#AND IT WOULD HAVE LOOKED GENERALLY PRETTY SIMILAR TO CAGE.

[basilpaste]

(hitting myself rapidly with a stick) you will not write new slay the savior stuff based on pristine cut. you will not.

[pyrodolls]

what if the mk1 men were down bad for you…

upon seeing you walk into the room, johnny cage flexes his muscles ever so slightly and suddenly he’s telling the funniest story in the world to whoever he was already speaking to. he wants to catch your eye and gain your attention so badly. for you, he would make himself look like a fool. only as long as you look his way and give him even a slightest bit of attention, he’s satisfied.

when kuai liang notices you nearby, his entire body feels as if it’s on fire and he immediately worries about his appearance. does he look good? is his hair neatly tied up? he would make an attempt to approach you as soon as he got the chance, and try to strike up a conversation with you. if he didn’t at least say “hi,” he would feel like a fool for missing a great opportunity to engage in a conversation with you.

bi-han pretends he isn’t staring at you every time you’re in a room together. he is the grandmaster of the lin kuei, he must not engage in a romantic relationship. but he can’t help but feel his dark, cold heart light on fire at the sight of you. he yearns to go up to you and say something every time he sees you, but he holds back and settles for just admiring your looks from afar.

tomas vrbada is not afraid of showing his affection towards you. he believes that everyone should make the most of their limited lives, so he is very open about his advances towards you. the problem is, he’s a bit awkward and his efforts come across as more anxious than flirtacious. he would give himself a small pep talk before he talks to you, and he would be full of confidence and hope that the interaction would go well. but he would end up stammering or messing up his words when he speaks to you, and then he would just give up and run away. (he went to johnny for some advice after his mess-up, and it still didn’t work.)

zeffeero doesn’t think of himself as someone deserving of love. when he sees you close by, his heart beats fast and his face feels as if it’s on fire. he knows he has feelings for you, but he resists the urge to make a move. he could if he wanted to. but he doesn’t think he deserves to be joyful and in love after everything he’s done. he just hopes that someday you’ll be happy with someone that deserves you. he desperately wishes it could be him, but the last thing he wants is your sanity or reputation ruined in a relationship with him.

it’s very obvious that syzoth has feelings for you. his tail would sway from side to side, and his eyes would brighten as soon as they fell on you. he listens intently every time you open your mouth, and he never interrupts you when you are speaking. but he doesn’t exactly understand how humans court each other, so he would express his feelings in his own endearing way. for example, he gives you little gifts, similar to offerings. but they’d usually be shiny objects he thought was pretty and it reminded him of you.

raiden is so kind and humble, that he leads you to think his affection is strictly platonic. he’s been staring at you all day? oh, you probably just have something on your face and he’s too nice to let you know. he gave you a gift? he’s so generous, he probably does that with all his friends. no matter what he does to try to hint at his feelings for you, you would assume you weren’t special and he probably does it with everyone else he is acquainted with. he could even confess his love to you and you would just be confused on whether he meant it platonically or romantically.

[dfortrafalgar]

would you be interested in a more Platonic type fic? Like being good friends with Robin?

alternatively if it has to be romantic: Law being forced on a disaster of a date only to meet a super helpful (comic) bookshop employee and she starts seeming cute when he finds out she has similar interests? (Boy probably went into cardiac arrest at first when someone caught him not being broody)

hope this isn’t too much!

and you’re doing awesome!

thank you so much for your request, anon!!!! im actually going to use both of your ideas, but i started with the Law one because that hit seriously close to home. ive been on some absolute TRAVESTIES of dates in the past, and i needed to write law suffering through a similar fate or i'd die!!!!! I hope you enjoy, and pretty soon I'll post your platonic Robin request as well! I love writing platonic stories just as much as romantic ones <3

An Out.

Law x Fem Reader

Law made the mistake of letting his friends talk him into a first date… and now he desperately needs an out. Fast.

Warnings: an absolute disaster of a first date for our wonderful nerdy man. modern au, implied college setting, some mild slight suggestive language but nothing more than that

Trafalgar Law tried in vain to recount the series of events that led up to this very moment.

There was the dusty apartment floor discussion about how the med-student hadn’t gotten laid yet, which was followed by a raunchy comment about a girl in someone’s class, it was revealed that this girl was single (‘and ready to mingle’), and her number was forcibly input into Law’s phone.

For the week that followed, he was inundated with flirty texts from this girl he had never met in person.  He was forced to send her a picture of himself, mostly to get her to stop blowing up his texts every hour, and that was the next mistake in the line-up of unfortunate events.

Turned out she had a thing for facial hair.

Then, instead of getting pestered with general flirty messages, it was general flirty messages that were ramped up to a nine.  ‘I’d rip your clothes off if you give me the opportunity,’ kind of nine.

Law knew he was a virgin, but at least he wasn’t this desperate, nor did he have any inclination to be.  If anything, the texts he received from this stranger were making him want sex even less.

And yet… he was still pushed into this.

A date around downtown with this girl.  She clung to his arm, tried to loop her fingers into his, and yet had absolutely no interest in anything he had to say.  At all.

First red flag: she mentioned her ex.  Three times.  In four minutes.  Everything was about what he did wrong to upset her, no self-awareness to be found.  Second red flag: the clinginess.  Law hated public affection, but any attempts to urge her to give him space resulted in a childish pout and her arms caged around his, almost pulling him to the ground.  Third red flag: she couldn’t give two shits about Law, in any sense of the word.  She wouldn’t stop talking about herself.  Her looks, her clothes, her favorite music, her favorite shows to binge watch, her distaste for the area of the city they were in, her distaste for the lunch Law had [regretfully] paid for, her distaste for the speckled jeans he decided to wear…

He could feel the premature wrinkles forming in between his eyebrows the longer the date went on.  He was starting to wonder if he’d have to throw out the shirt he was wearing later.  It already reeked of the too-strong, powdery-scented perfume she bathed herself in.

“Where do you wanna go?” she suddenly asked, still tugging on his arm.

“I kinda want to stop by the bookstore before we leave,” he suggested, his feet already carrying him, and by extension, her, along the sidewalk to a small bookshop that had just recently opened.

“The bookstore?  What kinda guy brings a girl to a bookstore on a first date?!” she demanded, showing off yet another childish pout.  It wasn’t a good look on her.

‘A guy who knows this girl’s not getting a second date,’ he wished he could say.  Instead, all the snarky remarks stayed locked inside his weary brain, bouncing around like a caged lion desperate to escape.

The girl didn’t make any motions to ditch him to his nerdy reprieve, and instead followed on his heels as he pulled open the bookshop’s door, the familiar, calming scent of new books, fresh paper, and ink filling his nose.

“It smells gross in here,” the girl huffed.

Aaaand there went Law’s fleeting moment of peace.  Out the window.  Down fifteen stories and splattered on the pavement.  He needed to violently restrain the eyeroll that begged to appear.  His ocular nerves ached to be a dick in the pettiest way possible.  He inwardly hoped that by dragging this girl to the most unassuming bookshop would encourage her to leave, call a friend or get a cab to take her back to her home, but alas, she stayed glued to Law’s side like a lost dog.

She followed behind him as he blindly perused shelves of new and pre-owned books, Law’s feet subconsciously guiding him to the back of the store where he knew the comic books would be located.

If anything would turn this girl off for good, it had to be his love for all things superhero.  His comic book collection would dry her up like a dessert in a drought.  Or at least, it fucking better.

His eyes lit up as he approached the expansive comic shelf, immediately spotting the latest print of Sora: Warrior of the Sea- Volume 10.  It had finally been officially localized, and he had been saving some of his spending money for this very moment.  He eagerly grabbed the book from the shelf, thumbing through the pages.

“How old even are you?” jeered the girl by his side.  “Comic books are, like, little kid shit.”

“I’m five years old,” barked Law, refusing to look toward her as he continued to analyze the pages of his favorite series.

To the average onlooker, they both probably looked like complete jackasses towards one another.  And while Law was at least brave enough to admit that his behavior was certainly petty, he felt like he was warranted a Get Out Of Jerk Free card for all the painful hours of suffering through this atomic catastrophe of a date had put him through.

“Whatever, I’m going to find a bathroom,” the girl finally groaned, releasing his arm and trudging through the aisles of books toward the checkout counter to ask an employee where the bathrooms were located.

Law watched her go out of his peripheral vision, refusing to exhale a sigh of profound relief until she was completely out of his line of sight.  With shoulders that finally relaxed, free from the overbearing tension, he turned his focus back to the comic in his hands, continuing to thumb through the colorful pages of artwork.  He flipped the book around to examine the price, smiling at how reasonable it was.  He filled his arms with a few other comics from a series he had been meaning to pick up, and retreated toward the cash registers to buy his books.  The sooner he got his treat for this ordeal, the sooner he could get out of here, call this girl a taxi home, and spend the rest of his life as a willingly single comic book mega-nerd.

But reality wouldn’t let him off the hook so easily.

Not when the girl sitting behind the register thumbing through another copy of Sora Volume 10 was an absolute bombshell.

When she looked up at Law, her eyes quickly went wide.  She placed the book under the register counter and eagerly leaned forward, her hands supporting her over the counter.  “Are you alright?” she asked, her voice laced with worry.

Law cocked an eyebrow, confused.  “Yeah, why?”

“That girl you’re with is making you miserable.  You walked through the door looking like you wanted someone to grant you a mercy killing,” she huffed.  Her eyes were clearly concerned.  “Are you dating her?”

Law felt his guard dropping without even realizing it the longer he was in the presence of this cashier.  “My friends set me up on a date with her, but I’m having the absolute worst time of my life.”

The new girl’s own eyebrows angled downward in concern.  “Do you want an out?”

“A what?”

“An out,” she repeated.  “An excuse to get her to leave you alone.”  Time was running out.  At any moment, she could leave the bathroom.

Law frantically looked back and forth between the cashier and the small, short hallway that led to the single restroom.  With pleading, golden eyes, he silently mumbled, “Yes, please.”

The cashier kept her eyes on the bathroom door as she began unloading Law’s hands, spreading his books out on the counter to make it look like she was busy ringing out his purchase.  Law watched with an analytical gaze as she fumbled with his items, clearly buying time until the bathroom door opened.

He didn’t have time to ask what she was plotting.

The second the door cracked open, the man’s shirt collar was violently clenched in the cashier’s hands as she pulled him over the counter, smushing her lips into his.  Law’s fingers flexed in thin air as he froze, brain completely fried as he was frozen in this sudden kiss.

His first kiss.

“What the fuck?!” the girl screeched, exiting the bathroom in a frenzy as she booked it toward the heated exchange happening over the cash register.

The new girl pulled herself away from Law’s face, but only enough where she could display her best rendition of a weary, tired war-torn wife waiting on a cliffside for her husband to return.  “Baby, please just take me back!  My life isn’t complete without you!”  Her voice was cracking as she fake-wailed, her grip on Law’s shirt never faltering, not even once.  The few customers who also occupied the store turned to stare at the commotion, frazzled and befuddled.  “Nothing in life is as good as it was with you!  I’m in shambles!  You were the best sex I’ve ever had!”

It took a few moments for Law to catch on to the ruse.  As soon as he put the puzzle pieces together in his mind, however, he was grabbing the wrists of the cashier and bringing his lips back to hers, closing his eyes and trailing his arms up to grasp her face.  Completely disregarding the fact that they were still separated by the heavy check-out counter between their torsos.

“You were dating someone?!” snapped the original girl.  “Why didn’t you tell me?!”

Law pulled away from the cashier’s lips, his own skin immediately feeling fifteen degrees colder from the loss of her contact.  “I wasn’t.  Until now.”

The new girl put her arm around Law’s shoulders from across the check-out counter, her deft fingers caressing his skin through his shirt.  “I’m sorry, but I’m taking him back, I can’t stand to be without him any longer!  The sight of him with another woman…” she made a show of clenching her chest, “makes me sick!”  She was damn good at this, in a way that almost made Law concerned.  The fact that she was pulling all of this out of nowhere, and the fact that her first course of action was this drastic, made Law’s heart flutter in his chest.

“Ugh, whatever.  This place sucks ass anyway.  I’m going home.”  She finally shouldered her bag and marched out of the shop, her feet stomping across the hardwood floor until the sound of the front door slamming closed finally made the cashier release her arm from Law’s shoulders.

And once again, the man was feeling oddly cold without the contact.  He glanced at her as she started ringing up his items for real.  “You’re… a good actor,” he blurted.

The girl hid her face in her arm with shame, an awkward laugh bubbling from her throat.  “I’m so sorry, I was trying to think of what to do to help you but when the door opened I panicked.”  Her eyes were focused on her work.  “I’ve been on some absolutely awful dates myself, so I understand.  Sometimes I’ve wished I could have Prince Charming swoop me out of the movie theater where a guy made fun of me for my interests the entire run-time.”

His jaw went slack.  “Are you serious?”

“Deadass,” she replied, quick as a whip.  “Insisted on holding my hand the entire time.  I think he was convinced that I had taken him to see a horror movie because I wanted to act scared in front of him, but his hand was so clammy and sticky the whole time.  And not in the endearing ‘Aww he’s shy!’ kind of way.”

Law wished at that moment that he had more charisma.  He was sure one of his friends would be able to pull a witty, flirty quip from their asses like it was nothing, but Law’s personal dictionary of flattery was nonexistent as it was.  He balked while he listened to the cashier who just took his breath away lamenting about her own poor experiences with dating, and he was sure that her example in this moment was only one of many.  Instead of continuing the conversation, his mind blanked.  He stated, more like whispered, “That was my first kiss.”

The girl’s hands stopped scanning his books halfway through.  Her wide eyes darted up to Law’s, her jaw slack.  “It… It was?”

“Yeah.”

Her hands flew to cover her mouth, eyes wide with shock.  “Oh my god… oh my god, I’m so sorry!”  She dropped her head onto the counter, covering her despair with both of her arms now.  “First kisses are supposed to be special and I just took your’s away from you…”

Law shocked himself by smiling at the weary display in front of him.  “If it makes you feel any better, that was far better than the date I was on.  But I’m sure you already knew that.”

She picked her head up, a trembling hand grabbing one of his last books to scan.  Her eyes nervously darted back and forth as she silently worked, once in a while sucking her bottom lip in with her teeth before releasing the flesh.  She was clearly lost in an intense inner turmoil.

“It’s really alright,” Law muttered, now growing shy himself.  He was just now realizing the gravity of what had happened… and how truly adorable this girl was.

She tapped a few buttons on her cash register before finally making eye contact with him again.  “You are a pretty good kisser… you’re really sure you’ve never done that before?”

He affirmatively shook his head.  “Never.  I’ve never been… popular with the dating scene,” he muttered.  “Hence this awful set-up date.”

The cashier’s eyes went wide again momentarily.  “That’s kind of surprising to me… I would think someone like you would get any girl you wanted.”

Law backpedaled.  “What does that mean?”

She pulled his total up on the small screen that faced him.  She was turning away from him as if to hide her face, her entire expression teeming with a child-like embarrassment.  “Well, you’re crazy hot, for starters.  And you like Sora, clearly.”

Law felt a smirk emerge on his lips.  “Is Sora one of your only qualifiers for a decent partner?”  He began to rekindle some of the confidence he had lost throughout the day.  The longer he spent in this girl’s presence, the more he felt the tension in his body leaving.

She grinned, the stress in her shoulders from her own actions finally releasing.  “Only guys with fluffy black hair and golden eyes that read Sora, if you want my honest answer.”

Now this was flirting.  Law had to admit, he was pretty pleased with this sudden turn of events.  The atmosphere this girl radiated was immensely calming, allowing him to chip through his reinforced walls just enough to feel like a somewhat normal person.  He started to wonder if she could break through his barriers even more.

“What’s your name?” he finally asked, taking out his credit card and swiping it through the machine to finally cash out his order.

The girl excitedly revealed her name.  “And your’s?”

“Trafalgar Law,” he replied.  “I go to North Blue University for med school in the next town over.”

“No shit, so do I!  I’m getting a worker's license there,” she added, her expression shifting from one of moderate happiness to one of excitement.  “I doubt we’ve had any of the same classes, but we should hang out sometime!  Get coffee, maybe talk about Sora…”  Her voice trailed off, her eyes growing soft.  “Unless you’ve been completely turned off to dating after what you’ve clearly just been through.”

Law took a few moments to ponder over her words, watching as the receipts for his purchase slowly emerged from the thermal printer.  “I think I can make an exception this time.”

The smile that broke out on the girl’s face may as well have blinded him.  She was truly dazzling, even in her ratty-looking employee apron and an oversized T-shirt accounting for her work attire.

Law placed his new assortment of books into his own bag, the girl snatching his receipts from the printer and stashing one of the copies in the drawer below the counter.  When he looked back up, she was holding out his second receipt, folded in half.  She gave him a fond smile when he took it.

“I hope you’re able to relax later today, and enjoy your books!” she called, waving to Law as he exited the store.

Once outside again, the air felt clearer now that he was alone.  The day was still young, hardly a cloud in the sky and a pleasant breeze coasting through the city.  He looped his bag over his shoulder and opened the receipt, peering at what was written on the backside.

Call me for Sora… and for just me ;) <3 1125-354-9854

[silverskye13]

Ooooo it was so hard picking just one prompt, but for the Situation Game- Could you do #48? Enemy caretaker fic with Tanguish and Wels? Tanguish finds Wels unconscious and (against his better judgement) takes care of him until he wakes up. (Alternatively, you could do Helsknight and Tango, if that first prompt doesn't click. I've been drawing those two interacting so they've been on my mind lol)

He hadn't expected to find him there, was the thing. Tango had asked him to go check through Decked Out while he was gone -- some meetup with Impulse and Zed, it sounded like it would take awhile. Tanguish had heard rockets and wisely hid, and then the rockets left. He assumed someone was dropping something off, or maybe had planned to see Tango only to realize Tango wasn't there. And maybe that was exactly what happened.

The important thing was: Tanguish didn't hear what direction the rockets went. He didn't hear the Warden caged downstairs growl or shriek. He didn't hear a crash, or a scream, or any other indication that an accident had happened. So when he stumbled on Welsknight on the lowest floor of Decked Out, unconscious, it had been... Well it had been a shock. He hadn't even known it was a person at first. He saw a bundle of something on the ground, and he placed down the shulker box he'd been carrying and went over to investigate. When the pile of elytra and armor resolved itself into Welsknight, Tanguish froze, heart racing.

(He should leave him here.)

It wasn't a kind thought, but Tanguish was, rightly, he thought, terrified of Welsknight. If their situations were switched, and it was Welsknight walking up on Tanguish crumpled and unconscious on the floor, he was sure the knight would kill him and he done with it. Just one less problem to deal with. Simple. And while Tanguish was far from able to kill in cold blood -- or killing in general -- leaving the knight here would serve a similar end. Not his problem. He would wake up, or he wouldn't. Tango would find him, or he wouldn't. Whatever happened, it didn't have to be Tanguish that dealt with it.

Except, standing over Welsknight, Tanguish was struck by how much he looked like Helsknight. Their differences were unmistakable up close. He was an inch or two shorter, his hair a sun-gilded auburn, and even bruised he looked gentler, like the world had been kind to him. Their resemblance was brotherly, something about the build and the set of the jaw. But it was enough that Tanguish imagined Helsknight crumpled on the ground somewhere, and how terrible it would be to leave him behind. So, lanced with guilt that made no sense, but compelled to act on it regardless, Tanguish set to work making sure the fool knight didn't die.

Tanguish didn't have much on his person to help with healing, and even if he knew where Tango kept potions, it would be a long climb back up to the Decked Out storage room. He did his best to check for broken bones, looking for odd angles or swelling or crooked joints and finding none. He had to take off the knight's helmet to check for a head injury, found a pretty decent welt, but nothing that suggested blood or breaking.

Tanguish glanced around. They weren't really in the safest place. Beneath the unfinished game, scaffolding blocks and incomplete redstone lines cast long shadows where creatures spawned and congregated, and it wouldn't do to get them both killed by a spider or a zombie down here. Tanguish tentatively explored around, and managed to find a suitably defensible crevasse (a hole in the wall really, probably dug out while Tango was measuring something or other to do with the game). He circled his arms around Welsknight's chest and, as gingerly as possible, tried to drag him in that direction. Then less gingerly, when the knight barely budged. And then Tanguish slumped to the ground because, gods and saints, were people always that heavy? He knew he wasn't the strongest, but he could carry his own weight up the side of a building. Surely he could drag a knight a couple dozen blocks?

Tanguish huffed out a sigh and stared down at Welsknight thoughtfully. "You're more trouble than you're worth, you know that?"

(That was mean. Even enemies were worth saving, so long as they didn't do something mean to make him regret it after.)

Tanguish took another pensive look around, and content nothing was about to attack him for his efforts, knelt and began taking the knight's armor off. He had a little knowledge of all the different buckles and bracers and how they worked (he'd seen Helsknight take them on and off a thousand times). It took some fumbling, especially around the chest plate, where he had to gently turn Welsknight over and prop him up, and support his head because flopping around on his neck like that couldn't be good for him, and, gods, this was stupid and awkward and terrible. He really, really should've just left. But then he was done, and when he slipped his arms around the knight to drag him again, he actually managed to move him a few steps without his back breaking, so he took that as his sign from the universe to keep going.

Tanguish wanted the universe to know he tried to be gentle. He wasn't big and strong like Helsknight (and probably Welsknight too). He couldn't casually pick up people and carry them around, or throw them over his shoulders. And if Welsknight were conscious enough for a piggy back ride, Tanguish was pretty sure he would just fall over if he tried to take a step. So dragging the knight two dozen blocks to a little hidey hole in the wall was the best, safest, and really only option at his disposal. Once inside, he scurried out to his shulker box, snatched it up, and dropped it in the entrance to the hiding place so anything that might want to come in would have a harder time. He wished there was something useful inside. He had planned on mob proofing while Tango was gone, stringing around glow lichen so his double would have a safer time working on his game. He had a few snacks, some water, and about a stack and a half of lichen left. That was all he'd bothered to bring with him. Now he wished he had brought something actually helpful.

Tanguish weighed his options, staring down at the still unconscious knight. Leaving sprung to his mind first -- Welsknight was reasonably safe now. The chances of something finding him was relatively small, and if he hung up some glow lichen before he left, the light might ward off anything that did notice him. He thought about maybe bringing the knight to hels, where he might find some help. But that help would probably be Helsknight, and he didn't know how much he trusted those two together. He was... Reasonably sure Helsknight wouldn't kill his double while he was unconscious, but he had no idea what he would do when Welsknight woke up. And Welsknight probably wouldn't take kindly to waking up in hels anyway. He could try to get help? Wander around the server just hoping he stumbled upon Tango, alone? No. No he wasn't going to do that.

Tanguish sighed, rolled his eyes at his own powerlessness. After a few more moments of deliberation, he pulled out his water and a few clumps of lichen. He had a half-remembered thought from somewhere that lichen could be medicinal. He had no idea if this lichen was, but he at least knew it was spongy and could hold a bit of water. He made himself a little ball with the stuff, soaked it, and gingerly placed it against the lump on Welsknight's head. He knew his hands would chill it, and frost crept around his fingertips the longer he held his makeshift compress. He pillowed the knight's head in his lap -- it seemed the most comfortable for both of them in the combined space -- and settled in to wait until Tango came back, or Welsknight awoke, and he hoped the knight would either be too incoherent or too grateful to kill him if the waking came first.

Outside his little hideaway, Tanguish listened to the sounds of monsters crawling to life. The tip-tap-skitter of spider legs. The moans and grumbles of the nearly sleepwalking dead. The occasional croaking mutter of an enderman. He didn't hear creepers (He didn't think anyone could hear creepers.) They crept around on quiet claws, a breath of fur and dark, glaring expressions. One snuck up to his hideaway and peered inside, gazing at him with bottomless black eyes. It hissed, smelling or sensing him and trying, vainly, to threaten him. It couldn't come through the wall, and it didn't give off its tell-tale flashing. Tanguish narrowed his eyes at the thing and hissed back, a keening noise that sent a shiver down his spine, and echoed off the walls of his little hideaway like a sculk shrieker. The creeper lurched backward (most natural things feared sculk on an instinctual level) and it scuttled away into the dark. Tanguish snorted in the general direction of the fleeing creature, and looked down at Welsknight. He gently moved his compress, and felt some satisfaction at seeing the swelling had gone down.

"You know, you knights really are strange sometimes," Tanguish informed the unconscious Welsknight, as though he could hear. "All the armor, and the oaths, and reckless danger -- and you're just as mortal as the rest of us." Tanguish leaned his head back against the wall behind him. "Do you have tenets like Helsknight does? Stuff you swore to do? You've got to, right? That's what makes you a knight, instead of just a guy with a sword."

Tanguish's tail twitched thoughtfully. "You and Helsknight feel the same way about technicalities, so you probably can't truly lie. You just dance around the truth a little, like he does. Let people come to their own conclusions... You shouldn't do that."

Tanguish readjusted his compress. "It makes people feel patronized, like you think they're too stupid to figure out what you're saying. And it makes us feel stupid for trusting you. Like on the aqueduct. I didn't really have a choice but... I really did believe I was safe. It was... Cruel... To take that back."

Tanguish felt nervousness reignite in his stomach, a turning and writhing at the danger he was in, implicitly.

"That would be like me waiting for you to wake up, just to hurt you," Tanguish said quietly, his free hand dipping down to the dagger on his hip. The cold metal, the waiting intention the weapon held, felt almost electric and alive against his fingertips. "All this trouble and effort to keep you safe, discarded over something as petty as who the universe likes best." He thought about Helsknight, and the importance he placed on time. "What a terrible waste of time."

Tanguish sighed and studied the ceiling, tracing the textures in the stone overhead with his eyes. He could see the pickaxe marks where Tango had tunneled this out, long gouges and sharp-edged chips.

"I think I understand why he feels the way he does about you. About all of you. You don't understand what you have." Tanguish looked down at the knight, who, despite what had surely been a terrible fall, merely looked like he slept. "It isn't just death that's a mild inconvenience. Everything is. Eternity is sitting in front of you. Even the largest problems, miseries that could span decades, will be nothing in the blink of an eye. There is no such thing as wasted time. There is no discomfort in doing something badly, or even passably. There's just... The endless possibility to try again. Even my saving you right now is, at best, a very odd, kind gesture, because you don't have a limited number of times to come back. There's no fear in the universe deciding this time it will just swallow you. What I'm doing is meaningless, so meaningless it might not even change your opinion of me, unless it's impressive to you that someone who shouldn't have bothered, did. Impressive, and not terribly stupid."

(He was starting to feel terribly stupid, all things considered.)

Movement caught Tanguish's eye, and he sat quietly as some monster or another passed their hiding place, shuffling off in the dark.

"There's no urgency for change." Tanguish whispered. "There's no pressure for legacy. It's like building sand castles in the desert, with no waves to knock them down. There's no reason to find them precious, no urgency to finish before the tide comes, no cherishing the seconds before they're weathered away. They'll just be there tomorrow, or the next time you get around to paying them attention. It's a beautiful gift, and you have no context to appreciate it. I understand why. You've never lived anything different to give you perspective... But I also understand why he hates you for it."

Tanguish blinked out at the world beyond his little keyhole, where danger stalked, undisturbed and wholly uninterested in him.

"No wonder the universe makes us," Tanguish said. "Why else would you have any reason to change?"

Tanguish looked down at Welsknight again. He studied the knight's face, all the things about him that stayed steadfast and unchanging, uncaring that his existence weathered Helsknight away everyday. That he was a wave, and Tanguish and Helsknight and everyone like them were just sand castles waiting.

"You probably won't," Tanguish murmured, "but I hope someday you figure out how to love him. Love the parts of yourself you hate so much right now. Helsknight is terrifying, and overbearing, and too strong for his own good. He walks through the world like he wishes he could bully it into being fair." Tanguish let out a breath. "But he tries so hard to be good, and any goodness I've learned, I think I learned from him. In spite of him. Because of him."

A sadness washed through him then, and Tanguish spoke soberly. "Someday it will be just you and Tango. A month from now. Or a year. Or whatever our lifetimes amount to. When that day comes, I hope you'll look at each other, and somewhere, me and Helsknight will glimpse each other again. I hope whatever the end looks like, it isn't lonely."

Tanguish fell silent, waiting with infinite patience for Welsknight to wake. He must have dozed off, because he roused to the sound of a groan, and Welsknight slowly rolling over to reach the sore spot on the back of his head. Tanguish held his breath. He probably should have figured out what he was going to do when Welsknight woke up. He had no plan, no idea-- hels he was trapped in a confined space with him! Wait -- his coin. Right.

Welsknight's eyes fluttered open. He frowned first in confusion, then recognition, and then Tanguish's coin was in his fist and he was gone.

In hels, Tanguish leaned against the front door of the house, eyes closed, trying to calm his breathing. It really shouldn't be a big deal. Welsknight hadn't even had the time to threaten him. It was just the residual terror of past bad experiences, the adrenaline rush of realizing he was trapped in a room with a tiger. But he was home now, and he shouldn't be afraid -- didn't have to be afraid.

"You're home early," Helsknight said, sounding concerned, and very close by. He must have been writing at the table. In the time Tanguish had been forcing himself to calm, Helsknight stood and cautiously crossed to him. "Did something happen?"

(Did Welsknight happen?)

"N-no," Tanguish said unconvincingly. And further discredited himself by stepping forward, and hugging Helsknight. He could feel Helsknight's concerned frown in his posture, in the slow way he hugged him back, offering confused comfort.

"Are you... sure?"

"Just glad you're still here," Tanguish said.

"Ah." Helsknight hummed, as though he understood. His hug deepened a bit. "Still here. Are you?"

"I think so."

"Good. I guess I'm glad too, then."

[yanderes-galore]

Could you please do a general Yandere concept for King Sombra?

I can try, yeah! This'll be similar to the one with a pegasus darling I think.

Yandere King Sombra Concept

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Possessive behavior, Mentions of slavery, Kidnapping, Isolation, Restraints, Sadism, Mentions of execution, Degrading behavior, Forced relationship/companionship.

King Sombra is known to be an arrogant and cruel unicorn king.

He wishes to do nothing more than enslave the Crystal Empire, then take over Equestria.

He is infamous for his reign and many ponies fear him.

He controls ponies via fear.

His obsession wouldn't start all that different.

He would see you as another pony to control, another pawn for his rule.

Maybe you're a Crystal Pony or a friend of The Mane Six?

I focused on you being a friend of the Mane Six in a previous concept for him... so how about you being a Crystal Pony this time around?

Imagine this, you are King Sombra's favorite little servant.

Maybe this takes place during King Sombra's first rule, meaning you saw his first take over.

You expected King Sombra to just put you to work.

However... instead he drags your chains to sit beside his throne.

He wishes for you to speak to him, to provide him company.

Along with endless entertainment as he taunts your position.

King Sombra's overall very possessive and controlling of his obsession.

He expects you to listen to every order he gives, he expects you to only listen to him.

He controls you by using your fear, even more so when he makes you see illusions of disaster.

He'd probably force you to rely on him by making you see fears of what could happen if you left him.

He cultivates your loyalty by fooling you, promising a life well lived if you listen to your king.

After all, look at all your fellow ponies.

Look at them down below in the streets... wandering helplessly in chains...

You don't want to join them, do you?

He earns your compliance and drains you of your magic, telling you he'll remove the chains when you prove yourself enough.

King Sombra treats you as his (forced) companion.

Maybe he sees you as just a "friend" to talk to, or maybe he plans to encourage you into something more.

While in your chains he drags you like you're something lesser than a pony.

But when he sees you compliant, he removes said chains and instead resorts to commands to make you listen.

Disobey and he'll either punish your efforts by using fear against you... or it's back in the chains.

Even better... maybe he'll put you in a pretty crystal cage.

King Sombra lives for your obedience.

Obedience makes you his pretty pet.

King Sombra likes to taunt you, he likes to see your reactions as he reminds you of how pitiful you are without him.

When he's not doing that he tries to engage in casual conversation.

Perhaps he even tries to coax you into some affection, after all, you're his companion... aren't you?

If any pony got out of line and tried to speak with you, Sombra may just ask for execution.

You plead with him for just punishing the poor soul, the cruel king isn't having it.

You're all alone... at his mercy.

You'd be stuck as Sombra's until the end of his reign.

You can't see or interact with any other pony.

Just him.

Only him.

He will be all you have.

Even when King Sombra's defeated and banished, even when The Crystal Empire vanishes... you aren't safe for long.

Once the Mane Six go to restore the Crystal Empire, you're a target again.

King Sombra will know when you appear once again...

Then he will return to reclaim not only his empire... but you, his most favorite pet.

[bbrokenbback]

I guess it`s somehow an addition to the previous post with crazy pairings, but this time it`s not about dices deciding on our future but me. So, I present you the worst and the best questionable pairings from Warhammer 30k. The position of the character in the *name*/*name* thing is important.

Sanguinius/Rogal Dorn and NOT the other way around.

Sanguinius, just as Vulkan, can be paired with anyone if you`re brave enough, but I think he looks the best with that Imperial Fist in his ass. The Siege of Terra is the basis of their relationship because nothing attracts people to each other better than shared suffering and the same tragedy.

Sanguinius is the soldier who`s general doesn`t want to let him go to the field because he values him too much personally. But he still goes, yet, as he was asked from the general, never says “goodbye”. And Rogal is dying inside while trying to keep track of everything that is going on in and out of the Palace, receiving special reports about the Angel`s wellbeing. He just cares about him too much, and, since he technically has the right to prevent Sanguinius from throwing himself out only to be eaten by a bunch of heretics, he uses it quite often. Even if it doesn`t stop the Angel at all.

The hawk boy is just happy to come back to someone who waits for him from the battlefield.

I sincerely believe that the future in which there`s only war we desperately need some angsty fluff, and those two make the best of it.

2. Vulkan/Ferrus, for the balance of universe.

The previous couple was all about softness and fluff, about how feelings bloom in people in spite of the Great War. But these too exist only because they match.

They are both from death worlds, and both Medusa and Nocturne, if I remember it correctly, are not actually considered to be death worlds, but they are. It`s probably because Vulcan didn’t want to send people away from their homes and Ferrus was just to lazy to apply for the status of his homeworld.

Ferrus also needs someone who`d kick his ass, and there was a scene in canon that showed how desperately he wanted to fight with Vulkan in his special training cage for strong opponents, but Vulkan refused. Probably because he knew too well that Ferrus` pride would not hold against the reality in which he`s not the perfect one.

But I think eventually he would agree, after Ferrus made him a little too frustrated with his demeanor. He`d brutally beat him and then calmly explain to him why it`s so important to be polite and respectful to people.

Fulgrim also does not deserve Ferrus so let the forge boys stay together please.

3. Roboute Guilliman/Perturabo

That`s pretty simple actually. I don`t remember who exactly said it here, but Roboute is just Forrix with no spice, and Perturabo, being Greek, probably hates spicy food. Roboute has a thing for fixing everything around him, and Perturabo desperately needs someone who would fix him.

Or they can become worse together, it depends on how you look at the couple.

They both are also two representatives of high-functioning depression, but Roboute is someone who tries to hide his condition by throwing off formal parties and dressing in colorful clothes, while Perturabo shows it off, bearing his burden proudly in front of everyone (it makes everyone uncomfortable). They have incredibly similar personalities if you look closer, their perfectionism, their intelligent sarcasm and their intelligence and education in general.

Also, Roboute is not that calm and collected as he is usually shown. He`s got a short temper just like Perturabo, his rage rises in a matter of seconds. He just knows how to control it and most of the time does not allow his frustration to affect his actions. Unlike Perturabo.

They make a great team in work and for both of them this fact is very important. Roboute likes to plan everything, Perturabo likes to follow plans. Perturabo is a tactician and Roboute is a strategist. Roboute is the sword and Perturabo is the shield.

I can see them having a noble slow burn with lots of long conversations about philosophy, art and history, during which Perturabo finally gets to talk about the things he actually like and Roboute gets to know the man behind the armor. They fall for each other slowly but surely.

And Roboute can keep Perturabo loyal, not to the Imperium, but to himself.

4. Mortarion/Lorgar Aurelian

This might be the strangest pairing so far but don`t worry it`s the last of them. I`ve already mentioned that to me there`s no greater basis for the relationship than shared suffering and I want to add hate to everyone around the couple to it.

Mortarion is a gentle soul. He has a tough personality, but he`s soft in hearts, so he protects them at all costs. And Lorgar knows too well how to treat gentle souls properly.

Aurelian probably sees Mortarion as his own younger self, treating him like he would like to be treated in his past. He listens to him, allows him to rant about the grudge he holds against the Emperor and simply gives him the much needed understanding.

They have a few similarities in their pasts too, they both were raised by some freaks and that traumatized them. They could discuss and treat each other`s daddy issues. It`s like mutual masturbation but it starts with their minds.

Speaking of mind, Aurelian is a psyker and Mortarion is allergic to it. But with time he could see that there`s no monster behind those powers, and although he`d still prefer Lorgar without them, he can tolerate it.

I hope one day they will team up, kick their first captains` asses and have their happy ever after.

[astralexpressarchives]

Bird Symbolism on the Xianzhou

This all started with a question I asked my friend: "Well, have you ever seen a bird on the Xianzhou?"

Birds have played a major role in my very autistic investigations of Xianzhou lore. My intuition just knew that they were important so I started cataloguing every instance of birds appearing on the Xianzhou. I'll start with the more common appearances and then delve into the more obscure ones.

I would also like to preface this by saying I am not a bird scientist nor am I particularly interested in birds outside of the context of HSR. I simply noticed there were some repeating patterns and really wanted to make note of them.

So here's all the times I've seen a bird on the Xianzhou.

The Boring Ones

Sky-faring Commission/Starskiff Bird Symbol

This bird shows up all over the Xianzhou on buildings and signage. It is used on the signs indicating starskiffs but honestly can show up anywhere. Large associations with the sky-faring commission. Highly likely it is inspired by the white bird later in the post.

Jing Yuan's Finches

Another really obvious one as most people are familiar with his finches. As far as I know, they only appear in relation to Jing Yuan and don't seem to have any meaning outside of sheer vibes.

Before Dawn Lightcone:

"Do not make this decision lightly, general... Think about how you will be remembered in history..." The general of the Cloud Knights listens to his subordinates' words with eyes half-closed. "History will make its own judgment, but I have no interest in my legacy." "If I succeed, history will state that I am currently supremely confident in my masterful strategy." "But if I fail, then history will state that I am currently neglecting my duties in wanton pleasure, preferring finches over my people." A finch jumps down from his shoulder, and he extends his hand to catch the small creature. "I have simply made my own decision."

Yukong's Kestral

Similar to the bird that appears on Yanqing, Yukong's Kestral is a symbol that is connected to her beloved Caiyi.

Past and Future Lightcone:

The wings of the paper kite in her hands were broken, brutally reminding her of her beloved's tragic passing. She kneeled next to the fire of war, eyes full of sorrow. "If you are the only one left to do this, then our sacrifice would..." Gunfire raged on, painting the sky red without dampening its majesty. She looked up at the sky, eyes full of fury.

Edit: Qingque and Phoenix

These aren't related to anything as far as I can tell but there is also this bird that appears on Qingque's outfit.

There's also a phoenix that shows up in the Palace of Astrum and again in the Seven Arbiter Generals myriad. It may be something related to the history of the Xianzhou (the planet they came from in particular) because it appears on each of those panels outlining the backstory.

The Fun Ones

Yanqing's Swallow

Now starting to get into the territory of birds that are actually pretty interesting to the lore. The swallow is a bird that is literally everywhere on Yanqing. The painting is found near the Petrichor Inn. - this is significant because the Petrichor Inn has strong associations with the Vidyadhara. The also appear on the handle of his sword and in his splashart.

River Flows in Spring Lightcone:

The young boy took a short break from his sword practice. The sunlight was baking his already heated neck. He slowly got into the water, whose coldness touched his bare feet. When the bell chimes and birds tweet, even the people far away would know that springtime had arrived.

The Water Birds

Repeated appearance of birds made of water both in relation to Yanqing and found in cages in the Vidyadhara section of the Xianzhou. I believe these are some kind of spirit birds similar to the water creatures that swim through the Scalegorge Waterscape and Dan Heng's own azure dragon. These are probably similar to the Oceanids of Genshin Impact where they actually contain souls that take whatever shape they want in the water - probably the souls of dead Vidyadhara if I had to guess. Why are they being caged and sold around the Xianzhou in Vidyadhara areas? I have literally no idea at this point.

Yanqing has these ice swallows appear during his attacks. There's a recurring theme of swords containing souls in Xianxia stories which is also loosely connected to the concept of Blade's sword graveyard in the Hellscape. I think Yanqing's ice birds are somehow souls similar to the water birds caged around the Xianzhou.

The uber weird part about all of this is how at the end of Yanqing's ultimate you see this image. In the background of the image are the mountains associated strongly with the Vidyadhara and Dan Heng in particular.

I don't know what this means for Yanqing right now but he is an expy of a pre-existing character from Honkai Impact 3rd: Ma Yanqing. They probably have some plan for him that isn't immediately apparent right now but I would like to point out that his grandmaster, Jingliu, is also heavily associated with the mountain moon realm and can also summon a sword made of water/ice. This does not appear to be a technique known by anyone else and Jingliu herself needed to defeat the abomination in order to acquire her singular ice sword.

The Crane

Appearing initially only on Dan Feng's clothing, the crane has made a comeback in the new Cloud Knights Martial Doctrine, On Swords myriad trailer. They are significant because the also appear among the mountain realm and the moon. Notice the association Jingliu, Yanqing, and Dan Heng in particular.

The Black Bird

So not all the birds in this picture are distinctly black but their colour is ambiguous and they are similarly shaped so I'm lumping them together. They all appear in association with the mountain area - Blade's sword graveyard is also in the mountain area. The top right picture is from Dan Heng's first fansong.

The White Bird

Not sure what species of bird this is supposed to be but there's a white bird that appears repeatedly in association with the mountain realm. More specifically, it appears among the clouds and may freely travel from the Scalegorge to the Mountains through the hole in the clouds. Bottom left is from Blade's fansong. I think these birds may represent souls and the dead in the same way that Blade's spiderlilies and swords do.

There's also this bird above the realm-keeping commission that I'm unsure how to categorize because of it's unique shape but it's also among the mountains and moon.

Edit: Dan Shu's Bird

This one is actually important for the spirit bird concept. In the Longevous Disciple relic set she tells us of a story that inspires her:

According to the legend, a certain delvemaster saved her partner by placing their soul into a bird, granting them immortality. However, she eventually could not resist the call of the avian and also transformed into a bird, flying alongside them. Over time, the delvemaster became confused and lost her true form, becoming a half-feathered, half-human monster. When her subjects stormed the palace and pierced her with blazing spears and arrows, the two birds sang a final mournful song and turned to ashes together. She loved this story so much that she took the essence and marrow of birds and transformed them in the alchemical furnace, then had someone weave these materials into a luxurious feather coat. She could not see just how beautiful the coat was, but nonetheless enjoyed walking around the house while wearing it — it was meant to be seen by a person who no longer existed. As the garb fluttered, she always felt that a bird-like soul was flying and passing through her hands and shoulders, ever-present.

It's not clear how much of the legend is actually true but it could be inspired by the spirit birds.

I think I've said just about everything that I wanted to say. I'm curious if anyone else has any thoughts on the birds. I've listed most of them but there are one or two paintings I left out from fear of repetition.

I have a lot of additional Thoughts about the birds but I'll leave that for another post.

[dalekofchaos]

How I would change Mortal Kombat 1 and Khaos Reigns

I did similar posts to how I would change the NRS games in the past

9 and X 11

But enough time has passed and I thought I would do what I did for those games for MK1. And boy do I have a lot to say.

Mortal Kombat 1.

The core story will remain the same as I actually like it, especially what they did with the royal family, but I'm changing what I really didn't like.

First and foremost. Kuai Liang is NOT Scorpion. Hanzo is Scorpion.(lol fuck you Dominic) Liu Kang's new era saw the Lin Kuei and the Shirai Ryu coexisted and formed the United Clans with Bi-Han as Lin Kuei's Grandmaster and Hanzo as the Shirai Ryu's Grandmaster. Kuai Liang throughout the story is known as Tundra, but after Bi-Han's treachery is known to all, Kuai Liang becomes Sub-Zero, Hanzo and Kuai Liang reforges their alliance, while Bi-Han, Hydro, Frost, Cyrax(temporarily) and Sektor are outcasts and labels themselves as the "True Lin Kuei" United Clans line up Hanzo Kuai Liang Smoke Harumi True Lin Kuei Bi-Han Sektor Hydro Cyrax(Temporarily)

Sonya Blade and Jax exists. One of my biggest problems is how Sonya and Jax were pretty much erased in this timeline. Did they not have a role for them? I mean, they can police Earthrealm like Li-Mei and Tanya policed Outworld, I really don't see why not. I think they could build up to Johnny and Sonya. Maybe start it off with how Johnny meets Kenshi. Maybe Kano and Kabal come to collect as the Yakuza are allies of the Black Dragon and that's when Sonya and Jax pop in and kick their ass. Then Liu Kang pops in and brings them in to train for Mortal Kombat. Give Cage and Sonya their usual banter and properly build up to a relationship and there you go. Side note. You can say that the Special Forces have an uneasy alliance with the United Clans as Bi-Han is jealous of Liu Kang's favoritism(that isn't even there) but after Bi-Han is exiled, TNC and SF work together to safeguard Earthrealm together.

Rain is a ninja and heir to Edenia, not Aquaman. At the start, he is Sindel's dipolmat to Edenia. Throughout the game he seems shady and as it seems he is on General Shao's side, he shows his true allegiances and stands with the Outworld Royal Family. As payment for his true loyalty, he is awarded as liege lord of Edenia and fulfills his destiny as a son of Argus.

General Shao does not have horns. I just thought it was a stupid and unnecessary design. He looked like Motaro, not fucking Shao. Give him his "Ultimate General" helmet or something like that. And if they REALLY wanted to make Shao stand out, just give him his look from the comics

Nitara is voiced by a voice actor. Look I love Megan Fox, I would die and sacrifice for her. But she was just bad in this game. Worse than Ronda Lousey voiced Sonya in MK11. NRS really should have just had Cristina Vee voice Nitara in her entirety, with Megan Fox only being the face model. Cristina Vee should at least be an alternative voice option for Nitara (including all her lines in story mode), like how you can change the announcer voice.

Hydro's inclusion. He is to Bi-Han as what Smoke is for Kuai Liang. Hydro does what Kuai Liang and Tomas are unwilling to do for the United Clans. He shares Bi-Han's vision and even killed Bi-Han's father for Bi-Han and made it look like a drowning.

Hotaru is apart of the roster. Hotaru in the New Era is the leader of Seido. He runs the oppressive regime Havik opposes. He helps Liu Kang maintain order of the realms by any means necessary and learning that Fire God Liu Kang himself put Hotaru in charge drove Havik's ire. Hotaru being absent from MK1’s narrative is a creative failure. Like, they could’ve painted a shade of grey on Liu’s character by having him recruit Hotaru to help maintain order in his timeline. The fact that there is no Chaos Realm just tells me Liu Kang just forced Hotaru and Havik to co-exist and that led to potentially Hotaru enforcing oppressive Order by any means necessary while Havik becomes an anarchist. Oh and by the fucking way. FUCK Ed Boon. How creatively bankrupt do you have to be to not only have NO Hotaru, but insist that you were gonna have him as a Kameo...A FUCKING CAMEO and even reject that? You have Havik, the embodiment of chaos and Hotaru, personification of Order, both in an authoritarian sense and a strong sense of justice and you don't fucking think to include him??? Havik is chaos personified. Hotaru is the worst aspects of Order. He can go from saving you, liberating villages and setting up a fucking police state and NRS STILL does not see the potential in Hotaru? Okay, sorry rant over.

The whole Liu Kang vs Shang Tsung thing, DOES happen. However it is not a rushing of Armageddon. Instead it is the result of the Aftermath endings. Liu Kang's timeline vs Shang Tsung's timeline in MORTAL KOMBAT! Bonus points. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa returns to voice Titan Shang Tsung. In the end, everyone must put aside their differences and work together in order to defeat Titan Shang Tsung's Order of Darkness

End with the tease of Titan Havik. But also end with a tease of Titan Hotaru. Titan Hotaru looks like Hotaru's armor, but Titan white much like from the MK11 tower endings

Khaos Reigns

Build up to Cyrax's defection. Cyrax leaving the Lin Kuei works, what doesn't work is how quick it was. Have a few UC vs TLK fights before Hanzo and Harumi's wedding. It's Kuei Liang and Harumi that ask to spare Cyrax. Just let it simmer, don't jump into it. It took Cyrax 3 games to gain his soul and humanity back,

The New Era variants are in the story. One of the things that pissed me off is how the mainline variants either don't exist or barely have lines. You'd think a NE Havik reacting to Titan Havik would be something you'd like to see in the game, but no. Dominic can't have anything logical or cool. So we'd see our heroes split into Team Ketchup and Team Mustard(I guarantee you Johnny would come up with this) Team Mustard Cyrax Hanzo Johnny Sonya Smoke Team Ketchup Sektor Tanya Kuai Liang Kung Lao Kenshi

WWII Johnny is a thing, but he's joined by Major Blade. Apparently Sonya was supposed to be in the game as Major Blade as shown in concept art....I hate NRS

Noob Saibot has a new family. Sareena, Kia and Jataaka. The Order of chaos. Aka fuck Dominic, you can pry Bi-Han/Sareena from my cold dead hands

Titan Hotaru finds Liu Kang and offers him a deal. He will help deal with Titan Havik, but in exchange that he must give him the Kamidogu. The reason why Liu Kang accepted Hotaru's deal? Titan Havik found Onaga on the loose in the realms and used the Kamidogu to tame him and he will use him to destroy the realms while Havik spreads chaos.

Noob defeats Havik, only momentarily. Havik beats him down and before he could guarantee his domination and chaos throughout the realms. Hotaru appears.

Titan vs Titan. Havik vs Hotaru. We get a similar choice as we had in Aftermath choosing the ending. Ending 1. Khaos Reigns. Havik wins and spreads Chaos throughout the realms. Ending 2. Order Supreme. Hotaru wins and ends the chaos once and for all. Hotaru helps the royal family imprison Onaga to end his rampage and most importantly. we get a clear end to Havik. And before Hotaru can retrieve the Kamidogue, Noob Saibot tries to take them for himself and for Bi-Han being Bi-Han, he is banished to the Netherrealm. "A deal is a deal, Lord Liu Kang" Liu Kang begrudgingly hands over the Kamidogu. Liu Kang looks at his friends "It was the only way" we get a somber ending. Because Hotaru would be fantastic here, especially as a overtly order obsessed character who yes, is aligned with the good guys, who slowly realize “aw shit this guys gonna be a problem too” as his methods and beliefs and goals aren’t perfectly aligned by any means beyond “stop havik”

Epilogue. Cyrax is forgiven by Hanzo and he welcomes her back into the United Clans. While Sektor condemns Bi-Han for refusing to give up his darkness/chaos. She instead focuses to improve their forces. The True Lin Kuei, now become the Tekunin. And a final shot of Johnny proposing to Sonya with Kenshi and Takeda smiling with approval.

[chibishortdeath]

Free will strikes again, these were some really fun doodles :3. I think Simon is allowed to be a little visual kei sometimes. Idk I just know he’d vibe with it. Explanations under a cut—

And also a couple unfinished doodles that were just intended to be rough pose/anatomy practice sketches, but ended up accidentally more detailed than intended 💀💀💀. It’s nothing graphic, but ⚠️slight artistic nudity warning⚠️ anyway in case d(>_< ).

Hehehe, this is based off of a photo from Malice Mizer live, it’s Simon in place of Mana and Fuma in place of Gackt. Very fun pose to draw!!! Especially cause it’s a pose with a whip and also cause idk why but I find poses with one or both arms up pretty easy to draw. And yeah yay, Fuma inclusion yippie :3!

I don’t have any other explanation for why this exists other than dresses are cool. So I made him one :D. The coord has a half caplet that connects to a shoulder paldron on the other shoulder by chain with a little cross. Under that there’s a blouse and skirt combo with patterns similar to his SQ armor and some rose thorn patterns around the ends of the sleeves and collar. Over that is a corset and under is a cage crinoline made to look like crosses peaking around the edge. Shoes carry outfit motifs like the roses on the bow tie and headdress and the lace throughout. Also, an eyepatch with cross on it because yeah, cute :3. I’d probably wear this if I had uh any skill in sewing at all (TwT ).

A not chibi version of the above outfit! Except probably without the crinoline with how the skirt fabric is sitting lol. Tbh I think Simon would probably be fine with this for a little bit and then get uncomfortable about having so many layers on. I don’t think he’d like tights at all 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀. Hmmm I’ll have to draw a version of it that’d be more comfortable for him hmm maybe tomorrow.

Another Simon holding Dracula’s heart artwork. Shout out to how this guy just carries this thing around for so long lol.

Simon facing off against his worst enemy: stairs! This one was practice drawing characters in backgrounds, since I’m so rusty at actually drawing those two things together (ToT ). I can draw a separate background fine, but the second I have to put someone in it I just completely forget what I’m doing XD.

This one is also a practice! He’s running up to the altar in Drac’s basement. The lighting was fun for this one, but I forgot to draw the whip in his hand 💀.

This one was an attempt at drawing a skeleton and keeping the same proportions in a drawing of someone (Simon) who is uh not a skeleton. Fun fact! It took me like 5 tries to get the skeleton to not just look like Papyrus Undertale cause holy heck do the skeletons from that game take a hold of some part of your art style and never let go 💀💀💀💀

CASTLEVANIA JUDGEMENT HAS HATS??? AS LIKE AN UNLOCKABLE?????????? So obviously I had to draw Simon (x2) with the bow options. Pink probs looks really nice with his hair tbh. And the striped bow was black and white so it fits with the Judgement design’s outfit. If I ever actually play this game again (I suck so bad at it), I’ll be trying to get these for the very important reason of Simon cute. :3

—

Ok now these two. The first one was a different attempt at that Mana pose, but a bigger scale and a bit less exaggerated. I ended up having to do a ton of edits to it cause I kept making things too big or too small lol. And the second one is just a couple dynamic posing practices. They’re also excuses to draw more arm up poses cause they’re fun X3. He was just supposed to have like a generic placeholder rectangle er um uh there, but some of the sketchy lines ended up looking like what’s supposed to be in that spot, so I just didn’t wanna risk these being on main tags out in the open 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀. Though, tbh, I’ve seen more explicit things on the tags so eh, better safe than sorry tho (- w - )

[cebwrites]

Tae lives alone.

oc | gen word count: 0.8k

He moved out of the family home when he turned 20 and it's been that way ever since. He comes over to clean once a week if he can help it since the work is a lot for Hyou to juggle alone on top of his own schedule.

When he's not out in the field, his days go pretty routinely with work down in T&I, writing mission reports and filing other general paperwork, and coming home long after sun down. Sometimes he'll join peers and superiors for a drink; meaning he'll have to help carry some of them home before his own commute.

Sometimes when Kotetsu and Izumo know he'll be out late, they swing by Tae's apartment later to hang out and ease the tension left by being around his superiors for too long. They find him collapsed in front of his apartment door one night running a high fever and immediately rush him to the hospital.

Carrying Tae there wasn't a problem, but once he was laid out on the examination table Tae woke up panicked and disoriented demanding who the doctor and nurses around him were. In his defense, with his vision blurry and only his chakra sensory to rely on, the only things Tae could make out were vague figures in a place he didn't recognize. For all he knew he could still be out on the field; trauma brain took over from there.

He landed two kunai in the wall, thankfully Izumo was still in the room to deflect them - lest they ended up in their intended targets. They don't get the chance to sedate him before Tae throws up at his bedside and loses consciousness again on his own.

Tae's a lot more agreeable the next morning, gets a good earful from Tsunade for waking her up, too. Tsunade doesn't seem surprised when she asks what was the last thing he ate was and Tae draws a blank. He's ordered at least three more days of bed rest after his fever goes away, it's non-negotiable judging by the crack in his bedside table she leaves.

Shizune has the courtesy to smile and say that his brother visited earlier as they leave.

Kotetsu and Izumo swing by to bring him snacks on their break, through his throat is too sore to eat yet. It's a short lived fifteen minutes, but they brighten up the room considerably with chatter and Izumo having to pry his partner off the doorway to get back to work. Kohaku delivers a bottle of tea.

Kakashi comes over with a fruit basket for this fruit basket when he hears his baby brother will be hospitalized for a while. Tae has to remind him that he still can't eat solids for the moment, so Kakashi takes the liberty of eating an apple an a packet of biscuits from the previous goodie bag in front of him like the smug bastard he is. They share a comfortable silence before Kakashi breaks it by mentioning he caused a real fuss last night.

Like a wounded animal fighting against its cage, some nurses said. He points out that Genma and Hyou weren't expected to be back from their respective missions for a few more days, but they'll be worried when they are. Tae winces a little.

Kakashi doesn't mean to interrogate him like this, especially with Tae's history of being put in similar situations, but finding a way to prevent an incident like this happening again took precedent; although Tsunade had her own theories. She saw the state he was in when Tae returned with his mission report - the scroll was pristine but his uniform was still filthy, dried blood Taeru didn't bother to clean marred his vacant face.

Wasn't his own so it wasn't important.

I don't know, was the response Kakashi got, between the hazy recollections of what he did after returning to Kohona, he couldn't place what really happened over the past week, or much beyond recent memory, for that matter. It was enough, though, for Kakashi to piece together what probably happened - functioning solely on autopilot until the mission was over, being unable to muster up the energy to so much as change or eat.

It was like looking into a mirror. A mirror that would reflect what most shinobi would go through at one point in their life or another, and Kakashi knew it well.

Taeru balled his fists into the blanket over his lap, shaking with frustration as he said no matter what he did, no matter who he helped, he still continued to be a burden on the people around him. If his jaw was any tenser it seemed like his teeth would crack, though his expression was still as apathetic as the day Danzo ordered Shikaku to taking him in for "questioning" by suspicion of being in conspiracy with the Uchiha.

Kakashi says that's not true, pulls him close and tells him how important he is to not only his family but the people he's formed bonds with, however difficult that might be to see right now.

But Tae's unable to cry.

[mettywiththenotes]

Talking about an au

This is one that has been on my mind since 419 and tbh I thought for sure it could happen

Remember when Tomura shed his skin during the Floating UA battle? Well I wondered if a similar thing would happen again in Mount Fuji

Picture it. In the void, AFO eats Tomura. He's dying as he's told everything about AFO's involvement in his life. AFO takes over his body, hand formed over mouth and all. It looks pretty bad. All the stuff happens with Izuku getting his arms back, the heroes coming to his aid etc. Izuku punches AFO (end of 422, beginning of 423). Here's where it diverges from canon:

Izuku punches AFO and he starts crumbling slowly, from his gut (where the impact was) to the rest of him. Except before it even reaches his chest, his face starts to crack open. Visually we can see this crack isn't the same as the crumbling of his body. It's one we've seen before, across his face in the middle of a battle. A parallel back to this

Except within the crack is Tomura's face. Tomura inside Tomura's body. Tomuraception

What happened? Well, the power of Izuku's will to stop AFO (the punch) allowed the vestiges that got thrown into the body to reawaken and bring Tomura's soul back. At the same time, minutes before, Tomura, slowly dying in the void, began to think. About everything AFO told him, how he was doomed before he was even born. How much that angered him, the rage coursing through his soul. He already had a strong will before, but now he really can't accept what has happened and he can't accept AFO getting away with it. Even if AFO's fate is to die, he'd rather be the one on the other end of it, alive and watching him. Better yet, being the hand that ultimately brings about his end

As a visual representation, it's like Tomura reaches out, desperate to climb out of the abyss he is slowly dying in, and he is met with several hands reaching back, taking his hand and pulling him out and back to the world. The vestiges, who have been reawakened by Izuku

Before, Tomura has not been able to die or stay dead. So why should this not be the same? With the power of rage, spite, his hero and some ghostly relatives, he lives on. He twists his own fate by accepting the hands that reach out and climbing out of the hole AFO threw him in

AFO's Tomura face cracks open. Tomura forces AFO's vessel apart from the head, almost like a butterfly climbing out of its cocoon, almost like he is actively prying his own cage open and escaping for good

AFO had been crumbling and was ripped open, but in a desperate attempt to stay together and stay alive (also fueled by anger at being pushed to the edge like this + Tomura somehow coming back from the dead), he uses his quirks (mostly drills) to keep his body intact for now (this is already shown in 423)

Also, I guess it depends on what you would like to believe, but the way I see it, Tomura could come back either with just his decay OR with the vestiges choosing another vessel for what little power they can give left and so backing Tomura up with the last of OFA. Aka 10th user Tomura. It's not as powerful as it was with Izuku but it still adds a lot, just enough to pack a real punch. Personally I think if we're already throwing away "what is realistic" then I might as well go big or go home and go with 10th user Tomura my beloved

It's from this point that he and Izuku begin to work together to kill the old body. As you can imagine, it's probably not an immediate bonding of friendship or whatever, but it's more or less teamwork formed with the general statement of "we still have things to work out, hero, but I don't care about that right now. I hate him more than anyone else on this damn mountain and I can't stand the thought of letting anyone else kill him but me" etc but then progresses as they fight

[thedeafprophet]

would love to hear any other impressions you have of that story!

I enjoyed it! I still think Reunion was more fun, but thats probably down to particular tastes in the matter.

I actually really enjoyed the further insight into the servantry at The Palace which i was not expecting to get a look into. Similar to one of my fave aspects of The Bloody Wallpaper, I really just like learning about the day to day operation inside of these places. Also the like... casuality of the cage gardens and people working there made the horror of the place all the more strong. wow

Another thing I found interesting was the theme it, while maybe not introduced here, was the generational aspect when it comes to the themes of trauma with the red honey? The idea of children and a parents affect on them i'd say is just as much the theme of this ES as the trauma/horrors of war aspect are imo - perhaps you could argue they tie in together,

We see it with the in the old nursemaid laundry room,

"Children need love.....' "....They're all still searching for love, you know. One of them calls it romance, another calls it glory, but every one of them is looking in the wrong place. "

This is further brought up when we learn about the contaiminent from years ago (perhaps the bad batch referenced in the gift?) with the hive still troubled from it.

"Bee societies are complex. Trauma echoes through the generations."

Which i think ties in to the theme pretty directly....

And this all culiminates together with The Princes' memories - his mothers neglect as a child being what leads to his aims as a teen, which leads to the horrorible action in the war, and other gettings hurt, which leads to his own corruption and self pain. Its generational. The hive remembers.

The red honey ties into all of this, and serves as a representation for the way this will consume people. The honey that was given to children to keep them quiet.

While of course adults must be held accountable for the actions they make, we see through this that the palace's children had very, very little say into who they would become....

Which I suppose to say this all ties back around well into my underlying belief of a major them in the whole of the FL - the cycles of abuse and neglect.

All that is to say i have been given some good lore content and further things to think on, and will likely be incorporating the palaces staff and the cage gardens into my fics at some point.

and also fuck vicky. worst mom award goes to her.

[nxght-shxft]

where are my yandere hcs 😔😏

i knew this day would come but i never knew it would be so soon...

anyways content warning for shitty behavior, stalking, kidnapping, maniulation, and general yandere behavior.

i'm not endorsing this behavior and i'm honestly just doing this for cringe ass nae nae fun :3

Not all of my ocs would engage in yandere behaviors so i’ll just include some of the ones that probably would in some (probably alternate) universe.

MEPHIS would probably be the most yandere in my regular au, excluding Sabayon. They’d be really REALLY possessive and critical of your every movement or decision, though they’d try not to outwardly show it. The last thing they’d want is you thinking there’s anything wrong with you. You’re honestly perfect in it’s eyes considering you probably show it decent respect for it to become enamored with you. You could honestly just say “good morning, Mephis,” one too many times for them to become obsessed with you. They’d definitely be the type to steal you away because “I need to make sure you don’t go off doing something bad,” hence the possessiveness. They are a puppetmaster so, they want the control. If you tried to reason with them to let you go they’d start getting angry and panicked, saying some bullshit like how you’d need to stay with them longer so you can understand that you’re happy, you just don’t recognize your own emotions. Yikes!!! They’re the type to have mood swings, suddenly thinking that you hate them and that your hatred needs to be corrected so you two can ‘be happy’. They’d probably try not to outright kill anyone over you, but they’d damn well threaten them. DON’T LET ANYONE TREAT YOU LIKE THIS.

SABAYON is pretty much already a yandere in my main au. Due to the cultural practices that he set in place, you better fucking hope that they don’t take an interest in you. Their behaviors with Afastyr show exactly how they’d be. You caught their interest somehow, and now you’ve found yourself far, FAR away from home, locked up in a cage or dark room or something. They can see and understand that you’re scared, this is such a new experience for you! They’d back off and give you some time to adjust, but you’d better adjust quickly, so help you gods. They’d start trying to acclimate you to your situation by offering you meat and drinks, leaving them in your cage/cell. If you’re, understandably, not trusting of the food, they’d start getting a little irritated. “You can’t starve yourself forever,” and “You’ll realize how generous I’m being eventually.” If you still refuse, that’s when it’d withdraw all attention entirely, until you’re finally asking or begging for food or water. Yes, the food is just regular meat, it’s not poisoned or anything of the sort, they use this moment for you as a “See, you can trust me!” type of moment. They would definitely kill over you, making sure no one even gets close to saving you. Unfortunately, if you’re another god in this scenario, you’re probably gonna end up sacrificed. ESPECIALLY if they develop a kind of soft spot for you, and find that they would want to keep living with you alive, they’d have to sacrifice you in repentance. Best of luck to you if you find yourself striking their fancy, you better hope you have some Afastyr-like luck. <3

RYKA, on a similar note to Sabayon, has something ingrained into her brain about relationships and love. She’s not a god, but she’s still powerful, especially with manipulation. Being a high priestess of Sabayon has always made her think that relationships have a power dynamic. She’s honestly probably the type to stalk you. You saw her at a meeting once, and now things in your room go missing, reappearing days later. And would you look at that, you’re meeting Ryka again at another meeting, and you’re having lovely conversation! She’d be so unassuming that it hurts. After a while of knowing her, having meetings with her, preparing for sacrifices or rituals together, you come to really love her company. She’s so understanding, and such a good listener. Your missing items and stalker’s behavior are getting worse, however. You finally decide you trust her enough to tell her all about your stalker problem, and oh she’s just so concerned for you! You poor, poor thing! Tell her all about it; hell, why not let her stay with you so you feel a little safer! You fool. You utter fool. This would be about the time you realize that she’s your stalker. You gave her easy access to your home, and she’s using it to the fullest. Now you’re noticing that when she visits, you’re missing a LOT more. Once you confront her about it, that’s when you’re really not getting out of her web. Now you’re not allowed to leave your house, you’re bound up in your own room while she comes and goes, acting like she lives here. “I don't know why you’re upset, have I not been your perfect companion through the time we’ve known each other?” and “You’re making a fuss over a few missing items, honestly, you should grow up. It’s not like you were kidnapped.” She’s just waiting for the Stockholm syndrome to set in. 😞

VAUXARIN is honestly not likely to be that much of a yandere, at least not in my main au, so just play pretend for me okay? I know my partner, who asked for these headcanons, was probably hoping to see him on this list, so suspend your disbelief. He, like Ryka, would also be a stalker. A total stalker. BUT, unlike Ryka, he doesn’t care if you know about it. In fact, he hopes you do find out. He hopes that you wander the Abyss, looking over your shoulder every minute, checking for him. He hopes that seeing him around, even minding his business, puts you on edge. If you confront him about it, he’d outright admit it. What are you going to do about it, really? Tell on him? Report him to the higher ups? Not only would they likely not believe you, his abilities would probably prevent him from ever being caught. He’d rub it in your face, all “Go ahead and tell them. Tell them that I sneak around, watching your every move.” He’d probably be the type to tell you what exactly he’s done. He’s detailing his every crime. He’d be horrible in court. “I broke your lock with my scythe and watched you sleep.” “I killed that other god for looking at you for too long. They said they didn’t even know your name, but I’m not taking chances.” “Yes you saw me dragging chains into my room, did you think I was just going to watch you from afar?” BOOM KIDNAPPED!!!! He'd just keep you chained up in his room, honestly. He doesn’t care if you don’t like him or not, he doesn’t care if you beg and cry and scream to be let go. You’re in no position to make demands, and he’s going to be keeping you.

OKAY THAT'S ALL. if anyone is still reading this and wants to know about literally any of my other ocs send me an ask :3 i love writing stuff like this im cringe im free

[meigui-jin]

Hc's about yandere gyokko-i don't even know if that exist- if you are able to, how we essentially "kidnap"someone if he's the type to do that?

I couldn't see gyokko getting obsessed over someone unless they shared the same view over art and have similar attitudes,but now that I think about it,gyokko for sure would NOT like someone with a stuck up attitude (muichiro) for sure, he'd get irritated quickly

I don't think he could kidnap them into his pot...? He literally discombobulated a person doing that and they ended being all bent at different sorts of angles In the manga. So idk, maybe he just hold them hostage in a place surrounded by his pots so they couldn't escape? 🤔

I could also see gyokko def being the POSSESSIVE type,we see that attitude with his pots often. Seems like the sort of person to say "get ur slimy hands off my pots!" But with a person this time

Gyokko is hard yandere to pin point lol

I don't know why people don't write about Gyokko at all :( He is literally the DEFINITION of a worshiper yandere and it's sad that I don't see that come to fruition-

Yeah anyways- though I'd believe Gyokko would enjoy someone with a calmer personality. He sees that a a beautiful trate in his S/O.

However you wouldn't have to share the same love for art- you ARE the art ✨

Though it's a double whammy if you also enjoy the fanatic arts of pottery or just art in general. It just enforces the idea that this was ment to be.

Also no- you can't get randomly sucked into a pot your super secret admirer placed in your house. That would probably kill you- and surprisingly- Gyokko wouldn't find that to be pretty. So he would just show up to your house and dramatically kidnap you- though he thinks is more like a prince stealing away his poor captured princess/prince/majesty rather than you screaming and kicking the entire way.

Plus if your a demon slayer he just annoyingly gushes about how well you use your blade and breath style.

Also yes- you now live in a room full of around 200 pots. Just don't accidentally break any of them.

Gyokko is definitely like #4 on my 'Most possessive kny yandere' list. He will literally hiss at anyone or anything that comes near you- and he doesn't discriminate either. Say goodbye to that bird that unknowingly flew through the wooden cage- oh Yeah- your a in a cage. A nice bird cage to look at something beautiful ❤️

Yeah that bird got obliterated- rest in peace...

So escaping is nye-impossible with Gyokko as you're yandere.

[stardustdiiving]

Hi!! Hello!! I've just been passively listening to your blog for a bit and I just have to say. auauua you actually giving Nahida the spotlight she deserves is so refreshing! I love Wanderer in all his forms, but the lack of character studies/general brainworms about Nahida is so sad to me D: She's an archon!! You'd think people would talk about her more in the general fandom... Idk, personally, she's a pretty relatable character in the way of having to become an adult for the people around her (in her case, becoming a knowledgeable god despite having the mind of a child for the sages) like!! She is smart, but she is a KID. Haven't a fair number of people experienced that? And justifying the behavior too- like I (personally) think that Nahida tries to make the horrendous behavior of generations of sages seem Less Bad bc 'oh, they were probably so lost without the Greater Lord.. and I wasn't what they were looking for' Because admitting that you were hurt for a reason that was entirely NOT YOUR FAULT actually feels Really Bad. LOCAL BABY GOD IS RELATABLE TO THE MASSES!! (Could be a bad take, I do need to rewatch the Sumeru quests.. it's been so long.. my little guys..) BEFORE I GET TOO SIDETRACKED UH. yeah. Thank you for the Radish Thoughts they are really really appreciated by someone who also thinks Nahida is Pretty Neat!

WTF UR GONNA MAKE ME CRY IM SO GLAD. I love Nahida I’m glad it resonates. Tbh i think that take isn’t bad at all bc I actually also had a similar interpretation of her downplaying her neglect in the same way she downplays her worth as an Archon bc obviously there’s overlap between the two

Assortment of screenshots I feel go along with this , starting with how the Sages’ treatment of her is discussed textually:

When we learn she’s being imprisoned for the first time in the AQ, Nahida’s response is quite literally her justifying why the Sages’ decision makes “rational” sense because (like u said!) she’s not Rukkhadevata and by extension isn’t a “real enough archon”

Nahida internalizes the “my existence has little meaning” to the point she justifies beating herself up as an inferior archon over Dunyazard’s presumed death as “rationally observing the distance between herself and a real archon”:

And also the first thing she does when we set her free is apologize for letting the Sages neglect her. We also get her basically saying she was never angry about what was done to her until she was being rescued:

She goes onto say she’s going to punish the sages harshly, but then it’s noted by multiple characters they think she wasn’t harsh enough with her punishment. Which is a haha aww Nahida doesn’t have it in her to be harsh. But it’s also like haha aww. Nahida doesn’t have it in her to be harsh even to the people who dehumanized her and kept her in a cage for generations Zjsjmxkxjnsj

Nahida as a person seems to be someone who clings to a sense of personal control , my main reasoning for this is it’s directly stated in her character stories the reason she gives up her Gnosis to Dottore for information would be to have more knowledge and therefore control over a situation:

With one Gnosis still in her hands, Nahida could not help but hesitate. She barely knew more about the Gnoses than she knew the "truth" of the world. […] Shaking hands in bargain means an equal compromise for both sides, a far cry from any victory. On the other hand, turning down the bargain indicates a certain type of "ignorance," which, obviously, would more easily invite a loss of control. Thus did the "God of Wisdom" instantly find her answer...

So her rationalizing her own neglect or Anything Bad That Is Done to Her to me is a way of asserting a sense of control over her situation when she has none, just as u said!

[casketjones]

I'm not sure how to info dump for a bunch of character concepts in a way that's digestible but eh whatever

Concept work for a group of mafia hitwomen and their long suffering handler. They're likely going to be used in a underground illegal wrestling ring arc because that's all I really want in my media.

This post plus additional sketches and more background info will be going up on my patreon and kofi tomorrow.

more under the cut,

They're all vampires that I really cooked up to test a concept for vamps for my comic project. Based on a blood sucking animal and a historical anti-vampire burial method, some of the burial methods are gonna be pushed and fibbed because there's not that many of them. so yeah incidental vampires will have a cage motif even tho I know good and well that cages were to prevent resurrection men getting in not vampires getting out. I feel that's thematically close enough. There's so many really good sanguivore animals out there these are maybe too safe even.

The other thing I really wanted to accomplish with these designs is targeting lesbians, hey ladies these are for you. How am I doing?

going left to right here we got

Flea- She's a Flea I tried taking a lot from Blake's Ghost of a Flea but I don't think it comes through. Her grave-shackle is that scythe coming out her shoulder, it's maybe a bit of a stretch, the real thing was buried in the ground next to the corpse so if it rose it would decapitate itself but I didn't really want to complicate the design with a bunch of dirt or something. Regardless I like her design a lot. Short hairy goblin of a woman, someone stop me from naming her Puce.

Mosquito- Her hair took a little bit to sort out, it used to be real bad but this mess is perfect. Horrible 90's stylized part call back, reminiscent of boxer braids while being ostentatious enough to work in any setting. That cool bangle is her grave-shackle, an actual shackle this time. Her build was immediate, huge arms, weird long butt, perfection. She's the easiest to dress which isn't that surprising considering shes thinner but usually big arms are really difficult in women's wear. Flea is actually the second easiest to dress. There's gotta be a better name than Malaria, but i could call her Mal.

Geo(?)- small mafia man, constantly put upon, constantly behind the 8-ball with upper management; you know the type. The other guys definitely tell him he's lucky all the time but they'd never switch assignments with him. Why is he so small? because I can do whatever i want. His name might be Geoffrey.

Lamprey- Went through the most iterations, was very hard to piece together a woman this disaster lesbian. The spike through the heart, traditionally meant to keep the alleged vampire pinned to the ground was always part of the design, so was the long neck and heart lipstick, the hook earring came and went. Everything else was difficult; general build was pretty similar but i didn't actually work until I gave her a gut and dropped her waist. I used to have gill markings on her neck that looked like vampire bite marks and that took a while to give up but that hair is too good. She probably will end up being named Nakkila, it's a Finnish town with lamprey on their crest.

Leech- Took just two stabs to get her hair, body and face where I wanted it. Those bright red eyebrows work so well to subtly mimic leech markings, her hair shapes are perfect and I love drawing them. It's hard to tell at this size but her lips are sewn together which works almost too well for the theming, the cartoon jack'o lantern shape just sits right on a leech. Being built like a brick shithouse with fantastic fat rolls really gives the body diversity in the group the punch it needs. But dear god in heaven she is so hard to dress! I'm liking this dress a moderate amount right now and I really love the shoes but it's not perfect. I've tried suits instead, I've down active wear, all crazy difficult. It's like fashion doesn't want to accentuate horizontal stripes on large bodies or something? I gotta keep trying on it. I've almost convinced myself to name her Annelid.