The air feels different.
The warehouse had been damp, perpetually chill, and echoed with emptiness. As Lena slowly wakes, the air around her presses warm and dry against her skin, enveloping her in gentle sounds.
Beeping monitors, now a fixture of her reality.
Muffled voices, urgent yet distant, as though muffled through a door.
Faint snores, from someone sleeping in the room next to her bed.
With considerable effort, Lena pries open her sleep crusted eyes. The ceiling overhead is too close, too white. She blinks against the disorientation, and when she tries again she can count the ceiling tiles between the air vents, and suddenly it doesn't feel like the room is caving in on her anymore.
More surprising, though, is when she turns and finds the snores are issuing from Supergirl herself.
Alarm sears against her senses, and Lena gasps when her heart starts to pound. Supergirl jolts awake at the sound, bolting upright even as Lena recoils.
"Get away!" Lena chokes out. "Get away from me, please--"
Supergirl lifts her hands placatingly. "I'm not going to hurt you--"
"I don't want to hurt YOU--"
"You won't," Supergirl promises gently. Lena pauses when the hero nods towards her chest, hands still aloft. "Look."
Lena reaches for the collar of her hospital gown, peeking beneath to see that the chunk of kryptonite is covered by a portion of her leaded apron, now secured by shoulder straps over each arm and a buckle around her ribs.
"We're both safe," Supergirl continues. "I promise."
Sagging, Lena sucks in a ragged breath. All she wants is to curl into a ball, close her eyes, and pretend none of this had happened at all, but she hasn't the strength. Tears start to come, burning hot against her eyes.
"I'm sorry," she says again, her voice cracking under the strain. "I'm sorry. I never wanted to hurt anyone."
Supergirl nods, slowly bending to perch on the seat she'd just been dozing in. "I know. But I'm okay. We're more concerned about you."
Lena blinks up at the ceiling. "You can't remove it, can you."
"No," Supergirl responds after a beat. "The kryptonite is fully grafted into all of your neurological and circulatory systems. It's... It's the only thing keeping you alive."
It comes as zero shock to Lena-- Lillian has made no effort to spare Lena the details of her condition, or the success of her work in resurrecting her. Lillian has never been one to sugar coat.
"I know you've been through a lot," Supergirl continues. Her eyebrows crinkle in the middle. Lena doesn't quite know what to do with the concern in the hero's gaze. Or the sympathy. "But we were hoping you could help us."
"How?"
"The people who did this to you... we think they're part of a group called Cadmus. We think the person behind is--"
"Her name is Lillian Luthor," Lena surrenders readily, bitterness rising in her throat. "She's my mother."
Lena's jaw tightens. She meets the hero's gaze.
"What do you want to know?"
How would one write a realistic argument?
Everyone argues.
Whether it be with a friend, sibling, parent, or coworker—arguments usually break out whenever there’s a stark contrast in opinion over certain things, which can happen a lot.
There are a variety of different kinds of arguments involving a wide range of people with different tempers. Because of this, writing arguments can be a bit difficult, but fear not, for this post is here to help!
For a very serious argument, the characters probably won’t stop and listen to what their opponent has to say.
It’s quick, choppy, and broken—each character shoving their emotions at one another and trying to get their point across without bothering to understand the other side’s opinions.
There should be a lot of em-dashes and italicized words for emphasis, and if it’s between two people, you want as few speech tags as possible; because there’s going to be a lot of back and forth, speech tags can serve to trip up the flow of the argument rather than help them.
When you do want speech tags or if there are multiple people arguing at once here’s some examples you can use:
Roared
Screamed
Yelled
Bellowed
Barked
Hissed
Shouted
Accused
Interrupted
Growled
Snarled
Spat
Screeched
Shrilled
But you also must know that your characters won’t just be standing stock still and yelling at one another; they’re going to be moving around, so here are some things you can describe your character doing during an argument
Expression contorting
Eyes narrowing
Speaking through clenched teeth
Baring their teeth
Lips twisting (into a sneer/into a snarl)
Hands balling into fists
Trembling
Breaking things/knocking stuff over
Pointing accusingly
Shoving
Spittle flying from their mouth
Stamping their feet
Face getting hot
Vein in forehead popping
Blood roaring in their ears/heart pounding
And if you want, to build tension you can put it in a dangerous place, like at the edge of a cliff or something—so you know fully well that if one of them goes too far it may end up with the other’s accidental death.
Keep reading
I bought Spiritfarer last weekend and sent Gwen off… super incredible and beautiful game if you haven’t bought it you need to
Happy late Halloween! Here’s a spooky Supercorp fic, inspired by this amazing art by @sheltereredturtle
Here’s a snippet:
Her body feels foreign. It takes days to adjust to the motions and weeks to grow comfortable in it.
It's like a second thought and each time she moves, she has to think about it. She bends forks and breaks dishes with inhumane strength. She reaches a staircase and doesn't remember how to lift her foot to take the first step.
The woman is always there with her, patient and ever so gentle. She eases her grip on the cutlery and hooks their elbows together before nudging her towards the stairs.
With each passing day, she acquires an inch more of her body.
A rattle of bones, a clack of fangs and teeth. Soft skin that bleeds under halfmoons of nails.
is it possible to fall in love with tiny wisps of hair on the back of a neck? or would it make more sense to say that she’s in love with the owner of the neck with the tiny wisps of hair swaying ever so slowly as the evening breeze waltzes through the open windows of her apartment.
kara can’t seem to take her eyes off of them.
it’s as if they’re coaxing her to touch them — calling out to her in a tiny voice that says come here, come closer, touch us with your gentle fingers — and kara does, kara really wants to, but alex is here and sitting next to her is kelly. sam is on the other side of lena, engaged in a lively conversation with the only couple in the room, and kara is just… staring, facing lena, one arm propped on the back of the couch, elbow bent so her fist is resting against the side of her head, and chin resting on her bicep.
it can’t be the alien alcoholic beverage that sam brought along with her nor is it the fact that she’s just recently recovered from another solar flare. it just doesn’t make sense. it wouldn’t explain the one time she caught herself looking at the back of lena’s neck during their first game night with her; not the one where she’s standing behind lena, saying things about wanting to rebuild their trust, momentarily distracted by those tiny wisps of hair before lena inevitably turned to her with a curious frown.
none of those moments had involved alcohol or… or solar flare.
it just… is. it’s just because of lena and her slender neck, her soft-looking skin, those tiny—
“what?”
in her distracted state, kara misses the moment when lena finally feels the weight of her stare and turns to her with a small smile, bordering confused — her cheeks flushing a pretty shade of pink under kara’s gaze.
she’s so close.
kara meets her eyes and… she doesn’t know what to say, so she doesn’t make a single sound. merely shrugs her shoulders, eyes searching lena’s green ones, dropping briefly on her red lips, slightly parted and wet from the red wine, then back up at her green eyes.
“what’s wrong?” lena asks again, tilting her body towards her this time, but only just enough that it doesn’t rouse other guests. it brings her even closer to kara, effectively stealing the air from her lungs.
kara shakes her head again, incapable of words now that lena’s facing her; tiny, wispy, little hairs now gone but replaced by the mesmerizing sight her eyes. she sighs longingly, stretching her arm so her hand lands near lena’s neck, fingers brushing ever so lightly on those tiny, little strands of hair. lena shudders, a natural reaction, especially in that particular area, but it affects kara in a way that makes her want to do it again and again, and again, and again—
alex, kelly, and sam be damned.
she just wants to touch her there forever, caress her slowly and lull her to sleep. she wants to see those eyelashes fluttering shut, wants to be the reason why lena is comfortable and sleepy and—
kara’s heart aches.
“darling?”
kara breathes out, slowly but steady, and before she chickens out, she moves forward and presses her lips so, so lightly against lena’s. it’s the softest kiss she’s ever had and ever given someone; the bravest kiss she’s ever pursued, uncaring of the sudden silence in her living room, of the shuffling of feet and the crumpling of paper bags to be disposed of. kara barely hears alex’s goodbye before she pulls away, pressing her forehead against lena’s with a nervous sigh.
“was that okay?” kara asks, heart beating loud and fast against her ribs as she brushes her thumb across lena’s neck, urging — begging — her to open those beautiful eyes of hers. “lena?”
lena lets out a watery laugh, finally meeting kara’s gaze with so much love in those pools of green.
“more than okay, my love.”
—
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It's favorite not favourite
this just in: the world outside of america doesn’t exist
This xkcd comic from 2009 changed my life. It feels timeless.
Marbles and random things I enjoy
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