#bringing this energy to the finale 2.0

[humanmorph]

this still is so funny to me. me too austin

[mostlymarvelsstuff]

Howling Hearts

Summary: Countess Romanoff and her lover, Lady Maximoff, find themselves inexplicably drawn to the Countesses oldest, most trusted and loyal guards. One night after a particularly rambunctious banquet, they finally decide to act on these forbidden urges and claim the two wolves as their own.

Warnings: talk of blood/feeding on blood, graphic violence, slight Omegaverse concepts for the werewolves, Reader has a penis, sexual content (fingering, oral sex, vaginal sex, breeding)

Authors note: first time writing Bucky in anything, so please go easy on me if he seems out of character at any point 💖

Authors note 2.0: sorry this is later than intended, still hope you enjoy it!

Word count: 10011 (im sorry its so long lmao) 2023 Halloween Specials Marvel Masterlist

   It was a cool evening, and a soft rain pattered against the castle's stained glass windows, providing a tranquil atmosphere to the room. Several times now you've become a bit lost in that feeling and have let your eyes linger a bit too long on Countess Romanoff as she sits in her exquisite chair by the fireplace. 

   Admiring her wasn’t new, in fact you were sure that after so many centuries you could paint the curve of her lips blindfolded and you were certain that your mate James could too. But lusting after the vampire that you were in service of wasn’t exactly acceptable behavior. If any other werewolf heard of such a thing it wouldn't go over well. Falling for the species that imprisoned yours to use like glorified watch dogs…they’d shun you at the very least.

  “Lady Romanoff, Starks fledgling is here to see you.” one of her guards announces, breaking the peaceful silence

   A brunette boy stands there beside the guard with wide eyes and he quickly offers the Countess a polite bow. She chuckles at his clear nervous energy and beckons him forward. Somehow the young vampires wobbly legs carry him further into the room

   “So young one” the Countess begins, giving the visitor her full attention “What brings you here on this lovely evening?”

    And lovely it had been indeed. With her lover out for the day it left her able to just focus on the presence of her two oldest and most trusted guards, her wolves. Something Wanda would indulge in as well, but normally they’d be too wrapped up in each other to daydream long. At least while in the same room as you, in their bedchambers it was a different story. But alas, the arrival of this fledgling had chased her decidedly naughty thoughts from her head.

   “Lord Stark wanted you to be informed that he and Lady Potts shall be in attendance of your upcoming banquet” he tells her, looking like he might pass out from anxiety at any second

   “Thank you and I’m glad to hear that. Do give them my best when you return home”

   He quickly nods and understanding that to be a dismissal he turns on his heels and heads back out the door you're standing by. He passes you with such a speed that you have half a mind to tell him to let the horse ride in the carriage as he takes the reins, but you hold your tongue. A good thing too, because no sooner did he disappear from view did Lady Maximoff arrive.

   She smiles as she passes by and heads straight for her lover, kissing the woman's cheek before taking a seat on her lap. You're used to such behavior by now, but at the start it had surprised you, as the Countess was not one to allow such affections from her nightly escapades. Then again, Wanda had always been different. She wasn’t some fledgling picked up for fun, nor was she a human chosen to be a plaything before a meal. No, she was every part an elder vampire, just as your master was, and they were quite old friends before the relationship ever began. 

   “Hello moya lyubov'(my love), is your brother well?”

   The brunette smiles, “He is, and still annoying. Who did I pass in the hallway?”

   “Starks fledgling, here to tell me that my invite was accepted” she explains

   “Oh good. It's not a proper banquet without Tony”

   The redhead chuckles, “How very true. We’ll have to have the kitchen staff keep extra glassware on hand, just in case he causes a debacle like last time.” 

   The two continue talking, making plans for the upcoming party as well as catching up on what the other had been up to in the few hours that they had been apart. You and James tried your best to stay focused and not watch the way the Countesses hands roamed across her lover's waistline and mid back as they converse but that proved to be a very difficult task.

   Eventually one of their servants enters the room with two goblets, indicating it was time for the two women to feed. Now, they could eat food like you and James did, but it did nothing for them. It didn't fill them or give them sustenance so it was something that they really only did when they felt like it or were craving something particular. Otherwise, it was all blood. The fresher, the better.

   "Here you are, my Lady" the servant greets, handing both women their cups

   “Thank you Sylvia” the Countess says before taking a deep gulp 

   The servant quickly excuses herself, heading back to whatever duties she was attending to before she needed to bring the two women their meal, and part of you wishes you could follow her. Not because you wished to be apart from anyone you were currently in the company of, but due to the feeling that stirs in your gut, and to your embarrassment, sometimes your pants, when you witnessed the women consume blood.

   You couldn’t help it, there was just something about being able to watch them feed. The way their fangs grew before they sunk them into their victim, their eyes turning nearly black as they drained the person's essence to fulfill their need was incredibly enchanting. And the way the red liquid dripped from the corners of their mouth, or how they licked their lips afterwards had your heart racing. Which is exactly how you feel now as a drop of blood trickles down from the corner of the Countesses mouth, down past her jawline and down her neck.

   Wanda notices this droplet as soon as Natasha moves her cup and she wastes no time in leaning over, letting her tongue lap up the treat before she attaches her lips to that same spot. She begins to suck a mark into the pale skin there, eliciting a throaty chuckle from the older vampire

   “Behave. You are not the only one currently present”

   Wanda's eyes travel over to James as she continues to mark up Natasha, before they eventually move to look at you as well. You sincerely hope she hadn’t noticed the way you shifted your stance in order to adjust the growing bulge at the front of your pants. The last thing you wanted was for either woman to begin to feel uncomfortable around you, or find you some kind of pervert. 

   “Dorogoy(darling), I said behave” the older woman repeats, gently tugging Wanda's hair to remove her from her neck and get her attention once more

   “But I like getting to mark you. I like the reaction it elicits” 

   Natasha smiles, “I like it too. But if that's something you want, then our room is a much more suitable place for us”

   Wanda wordlessly removes herself from her girlfriend's lap and waits for the redhead to stand before they both begin to make her way towards the doorway where you and James stand by. Wanda shyly smiles at you both and turns to the left, indicating that the bedchamber was exactly where they were headed

   “If anyone needs me” the Countess states, looking at James, “I’m not to be disturbed until I’m out of my room. Unless it's of utmost urgency”

   “Of course, my Lady” he responds, and she quickly follows after the brunette. After he's sure she's out of hearing range he looks to you with a brow raised, “Really?”

  “Oh, shut up.”

  Down the hall, Wanda finds herself pinned to the mattress as Natasha slowly undresses her, “So wet already. You get turned on marking me up in front of them?”

   “Yes” she whimpers, remembering how she felt like she was putting on a show for you both earlier

   “Mmm, you weren’t the only one” Nat replies against her lovers ear, making the younger vampire shudder, “They liked it too”

   Wanda's eyes shut as she tilts her head back, the feeling of hands roaming across her now bare body fogging her mind. Still she manages a reply, “Yeah?”

   “Oh, yes. Couldn't you see the hunger in their eyes? Or the bulge in Y/ns pants?"

  Another whimper leaves the brunette as Natasha gropes her breasts, "Yes, I saw"

   "And you liked it, didn't you? Causing that reaction in them."

   "I loved it…" she admits, looking into Nats eyes, "I want them, Tasha"

   "I know, my love. I do too, but you know we can't." She sighs, "Even if they feel the same, you know we can't. Our laws forbid it."

   Wanda sighs, a sadness now etched upon her features, "But I don't care about keeping the bloodline pure, and neither do you. So why can't we indulge in our heart's desires?"

   "Because we could be found out, which would endanger James and Y/n" 

   "But- "

   "Shhh darling" Nat interrupts, kissing her girlfriend's plush lips, "Just focus here right now. Can you do that for me?" The younger vampire nods and Natasha smirks at how eager she already seems, “Good girl”

      The mixture of praise and her girlfriend's touch causes Wanda to moan, and Natasha finds herself eager to hear more. She pulls more sounds from the brunette by pinching her nipples and sucking marks along her collarbone, letting her fangs brush against the sensitive skin there.

   Occupied by her lover's mouth, Wanda had failed to notice the removal of one of Natashas hands from her chest, until she felt a thumb press against her clit. Her hips jump slightly and another, more throaty moan leaves her as Nat slides a finger through her wet folds

   Wanda whimpers, her walls clenching around nothing, “I need you inside me, please”

   “I’ve got you” Nat coos, slowly inserting one of her fingers into her girlfriends tight hole

    “Please, more” she begs, and taking note of how wet she already is, Natasha slides a second finger inside, stretching her open as her thumb circles her clit, “Oh god, fuck me Tasha, please”

    Nat smirks and quickly begins to thrust her fingers, and she leans down to capture her lips in a kiss. She easily dominates the action, sliding her tongue into the awaiting girl's mouth while avoiding her fangs. Wanda's walls tighten around the older woman's fingers, causing her to smile and break away from the kiss

   “That feel good, my love?”

   “So…good” she pants, trying hard to catch the breath Nat keeps stealing from her, but its of no use when the redhead quickens her pace, “Ooh fuck!”

   “Which one are you picturing taking you right now?” Nat asks, smirk still plastered on her face. Wanda only wimpers, her fists tightening against the silk sheets as her head leans back, “It's ok darling, you can tell me. I wanna know”

   “James!” she practically shouts, feeling herself nearing her orgasm

   “Leaving poor Y/n out, hm?” Nat teases

   “No” she gasps, trying hard to focus on her fantasy, “She's…ooh!”

   Nat soothes her by kissing her chest softly, “She's what? Tell me”

   “She's making me suck her cock”

   Nat hums, fully agreeing with the mental picture her lover is painting, “I bet she tastes so good. Don’t you think?”

   “Yes!” she moans, her back arching off the bed

   “And James would absolutely fill your pretty pussy up, is that what you want?” she questions, nipping at the younger girls jawline

    The brunette's walls clamp down around Nat's fingers, “Yes! Oh god Tasha, please can I cum?”

   “Go ahead dorogoy(darling), cum”

    Wanda's legs shake as a loud moan leaves her, and her juices drip down her girlfriends hand to the sheets below. Natasha continues to slowly fuck her through her orgasm, prolonging her high until all she can do is whimper and grab at the older woman.

   “Good girl” she praises, gently pulling her fingers free before licking them clean, “Mmm, I’ll never tire of how you taste”

   “Can I taste you now? Please?”

   Nat smiles and quickly rids herself of her own clothes before she settles herself against the mattress, and if that wasn’t a clear enough ‘yes’ she spreads her thighs wide to reveal her pussy

   “So pretty” Wanda mumbles, leaning in to pepper her girlfriend's thighs with marks of their own

   The closer she gets to the redheads core, the more intense the older womans breathing becomes, until finally it's too much for her to take, “Come on darling, I thought you wanted to taste”

   Wanda quickly lets her tongue dart out, lapping up some of her girlfriends essence that had leaked out. The older woman lets out a small moan, which only urges Wanda on. She licks again, this time letting her tongue go even deeper inside as her nose bumps against Nats clit

   “Oh god, just like that”

   Priding herself on doing as she told, Wanda keeps going, exploring every part of the beautiful redhead before her with her talented mouth. The moans she's able to get her girlfriend to make only make her want to cause her more pleasure, and Natasha quickly finds herself reaching her own release

   “Fuck…” she mumbles, struggling to voice her own fantasy, “I wonder if Y/n can eat pussy as good as you”

   Wanda nips at the woman, meaning it as more of a ‘no ones as good as me’, but all it manages to do is leave her girlfriend grinding against her face

   “I’m so close Wans, please”

   Hearing her lovers please Wanda moves to suck on her clit and is rewarded with a gush of juices and a scream of her name. She carefully moves up the bed, straddling her lover's body before kissing her. The two stay locked together, passionately making out for what seems like hours as they continue to pleasure each other. Effectively ending the night as they did most, with whispered declarations of love and shared fantasies of their favorite werewolves.

   They're awoken the next morning by a loud pounding on their wooden door, "My Lady, pardon me waking you, but I imagine your guests will be arriving within the next few hours. I wouldn't want you to oversleep"

   A soft smile spreads across the redhead's face, "Thank you, Y/n. We'll be out shortly. Do tell Sylvia not to fret"

   "Yes, my Lady"

   Once Wandas sure you're out of earshot, she turns to her lover, "I do wish that maybe just once, they'd have to come in here to wake us. I'd love to just pull them into the bed with us"

   Nat chuckles, "Naughty girl"

   "Not like that. Not this time at least." Wanda corrects, "Right now, I just want to cuddle. I want to feel their arms wrapped around us as we all share the bed"

   "It does sound wonderful…" the Countess sighs

   "But it's just a dream, isn't it?"

   Natasha gives her a tight lipped smile, "I'm afraid so, dorogoy(darling). Now come, we need to get dressed for the banquet"

   After trying on multiple dresses each, they both finally settle on their choices and proceed to get ready. Wanda is dressed in a maroon dress, with her hair done up in a low bun. A few red gemstones decorate her hair to tie into her gown while a delicate necklace adorns her neckline. It was a gift from Nat earlier in their relationship, a golden chain with a dangling centerpiece consisting of golden knots and rubies. Natasha is in a black dress, her hair done up in exquisite braids with small charms and gemstones decorating it. Around her neck she wears a golden necklace with multiple chains dangling from it, each adorned with a few rubies. At the very center hangs a larger pendant that dips quite low, sitting snugly in her cleavage. 

   By the time they arrive in the grand hall, the area has been completely set up by the Countesses staff. The large gathering table for the heads of houses sits up front, while a few others are spread around the vast area. Each is decorated with an ornate cloth and set with plates and goblets for meal time. A few large candles sit at the center of each table with wines on either side for their guests to freely drink from.

   “My Lady�� you greet, entering the room with a large tray of hors d'oeuvres

   “Y/n” she greets, swiping two samples from your tray. She hands one to Wanda before biting into it, “Mmm, the kitchen staff have done an excellent job”

   “They’ll be happy to hear that” you reply before making your way around the room to distribute the food to each table, “The main course should be ready about an hour after everyone's arrival, and James is tending to the humans chosen for tonight. But he’ll be joining us soon”

   “Perfect, thank you”

   With your task done, you can finally focus on them, which allows you to fully take in their appearance. And the words came out of your mouth before you even realized you were saying them, “Wow. The two of you look incredible”

   Both women smile, which helps to calm your nerves of overstepping a boundary. And if you didn’t know better, you’d swear a hint of pink was now visible on their cheeks, but vampires didn’t blush, right? And if they did, it certainly wouldn’t be due to a compliment from a lowly werewolf

   “Thank you, Y/n” Wanda says, pulling you from your thoughts, “You look great tonight too” 

  “You really think so?” you ask, glancing down at your outfit

  The Countess had gotten you and James formal attire a while back for situations like this, because every other house just had its wolves show up in a regular outfit, which she admits she did as well. Until she overheard a group of wolves talking about how ostracized they felt at events and gatherings, and she wanted you both to feel included. But she and Wanda had yet to actually see you wear them.

  “Absolutely, you look quite dashing” Natasha quickly condoms

   You smiles shyly, “Thank you, my Lady, and you as well, Lady Maximoff”

   Before either woman can continue the conversation, James arrives carrying an ornate dagger in its sheath, “My Lady, the humans are all properly secure and are all still in perfect condition for this evening.”

  “Thank you James” she replies, “Go ahead and set that by my seat”

  “Of course”

   As he moves to do as he's told, both women appreciate the way he looks in his new uniform as well. You can’t help but notice them doing this, and you find yourself wondering if they had been looking at you with that same amount of interest. The idea that they could have has your mind swimming with thoughts on what that could mean.

   “James, you look good in your suit too” Wanda finally offers up

   He smiles, “Thank you Lady Maximoff, I tried to clean up nicely for this evening”

   “And you did a wonderful job. You both did” the Countess assures, watching fondly as the two of continue to carry out your duties

   A few hours later and the banquet is in full swing. Many of the Countesses' friends and acquaintances are in attendance, bringing along a handful of their own guards or a couple of their werewolves to ensure the safety of themselves both during travel and here in the Countesses castle. The grand hall was quite full due to this, and you’d be lying if you said that didn’t put you a bit on edge.

   You knew your Countess didn’t necessarily trust everyone she invited, but had to do it to keep the peace among the elder vampires and their houses. Meaning that someone here could easily be at odds with her, and with a handful of guards at their disposal they could cause a disturbance and multiple injuries if they chose to do so. Not to mention how easily someone with ill intentions could slip in and remain hidden in a crowd this large. 

   “You alright?” James asks, coming to stand beside you, his hand caresses your shoulder gently to hopefully ease some tension away from you

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I just….I don’t know, something seems off. Like there's an unnecessary heaviness in the air” you explain, eyeing the room suspiciously 

   He nods, “Yeah, I feel it too. Might just be our nerves, or it might be something, so lets stay on our toes just to be sure”

   You agree and the two of you do your best to not stray far from the main table for the next hour, wanting to ensure the safety of both your Countess and her girlfriend. If one of you had to do something or got called to have a conversation, the other made sure to not stray. And thankfully, so far, everything has been going well.

    “You know, if Lord Pyms fledgling isn’t careful with how he holds the elders daughter while dancing with her, we might have to step in to make sure Scott doesn’t lose his hands.”

   You glance over and notice Scotts hand dangerously low on Hopes back and catch the glare the older man is sending the two as they remain oblivious, “Oh, I would hate to be on the receiving end of a look like that. He's absolutely going to get a reprimand the entire way home tonight”

   “Guarantee it.” another voice replies, causing both of you to look in its direction. 

    “Carol, glad you're here”. It's nice to see you. you happily greet, having not seen the blonde werewolf in some time

    “You too, Y/n” she says with a smile, turning to look at your partner, “And you as well James.”

   “Hi Carol. Maria here too?” 

   She nods, “Of course she is, Count Fury wouldn’t go anywhere without both of us. Ah, there she is now”

   “Hey guys” the raven haired werewolf greets, and her mate happily kisses her cheek, “How are the two of you?”

   “We’re well” James replies, linking his fingers with yours, “How about the two of you?”

   “We’re good too” Carol replies, pausing to look at you, “Have the two of you been allowed to find an Omega yet?”

   You swallow and glance at James, unsure of what to say. Because packs worked a certain way, and that's essentially what a group of guards under a vampire's service was, a very small pack. Alphas were in charge, generally more offensive in actions, and were the ones responsible for breeding. And Omegas, who were still an equal threat despite generally being more defensive, and the ones that would carry any children. And due to you being in the service of vampires, you’d have to get their permission before finding mates and expanding your pack. Which, as Alphas, you and James had a big say in.

   And it's not like your Countess had forbid you from looking for an Omega, but it's not like you had asked either. Whether that was due to the two of you being content without more of a pack, or due to the two of you being infatuated with the two vampires was another matter. One that you couldn’t admit to.

   “Uh, well, we haven’t really brought it up to anyone yet” James admits, causing the two to share a look that you have a bad feeling about

    Back up at the main table the Countess sighs as Lord Rogers continues to drone on about something that not only happened thousands of years ago, but that he retold at every gathering. Wanda gives her hand a reassuring squeeze, and she turns to find the brunette rolling her eyes. She chuckles lightly at the action, until Count Fury sits down beside her

   “Countess Romanoff, such a lovely banquet so far. Though, personally I would have gone for whiskey instead of wine”

   She smiles, “Count Fury, I’m glad you could join us this time. I can have a servant get you some whiskey if you’d like”

   “I’d appreciate that”

   She quickly signals for Sylvia, who is just as quick to appear, “Please bring out one of our finest whiskies and a glass for the Count here”

   She nods and does as told. He takes his time pouring a glass sampling it. Once satisfied with it he fills the glass entirely before refocusing on conversation, “Seems my Omega wolves have taken a liking to your Alpha ones”

   Her eyes immediately snap up, trying to find you and James in the crowd, and once she does she hates what she sees. Carol is standing mere inches from you with her hand resting along your bicep while Maria stands inches away from James, brushing a long stand of loose hair back behind his ear. 

   Her jaw clenches as she watches neither of you do anything about their close proximity, and has half a mind to let Wanda go over there and sort things out. But she can’t afford to have a scene caused due her her affections for the two of you

   “The bitches will be in their heat soon, if you're looking to let your wolves have a bit of fun, I’m sure we could strike a deal”

  Her stomach sinks at the very clear implication, and based on how quickly she sees Wanda turn her head from the two of you back to her, she knows her girlfriend felt the same dread

   “I can assure you that they both come from good backgrounds genetically. And they've never laid with any Alphas before, your wolves would be the first, and presumably last.”

   “No thank you”

   He raised a brow, apparently surprised,“Are you certain? They seem like a good match.”

   “She said no” Wanda interjects, practically ready to go shove the mans wolves away from you and James

   Nat raises her hand to signal her girlfriend to contain herself, “The offer is very generous, but I must decline. I’m afraid that my wolves have yet to show interest in such a thing”

   “A little push surely wouldn’t hurt matters, but if you are sure in your decision then there's nothing I can do about it”

   “No, there isn’t” she affirms, signaling for her servants to bring out the humans. Her anger needed to be taken out on something, and this would also allow her to temper her hunger

   A row of chained nude men and women are led into the room and brought before the main table, prompting the Countess to stand and grab the ornate dagger. She makes her way to the first person and smirks, “This won’t be quick”

   Before he can even register it, the dagger is brought across his neck and he slumps backward as blood begins to pour from the wound, prompting the remaining humans to let out noises of shock and disdain. You and your mate can only stare in awe at her brutal efficiency. 

   “Who would like a taste?” she offers, beginning to take goblets shoved her way to fill

   You and James watch on as your Countess helps fill chalices for those that approach her, but suddenly a sharp movement to your left catches your attention. You turn to find a group of four men attempting to approach her, but something is off with them. They seem determined, focused. That's when you spot their gear, strategically hidden within their cloaks. Miniature crossbows and blades. 

   “James, we need to move. Now!” Your stern tone immediately has his attention and he turns in time to catch you shifting into your werewolf form. 

   You cause a bit of a commotion as you turn, pushing others down or shoving them away as your size increases and black fur begins to cover your body. People quickly make room for you, effectively halting the men you would soon be after in their tracks, as they are cut off or bumped into. 

   Seeing you transform, Wanda is on her feet at once, “Y/n?”

   Nats eyes move to you then, and her brows furrowed in confusion as she sees you in your werewolf form standing there on your hindlegs, towering over everyone. She only becomes more concerned when your lip curls back in a snarl and a deep growl emanates from your chest.

   “Hey! Control your mutt!” someone, who is quite obviously a vampire shouts, and a good amount of others begin to murmur in agreement 

  But it’s then James sees them too, as they all turn to lock eyes with you, “Go, I’m right behind you.”

   You lunge through the crowd, causing a surprised gasp of indignation to leave the vampires, who somehow still haven’t managed to sniff out the humans in their midst. But the roar-like sound that leaves you as your ears pin back quickly has them fleeing the area of whatever you have perceived as a threat. You land a few feet in front of the small group, and the room is quickly being cleared of all other guests and guards aside from those at the main table, effectively plugging up the rooms entryways and stopping more of the Countesses guards from rushing in

   “We ain't here for you!” the one shouts, “Move outta the way and I’ll reward you with your freedom!”

    Your growl at them and bare your teeth, obviously not swayed by such a thing, afterall Natasha was good to you. She fed you, clothed you, even let you have a room, and you'd never known what it was like to be on a chain or to be whipped. No, you had it good here, the best as far as werewolf standards could go. Plus, you were kinda hopelessly in love with her and her girlfriend, so to you and James, this was freedom.

   You stalk forward a few paces, and they all finally reveal their weapons, aiming them at you. Both Natasha and Wanda can feel their own lips curling back in snarls, showing off their fangs. Neither can tell though if it's due to the anger at the brazen attack or their protectiveness for you however.

   “We just want Romanoffs head” another one of them declares, chuckling, “It’s gonna look real nice on a pick in the center of town”

   It would seem that James wasn’t a fan of that idea either, because in only a few seconds he's shifted into his werewolf form as well and circles around to the groups one side. They seem a bit shocked by his telltale white fur, no doubt connecting it to the legends that run rampant of when he was younger and kill crazy under the service of another vampire named Vasily Karpov.

   “Certainly you recognize the white wolf as being the one your kind calls the Winter soldier” Natasha states, venom clear in her tone, “And as you can see, he is not alone. Surrender and I might spare these citizens their lives”

   A third man shakes his head, “We don’t make deals. We’re leaving here with your head”

   “You won’t be leaving at all” 

   Her comment is as good as a command, and you surge forward with a roar. The recognizable sound of a crossbow firing can be heard only seconds before your teeth are tearing into the soft flesh of the man's neck, and the metallic smell of blood fills the air. 

   Upon seeing this, two of the men attempt to scramble away, but James moves after them. He jumps on the first one, sinking his claws into his back as he bites down on the man's shoulder. He yells out a strangled cry for help before his neck is snapped by a large paw. The other man looks on in sheer horror as he frees his blade, it shakes in his hold but he's determined to not die without landing a blow

  “Come on then, come get some!”

   He lets out a growl that sounds rather like an amused chuckle before striking, tearing open the man's leg with his razor sharp claws. The man yells as he collapses, and he wildly swings his knife, catching your mate with the blade. It slides across his fur covered forearm leaving a small gash and terrible burning sensation in its wake. He quickly swats the blade from the man's grasp, breaking his wrist in the process before getting right up in his face. 

   He stares him down as he slowly bleeds out, having had his artery severed by claws not too long ago, but his attention quickly switches to you when the smell of your blood hits his nostrils…

   The man that had stayed near you instead of running had watched on in disgust as you ripped away a part of his friend's windpipe before dropping his body. And he knew as soon as your eyes locked onto him that he was next. He decides to be brave as you walk forward, and he fires another bolt into you. Unlike the earlier one that lodged itself in your shoulder, this one hits your abdomen, causing an involuntary whine to leave you as blood drips down to the stone floor. But you don’t allow this to slow you down, and you rush him before he has a chance to reload. He screams as your claws tear into him, ripping open his abdomen and spilling his guts. 

  But before you can finish him off, the pain sets in, and it's quite clear even in your animalistic state that the tips of the bolts had been silver. You recoil from him, letting out another whine as your paw wraps around the arrow in your shoulder, and you yank it out with all your might. 

   The pain nearly has you on all fours at this point, and James quickly rushes to you. His head rests in the crook of your neck as his tongue laps at your shoulder injury. You whine again, almost collapsing as the silver rushes through your bloodstream and Wanda finds she can’t hold back anymore

   She rushes over and carefully runs her hand through the black fur of your uninjured shoulder. Your head turns to her, and she swears she sees your eyes light up as you take in her presence. She watches as you sway, clearly weakened by this attack and she helps you lean into her. Though smaller in size, vampires are amazingly strong and she has no issues helping keep you upright. As she does so, the last of the crowd clears from the doorways, and the Countesses vampire guards make their way into the room. 

   “It's about time!” she shouts, trying to keep her worry for you under wraps, “Get the elders out of here and safely to their carriages, and put these humans back in the dungeons”

   “But, my Lady- ”

   “Go! My wolves took care of the threat and now the elders would like to be in their own castles, see that they at least get safely out of mine!”

   The nod, “Of course. At once”

   As soon as the room is empty, she rushes to join Wanda at your side, “How bad is it?”

   “She can hardly stand Tasha, I think it was silver” she admits, pulling away from your now human form

  The Countess frowns, knowing you must be really weak to allow that to happen just now. In all the years of knowing you, she's never seen you become human again in front of them, likely due to your nakedness. She rubs the fur of James shoulder to gain his attention, and he looks over at her

   “Can you carry her to our room?”

   Though confused, he nods and scoops you up into his arms. It agitates his own injury slightly, and he winces, but he powers through it easily.

    “Set her on the bed” Wanda tells him, and he does as he's told. Only he refuses to move away from you

   Natasha reaches up to rub his muzzle, “I know you're scared right now, but please James, I need you to step back so I can help her”

   His eyes move from her, to you and he takes a few hesitant steps to the side, giving her enough room to maneuver around you. There's still a bolt lodged in your abdomen that is likely causing an extreme amount of pain as well as letting silver remain inside you, but she can’t remove it. Not until she deals with your shoulder wound that's bleeding profusely

  “Just hang on, Y/n” she whispers, grabbing the cloth Wanda hands her. She presses it into the wound, causing you to whimper, “I know, I’m sorry.”

   Wanda hands her a blade then, and James watches in awe as the Countess slices open her own wrist, letting her own blood pour out. He knows she intends to offer it to you, as a vampire's blood has healing properties. But he also knows that this is completely unheard of. He's never known a vampire to allow a wolf in their bed like this, and he certainly knows that none have ever let themselves be fed off of by a wolf. He knew Natasha was a kind vampire to werewolves, much kinder than most, but still he can’t help but think that something different is going on here.

  “Y/n, I need you to drink, okay? Please.”

   You weakly take the wrist she has offered you, attaching your lips to her soft flesh and begin to let the coppery flavor of her blood wash over your tongue. 

   To your surprise, you immediately start to feel its effects as the pain in your shoulder numbs. And you're fairly certain you can feel the wound trying to close itself, something your healing factor normally wouldn't help with when silver was involved. She moves the cloth away with her free hand, and sure enough it's only a small injury now.

   "Okay, I'm going to pull this one out now" she says, gesturing to the bolt in your belly, "It's going to hurt"

  You nod and she pulls, causing you to grimace around her wrist. And honestly if she wasn't so worried about you, she would have been going insane over the feeling of your lips and teeth on her skin

  "That's it, keep drinking" she tells you, turning to look at her girlfriend, "Wanda, James is hurt too, let him drink from you"

  The brunette picks up the knife and holds it to her wrist before looking up at the looming white werewolf, "You can shift back if you'd like, unless you're more comfortable like that"

   His head tilts to the side like some confused dog as he thinks on it, before deciding to shift back. Wanda watches in amazement as he turns back into the man she's familiar with

   "There we go" she says with a smile, but before she can cut herself his hand in hers stops her

   "You don't have to. I appreciate it, and I appreciate you, my Lady, helping Y/n. But my injury isn't in a vital area. You don't need to"

   "James, Natasha helped Y/n because she cares. Deeply. As do I. And we feel the same about you. I don't care if it's not fatal or that it will eventually heal. I can help you not to hurt now, so I'm going to " she explains, effectively causing both his heart and yours to race

   "Okay"

   Wanda slices herself as soon as he lets go and gives him her wrist, "Now drink"

   As he does as he's told, Nat removes her wrist from your mouth as she looks you over. She tries not to let her eyes wander, only intending to make sure your injuries are closed, but when she sees your v line and happy trail she can't help but glance further down. She bites the inside of her lip to hold back a groan, because even soft you're bigger than she's ever had the pleasure of taking. But your voice pulls her eyes and attention away

   "Thank you. You didn't have to save me"

   "Of course I did" her eyes soften as she looks at you, and you swear you're dreaming when her hand cups the side of your face, "I couldn't let you die. Besides, you saved me tonight too"

   You can't help but be confused, "But that's my duty to you as your guard. You…you don't have that duty"

   "I don't. But Wanda's right, I care about you and about James far more than a Countess should. And I have felt this way for a very long time. As has Wanda" she explains, leaning closer, “And I think, the two of you feel the same way”

   “We do” you admit, your heart fluttering as you get lost in her intense gaze

   She smiles, “Good, then you won’t mind me doing this”

   She leans in and captures your lips with her own, and you move your hand to cup the back of her head to ensure she stays there. Her lips are so plush, and they fit perfectly against your own. It’s better than you ever imagined, and when her tongue prods your lip for entrance, you eagerly allow it. You then wrap your arms around her waist to pull her even closer, causing her to let out a soft moan. The scene practically has James’s jaw hanging open

   “Why let them have all the fun?” Wanda says, bringing him out of his daze and offering him her hand now that he's done drinking from her

   He swiftly takes it and she leads him to the other side of the bed. Before she can say or do anything however, his hands grasp her hips and pull her against him. She lets out a small sound of surprise before he leans in, pressing his lips against hers in an awaited kiss. Without realizing it, he leans her backwards, letting her come to rest on the mattress below.

   When all four of you finally pull away from each other, James helps Wanda out of her dress and jewels while you do the same with the redhead above you. With all four of you finally able to see each other fully, you each silently study the other. Each of you intends to take in every freckle and scar, committing them to memory before giving in and worshiping each other. 

   Natasha makes the first move, smirking at you seductively before effortlessly flipping your positions. With you now on top of her she guides your hands to her body, “Make me feel good, baby”

   Your hands begin to caress her sides, slowly making their way up to her chest while your mouth kisses along her jawline. When your hands finally cup her breasts, your mouth has moved to her collarbone, where you leave a few of your own marks beside some of Wanda's older ones. The Countess shudders in anticipation as her core throbs, spilling her essence to the bedsheets below. 

   Beside you, James does similarly. His hands squeeze the brunette's tits while his mouth trails the valley between them, leaving kisses in his wake. Wanda squirms beneath him, a flushed mess as she feels her arousal drip between her thighs. She's honestly surprised by her girlfriend's patience, as hers has run out.

   “James” she calls out, her voice a bit raspier than usual. His eyes glance up at her but his mouth never leaves her chest, "I need you lower"

   He eagerly obliges and slides himself further down pressing gentle kisses against her bare stomach before settling before her mound. His eyes darken as he sees how wet she already is, and his tongue darts out to taste her.

  “Ooh” she moans as his tongue gently parts her folds and enters her awaiting hole. He swirls the muscle around before pulling back to suck on her clit, causing her to clench around nothing, “Feels so good, baby”

   He hums at the praise, causing her to roll her hips against him as she seeks out more pleasure. He obliges by pushing his tongue back inside her, letting her walls squeeze him as his nose brushes against her bundle of nerves.

   Hearing her girlfriend moan beside her has Natasha eager for the same treatment. But she needs not wait long, as you're already busy marking up her plush thighs.

   “Y/n…” she sighs as you test her patience, so you finally give into both of your desires

   You practically dive in, attaching your lips to her clint instantly, earning yourself a loud moan from the woman. She quickly brings one her hands to tangle in your hair to hold you close as the other hand twists up the sheets

   “Fuck….just like that” she encourages, scratching lightly at your scalp, “Good girl”

   Her juices drip down your chin as you slip your tongue inside her, causing more sounds of pleasure to come from her. They mix with Wandas as you both work on getting them to come undone.

   It’s not long before both vampires are writhing, their muscles tightening as they begin to reach the peak of their bliss. You and James increase the pace of your mouth's movements as you both hold down their thighs to avoid being crushed.

   “Fuck!” Wanda shouts as she treats your mate to a gush of her cum, which he happily swallows

   The sounds of her girlfriend coupled with your motions is enough to have Nat falling over the edge as well, “Oh god!”

   Her grip on your hair tightens as you continue your movements for a bit, until she slumps back against the bed. Though neither of you want to, you both pull away, not wanting to overstimulate either woman. They both look at you and JAmes through hooded eyes, clearly still blissed out as smiles grace their features

   You and your mate share a similar smile as you glance at each other, clearly forming an unspoken plan with each other. This plan is put in motion quickly as the two of you trade places on the bed, allowing you to each slide between the legs of the other woman you’ve yet to please, and taste.

   You effortlessly wrap your arms around Wanda's thighs and pull her close to you, making her moan deeply as your lips make contact with her still sensitive pussy. Natasha makes a similar sound as James’ tongue slides inside her. You both work at the same pace as before, making both women shudder as their second orgasms quickly approach. Wanda's hand instinctively reaches out to grab her girlfriend's hand, and they both shout out your names as they cum again. You both help work them through it before pulling away to let them calm down.

   It takes them a moment to regain their composure, but once they do, Natasha is sure to praise you both, “They did so good for us, didn't they detka(baby)?”

   “They sure did. Took such good care of us” Wanda agrees, reaching down to affectionately stroke your cheek

  Natasha hums in agreement, “I think it's time to take care of them, don’t you agree?”

  “Oh yes” 

   You and James watch them with anticipation as they stand from the bed, gesturing at where they once were laying. You quickly understand the implication and both move up the mattress to take their places. They both eye you hungrily as they realize you're both hard, and both leaking precum.

   Natasha moves to straddle James, reaching down to grab his cock. She gently wraps her fingers around it, causing him to moan as she jerks him off. His head leans back against the pillows as she presses his tip against her entrance, and she then moans as he slips inside. She slowly sinks down, bracing herself with her hands on his chest as he bottoms out inside her

   “Fuck…” he whimpers as his hands move to her hips, “You feel so good”

   She smiles down at him, “Mmm, so do you. Filling me so well.”

   As she begins to rock her hips, Wanda makes her way to you, straddling your lap with a confident smirk. She strokes your cock as she lines herself up with you, and you both moan in unison as she begins to sink down on you. Your hands cup her breasts in effort to add to her pleasure as hers rest against your abdomen, and she whimpers as stills against your hips

   “So big” she mutters, not used to anything other than Natashas fingers inside her

   With your ego boosted you smile up at her with a cocky grin, “You think we’re big now, you should see us in our other form”

   The thought alone has them both clenching around you, causing both you and James to moan as their movements increase in speed. An your mate glances over at you with a knowing look

   “I think they like the sound of that” you tease, only to be shut up by the brunettes lips on your own

   “Damn right we do” Natasha admits, still eagerly riding James’ cock, “After Wans and I make you two see stars, we want you wolf forms to claim us. You don’t need Omegas now that you have us.”

   James grunts at her words and tightens his on her hips, she's almost sure it’ll bruise and that excites her, “Does that sound good, handsome? Does the idea of knocking us up excite you?”

   “Yes…” he breathes out as his cock twitches inside her, “We’ve never wanted Omegas, only the two of you”

   Wanda pulls away from you, looking into your eyes as she continues her hips movements, “Yeah?”

   “Yeah” you assure, wrapping an arm around her waist, “All we ever thought about was you two”

   At your confession, Natasha leans over and connects her lips to James’ while the brunette on top of you cups your face. Even without words, it's clear the sentiment is the same for the two of them. Besides each other, all they thought of was the two of you. And that paired with they way they both still ride you, neither of you will last much longer.

   “Fuck…Wanda, I’m gonna cum” you grit out, trying to hold yourself back until you know she's close as well

   She moans at your words and her walls tighten around you, “Go on baby, cum in me”

    With her permission you unload inside of her, sending her over the edge directly after you. You hold her close as you thrust your hips upward, helping her ride through her orgasm.

   Beside you, Natasha pants, quickly approaching her own climax, “Thats it, being such a good boy for me. Keep going, I’m so close”

   He nods in understanding, “Me too. God…I’m gonna fill you up” 

   Natasha moans loudly, cumming all over his cock at his words, but his hands continue to guide her in her movements until he spills inside her. She practically collapses against him once he's finished, and he runs a soothing hand through her hair.

   A few minutes pass before the four of you have caught your breath, but once you have, you look over at the redhead resting against your mate, “Did you mean what you said? About our wolf forms?”

   She reaches out to caress her girlfriends back, who still lays on your chest, before answering, “Yes. We want you both in every way we can have you. Right, dorogoy(darling)?”

   “Right” she answers, kissing your chest, “Please Y/n?”

   James looks over at you, “Come on, love. If they want to be ours, who are we to deny them that?”

   You nod, “You're right”

   The two of you carefully move the two girls off of you as you stand, and once they’re situated you both make your way to the foot of the bed. James gently grabs your waist and pulls you against him before leaning down to capture your lips in a kiss. You eagerly lean into it and wrap your arms around his neck to keep him close for a moment

   After the two of you break apart you walk away from the bed a bit to ensure there's enough space before shifting forms. The two vampires watch in awe as you both transform, and their jaws nearly drop as they take in the size of your still erect cocks.

   You both walk over to the bed, eyeing them as if they were prey. Which, in a way, they were. Just not the kind to be attacked or eaten, but the kind to be claimed. You lick your maw as you climb above the Countess, and she reaches out to stroke the fur covering your chest.

   “Come on, baby. Use me.”

   As soon as the words leave her mouth you reach out your large paws to flip her over, showing off her ass to you. She gets the idea and moves to be on all fours below you, and you eagerly bend over her. She can feel your throbbing member resting just against her folds and grinds back into you, showing how eager she is for you.

   Seeing the position you have her girlfriend in, Wanda quickly moves to get in the same one, hoping to entice James to come to her faster. Her plan works and he moves to hover over her. He gently licks the back of her shoulder as he lines himself up with her and he pushes his tip against her pussy.

    She moans loudly and pulls at the sheets as he pushes himself further inside her, stretching her open even further than she had been on your human cock earlier. He stills for a moment to let her adjust to the new size, only continuing to move once her breathing evened out. Now fully inside her, he lets out a possessive growl and drops a bit more of his body weight on top of her as he waits for you and Natasha to catch up.

   Seeing how your mate has already mounted Wanda, you move your hips back slightly before moving them forward again and you slowly begin to slide into the woman beneath you. She moans and reaches out to grab ahold of one of your giant paws to help ground herself as you inch forward until you're all the way inside her and you thank her by softly licking her neck

   “Please” Wanda whimpers, moving to look at James the best she can in her current position, “Please fuck me”

   With a grunt he begins to move, slamming his hips into hers without little care for how rough his movements may be. His sole focus now is on his pleasure, and filling the brunette with his seed. His powerful thrusts have Wanda a mess beneath him, and all she can do is make sounds of pleasure as his cock pulses inside of her.

   Below you, Natasha wiggles her hips in an attempt to entice you, “Come on Y/n, please”

   You thrust your hips forward with a growl and move your paw to be on top of the hand that was once holding onto you as you start to pound into her. Noises similar to Wandas leave her as your movements never falter and she nearly screams in pleasure when you brush up against her cervix

   “Oh god….oh god” Wanda mumbles, feeling her own arousal drip down her thighs as she approaches her third orgasm of the evening, “Don’t stop”

   He grunts as he increases his pace, proving to her that he had no intention of doing such a thing. He can feel her walls tighten around him, which only spurs him on. He lowers his head next to hers, letting her hear him pant against her ear which proves to be enough to tip her over the edge

   “James!” she shouts, and he nuzzles against her as she shakes but continues to fuck her, not planning on stopping until his knot is buried inside her. 

   Your hips slam into Natashas with a similar roughness, causing the redhead to whimper. She tries her best to force her hips back to meet your thrusts, intent on chasing her next orgasm that's oh so close. And all it takes to send her over is your other paw moving to grab at her chest

   “Oh fuck! Y/n!” she yells as her walls squeeze you in a way nothing ever has before. But you don’t let up either, only thinking about locking your knot into place so you can fill her properly.

    The two of you continue to rut into them with such force that has their arms nearly giving out, but neither cares too much as you both have their eyes rolling to the back of their heads and drool dripping down their chins. Neither has ever felt pleasure this intensely before, and they honestly aren't sure they ever want it to stop. But just as that thought crosses their minds they can feel themselves approaching their climax once again, and they are eager to be filled with potent werewolf cum.

    “Please, please, please” Wanda begs, grasping the sheets so hard its a wonder they don’t tear, “Please knot me, please”

    James grunts, a bit surprised at first that she knows enough about werewolf anatomy and breeding to know of a knot, but when he remembers their admittance of wanting this for a long time he gets the idea that they may have looked into it just to understand the two of you better. And that thought has his knot instantly growing. It slams into Wanda's pussy a few times, and feeling how big it is she nearly changes her mind, but with a final hard shove from him, it slips inside her

   “Ooh god!” she moans as his hot cum practically pours inside her, sending her into her yet another orgasm

   As Nat watches Wanda practically collapse from exhaustion and pleasure  her excitement of being knotted by you nearly doubles and she does her best to turn her head to face you

   “Please baby, I want your knot.” she whimpers, “I need it”

   Her admittance has your knot growing, and she can’t help but moan as it slams against her. Then, without warning it slips inside fully and locks into place, and she swears she cums so hard she sees white as your seed seemingly endlessly pumps into her. She also practically collapses, so you and James both ease them into a prone position as you both gently lay on top of them, and without meaning to they both begin to drift off.

   By the time they come back around, you and JAmes are human again, and are spooning them from behind. Large smiles envelope their faces as they realize that you both not only stayed but you had also cleaned them up a bit

   “Ah, you're awake” James says from behind Wanda. She hums in acknowledgement but its NAtasha that speaks

   “Hopefully not for long. Just wanted to check on the two of you”

   “We’re fine, love” you assure, pressing a kiss to her still bare shoulder, “And we aren’t going anywhere”

   “Besides, how much safer could the two of you be now that your guards sleep in the same bed as you” James teases, causing all of you to chuckle

   “Promise you’ll be here?” Wanda mumbles, clearly only moments away from returning to slumber

   James squeezes her a bit tighter as you answer, “We promise”

   She give you a sleepy smile, “I love you all”

   “Love you too detka(baby)” Nat replies before James and you answer in unison

   “We love you too”

   Nat smiles as her girlfriend closes her eyes, “I also love you both”

   “And we love you too” you answer

   “Indeed we do” James says, nearly drifting off to sleep himself

   “Sleep now” Nat tells him, turning to look at you, “You as well.”

   “Mkay” you admit with a yawn, pulling her even closer

   And as the Countess feels the love and warmth of her three lovers around her, she knows that any risks that come with such a relationship, potential hybrid children and all, will be absolutely worth it if it means she gets to have this for the rest of time

[melbatron5000]

Murder Board 2.0

Updated 9/27/24

Since I've figure a few things out, I need to re-do my Murder Board. New answers, new questions.

What I think I know:

Hints given out by NG are suspect at best. (I cannot blame him or anyone else on the cast or crew -- they spent A LOT of time and energy building this very meticulous puzzle game for us -- why would ANY of them give ANY of it away? That would ruin all the fun!)

Lots of the discontinuity of Season 2 can be explained by POV switches between characters. See here and here for more. I think the title/location cards are also probably POV Clues, that needs a closer look.

Crowley gave something to Aziraphale in his mouth when they kissed. It's the fly. Now, what else was in the fly besides Gabriel's memory? RECORDS. Incriminating records that are why the Metatron let Beelzebub and Gabriel go, but nailed Aziraphale. The Metatron knows Gabriel has those records, he doesn't know they got passed to Aziraphale.

Saraqael and Crowley and by proxy, Aziraphale are all working together. See here and here for more. That explains A. the tiny miracle blowing up into a 25 Lazarii miracle. It didn't. They had to cover for something else that did. B. Saraqael showing the archangels the book shop in 2019 in the spy hole. C. Crowley's spy turtle neck and where he went during Aziraphale's Job flashback. D. Why Saraqael helps him see the trial in Heaven. (Oh! Muriel's now in on it, too!)

Crowley's memory is fine, it's a red herring. It might mean something else, though. I think he is dissing Furfur, he is denying knowing Saraqael even after she gives him a reason to recognize her to hide that they are working together. He tells Jim he doesn't remember why they invented gravity, but that whole scene is from Aziraphale's perspective, so the conversation likely didn't actually go just like that.

Shax is on a mission besides Gabriel -- she's looking for whatever Aziraphale and Crowley are hiding. Gabriel is a side-mission.

The hand-washing comment from Crowley in the Resurrectionists minisode -- he tells DaVinci about helicopters in Good Omens the novel. It's just a thing he can do.

What is up with Maggie? Maggie's freaking Jesus 2.0. She's what Shax is looking for, and who Crowley, Aziraphale, and Saraqael are hiding. Also, where is God? God is busy being Maggie, that's where. That's why Crowley says "Oh God" before his speech in the final fifteen. He's bringing up what they're hiding, reminding Aziraphale that someone has to stay and keep an eye on Maggie. That's why he can't go. Now, how the FUCK did Jesus 2.0 wind up owning a record store she inherited from her family NEXT TO AN ANGEL?? (Ah, shit, now I'm doubting this one. Now I suspect it's Nina, and Maggie is Mary MAGdeline. Same questions still apply.)

SECRET SONGS??? Why are the songs secret?? I'm losing my mind, what is happening?? I think this is a message that A. Aziraphale and Crowley are okay, and B. We will absolutely be getting part 3 of 1941.

I still think the scenes might be out of order. Is it as simple as watching them in chronological order? Could be.

The Metatron is a naked man. i.e. he was originally HUMAN.

Aziraphale and Crowley are talking in subtext A LOT. Aziraphale's tells are easier to spot than Crowley's. He raises his eyebrows and does vocal bunny rabbit ears, says "um," and "ah." "Our Gabriel miracle," "The establishment in question," "Certainly on to something," "Haven't yet cracked the case." Crowley's tell seems to be being effusive. "Frozen peas," "You wouldn't be interested in love?" "Well, today is your lucky day!" "How do you know I didn't do it?"

We are missing the scenes that should mirror the Resurrectionists minisode. What we do have instead of mirrors to that are Crowley telling the demons they are out of order. He can tell time has been messed with.

There are two Crowleys. I think the head in the book shop is his way of keeping in touch while his twin is off doing things, and the red eyes are him, too. Now, why?? What do they need 2 Crowleys for?

What still needs answering:

The clocks jumping time. And why are the extras moving in double-time when we first arrive to Whickber street?

The weird hand in the 1941 photo.

Aziraphale's chair position being moved still doesn't make sense. Unless Crowley was talking to himself??

The extras behaving strangely.

Crowley's car being in the wrong spot on the road after Shax threatens him.

Weird sounds -- Aziraphale turns to look at a crashing sound when he returns from Edinburgh, to look at a car horn, the very loud clock in the final fifteen BUT ALSO when Jim says he will go out to the demons, nightingale singing when Crowley leaves in the FF.

I'm not sure that POV switches explain Crowley's sunglasses going from silver to black.

I don't know why Aziraphale went to Edinburgh, or why he stopped at the graveyard where Gabriel's statue is, or why he looked like he realized something important while he was there.

Why does Michael do the "nothing's in the box" thing with the matchbox? It's a petty specific action. Someone pointed out that Michael's nails look chewed and terrible, are we meant to stare at the matchbox while something else goes unnoticed? Well, duh. But what?

We most certainly did not get the whole scene where the Metatron is talking to Aziraphale. What else was said?

What did Crowley do during his ALL-NIGHT JAUNT in Heaven? Did he sneak around and steal something? Did he uncover something? Did they hurt him? I think he stole something.

What did Aziraphale do with his briefcase that he took to Edinburgh? We see it in the book shop from his POV, and Edinburgh is seen from Crowley's POV, so they both know it exists. And then it's gone.

Why does Gabriel prophecy with God's voice? IS it God's voice? It's a woman, is it Frances McDormand? It's hard to hear. When he remembers the beginning, I think it's God's voice. When he prophecies, it may be someone else. Frances McDormand has no credit in that episode.

Why the heck did Maggie and Nina go talk to Crowley while the Metatron was talking to Aziraphale? What they had to say wasn't important enough to leave Nina's shop during a rush, and I definitely don't think they derailed Crowley from what he needed to say to Aziraphale, though it might look at first as if they did. So what was that about? Were they trying to speak in husband-code to warn him about the Metatron?

When Shax stops Aziraphale for a ride, he says, "Oh, I really need to get to --" and then is cut off. He really needs to get to where? It's an easy assumption to think he means the book shop, or London. But is that all he means? Or was he on his way somewhere else? And if it was just the book shop, what does he mean he's late? Late for what?

When Crowley leaves Heaven, he tells Saraqael and Muriel to come, too. But in the elevator, Michael and Uriel are there! When the fuck did they show up??

Why does Beelzebub tell Shax to attack the bookstore? Aren't they worried about Gabriel being harmed? And they know Hell is understaffed. Maybe that's why they command it? Because they know Shax won't be able to get many demons?

What about the Masons? It's such a specific thing for the pub owner to bring up, what is the meaning of it? And Maggie has a Mason symbol on her necklace. Did the Masons carve the statue of Gabriel? When did they see him?

The only narration we hear in the entire season is Aziraphale in the Resurrectionist flashback. I believe this is to throw us off the POV character switches all season. But still, why do we only hear him narrate 1 flashback? I think he's reading the diary to himself in the present day. That would explain the end, "And that was the last I was to see of Crowley for some time." He JUST heard the story of the jukebox from Maggie. And Gabriel appearing at the pub -- same city that statue is in. Of course he thought of something important from that diary entry! Now, what did he notice?

Is the Book of Life a real threat? We hear two stories about it, that it's real and that its ability to erase beings was something to scare the cherubs with, this is inconclusive. Crowley gets nervous after Beelzebub talks to him, but I think he's pissed that Heaven and Hell have taken an interest in them again, especially since they're trying to hide Nina!Jesus.

So many promo posters show Aziraphale, Crowley, and Jimbriel together, or symbols of them. Three feathers: two white, one black. Tea cup, cocoa mug, wine glass. The three of them. Not with Beelzebub, not with Muriel, the three of them. And all three of them have been Jesus-coded in some small way. No one else. Those three. What. Why. Are they the sacrifice required to bring about the new world? Why not Beez, then?

The whole collection of Maggie's album's from the Amazon X-ray are great, big CLUES.

A post that I didn't reblog pointed out that the record Aziraphale is listening to when Garbriel shows up is neither Shostakovich nor 21 minutes long. That seems important, but I'm not sure how. (The record is opposite when Crowley gives Aziraphale the fly containing records -- the actual symphony is, according to the original blog, one written by a rebel in contempt of his government. Do the records have to do with the rebellion and fall?)

What the heck does Furfur mean by "little monkey in the waistcoat?" How does that sound like Crowley?

Why does Furfur change the subject when Aziraphale asks where Gabriel and Beelzebub would like to go?

Why does Mrs. H say "for God's sake" two times in a row? No one says that on this show without a meaning.

Shax notices Crowley going to Heaven and makes an epiphany face.

Why is the end credit music for the ball French cafe music? French must be important. And the end credit music for The Hitchhiker is old timey and scratchy, then skips and becomes the same song in a newer, clearer style. Because they repeat the bullet catch trick in the modern day, perhaps?

I thought I heard that Crowley and Aziraphale are in the fly in the opening sequence, but nope. So why are they in a cave?

Why are there multiple elevators and multiple mountains in the opening sequence??? What the hell does that mean?? And multiple Edens?? All right, what's up??

I count at least two times Aziraphale glances right at the camera, probably more. Who is he looking at? Us? Is he looking at Crowley?Why??

When Aziraphale arrives back from Edinburgh, he asks how "everything is with -- mm." Crowley says "he was sleeping, I heard him singing." I don't think they mean Gabriel. At the cafe, Crowley says when Gabriel smites you, you've been smitten. Aziraphale says he isn't "you know who any longer." Again, I don't think he means Gabriel. Who are they hiding?

What has Aziraphale's attention when he asks Maggie about Every Day? She points to the coffee shop, and all of a sudden Aziraphale can't stop looking out the window and gets very nervous.

Twos. Why are twos so important?? Repeating twos. And there's doubles of damn near every object on screen.

Repeating themes: (I am just realizing that these aren't just themes, they are all Clues!)

Beverages of all kinds -- tea for Aziraphale, wine or whiskey for Crowley, cocoa for Jim. Oh, and LAUDANUM. And coffee!

Time -- lots of clocks/mentions of time. Everyone notices the ticking clock during the Final Fifteen, but it's ticking loud when the demons attack the ball, too. Also, why is the first scene of Whickber street shown at high-speed? Is time sped up? Or something else?

Love/partnership/togetherness being stronger than separateness

Memories/forgetting/remembering

Payment -- money comes up in both the Resurrectionists minisode and the Flesh Eating Nazi Zombies minisode, but no one pays for anything in present. There is bartering, but no money. Both times money is brought up, it's Crowley using Aziraphale's money, and both times, it's to buy a life. It's funny, but I feel like there's a point to it.

Rising from the dead -- Job's kids (even though they weren't actually dead), bodies used for science, Nazi zombies, the Second Coming. I think this is all just hinting around Jesus -- sure, hinting around Jesus, who we were expecting to show up in Season 3, but she's already here. The hints indicate that she is already on Earth, not going to show up next season.

Unreliable narrators. Because we are seeing the whole show from various characters' points of view. Because of that, we can only see what they know, expect, believe, or understand, but also what they want us to see. We need to take the whole second season with a grain of salt.

Death in general -- but 8a., I'm a dirty pagan, why didn't I make this connection sooner, death always leads to REBIRTH, change, something totally new and 8b. there are tarot cards in the magic shop, and even if you're not a dirty pagan, the Death tarot card means transition, something must die before a new thing can be born. Hmm.

Morality and what is "good" and what is right

Recognition and identity and hiding one's identity. Ah! Probably at least partly because Maggie someone? is Jesus. How would you recognize them? (I think it's Nina now.)

Licenses, permits, permissions, rules, proof, evidence, what's allowed. All of the minisodes mention this, and it all gets mentioned again over and over. Because Heaven and Hell do have rules they have to follow. Which drives home my theory that Gabriel stole some very incriminating records from Heaven when he left, Crowley got hold of them and gave them to Aziraphale during the kiss, and now Aziraphale is going to nail them.

Colors. Lots of colors!! Job's kids are dressed in the colors of Nina, Maggie, and Aziraphale's shops. Jesus on the Resurrectionist Pub sign is in blue and red, blue and red crop up a lot in extra's clothing, as do yellow and red, Crowley colors. The Ladies of Camelot are in red and blue. Aziraphale says Earth will be a blue-green planet, Nina's shop is blue-green.

Horses. Horse statue, horse wine label, people saying "dark horse." The four horsemen again? I feel like they already had their ride, so what the hell? I think it's because season 2 is an echo of season 1, I THINK -- I have to check -- that horses appear or get mentioned when the horsemen have corresponding scenes in season 1.

Numbers. A lot of numbers get said. Does it matter, or am I overthinking?

Repeating words and phrases:

Technically

Properly

Isn't it just?

Too late

Funny old world

Not as such

Made for each other

EVERYWHERE

Obviously

Two shakes of a lamb's tail

Dark horse

What are you/am I? As opposed to WHO. Aziraphale asks in the Land of Uz, and Crowley asks Gabriel.

Are you sure? Quite sure.

The Marvelous Mr. Fell is described as marvelous in his mysterosity, Shax says the demons have dangerosity.

Mrs. H in 1941 says "for God's sake" twice in quick succession.

Schtum

Every day

Hints:

Powell and Pressburg films

The Crow Road

Catch 22

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, Terry Pratchett in general

Jane Austin

Book Good Omens

Season 1 Good Omens

The titles of episodes, minisodes, places, etc. 7a. The Arrival: a book and a movie, though the book seems far more relevant. And lovely. The Clue: a movie. Companion to Owls: a line from a Bible story. I Know Where I'm Going: a movie. The Resurrectionists: two novels, each called The Resurrectionist, singular. Both look unhinged. The Hitchhiker: a Twilight Zone episode. Nazi Zombie Flesheaters: Literally no other reference. ?? Nazi Zombies do appear in a LOT of movies, comics, and video games, usually as a dark joke. The Ball: a video game. Irrelevant? It's a puzzle-based game, so maybe not. Every Day: a song AND a movie. Some themes repeat here: Puzzle games, being re-directed from one's path to find true love, death and being brought back to life in a gruesome and unpleasant way.

Objects that get a close-up/centering:

Starmaker's nebula book -- Nebula 231,080

Shax's compact mirror

Maggie's note

Shostakovich record

Tomatoes

The box

The Bentley

Eccles cakes

The bell

Head statue

The book Jim drops

Jukebox

Gabgriel's statue

Laudanum bottle

Phones in Edinburgh episode

"Very closed" sign

Broken whiskey bottles in 1941

Hourglass in Hell

Furfur's camera

Bullet catch in the magic shop

Instruction booklet for bullet catch gets 3 close ups -- because the bullet catch trick is that important, or because it happens 3 times? Both, I think.

Puppets

Dancers' silhouettes

Mr. Fell sign

The actual bullet

Angelic beings book

Photo evidence

Shax's shoes

"Surrender the angle" brick

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for asking my parents to pay my tuition for the semester, lying about how I lost my scholarship, and then planning on lying to my dad regarding his requirements in exchange for him paying the tuition?

My (20X) college has a scholarship for offspring of faculty members, and I was lucky enough to have my application accepted by the college that my dad (53M) works at. This means that I get a full ride scholarship; if I graduate within 4 years, I won't have to pay a single penny to my college (books and supplies not included, of course).

Unfortunately, the scholarship does have two requirements; I need to have taken at least a certain amount of credits semester before (not a ridiculous number), and for that semester, I need to have gotten over a 2.0/4.3 GPA. Easy enough, right? Who can't get a GPA over 2.0?

Well. I suffered a mental health downfall the past semester and I ended up failing half my classes. I was unable to sit my finals. I know this wasn't smart of me, and I think I should've done something about my academic situation other than just wait for the semester to be over, but I had quit a semester due to my mental health decline previously and I didn't want a repeat of that. In any case, I got a GPA of about 1.6. I'm not on probation but I did receive a warning.

Fortunately, this doesn't mean I lost my scholarship for good. I just need to fulfill those requirements in the upcoming semester and I get it back.

I realized I did need to pay my tuition this semester two days before tuition fee acceptance closes and I debated telling only one of my parents. My mom wants me to finish college no matter what, and my dad has told me that he does not care anymore as long as I don't stress him out. He's also told me he no longer has any expectations for me whatsoever. I did also consider talking about it with my brother and borrowing money from him to put together the tuition fee.

I figured I'd bite the bullet and just told my dad, who I know has been stressed about my future and how badly I'm doing in college. I just casually dropped it as I was making breakfast for myself and then we had a lengthy conversation that my mother (51F) joined when she got back home.

I don't remember much of the conversation (I may have memory problems) but the AITA mentioned part is that I lied to my parents and told them I did sit all my finals and try my best. I didn't. I tried that for mid term exams but I had nothing to write, so for finals I didn't sit them at all. This happened with three of the classes I was taking. I just didn't take my finals. My dad was suspicious of my claim; he said that as a professor himself he wouldn't fail students who at least submitted homework and sat their exams to write anything at all, but I maintained that I tried.

The conclusion was that my dad would be willing to pay my tuition if I got my shit together and also deleted my social media, which he thinks is a drain on my time and energy. He's not wrong. I deleted my Twitter accounts immediately afterwards (which my parents don't know about) because I've been thinking about it, but I can't really bring myself to get rid of Discord, where so many of my friends are. People I've met while studying internationally, long-term friends who moved to other countries; Discord is the only way to contact these people.

This is the AITA part; if my dad follows up on that particular requirement to check if I deleted Discord, which he particularly dislikes (he has previously confiscated the electronics I bought with my own money that I earned, after he saw me on muted call at night with some friends), I plan on deleting the app/program on my devices but using it anyway as a website. This would be a betrayal of my dad's trust in me, but there's no love lost between us anyway. He's already told me he doesn't love me unconditionally. (Yes, I'm his biological child and he did raise me.)

I also feel like an asshole because I could've settled this with the help of my brother; I'd pick up a job during the winter break to pay him back, but it would have been done eventually. Or I could've just gone to my mom. She works her own job, and we could've figured it out together without telling my dad. I told my dad anyway, wanting him to pay the tuition, even though I knew that talking about having to spend money on his kids stresses him out deeply.

My mom also told my dad to go to therapy (in detail, so I know it wasn't just something she said as a throwaway thing) during the conversation. It did get heated. I don't disagree, but I don't know if that'd be okay; mental health is stigmatized where I am, and my dad as a grown adult man and a respected professor if seen going to therapy could have his reputation kind of effected. It wouldn't have happened if I just brought up this whole situation quietly up to my mom, or just my brother.

So I lost my scholarship, I lied to my parents about the technicalities of how that happened, and I'm asking for some amount of money from my parents but also planning on lying to them in regards to the terms they set out. AITA?

What are these acronyms?

[driver270]

Aperture Horizon

Another insane crossover idea. Due to the isolated nature of Aperture Laboratories, the facility continued to run unimpeded during the Faro Plague as GLaDOS continued to put human after human she had in cryostorage into the proverbial (sometimes literal) meat grinder for testing purposes. Just before the Swarm discovered the facility, Chell succeeds in defeating the mad A.I., stopping Aperture's energy signature from being detected by the Swarm.

Over the centuries, as GAIA 1.0 works diligently to restore the biosphere, she attempts to send machines to terraform the region surrounding the ruins of Aperture, only for them to disappear as they get closer. GAIA eventually decides to cut her losses and stop sending machines to that region, creating a buffer zone. Even post-ZD humans avoid the area.

After GAIA's destruction by the Extinction Signal sent by Nemesis, any machine or tribal human who approaches the facility continues to disappear. This catches the attention of the now self-aware HEPHAESTUS as even the newly-designed combat machines that wander into the area are not immune to these disappearances.

After Aloy brings GAIA 2.0 online, the benevolent A.I. learns about HEPHAESTUS's attempts to explore the Aperture ruins, but places this particular concern on the back burner due to the much more pressing need to get the biosphere stabilized.

As Aloy searches for the rogue Zenith Walter Londra in the Burning Shores, GAIA detects a series of seismic shocks within the Aperture ruins buffer zone her predecessor established. These tremors are the result of Wheatley's brief reign of idiocy running the facility and the near-destruction of it. GAIA finally decides to look into this and requests both Sylens & Beta to look into the APOLLO database as to what Old World facility was there.

As Aloy was making her way back to the Base, one of the nearby communities report that for the first time, a person was seen coming from the ruins. A burnette woman wearing a white shirt & orange pants. She was seen carrying a large metal cube...

Beta discovers in Walter's records about a research institute that Heavencent procured moonrocks for in the past. The institute's address happened to line up with coordinates near the center of the buffer zone. Meanwhile, Sylens discovers that this same institute also had dealings with the US military some decades prior to FAS' rise to prominence as a robotics manufacturer. The rumors about the mystery woman from the buffer zone catch the attention of Kotallo, who then relays this information to the others.

Once GAIA, Beta, and Sylens compare notes, they decide to brief Aloy on her new mission; to find this mystery woman & seek her assistance into gaining access to the facility to hopefully find a potential weapon that can be used against the coming threat of Nemesis.

Unfortunately for everyone, someone's been busy growing an army of allegedly killer birds...🤣

[kinardsevan]

Thoughts on Tommy's family dynamic? Only child or does he have siblings? Think we'll see any of his family in the show?

I'm on the fence about this one, anon.

In my head, he's an only child. He has only child energy, which I can read as an only child with siblings (its a long story 😂😂😂).

I think it would be fun for him to have a sibling, but if he does, I think it's probably going to be a strained relationship. One of my biggest reasonings behind this is because of his distance towards people. I mean we know that there is some level of trauma towards his relationship with his father, but when I consider from a psychology standpoint the way he was about building bonds with people prior to season 2, that speaks to me as someone who didn't grow up with a lot of people to rely on, which says only child to me.

I would like to think that maybe we'll see his dad at some point, if for no other reason than to make a point about who he is. I feel like s8 will likely bring the Buckleys back into the fold and obviously they'll have to acknowledge their reaction to Tommy at Madney's wedding. To that end, I think if Tommy DOES have any siblings, we might see them turn up at some point because of that, especially if they want to give him a (familial) relationship to ground him. But in headcanon, I really relate to the idea that he had a grandparent who looked out for him because I'm in the camp that his mom died when he was young. Mostly because when I correlate all of the issues he's presented with as having in s2, they don't really fit for someone who grew up in a household with a lot of nurturing love. So either both of his parents suck (which God I hope not), or his mom has passed (easier for me to swallow).

Further, I honestly don't want to see a resolution between himself and his father. I get the feeling Minear & Co. will make sure the Buckleys are still supporting Evan because that narrative still needs to be driven the way it has, and I know they've made a big show about this story not being about the typical trauma tropes related to LGBTQ. But if we're dealing with a parent who has previously not accepted their child in Tommy and his dad, I want it to stay that way. Or, I'd be willing to accept a version where Tommy is like "wait, you couldn't get your shit together in the first 40 years and NOW you want to be a parent? No thanks." Almost akin to Thatcher & Meredith Grey if that makes sense. I could accept some level of understanding between the two that the past is the past, but not this version of a future where he wants to be the Buckleys 2.0.

Finally, and this just occurred to me, but would also fit well with Tommy's narrative to this point: I could see him being a product of the foster care system. Maybe after mom died, dad lost custody for a while and he bounced around the system until dad got him back, but whether due to trauma or Tommy just not being who the man thought he should be in general, the relationship festered. This would also present opportunities for him to have siblings in a unique way while also keeping people at arm's length.

[autistic-danieljackson]

So I've just finished season 9 of SG-1 and it definitely has different vibes than the rest of the show so far. Not bad! I didn't think it was bad at all which I feel like a lot of people write it off. But it almost feels like an SG-1 spin-off, if that makes sense? Like SG-1 2.0, it's not quite the same as the first 3 seasons but you sort of need to know the history of how we got here. Anyway, some quick thoughts before I start the last season. Cannot believe I'm here already but also feel like I've been watching for so long even though it's been less than a month.

First, I need to apologize to Vala Mal Doran. I'm so sorry I was too boring at 10 years old to appreciate her, she is such a fun character and I think naturally brings the silliness that's kind of missing with Jack gone. I'm very excited for her to be a series regular for season 10, cannot get enough.

Second, I'm really not sure what I think about Cam. I hadn't seen much of season 9 or 10 before now, when I was first watching it was before streaming and I'd come home from school and there were 2 episodes of Atlantis and then 2 episodes of SG-1 on each night so I just had to watch what was on(I'm not that old but god did writing that make me feel so old 😂). Anyway all this to say I'd seen Cam before but I didn't really know his character. I think Ben Browder did a great job but I think they tried to make Cam younger Jack 2.0 and I wish they would've just made his character more original. They could've made his character more interesting but I also get that they were probably trying to appease fans who were probably upset that Jack was gone. I think it could've been handled better but I don't actively dislike Cam.

The only thing I do dislike about his character is that it feels like he's undermining Sam a lot. Obviously the in-universe reason for why he's in charge of SG-1 makes sense now, Sam left to work at Area 51 and Cam was brought in to lead the team. But like...it just feels like so much bullshit. Again, they could've just had Sam in charge and had Cam come in as this young hotshot. It just feels so disrespectful to her character and being with the team for 8 years to now be second chair to the new guy. Also I know it was the early 2000s and there was a fair share of casual misogyny everywhere but it just felt extra gross coming from someone who just stepped in and basically took her spot. Like in the Kassa episode when Cam's insisting that he be the one to go collect information and he calls Sam 'Mary Poppins'? What is that even about?? (To be fair, the writing of that whole episode was not great, that's the only episode where I was like okay yikes yeah this is not super good) I just think more could've been done with both of their characters and I really would've liked to see it play out differently.

Don't care for Landry. Never did, that hasn't changed. I feel like he's unnecessarily mean a lot of times and I just don't like him.

Carolyn Lam, however, I do really like. I like that they finally got a steady replacement for Janet and although no one will ever truly replace her, I think she does a solid job. Not sure how I feel about her being Landry's daughter, I feel like that plot time and energy could have gone to other parts of the story but it's also not bad.

It definitely feels quite a bit different from earlier seasons, with a cast change and a totally new villain that hadn't even been heard of before I don't think that's a surprise at all. But I think it holds its own well enough and I'm definitely glad I didn't write it off without giving it a chance. Very excited to start season 10 and then start on Atlantis!

[broadwayfangirl222]

Spoilers for Hazbin Hotel Episodes and my thoughts/initial reactions:

Episode 1:

I adore the opening narration, it genuinely feels like a fairytale being told to a kid and I get the vibe Lilith and Lucifer were trying to help Eve by giving her the apple. And for people worried about her being Stella 2.0 It comes off more as Lilith taking over since Lucifer became low key depressed and while there might be issues between them it might be more communication issues than anything else

Husk's voice sounds a bit gruffer than it initially came off as in the trailers and I really like how it sounds

Angel brings up good suggestions of having a celebrity be a selling point for the hotel and why can't Alastor use his connections to bring more people to the hotel

and their answers (of Charlie not wanting to exploit him and people needing to choose to be there, not be forced to be there) were also really great points

I feel low key dumb for thinking Adam was actually there, he wouldn't bother to bring himself down to their level

Charlie's realization this asshole is her mom's ex is hilarious

Tbh I would've wanted to see more of them making the commercial but it was so much fun to see and I love how Alastor only agreed to put genuine effort in the commercial if he never had to do anything related to TV again

Niffty zoning out when the camera is on her just game me hypnotoad vibes (dumb and obvious comparison but that's where my mind went)

Wow...what the hell, they really are cutting the time in half just as a "fuck you" to Charlie and her idea?! Really harsh and just this whole thing works to show they're not so different than the demons

Is it just me or is there weird audio mixing issues with Brandon Rodgers' audio as Katie Killjoy?

Ohhh interesting the 6 months thing is cause an angel managed to be killed and it's a cover up! I'm genuinely curious where this goes

Episode 2:

Good point with this being something that could make people be willing to hear this idea of redemption out

Omg of course Niffty is into Pentious. Also interesting she didn't know who the V's were.

Vox in the trailer sounded like seth rogan to me but he sounds way more gameshow host to me

VELVETTE'S BRITISH?!?! Also kinda cool to see her being a bit more business focused and not just kinda high energy chaos

OMG! Finally we get to hear Valentino! It's kinda cool how his accent is partly there, like it's thicker when he talks in some parts than others. It's done in a way that's less the VA dropping the accent and more it being a deliberate thing for the character

For Vox and Val's relationship we got this idea of Val being the one in charge and mistreating Vox but Vox trying to calm Val down feels like him and Velvette just let Val think he's the one who's in charge of the V's while Vox is actually the one to plan stuff through

Fun little bit of Val poking fun at Vox's obsession with Alastor and I kinda like it's all of them kinda snapping at eachother and messing with one another

I've seen thumbnails for this song on youtube and i've been trying to avoid it and I'm so glad I can finally see it. This song and Adam's songs were low key my faves of these first couple episodes.

One thing that stood out to me in this song is two lines from Alastor is "Is Vox as strong as he purports or is it based on his support? He'd be powerless without the other Vees" (and cute little bit of Val and Velvette looking kinda smug at that line) Cause it does raise an interesting idea: The Vees essentially all prop each other up, how would they handle being purely on their own

"And here's the sugar on the cream, he asked me to join his team, I said no and now he's pissy" Oh so basically he tried asking Alastor out and didn't take the rejection well?

Is that a robo fizz?!?!

I actually appreciate Angel wasn't the one told to be the spy on the inside but rather Pentious. It's a good way to get him involved with this and just isn't the more obvious plot choice

With Angel feeling jealous and insecure I'm actually really glad there isn't that thing where this new character is suspicious and one character points that out but they keep getting dismissed by everyone else and just accused of being jealous

Poor sir Pentious...And honestly this moment is just really sweet and honestly Charlie's design with her hair and Pj's are so adorable!

[hananoami]

[07/21] Deepspace Trials Prog

On July 15th more stages were added to the Deepspace Trials in Love and Deepspace version 2.0. With the addition of Sylus as new a love interest, his DIRECTIONAL ORBIT: ENERGY has been included starting from Stage 01 up to Stage 80.

The following orbits have been added:

OPEN ORBIT increased from 120 -> 180

DIRECTIONAL ORBIT: LIGHT increased from 120 -> 150

DIRECTIONAL ORBIT: ICE increased from 120 -> 150

DIRECTIONAL ORBIT: FIRE increased from 120 -> 150

DIRECTIONAL ORBIT: ENERGY starting at 01 -> 80

For those that are new to my blog, I've been doing these Deepspace Trial Progression notes every Sunday to keep track of my personal progress while I am challenging those fights. The last time I've written one of these post was on June 30th. This was after I finally cleared all for the available deepspace trials at the time in version 1.0. If curious, you can find all my post Stage 120 clears and view their clear videos here.

I'll also be updating my format a bit to reflect a weekly progress report rather than only focused on Sunday's allotted keys, as previously done. Each love interest allows you 3 keys per day, with 3 days available in the week for a total of 9 keys allotted per week. Some stages are easier than others; I've written about this in a previous post about how their orbit colors are good indicators. However I'll try to remember to record any of these stages' protofield stellactrum and the rewards that you can earn.

It'll be fun to resume this battle content again. I'm excited to see what challenges await me and all of the love interests. Time to start Opposing Visions with Stage 121!

WEEKLY KEYS USED

☆ XAVIER : 9/9 keys ; going on Stage 130 on Monday. ☆ ZAYNE : 9/9 keys ; going on Stage 130 on Tuesday. ☆ RAFAYEL : 9/9 keys ; going on stage Stage 130 on Wednesday. ☆ SYLUS : 9/9 keys ; going to stage 10 on Tuesday. ☆ OPEN ORBIT : currently stuck on Stage 150.

𝚇𝙰𝚅𝙸𝙴𝚁

To quote MC, "Lumiere really is the best!" Xavier used up all 9 of the allotted keys this week. The new changes to the target lock-on makes it so much easier to focus target the frenzied wanderer in those frenzy stages (stage 123). It also helps that I finally have [Lightseeking Shadowrend] at R2 thanks to the limited-time banner, Pulse Hunter. My Lightseeker now has memory pair duo rank 1 unlocked, so I can finally swap out the oath recovery boost beta protocore for something else! Expedited energy boost or Oath's strength here we come! God bless the devs for actually listening to the players complaints about fixing it because this will make these harder fights less miserable to challenge, aha. We'll be challenging Stage 130 on Monday! Hopefully that'll go well...

Directional Orbit: Light Protofield Stellactrum

121: 4 amber, 2 ruby -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

122: 4 amber, 2 ruby -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

123: 4 amber, 2 ruby (frenzy) -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

124: none -- rewards: 2k gold, 20 💎

125: 4 amber + 2 sapphire -- rewards: 4k gold + 40 💎 + 4x bottle of wishes: sr

126: 4 amber, 2 sapphire -- rewards: 2k gold, 20 diamonds

127: none -- rewards: 2k gold +20 💎

128: 4 emerald, 2 pearl (protect the beacon) -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

129: 4 emerald, 2 pearl -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

𝚉𝙰𝚈𝙽𝙴

Zayne starting off strong in Opposing Visions by using up all 9 allotted keys for this week. I'm still slightly traumatized by his stage 120... but hopefully we'll continue to walk on nothing but flower paths this version. Thanks to the Pulse Hunter banner I got 2 more copies of [Forever Sealed] bringing his Foreseer memory pair to duo rank 2! The extra energy charge is so nice; not to mention having his [Schade's Mercy] outfit is welcomed bonus. This coming Tuesday is when we can challenge his Stage 130!

Directional Orbit: Ice Protofield Stellactrum

121: 4 ruby, 2 pearl -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

122: 4 ruby, 2 pearl -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

123: 4 ruby, 2 pearl (protect stabilizer) -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

124: none -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

125: 4 ruby, 2 violet -- rewards: 4k gold + 40 💎 + 4x bottle of wishes: sr

126: 4 ruby, 2 violet -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

127: none -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

128: 4 sapphire, 2 amber (activate beacon) -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

129: 4 sapphire, 2 amber -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

𝚁𝙰𝙵𝙰𝚈𝙴𝙻

It feels good to have all three of the original love interest progressing at the same time. Like the other companions Abysswalker also went from starting effect memory pair bonus to duo rank 1 after I obtained a second copy of [Deep Sea Promise] from Pulse Hunter! This allowed Rafayel to use up all 9 of his allotted keys for this week, though I did experience some challenges on one of his orbits. Stage 128 is a frenzy. While the changes to the focus target helped, for some reason I struggled to kill the frenzy wanderer during the second phase of the fight, resulting in me failing to obtain the ATK buff. I still managed to clear the fight with 30 seconds left to spare so maybe it was just a one time mishap. Stage 130 is next, but we wont be able to challenge that until Wednesday.

Directional Orbit: Fire Protofield Stellactrum

121: 4 pearl, 2 amber -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

122: 4 pearl, 2 amber -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

123: 4 pearl, 2 amber (boss absorb mobs) -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

124: none -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

125: 4 pearl, 2 emerald -- rewards: 4k gold + 40 💎 + 4x bottle of wishes: sr

126: 4 pearl, 2 emerald -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

127 - none -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

128: 4 violet, 2 ruby (frenzy) -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

129: 4 violet, 2 ruby -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

𝚂𝚈𝙻𝚄𝚂

I honestly have nothing to say about Sylus's first 9 orbits because he just overpowers every single stage on auto battle. Bless that Pulse Hunter limited-time banner. I managed to get his pearl solar myth pair, Relentless Conqueror, to memory pair duo rank 2 -- ultimately making my runs a comfy breeze for now. Looking forward to Tuesday to challenge his Stage 10!

Directional Orbit: Energy Protofield Stellactrum

01: 1 pearl -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

02: 1 pearl -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

03: 1 pearl (activate beacon) -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

04: none -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

05: 1 pearl, 1 emerald -- rewards: 4k gold, 40 dia, 4x bottle of wishes: sr

06: 1 pearl, 1 emerald -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

07: none -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

08: 1 pearl, 1 sapphire (tower defense) -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

09: none -- rewards: 2k gold + 20 💎

𝙾𝙿𝙴𝙽 𝙾𝚁𝙱𝙸𝚃

I went from 121 -> 150 within the first week. I have a lot to cover from this orbit alone so a more detailed post about those runs will be linked [here] at a later time.

[amypihcs]

Hello friends!! End of the story today, let's see!

Our Watson is... JUST A BIT put off by the tools he has to carry.

Just a little bit. And here our Holmes is!

C'mon, he's getting better at being a good husband. Worrying about if Watson has eaten and offering him the coffee. Good guy Holmes, that's how a date works!

Now he explains, of course his discoveries and his plan.

Giggling and twirling his hair DAMNIT IT'S TOO SHORT twirling his CIGAR thinking about how he surprised his Watson. And this would be an emotionless being? A cold man? Do me the PLEASURE.

Ah... sorry... i've just... Sorry lemme check a thing---

Ah yes. I remembered right. -Insert mine and watson's sigh.-

But as we all know, Watson can't refuse anything to his man

Yes, Watson, we get it, he wanted to kiss you then and there. Also, I love Holmes' way to convince Watson! And the pleasepleaseplease Watson, be careful.

Burglarly time!!

Efficient. I must say, efficient.

And the theory proves right! Also Watson kissed Holmes in between the two sentences, just a peck on the lips. On to pass the house through with a fine comb. And LO! They found something!

Look at him, he's VIBRATING!

Well, we need to tell it to brother Mycroft!

Grumpy Lestrade, he finally got PROOF of their ways™ , not that he didn't suspect already, and satisfied Mycroft. He always knew his little brother could do it! He WOULD make the best cat burglar in London if he put his head to it!

Now, now, don't worry Lestrade, it's not like he's making an habit of it.

He already has one. Spot of burglarly tonight at 8? All in? And today is poor Watson's time to fidget. Take care of your husband, Holmes! Can't you see he's anxious? Burglarly time 2.0

This is more or less how it went SH, Already sitting on the railing: Now we just need to climb up here... MH, Shaking his head vigorously: You can FORGET IT, petit frére, not all of us have such energy Sh, sighing: Boring. Watson, dear, would you... -insert puppy eyes- JW, too amused for his own good: Of course, Holmes -proceeds to giggle-

Now the boring part of a stakeout. Waiting.

Lol, this always makes me laugh. Why is Lestrade always written as a man who can't stay in ambush without getting fidgety. He should be the most used to it of the four!

Holmes throws their suspects across the room, the suspect sees himself discovered and proceeds to faint. With ladies it works, why not with a gentleman? (unless it is miss Westbury, but i SOMEHOW doubt it-)

And in fact. I believe Holmes suspected of the other clerk? But yeah, Watson can write you as an ass, he deserves it sometimes. we just know he'll NEVER do it, he's just too smitten

Ehm, Colonel... Sorry to break it to you this way but... Holmes DID kill people in his career. Dr Roylott, to name one, Moriarty, to name a more recent one, soooo. yep. Not a great thing to brag about. Hehehe, let's set a tiny trap for Oberstein.

A saturday coffee in the family so we can capture a spy and retrieve state secrets!

UUUUH.

I do think Holmes was not allowed to bring his emotional support Watson to Windsor with him. The Queen, who said queen, nobody said queen, the LADY would've found easier to deal with the couple then with the detective alone. Talking for her benefit, eh!

[frazzledsoul]

So let's talk about my favorite arcane subject... historical TV ratings! In this case, historical Gilmore Girls ratings in the aughts.

As a reminder, everything discussed here will be in the 18-49 demo preferred by advertisers. Also, the WB/CW were less universally available than the other networks, so their numbers were lower.

2000-2001

In the debut season of Gilmore Girls, the highest rated show was Survivor, with a demo rating of 16.9.

As you can see, all WB shows are towards the bottom of the chart. Gilmore Girls had a 2.5 demo rating, 8th in the network and 127th total out of 157 shows. The top rated show on the WB was 7th Heaven, with a demo rating of 4.4.

So respectable but not a smash hit.

Why was the show on several times a week? Well, it originally aired on Thursday, during the same time slot as Friends (5th ranked with a 12.6 demo rating) so the network wanted to give it another shot. During that first season, they used to air a recap after the first half of the show in case people switched over after watching Friends.

2001-2002

The highest rated show overall was Friends, with a 15.0 demo rating.

Ah, season 2. Jess Mariano enters the scene and the show starts to develop its core identity as Love Triangle Central. It rises to third ranked on the network (bested by 7th Heaven and Smallville) and 115th overall and goes up to a 3.23 demo rating.

Oh, the power of a bad boy who can read. He will transfix many for decades to come.

2002-2003

The highest ranked show overall was CSI with a 16.1 demo rating.

Season 3 is the last season we have Jess full-time and the only Literati season. We also briefly enjoy the company of Twilight Dad. The show maintains it's popularity but nothing much changes: it's still outranked by 7th Heaven and Smallville, goes a little lower in rank overall to 121th overall, and maintains a 3.23 demo rating.

Gilmore Girls: Beginnings was a time slot where they aired episodes from S1 on Sunday nights. The show was not yet syndicated and streaming didn't exist yet: you couldn't buy DVDS until 2004. This was the only way to see old episodes. Even so, it wasn't that popular.

We lose the boyfriends at the end of the season, and things take a turn for the worse.

2003-2004

American Idol was the top rated show with a 10.7 demo rating.

Season 4 is the season of Single Rory, who ASP tells us we should adore more than the boyfriends.

Unfortunately, ASP also chose to give her scintillating plotlines about urine mints, arguing over a study tree, and begging for attention from a guy she meets in the laundry room. Lorelai's time is mostly taken up by Jason Stiles and his fascinating insurance saga. The viewers were bored. The show slipped to 6th in rank on the network and 128th overall, lost almost half of its viewers, and went down to a 1.7 in the demo rating.

ASP regrouped, brought the boyfriends back in, got rid of Jason, and finally hooked Luke and Lorelai up. The episodes near the end of the season are considered some of the best of the series. The show allegedly was close to getting canceled.

Quality wise, I think there are a lot of nice episodes here and there, but overall the season drags because there are far more interesting things going on with the supporting characters than the mains. Jess is as emo as he ever is and his hair is fabulous.

2004-2005

The top rated show for the year was American Idol with an 11.1 demo rating.

The show was on an upswing in season 5. We have to put up with Dean for a while, but Rory's attention strays (again) to yet another bad boy who can read and Logan brings a lot more energy and more interesting storylines to the show. We also have the glory days of Luke and Lorelai as a couple.

The show rises to #1 on the WB, finally outranking 7th Heaven and Smallville. It ranks 120th overall and the demo rating goes up to 2.0. The show's ratings will never be as high as they were during the Jess seasons.

Jess is not in season 5, as he was busy moving to Philly and becoming awesome. Milo shows up on American Dreams as yet another bad boy, yet his fresh-faced love interest in that show seizes the moment and not only fucks him but runs away with him, too. Meg Pryor at least knows how to take advantage of her opportunities.

American Dreams had slightly better ratings than Gilmore Girls but because it was a network show (and had insanely expensive music rights) it was canceled.

2005-2006

The top rated show (again) was American Idol with a demo rating of 12.9

Oh, season 6. The season of disappointment, thwarted dreams, and Jess Mariano reinventing himself as a hipster dreamboat.

The show remained popular, tying for first place in the network with Smallville and Beauty and the Geek (the reality show version of The Big Bang Theory). The demo rating stayed at 2.0 and the show ranked 110th overall.

Supernatural (the show Jared is most known for) debuts in 5th with a 1.6 demo rating. It will become quite the phenomenon over the next 15 years and spawn many stans of its own.

Milo's show The Bedford Diaries isn't too popular, but he also films the Rocky sequel and is cast in Heroes. He's on to bigger and better things, as is Jess, who is now a stable, successful author and business owner and hotter than ever, while Rory is stuck in a holding pattern of indecisiveness and bad decisions. Oh, well. The population of Philly awaits, son. Start your slut era in style.

2006-2007

Y'all will be shocked to find out that the top rated show of the year again was American Idol again with a 12.3 demo rating.

Oh, season 7. The new writers tried, I guess. ASP had pretty much destroyed Luke and Lorelai as a couple and also set her sights on almost every other character, too. So we're left with a devastated Luke, the specter of Christopher on the horizon, and Rory once again embroiled in love triangle drama.

The WB and UPN had combined into a single network, so the show has more competition, but I think a lot of people just gave up.

The show went down to its S4 series low of 1.7, ranked 4th behind America's Next Top Model and Beauty and the Geek. It ranked 122nd for the year and was canceled. There were negotiations for a 13-episode season 8 (with Matt Czuchry as a regular cast member) but they fell through. I think if that season had happened, Luke and Lorelai would have gotten married/had a baby and Rory and Logan would have been endgame. We would not have seen Jess again, because Milo was too busy elsewhere.

Heroes was the 7th ranked show overall that year and the top rated show on NBC. It has a demo rating of 6.4, over three times as high as Gilmore Girls and almost twice as high as Gilmore Girls at its height. There was a ton of water-cooler chat about the show during that time: it was pretty much everywhere.

There's been a lot of chatter on this site about ASP having big plans for Jess in S7, that she was going to have Rory cheat on Logan with Jess again and Milo only said no because he hated the new writers. There's never been any indication any of that is true because why wouldn't he move on to another job with more money, prestige, and attention? It was wise of him to leave and better for both Milo and Jess in the end.

So what have we learned here, other than that Frazzled has weird hobbies? Well, mainly that season 4 almost killed the show, the show's glory days truly were the first three seasons, and that I was not alone in rage quitting the show in 2006. All good lessons to keep in mind.

[aurora-313]

Re-reading the final "battle" for Bleach again, because I'm a masochist avoiding writing my own projects like the plague.

I have to ask: Yhwach... why don't you just kill them?!

Legitimately kill them all. Ichigo and Orihime, Rukia and Renji - all of them.

What frustrates me in those final chapters is the fact Yhwach's IQ took a several thousand point hit. For a being that supposedly contains eons of Quincy power and knowledge harvested from his victims (IE. his "children"), why does he make such remarkably painfully foolish decisions in that final battle?

Yhwach has an established track record of killing minions and enemies when they have no further value to him. His own army frequently lives in fear they're next. This behavior was the action we witness during his debut where he killed two affiliated Arrancar over a minor disagreement and it persisted after he became the Soul King 2.0.

So my question is; why the sudden shift in gears? Why has this pragmatist uncharacteristically changed his mind at the eleventh hour and decided to allow the single person who stood a ghost of a chance of killing him live?

Following the final battle in the Soul King's throne room, Ichigo is on the ground exhausted, slashed to pieces and quite literally drained of energy. Boy can barely keep his head up. Yet Yhwach's previously character-defining pragmatism is suddenly evaporates. He had zero qualms stabbing Ichigo through the throat in their first encounter, has zero compunction slaughtering his own men to empower his personal guard or himself, yet now he finds it appropriate to walk away monologuing a cliché speech about wallowing in despair while declaring his children hold no further value.

Emphasizing his statement, Yhwach casts Auswählen to take the remaining Sternritter's powers, killing them in the process. Yet Ichigo - powerless, defenseless and served practically on a silver platter - gets a pass?

(side question: Why wasn't Ichigo affected by the Auswählen as a child? Why didn't he die from the silver clot like Katagiri did? He might be a mongrel of all species but he's still got Quincy blood. More over, why hasn't he died after he got Auswählened again as a teenager?).

Yhwach had the perfect opportunity to permanently remove Ichigo from play; either destroy him so completely his very soul ceased to exist meaning even Orihime can't bring him back, or absorb his soul completely into Yhwach's being, imprisoning him forever because the only person who could've stood a chance at breaking out a powerless Ichigo out is another fully-powered Ichigo.

The mindboggling stupidity extends to the battle itself too.

If Yhwach remained the pragmatist he was during the rest of the arc, he would see Ichigo is clearly relying on his pocket healer for his strategy. Yhwach would snaps his fingers - oops! Pocket healer's dead. Would you look at that? Ichigo's strategy just went up in smoke. As added bonus he's once again plunged into psychological turmoil because A: He's lost another ally, quite possibly the girl he likes, B: He's led another woman he cherishes to her death, this time knowingly, and while he's dealing with that traumatic realization, Yhwach would destroy him, steal his powers then kill him.

(Side question round two: Hollows are anathema to Quincy. They literally cannot survive around them. Why didn't the Hollow act as a poison to Yhwach and kill him? Or play a role in killing him?)

Admittedly, this is my issue with Shounen in general, but why do the antagonists suddenly make the dumbest most confounding decisions in their entire screen time when faced with the main character?

When this happens, I don't the character's flaws - I see the writer saying 'Oh shit, I made them too strong now I have to make them stupid to give my MC a chance.'

Then again, this is Bleach. More over, the Thousand Year Blood War. Asking for consistency is like politely asking Mount Everest to rise up and dance the macarena.

Edit: People can argue that Yhwach 'wanted to see what Ichigo would do' but what would be the point? With the Almighty Yhwach's basically omniscient. He already knows what's going to happen.

[pumpkin-spike18]

✨Weekly Progress #29-30✨

Let me start this off by apologizing for my inactivity 🙇‍♂️ I try not to dive too deeply into my mental health on this blog, but those who know me well know how much I struggle with it. I think my brain shut down and retreated after finishing my recent projects. I relied on daily never-ending tasks to get me through each day with a sense of accomplishment so when that ended, I wound up in a void where I couldn't bring my creativity to amount to anything new.

I kicked my butt back into gear the last couple of days after realizing how little I did during week 29 (and week 28 looked inflated, but I did most of the work in 2-3 days leaving most of my week blank).

I don't know where I'll go from here, but I've worked out some new upcoming plans for future projects! And I'll do my best to start replying to messages and comments;; I've left everyone on read for long enough...!!

Thank you so much everyone, for continuing to support me al this time! 💕

Weekly Progress #29

Wrote O2A2 post mortem

Finished aKwtD ref sheet lines, flat colors

Weekly Progress #30

Finished aKwtD Liz refsheet

Finished aKwtD Camille refsheet

Reorganized/scheduled work

made SFB roadmap

Prepped SYVNH plan

Updated vgen services

Drafted more proposals

Sketched SFB sprite

Detective story concepting/outlining

A Kiss with the Devil

I completed the refsheets for Ley's upcoming yuri game!

It was a lot of fun designing them from scratch and then being able to render them in full body art! I've always shied away from full body pieces because they take a lot of time and energy... the refsheets took over a week from sketch to final piece. But I'm really happy with how they came out!

Camille, the player character, and her love interest, an immortal and possibly immoral eldritch creature, Liz!

A Sky of Falling Birds

I'm working on proposals for funding and marketing of this game as it will be a commercial work when finished. I created a new roadmap for how I'll plan to get more assets done (...and reduce the number of assets, hopefully). The current plan is to have a Demo 2.0 for Yuri Jam to better show off the story since the current demo focused more on the art and animation aspect.

A sketch for the final character sprite of SFB. I originally planned to give her two outfits, but I might try to cut that if I can...

Stuck in a Yandere Visual Novel... HELP!!

Yes...! I've still got a bit of work left for this project!! Mainly some future updates. I do want to get a steam release for SYVNH one day so I'm working towards that!

I will also be putting out some surveys soon for interest in merch based on the characters. The feasibility of it will depend on interest for what type of merch, ofc, but at the very least, I will be working on some new art for folks soon [: As a thank you for playing, and all the love you've shown for the game so far!

Other

I went into more detail than I probably should've in the intro of this post, but even in my "slump," I've been busy practicing art when I'm not getting my butt kicked by some Hollow Knight mini boss for 2 hours.

I've started a doodle blog, that some folks found in less than 24 hours 💦I'm not ready to formally connect the two together, but if it seems like I've been active there, it's just cause I draw a lot every day. It makes the monotony feel better. This blog will still contain all of my devwork, but all my art musings will be in that one.

I'm sure I'll have the courage to link the two together soon.

[thebowerypresents]

Sampha Is Masterful on Night One at Webster Hall

Sampha – Webster Hall – November 7, 2023

Midway into the set on Tuesday night at Webster Hall, the lights went down, the band cleared out and Sampha took a seat at the upright. He played the first notes of “Too Much,” once, twice, as if to wake the piano from sleep, then deftly wove them into the single’s seesawing melody. The song, a kind of reverse engineering of the original — a Drake track with Sampha’s vocals and an 808 — is bare and a departure from the multilayered sound that has won the artist fame. But hearing it live, I realized quite the opposite: It’s not only of a kind with that sound, but in many ways it’s a blueprint for it.

For “Too Much,” as in so many of his songs, Sampha is in constant conversation with the instrumentation. On Lahai, his recently released, highly anticipated sophomore album, the production serves to heighten that singular quality — a call-and-response that twists, warps and dances through his music. Even on “Spirit 2.0,” a single from the album, he sings: “Next thing I’m drifting into open sky / And I don’t feel so scared.” Sampha’s voice rises like a proclamation, and a flourish of strings rise to meet him there, like a chorus. And the chorus itself, like a pop-laden prayer, is peppered with vocal responses, too, sung by his incredibly skillful band who performed in the round — themselves an intimate circle of connection.

In all of this, of course, is a beat. On Lahai, and in much of his work with Drake, Kendrick Lamar and others, Sampha makes the body move with percussive drum fills, breakbeats and time signatures. At Webster Hall, the bodies were moving, as was his. On “Dancing Circles” (Lahai), he stepped to the edge of the stage and moved, rocking, swaying, hoofing it, to a richer, drum-forward version of the song. It was a moment of unabashed optimism, even if the track is sweetly longing: “Dancin’, come close (close) / Hold me, hold me so much so we both let go.”

Sampha holds all the cards and plays them just right: How he can transition from the balladic “(No One Knows Me) Like the Piano” (Process, 2017) to the pulsating, glittery, “Can’t Go Back” (Lahai) is evidence of his command. The song slips into drum and bass, as Sampha repeatedly rang out: “Can’t go back, you can move forward slower.” Perhaps most special, though, was “Without,” a 2013 single, where he and his band came to the very lip of stage left to gather around a small set of snares. They started in together, with clear-as-day, synchronized kicks. A wavering, breezy loop played in, and Sampha crooned soulfully: “See, I don’t wanna say you’ve got me / I’m just glad that you’re here, here, here.”

The crowd’s unrelenting roar, after the band played the final notes of the all-out banger “Blood on Me” (Process), was enough to bring Sampha out for one last song, “Happens,” the partner track to “Too Much” on the 2013 single. As he wound down, Sampha placed his hand on his heart to a still-roaring crowd, and thanked the city and the venue for the energy. It was a masterful, ranging set from a musician who handles the intricacies of music so expertly that it can almost feel, deceivingly, simple. —Rachel Brody | @RachelCBrody

(Sampha plays Webster Hall again tonight and tomorrow.)

(Sampha plays Franklin Music Hall in Philadelphia on Monday.)

Photos courtesy of Ken Grand-Pierre | www.kenamiphoto.com

[ivyforresistance]

Gabriel is finally resting after having defeated Loky and crossing the last name off his kill list. He knows that tomorrow they will have to get to the so called "Apocalypse World" to rescue Mary Winchester and the Nephilim, but he is still trying to enjoy the respite he could get before jumping across universes.

The bunker is animated with the energy of anticipation. They all know the rescue will be difficult, and that Lucifer will be a pain to deal with. Gabriel is not looking forward to it.

Letting his eyes roam the library, chosing to ignore the charged tension between Sam and Rowena discussing the spell to open the rift again and speculating on ways to keep Lucifer's grace fueling it as long as possible, Gabriel's gaze lands on his brother and Dean across the room. They are sitting side by side, shoulders touching and heads bent towards each other.

Though mangled and flightless, Gabriel can see that Castiel's left wing is currently drapped on the back of Dean's chair, the right wing folded and pressed tightly against the angel's back. Of course neither are visible to anyone except Gabriel and Castiel.

Gabriel had been intrigued at first when he had heard about Castiel and his behaviour since the Apocalypse. It was unusual for an angel to disobey and it was even more surprising that it had been Castiel to do it. It was surprising until he had witnessed Castiel and Dean. Then it all made sense. Castiel had always had a soft spot for humanity.

It didn't take a genius to see the connection between those two. Gabriel had always noticed the way everything about Castiel reached for Dean. He is now seeing how Dean also reached out to Cas.

From his seat, Gabriel observes the foot Dean has hooked behind the front leg on Cas' chair, the angle at which his head bends when he turns to look at the angel, the twitch in his fingers on the table. Most importantly, Gabriel sees how Dean's soul is pressed against the right side of this body, like a vine growing on a fence, pressing tightly to the wood and reaching as far as it can towards the sun. Hungry.

A laugh floats through the air, Dean's laugh. Gabriel, still observing, sees the curl of the wing aroung the older Winchester tighten, invisibly bringing him closer to Castiel until the angel can extend his grace to rest gently against the soul confined in Dean's body. Snuggling like two cats. Gabriel smiles as he catches the small movement caused by some of the tension leaving Dean's shoulders, his soul shining softly.

They have a hard task ahead of them all. The journey is garanteed to be taxing and lives might be lost. But, in this very moment, watching Dean and Castiel across the room, Gabriel has a good feeling about this. Knowing Dean has his angel on his side, surely, Gabriel could have faith that they will make it back and avoid Apocalypse 2.0. After all, the Winchesters had stopped the first one.

[see-arcane]

something tells me you have two immediate wants: write gothic romance, write a proper subversion of the reincarnation plot device. decide what you want first. if it's the romance pour it out on barking harker even if you're on completely different plothreads right now, but draft it. go ham. make jane austen blush make st.t gibson wish she were you. if it's the reincarnation aspect you desire most then work of the new project first.

The trouble is that so many of my Dracula-based ideas have very similar ingredients, but depending on the recipe (plot/emphasis), I get such extremely different results. But I still need those ingredients to make those stories work and trying to juggle them all risks me pulling a Stephen King and having too many lookalike tropes happening. Barking Harker has the benefit of being a story that's completely out of left field compared to any spinoff I've seen, with very few repeatable tropes in play for other stories I have in mind. It's safe! No copycat risk! (And, spoilers, while romance is 100% the impetus for Jonathan and Mina's predicaments, it's not the sole spotlight. It's very much Horror drama > Loving drama there.)

But for the gothic romance with Vampiric Jonathan and Reincarnated Mina, the prospect of the whole cast getting reincarnated out of guilt, and the meta commentary Dracula VS Dracula battle in modern day all require 'Jonathan Harker being the New Dracula' as their main foundation. Without that premise, no version of the story can happen.

No Mina 2.0 finding herself trapped and discovering impossible truths about her smitten host.

No reborn heroes wondering at why they all seem so familiar to each other, and why they're so uneasy about the white-haired stranger lurking in the shadows and paying them far too much attention. A stranger who is not a stranger, but a mastermind who has bided his time for a century to bring them back, to give them new lives in apology, to collect Mina for himself for eternity. And if they get in his way? Well. What's another hundred years if he's forced to make another red mess?

No epic ultimate confrontation between Classic Dracula, the Pop Cultural Protagonist Role Usurper, versus Jonathan the Dracula, proving he is the better character as a hero, as a lover, and as a monster, finally kicking the Count down a peg and permanently into Hell. All this, plus the added pleasure of justice for Lucy, Renfield, and Quincey and the rest of the cast, with Jonathan refusing to let Dracula sink his teeth into their lives again--resulting in his own comprehension and disgust with himself, alongside his redemption.

They all need Jonathan the Dracula, but they all need a slightly (if vitally!) different iteration of him. Which means I can't play all of them out. Not without repeating myself, but an inch to the left. And I will not Stephen King myself. Which brings me back to the three-way tie issue. 🙃

I think the safest bet is to start with the compact Jonathan and Mina in the Castle premise. It's shorter in theory, taking less time and energy to burn on it if it doesn't come out right. But B and C will still be gnawing at me all the while. So ¯\_(ツ)_/¯