#BUT SHE CAN'T FOR MULTIPLE REASONS AND SHE'S JUST))

[hemlock-dreams]

What's Spidys relationship like with the other NY bound heros?

Got a bunch of other hero asks so it's time for Ye Olde Lore Dump!

Johnny and H!Spiderman have never gotten along- in either universe.

They don't even really have any real beef with each other, they're just two dudes who grate on each other's nerves for no particular reason- like two guys at a frat party who are just waiting for an excuse to duke it out.

There's just something about Johnny's playboy easy-come-and-go vibe that makes Spidey want to plant a fist in his face. And Johnny thinks Spiderman is a fucking buzzkill.

Black Widow and Spiderman have a good working relationship. He once helped her out of a tight spot in New York and he was fast, smart and discreet about it- so when she's got some ops she needs a second pair of hands for (under the table), she calls him.

Spiderman admires Nat's competence and single-minded focus in getting things done- they all appeal to the hunter in him. (And he's got a massive crush on her.)

They usually do one or two jobs every few months, and meet up for drinks at one of her safehouses. She's also knows his secret identity, because she's just that scary.

Logan and Peter are BFFs. For real. Logan was in town to help with some shit that ended up involved Deadpool and found himself at St. Margaret's.

He and Peter struck up a friendship that ends up with them going camping every couple of months for a week or so.

Logan likes Peter's no-bullshit sincerity and can tell he's had some shit(TM) go down in his life. Peter's easy to talk to and is good at reading the room. And Peter feels like Logan fills in that space Marko left as a friend/mentor/gruff bro figure.

Logan actually picks up when Peter calls. (most others he leaves on read).

Fun fact, he has no idea Peter is Spiderman.

And another fun fact, it's not Johnny Deadpool is jealous of, it's Logan.

Peter has a very complicated relationship with the Avengers.

On one hand, he knows what they do and what they stand for- on the other hand, he's got a real problem with authority figures. He's been invited to the Avengers multiple times, in both realities.

The answer is always blanket N.O. (And, depending on whether it's stark asking, accompanied by a giant middle finger). (Though he's reluctantly agreed to have an avenger's phone in case there are any massive threats they need help with).

As for the members:

Stark gets on his nerves like nothing else. He's not super easy to rile up, but Stark's playboy arrogance (real or not), way he talks down at people, the self-appointed authority, the entitlement, and, of course, the fucking hypocrisy- it makes Spidey go 0 to 'cashmeoutside' immediately.

He and the Captain sometimes get along, but mostly when the Captain isn't in one of his preachy, pontificating moments. They do work very well together in a combat capacity, but they don't have much to talk about.

Thor is fine, but completely outside of Spidey's sphere and also, difficult to work with given his powers.

Bruce and Spidey just don't have much to talk about, and once again, Hulk is way too loud and can't particularly coordinate when they have to team up.

In general, H!Spiderman gets along with the more 'loner' heroes like Murdock, Deadpool, Black Widow, Bucky, Logan, Clint and so on.

(Side note, imagine he said all these shots fired shit to the Avengers and they were like 'no? none of this happened?' because it's not the same reality and Spiderman has to go home and die from the cringe???) (no we'll let him be cool for this)

-----

Once again, thank you so much for the asks!! I really appreciate all the love this AU has gotten and I hope these answers satisfy!!!

[aliesbienish]

The idea was good, the execution not so much

Established Buddie x Reader, ft our fave Diaz Chris. You and Chris plan a surprise for the boys, it doesn't quite go to plan.

The house was quiet when Eddie and Buck arrived home from a 24 hour shift. Usually when they finished at a reasonable hour they came home to hustle and bustle. You and Chris generally had music playing as you cooked up a storm throughout the kitchen.

Instead it was almost eerie silent in their house, in fact if it wasn’t for your car parked in the driveway they’d assume no one was home.

Buck shrugged at Eddie as they made the way down the hallway, peering in doors as they passed. It wasn't till they opened the door to the living room that they found any signs of life. Twinkling fairy lights were hung across the walls, basking the room in a light golden glow. Soft instrumental music was playing gently from the speaker and the table was set for four.

"What's going on?" Eddie whispered to his partner, Buck for his part looking just as bewildered. "Where are they?"

Buck shook his head in confusion, making his way into the living room. He spotted you and Chris pretty quickly, both sunk into the sofa fast asleep. Eddie followed him over and both men couldn't help the grin when they saw their partner and son, clearly accidentally napping while waiting for the boys to come home.

"Hi mijo," Eddie whispered, gently pulling Chris from your embrace and into his arms. "Dad! Bucky! You're home," He whispered wiping the sleep from his eyes.

"Mom and I were supposed to surprise you, we didn't mean to fall asleep,"

"We can see that superman." Buck whispered, "What's the big surprise?"

"Ay dios mio," Eddie suddenly exclaimed, staring down at Chris in shock.

"What Eds?" Buck questioned.

"Look at Chris' shirt Ev,"

Chris grinned stretching out so Buck could read it properly. There sprawled across his tiny chest were the words 'BEST BIG BROTHER'.

"Oh my god," Buck gasped, mouth opening and closing but no other words coming out.

"Surprise," You whispered nervously, having woken up from your nap to Eddie's shout of shock. Both boys whipped around to face you, as you grinned sheepishly.

"Baby, is this true? It's not a prank right?" Buck whispered, placing his hand across your stomach like he already expected a big bump to be there.

"It is, I found out yesterday. Chris and I had a big plan to tell you both, there's even a bun sitting in the oven," When Evan got a look of concern on his face you followed up with "the oven is turned off, I promise."

"You're sure? About being pregnant I mean."

"Positive, literally." Handing over multiple tests to each of the boys, all with the same result. "Chris was actually the one who mentioned it, I may be slightly bias but I think our son is a genius,"

"So Amy from school, her Mom is pregnant too and she was talking about how she is feeling sick and getting tired more often." Chris chattered happily, "So then when Mom was like that the last week I thought that maybe she was."

"That's great superman," Buck said absentmindedly.

You couldn't help but notice that Eddie hadn't even spoken yet, and Buck's tone was making you worried. While you had discussed expanding your family before, it was always talked about in the vague future and the idea that maybe they weren't ready was chewing you up.

"Hey Chris honey, I think you should get the card we made for your dads! I think it's sitting in your bedroom." He excitedly agreed, giving you a short time to talk to your partners.

"I know this is a shock, but is this okay? It's sudden but I love you both soo much and.."

"Baby," Buck interrupted, wrapping you in his arms. "this is the greatest gift you could ever give me. I can't wait to have another child with you two, honestly I can't wait to see Chris as a big brother." You sighed in relief knowing at least one of your partners was on board.

"Eds?" Buck whispered while directing the other mans head up gently with his hand and gently placing a kiss on his forehead. You both noticed the tears in his eyes as he struggled for words.

"I am so so grateful to you [y/n], for allowing me the opportunity to get to be a dad to another child again. I love you more than words can express." Tears of happiness began to fall down your cheeks as he pressed a soft peck to your lips and place his hand gently on your belly.

"And Buck, I can't wait to watch you be a Dad to this baby. You are an amazing parent to Chris but I am honored to be a dad with you again to this baby, to get to watch you Buck, and you too [y/n], get to experience every little moment together. Between us and Chris this baby is going to be so loved and cherished,"

Buck and Eddie wrapped you between them in a hug, whispering words of excitement and joy. You only parted when Chris came back in the room, a grin on his face as he thrust the card towards Eddie and Buck.

"Here" he grinned, passing over the card with the front reading '10 reasons why going to the zoo will help me be a better big brother!'

[mikerickson]

I worked as a poll worker for the first time yesterday

After the primaries in the summer, our County recognized that they had a poll worker shortage leading into the election this year and started putting out advertisements to bring new people in. I realized that I didn't know literally a single person in my life that had been a poll worker before and that it was something I had always taken for granted. With this looming shortage however, I decided to step up and do my civic duty because why not? After a three hour in-person training session and a two hour online training session, I was ready to go.

More under the cut because honestly some of these interactions with voters are kinda depressing:

I had only signed up to do a half-day shift from 5:15 AM to 1:00 PM because I figured I'd be wiped out and exhausted if I did a whole day. Well turns out that my replacement who was supposed to take up the evening shift never showed up, so I ended up staying. I got to the polling location (a local high school) at 5:00 AM and left at 9:30 PM, effectively working a 16.5 hour day with only a 1 hour lunch break. I'll get a $300 check in two weeks, which, hey, beats jury duty!

By law our polling center was supposed to open to the public at 6:00 AM sharp, but we were scrambling and not ready yet when the vote-before-work crowd started banging on the door. Very stressful start to the morning and we immediately had a big line that didn't dwindle down until about 7:30 AM. I unironically wish I had gotten there even earlier.

Our polling location had four districts, and each district had four workers (two to man the check-in table, one to operate the voting booths and ballot scanners, and one to float/rotate out every so often). I was paired with a man and a woman both in their seventies and a woman maybe in her mid forties, but they were all clearly uncomfortable with technology. Two of the other districts were also staffed by old people who just gave up at the first sign of a problem with a touch screen or a printer jam. I'm talking just a complete lack of problem-solving capabilities. I ended up running triple duty checking people in, making sure voters were set up in their booths properly, and doing on-the-fly tech support and troubleshooting. It felt rewarding multitasking and hearing, "get Mike over here, he'll fix it" over and over, but I kinda wish I didn't have to?

We only had two voters make a scene over the course of the entire day. During the morning rush right after opening a woman raised her voice asking why there was a line and stressing out that she had to leave to go to work soon (she stuck it out in line and then bolted out of there). Later around lunch time a guy at one of the other districts' tables shouted something like, "oh, so my dad can vote here but I can't?" He stormed out in a pissy mood shortly after, but I never got the full story of what was going on there.

I had one man who had recently moved and hadn't updated his registration with the board of elections, so his address didn't match what was on file. I explained that he could still vote if he did a provisional ballot, which is basically like a mail-in ballot that you put in a special envelope and leave at the polling station instead of taking it to a drop-off box. Apparently that was a step too far and he just said, "forget it..." and left. Seemed odd to me that he 1) physically drove to a voting location to vote and 2) waited in line to sign in, but that filling out a single sheet of paper was no longer worth it.

Once we were fully set up and getting into the flow of things most of the delays and reasons for lines were the voters taking too long inside the booths. It was basically a giant touchscreen monitor to select your choices, then you review everything one last time before printing a physical ballot. I had multiple people enter the booth and then wait about five minutes before calling for help saying they didn't know what to do. Also the second page/backside of the ballot was for the local Board of Education candidates, and this was really tripping up a lot of people. Also a staggering amount of people just did not see the giant "NEXT" arrow at the bottom right hand side of the screen. Poll workers are not allowed to enter the booth with them, so I had to do a lot of blind troubleshooting from the other side of the curtain.

Lots of men coming in with their wives and girlfriends and just waiting by the wall while the women voted but they didn't.

There was a smattering of young people, but not many. I did have to turn one girl away who recently turned 18 because New Jersey is not a same-day voter registration state. She was visibly bummed out and I felt bad about that.

Our oldest voter of the day was this ancient Polish woman who didn't speak a lick of English. Her daughter, who must've been in her eighties herself, had to sign a special permission slip to enter the booth with her mother to help. They were in there for a good 15 minutes, but luckily this was during a calm period of the day.

In terms of voter attire, we only had two Harris shirts and one Harris/Walz hat we had to ask people to cover up because that's not allowed within 100 feet of the polling station. Lots of Puerto Rico flags, and one guy had this obnoxious shirt of a coquí painted like the flag that I loved. Also had one man come in wearing a very sharp suit with the loudest red tie I've ever seen in my life who proudly shouted, "Let's make voting great again!" as he left after he finished.

One older Hispanic lady (I think she was Puerto Rican) had very broken English and had to do a provisional ballot for some reason. She was so worried she was going to do it wrong, but I walked her through it with my very broken Spanish and after about 20 minutes she was good to go. She was extremely thankful and gave me a hug.

I had one woman, maybe in her mid-forties, call me over to help when she was inside the booth. She asked, "why are there so many names?" I asked what she meant, and she started listing the down-ballot candidates in the other rows below President and Vice President. She said, "what is 'Senate'? What does that mean?" I explained to her that there were other contests to vote for, and after a telling pause she responded, "...okay..." Not entirely sure I got through to her.

One woman took her very young daughter into the booth with her and a few minutes later called me over. Her screen displayed a "USB device disconnected" error. I looked down and saw that the printer had been turned off. I asked how that happened and the little girl started laughing. Her mother was mortified, but I got them sorted out.

We had one teenager who we had to help insert her ballot into the scanner because her hands were shaking so violently. It was her first time voting and she was extremely nervous. I hope she's doing okay today.

Towards the end of the night this contractor with filthy hands comes in and he's clearly exhausted but wanted to vote anyway. We were shooting the breeze while he signed his voting authority and I said, "I bet I got you beat though, I woke up at 4:30 this morning." He looks up at me and deadpans, "I've been up since 3:30." I yielded and he laughed with me.

Our second-to-last voter of the day was some early-twenties guy who moseyed on in at 7:55 PM (polls legally close at 8:00 PM sharp) and said, "I heard this was going on today." Somehow he was registered and was able to get in and out in no time, but that was just such a casual remark to make that it floored me.

Our absolute last voter of the day was a woman who was on her cellphone the entire time trying to coax her husband - who was in his own car about two blocks away from the sounds of it - to hurry on over before we closed. I could hear him hemming and hawing over it, making some excuse. He didn't make it.

Closing the polls was equally as confusing and stressful as opening them was because there are a lot of very detailed ballot reports to print and specific zip ties with specific barcodes and serial numbers to close up the machines. We were missing a certain lock for the ballot bag that we was preventing all sixteen of us from leaving (no one can leave until all districts at the polling location are ready). Eventually I (because of course it was me) found it in a trash can; someone had thrown it out for some reason but no one owned up to doing it.

As we were leaving and all saying goodbye, some of the other poll workers joked, "see you guys in four years!" I pointed out that there are elections every year, and that in fact New Jersey has a gubernatorial election next year, and some of them basically said, "I didn't know that."

Overall a stressful but memorable day. Today I was talking to some co-workers that voted at different locations within my County (so using the same equipment I was trained on), and they were telling me stories of waiting between 45 minutes to two and a half hours at most. My location never got a line that bad, which maybe had to do with the location I got assigned, but it's also just as possible that me and one other guy around my age (shout out to Giovanni working District 27!) held our shit down and prevented that from happening.

It was a very long day that wiped me out. In a vacuum I don't know that I would want to do it again, but after seeing the incompetence of the standard ilk of poll workers and learning what was happening at other locations, I really feel like I need to. I'd rather these things be run by people like me than not.

[rhiannonsknife]

oh i am OBSESSED with that detective!r and rhiannon fic... if you don't mind i have Thoughts about it

it's a little different from what you proposed but detective!r who doesn't know rhiannon but rhiannon knows you... she always comes back to the scene of the crime and lately she's been noticing this pesky little detective sticking your nose where you don't belong

so, she does some research. and by god, she's obsessed with you

she's stopped killing people for her own personal reasons - she's completely consumed with killing to see your reaction, the way you curse out the killer under your breath every time you see a new body

when she starts writing your name in blood at the scene, you know that you're in far too deep to go back

to make it even better, you've tried interrogating her. she was one of your most pleasant witnesses and she even offered to take you out to get coffee. the whole time you were there with her, she was so sweet and so kind, offering to pay for both of your orders. she couldn't have anything to do with it; she was just an innocent girl who was caught in the crosshairs of this gruesome serial killer. right? right?

need her so effing bad UGHHH -🪐

— warnings: canon typical violence/dark content. obsessive!rhiannon & possessive!rhiannon. gn!reader. some suggestive content. didn’t beta read (as always).

— a/n: this ask had me thinking omfg.

rhiannon who gets obsessed with you the moment she first sees you.

it all starts the moment she first sees you at the scene of her latest kill. she tends to linger, to watch from afar to see how the investigation is coming along. it’s not like people tend to pay attention to rhiannon’s presence anyway, so she’s comfortable to stay and see what’ll happen. you’re different from the other detectives, she instantly senses that. and, oh, how she hates it -at first. you’re clearly underestimated by your colleagues, despite the fact that you’re much better and smarter than all of them combined. you catch details others are unaware of until you point them out with an intensity rhiannon hadn’t expected. for the first time ever, she feels a thrill from something other than killing.

that night, she spends hours researching all that she can find out about you.

sprawled out on her couch, rhiannon spends hours combing through your social media, any public records, and every small mention of your life she can find online. by the end of it, she knows your favorite coffee shop, the route you take to work, and even the way you laugh, thanks to an obscure interview clip she found buried online. she imagines what it would be like to meet you in a “normal” setting. just two strangers talking over coffee. she imagines all sorts of scenarios, picturing countless ways of how she could get you to notice her. but that’s not enough. she needs more.

rhiannon who starts killing for you.

before she 'met' you, she'd been killing for her own satisfaction the most of all: murdering people who wronged her, people who continue to underestimate her, who pretend like she's not there at all 90% of the time. that is until she meets you. once she has gathered enough information about you and has learned that you are the one who's taking over the investigation of her murder case, she makes it her mission for you to see her. she's consumed by the idea of murdering for you.

obviously, you can't figure out that it's her. but she can still very much get your attention:

when you start to find your name scrawled in blood at multiple crime scenes, your stomach twists. you don’t know if it’s taunting or a bizarre kind of flirtation, but you can’t shake the feeling that this killer has an extremely personal fixation on you. rhiannon finds a sick satisfaction in knowing that she’s the only one who truly understands you. and that soon, you’ll understand her, too.

rhiannon, whose obsession only gets worse.

she starts following you around, whether it's by walking after you at a safe distance or by driving her dad's truck. only being in your presence thrills her. she can't think of anything that's not the next kill and what she can leave behind for you at the crime scene this time. after a while, you start to receive anonymous letters at your home. they’re handwritten, sweet, and yet filled with hints that leave a chill down your spine: each one contains personal details only someone very close (or very obsessed) would know. you start to dread going home alone each night, wondering if the killer is watching even then.

and, still, you're determined to catch this killer.

it's almost like you're just as obsessed with solving this case: you work relentlessly and stay in for much longer than anyone would ever know, sometimes running on no sleep at all just to try and connect the dots that are scattered all across your hometown in from of bloody crime scenes. once, while working late, you glance up from your desk to find somebody outside the station, watching through the window. it's just a silhouette that waves and, before you can react, turns and disappears into the shadows.

she makes watching you from afar a habit she can't seem to shake off:

hidden in plain sight, she watches you work a scene, observing your expressions as you piece together clues she’s laid just for you. the way you curse under your breath or tense at a particularly dark detail excites her; it’s like she’s guiding you through a personal maze, she’s drawing you closer with every carefully crafted move.

rhiannon, who even goes as far as to leave gifts for you right at your doorstep.

they’re seemingly innocent items: flowers, trinkets, chocolates...always with notes like “you looked tired today” or “thought you’d like this.” but you know better. there’s nothing innocent about these gestures; they’re reminders that she’s closer than you think. in one of her letters, she writes: “every kill is for you.” the revelation is twisted, sick even, but the obsessive way she describes her admiration for you leaves you feeling trapped in her gaze. you start to wonder if this chase will end only when she’s taken everything from you. or if you’ll end up her final victim.

at this rate, she catches feelings for you before she even knows what's happening to her:

she follows you on a night out, intrigued by how you relax away from work. when you laugh with friends, she feels a strange jealousy toward anyone who’s close to you. to rhiannon, this outing feels like an unofficial date, watching you from a corner as if she’s already a part of your life. later, she imagines herself sitting beside you, whispering her secrets in your ear, knowing she could charm you if given the chance.

rhiannon, whose obsession which was originally supposed to be a cat-and-mouse game that she was in control over, turns into a sense of possessiveness.

alone in her room, she whispers your name just to hear the sound of it aloud. she fantasizes about how you’d react if you knew she’d been studying you so closely if you knew that every kill from here on out was a twisted attempt to draw you closer. rhiannon, who somehow steals something from you, whether it is by sneaking into your home whilst you're out or by reaching into your purse in passing. either way, she uses it, later that same night, when she's home alone and dares to touch herself to the thought of you. she finds herself almost longing for you to figure it out, to see her completely. she’s begun to view each kill as a love letter, a message only you can fully understand, and in some dark corner of her mind, she starts to believe you might actually feel the same way.

but even that is not enough for her. she wants you to know her. to look at her, without the slightest clue who's really in front of you.

so, rhiannon plays the role of the clueless witness: after a particularly grisly scene, she shows up at the station, pretending to have seen something, and strikes up a surprisingly casual conversation with you. she even convinces you to take a break for coffee: she offers to buy, her voice light and friendly, as if she’s not the very person keeping you up at night.

rhiannon, who starts accidentally running into you.

she begins appearing in unexpected places: your favorite bookstore, the cafe near your precinct, and even outside the gym. she plays it off like coincidence, but you can’t shake the feeling she’s watching you. every “chance” encounter leaves you more on edge, especially as her excuses get flimsier, her curiosity too intense for a stranger. her gaze lingers just a bit too long, and she throws out casual details she should never know about you. but then again, there's no way this innocent woman could ever be responsible for all these gruesome crimes, right...?

you brush off these suspicions, not really believing that rhiannon could be capable of these murders.

and still, during another coffee date (which become a habit between the two of you) she drops a casual line, mentioning a detail about your personal life you never told her: maybe the nickname your family used or an obscure detail about your childhood. when you press her about it, she insists that she read it somewhere or “just remembered” from one of your conversations. but her gaze lingers, enjoying how much she’s unsettling you.

rhiannon, who starts acting possessive over you without really noticing it herself.

out in public, she lets her fingers brush against yours. she’ll throw an arm around you casually, especially when she notices other people noticing. to rhiannon, it’s a game of establishing her claim, marking her territory.

after some time, she finally invites you to her place, claiming she wants to “return the favor” of all your coffee dates.

when you arrive, the atmosphere is too perfect, too staged, with dim lighting and chillingly specific music playing softly. every word she says feels more like a veiled confession, every look a taunt as she watches you grapple with the tension between attraction and horror. it’s not until you see a framed newspaper clipping of one of her murders in the hall that you realize she wanted you here for more than a simple dinner...

[lovemyromance]

Have the eluciens ever considered that perhaps the reason Elain acts so uncomfortable and avoids Lucien and apathetic around him and says "I don't want a mate" is not because she secretly feels eternal love for him and wants to fuck him 24/7" ..... and maybe because ....

SHE JUST DOESN'T WANT HIM???

like my god. It is not that hard to understand that maybe - just maybe - elains actions and words match and this time - this woman just honestly doesn't want that man? I know it's hard to believe because yall have such hardons for Lucien (??) but .... maybe she doesn't want him and she means that!???

There's only one reason Eluciens want an Elain POV - and it's not because they love Elain and want to know her struggles and fears and hopes and dreams. They want Elain's POV bc they are still holding onto some desperate hope that her POV might say that she is avoiding Lucien and shrinking around him because ..... she's in love with him?? She's making out with Azriel and getting aroused for him because .... she wants Lucien, I guess???

If she wanted Lucien - genuinely what reason does she have to hide it?? Nobody is standing in their way and Feyre was initially trying to push them together as early as ACOWAR.

She is not Feyre. She is not Nesta. And it's important to remember that before people go around trying to compare these very different scenarios.

Everyone could tell Feyre & Nesta had chemistry and wanted Rhysand & Cassian, regardless of their brief avoidance and dancing around of each other and flirtations with others. They had major scenes of buildup even before their actual "couple" book.

Here - you have the opposite. Multiple characters are noticing Elain just doesn't want Lucien. They are noticing he's just as uncomfortable around her. Elain is developing a deep level of understanding for Azriel, not her mate.

I genuinely can't believe that people are trying to use the logic that "oh Feyre and Nesta also avoided their mates" as a reason for Elucien to still be happening. As if every character and their mother hasn't pointed out just how different these situations are.

Like.... ok... keep holding out hope for your Hail Mary of Elain maybe secretly wanting Lucien and doing everything in her power to NOT show that (for what reason idk - nobody stands in their way of getting together).

But some part of you HAS to accept that maybe Elain is showing her true feelings on the subject.... and maybe someone should finally believe her.

[a-998h]

Emotional Storm

Well, this is not good. Vaggie and I just joined everyone else downstairs. What I'm now looking at is Charlie with red string, papers, and a multiple cork boards while she looks like she hasn't slept. He'll, she's not even fully put together as she only has her shirt, bootie, pants, and apparently suspenders on. She's mumbling about stuff relating to the hotel, but I can't hear her. We're all worried, especially Vaggie. I have no idea where Alastor is, but that takes a backseat to whatever is happening with Charlie.

"Charlie?...Sweetie, you, uh. You good?" Vaggie asks.

"Nope, no! Not really! Haha!" Charlie tells her.

That does nothing to reassure any of us. Charlie goes on about how she's trying to figure out why the hotel isn't working. As she rambles I feel the fucking hotel start to shake! Her hair briefly flairs up, and a pair of horns grows from her head and disappear just as fast. I give Charlie a hug, and she returns said hug in a manner that will either break my neck of suffocate me. As she starts spiraling once more, Vaggie speaks up.

"Maybe it's time..." Vaggie says.

"No," Charlie responds to the half finished sentence

"To ask..." Vaggie continues.

"Don't say it." Charlie begs.

"Your dad," Vaggie finishes.

Charlie groans as Vaggie finishes her sentence. Vaggie assures Charlie that as much as Charlie hates the idea, we need as many people on our side as we can get. My eyes widen as the only way for Charlie to be princess of Hell is if her dad is... Lucifer. My heart rate soars at the thought of seeing Lucifer himself. The only version of Lucifer I know is the hot version played by Tom Ellis. But, since Hell is now my new reality, I might actually get to meet the real Lucifer.

"He let the extermination happen to begin with. They just had a meeting and said, 'Go ahead and kill everyone!'" Charlie rants.

I highly doubt that's what actually happened, but Charlie knows he dad better than I do so I'll have to take her word for it. Charlie gasps, and says she has an idea. Vaggie asks if her idea is killing everyone, but Charlie shakes her head.

"He could get me a meeting with Heaven," Charlie explains cheerfully.

Vaggie reminds Charlie that there was a meeting with Heaven, lead by dickmaster, I mean Adam. Charlie says that it doesn't count cause Adam is an asshole, which seems like a fair observation. She reasons that Adam isn't in charge of all of Heaven, so there must be some angels who will listen. Charlie pulls out her phone and turns her back. Me and Husk can sense the hesitation in the air. Husk asks Charlie what the hold up is.

"You got daddy issues?" He asks.

Charlie explains that after her parents divorce she was never close with her dad, so basically admitting she has daddy issues. I kind of know how Charlie feels, except I have mommy issues. Everyone shares their excitement about meeting Lucifer, and Angel has to pull the knife out of Niffty's hand.

As Charlie calls her dad, I can tell things are rocky. As Charlie wads through this awkward conversation I give her a thumbs up and a smile. Charlie beats around the bush until she gains the courage to say what we need.

"I need to speak to Heaven. Well, whoever in charge up there, above Adam, above anybody. I need to go to the top!" Charlie asks.

I smile, happy that Charlie finally worked up the courage to ask for this giant favor. From the look her face, I can guess Mr.Lucifer said no. Charlie gets annoyed and starts practically begging for her dad's help. Vaggie grabs her hand and comforts her.

"Please, just come see what I'm trying to do. You'll see why it's a really good idea and Heaven is bound to agree if I get the chance to talk to them," Charlie begs her dad.

It hurts my heart seeing Charlie look so sad. But, her expression changes to a small smile before she pulls the phone away from her ear. So, we now have an hour before Lucifer, King of Hell, gets to the hotel. Vaggie goes toned down drill sergeant mode, holding a rolled up paper in a threating manner. I help where I can, mostly with setting up the food and drinks table. I'm still so nervous, and I guess it was visible on my face. By now, Charlie is fully dressed and ready.

"Hey, you ok?" Charlie asks me.

"Yeah, I'm just worried. I mean, you're dad is a big deal," I confess to her.

Charlie pats my head, assuring me that her dad will love me. Alastor has finally come down from his room. He asks me what's happening and I explain what's happening. The aura around him changes, and it makes me feel off. He pinches my cheeks and tells me to be on my best behavior. Something felt off, that ever present smile was hiding something.

"Ok everyone, it's show time!" Charlie tells us.

She opens the door and standing on the other side is a short guy with sharp teeth, wearing a large, white top hat and a red and white outfit similar to a ring master. Charlie greets her dad, who hugs her in what appears to be a bone crushing hug. The look in Alastor's eyes is not reflected in his smile. Apparently, the cat is named Keekee and the two demons that follow Charlie are Razzle and Dazzle. I never expected to the king of Hell to be so... silly. I keep these thoughts to myself cause the silliness might be a front.

"Wow, this place sure looks, uh... uh-huh. Yeah. Uh-huh. It's got a lot of character," Lucifer says as he walks around the lobby.

It doesn't take him long to notice the werid bar spot. Alastor uses his werid shadow magic to appear near Lucifer, his voice dripping with contempt. The two throw jabs at each other, and this is the first time I hear Alastor swear and Angel begrudgingly hands me some money from our running bet about Alastor being incapable of swearing. Charlie separated the pair and showed her dad the parlor, praising Alastor for his contribution to the hotel.

"Charlie, dear, why don't you introduce me to your other friends?" Lucifer redirects.

Charlie starts off by introducing Vaggie, to which her dad makes it awkward by getting a tad overly excited. Vaggie brushes off the awkwardness and Charlie directs her dad's attention to me, Sir Pentious, and Angel.

"Your Majesty!" Sir Pentious says with a salute before landing face first into a tray of cookies.

Angel, using his flirty voice, calls Lucifer a short king.

"And this is Reader, our youngest guest," Charlie tells her dad.

Lucifer's POV

I look at the guess Charlie points out. They don't look any older than a teenager. Poor kid, but they must've done something to end up in Hell... wait, are those angel wings. I rush towards the kid, giving them a hug, I get a closer look at the wings. Yep, these are genuine angel wings... like the ones I have. Azrael has been sending me letters, and shared news of an angel who was put on trial for not only disobeying Heaven, but also having sex with a mortal... a mortal. Holy fuck, this kid isn't just any sinner, they're the kid of that angel! The poor thing probably doesn't know, and who knows if Heaven knows about them. They're happy here, and all of Heaven's rules and expectations would crush that joy... they don't deserve that. Don't worry duckling, I'll keep you safe.

"Hello, your Majesty," the duckling calls me.

I laugh it off, trying to put them at ease.

"You don't need to be so formal, you may call me, Lucifer!" I tell them.

They nod, that's good. Today it's Lucifer, in a few months it'll be dad!

Reader's POV

Charlie introduces Husk and Niffty to her dad. After Niffty says "I clean", the chandelier almost falls on Lucifer!

*Timeskip*

"Oh you tack piece of..." Lucifer sings before the front door is kicked open.

"It's me! Yes, it's me!! I know you were all waiting for me. I'm here, what a gas. Took a while but I'm present at last! It's me! It's me! Mimzzzyyyyyy!" Some random flapper lady sings.

"Who?" Lucifer asks.

She gets annoyed, and ask why everyone is staring at her. She thinks it's cause we think she's adorable, I'm staring because she just kicked to the door open and sang part of a musical number. Alastor walks to this Mimzy lady with open arms. It's clear the two know each other. They hug and Mimzy explains how "I was in the neighborhood". I highly doubt that but whatever. She calsl the hotel a "ritzy slob factory" and says that everyone is welcome here. Charlie is so happy to learn that Alastor has more friends.

"Oh, yeah. We go way back, ran in the same circles when we were alive. You know, this one use to frequent the club where I used to perform. He's the only one I know who could pound whiskey like a sailor then keep up with me on the dance floor," she says.

I look at Alastor and I just have a hard time imagining him getting shitfaced drunk. I've never seen him drink, so maybe he doesn't like Hell alcohol? Alastor praises and jokes about seeing Mimzy in her heyday, to which she says she's still in her prime as she pulls up the front of her dress. She turns her head and sees Lucifer. I see her push Sir Pentious out of her way as she walks over. She gives a curtesy before telling Alastor that, "You gotta warn a girl when she's in mixed company." Lucifer plays along before returning his attention to me.

"As much as I'd lobe to catch up, Charlie and I have a tour to continue," Alastor tells Mimzy.

Lucifer says that Charlie is capable of doing it herself, to which Alastor shuts that idea done. He tells Mimzy to stay with the rest of us here as he follow, Lucifer, Charlie, and Vaggie. Mimzy wanders over to the bar where Husk sounds very upset that Mimzy is here. Mimzy then turns her attention to Niffty, who is chasing after a roach. Husk, reluctantly, slips Mimzy a drink after he makes a martini for Angel and pours some juice for me.

"So, you and Alastor are like what? Friends?" Angel asks.

Mimzy says that's a fitting word for it. Sir Pentious, Angel, and I share a look of surprise. Mimzy ask why were all surprised, and Angel says that he didn't know Alastor had any friends, bring up how much of a mystery Alastor still is despite being here a long time.

Mimzy tells us how Alastor randomly showed up in Hell and was disregarded until heavy hitter overlords started going missing. No one knew what happened until a radio broadcast of the missing overlords screams appeared, and that he never lacked new voices to add once he reveled himself as the radio demon. Mimzy ends by saying that Alastor becomes a kitten if you give him "a couple fingers of rye" and play jazz muzic.

I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. I knew Alastor wasn't one to be messed with, but this... holy fuck. Angel uses one of his hands to pet my hair, whispering comforting things to me.

"Shush, shush, it's ok bambino," he tells me.

Mimzy tries to downplay the scare factor of Alastor, saying that he hasn't done any of that for awhile. Husk is gone and Sir Pentious is also scared. I knew Alastor was dangerous based on what I was told, but this... this makes me fear for my safety. Tears prock the corners of my eyes as Angel tries his best to calm me down.

Extermination and Alastor being a psychotic murderer scares me, I'm so scared. Angel pulls me into a side hug, promising to bring me Fat Nuggets later. That makes me feel a bit better, and I thank Angel. Sir Pentious brings me the tray of the cookies he and Niffty baked. The cookies taste amazing and I thank him for sharing.

"This... This must be real scary for you, bambino?" Angel asks.

I nod, there's no point in hiding it. Angel reassures me that I'll be safe so long as I don't leave the hotel. This moment of warm, feels really, really nice. Sure, I'm in Hell, but I'm surrounded by decent ish folks who like me.

"My dear child, just know we'll make sure nothing happens to you," Sir Pentious syas. That makes me feel even better. This is a moment of comfort I never expected to experience in Hell, but here it is. I never want this warm moment to end. The moment is soon ruined by the hotel shaking.

"Mimzy, we know you're in there you lousy bitch!" A dep voice yells from outside.

I look at Mimzy as she slinks to the floor. Vaggie, Lucifer, and Charlie come through a portal and we all look to Mimzy for an explanation.

"I maaaaaaay be in some trouble with some loan shark's I may or may not have borrowed fifty grand from," she says. This is followed by more banging from the front door and Mimzy hiding next to Husk behind the bar. We can all hear the loan sharks yelling from outside, and they're out for blood.

"And I may have stolen a car... and crashed it... into the loan shark's girlfriend. But that bitch had it coming!" Mimzy says.

The loan sharks are still trying to batter down the door and I'm glaring at her. Rule one of loan sharks, dont fuck with them and she failed at that spectacularly! Fireballs come through the windows, which upsets Niffty. We all start panicking and trying to keep the hotel from falling apart while Lucifer is telling Charlie that she can't expect any better from sinners.

Vaggie gears up to fight, but Alastor stops her. He looks at me, telling me to cover my ears and close my eyes before he pats my head. The area glows green as black tentacles sprout from his back and his eyes turn to old fashioned radio dials. I hear the loan sharks screaming even as I have my eyes closed. I feel and hand on my shoulder and it's Angel pulling me behind and upturned couch. Charlie snaps, yelling at her father about how despite Alastor handling the situation more sadistically than she would like, Alastor is doing it for Charlie.

"How come he can have faith in me but my own father can't?" She asks, her tone sad.

Angel pulls a bag of popcorn from nowhere and is invested in this "drama".

Alastor's POV

"Oh, I missed getting to let off steam," I say to myself.

Hearing footsteps behind me I assume it's Charlie or mon petitange, but much to my dismay, it's Mimzy. Mimzy praises my display of violence, but I peek over her shoulder to see mon petit ange sharing popcorn with the spider and Husk. We'll, it's nice to see this incident didn't traumatize them. Mimzy "apologizes" and says that Charlie could take care of mess for me.

"I think you should fo Mimzy. Niw." I strenly tell her.

She laughs, clearly thinking I'm joking.

"I mean it. You deliberately brought danger to this place and mon petit ange just to have me clean up your mess. I can't have that here," I tell her.

She keeps thinking I'm joking,. She asks if I care about the hotel, while that is debatable, I do want mon petit ange out of danger. I warn her for the last time to leave and she storms off like a child throwing a tantrum.

Reader' POV

I chuckle as Mimzy storms off. Our attention is back on Charlie and Lucifer. Charlie is begging him to help and him turning it down.

*One Muiscal number later*

"Aww, that was sweet," Sir Pentious says with tears in his eyes.

I wipe my eyes. It reminds me of my own dad... the one I left behind when I died. Sir Pentious gives me a side hug, and Lucifer says that he can get Charlie the meeting. Charlie assures her dad that she'll be OK in Heaven. Once he has that assurance, he disappears in a swirl of gold and red magic. I give Charlie a strong hug, one that she returns.

"This next part is gonna be scary. You ready?" Vaggie asks Charlie.

Charlie pulls Vaggie into a hug, saying that she's ready cause she'll have Vaggie with her.

"In spirit, right?" Vaggie asks, clearly uneasy about this.

"In Heaven," Charlie declares.

Vaggies gives an uneasy yay, still trapped in the hug. Now, things are going to get scary and things are going to change. But, I'm ready now more than ever for change.

[unauthorized-author]

Duskfur anon is so real for this.

Possibly Unpopular Opinion; I don't care if leaders are old or not. It's funny that Mistystar dropped dead because she was old. We need more stuff like that in these books. Imagine if Squilf and, say, Leafstar both died at the same time from old age factors? (I know this would never happen). I'm sure Hawkwing is pretty old as well, so toss him in there.

Succession crisis like RiverClan, but cranked up to the extreme. Two Clans without leaders? A disaster to manage. Ivypool would obviously become Ivystar, but a lot of cats in ThunderClan are old (old as in who the Erins would choose for deputy) and a lot of them never had apprentices. Say Ivypool chooses Thornclaw and he dies from old age within a short time period. Oh no.

Tree could hypothetically lead SkyClan, but he doesn't seem to like to take on leadership roles, with his work ethic as a warrior and whatnot.

There are easy solutions to both of these problems and it's just… choose a younger leader/deputy, but imagine after Splashtail? Imagine if Clan Cats saw younger cats as more prone to corruption. It would just be a cycle of old cats dying in leadership positions until someone calls the bs or decides to take a chance.

Ivypool: "Flipclaw will be the deputy."

ThunderClan background cat: "He can't even be a medicine cat!"

It's Owlnose unable to be a leader but managing as the deputy. Someone just has to tell them what to do (or guide them if Icestar is nice). But Ivypool, as much as the narrative wants to insist otherwise, is a massive bratty pain. You could argue her grief and such but before that…

Sure, she was an apprentice with the entire situation with Dovewing, but even into adulthood she held petty grudges against Dove. Imagine that as a leader. But she's older and has more experience, so everyone turns a blind eye.

And back to Tree, he was made a mediator because of his problem-solving skills. Imagine SkyClan cats make Tree the temporary leader until he uses those skills to find them a new one. Imagine the burden? What if Tree just disappears often to take a breather, thus leaving SkyClan in a far longer succession crisis. Some cats in the Clans are canonically resistant to change (e.g. Berryheart, Duskfur, Brackenpelt, etc.).

And imagine Rootspring, who already doesn't have the best relationship with Tree? Since his father is thrust onto centerstage and Rootspring occasionally wishes he had a different cat for a father (unless the Erins completely dropped this between books, dealing w/ Bristlefrost grief in IH does not fix his daddy issues), imagine if Rootspring distanced himself from Tree and SkyClan as much as possible, thus leading to yet another burden on Tree.

Should he prioritize his son's distance, or should he handle to responsibility the Clan placed on him?

And Violetshine's grief at Hawkwing dying since he was one of the reasons she joined SkyClan. For Tree, it's like a life for a life for multiple lives. Violetshine is already pretty insecure and reclusive (again unless the Erins dropped this in favor of her recent "mother" personality), so Tree would obviously have to set some time aside for her.

What if Rootspring struggled between helping his mother deal with the grief of his grandfather dying and avoiding his own father?

What if Tree stepped down? He's good at staying collected under pressure, but everyone starts to crack eventually, and his aforementioned flaws at being a typical SkyClan warrior, and just fitting in generally, would not help at all.

He could turn to ShadowClan for help, but SkyClan and ShadowClan had their grievances in the past, and while Tree might not hold a grudge against Tigerstar II, imagine if other SkyClan cats did? He was shown getting frustrated when a compromise couldn't be found between Sky and Shadow the first or second time.

The succession crisis' could be SO INTERESTING. For SkyClan, it could be a personal vs public life problem for our hypothetical protagonist in this situation (Tree), and what one does when they're seen as a symbol of intelligence and calmness but, at the end of the day, having emotions which means they're not.

ThunderClan wouldn't necessarily have a succession crisis in the traditional sense, but it would be a matter of breaking the newfound tradition of only appointing older cats to leadership positions and trusting younger cats for a change. For Ivypool, or in this case Ivystar, it'd be a matter of letting go of old habits and actually maturing as a character, not the narrative just saying she did.

Sure, as a deputy, she's important, but she can get away with being still bratty and such since Squirrelstar would be able to cover her, but as Ivystar, the only one who can cover her is herself. We've seen deputies in the past who tried to cover for their leaders, but ultimately failed because, well, they're not the leader. They're the second-in-command. Second.

same Duskfur anon but now i want to talk about other cool things Duskfur did that proves she should've been a complete asshole: - Was willing to attack Jayfeather (a blind medicine cat) - Attacked Cloverfoot (Shadowclan deputy) - Mocked Scorchfur - Met with Berryheart - Mocked Tigerheartstar - Supported Frostpaw's exile to a degree (for mocking Tigerheartstar when he took her in) - Argued about Frostdawn training as a warrior - Argued about Icestar being temporary leader - Once again literally argued Mistystar to death and shown little to no remorse afterward - Argued about Harelight being Frostpaw's mentor - "I'm not convinced the living world needed saving." Just wanted to include that quote from her Also Duskfur is just interesting to me as a character. Her kits have no listed father, so I like to interpret it as the father being a rogue. ik a lot of fan interpretation is Reedwhisker being the father, sorry lol. but a rogue is just more interesting to me. It also makes more sense to me. Podlight has white on him, and is shown to be at least partially a point. Neither Duskfur nor Reedwhisker have a hint of white or is a point (Reedwhisker is described as a black tom). ik warriors doesn't follow irl cat genetics, but Duskfur has unknown parents, so my headcanon is that recessive point runs in the bloodline, and that Duskfur is just a tabby masking point (having the colorpoint gene but not expressing it, thus being a tabby instead) from her parents, and the recessive gene passed to Podlight who expressed it bc the rogue was a colorpoint. how Frostdawn is a colorpoint despite neither Curlfeather nor Jayclaw being described as colorpoints is beyond me. Mistpaw being a tortoiseshell could be explained if the Curlfeather's father was a point w/ white (which is rare but possible), and Jayclaw's side of the family--cutting myself off here before i get completely off topic I would say a kittypet could've been the father, but Duskfur seems to like Leopardstar, who was aligned with Tigerstar I. Obviously that's not saying much in these books, but if Erin Hunter authors were better writers, she'd most likely have some sort of prejudice. Also, despite Tigerheartstar fighting with her, he appointed her as temporary leader. I think it was Finchlight or Sunbeam who said that he liked her for some reason. Literally how?? Did they have a conversation off-screen? This also leads into Duskfur being robbed of deputyship in Star, since she, along with Icestar, were chosen as temporary leaders at one point. hell, I'm pretty sure Jayfeather mentioned at some point that Duskfur was doing Mistystar's job for her, which makes sense imo. she never seemed inclined for leadership, but she also seemed to never turn down the chance when it was offered. I know she's old and everyone and their mother wants a young leader, but I just want someone in power who's an asshole, young or not. I don't think we had a decent one since Leopardstar and debatably Blackstar. Everyone else since then has been "nice" (broad spectrum; Tigerheartstar can be considered nice despite being a bit of a problem) if they weren't antagonists. i want someone who will cause issues because they were mildly inconvenienced, and mean Duskfur would've 100% did that considering she mocked Scorchfur for choking on a mouse (or something similar). Frostpaw also seemed to value Duskfur's opinion to a degree. iirc Duskfur was one of the cats Frostpaw wondered about in regards to Owlnose being accepted as temporary leader. I cannot say the same for Star bc I haven't read it yet (I only read spoilers), but it seems even nice Duskfur in the prologue on the website STILL argues with Frostpaw, even if she's more subdued about it. i could talk more about Duskfur in general (and Riverclan cats actually) but i feel like this ask is getting too long but if i could pretty please send more Duskfur/Riverclan asks that'd be lovely :D also sorry for the tangents lol

This is great stuff, some really good analysis about her!

Erin Hunter please read this and respond and give us mean Duskfur again from now on thank you

Also about an asshole leader I can 100% see Crowfeather being an asshole if he ever makes it that far

[ayulaoneone]

It's fucked up that pets are dependents and you need extra money to feed them and shit and you have to consider that before you get one. In my opinion when you put a collar around a girl's neck and watch the personhood drain from her eyes she should become immortal somehow also.

[starry-bi-sky]

more cfau miscellaneous things because Childhood Friends Danny and Jason have my head and heart always and I need to finish rewriting chapter two dammit (and redo the half-finished chapter 4 because its just Not The Vibes). i'm almost through I need to get through the graveyard scene. (i just stubbornly refuse to have it be shorter than the original chapter and thats the little death. that is the mind killer.)

Danny and jason’s ghost forms both smell faintly like burnt flesh and cigarettes. However, Jason has a more smokey smell while Danny’s smells almost,,, electrical? In a sense? Like he just straight up smells like burnt flesh and sulphur while Jason smells like someone put him in a smoker first.

It’s very much an unpleasant smell but Danny finds an odd comfort in it just as much as he finds a comfort in the smell of nicotine.

(Jason post-revival smells burnt flesh once and is immediately offput by the fact that it brings him an instinctive comfort. He doesn’t realize its because it reminds him of Danny, and is uncomfortable by it.)

-

In an au of an au, Danny’s altercation with Rath ends with Rath regaining enough of his sanity to snap out of the grieving state and ends with him breaking down. Instead of being souped and imprisoned, Rath, who is permanently 14, decides to Move On into the unknown. He’s exhausted, heartbroken, and tired.

(Is this influenced heavily by the ParaNorman scene where he talks to Agatha and helps her move on? Yes. But it doesn’t fit with the Original Storyline so im shoving it into an Au of an Au.)

Rath tells Danny that Jason lied to them (which he genuinely believes), and that he’s tired of waiting/looking for him/grieving. Jason is gone. He isn’t coming back, he abandoned them. And he wants his mom and dad, and his sister, and his friends. And he’s ready to join them.

He leads Danny out to Gotham, which other than Amity Park might’ve been the only city left untouched due to Rath’s own mental block on the place. They go out to the park he and Jason used to frequent or up to one of crime alley’s rooftops, and there Rath lies down and goes to sleep. Only to never wake up again, materializing into nothing as his soul moves on.

Before Rath leaves, he forces Danny to promise him that he’ll only wait for Jason for ten years. After that if he doesn’t find him, or if Jason doesn’t show, then Danny has to move on. Whether that be like how Rath does, or if its inly mentally/emotionally, doesn’t matter. He has to move on. Don’t wait for him. Don’t waste his time any more.

(“Oh, and if you find him, kick his ass for me.”)

Danny reluctantly agrees, and Rath lies down. Danny sings to him as he falls asleep.

(Angsty points if the vigilantes including Red Hood caught wind of their presence and were silently watching from the shadows. Rath might know they’re there, but Danny’s too focused on Rath to notice.)

(If only so that Red Hood realizes that this is what happened to Danny, and that Danny is gone before he can make things right. The tragedy, folks. The angst. The initial realization that Danny was Rath, and then also that Danny was dead and has been dead for years, and that before he moved on, he moved on believing that Jason abandoned him.)

(like i said it doesn't fit in the original timeline/storyline hence why its an au of an au and isn't nearly a fleshed out, but i was largely just focusing on the tragedy of Rath moving on and Jason being alive to see it and realize just who Rath is.)

-

Just like how the Lazarus pits shot Jason's twiggy 4'6-5'4 (depending on what you find) feet tall and 86lb ass up like a tree an essentially fixed his malnutrition, the portal did the same thing for Danny.

(granted i forgot about malnutrition and danny's likely stunted growth at first -- his family lived in crime alley and despite both his parents working, I don't think they had enough food all the time. He probably wasn't as badly malnourished as Jason was, but he wasn't healthy either.)

Granted his ghost in its "natural" state (14) is short, and his growth spurts were slow at first, it did result in him reaching his dad's height. There were points where it just happened overnight, like a baby. He went to bed one night 5’6 and woke up the next day 5’10.

Jazz is shorter than him. Although I have't decided if she's even liminal at all (and if she is, it didn't cure everything because she would have also suffered childhood malnutrition, and since in au canon their parents didn't get their hands on physical ectoplasm until after they got to Amity Park. So the exposure is less.)

-

Danny's voice absolutely sounds like canon Dan's. It kinda just dropped one day when he was 16-17 and never went back up. Sam and Tucker sometimes ask him to just talk about anything because they find his voice soothing.

I'm not sure yet how Danny would feel about it at first considering Rath, but I imagine that Rath, when he did speak, would have had a quieter and scratchier/weaker voice considering he's spent the last decade shrieking and crying.

(and i suppose technically that shouldn't have any effect on his throat considering he's a ghost and idk if that would actually affect him, but i like the idea so im keeping it)

In the beginning you could hear him from a mile away by the sound of his loud, echoing wails, but ten years later you can only really hear him by the soft, shuddering sobs he makes. Like he's gasping for air that isn't there. The future is full of very quiet survivors.

And it's much easier to speak when you pitch your voice upwards (especially when whispering/speaking quietly) so he might've spoken in a higher, airy pitch in order to be heard. So Danny might actually find a comfort in having a lower voice.

[givemewallywestorgivemedeath]

K but the fact that Kristen is just a regular human being. Just a standard, average person in a land filled with mystical beings and magic spilling from every crack, nook and cranny.

And here's Kristen Applebees, the first born child of typical suburban parents, born into a religious neighborhood where everyone goes to church every Sunday and prays every night and everyone has a white picket fence with a perfect manicured lawn and not-so-subtly shuns those who are in anyway different from them.

Was Kristen not chosen by her God, by Helio himself, because of her perfect average parents with their perfect average house in their perfect average neighborhood?

Kristen wasn't rich, she didn't have a powerful bloodline, her parents weren't important, there was no prophecy foretelling her birth. No, Kristen was an attainable goal. Kristen was a good example for the youth, an example of what could be achieved if you just played along and played your part.

Kristen was destined to be the perfect picture of a devoted follower of Helio. She was the poster child, born smack dab in the center of Helio's flock, surrounded on all sides by followers and moulded into the perfect unquestioning chosen one since birth.

But by choosing Kristen, by marking her as property of a God, Helio gave Kristen power. Power over him, power over good and evil, the divine and infernal. Because Kristen is promised to Helio, because she was chosen by him and prophesied to be his, Kristen wields the power to start the end of days and crumble nations with a snap of her fingers. Should she want to, Kristen could destroy the world by simply not doing that, by not ending up in Helio's afterlife to live for eternity by his side, by proving a God wrong.

And it's with this power, this leverage that Kristen holds over Helio's neck like the sword of Damocles, that Kristen is able to free herself from his grasp. It's slow, at first. Joining a 'risky' school, meeting people outside of the religion, questioning elders, researching history and religions. And she doesn't understand how much power she has, not at first, because the power she possesses isn't magic, but a divine promise and unspoken rules that govern a world that she was never supposed to know.

But despite not having magic, despite being chosen for her averageness, despite being trained to be naive and blinded to the realities of the world, Kristen is overpowered as, if you'll excuse the pun, hell.

Helio creates divine religious scholars to protect her when she doubts and strays from him. Helio creates an entire new deity and religion for Kristen, allowing her to think that YES! (and, later, YES?) is it's own separate power from his and he does all of this, not out of generosity or love, but because he needs to keep Kristen alive. Kristen cannot die before she rejoins Helio's flock or the divine promise will break and Helio would be fucked.

So Helio gave her power under the pretense of it being from elsewhere, solely so that he could keep Kristen alive until he changed her mind.

And then! And then Kristen dies! And is revived. And she's Saint Kristen Applebees now (but the Saint of who?) and Helio has fully given up on her and turned his back on her (but his prophecy cannot be unspoken and he cannot be proven wrong so does he really? Can he really?) and Kristen finds a new God, a broken God and Kristen chooses her.

Kristen names her, creates her, Cassandra the Goddess of Doubt and Night, and Kristen finally has her religion, a source of power that doesn't stem from Helio, she's finally escaped his grasp.

And yet.

And yet, Helio still spoke his prophecy, still chose Kristen and she will always have that power over him.

And yet, in his own foolish shortsighted attempt to keep Kristen within his grasp, Helio still created a deity for her, a separate divine entity that chose her as well.

And yet, Kristen is still the undying, the follower of Night and Doubt, Saint Applebees, Creator of Cassandra.

With no real magic to speak of, with nothing special in her bloodline, with no real talents or money to her name, the perfect picture of normalcy in every way, Kristen has managed to twist the divine sphere around her little pinky finger. She has so much power and she has so little awareness of it.

And also she's going to be President, bitch.

[theyonapodcast]

I love the first time Soo-Won supports Lili.

It feels like an overreaction to burst into tears over, essentially, "Go for it," but makes sense when you realize no one takes her seriously.

Her father, Tetora, and even Yona view her as someone in need of protection. They coddle her.

And then here comes Soo-Won, telling her she's capable of making a difference.

That she did make a difference. He acknowledges her strength and believes in her with ease while people closer to her struggle to accept that she's useful.

[chalkrub]

Pixie had to be put down yesterday and it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever experienced, she was such a special gentle little girl and I’m going to miss her so fucking much it’s hard to really comprehend right now. I’m so thankful I got to spend 20 years of my life with her, which is basically as far back as I can really remember – love her more than I can say

not sure if i'll post more or less art over the next while, depends on how i cope with it but heads up either way.

much love, give your pets a kiss for me

[navree]

unfortunately the percy jackson show means percy jackson discourse which means i once more have to see dogshit takes about rachel elizabeth dare, who did literally nothing except have a relationship with a boy she liked for a couple months, but the freaks are at it again because there's no worse crime in the world than being a girl getting in the way of a ship for a nanosecond

[wawamouse]

Me? Well, I've... I've mostly been a loner.

[smilingmxsk]

At The Moment, You Want...

to love

you keep this homemade soup to yourself, and you've made too much. it simmers, you keep it warm for yourself, and nobody else. you long to share, but you're insecure, or afraid. what if they don't accept the offer, or what if they don't enjoy it? what if they push it away? it's slowly boiling. you made too much, and it could overflow any moment, but you're trying to hard to keep it under control. you don't want it to spill out. part of you wants it to, but it'd be a mess, right? your heart longs to love someone, to express love to those around you, but you're afraid. you keep it inside, along with so many other things, and can't bring yourself to properly express it. it's probably someone in specific you want to love, but something is in the way, a block of sorts. let yourself love freely. share your love, for you have so much of it inside of you.

tagged by: @violetgleams (THANK YOU)

tagging: @rexpyre @lunaferrous @sanguine-salvation and YOU

[pa-pa-plasma]

kind of frustrating that people took "fat does not equal unhealthy" to mean "fat is not unhealthy." sometimes being obese IS unhealthy & excess fat can cause a lot of problems. ignoring health issues isn't progressive. real "oranges kill people with depression" moment