#and she wants to kill the person who hurt them

[hangsawoman]

god misty. it doesn’t matter what they do to her, they will always be friends to misty. ‘you’re a bad friend. not a very good one’ but she still calls shauna her friend. she’s so lonely she has to trick people into hanging out with her, nobody wants to but she needs them to. and she acts like it doesn’t hurt her but she is so so hurt and lonely and the one person that actually did her best to hang with her died on her hands. do you understand how tragic that is. you are so lonely but there’s one person who takes a bit away of that loneliness and you kill her

[maraskywalkers]

okay so I was on a bit of a "soap survives mw3" soapghost kick & then got on a nikprice kick so now I've been thinking a lot about a "soap lives but is taken by makarov" winter soldier esque au where nik learns soap is alive & in makarov's clutches & ultimately helps rescue him but he doesn't immediately tell Price & the 141 so there's some drama & tension about it

okay so like he doesn't say anything because at first it's only rumors right like very vague underground conspiracy theory type stuff so he's not gonna say anything because he doesn't want to get their hopes up or drag them into some dangerous obsession that could ultimately be fruitless

bc I also headcanon that price goes to nik after killing shepard and the two of them end up spending the night together like you know they have a very intense passionate night where price is actually the most vulnerable he'll allow himself to be & it's emotional & intense & heartbreaking & beautiful okay you know all those things

and anyway it's relevant bc nik has seen where price is at right like what makarov has done to his captain what losing soap has done to him & also the 141 bc price expressed his concerns for them with gaz trying to hold them together while ghost is slowly slipping further away from them

so ok he doesn't say anything but keeps his ears open to anything & ofc starts getting more & more pieces so eventually he actually investigates & then he contacts laswell like this could actually be something but we need actual proof & she's on board even tho the whole thing sounds impossible & they do get their proof that soap is alive & makarov has him

but soap is not soap anymore

he's been tortured & brainwashed a la winter soldier style, he doesn't know who he is or have any memories of the 141, he's just been turned into a weapon for makarov to use however he wants

so nik & laswell decide not tell price, maybe it's more laswell than nik (she's worried this might actually break them & they're barely holding it together as is?) but they ultimately agree & make a deal to find a way to bring soap back & bring soap home before they do

and I'm not totally sure what I want but I like the idea of them getting him back & he winds up staying with nik for a while in like a safehouse or some hidden location while they help him and want to reach out to price & the 141 like as soon as they him secured at the safehouse but they aren't able to right away like maybe the 141 got a lead on makarov so they're on the other side of the world & had to go dark or something like there's a disruption in their ability to communicate

but makarov can still finds out that soap has been not only discovered but rescued before nik or laswell can get the 141 bc like it's not something they can drop in a phone call they're trying to tell them in person & everything you know?

but anyway I kinda like them finding out thru makarov bc he thinks that it's them like he knows they're all a team or whatever & he knows who has soap so he makes some sort of comment about him and price is like wtf are you talking about & bc makarov is a sadistic bastard he laughs all like oh you don't know & idk it's a whole thing

but so then! ofc they get a hold of laswell & nik & it all comes out & it's terrible bc the 141 is hurt & angry but like price is esp hurt by nik not telling him bc he was there after & what they talked about & how price had opened himself to nik about losing soap & nik is like I wanted to tell you but I had to be sure I could bring him back to you first & also like "I didn't know then, I didn't know that night, I swear to you" and it's all emotional & tense but they end up making up (and eventually making love again ofc)

and oh actually I think I had the idea of it being soap eventually like calling price & gaz & ghost out on being mad but probably moreso ghost I think actually bc price works thru it with nik & laswell on a more personal level bc they have history there the three of them & gaz does too but it's different & ofc he is upset but I think he'd be able to understand a bit more whereas ghost who is already not great at feelings is like still reeling from soap being alive & being kept from him by a friend/ally (past trust issues popping up again) that he hasn't even begun to process soap being tortured & brainwashed yet so soap has to bring him around

like a soap who's been slowly coming back to himself with help but maybe he's not totally there but enough that he gets it you know he appreciates what nik & laswell have done for him & are still doing & he's able to offer perspective like "it was awful Lt I think if you'd seen me it've killed ya" (ghost would have some comment about like already being dead or how losing soap almost killed him, you know something dramatic & devastating & borderline romantic all at once) and eventually they mend all the rifts & everything

and I focused on nikprice here but it is equally in my head as a soapghost story like soap is never fully gone so the heartbreak of remembering but not remembering & recovering & dealing with the fallout of having been makarov's & all of the guilt & shame he'd feel (uncalled for obvs but he'd still grapple with it) and like knowing simon before he fully remembers him and just being heartbreaking

and ghost too like I have a line in my head when price is confronting nik that's along the lines of "we almost lost simon" bc ghost was not handling his grief well and like i can't decide if they were pre relationship or established relationship but I'm a sucker for the ghost hadn't ever said I love you out loud to soap yet thing so it's especially like gut punch

but ultimately a happy ending ofc for all of them!! like bucky barnes soap gets his mind, his memories, himself back and he heals & so does ghost & the rest of the 141 & soapghost probably get married bc I love that and nikprice actually acknowledge they're in love & committed to each other

so yeah if you read all of that wow thank you sorry if it wasn't totally coherent I've played mw1 & mw2 but haven't finished mw3 so sorry if things are inaccurate or just like weird & silly

I have no current plans to actually write this fic bc I don't have the confidence to do it justice or the motivation to try right now but like who knows??

but! if you're a fic writer & you wanna take it & run with it please do!!!! just let me know so I can read it!! same for fan artists!

[lauralot89]

I read The Black Vampyre by Uriah Derick D'Arcy* and uh. That was a thing.

I want to like this. It's an anti-capitalist, anti-slavery story from 1819, and who doesn't love that? Except it legitimately reads like the ravings of a maniac. I mean, maybe I'm just tired, but it's not a good sign when I'm ten pages in and have to check Wikipedia to verify what the fuck is going on.

Speaking of Wikipedia, I had to get a paperback copy of this book because I couldn't find it anywhere online in its entirety. In my copy, the narrative itself ends on page 90, but the book carries on until page 111, and part of this is because whoever complied this straight up put the entire Wikipedia article at the back of the book. What is happening.

Okay so. I'm going to try to sum this up without sounding insane.

We're told in the first sentence that some guy named Anthony Gibbons is mixed race and that this is his family ancestry:

Once upon a time, there's a terrible person appropriately named Mr. Personne who owns a plantation in St. Domingo. One day he decides to drown a small enslaved boy, except the boy then is resurrected by the moonlight and comes back. Further attempts to drown him fail, so Mr. Personne orders a pyre to be built so he can throw the boy onto it. Except the boy just shoves Mr. Personne into the fire instead.

Mr. Personne is rescued but lies dying of his wounds and asks to see his wife and infant son. His wife appears but tells him that she went to check on their son and found nothing but his hair, skin, and nails. Like a deflated balloon I guess. Mr. Personne dies.

Some years later, Mrs. Personne has been married twice more, but both of those husbands died too, as did any children from her marriages. So she's chilling on her property when all of sudden this super hot Black prince shows up accompanied by his white pageboy, Zembo. The prince professes his love to Mrs. Personne and they get married that evening.

Then, after they've consummated the marriage, the prince makes Mrs. Personne and Zembo go outside to where all her dead husbands and kids are buried, and digs up her most recently deceased son. Said son is completely without decay, and the prince forces Mrs. Personne to drink his blood.

Mrs. Personne passes out from this and wakes up to find that she is a VAMPYRE! (it's written like that, caps and exclamation points and all). And also Mr. Personne has been resurrected and is a VAMPYRE too. But then her next two husbands are also resurrected and demand a duel to the death for her hand, but the prince just stakes both of them. The prince then reveals that he was the boy Mr. Personne tried to drown, and also that Zembo is actually the Personnes' son but now a vampire. Even though Zembo has hair, skin, and nails, which was all that was left of their baby, so I don't understand how the vampyre was able to take him while leaving behind his hair, skin, and nails, but whatever. My head hurts.

The prince tells them that there will be a ship waiting to take them to Europe that night, but instead of getting on the ship, Zembo takes them to a cave where a bunch of vampyres, including the prince, and also a bunch of Black people, are having a meeting about ending slavery? And for no good reason, the vampyre prince tells everyone in attendance how to kill a vampire? And also holds up a bottle that contains a cure for vampirism?

But then it turns out Zembo knew this meeting was taking place and alerted the military somehow, who show up and kill all the vampyres but not all of the Black people because the Black people leave while the military is busy with the vampyres. And then Zembo and his parents all take the vampyre cure and they change Zembo's name to Barabbas and they all live happily ever after except that Mrs. Personne got pregnant from her wedding night with the vampyre prince and has a mixed race baby.

That baby is the ancestor of Anthony Gibbons, who was mentioned at the very beginning of the story. So you may think now, we're going to get to hear about Anthony Gibbons and what his deal is. Well, his deal is that sometimes he has issues with his bowels, and thinks it might be due to his vampire ancestry. And that's the last we ever hear of him.

Then we get a letter from Uriah Derick D'Arcy saying that capitalists are the real vampires, such as bank directors, people who commit financial crimes but can get out of jail due to being rich, and also people who claim that Lord Byron wrote the 1819 story "The Vampyre." And D'Arcy. D'Arcy's a vampire too.

Then we get this random letter sent to a publishing house about how two brothers named Launcelot and Solomon are collaborating in publishing now, and how great that is, and how D'Arcy has written a poem for their consideration.

The poem is about how capitalists are the real vampires, such as bank directors, people who commit financial crimes but can get out of jail due to being rich, and also people who claim that Lord Byron wrote the 1819 story "The Vampyre." And D'Arcy. D'Arcy's a vampire too. Yes, it's literally exactly what we were already told but in poem form.

And then lastly we're told that there's a pug that's bothering the publishing house and the pug is wearing a collar that says Uriah Derick D'Arcy. And that's it. The end.

Also for some reason, every time a proper noun was introduced for the first time, it was written in all caps. And there were so many exclamation points. So so many exclamation points. I feel like Elaine's boss from that episode of Seinfeld in that I too hate exclamation points.

*Uriah Derick D'Arcy is a pseudonym, and apparently there is some debate as to whether the true author is Robert C. Sands or Richard Varick Dey. I honestly thought for half a second that the real writer was Polidori, because of the weird repeated mention of "The Vampyre" being attributed to Byron and also due to both using the phrase "TO GLUT THE THIRST OF A VAMPYRE" and both beginning with the same excerpt from a poem by Byron. But no, Polidori's writing is awful and here the writing itself was fine on a technical level. Just the narrative was incoherent madness.

[burningmoonus]

On the survey I asked the developers to add some VAMPIRE themed cards.

And here what I thought about.

WARNING!!! a lot of mistakes,probably, I'm sorry

Imagine Mc is a vampire like Kathrine Pierce from tvd. The cards are happening in like 17-18 th century or something like this.

So she meets the boys.

1. Xavier -a vampire prince who hides that he's a vampire but mc founds out accidentally. Bc they were childhood friends, and she was terminally ill and was slowly dying, but xavier turned her. So they form an alliance bc they are both vampires, and no one would understand them. They even plan on either getting married or running away together, but royal duties need Xavier to marry a royal person, but mc is not royal and xavier only wants her. But a family of the royal daughter that wants xavier to marry their daughter sends an assassin after her. So, mc's vampire identity was released to the public, and Xaviers family orders to kill mc bc she's vampire, and xavier is like, nuh, uh. They try to run away but mc wanted a good life for xavier, so she sacrifices herself for him having a good life or sumn.

2.Zayne- (mc just got turned or something) a doctor, something like Carlisle from Twilight BUT stay with me!!! He teaches her how to live as a vampire, and they start to live together, BUT there's a kicker!!!! People found out, and they HATE vampires, so they haunt them down, and they die in each other's hands (mhm angst, I love itttt)

3.Rafayel-Mc turns Rafayel (STAY WITH ME HERE) but it was an accident?!?!?!?! She just wanted to drink some of his blood but got carried away and turned him in the vampire. But she didn't know that she turned him into a vampire. So imagine the shock on her face when she wakes up(yes, she sleeps, leave me alone) with him staring at her sitting in a chair, all broody and moody. So he starts to live with her, tey all lovey dovey. Rafayel found some of the mc old letters to her dead lover. (Turns out her lover was Rafayel, but he died?idk im out of ideas), so Rafayel wants to give her colorful happy long life, but mc has no desire to keep on living. So one day he finds a letter on his bed from mc, saying goodbyes etc. So Rafayel keeps on looking for her in every person until he goes insane and people kill him

4.Sylus-A vampire who found mc almost dead, but he decided to turn her into a vampire. He taught her how to appreciate her new life, so they live together(pretty much Rosalie and Emmett from Twilight), but whoever "killed" mc sees her alive and like:damn, is she a witch? So, they send ppl after her claiming that she's a witch. But Sylus wouldn't let anyone touch her. So, he kills them before they try to hurt her but he gets hurt really bad and dies(😳😲). But mc keeps on living. So she finds him a future as she visits some sport event where he participates(boxing match?)but he doesn't remember her so mc is hurt and stuff....That's it!!!!!

5.Caleb- would be a vampire hunter who tries to catch mc bc there's a bounty on her head. They go back and forth until they fall in love, but that's infold, so there'd be angst!!!! Like maybe mc dying in the sunlight or someone kills her, but before she dies, she turns caleb into a vampire, but now he's cursed to spend entirety alone (yes, I hate happiness)

[lokisprettygirl]

Come As You Are (Eric Draven! Bill Skarsgard's Version x Female Reader) (18+) (Slight Au)

Read chapter 9 here // Series Masterlist

Chapter 10

Summary : Melody's arrival leaves Eric with no choice but to reveal the gnarly truth of his past to you.

Warning: 18+, smut, more smut, dirty sexual thoughts, cum play, Description of self harm, dry humping, Eric is a past drug addict with suicidal tendencies, self harm, use of cuss words, description of claustrophobia, reader is in her early thirties, mention of sexual assault, death and murder, Consumption of alcohol and weed, periods

“Are you fine honey??” Laura's gentle voice snapped you out of your thoughts so you looked at her.

“Yeah..just tired, family is draining” you chuckled, lying through your teeth seamlessly.

You were anything but fine at the moment. How could you be fine knowing your boyfriend or whatever Eric was to you currently had his super hot, super famous, super attractive ex- girlfriend in his apartment?

You weren't ready for it, none of you were but mostly you, it was a chapter closed like he had said but she was here now. Early morning when you two came back from the 7 hours ride back to Chicago you were the first one to see her as Eric was in a different cab.

Of course you recognised her, you had obsessed over their relationship so much that you'd have recognised her face in complete darkness. He had asked you to not go up alone so you were waiting outside the building but seeing her out there, looking nervous and scared made you believe that nothing good will come out of this situation, especially not for you.

“You're Melody Banks right?” You asked her so she gave you a shrug, probably thought you were a fan of something, perhaps you'd have been a bit struck if she was just a random popstar standing outside of your shitty apartment building in the shitty neighborhood but knowing her history with Eric, all you felt was dread and heaviness.

“You must be y/n” she said nonchalantly.

How did she know?

Before you could ask her that Eric came and the look on his face? Yeah that haunted you all day, the way his face just became so small and his eyes teared up, looking at his face you could just tell how intensely he had loved her when they were together.

He didn't say anything at first, he just walked past her and went inside so she followed behind him and so did you.

The ride to the 11th floor was as awkward as imaginable.

You stood between them both, not wanting to look at either side, not wanting to know what he was thinking.

Not wanting to know how quickly he'd dump you if she had come to reconcile suddenly after six years.

You were the first one to step out of the hellevator and Eric followed you.

“Eric”

Melody said his name which made him halt in his steps so he turned to look at her. His eyes burning with anger and rage.

“What the fuck is going on Mel? How come you even find me?”

He said to her, his voice filled with anger and that brought a semblance of comfort as you fiddled with your keys, trying to open the door of your apartment just so you could disappear. He was angry at her but you knew how potent his anger was, he only got upset when he cared about something or someone.

“I hired someone, it's not hard to find you with your name and pictures I had of us-” she mumbled shamelessly as she stared at him.

Eric couldn't make sense of it, how come he didn't realise he was being followed? Who else was following him?

Has he put you in danger already?

Pictures, she kept his pictures on her phone? Even after everything that went down? The way she lived her life now he didn't think he was in her memory, let alone in her phone. He didn't keep up with her career or her personal life, in the beginning he often listened to her songs, felt proud of her success and fame like she had always wanted but then it only brought him pain and immense hurt. Witnessing who she was dating, how happy she was without him in her life, it killed him even though he was already dead.

“I need to talk to you Eric..it's important” she said to him so he groaned before he turned to you and immediately grabbed your keys from your hands to open the door of your apartment, he wanted to make sure it was safe in there.

“I just need to deal with this okay?” He said to you as you followed him and stepped into the apartment . His voice was tender as it always was but you still felt your heart beating so fast you feared it would burst.

He was going to leave you. You just knew. You were a placeholder and she was Melody Banks.

He kissed your forehead before he left and closed the door behind him. And now It has been hours since then and you hadn't heard from him, you texted to make sure he was okay but he hadn't responded, he hadn't even seen it.

Eric was so torn, he didn't want to hurt you, not at all, but he also knew Melody didn't just find him because she suddenly regretted her decision to leave him behind. He needed a shower and some time alone to process this, when he came out she was sitting on the single bed, your bed that he had replaced with his own.. she had his drawings of yours in her hands, going through his stuff as if she still owned the rights.

“So it's true..you're with her” she said as she placed his drawing pad down on the bed and walked towards him. Of Course her informant must have filled her in, he knew very well how those private investigators worked.

“What the fuck are you doing?” He asked her, voice gruff and almost disinterested.

“I saw him, Vincent Roeg, he was following me” she told him, her voice trembled with fear.

That one statement shook the ground beneath his feet, his knees felt weak.

It wasn't possible, he had made sure of it, he had sent Vincent Roeg somewhere he'd never come back from.

“That's impossible” he said to her.

“I thought so too, but I saw him..I'm not making it up, I wouldn't have bothered you if I wasn't sure” she said to him as she reached closer and grabbed his hand in her own, her fingers trailed over the scar on his palm, he didn't know how to react, it felt wrong now, he used to live for her touches but it felt so completely wrong now..he didn't want her to touch him anymore, he only needed you to touch him.

Her appearance hadn't changed much, except for some new tattoos and some cosmetic procedures he didn't care to learn more about, he didn't miss the giant diamond ring on her finger though.

He pulled his hand away but then she got closer and hugged him, he was going to push her away but then she started crying and he didn't know what to do at that moment. He had loved this woman with every inch of his life once.

“I'm so sorry about everything, it's just nice seeing you again” she said between her tears so he sighed deeply, her touch and scent both evoked memories he didn't want to revisit.

“Does your fiance know where you are?” He asked her so she pulled away, the look on her face was that of a mouse caught in the cage. They had been keeping it a secret from the public eye but Eric was always observant, more observant than most people she knew.

“Look whoever you saw, it can't be Vincent Roeg, he's dead, I sent him to hell myself” he said to her as he began to pace back and forth in his bedroom.

“I knew you wouldn't believe me-” she said as she picked up her expensive Louis Vuitton bag and took out a picture to hand it to him.

His eyes widened as he saw the man in the picture, it was taken from a CCTV grainy footage but even then he could recognise that demon's face.

“It can't be-” his breathing got heavier as he realised the conundrum he was in. He had to speak with Kronos about this, whoever this Roeg lookalike was he had an agenda if he was following Melody, that meant that he knew about everything that had happened between them and Vincent.

It also made him realise that if he was trailing Melody then he must be trailing him as well.

The thought of you crossed his mind so he immediately grabbed his phone and called you but you didn't pick up and that only tensed him further.

“Do you love her?” He stopped fidgeting with his phone as she asked him the question which only irritated him further.

“Its none of your business”

“Does she know about us?” She asked him another question.

“She knows we dated, she doesn't know about the circus that my life has become” he snapped, it almost came out as a taunt.

“Just yours? Eric?” she crossed her arms as she glared at him.

“Yeah well I didn't ask for it”

“And I did? Do you think I wanted this?”

He sighed as her voice picked up a notch, matching his own. He remembered their arguments during the last few days of their failing relationship, they went around in circles, him feeling hurt that his sacrifice meant nothing to her and her telling him that she never asked him to sell his soul for her so he shouldn't blame her for this.

“What do you want?” He asked her truthfully, he didn't want to beat around the bush.

“I..i don't know. I don't feel safe anymore, everywhere I go I feel watched and that's saying something considering my profession. I didn't know where else to go Eric, nobody will understand, they'll think I'm finally going crazy because of all those drugs I used to take.. you're the only person who would know what to do”

He sighed again as she said that, all these years he was content knowing that she was safe now and that had come crashing down on him again, he was just starting to move on and be happy with you.

“I have to go..make sure she's safe” He said to her as he reached for the closet to put on a shirt.

“Stay here..” he said to her so she smiled and nodded.

After your shift ended you were surprised to see Eric outside considering you were imagining the worst possible situation in your head including him and his ex. Like picturing them making up and having sex on every surface of his apartment.

He had called you but you were busy with the orders at the time so you weren't able to pick up.

“Are you okay?” You asked him so he nodded. Usually he was very careful about being seen with you as it would jeopardize your safety. What happened now then? Did he not want to protect you anymore now that the love of his life– no why were your thoughts so horrible about him? He came to get you right? He wanted to keep you safe that's why he came.

“Ummm what's going on?” You asked him the moment you both entered the elevator so he placed his palms over his face.

How could he even begin to explain this to you? He didn't even know where to start and where to finish wording it in a way that won't end up making him look like a complete deranged lunatic.

“She's in trouble over something -”

That was barely an explanation of this whole fiasco and you weren't satisfied.

“And she found you because?”

“Because it's related to our ..past”

You took a deep breath as he said that, you were getting irritated by his shirt responses.

“Eric ..what's going on?”

“I just told you-”

“No that's not enough”

“Well that's all I'm willing to share okay?” You stared at him in disbelief as he said that before you let out a snicker and stepped out as the floor arrived. You could hear him groaning as he followed you.

“Don't be like that..i have got enough on my plate as it is” You heard his voice as you reached the door of your apartment so you turned to look at him.

“You have your ex in your apartment right now and you just want me to not care about it?” you asked him, you wouldn't let him make you feel as if you were the one overreacting here.

Melody was on the other side of his door, listening into the conversation, biting her nails in anticipation, she had moved on, of course she had. But Eric was important to her, she'd never forget what he had done for her but life with him wasn't pleasant once they woke up from the dead, he had changed, he became overly paranoid, controlling and the love between them wasn't enough for her to keep it going.

And she couldn't have gone her whole life living with someone who was just going to live Forever.

However seeing him today, watching him look at someone else the way he used to look at her, it irked her in ways she couldn't decipher, she was happily engaged to a man who brought her everything she needed so why did it affect her that Eric wasn't pining after her anymore and had moved on?

Eric knew he needed to do something about this situation before he'd end up driving you further into your doubts and insecurities so he walked towards you and cupped your cheeks before he leaned down to reach your lips so he could kiss you. It's been hours, he needed it more than anything, he needed your touch to keep himself from drowning.

Your eyes softened as you melted into his kiss and returned it with equal intensity, you were so afraid of losing him, it made you physically sick.

“It's just complicated.. it's not something I can explain baby” he murmured against your lips so you sighed.

Melody felt that pricking feeling in her heart that she could only relate with jealousy as she looked at you two from the peep hole at his door.

“Try it maybe?” You said to him and his eyes became teary, he didn't want to try, he didn't want to lose you.

You opened your door and dragged him into your apartment so he dreadingly walked onto the couch and sat down. He was trembling, his legs kept shaking, he didn't know what to say to you.

“Y/n you're not going to believe anything I'll say to you..”

“Why won't I believe you?” You asked as you sat down on the floor in front of him, placing your hand down on his knees to stop the tremors.

“Because it's .. going to change how you see everything”

“Nothing could change how I see you Eric”

That's not what he meant.

“Stay here” he said as he got up and walked into the kitchen, he came back with a knife and sat down. You gulped as the sense of dread filled you every being.

“Eric”

“Just relax” He said to you, his voice calm and soothing but how could you be relax? You knew he had self harm issues, you had seen those scars and knew what they meant even though he never really talked about them.“I don't want you to freak out okay?”

“Don't hurt yourself..” you mumbled, eyes tearing up already as you imagined the worst.

“I can't get hurt..that's the thing”

He brought the knife close to his forearm so you grabbed the handle in an attempt to stop whatever he was going to do but he was stronger and before you could say or do anything further he ran the tip over his skin, cutting himself deeply.

“Baby what are you doing -” you stood up as you saw blood seeping out but he grabbed your arm.

“Watch.. please” you were going to scream and yell at him but then you noticed the blood on his arm, it was Black? Why was it black?

What was happening?

You got your arm out of his grip and took a step back as you saw the deep gaping wound closing itself rapidly.

That was enough for you apparently. That's when you fainted.

You didn't remember passing out but you did pass out because an hour later you woke up with a worried looking Eric sitting on the edge of the bed staring at you. You sat up quickly as everything rushed back in your memory. Him cutting himself, the black tar like blood seeping from his body, his wound healing supernaturally fast.

“Eric?” You called out his name so he placed his hand on your cheek and caressed it gently, his eyes were teary. You looked at his arm and there was no wound where he had ran the knife, not even a scar.

“If you want to end this here, not want to do anything with a freak like me, I'd go..I'd never bother you again but if for some reason you're willing to look past it.. perhaps I can explain” he said to you and just the thought of him not being in your life made you feel so hollow, it made you feel so heartbroken you didn't even want to imagine not having him, that was the truth but you were also utterly confused right now, you didn't understand anything anymore, you knew he had skeletons in his past but this was different, this wasn't normal.

“Who are you?” You asked him and he looked down as his eyes welled up..he wanted to tell you that he was the same man you had known for the past half a year but he knew how terrified you must be right now.

“I am Eric..that's who I have always been, baby..but.. something bad happened six years ago. Me and Melody..we ..were..we were murdered” he said to you, there was no point keeping anything hidden from you anymore. He had to tell you the truth even if it made him look crazy, if you were going to be the one who left him then he wouldn't stop you either but he didn't want to be the one to hurt you.

“Murdered?” He nodded as you asked the stupid question that was on the tip of your tongue.

What did he even mean?

“She was involved with someone bad, someone who wasn't of this world anymore, someone who worshiped the devil and sent innocent souls to hell in exchange for eternal life. Vincent Roeg..that's who got us murdered ..we died” he said to you, his voice held the familiar nonchalance that bothered you now.

“Why do you keep saying that?”

“Because that's the truth..”

“Then how come you are here, you're here with me, you're not dead” you said to him, voice riddling with genuine frustration.

“I'm dead baby. I have no soul anymore, gave it away to bring her back” he said as he finally looked you in the eye.

“What?”

You asked him incredulously. That's when he told you where he woke up after they were killed and how Kronos gave him the chance to avenge their deaths, how he had a moment of weakness when he found that she had hurt someone, and how he traded his soul for hers just so she'd live even if it meant he'd be gone forever, he couldn't bear the thought of being in a world that didn't have her.

“How come you are here then Eric?” You asked him softly as you scooted closer to him and cupped his cheeks. You just wanted to feel him, a part of you didn't believe anything he said, another knew he wasn't lying to you.

“Kronos..he took pity on me i suppose, seeing the love I had for her he was willing to send me back here, he told me that I'd have my own soul return to me when I'm loved truly and eternally by another. He had a condition though, as long as I was without a soul I'd be a mercenary of God, send those who don't belong here to hell..that's what I do..that's my job sweetheart”

Tears finally rolled down your cheeks as he said that, he seemed so broken, no wonder he never wanted to reveal what he did out there, you wouldn't have believed him, a part of you was still in shock, if you hadn't actually seen him healing so quickly the way he did you probably would have blamed his trauma for all of this.

“So you can't die? Or Get hurt?”

You asked him so he shook his head.

“Without a soul I'm merely an empty vessel, you saw my blood, it's not even red anymore because that would mean I'm truly alive. I exist now just to do god's bidding” he said softly so you wrapped your arms around his neck and hugged him. He was alive, you didn't care what he said, you had felt him all around you, you had felt his heart beating.

Something still didn't make sense to you though.

“What happened between you and Melody after you came back as this?” you asked as you pulled away slightly but still holding onto him.

“I wasn't the Eric she fell in love with..i became crazy, paranoid, controlling. Just how i'm with you now but she couldn't take it, she had hopes and dreams and she couldn't have fulfilled them when I was holding her back, not wanting her to go anywhere without me, breathing on her neck all the time”

“So she left? She fucking left you after you gave up everything to bring her back?” Your jaw clenched in anger as you questioned him.

How selfish do you have to be to do that to someone you claimed to love?

“Do you even believe anything I'm telling you?” He asked you so you sighed deeply.

“I am trying Eric, it's just..too much. I have been an atheist all my life for god's sake” He couldn't help but chuckle as you said that.

“Wait..why is she back?” you asked him so he placed his head down on your shoulder, he had just revealed an absolute crazy truth about his life and you were still here, holding him, willing to love him, willing to believe in him.

“She saw Vincent Roeg again, or someone that looks like him..I'll figure it out”

Bold of her to run back to the man she had no qualms leaving when life was going her way. God you hated her now, you had no respect for her or her shitty music anymore.

“And how do you feel seeing her after so long?” you asked softly as you caressed his cheek.

“I don't know..I wish I did”

Not the answer you wanted to hear, you wanted him to tell you that she meant nothing to him, that you were important to him now but then how could you even be blind to the truth after everything he had told about his life.

He sold his soul for her, that's how much he loved her, you didn't think that sort of love is ever truly gone or replaced. He made peace with her absence but now she was here again and you feared you'd lose him to her.

“I have to go see Kronos about it..don't go anywhere okay? If that man followed her he must have followed me too and I can't put you in danger” You nodded as he said that so he got up from the bed, he was almost at the door when he turned around to look at you.

“Y/n i know it's too much to ask but can I send her here? I'd like for you two to stay together until I sort this out” he asked you nervously so you gave him a smile.

“You know I'll do anything for you Eric”

His eyes teared up as you said that so he approached you again, leaned down and cupped your cheeks to kiss you as softly as he could.

“Promise me you won't overthink this??” he murmured between the kiss so you nodded.

You were going to try but you knew it wouldn't be easy.

“Okay”

“I love you ..i really do, you don't know what you mean to me”

“Love you baby. .come back soon okay?” Your eyes moistened so he kissed your forehead.

He grabbed your hand in his own as you walked him to the door, he then knocked on his apartment and she immediately opened up, he explained to her that he wanted her to stay in your apartment while he was gone, she looked at you and you could see the look of displeasure on her face.

Fucking bitch.

She walked past you so you rolled your eyes, Eric gave you a small smile before he turned around to make his way to the elevator but you caught up to him and kissed him as passionately as you could. You no longer knew what was happening here but you weren't going to let go of him, even if there was a chance that he was making this all up and was completely insane you were going to get him the help he needed but you won't give up on him.

“You be a good girl now and you wait for me, yeah?” He said softly, making you grin like a schoolgirl.

As he left you came back to your apartment and locked the door, you then saw Melody looking at the pictures you had kept of Eric and you on the dresser in the living room.

Melody looked at those pictures with a sense of contempt, her life was perfect so she didn't understand why she felt so jealous of someone like you, but she did, watching Eric look so happy in those pictures brought back the memories of the time he only loved her and her alone. When she left she wanted him to move on, find peace again but now that he had she couldn't help but feel as if she was losing the claim she had on that sweet boy.

And she didn't know how to deal with that, all she knew was that there was still something unfinished between her and Eric. He loved her first.

😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏

Taglist: @m-riaa @erebus-et-eigengrau @peachychyy @enchantresss97 @fandomxo00 @a-differentbrandof-beans @mariaenchanted

[panpanghost]

part 13 of NAMELESS AU (Still proud of the name :D!)

_"The food is amazing." PIF complemented. Dump him! Dump your brother! That simian is only bringing danger to your family!

_"So now that I got that off my plate. What the fuck happened to me?" Macaque asked.

_"I don't know. All I know is that is the 'Corrupted king's crown', and someone put it on you. We are still trying to find a way to take it off." Protect your son! Leave!

_"That... is not comforting at all."

_"I'm sorry. But don't worry, I won't rest till I make sure the crown is destroyed."

_"So do you have any lead?"

_"I'm thinking of contacting the celestial realm for help."

_"That would be a big mistake." Wukong intervened.

_"And why's that?" She asked, hating his intrusion.

_"First, they don't care what happens in the mortal realm. Second, even if they agreed to help, years would've passed in our realm before they even considered sending someone. And theird, the only way known to stop the crown is killing the person wearing it. What makes you so sure they won't try to kill Macaque?" There was clear anger in Wukong's voice.

PIF kept silent, The king was absolutely right. To the celestial realm, Macaque's life is nothing compared to what the crown might bring. And she can't say she knows about the great library or The king will become suspicious and destroy the scroll. She can't even say she'll fight and protect Macaque, she isn't that strong, even with her husband's and son's help, and she would rather die than ask that sage to keep Macaque safe. He, of all people, should stay away from her brother.

_"It won't hurt to try. I mean there isn't anything else to try anyway." Macaque joined trying to break the tension.

_"I'm sorry, moon. But it's for your own safety. Also I already asked, they can't help." Wukong spoke to him softly.

_"You've asked? Who?" PIF asked, acting clueless, this is her chance to get the king to talk. YOUR SON WILL BE IN DANGER!!

_"An old friend. Don't worry, he can keep a secret. He knows best." Wukong glared at her, she is really starting to get on his nerves.

_"Oh? Is it someone I know?" She kept going. LEAVE THE SIX-EARED MACAQUE AND SAVE YOUR SON AND HUSBAND!!!

_"I bet you do-"

*knock knock knock* The sound at the door luckily broke the fight that was about to start.

_"Someone's at the door, I think it's MK. Wukong, could you open the door, please?" Macaque asked nicely, hoping the king will go out for a few seconds.

_"Sure thing love." He smiled and stepped outside the kitchen.

Macaque waited until he made sure The monkey king was out of the room before he looked at his sister.

_"What are you doing?!" He angrily whispered,

_"I can't control my emotions anymore. That asshole has the scroll that could set you free and he's acting like it doesn't exist. He's trying to kill you again!" PIF suddenly blew, somehow managing to keep her voice down.

_"It doesn't- wait.. again? What do you mean again?" Macaque asked, wishing she misspoke or he misheard her.

_"..." She looked into his eyes, no, these aren't his eyes, and the fact that one of them belongs to the one who took his life made her blood boil even more, "I'm sorry, but he isn't who he's acting to be. Mac, he wants to hurt you. He already hurt you enough. You have to think of a way out. Let me help you. Use that genius brain of yours to come up with a plan and let me take care of it."

Macaque was silent, thinking... heartbroken...

_"You need to leave." He finally spoke,

_"I'm not going anywhere without you."

_"Sister please, I messed up, you shouldn't pay for my mistakes."

_"You're asking me to abandon you in your time of need."

_"I'm asking you to think about your family."

_"I am."

_"And what do you think will happen to your son and husband if the king knows what you're doing, huh? You said it yourself, he already killed me and I was his mate. Can you imagine what he'll do to you and your family?"

_"He's already hurting my family."

_"Zizi please. Listen to me." He held her hand with a defeated look on his face, "I can't protect you. This time. We can't save each other." Then he smiled softly, "At least one of us will make it out alive."

_"W-"

Before she could start her sentence, The king walked inside the room,

_"What's going on here?" Why is she touching him? No one is allowed to touch him but me.

_"I'm saying goodbye. She's has to leave now." Macaque answered with a sad tone.

_"How unfortunate." Wukong fought to hide his smile, "I'll tell MK, he's using the restroom." As the king turned to get to the door, he felt his blood burn like lava.

THE KID HAS THE SCROLL!!!! THEY LIED!!!!

_"HOW DARE YOU!!?" Wukong's eyes suddenly went as dark as ink as he launched himself at the Princess, aiming for her neck.

PIF felt the ground open as her heartbeat flew up, all she heard was "NO!" From Macaque before she fell to the grass outside the palace.

_"Mother! Are you ok?" Redson ran to her and helped her up,

_"Get everyone here! He knows! We need to get the crown off NOW!" As she said that she saw the Monkey king holding her unconscious brother in his arms. It was instinct that made shove her son behind her, if it weren't for it, she'd be too scared to move.

_"LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE! WHERE IS IT!?" The king roared, his voice like thunder.

_"I don't know what you're talking about. I was just leaving. You attacked me first. What a terrible host you are." PIF said, motioning for her son to leave and open a portal to get the others here.

_"Don't act smart with me princess. I know MK found the scroll. Where is he? Where did he hide it?" Even though his voice was lower, it wasn't any less furious.

_"What scroll?" Pif tried to stall.

_"Fine. If you won't tell me, then you're of no use to me." As he was speaking he placed Macaque gently on the grass then kiss his head and whispered: "I'll be right back. I'll keep you safe. I promise." My king.

(I'M SO SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO UPDATE!

Life is being a bitch so I tried to give an update asap but this is all I can do for now. Sorry xp.)

[internet-kid-kenna]

The Golden Raven Spoilers

This is a list of things I can't believe happened in this book and have questions on still or just feel are important to reiterate. This is super spoiler heavy, DO NOT READ if you haven't read the book yet, I literally talk about pretty much every major plot point and then some.

Jean's mother had his childhood exy team captain and their ENTIRE FAMILY murdered because Jean dared to talk to them

What did Joshua say to Jeremy?????

Jean corrects himself from saying he's spent five years practicing Raven drills to seven? So he was learning them before he went to Castle Evermore?

I can't believe Andrew came back to California, I also can't believe he came back without Neil

I'm ALSO shocked to learn Neil didn't tell Kevin or Andrew that he went to California in June

ALSO shocked to learn Neil didn't tell Andrew about Grayson? this one makes sense to me now that I've thought about it, Neil wouldn't want to trigger Andrew like that

BRISKET LUNGS 💀💀 sassy jean ftw

WAS KAYLEIGH DAY FUCKING MURDERED????

Jeremy's ringtone for Kevin is a fox bark lmaooo

Jean filling Kevin's glass with tap water instead of fridge water is such a funny random comment but so petty

I can't believe we got three descriptions of looks Cody had (neon green hair, fire engine red buzz cut, and they’re a natural blonde) AND a description of what Cat smells like before we got what she looks like

Half-baked baguette is a hilarious and wild insult

Jeremy's mom keeps his passport, social security card and birth certificate somewhere locked and hidden away from him and that's fucking crazy

Jeremy's dad is stationed in Korea, I wonder if there are any Moriyamas in Korea?

Jeremy LOVES to avoid things and change the subject and I hate love hate him for it

Jeremy Alan White Knox LMAO I can't un-think this

I love Cody, Pat and Ananya and I want only good things to happen to them

I was NOT expecting an orgy, I definitely thought sex was involved w the banquet night, but coke-fueled orgy was rough to find out. The guilt Jeremy must feel about that all. Fuck. This was rough.

Cat and Jean's friendship means so much to me and I love love love how physical they are with each other and how he starts kissing her temple and shit, adorable, spectacular gimme 14 of em

STUPID, BEAUTIFUL KEVIN 😭😭😭😭 man finding out Kevin is oblivious to Jean's feelings about him hurt

I want Jean to have a garden so bad

LITERALLY WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOX V RAVEN GAME HOLY SHIT I WAS GASPING OUTLOUD

I will personally track down and murder and kill the fucking Raven fans who burned their house down, it held EVERYTHING jean owned and loved and cared about (other than the people obvi)

Fireworks showing up on jeans list chapters later while and also adding Fathers (deliberately ignoring his own and attributing that title to Wymack and Rhemann)

Aaron driving the Mas because Andrew has a broken collar bone and Neil has broken ribs

RIP Barkbark, you will be forever missed

The way Browing is annoyed as fuck at jean for not wanting to be in witness protection and is like wtf is with this game, Jean and Neil being exy freaks fr

Warren Wilshire is a massive fucking asshole and can suck my dick

JEAN'S FAVORITE COLOR IS BROWN LIKE JEREMY'S EYES

JEAN BRAIDING LAILA'S HAIR 😩

JABBERWOCKY, bro that's Jean in dog form, can't convince me otherwise

[sahaquiel43]

Realization: Morgott was genuinely favored by the Erdtree/Greater Will. And Marika is the True Villian.

So, I’ve been thinking, especiallay after the Events of Shadow of the Erdtree. And Goldmask's ideals. I feel like a lot of interpretations of Morgott, are Wrong. from him being hated by everyone Golden-colored, form the rank of file of the Golden Order, to Marika, to the Greater Will itself. And also a Lot of romanticization of Marika, treating her as the good-guy, and having somehow having her being forced to throw Morgott into.

But I've realized that with SoTE, its virtually confirmed that Marika is the Ultimate source of Omen Hatred, it's literally all her Fault, even if it's tragic. In fact, I think she doesn't have a grand plan at all, she's just a broken person.

 Greater will/erdtree/true golden order == GOOD.

Marika’s Golden Order = BAD.

 It’s Marika’s golden order, defiend by her falliable and fickle nature as suggested by Goldmask, that shuns omens and threw him into the Sewers, meanwhile the true order of the Greater Will/Erdtree, described by goldmask, actually favours morgott. And Marika, though tragic, is the true Villian.

Like Goldmask said, the issue is the fickleness of the gods, Marika, the demigods, that is the problem.

One, if he was really hated, how does morgott have one of the most powerful holy-magic abilites in the game? that surpasses almost every other Golden Order. He has to be blessed in some way, by the “true” golden order/greater will.

And Goldmask suggests the fundamentals of the Greater Will/Erdtree do not discriminate against it, rather, it is the fickle, mortal order set up by the Fickle gods that discriminates. Aka, Marika.

And with shadow of the Erdtree, it’s made so Obvious. Omen hatred really is All Marika’s fault, it all originated from her even if it’s Tragic. The omen hatred almost certainly stems 100% from Marika’s (to be fair, quite justified) hatred of the Hornsent. Anything crucible-related was shunned by the Fickle god, Marika. Of course, what the Hornsent did was horrible, to the point that I’m still a bit ambiguous on messmer’s crusade being 100% evil. But Marika was the one who gladly threw her twins into the Sewers, And seemed to tolerate far worse behavior by other non-omen demigods.

Ideas that she somehow was forced to do it are just stupid given, well, SHE’S GOD, and she could have at least just kept them in hiding. No. it was Marika. Marika hated Omens. She wanted her kids to suffer, honestly, the only thing stopping her from killing them was probably her own Fickleness, or the Greater Will stepping in. She probably encouraged Omen Hunters.

As for why morgott was barred from entering the Erdtree, I think it's because, whilst separate, prior to the shattering, the Greater Will gave Marika a LOT of power over the actions of it's power, so it may even Marika's Lingering Influence. Plus Radagon's blanket-security measure to protect the Erdtree.

And Godfrey was definitely overruled given he was the junior in the relationship, he just had to roll over and take it, given his love of his soon, another victim.

And this leads me into the greater theory that Marika doesn’t have some grand plan, she’s basically just a faliable, human, broken, wrecked person. The greater will really chose the wrong person to be their representative. Who has been through too much. And her shattering the Elden Ring wasn't some grand plan, just basically her Snapping and going ballistic after Godwyn died. Shadow of the Erdtree showed that she really was just a traumatized and hurt woman that got involved in something too big. Heck even what Miquella was trying to do makes sense, basically trying to do better than his Mother, and even trying to get rid of his own fickleness.

As for the fact that the Greater Will has already abandoned the Lands Between, I’ve come to realize that it doesn’t really matter. Despite being gone for so long, it’s extensions, which are godly and sentient in and of themselves, are still something powerful and worth fighting for, more than any of the other outer Gods.

as for morgott not improving conditions, aside from the well-known issue of his self-hatred, given the entire world was crashed into a post-apocolypes by marika, with him barely holding Leyndell together against multiple rival factions, he may not have had the space to do much.

[maespri]

no hate to you op, and i'm not trying to rain on anybody's parade! but this really interested me and i wanted to talk about my own thoughts on it.

i feel like this sort of take on evamon and dieva respectively is obscuring your perception of both pairings a little bit. what makes eva an intriguing character is that we don't know whether or not anything she said was the truth, or a lie. as in... did she really trust damon, or did she just want to use him? did she just view him as a pawn to be tossed around? somebody to throw under the bus at the first signs of turmoil in the trial? framing him down to the very last second because, as eva herself says, 'everybody' was out to get her, and damon was no exception to that.

in eva's head, she was never going to be seen as the person she truly was, nor was she ever going to be appreciated for everything she could do. she became a classic example of learned helplessness. damon made attempts at tearing her walls down, which is especially clear in her FTE's, but you can never really see every facet of a person, especially not a person who has been lying to protect herself the entire time you've known her. additionally, damon only knew eva for a few days. that isn't to say that's not enough time to befriend someone, because, especially in a traumatizing situation like the killing game, it's more than enough time to place your trust in somebody else-- but not really enough to make a true, deep, connection with another person.

and after playing the first trial, i really do think it's safe to say that eva didn't view her alliance with damon the same way he did at all. the whiplash damon himself gets in the latter half of the trial, completely baffled as to why eva is suddenly going at him, is also a pretty strong indicator that the relationship the two had wasn't nearly as positive as it's initially made out to be, because eva, put quite simply, didn't trust damon as much as she claimed to. they were the underdogs, yes-- but eva viewed herself as inferior to even damon. eva believed she was completely alone. and that is exactly what led to her downfall.

the tragedy there lies not in the fact that they only had each other, nor in that they only trusted one another-- it lies in the fact that if eva had actually trusted damon, maybe she wouldn't have taken that traitor perk, and nobody would have needed to get hurt. the game juxtaposes the ways damon and eva handle their shared situation of being the targets of everyone's disdain-- damon with anger, but ultimately understanding and begrudging acceptance, and eva with deer-in-headlights fear and extreme paranoia-- to further drive home the point that eva is such a distrusting, manipulative-at-the-first-signs-of-trouble, person.

and on the topic of dieva, i want to say that statements like 'they hardly talked' and 'eva hated her' and 'wanted to punish diana' are not only rather harsh and surface-level, but also just... assumptions.

diana and eva shared a bedroom for days. it's fair to assume they interacted quite a bit whilst together. diana was the only person to stick up for eva and damon and cement herself as one of the people who supported them. diana expresses concern for eva to damon multiple times as well throughout daily life. additionally, eva didn't necessarily target diana simply because she "hated her" and "wanted to punish her"; put quite simply, diana was a really easy target. she's meek, wide-eyed and altruistic. in that regard, she's also a little too unquestioning and trusting of others, wanting to see the completely unfiltered good in them. it would be almost impossible for diana to defend herself under the right circumstances. and eva knew all of that and took advantage of it.

the things she says in the trial-- "it meant nothing," and "you deserved it," are difficult to interpret. eva seems completely defeated as she says it. she knows diana needs a reason, needs closure, and "you were an easy target" just doesn't come out with the same vitriol that eva had expressed toward everybody up to that point. maybe part of her meant it; maybe all of her meant it. i'd be a hypocrite to say that eva's lying there, because as i've expressed before, there are so many situations where it's impossible to know what was and wasn't a lie by eva. but i don't think it's out of left field to say that those statements could also be eva's weak defense in her own mind; she's asking herself why she did that to diana, and a baseless 'you deserved it' is just the easiest way to avoid a cognitive dissonance.

eva traumatized everybody by killing wolfgang. diana was arguably the most impacted, but damon is no exception to what happened. i'll be surprised if the betrayal eva did to him doesn't completely fracture what little amount of trust damon had left in the others.

if you're going to paint eva's actions toward diana in a light of hatred simply for the things she did and said, then you cannot also paint eva's actions toward damon as completely true and unfiltered. as i said before, eva is a liar. to what extent-- we don't know. but she lied to and manipulated both of them.

anyway, what i'm trying to say here is that i think both evamon and dieva are really beautiful relationships, platonic or not, because of the amount of nuance and mystery that they hold. what was and wasn't true? we don't know. eva is a complex character! and i love her for it.

i hope this doesn't come off as too defensive or mean, because like i said at the start, i'm really not trying to start anything! i just wanted to share my perspective on things. thank you for giving me a space to do so :3

🚨 Project: Eden’s Garden Spoilers!!! 🚨

I hope this doesn’t make anyone mad, but I don’t get why Kaimon and Dianeva are more popular than Evamon. I can’t understand how anyone could’ve played Chapter 1 and not seen the chemistry between Eva and Damon. They were the underdogs. They were the only ones each other trusted! They had SO much screen time. They were sooo silly and cute together, and Damon being like “a smile looks good on her”, like cmon bro pack it up, we all know you like her.

Now, with Kaimon I get why it’s popular. They also had screen time and suspicious/ funny scenes together. I don’t know if I’d say they’re in love, but I can see why people ship them.

It’s Dianeva that makes no sense to me. It just feels…forced. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good ‘enemies to lovers’ trope but I don’t think this is that. Eva and Diana hardly talked, and Eva HATED her. She literally traumatized her and tried to frame her for murder. As a punishment. Because she hated her so much. In fact, I think it’s fair to say that she hated everyone but Damon. I don’t see why everyone ships her and Diana, it just feels like the fandom wants to be able to ship two girls together, which is FINE, this is not coming from a place of homophobia as I, myself, am queer, but it just feels like such a odd pairing to me.

Anyways, I am in the trenches with Evamon on the daily. I love them SO fucking much. and it’s mildly upsetting that everything I see is Kaimon, and I just know it in my bones that there’s gonna be more Kaimon scenes in chapter 2 😭 I just hope they don’t entirely forget about Eva and Damon.

Damon BETTER have that damn feather.

🐦‍⬛❤️🐍

[transgaypiratesanta]

It never fails to amaze me how Freya Marske can make me love literally every character that she makes.

Edwin, the antisocial librarian? I want to listen to him explain magic to me all day.

Robin the unwise athlete? I want to talk to him for hours

Maud, violet, Alan, Jack, Adelaide? I love all of them.

even the characters who aren’t major.

I absolutely love Helen, Polly, Kitty, Oliver, literally all of them make me feel so happy.

hell, I even love Spinet Sutton and Cheetham. And they aren’t even PEOPLE. Those are HOUSES, and I feel so fond of them.

what I’m trying to say is, holy hell Marske, you make every character unbelievably compelling, and I absolutely adore you for that.

[ocymoron]

Zuko who’s feeling unsatisfied and unfulfilled when he’s finally back in the fire nation, back in the palace. And like, he’s trying to figure it out and eventually comes to the conclusion that he misses uncle, misses family. So he does as canon zuko does and visits but oops, Iroh doesn’t want to talk, and he makes that very clear every time zuko visits until he just stops visiting.

Zuko, who still wants for a family, spends days reminiscing and brooding and gets desperate enough to try and rekindle the old relationship he had with Azula. Before she started bending and Ozai got his grumby little hands on her.

Azula is.. entertained by his attempts to bond. And that’s it, his pathetic desperation is only amusing to her, it definitely doesn’t fill her chest with the uncomfortable warmth that she only remembers feeling when she was young and weak. She is so deep in denial it’s insane, cause she keeps using that excuse as they do, slowly, get closer and closer to how they were, and keeps justifying her indulgence with the same old excuse.

Of course, Azula is not one to trust so easily. Years of unofficially being the Crown Princess and being educated on the ruthlessness of the political landscape that makes up the nobles has perhaps made her the littlest bit paranoid. And a part of her can’t help but see Mother in Zuko, can’t help the instinctive bitterness that swells up in her throat each time they exist in the same space.

So she sets up a test. Zuko seems so very devoted to being a better brother, has the same look of something she doesn’t want to emotionally touch that Mother had when she looked at Zuko. Traitorously, she wonders if his devotion to her extends to the same extent Mothers did.

Now, obviously, she can’t tell a ridiculous lie like ‘Father’s found out I lied and he’s angry enough to kill me and I’m just sooo scared zuzu~.’ Because they both know she’s still the favorite and, even if his mind seems to get more delusional by the day, Ozai would never kill his prodigy daughter over a little lie.

But she can fabricate one that seems like something he’d do had she actually been found out.

She times it perfectly. Zuko enters her room, mouth open and no doubt about to go on another rant about some stupid play, but stops dead on the sight of her.

There is no greater liar than Azula, so as she carefully checks the burns marks in the mirror she put on her own arms, high enough to hide, she makes sure to tense and freeze up slightly as she makes eye contact with Zuko before, very obviously, forcing herself to relax.

She stays silent as she puts on salves and creams to help it heal and prevent scarring, pointedly not making eye contact with him again and keeping her back to him. Projecting shame and vulnerability that she’s never let him see before.

Zuko unfreezes right as she finishes and storms up to her, hastily grabs her arm with a gentleness that contradicts his urgency, and asks, no, demands to know who did this. His expression is so.. sincere and genuine, so open. It makes her sick. But she’s never given up on a plan just because of her own pitiful emotions, modify them maybe, but never abandon.

She keeps her eyes low and to the side, glues them to her burn, and purposefully crafts her face to something resigned and resentful, inflects her voice with just enough bitterness as she snaps at him, defensive. “Who do you think, dumb-dumb?”

He pulls her into an unwelcome and skin burning and itching and crawling ants under her skin— a hug, he pulls he into a ridiculous hug before she can sneak a glance at his expression but the tense, resigned set to his shoulders gives her enough of an answer.

He loves her enough to care and comfort but his loyalties still lay with Father. She understands better now, on how close she can allow him, puts him just a bit higher than Ty Lee and Mai. It might be foolish but a small part of her was hoping for more, was hoping for the same love Mother had for him, the one she tries so hard for from Father.

She lets the hug drag on few a more seconds and then shoves him off, orders him out and away. Turns her back to him, again, and tugs her sleeves down, dismissive and guarded. She’s only made eye contact once and is staunchly ignoring him now so she doesn’t catch the hard, protective glint in his eye, doesn’t see the way his expression is blank of everything but determination.

She goes to bed and tries to ignore the traitorous thoughts that keep her up, make her question her loyalty and wonder if anything about her is true and real, that whisper in her ears and sound suspiciously like Mother as they condemn her to her fate as a puppet for her Father.

She wakes and gets ready with her attendants like normal and acts perfectly fine because she is her Father’s daughter and she is nothing less than perfect. The attendants shift and glance at her and each other with uneasy eyes, as though daring someone else be the first to speak.

Her oldest attendant informs her of the news. Firelord Ozai is dead, throat slit in his sleep with his arms charred, hands practically gone. His vocal cord was cut, they say, that’s why no one heard him scream. They sound muddled and distant as they speak and she gets tired of the droning that worsens the tight feeling in her chest, sharply raises her hand for silence and tries to ground herself. The looming dread won’t leave her no matter how hard she tries, someone snuck in to the palace and her father is dead and oh fuck, she’s the Firelord now.

Zuko meets her for breakfast, an incredibly early breakfast and shoots her a strained smile but his posture is all wrong, not enough grief and anger and too much pride. The realization hits her quick and hard and she just barely stops herself from dropping her bite of food. He he’d barely reacted and had left so quick because was planning on killing their fucking dad, planning on assassinating their Father in his sleep, a death without the honor of combat, the opportunity to fight for your life. He had to watch their Father bleed out, had to sit and wait before incinerating his arms, all because he allegedly hurt her.

It is too overwhelming of a realization for breakfast so she pushes it aside, gives a small nod and ignores him the rest of the time. She lets the small thought that Zuko is far more like Mother than she expected linger for a moment before banishing that one too. They both ignore the empty seat at the head of the table.

[venti-death-watch]

arlecchino & venti may both have their own personal views on freedom, but they’re absolutely not the same. idk why i keep seeing people saying they’re so similar

venti’s ideal of freedom isn’t an earned freedom in the way arle’s is. i keep seeing people say it is, but. he wasn’t the one over them? he was support. they decided they wanted freedom on their own, and fought for it. then he chose not to rule over them because they didn’t want him as a ruler like that and wanted to make their own decisions. he’ll help them whenever they’re having trouble, but ultimately, they’re deciding what they want for themselves and doing it. he’s just there to help

arlecchino actively keeps the house of hearth kids in the house and doesn’t let them leave in pain of death/painful memory removal. she may talk about freedom, but she’s also making them decide between potential death via her blade or potential death via the memory stuff if they want to leave. she’s the one actively deciding what freedom means for them, and deciding that they need to fight & be strong for it. yeah, she says she likes conviction over strength, but that’s only true like, ideologically. she let the trio off because she’s interested in their development and wants to see where lyney takes the house. she still makes them fight for their choices/potential freedoms

neither of them are bad characters or anything, and quite honestly i prefer arle being morally darker than the others. it has much better storyline follow through than ei’s. but whyyyy are you trying to defang her. she’s more fun this way

[edwinisms]

I know how it sounds at first, but I really gotta feel bad for the boys that sacrificed edwin; I mean even the term “sacrificed edwin” paints them in a more sinister light than they really deserve– considering that wasn’t really, actually their intention.

they were bullies, they were homophobic (and/or were self loathing gay boys themselves taking it out on edwin, or were equally likely peer pressured into acting a certain way), they planned something stupid and mean to do to an innocent, anxious boy with the goal of scaring the shit out of him, all because he was effeminate and an easy target. but they didn’t know or expect any of the ritual stuff to be real. they were all laughing and joking during the ritual because it was just that to them– a joke. a cruel joke, but a joke.

teenagers can be mean and stupid and they usually regret it as adults and grow out of it / grow from it. they were stifled the chance to grow out of it, at least while alive. none of those boys deserved to be instakilled and sent to hell; they’re really not that much less deserving than edwin himself. they were all just kids, after all.

[sophieswundergarten]

"Oh. Oh dear."

Mr. Benedict's hands fluttered around her in the air, seemingly wanting to touch but uncertain how it would be received.

"Young lady, I assure you that you are in no danger here. There is no one who wants to hurt either of you, and your companion is receiving the best medical attention we can offer. We are doing are best to make him comfortable, and–"

"Is he dying?" Jillson couldn't help herself. "Is he going to die?" She clapped her hands over her mouth as soon as she'd said it, regretting outing herself for the number one fear she had carried all her life.

Not even the Whisperer had touched that fear, so deeply buried and personal was it.

"Ah." Mr. Benedict relaxed minutely. "No, dear girl. I promise you Jackson is perfectly fine. Well, aside from having a rather nasty cold. But that is not a reason to worry! He is recovering and will be right as rain very soon."

He re-clasped his hands. "Though, there is one thing I think we should speak about, before anything else happens. Erm, what would you think–"

"Where is she?!"

Jillson flinched. That was a voice she knew, deep down in her bones; she could never forget that voice.

Dr. Curtain came storming into the room, locking immediately on Mr. Benedict. "Your compatriots have seen to Jackson, now where is Jillson?"

"She is right here, Nathaniel, now, please do calm down. I believe you're frightening her." Mr. Benedict said this last through the corner of his mouth, eyes darting back and forth between the two of them.

Curtain started, apparently not having seen her sitting there on the couch. He seemed taken aback, mouth moving but no sound coming out. He looked rather like a gaping fish, Jillson thought hysterically.

"Jillson– I– I, um–"

"Nathaniel," Mr. Benedict said with practised evenness, "Why don't you sit down?"

Abruptly, Dr. Curtain stopped attempting to speak, seating himself on the chair across from Mr. Benedict. He was looking everywhere except for Jillson.

"Now," Mr. Benedict continued, "What did you want to say?"

Dr. Curtain stammered and his face grew red, before he suddenly slumped down in his chair.

Jillson let out a muffled screech, grabbing the blanket on her lap with white-clenched knuckles. "You've killed him!"

"No, no, my dear," Mr. Benedict held out a steadying hand as he got up from his own chair and gently began shaking the other man's shoulder, "Everything is perfectly alright."

Rousing Dr. Curtain proved to be an easy task, and he was awake within a moment.

"Really, Nathaniel," Mr. Benedict said in an admonishing tone, "You didn't tell them about your narcolepsy? Not even your close personal aides?"

"What–" Jillson broke in, "What is happening?" She knew her voice was growing shriller with every syllable, but had things really devolved into insanity this much?

"Jillson," Mr. Benedict began, "I know you must have quite a lot of questions. I think my brother would be best suited to answer them, so, I am going to leave the room now. I will be just down the hall if you need me."

So saying, he moved to the door, sending one last hopeful smile at the pair before shutting it.

Weird Snippety Thing I don't know how to finish or what to do with

As they stumbled past the sign, Jillson struggling to support the much taller, lankier form of Jackson, he looked up for a moment.

"Are we seriously back in Stonetown?" He muttered, dropping his head after his fever-glazed eyes skimmed over the words.

"Yes," Jillson sighed, taking a moment to catch her breath, "We are."

It had only been luck that allowed the pair to get out of Italy before the government agents who were now swarming the compound had noticed them. And though Jillson had rifled through Dr. Curtain's desk drawers and taken any money she could find, they were hard-pressed to make it last long enough for them to escape Europe entirely.

After that, it had been one long stretch of wandering from place to place, hitchhiking for a couple hours on a good day, and sleeping under whatever cover they could find. Jillson wasn't even sure where they were going, and anytime she and Jackson discussed it, they both came up with the somewhat vague answer of "somewhere safe".

That was, until the torrential rainstorm they had been caught in the week before. Jillson was never sure why, but Jackson had the worst immune system of anyone she had ever met. And also a severe lack of self preservation skills. Thus, when he had woken her up in the middle of the night with his uncontrollable shivering, assuring her that everything was completely fine and he felt perfectly alright, she had decided it was better to head for a place that they at least somewhat knew how to navigate.

The map she had stolen from a newspaper stand told her that they were very near Stonetown anyway, but she had kept their new destination quiet because she knew that as soon as Jackson figured it out he'd dig his heels in and refuse.

"Why are we here, Jilly?" He moaned quietly. "We're just going to get arrested. I thought we were trying to get somewhere safe."

Jillson huffed, slinging his arm over her shoulders and continuing towards the centre of town. "Because, we aren't going to make any progress living in the woods for the next two weeks, especially with you being sick. It's your own fault, anyway. If you hadn't managed to get yourself absolutely drenched then I wouldn't be having to make these decisions on my own." She spoke tersely, trying to shove down the worry that came with the reappearance of her childhood nickname.

She counted up the money they had leftover in her head as they walked, even though she knew it would come out to the exact same amount as it had every time previously: not enough.

There was no way, even if they somehow managed to to avoid being recognized and taken into custody, that she would be able to pay a doctor's fees.

At least, now that they were actually in a town instead of skirting the edge of it, she might be able to find something generically useful at a drugstore. She only hoped it would be okay.

They hadn't had health classes at the Institute, and while some things like scraped knees and black eyes you just learn to deal with as you grow up, she had no clue how to take care of someone who was actually ill. She didn't even know how serious this was. But she pushed that thought away. It wouldn't do any good to worry about that right now.

Right now, she needed to keep going. It was already late, and though she wasn't sure of the exact time, she knew it was dark enough out that shops would be closing soon.

She stumbled slightly, wavering as she forced herself to stand up straight. She could do this. She had to do this. All their life they had only had each other, but they had also had the resources Dr. Curtain left available to them. Now, they were well and truly alone, and she needed to be strong enough for both of them.

However, she only made it a few more steps before her feet betrayed her once again, and she sank to her knees, one arm still wrapped around Jackson.

He was dead weight in her arms, breathing shallowly, but she couldn't bring herself to stand again just yet. She braced her one free hand against the cold ground, sucking in desperate lungfuls of chilly evening air. She had to keep going. She just needed the world to stop spinning beneath her first.

A sudden light was thrown on the pair, as the front door of the house they had stopped in front of opened, flooding the street with a warm, yellow glow.

"Oh dear." A voice murmured, and Jillson glanced up to find a familiarly disheveled man looking down at them, wringing his hands.

"You really do look so much like him," She gasped, thoughts clouding, before the whole world rang out into silence.

[silverselfshippingchaos]

it's genuinely so funny how he's all covered up EXCEPT for the abs

[inamindfarfaraway]

I rewatched “The Richest Duck in the World!” and noticed something new. It’s only a theory, but it could easily be true, and… oh my God.

Bradford Buzzard has been working with Scrooge for about two decades or more by this episode, right? He's the CEO of McDuck Enterprises. He can overule Scrooge on business decisions and has access to and knowledge of everything, including Falcon Island, the portion of money afforded to it and that it's used for magical defence. Scrooge took the time to remove that island from all maps because he was so desperate for nobody to ever be able to meddle there. This is as top-secret as it gets. But Bradford knows. Scrooge trusts him implicitly with ALL his money. That's a lot of trust!

So Bradford almost certainly knows about the Bombie. It's hard to imagine a conversation where Scrooge told him about Falcon Island and what resources it needed without telling him why it needed them; and never before this episode has the Bombie been released due to financial strain. Not even in Scrooge and his finances' lowest point, when he was blowing through savings to search for Della, resorting to draining the Money Bin, his personal store of sentimentally valuable coins. Not even with Bradford wanting more of McDuck Enterprises' money available so he can siphon it off for FOWL. There was always, always something less important than Falcon Island.

But then Louie - an inexperienced, physically weak and unskilled eleven-year-old - becomes the richest person on Earth. On his very first morning in this position, he has to compensate for his wasteful spending by taking money from the company and Bradford immediately suggests cutting funding to the Bombie's containment measures. That is the first thing he comes up with. And he agrees to it without hesitation or a word of warning. This is why the entire plot of the episode happens!

Even more dammingly, he has a button specifically to deactivate the magical security system on hand at that moment. Without it, the Bombie escapes in an instant. But how did such a button come to exist in the first place? Scrooge would never have asked for it. Nobody else knew anything about Falcon Island. Bradford must have made it and connected it to that magic himself. He saw that Louie was vulnerable and wasted no time engineering his fall, unleashing a lethal threat upon him that was, as far as anyone knew, absolutely unstoppable, yet in a manner indirect enough to deflect suspicion from him.

Bradford tried to murder Louie.