#anyways um shes so cool give her murder rights

[fruity-legos]

@wannabemasterofwindintraining here's the euphrasia edit >:3

This took me three hours idk about y'all timezones but it's currently 1 am for me I'm dying

If you don't like it I'm so sorry I give you permission to shoot me <//3

[strangersteddierthings]

Gut Instinct: Chapter 8 - Sunday

[Art] [Ao3] [Prologue] [Chapter One] [Chapter Two] [Interlude] [Chapter Three] [Chapter Four] [Chapter Five] [Chapter Six] [Chapter Seven] [Interlude] [Chapter eight]

Dustin is not alone. Robin, Max and Lucas are with him, which is a nice surprise. Steve was sure he was going to have to head out and pick them up at some point today. It’s a good thing they all showed up now, though. It’ll probably be helpful to have them all hear when Nancy shows up. To help explain.

“Where’d you pick up Lucas?” Steve asks the question to Robin, but it’s Dustin who answers.

“He came to my house this morning.”

“Yeah, I had questions and Dustin had some answers. I’ll tell you the whole thing if you want, but later?” Lucas asks, and he looks shaken.

“You get filled in?” Steve asks, ushering everyone in the door far enough so he can close it.

“Yeah,” Lucas nods.

Steve leads them all back to his dinner table.

“What’s our problem?” Steve prompts, once all of them are sitting. Which is weird but also pretty cool. Steve doesn’t think more than three people have ever sat at this table at the same time.

“Do you want the good news or the bad news first?” Dustin asks.

“Good news first, always,” Eddie says.

“There’s been a second, uh,” Robin flicks her eyes to Eddie for just a moment, “murder.”

Dustin nods grimly and says, “I was listening to Cerebro again this morning and caught the cops talking over the radio. They were found near the trailer park. So, um, they have made Eddie an official suspect. It’s not public information yet, but you’re on the list.”

Eddie makes a scoffing noise and mutters, “Of course.”

“We’re going to clear your name,” Dustin says with such conviction that Steve’s immediately convinced. They have nothing to go on, and if the source behind this is a person with mind powers like El, they don’t really have a lot of hope of capturing them, but Steve believes anyway.

“Yeah? And how do you plan to do that?”

“Well. You’ve got an alibi for last night,” Max says. “And I can lie about what I saw on Friday night if that’ll help.”

“You can’t lie to the police,” Lucas argues, “My mom says we have to always be honest with the police.”

“Well, your mom probably never thought we were going to have to try and get our friend out of false murder charges when she said it,” Dustin argues back and Lucas makes a face at that but doesn’t say anything otherwise.

Eddie, meanwhile, is giving Max a knowing look. Steve wonders what it could be that Eddie thinks he knows.

“What lie could you even tell that doesn’t- It’s not like Ch-Chrissy let herself into my house!” Eddie stumbles over Chrissy’s name.

Max shoots him a look that says clear as day are you stupid. “Aren’t you supposed to be, like, an amazing story teller or something? Figure out the lie and I’ll tell whoever needs to hear it.” Lucas whips his head around to look at Max, surprised, and she shrugs, “You guys wouldn’t shut up about him when you first joined his stupid club.”

“Hey!” Eddie says, offended.

“It’s not stupid,” Dustin says, defensive.

“Do you want me to lie for Eddie or not?” Max huffs, crossing her arms and sitting back to shoot glares.

“Maybe?” Robin offers up, reaching a hand out to drum her fingers against the table as she thinks. “We just don’t know enough right now.”

“Well, the longer we wait, the worse it makes Eddie look,” Lucas says.

“True. What’s your gut say?” Robin asks, and it takes Steve a moment to realize she’s speaking to him. He was so enraptured with everyone else’s back and forth that he forgot he was a part of this conversation.

“Um,” Steve says, trying to think about it. He thinks about Eddie staying in hiding, and nothing in him stirs, so he thinks about Eddie going to the police and confessing his innocence, expecting the mild nausea but it doesn’t come. Neither thought brings a reaction. Which is interesting. There have been a few times that Steve can recall where he’s had to weight two options, and his lack of nausea let him know that either options would turn out okay.

Maybe this is the same?

“Uh, nothing. So, maybe we need more information before we can do anything?”

“Okay, but how do we get more information?” Dustin asks.

“Nancy,” Steve says, an instant reply that he knows is true. He can feel it. Nancy will either already know something, or be on her way to learning something when she finally gets here. “She’s coming over, um, at some time today.”

“At some time. Today,” Dustin echoes back.

“Yeah. That’s what I said.” Steve pushes his grocery list across the table to Robin. “So, until she gets here, Robin, you want to look this over? Maybe add whatever you’ll want.”

Dustin stands up and reaches across the table to snatch the notebook up. He gets to look at it for maybe five seconds before Eddie has stood up and ripped it back out of his hands to pass it back to Robin. “Don’t rip things out of people’s hands. Show Buckley some respect.”

Steve can feel his crush on Eddie growing.

“Was that a grocery list? Eddie’s a suspected murderer and the Upside Down is back, now with an evil mind wizard and you’re writing a grocery list!?”

Steve gives a one shoulder shrug, “I don’t want to be hungry while fighting an evil mind wizard.”

“Unbelievable.” Dustin falls back into his seat, exasperated. “So we’re just going to sit around and wait for Nancy to show up?”

“Yup,” Steve says, popping the ‘p’, leaning back in his chair like he’s unbothered by the fact the Upside Down has returned. It’s all fake, of course, but there’s no point in just sitting around freaking out about it when there’s nothing they can do about it at the moment.

It’s kind of why he was focusing on the grocery list to begin with. What else was he going to do? Lay in his bed and stare at Eddie until he woke up?

Well. Actually, that might have been a good activity, too. Hopefully he’ll have more opportunities.

Max wonders into the living room to watch TV and it doesn’t take too long for Lucas and Dustin to join her on the couch.

“Should we get one bag of potatoes, or two?” Robin asks, pulling Steve’s attention.

“Two, just to be safe.”

“That’s a lot of potatoes for just you,” Eddie remarks, leaning into Steve’s space to look over the list again.

“If it were just me, this list would be a lot smaller. But the kids barge in a lot. Also, there’s good reason to believe I’m not going to be alone in the house this week,” Steve turns his face to smile at him. “You’re here until we can get this all fixed for you.”

“I guess being stuck in the Harrington mansion is better than a cell down at the station,” Eddie says, and Steve thinks he’s joking.

“Ew. Yoohoo? Is this your gross addition, Eddie?” Robin asks.

Robin and Eddie bicker about what’s gross and what’s good and Steve just sits back and watches. It makes him feel warm on the inside that Eddie and Robin get along. Which is what this is. Robin would be a lot meaner if she didn’t like Eddie at least a little bit.

They waste away the morning for the most part. The kids seem to be talking theories. It’s more that Dustin is talking theories and Max and Lucas are either nodding along or tuning him out.

Steve’s glad for the slow drag of the morning. It gives him time to whisk Robin away to talk to her in private.

They go upstairs, to Steve’s room.

“What is it? Did you get a bad feeling in your gut suddenly?” Robin asks as soon as she’s shut the door behind her.

“No. No, nothing like that. I just wanted to, uh, tell you something. And you can’t be loud about it.”

Robin tilts her head and gives him a look, squinting her eyes like it’ll help her see whatever it is he wants to tell her. “What is it?”

“I kissed Eddie last night,” Steve blurts, excited to finally getting to tell her.

Robin immediately lights up, just as excited in turn. She opens her mouth, then thinks better of whatever noise she was about to make. Snapping her mouth closed, she does an excited little wiggle instead and launches herself at Steve. She hugs him tightly and whispers, “oh my God! Tell me everything!”

So he does. Gives a quick summary of the events, leaving out the explicit details because he loves Robin but there’s some things that are just for him. Also, he’s not sure Eddie would appreciate Robin knowing anything about his dick; even if that knowledge is just that Steve touched it.

“I mean… what a turn of events,” Robin says from where she’s leaning on the wall. She had been sitting on the bed, but had flung herself from it with a gag when Steve had said he and Eddie slept in the bed together. “I always kind of suspected he was like us, but didn’t want to like, say that.”

“You’ve thought Eddie might be queer?”

Robin blinks at Steve for a moment before nodding. “The whole school did. It was a rumor. How did you not know?”

“I was kind of self-absorbed in school, Robs. If it didn’t involve me directly, I wasn’t paying attention to it. That includes rumors of who is queer.”

“Right. Well, do you think-” Robin cuts herself off when the sound of the doorbell goes off. “Oh! I bet that’s Nancy.”

“Back to it, then.”

By the time Steve and Robin have made it back downstairs, someone has already let Nancy in.

“Hey Nance,” Steve greets.

“Hi Steve. Hi Robin,” Nancy returns the greeting. “So, what did you need me for?”

“It’s back,” Dustin says. “The Upside Down. That’s what killed Chrissy.”

Nancy, to her credit, takes this information well. Just a quick catch in her breath before she’s nodding gravely. “So Fred’s death is related to the Upside Down, too?”

“Fred?”

“That must have been the second death,” Max says, realizing it sooner than everyone else.

“I was with Fred before he vanished.”

“Tell us everything.”

Nancy tells them how she and Fred talked their way into the trailer park, investigating herself, and how while she was talking to Eddie’s uncle, Fred had just vanished.

“Wait, you spoke to my uncle? How’s he doing? I- I didn’t even think about how he’d be the one to find Chrissy…” Eddie cuts in, voice wobbly.

Nancy’s face goes soft in a way that Steve hasn’t seen in a long time. “He’s okay. He knows you didn’t do this.”

Eddie lets out a noise Steve can’t even begin to describe. It has Steve moving on autopilot, stepping closer to Eddie like he can offer comfort with just his presence. Eddie, however, moves away. Takes one step further away. It freezes Steve in his tracks.

“It was actually your uncle who gave me an idea. Something to check out. I was going to go to the library after this to follow up on that.”

Dustin nods thoughtfully, then says, “Okay. So. What connect Fred and Chrissy? The trailer park?”

“Fred did seem… off, when we got closer to the trailer park,” Nancy says.

“Chrissy was being weird in the girls’ bathroom at the school, though,” Lucas says. “Max said she heard her there.”

Max, for her part, is quiet as she seems to think all this over. “There is something else that they have in common. Chrissy and Fred. They were both seeing the guidance councilor.”

“Oh. Okay. So, two leads,” Nancy is nodding as she speaks, the plan already forming in her mind. “I’ll go the library, and search up the lead Eddie’s uncle gave me, and you guys can go talk to Ms. Kelley.”

“Whoa, hey. It’s not going to take five of us to talk to Ms. Kelley. Someone should go with you.”

“I’ll be fine, Steve,” Nancy starts, sounding annoyed.

“No doubt. It was more of, like, more people would also half the time it took to look.”

“Oh. Right. Well, Robin, you want to come with?”

“Sure. Better than playing babysitter,” Robin grins, then jams her elbow into Steve’s side in what he thinks was supposed to be a playful way, but she’s really bony.

“Guess I’ll just… be here?” Eddie says, uncertain.

Steve turns to Eddie, and says, “Yeah. Um, free reign of the house. Whatever you gotta do to not go insane with boredom.”

Steve offers up a smile and Eddie returns it.

Steve feels his heart do a backflip, just from that. When this is all over, he’s going to see if Eddie’ll go on a date with him. This might have started a little backwards from how Steve’s used to this going, but maybe that’s a good thing.

Maybe breaking that habit will make things different this time.

“Alright. Let’s all meet back here when we’re done,” Nancy says, decisive, and then they’re heading out.

[jazzyblusnowflake]

I wanted to talk about a topic that is interesting to me at the moment-

when me and my partner @/keebokuun bring up the subject about J x Tessa for murder drones- alot of people bring up the dynamics that may need to improve- to which we say yeah- we dont ship them in the context of the show. Tessa is still very much biased and treating drones as her slaves that dont have rights as her since shes a human. whether its cuz of her culture, her trauma or whatever else. but in the context of a human au where they all grew up together- yeah that doesnt exist, or at least we have room to improve. and people have been polite enough about this and sharing their opinions and im greatful of that. yall are really cool and gave me ideas to improve my stories on 👌

but then some OTHER people come and say "but Tessa was a minor in the FLASHBACKS- oh AND- was also their MOM"

😐

to which... i say.... um.... So.... Tessa is a mom? [to a bajillion of those maid and butler drones that were not working at the begining of ep5] AND a minor? AAAND she asked her- CHILD DRONE- to pretend to be a RIPPING ROYAL STUD for her to practice flirting or talking with.... to yknow... HAVE A HUMAN RELATIONSHIP WITH-? [cuz correct me if im wrong- girls dont go looking for "ripping royal studs" just to stare at them autistcally right? they wanna talk and do human communication stuff with them right??] and uh... IM the one whos saying weird stuff here? hELLO???

once again. me and keebo will personally remove ANY INAPPROPRIATE content we have online if the creators come up and say "oh yeah that character is a minor"- i promise you all that. we are not degenerates- but first of all- yeah the thing i just said about Tessa being at least a late teen in the flashbacks for the whole stud thing- and also- she had toys in her room- for CYN! as we saw her playing with them- and she was referred to as a "robo child" ? i mean go back and watch the EP again and really look at Tessa, J and N and SAY they are at an age to play with a rocking horse and barbie/ken dolls [damn cyn was making those two naked ken dolls smooch fr]- look at me in the eyes and say a girl that big is at any age to play with those things. NO?? also- if yall actually LOOK at tessa- she has a very pronounced body/ heigh/ chest size even/ etc in the flashbacks. thats not a design youd give a MINOR. and by that logic then N and V having crushes on eachother should be incest because oh damn Tessa is the minor/teen mom to ALL those erroring drones and N and V are siblings omggg 😱!

if anything by this logic Tessa's first choice of going to J to pretend to be a hot stud for her [which probably works in my favor btw lmao] is def concerning jesus.

companies nowadays make it a point to make all characters above the age of 18 as much as they could to avoid these sorts of issues- lest i remind you all again of the fact that every classmate of Uzi in episode 3 has their age above 18 on their missing posters. companies wouldnt include shots like that unless they WANT people to know they are in the clear.

also.... being in a relationship doesnt always translate to "they are having SEX"????? you can be a kid and still hold hands and have crushes and hug and kiss-

not every couple french kiss or suck eachother off oh my God.

anyway thankyou for coming to my Ted talk- im willing to hear anyones opinions on this below cuz im genuinely curious 🤔

[obsidiancreates]

Catching Up (With No Murders This Time!)

(I just wanted Shawn and Abigail to like, see each other again and get a little closure since they broke up under such horrible circumstances.)

"Hey, sweetheart. I just wrapped up a case and I just so happen to be next to that awesome bakery you love, do you want- sweet! Uh, no, no Gus with me, your croissant will make it to you with no bites taken out of it. ... No, I'll buy my own so I'm not tempted either. Yeah, well, Selene called and told him Charlie is running a fever so he sped off before I even finished the wrap-up. Oh, gotta go, someone is about to try and get the last Nutella-filled one."

Shawn hangs up and rushes up to the counter as the person who's eyes were lingering on the Nutella-filled croissant is about to order. "You know, I am amazed you guys still make these, because I heard that hazelnuts and chocolate combined can give you hair loss."

The woman freezes, and Shawn almost does a little celebratory shimmy- until she turns around.

Shawn's mouth parts in shock. "Abigail?"

"Shawn?" Abigail blinks. "Are you really..." She leans in and whispers, "Why are you in San Fransisco?"

"I- I uh, moved here. A few years ago with- uh, well with my wife." He holds up his hand. Please don't let this be awkward, please don't let this be-

Abigail holds up her hand, showing off her own wedding ring. "We match."

A tension Shawn hadn't realized he was holding bleeds out of him. "Look at that!" He grins at her. "Who knew us crazy kids would ever find that, huh?"

"Who knew. ... Oh, you um, wanted the Nutella."

"Yeah, if- it's Jules's favorite so I just-"

"Jules? The detective you worked with? ... Actually, that makes sense."

"... Is that a... bad, 'that makes sense'?"

"No, just... it makes sense. Here, uh, I'll have the regular chocolate instead. My husband is allergic to hazelnuts anyway, I'd have to brush my teeth before kissing him, it's... a whole thing."

They order, and sit together while waiting for the coffees.

"So, um... how long have you been married?" Abigail asks before taking a bite of her pastry.

"Let me see, uh... six years, now? ... Holy crap, I've been married for six years. ... What uh, what about you?"

"Four. We met through the program I do, for teaching abroad."

"Ha, that's cool. I'm a detective, I married a detective, you're a teacher, you married a teacher... fits, it-it fits good."

"Yup."

"... Sorry about uh... all the stuff I put you through, back then. Taking you to crime scenes and client's houses was a little-"

"Stupid?"

"I was going to say offbeat, but... stupid works too." They both give a small laugh. Shawn awkwardly picks at his own pastry, Jules's sitting in his lap. There's a beat of silence that's just agonizing.

"How's Gus?" Abigail looks up at Shawn again. "I mean, I just assume you're both still doing the psychic detective thing."

"Oh, Gus is great. He uh, he got married too, about four years ago now, just before the whole uh... pandemic, thing. She's basically a clone of him, but a woman, and they've got a kid."

"Let me guess. You're the godfather."

"Which still freaks me out, by the way. He's a great kid though. Smart and awesome, just like his dad, and it looks like he got The Super Sniffer too. Gus says it's too early to tell, but-" Shawn puts a finger by his temple. The movement feels weird. He hasn't really leaned into the whole "psychic" thing for a few years now, and when he does he usually use the finger-to-eyebrow device anymore. When was the last time he did? ... Dear god, it's been ten years. Ten years since he moved out of Santa Barbara.

"Time really flies," he finds himself saying."

"Tell me about it." Abigail shakes her head. "My husband and I adopted, about two years ago now, and she's just... shooting right up. When she started walking I couldn't believe it."

"Gus couldn't either. I think he showed me the video about a billion times."

"Crying?"

"Absolutely weeping, yes."

"Nice to know some people never really change."

"Mmmm, I wouldn't say that. He's done some pretty badass stuff since you last met him."

"You do know that seems... a little far-fetched."

"More far-fetched than the time we had to prove a polar bear was framed for murder?"

"... I'm not sure if I believe you about that."

"If we had time, I could condense each little weekly adventure into about a forty-three minute story each."

"That's not very condensed."

"... You're right, it's not." Shawn nods, and looks up as the bell on the door jingles- he hears Abigail laugh a little about it and mumble that yeah, people don't really change.

The man at the door spots Abigail and grins. Shawn hones in on a wedding ring, a tie with Abigail's favorite flowers as the design, and hair that just may rival Shawn's own.

"Hey, honey." The man sweeps right over to Abigail and leans down to kiss her in her chair. "Finally sorted out the issue with our plane, we should be on our way day after tomorrow."

"Oh, thank god," Abigail groans, holding her husband's hand as he pulls over another chair to sit next to her. "I'm so tired of hotel food."

"You and me both," her husband chuckles. He looks at Shawn. "Who's this?"

"Oh, um, this is Shawn Spencer."

"Ooooh, you're the guy who took her to a crime scene as a date one time."

"Guilty," Shawn says with a laugh.

"Nice to meet you, I've heard a lot about you. Good things!"

"And some not-so-good things, I'm guessing?"

"No, no. ... Not about you as a person, anyway. Plenty of bad things about your job."

"Yeah, I figured. ... Oh, there's our coffees." Shawn takes his paper tray with 4 coffees (Gus and Selene will need them) and stands up. "Well, this was totally unexpected, but I'm glad it happened. It was nice seeing you again, Abigail."

"Nice seeing you too, Shawn." She smiles at him. "I'm glad you're doing well."

"Me too. Doing well is pretty great. Oh, and, glad for you, I guess."

Abigail laughs again. "Bye, Shawn.

"Bye, Abigail."

He walks out of the bakery, the sound of Abigail chatting with her husband following him until the door closes. She sounds happy. Happy and relaxed in a way that even on their best days, she never was with him. And he's glad.

He's just genuinely happy for her. That's a really, really nice feeling. No jealousy, no feeling of missed chances, no wondering of 'what-ifs'. Just... actual, authentic happiness that she's doing well.

He tucks Jules's croissant into his pocket and pulls out his phone.

"... Hey, babe! Yeah, got the last Nutella for you, and a coffee. ... Yup, that perp was our case. Really? Described being caught by 'some kind of ninjas or something?' Well, babe, as much as I'd love to tell you I've secretly been a martial arts master our whole marriage, you can put in your report that he's absolutely lying because he's very embarrassed. Truth is Gus accidentally knocked over some marble statue onto him while he was chasing me through the art exhibit. ... Can I fill out the statement later tonight? I got coffee for Gus and Selene too. Awesome! I will hang around to tell you who I just ran into, though. Of course I'm neglecting paperwork in favor of personal matters, if I ever don't then your husband has been replaced by a pod person. Okay, love you, I'll be there as soon as I find a ride..."

[xxswagcorexx]

grabs u by the shoulder. hey. hey u. have you've ever wanted to learn about a mcrp arc with themes about violence and the death of innocence, scary arcane experiments, political murder, and interdimensional travel where u meet alternative versions of urself?

well if any of that sounds awesome to you, BOY DO I JUST HAVE THE THING FOR YOU!!! midmysticx's egg arg in lifesteal season 4 has all of that!!! it had to be cut off short because of meta reasons, but with what was released so far, it was. So Cool .

now i HIGHLY recommend checking this out for yourself (a curated playlist that i made can be found here! it's pretty short but. imo the themes of it carry it in SUCH an interesting way), but if you don't have the time/want more. propaganda reasons why you should watch it, there's more under the cut!

(mild cw though for the "having a voice in your head through magic items/powers" trope! it plays a very small part in the story, but i'd figure i'd give a heads up just in case 👍)

ok so like. this arg happens in the canon of lifesteal season 4 (lifesteal seasons fully reset like hc seasons) and the main "progatanist" of this arg is c!midmysticx/c!mid, and most of the "lore" is told in the format of vhs tapes

that being said, c!mid is a little confusing in the way that s4!mid is implied to be a different character that c!mid from other seasons

i say that bc s4!mid made an "application video" for lifesteal, citing about how shes excited to join (even tho cc!mid has been a part of ls since s2)

also. very interestingly, mid excludes herself from the s4 start in a replay shot (even tho cc!mid was present during the s4 launch)

and interesting enough, s4!mid seems a bit. naive in the application video? like she mentions she's "good at editing" as one of her attributes on why she should be added to the server and mentions. nothing about the violence of the server (other than introducing the mechanics of the server which is LITERALLY about killing people to gain hearts and losing hearts when you get killed)

halfway through her application video, though (after a few months passed according to the date on the bottom of each video) she sounds very. bitter

the video changes to be all in black and white and she starts asking: "why? why do you all kill and ruin friendships and betray? all for hearts?!"--a MUCH different demeanor than what she had when she started. bitter and resentful, almost, compared with the excitement she showed earlier in her "application", and it ends with her announcing she stole the dragon egg and she's made 4 trials for people to look for it

anyways, moving onto the first tape that takes place ~around 2 months before the shift in demeanor, s4!mid starts to record video tapes about experiments she's doing with the dragon egg, eventually combining a heart with the dragon egg and opens up a portal

she doesnt know what on Earth it is so. shes testing it out right. like any person with safety concerns would

and well uh.

she puts a pig through and it fucking died

so . Erm! not a good start

anyways she eventually feels a voice/urge calling her to go through the portal even though she knows its risky, but she's been having such bad headaches that she goes through the portal anyways, ditching her plans to figure out how to control the power of the egg before going through it

and uh. heres where things get confusing again because this is where. the interdimensional stuff comes in

she arrives in an unknown location right. and. jumpscare . it ends up being a manor (and i'm just gonna call this mid "murder mystery!mid" bc the manor is the same one in one of her other videos, a halloween special where mid + co do a whodunit)

and basically, s4!mid witnesses a mayor election (which is a big part of murder mystery!mid's story), and after s4!mid explores for a little, s4!mid and murder mystery!mid eventually . make eye contact

and um. you see. s4!mid accidently eavesdrops (im assuming so? there's a tape of that and its been established that s4!mid films all of them herself) on murder mystery!mid's plan to kill the mayor and Uh. s4!mid. ends up also witnessing murder mystery!mid's murder as well

s4!mid gets chased and has to go back to the portal to escape, but the issue is. the portal doesnt bring her back to lifesteal. it brings her to eclipse smp

AND FUCKING BRINGS HER TO ECLIPSE!MID'S GRAVE

she eventually sees someone crying over eclipse!mid's grave before going away into the woods before hearing a sound and running away

that's where the arg (unfortunately) had to be cut off but like. Still. the part that makes me constantly rotate this arg in my head is the fact mid literally saw her own death. the different versions of her. her witnessing a version of her that was Willing to commit murder. the whole change in demeanor in the application video in such a short time .

anyways, if i had to homebrew an "ending" to this arg, i think mid would have traced back and started to Learn more about the other versions of herself, and eventually had a character arc where she just. witnesses all of this destruction and pain and suffering

and just. Realizes how much of that there can be and realizes how much stuff like that effects lifesteal and how. pointless it is in the end.

and eventually, in a last ditch effort to have everyone work together again and despite all she's been through, makes the egg arg

also on a meta level it would make sense i think (since a lot of the actual arg puzzles involved trust and working together and trusting your teammates)

and on the topic of the egg arg meta, it fucking worked. the lifestealers did work together and put trust in each other even when threatened with death to solve the arg.

it did bring lifesteal together. even just for a little bit

and i am just. man thats fucking cool!!!!!!

not to mention just. the cool character study stuff you can do on c!mid. the thought of seeing yourself throughout all of this. realizing about how these things can effect you in different ways. witnessing your own death TWICE. and by the time to come up because of it, you're a changed person on a fundamental level. and in the end, looking at the thing that caused all of this, and throwing it out there in a last ditch effort to make things right again. in the worst scenario. even though you're bitter and angry now. you try anyways.

that concept is so. cool to me . i wish more people talked about it but yk. this is me throwing my hat into the ring

egg arg my beloved fr <3

[yzeltia]

Closer to You

Chapter 20 Characters: Jannie Fortemps Natsu Obinata, Artoriel Fortemps, Haurchefaunt Fortemps, Keith Summers, Kierian Summers, Violet Fisher, Bounding Otter, U'rahn Nuhn, Patient Heaven, U'rahn's Daughters, Fuyu'li cen Zwhan, Drowning Thunder, Y'zel Tia Rating: T for T Notes: Thanks to @biot08 again so so so much for helping me get through all of this before DT.

- 2 Years Later -

[Jannie]

“I can’t thank you enough Miss Obinata, or is it Mrs. now?” Jannie asked, bouncing little Haurchefant on her waist before handing him over.

Natsu smiled, brushing the boy’s hair from his face then poking his nose. “That…is a bit complicated,” she laughed before returning her attention to Lady Fortemps as Lord Arteriole Fortemps frantically looked through their diaper bag to ensure nothing had been missed. “My goodness, Haury is getting so big.”

“Don’t remind me. He’s already caught onto some words. I thought my husband might murder U’rahn when he started saying ‘Nuhn’,” Jannie mused before leaning in to kiss her son on the forehead. “Arty will be back after seeing me off, though if it isn’t a bother I’d like for him to come drop him off with you now and then just so that he can play with U’rahn’s girls. This contest will be brief, I hope. I really hate to go.”

“That won’t be a problem at all. The little huntresses love playing with him and I’m sure you’ll be back before he can miss you too much. You two go enjoy some time together while you can,” Natsu said, helping little Haurchefaunt wave by to his parents before the two left to have a much needed mommy and daddy night.

“Smile!” the little boy said before babbling incoherently, Natsu in turn giving him a wide grin.

[Keith]

“Ah. Hey! Natsu. Uh…so…you haven’t seen G’khenna or Khloe around have you,” Keith breathed out, Kierian on his back and holding onto him. “You see, I was supposed to go get them in Idyllshire and Rowena said I owed her a bunch of gil for outfitting and I’m really hoping Mr. Gage just gave them a small errand or something small to do. Maybe for Silent Courel?”

“Um…,” Natsu said, looking up as she bounced U’Nyxia on her lap while the rest of the girls ran around screaming and laughing behind her in the yard. “They had come through telling the girls about a city full of treasure or something? Sounds like they were eager to break in their adventure plates. Did you check the docks? G’k mentioned heading over with the others to Tural.”

“Tural…Tural…They’re going to…,” Keith trailed, face going pale. “Kierian…pray for your pops, cause Daddy Raha is going to kill him.”

[Violet]

“Listen! Listen! Listen! It was so cool! So Apple went up to her and- You’re not listening,” Violet wined, nudging Natsu in the rib, nearly causing her to spill her drink.

“Sorry. I just got a little lost in thought…and how can you stand this stuff. It tastes like I’m drinking liquid tree bark,” she said, sticking her tongue out at her mug of ale before taking another swig of it anyway.

“You’re just starting to refine your palate. I promise when I get back from Tural I’ll bring a keg of rum for us. Speaking of which, I can’t believe I’m leaving your brother-in-law in charge of The Final Pillar,” she asked, watching as the clumsy Roe accidentally knocked over a glass then panicked and tripped one of the taps as his hand slapped backward against it.

Natsu laughed, “He’ll be fine. He was a rather popular mixologist where he’s from. Though, when it’s time for him to go…,” she trailed.

“No worries. P’ebaloh said she’ll cover him for the other half of the month,” Violet assured her. “You enjoy your time with your man.”

“And you do the same with yours,” Natsu hummed, causing Violet to flush. “It seems everyone is going west. It’s going to be lonely without everyone. Certainly a lot quieter.”

“Hardly with the little huntresses and Haury running around,” Violet said, smirking. “You know, you and Drowning didn’t have kids right? In that other place. What about now? You’ve got the daycare and I’m sure someone is already prodding him for grandchildren.”

Natsu went crimson. “We’re so young again…And it’s not like we didn’t want any. There’s just certain…difficulties we ran into,” she said, looking at Violet then running her bare hands down the side of her mug.

Violet nearly spit her drink as she watched the gesture before erupting into roaring laughter. “S-Sorry. I’m sure that’s a sensitive issue. Um, there’s…there’s ways of, helping minimizing that situation. I’ve had my share of Roegadyn men before letting Riol anchor me down.”

Natsu avoided eye contact for a moment. “I cannot believe you’re a Doman princess. Has your brother heard you talk like that?”

“Shh! Shhhh Shhh Shhh!” Violet hissed as Natsu took her turn to laugh.

[U’rahn]

“Absolutely not! You are just asking for someone to get hurt,” Natsu huffed, hands on her hips as she looked between U’rahn and Patient as they held out blueprints for a small rollercoaster. “This is a daycare! Not an amusement park. The little train around headquarters is perfectly sufficient to entertain the children. We don’t need…whatever deathtrap that is running off the back of the house. Furthermore…furthermore- Girls! Get those bows off of Erick Jr.’s  before you knot his fur.”

Natsu gave U’shtola and U’vi a stern look before the two girls started to undo the makeover they’d started on the furbul. “Anyroad. There answer is a firm no.”

U’rahn’s ears lowered as he folded up the plans. “I just wanted to make something really cool before I have to go. With the Herrro Coaster they’d remember how brave their dad is even if he’s far away! And with the Nuhn hugging bars of protection they’d be extra super safe. How can you say no to this face,” he said before scooping U’bylti up and holding her out to Natsu.

“I want to plant a rose garden! Can we do that,” the little huntress said to Natsu.

“Of course we can. Lady Fortemps left us some nice bulbs and if we ask Miss C’orretta really nicely I bet she can help make them grow so that they bloom-”

“PINK!” U’bylti answered with a laugh before squirming free to run after U’klynt as she passed by.

Patient shook her head, “None of those were the patented names Rahn.”

“They’re very good names though.”

Patient grimaced and looked to Natsu who sighed and watched U’sette and U’lolamo color pictures on a table. Smiling, she walked over then knelt down to look at U’sette’s rather perfectly drawn dragon then to U’lolamo’s, what appeared to be a mostly princess in a bright blue tul gown standing on a pile of knocked out soldiers flexing her arms.

“I think your daddy is looking for projects to keep him here so he doesn’t have to be away from you,” she said, looking back to U’rahn as he looked over the blueprints again with Patient, his ear flitting toward her.

“Daddy has to go,” U’lolamo said, looking up at Natsu.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. He’s run out of stories. He’s super boring now,” U’jannie echoed.

U’rahn’s ears fell flat as he turned to the girls, eyes brimming with tears. “I-I’m borrring?”

The eight girls nodded, not looking away from their various projects and playthings, causing the Nuhn to drop to his knees in despair. Patient sighed, reaching down to gently pat his back with the end of the blue prints. “Daddy is…borring…okay. This is okay…This is okay…This is okay…”

U’nyxia wandered over, bending and tilting her head to look into his face. “It will be okay! You’ll go across the sea with Nyx, and Auntie Wuk  and bring us back lots of new stories. Okay?”

U’rahn looked up, then rose to his knees before hugging his first born tight, trying to disguise a little sob of happiness. “You bet! I will bring you back stories!”

Natsu smiled as he dried his tears, the Nuhn nodding to Patient once before running out the door. While relieved that the commotion was over, she looked back to the girls. “I…I think he forgot he was also here to take you home.”

[Fuyu’li]

“Things are going great here. I feel like I’ve really found my home among the alchemists of The Great Work! Azdaja and I are getting closer as well. I am learning draconic, though I am finding it rather difficult as our mouths simply cannot imitate some of their consonants. It is amusing for us at least when Vrtra is busy with his Satrap duties or off playing with the children,” Fuyu’li’s voice sounded from Natsu’s tombstone.

“I’m glad things are going well. So we’ve abandoned saying Master all together?” Natsu mused, painting her toenails as she leaned against Drowning Thunder as he read quietly to himself. She hummed, imagining the other erupting into a shade of red in frustration on the other end.

“We are…more than regent and subject. It makes him uncomfortable to be addressed as such given the intimacy we share and he insists on equality. Sometimes he feels more mortal than dragon, though there times he had his draconian moments. He can be possessive at times…and for some odd reason he’s given me a rather beautiful egg to watch over as a symbol of our bond. It looks rather expensive, and he’s not one to give gifts so I am sure this is a great gesture for dragonkind.”

“Uh…” Drowning sounded, eyes wide looking down at the phone. “Does he know how-?”

“Does he know how what?” Natsu asked.

“Y’know, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it,” Drowning said before hiding behind his book. 

“Excuse me Fuyu’li. I need to interrogate my husband,” Natsu huffed before ending the call.

After a brief explanation, Natsu went quiet. “...We can not be the ones to tell him.”

[Y’zel]

Natsu sighed softly before looking up as Pouncing wandered by to refill her tea. “Thank you,” she said with a smile. “Are we making sandwiches this evening?”

“Of course! I’ll teach you how to cut apples into rabbits too if we have time,” Pouncing answered before heading back to the kitchens.

She couldn’t remember how long it’d been since they’d seen one another. Too long to be sure. As Y’zel wandered in, she looked up, the other dressed in Doman silks, looking rather nervous as he looked about headquarters. Taking a seat across from her, he reached out and quickly downed her cup. “Hey!”

“S-Sorry. I am just a bit nervous. It’s still a bit embarrassing to be out like this…I still really haven’t…apologized enough to them,” Y’zel said softly.

“I think somewhere around the fifth time we started getting inundated. You should visit more. You’re missed,” she said, reaching out to touch his arm.

“I know…Yet between having to swing duties as a consort and keeping up with my work. Not to mention Claudien still has me checking in with him as often has not let up in his possessiveness. I’m spinning plates,” he said before lowering his head to hit his head against the table.

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic. You’ve got two handsome men who are absolutely crazy about you, not to mention Ioh’juhn makes it no secret that he steals you away. You have exactly what you wanted,” Natsu sighed, rolling her eyes.

“I guess I do…Um, speaking of which. How is Drowning…or is Bounding with us now,” Y’zel asked as he lifted and sat back.

 “Fine. The moon wanes so I have Drowning but he is with his mom today,” she answered, watching Y’zel’s ears fold back as he grit his teeth.

“I see…”

“Leonnioux is well though. He sends his love. Still adjusting…,” she said. “You should go see him. When Drowning and Bounding must trade again.”

“I’ve…I’ve lost my will to go to that place. I’m unworthy of the mantle or the grace,” Y’zel said weakly, “Perhaps when it is my time I might be fit to return. Until then, he’ll just have to find his way to me.”

“Oh my goodness. You are so dramatic. How are you so dramatic? You were not this bad when you were little,” Natsu laughed.

“Well of course you’d think that. You’ve only seen me as me and I didn’t fancy myself as dramatic. Maybe romantic, but not dramatic.”

Natsu smiled then looked at her brother’s ears and frowned. “Did the Mol’s cure work? For your ears?”

Y’zel shook his head. “No, I’m still relying on my Echo. It’s fine though. I’ve no shortage of aether to expend as always. It’s been three years so I’ve learned to live with it. Speaking of which…,” Y’zel started before looking around. “Has Zoissette departed? I brought her a silk scarf from Doma as a present.”

“I believe she departed for Tural on a submarine already. I wasn’t able to see her off because I was busy with the daycare,” Natsu said, sitting up a little.

“Right…Well, I shall endeavor to find her when I make the journey over there myself. I am to act as an envoy of Doma and extend our friendship toward the current and eventual Dawnservent. Something I actually feel I can do for Doma,” he sighed, before running his finger around the saucer. “It is not long before my ship departs for that matter. It was good to talk though while we can. I promise I will return come the Summer Faire. We can go see the fireworks together,”  he continued moving to take his leave.

Natsu blinked then furrowed her brow. “Wait. Is that it?”

Y’zel turned, “What do you mean is that it?”

Natsu huffed, standing up. “You mean you brought a fine scarf from Doma for Zoissette but not something for your precious little sister?”

Y’zel fluttered his ears before sticking out his tongue at her. “I don’t ever get any gifts from you. I had to take your tea because you didn’t have the foresight to order me any. Zoisette would have had a whole kettle ready. And some oats too,” he sniffed before heading toward the door with a little laugh.“Y’zel you are literally the worst big brother ever!”

[thessalian]

Thess vs TLOVM S3, Ep 4

It's still mostly been Wildermyth today, but of course yesterday was the day the next few episodes of TLOVM dropped. So here we go with Ep 4, still rationing episodes so there's not too long to wait between drops.

C'mon, Pike. get it togeth-- oh. Oooooooh. This ... is a bad bad thing. Especially since I read the episode teasers and for someone who needs to treat her soul as precious ... using it as a bargaining chip in a card game feels like not the best call.

I know that Matt's voice is in that chorus of damned souls ... but I'm pretty sure at least some of the others are in there too.

...So do we know when the S3 soundtrack is going to drop? I looked it up on Spotify but there was a random playlist under that name so either they're holding that name for the time being or someone was an absolute asshole. Anyway, point is, that one belongs right up there with "Mighty Scanlan, riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiise!" as something that just needs to randomly turn up on my Liked Songs playlist-- Um. What is Keyleth supposed to be, exactly?

Closest Google gives me is a wendigo. I doubt they looked all that closely, though - they just needed something creepy-looking with antlers, because Keyleth always has antlers.

Okay, dunno what's calling for Pike at this point but it ain't good.

"Lots of people have told me to come here". Oh, Grog, never change.

Oh, Keyleth, EWWWWWWWW.

The second-hand embarrassment is strooooong.

Wait. Is Zerxus the one calling Pike?!?

Oh, Vax. Oh, Vax, you are going to look back on that and ask Percy to return that punch in the face you gave him after the Deathwalker's Ward Incident because you have earned it.

Vex, Percy, you two are still so adorable.

Oh. Oh Vorugal, you have no idea who you pissed off.

Pike. Pike NO. ...Oh, honey...

So it is Zerxus calling to Pike.

Why. Did. You. Not. Keep. FLYING?!?

Ah, I was right! Now. Luis Carazo. Who he? Well, he was in Calamity, that's a start. Candela Obscura ... EXU as Zerxus himself, so I no longer feel bad about spoilers because any of you who watched EXU probably already knew from the voice ... clearly a WoD fan... Cool. Moving on.

Ah. J'mon Sa Ord not always the honest type.

Oh. Oh, she is using her soul as a precious thing. If only an exquisite offer would get them the Plate, that's exactly how she's treating her soul.

Zerxus, I know you're a devil and everything, but you are also, for all your manners and not immediately going to the murder, an asshole.

Okay, maybe I shouldn't have read what happened in EXU, but ... that explains a lot. He's looking for redemption and ... I wonder if he thinks she can really give it to him. And if she really can, whatever he believes she can or not.

Pike, the fuck?!?

Pike, the fuck?!?

PIKE, FOR PITY'S SAKE; ASK HIM SOMETHING NOT ABOUT THE CARDS!

THANK YOU.

Aaaaand they're using the art style of the EXU opening credits.

Took you long enough, Pike.

And there's his tell.

YEEEEEENK! ...He's not losing graciously, is he.

Noooooooope. Though I do wonder whether, when he says "His ascension is at hand, we are of his blood", he means Thordak through the gem in his chest or ... possibly the Whispered One. Vox Machina have been a barrier to the plans of both parties, after all, and the Whispered One has ... ambitions.

Huh. Different simplified art style in the end credits. Neat.

That's a cliffhanger I can leave it on, definitely. I didn't remember the details of the whole trip to the hells (partly because it was seriously de-emphasised in the campaign and mostly I remember Vex buying a couple of aasimar children to free them from slavery, which I think bumped her to either Chaotic Good or Neutral Good from True Neutral but I'm not entirely sure; set the stage for her being a champion of the Dawnfather, anyway), but those details were obviously changed to fit Zerxus into it anyway, as well as weaving it into how Yenk ends up beating on Vorugal, so works for me. Honestly, I think the way they're reorganising the campaign to fit a shorter episodic structure (both shorter in terms of number of episodes and length of the episodes themselves) with the addition of stuff from other campaigns works remarkably well.

So more of that in a couple of days, and for now ... decisions about dinner. I am still fucking tired, and don't feel like cooking. *whine*

[epicfranb]

WHO'S READY TO HEAR A NEW AU?? FROM ME????? WOOHOOOOO

Anyway remember a post i made about assigning hermits superpowers. No worries if you didn't see it btw. Basically, i talked about how i looove coming up with superpowers, but usually have no idea how to tie the plot together... The last concept i had was pretty boring (hermits get isekai'd into the real world. Blegh), but i think i got something here. Take my hand and let's go.... Into the read more

Bdubs comes home from work to find his girlfriend, who he lives with, Cleo, murdered. And the murderer, still at the scene! The murderer disappears right before Bdubs's eyes, and leaves shards of glass behind. The investigation obviously takes place, and, after long questioning and everything, Bdubs is forced to spend the night at a hotel, exhausted. Strange things continue to happen, as everything becomes strangely quiet, as though the entire world had stopped. There is knocking on the door, but no answer; until a tall woman, mysterious but strangely normal looking, enters the room. She introduces herself as Pearl and gives Bdubs a clock, saying he lost it. Bdubs doesn't recognize it, until Pearl shows that his name is engraved on the backside. That's when Bdubs remembers that it was his former friend, Etho, who made this clock for him. They haven't talked in such a long time, but Bdubs was still devastated that he lost such as precious item. Pearl doesn't even hint at where she found it or how she has it, but she says that it's been away, quietly collecting magical power. Turns out, the clock can stop time - Pearl shows him how, and after Bdubs puts the palm of his hand on the face of the clock, the time resumes, the ambient noises are back and Pearl just... Disappears, with no answers.

As if Bdubs wasn't stressed enough already, Cleo's body also goes missing. One of those days, Bdubs walks by his house and sees a familiar silhouette... It speaks with a familiar voice, though horribly distorted. The person is Cleo, a walking corpse. She calms Bdubs down to the best of her ability and they try to catch up on what's going on. Turns out, Cleo woke up with a strange woman looking at her; it was the same woman that Bdubs met, Pearl! Cleo thinks she probably was given a little time to finish her business, and decides that the last thing she has to do in this world... Is to take revenge on her killer. Bdubs thinks it's uncharacteristic of them; he thought they'd say something like, "to spend my last days doing what i love, with someone i love". But Cleo says they have a specific reason why they want to take revenge. It's because they know the killer! They don't tell Bdubs who it is though.

Now, i haven't figured out what happens next yet. Here's some miscellaneous stuff ig

Some people may have guessed that "person disappears before your eyes and leaves glass shards behind" sounds like a specific power i have for a specific someone... It's Etho, actually. But also, writing this, i thought how cool would that be... If they meet Etho and find out about his power, and think oh it's so obviously him. But he swears it's not. And plot twist it's actually someone else who framed him ghhhhgghh do i wanna say who i have in mind. Do i wanna say. Um. I was thinking Lizzie. Idk. Idk. I think it's cool tho

There's gonna be other peepos in this AU too!! I'm thinking it's gonna be groups of people who start off seeming unconnected, but gradually your realize they're all part of one story (i love this sort of thing!!). The other group will be the Magic Mountains bros (or whatever they're called). So far I have thought of powers for Scar and Joel, and i have ideas but am undecided on Gem, Grian and Skizz, and haven't even began thinking about Impulse.. And mumbo (i keep forgetting he exists)

I thought it'd be funny if Grian had to throw a dice for everything he does and let luck decide if he succeeds or fails. No particular reason for it, other than sort of? adapting a curse i had for him in another AU but for a different setting. In that other AU, he had a curse where, when he would involve himself in someone else's business, the result of his involvement would be the opposite of what he intended. Here, i adapted the basic idea of this, which is: Grian's actions are not under his control, and are independent from his intentions. The only thing is... The rest of them have actual powers, but Grian is stuck with a curse again LMAO i will keep thinking about this.

For Scar, it's a power that i talked about and, in fact, also headcanon for his Hermitcraft character. It's that he has (pretty limited) shapeshifting abilities. Essentially, he can change a few basic things about himself, but he can't, like, turn into a tiger or into a rock. So he has to remain human basically. I think.

For Joel i wanted something crazy. I remembered an AU i had for another fandom, so i gave him a power based on that. Whenever Joel has a bleeding open wound, he goes berserk.. he has increased strength, but can hardly control himself. He ends up being covered in scars, poor boy.

For Gem, i initially had nature powers in mind. Her talent and love for building organics could translate very well into something like controlling plants. But then i remembered, if I'm (sort of) basing this group on season 10, should i give her water powers instead? Hm.

For Skizz, uh, I'm like. I REALLY want something that's kind of like... It SCREAMS that it's Skizz's power, or maybe it enhances his already present character traits. But so far the only thing i came up with is... Super duper eyesight. He can see ridiculously far, with all the detail, but also ridiculously close. What do you think. I think it's a cool power but I'm not sure it fits.

As for Pearl, i think she's kind of like... Not the "mastermind", but something like an outside force who has more powers and information than everybody else. Perhaps she isn't even human. I thought it'd be neat if she only appeared during a full moon.

Oh, and on Etho, of course. His power is to go fully non-existent for short times, but he leaves glass shards behind. In addition to that, he needs to keep a strong grip on his consciousness in this state, or it will disappear as well and he will forever remain this weird type of ghost.

That is all i have for now (i think)! I just like thinking, guys. I guess i should really get into a habit of finishing stuff though... It definitely won't be this time lmao sorry. Please do talk to me about this though UwU

[panthera-tigris-venenata]

For your silly Descendants prompts, the core four see Ben's room?

And they find out he can play the drums apparently?

So, yeah, here it is!

Core four visiting Ben’s room! Carlos, Jay and Evie being mildly chaotic Isle menaces, and Mal, unfortunatelly, well on her way to her D2 breakdown. They also start the process of getting more Isle kids off, starting with the de Vil cousins and Jade.

I realise that the characterisation might be all over the place, but I hope you enjoy anyway! ♥

Ben’s bedroom

It’s Carlos’s first time ever visiting Ben’s dorm room, as far as the young king and the campus guards are concerned anyway.

But come on: Carlos is an Isle kid. 

And saying „You can’t go there,“ to an Isle kid? You could as well wave about a giant flag proclaiming „Free real estate,“ and „It’s a dare!“

Now, all of this is not to be discussed, though, as neither he nor Evie didn’t nick anything,and Jay surely isn’t gonna get caught. 

(Look, with the insane amount of stuff that is just laying around here, practically asking to be stolen? Hardly anyone is gonna notice anyway.)

And Mal? Well,Mal apparently has a blanket approval to visit Ben’s bedroom whenever she wants.

Carlos wonders what the school staff has to say about this, and decides that if they are smart, they probably won’t say a word. When they might be overheard anyway.

But enough empty talk about nothing!

Carlos steps over the threshold with a practised polite smile at his face, and doesn’t bother not looking around, as he and Evie agreed that it might be more suspicious.

If anyone in Auradon cared, that is.

Speaking of Evie: She walks in just after him, followed by Jay, and she briefly touches his hand, letting the touch linger just a tiny bit.

Mal is already waiting inside, smiling, and clearly excited to be spending time with both her boyfriend and her friends.

Well, Carlos doesn‘t want to crush her dreams, but what happens, happens, right?

He smiles back at her, and then turns at Ben:

„Nice room you have here, man,“ he says. He can’t help but to be impressed, and honestly, little jealous.How could he not, having grown on the Isle? How could he not, when he knows that his cousins are still at that hellish place?

The Isle is always at his mind, in more ways than once.

„Love the colours!“ adds Evie. He, personally, finds the favoured Auradon combination of dark blue and gold a bit plain, not to mention: Pastels? Really?

He knows what Ivy and Diego would have to say about those, but he just wrinkles his nose and looks his other way. No insulting the king right now, remember?

„Wait, is that a walk-in closet?“

Of course Evie would get distracted by that.

„Um, yeah?“ Ben says, blush creeping up his cheeks.

Evie immediately sets off to explore it, and Ben awkwardly follows behind.

„Cool,“ says Carlos off-handedly, „I used to sleep in one of those.“

Coincidentally, at the same moment, Jay manages to knock something over and distract the prince. Pure accident, you see.

Evie, however, isn’t feeling like being a diplomat today. 

The difference between Auradon and Isle is really grating on her nerves, she complained about it just yesterday.

And the day before that.

And the day before that.

Well.

You get the picture.

„Oh!“ she pipes up, already half-way in the closet, „I hope you won’t try to kill me in this one, Mal! It would be such a pity – I mean, look at this suit, that is a work of art!“

„Thank you, Lumiere made that one for me. I’ll give him your compliments,“ answers Ben before his brain fully catches up to his mouth, „Wait, what?!“

Mal just blushes, and stammers something like: „I wouldn’t do it again,“ to  which Evie doesn’t  even answer. She just giggles, her voice like jingle bells.

„Jay! Say something!“ Mal turns at the last member of their group.

„Yeah?“ he looks up from Ben’s Tourney and Roar trophies, oh so shiny, and, „It was pretty subpar murder plot, I must say, but fun anyway. Say, did LT give you an A for it?“

Mal buries her face in her hands: „You are not helping. Besides, she almost failed me, for balking out before the end – Not that I would want to finish it, E! Really! I already told you–“

Carlos chuckles, as Evie chose exactly this moment to emerge from the wardrobe and calm down the situation, and especially Ben. With soft and sweet smile on her lips, she says that „It’s just how the Isle children make friends, isn’t it?“ and „We didn’t know any better,“ and that she is so glad she is in Auradon.

The implication of the other Isle children is both unsaid and well received.

„Well, ehm, so, anyway,“ says Ben, „What would you like to do? I was thinking we could play some video games?“

Carlos, Jay, and Evie beam at that proposition, while Mal pouts. She is not the queen yet, and she is clearly outvoted.

Besides, as Evie would put it, Ben’s console is a work of art.

So, they play.

They try not to cheer too much at each kill and swallow at least the most disturbing remarks of how they’d react on the Isle.

Though, honestly?

They got so lost in the game and the debate – even Mal – that Ben was staring at them with mouth agape, wondering why on Earth do they know so much about back alley assaults.

(He didn’t ask at which side they were, that sweet fairy tale child. They will not tell him.)

Instead, he suggests if they’d perhaps like to do something else?

Carlos swats Jay in the arm as he attempts to swipe the controller to his pocket, and points at the drum set the prince has at a mini podium.

(A drum set! At a podium!)

„You play?“ he asks casually.

„Yes!“ Ben beams, „Well, not so much anymore, but I used to! It’s really fun – do you play?“

Carlos ignores Jay scoffing and him and Evie muttering „Who the fuck makes a sixteen years old a king?“ in languages they hope said sixteen years old king won’t understand, and Mal glaring at them.

„Worked out, didn’t it?!“ she more gestures and hisses than says, and, yeah, as far as Carlos is concerned?

There is still some work to do.

So he puts his smile back on and says: „I don’t, but my cousin Diego has a band. Maybe one day, you could play together!“

(If he added „That would be awesome, right?“ he’d be laying it on too thick, wouldn’t he?)

„Your cousin has a band?“ Ben repeats, „That’s pretty cool!“ and „Wait, I didn’t know you had a cousin.“

„I have three,“ informs Carlos with a stony expression.

„I also have a cousin,“ adds Jay, „Jade, my aunt’s kid. We grew up together.“

„I… I honestly didn’t know that. You see, the records, well, they are a bit spotty–“

„Oh, don’t worry about it,“ smiles Evie sweetly, and if Carlos didn’t trust her that much, he’d choke her right on the spot. Mal looks like she wants to do that too.

„We will take a look at your records, won’t we, boys? Jay, Carlos?“

They smile at her, Isle smile, too much teeth and no love in the eyes. They can see some interesting times ahead, already.

„You can start the process of pulling Diego, Ivy, Hunter and Jade over; You can also add Dizzy, that girl is like a little sister to me, and Claudine Frollo.“

„Frollo has a daughter?“

„That’s what you take from this, man?“ asks Jay, leaning against the doorframe, ready to leave.

„I mean, yeah, good for you. But, Jade? Hello?“

Evie smiles at Ben, her mirror-smile, and he nods:

„Cousins. Got it. Claudine Frollo.“

He shakes his head.

Carlos can still see Mal pouting, and she will likely throw a tantrum later that day, gods know what got into her lately, but that’s a problem for his future self.

Now?

He has a faulty system to look at.

„Let’s go,“ he says, and they go, because you didn’t think they didn’t know where the records are kept, did you now? They are Isle kids, after all.

Evie only stops for a bit to make Ben give them an official pass, but she catches up soon enough, she smiles and takes both of their hands.

Carlos feels like everything is going to be okay.

[starfilled-galaxy]

why do me fusi and their sister keep accidentally getting into the most insane roleplays on toog 😭

@bananacat76 you already know all of this but ill tag you anyway

talking ab roleplays under cut bc its long :3c

first time was that kel was the manager of gino's and got into an argument with omori because he only served orange joe and keep sitting on the counter. something appeared and everyone ran out bc holy shit this place is haunted, and kel quit his job as manager. anyway they fought outside while mari was trying (and failing) to keep them from fighting. eventually omori and mari went home and kel was like "man i hope i dont get reported to the police for killing the old manager and then taking her job..... OH SHIT IS THAT THE POLICE???" (he got put in jail) then hero comes across mari and sunny talking at their house and is like "hey do you guys know where kel is? he's missing..." and mari's like "oh last i saw him he was at the plaza" "i just checked there tho?" "you did? um, well he got into a bit of an argument so maybe he went somewhere to cool off?" "ah, well he normally thinks the secret hangout lake area is calming so he might be there" "alright, how about we come with you?" "oh uh sure!" so they look by the lake and do not find kel, right before hero leaves mari gives the run-down to hero ab the argument with omori and kel then they all go home sunny threatens to kill himself by jumping down the stairs. he does not hero gets a call from the police and tell him that his brother is in jail for committing murder. he then finds kel's journal with the most recent entry confessing about his murder (and littering potatoes everywhere). hero is like what the fuck so he goes to the park to clear his head, where mari and sunny find him again mari talks with hero while sunny. does stuff. such as stabbing potatoes hero tells her about how kel was a murderer and he's really sad and stuff then in the middle of the convo at some point hero gets FUCKING POSSESSED....... by..... kel's evil twin brother "jel" he turns to mari and smiles "so anyway wanna go commit murder with me?" "what.... why...." "idk sounds like fun" "HERO WE JUST TALKED ABOUT THIS MURDERER ISNT FUN" "yes it is?" "NO ITS NOT??" during all of this sunny is still stabbing potatoes and fusi (mari) is occasionally going out of character to do the basketball YUH sound sunny goes home and hero and mari continue their convo "well if you dont join me you're gonna be my next victim" "...what" he pushes her to the ground "join me" anyway mari refuses so hero chases her like some fucking horror movie scene until she gets home to call the police and locks the door with sunny and hero still outside. hero attempts to scare sunny but sunny has a knife and he doesnt wanna get stabbed. sunny stabs him anyway and he bleeds out. mari's like "oh my god what did you do" and takes him to the hospital, where he wakes up and uh talks with mari while having no memory of when he was possessed they leave the hospital and then the roleplay ends bc we didnt know where to go from there lmfao

second one, still ongoing, is that mari stole hector and had him be a backing dancer on a stage while she did a ted talk ab the respawn button. then hector got... stuck in the floor somehow so i had to reset character (die), and sunny saw. and then kel shows up and is like "mari what did you do with hector?" and she's like "oh sorry i just wanted to use him for a bit, but i can give him back now. sunny can you go get hector?" and sunny's like fuck hector is dead i cant tell kel... so he's like "uh uh uh um uhhhhh i saw. hero. and i gave hector to him. and he said something about going to a dog park. so he wont be home" and kel is like "oh ok :D" and goes home then he gets there and sees hero "you're back already?" "i never left??" "huh? sunny told me you went to a dog park with hector?" "no????" "HE LIED????" and then sunny to mari "HOLY FUCKING SHIT HECTOR'S DEAD MARI WHAT DO I DO"

oh also there was one time that was really short that was set in headspace where basil and omori were watering flowers but then hector (rock) kept jumping on the flowers so omori killed him, then kel shows up and is like "hey where's hector" and omori's like "uh uh maybe go check where he was last time you lost him" "oh yeah orange oasis! ill go check there!" basil and omori come along then kel gets hit by the train to orange oasis and dies then hero shows up and is like "hey where's kel i think he ran off again" "oh um. he got hit by the train. um. he's toast. we're gonna need life jam" "oh damn" and then hero also got hit by the train

[queer-cosette]

tell us about your favourite line from the fic you can't share in the guild!!

[Mia please know that I am spiritually giving you the BIGGEST hug right now 🩷🩷🩷]

Honestly, it might be the fact that she swoons at the obscure 19th century French poetry of all things that makes him realize that yeah, another girl in another town is infatuated with him, but, shit, this time he is infatuated right back.

Okay so there's a lot of stuff in The Fic that I really love so far, mostly because I love thinking about what if JD and Veronica had got the chance to just be two kids falling in love instead of accidentally committing murder, but this bit is possibly one of my favourites thus far. JD is so cool in the cafeteria scene, I love imagining that under the surface he's actually going oh my god I need to impress her so bad and freaking out slightly because he's never had a crush before (2023 is gonna be the year of demisexual JD and no one can change my mind).

ANYWAY he's such a fucking DORK and he disguises that behind a trenchcoat and motorcycle boots and an 'I don't care' attitude and then he meets Veronica and it turns out she's as bad as he is, and is actually in fact WORSE at hiding the fact that she's secretly a nerd, and he pretty much immediately starts simping for her as a result. There's a very cute bit later on where they discuss Les Mis and it's. yeah.

Veronica looks delighted. “I love that book! It’s, um, kind of embarrassing now, but back in Freshman year I would sometimes sit in my garden and pretend I was Cosette, waiting for my Marius to leave pages of handwritten poetry for me.” JD laughs at that, because it’s adorable, and fits so well with everything he knows about her, nerdy daydreamer that she’s turned out to be. “Sorry to disappoint you; I don’t think I’m much of a Marius.”

(I know that is more than just one line I've shared but. fuck me it might be the cutest thing I've ever written.) I was sitting there like. Would either of them have read Les Mis? Is that in character? and well. yeah. They're both canonically fans of Charles Baudelaire, and Veronica is literally introduced as being a nerdy overachiever who is hanging all her hopes on getting into an Ivy League school. And speaking from experience, that book doubles as a pretty effective weapon, and I think JD would like that.

Honestly there's so much cute stuff in this fic, but unfortunately (for Discussing Reasons) there is also a lot of VERY saucy stuff in with the cute bits, so there's a lot that I can't share in the Guild and also a lot that I'm too shy to outright share on here without the buffer of an AO3 link 😅

Thank youuuuuuuuu🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷

[bearpillowmonster]

DD3

Wait, so you get denied a raise because of your credit score...and they tell you to sort it out- before the raise that will raise your credit score? Wait-

It's so easy to forget that there were successful comic book shows and movies outside of what we see today. You know how many we get a year now? 7 mainline live action in universe Marvel and DC movies plus 2 live action shows. These are straight from the source so why is it that Netflix, the company that redid Avatar and is famous for their goofy live action anime adaptations did something more quality years ago versus what we get today with super inflated budgets? Whether you like the show or not, whether you rank this lower than the other seasons, doesn't matter, the production quality is objective.

Bullseye in this season is top notch. I seriously didn't expect that or some of what the dialogue considers, I pondered some of that for days, the writing really shines. Everyone talks about Karen and Foggy reappearing for the reboot but Karen's still whiny. They even give her a whole episode on number 10 out of 13 and it's really something we should've gotten- um- not at the last moment. It doesn't even change context. Seeing it titled 'Karen', made me think there was this cool long hunt for her and she'd have to use her wits and ideals that she's built to fight back until Daredevil stops Bullseye's attack. Yeah, no, it's pretty straightforward.

It's strange how they really made Kingpin staring at a white wall a plot point and it's actually not bad, like how do you make that a successful character trait?

Sometimes it reverts to a stage play though, more often than not it's the most pivotal moments too. There are some great fights, don't get me wrong, it goes back to a lot of the corridor fighting and innovates really nicely but then there's the Bullseye fight in episode 10, it just didn't hit the right notes for me and neither did the last episode's fight. It's not even just the fights either, it's the dialogue. I expected Vanessa to die then Wilson concedes so DD will kill him, but DD doesn't give him what he wants and refuses after all this time. I ended up with half of that. But it's all done so rushed like there's no reason behind it. And Matt's speech is just over the top cheesy "You will go back to prison and live the rest of your miserable life in a cage knowing you'll never have Vanessa." Blah blah blah, I beat you. Stupid, like a pissing competition. I complained about Ultimate Spider-Man and it still gives me horrors thinking about it but there was one thing that followed in line with what I want and that's actually Daredevil.

There was a scene where he knows he can't beat Fisk at his own game so he sneaks and finds Vanessa- here, flocked right to it. Issue 110

She's comatose in that story and now he shows that he has all the cards, he's in control, he could break both his and Kingpin's life at once. It's Spider-Man that talks him down and we don't need that here but he stands for fear but how do you scare the person that isn't scared of anything? You scare those closest to him. "It was just business. Don't make it personal." Kingpin leaves the country but he ends up calling a hit on Spider-Man and DD anyway. That is until he gets what's coming to him, sidelined and distracted so that the cops come and get him for a murder he barely even remembered.

It'd be interesting if they made the season a murder mystery where it turns out it was Fisk even though he's in prison and then it starts the FBI thing then him barrelling through cops as they try to bring him down at the end. In fact, when I first heard of this season and saw Bullseye with the outfit, I thought that maybe he was A. a wannabe. or B. Someone framing him. DD going back to his old costume so not to be confused (or the other way around) and they're trying to uncover his identity all the way through until they figure it out in the end and DD reclaims his costume and beats him. That didn't happen and I love his character study but I feel that they kinda pissed on him in that final episode too. They kinda just chalked him up to another crazy guy by that point.

I didn't mind them hoping for another season and teasing for it but there are some things left undone, (what's that stain on my rug?) I won't really complain about them but I can say that the beginning where we get caught up on stuff that happened off-screen goes nowhere. Should Elektra have appeared, it'd undermine her death but if she was apart of his visions like Fisk and his dad were then it'd make more sense like "oh, he hallucinated her." I realized that Elektra's story more fit Blade's type of playground than what ended up being S2 so it does seem a bit weaker.

All in all, I see why the series is so heavily regarded and I probably agree with a lot of the consensus in terms of ranking.

[thenixkat]

The Coup - Fat Cats, Bigga Fish (Explicit)

Lyrics:

[Intro] Well, what do we have here?

[Chorus] Get down, get down, get down Get down, get down, get down Get down, get down, get down Get down, get down, get down

[Verse 1: Boots Riley] It's almost 10 o'clock, see, I gotta ball of lint for property So I slip my beanie on sloppily And promenade out to take up a collection I got game like I read the directions I'm wishing that I had an automobile As I feel the cold wind rush past But let me state that I'm a hustler for real So you know I got the stolen bus pass Just as the bus pulls up and I step to the rear This old lady look like she drank a 40 of fear I see my old-school partner, said his brother got popped Pay my respects, "can you ring the bell? We came to my stop" The street light reflects off the piss on the ground Which reflects off the hamburger sign as it turns round Which reflects off the chrome of the BMW Which reflects off the fact that I'm broke Now what the fuck is new? I need loot, I spot the motherfucka in the tweed suit And I'm in his ass quicker than a kick from a greased boot Eased up slow and discreet Could tell he was suspicious by the way he slid his feet Didn't want to fuck up the come-up So I smiled with my eyes said "hey, how's it hanging guy?" Bumped into his shoulder, but he passed with no reaction Damn this motherfucka had hella Andrew Jacksons! I'm a thief, or pickpocket - give a fuck what you call it Used to call 'em "fat cats," I just call them wallets Getting Federal: ain't just a klepto Mastercard or Visa? I gladly accept those Sneaky motherfucka with a scam, know how to pull it Got a mirror in my pocket, but that won't stop no bullets Story just begun, but you already know Ain't no need to get down, shit, I'm already low [Chorus] Get down, get down, get down Get down, get down, get down Get down, get down, get down Get down, get down, get down

[Verse 2] My footsteps echo in the darkness My teeth clenched tight like a fist in the cold sharp mist I look down and I hear my stomach growling Step to Burger King to attack it like a Shaolin I never pay for shit that I can get by doing dirt Linger to the girl cashier and start to flirt All up in her face and her breath was like murder Damn, the shit I do for a free hamburger! Well you got my number, you gon' call me tonight? It depends: is them burgers attached to a price? I'm just kidding, I'ma call, even write you love letters Thanks for the burgers, um, hook me up with a Dr Pepper That's cool, you want some ice? Yeah, and some fries would be hella nice Damn my manager's coming, play it off, okay? 'Have a nice day!' I'm up outta here anyway

I use peoples before they use me Cause you could get got by an Uzi over an OZ That's what an OG told me Gots to find someplace warm and cozy to eat the Victuals that I just got Came to a underground parking lot "This place is good as any, fuck it, it's all good" Walked in, found a car, hopped and sat up on the hood Ate my burger, threw back my cola Somebody said "hey," it was a rent-a-pig, I thought it was a roller "Want me to call the cops?" I don't want them to see me Looked down and saw that I was sitting on a Lamborghini It was Rollses, Ferraris, and Jags by the dozen A building door opened; damn, it was my cousin Getting off of work, dressed up, no lie Tux, cummerbund, and a black bow tie I was like "hey!" "Who is it?" "Me" "Oh, what's up man, I just quit this company They hella racist and the pay was too low" I said "right, what was up in there though?" "A party with rich motherfuckas, I don't know the situation I know they got cabbage, owning corporations IBM, Chrysler and shit is what they said" Just then a light bulb went off in my head "They be thinking all black folks is resembling Give me your tux and I'll do some pocket-swindling" Finna change in the bathroom and not freeze off my nuts Lets take a short break while I get into this tux

[Pre-Chorus] Alright, I'm ready

[Chorus] Get down, get down, get down Get down, get down, get down Get down, get down, get down Get down, get down, get down

[Verse 3] Fresh, dressed like a million bucks I be the flyest motherfucka in an afro and a tux My arm is at a right angle, up, silver tray in my hand "May I interest you in some caviar, ma'am?" My eyes shoot around the room there and here Noticing the diamonds in the chandelier Background Barry Manilow, Copacabana And a strong-ass scent of stogies from Havana Wasn't no place where a brother might've been Snobby old ladies drinking champagne with rich white men Alright then: let's begin this Nights like this is good for business Five minutes in the mix, noticed several different cliques Talking, giggling and shit With, one motherfucka in betwixt And everybody else jocking him, throttling Found out later he owns Coca Cola bottling Talking to a black man, who's he? Confused me, looking hella bougie Ass all tight and seditty Recognized him as the mayor of my city Who treats young black men like Frank Nitti Mr Coke said to Mr Mayor: "You know, we got a process like Ice Ts hair We put up the funds for your election campaign And, oh, um, waiter can you bring the champagne? Our real estate firm says opportunity's arousing To make some condos out of low-income housing Immediately, we need some media heat To say that gangs run the street and then we bring in the police fleet! Harass and beat everybody till they look inebriated When we buy the land, motherfuckas will appreciate it Don't worry about the Urban League or Jesse Jackson My man that owns Marlboro donated a fat sum" That's when I stepped back some to contemplate what few know Sat down, wrestled with my thoughts like a sumo Ain't no one player that could beat this lunacy Ain't no hustler on the street could do a whole community This is how deep shit can get It reads "macaroni" on my birth certificate "Puddin'-Tane" is my middle name, but I can't hang I'm getting hustled, only knowing half the game

[Outro] Shit, how the fuck I get up out this place?

[livecharliereaction]

Bye tsumihoroboshi

thats all for tsumihoroboshi chapter ZAMN. omfg i did cry i cant lie at that big battle on the rooftop i did i did i did.. It just hits a litte close to home friendship and all that... I love my friends so mach i get everything theyre feeling u know... AND the delusions of rena what a crazy writing style i dont think ill get over it like ever. urgh. Well the final tip almost wanted me to consider that "ooh maybe she was right!" but honestly my takeaways from it are juts 1. disaster happens regardless no matter how the events go otherwise 2. rika was murdered? Thats pretty weird 3. BUT theres hope liek she said BECAUSE: keiichi rememberd something from "another world" (i know a timeloop when i see one. its def a timeloop. Hells yeah) 4. the scrapbooks do hvae some evil spell or something takano i am onto you its weird anyway she shows up at such times and all.. Idk if shes the #MAIN VILLAIN DEMON OMG but shes Something.

Rena i love you thank you for solidifying your place as my favorite good time. argh every chapter so far is better than the one before it goes for this one too it does it does... Which is amazing implications for next ones... Lets hope they keep it up...

And keiichi i cant lie i do love you. I love you i love you i love you. Ughh. If i was still 16 hed have a big chance at going to that kinlist. But hes so gross so i wouldnt actually have added him then either!!! im unable to kin these days because EVERY GOOD CHARACTER EVER has Some Traits I Can Relate To Myself becuase i dont know something something human emotion something i am just like everyone else and everyone is just like me in the end and i love it. But yeah keiichi love the guy hes so #Power of Friendship #Protagonist. Im mentioning this cos i loved the girls from the start and still do but keiichi had to prove himself a little...

Yeah im curious about satoko now too i dont think i paid her enough mind i sort of ended up assuming shes #Normal but just super close to rika obviously but that one line about her being older. I couldnt tell yet if its Haha satokos body is older and rikas being funny! OR Omg satoko some immortal or something too woww! but yeah. I wouldnt think she is it doesnt seem that way at all BUT u never know w this fuckass series..ou ou ou ou ou

Mion i love you the girl that you are. Rena you are everything and more. Rika how have you managed to stay mysterious ive been here for like over 30 hours total for sure maybe even 40. But hmm

if its a timeloop i still cant tell what its about. id say rikas in charge (wants to keep giving this world a chance) n takano is with the antagonistic forces But how does it work exactly? If rikas the one "looping the time" directly it doesnt really compute unless she can do it from the afterlife. I dont konw.

And Omfg i hate this series because i STILL believe satoshi will show up one day. Even though it seems impossible now. But i liked him n shion so much dude i love shion so satoshi HAS TO come back for her. Urgh urgh urgh

But yeah i fr didnt think keiichi would be able to break renas delusion even for such a long moment But he pulled it off. Shes really cool i love her. I love her i love her i love her. UGHHH. Everything and more. and i said it alr but ill say it again the portrayal of her delusional state is SO personal to me i get her i get her i DO so good... Urghh. Ok. Thank u charhigurashi6 i have to check how many games the bundle i bought still has hmm

ok these 3 i own but havent installed lets see The first one here is um well i dont know that girl i havent seen her which is concerning! I feel like i mightve seen a sprite (in the og style that i read with) but thats kinda it. I recall seeing a name somewhere too shes a furude i think but not too sure Im always frustrated when i see a spoiler like that but then it never makes me any more knowledgeable about anything so so far its fine #LOL. proably has to do with the demon stuff tho...

takano in the middle one right takano you are so weird and offputting. Damn maybe she IS the big bad afterall

last one aww rika But yeah thats. I dont know its at least 5 hrs each but i think i spent like 10+ hrs on meakashi so it could possibly be up to like what. 15 even 20? per game. At least 15 hours left though.. Idt theres anything outside of the bundle after this its either higu anime time or umineko time ill see what kinda time i have then (i can probably watch the anime while multitasking i dont really care so much but umineko i want to be TUNED. IN.)

yay exciting ok thank u charhigurashi6 best chapter so far loved it love u rena love u everyone ok gn

[percontaion-points]

TOWB chapters 37-40

Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions

Chapter 37

It took four Hands to pin her down, and still she fought back, screaming around her gag as they bound her. Black ink stamped her limbs, depicting whirling krakens and three-finned sea dragons. She was Oori, a seafaring coven that spent their lives navigating between the temperate Broken Sea and the harsher waters of the Trija Ocean cradling Witchik’s eastern shores.

This would probably be interesting if the plot actually fucking cared about the different covens.

It was like the author spent a lot of time creating these different covens, but ended up going in a different direction. But by god, she was going to shove it all in anyway!

Ranka lifted her head. “Tell me what I have to do.”

Chapter 37 summary: They watch as the council brings out two witches. They’ve got a second strain of the virus, which is supposed to be slower. The two of them watch with horror as they infect the first witch, and the council discusses the long-term strategy here.

Finally, Aramis puts a hand on Ranka’s and tells her to calm down; that attacking right now would solve nothing. She reminds Ranka that she’s not simply protecting her coven sisters anymore, but all witches. Ranka says “You don’t understand”, but Aramis is quick to call her out on her shit. Nobody understands the burden of power and responsibility better than the goddamned PRINCESS. 

Chapter 38

Ranka kicked through the window. The glass shattered, and she swung them out into the cool air of Seaswept, leaving the Hands of Solomei behind to burn.

Chapter 38 summary: Before the council can infect the second witch, Ranka chucks a torch into the galley below. In the confusion, Aramis stands and shoots at the person holding the witch, which allows her to escape. Ranka then takes Aramis’s hands and they jump out a window. 

Chapter 39

“All of this is too much. I convinced myself the Hands weren’t a threat.”

They were only murdering a little bit of people, rather than a lot! 

Aramis fell silent, and the weight of what she’d said settled between them. Ranka didn’t know if she was terrified, furious, or both. Aramis had known this the entire time and kept it from her. Had strung Ranka’s hopes along, let her believe her power might be managed someday, while the memory of a girl ripped in half for attempting the same haunted her. 

In case Ranka forgot, but the entire purpose of Aramis studying Ranka is to fucking find a cure for this death-sentence!

“She’s not in the city.” He gulped. “I, um, caught her. She’s here.”

Chapter 39 summary: They spend some time searching for the newly-infected witch who escaped at the end of the previous chapter, but are unable to. After they give up, Ranka tells Aramis that Foldrey knew. He wanted her to go, not because she was a shitty person, but because if the bloodwin wasn’t around, the other witches wouldn’t come into the city. There would be no reason to do so. But now, there are reports of the covens getting closer and closer; it’s too late for Ranka to abandon her post now. 

Aramis then tells Ranka some critical detail about other blood witches. About how most of them don’t remember how they came into power, only that it revolves around some sort of extreme violence and death. We actually don’t know the specifics of what happened to Ranka in that village, BTW. Only that something happened. 

Aramis tells Ranka of another bloodwitch who came to the palace seeking her mother’s help. That the girl tried to work through the mental block her mind had put up to shield her from whatever trauma caused her to turn into a bloodwitch. But doing so literally killed her, made the magic literally erupt from her veins. But not in a quick way; it was so slow that eventually, Aramis’s father shot the girl to put her out of her misery. 

Ranka is really upset over this, regardless of the fact that Aramis has been trying THIS ENTIRE TIME to find a cure for the entire thing. 

They go back to the palace, and Percy comes over to them. Says that the sick witch turned up at their doorstep. 

Chapter 40

As the morning sun rose, a new feeling swept through Ranka, so unfamiliar it stung. It was a thing she hadn’t felt properly in five years. It was hope.

Chapter 40 summary: Aramis works hard to save the witch from her plague death, but she still dies anyway. Aramis then has a break-down, but it’s not simply about the now-dead witch. It’s about how shitty that the world is; how they groomed her to take over as queen, yet took away her crown the second it was obvious she wasn’t actually a witch. About how out of every named character, she’s the only one without powers. 

Then the leeches that they’d put on the now-dead witch start to fall off. This gives Aramis an idea and she randomly brings the witch back to life. I followed literally none of it; it’s some of that vague hand waving and the next thing anybody knows, A RABBIT IS PULLED OUT FROM A HAT. 

However, the woman isn’t doing well; Aramis likens the condition to having been paused, rather than the woman being dead-dead. She’s still really sick, so Aramis asks Ranka if she’ll give some blood to the woman. Ranka agrees. 

[wellfell]

 ❛ i don't fall . ❜  she mumbles . she does — falls hard enough to break bones , hits the walls and trees until they make her bleed . but all of them do , they have to yet reach levi’s level of perfection and precision . and how old was levi himself anyway ? how many years did they all have to go to be as wise as the old assholes that sleep in the inner wall ? they hit the walls and roofs until their bones break and they pray because at least it's not titan teeth breaking their bones . akina didn't even remember that titans ate humans – when the colossal titan broke the first wall , when squad 401 met the titans for the first time . she remembers watching in horror as the first titan reached for a fairly young lady , and lifted her to its open mouth . akina and jean were less experienced with them , despite learning about their diet and their ways , just seeing them this close had made kids from inner walls freeze .

 she remembers standing behind a wall with a trembling hand on her chest , her heart in her mouth and tears in her eyes . remembers moving only when she heard a little boy call her , ‘ miss soldier ! miss soldier ! ‘ , remembers being so scared but knowing she isn't allowed to let the boy be eaten like that young woman . the titan's chopped off hand was cooling off on the ground and the boy was crying in her shoulder , thanking her with his little trembling voice . akina won't be as unbothered as mikasa , knows that's what's getting her higher in the eyes of the higher ups but akina was simply , undoubtedly , helplessly , human .

 and at some point , you have to accept the fact that the little girl in you has to be murdered . eren’s smile doesn't suit him this time , she lets him push her spear away and steps away to give him room . jean keeps saying eren’s eyes are frog big , she mindlessly thinks they're haunting . like a monster trying to improvise , look at you without wanting to crush your bones in his hands . . she does take his hand though . but doesn't lift him , instead lowers her own form . one of akina's knees press on the dirt , then the other . her shoulders are narrow , slumped and the spear rests by her thigh . she doesn't know much about what he was before he came here , nothing beyond the suicidal bastard title and his eagerness to start fights left and right with the very wrong kind of people . one day he's going to die under levi’s kicks and it'll be well deserved , she thinks . but he had to be just a boy to join the ranks . akina realized the scouts were not different from the others inside the wall , choosing to wear a horse or a rose behind their uniforms and pretend to guard the town . she realized the ones with wings on their backs can't go back even if they want to . wonders if jean would , wonders if eren has ever wanted to .

 shifting slightly , looking down at her hands as her long , calloused fingers pick the dirt off the scratch on her palm . ❛ . . um . i was thinking – ❜  the same fingers raise to push her hair behind her ears . an action too pristine for the state she's in , the last traces of the sina brat that would cry over a ruined dress for two days . ❛ i was going to see my family mansion tomorrow in sina . i think my family left it– ❜  died ? left ? they didn't even write her a letter , she hopes they'll be kinder to anita . ❛ i think i'm asked to sell it or something . ❜  levi gave her the letter with a snort , mumbling something about the rich brats and their stupid little marble mansions . akina didn't care much about her old house but there was something that actually worried her ; well , three actually . ❛ we have triplet tigers in our mansion . ❜  ones that tried to eat her when she was nine , a white scar rests on her stomach which she's sure nobody has seen before . thankfully . smaller titans with sharper teeth , angry , hungry , her father tried to sell the tigers many times but nobody in all three walls had seen nor possessed animals like these . she tries to smile , lets sunlight pour into one brown eye from her left . ❛ i was wondering if you'd like to come with me . i – i asked a few people and they all said no . i don't want to go alone . ❜  she doesn't even know how much the house or the tigers cost , she doesn't want to get rid of anything , she wants someone to stand by her so the house doesn't eat her up . or the tigers , eren’s glares remind her of them sometimes .

 ❛ . . we don't have to stay much . we could leave tonight , and come back tomorrow evening . ❜

Eren's inhale isn't sharp, though it would be justifiable if it were. Sucking in air as a way to gasp, wouldn't it make sense? It's not a pleasant question to hear, especially not with that look in her eyes.

She's careful. Eren doesn't know enough about her background to determine why or how, what she's learned at home, and what she's learned out here. But he knows she's careful. He knows she isn't half as foolish as everyone had assumed a spoiled brat from Sina to be.

Sometimes he wonders if she'd leaned into it, initially, into what people murmured about her, or into the way boys would stare as she walked by, twice as beautiful as Mikasa, and half as scary.

Akina is unfair.

His features twist as he inhales, calmly. His chest rises. Her makeshift weapon goes along with it. The more he looks up at her, the less he feels like fighting her off.

Sometimes it catches up to him, a terrible thought. Wouldn't it be easier to give up? He doesn't remember what options he has outside of being what he is.

When Akina looks at him and refuses to not meet his eyes, refuses to not eventually come back, refuses to not indulge him with his attempts at play-pretend of a life and age he no longer gets to have, does she look at him and see him as a monster?

And does she know of anything else he could be, at this point?

Beyond a symbol, beyond a weapon, beyond something more abstract than he is, and more concrete than he feels?

"Why would I be catching you?" he tries to smile that usual confident smile, the one he accompanies with declarations of faith and belief, ambition and dreams, the one that had probably helped Jean coin the 'suicidal bastard' title he still wears too comfortably on his back.

"I'm guessing because you fell? Or because I'd have to carry you somewhere?"

There are endless plains, at times. Outside, actually outside, as well, he muses. The world can't change that drastically, right? Sure, there's the ocean of water, and somewhere else one made of sand, but there'll probably be plains for a long while before they reach anything else.

Nowhere to shoot a hook into.

"I'd try to be gentle," he says in the end, and doesn't meet her eyes. He can't figure out how to get the smile to work, so he gives up on it. He pushes her spear away as he makes to sit up, a sigh heavy enough to inherited from an ancient line.

He runs his hand through his hair briefly.

It seems pointless, sometimes.

All he does, while out here, is wait for the next time he's useful. Why does he bother? Aren't there more important things to attend to?

He extends his hand, expecting Akina to lift him up, gaze unimpressed, at least not quite stern.

"I wouldn't hurt you," a pause. She's beautiful, framed by the setting light. She always is. He doesn't care much for it, beauty is subjective and means little, except getting women into trouble if they're in the wrong district, or slip into the wrong criminal hands - or even inside military ranks, he's heard.

But she is.

She's beautiful for the way she overpowers him because he lets her, for the way she won't run away from him, or asking in the first place.

"I won't lose control again," he continues, quieter, half a statement, half a plea to be believed. "I haven't in a while. I wouldn't start again while holding you."

Because not even whatever fucked up fire is eating his brain alive inside his skull, he hopes - hopes, doesn't know, he hopes - would weaken when faced with the reality of accidentally hurting one of the few keeping him sane enough to face it.