#BECAUSE NORMALLY I GUESS IT WOULD BE BUT NOT FROM MEL

[infinitelystrangemachinex]

Mel for the unhinged character bingo!

yessss YEEEESSSSSSSSS

[megalony]

Use Your Voice

Okay, this is my first time posting a Charles Xavier (X-Men) imagine, requested by the lovely @missdreamofendless I hope you will all like it, please let me know what you think.

(I've set this in the middle of X-Men First Class)

Taglist: @justagirlthatlovedtoread @musicistheway @avada-kedavra-bitch-187 @luula @missdreamofendless @bradleybeachbabe @woderfulkawaii @amberpanda99 @daggersquadphantom @marvel-and-chicago-fan @angryknightstatesmantrash @minjix @lyjen @kmc1989 @itsmytimetoodream @noonenuts @hiireadstuff @ashie-babie @classyunknownlover @jayyeahthatsme @sp1ritssz @dumb-fawkin-bitch @oliverstarksbae @gimatida @heart-35 @supernaturalstilinski @stefansalvatoresgf @kyky9103 @wutheringhearts2275 @gay4hotmilfs @itshamleth @chaoticnosleepinfluencer @gs29 @wh0reforsmutstuff @mel-vaz @natashamea18 @chrisevansdaughter @alexandra8484 @deena-beena-weena @targaryenluvs @shelbygeek @kpoplover-19 @marvelmenarebeautiful @gillybear17

@zoeybennett @mrspeacem1nusone @zephyrmonkey @estella-novella @eleventhdoctorsangel @kniselle @senjoritanana

@shauna-carsley @dottierose @cfdhouse51 @darkfemme1 @rainechase45 @ml572 @jessie-lynn28 @lolalolsstuff @jupiter1700

@ashdoctor @an-aliens-ghost @lunaroserites @houseoftwistedspirits @itshamleth @callsignwidow @winterreader-nowwriter @reneinii

Masterlist

Summary: (Y/n) wants to use her mutation for good and show people that mutants aren't to be feared. But it isn't so easy when she remembers all the times her mutation was used for bad when she was taken advantage of.

Enjoy.

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

A soft, lulling smile fluttered across (Y/n)'s lips when she felt a familiar pair of hands on her shoulders.

She tilted her head back on the sofa and grinned up at Charles as he stood behind the sofa, his thumbs rubbing circles into the back of her shoulders. She loved the curve of his lips and how his smile made his nose scrunch up as he looked down at her. And those baby blue eyes looked unusually bright tonight. Normally those eyes would be pastel and cloudy, only when Charles was deeply moved or shedding tears would his eyes go dark sienna.

She reached her hand up to hold his wrist and gave a light squeeze while Charles leaned down to peck her temple.

(Y/n) was sure she heard him mumble "Hi," but she wasn't sure if the word passed his lips or simply travelled from his mind through to hers. Either way, her smile conveyed that she had heard him.

Her eyes followed him when he eventually let go and walked past the sofa towards the small table set up in the window bay at the back of the room. The curtains were drawn, the fire was lit and lamps were dotted around the room to give an ambient glow and a cosy atmosphere.

There was a chess board laid out on the table where Erik was patiently waiting for his opponent to sit down and start the game.

(Y/n) liked how classy yet laid back the pair of them looked over there. Erik had one leg crossed over the other and one hand slowly rubbing back and forth over his chin like he was already in the middle of a game he was trying hard not to lose. And his other hand was quietly tapping out a repetitive rhythm against the rim of the table.

Whereas when Charles sat down opposite him, he took a different stance. He sat forward, knees parted to the sides, his left arm folded across the table while his right hand swirled over the top of the chess board, debating what piece to move first.

They looked like they should have been in a reneisance painting. And when Charles looked in her direction and flashed that cocky smile, (Y/n) guessed he'd heard that thought. Her thought process must have been loud for him to hear because Charles always made a point not to go snooping in anyone's mind without permission. He thought it rude and impertinent.

(Y/n) turned her attention back to the book on her lap she had been trying in vain to concentrate on.

She managed to read a page or two before eventually giving up when Raven turned the tv on low and sat down next to her on the sofa.

The others weren't far behind.

They had all been at the mansion for a while now and they were all doing separate training to improve their mutations and build up resistance. They didn't want to fight, but at the same time they had to be prepared for anything. And their mutations needed to be controlled and perfected, none of them had mastered their powers yet, not even Charles or Erik.

Erik didn't know how to harness his strength and churn it into his mutation. Charles was finding out day by day just how much control he could gather and how far his powers spread. Raven needed to stop focusing so much on blending in and perfect the ability to split her concentration without losing whatever image she had transformed into.

The rest of them were younger, they had little grip on their powers and needed to harness them. Alex was one of the worst for his powers, he was very out of touch with his mutation and with him having a dangerous one, the effects could be disastrous.

Closing her book, (Y/n) laid it down on the coffee table and curled her legs up beneath her. She wound her arms around her middle and burrowed into the side of the sofa while she watched the others move round.

Alex flopped down in the armchair nearest to the fire while Hank sat somewhat formally in the other chair. He sat with his back straight and his hands clasped tightly on his lap like he was sitting for an interview. And Sean plonked himself down on the carpet in between both armchairs so he could still be within their little friendship circle near the fireplace.

Tilting her head back, (Y/n) peeked over the back of the sofa towards the two men at the back playing chess. She loved the look of concentration on Charles's face and it was amusing how Erik's brows furrowed down when he was trying to calculate and think ahead of the next moves.

She zoned out for a little while, drifting between watching the game and listening to the news playing quietly in the background on the tv.

"…At least looking at the rest of you, no one knows you're different."

(Y/n) didn't catch the first part of the conversation, but she caught the last part of Hank's words. That statement sliced through her. The way Hank looked down at his hands as he spoke, the way he kept his voice quiet and passive as not to cause an argument between any of them. But he couldn't keep out the hint of envy from his tone.

It wasn't their fault.

(Y/n) hated meeting other mutants whose powers were clearly on display. Those who had different coloured eyes or had an entirely different skin colour, like Raven. Those with missing fingers or enlarged feet like Hank or who had wild hair or pointed teeth.

It wasn't (Y/n) or Charles or Erik's fault that their powers didn't show. They didn't even look any different when they used their powers whereas Alex could pass for 'normal' until he used his powers.

They couldn't control nature or what their mutations were or what they did to them. It was okay for Hank or Raven to sit there and and say that the world looked at them differently because they were visibly outcasts, but no one chose their mutations.

"Your mutation is harmless though, if Alex loses concentration we're all fried." Raven's words hung in the air along with the playful tone and the smirk on her face.

She nudged (Y/n)'s shoulder with a wide grin before she tangled her hand in her long blonde locks and leaned back into the sofa like she was posing for a portrait painting. (Y/n) always found it a little unnerving that Raven worried about her mutation. She could look like anyone she wanted to be, she had a gift people only dreamed about. She could have whatever body she wanted and even when she was in her true form, she was still stunning.

Nobody else got that pleasure, there was only so much people could do to change their appearance.

(Y/n) shuffled forward to reach for her drink that had been long forgotten on the coffee table, but her eyes locked with Hank when he leaned forward towards her. His hands stayed interlocked on his lap but he finally broke the straight composure and slouched forward with his elbows on his thighs.

"So um, your, your mutation is similar to Charles, right?" Hank's words were slow and calculated and clearly directed towards (Y/n).

They had all given brief introductions when they met a few weeks ago and they each said what their mutations were, but (Y/n) hadn't given a visual representation like the others. She didn't want to show off or let them see what she could do. The only two people who had seen her mutation at work were Charles and Erik.

"Oh, not really." (Y/n) glanced her eyes over her shoulder to the boys at the back. She could see Erik sneaking glances in their direction, clearly trying to keep track of his game but also pay interest into their conversation.

Charles didn't spare them a glance. He had mastered listening to voices and concentrating on tasks a long time ago. And he could keep check of (Y/n)'s thoughts since they were becoming louder and louder. His expression was calm and composed but his mind was intently focused, ready to chip into the conversation if necessary.

"I'm not that powerful, I can only give commands, and everyone is aware of what I'm doing, even if they can't stop me."

Sometimes (Y/n)'s mutation felt pointless.

She was a Siren. Her voice was her weapon, she could give people commands, tell them whatever she wanted them to do and they were compelled to do it. But everyone knew they were being controlled, they knew she was forcing their hand even if they couldn't help but obey her command.

Charles was different, he had the more varied, skilled mutation. He could control people, bend them to his will and they didn't know they were being controlled. He could make them forget they had been under his influence. He could make hundreds of people pause in the middle of a restaurant or a city. He could get people to look away or move or follow him. Charles could read their thoughts and get in their heads and see things through their eyes.

(Y/n) couldn't do any of that. She couldn't slip into people's minds, all she could do was hold their control and willpower for a while and make them do whatever she asked of them.

She couldn't give people thoughts or see their thoughts, she couldn't look into their minds or do any snooping or any damage.

"But you could kill someone, couldn't you?"

"I- I've never-"

(Y/n) began to shake her head as the cold fingers of dread clutched around her lungs and started to squeeze.

She had never killed anyone. She had never forced anyone to kill themselves or to commit murder on someone. (Y/n) didn't know if that was possible. She didn't know if she had that much influence. Part of her always hoped that if she ever had to give that command, that the person would have enough willpower to stop her. (Y/n) didn't want to be a murderer or be the reason someone was labelled a murderer.

How fair would that be if she got someone else to commit such an act on her behalf? She would be in control, but they would be physically committing the crime.

"Alex, we're not here to kill, and using our mutations to kill doesn't help our cause." Charles's voice cut through the air like a knife. His tone was cold, his words were firm and his expression was dark.

He was ending that topic before it begun.

They weren't here to kill, they didn't want to kill anyone for their cause and it would only give the humans more advantage and leverage over them. It didn't matter if their mutations could kill. All of them could at some point. Charles had enough power and control to kill many people, all at once. Erik could manipulate bullets. Raven could shape shift into someone else and commit a crime and get away with it.

Alex could definitely cause enough damage to kill someone, and if Sean screamed with a loud enough soundwave, he might just kill someone. And (Y/n) might have the capability to force someone's hand into murder. It was all possible, but it wasn't going to happen.

"How many people can you control at once?" Sean changed the subject, but the conversation was still steered onto (Y/n) and she didn't like it.

She didn't like being the centre of attention and her mutation wasn't one she was proud of. Who could be proud of having the ability to control other people?

It was manipulative.

(Y/n) looked back over her shoulder when she sensed something behind her and she bit her lip when she caught Charles wincing. He heard that last thought.

He didn't think it was manipulative. Charles thought it was a necessary gift. What if someone was going to hurt another person or hurt themselves? What if people needed to get to safety or they were too afraid to do something that was necessary? What if someone needed to make a call but didn't have the nerve?

(Y/n) could help them all, she could tell them what to do in those situations or tell them to walk to safety or to put a weapon down or let people go. There was so much good she could do, but all she could see was the bad that could happen from her mutation.

"Three." (Y/n) finally answered with a weak smile. She had been practicing, but three people seemed her maximum capacity for now. It was hard enough telling one person what to do without having to focus on splitting her attention and controlling other people to her will.

"What if I-"

"Sean, unless you want another flying lesson with Erik, do not ask that question."

Charles lifted his right hand to his temple and started to rub his fingers along the side of his head. He was getting a headache. There may not be many people here in the mansion, but all their thoughts were becoming louder and it was getting harder and harder not to listen to them.

There was something authorative in Charles's voice, something demanding and powerful enough to end the conversation then and there. Added with the fact that he didn't look away from the chess board, it made Sean shrink down in his seat on the floor and look towards his feet.

(Y/n) managed a small grin to herself when she heard Charles murmur "Checkmate."

She reached forward for her glass and got up, shaking it to tell them she was going for a refill and excusing herself from this conversation. They could all exchange stories and talk about their mutations without her, it would go smoother because the rest of them were open about their abilities.

On a second thought, she turned to the right and walked towards where the boys were playing their game in the window. She approached slowly, watching the way Erik's lips pressed into a thin line and his eyes looked colder now he had lost. He didn't like losing, but he managed to hide it somewhat well.

While Erik started to line the pieces back up in order on the board, (Y/n) reached across for the empty glass beside Charles.

Her lips curved into a smile and she felt her nerves settling down when his arm looped around her waist and he reeled her into his side so her knees were nudging against his thigh.

His hand started to glide up and down her back and his lips curved into a soft grin when (Y/n) leaned over to kiss the top of his head.

"Want another drink?"

"Please." Charles trailed his fingertips down her waist, over her hip and across the back of her thigh until (Y/n) eventually pulled out of his embrace and headed into the kitchen.

She hummed quietly as she set about making a drink, ensuring to keep her voice quiet and her tune random. Singing was a trigger for her mutation and although it didn't give people any commands or force them to do anything, it drew people closer to (Y/n). Her voice could put them under a trance and have people crowd round her, unsure what they wanted, just knowing they had to be close to her.

She poured a whiskey for Charles and made herself a drink, but she paused when heavy footsteps caught her attention.

It was only Alex.

He got himself a drink from the fridge, but instead of leaving the kitchen, he leaned his arms on the counter beside (Y/n). Arching his back out as he looked up at her with one raised brow.

"What's that look for?"

"Just that… you have such a good power."

(Y/n) let out a quiet huff with a faded, sad smile on her lips. "Do you know the myths about sirens? Creatures of the sea, they use their songs to lure sailors to their deaths. My power means I have to control people, it's not nice, you know."

The history behind her powers was dark. Sirens were depicted to be ravenous, dark creatures who sought out sailors on the sea and gave them bad luck. They would sing to the sailors and drag them overboard, they would make them crash their vessels and drown in the sea.

(Y/n) didn't like having to control people, she would much rather have an ability where the only control she had was over herself.

"People cry out for any sense of power, they would kill for the kind of power you have. Own it. You could do so much with it."

"Oh yeah, like what?" (Y/n) sank her teeth down into her lower lip and snook a glance behind Alex. She wouldn't mind if Charles or Erik came in and swiftly changed the conversation. She didn't like where this was going.

"Think about it, you could control so much. You could make them pass laws for us, make the President resign, put mutants in control. Make us superior. If you just take control. You and Charles could be unstoppable."

A subtle tremor coursed down (Y/n)'s spine and had her arms coiling into her chest.

She didn't like those words. Those few little words brought back bad memories. She could still hear that snide tone as if he were standing behind her now, whispering in her ear. He had always used her mutation to his advantage.

If you just take control, we can have everything we need.

We wouldn't be caught up in this mess if you controlled it properly.

Tell him. Tell him. You should have told him to pull the trigger. You're too weak.

"Unstoppable," (Y/n) murmured under her breath, a faraway look in her eyes as she turned and walked out of the kitchen without another word.

She didn't want to be unstoppable. She didn't want to be in control or in the limelight. (Y/n) didn't want to lead a crusade or become a marytr for the cause, and she certainly didn't want to be used as a pawn in a game. She had done that enough in the past.

***

It was hard for Charles to sleep when there were a lot of people around him. He grew up listening to his parent's thoughts and trying his best not to delve into Raven's whirlwind of thoughts and emotions. The few servants they had slept in the rooms in the attic, so their thoughts were distant and never run rampid while they were sleeping.

Having the mansion lively with people meant Charles had to concentrate so he didn't slip into their thoughts at night. He didn't want to intrude and his concentration always wavered when he was trying to sleep.

The only saving grace he had was that (Y/n) never minded if his mind went wandering into hers during the night. She understood it was hard to keep concentration and she knew Charles meant no harm. She was the one sleeping next to him in his bed, the least she could do was understand if he happened to hear her thoughts when they were so close to his own.

Sometimes when he was sleeping and people were around, his dreams ended up morphing with theirs. Or their thoughts shaped his dreams and morphed his nightmares into something strange.

Tonight was a little different to that.

A frown set into Charles's previously slack expression and he flopped a hand over his eyes and the bridge of his nose. His fingertips rubbed into his temple and the base of his hand nudged against his eyes that were squinting even though they were closed.

His mind was aching. He didn't realise until he tried to open his eyes that his head felt like it was pounding and vibrating.

He pushed up on his elbows and looked around the room. Everything was draped in darkness, it was nowhere near morning and therefore not time to think about getting up.

Do it! I don't want to- You have to!

Those three little words caused Charles to quiver. His knees jolted up, his body propelled forward so he was sitting up in bed and his hand cradled the side of his temple again. God, those words were screaming around in his head and he found himself wanting to do something. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do, but there was a deep rooted sense of compulsion in the forefront of his mind.

(Y/n). His eyes darted to the left and squinted to adjust to the darkness as he tried to look down at his partner laid beside him.

She was laid on her side facing Charles, with her knees coiled up to her stomach and her arms pressing so tightly into her chest he was surprised she was able to breathe. Her arms were writhing from side to side and Charles could see her lips moving like she was trying to whisper something in her sleep.

Twisting to lean on his left elbow, Charles carefully reached his hand out and feathered his fingers over (Y/n)'s temple.

His lips pursed and his nose scrunched up as he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. He didn't want to intrude or invade, but he could tell she was having some sort of nightmare and he didn't want her to start lashing out or using her mutation in her sleep. The last thing they needed was everyone in the mansion waking up and knowing (Y/n) was experiencing nightmares.

I don't want to.

You don't have to, not anymore. It's okay, you need to wake up now.

Charles's voice was like a soft serenading song, overriding the memories acting out in her mind and the voices that were trying to get louder and louder. They ceased to exist when Charles slipped into her mind.

(Y/n) woke with a start, gasping and blinking rapidly. Her hand shot up to grip Charles's wrist, her nails scratching into his skin deep enough to create crescent moons and start to draw flecks of blood. Her eyes darted from left to right, looking for signs, for objects and people, for a hint to tell her whether this was another nightmare or if this was real.

She found a pair of deep sienna eyes burning into hers with an intensity she hadn't seen before. Those eyes captured (Y/n)'s full attention and a rush of heat blossomed all across her skin when she felt his hand glide down to cup her cheek. His thumb grazed across her cheekbone just beneath her eye and after a few seconds, (Y/n) let her eyes dart down to look at his lips.

Those ruby red lips were curved up into a soft, melting smile that did wonders for her shattered nerves.

"I'm sorry,"

"You don't need to be."

(Y/n) let herself lean into his touch while he rested his weight on his elbow, leaning over her. His thumb continued to glide across her skin and (Y/n) wasn't quite sure what he was looking at, but the calmness in his eyes was overwhelming. She couldn't help but shiver when he reached out to brush a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Did you see?" Her voice was quiet and the air of defeat woven into her tone made Charles frown.

He took a few seconds to find the right words and took a deep breath, tilting his head to the left with narrowed eyes.

"I heard." His thumb glided along her chin and up her jaw while he moved his other hand to prop his head up and wove his fingers into his hair. "I hear that voice a lot, when you're dreaming… is that him?"

Charles didn't like to ask. He never liked to intrude. The few people growing up who knew of his mutation all became wary of him. They didn't want him close by, they always feared he was peering into their thoughts, prodding around in their memories and finding out their darkest fears. The funny thing was, when they had all these worries, their thoughts became louder and amplified in Charles's mind rather than when they just acted normal around him.

He never wanted to snoop or look around in anyone's mind unless they told him it was okay, but more so with (Y/n). They were together, they knew things about each other that no one else did. But Charles wanted to know that information through conversation and trust, not by peering into her thoughts and delving into her mind.

But he couldn't help it sometimes when (Y/n)'s thoughts or her nightmares got loud. He heard that voice a lot when she got lost in memories or had bad nights and Charles never wanted to pry, but it didn't take a genius to work out who that dark, illusive figure was from (Y/n)'s past.

A quiet hum left (Y/n)'s lips and she nodded her head, shuffling forward until she could tuck her face into his chest.

She felt him take a deep breath and for a moment, she feared he was going to sit up or turn away. But instead, Charles dropped his head back onto the pillow and twisted so he was lying on his back again. His left arm slid beneath (Y/n)'s neck to drape around the back of her shoulders.

She could feel his fingers feathering across her back over the top of her night shirt. Soft patterns were drawn onto her skin while she shuffled closer to rest her cheek on his chest and drape her arm up so her hand could curl around his shoulder.

"Your powers aren't bad, love." He whispered softly against the top of her head. "No mutation is bad, not if it's used in the right way, for the right reasons."

"I didn't use mine for the right reasons." (Y/n) closed her eyes and burrowed her face deeper into his chest to fight off the threat of tears.

It had been a while ago, long enough now that (Y/n) hoped to forget. She wanted her life to be better. She wanted meeting Charles and Erik to be the turning point, the better point where she could use her mutation for the right reasons. She wanted to help people and to show them that no mutant was dangerous or deserved to be treated this way.

But (Y/n) hadn't always used her powers for good, not when her ex had been around, anyway.

"You didn't have a choice, that's different."

It didn't feel different. It felt like (Y/n) had done something increadibly wrong. She could still remember the look on her ex's face when she mistakingly trusted him to see her mutation. He had seen something valuable, something he could use. Not something to be nurtured and harnessed and used for good.

He was always pushing (Y/n) to use her powers. Telling her to make people look the other way. To make them give her things or do his bidding for him. He made her help him steal things and take what he wanted and to make people fear him.

She could still hear his voice in her head all those times she tried to say no, all those times she tried to leave or tell him her powers weren't a weapon or something to threaten people with.

Just because you don't look like a mutant doesn't mean you're safe. I know what you are, and I know what they'll do to you if they find out, so you need to use your voice and listen to me.

(Y/n) didn't realise how snide and gruelling that voice sounded in her head until she felt Charles wince beneath her.

"You know you're safe here, don't you? You're safe with me." Those words caused (Y/n) to shiver and her lips broadened into a smile that morphed when she kissed his bare chest.

"I know."

"We can't change the past, love, but the future isn't written yet."

Charles might not be able to change what had happened to (Y/n) in the past, but he could try his best to help her come to terms with those memories and nightmares. He could push them to the back of her mind if she asked him to.

And no part of their future was written yet. The past was set in stone, but the future was a clear slate, ready to be inscribed. They could do whatever they liked, they could use their gifts in whatever manner they chose, and there was no one here would be able to tell (Y/n) how to use her power. No one could force her to use it for the wrong reasons if she didn't want to.

Here, now, (Y/n) was the only one who could wield her power and choose what to do with it. No one was going to threaten or manipulate her or force her hand.

He wouldn't let them.

[yanderecrazysie]

Twisted Zoo: Chapter Three

This is based on the stories of a keeper reader with the octotrio by @ashensgrotto and @merakiui .

Also @twistedcece @cenatour @ursinaw @xiaopleasecomehome @bearshideout @koebishrimpuwu@v-sh @help-whatdoimakemyusername @secret-potion @magmdnv @sunshine-for-serotonin @mel-star636 @silkkorchid @thatpersonuouknow @the-ace-reader @pamv11 and @thisisafish123 wanted to be tagged! Let me know if anyone else wants to be tagged for future chapters. If you no longer want to be tagged, please tell me! (Some of the tags may not have worked, I'm sorry if so.)

Summary: You’re a brand new zookeeper at The Halfling Zoo- a place where half-animals live in captivity. Your job is simple- feed them and study them. Your main worry is that one of the more dangerous halflings might kill you. 

Unfortunately, that may become the least of your worries.

WARNINGS: none for now

Previous Chapter: Chapter Two

Next Chapter: Chapter Four

Note: All characters are aged up, since there will be mature themes in future parts.

Also, I can’t promise I’ll finish this. I suck at finishing stories.

Note 2: I worry that maybe these birds don’t fit their counterparts well, since no one correctly guessed them all ;-; I made Riddle a flamingo only because of the Queen of Hearts’ flamingos, and I thought he’d like to be one, if he had to choose LOL

Note 3: You have probably already guessed that the heart system means how quickly they’re becoming yandere. Please keep in mind some with gain hearts faster or slower than the others.

—----------------------------------

Today would be a more relaxed day, as you only had one exhibit to visit. The birds were all separated by wire fences, but they were all part of one big aviary. Tomorrow, you’d be working with the three remaining exhibits all at once, so you were glad to have this day of respite.

The bird keeper was a kind older lady. She gave you a bunch of salads, with notes as to which one belonged to which bird. The salads with shrimp were obviously for the flamingos, but the other salads were a bit harder to remember.

You walked into the aviary, a large plastic container with the separate salads under your arm. The birds were all wide awake, with the exception of the owl, whose green hair was just barely visible from where he had covered his head with one of his wings to sleep.

“Hey! I want to eat first!” A voice cried out to you, “Hey, lady with the food, over here!”

You were surprised to hear such fluent English from a halfling, but when you turned your head to the source of the calls, you immediately understood.

Parrot halflings caught onto human languages quickly. That didn’t necessarily make them smarter than other halflings, it was simply something they were naturally good at. This parrot halfling had mostly-orange wings to match his hair, although the tips of his wings tapered off to yellow and then a vibrant blue. 

The parrot gazed at you curiously for a moment, before his expression became more mischievous, “Guten morgen? Ohayo? Buen día? Zǎoshang hǎo? Dobroye utro?”

“Good morning to you too, show off,” you laughed, walking up to him, “I assume you’re the salad with sunflower seeds?”

He grinned, “That’s me! I’m starving!”

You felt like you were talking with a human, and that fact made you feel a little sick inside. Should an animal with the ability to converse so normally really be confined to a wire cage?

You rummaged through the plastic container, looking for the salad with seeds. The parrot halfling spread his beautiful wings and flew onto a perch closer to you, his talons curling around the wood as he impatiently waited for his meal.

Finally, you found the correct salad and handed it over to him. His eyes lit up and he snatched it from you.

“Thanks!” He said with a grin. Before you could ask him his name, he spread his wings and flew into an enormous birdhouse to eat there. A little disappointed that you couldn’t have a conversation with him, you turned to the raven in the cage next to him.

“Hello! I brought you a salad!” You called out to the raven halfling. He walked over to the edge of the exhibit and tilted his head, looking you over curiously. 

You found his salad fairly quickly, as it was accented with bright red apple slices. The raven drew closer and you admired how his feathers and matching hair color were not black, but a dark blue that seemed to shine in the early sunlight. 

“What’s your name?” You asked as he took the salad from you.

He grabbed the salad and held it close to him, as though someone may steal it. It took him a few moments to process your question before he answered, “Deuce.”

You knew that ravens were normally very intelligent animals. But with the way Deuce took so long to answer and the way he struggled with the plastic packaging, you had a feeling that the same could not be said for the halflings.

Deuce struggled with the packaging a little while more before he handed it back to you and, with a blush settling on his cheeks, muttered a small, “Help.”

You opened it for him with a smile, “No need to be embarrassed, Deuce, it can be tricky to open sometimes.”

He nodded, but you weren’t sure he actually understood you. Either way, he seemed happy enough to have his salad open for him. Similar to the parrot halfling, he retreated to his birdhouse to eat his meal.

You decided to try giving the owl his meal next, although you weren’t sure you would be able to wake him. You would feel bad if you disturbed his rest.

However, you had no need to worry, because the owl halfling was awake and alert when you approached his cage. You rummaged through the salads for the one with grilled chicken chunks in it and found it quickly. The other salads had either shrimp or were plain, saved specifically for the flamingos and peacocks respectively.

You handed over the chicken salad and the owl halfling smiled politely at you, giving you a gentle, “Thank you.” 

Unlike the parrot and raven halflings, he did not open his salad and dig in, but instead put it aside for later. Upon noticing your confused look, he explained, “I’m saving it for nighttime.”

You nodded but secretly wondered why they wouldn’t just feed him at night only. After all, that’s the time owls hunt. But you supposed it made it easier to just feed everyone at the same time instead of making any exceptions. 

Pretty lazy, in your opinion.

Next was the flamingos, and you approached their enclosure in awe. Their feathers were a soft, beautiful pink and, instead of the talons you were used to seeing on bird halflings, they had bare feet much like a human’s, just with webbing between the toes. 

“Shrimp salads, anyone?” You jokingly asked the two flamingos.

One of them, the one with light orange hair, flew over with such excitement that you took a step back, “You’re new!”

“Yes, I’m filling in for the morning meal today!” You said cheerfully.

“How exciting!” The flaming gasped, “That’s exciting, isn’t it, Riddle?”

The other flamingo, a more serious-looking man with red hair, cautiously watched you. He did not respond to the more enthusiastic flamingo.

“Let me just…” the orange-haired flamingo took a salad from you, opened the container, and began methodically arranging the shrimp and lettuce until it looked like it was something out of Chef Ramsey’s kitchen, “Perfect! Hashtag delicious!”

You stared at him, wondering where he’d learned to talk like a teenage girl. Riddle, annoyed by his fellow flamingo’s behavior, snapped at him, “You don’t have a phone. Stop with that ‘hashtag’ nonsense.”

You were shocked to hear a halfling besides a parrot speak so fluently, not to mention so prim and proper sounding. Handing over a salad to Riddle, you asked the other flamingo, “What’s your name?”

“Cater!” He said with a proud smile, as though his name was an accomplishment. You couldn’t help but giggle at his antics, which seemed to deepen Riddle’s frown.

“I have to give the peacocks their salads now,” you told Cater. 

“Bye-bye!” Cater said cheerfully, waving as you walked away.

The peacock enclosure was certainly something to behold. It had a huge fountain and ornate fencing. You tried to wave the three peacocks over, but they refused to come to you. Remembering what Mr. Crowley had said about them being a little cocky, you sighed and opened the gate.

You carried the large plastic container over to them and, with a smile, you held out a salad to the closest one. The tall flamingo gave you a disdainful look, but took the salad all the same. The one with a bowl cut took his with a closed-eyed smile, “Merci, mademoiselle.”

French? You wondered where he had learned French and if he spoke any English. Moving on from that thought, you handed the last salad over to a slightly timid-looking, small and adorable lilac-haired peacock.

All of the peacocks had beautiful white feathers in a fan shape protruding from their backs. You couldn’t help but admire them, despite the way they didn’t seem all too interested in you.

“What are your names?” You asked.

The one with blond-to-lilac hair turned his back on you and walked away with his salad. The one with completely lilac hair merely offered you an “Epel” before following after him.

The one with a bowl cut placed a hand on his chest and, with a large smile, introduced himself, “I am Rook,” He pointed at the retreating back of the first peacock and said, “Vil”.

“Vil is his name?” You clarified. Rook nodded in response. You wondered if he knew more French than English.

Either way, you were done feeding them for the day, so it was on to studying them.

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

hi! sorry if you've answered this already, i tried to search your blog and didn't find much, but we all know the tumblr search function is...uh...but i'd be deeply curious to hear your thoughts about Stephenie Meyer's "The Host," specifically re: treatment of the issue of souls' colonization and possession of other species...and obviously, since i'm asking you, an animorphs blog, this, my curiosity is definitely coming from a place of comparison to animorphs, but that doesn't have to be your focus!

from the posts tumblr's search algorithm did grant me, i gather you see it as wanda unlearning the colonizer's propaganda stance she takes at the start of the story, which i agree with!

but i guess every time i read it, i really can't help but feel...unsatisfied? with the way it actually engages with the horrors and colonization of it all?

sort of like, okay, The Host is this one very individual YA romance story in a sci-fi setting, which is obviously different from a heavily-Star-Trek-inspired middle-grade series about guerrilla warfare and is going to grapple with these issues differently...but still! i don't leave feeling satisfied with how it engages with consent of "host" bodies the souls are in, and i don't feel satisfied with how it engages with the souls' systemic behavior!!! but i can't really put my finger on why, and i just...was curious, i guess, whether this was something you had thoughts about.

(full disclosure: i'm asking you specifically because one of my HUGE points of existential dread on my first adulthood reread of The Host was how Jodi never wakes up, and her boyfriend just starts implied-dating the soul who's in her body? or how kids who are infested from birth are just...gone, and they were like "well sweet we can just put Wanda in there, this is a perfect solution!" and that I think hit me so hard in comparison with having read Eleutherophobia--which is, by the way, a masterwork of fanfiction that wrecked me, overwrote canon a little bit in my brain, and I think fundamentally changed how I see the possibilities of writing and narration, so, you know. thank you for that!)

(also like, i know there's different worldbuilding where it's implied most hosts just...go away...but do they actually? because Mel and the Seeker's host are still there, which kind of implies to me that it's more of a problem than the souls want to admit?! and even outside humans, all the memories, and compulsions toward certain behaviors are still there! what makes a person in this universe of Meyer's?! it's kind of fundamentally horrifying?!)

apologies for this extremely long ask, haha, and i hope you're doing well, love your blog, your writing, and all your thoughts!

Oh my god, ALL OF THIS. I thoroughly enjoy the first 98% of The Host. It's a romance novel about consent! Where the characters have to struggle to resolve the plot in a way that gets the permission of everyone in the love quadrangle to boink everyone else, and spends over 500 pages doing exactly that! It's anti-imperialist as fuck! It's got an amazing supporting cast, like every Stephenie Meyer novel! The imagery is unparalleled in its richness and coolness, because Stephenie Meyer! I've written fan fiction about it! I have an extremely normal relationship with Kyle O'Shea!

And then Sunny. And then Wanda's unnamed second human host.

I think that Meyer, either because of romance genre conventions or pressure from publishers, felt she had to write a happy ending. But the book does such a good job of setting up an unresolvable moral dilemma — either Wanda gets to be with Ian, or she does the right thing by giving Melanie's body back — that there is no path to a happy ending. If Ian did as Wanda asked and sent her in a jar to some other planet, romance fans would feel cheated. If Doc did as Melanie asked and let Wanda stay in her body, then the book's anticolonial message would be for nothing.

But resolving it through PARASITING A KID IN A VEGETATIVE STATE? What if Doc makes Wanda a nice robot body? What if Wanda stays in a jar, but Ian finds a way to join her in the jar? What if she and Melanie set up a time share? Uuuuuugggggghhhhh. The Host was THIS CLOSE to being the best anticolonial novel ever written, and then falls on its face inches from the finish line.

Which, aside, is the reason I don't think Animorphs would ever work with a happy ending. "Happy" for the protagonists would never be morally okay in the bigger story.

[gallifreyanhotfive]

Random Doctor Who Facts You Might Not Know, Part 66

The Seventh Doctor was once frozen in ice in the Antarctic for over a million years after a skirmish involving Ice Warrior prisoners. Over time, his clothes had degraded dramatically, but he survived because he had put himself into a coma. He was accidentally awoken by an Antarctic expedition in 2012. Despite having memory loss, he brought up the names of his companions, such as Mel, Ace, and Hex, even referring to a woman on the expedition as "Ace" while he tried to remember everything. (Audio: Frozen Time)

A "monster," or "the Green Terror," had stowed away on the TARDIS when it had been caught on the First Doctor's jacket as a spawn. It eventually attacked the Fourth Doctor and K-9 when the TARDIS materialized inside solid rock. (Short story: Stowaway)

Thr Capricorn Killer was originally an office worker who had been suddenly turned to a vampire one night. Following his change and an altercation, he started killing and drinking people's blood. Eventually, he encountered the Fourth Doctor and Romana. The Fourth Doctor said, "I'm afraid someone brought you into our world. This is the only help I can give you. Now hold still. This won't hurt a bit." He then proceeded to stake the Capricorn Killer with a walking stick, something which hurt quite a bit and caused him to dissolve to ash. Then the Doctor went about his day like normal as though he had not just killed a man without second thought, asking Romana if she wanted to go for a steak at a restaurant. (Short story: I Was a Monster!!!)

Edgar Allan Poe took part in a seance with the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and some others. During this seance, a young girl named Abigail was possessed by evil forces trying to come into this world, connected through a ram's skull carved with a pentagram. Poe knocked a candle onto the skull to stop this, causing it and Abigail to go up in flames. Poe later recounted this in his diary but commented that he felt as though he had opened another gateway to let the evil in by doing so. The very next day, Poe was found wandering the streets of Baltimore, disoriented, and he died not long afterwards. A "mysterious stranger" visited his grave and left him roses and a cognac bottle. (Short story: The True and Indisputable Facts in the Matter of the Ram's Skull)

Because of LaMort, or Death, the Seventh Doctor felt the same sharp, raw pain that he had felt when Susan had left him and when all of his other companions left. He described his companions leaving as "Little deaths as they'd left him. Sometimes bigger deaths. Real deaths." (Short story: Virgin Lands)

The Eighth Doctor has been known to wear eye shadow. (Short story: Growing Higher)

Jamie has been known to take the precaution of chopping up the Second Doctor's recorder, not that it ever stopped him from producing a different recorder from somewhere. (Short story: Twin Piques)

There was massive beef between K-9 Mark I and Mark II. They fought a lot in their missives to each other and only buried the hatchet when the Fourth Doctor regenerated. (Short story: Jealous, Possessive)

A copy of "The Diary of an Edwardian Adventuress" by Charlotte Elspeth Pollard is at the Library of Kar-Charrat, the same place the Seventh Doctor and Ace once visited (as Daleks were invading). (Short story: Apocrypha Bipedium)

The Master once became producer of a show called "Make a Star," where many singers competed to become famous. He wanted to release songs as of yet unwritten to unravel the timeline. The Master later teased the Doctor for not guessing that he was involved, given that "Make a Star" is an anagram for "aka Master." (Short story: Hidden Talent)

The day after Barbara and Ian left in the TARDIS, Barbara's mother, Joan Wright, reported them missing to the police. A year later, she had not given up hope of finding her, and she shared a dream with Barbara on board the TARDIS. Barbara told her mother that she would return. (Short story: A Long Night)

The Fourth Doctor was once attacked by an entity representing all of the people who have felt fear because of the Doctor's actions and who was attempting to make the Doctor also feel that same constant fear. The Doctor was not afraid when the entity put him in cave full of people missing limbs and a terrifying creature that bit off the Doctor's arm, when the entity made the Doctor an old man in a wheelchair being tended by nurses, or when the entity put him in a padded cell. The entity eventually sensed a thought from the Doctor - that he was afraid of losing his mind. (Short story: The Fear)

Chloe and Arthur owned a bed and breakfast that the Sixth Doctor once visited. In this bed and breakfast, Chloe and Arthur were killed by hundreds of other versions of themselves over and over every day. The next version would come knocking, and the current would go outside and meet their fate. Eventually, the Doctor came to stay and also joined the ritual of repeatedly dying. After dying enough times, the Doctor decided that none of them will answer when someone came knocking, thus breaking the cycle and freeing them. (Short story: The Death of Me)

Long before The Doctor's Wife, the TARDIS took on the form of a woman called Iraj. Iraj (who I will from now on refer to as the TARDIS) had encountered Romana I just before her regeneration and decided that she wanted to play a trick on the Doctor. The TARDIS took on the form of Princess Astra and was annoyed when the Doctor barely noticed her. The TARDIS proceeded to put on three other bodies, forcing Romana to stay put when she lost her temper. The TARDIS eventually put back on Astra's body, only this time wearing the Doctor's clothes. Romana was still frozen when the TARDIS eventually returned, telling her all about an adventure she had had with the Doctor with Davros and Daleks, but she was still annoyed that the Doctor had barely noticed her. After convincing the TARDIS that the Doctor does care for her, the TARDIS helped Romana regenerate, and to Romana's surprise, she took on the form of Princess Astra! (Short story: The Lying Old Witch in the Wardrobe)

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[argetcross]

Hades II, second session, more thoughts!

- ARTEMIS!!!! YOU ARE MY.... ANGEL!!!!! I love how confident and cool she is with Mel, and she's here? In 3D person flesh? Love they're playing up the connections between Aetemis, Hekate, and Selene, especially since they get syncretized sometimes. It's cute that she's kind of Mel's big sister and I love that dynamic (also I, argetcross, am in love with her so that helps). She gives you SNACKS she snipes your ENEMIES she is my EVERYTHING. I could kill Chronos just for her.

(Mel: are you... normal?

Me: NO IM VERY GAY)

Her design is way cuter than I was expecting, I love that she explicitly says Apollo is the younger sibling (she had to deliver him in some tellings of the myth!!! Eldest daughter syndrome from the moment she was born 🥲), and I really am excited to hopefully see them interact. Please. I need it.

- Hephaestus' design is amazing and hot and if there's someone out there that wants to cosplay him, I would help you.

- I beat Headmistress! Through the power of spamming Zeus boons! I felt like the difficulty curve was kind of funny because I also ended up going all the way to the end of the second biome that run, which was NOT my experience with Asphodel. Like Asphodel killed me so many times in its regular floors, but I've consistently gotten past the regular floors of Oceanus. Lava I guess continues to be more dangerous than water I guess.

- can't believe the fish people turn into guts when Mel kills them. She must smell SOOOOO BAD. I love the whole second biome look, it's kind of like she's just sliding down waterpark sewer slides in my mind. Getting slapped in the face by starfish. Seaweed sticking to her clothes.

- This is getting super long so I'll try and wrap up but, at first, I wasn't sold at all on the school bully/straight A student vibe Nemesis and Melinoe had.... BUT THEN WHEN MEL GOT PISSED AT HER DURING THE COMPETITION??? That was apparently my Achilles' Heel because I was like. Wait. Yes. Please be mean to each other. Please. Please please please. I want to see super nice Melinoe get legitimately angry and frustrated with one (1) snotty jock. She's been so focused her one thing (Chronos) and doing her best to live up to expectations- let her be upset and angry. Please. Also the whole encounter is so funny. Showing up, locking Mel out, and threatening to steal our lunch money!!!!

- also I met Moros. Not sure why, but he gives the kind of vibes of the shoelace meme rn ("Why is he crying? He's been trying to tie his shoelaces for the last ten minutes.") with the way Mel, Odysseus, and Nemesis are kind of *cranes head to stare*. Does his hair ever get knotted in those antlers? Time will tell.

[an-aura-about-you]

FINALLY FREE FOR THE WEEKEND BABY!!!!!!

let's celebrate with another chapter of Handbook for Mortals, a sentiment that didn't exist until just now!

Chapter 13:

when we last left our hero, Scheherazade was on her way to lunch after giving us a reminder that she is awesome and Jackson is hot. thrill a minute over here.

moving on to Chapter 13: The High Priestess

-we start off with another time jump of weeks going by, which apparently was so boring it couldn't even make it into this dull book.

-in a strange bit of continuity, the book acknowledges the theater is muggy due to the pool and the air being kept at a sweltering 90 degrees Fahrenheit. well, to be fair, Sarem never specified Fahrenheit, but I get the feeling she wouldn't even consider any other temperature scales.

-Zade and Mac are up on the catwalk and Zade is adjusting her safety harness. and Mac the technical director who is responsible for everyone's safety isn't doing this because...?

-ok so Zade and Mac's flirting has gone from 0 to 60. just in the previous chapter Zade was being evasive about info that most people disclose on the first date but now Mac is saying she'd "look amazing in anything and even better in nothing." These Two Aren't Even Dating And, To Clarify, Have Not Fucked. they are one chaperone away from old-fashioned courtship and suddenly they're doing this.

-ohhhhh guess what Charles saw them sneak a kiss just as Zade gets in position! time for Dad to give Mac the shovel talk!

-introductions to characters in this book go one of two ways: either you get their entire backstory in one go (be grateful I didn't give you the jerkoff session that was Tad's introduction) or they're mentioned offhandedly in the weirdest way (Drew, Mel, and now this person named Rene who also knows real magic and fills in for Zeb).

-"Mac is a perfectionist when it comes to his job..." which is why he was cool with Sofia drowning in a previous chapter.

-omg Charles wants to have a "man-to-man" talk with Mac. this is blatantly the Dad Talk. this is something that's supposed to be hinted at by this point, and this is just. this is like when a toddler hides behind a curtain but they're giggling and you can still see their feet, and you as the adult are supposed to not see them because that's how the game is supposed to go. and like, hints CAN be obvious in hindsight, and it's fun when an author does that and makes you go, "holy shit, why didn't I put this together sooner?????" but this just feels so heavy-handed. idk, would this be different to someone who's actually going in blind? I mean I've seen multiple reviewers cover this book and more than one of them was able to figure out Spellman is Zade's father well before the reveal.

-Mac is wondering if Spellman is gonna make him fire someone on his behalf, and apparently they had done this before with a lighting tech who did a good job but Charles didn't like him and Mac didn't care enough about him to stick up for him. geez, that's callous. that's somebody's fucking job!

-Mac makes a joke for like the first time ever in the book and the narration is trying to pretend this is something he normally does. Spellman's deadpan reaction is giving me life.

-Charles directly asks Mac about his relationship with Zade and somehow Mac "had no idea where [Charles] was going with this." dude, he just saw you kiss his daughter!! even if you don't know he's her dad, you can't even hazard a guess that maybe he saw the two of you in the catwalk?

-Charles naturally has to talk up Zade and says, "She brings something extremely unique." you mean like an acrobatics act in a magic show?

-why is Charles the one trying to push the romantic plot forward? he point blank asked Mac if he loves Zade. I appreciate the effort but it has been weeks upon weeks and they have steadfastly refused to define this.

-Mac has just now realized that he and Zade are "pretty open and honest people" but that Zade is very careful about what she's open about and there's a LOT of stuff they don't talk about.

-hah! Charles is not accepting Mac's avoidant answer!

-oh this is gross. Mac managed to give Charles a satisfactory answer and they shake on it. Mac "felt like he had just agreed to buy land, instead of having had a very personal conversation." there must be some better way for Mac to convey the feeling he has that doesn't compare him talking to Charles about his relationship with Zade like the two of them were making a transaction. hell, I would even prefer a scenario in which Mac asks Charles for Zade's hand in marriage. it might have the same vibe, but at least it's a tiny step removed from actual real estate transaction.

-oh here we fucking go: we have another scene with Zade and Mac walking through the park and a bicyclist clips Zade in the arm, causing her to drop her purse. you guys, y'all are not prepared.

-Mac, I think, has a fairly reasonable response to this, which is yelling, "Jerk!" to the bicyclist and doing a little kick in the dirt. that seems proportionate. this is not where Zade leaves things.

-here's Zade's justification for what she's about to do:

He needed to learn to be nicer and more courteous around other people and not knock people out of the way like that. I wondered if I had been a little kid or an older person, what would have happened. He hadn't stopped to check on me--or even yelled back, "Sorry," or anything.

so this is the thing you need to know is going on in Zade's head for what's going to happen.

-and here's what Zade does:

The biker flipped upside down as if he'd hit a massive pot-hole that came out of nowhere, or at least to anyone else it probably looked like that. He landed pretty hard on his back, and made a few loud sounds of shrieking pain as the bike crashed into a bench, sending a few pieces going in different places. I was fairly certain he wasn't permanently injured, but he also wasn't going to be riding anymore today; that was for sure.

let me tell you guys a little story. this is one some of you already know, but maybe you're hearing it for the first time.

back in 2013, I fell down the hill I was living on at the time. it was an icy day, I was trying to get to my car parked at the bottom of the hill, and I fell down. so, all things considered, not a serious accident, right? probably on par with what just happened to this biker.

I severely broke my right leg at the ankle as a result of that accident. it required two surgeries at the time, and that was the lucky version because the doctors were contemplating amputation. they put in a clamp and some screws to hold my destroyed ankle together and a metal plate from ankle to the middle of my shin to support my leg. I have used mobility aids since then including a walker, a cane, and a knee-scooter. if it wasn't for the Affordable Care Act, I would have been in thousands of dollars of medical debt. it permanently affected my ability to work in a kitchen.

then, in 2022, the screws in my right ankle broke. this required another surgery to remove them, and I was confined to my house for months, unable to leave without assistance. this became the catalyst for me moving to the apartment I'm living in now since it's more accessible than my last house.

if I had to point out any section of the book that truly, honestly pisses me off, it's this one.

our protagonist has assaulted another person for an accident that she doesn't even mention hurting her. the only consequence Zade mentions suffering is dropping her purse and spilling her tarot cards.

she has possibly changed this cyclist's life forever.

his back could be seriously injured, not to mention whatever might have happened to his head or other extremities. he could even be paralyzed depending on how he landed. at least he appears to be conscious if he's screaming in pain. there is the real possibility that he will never be able to ride his bike again. hell, he might not even be able to walk again. maybe he won't be able to work. how the fuck is he going to pay his hospital bills? I have reasonably good insurance now AND an HSA and I STILL had to take years to pay off a good part of my surgery and physical therapy from 2022. I only just recently got out of medical debt. we don't know who this person is, if there is anyone in his life who would be able to care for him, to help him fight for disability benefits. would he be as fortunate as I was, where he has people in his life to help bring him food and keep his home clean? will he have to move somewhere that's more accessible for his disability?

and is all of this really deserved in exchange for knocking a random woman's purse off of her arm by accident?

-"I hoped what I'd done to the biker might teach him a karma-related lesson."

That's Not How Karma Fucking Works.

and even if someone is an agent of karma, it's my understanding that that is done unknowingly and that it is proportional.

(if I'm wrong about that, please feel free to correct me. but also please, come over here and confirm that what Zade did isn't karma. hell, I'll even take Swifties at this point, tell me what your girl has to say about karma.)

-note to self: how would Taylor Swift look playing Zade? I think she could do it.

-oh hey, Mac is helping pick up Zade's cards and picked up the one that looks just like her! weird, though, they spell her name D-E-V-I-L.

-ok so to try to look past the biker, which is a herculean effort at this point but let's do our best here, I'm actually not kidding about Zade being the Devil based on my own interpretation of her three card tarot spread consisting of the Magician, the Devil, and the Lovers. if you need a refresher, the crib notes is the Devil is the shadow self and restriction by choice and mirrors the imagery in both the Magician and the Lovers. Zade had cast herself in the role of the Magician, which means her matching position in the imagery is the Devil holding the Lovers captive.

-Mac is a big ol' tarot card skeptic and is being a jerk to Zade about it. we're talking he looks "deeply perturbed" about it. granted, I am also mocking the way Zade reads tarot cards and would be deeply perturbed if I met a person in real life who relies on tarot cards the way Zade does, but that's less about using tarot cards and more about her absolute refusal to make any choices in her life right now.

-this is the point in the book when Mac is confused about Zade's faith and says he thought she was Jewish. I have not omitted any mentions of Zade being Jewish up to this point, which means the only indication we have of it before this point is the foreword by Skye Turner letting us know Sarem is Jewish.

as much as Sarem might want it, this isn't an autobiography. it is a fictional book written in... well, I hesitate to say it's written in the style of an autobiography, but it actually kind of is? but anyway, Zade is not Sarem, no matter how much Sarem wants to be Zade, and this reduction of separation between author and character isn't helping.

also, this information being in the foreword and leaving readers to infer it about Zade from that isn't good because the foreword is paratext. there is the possibility, however slim, that this book could be reprinted without that foreword. there's also the possibility, which is considerably higher, that people would skip the foreword and just start reading the book. any information that is important to the book should be in the actual text of the book, either directly or implied.

-Zade tells us that being Jewish and reading tarot cards are not mutually exclusive. if any of my Jewish friends want to weigh in on this, I invite you to do so.

-Mac dismisses everything Zade says re: tarot cards as hogwash. she's not asking him to believe this stuff, btw, she's just telling him that she does and that she does so by choice and not because her family does.

-add a tally to the bigoted language count for, "All that voodoo stuff is bullshit." stop being disrespectful of the spiritual practices and traditions of others!

-Mac asks Zade if he's just insulted her, she assures him he didn't, but she's actually holding back tears about this. this probably isn't supposed to be a section I'm conflicted about. and trust me, I'm not conflicted about the notion that Mac is behaving like a jerk. but I am conflicted about feeling sympathy for Zade after she assaulted that biker. I guess the best thing that I can say is that as long as their actual religious beliefs and spiritual practices don't harm anyone, then even awful people deserve the right to believe what they believe without being ridiculed or persecuted for that specifically. and obviously I don't think anyone should be brought to harm or killed for their beliefs and indeed would like it if no one was brought to harm or killed for any reason.

but Zade is still guilty of assaulting that biker and not only doesn't feel bad about it but believes he deserved it. if that stems from her religious beliefs or spiritual practices, then I think she needs some serious self-examination to see where her moral compass went wrong.

-Mac doesn't even notice that she's holding back tears. he thinks things are just good now. what the fuck, Mac??

-new paragraph new scene and another round of What Year Is This Story Set? Zade and Jackson go out on their movie date and it's the latest superhero flick starring Ryan Reynolds. there are actually two possible movies this could be considering Sarem started writing the script in 2011 but the book wasn't published until 2017. the movie was either 2011's Green Lantern or 2016's Deadpool.

-Jackson jokes about using a love spell on Zade, which would be interesting if this got built up into actual world building about love spells and/or the possibility that Jackson's in the know about magic, either because he can use it or knows someone who can.

-Jackson then sees a fortune teller's shop and asks Zade, "Wanna do something crazy?" bruh, it's Vegas. how is getting your palm read there crazy? I've had my palm read here in Arkansas and the place I went to wasn't the only one that offered it.

-Oh Dear, Mac Thinks Tarot Cards Are Bullshit But Jackson Thinks They're Fun. I Wonder How This Will Affect Jackson's Utter Lack Of A Character In This Love Triangle.

-and the chapter ends with Jackson and Zade having one of those movie kisses with the Princess Diaries foot pop.

though Zade says her knee popped? I mean that sounds uncomfortable. I've met hyper-flexible people who accidentally pop their knees out of place and it sounds like it hurts like a motherbitch. even if I know what she means, the popping a knee out of place is the thing I'm going to think of first with that wording no matter what.

so. this chapter brings the count of people Zade has seriously assaulted up to two, which is two more than what I normally expect from a protagonist in a fluffy coffee shop au style romance story. this also outnumbers the count of people Zade has rescued from death which sits at one, even though Zade still insists on lying about Sofia's reaction when she came to. this is extreme moral myopia. this is having so many logs in your eyes you could open a lumber yard and raining punishment down on others for their specks.

[geralts-yenn]

Bubbles

Modern AU Melot (Tristan&Isolde) x OFC x Mike (Hellraiser)

summary: Just some morning bliss and Melot and Mike being stupid. Yeah, and smut, of course. 

warnings: vaginal fingering, anal fingering (M receiving) oral (F/M, M/F ), vaginal sex, cream pie

word count: 842

A/N: I promised some more glimpses into the life of Nina, Mel and Mike and this is the first one.

And as the wonderful @ellethespaceunicorn celebrates their birthday today,... This is for you, Elle ❤ You're such a great supporter for me, and you're a wonderful person, and I am so, so glad that I have you in my life 😘

I know you love my little throuple, so I hope I can make you happy with this. Because you deserve all the happiness ❤

Your head was resting on Mikey's stomach, and even if you were still half asleep, you couldn't keep your hands to you, slowly brushing your fingers along his cock. 

As they made their way up to his tip, you played with the metal ring that pierced his flesh.

A hiss came from Mike and your head shot up to check on him. “Did I hurt you?” you asked, but the look on your boyfriend's face told you, you had nothing to be sorry for. A smirk was plastered on his beautiful face.

“Quite the contrary, Mel! Go on!” Your head went back to its place on Mike's tummy, and you resumed your explorations.  

When you circled the sensitive skin at the root of his head, you noticed the bead forming at his pierced slit. And another one on the other side of the canal that held the titanium ring. 

You were about to dart out your tongue and lick them from his soft skin when you noticed something that made you hesitate.

“Uhm, Mike, is your pre-cum supposed to make bubbles?” Yeah, this was one of those sentences you would have never guessed you'd use. 

Mike let out a loud laugh, making his dick bounce between your fingers.

“It sometimes happens,” he reassured you. Heat crawled up your neck, and you felt your ears reddening, feeling stupid to ask something like that. 

But Mike sensed your discomfort and combed his fingers through your hair to soothe you.

“I didn't know either. First time I noticed it, I panicked, totally freaked out, to be honest. And Google wasn't really helpful at all. You don't want to know what I saw. So I had to call the piercing studio and embarrass myself another time. I should get used to getting into situations like this by now.” 

Now both of you were chuckling. Which apparently made your girlfriend curious. Nina's head appeared in the door frame, her eyebrows shooting up as she saw Melot hovering over Mike's cock. “What are you two up to?” she asked with a mischievous smirk. And without waiting for an answer, she crawled onto the bed, kissing Mike first before she moved down to you. When she pulled away from your lips, your smirk reappeared on your face.

“Look at this, Nina!” you told her and moved Mike's dick over to her face. “Pre-cum bubbles!” You sounded as if it were the cutest thing you had ever seen. And somehow it was. 

Nina just giggled and shook her head. “Can't you just suck dick like normal people?” she asked the two of you, and then her tongue lapped over Mikey's tip, licking up all the bubbles. 

Mike let out a moan and retorted: “I was about to complain that you two should stop staring and start sucking. Thank you, Nina!” 

Encouraged by Mike, Nina's mouth closed around his cock, making yours twitch while watching her moving up and down on him. You rose on your knees and pulled Nina's leg over Mike. Her pussy hovering over his face, you grabbed the elastics of her panties and just ripped them from her hips, making both Mike and Nina moan. Mike bit on his lip as he watched you working Nina open with your fingers. 

“Fuck!” You were somewhere between shouting and growling when Mike finally took pity on you and his hand wrapped around your throbbing cock. 

The three of you moved in a steady rhythm, both chasing your own high and trying your best to make the others feel just as good. 

Mike guided you to kneel behind Nina and rubbed the tip of your cock along her wet folds.

“Oh yes, please, I need a cock inside of me!” Nina pleaded, and so you pushed forwards, stretching her open. 

To add to the sensation, Mike leaned his head up, his mouth alternating between lapping on Nina's clit, enticing the sweetest sounds out of her, and sucking your balls. Right when you thought you couldn't handle any more of this without cuming, you heard the familiar sound of lube getting pressed out of the plastic bottle. And the next moment there was this cold, sloppy wetness between your cheeks that you both anticipated and feared.

“Breathe!” Mike told you, and so you did, trying to relax. You felt his finger enter you. Damn, this was just so much. You desperately sank your teeth into Nina's shoulder, trying to distract you from the tension that was building inside of you. But as Mike added a second finger and pumped them into your sensitive canal, you couldn't hold back anymore. 

You threw your head back, grunting through gritted teeth as you filled Nina's pussy with your seed. After another few slow pumps where Nina milked the last drops of cum from you, you withdrew yourself, trying to catch a breath and process the overstimulation. 

Sitting back on your heels, you watched as Mike grabbed Nina's hips, pulled her down onto his mouth and licked your cum out of her sweet little pussy.

[thekimspoblog]

For the record, I did finally see "American Fiction" a few nights ago. I am recommending you watch this movie, so I don't want to spoil it too much, but I wanted to share my thoughts.

When a slice-of-life movie is done well, I can really enjoy it, but if that aspect fails, a movie can become very cloying and tedious. In this case however, it was done well. "American Fiction" is a very cozy, very digestible movie that just follows this one family through the highs and lows of their summer. There are multiple subplots which have little to do with eachother, let alone the main story, but that's okay; it feels more realistic that way and the subplots are quite charming in their own right. The dialogue expresses familiar sentiments from other movies, but in a way that still feels fresh. In a sense, the trailer almost feels like a prank on the audience; white moviegoers were promised a mean-spirited satire on race relations, and instead what we got was 90 minutes of black people existing comfortably with minimal conflict. But if you're disappointed, that's on you. Setting aside the politics altogether, it's just refreshing to - every once in a while - watch a quieter movie about normal people being kind to eachother. Nobody has to die in order for a drama to be good... well... almost nobody.

The A-Story is basically just a rip-off of Spike Lee's "Bamboozled". Like I said, the story we saw in the trailer really only made up less than a third of the plot. And if you're upset about the bait-and-switch, "American Fiction" succeeded at what it was trying to do, but... also if you really wanted a movie about a writer pushing the envelope of prejudice for personal gain, you can still just go and watch "Bamboozled". For that matter, "Bamboozled" was already vaguely the same plot as Mel Brooks' "The Producers". I guess my main question is what it says about the psyche of white people, when you compare "American Fiction" to a movie made 24 years prior which had basically the same premise. Does it represent improvement, that a film can make the same social commentary without resorting to the same extremes to get the point across? Or have we grown more sensitive; is "American Fiction" a more toned-down version of the story simply because you could never make "Bamboozled" in the PC world of today? I hope it's the former. You probably couldn't remake "Bamboozled" today, but more importantly, "American Fiction" couldn't have been made in the 90's; the imagery of Monk's book was so commonplace back then, I don't think it would have occurred to white audiences that anything was even amiss. On the other hand, I think the white people in "American Fiction" are somehow more cartoonish; I remember a few moments while watching "Bamboozled" where I went, "Oh shit! Ok, I have said/done/thought stuff like that IRL", and I never had that moment watching "American Fiction". I call the movie "digestible" and "cozy" because I was able to get through the whole thing and not once did it feel like the movie was attacking me. But again, even if your movie sets out to make white people uncomfortable, that's still centering the story too much around our emotions; "American Fiction" had the more important goal of simply telling a story where black people are allowed to be happy.

The cringe comedy is extremely funny. This is the main reason I'm recommending the movie as lighthearted fun. Half the jokes boil down to "Jeffery Wright is annoyed" (and IMO that itself is enough to sustain a film), but there were also some lines of dialogue which completely caught me off guard. The movie is still more CUTE than it is FUNNY, but for a "cute" movie I was laughing almost all the way through. The other film I'd compare "American Fiction" to is "Dan in Real Life", and I definitely prefer this one, both in terms of likeable characters and quality of dialogue.

Spoilers ahead! I liked how the story had three endings, and like "Clue", the audience is left to pick which one they want. I still won't be spoiling what happens but I did want to talk about this part: It's fine that Ending A was never explained in detail; Monk has made his feelings about the situation pretty clear at this point; anyone with two braincells to rub together can use their imaginations and guess what he would have said at that podium. Ending B is pretty obviously the correct answer. Not only does a "rom-com" ending fit with the tone of the rest of the movie, but I think it gives the best resolution to what the story was actually about. I said none of the racist characters made me embarrassed about my own behavior, but that doesn't mean I didn't see Monk's personality flaws as a reflection of myself. "Tortured artist realizes at the 11th hour that his judgmental attitude has been isolating him from the people he cares about" is a theme I very much relate to, and it's the kind of story I've been wanting to write for years. Ending C was a little bit predictable, but still worked as the climactic punchline. It was the moment the story went from feeling like an unintentional ripoff of "Bamboozled" to a more direct parody of it. Ending D causes the rest of the story to become confusing, but it at least retroactively excuses some of the more contrived/cliched moments which happened at the beginning of the film.

So yeah. In conclusion, good movie, little forgettable but pretty damn funny. Go see it. Jeffery Wright is a DILF and I could watch another 90 minutes of him meandering around the beach, staring soulfully out at the ocean.

[behindthesemasks]

15

Mel sat between Klaus and Gabe on the ride to the hospital.  She had to admit that Case’s driving wasn’t bad, he just had a definite love of speed. Not that she was surprised, he was a Louisiana, in this case pronounced Loo-zee-anna, boy after all.  She was pretty much lost in her thoughts though, not paying attention to what would normally be considered picturesque scenery passing outside the windows.  Klaus’s hand was on her knee, their fingers intertwined.  He kept looking over at her, trying to figure out what thoughts were going through her head, but wasn’t coming up with much.

Finally Case’s voice cut through the slightly uneasy silence that had fallen throughout the interior of the car. “Boys, we got a problem.  Mel get in the floor…NOW!”  This was not a request, it was a command, and one that Melania did without question or hesitation.  

Gabe was leaning over her a second later, his gun resting in his lap, safety off.    She could hear the engine of the SUV rev as Case accelerated and they were all thrown towards the passenger side of the vehicle as he cornered, drifting the back end through the turn.  The screech of tires behind them a few seconds later told Mel all she needed to know…they were being tailed.  “How many?” Klaus asked as he pulled body armor from behind the seat, putting one over Mel, then handing another to Gabe.  

“One SUV, at least two passengers.  Driver has a pistol, passenger has a… FUCK!” Case cornered hard again as the distinctive ping of a round hitting the body of the vehicle was heard.  “rifle.  I’d guess AR, but there’s hella reflection off of their windshield.”  It was clear he was frustrated.

Klaus slid over the back of the seat, to be in the rear of the SUV.  Donning his own body armor, he pulled out his cell as he dug through the cases of munitions and firearms that were back there.  Getting a hold of Donovan, he let him know the situation.  “Head to the dig, our boys will be waiting for these fuckers when we hit the tree line.” Another few hard turns, and they were headed out of town.  Case had the accelerator floored as the engine whined.  Of course Ambrose had secured vehicles that would surpass the limits of the normal factory models, but they were at speeds well over 100mph now.  Klaus had called Nic and after an exchange of profanity laden information, there was another SUV with Nic and Ambrose headed to back them up as well.  

“Why are they after us?  None of us were in those pictures, and Andreas had said those were his only targets.”  Gabe growled as he acted as a shield over Mel. “They don’t know we don’t have Andreas.  No doubt his employer has noticed him missing by now.” Klaus growled as an AR came over the back of the seat to rest next to Gabe.

“And, I realized what at least Sasha and Alexander have in common.” Case added from the front as another hard turn was made.  “They were on that dig that went south in Peru with Mel.  The one with the amulet of second sight.”

“Damn!  That means anyone who knows where that thing is could be a target.”  Klaus leaned against the back of the rear seat as he watched the other SUV trying to keep pace with them as they headed up towards the mountain the dig site was on. “If they’re taking out those who know, my guess is that it’s more information they’re wanting to bury.  You’ve got two of the preeminent archaeologists in Europe on that list; that can’t be coincidence.”  Gabe surmised.  “Although…Alexander and Sasha’s names were on the permits for that dig.  We all know the nice little artifact that Mel got ahold of.  If there’s more of that kind or of historical references of the dark arts, then it could be that they’re wanting to shut it down because there’s something bigger there.”  He added looking down at Mel with a tight lipped expression.  He felt sorry for her getting in the middle of this.  After what had happened in Peru, he felt the woman should have a break.  Seemed she walked back into the line of fire completely by accident.  

Another ping of a round hitting the body of the vehicle broke his thoughts as he looked back at Klaus.  The other man had almost gotten his setup complete.  Time to return fire.  Make those mother fuckers back off till they could get to where they had more cover.

“Case, you’re gonna lose the back window…now,” was all the warning anyone in the vehicle got before Klaus fired.  

The bullet took out half the back window and hit the hood of the trailing SUV.  The driver swerved, causing his passenger to be jostled about and messing up the shot he was trying to take at the time.  The bullet went far wide of the SUV, into the trees on the side of the road.   Klaus fired again, hitting one of the tires this time.  The SUV jerked again, and slowed, but didn’t give up chase.

“Fuckers are persistent.  This thing have any more power, Case?”  Gabe yelled forward, pulling on his ear to try to get rid of the ringing from the high caliber shots had caused. “We’re going to find out!”  Case yelled back and pushed the SUV even harder.  

They were pulling away from the SUV and getting closer to where Donovan and Dez had taken up sniper positions at the tree line of the dig site so they would be able to disable the SUV before it got to the actual site.  As the opening of the trees became visible, another black Mercedes SUV could be seen gaining on the one trailing the group.  Ambrose and Nic were arriving on scene and the sound of shots coming from the rear meant they were ready for a fight too. Case ignored all the sounds of shots and focused only on getting through that tree line and to the site.  He blocked out every sound and became fixed on the other black SUV that had been parked in such a way as to provide cover for the door to the Quonset hut that had been erected to protect the dig site from the elements.  Bless whichever of the guys had thought to give him that gift.  It would hopefully get Mel into the building safe while giving him and Klaus cover to hide behind.  

“HOLD ON!” Case yelled over his shoulder as the SUV cleared the tree line.  Dust and gravel flew up behind them, blocking the view of the SUV following them.  Using all of his driving skills, Case was able to brake, steer, and accelerate in the right combination to bring the SUV to a stop 3 feet from the building, running parallel alongside it.  “Gabe, get her ass inside.”  

Not waiting for a response, Case grabbed the body armor and rifle in the back seat as he saw Klaus slipping out the tailgate and advancing towards the hood  of the other SUV.  In a flash his own body armor was on and he was doing likewise.  Both men’s rifles were trained on where the SUV should emerge from the treeline.   While the sound of the gunshots from their teammates had been obscured by the sounds of the gravel before, the sound of a large vehicle striking a tree now was unmistakable.  

Klaus and Case held position.  They didn’t know which of the SUV’s that had been behind them had wrecked and they weren’t going to give up the advantage of having good cover to hide behind.  The treeline was now unable to be seen, the dust from the way that Case had brought their SUV to a stop was still hanging in the air.    The question of which it was got answered less than a minute later when there were two shots that were unmistakable as pistol.  They didn’t need to see the scene to know that instead of being taken prisoner, the driver and passenger of the vehicle had ended their own lives.  This was going to put Nic and Ambrose in just peachy moods, they were both sure of this. 

A moment later, Donovan and Dez came walking out of the swirling dust, rifles hung against their backs.  Both were shaking their heads and obviously highly annoyed.  Klaus and Case lowered their rifles as the two drew nearer; throwing the slings over their shoulders so their rifles hung like the other two’s did.  They leaned against the SUV watching the two frustrated mercenaries.  “This ain’t gonna be pretty.”  Case said looking over to Klaus with an expression that said they both knew that Ambrose and Nic were going to go ballistic if they couldn’t find anything out from the wrecked SUV that was still near the road and a ways from the treeline. “No shit!  At least none of ours got hit or killed.  Though I’m not sure they’re going to like what I did to the back window.”  He chuckled as Case shook his head.  Dez and Donovan reached them and all four turned to head into the building.  Might as well rest where the environment was more comfortable, when the two boss men got up there it was going to be anything but.

As soon as Donovan cleared the door he came to a halt, hands up.  “For the love of God, please tell me these are from the two of you hiding somewhere.”   

Dez raised his eyebrows to look around and saw two red dots in the middle of Donovan’s chest.  “If not, you’re fucked.”

Both dots disappeared as Donovan shook his head.  “You know that’s not funny.”  He watched as Melania and Gabe came out of where they had been hidden.  He had to give them credit.  They had been pretty well hidden, until they moved he hadn’t noticed them.

“No, you know what’s not funny?  Being squished in the floor of a SUV while it’s being driven like it’s on a roller coaster track.  Oh, and being shot at, at the same time.”  Mel was pissed, and Klaus moved to intercept before she shot one of their own guys. 

“She may have made it so that if Andreas survives that he is never able to have children…with her foot.   And she quite literally threatened to shoot his dick off.  Not the day to mess with her bro.”  Case slapped Donovan on the shoulder as he passed heading to where there were some chairs setup.  

While Klaus and Mel talked in hush tones, the two obviously butting heads, the others found seats either in the folding chairs or on tables.  Dez jerked his head over towards them. “I take it that they’re….together?  Or is he just the one she wants to kill least?”  

“No, killing least would be me.”  Gabe chuckled.  “Together…” he coughed, “well, from what I walked in on at the hotel…yeah.  I think they literally kissed and made up.”  He smirked.

“Who gave her a gun?”  Donovan laughed as he watched the two arguing about something.

“She stole Gabe’s pistol and shot Andreas.  After that, no one was going to tell her no.”  Case answered with a chuckle.

“Yeah, I was the lucky bastard out of the four of us who had laid our guns down in the room with Andreas.”  Gabe said sarcastically.  “She wanted to keep it and after watching her shoot Andreas, I wasn’t going to tell her no.  I like my cock where it is.”  He chuckled.

“Wait…wait…”  Donovan laughed, “you’re telling me that little prima ballerina literally shot Andreas?  Andreas, Klaus’s cousin?”  

“Yes.”  Case and Gabe answered at the same time.  “And threatened to put a bullet through his cock before knocking his chair over and driving her heel into his groin.”  Both Case and Gabe slightly cringed at the memory before Gabe continued. “Yeah, she went all badass.  And I thought she and Klaus were going to kill each other before we could get out of the hotel.  Maybe we should go get the weapons from those two.”  He chuckled.

“Nah, Klaus could use getting shot…again…by a girl.”  They all chuckled at Dez’s quip.  “Let’s just wait till Nic and Ambrose get here.  I’m sure they’re going to kick all of our asses for not getting those two assholes alive anyway.  Might as well let the bloodshed wait a few minutes.”

[magnuficent76]

🥊 for Balt, Melaine and Archer mayhaps.

HOWDY DOO !!

🥊 What do they love to do ? What do they hate to ?

[-> Baltazar

🥊 Baltazar is a guy who enjoys the simpler things in life ! Cooking and eating good food, walking around the farm, drinking some good wine, taking things easy— real hedonist, this one. Buf if they had to pick out a favourite thing they love to do, it'd probably be to go out and paint. Forget the world's problems and just focus on the process of bringing a whole thing to life from the world to your canvas, feel how every stroke drags the paint around and how the wind goes through your hair when you're out and about, contouring your soul and painting it too against the world… or something pretentious like that.

🥊 As for hated things, he doesn't like being a hater a majority of the time, but I think he would fucking despise going to Doctors. Any doctor at all. This guy with a full health plan and a history for needing it is also the world's most stubborn and scared motherfucker so he's Not Going. 

[-> Melaine

🥊 Melaine loves science and she has always loved science before any other thing. Doing her experiments and learning more about the world through a factual lens helps her navigate it better, and it has helped her through a lot of difficult times of crisis particularly. So to Mel, there's nothing better than to sit down and spend hours upon hours researching, writing down notes, running tests and, most of all, helping people with the same thing that helped zir once upon a time. Ze adores zir job, and it brings zir joy to have it be beneficial to others, even make them less afraid of what she does in a way, but the biggest part of it is probably the research bits, so I'll put in researching and testing as a final answer.

🥊 Now for hatred… hmm… probably doing dishes or perhaps admitting she's wrong. One for sensory issues, which are way too strong for her own comfort sometimes, and the other because Melaine is someone who has been raised to think that if you ever admit to being wrong, that means all your merits and your qualifications mean nothing, and that ultimately your experience isn't enough, so you have to work harder and harder in order to never be wrong ever. Normal stuff.

[-> Archer

🥊 Archer… doesn't know. Genuinely doesn't know. This is a man who barely, BARELY has a life outside of work, and even the very company he works for (which benefits entirely from it) gets worried sometimes about it. Not too much though. He loves doing his job but that's superficial, so I guess I'll say he loves drinking. Going to bars is the only other thing he seems able to think about when it comes to socializing, so. That.

🥊 He hates remembering <3 He hates feeling inadequate <3 He hates not being good enough <3 He hates not being able to prove his worth <3 He hates being alone <3 He hates cheap movies and booze <3 He hates the world for not helping him sooner, and even more so for not acknowleding how he's doing now <3 he's actually so well adjusted I promise

[cosmicgrapevine]

"You can see now why I don't tell 'em shit. Keith's a roid-raging jock dipshit, and my dad's got the imagination of a potato and would think it's all Satanism anyhow. 'Exciting' for him is like, golfing with his boss. If the Lost Kids hadn't scouted me, I'd be...I dunno. Nothing good."

"And your mom? If you don't..."

"Nah, it's fine. It's been five years. I'd like to say a Mire got her, and I've been, y'know, training for years to take revenge. But nope, just regular old shitty cancer. If she was still here, I'd...I'd tell her everything. She'd get it. Even if you hate your mom, at least she's..."

Tabby raised an eyebrow. "At least she's what?"

"Just, that's crazy, right? The dude who bashed her up in the '70s is the same guy we're fighting now? What if she was a Warden too, and that's why she got hit?"

"Trust me, no goddamn way," Tabby said. "I wish she was like your dad. Every time I talk to her, she's practically begging me to quit, you're too weak, you can't handle it, you know I'm right...she doesn't control my life anymore and she's so mad about it."

"Alright, shit," Kenny said. "Grass is always greener, I guess." He whistled. "Damn, a mobbed-up Fullmire. Wonder if Ryan knows anything."

"Ryan? From school?"

"Yeah, his dad's firm did plea deals for a bunch of old mob guys who 'retired' down here. I'm pretty sure one of them is Ryan's steroid hookup. Keith buys from him; I wasn't kidding about the roid rage. One time Keith couldn't pay and Ryan came over here and was freaking out. Like someone was gonna come after him."

Tabby sat up straight, stammering as a mental lightbulb clicked on. "D-dude, go get Jevon. I just figured something out."

Jevon was summoned from upstairs. Justin was not, but kept his face pressed to the back window anyway, in hopes of hearing something. "'Kay, so last Friday, Mel went out with Jordy, and they went to Scooter's. It was Ryan's idea, and he went with. Didn't even do any rides or anything. And that's where they found that photo." She paused, letting it sink in. "The storage place was a setup. Scooter's is their real base. Think about it. All those tents and trailers to hide stuff in, employees come and go all the time..."

Jevon nodded. "Think you're onto something," he said. "Alright. We'll sit on this until Mr. C and the rest get back from Equinox, then launch an assault."

"That's a week from now," Tabby said. "C'mon, the four of us, we can take him."

"Yeah, that's insane," Kenny said.

"You think so?" Jevon said. "Show me what you got."

Tabby unhooked her feather. Energy crackled around her as it grew. She tried to stay positive, and feed those emotions into the feather. But it was hard. It had been hard ever since the storage place. There was some kind of mental block. She couldn't imagine what. She had every reason to want to get better, to want to catch this bastard. But today the feather didn't believe her. With a cracking sound, it stopped growing and returned to normal.

"You see? You're not ready for combat. And that's fine," Jevon said to her embarrassed sulking. "No one's expecting you to be. But if you try this on your own, I will tell the higher-ups. And if you think you're in the doghouse now?"

"You're gonna tell? What is this, kindergarten? Anyway, I won't be alone: we've got a Markstepper too." She patted Lynd's leg and smiled.

He didn't return it. "They're right. This is a bad idea. The Sumacs are a powerful clan, and we still don't know their true intentions."

"Jesus, you too? How come I've got more balls than all three of you put together? How many people are gonna die while we sit on our asses, huh?"

"That's not why you wanna do this," Kenny said. "You wanna show off. You wanna be the star. I get it. I was like that when I joined."

"But then," said Jevon, with infuriating calm, "We learn that we check the Wards, we keep the peace, and we don't go charging into Markstepper turf--mob-backed Markstepper turf--just because we wanna be heroes. Now, you didn't get that training, 'cause you're special," he sneered. "So learn it now."

You're not some hero, you little shit! Rita's words came back to her. She kept her stare intense and her jaw tight.

"Wait, it's not even about that. This is about your mom," Kenny said. "You wanna get revenge?"

"Fuck revenge, she doesn't deserve revenge! Maybe I'll just tell him to finish what he started! I can get him to fuck up your brother, too, because you're apparently too much of a pussy to do it yourself."

The backyard was quiet, the pool filter bubbling away. "Come on, Tabby..." Lynd groaned. Kenny half smiled at her. "Actually, I think Keith had it right this time," he said. "'Who asked you, bitch?'"

[johnnyutah]

top most embarrassing mel fandom phases 1-10 organized but not by most to least embarrassing

genuinely thought the MCU avengers family was the height of literature and shipped most of the popular ships. do not text

fully convinced that the boys in one direction were all having secret relationships with one another. you know what you'll never dissuade me from this one

has literally read more social network fanfiction than published literature. also has read a disgusting amount of tsn rpf... like rpf FOR the rpf movie...... in my defense red white and royal blue is getting a fucking series so i guess this is our #society now

read and wrote a truly embarrassing amount of not-quite-rpf for the spielberg shows band of brothers and the pacific. this one i don't regret at all and will in fact do it again. the reading not the writing. the writing was fucking harrowing. i still have a spiderman/deadpool AU for two characters from the pacific up on my ao3

made everyone in my high school musical theatre production of les mis read enjolras/grantaire fanfiction (many times, if memory serves)

read that entire fucking destiel vietnam war/HIV au and cried so much i nearly threw up and then sent it to a friend and made him cry and nearly throw up and then for years afterward any time the song 'twist and shout' came on i would start crying and tearing up like as if i personally had lost a lover to HIV

read the all for the game/foxhole court books while in a vulnerable state (just very addicted to drugs) and genuinely thought they were good and recommended them to people and wrote popular fanfiction for them

lied about liking star wars to get online kik he/they pussy from an internet friend who ended up in a real normal offline gay marriage with an internet friend of theirs. i gambled everything and fucking lost

moderated several glee roleplay servers ranging from mid (normal glee roleplay server but i accidentally catfished another member by playing multiple roles, this is one of my greatest shames) to bad (titanic crossover roleplay server. this understandably did not get anywhere but not because the idea wasn't fantastic, just because honestly nobody knew as much about titanic as i did and it pissed me off). i truly have never let any online community dictate my real life emotions as much as the glee tumblr rp fandom did

roleplayed and wrote LOTS of fanfiction for rvb. red versus fucking blue. the HALO show made by roosterteeth. yes i fought in those trenches too (i voluntarily signed up for those trenches). i am writing this post currently wrapped up in a fleece roosterteeth blanket. it is fuck ugly. it cost me ninety canadian dollars. i bought two of them and gave the other one to a straight cis girl that i was madly in love with. we also used to watch red vs blue together. my skin is peeling off

[luckystriker30-blog]

I watched The Giggle

SPOILERS BELOW!

Neil Patrick Harris is great as the Toymaker, continuing in his quest to star as a villain in all 2nd level science fiction franchises. He was the villain in The Matrix: Resurrections, which also starred Freema Agyeman, who was in Sense8 AND was Martha Jones. I never thought that "Spice Up Your Life" would be used in an utterly terrifying way, but honestly I was wrong. I thought Kate Stewart might have died when that happened. Anyways, he should star in Robocop 4.

Ugh, are all the companions be gonna be linked to UNIT now? I hate that. Bringing back Mel is an...interesting choice because I find Melanie Bush annoying. She was screaming constantly and I hated it. Luckily, she didn't scream in this special. Why didn't they just bring back Martha Jones? She already works for UNIT, and I want to see her 15 years later.

I did like that the Toymaker lampshaded that, until at least the Chibnall era, most NuWho companions got a raw deal in terms of...you know...living as normal people. I am very happy this is no longer the status quo. Amy died, Clara died, Bill died. Graham, Yaz, Ryan, and Dan all got to live. Donna gets an extremely happy ending, though.

Loving Ncuti so far as the Doctor, though he's not my favorite. So far, he is essentially Fourteen with a new face. Fourteen and Fifteen get along unusually well compared to the Second and Third Doctors. Ncuti was inspired to be an actor by David Tennant, so that could be the key.

I'm almost certain that the ending of this will be controversial, and launch tons of arguments about whether or not 15 is the real Doctor. I mean, I guess he is. I mean, they never explain bi-generation in relation to regeneration. Also, settling down with a family is...controversial, let's say. Like, I'm not even going to ask questions about this, because I get the feeling I'm not going to get any answers.

Next time, The Doctor goes to the club and gets a companion with a stupid name. They also encounter the puppets from Labyrinth, apparently.

[werewolfulrich]

Hey there, I was wondering something…

Is is possible for Dib to transform partially into a wolf?

It would be like this: He’s still in control, still has his werewolf features and all, but he has a bit of his human features and keeps his human stature in this form (He’s a bit taller than before too)

I imagine it being it basically like how Eda transforms into Harpy Eda:

(Would that make Dib’s werewolf form more of a Lycan form?)

Imagine what Gretchen, Mel, and Louie’s Reactions would be like XD

Sorry if this is too much… 😅

Ooh, an ask. This is a rare sight. lol

Dib transforming in a "nontraditional" sense is something I have been thinking about for a long time.

I have been playing around with the idea of Dib using a wolf claw necklace to trigger transformations during the day. (If he really REALLY needs his wolf form to get things done; he's still distrustful of himself in this form)

Something he can do for a brief moment is make scary faces to scare off paranormal enemies. His eyes can glow, he can grow fangs, and he can growl and hiss. What's funny is that the first few times this happens, he has no idea he's doing it. lol Zim would likely be the first one to notice this and point it out as he's the one who annoys Dib the most, to which Dib would be like, "What...?"

Your idea is interesting, but I would imagine Dib would be terrified if that ever happened. It sounds like if it's a partial transformation where he retains his human features, he would still remember who he is (the whole Earth's sole defender thing lol), and he would freak out. I guess if Gretchen and or Mel were there to calm him down, he'd get used to it. :P Louie would try to gather evidence of this form but I think this would look less believable than Dib's normal wolf form. People might think it's just Dib in monster makeup. lol Louie could go back and try to study the differences between this form and the normal form.

I have never watched the show where that gif comes from. I assume that's The Owl House? XD I also don't really know how Lycan is different from Werewolf. I always thought Lycan was just short for Lycanthrope, which just means werewolf. lol

I don't know about the getting taller bit though. Dib's height technically doesn't change when he transforms but because his knees bend, he just looks shorter. lol He might stand on his toes some more.

[slasherbish]

Quiet Nights Part 13 (Michael x GNreader)

The morning started as normal as any morning could. You woke up and got dressed before making breakfast and some coffee for the man that had taken up residency in the second room. Yawning they placed it on a hallway table right outside his room before knocking. “Hey breakfast is on the table outside your door. I have to get to work.” They called out before grabbing their keys and leaving the apartment. 

Their first job this morning was at a small local cafe, most of the customers at this hour were locals who came by often with the odd tourist passing through. As you put on the apron that held your pad of paper you heard one of your favorite locals, Mel, say goodmorning to you while sitting at his normal booth. “Hey Mel, any new progress on that old truck of yours?” You asked. It had become an inside joke with the two of you that the older man would never actually finish fixing up the truck he had been working on for the past couple years. The man chuckled and then asked for his usually, black coffee and eggs. He didn’t have to actually say anything because you had it already written down. 

Turning to a couple faces you had never seen you decided they must be tourists here to investigate the notorious Shape of Haddonfield. The girl of the group was thin and had black hair, her eyes were a mocha brown. She was pretty, you had to say. The two men sitting across from her looked to be similar in age to the woman, one was blonde and the other a dirty blonde. You held back an eye roll as the girl opened her mouth. “Do you have any insider details about the Shape of Haddonfield?” Of course they were fangirls of the killers. These people really didn’t give a shit that people had been killed and that a man had been horribly maimed by the so called mental health system. “No I don’t. What would you all like to eat and drink this morning?” You responded, catching Mel’s sympathetic gaze out of your peripheral vision. He knew you hated putting up with the fans, especially since he was one of the few people that knew about your rocky history with murder and mental health. 

The blonde man rolled his eyes and muttered something rude under his breath. “Don’t mind him. Uh I’ll have the egg and pancake breakfast” The dirty blonde male smiled kindly before harshey nudging the man next to him. “I guess I’ll take medium coffee with pancakes and bacon.” You nodded writing it down and then gave your best customer service smile turned to the girl. “And for you miss?” You asked. “Tea with grilled cheese please.” She said. Writing down the rest of the orders you nodded and walked to the kitchen. You nearly tripped over air when you noticed a glimpse of the navy blue boiler suit that your roommate wore. The fuck is he doing out, you thought. You gave the tickets to the kitchen staff and tried to ignore the fact that you were definitely being stalked. 

“Those kids are going to get themselves hurt or worse trying to catch a look at that monster.” Mel said as you set his food down. “I don’t know if I’d call him a monster” You said softly under your breath. “Broken maybe but not a monster” The graying man smiled at your words, he was always happy to see the optimism you held for those that had been treated badly. When your parents died Mel had been one of the people to really help you out. For years after you were in and out of institutions for multiple reasons. The older man and his now late wife had taken you in since they lived next door at the time. Technically you still had the home under your name but refused to go back due to the painful memories. Mel smiled gently and patted your hand. “Never change hun” He said before you turned back to the kitchen to get your next table orders. 

Setting down the drinks at the table of twenty somethings you overheard something you really didn’t want to hear. “I bet that body found like a month ago was him.” The girl halfway whispered. “I know he’s still out there but like wouldn’t that be stupid after the last time he came out from hiding?” The blonde replied. Keeping an ear on the table you brought them their food, you weren't usually the most attentive waiter but this morning you would. You needed to make sure they weren’t catching on to anything too concrete. What they didn’t notice was the dirty blonde eyeing you as you left the table. 

It had been about an hour and Mel was about to head out for his morning walk to his wife's grave. “Say hi for me” You called after him as he left “Always do” He answered. They then turned to the few other booths that they had to take care of and offered more drinks to each of them. The dirty blonde stopped them and asked for a refill of water before you could turn to get the water pitcher he added “Oh and my name’s Jake.” His smirk made you roll your eyes. You quickly filled his water and walked away.

In the distance hidden behind some bushes a masked killer watched the way the man eyed you like a piece of meat. He didn’t like it, a predator recognized another predator easily. He knew he had a gut instinct to follow you today. He continued to watch your uncomfortable movements under the gaze of the man. The whole group gave him bad vibes and that’s coming from a stone cold killer. 

Inside the diner the trio was finishing up their food and paid their bill. You said a friendly goodbye as any server worth their salt could give and took not that they had been talking about the area around the body that had been found. You almost smiled at the idea of those creeps finding exactly what they were looking for. 

tags @vampire-hunter @babygurl97 @adaydreamaway08 @villainfan @makosgubaog