#HE STABBED HIM WITH HIS OWN FUCKING SYMBOL OF POWER

[iamlostandinneedofcoffee]

I’ve never had more emotional whiplash than hearing Six Hundred Strike for the first time at 4:00 on the way to the airport, only to have Wouldn’t You Like play right after…

Like Hermes give me a minute to process that before you throw jams at me

[book--wyrm]

I touched on this a bit earlier, but. I gotta talk about this ring. Because it kind of looks from the promos that Oz is taking it off of Sal next episode, which is kinda interesting.

The thing is, this ring represents power, right? And not just power, but invulnerability. It was Sal's originally. Then Carmine took it after Sal went to Blackgate, and wore it like a trophy, like a crown. He'd taken down his biggest rival, and now there was no one in the city big enough to hurt him. And when Sal gets it back, he wears it prominently in the same way—a huge fuck you to the Falcones, who don't have the clout to do anything about it right now.

Initially, in that earlier post, I had kind of mixed feelings on Oz taking it now, before he's fully ascended the throne, you know? Since this is a symbol of power, it feels like Oz finally putting it on (which he didn't after he took it from Alberto in ep 1) should be like, one of the final shots of the show. And with Sofia kind of ascendant in these last episodes, it felt wrong for her to never wear the ring (even if her fingers are teeny tiny compared to all these dudes).

But the more I think about it... idk, I think I can see an angle for Oz taking it early to make sense?

Because however untouchable the men who wear the ring might think they are... Ultimately, it only represents the illusion of invulnerability.

Sal gets stabbed in the back by Carmine and friends at the height of his power.

Carmine take the ring, then cops a bullet to the head from some fucking incel after a decade of being undisputed king.

It passes to Alberto, who gets plugged right at the moment of his ascension to the throne, by a measly little middleman no one ever respected.

Oz returns it, unworn, to Sal, who later escapes from prison, making his triumphant return to the streets of Gotham... just in time to learn of his family's horrific deaths.

From that angle, I kind of like it never going to Sofia—she is the one person climbing to the top who I think knows better than to ever feel safe, to ever think herself invulnerable.

But Oz would. Oz is that grifter who believes his own bullshit harder than anyone. I like the idea of him taking that ring, putting it on, only to learn that the dream of being invulnerable, untouchable, unhurtable, is also... unattainable.

I wonder if he'll still keep the ring, after he learns that. Oz feels like the kind of guy who will look a life lesson in the face, and flip it off as he walks backwards into hell.

[sleepyfan-blog]

Author’s Note: this is the second part of mer-Joth’s fic!

Previous.

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Tagged: @egrets-not-regrets @kit-williams @bleedingichorhearts @the-pure-angel

Warnings: magical ritual, imprisonment, ask me to tag something if it bothers you

Summary: Joth wakes up post deamon-stabbing. Things go… Strangely from there.

Joth woke up to the sound of smug sorcerer chanting, and the worst headache he's had in over three hundred years. The Thousand Son who made off with Joth's own rightful sacrifice has tied him upside down to some sort of stone. Fucker left his mouth unbound, so the irritated World Eater planned on making it the damned blue badtard's problem. “HEY FUCKER! LET ME OUT OF THIS AND GIVE ME BACK MY SACRIFICE!” He also starTed to struggle against the chains binding him in place, hoping that either the links in the chain or the stone to which he'd been pinned to would give way, thrashing as much as his bindings would allow him to.

“Hmm… No. I had been stalking after that rare specimen for months in preparation for this Ritual. Then you showed up at the last moment and messily ripped it apart. Luckily for me, you kept intact the organs and bones I required for this. I and dozens of my brothers are collaborating together on this Great Work, and should we succeed, it will allow those of us who are blessed by Chaos to work with the Warp much more similarly like it is back home, rather than the ash-fired clay effort it takes to do anything more than minor tricks here and now.” The Thousand son sniffed, glaring naughtily down at Joth for a couple of moments before returning to his chanting.

The World Eater thought about that for several seconds - the greater blessings of Khorne he had earned couldn't be used in this time, on Ancient Terra for reasons Joth could only begin to guess at. The ability to go on sustained Rampages… To ensure the Blood Flowing and the collected Skulls given to the Throne…

It was almost enough to get him to purr and settle into his bonds. “... and if I promise not to interfere with your… Ritual? Will you let me free then?” He could respect another's irritation at a kill being stolen from him. Stuffy blue fuck could have led with that hours ago and saved them both the trouble. But no, stubborn bastard sorcerers refused to communicate in more than smug smirks and annoying as fuck riddles a good ninety percent of the time, trying to prove that they were so much smarter than everyone else.

At least his Primarch survived the Heresy, and had led them to greater powers, as well as the endless glory of fighting for Khorne. Away from the false light and moneyed lies of the corpse-Emperor and his throne of lies and two-faced duplicity.

The thousand son continued to chant for several minutes, the brilliant blue glow of Warpcraft steadily shining through the other's eyes, mouth and hands as he continued the task he had set himself. Fucker didn't even look in his direction in order to acknowledge that Joth had spoken.

One of his oldest and most familiar companions - Wrath - charged to the forefront of his mind, made his dual hearts sing for the preparation of battle, in spite of the deamon-poison stings that caused his body to ache fiercely all over. Joth struggled against his bindings again, feeling some of the metal begin to stretch and give way beneath his bulk and strength.

The thousand son continued to ignore him completely, his chanting in the partially air-filled cave bouncing off of the walls, creating an echo that made it seem as if dozens or even hundreds of fellow Sorcerers were chanting with him, just a beat or two off of his own chanting. The blue of warp use continued to intensity- and started to color and light the water where the other Mer sat tall, hands weaving complicated symbols over the sacrificial bones and meat laid out on the altar the fucker was sitting in front of.

The bones and meat had begun to glow as well. Moments after that, they began to move, slowly at first before gaining speed. They started to spin around and around the room, with each revolution getting faster and faster. Along with the chanting, Joth could swear that he could hear the last pained and frightened calls that the large aquatic mammal had made - had they been a warning call, to chase others away, or a desperate plea for help?

As the glowing and chanting continued to intensify, one of the larger organs suddenly splattered against a sharp rock, causing the color of the warp-crafted light to change from blue to magenta.

Oh fuck no.

Whichever of the dark powers the thousand son had been seeking to strengthen, the plea had just shifted to another, and Joth was not going to participate in a Slaaneshi ritual while tied to a big, fuck-off boulder. He could be interpreted as part of the sacrifice and that was not happening.

Joth continued to thrash and struggle against his binings, feeling the Metal continue to give way…

But the warp-light was intensifying, and the distinctive crunch of bone on stone intensified the magenta hue, prompting the Khornate Chaos Marine to triple his efforts in an attempt to escape.

The light, chanting and spinning of flesh and bone continued to intensify, weĺl-past blinking and deafening to Joth at this point, even as he'd shut his eyes, to try and preserve them.

The sound of his chains breaking was the sweetest down Joth could ever remember hearing, and he shot out of the water - feeling the electrifying buzz of active warp-energy coating his scales… Which may or may not have consequences he'll need to deal with and/or adjust to. But that was Later Joth's problem. Right now he needed to get the fuck out of here before the ritual either ended successfully.

Or… Considering this was a project led and done by The Thousand Sons… Blow up spectacularly horribly in their faces, leading to a widespread and devastating curse affliction them. But Joth had no interest in Being Cursed by an overconfident sorcerer coven.

He swum as swiftly as the twisting tunnels and partially filled watery caverns would allow him, following the scent of fresh air.

About half-way through he battled into something small, soft and warm. His deepest instincts howled Mine! Protect! Defend! As different kinds of chains began to wind around his soul, leading into your small and delicate psychic fingertips.

Having no desire nor time to explain what he was fleeing, Joth scoops you, his newly bonded human up and continues to swim at his top speed, keeping you tucked into his chest, both so that you’re as safe as he can make you be at the moment, and so that you don’t slow him down.

He does not stop when he carries you up and out of the underwater cave system that you’d been exploring. Nor does he slow down as you flail and scream - nor heed much to the confused yelling of your friends.

But since those yelling humans are important to you, they are also picked up as he continues swimming through the air as fast as he can. He air-swims for hours before gently setting you and your friends down on the soft candy beach. He curls around you protectively as a wave of magenta-tinted exhaustion hits him “Danger… in the caves.. Do not return… Little Bonded…” He croon, making sure to use the same language that you and your friends have been yelling at him the most in, his eyes closing, even as he keeps curled protectively around you.

[web-novel-polls]

Web Novel Weapon Tournament

[Please be courteous in the notes.]

Zidian - Jiang Cheng/Madam Yu's whip (MDZS)

Wiki Link

The Jiang Clan’s family heirloom that transforms from a ring into a whip. It was originally used by Madam Yu until her death when she (and separately her husband) used it to bind and protect Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian from the invading Wens. 

A symbol of family and honor given from Madam Yu to Jiang Cheng, Zidian’s owner can allow others to use it, as shown by Jiang Fengmian realizing Zidian recognized him before his and Madam Yu’s death and Jiang Cheng leaving Zidian with Jin Ling. 

Ruoye - Xie Lian’s spiritual device (TGCF)

Wiki Link

Submission:

Ruoye is technically a demonic weapon or whatever as it doesn't need spiritual power to control, but that also might just be because it's sentient and has a will of it's own but is deeply loyal to Xie Lian obviously. Ruoye can extend REALLY far!!! And he can form protection barriers, and decapitate zombies, and chop vegetables. There's nothing this good bandage baby can't do!! Peak performance! AND it'll pretend to do a snake dance while Xie Lian plays an instrument while busking!! Isn't that adorable! Xie Lian wears it on his wrists usually, and sometimes Ruoye will like tighten or rub his wrists to express fear or comfort Xie Lian and its so cute. Ruoye is so good. Personally I think despite Ruoyes background being like. Horribly tragic, thats what makes it so Good. All that pain and suffering made this thing that ended up protecting Xie Lian all these 800 years. But I left it last in case it's too much.  (tw suicide mention) Ruoye was created after being soaked in Xie Lian's blood when it was used to tie him up while various people stabbed him with a sword a hundred times. Then when he was able to return home, it was used by his parents to kill themselves for a variety of reasons we won't get into. Then, upon finding them, he tried to kill himself too. But his cursed shackles prevented his mortal body from dying, so when he died he just came back; he came back to a silk bandage that after taking the life of 2 royals, and being soaked in the blood of a royal and former god and stuff, it came to life!! With resentment technically. But he's a good boy.

E-ming - Hua Cheng’s cursed scimitar (TGCF)

Wiki Link 

Submission:

E-ming is the best boy. Hua Cheng forged his saber when he was defending humans who got caught in the middle of a big ghost battle for dominance, essentially. He dug out his cursed red eye and created E-ming from it. So his eye is on the pommel of the sword, right in the center above the handle, and it emotes!! When its happy, the eye curves into a crescent and it vibrates!!! It cries when Hua Cheng is mean to it in a fucked up sense of self loathing since his sword is born from him!! E-ming grows bigger when Xie Lian(Hua Cheng's god and eventual husband) kisses the blade, because silly erection joke! But also it begs Xie Lian for praise and attention because its BEST. BOY. Oh and I guess also the entirety of the heavens fears the cursed blade E-ming, which has the power to reopen any wounds its made an on an individual before. Just the thought of E-ming makes gods shake in their boots. But more importantly, he's best boy.

[comshipbracket]

Antis DNI - Block the tag "comship" if this causes discomfort.

Remember, you are voting for the ship you prefer, not the ship you find more problematic

Propaganda for both ships under the cut.

Disclaimer: All ships (other than NozoCoco) on this bracket are FOLLOWER-SUBMITTED ships, the Mods do not always hold necessary knowledge to be aware of any errors or fanonizing what should be canon material that may arise.

Stuilly Propaganda (Abusive Dynamic)

"Billy is bent on murderous revenge, and Stu is the fucked up little person who's along for the ride. Their killing spree climaxed with symbolic mutual penetration as they stab each other as part of their scheme to pin it all on the film's final girl. The way they touch each other is affectionate to the point of intimacy. When their plan is out, Stu can't keep his hands off of Billy."

Stannarrator Propaganda (Codependency, Toxic Power Dynamics - In most endings)

"The Stanley Parable is a game about The Narrator wanting to tell a story through their game but having to rely on the Stanley's choices. The core of the game is that Stanley and The Narrator are bound to each other: Stanley needs The Narrator to make the "parable" he lives in, and The Narrator needs Stanley to make the choices that drive the story.

The Narrator clearly has the most power in this dynamic, since he can alter the world the Stanley lives in: modifying the rooms, creating and deleting objects at will, reloading the game, altering Stanley's perception, knowing almost everything and being almost everywhere. But, despite all that power, he isn't able to control the one thing that keeps his story existing: Stanley's choices.

Okay, spoilers to both the original 2013 game and the Ultra Deluxe remake from here on out since it's impossible to talk about them without spoiling a lot of the endings.

In one of the new endings on the Ultra Deluxe remake, the Skip Button ending, The Narrator creates a button that lets Stanley skip his dialogue `inspired` by a bad Steam review, but when Stanley clicks this button The Narrator is left all alone in that room, and which each click the skip becomes longer, from minutes, to hours, to weeks, to months… And in the fifth skip (where Stanley stays frozen for like, one, two weeks), The Narrator breaks up, talking about how he needs Stanley to listen to him and how scared he is of slipping back into the silence he passes through every time we use the skip button. In his own words, `I can't lose myself in the stretch of emptiness between you and me.` Of course, since it's the only way to advance in this ending, we skip again, and again, until The Narrator ends up eventually disappearing after the 12th or 13th skip, leaving Stanley alone in a desert, and that's where the ending stops, though it continues on the Epilogue, but I'll leave some things to add as propaganda during the polls.

Despite this, The Narrator still has more control of the situation than Stanley, like on the Explosion ending, where he traps Stanley in a room while the building's destroys itself as consequence for choosing to activate the Mind Control Machine instead of shutting it down to free everyone. He keeps acting like Stanley is nothing but a vehicle for him to pass a message through his story. `Watching you try to make sense of everything and take back the control wrested away from you…it's quite rich. I almost hate to see it go!` `You're only still playing instead of watching a cutscene because I want to watch you for every moment that you're powerless, to see you made humble. […] You wanted to control this world; that's fine. But I'm going to destroy it first, so you can't.`

But there's one point where they're equal, they both want to free themselves. On the Museum ending, we meet a being that is higher than The Narrator, the Female Narrator (yeah, that's her name), and she gives the best description of the relationship between these two: `Oh, look at these two. How they wish to destroy one another. How they wish to control one another. How they both wish to be free. Can you see? Can you see how much they need one another? No, perhaps not. Sometimes these things cannot be seen.`"

[altocat]

Seph’s dillemma in the new chapter is so painful because he is bound to a role he doesn’t want to be in, and that role requires him to compromise his own morality so badly that he has learned already at 14 to kill without hesitation or emotion.

We sit here and think about how fucked up it is that he killed kids in that scene…but then we put it together that, no…he killed other kids. He is killing his peers who are also trying to kill him and he basically has no choice in that regard. He doesn’t want to be the cyborg, enhanced human but it’s what he has to be if he wants to succeed.

I feel like it could be pretty basic symbolism.

“I’m not a cyborg. I never wanted to be.” is what he truly thinks and why he still behaves like a sweet-hearted kid normally, but as soon as it’s time to do his job and kill for Shinra, he becomes that cyborg, part-machine thing that he hates. He has to smother part of his humanity and as a fucking child no less.

He isn’t a cyborg, but he is. Sometimes he has no choice.

No wonder he started crying and tried to reaffirm his humanity to Glenn. He hates this obvious dilemma that he has to deal with. It’s so messed up, man. Shinra is evil personified. I feel like I have been stabbed.

ALL of this.

And the tragedy is that Sephiroth, whether you love him or you hate him for what he will eventually do, never HAD a choice. EVER. Even as a grown adult, he was still on Shinra's leash. And by the time he obtains his agency, he's completely insane and warped beyond repair and too far gone to make rational, healthy decisions about which direction to take his life in. He gives into his darker nature and there's nothing left of what was once human. And all this because Shinra SET HIM UP for this outcome from the very beginning. Sephiroth really is a special case because the ability to choose was robbed from him not as a teenager or as a child but as a FETUS. The second those cells went in, he would have never lived a normal life. It was set in stone.

He spends his entire life struggling with the weight of guilt, expectations, and dehumanization and he dies a miserable death. I think Sephiroth deserves to be punished for what he did. And he truly is irredeemable at this point. But people also need to recognize that he was destined to become a villain since conception. Shinra did everything in their power to completely ruin him and they succeeded--it just backfired on them tremendously.

[mysteriouslybluepirate]

Izzy thoughts at first (then LONG ramblings about the S2 Teaser)

TLDR: I think Izzy is going to run away from Ed, get Stede, and help him become a better pirate. Also: WHY IS EVERYONE SO HOT

1.) Look at him. So *happy* to be the Goth he truly is!

I love that Izzy doesn't trust Ed not to hit him here. If you look, Ed's not that close to his face, but Izzy just *can't* trust him right now.

Izzy in the same face makeup as the rest of the crew (AHHHHH HE'S SO HOT. I want him. I want to be him. ETC). What made Izzy put on the makeup? How long do you think Izzy lasted before caving in? I'm 50/50 between him immediately giving in, or stomping his feet. I love that he clearly put some time into it. That's full coverage right there.

[IS THAT A WIP ON HIS HIP? My CalicoHands heart.... Someone correct me if I'm wrong...please correct me if I'm wrong. I will be thinking about this for a month, thank you.]

We also see him dying his beard with Kohl? Might just be the lighting. Also: take note of that lovely ring around his necktie. My theory is that this is episode 1, right near the beginning of the episode.

2.) THE LAD <3 MY MAN! GOD, he looks refreshed. Rested. Slightly stressed. This is why I think he was staining his beard in the last GIF, just comparing colors.

RED ALERT: THE RING AROUND HIS THROAT IS MISSING(or he's not wearing it in this shot, or we can't see it thanks to the lighting).

Izzy just deciding to leave is so fucking powerful to me, as a show of Izzy's growth in what looks to be 1/2 episodes. I don't think Ed hurt him, I think he genuinely got sick of this shit and left... He might have just run off once he got a *hint* that Stede might be alive, and decided to risk it. (Or fell off the ship during that storm...could you imagine the angst). FIRST MATE IZZY HANDS TO CAPTAIN STEDE BONNET/EDWARDS? Yes, please!

[My Stizzy/Steddyhands author heart is ready to read those fics. Because there is no way in hell these idiots will work out a throuple. As I'm 90% sure Ed just doesn't see Izzy.]

My theory for the scene specifically: Stede's crew takes over a ship, and Izzy is there to help. We see Izzy walk into the room, probably to update his Captain about the raid, and a guy goes in for the stab. The "I did a punch" Is because Izzy is training him. AHHH :3 CHEWING THE BARS OF MY CAGE

3.) I saw a theory that the reason Izzy covers his hand with a glove is because he's been branded as a deserter from the Navy(usually a 'D' tattoo on the hand). Most of Ed's crews wouldn't respect him if they knew that Izzy had turned coat. This also explains why in Ep 9 he hated the idea of Ed turning himself in. In all the scenes in the teaser, we still see him in a glove, even after he ditches the symbolic ring.

ALSO HI SHIRTLESS IZZY, SORRY TO IGNORE YOU! Why is he shirtless? It's the Caribbean, I get that it's hot, but nothing? Does the man not own any other not-black tops? Not that I'm complaining, of course! I am very happy with this artistic decision.

I still think he's going to lose his foot/infection is going to spread thanks to his toe(losing a metaphorical and physical balance thanks to Ed). They're suspiciously covering his foot with a barrel or it's out of frame in most shots. So this training might be 1/2 Izzy helping Stede, and 1/2 Izzy regaining his balance. I also think this is on Stede's new ship, as that doesn't really look like any room we've seen on the Revenge.

STEDE IZZY FRIENDSHIP ARC. :D

(Now, the thing is. Does Izzy find out about Lucius hiding before he leaves? My guess is no, Izzy doesn't know, and is going to take that info right to Stede to reveal in a sensitive moment.)

(YES. I am in love with the Izzy-candle-imagery! My man is a dwindling candle, long may he burn. He doesn't need to use his fingers and cause himself harm when lying/having feelings about something, he can just use his sword)

=============================================

NOT IZZY STUFF THAT I LOVED

GET EM ROACH!!!! I just love this shot so much...no clue why. The flowers, the shock on Roach's face, the tiny ass canon.

I love him in this trailer, THIS IS HIS GLOW UP, and am happy Jenkins looked at straight people no-homoing S1 and went 'STEDE LOVES ED! HE LOVES HIM SO MUCH' all teaser.

"I don't care what anyone says, he's actually a good guy!" OH STEDE. This is exactly what I expected from you, and I am so excited to see this play out. I hope Izzy is there to help him manage his money, if not, pray for him.

Stede getting a Pirate Outfit that TWIRLS is so him... I'm so happy for him! This is what I always thought Stede would enjoy about 'dressing up' in a pirate world. He can have elegance, color, and function! THIS is his glow-up, the longer hair, the ATTITUTE<3(Prince better be in this season's soundtrack, please).

WE'RE GETTING A STORM BABY!!!!! My favorite trope in OFMD fic I haven't yet written ;). They're so fucking scary, the reason most pirates didn't last a year is due to storms vs. most other threats. I'm excited this season will explore a bit more of the realities of living on a ship! I write OFMD horror because 1700'S SHIPS ARE HORRIFIC.

ALSO HI JIM!!!!! My two favorite characters, all get a decent screen chunk of teaser time. THEY ARE SO FUCKING HOT IN THIS TRAILER. GENDER. FUCKING. ENVY. (RIP Lucius fans...He'll be at the end of S2 Episode 1...probably).

MY HANDSOME WIFE! I fucking love Ed in this trailer so fucking much. If you follow my page, as much as I am an Izzy lover, Stede and Ed are close behind. I love that Ed is clearly heartbroken, and dissatisfied even with the violence he's supposed to love. He's got that Blackbeard mask on tight, and it's not coming off. Also: He looks hot while doing it.

His work wife leaving is probably going to fuck him up more.

I don't think Ed has a TON of screen time, mainly just due to Taika's schedule at the time. But I'm excited to see him sad.

ALSO: Did Ed color the doll so he's wearing a lace bralette? Cause that tummy (at least in this GIF) looks skin-toned. AHHHHH! He would rock that. I just know he'd rock that.

SIDE NOTES:

-HI SPANISH JACKIE/SWEDE- The ship I didn't know I needed till now.

-OLU! I hope you have such a good season, babe. You deserve it. Jim is obviously loving this.

-Frenchie having cat claws makes me so happy.

-WEE JOHN IN DRAG!!!! YEESSSSSSSSS!

I'M HYPED!!!!!!!!!!

[hazbincalifornia]

Check-Up

Chapter 69: Dr. Cere checks Blitz and the baby over.

I only just realized I hadn't posted this over here too.

Ao3 link

Dr. Cere, as it turned out, was a chubby baphomet and succubus hybrid. She was purple with a lavender flame atop her candle, and had a lab coat as well as a turtleneck with a stethoscope that had colorful heart and star stickers along the tube-y part. She waved as the butler ushered her into the side sitting room that they’d decided to use for her visit, mostly empty but for a table and a few chairs. (Stolas said that it was barely used anyway.)

“Hello there! It’s good to meet you. Aamon sent his regards and said that you could both visit whenever you get time. With a new baby, he knows that can be busy.” She opened her bag. “Now, I’m to check over both the birthing parent and the baby. That was you, right?” She turned to Blitzo, who nodded, pushing himself off his chair with little Stellaluna in his arms.

“You’re already walking on your own, that’s good, that’s good. Was there anything unusual about the birth? Often Aamon’s clients, both on the royal and hybrid children seeking advice side, have some sort of home birthing situation-”

“I shoved her out on the guest bed of one of my employees down in Wrath after some fucker tried to stab both of us with a holy blade,” Blitzo said flatly with a snap of his tail, and she stared for a moment, giving a very good impression of a loading symbol on a computer.

“I’ll classify that under unusual, then,” she said, pulling out a notebook with a baby sticker on the front and clicking her pen before jotting something down. Blitzo had to admit he liked that. “I assume that he missed or only scratched you considering you aren’t six more feet under?”

Blitzo passed the baby off to Stolas and tugged his shirt up, gesturing to the scratch- the stitches had kept the wound shut for long enough that it had finally started to scab over properly, but it still looked ragged for how relatively shallow it had been. She whistled. “Lady Belphegor must have been smiling on you. You’re certainly a survivor, Mr. Blitz.”

She pronounced it right the first time, and his hackles from her lab coat and Slothian accent lowered a touch further- especially as when her hand hovered above the wound after she pulled on gloves, she looked up to him for permission to touch it. He nodded, and her fingers were light as she traced over the skin. “It looks like whoever cleaned and sewed it did a good job, I shouldn’t need to touch it back up. You’re extraordinarily lucky, but you should be alright and it will fade into a mostly normal scar with time. Do you happen to have any magical ability from somewhere in your family line? Perhaps from a succubus? Those are the most common hybrids, and you look rather tall for an imp.” Her tail, tipped with a heart-shaped spade, gestured at herself.

“Nah, no magic in these guts, that I know of at least.”

“That’s good- sometimes holy weapons can cause infections that leech the power from Hellborn magic, but if you don’t have it, they’re much more painful on non-fatal blows and can cause infections anyway if they drive in deep enough. If that had been the case, you’d usually see lightning-like glowing lines spiking out into the skin from the point of contact. Still, have you been experiencing any other potentially worrying symptoms?”

“I gave birth yesterday, I haven’t noticed shit except how sore my everything is, and I couldn’t sleep last night in case somebody tried to off us again. Unless feeling like I shoved a bowling ball out of my man-cave counts, I’m hunky-fucking-dory.”

“Well, in your circumstances, I’d call that perfectly normal. Get rest whenever you can, and lean on any family and friends that you need to- I can’t imagine birth with the child of a member of the Ars Goetia was particularly pleasant.”

Stolas coughed, as if to apologize, and Blitz nudged him with a half-smirk.

“He’s lucky I like him, because let me tell you, this whole thing was a mess and a fucking half. But yeah, it’s gonna be a while before this pussy’s ready for service again.”

“Speaking of the baby, can you check her over as well?” Stolas held her up before gingerly setting her down on the table at the doctor’s nod downward.

“Of course, of course.” She unbuttoned the onesie, exposing the skin underneath. Stellaluna reached up her hands to try and swipe at the doctor’s candle far above her, too-big eyes wide and fascinated by the flame. Cere laughed while gently palpating over the baby’s chest and stomach. “She’s a sweet little thing, isn’t she?”

“She was fussy as shit when she was kicking my guts out,” Blitzo grumbled, and Cere made a ‘mhm’ noise as she tested the baby’s reflexes.

“Well, she had no other way to make known what she wanted. It worked, at least- she looks to be of a healthy weight. It’s so difficult to use actual weight with avian hybrids as the lightness of the bones can sway it, so we generally use appearance, and she looks to have enough fat on her that I wouldn’t worry about that.” She pulled up her stethoscope, resting it on the tiny chest and nodding to herself, making a few notes. “Her heart is a bit fast, but not to a concerning degree. I’d keep an eye on it, but it could be the novelty of a new body around her.” She was pausing between each part of the examination to glance back at Stolas and Blitzo as well as checking in with the baby, who seemed delighted by the colorful being in front of her.

Cere moved up to her mouth, carefully sliding one finger in on the side- to avoid the sharp point of the beak- in order to examine the inside. “Has she been breast-fed or bottle-fed?”

“I was going to have her breastfeed, but she nearly bit my fucking nipple off,” Blitzo grumbled, and she snorted out a laugh.

“Fair enough. It certainly looks like she takes after her bird-daddy.”

“Speaking of, by the way, how long are my tits going to be leaking like a freshman at a frat party?”

“It depends on how long you pump, and your body may take some time to ease off,” she said, gesturing for him to pull his shirt up all the way. “Oh, did Aamon use his magic on you to help?”

“If you call me waking up with tits three times the size my pecs ‘help’, sure,” Blitzo said, easing one of the cups of the bra off to expose the wet nipple underneath.

“You should be okay to start her on blended-up meat in a month or so, but stay with breast milk for at least the first few weeks if you’re able to continue to produce it, she’ll need the nutrients. It’s lucky that imps also eat meat, it should make her diet easier to handle. Some hybrids are a nightmare to figure out dietary needs for.”

“So, she’s fine?”

The doctor’s finger slipped out of Stellaluna’s beak, tracing over to the scars below her right eye and left lower cheek. “Was she still in utero when you were stabbed?”

“She decided it was why she wanted to get the fuck out of there, yeah. Not that I blame her, that’s gotta be a bitch to have somebody try and stab your bed while you’re still in it.”

“I believe the Harvest Moon may have affected the timing as well,” Stolas admitted, and Blitzo whipped around, tail snapping in surprise.

“Wait, wait, hold the fuck up. It what?”

Stolas rubbed the back of his neck. “Octavia was born under an eclipse, so I believe that, with my duty being what it is, it’s possible that facilitating a celestial event in Wrath of all rings may have encouraged her to come out at that particular moment, on top of everything else that was going on.”

“You could have warned me, birdbrain,” Blitzo said, smacking Stolas’s thigh with his tail, getting a hoot out of the owl.

“I didn’t even think about it as a possibility until after the process had already started!”

As they went back and forth, Cere’s fingers lingered on the knot of tissue on the red and white face, and it was the first thing that got an upset whimper out of the baby, her eyes going from the candle flame to the hands gently squishing at her cheeks. A growl slipped out of Blitzo and he stepped forward, one hand resting on the gun in his pocket.

“She doesn’t like that, leave her alone.”

Cere shifted her fingers to tickle the chubby cheeks instead, getting a hiccup that shifted to a coo.

“I’m just ensuring that she’s alright, I promise.”

“Will it… will it cause permanent damage?” Stolas asked, eyes wide as she shifted back to the scars, but with an even lighter touch.

“It’s difficult to tell- she mostly seems healthy, but like I said, holy weaponry can suppress Hellborn magic, and cases of pregnant parents surviving being attacked with it are exceedingly rare, especially with the Hellborn exception for Exterminations. It could lead her to have diminished strength or magical ability, or it could end up as nothing worse than a few scars depending on how hardy she is. Being as she’s half-imp, it could be beneficial to be sure to develop good muscle tone and practice with normal weapons from that side of her family just in case she needs to rely on her physical strength instead of magic.”

“She’s a strong-ass bitch,” Blitzo said, stepping forward to offer a finger to Stellaluna, and she grasped it, wiggling it happily.

“We can only hope. The rest of her vitals seem good, so as long as she’s fed, changed, and given personal attention regularly, then she’ll hopefully be able to make it through just fine. Which of you will she be living with?”

“Me, for now,” Blitzo replied.

“Alright, where are you living, then?”

“Downtown Imp City.”

“So near the Pentagram?”

“My business deals with Sinners,” Blitzo said, crossing his arms. “That a problem?”

“Oh, it’s just always a higher risk to raise children near sinners as they tend to be so violent and reckless with their relative immortality, but if you work with them regularly, I imagine you know how to deal with them,” she said. “Her being half-Goetia will make her a bit more resilient in case of accident as well- it’s possible it’s how she survived such a dangerous birth with only a few scars. Now, do you have a regular physician that you’ve been using up to this point?”

“Nope.”

“Ah, did you just have a clinic you went to, then?”

“You’re the first needle-sticker I’ve seen for myself in, uh…” he clicked his tongue. “Fifteen years?”

She blinked at that, head bobbing a little as she pulled it back. “Excuse me?”

“I had a lot of other shit to deal with, and I wasn’t doing anything stupid.” Mostly.

She looked between them, eyes wide before she tried to push down her surprise, and Stolas cleared his throat.

“I cast a protective spell on him when we found out about the pregnancy that helped to keep both of them healthy and safe. It’s the only reason I didn’t push.”

“Hey, it worked!”

“You didn’t even know about it until halfway through, dear.”

“But I was handling it just fine, we didn’t have that shit when I was a kid, parents just tried not to get kicked in the gut!”

Cere looked between them and pinched the bridge of her nose before sliding down the diaper to get a quick look between the baby’s legs.

“Hey, hey, don’t be a fucking-”

She slid the diaper back up quickly halfway through his sentence. “I was just making sure there wasn’t any sort of rash or infection. I imagine that spell is why her vitals are as good as they are, but now that she’s out in the world, it won’t protect her anymore.” She reached into her coat and pulled out a business card. “I know that it can be difficult to find good care for hybrids, particularly unique ones like her, but please, keep up with a primary care provider. I and my clinic would be more than happy to help with any questions that you have, we’re a smaller operation but work discreetly, which is why Aamon comes to us. We’re down in Lust, outside of the main downtown area. The address is on the card.”

Blitzo shared a look with Stolas, before sucking in a breath and letting it out.

“Fine.”

“Wonderful.” She tapped the end of the baby’s tail, getting a little flick and nodding at it, then repeating the process with her other limbs. “It looks like everything is perfectly functional. Now, the only thing left to check is where she came out of, Mr. Blitz.”

“Excuse me, check the fucking what?”

She peeled off her gloves and reached for a new pair. “It will be quick, I promise, but especially considering how proportionally large she is, we want to make sure that everything shifted back into place. Your highness, if you want to take her?”

Stolas scooped Stellaluna up off the table as Blitzo’s legs locked up tighter than a quintuple-security Greedian bank.

“Not on your fucking life, bitch.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Would you rather only realize something’s wrong when it’s far too late to fix it without causing twice the problems?”

“If something’s wrong, I’d have figured It out!” He snarled, taking a step back with his spines snapped up, and she held up placating hands.

“I have some numbing cream if that would help. You can even have him apply it if you want.” She nodded over to Stolas.

“Really, darling-”

“You’re not the one who has to show off your taint, and not even in the fun way!” Blitzo snarled, but at that, Stellaluna sniffled, giving them only a moment of warning before she began to wail. All three of them turned to her, and it only took a moment to realize that she was probably hungry.

“I can get the bottle to feed her from the cooler we made, and the two of you can get this finished,” Stolas said.

“Shit, Stolas, wait-” Blitzo started, but the owl had already stepped out of the room. His eyes whipped over to Cere, who sighed.

“This really is the last part of the examination that I need to do. It should only take a few minutes. I can’t imagine that you’d want to survive an assassination and then have further complications that could have been avoided, especially not while dealing with a newborn.”

Blitzo glanced between her and the door before groaning and reaching for his pants. “Fine, but it better be quick.”

Thank Satan, it was, and she was mercifully silent while prodding her fingers and tools inside of him before patting his thigh and telling him that it was a good thing he had good core strength and he told her to fuck off. She offered him his boxers back when she was done instead of pulling them back on for him, though, so he tucked the card into his jacket pocket.

(He tried to feel like he wasn’t waddling when he walked back over to Stolas, but he was pretty sure that was a lost cause for now, with a combination of just having had something shoved up inside of him and having to re-adjust his center of gravity. It was going to take a while to feel like there wasn’t a hole in the middle of him after carrying her around for six months, but having her placed back in his arms and nuzzling up with a little coo was a pretty good consolation prize.)

[jerreeeeeee]

war of the rohirrim was really good. there was just one thing that bothered me. in a narrative cohesion way. spoilers under the cut

WHY DID HERA NOT PUNCH WULF. TO KILL HIM. she got the shield. okay the shield is a symbol of the shieldmaidens and the strong warrior women of rohan and hera’s own personal freedom. awesome, meaningful. its a fucking buckler. punch him with the shield!! have the full circle moment; her father killed his father with a punch and started the entire war, he swore vengeance for his father, and now SHE avenges HER father by punching wulf and killing him. why choke him??

there are 2 reasons i can think of. the first is that the writers wanted it to be ambiguous whether she meant to kill him to end it or just got carried away in the heat of the moment full of adrenaline etc. which i think is sort of lame, she had the moment of asking frealaf to have mercy on the other dunlendings to show she’s Kind and Merciful and Wise. i don’t think it’s bad writing that she doesn’t kill him before he tries to stab her when he’s on his knees in front of her, that’s less “women need to be kind and merciful” and more showing the audience that she has a sense of honor. but when it became clear the only way to stop him was to kill him and she was going to kill him in the end she should have Meant to kill him. she doesn’t have to be merciful to the guy who murdered her family just because she’s a kindhearted woman. but all that aside; it would STILL be ambiguous whether she meant it to be a killing blow if she punched him! helm never meant to kill wulf’s father by punching him either!

the other reason is that the writers foresaw people whining that it wasn’t realistic. a Woman cannot kill a man with one punch! how ridiculous! as if this isn’t a magical world. as if helm didn’t have fucking superhuman powers in his whole last stand situation. a drive and well of power fueled by grief for his sons, who were, y’know, hera’s brothers. if it wasn’t realistic, harp on how she’s powered by grief the same way her father was, but that she survives and wins where he didn’t because she also had hope and determination to save her people. choking wulf to death just reads as a more “realistic” way to kill him that’s unfortunately less narratively satisfying.

i’m not saying either of these are the actual reason idk maybe it just didn’t occur to them or something this isn’t a conspiracy theory or anything i’m just bitching about a moment i thought would happen and was sorta disappointed didn’t. the movie was still really really good.

it interacted with themes of female empowerment in a world where women are afforded less options and expected to marry in a very refreshing way that highlights hera’s agency and independence without being trite. it’s significant that she��s a woman but she’s not treated reductively. it doesn’t fix everything for her to show her strength, everyone doesnt go wow we were wrong women can be strong! she doesn’t get to take her father’s place and lead her people even though the new king says she should have. but she does still prove herself and is supported by the narrative and gets a happy ending personally where she’s never forced to compromise her freedom.

also, i really appreciate that the main driving force of the plot is wulf’s relationship with her, in a way that is complex and interesting but doesn’t force romantic tension or chemistry even in the beginning. hera has genuine affection for wulf (in the beginning) from their friendship, but the movie never even plays with “they could have been lovers if fate hadn’t forced them apart” or whatever. she rejects wulf and romance even before the vengeance storyline takes off. and hera’s happy ending isn’t, like, another guy who can allow her freedom but still love her romantically. being unbound by the expectation of romance is part of her freedom. its really uncommon to have a man and woman as narrative foils without making them like. romantically implied soulmates for better or worse or whatever. especially childhood friends. but wulf is just a childhood friend turned bitter enemy and it’s written in much the same way as i think a story about a male protagonist would have been. also appreciate that the conflict and antagonist is very human.

hera’s relationships with various people feel very real, i guess because there’s a good amount of time put in toward the beginning, so the emotional beats with her brothers and olwyn are earned. and especially the ending with frealaf becoming king and hera promising her sword, that could have very easily felt cheap, but because he and his story and relationship to hera are established early it made sense and was satisfying instead. by saying she never wanted the crown and then still pledging her sword she remains loyal to her people and family, and yet free. you’re a little disappointed for hera that she doesn’t have the chance to choose be a leader of her people, even if she’d turn it down, but it feels realistic and it feels like frealaf earned it, and hera gets everything she wants from her life. it’s not a surprising or rushed ending, everything ties together there.

WAIT ALSO remembered another thing that bothered me. there wasn’t ever any closure on hama’s harp, hera had it at the end but did he ever get his song written about him??

also the saruman and gandalf namedrops seemed sort of weird and unnecessary. like yes i did watch lord of the rings. i know who those guys are. stop winking at me

last thing is that all the character design and costumes were good and the backgrounds were gorgeous. the people i watched with said the difference between the watercolor bgs and the animation was jarring but i didn’t have an issue with it i thought it was fine and i always love pretty backgrounds

all in all really good movie i enjoyed it a lot 👍

[beevean]

((this is a spoiler to CoD but I really wanna say this))

One of the things I hated the most in NFCV is how they literally reduced a Devil Forgemaster's power to only necromancy... When they're SO much more powerful than that. They can LITERALLY MAKE WEAPONS just from the RAW ELEMENTS ALONE. And the fact that Hector could fight Death and Dracula! He literally REDUCED Drac's curse in the end!! ((Also his sassy response to Drac is "I'm the Devil Forgemaster. I can make your curse into a harmless thing." Alhdkahsja I love him so much)). I HATE how they make them so... Useless??? I don't understand they're so much cooler than the show made them out to be

(CoD will turn 18 this November, don't worry about spoilers lmao)

So, I'm a bit torn on this because I actually don't mind the change in NFCV... in theory.

Do I think Devil Forging in canon is absolutely fucking cool and badass and underrated and ripe with potential? Yes. There is a reason I made the crest my icon :P I love that Hector calls it blasphemous in PtR, I love the idea that they're literally spitting in God's face by creating cursed life!

Devil Forgemaster

A blasphemer who can manipulate magic and life

^ tell me that isn't the rawest way to describe Devil Forgemasters, PtR doesn't shy away from the religious symbolism and it does so in a much more tasteful way than NFCV

I love that it's Dracula's magic itself that they're manipulating, which explains how Hector and only him could nullify the Curse! (and this is also why I believe Isaac was really spreading it, and it wasn't just Death's lie)

Human beings embued with dark magic directly from the Dark Lord himself. Tell me it isn't the coolest thing in the Vaniaverse.

And yes, they are absolute beasts that can forge their own weapons with alchemy and fight with all sorts of weapons. Normal swords? Rapiers? Zweihanders? Axes? Spears? Electric guitar? Hector has it covered. I wholeheartedly believe that both of them were the terror of Wallachia when they worked together: how do you defend yourself against multi-disciplined, super strong, super tough knights that can literally sic dragons on you?

also yes Hector vs. Dracula is so fucking raw, Hector is the ultimate gigachad and I will die on this hill. He literally asks "Have you forgotten that I'm a Devil Forgemaster?" with the smuggest tone in his voice <3

Catch me I'm swooning <3 Hector literally turning Dracula's hard work against him <3 oh ho ho I bet he regretted having a protégé <3

I also personally love Isaac's "Do not equate a Devil Forgemaster's power with that of an ordinary sorcerer!" dude's so mad that trevor dared to underestimate him and his ex. i love him too <3

However. I recognize that, without the gameplay element, they would have been a little too OP. I am perfectly fine with the nerfing of Devil Forging in the show: not only limiting them by tying their powers to a weapon would have been an interesting obstacle to overcome, but the promotional posters of S2 gave them a very low Strength stat.

Basically, the idea, I suppose, was to make them squishy wizards: they're not proficient at all in physical fights, but they don't need to be, when they can control a whole army of demons. And as for the necromancy aspect, well, it would have emphasized even more the dark, cursed nature of their power. It's a facsimile of life, nothing more.

The problem is that, of course, nothing was done with this. Isaac can simply... stibby stab people in a row, and with no effort at all they become night creatures. Yeeting him into the Sahara would have been a great opportunity to make him lose his knife, and force him to live as a vulnerable human, and maybe learn about the value of human life that way, but nooooo can't make the darling babyboy of the narrative suffer even a little! He has Deep Speeches about How Much Humans Suck to make! 🙄 And we barely see Hector actually do his job, only for Carmilla's sake, which will never stop make me wonder, why did Dracula and Carmilla want him so much to the point of resorting to manipulation? Nothing in the story shows me that he has any usefulness! He's not smart, he's not physically strong, he's easy to manipulate, we have little idea of how good of a Forgemaster he is... some General he is! Isaac could have easily run the whole castle by himself, for how badass and invincible they made him!

In retrospect, giving Isaac a lower Strength stat than Hector was a bold lie. By all means, Hector should have been the more talented of the two even in this version: he was the child prodigy who was resurrecting dogs as a child, while Isaac had to study hard to catch up. But no. Hector was relegated to torture porn. Okay.

Oh, and never forget that the plot forgot about the "dark, cursed" part of their power when Carmilla needed a priest to bless the water :^) because what's consistency when we have to favor our babyboys and girlbosses :^)

(also eh i guess being too op didn't stop sypha from literally steamrolling her way through the show, so yeah, the point's moot anyway)

[ruvviks]

hiiii for nathan ofc: 🎻🍎🖤🧐🔺💯 >:)

nathan asks!

🎻 VIOLIN — does your oc play any instruments? what is their skill level (beginner/intermediate/advanced/virtuoso/etc)?

answered here! but to expand some more on it: nathan would also love to be able to play the piano, since he also regularly listens to classical music and it always sounds very cool to him. ruben knows how to play the piano so he ends up teaching him :] don't worry about the shift from ruvik to ruben. stuff happens in my continued post game events storyline. he's friend now

🍎 RED APPLE — where was your oc born? do they still live in/around their place of birth or do they live somewhere else? how do they feel about their birthplace?

answered here! but to expand some more on it: there's many small towns between krimson city and sacramento which are the small towns you see in tew1. nathan would've passed through them on occasion but has never really stayed there for longer than the few minutes he would've been driving through them, and has generally always felt uneasy there. the towns don't look exactly as in tew1 in my canon because tew1 doesn't really feel like the united states in my honest opinion in terms of appearance but they would have similar vibes, just. modernized a bit to the point they don't burn down some barn with fucking. torches. as if we're in medieval times

🖤 BLACK HEART — has your oc killed or seriously wounded anyone before? have they broken someone's heart and/or broken someone's trust?

nathan has killed his parents :] they have hated him since he was born, then accused him of killing his younger sister rosie which got him sent to a jdc which was secretly mobius testing grounds in disguise and he was treated horribly there, and then when he was allowed to return home they continued to abuse and neglect him until he snapped at age 16 and grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed them both <3

after that, nathan has killed many many more people while working for mobius. he did a lot of field work (still as a teenager!!) because he was small and slippery and could easily get in and out of locations unseen, which made him perfect for eliminating important assets so mobius could instead get one of their own people in that position

🧐 FACE WITH MONOCLE — is your oc more logical or emotional?

nathan is very very logical. he kind of has to be, given the situations he finds himself in and given he works for the most powerful organization in the world and they could kill him at any given opportunity if he as much as sneezes wrong. he's a very objective man and always prioritizes the task at hand over anything else, he doesn't let himself get distracted by things he deems irrelevant to his work and because of that he is as effective and efficient as he is, but can also be described as cold and uncaring by others

later on, when he gets a lot more friends, he becomes a lot more emotional in how he acts and makes decisions. he is very loyal to the people he cares about and would both kill and die for them, and it doesn't really matter to him what happens to himself or what happens to the initial plan, he just wants to keep his loved ones safe

🔺 RED TRIANGLE POINTED UP — does your oc know how to use any weapons?

answered here! but to expand some more on it: nathan also really likes sniper rifles. he prefers a stealthy approach over anything else to begin with which is why he likes knives and handguns (a lot less loud than, say, a shotgun, would be), and a sniper rifle gives him a nice distance from his enemies which makes the combat a lot less stressful. especially while in union during the events of tew2 he can be found covering sebastian's back a lot from the rooftops with his rifle

💯 HUNDRED POINTS SYMBOL — share three random facts about your oc that others may not know.

nathan is left-handed when it comes to combat (firing guns, handling melee weapons, throwing punches or grenades) but right-handed when it comes to writing and doing other things, picking up objects etc etc! he taught himself this in case he injures his left hand in combat, then he can still do everything else normally with his good right hand

the white streaks in nathan's hair are natural, and he's had them all his life :] he also has a few vitiligo spots on his body, the most prominent one near his left eye and eyebrow which is why part of his eyebrow and eyelashes on that side also lack pigment

nathan has no personal beef with ruvik from the start. he's not around for the events of the first game so he doesn't experience the beacon incident and thus doesn't get almost killed by the guy like sebastian and kidman, and generally he doesn't really care that ruvik took control of the STEM environment after mobius took his brain out of his body to use as the core of the device because. well. <- that summary alone would have made him been like "that's somewhat understandable given the circumstances" and he didn't really see the point of continuing development of THAT device when mobius was already working on an iteration of it anyway. so basically when in my own tew3 (post game events in classic bones style. sorry. extended blorboverse 2.0) he comes face to face with ruvik, he doesn't see him as a threat as much as sebastian does and instead is mostly just curious what has brought him back to the device in abandoned beacon mental hospital

[1autistictacticalrefrigerator]

A Love Like This ❤️

( I decided to make a long soapghost fic?? Dunno how this’ll go, but buckle up for the wild ride ig 🥱 )

Character backstories may be modified to fit the story!

KNOW THE CHARACTERS! (These are the main characters // characters that have set roles)

Soap 🧼 - Pizza Delivery Guy

Gaz - Pizza Delivery Guy’s Friend (also is a pizza delivery guy)

Price - CEO of the uhh pizza place yes🗿

Ghost 💀 - The boogie man under yo bed, just kidding! He’s the monster ;)

( Maybe a self insert?? Idk yet. )

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Soap was just your average pizza delivery guy, the only thing that was unique about him in his opinion was fear doesn’t exist in his world. After retiring from the military, he settled for a quiet, safe life. But he was still full of energy, after all- he isn’t that old yet. And this deadly energy is EXACTLY what put him in this situation.

Ghost was hungry, he was curious so he decided to try human food instead of eating the human itself. Hm? What was this? “Pizza Delivery”…? Sounds interesting. Maybe Ghost would take a stab at it.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

“Over here!” Gaz called as Soap pulls back into the pizza place parking lot.

“Oh hey Gaz,” Soap says as he gets off.

“We’ve got two more orders then Price said we’re done for today. You take one and I take the other.” Gaz said as he hands a pizza box to Soap, who accepts it.

“Hey, Gaz?” Soap says as Gaz turns around to get into his car.

Gaz turns around at the mention of his name. “Yeah?”

“Race you, whoever delivers their order first and gets back gets twenty bucks from loser.” Soap grins, already sliding into the driver’s seat.

He could hear Gaz cry out, “HEY! NOT FAIR!” and struggling to get into his own car as Soap takes off.

Soap loved to have these little competitions with Gaz- it makes up for the boringness of the civilian life. Normally Soap would crank up the music on the radio and jam to it as he drive to the customer’s house, but Soap couldn’t help but find the address of the customer… strange, to say the least. Soap shakes his head as he pulls up to the supposed “house” the customer was in. The twenty bucks was his.

Only when Soap finally steps outside the car with the pizza in hand, did he realize something was very off with this crumbling building.. he frowns. He could feel his skin getting goosebumps but no clue why-

One thing he knew was, in the military years, he’s developed keen senses for when there’s danger. And Soap was sure that sense is telling him he’s in danger. So Soap does what every not-sane person would do, and walks towards the poor excuse of a building.

The front door was barricaded shut, so Soap had to resort to the alley-way backdoor. Who the fuck barricades their front door shut??

As Soap rounds the corner, the symbols written all around and over the door could be seen.

“The hell is this?” Soap asks.

As he approached the door, there was no mistake; those symbols weren’t just drawn onto the wall- it was embedded into it. They even faintly glow.. but Soap could feel it’s magic power. He finds himself gripping the delivery tighter.

There was no doorbell, so Soap knocks…

..no answer.

So Soap knocks again.

..still no answer.

After a few more knocks, a shout, and some waiting- Soap had enough. He wasn’t a patient man anyway. And thats how he finds himself opening the door. At first only wanting to try it, but turns out it was unlocked.

Something strange was on the other side of the doorway however, it wasn’t your typical home entrance. In fact, everything was pitch black- Soap couldn’t see a damn thing! He squints his eyes but get nothing as well. The little bit of light filtering through the alleyway never made it inside either.. and now that Soap thought about it- the windows were all boarded up too.

This is SO fucking sketchy. Soap’s brain tells him.

But Soap in the flesh only shrugs it off, he’s been in the military. Probably have seen worse than this- though, it was still eerie. Since Soap already opened the door, he steps inside the house. Except he never steps inside the house. The floor starts sinking in on him.

“What the fu-uaaAAAHH!” Soap screams as he falls through the floor. Wait.. through? What the hell??

Soap kept falling- everywhere around him pitch black. He was falling into oblivion.

So this is how I’m gonna die. Falling forever and ever into a void that’ll swallow me alive. Soap thought dramatically.

However he didn’t. He didn’t keep falling forever and ever like he anticipated- he actually meets rock bottom a short while afterwards. Surprisingly landing on the pitch black floor didn’t hurt at all.. was this magic..?

“OOF!” Nevertheless Soap lands with a THUD.

As Soap was regaining his footing, cursing to himself, he looks up and meets the eyes of a monster. If Soap was a sane man, he would’ve opened his mouth to scream- but he wasn’t. And he knew it. The monster was fucking cool. Around 6 feet- Soap guessed. Red eyes, black flames to substitute the missing body, and a skull on it’s face.

Soap was just about to speak when the monster spoke first. “Didn’t think humans can ever be this noisy..”

Quickly Soap stands up. “Oh hello. Uh.. order number-“

“Does it matter..?” The monster asks.

“Huh..? Does what matter?” Soap asks, puzzled.

“What the order is.”

“Well yea,” Soap explains, “So we know it’s you who ordered the delivery. What- trying to strike up a conversation?” Soap adds playfully.

“No..” The monster responds flatly. “Just give me my food.”

“Nuh-uh! Not so fast. Gotta pay first!” Soap chirps, extending his hand for the money.

“…” The monster finally snaps his fingers after a moment of silence. Money pops out of thin air. Soap was intrigued. “Here..” It says, handing Soap the money.

“Thanks. No tip?” Soap asks hopefully, handing the pizza over to the tall being in front of him.

“No tip.” It says sternly.

“Fine.” Soap huffs, but realized that’s probability a little too childish sounding, and settles for a, “Nah, I mean its all good. Can I get a name at least?”

“Why..”

“Oh. No particular reason. Just felt like asking- sorry.” Soap apologizes. That probably sounded a little creepy- Soap thought- to ask for a stranger’s name like that.

The monster paused for a moment before replying briefly with “Ghost.”

No further conversations. Immediately Soap felt like he was being forcefully expelled from the realm he was currently in, and coughed back up into the alleyway. The feeling of a hole being torn in the very fabric of the green plant’s reality still lingers though.

“Rude.” Soap grumbles before patting himself down, trying to get rid of any potential wrinkles in his pants or shirt.

Maybe it was the more unhinged and dangerous side of his brain telling him he wanted to see that monster again- but that was all he could think about as he drove back.

PT 1 END.

(OMG ITS FINALLY OUT. Sorry it took a while, I’m feeling better so I decide to finish this today. And uh.. yeah. Don’t mind any grammar errors. I just want to get this out and be fucking done with it. Also this story’ll be posted in parts! So I hope you like it so far and I’ll see you in part two! ❤️)

[lumilasi]

Fun fact; "Laurent" is just the way his name is translated/written for the Universal Mirror world language; in his own Sea-serpent Tongue, it is actually "La'ruenn" (pronounced la-wrenn, roughly)

The reason he uses this "universal" name instead is that typically Sea serpents only give out their 'true name' to those very closest to them, typically their own kin/family/love interests. It is more symbolic thing, as often the universal name they choose sounds very similar to their real one.

Aaanyway, bio below:

Age: ~50 (human body/biology is that of someone around their thirties)

Nicknames: Big guy (his friends) Snek-chama (Youko, a kid he and Taiga babysit sometimes) Love, Big boy (Taiga, his GF) Renn/Rue (Caelan, his baby cousin)

True serpent name: La'ruenn

Family: Cousin Caelan (Kael' yn, pronounced kai-lynn)

Friends: Roman Bosco (A Grimmhound) Sebastian Kravchenko (A wyvern), Amalia Marek (A wyvern and aunt of Sebastian) Cecil and Quinn Blackthorne (two bakenekos adopted by the said family)

Love interest: Taiga, an arctic kitsune.

A Sea serpent with troubled past, who's slowly moving forward in life Currently works as a bartender/bouncer in a local popular pub.

Personality:

Laurent is blunt, and seems like a man of few words at first glance, not really one for small talk. Many find him very intimidating, not just due to his size but his general aura of "fuck around and find out."

He tends to be a bit suspicious towards anyone new, and is very protective and cautious over his loved ones well being, to the point he might sometimes come off as overprotective, especially when he's agitated. His tendency to go overboard is due to his past trauma.

Despite his kind of intimidating appearance and vibe, he's a kindhearted person deep down, and doesn't like the fact people are easily scared of him. He tends to try his best to not appear scary especially around kids, and is actually quite good with them, being bit of a dad material even if he doesn't necessarily realize it.

When he's relaxed he's quite fun to be around, as he has a good sense of humor and knows how to laugh at himself. He's also secretly bit of a romantic, though he'd never admit that out loud to anyone. He's the guy in their friend group that everyone had a crush on at some point, except Amalia who's a lesbian.

Powers:

Hydrokinesis; ability to control water. This is easiest in human and full sea-serpent form, where he is able to be much more precise with it rather than just using brute force of flooding tides.

Shapeshifting: He can change his size in sea-serpent form, from the average 2-3 blue whales up to the size of a cruise ship. Laurent also has 2 other hybrid forms with different strengths.

Humanoid form: This form is easily strongest out of the 3 non-dragon forms, and for a brief period even stronger than the full serpent itself. He can easily crush and tear apart metal and stone, and is generally bullet- and stab-proof; he can also really create a raging storm with his hydrokinesis that's on the level of a powerful hurricane. Laurent can also choose if he manifests his tail-fin in this form or not.

Merman form: This form gives him more precise control over hydrokinesis, meaning he's capable of affecting the water inside your body. He's also super speedy swimmer like this and has extremely sharp claws.

Water breathing: Regardless of his form, Laurent can always breathe underwater

Physical strength: Laurent is physically strong even among his peers, even in human form. Even as a human he's capable of punching rocks to pieces and bend metal.

Weaknesses:

He struggles to share how he is feeling, preferring to focus on taking care of others. (He does not find sharing your woes weak like some stereotypical toxic guy, he just feels like HIS issues specifically aren't worth sharing)

He suffers from bad nightmares, sometimes waking up in the middle of the night and pacing around for a while/having bouts of insomnia.

Being used to living in more vast open spaces, Laurent has slight claustrophobia, and gets twitchy and jittery in smaller, crowded spaces. His and Taiga's apartment therefore has fairly high ceilings and not too much clutter. (Since Taiga does like things more cluttered though as a fox, she has her own special room that's full of things, including an extra bed she's covered with bunch of pillows and blankets to nest and relax in.)

His humanoid monster form is VERY strong and durable, but he can't keep it up for long in a fight, only about an hour. After that it'll start draining his life force quite fast. He can only bring it out again after a full day's rest at minimum, but often given the situations that would require bringing it out, he'll have to rest at least a week.

Fun Facts

Laurent is Bi with slight preference towards women/feminine presenting folks.

The tattoo he has was made by Jurou, and it represents his girlfriend Taiga.

He doesn't have any particular fashion/style he follows, but he tends to prefer sportier/baggier clothing, and jackets with fluff/fur collars because they remind him of Taiga. Also beanies. Mainly because Taiga's family has knitted him so many of those.

Only people who know his Serpent name/how to say it are Caelan, Taiga, and Jurou.

His humanoid monster form loses his sea-serpent ears, because that form is all about durability and physical strength, and those bigger, thinner ears are an obvious weak spot.

His full serpent form has horns, as shown by his dragon mask in merman form, instead of glowing ear tips like with Caelan.

Unlike most sea-serpents, his sounds are more akin to typical dragonic growls rather than whale-like howls. This is due to him being the rarer, Big Boi type.

He's sort of ended up as the "dad" figure of his friendship group (Roman, Sebastian, Amalia, Chouma, Max, Cecil & Quinn), because he has the tendency to be the responsible/mature one in many situations, and has leadership qualities. (Cecil in turn is the mom friend)

His closest friend out of the group are Roman and Sebastian, and Roman specifically is his best friend, given Sebastian is often busy with his rock band tours alongside Chouma and Max.

He is a hit with tiny kids wanting to ride his shoulders to see faaaar away. Especially a young chimera kid called Youko, whom he and Taiga often babysit.

He is very thankful for Jurou for helping him and his cousin out despite initially being complete strangers, and doesn't mind looking after his two younger kids whenever necessary.

While he works at a bar, Laurent doesn't drink alcohol, as he kind of had a drinking problem during his depressive, stuck-in-a-monster-form episode, where people often left him food and alcohol to "appease" his wrath. He refused to eat most of it out of spite, but did end up drinking the alcohol, which wasn't a good idea.

BG Details

His family died due to an oil-spill poisoning them, and he only managed to save his baby cousin Caelan, who had been accidentally fished out of the water by clueless fishermen shortly after the oil spill. Ironically, by removing him from the water the men actually gave him more time to be recovered, as he was removed from the poisonous environment.

Either way, Laurent managed to sniff out his whereabouts and invaded the boat in his monstrous form to rescue his only living family left. He ultimately did not hurt the fishermen, as Caelan requested him not to; the men had actually been trying to help, thinking he was just a shipwreck human child they'd managed to 'rescue' by accident as he had been in human form.

He used to live in the outskirts beach-side of Japan after bringing Caelan to Jurou. He did not initially want to move in to the mirror world, out of guilt over being unable to save rest of their family.

He was also too traumatized to go back to being a sea-serpent, but refused to use the full human form out of spite, leaving him mentally stuck in the more monstrous and draining merman form, which naturally helped driving people away from him and birthing a local legend in the area about a dangerous sea monster.

Being stuck in this form did also mean he felt very drained of energy a lot of times, but he was physically incapable of changing out of it due to mental blockade.

Things changed when he met Taiga, and helped her escape her abusive "owner" human with the help of some of the man's staff who were very fond of the kitsune and found her treatment unjust.

She convinced him to stay in the mirror world as well, and eventually managed to convince him to let go of his hate for his human shape, given it is a part of him and not inherently a bad thing just like how not all humans are inherently bad, as he saw through the staff members who were willing to help her escape. (not to mention the fishermen back then with Caelan)

[the-black-bulls]

what about Patri and William for the ask game comparing them?

Give me 2 or 3 characters and I'll compare their:

Interesting, thank you for the ask.

. Introduction - Patri's intro leveled up the story!

. Characterization - Patri is a little brat and I love him

. Backstory - Patri is a hero of his own story, he represents all elves and I love the elves sm!

. Design - Patri is the twinkest twink to ever twink in this essay I'll-

. Power - I'll give William this one but I wish his magic was utilized more

. Development - Patri Patri Patri! there's not even a competition!

. Symbolism - Both!

. Dynamics - they're both each other's best bromance but Patri has an entire package of colorful dynamics and I enjoy every single one of them!

. Dialogues - Patri, I think?

. Peaks - Patri

. Journey - also Patri

. Conclusion - Patri for now

. Personal Impact - Patri stabbed the fucking wizard king the other villains wish to be him

. Overall - William...'s Elf!

I'm sorry but patri is levels ahead in almost every single way!!

[dick-meister]

“ Interesting how creation works, is it not? “

Candlelight hummed, swishing her pale hands through a puddle of her own wax in a bowl. Soft eyes fluttered to a docile close, making a noticeable effort to manifest the image formulating in her mind,

“ To bring something to life from the palms of your own hands…a creation of sentience, love, and wonder…how truly miraculous. “

As she lifted her hands, the wax cascaded through the crevices of her nimble digits, pooling into the lake of it below like streams of water. Within her palms lay a dove she had fashioned — the heavenly wax solidifying, as if it were encased in glossy glass. The virtue then places it gently into Adam’s hands.

“ Would you like to do the honors in breaking the coating? It’s alive — just preserved right now. “

Silence. A oddity that the loud and brash First Human would be seen not making a mockery of whatever was in front of him, no comments, no vile insults… It was almost unnatural. This setting was different than his normal. Being in this room with Candlelight, being shown a miracle of given life that was shown to him time and time again as if it were some sort of lesson to be given to him.

Adam would watch with divine Amber eyes as melted wax would form a creature. A dove. The symbol of love and connection… It was placed in his palms by its gentle creator, an offering of cracking its shelled prison.

“I don’t know why you keep calling me here, Candi.” It took everything in his power not to crush the created creature in his hands. “You might find beauty in this, but you know what I see? Despair. Life is a damned curse.” Coming from the longest living human, it was a testament to what he’s been through. That comment of condemnation for life itself. How could he not detest life? His first thousand years of life was nothing but back stabbings and betrayal.

Regardless, a gloved, sharp finger would carefully run down the spine of that shelled exterior on the Dove, cracking it open and setting the bird free. “Get the fuck outta here. Flying rat.”

[comshipbracket]

Antis DNI - Block the tag "comship" if this causes discomfort.

Remember, you are voting for the ship you prefer, not the ship you find more problematic

Propaganda for both ships under the cut.

Disclaimer: All ships (other than NozoCoco) on this bracket are FOLLOWER-SUBMITTED ships, the Mods do not always hold necessary knowledge to be aware of any errors or fanonizing what should be canon material that may arise.

Stuilly Propaganda (Abusive Dynamic)

"Billy is bent on murderous revenge, and Stu is the fucked up little person who's along for the ride. Their killing spree climaxed with symbolic mutual penetration as they stab each other as part of their scheme to pin it all on the film's final girl. The way they touch each other is affectionate to the point of intimacy. When their plan is out, Stu can't keep his hands off of Billy."

HaniMori Propaganda (Cousins, Pseudo-Age Difference - There isn't one, but Haninozuka looks much younger)

"Mori will literally do anything for Honey and it’s so cute!! You see them together in almost every scene they are so close"

Stannarrator Propaganda (Codependency, Toxic Power Dynamics - In most endings)

"The Stanley Parable is a game about The Narrator wanting to tell a story through their game but having to rely on the Stanley's choices. The core of the game is that Stanley and The Narrator are bound to each other: Stanley needs The Narrator to make the "parable" he lives in, and The Narrator needs Stanley to make the choices that drive the story.

The Narrator clearly has the most power in this dynamic, since he can alter the world the Stanley lives in: modifying the rooms, creating and deleting objects at will, reloading the game, altering Stanley's perception, knowing almost everything and being almost everywhere. But, despite all that power, he isn't able to control the one thing that keeps his story existing: Stanley's choices.

Okay, spoilers to both the original 2013 game and the Ultra Deluxe remake from here on out since it's impossible to talk about them without spoiling a lot of the endings.

In one of the new endings on the Ultra Deluxe remake, the Skip Button ending, The Narrator creates a button that lets Stanley skip his dialogue `inspired` by a bad Steam review, but when Stanley clicks this button The Narrator is left all alone in that room, and which each click the skip becomes longer, from minutes, to hours, to weeks, to months… And in the fifth skip (where Stanley stays frozen for like, one, two weeks), The Narrator breaks up, talking about how he needs Stanley to listen to him and how scared he is of slipping back into the silence he passes through every time we use the skip button. In his own words, `I can't lose myself in the stretch of emptiness between you and me.` Of course, since it's the only way to advance in this ending, we skip again, and again, until The Narrator ends up eventually disappearing after the 12th or 13th skip, leaving Stanley alone in a desert, and that's where the ending stops, though it continues on the Epilogue, but I'll leave some things to add as propaganda during the polls.

Despite this, The Narrator still has more control of the situation than Stanley, like on the Explosion ending, where he traps Stanley in a room while the building's destroys itself as consequence for choosing to activate the Mind Control Machine instead of shutting it down to free everyone. He keeps acting like Stanley is nothing but a vehicle for him to pass a message through his story. `Watching you try to make sense of everything and take back the control wrested away from you…it's quite rich. I almost hate to see it go!` `You're only still playing instead of watching a cutscene because I want to watch you for every moment that you're powerless, to see you made humble. […] You wanted to control this world; that's fine. But I'm going to destroy it first, so you can't.`

But there's one point where they're equal, they both want to free themselves. On the Museum ending, we meet a being that is higher than The Narrator, the Female Narrator (yeah, that's her name), and she gives the best description of the relationship between these two: `Oh, look at these two. How they wish to destroy one another. How they wish to control one another. How they both wish to be free. Can you see? Can you see how much they need one another? No, perhaps not. Sometimes these things cannot be seen.`"