hope so,” M’Baku said before taking a sip of his water while watching her. He noticed her shiver under his gaze and adjust herself in the booth and he smirked, knowing he was getting to her. “And I just do not like the taste of fish very much. Earlier you mentioned having a dance background, do you still dance?”

“I’m so busy I barely have enough time nowadays outside of teaching a class at the center here and there.”

The waiter returned with their samosa appetizer and Monae danced in her seat a little, making M’Baku crack a smile at her endearing antics. They both dug in, M’Baku immediately thanking Hanuman for the food he had received. The familiar yet unfamiliar tastes swirled around in his mouth like a gold medal ice skater at the winter olympics, and he couldn’t get enough.

“Mmm, what is this?”

“Samosas.”

“I could eat this for the rest of my life and die a happy man.”

Monae giggled and almost choked on her food, “This is just the first course, wait until you taste the paneer.”

The two of them continued to talk as more food came out, not watching the time at all.

“How does your family feel about you living so far away?”

“Well my little sister is in college at NYU, living her own life, and my parents died six years ago in a car crash, so they don't feel much of anything anymore.”

He was torn between laughing at her joke and feeling a deep sadness for her loss.

“What’s your family like?”

“I am the oldest of ten-”

“Ten?!”

“Yes.”

“Your poor mama...”

M’Baku’s laughter roared through the restaurant and forced a laugh out of Monae as well. Of course his laugh was as big as he was, and her mind briefly wondered if everything about him was proportional to his size before she was pulled out of her daydream by a ringing telephone. She looked down and her face dropped when she read the name on her screen. “Shit. Uh, sorry I have to answer this- Hi honey...yeah of course...uh-huh...no, just out at lunch with a colleague-”

He couldn’t believe his ears. He knew for a fact that she was flirting with him, yet here he was talking to her “honey.” He wanted to roll his eyes, but instead returned them to his bowl and kept eating.

“Hey, D, can I call you back? We’re just about done here...Ok, bye.” She hung up the phone and cleared her throat.

“Boyfriend?”

“Fiance actually,” she said, showing off the ring on her finger.

“Interesting…”

“What is?”

M’Baku leaned back in his chair and looked into her eyes as he spoke.

“I was not aware you were already spoken for.”

Something about the tone of his voice made her face heat up and she crossed her legs tighter.

“I have my ring on, what would make you think otherwise?”

“That right there,” he gestured to her flushed skin and fidgeting lower half. “You are awfully flirty for someone who is betrothed.”

Monae had hoped he wouldn’t notice and they could carry on like earlier, but the moment was ruined.

M’Baku looked at his watch, realizing they spent almost two hours at the restaurant. “We should get back to the center, I am sure we are missed.”

“M’Baku, I’m sorry to lead you on, but that wasn’t my intention, I just-”

“There is no need to explain, Monae.” He flashed her his gap-toothed smile and called for the waiter to bring their check. He paid, not without plenty of arguing on her end, and they headed back to work.

Shortly after he made it back to his desk the king and prince barged in.

“Soooo…?” N’Jadaka tried to get the conversation going, but M’Baku wasn’t following.

“How did it go?” T’Challa added.

“How did what go?”

The cousins looked at each other in exasperation, and yet again the hot headed prince pushed the issue further.

“Your date nigga! We saw you and Monae walking all close and shit.”

“It was not a date,” He loved the Udakus dearly, but Hanuman, they could be an annoying and intrusive bunch. “She is engaged.”

“Barely,” the cousins said with an eye roll.

“What do you mean ‘barely’?”

“My friend, she has been engaged for three years now with no wedding plans in place and he is almost never home. Like we said: barely.”

M’Baku would never knowingly break up a happy home, but he saw her body language on the phone and she didn’t seem to be as into her fiance as she was into him. Yes he was shiny and new, but the exasperation in her voice at his interruption told him what he needed to know.

“Far be it from me to advocate for adultery, but-”

“It ain't far from me, cuz,” N’Jadaka butted in. “Bak, that beautiful fairy of a woman likes your big ape ass for some reason. Fuck that nigga, she was looking at you like you’re already daddy.”

M’Baku looked over to T’Challa who was nodding in agreement. He had watched her during their department head meeting and every time M’Baku spoke she perked up and the tension fell from her shoulders. She was definitely feeling him.

“I have met this fiance just once and did not get a good vibe from him. I am not sure what it is yet, but there is something-”

M’Baku cut him off before he could even finish. He knew if he let them continue they would end up hatching a plan and roping him into it, so he nipped it in the bud.

“Do not worry about it, I would prefer to remain unattached for the short while I am here, anyway. Now if you know someone who would like something more casual, I would not mind meeting them at some point.”

“I’ll keep an eye out, brother”

“I think the newest history teacher is single, or at least there's no ring on her finger. I can’t remember her name though, is it Keisha? Naima? Whatever it is, she’s fine as hell,” N’Jadaka’s hands outlined her voluptuous body for him, which caught his interest. “I’ll see what I can do. We gon get you some pussy bruh, on Bast.”

T’Challa simply nodded in agreement again.

“Thank you both for your concern,” M’Baku responded dryly. “Now if you gentlemen would excuse me, I have to meet with the social studies department head in a minute.”

“We understand when we are not wanted, but please at least let N’Jadaka set you up. You need to get back out there again, it’s been more than enough time,” the king patted his friend’s shoulder before leaving the room, his cousin doing the same.

______

M’Baku’s last meeting didn’t end until 5 pm, and he was more than ready to get home, cook dinner, and watch a little more Fresh Prince. He packed up his things and headed out towards his car, when out of the corner of his eye he spotted Monae on the other side of the parking lot struggling with several boxes. He jogged over and took them from her hands.

“Here, let me.”

“How are you everywhere?” She laughed.

“You are just lucky, I guess.” He flashed her his million-dollar smile and she was hooked again. Derrick be damned.

“Yeah, I guess I am...um, thank you M’Baku...well uh, I should go. Busy day tomorrow with the open house and all.”

“Ah yes, what exactly is an open house?”

She chuckled at his naivety.

“Basically people from the community get to come here after hours to see what we offer. Think of it like a mass tour.”

“Interesting, well since I have nothing to show them on this tour I am sure I will have time to help if you need it.”

“Thank you, M’Baku, I just might take you up on that.”

“Good. Well, you should go home and rest for the big day ahead. I will see you tomorrow Monae.”

“Get home safe!”

It warmed his heart to hear her caring about his safety, even if it's something she said to everybody. A dreamy smile parted his lips and he felt as if she had just kissed his cheek and sent him on his way.

“You as well, Monae. You as well...”

Next Chapter

#cecewritessometimes #black panther fic #m'baku #m'baku's love #m'baku x oc #black!oc #fluff #jada kingdom

69 notes · View notes

vrednic · 3 years

Text

favors | collateral damage (pt.3)

Teen Wolf x Vampire Diaries AU

Prompt: Teen Wolf, but with a twist. Scott McCall has a twin sister… and she falls in love with Derek Hale.

Summary: Derek finds himself in trouble, and Scott is nowhere to be found. Will Serena be the one to save the day?

Word Count: 3,026

Author’s Note: I hope you all enjoy part 3! As always, feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading :)

*PART ONE*

*PART TWO*

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Two weeks had passed since my first full moon. Scott and I still weren’t on speaking terms, and we both seemed to prefer it that way. On school days, he’d leave the house early to avoid running into me. We didn’t have any classes together, so that made it easy to stay out of each other’s way at school. He had lacrosse practice most days, and they usually ran late, so by the time he got home, I was already in bed. He had also made things official with Allison, so naturally she consumed every other spare second of his life. Part of me felt immense relief because I was able to delay the inevitable confrontation that we would have to have at some point. However, the other part of me also longed for her best friend. I wanted to blame the full moon for the harsh words I said and the dismissive manner that I treated him, but I couldn’t. It was all me.

Scott was the “It” boy when it came to the supernatural. Someway, somehow, he always found himself in the middle of whatever supernatural crisis threatened Beacon Hills. He was a reliable friend and a fantastic leader in-the-making. I recognized that Scott now held the responsibility to save and protect those who were oblivious to our world, as well as those who were a part of it, but my jealousy obstructed all rational thought. I wanted my brother to be there for me the way he was there for complete strangers; the way he meddled in situations that didn’t even concern him. When he didn’t show up the one time I needed him, the disappointment was simply too much to bear.

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

I was sitting in biology, filling in the bubble for the second to last question of the test we were taking. The room was completely silent except for the swift sound of pencil on paper. I looked up at the clock above the chalkboard, and the hands indicated that there were forty-five minutes remaining in class. I flipped back through the booklet and revised all of my answers. When I was content with all of my responses, I pushed up from my desk and walked towards the front to turn in my test. As I neared the front of the classroom, the smell of blood invaded my nostrils. The scent was too faint to be coming from within the room, so that meant that its source was somewhere on the other side of the classroom door. I finally reached the teacher’s desk and placed my booklet on top of the thin pile of completed tests that were already there. I grabbed a copy of tonight’s homework located on the podium next to the desk, and made my way back to my seat.

As I tucked the homework sheet into my biology notebook, my supernatural hearing picked up the sound of two distinct voices coming from the hallway.

“Where’s Scott McCall?” asked the first voice.

The second person shut their locker, the sound of metal on metal ringing in my ears. They spoke gruffly. “Why should I tell you?”

“Because I asked you politely, and I only do that once.” This time I was able to identify the first voice immediately. It was Derek.

“Hm. Okay, tough guy,” responded the second voice. It was low and laced with arrogance, just like Jackson’s. “How about I help you find him if you tell me what you’re selling him?

There was a pause. Then, “Well? What is it? Is it Dianabol? HGH?”

“Steroids?” responded Derek, his tone unimpressed.

“No, Girl Scout cookies,” scoffed Jackson. “What the hell do you think I’m talking about? Oh, and, by the way, whatever it is that you’re selling, I’d probably stop sampling the merchandise. You look wrecked.”

There were a few counts of silence. I closed my eyes and focused my hearing, not wanting to miss a single word.

“I’ll find him myself,” said Derek at last.

“No, we’re not done here!” growled Jackson. There was a sound of movement, and then I heard a body slam up against the lockers. I heard Jackson’s soft groans of discomfort as Derek walked away, his feet dragging slightly as he did.

I knew that it was none of my business, but curiosity got the best of me. I got up from my seat and walked swiftly, but subtly, towards the teacher’s desk.

“Can I use the bathroom?”

Mrs. Grey stopped typing at her computer long enough to peer up at me through her glasses. “Sure, just take the--”

“Great, thanks!” I said, wasting no time to rush out into the hall. Jackson was leaning against a row of lockers on the opposite side of the hall, clutching the back of his neck. I smelled blood on him, but the scent didn’t match up with the one from earlier. We made eye contact for just a moment.

“What the hell are you looking at?” he snapped at me.

I shrugged.

I looked down both ends of the hall, but Derek was already gone. Luckily for me, he left a trail of blood in his wake. I followed the scent past the double doors that led to the soccer and lacrosse fields. I walked onto the middle of the grass and scanned my surroundings. At first glance, both fields seemed empty, but the scent was still present. The only problem was that I could no longer pinpoint which direction it was coming from. The wind had picked up, so now the scent seemed to be coming from everywhere. I decided to move my search onto the perimeter of the field. I checked under the bleachers, by the concession stands, and in the bathrooms, but there was still no sign of Derek. I let out a sigh of frustration and began walking back to the school.

I stopped mid stride when I thought I saw movement from the corner of my eye. I turned, and my breath caught in my throat. Derek was slumped against the side of the storage shed, thick black blood dripping down his left arm. There was a pool of it right beside him growing by the minute. His face was pale and slicked with sweat, and there were dark grey bags under his eyes. If I didn’t know he was a werewolf with supernatural healing abilities, I’d probably think he was dead. I ran over to him and crouched down to his eye level. His eyes found mine; they were no longer cold, but pleading.

“Scott,” he mumbled. “Find Scott.”

I ignored him and instead examined the bullet wound in his arm. The bullet itself seemed to have melted into his skin, glowing a sickly silver-green color. The area around it was swollen and his veins were turning black, a clear sign of a fast-spreading infection.

“I’m gonna get you out of here,” I told him matter-of-factly. “Whatever it is you were shot with, it doesn’t look good. I need to get you someplace safe so we can find a way to fix this.”

“You need to find Scott,” he repeated, breathless.

“I’ll find Scott,” I assured him. “But after I get you out of here. There’s no way I’m leaving for dead here.”

He looked up at me with those beautiful, tired eyes. He knew there was no point in protesting, so he mobilized every ounce of strength within him and tried to slide up to a standing position. I came over next to him, positioning his good arm around my shoulders, wrapped my arm around his torso, and attempted to begin walking. We made it a few steps before I felt him leaning out of my grasp. I stopped and gazed up at him.

“Okay, big guy. I know I’m a werewolf and all, but I’m still only 5’4. You’re almost an entire foot taller than me, so I’m gonna need you to help me out as much as you can.”

He nodded and we resumed walking. I led him across the field into the student parking lot. I found my car in the maze of vehicles and unlocked the passenger side door. As soon as Derek eased into the seat, I shut the door and came around to the other side. I started the car and pulled out of the parking lot onto the road, heading towards Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital. If we were lucky, traffic would be light at this hour, and we’d arrive in a matter of minutes. Derek looked around alarmingly and reached for the steering wheel. I stomped on the brake to stop us from veering into oncoming traffic.

“Are you crazy?” I screamed at him. “Are you trying to get us killed?”

“You can’t take me to the hospital. Anything they give me could potentially speed up the infection and kill me,” he said. He sounded exhausted, but his tone was firm nonetheless. “That, and the Argents are probably looking for me. I’m sure they’d love to finish me off before the infection gets the chance to.”

I blew out a sigh. “Where am I supposed to take you, then?”

“The animal clinic. Hopefully Deaton hasn’t left for the day. Maybe he knows about something that’ll help.”

I did as I was told and quickly made a U-turn in the opposite direction. I drove frantically, stealing glances at Derek here and there to make sure he was still breathing. His eyes remained closed the entire way, but I found comfort in the steady rise and fall of his chest.

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

Once we arrived at the clinic, my heart sunk. Deaton’s car wasn’t in the lot, which meant we were alone and running out of time. I retrieved the spare key from behind the dumpster and hauled Derek inside, leading him to one of the nearest chairs so he could sit while I called Scott. I patted my back pocket for my phone, but it wasn’t there. I ran out to my car and searched the floor and seats for its location, but it was futile. I must have dropped it in the field while I was carrying Derek to my car. I sprinted back inside, where Derek was clutching his arm in agony. I brushed the hair from his forehead gently, which caused him to open his eyes.

“I lost my phone,” I admitted nervously. “Do you have yours?”

He shook his head. “I lost it last night after I was shot.”

Great, just great.

I stopped for a moment to collect myself. After my moment was up, I left the room to find Deaton’s office. I turned on the light and waited a moment so my eyes could adjust. When they did, I found the office phone sitting right by his computer. I picked up the phone and dialed Scott’s number. It rang for several seconds, and just when I thought the voicemail was going to cut the call short, I heard someone pick up on the other end.

“Hey, Doc,” Scott answered. “Is everything okay?”

“Scott,” I said. “You need to get to the animal clinic now. Derek’s dying.”

There was a momentary pause of confusion. “Serena? Why are you calling me from the clinic? What’s going on?”

I walked back over to Derek and handed him the phone. “It’s Scott.”

“Listen to me carefully,” said Derek. “You need to get me the bullet, or I’m as good as dead.”

“What are you talking about? What bullet?” I heard Scott say.

I paced around the room, trying to keep my anxiety in check. I wasn’t entirely sure why I felt so affected. It’s not like Derek and I were friends. So why did the thought of him dying suddenly seem so unbearable? I could no longer stand to look at Derek. The infection was running its course, eating him from the inside out. He had begun to resemble a rotting corpse. I turned my back to him and focused my attention to the desolate road outside the window, trying to flush out any and all thoughts of death from my mind. I bit my lip, hoping that Scott would walk through the door any second now and save the day, just like he always did.

“Last night when I was looking for Peter… the Argents were there,” Derek explained. “Kate shot me with a bullet laced with wolfsbane. It’s causing some sort of infection that’ll kill me once it reaches my heart. That bullet is the only antidote.”

“Okay, I’m on it. But, uh, do you happen to know what it looks like?” asked Scott.

Derek didn’t reply. I turned around just as he fell sideways onto the floor. The phone slid out of his grasp and across the room. I heard Scott begin to panic over the line.

“Scott, hurry!” I yelled, loud enough so he could hear.

I dropped down on my knees next to Derek and gently patted him on the cheek, urging him to wake up, but he remained unconscious. I pressed my ear against his chest, listening for his heartbeat, but I heard nothing but silence. My own heart hammered in my ribcage and tears threatened to spill from my eyes.

“You’re not dying on me, you bastard,” I whispered, wiping away the tears that had managed to escape from the corner of my eyes.

I placed the heel of my hand in the center of his chest and began doing chest compressions. After thirty compressions, I lowered my lips down onto his, giving him two rescue breaths. I was surprised by how soft and warm his lips felt against mine. I continued administering steady compressions, but there was no sign of resuscitation.

I stopped and stared at his lifeless body. I refused to let him fade away just like that, but I had no idea what else to do. Scott would have figured something out; he always did. But I wasn’t Scott.

I felt so small, so useless.

So defeated.

Derek jerked abruptly, gasping for air. His eyes fluttered open and scanned the room until they met mine. I flashed a small smile and gave his hand a small squeeze of reassurance. I helped him up to a sitting position on the floor.

He tipped his head back against the wall and gave a low groan. “I know you thought you lost me there for a minute, but trust me. I don’t go so easily.”

I managed a soft laugh. “I know.”

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

What seemed like an eternity later, Scott finally strolled through the front door of the clinic with Stiles in tow, holding a small golden bullet in his hand. He crouched down next to Derek, who took the bullet immediately and screwed off the tip to release its contents. He pulled out a lighter from his pocket and lit the wolfsbane on fire. Ignited, it emitted a dark blue smoke, which irritated my nasal passages. I set my discomfort aside and focused my attention on Derek, who gathered the ashes into his hand and rubbed them onto his wound. He let out a sharp roar of pain that lasted several seconds, but he healed almost instantaneously. I let out an audible sigh of relief which seemed to go unnoticed by all the boys in the room.

Scott extended his hand and helped Derek up. He still looked a little worse for wear, but the rosy hue of his cheeks was starting to return. The eyebags were gone, leaving behind the olive green eyes that were once again fixed into a hard stare.

“Glad you’re okay, man. I’ll see you around,” Scott told Derek.

Stiles mumbled under his breath. “Hopefully not anytime soon.”

Derek shook Scott’s hand firmly-- an expression of silent gratitude.

Scott and Stiles walked past me toward the front door. Just when I thought Scott was about to walk out, he turned and walked back, stopping in front of me. He gave me a bear hug and kissed my right temple.

“I’ll see you at home.” He pulled away and walked outside to Stiles’ Jeep. I was about to walk out myself when I heard Derek call my name. I whipped my head around to face him and found him looking at me with those sharp, penetrating eyes. There was an unreadable expression on his face.

“Why did you do it?” He asked me softly.

“Do what?” But I knew exactly what he meant.

“Save me.”

I felt my pulse quicken and my cheeks heat up. I looked down at my feet and cleared my throat. I hated the thought of potentially stumbling over my words after one small sign of attention from Derek Hale. After a few counts I finally mustered up the courage to look up again. He was still staring.

“I never got the chance to say thank you,” I told him. “For risking your life on the night of my first full moon. You saved me.”

He took this into consideration. “Well, I didn’t do it--”

“For me?” I asked. “I know.” I recognized deep down why Derek did what he did that night, but it hurt much more to admit it out loud. “I know that you did it for Scott, and that’s okay. I know his alliance is important to you.”

He opened his mouth to protest. “That’s not what I was--”

I suddenly felt hyper aware of how ridiculous I sounded trying to explain myself to him. The warm, fuzzy feeling of attraction was gone. Instead, it was replaced by a hollow emptiness and a fiery desire to get the hell away from here-- from him.

“A life for a life, Derek,” I stated bluntly. “You saved my life, and now I’ve saved yours. Don’t read too much into it. I was simply returning the favor.”

Without so much as a goodbye, I turned on my heel and walked out into the cold autumn night. Every fiber of my body wanted to look back, to fetch for some sort of reaction, but I couldn’t go down that path. Not with Derek. I knew better than that.

I needed to be better than that.

TAGS

@broco8

@slytherinrising

58 notes · View notes

drreidfics · 4 years

Text

Dr. Reid and the Broken Girl pt1.

DR. REID AND THE BROKEN GIRL (Working Title)

Characters : SpencerReid x FemReader

Warnings : Abuse, Hints of Self Harm.

CAUTION // TW // THIS BOOK DEALS WITH MATURE CONTENT SUCH AS PROFESSOR AND STUDENT RELATIONSHIP, SEXUAL ASSULT, SELF HARM, MENTAL ILLNESS AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE. IT ALSO INCLUDES A LOT OF RATED-R MATERIAL. IF THIS IS TRIGGERING OR MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE THEN PLEASE DON’T READ.

Here I am again, on the floor, begging him to stop. There he is again, laughing at my pleas and forcing himself inside of me. Almost every night he climbs into my bed, then in the morning, he pretends everything is normal. When anyone is around, he acts charming. He is able to trick everyone into thinking everything is fine. Well, it's not.

My phone buzzed to life at the side of me. The alarm was going off but I had been up for hours, staring at the flecks of dust dancing around the air. The sunlight streamed in through my thin, white drapes. It was beautiful out. It was the middle of May and bound to be hot out in Arizona. I could feel the warmth on my skin already. I needed to shower and get all this sticky sweat off my skin. It wasn't even mine. I felt disgusting. His touch lingered everywhere on me. The bruises he gave me stained my skin more than the self inflicted cuts.

'Morning Ms. y/l/n. Last night was lovely. See you at lunch?'. It was a text from Mr Reid. He was my psychology professor. Older than me, at thirty, he had long dark hair and deep brown eyes. His hair curled slightly at the end. He was tall and slim. Smart and nerdy, having two degrees and a doctorate, he left his job at the FBI for something less mentally draining. He had worked there since he was twenty-two. I was twenty-one making our age gap quite small. Look at me, trying to convince myself that it even mattered. He was a lovely guy. Friendly, and handsome. He wouldn't fall in love with a student, and if he did, that student would never be me. He was too smart for that.

"Morning Dr. Reid. Thank-you for taking me. It was a fun eve! Yes, see you at lunch. We can have a chat about the stuff we saw yesterday =)". I read the message over and over again before hitting send. I was nervous as I usually always say stupid things. My low self esteem affected me very much. I was twenty-one, already with one degree and going back to do another. I was still living at Sharon's and I haven't had a boyfriend. He texted me back instantly.

"Can't wait! Need a lift to school? =)" I smiled down at my battered iPhone 6. I couldn't afford a brand new phone. I was lucky in that I only had to work a few hours a week at the local book store and that it was something I enjoyed doing. Sharon was good to me. She helped me pay for and make my way through college. I don't know what or where I would be without her. On the other hand, she brought the human spawn of the devil into my life.

"No thnx, Luna is picking me up =)" I sent but then instantly regretted it. I love my best friend but I would have preferred a ride with Dr. Reid. Our conversations were always interesting and insightful. We could talk about a wide range of subjects for hours and it would only feel like minutes passed.

"Ok, see u soon Y/N"

I smiled, almost forgetting my problems before catching glimpse of myself in the mirror. My fragile, battered body stared back. I sighed. He could never find a girl like me attractive. Not that it mattered anyway. Silly little girl crush.

After debating whether it was best to just find the nearest bridge in town and throw my self off or get ready for school (I am very mentally unwell), I decided on the latter. Luna had already texted me to inform me that she was about to set off. Knowing Luna, which I have had the pleasure of knowing for fifteen years (no sarcasm in there), ten minutes would be ten years.

I staggered down the dreaded stairs, almost losing my footing a few times, feeling light headed. I entered the brightly lit kitchen. It was so bright that I could feel an aching behind my eyes. The decor was simplistic, all white with gold features. Classic business mom who is never home asthetic going on.

Sharon sat at the island, face absorbed in her laptop. She was in her late forties with short, mousey hair. I believe she would be referred to as a 'Karen'. She looked nothing like Dom. She was short, like me, and fairly slim. He was tall and muscular with broad shoulders. Quarterback star player with the strength to show for it. He could snap us both in half. Dominic is Sharon's only child. Yes, that is correct. She is not my mum. I lost her.

Sharon looked up at me, flashing me a warm smile, still bashing the keys to her MacBook. She took a sip of her black coffee, nibbling on some cold toast. "You look like shit" she stated; matter of factly, her face blank. '"Thanks?'" I answered with a raised eyebrow. I walked over to the coffee machine and put in a pod, sticking my travel cup underneath. 77Kcals of goodness. All the fuel I will need this morning. "Sweetheart, don't act like that. You know I'm just saying. You need to sleep more" '"I know" I sighed. It was true... "But that makes two of us" I retorted cheekily with a grin. "Oh sweetheart, don't I know it" she raised her cup as if toasting the comment before gulping the last bit of coffee.

Sharon was my guardian, though not anymore as I was an adult and of drinking age. She still cared for me though as if I were her own. My mom died when I was seven and my dad had a breakdown. He couldn't cope. One day I came home from school and he was gone. He didn't say a word to anyone. He packed up his stuff and left me. I hated him for a while. The anger within me burned to my core. After a while I felt sympathy. He didn't get the help that he needed. If he did then we both wouldn't be in this mess. We'd be happy - together. I doubt he would know how to contact me now.

Aunt Sharon took me in. She wasn't really my aunt, she was my mom's best friend. She was the only connection to my mother that I had left besides her wedding ring. She loved her dearly and I believe she loves me dearly too. It's not her fault she can't protect me. She works herself to death trying to help me live my dreams. Dom wasn't the child that she had always wanted. He is doing nothing with his life. That is something I will alway's respect of her, single mom raising her child and somebody else's.

I loved her, though she did have the tendency to dish out tough love which often was way - way too harsh. And she was always away leaving me with him. I knew that if I'd only just tell her what he was capable of... What he would do to me when she left... She'd have murdered him herself with her bare hands. But it would kill her. I couldn't do that to her. He was the only thing she had who was blood. Me, I had no-one.

"shit! Is that the time? I'm going to be late. I gotta go, honey. Say bye to Dom for me." she pleaded as she stuffed the last slice of toast in her mouth and gathered her briefcase and her keys. " ...And make sure you have something to eat. You're wasting away!" "Have a good day at work Shaz" I shouted after her. I doubt that she heard me. She was out the door in seconds, jangling her keys and fighting between speaking with me and the ringtone on her work mobile. I heard her professional, scripted 'Hello, Sharon Cormack speaking' as the door slammed behind her.

I made my way through the spotless kitchen Gina, Sharon's housekeeper, always did a good job. I grabbed a bottle of water out of the integrated refrigerator. I also grabbed my iced latte from the coffee machine. It was almost half eight. My first classes start at nine and Luna still wasn't anywhere in sight. I scrambled through my purse for my phone, ready to give her a piece of my mind. That girl would be late to her own funeral.

"You're up early" a voice from behind me sneered. It took all my might to not to curl up in a ball, trembling.

"I... I have school"

No reply. I felt him creeping up behind me, felt his breath against my neck.

"I can think of something much better to do with the day baby" he whispered as he planted acid kisses on my neck. It burned. I squeezed my eyes shut, putting my hands up defensively. He pushed my back into the counter. A sharp pain ran though me.

"Please stop. I have to go" I whispered as his hand snaked its way up my neck, fist knotting tightly in my hair.

'"Why do you think a whore like you has the right to tell me what to do, hm?"

'- Hello? Katy?' Luna's smooth voice called out in sing song.

Oh, thank god for her and her timing. He released me from his grasp and increased the distance between us. His eyes were clouded. I could tell he was pissed. I brushed passed him, running towards Luna, who was standing by the open door. I ran straight into her arms hugging her tightly.

"I thought you'd never show." I whispered. She rested her chin on my shoulder, stroking my hair. I could tell that she was staring daggers at Dom and I could tell he didn't care. Like I said, the same routine. Every morning.

By the time lunch rolled around I had had enough. had gotten into a lot of trouble with Ms. Hallows over an overdue assignment and I had spilt water all down the front of my jeans. It looked like I had pissed myself. My saving grace is that they were dark jeans and so it wasn't too noticable. That didn't stop Georgie from laughing and calling me pissy pants for half the day.

Georgie was the kind of girl that you would avoid in high school. Everybody wanted to be her but everyone hated her so bad. She had golden brunette locks, a slim face and a petite nose. Her friends Nova and Ari were just as bad. Everyone used to tell you that when you left high school things would be different. I am sorry to inform you that they don't. Bullies stay bullies forever.

I forced my way through the groups of students, crowded together in the corridors. The last thing I wanted was to be late for my chat with Mr. Reid

"Y/N" I heard Luna calling after me. I could tell that she was chasing me through the crowd of students. "Y/N. Look, Y/N stop." I rolled my eyes.

"What?" I snapped. I could see the hurt in her eyes. She leaned on the wall, panting. I sighed. "I'm sorry. What's wrong?" I asked. I felt bad for snapping at her. All she wanted was answers, like anyone would have after walking in on what she did. But I don't give answers. I shut down. I don't tell anyone anything. She tried talking once we got in the car. I ignored her and I ran once we'd arrived at school. She didn't even need to speak. I could just tell what she wanted to talk about from the look on her face. I sighed again.

"Luna, I can't talk about this right now." I saw the hurt in her eyes. If I kept pushing her away then eventually she wouldn't fight to stay. 'Good', a small voice whispered in my head. Maybe that would be for the best. She deserves better. Everyone does. I could just end my life today and nobody would care. I used to fight hard against the suicidal ideations that entered my mind but now I didn't see the point.

"I have my meeting and I can't be late. Taco Bell after classes?" I asked. To my relief, she smiled and nodded, that beautiful smile that I loved so much. She was so easy to please. I smiled and walked away towards room 1980. Dr. Reid's office.

"I love you!" she shouted after me smiling.

"I love you more!"

"Lesbians" Georgie mocked. She was stood near the bathrooms. I rolled my eyes.

"Grow up"

Luna was gay but we weren't together. We had been intimate a few times but nothing had come of it. But so what if it had? We both agreed it felt weird as we had known each other as friends for so long. We didn't want to ruin anything. Luna and I had been friends ever since she opened up my juice box for me in kindergarten and then hit the girl who had stolen my straw. We had been inseparable ever since. She's been with me through thick and thin. I'd hate to think where I'd have been if she hadn't been there when my mom had died. We are and will alway's be the best of friends. In another life I could see us growing old together, adopting puppies and children but sometimes, it doesn't work out. And if you love someone, you have to let them go.

I opened the door to 1980 and as soon as I did my heart fluttered in my chest. There he was, as beautiful as ever. He looked up from the book he was reading, glasses perched on his nose and smiled, he seemed glad to see me.

"Sweetie!" he said, a smile spreading across his gorgeous lips. He's the only person who calls me that.

"Dr. Reid" I smiled back. My smile was huge and I probably looked so dorky but I don't care. My day just got brighter. I pulled up a chair next to him and kicked my feet up onto his lap. He rested his hand on my calf.

"So what did you think to the book?"

#drreid #spencer x reader #spencerreid #spencer reid #criminal minds fluff #spencer reid story #spencer reid smut #criminal minds fic #spencer reid fic #mature #fic #reader x spencer reid #wattpad #wattpad fanfic #teacher x student #college professor smut #professor x student #professor x reader #teacher x reader

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choco-glow · 3 years

Text

Fall Like Rain On Sunday, Pt. 10

Jason woke up around five am, bleary and in a tangle of blankets again from yet another nightmare…Sweat-soaked, he peeled himself out of his bed with a grimace and stripped first himself, then the bed, tossing everything into his washing machine before turning on the shower and stepping inside. Lukewarm woke him up a little better than hot right now, and felt better on his scarred skin; he leaned heavily against the tile, head tipped back as his waterfall nozzle rained down on him. The familiar sound of the washer going was a comfort, and piece by piece, he brought himself back to the present, breathing slowly, evenly, just as Bruce had taught him all those years ago…

“…Fuck.” He sighed out, and started washing up, glad for the indie shop he supported down the street that made its own soaps, shampoos, and conditioners. They were bar form, of course, but the natural scents helped ground him…anything heavily chemically scented was too triggering, too much like the factory he’d died in. A lot of things triggered that…tannerite, for one, which was why in all his varied explosions, he’d only ever used C4. Iron…He unconsciously touched the cheekbone that Talia had had her surgeons rebuild, for even the Pit couldn’t do everything. Not on a body that had been so badly brutalized that it’d been a closed casket funeral…

“Knock it off, Todd.” He growled out to himself, scrubbing furiously now. Fuckin’ don’t go down that path again, Jason…you know where it leads. Besides, you promised you’d make waffles this morning. Can’t leave a lady waiting. Steph’s smile filled his mind, and Jason relaxed, as he had for months now around his Batgirl…and he felt a tiny smile tug at his lips. He didn’t have a waffle iron; he rarely did more than griddle cakes, eggs, and bacon for himself, and that’s when he felt like cooking, so it was a good thing he’d woken up before his alarm; he had time to run to the nearest Lux-Mart. He finished his shower, relaxed now, and other than rescuing his book from the floor and setting it on his nightstand, left his bed to airdry for a while; he’d learned that lesson the hard way.

Dark jeans, boxer-briefs, a soft tee shirt, socks, his boots, and a hoodie, and he was ready to brave the pre-dawn crowds. He twirled his keys on one finger as he made his way down the stairs to his garage, and side-stepped the engine for Roy’s Corvette, unlocking the truck and opening the door with a flick of a button. It was dark still; small wonder, it was just barely five forty-five, and the sun wouldn’t be up for another hour or so…the garage door slid closed behind him with a whisper, and Jason set out for the Lux-Mart, following the main roads this morning, since they weren’t clogged yet by the early morning commuters. A few early birds passed him, and he waved at the Batmobile as they both continued on out of the city, since the nearest of Lux Luthor’s monster all-in-one stores was in the suburbs on the mainland.

Jason’s phone buzzed, and he answered it on the dash with a grin, glad for his blue-tooth dashboard connection.

“Hey Pops.”

“I thought that was you, Jason…what has you out so early?” Bruce’s voice was warm, exhausted, but for once, actually pretty damned friendly, and Jason hummed a little, smirking to see the ‘mobile keeping pace with him.

“Well, I promised I’d bring Steph waffles this morning as incentive to get her homework done…and then I realized I didn’t have a waffle iron.” Bruce laughed at that, low and surprisingly genuine, while he heard a squawk from Tim. Now, he didn’t…completely hate his replacement in the Robin line-up; certainly, he adored Steph and Damian. But Tim was…well, everything that Jason hadn’t ever been, and Jason was still too aware of how similar Tim and Bruce really were. Dick had commented on it, last time he’d come up from Bludhaven, and if Dick could see it…well. Jason still felt like he’d been the downgrade from Dick, and that Tim was the super upgrade.

It wasn’t true…but emotions could be ugly, ugly things.

And Tim had stolen his ex-girlfriend’s waffles.

“Well then, that makes complete sense…do you two need anything from us? We had a busy night dealing with Boyle again.” Jason winced; Ferris Boyle had been a problem since Bruce’s early days, even before Dick, and Jason hated the man almost as much as he hated Joker. Totally aside from how he’d fucked up Victor Fries, his actions regarding Nora had been absolutely appalling. He wanted custody of her so that he could experiment on her…and since Victor is now a supervillain…goddamn, I’m glad Bruce was able to win custody of her.

“Bastard…was he after Nora again?”

“And Victor. We convinced Fries to come back to Wayne Inc. and talk to us about Nora’s future; we’ve made some serious progress towards a cure, and with his research, we might just have what we need. And I’ve been working on something to help him as well…But we can talk about it later.” A yawn broke his sentence, and Jason smiled fondly.

“Go home, Pops; Steph and I will take patrol tonight. You two take the night off.”

“…Thank you, Jason. I really appreciate it; Damian and Tim do too.”

“Yes, thank you, akhi.” Damian’s voice was softer over the phone, tired, and Jason smiled, though he grit his teeth when Tim spoke up.

“Sure, thanks Hood. Hope you two actually get some patrolling done, and don’t just make out on a roof.”

“…Well, Timmy, I’m quite certain we’ll keep our professionalism at the fore. After all, we wouldn’t want to attract undue attention…like Kon did the other night.” Jason responded, voice sickeningly sweet as Tim choked over the phone call, and Bruce made an inquisitive noise.

“We were going over tactical plans!”

“Tim, I’m sure it’s fine.” Bruce’s voice was gentle, but curious, and Jason felt his grin stretch to maniacal proportions.

“Oh, of course you were! Silly ol’ me, ‘tactical plans’, of course! Must’ve been wall plans!” Jason replied sweetly, and Tim choked again, a strangled noise coming over the line. Bruce snorted suddenly, clearly understanding now, and Damian just sighed; Jason could almost hear his eyes rolling.

“Drake, do not give Todd grief for kissing; we all know you regularly have intercourse with Kon-El.” Tim’s voice was pitched even higher now, babbling as Bruce snorted again, clearly holding back laughter, and Jason snickered.

“Damian, Lil D, I want you to know how much I love you right now.”

“As I love and cherish you, akhi. Please do tell Grayson this.”

“DO NOT TELL DICK ANYTHING, JASON, I SWEAR TO GOD.”

“Then don’t steal Stephie’s waffles again, and I won’t~” He purred, and Tim let out a heavy sigh.

“…I apologize to her later.”

“So good to work with you, Tim, it’s just such a pleasure!”

“God, I hate you sometimes.” Bruce was laughing now, deep and highly amused, and Jason gave the ‘mobile a salute as he turned off towards the Lux-Mart, still snickering.

“Love you too, Timmy; good night, you three, I’m off to waffle-maker hunt.”

“Love you too, Jay; good luck! And tell Steph we love her too for me, will you?” Bruce asked, over the other twos’ groaning, and Jason chuckled.

“Of course, Pops. See ya.”

“See you.” The call winked out, and Jason pulled into the Lux-Mart, still grinning. He grabbed up his phone, double checked his wallet, and headed into the store, grabbing a cart. He didn’t want to buy a ton of stuff…but he knew he’d need more room than a basket. Appliances first; he grabbed a waffle-maker, one with interchangeable plates, and from the small selection, picked a Millennium Falcon and an Eevee (both for Steph), since they’d traded favorite Pokémon a few weeks ago, then favorite films. He was always looking for Pride and Prejudice/Sense and Sensibility stuff, or even just basic literary things, but hey, he liked Eevee too (even if his favorite was still Rapidash), and Star Wars was a familiar favorite from his childhood.

From there, he grabbed utensils that he knew he didn’t have, then a few things from pharmacy to cover his personal stores for the week. Bandages, wraps, gauze, alcohol…all the usual stuff, and then he made his way to the grocery area, where things were getting a little bit busier. Two boxes of waffle/pancake mix, maple syrup, and a carton of eggs; a package of bacon made the cut too, as did a gallon of milk, a bottle of his favorite fancy protein juice smoothie, and as he made his way into the produce section, a bag each of blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries. He also got a couple apples, good for a snack as well as baking into the batter, and a pair of pomegranates. Bananas too, just as small bunch, and a small tub of butter.

On a whim, he also grabbed sugary snacks for later, mostly Hostess cakes and some Little Debbie stuff, and a big bag of Chex Mix; not healthy, no, but they held up to patrols well, and he’d gone hungry too many nights to ever feel good about not having food around. Besides…his stay in the Lazarus Pit hadn’t just accelerated his healing factor…it’d forced his metabolism onto a higher level, and now he could almost match Kon pound for pound with food. He also grabbed some pizzas; just in case, he liked to have them. Checking his watch, Jason bit off a swear; it was seven am already, and it was easily a half-hour drive back into Gotham.

He got through self checkout with ease, and hauled his finds out of the store, leaving the cart at the entrance and legging it to his truck. To his surprise, clouds that hadn’t been visible in the darkness were rolling over the whole of Gotham City, heavy thunder rumbling out on the ocean, and in the low light from the rising sun, he made a few quick calculations. He had just enough time to get back to the city before the rain really started; he loaded up his backseat and tore ass out of the parking lot, hopping on the freeway in record time. He glanced around, confused at the lack of cars…then laughed to himself.

Of course it was empty; it was Sunday. I think I’m getting to love Sundays now…Jason thought to himself as he gunned it back to Steph’s place, settling back for the drive with a sigh. Just then, the familiar strains of ‘Home’ came onto the radio, and Jason grinned, then started singing along.

“I’m goin’ home…to the place where I belong…”

#JaySteph #jason todd #bruce wayne #tim drake #damian wayne #waffles in progress #batfam #batkids #batman #bantering #timkon #gothambysunlight #solarpunkgotham

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jazajas · 4 years

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okay so i finished love, victor a while ago and i saw some other reviews and thoughts about it here so now i've got a pretty good list on my thoughts and feelings.

tl;dr: it has some issues, yes, but im gonna hold out and hope it gets better later on because the same thing happened with the first few eps, i wasn't that into it but then it got good, and nothing is ever great with the first season, because at that point we're getting used to those characters.

⚠️caution: spoilers ahead (im on mobile, i cant get an under-the-cut)⚠️

1. while a leah on the offbeat movie would have been amazing movie sequel (even tho i havent read the book yet, im just here for the wlw content) i am kind of glad we got this instead. mostly because I've seen book series where one movie was good, so they decide to do the rest, turn out bad (hunger games? divergent? percy jackson? the hobbit?) because so much was cut from the book-to-first movie writing, that other scenes wouldn't make sense to future movies if they had those in while cutting others. however, i am sad that i didn't get to make the choice of deciding whether what was cut was wrong etc. about future movies, but i'll take what i can get.

2. LGBTQ+ POC as a lead! that's amazing! as a ace/bi lantina that's close to home (it also is great that victor's from texas and so is ya gorl) and even then it's a mixed latinx family! i think pilar mentioned that at least the grandmother left Colombia and i saw the Puerto Rican flag in victor's room. also the salazar's are definitely from small town texas, even without knowing the name. (church barbeques, the use of the words "such a diverse city" in regards to atlanta)

3. a lack of actual lgbtq+ main storylines (so far) is kind of sad for a show like this. i was getting serious bi/pan vibes (as a lot of other people) from victor from the beginning, and when it was implied that victor was actually gay (while great, not shaming) as it has been brought to my attention, there was a lot of looking at a lot of straight relationship problems (please let us know more about benji)- edit 6/18: upon further consideration, it very much is a show about questioning your sexuality, I'm speaking about the other straight relationship issues, not mia and Victor's, its just the first season.

4. let us talk about cheating for a sec. never okay, in any circumstance. i feel sorry for mia that she saw victor making out with benji and the fact that he was doing any of that in the first place. victor made a choice to lie about the espresso machine and then kissed benji at the hotel and then when benji was fighting with derek, basically confessed his love and mistakes, then proceeded to makeout with benji after he broke up with derek, he built that grave and now he must lie in it. i get having feelings for a guy when you are in a relationship with a girl, and not accepting yourself enough to end that relationship but you really want it to work so you can be "normal". really, he should have told mia after he got back from the trip tho. i get being in highschool and doing stupid stuff and making dumb decisions, but for a show aimed at teens i think we should also remind said teens to make good choices even if we have to lose some realism within the character choices.

4. pilar and her decisions based off her brother pissed me off. because i honestly think that if she'd kept her mouth shut about what she knew or confronted victor about it in the first place we could have avoided a LOT of mess. did she not learn from snooping around her mother's business about her relationships that going behind a person's back doesnt end well? i did, however, like the pilar/felix friendship and was really kind of hoping that they'd get together during their coffee hangout (although now im glad that didn't happen) because they had a deeper understanding of each other. same with wendy/felix, although they do seem to much alike to work out in the long run but i still feel bad for wendy.

5. i don't know how i feel about lake and andrew, as people separate from each other. both seem to be the way they are from their upbringing (not confirmed why andrew is such an ass, but if his comment about his dad is anything to go by i bet it's got something to do with attention) but andrew seems to be less, idk, superficial? like he turned down mia because he didn't want to be a rebound, he didn't out victor, he actually stood up to early teasing the other dudes in the lockerroom were doing at victor (with teasing of his own obviously but that interaction had him on my nice list until much later). lake? lake. i honestly don't have an opinion of her? not really. i mean after hanging out with pilar i was hoping felix wouldn't go back to lake. is her name laken? i feel like her full name is laken. but they also played the "im only like this because my mom is really superficial about stuff and i do like the geeky nice guy but appearances" to "actually screw the norms im gonna makeout with him infront of the whole student body". i honestly thought she was gonna be bi because she kept hitting on mia when she was helping set up for her "date" and "big night" and there was one point where i saw her face fall at something mia said in relation to her and idk i was hoping she'd be bi (i figured early on that victor/mia wasnt gonna work and was like "oh mia/lake would be cute" but now idk.

6. okay on to the "big night", i have one word. NO. i didn't like the peer pressure into having sex. i agreed with felix when he said "your body your choice" but im also disappointed that victor made out with mia and when lake was talking to felix after victor left he didn't try to stand up for victor.

7. on to age gaps because i hadn't really thought of this at first. we'll start with benji/derek: WHAT GRADE IS BENJI?! because that determines my thoughts. if he's a sophomore that meant that he and Derek started dating benji's freshman year and thats eugh, don't do that, don't care if its a gay couple that shouldn't be happening because the maturity of the two characters is DRASTICALLY different (this is also a reason i am not a fan of cmbyn) but that would explain why they were so rocky. hoping the event at the gay bar was open to anyone not just for drinking, but not liking that fact that not one of the adults with victor were like: hey, this is a 16 year old, that's kind of wack when that dude was hitting on victor. that made me question some stuff. although i figure it might be making up for the lack of a gay bar scene in love, simon. but even then, in svthsa it's a restaurant with a bar that some people go to just to drink at, it wasn't just a bar, simon could be there but should NOT have accepted drinks from college kids, not matter how attractive.

8. i loved how bram and simon and their friends helped victor out though. i like how bram was like: hey i know my friends are a lot so here's a gay basketball league becaue there's no one way to be gay. i like how Simon talked about needing help himself just to help victor and how he said his friends were cool with it because it's a community. i like of justin(?) mentioned how being what his parents wanted was putting on a mask and pretending, not him doing drag. my favorite lines from that ep are: "and before you ask my pronouns are they/them/theirs" "'they're all gay? even that guy? he's like [insert really tall number]' 'yeah. you should see him in heels'" "or in simon's case: really unathletic" "and also because bram said that if i wore [the jean jacket] one more time he'd burn it". also katya was there. and the group hug too!

9. the back hand homophobia in relation to family is sad, but realistic and i sincerely hope his parents are kind enough not to be too harsh on victor because of it. anything they say that isn't positive or supportive of victor is bad but i hope they realize that there is more to him than that and that they can come to terms with it because it's not always that hard to be a part of that community and super religious. i am biromantic and catholic. and while there are some things i wont agree on my mom with, i know that it's more of a strike against God for kicking out gay kids from families than it is to be gay, because those parents were given trust by GOD to love those kids no matter what, and be good parents. so in the end, the parents are wrong and harmful and in the case of christians against jesus's teachings to love everyone.

10. this is fan speculation but dont think simon/bram are going through a rough patch? i honestly think it'd be a little cruel to the characters to have on of their actors be producing but then not have that relationship stay. and while it's not set in stone and obviously things happen in the real world, we have no proof script wise about there being a rift. all we have are bad photoshopped ig photos and scenes where two characters are never standing next to each other probably beccaue schedules never link up correctly for minor characters. who knows, maybe nick robinson was filming for a movie where is does have an even more major role than victor's gay guru in a series about victor so his filming time was around that. im gonna keep hope that things are okay.

11. that being said: we need more mainstream wlw content, because someone said it earlier and it really does seem to be catering to straight girls. i'll admit i did freak out when benji played call me maybe which is something i associated with him and victor but then kissed a guy because who wouldn't? we get that serenade and sweetness and then it'a ripped from us. but i did mellow out. if i flipped later it was because victor was making dumb decisions and i had to give myself a moment of compsure before i continued.

in the end, i'd say that there is a lot of growth this series needs to go through, but i also know that some people just aren't going to like it and i get that. but i also know that sometimes the best of stories have rocky starts, nothing is ever perfect from the beginning. and besides, further seasons are on hold until we figure out this covid thing, which means that you bet they're gonna be looking at our feedback. they saw what we thought before, they can do it again

i really did like it but we need more ACTUAL lgbtq+ relationship stuff from this series and better decisions on what we are teaching the younger generations, as well as what we want to focus on and realism within characters. i'm giving it an 8/10, because there is always room for growth and i really hope we get better things out of this than what we have been given in season 2.

edit: someone mentioned it really seeming like it was meant for Disney+ and i felt that. also to anyone who reaches the tags agter reading ALL OF THIS: i am sorry

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mcrmadness · 3 years

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Madness draws: Behind the Scenes of the Bela/Farin: “Widumihei” comic.

A few months ago I posted here this comic:

CLICK HERE for the original post about that comic where you can see it in better and bigger size, and also reblog it ;)

And this post is just a deep dive into how I plan, do and draw my comics.

Let’s start with sketchbook things...

So every comic needs a story, right? My comics usually are born from either some dialogue I imagine in my head or by an impulsive inspiration that happens when I see something or talk with people and a random idea is triggered. I’m very good at coming up with new ideas solely based on just one word or so which is why I often ask people if they have anything they would want to see/read because I suck at coming up ideas on my own. Or I do get ideas, but not as often as I’d want to.

This particular idea was very old and I have tried but I cannot find the piece that was my inspiration but it was in some of my old German books because I remember laughing at it with either my brother or even with the German teacher in 2011 or 2012. I was only able to find my first “sketch” of the story:

This is in the notebook I used for writing down some comic ideas and even had one comic in it, plus it’s also my fanfiction writing notebook. It has no date but I know for sure it was either 2011 or 2012 because that’s when I did my last Bela/Farin comic and pretty much started my (unintentional) 6 year pause from drawing altogether.

I have always been trilingual when I do these plans for my comics, often writing the “narration” in Finnish and the dialog either in English or German because I just cannot imagine them to speaking Finnish. The translation of that text goes as:

COMIC (sarjis = sarjakuva = comic book in Finnish)

1. The phone is ringing. 2. F: “Widumihei?!” B: ? 3. B: “Farin wtf?” 4. Farin walks from another room. 5. B: “Widumihei?” 6. F: “It means, “will you marry me?”“ 7. B: *wtf* REPLAY:

1. Bela is sitting/laying somewhere. 2. The phone is ringing. Reached with his hand? 3. Looks at the phone, “wtf?”, a thought: “von Jan: Widumihei?!” 4. Bela: “Farin?” / “Jan?” 5. F comes from another room, looks in from behind the door frame or something. B: “Widumihei?” 6. F: “Widumihei: “WIllst DU MIch HEiraten”“ 7. B: “WTF”

So when I then started to draw these comics again in 2018, I kept thinking about this one too and still wanted to draw it one day. If you have read the finished comic, you may notice something different in the old plot versus new: I switched Bela’s and Farin’s roles. Back then I didn’t know too much yet but over the years I have learnt much much more about them and I just figured that asking to marry him even as a joke would be too much for Farin and that it would fit Bela’s persona much much better.

***

I had a bit of problems with getting started with this one, mainly because the last times I drew a dä comic was in June 2020, in April 2020 and before those in October 2019. Because of so long time between the comics, I just always forgot about my methods and in which order I do things and what works for me the best. So every time I started to work on a comic, I had to start completely over because all I had was blank paper and I somehow needed to get my thoughts in order and out of my head, into a physical form aka as text and images on the paper, and it’s easier said than done.

So pardon me but from this on the text is going to get a little bit confusing for a little while from now on - but it’s also a very good look over how the life with my suspected ADHD be like sometimes...

I started working on the plot once again to my sketchbook... I think it was somewhere in the beginning of 2020. Because the next idea there is from the summer. This is what the plot looked like at that point - here I had already switched their roles:

Shortly, the texts go: 1. Farin is reading a book. 2. A phone makes a noise. 3. (Farin) looks at it/read the message. / 6. B appears into the doorway. / 11. F spits out the tea.

And underneath it you can see one of the stick figure storyboards I often do in order to kinda see the text in pictures better, and I will write down or draw important aspects like expressions (Farin’s eyebrows) or things like *facepalm’* or *eyeroll* so that I remember to add them.

Next I was struggling with the era. It needed to be an era with the old mobile phones with SMS options but still not too early because I feel that Farin would have not been the first in line to buy a brand new technology object, especially not when it’s a phone. I was even googling when did Germany get their first mobile phone - I remember I got my first phone aka Nokia 5510 in 2000 or 2001 after my mom got a new one and gave her old one to me, so the story shouldn’t happen too many years before the Millenium.

Originally I planned 1997 for that - I needed to think about that based on their styles because shorter hair is harder to draw. Here’s me trying out some hairs and how they’re to draw and which era would suit my needs the best. I actually find the text hilarious altho it’s mine but this is what it’s in English:

Time period -> 1996-1997? 1998 I’ve never drawn 1999 is not that much fun to draw 2000 is already a bit too late? Bela not that much fun to draw. -2001 moustaches are not fun to draw?

I think I was struggling with my thoughts because the next thing in that sketchbook is yet another storyboard:

Or actually I think this was just to see how many sheets I’d need and how many panels I could fit on one sheet.

Anyhow, I then did other things for some time before I got back to this project this year. Including finishing with the sketchbook I had been using since 2010 (and the half of it since 2018!) and I had to get myself a new one. So when I started to think about this comic again, one night I was just thinking about some Bela/Farin scenarios as usual and suddenly I just felt that I NEED to do the comic in the 1998 style!!! So suddenly we jump from the original 1997 idea to the new era, only because of the colors.

So asap I grabbed my sketchbook and started to look for the proper colors for the hairs:

This one I posted here before too as I was struggling a lot and just felt that I didn’t know how to draw, again. Sometimes when I feel like that, I start drawing with my non-dominant aka left hand because it doesn’t have all that in muscle memory so drawing and writing with it feels more free and it feels almost like pressing a refresh button in my brain. Suddenly the right one know again how to draw because left isn’t too well in control. The below part of the image is done completely with the left hand, including the coloring.

And because I had now a new sketchbook, I somehow couldn’t... deal with the plot and plans being in a different sketchbook than everything else so I had write the plot/dialog AGAIN, into this new sketchbook, along with the storyboards and everything:

Translations: kirja = book, puhelin = phone, oviaukossa = in the doorway, teet suusta = tea(s) out of a/the mouth. “Puhelin zoom” just means “close up to the phone screen” in Madness.

You can also see that I found out that I don’t need to do the stick figure storyboards to imitate a sheet when I can just draw this rectangle and smaller rectangles inside of it and write there numbers to match the things in the dialog to make it much easier for me to plan the pages. And here’s also a small easter egg: there’s 13 panels overall in this comic :D I almost did 12 but then felt that no, I really need to do 13 because, you know, the hairs, the era, the album title. And also because I like the number so much lmao.

So from there we get to the second storyboard which is not just stick figures anymore but just me planning how I want the panels to look like. To get the imagery of the rooms and facial expressions etc. out onto the paper so that I can see them in real life instead of my shady imagination that sometimes isn’t as vivid as what I could be.

Also have you ever tried to draw a beach chair? It’s more difficult than you’d think:

I tried to draw the same thing from the same reference photos so many times and still I always felt like I was trying to draw that impossible triangle or some other illusion image. And it just went on and on here:

Originally I also had planned the second panel to be a close up of the phone so that Farin’s face would be left at the background from the frog perspective. That’s what I was trying to with that weird-ass face on the left but turned out that I have never drawn these characters from such angle and I just... couldn’t see it in my head clearly enough to be able to draw it. So I dismissed that idea and that’s why the angle changed from a phone close-up to a side view to the room and at Farin.

As I was in the middle of planning the second page, I suddenly wasn’t happy with my original plot anymore. I wasn’t sure if it would work and needed to think about it one more time. So I wrote two other dialogs here, along with a storyboards for them both. I ended up choosing B from those two options eventually.

I don’t remember anymore if I had already done the first sketch of the comics or not but at some point I just felt that I no longer knew how to draw in my style. Sometimes you just draw and learn wrong things and wrong methods that you get used to and then you have to take a break and actually do a little bit of studying over your own style to find again the way how you want to draw, and get rid of the bad habits and find the good ones again. In my case it was to draw the eyes way way too big when they originally never were THAT big, so I had to learn how to draw them small and normal again. That’s why I did these, as I really needed to pay attention to the faces and remember how to draw them again:

The front-side views were another big readong for this “study” because I have drawn that perspective only once or twice before and I needed to figure out how I want to draw that. Also, I don’t know if it’s just me but for some reason the front-side Farin reminds me of one of the parent characters from this cartoon called The Rugrats which I watched as a kid. It was totally unintentional, but you can google The Rugrats if you don’t know how the charatcers looked like in the cartoon.

The things below are just me testing something. The red Farins were just to test how the colored pencils work on each other and how the fineliners work with the colored pencils, and which way is the better way to do the shading. And the red colored pencil was the only one available at the time so that had to do.

A little bit about the heads btw: You might notice some difference between the left and right faces. It’s because I have always, always struggled with drawing anything that is looking at right. Most of the animal portraits and all I have drawn so that they look at left because I just find it so much easier to draw. I think with comics it’s because I always start with the eye (and the eyebrows if I don’t forget it) and then do the forehead, nose, mouth and chin, and after that I either continue from the hair (from the front) or do the ear first. But when I am drawing them to look at right, I have to basically draw the mirror image and starting from the hair is not the key because it can easily mess up with the perspectives. I still usually draw everything in the same order but it really is difficult because I’m doing a mirror image and my own hand is on the way, too. Basically I’m drawing from right to left instead of left to right! (I think I should try drawing those with my left hand, then...)

And from here we get to the first sketch of the comic. From here on the images are from my phone’s camera so they are sometimes illegally bad but no can do, I again didn’t think I’d post these to anywhere:

Here you can see I was mainly just focusing on the shapes and the space inside those panels. Just trying to see the perspective and how everything is. The only thing that I drew more precisely was the third panel, with the hand and phone. I had quite a nice memory of old phones in my head but I still googled for some reference photos of Nokia 5110 phones as that was my first phone (as I mentioned earlier), and I also happened to have some of my other old phones on the table nearby so I took my own hand reference photos too:

They always say there’s a little bit of the artist in their art and this one literally has that - “Farin’s” hand is actually my hand! :D And I think the size is kinda on point too because this phone was like 2-3 times smaller than Nokia 5110 and I have small hands, and I believe Farin must have much bigger hands, so the 5110 probably would have looked about the same size in his hand.

After the first sketch, the next step was then - the second sketch:

I also wanted to add more action to the panels so that it’s interesting to look at and not just basically the same panel over and over again with just different speech bubbles, so I came up with the idea of Farin spitting out his tea not being as cartoony as it could be and that he would have to actually clean it up instead of just leaving it there just because in cartoons/comics everything is possible. That way I got more depth into the panels and it was also interesting for me to draw because I drew lots of new postures I have never drawn before, and I’m surprised how well it went despite me not even looking for any kind of reference photos! The only things I used reference photos for were the beach chair, and the phone in a hand. (I have actually always been quite good at drawing 3D objects and spaces, especially if they are rectangular.)

So yeah, this is the phase where everything is then finished with pencil and what follows next is drawing the lines with fineliners - I use Sakura Pigma Micron fineliners for everything else, and black Promarker for doing the lines for the panels (and also if I need bigger pitch black areas done).

Here are the panel lines done but I only had a photo of this first sheet.

And here are both sheets with the finelining done and all pencil marks etc. erased. I really like this part because it looks so clean when all those sketch marks are gone. It’s also crazy to think I literally spend hours drawing something in pencil only to erase it all away later :D

And here’s one photo of the coloring process, the first one has only the base colors done but none of the shadows yet (apart from the shirts), and the second one has some of the shadows done but not everything yet.

Usually after coloring, I will then go through everything with the fineliners one more time to make sure all the lines are dark enough as it just gives everything the finished yet a bit “sketchy” look that what I really like with my comics. The actual last detail is always adding my signature along with the date or year.

And here’s the finished comic one more time for comparison:

Don’t forget to check and reblog the actual post about this comic if you read this post all the way here. I’d appreaciate that a lot since art and artist on Tumblr are not really that much appreciated.

#mcrmadness draws #mcrmadness draws: behind the scenes #my comics #dä fanart #die ärzte

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shianhygge-imagines · 4 years

Text

Sundown 勿忘草 [Reno/Reader]{Final Fantasy VII} Episode 2

AN: Here’s the next part of Sundown Wasurenagusa! I’m sorry that I’ve been slow on posting any new story material! I had a bit of a writers’ block, and I’m still trying to work through it!

I had intended for this to be much longer, but I felt like this part was a good length to post. The first part of this ‘episode’ is going to be formatted weird because I can’t get Tumblr to format a text conversation in the way that I want.

If you like the content I create, please consider donating to my Ko-fi! Please help me feed my tea addiction!

|Masterlist Link|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

December 12

Reno {07:10}

[Good morning, sleeping beauty]

Me {08:30}

[Morning]

[Do you not need sleep?]

[You probably went to bed late last night]

[And while it truly does make my day to hear from you]

[Why? It’s so early ;.;]

Reno {08:40}

[Can you blame a guy for being eager to talk to you?]

[Lol, Sorry. I didn’t disturb you, did I?]

Me {08:59}

[>///<]

[No, you’re good. I gotta get up to get ready anyways.]

[Flatterer]

Reno {09:34}

[I mean, can you blame me? ;) ]

[So, I was thinking about taking you on a date outside of Midgar, but I realized that I should probably get your opinion on it first]

Me {10:01}

[I mean, that depends? How early do I have to get up on my day off? And how long will it take to get there?]

Reno {10:05}

[Um… well, it’s getting pretty chilly in Midgar, so I was thinking about taking you to Costa del Sol… beach date :P]

Me {10:30}

[…]

[Costa del Sol is pretty far, Reno…]

Reno {10:31}

[And?]

[I’ve got a way]

[Don’t sweat the details]

Me {10:32}

[You’re taking a company helicopter, aren’t you -.-]

Reno {10:33}

[Ack! You’ve figured out my master plan!]

Me {10:34}

[Are Turks even allowed to take company assets out for joy rides?]

Reno {10:35}

[ TT^TT I told you not to sweat the details!]

Me {10:40}

[I just don’t want you to get into any trouble.]

Reno {10:50}

[Awww, don’t worry about me.]

[You have a party to attend later, so do me a favor and have fun, okay?]

Me {11:03}

[That reminds me…]

Reno {11:05}

[??]

Me {11:11}

[bluedress.jpg sent]

(The image is of you in a sapphire blue dress, the sleeves long and neck high. The dress itself ends just below your knees)

[This dress?]

[reddress.jpg sent]

(The second image is of you in a backless ruby dress that ends just above the knee. There are no sleeves to this dress despite the fact that it has a high neck)

[Or this dress?]

Reno {11:13}

[…]

[Y/N]

Me {11:15}

[Reno]

[???]

Me {12:01}

[If I don’t look good in either of them, just be honest ;.;]

Reno {13:05}

[Gah! Sorry, I got pulled away for something]

[The red one. For sure]

Me {13:06}

[Just because red’s your color… >.>]

[I hope you’re okay, Reno ;.;]

Reno {13:15}

[Hey, first of all, remember what I said about red being your color?]

[I don’t lie, k?]

[But also, yeah. Also because it’s my color, you should wear it ;)]

[Do you have a sixth sense or something?]

[image.jpg]

(Opening up the image file gifts you with a selfie of Reno, looking minorly roughed up and being supported by an infrantryman. He looks like he’s by the old church that Aerith likes to visit. Despite needing to be supported by the infantryman, the red headed Turk’s winking and holding up a peace sign)

[Just a few minor bruises ;P I’ll be fine]

[Unless….]

[You want to kiss me better? ;)]

Me {13:30}

[… Well. I’m sorry for worrying (¬_¬) ]

Reno {13:45}

[Joking, joking! :D]

[All patched up]

Reno {14:07}

[Y/N?]

(´༎ຶོρ༎ຶོ`)

[I’m sorry.]

[Please talk to meeeeeee]

Me {14:00}

[image.jpg]

(It’s a picture of you in the red dress. Your hair is done up with an attractive amount of make up. You’re wearing a sensible set of black flats.)

[The party starts in an hour, so I might be answering my phone too often.]

[And Costa del Sol sounds perfect for tomorrow ;) I’ve got my outfit all picked out]

Reno {14:15}

[Uh, yeah, that’s gonna be your new contact photo]

[I’m picking you up earlier than we agreed so that we can have more time to relax in the sun]

[Duty calls. Have fun tonight, okay?]

Me {14:20}

[And what? My contact photo for you is going to be this?]

[screenshot.jpg]

(It’s a screenshot of your mobile phone screen. There’s an edit with a red arrow pointing directly at the photo icon for Reno’s contact…it’s the photo that he sent earlier except you’ve photoshopped cartoon ‘uwu’ eyes and added pink anime blush to his cheeks)

[And don’t worry, I’ll probably have enough fun for the both of us.]

[We’ll have fun tomorrow, be safe, okay?]

Reno {14:30}

[I’ll try ;) But if not, I’ll have you to take care of me.]

[Also? That picture?]

[P.E.R.F.E.C.T]

Me {18:30}

[Hope you’re safe!]

[Message me after work to let me know you’re okay!]

[image-2.jpg]

(It’s a group photo of you and your friends in silly poses)

Me {19:21}

[image-3.jpg]

(It’s a close up shot of a delicious plate of food)

[I should have brought you with me ;.;]

|You called Reno| 20:58

[Unable to leave voicemail]

December 13 - 08:21

The morning after the confrontation with AVALANCHE at the Sector 7 Pillar, one would expect the medical bay in Shinra HQ to be jam packed full of patients. There should have been a horde of doctors and nurses, running around to treat the injured infantryman and civilian survivors. But there were only two individuals in the med bay, Reno and Rude. When the plate fell, only a handful of infantryman were able to escape the chaos. Many were left behind to fend for themselves.

Despite surviving a helicopter crash and the brawl with Tifa, Barret, and Cloud, Rude only sustained a few bruises and minor bone fractures. He had been assigned bedrest after being treated by the doctors, but the weight of what he and his partner had been tasked to do twelve hours ago felt like an overwhelming burden. Needing something to keep his mind occupied, the taller of the iconic Turk duo simply engrossed himself in a novel that Elena had brought over during her visit.

On the bed beside Rude’s, Reno groaned in pain as he sat up, eyes still not open and alert as he raised a hand to press against his pounding head. “Gah, what the hell.” Reno’s face stung at the cheeks when his face scrunched up at the pain that seemed to come from every part of him. Even the act of sitting up proved too painful due to his newly broken ribs.

Rude watched his partner sink back into the sheets from his own medical bed, sunglasses on as was usual of him. He wondered how long it would take Reno to realize that it had been nearly twelve hours since they had dropped the plate. He also wondered when his sassy partner in crime would realize that he had a date this morning. Of course, Rude didn’t think you’d get angry at Reno for missing a date when he was hospitalized, but the taller of the iconic Turk pair knew that Reno would never forgive himself for skipping out on you.

While Rude watched, Reno allowed his body to collapse back into bed, an exhausted and pained groan escaping his lips as he want, arms flopping onto the bed as he fought to remember what had happened to land him in such a pitiful state.

Oh yeah…Rude and I went to Sector 7’s plate… and we fought blondie’s group of self righteous freedom fighters… and then…I blacked out. Cracking both eyes open, Reno furrowed his brows and turned his head to examine his surroundings. Med bay back at HQ… The red head swiveled in place to stare at Rude, “The mission….” He trailed off with a questioning tone.

His partner merely grunted, “We finished it and escaped.” Lacking in detail, but still straight to the point.

Sighing in relief that his work track record wouldn’t have a stain on it, Reno flopped back down, “Whooo…” The red head cheered sarcastically, pumping a fist without any energy or cheer behind it. Gah, and I promised Y/N that I’d be safe… Reno’s eyes snapped open and he bolted to a seating position with an alarmed cry, “Crap! Y/N! What time is it?” Shit, I gotta message her to let her know that I’m going to be running late! The Turk second in command thought as he pat down his person for his cell phone.

When he couldn’t find it, Reno turned to his partner, who gestured towards the bedside table. “It was damaged during our fight with AVALANCHE, but it should still be working.”

Not paying any attention to the fact that he was now bleeding through the bandages wrapped around his abdomen, Reno grinned, “Whooo boy! Partner, you’re a life saver!”

The sheer amount of relief within Reno voice made Rude stop and stare at his partner. Hmm… maybe Reno’s serious about her after all.

Meanwhile, Reno quickly unlocked his phone screen, ignoring the fact that the glass display seemed shattered beyond repair. When he pulled up the chat room that he shared with Y/N, Reno cursed, “Five missed messages and one missed call.” Quickly reading through the text messages, and smiling at how much fun you were having at the party, Reno tapped out a quick message in reply to you before listening to the voicemail that you had left.

Yesterday

Y/N {19:21}

[image-3.jpg]

(Reno’s mouth watered at the sight of the food in the picture)

[I should have brought you with me ;.;]

|Missed call from Y/N| 20:58

[Click to listen to voicemail]

Today - December 13

Me {08:43}

[Gah, sorry Y/N, I may have bit off more than I could chew yesterday.]

[I just woke up in the med bay at HQ]

[I’m going to be a little late picking you up]

[And I’m a little roughed up]

[But nothing is stopping me from taking you on our date!]

[See you in an hour?]

When Reno lifted his damaged cell phone to listen to the voicemail that you had left him, the only sound that reached his ears was an error notification that the voice recording app had failed. “I’m sorry, but the voicemail recording that you wish to listen to failed to load properly. Please quite all applications before trying again. If the problem still persists, please contact Shinra Mobile’s technical support service to resolve this issue.” The phone recording informed Reno, pleasantly.

Knowing from experience that getting through to technical support at the current hour was next to impossible, Reno merely tapped out another message.

Me {08:47}

[Hey, the voicemail that you sent to me didn’t go through.]

[What was it about?]

Satisfied with the messages that he’d sent out, Reno shifted to get out of bed, an excited grin on his lips. “Welp! Time to get going! Got a wonderful day off with a gorgeous gal!”

Sighing, Rude lowered the novel to look in his partner’s direction. “Your date with Y/N?” When Reno only gave a sassy shrug in reply, Rude shook his head, “Just remember, you’re still injured.”

“Will do, partner!” Reno saluted the older man before dashing out of the med bay, dodging the nurses swiftly as he made his way to the elevators, itching to get back to the Turk dorms to change into something that would help him blend into the slum crowds of Sector 5. On his way to his room, the red headed Turk would raise his phone to check for any new messages, lowering it in disappointment every time there was no response.

“That’s weird, normally she responds by now.” Reno mused, sending out another quick text once he’d changed into dark jeans, a red hoodie, and a dark beige trucker jacket.

Me {09:12}

[I’m on my way to your place now.]

[Are you awake?]

Around twenty minutes later, on the helicopter ride down to the Sector 5 slums, Reno furrowed his brows and bit the inside of his lip when you didn’t respond again.

Me {09:32}

[Y/N?]

[Please answer.]

[I’m on a helicopter down now]

[Message back. I’m getting worried.]

When there is still no response, Reno taps on your contact and brings the phone up to his ear, trying to call you.

“Hey, this is Y/N. I’m probably away from the phone right now, so leave a message, and I’ll call you back as soon as possible.”

Straight to voicemail.

Something wasn’t right, and Reno could feel it in his bones.

When the helicopter started to land in the Shinra barracks, Reno didn’t even wait for the helicopter to fully land before jumping out of the aerial vehicle, landing solidly before taking off in a sprint towards your apartment.

She’s not answer any of the text messages… Did she lose her phone last night? Did she accidentally break it?… Did she find out what I did yesterday? Is she ignoring me?

The worries and thoughts that raced through Reno’s mind became more and more self-depricating as he neared entered the main town area and brushed past the crowds of people gathered in the streets. I know I said it was too late to grow a conscious, but damn it, please don’t let this be the reason she decides that she doesn’t want me around.

All but flying up the metal steps to your apartment, Reno starts to bang on your front door, calling your name in the meanwhile. “Y/N!” Bang bang bang “It’s Reno!” Bang bang bang “You weren’t answering your phone. Are you ready to go?” It took another few minutes of knocking before Reno head a door open below and slow footsteps ascend the metal stairwell.

Turning and expecting to see you standing there, Reno’s shoulders visibly slumped when he came face to face with a tiny old lady. “Oh, uh. Sorry for causing a disturbance.”

“Are you looking for Y/N, young man?” The old woman inquired, tilting her head to look up at Reno through friendly old eyes.

Feeling as if he was being judged by the elderly woman, Reno stood ramrod straight and nodded, clearing his throat, “Uh, yeah. We had plans for today.”

The old woman nodded sagely, “I see, I see. Ah, to be young again. I’m sorry to disappoint you, young man, but Y/N hasn’t been home since yesterday afternoon. I think she’s still at her friend’s home.”

The first traces of alarm flashed through Reno’s head, and suddenly his Turk persona was back, “Do you happen to know where her friend lives, ma’am?”

The old woman shook her head, “I only know that dear Selene doesn’t live in Sector 5. I’m sorry, young man.”

Suddenly jittery, Reno only nods and descends the metal staircase again, “Thanks for the help. I should get going.”

Reno doesn’t hear the old woman’s reply because he’s sprinting back towards the Shinra barracks, ears ringing and vision narrowed as he contacts a friend in Shinra’s tech department for help tracking down your cell phone’s location and retrieving the voicemail you’d left him. And while his friend works on it, Reno decided to change into a clean set of his uniform, mind suddenly kicked into overdrive as he tries to recall where you said your friend’s party was.

Gah, Reno… you pay attention to everything else she says, but you can’t figure out where her friend Selene lives? Some Turk you are! Reno scolds himself as he paces back and forth in Y/N’s office, somehow trying to find comfort in familiar surroundings. Damnit, think! What has she mentioned in the past about her friends. I only remember her talking about living in Sector 7 for a whi- Reno pauses in his steps as dread begins to pool in his stomach. “No.” He doesn’t want to entertain the possibility that you had gone to a party at your childhood sector the same night that he was tasked with dropping the plate on top of hundreds. But the more that Reno thinks about it, the more likely the possibility is, and he sinks to his knees in the middle of your office, eyes wide with horror and denial. “No… I refuse to believe it. Gotta wait for-”

His phone chimes with a notification.

Pulling out his phone as fast as possible without fumbling the already hazardously damaged device, Reno unlocks the screen, only to see that a voice file had been sent to him along with tracking coordinates.

Clicking on the voicemail and tracker, Reno’s frown deepens and his face pales as he stares at the map of Sector 7 Slums with a red dot in the center of it, the sounds of your final message to him playing in the background.

No.

The voice recording loops until Reno regains his bearings, body shaking and eyes burning as his ears pick up the sounds of explosions in the background, of your sobs as you fought to leave a last message for the man who had thoughtlessly killed you, and of your fear and acceptance that you wouldn’t live past that moment. The phone slips from his hands and clatters to the floor as Reno’s fingers go slack. “No… I didn’t… Y/N…” A strangled sob escapes Reno’s lips as he raises a hand to grip onto his hair, trying to maintain his composure, “I didn’t mean to… If I’d known, I would have…” The Turk second in command paused and hunched in on himself, not caring if anyone could see him through the glass walls of your office.

M-maybe she left her phone behind when she ran? But… if she’s not there, then where would she have gone if not home?

There weren’t any excuses or any other reason he could come up with. Reno knew that. If he had known beforehand that you would be in Sector 7 Slums, he would have warned you, but you would have tried to evacuate as many people as possible from that sector, and AVALANCHE might have managed to leave, therefore ending in a failed mission. He would have done everything he could to make sure you stayed away from Sector 7, but in the end, he’d still go through with the mission.

“I killed her.” Reno sobbed in realization, biting his bottom lip so hard that he tasted copper, “Just like I killed all those people.” Shaking his head, inconsolable, Reno could only mourn quietly. “I’m just the worst. This is karma for all the shit things I did in life, isn’t it?”

Eyes dulled and slightly puffy, Reno hastily wiped at his face and sat down with his back against your desk, his phone ringing with notifications as Tseng and Rude sent him requests for ‘status’ updates. And the Turk second in command ignored his colleagues, eyes staring into nothingness as he wreaked his brain for what to do next.

I really was looking forward to the date. Reno’s thoughts trailed off, It’s sappy as hell, but I wanted to ask her to be my girlfriend. Tseng said that relationships for Turks never ended well, citing Veld as an example, but… gah! This is the worst situation for Tseng to be right!

It was only the early afternoon… maybe he could start a search party for survivors… it was probably too late, but Reno knew that he had to do something to look for you. With renewed purpose, Reno got to his feet and marched out of your office, blue eyes burning with fiery determination as he hung onto the faint hope that you might have survived.

December 13 - 12:13

You groaned in pain and shifted your body, eyes cracking open to be met with blinding industrial lights. The pain from the glaring lights startled you into closing your eyes again, turning until your body was facing away from them. For a moment, you wondered why you were laying on some sort of weird metallic floor instead of your soft bed, and then the memories of a falling sky sent your eyes flying back open as you took in your surroundings.

The floor was indeed cold and metallic because it looked as if you’d woken up in a maintenance passage. Despite most maintenance passages usually being dimly lit, the one you found yourself lying in was lit from both of the walls. The ceiling above your face had a hole in it, though it was covered with metal and concrete chunks. You assumed, as you clambered to your feet, that you’d fallen through that hole and rolled a few feet away due to the pile of rubble directly beneath the hole. Wincing slightly, you poked and prodded your person for bruises, broken bones, or fractures. Slightly satisfied with just a few small skin lesions, bruises, and maybe a fractured rib, you patted yourself down for your mobile phone, hoping to call for help. Frowning, you found that you did not have your cell phone on you, nor was it anywhere on the floor near you.

Since you hadn’t expected to live through a plate falling on top of you, you could only look on the bright side of things, turning to walk down the metal tunnel with determination set on your face. I didn’t almost die from a plate falling just to give up in an empty tunnel. Plus, a fond smile appeared on your face, I have a date waiting for me when I get back topside.

It seemed pretty simple to you. You’d falling who knows how far down, but you knew for sure that the way out was up. So the only thing to do was to keep walking until you found a passage up. Easy peasy.

December 13 - 15:35

There’s a fierce snarl on Reno’s face as he stands by several parked helicopters. All around him, emergency responders and Shinra infantrymen scrambled to load up supplies and equipment. The dark look on the normally sassy, easy-going Turk’s face seemed like a literal beacon for anyone not bearing good news to stay the away. Though, if some of the troops were to be honest, Reno had very good reason to be irate. The Turk second in command had called in an emergency rescue operation for survivors trapped among the plate wreckage nearly three and a half hours ago, and they were only just beginning to start the rescue operation.

After Tseng, the Turk commander, had authorized the mission to rescue anyone buried under the rubble, the mission had quickly been side-tracked by Shinra executives Scarlet and Heideggar. Scarlet had protested against the operation simply because of the notion that dogs living in the slums were of no use to Shinra, and therefore, the mission was a waste of resources. Heideggar, meanwhile, had agreed that while in times of disaster, Shinra’s army bore the responsibility of launching operations to rescue civilians affected, the members of AVALANCHE were widely unknown and could easily disguise themselves as regular civilians.

It took nearly two hours of careful negotiations and subtle ego inflating by Tseng and Reeve, before both executives agreed to support the relief effort. Viewing it as a strategic move to improve public opinion of the Shinra Company, President Shinra gave little to no resistance when Tseng forwarded the mission brief to be sanctioned.

Now, an hour after the mission was sanctioned, Reno felt the beginnings of a headache forming as he directed the flow of supplies to each helicopter before making sure that there were rotations of supplies and emergency responders that would journey to and from the wreckage of Sector 7 once he landed with the first round of helicopters.

When he had deemed all in good order to head out, Reno sighed and hopped into the helicopter cockpit, buckling himself in to the pilot’s seat. Plopping the headset on while he waited for the rest of the crew to load up into the helicopter, Reno busied himself with flipping switches to make sure that pre-flight and the ride down to Sector 7 would be as smooth as possible. When his co-pilot buckled himself in and gave Reno the thumbs up, the red headed Turk spoke as clearly and seriously as he could into the mic. “Alright guys and gals in all active units, hope you’re all buckled up with headsets on because I sure as hell will not be repeating this briefing.” After a brief pause, Reno continued to speak while directing the helicopter off the platform. “You all probably heard about what happened yesterday. The official reports from HQ state that AVALANCHE launched an attack to compromise Sector 7’s plate pillar. Despite all efforts directed to stop the terrorist attack, the plate still fell. Our job is to go down to the disaster zone to provide relief to all affected civilians. We will also be launching search and rescue operations for survivors.” Reno paused once more as helicopter gained enough air to safely fly out of the landing zone. “I’m gonna be real with you all. Someone important to me was in Sector 7’s Slums when the plate fell and I’m going to try my damnest to look for her. So if any of you fuck this up… not gonna lie, I’m gonna be pissed.” Nobody replied to Reno’s admittance… not that he really expected much of a reply after he dropped that bomb on them. Having enough of the silence, Reno exhaled, “Alright… good talk.”

December 13 - 16:03

It wasn’t easy peasy. Definitely fucking not.

The chrome walkways and exposed piping-lined maintenance passage that you had fallen into hadn’t been a simple few meters under the surface as you thought. No. It’s was more like several meters down with a layer of minor blocked off passageways right above. And, as if that weren’t terrible already? The maze of pathways that made up the layer above seemed to take joy in bringing you up a level, just to drop you back down a level because some asshole decided to seal off the passages at various points.

Your eye twitched in annoyance when you walked down a metal walkway only to be face to face with another fenced off passage lined with reinforced plating. To your surprise, you could see a man stumble around the corner of the opposite side. When you saw one another, your eyes widened. “Holy shit!” The man gasped, stumbling forward with a noticeable limp and sliced up arm. “I didn’t think there’d be another person down here!”

“This place is like a maze, so I’m not surprised that any survivors had yet to meet up. A-are… are you okay?” The blood leaking from the deep scratches in his left arm seemed to ooze a poisonous purple color.

The stranger bit his bottom lip as he hastily hid his injury, “Yeah… I’ll be fine. Listen, girl, you should watch out while down here. I think the rumors about the underground lab were true after all. There are monsters running around everywhere.” Your expression must have been one of utter dismay and despair because the man coughed and reached into his pocket to roll two materia under the fence. “Uh. Shit. Well, it looks like you could use these then. It’s a Cura and a Fira. Hopefully you won’t need it, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Anyways, I hope you make it out of here, girl. I gotta keep looking for other AVALANCHE survivors.”

When the man made to jog away, you called out to him, “Wait! You said that you’re looking for AVALANCHE members? Are you one of them? Do you know what happened?” You pressed yourself against the fence in order to see the stranger from around the corner.

The stranger turned around to stare at you with a grim expression. “Whatever you’re thinking, AVALANCHE didn’t cause this, okay? We were framed by Shinra.” At your confused expression, the man scoffed, “C’mon, you really think that Shinra was going to let civilians protest and riot against them? They couldn’t figure out who was a member and who wasn’t, so they figured they’d drop the entire plate on top of us to get rid of us all.”

“But that’s such a drastic move!” You protested, wanting to believe that your employers wouldn’t have such blatant disregard for human life. “They wouldn’t just sacrifice thousands to eliminate AVALANCHE!”

“Believe what you want, girl. But the reality is that my friends and I all went to the pillar to stop Shinra from dropping the plate, and it dropped anyways because two Turks were sent to finish the job.” The stranger didn’t allow you to retort as he limped away. Not that you would have responded anyways with how the stranger had said that two Turks had arrived to help ensure that the Sector 7 plate dropped.

Pulling away from the fence, you knelt down to pick up the two orbs of materia, the color of your skin taking on a sickly pale pallor. Two Turks were sent to the pillar to drop the plate on top of all of us. Your mind instantly supplied the first Turk pair that you could think of and you felt like you were going to dry heave. I don’t know Rude too well, but from what I know, he and Reno wouldn’t do something so horrendous. Surely, there must have been another pair of Turks who were sent to do it. But you did work in a different department as them, how did you know that there were more members of the Turks? And with Reno’s position within the group… He could have known what was happening…

You told Reno that you would be hanging out with your best friend… that you guys were having a party. He’s smart enough to deduce that your friends still lived in Sector 7… Did he forget? Or… Your stomach churned violently as you sank to your knees on the cold metal walkway. Did Reno just decide he didn’t care if I survived or not?

The edge of your vision burned with tears threatening to spill down your cheeks. A simple blink sent them trailing down your cheeks as you stood upon shaky legs. “Can’t worry about that now.” You muttered, eyes filled with determination as you gathered the excess fabric of your dress to gird up your loins. “I need to find a way out of here. The tunnels might not be able to hold for long.”

Lifting your arm, you pressed one of the materia into your forearm, like you’d seen a few SOLDIERs do before, marveling at how the orb of power sank into the flesh of your arm. Smiling at how seamless it was to merge flesh with Materia, you pressed the other faintly glowing orb into your other forearm, concentrating for a bit before casting Cura upon yourself.

Newly rejuvenated, you back tracked through the metal corridor to find the ladder leading down. “Welp, there’s no time like the present,” you mumbled to yourself as you descended further into the tunnels below.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#shian imagines #final fantasy vii #Final Fantasy 7 #ffvii #ffviir #final fantasy vii remake #ffvii:remake #reno #reno x reader #final fantasy vii reno

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purplesurveys · 3 years

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1127

1. What is one thing you will never do again? Watch The Hours. Film itself is great, but is way too triggering.

2. Would you rather be twice as smart or twice as happy? I’d take happiness easily. It’s not bad for the most part to make mistakes and I’d rather be too clumsy than be altogether miserable.

3. What happened the last time you cried? It was the day of what would’ve been our anniversary and at that moment I was alone in my car at a parking lot (waiting for the office to open) on a gloomy day. I just had to cry and let my feelings out for like 5 minutes to accept everything but I was immediately fine afterwards, haha. Grief can be funny.

4. What happened the time in your life when you were the most nervous to do something? My first job interview. It was my first adult thing ever. They never got back to me - very professional of them - but I was still grateful for the experience nonetheless.

5. What would your parents be surprised to learn about you? That I was in a whole ass relationship for technically 6 1/2 years. They probably have an inkling by now, but only about me being in a relationship. I’m sure they would be very surprised if they ever found out how long it had actually gone for.

6. What’s your worst habit? I pick at my toenails when I’m nervous or stressed. I tend to do this when I’m doing a work task that I particularly dread, and sometimes I’ll end up being fixated on the habit for like 10 minutes straight and not get anything done.

7. What superpower would you have for one day? Time travel, just to take quick trips to multiple decades and see how life was like during those times.

8. What fictional character do you have the biggest crush on? Matty from 13 Going on 30 would be one of them. Albert Finney’s character in Two for the Road is also charming as fuck.

9. Where would you live if you could live anywhere in the world? If money wasn’t an issue, probably somewhere cozy in like Switzerland or Canada.

10. What is your most bizarre pet peeve? Not necessarily a pet peeve but I get extremely uncomfortable when someone hands me a gift then they insult the gift while in front of me, saying it’s not a great gift or that I probably don’t need it, etc. Filipinos also have this habit of saying something along the lines of, “You earn way more than me so you’d probably think this gift sucks” like how do you want me to react :(((((( I love receiving gifts and the idea of being thought about already means a lot to me, so it just makes me wince a little bit when I hear statements like the above.

11. Who knows you the best? Gabie, probably. I’ve changed a lot since then, though.

12. What after school activities did you do in high school? Clubs were mandatory extracurricular activities in my high school; in my time, I joined the table tennis and yearbook clubs.

13. What “most likely to” superlative would you be most honored to receive? Idk, we didn’t have those in school. I probably would have been honored to get a journalism-themed one though; something like Most Likely To Write for NYT or Most Likely to Win a Pulitzer or something like that. Obviously that’s changed now and I’ve long let go of journalism as a passion.

14. What’s the last book you really loved? I haven’t read in a long, long while.

15. What was the greatest television show of all time? I don’t watch a lot of TV so I’m not the most credible decision-making body for this lol, but out of all the shows I’ve watched the best one would easily be Breaking Bad.

16. What’s been your favorite age so far? 16. Life was insanely easygoing back then and everything fell into place for me at the time.

17. If you could go back in time, what is one piece of advice you would give your younger self? Know when it’s enough. Be kind to yourself.

18. What one thing would you be most disappointed if you never got to experience it? Have kids.

19. Apologize or ask permission? I don’t understand the relationship between the two.

20. Unlimited love or money? I would love to never have to worry about finances ever again.

21. If you knew you would die in one week, what would you do? Take a week-long leave for work, spend all my money, bond with my dogs, throw a party for my closest friends, and honestly, make my peace with her.

22. What’s your most listened to song? Spotify doesn’t show that feature, but I bet it’s from Paramore or Hayley anyway. It would be impossible to know my most-listened to song of all time, like if we took into account my Spotify, iTunes, etc.

23. Beach vacation or European vacation? I need a beach vacation badly, but a European vacation would be a new and different experience. I’d take the latter.

24. If you could have been a child prodigy what would you have wanted to be skilled at? Playing the piano.

25. What’s the first thing you would do if you won the lottery? Depends on how much I won lmao. I’d probably retire this early if the money was big enough since I’m pretty stingy anyway. But generally, I would like to pay off whatever bills my parents are currently paying for, get back the car that we had to sell because of the pandemic, and maybe go for a solo vacation or five heheh.

26. What celebrity would you trade lives with? Kylie Jenner, for a day. Just so I can briefly have a taste of how being that rich is like.

27. If you were a performing artist, what would you title your first album? Nope.

28. What story do your friends still give you crap about? Staying with Gab despite the red flags that glared for four whole years is one of them. Angela will also never let go of that one time I tried some kind of fruit juice in high school and I described it as ‘packs a punch.’ It’s understood as a super Westernized idiom where I live and literally no one uses it in a casual sentence, so it was a hit with her and now we use ‘packs a punch’ whenever we want to describe something awesome or surprising.

29. If earth could only have one condiment for the rest of time, what would you pick to keep around? Mayonnaise and I will die on this mayonnaise-coated hill.

30. What is the ideal number of people to have over on a Friday night? Ideally? At this point? Like 20. I would love for that to be the case on the first Friday we can consider the Philippines COVID-free.

31. What was the worst age you’ve been so far? Sorry for yet another incoming Paramore reference but they literally have a lyric that goes, “22 is like, the worst idea that I have ever had.” Before turning 22 I used to think it was a weird line, like how could 22 possibly be unenjoyable? Now I’m 22 in a pandemic going through a rough breakup and I can’t even see my friends nor work in my first workplace ever.

32. What is your weirdest dealbreaker? If they wanted only cats as pets. I can deal with a dog and a cat, I guess; but cats were never fond of me so I feel like I’d struggle with this situation lol.

33. What fictional character reminds you most of yourself? Mr. Peanutbutterrrrrrr. Has a lot of love to give, doesn’t always use it on the right people. Also lives on pleasing others.

34. Do you believe in karma? Just to a tiny extent, in how I would want people’s awful actions to come bite them in the ass one day. It’s not a philosophy that controls my life and the things I do whatsoever.

35. What was your favorite TV show as a kid? My absolute favorite was Hi-5, with the original cast. As I got older my interests shifted to Spongebob and The Fairly OddParents.

36. What is the weirdest thing you find attractive in a person? I don’t think it’s weird, but I don’t hear thighs too often when people list down their favorite physical traits. It’s certainly one of mine.

37. What Jeopardy! category would you clear, no problem? A Friends-themed one, obviously. This reminds me of the Jeopardy night I had with some friends a few nights ago! That was so much fun, and Andi makes really great and fun questions hahaha.

38. What is something you’re superstitious about? I don’t think I am about anything.

39. What is the scariest experience you have ever had? Maybe that night my grandpa went into a drunk rampage. I was 9, right in his line of sight, frozen and scared shitless, and I didn’t know who he was going to strike next.

40. Who is a non-politician you wish would run for office? I never really think about this. If someone’s a non-politician then there must be a reason they aren’t, lol.

41. What cheesey song do you have memorized? Little Things by One Direction is very cheesy and it’s one of my least favorite songs of theirs, but I still have it memorized out of habit.

42. What one dead person would you most like to have dinner with, if it were possible? My great-grandpa died all the way back in the 70s, even before some of my aunts and uncles could meet him. It would be cool to spend time with him.

43. Do you think it’s important to stay up to date with the news? Yeah, absolutely. I have the stomach for it lol, so I always monitor what’s happening locally and globally. Skipping the news from time to time is fine because I get how anxiety-inducing and depressing some events can be, but there’s a huge difference between ignoring the news for your mental health and being indifferent altogether. I’d immediately judge anyone who’s the latter, and would assume you are incredibly privileged.

44. What is the best present you could ever receive? My money refunded -____________- I had food delivered to my director, Bea’s house as a surprise earlier today, but apparently I ran into a scammer driver and the fucker drove away with the meal I had bought for Bea. I reported the driver and the situation, and thankfully the customer service rep of the food delivery app quickly responded and said they’d return the full amount I paid for; but I still haven’t received it.

45. Would you give up one of your fingers if it meant you’d have free wifi wherever you go, for the rest of your life? No. Mobile data exists for a reason.

46. What’s the first thing you’d do if you were the opposite sex for one day? Check out my voice.

47. If someone told you you could give one person a present and your budget was unlimited–what present would you get and for whom? I’d love to surprise Angela with an overseas trip that would last for like a month. Traveling is one thing we have yet to do as best friends.

48. What is the nicest thing someone could say about you? Nothing particular, but it makes me happy when people call me strong and when they validate the shit I’ve gone through over the years.

49. Giant house in a subdivision or tiny house somewhere with a view? I would take the giant house. When it comes to my own place, I would want to have a lot of space to roam around.

50. What is the weirdest quirk your family has? Nothing is coming to mind.

#surveys #survey

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ahiddenpath · 4 years

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My Current Thoughts on Writing Fanfics

I’m so glad I’ve had this bloggity since 2012, because I can see how much my approach to writing has changed! I wanted to touch base on where I am now, plus answer the most common questions I receive about writing fanfics beneath the cut.

Obligatory disclaimer: I’m a hobbyist writer, this is meant to be taken as opinion/reflection, not advice, different approaches work for different people, annnnd also check out my digimon fanfics (FFN and AO3).

How do I develop a regular writing habit?

I’d start by setting aside 15 minutes a day to write. Don’t focus on word count- writing x number of words can be intimidating, but most people can sit for 15 minutes and get something down. If you’re writing on a computer, turn off the internet and place your phone out of reach

Gradually increase the session length.

Never worry about the quality of your writing while you’re drafting. That’s what editing and subsequent drafts are for. I have a post on utilizing successive drafts to combat writing paralysis here, but the tl;dr is that the pressure to write a perfect story in the first draft often turns writing into an agonizing trial instead of creative play.

Your first draft is bad, period, at least compared to what it will be. In the kindest way possible, get over it. Your value as a writer- or as a human!- isn’t tied into your questionable first draft. Please explore your story in the earliest stages with enthusiasm, not criticism! You’re going to make it so much better by the time you’re finished!

How do you write so much?

See, here’s one of the biggest changes in my mindset compared to my early days as ahiddenpath. I used to think that doing all of this writing was like... extra credit, like a stretch goal I pushed myself to achieve.

I learned in therapy starting in 2018 that the reason I keep writing is because I have to. I have general anxiety disorder, and my brain... Have you seen an old-timey cartoon with a boiler? They are drawn swollen, metal distorting with steam pressure, rivets groaning and popping free. That’s how I feel if I don’t write. Don’t ask me why or how, but writing is like turning a valve to release the pressure.

(Quick PSA- my therapist calls creative outlets “coping skills.” If you feel like you have boiler brain, make time for your hobbies, no matter how tired you are.)

For me, writing is challenging play. Although I’m often conveying messages that matter to me or exploring ideas I want to work through, and I try to make the best product I can... I don’t take it seriously, and I don’t sweat over it. I’m here to wander, play, and take care of myself.

So basically, I think the recipe for producing lots of writing is: regularity/habit (do it every day, even for just a little while), minimizing distractions, separating the processes of drafting and editing, turning off criticism in the early stages of drafting, and writing for yourself and your own needs.

Do you feel embarrassed about writing fanfic?

Nope. I write for my mental health/because it’s fun, period. However, I also don’t tell people IRL that I write fanfic! But I’m a private person (I don’t tell people IRL that I’m asexual, for example, and I only tell them I have anxiety if I freeze up in front of them).

Do you feel embarrassed about writing OCs/fakemon?

Hahahaha! Look, I know there are lots of people who won’t read OCs and fakemon. I know there are probably people who wish I would stick to more canon stuff (both in terms of OCs and my strong preference for AUs).

But I’m here to write what I want, and while it makes me happy when people read and enjoy my work... It’s no skin off my back if they don’t. I already fulfilled my goal of taking care of myself.

Don’t you want to get published and make money for your writing?

No, not at this time. For everyone who has said that I have the writing skill to be published, thank you so very much. That’s so kind, and I truly appreciate it!

But... The United States has the enormous capitalistic attitude problem that endeavors are only worthwhile if they generate capital. I can’t even begin to tell you how damaging this concept is- literally, I’m not equipped with the sociopolitical educational background.

Sometimes I think I’d like to become a published novelist? But sometimes I recall that I have a dope research gig, and I wanna play around with writing in my free time.

To be clear, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t pursue your creative career dreams!!! And, who knows, maybe some day I’ll get tired of research and want to try swapping to the hobby/skill I’ve spent so much time refining. Just... Never stop doing something fun and harmless you enjoy because “it doesn’t make money.”

I’m not gonna sit here acting like I know what the purpose of life is, but I think having fun and meeting your needs is pivotal.

Okay, so how can I support my favorite fandom content creators?

Bless you, f’real. The easiest way is to comment on their stuff. For meta writers, leave comments, engage, ask questions. For fanfiction writers, leave reviews. I have so many lovely folks who chat with me over Tumblr or discord after reading my stuff, which is so great. But it’s hard to find those sweet messages later. I can always click on reviews any time I need a little positive reinforcement/boost. So, even if you’re going to talk to the writer later... Leave that review!

If the content producer uses social media, reblog their stuff to give them more exposure. Likes are for you, so you can find a post later. Reblogs are for the creators, so other people can see their work.

Things like fanart, fanfic of fanfic, cosplays, and other... fan content of fan content make our year, I promise! We love that so stinkin’ much!

Some fan content producers have a ko-fi and/or a patreon, so sometimes there are monetary ways to show appreciation.

If you’re intimated by a content producer, please remember that we are all massive dorkasauruses. I absolutely guarantee it.

How do you have so many ideas?!

Ah, I have a Future Projects page on my blog- I don’t think pages work on mobile.

But here’s the secret: ideas are the easy part. They are literally a dime a dozen. Heck, there are AU generators! Just pick characters out of a hat and use an AU generator and bam, you’re off! And even then, you don’t need a real idea to start writing! I launched Four Years on the thought of, “hahaha, wouldn’t it be a mess if the Chosen went to college together?!”

We’re writing fanfic; we’re here to play. There’s no need to crush yourself with the expectation that you must write the next hit thriller plot.

In my opinion, the much better question is: how do you manage your projects such that you complete them?

So, uh, how do you manage your projects?

I’ve established that I write fanfic to play and to take care of myself, but I do want to grow as a writer along the way. And the best way to learn how to craft narratives is to practice completing them. If you launch stories over and over and only write roughly 1/4 to 1/3 of the way through the story... All you’re practicing is how to start a story.

When I first started writing as ahiddenpath, I did exactly zero planning (see the Four Years reference above). I ended up with longfics stretching as long as 400K+ words- that’s over six novels (based on the average adult fiction novel length)!!!!! It is so daunting to work on longfics, because you feel like the ending is nowhere to be seen.

SO most of my pointers circle around always writing towards your ending, even before you start!

-Decide what you want to say with your story before you start writing.

First, “what you want to say” doesn’t have to be a big, grand theme. It can be as big as “how the trauma of their adventures impacted them after” or as small as “I think these dorks would have a good time at laser tag.”

I’m not talking about a detailed outline (in fact, I personally hate outlines). Just know what your story is about and make sure what you write points to it. If you can make the structure of your story mimic your theme, even better! But no worries if that doesn’t work out, it’s not always possible.

-Write linearly

The best way to keep moving along in your story is just to... keep writing it in order. This helps achieve regular updates, and prevents you from potentially “losing” material if you change your mind about the plot before reaching the bit you wrote already. This happened to me so frequently that I stopped writing ahead of myself. If I have an idea, I write it down, but I don’t draft future scenes. In my experience, they often never see the light of day.

I’m told people often write the bit of the story they most want to write first? If you have a single scene that you’re really longing to write, but you don’t know how to get there/don’t want to write the rest... May I suggest that you... don’t write the rest? If your scene works as a oneshot, write that oneshot! Don’t torture yourself with a lot of writing you don’t want to do. Most often, people end up forcing their way through 1-4 chapters, then stalling before ever reaching the Good Bit.

A moment of silence for all of the unwritten Good Bits out there. Now, some Enya.

If you can’t reduce Good Bit setup to a oneshot, reduce as much as possible. I think that sometimes, people underestimate the incredible advantages of writing fanfiction? Everyone knows your characters already, and maybe even the setting, if you keep it canon. You can cut out the setup and dive right into what you want to do with the characters!

-Think about the structure of your story before you start

Considering the structure of your story is a fantastic way to estimate how long it will be/ensure that there is an ending in sight from the start. For example, in Voices, I covered a single school year in Japan, writing a diary entry for a different Chosen every day, so I knew that I would write the story for roughly a year. After August had one chapter per Chosen, so each child could help Taichi deal with his post Adventure trauma in their own way, plus an opening and closing chapter. My Tri story, Tri: Integrity Lens, is written and posted in installments covering each Tri movie.

It’s fine if no particular structure strikes you. I could see forced structure turning into a gimmick, you know? But if it naturally works out, it’s a great way to have a solid idea of how much story is ahead of you before you start, and where the story will end. And being cognizant of how and when a story ends from chapter one yields a tighter, shorter fic, one that you’re more likely to complete.

-Consider writing in batches/sections before posting

So lately, I’ve been experimenting with how I deliver fanfic updates. I mentioned that my Tri fic follows the Tri movies. Each movie is covered with a few 3,000-6,000 word updates that I post every other week. I cover an entire movie before posting any of it, and then I plan to take a break in between movies to work on either the next movie or a different fic.

AND THIS IS SO GREAT! Having large chunks of my story written is such a fantastic way to do things! I keep thinking of little details I can add/things I should mention and noticing inconsistencies I can fix before posting. Giving myself a larger picture and time to mull over it by spreading out updates is making a huge difference for me.

Plus, giving yourself little breaks between installments can help keep you fresh and motivated, while leaving your audience waiting at a nice, natural stopping point. Plus, this way they know that you haven’t just... up an vanished or dropped a story. You’re just taking an announced break.

How do you plan stories?

I believe I mentioned hating outlines. I personally respond best to “structured freedom.” I focus on things like: what are my themes/what do I want to say, how will the characters grow or regress, how is this story structured or formatted, what is the overall tone and mood. Other than that, I keep things fluid... Which is why it’s so important for me to enforce some kind of ending point before I begin.

Basically, for me, too much planning = a boring slog where I can’t inject the moods and ideas of the day into my work without derailing meticulous plans. Too little planning = longfic hell. I’m guessing that everyone has to decide for themselves where they land on this continuum! Exploration is vital.

Okay, I am out of steam for today. If you have any other writing/fanfic questions you’d like answered, please let me know! Here are some other resources I’ve made.

-Combating writing paralysis with successive drafts

-Dishing with an artist

-Tips for Fanfic Authors

-More Tips for Fanfic Authors

-Tips for Winning Nanowrimo

-Resources/Advice for Digimon Adventure Fanfic Writers

#writing talk #writing fanfics #writing fanfiction #writing fics

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addierose444 · 3 years

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Microsoft Return Offer: Explorer to SWE Intern

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be returning to Microsoft next summer as a software engineering intern! Read on to learn about my specific product team! (If you missed my recent post about my experience as a remote Microsoft Explorer Intern click here). It’s so crazy to already have summer 2022 plans as I haven’t even started my next year of school yet. This year, I didn’t have my summer plans until March which at the time felt sort of early.

I’ve known all summer that I would likely know by the start of the school year if I’d be returning. This is because return offer decisions are communicated during the final week of the internship. Furthermore, after getting an official offer, you are typically given only two weeks to decide. However, I was actually given a deadline of November 1st as Smith strongly encourages employers to give students until then to commit to a full-time job or internship offer. It is worth noting that Microsoft honored Smith’s policy even though I’d been unaware of it. In fact, my first reaction was that my recruiter had made a mistake. I knew that such policies existed at other schools but had been unable to find one for Smith the last time I’d looked. You can read the full policy here. Even though things worked out for me, it is advisable to proactively let your recruiter know about the policy.

It initially sounded crazy to have so little time to decide but to be honest I’ve had the intention to return for quite a few weeks now. For me, returning to Microsoft makes a lot of sense because it’s been an incredible place to work. Even at the midpoint (before diving into the more technical side), I was leaning towards returning to Microsoft. The easy part was knowing that if I want to do software engineering that Microsoft is where I want to be. The harder part was determining if software engineering is the right career path or whether I should do something that’s a bit closer to the hardware. Even if I ultimately decide not to pursue software engineering as a career, I know that it will be an incredible learning opportunity and that I’ll meet even more great people. Furthermore, it’s a solid line on my résumé. Speaking of résumés, click here to check out the résumé that got me the initial interview at Microsoft. For now, my plan is to continue learning new skills and generally keep my options open. My current post-college vision is that I’ll either go straight into a software engineering role or attend graduate school for something like robotics.

As an Explorer Intern, the default return offer is a software engineering internship with your current team. While return offers aren’t guaranteed, they aren’t as elusive as they may seem. What you need to remember is that companies like Microsoft invest in their interns as a key part of their recruiting efforts. Of the ten interns with whom I share a recruiter, eight of them received return offers. Returning to your current team doesn’t necessarily mean or guarantee the exact team. Rather, your offer is held at the product group level. Explorer Interns also have the opportunity to change teams or disciplines. The discipline change would be to a program management internship which requires an additional interview. The exact skills that make a great program manager are a bit different from those that make a great software engineer. The other reality is that teams need fewer program managers than they need software engineers. Program management is interesting and I could potentially see moving to the role farther into my career. However, for now, the more technical aspects of software engineering are much more exciting. Furthermore, the experience gained as a software engineer can be applied to both engineering and non-engineering roles. Since program managers typically don’t write code, the reverse transition is significantly more difficult. To change teams, there is a more informal process of meeting with the manager of the new team and making sure your skills and interests align. The other key factor is headcount which is basically whether they have the budget, need, and interest in taking on an intern. To successfully complete a team or discipline change, you must also perform well on your current team and be recommenced for a return offer by your manager.

Even though I’ve loved my current team, I ultimately decided to request a team change. I’m excited to announce that next summer I will be a software engineering intern on the OneNote Team. Long-time readers of my blog will know that I absolutely love OneNote. (To read some of my past posts about how I use OneNote, click here. In the future, I plan to write more in-depth guides to how I use it as a student). Moving over to OneNote from my current team isn’t a giant leap as I get to stay within MMX (Microsoft Mobile & X-Device Experiences). This actually almost created a problem for me, as I’d heard incorrect information that return offers were at the CVP (corporate vice president) level, and thus concluded that moving over to OneNote wouldn’t be considered an official team change. The decision wasn’t easy, but in the end, being able to work on a product like OneNote is why I was interested in working for Microsoft in the first place. Furthermore, I love the product, the core market it currently serves, and am invested in its modernization and growth.

Throughout the internship, my manager knew that OneNote is my favorite Microsoft product and about my interests in the more technical side of things. He made it clear early on that he’d be happy to have me return to his team but also encouraged me to explore other teams and offered to help make those connections. With his help (and one of his contacts), I was able to connect with two software engineers and an engineering manager from the OneNote team. From talking to the software engineers, I learned about the team culture and key technologies used. In my conversation with the engineering manager, I got a better understanding of OneNote as it exists now, some of the problems it faces, and the vision for the future.

In the background, my manager had been in communication with my intern champ about my interest in OneNote. Intern champs are full-time employees who take on the additional responsibility of overseeing intern placements within their part of the organization. On Thursday of week ten, I met with my intern champ. Going into the meeting I was expecting to talk about my technical experience, coursework, and my interest in OneNote. Instead, I learned that moving over to OneNote was technically an official team change and was given the name of the OneNote intern champ. The specific reason is that MMX has an intern champ (and corresponding hiring budget) for phone and tasks and another one for notes. I think it was meant to be a five-minute conversation, but I decided to inquire about my options within the phone and tasks part of MMX. I learned that as a returner, I’d be prioritized in team placement and my intern project would be built around my specific interests and skills in addition to the needs of the team. I was initially worried that by moving over to OneNote I’d be making a compromise in regards to the technical components of my project. Furthermore, I was a bit reluctant to move forward with the team change process as I felt like it was already too late. These fears were ultimately unfounded and my intern champ strongly encouraged me to just set up a meeting with the OneNote intern champ.

On the Tuesday of week eleven, I met with the OneNote intern champ (another engineering manager on the OneNote team). We discussed my technical interests and determined that the team run by the original engineering manager I had met with would likely be a good fit. Despite it being an official team change, coming from another team within MMX worked in my favor as both intern champs were happy to hear that I wanted to stay in MMX. The one remaining hurdle was whether that team could take on another intern as they’d already committed to another returning Explorer. Right after that meeting, I met with my manager for our 1:1. I used that time to get an understanding of what our team might look like in a year’s time. Things move fast in tech and given that my team had just graduated out of incubation and that we didn’t yet have Redmond engineers, I knew that the team would transform dramatically. My manager advised me to consider whether I wanted to join a more mature team or one that was relatively new. Later on that evening I got the news (from the OneNote intern champ) that the initial engineering manager I had met with had confirmed his interest in and ability to have me on the team.

I had until Friday to make my decision. While I knew that both options were incredible, the decision felt a lot bigger than it really was. I created a list of pros and cons for each option (in OneNote of course). On Thursday, I let everyone involved know that I’d chosen the OneNote team via a message on Teams. I emphasized why I’d chosen OneNote, that I’d had an amazing time on my current team, and that I was really appreciative of how supportive everyone had been in letting me make my own decision. That support went a long way in making me feel confident in my decision to return to Microsoft (specifically MMX). It was evident that everyone would be happy to have me on their team, but in the end, just wanted to help me to make an informed decision. With that being said, I have heard that some other teams are significantly less supportive of their interns requesting a team change. The next step was emailing my recruiter to make the request official. I then had to give written confirmation that I understood I would not receive a return offer to my current team if I proceeded with the team change process and that return offers are held at the product group level.

On the Tuesday of my final week, I met with my recruiter (and the eight other Explorers who were receiving return offers). During that final meeting, we got the official word of our return offers and learned a bit more about the next steps in the process. I received my official offer letter the Thursday following the conclusion of my internship (August 19th). I also received an email from my recruiter with some additional information about intern benefits and Seattle neighborhoods. The offer letter itself was posted to my action center (part of the Microsoft careers portal) under the account I used to initially apply to Explore Microsoft. As stated previously, I was given the surprise deadline of November 1st thanks to Smith’s recruitment policies. However, I signed the letter two days later (August 21st) once I got the chance to carefully read through everything. Overall, I am really excited about next summer, but need to remember that I am still a student and should at present focus on the academic year ahead.

#college #Smith College #microsoft #Microsoft OneNote #explore microsoft #internship #summer 2022 #swe internship #software engineering #return offer

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jovialyouthmusic · 4 years

Text

Silver Service

The Winter Games at Lythikos begin, and Liam and Olivia are seen together more and more. Anton’s condition deteriorates.

Word Count 3558

A/N One more chapter to go and this series comes to an end.

22 Not Quite Over

‘Well this is a step up from my last visit to Lythikos’ Drake said as Sophia consulted the list of bedroom allocations, remembering how she had helped out last time she’d been there. ‘Olivia always put me in the chalet furthest away from the Lodge, with only just enough room to walk round the bed and a shared bathroom.’ He explained to Riley ‘Mind you, that meant raiding her wine cellar all the more tempting. Sophia and I made a bit of a dent in her collection’ Sophia shuddered at the memory, remembering she had gone there after an ominous meeting with Constantine, when she wondered if Bastien would have to give her up for his job.

‘Maybe you and I can pay a visit this time’ Riley grinned, squeezing his arm as they walked along the narrowing corridors of the guest section of the lodge. The room they had been allocated was at least in the main building, and Drake knew that all of them had their own en suite bathrooms, though the section they were coming to was at the lower end of what the building had to offer. Still, it was better than queuing to shave and having to wrap up warm to get to the main house. Sophia stopped to look at the schematic she’d been given.

‘It’s just at the end of the corridor on the right’ she said, and as she did, her phone beeped with an incoming text message. She looked at it and smiled ‘It looks like Bas has some time off, so I’m going to go and meet him’ Riley grinned at her.

‘Don’t do anything we – oof!’ she grunted as Drake interrupted by elbowing her in the ribs.

‘Don’t remind me that my mentor has a healthy sexual appetite’ he grumbled, then rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly ‘Sorry Soph’.

‘It’s fine’ she said ‘I’ll probably see you at dinner, there’s a buffet in the main dining room at six’.

‘Sure thing’ Drake waited until she was out of earshot before leaning across to whisper in Riley’s ear ‘Now let’s go and give our bed a thorough testing’

‘Okay Tiger’ she murmured, and they went off to explore their new quarters.

--------

It was late when Olivia and Liam finally got time to talk again, as the Duchess had people to greet and meetings with her staff to make sure all was ready for the opening ceremony the day after. This time it was Olivia’s suite where they met. Liam had and adjoining room with a connecting door. Olivia sat heavily on the bed, and Liam went to sit with her, taking one of her feet to massage it.

‘I’m glad I had that nap in the limo’ she groaned ‘My energy levels aren’t what they should be’

‘Naturally, your growing a whole new person’ Liam smiled softly. ‘You can always delegate to me, you know’ She scoffed

‘This is my duchy, Liam’ she replied, and lay flat, looking up at the ceiling.

‘So what do you think of my proposal?’ He asked ‘I understand you’ve not had a lot of time to think about it, but I’d like to know what way you’re leaning.’

‘I know I need to give you an answer’ she said ‘Time’s getting on, and if I say yes, the announcement will be considerably different than my bearing the heir, to say nothing of our problem with Anton. I’m still his wife’

‘Now that’s where I’ve got good news for you’ he replied, and she sat up to look at him.

‘Good news is exactly what I need right now’ she said.

‘Well, there is yet another ancient Royal marriage clause that states that both parties must be reasonably expected to physically beget or bear children. King Theodore’s eldest son wasn’t allowed to inherit the throne after he had a riding accident that paralysed him from the waist down and made him impotent. The throne went to his brother’

‘But that didn’t apply to Regina. She was known to be barren when she married Constantine’ Olivia pointed out

‘Constantine already had two heirs, so that clause was null and void.’

‘So Anton’s condition – oh wait, Lucretia said death was certain’ Olivia mused.

‘But even if he lingered for years, we could argue that he’ll never be able to beget an heir’

‘It sounds a bit shaky’

‘A bit shaky is better than impossible’ Liam said ‘It’s our best argument so far’ Olivia lay back down with a sigh.

‘It’s not a good thing to wish another human being dead, even Anton Severus’ she grumbled ‘But it would solve a number of problems’

------

The following morning, Olivia and the King declared the games open. A winter fair with tents, stalls and marquees close to the lodge ran all through the event, and the sports started off with a downhill ski race that morning. There were enough entries for three heats, and four from each heat would go through to the final, to be held the next day. The next morning there would be curling on the lake and the afternoon hosted the downhill ski finals. The following morning was set aside for a figure skating event on the lake and snowboarding in the afternoon. The third day saw skating speed races in the morning and ski jumping in the afternoon. The fourth day was set aside for finals, awards, and a closing ceremony.

The event was well attended, and it looked as if Olivia’s fears of being unpopular were unfounded. She made sure to mingle with the crowds at the fair and with the competitors and sponsors. That meant that at the end of the day she was exhausted, which worried Liam.

‘Livvy, you need to take a break’ he said as she got ready for bed, too tired even to take a bath.

‘You know I have to work hard at this’ she sighed ‘There’s nobody to delegate to here, not even you.’

‘Then let me take care of you’ he said, and took hold of her shoulders, looking into her eyes ‘You know you can trust me’ She sighed, and he pulled her close ‘You’ve done really well today’ he continued ‘I plan to tell the country about our arrangement at the closing ceremony if things continue like this’ He felt her stiffen.

‘And if Anton’s still alive? He’s still legally my husband’

‘I’m working on it – remember that clause about being able to provide an heir? I’m waiting for a report from the hospital that will confirm that’s impossible’

‘You’d say it all hinges on who I choose’ she said ‘and you know I’d never choose Anton’

‘I suppose that’s true’ he replied ‘Now come on, let’s get you to bed, you need to rest’

------

The second day was a roaring success, and Olivia continued to make herself seen, but now Liam kept her company. There were whispers and rumours about the two of them, but they all seemed positive. Sophia was happy to discover that Bastien’s duties were light, and they spent most of the day together watching the sports and visiting the winter fair. She made sure to keep abreast of the media, monitoring opinions on the budding friendship between Olivia and the King. Late in the day, it was confirmed at last that Anton was unlikely to recover enough to reign, let alone provide an heir for his line. An broadcast to the public was arranged for early evening.

Liam chose to film the broadcast in the lounge of the suite Olivia had provided him with. It was to be recorded and broadcast within an hour. He sat at the desk by the window, the snowy slopes of the Lythikos mountains behind him. He gazed into the camera with sincerity, and began.

‘My dear citizens of Cordonia - although Lord Severus and I were at odds regarding the monarchy, I am deeply saddened to hear how ill he is. He is receiving the best of care, but the doctors tell me that he is extremely unlikely to recover full mobility. It is also doubtful that he will regain his mental faculties.’ he said gravely. ‘I need to go through due process, but I believe that his condition precludes him from ascending the throne. It is also evident that as Lord Severus is unable to sire an heir, and as he is the last of his line, that also means that Lady Olivia can be released from her betrothal, as set down in Cordonian law’ The camera crew couldn’t help but react to this statement, and Liam knew he would be answering some searching questions in the press conference after the broadcast. He paused to let his statement sink in before starting again.

‘Staying here in Lythikos, I am aware that I am not on home ground, and over the centuries there has been rivalry between the houses of Rys and Nevrakis. I am aware that my own father also caused disharmony with House Severus. In this day and age, I hope that we can use diplomacy and frank discussion to solve disputes between families, or Duchies or countries.’ He paused for a moment

‘The charity tour that I have instigated has proved popular, so much so that I hope to make it an annual or biennial event. Each Duchy has a chance to raise money for deserving causes, and involves all levels of society, unlike the lavish balls and other events that have been run in the past almost for the sole benefit of the nobility. Here in Lythikos, the Winter Games and the fair have proved popular, not just with Lythikans, but with Cordonians from all corners of the Kingdom. I hope that our two houses can at last co-exist in harmony and unity with strong intentions for the prosperity of all our citizens. I am open to talks with any dissidents who have disputes that have remained unsolved in recent history, or indeed with longer standing issues.’

‘In conclusion, I would like to add that I will be making another address to the nation at the end of the games. I am honoured to be responsible for the prosperity and peace of such a beautiful part of the world, and intend to reign wisely and benevolently. Thankyou.’

-------

After the broadcast, Liam went to Olivia’s lounge, to find her dressed for bed, reading a book on Lythican traditions. He stooped to land a kiss on her forehead, and she looked up, surprised.

‘What was that for?’ she asked

‘Do I need a reason?’ he asked ‘You look more relaxed this evening’

‘Not being married to a snake like Severus goes a long way toward relaxing’ she answered ‘That, and the games are going really well.’ She put her book down and stretched. Liam knelt in front of her.

I know something that would relax you more’ he smiled, crooking an eyebrow.

‘I’m sick of massages and warm baths’ she grumbled ‘I’ll be glad when I’m into my second trimester. I’m told things are much more comfortable then’

‘Neither of those’ Liam replied, tracing a finger up the inside of her calf. When he reached her knee, she put her hand on his to stop him going higher.

‘Liam’ She said, drawing a breath ‘I’m pregnant, we don’t have to…’

‘Why not?’ he replied ‘I have it on good authority that orgasms are good for mother and child’ He took his hand back and put his palm to her cheek, rising as she leant toward him for a lingering kiss. She gazed at him, and he back at her.

‘You’re beautiful. Olivia’ he breathed ‘As soon as I let off the pressure of having to declare a bride, I relaxed, and saw who you truly are. You’re loyal and strong and passionate, and you never back down. I need someone like that in my life. You complement me perfectly.’

‘Liam’ she protested, but he stayed kneeling in front of her.

‘Just hear me out’ he said ‘I’ll accept whatever terms you want. Be my Queen, my lover, my consort. Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you willingly. Anything to have a loving family. You don’t wear your heart on your sleeve, but I see it. I see how selfless you were, offering to have the heir, asking nothing in return’

‘Why, Liam – what changed?’ she asked ‘You told me you weren’t capable of love, that you wanted to be free’

‘I saw what I was missing’ he said ‘I saw Bastien with Sophia, Drake with Riley – and I wanted the same. I just want to be with one person, and you – you know me inside out. I didn’t think I could expect anything like a normal relationship, but I think we could have something together. We’re a lot the same, you and I’ Olivia looked at her hands, but he caught at them.

‘Be mine, Olivia. Share your nights with me, be seen with me, stay by my side. I know you’re an independent woman, but I’d be so happy if you kept me company. Being King is a lonely job’

‘This is – well it’s not sudden, I suppose I’ve seen this coming.’ Olivia said ‘But will you feel the same this time next year?’ Liam looked thoughtful.

‘To be honest Livvy, I don’t know’ he said ‘Not for certain. But I have to try – if you’ll try with me’ Olivia nodded

‘I suppose none of us really know how things will be in the future’ she replied ‘I have given thought to your offer, but I’m not ready to answer you just yet.’

‘If it was up to me, I’d give you all the time in the world’ he said ‘But you know the sooner I announce you’re pregnant, the sooner the country will have some stability. If I can call you my Queen too, that would be incredible. I need to know by the end of the Games.’ Her eyes widened, but she nodded

‘I understand. I’ll give you an answer before your closing speech’

-------

Liam’s speech was well received, and as he had expected, he had questions to answer about Olivia, who accompanied him outside in a marquee at the Winter Fair the next morning, on the third day of the Games. The crowd demanded to hear from her, which of course Sophia had planned for, so she stepped up to the microphone.

‘I’m both honoured and humbled to have our new King, a close and long standing friend, attend this event, and am delighted that so many citizens have come to make it such a success. As you know, funds go toward setting up a new modern Intensive Care Unit in Lythikos capital, and we are well on the way to our target.’

‘What about Lord Severus?’ someone shouted out. Olivia composed her face.

‘I am of course saddened at the circumstances that have terminated my betrothal, much as I disliked the arrangement. As you know, it was planned before my birth and enforced by a very ancient law that was extremely difficult to negate. I would rather have found a legal solution to the problem than the tragedy that befell Anton. As you all know, my aunt acted without my knowledge and consent, and she will be dealt with under the law that she upheld and which bound me by an arrangement I did not seek or want.’ She smiled at the throng of people, a thin lipped smile which nevertheless reached her eyes so that the corners crinkled in genuine benevolence.

‘Lythikos has had a long tradition of solving its problems by force and conflict, but I hope under the guidance of King Liam to bring our Duchy into the twenty first century by relying on diplomacy and negotiation. War may be glorious, but it leaves widows, widowers and orphans, and the more Lythicans there are in the world, the better we can share our culture and arts.’

‘Can you comment on your relationship with his Majesty?’ someone asked ‘You’ve been seen together a lot recently. Is there some sort of alliance coming in the future?’ Again Olivia smiled, but enigmatically.

‘Liam and his family took care of me when my parents died’ she pointed out ‘We have a deep and close bond, and it’s only natural to seek each others’ company. Lythikos is part of Cordonia, and we hope to strengthen our bonds with all the other Duchies of Cordonia now that I am free of my betrothal.’ She looked at the clock at the back of the room ‘If you will excuse me, I have an appointment with the medals committee. Please feel free to watch the games and observe the wonderful talent our country has in winter sports thanks to Lythikos.’ She stepped away from the microphone, and Liam took over.

‘Thankyou for your time and patience, ladies and gentlemen. I will also be giving a speech at the closure of the games later tomorrow. Until then, please enjoy yourselves.’ As Liam walked away from the dais, Bastien approached him.

‘Your Majesty, I need to talk to you privately’ he said, a grave expression on his face. Liam nodded, and followed the Guard into to an empty lounge in the Lodge.

‘What is it, Bastien? I need to go and join Olivia’

‘The hospital called, Sir’ he replied ‘There’s been a deterioration in Severus’s condition. As he has no relatives, they need to know whether to keep him on life support, and you appear to be the person they feel best qualified to make the decision’ Liam frowned

‘That’s not good’ he replied ‘I could be accused of maliciously terminating him if I agree to turn the machines off’

‘That is true, Sir’ he replied ‘I suggest that you put the matter to an emergency Council meeting. All the members are here’

‘That’s excellent advice. Get everyone assembled in my lounge as soon as possible’

-------

The nobles and commoners of the current Council took a vote after both Liam and Olivia abstained from the motion that Anton be taken off life support once the doctors were certain that his quality of life suffered so much that he would have less than a minimal quality of life. Under present Cordonian law, unless family members could vouch for a patient’s care, it was customary not to let cases such as his remain on artificial means of support indefinitely. The threshold of viability, as it was known, was rapidly approaching, and although Liam vowed that the law would be changed, that would take time – time that Anton didn’t have. Nobody had stepped forward to claim responsibility for his welfare, so the Council voted that the machines be switched off at the discretion of the Doctor in charge of Anton’s care.

Liam was relived, as the decision took responsibility away from him, as it did for Olivia. It was decided that only one representative of the Council would be present when the machines were turned off, but not the King, not Anton’s unwilling wife, nor the Captain of the Guard. Bastien was yet to be sworn on to the Council.

‘Poor soul’ Liam murmured to Bastien ‘I’ve heard that those who made a last minute recovery say that it’s torment. Doctor Reeve told me that they will keep him hydrated and pain free, but that’s as much as they can do for him. I can only hope that he’s not aware enough to suffer.’ Olivia sat next to him, ramrod straight, her face unreadable to those that didn’t know her well+.

‘You’re too soft’ she muttered ‘I hope he suffers for all he’s put us through – you and me, and Sophia and Riley - and Drake, and Bastien and Adelaide. The list is too long for him to leave this life peacefully’ Liam bowed his head and closed his eyes.

‘Perhaps you’re right’ he said after a while ‘I have the feeling my Father would have handled this differently, but I can’t bring myself to follow in his footsteps. I’ll be glad when it’s all over’

@sirbeepsalot @stopforamoment @drakesensworld @katedrakeohd @texaskitten30 @be-still-my-aching-heart @hopefulmoonobject @dcbbw @classylady1234 @rainbowsinthestorm @kimmiedoo5 @bascmve01 @ibldw-main @addictedtodrakefanfic @trappedinfandoms @ravenpuff02

#silver service #bastien lykel #liam x olivia #anton severus #lucretia nevrakis #olivia nevrakis

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