#The mother of all spoon-killers

[atomskdluffy]

I really need to get around to finalizing the upgrade to my PC, but after that last attempt I've lost the motivation to try again. I think I know how I'll find it again, and sadly it's not completely up to me: I need someone else here to supervise the process. So as I near the end of Burning Shores and start to wonder what I should stream next, I have to admit that it will not be BG3 for some time yet, not until the stars align and my upgrade is complete. I'll have to find a much smaller-scale game to play first!

[timmydraker]

Tim who has never been good at understanding the words of Shakespeare and Dickens.

He can understand metaphors and knows about philosophy, but he’s always struggle to truely grasp the tragedy and helplessness so may of them hold. The idea of someone being doomed from the start, by the author and the narrative or maybe just the world they were set in, just doesn’t really make sense to him.

Part of him knows it’s because he was born with a vintage silver spoon placed delicately in his hands, but there’s more to it than that.

See, most of the bad things that have happened to Tim have either been consequences of his own action or the fact that his friends and colleagues all have the same dangerous job.

To him it just makes sense that bad things will happen and so he can just… prepare for it. He can do what he can to fix it or move onto something else and push away his own feelings because what else is he supposed to do?

So, no, things like Hamlet and Dorian don’t really click for him

At least… until he thinks about Jason.

Born in poverty with a world surrounding him that would not bother to care or offer help to him purely because of how he looks of his parents.

A mother who loves him endlessly, only to fall into the drugs she tried to protect him from.

Finding out that mother didn’t even give birth to him, but the father that never showed anything other than distain and cruelty was still his own.

Being given Robin, hated by the first one for a time, only to die in the suit by the hands of a mad man all because his real mother sold him out.

Waking up in a coffin, digging himself out and roaming around catatonic and the only thoughts he can actually process is that he must be a ghost.

Being taken by a league of killers, lied to and trick and tormented into thing a perfect weapon.

Realise his mentor, who he once thought the father he deserved to have, has failed him and let his killer free because of something as fickle as a moral compass.

Seeing that mentor seemingly replace him with a perfect rich kid who doesn’t swear or complain or sneak off without permission from what he can tell.

Having no real friends in that time.

Having no one to trust because everyone had an ulterior motive. Everyone uses him.

And through out it all, even with all the hate and the bitterness and injustice he had been faced with, his first course of action is to make the home he first had and the only one he will ever have… safer.

To protect the kids like him from becoming statistics and killers, from the pain he felt and the false promises of the Batman.

Jason keeps honesty and integrity, even when no one else offers it to him in return.

Tim can’t understand Macbeth or Antigone or Othello, can’t see why someone would write something so morbid just to try and entertain.

But he can understand, or at least try to understand, Jason Todd.

Because that is someone who had actually been hurt for no reason. Someone who had been tormented by the universe, by fates and coincidence, with no real lesson being taught other than the world hates him.

Sure Jason has Roy and Biz and Artemis and Kori, but what about a brother?

Dick tried, he still does, but he fails Jason over and over by trying to make him ‘better’.

Damian doesn’t really care too much, not out of malice but there’s just not much of a connection between them.

Cass tries, but Jason is always awkward around her and that’s not his fault, you can’t hide a thing from her.

Duke liked Jason a lot, but again, the newest Bat is trying hard to find his place in the world of vigilantes and can’t quite find it in himself to be too close to Jason’s violence.

But Tim…

He’s morals have always been held together by the simple fact of ‘it’s not really that approved of’ and not much else. He won’t kill, but unlike the others he is happy to leave a Rouge in a sinking ship and not feel a hint of guilt.

He adores Jason’s Robin, he knows to some extent how much he lost with that, and now he knows that Jason might not need much more than a few good things.

Small things, nothing that will trick him into thinking the world is apologising because it won’t, but enough to show him that Tim thinks he’s still worth something.

Tim won’t try convince him to become a better person or to stop killing, he might ask him to be a bit more rational and probably won’t be able to stop himself from giving tips on how to run his business, but he wouldn’t ask for his violent brother to change.

Because unlike everyone else, Tim knows that violence exist for good reason.

If it keeps his Jason alive, Tim will gladly hold onto his blood soaked hand.

[innerfare]

You’re Sick - Part 1

Summary: How do they act when you come down with a bad fever?

Characters: Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Ace, Sabo, Law, Kid

Genre: Fluff

CW: None // SFW

——— 

Luffy: 

Don’t expect him to look the other way when you blow snot all over the place. He’ll laugh and even poke a little fun at you. One thing he won’t do is fuss over you. Sure, he’ll bring you something to eat, and he’ll tell you to get under the blanket if you’re so cold, but he won’t be a mother hen clucking. And it’s comforting, actually. If there’s one thing you can count on from Luffy, it’s for him to remain calm, and he does just that when you come down with a fever, showing up for you without smothering you. 

Zoro: 

He’s not very good at the nurturing gig. The main thing is that he doesn’t want you to think that he thinks you can’t handle yourself. But… well, he worries. He’s never seen you this way, and the fear of loss is never out of reach for him. He takes to hovering by the door with his arms folded over his chest, even lowering his head to rest his eyes but never once sitting down. It’s not even a conscious thing, him staying on his feet the entire time you’re sick; his instinct is just to protect you, and this is the way he knows. 

Sanji: 

Soup. Of course he’s going to make soup. And then he’s going to make more soup, so much soup that the entire crew will be eating soup for at least the next week. Sanji doesn’t know what else to do with himself. He has to keep himself busy, though, has to keep his hands moving, or else he’ll find himself in a dark place. Luckily, he knows he can place his faith in Chopper to nurse you back to health. In the meantime, though, he’s going to keep making soup because he knows the power of a good meal. 

Ace: 

He brushes it off so easily you would think he wasn’t worried- if you didn’t know him, that is. What hits him the hardest when you’re bedridden, though, is how much you take care of him, followed by a fear that he won’t reciprocate well enough and you’ll be cross with him. He never would have imagined his fear of abandonment would rear it’s ugly head at such a time, but there he is, sitting on the end of the bed feeling like his most precious treasure is about to slip through his fingers. He wants to run from it, but he manages to grab your hand and give you a smile, teasing you about your messy hair. 

Sabo: 

He babies you- the man who rarely picks up the transponder snail and usually hangs up in the middle of the call when he does, the man who can’t be damned to remember most people’s names, the man who seems so utterly blasé most of the time. He drags a damp cloth across your forehead, he takes your temperature every hour, he reads and rereads the label on the medicine you were given by the doctor to be sure you get the right dose at the right time and don’t show any of the adverse side effects listed. 

Law: 

You expect him to be gruff with you. After all, your boyfriend hasn’t struck you as a doctor famous for his bedside manner. That’s not to say he’s mean, he’s just not very sappy. But when you come down with a fever, you notice a line in his brow you’ve never seen before and quickly realize the depths of his worry. Law is more gentle with you than he’s ever been, even going so far as to quietly spoon feed you. And he holds you the entire time, any risks to his own health be damned. 

Kid: 

If you didn’t know him so well, you’d think he was mad at you, or at least trying to disturb your sleep because he doesn’t want you to rest. But he snapped at you to sleep in his bed, not your own, and when he comes into his cabin every fifteen minutes, you recognize his extra loud footsteps and irate muttering about you coughing all over his sheets as concern. Eventually, he sits in a chair by the bed with a hunk of metal in his hands that he fidgets with while he watches over you, barking at Killer to bring you something hot. 

———

Hope you enjoyed it! If you want more, you can check out my masterlist here!

[ask-lab-rats]

For creator: will u make a thread or maybe summary post about the plot? I just got here and don’t know where to start or what’s going on 😅 but I want to!

CreatorNotes: Sure! I'll give u links to posts I deem important and a little summary.

But I highly recommend scrolling thru (I know it's long but I think it's worth it) especially if u want to get to know the characters more and see how they evolved over the story :)

Also I started making "arcs" but I stopped cuz they all kinda blended together. The only ones I did were Vent arc and Calls arc.

Some stuff we get introduced in the beginning:

Balloon doesn't trust Taco

They do not like Dr. Cobs

Taco is s1 Taco (mostly) at start

OJ does not like Balloon

They've lived their whole lives in the lab. They were born/made there

The kids get put thru tests. Physical, emotional, experimental, intelligence, and ability related

They've seen the world thru pictures online

Taco is a spy, working w/ Cobs

The other doctors are nicer than cobs

Bow thinks her parents abandoned her.

Bow turns 18!

Tests - Abilities - Schedule - Balloon's tests - More tests - More stuff - Baxter first appearance - Apple - A failed plan - Bow's powers - Knife breaks his wrist

Vent arc: Knife gives Balloon a pocket knife. Balloon decides to open a grate on the ceiling w/ it. He realizes it's too small to fit. - Lightbulb - So he takes Taco up there. - Taco - Taco almost gets caught - Thankfully Taco is not caught. She decided to look around Cobs office for info. She finds notes on her, Pickle, and something called Project B.O.T. she also find a sticky note w/ Cobs kids phone numbers. - End

Calls arc: Start - As Taco turns around she bumbs into Dr. Spoon who immediately takes her back to the lab. Cobs returns and claims he saw someone. He asks who it was. - Paintbrush - OJ yells at Taco, upset that she let PB take the blame for her mistake. She tries to explain but OJ doesn't listen. So instead she readies herself to fight. - Fight - The kids quickly call a doctor. - Dr. Fizz - OJ is put in confinement for a few hours. OJ soon returns but Taco and PB have not.

Paintbrush returns - Tessa - Haircut

While they wait, the anons reveal that taco is a traitor. They attempted to warn her that she's been found out but she's high on pain killers and and can't comprehend it good. But she understands when she wakes up. Taco returns to the lab and immediately gets in another argument w/ OJ

Taco's reveal - Half blind - Taco's panic attack

We're introduced to Evil Paper, or as he prefers, Looseleaf.

Balloon is scared to leave the lab

Taco in her "emo arc" she then takes a break from the blog. But she eventually comes back

Bow makes a map w/ help from ghosts

OJ somewhat apologizes to Taco

An anon makes PB mad, causing them to burn themself w/ their ability

Tessa find the kids - People explain to Tessa what is going on. She vows to help these kids escape. She eventually has to leave and is almost caught but thankfully not. She then returns home and tells Finley what happened. Fin also decides to help save the kid. - Remembering - Bow learns that her mother never abandoned her. Tessa and Dr. Parker decide to work together.

Currently Tessa is back in the lab w/ the kids

This definitely isn't including everything. (Like the doctors personal lore) Just anything important to the kids stories.

Like I said, please look through it yourself. But I hope this helped eitherway :D

[ebongawk]

WAIT OK I HAVE ANOTHER ONE it’s prob cheating to send two so you can save this for another time but!!!! just chrissy fidgeting w eddie’s jewelry. his rings, his necklace. like she’s anxious abt smth and over time learned instead of like biting her nails or pulling hangnails or smth he’ll let her do that

Chrissy always had an issue with biting her nails.

As a child, whenever she was anxious about school, or nervous about dance competitions or cheer routines, her nails found their way between her teeth, chewed ragged and brittle.

Her mother called her disgusting. A ruler or wooden spoon was often produced, seemingly from thin air, to smack Chrissy across the back of her hands whenever they found their way into her mouth.

The main reason she started painting her nails was because the chemical taste of the polish made her nauseous. As her issues with food worsened, nausea became increasingly harder to control, and she found herself in the bathroom more often than not.

Her nerves, however, found new ways to ruin her.

Using those pretty nails she now sported, Chrissy dug into her cuticles. Picking at dry skin or tiny abrasions, creating hangnails she could then tear away.

Jason called her disgusting. Lightly smacking her hands with his own or with his school notebooks. Telling her constantly that every part of her was so pretty, but she was ruining her hands. Ruining the illusion of beauty he cast upon her by reminding him that she was human.

She couldn't break up with her mom. But she did break up with Jason.

Free of his oppressing weight, the urge to pick at her nailbeds lessened. It didn't disappear completely, of course, but she found healthy skin growing over her tiny scars.

Then she started hanging out with Eddie. And, for a little while, she didn't even notice how her fingertips stopped bleeding.

One day, sitting at the lunch table Eddie and his friends occupied, Chrissy's mind had been sloughing through the finals they had coming up. She was decently confident about most of them, but O'Donnell could be killer when it came to testing. Often asking things not covered by the study guide, so she and Eddie had spent the past four afternoons in his bedroom, textbooks open and flashcards made, trying to get one another ready for their teacher's unhinged brutality.

Her anxiety, during this thought spiral, had heightened exponentially. She stopped moving all at once when she remembered that Sandra had taken a bad scrape during practice yesterday – cheer season was over, but Chrissy was determined to keep the younger girls occupied through the year so they wouldn't be so rusty when they came back in August – and she'd used her last band-aid for the scrapes.

Sighing, Chrissy looked down to inspect the damage.

And saw Eddie's hand in her lap.

She glanced over. Eddie was still fully engaged in whatever conversation he was having with Jeff – his unoccupied hand twisting and twirling through the air to accentuate his points. But his left hand was loose between hers, one of his rings twisted to face his palm.

Chrissy twisted the ring back to right. Then did another circuit, finding it strange how natural it was to fiddle with his rings.

Looking up at Eddie again, he met her eye with a curious smile. Tilting his head to one side in silent question that she just shrugged at, instead scooting the tiniest bit closer and dropping herself seamlessly back into the conversation.

She didn't think of it again for a few weeks. Until she and Eddie were tucked up at his home, watching some British scary movie called Underworld and sharing a bowl of popcorn. They'd started the evening next to one another, but as the movie progressed, Chrissy found herself almost entirely in Eddie's lap. Curling into his side with every scary part, until her knees were tucked up to her chest and her feet were pressed between his thighs.

Every jump scare made her wince, shoving her face into Eddie's shoulder and peeking through one eye until the scary parts were over.

The movie was almost completely finished before she registered Eddie's hand in her lap. Her fingers twisting the rings around his over and over, slipping them up and down his knuckles.

Her nailbeds had never looked so healthy.

Remaining quiet until the previews ran, Chrissy slipped from Eddie's lap, standing and stretching as Eddie moved to flip on the light.

"What'dya think?" he asked, picking up the popcorn bowl and a few stray kernels before walking it into the kitchen. "Weird, yeah? Did I fill your weekly scary movie prescription, Miss Cunningham?"

She'd told him, ages ago, that she wanted to start liking scary movies, because he loved them so much. They now had a weekly movie date, watching something from his repertoire of slasher films before loading one of her favorite romance tapes into the VCR.

(Tonight, it was Breakfast at Tiffany's.)

"Yes, Dr. Munson, it was exactly what I needed," she said around a grin, walking into the kitchen with him. He had his back to her, squatting in front of the fridge for another movie snack, and Chrissy wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Hoisting herself onto his back and pressing her cheek against his neck.

Beneath her, Eddie let out a little chuckle. Something Chrissy turned her head to taste with her lips against his spine.

"That freaked out, sweetness?" he asked, grabbing a jar of the strawberry jam he kept just for her and a couple cans of Coke before standing. Keeping herself firmly affixed to his body with her legs around his waist.

"No," Chrissy answered. "Just wanted to be close to you, that's all."

Eddie huffed, setting his wares down and yanking her further up his back. Situating her to be a little more comfortable before he grabbed peanut butter and the half-eaten loaf of bread from the pantry.

"Yeah?" He paused in his actions, setting the clean butter knife he'd just grabbed next to the jam. "We can, uh. We can get a hell of a lot closer, y'know. If that's your real aim here."

Gosh, he could be such a boy sometimes. Chrissy snorted, burying her face in his neck.

"But what about Breakfast at Tiffany's?"

"Audrey Hepburn will be waiting for us when we're finished, sweet girl." The hand around her knee slid up, gently stroking the outside of her thigh. "Or we can put her on in the background. Make her bear witness to our incredible physical connection."

"Eddie."

"Chrissy."

Rolling her eyes, Chrissy tapped her healthy, wound-free fingertips against his collar.

"Bedroom," she finally said, laughing loudly when Eddie whooped and threw a fist in the air before sprinting down the hallway.

After, as they lay together in a sweaty pile of contentment, Chrissy snuggled into Eddie's chest. Eyes closed, relishing in the smooth, easy way his hand drifted up and down her side, from her hip to her ribs and down again.

"Eddie?"

"Hmm?" He took a final puff of his cigarette before ashing it.

"When did you notice that I pick at my nails?"

He hummed, rolling that thought around in his mind.

"I dunno," he admitted after a moment. "Early, I guess? Beginning."

Tapping her fingers against his stomach, she took his hand where it had continuously been drifting against her skin, bringing it up and pressing her lips against the rings.

"How come I didn't realize you distracted me?"

"I can't answer that, sweetness," he responded around a shrug. "I just figured you needed something to fiddle with. Better my hands than yours, in my opinion."

Chrissy paused, letting that sink in, before she opened her eyes and looked at him.

"What, so you were gonna let me pick at your nails?"

Eddie just shrugged again, a new grin stretching his cheeks. Dimples coming to life under her disbelieving grimace.

"If that's what it took."

"Eddie, that's so gross."

"Guess it's good you picked at my rings and not my nails then, huh?"

"Why would you let anyone––"

"Not anyone," he interrupted, taking her hand in his and letting her fingertips fall across his lips. "Just you."

Oh, the way he could so simply send a swarm of butterflies to flight in her stomach.

"I don't want you to hurt yourself," he said after a moment, honesty dripping like honey from his words. Sprinkling droplets of sticky sincerity across her skin, so she'd feel the mess of his truths for days and years to come. Waggling his eyebrows, he finished by saying, "But I don't mind if you hurt me a little sometimes."

"Eddie."

"Slap me, baby, I know you want to."

"Oh, my God."

[georgeweasleyslostearhq]

EDDIE MUNSON HCs P.1- sfw

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just some headcannons i have for our boy <3 (I'll make a nsfw version tmr)

----------------------------------------

Eddie hates being alone, he was always left alone at home as a kid, His mum working her second job in late afternoons and his dad leaving to get drunk at the local dive bar. it just makes him feel neglected and brings him back to his childhood self's feelings.

I think we all know this guy has a massive snoring problem, but he also kicks you off the bed, hogs the blanket and talks yells in his sleep, sometimes even slaps you in the face when he turns around.

^ he also has terrible nightmares sometimes, waking up in sweat after his dad beat him up in his dream, almost brought to tears as he struggles to breath, during this he'll look around his room frantically and pat the bed, trying to grab or see anything comforting to him, just trying to calm down.

he bites his nails when nervous or anxious of something

he secretly sleeps with a Russ Berrie Bear named Ozzy

^ his mother had saved up money to get it for his 5th birthday, and even though its been 15 years, Eddie still holds onto it.

he'll help out the old lady that lives in the trailer behind him and wayne, usually with hanging close or look for her cat, and always turn down the money she tries to give him, but always accepts a slice of pie she has sitting on the sill

he loves caramel, he'll always have a caramel candy in his pocket or a chew in his locker

he's seen Grease over 10 times, he just won't admit it. he'll even mimic the lines.

loves bad and shit made movies, they make him laugh, specifically Attack of the killer tomatoes

at 16 years old, he claimed he wanted to be 'one with nature' and went 'camping' out in the woods by the trailer park, he came back and wayne had to hear all about how his body itches and he swears that he had fought off a racoon. never did it again

when he first started living with wayne, he believed that the mirrors were portals (cause he didn't have mirrors) and tried to run though the mirror in his new room, obviously it broke and he has a scar on his arm.

loves peanut butter- if he feels like a snack, he'll grab a spoon and just go to town.

if you were to ask Eddie what his favourite non metal song is, he'd laugh and say 'yeah right, as if', but if you were to ask him on a deeper level, he would say 'purple rain' by prince or 'Born Under A Bad Sign' by Albert King

^his mum loved blues music and one of the only memories he has of her is her dancing to Born under a bad sign in their livingroom and Eddie watched.

^ at the age of 16, Wayne had given Eddie a mixtape of his mothers, he plays all of the music when he misses her.

Hates pickles

Last time he wet the bed was at 8 years old. His dad made him watch the exorcist and the poor boy cried himself to sleep and woke up covered in pee, his nightmares have always been bad

he's good with a gun and shooting because his dad used to force him into hunting with him, which only ended up traumatising him.

hates coffee, he thinks this is too bitter

^he likes tea though, not his favourite drink but it's better than coffee.

[jasontoddenthusiastt]

The recent influx of “Jason is obviously a bad person. Look at how many people he’s killed” posts is 2x more idiotic because it runs on the same premise as “Jason is a cop symbol”. There’s an infinitely more famous example right next to him that people ignore entirely.

In the real world killing people is a felony, just as vigilantism as a whole is too. The same way Batman is a fictional character in a fake world, Jason is not part of the real world either. I think if you’re above age 10 you should’ve moved past the stage of trying to point fingers to try to determine a right vs wrong way to do illegal vigilantism in a world like the dcu while pretending it’s a perfect model of a real society lol.

Batman enjoys maiming and crippling people (bad things). Why is he working with cops and throwing drug addicts into prison after beating the tar out of them (bad things). It’s proven in the real world that that does not do anything to rehabilitate them and in fact costs the government billions of dollars and actually worsens the war on drugs (higher mortality & crime rates, and increased spread of infectious diseases). Yet since the authors constantly spoon feed you lines about how heroic he is people just eat that shit up, disregarding the fact that it might be utter horseshit irl and his morals wouldn’t make much sense either.

If ‘character doing bad thing’ is synonymous with ‘character can’t possibly be a good person’, then that should negate the idea that Batman’s biggest trait is compassion (although I think it already does for other in-story reasons lol, re: he tends to be classist and discriminatory towards people who commit petty crimes, calling them degrading names like “trash” and “bottom-feeders”. No amount of donating to charity makes you a good person if at your core you see poor/homeless people as lesser and you get a kick out of mocking them).

There’s far more evidence of Jason possessing all the good traits the authors keep begging you to believe Batman has. He patiently fed and cared for his dying mother all alone as a small baby/child. He literally fed groups of homeless people like a mother hen everyday while he himself was homeless, brain dead, and running on basic survival instincts. After finally regaining higher functioning in his brain and discovering the joker was still alive, one of the first things he cried about was the countless number of other innocent people dead at the hands of his own killer. If the only justification you have for why Jason’s a bad person is that he kills, that’s a weak and baseless argument for obvious reasons.

[sadly-never-after]

Mitski's Your Best American Girl is Lizzie about Daring after Kitty's diary

But, big spoon, you have so much to do And I have nothing ahead of me [...] Your mother wouldn't approve of how my mother raised me But I do, I think I do And you're an all-American boy I guess I couldn't help trying to be your best American girl

Mitski' Drunk Walk Home is Duchess about Daring after what I hope was an atrocious date

And I sit on the curb 'cause it's the prettiest night  With no one else in sight  You know I wore this dress for you  These killer heels for you  See the dark, it moves  With every breath of the breeze [Desperate Screaming]

Sir Chloe's Too Close is Sparrow to Duchess during True Hearts Day

You're so unsure You're so afraid Don't tell me to listen When you got nothing to say You get too close Take the one I love the most And I think it's time for you to go Make it so hard And you know you've gone too far I think it's time for you to go

Catabolic Seed is basically the Duchess Swan anthem particularly when it comes to her feelings towards her own destiny

And I always fall flat on my back Like an upside-down cat But is bad luck really such a crime? [...] If you won't be my valentine Could you at least give me a little bit of sympathy? [...] I can't run, I can't hide (And I will protect you) But you can't say I didn't try (Even if you won't protect me too)

[murfpersonalblog]

The Vampire Lestat & Sir Percy Blakeney: Most Genius & Manly of Himbos

I want to discuss the "babygirl" discourse around Lestat's yaasification, and notions that he's the "woman/wife/mother" in Loustat's household.

YES, Sam Reid has been serving nothing but Charisma Uniqueness Nerve and Talent, but I think his play on gender norms has confused people into thinking he's playing into Lestat's femininity, when actually, I think Sam's playing up Lestat's masculinity instead.

But it's a VERY particular type of masculinity, that clashes with modern norms and tastes and perceptions/assumptions.

And it only recently struck me that the vampire Lestat AND Sir Percy Blakeney (AKA the Scarlet Pimpernel) have A LOT in common: They're both foppish prissy buffoons who are tougher than they look and seem a LOT dumber than they actually are--and it's INTENTIONAL.

Because Lestat and Sir Percy Blakeney lived during the French Revolution. The Rococo hellscape of extravagant hedonistic opulence, that caused the fall of the monarchy & rise of the nouveau riche & middle classes. They came at the Revolution from opposite sides--Lestat de Lioncourt as a penniless marquis' son forced to hunt for his own food or starve, and Sir Percy Blakeney as an English elite sympathizer & spy for the French monarchy. That environment heavily colored both of their outlooks on life and interactions with others.

Aesthetics were everything--don't get Lestat started on the Savage Garden!--and a man's whole reputation and life could be ruined by his public image alone. Outdated clothes at court!? Scandalous!

Society's fashions & tastes change. The wigs, high heels, lace, makeup, limp wrists, prancing walks, small waists, shapely calves--all the Old World beauty standards now associated with women actually used to be applied to men. Manly men!

As overdone and effeminate as they might seem to modern audiences, in the 1700s, that kind of man was considered HOT--the very pinnacle of fashion, taste and breeding.

Ladies wanted to be with them, and men wanted to BE them--the nouveau riche, social climbers, middle class, etc--this was the model.

How society's double standards affect the class/race/gender dynamics between Loustat are absolutely feral. Despite how silly Lestat looked in his clothes, this fish out of water with his weird foreign talk and obnoxious behavior, Lestat EASILY "emasculated" Louis, the established & respected tough local pimp (and we would see over & over how effortlessly he could one-up Louis, especially in Ep5 when he came out of that fight without a scratch).

EFF his snatched waist, sassy hands, and long hair--this MAN was on DEMON TIME. Sam said that AMC put Lestat in a whole Matador-inspired villain outfit. Now, I don't know anything about Spanish bullslaying, but one cursory search on Jstor had all kinds of interesting things to say:

Douglass, Carrie B. “‘toro Muerto, Vaca Es’: An Interpretation of the Spanish Bullfight.” American Ethnologist 11, no. 2 (1984): 242–58. http://www.jstor.org/stable/643849.

And Louis definitely saw red and was charging at him like a bull--and Lestat nearly killed him for it.

So y'all tell me who the MAN is in this relationship. 👀 Lestat didn't become his MOTHER, he became HIS FATHER. (Louis is the one who's similar to Gabrielle!)

Lestat's money & class is telling, too. But what's ironic is that although Lestat appears Old Money to everyone (as his inheritance from Magnus was VERY old, and bottomless), he's actually nouveau riche--LOUIS was the silver spoon Old Money elite, with the DPDL estate (inherited from his white ancestors' French colonial slavery & plantations in NOLA). But Lestat was called the Wolf Killer, cuz he hunted wolves & saved his broke family from starving (and his village from wolf attacks).

Lestat was SO cocky after his hunt, prancing around town in his wolf furs like little Lord Fauntleroy, PRINCE LESTAT, like the kind of aristocrat he wished he was, the kind his birthright would've afforded him, if only his broke AF FATHER could've afforded it (and Prince Lestat eventually renovated his father's Chateau for the vampire court). His beautiful braggadocio/machismo was what attracted the vampire Magnus to Lestat, and made him a worthy candidate for immortality. Likewise, Lestat's brazen & BALLSY antics were what attracted Akasha to Lestat in QotD, too.

"Lestat, if all the world were destroyed, I would not destroy you," [Akasha] said. "Your limitations are as radiant as your virtues for reasons I don't understand myself. But more truly perhaps, I love you because you are so perfectly what is wrong with all things male. Aggressive, full of hate and recklessness, and endlessly eloquent excuses for violence-you are the essence of masculinity; and there is a gorgeous quality to such purity. But only because it can now be controlled." "By you." "Yes, my darling. This is what I was born for. This is why I am here. And it does not matter if no one ratifies my purpose. I shall make it so. Right now the world burns with masculine fire; it is a conflagration. But when that is corrected, your fire shall burn ever more brightly-as a torch burns."

For Akasha (and Anne Rice lbr), Lestat represented the epitome--the essence--of (toxic) MASCULINITY. The same vain, supercilious, foppish dandy obsessed with his hair and nails and purple sunglasses, always going on and on about James Dean & Marlon Brando, etc etc--is still a MAN.

He's the silliest creature ever, and he REVELS in it, because he knows good and dang well that he's the most dangerous one in the room. Whatever he wanted, he took, and fought for, controlled & dominated, come hell or high water.

Sure, he burns brightly, with effervescent light; but he's also the thing that goes bump in the night, lurking in the shadows, hiding his TRUE nature, his real face.

And we see that darkness, that ugly mean streak, as soon as Lestat and Percy feel they've been betrayed & feel their most vulnerable.

On a DIME, this man can go from being a silly, vapid clown, to a cold and calculated evil genius, playing 4D chess with the best of them. And the best trick is that because Lestat & Percy are both the protagonists/heroes of their stories, we'll clap and cheer and hope that they triumph, all while making a thousand excuses for their red flags--the matador wins again!

But what are Lestat & Percy REALLY fighting for & protecting? The rights of vampires to be effing serial killers? The rights of the parasitic monarchy/rich to leech off the poor? Don't let the pretty smiles & fun personalities fool you--they're inherently KILLERS--apex predators, hunters, and aggressively male--gay or straight, butch or femme, he wants to emasculate, dominate, penetrate, and humiliate.

The Scarlet Pimpernel is still an assassin, and Lestat is still a vampire. The patriarchal layers run deep, but their supposed "girliness" is just on the surface; it's due to the time period they both grew up in, and the aesthetic ideals of the elite during the 1700s--a time when manly men were A LOT more effeminate than what we'd expect today. But underneath that cultured veneer, they're still dangerous animals. The whole point of gothic literature Anne Rice's book emulated is that it confronts that duality head on, to consider the underlying nature of MAN's beast within. That's what makes Lestat so interesting--because you know there's sooo much more going on.

[possessedopossum]

Ok, I'm finally free and cringe enough to post OC lore online. Short story about my Rook de Riva, Noel Benois, under the cut.

Noel's best understood love language was lies.

Growing up in Antiva city, he was the quintessential nobleman – rich, well-educated and raised by doting parents. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, yet the opulence he so confidently embraced was a meticulously woven tapestry of deception skillfully crafted by his mother. She spoke little, rarely addressing her son with vulnerability or honesty one might expect in a loving relationship. "My mother is very modest, just like any lady of noble birth should be," Noel used to reassure himself. In truth, she wasn't modest at all; she was terrified of shattering the illusion she had toiled so hard to create.

His parents often spoke tenderly of Orlais, their homeland, ensuring that a certain sense of pride would be developed by their boy. They painted vivid pictures of grand palaces and beautiful estates, carefully omitting the dark shades that lurked in their homeland's periphery – alienages and peasants were never part of the narrative. They never took Noel there, obviously. And their unwillingness to share the reasons behind the omission only fueled his determination. "Fine. I'll go and see it for myself. I'll become a merchant prince and the richest orlesian elf who ever lived. I have no need of your stories" – these were the ambitious child's exact thoughts.

The Orlais from his parents' tales was a place of beauty, like a paradise untouched by the unpleasant realities of life. Noel cherished the correspondence with his grandparents who had chosen to remain there. The letters between them fed Noel's imagination and longing for a meaningful connection. That was, until he stumbled upon the rough drafts of such letters on his mother's desk. He started to suspect that the stories clashed with reality a very long time ago. But he didn't dare to ask if the grandparents from Val Royeaux were even real. They were, to him.

He had never questioned the nature of relationships between his elven mother and adoptive human father. He had never asked his mother where did she disappear at night or about daggers hidden in her drawers. "Every noble should be proficient in fighting. I, though, prefer rapiers, not daggers. And my bow! Maker, I wish father took me out of estate more often. My horse could use some action! What a strange place to store daggers but who am I to judge my mother?" – Noel rationalized his refusal to confront the truth.

Among all his lessons, the ones imparted by his father stood out the most. No tutor could compare with the discussions they shared. Noel was entranced by his father's stories of diplomacy and politics, especially when he spoke of the Empress. "What would you do, if you were in the Empress's shoes?" – he would ask Noel with a glimmer of pride in his eyes. Only one of them knew that elves could never ascend to such heights. But there was no need to say that and dim the light in Noel's eyes. For a single moment, he would transform into the Empress of Orlais, regal and commanding, while his father would bow, treating him as he was truly royalty. Those moments were both fake and real.

The bubble of lies their family cherished eventually broke, breaking Noel as well and leaving him alone amidst the wreckage. The stained family legacy, the unspoken truths, the lineage, however fabricated, held no significance. Noel would never know the reasons that had lead to the crows being sent after his family, and a part of him didn't even want to. Only the lessons taught by his father and a bittersweet taste of deception remained. Fencing, horse riding, alchemy, etiquette, politics, languages – these were the things that he could hold onto in the wake of tragedy. Things, that would keep him alive just long enough. Now, he dons the same crow mask as his parents' killer did.

"Hey, I came back last time. I'll come back from this, too", Noel reassured Lucanis. He maintained a cheerful demeanor, always wearing a mask of positivity, even as he span his elaborate lies. In Noel's world, lies weren't merely deception; they were means of love, an offering of safety in a world he knew was cruel. In that delicate balance of reality and fiction, Noel built a fragile existence that allowed him to dance on the knife edge the way all antivan crows do, being forever bound by the love language he had been taught to speak.

[donnabenevientosimpingzone]

Dangie Headcanons for my blog cuz I can’t shut up about them

- They share one braincell. You’ll find these bitches up at 2am air frying lunchables

- Angie is absolutely 100% the closet stealer. When Daniela gets new clothes- it’s THEIR new clothes.

- Which is ironic because Angie is the one who knows fashion, Daniela doesn’t know shit lmao she’ll walk into a conference wearing sweatpants.

- The way they dance together is very similar in style to west coast swing, although neither one of them learned how to dance.

- Angie is the spider killer. Daniela has crippling arachnophobia (all the Dimitrescu sisters do).

- After they became a thing, they’ve both began to noticeably drink less. They claim it’s because they spend more time on dates, but in reality it’s because they wanna live together for as long as possible.

- Daniela is the cook and learned all of Angie’s fave dishes from Donna.

- They absolutely communicate with extreme baby talk gibberish at random.

- Angie’s abandonment issues and massive anxieties never fully went away, but Daniela continues to work with her on them.

- Similarly Daniela’s feeling of inferiority and lack of individuality are being tended to by Angie.

- “Hello this is my ex-friend” “stop introducing me like that! She’s my girlfriend”

- Swap jewelry all the time, specifically necklaces. Angie’s necklace was originally her mothers, so it’s a special moment whenever she lets Daniela wear it.

- Call each other by their own last names sometimes (i.e. Daniela Beneviento and Angie Dimitrescu), but before Alcina started getting a fucking grip on being a mom, Daniela was seriously considering dropping the Dimitrescu name

- Angie is a switch but tends to favour bottom, strictly a little spoon though

- Hands. Just. Hands. They’ll play with each other’s hands, fiddle their fingers together, run the palms with the pads of their thumbs, actively search to hold each other’s hands, grip onto them instinctively- hands is their ultimate physical affection tool.

- Angie is laughably awful with a skateboard. Daniela likes to annoy her about it.

- They don’t do chores. They’ll wait for the last possible minute to finally give in and do it. They will wear the last clean pair of pants for as long as fucking possible before they do laundry.

- Snacks are hidden around the house. You could be talking with one of them and suddenly the other is getting up to grab protein bars out of a vase.

- Daniela is a middle of the bed sleeper and Angie tends to curl around the edge of the bed

- On the topic of that, Daniela is a deep sleeper and Angie is a really light sleeper. Yes, Angie has a lot of selfies and pics of her sleeping girlfriend.

- Matching pfps on everything! They also tend to put the stupidest pictures of the other as their phone wallpaper- and their nicknames for each other in their phones are also stupidly romantic.

- Their text history is the most entertaining thing to read. They’ll go back to read it pretty often, and screenshot their favourite parts.

- Angie is the aesthetic selfie sender and Daniela tends to reply with an in-the-moment unflattering selfie without a second thought.

- When Angie is actually focusing really hard on something, she makes this face that Daniela is just absolutely enthralled by. Like. Oh my god. That’s my girlfriend.

- Deeply protective of each other and possessive. Angie is definitely the more jealous one.

- Fun fact: originally Angie and Daniela’s routes were planned to take place and interconnect with a cat cafe plot. I still have a PNG of an Angie sprite where she’s holding a cat. Therefore they’re both cat people. Hands down.

[slothyykittee]

Redesign and Rewrite - Alastor

Alright, let's start this with my most disliked character of HH due to the design and non sense story.

(Redesign, with Radio symbols.)

Alastor is born in the USA at the year 1891, in New Orleans, Louisiana. He wasn't born in the hospital like the others, and instead was born at home. This is because his parents committed the gravest crime in all of the United States (Miscegenation.)

His father is a rich merchant, and secretly works for violent ideological groups, of the conservative kind. He's short-tempered, insecure yet charming, and is pretty manipulative. He was VERY glad that his son didn't turn out "too" dark, or his son wouldn't even succeed in this political climate.

His mother was a poor farmer until she married the father. She's caring/compassionate, loving, and loves to give care to animals (she feeds stray cats when she goes outside) and also loves to cook.

(Alastor's mother. Young. With spoon and fork symbolism)

Unfortunately, though, His parents tend to fight a lot, With the father screaming and even hitting the mother. He also has hit his son. which leads the father to leave the family.

Alastor clings to his mother, scared to even go outside and meet people. His mom tries to calm him down with affection and teaches him how to cook. She prepares Alastor to go to school and goes there with his mom's friend. He's very quiet, which leads his classmates to see him as a sort of freak. Leading him to not make any friends.

(Alastor as a young boy, staring at the newly bought mirror.)

After Alastor became an adult, he got a job at a Radio station, yet it was far away from his home. His mom was very old and unable to take care of herself. He was worried and yet got reassured by his mom's friends that they will take care of her.

He made good money and a good reputation as a Radio Host in Louisiana and even got invited to a popular podcast in New York. Sadly though, he had to stop his work for months when his mother died.

Other than being a Radio Host, he was fascinated by crime and violence, which led him to actually commit murder. He wasn't guilty, instead used to body as something to eat. He liked the taste, which made him want to murder more people and get more "meat". The authorities were in high alert and tried to find the serial killer, yet with no success.

Alastor died in 1945 (aged 54) by being shot in the head by a deer hunter, after being attacked and bitten by dogs.

Fast forward to now, where he's the most feared overlord in Hell and "helping" Charlie with her Hotel, sometimes he wishes Charlie's idea works. Sure, he came here to burn the Hotel down in the end because "ENTERTAINMENT!" but... He wanted to be given a second chance, so he could maybe see his mother again, who's likely in Heaven.

----------------

That's the rewrite! I searched through the Web when writing this backstory, as I try to be accurate to old times, and the fact that I never lived in the USA so there's that.

I may do Angel Dust next, I don't know.

(Bonus Image: Valentine!)

[eustassslut]

Can you give us more Heat(/Wire) hcs please 😭😭 I love your blog sm <<33

you ask and you shall receive

Heat gets flustered easily and everything makes him blush

He likes to be the big spoon

He's a massive Marina stan

Loves spicey food and anything with herbs in it

Wire was his bisexual awakening

He saw Wire whilst their gangs were fighting and blushed when Wire tried to punch him

Heat's family used to run a traveling circus before they settled down on the island he grew up on

He's always surprising the crew by pulling out some random circus related skill that no one expects him to have

His father was a sword swallower and breath fire, which is who Heat learned from

Also has no gag reflex anymore

His mother was a trapeze artist and taught Heat everything she knew

Has a younger sister

His favourite alcoholic drink is Drambuie

His favourite non-alcoholic drink is hot chocolate with marshmallows and whipped cream

Heat's parents love Wire and regularly send him gift packages

His closest friends on the crew include Noe, Haikei, Killer, Bubblegum and Hop

Heat and Wire used to sneak away from their gangs (who were technically at war with each other) to make out when they were teenagers

Literally everybody knew but they all pretended not to know

Often lies awake at night stressing about embarrassing and awkward things he's said

Used to make Wire flower crowns in their teens since they would sneak off to fields

Loves when his hair is played with or when he gets kissed

His favourite memories are almost all of his dates with Wire when they used to sneak around on their island, especially the memory where he taught Wire how to tightrope walk

Cries at everything in movies (sad scenes, happy scenes, romantic scenes)

Laughs at scary movies that involves clowns

Was probably a former clown for his circus, but no one has actually been able to find out

Wire does know since he accidentally saw pictures of Heat in clown makeup trying to fight another clown from a rival circus, but he's sworn to secrecy about it

His favourite movie would probably be the Sharknado or Monty Python movies

Briefly carried around a step ladder so he could kiss Wire without straining his neck

[dissvicious]

⛓ METALCHAINSAWKILLER ASKS REPLIED ⛓

a few days ago I hosted a Q&A session about Nina on my Instagram, there were several interesting questions so I decided to repost them here with the answers

Would Nina sell Kidd for a beer?

If he pissed them off, totally.

Favorite candy flavor?

Bubblegum

Fav food?

Corn dogs

Hobbies?

Tomb raiding, causing mayhem, dissection, comic books

Height?

5' / 1m52

Fav weapon?

A chainsaw called pussy slayer

Is she a "fight first, ask questions later" kind of person?

It mostly depends if she's on unhinged mod or not. She's pretty calm and reserved, almost shy usually. But when bloodthirst hit? Yeah definitely.

How did they adopt Zap?

They found him in a dumpster at Thriller Bark, badly injured, with a missing paw and a missing leg. They immediately fall for it and decided to rescue them. Zap virtually never leaves Nina's side, earning by Kid and Killer the title of "cockblock"

Does she have a family? What's her story before Thriller Bark?

She was basically raised by Hogback, the same way Perona was raised by Moria. Hogback adopted her when she was about 13 years old. She didn't have any parents (dead mother, absent father, classical pirate shit), and at the orphanage her morbid fascinations and anger issues dissuaded any potential adoptive parents, until Hogback found her - she basically saw him as a savior at the moment. In the main time, she started developped romantic feelings toward Perona, her only real friend back in time, and the two of them started dating.

When she did a burnout because of everything that was happening at Thriller Bark Hogback basically just... Threw her away. Completely broken she begged Perona to leave Thriller Bark with her but Perona refused. Nina developped severe abandon fear & trust issues after that.

How did they start dating with Kid & Killer? Who was the first?

Kid & Killer were kinda already together when they met Nina - even if they were in MASSIVE denial at the moment ("is it gay to spoon your bro every night? IS IT GAY TO [redacted]?? - you see.)

Kid, being Kid and basically an hormonal teenager dry humping on everything who can consent, obviously immediately tried to get in their pants. She wasn't really interested at first, trust issues and stuff. Feelings start to grow between them as they learned to know about each other - Nina's opinion about Kid changing when he talked to her about Victoria, mostly.

On the other hand, Nina almost immediately crushed on Killer. His devotion and loyalty to Kid and the crew, combined with his soft and caring side made wonders on her relationship issues. On the other hand Killer's protective instincts kicked in when he saw how vulnerable and fragile she was behind the sass.

They started to date and OBVIOUSLY Kid was pissed off because 1) "EH I CALLED DIBS" 2) "WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T SUCK KILLER'S DICK ANYMORE?!!"

things went REALLY messy between the three of them for a while before they realized that

"Eh! the three of us love each other! why choosing!"

What's their relationship with Osha?

Very complicated actually. Due to their past, Nina tends to be VERY insecure & possessive when it come to its boys, with impressive and explosive jealousy outburst, so when Osha got closed with Killer, she didn't take it well AT ALL. When they saw how Osha were commited to Law, they started accepting it and let them have their fun with Killer, but it's still complicated and ask them a lot of willpower.

[lastofthemadones]

I have made a Rae playlist to match my Key one

I still don't have Spotify so the YouTube Music link is here.

You can find the Key playlist here

Brooklyn - Maisie Peters If you're looking, if you're looking for the girl of your dreams, She's in Brooklyn with me, she's in Brooklyn with me

I Did Something Bad - Taylor Swift They say I did something bad, Then why's it feel so good?

EAT ME - Demi Lovatio (feat. Royal & the Serpent) I can't spoon-feed you anymore, Dinner's served, it's on the floor, I can't spoon-feed you anymore, You'll have to eat me as I am

This Year - The Mountain Goats I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me, I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me

You First - Paramore Everyone is a bad guy, And there's no way, no way to know, Who's the worst, Karma's gonna come for all of us, And I hope, well, I hope, I just hope, She comes, comes for you first, oh

Thick Skull - Paramore I am a magnet for broken pieces, I am attracted to broken people, I pick 'em up and now my fingers are bleeding, And it looks like my fault, And it looks like I'm caught red-handed

Bubblegum Bitch - MARINA Hit me with your sweet love, steal me with a kiss, I'm Miss Sugar Pink, liquor, liquor lips, I'm gonna be your bubblegum bitch

Killa - Cherish (feat. Yung Joc) [Shoutout to @thegoosereads who mentioned this song for the Key playlist and while I agree I also think it's a good Rae one] Shawty is a killer, But I really want him, And I got to have him tonight, Straight heart breaker, But it really don't matter, 'Cause I really want him tonight

good 4 u - Olivia Rodrigo Well good for you, You look happy and healthy, not me, If you ever cared to ask

King - Florence + the Machine But a woman is a changeling, always shifting shape, Just when you think you have it figured out, Something new begins to take, What strange claws are these scratching at my skin?, I never knew my killer would be coming from within, I am no mother, I am no bride, I am king

A Little Evil Never Hurt Anyone [shoutout @kadharonon for immaculate vibes] Just do it in anger, Just do it for fun, A little evil never hurt anyone

girl i've always been - Olivia Rodrigo Well, I have captors I call friends, I got panic rooms inside my head, And I get down with crooked men, But I am the girl I've always been

Bad Reputation - Joan Jett I've never been afraid of any deviation, An' I don't really care, If ya think I'm strange, I ain't gonna change, An' I'm never gonna care, 'Bout my bad reputation

Villains Aren't Born (They're Made) - PEGGY Count your blessings, count your minutes, Played my game, hell, now you're in it, Bittersweet, my renegade, And I'm anything but tame, Grab your sword, you might just need it, 'Cause I'm not afraid of cheatin', Oh, I hate to tell you this way, But villains aren't born, Darlin', they're made

Getaway Car - Taylor Swift It was the best of times, the worst of crimes, I struck a match and blew your mind, But I didn't mean it and you didn't see it, The ties were black, the lies were white, In shades of grey in candlelight, I wanted to leave him, I needed a reason

Hate me Harder - Kesha You're spending all that time and energy, Wasted on me, it's so flattering, You say I look like I just crawled out of a trash can, You say I'm obnoxious, nobody was asking, Luckily the jokes on you, I've got nothing left to prove

bad guy - Billie Eilish So you're a tough guy, Like it really rough guy, Just can't get enough guy, Chest always so puffed guy, I'm that bad type, Make your mama sad type, Make your girlfriend mad tight, Might seduce your dad type, I'm the bad guy

[felice-jaganshi]

His Pet

Alastor X OC

Chapter 6

Over the next few days, Alastor was a tense wreck, hiding in his room. Zariah, meanwhile, wandered the hotel like everything was fine and normal, spending time with angel dust after he got home from work some nights, massaging and healing his sore muscles. During the day she'd split time with Charlie helping sinners work on getting redemption, and spending time with Nifty and Husk learning whatever they could share about Alastor's time in hell, using leverage of also “being on his leash” to get sensitive information out of them.

Alastor was pacing in his room one day around noon, when Nifty knocked on his door, “Alastor! Come quickly! It's an emergency in the kitchen!” She sounded extremely excited, but not scared at all, a giggle in her voice. He rolled his eyes and Shadow teleported down to the kitchen. 

“Alright, where is th-” He was cut off as the smell hit him like a freight train. His mother's cooking. He turned to look at the stove, and there was Zariah, wearing a cute new little outfit that would compliment his own if they were to walk the streets together. And she was cooking something that brought back childhood memories. He quickly approached her and looked over into the pot. “Darling… where did you learn this recipe? Nifty said there was an emergency.”

She smiled and looked over her shoulder at him, “the only emergency here is you missing out on the first bowl of Gumbo. But now that you're here, the crisis has been averted.” She was dodging the main question. It irritated him, but… he'd let it slide until he'd tasted the meal. He had to be sure before he lost his cool and made any accusations.

He sat at the dining table as she brought him a bowl. He hesitantly took a bite, before immediately dropping his spoon.

It was! This was his mother's recipe to a T! Exactly how he remembered it! He looked at Zariah, standing next to him with her own head tilted, looking anxious. 

“Did I get it wrong? I tried really hard. I can try again if you tell me what I got wrong.” Her voice was soft, eager to please him.

“Where did you get this recipe?” His voice held heavy static and malice. Zariah actually felt a little scared for a moment, before pushing it back down, he had made a deal with her, he couldn't hurt her. Not physically anyway. 

“While I was in heaven… I found Her. And she taught me several of her recipes. She misses you by the way…”

Alastor's eyes flooded with tears for a moment, but he closed them and held them back, choosing rage over sadness, rage showed more power than tears. He got up from his chair and put a hand around her neck, but found himself unable to squeeze it. DAMN THAT DEAL!! 

“You…Will… leave…her…alone!” He growled and his form elongated, changing into a horrific monstrosity. “Did you forget that I am a literal killer?! I could rip your soul apart and devour it in an instant, if I so desired!”

The noise caught everyone's attention, and before she could respond, Charlie and Vaggie had shown up!

Vaggie had her spear pointed at him, “Alastor! Let her go!”

Charlie looked worried, “Al, calm down, what happened?!”

He refused to move, but Zariah spoke up, “It's okay! Don't hurt him! Al, I'm sorry I upset you.” She placed a hand on the one around her throat. “I mean it, I have no ill intentions whatsoever.” She smiled, her tails flicking slowly. “Just… chill, okay? We can talk about this in private where we won't make such a scene.”

He growled once more before shrinking back down to his normal appearance, shifting his hand to the back of her neck as she let go of his arm. 

“Very well, my dear. Apologies for the scene, Ladies. I lost my cool for a moment, it happens, even to the best of us.” He then led her away by the back of her neck. Charlie tried to stop them for a moment, scared for her safety. But Zariah waved her off.

“I'll be fine Charlie, trust me. Al won't hurt me over this. Oh, enjoy some of the food I made, so it doesn't go to waste!”  She smiled cheerfully and followed willingly. 

Husk was the next one to see them walking down the hall and he gave a worried glance at Zariah, and a pleading one at Al. Alastor glared at husk, making him look at the ground, ashamed of how he was too cowardly to help her. He took her to the radio tower. Locking the door behind them and making her sit in a chair. 

“My dear… at first, your lack of fear was refreshing, but now it is testing my patience. I am not a misunderstood soul who can be redeemed and sent to heaven. And if I ever hear you talking about my mother to anyone, deal or no deal, I will have you ripped to pieces by every resident of cannibal town.” He summoned the chain from their soul deal, a green collar and chain appeared around her neck. He placed a hand on his desk and started playing an old broadcast, playing back the screams of the souls he'd ripped apart in the past. It made her flinch, even knowing he couldn't hurt her, the loud noise was upsetting. She curled up in the chair, bringing her knees to her chest and wrapped herself up in her tails. Her ears laid flat on her head and she whimpered. 

“please… stop the noises! I don't… I didn't mean to upset you. I just wanted to make you happy. I don't want to do anything to you.” He looked down at her cowering and felt better. He felt more in power now. He needed this. He started to calm down now.

“Now, darling. I need you to tell the truth. How did you trick me, and what are your plans?” He bent over her, enjoying her fear.

“Everything I've said has been true. I've never lied to you. I may have overwhelmed you with information before, which lowered your guard, but nothing I said was a lie. I know you won't believe me, but it's true!” She peeked out from behind her tails, tears trailing down her face, “please stop with the voices! it's too much! I feel like my head is splitting open!” He sighed and stopped the broadcast. 

“So, you contacted my mother and learned her recipes, just to make me happy? With all the evidence before me, it sounds like you were planning to seduce me into loving you. Is that right?” His eyes were still glaring, and his voice still held static venom.

She sighed in relief as soon as the voices stopped. “Not seduce. Just edge the odds in my favor a bit, but I'm okay just being friends, or at best platonic partners. Just because I love you, doesn't mean I expect the same kind of love in return. I just want to be by your side… go on walks together, have meals together, sit in the same room and read together… That's all I need out of any relationship.”

He looked thoughtful, “hm… actually, a walk may be exactly what we need after this conversation.” He had an idea, someone who could help with this awkward situation he found himself in. She smiled, standing up, “okay! I'd love to!” She dried her eyes quickly. He held the chain a moment longer, taking a deep breath and relaxing himself, reminding himself he was still the one in control here.

“I am sorry I lost my cool, my dear. But I don't enjoy people getting the upper hand on me.” He reached out to pet her head, testing how much damage he'd done to her trust in him. But before he could actually touch her head, there was a loud knocking on the door.

He closed his hand into a fist, turning toward the door. “Wait right there.” He commanded, then went to open the door with a calm smile, “Ah, Lucifer! To what do I owe this visit?”