#Black Fire This Time: Volume 1

[these-lovely-monsters]

The Dragon's Pretty Treasure - Part 1

[NSFW | 18+]

Characters: m!dragon x f!reader

Content: kidnapping, mild dub-con, inhuman anatomy, size difference, two dicks, dp, tail action, fluids, koala bear fleshlight

(Note: part 1 is just the setup and only contains kidnapping - aforementioned cws are for the whole story)

Series complete: [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4]

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Opening your eyes, you blink a few times, trying to adjust your vision to the darkness surrounding you. There is a faint glow that gently illuminates the space around you but everything else is mostly darkness and all you can make out are vague shapes and shadows. Looking around, you see that a small bit of light is coming from some embers in a dying fire next to you. This is definitely not your tiny studio apartment back home.

Where the hell are you?

As you sit up, you rub your eyes, groaning at the stiffness in your joints. From the aches in your muscles, you must have been asleep for a while. Looking down, you realize that you are lying on a bed of what seem to be soft furs or pelts of some kind. A cool breeze drifts in from somewhere and you shiver, realizing that you are also naked. 

What the fuck happened?

But before you can try to rack your foggy brain to figure it out, a giant yellow eye the size of your head blinks open at the edge of the darkness across from you. Yelping in shock, you scramble backwards as the eye rotates to reveal a second one just as large and luminescent. Both eyes have giant slitted pupils and seem to glow in the darkness. Before you can get far, something smooth and cool wraps around your waist, holding you in place. Heart pounding in your ears, you glance down to find that it is a dark green, almost black, appendage covered in scales. Extending from the darkness, it winds around your stomach with the end coming to a tapered point near your navel. It squeezes gently, hard enough to hold you firm but not enough to hurt.

Holy shit, is it a tail of some sort?

Too terrified to move further, you hold your breath and look back up at the giant yellow orbs peering at you from the shadows. Slowly, they begin to draw closer, and you hear heavy, measured thuds echo off the walls. As the eyes approach the dying fire, a massive snout comes into view and then a head the size of a car follows. Your eyes bug as you take in the scaly surface of a face, with ridged brows and a line of spikes running in increasing size from the tip of its snout up and over the back of its head. Two large horns protrude from above its brows and curve backwards towards where you assume its shoulders would be.

When its snout is a few inches from your face, you tremble as its nostrils flare and it inhales deeply. Then it exhales with a low rumbling sound as its hot breath fans across your face, blowing strands of hair off your shoulders.

It’s…sniffing you!

You nearly jump out of your skin when a deep, inhuman voice booms through the cavern and you have to cover your ears from the sheer volume.

“You are awake.”

The voice continues to echo off the walls for a few moments and then silence settles again, apart from the monster’s deep rhythmic breaths and your pounding heart. Slowly, you lower your hands from your ears and realize, belatedly, that it hadn’t moved its mouth when it spoke.

Had it projected its voice or are you just going crazy? Probably just going crazy.

“Where…where am I?” you manage to stammer out.

“My cave,” it rumbles again, softer this time, as if it realized its voice was too loud.

Oh fuck, you are going to die here, cold and naked in this cave.

Beginning to hyperventilate, you start to struggle in the grasp of its tail. 

“Please don’t eat me!” you shout. 

You need to figure out a way to get out of here!

It lets out a low, chuffing sound, which must be a chuckle and says, “I don’t plan to eat you.” And before you know what’s happening, its jaws part slightly and a giant, tapered tongue slips between massive, razor sharp teeth and licks up the side of your neck.

Shit, this monster definitely wants to eat you.

“Why am I here?” you squeak, utterly terrified but trying to keep it talking in the hopes you can figure out an escape plan before it decides it’s done playing with its food.

“I wanted a pretty treasure for my horde.”

A pretty treasure?... Does he mean you?

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I promise there will be smut in part 2!

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4]

Bonus: here is a size comparison if you're wondering just how big this guy really is...

[flowerandblood]

Object of Despair (2/3)

[ dark • Aemond x Arryn • widow female ]

[ warnings: dubcon, oral sex, fingering, hate sex, smut, angst, domination, violence, swearing, humiliation, hard chauvinism ]

[ description: Aemond is forced to marry a widow from House Arryn as part of the alliance and support of his brother in the war against the Black faction. After their wedding night, which went completely differently than he imagined, Aemond tries to return to his daily routine. The female character has a specific eye and hair color. Lots of hate sex, violence and chauvinism. ]

Part 1 − Object of Desire Part 3 − Object of Delight Epilogue

* English is not my first language. Please, do not repost. Enjoy! *

My other works: Masterlist

_____

Their wedding night was so different from what he had imagined that he was at once horrified, ashamed and intrigued by the person who had been living in the chamber next to his for several days. She wasn't seeking his company or attention, appearing only at suppers spent together with his family.

He knew he could have summoned her to his chamber at any time, and it would have been her duty to come and give him what he wanted, but every time he meant to do so he changed his mind and resigned, frustrated, staring into the light of the fire burning in the fireplace, sitting in front of it on his ornate wooden chair, thinking about that evening.

After what had happened between them it seemed to him that they had both suddenly come down to earth, not knowing what to make of how aggressive and full of rage the rapprochement had been.

He let her go and watched her, breathing unevenly, tying back his breeches, as she immediately covered her buttocks back up with her nightgown − he could see that her whole body was shaking, her lips trembling, her eyes big, her cheeks puffy from the tears that ran down her face.

She calmed down a little after his words and reassurances, but she was still terrified.

She asked him in a breaking, weak, quiet voice if she could now return to her chamber, and although he had originally had no intention of letting her lay in his bed, he felt disappointment at the thought that she had not begged him to let her stay.

Not wanting to show weakness or allow her to think that her presence was something he craved, he allowed her to do so with a nod, and she left without a word, neither bowing to him nor wishing him a good night, quietly opening and closing the door of his chamber behind her.

The next day, during the duel with Criston Cole, he could not concentrate − whenever he caught sight of a shade of blue out of the corner of his eye he involuntarily looked in that direction, thinking it was her in her gown that he remembered so fondly, his heart pounding hard with shame.

He pressed his lips together, turning his head away, snorting, playing with the hilt of his sword in his hand with apparent impatience, seeing some other woman − Cole watched him vigilantly, but not dared to ask either about her or his impressions of her.

Her presence was a taboo for him.

That same day, he walked and spent long hours in the great royal library, despite the fact that he usually instructed his servants to bring thick, old volumes filled with the history of his family and all Essos to his chamber. He hoped to meet her there, to confront her again, this time clearly showing her where she belonged.

To his disappointment, he did not see her until the evening − her blue gown immediately catched his attention, sewn from a soft, lovely fabric it fell heavily over her pleasant, girlish curves, accentuating her figure.

He swallowed hard as he looked at her face and noticed a large red bruise under her eye, which must have been the result of the moment he grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head on the table.

She was discussing something in a whisper with Helaena, his sister bent over her with concern, playing with her fingers in a nervous gesture they had all inherited from their mother.

They fell silent when they noticed him − her violet eyes looked up at him, sad, resigned and tired. He thought, feeling a burning embarrassment in his chest, that explaining to her who had the final word on what their marriage would look like was no longer necessary.

Sitting down at the table next to her he knew what awaited him − when his mother walked into the chamber and saw his wife she froze, the smile gone from her face.

She looked at him with pain, with disappointment he could not bear and he closed his eyes, thinking only of the fact that he wanted to sink to the ground.

"Dear sister-in-law, has my brother given you another gift besides, we all pray, his future heir in your womb?" Aegon asked with a sneer. He clenched his teeth, sucking in a deep breath, looking at his brother with grim fury, to which he only smirked, popping a grape into his mouth, biting through it with a loud crunch, amused.

He felt his wife shift beside him − his heart began to beat faster in panic at the thought that she was about to say something to humiliate him, to mock him in front of his entire family to take revenge on him.

"I slipped in the bath, my King." She replied simply, without emotion, regret or anger. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, surprised at the ease with which she lied despite it being obvious that everyone around her had guessed what had really happened.

His brother raised an eyebrow clearly impressed, cocking his head, leaning back in his chair with a loud creak of wood.

"You slipped." He repeated softly and she replied nothing, looking at him calmly.

She and Aegon exchanged glances for a moment − it seemed to him that she feared neither him nor his position.

"I hope no more such unpleasant…accident happens to you, my Lady. Such a pretty face." He hummed, reaching for his cup, but she merely blinked, no grimace passing across her face, as if his words did not bother her at all.

He himself didn't know what he thought of all this, so he decided to go back to his daily routine, pretending that she simply wasn't there, convincing himself that it would be better that way.

He didn't need her, he didn't want her, and her silence and distance were doing him a favour.

He watched her sometimes from afar, seeing her pleasant silhouette glide between the columns as he trained in the courtyard, always headed for the garden, the tree he had read about before she came to King's Landing, and at which he understood the Northerners prayed.

He did not think of it at first, but then he began to notice the gazes of the men and guards fixed on her as she passed them, their smiles, their dreamy gaze as if they were imagining what they would do with her body, the body of his wife, his right and his duty.

It planted a seed of doubt in him − he wondered if perhaps she was meeting her lover there, if he was a source of ridicule in the keep because the servants already knew that she had not been faithful to him, that she had betrayed her crippled husband.

This thought made him furious, but having no proof for his supposition he decided one day to change his plan for the afternoon and watch her through the window − as soon as he caught sight of her figure passing through the cloisters he left his chamber, moving unhurriedly after her.

As he walked between the tall shrubbery, hearing the grass rustling and the birds singing, he tried to focus on other sounds, expecting quiet moans and panting to reach his ears, but heard only his own footsteps traversing the path strewn with small rocks rattling under his feet.

He stopped as he stepped into a small clearing − a large, white weirwood with a disturbing, wrinkled, red face on its trunk looked at him ominously, his wife lying on her back on the grass beneath it, her eyes closed, her dark, loose hair surrounding her head, her hands laid on her stomach.

He stood motionless, wondering if she was waiting for someone, however, she did not open her eyes or look around.

He thought with surprise that she was asleep.

He swallowed loudly, for some reason feeling desire at the sight of her lying silhouette, the fact that someone could see and hear them, that she was his wife, and he could take her here and anywhere else he wished.

He felt how his cock swell in his breeches, his lips tightening into a thin line as the heat spilled in his lower abdomen.

She shuddered and opened her eyes when she heard him move towards her − she lifted herself up on her arm, her lips parted in disbelief, however for some reason she did not rise or try to escape.

He stood, towering over her, feeling his superiority and dominance over her in this position and this situation, his fingers slid down to his breeches, untying them in a calm, nimble manner.

"Come here, wife. I promised you something, didn't I?" He asked, feeling his heart pounding like mad, releasing his aching erection, its pink tip glistening from his precum.

It seemed to him that she was shocked by his insolence, by the fact that he wanted to profane her sacred place, after a moment, however, the expression on her face changed. He parted his lips noticing how she rose slowly, kneeling before him as if to pray, with a light flick of her hand sliding the material of his breeches lower, looking him straight in the eyes.

No fear, no terror, no regret.

He sighed and immediately grabbed her by the hair, wanting to be in control of what was happening when her hand grasped his throbbing, hard cock in her soft palm, squeezing it at the base. He drew in a loud breath as her lips brushed its tip without any hesitation, her pink, shiny tongue licking it encouragingly. He tilted his head back, delighted.

"− fuck − keep going −" He commanded, impatiently pressing her closer to his lower abdomen, watching her with excitement and curiosity, his manhood quivering with desire in her hand, her fingers giving it a calm, assured strokes. He groaned involuntarily when he saw how she slowly slid the fat head of his cock between her lips, the tip of her tongue teasing him lazily.

She sighed as the thrust of his hips slid it deeper into her mouth − he heard her almost choke when it hit the back of her throat, her palate wonderfully wet and warm, her lips clamped down on it, in some natural, subconscious reflex beginning to suck it.

"− that's it − there you go −" He gasped with awe at the perverted sight before him, his fingers entwined in her smooth, soft hair, clenching down on it, controlling himself, however, so as not to cause her too much pain, forcing her head not to escape when his hips with sure deep pushes invaded her throat.

"− did you often satisfy your late husband like this? − it's clear this isn't your first time − little slut −" He exhaled, groaning lowly listening to the loud clicks of her saliva each time his aching cock disappeared again and again deep into her mouth, her hand tightening on it more firmly, making him accelerate his pace.

"− stop − that's enough −" He muttered, having no intention of wasting his seed, wanting to finish inside her, trying to push her away, but he felt her tongue trailing down his length, her free hand clamped down on his buttock, not allowing him to escape − he had to lean against the tree trunk, his other hand holding her hair as his cock thrust into her greedily.

"− f-fuck, fuck, fuckkk −" He hissed out in rage combined with delight and groaned loudly in relief as he felt his semen spill over her palate. He looked down at her, her eyes closed, all around them only the rustle of the leaves, his shaky, loud breaths and the sound of her swallowing, so lewd it sent shivers down his spine.

Slowly she slid it out of her mouth, his cock all slick and glistening from her wetness − her soft, pink tongue licked it for a while longer, teasing and sucking lightly on its tip from which the remnants of his seed still flowed. He stroked her smooth hair, feeling his body still shudder with shivers of pleasure after such intense fulfilment.

"− you look perfect like this −" He gasped softly, his thumb running over her cheek, noticing with some kind of relief that there was hardly a trace left of the bruise from a few days ago.

"− you will spend this night in my chamber − you should try how it tastes sticky with your moisture − don't touch yourself −"

That evening he waited impatiently for her, strangely excited and anxious, pacing around his chamber, absorbed in his thoughts.

He feared that she would humiliate him, show him, by not coming to his summons, that she despised and disrespected him, and then force him to use violence against her again.

He did not want any more accusing glances from his mother directed towards him at the table.

He shuddered as the door to his chamber opened suddenly − he turned over his shoulder and swallowed hard, noticing her figure covered only by her night gown and the cashmere blue shawl thrown over her shoulders − her long dark hair were loose, the look of her violet eyes calm and full of some kind of curiosity.

"− have you touched yourself? −" He asked coolly as the door closed behind her with a loud clatter of wood, turning towards her, walking in her direction with his hands folded behind his back.

"− no −" She replied softly, without any pleasantries or further elaboration, looking straight into his face without a sign of fear or uncertainty.

He intended to regain control of the situation she had taken from him when she decided when he would come and how, all by herself.

Stupid cunt.

"− undress and lie on your stomach −" He commanded in a dispassionate, cool, deep tone, from which her gaze darkened a little, as if clouded, her plump lips parted slightly but no sound came out of them.

She walked past him without a word, heading barefoot towards his bed and climbed onto it, her back turned to him as she sat on his bedding, letting him watch as her fingers slid the fabric of the robe off her shoulders, letting it fall down, revealing her naked, smooth body.

His hands began to undo the clasps of his tunic as she lay on her stomach following his command, her face turned the other way so that he could not see her gaze − the sizzle of the fire in the fireplace all around them, and besides, a complete silence filled with a heavy, stifling tension, a threat of what was about to happen between them.

He felt what he saw in his cock, his manhood expressing painful impatience, throbbing in his breeches at the thought that he intended to come deep inside her that night more than once.

"− did you love that fool? −" He asked indifferently in a voice slightly hoarse with arousal, licking his lips with his tongue in satisfaction to see that her whole body tensed, her fingers clenched on the pillow lying under her head, her back rising in a shuddering breath.

She was silent for a long moment, as if his question had startled her − he watched her vigilantly, pulling his boots off his feet, staying only in his undershirt and breeches as she lay exposed, bare, vulnerable, condemned to him and him alone.

No matter what her answer would be.

She shuddered, as if snapped out of her reverie, as he sat up behind her, his large hand running over and stroking her full, soft buttocks.

"− speak −" He hissed, his hand slapping her bare skin so sharply and quickly that she bounced and squealed. He gave a reassuring stroke to the spot, red and throbbing in the indistinct shape of his hand − involuntarily his lips curved into a teasing smirk as he noticed the moisture glistening between her thighs, her folds pink, throbbing and swollen.

She liked this kind of games, he knew that.

"− I was the furnishings of his household − I loved him as much as his chair, his bed or his table could −" She muttered, and he looked at her, surprised, not knowing himself what he thought of her words. He stared at her face, her gaze fixed on his window, her lower lip trembling as if she was trying not to cry.

He hummed, intrigued, moving forward, placing his hands on either side of her head, his long hair tickling the bare skin of her back and shoulders, making her gasp loudly, her body quivering all over in anticipation and uncertainty, fear and curiosity at what he was about to do.

"− I am, I believe, in his debt − he taught my wife how to suck cock so well −" He whispered quietly with a hint of dark mockery and threat, her lips parted wide in a quiet moan as he slid one of his hands under her stomach, parting her legs with his knee, forcing her to spread them in front of him, his mouth ran over her neck as his fingers sank into her leaking, soft, hot womanhood.

"− but did he fuck you good? − hm? − did he know your weaknesses? − your most sensitive points? −" He murmured, her whole body breathless, her buttocks bucking up towards him and rubbing against his hard cock, moving to the rhythm of his fingers as their tips dug into her tender skin, trailing around her bud, teasing her once in a while, his hand all sticky with her juices.

"− fucking answer me − he fucked you with his fingers 'till you mewled his name? − 'till you begged for his seed? −" He growled, crushing her with the weight of his body, his other hand clamping down on her neck, careful not to overdo it though − she whimpered loudly, writhing beneath him as he quickened his pace, running his fingers over her puffy slit again and again, leaking from her fluids, his fingers invading her fleshy folds with a loud, lewd click, his aching manhood hitting her buttocks.

"− yes − he's gained experience with whores and servants before, just like you −" She hissed out, her breath caught in her throat as his fingers tightened harder around her neck, his two fingers forced their way inside her, stretching her tight, hot, wet walls with sure, deep pushes to which her hips responded greedily with rocking, meeting him halfway.

"− shameless whore − maybe I should care less about your pleasure, hm? − fuck you so that you cry out in pain −" He threatened, and she laughed, struggling to catch air, her lips parted wide, her eyelids clenched.

"− objects do not know fulfilment or disappointment − love or hate − do what you want with me −" She breathed out, her eyes opened, releasing a wave of tears that ran down her cheeks, seeing this he slid his fingers out from inside her and let go of her neck, quickly untying his breeches, for some reason furious at her words, his nostrils twitched dangerously in accelerated breath.

His thumbs spread her folds wide to the sides, allowing the fat head of his cock to force its way inside her with her loud moan of surprise, his one, brutal push was enough for him to thrust deep into her with a sigh of pleasure and satisfaction.

"− listen − that sounds like disappointment to you? − like hatred? −" He sneered, panting loudly, placing his hands on either side of her head again, his knees spreading her thighs wide so that he slid fully into her, bucking his hips, his thrusts violent, sure and deep, each time his thighs slapping against her buttocks with a loud click of her moisture.

"− fuckin' leaking − all thirsty for my cock −" He gasped, feeling her muscles squeeze him tightly in pleasure, his face sinking into her soft, fragrant hair, his hands in some subconscious, natural reflex found her breasts, caressing and kneading them between his fingers, teasing her nipples with his thumbs.

"− ah −" She cried out innocently, girlishly − he stifled a low groan hearing that sound, accelerating his pace, opening her slick cunt wide on his cock again and again with brutal, quick thrusts, his mouth sliding down to her neck, clamping down on her skin, sucking her so painfully hard that she hissed, grabbing him helplessly by the hair.

"− I promise you that when I'm done with you, you won't be able to sit up tomorrow − your stomach and womb full of my seed −" He growled out into her ear, his breath caught in his throat as her hands found his, clenching on his fingers, entwining them together, her hips responding to his thrusts so eagerly that he struggled to restrain himself from coming just yet.

"− don't stop − fill me, please, please, please −" She mewled so loudly and sweetly that he lost control completely; he could feel the sweat trickling down his back from the exertion, one of his hands slid down her stomach, giving her pearl a few encouraging strokes from which her whole body quivered.

"− good girl − say my name −" He muttered with his face pressed against her soft hair, no longer controlling his movements, his hips slamming into her involuntarily, aggressively and quickly, no longer sliding out of her, chasing his own fulfilment, her walls clenched against him greedily, sucking him inside, wet and hot.

"− Aemond, fuck me, fuck me, f-fuck −" She whimpered and that was the end of it, from her lips came sounds of pleasure and relief he had never heard before, sweet, girlish, innocent, vulnerable, he felt her moisture trickle down her thighs, soaking him all over, her core throbbing hard in fulfillment, giving him wonderfull squeeze.

He gasped loudly, letting go at last, coming so hard inside her that it went dark before his eyes, his fingers tightened on her body to make sure she wouldn't escape him, their bodies writhing in convulsions, overwhelmed by how intense the fulfilment was, slapping against each other.

"− oh gods −" He mumbled, stroking her smooth shoulders, breasts, hips, thighs with his large, rough hands − he felt as if the scent of her body, her hair and her moisture had completely overwhelmed him, filling his lungs and his head. He closed his eyes, panting loudly with her, only realising after a moment that the fingers of one of her hands were still entwined with his.

They lay like that for a moment, trying to calm themselves, his lips finding her cheek, neck and shoulder, placing hot, lazy, wet kisses on them. He heard her sigh softly, her words like honey to his ears.

"− I want to taste you now −"

_____

Aemond Taglist:

(bold means I couldn't tag you)

@notnormalthings-blog @nikstrange @zenka69 @bellaisasleep @k-y-r-a-1 @g-cf2020 @melsunshine @opheliaas-stuff @chainsawsangel @iiamthehybrid @tinykryptonitewerewolf @namoreno @malfoytargaryen @qyburnsghost @aemondsdelight @persephonerinyes @fan-goddessing @sweethoneyblossom1 @watercolorskyy @apollonshootafar @padfooteyes

[babbling-babull]

Forced Soulmate AU

Danny Fenton and Sam Manson enter the ghost portal shell together when Tucker dares them to both go in. A single entity leaves, a ghost named Nightshade.

Nightshade has snow white hair that falls to their neck and glowing green eyes, and wears a black and white hazmat suit with a circle on their chest. They look at Tucker and call his name as if unsure if its really him, their voice has an eerie echo, like two people talking at the same volume at the same time.

As they reach towards him a ring runs across their body, leaving Sam and Danny desperately holding onto one another. They look at each other for a while, almost seeming to have a conversation without words.

Other things @itshype and I decided for this AU but I couldn't find a way to put into this little story snippet

1). They have to be within arms reach of one another to transform, or it hurts both of them and the transformation isn't nearly as powerful

2). They feel empty when not in close proximity to one another, because their ghost, and thus their souls, have fused together.

3). Their ghost form has traits of both of them, both personality wise and appearance wise. Most traits meet halfway.

4). If they are apart long enough Sam and Danny start to get ill.

5). The Manson Parents are a bit more supportive of Danny in this AU, as Sam's Physical Wellbeing is tied to Danny, and vice versa.

6).When Vlad tries to clone Danny and takes from Nightshade to do it, it makes Ellie Sam and Danny's daughter.

7). They always know in what direction and how far away their other half is. in addition they have telepathy between their human forms, and just between them.

8). Nightshade has all of Phantom's powers, as they are half Phantom, but Sam brings in portals, hypnosis, and fire, amongst whatever else people want to add.

@hdgnj @evilminji @hypewinter @radiance1 @spidori @lolottes @the-witchhunter @mutable-manifestation

[bettyfrommars]

I'm on Fire

Chapter 1: Black No. 1

biker!Eddie Munson x fem!artist!Reader

Part 1

Series Masterlist

🚨18+ Only, older!Eddie, tow truck driver Eddie, biker!Eddie, alcohol consumption, sex with someone other than reader, cheating (not on reader), slightly fuckboy!eddie, adult themes. Y/N is used several times in the first few chapters, as well as plenty of typos and I apologize for that. This was my very first reader insert series ever, and it's insane how much the characters and story have grown. I really appreciate those who have been on this journey with me, and those who continue to want to read it!

Word count: 3.3k

There is an instant spark of chemistry between you and the guy who rescues you from the side of the freeway in his tow truck, courtesy of Munson's Garage. While you've never met him before, your roommate has, and you learn a few things about Eddie Munson while he indulges in one of his late-night extracurricular activities, which is just one facet of the dark secrets in his life.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. You weren’t supposed to have a crush on your tow truck driver.

One second, you’re cruising along the freeway, blasting Linger by The Cranberries, looking forward to the future, and the next---your tire blows and you’re on the side of the road questioning when you will ever catch a break. You were trying to remember how far back the last payphone was as traffic sped by, blowing your hair into your face, when a big, mean looking, black tow truck with Munson’s Garage written on the door slowed down and pulled in front of you.

The guy behind the wheel waited for a few cars to buzz by before he dropped down from the cab, boots hitting the pavement, and made his way over to you. He’s wearing his long, dark hair tied back in a ponytail, black jeans with a wallet chain hanging at his thigh, and a button down blue work shirt that says Eddie on it. He’s muscular in a manual labor way, and you spot a few tattoos at first glance, just as he closes the distance between you.

“Come here often?” He asked, the side of his mouth lifting up as he squinted against the sun.

You hesitated, because you weren’t prepared for jokes, and then you shrug. “Yeah, I live here. It’s cozy, shame it’s so close to the freeway.”

He takes a pair of gloves out of his back pocket and you notice his warm, brown sugar eyes take a quick sweep up and down your body. “In that case, I might have to visit more often.”

You also weren’t ready for the teasing, sexual banter, but you could give as well as you got. “Careful. I bite.”

Of course, you don’t have a spare tire, and so the next option is for him to tow you back to his garage. He tells you to get comfortable in the cab of the truck while he hooks your car on.

Inside, you notice that it’s an older cab, but it’s clean and well taken care off. There’s an Iron Maiden sticker on the glove compartment, and a vanilla tree-shaped air freshener hanging from the CB radio. You scoot over, curious as a kitten, to see what other little pieces of his life you can pick up from the area, when you see photo of a little kid, maybe 2 years old, taped to the top of his dash. The toddler had thick dark hair and big, dark eyes, and you realize he must be a dad—the kid looked just like him. You remembered looking at his strong hands before he put his gloves on, and you didn’t see any rings, but most people in his profession chose not to wear them when they worked, as a safety precaution.

He climbed up into the cab behind the steering wheel and took his gloves off, stuffing them in the console between you, apologizing for how long it took. In your mind, he’d only been out there five minutes, but—time flies when you’re being a snoop.

The radio blared loud the second he turned the engine on (Would? by Alice in Chains) and you jumped in your seat, a yelp escaping your throat.

He cringed and turned the volume down. “My bad,” he laughed a little, giving you a wink when you look over at him, your palm flat on your chest, adrenaline coursing through you.

His shop was almost a half hour away, and the conversation stayed light. He asked you what you did for work, and when you told him that you were on staff at a gallery, but you wished you could be a full time artist—he was one of the few people in your whole life who didn’t make fun of you for it.

“You have no idea how much I relate to that,” he said, almost under his breath, shifting the truck into another gear.

You asked him how long he’d been in the area and he replied, “too long.”

He got quiet for a few minutes, and you shifted your eyes covertly to catch his jaw muscles flexing, like he was deep in thought about something he didn’t want to be thinking about.

You adjusted yourself on the vinyl seat with a creak of the upholstery. “So, did you grow up here?”

He opened his mouth for a beat, and then closed it again, as if he didn’t like the answer he was about to give. “I grew up all over the place. But I went to high school here, and then I left, and then I came back.”

You pulled your bottom lip over your top lip, looking out the window at a sea of fat cows grazing in a big, grassy field.

“I’m sure there are worse places to be,” you said aloud, although you meant for it to be a silent thought.

He scoffed. “You must be new here. Give it time.”

He had his hand high on the wheel, and he looked sideways over his arm at you. You could tell he wanted to ask you more, and you wanted to ask the name of the cute kid in the photo on his dash—but it suddenly felt like it was all getting too personal.

There was sudden static on the CB radio and the voice of an older man came through the speaker. “Munson, what’s your 20?”

Eddie reached over to take the handheld receiver off the hook under the glove compartment, the back of his hand brushing your knee as he did so.

He pushed the button on the side as he held it to his mouth. “On I-90, just passed Little River, on my way back.”

He let go of the button so that the other man could speak.

“Charlene dropped the Jaguar off again. Not a damn thing wrong with it, but she asked for you, specifically.”

Eddie swallowed, his eyes shifting to you, as if he was embarrassed or self-conscious about the conversation.

“...I told her I’d bring it by on my way home after work.”

The other end was silent for a bit and then, the older man gave a heavy sigh. “Son, I hope you’re not doing what I think you’re--”

“Talk to you when I get there, Wayne. I’ve got a customer in the cab with me,” and then Eddie hung up the receiver and switched the radio off with a click.

Back at Munson’s Garage you called your best friend, Katie, who you were supposed to meet for lunch, to talk her down from the ledge she was on, panicking over where you were.

“At first, I wanted to murder you, and then--” As Katie is talking, you see Eddie give you a thumbs up from across the garage to let you know the tire was on and your car was ready, and you mirrored the gesture. “...and then I was like, wait, maybe she’s in a ditch somewhere….and you were!”

Like any self-respecting, horny friend would, she asked if the tow truck driver that picked you up was hot while on the phone with you.

You’re watching Eddie pick up two tires and fling them onto a pile like they weighed nothing, muscles flexing in his forearms and hands; he catches you staring and smiles almost accidentally at you over his shoulder, before turning away. “Not really, I mean, if you like that sort of thing, I guess.”

There was a teenage boy at the front desk who looked like he was in training, and with shaking hands, he tallied you up for the price of the tow and the tire.

“Just the tire,” Eddie came up behind him, wiping his fingers on a rag. “The tow is on the house,” he lifts his eyes to you, and then looks down to make sure the kid got it right.

You thanked him, and as you were leaving, you saw the long, sleek, white Jaguar convertible with leather seats parked at the far end of the garage. You wondered who Charlene was, and why she chose that particular garage over all of the other high end, specialty repair shops in the area.

---------

That night, you were snuggled in front of a Golden Girls episode, dissociating in your bathrobe on the couch with your orange, long haired tabby cat named Charlie, when Katie, who was also your roommate, got home after a meeting at the high school where she taught English and creative writing.

“I didn’t get into an accident,” you assured her, turning the sound down on the TV. “I just blew a tire. I’ll still be able to make it to work tomorrow, unfortunately.”

The next night was a huge artist opening at the gallery, and all of the mucky mucks usually attended to buy high priced art and drink free champagne.

“Hey,” you went to the kitchen to squirt some of your cheap, refrigerated box wine into some glasses and brought one over to Katie. “You’ve lived here longer than I have. Do you know a woman named Charlene who drives a super fancy white, Jaguar convertible?”

“Charlene Gregson? The ex-supermodel, the wife of millionaire CEO John Gregson, the ones who just happen to have a summer home near here on the lake?”

You put your wine glass to your lips. “Sure, I mean, I guess. Does she drive a white Jaguar?”

Katie curled up at the other end of the couch and wrapped a blanket over her. “They have a ten car garage at their mansion, so I’m sure she has one in every color.”

“Wait, how do you know this?” You put your elbow on the top of the couch to rest your hand on your fist, squinting at your roommate.

Katie took a big gulp of her wine. “My sister, the one who runs her own carpet cleaning business, she’s been out there. They have these antique rugs that need to be cleaned a certain way.”

“So, she’s married?” You asked, feeling like you’re asking the same question over and over without actually asking it.

Katie shrugs. “As far as I know they still are. I mean, what happened? Did you run into her or something?”

You didn’t feel like retelling the entire debacle, so you trimmed it down a bunch. “I saw that car at the garage when I got my tire fixed, and someone mentioned that it belonged to her.”

Katie gave you a curious look.

You turned and noticed the way she was staring at you. “What?” You laughed as you asked it, turning your gaze back to the TV.

“So,” Katie said, her eyebrow raised. “Forget about Charlene. Tell me more about this tow truck guy. Is he single? Is he tall? Does he have sexy hands?”

You rolled your head to rest it on the back of the sofa. “Do you know a guy named Eddie?”

Katie ran her tongue over her teeth, thinking.

“He drives a tow truck? Works at Munson’s Garage?”

An invisible light bulb seemed to blink on above Katie’s head. “Eddie...Eddie Munson?”

The way she asked it gave you pause; your eyes shifted, and then you shrugged, “I didn’t ask for his last name, but I guess so.”

Katie tilted her head back, eyes wide. “Holy shit, I haven’t seen him around in a minute. He used to sell weed back in the day. I bought some from him a few times when I first moved here after college. But he left town for a year or two, I didn’t know he was back.”

You squished air around in your mouth, puffing your cheeks out as you listened to her. “Well, he’s back. He put a new tire on my car and he didn’t even break a sweat.”

“I remember him being...really hot, in like, a metalhead way,” Katie sipped her wine again. “Does he still have the long hair?”

You nodded, staring at the TV vacantly, picturing him in your mind as clearly as if he were right in front of you. You asked Katie if Eddie had a kid, and she had no idea. “The last time we smoked at his trailer, he was single with no kids, but that was—oh shit---a good 6 years ago.”

The next revelation made Katie jump as she remembered it: “Oh! He was in a band, too. The name had something to do with rust or decay, I never saw him play though, Dan and the rest of his D&D nerd friends worshiped him.” Dan was Katie’s younger brother by two years, and he asked you on a date a while back, but you turned him down, respectfully, being that you didn’t want it to mess with your friendship with Katie.

“That’s his garage, he runs it with his uncle.” Katie corrected your earlier statement. “There’s a rumor that it’s also a clubhouse for the Coffin Kings motorcycle gang, but who knows. In a town like this, there are a lot of rumors.”

You thought about his visible tattoos, including the cluster of bats near his elbow, some kind of monsterous puppet thing on his inner forearm, and there was something spelled out across his fingers, but you couldn’t read what it said.

There is an interlude in your conversation with nothing but canned laughter from the sitcom on TV, and then Katie changes the subject, recalling a dramatic story having to do with one of her colleagues that happened earlier that day.

-------

Eddie waited until everyone was gone before he closed up the garage, noticing that the new kid forgot to sweep the lobby, so he did it himself, mumbling about how it was hard to find good help these days. He had the Jaguar already loaded on the truck, but he needed to wait until after 8 to drop it off at her place.

Charlene was pulling his shirt up and undoing his belt, her mouth on his throat, as soon as she locked the front door behind him. He grabbed onto her wrists and held her in place, forcing her to back up as he walked forward.

There were several Magnum wrappers on the floor by the time he left her there after their final fuck in the shower. He picked up the evidence of their affair and took the wrappers with him, thinking that he couldn’t remember the last time he was with someone he cared about and trusted enough to not use some kind of protection. That same dark voice in his head told him that he’d never get that close to anyone ever again. “Get used to it, buddy. You’ll be alone forever,” the voice snickered.

------

Mrs. John Waterberry, who lived in the house across from Charlene Gregson, grabbed her 78 yr old husband by the arm just as they were getting ready for bed. She could see the tow truck pull up into Charlene’s driveway from their bedroom window.

“That’s five times in two months, John,” Mrs. Waterberry scampered for the binoculars in the desk drawer, putting them to her eyes and pointing them at the house. “Who on earth needs to have their brand new car towed that often?”

John Waterberry fussed to put his glasses back on and watched the big, black truck lower the delicate, expensive Jaguar to the ground with care. “I don’t give a damn, Louisa, let’s go to bed.”

Behind her, John got into bed and turned the lamp by the bed off, but Mrs. Waterberry hid behind the curtain and watched as the strange tattooed boy with the long hair went over and knocked at the front door. When Charlene answered, she was in her a skimpy bathrobe!

“John!” Mrs. Waterberry called to her husband. “She invited him inside again! I told you! Her husband away on a golfing trip and now this.”

“It’s none of our business, Louisa,” John mumbled, turning over on his side, facing away from her.

Mrs. Waterford ended up falling asleep, but her eyes snapped open when she heard the low grumble of the tow truck starting up again. She looked at the digital alarm clock on the nightstand: it was almost 1:00 in the morning.

------

Eddie popped a cigarette into his mouth and rolled the window down, turning his music up in the cab of the tow truck as soon as he was out of the gated lake community. (Black No. 1 – Type O Negative)

"I went looking for trouble, and boy, I found her,

she's in love with herself

she likes the dark

and on her milk white neck

the Devil's mark..."

He should’ve been feeling good, but the frown on his face was giving him a headache, his body telling his mind there was something wrong. He happened to catch a flicker out of the corner of his eye and turned to see a shiny sliver of something on the floorboard of his truck. He made sure there were no cars around and bent down to stretch his hand out and swoop it up. It was an earring; a little silver hoop, and he realized, with sigh, that it must’ve belonged to the woman he had in his truck earlier that day. The one who worked at an art gallery and didn’t have a spare tire in her car. The one with cute, quirky mannerisms and the beautiful eyes.

He sped up and shifted into the next gear, cigarette between his lips, and slipped the earring into his front pocket.

Finally back at the garage, Eddie parked the truck and opened the side door to get his bike. After a wide straddle and a few kicks of his foot, the Harley started up with a growl, loud pipes spitting, his hand with the metal rings twisting on the high handlebar. He had a gig with his band the next evening, but not until after he escorted Charlene to her function and pretended to be her body guard. The whole town had to know they were fucking; he had a hard time believing they were all so morbidly clueless.

While he shot down the highway on his chopper with the wind in his face, he reached over to feel for the outline of your earring in his pocket, and realized with a tiny flutter in his gut, that he had a valid excuse to look you up and see you again.

Part 2

[oneatlatime]

The Crossroads of Destiny

Strap in folks it's finally finale time!

I'm getting a bad feeling from the 'previously on' segment.

*gasp* Song's bird horse!?!?!

Toph gets some serious speed with that earth tongue walking.

Ty Lee's flattery gets less and less subtle. I get the feeling that a lot of Azula's more worrying tendencies could have been curtailed if someone had stuck her on stage as a child.

Is Zuko taller?

The cuts between these scenes are getting ridiculous. Some of these scenes are maybe 15 seconds long.

Zuko knows what's up. He and Iroh have teamed up on that particular fire breathing party trick before.

"It's time I face Azula." Buddy. No.

"You're so dramatic." POT. KETTLE. BLACK.

The last time Iroh and the Aang Gang teamed up, it was also against Azula. She has a way of uniting enemies.

The longer I stare at this the more I giggle.

"Good inside him isn't enough. Why don't you come back when it's outside him too, ok?" Congratulations to Sokka for articulating one of the fundamental human truths. Intentions can go take a hike when all that's visible are actions.

I love that! Iroh says he brought someone along in a tone that very much implies that he asked for help from a friend! Then you go outside and see he kidnapped a dude! And then they just leave him there!

I see your fake meditation. No one as rotten inside as this guy actually meditates properly.

The Dai Li be like

Katara? Why are you ripping into Zuko? Why is Season one bitchy Katara back? I don't want season 1 bitchy Katara to come back.

"No offence." "None taken." Iroh loves his nephew, but Iroh knows his nephew.

The one time Iroh's advice is explicitly solicited is the one time his advice is corny crap. That sucks.

Ba Sing Se is a tel? That's neat.

Hey Toph? Now would be a great time for that new metal bending trick of yours.

Avatar inadvertently validating my fear of subway grates.

I know this is life or death serious and all, but isn't the Sokka and Ty Lee dynamic cute?

MOMO!

This episode's thesis statement boils down to "what happens when you cancel arts programs and theatre kids don't get a chance to monologue in controlled conditions."

Honest question: Is Azula actually so deluded to believe that Divine Right of Kings crap she just spouted, or is she saying what the Dai Li needs to hear to side with her? Usually I think everything out of Azula's mouth is a calculated statement for manipulating others, but the way the show framed that monologue makes me think she actually believes what she's saying.

This conversation between Katara and Zuko, aside from showing that Katara is as capable as Sokka at sticking her foot in her mouth, is actually showing Zuko's growth well. So many of the things that he waves away with an "it's ok" are things that would have made him explode back in season one. It's about time he redefined that scar of his too.

"Aang! I knew you'd come!" "Uncle! The fuck?" Zuko truly has a way with words.

Hey Iroh maybe save your heart to heart until after you've exited the prison?

Wait so this episode is named after Zuko's arc? It's Zuko's destiny this finale is dealing with? Poor Aang's not even the main character in his eponymous show's season finale? Dang.

What was I saying about waiting to chat until you're outside the prison?

So every word out of Azula's mouth here is definitely a lie. She doesn't need Zuko at all. She's got a whole army and already has possession of the throne. What does she need with someone she considers to be an inferior firebender?

Father's love? That guy who burns off faces? The audacity.

"You are free to choose." Is it really freedom of choice if choosing the answer Azula doesn't want to hear ends with Zuko in a crystal cage?

Gotta say I'm intrigued by how quiet Zuko's being for this whole episode. Compare it to the volume of his confrontation with Azula at the Spa place at the beginning of the season.

This is so awful. This is so skin crawly. This is so going to end badly.

Toph can turn doors into ping pong balls. I like that. And what does she need Sokka scouting for Dai Li agents for? She can sense people for miles.

I love the line read on the "I'm not leaving without Bosco!" But does this guy really think he's in a position to make demands, after all the stuff he's ruined in the last, what, two days?

This is a cool move. Full body air bitchslap.

Katara cut her hair! That's kind of like what she did to Pakku with the ice disks.

How has no one been knocked out yet? Everyone in this fight should have at least 5 concussions by now.

I don't know what to make of it, but when Zuko says "I have changed" he sounds more calm and confident than he has all season.

I love the dynamic between Sokka & Toph and Mai & Ty Lee. Everyone involved knows they're second string and no one's really that invested. So they're all kind of chill.

I don't know what's going on in this fight, but Zuko is far too talented and Katara and Aang are both going down too easily.

And this right here is why this fight is only going to end badly for Aang. As soon as Azula's tired of playing, she'll call in reinforcements. Aang doesn't have those.

I hate Azula so much, which means I'm very annoyed to say that she and Zuko actually make a good fighting team. Did they practice drills together or something back in the day? They way they tag out and back in, and exchange fights, flows so well.

Jesus

Crap ok

She nerfed him in the power up sequence! That's not allowed!

So help me god if the writers hook these two up after pulling this crap I will riot.

Iroh could have been helpful if he'd been there earlier. Guess it takes a while to break out of crystals. Although I do like the detail that he stops fighting as soon as Aang and Katara are out & safe.

I was wondering why the magic water was randomly brought up earlier after disappearing for the entire season. I figured it had been lost in the desert with the rest of the stuff on Appa's saddle.

I'm so sorry, but the way Aang's arrow flashes once to confirm that Katara's saved him makes him look like an external USB device confirming successful connection.

I'm loving how immediate the regret from Zuko is. Proof that he has learned over the last two seasons.

"The Earth Kingdom... has fallen." AND WHOSE FAULT IS THAT? This King rubs me the wrong way. Consistently.

I'm fascinated by the fact that they managed to securely transport a bear on Appa's back.

Final Thoughts

Poor Aang has been demoted to secondary character in his own show. This finale was all Fire Nation.

Well done Azula. No matter which way you look at it, she won. If Azula was the main character, this episode would be the crowning glory series finale.

Sokka and Toph spent the whole episode running around putting out fires, only for five more to spring up in their place. I honestly don't know how they and Appa reconnected with the rest of the Gaang to fly out at the end. There's this feeling the whole episode of being consistently one too many steps behind, and I think it's most obvious in their incessant side quests.

Poor Katara went through about seventy billion emotions this episode. I take back my anger at her bitchiness. She deserved a vent session, although I don't think Zuko quite deserved to be the recipient of it. But he took it well.

Congratulations to Zuko for falling backwards into the only right choice for all the wrong reasons. This episode was only going to end with Azula victorious. She recruited an army and successfully executed a coup without breaking a sweat - that is not a level of enemy that Aang and friends has ever faced before, and not one they can realistically win against. Like with Long Feng, this is not a threat you can hit. You can't bend at ideologies and loyalties.

Zuko was going to end this episode siding with the Fire Nation as a free man, or in Fire Nation custody. This way, someone with an actual semi-functioning conscience now has access to the upper levels of the Fire Nation. This could be really interesting.

To be clear, I fully believe that Zuko chose to side with Azula because he swallowed her offer hook, line & sinker. For the guy who invented "Azula always lies" he sure does fall for her lies a lot, especially when she's saying exactly what he wants to hear. I believe Zuko believed her about getting his honour back bla bla bla, chose to follow her because of that belief, and has already realised at least some of what she said was lies by the end of the episode. Which is promising! It looks like there's potential for a Zuko mole next season!

I'm worried for Iroh. Firelords who burn their children's faces off with no shame don't strike me as the type to shy away from executing their brothers.

The Aang fakeout death at the end was not remotely believable unfortunately, mostly because kids' cartoons don't ever pull a Psycho and kill the nominal main character half way through. It probably would have freaked me out if I'd seen this episode as a kid though.

Azula hitting Aang during his power up sequence was inspired. A very well done subversion of expectations, which finally validates my frustrations with the concept of power up sequences in general. Few things bug me more than the mooks politely waiting their turn while the good guy does a quick wardrobe change.

So... is the war over? The Earth Kingdom's fallen, the Southern Water Tribe have been functionally out of the game for a while now. There's only the Northern Water Tribe left, which are only still standing because of a Hail Mary that I very much doubt Aang can pull off twice. So is next season's focus going to be defending the Northern Water Tribe from a final Fire Nation push? I think that's the only place that isn't conquered by the Fire Nation in name at least. On the bright side, this means the Gaang won't be returning to Ba Sing Se. Good riddance. I hate that place.

I've never seen a show with a finale that focuses so intensely on the conflict of someone other than the main character. I don't really know what to make of this episode. I think I liked the one before it better. To be clear, everything that happened made sense - characters were in character, events unfolded as expected (if you handwave an elite force of earthbenders preferring a 14 year old over their seasoned leader), but something about this episode is just a bit boring to me. Maybe they telegraphed it too hard in the previous episodes? I don't know. I'll have to chew on this one a bit.

[theglamorousferal]

Persephone's Binding Part 4

AO3 Prompt Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Jazz guided Jason through the halls to the library, it seemed to be in a different wing of the castle from where the living spaces were. When they reached a split between a hallway and a set of stairs she hesitated, placing a hand on one one of the banisters and turning to face him. She looked at him considering before nodding to herself and picking up her skirts to go up the stairs.

"We'll take a shortcut over the wall, because you're death-touched you can safely breathe the air without it overwhelming you with intense emotions and obsessive behavior." She said absentmindedly to him as if air that could cause such things were normal.

"Uh, glad for that then?" He said following her. She opened the door at the top of the stairs and strode outside, not even glancing at the absurd sky.

It was eerie to say the least, swirling Lazarus and emerald green with purples and blacks making the sky look like an oil slick. He expected the air of the dimension that contains all the afterlives to be colder, but it was pleasantly warm with a gentle breeze blowing by. If he closed his eyes he could imagine standing on a hill watching the clouds go by. On one side of the wall they were atop was a courtyard containing plants that Ivy would drool for, it was nearly as overrun as her greenhouse.

He noticed one of the towers had what appears to be an observatory, though he wasn't sure what besides doors, floating islands and general terrifying shapes they would see through it. "What's with the observatory?"

She glanced at it and gained a fond smile on her face. "That's Danny's. He always wanted to be an astronaut but circumstances prevented that. That telescope can connect to any telescope in our home universe. Even the ones in deep space. He's going to IRU right now for aerospace navigation. There's a dimension he was hoping to spend a couple years in before he has to take the crown that has intergalactic space travel as the norm." She seemed to light up when she spoke of her brother, obviously proud of him.

"Wait, Danny's who you're Regent for? Not a son?" Jason wouldn't have minded if she had a kid kicking around, but to find that the kid he met earlier is the future King of Everything In-between was surprising.

"Oh, yes, Right, I'll explain everything I can once we get to the library, it's just through here." Once inside again, she took brisk steps forward to doors directly across the hall. "Here we are, my favorite spot is just this way."

They stepped out onto a second floor balcony of a three story high library. Books spanned from floor to ceiling in a room the size of a small stadium. Shelves and tables made from a purple wood polished to a shine. Deep red velvet seats on all the chairs and couches in each of the reading spaces. Jason stood flabbergasted at the sheer volume of books present. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned to see a conspiratorial smile in teal eyes. "I had the same reaction when I first came here. Come on, my favorite spot to talk is this way."

They made their way to a corner of the library that had a pair of chairs, a tea table between them and a small fireplace, lit with a ghostly blue flame. They sat and she looked at the fire, then at him, then back at the fire and sighed heavily. She closed her eyes, gathering her thoughts before she spoke.

"Once upon a time there were three scientists in college who wanted to build a portal to the 'Ghost Zone' as they called it so they could study an research entities they referred to as 'ghosts'. Their definition being that any entity that produces, metabolizes or consumes the substance ectoplasm is a 'ghost'." She paused here, clasping her hands together and looking down at them. "There was an accident, I'm not going to go into too many details for now, but just know that one of the scientists became something more than human. The first of his kind in a millennia, a statistical improbability. Some things happened and he believed that he lost the only woman he could ever love to the man that caused him to become something other than human, to become partially one of the creatures they sought to capture and experiment on.

She glanced up and stared into the middle distance, remembering. "Twenty years pass and the two other scientists are now married with children. They've had a lab in their home since they graduated college at the top of their field in ectoscience. They have a daughter and a son, both are born ectocontaminated though they don't know for years later. They've been working on a new portal, this time bigger, large enough to fit a car through." She laughs lightly. "I remember coming down and shoving granola bars and thermoses filled with soup when they were on work binges, determined to get 'just a little bit more done Jazzy-pants, then we'll go to bed'" She gazed wistfully at the fire. "They usually did once they finished whatever food I brought to them, not wanting to have a repeat of the last time they left something with old food in it and it gained sentience and mass enough to chew a few hazmat boots."

She seemed lost for a moment before she cleared her throat. "Sorry, um, where was I?" She blinked before raising a hand up pointing at the ceiling. "Right, the portal. So they spent a good decade start to finish on it. It was going to be their crowning achievement, but when they plugged it in they saw some sparks, but nothing else happened." She folded her hands together on her lap. "They left for a weekend. Went to search for some cryptid they had been meaning to go find for years, but had put off to work on the portal. I was in charge for the weekend, a thing I was used to from whenever they were on design binges. Danny had his friends over and I was in my room studying. I had my headphones on, I don't even remember what band was playing, and I think I was working on chem homework?" She shook herself from the thought. "Anyway, there was this power surge, I remember just thinking that I was mad that it happened right during my favorite part of the song and I was singing into my pencil. When the lights went out, I had the usual expected dread in the pit of my stomach, but something felt especially frightening in this moment. I didn't have time to dwell on it, shaking it off as just being paranoid. I was more concerned with getting my music back on after that. I should have realized something had happened." She tightened her hands until the shook, pale knuckles stood out.

"I'm not telling you details, but there was another accident with a portal, this time it was Danny. He became something more than human. He became the second halfa in a millennia."

"Halfa?"

"Yes, Half human, half ghost. An anomaly, a myth, a statistical outlier. He walks the line between life and death. He will have many titles once he takes the throne, and one of those will be the Balance."

"Damn, that's a lot to put on a kid. How'd that happen?"

"I found out all of this second-hand mind you. I may have known his secret when it all happened, but he didn't know I knew yet."

"How'd he hide suddenly having powers? I don't expect he had particularly good control over them at first, I know several supers who didn't."

Jazz hung her head in shame. "I was too deep in my own head at that point. I was neck-deep in research on how to parent troubled teens because while I missed all his slips for power usage, I did not miss his decline in grades. Especially when the chemistry teacher approached me about the fact he kept 'dropping' equipment." She held up air quotes. "Turns out not being able to control tangibility can cause mass amounts of property damage, who knew?" she shrugged her shoulders.

"So basically, the original halfa guy from earlier managed to gain wealth and power using his powers in increasingly shady ways. He also grew obsessed with my mom and blamed my dad for turning him into a halfa. He wanted revenge. He invited us all to a college reunion where he found out about Danny. Things happened and they became nemeses with Vlad wanting Danny to denounce our father and become his son with my mom at his side. You're allowed to say ew, it was very ew for a long time." She laughed at his scrunched up face. "Anyway, he finds out about ancient ghostly artefacts that are supposed to give the user unimaginable power, and finds out where they are. He finds out they are locked away with the former King of the Realms, and he expects to be able to just grave rob the ruler of the Infinite. He manages to get the Ring before Pariah wakes up, and somehow manages to escape back to out home dimension. All ghosts flee the Realms through the most stable portal available; the one in my family basement. This causes alerts to go out all across the town and my parents put up defenses for people to huddle under during everything. Some stuff happened and it ended up leading to Danny taking a suit our parents had built and defeating the former King Pariah Dark and sealing him away in the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep.

"Infinite Realms Law dictates that if the leader is defeated in single combat, and the combatant continues after said encounter, then they are to be crowned High Royal and any family members gain royal titles as well. Danny is, however, too young for his classification. He is too young by human years, he must be twenty-one for that, and too young for halfa standards, he must be a halfa for a decade. He won't be of the majority for at least another five years, and then he must have it on the following solstice. Until that time, he is High Prince and must work on learning leadership and combat skills." She gazed calmly at him, resigned for her brother's fate.

"So how'd you end up Regent?" She sighed and closed her eyes, shoulders dropping.

"We had a council for a while, the Council of Ancients, new and old working alongside the Observants. It worked for a little while, but something happening in my home dimension was causing issues. You see, the ghost problem in our town after the portal opened became a pretty big issue when property damage resulted in the thousands and you can't bill the dead. Danny was doing his best to fight off as much as he could, but he wasn't trained and was very new to his powers. It didn't help that our parents were shooting at him while he was trying to save people." She grumbled and Jason's hands tightened to fists.

"What do you mean they shot at him?" He asked as evenly as he could. He could feel the tinges of old hurts coming to the surface. A Batarang to the throat.

"They never hit him, he dodged every time. They didn't know it was him. They thought it was just a ghost, and to them, all ghosts were evil. They had a lot of bias in the majority of their research, but as soon as they found out who he was they immediately changed tack. They had Danny stay at Vlad's for a weekend, which was it's own can of worms, while they disarmed the house and set everything to ignore his ecto signature." She looked thoughtful. "Apparently Vlad wasn't a complete jerk that weekend either, Danny told him what they found out and Vlad, worried for the second of his species, actually helped him through some emotions and helped him train some. I think it's what started on his redemption actually."

Jason breathed out heavily letting his rage dissipate. "You keep saying 'the second' instead of the 'the only'. There are more?" He quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Oh, yes, there's Ellie and Dante. Ellie is my younger sister, she's a clone of Danny Vlad made, and Dante is an evil alternate timeline version of Danny and Vlad that fused together and is inhabiting a clone of Danny Vlad wasn't able to pull into consciousness." She let him digest that for a moment.

Jason choked out a laugh. "Man, and I thought my sibling situation was weird."

Jazz's eyes narrowed, appraising him almost like a predator eyeing prey. "Hmm. We'll discuss your family situation later." She cleared her throat gathering her thoughts. "Anyway, so the property damage led to the government getting involved. More specifically a branch known as the Ghost Investigation Ward or GIW for short. They were founded on the first research papers my parents produced which were heavily biased against ecto-entities on a whole. They were extremely prejudiced against ghosts.

"They started out as a nuisance. Someone easily distracted by getting their suits dirty or faulty equipment. Then the Anti-Ecto Acts were ratified. Then they got bolder. They paid my parents a fake amount of money to buy the house as-is with the portal. They planned to send a nuke in to destroy the Realms believing it to be full of horrendous monsters. Thankfully the nuke was a dud model and someone definitely got fired that day in ordering. But after that they just started to get worse and worse. They were starting to go after anyone who pinged on their detectors, which were just getting more and more precise as time went on.

"Here's the thing about Amity Park, my hometown. It was founded by witches fleeing the witch trials. It sits at the crossing between ley lines, and it's always been a spot that the veil was thin. Ectoplasm would leak through natural portals that popped up from time to time. Add a stable portal to the mix? The entire town was now ectocontaminated. They were now classified as liminal. They were now death-touched enough that they pinged on the GIW's equipment. They began raiding people's homes, accusing them of harboring ghosts. Danny's entire home room got taken in for questioning one day, they had set up little interrogation rooms like a blood drive in the gymnasium." She chuckled darkly. "They got so close so many times, too many times." Her left hand clenched into a fist.

"My parents found out about Danny when the raids first started. He'd decided it was time to come clean because it was only a matter of time before they came knocking at our door. Thankfully, they came while Danny was at Vlad's and they never had the guts to storm the billionaire's house. I managed to avoid detection by wearing a Specter-Deflector and my parents were always in their hazmat suits so they didn't ping either. Things got worse, Danny had to beg the Council to make an edict to not come through the portal for the foreseeable future.

"It didn't work, various beings saw it as a challenge. They began to lose faith in their future ruler. If he couldn't protect his little town and the people in it, how was he supposed to protect them? It was a common sentiment. It was something I grew tired of hearing during one particular fight." She stared at the blue flames of the fireplace, not seeing the flickering light. "Danny was down. Mom and Dad and Vlad were fighting together to both capture the ghost before they could do more damage and stop the GIW from capturing another ghost to experiment on and dispose of. The ghost was the fourth one that week spouting the same bullshit." She spat the word out like a curse, growling before looking into the middle distance with sad eyes. Softly, she spoke, "There was an explosion." She blinked, coming back to focus. My parents were down. My youngest siblings were now fighting. I made a decision." She squared her shoulders and tightened her jaw, determination filling out her features. "I had been helping Danny study to become King, I had read up on all the important laws. I took the Specter Speeder to the council chambers. I stood before them and declared as the eldest and therefore heir and head of the Nightingale family, the Royal family, and that I was at the majority for my classification, I would be taking the title of Regent until Danny reached his majority. I took the Crown and the Ring and my own suit and went to the fight.

"I told Dante and Ellie to get Danny and go, there was nothing that could be done for our parents. I subdued and contained the ghost and then beat back the GIW until they were at the borders of Amity. Then, using power I had just gained, I pulled the entire town into the Infinite Realms." She held out her hands, gesturing to the general vicinity.

He sat with that for a moment. "Wait, wait wait, you're just gonna skim over the fact your parents died?"

Jazz's eyes hardened. "Never." Her eyes glowed yellow for a moment and her hair seemed to float a bit when she said the word. "I just met you, and it's still a sore wound, I'd rather not get into it if that's alright with you." She held herself rigid as if expecting him to press the issue.

"Whoa, it's okay, nevermind, touchy subject, I get it. Most people I know have their parents as a touchy subject. Especially dead ones." He kept his posture open, slouching a little to show he didn't mean to pry.

She hummed thoughtfully, appraising him once more. "So, I told you my story, earlier you told me some of yours. I think that's enough sharing for one day. I don't know about you, but I am very tired. If you like, you may stay here. Just ring the bell on the mantle and Jeeves will be here to assist you. If not, I'd be glad to walk you back to the guest rooms, they are down the hall from the family rooms." She stood and waited for his response.

"Um, yeah, let's walk back together. I had a couple questions about some of the books in my room?" They walked and talked together as they made their way towards the bedrooms. They parted ways with a promise to read the same book and give each other feedback on it in a week.

"Well, this is me." He said awkwardly indicating the hall his room was in, hers was in the opposite hall.

"Yup, I'm not sure when I'll get the chance to see you tomorrow, I have a full day up until dinner, but I'll see you then?" She looked inquiringly at him.

"Yeah, definitely! See you tomorrow!" He said and turned down the hall. He jogged until he got to the door, opened it and then leaned against it falling to the floor. "Okay, so I may not have entirely screwed this up, but man, she's been through a lot already. Do I want to add my shit to it?" He thought to himself, spiraling until he was clutching his hair. He growled and stood up, then stalked towards the bed and flopped down on it, back first this time.

"I mean, I might be stuck here, so would my baggage really matter that much?" He laid there for a moment before deciding to get ready for bed. Once laying down again, he kept thinking of all the different ways he as a person could fuck this or her up if he pursued a relationship. He worried himself to sleep that night.

[learnastrowallura]

Gender of the Planets

Note: this post will present the conditions necessary for planets to have a more masculine or feminine expression; it has nothing to do with an individual's gender. Also this is worded in a black and white manner just to help you understand the concept better. The source of this information is the book Ancient Astrology in Theory and Practice: a Manual of Traditional Techniques, Volume One: Assessing Planetary Condition by Demetra George.

I prepared some example for you guys to follow and hopefully be able to apply the knowledge in your own charts as well. Enjoy <3

Masculine energy/expression is initiative, quick to act, welcoming of change

Feminine energy/expression is receptive, takes her time and is resistant to change

The Masculine and Feminine Planets

Masculine planets: Sun, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn

Feminine planets: Moon and Venus

Most actually consider Mercury to be a neutral planet; I am going with Masculine.

Now to figure out which expression these planets shift to, while taking into consideration their essential gender, we will look at the following conditions:

1. Zodiacal signs:

Masculine signs: Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius, Aquarius (fire and air signs)

Feminine signs: Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn, Pisces (water and earth signs)

Masculine planets act more in accordance with their basic nature when in masculine signs (Mercury in Sagittarius)

Feminine planets do the same when in Feminine signs (Venus in Pisces)

Masculine planets when in feminine signs (Mars in Taurus) do not operate so well and vice versa (Moon in Aquarius)

2. Solar phase (morning or night):

A planet is considered to be more masculinized when it is rising before the Sun, and becomes more feminized when it is following the Sun:

Pisces Venus example: (before, masculinized)

Sagittarius Mercury example: (after, feminized)

3. Quadrant:

This one is pretty simple. If the planet is between the Ascendant (ASC) and midheaven (MC), or between the Descendant (DSC) and Imum Coeli (IC), then the planet is more masculinized, otherwise it is more feminized.

By applying this we can see that the Pisces Venus in this chart is more masculinized in this way, and that the Sagittarius Mercury becomes more feminized.

Demetra also mentions Celestial Latitude; however, I do not know a lot about it so I decided to not include it in this post.

So you see, we started out with Mercury, a Masculine planet, being in the sign Sagittarius, a Masculine sign; this tells us that Mercury is in its element here and is able to express its masculine well, which would indicate that the native is the type to be an active and fast communicator. But then when looking at the solar phase condition we determined that this particular planet is of the evening phase. In other words, that it does not rise before the Sun; this caused Mercury to become more feminine. And then when we considered the Quadrant condition, we found that Mercury was in the second house therefore between the ASC and IC points, this leading the planet to become more feminine as well. So do not judge by Zodiacal signs only!!

Feel free to reach out if u need help with applying this knowledge on ur own chart!!

Thank you for reading <3

Masterlist

Paid readings available

[rose-tinted-vision]

Rose's favourite fics

(in no particular order)

part 2 here

Apparently I've linked about 50 fics so I'm sorry, I'm not going to add all the summaries for these fics.

Blue Lock

For Blue Lock I'd recommend checking out smallghosts and explorerseel8's profile

pride hath no place by vani_em (NagiReo)

raison d'être by explorerseel8 (ReoNagi)

Take Five by explorerseel8 (ReoNagi)

truth or drink by smallghosts (ReoNagi)

AITA for “abandoning” my best friend by smallghosts (ReoNagi)

fall forward/spring back by nagireo (NagiReo)

as long as I'm with you by okonomiyakein (NagiReo)

Player 2 by explorerseel8 (HioRin)

Kuroko no Basuke

Please read literally everything by umisabaku

A Kinda Sorta Fairy Tale by Lys ap Adin (MidoTaka)

But I Lived by exuberant_imperfection, kate882 (MidoTaka)

Designation: Miracle (series) by umisabaku (KagaKuro, KiKasa, AkaFuri, AoMomo, MidoTaka)

as small as a world by umisabaku (MidoTaka)

in the liminal darkness by 100demons (MidoTaka)

Haikyuu

(the sad thing is that I read a ton of Haikyuu and KnB fics before I got my ao3 account so it's a slow journey finding all my fav fics again)

I put my hand out, unfolded, into the sunlight by carafin (BokuAka)

I'll give a bouquet to these unending days by sparksandsalt (BokuAka)

love in the time of wifi by dalyeau (BokuAka)

tea-stained polaroids by dalyeau (BokuAka)

video games and gold rings by gnomeo (KuroKen)

Ear to Ear by darkmagicalgirl (AoFuta)

Yaku and the Beanstalk by Mysecretfanmoments (YakuLev)

One Piece

For my fellow ZoSan fans: literally everything by Hazel_Athena, Harubo, 8ball, donutsandcoffee and three_days_late are worth checking out

More Ace-centric: Dezace and stormy1x2's fics that make me Feel Things

Wanted by Hazel_Athena (ZoSan)

Disoriented Envy by Hazel_Athena (ZoSan)

Can you hear me now? by Alexis_C (ZoSan)

Learning to Listen by three_days_late (ZoSan)

this, at least by adietxt (ZoSan)

come on, come on (turn a little faster) by donutsandcoffee (ZoSan)

Late Night with Sanji Black by Harubo (ZoSan)

Love's First Blush by Hazel_Athena (ZoSan)

they said love is reaching blindly at a pit full of snakes by summermidnights (ZoSan)

Complex Buddies by threesipsmore (ZoSan)

you and me somehow by losingcontrolnow (AceSan)

Cryptid Sightings Volume #1: Portgas D. "Fire Fist" Ace by Dezace (Gen, Ace-centric)

Spades On-Screen by stormy1x2 (Gen, Ace/WB pirates-centric)

whatever you can still betray by midnightluck (Gen, Ace/WB pirates-centric)

Hide the Knives by SrirachaBunny (Gen, Ace/WB pirates-centric)

The Wanderer by MaiKusakabe (Gen, Badass!Marco)

Genshin Impact

For Genshin, I'd recommend heartslogos and smallghosts

Burgeon by gloomyparfait (HaiKaveh)

Forget Your Name (Replace it with mine) by princesscas (Thomato)

the purest form of water by eversall (XingYun)

to be unbroken and brave again by magicities (XiaoVen)

Chonghua's Layered Frost by pureofheart_rareofpair (XingYun)

cloudburst by smallghosts (XingYun)

keep the caffeine away from kids by shynkai (scara-centric, slight HaiKaveh)

The Verdure and the Puppet by kimekosu (Gen, Nahida & Wanderer)

truck, barter and trade by Seungshi03 (Established HaiKaveh, them raising Wanderer)

James Bond (Craig movies)

I remember really liking anything by Jen, skylights, scioscribe, pdameron, and opalescentgold

Memos from Q branch by AviaCarter (Gen, background 00Q)

Sic Pravis Magna by blackidyll (00Q)

ordinary, everyday things by pdameron (00Q)

Dramatic Arts by scioscribe (00Q)

Ordinary Numbers by BootsnBlossoms, Kryptaria (00Q)

[celebratebleach]

A big thank you so much to everyone who participated in the BLEACH Anime Celebration 2024!

I can't run events like these without your enthusiasm, support, and participation - which was at it's highest this year :D If you haven't see then entries for this year yet:

Day 1: Fave Character / Division / Save the One Save the All

Fave character by @srtruth [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi] Fave character by @toxictaicho [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi] Fav Character by @timetravelbleach [fanart featuring Toushiro Hitsugaya and the artist's AU time traveler version of him] Fave Character part 1, 2, and 3 by @my0vershareworld [analysis posts about Askin Nakk le Vaar] Fave character by @recurring-polynya [fanart featuring Renji Abarai and Rukia Kuchiki] Fave character by @bleached-socks [fanart featuring Uryu Ishida] No Going Back by @rays-of-fire-and-ice [fanfiction based on the themes 'Fave character' and 'Division' featuring Momo Hinamori and Gin Ichimaru]

Day 2: Hunter / A Missing Scene / Unlikely Pairs

Unlikely Pairs by @toxictaicho [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi x Soi Fon] Hunter by @timetravelbleach [fanart featuring Toushiro Hitsugaya] A Missing Scene & Unlikely Pairs by @my0vershareworld [fanart featuring Askin Nakk le Vaar and PePe Waccabrada] Unlikely Pairs by @srtruth [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Kenpachi Zaraki]

Day 3: Shikai / Fave Friendship / Black Hole Disco

Shikai by @toxictaicho [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi] Fav Friendship by @timetravelbleach [fanart featuring Toushiro Hitsugaya, Sojun Kuchiki, and an oc] The Path Taken by @rays-of-fire-and-ice [fanfiction based on the theme 'Fave Friendship' featuring Toushiro Hitsugaya and Rangiku Matsumoto] Shikai by @recurring-polynya [fanart featuring Minazuki] Black Hole Disco by @srtruth [fanart featuring Nemu Kurotsuchi] Black Hole Disco by @my0vershareworld [fanart featuring Askin Nakk le Vaar and an oc]

Day 4: Halloween/ Volume Cover / Comforts

Halloween by @timetravelbleach [fanart featuring Toushiro Hitsugaya] Halloween by @toxictaicho [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi, Kenpachi Zaraki, Ashisogi Jizo and Yachiru Kusajishi] Halloween by @toxictaicho [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi] Halloween by @recurring-polynya [fanart featuring a Menos Grande] Volume Cover by @my0vershareworld [fanart featuring Askin Nakk le Vaar] Halloween by @srtruth [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Tite Kubo]

Day 5: Cup Half Empty, Cup Half Full / Recognizing Reiatsu / Black and Blue

Recognizing Reiatsu by @timetravelbleach [fanart featuring Toushiro Hitsugaya] Black and Blue by @recurring-polynya [fanfiction featuring Renji Abarai Byakuya Kuchiki, and Momo Hinamori] Cup Half Empty, Cup Half Full by @my0vershareworld [fanart featuring Askin Nakk le Vaar] Recognizing Reiatsu and Black and Blue by @toxictaicho [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Kenpachi Zaraki]

Day 6: Six moments or characters / Defeated / In Another Life

In Another Life by @toxictaicho [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Kenpachi Zaraki] At the Turn of Change by @rays-of-fire-and-ice [fanfiction based on the themes 'Six characters or moments' featuring Momo Hinamori, Toushiro Hitsugaya, Shinji Hirako, Rangiku Matsumoto, Izuru Kira, Renji Abarai, and Hitsuhina] In Another Life by @recurring-polynya [fanart featuring Renruki] In Another Life by @timetravelbleach [fanart featuring Toushiro Hitsugaya] Defeated by @my0vershareworld [fanart featuring Askin Nakk le Vaar]

Day 7: Crossover / War Cry / Aftermath

Aftermath by @my0vershareworld [fanart featuring Askin Nakk le Vaar] Crossover and Crossover by @toxictaicho [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Nemu Kurostuchi] Crossover Aftermath by @my0vershareworld [fanart featuring Askin Nakk le Vaar] Crossover and Crossover by @toxictaicho [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Nemu Kurostuchi] Aftermath by @recurring-polynya [fanfiction featuring Tetsuzaemon Iba Momo Hinamori, Rukia Kuchiki, and Sajin Komamura] Crossover by @timetravelbleach [fanart featuring Toushiro Hitsugaya]

Day 8: A New Look/ Opposites / A Relationship that’s Stayed the Same

A New Look by @toxictaicho [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Kenpachi Zaraki] A New Look by @timetravelbleach [fanart featuring Toushiro Hitsugaya]

If I have missed any submissions, please tell me ASAP so I can add them here.

Given the next cour is set to be the last for the new anime series, I'll likely be doing this event again once the new cour is announced. We might do a bigger celebration, perhaps a two week event or a month-long celebration. Let me know what you all think!

In the meantime, thank you again everyone and take care!

[deadbeatbirdmom]

My favourite moments from Justice League x RWBY Part 2, as 30 screenshots:

(Most of these were posted back in October when I was talking about what I liked after first seeing it, but thanks to @strawberry-seal77 I realised not everyone interested in seeing screenshots from that movie would have seen that post, and this time there's a minimum of my rambling)

Starting in Vacuo:

Sisterly love. Also Bumbleby moment 1: they're totally holding hands behind Yang's thigh.

I love how Ruby's just resigned to Yang shoving her head out of the way.

Blake ready to get a padlocked door open.

Gambol Shroud ready too.

A slash and a kick and BAM! Breaking and entering 101 by Blake Belladonna.

Bumbleby moment 2: a wink and a finger gun = blushing Blake.

Newly arrived on Earth and Yang notices something is missing from her girlfriend... aka Bumbleby moment 3.

Poor Blake does not approve of missing cat ears. Same, Blake, same.

Blake's hand on her shoulder makes Yang pause.

Also known as Bumbleby moment 4: Blake being a supportive girlfriend.

Sisterly love again. Aww. Hugging it out.

Ruby giving Yang some reassurance.

Two Grimm learning not to mess with Yang. Especially when Burn is charged up.

Yang: on fire but not actually screaming. Just a battle cry.

If Grimm had the sense they'd run from Yang when she's like this.

Catching Wonder Woman's fist mid punch.

A possessed Wonder Woman I might add. That's really Kilg%re Yang's punching.

Sending possessed!Wonder Woman flying.

And through at least two trees.

Checking on Ruby after she got hit by possessed!Wonder Woman.

Worried Yang.

Expressing concern again.

Silver eye reflecting Yang, a neat mirror of what happened in Volume 9.

Good news: they got Kilg%re out of Wonder Woman.

Bad news:

There's a reason why that grin isn't normal for Yang...

Kilg%re creeping out Blake. Also not on one of these pics: Bumbleby moment 5 when Blake tells Kilg%re he could never fool her while pretending to be Yang.

Weiss: "You can't have her!"

Black Canary catching Yang after they get Kilg%re out of her.

Blake and Weiss supporting Yang while she recovers from having Kilg%re in her head.

Yang very much unimpressed with Watts.

Victory celebration, with the second Bees kiss on camera (Bumbleby moment 6)

And I've finally hit the image limit on a tumblr post. That was the end of them though.

[mynameismckenziemae]

She’s a Fire-Chapter VIII

Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw x OFC/Reader (no use of y/n)

Running me wild

(previous chapter here, next chapter here)

Warnings: smut, sex toys, almost getting caught, p in v, oral (m receiving), etc.

“Goddamnit” Bradley mutters good-naturedly as he plugs in the outdoor lights and nothing happens, “Don’t even say it, I know.”

5 minutes earlier you had joined him outside to see how he was doing and asked if he tried plugging the lights in before putting them up. His silence spoke volumes. “I knew I was forgetting something. It should be fine though, they worked last year.”

You burst out laughing as he stalks over to you, grabbing you around the waist and tickling you. “You laughing at me Row?”

“I would never!” You gasp.

“I’m an idiot,” he sighs.

“No, you’re not. I’ve done it too. That’s why I thought to ask you. I’ll help you find the one that’s burnt out.”

Bradley brings out a second ladder from the garage and you two get to work, luckily finding it after only a few minutes.

“Alright, let’s try this again. Ready?” He says, plugging them in and coming to stand next to you. “3, 2, 1, open”.

You nod and gasp when you do. “Oh, it’s beautiful!”

“So beautiful,” he murmurs, looking at you.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

“I’ll get a real tree someday, but I’m having a hard time parting with this one. It’s probably a fire hazard and full of lead but it’s gone up every year since I was born.”

Oh, Bradley. “I like its vintage vibe.”

Your heart melts when he pulls out the old ornaments that he made for his mom when he was little. “Look at you! How old were you?” You coo at his toothless school picture in a painted popsicle stick frame.

“That was first grade I think? So around 7?”

“So cute.”

You can’t help but wonder what your kids would look like with Bradley. Would they have your red hair? His hazel eyes?

Bradley boosts you to place the star on the top of the tree. You watch Elf under the lights, snuggling while eating cookie dough.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

A few hours later, Bradley whistles lowly when he sees you walk down the stairs in your plaid skirt, tucked-in sweater, and over-the-knee high-heel boots. “Wow, you look amazing”.

“Thank you, you do too.” You look him over in fitted black pants and a gray sweater. “Before we go, I just need to do one more thing.”

You pull him in by his belt loop and kiss him deeply, unbuttoning his jeans and pulling his cock out, already getting hard.

“What are-wait, now?” He stutters, “Whoa, what is that?”

You slide the cock ring down you had in your pocket to the base of him. “It’s a remote-controlled vibrating cock ring.”

“Fuck, really? You’re gonna make me wear this in front of our friends?” He sighs, but his cock twitches in your hand.

“Yep. I have the remote and I’m going to use it whenever I want.” You say as you tuck him back into his pants. “Color?”

“Green.���

You smile. You know he likes the humiliation and embarrassment but he won’t admit it.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Bradley turns on Christmas music and drives you through a neighborhood that is notorious for their holiday lights before heading to Jake and Natasha’s for the Dagger party.

You click the button on the low setting as you pull on their street. “Holy shit” he groans, hands tightening on the steering wheel.

“Good or bad?”

“Fuck, it’s good. But I’m hard again baby, it had just gone away.” He whines as he shifts into park.

“Oh look, they’re waiting for us by the door, we better go in,” you smirk, but turn it off.

He sighs in relief and gets out, tucking himself into his waistband before coming around to open your door.

You take the hand he offered and press a kiss to his cheek. “Did I tell you I’m not wearing underwear?” You murmur before pulling away.

He mutters a curse and looks to the sky before grabbing the gifts and following you inside.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Natasha gives you a tour of their beautiful home as you and Bradley are the first ones there and it’s your first time.

“And here’s our bedroom…Oh my God. JAKE! I told him to put these away”. Nat scrambles to hide the sex toys on the nightstand, shoving them in the drawer.

You burst out laughing, “I’m sorry. I know you’re mortified, but it’s not a big deal, we use them too.” You say, wiping a tear that leaked out.

Her face is beet red, but she laughs too. “I think most people do, I’m just glad it was you and not one of the guys. I literally asked him an hour ago to put them away and he said he would.”

“Sounds about right. I love what you’ve done with the house though.” You change the subject, trying to ease some of her embarrassment.

You meet the guys back in the kitchen.

“Jake, do you remember what I asked you to put away an hour ago? Well, you forgot. Rowan got an eyeful of our collection.” Nat says, smacking his arm.

He pales. “I’m so sorry. The timer for the oven went off and I must’ve forgotten.”

“Collection?” Bradley asks, not catching on.

“Adult toy collection” Nat answers.

“Oh, no big deal. I’m sure it’s nothing she hasn’t seen before, she’s got a pretty big collection of her own.”

Your eyes widen, and Jake and Natasha burst out laughing.

Bradley looks at you with wide eyes as he realizes what he just said. “I’m so sorry. You probably didn’t want anyone to know that.”

You laugh too. “It’s okay, really.” You say, squeezing his hand to let him know you’re not mad. “Hey, I was single for a long time. A girl's gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Nat says handing you a beer and tapping hers to it. She gives Jake a look and you can see he’ll be paying for it later, one way or another.

Javy, Rueben, and Mickey arrive next, followed closely by Bob, Sunny, and Steve.

“Are you sure you don’t mind having Steve here? He sheds.” Bob asks before letting him in.

“We asked you to bring him! Of course, we don’t mind. No one ever died from a little dog hair.” Jake says as he kneels to unhook his leash and say hello.

You click the remote in your pocket with the commotion of people arriving, and Bradley chokes on his beer.

“You alright?” Sunny asks, slapping him on the back.

“Yeah, just went down the wrong tube” he sputters, walking around to hug you from behind. You can feel the hard press of his erection on your back, along with the vibrations. You turn it up to the medium setting and he inhales sharply and tenses, fighting the urge to rut against you. He relaxes when you turn it off a few seconds later.

“You’re evil.” He whispers against your hair.

“Oh, I’m just getting started.”

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

You tease him throughout dinner, turning it on and off, low and medium speed. Your hand reaches over to palm him through his jeans. His breath hitches, gasps, and sighs are driving you crazy. He’s so desperate, he doesn’t even try to stop you, his legs open like a little slut every time he felt your touch. You tell him that too and he flushed even deeper.

Thankfully no one noticed, as Steve was the center of attention at the head of the table where Jake and Natasha set a chair specifically for him.

You leave the remote alone as you help clear the table and clean up.

The gift exchange is next, everyone has picked names out of a hat instead of trying to buy everyone something.

You sit in the recliner with your legs curled underneath you Bradley sits on the floor in front of you. You smirk to yourself as he gingerly sits, his ass still a bit sore from the night before.

“Okay, we all open on 3. 1…2…3!” Natasha says.

Everyone opens their presents at the same time. You were delighted to be gifted the coziest Sherpa bathrobe from Mickey.

All attention was again on Steve as he tried to open his gift from Jake and Nat when you clicked the remote to the highest setting. Bradley groans, curling in on himself. Everyone stops to look at him.

“Sorry. Just got a cramp” he lies, rubbing the back of his leg for emphasis.

“Those are the worst, Jake’s got a massage gun in the garage, by the bench press. I can get it-“ Nat says, but is interrupted by you.

“No, that’s okay. You should watch Steve. He can find it, I’ll help him.”

“You sure?” She asks, already smiling at Steve tear through the paper.

“Yeah, no problem.” You say, turning it lower before helping Bradley to his feet.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

You’re on him as soon as you’re through the garage.

“Please Row, pleasepleaseplease touch me,” he whines into your mouth.

“I will, you gotta be quiet though, okay?” He nods and you drop to your knees, pulling him out, and sucking him straight down your throat.

Your free hand goes to fondle his sack, and the other click the ring on the highest setting before dropping the remote and joining your other hand between his legs, going further back to press on his perineum.

His head falls back, hands grip your hair as he groans quietly, warm salty cum filling your mouth. You moan around him at the taste before swallowing it.

You quickly turn off the vibrations and slip it off him, kissing his spent cock and tucking him back in his pants.

Bradley pulls you to your feet to kiss you, loving the taste of himself on your lips.

The garage door swings open and you startle apart. You both smile at her sheepishly, not bothering with an excuse.

“Looks like your leg is better.” She smirks, “We’re gonna start a fire and a movie if you guys are done making out like teenagers.”

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Thankfully, everyone’s none the wiser when you come back, even Nat just thinks you two were kissing.

Bradley pulls you into his lap as he takes your place in the recliner. “Sorry, my ass is still a little too sore to be sitting on the wood floor for 2 hours,” he murmurs in your ear. You pull your new robe over your bare legs and Jake comes around with drinks.

“Alright. We’re watching ‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation’. Everybody drinks when: Clark falls or is hit by something, the advent calendar is opened, Clark's bonus or the pool is referenced, and Clark messes with the neighbors. Got it?”

Everyone laughs and agrees. Halfway through the movie, you’re feeling good, a little tipsy. Bradley’s switched to water after he finished his drink, tracing shapes on your bare inner thigh. It’s driving you crazy, you were already worked up from the garage.

You open your legs a little further, trying to get him where you want him, and he just smirks, fingers not straying, eyes on the movie. Such a brat.

Your arousal is coating halfway down your thighs and Bradley’s hard underneath you by the time the movie ends.

You were fully planning on mauling him in the car, but Bradley offers to give Mickey a ride since his place is closer to yours than Javy’s. His heavy hand stays on your thigh the entire time. As soon as Mick shuts the door, you turn your hips in the seat. Left foot on the console, right on his knee, giving him full access. He takes it and plunges two fingers in, rubbing over your clit with his thumb.

“You’re such a dirty girl, Rowan. Working me up in front of our friends, I almost came in the living room…you woulda loved that though, huh?”

You mewl and nod, clenching as your orgasm approaches. Bradley can tell too, he pushes you to the edge but then pulls his fingers out.

You whine in confusion and then gasp as he lightly slaps your clit with his wet fingers. “No. You’ll wait until we get home now.” You clench around nothing at his words, his dominant side coming out.

Thankfully, home is only a few minutes away. You’re on him as soon he gets in the door, and he stumbles to the living room, laying you on your stomach in front of the tree. He rucks your skirt up with one hand as he pulls himself out of his pants with the other. He lifts your hips and plunges in with a deep groan. You cry out, suddenly so full.

You lean forward onto your forearm and reach down with the other to rub your clit, but he grabs it, holding it against your lower back.

“No. You’re only cumming from my cock tonight.” You whine, resting your cheek against the soft tree skirt as you try with your other hand.

He slaps your ass harshly, a deep moan leaving you. “Did you not hear me?” He growls as he pulls the other hand behind you, holding both wrists in his left hand as he fucks into your harder. His right-hand goes between your legs to gather some of your wetness, teasing over your clit for only a moment before pulling away. He brings his soaked fingers to your puckered hole and rubs circles there.

“One of these days Rowan, you’re gonna find out exactly what I do to dirty girls.” He grits out.

“I don’t…think you have…it in you baby” you pant out, goading him.

He chuckles darkly, full of promise. “You’ll see,” and he pushes a finger in your ass.

“Oh fuckkkkkk,” you groan, your pussy spasms, clamping down on him as you orgasm.

He removes his finger and his cock as you come down, forcing you down to your stomach. You hear him jerking himself off. “Dirty girls don’t get my cum in their pussy,” he growls as he cums. You whine and clench around nothing as you feel his warm load coat your bare ass and skirt.

You make a mental note to turn up your teasing, needing to see what he does when you push him farther.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

A/N: I liked this chapter. I may have to propose my husband after our kid goes to bed for some fun under the tree. Fun fact, the picture is actually of my tree 🎄

Taglist/tagging people who may be interested:

@its-the-pilot

@dizzybee03

@sweetwhispersofchaos

@shanimallina87

@blindedbythelightt

@getmyprettynameoutofyourmouth

@lexixstewart

@phoenix-rising-starbird-one

@mrsrobertfloyd

@charmedkim

@k-k0129

@bellaireland1981

@hookslove1592

[stillness-in-green]

On Heteromorphs and Heteromorphobia (Arc XV - My Villain Academia)

(Skewing away from the wiki arc titles here, because come the eff on; everyone on god's green earth calls this My Villain Academia, not "The Meta Liberation Army Arc.")

At the request of a kind asker, I'm trying something different with footnotes this time; you'll find them at the end of the relevant bullet point, rather than at the bottom of the post. I've also flagged the numbers in purple, though I left the text itself the default color. I hope people find that a little easier to handle than having to scroll all the way to the bottom, have two tabs open, or wait until the end when they've forgotten the context.

Content Warning: Mentions of the KKK, as well as anti-Korean hate crimes/speech in Japan.

The My Villain Academia Arc (Chapters 218-240)

Chapter 218: 

Tsuyu’s weakness to cold is noted in-canon, rather than in a volume extra profile.   

All of the people featured specifically in the Detnerat commercial are heteromorphs—a four-armed woman, a walrus gent, and a little gelatinous boy.  Re-Destro pontificates about how people with these “newer types of bodies” struggled in the new era because they couldn’t find products that would meet their daily needs; mass production was not equipped—could never really be equipped—to handle the endless variety of body shapes and sizes that came about due to the Advent of the Extraordinary.  It recollects the mall scene back in Chapter 68—or, even further back, Ojiro’s character sheet and UA’s lack of varied desks—and calls the reader to consider, once again, the sorts of special needs that those with heteromorphic bodies might have, and how difficult it can be to meet those needs.    RD says that his company’s ability to rapidly customize and produce unique goods for every customer has made them #1 in their industry (lifestyle goods).  Assuming there’s at least some truth to the commercial shpiel—and the newscaster does at least call Detnerat “a big player”—it suggests that plenty of other companies are not so good at the rapid+customizable combination.  Of course, not all companies are trying to be all things to all people, but specialization costs money—as do speed and customization, really, and note that nowhere in the commercial is there a talking point about affordability!  So mainly what the commercial leaves me wondering is what degree of inconvenience is still felt by heteromorphs, especially those who are somewhat cash-strapped.    That strikes me as a particular hazard when it comes to child bullying.  Of course, Japanese schools have uniforms, but I wonder how available tailoring and alterations are for students with particular needs?  Is there a provided budget for that sort of thing?  Financial aid?  How much did Ojiro’s parents have to pay for him to have a full set of uniform pants with a hole for his tail in them?  How about Shouji getting all his uniform tops made sleeveless?  What arrangements had to be made for Shouto’s gym uniform to be fire retardant?    Even setting uniforms aside, there are also their social lives outside of school to consider.  Kids will absolutely notice when one of their number wears the same clothes all the time, or home-made clothes instead of name brand, or with obvious patchwork and repair.  As in real life, it’s at the intersections of more than one type of disadvantage—in this case, a heteromorphic body combined with a low-income family—that problems become more likely.

Here in 218, almost fifty chapters after the first mention of them, we finally get the proper introduction and explanation of the Meta Liberation Army.  Of course, they aren’t heteromorph-specific—the closest any of the named commander-types in RD’s inner circle get is Curious, with her bright blue skin and black sclera,[1] though certainly Re-Destro himself has drifted somewhat away from baseline compared to his ancestor.  Regardless, their foundational belief is the deregulation of quirks, stemming from a time when any deviation from the norm made meta-humans targets.  The compromise society reached—that quirks require a license to use—is restricting enough on those whose abilities are found with a baseline body, but, as I’ve brought up before, it makes life even more potentially fraught for heteromorphs.  That kind of thing is basically a pre-written excuse for heroes or police to stop and harass a heteromorph they don’t like the look of!  And while the evidence of that kind of bias has been pretty circumstantial thus far, it’s about to get way, way less so.    [1] Wacky hair colors being somewhat de rigueur in anime, we’ll give her a pass on the purple hair.

   Chapter 220: 

Here we finally hit the major leagues: the Creature Rejection Clan, or CRC.  The Japanese is igyou haiseki shugi shuudan, with igyou and shuudan being pretty straightforward—igyou is, of course, “heteromorph,” and shuudan is any sort of organized or self-identifying group of people, anything from a family unit to a business organization, even all the way up to a nation.  Haiseki shugi is the important bit, with shugi meaning “doctrine; principle” and haiseki meaning “rejection; expulsion; boycott; ostracism.”  Thus, “group whose doctrine is the rejection of heteromorphs.”[2]    Note that, in the Japanese, the word in the group’s name is heteromorph; they didn’t pick something more insulting or derogatory.  They didn’t really need to, since igyou is, as discussed back in the introduction to this piece, plenty derogatory all on its own.  So Caleb Cook went with a translation of igyou that would better get that derisiveness-in-the-context-of-a-hate-group across than his choice way back in Chapter 14.  Creature Rejection Clan is a fairly localized translation, but Cook was pretty frank in his Twitter thread on the chapter that he was thinking about the KKK when he made the decision.    And it’s not an unwarranted comparison!  Of course, I wouldn’t think to presume Horikoshi’s that up on the history of racism in the U.S., but combine the cod-religious trappings and the full robes and hoods with an explicit textual description of hate crimes, and it’s an extremely easy parallel to draw. [2] The Japanese also gives the abbreviation of CRC, with the databook eventually coming out and revealing that it really stands for the name they’ve chosen for themselves in English, the Curious Rejection Committee.

That established, it’s notable that Spinner, in describing them, says that they commit hate crimes against “people with heteromorphic quirks”—a nearly word-for-word translation of the Japanese igyou-gata no ningen.  This leaves aside the idea I’ve spent so much time talking about, that heteromorph discrimination is aimed broadly at those with heteromorphic bodies, and not only those with the more narrowly defined heteromorphic quirks.  Shortly, however, I’ll cover some evidence that Spinner is over-generalizing, or just misinformed.

In the meantime, take note of a few things the CRC guys[3] actually say here, starting with the fact that they call Spinner a lizard. Instantly, a word that was previously a snippy and dismissive little shrug in Dabi’s mouth takes on the weight and ugliness of a slur.    Further, they call the League of Villains “sins against nature”—or, in a more literal translation, “impure criminals.”  I provide the more literal translation there because it’s more specific.  My immediate question of the English translation would be whether the CRC judge the League as being sins against nature simply because of their criminality, or because of their association with Spinner, but the Japanese makes clear that there are two separate labels being flung there: the League are both criminals and impure.    This idea of impurity brings in a religious dimension to heteromorphobia, a dimension heightened by the line (dropped by the English translation) in which the CRC accuses the League of invading a sanctuary—in Shinto, shrines have to be kept pure.  The CRC calling their hideout a sanctuary, with the added context of, “They have a lizard with them.  How disgusting,” thus makes it pretty clear that the impurity is about Spinner’s presence, not just the League’s assorted crimes.  This spiritualistic justification for bigotry will later be made even more explicit in Shouji’s flashbacks.    [3] With skull masks right there on their hoods!  A real, “Are we the baddies?” moment, but given some of the other things we get on them later, it's possible the skulls are meant to contrast what e.g. Spinner or Koda’s skulls might look like: baseline human versus animalistic or “misshapen.” Credit to @codenamesazanka for connecting the dots on that!

Spinner also gives us here the line that I covered back in the terminology section at the beginning:

We’ll go with the official version this time.

So here we have the observation that the word absolutely everyone uses, the word that, as far as we know, academically defines an entire category of quirks, is an unpleasant, even rude word.  But what is the alternative?  We’re never given one.  Indeed, Spinner doesn’t suggest one; he says that the nice thing to do is “avoid” the word instead.  In other words, talk around it.  See again what I said at the start about all the difficulties baked into that prospect.

Later, we get the first drops of Spinner’s backstory, and hit again on the “lizard” thing, with the note that Spinner’s backwater, stuck-in-the-last-century hometown called him “the lizard freak.”  He grew up with it, grew accustomed to it, thought there was nothing he could do to change it—he might even have internalized it somewhat, though clearly by the time Chapter 160 rolled around he was ornery enough about it to complain.    It's perhaps also notable that Spinner knows who the CRC are.  Though we’ll later find out that their numbers have hugely diminished, he not only recognizes them, he’s not even surprised to see them—unlike many, Spinner knows the CRC never truly went away.  (Compare his lack of reaction to, for example, Shouji's unsuspecting classmates, who will later be shocked, just shocked, that this kind of ugliness still exists in their country.)    So just to state the obvious here, yes, the presence of active hate groups does irrevocably shift the lens on everything we’ve seen up to this point.  You can’t say calling a heteromorph an animal is harmless, a little insensitive at worst, maybe even meant as a cute nickname, when that same language is used by openly violent bigots.

The volume version gives us, at the end of the chapter, further notes on the CRC.  It’s full of relevant tidbits, so I’ll provide the text in its entirety:

Once superpowered society grew more stable and less chaotic, this group emerged, based around a lack of acceptance for those with body-altering quirks.  They started out with demonstrations and protests but eventually started committing violent hate crimes.  Most felt this was taking things too far, so the group saw a sharp decline in membership and a scattering of factions.  These days, one faction might only reject people with animal properties, while another focuses its hate on people with irregular heads.  These two, among others, have very few members left.  The faction that Tomura and the villains attacked was one that stood by the original group's fundamental tenets.

So what is there to gather from this?  Let’s break it down a point at a time.

“Once superpowered society grew more stable (...)”    If you’ve ever lived through a time of increasing acceptance for a marginalized group, particularly if that acceptance involves measures for legal protections being passed, you’ll recognize what this is.  Just to pick a few U.S. examples, the KKK didn’t exist until after the Civil War;[4] proactive federal bans on same-sex marriages didn’t start getting passed/proposed until individual U.S. states started legalizing them and civil unions.  When opposition to something is the norm, said opposition often doesn’t start organizing until they see that status quo being threatened; they weren’t organized before because they never imagined they’d need to be!  That’s what we see with the CRC: they didn’t formally declare themselves until it started looking like quirks—and especially non-baseline quirks—were going to find legal acceptance.    [4] Literally.  The last day of the war was May 26, 1865; the date the first Klan was founded was December 24 of the same year. Easily the most vile thing I learned in the process of writing this piece.   

��(…) based around a lack of acceptance for those with body-altering quirks.”   This is what I was referring to when I said Spinner's characterization of the CRC might be a little bit off: the CRC wasn’t founded because of a hatred for specifically heteromorphic quirks; they were founded because of a hatred for different bodies, a descriptor that could also apply to those with transformation-style quirks!  Those, too, are quirks that alter bodies, after all; it’s just possible for people to turn them off, which is not the case for those with heteromorphic quirks.  So Spinner was not quite on the mark before.    Further, note that the phrase “body-altering quirks” is used here—a phrase that’s similar in meaning and much less othering than igyou.  It doesn’t fully cover everything I use “heteromorphic” and “non-baseline” to cover, in that it’s still murky in situations like e.g. Cementoss’s, where his emitter quirk is entirely independent of his oddly shaped head, but it’s still a useful term!  Except for the small complication of where it isn’t found: anywhere in the actual story.  The fact that Horikoshi uses it in an author’s note, but it comes up nowhere in BNHA proper, puts it in an unclear place as far as in-universe alternatives go.  Has it just not come up because Horikoshi hasn’t thought to include it?  Or has it not come up because it’s not a phrase people in-universe use?

“They started out with demonstrations and protests but eventually started committing violent hate crimes.  Most felt this was taking things too far, so the group saw a sharp decline in membership and a scattering of factions.”    Confirmation here of what Spinner said about the CRC and hate crimes, but note what this doesn’t say: that the CRC was outlawed.  There are, I suspect, a couple of factors influencing that.   o Firstly, while Japan has legal methods to restrict undesirable organizations,[5] making it difficult for them to raise funds or engage in publicity, the country doesn’t actually de facto criminalize membership in such organizations.  That distinction is part of the legacy of violent crackdowns on labor groups and protest movements in the first half of the 20th century; people tend to get very loud about anything that whiffs of the government trying to give itself the power to get that heavy-handed again.    Assuming that the laws haven’t changed overmuch in HeroAca!Japan, then, I wouldn’t expect membership in the CRC to have been criminalized outright, but the volume extra doesn’t mention any kind of legal repercussions at all.  That, I think, may go more to my next point.    [5] The relevant laws are aimed mostly at terroristic groups or organized crime.      o Secondly, another thing Japan has very, very little of is hate crime legislation.  From my research, there are only two laws of any note: a federal law passed in 2016 and widely regarded as toothless thanks to it lacking any criminal provisions targeting offenders,[6] as well as a local ordinance passed in Kawasaki in 2019 that went as far as mandating fines against repeat offenders, among other measures.[7] [6] It required the government to start “implementing measures” to eliminate such speech/behaviors, as well as to “respond to requests for consultation” from victims, but did not directly mandate consequences for offenders. [7] I suspect from some of what I read that Osaka has picked up a similar ordinance, but I didn’t find anything detailing it specifically.  Osaka and Kawasaki are home to the largest and second-largest population of Koreans living in Japan. One major thing neither of these measures did, though—and something activists have been pressing for—is to establish standards for considering discriminatory motivations when issuing sentences against those who have committed violent crimes.  To pick an example that made the news last year, a man committed arson out of openly admitted hatred for the Koreans he targeted, but nowhere in the trial or discussion of his sentence did the prosecution ever bring up discrimination.[8]    [8] https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20220829/p2a/00m/0na/015000c    Also, it’s worth noting that both of these measures were aimed at ethnic discrimination—speech and behavior targeting people living in Japan while being themselves, or being children of, people of non-Japanese ethnicities.  They did not address discrimination based on e.g. religion or sexuality.    Folding both of those points together, the image we have of the CRC is of a violent hate group whose existence is regarded as perhaps distasteful and extremist, but not actually illegal.  Even what few laws Japan has now wouldn’t have applied to anti-heteromorph discrimination, because, while they may look wildly different from a prototypical Japanese person, heteromorphs still are Japanese, and therefore not protected by a law based solely around ethnic discrimination.    Incidentally, the ordinance in Kawasaki laid out a number of specific examples of the kind of behavior it was looking to address, and one of those examples was likening victims to something other than human.  I know why that was included in the context of anti-Korean sentiments,[9] but it certainly does shade e.g. Dabi calling Spinner a lizard more harshly to know that there’s legal precedent for categorizing such dehumanizing language as hate speech.    [9] An extremely common form of anti-Korean hate speech in Japan is to refer/allude to Koreans as cockroaches.

“These days, one faction might only reject people with animal properties, while another focuses its hate on people with irregular heads.”     This is a good echo of the sort of factionalization you see in organized religion, wherein the minutiae of tenets that seem similar to an outside eye are the topic of vicious, vehement inter-group debate. More to the point, however, it provides an excellent illustration of the senselessness of bigotry.  They can’t even keep their own discriminatory dogma straight!    Probably the second most common complaint about the story’s use of heteromorphobia—after calling it retconned-in bullshit that didn’t exist until Chapter 220—is that it’s illogical, that it makes no sense to judge people because they look a little different in a world where everyone is now a little different from the way we see the world.    And I wonder if the people who say that are listening to what they’re saying.  “Illogical bias that has no foundation in reality is unrealistic?”  What do these people think bigotry is?  Racism, sexism, xenophobia, ableism, religious discrimination, all the many different shades of queerphobia: all of these are built on foundations of fear and hate for people who are fundamentally still as human as anyone else, yet they all exist, and have existed, and will go on existing for quite some many years still.  Because irrational hatreds are, by definition, irrational.  Heteromorphic discrimination is the most realistic societal dynamic in the entire series! That little rant aside, I also want to highlight the first group in the excerpt above—people with animal properties.  Check any talk on the theme of, “So you can believe dragons but not black people in fantasy?” and you’ll run into the ways people are much more ready to suspend their disbelief for full-on fantasy than for something that, rightly or wrongly, pings them as incorrect, and it’s easy to imagine animal-associated heteromorphs running into a similar issue: it’s fine for people to just look weird, but looking like an animal, that’s bad and unnatural.  A heteromorph who just looks like nothing in particular other than “non-baseline” is not evoking the baggage of animal anthropomorphization and cultural animal symbolism that someone who looks like a bird, a lizard, a dog, an orca, etc. is.   

Chapter 223: 

Shigaraki refers to Gigantomachia as a gorilla.  It’s debatable how much this is of a piece with Dabi calling Spinner “Lizard”—Machia’s only actual animal quirk is Mole, not anything simian, nor is Machia particularly ape-like in anything other than his large size—but it does stand out to me that Spinner, who we know to have strong opinions about animal epithets, just refers to Machia by name or as “the big guy.”

Chapter 224: 

Mr. Compress calls Machia “our pet gorilla”; see note above.

Chapter 226: 

Curious introduces the idea of quirk counselling, telling us that its goal is to align people to a unified understanding of how the world and society work, but that it’s flawed in that it winds up emphasizing peoples’ differences instead.  The advisor at the hospital raid will include quirk counseling in his litany of grievances, so I’ll discuss its possible utilization against heteromorphs more there, but for now, recall that I talked previously about how quirk-based behavioral tics might vary from person to person by comparing Hound Dog with Sansa.  With that in mind, it’s not a big reach that some heteromorphs might run into similar problems with quirk counselling.   

There are a good number of what appear to be heteromorphs through the Curious fight; whatever the MLA’s core views on quirk supremacy, the organization self-evidently makes ample room for heteromorphs, even if, like e.g. the red panda guy in the crowd jumping Toga inside the noodle joint, they don’t seem to have any other stand-out powers beyond the fur and fangs.   

Chapter 229: 

Twice notes in his flashback that something about his eyes always rubbed people the wrong way, scared them.  We’ll eventually see this same thing with Tenko on the street—a totally normal-looking child, but the look on his face scares people away even more than the blood.  And I can’t help but think, “If even a totally baseline person’s eyes can creep people out, how much easier—and more extreme—is that reaction for the more out-there sort of heteromorph?”   

Gori makes the tiniest of cameos in Twice’s flashback, playing backup off to the side when we will, in current times, find him having worked his way up to the interrogation chair himself.   

Chapter 230: 

Geten brings us quirk supremacy via his understanding of the MLA’s goals.  It’s hard to say how accurate this is, since the MLA leadership is inconsistent on what exactly their vision of Liberation entails.  Whatever it is, it certainly doesn’t seem to dissuade the MLA’s own heteromorphs, though of course there’s a big difference between how e.g. Spinner or Ojiro versus Gang Orca or Mirko would fare in a societal quirk free-for-all.  Likewise, the MLA is a cult, so one can’t discount the likelihood of double-think in its members.   

Chapter 232:

Re-Destro talks about the state of the country in Destro’s infancy, a period in which metahumans suffered “constant abuse—blatant discrimination.”  Merely for speaking out that her child was just like everyone else—that his special power was just a quirk—Destro’s mother was killed by an anti-meta mob.  This gives us further evidence of the violence metahumans faced.  Of course, in that time, the hate wasn’t distinguishing between types of quirk, but with that being said, an emitter and a transformer can still hide the truth about themselves with far more ease than heteromorphs—recall All Might’s discussion about the early days of quirks back in Chapter 59, in which the panel showing four people with quirks contained only one baseline person.  It would be entirely unsurprising for an outsized number of the metahumans killed in those days to be heteromorphs.

Chapter 233: 

The confrontation between Trumpet and Spinner gives us Trumpet clucking about Spinner having a weak meta-ability—Gecko lets him cling to walls, and that’s about it.  It’s a striking contrast to someone like Mirko or Gang Orca, or even Tsuyu, all of whom have some combination of big power moves and a veritable fleet of sub-abilities.  We can see the way Hero Society prizes powerful, flexible quirks in this.  Having a strong quirk can help overcome the societal bias about heteromorphs, but if you’re stuck with a weak quirk and a weird face, you lack that metaphorical ticket out.[10]    [10] Incidentally, the fandom reflected some of that attitude as well.  There was a widespread assumption that Spinner’s quirk would be really useful or situationally powerful, otherwise why would Horikoshi have hidden it for as long as he did?  Then, after the reveal, there was a certain amount of complaining that Spinner was useless to the League, and why even bother with him?  Sometimes, life imitates art in some very unflattering ways.

Trumpet brings up that Spinner was a recluse, “mocked and pilloried,” and we see Spinner in his hikikomori days.  What we’ve gotten on Spinner up to this point suggests that the abuse he endured was mostly verbal, though one can imagine it was pretty rough when he was young enough to be the target of school bullies.  There’s a certain amount of temptation to minimize that in comparison to his response: most people who are bullied or targeted by discrimination don’t grow up to become terrorists.  But there was, we will eventually find, more visceral stuff going on—and parts of the country that were even worse than Spinner’s hometown.

Spinner spent most of his life trying to fit himself into the world around him; his strongest parallel in the League in this regard is Toga, as they were the two that held themselves back, let the world define what they were and how they should act, right up until they saw something that caused them to snap.[11]  Trumpet tries to do much the same to Spinner here (albeit probably less as an intentional psychological attack than Skeptic’s attempts on Twice), but Spinner, like Toga, is long past the point where he would swallow that abuse without fighting back.  When you tell someone they are something long enough, they eventually start to believe it—but if you aren’t careful, they’ll start to embrace it, at which point those weaponized words change hands.    [11] Shigaraki and Dabi, by contrast, pushed back harder, trying to get the world to accept them and never accepting it when their families (and particularly their fathers) told them to stop.  Twice was ejected without getting the chance to try to contort himself into a shape that fit the world, whereas Mr. Compress seems to have been raised to reject his society's accepted norms from the start.   

Chapter 234:

We see an image excerpted from Quirks and Us, a children’s book published by Curious’s outfit, that exhorts the reader not to judge people by their quirks.  It really, really begs the question, “If this is what’s being said in literature published to coax people towards anti-suppression radicalism, what on Earth is normal society saying?”    Regardless of that absolutely wild disparity, though, the fact that there are children’s books being published about quirk bias being wrong suggests that the world very much does have a problem with quirk bias.  Indeed, that much has been shown throughout the series, not merely in terms of anti-heteromorph bias, but also the bias against “villain quirks,” as well as the widespread idea that people with weak quirks—or no quirks at all—are weaker people overall, pitiable folk who lack the power to live their fullest lives or pursue their dreams unhindered.[12]    People on more than one of these axes of discrimination will, as in real life, be more likely to experience discrimination and violence. [12] Villains like All For One and Geten may say it more loudly, but it’s not only villains who believe it—perfectly good-hearted people like All Might and Midoriya Inko fall into that trap as well.   

Chapter 237: 

Nothing much to say about Shigaraki’s flashbacks save to note that, if people won’t stop to help a lost and bloodied (and baseline) child, they sure as hell won’t intervene in anti-heteromorph bullying.  Recall that Kirishima was accused of sticking his nose where it didn’t belong for trying!

-----

Thanks as ever for reading along, everyone! How was the new footnote format? Should I keep that up for lengthy meta going forward?

I was kind of expecting to be able to wrap this up (the main canon, at least) in one more post, but I underestimated the amount of writing I'd be doing for the first war arc. For next time, then, I'm looking to cover the Endeavor Agency, Paranormal Liberation War, and Dark Hero Villain Hunt arcs. See you all then!

[fangirlingalittletoohard]

Falling

Crowley has never been one for relationships. Neither have you. But when a meeting in your favourite Angel's bookshop leaves you both breathless, you might just allow yourselves to finally be loved.

Crowley x fem!reader

Use of y/n, dual perspective

Warnings: None! Crowley being an idiot xoxo

1,419 words

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Chapter 1

You sat curled up in an armchair, laptop balanced on your knees, fresh cup of tea steaming on the coffee table beside you as the rain drummed against the windows in your favourite spot to get some work done. You’d befriended Aziraphale months ago when you’d discovered his bookshop, which stocked so many beautiful and unique volumes that you couldn’t help but return multiple times a week. Eventually, you began to use the space to work, both you and Aziraphale providing quiet companionship to one another. You’d laughed at first when Aziraphale confessed that he was an Angel, believing him to be jesting as you so often did with one another. However, after much questioning (and many hours listening to his stories gathered over thousands of years of existence) you came to realise that his little quirks made sense for an other-worldly being and your friendship became even more dear to you. 

Tapping away at your keyboard as usual, you heard the little bell above the front door tinkle, signalling a customer. You didn’t look up, the appearance of a customer being nothing out of the ordinary, until something in the stranger’s voice as he greeted your friend stilled your fingers. He had marched over to Aziraphale’s desk, asserting in a low growl “Aziraphale, we have a problem. It’s…” His voice trailed off as he noticed the cease in the click of your fingers against your keyboard. You lifted your head to greet your friend’s guest, but words seemed to fail you as you gazed upon him. Tall, slender, slicked back red hair, dark sunglasses, and impeccably clad from head to toe in black. He was… well, he was gorgeous. 

~~~

Crowley forgot why he was angry. If he was honest, for a moment he couldn’t remember why he’d come to find Aziraphale. Hair nonchalantly pulled back out of your face, wide eyes, plump lips parted slightly, curves in all the places he liked them. He had taken many intimate partners over his thousands of years, but you were something entirely unique. Never had Crowley felt self-conscious before, but when your eyes met his, he was awfully aware of his arms. How did he usually stand? Surely his arms didn’t always feel this heavy and awkward? 

Thankfully, Aziraphale swooped in to his rescue. “Crowley, this is my dear friend [y/n]. [y/n], Crowley.”  “Pleasure.” Crowley murmured, his gaze never leaving yours. You smiled. Hell, Crowley swore it was the prettiest damn smile he had seen in his entire existence. 

~~~

“You had a problem?” You reminded, feeling your cheeks begin to heat up under his gaze. Despite standing across the room from you, his stare had you pinned to the chair, feeling as though he could see straight into your soul.  “A… Ah, yes! Aziraphale, I need to speak with you in private.” Crowley remembered, finally breaking eye contact and rushing your friend into the back room. 

You sat, fingers frozen above your keyboard, staring at the door Aziraphale and Crowley had just disappeared behind and let out a breath you didn’t realise you’d been holding. You were a flirt. You loved to make people chase you and relished in their satisfaction when you finally gave them what they wanted. You loved a passionate fling that ended in fire. Rarely did anyone take your breath away quite like Crowley had in this very brief introduction. You wanted him. Badly. But something told you he was not the type to chase after a woman. You would have to change your approach. 

Just as you were resolving to lay your flirting on thick to ensure he knew what you wanted, the door to the back room flew open and Crowley marched out of the bookshop without so much as a glance in your direction. You sat dumbfounded, staring at the door swinging closed. Aziraphale hurried out of the back room, flustered. “Oh don’t mind Crowley. He’s not really a people person.” He apologised, punctuating the last two words with exaggerated bunny ears. 

“Is he… like you?” You asked, finally dragging your gaze away from the door and over to your friend.  “Yes. Well… sort of.” He replied, flipping distractedly through the pages of a large volume he was studying.  “Sort of?” You pressed. “He’s a Demon.” Aziraphale replied quietly.  “A Demon?” You asked incredulously, laughing a little. “As in, fallen Angel, lives in Hell kind of Demon?”  “Yes.” You stared at the Angel. You wouldn’t have believed him had you not already known all of the stories your friend had recounted to you. “Well, he only ever goes back to Hell reluctantly, but yes, he is a Demon.”  You were silent for a second, before thinking out loud, “I didn’t expect Demons to be so…” you struggled to find the most appropriate word, “pleasing to the eye.”  “They’re not all so…” he turned to face you, “attractive?” He tested. You blushed. Aziraphale opened his mouth to taunt, but you interjected, “not a word!” The Angel mimed zipping shut his mouth and turned back to his desk, stifling his giggle. 

~~~

Crowley returned to the bookshop almost daily. He would greet you, if you were there, with a curt nod of his head and a quick smirk, but couldn’t bring himself to talk more to you and it was frustrating him. Even worse, Aziraphale had noticed something was amiss. Crowley couldn’t blame him; he had visited the Angel’s bookshop more times in the past week than he had in the past year. 

“Spit it out Crowley, what’s going on with you?” Aziraphale asked after Crowley had slumped into your armchair with a huff one day when you weren’t there.  “Why would you think anything’s going on?” Crowley retorted sulkily. “You’re moping.”  “I don’t mope.” Crowley insisted, dramatically resting his elbow on the arm of the chair and dropping the side of his head to his hand. “What you are doing is the very definition of moping.” Aziraphale insisted. “And I think it has something to do with [y/n].”  “Why would it have anything to do with her? She’s not even here.” Crowley complained.  “Exactly.” Aziraphale observed, causing Crowley to huff. “You should ask her on a date. She would say yes, I think.”  “A date? I don’t date.” Crowley retorted.  “Court, wine and dine, whatever. Just take her out to dinner and get to know her. You’ll like her.”  “I don’t want to like her.” Crowley snapped. “Liking her is the issue.” “Ah,” Aziraphale sighed knowingly, irritating Crowley even further. He huffed and shot up out of the chair, beginning to pace around the bookshop.  “Liking people makes things too complicated. Feelings make things too complicated.” Crowley explained. “I don’t do complicated. I see someone attractive, I sleep with them a few times, then we part ways.” “It isn’t complicated when they like to in return.” Aziraphale advised. Crowley stopped his pacing suddenly. “She likes me too?” He asked. “Ah, well, I really shouldn’t…”  Crowley shot over to the Angel, whipping off his sunglasses and staring face-to-face with his friend, yellow eyes suddenly extremely serpent-like. “Angel, don’t torment me. Does she share these feelings.”  “Yes! Yes she does.” Aziraphale relented, slinking away from the demon as his pupils began to dilate again. 

~~~ 

You entered the bookshop and stopped in your tracks. The air felt electric, making your skin prickle. “[y/n]!” Aziraphale greeted, almost nervously, hurrying over to you and taking the laptop from under your arm.  “Is everything okay?” You asked cautiously, your eyes finally finding Crowley at the back of the shop. Aziraphale didn’t answer as Crowley turned and began to approach you. He stopped, so close to you that you could feel his body heat. His sunglasses were clutched in his hand, allowing you to see his eyes for the first time. They were unlike anything you had seen before, and you were mesmerised. Yellow-gold irises and serpent-like oval pupils gazed into your own eyes, causing your breath to catch in your throat.  “Would you join me for dinner this evening?” He asked quietly, the sultry growl in his voice making your stomach flip.  “I’d like that.” You replied softly, trying to conceal the smile that was tugging at the corners of your lips.  “I’ll pick you up at eight.” Crowley asserted, putting his sunglasses back on and striding out of the shop.  You stood in silence for a second before turning to Aziraphale. “He doesn’t know my address.” You stated.  “I’ll pass it on.” He replied with a smile. 

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chapter 2

[bylightofdawn]

This week at work has run me over, I'm so glad it's the 'weekend' I'm going to try and catch the new Arcane episodes at some point. I bought Little Mushroom and first volume of SVSSS on kindle. They have moved us completely outbound at work which means I have no down time in which to read between calls so I think I'm going to focus on buying danmei through kindle. I am planning on buying TGCF in hardcover and have already preordered vol. 1.

As much as I'd love to have this robust collection of physical books, I just have no space for it.

Though lemme tell you my poor kindle is on it's last legs. I might end up picking up a new kindle fire on black friday/cyber monday sale. I really want an ipad but the 7inch kindle is just so perfect for on the go.

Of course this would require I sort and organize all of my saved fanfiction which....I am not looking forward to.

So much so I am not working on that and instead reading TGCF's manua on my laptop tonight instead. :P

I'm also looking forward to starting SVSSS sometime this weekend. I've already nommed onto original!Shen Qingqiu/Yue Qingyuan after just watching the donghua. Yes, I am utterly ridiculous a person, I'm aware of this. I'm sure I'll enjoy the main pairing but give me my angsty, doomed side characters with unrequited doki doki for one another that demand random fix-it fics. Even knowing Shen Qingqiu original flavor is a humongous asshole and petty as fuck little bastard, I was sold just watching Yue Qingyuan interact with his beloved shidi.

[zixinwonderland]

Posting Black Butler facts once a day until season 4 is released!

For real this time cuz i realized I’m not actually as tired as i thought, this ones a bit long so its under the cut!

1 more day!

(tho technically 0 in my timezone… this is to make up for my last post!!)

Oops! All Sebastian!

(Excluding Our Ciel) He is the only character to appear on more than one Volume cover (he is on 8 of them).

Yana Toboso uses Sebastian to measure other characters (Ex: 1 Sebastian tall).

His wish, when celebrating Tanabata, was “that the servants don't idle but do their job.”

His age is a secret.

He views humans as grasshoppers.

In early concept stages, he did not have a name, they just called him “the butler”.

He claims to be responsible for the Black death.

Yana Toboso considers him to be the protagonist, but also thinks he is “elite trash” because he lacks shame and moral.

Her and her team also think he is a “muscle brained shithead” apparently.

He was going to stand on a piano and play it with his feet but Toboso wasn’t sure if she could draw that. She says she’s open to adding the scene if the plot calls for it. (I hope it doesn’t, i live in fear of that day)

His last name originates from the Japanese word 見返り (mikaeri) meaning repayment.

His grave in the Manor Murders arc says "To The Memory of Sebastian Michaelis. Died March 1889. May ye be in heaven an hour before the devil knows you're dead."

His schedule is the following:

5:50 A.M. - Getting up, getting dressed

6:00 A.M. - Preparing the master's breakfast, ironing the newspapers, instructing the staff

8:30 A.M. - Waking up the master with "Early Morning Tea," assisting with the morning toilet, serving breakfast

9:30 A.M. - The master's breakfast

10:30 A.M. - Start of the master's daily plan (work, learning, etc.), polishing the silverware, beginning lunch preparations

12:30 A.M. - The master's lunch

2:00 P.M. - Preparations for the afternoon tea

3:30 P.M. - The master's afternoon tea

6:00 P.M. - Preparations for dinner

8:00 P.M. - The master's dinner

9:00 P.M. - Cleaning up the dinner leftovers, polishing the silverware

10:00 P.M. - The master's evening toilette (bathing, getting changed)

11:00 P.M. - Putting him to bed

0:00 P.M. - Locking the rooms, extinguishing the chimney fire, etc., preparations for breakfast

2:00 A.M. - End of work