#allie gets excited when she talks psych

[wwenhlimagines]

darius martin x female reader. darius proposing to his gf with the help of secret santa 🥺

This is such a cute idea. I hope you like it!

Darius's POV

Today is the day I am finally going to ask Y/N to marry me, but I knew it needed to be special. So I suggested that we do Secret Santa in order for me to catch her off guard. We have been together for 3 years and, although, we are still young and figuring out the real world, I want to make sure she and I figure it all out together. I had been getting questioned left and right backstage from the other wrestlers asking if it was going to happen soon. Allie, aka The Bunny, had been extremely interested as of late since Y/N had started to train with her more often.

About a week ago

"Darius, my friend, how is Christmas shopping for Y/N going?"

I shrugged my shoulders with a small smirk. "Pretty good. I think she will like what I have for her."

Allie stared waryingly at me for a second before whispering to me. "You should probably know, I got her for Secret Santa. Your gift better outshine mine."

I chuckled lightly before an idea popped up in my head, and I took Allie out of earshot to ask for her help, which she giddily jumped around about before agreeing to it.

Back to the present day

I smiled as I watched Y/N get all dressed up for the Secret Santa party. She had a cute Christmas dress with some heels laid out on the bed as she finished up her hair and makeup. I walked into the bathroom and wrapped my arms around her waist as I set my chin on her right shoulder. "There's my babygirl. I missed you this morning. Training again?"

She smiled as I left a couple light kisses on her neck and shoulder. "Yep. Allie insisted on training and then shopping for an outfit for tonight."

I tried my best to hide my smirk as this means Allie already has the plan working. "Well. I'm glad you are home now, and we get to go hang out with our friends for a bit. But trust me, baby, later you are all mine." I gave her ass a quick squeeze as I left her to finish getting ready and went downstairs to text Allie.

Thanks for getting her an outfit today. She is so psyched to go to the party.

You're welcome, lover boy, but you better not drop the ball tonight.

You have the ring in her present correct? I don't want anything to go wrong.

Yes. It is in its own box that she will open last.

Perfect. Thank you again. I can't imagine how I would have done this without your help.

Yeah,yeah,yeah, just get Cinderella to the ball on time, Prince Charming.

👍🏼

Y/N's POV

As I put the finishing touches on my hair and makeup, I smile, thinking about how Darius is going to react to my new outfit once I have it on. It's a bit more revealing than I would normally go for considering it is a company party, but it's definitely going to boost my confidence once I put it on. I have Hook for Secret Santa, so the present was pretty easy as I just got some chips and gift cards for camera equipment. I wasn't sure who had me, though, so tonight could be really great or kinda meh depending on how presents go. I know Darius has Anthony Bowens, and he is really excited to see his face when he opens up his present as they are pretty close.

I get dressed and grab my gift for Hook from the closet before heading out to the living room to find Darius in a nice red button-down with black jeans. We both cooed at each other, taking in each other's appearances. "Who is she? The goddess of Christmas, perhaps?"

I laugh as Darius takes my hand and twirls me around slowly. He gently pulls me into his arms, and I smile before kissing him briefly. "Let's get on the road, my big strong Nutcracker."

We laughed and made small talk as we drove to the party, and I could sense he was getting more nervous as we got closer. I put my hand on his thigh and gently squeezed it. "Bowens is going to love your gift. Just relax and have a good time, babe."

Darius smiles and pecks my lips after parking the car. He runs around to open the door for me, and I shake my head at him. "Let's get this party started, m'lady!"

We walk inside and talk to our friends, occasionally splitting up, but overall sitting together and eating yummy treats as everybody settles in. We start the Secret Santa gift exchange, and everybody is loving their gifts so far. I deliver my gift to Hook, who smiles and hugs me when he sees the gift card for camera equipment. "Maybe we can have a photoshoot someday soon with the lads and some of your friends as well."

I nod and happily walk back to my spot and watch as the others trade gifts. Darius gets up and hands Bowens his gift, which soon leads to a full bro hug session before he returns to my side. He still seems a bit antsy, but I try to ignore it, thinking maybe he is just nervous about what he might get. Allie stands up and walks over to me, and I squeal lightly as I start to open the gift. She had it wrapped very neatly in a box with another smaller box in the corner. I opened it up to find a scarf I had been eyeing on our shopping trip along with some homemade coupons for girls' spa days with her.

"Oh, Allie! That is so sweet. Thank you so much!"

Allie smiled. "I knew you weren't going to buy that scarf for yourself, and I know you are going to need a spa day for the last little gift there."

I felt Darius move next to me as I opened the last box and found a ring box inside it. I froze momentarily as Allie took the rest of the box off my lap, leaving me to turn to see Darius down on one knee. My fingers struggled to stay still, so he took the box and held it up to me.

"Y/N. You are my person. You are my world. Every day, when I wake up and see you sleeping next to me, I ask myself how I got so lucky. You are my best friend, and although we are still trying to navigate adulthood, you are the only one I want to spend the rest of my life with. Will you make me the happiest man in the world and become my wife?"

I nodded frantically and squeaked out a yes before he slid the ring on my finger and pulled me into a time stopping kiss. It felt like we were the only two people in the world as we kissed and embraced each other, taking in the feeling of being fiancées. Once we pulled away, I turned back to Allie and squealed, hugging her. Everybody congratulated us, and we didn't leave each other's sides for a good 15 minutes before realizing we never finished Secret Santa.

"Wait, hold up, who is left to do Secret Santa?"

We saw Hook stand up with his camera in hand and a small bag at his side as he walked over to Darius. Once he handed him the bag, we smiled, seeing a few inside joke gifts alongside a slip of paper that read "Engagement pictures session voucher with Hook. Just tell me when and where."

The two of us got a bit teary-eyed as we realized he knew the whole time. Darius was stuttering, trying to think of something to say when Hook put his hand on his shoulder. "Did you really think I couldn't tell when my best friend was going to pop the question? I'll let you see the pictures I got from today in a couple of days after I retouch them, and then we can talk about the photoshoot."

We both pull him into a hug and thank him for taking pictures, trying to get a sneak peek. He smirks and walks away to go get some chips. "So that is officially everyone done for Secret Santa now, right?"

Everybody nods, and Darius puts his arm around me before grabbing his glass as Dante stands to make a toast. "To the holiday season, friends and family including my soon to be sister in law and pain in the ass brother."

I laugh as Darius shakes his head, and we all clink our glasses and cheers to the season and our new journey as fiancées. For the rest of the night, Darius and I are basically attached at the hip and steal kisses from one another whenever we can. The party starts to wind down, and we head out to the car before driving home holding hands.

Once we get inside, it only takes a couple of seconds for Darius to scoop me up and carry me to our bedroom before dropping me on the bed. He lays next to me, and we both simply admire the new bling on my finger for a couple minutes just letting it sink in. Darius smirks before kissing my fingers one by one and slowly working his way up my arm. "I told you tonight you would be all mine."

[asm5129]

Flash Thoughts 9x04

Okay now THAT one was top tier. Javicia Leslie was by far the MVP, she was KILLING it this episode. Her acting at the ending was a bit much, but still pretty solid. Still, it is clear she is not getting the quality of material or directing she got on Batwoman--and yet she’s STILL KILLING IT 99% of the time.

 tbh I hope they give her a lot more scenes out of the Red Death suit because it's an absolute crime to have her face and voice hidden or to give her classic Batman lines instead of her own. Actually on that note, lets talk about her origins

So, she’s not Armageddon Ryan, and tbh I think that’s a HUGE missed opportunity. But you know what? She’s still great. The idea that she was adopted by the Waynes is definitely an intriguing angle to play. This is a Ryan who grew up in privilege, who never had to deal with the things that made OUR Ryan a hero. this is also a Ryan who never had a Batfam, it seems--so no one to bring her back from the edge like they did when Earth Prime Ryan nearly killed Hush. I think it’s absolutely a mistake to make her not Armageddon Ryan, but I can accept that’s not the direction they wanted to go, and this could be still be plenty amazing--at least, we know Javicia will be.

That suit up scene in the West-Allen apartment was amazing tbh, and i’m intrigued by the twist that Red Death is NOT the new Negative Speed Force Avatar. I do like how she’s twisted what happened in her world in her head--that The Flash betrayed her, that he went crazy and became evil--to give herself the role of hero. I think that’s super interesting. Actually the entire Ryan/Iris standoff was great, from the acting to Iris’ journalistic instincts to the peek into Ryan Wayne's psychology, to the overall incredibly tense atmosphere--it was all really good. Definitely the highlight of the episode.

I have always had mixed feelings on Mark, so i can’t say i was particularly impacted by his sacrifice--but i do appreciate that he did change just enough with Frost that he couldn't completely commit to the betrayal. 

Also, red death’s line about “seeing the best in your enemies, but the worst in your allies” is really interesting, I like it a lot. That and her absolute contempt for criminals are great peeks into her psyche. 

Speaking of peeks into a characters psyche, i love how deeply that contrasts with Barry mourning the loss of Thawne’s life. Barry values all lives, even that of his greatest enemy, and he’s always going to wish a life wasn’t lost. Also it makes me feel better about what I felt was a pretty significant inconsistency with the saving of Thawne at the end of Armageddon. There’s still some inconsistencies and hypocrisies there, but I'm not too hung up on them.

Allegra and Chester FINALLY getting on the same page is nice. That’s about all I have to say about that. Still great chemistry between the actors.

And i really like Joe’s conflict. He has a chance to be a father again, and try to do things a little better this time--and whether central city is a place for that is a legitimate question. Even though he agreed to stay, the look on his face makes me think this conflict is not over. He still wants to leave, even if he doesn’t want to take away Cecile’s chance at being a superhero, or imply to Jenna she wasn’t capable of it.

And that’s about it. I’m excited for next week!

And i can’t wait for Ryan Wilder to make her grand return in the near future and face off against Ryan Wayne. That’s gonna be a hell of a thing.

[allylikethecat]

hi ally!

as a fellow needy girl, can you do 9, 21, 26 and 59 for the know your writer

(as someone who is v whiny, i once again need to say how much i appreciate your whiny matty. hoping for sth w contemporary matty & g soon, kisses set in the current era plus the eye and ear infection fics were my fave)

(also if i ever get brave enough to come off anon - are you up for chatting 👉👈)

Yay! Needy Girls unite! 💪🏻 Thank you so much for sending this in! Also I am always down for chatting! I don't know if I ever have anything interesting to say but my ask box and DMs are always open 😊

I have a few more (new!) Kiss Prompts in my inbox (and am always open to more!) and I'm sure I will be writing more pathetic whining Fictional! Matty in the future - I really enjoy making Fictional!Matty suffer. I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed the Eye and Ear Infection fics and hope you enjoy the next installment in The Infection Fic Verse with the A&E Fic!

Get to know your fic writer!

9. Do you comment on stories you read?

I always try to! I know how discouraging it can be when you write something and don't get any comments, and also how absolutely exciting it is to get comments, so I always try and make sure I leave a comment when reading a fic - I always leave Kudos as at least a minimum though!

21. Would you ever collaborate with another writer for a story?

I would absolutely love to! I haven't had the opportunity to yet, but if it was the right idea and the right author I would love to have the experience. I just know I can be difficult to work with - I bounce around from idea to idea very quickly which I know can be annoying!

26. Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

Probably one of my older Hockey RPF fics - I was in college and extremely unhinged and the fics reflect that 🤣 Though I do have one I am still actively working on (Hurricane) that I came back to after a year and a half / two year hiatus. Everything Will Be Okay (which is one of my Top Gun fics) has also turned into a major trip - I will finish it eventually, but it got a lot of really lovely feedback from the fandom and ended up on a few rec lists and as a result I completely psyched myself out with it and haven't been in the right mental state to finish it (I will eventually though I promise!)

59. Does anyone in your personal life know you write fic? if not, would you tell anyone?

Lol yes. I met my Bestie my freshman year of college and our love of fic and fandom (even though we were in different ones!) was something we really bonded over and here we are nearly ten years later (which is SCARY) living on opposite sides of the country still talking 24/7 and obsessing over our fics (I am very excited I am going to visit her and we are going to see The 1975 in October - she also came out to visit me in March to go to the Eras tour!). I also make a lot of jokes about it to my other IRL friends - however they aren't really in fandom spaces (which is absolutely crazy) and I always joke that they are "outside people" who aren't really online and therefore, they don't really understand what it means or entails. They don't know what I write, where I post it or my username or anything, just that writing is something I enjoy and that I do in fact post it on the internet.

Thank you so much again for sending this in! If anyone else wants to send more of them that would be super cool and I would be so very happy. Thank you!

❤️Ally

[cafedanslanuit]

(psych anon again sorry i fell asleep before i could answer) wow, schooling for psychologists in perú sounds a LOT more efficient than the usa, where i live. i wish usa colleges could learn from yours!! also, i was that anon that asked for advice in that first post lol i totally forgot i already asked you!! i asked that when i first started following you 😭❤️ actually a couple days ago i was trying to find that post again so thank you for finding it!!! it’s definitely helped me these past few semesters. also, i never thought about using a fictional character to motivate me to research, that’s SO SO smart. I’m actually working on a research paper rn (the effect of corporal punishment on children) so your helpful advice is coming at the perfect time 😭 ok last thing (sorry for rambling!), if you don’t mind me asking what did you do when you worked at the school? it’s pretty cool that experience impacted you so much :’) thank you so much again!!!

i ended up writing so so much. im gonna put a read more because i got excited lol

omg i’m so honored to know you’ve following be since i started this blog!! 🥺 and i’m happy my advice about relating it to a character helped you <3 and ever be sorry for rambling i love answering questions about psych because even though covid left me without a job (</3) i still love it dearly.

about your research paper, omg that topic is so important because people still insist on using corporal punishment on kids, like it doesn’t actually damage them emotionally. i think they base their ideas in operant conditioning, because it works on animals. but people are so so so much more complex than that! it’s so bad you actually normalize that behaviour and when you become an adult and someone is physically abusive to you it doesn’t feel as bad because it feels like home, even though you don’t consciously think so. your brain just thinks “hey my parents love me, so sometimes they hurt me out of love”, and you end up thinking love is supposed to hurt sometimes. but since it’s so normalized people repeat the same patterns with their own kids :(

well i worked at a school with children from 6 to 16! my job was primarily emotional support. for kids between 6 as 11, it wa mostly calming them down when they were acting up at school and keeping a record in case it was repetitve. i would have to call the parents to talk to them so they could help out so we chould change the kid’s behaviour (like insulting their classmates or getting into fights, that sort of thing). we also planned out fun workshops! for little kids we had self esteem workshops, attention and concentration workshops, etc. for the older kids we had an introduction to sexuality workshop, mostly to teach about body changes and stuff. then, with the other group age, 12-16, it was way more fun because they could ask their teachers to be excused from class if they weren’t feeling wrong, so they freely came to look for me when they needed to talk something out. it was... a lot heavier, because i had to deal with issues such as harassment, kids scared to come out to their parents, and even once a lovely student i had was beaten by her mom. she called the cops but their family was pressing on her to drop the charges, so she was feeling very upset about the whole situation. we also did some workshops for them, about sexuality, self esteem, social skills, study techniques, etc. i also have to keep a record of certain students that had been presenting problems. even i stopped working there on december, once one of them got my number and texted me because he was feeling sad <3 teens are very very observant, and they don’t just trust you from the start, but if you’re honest with them and don’t treat them as kids, they will come to you for anything.

for example, there was another psychologist that was like “kids... if someone bullies you, you have to say ‘hey mate! bullying isn’t cool!’ and i- .... yeah, imagine telling a 15 year old that :| i told them in case they were getting harassed they had to learn to defend themselves. not by hurting them back physically or verbally, but they SHOULD call them out, tell them ‘hey, what’s your problem?’ and if they saw someone else getting harassed, they had to intervene, because watching someone getting bullied and staying silent isn’t good either. i also told them if they were too afraid to say something they could always tell me if they saw anyone getting bullied and i would do something about it without ratting them out <3 on my last day i got so so so many hugs from them, i miss them a lot :’)

whoa i ended up rambling myself sdjhfddfk <3 i hope this helps!!!

[zorkaya-moved]

🤝 - coworkers ⛔ - reluctant friends 🌈 - developing friendship ☀️ - friends of circumstance 🕴- partners in illegal activity ⚔️ - rivals 🪓 - occupational enemies ⚫ - enemies using each other out of convenience ( there are many, many potentials whoops )

@c4rdsharp

relationship types. ( always accepting; perfect for first interactions! )

I’m so excited for all the fun moments between Luck and Zarina. They give me the vibe of people who care deeply about their people,  but it’s a different approach for them both. Luck cares about his whole familia while Zarina cares about her own close family and her team, which is a much smaller number of people. It’s something that can become one of the more fun discussions that makes them reluctant friends and friends of circumstance aside from their job. Let me start from there, though! 

🤝 - coworkers /  🕴- partners in illegal activity ⛔ - reluctant friends 🌈 - developing friendship ☀️ - friends of circumstance

I wanted to group these give because they go along very well together in general. I think no matter the verse they meet in, Zarina and Luck would be forced to spend a lot of time together as mafiosi and as those who remain in the leadership position and how Zarina would certainly see Gandor family as an essential ally to get for the future. The discussions of business, the talks about possibilities, the sharing of information. I also think they can really share the sentiment regarding families in general, which I think not many in their field can share so openly, but they’re both too strong and too laid-back/confident in their own stability and strength to talk about this. Luck doesn’t disrespect her as a woman and she keeps him in high regard for his leadership. It’s something that will help them slowly attempt to have a more stable positive relationship. A friendship is possible and depending how deep they’ll dive into each other’s psyche and how trustworthy they’ll prove themselves to each other, it can be the base-level friendship or actually very strong bond between two families and two people who hold each other in the highest respect. 

⚔️ - rivals 🪓 - occupational enemies ⚫ - enemies using each other out of convenience

If the friendship doesn’t work out, there is certainly a lot of tension between them. The occupation certainly bring the possibility of them becoming occupational rivals. Zarina won’t be rivals with Luck personally, only occupational enemies and only enemies using each other out of convenience. Why wouldn’t she be actually rivals with Luck? She doesn’t care about anyone enough to have them as ‘rivals’. She doesn’t care about having rivals, it’s always one-sided and I don’t know if Luck actually would see her as a rival either in terms of personal interaction. But she won’t. She doesn’t care about others who aren’t trying to become her allies and if they want to go against her, she will destroy them or will keep them on their toes for her own personal sick satisfaction. The occupation enemies and rivals though? Absolutely. When it comes to business, it’s not personal and it’s simply business. 

[prompromthepompom]

Some Headcanons about Gods and Goddesses we don’t meet in Hades

I’ve been absolutely LOVING Hades, and I got to thinking about gods and goddesses we don’t see and the boons they’d offer or potential enemies or allies that also could be in the game.

Hera: Nyx probably heard that comment Zeus made about her and decided not to get Hera in on this for her own safety. BUT if Hera were offering boons, I imagine that they’d revolve around confusing or bewitching enemies. I could see for example a dash boon that when Zag dashes, a flurry of peacock feathers take his place and they daze enemies for a few seconds allowing him to get to cover. Alternatively a flurry of feathers that shoot out towards enemies as an attack boon.

Iris: When Nyx dialed Iris up on the godly cell phones, her reply was “There are no rainbows in the underworld Nyx, what do you want me to do?” If Iris could somehow reach Zag deep down in the Underworld, PLEASE let her give the railgun a giant rainbow laser beam of death and destruction. Just obliterate your enemies with rainbow laser beam. A cool zigzaggy rainbow that follows you as you dash around? Um yes please!

Hebe: The goddess of youth? She can turn enemies into babies. Congratulations the new looming threat is the responsibility of adulthood. No but seriously, her boons allow you to woobify enemies until they can’t do anything to you anymore.

Apollo: The god of light helps stun enemies. A bright flare to momentarily blind them so you can swoop in and strike or get away. He also provides nice advantages to your long-ranged weapons and attacks.

Hephaestus: He was so mad over you choosing Daedalus things over his that he refused to help and needed additional convincing. What does Hephaestus do? He sups up your weapons. You want a chainsaw sword? He will make your sword into a chain saw sword.

Hestia: The ONLY reason she hasn’t helped you is that someone needs to stay home on Mt. Olympus while everyone else runs around like idiots, there is one braincell in the collective god brain cell trust found- Hestia guards it. BUT when she can help you out, get ready for some fiery attacks. Imagine a boon that if you get an opponent on fire, they can’t put it out.

Eris: Oh man this could go so many ways. Since she’s the goddess of discord, her boons would definitely revolve around turning your enemies against each other – watch out Theseus and Asterius. But for a more chaotic element I feel like she’d be running the double god rooms and she’d either boost the boons you already have or replace them all and since she’s discord you don’t know what you’re going to get. It’s a gamble, do I risk upgrading everything I have and potentially get it all replaced? Either way, she’d definitely have a lot of duo boons with Ares.

Morpheus: Okay so what if Hades didn’t realize Hypnos and Morpheus are twins, and they use this to their advantage to tag team in and out. One of them is always reporting to Hades while the other gets some sleep? Either that or he provides boons that puts enemies to sleep or slows them down.

Also just on the topic of Nyx’ children there’s also Nemesis (wonder what she’s the goddess of), and then Apate (deceit) and Neikea (feuds) BUT there’s also Philotes the goddess of friendship. And I want Thanatos and Hypnos to talk about how all their siblings are cranky goths except for their one weird pastel preppy sister. “For some reason everyone kept asking if I was Persephone’s child when I was little” and Than in the background “That’s because of all the PINK!”

Hecate: let’s get the girl who witnessed the whole kidnapping of Persephone in on this. What if she has a bunch of cutesy stories to give to Zag about his mom. Also, I just want to give Zag that annoying ass spell the witch enemies use and I hate.

Plutus: my man, plz. Show up and make me rich. Pretty plz. Plutus makes it rain money from the sky, you now attack like Meowth and hurl money you can pick up at the end of a fight.

Calypso: Ogygia is one of the rest rooms you can duck into. Calypso is not very happy to help a god at first, but darn Zag is just so polite and nice she eventually warms up to him and explains how she’s trapped on this island and doomed to help whatever heroes show up. She offers gifts like Sisyphus for Zag to collect some health or resources to aid his journey. (Also asks if Zag can tell Odysseus to start paying child support)

Prometheus: also, in one of the rest rooms. Like Eurydice he offers to help improve the boons you have by imparting wisdom onto Zag. He probably also asks after Hestia to make sure she didn’t get into trouble for helping him with the whole giving humans fire thing.

Psyche: Alright we need couples in distress that need to get put back together. In Roman tellings of Psyche’s love with Eros/Cupid, she needs to deliver a package from the Goddess of Love to the Goddess of the Underworld.  I can only imagine Zag stumbling upon her as she’s desperately trying to find her way in/out so she can be reunited with Eros (and stop having his mom be mad at her).

Penelope and Odysseus: speaking of couples that have been separated in the Underworld, what if Odysseus becomes a mentor, and just goes on and on and on about Penelope to Zag. So, Zag just looses his mind and gets so excited when he meets Penelope for the first time because he has ALL these stories about her.

Pan: the BIG BAD. I’m just saying there’s a crazy satyr cult. And Cerberus isn’t a pupper anymore he’s doggo. There are several mentions of a looming threat to the underworld. What if Pan’s about to wake back up and he’d going to go full Sun WuKong on the underworld? I don’t really know why he’d be mad at the underworld per se. But the crazy satyr cult made my brain go there.

Tartarus: alternatively, since the underworld is slowly falling apart, what if it’s because good old Tartarus is waking back up and Zag is going to have to stop him for the sake of his fam?

Some interesting minibosses that could be trying to stop Zag could be Deimos and Phobos, gods of terror and panic, who seem like the kind of guys Hades would employ.

If we run with the whole idea of demigods reconciling with the creatures they slayed. Can we get Perseus meeting Medusa and being like “sorry for the whole chopping your head off thing, I guess.” “Sorry you killed your granddad playing frisbee I GUESS”

Also, can we have father son reunions for Peleus and Achilles and Priam and Hector???

Last thing for now, can you imagine if there was a Minthe cameo?

“Oh hey there attempted homewrecker of my parent’s marriage, how’s it going?”

“Now THIS is a homewrecker Theseus! Please stop calling me one!”

[salvatoreschool]

Vampire Diaries Universe: The 25 Best Characters, Ranked

For the first time since 2009, we’re entering a fall season devoid of any new offerings from the Vampire Diaries universe. And like Stefan Salvatore without his daily diet of forest friends, we’re insatiable.

Like so many longtime TVD enthusiasts (those of us to whom the word “thesmatos” really means something!), we’ve spent much of quarantine revisiting the weird, wonderful universe — from Mystic Falls to New Orleans and back again. We’re suddenly spending a lot of time with characters we haven’t seen in years. And we’re having a lot of feelings about them.

In celebration of the franchise’s 11th anniversary, TVLine has assembled another totally non-controversial ranking, this time of the 25 best characters from the Vampire Diaries universe — a category that also includes familiar faces from The Originals and Legacies. (In Legacies‘ defense, the franchise’s latest offshoot hasn’t been around as long to endear itself to us, but that didn’t stop four Salvatore School students from making their way onto our list.)

In lieu of new content from the TVD universe this fall, TVLine is looking back at our 25 favorite characters from the entire franchise, including stand-out favorites from its two spinoffs.

SPOILER ALERT: This ranking discusses major plot points from all three shows. If you haven’t finished The Vampire Diaries (Season 1-8), The Originals (Season 1-5) or Legacies (Season 1-2), proceed at your own risk. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!

25. VINCENT GRIFFITH

Thanks to the magic of body swapping, the Mikaelson siblings have inhabited multiple physical vessels throughout the years, but none have remained in the family’s orbit quite like this Southern gentleman. Powerful, thoughtful and downright Shakespearean in his delivery (Yusuf Gatewood, ladies and gentlemen!), Vincent always has the greater good in mind. And as we learned in The Originals’ series finale, he helped Freya and Keelan pass that good along to the next generation.

24. LANDON KIRBY

Even though we’re still getting to know him, there’s already so much to like about this pure-hearted Mystic Falls townie. Not only is he the franchise’s first-ever phoenix, but he also looks like he could pass for Damon and Elena’s offspring — and that’s never a bad thing. We could tell he had a long future in this universe the moment he danced with Hope in The Originals’ final season. (So far, so good!)

23. JENNA SOMMERS

Like so many paved paradises, we didn’t fully appreciate what we had with Jenna until she was gone. Her death marked the end of Elena’s innocence — which is saying a lot, considering she was still mourning her own parents when The Vampire Diaries began. And if we’re being honest, Jenna was the ghost we were most excited to see again in the series finale. (For the record, Joseph Morgan has apologized on Klaus’ behalf for killing Jenna several times.)

22. TYLER LOCKWOOD

The First Son of Mystic Falls was kind of a jerk when we met him in The Vampire Diaries‘ first season. He was arrogant, aggressive and reckless — so it actually made perfect sense when he was revealed to be a werewolf. Fortunately, Michael Trevino’s character developed a little more nuance from that point on, especially via his Romeo and Juliet romance with Caroline. (After everything that’s happened since 2013, can you believe that they were once in a love triangle with Klaus?)

21. JEREMY GILBERT

Elena’s little brother (er, cousin?) went through a number of different, wonderful phases during his tenure in Mystic Falls. We loved him in The Vampire Diaries’ earlier seasons as the human embodiment of all things emo (he literally dated a ghost!), and we… um… appreciated his unexpected evolution into a shirt-ripping, wood-chopping vampire hunter.

20. CAMILLE ‘CAMI’ O’CONNELL

The Clarice Starling to Klaus’ Hannibal Lecter, this brave bartender was able to tap into the show’s darkest, most complicated character’s psyche in ways that no one named Mikaelson (or even Forbes) ever could. She helped him conquer a number of his demons in the few short years they spent together on The Originals, and like most people who play a significant role in Klaus’ life, she suffered the consequences. (Side note: Are we the only ones who really dug Cami as a vampire? Justice for that short-lived story arc.)

19. SHERIFF ELIZABETH FORBES

Of The Vampire Diaries’ many maternal figures, none put us through the emotional ringer quite like Caroline’s mother. We weren’t her biggest fans in the show’s early seasons, given her penchant for hunting the undead (including her own daughter), but hey, what was this show if not an endless series of redemption arcs? Also, if you don’t get a little choked up when Caroline felt her mom’s presence in the series finale, you don’t have a soul.

18. FREYA MIKAELSON

The long-lost fifth Mikaelson sibling was a little rough around the edges when we first encountered her on The Originals, but the poor woman was in the midst of escaping a centuries-long imprisonment, so we cut her a little slack. And we’re glad we did, because Freya has since become one of the strongest, most inspiring and all-around likable characters in the Vampire Diaries canon. #FreelinForever

17. MARCEL GERARD

While it’s easy to get swept up in Marcel’s charm and swagger (we were robbed of a second karaoke number, by the way!), it’s important to remember just how far back his time with the Mikaelson family goes. When you consider that Klaus literally freed Marcel from slavery and raised him to lead New Orleans as his right-hand vampire, it adds a whole other layer of tension to their passionate power struggle on The Originals. Though he’s treated like an unofficial Mikaelson sibling, Marcel often feels like more of a Mikaelson than Kol — and definitely more than Finn.

16. REBEKAH MIKAELSON

Arguably the funniest (and most glamorous) member of the Mikaelson family, the woman Damon once referred to as “Barbie Klaus” never fai to tell it exactly like it was, beginning with her thoughts on then-lovebirds Stefan and Elena. (“Honestly, I don’t get you two as a couple.”) And Bex only became more complex as the years went on, from her desperate desire for humanity to her undeniable love for Marcel. Just don’t call her insane — she prefers “spontaneous.”

15. ALARIC SALTZMAN

In hindsight, Alaric’s journey from hot history teacher to hot headmaster of a supernatural school makes perfect sense. Still, it was impossible to predict back in The Vampire Diaries’ first season just how much of an impact the man formerly known as Warner Huntington III would have on this franchise. A drinking buddy to some, a father figure to others and a literal father to a lucky pair, Alaric has truly woven himself into the fabric of this universe like few others. (That said, we still wouldn’t recommend dating him if you value your life.)

14. SHERIFF MATT DONOVAN

Only one full-blooded human survived all eight seasons of The Vampire Diaries, and you’re looking at him. The pinnacle of mortal goodness, this blue-eyed patriot hasn’t always been on the same page as his vampire brethren, but that’s only because he didn’t want to see any more his friends and family get eaten. And we can sympathize with that!

12-13. LIZZIE AND JOSIE SALTZMAN

Asking us to choose between Jo (by way of Caroline) and Alaric’s daughters is an impossible task, which is ironic, considering the Gemini twins are literally destined for a fight to the death on their 22nd birthday. Besides, these sisters have always felt like a package deal, from the moment we witnessed their birth on The Vampire Diaries to the day we reunited with them as teenagers on Legacies. (They also popped up in The Originals’ penultimate episode, putting them in the prestigious category of characters who have appeared in all three series.) Despite their inherent connection, Lizzie and Josie really have grown into two very different people, a journey we hope will continue for years (and shows) to come.

11. MALACHAI ‘KAI’ PARKER

The fact that this remorseless, pork rind-loving psychopath ranks so high on our list speaks volumes about actor Chris Wood, who brought a refreshingly sassy vibe to The Vampire Diaries’ sixth season. The guy was so likable, fans were even ‘shipping him with Bonnie… as if that poor girl hadn’t been through enough already! You also have to give Kai points for longevity — even after his head got knocked off, he managed to make two encore appearances on TVD (Season 8) and Legacies (Season 2).

10. HOPE MIKAELSON

As we mentioned with Lizzie and Josie earlier, we feel like we’ve watched Hope grow up before our eyes… because we have. Given the epic circumstances surrounding her conception, birth and upbringing, an adult version of this character had a lot of hype to live up to, and Danielle Rose Russell has proven herself more than up to the challenge. Imbued with her parents’ best qualities, Hope’s power and passion make her both a formidable foe and an invaluable ally. Besides, Legacies showed us what the world would be like without Hope, and it was not a good place.

9. HAYLEY MARSHALL

We can’t even think about this fierce, fearless mama wolf without shedding a single tear. Hayley’s story was basically one long tragedy, from her complicated marriage with Jackson to her tumultuous relationship with Elijah. And then there was her untimely demise in The Originals’ final season, which… actually, let’s not talk about that. From the moment she gave birth, Hayley’s heart belonged to Hope, and it was in her most extreme maternal moments that Hayley’s true strength was on display. That’s how we’ll remember her.

8. ELIJAH MIKAELSON

Suits? Pressed. Hair? Immaculate. Vocabulary? Thicc. With his smooth moves and cunning intellect, Klaus’ extremely respectful brother could do it all — well, except keep the people he loved from meeting horrific ends. (Seriously, this guy’s track record for dead lovers is right up there with Alaric’s.)

7. BONNIE BENNETT

Simply put, this is the witch you want in your corner when things go south. Endlessly powerful and selfless to a fault, Kat Graham’s character spent eight agonizing seasons sacrificing herself — often literally, hence her multiple deaths — in order to keep her friends and family safe. No amount of bloody noses or dead boyfriends could stop this badass from crushing her enemies.

6. CAROLINE FORBES

Getting smothered to death was honestly the best thing that could have happened to Caroline, who evolved from a basic, boy-crazy cheerleader into a bad-ass vampire overnight. And that was just the first phase of her franchise-long evolution into the empowered, globe-trotting mother of two she is today. She’s also responsible for all of The Vampire Diaries’ memorable musical moments, from her sweet song for Matt to her devastating performance at Sheriff Forbes’ funeral. (Now if only she’d pay her old pals at Legacies a visit…)

5. ELENA SALVATORE

She may not have Katherine’s chaotic flare, but Elena deserves credit for carrying much of The Vampire Diaries’ dramatic and romantic weight for six years. And for that pink hair she experimented with in Season 4. On top of that, Elena also rolled with the punches better than almost anyone. (You’re vampires? I’m a doppelgänger? Now I’m a vampire? Now I’m human again? Now I’m in a coma? Sure, let’s do this.)

3-4. DAMON AND STEFAN SALVATORE

Two sides of the same brooding coin, these brothers were as proficient at breaking hearts as they were at breaking necks. And while their love triangle with Elena will remain the stuff of TV legend, their relationship as brothers was revealed to be the real heart of The Vampire Diaries in its final two seasons. Honestly, it’s too hard to choose between them, so we’re not going to.

2. KATHERINE PIERCE

Come on, when were you not excited to see this leather-clad lunatic on your screen? Deliciously twisted and infinitely more interesting than her human doppelgänger, Katherine was behind many of The Vampire Diaries’ most jaw-dropping twists, from her iconic encounter with John(’s bloody fingers) to her long-awaited return in the series finale. Honestly, putting Katherine on hell’s throne in Season 8 was merely a formality — she was always a queen.

1. KLAUS MIKAELSON

The man, the myth, the legend. To think that the monster who slaughtered poor, defenseless Aunt Jenna on The Vampire Diaries is the same person who gave it all up to save his daughter on The Originals… well, there isn’t a clap slow enough to commend that kind of growth. (Again, Joseph Morgan is very sorry about the whole Jenna thing!) By the time Klaus evaporated on the streets of New Orleans, it felt like we had explored every conceivable nook and cranny of his existence, from his traumatic childhood to his fatal romances — and we relished every second of it.

[psychosistr]

SHUSH/FOWL Double Agent “Maravilla”

Art by @thefriendlyfour​ (thanks for the character designs, and thanks to @starlightmoth for help with the dress designs!), full bio below the cut.

Physical Description: A tall and lovely purplish jay with purple feathers across most of her body except for the black feathers on her chest, neck, and most of her head. “Hair” feathers are two-toned with the outside/top being black and the inside being purple. While working for SHUSH, her hair is kept tied up in a bun that only shows the black part of her hair as per protocol to keep it neat, but one long, wavy strand of black bangs always hangs down on the right side of her face. While working for FOWL or off the clock, she figuratively and literally lets her hair down and reveals her true colors in a natural Bolivian-style loose wave with both colors of hair on full display. Beak is purple with black lipstick while in her FOWL outfit.

Outfit: Has two main outfits that she’s seen in- one for SHUSH and one for FOWL.

Her SHUSH outfit is in the standard grey suit-style with a white button-up shirt beneath the traditional grey coat. Skirt ends just above her knees and has pockets below her black leather belt with a circular silver buckle. Accessories are kept simple while working with SHUSH, sticking to black french-heel style back-seam stockings, black loafer-style heels, silver oval-framed glasses, a black neck tie with a white ivory marigold-shaped tie pin, and a matching black hair band with a white marigold-shaped piece on the front to hold up her hair bun.

Her FOWL outfit is a far cry from her SHUSH one, going with a stream-lined but figure-flattering red sleeveless asymmetrical halter-top dress. The bottom of her gown is lined with black down feathers (she’ll never say if they’re real or fake) and the right side has a black marigold-outlined pattern. Her accessories are much flashier than her SHUSH outfit, too, consisting of a gleaming silver chain-link belt that doubles as a hand-wrap for martial arts when necessary, a golden-chained necklace with a black onyx stone carved into a marigold, matching golden bangles and rings with round onyx stones, sheer black thigh-high stockings with black lace garter belts, and shiny black ankle-strap platform heels with tiny silver marigold-shaped buckles.

Gender: Female

Sexual Orientation: Extremely flirtatious lesbian.

Age: 28

Nicknames: Mara, Mari, Marigold, Vi, Ms.Flores.

Real Name: Marisol Flores

Background:

Born in Bolivia, Marisol Flores lived what many would consider an average life. She had a nice family that wasn’t too cold or too forgiving, lived comfortably middle class, and graduated from high school with good enough grades to get into her desired college with a decent amount of grant money.

While her life was comfortable, Marisol never really held any passion for her studies and quietly worried that she was just doing what was expected of her- something that would eventually lead her to an unsatisfying but stable job with an unsatisfyingly mundane future.

On her way to class one day, though, Marisol’s future took a drastic turn: She took a less crowded route to school and stumbled into a battle between a small team of FOWL and SHUSH agents. At first, she was scared of being caught in the crossfire and possibly dying. Soon, however, that fear turned to excited adrenaline and she realized that, for the first time in her life, she felt truly ALIVE.

After surviving the firefight unnoticed and unharmed, Marisol devoted her time to finding out more about the groups she saw that day. It took a few years and a lot of digging to find out who exactly both FOWL and SHUSH were (most of her methods being less than legal), but the thrill of excitement and danger spurred her on.

Finding connections to both organizations in Calisota, she scraped together her meager savings and bought a one-way ticket to America, leaving her hometown, as well as her family, and never looking back.

Marisol impressed both organizations at different times by locating their bases and asking for membership, proving her cunning and her worth by passing the dangerous tests and trials they put her through.

It’s unknown which organization she allied herself with first, but both believe her to be a double agent that they themselves planted within the enemy’s side- neither group knowing her true intentions or where her loyalties, if she has any, really lie.

Current Position:

Within SHUSH, Agent Maravilla is considered their top informant and “enemy information acquisition specialist”, providing them with information on FOWL’s more diabolical plans and less guarded bases/outposts.

Within FOWL, Agent Maravilla is a valuable mole planting viruses in SHUSH’s computer systems, sending copies of their most confidential documents, and tipping FOWL off to any banks currently providing funds to SHUSH so they can “coincidentally” be robbed later.

Personality:

Maravilla is best defined by three traits: She is secretive, a massive flirt, and an adrenaline junky.

Always keeping people around her at arm’s length to avoid them finding out the true nature of her double-agent status and questioning her intentions, many of her fellow agents on both sides view Maravilla as an elusive and secretive enigma who will be there and gone before they can even blink.

Still, despite her natural stance on keeping her work matters a secret and being resistant to letting anyone in, she can never resist the chance to hit on a beautiful woman. She’s charming and smooth in her approaches, able to make more than a few supposedly straight women reconsider their sexual orientation.

For the ones she’s especially fond of, whether romantically or she just finds them fun to flirt/talk with, she’ll leave them a purple or red marigold as a token of affection/calling card with an otherwise anonymous gift of the lady-in-question’s favorite snack.

Delving even further into Maravilla’s psyche after getting past the secretive enigma and the charming flirt, though, lies a more adventurous side that is still, at its core, the reason she joined both organizations- her love of thrilling, life-or-death situations and the danger that comes with both jobs.

The more deadly the situation she’s in, the happier she is with it, often throwing her enemies off because they don’t know how to deal with someone so excited to nearly die.

“Surrender now or we WILL kill you!”

“Ooooh, really?! Come on then, do it!”

“I..uh...huh? What the heck is wrong with this woman..?”

Still, despite her adrenaline-junky nature, she’s not (completely) suicidal and will still take the opportunity to fight back or escape when it presents itself- often doing so at the last possible second to get the maximum danger-high she craves.

Interesting Bonus Facts:

Speaks Spanish and English on a regular basis, but also speaks Portugese and Aymara from time to time, even if it’s mostly to herself or to swear without being understood.

Fighting style involves quick, sharp slaps and hand-chops combined with devastating elbow strikes and sharp kicks/stomps from her deadly heels.

This style would best be described as the martial art of aikido.

Best example would be Anna Williams from the Tekken series.

Bonus note- she’d totally cosplay Anna given the chance.

In addition to her martial arts skills, she’s also known to keep some deadly backups hidden up her literal and metaphorical sleeves in the form of drugged needles hidden in the long-sleeves of her SHUSH uniform that can knock out enemies or make them hallucinate, as well as a few throwing knives strapped to the lacy garter belts of her FOWL clothing.

Has a soft spot for cheesy romance novellas and telenovelas, and will often be found reading/watching some in her free time or while waiting for a meeting.

Is surprisingly good at football since she played it with her siblings growing up.

Do not ever call it soccer around her or she will kick the ball right into your face.

Has deadly aim, even while wearing heels.

Could totally pull THIS off with ease.

Despite knowing it’s likely an unrealistic fantasy with the way she lives her life, Maravilla really DOES want to get a girlfriend (or possibly more than one, she’s not opposed to polyamory if she likes all parties involved) someday.

[tracybirds]

Earthbound (1/?)

OKay trying a new thing where I don’t wholly know where this will end up but I’m excited for the journey????

It’s gonna focus on John and Alan uh... taking a holiday let’s call it that and then we’ll see what happens.... many thanks to @gumnut-logic who has already patiently fielded my very many questions about plotting and ideas and how the heck pacing works and calmed my farm as it were xDD I hope you enjoy!

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The sun sank below the horizon and like clockwork, John Tracy put himself to bed. His movements were slow and awkward and he didn’t look anyone in the eye as he left, walking away without a second glance. The sight is unnatural for all of them and they uncomfortably talk around his absence, twenty feet suddenly a much harder distance to cross than twenty thousand miles.

Scott had been trying to press him for several days, in equal parts hoping to find his brother and International Rescue’s space monitor. John’s eyes shuttered off whenever he tried, and Alan kept quiet as he watched the way John’s hands reached out to ground himself when Scott blithely asked him how much longer it would be. It had been a month and not once had John asked to return to his home, wouldn’t even look up in the sky to acknowledge her presence.

None of them seemed know what to do with their shell of a brother.

“He doesn’t want to be there, Scott,” Virgil finally said. “Surely you can see that.”

“What do you want me to do about it? We need him.”

“We need him for more than just Thunderbird Five and you know it,” said Virgil sharply. “You refusing to acknowledge that is not helping.”

“You know he’s been sleeping in my room, right?” demanded Scott. “He’s got separation anxiety like a three year old.”

“He doesn’t look at the stars anymore,” said Alan, in a quiet voice.

“What?”

“The stars. He won’t look at them. It’s why he won’t sleep in his bed either.”

“There’s more wrong with him that just some stars Alan,” scoffed Scott and so Alan turned away and watched as the blue hour of dusk faded into the true night. It didn’t matter what Scott thought, he knew his brother. He needed a plan.

---

“Thunderbird Five calling in the Astronaut, come in please.”

Alan looked over at the comm and rolled his eyes fondly. “Hey Gordon, what’s happening?”

“Literally nothing, I’m so bored,” his brother whined. “How does John do this all the time? The end of the week can’t come soon enough.”

Alan laughed. Gordon had put off his rotation on Thunderbird Five for as long as possible, evidently hoping John would be back in space before anyone had a chance to realise he had gotten out of monitoring duty again. His brother wasn’t built for microgravity and eighty-seven step procedures, his body driven by adrenaline and instinct in a way that could kill in space.

“You could have taken on cleaning duty dirt-side, I’d have swapped.”

“Nah Allie,” said Gordon, who was now floating haplessly upside down. “You should be down there with him.”

Alan shrugged. “It’s not like I’m doing any good right now.”

“Hey, don’t sell yourself short,” said Gordon. “You’ve spent more time in space than the rest of us, you know how messed up things can get.”

“Scott thinks he’s just scared to leave us behind.”

“Yeah, well full offense to Scott, but he doesn’t actually know what he’s talking about.” Gordon’s face reappeared, much too close to the projection scanners. “Trust me Alan, it’s all bluster with him. John was out there for hours, that’s gotta do something to the psyche. See it all the time when I take people diving.”

“You do?”

“Yep,” he said, popping the ‘p’. “It’s all that emptiness, people freak out when they get a glimpse at how huge open waters actually are. It’s like infinity, you think about it for too long and your brain will start to melt.”

Alan didn’t say anything, only nodded.

Gordon watched him carefully. “You want my advice?”

“Can I say no?”

“Rude,” he said, scowling at him briefly. “Go with your gut. You’ve got good instincts on this one, I know you do.”

Alan smiled half-heartedly. “Thanks Gordo.”

“Wait, wait,” said Gordon hurriedly. “Before you go, can you tell me how to turn the gravity back on?”

“Just ask EOS.”

“She won’t do it,” said Gordon unhappily. “She says I need to solve her puzzles first.”

Alan shrugged. “So do it, they’re not hard.”

“They’re simultaneous equations, that’s her puzzles.”

“I know,” said Alan with a grin. “Insulting how stupid she thinks we are, isn’t it?”

“Alan, I can’t do them, Alan, they have four variables, Alan wait!”

Alan was laughing as he waved goodbye cheerfully, leaving Gordon to his fate. He looked up at the quiet knock at his door that occurred just as the glow of the hologram died.

“Come in,” he called.

He frowned when there was no response, only a rattling of the door handle as though the person on the other side couldn’t quite get a grip. He got up from the rug that was lying on the floor and pulled the door open only to leap back with a start when John stumbled into the room. His eyes were only half open and his hand trailed on the wall beside him.

Alan sighed. John sleepwalking had become a regular occurrence over the last few weeks as he sought out safety and comfort in the long night. Scott was right that John had been sleeping in his room but more often than not he didn’t stay there, usually wandering from room to room as though his subconscious needed to check everyone was where they were meant to be. John flopped down onto Alan’s bed, drawing his legs up so that they didn’t hang comically over the end.

“Hey, John?” he called softly, not wanting to wake him fully. “Whatcha doing?”

“Shhhh,” mumbled John. “I’m sleeping.”

“You don’t want to do that in your own bed?”

“Nope,” he said, reaching out a hand and tugging one of the pillows close to his chest.

“Why not?”

John didn’t answer him, merely rolling over so that he was pressing himself against the wall.

Alan watched him for a second and clambered onto the bed. He didn’t want to touch John, fearful of what might happen if he woke him on accident, so he curled up beside his brother, staring up through the blinds at the sliver of night sky he could see.

“Don’t let me be alone, Allie,” John said suddenly. He rolled over again to face Alan and his hand fell between them, palm up. He was still asleep.

“I won’t, John,” came Alan’s whispered promise. He squeezed his brother’s hand. “We’ll do this together.”

---

Alan dragged a chair over to the desk where Scott was working and dropped into it with a loud sigh.

Scott ignored him and he swung his legs for a moment, waiting for his presence to be acknowledged. Alan sighed again, louder this time and more insistent. When this too received no response, he started to kick his legs against the table, hoping to jolt Scott out of his concentration or failing that, annoy him into speaking.

“What?” growled Scott, and Alan smiled at his success.

“I want a break,” he announced.

Scott groaned, dragging a hand down his face. “Wouldn’t we all, Allie?” he asked, looking over at Alan. “Tell me more about this break.”

“I want a week,” Alan said quickly. “One week where I take John and get him out of your hair and off the island.”

Scott shook his head. “No way. After what happened, I’m not sure I want to see him leave this house ever again.”

“Him staying here isn’t keeping him safe, it’s just making things worse.”

“I know what he needs,”

“No you don’t,” interrupted Alan, flinging his hands in the air. “Scott you don’t. I am telling you, he needs to be able to leave, he needs to know that we don’t care if he never goes up in TB5 again, because he is our brother.”

“Of course I care about more than just him piloting Five,” snapped Scott. “Come on Allie, of course I do. But he loves it so much, I don’t understand why he doesn’t want to go back.”

“He still does, Scott,” said Alan earnestly. “Probably more than any of us know. But he’s not going to make it back if he doesn’t have time to process. I can help him with that and if we go away I know I can get through to him. Let me try.”

Scott grumbled under his breath for a moment, flicking through the schedules he’d made for the next few weeks.

“You have until next Thursday,” he said at last. “I need you back here by then, Lady Penelope wants us to go to a thing.”

“You’ve got it,” said Alan. “And you can’t be trying to get in contact every hour either.”

“Fine.”

“I’m serious, Scott. He doesn’t need you to babysit him. I know you feel guilty about…”

“No you don’t,” interrupted Scott. “You can’t possibly imagine and I don’t want you to either.”

Alan hesitated. Scott looked devastated, had been pushing them all away in his attempt to escape the past. But he knew Scott wouldn’t tolerate his prying, knew he still wanted to protect his youngest brother from the bile-soaked anxieties that plagued him. He would just have to shoulder-tap Virgil before leaving the island.

They both looked up as the door opened and John wandered in, feet bare on the floor and edging around the side of the room to reach the balcony outside.

“You want to break the news to him, or shall I?” asked Scott finally.

[Read Part 2]

[soldiermom1973]

MER Week Day 1

Yeah, I know, I’m behind.  I’ve been so psyched for this and even had blank docs opened & saved so I’d be ready, but I just haven’t felt like writing.  Not stories, anyway.  But Allie and Kaidan want to talk, so I thought I’d try something a little different.  Please forgive the formatting (I’m open to suggestions with that).  It isn’t on AO3 (yet) - I’m probably going to wait until I get all of them posted & just combine them into one story instead of a bunch of really short ones.

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FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Allie – So....  first impressions of each other, hm?  she takes a drink from her water bottle  Well, I had short dossiers on all the crew members, but I didn't really have a chance to read them.  I wasn't able to board the Normandy with everyone else because I was already committed to a mission on earth. Captain Anderson picked me up there.  I remember hurrying from the cargo hold to the cockpit so I wouldn't miss the jump...  you should see it.  Watching the relay get bigger and bigger and those tendrils just snap out and envelope the ship...

*Kaidan clears his throat*

Hm?  Oh, sorry.  I just...  I really love watching when a ship jumps through a relay.  Anyway, Joker started complaining about having a Spectre on board and this voice from the co-pilot's seat had my undivided attention.  It was smooth, like velvet.  It was a voice that could have read the tech manual for the Mako and I'd have been hanging on every word.

Kaidan – Really?  You never told me that.

Allie - shrugs  You know I love your voice, though.  Anyway, all I could see was the top of his head, so I didn't realize at the time who I was talking to.  It didn't take long to get to Eden Prime once we made the jump, but I made it a point to flip through those dossiers and figure out who that co-pilot was – Kaidan Alenko.  I knew it was you because you was the only other biotic on board and my amp was tingling when we were all in the cockpit together.  So, first impressions?  From the verbal exchange you had with Joker, I figured you were a no-nonsense kind of guy; quick to call you on your bullshit but in a respectful way.  And I knew from the file you was more than capable but actually seeing the stuff you could do was something else.

Allie looks at Kaidan, who has a stupid grin on his face -  What?  What's that look for?

Kaidan – his grin gets wider  Nothing.  You never told me any of that before.

Allie – Yeah, well, a girl has to have some secrets, you know.  Ok, your turn.  First impression of me.

Kaidan – reaches for her hand and laces their fingers together  Well, we all already knew you were coming on board and everyone was excited.  Joker downplayed it.  'You guys are being stupid.  She puts her pants on one leg at a time like we do” but you could tell he was eager to meet you.  And I knew the moment you stepped on the bridge, because my amp tingled, too.  Let me tell you, it was hard as hell to not turn around and stare.  I was trying to play it cool, but it was hard.  I mean, the Hero of the Blitz was standing just a few feet from me.

Allie laughs and shakes her head

Kaidan – ...but first impressions?  The vids always made you out to be larger than life, like she was on this pedestal or something, but she's always been one of the most down-to-earth people I've ever known.

he kisses her knuckles  And you’re still one of the most down-to-earth people I know.

Allie – and your voice still makes me want to rip my panties off and throw them across the room.

Kaidan - smirks and raises an eyebrow Oh, really?  Maybe we should take this upstairs then....

[a-closet-emo]

Holiday Truce 2019

Title: Don’t Worry About Your Back. I’ve Got It.

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 1992

A/N: My Secret Santa gift for @whosvladagain!!! Happy Holidays!! Hope you enjoy!

Danny was enjoying his lunch at the Nasty Burger. It was a familiar scene: Sam and Tucker sat across him, with a tofu burger and a meat-filled monstrosity in front of each one, respectively.

“Tucker, that is absolutely disgusting.”

Sam was referring to the newest addition to the Nasty Burger’s menu that Tucker had been so eager to try out.

Danny had nothing against meat in general, but he had to draw the line somewhere. And that line was the “Nasty Burger’s Meaty Meatster Special”. All seven stacks of its meaty glory were a bit much, in his opinion.

“Look,” Tucker said between bites, “We already agreed a while back that just because you like vegetables and I like meat doesn’t mean we can be mean to each other about it.”

The techno-geek looked at her with eyebrows raised. “Remember? It’s all about respecting each other,” he said, making circular movements in the air with his hands to emphasize his “respectfulness”.

“I’m gonna have to side with Sam on this one, Tuck,” Danny said, eyeing the sauce traveling down his friend’s chin. “That thing is a meat monster. I’m getting flashbacks to when the Lunch Lady first attacked.”

Tucker let his meal fall to the plate. “Are you kidding me? Just because she’s your girlfriend now—“

“It’s got nothing to do with us dating! Have you seen what you’re eating? It’s an affront to nature!” Sam interrupted.

“Have you seen what you’re eating?,” the boy next to her replied, “An affront to the nature of my tastes is what it is!”

Danny tuned out his friends’ habitual bickering about the other’s diets with a fond smile and a shake of his head. Years have passed, and so much was different, but some things never change.

He looked out the window as Valerie zoomed past in the distance, a bright red figure against the gray of the sky, giving him a small wave. He waved back, but she was already gone.

As his gaze wandered idly over the street outside, there was no way to ignore all the red and green of the holiday decor. Amity Park was in a festive mood, and so was Danny. He was excited for Christmas. Which, honestly surprised him. After all these years. He was ready to celebrate with the people he loved. Maybe he should pay the Ghost Writer a visit to say thanks. Even if the guy had tried to kill him.

But, something was still bothering him.

A news broadcast of a fire he had stopped earlier today was playing in one of the shop windows. As he watched himself rescue the victims, he realized what it was.

Phantom.

“Uhh, Earth to Danny,” Sam said, waving her hand in front of the ghost boy’s face. “You were a million miles away just now. How were the sunsets on Jupiter?”

Danny shifted his attention back to their table. When had the two of them stopped arguing?

“I was just thinking, guys.”

“Dreaming ‘bout NASA again?” Tucker teased.

He rolled his eyes at his best friend and took a deep breath. His mind was made up.

“No, no. I’m telling my parents after the Christmas party.”

***

“Man, are you sure about this?”

Danny took his time answering, letting his eyes rest on the little Christmas wreath that hung above the portal. He had helped his parents decorate this year, and he decided that it would be fitting to put some festive cheer around the portal. Since ghosts and the holidays go well together, surprisingly.

He breathed deeply, putting his attention back on his friends.

“Yes, I’m sure. It’s been four and a half years, Tuck. I’m moving out for college after the summer, and I just want to clear things. No more secrets.”

Sam looked up at him, worrying her lower lip. Then she moved past him to put a hand on the closed portal doors (thank Clockwork for the Truce), her back turned to them.

“We’re just looking out for you, you know that, right?” she asked in a small voice.

He answered “Yes”, not a hint of doubt in his voice. There was no way he could say no.

“And you’re right: it has been four and a half years. Four and a half crazy years that saw the three of us running around trying not to let the ghosts overwhelm Amity and Danny,” she said, still facing the portal.

Tucker snorted. “Don’t forget that we were also trying to make sense of high school at the same time. Not to mention we were the social outcasts. I don’t think a lot of people can say their teenage years were as...interesting as ours were.”

He moved to her right side in front of the ghostly gate. “And it all started here,” he said, pulling her hand into his. Their eyes met, and he kissed her forehead. A blush crept onto his face and hers. God, he would never get used to kissing her.

“Look at you two lovebirds getting all cozy in front of the fire.”

Danny jumped a little. He hadn’t noticed when the boy had moved to stand by his right side. The third party wriggled his eyebrows suggestively at the two of them. The ghost boy felt rather than saw Sam’s eye roll.

Then Tucker dropped it, and looked up at the ceiling.

“More than anything, we’re just trying to make sure you’re mentally ready for this. Like, is your psyche all set? They did hunt you and threaten to tear you apart ‘molecule by molecule’ for a long while,” his best friend said, eyebrows raised questioningly.

With the three of them in front of the portal, Danny let go of Sam’s hand to put his arms around his two closest friends and pulled them to him.

“It’s been a year since they officially became Phantom’s allies, guys. They’re my parents. Christmas is supposed to be spent with family, right? I’d like to have one holiday I can spend honestly with them, for once. I’m ready to tell them, and Jazz and I think they’re ready to know,” he paused, having said what he needed to.

This seemed to placate them for the time being, and Danny was glad they understood.

“Speaking of Jazz, Tuck don’t give me a mental review, my sister’s already done enough. And, she’ll be there to back me up in case…” he trailed off. He swallowed, and the two of them leaned more into him, offering silent support. He shook his head. Christmas was supposed to be spent with family, and he was glad to have them with him.

This was another big event in Danny’s life, and the members of their little huddle stood quiet before the portal for some time, reminiscing.

After a few minutes of silence, Danny couldn’t resist.

Breaking into a wide grin, he said,“Wow. Guess the holidays this year have us feeling extra Santa-mental, huh?”

The two at his sides groaned, but didn’t break away.

“Way to ruin the moment, dude,” the techno-geek complained.

Danny smiled, and held his friends more tightly.

When they broke apart, Tucker went up ahead of them, eager to help the other Fentons set up for the dinner party (and maybe find a meaty snack in the process). Danny and Sam took their time going up, their hands locked once more.

Once they reached the base of the steps, Sam looked over her shoulder and at the portal, a pout fixed onto her mouth.

He frowned. He took her pale chin in his hand and slowly swiveled her head to face him. It seemed that it was his turn to reassure her.

“I wouldn’t take back any of those years for the world,” he said, emphasizing each word.

Her intense amethyst eyes bore into his. A small smile found its way onto her face, and she squeezed his hand. “I know. I wouldn’t either.”

***

Their little Christmas party hadn’t gone on long enough, in Danny’s opinion. All too soon, everyone was saying their goodbyes and taking home some extra food.

Team Phantom stayed to one side while the parents present wrapped up (ha! Christmas pun) their goodbyes.

They were giving the other members a summary of his and Jazz’s plan. The redhead had said that it would help ease their worries, and he had agreed. And, they deserved to know what was going on.

There were nodding heads and thoughtful gazes all around as the rest of the team evaluated the Fenton siblings’ course of action.

“....and then I change and, well, we’ll see.”

Jazz placed an arm around his shoulders to ground him, and (not for the first time and not for the last time he was sure) he was glad she had come home for the holidays. Danny wished talking to his parents didn’t have to be such a big deal.

Valerie had been quiet throughout the discussion, avoiding eye contact. He wondered if she was reliving the time he had told her. (One afternoon he wouldn’t be forgetting any time soon.)

When she looked up, however, it was with a playful grin. She punched his shoulder. “Good luck, Phantom.” “I—We trust you,” she added more seriously, looking to the others who voiced their agreement.

“And we’ll be there if you need us. Seriously. Anything goes wrong you need to call us, man,” Tucker said. “And I don’t wanna have to deal with any of your heroic B.S. about dealing with things by yourself on Christmas Day, you hear?”

Danny raised his hands defensively, but was cut off by Sam.

“Jazz, we’re counting on you not to let him do anything stupid,” his girlfriend added to the older Fenton sibling as Danny rolled his eyes.

His sister’s eyebrows were raised in clear amusement at his friends’ statements. But she did say, “Don’t worry; this big sister is on extra alert for dumbassery this Christmas Eve.”

Danny shook his head in mock annoyance at their antics. Inside, he thanked Clockwork that his friends had kept things light. This was a big night, the outcome of which directly affected a huge aspect of his life, and he didn’t want to screw it up.

After they had all exchanged their last goodbyes and had said their final “Happy Holidays!” (and after one last gift under the mistletoe from Sam), he and the rest of the Fenton family fell to fixing up. It was… soothing, just washing the dishes and putting things away alongside his father and his mother and his sister. It helped him to clear his head a bit, and by the time he and Jazz started their little scheme, he felt more determined than ever.

***

Danny’s parents were on the couch, snuggled up against each other. It was nearing midnight, the 25th just a couple of hours away. His dad said he was going to stay on the couch to watch for Santa Claus, while his mom said she was going to stay with him to prove that the big, red man wasn’t real. Both of them were drooping off, and their son smiled. It was a nice scene compared to the years of endless, pointless, and heated debates going back and forth about the existence of Ol’ Saint Nick. They looked so happy, he almost wished he didn’t need to disturb them.

He cleared his throat, and his parents startled. Quick as lightning, they each pulled out a capturing tool (Jack held an absurdly large butterfly net. Maddie was holding a coil of rope.) and very nearly succeeded in subduing the Christmas tree. They soon realized that it was not, in fact, Santa Claus who had awoken them, and sheepishly returned to their places on the sofa.

He gave the tree a once-over (not to worry; it looked pine) before he moved to sit in front of the couple on the couch.

“Mom, Dad, what do you honestly think of Phantom?”

[eldonash]

Ulfric & Orobas || Tiny Hats and Big Bow Ties

Timeframe: During the carnival Who: Orobas and Ulfric @big-bad-ulf Summary: Ulfric, in wanting to be sure Orobas and him are still on good terms after the Layla incident, takes Orobas to the carnival. They play a game and the photo of the century is taken. 

Ulfric drummed his fingers impatiently against his truck’s steering wheel as he waited outside the downtown highrise. Of all the messages the wolf could have received from Orobas following the tense note on which their last conversation had ended, he could safely say ‘Come pick me up? lets see what the humans are up to at this carnival,’ was the most surprising. He was aware that his request for the higher vampire to use his compulsion to help calm Layla had pushed the limits of their agreement and caused offence, and was expecting to have his own loyalty tested in some way in return. He’d even been psyching himself up to attempt to grovel a small amount. But the carnival? Really? He supposed the pedestrian thrills on offer could be pleasant in the right company, and Orobas was certainly always interesting to be around, but the two together made for a jarring fit. Ulfric couldn’t imagine an ancient vampire of legend wanting to share a stick of cotton candy and ride the ferris wheel unless he had some kind of ulterior motive or agenda, and that’s what had him so apprehensive. The sooner the vampire showed the sooner he’d be able to figure out what this was really about, and gage how much he needed to do to get back in his ally’s good graces. Finally spotting Orobas exiting the lobby of the apartment building, Ulfric honked to the truck’s horn once to get his attention, rolling down the window as the vampire approached to say. “If you want to observe humans, it would be best to try and abide by a human schedule. The night is not young,” He indicated the clock on the dashboard. “Let’s not dawdle.” 

Orobas had to peel Haxian’s grip from his wrist, one finger at a time. Tonight had called for three hours of preparations to convince his master to let him go. Orobas hadn’t had to deal with this version of Haxian since before White Crest, and with the pressing issues in the background, the ones only the two of them suspected, Orobas currently felt like his mind was heavy. He had finally watched Haxian walk away, waiting for Ulfric like some knight in shiny armor-- though in this case, it was a bushy bearded werewolf pulling up in a truck. Looking at the wolf, Orobas seemed unaware time was on his mind. “Are you in a rush?” He inquired, tone lacking any of his teasing energy that sometimes crept up when he was amused. Orobas sat down in the passenger seat, wearing a black t-shirt, and jacket, and dark blue jeans. His gaze drifted out the window. “How is the lil one?” 

“Not exactly, I just didn’t want you to be displeased if the place was already emptying out of humans when we got there.” Ulfric stated matter-of-factly as he pulled away from the building, noting from the lack of humor in Orobas’ tone that he was, as anticipated, already displeased. “Which one?” The werewolf answered his next question out of habit, though it was only logical that he’d mean Layla. There was a lengthy pause as he considered how best to approach the subject, though he did his best to make it appear he was just focussed on driving and taking his role as vampiric chauffeur seriously. “Layla’s returned to herself, not quite her usual self, but she’ll get there. In no small part thanks to you. How are your--” He hesitated, searching for an appropriate word, slightly uncomfortable referring to the teenagers who work at Cryptid Corner as his toys even if Orobas himself had. “Your employees?” Ulfric settled on finally, the fog that had settled the town in recent years fading until it was replaced by the flickering lights of the carnival through the windshield as they arrived at their destination. He supposed they were meant to stir up a sense of excitement in the human attendees, but with his lack of colour perception and enhanced night vision they just sort of stung. “So, what were you looking for here, Orobas?” He queried, turning to his passenger to let him know he was incharge of the itinerary for the evening (within reason), it seemed as good a strategy as any to start repairing the alliance they’d forged. 

“So you do have a few,” Orobas chuckled faintly. “You sure do have a nice little family now, Ulfric.” The comment wasn’t negative sounding, but did seem to hold envious weight. “My employees? Who cares about them--” he waved lightly, before leaning back, the usual up tight and proper sitting position dissolved further with his leg pulled up and his foot rested on the seat so he could hold it. “They work, I have a new daytime general manager, she is perfect, which makes me suspicious, but at least I don’t have to spend my first few hours playing catch up every night.” Business talk was easy, and Orobas could continue on the ramble while they drove if it came to that. When the light surfaced he grimaced as well. “Mhm, mostly curious to see what humans like. Steal some of the ideas and incorporate them into Cryptid so they will stop bitching at me. Or, maybe I just wanted you to take me out somewhere.” 

Ulfric decided to ignore the comments about his ‘family’, not wanting to dwell on the fact that he may have deliberately overemphasized how packs could act as a combat task force rather than focussing on their function as a nurturing community when he’d first pitched an alliance between the werewolves and vampires of White Crest. “Scoping out the competition, that makes good tactical sense,” he nodded in agreement with Orobas’ plan as he stepped out of the truck and locked it behind him, “If this was just a social call, surely we would’ve gone somewhere less mundane?” And less… shrill. Even with his hearing at the duller end of the range he experienced with it being so close to the new moon, the torrent of screaming and laughter from the carnival-goers elicited a dull throb of pain between his ears. Despite his discomfort, he surged ahead through the entryway into the grounds, plucking a map from the information stand that greeted them with a single-minded determination to show Orobas he was willing to do what was asked of him, and do it well. His eyes flitted back and forth rapidly over the map for a moment, before folding and stuffing it in his pocket, confident he’d gleaned from it everything they needed to know. “I’ve deduced that the organizers have broken down their efforts to entertain these-- happy customers into three categories; attractions, games, and thrills,” the werewolf informed his vampire companion, catching himself just before referring to the crowd as humans again, since the patrons swirling around them were potentially close enough to overhear. “So, pick your poison.”

Orobas wanted to hear Ulfric’s loud, stupid laugh. He was being formal with him, and maybe it was his own mood spilling over to cause it. Pulling out some sunglasses, he tucked them on his nose to dim the lights and cheerfulness. “This is why Cryptic is the way it is, this is too much. I hate it,” he commented, glancing around at everyone. It seemed they were having fun on the surface, but everything here was laced with something more. How many would die here? He wondered. Or disappear without a trace just like it surfaced without one. Humanity had to live in the moment, and their happiness was so easy to take. “Games, those do well for me business wise. I’d like to see their prizes and I want you to win me something.” His voice still didn’t hold anything to it, this monotonous tone. He began to follow Ulfric since he saw the map, and the more he saw, the more he wanted something far more interesting to happen. What if the ferris wheel stopped? What if the rides jarred and caused someone’s neck to crack in pain? Where was the fae running around his park with their wings out. Yet, they were here. Enjoying themselves in the bright lights, and the terrible music. It rather made him realize humanity was quite ridiculous. “What game are you good at?” he asked, purchasing tickets for them and handing them all to Ulfric. 

Ulfric chuckled at the thought that something could seem like ‘too much’ to someone who usually carried themselves with such flair. “I’d have to agree with you.” The werewolf pulled out his own pair of dark tinted shades from his pockets, relieved Orobas had been the one to relent and seek to block out some of the offensive barrage of sensations first. “The patrons with duller senses seem to be enjoying this level of stimulation though. It might be worth keeping that in mind if you’re looking to appeal to them,” he advised with a shrug, wondering again why of all the people he had been the one chosen to help him understand humans when his own understanding of them wasn’t in-depth. At Orobas’ proposition, he smiled more genuinely. It was a glimpse of the more playful vampire he was accustomed to dealing with. “I don’t know, this doesn’t seem like the kind of fair where they’d host woodcutting competitions…” he wondered aloud as he took the ticket and wandered along the row of gaming stalls. There was one stall where people were pushing ping pong balls into the mouths of plastic rotating mime heads, and he immediately eliminated that as an option because while he would happily feast on another mime creature if it happened to cross his path on a full moon, he wasn’t inclined to feed one himself. A stall where people shot fake guns at a pop-up display of a variety of woodland animals, including poorly drawn cartoon wolves, was more off-putting still. “This one.” The werewolf finally stopped at a booth with a back wall covered in balloons, some of which almost appeared to be pulsating, and a display that read, ‘Pop five in a row and win a prize! But for each one you pop, there’s a guaranteed surprise!’ Ulfric handed over a ticket in exchange for a set of five darts. “Are you sure you just want to watch?” He turned back to Orobas to ask, “It might be more entertaining to compete, make this an actual challenge.” 

Orobas wasn’t surprised at the mime games, but he was over it since the sludge incident and that horrid woman who always felt the need to bother him online. Though, knowing that Ulfric had eaten a mime, one that hadn’t entirely been human, made him smile gently. It seemed his werewolf companion wasn’t satisfied with any of the games they were passing, but finally, their steps paused and end up at a balloon popping one. He chuckled. “That’s your instincts, not mine. But I will humor you,” he took some darts, rolling them between his fingers, watching the cheap feather on the ends twirl. Wishing it was heavier or a dagger. He threw two of the darts at once, each one striking the same color balloon that exploded in green slime. ‘Whoa, gross! You get a special prize for two slime ones, lucky,’ the young person said behind the booth. Orobas was promptly handed a teeny tiny black top hat that was dotted in glitter. He held it in his hands confused. “What do I do with it?” he asked the person, and they took it back and gestured him forward. He leaned in, the darts in his hand grouping up and tightening in a hold as a weapon should he need it. They set it on his head, clipping the side so it stuck to his hair. He looked at Ulfric, though with the glasses on his staredown, it was easy to feel. “Hm--”

“It suits that big head of yours,” Ulfric taunted, after taking in the image of the vampire in his tiny top hat. Though even as the aura of competition began to heat his blood, the teasing didn’t have quite his usual confidence, still unsure how solid the ground the two of them stood on was. He turned back to focus on the game, not wanting to let on how impressed he had been by the simultaneous double strike, though it probably showed in how seriously he took to aiming his darts before he let them fly free. The first hit a balloon which burst with a wet splat as something that looked very similar to blood poured out, though it lacked the distinctive smell, so surely it had to be fake…? There was something off about this carnival, or else humans had become distinctly more morbid since he’d last attended a similar event. The second exploded in a shower of glitter, twinkling in the lights as it coated him, the attendant and half of the booth in a light dusting. Unphased, the attendant whipped an oversized clip on bowtie out and clipped it to his collar with alarming fast reflexes. “Is this what you wanted?” The werewolf turned to the vampire, wearing his new prize and flakes of glitter stuck in his beard. “I’m beginning to suspect your true motive for inviting me here was to see me humbled.” He held up the final dart in askance. “Still want me to win this game for you?” If that was still the vampire’s wish then he could regain at least a small slither of his dignity through the small victory. 

“Thank you,” Orobas had no idea how something like this could unfold, but when the large bow tie tucked under that bushy beard, his cold exterior cracked. A laugh huffed out, his smile genuine over it’s usually forced, creepy edge, and more real than anyone in his entire life has witnessed. The glitter was everywhere, dotting his cheeks, shoulders as well. He handed his phone to the attendant with compulsed demand, “take our photo.” The person fumbled a little with the device tossed his way, but quickly snapped a few shots that Orobas actually smiled in. Orobas glanced at the photo, he had none of him and Haxian hung up on the walls at their home. Nothing of him or Francesca with incriminating blood staining their cheeks, or even Morelia, while she had slept by his side, he should have taken one. He stared down at it, his fingers tightening subtly as a difficult feeling settled in his hallowed, still chest. “Yes,” he responded and handed him the last of his darts. “That--” he gestured to the small bat plushie with the vampire teeth hanging from the top of the stall, likely something that was hung from the rearview mirror in a car. “For your truck,” he cheekily added.

For what? Ulfric almost retorted, but bit his tongue when he saw Orobas break into a surprisingly non-disturbing smile. He got the feeling whatever cracks had formed between them when he’d called in his request for the vampire to aid Layla had begun to be repaired, and he’d only had to mildly humiliate himself to achieve it. So that counted as a win. He moved into position next to his undead companion just in time for the first flash of the camera, posing for a thumbs up. Ulfric rolled his eyes at Orobas’ choice of prize but couldn’t stop a small grin from forming on his face along with it, pleased that some of his ally’s former mischievousness was returning. “As you wish,” He declared, before sending the final dart sailing into a balloon in the centre of the board that explored into a puddle of perhaps the most unsettling surprise of all; mayonnaise. The attendant still slightly dazed from the compulsion, fumbled for the little bat toy but eventually deposited it in the werewolf’s hand. “A token of our comradery, I swear I’ll leave it on prominent display.” At least when no one else was in the truck with him, he thought. “Can we consider this recon mission a success, then, and get out of here before my ears start to bleed?” He asked, stashing the prize in his pocket, “Though on second thought, you’d probably enjoy that.”

“Liar,” Orobas chuckled. “Yes, I do think this is enough. I’ve gotten little answers as to why they enjoy this place filled with oddities, but whine about the amusement park.” He started to walk with him, a sly grin that yes, he’s always okay with a little suffering, but didn’t comment on that piece. He began to walk the way they came. Orobas wasn’t able to elaborate on the feelings he was experiencing right now. Everything still felt so numb to his person, this emptiness in him that didn’t want to explain why it was there. “Ulfric, there is an vampyric adversary coming into town that Haxian and I know very well. We’ve attempted, in the past many times-- to dispose of them. They were always tricky. Sly with their contacts, knowing how to pin us down somewhere with their kin.” Orobas looked towards the rides in passing, and rolled his eyes. “I am unsure who I will involve in dealing with them. This is what happens when you don’t rid the world of your enemies. They circle back. But I do wish for you to know. It’s-- a dangerous situation I’m not taking lightly.” 

“People tend to flock to what’s new and exciting, even if it’s not so different from what they’ve already got,” Ulfric explained, keeping in step with Orobas and shrugging, sending a small flutter of glitter to the ground. “You should know that by now.” What with his advanced age and all, he thought,  but being surrounded by so many townspeople in close proximity kept him from being able to use the best of his barbs, since Orobas appeared to be younger than him. His expression turned more serious as the vampire explained the threat he was facing, ignoring the jab about sparing enemies under certain circumstances that no doubt arose from their previous argument on the subject. “And when he rolls back around I’ll be ready to face them with you, as promised.” The werewolf assured him, clapping Orobas on the shoulder. “I’ve always wanted to know what it’s like to fight a vampire.” Already dead, they’d have little reason to fear it, and their unique abilities and lack of weaknesses such as needing to breath would surely make for a challenge. Although Ulfric never enjoyed killing, he would’ve been lying if he said there wasn’t a lot of satisfaction to be gained from coming out on top after a hard-won brawl. “It’s a good thing we’re friends.”

A chuckle. Ulfric could be lured easily into a fight, even without having all the details. The clap on his back brought back a rush of old memories, of different wolves, of other times. “If you ever want practice let me know. There are always a few newborns that just need to go-- beyond training, or assistance. I usually kill them myself. This one though, hmm,” Orobas seemed to slip into thought for a moment, quiet, and still as he usually was, even with his steps going forward. “We will need at a dozen or more people,” he said with a grit of teeth. “It’s that level of dangerous, unfortunately. Some of us will perish, for it’s not a vampire we are fighting. It’s an Elder who has a petulance in making spawn over higher vampires. It will be messy.”

“If they’re running rampant, I could kill two bats with one stone, I suppose...” Ulfric mulled the suggestion over with only a slight grimace. Pragmatically, it would be good to stay on top of his game, and if leaving them to roam the town was an exposure risk then someone was going to have to exterminate these vampires. But he also wasn’t sure how much he liked the idea of becoming the White Crest vampire community’s garbage disposal. That was uncomfortably close to hunter territory. “I prefer to work in a team anyway,” he shrugged at the description of the battle plan. “the lone wolf trope is just that. But are you not... also an elder?” The werewolf arched an eyebrow at the 400-odd-year-old next to him. “How ancient is this thing?” Just then, a juggling carnival worker riding a unicycle drove down the aisle between them, reminding him of their setting. “I realize this fair doesn’t seem entirely mundane,” he lowered his voice and stepped closer to Orobas glancing around them at the crowd as they passed by chattering animatedly or milling in queues to the supposed ‘thrill’ rides, “But are you sure this is the place to discuss this? It might be best to reconvene somewhere more discreet.” 

“No, my master is though, you have to be over five hundred or so. It’s a gradual change, and the more time that passes, the more dangerous they can be if you aren’t on their side. This person was old when I met him two hundred years ago, so I can only imagine.” Orobas didn’t normally give that type of information out, but it was Ulfric. “Vampires will always fight with each other. We like our territory, and we like what is ours.” He glanced around, meeting the passing eye of a few people behind his sunglasses. “You are always paranoid about that. Probably though, I was lost in thought. We can speak later on details. I have a busy week ahead anyway, and I could still use your aid in snuffing out that human who visits during the day.” 

“You mean sniffing them out,” Ulfric corrected lightly. Orobas could do the ‘snuffing’ if the human’s mind was truly warped so badly by compulsion that they were beyond help, though the werewolf was still keen to verify that part for himself. Not so much because he didn’t trust the vampire’s word on it, but just because if such a thing was possible then he wanted to know, really know, and you only learned the tough lessons by making yourself look directly at them. “But yes, I will help,” he held his hand out for Orobas to shake, a deal re-struck. “I do keep my word.” As they neared the exit to the carnival grounds, he pulled the bat toy out of his pocket and let it dangle between his fingers in front of the vampire’s eyes. “I’ll even let you hang this in my truck yourself to prove it.” 

Orobas laughed a little. “Yes, that--” he poked his nose lightly. “Way better than mine.” He shook his hand and promptly snatched the silly toy before Ulfric could joke around and take it back. “Will do,” he spun it around his finger, and made towards the truck. The mood lighter.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #252

my personal laptop has to be fixed, so therefore i don’t have games to play, so expect plenty of these to pass the time lmao.

Have you ever said something just to see what kind of reaction you’d get? No, not that I remember. Have you ever confronted someone about using too much chat-speak? ??? No??? Have you ever revealed someone’s secret, after promising not to tell? No. Secrets are one thing I'm very serious about respecting. What is one emotion that you experience regularly? STRESS, MOTHERFUCKER. Describe the last major change you made concerning your hairstyle? Lopped it all off, lmao. It's been like, two years now though. Who was the last person to walk out of your life, and why? It feels like my friend Alex. She's kinda just... left me hanging for months. I think she's active online, but not with me, despite reaching out. She's also deleted her b.net account or just removed me from her friends list, idk. Absolutely nothing seems like it would've prompted that, though. Are you less likely to approach people that look/dress a certain way? I was going to say no, but the last person's answer inspired mine to yes; like, I'm not going to go talk to people with some crazy or offensive shit on their shirts, nor am I going to just go walk up to someone covered in blood. Name one embarrassing activity that you take part in? I don't know. Like I say enough I'm VERY self-conscious of revealing I RP, but only because I'm sensitive to how the person will respond. I'm in no way like, ashamed I do it. I'm just terrified of judgment over something "unusual." Ever been told that you can’t understand love due to your age? Not that I remember. I only claimed to "get it" (to my recollection) at a point in mine and Jason's relationship, and I very legitimately would've guffawed at and honestly nearly slapped you if you claimed I "didn't understand" love. What is your favorite Starburst candy flavor? THE PINK ONES. Do you think that you act like yourself while online? I act more like myself online. Have you ever lied about something to get someone to like you? No. Who is the fakest person in your life right now? I don't keep those people in my life. Have you ever laid down in the grass, and made shapes out of the clouds? As a kiddo. When someone’s constantly negative, how do you deal with it? It depends on the person, but ALMOST in all cases, I really really try to support the person as best I can. It may start to bring me a bit down, but I feel I'm just like... hardwired to help those I love. I think it's what my relationship with Jason did, as he left because he couldn't handle my depression anymore, and with how that absolutely and utterly annihilated me, I don't want anyone else to feel that pain. Now, for people I don't have much of a bond with, it's easier for me to say "I'm sorry, but I can't handle this right now," but even then, I prefer to help. Does Christmas make you feel like a kid again? No. I'm really most excited for aunt reasons, lol. Do you have any artistic talent? Some. Would you ever shoplift from a store if you knew you wouldn’t be caught? Absolutely not. When one of your pets dies, how do you react? Usually cry. I've only ever not done so if I hadn't at all formed a bond with the animal. When you go to the movies, where in the theater do you sit? Close to the front, in the middle. When was the last time you lost your appetite? I don’t know. Have you ever neglected to take care of yourself? Er. Quite badly during '16, in the depth of my depression. I'll just say my teeth are kinda yellow because of it. I want to whiten my teeth at some point if I can afford that kind of luxury. The last song/poem/story you wrote - what was it about? In RP, the most recent section being written now is my main protagonists receiving a visit from their allies before getting their asses torn up the next day lmao. After a fight, who apologizes first - you, or the other person? Usually me, but it does depend. If I genuinely feel I didn't do jackshit wrong, no, I'm not apologizing. When you’re feeling creative, what do you do? Write. Do you mind being in your house alone overnight? Not really by now. Done so a number of times. Are there any dreams you remember from childhood? Nightmares, yes, and one very realistic dream. What worries you most about death? Not knowing what happens afterwards. Do you watch really old tv shows or movies from the 1970s or earlier? I love The Munsters, I Love Lucy, The Beverly Hillbillies, and The Addams Family. I'm sure there's more, considering I liked to watch stuff with my mom as a kid. Who’s your celebrity crush(es)? HHHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG Ever been to a rave? No. Are you afraid to name the person you talk the most shit about? I don't really do that. Like I'll vent about people occasionally, but "talk shit" seems like the wrong word. I don't like gossiping. Are you a jealous person? Envious, rather, sometimes. I get VERY envious when it comes to photography, but otherwise, I don't feel it much. Who do you text the most out of your friends? Sara is like the only friend I text, lol. What would you do if you saw a complete stranger dealing drugs in public?
 Honestly, call an authority. I don't fuck with that. I'm not watching it happen. How often do you play video games? What are some of your favourites?
 I played World of Warcraft daily until my laptop took a shit. Need to get that fixed. Now I play actual video games very rarely... but mostly just because you can only replay the same ole game so many times before you've had enough of it for like a year. There are a great number of new games I want to play, though. I want a PS4 soooo badly. What are a few things that get on your nerves when it comes to Facebook (or your social networking site of choice)?
 More than anything, posting something that's crying for attention only for the person to be like "ugh I don't wanna talk about it." Then don't fucking post it. What are three things you’ve started to like lately? I feel like I haven't found new interests in a long time... Wait! I do feel The Handmaid's Tale and the Wings of Fire book Sara lent me have revived my love of reading! :') I want to go to the book store when I can and get both the new sequel to THT and the next WoF book. What was the last reason for having butterflies in your stomach?
 *shrug* Do you need a lot of space in relationships, or are you happy to spend a lot of time with your SO?
 I need SOME alone time, but for the most part I love being together. Once we're really close, anyway. What was the last thing you cooked from scratch? Scrambled eggs. Have you ever won anything from those games in arcades?
 Yeah. Funny story, there was this one time my sister won a stuffed duck from a claw machine, and it was the one I wanted after trying many times, and I cried so hard that one of the employees literally got one out for me lmfao. I probably still have it in the attic. When was the last time you went out to a fair?
 Not since right before the breakup. How far is the nearest zoo or wildlife park from your house? Do you go often?
 Like, two hours. We almost never go because of the distance. Are either one of your parents retired? If not, what do they do for a living?
 No. My dad's been a mailman all my life, and Mom is currently on disability because she has cancer and obviously can't work because of chemotherapy and all that. She was a pharmacy tech, though. If you could change one physical trait about yourself, what would it be?
 Can all this weight like vanish please. Have you ever gone out with someone you didn’t like?
 ????? Why would I do that???? Well, I didn't yet like-like Tyler because we hadn't been reunited as friends long enough; dating was kinda like... a dumb way to re-get to know each other? Thank fuck that was only two weeks. Would you ever take a bullet for your significant other? I'm single. Would you ever work at a fast food restaurant?
 No. History shows I can't work with people. Are you good at haunted houses, or do you scream your head off?
 AHHHHHHHHHHH I LOVE!!!!!!!!!!! If you’ve seen it, what did you think of the Twilight movie?
 I never watched them. Have you ever gotten your tongue stuck on a frozen pole?
 No. Are you a cat or a dog person?
 Cat. Does the movie Titanic make you cry?
 Ha ha, yes. I watched it on movie day while at the psych hospital and all of us were lil bitches almost sobbing, lol. Because it's a long movie, it went past our allotted time, but the nurses decided to let us finish it because we were so into it. I do have some good memories from those times... Do you think that fat people should wear skinny jeans? I think people can wear whatever the fuck they want without fear of judgment. Do you prefer game systems like Xbox, or older ones like Super Nintendo? The former. Do you enjoy indie music? Yep! What is the most strange piercing you’ve ever seen? Those ones people were getting on their fingers instead of rings... just huh. What do you do when you’re waiting in line at the grocery store? Look around, I guess. Think. What is your favourite beach to go to? I haven't been to enough to know. Have you ever been to a country club? No. Have you ever seen an animal die in real life? Too many times. Animals have been euthanized in my arms, and a kitten slowly died in my hands once. One of the most heartbreaking things I have ever experienced. Teddy accidentally punctured its lungs or broke ribs, I think, or something like that. I'm pretty sure he was trying to bring it back to its siblings because it wandered off, but he held it too tightly. I was home alone, too. It was fucking awful. Do you live on a Rd, St, Blvd, Ln, Way, or Ave? Road. Do you have naked pictures of someone saved on your phone? No. Would you ever go see an opera? Bitch I played Parasite Eve, I don't trust that shit. But seriously, no, not my scene. Do you own anything John Deere? No. Do you have a push mower or a mower that you ride on? Neither. A friend mows for us; he has the latter. What is the longest amount of time you’ve been stuck in traffic for? No clue. I think during a trip to New York. Would you consider joining the air force, army, etc? No. Who was your first crush and what made them special? This kid named Dylan. I thought he was super cute and cool. What is one thing nobody knows about you because nobody ever cared to ask? I dunno. Who did you idolize growing up? Steve Irwin. Do you believe that we are all here for a reason? What might the reason be? No. Have you ever carved your name or initials into a tree or stone? No. What were your best and worst subjects in school or college? Best: English. Worst: math. Name something you would like to devote more time to seeing or doing. Writing poetry. Drawing. Do you like to get your nails done? No. Do you remember the last movie you saw while on a date? Yeah, IT. Do you like to wear dresses? Hell no with my current body. Do you like any ‘manly’ activities like hunting, fishing, or camping? I find fishing to be fun and relaxing, but because of morals, I can't stomach doing it anymore. What was the name of your first boyfriend? First with the title, Aaron. First *real* boyfriend, Jason. Your first kiss? Jason. Are you still with either of those people from the last 2 questions? No. Have you ever used your bra to hold things like you would a pocket? Ha ha no. I think. What is your longest relationship to date? Three years, 7-8 months. I don't remember if the breakup was in August or September. Who ended the last relationship you were in? It was kinda like... mutual-ish, but moreso her. Have you ever gotten back with an ex? No. Who was your first prom date? Jason. Do you cry during romantic movies? Sometimes. Who was the last person to see you cry? Mom. Have you ever been used? I don't think so romantically, but in other ways, I know I have been. Have you ever felt violated? Yes. Do you like when a guy takes you by surprise and kisses you? Not everyone likes guys, so what an assumption. But anyway, only if we're very serious and have heavy trust in one another. Do you ever leave the house without makeup? Pretty much always. When was the last time someone gave you flowers? Been a few years. What kind of gift can win you over? BITCH buy me something Mark-related and you earn like 20 points. Has anyone ever sung to you? Yes. Do you like massages? Depends on who you are. In almost any case, no. They're awkward. Have you ever been skinny dipping? No. Do you sleep naked? No. Is smoking a turn-off? Yes. Is there a certain tv show you get upset if you miss? No. When was the last time you spent the night at someone else’s house? When I was at Sara's a year or so back. What is one food you always crave? Ice cream. Are you an exercise freak? Hunny- What scares you more, spiders or snakes? Snakes don't scare me, so spooders. Do you expect to be married in the next two years? No. Would you ever get implants? Nah. Have you ever had a crush on a sibling’s friend? No. Have you ever had a crush on a friend’s sibling? No. Are you more of a 'girly girl’ or a 'tomboy’? A tomboy. Have you ever dated someone with a child? No. Are you addicted to texting? No.

[not-poignant]

Omygod Effles.. Did not see that coming :O

It’s been something to explore more of his characterisation, because he’s not so violent that he basically has to die like he does in the Fae universe, so we can see a bit more of his psyche.

Honestly, I always planned - in Game Theory - for Gwyn to talk more about his relationship with Efnisien, but it just never happened for various reasons (largely because it just interfered with pacing too much, towards the end). So the closest we get is when Gwyn and Augus go back to the An Fnwy estate, and Gwyn is walking through the grasses and thinking about it. And talking about it only a little.

I genuinely believe that in his own, broken way, Efnisien has always loved Gwyn, and has even been something of an ally towards him in the An Fnwy household, and in that family. Efnisien is - in terms of how he behaves around Gwyn - the closest thing he has to a real family member. This is even teased at in a flashback in Game Theory. Gwyn visits his family, talks back to Lludd, and Efnisien immediately gets excited, almost as though he’s impressed with Gwyn’s newfound bravery.

Efnisien has absolutely been shaped by Crielle’s love of cruelty, and her hatred of her own son. But where she hates her son, Efnisien loves Gwyn, and tortures him out of a maladapted expression of sadism=love. It’s not healthy, it’s not right, it’s not excusable, but I think it’s always very tempting to think of him as kind of like...on the same tier as Crielle and Lludd, but...it’s just not true.

Anyway, it’s all meant that I’ve been able to show more of Efnisien’s inner conflicts in Spoils of the Spoiled, which has been really enjoyable. I planned for him to have a crucial role in Gwyn’s case against his parents from the very beginning. Efnisien and Gwyn are probably the only two people in that family who actually see themselves as family, outside of Efnisien and Crielle, and Efnisien just made a call - he put Gwyn first, instead of Crielle.

Make no mistake, his life is in danger because of it, and he knows that it is.

[rwbyconversations]

Dante, and Vergil’s Impact on His Character Arc

I’ve been a long-time casual fan of the Devil May Cry games, though my skills at them are woefully inadequate. I’m more a fan of the crazy action that the series strives to provide in each of its entries and the wonderful misadventures Dante keeps getting dragged into, to say nothing of watching in awe high-level players pulling off combos so wild and energetic that they add years to my life expectancy. 

But while it’s never been a main draw to the series, I feel like Devil May Cry is, at its best, a series that does manage to generate enrapturing characters and create fluid arcs across its games, and I feel that this comes across in what might go down as the greatest unintentional character arc in gaming, that of Dante.

While Dante in the first two games didn’t have much character, especially in DMC2, Devil May Cry 3 is when Dante’s characterization was finally solidified, not least of which because of the vocal talents of Reuben Langdon being added to Dante that gave him so much character across his future appearances. It’s not an exaggeration to say Dante is one of the most well-received and iconic protagonists in modern gaming, and I think that was solidifed thanks to the work of Itsuno, the Capcom team and Langdon in DMC3. What also helped was the introduction and solidification of Dante’s relationship with his brother, Vergil. This relationship has gone on to have major impacts on Dante’s character not just across DMC 4 and 5, but also in retrospect allows for Dante to develop an arc through DMCs 1, 2 and even the Animated Series. 

As such, in this essay I’d like to look at Dante’s character across all five main Devil May Cry games, in particular focusing on his relationship with Vergil and how it impacted him across his life. Please note this essay will contain spoilers for Devil May Cry 5.

1) Pre-series and 3

Dante was born alongside his twin brother Vergil to Sparda and Eva, a demon who woke up to justice and sought to defend humanity from his demonic kin and a human woman who he fell in love with. The boys before they were eight were granted two halves of the Perfect Amulet, which when combined could open the path to the demon world. Sparda would die of unknown circumstances when the boys were young, and when Dante was 8, the family home was attacked by demons. Eva hid Dante away in a closet, telling him that if she died, he was to escape and assume a new identity. Eva went on to die trying to find Vergil (Dante assumes he is dead as well), with her death shaping Dante and Vergil into the men would become later in life- Dante would swear vengeance on all demons, while Vergil would develop the mindset that had he been more powerful, he could have prevented Eva’s death, which would cause him to seek out Sparda’s sword, Force Edge.

While growing up, Dante has become a freelance mercenary operating under the name of Tony Redgrave. Before the games, he spent time working with Enzo Ferino, who would pass along jobs to Dante, and Nell Goldstein, a gunsmith who made Dante’s signature pistols, Ebony and Ivory. Dante in a manga set right before 3 has learned that Vergil survived the attack on the Sparda Manor, and while he is initially ecstatic to learn of Vergil’s survival, the two quickly realize that they are both driven to accomplish goals that the other would get in the way of. Vergil defeats Dante in a duel, but lets him keep his half of the Perfect Amulet. 

When 3 starts, it’s been a year since their first meeting. Dante is 19 and has nearly finished work on his new office, determined to follow the phrase “If you’re good at something don’t do it for free” to the logical conclusion in making demon hunting his job. After a mysterious man named Arkham offers Dante a chance to see Vergil at the top of a tower that arises from the earth named Temen-ni-gru, Dante sets out to confront Vergil and have an “interesting time” fighting the demons along the way. Vergil meanwhile, is drawing Dante to Temen-ni-gru to acquire Dante’s half of the Amulet and acquire the powers of Sparda hidden within, along with Sparda’s blade Force Edge. 

Dante doesn’t take the whole affair seriously at all at first, joking all the way up to his first meeting with Vergil that this will all be a large party- and that the lack of food, drinks and women shows that Vergil knows how to throw a stinker of a party. Vergil takes the jokes in stride and even makes one in return, apologizing to Dante since he was so eager to see Dante, he “couldn’t concentrate on preparations for the bash.” Dante is quick to make a fight out of the conflict, drawing a gun on Vergil which... goes well for Dante.

It probably shows how bad Dante’s day is going when this isn’t even the first time today he’s been run through the chest.

Vergil slaughters Dante in their first fight, showing a complete lack of regard for any of Dante’s attacks. This attitude reflects into gameplay as well- Vergil is a challenging boss fight this early in the game and will defeat you if you drop your guard for even a second, forcing you to adapt to his fighting style and making it so you can’t just spam the same tricks over and over. There is a deliberate power imbalance between Dante and Vergil in their first fight, and Vergil even angrily calls Dante on refusing to tap into his demonic power. Dante’s blithe response that “I have no father,” and that he’s not tapping into his power just to spite Vergil only further enrages Vergil, and he wastes not time winning the battle by running Dante through- first with Yamato, then with Dante’s own sword Rebellion. 

Vergil gives a look into his mindset here as he talks down to Dante.  "Might controls everything. Without strength, you can't protect anything... Let alone yourself." It’s a look into Vergil’s psyche that shows that just like Dante, he never got over Eva’s death and likely why he’s never formed a serious relationship beyond a one-night-stand in Fortuna. It’s almost like Vergil’s afraid of opening up his heart in case it gets broken again. But yet it’s in him running Dante through that he forces the lesson onto Dante- that Dante will not be able to overcome the remaining trials in his way without tapping into the power granted through Sparda’s blood in his veins. And as such after reclaiming Rebellion, Dante forcibly triggers his Devil Trigger for the first time, embracing the demonic monster he had spent years rejecting. 

This is Dante’s lowest point in the game- ironic given how this happens at the top of the tower. He has no allies, he’s lost his amulet and Vergil has made a mockery of him in their first duel. But slowly, Dante gets back up and steels himself for round 2, punching a pillar in frustration only to watch as his energy causes it to explode from the force. And upon realizing the power he now wields, Dante cuts loose in a glorious cutscene showing his drive and refusal to give in as he freefalls down the side of the tower and defeats a swarm of enemies, all while Devils Never Cry kicks into high gear. 

Bless me with your gift of light Righteous cause on judgment night Feel the sorrow the light has swallowed Feel the freedom like no tomorrow

From this point on, DMC3 shifts focus and becomes a race between Dante and Vergil to see who can uncover the secrets of the tower and unlock Sparda’s power first, both unaware that they and Lady, a human woman trying to hunt down her father, that Arkham is playing everyone so that he can swoop in and steal Sparda’s power at the last second. 

Dante and Vergil fight again fight after Vergil has unlocked the last barrier holding back Sparda’s power. Along the way Dante slowly comes to terms with his demonic heritage and learns to embrace its power more, all while Vergil rejects his humanity, believing that true strength will come from the power of a demon. What Vergil doesn’t know however is that Devil May Cry’s humanity possess a power that no demon could ever dream of possessing- something Vergil learns the hard way in 3 and 5, while Dante rubs it in Agnus’s face in 4. Devil May Cry 1 director Hideki Kamiya would eventually confirm on Twitter that what humans possess is simple- heart. The heart to get back up after a crippling defeat and prepare for round 2, or to simply never accept defeat, is in fact one of Dante’s greatest weapons, greater even than his sword, guns or electric bat guitar.

... Man Devil May Cry 3 gets weird and I love it. 

It’s through using his heart along with his demonic powers that Dante is able to grow as a fighter, represented in-game as the player not just upgrading Dante’s styles and weapons, but becoming better with the tools provided and taking the time to become more stylish and visually exciting with each new fight being an opportunity to pull of a new stylish combo. 

Dante’s second battle with Vergil occurs in the basement of the tower, with the fight ending in a draw as before either can strike a finishing blow, Lady and subsequently Arkham intervene in the fight, Arkham having planned for Dante and Vergil to wear themselves out fighting each other so that neither of them had the power to stop him from stealing Sparda’s power for himself. And despite being a lowly human, Arkham is able to play Dante, Lady and Vergil like chess pieces and take the power of Sparda for himself, before the power mutates him into a giant blob monster that threatens the world. 

Vergil disappears for much of the rest of the game as Dante races after Arkham to stop him, defeating several more demons within and absorbing their energy to create more Devil Arms (alongside taking Beowulf off Vergil after he dropped it). Dante initially fights Arkham alone, but even as a giant blob Arkham proves a significant threat to Dante until Vergil offers some backup. Putting aside their mutual differences, the two brothers decide to honor their father by beating the ever-living crap out of the man who stole his power, delivering the finishing blow through a combined Ebony and Ivory shot while saying Dante’s signature line.

A moment so good I had to include it twice

It’s also notable that this is the one time Vergil gets over his aversion to firearms-

I’m sorry DID I STUTTER

After Arkham is defeated and sent away for Lady to deliver the killing blow on, there’s a moment of silence between Dante and Vergil. The Jackpot scene and its immediate aftermath really does sum up a lot of their relationship- they may have been fighting almost every time we’ve seen them thus fat, and there is genuine aminosity between the two, but Dante and Vergil are ultimately just brothers who ultimately respect each other and might have even been more permanent allies were it not for their ideological differences... differences which directly cause the game’s final boss.

Vergil dives in after the Perfect Amulet, landing on the edge of the Demon World itself with Dante in hot pursuit. Vergil bluntly orders Dante to give him his half of the amulet, and when Dante refuses to and challenges Vergil on what he’ll do with the power, Vergil snaps at him, charging with his newly acquired Force Edge. Dante has none of it, catching the sword and insisting that his soul is saying it wants to stop Vergil. It’s disheartening that both brothers come to blows so soon after their effective teamup, but neither of them will compromise on their goals. 

Vergil’s final fight is a perfect climax of the game, both emotionally and mechanically. As Dante and Vergil keep fighting, two facts remain the same- the location of the fight is geographically lower and lower each time, and Dante gets better with each bout, losing in the first round, drawing with Vergil in the second and in the third, after having embraced Sparda’s heritage, coming ahead of Vergil and winning conclusively. It’s still a difficult bout for the player but after all their time in this hellish night with Dante, you’ve mastered the game and are able to meet Vergil beat for beat. 

Dante wins the final clash of swords, with Vergil stubbornly refusing to accept defeat and hand over his half of the amulet. He encourages Dante to leave him in the Demon World, before letting himself fall of the side in an effective suicide. Dante tries to reach out to him, but Vergil slashes open his hand as he falls, bringing his half of the amulet with him. Dante doesn’t say a word for the rest of the scene, but his face and body language betray how emotionally compromised he’s become by Vergil’s loss. He glumly brings Force Edge with him to the surface and meets up with Lady, whose attempts to lift Dante’s spirits coin the name of the series- “Maybe somewhere out there, even a devil may cry when he loses a love one.” Even though it does lift Dante’s spirits and gives him a name for his shop, Vergil’s suicide haunts Dante for years, and the first signs of it are present even in the ending of DMC3, where his final taunt before the credtis fight scene sounds like he’s trying to convince himself that he’s ready to take everything the world can throw at him. 

In a post-credits scene, Vergil squares off against DMC1′s main villain Mundus. Vergil cockily decides to take him on, but the results of the battle were already known in DMC1, where Dante fights Vergil as Nelo Angelo. 

2) DMC 1, 2 and Animated Series- Depressed Dante

In advance, I am going to say this: obviously enough, DMC 1 and 2 were written before DMC 3 and any attempts I make at retroactively making 3′s narrative tie into both of them is weakened as a consequence as it falls into headcanons more often then not. Being blunt, DMC 1 and 2 didn’t have as much focus on story as 3 so any attempts I make to connect their stories might come off as trying to connect threads while wearing cooking gloves. Just keep that in mind for this part barring anything I say on the anime. 

Nine years after the Temen-Ni-Gru incident, Dante has set up Devil May Cry and takes extermination jobs for anyone who calls his shop with the elusive password. While he’s making dry quips and nonchalantly dealing with the threats he faces while fighting Mundus, he’s notably less energetic compared to his younger self. Dante is more somber and reflective almost as a direct consequence of his dealings with Vergil, and while he’s still cracking wise when he confronts the demons Mundus has scattered around the island, he’s far less talkative than he was. One of his more talkative moments comes after Mundus kills Griffon, who had genuinely earned Dante’s respect through their repeated encounters across the game. Dante is quite livid at Mundus killing one of his own soldiers in such a callous way, as he tells Trish:

“Mundus... His heinous ways make me sick; killing his own like they were nothing. He's the one that took the life of my mother for sure. My mother always used to tell me that my father was a man who fought for the weak. He had courage and a righteous heart. In the name of my father I will kill Mundus!"

Dante has an unexpected family reunion when he fights Vergil, covered in armor, as Nelo Angelo several times over the story. Nelo Angelo provides some of the tougher fights in DMC1, managing to disarm Dante during their first bout and neatly delivering a killing blow before Nelo spots Dante’s amulet and retreats, as if Vergil refuses to give Mundus the satisfaction of having Vergil kill Dante for him. Dante admits grudging respect for Nelo Angelo, saying he didn’t expect to find anyone with “guts and honor” in the castle. 

Their second battle sees Nelo removing his helmet, revealing Vergil’s corrupted visage underneath. Despite the enhancement of the armor, Vergil loses again to Dante, this time seemingly dying as he explodes in a flash of lightning, leaving nothing but Vergil’s half of the Perfect Amulet. Dante stops to recollect a childhood memory of himself and Vergil wanting cake for their birthday, before combining the amulets and using it to reawaken Sparda and have it resume its true power. 

The rest of DMC 1 has Dante suffer from Trish’s betrayal and subsequent redemption, but while he ends the game on a victorious note after having beaten Mundus and saved Trish with a variation of Lady’s line to him, he’s also despondent at the loss of Vergil yet again, which leads to Dante being more sullen in the animated series and DMC2, which both take place five years later when Dante is 33. 

Dante’s characterization in the DMC Animated Series is often considered divisive due to him being rather mellow and sullen compared to his more distinctive appearances, especially since Reuben actually provided Dante’s voice under a false name. However, intentionally or not, Dante’s characterization in the anime bears a lot of symptoms consistent with depression: Dante is even more of a slob than normal, frequently is tired and sleeps all day, eats only comfort food (strawberry sundaes in the show) and only ever comes alive while working. But since Dante is so powerful in the anime, he’s lucky if a fight lasts more than a few seconds. When looking at the anime in the context of DMCs 1 and 3, it gives the impression that Dante is just worn down after losing Vergil in 3, only to then kill him in 1. This leaves Dante as the last member of his bloodline, which drags him down. Fortunately, Dante has Lady and Trish to keep dragging him out of bed and getting him to care, and he seems to slowly be recovering from his depression by the time of DMC2. 

Devil May Cry 2 has no real plot and Dante has been stripped of almost all the characterization in 1 and 3 which made him such an iconic character. Like nearly everything else wrong with DMC 2, this largely comes down to the disaster of a development cycle that the game had- director Hideaki Itsuno admitted in an art book that when he was brought on to direct DMC 2, he was replacing a director who had botched the project so hard that Itsuno only had four months to essentially develop the entire game, including the script. As such, Dante’s character is very flat. Barring one line (“King? Here’s your crown.”), Dante has no memorable quips or dialogue, with most of the development being handed off to Lucia instead. Dante’s one significant character trait is his habit of flipping a coin to choose events for him, a trait that has rarely been acknowledged since. While this Dante does fall into the line of thinking we’ve used so far, that Dante is suffering from depression for much of his late 20s and early 30s, it’s hard to even consider this as a possibility when Dante’s stoic nature is just because of a rushed script and weak writing, and it feels almost dirty to try and tie in the depression theory to this. 

Thankfully, Dante’s character would like much of the series get an extended redemption thanks to DMC3, but the next entry in the timeline put him back on track.. 

3) DMC 4 and the reclamation of hope

For a long time, DMC 2 was the final point in the timeline, in part because of Capcom’s shame for the game being so great that they are actively reluctant to acknowledge the existence of DMC2. Before DMC 5 released, Executive Producer Matt Walker confirmed that the timeline had been changed from 3-1-4-2 to 3-1-2-4, and one of the consequences of this was that Dante’s character arc began to flow naturally.

While there are several scenes in DMC4 set before the game begins, most notably the explanation of why Trish gave the Order Sparda’s sword which also leads into the intro cutscene for Trish and Lady’s route in Special Edition, a long-standing fan theory is that Dante begins DMC4 with some vestiges of his Anime/2 depression remaining, hence why he fails to exhibit any of his typical stylish moves during his assassination attempt on Sanctus- he just jumps down the window and shoots him point-blank in the head. It’s only when Nero attacks him and subsequently lasts longer than most of the Order guards that Dante begins to treat the fight with his usual charm. It’s made clear that he’s not taking the battle against Nero too seriously, and it’s evident that if Dante wanted he could turn Nero into a smear on the pavement in a heartbeat. But the Devil Bringer, along with Nero’s refusal to let Dante get away, impress Dante enough to let Nero go, which leads to Nero spending much of his route hunting Dante down until the two finally meet again and have a rematch at Fortuna Castle. 

Even with his new upgrades, including Vergil’s sword Yamato and his new Devil Trigger, Nero is barely able to keep up with Dante, who in gameplay is a nightmare to fight due to having access to all four of his DMC 3 styles at will and being played by an AI seemingly designed to wreck your day. To little surprise, Nero loses and is disarmed of Yamato. Dante is eager to reclaim Yamato, telling Nero “It belongs in the family,” but chooses to let Nero keep hold of Yamato for now due to having become less hot-headed and wanting to use the weapon to help save Kyrie. However, Sanctus is revealed to have been revived and traps Nero in the Savior (an artificial demon the Order created that requires Sparda’s blood and sword) before it marches on Fortuna City with Yamato. Dante races back through the route Nero took, determined to reclaim Yamato and destroy the Savior.  

Dante doesn’t develop much during his playable segment of the game, barring the new Devil Arm cutscenes confirming that he is back to his usual jovial and eccentric self. Much like with Nero, Dante’s power means that the threat of the Savior is quite small in the grand scheme- Dante can defeat it in a head to head fight and the story doesn’t try to convince you that this threat can top the one presented by Mundus. Dante eventually returns to Fortuna and after confronting Agnus in one of the greatest cutscenes in human history, reclaims his brother’s sword and then frees Nero. Between the two of them tag-teaming the Savior and Sanctus from the inside and out, Dante and Nero bring a stop to the Order’s plans and destroy the Savior, Dante reclaiming his father’s sword. 

With that, Dante leaves, job complete. Nero confusedly asks if Dante wants Yamato back, but Dante blithely tells him to keep it, confident in Nero’s abilities now as a Devil Hunter. 

Nero: "What...? I thought this meant a lot to you...?" Dante: "That's the only kind of gift worth giving. I want to entrust it to you, and so I am. What you do from here is your call."

Deadly Fortune (the Japanese only DMC 4 novelization) and DMC 5 would go on to confirm that Dante allowed Nero to set up a new branch of Devil May Cry in Fortuna. Nero asks Dante if they’ll meet again, but Dante only shoots a wave over his shoulder. Little did they know that meeting again would take eleven long years, before they got to join up back together for more hijinks.

By the end of DMC4, Dante has finally gotten over the trauma and baggage he’s been carrying since Vergil’s death. Seeing the new generation of demon hunters in Nero has reignited the spark that laid dormant inside of him for so long. Dante’s 38 by the time of DMC4, meaning he carried those dark emotions inside him for over half his life, but with Nero wielding Yamato, Dante has finally become able to let go and become the cool uncle/mentor figure Nero needs.

4) DMC 5- Acceptance and peace

... so of course just five short years later, everything goes right back to hell for Dante. He’s still not great at managing the financial side of his business, but the arrival of a mysterious young man named V with a promised contract that will provide cash up front gives Dante all the drive he needs to get into gear to confront Urizen. But unfortunately, Urizen proves far stronger than anyone feared, and he effortlessly defeats Dante, Trish, Lady and a late to the party Nero who lost his Devil Bringer two weeks prior. Dante, desperate, breaks out his Devil Trigger and orders V to get Nero out of there, deriding Nero as “dead weight.” Soon after, Urizen beats Dante out of Devil Trigger and shatters Rebellion, sending him flying out of the Qliphoth and into a coma for a month.

V eventually finds Dante by the ruins of an old manor, the demons having not found him because of the Devil Arm Sparda having hidden Dante’s presence. After a little fakeout stab, Dante is restored to fighting form and immediately goes to get ready for Round 2 with Urizen, all while Nero, now armed with the Devil Breakers, desperately tries to kill Urizen himself. Dante first gets himself some sick wheels and makes for the ruins of the Sparda Manor where his life got flipped on its head over thirty years prior.

Somehow, this isn’t the craziest weapon in the game. 

After lamenting on how he always seems to get a sword through the gut, Dante impales himself on the Rebellion like Virgil did back on the top of Temen-Ni-Gru. And just like then, Dante unlocks a new level to his demonic abilities, gaining the Sin Devil Trigger and a new Devil Arm, the Dante. Armed and ready, Dante makes for Urizen to show him whats what. While Urizen makes a hasty retreat, he is able to supercharge himself with the Qliphoth fruit before Dante arrives, but even this increase in power isn’t enough to stop Dante, because not only has he gained more power through Sin Devil Trigger, but Urizen, just like Vergil, has failed to learn the important lesson of humanity in Devil May Cry.

Side-note, this is the greatest cutscene in the history of video games. I don’t really have any way to tie the Faust Hat to this analysis but I thought we all needed a reminder that this was a glorious thing.

Dante, unlike the audience, has always been aware that Urizen was Vergil or at least his demonic half. Urizen is literally Vergil's ambition and greed manifested into a malevolent, power-hungry demon, and much like Vergil himself, Urizen fails to realize that through sacrificing his human half, he’s lost the true power within himself. It takes until Dante lays the smackdown on Urizen even after being supercharged with the Qliphoth root. In Urizen’s eyes, Dante hasn’t sacrificed anything to achieve this power and fights Urizen simply because it’s the right thing to do, and that desire to protect others

Urizen: How... How are you so powerful?! You never lost anything! Dante: It's not about loss... Strength is a choice! Fighting like hell to protect what matters! You threw away everything you ever had! No wonder you have no true power! Urizen: Danteeeeee!

Ultimately, Dante defeats Urizen and leaves him a dying husk on the ground. But before he can deliver the killing blow, V tricks Dante into letting him finish the job, allowing him to merge with Urizen and become Vergil, brought back from the dead. 

All of the main characters in DMC5 have their own subtitles along with their name when introduced, and Vergil’s is perfectly fitting from a meta angle- he was Dante’s first major opponent in DMC3, and now here he is at the end of the Sons of Sparda saga, the final boss for the last hours of the game. 

Dante immediately freaks out at Vergil’s return and goes to kill him, but due to expending so much energy on Urizen, Vergil is able to push him back with ease, telling him to heal his wounds before trying to face him. Dante stubbornly begins climbing back up the Qliphoth, even as Nero tries to dissuade him until Dante tells Nero the truth that Vergil is his father, before pressing on alone and leaving Nero to escape the tree. Dante and Vergil both never even consider the possibility of not fighting to the death. The last time they tried to talk things out at the edge of the Demon world, both Dante and Vergil proved their ideologies were just too different for them to peacefully co-exist. The tragedy of DMC 3′s climax stretches on more than twenty years later for these two, and neither are of the mindset that this can end in any way that’s not one of the twins standing over the other’s body. . 

On the way, Dante finds V’s three Summons- Griffon, Shadow and Nightmare- who reveal themselves to be the manifestations of Vergil’s traumatic memories from his time as Nelo Angelo. The familiars force a fight against Dante, warning him that if he can’t beat them he doesn’t stand a chance against Vergil. Though Dante makes no note of it, eliminating the familiars has likely ensured Vergil will be able to live without the trauma from his time under Mundus. Dante is particularly respectful to Griffon, the servant of Mundus who he never got to properly defeat in battle and the one he almost respected. It feels like Dante finally being allowed to have the fair fight with Griffon that the demon deserved more than a decade prior. 

Ultimately, Dante makes his way to the top, with both the brothers pausing for a moment to ponder how many times they’ve exchanged blows. Dante even admits that them fighting is the only memories of the two that he can remember since they were children. Ultimately they draw their weapons, and begin their final clash. 

It’s ultimately a desperate knockout brawl, with both fighters giving it their all and using everything and anything they’ve learned over the years to gain an edge in the fight, but it ends on a draw with both stopping to catch their breath after a fight that canonically goes on for more than twenty minutes. Vergil finally realizes that Nero is his son. The two stop for a second, Dante gently ribbing Vergil for being young once as well, but even then it loops back around to their deathmatch. Despite both being clearly exhausted, they fire up their Devil Triggers and prepare for another charge, only to be interrupted by a new demon- Nero, having gained the strength to activate his own Devil Trigger and regrow his lost arm, now determined to stop the two twins from killing each other once and for all. 

Throughout DMC5, starting with the “Dead Weight” line, Dante has had a habit of disrespecting Nero. Granted, Dante is canonically stronger, but he bluntly tells Nero multiple times that he effectively doesn’t care what Nero thinks of a situation, Dante will do it his way. Yet again he tries to assert dominance over Nero, but this time Nero, now armed with a new Devil Trigger and at the peak of his strength while Dante and Vergil are both exhausted, bitch slaps Dante out of the fight and promises to make Vergil submit to him. Vergil in turn doesn’t take Nero seriously, but promises him a fight when Nero bluntly repeats that neither of the brothers are dying today. What follows is an extended curb stomp as Nero pays Vergil back dividends for ripping off his arm at the start of the game. While Vergil normally wouldn’t be so easily defeated by Nero, his exhaustion from fighting Dante and expending so much energy on maintaining his Devil Trigger have drained him of the stamina he needs and as such, Nero canonically dominates the fight. 

This, Ninja Theory, is how you make your protagonist screaming “Fuck you!” look insanely cool and not pathetic

Nero makes Vergil take a knee, but the situation changes from the immediate battle. Dante and Vergil resolve to descend into the Underworld to cut the Qliphoth's roots. When Nero counters that this potentially leaves the two stranded, Dante quietly tells Nero that it’s because of him that they can make this risk. With Nero on this side of the barrier ready to protect humanity, Dante is comfortable potentially trapping himself on the other side of the dimensional border with Vergil. And as such, the two brothers fly into the Underworld and destroy the Qliphoth once and for all, leaving Nero, Lady and Trish to safeguard the human world. 

When we next see Dante and Vergil, they’re in the depths of the Underworld. Just like when Vergil lost to Dante in DMC3, he asks Dante to go back to the human world- Vergil wants to atone for Urizen’s sins and that involves ensuring the destruction of the tree. But Dante doesn’t want to leave his brother alone this time, noting that someone needs to keep an eye on Vergil- if only to ensure a repeat of the Nelo Angelo incident doesn’t happen. As Qliphoth tree roots begin to form around Dante and Vergil, we play as Dante one final time in a playable credits sequence. 

When we cut back to Dante and Vergil for the final scene, they’re locked in yet another battle. But this time, it’s a friendly spar with no malice or aminosity between them barring normal brotherly bickering. Dante even quips that he’s one up after winning while Vergil counters that Dante miscounted and that they’re even. As they ready for another round, a new wave of demons emerge and without breaking stride, the two begin clearing house. As Vergil snarls at him not to say it, Dante shoots the camera a triumphant grin before uttering his catchphrase one last time as the game concludes.

“Jackpot!” 

5) Conclusion- Devils Never Cry

While it likely will never be listed as a primary reason for the character’s critical acclaim in favor of his charm or bombastic personality, Dante’s character arc across the Devil May Cry series is an overall well-written arc of a character, and this is complemented extraordinarily well by Vergil serving as his rival in two of the games. Despite only physically appearing in 60% of the numbered games canonically, Vergil has a huge role on Dante’s life, starting when they were barely children before traumatic circumstances separated them. Then when they met on the tower when they were just 19, Vergil humiliated Dante and forced him to embrace his demonic heritage so he could keep up with Vergil in a straight fight. Ultimately though, while also maturing as a person, Dante not only fought Vergil to a standstill but went on to defeat him in a straight fight. But Vergil’s deaht would haunt Dante for years to come, and that misery would intensify upon fighting and killing Nelo Angelo, driving Dante into a deep depression that lasted years until Nero reignited the spark in Dante and brought him back from the brink. Through Nero, Dante regained his purpose and drive, and when Vergil threatened to come back as Urizen and then as himself, Dante was swift to try and destroy this at the root- Vergil had upended his life and mental state twice already and he refused to let it happen a third time. It took Nero moving past his own trauma and literally bitch-slapping sense into him for Dante and Vergil to begin to reconcile, and by the time of their final scene, the two brothers are now finally united as a demon-slaying team that will last the ages. Itsuno not only saved Devil May Cry (from himself, but again, four months) after DMC 2, but retroactively tied the first two games together with the third and subsequent games to give Dante a (largely) coherent character arc across the series. For that, Itsuno and writing team, along with Reuben Langdom, deserve massive respect for accomplishing what many wouldn’t consider doing for a “dumb Japanese action game.” To say nothing of the work done to turn Vergil from a one-note villain in DMC 1 to one of the greatest rival characters in gaming, and particular praise must be given to Dan Southworth for his work as the character over the last decade. Character content like this is what will ensure that Devil May Cry as a series stays relevant not just because of its near-perfect gameplay, but its surprisingly touching character moments between these goofballs that makes me always eager for more adventures in this universe. 

Thank you for reading. 

(also who expected the Subhuman redux to be so good? All it took was getting rid of the kid-touching creep and getting an actual musician in the book, who’d have thunk it)

[shijiujun]

History3 Ep 8 Summary - SHAO FEI ADMITS HE LIKES TANG YI

my obsession with tangfei is getting a little ridiculous - i’m writing this as the episode live streams AND OKAY IT JUST ENDED!!!!

*JUST A WARNING GUYS IT’S ONLY 20 MINUTES FOR TODAY’S EPISODE AND WHAT THE HELL THEY KEEP DOING THIS AND ENDING THE SCENE PREMATURELY and today’s was ridiculously short in feel especially - and the scenes just keep changing prematurely as well and the development is a bit too fast? but the good thing is the plot actually moved in terms of everyone’s relationships and also the bad guy’s plots - which we haven’t seen much of until now

i have no idea, let me know when you guys watch it and have any theories! i’ll explain some of mine later below!

also an update on the chinese audience again - they’ve totally adopted shao fei as their son it’s hilarious some of the golden comments translated are (they mean their comments lovingly despite the exclamation marks LOLOL):

“DON’T HURT MY SON!”

“LET GO OF MY SON”

“TANG YI YOU LITTLE SHIT” 

“I’M GOING TO TAKE MY SON AWAY FROM YOU!”

“tang yi hasn’t apologised, i won’t be taken in by his gentleness!”

SUMMARY FOR THIS WEEK:

HAHAHAHAHA omg wow this episode is packing a punch seriously it starts off with SHAO FEI’S MANY LUGGAGES AT TANG YI’S HOUSE declaring his intention to stay

tang yi’s reaction: he stares at shao fei as he ALWAYS DOES, as if he’s wondering how this human being ever came into existence you know? and then he says: “i’ll never allow having a policeman around me 24/7″

bodydumb, ah de: “yeah boss, what would everyone say if they realised that you had a policeman following you around?!”

at this point, shao fei as always seems to be on the losing end but WOW JACK IS HELPING SHAO FEI OUT WTF GOOD JOB JACK - basically he makes the case that if shao fei moved in, they could also keep an eye on him rather than let him keep turning up at inopportune times and disrupting their plans - THIS IS A VALID ARGUMENT

Shao Fei is totally pulling the friend card again to stay at Tang yi’s house this is amazing if i got my way every time I pulled the friend card life would be so much easier - in any case, he brings up the fact that he’s “half a friend” and he’s not a policeman in this case, and friends should help each other out?

Jack is SCHEMING HE IS SCHEMING: we haven’t seen much of his scheming so far, so i’m actually quite excited to see how his covert plans all fall into place - he show shao fei a REALLY REALLY REALLY NICE GUEST ROOM 

and shao fei just moves in and treats the place as his home like he has ZERO SHAME, YOU GO SHAO FEI! OWN IT! he thanks jack for helping him out earlier and jack is all: “it’s alright, i actually need your help.” 

in this case - HELP COULD MEAN 2 THINGS 1. with possibly bodydumb’s alleged betrayal OR 2. with zhao zi OR 3. BOTH!

shao fei calling zhao zi then and asking him to turn up at tang yi’s place to set up a security system or check the existing one - it could be a legit reason i.e. jack knows that zhao zi is good at technology and hacking and what not, and wants him to come and scope the place out, BUT ALSO so he can spend time with zhao zi

the rest of the police team just groans because they’ve got a lot of work to do and with shao fei already stationed with tang yi so they’re one man short, and now they want zhao zi to go over as well? you’ve got to admit that police chief perhaps wanted shao fei out of the picture and OUT OF TROUBLE AS WELL and best case scenario shao fei turns up with some evidence and progress and if not WELL, AT LEAST HE’S OUT OF TROUBLE FOR A SHORT PERIOD THANK GOD HE’S SOMEONE ELSE’S PROBLEM FOR NOW

back at tang yi’s house: hong ye vs. shao fei - who is going to win? OMG hong ye is pulling out ALL THE STOPS she’s so mean - i can understand why but WOW SHE IS SO MEAN AND SHE TOTALLY WON THE ROUND IN A SENSE - she totally provokes shao fei and hits all his buttons by mentioning li zhen jie and insisting that she was a dirty cop, and that shao fei is exactly like her: “it’s no wonder, policemen’s salary is low, they can’t help but be a little greedy” and other things, and we all know how much li zhen meant to shao fei, so he literally TAKES A SINGLE FUCKING STEP AND MOVES TO KIND OF POKE OR GRAB HER-

tang yi comes in at just the right time and grabs him and SHOVES HIM VIOLENTLY backwards and shao fei legit just crashes into the chair behind him: “don’t you dare touch her!”

CAN YOU GUYS UNDERSTAND WHY THE CHINESE AUDIENCE ARE LIKE ANGRY AT TANG YI HAHAHA

anw shao fei is spitting mad, he gets up and goes: “do you know what she said?!”

tang yi: “it doesn’t matter what she said. don’t you dare touch her!”

i expected shao fei to argue, but he’s totally hurt from her comments, and then now that tang yi is indiscriminately shielding her against him - so he just stalks off, the poor bb and just as he leaves, tang yi asks hong ye: “are you okay?”

hong ye: “i’m fine, i was just a bit frightened/startled by him”

cue shao fei’s indignant expression as he hears that and stops by the door, then makes his way outside 

LOOK AT BB SHAO FEI STALKING OFF LIKE AN ANGRY LITTLE DUCK

okay shao fei you need to stop being violent towards other people’s property - he is understandably angry and starts kicking the swing outside in the garden

jack is scheming guys he’s totally scheming - HAHAHAHA is he trying to push shao fei and tang yi together it’s fucking hilarious, but at the same time he’s trying to give him cryptic advice? i love it 

jack: “hong ye is known to have a sharp tongue and for being blunt”

shao fei: *POUTS*

jack considers, then goes: “unless... you’re not mad at hong ye, but at our boss”

in any case, jack dispenses some good advice - that if shao fei keeps acting based on his emotions, everything they’ve worked for will be for naught

KEYCHAIN MAKES IT APPEARANCE! tang yi sees the keychain that shao fei gave him while he’s packing his desk, is reminded of what he did to shao fei (only just?!!!! tang yi how could you) and then looks out of the window to see shao fei in the garden - wow shao fei how many times you going to pace the garden

shao fei talking to himself and psyching himself up AWAY FROM THE HURT HE FEELS FROM TANG YI NOT LISTENING TO HIM: “it’s only natural that he sides hong ye. they’re so close.” - and then he returns to the house just as tang yi comes down the stairs 

they stare at one another, and shao fei is still pissed so he walks AWAY from tang yi, then within like five steps he pivots on his heel and faces tang yi just as tang yi reaches shao fei

tang yi explaining himself to shao fei, I LOVE THIS RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPMENT

anw shao fei opens his mouth and he’s about to say smth but tang yi beats him to the punch and goes: “i know what hong ye said to you. i know what li zhen means to you, and i apologize to you on her behalf”

so shao fei was angry, but because tang yi totally apologised first, he can’t be TOO ANGRY, but he scoffs: “whatever. if the person who said it doesn’t feel sorry for it, then there’s no point for a bystander to apologise”

tang yi: “she is me, and i am her. together the both of us are going to complete what boss tang entrusted to us.”

shao fei: “and this means you can just not listen to me?!!!!”

seeing that shao fei bb is still angry, tang yi does the next best thing - HE GRABS SHAO FEI BY THE ARM AND DRAGS HIM TO THE ROOM HAHAHAHA WE’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR THIS SCENE AND IT IS GLORIOUS

SHAO FEI’S CONFUSED FACE AS HE LANDS ON THE BED?!!!! +100000

wow tang yi how hard did you push shao fei with the bruises and tang yi’s SUPER GENTLE TONE as he tells shao fei to “lie down properly” so he can get his back okay seriously TANG YI HOW HARD DID U SHOVE SHAO FEI BB

ahahahahaha shao fei is totally enjoying the treatment, and he’s TOTALLY okay until he remembers what jack told him, that shao fei actually cares more about tang yi’s reaction than hong ye’s harsh words - and that’s when those BIG WIDE EYES OF REALISATION APPEAR - HE IS ATTRACTED TO TANG YI HE FEELS IT

bad guys turn up - chen wen hao is colluding with another person and chen wen hao is looking for detailed information in xing tian meng - the other guy wants to ally themselves with chen wen hao

OMG OKAY MAJOR PLOT DEVELOPMENT AHEAD: so no ones knows tang guo dong and tang yi’s actual relationship, not even chen wen hao or any of the other gangsters that were previously under boss tang in the same gang

apparently tang guo dong just one day turned up with both hong ye and tang yi, but he only changed tang yi’s surname to his, and let hong ye keep her one surname

chen wen hao has no idea what tang yi is to tang guo dong, and basically asks the other plump dude to show some sincerity and get him some REAL info, particularly tang yi’s EVERYTHING, including his past - chen wen hao and the other bad guy seems fixated on this details, so I’M BETTING MY MONEY ON THIS BEING A HUGE PLOT REVEAL POINT

SO THEORY IS: remember those promotional stills that SHOWED tang yi crying in shao fei’s arms? i think there’s something going on with tang yi’s birth (for e.g. he could be boss tang’s real son with li zhen?!!! OR something similar, something that he didn’t know - but it’s a theory, FEEL FREE TO SHARE MORE THEORIES!!!)

FAVOURITE SCENE OF THE EPISODE: CAR SCENE - tang yi is being chauffeured to the company by ah de, and shao fei is sitting right there next to him and totally STARING AT HIM

TANG YI TOTALLY FEELS HIS GAZE AND LOOKS UP AND SHAO FEI LOOKS AWAY AFTER BEING CAUGHT?! SHAO FEI PLEASE

tang yi, exasperated but clearly quite fond of shao fei: “what are you doing?”

and wow shao fei that was a lousy excuse: “oh! just exploring the car features. wow, does this run on electricity? your car is totally luxury-grade” - and then proceeds to press every button near him!!!!! SHAO FEI GET A GRIP!!!

ah de from the front: “alright you country bumpkin, don’t open the roof window, it’s raining.”

shao fei: “who the fuck you calling a country bumpkin?!!!”

and then tang yi WHO IS JUST LOOKING AT SHAO FEI FIDGET AND MOVE AND RUN HIS MOUTH OFF SO, SO FONDLY, WITH SO MUCH PATIENCE, he asks: “really, what are you doing?”

shao fei, another lame answer that is INCONSISTENT WITH HIS PREVIOUS ANSWERS: “nothing. i’m just looking to see if you’ve got some drinks in here.”

TO WHICH, tang yi helpfully opens the compartment between their seats and comes up with idk is that sparkling water? he is about to pass it to shao fei, and then he-

OMGGGGGG TANG YI HE THEN SO HELPFULLY, SO DOTINGLY, OPENS THE BOTTLE FOR SHAO FEI, AND PASSES IT TO HIM

CUE SHAO FEI’S SATISFIED SMILE

they arrive at the company lobby and tang yi moves into the elevator first, then shao fei wants to follow but he can’t because AH DE AKA BODYDUMB IS A COCKBLOCKER - he refuses to let shao fei go in

AND OMGGG ANDY - ANDY with his lazy outfit but looking fine as hell, he turns up and obviously they arranged to meet, tang yi asks him to come in and he does, leaving bodydumb and shao fei fighting outside of the elevator - TANG YI WHERE DID ALL THE GENTLENESS GO?!!

and fucking FINALLY - we get a scene where shao fei properly kicks ass and HERE IT IS GUYS THE PIVOTAL POINT OF THIS 

bodydumb: “don’t think i don’t know what you’re doing! you’re using this as an excuse. i see your eyes when you look at the boss, it disgusts me!”

AND THEY EXCHANGED BLOWS

AND THEN SHAO FEI BABY OVERPOWERS BODYDUMB AND SAYS: “yes, so what if i like tang yi? it’s none of anyone’s business. if you have time to spread rumors about me, you might as well use the time to train your moves!”

YASSSSSS OMG SHAO FEI BB - BURN!

so shao fei bypasses bodydumb who’s lying in pain on the ground, into the lift, and he makes it upstairs (and somehow he knows which floor it’s on?)

anw tang yi and andy are having a meeting - THANK GOD FOR ANDY’S COMPETENCE - he has intel for tang yi, he knows that chen wen hao met someone the night before, and he has found out who attacked and kidnapped him previously

andy slides a piece of paper with maybe a person’s name on it over the table to tang yi, tang yi grabs it, but andy stops him and warns him: “you’re not going to be happy when you find out who it is.”

tang yi is all, okay, but imma do it anyway

he reads it, and THEORY: maybe it’s bodydumb’s name?! - anw he’s super angry and he flings the paper to the ground - we don’t get to see whose name it is, tang yi just keeps repeating that he didn’t think it was him

andy then is all: “awww, don’t be angry, relax” - and he’s so touchy with tang yi ARE YOU SURE YOU GUYS DIDN’T SLEEP TGT BEFORE and massages tang yi’s temples

tang yi is totally into it and he actually relaxes and closes his eyes

which brings me to the point of shao fei being outside the office, and he can see the vague figures of andy and tang yi standing so close to each other

AND THIS IS HILARIOUS - BODYDUMB AKA AH DE arrives, and before he can grab shao fei, shao fei grabs him, silences him and goes: “LET’S GET RID OF OUR COMMON ENEMY FIRST BEFORE SETTLING OUR SHIT” AHAHAHAHAHA BODYDUMB AND SHAO FEI ARE NOW ALLIES BECAUSE THEY ARE JELLY OF ANDY? 

and then they just end it there we don’t get the scene where shao fei bursts in and interrupts whatever they were doing

some thoughts:

when is the exact OMG moment when shao fei realises he likes tang yi? i think he realises he’s attracted to him during the massage scene, but how did that go to declaring that he likes tang yi to bodydumb?

tang yi why you keep blowing hot and cold?!

“common enemy” i.e. andy - does shao fei know that bodydumb likes tang yi? this still hasn’t been really confirmed, and how did shao fei know?!

I LOVE GENTLE TANG YI TO SHAO FEI - BOTTLE OPENING SCENE IS A TREASURE

tang yi’s background - any theories on this?