#and he was like some kind of mystic or psychic and shit??

[moodr1ng]

ive always been told id be the first person to die in a horror movie bc im always like "omg yay lets use a ouija board" "we should totally do this evil summoning ritual we found online" etc. and all my friends are like "we shouldnt do that in case of the horrors" and im like boo this sucks. whatever though. i think its just another of my endearing qualities.

[sam-keeper]

The Visitor aka STRIDULUM (1979)

Ha ha yeah, wooo YEAH

da daaaaa dadadaDAA DAAA DAAAAAAA DADADAAAAA DADADADADA DA DAAAAA YEAH!!!!

This is the most prog rock movie I've ever seen in my life. This is spiritually being painted on the side of a van. Does it have a good plot that makes sense? I don't know, asshole, does Emerson Lake and Palmer's seminal classic Karn Evil 9 part 2 have a good plot that makes sense? I'm telling my kids The Visitor (1979) is Star Wars.

I noticed a pattern when looking at other reviews of this film: they fall back on comparisons, as a slight. Well, it's sort of The Omen, and it's sort of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and it's sort of Carrie, and a little Battlestar Galactica and maybe The Birds... which all sounds very derivative, I suppose, until you actually a movie smashing all those things together, and realize, wait a minute, that's bonkers. It feels like critics grasp for these comparisons while foundering in The Visitor's psychedelic sea, desperate for a point of stability. None of these references offer stable landmarks, though, if you hope to predict where the film will veer next in its crazy pursuit of cool ideas and weird setpieces.

Not that the comparisons are totally off base, mind. This IS the story of Katy Collins, a Wicked Little Kid in the vein of the Omen's Damien or Carrie's... Carrie. It's just that this generic convention of the Bad Seed gets set up at the beginning of the film with a bizarre cosmic encounter between an old space wizard and an apparition of the devilish little girl in what looks like a blizzard on mars, followed by a whole ass monologue by "A Jesus Figure" about cosmic psychic spirits of good and evil dueling it out across the planets, delivered to a bunch of bald, white robed children. Hell yeah. But! But. Katy Collins is otherwise a classic, average evil psychic kid who kills people with telekinesis. And uses it to rig professional basketball matches for her shitty step dad, possibly at the behest of the satanic businessmen he answers to who are REALLY giving some serious drone hive vibes what with the way they all turn their heads at the same time. Oh and she's got a pet hawk that murders people at her behest. No, trust me though, it's a really derivative movie. Not like the movies we have now like uhhhh

[sweating] uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Better touchstones than typical blockbuster fare might be the mind-expanding chaos of paperback epics--Clive Barker's Great and Secret Show, King's Dark Tower, Morrison's The Invisibles. Here's some other fun facts: it was directed by Giulio Paradisi (it's a heavily italian production) but he directed it under the brilliant name "Michael J Paradise". The italian title was "Stridulum", which I guess is latin for something like a harsh or shrill sound or shriek, which fits the whole repeating War Between Birds motif and the use of bird cries in the soundtrack. Oh, and one of the guys playing basketball in the first scene with Katy is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, actual famous athlete. It's sort of a bizarre and improbable movie!

But I don't think I'd be nearly so dazzled by all the crazy shit this film throws at the audience if not for Katy herself, played brilliantly by a young child star Paige Conner. She's written and performed in a way that suggests malice, yes, but a childish malice, a bit of a put-on, a belligerent front that gets more and more petulant and uncontrolled as John Huston as the space mystic Jerzy (yes) Colsowicz (get it) confronts her with the limits of her own powers. There's this sequence where Jerzy and Katy play pong against each other. Jerzy, smiling, accuses her cheating by speeding up the game with her powers. Katy, giggling genuinely, gloatingly informs him that no, she sped up the game using a switch on the game console. Later in the film she tries to drop a fire escape on his head, of course. In that conversation, though, there's this charming chemistry between them, the chemistry of a smart young person and an older adult willing to treat her, not as a peer exactly, but as a thinking being, not just a Thing to be smacked into shape. This dynamic is crucial to the climax of the film and its ultimate conviction that no matter how ghastly Katy is, there's more than just evil to her, which might not be the most seasonally horror-forward message but is honestly pretty damn refreshing. Like I don't know if The Visitor is as good a film as The Omen (ok, I know that obviously it's not) but on balance it's probably got its heart more in the right place. Perhaps notably along those lines, one of the horror subplots of The Omen involves possibility of a woman getting an abortion, whereas The Visitor explores the possibility of a woman being impregnated against her will. While it may lose out on form, The Visitor might just win the long game on its politics.

Also some shitty teens get thrown through a plate glass window, and there's a whole sequence where a big truck's lights are treated exactly like an approaching spacecraft, and it's awesome, I don't know what to tell you, I love this shit.

Read more horror reviews like this all season on my Patreon

[borrelia]

Sonic Old Man Yaoi/Old Woman Yuri Knockout Round 2

Do Not Disappoint Me...

TWO pairings with the LEAST votes will be eliminated

Intros to each pairing + propaganda from last round below

Gerald Robotnik was Eggman's grandfather, introduced in Sonic Adventure 2. He made a false deal with Black Doom to create Shadow the Hedgehog in exchange for the Chaos Emeralds, making them both Shadow's dads. They definitely banged and had some kind of toxic mess of a relationship.

Grimer Wormtongue is a nasty little assistant to Ivo Robotnik in Fleetway Sonic the Comic. He is extremely devoted to his cruel master, which is for sure a sexual thing.

Propaganda by @/jorrated [link]

Ebony the Mystic Mog and Pyjamas the Psychic are two characters from Sonic the Comic who appear briefly in a Knuckles story, then become minor recurring characters that take in Super Sonic from the streets. They appear as old friends in their introduction and are implied to live together. If these two aren't married, it's only because Mobius is homophobic.

Mephiles the Dark and Iblis are two halves of the sun/time god Solaris, introduced in Sonic '06. Iblis is kind of just a big fire monster I think but Mephiles orchestrates this whole plot through the course of the game to re-merge with Iblis and form Solaris. Which sounds like some pretty twisted villainous gay devotion to me.

Starline and Eggman were allowed in by popular vote, mostly by Eggman's qualifying age. Dr. Starline is a character from the IDW Sonic the Hedgehog comic. He is a fanboy and devotee of Eggman, restoring Eggman's lost memories and assisting him in his Metal Virus plot. Starline eventually plots to betray Eggman, as he believes himself smarter and more genre-savvy than his idol. He is of course wrong and Eggman beats the shit out of him and kills him to death. Starline is sort of like gen z's Grimer, kind of the tumblr sexyman dark academia Grimer, in that he's younger and prettier than Grimer, but he probably still wants to fuck that old man so bad.

[monsterblogging]

So I rewatched Pacific Rim: The Black to refresh myself on how bad it was, and once again I am just kind of in awe at how god-awful it is.

The Black very literally takes the magic out of Pacific Rim. You know how "drift hangover" refers to a persistent psychic connection between pilot and jaeger? Welp, here "drift hangover" is used to refer to a headache after drifting. Ghost drifting (you know, when pilots get psychic with each other) is turned into ghost piloting, which is when a pilot drifts with the memory of another pilot. Like, it's understandable if most people don't clock the mysticism and animism underpinning Guillermo del Toro's vision of Pacific Rim, but this is a very deliberate effort to erase where humans can just have funky psychic shit happen to them sometimes.

The Black doesn't really seem to understand how drifting works. Two characters have a heated argument without falling out of alignment. Another character functionally has a mind-reading ray. There's no real comprehension of what drift compatibility is and how it works.

The child soldiers are younger than ever. Taylor looks like he was maybe twelve at most when he was taking his pilot's test. Like. Actual twelve year olds are getting certified as jaeger pilots in this world. And this is framed as a good and desirable thing. Literally what the fuck.

The Black calls Horizon Brave "Horizon Bravo," and claims it's a Mark IV jaeger. If you have literally any access to any information about Horizon Brave at all, you know it's a Mark I jaeger.

The jaeger piloted by the children (Atlas Destroyer) is claimed to be a Mark III jaeger, yet uses the type of fuel cells introduced in Uprising. Like it was a whole fucking plot point that Lady Danger was a nuclear jaeger. Literally all they would've had to do was make Atlas Destroyer a Mark VI. It would have been fine.

Atlas Destroyer has a bunch of features Mark IIIs definitely didn't have. Remember how Raleigh and Yancy needed a crew to help them into their drivesuits? Atlas Destroyer just automatically tosses 'em on itself. Remember how Lady Danger's AI mostly just gave status updates? Atlas Destroyer's AI holds entire conversations. Again, you could've just made it a Mark VI, show.

And speaking of Atlas Destroyer's AI, for some goddamn reason the PPDC gave her an emotion chip. Because it's not hard enough to be a pilot already, now your jaeger gets to have anxiety.

The Black claims that Trespasser "smashed the Australian wall in the first attack." This is wrong on every conceivable level. Trespasser attacked San Francisco in the first attack, in 2013. The first kaiju to attack Sydney was Scissure, in 2014. The kaiju what smashed the wall was Mutavore, in 2025.

There is one queer-coded character. He is murdered in gory fashion.

There is one Indigenous-coded character who studies kaiju and their biology. He is depicted being into New Agey woo and wrongly believing that the kaiju he raised can love him. He dies when one of his kaiju eats him.

A major antagonist is depicted as a ruthless man who will kidnap, mindwipe, exploit, and even murder children. Then the show attempts to give him a redemption arc and we're supposed to actually care.

The PPDC refused to let the children's father retrieve them and the other survivors left behind in "the Black." (Read: Australia after the PPDC literally bombed it from space after a bunch of breaches started opening all over it.) Yeah, the PPDC can bomb an entire continent from space, but they can't spare a goddamn rescue helicopter.

Despite all of this and the aforementioned child soldiers, the PPDC is framed as the good guys and the only respite from the horrors of the Black; getting to the Sydney shatterdome is an unambiguously happy ending.

Early on we're lead to think that the PPDC might be getting its hands dirty with kaiju genetic experiments/bioweapon development. Later on we learn that it's the local kaiju cultists doing it. Now come on, which suspect actually makes sense here; the PPDC who can afford to build a killsat, or the kaiju cultists who apparently can't even afford a sterile room to perform a blood transfusion in?

The kaiju cultists are pretty obviously inspired by far right conspiracy theories about evil cults, rather than the actual behaviors of actual cults.

The kaiju sisters recruit by kidnapping women, turning them into kaiju hybrids, and forcing them into their hivemind. For some reason they kill all men. Despite this they are really obsessed with the idea that the half-kaiju smol, who for all appearances is a boy, is going to be their kaiju messiah. It really doesn't make sense, but then again, what can we expect from a slapdash job of far right conspiracy theories?

By the way, this is the PPDC banner literally hanging from the PPDC training center, in the show that is very firm in insisting that THE PPDC IS THE GOOD GUYS WHO PROTECT YOU:

[tobiasdrake]

Time to crack into Torment Peak. And I think I know how.

As an aside, I've been ruminating on some of the stuff Resh'al and the Oracle said. Oracle mentioned being one of three Seers. I asked if the Elder Mist was also one but didn't get a response. Either way, I'm pretty sure the other one is Yoyo.

After all, Teaks did say that Yoyo's a seer. So it makes sense that she'd be one of the Three Seers. Three Seers, Three Sisters... wonder what else she's a Three of. I mean, she is the mystical embodiment of centrism itself, so she's well-suited to being the middleman to all kinds of spectrums.

Also, the Elder Mist said that sometimes great evils are sealed away behind those time locks. The Dweller of Torment is the great evil that the Docarri said we imprisoned in Torment Peak. So someone did know this Dweller was here.

We should assume that any kind of "great evil imprisoned behind time locks" situation is a Dweller. That. I guess. We just forgot about? Or Moraine assumed that having them imprisoned like that qualified for "Good enough" status when he was saying that the Dweller of Woe is the last.

Either way, the Dweller of Woe being the last Dweller is clearly an exaggerated claim. Either Moraine lied to us or someone lied to him. There was a lie of unclear origin that accompanied us to Wraith Island.

So, I had a thought that we could shine the crystal on top of Antsudlo down onto that prism in front of the giant to open the door. Basically the Solstice light puzzle thing but on a macro scale.

But it doesn't look like it. Clearly, this smaller puzzle is the way to open the door. Nuts to that plan.

Interesting to note that, in constract to the typical solar/lunar mix that most of these locks come with, both locks are closed solely by solar magic.

Torment Peak seems to have a preference for you, Zale, the way Mooncradle is clearly biased towards me.

Door's open. Point of no return. Either we kill it here or we've set it free.

Well that's horrifying.

No mistaking it. This is Fleshmancer shit.

You know you're in the shit when you find an ancient magical lock inside the ancient magical lock.

The door outside said "DO NOT OPEN".

This one says "NO, FOR REAL, WHY ARE YOU OPENING!?"

So far, this isn't so bad. Torment minions are even more of a pushover than Strife minions inexplicably were. Woe minions are still the toughest of the lot, no question. But Torment guys vaporize if you so much as look at them funny.

We should not assume that this means the Dweller itself will be a pushover. After all, Strife's the toughest of the lot and their minions went down to a stiff breeze, so Dweller strength and minion strength are demonstrably not proportional.

The biggest threat here is presumably the psychic assault. But since we all took our Fuck Outta My Head Juice (and we swiped an extra vial for Teaks), it's a straight shot to Violence City. Population: Your Ass.

What the atmospheric roller coaster is this?

Uh. Hi? How is your anus today? Is it safe from Torment?

How...

...long ago was that?

What the hell is happening right now? Is this the Dweller of Torment fucking with our heads? Juice or no juice, I'm not sure we can trust the reality of what's in front of us.

...though I wonder. A lone Solar warrior? I wonder if he was the one who set up the barrier out front. It makes sense that the seal would use only Solar magic if his partner wasn't with him or was dead.

Guys. Seriously. My hackles are raised right now. Yours should be too. Something is terribly not right about this situation. Us, Bugraves and Erlina, and Moraine have been the only Solstice Warriors for at least a decade. Whatever happened to their mom happened decades ago, maybe even centuries.

This reeks of a trap.

That's horrifying in a way I can't even process emotionally.

If this is some kind of divine spirit than "entwined forever in the grasp of a Dweller" is not substantively different from "destroyed". From our perspective, we'd never know the difference.

In a sense, it's possible for the Gorilla Matriarch to be here and to have been harvested. Or, more precisely, it's possible that she is currently being harvested over a long period of time? This is all god shit. We don't know everything about how it works.

So maybe these baby gorillas are not a trap, then? Maybe they're just. Like. God babies, and they have a really long life cycle? I don't know.

We probably couldn't. We're deep inside a mountain. Remember when we couldn't handle the Dweller of Woe because not enough light from the eclipse was seeping into the building? Garl had to go bomb open the roof and bathe us in eclipse light before the Dweller became manageable. Moral of the story: The eclipse doesn't matter if its light can't reach us.

We're deep beneath a mountain. We've got the fancy amulet and the fancy juice from Resh'al to make this possible for us. But from a standard Solstice Warrior perspective? How would we ever get eclipse light down here?

From a tactical perspective, so deep underground that no light from the sky could ever penetrate it is the best place for a Dweller to be. Unless Torment wants to come up to the surface for some rousing fisticuffs, this sort of stalemate is the best we could have done.

The question isn't, "How could we let this happen?" The question is, "What more could we have done?"

Yes, Garl, you can write that check. We've got the special handicaps so we can do the thing that can't be done. I feel good about our ability to cash that one.

[skyeinfinity0]

I’m currently working on a Rise fanfic called Two Birds forget but this chapter is murdering me so have a bunch of fic ideas i want to write ik the future feat. RotTMNT and The Owl House

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Fair warning this is going to be mostly Donnie angst bc that’s what i like to write.

Two Birds Sequel/What if thing-I can say nothing without spoiling the ending of the fic.

Inspired by:Nothing

My thoughts: Whenever I get writers block i just work on this a bit more bc it’s easy. It’s just a fairly lengthy one shot.

Titanium Tin Man- Donnie gets an invite to a big fancy science convention where a famous multibillionaire is going to supply funds and endorsements to help kickstart one ‘aspiring inventor’. No surprise Donnie wins, and he gets very very famous. This power obviously goes to his head because he’s Donnie.

Inspired by: Cabinet Man by Lemon Demon

My thoughts: I am very very very excited to write this and have considered dropping Two Birds multiple times so i can get started. However, I already dropped the first fic I ever wrote, so i wanna try and stick with this one. I’m really mostly excited for the second arc of the story, which is also inspired by a Lemon Demon song, but just saying what the song is a massive spoiler so.

Drift Away- Donnie gets kidnapped by Big Mama, but he is confident in the fact that his brothers will find him. However, Big Mama has powerful connections in low places, and her web of lies extends farther than anyone could guess.

Inspired by: Drift Away covered by Caleb Hyles

My Thoughts: This is kind of a remake of my first, dropped fic Purple Rain has Fallen Down except it only hits like three of the same story beats. I am also very excited abt this bc Big Mamas new ally is so cool to me man i can’t wait to write him.

Burn it All Down- Donnie invents nanotech, which he turns into an alter ego called Pyras he uses as an outlet to let out all his anger and emo stuff into. Basically he sneaks out in his nanotech suit and sets stuff on fire while disguised. However, things start to get complicated when his brothers start to take interest in bringing Pyras to justice. And then Baron Draxum gets involved and it all goes to shit.

Inspired by: Play with Fire by Sam Tinnesz

My thoughts: I was OBSESSED with this concept for a while, but i’ve kind of fallen out of love with it. It’s still cool, just not amazing. Also i struggled so hard to explain the plot there oml.

Echoes (Name Highly Subject to Change)- Donnie hears the voices of the Krang in his head after the events of the movie. After determining they are not controlling him in any way, Donnie builds a complicated, morally ambiguous contraption that can be used to turn thoughts into reality using nanotech in the hopes he can use it to confront the Kraang. Idk it’s kind of hard to explain.

Inspired by: Turn the Lights Off by Tally Hall and Maya the Psychic by Gerard Way

My thoughts: This started as two different concepts: the one inspired by Turn the Lights Off where Donnie makes what is basically a non-virtual reality machine and the one inspired by Maya the Psychic where Donnie hears the Kraangs voices, but i was having trouble fleshing them out so i just kinda… smushed them together. Idk what else to say.

Emotionally Unavailable- After an accident while experimenting with a mystic crystal, Donnie’s emotions are separated from his body and manifest as ‘ghosts’ nobody else can see. Basically Inside Out but the emotions have no control and just yell at the person.

Inspired by: Oh Klahoma by Jack Stauber

My thoughts: This is a newer concept but i think it’s pretty cool idk

I also want to write a stereotypical ‘Donnie gets hurt by the shredder and hides it oooo’ fic but that’s less of a project and more of a thing i’m gonna do when i’m bored.

The Owl House x Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Who tf knows i just need some fluff. None of it would make sense (why does hunter have belos possession scars but Luz is still s1 Luz?) But i just crave it.

-Hunter and Donnie would be besties bc I need them to

-Luz and Mikey are soul siblings and you cannot convince me otherwise

-Amity and Raph seem like they would be friends? idk how to explain it they just have the vibes

-And Leo would gain a cool aunt who would absolutely enable his shenanigans because that’s just what Eda does

Anyway if you read all that thanks and if you’d like to adopt a fic hmu and depending on how attached i am to the idea i’m willing to give it up if someone wants it

[aks-of-the-weak]

Incipit: I'm sick. Not actually sick, not covid sick, just the little kind of sick where the nose runs a bit and the throat is a bit sore and the brain heats a bit too much to be doing arcane mathematics for Godot shaders. so here i come instead. Writing Homestuck OCs. My beloved.

Aquassa, Sign of the Stylist: This one's pretty abstract looking.

Constellation: Turns out a Stylist is a pretty vague job, right? Most commonly it's a hairdresser, but anyone who arranges things to be stylish is a stylist. Let's start by going down the Hair path. Hair has some association with magic in popular culture, but i'm not so sure what it is or where it comes from. Aquacin, the Knotted Wand was alledgedly a "mystical" constellation as well, so maybe a magic theme can be a unifying trait amongst Violet constellations. Ok, future Aks here. I didn't find shit. Mostly it's vague witchcraft shenanigans about connecting a non-descript spell with yourself. There's always the myth of Samson, but i'm not a big fan of the Bible.

Hmmm. Let's take this from another perspective. I know i want this troll to be a parallel to Maipur because of their opposing aspects, sways and hemospectral status. Maipur is a Landscaper, at least in name, and by the "anyone who makes things stylish" definition a Landscaper is a kind of stylist. If the metaphor of Artist's constellation was "Skill honed through trained repetition", then Aquassa should be a denial of that. Not "Skill from inborn talent", that's too boring. Maybe Holisticism? "Things will always end up fitting together by themselves". Characterizing a character by "Skill honed through trained repetition" means characterizing them not just by "trained repetition", but before that by their need to be skilled in the first place. So the opposite of that is a character characterized by not needing to be skilled. But i'm not diving into the character yet. Constellation, constellation! While i was spitballing about hair i had the idea of a "hair-cutting constellation". The circle on the right would be the head, the bar on the left the cut-off hair and the bar separating the two would be the scissors.  But with the new thematic this doesn't really work anymore. So, what object is Holistic? What object will function by itself? After some thinking i've settled on a Fruit Tree. A Fruit Tree is a lot more independent than a crop, i think. You don't have to replant it after every harvest and they're more resilient to changes of weather and temperatures. Official constellations don't have any plants, so some might say a fruit tree isn't appropriate for a constellation, but to me that just means it's new grounds to explore.

Physicality: First thing, as a carry-over from the Hair-based brainstorming this troll will have long straight hair. Genuinely long, going down to his ankles. And mimicking that hair, his horns are also long, thin and pointy, starting from his forehead, curving over the top of his head and ending up behind his nape, meaning if he tries to look upwards he risks stabbing himself in the neck. He's supposed to be a parallel to Maipur, so an Idea would be his strifekind would be a mundane object like how Maipur fights with a Paintbrush. Scissors is the obvious answer, but i'm trying to move away from the hair thematic, so i'll go with Shears instead. Clothing-wise, he's a proper noble in fancy clothing. He wears a long cape on his back colored dark-violet on the inside which gives him a sort of Dracula-type look. As for Psionic powers... 

Lore: « Throughout history it has been the common understanding that sea dwellers  cannot manifest psionic abilities. From this assumption, many theses have sprouted throughout academic circles. Sometimes, the naturally strong and psychically resistant constitutions of violetbloods hinder the mitosis of echocerebral cells during the larval and prelarval stages of development. Sometimes it's the process of anti-senescent regeneration which consumes psioactive agents in the blood. These are interesting theories worthy of a profound examination, but in this text, i would like to linger upon the possibility that the assumption itself is flawed. If, hypothetically, violetbloods could manifest psionic phenomenons, what sort of properties could we observe in them? Well, for one, by looking at the concentration of vascular molybdenum [...]

In conclusion, if Violet Psionic Manifestations were possible, they would be on the extremely trained end of the spectrum, further even than Chucklevoodoo and Catharametry. Perhaps completely opposite from Indigo's wholly innate "Mutations". They would have to be Fast in activation, almost as much as Burgundy Psionics, but also Short-reached in effect, somewhere just below Teal Manifestations. Most importantly, we must not forget the Sociological aspect of it. If it is a power that has remained undocumented, it is likely that it is one that can be fully or greatly utilized while remaining undetected. » - George Wiccus, 956, Encyclopedic Catalogue of Psionic Manifestations in Trollkind and Related Faunas, Volume 6, p.4-13, Never published.

Short Story:

You stand before a large orchard. Behind you is an ornate gate of black metal. Forward, on the other side of the orchard, looms a dark, dark mansion. So dark it could disappear with just the gloom of the dusk. As soon as you passed through the gate, this one Sea Dweller came out of the mansion and started walking towards you. You thought you'd wait around, you know how much these jackasses care about manners and whatnot, but the little shit sure is taking his sweet time. You've been here about 15 minutes and he's barely gotten closer. You're pretty sure he stopped to prune one of his trees at some point. So, what the hell, you lean back against a tree and take out your machete. He sends you a death glare like he thinks you're gonna start hacking at his trees or something. If bitch had objections, bitch shouldn't have been 300 meters away. The base of the blade is made of flint, so you knock a piece of steel on it and use the spark to light your cigarette. That's all you need it for, man. You put it back and he mellows out. Good to know you exist, at least.

Another 30 minutes pass where you're just chillin. You've been hopping planet to planet throughout the outskirts of the empire trying all the different cigarettes you could get your mitts on, and you gotta say, these ones are preeetty good. The way the smoke kinda grips at your throat, then lets go, like scratching an itch your hands could never reach. What was it, Xoribon-, Xorabok-, Xoripokics? You can't read the shit that's on the box. Anyways, Solid A-Tier to whatever it's name was. Not quite on the level of the Artisanal Cadaczan Ballots in S-tier, now there's the ultimate form of tobacco. As for Troll Cigs, of course, most of them belong in the F tier. They take a larva, dig a hole in it, stuff it with random chemical products and call it a day. They don't even wrap it or anything, pretty sure one of them you tried had plastic glitter in it. Absolute disgrace. The olives got some good shit, but half the time it's laced with some crazy bullshit that'll send you to death's door. That's how it is with your species, they've got no vision, no artistry, and when they ever do it's a shallow attempt at upping numbers on a—

"I trust you are Maipur Lenote."

You turn your head towards towards the haughty aristocrat who finally finished his mosey. What, is this bitch being impatient now?

"That's me"

"Your earlier taunt was in quite bad taste. Do not do it again."

You pull out the machete and turn the flat of the blade towards him so that he can clearly see where the metal turns to rock.

"It was no taunt, sir. This is all i've got on me to light a cig. I don't carry lighters, y'see, makes it too easy for some psions out there."

Lies. You doubt he'll buy it, but set a trap and you might catch a prey, set a hundred and you surely will. The aristocrat frowns.

"Irrelevant. Walk with me."

Damn, this guy's bossy. You put out your cigarette on your fireproof jacket and stuff it in your pocket. You might be a killer, but you're no litterer. The violetblood begins to walk and you follow.

"I've heard formidable stories about you. Taking on entire groups at once, taking on highbloods, taking on powerful psions and weaponmasters alike."

They always start with that. You don't know why they think you'd be flattered to hear that. You don't know why they think you're proud of killing hundreds.

"I've also heard you're an aficionado of the arts, a master of painting, gardening, scenic landscaping. Remarkable."

Ok, well, now you're blushing a little. He gestures to the fruit trees all around.

"As you see, I am something of botanist myself. My collection collection contains specimens from all over the galaxy, and beyond. I hear this one is even from another universe altogether."

He stops and points to a tree filled with red berries.

"I do know the claim sounds far fetched, but i do not believe it is not unfounded as i obtained the saplings from one man of great wisdom and class. Not the kind to spout petty lies. Have you met him, perchance?"

Bro bought some random tree marked up from a scammer in fancy clothes. You swear, violets are so easy to trick. You just shrug as an answer and he seems content with it.

He reaches his arm into his long cape and draws out a pair of pruning shears. A classic trick, hiding one's hands to pretend you're getting an item from physical storage when really you're just pulling it out of your strife deck or sylladex. If anything it gives you more information than he gains. Bad move, bitch. He uses the shears to prune a branch filled with berries and hands it to you.

"It's unfortunate, had you arrived half a season earlier you could've seen it in its flowering state. It blooms with bright pink petals that fall with the sway of the winds. Quite the regal sight. Care for a sample?"

Bitch. You just like calling this guy a bitch.  In your mind. He has a really callable-a-bitch face. But anyways, you accept and captachalogue the branch. Then you reply:

"To be honest, i didn't think you called me here to talk about this type of work."

"Ah, yes. I suppose it is for 'work' that i have let you enter the premises. So tragic how rarely 'work' aligns with 'interest'."

You both resume walking. You thought he was going to continue with something, but he just keeps walking in silence and looking at his trees. Now piping back in is awkward, but you do it anyway.

"You want me to kill someone."

"Hmm, no, not exactly. There is a group. More a ragtag posse of societal rejects than any sort of real organization. Their leader stole one of my ships and now they are traversing the cosmos, tracking an item we wish to have for ourselves. For my part i wish nothing more than to see him charred husk on the floor, but..."

He hesitates.

"My moirail, you see, used to be matesprit with him. And well, with all the pale affection i have for her in my collapsing and expanding bladder based aquatic vascular system, objectively speaking, she is... Shall we say...

Batshit fucking insane, on her better days. She would have his legs cut off at the knee and nailed to the ground, the lids of his eyes surgically removed so that he may never avert his gaze, and then all of his good friends slowly killed off in front of him while he begs with the regret of having ever 'betrayed' her. Or so she says."

You really wish you could take or dismiss jobs based on morality sometimes, but that's not a luxury that's often affordable when one is in the business of contract killings. You've got a lot of people on your tail, especially right now, and if you want to live another sweep you're going to need the cash and means this guy is willing to part with.

"Well, i'm not asking you to go so far. Just making sure most of them die will be enough. Personally, i'm interested in however much closer you can bring us to the aforementioned item. Find us even an inch of information and you shall have rewards beyond value"

Fancy nobles and their metaphorical ramblings. What could he possibly have to give better than Money. You keep walking towards the mansion in silence. You'd like to think the years have toughened you, molded you into this hard-boiled lethal mercenary that knows no pity and no remorse and yaddi yaddi yadda, but the truth is it still sticks to you. The screams of agony, of visceral hate, even from people who would laugh doing the same. You hate things that stick to you. Sometimes you wish a great wave of death would swoop away through the galaxy and wash away every troll and their starships clinging to the void of space and let them crash down on the sun and planets all around. And only you would be left. Civilizations of the entire universe would cheer and start anew. They'd make art and products more beautiful and pleasant than your entire species has even tried to produce in the thousands of years of its slaughterous existence. And you'd be left jumping from planet to planet, seeing it all, trying as much as you can with the time in this world that is actually yours to u—

"May i ask a question?"

Ugh, hasn't he talked enough?

"Shoot"

"There are millions of low bloods, fighting and killing each other, right now and at any given moment. No doubt you've been amongst them at one point. But where they have confronted death twice, thrice, maybe a dozen times, you've met countless more foes, some outclassing you in number, in sheer strength, in psionics. What is it that makes it you came out on top, and they perished?"  

You consider answering with something stupid, that a noble would like, like "idk, i guess i'm just better", but in your walk, obnoxiously slow though it was, you've grown just a smidgen of respect for the man and his strange passion for arboreal botany. Here you were, thinking shit about your species' sense of artistry, might as well say something worthwhile.

"I think it's just luck. No matter how skilled, strong and prepared you are, at the end of the day you enter a battle with some amount of unknown information. Everyone risks death, i've just been lucky enough to hit twelve on every roll of my d—"

"WRONG!"

His scream makes you take a step back. Shadow hits your face. Dusk has set. The sun is now behind the Mansion.

"It is because you are better, Lenote!"

Its mass cannot be distinguished from its shadow which has now passed your head and runs ever deeper from whence you came.

"Highbloods are stronger than Lowblood, Psions are stronger than Mundanes, Number is stronger than being alone."

You now realize that at some point the man shifted from leading the walk to walking besides you. He takes a step closer to you, or so you think. It's too dark, you can't be sure.

"And you, Maipur Lenote, could come all this way to my doorstep because your talent with the flame and the blade, because your cunning as killer, it allowed you survive even without those cheap advantages of circumstances."

You could swear he has gotten taller. But you could not, you cannot see. You hear movement from where he is, but it's not his, it's something else. Is there a beast there, with him, in the shadows? An alien? Why would it not sneak up from behind you? Throughout this talk you've been certain you could kill him with relatively little risk if need be, but now you're not so sure.

"We ask this job of you, Maipur Lenote, not because you are some petty mercenary. But because you are an Artist. with Death."

It's lunging towards you. You take out your machete and swing in the air. You hit nothing. You equip your Giant Paintbrush and the steel plate under its hairs is hit by the flint of the machete. Sparks fly. It ignites the tar coating your brush. Light again.

He is just standing there. Normal Sized. No beast anywhere. Nothing lunging at you. Just a bitch with a smug face while you're flipping the fuck out.

"Is there a problem, Maipur Lenote?"

"Uh, yeah, it's dark as shit in here. I was just getting us some light."

"Ah, I see. I happen to have excellent nocturnal vision, so i don't always notice these things. My apologies."

Excellent nocturnal vision my ass, you think. His pupils were completely undilated, there's no way he could see shit in there. Finally, you reach the manor's patio.

"We have arrived."

He opens the door and signals you to get in.

"Come on in, the rest of The Court is eagerly awaiting to meet you."

"You're not gonna ask me to leave my weapons at the door?"

"Of course not, we have manners."

You step through the doorframe. As the doors closes behind you, you think back to your talk with that man. Or rather, the one he has had with you. You think that, in your little game furriers, you might have ended up the prey.

Excipit: Gods damn, i love writing. You forget how fun this shit is when you start thinking about how you "should write" instead of actually doing it. I've cut the Lusus and Personality section. The former, i think i'm doing away with since it's not relevant most of the time. Ajiana Carcha (this guy) had a very weak mosquito-type lusus who died from getting crushed/killed when he was pretty young. It broke his heart really badly </3. That's enough lusus info, imo, maybe i'll integrate it into Physicality for future posts. Personality i'm not doing away with, but when you've got such an extensive short story, plus for an antagonist who you generally want to keep mysterious more than a protagonist, i think it's not necessary. I dream of a day where i'll be able to just say stupid non-sequiturs in the Excipit. Instead most of it is taken up on the actual subject of the post. Ugh, so annoying.

[ofwulf]

"Same. But you hear things. And then there's the movies... Toga... Toga... Toga..."

He's trying to be a little light hearted at least. It's not easy though when the hairs on the back of his neck have been prickling all night. Strange smells and new people. It all just intermingled to spell 'trouble'. And while Douglas might not be a psychic or a mystic, he doesn't need to be able to gaze into the future to see that nothing particularly - good - might come of the evening. The best he can hope for is that it's all a dud and the worst that might happen are a few drunk teens puking in a nearby bush and nursing a hangover come sunrise.

At her next words, Doug glanced down at his cup. It's just - coffee. He's never been any kind of particular connoisseur. Yes - his senses are sharp enough to discern a decent cup from a mug of puddle water - and the coffee from the Haze was a decided improvement over stuff he tended to keep at the repair shop.

"Yeah?"

Looking back up, one brow arches in question - and this time there is a small smile on his face - genuine amusement at her comment.

"You don't often hear someone talking down their own product. But maybe talking it down with a view to improve is just a good marketing strategy."

The smile does falter slightly at the flush and the apology. Another stark reminder of why Doug is actually - here. Because yes - weird wasn't quite the word for it. Weird would be nice. Something a little strange. A little puzzling. A little mysterious. But this weird had teeth and claws and had caused some serious harm.

"Trust me, it's no picnic for the people who've been here all their lives either."

Chweing on the side of his mouth for a moment in thought Dougl does offer one more comment on the... situation...

"This is unsolicited advice - and it probably goes without saying, so feel free to take it or leave it, but... You should be careful. Even here, with plenty of people around. I don't know if the 'weird' is over... So, please... just... yeah... uh... Now I'm the one who should probably shut up."

There's something of a quick headshake and a huff from the elder Sharpe as she questions his reason for being here...

"Yeah - Dec... Declan. The most amazingly smart and genuine kid you could want to meet who's also somehow still capable of absolute stupidity - sometimes at the same time."

Kid. It's not as though Dec was still running around in diapers. He's a man within his own right. But to Doug he'll always be 'little brother'. No matter how old or how accomplished.

"I just hope that the 'smart' wins out over the 'stupid' tonight."

He's about to laugh again, but the light shifts and he can see that her expression has changed. It's stark and sharp and... if he was any kind of poet, Douglas might have described the look on her face as 'haunted'.

---I had a brother, too

HAD. Oh... It's like a gut punch. Because that one word screams out at him, over and above everything else she says. It's like a gong went off in his brain. A sudden swarm of bees stinging every nerve in his body... It's Dougs worst fear being lived through someone else. He can't imagine... Just... Can't...

He really should have listened to himself when he said he should shut up.

"Oh, shit... I... I'm sorry."

Maybe the capacity to be astoundingly stupid runs in the damn family - because it sure as hell felt that way right now. What does he even say. Does he ask how? Or when? Or... No... Not his business. If she wanted to volunteer more - that was her story to tell. Not his to ask for.

"I really am - sorry. Look... I never even got your name... Maybe we should start over... Hi - I'm Douglas."

"I skipped frat parties so...", she watched the teenagers pass them by and furrowed her brows. Maryam understood celebration and ravalry as much as any other fae, frolicking in the forest and all. But where she had thought to find similiarities with the mortals she was once again at a loss. They were so similar, and yet so very different. The fae gave the man beside her a look over and smiled again. "You don't enjoy yourself very often, hu?"

"Honestly, when it comes to coffee and Lavender Haze... We could do better, if we wanted to", she shrugged at his coffee but found herself nodding at his next words. Maryam liked this beverage that most mortals were almost addicted to, a lot. She saw why so many of them could not start the day without. It made her alert, made her awake, but it was still only a shadow of what magic had been able to do for her at the court. And it was such a stark contrast to how mortals tried so hard to dull their senses again with every next step they took on a regular day. They needed constant sound and colours, yet enslaved themselves in the grey of their daily life, forgetting to look up towards the stars.

She shook her head slightly, chasing away those thoughts and returning to the conversation at hand. "Sorry, I got lost up here for a moment", Maryam pointed to her head and gave him a warm - very apologetic - smile, "It has been a confusing few weeks here. But yes, I work at the Haze. But I am still fairly new to Holloway. I arrived just in time to see all that monster in the woods stuff." She took a sip from her coffee, "Sorry, I do not mean to joke, I know that was quite serious and people were lost. It was just... also very weird, for someone coming in from the outside. You don't have that every day. And - I better stop talking now."

Her cheeks turned a shade darker and she hoped he would take it as her being flustered. In truth her tongue had ran off as she played for time. Her eyes had found Silas at the other end of the garden and she could not help but follow his steps - already looking forward to the conversation they would have that night.

"Your brother?", Maryam's head snapped back to the man and his words hit her so unexpected she could not stop the shadow from passing over her features, the grief from sneaking into her eyes. She bit her lip as she listened to him, fighting for control again. The one thing that made her weak, the one thing that destroyed the mask she had built over centuries. "I had a brother, too, you know. I hope yours is aware of how lucky he is to have you, looking out for him like this. Not everyone would do that. And it is a good thing to have, a big brother."

[f-oc-imagines]

My favorite Obey Me! MCs

(Not including my main MC) (Not in any order)

I'm addicted to alternative timelines and "what if"s so I have A LOT of alternative MC characterizations. Some these were inspired by really good imagines! BEWARE: There might be spoilers sprinkled throughout this post, nothing beyond Chapter 16 though.

1. Hyperpop MC

S/O: Mammon or Leviathan. Renée Razor is a fairly popular Hyperpop artist with a somewhat mystical post-apocalyptic style. She becomes a hit in Devildom because I could totally see Devildom clubs playing Hyperpop and EDM. She/Her. (Original thought)

2. Sorceress MC

S/O: Diavolo. Skye Ramses is a sorceress who frequently dabbles in black magick but specializes in chaos magick. Before their arrival to the Devildom, they had three pacts with a lower demon and two demons of high caliber. She's also rumored to have connections in the fae world, but those are just rumors of course. ;)) She/they/doe. (Original thought)

Fun fact: I have a running joke about how both humans in the exchange program happen to be shady magic users. Great representatives of the human race, amirite?

3. "Try me if you want to" MC

S/O: Solomon. Jada Bines knew Solomon from before her arrival at the Devildom, they were roommates! As they got closer he gifted her a bracelet that enhanced her strength, agility, and combat skills partially for her protection but also because Solomon is known to use magic like this for shits and giggles. When Jada arrives at RAD, she is not shy to those who try to target her because she is human, Hell, she folded a dude on her first day because he made an off comment about eating her (in a literal sense, not a horni one but honestly she would've done the same if it was). She/Her. (Based on TWO imagines, actually.)

4. Burnt-out Jock MC

S/O: Beelzebub or Mammon. Just take the Chad stereotype, add 50% more depression, and you've got James Quinn! James is a frat boy on a full ride sports scholarship but unfortunately one day he found himself unsatisfied with his life and the things he used to love. He kind of just accepted how he was getting dragged to Hell to attend the school there, due to his craving of change. Maybe this year at RAD will be good for him. He/Him. (Original)

5. Psychic MC

I'm lowkey a simp for her

S/O: Lucifer. Annika Schlager knew about it all. The program, the attic, the tension her mere existence was causing. So she was surprisingly calm when she was summoned for her year at RAD. Only Barbatos knew about her ability before she was summoned because he has similar powers. She/Her. (Original thought)

Seer/Future vision characters are always so fun to work with and her design is *chef's kiss*.

6. Anti-MC

S/O: I'm torn between none or an OC. Elizabeth Wilson is the Anti-MC because she hates EVERYONE. Except Luke, who reminds her of the little brother she used to have. She refuses to be more occasional acquaintances with anyone for the time. The only ones she can stand to be around is Luke (and Simeon after a while) for the longest time, she may warm up to the others eventually but they shouldn't hold their breath. She/Her. (Inspired by Imagine)

She's honestly horrible and so toxic, I love her for it. 😩💕 I call her the "Anti-MC" because she hates everyone (except Luke and....EVENTUALLY Simeon). It's such a huge dynamic shift!

7. Rockstar MC

S/O: Asmodeus or Mephistopheles. Roderick Sun AKA: SkullScream is the lead singer and drummer in the band Satanic Panic! Despite the occult themes present in their music, Roderick actually didn't believe demons existed until they were thrusted into Hell. They/Them. (Original Thought)

8. Archangel MC

S/O: Diavolo. While the original plan for the exchange program was two representatives from all three realms, the celestial realm decided to send down an archangel to fill a more diplomatic role than the other two students. Though she has some less than savory thoughts on demons, she gets along with everyone pretty well. Maybe the future king of Hell can change her opinions on demonkind. She/Her. (Original)

9. Fairy MC

S/O: Mephistopheles and Belphegor. Chrysanthemum is a fairy trickster masquerading as a human to cause chaos in the human world, until she's brought to the Devildom that is! She makes it her personal duty to give Lucifer (and Barbatos by extension) as many grey hairs as she can in one year. Chyrs appoints herself the leader of the Anti-Lucifer League and wreaks havoc in the House of Lamentation and RAD whenever she can! She/Her. (Original Thought)

10. Gang Leader MC

S/O: Mephistopheles. Scorcher AKA Valentin Reynolds is the leader of the Diamondback Gang, a notorious crimelord at the top of the food chain. He's well known for his outrageous threats and even more for backing them up, no more who they're at. I don't recommend any human, demon, or angel cross this MC. He/Him. (Inspired by Imagine)

Fun fact: I based his appearance around Daiya Owada and a Wattpad Character (who was a "bad boy" ofc)

[crystalelemental]

Unit Teambuilding - Bede

*sigh*  Okay, fine.  I'll take it, but only because it's one less contender for the Galar Villain Arc.  Wait no shit, that means Oleana has an opening, BEDE GET OUT OF HERE

General Overview God, where do I begin with this asshole?  Okay, how about this: Natural 90% bonus to move damage and sync if the foe is confused, another 90% move damage bonus if confused, 50% natural buff to everything including Max Moves and sync if super-effective, another 20% bonus to moves if supereffective.  250% bonus move damage.  Yes, the baseline move damage is like...50, but that's a surprising amount of power for only needing Confused and on-type.  Add to it that he has Gobsmack 4 on grid and a Max move that confuses, and it's pretty free.  But wait, he can also debuff special attack and special defense for -1 each successful attack, with a grid node that makes it -2 special defense, and another -1 to a random stat!  And Mystical Fire as a base attack means -2 special attack with each use of that, while Dazzling Gleam makes this all AoE! As you may notice, Mystical Fire and Max Moves means he sets Sun, and yeah, he does, while also debuffing special defense.  But wait, there's also Psybeam, so he gets Psychic Terrain too!  And keep in mind, being on-type for any of these means you're pretty much guaranteed 50% bonus damage to the Max Move, which is now like 600 base damage.  And just in case you thought that was enough, his trainer move gives +2 special attack and crit, and not blocks, but REFLECTS status back at the user.   And he gets Ramp Up on it to cap special attack anyway in two turns.

What the fuck, Bede?  Chill, my god.  Honestly, I freaked out a lot harder when this kit first revealed itself, and having calmed down, the only thing that stands out as exceptional beyond things we've seen before is the 50% bonus to Max Moves.  Otherwise, his damage is pretty, I'd say, standard?  A Tech unit with one 90% and 50% multiplier is just Bertha, you know?  And his base move damage is terrible, so the 250% is just necessary rather than tremendous.  But.  I think what salvages Bede from just being really good as a Fairy type to a pretty universally beneficial option, is the debuffs on top of everything else.  Sure, Max Move damage and all that is great, but the debuffs.  The debuffs are tremendous for someone throwing around this much power.  A potential -2 special attack, -2 special defense, and -1 in another randomized stat, all in one attack?  That’s -5 total.  Only Classic Elesa has that kind of debuff game, and his is more targeted toward the special.  Frankly, this is what sells me on him.  I’m really impressed.

Team 1: Bede, BP Morty/Spring Burgh, Mina Super tank with Bede offense.  The debuffs he brings are mirrored with Mina's Charm, which also allows him to kick off the Fairy-type theme skill.   Spring Burgh or BP Morty bring fantastic defense buffing ability and Potion support.  The main issue here is the team is slow as dirt, but everyone has really low-cost moves so frankly it might be fine.

Team 2: Bede, Diantha, Roxanne Bede, even 1/5, is a fantastic pick for Diantha's tech partner.  Devastation requires special attack debuffs, and Bede is more than willing to provide in three turns, or your money back.  All you'd really want beyond that would be someone to help buff, and that is its own question of who's best.  I went with Roxanne, because this is a team that needs the gauge support.  It takes pressure off Diantha's setup time, gives some nice defense buffs to complement Bede’s special attack debuffs, and allows for a pretty smooth process.

Team 3: Bede, SS Lusamine/Lear, Liza/Prof Oak A bit ridiculous, but hear me out.  SS Lusamine doesn't need more than one application of Terrain to blitz her way through a CS stage.   Especially not with Bede's raw power behind it.  Support can be Liza or Oak, either way.  Liza's probably better if you do this with Lear, since Rising Tide appreciates her other stat buffs.

Team 4: Bede, SS Morty, SS Red/Blue and Arcanine/Serena Bede can set Sun, which makes him a solid complement to SS Morty at lower move levels.  This allows the team to sustain, but additionally, Bede provides fantastic offensive and defensive support through his debuffs. Everyone loves it. I mean except Hilda.

Team 5: Bede, Dawn, Anni N I’m gonna bring up one other thing that can be done here.  One of my biggest gripes about Anni N is how long setup is without specific support, but you often don’t really want to bring your Ghetsis or Champion Iris along for the ride, because they’re on their own sync nuking duty.  While Bede can be, consider this as a build that works even 1/5.  Bede can rapidly debuff special attack of a single target, and gets some extra debuffs as well.  Dawn debuffs foe’s attack by one every time she takes a hit.  Combined, they power up N’s sync nuke, while he sets up the buffs.  Bede’s inclusion of special defense drops also means he gets the foe to the ideal -18 for max sync multiplier damage, AND has Sun via Max Flare.  It’s a dramatic speed up to N’s setup phase, complete with Dawn’s EX support sync giving double damage, perfectly bottomed out special defense for N’s offensive throwdown, perfect debuffs for his sync nuke, and Sun, all with a fantastic defense profile and a unit who has built-in Vigilance to get a status blocking Lucky Skill, and an emergency pop heal to full HP.

Final Thoughts Bede is surprisingly versatile.  I...kinda like it.  And I'm mad about it.   Because I generally don't like Bede.  But I do like Hatterene.  And I do like this kit.  But UUUUGH it's Bede.  He's definitely below the Master Fair units, but Ethan was polite enough to show up early, and even SS Morty helped out to make spark here possible.  So I kinda have to.  For Hatterene.  And those sweet, sweet debuffs.  But not for Bede.  Never for Bede.

[dustedmagazine]

Xisco Rojo — Transfigurations (Holy Hoof)

Transfigurations by Xisco Rojo

Xisco Rojo is one man who keeps his guitars and gets his mail in Madrid, Spain. But anyone who has been around for a while is bound to contain a few former selves, and Sr. Rojo is no exception. Thus, the title of his latest LP, Transfigurations. While he doesn’t tell you straight out how he has been transformed, or into what, the LP’s nine tracks offer peeks into the emotional journey he took to get there.

The trip begins with “For You Dwell In The Light.” The hum of an electric buzz, perhaps from an ungrounded amp, mingles with the drizzling tones of some small bells. Rojo’s acoustic guitar cuts through with some abrupt, arhythmic slide licks, and then settles into a world-wearily strummed trudge. The mood conflicts with the title’s source, which is a description of God found in the Book of Timothy. He might dwell in the light, but the person playing the guitar sounds like they’ve spent quite some time in a chilly shadow, and that they’re playing what they know. 

So, what to do under such circumstances? Get on the move, of course, and that’s exactly what happens on “11 Out Of 10.” Rojo’s quick fingerpicking exudes restlessness as he maps out a winding path that one could imagine leading to Glenn Jones’ doorstep. Instead, it arrives at locale that Jones himself has doubtless visited. In title and sound, “Embellishment & Sporting Of The Golden Cross” sounds like a flourish excerpted from some lonesome John Fahey passage. The LP’s first side comes to a temporary end with “A Different Kind Of Peace,” an evocation of solitary reflection carried out to the accompaniment of a shruti box’s infinite drone. 

While this review has so far lingered upon the music’s sonic and psychic dimensions, it should be acknowledged that Rojo has his technical shit together. His execution is patient and precise, except when it needs not to be, and he makes sure to break down the gear and tuning details in the album’s notes so that other guitar slingers can check his work. But he’s not shackled to the strings. The exuberant “Maia” opens side two with a stack of beats, some from handheld percussion, others from roomful of briskly strummed stringed instruments, and at the root, a recording of his daughter’s heart in utero. 

Rojo has found a direction, but there’s still plenty of territory to cover. As the instrumentation and electricity accumulates, Transfigurations sheds its acoustic storyteller vibe and heads into the mystic, traversing a psychedelic interlude, a white-knuckled guitar raga, and a corner-turning electric blues before it settles into a crepuscular haze. When that ends, you know you have followed a course that can’t be measured in miles.

Bill Meyer

[bigskydreaming]

Petition for a trusted telepath to bestow Dick Grayson with psychic shields so he doesn't get mind controlled every other Tuesday

S.E.R.I.O.U.S.L.Y.

@hood-ex and I were talking about this awhile back, how like, Dick commissioning some kind of magical protection charm from any of the various mystics he knows, to keep his mind a temple that says “THIS IS DICK GRAYSON’S ROOM, EVERYONE ELSE STAY THE FUCK OUT” or whatever....yes, please. Immediately. And with gusto. Make it so. And like, Lilith installing her most heavy duty mental firewalls in his head, maybe invite J’onn over to back that up with some Martian techniques for variety, etc, etc.

Ward, shield and bunker up that boy’s brain six ways to Sunday. Get it locked up so tight in there that the second Psimon or whatever other rando puts even one foot inside there and tries to turn it into their personal RPG setting, they set off a veritable minefield of psychic trap-bombs that fling their intrusive asses all the way into orbit. 

This guy is not even thirty years old and he’s spent like, a third of his life brainwashed, mind controlled, amnesiac, or various other shit along that line. Can we PLEASE get some other stories for him? Is it not just WEIRD to anyone else that from Jason to Tim to Babs to Bruce to Damian, there is no one in his family who comes even close to having a TENTH of the same frequency of being brainwashed and mind controlled and worn around town like a sock puppet?

I am really seriously just begging DC to take a whole beat and just reflect on the fact that looking at the guy who is literally their most famous and high profile rape survivor and being like “I see no problems with additionally making him our go-to first draft pick every time we need a hero stripped of all personal agency and autonomy for a story”.....and always with ZERO follow-up exploration on not just what effect THIS aspect of things has on Dick specifically, but this aspect of things as additionally part of a long-standing and frequently-recurring trend.....

THIS IS NOT A GOOD LOOK, GUYS. THIS IS THE BAD KIND OF IRONY. COULD YOU MAYBE PLZ CONSIDER MAKING IT STOP, THX BAI.

[borrelia]

Sonic Old Man Yaoi/Old Woman Yuri Knockout

TWO pairings with the LEAST votes will be eliminated

Intros to each pairing below

Gerald Robotnik was Eggman's grandfather, introduced in Sonic Adventure 2. He made a false deal with Black Doom to create Shadow the Hedgehog in exchange for the Chaos Emeralds, making them both Shadow's dads. They definitely banged and had some kind of toxic mess of a relationship.

Grimer Wormtongue is a nasty little assistant to Ivo Robotnik in Fleetway Sonic the Comic. He is extremely devoted to his cruel master, which is for sure a sexual thing.

Ebony the Mystic Mog and Pyjamas the Psychic are two characters from Sonic the Comic who appear briefly in a Knuckles story, then become minor recurring characters that take in Super Sonic from the streets. They appear as old friends in their introduction and are implied to live together. If these two aren't married, it's only because Mobius is homophobic.

Blockhead Bill is Mighty's dad in Sonic the Comic. He is a very confused old man who convinces his posh "business associate" Society Max to assist him in taking down his nemesis the Crimson Cobra. This involves Max eating a magic mandrake root and becoming a giant dinosaur, which Bill rides around to cause destruction. idk about you but I'd only let someone do that to me if they were my funny little lover.

Mephiles the Dark and Iblis are two halves of the sun/time god Solaris, introduced in Sonic '06. Iblis is kind of just a big fire monster I think but Mephiles orchestrates this whole plot through the course of the game to re-merge with Iblis and form Solaris. Which sounds like some pretty twisted villainous gay devotion to me.

Ixis Naugus and Ian St. John are characters from the Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comics. Naugus is some kind of evil wizard who enlists the help of Geoffrey St. John, Ian's son, with plot things. I can't decipher Archie plots sorry. When Naugus first contacts Geoffrey, he expects him to be his father Ian. From @mischeva: "why are you wanting to talk to geoffrey’s dad? hm naugus? kinda….kinda interesting." Image also provided by mischeva, ty :)

Starline and Eggman were allowed in by popular vote, mostly by Eggman's qualifying age. Dr. Starline is a character from the IDW Sonic the Hedgehog comic. He is a fanboy and devotee of Eggman, restoring Eggman's lost memories and assisting him in his Metal Virus plot. Starline eventually plots to betray Eggman, as he believes himself smarter and more genre-savvy than his idol. He is of course wrong and Eggman beats the shit out of him and kills him to death. Starline is sort of like gen z's Grimer, kind of the tumblr sexyman dark academia Grimer, in that he's younger and prettier than Grimer, but he probably still wants to fuck that old man so bad.

[makeste]

checking in with Tomura, Deku, AFO, and their drunk AF quirks

yeah lol it is pretty confusing ngl. so anyway my theory on this is a little hard to explain without going a bit in depth, so let me try to break it down. first, the basics:

AFO and OFA are the same quirk. OFA is just a xerox copy of AFO, in the same way that the current AFO is making do with a xerox copy of the original AFO quirk which Tomura now has. we already know that quirks can be duplicated; it’s just that in OFA’s case, duplicating the quirk was an accident on AFO’s part and not intentional. it’s very similar to how Harry was accidentally turned into a horcrux by Voldemort in HP, but more on this here; for the time being let’s move on with the rest of this post.

as explained in chapter 213, OFA’s previous users are NOT in fact just “vestiges” (although I will keep calling them that for simplicity’s sake lol). Deku says it’s much more than that, and that the previous users “are somehow alive in One for All.”

we’ve also seen other indicators that the vestiges are more than just mere shadows/echoes of their former selves. they have sentience and can think independently and even make decisions; they’re not just subject to Deku’s own will. see: the end of Heroes Rising, as well as chapters 193, 213, and 272.

I personally interpret this to mean that the vestiges are actually little pieces of the former user’s souls, who stayed behind in the quirk in order to help guide future users until their mission is finally over. and yeah, I know that sounds a little hokey and ~*~mystical~*~ and the like, but you know what, OFA is just that type of quirk though. like, you don’t have to use the word “souls” if you like -- you can go with “consciousnesses” or “wills” or whatnot instead; whatever suits you -- but the point is just that they’re much, much more than just the lingering resolve of the past users. there’s a lot more going on there.

so now, getting back to the part where I believe that OFA is actually just AFO 2.0, we can start extrapolating some things about the “vestige” that’s currently inside Tomura based on what we know about the vestiges inside Deku. if the same things hold true for the AFO-vestige as the other vestiges, that would mean that the AFO-vestige:

is sentient

has a will of his own

is capable of exercising some measure of control over the quirk, the extent of which is currently unknown

all of which is already cause for concern! BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE.

because if what Ujiko says about the nature of Tomura’s quirk is true, AFO-vestige... actually might not be a “vestige” at all.

“he took a duplicate of his quirk for himself... and gave the original to Shigaraki Tomura.”

in other words, AFO xeroxed his quirk, had Ujiko inject the dupli-AFO back into him, and then had the original AFO quirk transferred into Tomura. Ujiko is very clear on this point. Tomura has the original, NOT the duplicate.

so what the hell does that mean? well, if we ride this train of logic all the way till the end of the tracks, then what it would mean, as crazy as it sounds, is that AFO transferred his soul into Tomura. and kept only a little, tiny horcrux piece for his own self, in his own debilitated shell of a body.

which sounds crazy! because it is crazy. but (1) quirks are fucking wild, and (2) AFO/OFA is already the wackiest of the wacky as it is. so it’s also kind of a “this might as well happen” thing, imo. like, I can only speak for myself here, but I personally am 100% capable of suspending my disbelief, because it’s consistent with what we’ve seen of the quirk up till this point. the AFO-vestige even looks like the other vestiges; Tomura points out that he “looks like Kurogiri”, which is consistent with the other vestiges’ appearances when we first saw them way back in chapter 31.

and Tomura can hear AFO-vestige in his head in the same way that Deku could hear Lil Bro earlier in this arc.

oh and by the way, now might also be a good time to point out that AFO-vestige also seems to be able to detect his fellow vestige’s presence inside of Deku...

...just like AFO Prime can do.

that has nothing to do with anything; it’s just a fun, creepy fact I felt like throwing out there to remind everyone just how fucking unsettling this all is lmao.

so now I’m almost ready to answer your question, anon, but before I do, one last piece of the puzzle here. you see, I think that the original plan was for AFO to transfer his “soul” into Tomura’s body and take him over completely. we’ve already seen him try to take him over once, so I think this particular theory has some solid ground underneath it.

unfortunately for AFO however, and fortunately for everyone else (including Tomura), things didn’t go 100% according to plan. in fact they only went a very specific % according to plan as it turns out:

so if my thinking on this is correct, what this means among other things is that the AFO-vestige inside Tomura is not the full AFO-soul as intended, but instead only a 75%-AFO-soul. the other 25% got shattered into oblivion by Mirko and Present Mic I guess. and so AFO’s plan to transfer himself into Tomura’s body and emerge fully restored and more powerful than ever has backfired on him, because while he would like to have full control over Tomura, I think we have seen pretty clearly that he does not. Nana’s grandson doesn’t intend to play by his rules. and while I do think that Tomura is still underestimating just how much danger he himself is actually in here -- right now he’s confident that he’s shrugged off his old Sensei’s influence and has gotten rid of it, which I don’t think is actually the case at all -- I think we can already see the cracks starting to form in AFO’s plan, though the full extent of the damage remains to be seen.

anyway! so now getting back to your original question, anon, let me break it down piece by piece:

What do you think happened to AFO after Tomura rejected his vestige? - I think he pretended to go away and is currently just watching to see how Tomura handles this, and will step in again if he feels it’s necessary, or once he has gathered a bit more of his strength (he did only just hatch from his test tube like fifteen minutes ago, so he’s probably still working on that).

Do you think that the AFO vestige is just a copy of his mind, or the transferred consciousness? - I think it’s the transferred consciousness/soul, but only 75% of it.

If it is the former than I’m surprised that he went for it. If it is the later did he temporarily leave his body only to be ejected out of Tomura? - I think they duplicated the quirk first, so original!janky!AFO had two AFO-quirks inside his body, the original and the duplicate. then he transferred the original-AFO (and his soul) to Ujiko, or to an external quirk hard drive, or whatever, leaving only the dupli-AFO quirk -- and the horcrux!soul -- inside his original body. so the AFO we’ve been seeing for the majority of this time has only been a feeble little horcrux version of his former self all along. meanwhile the bulk of his soul has just been chilling inside some hard drive somewhere until Tomura finally transferred it to Tomura’s body. quirks. are. wild.

but here’s the key thing here -- Tomura only thinks he rejected the vestige. but I don’t think he can actually get rid of it unless he gets rid of the entire quirk. it’s a whole package deal. so that means that in reality, vestige!AFO -- who is actually real!AFO lulz -- is just chilling out inside Tomura’s body still, biding his time until opportunity presents itself once again.

tl;dr (1) vestige!AFO is actually real!AFO, (2) real!AFO is still inside Tomura and is fine, (3) janky!AFO’s body is currently housing the actual vestige!AFO and is probably laughing it up in Tartarus watching this all go down via his weird psychic connection to his discarded soul, and (4) Tomura is really deep in the shit and doesn’t even know it yet sob.

oh and also, I’m pretty sure that last part also applies to Deku, who if my calculations are correct also has a piece of AFO’s soul inside of him, because this manga is fucking crazeballs and this shit wasn’t already complicated enough somehow I guess. after all, Deku can sense AFO’s soul and AFO’s soul can sense him. just a whole lotta soul-sensing going on, back and forth. so yeah. I guess we’ll see about that.

anyway! and just for the record I’m loving this all and can’t wait to see how it plays out. also, another unrelated side note, chapter 284 should be out early because Jump is coming out early this week. so it’s likely there will be spoiler leaks released in just a few hours’ time, and the chapter itself will probably come out on Thursday or possibly earlier. so maybe we’ll see some of this either confirmed or disproved even sooner than we think. for all I know this post may only have a few hours to live lmao oh well.

[winchesterwords]

“You and I” John Winchester x F!Reader

Summary:  Set before the boys raid the vampire nest to get the colt, John visits you to get insight on which vamps have it. Owning a bar, you are a highway of information for the supernatural and an “old friend” of johns. How will he react around you while his sons meet you for the first time?

Word Count: 3753

Warning: Swearing, Alcohol, lil steamy moment

Song I Wrote To: “You and I” by Lady Gaga

Note: This is a bit canon divergence but I liked the concept. I’ve mentioned before that I don’t write smut, but I hope this lil steamy moment was okay. I don’t see enough John fics on here or ao3 so I wanted to do something. I wish we would have gotten more of his character. Tho i think that’s just cause I love JDM so much. 

-------

In the dark of a lone American road, a 67’ Impala rolled along the rain-slicked street. 

“You have that look on your face again,” Dean Winchester said, looking over at his brother. Sam turned to him, confused. 

“What look?” he asked. 

“The look that says you want to either punch Dad or punch him twice,” Dean said with a knowing glance. 

“I just don’t get why he won’t tell us where we’re going,” Sam said with a deep sigh as he stared at the taillights of their father’s truck ahead of them. “He just has to make everything so damn mysterious.” Dean laughed as his thumbs drummed on the steering wheel. 

“You’re just realizing that now, Sammy? Dad has always been like this, but he knows what he’s doing. Always does.” 

“I’m not so sure about that,” Sam grumbled and Dean rolled his eyes. In their search for the colt, they had gotten word that the break-in was perpetrated by a nest of vampires. The problem was, they weren’t sure where to start when it came to the bloodsuckers. Then, John had mentioned he knew someone who could give them a hand. That was all he said before jumping in his truck and telling his boys to follow him. Sam and Dean had done what they were told and revved the Impala’s engine, but now, Sam was getting restless. 

----

John Winchester drove with an eagerness.

He knew where he was going.  He had the route memorized no matter which direction he was coming from. You were the kind of woman that he couldn’t forget even if he tried. There was something about the way you didn’t take any bullshit when it came to anyone. Then there was the fact that you handled a sawed-off shotgun as well as any hunter he had ever met. John always liked keeping you to himself, his own personal getaway when things were getting a bit too dark for his tastes. 

However, unfortunately, this visit would not be a social one. He needed your help and he was running out of options to find the colt. If anyone knew where to find a vamp nest with a desire for a mystical gun, it would be you.

John hit the gas and sped down the road, keeping Sam and Dean in his rearview mirror. He was actually nervous for once. There was so much of his life that he kept private from his sons. Dean knew a bit more than Sam, but they didn’t know about you. They didn’t know about how you had saved his life twice or that you had asked him to stay with you on multiple occasions, but he couldn’t. You always understood that he had a mission to complete. Not just for Mary, but for his boys as well and you respected that even when all you wanted was a bit more time with the man, just as he did with you. 

Turning off the highway, John rolled into a town that seemed like coming home. Dean followed him through the winding streets as John drove straight for your bar. You had owned “The Iron Outpost” since before you had met the eldest Winchester. The entire building was lined with pure iron to keep unwanted spirits at bay. Not to mention the devil’s traps at both entrances and holy water you added to all the drinks.

You were pretty lenient with most supernaturals such as wolves, witches, even the odd vampire on occasion, but demons was where you drew the line. They never got past the door and if they tried, they would be met by you or your business partner, Dawn, who was also a hunter. The two of you had become an information highway for everything going on in the supernatural world and that was why the Winchesters were now at your doorstep. 

Parking in front of the Outpost, John got out of his truck just as his sons pulled in. Sam still looked annoyed as he got out of the Impala, but Dean just looked confused. “Alright, Dad,” Dean said, “what’s going on? Who is this secret contact of yours.”

“Never said she was a secret, Dean,” John said, “I just said you had never met her.” 

“She?” Sam asked. 

“She’s a hunter,” John said, nodding towards the front door. “Sort of.” 

Sam and Dean exchanged a look before following John into the bar. It was pretty crowded for a Tuesday night. The low hum of conversation rolled throughout the room as drinks were poured and food was served. Dean immediately spotted the odd charms that hung around the main entrance, as well as the warding symbols carved into the door frame.

There were two levels in the place and people milled about on both floors, smiling and drinking their fill. It was a typical place to find hunters and Dean immediately loved it. Sam was still a bit skeptical but remained optimistic that this place would offer answers. 

John searched the floor for you, but could only spot Dawn as she worked behind the bar, smiling at patrons. Moving further into the bar, John kept his eyes peeled for you. “Is she meeting us here?” Sam asked. 

“She owns the bar,” John said, turning to his youngest. “She should be around here somewhere…”

“Closer than you think, Winchester,” a voice came from above and John visibly relaxed as your voice reached him. Looking up at the balcony on the second floor, he finally spotted you. Grinning, you turned and jogged down the stairs. John’s eyes followed you as you approached him and the boys. 

“(Y/N),” he greeted with a smile. 

“Heya, Handsome,” you said as you walked up to him. “I’ve missed you,” you whispered as you leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. John smiled down at you, taking in your face as if he was trying to memorize it. “And I see you’ve brought guests,” you said, peering over his shoulder. Though, it didn’t take long for the pieces to fit together in your mind. “Or should I say, family.”

“(Y/N),” John said, “these are my boys, Sam and Dean,” he introduced, gesturing to each of his sons. You shook both of their hands, smiling. 

“Wow, John, you never mentioned how tall they were,” you said, looking at Sam with amusement in your eyes. The youngest Winchester chewed on the inside of his lip, awkwardly. Turning back to John, you sat into a single hip, crossing your arms. “What are you doin’ back in my neck of the woods?” you asked. 

“Need your help on something, (Y/N),” he said and you recognized his tone of voice immediately. This wasn’t going to be one of your more...entertaining visits. 

���What’s wrong?” you asked, giving him your full attention. 

“We may need a bit more privacy for this conversation,” he said, glancing around and you instantly understood. 

“That kind of ‘something’, huh?” John nodded, “Alright, boys. Why don’t you grab a seat and I’ll start closin’ up early. I’ll send Dawn over with a bottle,” you said. John reached out and squeezed your arm. 

“Thanks,” he said. You sent him a wink and then disappeared to start clearing out customers. John led his sons over to the table he always sat at when he came to visit. Shrugging out of his coat, he leaned back and watched as you spoke to Dawn across the bar, gesturing to the three men in the corner. 

“Dad?” Dean said, gaining John’s attention. “How exactly do you know her?” John sighed, running a hand over his face.

“I met her a few years ago,” John began, “I was on a hunt not too far from here. Some large-scale haunting and I hadn’t realized there was more than one ghost. These were nasty spirits. Salt slowed them down, but every time I turned around, three more would show up. I was being cornered by at least four of them and I was out of rounds when (Y/N) showed up and showered them in salt,” John chuckled slightly at the memory. “Woman was like Rambo with a salt grenade and then she hauled my ass out of there.” 

“So you got your ass handed to you by a chick?” Dean asked, amused. John shrugged. 

“Twice actually,” he continued. “She came with me to salt and burn the bones when a vamp came out of nowhere. Freshly turned one too. I’ve never seen anyone move that fast with a machete.”

“But I thought you said she wasn’t a hunter,” Sam said. 

“I said she was sort of a hunter,” John corrected. “(Y/N) hunts when she can. Mostly local things to keep her town safe, but she has other...talents. (Y/N) is connected in the world of the supernatural. She always knows what is going on within the monster world.”

“What? Like having Wolfman on speed dial?” Dean asked and Sam kicked him under the table. Dean threw a glare at his little brother, annoyed. 

“Kind of,” John said, “it’s complicated.” Dean pursed his lips but didn’t press the issue as Dawn arrived with a bottle of bourbon and four glasses. She dropped them on the table. “Thanks, Dawn,” John said. Dawn grinned at him. 

“Good to see you, John,” she said. “Things have been a bit boring around here since you left.” 

“You know me, D, gotta keep moving,” he said and she rolled her eyes. 

“Right,” she said with a knowing look. “Alright, you guys have a good night, I’m heading out.” Dawn nodded to the boys and then gripped John’s shoulder as she headed for the back, ready to have an early night. Dean poured the drinks and handed them out, pouring an extra one for you as you finished up sending people home. 

John sipped from his glass as he watched as you dragged a very drunk psychic from the bar. “It helps me see better!” the woman complained, trying to stay on her feet. 

“Then go buy a bottle at the liquor store, Shay,” you said, hauling her to the door. “I got shit to do!”

“You are going to have a hard life, (Y/N),” Shay said, pointing her finger at your face. Then, the psychic fell over, trying to reach the door. 

“Bet you didn’t see that coming,” you quipped as she stumbled out the door. With a final dismissal of the staff, the Outpost was finally quiet. After locking up, you joined the Winchesters, gratefully accepting the drink John handed you. “Alright, fill me in.”

“Wait,” Sam said before John could begin, “how do we know we can trust her?” Dean rolled his eyes and John narrowed his at his youngest. You, however, had expected this. 

“Something tells me you have questions, Sam Winchester,” you said, downing the bourbon. “Ask away.”

“How do you get your information about the supernaturals?” Sam asked. You reached for the bottle again and poured yourself another drink as you spoke. 

“I have my sources,” you explained. “Not all ‘monsters’ are bad, boys. There are wolves that eat cow hearts from the butcher and vamps that drink blood-bags instead of people. If you know which ones are the less horrible ones, you can make deals with them. Offer them protection from other hunters in exchange for information. I don’t deal in demons though,” you assured them. “However, I do know how to summon one if the situation is that dire. Which it rarely is in these parts. Psychics and witches are also easy to find and very easy to bribe once you get to know them.”

“So you run a black market for information?” Dean asked. 

“That’s one way to put it, sure,” you said with a shrug. “I find that monsters are more willing to speak to you than other hunters. I offer them a deal and they usually take it.”

“What deal?” asked Sam. 

“If they prove to me that they don’t kill people and offer good information, I keep them protected and keep their secret.” 

“And if they break the deal?” 

“Then I kill them,” you said simply. 

“Just like that?” asked Dean. 

“Just like that, Dean,” you said. “Satisfied?” Dean hesitated before nodding. You looked at Sam and he did the same. 

“She’s good, boys,” John said and you smiled at him, gripping his shoulder. 

“So,” you began, “tell me what you need.” John turned fully towards you and you could see that he was exhausted. You weren’t sure when the last time he slept was. Then again, you hadn’t seen the man for months. A hundred different things could have happened since then. 

“We’re looking for the colt,” John said and your brows shot up. 

“As in Samuel Colt?” you asked.

“You know it?” he asked. 

“I do, but nobody knows where it is.”

“We did,” Dean interjected. “Another hunter, Daniel Elkins, had it, but it was stolen.” 

“By vamps, (Y/N),” John said. 

“What would vampires want with a gun like that?” you asked, confused. Everyone that knew about the supernatural was aware of the gun. It was legendary, but most people thought it was just a fable, a myth to tell monsters so they would be scared. You never imagined that someone you knew would be after it.

“We don’t know,” John said, “but we need it.” You sighed, placing your drink down. 

“I can ask some of my contacts, but I can’t make any promises. And as soon as I do, people, monsters, spirits, you name it, they’re all gonna know the Winchesters are after it.”

“We’re out of options, (Y/N),” he said. 

“I’ll do my best,” you said. 

“Aren’t you gonna ask why we need it?” Dean asked. 

“Not my business,” you said. “When you’re in the business in making deals and keeping secrets, you tend to learn to not ask questions. Excuse me,” you said as you got up and headed for your office upstairs. The three men watched after you. 

As soon as the door to your office shut, John turned to his sons. “Really? Did you have to interview her like a suspect?” He didn’t wait for them to answer as he got up and followed after you. 

“How well do you think they actually know each other?” Sam asked, watching after his father. 

“You don’t think…?” said Dean and then he cringed. “Not an image I needed, Sammy. Not at all.”

-------

Slipping into your office, John shut the door softly behind him. 

“Your boys are a lot like you,” you said from your desk as you texted away on your cell phone. John walked around the room as he looked at all the memorabilia you had from various hunts and adventures. Some he had even joined you on. When his eyes fell on the leather couch in the corner, he couldn’t keep the smirk off his face. 

“Sam is like me,” John eventually said, “but Dean is more like his mother.” John turned and walked back to you as you set your phone down and walked around to lean against the desk. John met you there. You reached out and ran your hands up his chest and then over his shoulders. 

“You look tired,” you said softly, looking into his hazel eyes that stared back at you through thick lashes.

“So do you,” he pointed out. You shrugged. 

“It can be hard in my line of work. Never know when someone is going to need me up at three in the morning.” John nodded as his hands slid around your waist under your shirt, his large hands gripping you tighter. His thumbs rubbed along your skin. “I was hoping you’d visit soon,” you said quietly. 

“I’m sorry it took me so long,” he said, stepping closer between your legs. 

“I heard you mention the haunting we first worked,” you said as your hands crept up his neck and into his hair. 

“It was a tough one,” John said. “I should have done my research and of course, listened to the local bartender who told me the history of the place.”

“Yeah, probably would have helped,” you said with a grin. 

“You know,” John said, leaning forward to trail his lips along your jaw ever so slightly. “I never did thank you for saving me that night.” Your eyes fluttered closed as he nipped at your ear, your hands tightening in his hair.

“I remember you did,” you breathed out. 

“Oh?” John asked, innocently. Pulling back, he looked down at you with lustful eyes. “Would you mind reminding me?” With a hard tug, your lips met his and he grabbed your hips, placing you on the desk. 

John kissed you hard as he tried to make up for all the time lost between the two of you. You gripped him tightly, letting him take control. His hands moved from your waist to your hips and then your thighs as he took charge of your body. 

Sliding your hands from his hair to his waist, you ran them up his stomach beneath his shirt, feeling his hard chest beneath your fingers. John pressed in closer, gripping the back of your neck to tilt your head back for better access. When he parted your lips, a small groan echoed from your throat which only made him more eager.

There was nothing better than kissing John Winchester. He was the only man to ever make you feel like this and the second he walked out of your bar, you craved him until he returned. 

Your nails raked down his back as he let go of your lips and moved to your jaw and then down to your throat. Leaning back on the desk, you let him mark you, feeling electricity flow through your veins. You gasped as he bit down just above your collarbone. Keeping one hand on your neck, he used the other to grip your thigh. Your leg came up and between his legs. John pressed his body against yours harder at the movement. 

You were flush against him, feeling his body fit perfectly against your own. He dragged his teeth along your throat, eliciting another moan from your mouth. “You’re gonna cause trouble if you keep doing that,” he whispered against your skin. “Not that I’m complaining,” he said as he lay you back on the desk, running his hands along your body as he leaned over you. 

“Don’t be a tease,” you warned as he grinned, wrapping your leg around his waist. 

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said with a smirk as he trailed a finger across your chest.

 “John,” you breathed out as he moved back to your lips, swallowing your whispers. 

Just as his hand began to move towards the waistband of your jeans, your phone rang. 

“Fuck,” you groaned as he paused. Detangling yourself from his body, you slid off the desk and grabbed your phone. John stood back, trying to control his breathing as he smoothed down his shirt. You fussed with your own clothes as you picked up the call. 

John didn’t listen as you spoke to whatever contact you had reached out to. Instead, he tried to come down from the high he had just experienced in that small moment with you. He had almost forgotten what it had felt like to have you in his arms, to feel you respond to his touch. His heart jumped in anticipation at the thought of having the opportunity again, he knew it was unlikely. They still had a job to do. 

“You’re in luck,” you said, grabbing his attention as you pocketed your phone. John turned to you. You wiped at your mouth with the back of your hand and smoothed your hair. “I have the location.”

-----

Once the two of you had made sure you didn’t look like horny teenagers, you rejoined Sam and Dean. 

“I got it,” John said, raising a piece of paper in his hand. Your vampire contact, a nomad who you had crossed paths with occasionally had heard about two humans who had been taken by a nest. A nest that was gloating about getting the jump on some guy named Elkins.

“Just like that?” Dean asked. 

“I told you,” John said, “she’s good.” Sam still looked skeptical, but Dean seemed to be alright with how things turned out. 

“Do you guys need anything else?” you asked, trying not to let the sadness on your face show. You knew he had to leave now and you weren’t sure when you would see him again.

“We’re good,” John said softly and you nodded, crossing your arms. 

“Well, don’t any of you be a stranger, okay?” you said. “And for god’s sake be careful so I don’t have to hunt you down cause you got turned.” 

“We’ll do our best,” John said with a longing look that Dean caught immediately. 

“We’ll meet you outside, Dad,” Dean said as he grabbed his brother’s jacket. “It was nice meeting you, (Y/N),” he said and you nodded back to the both of them. As soon as the door closed behind them, you grabbed John’s arm. 

“You’re going after it, aren’t you?” you asked. “The demon. That’s what the colt’s for.” John grimaced and you sighed. He had told you about the yellow-eyed demon the second time he had come to see you. To most people, a conversation like that would seem like bad pillow talk, but it was normal for the two of you. 

“You know I have to,” he said, reaching for you. His hand came up to hold the side of your face. 

“I know,” you said. “He’s not gonna know what hit him when John Winchester shows up with Samuel Colt’s gun on his hip,” you said as you pulled him closer, your hand resting on the place his gun normally sat. You pulled his lips to yours and you kissed him fiercely. He melted into the kiss and you felt as if this was finally goodbye. You didn’t know why, but something about the way you held each other spoke volumes. 

Pulling back, you looked right in his eyes and tried to memorize those beautiful hazel irises. “(Y/N), you are...it’s been you for so long,” he whispered and you fought back tears. You kissed him once more, letting your lips linger for just a few seconds before letting go again. 

“Go get the bastard,” you said. John smiled at you. 

“Yes, Ma’am.” 

[panoramicvacuum]

Here we go ;D

Steven (are you surprised?) + 2, 6, 11

Totally shocked, never saw it coming!  xD  Great choices for questions, though I think there might be some overlap as they get answered.  Let’s see what makes Steven tick! 2. Emotional/moral weak spots:   When it comes to weaknesses, emotionally I think he can be very hard on himself, especially when it comes to living up to expectations of others, specifically his father.  Joseph was not a big presence in Steven’s childhood, and because of that they’re not that close by the time Steven is an adult.  Because of that gap, Steven feels like he has to do a lot to garner his father’s attention and love, and probably thinks he hasn’t lived up to what his father expects of him, especially since Steven doesn’t particularly want to be a part of Devon (yet).  This transfers to how he sees himself through the eyes of others, not just his father.  He tries to take on too much responsibility for fear of being seen as not doing enough.  He hates to disappoint, even if he’s not actually disappointing anyone. However, this does make him a bit of a hypocrite because his other weakness is handling failure, or more specifically avoiding failure by not completing a task that he believes he is doomed to fail.  (Or as I like to call it “being an avoidant little shit”).  He is prone to running from his problems rather than facing them head on and trying (and failing) to come up with a solution.  If he can’t come up with a solution quick enough for his liking, he will pull a fast one and conveniently disappear when it comes time to face the music.  There’s some things he can’t avoid, but for most others, there’s hiding in a cave or leaving the region in order to delay the inevitable.  (And in turn disappointing people that expect him to take charge of things like someone in his position should)

A moral weak spot is probably how heavily he’ll lean on logic, sometimes to the point of fallacy.  He’s very scientific-minded, even in a world with mystical creatures with otherworldly powers.  To him, there’s always a logical conclusion for something, and he’ll more often than not back himself into a logical corner than accept the seemingly impossible.  I think he will break from this at some point, however, when enough things end up going haywire (like when things go upside down involving super-ancient Legendaries), and he’ll learn to just accept things can happen without some scientific explanation, but it’s definitely a crutch he'd fall back on to try to explain why he’d take a course of action (such as with the Dimensional Shifter in the Delta Episode). 6. Vices: Steven’s a bit of a goody-two-shoes, not really partaking in many common vices that someone else in his shoes might enjoy (like those spurred on by excess wealth, celebrity status, or political sway).  He’s definitely not one of those “sex, drugs, and rock and roll” kind of superstars, preferring to stay out of the spotlight and in the company of close friends and companions (or none of the above if he’s craving some alone time in a cave somewhere).  

But, he does have one particularly nasty vice, and that’s lying.  Whether it’s lying to himself, or lying to others, he’s a hard one to pry the truth out of.  It’s usually a little white lie here, a little white lie there, and before you know it he’s lying through his teeth to try to keep the false narrative intact.  He thinks it’s not hurting anyone by telling these lies, and by the time he realizes it’s a problem (if he realizes at all), it’s too late to stop things from snowballing out of control.

Thankfully, he’s got a psychic around him almost constantly.  Metagross usually does a good job of guilting Steven into keeping his lying in check, but Steven has a stubborn streak and will ignore Metagross.  This usually ends up coming back and biting him and his partner in the ass, and maybe one day he’ll learn: Metagross is always right.

11. Bad or petty habits: This is a bit of an overlap with the last question, since lying does become a nasty little habit of his.  Same with the first question in running from his problems.

But, another bad habit Steven has is getting too caught up in his work and forgetting to take care of himself.  Whether it’s forgetting to eat or drink water, or go to bed on time, he can lose himself in whatever it is he’s reading or studying or digging up.  His pokemon and his friends are usually around to gently remind him or sometimes drag him away from his work by force, but there are definitely times where he’s ended up tired and miserable completely by choice.

I hope I answered those right, and this spoke a bit more to some of those nasty little things even the best characters carry with them.  He’s only human, after all! Thanks so much for the ask!