#I need to hunt down more of the red yarn

[the-fibre-stuff]

Me: if I can get this sock done today, it’s reasonable to assume that I can get the pair done in time for a birthday gift, not a Christmas one.

Also me: Because these are bigger than the pair they’re supposed to be replacing, I’m going to do TWO rows of cars, not just one.

[daddy-deathslinger]

Hello! I had this idea for a while and what about Caleb Quinn x gn reader who does crochet? For example, Caleb sneaks up into survivor campsite (because he was bored idk) to watch and listen to other survivors and sees reader crocheting something, what looks like his red bandana. Later in trial they wear it and when reader ends up as the last one Caleb just has a little chit chat with them? You know, little talk between artist with weapons and artist with yarn?

If you want you can add other killers! And even reader crocheting specially for them (⁠^⁠^⁠)

Hi there! What a cozy request, I hope you like what I came up with! 🤠

The Deathslinger/Caleb Quinn x GN!Reader - “A conversation between artists”

The desert sun was warm as always, shining its last rays of light over the Dead Dawg Saloon. Caleb was alone, as always, sipping on a glass of whiskey at the bar. He let out a frustrated sigh as he put down the drinking glass on the bar, a little harder than he had meant to. What was the use of this godforsaken place? Sure, he had all the alcohol in the world, he had his weapons he could work on, but he was alone. Always alone. And he got so bored sometimes. Between trials he just sat here at times, just thinking of everything and nothing. He knew he needed something else now, something to perk him up. And he had thought about it for a while, maybe it was time to put plans into action. So without further ado, he downed the last of the whiskey, grabbed his hat from the counter and got up from the chair.

“Here goes nothin’...” he muttered to himself as he ventured out from the saloon and into the evening outside.

The trees were tall and the forest dark. Nothing like the warm desert Caleb was so used to, but he urged on his quest nonetheless. Navigating through the dark woods proved to be a bit difficult, especially since he didn’t really know where he was going. He just hoped that somehow, if he really wanted to, he’d find it. The survivor camp. They weren’t allowed to hunt outside of trials, but hunting was not on Caleb’s mind now, either way. And when he finally could see a faint light behind the trees, he knew he had gone the right way. Very carefully, not making any sound, he sneaked a little bit closer to the light. It was the campfire, and sure enough, sitting around it were some survivors. Caleb could hear them talking quietly to each other, discussing things and laughing occasionally. He decided that he was close enough, and hid behind a big tree, peeking out a little bit to get a good look at the survivors. There were seven of them, all sitting cuddled up around the fire for warmth and comfort. Some were talking, two apparently kissing, but one survivor caught his attention almost immediately. You, sitting a little bit away from the rest, holding something in your hands. It appeared to be two long needles and some yarn. Caleb had seen this handiwork before, somewhere in his childhood. It was called crocheting, if he wasn’t mistaken. But what were you working on? Caleb peeked out a little bit more from behind the tree, trying to get a good look at the handiwork. Was that… a bandana? A red one, it must be. A bandana just like his! Caleb couldn’t help but let out a little grunt of amusement, luckily no one seemed to hear him. That bandana looked way better than the old rag he was wearing, he thought to himself, and a little smile crept upon his lips. You were talented, no doubt. Caleb remained like that, observing, listening, studying. He didn’t know how much time passed, he was completely lost in the everyday business of the survivors, especially you. It brought him some form of comfort, just standing hidden in the shadows and observing. They didn’t know he was there, they weren’t afraid. They talked about trials, life before this, made jokes about the killers, they lived their new “normal”. With a little sting in his heart, Caleb remembered what his “normal” looked like these days. Hunt, torture, kill. Speaking of, he could feel a trial coming up now. He always felt it in his bones somehow, the call of the Entity. He should get back to the saloon, get ready.

The trial went to shits. Caleb didn’t manage to kill anyone. The map of this trial had been the Red Forest, as Anna called it, and it had been dark and damp. Caleb didn’t do well in a dark and wet forest, especially not when he had to hunt for prey. His eyes weren’t what they used to be. So, naturally, they all escaped, save the last one. The last one was hiding somewhere, probably looking for the hatch since Caleb had a pretty good view of both the gates. Caleb tried to find the hatch as well, and he searched inside the hut first. Nothing there, but just as he was about to leave the hut to go back outside, he saw something moving in the dark corner. A person, the last survivor! He turned around to face them, gun ready. Then he saw that it was you that he had caught. You were wearing the red bandana you had crocheted earlier, how could Caleb not have noticed you earlier? You had frozen in your spot, arms up in the air in a defeated pose. Fear was plastered all over your face, but Caleb knew he wasn’t going to hurt you. So he lowered his gun with a chuckle, seeing confusion on your face now. 

“Ain’t nothin’ to worry about, I ain’t gonna hurt you”, he said.

You didn’t speak, you just stood there, eyeing the gun carefully. Caleb put it down to his side to show you he was serious, and you seemed to relax a little. Caleb pointed towards your bandana.

“That’s neat handiwork right there, that is. Couldn’t ever hold a needle myself, but you seem to have mastered this thing.”

You looked at your captor, furrowing your eyebrow a bit. 

“T-thanks”, you eventually said, seeming to relax even more now. “It didn’t take me too long to make this one, I’m planning on making a sweater next. I only need to find more yarn somewhere.”

“Where have you found such nice, red yarn to begin with?” Caleb pondered, and you gave him a shy smile.

“I kind of stole it from the Thompson house. Found it in a drawer upstairs.”

Caleb chuckled and shook his head slightly.

“Old Max Jr ain’t gonna need that yarn for anything, you help yourself!”

You smiled, tucking a bit at your bandana. Then you pointed towards the Redeemer. 

“You made that one yourself?” 

Caleb nodded, trying not to sound like he bragged too much. 

“18 meter long chain, polished everyday. Harpoon travels at 40m/s when fired. Got a wheel right here to reel the prey back in and-”

He stopped mid sentence. What was he doing, explaining to you how he captured you and your friends and eventually killed you? But you didn’t seem bothered, in fact you seemed interested.

“Love the engravings on the handle”, you said, peeking a bit closer at the gun. “You’re really skilled at this, you know!”

Caleb felt some sort of warmth inside his chest, probably pride. 

“Always need something to work on, you know”, he said. “Gotta keep them hands busy.”

You nodded.

“I’m the same! I loved crocheting before… before all this, so finding that ball of yarn at the Thompson house was really a happy moment. I just wish I could find more yarn somewhere…”

Caleb pondered for a little while.

“Have you searched through this place thoroughly? I could have sworn I saw Anna tinkering with some yarn one time…”

Your eyes lit up with excitement.

“I haven’t searched as well as I’d like to, no. This hut, for example, has some adornments on the walls that point towards yarnwork.”

Caleb grinned at you and waved with his hand.

“Well, go on then! Go search for your ball of yarn, I’ll hold the hatch if I find it.”

You didn’t seem to need convincing, giving Caleb a grateful smile before turning around to begin searching through the hut. 

[bucking-mustangs-with-wings]

Buck x Bucky Sorcerers vs Fae AU - WIP

I've got this one now in the works, as well as more for the Rodeo AU, my brain is fluttering back and forth between them atm, but I wanted to show a small bit of one of the scenes I'm working on for this. (Rough Draft).

The trees blurred in his peripheral, everything disappearing like the breath disappearing from his lungs, the panic pushing everything to the forefront. Just an adrenaline fuelled staccato beat thundering in his chest. Sweat beading at his brow.

Keep running. Just keep running, don't look back. Don't look back, or you're dead!

It was second nature to avoid the roots underfoot, the gnarled branches grabbing at the edges of his clothes and brushing his skin like long dead fingers trying to pull him down to the depths of hell. A cruel voice echoed in his head, that he was already there. He had already seen it. Hell was not far behind him, left in the debris littering familiar streets and captured under crumbled walls and burning in the flames of deliberate blue fire.

He could feel tears prick at the corners of his eyes, stinging and harsh. Could still feel the remnants of those flames licking at his skin. Could still hear the screams, anguished, terrified. Dead.

The sounds of magic, whirling like bullets past his ears still echoed in his skull, still kept their grip on his psych. It was as if he could still feel that dangerous energy in the air nipping at his heels like savage dogs, maws foaming with the need to watch him fall, clip his wings like a bird and send him tumbling down into the dirt.

"You can always tell, when that magic is about," his mother would always say, sitting in her chair at the dining table with a pair of knitting needles between her fingers, silver yarn spread over her lap and trailing off somewhere throughout the house. "It's like when a storm is coming, you can feel the shift in the air, the un-easiness settle in your stomach like you've swallowed iron weights. The hair on your arms stands on end like it's trying to sway away from it. You can taste it, on your tongue. You'll always know when it's close, Gale. When they're close. You'd do best to listen to what your instincts are telling you."

He tries to shake the image from his mind, vaulting himself over another moss covered root as thick as his arm. Of a familiar mouth, usually in a smile not unlike his own, now parted in shocked slack, crimson dripping from it's corners. An old, worn calloused hand with red painted nails outstretched in his direction, but still, lifeless. Eyes the same. Boring into his soul, frozen forever in an expression of pain and fear and emptiness. Nothing behind them. No light, no gleam. Just vacant and haunting and carved forever into the back of his mind like an etching in cement.

The air around him burned with every inhale, searing his over-worked lungs. His whole body was screaming at him to stop, that it couldn't take much more. It couldn't keep him going. It was on it's last legs, starved and exhausted and battered and bruised. Everything hurt.

A split second decision had him digging his heels into the soft forest floor, banking a hard left and flattening his back against a huge tree about three times his width. His shoulders heaved and shuddered, trying to draw in air, trying to keep his breath steady enough so that no un-necessary noise was made. The blood pumping through his terrified nervous system sounded like crashing ocean waves in his ears, his vision pulsing in and out with his heartbeat. He couldn't hear anything around him, could hardly see.

Squeezing his eyes closed, he kept his focus on the rhythm of his breath, palms squeezing, nails cutting into his flesh with enough force he was half expecting blood to drip between his fingers into the moss covered ground below.

His father's voice echoed in his head now, low and gruff but strong, serious and brave.

Controlling your breath can mean the difference between life and death out there, Gale. You control your breathing, you control your heart. They can sense your heartbeat, they have spells for that now. Shows them the echoes of it like damn fireworks. You don't want the wolves to hear you. Don't want them to see you. Or they'll empty those fireworks out of your chest and show it to you before they crush it under their boots.

Lifting his chin skyward, he focused what little eyesight he could properly see with with on the small sliver of blue sky peeking through the branches above his head. So plain and bare, normal. Completely oblivious to the horrible events taking place under it's enormous expanse. The more he stared, the more the roaring of his blood quieted in his skull, the more the incessant pulsing behind his eyes settled and he was able to take in the complete and utter silence that was enveloping the forest.

The thump-thump-thump buried deep in his sternum flowed more smoothly, but that hint of fear still had it's grips on him. Was still sinking it's teeth deep into his core like a splinter that would never be able to truly be plucked out.

If he could just get his bearings, could just sit for a moment, he could gather what few sensible thoughts were rattling around in his head and figure out where the hell we was supposed to go from here, what he was meant to do.

He could feel his legs trembling underneath him, his knees all but ready to give out and send him sinking down onto his haunches. He had to find somewhere safe. He had to find somewhere to rest for a few moments, a few hours if he was lucky enough.

He was just about to give in to his body's inconvenient exhaustion, let himself sit and allow his muscles and his still mildly racing heart to calm just that tad more, but the indistinct snapping of a branch far off to the right made every muscle in his overworked body freeze. His eyes shot down from the sky to stare straight ahead, his breathing caught in his throat, even though his lungs still protested at having their much needed supply of oxygen once again denied them fully.

But he couldn't let himself.

An acrid, sour taste crawled up his throat, coating his tongue like he'd just licked a copper penny, sparks dancing over his teeth and sending painful pulses through the very bone of his jaw. The fear quickly followed it again, his heartbeat beginning it's frantic and loud race and gripping his very soul like a cold blanket of electricity. He felt the sensation creep it's way through every cell, every vessel, every nerve. Like being submerged in freezing water.

Like a deer cornered by a wolf, he flickered his gaze down to his arms, held down by his sides.

Every hair was lifted and pointed skyward like they were trying to get away from something sinister.

"We got another one up ahead!"

[pixiestein]

my first meowlody & purrsephone designs vs my second designs

i usually don’t like to post my drawings but idk i just rlly enjoy the progress btwn these two designs. im gonna explain my thought processes but im sooo sleepy so bear with me & my rambling or scroll on if u want :3

at first i thought- they’re tuxedo cats, it would be cool to incorporate tuxedo jackets into their outfits! but yeah, i couldn’t figure out how to integrate fancy suit jackets into the casual styles that i wanted for them. maybe i’ll do a formal design w tuxes later but it’s jus not working for this one. most of my version of monster high is based mainly on gen 1 with aspects of gen 3 & ofc my own thoughts. so that’s what i’m going for here. i love meowlodys hair buns in g3 so i wanted both of them to have buns, one up & one down. g3 also inspired the doc martin style boots & using the yarn as shoelaces. i wanted to keep the stripy hair from g1, as well as have them wear the same skirt in different colours like in g1. & ofc the tuxedo jackets styled differently w different tops. as for the tops themselves idk…purrsephones was a bit thrown together based on the tuxedo theme, but for meowlody i knew i wanted a mock neck bodysuit, which didn’t work well w the tux look bc there wasn’t room for a tie. so i gave her a bolo tie type thing w yarn but ehhh. it doesn’t look right. i also knew i wanted each girl to have a different cat toy accessory, & a feather toy seemed like a good choice but i couldn’t think of another. so purrsephone ended up with those like, tube thingies that have holes for cats to play in? those weird things? she has one of those as an arm cuff & at the top of her boots. yeah idk why i thought that would look good. but anyway, i wanted more yarn in the outfits so i gave them yarn belts but it just looked weird!! i made the ball of yarn the belt buckle but it looks so clunky right there in the middle of the waist. they also needed to share more of their colours to look more cohesive w each other.

so for the second design i put the ‘ball’ part of the belt on the side so that the string is hanging down around the hips. & i thoughtit was important for the belt yarn to match the shoelace yarn bc it looks wrong for ver1 meowlody to have orange yarn in her belt & tie but black+red yarn on her shoes.

i eventually decided the structure of their outfits would be bodysuit + partial skirt with different clothes on their limbs. they have silver bands throughout both of them (main belts, boots, meowlodys collar & purrsephones bracelets) each band having studs that match their respective yarn colours. again, i wanted them to accessorize with different cat toys, but looking at the g3 designs i remembered about bells! duh. so i gave meowlody little bells-on her collar, earring, & hanging from her belt- because meowlody is the more mischievous sister & generally when a cat is too mischievous they put a bell on their collar to make it harder for them to hunt. idk why that’s what i thought of but it’s funny to think her parents made her wear bells bc she kept sneaking up on ppl & scaring them or smth 😭😭 meowlody is the softer sister so she got the feathers :P on her belt & earring.

they each have a silver earring & a fish skeleton earring, meowlodys black & purrsephones white. the soles of their shoes also have the design of ribs on the sides, which would extend with the rest of the fish skeleton on the bottom of the boot. the soles are opposite colours to the fish earrings & match their hair, with meowlodys white & purrsephones black, so the very top of their heads match the bottom of their feet. the toes of the shoes also have the shape of the top of a cats head. the fish imagery is also in the centre of purrsephones mock neck bodysuit, with a zipper down the fish spine.

as for the main pieces, both wear short bodysuits. purrsephones is a sleeveless high neck, with her arms covered by detached arm sleeves. meowlodys is a scoop neck with a high neck long sleeve shrug overtop leaving just a bit of space btwn the bottom of the shrug & top of the bodysuit. purrsephones bodysuit is orange with her sleeves & tights being white with black stripes. this is reversed in meowlody, who has a black bodysuit with white stripes with orange sleeves & tights. so their bodysuits+sleeves+tights are different but balanced. one has patterned bodysuit & solid coloured limbs, while the other has solid coloured bodysuit with patterned limbs. i try to avoid using a lot of patterns, bc i find too many patterns esp when they’re close together is just annoying to my eyes & makes everything look super busy. i think one of my mistakes with ver1 was not using any patterns though. i think the mirrored stripe patterns on ver2 are one of the things that rlly brings it together, both individually & as a pair.

+ just extra thoughts, ik their official designs have white stripes on their limbs, but i wanted them to look like real tuxedo cats, whose white patches are usually on the tips of their paws, tip of their tail, & the centre of the face extending down their chest. so those are the markings i gave them even tho it’s hard to see w their feet being covered & most of their hands being covered. also just wanna say!!!!! i just love designing monster high characters!!!! i’ve been doing it most of my life & it’s so incredibly important to me!!!!! that’s why i don’t usually share them lol, it feels like sharing part of my soul. but it brings me so much joy even tho my hand hurts & im sleepy, i rlly need to get better at digital art so that i can post drawings that don’t get ruined by my shitty phone camera😭😭 speaking of which here’s a terrible terrible guy who interrupted the photos:

[briar-ffxiv]

FFXIV Write #09 - Lend an Ear

FFXIV Write 2024 Master Post

Prompt #9 - Lend an Ear

TW: There is some mention of a dead animal and skinning/cleaning/cooking humanely hunted meat so be warned if that bothers you! It is not descriptive though!

Briar hummed softly as he pushed the skeins of wool into the large wooden tub. It was full of a murky dye that was careful not to touch with his hands. He'd learned last time the 'dangers' of woad so this time it was a smooth stick used to push and stir the wool, making sure it was thoroughly saturated. Once satisfied, he left it be, turning his attention to another tub.

This one held dye from nettles, mixed with a bit of iron, which would result in a lovely grey-green the half-Elezen was fond of. A clean stick was used to push more wool in, pausing to brush his hair out of his face with a forearm. So focused was Briar on his task that he nearly jumped out of his skin when something thumped heavily to the ground behind him.

He spun, ears up and eyes wide. He stared momentarily at the dead stag before looking up at the thick-muscled Viera near it. As always, Liokki looked half-feral with worn armour, smudges of dirt, and his hair full of twigs and leaves. The wary tension he almost always had only added to the impression of something wild. The Viera shifted a bit, toe-claws digging into the soil as he regarded Briar.

"Good morning, Liokki," Briar said softly. "I wish you wouldn't scare me like that," he noted without venom, moving to examine the stag.

"Ya should be alert," the Viera grumbled in a deep, raspy growl of a voice that saw little use.

"I only hear you when you wish it," Briar said, gently running his hand over the stag's pelt. The antelope was a handsome one with fine horns and a sleek coat, although a glance showed a knee that was injured. Likely the reason Liokki had culled it. The former Wood-Warder made a habit of trying to only take beasts that were weakened or injured, mostly to die anyway.

Briar half-expected Liokki to head back into the woods. The old Viera did not seem to crave company, at least often. So he was surprised when Liokki twitched an ear toward him and grunted. "I'll help you clean it."

Briar blinked but didn't argue, just nodding. He checked the dyes, but they would be fine for a while. They needed to sit anyway. With Liokki's help, the deer was quickly dressed and skinned, the meat broken down and moved to hang in the curing shed at the back of his little cottage. It had taken only a little more than an hour with help and Briar now had a fine cut of venison in his kitchen too.

"Will you stay for supper?" the half-Elezen asked, ear perking as he looked up at Liokki again as he headed back to check his dyes.

Liokki seemed to consider a moment before nodding, watching with interest as Briar eased the wool out of the buckets. Putting on gloves, he squeezed the excess out, admiring the change of the woad from pale to green to a deep blue. He was moving to the nettle dye when the Viera spoke again.

"Can you make red?"

"Red yarn, you mean?" Briar asked as he hung up the other wool. "Of course… What kind of red?"

"Bright."

Briar frowned in thought as he finished arranging his wool to dry. "Madder makes a very good red… Did you want some wool or--"

"Leather," Liokki said, amber-brown eyes looking at Briar.

The half-Elezen tilted his head thoughtfully. "I could use the deerskin you just brought. It would take a little while, but--"

Liokki fidgeted a moment. "Can you make it soft? The leather?" he grunted.

"Of course," Briar said slowly, green eyes suddenly narrowing a little. "…Who is this for? You don't wear red."

Liokki's ears flicked back and his jaw tightened stubbornly as he looked away. Briar frowned, folding his arms and waiting. He noticed the big Viera looking down at his often ragged nails, catching a hint of glitter before Liokki also crossed his arms, stamping one foot slightly in a very hare-like display of irritation.

"…Do you want something for E'mal, Liokki?" Briar asked, lips starting to curve in a small smile.

The Viera just grunted loudly, but his short pale tail twitched back and forth, perking up a bit in a display of excitement. Briar pressed a knuckle to his mouth to keep from chuckling. "I see," he said softly instead. "All right. Give me a sennight or so and I will make sure you have some soft, red deerskin, Liokki."

Briar took a breath and blew it out, trying not to smile too much. He was very much ignoring the fact that the insides of Liokki's ears were pink as the Viera slanted him a look. "Now, since you are staying for supper, is there anything in particular you would like?"

"Rice maybe?" Liokki allowed a hopeful note into his voice.

"That sounds perfect. I have some wild rice that would be lovely with it," Briar said, patting the Viera's thick arm gently as he walked by. "Would you also like some mushrooms perhaps? I know they are a favourite."

Liokki nodded, ears finally rising as he trailed behind Briar toward the cottage to start the meal in question. He paused to glance at the dye buckets again and his tail gave an excited little wiggle before he turned to catch up with Briar.

E'mal belongs to @midnightmagicks!

[gilbirda]

Hello again! I've actually written the down some of my "Jason and the Spraypaint 'Thief'" idea tho its mostly scaffolding and i dont feel ready to share it just yet, but progress is being made!

If I may ask for your advice once more, the story has begun leaning towards Anger Management vibes (thanks for that brainrot too (affectionate)), but i dont feel great that the genesis of Jason and Jazz meeting is after Jason basically stalks Jazz in his hunt for whoever is buying his spraypaint before he can. Like, she is the one buying the paint, but the dynamic feels too onesided atm in terms of agency, but idk what Jazz would be doing that could parallel Jason.

The best Ive got is she tried to find out who bought out the yarn she was knitting with (it was Jason being petty), but I dont think she'd care as much as Jason does with the paint and it also feels too samey.

...Just had this thought while writing this, would it vibe with Jazz's character if she kept tabs on the Batfam for Danny? Like in terms of location. Ive got it that Danny dosnt want anything to do with the Batfam atm, Gothem is their turf fighting-wise and he dosnt want to encroach on that (tho he does help people in need when he comes across them), he just wants to make cool art in weird places (and maybe some ghost king stuff, not sure on that just yet) (maybe as a coping mechanism bc I do like the angst that comes from 'Danny leaves Amity bc the Fentons reactly badly to him being a halfa', tho still not sure how he gets into spraypaint yet, that feels like an important detail), so Jazz keeps tabs on their patrols for Danny so he can spraypaint without drawing their attention, and then Jazz notices Red Hood acting a bit odd and does her own investigating to make sure its not ghost business (she would know that RH has ghost vibes from Danny and his current spraypaint investigating behaviour maybe looks like a ghost obsession without context), and maybe she ends up pulling a Tim and figures out Red Hood is Jason, just due to ghost vibes instead of acrobatics.

I havent even gotten to them actually meeting in my planning yey, its just discovery eachother from afar and general thoughts of 'thats the person Im looking for, they're kinda cute' so far. Current vauge idea is they meet in a fight, tho i might be biased bc i did recently reread 'cant help falling (in love with you)' (i think i said this before, but amazing story btw, eagerly waiting for the next chapter!)

I hope this makes sense. This is the first time I've had an idea I've wanted to share with other fandom people and felt comfy enough to do so.

(your ask got sent twice so im gonna answer one and delete the other. Just Tumblr things I guess)

SO

I see Anger Management and go feral

I see what you mean about there being a power imbalance in their meeting situation - but we have to be aware that the source material is like that. Jason is a crime fighter and a vigilante and also a very extra boy. He is petty and arrogant and sometimes he is not above using his skills for personal use.

You can make it so she knows what's going on and leads him in a wild goose chase just for funsies. Make Jazz petty as well. Make her highly competent. Make her win in his own game and boom, no more power imbalance. (Also that can be a cool "I need to know more of this woman" kind of situation.)

Another alternative, is making her think he is stalking her for unsavory purposes and beat the shit out of him.

I like what you said about Jazz being the one that keep tabs on all the vigilantes. She could have profiled them all, studied their patterns, and Tim Drake her way into memorizing their patrol routes so Danny can paint in peace.

So that's why when her new stalker starts bothering her, she is so Done(tm) that she is not afraid to gatekeep, gaslight, girlboss her way into making him stop.

How she does it? Dealer's choice.

(I'm weak to the fight approach, if it wasn't obvious (✿◡‿◡) )

(But outsmarting him could work as well.)

(Jason is into women that can kick his ass, be it physically or in smarts)

So in conclusion I think if you want to not fall into icky power imbalances and not fall into highly competent Mary Sues tropes, the sweet spot would be Jazz making the choice to take act or not, and base it on actual conflict: If she can't just beat the shit out of him, explain why. If she is not going to make a deal out of it, explain why. Make the character have agency and a choice in the matter, even if that choice is inaction.

Thank you for showing me your progress!!!! I'm so happy when people make content for the crossover and my favorite ship!!!

Also thanks for reading my fics!

🤗💖

[butch-bakugo]

Honestly, sanitizing the origins of meat, leather and fur and bone to something just stated and never shown, is why white americans who dont hunt look down on indigenous communities irl.

The average white middle class american who dosent hunt game and eat it has no idea what gose into to making their natural products from the steak on the table to the yarn they knit with. They have no connection to the food they eat and products they use and thats why it has no value to them. They've never seen people kill, clean, cook and eat a cow all at once so when they watch an African tribe do it in a documentary, they are disgusted and horrified. When they natives in a docuseries kill and eat a seal then wear its fur for warmth and survival, they are upset. They were never taught or ever experienced a native way of living. Living close to the land, thanking the great spirit for another meal because there is no grocery store, what they catch is what they eat.

Americans are conditioned to feel sorry for any animal death and cry when they do instead of realizing this is the natural cycle of life. Of course the blood and gore of a dead deer is gross to you but only because you were never shown the reality of your food. Horror movies and exofascists want you to be disguested by any gore so seeing a dead bloody animal is 'horrific'. Of course this isnt an excuse for those who needlessly harm animals, thats fucked up, but a hunter and the act of hunting game isnt gross. Its survival and many people's lived realities. We, as a society, have got to stop fearing blood and need to desensitizating ourselves to meat and hide.

Because it fuels racism and ecofascism. It fuels racism when the only black people you see are on tv with a white commentator telling you about this "savage and uncivilized tribe in the Sahara who sacrifice cows and goats to this god "who they'll mispronounce or peta blaming the extinction of seals on inuk people that hunt them and use them to survive on their tribal lands. It makes hurting the african american people and indigenous people around you much easier when the only place you see them is in a bad light on the tv screen. It gives you a bias when you only see natives cutting open a dear with slasher music behind it. Not only that, but it makes good natural survival techniques that could save you one day look uncivilized and grotesque. It makes you see factory farming as more humane when the only difference is the amount of animals killed and the amount of bones and "useless" cuts of meat wasted. The amount of people i know who eat dry as shit well done steaks because they cant handle the thought of red meat or still juicy aka bloody meat in their mouths is ridiculous. My medium rare steak is the same as your well done one, the only difference is the time used to cook it. The blood is still there, its just less concentrated. Thats the reality of eating meat.

So just remember that killing and eating animals may be your ancestry but its many people's reality and its not uncivilized or gross, its day to day. Its natural and when done correctly, beautiful. Your an omnivore and meat is a necessity to a natural diet. Embrace it. Nature gave you that rabbit so you could live and its life lengthens yours. Thank the rabbit for its meat and stop anthropomorphizing your food. The rabbit cant talk to you or cryd cause either you would of gotten it and killed it humanely or a coyote would have gotten it and ripped it to shreds. Its do or die out there and passisim wont keep you alive.

[koolcece22]

Enter Venomgirl

Ch.14

Shade’s Pov 

I groaned as I hung up on Miguel, he’s on my Earth taking care of things, and Timothy is with him. I don’t like the fact that Timothy was there at my hideout too. He sneaks in when I’m not there to give me food and games. He knows that I don’t want anyone near me, but he also worries. Ano kusogaki…

I decided to just get some sleep, Kuro is knocked out and it’s night time on this Earth. For once I’m not hungry, not like can eat anyways when there’s hundreds of things on my mind. I took a deep breath to try to clear my mind and turn off feeling anything…until darkness washed over me.

“ Old man…what are we going to do…you don’t want me…to hunt him…down.”

“Patience _-_…we need him still…he has a great deal…with our work…hurt him…I’ll hurt… you…

What is this? I couldn’t tell if this was a dream or something else. I was looking through the eyes of Carnage. Looking down and seeing my body as a gooey red mass. There was someone in front of me sitting down talking to me or more like Carnage. I couldn’t make out their face.

“You promise once…this is over…he’s mine…”

I can hear the other man chuckling. It made me sick just listening to it. Something about it was so off it reminded me of…HER. 

“As long as it doesn’t interfere with business.”

~

I woke up in cold sweat. I couldn’t breath and my claws were out. My tendrils lashed at anything that was near it. I quickly took a few deep breaths to get my body back to normal. After a few minutes, the tendrails went back in and my hands were declawed. I groaned as I turned to Kuro who was laying on my back to see if I was ok. She didn’t say a word, guess that meant I was more worked up than I thought. 

Since I’m now up, I decided to just walk around this place. If I’m going to be stuck here for a while, I might as well try to learn the ins and outs. I got dressed and headed out of the lab, till I overheard someone.

“Hang on Miles, I’m sending help as soon as I can.”

It was Jess’s voice and she sounded distressed. I can hear her baby crying too. I can feel the fear coming from them and it was making my head spin. I walked up to her make sure she was ok.

“Uh Jess? Is something wrong?”

Jess turned to me with a worrying look in her eyes. She tried calming her baby who was crying probably because she didn’t like seeing her mom be stressed out. 

“Miles and Hobie are in trouble. The anomaly they were fighting is a Spot variant and a very dangerous one at that. They’re going to need back up cause he caused a ton of damage and is endangering so many lives.” She then pulled up a screen as we both saw Hobie and Miles struggle against a guy with no face and spouting holes from his body. 

“All the other spiders are busy and I don’t know who to send-”

“I’ll go.”

Jess looked up at me surprised. Before she could say anything, I transformed to my costume and put on my face mask.

“Look, I might not have full control of my powers or be as heroic as you guys, but I can’t let anyone who was nice to me get hurt. I would never let it down.” 

“Fine, I don't have much of a choice do I?” Jess asked without further argument. She got off the platform and opened a portal.

“You have your commuters watch? I’ll send you the location. and hurry to them. Got it?”

I nodded as I jumped in, with all the flashing lights and then before I knew it I landed on an Earth that reminded me of that Kirby game, the one with yarn. I landed on the very soft ground. It really looked like I’m teleported to the game. Then I heard screaming as I saw yarn people in a burning building caused by a yarn-like fire. I quickly rushed to it, seeing the building starting to collapse from the fire. I jumped in through the window to see Hobie keeping the building up while there were six yarn people near him. They were too scared to move. Hobie looked up at me, if it wasn’t for the mask, I could tell he was straining keeping the building up.

“Hey mate, finally someone got their bloody ass here.” He said still having time to joke while he and everyone around him are endangered. I quickly wrapped my tendrail arms around the six yarn people and Hobie and quickly got them out of the building as it collapsed and not a moment too soon. 

I looked around to see if everyone ok, once I knew they were ok, I ran to Hobie to check if he was ok. He was dusting himself off, and then I realized something.

“Hobie, where’s Miles?” I asked now, noticing he wasn’t with Hobie. 

“He’s fighting the Spot. Come on, we can’t leave him hanging.” He said as he swung away to lead me to Miles. I just hope he’s ok. I hoped to follow as fast he can as a black hole opened up in front of us and Miles was throw out of the hole. Hobie was able the catch him before he hit the ground. 

“Miles, mate! You ok?!” Hobie asked. Miles coughed and let out groan.

“I’ve been better man.” he said as got up, looking all beat up. A green spot opened up in front of us, then coming out of it was a guy that was covered in multi color spots all over his body and he had no face, only a pink hole.

“Well well well, and this was the great Spider-Man that took out the other me? Man you’re lame.” He said in a mocking tone.

“Yeah well you’re very colorful Spot, ate too many Skittles?” Miles said as he got in a fighting stance. I did the same as I brought my claws out and my eyes turned red to hyperfocus on my target. If he had a face he probably looked at me up and down.

“Whoo! You’re different! You sure your Spider-Woman?” 

“Who said I was?” 

“You’re not? Cool! I have no hang-ups kicking your ass a bit more!” he said as a red spot opened up and to my surprise flame came out from it. I dodged it but grazed my arm as I hissed in pain.

“Watch out! Each spot has a different element come out of it and he’s immune to glitching!” Miles said as he dodging an black and white hole. Hobie was dodging water from the blue holes. Miles threw something at me. “Catch!” I caught it and saw it was like bracelet similar to the one I wore when I first got dragged into this mess.

“We have get this on him. It’ll disable his spots.” Miles then went invisible, but this Spot guy caught on and summoned a bunch of multicolored spots around us. 

“Not this time you brat!!” he roared as a bunch of spots unleashed things at us. Water, fire,air, ice, lighting, and earth all at once. Hobie grabbed me while I shield myself with the tendrils. 

“The fucking cunt is almost worse then Miles’s Spot.”

“He has his own Spot?” I asked. Hobie just smirked, but I then saw another hole open underneath him and a giant iceberg came out of it. It hit him on the chin and lauched him far.

“Hobie!!” I called to him as watch him get hurt. I can hear the muilticolored Spot guy laugh twistedly.

“Serves him right. Not bringing out that other brat before I-” I didn’t let him finish as I charged at him on all fours and pinned him down to the ground. If he had a face he’d look surprised. I pinned all his limbs to ground, so hard that I could feel his bones cracking, not like care at this point. I saw a yellow hole open in front of my face knowing something about come out from it, but before something could come out,  Miles came out of nowhere and placed the bracelet on the Spot.

“Got you, you knock-off heifer!” Miles said out breath. Guessed he dodged the hole too. He then placed a cage device on the Spot which caused him disappear. I got up then both me and Miles rushed to Hobie to check on him to see if he ok. Hobie was still on the ground trying to get up but couldn’t.

“Hobs, you good man?” 

“Had better days mate. My spider-sense was so off from that guy.”

“Me too.” Miles tried to get Hobie up by putting his arm around his shoulder. I got the other arm as we walked to the portal that one of them made. 

“The clean up crew will be here. Let’s take him back to my place.”

I nodded. Not like I have a choice anyway.

Miguel’s Pov 

“Does your watch have alien games on it?” Timothy asked me his tenth question. I just rolled my eyes. When will this kid stop calling me an alien? Lyla was getting a kick out of this and recording this rare conversation I was having with a child, with me scolding them. I decided to look at the map of the area. From the factory, the Alchemax HQ wasn’t too far from here. The other noteworthy thing was that there was a castle nearby. 

“Hey! That’s the Castel Sant’Angelo! That’s where the Empress lives.”

“You guys have an Empress?” I asked all we knew about this Earth is what horrible things Alchamax and their Spider-Woman had done, but I didn’t want to explore this deep on this Earth. 

“Yea! Wait. there's no alien queen you follow?” Timothy asked as his tentacles grabbed another snack from the bag. 

“No, for the last time, I’m not an alien. Dios mío.”  I said. 

Soon two alerts went off, one from my watch, and the other from Timothy’s phone. We both looked down at our devices. 

“ Alert! Alert! Anomaly located on Earth-2424. Variant: the Vulture”

I groaned, why is it always a shocking Vulture?! He must have come from the use of Earth-2424’s collider, but there was no abnormality. Even Lyla should have picked it up since we were so near the source. Before I could head out I saw Timothy quickly show me his phone to see the news on it.

“Empress has been kidnapped by unknown beings.”

“Meirda.”  

I had no time to look at the rest of the report. I quickly headed to the location of where the two might be. It was near the castle that Timothy was talking about, I made a portal there since it was way faster than swinging to it. Once I got there, I found myself  on one the roofs of the castle seeing the destruction that the Vulture  had caused: turned over cars, people screaming, the Earth’s police trying to secure the scene. I swung around to see where they could be only for a evil laugh to draw my attention.

I looked up to see the Vulture but he looked like a weird fusion of a beetle and a vulture. Probably from a bug Earth. but I don’t dwell on it, more focused on the person held under his arm. They were wrapped in a webbing of some sort, I’m guessing that was the empress.

“Hey, bug creep! How about you come down and talk!?” I yelled at him trying to get his attention as he was flying away. He looked back at me with a glare.

“I’m not in the mood for arachnids. But this one will be a treat!”  he said as he showed me his tongue that looked like a stinger that dripped with some viscous. Without hesitation, I launched my red web at him and got his right foot. With my strength, I was able to bring him down. It must have surprised him because he drops the cocoon, and dropping my webs jump forward to catch the trapped victim. But as I do I see the Vulture couldn’t catch himself, falling into the street below

Delicately, I used the blades on my right forearm to cut the cocoon, to reveal the Empress that was inside. My eyes widened when I saw her. Her long pink and white hair fell over her heart shape face, complimenting her warm brown skin. Her eyes were different than I remembered but I could never forget her face.

“Tempest…?” I said quietly. She looked at me with confusion and fear. Drawing back, Probably from just being kidnapped and not wanting to trust someone right away. Before I could say anything else, I felt someone coming from behind. When I turned around, I saw two people, Arachnidqueen and a scientist-looking guy. He was in an 1800s-century steampunk outfit that reminded me of Spider-lady’s outfit. Standing there, I didn’t know what to do; run or make sure Tempest was safe, but Arachnidqueen didn’t waste any time to cease a new opportunity, projecting in her voice and saying,

“My fair lady, you have found MY newest sidekick: Arachnidman!” she proclaimed. I looked at her as if she was crazy. Scratch that, she is crazy. 

“Oh? He is one of your newest members?”Empress Tempest asks shyly, looking between the two of us, cementing another difference between this one and the Tempest I know. I helped her up and noticed she was tall, almost 6’5. She turns to me with her rainbow eyes.

“Thank you Arachnidman.”

“It's Spider-Man, and I’m not her sidekick,” I stated, not wanting to be a part of this scheme that Arachnidqueen was playing. She didn’t like that as the next thing I knew her webs were wrapping around my arm. They were thin but I could still feel them thanks to my suit, She keep up her fake smile as she turn to the Empress again.

“Oh, he’s quite the joker you see. Dr. Rose will take you to your sister. Penny was very worried about you and sent us as soon as we got here. And don’t worry she took care of that person that tried to kidnap you. All you have to do is tell your people that Tempest of the Divine is safe.” 

Tempest nodded with her head down, almost as if she felt shameful, and start to walk over to Dr.Rose. If she had the same sense of smell I have, she could smell the blood coming off from him. This man reeked of bad news, and as much as I wanted to grab her and take her away from these people, I knew it was a bad idea since I didn’t know how the canon works on this Earth. 

Once Tempest was far away and couldn’t see me or Arachnidqueen, she grabbed me, trying to pin me down.

“Look you…spider demon I don’t know who you are but-”

Swiping up with my claws, I break free of her webbing, attacking back with my own. Once she’s caught in the net trap, struggling but unable to get out, I hope down the other slanted rooftops and battlements to get to the street. But beside the damage he caused the Vulture was nowhere in sight Then I remembered what Archnidqueen said, that this Penny person took care of him.  

“ Shock . ”I hissed, it made worse by the sirens I hear coming my way.

The closer they get the louder Arachnidqueen starts shouting, now yelling at them to get me. Running across the street into the city, I slip into the nearest alleyway and have Lyla change my suit into what counted as regular clothes for this world. Taking the path I walk around trash and through puddles, sometimes hoping gates, until I’m out on the other side of this alley and around other people walking on the streets. They were clearly not bothered by all the action earlier just a few blocks and I use that to blend in with the crowd. As soon as I was far enough away from the scene I was going to get some answers 

~

Third person

The bug Vulture was all bloody and bruised. He lost his food to Spider-Man! he was pissed off, She was the perfect food for him, a bright moth like her. He cursed at this. He tried to fly back up there but he was pulled down by something. He couldn’t see anything but it felt like a bunch of hands grabbing him. The next thing he knew, he was in a vehicle as it moved, Staring down at him was a woman, he couldn’t see her face, only her pink glowing eyes.

“Vulture. Earth- 6465. I was told you would be of great use to us, but now I see you won’t.” the woman says in an ice tone. It put Vulture’s instincts on edge. He was about to attack her until he noticed that his arm wasn’t there. 

His blood ran cold when he saw it on the floor. 

“Mr. Vulture, I don’t like people interfering with my plans. It takes time and effort to formulate a new one. “I asked the others whether you would be of use, and they said there were others we could use instead. You are no longer wanted” 

Vulture was shaking now more than ever. He felt them. The hands again. 

“Wait! Wait! Whatever you need I can get it for you! Or do want someone dead?! I’m your guy just-” but he never finishes his plead as he was cut off and on the flood. 

“Why would I need help from a beetle when I have a spider?”

[paperstarwriters]

The arcana crew as beast-kin

Why? Because I wanna :P

General notes:

Everyone is based off of the card they’re associated with

Beast-kin tend to have magic that lets them look human (three forms; 1: anthropomorphic beast, 2: human with animal ears/wings and tails, and them as a normal human—I’ll be focusing on the animal aspects)

Just because they can do glamour magic doesn’t mean they can do other types of magic.

They still have their familiars, don’t worry.

If you wanna reference for the first form, just watch Beastars. The design is pretty similar (mainly thinking about the birds)

If you wanna reference for beast-kin in general check out the manga “Milady Just Wants to Relax” it’s what I’ve based the abilities off of and just beast-kin in general.

Asra

This sly fox :)

It’s probably because of my ties with anime but I imagine him like a multi-tailed fox

It’s purely so that you have more tails to cuddle and snuggle with.

You know how when foxes are in the snow they leap into the air then get their whole upper half stuck in the snow?

Well, when Asra hears something they want to catch, or they’re playing with Faust, they sometimes just... well....

It’s funny to see honestly.

Lowkey acts like a dog sometimes. They Loves the pats and chin scratches he can get and will whine until you give him more.

Sometimes you wake up to their tail(s) in your face. Good or bad, you decide.

In most folklore that have them, foxes aren’t exactly trusted, so often, Asra uses his glamour to make himself look like a human. However, when a customer runs unsavoury or maybe there’s just some mean brat that he wants to scare, his shadow still shows off his ears and tail(s)

Cuddles??? Cuddles!!!! Foxes are just so fluffy... Asra is no different. (In fact he might just be even fluffier)

Hate to delve a little into angst territory, but as a child since he was an orphan and all, Asra probably learned to basically act like a dog or a cat depending on the person to get more food, or to convince them that they’re a harmless beast-kin.

Nadia

Design wise, I love humanoid bird designs with their wings doubling as their arms and hands. Don’t ask me how this works logically right now we’re talking about crazy fantasy elements anyways, let me have this.

One thing I cannot get out of my mind is:

Nadia has her back to Lucio and he’s just talking and chattering nonsense. Then Lucio says something insanely stupid or offensive and whoever is talking to Lucio can see Nadia behind him just—

Whips her freaking head around 180°

It’s worse if she’s somewhere dark cause then you just see two red eyes coming into view as she slowly turns to glare at you.

Our queen is proud of her pretty talons, honestly probably spends a day sharpening them with Portia.

Goes out flying with Chandra at dusk if she has the time, and if you can fly (via spells, wings, a broomstick, etc.) you’re welcome to come along

Super accurate hearing. Honestly. It’s hard to hide an injury from Nadia even without her being an owl but she hears you Yelp in pain on the other side of the palace and she’s there in minutes.

Pretty problematic when she has headaches though :(

Preen feathers with her!! She’ll love having you card your fingers though her feathers making them less itchy. You’ll often help her preen after a bath, but honestly she’ll appreciate the sentiment anywhere but during an important meeting. It’s hard to concentrate when you’re providing her such wonderful affection.

Please don’t make owl jokes. She doesn’t like them. Sometimes she just avoids saying “who” so people don’t make that annoying joke. (It’s Natiqa’s favorite joke to make please spare Nadia the pain.)

“...and to whom will I be sending this?” “don’t you mean to “who” Dia?” *glare*

Julian

This is a happy raven ok? HAPPY. no birdie in a cage, ok?

The look we all know is probably his second form leaning to the first. Nadia’s would look somewhat similar

Crows & ravens are pretty dramatic birds. Reminds you of someone doesn’t it?

Idk if Edger Allan Poe even exists in this world, or any variant of it, but if it does... ooohhh if it does... this guy is totally gonna recite the poem in a dramatic flourish, and when he’s drunk you can sometimes find him chanting “ever more” same applies to any and all raven/crow themed media.

Screams. A lot. “Caw, caw b**ch” or “quoth the raven: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”

Once convinced a bunch of birds to just go n take a dump on Lucio & his statue. He helped the servants clean when the work was dumped on them but they all agreed the bleat he made was hilarious(more on that later)

Shiny thing collector. Portia tried to get him to clean his stuff up but he has since bribed her out of it with a ball of yarn.

He and Portia make an odd pair of siblings, they’re still pretty much the same though. Crows are kinda just cats with wings.

“One day Illia, I’m probably just gonna eat you.”

*overly dramatic offended gasp*

All in good humor lol

Speaking of, their familiars are the same animal as they are!

So sometimes Julian scoops up Malak and says in a dramatic fashion (because however else would he say it) “I’ve found you my long lost brother! Oh how I’ve missed you!”

Portia does the same (more on that later)

Because his sister is a cat, Julian sometimes does a lot of cat-like things. (Case in point, he bleps. Tongue just kinda left out after yawning or something.)

Flies around with Malak often, like Nadia does, and sometimes carries Portia around with him. Will do the same for you if you want him to, sometimes if you don’t want him to as well. Expect to be grabbed from the ground and flown up into the sky at some point.

Bread. Boy loves his lobster claws but bread is a close second. “Aww yisss motha freaking bread crumbs”

Sometimes on a bad day, he just walks in dragging Pepi behind him who has her mouth latched on his tail

Portia

(If this were modern times) “you know, like, nya~!”

Look. Portia is so sweet to be around. But take that plus PURRING? And a soft as all frick FUR?

Honestly I think that sometimes when with Nadia has a bad headache, Portia purring is a great way to calm her down. You—you lucky MC, get to fall asleep to that.

She falls asleep on your lap and you are stuck there. Bound by a rule that transcends time and space. Her purring does little to aid the fact that YOU NEED TO PEE. The universe does not care of your internal tides, for your lover, who is also a cat, rests in your lap.

When she’s chasing down Julian for something stupid he often yells about being hunted. All in good fun!

“Mazelinka!!! Portia’s hunting me again!!!” “I wouldn’t be chasing you if you’d just clean your stuff!!!!”

Small boxes are her jam! Julian hates them, and like other birds doesn’t like closed spaces, but Portia loves em.

Good at squeezing into and out of tight places. Which is really helpful for sneaking around, curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.

Swishy swishy tail.

Cast a little light spell for her to case down. She loves it, you love it, Pepi loves it— everyone wins! (Except for the furniture she crashes into)

Yes, she has picked up Pepi before and yelled very loudly for Julian to hear (often after he’s made the joke of his long lost brother Malak) “Oh Pepi, you’re my favorite sister!!!”

On a bad day, Malak may be found in Portia’s mouth. He’s completely unharmed if only a little ruffled, but it’s gotta be a pretty bad day to find her doing that.

If Camio is in her mouth it’s same business as always. She won’t kill hem either but if Mr. Sh**bird doesn’t shut up she’ll make him shut up. You don’t even know why he keeps coming back.

Not all cats like cuddling, but like Pepi, Portia LOVES it. So long as you’re the right person and not someone unpleasant.

Please don’t step on the tail.

As much as she doesn’t like baths she still does properly was herself. She just really doesn’t like it when her fur is all wet and clings to her body. Do you have a spell to dry her off quickly? Please use it. Save her the misery.

Muriel

pretty sure he’s even bigger as a bear. Like, it’s probably because of the added fur but— woah... Big. Bear.

Big arse bear with scars is SUPER intimidating buuuuut you saw him sitting in the sunlight with Inanna once, just napping in the sun. He looked so peaceful and so dang fluffy!!

He enjoys headpats and gets very flustered at belly rubs. He’s seen you do so to Inanna many times probably kinda wanting you to do the same to him though he would never willingly admit it.

When you two get closer expect to spend some time with his head in your lap. Pat his head rub his ears, Inanna may get jealous if you don’t also provide her attention

Just don’t let him fall asleep there, he’s gonna have a sore back later and you’re going to have numb legs.

Hunting, swimming, carrying you, this boy can do it all.

Unlike his usual(cannon) self, Muriel probably doesn’t carve any bear statures. The only one he’d have was probably a gift from Asra. Carves birds, bunnies, foxes, and wolves instead. Does NOT carve goats. Never have never will.

Again I hate to go int angst but Muriel probably wants to get his claws removed somehow. It’d hurt and it probably insanely unsafe, but they were used as weapons before and its one of the things on him that everyone is afraid of. If he could he’d probably try to change his teeth too.

Show him that claws aren’t something to be feared. They don’t have to be a weapon. They help him climb and hunt food and sometimes to even carve wood. Like humans and knives, his claws aren’t bad or inherently evil, and neither is he.

Giant. Teddy Bear. You will be getting hugs and falling asleep with a Giant Teddy Bear.

He probably keeps in his mostly human form though, because he stands out less that way and he looks a little less intimidating.

Short little bear tail on his butt. Plz don’t touch, he’s going to be blushing so hard if you do (let’s be honest, that’s all the more reason to do so)

In “Milady Just Wants to Relax” Beast-kin are feared as monsters and I don’t think it’d do Muriel any good to have to live with that kind of fear from everyone. However, when you come around un afraid and eager to provide head-pats, but patient enough to let him get comfortable with it, Muriel will probably start using less energy to try and glamour himself.

Sometimes he’s so caught up with you that when you go to the market together he forgets to cast a glamour. While some do get scared off most of the people who you buy from are only a little surprised and take things in stride. They still treat him like he’s human, and he’s forever grateful for that.

If I could write a beast-kin version of his route, the moment you and Muriel meet Morga is probably when you first realize he isn’t human. And it’s because Morga pointed it out.

“Why didn’t you fight? As a beast you’re stronger than them.”

He knows you’ve spent time with Asra but he probably assumed they kept it hidden from you most of the time.

Just love him please. Platonic or romantic doesn’t matter, just give him headpats and belly rubs and boop his nose. Keep him assured that you aren’t afraid of this giant teddy bear.

Lucio

We know of both first and second forms. They’re pretty much cannon, but just not a ghost.

Which means you finally get to pet the fluffy white fur.

This also means his horns can do an irritating amount of damage.

Also he’s so much more noisier now

*loud stupid goat noises*

It’s fun to make him bleat a lot. He tends to bleat when embarrassed. If you’re topping him expect a bleat every time you pin him to the wall.

Tries to butt heads with EVERYONE. Please stop him, Lucio is the only prey animal in the lineup!

Seriously, how has he survived this long?? Muriel is a bear! he could just.... chomp.

not that he would obviously, but I don’t think Asra would hesitate after what he’s done to you and his parents...

Portia too for that matter, if she realized that Lucio had forcefully given Julian the plague, Lucio would be forever running from a feral cat.

I know he’s probably skilled in fighting or whatever, enough to take down various fantastical beasts, but stiiiiiiilllll.....

Is it obvious I dislike Lucio?

Grouchy bias aside, Lucio is really good at climbing. Like I’m pretty sure he’s a sword fighter so just imagine him leaping onto ledges in order to get the high ground.

Still uses eyeliner. I don’t know how since he has fur sometimes, but yeah, he still somehow uses eyeliner.

Honestly he probably keeps in a mostly human form or just entirely human form for that reason exactly. It’s just easier to look good when he’s more human.

But if you wanna pet his luxurious fur then he is all but willing to take on his goat form. In fact, if he turns into his goat form around you (which is always) he pretty much expects you to brush his fur or just run your hands through his fur. He will whine very loudly if you don’t.

Spare everyone else’s ears (especially Nadia’s) and just give him the head pats.

[patriciasage]

Title: double trouble

Author: Patricia_Sage

Fandom: The Adventure Zone - Amnesty

Pairings: Indrid Cold/Duck Newton, Dani/Aubrey Little (mentioned)

Summary: 

Aubrey feels like her heart has crawled up into her windpipe. The flame in her hand flickers erratically. Two copies of Duck stand before them, breathing hard and holding their hands in the air. Ned, pointing the NARF blaster at them both, is attempting to appear confident, but Aubrey can tell he’s panicking.

“Shit, Duck,” Aubrey says, “Why didn’t we think of a code word?”

[posted in full below the break, but you can find me on AO3]

Aubrey is scared shitless, but she won’t admit it.

This abomination isn't like anything they’ve faced. Before, hunting them felt like finding a dangerous animal that had to be put down. This one is intelligent and intentional, and the attacks are personal. Knowing the abomination had taken Dani’s form sends a shiver down Aubrey’s spine.

Eugene had told Duck that he had seen some ‘alien activity’ at Pins & Needles, the bowling and knitting club, so the Pine Guard was sent to investigate.

“You’re not supposed to split the party,” Aubrey whispers.

“But a group of three people cannot investigate two noises at once, Aubrey,” Ned replies, continuing to sweep the staff room with his flashlight. Aubrey is comforted by the flame in her hand as both a light source and a weapon. “Besides, Duck can take care of himself. He has a sword, for goodness sake.”

“Yeah, but he doesn’t have his powers anymore and he didn’t bring his helmet! I’m worried about him.”

“There’s only the bathrooms left to check and then we shall be reunited. Nothing to fret about, my dear.”

Except, there is something to fret about. A shout echoes through the building, followed by a loud crash. Ned and Aubrey look at each other for a second before sprinting toward the sound. “Duck!” Aubrey calls. A loveseat is overturned in the knitting area and a ball of yarn has made its way halfway down one of the lanes. There’s no sight of their friend.

The phone behind the front counter begins to ring. Before Aubrey can think about answering it, there’s another sound.

A crash followed by some swearing. It’s coming from the area behind the lanes. Ned makes his way to the carpeted path on the edge of the room. Aubrey runs directly down Lane 3, her combat boots skidding slightly on the smooth wood. When she reaches the end of the lane, she doesn’t stop to think before she hits the floor. She propels herself into a slide, feet first, crashing through the bowling pins and the plastic curtain and emerging in the back room. Ned flings open the door, out of breath, just after Aubrey gets to her feet. They take in a strange and frightening sight.

Duck is on the floor and he is grappling with someone who is also wearing a ranger uniform. The person underneath clips him with a punch to the side of the head and dislodges him. It’s dim in this back room but Aubrey can see his opponent’s rugged features, now. It’s Duck.

Duck reaches amongst some bowling pins and retrieves Beacon. He swings it down with ferocity and Aubrey lets out a startled shout as it moves toward her friend’s face. But the attack is intercepted by another Beacon. The two swords wrap around each other like snakes, spitting insults.

“False! Ephemeral!” One of them snarls.

“Pathetic duplication! You cannot compare to Beacon!” The other shouts.

“Fuck,” Aubrey says.

Ned steps forward in the hallway behind the pin-dispensing machines. Aubrey clambers down next to him as he draws the NARF blaster. “Halt, Ducks!” Ned commands. “Step away!”

Both Ducks look up from their tangled position on the floor. The one on top attempts to yank Beacon back, but the two swords are linked together. The force of their sword tug-of-war causes both weapons, still entangled, to be flung in the air. One of the Ducks reaches for Beacon, but Ned takes a threatening step forward. “Hey!” They both freeze. “Stand up and kick the swords to me.”

Aubrey feels like her heart has crawled up into her windpipe. The flame in her hand flickers erratically. Two copies of her friend stand before them, breathing hard and holding their hands in the air. Ned is attempting to appear confident, but Aubrey can tell he’s panicking. “Shit, Duck,” Aubrey says, “Why didn’t we think of a code word?”

They speak at the same time: “I told you!” / “No shit, Aubrey.”

“Alright. Everybody, remain calm,” Ned says authoritatively. He levels the NARF blaster between them. “Tell me something that only Duck would know.” It’s incredibly cliché. Aubrey resists the urge to roll her eyes.

The two Ducks speak at once, again: “Uh, that we hooked up?” / “Like how we slept together eight years ago?”

Aubrey’s jaw drops and she looks over at Ned, scandalized. Ned adjusts his grip on his weapon, flustered and embarrassed.

Aubrey hits him in the arm with her non-flaming hand. “Ned, you idiot, the Bom-Bom looked through all your memories when you were in that hotel!”

“Right,” Ned mumbles, blushing. He clears his throat and attempts to look intimidating again. “Tell us something only Aubrey would know!” Aubrey groans in frustration.

Duck One, on the left, speaks up. “We don’t have time for this, y’all. The more we fuck around, the more time it has to figure out how to get past us.”

“Well, what am I supposed to do?” Ned shouts.

“We can’t let it get away again, Ned!” Duck One reiterates. He takes a deep breath and steadies himself. “Shoot us both.”

“What!?” Duck Two protests.

Aubrey sees Ned make a decision. Her heart races, but she’s frozen to the spot.

Ned shoots the Duck on the right.

Except his flesh doesn’t come apart in scattered orbs of light. He doesn’t scream like a malfunctioning computer. Red blood, and lots of it, pours out of the wound in his thigh. Duck collapses with a very human yell. “Fuck! Ned!”

The abomination takes advantage of this moment of distraction to create a rift. It steps through, smiling with Duck’s face. The rift closes and Ned’s second foam bullet embeds itself into the wall.

Aubrey and Ned run to their fallen friend. Aubrey feels sick at the sight of his pants darkening with blood. Duck lifts his shaking hands off of the wound for a second before pressing them down again, hard. “It’s not – fuck! – Doesn’t look like you hit an artery. But holy shit, Ned! I could never take a bullet, but I really can’t take a bullet right now, man; I’m just a regular guy! Fuck!”

“I’m so sorry, Duck. I thought it would be very improbable for the abomination to volunteer to be shot.”

“And you thought I would volunteer to be shot!? Fuck, man, you should have done what it said and shot us both. This is worst-case scenario shit right here. Dammit!”

“Yes. I’m –” Ned looks absolutely miserable, but he steels himself and turns to Aubrey, who has stalled next to the growing puddle of blood on the carpet. “Aubrey, go to the front desk and call an ambulance. Bring back the first aid kit under the counter.” He takes off his jacket and places it on Duck’s thigh, replacing the ranger’s hands with his own.

“How do you know it’s under the counter?”

“It’s always under the count– go, Aubrey!”

“Right!” She takes off running, this time through the door and along the side wall. She jumps over the counter and frantically scans over the bowling shoes before finding the landline on the wall.

The phone rings just as her fingers are about to touch it.

Aubrey answers, “H-hello?”

“The ambulance will take too long. I’ll be there soon.”

The voice is familiar, often heard through a telephone. “Indrid! Wait…was that you calling, before?”

“Yes, Aubrey,” he replies a little harshly. “I was going to tell you not to shoot my boyfriend.”

Her first instinct is to protest, correct him that it was Ned who pulled the trigger. Instead, she says, “I’m sorry.”

Indrid sighs and the sound pushes against the receiver. “No. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have raised my voice. I’ll be there soon.” The dial tone rings in her ears.

About five minutes later, the bell above the front door rings. Aubrey and Ned, crouched over their injured friend in the back of the alley, share a meaningful look. Duck is slumped against the wall, pale and bleeding through the bandages. They’re ready to protect him.

There’s a deep fluttering of wings and the scraping of claws on the wood flooring. Then…nothing. It’s almost impossible to hear footsteps on carpet. Aubrey raises a fist of flame and Ned readiest the NARF blaster at the door.

Ironically, they’re relieved to see a monster step through. He’s so tall he has to crouch under the doorframe, wings folded close to his body. His huge red eyes glow in the dim room, flickering in Aubrey’s light. A pair of clawed hands raise in response to Ned and Aubrey’s defensive stance, the other pair holding onto a white box. He chitters in a way that Aubrey assumes is meant to be calming. All she can focus on is the movement of his sharp, terrifying mandibles.

Duck speaks up from behind them, his voice weak. “Hey, darlin’.”

“Hello, Duck.” Indrid reaches out a clawed, dark hand and hands Ned another first aid kit. He must have brought this one from his Winnebago or from another room in the building. “You need to add more bandages – tighter – if he’s going to make it to the hospital.”

Ned nods and gets to work. Aubrey wonders absentmindedly why he’s so calm about this. The moment she saw the bullet go into Duck’s leg, she just about passed out.

Indrid turns to Aubrey and tilts his head to the side in a swift, insectoid motion. Aubrey has only seen him in his Sylph form once – the time they asked for his glasses at the Winnebago. If she didn’t know he was a friend, she would be absolutely terrified right now. As it were, she’s still a little unsettled by his proximity. He towers over her, dark and frightening.

Indrid seems to notice her reaction. Shoulders hunched a little, he draws a pair of glasses from a pouch on his waist (like a moth fanny pack, Aubrey thinks). When he puts them on, he becomes the pale, tall, slightly disheveled man she’s familiar with. He’s wearing an old sweater of Duck’s, emblazoned with one of The Smiths’ album covers. Indrid looks a little uncomfortable. Aubrey realizes with a jolt of guilt that it’s because of her.

“Oh, I’m sorry! I’m just not, you know, used to seeing you as the Mothman. You can take your glasses off if you want!”

“It’s alright, I understand,” Indrid replies. He fiddles with the large lenses and shivers a little. He keeps his disguise on. Aubrey feels bad for making him feel self-conscious. Empathetically, she thinks of how it would feel for people to look at her and act scared or unsettled. Just because he’s a giant, frightening moth doesn’t mean she should make him feel bad about himself.

Before Aubrey can make an attempt at a better apology, Ned speaks up. “Won’t you be spotted transporting him to the emergency room?”

Indrid’s head tilts back and he freezes for a moment, evaluating potential futures. He returns to the present with a sigh. “He’s going to pass out before we get there.” His hands clench in frustration. “I can’t carry him in my human form.” Indrid turns to Duck. “Sorry, Duck, I’m going to have to leave you on the sidewalk outside of the hospital and call in from a payphone. Too many questions.”

Duck manages a weak shrug and grimaces. “Well, shit. Alright. Let’s get this show on the road.”

Indrid glances over at Aubrey before taking off his glasses again. Aubrey makes sure to keep her face neutral as the Mothman appears in front of her once more. Ned scrambles out of the way. Indrid kneels and his claws dig into the carpet. When he stands up, he has Duck cradled gently in his top set of arms, the other two providing support. Duck is a big guy, but he looks almost small surrounded protectively by Indrid’s wings.

Aubrey thinks about how most people would find Dani scary in her Sylph form, but all Aubrey sees is the woman she cares about, the woman she would do anything for. Indrid must be like that for Duck. Even though the Mothman’s transformation is significantly more intense than Dani’s, this is his authentic self. As the four of them make their way out of the back room and past the bowling lanes, Aubrey can’t help but notice the comfort the two take in each other. Duck buries his fingers in some chest feathers while Indrid’s free hand gently strokes his hair. It’s kind of…cute.

Ned opens the front door to the bowling alley and peers around the parking lot. “Coast is clear,” he says, holding the door open for everyone to step through.

Aubrey turns to Indrid. “Take care of him.”

“I will,” Indrid replies, then takes off into the sky with a powerful beat of his wings.

Aubrey and Ned watch until Indrid’s form disappears into the night sky. Ned sighs and Aubrey looks over at him. He looks like he’s about to crumble from guilt. He’s much bigger and taller than her, so all she can do is place a comforting hand on his arm.

“Come on, baby driver, let’s hit the road.”

[capriciouslyterminal]

Wolves Don’t Do True Love’s Kiss

(Aka I wrote an Ishimondo Wolf Among Us oneshot thing instead of editing a paper and I’ve never posted my writing on tumblr before).

~Full idea credit goes to @andy-deer​ and his amazing art if you like Danganronpa or just cool art you really should follow him~

~Mondo’s the big bad wolf, Ishimaru’s the blind prince from Rapunzel. I know in the original fairytale I think the prince is blinded by thorns but listen a version of him being blinded by snakes lives in my brain from somewhere and I couldn’t not write it.~

~P.S. I don’t know that much about Wolf Among Us and I am sorry about that~

Mondo Oowada had been having the same dream a lot lately, ever since that night he shoved the guy who used to be The Minotaur through the display case of a yarn shop.

Normally he and the other fables didn’t have such violent altercations now that he split off from the pack, but then the detective called in a fucking favor from the big bad wolf himself.

And what else was he supposed to do? When the guy wouldn’t own up to the blood of all those teenagers stuck in his teeth and he wanted to put his horns through the dancing princess turned detective and her naive sidekick?

If he’d known the whole thing was going to lead to a blind prince from another story storming up to his apartment from the DA’s office to yell at him about property damage and chances of exposing the whole fable community at two in the morning while he was trying to sleep of the few times he got gored, he wouldn’t have bothered. 

It really wasn’t his fault The Minotaur couldn’t afford enough glamor to withstand a single punch. And he’d told the annoying little shit as much, but the whole thing inevitably meant that he was seeing a lot of Kiyotaka Ishimaru whenever he was roped into being the muscle behind Kirigiri’s investigations. Which was fine. And normal.

But then the dreams started after that night at the bar, and everything changed.

~*~

He doesn’t know when it changed, when he went from running in the forest of his mind on four feet to two as he slept.

He never lost the sights or the smells of the old forest that had no name. But now he ran it as a man. No matter the wolf he would always be deep in his heart.

It was something like when his brother died. He’d been too young, hadn’t even finished cutting his teeth, when he was shunted from the dreams of hurtling through the night at the front of the pack to hurtling alone through the end of days.

There the isolation was a nightmare, a punishment, but this is not the same. This is a simple shifting of reality.

Sometimes he wonders, looking at the webs of veins stretched under the skin on the backs of his hands in the gray light of morning, when the glamor started to feel more real than his body. 

When he grew so used to the delicate tapping of hands, to standing tall and far from the ground, that the memory of the nights spent slinking through the shadows on his belly faded. He would never truly know when that was lost.

All that meant was that now, whenever he had to shift back, it was no longer the shrugging off of a costume like in the early days in this new town. 

It was shouldering back into an old coat, ill-fitting and smelling of pine, that stretched at the seams to hold him.

He was freezing now, dreaming, skin unprotected from the winter that could steal the breath from your lungs. He was running towards the tower with a panting in his heart and a frenzied howl in his mind. 

~*~

He mentioned it only once, over drinks.

Or, well, more specifically, only Mondo had the real drinks. Something old and amber that burned as it went down. Something served in a glass of gently melting ice that was always refilled whenever he shot a slip of teeth to the bartender and flexed his bloody knuckles while eyeing the shelves of glassware behind him.

The bartender in another life, another place, not that it mattered much anymore, had been a pig. Mondo could tell not just from the swell of his pale throat and the slight tilt of his nose, but the fear that sprang in the air as soon as Mondo had entered that first night in town. The man froze like he was still the prey.

As soon as he’d entered the establishment for the first time, and seen the bartender shakily reach to stroke the brick wall for comfort, he knew the little pig remembered him. Mondo hadn’t paid for drinks in four years, and he hadn’t even needed to threaten to blow down the joint.

Not that he would do that anymore. Now, with cigarettes and cash in the pockets of his long coat, he would have had some complaints for the structure of the building and nothing more to add. Now, he could have figured out how to bring it down with his fist in moments instead of having to empty his lungs.  

Getting Kiyotaka within the brickwork bar’s confines had been an accomplishment of its own, a sign of respect for their still growing friendship that made Mondo swell with pride and grin to himself at the sight of an old world prince crammed into a booth at his favorite dingy bar.

The first time he asked for drinks after a successful arrest, and had seen Kiyotaka nod against the neon backdrop of the city with an uncertain smile, he’d practically howled with glee. If he still had his tail it would have wagged.

 But getting him to sip anything harder than soda water was a losing man’s game.

~*~

The pines are so familiar he could think of them as his own brothers, feeding the deer whose innards he lived on before he found new villages to savage. Even as he left the skin of the wolf, he would never be free of this forest that still shuddered with his howls if he stopped to listen.

But the tower, crooked and dark against the snowy sky, is new. Rising from the thorny ground as if it had been summoned from Hell itself.

A break in the tree-line, a monument of dark stone frozen in a twisting shudder as it reached for the clouds. The single shining yellow window gleams like an eye watching him approach. 

If he saw eyes like than in an animal he’d think it was rotting from the inside out. He wouldn’t eat it, and instead leave it to bleed sluggishly into the soft earth.

The tower is sick.

A man is climbing it.

~*~

He’d been five drinks deep, warm in the belly and ready to curl up by the golden hearth that kept the bar warm, when it finally happened. He hadn’t actually curled up by a hearth in years, and would only consider it after five more drinks.

But needless to say, he was drowning in golden comfort when he’d asked about the tower. 

When he felt the air that had been so warm a moment ago freeze as the words left his mouth. A question that had been scratching at the backdoor of his mind since Kiyotaka had pounded on his door and demanded Mondo put on a proper glamor when he accidentally grabbed a hunk of his hair.

“It just doesn’t seem like you,” Mondo said. The words slurred, flowing between his teeth and tongue like a river. “A blind prince of all fuckin’ people. Breaking and entering.”

There was that twitch of an eyebrow, displeasure kept on a tight leash, that made Mondo’s heart clench with fondness. 

It was a feeling like he swallowed the sun, his gut full of light, only for it try to kick its way back up out of his throat.

“I wasn’t always–I did not break anything! And I entered with permission.” 

Kiyotaka had discovered the napkin dispenser on the table earlier in the night, sopping up a ring of condensation that Mondo had been happy to leave to sink into the table. He made use of it now, and quickly shredded a napkin between his pale fingers.

“Come off it, man.” Mondo chuckled, raised the glass to his lips, and took another swig. “What would permission to break into a tower in the middle of the fuckin’ woods even sound like?”

“I didn’t break into her tower.” Even blind, Kiyotaka knew how to glare with the best of them. Another napkin was plucked from the table, but he worried at it for a bit longer this time.

“She was screaming,” Kiyotaka said. “I was nearby, hunting, and at first I thought it was the wind. But then I really listened. And she was screaming.”

~*~

The man is up higher than the treetops, clutching the stones of the tower with his bare hands. The wind is whispering, the clouds humming in anticipation.

Mondo breaks into the space, and a name rings out like a bell in his throat. He howls with it, staring up at the figure as he runs. He is too far away to catch him should anything happen.

When the man turns to look down, all Mondo can see is the red pinprick of his eyes burning against the grey eternity of the sky. And his hands.

His fingers are bloody at the tips, streaks of crimson left on the stones. He broke his nails against the brick of the tower, flecks of scratched into his pale skin. He surely has been climbing for days and is nowhere closer to the top.

Even as he runs, Mondo knows that though he has hands, he cannot climb fast enough to reach him.

“Stop!” He hears himself roar. “You’ll fall.”

The man looks down, and Mondo feels his smile on the wind. He is weeping, tears freezing before they reach the ground to shatter into icy shards.

~*~

“What did you hunt?” Mondo was not sure where the words came from inside of him.

Kiyotaka’s sightless eyes were pale flecks of ice under his furrowed brow. He crumpled the napkin in his hands, and immediately tried to smooth it out with a regretful twist to his mouth.

“I don’t know for sure anymore…it was so long ago. But there was talk of a wolf, I think.”

He let the space hang between them, gave Mondo a chance to haul him up by his collar with a growl. But the rage never came. Mondo knew him now.

He continued on.

“I wasn’t much of a hunter. But I knew that my grandfather should have–,” his voice melted as it always did when the old king came into the conversation. “It is the royal family’s duty to protect their people.”

The freezing slush of the past seeped down Mondo’s spine. For a second he almost could see his breath, as if the old forest had risen back up around him.

For a second he could almost imagine it. Them meeting there. 

He could imagine himself standing on all fours heaving, staring into burning red eyes against a dark and ancient sky. A figure fit to stop his rampaging ways. Not a woodsman, crude and homely, but a prince. 

Would he have used a bow? A sword? What would have come first? A slice through Mondo’s belly or Mondo’s teeth in his neck?

But those times were long gone, and the quiet murmur of bar patrons tethered the two of them in the present.

“She screamed, and I followed the sound…and I found the tower. I called up to her.”

Mondo could imagine that with ease. Kiyotaka thundering out of the forest like a madman, yelling up at a witch’s tower to try and ascertain if a screaming woman needed his help. 

Kiyotaka trying to figure out the best way to help her as the sun went down and the temperature fell. 

Kiyotaka shedding a finely embroidered coat to climb a random ass tower despite any good sense he might have been taught.

His princely fingers, tapered and gentle.

“I thought she had lowered a rope. I didn’t know until I held it in my hands that it was her hair. Sometimes I can still feel the slick weight it.” 

His hands clenched, old scars scraped into the pads of his fingertips drawing across the table.

~*~

The man leans back, and with the gentle gasp of the wind, he falls.

Mondo is sure his heart falls with him

~*~

“She was so young. And so frightened, Mondo. I don’t think I’ll ever forget her face,” Kiyotaka said, stricken. “Her hair falling to the floor.”

Mondo was only aware of the thundering breaths he drew in and had to focus to release with care. The howling of the wind was still inside of him, screaming to be let out.

“I promised her I’d help her, find a way to get her out of that place. I had to.  It was a single room and it was freezing. In the middle of winter! Imagine it, Mondo, a single stone room is all you know for eighteen years. I think I was the first man she’d ever seen. She stared at me like she couldn’t understand what I was. She held my hands and…and she wept.”

His hands were shaking bad. Mondo focused on his breath and felt claws scrape somewhere down deep with his bones, hiding under the skin of a man.

“I promised her I’d help her because that was my duty to my people. Because she deserved more than to be a witch’s prisoner. I promised her that I’d keep her safe. I just needed a ladder, something so she could climb down. I had to go back for one, and she didn’t want to let go of my hand. I had to pry her fingers off my wrist. She cried after me.” He admitted it like some shame, like something heavy on his chest that Mondo understood.

“It took a full day’s ride to return. I hadn’t realized how far I’d travelled. And as soon as I found a ladder long enough I turned and went straight back. I think I almost killed my horse, but I couldn’t stop to think.” 

The words were falling out of him faster and faster. Mondo didn’t know how to stop him.

“When I got back, when I called up to her, there was no sound. She tossed nothing down for me. So I climbed on my own.” His fingertips twitched, a sardonic grin followed them and looked wrong on his face. “But I was too late. I wasn’t fast enough. She was not there to greet me upon my return. But the witch was.”

~*~

The man is caught in thorns. His fine clothes in the style of their homeland torn and dirtied. He is bleeding from his crown and moaning, but he does not scream. His bones are broken, his skin is bloody, his eyes are screwed tightly shut.

Mondo feels something terrible will happen once he opens them.

The snakes are looming, dry static across the ground.

Mondo flings himself into the thorns on instinct bred by his old skin and bellows at the pain of it.

~*~

Mondo suddenly reached out, on instinct bred by his old skin, and felt himself take Kiyotaka’s hand.

The prince of the old world was startled. Mondo heard the stutter of his heart. The gasp of his breath.

Mondo knew a want like a chasm, stretching and straining from his chest through his whole body. It drove him to hunt, to shatter, to shrink his pupils to slits, and to take all the world had with a guttural howl. This want shuddered through his body at the sight of Kiyotaka, golden in the light, parting his lips to speak.

He wants–he wants–he wants–

In a way he had not wanted since the old days.

~*~

He rips into the throats and bellies of snake after snake. He tears scale and muscle with his teeth and flings the corpses away with his hands until the ground is littered with them.

Only when they are all dead, when the root-like curve of their bodies are all he can see, does he turn back to the man. He whimpers and the tears leak from under his closed eyes. He is beautiful.

Mondo takes his face in his hands, feels the sharp press of his cheekbone against the palm of his hand, and moves close enough to feel the warmth of his shuddering breath on his face. Holding him close, their foreheads almost touching.

Mondo feels the venom drip from his lips now, venom from the throats of the snakes that would fall to the man’s eyes and have force him cry out while his body recoiled. Venom that would steal his sight and cast his eyes in icy nothingness.

But it is all he can do to press even closer, feel the man’s heart beat in one with his own, and ghost his lips over the chilled ones.

The man screams into the kiss, and Mondo howls with him.

He always wakes in a cold sweat, and the moon is full and staring down at him from the sky.

~*~

Kiyotaka had continued the story, Mondo had not listened, too entranced by the simple impossibility of holding Kiyotaka’s hand.

“I think she kept her there the whole time, Mondo. And I don’t know what I wanted to do but that woman…she told me I had failed to protect the girl and she–she grabbed me and…” 

Mondo could hear Kiyotaka’s heart thundering in his chest. Sweat was pouring down his forehead, tears welling up the creases of his eyes. It was like he could feel Mondo looking at him even as he kept his eyes downcast.

“And I fell.” His voice was hardly a rasp, utterly hollow. 

Again, Mondo moved on instinct.

Pulling Kiyotaka to him felt like coming home, squeezing his arms around his back as tight as he dared felt like obeying a rule of the new world. Like casting a glamor.

“Hey man, it’s alright now,” Mondo murmured. Something warm blossomed through the want in his chest, and it coated his voice.

“Mondo.” Kiyotaka’s voice was strangled, his arms hovered above Mondo’s back, as if he were unsure how to put them down.

“None of that shit matters anymore, yeah? You’re here now. With me. And I wouldn’t let anything like that happen to you again, swear on my fuckin’ life.”

Kiyotaka took in a shaking breath that hitched in his chest.

“We’re out of the woods, Taka. You and me.”

Kiyotaka let out the slightest sob, equal parts relieved and haunted, and finally wrapped his arms around Mondo. He surrendered himself into the embrace, and Mondo felt everything inside of him shift as Kiyotaka Ishimaru took up residence within the beating of his heart.

And everything changed, simple as that.

~Thank you for reading this, if you did! And thank you again to @andy-deer for their amazing art which has made me smile any day when I was feeling particularly down~

[gryfon-spanish-werewolf]

The Choice - Part 2

Part 2 of my elsanna Hulder/Valkyrie au :D I know I said I’d make them 1-1.5k but I guess my sweet spot is 2-3k ¯\_(^^;)_/¯  Good for y’all

I highly recommend reading Chapter 1 and/or the original concept for context because this chapter picks up EXACTLY where we left off. And I do mean exactly. ao3 and ff.net links are up too!

Shout out to @like-red-lads again for indulging me in the concept, @giuliaciulia89 bc I know you’ve been waiting patiently for this one, and a quick spike for @snowmanmelting since you asked ever so politely for a notification of publishing 💖

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The woman who still crouched naked in the water leveled a glare at the Valkyrie. “What do you mean you don’t know?”

Anna felt like someone had wedged the padding of her armor directly into her skull. Her thoughts zipped too and fro, bouncing off the sides while whatever still sane part of her brain jumped desperately in the middle, trying to grab even one coherent thought.

Who are you? Well that’s easy, I’m Anna, the Valkyrie! Wait no, no, I can’t say that, humans that are still alive can’t know that.

What are you doing here? So funny story - I felt like I needed to be here and find you and I know why but I can't tell you or you won’t believe me, or maybe worse you will believe me and then we’re still stuck because-

Life or Death?

This question was causing the most trouble. Anna felt the answer gallop up her throat again, only for it to wilt and corkscrew off somewhere else as it neared the tip of her tongue. It leaped up her legs and tornado’d around her insides like a rock trapped in a gale, bruising everything it touched, but still it didn’t make itself known to her. It was a pressure, the kind that rattled the lid of a pot over-boiling above the cookfire.

Anna shook her head, feeling more than a little dizzy. The remaining part of her brain that was still running around for a legitimate answer grew tired as well and sat down, which prompted Anna to do the same, plopping down onto the rock below her feet in an unceremonious heap. The woman across from her flinched.

“I guess I mean,” Anna replied slowly as she crossed her arms over her chest, “that I really don’t know. And that’s never happened before.”

The woman narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Which part?”

“All of them. Oh!” Anna pounded her fist into her palm. “Except the first question, I can answer that one. I’m Anna!” She grinned broadly, just like she had for the warrior in the battlefield. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“I wish I could say the same,” the woman groused, “but considering the circumstances, you will have to forgive me for not feeling the same.”

“It’s certainly odd,” Anna mused aloud, putting her chin in her hand. She missed the other woman’s exasperated expression entirely. “Today started out so normal but now everything is strange.”

“That I can agree with.”

“I know!” Anna threw her arms out. “First there was the fight, then my plans changed without warning and I miss my ride home, then I stumble-sprint through the forest following your voice and now you’re talking to me and--!” Anna pulled up short.

She was having a conversation with a human.

A live human.

Which meant…

“Hey, this is going to sound like a trick question but, you can see me, right?”

The woman blinked, a furrow deepening between her brows. “That… does seem like a trick question.” Anna waited patiently, and saw the moment the other woman realized she would have to answer: a defeated drop of her shoulders. “Yes. Yes I can see you.”

“Oh good!” Anna chirped. “I mean uh, not good, actually,” she frowned and looked to the side, thinking. “Well not baaaad.” Anna bobbed her hands in front of her, as though physically weighing the implications on a scale. “Just… unexpected, y’know?”

The look on the blonde’s face told Anna that she did not, in fact, know.

“I… can imagine that thinking you can’t be seen, only to be seen, would be… unexpected,” was the diplomatic reply.

But Anna had already retreated back into her own head, her mini-me having rested long enough to start picking up the pieces and sorting them into piles. Piles of Normal, piles of Weird, and piles of Highly Irregular.

Being seen by a living human was definitely Highly Irregular.

Maybe something had gone wrong with the magic today, or by leaving the company of her sisters the cloaking spell had frayed and broken with distance. Regardless, if this woman did not suspect Anna’s true nature, then she supposed it wasn’t a big deal. She still had the largest issue at hand anyway.

Again the Choice stirred under the skin of her palms, racing past her funny bone in a jolt and stinging the junction of shoulder and neck before disappearing like a snuffed candle.

“Any update on that second part,” a voice startled Anna from her thoughts, “or are we free to move on with our lives?” The woman in the water had started to shiver, goosebumps covering her arms and legs.

“I’m sorry!” Anna jumped up and reached out. “Here, let me help you up.”

The blonde looked at her hand like it was a poisonous snake. “I’m more than capable of getting out myself, thank you.” Her gaze flicked back up to Anna’s, “Especially because you won’t tell me why you’re here. Or you can’t remember, which I can’t say is any better.”

“Oh, right, well…” Anna withdrew her hand and rubbed the back of her neck instead. “I’ll let you do that then.”

A beat passed before something seemed to click in the woman’s brain. “You’re just going to stand there?”

“Huh? Yeah?” Anna cocked her head, “I mean, we’re both women.”

“We’re also strangers,” the woman responded, grinding the final word between her teeth.

“Sure but, it’s not a big deal, I’ve seen plenty of naked women.”

This time it was the blonde who blushed, making her hair stand out more starkly against her reddened skin. “Right,” she said flatly. “Be that as it may, if you’re so determined to stay I’d prefer it if you at least turned around.”

“I… of course. If it makes you more comfortable.” Anna spun on her heel, her back to the water. Throughout their conversation, the strength of the tugging had ebbed, less a riptide and more a kitten batting at a string of yarn, pulling against the middle vertebrae of her spine.

If the woman replied it was lost in the swoosh and splatter of water as she moved from the middle of the stream to the bank. Anna heard the droplets of water splash onto the rocks below, sometimes more, sometimes less. Perhaps she was wringing out her hair.

“Don’t peek,” the woman scolded.

“I wasn’t going to!”

“Prove it. Close your eyes.”

Anna nearly turned around to answer in spite, but caught herself and set her eyes straight into the trees. “I’m already facing away from you, isn’t closing my eyes a little much?” But Anna did as she was told.

“No,” came the muffled reply, as though the woman had turned away from her, also. There was a ruffle of cloth and the sounds of dressing, the clasp of a belt and the slide of shoes.

And then there was the knife.

It was nearly impossible for someone of Anna’s age and battle prowess to mistake the sound of a blade leaving it’s sheathe. And even if she had, the tether pressing against her back suddenly ignited - combusting, roaring and leaping against her like a brush fire.

In a heartbeat Anna whirled around, knees bent and legs spread apart. The woman stood before her a few feet away, now dressed, though water still dripped from her legs and soaked the fabric of her dress at the collar. Between them was a hunting knife, pointed at Anna’s heart.

“You’re armed!?” Anna blurted out.

“Isn’t everyone?” The woman called back, gesturing with the tip of the knife to Anna’s waist before aiming right back at her center. “And so are you, by the way.”

“Yes but that’s because I’m--!” Anna clapped a hand over her mouth in the nick of time. She couldn’t just say she was a Valkyrie, there had to be some kind of rule against that.

“A warrior, I know.” The woman scoffed. Anna swore for a moment her eyes flashed like the glint of sea rime at dawn but it was gone just as fast. “Come from the battle up the hill have you? Is that why you won’t tell me what you’re doing here, you’re not sure whose side I’m on? Whether I’ll run away from you or into your arms? Or are you a deserter? Tucking your tail between your legs and winding up here, caught without a backup plan?”

“Yes! No. What? Absolutely not. A-And no! In that order!” Anna straightened, rubbing a hand on her temple. Her head was starting to ache, not just from the situation (which was already far, far beyond what she’d ever imagined), but from the strain of the pull on her body. Never had it lasted so long or been so overwhelming. It trod up her sternum and into her throat, dancing along the edges of her jaw. Anna ground the heel of her forward foot into the rock below, needing to physically restrain herself from walking forward. The woman noticed her shift in posture and took a half step back. “Yes, I came from the battle,” Anna said, taking a deep breath. “But not because I was involved in it. I came here because… because I needed to find you. Because I heard you singing.”

Well that was true enough, Anna thought to herself. “Who lives and who dies is important to me,” she continued, finding her way through the half truths that would have to bear her along, like stepping stones made from clouds. “But equally important is that those who are not destined for combat are spared. That those whose lives are decided by other things are not drawn into battle needlessly.”

The woman knelt slowly, keeping her front towards Anna at all times while retrieving a bag from behind a rock. She slung it over her shoulder before speaking. “Oh, so you are a judge, too,” she said icily. “Well then decide. But bear in mind - your choice is not the only one guiding my fate today.”

Decide. Choose.

The words barked in Anna's head, bayed like hounds on the scent. The Choice bore down on her again, like the stones that crushed guilty men, one on top of another.

“My name is Anna,” she said gravely, drawing upon the power with which she made Choices before the war drums had even played their first beat.

“Part one,” the woman counted, standing tall.

“I came here to solve a mystery, to find whomever was at the end of a string… a song.”

“Part two…”

Anna felt it, the Choice zinging up her arm, raising the hairs on her neck, feeling the thrum of her heart in her chest. It was time.

“And I choose... to let you go.”

Silence passed between them, and then the woman frowned, the tip of her knife dropping just slightly. “What?”

“I mean, I never meant to keep you here, and I’m sorry that you felt threatened.” Anna placed as much compassion as she could muster into her words, which was quite a lot. One didn’t get good at comforting dead souls by being callous for hundreds of years. Besides, this woman was only human, and if there was a problem with Choosing, that wasn’t her folly but Anna’s, and something she needed to investigate on her own. “You must live somewhere nearby?” Anna coaxed. “The village southwest of here perhaps, down the hills? I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you safe. I won’t tell anyone you were here, just in case. But it’s not safe to stick around. You should go back home.”

“Home…” The word fell oddly from the blonde’s lips. “Yes I-, I’ll do that.”

Anna rocked back on her heels, hands settling genially on her hips. Despite the draw she still felt between her and this woman, it was manageable now. She wasn’t sure what she was going to tell her fellow Valkyries about this, but she’d cross that bridge when she came to it.

“If it’s all the same to you,” the woman said, interrupting Anna’s thoughts, “I’ll wait until you leave. You’ve made yourself more trustworthy than you first appeared, but I’d not like to take chances.”

Anna smiled despite the scrutiny. “Well I was going to offer to walk you home, but you seem like you can take care of yourself. That knife has hardly lowered once.”

“I think that’s a genuine compliment, for which I’ll say, ‘thank you’.” The flicker of a smile came and went in the dappled sunlight across the woman’s face, so quickly Anna almost missed it. “Don’t take this the wrong way… Anna,” the woman spoke as Anna began walking back into the forest, “but I hope I never see you again.”

The Valkyrie’s heart trilled at the use of her name, even as sadness dampened it’s cheer. It was entirely possible they’d never meet again. Perhaps on the next morn, battle long over, Anna would wake and the pull would disappear completely. Freed from the burden of Choice until it came around next time, for someone new. Though, Anna hadn’t been lying when she said she’d arrived following a mystery. And mysteries hated going unsolved.

But for now she trudged through the trees back toward the hill, throwing a last hand over her shoulder in farewell.

With each step the tug grew lighter and lighter - a snag, a tap, a whisper across the room, until finally it was only noticeable if she concentrated.

Clear frost filigree inside a spyglass.

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Elsa waited until the Valkyrie was long out of sight. She sheathed her knife only when birdsong came back to the wood, and with that movement went the last of her strength.

She fell to her hands and knees, trembling.

A Valkyrie. A Valkyrie had come looking for her.

In all her years, all her centuries of life, Elsa had never been so close to one. She knew who they were and to whom they were sworn. What they dedicated their life to. Reaping souls for the glory of another war and leaving the rest to rot.

Elsa breathed heavily, her brave and icy façade melting as her lungs begged for air to quell the panic in her heart. She’d made a mistake reacting to the Valkyrie's presence, even if it had been a genuine surprise. Humans couldn’t see Valkyries, and if Elsa wanted to remain hidden, she needed to keep pretending she was human.

But the Valkyrie… Anna..., had seemed distracted too. Something had been bothering her, or maybe even hurting her.

Yet she’d been armed, and knew how to use the sword at her hip. She was a woman who decided whether a person would continue on to see the sunset or not.

Even though she’d been kind, Elsa had not been willing to take the risk.

Elsa’s jaw clenched, her hands forming fists, drawing lines in the sand and loose dirt of the riverbank. She’d been clumsy but she hadn’t been caught. Her secret was safe, for now. The Valkyrie still thought she was nothing but an innocent woman, bathing too close to a battlefield.

She gathered the rest of her things, not that she had many. It was time to disappear and lay low for a while. The song she was singing before came back to her mind, but now it felt tainted so she didn’t even hum. Her malaise showed despite her best efforts however, in the irritable swish and flick of her tail beneath her dress.

That is when she had felt the most terror. Anna had not just come upon her naked in flesh, but in spirit.

Every moment she’d crouched in the water had been eons in her mind. Her muscles still ached with the effort of keeping her tail wound around her calf and ankle. Praying that the Valkyrie would have the modesty not to look, or if she didn’t, to be unable to see through the ripples in the water.

Coupled with the intense need to keep her front to Anna’s at all times, lest she see her back, left Elsa with hardly enough energy to stand.

That’s why Elsa had asked her to close her eyes, even with her back turned. She couldn’t trust the Valkyrie’s word, not when Elsa didn’t know the true reason she’d come. While her lie about following a song hadn’t been entirely false, it certainly wasn’t the whole truth. At least Anna had complied with her request. Elsa wasn’t sure what she’d have done if she hadn’t.

Probably disappear into thin air.

But that would have been more suspicious, and Elsa had known she still had a chance to ward off the preoccupied Valkyrie. Though she’d been successful, that triumph, in its wake, only made her light headed, with nerves so bundled up in her core she felt nauseous.

Elsa checked her surroundings one last time before reaching out in front of her, a little above her head. She felt for a Seam, running the pads of her fingers up and down, along divots and warps until she found one and pulled. An opening appeared before her, like a drape pulled away from a window. Inside the world was muted, duller, quieter.

Elsa took one last breath of fresh air before she stepped inside, feeling the doorway close behind her.

After all, the Hulder did say she’d go home.

[athenadione]

Christmas prompt: Ice Skating

Pairing: RobRae

Synopsis: In which Raven never learned how to Ice skate, and Robin teaches her. Drabble.

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Raven blinked as heavy snowflakes stuck to her lashes, a scowl tugging at the corners of her mouth.

In the distance, she heard Starfire’s squeal of delight at the burst of fake snow once they passed the entrance. She felt the flakes begin to gather in her hair and she brushed a hand through it before lifting her hood. The bustle of the crowd had her closing off her empathy as the mixture of anxious and cheerful energies began to feel overwhelming.

“Oh is it not glorious friends? I cannot wait to skate the ice and drink the hot cocoa with tiny marshmallows!” She said, clasping her hands together at the sight of the ice skating rink. Bright lights twinkled above them, in tune to various Christmas songs. Nearby, a Christmas tree stood proudly, wearing ornaments of red and white and gold. Garland surrounded the rink with fairy lights and holly.

“I just wanna go pet the baby goats.” Beast Boy responded, gaze set on the petting zoo nearby where most of the children had gathered. There was a line where others stood, waiting to buy bags of feed. Raven rolled her eyes.

“Please step to your left for ice skates and to your right for other amenities!” A young employee called out to the line that was rapidly forming. Raven sighed when Starfire grabbed her arm and pulled eagerly towards the rink. Beast Boy and Cyborg veered off to the left. That left Robin, who trailed behind them.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve last skated.” He admitted to which Raven rose her brow.

The thought of their leader casually out on the rink before their time as Titans nearly brought a grin to her lips. Of course the young acrobatic prodigy knew how to ice skate, though that thought never occurred to her before now. He was probably really good at it, like most things.

Her curiosity must have gotten the better of her, because she was suddenly blurting out her next words without thinking of them.

“I didn’t realize you knew how to ice skate.”

But she had said them and Robin met her eyes, giving her a knowing grin. He could read the interest in her voice. She looked away quickly.

“There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me.” He said.

“You’ve never offered the information before.” She responded, irritation flaring.

His grin grew. “You never asked.”

It was true, she hadn’t, and there was something about that fact that felt wrong. A frown replaced her usual expressionless features, but she didn’t know he had seen it underneath her hood.

“Come on, the skate rentals are this way.” Robin pushed ahead, leaving the two women to catch up.

They got their sizes and Raven looked at the skates in her hands with trepidation creeping up her spine, a stark contrast to Starfire’s happy babbling beside her. The blades glared at her and the smell of leather hit her nose when she brought them closer for inspection. They had been worn in well, it seemed, so she shouldn’t have to be concerned with getting any blisters- though it wouldn’t take much concentration to heal them anyway.

She grasped the laces in her hands, feeling the soft yarn for a moment. She frowned slightly at the chill that hit her face with a particularly gusty wind and her hood flew down as strands of hair flew into her line of vision. Distracted, she tucked them back behind her ear, unaware of Robin who had been watching her since she took possession of the skates.

It didn’t take long to lace them on her feet with delicate fingers, but she froze when she tried to lift a foot, unused to the heaviness.

“Raven, let us go out onto the rink.” Starfire turned to her, grinning from ear to ear. Raven was startled, forgetting for a moment that Starfire was still beside her, but there was no outward show of her surprise.

“You go ahead Starfire, I’ll catch up.”

She didn’t need to be told twice, Raven thought, when the Tamaranean jumped up from the bench and strode onto the rink. A group of young children noticed and flocked to her. Raven smiled slightly at the image of them all spinning in circles around each other, tugging on each other’s hands. The pure joy that radiated from them was intoxicating.

“Ready Raven?” Robin called out to her, distracting her from her musings. She turned to see her leader gliding towards her with ease, stopping short a few feet of her on the ice. His spiky black hair peeked out from the red toboggan he wore along with a matching scarf and gloves.

Glancing back down at her skates, she took a deep breath, watching it come out in a long, swirly white puff of air.

There was a moment of silence between them.

“You never learned how to skate, did you?” He asked.

Raven didn’t look up to see his face and she couldn’t contain the warm flush of her cheeks that were undoubtedly red.

“I suppose Ice skating was low on the list of priorities for someone who was meant to destroy the world.”

Her words laced with sarcasm, to try and cover what she truly felt, embarrassed. She had been deprived of such things as a young child, and now that she was older Titans duties often got in the way of pursuing old interests- not that she would have chosen to learn how to ice skate- but she would have liked to have been able to entertain the idea of learning.

But Robin didn’t chuckle at her sarcasm. He saw through her half-attempts to cover her embarrassment at him being more adept than her at something so trivial. Instead, he smiled.

“Well, there’s only one way to learn.” Robin said, and Raven looked up to see him standing only a foot away from her with an outstretched hand.

The flashback of him holding out his hand to her when she was just a shell of her former child-like self filled her vision, and she couldn’t help but think for a moment that he seemed to always be there, ready to encourage her and help her through any challenge- even if it was to save a world that was already doomed and broken.

And that thought alone had her placing her hand tentatively in his, and he gave her a pleased grin as he pulled her up to stand.

“Here, hold onto my arms like this.” He instructed and in a rare moment of vulnerability she allowed him to place her arms where he wanted them. He rested them on top of his own and he grasped her elbows, encouraging her to do the same to his.

“Now step out onto the ice, and use my arms as leverage.”

With another deep breath she took a clumsy step from the weight of her skate but managed to stand, if not a bit wobbly. Then she took another step with him and she was on the ice completely.

She began to panic when he moved them further out onto the rink. She gripped his arms tighter.

“If you let me fall Boy Blunder I will hunt you down.”

Robin laughed openly, tipping his head back for a moment. “Don’t worry Raven, I’ll catch you.” His voice spoke of promise, so self-assured that he would do anything within his power to keep it.

And she believed him, she realized, because it was true. He always caught her, and in each of her weakest moments he was always there, with open arms.

So she allowed him to skate them further out onto the rink, and listened closely as he took her through the basic steps of skating as he patiently held her steady when she slipped once or twice; and when he released her, she skated without hesitation, if still a bit like a newborn baby deer learning to walk for the first time, because she knew he was close behind her.

Because he’d always catch her.

[fiberfaerie]

This faerie has been hard at work, seaming and weaving together the coziest cardigans with no end in sight. Thanks to a wonderful time with Vanessa and her Starshine Zoey; I found myself ordering Potato Smile earrings and of course more yarn online.. Spooky vibes are deeply settling in, and I'm feeling way to impatient to finish the last few things I need to before I can completely dive into my spooky projects planned!!

Pumpkin Spice, Caramel, Latte Foam, Espresso.

Hay stacks with sunsets cast on hazel eyes.

Blushing warm with cannabis branches and leaves in your hair.

Purple lips kissing red and pale frozen finger tips.

Generational stitches passed down.

Stay warm with me. Stay awake with me.

I started another hexagon cardigan for Zach this time. Had an amazing time hanging out with an incredible friend, and the magnificent little being she is raising. I experienced potato smiles for the first time which was amazing. Vanessa even found me the ever so elusive Halloween animal crackers I'd been unsuccessfully hunting for. If I've ever met a real life magical being like a faerie or something, it's definitely got to be her. Her front yard has been yarn bombed in a way that makes walking up to her house feel a lot like you're dreaming. Then once you're inside you'll never run out of things to catch your eye. It's a special experience getting to step into someone's dedicated personal space and to exist in it. I am extremely grateful for being welcomed into hers, it was bliss.

[mark-dark-andmore]

How You Treat the Egos for Halloween! | The Ipliers x Reader!

A/N: YOU MAKE THE EGOS SOME GIFTS FOR HALLOWEEN SINCE YOU KNOW THEY FIT IN ON HALLOWEEN, ALSO SORRY I DIDNT INCLUDE ALL OF THEM I TRIED TO MAKE THEM AS UNIQUE AS POSSIBLE BYE LOVE YOU GO EAT SOMETHING

warnings: FLUFF AND I DONT REMEMBER CUSSING SO IDK???

ILLINOIS

-you knew Illinois likes Halloween and it was the first year he was living at the Ego HQ

-so you learned to knit and knitted him a scarf

-he was flattered

-even though it was a little stupid looking since you were a beginner

-he started to wear it whenever he went on an adventure

-he told you about the time the scarf saved him from certain death!

-you were sure it should’ve killed him because have you SEEN how loose those strings are?

-he always talks about the scarf to others

-he won’t tell you this but it will never leave his side, ever

YANCY

-yancy is a very dramatic person

-so you needed something dramatic

-you knitted him a terribly-made, royal blue sweater

-lets just say he saw it, looked at you, and sobbed

-“yous the bests!” literally could not stop saying it as he hugged you

-he kissed your cheek so much and put it on!

-straight up wore it for a week

-wil and google had to pry it off of him so that way they could wash it

-he cried the whole three hours while it was washed and it was dried

MARK

-your plan didn’t go as expected

-chica wouldn’t sit down

-you made her this little pumpkin sweater and she keeps doing the pitter patter thing with her paws

-hot dang she’s a cute heckin doggo!

-you got distracted by her shaking paws with you and rolling around

-the only thing you could put on her without getting distracted was her little pumpkin hat

-she hasn’t torn it off yet, so that’s good

-when mark arrived back to HQ he was surprised by your gift

-he claims she has never looked more fashionable

-he kissed your head and hugged you bunches

-and helped you put on her costume

WILFORD

-you had no idea what to make him

-so you knitted a...pink mustache plushie

-he screamed when he saw it

-he paraded it around the HQ

-even going as far as the JackSepticEye Ego wing

-anti almost cut it and wil almost shot him

-you straight up were the divider

-wil grabbed you by your waist

-flipped off anti

-and carried you back to the Iplier wing where he played some card games

-Wilford put it on the shelf in his studio

-you often see him carry it around the offices

-not so often in the HQ, since he doesn’t like his stuff getting dirty or damaged

-you knew he needed something to ground him

-for when he feels those weird memories crawl up, he could hug it to make sure he knows that someone cares for him

YANDERE

-this one’s hard to pick something out for

-all you know is that he likes red

-so you knitted him a very nice red scarf

-took you all day to try and hunt him down

-couldn’t find him since, ya know, he’s stalking his senpai

-aka you

-what? hello?

-so you put it in front of his door

-it was gone the next day

-the day after that yandere dropped by the library (where you were reorganizing)

-he smiled shyly at you

-you guys didn’t talk

-but you smiled wide when you saw that scarf neatly tucked into his uniform

GOOGLE

-YOU WERE VERY PROUD OF YOURSELF FOR THIS ONE!

-you made him a nice sweater with a nice navy blue yarn (not ugly like Ya CT’s one when you started to knit) with a silver yarn ‘G’ in the middle!

-he was very confused why you were giving him a gift on Halloween

-you forced him to put it on

-he looked super cute, no matter how much he lied about how much he hated it

-“just wear it!!!!”

-“NO”

-you got tired of fighting him so you sat on the couch and grumbled “maybe I’ll take away the sweater”

-“NO” google yelled and booked it down the hallway

-what a babe

DARK

-you didn’t have a clue about what Dark would want

-you agonized over for a long time

-but finally decided

-a small red heart plushie!

-you made it first before Illi’s scarf

-you wanted to redo it but you had no time to

-so you walked into his office as he sat in his chair

-he was a bit angry that you didn’t close the door

-but you gave him the little red heart plushie and he just stared at it in your hand

-“that surely isn’t for me”

-you assured him it was

-“why”

-you smiled

-“everyone in this place is friends with me, and they have my heart! since you’re kind of my friend, I want you to have something for you to remember that I’ll always be your friend since you don’t do well with the others, not naming Illinois or anything”

-“lay it on the desk”

-your smile dropped and you left

-couple days later, you ran into dark and wil talking (you were stalking him)

-when dark opened his suit jacket, the heart was in it

-you smiled

-you knew he had a heart...in his body, weirdos

[miracul0us-multishipper]

Welcome to the back (Part 16)

Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Shoutout to @loosescrewslefty for coming up with a wonderful name for Cat!Felix! It sounds great!

- - -

Felix’ heart was racing as they ran down the abandoned corridors. Everyone else must have escaped already, or at least found a safe place to hide because they hadn’t seen a soul on the entire floor. It was dead silent, except for their exhausted panting and the distant rattle of chains.

“In here!”, Marinette commanded and threw open the door to a janitors closet. With her other hand, she ripped off one of her flats and threw it down the hallway. Before he could ask what the hell she was thinking, she pushed him into the small room and closed the door behind her. The rattling of metal links came closer and they held their breaths. There were small slits on the bottom of the door, to let the air circulate. Felix dropped to the floor, trying to see what was going on.

Cathexis shadow was visible first, followed by its caster. His chains carried him through the hallway like servants their prince, their clatter and the creaking of his armor far too loud in Felix’ ears. Was it his imagination or were there... less chains than before? Some looked shorter than the others, for sure.

The Akuma looked around.

“Marinette~!”, he called in a playful singsong. “Come on, show yourself!”

The metal snakes swirled through the air, ready to pounce at the slightest movement.

“I’m not mad, I promise!”, the delusional boy continued. “You won’t be in trouble if you come out now.”

One chain came particularly close to the door and he could feel Marinette tense. His own heart seemed to hammer in his chest, so loud he wondered how Cathexis didn’t hear it. If he found them now... they were lost.

Luckily, it was this moment that Cathexis noticed the shoe further down the hall. Immediately, he went to investigate.

“Aw, did the princess lose her shoe? I should bring it back to her, don’t I?”

With that, he disappeared around a corner. They sighed, the pressure on his lungs lifting like fog. They were safe, for now.

“Clever.”, he commented as they walked out of the closet. “The shoe trick, I mean.”

“Thanks.”, she replied, looking around the corner to make sure he was gone. “He’s obsessed with his fairy tale happy ending, so I figured drawing on popular tropes might distract him.”

She took his hand - he was grateful for that, even though he wouldn’t admit it - and guided him towards the stairs.

“We need to get out of here. Maybe we should split up-“

“Absolutely not! I won’t let you out of my sight until Ladybug arrives.”

Marinette twitched, but didn’t fight him. He could’ve sworn he heard her muttering “Oh boy” under her breath, but right now, he didn’t care. There was No Way he’d leave this reckless mess of selflessness to herself!

“This way.”, she directed him to a glass door. The elevators were obviously a bad idea - trapped in a small space during an akuma attack? No thank you! - so the stairs were there only option.

“I don’t get it. Why Cathexis?”, she murmured to herself. “I mean, it’s probably a Cat-pun, but the rest is nonsense. And why chains? Is Hawkmoth running out of ideas?”

He shrugged, remembering all the books about Psychology he’d read before starting school. For once, his encyclopedic knowledge of random topics seemed to be useful.

“Cathexis is a fancy word for neurotic hyperfixations.”, he explained. “Freud’s original term was “Besetzung”, Possession in English. It describes the investment of emotional or mental energy in a person or object.”

He remembered what Cathexis had done with his glowing chain, and how Lila had looked after being infused with his light.

“Maybe that’s what he did to Rossi. He did call it an investment, didn’t he?”

“It might also be a pun.”, Marinette mused. “Cat-hex-is, because he... well, hexed her.”

“Now I’m kind of jealous.”, he murmured grumpily. “Hawkmoth gave him a deep, psychological phenomena as inspiration, and with me? He named me Sentiquill and called it a day! Favoritism at its finest.”

Marinette giggled.

“If it makes you happy, I liked your costume more. Black suits you.”

Her eyes sparkled mysteriously at that, as if she knew something he didn’t. He would’ve asked if he hadn’t been so busy hiding his red cheeks.

“Let’s hurry up.”, he said to distract her. “We still have twenty floors to go, and-“

“Wait!”, she hissed and he froze. There were footsteps audible from further down, lighter than Cathexis’s and without the metallic sound that always accompanied him. He held onto Marinette a little tighter when the person leaned over the railing of the stairs to look up at them.

“Chloé?”, Marinette asked and relaxed immediately, sighing in relief. “You’re okay! I thought Cathexis caught you.”

The blonde girl grinned untypically widely and Felix tensed.

“Marinette!”, she chirped and raised her hands to her mouth. “There you are.”

She took a deep breath, then started to shout.

“I FOUND HER!”, Chloé yelled loud enough to shake the doors, making Felix jump.

“She’s under his control!”, he realized. “That’s why there were less chains than before!”

The one he’d used on Lila had disappeared as well! He startled when a door two floors above them flew open. Cathexis maniacal cackling echoed through the staircase.

“Run!”

Marinette didn’t need to be told twice. She ripped open the door closest to them and raced through, Felix followed suit. They dashed down the corridors and halls, Cathexis laughter close behind them. Every second Felix expected to be knocked off his feet, every step made him fear it might be his last. But Marinette seemed to know where she was going, and Cathexis wasn’t as familiar with the building as she was. Soon, the rattle of chains grew farther and farther, until they finally collapsed behind a corner.

“We need a Plan B!”, he stated the obvious, his breath erratic and panting. “We’ll never make it out of here without him intercepting us.”

Marinette, just as exhausted as he was, looked on the verge of panic.

“Chloé’s out of commission!”, she whispered in shock. “And if she is, then so are Alya and Nino!”

Pulling at her hair, she groaned.

“My plan has failed before it even begun! That’s so typical for me.”

He shook his head, confused.

“What are you talking about?”

Slowly, she let go of her Pigtails and straightened. When she looked at him, it was almost apologetic.

“It wasn’t supposed to be this way.”, she said calmly. “This time, I wanted it to be different. No pressure or emergency, just... different.”

She shook her head, eerily serious as she took out the pendant she wore around her neck.

“We don’t have time for explanations, I have to go.”, she stated with no room for discussion. Her hand was steady when she placed the pendant in his hand, closing his fingers around it. “You need to keep this safe for me, okay?”

He blinked, not understanding what she was up to. But she stood up before he could ask a single question.

“You don’t have to use it.”, she announced and looked a bit sheepish for a moment. “I don’t even have a fancy box for it, and I have no speech prepared either. But... you are smart, and loyal, and exactly what I need. Trust me.”

She inhaled slowly.

“You... you are perfect. I can feel it.”

Her smile was so fond, so convinced and trusting he had to gulp before speaking.

“Marinette, What-“

A crash interrupted him. Cathexis was closing in, judging by the sound of his chains, and Marinette looked up.

“Go and hide.”, she ordered him with an authority he’d never expected of her. “This isn’t destiny or fate or something, okay? It’s a choice. You decide whether to accept or decline, and I won’t push you to do anything. But now that Adrien knows I have it, I can’t keep it on me anymore. Just... keep it safe.”

She smiled.

“I’ll be fine, I promise.”

Wait. Why did this sound like a goodbye?!

“Marinette,” he whispered, fear stifling his voice, “don’t you dare-“

Once again, he didn’t get to finish. Cathexis came crashing through the wall behind them like a bulldozer, his chains breaking through with ease.

“Marinette!”, Felix screamed, but a wave of debris tore him away from her and onto the ground. With one last look at him, she turned around and ran.

“Come and catch me if you can!”, he heard her taunt as she dodged the swipe of a chain, then disappeared into the next corridor.

Cathexis didn’t waste a second with Felix. Growling, he started his hunt and followed Marinette, leaving him behind.

Felix’ head was spinning from his fall and he barely managed to get up, let alone follow them.

“No...”, he wailed, horrified. Crashes and shouts came from the direction they had run off to, and this time, Marinette was alone with the Akuma. “No, no, no!”

He got to his feet, accidentally dropping what Marinette had given him. The clear, clanging sound of something light rolling over the ground made him pause. He looked down, picking the thing up.

It was the Chat-Noir-merchandise Marinette had shown him, but now that he could take a closer look... it was warm in his fingers. It felt heavier than it looked, and he could swear he heard a pulse.

His blood drained from his face and he went pale. It... It couldn’t be, right? Where should Marinette have acquired the real Miraculous of Destruction?! And why would she wear it on a string of goddamn yarn instead of... of... putting it in a safe or something? Or using it? Unless she... she already had...?

Another crash made him start. They weren’t far from him, if he hurried, he could reach them.

But what was he supposed to do? Throw pens at the akuma?! Make a knot in his chains? He was just a teenager, he wouldn’t be of any help. His gaze fell back to the ring in his hands. The warm, heavy, pulsing and authentic looking ring.

Oh, goddamn it!

Without further analysis, he slipped it on his ring finger. For a second, nothing happened and he chastised himself for thinking something this ridiculous. Then an otherworldly glow covered the metal and he stumbled back. Sparks flew around his hand and a green light shot out of the ring, turning it silver and circling him before fading into a tiny, black creature. It had triangular ears and a feline tail that waved through the air.

Felix was frozen in shock as the... the thing yawned.

“Oh geez, that was quick.”, it complained in a high, nasal voice. “They can never give me time to nap, can they?”

It’s inhumanly green eyes turned to him and it grinned, revealing sharp, white fangs.

“Hey, it’s the cold blondie!”, it - he? - cheered. “Not ideal, but better than mean or dense blondie. I can work with that.”

”Who are you?”, Felix finally regained his voice. The floating cat flicked its tail and combed back its fur.

“Plagg’s the name, rookie. I’m a Kwami! Incredibly powerful, good looking, and - as Tikki would say - “high maintenance”. Got any cheese?”

“A Kwami?”, Felix asked, ignoring the last part. “What’s that supposed to be?”

Another crash came from a distance and he shook his head, reminding himself of Marinette.

“Okay, scratch that. Do something so I can help Marinette!”

Plagg sighed deeply.

“Oh geez, another loverboy.”, he grumbled. “Fine! Say “Plagg, claws out!” and you’ll get cataclysmic superpowers, and a much needed make-over.”

He glared at Felix’ clothes.

“Is that a tie?! What are you, an insurance lackey?!”

“It’s called style, you- Argh, I don’t have time for this.”, he snarled, raising his hand. It didn’t matter where she had gotten this from, or why she wasn’t using it herself. She had given it to him for a reason, and he wouldn’t disappoint her.

“Plagg, claws out!”

-

Transforming had been easier than thought. She’d simply slipped around a corner, said the magic words and waited until Cathexis followed her to punch him into the ceiling. She’d caught him by surprise, and so it wasn’t hard to deliver a kick hard enough to send him into the wall behind him. He groaned and shook his head as she scanned him. Where was the akuma, where was the akuma, where was- his bracelet! It’s shape looked just like her lucky charm, though bleached beyond recognition. He pulled his arm away when she tried to grab it, his chains hurling her away from him and down the hallway.

“My Lady!”, he cooed happily, already forgetting he’d been chasing Marinette. Hyperfixation, she remembered Felix’ words. He could only ever concentrate on one thing at the same time. “There you are!”

She had landed on her feet - practice made perfect - and adopted her fighting stance.

“Let’s make this quick!”, she hissed and Cathexis pouted.

“Oh, My Lady! Don’t you recognize me? Your loyal partner?”

Her eyes narrowed.

“Loyal?”

He had the decency to look ashamed. Nervous, he scratched his head.

“You are... still mad at me, aren’t you?”

“For what? Sacrificing Rose, abandoning me or attempting to kill me?”

He raised his hands in defense.

“It was an accident! You know I could never hurt you, don’t you? I love you!”

He sunk on one knee, stretching out his hand as if pleading.

“Allow me to prove it to you, Ladybug! You’ll see, we’re meant for each other.”

She was so tired of this. Without a warning, her yo-yo wrapped around his outstretched hand.

“You can prove it by giving me that bracelet!”, she suggested and pulled. He lost his balance and fell over, but his chains caught him easily. They wrapped around her yo-yo to prevent her from escaping, but she didn’t intent to. With a battle cry, she launched herself at him. He didn’t see her coming, and before he could fully straighten himself, she slammed him into the wall again. But she had underestimated the speed of his chains. Just when she wanted to take the possessed object, one of them wrapped around her waist and threw her to the floor. She grinned in pain and tried to dodge, but now they were coming from every angle. Her yo-yo was carelessly dropped to the side when Cathexis stood up, wrapping the chain holding her around his wrist to pull her in.

“Why won’t you even give me a chance?!”, he raged. “I asked you so nicely, and you just attacked me! How could you?!”

“It’s my job, idiot!”, she snarled and tried to wriggle out of her restraints. “And it used to be your job as well! We beat up and purify Akuma’s, remember?”

She laughed bitterly, eyes burning into his.

“Or, that’s what I did at least. To you, this was only ever some kind of game, wasn’t it?”

He hissed.

“Just ‘cause I’m not as stuck-up as you doesn’t mean I’m not a good superhero! We won every time, didn’t we?”

“Because I had to save the day! How often were you even conscious and yourself for the final battle? Most of the time, I had to save you as well!”

“Argh!”, he roared. “Only because I sacrificed myself for you! Without me, you would’ve lost a long time ago!”

She bared her teeth and growled.

“Without you, I wouldn’t have had to worry that every battle might be my last, just because you decided to ditch me in a flashy attempt at self-promotion! You weren’t heroic, you were reckless! And unpredictable!”

He opened his mouth to shout back, but the purple butterfly outline returned to his face and distracted him. When it disappeared, Cathexis simply huffed and crossed his arms.

“You’ll see it my way soon enough.”, he said and wrapped the chain around his wrist once more, to get a better grip. “Soon, you’ll see everything my way.”

The root of the chain began to fill with his cold white light and Ladybug started to panic. Her yo-yo was out of reach, no way to summon a Lucky Charm. She couldn’t move, the chain was too tight. Her toes slid over the floor without finding foothold and her arms were pressed to her sides uselessly as the light came closer and closer and-

“Cataclysm!”

Both she and Cathexis startled when a black-gloved hand grabbed the chain. Rust spread over the links, dissolving them and eating its way towards Cathexis’ wrist - towards his bracelet!

The akuma gasped and shook his hand, getting rid of the chain and detaching it from its armor just before it could infect his bracelet. It coiled in on itself as it disintegrated, setting her free. Immediately, she grabbed her weapon, jumped back and landed at a safe distance with her savior next to her.

“Thanks!”, she grinned at him as she checked out his new suit. Felix nodded stiffly. Doubtlessly wondering why Ladybug was here all of a sudden, and Marinette wasn’t. If he’d put one and one together, he didn’t say anything.

“You’re welcome.”, he replied and took out his batons. He kept them separated and crossed on his back, which wasn’t the only difference from his predecessor. His hair was longer, wilder, and his iris was more blueish than green. The bell was missing from his collar, and he had an additional, smaller belt on that was equipped with trackers and other gadgets. His tail was longer, but seemed to move on its own accord. And his boots made no sound when he changed his stance to face Cathexis, which might come in handy for stealth. Overall, his costume was less... shiny. Less reflective, more of a spandex-like fabric than leather.

“No...”, Cathexis whispered, eyes wide with horror. “No! NO! I’m Chat Noir, not you! You’re just a cheap replacement!”

Felix blinked in surprise - he hadn’t known Chat’s identity, she remembered - but recovered quickly.

“Actually,” the new black cat hummed. “I don’t think I’ll go by Chat Noir anyway. Too many bad connotations, thanks to you.”

He grinned and raised his chin.

“You can call me Chatvalier instead. Because unlike you” - he raised his baton - “I won’t run from a fight.”

Cathexis roared with wrath.

“This can’t be- You can’t be- GIVE ME THE RING!”

His voice was erratic and his expression completely unhinged when he charged at them, chains wildly striking through the air. Their movements were devoid of their previous elegance and precision, it was all instinct and anger and hurt.

“You can still back out, you know?”, she asked her newly dubbed Chatvalier. “It’s a heavy duty, and you’re not forced by any cosmic will or something. If you don’t want this, I can handle him by myself.”

Her partner looked at her with narrowed eyes, as if reminded of something. Then he smiled.

“I don’t doubt that.”

He readied his claws and gave her a look so soft she felt her heart flutter.

“But... it can be nice to know someone has your back.”

He smirked.

“Remember?”

Oh yes, she did. When she faced Cathexis storming towards them, her smile was confident and unwavering. They were in this together.

“Ready?”

Her yo-yo swung through the air and he laughed.

“Guess we’re about to find out.”

- - -

If you don’t know what to make of this last “have your back” exchange, you might want to take another look at chapter 4 (their first real conversation). I love giving phrases more meaning than they should have, because DRAMA!