#and this sacrifice really seemed to only hurt them both in the long run. and then it was reversed - simon tries to bring betty back

[infizero]

shut UPPPPPPPPPPP someone just put the clip of tiny manticore telling betty "maybe you're going after someone who doesn't exist anymore" with simon trying to bring back betty back ohhhh i feel sick

[anonymous-dentist]

What I find interesting about this idea that qBagi put forth in regards to qJaiden and Bobby is that. Well. I don’t know if that’s how Jaiden works.

Empanada is an absolute sweetheart for already caring so much about Jaiden despite not having met her yet, and I don’t blame her for not knowing anything about Jaiden because, again, she’s never met Jaiden.

And then, of course, Bagi is being optimistic for her child’s sake, but it’s here that you can really see just how little a lot of the islanders know Jaiden at all.

None of Empnada’s mothers were there when Bobby died. None of them know about Bobby Fields. The only one Jaiden is remotely close with is Mouse, and Bagi doesn’t really trust Jaiden at all because of her connections with Cucurucho and the Federation.

All they know is that Bobby died several months ago and that Jaiden seems to be doing just fine. But then you look at Jaiden telling ElQuackity to spawn kill her, and Jaiden not visiting Bobby’s Castle or his city or his tomb, and Jaiden borderline avoiding Roier, and you start to realize, oh. She’s not doing well.

There’s this misconception among all the islanders that Roier and Jaiden have moved on from Bobby. Roier has Richarlyson, and Jaiden… doesn’t. Of course, any Roier Viewer knows that he’s never actually recovered from his son’s death, and any Jaiden Viewer knows that she’s never going to recover. Not at the rate she’s going with all this self-sacrifice and self-loathing and everything.

Bagi hasn’t seen Bobby Fields. She doesn’t know that Jaiden’s actual home is a building stuck in time with a table set for three and rooms upon rooms filled with paintings done by her dead son. All she knows is that Jaiden seems fine enough, just like Roier, and Bagi’s never actually been able to understand Roier when he’s told her “This island has broken everybody on it, especially me.”

This kind of trauma is something Bagi and most of the other islanders could never understand; the closest people would be Slime and Mariana- but they have a version of their daughter back- and then Maxo, who’s dead. The idea of losing your child forever is something entirely foreign to most of the island. Everybody knows that the eggs can die, but it hasn’t happened since Bobby’s death, so a majority of the islanders haven’t had to say goodbye the way Roier and Jaiden and Slime and Mariana and Maximus and Quackity did.

Jaiden hasn’t babysat any of the eggs since Bobby’s death. She’s helped others babysit, but she’s never looked after an egg by herself. She’s a lot like Roier, who didn’t trust himself to take care of another egg until just before Richarlyson’s disappearance and who still considers him a bad enough father to take out his frustrations on his mini-him Pepito. But, unlike Roier, she’s been alone this entire time. It’s just been her and Foolish and Cucurucho. She doesn’t have the same kind of support network as Roier, and he’s stuck in the past even with support. Imagine how she’s doing.

Bagi and Empanada are right, Empanada won’t replace Bobby. He can’t be replaced. But what they don’t seem to understand is the possibility that she can’t replace Bobby because Jaiden won’t want to take care of another egg. Sure, she probably will, but only because she has this complex about being inconvenient, and she’ll feel real inconvenient if everybody pressures her into taking care of Empanada the way they pressured Roier into taking Pepito on Tuesday.

Both Roier and Jaiden have lost so much, but only a select few know what they’re going through. Roier has Cellbit, and Jaiden has Foolish. Outside of them, though?

Remember, only Bad and Cellbit went to check on Roier when Bobby died. And only Roier ended up checking on Jaiden. And yet the world has decided they’ve moved on without even asking, and their assumptions might end up getting Pepito and Empanada hurt in the long run.

[apocalypse-shuffle]

BEING IN A RELATIONSHIP W/ EDDIE BROCK & VENOM (generalized canon | 616 | venom movie-verse)

—

random Headcanons

SFW, minor canon action, one(1) mention of sex

pic sources: Venom #20 - “All Out” (2023) & Venom #23 - “Symbiote Daddy Issues” (2023)

part one

First post of the year!!! Alright bye.❤️

Eddie’s not a bad writer, and he can come up with a showstopper of an opening line off the top of his head. Because of this - and to Eddie’s constant objection - both you and his second half beg him to hit you with his best pick up lines. He hates it but always caves to elicit a smile or laugh out of both of y’all.

V fusses over you big time. They treat you like the most delicate flower and it annoys you even though you know they're intentions aren't to belittle you.

Problem is V gets very high maintenance and clingy whenever you’re hurt or sick, and not only does they’re stalking get incredibly obvious, but you also can’t go to the bathroom without Venom forcing Eddie to come sit in the bathroom with you. And god forbid you need to go while out in public.

Can you get jealous? Yes. Do Eddie and Venom outdo you? Also yes. They do the most. Someone just looks at you up and down and Eddie's got his arms around your waist, pulling you close to his body and Venom’s snarling at the pest.

Don’t let somebody try to get with you either, having to talk Venom (and Eddie, he’s not innocent of this either) out of committing murder is not a particularly fun experience.

Venom is the dominant one in the bedroom, thank you very much. Problem is Venom is also a creature of sensation, he craves it and as such so does Eddie, so it’s not exactly hard to switch your dynamic up whenever any of you are in the mood.

Getting Eddie to be okay with submitting during sex is a labor of love. At first he’ll refuse to touch it and you’ll respect that just fine, but over time he’ll get little glimpses of being taken care of when you're being intimate and his curiosity coupled with the symbiote’s prodding will make him decide to take a venture in being submissive for you. Only you though.

Venom makes the first move in y’all’s relationship. If you want to consider a little mild stalking “making the first move”. It starts with the Lethal Protector showing up every time you’re in even the slightest bit of trouble or near a big fight going on, and escalates to Eddie frequently ‘running’ into you and striking up a good conversation.

He rings all your alarm bells until he reveals himself to be Venom though, don’t get it twisted. Eddie’s nice and he’s charming but he’s also too blunt and outwardly calculating to not seem at least a little sketchy.

Eddie has a tendency to naturally sneak around the house. Part of it is the remnants of a life lived under Brock Sr.’s roof, but most of it is Venom.

Long story short Eddie’s big and doesn't make much noise unless he wants to and when he just pops out of places a regular non-enhanced person has every right to be taken off guard.

It’s no secret that they would sacrifice their body, mind, and soul to keep you safe, but their jealousy can cloud that virtuosity.

Venom's an asshole when he's jealous and it's not particularly endearing. The hissing when the symbiote feels like it’s being challenged is really pushing it. Them feeling like they can start dictating the shit you’re “allowed” to do is also really pushing it and you nip that shit in the bud real quick; alien hormones be damned.

Both Venom and Eddie's soul purpose is to broadcast the fact that you are indeed off limits to ANY hormonal driven being, which is just the vast majority of humans at this point.

Because of this y’all engage in near constant pda (sometimes a little scenting is involved too). If Venom doesn’t get his fill he will be miserable for Eddie to be around until he does.

You’ll admit though - even if only to yourself - that you do find it kinda hot when they catch someone ogling you and Eddie's eyes flash white in a threat.

The symbiote tends to take control and outright ask the person if they like what they see too.

If they say yes they're basically putting their lives in Venom's hands.

You can't even be mad sometimes either, so you do find their jealousy a little bit endearing… sometimes.

The inevitable hissy fit sex is cool too.

It is aggravating never being able to leave the house alone (especially if you’re wearing something extravagant, form fitting, or revealing) without Venom and Eddie feeling the need to “reestablish” y’all’s relationship before you go out just so that you and everyone else don’t forget you’re taken.

Overall, boundaries must be set, but they’re not unable to be reasoned with, and they’re both far too sweet on you to risk truly upsetting you or breaking your trust (too much).

NOTES: Hope you enjoyed!!

This is just a little quick something, but I have been sitting on it for a while now. Also, yes, Eddie’s shirt does say “Himbo Frankenstein”!

btw: if you’d like to leave a comment I won’t always respond, but I’d very much appreciate it!

[rust-painted-fingers]

Day 1 ... Vampire

"You don't have to do this y'know?"

Techno glanced up from his shackled wrists.

"Thought you'd have left by now," he said, even though they both knew Phil would never. Never has, and it wouldn't change now. It was to check in, even Techno had his doubts. Still his heart may be, it didn't stop the doubt from clouding his judgement.

Phil let out a chuckle, relaxing into a slouch at the ritual. "You know I would never miss a bonfire."

"Is that what you're calling it?" Techno laughed.

A smirk, "What? It's the only time I get to see such a spectacle. Can't exactly participate in the solstices."

Techno knocked his head against the rock behind him, letting the banter flow between them. Nothing important was discussed, both more than aware of potential listeners, but the inane conversation helped ease nerves. Time was running out, dawn slipping further away from the slit that can hardly be called a window.

If there's one thing Techno hated more about the whole event, however, it's how long it takes to build the damn pyre. Phil wasn't exaggerating in how excessive the structures are built, sometimes woodsman go out of their way to chop even more trees, as if the stockpile everyone contributed was a lousy amount.

It seems burning a monster is the only time townsfolk gather around to work together. A strange way to bond, but wholesome in the right light. If only it didn't take an eternity and a half.

Footsteps thudded above their heads, ending their chatter and signaling the commencement of the charade.

With a head nod, Phil disappeared into the shadows, leaving a lone Techno for the villagers to see.

Some villagers were rough and dragged Techno by the chain to gain some control. It annoyed him the most, because they only got more aggresive if he used any of his strength. Some cases they opened wounds, going so far as to handicap him, which was worse as the rate for flesh to mend took too much effort for Techno to put up a fight.

Thankfully, it seemed this village held a modicum of respect still — that or they feared him, but either were welcomed if it meant they let Techno walk on his own feet.

The sun was but a smear of orange, townspeople holding torches as he walked past them.

They must have made an impression on this town, their faces remorseful and regretful, as if they were doing some divine sacrifice and it hurt them.

Techno inwardly snorted, wondering where Phil was and his thoughts about the mood. It's not like anyone's forcing them to burn Techno alive, no one was killed and honestly, he was doing them a favor by warding off less pleasant monsters. Really, it would've been better for Phil and Techno to have left silently once the jig was up instead of letting them believe they could kill him, but he was still salty about the distrust.

Maybe setting up their potential demise in the future was cruel, but Techno's entitled to his one evil act every once in a while. Plus, it wasn't like all towns became pyromaniacs, some were a bit nicer about it.

Techno let them tie him up and chant their prayers, and wondered where they would go next. Spring was melting the slow, and he didn't really want to deal with the storms, so maybe they'd give south a visit.

As the townspeople gathered closer, Techno locked eyes with Phil. He foregone a disguise and let his hood cloak his stature, but Techno could recognize those eyes anywhere.

Maybe he also wanted to give him a show. It wasn't harming anyone.

And with that, they shared a smile as the flames went up. A flick of the wrist and Techno looked at the pyre as a stray ghoul howled at the night sky.

"Where to next?" he asked idly, knowing they wouldn't leave until the last embers gave out and the town dispersed.

"Hmmm, kinda wanted to visit this one musuem that opened up north. Heard it gives an informational tour of all the ways to kill us."

Techno cackled, fangs flashing firelight bright.

[paragonrobits]

so i was reading some complaints about how Marceline is only really present in Fionna And Cake in a brief snippet and then only in AUs, and then it occured to me: Marceline not being around in an active way is necessary for the plot to happen.

Essentially, the plot of Fionna And Cake might be summarized as 'longing the magical life, Fionna and Cake flee from a Lawful Neutral cosmic killjoy and enlist the help of Simon Petrikov who agrees to become Ice King again, but is explicitly not telling them about what this is going to do to him'. The story is essentially about Simon WANTING to become Ice King while at the same time really not wanting to do that at all, pressuring himself into losing himself once more because he thinks its the only way for him to be needed by anyone anymore.

If Marceline is around, this doesn't happen. She is Simon's biggest reason for staying; she's the happiest part of his life, the most fulfilling and rewarding part of his life. It comes up, time and time again, that in the end becoming Ice King was the best thing to happen to Simon despite all its misery, suffering and tragedy because he otherwise would never have met her; he wouldn't have survived the great mushroom war, or the horrors following it, and would have died long before ever meeting her.

And the show details how INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT Simon raising her really was. The Marceline we know was shaped, by a massive degree, by Simon; his example of self-sacrifice, him letting his mind disintegrate by inches, him going out of his way to help a complete stranger and a monstrous child horrifying by the standards of the setting, all implciitly RIGHT after Marceline's mother died and Marceline had resigned herself to being a scary monster that drives everyone away. And then here came a stranger out of the blue, and spent the next few years telling her that yes, she DID matter, she was a person, and that he cared about her so much he destroyed himself so she wouldn't get hurt... or perhaps because her only means of defending herself, ripping out the souls of others, hurts who she is.

It's not a nice kind of comfort. But it still shaped her into someone willing to be a hero in her own way.

And this goes both ways; we can see that the proverbial straw for Simon is him calling Marceline and concluding that she doesn't need him anymore. It's only after this he starts trying to contact Golbetty, with the potential doom that may befall him. If Marceline doesn't need him, he seems to think, he doesn't matter. The need to be needed runs deep in Simon's character; its what draws him to help Fionna and Cake, and the worlds they visit seem to impart a lesson to him on how he matters more than he thinks he does, both by the things he's done and what he means to others; that he's not as bad a person as he thinks he is, or that Marceline would be fine without him.

So. If Marceline talks more to Simon, ESPECIALLY after he resolves to throw his progress away and let his mind be lost all over again just so he doesn't have to hurt anymore... well, his character arc in this series is about accepting that he's actually ok, the way he is, and to gain perspective on his feelings that he doesn't belong anywhere (and the answer is that he DOES, more than he knows). Marceline doesn't inhibit that, but she WOULD make it harder for it to happen, arguably at the cost of sidelining Simon's character arc here. He would pretend that okay he doesnt want to be Ice King even if he DOES still intend to go through with it, and not in the same way as when he comes to the conclusion that he ultimately does.

If Marceline is there, he doesn't think those thoughts, and he won't come to the same conclusion.

And at the same time, despite not being there, Marceline's presence hangs over the entire show in Simon's character arc. She is the best thing in his life; his greatest success, the most purely positive and happy part of his life. It can't be understated how significant Marceline is; as miserable as Ice King was, she was someone he cared about even if he didn't understand why anymore. Ice King shows a remarkable amount of restraint in context, but it becomes a lot more obvious whenever she's involved, or in danger; a care so deep and ingrained that when Ice King was often pretty callous, whenever she was upset you could see flickers on his face, genuine distress rising up from some forgotten memory or part of who he is.

Marceline pervades Simon's character and the impact he had on the world; the idea of him being able to pull through this and come back to Ooo for her feels very evident, and the impact Simon has in her in other worlds remains extremely important in all of them, sub-textually or otherwise. Sometimes, its a hint that the Winter King is far more morally ambiguous or even malicious than he lets on (the only Marceline present being an eternal child that, from context, is just a simulcrum for him to play pretend parent with) or evidence that without Simon, Marceline grows up into the monster she always feared she was (Vampire World).

She's a presence, hanging over Simon in a good way and reminding us that not only does he have somewhere to go back to, he must understand that he does belong there. And furthermore that the world of Ooo, whimsical and ultimately a better one than most of the places he visits in the miniseries, can only exist because of him.

In Winter King, we see what he could become, without his moral choices. In Vampire World, we see what happens without Simon Petrikov. And in Marceline herself, we see the surest evidence of how important he really is, even if he can't or won't acknowledge it. In his loved ones, in the family he made, even if its not the family he thought he was supposed to have.

[atcarpenter]

And Then There Were Two

Abigail (2024), but what if Sammy and Joey both survive together.

This was requested by @random19xxx.

Joey/Sammy, Vampire Sammy

///

Joey’s night was really turning from bad to worse. First the child turned out to be a vampire, and now one of her colleagues for the night had been turned into a puppet for the enemy and was chasing her and Frank through the halls of the decrepit, labyrinthine mansion they were trapped in. She was feeling more and more like a mouse chased by an increasingly large number of stray cats rather than the hardened criminal she was supposed to be. 

Joey’s heart hammered by the time they reached the large library, relief flooding her and the equally out-of-breath ex-cop beside her when the sunlight streaming in through the windows in the room finally reached them. They slowed and turned around to the monster chasing them, seeing if she would follow. Sammy too slowed down when she came into the room. Joey felt unsure if it was because of the sunlight or because she knew its last slivers would fade soon and they would be trapped. She certainly looked like she had all the time in the world to play with them and make them dread what was to come. 

“I’ve always hated this room. My father turned me in here,” Sammy drawled leisurely, one hand running along the columns. “Lots of painful memories.” She smiled. “But it’s never too late to make new ones.” The young woman darted forward, and Joey reacted almost reflexively, yanking a polished silver tray off a table beside her and holding it up into one of the fading rays of daylight, redirecting the light at the approaching vampire.

A loud yelp resounded, and blood as well as bits of flesh came flying their way, covering parts of them. Joey released a small breath and glanced past the silver tray she had been shielding her face from the flying vampire viscera with, some of the tension leaving her body as she realised that it had worked and Sammy was at the very least no longer heading their way. She saw, however, that Sammy was still alive, missing the entirety of her left arm and part of her shoulder, drenched in her own blood. It was baffling to see someone still stand upright with a wound like that, but despite being able to withstand damage as extensive as this, vampires still evidently felt pain. Grimacing and clutching at her wrecked shoulder, Sammy stumbled over to hide behind one of the columns to shield herself from any more reflected daylight and screamed through gritted teeth. A string of curses followed her muffled screams, which Joey wasn’t sure if they belonged to Sammy or her puppeteer Abigail.

“You know you can’t hurt me,” Sammy sang from behind the column. “All you’re doing is hurt poor, sweet Sammy.”

“If she’s even still in there,” Joey muttered.

“Oh, she is,” Sammy assured. “She’s being very mouthy in her head right now. She has such colourful vocabulary.”

“You know that if she annoys you so much, you could just let her go,” Joey snarled.

“Hm, no. I think I’ll keep her.” She glanced past the column and seemed to decide that a one-armed fight in the current situation was not worth it to sacrifice her pawn over. “The sunlight won’t protect you forever, you know. See you in, say, half an hour.” She withdrew to the door, keeping a careful eye on Joey for any sudden movements, but Joey didn’t make any. She had no desire to harm Sammy if she didn’t have to. Although, she wasn’t entirely certain that it was still Sammy under the puppetry, even without any of Abigail’s influence.

Sammy vanished out through the door and back into the darker recesses of the sprawling mansion, leaving Joey and Frank behind uneasily. Their uneasiness, however, did not remain undisturbed for very long as Lambert lured them into a hidden backroom within the bones of the house only a moment later, revealing to them the full extent of the setup they had found themselves caught in this night and offering both of them a deal, seeking to turn them into monsters themselves, team up, and take down the Lady of the house, making off with the spoils. Joey immediately knew she would never say yes to the deal. Frank, however, had very different ideas.

That’s how she found herself a little later face-to-face with recently turned Frank, drenched in blood and being pushed through the wall back into the library, pretty sure she would never get to see her son ever again. Frank, immediately upon being turned, had turned on his sire, killing him within the first seconds of his un-life, drenching both himself and Joey in gallons of vampire blood, intent on being the only one who would make it out alive tonight. When Abigail had showed up shortly after that, he had not hesitated to sink his fangs into her neck too, for all intents and purposes looking as if he had killed her. In the moments that followed, Joey felt significantly more like a rag doll than a human. 

She felt his hand constrict around her throat, her back hitting one of the library’s shelves, shattering the wooden boards and undoubtedly leaving bruises she would still feel weeks from now. Suddenly, the weight of his hand around her throat disappeared and Frank went flying backwards across the room, crashing into a different wall and landing in a heap on the ground floor of the library, books and debris raining down on him. Joey found her footing with ease and looked up at the younger blonde woman who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere beside her, looking altogether very pleased with herself for throwing Frank around like a baseball. Her already short breath catching in her throat, Joey took a step away from Sammy as she turned towards her. The last thing she needed now was another vampire to join the fight over who got to drain her of her blood first. Undeterred however, Sammy got closer and put a hand on her arm that Joey tried to push off.

“You okay?”

“Stay the hell away from me,” Joey snapped and lunged for a stake beside her and was surprised that Sammy didn’t stop her. She just held up her arms and kept her distance. Her previously exploded arm had almost fully regrown by now. Only the skin still looked raw and patchy in places.

“The little demon’s hold on my mind vanished a few minutes ago.”

Still holding the stake out between them, she asked, “How can I trust you?”

“I just saved your life. I could have just let him squeeze the life out of you.”

As Joey considered her words and their truthfulness, she glanced down at Frank on the floor below, who was starting to get out from under the rubble and pushing himself onto his feet again. She decided if Sammy wanted to kill her or drain her, she would probably be trying to do it right now already, so she chose to believe her – for now. Joey bent over and braced her hands on her knees, slowly catching her breath and ignoring the ache in her bruised throat.

"You know you're kinda hot, all covered in blood," Sammy commented, her eyes raking over her form.

Joey stopped and glanced at her before releasing a noise between a chuckle and a scoff at the look in Sammy’s eyes that was a very different kind of “hungry”.

"Am I not a little too old for you?" she muttered with a raised brow, but could not suppress the slight smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.

Sammy looked unperturbed. "So?" she asked, still smiling obnoxiously and chewing on the corner of her lip with her canines. "It does look appetising," she went on, still letting her eyes roam over her drenched skin.

"Of course it does," Joey rolled her eyes. Sammy leaned closer, cocking her head a little and hovering over her. "Keep your fangs where I can see them," Joey snapped.

Sammy backed away diligently and held up both of her hands by her sides. “Jeez.”

They both straightened back up when they heard Frank, almost leisurely, come back up the stairs to the gallery, bits of plaster and wood splinters still clinging to his hair and clothes, holding a jagged piece of a wooden board in one hand.

“Sammy, you really should not have done that,” he sneered. “Or should I say Abigail.”

Sammy turned towards his voice and put on an unimpressed face. “Wow, Frank, you are surprisingly even uglier undead.”

Frank’s features twitched. “You think you’re funny, do you?” He held the piece of splintered wood up towards her. “You’re still just a spoiled little brat who doesn't know when it’s time to shut her stupid fucking mouth.”

Sammy shrugged. Frank darted forward, aiming the wood at her heart. Sammy was fast, faster than him, perhaps. At least her reflexes were good, catching his hands almost with ease. She held him back, but she was struggling. He was stronger than her. It was evident. Maybe it was because he had been turned differently, not by a simple bite, but by drinking an actual vampire’s blood. But in the net total, she was clearly losing. Joey decided to get involved and stabbed her stake towards his heart, and to avoid it, Frank let off of Sammy to avoid his untimely death. Sammy stumbled backwards and steadied herself quickly, rubbing at her throat. 

This, unfortunately, drew his attention back to Joey, and he snapped forward, the back of his hand hitting across her cheekbone, making her gasp. Before she even had time to recover and look back up, his hand was back at her throat, and he jerked her around, her feet dangling without purchase, high up in the air over the edge of the gallery, glancing down at the drop below her, her hands scrabbling for purchase on his arm. It was hard trying to force air into her lungs as she watched him, his eyes trained at Sammy, an almost mocking glint in them, all of them knowing that if Sammy moved, Joey would drop and probably break several bones. Sammy did not move.

But Frank slowly turned back to Joey with a smile on his face, that she would have only loved to wipe off his stupid face, and dropped her.

She was vaguely aware of movement in the gallery but was too distracted by her fall to pay attention to either Frank or Sammy.

She had about one second to brace for the inevitable breaking of bones, readying herself to break the fall as best as she possibly could, but the crashing impact never came, instead landing softly, her fall unexpectedly feathered by a pair of arms that immediately let her go as she scrambled away from them and looked down at the little vampire ballerina in horror. One break from being cornered by vampires was all she wished for, but at least her bones were not broken yet.

The fight still continuing above, she listened to Abigail’s proposition of an alliance to kill Frank together. She could not see a single way of surviving the night if she and Sammy had to fight both Frank and Abigail at the same time. The girl seemed sincere too. In the end, she found herself agreeing to her offer to team up and fight together.

From above their heads came another crashing sound, and Sammy crashed into another bookshelf. Frank jumped down to the ground floor, standing opposite Joey and Abigail. They turned to him, eyeing him as he in turn mustered them. He still had this cocky smile on his face as if he saw nothing troubling in the situation of suddenly finding himself in a position, three against one. Abigail leapt towards him, almost landing on top of him, and Joey headed after her. Maybe, if they actually coordinated, they could do it and stake him, with some luck even quickly. It seemed promising for a single moment, when he held Abigail at bay, both his hands full, trying to keep her fangs and her fingers from his throat. Joey’s stake braced at his heart, she thrust. 

The stake never met its target. The air was knocked out of her in the next moment, when the vampire child’s body suddenly collided with her and they both went tumbling backwards, the girl having been thrown off violently by him. They both disentangled and scrambled back to their feet. She eyed Frank attentively, mentally plotting her next move, when she heard movement from her right and turned towards it. Sammy came hurrying up to Joey’s side and glanced between her and Abigail in irritation, taking in the situation.

“Wait, we’re siding with her?” Sammy snapped, pointing at the child-vampire.

“If you have any better ideas, I’m all ears.”

“She used me as a playtoy,” Sammy hissed out between her clenched, sharpened teeth.

Joey did not listen. “We need her!” she hissed back.

Sammy seemed utterly unconvinced and cocky even. “I can take him,” she insisted. Joey scowled.

“I don't see you taking him," she snapped.

Sammy threw up her hands and looked at Joey in a way that made it clear she would be blaming her if Abigail turned on them and chewed out their hearts directly from their chests. In reality, Sammy looked more like a petulant child, but begrudgingly, she agreed, “Urgh, fuck. Okay, alright.”

But even together, he managed to outstep them, never directly facing more than one at a time. He managed to jam a large piece of wood into Sammy’s shoulder, pushing her off as she screamed out in pain, clutching at the offending object. In the next moment, he managed to push Abigail off as well, and Joey found herself facing him alone and exposed. He broke off a pole from the room’s decor and advanced on her with a predatory grin. She screamed out when it pierced her shoulder and he drove her back until she hit something solid, and he kept on pushing it deeper until she felt the pole exit her shoulder on her back, burying in the metal she was pressed against deep enough to stay stuck, pinning her. When he pulled back, pleased with himself, he turned to Abigail and Sammy, who was still busy removing the piece of wood carefully from her shoulder.

Singling Abigail out, he headed for her, wrangling her until he managed to sink his fangs into her neck, drinking quickly before snapping her neck and dropping her unceremoniously. Still trying to recover from her own injury and realising that she was currently alone in facing him, Sammy hesitated in approaching Frank again, even as he rounded the room towards Joey and pulled her free from the pole that held her trapped. The woman screamed as the pole scraped against her wound from the inside until she was free and Frank pulled her against himself, hanging limply in his arms, dazed and spent.

His fangs sank into Joey’s neck as he demonstratively made eye contact with Sammy, taking visible delight in making her watch as he quickly drained blood from the woman’s neck. Joey didn’t even have the wherewithal left to scream. Sammy behind her stood frozen. Joey couldn’t see her face, but she heard a sound from behind her that sounded almost suspiciously like a whimper as Sammy now faced having to stand against Frank alone as the last one standing. So she stayed frozen, unable to choose to intervene as Joey’s blood drained from her, leaving her feeling weaker and weaker.

Feeling unpleasantly dazed and frail, she dropped to the floor when he pulled his fangs from her flesh and let go. Not done with her yet and without taking his eyes off of Sammy, Frank knelt down beside her prone form and started muttering orders to her, evidently having learned from Abigail’s earlier stunt with Sammy and thinking he could control and puppeteer her just the same. She, however, felt oddly clear. As he instructed her, she got to her feet, stiffly keeping her face averted from him, neither wanting to know what she would find if she looked at him, nor wanting him to see how little his trick had worked if he looked into her eyes. Sammy, however, clearly believed every word of it, staring at her in abject horror. Putting his hands onto Joey’s shoulders, he directed her gaze at Abigail’s supine form.

“Kill her.”

As if following suit, Joey took a step forward, with the stake clutched in one of her hands, then another. Snapping out of her pretended trace, she whirled around and jammed the stake she was holding into Frank’s chest instead with as much force as she could still muster, which must have been a lot given by how quickly the startled surprise on his face shifted to a strained grimace as the put his hands over hers to push the stake away from his heart. Sammy appeared at her side almost instantly, wrestling with Frank’s grip, forcing his arms back and staggering him. It seemed almost like they had the upper hand for a moment, before he managed to wrench an arm free, his fist colliding with Sammy’s face, getting her to loosen her grip. Joey dodged his attempt to grab her, but did not manage to pull the stake from his chest as well, letting go of it in an effort to get away from his reach. 

She scrambled away from him, heading towards the pole still stuck in the wall that she had been pierced with before. Behind her, she heard the stake clattering to the floor. Looking over her shoulder just briefly as she reached the pole, she saw Sammy lunging at Frank again, which would be enough to buy her some time. She tugged the pole free from the wall with some effort that strained the injury in her shoulder unpleasantly, feeling the blood squelch out. She turned around to see Frank and Sammy locked in a struggle for the upper hand, the stake still lying discarded at their feet. Coming up behind him unnoticed, she put the pole over his head and pulled it hard against his throat, forcing him back, scrabbling at his neck and leaving off of Sammy. Awkwardly, Joey pulled him down to the ground in their struggle, landing on her back and holding him in place while he pulled Sammy along with them, landing on top of him, locked in turn in his grip. As Sammy tried to struggle free from his grasp, Joey saw Abigail move and twitch in the background. Her body slowly healed, putting itself together again with an unpleasant cracking resounding loud enough to even be heard over their struggle.

Her heart pounding in her chest and her arms getting tired, Joey watched as Abigail picked up the stake and headed for them, leaping to land on top of Frank. Sammy managed to move aside enough to open the line of sight to his heart, Frank switching from wrangling Sammy to try and keep the stake at bay. Watching the unbalanced struggle with Abigail still being weaker even with the superior leverage and her limited added bodyweight, Joey let go of her hold on him and discarded the pole to move out from under him and to Abigail’s side. Grabbing the stake as well, she started leaning on it with all of her strength as well. Behind them, Sammy came up as well, leaning heavily on the stake. Together, they drove the wood deeper and deeper into his chest, now that he no longer stood a chance against their combined strength.

A resigned, capitulating “Fuck” escaped Frank just before they finally pierced his heart. His body exploded in a violent fountain of blood that threw all of them back several metres, where they came to an ungentle halt, covered in his blood and pieces of his flesh. Sammy’s fall was feathered by Joey, her elbow landing painfully in the older woman’s stomach, earning her a small groan. For a moment, they just slowly got their bearings back and mentally checked if any part of their bodies had been broken and looked around the mess in the room, now covered in nothing but blood and viscera.

“This is disgusting,” Sammy complained with a whine. 

Joey just responded with a “Hrmph” and pushed Sammy off of herself and picked herself slowly off the ground, almost absently offering Sammy a hand up, that she gingerly took, while looking around at the carnage they had caused. Her eyes drifted over to Abigail. She had landed a few metres away and had also gotten back to her feet, her dress no longer white. 

“I really didn't need another guts-bath tonight …” Sammy tried to fish some of the bits of flesh out of her tangled and no-longer blonde tresses. Given Sammy’s usual complaining, she seemed to be alright, and she followed Joey without comment when she headed over to Abigail with a limp, although Sammy kept glaring daggers at the other vampire.

She wanted to say something, some form of parting words or expression of gratitude for still being alive. Maybe she just wanted to check that the young vampire would keep her word and let them leave here alive. But she could not think of anything meaningful and appropriate to say, and the words all died on her tongue. In the end, they just almost wordlessly acknowledged each other and Joey turned to leave, putting a hand on Sammy’s arm and guiding her along.

As they neared the doors, Abigail’s voice rang out again, calling Joey’s name, causing them to stop and look back towards her. Joey and Abigail exchanged some surprisingly heartfelt words on parenthood, and Abigail expressed how she wanted Joey to have a good future with Caleb. The almost heartwarming moment of parting was interrupted when a looming presence suddenly appeared behind them in the door. At Abigail’s almost frightened sounding, “Father, no!” Joey and Sammy turned around to find themselves face to face with Lazar. Both of them staggered back in an effort to get away from him. They both knew who he was and what he was likely capable of. He was more dangerous than Abigail. In comparison to him, she was perhaps more like a tiger cub.

As they backed away, Joey staggered and slipped in the blood covering the room, falling backwards onto the ground. Lazar continued advancing towards them. To both of their surprise, Abigail decided to put herself between them and him. Joey used the moment to take Sammy’s offered hand to get back to her feet.

After listening to Abigail’s defence, Lazar rounded her and approached Joey, his eyes glossing over the younger vampire by her side almost in disinterest. Sammy, having lost all of her previous bravado, clung to Joey’s arm and acted like Joey was her personal shield from the ancient vampire regardless. Lazar probably enjoyed the effect he was having on them, but he did not harm them, seeming instead rather courteous. In the end, he let them both go. They turned back around one last time when Abigail bid them goodbye with a “See you around”. After that, Sammy could not get out of the building fast enough and dragged the limping and slightly protesting Joey behind her until they finally hit the cool, welcoming nightair outside.

With a smile, Sammy dashed ahead to the driver’s side of the car, yanking it open.

“Not a chance.” Joey hurried after her, and her hand shot out to slam the car door back shut. “I have seen you drive, Sammy.”

The newly turned vampire grinned, the blood around her mouth rendering the sight more unsettling than it already was. “I was running late. ‘sides, you’re injured. I’m driving.” She smiled widely, pushed Joey back, and pulled the door back open, sliding onto the seat before Joey had another chance to protest. Her eyes rolling and the aching in her body keeping her from wanting to argue the point further, she resigned to letting herself be driven. She made her way back around the car and settled into the passenger seat, groaning a little.

Joey leaned back and fished in her pocket. She tried to let the tension drop off of her. When she found what she was looking for, she was delighted to see that the lollipop was remarkably still clean despite the rest of her being covered in blood from her head to her boots. In that moment, it tasted like victory and forgetting. For at least a moment.

At her side, Sammy glanced over at her, taking in her form. Whether from looking at the blood painting her skin or seeing her enjoy something edible, she complained, “I’m hungry.” She sighed, and Joey did not know if she was just being dramatic or being serious for a change. “You do look appetising,” Sammy grumbled. Joey was not about to ask just how appetising she really looked or how it felt to experience the hunger she must be feeling right now. She sighed again, sounding defeated this time. “I don’t even know where I’m going to get blood from now.”

“I’ll help you.” She didn’t even hesitate.

“You will?” Sammy perked up.

“Yes, I'm not going to let you navigate this all on your own. Besides, you will need someone who can actually walk around during the day, right?” Joey added with a crooked smile that Sammy returned. “We’ll figure this out.”

Looking significantly more hopeful, Sammy glanced at her once more and drove them out of there, knowing that wherever they were heading now, she would not have to do it all alone, whatever her life as an undead vampire would look like now.

[shade-pup-cub]

Febuwhump 2024, Day 19: Twi, Time, Shade (Chain) - “Please Don’t”

Fandom: LOZ/Linked Universe

Consequences on not telling Time the full truth was lurking in the woods between Twilight and Time's eras. Pulling Time to the side to tell him of the Hero's Shade, there's an attack on camp, forcing the secret to come out in the worst way.

CW: blood, injury, language, self sacrifice

Apparently I have a pattern of hurting Twilight in some kind of way when Shade enters a story.

���Guys, wake up. Anyone know this place?” Legend asked as he and Wild sat around the cooking pot. They had just shifted while most of them were asleep.

Twilight looked around curiously. “It feels familiar, but too young to be my era. Time, is it yours?”

The Old Man took a deep breath in, scanned across the new forest, then let out his breath. “Feels too old to be mine. Could be in a between era.”

Twilight blanched at that. That could be the worst thing to happen since that meant Sh- Nope, he was over thinking it too quickly. “Did either of you scout out around here?”

Wild kept stirring, but pointed in a direction. “Yeah, there’s a road about half a mile from here. Seemed to be well used, but it was too early in the morning for people to be using it.”

“I’ll go see if anyone is there now.” Twi tried to stand to make his way to the road, but Wild swiftly pointed his ladle at him with a fierce look.

“After. Breakfast.” The steely look had Twilight consciously sitting back down like a good boy. He was not going to piss off his Cub when it came to everyone being fed. A few others snickered and giggled and all got the same look from Wild. He really could be terrifying.

Wild made a feast of a meal for them: Crepes, oatmeal, omelets, toast, honey and nut fruit and of course an assortment of drinks that everyone liked. Even with the great smelling food in hand and a hungry stomach, Twilight was having issues forcing the food down.

Thankfully his own mentor had mercy on him. “Come on, you're too antsy and it’s killing me to see.”

The unknown bad choice of words could have made Twilight run for the trees to bring everything back up, but then he wouldn’t have been allowed to leave camp. Instead he put on his normal clothes, sword on his back, then waited as Time finished putting on his armor.

The walk was silent outside of Twilight’s heart pounding in his ears and the birds singing in the trees. That was until Time broke the silence. “Alright Pup, what has you so worked up?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“I know you are lying and hiding something. You get the same crease in your forehead Malon does. Spill it.” Time grabbed the young man’s shoulder, bringing them both to a stop.

Twilight took several long breaths to calm himself and to figure out the words. “This is going to be hard to tell you, specifically you.”

“Harder than telling me that we are related, can shapeshift and that I somehow trained you in my future?” Time gave a half amused smile.

Oh if he only knew… “Yes.”

Time straightened up, full attention on his descendant. “I’m listening.”

“I didn’t tell you the full truth of how you ended up training me in the future.” Why did he have to do this now?! “You didn’t time travel to my era to train me.”

“How can that be if we are an unknown hundred of years apart?”

“Just… When we met, you weren’t exactly al-” A howl nearby stopped him short. His eyes blew wide.

Time grabbed the hilt of his sword. “Wolfos?”

“N-no” Twilight spun around. “I know that howl.”

Paws making contact with the forest floor could be heard getting closer, making Twi’s heart nearly leap from his chest. A flash of gold had Twilight racing for it.

“Pup, wait!” Time was no spring cucco, but he kept up with the younger.

Twilight zig-zagged through the trees, catching the briefest amount of gold and white. “Shade, wait up!” he hollered, but the wolf stayed out of sight. When he no longer could see where he went nor could hear him, Twilight stopped.

Time stopped with him, slightly panting. “Friend of yours?”

A yip had both men’s heads turning. Standing a few feet away was the wolf in all his golden glory. Twilight knelt down move eye level, “Are you going to just sit there or are you going to get over here and say hi?”

A few bounding steps later and the wolf had his front legs draped over Twilight’s shoulder. Shade rubbed his head against the other’s neck, giving slight whines as if saying he missed him. There were a few licks to Twilight’s hairline before the Hylian stood up, wolf still hanging on his shoulders, showing that he was taller than the younger.

“Pup, you are aware that he is a spirit, right?” Time asked, eyeing the giant wolf carefully.

“I know, but how do you know?”

Time opened his white eye, pointing to the marked side of his face. “He sees all.”

That gave a chill down Twilight’s spine. “Did he tell you who Shade is?”

“No, he only gave an all too delighted laugh.”

Shade’s ears perked up and did a slight swivel. A low baritone grumble came from his chest. He pushed off of Twilight’s shoulder and seemed to be tuning into whatever he was hearing. Twilight closed his eyes, filtering out the noises around him to get a longer range.

There was metal clashing, hollering and the screeching of monsters. “Ambush… Camp!” Twilight and Shade bolted in the direction of the others, Time right behind them.

When the two heroes broke into the clearing of camp they saw seven heroes all armed and surrounded by a mix of different era’s monsters. Giving a gruff-snarl, Shade led the attack as he literally dove into the horde. The action had Legend screaming like a kit and Twilight was not going to let that slip away later.

The camp turned into a bloodbath as more and more monsters swarmed in from all sides. It wasn’t an impossible fight, just one that they weren’t prepared for since most of them were still in their night clothes.

Twilight made sure to keep an ear out for everyone, especially Shade. Not everyone would right away think ‘Friend’ when seeing a red eyed wolf covered in blood. He knew first hand how badly that could go, seeing that he went through that exact thing after his adventure, forgetting that Ordon hadn’t been told yet of his ability to shift and they already had nightmares from when the children were taken and a wolf had been stalking around that time. That wolf had been him, but he was there to protect, not harm. They didn’t know and he paid the price. He would never blame them either.

Somehow in the fray Twilight became overrun with monsters and was brought down to his knees. His sword was ripped from him while at the same time a heavy foot flattened him onto his back. One of Wild’s silver Moblins was pressing its weight against his chest, club high in the air. The monster roared and Twilight matched it, but not out of fear. Twilight roared in defiance.

He didn’t know how it happened, but he knew why and when it happened. The fight unexpectedly turned, drawing the attention of the monsters to someone else. That someone else was Shade, but the wolf was now the skeleton Twilight had been trained by.

He stood tall as a fully armored in gold metal, sword drawn, single red eyed stalfos. To the rest of them, this would seem to be a Boss Stal that happened to be out in the open. He locked his gaze on his descendant and made his way over in large strides, ignoring fights around him.

As Warriors went to be the first to strike, Twilight hollered, “Wait!”

Shade caught the blade’s edge with his metal covered hand. He didn’t strike back, only shoved the captain away. Time was at his backside, sword already slashing at his side and it forced him towards Warriors who tried again to land a hit. With the power behind Time’s swings, Shade had to pull his weapon, but to defend himself.

It was irrational for Twilight to think something could happen to the Hero’s Shade as if he could be more dead, but he was not going to risk the chance of talking to his mentor again after everything. He didn’t think he could handle seeing metal and bones fall to the dirt. And what would happen if they did? What would happen to Twilight as a baby since Shade was the one to care for him in the woods before leaving him at Rusl and Uli’s door? Would Twilight still win against Ganondorf?

Would Twilight fail the legacy Time started? He would damn himself, but not the legacy created by a child who held the weight of the world on his shoulder yet still died with regret. He could never.

Twilight’s mind screamed for his original mentor. ‘No! Please, don’t! How can you not see who he is?!’

With everything happening so quickly, the Moblin holding Twilight down had looked away, foot relaxing some on his chest. The monster was still big, but Twilight just twisted his body enough to get a shot with his foot to the things jambags. It worked to his surprise. Sword in hand, the Moblin’s head fell to the ground.

Twilight looked up at Shade who was deflecting Warriors and Sky while Time readied another deadly blow. With his mind still irrationally thinking, Twilight ran to stop the fight, but it was about to be too late. He wasn’t going to make it.

Time had his Biggoron Sword thrusting forward and Twilight knew the other was too far into the motion to stop, so he did the one thing he could think. He just prayed that Time would forgive him if he survived.

“Shade!!” Twilight was one more step away.

The Stal turned around to his name being called, his eye locked onto Twi and the sword headed now for both of them. It was all in slow motion.

The Ordonian had no fear as he jumped that last step, flinging his arms over the golden armored skeleton into the resemblance of a hug. At the same moment Time’s blade was run through Twilight’s back, coming out his chest and imbedding into Shade’s chest plate. Twilight sucked in a stuttered and pained breath, sagging into the boney arms that wrapped around him as they both fell.

The sword jossiled as they landed, Twi on top, and he screamed at pain that slowly subsided as he went into shock. He looked between them, grabbed the blade and stood, removing the tip from the other. Twilight swayed on his feet as the battle continued around him, hands now bleeding from the sharp edge he was still holding onto and now pushing out of himself until he heard it clatter onto the ground behind him. Straightening up, he mouthed an apology to his former mentor before he couldn’t hold himself up anymore, going to his side.

Shade was up and holding Twilight in his arms before he hit the ground again. He looked around at his old companions seeing that there were many of them injured and Hyrule was going to be needed for those. He only had one choice and he wouldn’t fail or so help him he would fight every damn goddess and god there was! He laid the boy on the ground, trying to ignore the sounds of him sucking in breath and blood into his lungs. Shade placed his hands on the ground drawing in only as much magic as he needed. The grass around him shriveled and died as they gave their essence to him. Muscle and flesh formed under his armor though his clothes stayed tattered and torn.

Feeling his body reformed, he removed his broken helmet, throwing it to the side. He didn’t care how many enemies were left or who was now jaw dropped at the sight of who he was, what he had become. He didn’t care about the shock his younger self was still in. All he cared about was his Pup. Tearing the boy's tunics open more to access the wound, Shade saw how dire the situation really was and honestly Twilight should have already died from it.

With his death, Shade didn’t just become the Hero's Shade. The Lost Woods had granted him the power to protect the forest, to give and take life inside of it. That didn’t mean only for the things inside the forest originally, but the people who entered with ill intentions too. He was a deity in a different form than the one inside the mask he carried when alive. He placed a hand over the wound and one on the ground. He pulled magic from every living thing outside of the last few monsters and the boys. The tree’s bark rotted as the leaves turned brown. The grasses grew dry, critters that hid in the ground were consumed as well. It physically hurt him to do this, but he promised to restore it all.

Looking over his shoulder he shouted, “Leave some of the monsters alive! Restrain them!” To give life was to take life. Different shades of green magic swirled over his hand touching the ground, absorbing it, then releasing it into the boy’s chest. Twilight thrashed as the magic worked to stitch him back up.

“Twilight!!”

“Wild no!” Time went to grab Wild by his belt, barely making it to him when Shade’s hand swiped from the ground, upwards. Deep underground roots sprang up, blocking the Cub from getting too close.

“If you get too close, the magic will jump to you and I can’t afford that, not when he is barely alive.”

“What happened?” Hyrule asked.

“I- he-”

“No point in pointing fingers when what is done is done and even more so when it was no one's fault.” Shade snapped.

Twilight stopped moving, stopped breathing, heart nearly a flutter if that. His eyes were open, but no light shined in those blues.

“Come on Pup, take a breath, just one.” Shade closed his eyes and with a yell, pulled an extreme amount of magic from his surroundings. The trees snapped in half, forcing the boys to move closer so as to not be crushed. Shade gave away some of the magic he had used to bring himself back, revealing the wounds he had received during his final battle, including the fatal gash that went all the way across his midsection.

He could feel the wound closing the last bit all the way through and he pushed it slightly over to where his boy’s heart was lying still in his chest. Knowing that he was draining near his limit, he raised his left hand from the ground, raised it up in the air and swiftly slammed the magic overtop of where Twilight’s heart was.

“BREATHE!!”

Twilight’s eyes shot open, back arched off the ground, mouth drawing in gurgled air. Shade turned him to his side where the younger began to heave, globs of blood spewing onto the dirt before being turned back over.

“You irresponsible child! I kept you alive from the age of one up until I could teach you everything I knew, past fighting Ganon and this is the shit you do?! What were you thinking?!” He gave the boy a shake, wanting to knock some sense into him. All he got was a bloody smile. “Why are you smiling?”

“I missed you.”

[daedelweiss]

Theory time baby

So you have already shown in the trailer and some post that Leo finds Raph fighting for big mama and Mikey who has been getting trained by Draxum. Leo finds Mikey and Raph first and when they finally get to Donnie alerts go off which could cause big mama to come down find all 4 turtles and capture all of them, Mikey and Raph know this so they grab Leo and run which leaves Donnie behind.

In guessing they eventually have another chance to get Donnie in there side and we get some amazing warm hearted twin/brother moments but I’m also going to guess that after all 4 brothers are finally together Leo will either sacrifice himself or get taken into another dimension or place, this is based off screenshots you posted from the show were we see Donnie, Raph and Mikey all standing in front of a portal. I’m theorising that we will have a saving swap come in and since Leo has brought all of the brothers together it will be that now the brothers have to band together to save Leo.

I’m going to take a guess with personalities and say that it appears that Raph and Donnie were in some way both raised by big mama, however it also seems that they do not know about each other and so I’m assuming that Donnie was kept isolated and is big mamas little secret and creates tech for the nexus. Raph is obviously warrior material and once big mama finds out about his rage issues when being alone, she probably uses it to her advantage to get a stronger warrior. I’m also guessing that this is something Leo will have to fight against before getting Raph on his side and convincing him.

I’m not 100% sure about this one but I’m guessing that Mikey probably knew about his brothers since Draxum raised him. It seems like although Draxum has trained and pushes Mikey he also cares about him in a way that isn’t purely conditional love. I feel as though Mikey is going to see the bad that is being done to humans and leave Draxum and join Leo. Although he will probably be worried that Draxum will hurt April (cause human) I also think that this will only be initial and then go to Draxum having a bit of a becoming a good person/ father arc and him and Mikey will be able to be close in some way.

I also believe that Donnie Mikey and Raph will be able to activate there ninpo when trying to save Leo from what ever trouble he is going to end up in.

Leo seems to know about how to be a good ninja but also seems to know more about mystics already and possibly implies that he is already familiar with the hidden city or at least the existence of Yokai and the mystic library. Although I’m not to sure how he meets Mikey it seems like it could be at a point where Mikey is at an emotional low and has maybe failed a mission. Leo could have heard about Mikey from around the hidden city and also this could be how he ends up hearing about Raph as well and how he finds him.

Honestly I don’t really know. I love the hints you have dropped and I may be looking into things in a more literally way when you could very well only be implicitly saying something with the images you have presented, the whole thing looks amazing though and I just thought it would be fun to get involved 💜💫

*you... i like you >:3

i genuinely love long, thought out theories like this because i love knowing what my readers think is happening and how giddy i feel when people are dangerously right or amusingly wrong. so thank you very much for this uwu

i will just let most of this sit as a "maybe, maybe not" so you all have something to ponder, wonder, and think about u3u i won't say which parts are accurate or not but i will say this about the story.

no one has ever guessed the reason why leo is in prison dimension right? have some people come close? yes. but i'm pretty sure no one will know. if someone was right, i won't ever let you guys know until we cross that bridge uwu

thank you for the theories tho >:3 i am eating them up. i love learning you guys' thoughts on LM :D

[winters-rose-daughterofcain]

My favourite quotes from my lottienat fic because almost no one saw the last chapter and I'm low key really proud of it lol

"Lottie loves so many broken things. She loves things that hurt her and damage her and stitch her back up, she loves things full of rot and ruin, and she knows she would sacrifice her very self for them. She knows broken doesn’t mean unlovable, but Malcom Matthews clearly doesn’t agree."

"She’s crying blood. Her organs are rusting. Her body is decaying. The animals will smell her. They will come, they will hunt her, they will take her, they will eat her. Consumption. Sacrifice for the fractured girl as they mount her body, as they drink her blood, as she provides iron tears and lies (truths?) lies her mutilated mind believes. And she will let them, she will-"

"It seems unfair almost, that something so pretty and pure should be destroyed with such violence. But life wasn’t fucking fair especially not for fragile things. "

"She was also a girl built for deafening love and silent sacrifice. An angel of chipped black nail polish and bloody knuckles and a heart that loved deeply enough to drown. A siren of rough edges and unconditional devotion."

"It’s comforting in a way, that someone will always see her in her plainest state. No lights or flash or ornamentation. Natalie will always see her as a girl. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s tenderness in a way she’s not sure what to do with, vulnerability in a way that keeps her eyes on the road as she reaches into her pocket and wordlessly hands her lighter over."

"Take anyone else's burden and Natalie Scatorccio will meet it square jawed and unflinching. She had always done the hard thing without a single complaint, glaring into an unwanted spotlight and plunging wrist deep in decay to ensure the job was done. Make it her own problem however, and the running starts. A scared child, a slaughter ready lamb, a damaged collection of fear and love and good intent."

"She feels a second away from being devoured, pray ready and waiting for consumption. Only it’s another pray waiting for her, looking at her like a one more burden will send it crumbling down in unsteady collapse. But maybe pray is too innocent. Maybe it’s predator on predator, maybe they’ve both lost their meaning. Nat’s eyes flick down, just for a moment, and Lottie feels like floating. "

"But they were still the same people they always were. Broken, damaged, ruined. Natalie couldn’t talk Lottie to safety. Lottie couldn’t talk Nat into seeing that she was worth something, that broken things were lovable as long as they weren't called Charlotte Matthews. And yet she tries. Like a pretty, useless show pony with only one trick."

"Lottie is selfish to the core, cold poison latching onto her heart and pumping itself around her brain. The passivity of her mother and the cruelty of her father leaves her with a deadly combination. For herself or others she’s still not sure, she can’t know. She doesn’t want to. "

"She thinks the heat might spread then, from forehead to fingertips to cheek to hips. Maybe that would be enough to heat her into something solid, something permanent, something whole. Maybe she just wants Nat. She doesn’t know exactly what that says."

"Lottie’s been freezing all her life, she’s sick of running from fire. She wants to be burnt alive. She wants to be melted and drunk from her lips down, from her broken brain and worthless selfish heart. She wants Natalie Scatorccio to burn her alive, with all the tenderness and care of the storm in her eyes, with all the sacrifice of an unwilling love. She wants it to be willing for her. She wants her. She wants-"

Link if you're interested:

[jinmukangwrites]

a place to call home

Fandom: Jedi Fallen Order / Survivor Rating: G Warnings: N/A Ao3 Notes: My older sister was playing Black Thunder (by Bad Wolves, Serj Tankian, and The Hu) and it took all my will power to not info dump about Jedi Fallen Order. I was very brave about it. Instead I wrote 2.6k word one-shot. I'm still so glad they brought The Hu back for more music in Survivor.

Summary: Pyloon's Saloon was named after his great-grandma; naturally, it was always a place meant for his family. Took Cal long enough to visit, but that's alright. He's not even that upset it took breaking the Mantis to get him here.

~~~°~~~

The saloon wasn't everything Greez had ever wanted, but it's his, and dammit if he won't make it everything he's ever wanted.

For now, it's incredibly shabby. Run down. The floorboards creak and there's some kind of mold on the walls. The furniture would have to be thrown out and replaced with things that are less stained and more inviting to use. He's pretty sure the booth chairs have blood stains on them, and vomit. The previous owner really didn't care about making the place homely, which is probably why no one was there to stop them from catching blaster-to-face disease.

The upholstery isn't even patolli-weave.

There are plenty of things that need repair. The upholstery for one, but the railing Monk uses to get around has a dent further down that prevents him from getting to the end of the battered bar, the walls need repainted, the doors leading upstairs are broken and the basement is covered in junk. That's not even the half of it. It's daunting.

Greez is so excited.

Well, the only thing he can do is start.

It's slow progress, but progress is progress no matter how small. He starts with the most essential stuff, only using Cere's money where he absolutely needs to. He'd like to save the majority of that for the actual food and beverages. Everything else? Well, he could fix the Stinger Mantis despite how many times Cal seemed determined to launch it into any imperial fleet he saw. He could keep the ship running after all that, how hard would a few automatic doors, the fish tank, and a music box be?

He could fix those on his own.

He works, and he works, every day until eventually he's able to actually serve customers. Doma comes in first, Turgle at her heels, but it's more pleasantries than anything. She's sober, most alcohols don't agree with her and she doesn't think they ever will, but she does try some food while Turgle chatters both their ears off after one drink. Doma hardly ever visits again unless she makes a particularly good profit at her store and wishes to treat herself to his food. Turgle comes all the time, which worries Greez at first because he talks to anyone else who enters; mostly one-time patron prospectors. One-time is a loose word, most of these prospectors end up dead looking for things they probably shouldn't.

Though, slowly, Greez gets more regular that Turgle doesn't chase away. Sparse, but there. He even, to his disdain, gets visits from the local gang. Those Bedlam Raiders give him bad mojo, but as long as they're not challenged they don't do anything besides antagonize a little.

It's good.

Greez misses Cere, he wishes she'd visit, but they at least talk whenever they're both free. Merrin visits whenever she passes by, as rarely as that is, which he appreciates; he's long since admitted he adores her even if she's a spooky witch that there's a slight possibility she's waiting for the perfect opportunity to jump him and blood sacrifice him. And Cal...

Cal.

It's impossible to not care for the kid, even though he hardly ever responds to his messages. He's busy with other people, fighting the good fight, probably scratching the Mantis to shreds. Cal's angry with him, Greez knows this. After Cere and Merrin left, it was only the two of them. Three, including BD-1. But two, because BD-1 and Cal were practically the same entity anyways. Greez knew that him leaving had hurt Cal, but... Greez just couldn't fly anymore. He couldn't handle that danger that Cal chased. For the first time in Greez's life, he wanted to land and live calmly. He's had enough of space, enough of the Empire.

So no, Cal hardly talks, nor does he visit, but Greez does his best to keep the kid in mind anyways. Cal can't stay away forever. Someday, he's going to break the Mantis just right and come back with his tail between his legs because he only knows how to take apart starships, not fix them. Greez did his best to teach him to fix some basic stuff, but Cal ripped out the broken bits so roughly that Greez nearly had an aneurysm. He ended up having to replace some wiring Cal had thought was "useless". Yeah, useless to resell. Expensive to replace new. Didn't teach him that in scrapper school.

Greez hopes Cal wrecks the Mantis soon. It's been too long. He even misses that little droid and how he always seems to purposely be underfoot while Greez cooked.

He misses Cal so bad that he almost begins to subconsciously fix things up in the saloon with Cal in mind. He keeps all of them in mind, of course, he named the place after his great-grandma this place is meant for family, but Cal's the only one who still seems lost in life, who's scrambling through the Galaxy trying to find footing but not really knowing what he wants. It's an easy decision to make the basement for Cal. Kid needs a home, and Greez will make sure there's always one waiting for him when he needs it.

"It's not the best, but it'll do until I find you something better," Doma says, one day, months into Greez's stay. He's become good friends with Doma, she's probably the only one who truly understands leaving the fast life because it became too much.

Greez holds a small jukebox in his lower pair of hands, looking it over and wondering slightly how she had gotten her hands on it. It's dingy. Battered. Probably isn't too loud. But he trusts Doma when it comes to this stuff, she doesn't skip out on him, she always does the best she can. She's the one who got him all the Patolli-weave in the first place. If this small jukebox is the best she can do, then he's happy. It's better than nothing. It's not like he can afford a live band like all the big cantina's have in more trafficked corners of the Galaxy, let alone pay live performers. So, something small that can probably only be heard when you're a good few meters within its range is something he can accept compared to the sad silence.

"It's radio is broken," Doma says, though she laughs, "not like that matters. The Koboh-abyss blocks most of the good channels. There's some tracks in there though, and I can always see if I can keep an eye out for more music if you want anything different. I tried to put things on there that would fit the atmosphere of Pyloon's."

Greez opens the compartment of the music box and sure enough, there's an old cartridge-like device with a frugal list of songs. He doesn't recognize any of the songs, let alone the artists, but once again, he trusts Doma.

"How much do I owe ya?" He asks. Doma gives him a price. It's a little high in his opinion, but she's a business woman and not one to make discounts even for friends. He happily hands over the credits, then shuts the compartment. Before he leaves, however, a thought crosses his mind.

"Hey," he asks, "have you heard of The Agasar?"

-o-o-o-o-

Just like Greez hoped, Cal eventually breaks the Mantis enough to seek him out. It's great to see the kid, but it's so unexpected it hardly registered even after saying hi to BD-1.

The kid looks like he's barely been sleeping, let alone eating, though he at least looks like he's gotten plenty of sun. There's freckles everywhere, way more than what he had after Greez first nabbed him off that sunless sopping-wet rock Bracca.

Luckily, the food and sleep problem is exactly what Greez was expecting.

He's careful to not baby Cal too much, not when Cal's clearly hurting about something. It probably took a lot of convincing on BD's part to get Cal over here and Greez knows that topics like "settle down" "live your own life" and "pack away the lightsaber for a little bit" will only start arguments. Cal's at a point in his life where he doesn't yet see that he has value beyond being a weapon, but Greez is hoping that the right pushes here and there will get him there.

For now, he introduces Cal to his room. It's chock full of things that used to belong to Cal and things Greez plans on giving to Cal. There's nothing else to call it besides his room. Cal seems shocked by the space so clearly set aside and prepared for him, and his face softens into a hurt kind of touched that Greez knows means he appreciates the room a lot but doesn't think he can accept it.

Give it time, Greez.

Honestly it's a miracle Cal managed to sleep at all. The bed must have been comfy because when Greez goes down the next morning to check on him, he's out like a light. Doesn't shift at all, not even a roll of movement behind his eyelids. BD-1 charges silently besides him, looking all content and almost cute. Greez can't help but watch the two of them for a moment, drinking in the peace, wishing Cal could feel like he deserves a little of it.

And sure, the morning starts with a bit of an argument, one that Greez has to end up dropping when Cal goes silent, signaling the conversation is over. He wishes he can shake sense into him, show him that he doesn't need to hold the line all the time. But for now, he can at least make sure Cal knows that Greez has a place for him. A home.

"And Greez... I'll think about what you said."

That's all he can ask for.

And it's somehow not a surprise that Cal comes back a few hours later through the front door looking all dusty and giddy. Greez had been busy trying to turn away some guy with more muscle in one pectoral than what Greez had on his entire body, but Cal quickly introduces Bode as a friend.

Cal also introduces Zee, an ancient Jedi droid, raving about old prospector legends; the treasure planet of Tanalorr. Whatever exhaustion and sadness weighed Cal down this morning has lifted with the breath of adventure, and Greez isn't about to turn him away from it.

However, when Greez offers to fix the Mantis while Cal goes out to check out the forest array, he has to stop the kid from leaving right out the door not three minutes after walking in it.

"Hold on," Greez says, stopping Cal in his tracks. "Have you even eaten anything since arriving?"

Cal pauses, and Greez knows the answer. Greez brushes his hands on his clothes and starts heading to the kitchen. "Grab some seat."

"Greez," Cal halfheartedly argues, slumping down at the bar while that Bode guy chuckles and sits down the next stool over.

"The array's already waited a few hundred years, what's a couple more hours?" Greez asks, looking for his mitts. It's been awhile since he's cooked anything himself, the saloon has a set menu and he's already shown Monk how to cook all those things. "Monk's fixing up Zee, let me fix up you."

He hears Cal chuckle, he says something to Bode, but Greez can't hear because he's officially in the kitchen and turning on the stoves. 

"Oh—krif-" he stumbles, barely managing to stop himself from dropping his nice glass pan while BD-1 boops happily and skitters out of the kitchen. Greez shakes his head. 

He makes an old casserole recipe that his great grandma got from her great grandpa. He has to replace some of the ingredients with other things, as Lateron spices are both hard to get his two pairs of hands on and also sometimes poisonous to human stomachs. He wouldn't want to poison Cal on day two of him finally visiting.

Now that's a thought, he could mildly poison Cal and force him to get some more sleep. He chuckles to himself, he'd never do that.

He brings the casserole out a good hour later, finding Cal lazily slumped over the bar, his finger tracing the rim of a cup. Monk must have visited for a moment between working on repairing Zee, Greez hopes he didn't give the kid anything too strong. Bode is nowhere to be seen, but once Cal notices him arriving he perks up and explains Bode went to the restroom.

That might keep the man busy for a while, Greez thinks happily, the toilet always clogs and Bode seems like the kind of guy who would rather suffer trying to unclog a public toilet instead of walking out and pretending he didn't do it.

He gives Cal a larger portion than what's a normal serving size, and Cal eagerly digs in, closing his eyes in satisfaction after the first bite. "Spirits, I missed your cooking, Greezy money."

Greez chuckles then gives himself a serving, then hops onto his specially made chair. They eat in comfortable silence for a while. Cal seems content, lazy, and eager all at the same time. Sure, the kid thinks he can't stay in one place for long, but now he has something to do here. Greez can't help but be thankful for Zee, more thankful than he's been for any droid in his entire life. He'll be seeing more of Cal for a little while longer.

Before Cal finishes his helping, he pauses, his eyebrows coming together as he chews slowly. Concerned, Greez looks at him, wondering if he accidentally burned some vegetables or something, but Cal swallows and looks at Greez with wide eyes.

"Is that... The Agasar?"

Greez listens, and sure enough, Eseerin Vasahina plays softly in the distance where Greez's old jukebox sits. Cal stands and follows the sound of the music towards the beat down stage. After a second, Greez follows. Cal has this dumb grin on his face, his eyes are closed and his head bops slightly to the thundering drums and screeching violins.

"I thought you didn't like The Agasar," Cal says after a second, opening his eyes to look down at Greez. Stars, the kid is practically beaming.

And yeah, Greez doesn't really care for their music, they're loud and whenever Cal tried to play their music over the Mantis speakers, it always ended up giving Greez a headache.

Greez folds both pairs of arms, trying to not look as proud of himself as he feels. "I'm surprised you don't like them too, considering Sorc Tormo tried to have you mauled to death to the tune of one of their songs."

Cal's grin widens. "Greez, if I had to die to the tune of a song, I would love it to be Sugaan Essana."

"Morbid," Greez says, and Cal laughs.

Greez watches as Cal returns to appreciating the music, something warm settling somewhere in his stomach. Cal may think he can't have a place to call home, but dammit if Greez won't pound into his head that the saloon, at the least, could be. Maybe this mission for Tanalorr will keep Cal around long enough to see that.

For now, Greez will just support Cal where he can. Food, Mantis repairs, a bedroom, and some music.

As Cal uses the back door to leave the saloon while Greez goes with Bode to lock up the front doors, he finds himself content with just that much. Cal probably has no plans to stick around longer than what this Tanalorr mission would allow, but man it's good to have him around even for that long.

He's a good kid, and Greez will cherish his presence while he has it, and make sure Cal understands that here, at Pyloon's Saloon, he will always have a place to return to.

[twistedisciple]

♡  — How would your muse define love? Do they believe in soulmates? Do they believe this definition of love is achievable?

Life Philosophy HCs | not accepting

This question was also sent by @rafent

So glad you asked! This post is long overdue and would be a separate meta if I had gotten to writing it sooner.

Love is actually the reason I don't find it appropriate to label Griss as a true psychopath. He's not callous, despite his penchant for violence, and most of his actions can be attributed to his definition of love. I've drawn from three canon lines for this interpretation. The first is from the end of Chapter 23:

Zephia: [...] Why should I die in the dust, while he... While he gets everything he wanted, just like that. Does that seem fair? Now that they know about the shard, they're sure to break it... and he'll know I've met my end--that he's lost me forever. Griss: You gotta really love somebody... if you wanna hurt 'em that badly.

The second is actually from Gregory at the end of chapter 4 of the DLC, when the Winds discuss Nel's heartbreak over Alear:

Zelestia (about Nel): [...] It's only natural she might need some time to herself after that. Mauvier: Ah. I see. Gregory: People's hearts are fragile when they're in love. You gotta be gentle with them, big guy. Madeline: Sounds like you speak from experience, Gregory. Have you been in love before? Gregory: Nope. But I hear it's as terrifying as it is exhilarating.

Gregory also asserts in his S rank support with Alear that he doesn't understand what love is, and curiously shares this exchange in their A rank:

Alear: Fine. If you can’t come to terms with it, here. Take this. Gregory: Wha?! What was that? That wasn’t a punch! You just flicked my forehead. Alear: And that’s all you get. Consider that your punishment. We’ll never speak of this again. Gregory: Haha. Actually, that’s almost a nice sort of pain. I don’t mind it.

There's a running theme of pain and terror in both Griss and Gregory's concepts of love, which makes sense in the context of their abusive parents, the earliest introduction they ever had to "love." I believe that Gregory's inexperience with love and his fear of pain go hand-in-hand, so the reverse of that is Griss' obsession with pain, and therefore greater experience with love. I would argue that Griss is constantly yearning for some deeper connection with another person, and the only way he knows how to convey this feeling is through violence.

[cw physical abuse] He wants others to hit him, because his parents did, the people of the fell church did, Zephia likely did, and everyone else he's encountered and forced into this never-ending cycle ultimately did as well. He's twisted these experiences into corrections of his own failings (his parents hit him because he wasn't good enough, the sages hit him to drive out sin, Zephia hit him to teach him a lesson), and believes that these people wouldn't raise a hand against him if they didn't love him. This is in line with Zephia's belief about how children should be raised, and meeting her may even be the reason he's able to see pain in this way, but that's a topic for another post. [end cw]

While Griss has an internal concept of love, I don't think it's something he can articulate. The definition at its simplest is love = pain. This is the level that he recognizes and can talk about. However, I believe a broader definition is hidden in his actions: love is self-sacrifice. We see this in Gregory as well, since he repeatedly lets himself be hurt in order to protect those close to him. Griss' devotion to Sombron is rooted in self-harm, and while he isn't a knight making some pretty speech about his loyalty for his liege, the same sort of promise is hidden in this line at the beginning of chapter 23:

Zephia: Retreat isn't an option. I will die, if I must, to protect the shard. Griss: You? That's crazy talk. If anyone's dying today, I've got first dibs.

And confirmed at the end when he tells Zephia that he'd never leave her. I believe this is actually the very beginning of Griss' understanding of "real" love, and parallels the definition Gregory eventually settles on with Alear:

Gregory: I’m embarrassed to admit that I don’t really grasp this “love” thing everyone talks about. Gregory: But if love is finding someone so important that you’re terrified of losing them, then maybe… Gregory: I… I want to be by your side, protecting you. Now and always.

Is this definition of love achievable? Yes. Although Griss is almost too far gone to ever have a long-term, stable and healthy relationship like Gregory will eventually get. This isn't something that he regrets though. At least, not at this time. More on the existential crises that come with change later though.

As for soulmates? No, absolutely not.

[hedicate]

Honestly I'm just going to leave this here because I know I'll literally never touch this app again after I delete it

I'm just going to drop the biggest rant I've ever dropped in my entire life right here right now cuz I'm not about to go out of my way to rant to someone I know doesn't care about me anymore and has already seemingly moved on with his life

You were not ready for a relationship and your behavior proved that to me, and so did deep thought and realization. Between the comparing my behavior to your exes all the way to hurting me to my core because of your outlashes on me. It was all too much for me and I hope to god you can heal from the things people have put you through before you put someone through the same thing you put me through. Does that make sense? I don't know.

I felt like after everything I did, all of the sacrifices I made it wasn't ever good enough for you. I felt like an animal in a cage being poked at by you and your friends, that no matter what I did to show you how much I love you and how much you could trust me, I will always be seen as the dirt under your shoe.

And when you were comfortable, this is when our 70%/30% effort problem began to happen. That's not being "comfortable", that's an unhealthy way of saying "alright guys! I don't want to participate anymore because I know he's just going to stay with me in the long run!"

If that's just "the way you are", I'm sorry but that's not a valid excuse for the way you treated me.

Things began to click for me after you told me, after five whole months, you haven't told me anything about yourself other than your trauma, I felt like I was talking to a complete and total stranger. Like I just told you everything about me, and you gave me a part of you that isn't even happening at this moment and you left it with me. Is that all you wanted? You wanted a place to dump your past off and leave it there?

The real cherry on top was you letting your ex REALLY affect the way you thought about me, letting him tell me off and disrespect me when you KNOW your own morals. I felt like I was in stocks, I felt like people were throwing tomatoes at me and laughing.

It's ALWAYS been me getting the backlash from you, and Mya, and Evan and everyone. You preach and preach on how it's both sides but I know you'll continue to validate your behavior and talk about me like I'm some sort of lesson to your friends, and not even the good kind. I know you enough to make something negative out of me because that's all you do, that's all you'll ever see me as.

That's not you piecing anything together in your head, that's not your automatic reaction. You'd repeat things over and over again because you ACTUALLY believed it, you were just too afraid to admit it to me because let me guess.. You were scared of me?

I sometimes wonder if we would've still been together if you hadn't let Evan come back, and the answer is no. That may be the only thing I'm thankful for, is for him making me realize that I could never be good enough for you no matter how much blood, sweat and tears I put into you. The fact that you could talk about him the way you spoke about me is heartbreaking and it says absolutely everything to me that needed to be said.

I hope you end up happy with Evan because we all know that you never even stopped loving him, you talk about him in ways that I've never seen you talk about anyone before including me. You act like I never loved you for you even though you never gave me the opportunity to, and you idolize him after I leave. You say you could never find the words to express your "love for me" but you seemed to find them perfectly for him and that makes everything crystal clear to me. YOU ARE IN LOVE WITH HIM, stop being in denial.

The COUNTLESS nights I've sobbed in my mother's arms, in my best friends arms over you because of the way you treated me. You made me feel worse about myself for even simply existing.

I admit I made mistakes in our relationship, plenty to count, but I always tried to fix my wrongdoing, even when I knew nothing would've changed the way you saw me.

I don't wish any ill will towards you or your friends, but you're dead to me. We are and never will be friends or acquaintances ever again and I won't ever reach out to you.

@notverytexanytexan

[long-distance-love]

He's in another country and although we have a great connection when we chat, I wish we communicated more. I've told him this. He's dealing with a lot in his life so I don't always hear from him but when I do, it's the best experience ever. He makes me laugh and smile. He brings out a vulnerable, intimate side that I am not used to showing. Sometimes I want to pull away because I'm so far from him and I'm not satisfied with how things are. I want him every day and I wish I was there.

How did you know that it was worth it to keep going with your person? What was it like when you finally met them?

Thanks for the ask! I have recruited my husband Benny's help since I don't want to give you a biased answer. Based on what you told us, we came up with a number of questions you could ask your partner and yourself to figure things out. We don't want to tell you what to do - however, we believe some introspection could help you clear up the air in certain areas of your relationship where you feel confused.

We hope this helps and we're sending you lots of love. 💕

First and foremost, you and your partner need better communication and commitment. Tell him what you want/expect from a relationship, and ask him the same.

Do you have similar expectations for each other? And if not, are you willing to compromise/sacrifice? (i.e. communication frequency and channels, needs, level of intimacy, etc)

Are you both willing to commit to each other? Are you both committed to not seeing other people? Are you both prepared to be officially together? (You need two people for a relationship and nobody has the right to waste your time. If they hesitate at this point, it's best to cut them loose to avoid getting hurt any further.)

If you managed to get through the first two questions:

Do you have similar goals for the future of your relationship? (i.e. it's good to know if your partner is serious about moving together with you at some point, career vs family, opinion on having kids, pet preferences, bad habits, basically every practical goals/details)

Are any of you in a position to visit the other? If not, are you okay with waiting?

Can you align your need for communication and emotional closeness with each other? (Because right now it seems like your needs are not met because you want to communicate more and be closer to your partner while your partner wants the opposite. Going through difficult times is one thing, neglecting your partner is another.)

Additional questions to ask yourself:

Do you still find peace and happiness in this relationship despite everything? Does your partner feel the same?

If nothing changed in their behaviour for the rest of their lives, would you still want to be with them?

Think of the thing that you dislike the most about your partner. If that trait never went away or only got worse with time, would you still be able to love them?

If you didn't find your partner attractive at all, would you still want to be their friend?

I'll answer stuff about Benny and me underneath the cut. 💕

We literally talked about all the topics above even as friends. Our goals mostly align (no kids, dog lovers, peace and quiet above the hustle of advancing our careers, living together on the long run), and we were both ready for a serious commitment.

Here are a few examples as to how we knew "we were it": my husband would video call me every day for the last year, even after his twelve hour shifts (and believe it or not, he was not held at gunpoint ;)) ; I told him that I'm going to go live with him on the long run (1 month into the relationship); my husband visited me multiple times throughout our relationship; even when things got hard, we never considered breaking up; he helped me through some of the worst times of my life and never made me feel like I owed him anything (husband's comment: Danny did the same for me, they're just really bad at taking the credit); we both showed up at our wedding and looked hella sexy :D

It was amazing to meet, but it wasn't actually for the first time. We used to know each other as teens before he moved away, and we even dated for a hot minute as kids, but then we lost touch for many years. So it was a reunion, if you will. But we also met someone completely new. And it was a life changing experience. But! Our relationship already worked online. It was just a confirmation of that, and later on it helped us grow even more confident in each other and our relationship.

[diaborodevil]

Planet speed beginning of the war

Sabrehorn: who wants to die first come at me with the spilling of your blood there will be justice

Deadlock: yeah what he said

Blurr: what your saying doesn’t make sense here this is a safe area for both bots and cons

Deadlock: then why aren’t there any decepticons here only Autobots enjoying themselves

Blurr: welp I’m going to have to deal with these two

Bumblebee: no no no that is not a good idea

Cliffjumper: your asking for it

Blurr: someone has to do something I’m going to fight for my home you two start evacuating people this will get messy

(So then a battle commenced between blurr and sabrehorn Blurr using speed and a home field advantage while sabrehorn used pure pure strength and swordsmanship until Blurr grabbed one of sabrehorns blades and)

*shwing*

Blurr: not so chatty now without a head huh

Sabrehorn: that hasn’t stopped me yet

Blurr: what how how are you alive

Sabrehorn: let’s just say I know a good surgeon good at giving advanced mods like how my shell is immune to cosmic rust

Blurr: what does that have to do with this

Sabrehorn: check your hands

Blurr: ah ahhh ahhhhhh

Sabrehorn: I may look like a boisterous idiot but I’m a tricky swordsman that sword is my killing tool same one I’m gonna use on this place

Blurr: your hurting both bots and cons if you do that

Sabrehorn: I’ll hurt way more bots a worthy sacrifice a grand sacrifice

*shing* *skrunnnch*

Sabrehorn: didn’t you know war means sacrifice deadlock you are truly caught in your ideals if you think war doesn’t me sacrifice you truly are masters inferior student

Deadlock: SHUT UP YOUR WRONG YOUR WRONG THIS ISN’T RIGHT IT ISN’T

Sabrehorn: welp my fun is ruined you can keep that blade literal backstabber how are you holding up

Blurr: uh uhhh ahhhhhhhhh

Sabrehorn: pretty bad but cureable

*shing* *shunk*

Sabrehorn: now he’s dead

Bumblebee and Cliffjumper: nooooo

Sabrehorn: I’ll just put this back and if you wish to not die run while there’s still time including you deadlock

And so con and bot alike ran away as planet speed slowly rusted away bot and con alike both died to the rust until eventually planet speed completely shattered gone

Bumblebee: so what’s your name

It’s deadlock

Cliffjumper: so you stabbed your comrade

Deadlock: he lied to me told me we were on virtuous mission not a slaughter fest

Cliffjumper: so what are gonna do

Deadlock: I’ll become an Autobot fight for a new cause

Bumblebee: so you gonna stick with deadlock as a name

No call me drift

And so we will now be in the start of the beginning of the war

Sabrehorn: *gasp* you didn’t have to wait so long to grab me

Knockout: I’m sorry it’s just that my coat needed to buffed anyway how did your mission go

Sabrehorn: good except that the coward deadlock ran master said he has promise but I don’t see it

Knockout: well atleast your augments seem to be working

Sabrehorn: yeah they really are something thanks

Knockout: oh do thank me I merely implanted them thank there creator

Shockwave: that doesn’t matter he’s merely a test subject a stepping stone to my true project before my lab was taken

Knockout: what were you working on

Shockwave: something that will completely change this war

Welp that’s that for today any questions comment it

[the-phenomenon-world]

Welcome to the world of PHENOMENON

WHAT IS PHENOMENON?

Phenomenon is a universe/in the works story I'm creating full of lore, episodic scenarios, and so much more!

WHO ARE THE MAIN CHARACTERS?

The story involves four main characters.

Max= The grumpy, closed off, but secretly a sweetheart character. He is very nonchalant and often huffs and groans at everything he sees.

Lucas= The Comedic relief, the loud, cocky, and arrogant character, but with a deeper story than you think

Cassie= The sweet, loveable, sunshine and preppy character who loves nothing but to give a smile on anyone's faces

Tobi= The non-human sidekick character, an alien who fell from space and crash landed into the backyard of their home.

(Reference photos)

WHAT IS THIS STORY?

In this world, there are things called "Supernaturals" roam their world. Some good, some neutral, and of course, some bad.

And that's when the main characters come in;

Max, Lucas and Cassie run a three person company called "Supernatural And Paranormal Retrieval Foundation" or SAPRF. It's all about capturing, retrieving and keeping away any bad supernaturals from harming others.

It was just the three of them at the time before Tobi came along.

Tobi is an alien that came from outer space, they seemed to have fallen from the skies and into the three's headquarters, ah..Backyard I mean. Despite being a company, they don't really have a..Building for said company. They get called freelancers pretty often.

At first they tried to contain Tobi, thinking she was a supernatural, but of course, they weren't. Not know what to do with him, they just kinda...Kept them there. And eventually she became apart of SAPRF.

WHAT IS A SUPERNATURAL?

Supernaturals are beings and/or items that have existed long before humans.

They come in many types, via monsters, items (cursed or charmed), spirits (with no memory of previous afterlife), and etc!

There are three types of supernaturals to look out for:

The tamed: tamed supernaturals are usually seen in environments that include humans, animals, and etc. They are most notably the nice and friendly supernaturals. They are also usually seen as guards for people and charms for others, if taken advantage of for selfish or bad gain, they become more..Less friendly.

The neutral: these supernaturals are often associated with being wild, and undecided beings. They slightly lack the friendliest at first sight, but it will become tamed or chaotic depending on how you treat it. So remember; "Always treat others how you want to be treated", supernaturals aren't just mystical creatures, they have morals, boundaries, and need just as much as humans do.

The chaos: these beings however...They are far from redemption and becoming tamed. They are vile things that want nothing but destruction and of course...Chaos. They are the most dangerous form of supernatural and are advised to keep away from. It's hard to tell if a supernatural is either one of a neutral or chaos being, so it's always best to be careful around both. It's either you're safe..Or you're screwed.

The chaos is why SAPRF exists in the first place, the danger of the chaos is too much, and their continuation only hurts others around them. Even if they put too much of a risk on their life with this job, they'd rather sacrifice themselves than let these supernaturals harm others..And hey, they haven't died yet, have they?

[lotusthewriter]

What I've Done - Chapter 3

Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist (2003)

Rating: T

Relationships: Alphonse (Wrath) & Edward

Characters: Alphonse Elric (Wrath), Edward Elric, Sloth, Dante, Envy, Izumi Curtis; MINOR - Roy Mustang; other characters to be added

Summary: “As soon as the homunculus decides to shove these feelings down his throat and take the alchemist to Dante for once and for all, his troubled opponent finally dares to say something that stops the world from going.

“… Al?”

It paralyzes Wrath.”

A Homunculus Alphonse Elric AU.

Word count: TBA

AO3

First chapter | Previous chapter

A/N: I actually already had this chapter planned but I hadn't written it out, so here you have it!

The next chapters will take longer to be posted, though, but I want to keep dedicating myself to this AU, because I really like exploring these characters and the idea of a homunculus Al. Even though this chapter specifically will focus more on Ed's side of the story.

If you want to check out my concept art for this AU, you can check out my art blog, @lotusthekat! I usually post it under the #homunculus al tag :)

Alright, so big trigger warning for suicidal thoughts/ideation in this chapter. It applies to the whole fic, but it's very present here.

TRIGGER WARNINGS - death, grief, repressed trauma, child abuse, physical and emotional abuse, emotional neglect, canon-typical violence, self-sacrifice, suicidal thoughts, blood and injury and loss of limbs. (More might be added)

P/roship DNI.

--

“... AL! ALPHONSE!”

His throat is sore at this point.

He doesn’t know how long he’s been in the forest, looking for that kid. Someone like that shouldn’t be this hard to be spotted.

Edward coughs roughly, exhausted both from the search and the fight that once took place. He has fought many, many powerful enemies before, but he never thought someone would be as quick as Ed, knowing his every move.

Ed has pretty much lost his strength at this point, unable to run or perform alchemy. He’s glad his automail hasn’t broken, but there’s too much inside his head and Ed doesn’t know what to do about it.

As he drops to his knees on the dirt, not caring about it dirtying his pants, there are desperate steps coming in his direction. Ed almost wants them to be that boy, but it turns out to be Ed’s alchemy teacher, Izumi, who also seems to have been hopelessly searching for someone in the woods.

“Ed!” Teacher exclaims. “Where the hell were you?! I’ve been looking everywhere-!”

She stops the yelling when she sees the state Ed is in, her eyes softening in concern.

“Oh, Edward… what happened to you?” She asks as she helps him stand up.

Ed looks away, gulping in fear. Izumi was really angry with him when she found out what he had done, so he doesn’t want to make her mad again. She notices, hence why the woman gently rubs his cheek, probably to clean off the dirt in his face.

“Hey,” Izumi whispers, “you can tell me, Ed.”

He’s not entirely convinced.

Thus, she sighs.

“I… I’m sorry I never made you feel safe enough to come to me all these years,” Izumi apologizes. “So, I want to do this one thing right. I want to be part of your journey. I wouldn’t have come all the way to Dante if I didn’t.”

Her smile is… truly soothing.

Ed doesn’t feel scared of her right now.

Though, it’s really not just her. It’s the fact that everyone involved with Ed will only get hurt or disappear. He doesn’t want that to happen to his teacher, either.

Regardless, Ed finds himself relaxing, letting out the deepest sigh.

“Okay.”

--

Close.

So damn close.

Yet Ed couldn’t even do this right.

His little brother’s hand was gone.

And there’s a monster in the transmutation circle.

He failed.

But most importantly, Edward failed his little brother.

And he couldn’t bear that.

With his own blood and an absent leg, Ed yells at the beyond, hopefully to bring Al back even if in this armor for now.

Once again, the bright light obfuscates the dark basement.

And Ed has no right arm.

Except…

“Al?”

The armor doesn’t show one sign of life. Other than the monster, there’s no other sign of life at all.

Still, Ed, obviously struggling, manages to cling to the metal armor, to see if it’s going to move.

“Al, can you hear me?” The boy begs.

Nothing.

“C-Come on, Al, say something.”

Ed starts shaking the armor, though pathetically since he only has one arm to do that.

“Please. Please, Al.”

It smells like tears, blood, and rotten flesh.

And dead metal.

“No…” Ed’s voice is a pitch higher. “No, no, no! I gave up my arm! Give him back! GIVE HIM BACK!!”

He’s pounding on the metal armor, hating it with every force out there, and yet unable to rip it apart in two. Ed is so angry that not even destroying a thousand armors would ever satiate the feeling.

Edward gradually sobs more painfully, growing numb to the pain and the blood coming out of him.

“He’s my little brother…” he whispers, his true priority. “Please…”

He’s probably going to die.

What’s the point, anyway?

"Al... come back..."

He won't.

The older Elric growls loudly and pounds the metal with force, not even caring about hurting his only weak hand.

"No! Al! AL!" He yells. "AL!!!!"

Ed lost everything.

And he’s going to die alone, all because he was too selfish.

“I’m sorry…” Ed cries, vision slowly darkening.

He has nothing. Nothing.

…

There are steps coming downstairs.

They sound like… boots.

Ed already feels rage just imagining who that could be.

Not him of all people…!

The steps rush to Ed’s direction.

The boy growls, “Go away…”

Whoever is there scoffs quietly. “Kid, you are literally bleeding to death.”

“I don’t care!” Ed ends up whining instead of sounding actually angry.

It’s not like he’s even able to resist much considering half of his limbs are gone, so Ed feels himself being held in the stranger’s arms.

“So, you did all of this…” the man mumbles.

The boy’s golden eyes are filled with tears again.

“It hurts…” Ed sobs.

He realizes he’s losing more and more touch with reality.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t see Mom or Alphonse once he leaves.

“... Winry,” Ed whispers nonsensically, his last hope. “Rockbell…”

There’s silence, then a sympathetic sigh.

“You’ll be alright, kid.”

Beyond his better judgment, Ed finds himself hiding in that stranger’s firm arms, clinging to his wet coat. It’s far from comfortable, yet Ed has already lost everything to care.

The only things Ed will remember then are blurs.

--

When Ed wakes up, he’s in bed taking soup, Winry eyeing him with curious yet terrified blue eyes.

Winry and Granny are apprehensive, neither of them daring to speak. It’s quite a miracle that Ed survived, according to Granny. He expected her to give him a full lecture, and maybe she was about to do so… when Winry asked Ed about Alphonse.

With silence as their only answer, Granny is not even cranky. If Ed isn’t seeing things, she might be letting out tears in secret. Winry appears to have cried, too, and she still does every now and then.

It’s raining too much outside.

Ed knows that creature is still there in the basement, but maybe it’s just going to die due to its state.

Al, then… never came back.

Ed knows he can’t say anything. Nothing will be enough to explain what happened. No apologies will ever bring Mom and Al back. There’s absolutely nothing to justify the older Elric.

Unlike the Rockbells, he’s too empty to cry. Like all the tears were gone with the rain.

The boy doesn’t feel any pain.

He has nothing.

Nothing at all.

He could’ve just… died.

Why didn’t he?

Ed already lost everything.

What was the point?

He’s nearly claimed by the deep rain when the guy that saved him – and Ed already hates him for it – returns, after borrowing the house phone for the moment being. Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang, apparently, was looking for the Elrics’ father thanks to a couple of unsent letters. Ed tunes out of the conversation entirely at the mention of that old man, almost wanting to tell everyone else to leave him alone to die.

Ed is staring at the window, golden eyes deprived of any hope, when he hears the same boots coming to him… gently this time.

“You may not think so right now… but I know you have talent, kid,” Mustang lowers his voice to him. Ed refuses to look back, and the man understands it. “If you want to use it, well… I hope you are ready for the next State Alchemist exam.”

Now is the time Granny Pinako yells at Mustang, appalled that the Lieutenant Colonel would suggest something as such to a bleeding eleven-year-old. At least he leaves before the older Rockbell can kick him out with her wrenches and automail limbs.

Ed, for the first time that night, frowns.

None of them see it.

State Alchemist…

--

“... everything has been for Al.”

Izumi’s black eyes are deep with sadness.

“Nothing else mattered,” Ed explains to her. “I would do everything to get my little brother back. I joined the military, I fought the fiercest and most dangerous enemies, all just for Al.” He could only stare at his automail arm… now knowing where his real limbs must have gone.

His metal limbs make noise, shaking.

“I… I never thought… I-I’d see his face again.”

Izumi tenses. “What do you mean?”

Ed’s head is lowered. “... homunculi.”

She gasps. “You mean…”

He sniffs.

“He fought just like Al, but he was much stronger and faster than me,” Ed narrates. “He was… the only homunculus I’ve ever seen performing alchemy.” He blinks. “I didn’t know why at the time… but I think he has my limbs, Teacher.”

Izumi grabs some of her own hair. “No.”

Ed chuckles bitterly. “Turns out I haven’t lost my right arm for nothing.”

His metal fist tightens, almost breaking into pieces. Winry would disapprove instantly.

“He really wasn’t like them. He only focused on fighting me. Until… I cut his hair with my automail, and he was suddenly really angry,” Ed recalls. “His hair was long and it covered most of his face, so it was only when he was about to punch me in the face that I… saw him.”

Growling teeth, intense purple eyes, profound hatred and resentment…

“It looked like… it was really him , Teacher.”

“Edward,” she warns, “you know that isn’t true.”

“It wasn’t just the- the physical appearance, it was like the real Alphonse wanting to beat me up for everything I did to him,” Edward’s voice breaks just imagining his little brother hating him. “And it’s even worse that the moment I called him Al… he looked terrified. He ran away from me. It was like he hadn’t heard that name in years, and… it meant something to him."

Izumi looks like she wants to deny that the homunculus is Al, yet she’s too pained to dismiss Ed’s suffering.

“I’m pissed off, too, that the homunculi never told me about him,” he bites. “They must’ve known this whole time, and they decided to play with my feelings to get what they wanted.” Ed can only remember Nina’s dead eyes staring deep into his soul, after he also failed to save her, after she brightened his darkest days without Alphonse’s sunlight.

The woman sighs. “I’m so sorry, Ed.”

“It’s not your fault, Teacher. It’s all mine.” His eyes grow wet, only for his left arm to dry them. “I’ve already suspected something was off for a while… but after seeing that boy…”

He doesn’t finish the sentence, refusing to come up with the conclusion. Izumi notices, and while she does not force him to spit it out, she grabs him by the shoulders gently yet solidly, her eyes now serious.

“Edward,” she calls him, “you can’t run away from the past anymore. You have got to make a decision, to take up responsibility for what you’ve done. You must, or else you will regret it.”

The pain of a mother giving up her own child, and unable to turn back on it, is heard beneath Izumi’s stoic nature. Ed swallows the tears of his eleven-year-old self, the tears that rarely come out nowadays because he lost everything that night.

Izumi cannot ever go back on her choice. Ed wants to believe he can bring his brother back, but now that the truth has come to take him down itself…

He doesn’t want to give up on this. He can’t let Al go.

Ed doesn’t think he could handle living with his absence any longer.

“It’ll be okay,” Izumi reassures him, wiping his unseen tears for him. “I promise.”

She hugs him like he’s her own child, loving him despite all the mistakes he’s made.

Ed isn’t entirely soothed by the embrace, which is not Izumi’s fault. He knows she’s trying her best and will continue to do so.

The knowledge, however, of that lost boy in the forest, running forever and ever without a destination, and that ghost that keeps haunting Ed whenever he’s near the Führer…

He won’t be ready.

…

Not yet.