#am I going to summon them by accident?

[detectivekirby]

I haven't actually seen many bots lately...

[evilminji]

Actually? You know what would be darkly hilarious?

If, when the GIW can't get ghosts declared both malicious AND non-sapient/sentient? They push for "dumb animals" instead.

Which is accepted. Ghosts are animals. Checks out, says scientists everywhere.

HOW "dumb"?

What? Says the GIW, mid-victory high fives. They did not expect a follow up question. They SHOULD have, as this is the SCIENTIFIC community and that is literally their job, but here we are.

How. "Dumb"? The scientists repeate slower. What methodology did you use? What is your sample size? Are their different sub-species? Is this dimension like ours? Is Ghost the equivalent to Mammal? It says here their are humanoid ones.

What IQ are we talking about here and HOW DID YOU TEST??

A goldfish, parrot, and dolphin are all animals. WILDLY different levels of intelligence. You can't treat them the same. Technically speaking, WE are animals.

The GIW does not like where this conversation is going. Tries to shut it down.

.......well NOW the scientists are both offended AND invested. How DARE you try to push faulty science and hide the Truth from them! They're gonna do their OWN studies! *picks up the phone and dials that one embarrassing spiritualist friend they had in college* Hey! You still think you can summon ghosts? I'll pay you to try it for Science!

And like? As a Ghost? It's degrading as hell. But ALSO these fuckos just Whoopsie'd you into having both protections under the law, since animal abuse IS illegal, AND just put the ENTIRE planets scientific community on their asses.... by accident.

So you take a deeeeeeep breath you don't even need. Remember you're doing this for the little ghost babies and fluffy ghost animals. And show up at a research facility like "yes, hello, I am Ghost. Here for you to poke and prod at. Please ask me to name the object on the flash card or whatever IQ tests do these days."

Should you HAVE to prove your own fucking sentience? No. But? You do it. You're even polite about it. Ask for a copy of the study they plan to publish so you can BEAT some mother fuckers with it. The scientists nod in understanding and use the BIG font for your copy so it'll hurt more.

They've been there.

And just? Shitty people getting what they wanted only to have it blow up in their faces?? I see all these angst "but what if they were declared ANIMALS" prompts and I just?? Are we talking PARROT or goldfish!? One has the average intelligence of about a human 4yr old and the other is a FISH! People get RIGHTFULLY furious when you treat INTELLIGENT animals badly.

And would, in fact, adapt pretty easy to discovering one of said animal has become HUMAN lvl intelligent. It's easy to grasp the idea of human intelligence lvl dolphin or monkeys. Maybe there was some mutated strain, maybe in uetro tampering. Who knows. But if I tried to sell you a human intelligent housefly? Gold fish? Lizard?

You wouldn't believe me. There is some kind of trick at play.

So if GHOSTS are seen as animals? Everyone nods and then later? Someone comes in TV and very excitedly informs you "we found INTELLIGENT LIFE amongst the ghosts!" You'd believe it. Probably be really excited by your conversation starter for the day. Get a taco and move on with your life.

But? Having to willing sit for a barrage of testing? Is going to suuuuuuck so bad. Poor Danny. SATs all over again. For HOURS. At multiple facilities, just to be CERTAIN it's not a one off. All because he not certain he can insure good behavior from other ghosts and This Is IMPORTANT. He ALSO can't be certain it's even SAFE.

Might be a trap.

But if he has to do it again and again and again? Mexico to Bavaria to China to the Maldives? If this is what it takes for the scientific community to bitchslap the GIW into ORBIT before the UN? Hand him that pencil.

He has no where more important to be.

@hdgnj @nerdpoe @mutable-manifestation @ailithnight @the-witchhunter

[ckret2]

Chapter 76 of human Bill Cipher not looking much like the Mystery Shack's prisoner because he's just vibing on the porch: Mabel's riding high on the success of making Bill two whole friends, Ford's dealing with curses... and let's see how that camera got cursed in the first place.

####

Mabel asked, "What about Aaron Laarson?"

"I don't know," Candy said, "Aaron is cute, but he isn't a very good dancer. That's very important to me in a teen pop idol."

"He's a really good actor, though," Grenda said. "You should see him in Hot Models 2: Runway Boogaloo!" Candy looked thoughtful.

They'd spent the last thirty minutes chattering, with Grenda and Candy sitting on Bill, who was now laying his upper body on the couch cushion he'd been assaulted with earlier but otherwise hadn't moved. To all appearances, Bill was sound asleep—he even breathed like he was asleep—but every once in a while, he'd pipe up with something like, "Don't get too attached to Aaron Laarson. He's dying in a kayaking accident next summer."

Grenda groaned in disappointment. Candy said, "He should have spent that time practicing dancing instead of kayaking."

Mabel caught movement in the corner of her eye, and started when she saw Ford and Dipper. "Uh oh. I didn't expect them to come in on this side of the house."

Across the clearing, Ford shouted, "Mabel, what the devil is he doing outside with—!"

Mabel shouted, "It's okaaay, I got permission from Grunkle Staaan, I love yooou!"

Ford hesitated. "Well... if Stan okayed it."

Dipper looked at Mabel and her camera. Mabel looked at Dipper and his camera. They immediately started making the stupidest faces they could at each other's cameras. "Hey," Mabel said, "did you find the nightwigglies? It looks like they found yooou!"

Dipper self-consciously tugged up the vest he was using like a makeshift skirt. "We did! It was so great, we recorded some kind of ritual dance, how they make babies—" At Grenda's outburst of "Ewww!" he quickly clarified, "Not—not in a gross way—and we saw some kind of Nightwiggler god! It was amazing!"

"Wow! That's great!" Mabel said. "We summoned a demon and almost died."

"What?"

"By the way!" Mabel waved her camera at Ford. "Grunkle Ford, I kiiinda used your cursed camera by accident. Could you please uncurse the tape so I can keep the episode I filmed tonight? Goldie said the magic thingy he stuck on it will only keep it tame as long as the tape's in the camera."

"That's because it's technically the tape itself that's cursed, not the camera." Ford wondered if Bill had led Mabel to the camera.

"Can you uncurse it, though?"

"I think so. I'll see what I can do." Ford took the camera from Mabel. He decided not to comment on the girls' interesting makeup choices.

Bill opened one eye a sliver as he felt Ford and Dipper step on the porch, saw Ford's bare calf over his boot, and cracked up. "What happened to your pants! Did you try to join the Hokey Pokey?"

Ford gave Bill a withering look—caught sight of Bill's mismatched tween-girl-pencil-case/airbrushed-hot-rod eyeshadow, and laughed in surprise. "What happened to your face?"

"Aren't I beautiful?" Bill asked, lacing his hands under his chin (and making Ford snort again when he spied the multiple nail extensions on one hand). "Go on! Tell me I'm beautiful. I know I am."

"You're..." Ford was keenly aware that Mabel and her friends were probably behind this makeover, "...certainly colorful."

"Stanford, you flatterer!" Bill cackled.

Dipper headed inside, yawning. "I'm gonna... go to sleep or something."

That was a good idea; but Ford was hesitant to go in. He was loath to trust Bill unsupervised alone with a couple of vulnerable children, with no one to keep him in check but another child he'd already manipulated into helping him escape once.

But who was Ford to judge. Bill had manipulated him into helping him escape, too. He supposed Mabel could handle him as well as anyone else.

Grenda said, "I think we should watch Hot Models 2 anyway! It's got lots of cute boys! And girls, I guess." She turned to Bill. "Hey, do you like girls or boys?"

"Sometimes," Bill said. "Sure, I'm up for it. It's a pretty good satire of Big Fashion and I like the runway fight scene with the big light show."

To Ford, all Bill seemed to be doing was talking about movies, wearing stupid makeup, and being a chair for a couple of kids. It was so... normal.

It was something a person would do.

Ford made himself go inside. Maybe he'd start work on uncursing that tape for Mabel before he went to bed.

####

Bill had written a magic-negation seal on the back of a crumpled Mystery Shack receipt and attached it to the camcorder with an X of clear tape. Ford had only used that seal twice in his life. Once, thirty years ago, when Bill had taught it to him. And once last fall, when Ford had attempted to draw it in the Book of Bill to prevent its anomalous effects. Bill's book had absorbed the seal into its page until it disappeared—then burped. At least the symbol still seemed to work on the camcorder.

Ford tried to rewind the tape to the beginning; something inside the camcorder caught and made a nasty sound. He grimaced and hit the stop button. That wasn't good. He carefully peeled off the magic-negation seal, popped the cassette tape out of the camera, and examined it. 

He pushed up the cassette's guard panel, but where there should have been a strip of magnetic tape running beneath it, there was nothing. The tape must have snapped. As he tried to inspect the damage, the cassette jumped and rattled in his hand, trying to snap the guard panel shut on his finger like it wanted to bite him.

"Stop that," Ford chided. "I'm trying to repair you." Would it listen? In his experience, objects animated by this particular curse tended to be consistently hostile. He might need to re-seal it.

To his surprise, the tape settled down sedately on his desk. That was more like it.

"Can you unreel the damaged ends of your tape?" If it could, that would save him the effort of disassembling the thing entirely.

After a short pause, the cassette flipped up its guard panel and extended two ends of broken tape.

"Thank you."

It looked like something had... burned? melted the tape? But what? The video cassette's casing was completely undamaged, how had something managed only to burn the tape inside?

Ford snipped off the damaged ends of the tape, used a little strip of masking tape to connect them back together, and carefully rewound the tape a few seconds with a pen. This was only a temporary repair; he'd have to transfer the contents of this cassette to an undamaged one. Mabel would probably want it digitized so she could make her video, too. But watching a few seconds wouldn't destroy it; and he wanted to know whether the camera had recorded whatever damaged the tape.

He carefully removed the smallest of Project Mentem's undamaged monitors, moved it to his worktable, plugged in a VHS-C player, and slid the cassette in.

As he started to play back the recording—the first thing on the screen was one of Mabel's terrified-looking friends—the monitor trembled and jumped, banging heavily as it landed back on Ford's worktable.

"Oh, behave." Ford peeled the magic-negating seal off the camcorder and slapped it on the TV. It immediately stilled. Some gratitude for repairing that tape.

When Ford turned his attention back to the screen, Mabel's friend's face had been replaced by Bill's, his curls filling the edges of the screen.

"Gold-O! You came back!" "Hey, Grend-O. Sorry for the wait..."

As Ford watched, Bill grappled with the camera, eventually managed to get a grip on it, and stared it down with nearly enough fury to make Ford forget the goofy eyeshadow. "Now let's get this straight. Everything beneath this shack's roof is my domain and under my protection! If you want to hurt anyone here—you'll have to get through m—"

The scene cut straight to Mabel's face as it skipped over the damaged section he'd had to cut out. "Welcome back to Mabel's Guide to Secret Sleepovers! Weee're—"

Ford stopped the tape. Huh.

Huh.

####

As soon as Candy and Grenda were gone, Mabel flung her arms around Bill. "Thank you for being nice to my friends," she said. "Especially Grenda. I'm so glad you liked them both after all!"

Liked them? He'd been a charming host to them, but. "Did I?"

"Yes," Mabel informed him firmly. "You did."

Well, he figured he must've, then. And Grenda had grown on him. She'd complimented his eyes, she admired gross things, she had very intelligent opinions on amphibians in general and axolotls in particular... "Hey, any friend of my friend is a friend of mine!"

"That's so much better than what I was trying to say." Mabel let go of him, beaming. "Wanna hang out with them again sometime?"

"Sure!" Bill said, shrugging. "We still have to watch some dumb action comedy movies."

"Great! I'll let them know the next sleepover's over here!" She ran upstairs.

Calling her friends to arrange the next sleepover before they'd even gotten home. Yeah—that was generally how Bill planned his parties, too.

Looked like his social circle for the foreseeable future consisted of three little girls. Wasn't ideal, but he could work with that. He'd always liked getting invited to girls' nights. And maybe at future sleepovers he could talk the kids into some real fun. When they weren't trying to keep quiet, he knew, they fed off each other's chaos. And he was sure there was a budding pyromaniac lurking in Candy's heart.

####

Ford nodded as he passed Stan in the entryway. "Just getting up?"

"Yep. Just going to bed?"

Ford shrugged ruefully. "Afraid so. We got some terrific footage last night, though."

"Oh, yeah? Anything sellable?"

"That's up to Dipper, but I think there's good potential. Bare minimum, I'd bet some cryptozoology documentaries would be interested in his findings."

"Hey, all right! Not bad for a night's work." Stan passed by, headed for the bathroom.

And Ford almost headed on to the guest bedroom—but, reluctantly made himself turn toward the kitchen.

Bill was sitting at the table, sipping at a can of cider with an empty one already on the table in front of him, staring out the window at the morning. He didn't usually drink that heavily this early; it probably meant he was heading to bed soon. The girls must have kept him up all night. Dipper had regaled Ford with tales of what Mabel's sleepovers were like.

"Bill."

"Hm?"

He should have gotten straight to business. Instead, he said, "I watched some of Mabel's video from last night."

Bill glanced over at him. (He still had that ridiculous makeup.) "Oh, yeah?"

Under my protection. Did he consider himself the household's guardian—or its owner? "I..." Ford cleared his throat. "I wondered about—the symbol you painted on your hand to disable the camera. That part of the tape melted, and—I assume it was light-activated, which means it must be different from the seal I already know, so...?"

Bill's face had immediately closed off. He turned away. "You're not my student."

Ford was surprised at how much that felt like a slap to the face. He should have been glad—he'd finally managed to get Bill to agree with what he'd been telling him all summer—but he hadn't expected Bill to ever give up. (He hadn't expected Bill to ever change.)

But he probably hadn't really given up. No doubt he was giving Ford the cold shoulder to see if he begged Bill's forgiveness.

"No. I suppose I'm not." He trudged into the kitchen, rummaged in his coat pocket, and dropped a leather pouch on the table. "Anyway, I'm just here to drop this off."

Bill reached for it, stopped himself, and warily asked, "What is it?"

"The rest of my nutrition pills from my interdimensional travels." When he'd lost his trench coat to the lake during the eclipse last week, he'd had to dig out the old tattered one he'd worn during his travels, and he'd happened to find his pills at the same time. It had occurred to him to bring them up while he was working on Mabel's tape. They were tricky to synthesize, but they lasted forever and the ingredients could be found in almost any dimension—whether there was anything otherwise edible for humans or not. 

Bill eyed him suspiciously; but he opened the pouch's snap and peeked into the resealable plastic bag. They didn't look like "pills" so much as small balls of incredibly dense dark brown bread, each about the size of a wad of bubblegum. "Whyyy?"

"To make up the difference in your diet until we figure out the food problem," Ford said. "They're formulated so that four a day meets a human's... well, meets my nutritional needs. I haven't looked into your..." vague gesture, "body... type."

"Is this your emergency stash?"

"It... was." Stan had persuaded Ford to get back onto normal food (as much of a waste of time as it was), but he still had this stash left.

"Why are you giving me your emergency stash."

"Because... I'm not having an emergency and you are?" It was better than a couple of avocados and some hot sauce. Honestly, he should have thought to go looking for his nutrition pills weeks ago. If he'd realized just how severe they'd made Bill's situation... or how stubborn Bill would be about asking for help... or that they'd ever plan to keep Bill around long enough that his nutrition would be an issue.

Bill squinted at him, and for a moment Ford thought he was about to start a fight for some insane reason; but then the air seemed to leak out of him, his shoulders sagged, and he just looked at the nutrition pills. "For starters, they'll need more than twice as much iron."

"That much?"

"And more vitamin D, I don't remember the numbers right now." He shut the pouch, sat back, and lifted his cider can again. "All right."

All right? Ford supposed that was all he was getting. He turned to go.

As he did, Bill said, "Bed?"

Ford glanced back. "Yes?"

"Fine," Bill said. "Have nightmares."

He couldn't help letting out a laugh. "Fine. You too."

"It's too late for you to start trying to sweet-talk me like that, Stanford Pines!" But he tilted his can toward Ford—cheers—chugged down the rest, and cracked open a third.

####

Dipper was already in bed when Mabel charged in. He rolled over slightly, saw she was still in her sleepover pajamas, and mumbled, "Going to sleep too?"

She rummaged around in the closet by the door. "I can't waste that kind of time!" She retrieved a shoe box full of the wooden models of the townspeople she'd crudely whittled last summer at a library arts & crafts program run by Wendy's dad. She dumped them out on the floor, and, for lack of a figure representing Bill, tore a corner off a stray sheet of notebook paper and drew his eye on it. "I've got to capitalize on last night's success!"

She snatched her pyramid prism off the windowsill and taped the paper eye on it. "Hey, you." She poked Bartholomew's cradle. "Why were you a big chicken in front of my friends?"

"What, with you waving that camera around?" Bartholomew said. "I didn't want it to know I have a soul to steal."

"You knew?! You jerk!" She gave the cradle a harder poke, rocking it slightly.

Dipper yawned. "Capitalize on what success? The demon summoning?"

"No! Helping Bill make two new friends!" Mabel sat on the floor, plopped the Bill prism down amidst the other wooden figures, and started setting them upright. Waddles waddled over to sniff at them.

"Oh." Dipper groaned and rolled back over.

"The next stage of his rehabilitation is expanding his social circle. Get him some normal friends that don't want to eat people or destroy moons or whatever!" She grabbed up the notebook paper again, tore it into sections, and wrote on each with the nearest gel pen: "Friends!!!" "Maybe" "NO" "Healthy ☆ Rivals" "♡ Potential dates? ♡" She added thoughtfully, "And maybe get him a love life. We had to chase off his last girlfriend."

Dipper groaned louder. "I don't wanna think about Bill dating. That dumb eye-bat was bad enough."

"She's not dumb, she's into avant-garde experimental films. And she watches them with subtitles. Bill said so." She placed her, Grenda's, and Candy's figures in the Friends section, tentatively placed Dipper halfway between Maybe and No after checking to make sure he wasn't watching, and then started scanning her collection for more likely friends. "Who in town do you think would date Bill Cipher?"

"Nobody. Everyone hates him."

She stuck Wendy and her gang in the "Friends!!!" section, she thought they were a safe bet. "Who do you think would date Bill if they don't know he's Bill?"

"Nobody." Dipper pulled his blanket over his head.

"Pbbt, don't be so negative! You've gotta believe in him." Blubs and Durland? They were probably his friends, right? She sorted them accordingly and added Lazy Susan to the "Maybe" section. "Just you watch. I'll have Bill reintegrated into society before the end of the summer!"

Mabel had picked out several more prospective friends for Bill before Dipper sighed, rolled over again, and said, "Why do you have to make friends for Bill?"

"Bro. Come on. When he's left to his own devices, he keeps talking about pulling people's veins out of their bodies or telling them secret information about their own childhoods. He's probably talking about something creepy right now."

####

"I'm telling you," Bill said, gesticulating emphatically with a cider can. "It works. Your cousins will never argue with you again, and you guarantee they'll be with you forever! It's the perfect way to permanently resolve family disputes!"

"I can see your logic," Stan said, grimacing. "However. I'm not eating my cousins."

"Not all your cousins," Bill insisted. "Just one, to send a message. You don't even need to eat the whole guy! Just half a limb or so. If you want to look like the bigger man, you can even let him choose which one."

Looking faintly nauseous, Stan shoved over his unfinished eggs and pancakes and stood. "What the heck was your home life like?"

"Oh, it was terrific. I was the family golden child." Bill dug into Stan's eggs. "I was everything your family hoped you'd be and was disappointed you weren't!" 

"Was that before or after you started eating your cousins?"

"I didn't say I did it. That's your species' thing." Bill said, with a lofty tone that suggested moral superiority, "We'reinedible."

"Ha!" Stan shook his head. "You talk a big game for a guy who's never eaten one family member!"

Bill snapped the tab off his cider can and flipped it at Stan's head.

####

"He's delightful, but he's an acquired taste," Mabel said. "He just needs somebody else to help mediate when he meets new people! Like letting two cats sniff each other under the door!"

"Okay, but why you?"

She thought about that, staring at the pyramid representing Bill; then she shrugged. "Somebody has to."

"They really don't."

"Somebody should," Mabel insisted. "I just really want to see him make friends with everybody here. It's like... making it up to the town for hurting them last year."

"I think leaving them alone would work better. After what he did, he doesn't deserve to be friends with anyone in town—"

"It's important to me, okay?" Mabel snapped. "It just is."

What was that for? Did she think he was criticizing her for befriending him? He mumbled, "I didn't mean you."

She was quiet a moment. "I know." 

"Sorry." Dipper was too tired for this conversation; he was just sticking his foot in his mouth. He yawned, muttered, "Good luck scheduling him a playdate, I guess," and rolled over.

####

After sleep and lunch, Ford returned to his study, set up a second blank video cassette to copy the damaged one's data, carefully rewound the damaged one all the way to the beginning, and watched it for the first time in over thirty years.

The recording was grainy and distorted now. It looked so old. This technology had been brand new when Ford had bought his video camera—so new that he'd had to order it from overseas, it hadn't been available in the United States yet. How quickly things changed.

The camera turned to take in Ford's own, younger, beaming face. "This is Dr. Stanford Pines, with the first of what will hopefully be many video recordings of the oddities in Gravity Falls." (In the present, Ford snorted.) "The subject of this first video is a series of magic symbols that, when combined, can animate inanimate objects. Any inanimate object."

He turned the camera around. Like a vampire's morbid pulpit, one of Ford's journals was laid open atop the lid of a black casket. Two heavy chains were laid across each side of the book and locked around the casket's handles to keep them tightly secured. A couple dozen pages in the middle of the book had been left free of the chains, but were pinned down by a cinderblock.

All the security measures were clearly needed; the book was thrashing in its restraints strongly enough to make the casket lid rattle. The visible text writhed across the journal's pages, words and symbols appearing and disappearing in the margins. The susurrations of the pages rubbing against each other sounded like the hissing of a trapped animal.

Ford tipped the cinderblock off the journal and pinned the pages down with his shoe instead. "Several days ago, a local director taught me the spell he used to animate clay figures for his movies. I'd thought perhaps he was creating golems, but aside from the superficial similarity of writing symbols to animate figures of mud, there doesn't seem to be any similarity between his ritual and any golem folklore I've ever heard. Furthermore, his creations are intelligent, capable of speech, and seem to remain loyal to their creator simply out of a passion for acting and respect for his directorial talents rather than any sort of magically-compelled loyalty." A wry note entered his voice. "And I can confirm that the spell itself certainly doesn't impart any loyalty."

 The page below his foot erased itself and replaced the text with large, angry text: "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO EARN MY LOYALTY?! YOU DOG EAR MY PAGES! YOU USE ME AS A CHOPPING BOARD!"

"Wh—! Who do you think you are, a Sefer Torah?! Don't be so precious! You're made of faux leather and craft paper, I'll dog ear you all I want!" Ford snapped. "And I already apologized for the chopping board thing!"

The journal stopped moving. "My cover isn't real leather?"

"On my budget?! The closest you've ever come to real cow hide is visiting the Sprott farm!"

While the journal was stunned silent, Ford scooted his foot aside so the camcorder could see a symbol on the opposite page—one of the few bits of ink that didn't seem to shift around the journal's pages. "This is the symbol the director taught me. But it's only supposed to work if you perform an accompanying ritual to activate and power it, which I haven't." He reached down with a gloved hand to flip the loose pages over, then pinned them again under his shoe to let him record another symbol. "This symbol is supposed to power magical artifacts. I suspect writing both these sigils together in the same book has caused them to interact in unexpected ways. But, by themselves, these two are insufficient to bring a book to life—I experimented by copying them both into Journal 1—so perhaps some of the other symbols or spells written in Journal 2 are contributing to—"

"WHAT?!" Journal 2 angrily scrawled around the perimeter of the second symbol. "You tried to bring that teacher's pet to life?! What's wrong with ME!"

"You mean, besides your completely uncooperative attitude, reckless abuse of magic, and murder attempts?" Ford ignored the journal's angry "shouting" as he went on, "But until I figure out what the other symbols are, my... anonymous informant on the occult—"

"You don't mean Creature #326? Tell me it's not Creature #326!"

"—has taught me a sigil that should be able to reverse the effects of the animation spell—"

A series of magical sigils flashed across the journal's page and were quickly replaced by "HA-HA-HA!" The camera shuddered.

"What was that?!" Ford set the camera on the casket where it could watch as he tried to pin down Journal 2's fluttering pages and write on it. "We'll see who's laughing in a minute, you— Stop erasing what I write!" Ford tugged out a sticky note that had been serving as bookmark, hastily scribbled on it, and slapped it into the journal. "Ha!"

The book immediately fell still.

Ford grabbed up a tape dispenser from the floor, pulled off a short strip, and attached the sticky note more securely to the page. "Well. That was effective." He flipped through the journal. "Furthermore, it looks like all the changes Journal 2 made to itself have been reverted. Good. It defaced a lot of data I'd hate to have to reproduce..." As he spoke, the camera slowly rose into the air.

He turned to pick it up, flinched, and quickly got to his feet. "Oh! Uh. Hello."

"Hello," the camera echoed in Ford's voice.

"How did you...?" Ford smacked his forehead, eyes wide with amazement! "Of course! My recording! The symbols my journal wrote! This is fascinating. Recording the symbols on magnetic tape must be just as effective as writing them on paper, even if the symbols aren't visible without specialized equipment. I'll have to experiment with other methods of... of..." Ford petered off as the camera slowly floated higher. He held out a hand hopefully. "Please come back?"

"No," the camera said. "Please give me your soul."

"No." Ford took a deep breath, set Journal 2 on the casket, and flexed his fingers. "Okay. Let's do this again."

As the Ford of thirty-odd years ago wrestled with the camera on the TV screen, the much older Ford sighed. That had been fun. Exploring the bizarre and aberrant had still been fun, back then. That thought disconcerted him; was it no longer fun now? He supposed it still was to an extent. He was just worse at having fun. Harder to dazzle.

He wondered why Journal 2 had been so wary of Creature #326. Bill. It had been right, he was Ford's "anonymous informant"—Ford had told him about his hostile new living journal in a dream, and after Bill had finished laughing, he'd taught Ford how to counteract the spell activating it.

But how did it know?

Could it have warned him about Bill?

Ford would never find out now.

The TV went dark as, in the recording, Ford trapped the camera inside a box. Slightly muffled, Ford said, "Try getting out of that!" Under his breath, he muttered, "I think I prefer writing over narrating anyway."

The screen remained dark for another ten seconds as the camera bumped around and muttered to itself. And then it abruptly cut to a shot of Dipper's bed. Off-screen, Mabel's voice said, "Awesome, still works!" She set the camera on the table under the kids' window—

That was what Ford was looking for. He rewound several seconds and began transferring the recording of Mabel's sleepover onto a fresh tape he'd prepared earlier.

After that, maybe he'd go back to the start again so he could see the other symbols Journal 2 had flashed at the camera and copy them into Journal 5—onto a page already prepared with the magic-negating seal.

####

In the Nightmare Realm, a red book with a golden handprint on the cover boldly labeled "2" floated alone in the void, as it had since it had been tossed in the bottomless pit a year ago.

Its tattered pages were splayed open as it drifted weightlessly through the aether.

On one page near the center of the book, a sticky note with a seal drawn on it was attached to the page with a strip of tape, and surrounded by a warning never to erase the symbol on the sticky note.

The tape had lost its stick after decades buried outdoors; it stuck to the sticky note, but not to the book. The sticky note was barely holding on by a corner.

And as the book slowly wheeled through the void, the last corner peeled off, and the sticky note fluttered away.

Journal 2's pages rustled.

####

(I think y'all who have been keeping up with my posts about this fic know exactly what's coming next. 😎

Thaaat's right. 😎😎

An unrelated flashback chapter!!!

Anyway hope y'all enjoyed, let me know what you think!)

[nanenna]

The Best Laid Plans

Sleepy King Master Post (for my contributions anyway)

---

“I’m driving,” Jazz announced, snatching the keys from her dad as they all walked to where the GAV was parked on the city hall’s lawn.

“Young lady,” Mom started to scold.

“I only have a limited amount of time to drive with supervision before I’m off to college and driving all by myself.” Jazz gave her parents the biggest puppy dog eyes she could muster.

“And I am more than happy to be that supervision,” Vlad said as he reached for the front passenger seat.

Danny quickly jumped into the back seat, as far away from Vlad as he could get. Jazz adjusted the seat and mirrors while she waited for her parents to get in. Then she looked Danny in the eye through the rear view mirror, “The engine doesn’t start until every last person is buckled in.”

“C’mon, Jazz! Even if your grandma driving somehow got us into a car accident we both know I’d be fine.”

“I’m not repeating myself.”

Danny grumbled as he buckled himself in, Jazz kept her smirk to a minimum as she started the car. While she drove them to Vlad’s home she half listened to her parents explain the situation to him, the other half of her attention being spent watching the cars on the road around her swerve and nearly crash around her. She pulled up to a red light next to another car, the passenger staring up at her dumbfounded. Jazz smiled and waved.

“So you’re telling me Daniel is now the Ghost King,” Vlad asked as they pulled up to his mansion.

“That’s what it looks like,” Dad agreed boisterously. “Right now it seems like a meaningless title, but we’re worried about him getting randomly summoned by those darn occultists!”

“A bunch of fanatics with ludicrous ideas,” Mom said with a sniff. “I’d hate to think what they’d try to do to Danny if it ever happens again.”

There was a pause as they all got out of the GAV, then walked into Vlad’s mansion together.

“That doesn't explain why you're here. Shouldn't you be in school, young lady?”

“Apparently it's school policy to send siblings home in these kinds of situations.” And Jazz was so thankful for that!

“And Danielle?”

“She doesn’t go to our school, now does she?”

Vlad nodded along before turning his attention fully on Mom. “I’m guessing you have a plan?”

“Of course,” Mom replied without another thought. “Since we’re pretty sure the title is attached to the crown, we’re going to destroy it and hope it destroys the Ghost King title.”

Vlad stopped in his tracks, “You’ll what?”

Dad patted Vlad on the shoulder consolingly, “I know, I’m sure Danny would be a good king too, but he’s adamant he doesn’t want to. And the risk of a bunch of wacko cultists kidnapping him is just too big.”

“It’s not like you want me to be king anyway,” Danny added with a smirk.

“Well… Little Badger, you’re so young!” Vlad blurted out.

“And it’s weird, you’ve had the crown for over a year now, but I’ve never seen you use it.”

Vlad sighed deeply, “I’ve tried, but it just doesn’t do anything.”

Danny just nodded, “So if it doesn’t work anyway isn’t it better if no one can?”

Vlad side eyed Danny before shrugging, “You do have a point. I shall go retrieve the crown, one moment.” He turned and left the sitting room he’d led them to.

The Fentons all sat down on various pieces of furniture. Their parents shared a couch, sitting as close together as possible, while Jazz and Danny each sat in a chair of their own. Danny sighed and slouched in his seat.

“Danny, have you let Sam and Tucker know what's going on yet?” Jazz asked. It seemed the easiest way to distract him while they waited.

“Yeah, kinda. I told them I was home safe and would explain everything after school.”

Jazz nodded, that seemed the safest.

“They promised to bring me my homework,” Danny added with a groan. “It's so unfair! I got kidnapped, shouldn't I get- oh shit!” Danny practically threw himself out of his chair.

“Language,” Mom chided.

“Don't sneak up on me like that!” Danny whined as he picked himself up off the floor. Then he froze, eyes glaring at seemingly empty space. “How did you sneak up on me? You didn't activate my ghost sense at all.”

Danny waited, presumably a ghost they couldn't see was responding. Jazz had learned from the Youngblood incident, she quietly pulled out a collapsed boo-staff from her purse.

“You don't know who I am?”

…

“Well yes, but ghosts don't usually call me that.”

…

“How about you tell me your name first?” After another pause he burst into laughter. “Are you for real?”

“Danny, is it Youngblood?”

“Huh?” Danny looked to Jazz, then back to the open space. He gestured, “You can't see him?”

Jazz and their parents shook their heads.

Vlad came back into the room holding a cardboard box, knocking a thin layer of dust from the top. “Here it is!” He looked up and frowned. “Who are you, and why are you in my home?”

Everyone paused for the response.

“He didn't set off my ghost sense,” Danny added, he turned back to the empty space, “Are you even a ghost?”

A window burst, shattering into many flying shards under Batman’s combat boots. Jazz instinctively covered her face and shrieked. By the time she looked up the blond man in a trenchcoat from earlier was climbing through the shattered window while muttering to himself.

“Was that really necessary?!” Vlad yelled angrily.

The blond man pointed at Danny and said something, dazzling light flew from his finger to hit Danny, leaving him standing there braced for impact but looking fine.

Mom squawked, “What'd you do?!”

“Danno! Are you okay?” Dad rushed over to check Danny over.

“I think I'm okay?” Danny said shakily as he straightened up from his protective curl to look himself over.

There was a familiar burning crown floating over his head.

“Huh,” the blond man said, “that was supposed to reveal your true form.”

“Congrats, this is my true form,” Danny said with an eye roll.

“Danny, above your head,” Jazz said carefully. Unfortunately that got everyone's attention, far more than Wonder Woman slipping into the room.

Danny looked up, “What? Where?”

“No Danny, it's the crown,” Mom supplied, coming over to stand next to him while glaring at the heroes and their pet wizard. (That was unkind, Jazz shouldn't think such things.)

Dany reached up and felt around until he found the crown, then pulled it down to look at. “Okay, crown retrieved.”

“We may have a problem,” Vlad said as he pulled an identical crown from his cardboard box.

“What.” Danny looked back and forth between the crown in his hand and the one in Vlad's. “Why are there two?” Danny turned to the pet wizard, “What did you do?!”

“I didn't do anything, that was purely an identification spell, it can't duplicate things!”

“Well clearly you did something wrong,” Mom said while glaring at the pet wizard.

Jazz extended the boo-staff and came to stand slightly in front of Danny, these guys may have powers but Jazz had helped fight bigger, badder beings.

Vlad started to step backwards, back towards the hallway.

“Oh no you don’t!” Danny let go of his crown as he ran over to grab the crown Vlad was still holding, it quickly turned into a tug of war.

“Vladdie? What are you doing?” Dad asked in confusion.

“You don’t need two crowns, and since this one was already in my possession…”

“Absolutely not, you fruitloop!”

“Danny!” Mom and Dad both chided.

The Justice Leaguers had all gathered together and were just watching, seeming unsure what to do after all their silly dramatics.

Vlad glowered down at Danny’s hands on the crown, then his eyes widened. He switched to trying to grab Danny’s hand.

Danny looked down, his own eyes widened as he curled his hand into a fist. “Is that the Ring of Rage?! What the hell, that should still be on Pariah’s finger!” Danny looked at the pet wizard in horror, “What. Did. You. Do?!”

“Danny, Vlad, stop it both of you!” Mom moved over to the two and tried to separate them, Dad joined her and was doing his best to cajole them both into backing down. For her part Jazz kept her eyes on the intruders while the rest of her family and Vlad squabbled.

“Alright, that’s enough,” the pet wizard said grumpily before raising his voice. “Shut up!”

[mysteryshoptls]

SSR Jade Leech - Mermaid Fin Voice Lines

Mermaid Fin Jade does not have a vignette.

When Summoned: Life is pleasurable because of all the unpredictability that occurs.

Summon Line: It has been some time since we've come across each other while I'm in my merform. Oh, yes, what say we have a bit of a chase once again?

Groooovy!!: That was an unforgiving wake-up call. However, I should expect nothing less from my beloved brother.

Home: Let's head into the dark and cold ocean.

Swap Looks: Even deeper, now.

Home Idle 1: It may have merely been a dream, but it was a wonderful experience to be able to climb so many mountains. I feel as though I would be able to utilize the knowledge I gleaned there for hiking in the real world.

Home Idle 2: Perhaps I should simply do as I please in the real world as well. To tell you the truth, I do tend to hold myself back.

Home Idle 3: In the end, my merform definitely feels more comfortable and easier to move around in. If I were to put a finger on one inconvenience, it would be that I cannot go mountain climbing.

Home Idle - Login: Who would have ever imagined we could traverse into other people's dreams... Such a venture could reveal someone's inner most secrets purely by accident!

Home Idle - Groovy: It would not behoove me to bring Azul or Floyd on a mountain hike on land. It could bring dire consequences if I were to bring those uninitiated to the possible perils.

Home Tap 1: A majority of merfolk tend to spend their entire lives in familiar waters. It seems fear of the unknown world outweighs any possible allure...

Home Tap 2: Ever since Floyd came to my dream, he has been giving me an icy look. Is this what they call a rebellious phase?

Home Tap 3: What was I like in Floyd's dream? We weren't together...? I see, well, that seems very like him.

Home Tap 4: Ah, I am beginning to miss the mountains. I may end up purchasing those hiking boots I have been eyeing once we return to the surface.

Home Tap 5: You wish to know if you were in my dream? Why yes, of course. Similar to Floyd and Azul, you appeared looking just as you normally do.

Home Tap - Groovy: Fufu, how many years has it been since we had a proper sibling squabble? In the end, fighting with Floyd is, as always, thrilling and entertaining.

Duo: [JADE]: We should teach them a lesson, Kalim-san. [KALIM]: Jade, your smile's terrifying!

Requested by Anonymous.

[vhagarys]

forgive me

aemond x wife!reader

summary: his lady wife summons him to the throne room. the last thing he expected was you sat atop the iron throne.

warnings: as this is a fic written by yours truly, SMUT, oral, masturbation, defiling of iron throne, exhibitionism

MDNI

“well, what do we have here, hm?” aemond couldn’t believe the sight before him.

his deep green riding jacket smothered your small figure. he knew you had on only your sheer, beige night slip underneath. but no, it’s where you sat that directed his attention.

your luscious silver curls and soft features were a stark contrast to the menacing, iron chair you seated yourself.

his wife possessed a teasing nature. it’s one of the reasons he adored you. he always indulged in your jests, delighting in your efforts to provoke a laugh from him.

though, you’d certainly outdone yourself on this night.

the act of anyone besides the king sitting on the throne was highly inappropriate, borderline treasonous.

following his brothers tragic accident, aemond had accepted role as prince regent. he was quite taken with his newfound role as ruler of the realm. the power, the authority he so desperately craved was now in the palm of his hand.

though, such authority didn’t seem to extend to his lady wife.

“warming my seat for me, are you ābrazȳrys?,” (wife) he teased, a smile etched on his face as he admired you from the bottom of the steps.

“pay mind to how you address me, my lord,” your eyes filled with mischief.

you felt his eyes drink in your appearance and you briefly felt a bit sheepish under his scrutiny.

suddenly feeling too exposed, you attempted to subtely adjust his jacket to cover your legs, the action not going unnoticed by your lord husband.

“forgive me, your grace,” he played along, bowing his head as he stood at the foot of the iron throne.

you cleared your throat, determined to maintain your regal persona. “i required your presence immediately. you have committed grave offenses this evening which cannot go unpunished.”

the feeling of sitting atop the icy chair sent a chill up your spine. the heady sensation of claiming yourself on the most coveted seat in the realm clouded your mind.

i can see why he enjoys this, you mused to yourself.

“may I ask which crime I am to answer for, your holiness?” aemond cocked his head, barely containing his smirk.

his bold little wife never failed to keep him on his toes.

“you arrived quite tardy to supper. even more so, you failed to greet me with a proper kiss upon your arrival. tsk, I believe I could have your head for this my lord.”

you felt yourself become more submerged in your role, any trepidations for your actions long gone.

with a bolt of confidence, you held his gaze while you slowly uncrossed your legs, revealing your bare center to him.

his eyes darkened at the sight of you, he could practically smell your arousal from where he stood.

so this is how we’re playing tonight, aemond felt himself stiffen in his breeches as he ascended a step toward you.

you may have started this game, but you both knew he would finish it.

“i’m deeply sorry, your grace. allow me to beg forgiveness for my wrong doings. anything you require.” his mind swirled with thoughts of taking you, perching you on his lap and filling your womb with seed on the throne.

you reveled in the predatory, lustful gaze of your husband. the most powerful man in the seven kingdoms at your mercy. or so you thought.

“i suppose there is a way to repent your crimes,” you reached for the first button and began to slowly release them one by one, revealing your hardened buds poking through your slip.

you might have been worried of someone else entering, but the euphoria of witnessing the effect you had on your husband clouded your better judgement.

unfastening the remaining button, you stood gracefully and let the fabric pool at your feet.

you were no targaryen. however aemond knew the fiery blood of the dragon coursed through your veins. no other lady of the court would play this dangerous game, would speak to him with such boldness.

he craved to taste you. he craved to grab at your soft flesh and indulge in the nectar between your legs.

the coolness of the metal seeped though your thin nightgown as you reclaimed your spot on the throne. your legs spread just wide enough you knew he could see the wetness seeping from your core.

daringly, your fingers floated down to your center. you began to rub circles on your clit, your lips parted as arousal fueled your fingers to continue.

he knew what you wanted, and was more than happy to oblige.

slowly and methodically, aemond approached you. meeting his lustful gaze, you watched as he lowered himself to his knees in front of you.

“may I, your grace?” he whispered, you could do nothing but nod as his fingers slowly ran up your exposed leg. his touch searing into your skin, you unconsciously spread your legs wider.

large hands roughly gripped the back of your knees, a low growl was all you heard before he dragged his warm, wet muscle through your dripping folds.

“gods,” your eyes rolled to the back of your head as you felt more arousal drip from your center and onto his devilish tongue.

“fuck you taste heavenly,” he drawled, suckling at your entrance, you gasped.

he set an unforgiving rhythm devouring your cunt.

lost in the throes of pleasure, your hands found purchase in his silver strands, tugging desperately whenever he applied pressure to your pearl.

if you weren’t disoriented by the assault on your cunny, you may have reddened at how quickly you could feel the coil in your belly about to snap.

“p-please my love. i’m close,” you begged, long forgetting the domineering facade you fabricated earlier.

fuck, you sound so pretty when you beg, his member hardened painfully watching your eyes fill with tears.

only sparing a moment away from your cunt, he commanded, “such a good girl for asking. go on, make a mess for me.”

with a final flick of his tongue, you cried out as you came undone. your body spasmed as the waves of your peak flowed through you.

soon, your body went limp and were close to falling back onto the swords behind you before you were scooped up by your husband.

draping his jacket over your frame, he quickly brought you to your shared chambers, making sure no eyes were present in the corridors.

lowering your body onto the bed, you were instantly met with fluffy blankets and you sighed in content.

expecting your husband to join you, you opened your eyes only to find him completely bare, looming over the bed. seeing him in all of his glory always seemed to stir something within you.

“i hope I am forgiven for my misdeeds from earlier?” you nodded.

he grinned and looked down to trace the patterns on the bed sheet, “do you think we are through, little wife? you didn’t think I would punish you for that little stunt you pulled?”

he grabbed your ankle and swiftly dragged you to the foot of the bed.

stunned by his sudden roughness, words escaped you as he grasped you by the chin and whispered “va ry izula, sir.”

(on all fours,now)

another mind dump of aemond, surprise surprise ;)

- alice

[thethronezone]

Love the Primarchs as fathers. How do you think they’d react when or if their kid starts having crushes, maybe wanting to date?

Watch this man age ten thousand years the moment his kid admits they have someone the like. Mortarion looks haunted. Genuinely asks himself where he went wrong raising his child. It takes a long time for him to accept that his kid is getting older and wants, ugh, those kinds of relationships. Just give him some time and he will gradually warm up to the idea. He just has to accept the fact his kid is becoming their own person.

Fulgrim is both the biggest hype man and the biggest critic. Because when his kid tells him then have a crush on someone he'll be so excited for them and he will want to hear all the details. Where did you meet? What's their name? What do you like about them? And then he will tear that poor crush to shreds with his words alone. "Dear, open your EYES. They are a 6.5 at BEST. Is that a mullet? Ugh, that's so last century. And they are HOW tall? Honey, you deserve better than that."

Don't tell Angron, he's just going to challenge them to a fight. If someone wants to court his child, then they have to first prove their mettle in bloody combat! Might kill them. By accident of course. Is actually not that opposed to his kid dating someone, he just wants that person to be strong enough to fight by their side. Very critical of every crush. Will kill someone for breaking his kid's heart(s). The type of father to sit in the corner, polishing his gun, while staring down his kid's crush.

At first, Magnus is nothing but supportive. He thinks it's wonderful that his kid is growing as a person and discovering new avenues of life. Slowly starts to hate the crush though. Just does not think that they are good enough for his kid. Magnus is a very proud man and that pride extends to his kid, who only deserves the best. "What do you even see in them? They can't even summon lightning!" Tries to set his kid up with prominent scholars instead. "What about this one? They are a master of theoretical quantum physics."

Perturabo straight up goes "no" when his kid tells him they have caught feelings for someone and they want to court this person. He's not saying this to be cruel but he genuinely does not think that it is in his kid's best interest to enter a relationship. They are busy with their studies, with training, they won't have time for courting. Forbids his kid from pursuing any sort of further relationship with this person and if he finds out that they have disobeyed him, he won't hesitate to separate the two.

Alpharius and Omegon knew about the crush before his kid told them about it. Still acts surprised when they tell them and asks who's caught their kid's eye, even though at this point they know EVERYTHING about this person. I am talking living family, blood type, height, weight, biggest fears, life aspirations, the last time they wet the bed. If they approve of the person, they will be supportive. If they don't, then they will pretend to be supportive but actually sabotage the relationship at every turn. Oh no, the crush missed their date? What a shame. (They were sedated by an Alpha Legion member and placed in a cupboard.)

When Lorgar learns that his kid is experiencing romantic love for the first time, he's happy for them. He just urges them to be careful, that love does not always turn out the way you want it to. Otherwise 100% supportive. Will patiently listen to his kid when they talk about their crush and gives them his honest advice, which is actually pretty solid. Secretly a bit sad that his kid is growing up so quickly but he won't say this out loud since he knows it's just a natural part of life.

Horus is like "Hell yeah, grandkids!" and his kid has to stop him and remind him that they haven't even entered the relationship yet. They don't even know if the other person likes them in that way! To which Horus goes "Of course they like you, you're my kid!" Honestly thinks his kid could get any person in the Imperium if they wanted to. Is however very critical of who they date but won't say anything about it if his kid seems genuinely happy with them.

HAHAHA. No. Konrad will not allow it. He will not hear it! Who is it? He'll kill them! Tell him! Konrad probably has the worst reaction out of all the Primarchs. Does he want his kid to be happy? Yes, more than anything. But Konrad genuinely believes people are naturally evil and selfish and is 100% sure that his child is going to end up betrayed in some terrible way. Just wants to protect his kid.

Admittedly, Sanguinius is not very optimistic about it at first. Not that he isn't supportive of his kid's feelings! Love is wonderful! But he can't help but worry that the other person will try and use them, seeing them as a way to rise in life. So while he supports his kid, he will secretly keep an eye out. Outside, he's all smiles and innocent questions ("Oh, where are they from? What are they like?") but at the same time he's highly critical of this other person. He wants to protect his kid from getting their heart broken.

For Corvus, this revelation that his kid has a crush on someone strikes him like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky. Like, he completely forgot that his kid may one day develop an inclination towards romantic feelings and relationships. Quickly accepts it though. Kinda. He keeps a close eye on this other person they are interested in, not getting directly involved but making sure they are a stand up person and has honest intentions. Doesn't tell his kid that he's essentially spying on their crush but he knows that they know.

Ferrus is like "Ok? What do you want me to do about it?" Look, he's not going to stop his kid from forming romantic relationships or admonish them for having those kinds of feelings in the first place. It's their life, he can't control every aspect of it nor does he want to. As long as they don't let these feeling and relationships get in the way of what's actually important, they can do whatever they like.

Zero change in facial expression from my guy Rogal Dorn. Nods his head. "So it's like that." LIKE WHAT, DORN? EXPLAIN YOUR LINE OF THOUGHT, PLEASE. They will never know what Rogal thinks about their crush until one day, after he's met them for the first time, he goes "I do not like that person. They covered in my presence." And then he straight up tells his kid that they need to get a better taste in partners!

Watch Vulkan break down in tears. His little baby is so grown up! Already has their first crush! It feels like just yesterday that he would sing them lullabies and tuck them in at night! Just very emotional about it. He's happy for his kid, gives them his blessing to date whoever they want, he just can't help but feel like his kid is growing up too fast. Will however give their crush the scariest, most passive aggressive shovel talk you can imagine. Vulkan does not mess around when it comes to his kid's feelings after all.

At first, Lion appears fully uninterested when his kid tells him then have a crush on someone. If they prod him for a response he will give them a "I see" at best and just a dismissive grunt at worst. So, that means he doesn't give a shit, right? NAH. That crush of theirs are gonna be visited in the middle of the night by the Primarch of the 1st Legion himself, standing at the end of their bed, threatening to behead them and their whole family if they break his child's heart(s). Will then act like normal when, the next day, his kid brings up how nice their crush suddenly is to them.

Leman immediately wants to meet the person, even if it's just a person his kid has a crush on. Don't worry, he's not gonna do anything! Just wanna make sure that they are a good guy! Lies, he totally wanna intimidate them. Not because of any malicious reason, he wants to test their mettle. Will act all nice and cheery in front of his kid but the moment they look elsewhere, he will subtly threaten the crush, flashing his teeth and showing off his strength. If they don't faint and actually stand their ground, then he will accept them with open arms! If they cover in fear? Well, the wolves could use a new chew toy... Joking! He's joking. (Is he though?)

Honestly, Jaghatai is so chill about it. Teases his kid about it a little but is genuinely supportive of them exploring this avenue of life. Get out there, try things out, meet people, figure stuff out! As long as the other person is an honest and upstanding individual, he don't care who they are. Serf, soldier, scholar, artist, they are all good! Gives good courting and dating advice.

Roboute gives his kid 'the Talk'. It's the most awkward and stilted conversation he's ever had. At the end of it, he lays a hand on their shoulder and pats it like they are a horse or a well trained dog. "Good talk." Is supportive of his kid pursuing relationships, just very awkward and Roboute-y about it. Gives them books about romance and dating so they can 'study'. Also tries to give them advice, though it's not always very good. "Bring them flowers. Baselines likes flowers." "Dad, they are allergic." "... Plastic flowers?"

[ddejavvu]

heyyyy! i’m literally in love with you and ur writing. i had a fun idea for aaron hotchner and knew no one could execute it like you! imagine this- aaron and f!reader meet and fall in love but aaron keeps it secret due to not wanting another haley. he likes all of her insta posts and follows her, and reader has a pic with him in it. garcia finds it and goes crazy and looks up reader only to find she has a criminal record for like the stupidest reason- cutting of a cop while driving or smtg! 🫶❤

Aaron isn't often summoned into the lair of the great Penelope Garcia, but he is today. Typically, he walks in himself to talk to her, but at her very stern, 'See me in my office now', he's knocking gently on the door.

"Come in." She calls from inside, voice miles away from its usually bubbly nature.

He feels like their roles have been reversed, the strange urge to keep his gaze guiltily on the ground surfacing in his chest as he opens the door to her office. He shuts the door behind him on reflex, and he's glad he did when she whirls on him, no longer facing her multiple computer monitors.

"You're dating a criminal," She accuses, eyes narrowed. Then, far louder, "You're dating a criminal!"

Aaron winces, peering behind her at the screens. One has your instagram profile pulled up, and another, your mugshot.

"I cannot believe you, Hotch," She berates, "Have you forgotten that you work as a criminal-catcher? I know you work to help the government get these people off of the streets, but that doesn't mean you get to put them in the sheets, you lunatic!"

"Penelope," His voice is stern, and he motions to your mugshot, "Check her charge."

"What?"

"Open her file. Look at what she was arrested for." Hotch instructs, slightly unnerved by the fact that Penelope had correctly assumed he was sleeping with you. Was he too obvious about it? He hadn't been going suspiciously easy on them, he doesn't think, but perhaps he'd been too smiley. Or checked his phone too much. Or clocked a suspiciously low amount of overtime hours this week. Or-

"Oh." Penelope's voice breaks him out of his spiral, and he doesn't need to look at the screen to know what it says: Reckless Driving.

There's a note beneath it though, a subheading: Merged carelessly close in front of a police vehicle.

"She cut them off, it was an accident," Aaron explains, and he watches Penelope's unusually tense shoulder slowly loosen, "I'm not dating a serial killer, Garcia."

"Oh." She repeats, blinking back at your instagram profile, "And- but you are-? You're seeing her?"

Hotch heaves a heavy sigh, knowing the news will spread around the entire office by lunch, "Yes. I am seeing her."

Her lips quirk up in a grin and she watches him with soft eyes, "Good. You should bring her to dinner at Rossi's this Sunday, y'know. I'm sure everyone would love to meet her."

"I might," Aaron's been toying with the idea for a few nights now, but perhaps Penelope will give him the courage he needs to go through with it. He glances up at her from where he'd been scrutinizing the leg of her desk, a barely-there smile curved upon his lips, "But- uh, if I do bring her, I'll drive."

[letoasai]

dp x dc 2

A what if... 

If Danny was originally a ghost child, born from one of the seven ancients that sealed Pariah Dark. In an unfortunate accident, he was caught by the Fentons and experimented on. In a twist of strange fate, he was turned human, and basically given life. Because he was no longer a ghost, they decided to adopt him.

 Danny had no memory of his earliest years, or the experiments done on him but Jazz does and she quietly took better care of her brother than their parents did of either of them. At fourteen, he still dies and becomes a half ghost, partially because of his heritage kicking in. He still defeats Pariah Dark and becomes the Ghost King and the only one that knows his original identity is Clockwork who didn’t figure it out himself until Danny became a halfa. His human self being untraceable for them.

Danny is sixteen when he tells his parents about himself, oddly enough against Jazz’s advice. They didn't take it well and were ready to put him back on the table to experiment on him a second time to ‘fix him’ again.

It was Jazz that ended up sabotaging everything and grabbing her brother to run. She’d been packed and ready to go, expecting Jack and Maddie’s overreaction. Jazz finally tells him about the hazy memories she can recall about his arrival. Being only two years older than him, she was just a child but she remembered enough on top of their neglected childhood to decide to bail with him.

Clockwork was the one to give them their destination. Head to Gotham, where Danny could meet his mother, Lady Gotham, who is eagerly awaiting and preparing for his arrival. ~ ~ Batman did not like being summoned for meetings, he especially didn’t like being summoned for a meeting in his own batcave. That was his own space being infringed upon and he didn’t like it one bit. Meetings were for mutual areas unless it was called by one of his own children. Even then, those meetings were usually at the dinner table.

Constantine contacting him to have an ‘urgent chat’ was the last thing he wanted. Constantine usually avoided work when he could, and anything he would bring to the table meant trouble was on its way.

He’d had enough apocalyptic chaos for one month. It was only worse that Constantine insisted they meet tonight instead of the League meeting at the end of the week. Things that couldn’t wait meant more work for him.

Batman’s eyes narrowed at the sound of footsteps moving through the west side of the batcave. Even knowing it was coming, he was unhappy knowing that Constantine used the private door that only a few knew about to get inside.

“You’re early. That’s unheard of.” Batman commented, smelling the smoke of the man’s cigarette before even turning around. “Put that out.”

“Don’t think i will.” Constantine said, a hint of stress in his voice. “I dunno what you did but i don’t appreciate being dragged into it.”

“What i did?” Batman frowned, turning away from his computer to stand. “What’s that supposed to mean? You’re the one that wanted to talk.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Constantine said, inhaling. His free hand held another cigarette that he likely planned to light when the first was gone. “Someone wants to speak to you. You’re going to speak to them.”

“Tch.” Batman crossed his arms. It wasn’t a wonder to him why his children were so stubborn. He could see himself in many of their habits. “Am i?”

Constantine shrugged. “Yeah, i think you are. They’re your bloody benefactor so i really don’t think you got a choice. I’m just a middle man.”

“Benefactor?” Batman scowled, a list of possible names running through his mind but nothing held. Something that required Constantine’s presence was even more baffling. “What are you talking about?”

The atmosphere in the cave suddenly changed. It wasn’t necessarily bad, but given the way Constantine tensed, they both felt it. It was like a wave of something spread out through the room, brushing against both of them and moving out to fill the rest of the corner.

“John, who did you invite here?”

“Oh, i don’t think i could do something like that. Way above my pay grade.” Constantine muttered, turning to face the same direction he’d just come from. There was no noise, no footsteps, nothing to indicate an intruder other than the feeling filling every inch of the batcave. “May i present to you, the spirit of Gotham herself. Lady Gotham.”

For a long few seconds nothing happened. It wasn’t an overly timely introduction but a woman did appear. She moved fluidly, silently, disappearing and reappearing between every step. She looked to be made of stone, everything from the visible skin of her legs and bare feet, to her cloak. She could have been a fixture somewhere in the city, a beautiful gargoyle but she moved with complete ease.

The hood of her cloak was drawn low, a veil covering her face. Even making her way through the moderately lit cave, she was nearly shrouded in shadows still. The most visible feature she had were bright, toxic green eyes that almost seemed to swirl.

Sharp horns protruded through her hood that wrapped behind her head and at her elbows were a small set of stone wings that must have been useless but she gave no indication one way or the other. Not even when they seemed to flutter.

“Lady Gotham?” Batman blinked, trying to absorb what he was seeing. To commit everything to memory. Her appearance should have given away so much but instead he got nothing.

“Yes. She is who this city was named for. She is this city’s soul. Powerful, old, and the beginning of… well a lot.” Constantine muttered. “She apparently likes your ragtag team of bats and birds too.”

“Protectors…” She spoke, her voice was like a whisper, but there was an edge to it that made it seem like her speaking at a normal volume would be a very bad thing. “Protectors are always welcome here.”

Batman stared and didn’t know right off what he was supposed to say. He didn’t feel like he was in danger, but he had no idea what a supposed spirit would want with him. He’d been playing his role as batman for years without a trace of this Lady Gotham before.

Constantine cleared his throat. “Well since that introduction was made, i’ll see myself ou-”

“Stay.” she said, stopping only a few few away from them. She still blinked in and out of existence. Sometimes pieces of her would be visible while the rest of her faded in and out.

“Yes…” Constantine reluctantly muttered.

Batman straightened. “Never heard of you.” Constantine nearly groaned. “But i can’t refute what’s right before me. What can i help you with?”

She tilted her head, and the motion should have been impossible if she were actually made of stone. He got the impression that she was amused despite not really being able to see her face.

“Protector. Knight. Hero. Father. You have assumed so many mantles.” Gotham spoke softly. “There is only so much i can do, i do interfere when i can.”

He nodded though he had no idea what she was talking about. He’d always pulled his own weight but if there was an otherworldly entity assisting him, would he know?

“I come to you, to ask for a favor. You, with the means to grant such a thing.”

“What sort of favor?”

“A halfa has been directed to my core with his human sister. They require living arrangements.” She spoke firmly. “I can offer them my love, my welcome, my embrace, even a taste of my power but monetary needs and documents are out of my hands.”

“A halfa?” Batman frowned, not understanding the phrase other than them not being human if their sister being human was clarified.

“Nooo…” Constantine stared, looking like he’d prefer it if the floor just opened up and swallowed him. “Not the halfa that defeated Pariah Dark...”

“The very same.” Gotham clasped her hands in front of her, form flickering again. She radiated pride.

“The halfa that defeated Pariah Dark and became the Ghost King?” Constantine obviously wanted to get the hell out of Gotham.

“The same.” She repeated.

“Ghost King?” Batman frowned. “Why is he coming here?”

She disappeared, reappearing several feet to her left. “He is in need of a home. He is only sixteen human years old.”

“He’s a child?!” Constantine looked horrified. “And he became the Ghost King!?”

“Yes.” She said, somewhat patient. “My son is welcome here, so you will welcome him.”

Constantine was lighting that second cigarette. “Son… I gotta...I gotta sit down.”

Batman however was trying to ignore what he couldn’t grasp at the moment, and focus on what he could. “Documentation and lodgings for two minors is well within my means to provide.” He glanced back at Constantine who was walking away to grab a chair. “You’ll explain the Ghost King thing later.”

Constantine just waved him off as he collapsed into a chair.

Lady Gotham had moved, now standing directly in front of Batman without having moved a muscle. “My son and his human sister know what it means to be hunted. My child’s core screams for help and receives so little.” She suddenly seemed to tower over batman in a way she didn’t before. “He will receive assistance here.”

Batman stood firm, but it would be a lie to say he was completely unaffected. Despite that trickle of fear in his chest, he’d always done his best to be there for his kids. It didn’t mean he was successful, but he tried. What was two more? “I understand. Whatever he’s running from will be handled. When will he arrive?”

Lady Gotham paused. “Soon. Travel is slow, but steady. Another day.”

Batman hummed, that was plenty of time to get everything set up temporarily. He would talk to the Ghost King and his sister to discuss more permanent plans. His attitude however, seemed to be just what Lady Gotham expected.

She turned to Constantine. “You will find him easiest. Bring them here.”

Constantine heaved a sigh and pulled out a flask from his jacket pocket. He didn’t barter, try to make some kind of deal, or attempt to gain some form of payment. Lady Gotham was a force of nature all on her own but there was no way he was pissing off the mother of the Ghost King. That was asking for trouble even if the kid was a king. His power must have been something else… “Got it.” he agreed.

She sighed, the sound content. “Thank you, Knight. My son will be in good hands.” Or Else, didn’t need to be spoken.

She turned, and just like that she was gone, her powerful aura along with her. In a flash it was like she’d never been there at all.

Batman took a moment to just breathe and regain his bearings before turning back to Constantine. “What did i just agree to?”

“Not much.” Constantine said dryly. “Just being the foster dad to the Ghost King. King of the Infinite Realm.”

Well… It wasn’t the first time he’d adopted a teenager. Batman just reaffirmed his plans for the rest of the day and turned to change back into his civilian attire and head back up into his mansion. He needed to talk to Alfred immediately.

“Better you than me…” Constantine grumbled. This was going to be pure chaos, but he also had to wonder…what it was that spooked the kid that defeated Pariah Dark? That was something to look into.

Neither man had noticed when Tim had walked in, having watched most of that interaction from a safe distance away. “What the absolute fuck was that....?” 

~~ ~~

I would really kind of enjoy a 16 year old Danny meeting and bonding with a 19 year old Jason… Also… Constantine texting Bruce the very moment he lays eyes on Danny. Yep! This kid is totally Wayne material. He’ll mix in with the others seamlessly.

No plans to continue this at this point if someone else wants a turn. 

~Edit- I apparently lied...  Part 2  

[domain-expand-me]

My work amount has finally lessened, so here I am.

Imagine being MILF/DILF and the different sorcerers and curses are obsessed with you.

Aged up characters, reader is in their 40s, because when I say milf/dilf, I mean it.

This is more of an introduction, let me know if you want something more about a specific character.

Imagine living in a small house you got for cheap, and on accident near the Jujutsu campus. You aren't a curse user, but you respect the spirits because you grew up with a superstitious parent or grandparent. And because you're hot and have a nice personality, the curses tend to leave you alone.

Maybe they just end up hanging around your place, because who wouldn't wanna stick around to watch a hot milf/dilf walking around in nothing but a pair of shorts and a too tight t-shirt.

After moving into your home, cursed energy started getting concentrated around your home, much to the worry of the sorcerers at the campus. They might assume you are an illegal curse user or somehow summoning curses. Imagine their surprise when Gojo and Nanami pull up to see curses clustered around the window, being peeping toms.

The curses are easy to get rid of, as it's nothing too extreme. Gojo being Gojo would want to see what they were so distracted by, and he almost ends up pulling his blindfold up to get a good look, because there you are. Walking around your home in a pair of way too small shorts and what was probably once a band t-shirt. It's so washed out that the print is gone, and the fabric is way too thin.

Nanami would grumble and be annoyed about Gojo being a creep, until he meets you too one day when you are bringing groceries in. Being the gentleman he is, he helps you carry it all inside, and he can't explain why he gets so red afterwards after you squeezed his bicep and complimented his muscles.

You don't really understand why these two handsome younger men, because they are much younger than you, keep hanging around your place. In your own eyes you don't think you are too attractive, if at all, maybe you're divorced, or you lost your last spouse somehow. Your kids are all grown up and out doing their own thing. You aren't as fit as you once were, having kids does that to a person.

If you're a dilf, maybe you have the blessed dad strength and dad bod, maybe you've worked a physically taxing job for most of your life, so now your body is worn down enough that you have to do something else. The muscle still lays there though, under the layer of chub on top.

If you're a milf, you would have given birth to your kids once upon a time, and the baby weight never truly went away. The stretch marks and other signs of age are one of the things you feel insecure about, but little do you know, it only makes you more attractive in the eyes of your admirers.

That is to say, in your own eyes, you aren't a catch. So you don't understand why Nanami shows up on your specified shopping days or gardening days, or why Gojo shows up almost begging for your attention. You end up just assuming they are being nice, and since your kids don't visit you much anymore, you let them(mainly Gojo) invade your home.

Imagine meeting their students, most likely a result of Gojo dragging them along. They're younger than your own kids, so you can't help but find yourself caring about them. When Yuji starts stuttering and sputtering when you hug him, or when Megumi goes bright red when you place a hand on his forehead to check it he has a cold, you fear you may have overstepped your boundaries.

In reality it's because when you hug Yuji, your breasts/pecs press up against him, especially if you are somehow taller than him and he ends up with his face in-between your chest. For Megumi it's because when you lean down, the collar of your shirt has a tendency of sliding down, showing off more cleavage than you realize.

When Todo gets dragged along you assume he's just another friendly young man, as he's going out of his way to be so helpful. You don't notice the way the other students glare when Todo shows you how to stretch your shoulders and legs because your muscles have been acting up.

If it's when Yuji still had Sukuna sealed inside him, poor Yuji won't hear the end of it. Sukuna would be saying the most lewd things about you, claiming you are teasing them on purpose with the clothes you wear or how you act. Yuji's had to grip his own wrist when Sukun tried to take over to grope you when you were bent over grabbing something.

If you end up meeting Choso, you immediately find yourself caring for him. He barely has to be introduced before you pull him inside, place him on your couch, wrap him in a blanket and bring him snacks. He just looks so sad and like he needs to be loved on. He wouldn't completely understand the deep attraction he has for you in the beginning, and it's only after he gets help from others that he understands. They all just sigh and pat him on the back all "welcome to the club brother"

I could go on, but this is already long.

[animeredhead101]

Dad Phantom DP x DC Crossover

Completed

Bask in Our Cosmic Insignificance by DisillusionedDanny :

After Lady Gotham sends a lost and alone King Phantom to check on a little boy Danny Fenton finds himself the new guardian "angel" of a six year old boy. Tim Drake. Word Count: 33,632

The Devil Wore a T-Shirt by DisillusionedDanny :

After a one-night stand, Danny finds himself pregnant with Red Hood's kid. Now he finds himself as a dad to a small child with an important decision to make. Does he tell Red Hood he has a child? Or does Danny raise the kid by himself?

Word Count: 24,778

Who's Old Now? by LiraBuswavi :

“Am I your dad!!?” Billy shouted. Danny paused. Took a deep breath in and out before turning to him. “I’m gonna need you to back up, and explain. Please.” Or, what happens when a twelve year old masquerading as an adult superhero calls his guardian, an adult who can also turn into a child superhero, on speaker phone, in front of the Justice League. Word Count: 36,017

Of All the Things My Hands Have Held by DisillusionedDanny :

Upon learning that her son is in a relationship, Talia decides to create a clone to gift to her son as a gift to celebrate finally settling down. Now Damian and Danny are stuck trying to figure out how to raise a baby when neither of them had the best examples growing up.

Word Count: 17,066

Mourning a Young Soul Leads to Shared Custody by Olive_of_Vanders :

Danny was given a choice. Become King or parent a ghost kid. Ghost kid sounded a lot more easier to him. Word Count: 41,929

It's Not Sugar by ConspiracyCrows :

Ellie is destabilized and nearly killed by Vlad while trying to make another, "better", clone of Danny. In order to stabilize her she was de-aged to about 7, and now has chronic issues balancing her ecto the same way a type one diabetic has issues balancing blood sugars. In fact that's the cover story the pair use when Danny enrolls Ellie at Gotham Academy. The one favor he will allow Vlad to do for them. While Vlad seems to have finally come to his senses about Ellie, Danny won't let him anywhere near her ever again. Which is why they moved to Gotham in the first place, Vlad won't step foot there. It also helps that Lady Gotham is more than happy to have the Realms' Ambassador to the Living in her streets. They settle into Crime Alley, and Danny may or may not have forgotten to introduce himself to the Haunt owner, assuming Gotham would handle the niceties as he gets Ellie settled, and handles the pressing issues of the negotiations between the city, the realms, and those denizens of both who want or need one thing or other.

Word Count: 23,052

On-going

Deadly Assumptions and Their Consequences by Silver_star_06 :

The Justice league believes that Phantom is Captain Marvel‘s dad and tells the hero to summon him to help them with Darkseid. They weren’t expecting the cryptic eldridge being to start hanging around the watch tower. Danny couldn’t help but feel a kinship with the pre-teen that ended up as the current Captain Marvel. A scrappy black haired and blue eyed child vigilante, that only became one because of circumstance. Danny was going to help this child whether he wanted it or not. Word Count: 25,977

My Dad is Dead to Me by GhostInGotham :

John Constantine was fourteen when he set his house on fire. John Constantine was fourteen when he realized his father was still inside. Word Count: 19,573

Phantoms and Foes by Zylev :

Krypton was dying long before it exploded. After a lab accident at 14 gave Danny ice powers, he used them for good to try and stop crime as the first hero of Krypton. But when thousands of years of mining the core of Krypton finally caught up to the planet, General Zod evacuated Krypton to the Phantom Zone before it exploded. Little did Zod know he led the Kryptonians to a slaughter. Years later, Danny is the only Kryptonian left alive when Kal-El finds the Phantom Projector and brings him to Earth. Danny must now adjust to having new powers and life on a planet that is completely different than Krypton and the Phantom Zone. Word Count: 121,723

The Human Prince of Ghosts by AceFace98 :

Danny has been King for a few centuries now, but he's still half-ghost, immortal or not. So every now and again, Clockwork likes to kick him out of the Realms to go play human for a decade or two. It's usually pretty boring. This time, though, he meets a small child with a camera and a lot of pointed questions and immediately has Dad Instincts about it. Word Count: 65,300

Phantom's Progenies by Makuro767 :

progeny /ˈprɒdʒɪni/ noun plural noun: progenies a descendant or the descendants of a person, animal, or plant; offspring. A drabble collections of Danny Phantom as the father to several kids that are both his and clones of him from several different realities. Fluff with doses of trauma. ~ If you think you can write a full story from each drabble, be my guest. Word Count: 79,111 This is a HUGE multi-crossover fic FYI

[dragon-kazansky]

Symphony of dreams

Morpheus x Female Reader

You are his lover. When Morpheus was captured, you fell into the deep sleep. He has no idea until he returns to his realm where Lucienne tells him what happened. Unable to help you until he gets his tools back, he is more determined than ever to get his full power back.

{Masterlist}

{Previous Chapter} - {Next Chapter}

Warnings: This chapter just includes a lot of information from about 3 episodes worth. I apologise for that. My plot will pick up again soon.

Chapter Two - Old friends

☆☆☆

Morpheus stayed by your side for a couple of hours. He just sat silently beside the bed with your hand in his, his eyes never leaving your face.

Guilt.

He was riddled with it. Of course, being captured as a complete accident, out of his control, but still felt guilty for not being able to come back to you.

Here, you lay in a dreamless sleep. It was his fault you had been unable to wake. Simply returning to his realm wasn't enough to wake you. Perhaps if he began to rebuild The Dreaming, his power would wake you. He had to at least try.

Morpheus presses a kiss to your forehead and rises up from where he sat. He was reluctant to leave, but he had to do something. Anything. He needed you to wake up.

Lucienne met Morpheus in the throne room. There was debris everywhere. It looked nothing like how it used to. Morpheus was pained to even look at the steps. The last time he was here, he was on his way to bring back a rogue nightmare. That was a century ago. He almost wished he never left to begin with.

He stood among the rubble and opened his hands. Morpheus summoned as much power as he could. The rubble began to lift into the air, but it wasn't enough. He was weak. The rubble and glass fell to the ground, and so did he.

Lucienne moved to help him. "You need rest, and food, and perhaps a bit more rest, and then you'll be back at full strength."

"No. Not without my tools." Morpheus slowly gets up from the ground.

"Your tools?"

"My sand, my helm, my ruby."

"Why, what happened to them?" Lucienne asks.

"They were taken from me." He subconsciously rubs his ring finger. "Among other things too. By my captors. And then taken from them. I know not where. Nor what I am without them."

Morpheus' breaths become uneven. He is not strong enough to build his home to its former glory. Therefore, he is not strong enough to wake you.

He must wake you.

There are some who could help him find his tools. The fates. But they require a price. One that will be hard enough to pay if he can not travel through dreams to get what he needs.

He needs something with an essence of his power to help fulfil his travels. Otherwise it cannot be done.

Lucienne knows who can help, but they won't like it.

Cain and Abel.

☆☆☆

Morpheus stands beside your bed and gazes down at you as you sleep. You're always so beautiful. Not even your current state can take away the beauty you hold.

For the last century, all Morpheus could think about was getting back to you. He needed to be by your side again. You were the one thing that kept him going all this time. He never gave in. Never gave up.

Jessamy. She had been shot down in that basement long ago. He knows you will be heartbroken to hear the news. His beloved raven was a dear friend to you. There was so much he needed to tell you.

"I promise, my love. When I get my tools back, I shall wake you and never let you go again. I am sorry for being away so long. I am sorry for causing this to happen." His voice is soft as he caresses your face gently.

He presses another gentle kiss to your forehead and rises from the bed.

His heart aches at the sight of you.

He will wake you even if it's the last thing he ever does.

☆☆☆

Gregory, the gargoyle. He was a gift to Cain and Abel from Morpheus himself. He had been a loyal friend and companion to them.

Morpheus never wanted to ask this, but he had to. Cain and Abel didn't want to let go of their friend, but Gregory made his choice. For the good of The Dreaming. For the good of you too.

Cain and Abel were saddned to hear of your condition. They had heard about what happened from Lucienne, but to hear you did not wake upon the king of dreams return, that was devastating news.

So, when Gregory said goodbye, they understood.

Morpheus absorbed the power from Gregory. It wasn't easy, nor fun, not wanted. Yet, it had to be done.

Morpheus was sorry. He really was.

☆☆☆

The Fates speak in riddles.

Three questions. Three answers. One from each. Those are the rules. Morpheus would take what he could from them.

"My first question. I had a leather pouch filled with sand. Where is it?" He asks.

"It was sold. In London. Last purchased by a magic user called Joanna Constantine."

"Constatine. I knew a Constantine, but that was 300 years ago. Does she still have the sand?"

"Dream. You know better than that. You get one question and one answer."

"My apologies. My second question. My helm. What happened to it?"

"It was traded away to a demon. For the amulet of protection."

"To which demon was it traded?"

"One question. One answer, love."

"Last question. My ruby. Who holds it now?"

"Your gem was passed from a mother to a son."

"Where are they now?"

"You have asked your questions!" The Fates disappear. Morpheus is left standing alone.

Well, it's a start.

☆☆☆

While fetching the snake The Fates requested, he had picked up an egg. An egg he did not give to them. It was a gift for someone else.

Morpheus returned to Cain and Abel and left them the egg. It was his apology for what he did to Gregory.

Morpheus has his answers, and Cain and Abel had a new friend. He managed to fix something, at least.

☆☆☆

First stop, London.

Morpheus needed to get his sand back. It was important he had it. Constantine was a name he knew. He had met a Constantine before, a long time ago.

Finding her didn't take him long. However, she was not in the mood to stand around and chat. It seemed she had an exorcism to perform. He had to wait.

Unfortunately, he lost sight of her when a raven appeared. A raven he told Lucienne he didn't need. Not after what happened to Jessamy.

Matthew, his new raven, wasn't about to let him get out of this. Lucienne had told Matthew their king was stubborn, and that was starting to seem like an understatement.

Though Morpheus knew you would be disappointed in him for turning away a raven.

Morpheus helped Constantine with an old friend of hers. An ex. She had the sand. She had been holding onto it tightly. Her dreams were happy ones. The sand was keeping her alive, but Morpheus needed his pouch back.

She died happily.

Constantine accepted this and told Matthew to keep an eye on Morpheus. He could do with the company.

For a moment, Morpheus was reminded of you. That sounded like something you would say to him.

Morpheus clutched the sand in his hand.

"I will save you." He whispered.

Matthew looked up at him. "What was that?"

"Nothing."

Matthew had been made aware of you and your condition. Lucienne had told the raven their lord's mood will certainly be affected because of it.

Matthew didn't ask any more about you.

☆☆☆

While Morpheus travelled to Hell of all places, Lucienne came to sit by your bedside. She did this sometimes. She hated the thought that you were alone, even if you couldn't tell she was there or not.

"He's gone to get his tools back. I sent him a raven. I will make sure he keeps in touch this time, my lady."

Lucienne looks at your face. You looked so peaceful, but she knew this was deeper than that. She wanted you to wake up so could be with Lord Morpheus again.

"When you wake, the realm will be complete. My lord will be complete. Heartbroken doesn't even cover how he felt when he saw you, my lady... I wish there was more I could do."

Deep down, she knew there was nothing else she could do.

"I shall be here watching over you until he returns. I promise, my lady."

☆☆☆

Walking through Hell is about what you would expect, really.

Lucifer. The ruler of this realm.

Getting his helm back would not be easy, but he would do what he had to do to get it back. No matter what he was up against, Morpheus would do this. He was doing this for you and the realm you both shared.

Seeing Nadar was hard. He had told you be had loved before. He spoke very little about what happened, though. His luck in love was very little.

He reminded himself why he was here. For his helm. For you.

To get his helm back, he must play The Oldest Game. If he loses, he will become a slave to Hell. If he wins, he gets his helm back.

Morpheus tries to get Matthew to return to The Dreaming, so he may send word of Morpheus' fate if he does not win. Losing will not just leave him in Hell with his helm, but it would mean leaving you behind forever.

You would be safe with Lucienne. He needs you to be safe.

Matthew refuses to go.

The Oldest Game begins.

"I am a dire wolf. Prey stalking, lethal prowler." Lucifer begins.

"I am a hunter. Horse mounted, wolf stabbing." Morpheus replies.

Lucier takes a hit. Blood pouring from their torso.

"I am a serpent. Horse biting, poisoned toothed."

Morpheus feels the poison in his veins.

"I am a bird of prey. Snake devouring, talons ripping."

Lucifer receives some scratches to the face. More blood is shed.

"I am a butcher bacterium. Warm life destroying."

Morpheus curls over into a heap. His flesh appears to be rotting away.

"I am a world. Space floating, life nuturing."

They stand in a field. Calm. Peaceful.

"I am a nova." Lucifer opens their wings. "All exploding, planet cremating."

Morpheus lays on the ground. Scorched, in pain. He tries to get up, but he can not.

"I am a universe." He whispers. "All things encompassing. All life embracing."

"I am anti-life. The beast of judgement. The dark at the end of everything."

Morpheus is still. His breathing is laboured.

"What will you be then, Dream Lord?"

"I... I..." He is struggling. Matthew comes over.

"Boss? Hey boss!"

"Still with is Dream?" Lucifer asks, leaning over him slightly.

"He is, and it's his move." Matthew argues. "Your majesty."

"There are no more moves. What can survive the anti-life?"

"Hey boss, listen to me, you know what can survive the anti-life? You. Dreams don't fucking die. Not if you believe in them, and I believe Dream of the Endless would never leave his raven here alone in Hell with Lucifer. And he certainly wouldn't leave his love again in The Dreaming alone without him."

"I... am..." Morpheus sits up. "Hope."

The room brightens up.

"Hope?"

"Well, light bringer? It's your move. What is it that kills hope?"

"Give him his helm," Lucifer orders.

He did it. Morpheus won.

The helm is returned to Morpheus. He reminds Lucifer that dreams do have power in Hell.

He leaves, Matthew right behind him.

Morpheus puts his helm on. He knows where the ruby is. He uses his sand to take him there.

One more item, and then he can return to you. He can wake you and hold you again.

"Wait for me, my love."

☆☆☆

@missdreamofendless - @mischievousvillainy - @kpopgirlbtssvt - @pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy - @emarich7 -

[live-from-flaturn]

"What do you MEAN that's now how it works!?"

Oh babe you get me. You understood the assignment and I love you. Kissing you directly on the brain.

---

Chay is utterly confounded by his current situation. He isn't sure how this happened, but it's one of those things that "might as well happen", you know? Like at this point his life can't get any fucking weirder or more complicated (or so he'd thought).

"So, who and what are you?"

"I am Kimhan, of course. You summoned me, didn't you?"

"No... I sneezed."

"You sneezed a summoning spell for one of the most powerful Demons of the Twelve Hells."

"There's twelve?!"

"Yes, there are. But that's- That's not really the point, now is it?"

"Oh right. Demon summoning sneeze and all that. Uhm, well, I don't have any quest for you or anything so you can just go home, right?"

"That's not at all how this works."

"What do you MEAN that's not how it works?! You're a demon, I summoned you by accident but don't need your magical woo-woo powers or anything, and now you can go home!"

"Why don't you ask what my powers are before you dismiss me so easily?"

Chay really cannot believe the kind of day he's having. "Okay, Kimhan, what kind of demon are you?"

"I can't leave until we make an even exchange. Something of yours for something of mine."

Chay cocks his head to the side.

"A kiss."

"What?"

"A kiss. You can have my first kiss and I can have yours, right? I'm guessing this isn't something a summoner has asked you before."

"You'd be correct in that assumption, mortal."

"Chay! You can call me Chay."

"It's not very intelligent to give your name to demons, silly thing."

"It's not very intelligent to make your summoning spell sound like a loud sneeze."

"...A kiss it is."

TWO WEEKS LATER

"Fuck!" Chay almost drops his favorite pyrex bowl on the kitchen tile and shatters them both. "What the fuck are you doing back here?"

Kim stands sheepishly in the center of his living room, the tilted angle of his dark curled horns somehow expressing distress. "I have recently been informed that first kisses exchanged in the context of soul deals are rather uh... binding?"

"Are you telling me that we're basically demon married?"

Kim nods sheepishly,

"Porsche is going to fucking kill me."

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

mini hc on what would happen if you took m6 to ikea? lol, i wonder who'd get lost in the infinite maze, who accidently summons valdemar trying to pronounce the name of a chair, who buys all the blahaj and who decides to act like they live in the display rooms, (i have been guilty of trying all of these), i've been watching for a long time but am now just getting the courage to ask you things lol. I love your writing <3

Yamper anon :3

The Arcana Mini-HCs: M6 at IKEA

Julian: somehow adopts the persona of a TV salesman and goes from display to display like they're different sets and genres

Asra: doesn't buy all the blahaj, just makes a pile of them in a corner and hides/dozes off in it while you do your shopping

Nadia: no longer allowed in ikea because last time it inspired a once-in-a-century Palace remodel and there's no more budget

Muriel: just wants to be done and go home. don't leave him unattended in the bedroom displays or he'll fall asleep standing up

Portia: accidentally summons something trying to read all the new words, quickly smacks it down with the nearest furniture

Lucio: falls behind at one point, chooses to stay in one spot and sulk until you come back for him so he can get pity points for getting lost

[evilminji]

As I have recently discussed, with the ESTEEMED Quirk Scholar @mayfay !

Suprise Quirk Accident Babies! Gotta love um!

They're the, ironically enough, love child of "suprise child acquisition" and "suddenly pregnant" troupes! But SPEEDRUN! Because THAT IS A TODDLER/BABY! Right here. Right now!

Just?

POOF!

✨️~BABY~✨️

And now YOU! Yes, YOU! Get to deal with it. All those vague "do I want to be a parent someday? Would it be SAFE? I am READY?" Questions AND MORE! Suddenly NOT SO VAGUE.

Suddenly VERY RELAVENT. Immediate. People are asking you questions you are GOING to need to answer. And?

You are not the only parent.

You might be JUST out of fucking high-school. Staring down a top lister, high 20, maybe TOP TEN, Hero. Who is society gonna choose here? Your barely adult ass... or them? You might never see your kid again if they decide to take them. Decide to be an asshole.

They have enemies, too.

Can... can you HANDLE those enemies? To protect your kid?

It's been less then fifteen minutes. Fight has barely ended and your sitting under a shock blanket. Decisions are going to have to be made. And all you can think is the sound of your own panicked screaming. Static white noise. The reporters and shady Goverment officials already circling like sharks. Gotta make a decision. Gotta make a decision. Gotta....

It is? The BEST.

The more unlikely the combos the better! My asexual ass is thriving! Fuck yeah! Free baby, no sex!!! You can have platonic child rearing shenanigans! Interesting Self Insert Setups! New OCs! Character dramas! Or romance, if your into that sorta thing!

But you know what I think would be funny as hell?

The continued bloodline curse of AfO being so Platonicly Yandere at his own kin that they go Rabidly Feral Wet Cat and try to claw his throat out, bare minimum! Because obviously HE isn't the problem here! No, no, it's everyone ELSE that caused the issues last time! He doesn't have to learn from past mistakes! He's perfect! (Spoken by the world's most delusional man)

He ALSO has lost track of how many minor quirks he has shoved in metaphorical pockets at the moment. As he is, as always, a kleptomaniac. The way the react to each other? Cascade and shift? React to OTHER outside quirks?

Ha! He's never fucking studied that. Why would he study that!? He has power to steal.

So... set the scene~

Toshinori v. Afo: Kamino Ward.

Make the changes you please, add or subtract Heros, but the BIG TWO are there. They clash. Like Titans. Like GODS. AfO getting frisky with his quirk use, throwing everything at the wall. But?

Oh. This time. THIS TIME, you bastard! Toshinori is NOT ALONE!

The power of community, of an ARMY, is not to be underestimated. They make be struggling. Have broken bones and worse. But they know he just... just needs ONE shot! They... they can give him one shot.

Even if it's the last thing they ever do.

Because? They are god damned HEROES.

AfO feels his legs rip out from under him, just as he's about to dodge. It's going to be a killshot. He may... potentially... THEORETICALLY... conceivably... possibly... panic... just a bit. MAYBE. A microscopic amount.

He lashes out.

With everything.

And he DOES mean everything. Yes, including that "grow flowers" and the "summon apples towards you"Quirk, for all the good THOSE would have done.

Something? Happens.

The blast hits the Oaf infront of him... and? Resonates. Like the striking of a great clear bell. It RINGS. Deafening. Without noise. The damn brat...rewinds? No. He's not younger. He RESETS! OH YOU MOTHER FU-!

Something sliding off him. Like dust. From the reset. Drifting towards other dust.

Swirling. Some merging, like planets forming. Most not enough. Turning grey and falling to the ground. But... but he can SEE it. A whisp of white hair gets in the way. HIS hair. Ha. Ha ha hA HA HA HA HA!!! Reset! NOT JUST YOU, ALL MIGHT!

The heroes are getting up. It doesn't matter. He'll just put them BACK on the ground.

INTO it this time.

But then?

The dust from him, all might, so many others. Solidifies, compresses, the pops like a firework. Dumping a very started black hair, blue eyed, toddler on the ground.

AfO connects the dots first. He has AfO hair texture. Quirk weirdness just happened and their is ALWAYS a cost or drawback to Quirks. Such as... any overflow creates an infant? Did he just make his own child?

Not risking it.

He lunges.

All Might lunges for the simple reason of "oh GOD SUPERVILLIAN AND A BABY!" D:> same as every other hero there.

Meanwhile DANNY? Retired Halfa Superhero, Zone Councilman, and LATE to his DnD night... is beginning to suspect THIS is what Clockwork meant when he said "some roads take longer to get home".

Was that that a "Lol good luck buddy"!?

@mutable-manifestation @babbling-babull @legitimatesatanspawn @hypewinter @hdgnj

[epickiya722]

Another thought coming in, this time about how Riko and Yuji are similar in ways that has me in my feelings and I am definitely going to ramble about it.

They're both such tragic characters. Bright eyed kids who despite their positive personalities, life is unfair to them. Yet, somehow they adapt the best they can.

Raised by a single person who is family to them, whether not blood related (Riko and Kuroi) and blood related (Yuji and Wasuke, Yuji's grandfather). Parents? Gone. Riko's died in an accident and Yuji's, well, his mother is dead and maybe his father (his whereabouts aren't really clear, but I figured he's dead).

Both have expressed they're loners, however they are sociable and can get along with those around them.

"Vessels" that are doomed to die. Riko, merging with Tengen would mean her no longer existing. Once Yuji consumed all of Sukuna's 20 Cursed Fingers, he is sentenced to be executed. And they both had accepted this, even though they question it and it's not something they want to do in the first place.

Riko and Yuji were born into those roles, being a "vessel" wasn't something in their control from the start. Riko was found to be a match as a Star Plasma Vessel and Yuji was created to be Sukuna's vessel/"cage". Those roles that they were forced into came with dire consequences and somehow those roles of theirs, even being a "vessel" is halted by a Fushiguro.

Riko is killed by Toji, just as she makes the decision to not merge with Tengen. Sukuna uses the Binding Vow he had on Yuji to force control over his body to switch into Megumi's body. Riko's was done voluntarily on Toji's part while Megumi becoming Sukuna's vessel is involuntary on Megumi's part.

These actions lead into even more chaos. With Toji killing Riko, Tengen later evolves into something more curse than human, something Kenjaku wants for the Merger. Sukuna switching to Megumi's body allows him to use his technique, the technique he uses against Yorozu who possessed Tsumiki (Megumi's sister) and kills her and later against Gojo.

Also, something else. When they have died (Yuji once in the beginning, he gets revived), it's right in front of someone (who are black haired, have eye color changes from manga to anime and can summon creatures with their techniques). Suguru witnesses Riko's death, Megumi witnesses Yuji's.

It's also something of how they die/"die" that kind of foils. Yuji dies by his heart being taken out. Riko dies by being shot in the head. I think of that saying how you should think your head, not your heart. Yuji, though he does follow his heart, also thinks logically sometimes, evident in battles. He does show he is smarter than what he even gives himself credit for. With Riko, she is more emotion driven than logical. (That's not to say she's dumb, which I doubt she is.)

Also, speaking of Gojo, he's heavily involved with Riko and Yuji's roles as vessels.

He had been one of the two (along with Geto) to protect Riko until it was her time to merge with Tengen. During that time, Gojo grows compassion, and not just towards Riko as later he displays that traits to his students, Yuji being a notable example.

When Riko dies, Gojo expresses sorrow and grief and even suggests killing the Star Religious members because they were celebrating her death. In a similar manner, when Yuji dies (Sukuna ripping his heart out), Gojo expresses distraught and anger, even mentioning how he should kill the Higher-Ups who orchestrated the very mission that could have killed Yuji (as well as Megumi and Nobara, but their focus was Yuji).

Gojo's time with Riko changes him and his time as Yuji's teacher displays that change.

And...

It's also funny to me how similar their names are to the previous MCs of JJK 0. (Okay, I know Rika ain't like a MC-MC to some, but she is to me!)

Riko -> Rika

Yuji -> Yuta

...

I'm not done, let me touch on how they're opposite.

Riko is a non-combatant and seemingly has more knowledge about jujutsu. Yuji is a newcomer and is an combatant. Riko is a girl, Yuji is a boy. Riko has long, dark hair. Yuji has short, light hair.