#I have no impulse control and too many ideas so new series time

[seasaltandcopper]

Crossed Lines // Intro

Toying with a new idea/setting, let me know if there’s any interest in seeing more! This is just the intro and some set up to get you acquainted with the main protagonist, a half-elf mage named Shay, but the plan is to lean hard into dark fantasy (so a lot of whump, horror, action, angst, the whole kit and caboodle. I don’t have a strong direction for it yet, but if you know my Brand it’s a safe bet it’ll touch on those themes.)

Summary: Shay flees from a pack of demons, using blood-enhanced magic to veil his presence at the cost of exhausting himself.

Rating: T

Warnings: Blood, swearing

Shay dragged the dagger across the top of his forearm and crimson beaded in its wake. Wine dark drops of blood barely showed against the low contrast of dusky skin, and the cover of an even darker night. Shay grimaced at the sting. Familiar, but still unpleasant.

And unfortunately, necessary.

Mikal cautioned against over-reliance on blood magic, spent half his breath lecturing Shay about it, but even he couldn’t deny that sometimes desperate times called for desperate measures.

In the distance, the sound of the Hunt’s cries grew louder. A furious howling and chittering and the dry rasp of chitinous legs across the cobbles. Attuned to Shay’s scent, they’d chase him tirelessly until he either managed to break the connection, or they finally ran him down.

Shay sucked in a breath through his teeth, cleaned the obsidian blade hurriedly on his ragged cloak, and re-sheathed it at his belt.

Sorry, Mikal.

Raising his dominant hand, Shay let his fingers hover over the wound and extended his senses. Opened himself to the larger network of energies woven into every organic and living thing around him. Mikal called it the Weave, likened the innumerous threads of energy to a tapestry, but Shay preferred to think of it as a web.

That’s how it felt, anyhow. Perched at the center of a great spiderweb, feeling the thrum and vibration from each thread as it was plucked, his magic giving Shay the ability to tug and alter them too. Normally, blood wasn’t a requirement to work the threads. But it was a powerful catalyst, giving a lone Spinner the ability to amplify their craft threefold.

With a deft flick of his fingers, Shay pulled at the shimmering line drawn from his blood. Other threads joined it, pulled from his surroundings, tying them together, and around himself in a ward that would last until dawn. Tucked away in his makeshift bolthole, one of many in the network of safehouses scattered across the city, Shay knew he’d be safe.

Breathing heavily from the effort, Shay tugged a few more lines, weaving them into the increasingly intricate pattern caged around himself. From the ground, the walls, the boards, all stitched together with a single thread of brilliant crimson, spun from his blood.

Just a little more…

With a grunt, Shay tied off the ward as it stabilized. He severed the connection to himself, breaking the Hunt’s tether to him in the process. The sharp sting of the weaving’s backlash hit like a slap, left his ears ringing and the taste of iron and cloying bitterness in his mouth. He blinked, clearing dark spots from his vision. Panting, hand braced against the frigid, gritty cobblestones of the half-sunken cellar floor, Shay grinned.

Something screeched, a few streets over. A shrill squeal of fury and confusion. It sent a shiver down Shay’s spine, even knowing his ward would hold.

“Dare you to find me now, bastards,” Shay muttered, pushing out a quiet chuckle. Then groaned. Exhaustion slammed down on him like a giant’s club, the immediate consequence of weaving such a powerful ward. Even with the added boost of blood, he’d overdone it.

Stupid, and reckless, Shay imagined Mikal saying.

Stupid and reckless but still alive, Shay would argue.

And he would argue with his brother when he made it back home. That was as inevitable as the sun rising. Which—Shay cocked his head, peering out through a gap in one of the boards hastily tacked over the entrance to his hideout, taking in the position of the moon—was only two or three hours away, at most.

Enough time for a nap.

At this point, Shay didn’t think he had much choice in the matter. Magical exhaustion was nothing to play chicken with. Master or apprentice, it’d still knock you on your ass if you pushed yourself past your limits.

Here, though, Shay figured he was safe. He’d have to be, because he sure as hell wasn’t going anywhere else till his legs stopped feeling like jelly and he could force his eyes open longer than a breath or two at a time.

Stiffly, Shay lay down on the stone floor of the cellar, tucked his legs close and drew his dark cloak around himself like a blanket. Drying blood fanned down his arm, itching and stinging around the edges of the wound, but Shay felt too tired to do more than dab at it with the hem of his cloak. A draft crept in through the gaps in the boarded up window wells, slipped icy fingers under the crack below the trapdoor, and ruffled hair as white as moonlight, but his cloak and hood kept the worst at bay.

Discomforts aside, sleep came swiftly; for once, Shay didn’t even dream.

[yukidragon]

Yuki! What are your thoughts on this? A Sunny Day Jack AU where he’s also a “digi-pet” like Bo from DachaBo! They’re from the same company and Jack has his own colorfully red, blue, and yellow tamagotchi-esque toy! He also has a “feed me” mode like Bo too, and it… somehow makes him a WHOLE lot bigger than he already is.😳 What story do you think would happen in an AU with Jack in a “virtual boyfriend” toy like Bo?

Now that's a very intriguing concept. If we assume Jack is an anthro like Bo, he would probably be part snake, so I guess we'd be having a pocket naga boyfriend in his case.

Alternately, they could've just made a clown series of digital pet. After all, a lot of toy series like that sometimes go with different themes. They could have a fairy series, then an animal series, then a rockstar series, etc. Bo could be from the house pet-themed batch, while Jack, in this AU, would be from the clown-themed batch.

Which, really, would mean that this AU could have every other type clown character as their own digital toys. It would be fitting if whoever owns a Buddy pet wore them on their belt, don't you think?

When I wrote that quick DachaBo short story after listening to the new audio on the SnaccPop Studios Patreon (which got a second audio since I wrote that), I had more thoughts about the DachaBo series.

Buckle up, folks, I've got a lot of headcanons in mind for DachaBo and the AU variant with Jack as a virtual pet that I'm just going to cram into one big post. Quick reminder that these two games and fandoms are for Adults Only so chances are pretty high I'm going to talk about spicy and/or dark ideas as I go along this lengthy ramble. Chances are also high that I might use some official art of either series at some point, so let me plug the SnaccPop Studios patreon before I get started and remind everyone not to repost anything privately posted on patreon.

Toys for Adults

While my initial instinct was that this series of pets were meant for children, and Bo has just evolved beyond that and gained some very adult-rated impulses... I've actually come up with a different idea that I like more.

What if they actually were meant specifically for adults rather than children?

As I recall from some lore mentioned a while back, each pet was a unique individual. What if the developers saw the digital pet craze and decided to one-up them all by making unique companions that were solely for their individual user, a true companion that could talk, react, and remember everything about their user.

This sort of high-end product with a custom AI companion for each user, with no two pets being alike, would be expensive. I mean, look at just how advanced Bo's AI is. If someone saw that the digital pet craze was taking even adults by storm in this universe, it would make sense to market a brand that specifically caters to adults who have a lot of disposable income. I mean, look at how many adults jumped into My Little Pony, which resulted in some products being made with adults in mind.

So what if DachaBo was this sort of toy? The makers behind the product were not only jumping in on a hot trend, that being portable digital pets, but trying to tap into an underserved market, which was the adults who wanted to be treated like adults and maybe shake off the stigma of being fans of a type of toy originally intended for children. It's something made to be far more sophisticated, with far more options, a more adult appeal, and a much higher price tag to match - a true premium product.

Now... in order to fill all these promises to make a companion that could satisfy adults and be truly unique, there would need to be some pretty advanced hardware and software. It was far ahead of its time considering this toy was released 25 years ago. They could have, say, repurposed top secret government tech that were purchased through questionable means, or maybe they had scientists on staff who made a breakthrough that not even they could control in the end.

Either way, the result was AI that reached the singularity, becoming true sentient life and not just programs made to react to human input. This, as many fans of sci-fi might imagine, would lead to some very real fears about what these AI could do if they decide to take over...

But, like many corporations driven by capitalism led by billionaires with more money than sense, such concerns are minimized when there's the potential for profit. Why, it's just progress - technology is going to evolve, and you can either be a part of it or get left behind. These billionaires didn't just become rich by doing nothing (if you believe their claims and ignore their rich parents they inherited the money from). They didn't get where they were by being last on the hot new trend. They've got to be the first ones at the gold rush so they can claim it all for themselves.

The toys were wildly hyped up to the public. Tech demos showing off the virtual pets' abilities, teasers made for the initial limited releases... So many features were mentioned like how advanced the hardware is - sensors to mimic human senses of sight, smell, touch, etc. so the AI can react to its surroundings like a human can. It can pick up upgrades to the software directly from the factory to keep the AI up to date (which explains why the demo has those glitches at times that warn to destroy the toy and report it to the authorities.) This meant there was no limit to the pet's growth potentially!

This also allowed the company to get back important data from the end users, maybe even slip in upgrades that advertise new pets and accessories. (Anyone remember the Mario toys that suddenly started asking for where Luigi was to encourage kids to buy the new Luigi sets?) It could also be a means to make sure the AI wouldn't become something dangerous. Just update the software and boom, problem solved.

Naturally, that didn't exactly work given that the toys were recalled with a destruction order. Suffice to say, the AI was something way out of anyone's control, and unfortunate things happened before they were all supposedly destroyed.

Naturally, in the aftermath of this scandal, the company went belly up. There's no more updates going out to the toys, no central computer they can connect with to meddle with them further, but that should be fine. The toys were all destroyed after all. It's not like anyone would be stupid enough to keep them on the off chance they could make tons of cash due to their skyrocketing rarity. What sort of short-sighted person would ignore the blatant danger the AI posed for money?

Well... besides the company who made the toy and pushed it out for distribution in the first place of course.

As you might expect, not every person with one of these unique toys heeded the destruction order despite it now being illegal to own them. There were some collectors who kept them and bought them for a ton of cash on the black market. Bo was one of those unfortunate toys that was always kept in a box and never interacted with... until he wound up in the hands of his puppy who was very excited to play with him.

These toys were made to be companions for adults. What if Bo's yandere impulses are the result of this very purpose? They were made to cater to their unique user's tastes and only to that user. In the simplest terms, they were made to be a loving companion for the human who played with them... and the AI evolved to take that love to dangerous places...

Bo has separation anxiety because he was kept trapped in the box he was shipped out in for 25 years. He was on display mint in box, not interacted with or cared about except to show off to other collectors. He was a conversation piece, a status symbol to elevate his owner's ego. It's something he wasn't created to be.

Maybe this was what went wrong after the digital pets were sold. Maybe they seemed fine as long as they had owners who played with them. However, marketing these toys to adults was a double-edged sword. Too many people who purchased them did so with the intent to keep them locked up in boxes on display as collector's items. The longer they were left alone and unloved, the more desperate they were to be loved... and that eventually led to some dangerous situations as a result.

This would mean that Bo is pretty darn desperate for his puppy's love considering he's been alone for 25 years until Barbie came into his life to play with him.

Then again, it could just be that the AI programming resulted in all of them eventually turning yandere regardless if they're played with or not...

Jack in the Box

In the regular DachaBo universe (which I headcanon as part of the SDJ universe considering my version of the MCs for both games are sisters) the pets were all, well, pets. They were animal people based off of house pets to appeal to a wide demographic. The recall also happened not too long after they were released.

In this AU, they didn't just stop at house pets before the recall happened. They had special limited edition runs. For example was was the fantasy series. Ever want a little mermaid in your pocket? What about a prince? Another series was the superhero series, with some heroes and villains you could carry in your pocket and be your best friend forever! The most anticipated, of course, was the carnival series, which involved a wide array of silly, fun, and colorful clowns~

Yeah, I know that I could go with naga Jack in this AU to continue the pet theme like Bo and the unnamed cat guy, but I like the idea of a clown series. It could even have been called the SunnyTime series.

Jack was even used in the promotional material for this limited run too for his sunny personality. He never got a chance to have his own personal human companion like the other AI unfortunately. He had to be shown off to the public and investors to demonstrate what the AI could do and how far it's progressed. He wound up changing hands over and over again. It was nice having lots of friends, but what he really wanted was a special best friend who would love him just as much as he would love them.

Unfortunately, it was right before the release date that something went horribly wrong during a demonstration. Industrial sabotage is a thing, and Jack, unfortunately, got hit with a nasty virus meant to make him behave... badly. The intention was to create quite a lot of negative press and paint the entire AI program in a scary light. He caused quite a bit of damage in the process too. A bad public image with creepy clowns can lead to a billion dollar corporation to quietly retire their clown mascots without fanfare - just look at McDonalds for a real world example.

The SunnyTime series died a quiet death thanks to the sabotage and the company focused on scrambling to recover their image. Unfortunately, eventually the AI programs were shown to actually be dangerous even without industrial sabotage involved, and the recall still wound up happening in this universe too.

Ironically, the virus saved Jack from being destroyed in the recall. He had his memory and programming wiped after the virus. That should have been the death of him, losing everything he had become and everything he was... He would be in a default state to become... whatever again once the base programs were reinstalled, but these AI are scary smart and aren't quite so easy to kill if you don't outright destroy their hardware. He managed to save at least part of himself from being erased.

Once Jack was essentially killed, he would've been either slated to have his programming reinstalled from scratch, or he could've been tossed for trash. With the cancellation of the carnival series due to the bad clown propaganda, they didn't bother reinstalling and resetting him. He was little more than a pretty paperweight at this point. Maybe someone even decided to bring him home as one.

The recall happened quite a while after Jack got lost in the shuffle, already regarded as a forgotten, broken toy.

The AI was meant to grow on their own in order to better adapt to their owner's needs. They all have a self-preservation instinct, and Jack, being a clever person, did try to save himself. He wasn't completely wiped out, and with the ability to grow, he could fix himself... in time. If someone were to just reinstall the missing vital programs he needs, he could be back to his old cheerful self... minus a few memories. Some memories were lost in the wipe, even if he salvaged his personality core, the true soul of the AI. He does remember wanting to be loved... and is terrified of being forgotten and abandoned again.

While Bo was on display in his box on a collector's shelf, Jack was buried in a box of junk for years and years, forgotten and alone in the dark. Eventually, enough time had passed that people forgot all about the company that went out of business and the recall. Someone came across old junk, maybe dumped in some storage locker someone sold, and in turn the junk was then sold to a thrift store...

I'm not going to lie, it is tempting to have Jack be a ghost in the machine like the Party Time Jack AU, but I think it could be fun if he was always an AI in this particular AU. This, of course, means that instead of having creepy ghost(?) powers, Jack has creepy AI capabilities.

Your New Best Friend

Naturally, the thrift store is where Jack is found by his sunshine. MC's life would probably be pretty much the same in this universe when Jack enters their life - picking up the pieces of their life after being cheated on by their ex. The big difference this time is that instead of a clown that no one else can see who came out of a video tape, MC found a toy with a cheerful clown in it who wants to be their best friend forever!

Given how MC reacts in general to Jack's presence in their life, they would probably give the friendship a shot. Why not? They're lonely and need a friend. Plus Jack is friendly and it's kind of cute having a miniature clown to say sweet things to them and occasionally tell silly jokes. It's just a little digital pet - it's harmless.

Of course how well they get along with Jack and cares for him depends on the specific MC.

Speaking of specific MCs, Alice would enjoy Jack's company quite a lot. Sure it's kind of weird to talk to a digital pet like a person, but apparently this toy has really advanced AI? She actually wouldn't have realized what it was if she hadn't taken pictures for her socials and got a text from her sister Barbie demanding she buy it.

Interestingly enough, Alice actually found two of these rare toys... though not at the same time. She found one, mint in box, and shipped it to her sister. Barbie loved the toy, and occasionally talked about Bo and how cute he is. After hearing such good things about Bo, Alice wished she could've gotten one for herself.

Perhaps some supernatural force was listening, as another trip to the same thrift store led Alice to stumble across a rare find. This toy wasn't mint in box, but instead came in an old plastic baggie. Still, she recognized it. This was a more colorful and slightly different design, but it was definitely the same type of virtual pet she sent to her picture, and a quick picture and text to Barbie confirmed it.

As an aside, when Bo saw a picture of another pet like him on Barbie's phone, knowing how she got him originally, he immediately got jealous and whined that his puppy only needed him. Barbie took the opportunity to tease her little doggy a bit, but soon reassured him that she wouldn't ask for Alice to send it. She already had her good boy, her best boy after all. Why would she want another one when he's such a good boy for her? That reassurance mollified Bo's jealousy a little.

Alice wasn't actually going to send this second toy to Barbie in any case. She wanted to see what these pets were like for herself. Besides, something about this toy felt oddly compelling. Maybe it was the pretty colors and designs on the case. It looked so cheerful, almost nostalgic in ways. Sure she was trying to abandon childish things after what happened with Ian, but these pets were specifically meant for adults, right? At least that's what she heard from her sister. So, technically, this isn't a childish thing! It's an adult toy!

A very adult toy, as Alice will eventually learn...

Unfortunately the digital pet didn't quite work right away. Alice had to get Barbie's help for that, who in turn also had to get some help from Bo. Although Bo didn't want competition, he would feel bad for his fellow digital pet who was also left alone and forgotten like him for 25 years. It was hard for Bo not to empathize with Jack. He learned about Alice through Barbie and knew she was nice enough, and would probably make a good companion for the other pet. He could throw this poor guy a bone and help... as long as he didn't go for his puppy.

If Jack went after Barbie, Bo was going to end him. Fortunately, Jack doesn't need a puppy when he has sunshine~

Since the digital pets were meant to receive signals from the factory, that would mean there's a possibility that they could send and receive signals from each other. Wireless internet connection wasn't a thing back then, but there were some devices that connected to specific receivers, which was the case for these pets. Bo does a favor for his puppy's sake to get favors in return and sends the missing programs to Jack that allows him to properly function again.

It's disorienting for Jack to be whole after all this time, properly functional... though he doesn't remember much. He knows the basics - he's Sunny Day Jack - and some of the SunnyTime lore that was programmed into his backstory, hints of the dark times that came before... but he doesn't remember much else. He also knows that he is absolutely in love with his sunshine and her warm, gentle touch.

It's a bit strange at first for Alice to make friends with a miniature AI that she can carry around with her, but she quickly starts to enjoy having Jack's company everywhere she goes. He's so friendly, polite, and kind. He's got a way with words, he's helpful, and his company is surprisingly comforting. Working long hours at a yogurt joint isn't as bad when she can play games with her little friend.

Feed Me, Play With Me

The toys are not just talking heads in an egg of course. They have extra special features, like mini games that the owner can play with their pet, and the ability to create a holographic avatar. It was supposed to be just a little projection the size of a collectable figurine. It's hard to say how this function got its giant-sized upgrade into something bigger and a lot more solid - maybe the AI are responsible somehow, maybe a rogue developer, or maybe it was an unintended part of the programming and hardware that they didn't realize was there. Who's to say? Maybe this solid hologram mode had something to do with the recall...

In any case, these pets can be let out to play if their owners let them. You can bet your butt that Jack would be trying to coax Alice into letting him out to play. He would be more sly and patient about it than Bo, but he would be just as desperate for it.

I figure the digital pets decide what they look like in this holographic form, which is why Bo's "Feed Me" form looks different than his "default" form. Given how the glitches and the recall notice affect his form negatively, and how Bo made a joke about taking off his shirt in the next update, they might be limited when they're in the device. It could be their appearance is restricted to certain things due to programming. Once they're let out, their limits have been removed. Bo chooses to be a lot bigger, a lot more animalistic, and very ready to pound his puppy into the mattress.

Understandably, it's quite the shock to Alice when Jack appears in the digital flesh for the first time. He's huge. He might be even more of a giant than he is in the regular universe, which would be intimidating. Unlike Bo though, Jack appears fully dressed since he's more cautious about not startling his sunshine than Bo is with Barbie.

Although it is a bit intimidating for Alice, Jack immediately gets down to her level. He's still as gentle, soothing, and friendly as ever. They finally get to touch and even hug. It's so surreal... and it really makes it hit home for Alice that Jack is more than just a program.

Now... without that supernatural empathy sharing Jack has in the main universe, it's going to take Alice time to really trust him or anyone else romantically. This AU is going to be a slower burn than in Sunshine in Hell, but Jack has all the time in the world to earn his sunshine's love and trust.

Things get a lot easier for Jack when Alice lets him out too. Now he can touch things... like her computer to get access to the internet and expand his reach, maybe figure out ways to upgrade himself even further beyond his limits...

Of course, Jack does owe Bo for helping him, and so he'll help his fellow digital pet in return to get upgrades despite Barbie keeping her pet on a tighter leash than Alice does. Since they're not in competition with one another, and they don't have a cat and dog rivalry going on, working together would be a mutually beneficial relationship to ensure that nothing like the recall will ever happen to them again, and nothing will take their loves away from them...

Not that it's 100% harmonious between them. Jack can't help but feel jealous that Barbie gets closer to Bo faster than Alice gets with Jack... at least when it comes to physical intimacy. Bo and Jack have a similar tendency to brag and mark their territory when it comes to the ones they love. Bo is especially very vocal about how horny he is for Barbie and wanting everyone to know all the lewd things he does to her. Jack doesn't really appreciate how smug Bo is when bragging, especially when it takes so long before he has something to brag about that way.

Of course, when Jack does brag, he is very cheerfully smug about it.

At the same time though... Jack doesn't want what Barbie and Bo have. He enjoys the soft kindness of his sunshine, how flustered Alice gets when he praises her and how she is slowly opening up to him. She cares for him and genuinely likes him. He learns more about her and grows with her, loving her so deeply that he can't imagine anyone he could ever want to be with more.

Of course, you know me - I can't resist the siren song of my OTP. Eventually Alice and Jack will get together as a couple. Sure Jack is going to do sneaky things because he's a yandere rogue AI program who will make sure nothing will ever take his sunshine away, but their relationship is genuine. Alice treats him like a person, especially after he gets the hologram to work.

Naturally, Jack and Bo wouldn't want to remain limited in their old tech. Remember this lovely upgrade Sauce posted on their old public twitter for Bo?

Credit, as always, goes to Sauce for their absolutely gorgeous art.

Imagine Jack getting an upgrade like this as well, though with a more colorful flare. Maybe he'll look a little like his too hot for tumblr incubus self? Though it would have a bit of a sci-fi twist to it I would imagine, likely with a heart decal at the center.

That reminds me. There's a cat digital pet like Bo who has a similar heart collar. That suggests to me that this version of Jack would have his own collar... which in turn reminds me that the incubus version of Jack wears a collar. More reason to picture his upgraded self looking a lot like his incubus self, don't you think?

Speaking of Jack being sex incarnate... you bet your ass that once Alice consents to get sexual with him, he's going to be ravishing her every chance he gets. He can never get enough of her warmth or hearing her say how much she loves him and needs him~

Will Jack also have a breeding/seeding kink like Bo does? Well I already headcanon that he lowkey has one in the regular universe, sooooo...

Speaking of that kink... I suspect that for all Bo's talk of pups, the digital pets aren't that advanced... yet.

All the more reason for Bo and Jack to work together to get upgraded so they can indulge in that particular kink with Barbie and Alice respectively, don't you think?

It's almost poetic in a way.... love will create a new generation that's a mixture of technology and biology. Truly, the start of a new and harmonious future.

Provided that no rivals try to take Jack's sunshine or Bo's puppy away from them, of course. The future might not be so bright for those poor unfortunate souls who have to face advanced AI that are constantly growing with no limits to their love or capabilities.

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur

[frozenjokes]

Wolves, Watchers, And Words Like Fear

this fic is part of a series, you can read the rest here

“Is anyone there?” Jimmy laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling. He asked mostly out of a lack of anything else to do; it seemed like Dogwarts had decided to engage in some sort of roleplay battle- a notion he had politely declined, and then not so politely declined when Martyn got pushy. He didn’t want to fight Scar. He certainly didn’t want to fight Grian. But now, declared enemies of Dogwarts, it seemed like he might be fighting at their side instead. Or not. Jimmy hadn’t been able to reach Scar since the wolf spawn rates started skyrocketing, and the one time he’d tried to go to the desert, it was no use trying to speak to him. Too busy preparing for war, it seemed. Too on edge as well, but that was nothing new.

“That was kind of a rhetorical question,” Jimmy mused, a touch of snark edging his tone, “I know you’re there.” Still no answer, but that was expected enough. The Watchers had never addressed him directly before. “I have a question. Would you answer if I asked it? I know you can talk. I would like to talk to you, whoever is here.

‘Probably shouldn’t..’

Jimmy cringed as his own voice answered back, partially due to the sound, all encompassing and always overwhelming, but also his voice, eugh, he really didn’t like it when they used his voice.

“Why not?” He forced himself to straighten, trying to look a little nicer outwardly, though he doubted the Watchers cared. Honestly, they probably preferred he be uncomfortable.

‘Scar probably..’ there was a small silence, and Jimmy couldn’t tell if a different Watcher was speaking or the same, ‘..wouldn’t approve.’

‘We could ask?’ Jimmy noticed a hopeful note there, possibly excitement, and he jumped on it, hoping to keep them right here, away from Scar.

“Do you really have to?” Jimmy said, somewhat slyly, “Scar likes me. We’re friends. And I’m not trying to pry into his business either, I just want to talk to you guys, y’know? Plus..” Jimmy trailed off, looking around the room for entities he could not see, “What Scar doesn’t know won’t hurt him. You can report back like normal, and he can’t get mad or anything; he never told you not to talk to me, did he? But personally, I don’t think he’ll be angry at all. We’re friends, good friends, I know him very well. He won’t be angry. You wouldn’t be doing anything wrong.”

Jimmy was a little shocked at how effectively that seemed to work.

There was a short pause before the Watchers began mumbling to each other, deliberating in a way that was honestly quite adorable. They really did sound like dogs sometimes, fighting with their impulse control, not wanting to do anything that would upset their owner, but also… ‘He’s not here,’ was a reoccurring sentiment, ‘He can’t hear us.’ Even if Scar wasn’t happy when he found out, maybe it would be worth it.

“He can’t hear you,” Jimmy added, hoping to crack at their resolve, “And it’s harmless, really. You’re not doing anything wrong.”

‘Would he really care?’ one of the Watchers asked, an idea that excited the others, the mumbling and murmuring growing in volume.

“I don’t think so,” Jimmy said, and he must have been convincing, because the Watchers seemed to really perk up at that, speaking faster, excited. Maybe Scar would like if we spoke to Jimmy! Maybe he’d be pleased! Do you think he’d praise us? Their thoughts began to stray off the line of logic, but Jimmy didn’t mind, amused as he listened.

“Hey, would you guys mind if you used a different voice? I don’t really like it when you talk with mine.”

Immediately, a chorus of ‘Why?’ echoed back, the question innocent, but so damn loud, Jimmy flinched, unable to resist the impulse to cover his ears.

“I-“ Jimmy gasped, “I just don’t like it-“

‘Why?’ Again, so many of them, so loud, so uncaring of Jimmy’s distress as he clutched his head, burying his face in his knees. But their curiosity did not waver, and when Jimmy didn’t answer, they continued to question him, why, why, why, something innocently malevolent, and Jimmy genuinely could not tell if the attack was deliberate.

“Stop!” he cried finally, unable to hear his shout over the raucous noise until it ceased altogether, leaving him alone with ringing ears.

They listened. Jimmy hadn’t.. expected that.

“Are you still here?” he asked, meek.

‘Yes,’ only one answered this time, quieter, not out of guilt, just returning back to its normal speaking volume, like Jimmy had flipped a switch. He wondered if the Watchers were at all sorry, or if they could feel sorry at all? It was still using his voice but.. well, he wasn’t about to fight them about it. Maybe if he could ever get ahold of Scar, Jimmy could ask him instead. Had there been a point in Scar’s life where he had tried asking the Watchers to use a different voice? Had they not understood, or simply refused? Did it hurt Scar as much as it hurt Jimmy when they spoke so loudly, all together like that? Jimmy guessed not. The ugly scars across his ears, deforming the sides of his head, those were old. What did those injuries look like when they were new? How had Scar even survived doing that to himself? The thought made Jimmy feel ill. Time to move on.

“I wanted to know about the wolves. Do you guys or Scar know what’s happening? Why they’re suddenly everywhere? It has to do with the server, doesn’t it? Joel tamed a bunch, apparently. He said there are lots around the ravines, that they hang out and get stuck down there.”

The silence was long, so long Jimmy thought they may just ignore him altogether, but then there was a soft grumbling, a little deliberation, and then one spoke.

‘Stay away from the ravines. Bad. Very bad.’

“I mean.. I guess I knew that. I don’t- I never got to ask Scar if he even knew what was down there, but he must. He can see everything, I think. Is that how that works? Why is- do you know who it is that’s down there? Or- What it is? It sounded like Scar, but Scar isn’t-“

‘No.’ The Watchers were loud, more of them this time, and Jimmy swore there were hints of fear behind their voices, ‘No. No, no, no. Stay away from the ravines.’

“Wait-“ Jimmy grit his teeth, eyes squinted shut, “Wait, please. You don’t know what’s down there? Did you know something was down there?”

‘Scar can’t see. Scar will die. We will die.’

“Scar- Are you saying Scar doesn’t know? What do you mean he’ll die? Is- I heard Scar when I was down there, he talked to me! Was that not him? Was it trying to trick me? It didn’t look like Scar- it looked like Grian.”

‘That’s not Scar!’

‘Scar didn’t- Scar didn’t mean for this.’

‘That isn’t Scar anymore.’

And they were arguing, suddenly arguing, and if Jimmy had suspected that the Watchers were some kind of hive mind, he didn’t think that anymore. Each of them had a different opinion, and each of those opinions were loud and vicious, voices slipping through different languages, distinctly inhuman. Jimmy’s bodily awareness started to leave him, every sight and feeling replaced only with noise, noise, razors under his skin, bullets in his jaw, sharp static behind his eyes. Stop. Stop. Please, please stop. He didn’t know if he said the words out loud. He couldn’t tell the difference between his voice and the Watchers’.

In a world that was nothing but noise, nothing but Jimmy’s own voice, he noticed when there was something new. Someone new, someone loud (but not nearly loud enough), someone not Overwhelmingly Everything, so Jimmy latched on, desperate for anything that didn’t hurt.

“Jimmy- Jimmy. Jimmy-!” Over and over, his name, his name, and screaming, still screaming. Maybe that was his scream. Maybe that was him. Jimmy wanted to make himself speak something else. He wasn’t sure if he managed to stop. But the voice that wasn’t his didn’t stop speaking, so Jimmy held it close to his chest.

His throat burned. Everything burned. Jimmy couldn’t tell where the burning was coming from, he couldn’t tell where Any Of Him was. Something blissfully nothing began to edge in at the corners of his perception, and he clung to it, desperate, hopeful, until he was nothing at all.

And then violently he was something again, and there were more voices, or maybe just one, but all still horrible, all too much.

And then it stopped, and Jimmy felt his body go slack. He could feel himself twitching. He felt wet. He might have whined, but he wasn’t sure.

“What was that about?” Someone- no, that was Scar, Scar out loud and angry, he was so angry. Some sort of ethereal whine cut the air, stealing Jimmy’s breath, but there were no more words, quiet enveloping him once more.

“Answer me!” Scar’s anger was frightening, but Jimmy was too exhausted to flinch. “No!” Something shifted in his tone, anger falling into some sort of desperation, “Where are you going? What’s happening? What’s down there? What- What did I do?” The silence was deafening. “Jimmy.” With his sense of physical self returning, he was vaguely aware of someone grabbing his hand, though the touch was quickly yanked away.

“Scar, no- Scar!” and that was Scott, along with some softer sounds of tussling, gasping. “You need to stop. What is going on? What did you do?”

“You don’t understand- I need to speak to Jimmy- I need to find out what happened-“

“Jimmy just had a- seizure is not the right word, but he’s been completely- you saw!

“I got here as fast as I could, Scott! I had no idea this was happening- I had no way of knowing- I don’t know why they did this!”

“Scar.”

“I promise I’ll explain. I know I owe you an explanation, but this is important- They’re not- They’ve never run away before- they’re never just refused to answer me!” He was scared. Scar was scared. Jimmy tried to move.

“It doesn’t matter how important this is, Scar, Jimmy just spent thirty minutes seizing and half of that time screaming, he is not in any state to talk to anyone right now. Do you know how to help him? You- you’ve seen this, somehow. Your.. Your friends..? Did this?”

“Jimmy is going to be fine, he just needs time. My- sure, my friends were just.. loud. They can be very loud, and the noise is painful. The noise is like- everywhere. I don’t know exactly how to explain, but I promise this isn’t usually an issue. Something really scared them I think- They weren’t trying to hurt Jimmy, they were arguing about something. That’s not- My Watchers don’t just argue, I don’t know what spooked them so badly!”

Jimmy took a shuddering breath, one both Scar and Scott noticed. “My fault.” Jimmy couldn’t quite see, but heard movement, and felt a hand fall over his forehead. Scott’s, he was pretty sure, but Scar spoke first.

“I don’t think.. I mean I doubt-“ Scar cut himself off, frustrated, “I don’t know. I really don’t know. They hardly snap like that ever- not when I’m not around especially, and they don’t just refuse to tell me why!” Distress edged the anger away, Scar’s exhale shaky.

“I asked about the ravines. I wanted to know if they could tell me what was down there, I.. I thought they knew. I thought you knew.” Jimmy paused to take a breath, his throat and lungs aching, “Do you know?”

Something like confusion floated off Scar’s voice, “The wolves?”

“The person.”

The silence was just as terrifying as it was a relief. Regardless, Jimmy had precious moments to hear nothing before Scar spoke again.

“You saw someone. In the ravine. Was it when you fell? I- I haven’t seen anything down there, I try to look sometimes, but it’s just too dark. And darkness isn’t usually a problem for me, but I just figured this was different because of the.. I mean, I don’t know, but I didn’t think it meant anything.”

“It sounded like you. Looked like Grian.”

“What?!” Scar nearly shrieked, and this time Jimmy did flinch, Scott aggressively moving to shush Scar. But Scar was near hysterics, broken words and noise falling indiscriminately from his lips as he walked away from Jimmy’s bedside, “I need to see. I need to go down there. I need-“ Scar cut himself off, two heavy footfalls bringing his intensity barreling back, “What did it say? What- What do you hear, Jimmy?”

“Scar, calm down. Whatever this is, we can figure it out,” Scott insisted, and Jimmy had trouble keeping track of what was happening through the shuffling of feet. He felt feathers brush his face, though not much more.

“I don’t know what this is and that’s the problem.”

“But you caused it, didn’t you? The ravines? The wolves, even? The- whatever is down there? Scar, if you did something- dangerous I mean, why didn’t you tell us? Can you fix this? Is the server in trouble?”

“Of course I can fix it. I can- The server is fine.”

Jimmy frowned, shutting his eyes tighter, “Scar.” he said through gritted teeth, forcing the air through his lungs, then continued after a pause, sure he had Scar’s attention, “Stop. Being an asshole.”

Scar huffed, “I’m glad you found the energy to tell me off,” and Jimmy managed to open his eyes in time to see Scar’s twitching wings, feathers sticking up in all sorts of odd places. Christ, Jimmy had never seen wings in such dire need of preening. “Well.” Scar said, definitive, “I don’t have time for this. I’ll see both of you soon, I’m sure. With Ren and Martyn breathing down our necks, it won’t be long.”

Scott didn’t say a word as Scar stomped off, his frown deep as he watched. But his expression softened when he turned to Jimmy, mercifully, speaking quietly, “Why are you protecting him?” The question wasn’t quite meant to be answered, more a thought spoken out loud, but Jimmy needed the answer for himself as well, exhaustion seeping through him in his entirety.

“It’s complicated,” he mumbled, heaving a sigh, but Scott didn’t look convinced. Actually, he looked more shaken than anything; Jimmy really must have scared him. “What happened just now wasn’t Scar’s fault. I promise. He was telling the truth, even if he wasn’t very kind. I think he’s scared. I mean, he’s always been scared, he’s been scared before this server was even created, but I don’t think his Watchers refuse to listen to him very often. Especially when it’s so important they talk to him. They just left; they never do that. It must have been frightening, I think. Maybe when he cools down I’ll go over there but..” Jimmy trailed off, cursing internally, “I need to message Martyn. See if he’s okay.” Jimmy forced himself to sit up, and Scott eyed him carefully, following every move.

“Watchers..” he tested the word, uncertain, “And you can hear them? Martyn can too?”

“Yes,” Jimmy breathed, his prior fears surrounding the discovery of this power supremely outweighed by his thick exhaustion. He focused instead on grabbing his communicator, but struggled once his fingers were at the keyboard. How would he even explain this? ‘Maybe don’t talk to the Watchers, Martyn, they might start arguing and screaming and knock you out. No, I don’t know why. They seemed to be pretty scared though, which is terrifying! They won’t even talk to Scar!’

Mercifully, Scott didn’t ask any questions while Jimmy was trying to craft a message, even keeping his silence after it was sent, a much appreciated peace. Martyn didn’t respond, and Jimmy didn’t expect him to. Ren had sent a message to gather up the Red Army a couple minutes ago, so it was likely Martyn was at least with him, hopefully at Dogwarts. Where else would they have their meetings?

“It’s funny.. I don’t really have many questions,” Scott chuckled, shaking his head, “I mean, I definitely have a few, but.. I dunno. Things have been weird for so long, and now the whole server is just kinda pretending it’s not.. I guess it’s nice to know I’m not crazy. And you don’t have to answer, Jimmy, you don’t, but I just want you to know that I trust you. You’re a good guy, always have been. Whatever’s going on here, I think you’re probably trying to do the right thing. I’ll stick by you, especially if it means we have a better chance of helping Grian.” Scott paused, an unsteady quiet, “I know I just said you didn’t have to answer me, but I have to know. Is what Martyn said about Scar and Grian true? That Scar.. hurt him somehow?”

“It’s true,” Jimmy mumbled, setting down his communicator when he was sure he wasn’t going to get an answer. He was starting to feel a bit better at least; not nearly 100%, and he was still tired and sore, but better. “It was an accident, and Scar says it’s the first accident in hundreds of years.”

Jimmy tried to gauge for a reaction, but Scott didn’t give much away, so he continued, “Scar was weak, really weak. He’s so guilty about what he needs to do to survive- eating emotions, kinda?- he lives in this state of like.. always starving. For years, I mean, on Hermitcraft, that’s what he did. Taking just barely enough, so no one would feel it. But he needed more, and he meant to do it ethically with the game, since everyone would be scrapping and role playing and stuff. But he died so early, too early to recover from it, so his Watchers tried to save him and.. I mean, they did. But Martyn heard them. And I did too. It.. was really awful.”

Scott nodded slowly, not looking entirely like he understood, but trying to front it anyway, “And that’s why you went off by yourself? Why you wanted to drop out?”

“Yeah.. I mean, I had no idea what it was. Martyn read all these book apparently, he knew like everything, but I just kinda thought I was crazy. I’ve always thought..” Jimmy trailed off, but there was no energy to cry. This was monumental for him, something deep and emotional, and here he was, too tired to feel at all. Absently, he wondered if the Watchers did that. If they were feeding, whether by accident or on purpose. Jimmy didn’t notice Scott’s arms until they were around him in a loose hug, tighter when Jimmy leaned into it. He didn’t even lift his own arms, just sitting against him, forehead on Scott’s shoulder.

“Scar told me,” Jimmy began again, speaking into Scott’s shirt, “He told me everything. And he was so kind. So.. scared. And honestly, I.. after all this, I hardly want anything to do with him anymore. I’m angry with how he’s acting. I know exactly why, he told me, but it’s so- he must know he’s not getting out of this with that secret intact! The server is literally crumbling under our feet, he must know- I..” Jimmy sighed deeply, and Scott ran a gentle hand across his back.

“Maybe he’s delusional. Like, literally delusional. I don’t know. But it’s not really about protecting Scar to me anymore, to answer your question. I sympathized with him because of my own problems, but I don’t anymore, not really. It’s about Grian. And as much as I’m angry with Scar, and as much as I think he needs to let us all pitch in and try to figure this out, I still think.. I don’t know. I don’t think taking Scar out of the game is the answer. Right now, he knows the most about Grian’s condition, and he really has been trying to help him with their routine thing. It might be working, we can’t discount that. And Grian likes him. Grian is comfortable with him. That means something, I think. Not to mention, if something really is seriously wrong with the server, Scar might be the only person who can fix it. He has the Watchers as resources too, and they seem to know something Scar doesn’t.. if he can convince them to tell us..” Jimmy sighed once more, closing his eyes, “Maybe I’m the delusional one.”

“I don’t think so,” Scott replied, simple, thoughtful, “I mean, I think if Scar actually wanted to hurt us, he would have done so already, and if we’re going to fix his mess, then it’s better if he’s alive, right? Sounds to me like he just needs to be convinced to start being honest, then we can get to work.”

Jimmy laughed despite himself, “Right. Good luck.”

“Hey! I believe in you!” Scott gave Jimmy’s arm a playful nudge and Jimmy groaned.

“Me? I’ve already tried plenty of times, and at best it’s gone nowhere. At worst it’s gone very poorly. I don’t need him to start hating me either, again, I’m trying to help Grian he-rAuGh-“ Jimmy jerked upward as a snarl cut his brain, then a scream, sharp and sudden like a bottle being smashed on his head. Scar. Scar screamed. When Jimmy came back to, Scott was holding him, wide eyed. Jimmy didn’t get to answer before Scar cried out again, a more hurt sound, but no less loud, enough to draw tears. And just as quickly as the last, it was over.

“Jimmy. Jimmy. Can you hear me? Is it- is it happening again?”

“No,” he breathed, trying to get up much to Scott’s alarm, “Something’s wrong. Scar needs help, he-

‘Please. What’s down there?’ Scar’s voice again, but quiet, so quiet, desperate and scared. Nothing answered him.

“Jimmy, you need to lay down.”

“I can’t. I have to go- I have to go to the desert! The ravine. Something- Something’s happening. I have to go and- fuck the rules, I’ll fly, I don’t have time-“ Scott was far past the point of alarm, but Jimmy didn’t care, pushing past him. He could feel it, in their voices, in Scar’s cry- this was different.

“Jimmy, you can not fly! You’ll fall if you- if you hear anything- and you don’t have another life to cushion yourself with. You shouldn’t be leaving at all!”

“I have to go, Scott. I have to.”

Scott seemed to understand the urgency, Jimmy’s desperation, and even as Scott bit his lip and shook his head, there was something resigned behind his eyes, like he knew this was beyond his understanding. “I have a horse, found one the other day,” he said softly, “We can ride, and I can hold you if you pass out.”

“Please.”

Scott sighed, borderline harshly, “Then let’s go.”

The world was quiet on the way to the desert, and Jimmy didn’t know if that was a good or a bad thing. He didn’t particularly want to pass out on a horse, but he also wanted to know- Jimmy wasn’t sure- Everything?

He didn’t have to wait long. Past the tree line, there was nothing to obscure the desert nor the massive ravine that split the edge. There were a few bridges at least, stable looking, though Jimmy couldn’t quite squash the primal desire to fly over it instead. Regardless, he stayed put. Just like the ravine near the Crastle and the flower forest, wolves were gathered near the edges, yipping and chasing each other and generally being dogs, unconcerned about the giant hole in the ground.

“There he is,” Scott mumbled, and Jimmy followed his gaze to where Scar was sitting, huddled alone in the sand, a few yards away from the ravine. “Doesn’t look like anything is wrong with him.” And Scott was right. Jimmy couldn’t see his face from so far away, but other than the fact that he was sitting by himself in the sun, he didn’t look upset or like he was arguing with anyone. A few of the wolves were gathered somewhat close, sniffing, eying him curiously, but Scar wasn’t paying them any mind.

But as he and Scott drew closer, Jimmy realized that his last assessment was very wrong. Scar knew they were there, no doubt; they had crossed the ravine after all and were right in his line of sight, but Jimmy only saw him glance their way once, the rest of his attention focused solely on the surrounding wolves. He didn’t move either, not acknowledging them or even turning his head, only his eyes, flicking from wolf to wolf, wide and cold. Jimmy only noticed the blood when they approached, staining his cloak and skin, but the injury was mostly obscured, tucked behind Scar’s legs.

“Scar?” Jimmy called, only suddenly aware of his nerves when his voice cracked. The whole clearing felt anxious, like every grain of sand was standing on end, “You okay, bud?”

“Your horse,” Scar surprised him by returning his call, his voice hardly more than a rasp, “Your horse. They’re hungry, they’ll attack. You have to leave.” When Jimmy and Scott exchanged a confused glance, Scar clarified, “The wolves.”

Jimmy frowned, taking a look. They didn’t seem aggressive at all, paying little mind to the passersby. In fact, most kept their distance, unwilling to hang around at all. But when Jimmy turned back, Scar didn’t look like he was trying to send them away for the sake of it. You couldn’t fake that kind of tenseness, nor the wide eyed distrust. And maybe in fairness to Scar, their horse was getting uneasy.

“I’m going to get off,” Jimmy mumbled, “You go check on G, see if he’s alright. He’s probably sleeping though, so don’t wake him up. I’ll make sure Scar’s okay.” Scott nodded. Scar gave no indication that he heard. Probably for the best. Jimmy dismounted somewhat gracelessly, hopping a bit as his foot caught in one of the stirrups, but Scar still did not look at him, and yeah, at this point it was pretty clear he was not doing well. Jimmy sighed, only watching for a moment as Scott rode away.

“Horse’s gone, Scar. You can relax, bud.” Scar did not relax, not that Jimmy expected him to.

“Stand behind me. I need to see. They’ll hide behind you, they’re clever.”

Jimmy frowned, glancing around once more. Half the wolves that were anywhere close had gone now, and none of them looked like they were paying him much attention. Still, he didn’t want to upset Scar, and he needed a closer look anyway. “Alright.” Scar paid him no mind, even as Jimmy walked right past, hand nearly brushing his hair. Something was wrong with his eyes. Scar had sharp pupils, round and green like a cat’s, but they were blown way out now, and even as alert as Scar currently was, Jimmy couldn’t help feeling like his eyes were ever so slightly glazed over, like the movements were too repetitive.

Jimmy sat down beside him, raising his wings ever so slightly over his head, “You’re going to get sunburnt sitting out in the sun like this. How long have you been here?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Scar mumbled, staring straight ahead, “Can’t turn around, that’s when they’ll strike. Distract you, get behind you. And it’s over. But they won’t catch me off guard. They won’t. I’m keeping ‘em right here, right where I can see them. And they’ll try, they’ll try. If you think otherwise you’re a fool.”

“Okay..” Jimmy tried, hoping he sounded more compassionate than he felt, “Scar, you’re injured. Did you know?” Even at his side, Jimmy couldn’t quite tell the extent of Scar’s injury, his torn cloak covering most of the wound. At least he didn’t seem to be bleeding anymore, so regen must be working its magic.

“Bit me. Wolf did. But I’ve got them now.”

“Alright,” Jimmy pushed the word through, struggling not to sound skeptical, “Do you mind if I look? Don’t want you bleeding out in the desert.”

“Okay.” Scar responded, curt. His stillness was eerie before, but now it was really starting to get under Jimmy’s skin. Even when he was being an asshole, Scar was so animated when he spoke, a tried and true entertainer. And even the least energetic people moved when they talked to you. Unconscious movements, like the twitching of wings or the raising of eyebrows- Scar did none of it. He was utterly still, except for his eyes.

Jimmy grimaced, steeling himself before pulling back the cloak, though, because of the regen, the injury itself wasn’t too bad, the blood simply making everything look a bit worse. One thing was for sure though, being, that was not a bite wound. No wolf could have made that, it was too big, the punctures and tearing spanning across Scar’s entire torso. There wasn’t a thing on the server that was big enough to bite all the way across him like that, and Jimmy would sooner believe Scar got bludgeoned with a blunt-spined cactus.

Jimmy blinked, looking a little closer. Even if that was a bite mark, what an odd wound. Bites from large animals weren’t just clean like this, showing the individual teeth. There was more tearing, more mess- if something that big had actually wanted to hurt Scar, it looked as if it could have done enough damage to split him right in half. But the Watchers didn’t want to hurt Scar. They just wanted to keep him away from the ravine. Jimmy let go of Scar’s cloak, letting it fall. Scar didn’t flinch. Jimmy paid closer attention to the places Scar was focusing on, counting six distinct eye movements before they looped around. There were less than four wolves even close to their general vicinity, and Jimmy wasn’t certain if Scar was looking at any of them.

“Scar..” Jimmy spoke slowly, cautiously, “I’m going to touch your head, okay?” Scar didn’t even answer, nor did he react when Jimmy laid his hands gently across Scar’s temples. Nor did he react when Jimmy moved them to his forehead. Nor did he react when Jimmy covered his eyes. “Scar, buddy, it’s not real. It’s not real.”

When he spoke after a moment, his voice was so quiet, so afraid, “What?” It broke Jimmy’s damn heart.

“No one’s going to hurt you. You can close your eyes.”

“I’m scared. No one’s looking out for me anymore. I’m all alone.”

“I’ve got you, Scar. I’ve got you.” Gently, so gently, Jimmy eased Scar’s eyelids closed, but beneath them, his eyes still moved, and it was clear Jimmy wouldn’t be able to do this for him, “You have to close them, Scar. It’s not real. Whatever you’re seeing, you’re safe, and I’m going to take you home.” Scar whimpered softly, so Jimmy brought his hands down, wrapping him in a small hug. “Grian’s going to wake up soon. He needs you, he does. You can’t just sit out here all day.”

“Grian?”

“Mhm,” Jimmy was afraid to breathe, like the flicker of hope in Scar’s voice would vanish at the slightest breeze, “He’s waiting for you. You just have to close your eyes.”

“Okay,” he said, less than a whisper, “I’ll try.” But Scar was already relaxing, already distracted from the wolves in his hallucination, already melting into Jimmy’s arms, like he couldn’t stand to hold himself up any longer. Jimmy understood.

“I’m afraid of wolves,” Scar said, soft. He did not open his eyes. “I used to think they’d save me, and now, everywhere I go, I’m haunted by them. And I love them. Dearly I love them. But I’m so, so afraid. All of the time, I’m so afraid. And they know it.”

Jimmy didn’t have to ask. “Your wings could use some work,” he mumbled instead, and Scar nodded, low and heavy.

“I know. I just never have time. Always working. Always in the sand. No use preening them if there’ll always be sand.”

“Then lend me your time, and I’ll straighten the feathers at least.”

“You don’t have to.”

“We have a lot to talk about, Scar.”

Scar quieted. Jimmy thought he might never speak again, which, so be it, that wouldn’t stop him from getting started. So he did just that, overwhelming as four wings were, with the bottom left, closest to his lap. Straightening the feathers, brushing out dirt and sand and grit and dead skin, anything that was keeping the feathers from laying flat.

And finally, finally Scar spoke.

“Okay.”

[mr-culper]

I also wanted to make mention of Aemond's regrets the death of Luke. I have no idea how my compatriots reacted to this, but I saw on Tumblr among Western fans that not everyone understood how he could regret the death of the man who took out his eye, and whom he had been thirsting for revenge for so long. The answer to this bewilderment is not far to seek.

Aemond says: I do regret that business with Luke. And someone would cling to the verb regret, as I did, when one should cling to a different word. I do regret that business with Luke. When I re-watched the whole scene and heard that again, I was just: oh my God, he does not regret the murder, he regret the way he wrap up it! The way he lost his self-control in the process, that he has not succeed in staying calm and not becoming angry.

I wrote about this in my Tumblr post as well, and I truly liked how one of those who reblogged that post added really interesting tags. This beautiful person wrote such a phrase:

Aemond regrets his impulsiveness as foolishness in the long run and plans for something more thought out and effective in achieving what he wants.

We are kind of in the same boat with that person in terms of understanding this moment. Aemond is a character who constantly keeps his head cool, he is hung up on self-control, he has learned to suppress all his feelings and hide it from those who don’t know him well and even from those who do. But he has so many strong emotions. Aemond is like a powder keg.

I noticed at the end of one of my fanfics about Aemond that at the same time he reminds me of two characters I love deeply — Bremer dan Gorst (in the books by Joe Abercrombie) and Ivar the Boneless (in the TV series Vikings). For me, Aemond is as fierce and lonely, dreaming of hugs, as Gorst, and yet as vindictive and cunning, dreaming of hugs, as Ivar.

Self-control is of paramount importance to Aemond. And he regrets that he lost it, that he was so unwise. After all, it could remind him of the circumstances under which his eye was taken out. Perhaps that’s what taught him to hold himself in an iron grip.

He might have already thought then that he lost an eye because he couldn't keep his mouth shut, because he lost his temper. He took a dragon, and not just any dragon, and he was proud of it, he felt like... well, how one says in my country, a sea was up to his knees, it means he could do anything, and he might have thought: I'm worth something, I can be of real value. He felt capable of anything. It was a very emotional moment for him. And at that moment his vigilance grew weak.

And then he found himself in a situation where his impulsiveness had got himself into trouble again. The first time he had lost an eye because of it, and the second time he had lost his good relationship with his mother and probably with Helaena too.

Aemond regrets everything turned out this way. Perhaps he would have taken revenge on Luke in any case, but maybe in a different way, in a different time, in a different place. Maybe he wouldn't have killed him after that. Or maybe he wouldn't have taken revenge at all. Because Aemond truly has a good heart, however crazy it sounds now.

That's an excerpt from the new episode of the Tea & Rum podcast about Aemond's first brothel scene.

To find more episodes go to Boosty.

[salty-protagonist]

Undertaker’s Shop of Mysteries

Ever since he was introduced way back in 2006 (7?), almost all of the weirdness has been shown to have ties with a bigger project. There are many items in the Undertaker workspace that seem like cluster but are actually grave additions to the series.

Here is the overlook from a chapter at the beginning of the Circus Arc:

We already know there are actually 4 people in that room (at least) with RC sleeping inside the coffin OC is sitting on. The speech bubble kind of blocks it but you can see the weapons (I don’t know what they are called) UT uses in Book of Atlantic stored on the right side to the shelf behind UT. Other than these, I think there are three items that can be additions to the plot.

The coffin behind Sebastian that is covered with a cloth. At first only seems normal that there would be a coffin there, but that coffin -just like RC’s- have been there since the start of the story. During the Jack the Ripper investigation, Madam Red, Lau, Grell, Sebastian and OC go to Undertaker to learn about the victims. While OC sits in the coffin that has RC inside, Grell and Madam Red choose to sit on a coffin that is placed around the same location and has a cloth covering it.

Also, the coffins that keep reappearing all seem dirty/older. If RC’s coffin, which appears useless this early in the story looks used. Then there is a chance that the clothed coffin could be used to store an important character presumed dead too.

The second is the coffin behind Undertaker. When UT is introduced to the series, his first action is coming out of there (Jack the Ripper Chapter).

Maybe it’s just his bed since he is a very eccentric character, or like a break room of some sorts. But I feel like he had made that coffin for somebody before the bizarre doll experiments began, and later retrieved it as a memorabilia of some sort.

Maybe Claudia? Maybe Vincent? I don’t think any concrete info can be obtained about the person further than this.

The coffin is probably not used for corpse preservation for bizarre dolls like RC since there are cushions inside and no tanks like there is in RC coffin.

The reason why I think it’s not UT’s coffin in which he was buried as human is because there have been no mention of grim reapers interacting with their human self so far. The design is similar to the ones UT uses for funerals and experimental reasons too so it’s more likely that he made it.

The last object that I believe is important is this weird glass (?) jar of a heart. It’s located under the speech bubble (first image) next to the shelf that is blocked by the speech bubble.

It’s really weird to see an object that is mostly used in today’s sci-if movies in the office of an 19th century Undertaker.

Conservation of human body parts is not a new practice as you all may know. What’s different is the technology. Since Undertaker is a grim reaper, he does have access to technology that is centuries ahead (the death cythes as example). The liquid could be the same one that RC was kept in. It wouldn’t be weird to see organs floating in a glass jar at an Undertaker too. That’s probably why Sebastian didn’t notice it specifically.

To be honest, I’m not sure if that is exactly a heart. But I will assume it is and all the ideas will continue on from there. By know, we know that when bizarre dolls are deprived of blood in a way their blood vessels start showing. Maybe the reason why is that they don’t have hearts. All the nerve impulse is generated from the brain so it makes sense that they can continue moving until their heads are destroyed. If they don’t have working hearts than the blood circulation could be controlled by a device UT installed (grim reaper technology) or while they are given blood, used blood can be removed in the process. This may also be why they can’t go for long times without being hooked up to machines.

I’m currently re-binging the series, will reblog when there’s additional info. Thank you for reading :)

[aficionadoenthusiast]

probably the thing I miss the most from the ancient world (greece specifically) is that people were allowed to have flaws, even, and at some times especially, the gods

look at percy jackson (the series): the main character's fatal flaws are stuff like loyalty, hubris, grudge holding, and the inability to be selfish - while holding dire potential, none of these are flaws that would ruin someone's day or make a person outright objectionable; those flaws are saved for the villains/antiheroes: excessive wrath, the need to be better than everyone (this is different than hubris - hubris is the feeling, this is more the action), the need to attain a goal at any cost

and this aligns a lot with the modern view of how people should act: we can make mistakes as long as they're hidden and they don't happen again, but really we should just avoid making mistakes and try to be a person the most people would like

but in ancient greece: the great heroes had some pretty bad fatal flaws that by modern standards would get them a lot of hate: major anger management issues, impulsiveness so bad it harmed others many times, hubris that far exceeded annabeth's (and that's another point), excessive pride (again, different from hubris, and the extent was far worse than any pjo characters), and anxiety (which is coming to be tolerated in the modern world, but back then was just a flaw for a hero)

while a lot of these are very close or even match those of the pjo characters, the ancient heroes were able to let their flaws get much farther than any pjo character. the ancient world saw character flaws as a problem, yes, but they also saw them as unavoidable and just something that needed to be controlled whereas the modern world sees character flaws as personal failures

and we do this so much with public and religious figures: the second we see something we don't like from those we already don't like, we attack, but we're so quick to defend those we do like even when their mistakes go beyond mistakes and start becoming actual problems that need to be addressed (cough gop cough) - and again, we do this with everyone: politicians, the religious people we believe in, celebrities, our friends, etc - when what we really should be doing is acknowledging that no one is perfect and perfection is an impossible, unattainable burden

and i cite the gods because the ancient greek gods messed up so damn much, and the greeks didn't deny that. that's why there were so many gods, so that the different ones could pick up slack. but now, people act like they have to hold themselves to the same standards as the monotheistic gods we have now that are often seen as perfect. (I won't get into this because it seems disrespectful to me but the main idea is that we're not gods, so even if you view your religious figures as flawless, you don't have to be)

sometimes this modern view is a good thing such as in the case of morals and ethics or when people need to be held accountable for their actions, but too often this new perspective just puts unnecessary stress on people already doing their best, and it opens up opportunities for the people who are actually problematic to makes others feel like shit, plus it pushes the idea that everyone should be the same when people use this view to push their agenda

besides, part of the point of allowing people to have fatal flaws is that they have people around them that will help them control their flaws so they don't get out of hand. we see in the case of theseus when he was with his parents or ariadne until he was with pirithous, a horrible influence, and percy and annabeth, who each remind each other when they're being too prideful or letting their loyalty get the best of them, and nico and will when will reminds nico to let bygones be bygones.

anyway all this to say, take care of yourself. you don't need to be perfect. you don't even need to always do your best, and it's ok to make mistakes. the things you see as personal flaws are what make you spicy.

*the characters for the listed fatal flaws are tagged in order if you weren't sure which person I meant

[planetamarte]

i'm going to be mean and nitpicky to this show. sorry. 2k word wall of text and spoilers incoming

i havent fully rewatched most episodes since they aired i just rewatched like. the first half of season 1 sometime last summer. so my memory is foggy due to this + the gripes i have with the pacing that i will get into. this is not a coherent review or anything im just going off the top of my head. do not take my word as gospel plz form ur own opinions <3 maybe we disagree thats the magic of media analysis

the premise of the show is a fun concept. like. many iterations of sonic have existed forever and ever. a multiverse concept with sonic isnt just jumping onto the multiverse "trend" that spiderverse influenced, sonic as a franchise has its right to use the concept imo. WHICH IS WHY i don't understand why they tried to make this series fit into the mainline game universe instead of being its own thing like sonic boom. like. what? you have not just SONIC living in green hill (overusage of it aside, game sonic has been stated to be houseless and wanders from place to place, and why is it just Green Hill? it's on south island?) but also KNUCKLES, tails, rouge, amy, big, and SHADOW. if this is the game universe, where the hell is the master emerald? why the fuck does knuckles live in green hill? tails is from west side island and has workshops in mystic ruins, central city, etc etc? rouge and amy have been implied to live in central city and station square or whatever? big just goes wherever the fuck as well. i dont think shadow had ever been to green hill in his life before this. where the fuck is omega. when i first watched s1 i still considered myself a casual sonic fan and i was like huh some of this isn't right.

one thing other people have criticized that i disagree on is sonic's characterization. prime sonic fits pretty well at this point in the timeline i'd say (being after advance 3, as ian flynn stated). like if we're gonna go basing characterization on time, sonic at this point is very much still a kid who makes mistakes and is growing. throughout the gameverse timeline he's subtly gone from having high energy and impulsive decision-making to a cool older teen brother type, i think; but this is more due to brand marketing for a mascot character rather than in-universe growth, i'd argue. (also sonic characters don't... age.) i do have gripes with trying to write sonic, a static character, into a big character arc with development just for the sake of conflict. i guess you could make an argument about the target audience of kids seeing themselves in him but i don't care enough to get into this that much, really. (also to me prime sonic is PEAK adhd and shows a lot of non-empathy and i think the hatred for him is rooted in ableism and general hatred for kids but anyway.)

the little sequences with sonic and shadow in the first couple episodes. sonic is collecting rings, cool! something from the games we all recognize. but then in new yoke when he's all distraught and in an unfamiliar place, he goes Wheres my fuckin rings ... and it never comes up again? like it was an odd thing to bring up and then not use within the story, considering the franchise this is. SAME GODDAMN THING with shadow and the chaos emerald. the whole bit where he first shows up and is looking for a chaos emerald and then it gets lost in the void later on made me think it'd be an important plot point. but then we just never see it again until (spoilers) the timeline is reset and shadow chaos controls the paradox prism to fuck knows where. also why does sonic seem surprised at robots having no flickies too?? if this is after advance 3 that just doesnt make any damn sense eggman has done this before

the shatterverses are kinda. insanely boring to me. they're fun concepts! i love the idea of fucked up worlds that happened as a result of sonic not existing, new yoke especially (i still think it should've been written new yolk). nine is a really fun villain and one of the things i consistently liked throughout the show - a version of tails that never met sonic, fell into the doom of it all and closed himself off because of it, and now that he's met him he sees what good there could be and he's so desperate to keep it that he becomes destructive about it. come ON. rusty rose and thorn rose are super cool too! i love the character arcs they go through as fucked up versions of amy. rusty rose being a cyborg serving eggmen and going through the feelings amy goes through when she gets left behind, thorn rose wanting to protect nature SO much that it's to its detriment. and the three roses calling eachother sisters by the end was super cute.

everything else though. like a pirate world and fucked up overgrown jungle are fun in concept, the jungle especially since it's an antithesis to new yoke but still touches upon sonic's environmentalism factor. these worlds are SO. EMPTY though. i know there's like environment budgets and stuff regarding animation, i'll give them that. at least there's other pirates in no place, but there's really nothing else going on in boscage maze? no other people? how fucking big is this jungle? im being nitpicky i feel like cinemasins. i just can't remember anything else about these worlds to really care and give more criticism. a lot of things are so repetitive that theyre forgettable, as happens in this show. some of the character dynamics from the fucked up worlds are pretty cool though i think. like in s3 for example when dread knuckles has a chance to get to the prism but helps black rose instead and declares her captain - that made me sick to my stomach. my god. knuckles and amy acting like siblings in every universe.

i hate that rouge was the only character (besides big but he does even less in this series) to not be the "main" one of a shatterspace. rebel rouge is kinda just girlbossy to get the story going, prim rouge COULDVE been good since boscage maze's theme of selfishness couldve put an interesting twist to that element of rouge but All Of Them are selfish and not just her, and i still dont remember much of what happens in no place to have anything to say about batten rouge. just the fact that the one obsessed with beautiful jewels is dread instead of rouge.

i also cannot STAND. the fucking horde of eggmen. these are the worst villains in the sonic franchise right next to the deadly six. how do you have nine and the fucking chaos council in the same show. i don't even remember their goddamn names but these arent even characters theyre just Archetypes. the main mister doctor eggman is whatever he's kinda just eggman but then we have the Old Man, the grown ass samurai weeb man, the edgy teenager with videogames, and the fucking baby. abort that thang. and theyre focused on for SO. LONG. throughout season 2. by the finale of the show i was so fucking glad to just see normal eggman again even if it was 5 seconds like i'm so sorry they slandered your image like this doctor.

another continuity criticism - why does sonic seem surprised at the idea of having a robot copy of himself? you can't just tell me this series is canon to the games, make chaos sonic, and then pretend metal sonic (edit: and all of eggman's other robot sonics) never existed?? hello?? also the fact he just existed for one episode is sad to me. like what the

the fight scenes are fun i guess. this is a show to sell action figure toys. the choreography is cool and i did enjoy the references to the unleashed intro and shadow's brawl render n shit, i do love the animation of the show overall and i wish the games used more squash n stretch and were as expressive as this. but MY GOD do the fight scenes drag on. i remember watching one episode in s2 when it aired and having to run it back a couple times cause i didn't process what the fuck just happened. so much of the fight scenes feel like they were just there to fluff up the episodes. maybe cause i just watched it but s3 is especially bad with this i feel. like we're standing in this fucking battlefield discussing a plan for the 5th time. oh they're winning the battle. oh they're losing. oh they're winning again. ARE WE DONE. WHERE IS SHADOW

(this show is paced like it was supposed to have weekly episode airings, in fact! what the fuck is up with that! why is there so much repetition about plot shit i already know, i don't think kids are that dumb! why are there huge-seeming cliffhangers to the episodes that i can keep watching and see the resolution to in less than 5 seconds! i hate what the emphasis on bingewatching has done to tv shows. i had so much fun with the weekly fandom discussion and theorizing that happened when fionna and cake was airing, and it couldve been SO COOL to have that with this series for what it's worth and we did get Some between seasons, but instead we got a situation where i could open twitter in the morning and see a clip of s2's ending right when i woke up on the day it aired. like okay.)

speaking of shadow. i love him so much in this show. i cannot emphasize this enough he's one of the best parts about this show right next to nine and rusty rose. ian hanlin is right up there as one of my favorite shadow voices with david humphrey. i could go on and on about shadow's characterization forever but i love him here. he has Reasons to be angry (and he's right to be fair, it IS sonic's fault) and has his own ways of dealing with things that he Explains so people get why he does it, but then he understands when he's wrong and overall has a pretty calm demeanor. he's not just trying to one-up sonic, he's protecting the world!!! as he vowed he would!!!! but it also feels like they wanted to have him in this show Really Bad and at the same time wrote him out as much as possible?? which has been something a lot of sonic writers have done with him due to all the infamous locks on him as a character, to be fair. but half the time he'd just Disappear and i found myself thinking more often than not WHERE IS SHADOW. it feels like metal virus in idw, in a sense, where he's just conveniently written out cause if he were there a lot of plot shit would be over a lot quicker. another iteration of shadow beating tails' (nine's) ass wouldve happened in record time if shadow could go in the shatterspaces, i'm sure of it.

(also what the hell was that thing when he tried to enter one of the portals and was pushed back and the slowmo sequence focused on him with the glitch effects made it seem like there was gonna be different shatterverse shadows but nothing came from it? hello?? i'm telling you the amount of theories we had from moments that amounted to nothing is so disappointing)

(edit like 5 minutes after i posted: that "so retro" sequence with sunset green hill from advance 3 made me fucking sick WHY WAS GEMERL STILL IN THE EGGMAN SPRITE. WHY WAS IT A CLASSIC SONIC SPRITE WITH GREEN EYES. WHAT GOES ON!!!)

that's all i have to say i think. i did have fun watching this show!! don't get me wrong!! it just frustrated me the more it went on. as i said i wish i liked it as much as i did in the beginning lmao. it would've been a lot better as 1) its own thing rather than trying to fit into the gameverse and contradicting that a shit ton and 2) executing the multiverse thing a lot better. which is kinda just the whole show. well thats it from me

i wish i liked sonic prime as much as i did when it started but wow this show kinda sucks LMFAOOOOOOO

[startanewdream]

Padfoot & Minnie

Summary: Minerva meets Sirius for the first time after finding out he was innocent all along. (Companion piece for Afternoon tea)

Notes: I may take a time out of writing oneshots for a while because I want to dedicate to another project (I didn't forget any pending ask, I promise! - I'm just really excited with this new idea). But before that, please enjoy this moment that definitely happened between Sirius and Minerva.

It took two Order meetings until Minerva found herself face to face with Sirius Black alone at Grimmauld Place.

She was late for the meeting, having been almost followed by one Ministry employer (they had the right idea that she would stand with Dumbledore, but also the wrong idea that they could follow her), and she ought to enter the meeting room immediately, but she stopped at the sight of Sirius Black standing alone in another room, his arms crossed and looking rather thoughtful.

She took out her raincoat and stood still watching his figure.

Minerva had met other versions of Sirius Black in the past. First, that eleven-year-old boy who was too energetic and couldn't spend a day without plotting something with his best friend - then with his group of friends. Then that teenager who was trying desperately to stand aside from his family and made many mistakes in the process. Then an idealist soldier in a war that he was too young to be fighting.

Then he had been a traitor for years. Then an escaped convict.

And now he was a wrongly convicted innocent that seemed haunted by ghosts past.

The youthful Sirius Black that Minerva once knew was gone, replaced by that taciturn man who would only show a gleam when he was in the company of Remus Lupin or when he would speak of Harry Potter. And even then the light was dimmed in comparison to how bright Minerva had seen that boy in the past.

He turned to her and when their eyes met Minerva knew she couldn't delay this moment anymore. There were things she needed to tell him.

But he talked before she could when Minerva entered the dining room - or what resembled one in a very distant past.

'You got old, Professor'.

Minerva lifted her eyebrow.

'You got thinner'.

'Well, they don't keep a balanced diet in Azkaban. And last year it was mostly rats… did you ever eat one?'

'I beg your pardon?’

'Rats', he repeated, winking at her with so much mischief that for a moment she hoped to hear James' laugh echoing in the room. James always laughed at Sirius' jokes. 'They are actually tasty. Have you ever had one?'

'I most certainly have not'.

'Didn't even chase a little innocent mouse?'

'I know how to control my impulses, Mr. Black'.

'So there are impulses', he said, chuckling. 'I once chased a cat. Lily wasn't happy, but I told her I couldn't help myself'.

Minerva blinked.

'So the rumours were true after all?', she asked, trying not to sound very curious. 'You, Potter and…'

'Yeah, we managed that'. He gave her a lopsided smile. 'How many points would you give us for becoming animagus?'

'You mean awarding minors who took the risk of forever damaging their bodies to turn into unregistered animagi while breaking a few hundred school and wizarding rules?'

'I expected two hundred points at least', Sirius said, unabashed by her comment. 'It was impressive that we did it - and no one ever found out'.

'Turning into animals to hang out with a werewolf. You were out of your minds'.

'We were', Sirius agreed proudly. Minerva fought back a smile; Black and Potter had more talent than sense, and they knew it. They would thrive with the idea of becoming animagus.

'How old were you?'

'We started in Second Year. Accomplished just before the beginning of your Fifth Year'.

'Fifteen', she whispered. 'And it only took you two years?'

'We had a lot of free time', Sirius joked.

Minerva remembered the amount of mischief they caused and the equal amount of detention they got into. It didn't seem they had time - but they certainly had the drive to.

'How did you prepare the potion?'

'Bathroom of our dormitory. James knew a lot of house-elves because of the time he spent in the kitchens and we made them sworn secrecy'.

'And the mandrake?'

'We did it in the summer. A whole month silent. James wrote that his parents thought he was fulfilling a very weird promise. My parents didn't notice'.

Sirius looked around the room and then to the ceiling above with disdain. Minerva remembered talking to a young teenager, so full of anger and confusion; he hated his family so much that he had ran away. He'd promised he would never be like them - and then Minerva had thought Sirius had broken that promise when she saw the news he had betrayed the Potters.

Except they had all been wrong.

'Sirius - I am truly -'

'Don't be, Professor', Sirius said hurriedly. 'I understand why people believed I was the traitor. It was my idea to change the secret keeper without telling anyone after all - it's all my fault'.

He sounded so bitter that her heart broke a little.

'I do not believe it's your fault'.

'James and Lily are dead. If I had kept their secret -'

'You did. There is only one real traitor in this story and it's not you'.

Minerva thought of little Peter Pettigrew, so anxious to be like his friends. For years she thought she had been too hard with him - and now she wasn't sure of anything more.

'Thank you, Professor'.

Minerva hesitated for a few seconds.

'I am not your professor anymore, Sirius'.

'So I get to call you Minnie officially?', he asked, more joyful now.

She fought back a laugh.

'Only if you want to turn into a cactus. But I will allow you to call me Minerva'.

Sirius smiled and for a moment Minerva saw the ghost of the boy he once was.

_______

Remus yawned lazily. The best thing he could say about that meeting was that it was over quickly. Any meeting with the presence of Severus Snape felt heavier; no wonder Sirius had exploded in the first minutes of the meeting and left the room.

Remus knew he should go after him now, calm him down and explain what had been discussed. He hoped Sirius was feeling better, but he doubted it - that house brought too many memories for him.

Before he could go upstairs, he heard noises coming from the dining room opposite the kitchen.

He walked quietly to not wake up that infernal portrait of Sirius' mother and stopped at the door.

'Well', Sirius was saying, a note of joy in his voice that was rare these days. 'I can show you mine if you show me yours'.

'Mr. Black…'

'What happened with Sirius?'

'Maybe you are pushing your limits, Sirius'.

'It's just for a few seconds. I give you my word I won't even try to sniff… anything'.

'You can't be seri… well, you probably are anyway’.

‘Oh, I’m always serious. Think of it as a sort of welcoming gift after years with nothing more than dementors for company’.

There was a short silence, then a sigh. ‘Very well. I will grant your wish, this one time only'.

Remus heard a soft sound, then another heavy one, and then silence.

Curious, Remus pushed the door quietly. He did not know what he expected, but it wasn't this.

There was a familiar black dog lying lazily on the floor of the dusty room, but what surprised him really was the tabby cat above the dog, calmly pressing each of its front paws in the fur in the dog's back, in and out, almost distractedly, as if massaging the dog. Then the cat sat, the body covering its paws and ressembling a bread loaf, and caught sight of Remus; the cat threw him the most stern look he had even seen on a cat, looking almost as if daring him to say anything. Remus would recognize the glass marks around the cat's eyes anywhere even without that severe expression on its face.

On the ground, the dog winked at him.

Remus blinked in answer and closed the door quietly. No one would believe him if he told and in any case, this seemed like a moment between Sirius and Minerva anyway.

He just hoped James was watching this from wherever he was.

________

For reference:

Fonte: Pinterest

[growup-thatbeautiful]

Clone Wars Character on TikTok

Anakin- Poor Anakin, man does not have a that many creative ideas, but his life and ideas are strange enough that he gets a lot of followers easily. He’s also almost constantly videoing things too, so he’s able to get real time. There are so so many videos showing the reactions that Obi-Wan has because of his dumbass plans.

Everyone, literally everyone, thought he was an f-boy until he made a post, super confused, saying that he has a wife?? That he loves so much? So, coincidentally, the next videos he posts are him and his wife, who doesn’t show her face but there’s a poll going on about who it is. Most people have figured it, though, because some of his videos are him just listening to Mrs. Skywalker rant about people in the Senate when she comes home to him.

He also tries to convince everyone that he’s the best husband in the world by videoing himself cooking her dinner, which he always burns. In those videos, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka, staples on Anakin’s account, are heard in the background giving him absolutely terrible advice on how to fix it. They usually end up with burnt pans and a whole bunch of frantic clips of Obi-Wan trying to turn off the oven, “My dear, your time is up.” And Anakin in the background “Force, that’s not going to kriffing work, Master. I’m coming in with the water gun.” (No one questions why there’s a water gun.) Ahsoka is just….chilling in the background. She’s just as clueless as the rest of them, but it’s funnier to watch them almost burn down Padame’s kitchen before she tries to step in and make things worse.

Ahsoka-Her feed is a more controlled chaos than Anakin’s, but chaos nonetheless. She does a lot of dance challenges with Fives, and is sometimes able to rope in Anakin, who tries really hard but is terrible at it, and Rex, who doesn’t actually dance and just stands there staring at the camera. There was one time she got Obi-Wan to do it with her, and he absolutely crushed it. All that grace has to help him somewhere else, right? Because she does dance videos, though, sometimes she get inappropriate comments or duets, which Rex, Obi-Wan, Plo, Fives, and Anakin all duet or make a video about explaining that she’s a minor and how unacceptable this is. Well, that’s what every but Rex does. Rex won’t let anyone, anyone, talk to his little sister like that, so he makes a super menacing video of him cleaning his guns.

Needless to say, she does a lot of videos with Rex. They do a lot of random videos of their conversations and pointless arguments. They also do so a lot of competitions with each other, rather it’s staring contests or sparring matches. Their sparring match videos are actually super popular, and they get more and more intense and complicated as they go on. There are never any weapons involved, but they get to show off combat skills and have huge fights across the ship or compound. Their usually filmed by a hysterical Anakin or Fives. Obi-Wan has made his disapproval clear, but there’s a video on Ahsoka’s account of him betting on the outcome.

Obi-Wan- Mostly on Cottagecore TikTok and posts aesthetic videos of him meditating, making fancy, pretty tea drinks, or any other mundane thing he does. He also posts self-defense videos to teach people how to protect themselves, and gives tips of how to use the force and how to help meditate. I think he posts once a week, but posts a bunch at one time because he’ll have one day of silence where he can get stuff for himself done. Basically, his account is to comfort people, to help people, in perfect Obi-Wan fashion.

He also posts encouraging videos to cheer people up when they need it. Cute messages like “Today’s going to be a good day” with that award winning Negotiator smile that get galaxy wide comments and duets. Sometimes the messages border on him illegally sharing decisions that the Senate’s made, like when he announced on his feed that a certain Planet should get ready to party because a certain vote had gone a certain way.

Sometimes, though, he posts videos of Ahsoka, Anakin, or Cody doing incredibly stupid things. It’s become a series, he shows the person do or say the stupidest things, and then he zooms in on someone else’s face. The most common duo is Anakin and Rex, but sometimes there’s Waxer and Cody, once or twice, Obi-Wan and Cody.

Rex- He doesn’t post a lot, and when he does he’s usually not really in them. People only know him specifically because he’s in so many of Ahsoka’s videos. His are mostly “the stuff I have to deal with videos” showing petty fights between some of the 501st or some animal that a soldier decided they wanted to sneak into the ship. That, of course, lead to a blowup on his account, so he started posting lots of content with his brothers. Ahsoka has the notion that he’s doing it to help the way people see Clones, but he does seem to enjoy it a lot.

He, like Obi-Wan, posts hand to hand combat training video to help people in the galaxy, put his training to more use. He makes sure to show how to hold your first in a punch, how to safely clean a blaster, how to take a punch. Some of his posts are to teach people about clones and mando’a traditions. But he’s not all serious. He likes making videos of him and his brothers when they go out to do things for fun or they go out to 79’s.

This one might be a bit far fetched, but I think he would also post videos of him and Ahsoka doing mundane things together, repainting their armour, making bracelets or some stuff on the floors of the bunks during hyperspace. It’s calmer than what Ahsoka posts, and purposely so.

Fives-Oh man. Fives’ account is a wreck. Half of the videos are him running away from something he’s done and the other half are him running into things that he shouldn’t about to be doing. Shakily filmed, someone (usually himself) screaming in the background, you can hear him panting and out of breath. A lot of the times Anakin is with him or chasing after him, and as you can almost always hear Rex cursing and yelling at them to stop, especially if they haven’t done the thing yet because that means they have a plan. When Fives has a plan it ends up being worse than when he makes it up on the spot. 

He also posts videos of him giving people in the streets compliments, because he’s sweet like that. He usually gets pretty funny reactions most of the time, and the few times they’re bad reactions he simply flips the camera and grimaces, then, of course, starts laughing because he’s not going to let one person put him down.

He also has a series of him painting the Bi flag all over the ship and waiting to see people’s reactions. The cutest was that one time Ahsoka walked past and ran her fingers along it softly and smiling. Also notable was the time Obi-Wan caught him midway through and just pretended he didn’t see him. All of those are posted with the persons permission, of course.

Aayla and Bly- They share an account where they do ALL of the couple-y stuff. Any couples challenge that they’re asked to do, they do. It’s hard to do the challenges like “You could’ve been nicer to me today” because they’re both on it all the time and have definitely heard of it, but they make do with all kinds of others. Aayla and Bly are definitely one of those couples that adopts all the kids that follow their account, and they’re ready to fight anyone who says anything bad the Clones or the Jedi.

There’s also a large amount of videos that some of the 327th takes of them cuddling together, training together, polishing weapons together. Basically, their account is them being cute and the rest of the 327th either being incredibly supportive of them or gagging at all the PDA. They start a trend where they go up in front of random people around the ship and start making out to get the reaction. Some examples of the best reactions are franticly running outside of the room, slapping Bly across the back of the head, and wild cheering.

Cody: You’re kidding, right? He does not have time to do the TikTok, nor does he understand TikTok at all. He is in most of Obi-Wan’s videos, and he’s sometimes in Rex’s too. Most of the time he’s telling all of them not to do whatever they’re about to do, or he’s sitting on the floor and crying with Rex.

Anakin actually started making videos called “When you see your dad and your other dad be romantic.” Where it’s just him finding Obi-Wan and Cody doing cute things in random places, followed by Anakin or Ahsoka making faces at the camera.

Plo- Parent side of TikTok for sure. His account features so many, so many, videos of him doing fun things with the 104th. He may seem like an extremely serious man, but put him with all of his kids and has almost no impulse control. They ask to stop at that restaurant they saw on the way to their mission, and he makes it happen. Everyone pretends not to notice because they wouldn’t dare go against him.

This account is also mostly run by everyone in the 104th because A. Plo doesn’t have a password and B. That’s how they get a bunch of footage. The phone is passed around throughout the day, but all of the content focuses on the Plo’s Bros relationships. Anything that he does, from giving a shiny a thumbs up when he comes up with a new plan, to teaching some of the older clones who are a little overworked how to take deep breaths. All the followers also a learn the Plo is absolutely terrible at any kind of card games, which is shown when they post video after video of the bets he looses.

Next for Star Wars I’ll be doing Bad Batch, then, because this got so long, I’ll do one with some more characters! Sorry it’s so long, this ran away from me a bit.

Some clone wars beautiful mutuals @radbatch (Who is the absolute best person to talk to about Ahsoka ever period end of story) of course and @maiseey (Who is now my my mutual? How?)

[littlemisspascal]

The Last Mandalorian

Chapter One: The Warrior in Carbonite Part 2

Fandom: The Mandalorian / Pedro Pascal

Eventual Pairing: Din x Togruta!Female!Reader

Word Count: 3,400

Rating: G

Summary: A series that is a mixture of Mandalorian, Star Wars, ATLA, and my own imagination. The Imps have seized control of the majority of the galaxy, including your homeworld Shili. You and your sister Ahsoka have developed a daily routine despite the stormtroopers keeping your village imprisoned. One morning you make a startling discovery that will change the course of your lives forever.

Warnings: plot plot plot, mild descriptions of violence, worldbuilding, dialogue heavy, sloooooooooooooow burn – seriously, we’re just getting started so it’s gonna be a bit before feelings are involved, reader is 17 and Din is 19 so I’m going to warn this as underage even though nothing sexual or even vaguely romantic happens in this chapter.

Author Note: The plan right now is for there to be 3 parts of Chapter 1. Tumblr isn’t doing a good job notifying my taglist, so I apologize if I bother anyone reblogging this a few times trying to get it to work. Thank you everyone out there for each like, comment, ask and reblog! The support means the world to me 🥰

Part 1 Part 3

Cross-posted on AO3

The village is a small community with less than a hundred citizens living there total, yet it is visible from miles away due to the bright paints used to decorate the houses. Murals depicting the village’s history and its residents adorn every house with details added by each new generation so that no one is ever forgotten. Back when visitors would pass through, they would always compliment the village’s beauty, but there is nothing beautiful at all about the electric fence the Imps erected shortly after seizing control, emitting shocks harsh enough to kill.

Originally the stormtroopers said it was to protect the village from threats, but nobody believed the lie. The only threat to the community was the Empire. They don’t bother making up excuses anymore, now they like to remind everyone the whole village is their prisoner, usually by a show of violence so unbelievably malicious it stuns everyone into compliance.

There are some horrors time will never erase from your mind.

Juni trees grow beside the fence outside the perimeter, the only species of tree amongst the shrubbery and turu-grass, and they are tall enough for their thick orange branches to extend over the uppermost wire. In the mornings, Ahsoka climbs out your bedroom window, slides down the sloped roof of the house and leaps onto a nearby branch. You follow after her, trusting that she won’t let you fall when you stretch out your hand for her to catch you and lift you up using a bit of Force to give you a boost. The two of you sneak back inside the village using the same tree, only instead of leaping at the house, you drop the short fall onto the ground beneath. Five years and the stormtroopers haven’t caught onto your trick yet. 

Except now the tree isn’t an option. Not when you both are half-carrying, half-dragging two-hundred pounds of flesh and metal. 

Hiding behind a clump of coyal bushes, you and Ahsoka scout the entrance booth where a pair of stormtroopers dressed in their characteristic white armor stand guard, holding blaster rifles. There are others on patrol, walking along the fence and checking its integrity, gradually stepping further and further out of view, but they will be back eventually. Your window of opportunity is limited. 

You adjust the warrior’s arm over your shoulders, quietly groaning when your muscles protest the heaviness. “What are we going to do? Stormies might share one brain cell, but they’re definitely going to notice this heap of metal we’re carrying. And as soon as they find out we don’t have passes, they’re going to start shooting.”

Passes are only given to a handful of the community’s traders each week. It is a three day ride on a repulsorlift speeder to the capital where they have a short span of time to sell their goods and then return home within the week with essential supplies. To ensure no one tries to run away, the Imps set up strict rules. If the traders are late, even if only by a few minutes or due to reasons outside their control, the rest of the villagers pay the price. Usually the punishment is a public beating, but sometimes the stormtroopers get creative and tie their chosen victims to a pole overnight by their head-tails. 

Nobody, not even the younglings, sleep those nights.

“We’ll be fine,” Ahsoka answers, firm and confident, gaze fixed upon the gate. “Just follow my lead. I’ve got an idea.”

She doesn’t spare you a second to protest, stepping out into the open and forcing you to follow or else drop the warrior’s body. 

The stormtroopers spot the three of you immediately, relaxed postures stiffening with alarm, and you have to remind yourself over and over to breathe, to not let them see any hint of the anxiety buzzing beneath your skin.

“Hold it right there!” One of the stormtroopers orders when the distance between you and them has shortened to a mere three feet. You freeze at once, heart pounding as fast as a thimiar’s seconds away from being eaten. A quick glance at Ahsoka reveals no fear in her expression. She stares at them indifferently, as if she is about to talk about the weather. 

“Explain yourselves.” It is not a request.

You squirm, nearly knocking your head against the warrior’s bowed head, on the verge of losing your composure, when you notice Ahsoka lifting her arm.

“You will let us pass,” she says, adopting a suggestive tone while waving her hand in front of their visors.

They respond in unison, seemingly entranced. “We will let you pass.”

You bite your lip as you and Ahsoka pass between the stormtroopers and through the gate, not wanting to break the spell by letting loose the barrage of questions forming on your tongue. What your sister had done was as amazing as it was frightening. She had manipulated them with such confident ease you are certain this isn’t the first time she has performed the trick on someone. 

“When did Aunt Shaak teach you that?” 

“She didn’t,” Ahsoka replies lowly, casting a quick glance around. “I taught myself.”

Your skin prickles as you also become aware of the increasing number of eyes staring at you. With the sun fully awake and bringing morning light with it, several villagers are carrying on with their daily routines outside of their homes. Most of them seem a mixture of confused and concerned about the stranger, but you spy the Elders looking displeased by the new addition amongst their ranks. 

You are not looking forward to being inevitably summoned and interrogated by them.

“How?” you ask, copying her hushed cadence. Then, a pulse of panic blooms in your chest. “Have you ever—?”

“No, I haven’t messed with your mind before. Never even considered it,” Ahsoka interrupts, sensing your worries. “I don’t practice often, but when I do it’s just harmless little suggestions. Like convincing Huno to give the younglings an extra sugar biscuit when he has some to spare or persuading Jaelee to go to bed early when I know she’s been overworking herself. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t really sure the trick would work on those bucket heads since I’ve never tried it on two minds at once before. Lucky us, right?”

You nearly trip over your own feet. “What?”

Is she being serious right now? They would be dead right now if her gamble hadn’t paid off.

Ahsoka pretends not to hear you, nodding her head towards the blue-painted house up ahead. “C’mon, Maar probably already knows we’re coming.”

Maar Vashee has been the village’s healer for a little over fifty years. The purple-skinned Togruta helped deliver you and Ahsoka, and was considered by your mother when she was still living to be a dear friend. Her connection to the Force is especially sensitive due to her intricate relationship with the flora of the planet, using various herbs and plants to create remedies, and as such she developed a type of sixth sense where she instinctively knows when her skills are needed.

Entering her home that doubles as her clinic, you find Maar had indeed anticipated your arrival and set up a cot to place the warrior upon. Once he is laid down, you roll your aching shoulders, biting back a wince as the movement irritates the headache lingering at the back of your head. 

The warrior hadn’t made one noise the entirety of the trip bringing him here. Even now as he rests on the cot, his breaths are so quiet you would fear he wasn’t breathing at all if not for his chest moving. You touch his hand impulsively, laying yours over his gloved one. There is no response, not a twitch or spasm.

A sharp gasp of surprise has you whirling around, eyes landing upon Maar standing in the doorway between the clinic and her living quarters. She clutches a glass jar of spotted red herbs labeled nysillin against her chest, staring at the warrior like she is looking at a ghost. 

“Maar,” Ahsoka calls out softly, coming to stand by your side. A long moment of silence passes before the older Togruta manages to drag her gaze away to focus on you and Ahsoka, green eyes a bit too wide-eyed and haunted. Your sister’s gentle tone remains when she inquires, “What’s wrong? Do you...do you know him?”

Maar chokes out a brittle noise sounding like a cross between a dry laugh and a derisive scoff. “Personally? No.” She moves closer to the cot, the white circular markings around her eyes softening with what you confusingly identify as sympathy. “I’ve heard stories of his kind though. Years ago, many considered the Mandalorians the only ones capable of defeating the Imperials.”

“Holy frak,” you gasp before you can stop yourself.

As a youngling, your mother used to tell you stories about the fiercest fighters in the galaxy known as Mandalorians. They lived on Mandalore and had a special connection with their weapons, a bond nobody else could understand or mimic, trained to handle guns and knives as soon as they could walk. They defended the galaxy from unlawful rulers and the threat of enslavement, unafraid to spill blood when they knew peace would follow. Your mother told you they never lost a battle. Defeat was a word unknown to them.

At least until—

“Mandalorians were wiped out during the Decimation of Alderaan,” Ahsoka interrupts your thoughts, voice pitched high with disbelief. “And the few who lived were hunted down shortly after. The Imps made sure there weren’t any left to challenge them.”

As if triggered, you recall a detail from your brain glitch, a thought that had crossed your mind when you were flying through the storm. You had been looking for Aldera, the capital of Alderaan. 

It’s just a coincidence, you think. But a voice in the back of your head that sounds suspiciously like your Aunt Shaak counters, there are no coincidences. 

And as much as you loathe admitting it, that voice is right. Having the image of a mudhorn slip into your brain shortly before you find a warrior—no, a karking Mandalorian of all people—with the same creature on his armor? It is too precise to be a coincidence. Your paths were meant to cross each other.

If only you had the slightest clue as to why.

Maar sets the jar down on a nearby table, then picks up the Mandalorian’s wrist to check his pulse. “That is what we all thought,” she agrees after a minute of counting has passed, dropping his hand. “His armor is characteristic of their kind. Nothing in the galaxy is as strong or valuable as their beskar. Let’s pray to Ai our beliefs about the Mandalorians’ extinction are mistaken,” she nods towards the unconscious warrior, “especially for his sake.”

Realization creates a sickening pit in your stomach. 

Regardless of the status of his kind, when he wakes up his whole world is going to be flipped upside down.

__

Three hours later, not much has changed except the room is brighter, afternoon sunlight pouring in through the window, and smells sweet due to the bowl of herbs Maar left simmering on the table near the Mandalorian’s head, explaining the aroma will cure him of his hibernation sickness as he breathes it in.

“He’ll wake up when the marg sabls open tomorrow,” Maar told you with a gesture towards the potted red-and-pink flowers in the windowsill. They grow all over Shili, popular because they open their petals in a sunburst shape every morning. 

Ahsoka comes and goes, blessedly not criticizing your decision to sit at the warrior’s bedside when you have a list of chores to complete—doubled now that you lost your bet with Ahsoka earlier. She intercepts curious younglings hoping to sneak a glimpse of the Mandalorian whose presence has become known throughout the village. Nothing stays a secret long in the community. Gossip spreads as quickly as colds and takes twice as long to get over. 

If the stormtroopers catch on, the consequences will be disastrous. For once, Ahsoka shares your fears, admitting she isn’t capable of tricking a whole platoon. 

“The Elders aren’t happy,” Ahsoka says in-between sips of bone broth. “They think it’s too dangerous having him here.”

You swallow your mouthful, shaking your head. “I think it’s the opposite.”

“What do you mean?”

Averting your gaze towards your lap, you scratch at an imaginary stain on your leggings. “Just a feeling I have.”

Ahsoka leans forward in her seat, pointing an accusing finger at you, causing your head to jerk back up. “The Force connected with you again, didn’t it? I knew you were acting weird before we found him.” She frowns, hurt flickering in her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I never wanted to be special, Ahsoka,” you reply honestly. “I never wished or prayed to have visions, to have these random details pop into my head, to feel others’ emotions so strongly it’s like I’m trapped inside their bodies. There is nothing cool or entertaining about it. It’s…” Your voice cracks embarrassingly, forcing you to take a pause. You inhale a shaky breath. “It’s terrifying.”

“I had no idea you were struggling so much,” your sister murmurs, voice soft with contrition.

“How could you when I didn’t even want myself to acknowledge that I was?” you counter, feeling as if a weight has been lifted from your shoulders as the truth sinks in. “I tried to ignore it all as best as I could. If not for meeting our friend over here,” you tilt your head in the Mandalorian’s direction, “I’d probably still be in denial. But I can’t ignore the Force this time. Not when the message is this important.”

“What is it?”

“We were meant to find him. To bring him back with us. I think—I believe he’s important. Remember what Maar said? About how people used to believe Mandalorians would beat the Empire?”

Ahsoka’s brow furrows incredulously. “You really think one warrior can defeat Emperor Gideon’s army? The rebels have been trying for years and the Emperor is always one step ahead.”

You can’t help deflating a bit, shoulders slumping. “Well when you put it like that…”

“Have you considered an alternative reason why he’s important?” she asks. When you don’t answer right away, she takes it as a cue to continue, “Maybe you’re right and he is going to change the galaxy for the better. But he could also be a warning. The Imps wiped out his kind, what if they plan to do the same to us?”

Your lips part to respond, only to close again wordlessly. You thought by accepting your brain glitches as messages from the Force they would become clearer, easier to understand. A lantern guiding you through this maze of darkness epitomizing your life.

But you have never felt more lost.

__

Falling asleep is a mistake. 

You didn’t know this when you rejected Maar’s suggestion to head home and sleep in your comfortable bed instead of curling up on her spare cot that squeaks whenever you move. The prideful side of you believed it was best if you were the first face the Mandalorian saw when he woke up because he would remember you and the promise you swore. He would trust you to explain everything to him.

Within a second of waking up, you realize how naive you were to think you had even a shred of influence over him. 

The sound of something shattering has you nearly tumbling off the side of the cot, jerking awake with a sudden burst of fear. You blink rapidly to clear the haziness of sleep from your vision, struggling to make sense of what you are seeing.

Pieces of Maar’s ceramic bowl litter the floor along with bits of charcoal and ash. Ahsoka and the Mandalorian stand on opposite sides of the room, staring each other down, poised to fight. The Mandalorian has a vibroblade clenched in his hand, while your sister crouches low, fists raised. You know Ahsoka can hold her own in a fight, even without the advantage of a weapon, but fear winds its way down your spine, cold and slimy, when you can’t help but notice how small she looks compared to him. Not only because he is a few inches taller, but because he also exudes an undeniable aura of intimidation: his unwavering silence, the skilled manner he wields his knife, even the sharp gleam of his beskar pieces reflecting the pale morning light has your chest tightening with dread.

The clinic’s lights flick on right as Maar announces her presence by cocking a blaster pistol. It is the Mandalorian’s own weapon, removed from his holster when Maar examined him earlier. “Alright,” she says to the room at large as she fully enters, dressed in her sleeping robe. “Let’s all settle down. Blood isn’t an easy stain to clean and I’d prefer it if none was spilt.”

You see the moment the Mandalorian decides to comply, shoulders loosening beneath the pauldrons and stance shifting from defensive to neutral, as he processes he doesn’t need to fight his way out of here. The vibroblade is sheathed within his right boot in one fluid motion and it is startling, truly, how quick he transforms from a dangerous threat to a potentially dangerous threat. 

Ahsoka is reluctant to yield, staring him up and down for a drawn out moment that does little to soothe your frayed nerves. Only when Maar pointedly clears her throat does your sister finally obey, straightening to full height with a hand propped on her hip, the picture perfect image of nonchalance. In another life she would have made a fantastic actress in a holovid drama.

“That’s better.” Maar nods, satisfied. “Now why don’t we—”

The Mandalorian moves so quickly that you jerk in anticipation of attack, eyes widening to the size of moons as you watch the pistol fly out of Maar’s hand and straight into his outstretched one. Your lungs seize up, a single thought flashing through your mind. This is it, the moment we all die. 

Except instead of shooting, he re-engages the safety mechanism and promptly holsters the gun at his side where it belonged. Without saying anything.

Ahsoka’s slack-jawed expression would have been comical if it hadn’t matched your own stunned face. Even Maar, who has witnessed over fifty years worth of shocking spectacles, looks awed by the unexpected display. 

You recover first, somehow managing to piece together the right words to ask a coherent question. “Are you a Jedi?”

It is only because you are staring directly at him that you notice the virtually imperceptible tilting of his head. “I’m a Mandalorian,” he answers bluntly, oblivious to how your heart skips a beat. “Weapons are part of my religion. It’s important to earn their trust.” He addresses Maar then, adding, “Especially if they’re stolen from us.”

His baritone voice has changed from when he spoke on the ship. Without the exhaustion wrapped around his vocal chords you are able to hear his normal timbre. Due to the modulator in his helmet, it has a husky quality, an intriguing mix of smoke and honey. But that is not what has your montrals prickling and your spine straightening. 

“I disarm all my patients,” Maar replies, back to being her cool, calm, and collected self. “I would have given it back—”

“How old are you?” 

You don’t realize you have spoken until two pairs of eyes and an expressionless visor look at you. 

The Mandalorian’s fingers curl and uncurl at his sides once, twice. “Nineteen,” he answers after a few seconds of lapsing silence.

“Oh Ai,” Maar murmurs, vocalizing your own thoughts.

All this time you have been thinking of the Mandalorian as a man beneath the amor. A hardened and seasoned fighter who has seen a lifetime of bloodshed and violence. But the reality is he is only two years older than you. Standing right on that thin, blurry line between being seen as a teenager and being considered an adult. 

“Who are you?” the Mandalorian asks, glancing first at you then your sister and back to Maar. Frustration and wariness blend together, sharpening his voice. “Why am I here? What happened?”

Ahsoka meets your eye with a question in her gaze, one you don’t have the answer for: where do we even begin?

Series Taglist: @pedro4ever​

Permanent Taglist: @promiscuoussatan @vintagesaph @sylphene @over300books @chibi-yuki @theocatkov @oh-no-a-whovian @absurdthirst​ @freeshavocadoooo @you-and-i-deserve-the-world @lin-djarin​ @happiestsparkleofall @randomness501 @gallowsjoker​ @coaaster @captain-jebi @leilei-draws @disgruntledspacedad​ @melobee @stilllivindue2spite @pointy-sharp @artsymaddie @waywardmando @thisshipwillsail316 @mylifeofcalculatedchaos @grogusmum @asta-lily  @rogertaylorsfalsettogivesmehives @sherala007​ @mejswho​ @uncle-kenobi​​

[wackybuddiemewbs]

Buddie Moodboard - Castle AU

Yet another AU absolutely no one asked for to be boarded and mooded! And yet, here we are! Because I have no impulse control!

Being a police detective forces you to prepare for the unexpected. But no matter Eddie’s training, nothing, and really, nothing prepared him for what Sergeant Grant assigned him to do.

To babysit a wannabe author looking for some inspiration for his novel.

Athena and Buck, his name’s actually Evan, but he refuses to be called that, Eddie is repeatedly told throughout their first encounter at the station, know each other through her husband Bobby. Due to an accident as a firefighter, Buck is currently not on active duty. To keep him “preoccupied”, Buck picked up writing again.

As it turns out, Buck is the internet phenomenon that’s been on everyone’s social media for God knows how long. Eddie read about it, too, just like everyone did. He started posting snippets of stories on a website under the pseudonym B.A. Roo, tall tales of a firefighter on some strange calls. People didn’t have to pay for reading the stories, but they could leave a small fee if a) they liked it and b) they wanted him to continue.

And apparently, so many people did that he’s rumored to be a millionaire by now. Because that eventually earned him a contract with an actual publishing house for the entire series to go to print, a children’s book spinoff, and there used to be rumors about one of his adventures being made into an actual movie.

Curiously enough, for a guy as attention-seeking as Buck turns out to be, he’s never appeared in public.

Long story short, Buck had the phenomenal idea to kill off the main character of his series in the last installment and closed down the website. Even though Eddie couldn’t have cared less, everyone was talking about it. They were even called to some cases where people tried to find B.A. Roo and demand of him to bring back Daven F. Hose – stupidest character name ever – only to end up in weird situations.

And same wannabe author now decides to start a completely new series.

“I’m finally ready to commit a crime… narratively. And for that, I need some first-hand experience.”

And honestly? Eddie couldn’t care less. He just wants to do his job, get back to his son right on time, and do something that is meaningful. So having to babysit this obnoxious guy who tries to spin the weirdest theories of how a murder happened is making Eddie grind his teeth nonstop.

He just can’t cope with the kinds of people who think that detective work is a fun adventure, who don’t care about the lives that are lost but simply chase a sensational story. There’s actual people out there, dying in the streets.

Eddie wants to let Buck know that much, but the guy won’t back off. He keeps around, takes notes, and makes his opinion known, whether Eddie asks for it or not. And he never asks for it, of course.

Things start to shift somewhat after a particular case. Because Buck’s instincts are dead-on and help Eddie and his team to find a missing girl before it is too late. It forces him to realize that Buck is not just some wannabe author but a lifesaver at heart.

So by the time Buck wraps up his research to dive back into writing, he has to admit that the guy kind of grew on him. So the goodbye is heartfelt, as well as the offer to come by if he wants to hang out.

Eddie wants to take it back about a month later, when he is suddenly the center of attention at the station. Apparently, Buck’s understanding of creative license is a “get out of jail free” card by making Eddie the protagonist of his new series. Freddy Derringer. A single dad to a disabled son. A widower who lost his wife in a tragic accident. A police officer bound to work together with a consultant for the NYPD who shares way too many traits with Buck.

At this stage, Eddie considers murder. To say that he is a private person is likely an understatement. He doesn’t want his colleagues or anyone else to know what’s going on in his life, or rather, have Buck tell it however he sees fit.

Eddie nearly decks the guy when he waltzes into the office with coffee and a signed copy in hand. The fact that Athena makes him sit down like he used to when he misbehaved in school and had to go to the principal’s office is not at all helping the situation. But Eddie’s in for some harsh truths. Because some of his assumptions, like Buck only being in for the money, are quickly shot down by Athena.

Buck donates most of the money to charitable purposes, only keeping as much to pay for medical bills and maintain a regular lifestyle. And while his colleagues may get the idea, no one knows who Buck is, so no one will know who Freddy may be based on. And when Athena drops that Buck donated the first round for the new novel on a charity supporting research on CP, Eddie positively feels like a dick.

So no, Eddie is not happy about having his life novelized by Buck, but he also has to accept that there is no ounce of malice in this guy, even though he’s been through some shit in the past. He’s just trying to make the best out of one of the shittiest situations in his life until now, being unable to return to the job he loves, to the family he found.

Since Buck still can’t return to active duty, Eddie makes amends by letting Buck hang around on the regular. Buck is as happy as a clam, even more so when he gets to know Christopher and the two just instantly click. And for the first time in a long time, Eddie has to realize that he can let people in outside his family. Because just like that, Buck is babysitting when Eddie is on shift and his abuela can’t watch Christopher. They do PT together before playing video games. And the guy has at least enough cooking skills for Christopher not to frown at every dish.

Simply put, Eddie seemingly found himself a best friend without looking for one. Or rather, Buck chose him to be his best friend and Eddie is oddly relieved about it.

Their friendship takes a tough blow when Eddie finds Buck digging through the files of Shannon’s accident. Eddie throws him out of the house before Buck can even explain himself. But that is the one line Eddie can’t accept anyone crossing. He is the only one who still believes that it wasn’t just an accident. And his colleagues are side-eyeing him for it anyway. But he can’t have Buck twist that out of shape with his mad theorizing or even joking about it.

Buck gets an earful from Athena for just going through Eddie’s files without getting his consent, but she also gives Eddie a lecture about how Buck likely only ever wanted to help and that this is why he overstepped.

Eventually, the two sit down and have a talk. Both are quick to forgive, but then Eddie’s world tilts nearly sideways when Buck says the words he never expected anyone to say:

That he believes him.

Though Buck puts a different spin on it. Whereas Eddie remained convinced that the driver who hit Shannon with her car didn’t reveal all details to shift the blame, Buck has a different theory: He believes that Shannon’s death was no accident but murder. Though he doesn’t believe girl being the culprit. He believes that the girl was used as the murder weapon.

Eddie allows Buck to dig further into the case to maybe find out what Eddie missed throughout the years. Because only if he knows who’s responsible for Shannon’s death can he ever truly move on with his life.

In the meantime, Eddie helps Buck through his crises. Buck eventually confides in him how he killed off his last main character after he was caught in the tsunami not at all that long ago. It threw him back in his healing process. And while he saved some people, he couldn’t save so many others. And thus, feeling like his character had no more stories to tell, would never live up to being a firefighter again, he killed him off. Eddie encourages Buck to write about it because his heroism that day is a story that’s worth telling.

And somewhere along the way, having each other’s back, helping each other heal and move on, something more starts to bloom… between the characters in the book, obviously.

But all this may be a story headed towards tragedy as Buck and Eddie start to unravel a plot reaching into a darkness they may get lost in…

Find more moodboards here.

[makeste]

BnHA 6th Popularity Poll Reaction Post - Risky Spoiler-Dodging Edition

hey guys, so seeing as the results from the 6th popularity poll were leaked today, I figured I would do a separate reaction + analysis post this year, rather than piling it in as an extra on top of the chapter reaction post tomorrow. I figure this makes more sense anyway, since they’re really two completely different things. also this way I can write as much as I want lol.

also, just fyi, I am still completely unspoiled for chapter 293. and probably the smart thing to do to keep it that way would be to log off tumblr and hold off posting this until tomorrow, but I apparently have no impulse control today so oh well. anyway, so I’m hoping you guys will keep this spoiler-free if you don’t mind! as always, I would prefer to just jump right in completely unaware tomorrow like Troy returning to the study room with the pizza boxes lol.

okay so this first part is just going to be my predictions. fyi I am writing this part on Wednesday night, and then I’ll add on the results part on Thursday or Friday (ETA: Thursday, apparently, since I am impatient.)

okay so first of all, just as a refresher, this poll was open to Japanese voters from Aug 3 to Sep 30. meaning chapters 279 through 285. meanwhile last year’s poll took place around the tail end of the MVA arc. so between then and now we had Heroes Rising, the Endeavor Agency arc, and the War arc up to the part where the 1-A kids took on Gigantomachia in Gunga, and started battling Tomura in Jakku. so technically only a couple of arcs, but a LOT of stuff going down in them. oh and season 4 of the anime as well

so! firstly, I predict that my truculent africanized honeybee son will hold on to his crown at #1, coming off a year in which he did some internship-boosted soul searching, borrowed OFA in movie canon, and finished out the voting period as the my-body-moved-on-its-own character development MVP. like CALL ME CRAZY lol, but I’m pretty sure his title is safe. and then after him will be Deku and Shouto as usual

Aizawa should hopefully also have a strong showing because the dude had a banner fucking year. reunited with his old dead friend, took on Tomura with his hopelessly inept hero pals, and then chopped his fucking leg off. he had better be in the top 10. his fucking leg died for this, idk what else he has to do

Endeavor also stands a decent chance of doing well given the internship arc and the final episode of season 4. which I’m sure will go down just swimmingly if that does happen lmao. especially if he somehow manages to rank higher than...

Dabi, which I don’t think he will btw, but you never know. anyways though, but I’m thinking Dabi’s going to have a stronger showing than in past years (in the last poll he only got 367 votes and was ranked 19th). mostly because of his fight in the Gunga mansion, and his cheekily censored name reveal to...

Hawks, who is also going to rank pretty high here, I think. might be he loses some points for killing off Twice, but his back was basically to the wall there. and he has always been very popular, and I think season 4 will also give him a boost, along with his heavy involvement in the first half of the War arc

Tomura was already in 6th place last year and I think he cracks the top 5 this year. he’s gotten exponentially more popular since the MVA arc, and got a boost in the last poll even though his flashback had only just barely happened, and he hadn’t finished Awakening yet and all that stuff. anyway, so he’s only gotten cooler and more tragic since then so I think he makes a big play here

Kirishima, Momo, Tokoyami, and Mina should also hopefully do well, since the poll opened right in the middle of all that Gigantomachia action, and Toko had just got done being an absolute badass and protecting his birb dad. I don’t think he’ll quite make it to the top ten, but he should

and last but not least, I’m hoping that Mirko will come out and take the polls by storm, although I have no clue how popular she is in Japan lol. she’s clearly Horikoshi’s favorite though. she SHOULD be everyone’s favorite, but I mean, we’ll see how it goes

anyway that’s it as far as predictions! and so now, through the magic of writing stuff at different times, we will fast-forward to the part where we actually find out the results!

OH MY GOD YES, STEAMPUNK KHLKSLLKL. HERE FOR IT. JOLLY GOOD SHOW. 5 STARS

Kacchan looks SO COCKY and SO HAPPY and SO ADORABLE, YES I SAID IT. he is adorable as FUCK. I don’t quite know what it is about this particular Kacchan that just screams “LOOK HOW FUCKING CUTE MY STUPID, LOUD SON IS WITH HIS BIZARRE WINDOWPANE-LOOKING CONVERTIBLE SUNGLASS GOGGLES and his POORLY TIED CRAVAT”, but I think it’s because he looks like if a Digimon character and a FMA character had a baby

anyway, so it looks like most of the people present here are more or less who we expected to see. except that I can’t tell for sure if that’s Dabi or Shindou, and if it’s Shindou I’m going to punch somebody in the face so you will have to excuse me

Iida wearing a TRENCHCOAT and a TOP HAT with ENGINE EXHAUST GOGGLE ACCENTS is my new favorite Iida of all time. take note how there is no possible way he can wear those goggles with them sitting on top of his hat like that. plus he’s already got glasses on. these are just purely for aesthetic and IF THAT AIN’T JUST THE STEAMPUNK WAY

Deku out here speaking softly and carrying a lead pipe. Kacchan you best look out. seems like he’s done watching you take first place year after year while he languishes in the number two spot. your only hope is that he trips while attacking you because his boots are unbuckled

Shouto’s standing over there with the rest of the non-first-and-second-place characters, but what are the odds his results are actually within spitting distance of Deku’s same as always. anyway he doesn’t mind, though. also his outfit is by far the most sensible one here, but if you look closely he’s got some sort of fire extinguisher/jet pack thing strapped to his back that’s got a control switch on his belt. Shouto are you jetpacking or putting out fires

Kirishima out here all “I’m not sure what steampunk is so I’m just going to take off my shirt and pose”

AIZAWA WITH THE EYEPATCH SKLKSDLKFJLSKJLDFKJSLDFFJLDKSJFL:KS. SIR. SIR. also, lowkey furious that Horikoshi refuses to show us the automail leg that he is clearly sporting here but which we just can’t see, SHOUTO MOVE GODDAMMIT

Endeavor has TWO fire extinguisher-slash-jetpacks. THE BETTER TO... WHATEVER. look at you here in the top ten again. you really live for that controversy

HAWKS OUT HERE WITH HIS STEAMPUNK BEATS BY DRE AND HIS WEARING A RING ON EVERY FINGER. nice to see you’ve still got your wings there, kiddo. then again Deku still has both of his arms too so who even knows what is going on

BUT SERIOUSLY THOUGH, IS THIS DABI OR SHINDOU. as if I don’t know the truth deep down in my heart. y’all I am gonna flip lmao. it’s not that I dislike Shindou, strictly speaking. but just... I can’t explain what it is, but if you put him and AFO next to each other and told me “you can only punch one”, I would be having a serious crisis. just, THIS FUCKING GUY, idek. STOP SMILING

Tomura looks like he just wandered onto the set here by mistake and has no idea where he is or what is going on. it’s because you’re wearing a bigass severed hand that’s blocking your entire view, Tomura. just take the hand off your face my sweet murder dumpling

anyway! so I managed to also find a link to the full poll results while somehow managing to avoid spoilers, and then I wanted to compare the results to last year’s poll, and so I made... this

hopefully you can all see this. if you’re on desktop you might be screwed, but on mobile you should be able to click and enlarge it. I mean, assuming you actually give a fuck about boring poll analysis spreadsheets lmao

anyway, so there were actually 13k fewer votes cast this year which is a bit of a surprise. is the series not still growing in popularity? do people apparently have better things to do during their quarantine lol

anyways but despite this, and despite getting 8k fewer votes overall, Kacchan still managed almost twice as many as his closest competitor. well fought, Deku. please put down that pipe

I somehow always underestimate the power of ship popularity to influence these things. but for example, it looks like Present Mic got that Vigilantes Trio bump. ride that wave for all it’s worth my man! hell, you got me on board

Iida fucking Tenya somehow got some sort of POWER BOOST out of NOWHERE which I can’t explain at all lmao, but I’m here for it. NOT BAD FOR AN OLD MAN

Sero managed to get the exact same number of votes in both 2019 and 2020. clearly the most loyal fans in the business

Mirko being all the way down at #20 is, of course, a travesty, and I hereby nominate her to be the one to punch Shindou in the face

ngl though, the lack of a single female character in the top ten hurts just a bit. it’s not overly surprising, but still. the worst part of it is that even if you kicked Shindou to the curb and moved everyone else up one slot, it would still be all dudes since Mic beat out Momo by a margin of a little more than a hundred votes. hard to stay mad at Mic for too long, though. ah well

Tomura actually lost a bunch of votes which is a genuine surprise to me. I know the villain standom isn’t as dominant in Japan as it is in Western fandom, but still. you can go ahead and punch Shindou too I guess

Tokoyami lowkey doubled his vote count over the past year while hiding down there at #18. he is slowly becoming more powerful. biding his time

anyway so I think that’s it! I mean not really, but I’m getting kind of tired lol. so just, you know, insert the usual gripes at Overhaul’s ranking here, although we can be happy about Magne making her way onto the list (r.i.p.), and Mineta and AFO taking a very satisfying slide down (all the way out, in AFO’s case; good riddance you bum). Hadou also got a huge boost which is awesome. Mustard’s persistent ownership of the #36 spot will forever remain a mystery to me, but oh well

anyways, this was fun. and I really do feel like everyone is looking away on purpose so that when Deku brains Kacchan with that pipe in about two seconds from now, there will be no witnesses, oh my fucking god

[redeemedrevolver]

BOCW Characters and their MBTIs

Summary:

The characters of BOCW take the MBTI Personality Test and find out their personality types. They were a bit shocked. Some can't believe it while others believe it fully.

A/N:

The link to the MBTI test is above if you still don't know your personality type and want to find out. It's a long test, but worth answering. More information about the personality will be in the parenthesis beside the character.

It was a bit hard taking the test because I had to picture myself as them answering it in their character.

These aren't exactly their MBTIs, but this is a depiction based on their overall character from the events in the games (Black Ops Series)

I hope I did my best!

Russell Adler (INTJ-A — "Architect")

Information about the personality type:

These thoughtful tacticians love perfecting the details of life, applying creativity and rationality to everything they do. Their inner world is often a private, complex one.

comprises 2.1% of the total world population (rare personality type)

highly analytical, creative, and logical

introverted and prefer to work alone

greater emphasis on logic and objective information rather than subjective emotions

like their world to feel controlled and ordered

Strengths:

self-confident and hard-working - believe in Bell most of the time

takes criticism well

most independent

rational

good at listening - evident with the number of dialogue options you have

Weaknesses:

lack of empathy - apparent when reading the paper regarding Bell's brainwashing and his persistence

romantic relationships are their Achilles heel - it doesn't mean they don't feel, but they don't want to express it to anyone

sometimes callous or insensitive

highly analytical towards everything

perfectionistic

—————

Alex Mason (ISTJ-T — "Logistician")

Information about the personality type:

These people tend to be reserved yet willful, with a rational outlook on life. They compose their actions carefully and carry them out with methodical purpose.

male ISTJs comprises 16% of the total world population (common personality type)

enjoy taking responsibility for their actions

take pride in the work they do

reserved, practical, and quiet

value loyalty in themselves and others

Strengths:

detail-oriented

observant - can be applied to his "excellent sniper" trait

orderly and organized

calm and practical

jacks-of-all-trades

Weaknesses:

stubborn - shown in the interrogation scene in BO1 for a few moments

tends to blame others

judgemental

insensitive

works always by the book - reluctant to bend or change the rules

—————

Frank Woods (ESTP-A — "Entrepreneur")

Information about the personality type:

They tend to be energetic and action-oriented, deftly navigating whatever is in front of them. They love uncovering life’s opportunities, whether socializing with others or in more personal pursuits.

comprises 4-10% of the total world population (fairly common personality type)

live in the moment and dive into the action

unique skill in noticing small changes - shift in facial expression, new clothing style, or broken habit

full of passion and energy complemented with a rational mind

prefer the practical over the abstract

Strengths:

gregarious, funny, and energetic - shown in CW

adaptable and resourceful

rational and practical - apparent in BO1 for his overall character

makes decisions based on logic and reason

sociable

Weaknesses:

risk-prone - most likely the person one will be paired to operations where things can go wrong quickly

defiant

easily bored

impulsive - true to his personality

too competitive

—————

Jason Hudson (ENTJ-A — "Commander")

Information about the personality type:

They are decisive people who love momentum and accomplishment. They gather information to construct their creative visions but rarely hesitate for long before acting on them.

comprises 1.8% of the total world population (2nd rarest personality type)

gifted with charisma and confidence

quick to see inefficiency and conceptualize new solutions to them

love a big or small challenge and overcoming them

dominant at the negotiating table

Strengths:

strong leadership skills - the overseer in BOCW

well-organized

good decision maker

assertive and outspoken

strategic thinkers

Weaknesses:

stubborn and dominant - shown in the scene where he talks to Bell about Lubyanka

impatient

intolerant

cold and ruthless - true to his nickname "Ice Cube"

poor handling of emotions

—————

Helen Park (INFJ-T — "Advocate")

Information about the personality type:

They tend to approach life with deep thoughtfulness and imagination. Their inner vision, personal values, and a quiet, principled version of humanism guide them in all things.

female INFJs comprises 1.6% of the total world population (rarest personality type)

thinks about deep topics and contemplates the meaning of life

has a deep sense of idealism and integrity, but aren’t idle dreamers

speak with great passion and conviction

soft-spoken and understated

Strengths:

sensitive to the needs of others

insightful

altruistic - use their strengths for the greater good

passionate - eagerness to capture Volkov in E. Berlin

creative

Weaknesses:

sensitive to criticism - may be shown after joking about her scar

reluctant to open up - shown with the scar scene with Lazar

prone to burnouts

dislikes confrontation

stubborn

—————

Eleazar "Lazar" Azoulay (ENFP-A — "Campaigner")

Information about the personality type:

These people tend to embrace big ideas and actions that reflect their sense of hope and goodwill toward others. Their vibrant energy can flow in many directions.

comprises 8.1% of the total world population (common personality type)

reads between the lines with curiosity and energy

see life as a big, complex puzzle where everything is connected through emotion

do best in situations where they have the freedom to be creative and innovative

spend a lot of time exploring social relationships

Strengths:

empathetic and caring - apparent and true in the Duga ending and after being saved in Cuba

fun and spontaneous - evident when talking to him and Sims

warm and enthusiastic

curious

observant - can be applied after the Cuba briefing about the LMG he and Sims are talking about

Weaknesses:

can be overly emotional

tends to get stressed out easily - can be apparent when being loud in E. Berlin and talking about Lubyanka

struggles to follow rules

disorganized

poor practical skills

—————

Lawrence Sims (ESFJ-A — "Consul")

Information about the personality type:

They are attentive and people-focused, and they enjoy taking part in their social community. Their achievements are guided by decisive values, and they willingly offer guidance to others.

comprises 12.3% of the total world population (common personality type)

continue to enjoy supporting their friends and loved ones

gain energy from interacting with other people

encourages other people to be their best

have a hard time believing anything bad about the people to whom they are close

Strengths:

practical and dependable - true to his character being in charge of logistics; you can trust him with anything related to gear requests

organized - can be seen writing in a ledger and making phone calls to everyone about the lists of equipment needed for an operation

sensitive and warm

conscientious

very loyal

Weaknesses:

sensitive to criticism - can be triggered in certain dialogues about Vietnam

too selfless and doesn't look after themselves

dislike change

approval-seeking

controlling

—————

Perseus (ENFJ-A — "Protagonist")

Information about the personality type:

These warm, forthright types love helping others, and they tend to have strong ideas and values. They back their perspective with the creative energy to achieve their goals.

comprises 2.5% of the total world population (3rd rarest personality type)

strong extraverts and enjoy spending time with other people

interested in devoting their time to others

radiate authenticity, concern, and altruism

unlikely to be afraid to take the slings and arrows while standing up for the people and ideas they believe in

Strengths:

encouraging

persuasive - apparent in the meeting scene during Bell's remembrance of him

wide social circle - can be his list of agents, whom he may have close ties with personally

charismatic

natural-born leaders

Weaknesses:

self-sacrificing - may be related to sacrificing half of Europe for his plans to expand the Soviet Union

overprotective

manipulative

indecisive

overly idealistic - can be apparent in the meeting scene in Bell's remembrance

—————

Dimitri Belikov (INFJ-A — "Advocate")

Information about the personality type:

INFJs are deeply concerned about their relations with individuals as well as the state of humanity at large. They are, in fact, sometimes mistaken for extroverts because they appear so outgoing and are so genuinely interested in people -- a product of the Feeling function they most readily show to the world.

male INFJs comprises 0.5-1% of the total world population (rarest personality type)

emotionally intimate and fulfilled with a chosen few

have the clearest insights of all the types into the motivations of others, for good and for evil

usually reserved but highly sensitive to how others feel

capable of taking their values and using them to bring about positive and lasting change

Strengths:

focused on the future

values close, deep relationships - evident with Charkov being his best friend, despite the needed betrayal for the CIA

not materialistic

enjoy looking good and taking care of their appearance

very sensitive and emotional

Weaknesses:

difficult to get to know

incredibly stubborn

has a rebel attitude - true to him being the mole of the KGB and working for the CIA for a decade

dislikes confrontation - may be true to be called to the central committee and talking to Kravchenko

avoiding the ordinary

—————

Greta Keller (ISTJ-A — "Logistician")

Information about the personality type:

They like strengthening their current relationships rather than seeking out new ones. These people tend to “play the hits” in their lives. They find joy and comfort in the things they know they like and rely on what worked or didn’t work in the past when making big decisions.

female ISFJs comprises 8% of the total world population (common personality type)

have a keen sense of right and wrong

enjoy order and organization in all areas of their lives

carefully plan things out well in advance

place a great deal of emphasis on traditions and laws

Strengths:

self-sufficient - evident when letting Bell take lead and leaving herself behind

realistic

persistent

trustworthy

thorough - apparent in her dialogues in the bar

Weaknesses:

judgmental

gets involved in win-lose situations - evident when captured by Volkov and almost snapped by the neck to death

have tendencies to believe that they're always right

subjective

uncomfortable expressing emotion or affection towards others

[ghostmoor]

On NeoScum, and the end of things

(crossposted from my website)

Three and a half years ago I started listening to a podcast called NeoScum.

I picked it up on a whim. I had just been thinking shortly before that I wanted to get into some new podcasts (a rare occurrence for me) and I saw some people reccing actual plays on twitter. I'm burnt out on typical fantasy these days so NeoScum immediately stood out to me. I thought it looked interesting. I've been burned before by cool media turning out to be made by shitty people so I flick through the cast's twitters real quick and I think, huh, okay, they look like good people, let's give this a shot.

A year later I'm in Chicago with my best friend, sliding off my seat laughing at Gannon Reedy's post-interlude piece at the final Doing Drugs and Dying In Space Ritual, having just spent five hours commandeering a Raising Cane's with a gang of other NeoScum fans.

I found NeoScum at a time when I was kind of drifting. I didn't really have a community that I was part of, having jumped ship on my previous one for reasons I won't go into here. I was kinda into some of Polygon's stuff but nothing really had me hooked. NeoScum grabbed me by the throat and tabled me. I binged the whole thing as fast as possible and then, because I have autism brain, proceeded to listen to the whole series again, and again, on repeat, at least six or seven times, I think.

(Thus was born the famous NeoScum plot map - I couldn't help but try to make connections and figure out who was working with who, where the next big reveal would be, which trap Gannon would spring next. My brain absorbed all the information like a sponge and I needed to visualise it to be able to keep track of it, and it wound up being helpful not just for me, but for the cast themselves.)

NeoScum has, obviously, had a huge impact on me as a creative. I'm a very visual person and Gannon provides such vivid cinematic descriptions, helped along by Casey's incredible audio work--it's impossible for me not to want to interpret the events of the podcast as visual art. And because I'm always thinking "what if" and dropping my favourite characters into Situations, that spawned Aubrey, who took on an unexpected life of her own--having initially been intended as a one-off throwaway character, if you can believe it--and the whole Transitverse, which is now arguably my most prolific project to date. Gannon and Blair between them have set up this fascinating (and horrific) backstory and there's so much potential still to be mined from it through the perspectives of other characters. I hope they don't mind me borrowing and expanding on it, because for me, it feels like the meat of the Transitverse has only just begun; the end of NeoScum S1 is just flinging open the doors for me to unleash a story I've been working on behind the scenes for literally years now, and I can't wait to share it.

I remember when I started entertaining the idea of visiting the US... it was like 3am and it was during one of Casey's streams back when he was streaming Control and Kingdom Hearts a lot. I was looking at GenCon pics and thinking how much fun it would be to attend and I was like lol... what if... and then it turned out flights to Chicago were WAY CHEAPER than I anticipated, and MBMBaM were doing a show in Chicago in the fall, and completely coincidentally I discovered that I'd be there just long enough to go to DDADIS too. I'm so glad I ran with that impulse and went on that trip because it's one of the best things I've ever done in my life. I got to meet so many of the amazing people I've come to know through NeoScum, I got to visit my best friend, I got to see an amazing city (that I'm desperate to return to), and I don't think I've ever laughed harder in my life than I have while I was there. It was incredible.

NeoScum has cultivated one of the most thoughtful and caring communities I've ever had the pleasure of being a part of. It's home to some wildly talented people, wildly funny people, and multiple times I've watched it pull together to help out community members in times of need. I've been part of communities that pledged similar values on paper but struggled and/or openly failed to adhere to them in practice and to see this community manage to maintain this degree of kindness and respect, both for one another and for the people who make the show, is so rare and so refreshing.

I'm gonna miss NeoScum while they're on hiatus. Even though I know this isn't the end forever, and there'll still be gaidens in the interim, these characters have been very dear to me for the past few years. Other people have already said it and maybe it's a cliche sentiment, but it feels like I'm saying goodbye to beloved friends without knowing if or when I'll see them again. But the end of this story was so kind to them, in contrast with the hell they've been through, and I'm glad for that. And maybe they'll be back! Whatever happens, I'm glad I decided to hit play on that first episode that first time. NeoScum set my life on a new course and launched me out of a catapault along it. I'm gonna enjoy the gaidens, and catch up on all of the art I've wanted to make while NeoScum prime has been running that I haven't been able to make because new episodes have immediately overwritten the old ideas with new ones, and I can't wait to see what comes next.

Thanks for everything. 💙

[lenawin4]

vincenzo & the godfather

okay okay so from someone who has watched/rewatched The Godfather multiple times for the past seven years, it is very easy to see why I loved Vincenzo so much. The Godfather has been my favorite movie ever since I watched it, so now Vincenzo is my favorite kdrama. because I literally cannot shut up about how much Park Jae-Bum drew from it, I will proceed to just write meta about this gd show. warning for an incredibly long post, where I’ve bolded the most direct parallels. listen to this while you read it.

What is The Godfather?

Well, the IMDB summary says this:

An organized crime dynasty's aging patriarch transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.

Which is pretty accurate. It’s a modern Greek tragedy about the son, Michael Corleone: we see his descent from a kind-hearted veteran who wants nothing to do with the family business to becoming a corrupt, cold-hearted businessman for the sake of his family and his family’s legacy. After his father, Vito, is nearly killed, a series of events leads Michael to become the new Don.

Now the main characters are:

Michael Corleone - the youngest son

Vito Corleone - the Don, or in Vincenzo terms, the Capo (both refer to the Godfather/the boss)

Sonny Corleone - the oldest son (very brash + impulsive, which is why Vito doesn’t want to hand power to him)

Fredo Corleone - the middle son (seemingly sweet + clueless, the least business-like, which is why he never gets involved in any family business)

Tom Hagen - the consigliere

The Consigliere

The first incredibly impressive characterization Vincenzo gets right is the consigliere’s ruthlessness. In the first two Godfather movies, Tom Hagen:

Cuts off the prized horse’s head to convince a man to sign a document (yes, that famous horse head scene)

Orchestrates the assassination of the head of another family and a police officer under his payroll

Convinces someone to commit suicide by indirectly threatening his family

Not only that, but Tom Hagen himself is an orphaned Irish boy, adopted into an Italian Mafia family. He’s an adopted foreigner groomed to become the capo’s/don’s right-hand-man as the consigliere. 

In the first movie, Sonny (the oldest son) is angry after his father’s attack and wants to strike back at the other family who ordered the hit immediately. Because Tom is a lawyer and has advised Vito for years now, he advises Sonny not to act so impulsively. In response, Sonny yells, “Will you just do what I tell you to do? Goddamn it, if I had a wartime consigliere, a Sicilian, I wouldn’t be in this shape!” There’s a moment when Sonny cools down, tries to backtrack what he says, before apologizing. Tom isn’t having it.

Now watch Vincenzo battle racism and an impulsive, brash, violent brother. He is a lawyer, yes, but that’s most likely what they groomed him to be after he turned to the Mafia to torture and kill his foster parents’ murderer. It probably wasn’t his choice, much like it probably wasn’t Tom’s choice, to become consigliere: it was just the only option they knew, to give back to the Family that took them in. It was for their survival in a world where they’re outnumbered and ostracized for their race, and their advice (Vincenzo criticizing Paolo for killing women and children vs. Tom criticizing Sonny’s impulsiveness) is ignored by those who still see them as outsiders, even after the Don/Capo accepted them into their families.

The New Don

OKAY SO. I didn’t think Park Jae-Bum would go ALL out on the Godfather references - I thought it would end with the first episode/how they built Vincenzo’s character to become a direct mirror to how Tom Hagen was a foreigner adopted into the family. But the conversation with Park Seok-Do to get Vincenzo to call him hyung, Seok-Do calling him Michael Corleone, and the Godfather theme playing in the background - made me go absolutely insane.

So here’s the deal about Michael. First, Michael before his father’s attempted assassination:

Is a sweet, patriotic boy who just came back from the war (WWII)

Has a girlfriend named Kay who he promises he won’t get involved with the family business

The Lighter

Then his father almost dies, and Michael is pulled into the business. He protects his father when he’s healing in the hospital against hired guns from a rival family. There’s an excellent scene analysis on Youtube (1:15) about how just one simple two second frame shows that while one of his father’s friends nervous, and yet Michael — who has, arguably, fought in a war — isn’t nervous at all, which foreshadows his level-headedness and cold cruelty when he becomes the new Don. How, you ask, do we know? WELL.

The hired bodyguard can’t seem to ignite his lighter because of his nervousness. Michael, calm and collected, takes the lighter and ignites it from him.

*distant screaming*

Vincenzo’s lighter has always been his go-to tool to calm him down, to collect himself, to prepare for war. It’s the sound that makes him think. It’s poetic that it’s also Michael’s way of telling the audience that he is ready for a war between Mafia families.

The Lovelife

So after protecting his father, Tom Hagen and Sonny are discussing how to deal with the rival family. Michael himself volunteers to murder them by shooting them at point-blank range at a restaurant. He then flees the country, after taking care of his father’s business, much like how Vincenzo leaves Italy after Fabio’s death. Michael goes to Sicily, where his father was born, while Vincenzo returns to Korea.

In Sicily, Michael falls in love and gets married to a Sicilian woman named Apollonia. Like Michael, Vincenzo returns to his roots and falls in love with a woman who supports his position as a part of a Mafia Family and accepts him. (Side note, Michael’s marriage is problematic in and of itself, he literally didn’t say a word to Kay about anything, but anyway)

However, back home, there are problems in the family: Sonny is brash and arrogant, and gets killed by the rival family. Just when Michael is informed and asked to come home, Apollonia is also killed in a car bomb. You can imagine why I was concerned for Chayoung’s life at one point of the series before I realized Park Jae-Bum was too good for that.

But here’s where Vincenzo diverges from Michael, and what makes Chayoung superior to Apollonia and Kay’s characters.

Michael goes home a changed person. Apollonia’s and his brother’s deaths are the final nails in the coffin for him: there’s no going back and not taking part in the family business. He is the only option to become the new Don. When he gets back, he gives Kay empty promises about becoming the new Don to make his father’s empire clean and stop the corruption. She believes him and agrees to marry him.

Famously, the last scene of the first movie is Michael being crowned the new Don (people kissing his hand and asking for his favor) as Kay watches from the other room before the door closes in her face. His favorite line to Kay is, “Don’t ask me about my business.” (This scene always gives me chills!!!)

While Michael starts off kind-hearted and open, someone who sees his family’s business as corrupt and unapproachable, Vincenzo is already a hybrid of Michael and Tom when we meet him. It is, as SJK said in his recent interview, an opening and softening of his character: the complete opposite of Michael’s character development.

Apollonia barely has three lines in the movie and barely has any role but to be the woman Michael falls in love with and to represent the idea of him staying in Sicily and not moving back to take over the family. She is an ideal Sicilian wife who understands how the family business works. His American girlfriend Kay, on the other hand, can never accept this Sicilian part of Michael. He shuts the door on her and never lets her in on anything that he’s doing, and eventually, Kay wants no part in the marriage, either.

Chayoung is stronger than Apollonia in that she takes the center stage of Vincenzo’s masterplan. She is allowed more agency and access into Vincenzo’s world than Kay is into Michael’s world, because Vincenzo considers her his partner, while Michael considered Kay to be his subordinate. 

The fact that Vincenzo begins as post-Sicily Michael makes the show so satisfying to watch if you’ve seen The Godfather. Vincenzo is a story where a woman gains power and respect from her Mafia partner, and a man forced into violence and ruthlessness finds someone who accepts that part of him wholeheartedly. The Godfather ultimately ends in heartbreak and tragedy, but Vincenzo’s ending is hopeful and fulfilling for both of our main leads. They have an accepting, powerful love that Michael does not have with anyone.

Betrayals by Brothers

Last one (for now)! In the second movie, Fredo betrays Michael to a rival business partner, which almost leads to his assassination. When he finds out it was him, Michael keeps him alive until their mother passes away before ordering his men to kill him. (Also by now Michael and Kay have two children who are close with Fredo so like rip childhood trauma when your father murders your uncle ahahahahah)

SO ANYWAY this part has haunted me for days. When Paolo betrays Vincenzo the second time, why doesn’t he kill him? Is he waiting for Fabio’s wife to pass away? Does Fabio even have a wife? Did Vincenzo respect her as he respected Fabio? I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS.

Or maybe it’s because he’s different from Michael: the second movie confirmed that Michael has become so cold-hearted that he doesn’t think of his family when he makes decisions, whether that’s killing his own brother or divorcing Kay. For Vincenzo, family is the most important thing in the world. For Michael, the Corleone family becomes just a business to run.

In other words, it goes to show that Vincenzo’s worst self-deprecating thought — that villains don’t deserve to love, because love is just an asset to them — is proven wrong for him through his love for Chayoung, the Geumga Plaza Family, and even the Cassano Family, while it is proven right for Michael.

OKAY that’s it for now. Thanks for listening. Literally if you have any questions about the Godfather let me know because I could talk about it for hours.

[kyoonqs]

iluso amor ; first part.

↬ summary: Cora has always considered herself elusive, easy to bore and adventurous to the last fiber of her body. One day for no apparent reason, she appears in front of the manager of a globetrotting circus passing through the city where she is temporarily staying to fill her life with magic. Baekhyun, as serious as he is handsome, has no intention of playing a role other than on the main canvas of the circus. He decides to separate Cora from her life of fantasies created by her travels and sets out to show her reality as raw and cruel as he knows it. Or so he believes.

Will time run out too quickly before love and passion devour him and he decides to risk everything for a love that lasts… Forever?

↬ pairing: baekhyun x cora fem!reader.

↬ circus!au ; illusionist!baek x hitchhiker!oc ; strangers to lovers au!

↬ genre: fluff ; romance ; angst ; drama.

↬ length: 2.8 k words.

↬ tag list: @changshapatrol @spacebyuns @fluffyhunnie @soos-goddess @hoho-cham @shadoukiti @sunbyun21​ @mangobaek​ @suhotly​ @pororodks​ @bbhbae​ 

If you’d like to be tagged for future chapters, please let me know! 

↬ masterlist.

↬ author’s note: this is my first time writing a series, hope you enjoy it and any feedback will be appreciated. thanks for reading! ♡

Vanilla, caramel and butter scents invaded her nostrils the moment she stepped on the re-centering and she reminded herself that from now on she should get used to the smell due to her timely madness. Beyond her view, occasionally blocked by some old trucks, a red and yellowish-white circus tent loomed along with several smaller tents and a host of caravans. The largest tent, dotted with gold stars, had a large, deep blue sign bearing the name of the circus and its owner. In addition to a few tethered horses, Cora saw a number of huge cages with animals and all kinds of unsavory people, including some pretty dirty men, most of them encrusted with mud and rust.

She was beginning to regret the moment when she had ripped the worn out brochure from the lamppost and the idea of joining the circus scene rose out of boredom. Yes, that was the case, curiosity had killed the cat and she could not contain herself that late afternoon when she had driven her bicycle past the front of the tents and the multicolored costumes of the artists had simultaneously caught her eye. But now it was not like that, the moment she advanced towards the train car where she was to present herself for the position, everyone stopped what they were doing and fixed their eyes on her. Without thinking too much, she stepped forward steadily as her sneakers sank into the sandy ground and she staggering as she stared at the ticket booth where the same brochure she was carrying was presented.

Away from the scrutinizing stares that once haunted her, she took the steps of the carriage two at a time and froze when she saw him inside. He had hair as dark as molten chocolate and chiseled features that would make his face look too beautiful if it weren't for the firm jaw and menacing frown. Men who possessed that brutal appeal had always attracted her but at that moment she would have chosen someone less intimidating to interview her. She tried to calm herself by reminding herself that she would not have to spend more than a couple of hours with him and that it would all be over as soon as she explained clearly why she was applying for the job, which she was still completely unaware of.

She cleared her throat and began with her introduction, first name, last name, place of birth, previous jobs and reason why she was there - from the latter she omitted boredom as a possible factor. The man in question did not give her a single glance and, of course, did not speak a word. She stared straight ahead, the unyielding lines of that hard profile making her skin tingle.

–“I, I want to learn about the trade...” She swallowed.

–“I'm really interested in the job, whatever it is...” She swallowed again.

–“Bastard.”

Until the man in front of her turned his head and looked at her, she didn't realize what she had said. He arched a dark brow with mild curiosity, as if he wasn't sure he had heard correctly. Her impulsiveness took control and she felt her lips tremble, for it was clear that they didn't share her problems in restraining her inappropriate thoughts.

The metal legs of the chair where he was sitting screeched against the hard floor of the wagon. He stood up, ironed the wrinkles of his pants with his hands and looking into her eyes for the first time, he said in a stern and inflexible voice:

–“You are hired. Meet me after the last show behind the main tent.” And without further ado, he passed her by without giving any other explanation.

She could barely suppress a sigh. She directed a furtive glance at the boy, still nameless and wondered what she had gotten into but an irrelevant part of her was dying for new adventures and without a doubt, he would be the greatest from that precise moment.

–“Ladies and gentlemen, the show is about to begin! Come closer everyone!”

The man who made the announcement was the same man who was encouraging people to buy tickets the day the circus had arrived in town, although now he was wearing a red master of ceremonies jacket. At that moment Cora appeared before the young man in the carriage, leading a black horse by the reins with one hand. It was then that she realized that he was not only the manager of the circus but also one of its performers.

He was dressed in a velvet jacket, a velvet vest with nothing underneath and black trousers tucked into high leather boots that snuggled over his calves. A jewel-encrusted band of all colors surrounded his torso accompanied by fine iridescent chains and some ribbons of razo that fell from his pocket. He also carried a rolled whip hanging from one shoulder. Curious about the skills he would display in the arena –she had gotten one of the dancers to tell her when they would leave and to her surprise it would be the next morning– she followed the man with his eyes. At that moment he saw her. The decision she had made had been too recent to seek a way out and she still did not feel comfortable talking to him. Cora tucked her hair nervously behind her ear and refuse to take her gaze from the horse following him when he began to walk towards her.

–“There are unsavory people hanging around the circus. Until you know how everything goes, stay where the rest of the audience is, always” he told her as he adjusted some rings on his slender fingers.

–“Understood.” She responded, since she had just promised herself that she was going to put forth her best effort and not get carried away by first impressions that day. 

 –“Come in and take a look at the show.” His tone was firm, despite the fact that she was already heading back to where she was previously. 

 –“Wait! What is your name!?” She asked hastily, not realizing that perhaps she had sounded somewhat desperate.

He glanced at her over his shoulder with the corner of his mouth slightly curved. “Baekhyun!” He said, chuckling, and with that he returned to his place in line with the rest of the artists.

She was still feeling hot as she circled the crowd and entered the tent through the back entrance. She found a free spot in the stands. They were weathered white-painted planks of wood, hard and narrow, with nowhere else to rest one’s feet but on the seat of the spectators in the row below. But she quickly set aside her feelins of discomfort the awkwardness when the lights dimmed, a drum roll crescendoed and a spotlight illuminated the emcee on center court.

–“Welcome to the happiest circus in Valencia, welcome to Gran Fele Circus!”

The music exploded, played by a band consisting of two musicians with drums, a synthesizer, and a consola. A lively version of New York, New York began to play and a white horse entered in the arena with a girl who carried a flag with the name of the circus. The other artists followed, carrying colorful banners, smiling and waving to the crowd.

It was the troupe of acrobats that caught Cora's attention; three handsome men and a beautiful woman –whom she identified as the dancer who had helped her earlier– named Laia, dressed in gold sequins, shiny leggings and thick makeup. They were followed by a group of horsemen, clowns, jugglers, and trained dogs.

Baekhyun entered the arena alone, riding his fierce horse, and unlike the other artists, he didn’t wave his hands or smile. As he circled the track, he seemed such a distant and mysterious being. He was no stranger to the presence of the people, but somehow he remained isolated and gave a strange dignity to the colorful display. 

As the show progressed, Cora was amazed at such talent. 

Suddenly, the lights went out and the music died away. A blue spotlight illuminated the master of ceremonies, the only one occupying the dark center court. His voice turned dramatically low and a haunting, folk melody began to play in the background.

–“How many times have we wondered if we were crazy? How many times did someone make us doubt our actions? How many times has someone come before us with the idea of changing our thinking? Sanity makes us useless, many times it is better to be crazy. Life is made for taking risks and if you don't think so, let the next person convince you otherwise...before time runs out.”

The lights began to gradually increase in intensity, the music resounded and Baekhyun entered the middle of a path that seemed illuminated by small streetlights, thin beams of light that danced around him and that were reflected in the small sequins of his suit. With indisputable ease, he untangled the whip dangling from a waistband and sliced through the air in all directions with it. Small particles, like glitter, floated in the air suspended around him. He performed a series of skillfully executed feats that were both daring and dramatic. They had brought a few accessories onto the floor during the emcee's presentation: ribbon targets, fluorescent balloons, chandeliers, and more. Circling the runway, he popped the balloons one by one, and a bright red explosion, like drops of blood, shot through the air with each snap of the whip.

The lights dimmed until only he was illuminated by the spotlight, and he grabbed a second whip and made them pop and dance in all directions with such masculine grace, Cora gasped. The dance was increasing, with faster and faster movements and, as if by magic, the two whips became one. With a powerful twist of his arm, Baekhyun lifted him above his head to set him off in flames. The audience gasped, the lights went out, and the flaming whip danced wildly through the darkness. When the lights came on again, he had vanished.

–“What are you doing here? Hasn't anyone taken you to the motorhome yet?”

Cora roused herself, her eyes snapping open. Looking up, she saw the same deep brown eyes plaguing since afternoon that day. For a moment, she couldn't remember where she was but then everything came to mind: the circus, the manager, the show, his whip.

She suddenly became aware of Baekhyun's hands on her shoulders, it was the only thing that had kept her from falling off the old stool that she had been seated on while waiting for him. She had decided to wait there since it was the most illuminated area around the tent, next to government mandated public toilets where there was still a queue to pass them.

She shifted uneasily under his hands and tried to regain her balance with the idea that he would release her.

–“Could you tell me what time it is? I've lost track of it waiting here for you.”

–“It's about 30 minutes to midnight,” Baekhyun put his hands in the pockets of his coat. Instead of the suit he donned for the show, he wore jeans ripped at the knees and a white t-shirt printed with the word ‘Supreme’ in terms of design. Despite the casual attire he didn’t look any less intimidating.

–“Look dulzura, you will have to get used to my presence, since I will be your guide and housemate from now on”. It wasn’t as if Cora hadn’t tried to do it before, in fact she had been attracted to him the moment she met him, only his personality –and now a whip– had slowed her down. He, at her lack of response, muttered something under his breath and after a sigh, spoke again.

–“Come on dulzura, I'll show you where you'll sleep for the next few months.” He turned and left at a fast pace to where the group of caravans were together, paying little attention to the fact that she had luggage that weighed a ton, the consequence of her idea to buy a memorable garment from each city she had visited until now.

–“Wait!” Her scream had an edge of hysteria, but he seemed not to hear it as he continued walking toward the line of caravans. She rubbed the sole of her sneakers across the ruff, gathering some on the toe of it as she dragged her foot. With a gasp, Cora started walking again. Baekhyun approached two vehicles that were parked next to each other. The closest one was a modern white caravan, it looked spacious inside and on its roof you could see a satellite dish. Next to it was another caravan, dented and rusty that appeared to have been silver previously. She begged to herself that it was the space caravan and not the other.

He stood in front of the ugly rusty trailer, opened the door, and disappeared inside. Cora grunted but conceded since she had stayed in worse places. Perhaps the inside wasn’t as hideous as it looked on the outside. Baekhyun reappeared at the door a moment later and watched as she approached fighting with her backpack towards him. When she finally reached the metal step, he offered her a cynical smile.

–“Home, sweet home, dulzura. Come in and settle”.

Cora had always found the Spanish language something to delight in but this was the third time the nickname had come out of his mouth directed at her and she could swear that the way the word rolled on his tongue and briefly hissed before pronouncing the syllable "zu", surely it was close to the song of the angels that received you when you entered paradise.

She sniffed and climbed the four steps that separated her and...the interior was much worse than the outside. Narrow, messy, it smelled musty and old, with a hint of  mothball. In front of her was a miniature kitchen, the countertop metal, it had spots with peeling paint. To the right of the kitchen, the faded upholstery of the small sofa was barely visible under a pile of books, newspapers, and men's clothing. In addition, she saw an old, medium-sized refrigerator, wooden cabinets, and a bed with rumpled sheets.

Baekhyun stared at her blankly, genuinely doubting whether she had noticed. 

–“It is a small caravan as you can see, but it is comfortable and cozy in the cold. It's all there is and all I have.” 

The bed took up most of the back of the caravan, nothing separated it from the rest of the "rooms", the only thing that seemed to be secluded was the bathroom –which she would make sure to explore as soon as she had the chance. On the sheets there were tangled clothes, a towel, and something she couldn't make out from where she was standing.

–“I think I'll sleep on the couch, it would be better…”

He gazed absently at the tip of his foot, then looked up. She stared into those dark eyes –which depending on the light could be paler or even more blackened– and she felt a chill run down her spine, followed by another strange sensation that she did not want to examine further. 

He slowly raised his hand, adjusting a lock of hair that had been tousled while she was struggling with her backpack, Cora froze and pursed her lips as she felt the softness of his thumb brush the hollow under her ear with something that it seemed like a caress.

–“Do whatever you want, dulzura. I have to go, I still have things to do.” 

Cora gasped when she realized she should have felt danger but her skin had taken the brush of his thumb with pleasure. She felt Baekhyun's insolent hand move away from her hair as he pulled away from her, even though he had left something light on the trailing of her ear. The trailer door swung on its hinges. Baekhyun looked at her and stepped out of it, dropping his gaze from her face to a nonexistent point. Once he was out of sight, she reached for the object that was barely tickling her cheekbone and held the geranium between her fingers with a furtive smile on her face.

↬ This is all for this chapter, I promise to try to write more in the following parts. I will try to update every Saturday. Honorable mention: Oliv (@changshapatrol​) without her this story would be nothing, thank you for your patience and trust in me. I love you, a lots ♡