#''human localization is replaceable'' my ass

[zicygomar]

My god they even did translyrics. and they made the red thread the karaoke bouncing ball thing.

I like how they had the first verse's subs without the red thread; maybe they did it that way because the base red thread imagery doesn't kick into full swing yet, or maybe they did it so they could introduce the red thread in a line that includes the word "heart," so they could make its shape and movement evoke a heartbeat.

Although the Red Thread of Fate is technically about your "one true love," media can tend to play fast & loose with the concept and use it to represent connection in general (usually human). In the song's first verse, the lyrics hone in on the feeling of loneliness. So the red thread coming into the subs also indicates the desire & pursuit of connection, which follows the weave of the ED's progression—Nina's single red thread is joined by the four other colored threads (the other band members), and they come together as one, forming into a rainbow twine.

The ED ends with the red thread (which is also Nina's earphones cord) plugging into her phone that she listens to music on. Her phone then shows the cover of the song single that has all the band members on it. The thread in the subs stays red throughout, because the song is sung from Nina's perspective (and. is. literally sung by her). I mean, the red thread also represents Nina's connection to music (and love of music, among other things!), and the subs literally have the red thread going through the song's lyrics!

Now, it could turn out that they didn't think that deep about it, but personally I think sobsplease knocked it out of the park with this; this kind of fansub effort hasn't just applied an English translation, they've woven it seamlessly into the original work. It genuinely elevates the English viewing experience.

the ending sub styling though

thanks a million sobsplease 🥺

[arbiterlexultionis]

Danny and the Spooks

So first things first, my initial idea is that this prompt takes place in a no one knows AU, and Danny somehow gets his ice powers earlier than he otherwise would, though really this could work without those two if need be.

So Danny got his ice powers pretty early in his ghost fighting career, and because he doesn’t have the support from his friends or raw power he would gather up later on he relies far more on Fenton tech to get by. That reliance on weapons means that, upon realizing that his ghost ice 1) doesn’t melt and 2) is Ghost Ice, and therefore can’t really be phased through by most ghost that arn’t him, immediately begins thinking of ways to make long term weapons out of the stuff.

A little while into his experiments with that he’s fighting Skulker and gets thrown into the house of some poor civilian, and while taking cover behind the kitchen counter looks over to see the (slightly disgruntled) homeowner doing the same while holding a 12 gauge.

“You think you can land a shot with that thing?”

“You think it’ll matter if I can?”

To which Danny replies something along the lines of “it will with this” before handing over his latest creation, a 12 gauge slug that’s had some of the material removed and replaced with his ice. Danny distracts Skulker, and his new friend pops up and puts a hole through the spine of Skulkers suit, allowing Danny to capture him. Danny thanks Mr. Civilian, who is apparently a retired Navy Seal or something, and they wind up staying in contact with each other, sometimes helping each other out with stuff and Mr. Seal testing out new weapons for Danny. Then some punk kid(yes a punk kid, doesn’t matter that he’s older than Danny, Danny still refers to him as a punk kid) decided that he wants to help defend the town and starts following Danny around, trying to help him in fights, and just refuses to stop putting himself in danger. Eventually Danny “relents” and says that he’ll let the kid help out, but only after he gets proper training from Mr. Seal, with the real plan being for the training to be way to intense for the kid to make him give up.

One problem though, the kid just doesn’t give up. Like, at all. One day Mr. Seal pulls Danny aside and tells him that Punk has finished his training and Danny gets all exited that the kid finally gave up, only for his bubble to be burst. “No no, he hasn’t given up, he just finished my training. He’s ready for combat.” And well, a deals a deal. So both Punk and Mr. Seal start taking more of an active roll in ghost fighting.

And then another idiot with more selflessness than sense shows up. And another. And, whoops three more just showed up. Eventually, Danny wound up as the accidental leader of a vigilante/ghost fighting organization dubbed the spooks by the local news. Comprised mostly of volunteers, with the best and brightest getting a rank all their own and proper pay, comprised of donations from both normal people and members and “donations” from criminals they stop because it’s not like they need the money now that they’re in prison.

I’m just imagining Danny with this rag tag group of humans doing what they can to help people.

After Danny finally manages to get some time with his friends for a movie marathon, he decides to form a new branch of the group called the R.I.P.D., the Rest In Peace Department, which is basically meant to help ghost fulfill their Obsessions and stuff in a safe, peaceful manner.

Boxy gets a abandoned warehouse full of boxes that’s been covered and insulative materials to keep ghost hunters from tracking him there.

Lunch Lady gets a great big soup kitchen which promptly morphs into a whole ass shelter for anyone and everyone that needs it so long as they’re okay with having Lunch Lady seemingly appear out of nowhere worrying about how skinny they look and shoving food into their arms.

They also have an absurd number of homemade gadgets and weapons. Think like, the entirety of the slingshot channel, ZnA productions, hacksmith and all those other types of channels combined, but their arsenal is hopped up on ghostly BS, as well as stealing equipment from Vlad and the GIW.

Skulker: I WILL MOUNT YOUR PELT ON MY WALL GHOSTCHILD

Fredrick “Dakka” Stevenson, flying the ancient crop-duster they got from old man Elijah and strapped every weapon they could to: I’m gonna do what’s called a pro gamer move.

Every other spooks member on the coms: groans

Dakka: if you want me to stop making lame meme references stop using a lame meme reference as my nickname.

Pt 2

[lullabyes22-blog]

Dropping in just to tell you how much I LOVE your Sevika x Silco portrayal. I never considered Sevilco a ship before reading your fics but you make them work so well, and I really like that you gave Sevika so much more backstory and character development. As a desi girl, I also appreciate your Sevika giving us desi rep and making it so relatable and believable. The kavya, the payasam, the bidi, I can feel her being desi on my skin, lol.

And for Silco, you make him such a hot bastard, it's unbelievable.

As someone who's a huge Grishaverse fan, they're giving Kaz x Inej vibes. I think you mentioned reading Six of Crows so I believe you're familiar with the duo, but I can really see similarities between Kaz and Silco. They're both badass villains, they're both dark and twisted and have done questionable things, they both have an intense obsession with destroying a rich and corrupt society and replacing it with something better. Also Inej and Sevika are both poc women who can kick ass and they both have a complicated relationship with the men they love. I love Kaz and Inej to death but if they were a little darker and older, they could totally be Silco and Sevika.

I'm sorry, I'm rambling, but I wanted to share. Keep up the amazing writing! I hope you write a lot more Sevilco fics. You've become one of my favorite Arcane authors, and I look forward to your updates.

Thank you so much<333

I'm so glad you're enjoying Sevika and Silco content. They've been a weird 'sleeper hit' with certain pockets of the fandom (and horrified a few others) and I'm really happy the ship's being considered as a viable option.

I really did want to try and give Sevika a bit more depth re: her family, motivations and flaws, simply because there's so much (justifiable) thirst for her character as a hot mama, and plenty of 'yas queen'ing everytime she does something terrible - but not a lot of consideration for the human, complex, flawed person behind the muscle, and why she'd choose to throw in her lot with Silco and stake everything on Zaun.

I'm also so pleased the representation feels authentic - I'm basing Zaun on RL Manchester in some ways, and Queens NYC in others - both of which are very diverse, with a huge South Asian presence. If FnF was taking place IRL, Silco would've been a no-good-bounding English boy of working-class immigrant parents (probs half-French, half-German) growing up with his best friend Vander (also of German descent with a little Greek thrown in) and Sevika and Nandi would've hailed from the nearby South Indian community, all set in the 1980s. The boy would've known his way around a good plate of biryani, though I doubt Nandi would've let him within 100m of her kitchen, let alone into her bed.

Sevika, on the other hand, would've hung out with him aaaaaall the time, just so she could bum his cigarettes and booze, and snog questionable girls behind the local pub.

(He would've paid her a tenner so he could watch her and her mate snog at his twenty-fifth birthday party. She'd have agreed, and maybe tried to goad him into joining in…)

Roflmao I do remember reading SoC, but it was very long ago, and I was a bit old for the 'young adult' genre by then. I did enjoy Kaz x Inej, although the dynamics would be somewhat different, and in many ways, far less toxic: none of this 'let the monster out' nonsense as Inej wants Kaz to be a better person, not a more ruthless one.

But really, all things aside, this is all I can think of whenever I see the comparison made:

Also we fuck. A lot.

Thank you so much, and I'm very happy you're enjoying the story<333

[hornyjail23]

So a thought has been bothering me for a while so I am finally going to write it.

Sub Beast x reader\group

A beast has been harassing the town. It hasn't hurt anyone but it has been taking things, stealing food and the occasional animal. Of course this made the locals upset. To avoid any further issues, the head of the town went and spoke with the chief of the beasts and an arrangement was made.

The beasts caught their trouble maker and handed him over to the town. Well sort of. They waited until nightfall and tied him outside of the village. They tied him down, bent over a log. They also stripped him of all his clothing and left him with a sign, we guess a warning to the other beasts, that read, "act like an animal, get treated like an animal."

They also had a make shift muzzle on him when we approached. He tried to growl and snap at us as we approached but ignored him. We found out he was a young man of his pack, thought it would be fun to prank the humans. To make up for his crimes, he was now at the mercy of the town.

With the clothes out of the way, we could see how strong he was. Plans immediately came up of having him work the fields, help plow to make up for the stolen produce. Others wanted him out in the woods, cutting trees to help build houses. As we talked, we continued to inspect him. Hands we grabbing his meaty arms and legs. Some were pulling his hair, saying to shave him to embarrass him when we eventually returned him to his pack. Some were inspecting his mouth, suggesting we can use him to hunt to replace the livestock he ate.

I was the first to notice something else. I grabbed his balls which caused him to howl and stop everyone from talking, "well there is one thing we can do with him until we decide the best action. And it seems he wouldn't mind." The others came up behind him to notice his engorged cock and knot bobbing out. The crowd stared at it for a moment. The beast wiggled, trying to close it's legs but couldn't from how his pack tied him down. He curled his tail down trying to cover with that. I grabbed is and held is up so everyone could see his cock. With the other hand I stroked his cock, "he fucked with us, shouldn't we fuck with him?"

Other hands then joined in. Someone grabbed a rope to tie his tail up and out of the way. Several hands were now grabbing it him. Some were grabbing his ass, starting to stretch him. Most were on his cock and knot, stroking it and squeezing, commenting on its size. I walked around to his mouth. I could see he was starting to droll. "If I untie your mouth, you aren't going to bite me are you?" He shook his head, I untied the muzzle and let it drop to the floor. He was panting heavily as is tongue rolled out.

I teased him, "you are supposed to be punished. You are enjoying this too much. I think we should stop." "No!" he whined, "please don't stop. Punish me! Use me!" Every one heard him and that just spurred everyone on. People we now stripping and lining up around him. I removed my pants and started fucking his mouth. His tongue was perfect, the way it reached out and cupped my balls. It wasn't long until I cummed in his mouth.

As I pulled my cock out and held his mouth for the next person, again teasing, "now what do you say?"

He moaned out, "thank you for punishing me."

They quickly begin fucking his face. As I went around to the otherside to watch. One person was fucking his ass as another laid below as they kissed and licked the cock and knot, his precum was leaking down the log. It wasn't long before the beast was howling into someone's crotch as he cummed against the log as human cum leaked from his ass.

Everyone there was having too much fun and decided to bring him to the center of town. They walked him in, muzzle back on, hands tied together with a rope tied to his knot, leading him into place. Once there, they tied him back down, this time on his back, with his arms and legs spread.

Once in this position, people began using the beast again. One was riding his cock as another fucked the beast's ass. Since his mouth was so large, 2 would us him at the same time. At one point, he was licking a woman's cunt, his tongue diving in and out of her as 2 men fucked either side of his mouth.

There soon became a competition of who would take the knot first. Men and women would ride his cock, getting stretched out, until they cummed on the cock. It took a while but someone finally fit the knot in as the beast cummed. They didn't realize but now they were locked on. And no one stopped. They continued to fuck the beast, filling and covering him in their cum. And since they were locked on, everytime the beast cummed, we would watch as the person moaned out as the cum would slowly leak out between them. It was hours later before the orgy slowed enough to let the person off. But as soon as they were off, someone else took there spot and started riding again.

It wasn't until late morning did the orgy stop. The beast was just a puddle of cum from itself and the whole town. We untied the beast and stated after last night, the punishment was fulfilled. Someone helped it down to the river to wash up.

But that night, in the center of town, the beast was back again. It was asking to be punished some more. And the town was more than happy to oblige.

[sunischhittheraccon]

So I've been scrolling through gf au this is my personal version of relativity falls ok Mabel steal dippers identity just like in canon with the fords ill be using the trans dipper head canon so no one knows about dipper being trans other than Mabel Pacifica ( who replaces fids) and bill parents (who will be replacing bill) because of the times being pretty transphobic Mabel still could replace dipper dipper fully transitioned will in the portal .

Pacifica and dipper meet in college just like canon ford and fidd but instead being his lab assistant Pacifica funded the project and was the one brought dipper to gravity falls for his weirdness research since she still lives there since she was a kid a say all freaky shit that happens there she still got sucked in got her ass traumatized and went crazy dipper was the one to make the memory gun in this timeline and Pacifica stole it and started using it as in canon her son then kicked her out because of her going full crazy she the started working in the local dinner for grenda she still rich since she made sure to have a secret personal account precrazy .

Mabel and dipper relationship isn't as messed up as bad with the canon stanses since I they don't have as much resentment towards each other here since there was no the science project incident never happened they were never compared to each other by there parents the drifted apart after high school in the whole Portal incident the never had a full brawl like in canon instead instead it just a shouting match were Mabel just feel like she's be used by him and it ends with her trowing the journal at him but dipper moves out the way and it hits the button and activates it dipper holds that over her and they make up right after he gets back

Dipper erased his memories of about the equation to destroy the barrior around gravity falls since he knows bills parents would need it to escape and hide clues about it in each journal just in case he ever need it in weirdmagadon ford figures it out and the stan swap happens as normal

Instead of the whole situationship with ford in bill had scalene and Euclid have more of parent child relationship with dipper seeing him as a replacement for bill who died trying escape Euclida leading to it's destruction leaving them as the only survivers instead of weirdmagadon there trying to recreate Euclida and using this universe to do it they act like dipper is just going through a rebellious phase since in their mind he just a child with how Euclidans have different life span than humans they fully just act as thought dipper is bill they even calling him that and with how similar they are

[aizawasbrazybaby]

❥𓂃𓏧Fuck The Girls

𖦹Warnings: Cheater!Ichigo x Fem!Reader, Mentions of bullying, Brief Spit Play, Pet Names (ex. Baby, Honey), Switch!Ichigo, Switch!Reader, Modern College!AU, P in V Sex, Sex Videos are made consensually

𖦹Word Count: 2.4K I regret nothing

🫧: Sorry for the late post🥲I had to start everything over. 🫶🏾🫶🏾🫶🏾

ᐕSummary: In your defense the storm came earlier than expected and your bully’s boyfriend was too hot to not fuck..

You’re an adult. Everything you do has consequences. That means hitting them will get you put behind bars. They aren’t worth the risk. You told yourself to sooth the seething anger. Tears of pure fury ran down your cheeks as your fingers massaged your temples. Coffee stained your white shirt and jeans. The hot drink had seeped through the rips leaving first degree burns on your thighs. You composed yourself enough to walk out the local cafes bathroom with your head held high. Leaving all signs of weakness in the stall.

You walked back to your table attempting to ignore the four sorry excuses of humans behind you, plus the bystander. College is better than high school my fucking ass. Just professors that overwork me and more mean bitches to put up with.

“Why do you always antagonize people?” the man with them asked severely unamused, “go apologize.”

“What? I literally didn’t do anything,” the tall brunette, his girlfriend, smiled to stop a laugh, “you should be saying that to Angie I wouldn’t have spilled my drink if she didn’t bump into me.”

“Not true,” the dark skinned woman grinned, “I just happened to trip over my own two feet.”

The four burst out in laughter.

“Go. Apologize. Now.” He said through gritted teeth.

“For what? We didn’t do it on purpose,” she flipped her long hair over a shoulder.

You closed your MacBook turning it sideways so the coffee could drain before you struck it back in your tote bag. Anger was starting to resurface and the urge to strangle every last one of them swelled. He nearly leapt from his seat, “hey! Wait a minute-” You raised a single finger as you walked out that left him in a stunned silence.

ෆ

“Who messed with the ice queen today?”

“Remember the girl I told you got caught fucking the Dean?”

He hummed.

“Her sister Angie, Lina the short haired girl, the one that’s more like their pet, that bitch Regina and her boyfriend.” You said giving him a quick rundown.

“I don’t understand..just transfer or leave if they keep picking on you why stay?” your best friend who was currently studying across the country said.

A white towel wrapped around your head and a hot pink one on your body, “and let them win? Let them think they got the better of me and be another girl they got to leave? You must’ve forgot who I am, and they got me all the way fucked up if they think they can bully me into leaving. I chose to come here and that’s where I’ll remain for my last two years.”

His head fell back, “prideful ass. It’s only two years transfer your credits and come study with me.”

“You're right,” you removed your head towel, “it’s only two more years..so I’ll finish here.”

You flashed a smile and he rolled his eyes. I applaud you for your efforts but I’m not leaving.

“Stubborn as a mule, I’d expect nothing less. What are you gonna do about your laptop?”

You sighed and squeezed the towel into your wet hair, “well luckily for me I sat at the table that has the security camera pointed directly at it anddd if all goes well they’ll hand over the footage I’ll ask her to replace the Mac and if she says no I’ll take her to court.”

“And if they don’t have it?” he switched out of his shirt and into his work uniform.

“…then I’ll resort to old habits.”

“I thought you left beating people up in the past.”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures…she’ll pay one way or another.”

“Good god,” he exhaled heavily, “text me when you get home so I know you didn’t kill anyone please”

“Eh we’ll see.”

ෆ

The bell atop the door chimed as you stepped in. Few patrons sat sipping and chatting to each other. Made sense being that the place closed in a little under an hour. Aiming for the cashier you asked for the manager and explained the situation. You let out a sigh of relief you didn’t realize you held as he went to the back. That bell chimed again and you glared at the man who entered. Ichigo.

“____? That’s your name right?” Ichigo stood next to you. So casually as if two friends were just meeting up. Your only reply was an eye roll. “I’m sorry for what ‘Gina did, I'll replace your shirt and pants.” He dug in his pocket searching for his wallet, “I’m Ichi-”

“kurosaki I know. We're in the same major class and I don’t want your money or that half ass apology especially if it’s on behalf of her.” malice laced your words.

“I feel bad for what she-”

“If you came here to,” you furrowed your brows, “how the hell did you know I was gonna be here?”

“I’m sorry it seems that camera hasn’t been working for a while. I can check the others if you like.” It was more of a question than a statement.

You faced your classmate, “no need. You can tell your girlfriend she can either replace my property or she’s gonna be in for a painful awakening.” You smirked already out the door before he could speak.

“____,” he trailed behind you like an abandoned puppy, “I’m not your enemy okay. For fucksake ____.” His hands gently grabbed your waist, guiding you to the wall of your apartment building. Arms on either side of your shoulders. Goodness he was a sight to behold. He wasn’t your usual type but with a voice that husky and low many exceptions could be made. Too many.

“Listen to me..please,” he huffed, “I’m sorry my rude clumsy girlfriend damaged your shit. Okay, I really am, and I’ll make her apologize too if it’s the last thing I do but let me replace the laptop.”

“Rude? Clumsy? Your girlfriend..that bitch is a fucking bully. Nothing but a pretty face with a nasty spirit.” you shoved him but he didn’t move, “how could you even be interested in someone like that? Don’t you want better for yourself?” You looked into those amber eyes and your blood all but bubbled. Fierceness and honesty scorched through him. A strong wind whipped across your heated skin and then it came. A loud crack of thunder accompanied with a strike of lightning. Shit. The hurricane. How could you forget about the weather warning.

You grabbed his arm dragging him into your high rise apartment. Better safe than sorry. He looked out the window watching the rain slice in every direction. “Barely made it,” your shoulders dropped. He approached you forcing his credit card in your hand. “I’m not taking your money,” you snarled, eyes falling from his..then lowered to those enchanting lips. A second too long did you let your gaze linger. A second was all he needed to notice. To follow your line of sight.

“Is it something else you..something else I can offer?” Ichigo raised a brow, a mild blush on his cheeks.

You looked his body up and down as spite pricked at your emotions and thoughts of what he looks like under you rippled through your mind. Your face was undoubtedly straight, easily mistaken to be uninterested. He took a step back for every inch you moved forward until his legs hit the couch and he sat, “Regina’s not gonna appreciate this.” You straddled his hips and he welcomed you with open arms and a cock that throbbed between your clothed bodies.

“Regina’s not here,” his hands trailed under your shirt massaging your breast. Ichigo nearly tore your top to shreds trying to remove it. Unclamping your bra in the process. His face settled between your tits before taking a hard nipple in his mouth. Tongue graciously sucking and licking the buds.

“So eager to fuck a woman who isn’t your partner,” your fingers gripped his soft locks as you released a breathless sigh at the sensation.

He pulled back, letting go of your bud with a pop sound, “I am when she brings me to her crib and throws herself at me.” His fingers dug into the sides of your ass grinding your cunt on him. A soft groan left the both of you and you kissed him. Sloppy, lustful and full of so much spite. Slick collected in your panties and partially your pajama pants. Eyes shifted down his body landing on what lay next to him. Fell out his pocket and right into the wrong hands. “Fuck I needa feel that pretty pussy on me” he sucked your bottom lip allowing his teeth to graze over it before releasing. Hands fumbled at the button on his pants. Just as needy, you removed your pajamas, sliding your panties to the side.

Fuck,” he pulled your hips down bottoming out inside of you forcing a mix of a moan and a yelp, “so tight.”

“Not so fucking rough,” your cunt fluttered around him and he stilled. Watching. Impatiently waiting for those words. A sign. His hands slid up your waist rubbing your breast more gently and attentively than any other guy you’ve been with. Something close to infatuation filled his gorgeous features.

“God your so fuckin pretty,” he whispered, “can I move?”

You nod. He lifted you up much slower this time. Carefully as if you were made of glass. Dropping you down on his cock that was already pumping precum. His raw length sent shivers down your body from the size alone. The stutter and hesitation in his hips revealed his fear of hurting you. Breaking you in half on his dick.

“Ichigo,” you demanded, “don’t make me regret bringing you here.” Your pussy clenched as tight as it could around him and his back straightened. Nails making indents in your ass. It took every fucking bone in his body not to lose control and pump into you until his cock was soft again. “Fuck me like you mean it.” You nipped at his cheek.

Confidence had him hitting every golden spot he could down there. Only being affirmed by the sweet noises you made. His favorite fucking sound that he could listen to for hours. Wanted to listen to for hours. You left kisses in a path down his neck glaring at his phone. Matching his rhythm you grinded into his thrust sending his head back, eyes shut. You snaked your hand to his chin and twisted it opposite to yours. Baring the exposed sensitive skin on his throat you risked it.

Snatching his phone you slid your tongue on his soft flesh. Not daring to slow down in the slightest or release your grip. “r’fuckin me so good honey. Feel amazing inside me,” you moan in his ear not removing your eyes. He grunts to pussy whipped to scramble the words together. No lock. You pondered if he was bold or just stupid. You wince at the half finished message on screen.

Bit of a dickhead move to dump a girl over text even if she was a piece of shit human

You open the camera staying in the messages with Regina and move to the video option. Ichigo’s head falls back as you take a handful of his silky hair..and press record. Arm outstretched so she can see that you're riding him and he’s under your complete control. Exaggerated moans fall from your throat and he responds with his own to match

“Fuck. So wet.” Is all he managed bringing a big pale hand down on your ass more than once. Your back arches and your chest presses into his.

“Love this pussy? I fuck better than your bitch don’t I?” You made sure to say loud enough for the mic to pick up.

“Fuck yes,” he mumbles, “wanna put a baby in you.” You drop down and on his cock and still yourself. Releasing a guttural moan.

“Open your mouth and I’ll let you fuck me from the back.” Hand still tangled in his hair, he obeys. You lean over spitting on his tongue and shoved yours in his mouth after it. He tasted as good as he felt. Your orgasm wasn’t too far behind. “Gonna nut in me?”

“Yes,” he chanted, “love this pussy, god I love you.” He didn’t. It was the lust speaking for him. That you couldn’t deny. Point taken, you ended the video and made sure it was delivered alongside the half finished breakup text.

“Ohhh shit,” you both said, for two different reasons. You were unfolding in each other's arms. Yes. But that video. It was too late to see the other contact icons at the top.

A group chat. This asshole was gonna dump her in a group chat. Not that I have any room to talk. His problem to deal with when I kick him out.

The apple logo flashed before the device shut down. You let go of his hair and his thrust became uncontrollable. Smashing every sweet spot he could find until he couldn’t hold back anymore. His cum coated your walls and in the blink of an eye he had you face down. Ass in the air on full display. His thumb rubbed against your hole pushing deeper and he slid two fingers from his other hand in your cunt. Not caring his cum gushed out with every pump. You winced hard as you clawed at the couch. Allowing your release to overcome you. “Good baby get it all out.” His voice an unfamiliar gentle sound.

His cock head patted your core before he relentlessly drilled into you. Mildly painful from the sudden penetration but overwhelming pleasure coursed through you. Waves of overstimulation washed over your body. The coin was flipped. He held the control over you. One of ichigo’s hands held onto the fat in your ass and the other rubbed overbearing circles on your clit. “Kurosaki,” you whined. Eyes in the back of your head.

“What is it baby? Wanna make another video?” He chuckled at the brief halt in your moans. He placed one dirty sneaker on your ebony cushion. Following his second orgasm. Increasing his pace he pummeled your poor pretty pussy until more of his semen was overflowing. He pulled out collapsing on the couch, lifting you in his arms.

“How did you know?” Embarrassment barreled it’s way to your chest and face. Avoiding looking in his direction.

“Peripheral vision is a thing baby.”

Not your baby.

“Are you not mad?” You fingered his necklace.

He shook his head, “I knew it wasn’t gonna last to begin with but…we’re not talking about that. I could have stopped you at any time but honestly I wanna see her react..their reaction just as much as you do.”

You smirked.

Asshole.

[amourtoken]

You're hanging out on your couch, scrolling on your phone, while Inhuman Vessel sleeps on the floor next to you like a giant house cat. As you are scrolling, you come across a blurry picture from a trail cam. It's from a few nights ago and about a day away from your house. The picture is hard to make out, and most commenters think it's a hoax, probably a well-made costume or Halloween decoration. But there's no doubt that's Vessel carrying what looks like a dead deer.

He's a good boy! However- boys gotta eat 💀 and he's really not a big fan of your cooking as much as he loves you it's lacking in the raw ass meat department.

For a second you're grossed out by the thought you've been making out with this man who eats dead animals whole but it fades pretty quickly, replaced by a dread in the pit of your stomach. You'd never really considered the fact that Vessel being spotted by other people is probably a really bad thing when he isn't in his human adjacent form. You end up scrolling for hours on some online forums discussing him, what he is, where he's from, whether or not people think he's a threat. It really does worry you, you wouldn't know what to do with yourself if something happened to him :((

Vessel seemingly senses the energy in the room has shifted and wakes with an over exaggerated yawn (literally like a house cat he's so fucking-) he's staring at you with his head tilted and all 6 eyes seem to be furrowed with confusion.

"Are you okay?"

You nod but your expression gives you away. You try your best to explain the situation to him and he realizes he needs to be more careful. He couldn't stand to allow anything or anyone to get between you two and now that you're around he does have something to be careful for. You two end up coming to an agreement that you'll source actual food for him in a safer way so he doesn't have to go so far away from the house anymore.

Ultimately, this means you're begging local butchers to just sell you whole animals and being met with very confused faces when you try and come up with some off hand excuse as to why since you can't just say "hey my massive forest monster husband refuses to eat anything that isn't literally freshly deceased"

[beesmygod]

oh, so. there's this story thats semi-local to my hometown that ive been keeping up on via the reno subreddit. ive been gawking at it from afar in wonder bc i didnt know people could make this many bad decisions on purpose.

joey gilbert was a boxer who was forced to retire bc he's a cheating bitch who was roiding up and doing meth before fights. the list of drugs in his system would scatter an average human's atoms like dust.

as a shining example of the kind of education i paid for: joey gilbert graduated from my alma mater, UNR, with an english degree and then passed the nevada bar using a law degree gained from a diploma mill that is no longer accredited. so now gilbert practices law. this is the advertisement that greets you when you get off the plane at reno/tahoe airport.

every time i see this i want to laugh my ass off. the vague use of meme formatting even though he doesn't understand the conventions of an impact font meme. he has the dead doll eyes described by clint in jaws. he looks like if lowtax attended his own funeral. there's no phone number or website. google me bitch.

anyway, that's not the point. gilbert evidently fried what was left of his tenderized boxer brain with speed and has tried to fashion himself as the VIP in douglas county/vegas conservative circles. i guess he fits right in because they willingly embraced him. he was at the jan 6 riot and will loudly espouse basically any belief as long as hes getting paid. he tried to run for gov and lost the primary by over 20k votes. somehow he claims this is election fraud. he has yet to explain the mechanisms that would explain how douglas county and its republican chapter manufactured over 20000 votes for a republican primary without anyone noticing during a time when election fraud is a hot button topic, all because they feared that the guy they test research chemicals on was a legitimate threat.

hold up my bad. actually gilbert says HE won by over 50000 and the city of las vegas is suppressing the results. his case was thrown out and he was fined 88k for wasting everyone's time.

okay now: in july of 2023 (insane link btw lol. they keep saying shit like "yeah i did that. problem, bitch?",) the conservative douglas county board of trustees had a bitch fit over their lawyer, who has been in the position for over 20 years, for refusing to enforce a transgender sports ban. in an act of retaliation he was fired by a narrow vote and replaced with........

JOEY GILBERT!!!!!!!!

pros of this exchange:

cons of this exchange: he costs more, has no formal law education, the ACLU is going to rip them a new hole, its now october and he has charged the school district an eye-watering 100k in two months. the previous firm charged 18k a month.

in response, the board of trustees is convening in order to fire......the superintendent who has been in the position for 30 years bc he was against gilbert from the start.

nevada is so dedicated to being number 50 in the nation. its honestly heartwarming to think that even the dumbest, toothless hick can make it there by simply lying nonstop. thats the american way, baby!

[see-arcane]

I mean. Eggers is filmmaker and as filmmaker he probably thought “if Browning, Coppola, and everyone else was allowed to do their fanfics, why can’t I do my own fanfic?” Meaning, as filmmaker he witnessed how countless directors played with source material as they pleased. Considering his age he existed in cultural atmosphere where various adaptations already shipped Mina or her equivalent with Dracula on screen and elsewhere. So while we are here scratching our heads about how on Earth he came to Ellen-Orlok ship, for him it must have been pretty easy thought. Plus he himself directed local stage adaptation of Nosferatu while he was teenager and even played Orlok in it, so yeah Orlok IS his self-insert character from his youth. Very typical male logic trajectory.

Oh, I'm not scratching my head about Eggers specifically. I'm just mind-boggled at the whole trend.

I mean it when I say that if I sanded off all the names from the characters in the innumerable Dracula-adjacent works for the past century and a quarter, I would sincerely enjoy so many of those movies and series and books more. They all boil down to the same Blood-dappled Forbidden Bodice Ripper Fantasy starring Dark Fuckprince Vampireman formula, which can be very fun! I love when monster and human do kissy bitey fun times and all the other human characters are LAME or JERKS and NO ONE UNDERSTANDS THEIR LOVE..!

...If it's original.

The issue is now and always that all of these directors and writers refuse to actually do justice to the characters or story they're hiding behind in a way that leaves anything recognizable. Instead they'd rather make an echo chamber of their Bizarroverse Dracula Fanfic which they've more or less been passing around for 127 years while convincing themselves They Are Doing Right By the Story by basically doing literary identity theft and stapling public domain names on their OCs.

And I just don't get why all these guys insist on "fixing" Dracula/Nosferatu this way instead of just making their own stuff

If you read the book and were so sure it would be better if only you removed, warped, or replaced every single trait of every single character and plot point, then maybe possibly You Did Not Actually Like the Story. Which is fine!

But if I went around saying "Oh boy, I love Star Wars! I'm going to make a bold and subversive but lovingly and faithfully crafted adaptation of the original films!" before turning around and making George Lucas' Star Wars, a film series wherein Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi are both played by GQ models and take up 90% of the screentime slobbering on each other while the rest of the cast sit in the background and scratch their asses, I think a few folks might be a touch baffled and disgruntled in the same way.

[elrallin]

Intro+Pinned

Hello hello! I'm El Rallin.

I write predominantly sci-fi and fantasy, with a focus on post-apocalyptic and post-post-apoc. As a queer person, I write a lot of stories with queer characters.

I'm an editing and publishing undergrad working part time as a copy editor for a scientific journal. I'm a huge nerd about the history of the English language, particularly Old English, which I will happily nerd about at any given opportunity.

Open to tags and asks! (Including tag lists for WiPs. And feel free to info dump to me about your projects in asks/similar.)

I often vanish for large chunks of time, during which the blog runs on a queue. I also just queue a lot of posts in general! If I vanish it's because disabilities+life are kicking my ass, and I'll return, though it mmmmay take a little bit. xD

WiPs

Fallen to Ashes - currently drafting

Post-post apocalyptic novel centering on a young drone pilot trying to get hired by a local vigilante crew to help make a positive impact on the city she has grown up in. Meanwhile, said crew's mission in the city is forcing them to either think in new ways, or give up and withdraw back to where they will be safe.

Bone-House - 24 hour novel project

Taylor, a newly hired library worker, discovers that they can see ghosts at the same time as they themself are starting to become one. Now, they need to work to save some library relics, including the bones of a ghost that has taken a liking to them, before the relics are permanently removed, and the library claims Taylor's bones to replace those that have been taken.

Voices Belonging to Monsters - summer project

A Beowulf retelling set after a viral apocalypse has permanently altered life on Earth, focusing on what it means to be a "good king" and to inherit a legacy. Told from the PoV of a Wiglaf/Unferth character who is overshadowed and overwhelmed by the legacy of a heroic leader.

Once, We Were Dragons - outlining

In a world where dragons were killed by a conquering empire, their descendants are still struggling for peace. A young half-human boy and his family flee for one of the few safe havens. Meanwhile, a human girl starts to challenge what she was taught about the world and her place in it.

I have other projects that I'll occasionally make mention of, and some characters, but these are the things that I'm working on getting drafted this year!

[phantomphangphucker]

Phic Phight - Half(a) Fool Too Much

For: @lexiepiper @murphy-kitt @a-closet-emo @amabsis @lexosaurus @deathcomes4u @ventisettestars @dennyz-backroom @paenling @echoghost1 @ssprout @silverwing013 @mossy-covered-bones​

April Fools in Amity Park equals absolute Chaos. Especially when Danny Fenton, aka the weird pun-loving half ghost kid, is involved.

“So, whatcha in for, Fenturd?”.

Danny snorts, rolling his eyes at the jock, “you know me well enough, what am I not in for”, leaning back in his seat, “what really sealed the deal was me inconveniencing Lancer, you see….”.

—1 hour prior—

Okay. So Danny might have fucked up. To be fair it was totally one hundred percent Vlad’s fault. Definitely. (That was a lie)

Vlad had been complaining Danny’s ears off about the towns ‘weird fetishisation’ of his two halfs, so Danny did something. A very something something.

Bribed a few Neko cat ghosts to run around confessing their undying love for Plasmius all around town. Then tricked a very drunken Plasmius to chase a laser pointer across the rooftops; that way everyone would think Plasmius was a weird cat ghost, and thus living regular humans definitely wouldn’t be interested in that right? Wrong.

Then today Vlad tried to hold a press conference to ‘dispel the rumours about one of the local ghosts’, said rumours had spun wildly into half the town thinking Plasmius was a ancient cat god taking a humanoid form to woo ‘a mate’. So Danny tried to be helpful and possessed the podium mic to voice over Vlad so it sounded like this was a press conference to declare his undying love of cheese and only cheese.

The town would definitely not still be interested in someone who proclaimed to have a passionate love for literal cheese baths.

Except that had been followed up by someone shouting, “cats love cheese so is this your attempt to woo Plasmius?”, followed by the crowd whispering about the ‘town hotties’ trying to get together.

That all isn't the why or how of Danny getting detention though. Rather it was the fact that Vlad’s response to that question had been to promptly swear in Russian.

All it took was one “Пиздец” (Damn it) and Danny burst out laughing in shock so hard that… he got stuck in the microphone.

Stuck in a microphone during school hours… when he was supposed to be in Mr. Lancer’s class… a Mr. Lancer that was already fed up with everyone’s April fools shit, especially Danny’s.

—Present—

Danny shrugs, “so yeah, Lance had to fetch me out of a microphone while Vladdie snapped about how he-”, making mocking air quotes, “‘didn't know whether to be touched or pissed, Daniel’. I for one was very impressed with myself; both of my mild swear-related Russian skills and my messing with people skills”, and nods curtly to himself.

Wes chuckles a little, “you’re a little jack ass, but even I’m impressed you got mayor Bastard to actually swear”.

Danny finger guns at the wannabe sleuth, “and he did it in front of a mic”, then grumbling, “granted he could just blame me for that and say I was manipulating the sounds”.

Dash raises an eyebrow, “you were doing that though”.

“Shush you”.

Dash chuckles, leaning back himself, “least all I did was set the bathrooms on fire”.

Wes pointing at him, “on fire by making them spew literal magma. I’m surprised the schools still standing”.

Danny just looks impressed, “that was you? Damn. That shit out shone my whole ghost bees in the water lines”.

“… Didn't three people have to go home because of that?”.

Danny glares at the jock, “oh like you care, Mr. Got Kwan To Replace The Footballs With Explosives. That wasn't even original”.

Wes scowls at him, “well unlike your half ghost ass, we can’t just phase things through peoples locker doors or turn peoples pants invisible”.

Dash nodding, “or stab ourselves in the heart with a pencil to scare a sub”.

“Or swallow enough forks to violently vomit up forks in the middle of gym class”.

“I’d bet ten bucks you were also the one who made the stop signs start ominously walking towards parked cars”.

Wes rolls his eyes, “and that whole every pot in town simultaneously falling over and exploding had to have been you”.

Danny gives them a mean smug smirk, “hey if the towns going to decide that vampire looking ass is a cat god, then I have to out cat him”.

Dash tilts his head, “but didn't everyone drop that after, like, almost our entire class got both Phantom and The Box Ghost to also chase a laser pointer?”.

“That means nothing”, Danny puts his hands behind his head, “honestly? I’m more surprised that me parading Pariah around as my new dad wasnt the thing that finally broke Lancer”.

Wes actually slaps the back of Danny’s head, “I thought that was Vlad pranking you! The entire town blamed me for that shit!”.

“Why the fuck would you get me ghost adopted!”.

“I don’t know! That’s what I said!”.

Dash gives Wes a dull look, “dont you dare tell us that you're in here for something you didn't even do”. Of course weird Wes would be the one to get in trouble without causing trouble even on fucking April fools.

Wes huffs, grumbling, “well I did steal the G.I.W.’s new recruit tour bus in an attempt to make them follow a certain someone”.

Dash groans, “even on April fools you cant drop that ‘Fenturd is Phantom’ crap? Sure, he might be some freak ghost hybrid thing but come on already”.

Wes throws up his hands, “OH MY GOD YOU ARE ALL FUCKING DUMBASSES”.

Danny chuckles at his expense, “says the dumbass that apparently crashed a government bus into the cafeteria soup pot”.

Dash blinks, “yeah i still don’t get why the lunch ladies make the soup in a five foot by five foot vat”.

Danny shrugs, was it gross? Yeah. Was he complaining? Not really. “At least the G.I.W. contaminating it with cleaners got us out of eating it”. All three nodding readily.

Wes huffs, eyeing Danny, “what I don't get is why you even did that thing with Pariah? How was having a tyrannical genocidal mad man following you around shouting about forged adoption papers and trying to stab you with a sword, a good prank?”.

“Fishing for fresh gossip, are we?”.

“Oh fuck you”.

Danny chuckles and shrugs, “it pissed Vlad off”, shrugging, “plus, Pariah is kinda pretty badass. Have you seen his biceps? He has black-clad knight even”.

Dash quirks an eyebrow and shakes his head, “you could have just stolen the mayors bed, not went through freaking adoption, you weirdo. Point on the rest though”, and eyes his own bicep, flexing.

“Hey, I already did the whole fill up water bed with wet cement thing; the last thing I am is an unimaginative repeater”.

“I’d say you're lucky that didn't kill him, but if Vlad couldn’t survive deadly situations, someone would have assassinated him by now”.

“Wait, would that make you, like, ghost royalty now? You should totally boss Phantom around now”.

Danny gives the jock a blank look, “Dash, I’m not bossing a ghost around in their own lair, you dick”. Dash just rolls his eyes at that, while Wes mutters, “you can't boss yourself around anyways”, which goes ignored.

All three jerk at the door getting yanked open… by Pariah Dark, “I’VE FOUND YO-”, followed by a red blast shooting him away, the door swinging back shut, a bunch of thumping, a not so small explosion, and the door opening back up. It’s the FrightKnight, “I blame you for this”, he appears to be ‘dragging off’ Pariah -who glares dangerously at Danny- by the cape to do royal duties.

Danny grins meanly as the door reshuts, “I guess I should also mention some ghosts who really don’t like me are trying to make my ‘new dad’ take responsibility for me”.

Dash blinks before putting his head down on his desk and wheezing, “you really went and pranked a ghost king, you fucking weirdo”.

A couple more thumps make them eye the door, then the wall as the sounds seem to be coming from the room over now. They all glance at each other, shrug, and get up to investigate. At this point, how much more trouble could they even get in anyways?

---

Valerie was having a day, alright? April fools was one of the worst days in her opinion, and not just because of the ghosts being ghostly pains in the ass; no it was mostly Danny’s half ghostly ass. What kind of (lovable) psycho convinces everyone who sells salad to sell exclusively screaming ghost salad. And that’s not even touching him being responsible for her having to chase goddamn Pariah around and actually play nice with The FrightKnight.

It was like Danny’s goal every April was to turn the entire town into a hostage situation and blow shit up. At least he was also pestering that lying asshole Vlad, but still.

So now, just like every April First since she started being a hunter, she gotten shit-kicked. Normally she’d be cool with Phantom maybe coming and patching her up, but knowing that ghost, he’d clap her in the face with a ghost-shaped pie first.

And as if she could see the future, the classroom door opens and whoever gets to see her injured bullshit. Fucking lovely.

…

Annnnnnd of course it’s Dash, resident bully and ex-friend. Danny, the reason for all her problems today and ex-boyfriend. And Wes, the wack job conspiracy nut. Fun. Fuck the entire universe and Phantom too.

At least she’s still in her suit. That was something.

Dash, the ass, whistles, “damn, you got your ass kicked”.

She groans and half slurs, “oh fuck you”.

Danny finger guns while the three boys walk closer, “swearing at civilians, I like it”.

She wants to punch him.

Wes throws up his hands, “oh great the other teenage superhero that no one believes me about”.

Earning a round of, “shut up, Wes”, from everyone.

Danny shrugs, leaning down, “but hey, from one Wes victim to another, let’s get you to not be a blood fountain”.

No one says or does anything for a second before Valerie cautious speaks up, “are you trying to fix things for once? On April fools?”.

“Hey it’s not that weird”.

Everyone shouting, “Yes it is!”, isn’t surprising.

Danny pouts, “fine, I’m doing this weirdly then. Give me your scanner”.

Valerie sighs, “this might as well happen”.

Dash sounds more cautious than she had, “what are you going to do with it”.

“Possess it and jump start healing”.

Dash quirks an eyebrow, “after you got detention for getting stuck in a microphone?”.

“Oh it’ll be fine”.

… it was not fine.

Danny’s voice comes out through the scanner. “Uh. I’m stuck again. Oops?”.

Everyone facepalms.

Valerie sighs, granted Danny had jumpstarted her suits healing to a weird degree but for fucks sake. At least she could fix this easily, a couple taps and boom! one half ghost ex gets ejected.

Danny just blinks from where he landed on his ass on the floor, “huh. Well that was convenient”.

Valerie grumbles from the floor, “convenient my ass. One of the most pain in the ass ghosts in this town has a thing for overshadowing, protecting myself against that is common sense”.

“Hey at least you don’t have cat ears-”.

She mildly shoots him as she stands up, “you can shut the fuck up, oh my Zone you are a dick”, and aggressively waves away the ectoplasm the boy had made form little cat ears on her helmet. She also decides to take the building shaking slightly as her cue to book it outta there; Zone knows what ghostly brawl is awaiting her now; the three boys not far behind.

The last thing they expected was for there to be a couple of men in suits flashing badges and asking them if they can help them find a certain boy; Valerie just chuckling awkwardly and flying off quickly on her board, the boys can deal with this shit.

Danny looking to Wes while gesturing grandly, arms still smoking slightly, “Wes! I thought you just stole a G.I.W. vehicle not a standard government vehicle!”.

“I did!”.

One of the men clears their throat, “actually, we’re looking for Daniel Fenton”.

Danny drops his arms, “ah”, blinking, “Fuck”, and turns to book it down the hallway.

Dash crouches on his heels, wheeze laughing, “the Hell else did you do, Fentwink!”, wheezing some more, “you did some crazy shit, some stupid shit, and some hilarious shit; but what did you do to get arrested by the government”. Wes rubs his eyes, “why do I even try to get him in trouble? He’s doing it all on his own”.

Danny, for whatever reason, doesn’t try to phase or fly off -likely not wanting to flaunt his ghostliness too much to outsiders- and thus gets tackled to the ground. One of the agents snapping, “Daniel Fenton, you’re under arrest for hacking your way into presidency”.

Danny blinks, “… TUCKER! YOU DICK!”.

Said geeks voice comes through the -hacked- speaker system, “how was I supposed to know hacking the federal government was a bad idea? Don't you want to be able to say you took over the country before the fruitloop could?”.

The government agents look like they’re trying to not be swayed by this, though it was an… interesting attempt out of being arrested. All their proof led back to Daniel not this Tucker though. Eh they’ll let their boss figure it all out.

-

Tucker winces, watching Danny glare bloody murder at the school cameras while being carted off by government agents. He looks to Sam from their spot up in the school ceiling, “do you think I should just bite the bullet and show him Phantom’s fursona that I got on the evening newspapers front page?”.

Sam glares, “what did you ask the artist to make him”.

“…”, Tucker looks down and sighs in defeat, “a badger”.

“You’re fucking Dead”.

(Danny -as Phantom- did, in fact, kick his ass later while throwing newspapers at him and chasing him around town)

---

William Lancer sighs, taking a seat with his tea, unfolding the evening news. Figured that on April fools the paper would choose to run a, freakishly well done, anthropomorphic version of the local town hero ghost. “Hopefully there’s something in here I can use as a creative writing punishment”.

Lance Thunder chuckles hollowly, “those teens giving you trouble? I saw what that Daniel boy did with the mayors mic”.

William grimaces, “that wasn't even the worst of it. When I finally gave him a detention he ate my tie. He vomited forks on the gym teacher earlier”.

Mr. Thunder grimaces, “that boy is a menace. They give you a pay raise yet?”.

“Ha. As if”.

“Same”, Mr. Thunder puts a hand to his chest, “and I have to report on all this mess tomorrow. Someone glued a bunch of hair to hotdogs and hung them from trees; the smell was nauseating. And that magma river from Casperhigh? Who even did that?”.

William sighs, “Dash, the quarter back. He got detention, for once, too. I can’t exactly make him clean up magma, so I think I’m going to make him sweep up all the whisp ghost spit up”, shaking his head, “if I made Daniel do that, he’d roll around in it”.

“My hair could never”.

William nods slowly, though pausing with his tea cup to his lips as the two Lance’s stare at a government vehicle going by with a seemingly arrested Daniel sitting in it and kicking the window bars while growling like a feral animal.

Both Lance’s blink, “what did he do now”.

Sam running by glances over, huffing, “Tucker made him the president of the United States”.

Lance Thunder pulling out his note pad, sounding defeated, “guess I know tomorrows main story: ‘Underage, Under-Alive, and Undervoted: Half Dead Local Becomes President, Voting Rights Hacked’”.

William Lancer nodding, “and I know his most recent excuse for ditching detention: ‘sorry I was busy getting arrested for being the president of the United States’”.

They eye each other and sigh, continuing non with their respective drinks and trying to have a little bit of peace for a bit.

End.

Prompts: - Danny learns how to possess inanimate objects. It’s all fun and games until he gets stuck… and People know Danny Fenton is half ghost but don’t know he’s Phantom. and When Valerie found herself stumbling into the first empty classroom she could find, bleeding and woozy, she did not expect to see a pair of shoes waltz up to her spot on the floor calmly. She was grateful they hadn’t started screaming, and looked up at her possible ally. When she saw who they were, she cursed her luck (and Phantom, too, for good measure). and People and ghosts in Amity (for whatever reason) find both Vlad and Plasmius to be attractive, so Vlad goes to Danny to help and help he does! (He makes everything worse, for Vlad that is) and Tucker fucked up. Hard. But it’s like, how the hell was he supposed to know that hacking the federal government was a bad idea? and Tucker commissions a very good artist to design Danny Phantom a fursona. and Danny decides Pariah is adopting him. Maybe Danny fell into the keep, and open the coffin out of curiosity. Upon seeing Pariah, Danny makes him ghost dad. Maybe to get Vlad off his case by having a scarier dad, but maybe cause pariah looks cool in the eyes of a teenager? Doesn't need to be Pariah redemption. and It’s annual Casper High April Fools Prank War. It’s a day friendships are broken and not even the teachers are safe. Dash, Wes and Danny talk about what did they do to get detention in a day that has no laws. and Danny commits harmless poltergeist mischief (read: cat behavior) around the town, or is otherwise an absolute Creature. and Danny finds out Vlad knows Russian. How? Well, Vlad swore in his native langue not realizing that Danny has been slowly teaching himself Russian (so he’s that much more ready to be on the ISS) and he started with the swears because he’s a teenager. and Everyone knows that cats go crazy for laser-pointers- but what do ya know, they work on ghosts too! and For two men who share similar names, that wasn't what Mr. Lancer and Lance Thunder connected over. There is Amity and there are ghosts and *they do not get paid enough for this shit*. (Share a rapport, friendship, relationship, whatever, go for it) and “Oops”

[missazura]

Okay sorry if it was a bit or something and you didn't want an infodump explaining this, but about Phillip sounding British when he's actually American... (Also I apologize if you already knew any of this, I'm not trying to be patronizing I just find it fascinating and I know a lot of people weren't taught this.)

So the Puritans (which he's heavily implied to be a part of) were an extremist Christian sect that overthrew the English monarchy in a pretty brutal civil war. They proceeded to crack down on civil liberties and rights on account of something something Jesus. They ended up banning stuff like theater, music, Christmas (not a joke), and heavily restrict the rights of women and minorities. So needless to say they weren't exactly welcome in England after their leader Cromwell got replaced by the King's son. On account of people hated their guts and were sick to death of their No Fun Allowed horseshit. As a result, they fucked off to the "New World" and became some of the first European colonists. So, many of them probably retained the accent but adapted to life in the Colonies. They are widely credited for spearheading America's evangelical Christian cult problem, our wack-ass beliefs about human rights and who is worthy of respect, and also were the main bastards responsible for the Salem Witch Trials.

So Stinky Phil may have been born in England, or even a first- or second- generation English immigrant. Or he was just raised by people who had that accent and picked it up despite being born in the Colonies. Many people at the time thought of themselves as British, and some even thought that after the Revolutionary War. (The Salem Witch Trials which were alluded to in the story happened in 1692, while the Revolutionary War happened in 1775-83.) I personally headcanon that Caleb and Phillip's parents died crossing the Atlantic Ocean or in some armed conflict (Local conflicts? French and Indian War maybe?) and that's why they were forced to roam around.

Also, a slight tangent: What we now think of as The English Accent TM was invented later in time by English aristocracy so that they didn't have to speak in the same way as commoners. It then became extremely popular and desirable to sound like that (classism ahoy!), so then many common people adopted it as well. The "original" English accent sounded closer to many American accents than the current one we generally think of. There's some cool info out there about it! To quote a BBC article, "Americans today pronounce some words more like Shakespeare than Brits do… but it’s in 18th-Century England where they’d really feel at home."

Source: I'm English-American (big yikes) and I love history :-)

WHAT THE FUCK IM GETTING MY MIND BLOWN RIGHT HERE AND NOW??? COOL, COOL

[thorns-and-rosewings]

As promised, this is a continuation of the Reaper King AU 💀 story from my last post. Sorry y'all, I had stuff that needed to be done or I would have just made it one long post. But honestly seeing how long this became, I think I will have to break it up even more... So be aware this is longer than the last one by quite a bit 😅

Anyways...

TW: Same as before, Definitely going to be touching on darker topics here, moreso than the previous part, so you've been warned.

Part 2...

18) KC and Bloodmoon claim their territory and to the locals it's like some sort of hellish cryptid just moved in. Murder rates skyrocket and the number of disappearances in the park also double, if not triple. And don't even start on the Park Ranger job turnovers rates...

19) Over time Bloody grows to trust this variant of Killcode more. As he's not preachy, nor a pacifist... He's someone who Bloodmoon can relate too and they have things in common. Not to mention this KC makes it quite obvious that he DOES care about the Bloodtwins. Nor has he once ever tried to use them...

-Bloodmoon is nearly impossible to control. But if he cares about someone he truly CAN be loyal and caring towards them.

-Aaand he will occasionally nap either near or on KC. Due to the core giving off a lot of heat... And Bloodmoon shows his inner cat and will just be drawn to the aforementioned heat. Which Killcode gets a small laugh out of.

20) As time continues to progress KC begins to take souvenirs from his kills. Frequently taking bones, teeth or claws from whatever he slaughters along with some of the victims blood. He takes these pieces and begins to construct a 'Rosary' using these pieces as beads after he cuts them appropriately and then paints them in the blood of the same victim. He knows the stories of each bead and can relate them all by heart.

-Bloodmoon tried to make a rosary but had little patience for it... He wasn't made to do arts and crafts sadly.

21) Things dramatically change one day when Killcode goes out for a solo hunt. He selects his target, one of the towns local drunkards and the reaper quietly follows him back to his home. Only when goes to sneak inside... He makes a disturbing discovery...

-...as he observes this piece of human garbage has a young son that he proceeds to beat senseless as soon as his drunk ass saw the boy trying to quietly get back into his room once his father came home.

21) Killcode entered a state of pure rage and he quite literally ripped this man's guts out and made him eat them. He then turned his attention to the injured and now terrified child, who is barely seven years old. And his voice becomes as soft and as calming as he can make it... And he offers this child a home away from other humans.

-The boy accepts to go with the strange creature that saved him...

-Thus becoming KCs second adopted child.

22) Now Bloodmoon had a MASSIVE problem with this. Again going back to his disdain for humans, viewing them as food and just things to kill and nothing more. But KC makes it VERY clear that this boy is now his child as much as Bloodmoon is.

-Killcode in no uncertain terms warns Bloodmoon to back off and not lay a hand on this child.

23) Bloody is PISSED for a long time... Ignoring his father and doing his own thing. Definitely releasing his stress in murderous rampages and KC let's him be for a bit. Focusing a little on helping his human child adapt to his new home.

24) But after about a week KC sits next to the sulking Bloodmoon and talks to him... Now that his anger has burned down to still heated embers. Explaining that this is something that seems to be written into his coding a need to be protective over children... possibly some leftover or entangled code from the Sun and Moon he was once a part of...

25) This discussion only gets angry growls and the Bloodtwins snap at how he's a killer like them but now he's turning into some pathetic pacifist!

...also their anger at being replaced and forgotten...

...KC just laughs...

26) He asks why in the world he thinks he's suddenly a pacifist? He's not... In fact his need to hunt and kill is even greater now. As he's going to need to bring food home for this boy to eat. Let alone how he's going to need to teach this child to hunt.

-He's got a lot to learn in order to be like them...

27) This conversation did the impossible. Calmed Bloodmoon down and... It was at that moment he grew to truly love KC as his father...

-He just grabbed onto the larger animatronic reaper and hugged him close. Not letting him see the tears of him being genuinely happy in his eyes... And he muttered 'You stupid old man...' under his breath repeatedly as he did so.

28) When Bloodmoon actually did calm down, he asked what the boys name was... To which KC shrugged and merely said that he'd get one eventually.

Bloodmoon: A new life leaves the old name behind and brings forth a new name in time.

29) Once he's healed up and ready Bloody and Killcode take the boy hunting... And his first kill is a rabbit. To which KC takes it's skull and cleans it up giving it to the boy on a leather string as it is now the start of his own rosary...

-He'll fit into this family just fine as he grows...

...However something else becomes apparent in time...

30) There was a reason the Creator put that core inside of an animatronic. As in the presence of organic material it can have a certain negative... Mutagenic effects...

-The core generates anti-matter a substance that seems to have a substantial affect on organisms, seeming to twist them to dark creatures. The Creator could not keep it to close to himself lest he fall under it's corruption. Stitchwraith never got to close to organic creatures as he was aware that the core would have a negative effect on them.

-Killcode is unaware of any of this...

-However what the Creator was unaware of was that this mutagenic effect could actually be somewhat controlled by the will of whomever, or whatever, was in control of the cube.

-Creator would have let every negative thing possible just happen without wanting to change anything. But Killcode only seeks the benefit of himself and those he cares for. Not to twist the world around him into a mindless dark parody of itself.

31) The boy in Killcodes care begins to mutate, losing human attributes and gaining inhuman ones. He better fits in with his father and brothers. No longer can he be considered human...

And he was perfectly fine with it...

...7 Years Pass...

32) Over seven additional years, Killcode has adopted even more kids. (Their info is below along with their names.)

-Wendigo (Nickname Wen): Age 14, the first adopted human. Has grown to look like his namesake. Covered in thick black fur with lanky limbs, protruding bones and razor claws. His mutation really came in after he took a slaughtered deer skull and began to wear it as a mask. One day it just didn't come off...

-Even as a young teen he's now a little taller than Bloodmoon, much to the older duo of brothers annoyance.

-Banshee (Nickname Ban): Age 12, the first daughter KC adopted. Her skin is a deathly grey tinged blue while her eyes are glowing blue and her hair is only black. She wears a long raggedy dress and a red shawl with a hood. She has the powers of her legendary namesake. She can create disorienting screeches that can even affect electronic devices.

-She's a sweetheart to her family but can be pretty ruthless to humans/prey. She often helps the Bloodtwins out with disorienting victims with her screeches so Bloody can rip and tear them apart while they're so gripped in terror.

-Vampire (Nickname Vamp): Age 10, The older brother of a pair of twins. Lives up to his name but is definitely NOT a sparkly Twilight vampire. His skin has the color of death and his eyes are blood red. He and his twin are jokesters and usually make bad ideas... That Bloodmoon goes along with because they sound like fun. He needs blood to survive, but also likes and can suffice on fresh meat too.

-He along with his twin, Lycan, get into the most mischief amongst their family. Very often with Bloodmoon as an enabler... KC often needs to save them from themselves. (Even if he secretly finds their antics funny, Killcode still has to be the responsible parent and try and stop them from being too crazy.)

-Lycan (No nickname this time): Age 10, the younger twin to Vamp. He also lives up to his namesake and looks like a werewolf. Although his features are not completely wolfish. His face still looks humanoid and closer to the earlier depictions of the Wolfman; it's unclear if he will continue to mutate or he will remain like this. He is as playful and mischievous as his sibling, though shows a tiny bit more caution. But he is most likely going to be off causing trouble with Vamp and Bloodmoon. Is allergic to chocolate, much like an actual wolf.

-Secretly Killcode has been wondering if it's a single braincell being shared between his two sets of twins, given how much insanity they get into. But damn if he doesn't love them chaos and all.

-Wisp (Nickname Will O'): Age 4, by far the quietest of KC's children. She resembles a small ghostly child wearing a light colored dress, but her entire body overall looks like a small blue flame and her long white/blue hair perpetually in motion like an aforementioned flame. She is very quiet, but undoubtedly due to her trauma prior to her adoption, (Straight up unwanted and eventually abandoned in the woods to die) she doesn't like being alone and she can be understandably clingy. Though it has gotten better over time given the proper love and affection by her new family.

-She is currently the only child of KC's without a kill count, but that is because she is simply not ready yet. This fact is understood even by Bloodmoon and no one is going to force her to hunt until she's ready.

-The Baby (Is literally a baby and doesn't even technically have a name yet, but is a little girl): Age is maybe 3 months? The story behind this child was that KC and Bloodmoon were out hunting together, as Killcode is always careful to give all of his kids affection and not overlook any of them, Bloodmoon included. As they were out they were looking for some fresh targets, but the smell of something burning and a baby crying caught their attention... Lo and behold there was a car that had clearly flown off the road and crashed into a tree, killing the two adults in the car but leaving the baby in the backseat alive... Which resulted in KC taking the little one and them burying the parents near the scene of the accident.

-The baby is the youngest child KC has ever encountered and is obviously a bit challenging to care for, thankfully he manages... And the older kids do help their father out as much as they can. Though the one who interacts the least with the baby is Bloodmoon, not because he dislikes her but because he's genuinely afraid he will hurt her.

Bloodmoon: We're built to rip and tear! Not hold tiny soft things that will tear too easily!

-He makes a fair point with this. He also has an immense dislike to the infants crying often resulting in him yowling something about the 'Alarm is going off again!' but his disdain isn't malicious. He's just not that great with infants.

33) Over those seven years it wasn't just KCs human children that mutated. The entire region that these guys call home mutated. With the forest becoming much 'darker.' The whole place has become a major hot spot for paranormal activity, specifically involving various cryptids. There are tons of reports of Sirenhead, Fleshgaits and all sorts of other horrors. As well as other just weird stuff like random stairs to nowhere in the middle of the woods and other people swearing that the forest can shift around and get unsuspecting tourists hopelessly lost.

-There is a certain amount of mutations that would occur naturally in the vicinity of the cube, but none of the mutations to the environment are overly malicious. But the dark energy can attract more things that definitely can give normal folks nightmares...

(...Also I love Creepypastas, sue me...)

34) There have been two attempts by the Creator to retrieve the cube in the forms of two low-intelligence high-fire power drones sent to find the cubes energy signature... Both attempts, several years apart, ended almost comedically bad.

(Okay yeah it's late and I am super tired now so I don't want to write anymore since I have to get to work in a few hours... But seeing as how I still have about one more portion to write for this I am going to post this now and finish the next part tomorrow 😅)

[unnervinglyferal]

One of the most uncomfortable things my brain has done has been getting attached to Mary. Like, Mary as in Mary the mother of Jesus. Not surprising but awkward for sure.

Mary is a big deal for mexicans. Regardless of anything, she is very important to our culture. Even the most brutal cartel or gang members will lower their heads and cross themselves in humility to the holy image of her. Taxi drivers hang rosaries (long bead artifacts with an amazing amount of technical specifications behind them that are meant to guide prayers towards Mary) on their mirrors to feel protection, and it's not badly viewed for people to wear rosaries as collars either. She's on the murals. She was our first ever flag. There's even one very very specific holiday we have for her, can't say I've ever celebrated it, but here in the small town where I live, people light fireworks everywhere and it's this big ass loud and happy celebration. Originally brought by colonizers to replace the goddess Tonantzin, the image of a brown skinned Mother Mary has become a symbol of and for our people. Hell, half of our fucking female population is called Maria Guadalupe (Lupe, for short) after her local name –Santa María Guadalupe. Don't even get me started on the advocations of the Virgin Mary, because theres like, A WHOLE ass different lore for that. Over here we have one called La Virgen del Pueblito (literally "The virgin from the small town").

Having said that, of course the jewish woman who accidentally recreated the fucking Pietá with the huge catholic dude with a saviour complex, as his side bled because he had a fucking nail stuck in there, WAS GOING to get attached to the jewish woman who is a LITERAL PART OF THE PIETÁ alongside THE VERY MAN MY EXBOYFRIEND WORSHIPPED and she birthed, as he also BLED FROM HIS SIDE, with NAILS stuck in his BUTCHERED HANDS.

Like, if you think about it, Mary also got ultra crucified for the sins of humanity inside of the christian lore. I do not believe this happened at all and I am not like, going to fucking convert to catholicism, but oh man. Oh man man man. Do I think of her often, with all these statues that mostly portray her in such a state of grief, looking up at the sky with hope on her big tender eyes full of tears, begging for mercy and forgiveness. Or with that compassionate soft gaze, meant to fall over the audience at the sanctuaries and parishes, filling all of their faithful spirits with motherly joy.

I do not have a mother, Feral. There's a warmth in that woman's eyes, some type of comprehension people often grow to find on their favourite characters or their favourite shows. I wouldn't say I believe in her as the holy mother of like, the almighty Christian Messiah or all that, but all I can think is "man, she's so me. Look at her, gifting herself to the christian Gxd, hoping her son will save the world as promised, knowing she will suffer but being so willing to do so for the sake of people that couldn't care any less".

I am and will always be jewish. As insufferable as it is, jews are my people and I wouldn't change that ever, it's my pride and joy to be a part of our tribe. But if I ever had to mutter a christian prayer, maybe I'd give one to her. Maybe I'd dedicate a rosary to my non religious, secular idea of her.

This is """problematic""" as fuck but this is what trauma does to a motherfucker. You cope the way you can and stick to it.

Any way to cope with being alive that doesn't cause physical injury is among the better ones, and being attached to something that's a huge part of the world you know isn't odd. You don't get to choose who your people are - in the sense of where you come from. But you do get to choose where you're going.

I've never met a catholic in real life. The christians here are lutherans, they don't believe in martyrdom or having sanctity or grace in suffering and sacrifice. In a way I sometimes wonder if they'd be more sympathetic to the suffering of others if they saw any value in it. Or even their own suffering. Languish, acceptance and embracing grief are more or less foreign concepts to them. They don't believe in saints, in Mary, or - no matter what they say - in a loving G-d.

Grief needs an outlet, some way for it to bleed out or it will fester. And not to sound messianic (fuck those clowns), but as much as we know of Jesus of Nazareth, he was still a jew, born of a jewish mother. All things considered, who else would you reasonably turn to?

[getranched]

coulddddd we have a rundown of the habitants of the ranch?

Well I'm not sure about every single being who makes this (cosmic nightmare) house a home

But I'm sure we can give you a good rundown!(also PSA this account does deal with unreality so if that kind of thing messes with you be careful)

First up is the Ranch itself! A mimic in its final stage of life! They normally become dungeons or haunted houses but this lovely guy had the (mis)fortune to become a familiar with Moon in around the 1700's I'm pretty sure. And as a fully adult mimic it spawns thousands of baby mimics which end up replacing our furniture and the like.

EREN INTERJECTION i’m eren, OR RIJU, a shapeshifter. i just live here idk. i have a friend who’s a burmese python but he doenst live here. uhmm yeah idk i just eat the food in the fridge and sometimes i’ll throw bits of my fresh kills in there too. idk uhmm yeah im friends w everyone here except for like. FD maybe?? but he doesnt live here i dont think….

tbh i dont really keep up with who comes in and who doesnt HAHA im usually in my room playing with bones or reading when im here at the ranch

Twi interjection! I'm Twilight (or just Marth) i'm just kind of here, and if i'm not, i'm tending to my acnh island Tabantha. (Also this account is being shared between 15 or less people, some are more active than others and their individual accounts are being followed by this one)

Is it really an interjection if everybody’s doing it when nobody else is typing? Who knows! I’m Vivian, local semi-moth humanoid and god/dess of the Lost and the Traveling on occasion. Unlike most local chumps deities, I am a multiversal being, which means I am THE deus ex machina in any given situation, and like to Borrow from other universes. cough cough: ner beskar’gam. Also, I have a sapient AI living in “my” spaceship (which is legally his, don’t tell xem), just for funsies

This is Sky now. I'm not really supposed to be in this galaxy, I crash landed in the front yard on one of my spaceships. I tried apologizing to the landlord but we ended up throwing hands, not my fault. Eventually I stayed at the Ranch tho. Hobbies: leading prison breaks, motorcycle rides, eating lightbulbs for the sake of trolling, antagonizing gods, blasting my friends into space. Ended up adopting a demon cat guy. (Vivian note: this is not the catboy incubus. This is a different demon cat guy) (Sky note: Yeah, my boy is the cat butler, the other catboy is a pain in my ass) (Vivian again: and a pleasure in mine)

This is Luna! I am the goddess of horses and all things related. I spend most of my time as a horse (sometimes a centaur) AND I AM NOT A CHUMP VIVI! anyway I used to run an empire ages ago before it was destroyed, and I got sealed away. I have Twi to thank for breaking my seal! Nowadays I'm restarting my cult (its horse girls mostly rn) and fixing horse races. If you ever see a horse say hello it might be me.

Heyo! I'm saria, local milf. I have deer antlers because some grass god decided it'd be cool to mix the local humans with deer. (to be fair, he was right.) I'm mostly human, though. I stream bloodborne because that game reminds me of my found family and my village. I'm still piecing together what happened to my people, but for now I bake, garden, and play my silly little video game. catch me having tea with a succubus and a doll on tuesdays and shopping with a horse on thursdays.

Hi! I'm Wild! I was Moons first kid after my dog and I accidently ended up in this world, escaped jail, and hid in her man eating garden. Most of the time, I sail the seas of my home world and have the best adventures with the greatest pirate crew u could ever imagine. But, I do come visit home from time to time, too, thanks to my crystal that lets me travel through time and space. Somebody's gotta bedazzle FD's tools and give Moon a headache, ya kno?

Yormp here! I’m not totally sure who I am, I’m working on it. Moon says I’m a creature of my own choice, but I’m not too sure about that. Before I was an omen of war, and my friends called themselves pestilence, conquest, and death. Then I died, some time passed, I don’t remember it all, got cursed to be an otter for a bit, and met Moon. Now? I’m just going to college. Learning a little. If I really do get to choose, I think I’ll choose not to be War reborn this time.

Oh… and uhh. Goose.

Hmmm? OH it's my turn! Hey hey hey! I am (the) Sun Sun Sun and when you're with me everything is fun fun fun!. I'm Moon's counter part. We share a body, we share a mind, we are the same person, but not quite! Much like Moon I am also a clown, but instead of resembling a porcelain doll I have the body of a goat (sorta)! You can think of me as Moon's opposite! We may not agree on much, but we do hold our family very dear to us! I'm also referred to as a father and much like Moon, I don't mind what I'm called! Speaking of Moon, she wants her turn to speak now!

Hello, dearest traveler,

It seems you have found our home. I'm (the) Moon. I am the one that eats many gods in this world. But do not worry, it is strictly business. As of this moment, I have taken the form of a porcelain clown. This body was provided to me by a dear friend. I am also referred to as the father of many Ranch residents. Though I am called a father, and might be referred to as Mr. Vilon, I do not care much for what I am referred to as. Most use she/her.

[Psst. Moon. Don't forget to tell them some house rules!]

Ah yes... While you are here traveler, be sure keep some things in mind:

- Mind your teeth and your belongings, else they might be stolen

- Remember to keep your feet off the grass. The plants get hungry after a certain time.

- Not everything is what it seems. I'm sure you will become familiar with our mimics both big and small.

- Do not assume a door, hallway, or stairwell will take you to the same place twice.

- The void will always listen to your troubles.

- Do not pet the cats. Some are... not the kind that you want the attention of. Or maybe they are. That's up to you.

- And most importantly, remember, that sometimes, it is better to stay lost than to be found.

Enjoy your visit,

The Vilons

[all-the-things-2020]

Further Along the Way - Chapter Ten

Summary: Din makes a decision.

Rating: PG

“It’s a done deal,” Shandilon said smugly. “They’re going to call us up. My dad heard it from Senator Kilgore himself. The Parliament okayed it yesterday.”

Din let the cadets talk. With all the rumors swirling around campus recently, he’d found that letting the students gossip a bit before class started helped keep them focused once instruction actually began. He lost a few minutes of time each day, but better to have 45 minutes of kids paying attention than 60 minutes of them only half heeding his words.

“What will we be doing?” Limante asked. He was one of Shandilon’s buddies, always ready to back the other boy up.

Shandilon shrugged. “Probably something boring, to tell the truth. The plan is to use the military reserves to replace the troops that are being sent to the Danda sector, so we’ll just take over some dumb job like guarding an embassy building. The pilot cadets might get to escort a merchant ship through the inner trade routes, but that’s about as exciting as it’s going to get for us. Still, it’ll be better than sitting in a classroom being told what to do all day, right?”

Din called the class to order at that point and ran them through some hand to hand drills. X’intari was getting better, but he still held back too much, even though his physiology made him inherently stronger than the human cadets. Din looked forward to the day when the Bendaski was confident enough to just be himself. And on that day, Din was going to match him with Shandilon and enjoy watching X’intari wipe the floor with that little jerk’s ass.

The final bell rang and Din dismissed class. As he was gathering his things, a cadet popped in the door. “Mr. Djarin, sir, the Colonel would like to see you ASAP.”

“Thank you, Cadet,” Din said. He’d been expecting this. “I’ll be right there.”

Din walked to the admin building. There was already an air of urgency on campus; everyone seemed to be a bit more focused, a bit more hurried, a bit more on edge. He recognized the atmosphere of preparation before a battle. It felt familiar but at the same time, strangely foreign. This isn’t my life anymore, he reminded himself.

The Colonel greeted him solemnly and asked Din to take a seat.

“I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors, Mr. Djarin,” Braxden began. “The Republic has asked for our help in the Danda sector, and we have responded. To replace the troops that are joining the Republic forces, we are deploying our military reserves. This means I’m losing several key members of my staff, including Lieutenant Mondella.” He paused. “High Command has also asked that we pull out third and fourth year cadets and deploy them. Captain Woreg will be forming a squadron of flight cadets to assist in routine escort duties within our local system. And we will be deploying a squadron of ground officer cadets for guard duty somewhere in the local system, as well.”

“My students,” Din said.

“Yes, your students.” Braxden leaned forward. “I’d like you to lead them, Djarin. They know you and respect you. You’re a civilian, so this isn’t an order, you have every right to refuse, but I hope you’ll volunteer for duty.” He looked Din in the eye. “I’d feel much better sending them out with you in charge.”

Din held the Colonel’s eye contact as he said, “I’m afraid I must respectfully decline, sir.”

Braxden blinked. “Are you certain?” He wasn’t angry, but looked disappointed.

Din nodded. “As you said, I’m not a member of your military, and I have other obligations that require me to stay here.”

Braxden sighed. “Your wife’s due in a few months, isn’t she? Look, Djarin, we expect this to last a few weeks, a month at most. You’ll be back long before the baby comes. These kids need you.”

Din shook his head. “My family needs me. I made a promise not to leave them again. I had to do it once and I won’t put them through that again; won’t put myself through that again.” He sat up straight. “You can fire me if you like, but I won’t go.”

Braxden sat back in his chair. “I’m not going to fire you,” he said. “You are well within your rights to refuse. This means I’ll have to send Corporal Fennic with the squadron. He’ll start assisting you with the third and fourth year classes as of tomorrow, so he can get a feel for them before they’re deployed. It might be a few days, maybe even a week, before we know where they’ll be going and what they’ll be doing.”

“I’ll get him up to speed, Colonel,” Din promised. Fennic was a good officer and a natural instructor. It shouldn’t take him long to grasp the capabilities of the cadets he’d be commanding.

“I do wish you’d reconsider, Djarin,” the Colonel said wearily. “These kids … they’re still just kids, as much as they want to think they’re ready to take on the galaxy. I just want them safe.”

“So do I, sir,” Din said. “But I can’t … I’ll do everything I can to prepare them for what lies ahead, but that part of my life is over.”

He took his leave of the Colonel and made his way to Garrick’s office, where his friend was hunched over a data pad.

“Just talked to the Colonel,” Din said.

Garrick looked up. “What did you tell him?” He already looked haggard and Din felt a pang of empathy for the man. He wasn’t going to be babysitting a bunch of green cadets on a job within the local system. The reserves could be called anywhere the Thantosian military was currently operating; maybe suppressing the pirates harassing the Clovan system, or patrolling the Survanti asteroid belt for smugglers. Or even joining the regular forces in the Danda sector.

“I told him no,” Din said.

Garrick looked relieved. “Good,” he said, closing his eyes for just a moment. “I was hoping … you’ll look after Tress and the girls for me while I’m gone, won’t you?”

“Of course,” Din replied. “Anything they need, we’re just a comm away.”

Garrick buried his face in his hands. “I thought going into the reserves was the right move,” he said thickly. “Best of both worlds. Keep my military rank, keep earning points toward a cushy pension someday, but still be here for my family. But now … maybe I should have just resigned when my time was up.” He looked up at Din, his eyes bright with unshed tears.

“You can’t second guess yourself, Garrick,” Din said. “Just move forward with what you have.”

Garrick smiled crookedly. “I know, I just … I feel bad for Tress and the girls. They didn’t choose this; I did.”

“Tress did choose this,” Din said. “She knew who you were and what you did when she married you. She chose to make a life with you, have a family with you.” He knew that the couple had met while Garrick was still on active duty. Tress had married a soldier.

“Thanks, buddy,” Garrick said. “I knew you’d understand.” He shook his head and gave a weak laugh. “Now, I’m going to go home and tell my family how much I love them. You should do the same.”

“I will,” said Din. As they stood, he pulled Garrick into a firm embrace. “K'oyacyi, my friend.”

“What does that mean?” Garrick asked.

“Hang in there,” Din replied. Stay alive was the more literal translation, but he wasn’t about to tell Garrick that.

******************************

Mariana could tell that something had happened the moment Din walked in the door. “They’re going?,” she asked.

“They’re going,” he replied. “Fennic will be going with the cadets in my place. And Garrick’s reserve squad has been called up as well.” He picked up Ad’ika, who as usual was tugging at his pant leg before he’d gotten two steps inside.

“Oh, poor Tress,” Mariana said. She’d had lunch with the other woman just yesterday and while Tress had tried to be upbeat, it was clear that she was worried. “And I was just asking her if she can watch Ad’ika while I meet with the midwife.” Tress’ cousin’s neighbor’s aunt was a very reputable midwife and had agreed to take Mariana on as a patient, which meant weekly appointments at the woman’s office. “Maybe I should just stick with the doctor at the clinic …”

“No, I think it would be a good distraction for her,” Din said, sitting on the couch. Mariana settled beside him. “And for the girls. A weekly play date would cheer them up immensely. Besides, the clinic relies too much on med droids … I’ll feel better if Valinda Knorros delivers the baby.”

Still with the droid thing, Mariana thought with a smile. Of course, she felt a lot better knowing she’d be in the hands of a woman who had three children of her own, as well as the experience of having delivered dozens more over the years, rather than a med droid. Droids were very capable (she still thought fondly of RN-42, who had informed her of her pregnancy back on Florian), but she doubted one would be very sympathetic to the pain of childbirth.

“How are your classes going?” Din asked.

“Well,” she replied. “I’m almost done with my paper for the Rhetoric class and we’ll get our scores on the Theoretical Physics of Hyperspace exam tomorrow. I just have to finish the reading for the Art History discussion, but that’s not due for a couple of days yet.” The hyperspace class was kicking her butt, as she had never been as strong in mathematics as she was in other areas, but she was very much enjoying the other two classes. Surprisingly, Ad’ika was very good about knowing when she needed to concentrate, and so far she’d been able to keep up with the workload.

“Think we can manage dinner at the Mondella’s one night this week?,” he asked.

Mariana thought over her upcoming deadlines. “Tomorrow would work,” she said. “Should I comm Tress or do you want to talk to Garrick in the morning?”

“Comm her,” Din said. “I have the feeling Garrick and I won’t have much time to chat before he’s deployed.” Mariana squeezed his hand. How many comrades has he said goodbye to and never seen again?, she wondered.

“I’ll call her right after dinner,” she said. “Speaking of which, why don’t you two get washed up while I set the table?”

When he and Ad’ika were behind the closed door of the ‘fresher, she allowed herself a moment to lose composure. Her heart was breaking at the thought of Garrick having to leave, at the thought of Tress and the girls being left behind, wondering every day if he was coming home. She’d been through that when Din had gone off after Moff Gideon, and they’d only been together a few months at that time. She couldn’t begin to imagine how hard it would be after being with someone for years.

She also felt selfish for being so thankful that Din wasn’t going. Why am I the lucky one? Why should Tress have to go through this and I don’t? The ‘fresher door opened and she wiped the tears off her face, bustling into the kitchen to get the plates. Din was probably feeling guilty enough about his decision without her blubbering all over the place making him feel worse. She smiled brightly at him as he and Ad’ika took their places at the table, but she could tell from the gentle smile on his face and the tired look in his eyes that she wasn’t fooling him one bit.

*************************

“What?” X’intari blurted out when Din told the class he would not be accompanying them when they were deployed. “Oh, sorry, sir, sorry, I just … I kind of assumed you’d be going with us.” The boy blushed dark green and several of the other cadets snickered.

“I can see why you might assume that, Cadet,” Din said evenly, shooting a look at the ones who were laughing. “But as you recall, I’m a civilian, and therefore Corporal Fennic will be your commanding officer.” He gestured at the young officer, who stood calmly in the corner, observing. “He’ll be assisting with your classes from here on out so he gets a chance to see you all in action, so to speak.”

Shandilon raised his hand. Din suppressed a groan and nodded at him. “Mr. Djarin, sir,” the boy said, looking pointedly at X’intari, who was still mortified at his outburst. “I can understand why you aren’t going, being just a civilian, after all … but why are we being placed under the command of a corporal? I’d have thought we’d have a proper officer in charge.”

“Fennic is a proper officer,” Din replied. “He’s my assistant instructor in the first and second year classes, and he earned his rank by coming up through the ranks. Just because he didn’t graduate from the Academy doesn’t mean he’s not a good officer.”

“But he’s a non-com,” Shandilon protested. Cadets who graduated from the Academy and were accepted into the military started at the commissioned rank of Lieutenant, and tended to look down on the Ensigns and Corporals who had worked their way up from Private.

“He’s still an officer,” Din said. “Hell, even a Private outranks you right now, Cadet.” That didn’t sit well with the boy, but Din was past caring. “Corporal Fennic knows what he's doing, and I trust him implicitly, and he will be in command of your squadron by order of the Colonel. End of discussion.”

“Yes, sir,” Shandilon muttered.

Din approached him and said quietly, “If I hear one word about you disrespecting him, Shandilon, I’ll flunk you, and you’ll never get that diploma.”

The boy’s eyes flared. “You wouldn’t dare. My father would have you fired so fast …”

“Do you think I care?” Din shot back. Shandilon closed his mouth and looked away. Din turned to the other cadets. “Do any of you think I care more about my paycheck than keeping you all safe?” They shook their heads. “That’s right, I don’t. And the best way for you to get through this is to listen to your commanding officer, to trust your commanding officer and to obey your commanding officer. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” the cadets chorused.

“So if anyone gives Corporal Fennic any trouble, he or she will answer to me. And if that ends my career here at the Adademy, so be it.” He turned to Fennic. “Corporal, the class is yours.”

Fennic nodded and stepped forward. “Thank you, Mr. Djarin. Now …”

Din stepped back and let Fennic take control. He was still seething at Shandilon’s attitude but he forced himself to take a deep breath and relax. At least I won’t have to put up with the little shit for a while, he thought. But he would miss the others terribly.

***************************************************

Mando’a words:

K'oyacyi = 1. *Cheers!* 2. Can also mean: *Hang in there* or 3. *Come back safely.* Literally, a command; *Stay alive!*