#Also who is that there at the end

[crash-bump-bring-the-whump]

Whumpril 2023 - Day 26

@that-one-thespian requested this one!! I haven't gotten to play with Zuriel in a while so this was super fun c:

TWs: Blood, gore, self-sacrifice, human shield

Explosion | Short on Time | “I won’t leave you!”

Zuriel was hurt. Golden feathers dripped silvery, angelic blood onto the alleyway ground. The demon in front of Mariano was far stronger and larger than he could hope to face down. He squared his shoulders and took a breath, fire flying through his veins as his hunting knife lit up. He couldn't let one of this demon's arrows hit Zuriel.

"Mariano you, you have to get out of here." Zuriel whimpered, breath hitching as he struggled to stay standing. They'd been running, trying to find safety. The light from Zuriel's halo trembled behind Mariano.

It looked like time had run out.

"I won't leave you." Mariano said. Zuriel hadn't ever abandoned him.

Mariano darted forward, magic blasting from his other palm. It struck the horned being's face, sending them reeling back and scrabbling at their skin with pain. He leaped, swiping at their abdomen with his blade. He didn't let up.

If you give your opponents a moment to think, you've already lost.

Luis' training echoed in Mariano's head as he stabbed and slashed, gutting the being that had been so doggedly hunting them. All he had to do was injure them enough to open an escape. Bastian wasn't far, now. He was getting closer by the second. Mariano's knife darted upwards, hooking the demon's breastbone and beginning to eat through it.

Their hand caught his wrist, the other wrapping around his throat and lifting him up effortlessly. Blood poured from their body, glowing a brilliant emerald color. Eyes that matched narrowed, jagged teeth bared in glee.

"Not today, little panther." They purred, their nose almost brushing Mariano's. "You fought well though."

Effortlessly, they threw Mariano.

"No!" Zuriel shouted, staggering backwards towards Mariano as his flight abruptly ended against the alleyway wall. He dropped to the ground, stunned. "No--please..."

Zuriel looked back towards the demon, feathers trembling as he spread his wings. His stance widened as he drew his sword. The demon drew their bow.

Just behind him, Mariano shakily rose to his feet, eyes burning. He saw the twitch of the demon's fingers as a burning arrow appeared, and his body moved before he could even think. He grabbed the back of Zuriel's collar, yanking the angel backwards as he launched himself forward.

Mariano watched the demon's fingers move. He saw the glowing green arrow fly through the air. He felt the searing, acrid burn explode through his chest before he realized he'd fallen to his knees. Trembling, he reached for his shoulder, fingers passing through the wicked body of the arrow.

He couldn't stand up again. The sparks flying through his chest kept brushing against something awful and deep, like it was trying to bite at his pact with Bastian. It sapped his strength, pulled his magic away from his hands.

Zuriel was shouting something, ever-careful hands gripping Mariano's shoulders. Dazed, Mariano looked up in time to see a purple, smoky mass tackle the bloodied form of the demon. "What..." Mariano mumbled. "What was...magic?" Was Bastian there? Something else?

He heard screaming.

It almost felt like he'd taken too many pact dampeners. It was getting harder and harder to keep his eyes open, to keep track of where Bastian was. Zuriel was hovering above him. When had he laid down?

"Keep, keep your eyes on me." Zuriel said, one hand glowing with his soft, golden magic. "Don't fall asleep. This might not feel good."

The moment that Zuriel's magic met Mariano's chest, Mariano arched off the ground. It ripped a choked scream from him, his hands twisting into his own bloodied shirt. As the green glow faded and a soft warmth replaced it, Mariano went slack under Zuriel's hands.

Zuriel's look of relief came into sharper focus as the sheer exhaustion started to ebb away. "You--is it working?" Zuriel asked, as if he hadn't expected that to help.

"I'm...you're okay." Mariano breathed. He looked the angel trainee up and down, checking for any sickly green glow. "They didn't...you're not hurt."

Zuriel shook his head, blond curls vibrating as he shook. His eyes started to fill with tears. "I'm not hurt. Don't, please don't ever do that again."

Mariano couldn't promise that. He just nodded, reaching up to pull Zuriel into a hug. As Zuriel's bloody wings shook and the shouts from outside the alleyway cut off, Mariano couldn't bring himself to promise that it would never happen again.

Not when he could survive an arrow like that and Zuriel couldn't.

[kensatou]

i'll let phie-san say it:

[valtsv]

are we still doing this because i have a late submission

[moonscape]

[benisasoftboi]

Best thing about Doctor Who, and I mean this so genuinely, is the way it goes from ‘haunting Celtic folk mystery about death and penitence’ to ‘what if your group chat banter was so dire that your phone developed sentience and tried to kill you’

[me-beef]

@strangeravatar made a great point

i was gonna focus on the spike-hotboxing-celestia aspect but i got distracted somewhere along the way and i think i forgot what joke i was trying to make

but dont you think its interesting how many guards of the exact same color/body type she's managed to accrue?? i do

ooohh you want to go look at our stickers so bad

[utilitycaster]

"why should I get invested in shows if they'll just get canceled" I was deeply invested in Heroes (2006) and it was not canceled, it just got really terrible. I also got really invested in the sandwich I had a few weeks ago despite it only lasting like 15 minutes. You must embrace the ephemeral. You must be willing to love things that may not love you back, that might betray you, or that may die an untimely death. As the great philosopher Mr. Mitchell Lee Hedberg said "I'm not gonna stop doing something because of what happens at the end."

[noodles-and-tea]

Little Stan getting manipulated by Bill has excellent angst potential but consider.

Stanley just, keeps tricking Bill. Because Bill would definitely massively underestimate Stanley and how far he’ll go to protect Ford (like in the actual show). We also know Stanley has the street smarts between the twins and could absolutely tell Bill is full of it.

And because Bill would absolutely loose his mind if he kept getting foiled by a snot nosed eight year old that isn’t even supposed to be here

I like to think that he doesn’t even try that hard he just does not even care about bill

[ash-and-starlight]

humble contribution

[twilight-zoned-out]

Learning about the Doctor Who specials' expanded budget: oh no, what if they overuse CGI to look more 'professional' and high-budget?

The first scene of the Doctor Who Special:

[malinaa]

if i think about the hunger games in peeta's perspective i WILL start sobbing

[chloesimaginationthings]

Abby and Into the pit Oswald have similar “friends”..

[ovenproofowl]

i'm dying over that reveal. truly. truly. because on paper, the concept that ruby's mother was just an ordinary person and what made her so special was this belief everyone had feeding into her own mythology, creating something larger than life, is actually pretty cool. and, yeah, from wild blue yonder we know the doctor absolutely handed the power of suggestion over to an unknown entity that made it something tangible.. so it works.

sort of

but like. that 15 year old girl decided to drop her baby off at a church in the middle of the night in the most ostentatious, medieval looking cloak and then proceed to point mencingly at the road sign on the off chance the security camera would pick her up and that would somehow give someone the idea to name her daughter after said road sign??

i'm just saying... if that's the way you handle giving your baby up for adoption then there is absolutely nothing ordinary about you

[haunted-xander]

Well, I guess you didn't have much of a choice either

[ruporas]

need to exist in your warmth (id in alt)

[bloominglegumes]

i love normal guys doomed by the narrative