#but chances are they’ve not been respected in death as I think they should be

[drake-the-incubus]

I think this post is tone deaf on why a lot of vegans and vegetarians ended up that way.

They did, in fact, think about it hard enough, and were unable to come to terms with it because they felt so much guilt over eating the food that they turned to means which harms children and people who work in other countries with less labour protections that sometimes end up dead for their food.

Like, the way this speaks sounds thinly veiled as a talking point I heard from militant vegans/vegetarians.

And honestly by emphasizing meat rather than just like, “be aware of how your food ends up on your table” is wild to me.

Those plants have been produced through someone’s hard labour, sometimes someone died during the harvest of them.

Your meat isn’t just the animal, but efforts of the workers that either raised and killed or captured and killed the animal.

Who processes it, butchers it?

Your food comes from the labour and often times exploitation of other humans. It is a shame to divorce it from it and make it about appreciating the animal’s sacrifice.

Because it isn’t a sacrifice. We kill to eat and survive, and when we don’t, we have others do it in our stead, and sometimes ignore the suffering they go through to do it.

[samptlay]

♡ ⁠◍⁠• Skin That Cries Golden Tears • Chapter 1 ◍⁠

◍⁠ Summary:

It had to be by God’s will that your life had come to a short end. Why else would he allow you to get pushed off of a bridge and drown to your death, at the age of 26? Well, what should have been the end of your life when your ex killed you off for rejecting his love once again. So you were definitely in a haze when you woke up at the highest peak at Qingyun Peak on a floating island, inside your favorite game.

It wasn’t fair. It wasn't your fault. Why did he hate you so much? You let him go, told him to move on, that you would even bless him with his newfound lover. Even if he didn’t stay loyal, even if he begged on his knees to have a chance of making things right. Though there wasn’t anything that could change your mind, cheating is unforgivable and unforgettable. 

However, you were too precious, perfect, and good for everyone else. So he decided. If he couldn’t have you, no one would. Hence the downfall of your life. Or the uprising? The people of Teyvat are sure to make your arrival a pleasant experience, after all, they’ve been expecting you for centuries.

It had to be by God’s will. Why else would he allow you to get pushed off of a bridge and drown to your death, at the age of 26?

It wasn’t fair. It wasn't your fault. Why did he hate you so much? You let him go, told him to move on, that you would even bless him with his newfound lover. Even if he didn’t stay loyal, even if he begged on his knees to have a chance of making things right. Though there wasn’t anything that could change your mind, cheating is unforgivable and unforgettable. It means you have no respect for your partner and no loyalty. Both those things are required if a couple wants to last. Without them, the relationship is doomed to fail, which is what happened.

However, that could never be the end, not for you or him. 

Greedy. too greedy, and so, so selfish. He couldn’t let go. He couldn't move on, even with another woman waiting for him at home. He couldn’t take a step forward in life, knowing that someone could sweep you off your feet at any moment. Knowing that your heart can belong to another. Knowing that he’d be replaced eventually.

So he believed it would be best if the possibility of that happening is zero.

Why did you trust him? “For closure”, he told you. So, initially being the soft-hearted being you are, you meet up with him. Agreeing to meet in the middle of your local bridge where everywhere is surrounded by water positively wasn’t the smartest decision of your life. While you thought he was late, he had been just on time creeping up behind you while you were looking at the vast ocean. And in the next moment, you feel familiar arms wrapping around your waist. You let out a long exhale, knowing it’s him. You used to smile every time you felt his touch, but not anymore.

“Didn’t you say we’re meeting for closure? This should be the last time we see each other before going our separate ways, so I don’t know why you’re touching me. I don’t think we misunderstood what we meant by closure. It’s nothing intimate.” You feel the arms around you tighten, and you wonder for a split second if this is the best situation to be in. You should have stuck to that thought.

“Mh. It is the last time we’ll see each other.” You felt uneasy with the way he was saying that. It was making you nauseous. “But I’m giving you one more chance. Come back to me. It’ll be better this time, I won’t make the same mistake again. Why do you have to be this difficult?” The grip was getting tighter, and you felt as if the oxygen flow from your brain was becoming less frequent. But you still felt the annoyance grow in your body. Did he have no shame? “You have to be joking. Even with your what, fiance living with you right now, you still want more? Even if that woman has no respect for me, it's human decency not to have an affair with someone.”

You could tell that he didn't like the words coming out of your mouth. You could tell you were safe and needed to get out of her, quickly, desperately. But his grip was becoming threatening, and it was getting harder and harder for you to breathe.

“It's disappointing. We really could have had it all, if only you were willing to cooperate.” The words that leave his mouth are followed by what feels like a really hard punch to your back. Suddenly, your body falls limp and he catches you. You weakly reach for your back and quickly discover a knife. The person you once called the love of your life had stabbed you, and there's now blood trickling down your back, it's running cold rather than warm.

“W-Why-” You could barely get anything out as your vision was seeing little black dots. When you felt that he was picking you up, you couldn’t help but want to vomit at the thought of what he might do to your body. “Don’t worry, I'll let you rest in peace. Well, as peaceful as the ocean floor gets.” You want to scream, but nothing’s coming out. It shouldn’t be a surprise he can read your expressions by how long you were together, but you wished the past had never happened. Wished you never even gave him the time of day. Now you know why it’s no wonder his lover before you left the country. Why did you stay? Why didn’t you see the signs? 

From what you could still see, he’s tying something to your neck that you’re sure is supposed to act as a weight. Meaning that once you go in, you're most likely not coming back out. Not even for your own funeral, they won’t find the body. It breaks your heart. You don’t want to die. You don’t want to leave so much behind.

With one more breath from your lungs, he leans down and kisses you. How disgusting. He wouldn’t even allow you to rest in peace. It shouldn’t be that much of a shocker, but it still baffles you, and stuns you into silence. You don’t move, don’t breathe. You’re frozen, all up until he’s holding you over the railing, and your heart is in your head, your whole body’s shaking.

“Goodbye, love.”

Those were the very last words you heard before plummeting to your death.

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The water is cold, you’re shivering.

You can see red water, or what’s most likely your blood floating around you.

The stab wound in your back aches, you want the paint to go away.

The black spots in your vision are growing. 

You reach out for the surface but you’re sinking.

The weight attached to your neck just makes it harder to breathe, to move. 

This isn’t what you wanted.

You just wished to be admired, loved, cherished. Just as you did for everyone else, even if it hurt you.

Even if it eventually led to your death.

~

Ǔ̷̷̵̸̴̢̡̯͕̻̝̻͈̝̺͕̲̣͍̩̻̫͓̰́͌ͥͣ̒ͥ̒̇̈́̽̎͊ͮͣ́͘͡͡͞Ȉ̶̢̨̖̼̻̦͍͔͖̱͙̩͔̟͊͂̓̇̉̄ͯ̓́̋̄̿͌̾̐ͯͯ͌̌ͣ̿̏̽͜͞D̨̡̡̛͚̙̺̜̮͔̲̙̙̹̳̰̪̬͓ͫ͆̊͑́͋̉ͬ̑̓͂ͧ̎̿̀̕͟͞͠:̶̷̸͎͓̙̗̭̳̣͚̲̫͍̘͇̳̹̈́ͨͯ̊ͨ͋̏̆͒̒̎̓̍̆̍͘͢͝ 6ͫ͒̃͋5͙̹̱̖ͯ͌̄̄̿͗͘_̜̣̻̃̋4͕͂ͨ2̧͙̻͚͎̲̦̼͋̒͗͋ͬ͊̔̋̑ͯ͐̒̓͟͡͠ͅ6̸̷͖̲͙͕̠͓͚̠̬̲͉̞̗̼̭̒̀ͦ̊̏̊ͣͮ͆͒̔͋͂͊͑ͫ͑͛̍̀͞͝5͇̰͎̰͖̟̳̜͑̌̒ͧͪ̃ͤ̉͑́́͛̅͟͜8̴̧̢͇͔͖͉̳̠̪̲͎̫̙̪̃̑̀̑͊̃͑͊ͦ̒̓̂̈͂ͮͦ͘͠ͅ_̶̠_͔̂͒͢͡0̴̢̥͖̖̺͇̼͚͔̣̺̩̗̠͛̃̽͢͞ͅ6̹_̨̞̥ͫͬ̒ͫ͘͟͟_̷̨̥͓̲̞̿̽͆̅ͨͯ_̵̘̬̖ͤ̇̌ͧͨͫͦ͟

Loading…..

Player’s Soul detected, transferring now….

Welcome, Creator.

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A Seelie was floating in front of your face. Blue, alive, breathing, moving. In front of your face. In front of your eyes. You lie motionless on the grass for a few seconds before jolting up with a screech. While doing so, you collide with the Seelie, which feels like flowing silk, the smoothest thing you’ve felt on your skin.

Is this heaven? Or am I just having a very long and realistic dream? Isn’t that an entity from Genshin?  So you’re dreaming about a game that you gamble your soul away to…. Okay. But out of all of them, couldn’t it have been HSR? You feel like you’d have a better chance of surviving there.

…

This is not a dream, is it?

Okay, fine. You died, you remember that very vividly when you were in a literal sense, dragged down to your death. So the universe has decided to grace you with a second chance at life. In an open-world survival game. How gracious.

You can’t lie in flowy grass forever. Even though the moon light makes it perfect. You’re living in a fantasy world, everything is possible.  anything could happen. To you. You have to be smart about this, you can’t just appear out of nowhere and act clueless and all lost. You’ll be questioned immediately and might as well get yourself killed. No matter what nation you go to, who could explain what has happened to you? You’d like to know, but you wouldn’t want to go back. Some things are just better outside the real world. There are no serious politics, no pollution, and no war if you ignore whatever’s happening in Natlan. No absolute need to work a 9 to 5. 

Gathering the courage, you finally get up from the ground and observe your surroundings. Right by your feet, there’s a Windblume. You must be in Mondstant. In all honesty, it’s always been your least favorite nation. Uneventful and quiet. You could live a simple farm life in Liyue. It would be quiet, as long as you avoid Hilichurls.

Speaking of which, while you’ve been standing still and daydreaming about your thoughts, there’s been a distant sound of what seems like life yelling and footsteps getting closer and closer to you.

You finally snap out of it and look behind you, seeing two Hilichurls and one giant Lawachurl heading straight for you. 

Shoot.

You screech and start sprinting, but they’ll catch up in what, 20 seconds?

“Hey, you! Get down, as in right now!”

You can’t tell where the manly voice is coming from but faced with a split-second decision, you instinctively crouch down, shielding your head for safety. All you can hear is the fluttering of a bird and the sensation of heat rushing overhead. You can only catch a glimpse of red hair in a low ponytail.

Edit: I just realized that the summary says you wake up in a different place than Chapter 1. So sorry about this, it's still accurate but it just isn't the first place you wake up.

A/N: Life happened. This is long overdue so thank you all for the wait and sorry and all the empty promises. I'm back, however. I'll go back to my 1-2 week schedule. I found it easier to do with school in session, somehow. But I hope you all enjoyed Chapter 1. I'll make a Masterlist soon.

Sorry if I tagged you twice!

Taglist: @esthelily @cosmo112 @fantasyhopperhea @ilxina @aloflapse

@uhfhfhfhf @xdrin @msun1c0rn @umi-adxhira @lovingnahida @strrawb3rrysh0rtcak3 @ssecylia @skyl8ver @immahuman @meowmeowraven @01234 @markexplanation @esthelily @dawnofazrael @chickenalfredo4life @eccaza @jun-xiu @klemen-time @delulu-val @everi-eve @cluelesstoeverything @strangersomeone @lapinaenmicoche @alwayslegendarymoon @lumiiiiiiiiii @superninjaarbiter @@lexal-amber-rose

Borders by @cafekitsune

[codename-mom]

Is Hotch...

A good husband?

A good father?

Let’s be honest, the answer is: no (for both).

Why?

CW: mention of domestic/child abuse, cheating, divorce, death, difficulties for child conception, pregnancy

Hotch is not a good husband

We don’t know much about the way Hotch and Haley have lived between the moment they have met (in high school) and the moment Jack was born (a short time after Hotch became the BAU’s director).

We know that they have met each other at a very young age and that they get married years later, in 1998 (?). If we take into account the hypothesis that Hotch was born in 1965, he was then 32/33 years old. So, they’ve known each other and probably lived together for 15 years before their wedding.

Which is curiously long, admit it.

However, it’s possible that they have waited for their situation to be more stable. Hotch have studied law in Virginia until 1992. We know that in 1997, he was a federal prosecutor at Seattle (so, at the other side of the country) and that after he has met Dave, he has moved to Quantico to become a profiler (so, new crossing of the country).

Haley has then followed Aaron from one side to the other of the US, leaving behind her family and friends (a thing that doesn’t bother Hotch because he doesn’t seem to have any friend and, officially, his only family is an errand young brother who can’t stand him). Which is, I think, a huge sacrifice for someone jobless and kids free (at this time), of which the only activity is basically to see people.

Then come the time where Hotch started to work for the BAU. At first, simple federal agent in a small team (Gideon, Rossi and him + maybe two other persons vaguely evocated once, but it’s hard to know how much time they have worked for the agency), he has to multiply travels so as the unit could cover all the territory. From this moment, he began to desert the marital home, but we can imagine that Haley agreed because they were understaffed.

Then Dave went retired, and Jason has surrendered; Aaron became an FBI unit chief at 38/39 years old. – The timeline is quite chaotic talking about this character, but we see in season 3 that Penelope has arrived 4 years earlier, when Derek and Spencer (and JJ?) are already there and all the team is already on the 6th floor of Quantico (and not anymore in the basement of another building, where Jason and Dave were). So, we can establish that Hotch must be around that age when he became a director (let’s remind that Gideon and Rossi discover the new premises when they come back, respectively in season 1 and 3).

Since then, taking into account his workforce (we know the usual team + Anderson, but there are also other agents in the bullpen who must be part of the BAU like the others) and his status, it’s not inconsistent to think that he doesn’t need to be in the field anymore. He can also follow office schedules, more adapted to a couple’s life.

But, no, he continues to leave with his subordinates even if his presence is not useful (his only expertise is to have been a federal prosecutor, which is of no use for the investigations), and he continues to come very early at work and to leave the office very late at night. He clearly forsakes Haley to his team profit.

And the things get worse when Haley becomes pregnant and has to stay in bed when she has still several months to wait before birth. We’ve got a woman who have to move as less as possible to increase the chance of survival of her fetus and who need help. Her husband should have been by her side to support her and to make her daily life easier, but in place of that he wanders for days far away from her. (We can assume that Jessica and her parents did the job, but it’s not a reason).

And here we go again after Jack’s birth. First of all, nothing prove that he was there for the birth. In a cut scene, we learn that he knew that Haley had contractions when he was in an investigation, and he offered to turn back home. Haley told him to go on working, that everything was fine. The eventuality he arrived too late is not nil then (but it’s still theoretical).

But we know that he wasn’t there to help her to take care of Jack when he was newborn. So, when kids are the most demanding in term of time and energy. He has continued to go on the field and to do two many hours when he didn’t have to. It’s clear that he had left Haley all alone with the baby (and a sick baby because we learn in the episode S02E04 that he has a condition bad enough for him to go to the hospital – detail that will disappear then from the writers’ memory…).

Haley had then to handle, upfront, her son, all the household chores and all the possible issues occurring into a house; after having follow Aaron from one coast to the other of the US several times. If we add on this that he never talked about what he was doing (‘cause it was confidential), we can understand that she was fed up with all this and that she asked for divorce.

We can however give some arguments in favor of Hotch:

His job is vital for the survival of the citizens: he doesn’t peel potatoes or is an accountant, he’s involved in the arrest of serial killers, sociopaths, and psychopaths able to go after anyone’s life. To take the decision not to go on the field anymore or not to answer his phone at night and during weekends is not simple.

He’s the only one to work in the couple: in the episode S05E01, Haley tells Aaron that she’s “working now”, which means that she wasn’t before, and that Aaron was the only one subsiding to the needs of their family. I don’t know how much a federal agent of his rank is paid, but if we take into account the fact that they lived into a house with a garden, in DC suburbs, with two cars (we didn’t see Haley’s but I doubt she went to the hospital, to the mall and to Quantico with a stroller using public transports); it was necessary for them to have a certain amount of money. To work less, without the possible risk premiums going on the field, would have pushed the couple to move again and to restrain their lifestyle.

In the episode S01E22, we learn that household chores don’t seem to bother him, on a contrary (he looks so thrilled to accomplish all the tasks Haley wants him to do). As so, we can assume that the days he was there, he took over his wife on this point.

And finally, from episode S02E19, we learn that this situation – him working a lot when his wife and son live their life by their side – weighs on him and stresses him. He’s afraid to receive phone calls when he’s at home and to have no choice but to leave. If we suppose that he loves his job, he doesn’t forsake Haley and Jack joyfully either. He doesn’t abandon them because he’s mean or because he doesn’t like them, he just thinks that he doesn’t have any choice.

[In the same episode, we learn that his father was a womanizer who didn’t try to be discreet, and in the episode S01E08, we can think that the said father wasn’t particularly nice too. And then, in the episode S03E02, when he understands that his wife cheats on him, he shows absolutely no aggressiveness. On the contrary. Hotch could have copied the attitude of his sire and been way more violent with Haley at that exact time. Somewhere, she was lucky that he has a strong self-control and that he’s more the passive guy…]

Actually, the only thing Haley did wrong was to haven’t ask for divorce earlier (before Jack’s birth for example), because the man she has married was clearly not the one she has met in high school anymore. She would have had a different life, maybe with several children, and would have still been alive. She stood by his side, perhaps because it was easier, but it wasn’t the right solution knowing that Aaron is obviously not made for married life.

And not for family life too…      

Hotch is not a good father

Like we’ve seen it above, the probability that Aaron have missed Jack’s birth is not nil. And, if the arrival of his son was of his interest, the logic would have been for him to adapt his schedule and to not go on the field anymore with his team near the due date.

Then, we know that he didn’t help his wife with the baby and in the episode S01E19, Jessica reproached him to not hold Jack properly, which leads us to think that he’s not used to have him in his arms.

Divorce happens and, even if he’s the only one to have a salary, the child custody is entirely entrusted to Haley, probably because of his numerous travels and his schedules not at all compatible with a life with a kid (that and the fact that he can get shot at any moment every time he leaves for a case). From this moment, we can suppose that his visits depend to his ex-wife’s will; ex-wife who is nice enough to let him break in in the middle of the night to see a sleeping child. It’s of no interest for Jack (he doesn’t know that his father is there). Once again, logic wants that he shows up on weekends and by daylight.

Which he doesn’t seem to do because, in the episode S04E13, we learn that he has offered a Christmas present for his son but doesn’t know if the latter had appreciated or not. Several explanations for that:

He has sent the present by mail and wasn’t there then for the receipt.

He hasn’t saw Jack since even if he had the time to (several weeks/months pass between episodes)

He didn’t make the effort to call Haley or to sent her a message to have the information.

Well, he doesn’t do what’s necessary to keep in touch with his son.

Then Foyet shows up and we all know what’s happened: Hotch becomes a single dad in a sudden. And nothing gets better… Indeed, if we see in the episode S06E16 that he seems to be there in the morning to take Jack to school, he continues to work very late at night and to go on the field for several days without having contacts with him (we saw him calling Haley at the beginning of the show, but we don’t see him doing the same with his son). All the work is done by Jessica, Jack’s aunt: pick up at school, homework, dinner, shower/bath, movie/fairy tale, tooth brushing + complete support during investigations.

Well, we understand that this is a suggestion of Jessica herself (Jack is the only "thing" left from her dead sister, we can get that she doesn’t want to lose her connection with her nephew), but Hotch doesn’t hesitate for long to pass it on and to get back to his old habits of workaholic, still not suitable for parenting. And he doesn’t seem to care about the fact that Jessica could wish to have her own family and that she must have a job and her own personal activities. He has the right to work – a kid is not free, so it’s normal that he keeps his job, especially when you know how much studies cost in US – but he could have adapted his schedules. But he didn’t.

You’re going to tell me: “Yes, but he’s there for Jack soccer encounters.” He’s there to train the team. He’s there to give orders and to handle a dozen of kiddos on Sunday morning. He’s still working, and his attention is not only directed on Jack, but on all the players. He’s just doing the cab between the apartment and the club, that’s all. Especially that we see in episode S10E20, he’s still working home (exactly like when he was married), which could mean that Jack is on his own when his father is there.

(Stop drooling, people! I know he's hot, but it's not the point. He has an office in his apartment (look behind his sexy hips).)

Well, we discover in the episode S07E04 that he’s regularly learning to Jack how to read the evening (to the point that Jack is well ahead of his comrades on that subject) and at the beginning of the episode S11E22, we understand that he and JJ often drive Jack and Henry to school in the morning. We also see him building a hut in the living-room in the episode S07E23, searching for a last minute Halloween costume in S10E05 and he's doing cookies with him in S06E06.

All this seem to prove that there are some interactions between them. But sadly, it doesn’t compensate the fact that he’s absent for the Halloween costume contest, that he skips the school trip to the museum and that he leaves his son to the hands of a woman he knows for a few months (Beth) in a city he and Jack barely know (New York). All these absences could have been avoided if he did just trust his men and let them handle the cases on their own. (I mean we talk about a guy who took a dangerous mission overseas when he has a son alone at home...)

And he knows it. He knows that he’s bad. He knows that his son agrees to his absences because he sees him as a hero. In the episode S11E22, tensions appear because Jack is not a little boy who idealize his father anymore and that he starts to understand that all this is not normal. That to privilege unknown people over his own child, it’s bad. And Hotch feels that the wind has changed as he speaks about it to JJ in the said episode. I think that if Thomas Gibson hadn’t been fired from the show, we would have seen conflicts between father and son because of his lack of involvement.

If I wanted to explain his behavior – without forgiving it – I’ll stress out that we start with a couple who knows each other for more than twenty years before the arrival of the baby. Which is abnormally long. (I know people who willingly had a kid when they only knew each other for a few months…)

The first explanation could be that they had some difficulties to conceive. One of them could have been sterile to a certain degree which makes difficult a natural conception. Or there is also the possibility of biological incompatibility between them (some vaginal biomes can be toxic for the spermatozoa of some individuals). Or certain external factors could have complicated the process. In any case, it could explain why the couple had only one child after so many years of marital life.

The second explanation – which is my personal headcanon – is that one of them didn’t want a kid (and by that, I mean he didn’t want one).

If we think about the fact that Hotch seems to have had a rotten childhood because of his disrespectful and violent father, and his resigned mother (she knew about the affairs of her husband, surely didn’t ignore his brutality, but she stayed with him and she even had another child with him 15 years later (yes, I know, beaten wives are under the influence of their torturer and to quit this vicious circle is extremely difficult; but from Aaron’s point of view, he was facing a woman who made the choice to stay no matter how the situation was dangerous for her and for him, in place of leaving and improving their chance of survival. Worse, she even has accepted to keep and give birth to another of his child…)), it’s not weird to imagine that he didn’t want to start his own family. He didn’t have any good example of what is a good father or a good mother. He doesn’t know what a warm home looks alike. [May I remember you that Hotch doesn’t celebrate his birthday (Haley and Jessica wished him once, but when we see how Penelope wishes it to him in the episode S09E06, we understand that she’s the only one to know); which could underline the fact that it wasn’t a happy day for him when he was a child.] In the end, he could have delayed this eventuality as long as possible.

How has Jack arrived tho? Several possibilities again:

Reassured by Haley and a little bit more comfortable with his abilities, he would have accepted his wife request.

Haley blackmailed him: “Give me that child or I leave”. To not lose her, he would have agreed no matter his fears.

Jack is not Aaron’s child.

I lean for the second option, which also explains the fact that he has some hard time to create a connection with his son. He didn’t really want him and he’s still thinking that he’ll be a bad father because of his past.

I could add that his autism doesn’t make the thing easier, but it’s another debate.

___

To make it short, Hotch is not made for marital life or family life no matter what.

Don't misunderstand me. I love the character but I can't forget that he has (huge) flaws. He's not the perfect man that we (fanfics writers) want him to be. He's neglectful on many points outside of his job. And that's why he's interesting in my opinion. A flawless character would have been so boring.

(Damn! This post took ages. None only because the gif search on Tumblr is all crap, but because I've got to rewatch countless episodes to find one line of dialogue so useful for this explanation. ^^; Hopefully, the next one will be less demanding.)

[theoldoor]

a little late for summertime dont you think

just some post-talia bummery from these two i love them to the point that i have to remind myself that one isnt even canon like this is torture.

I dont have much to say for this post as ive said pretty much everything about post-talia them posts prior, I DO however, have a lot of talia rambling to do- which will be saved when i doodle enough stuff for it

They still have that little bickering and bantering thing going on, passive aggressiveness with one another and being the one who gets the other into silly troubles despite both being elites. Like how Jade said Topaz and Aventurine bickers like kids, these two however, bicker like those alt older brothers in coming of age movies and his bromantic bro bestfriend (ive said this before so manu times but i cant find a better way to describe them)

mayeb something like todd and wallace but theyre vashwood if you get what i mean - i’ve also been subconsciously projecting vashwood onto these two considering fenrir calls aventurine “vasha/vash/vashu” while aventurine calls fenrir “that wolf/wolfy/dumb dog��� and ive yet to realize that until very recently when i was writing something for fenrir that goes like “he valued life as others and he also bets it on me.” and i get reminded of “he feared death twice as others” and it just hits “ive been projecting vashwood onto these two oh my god”

fenrir cares for aventurine more than he wants to, but he does regardless.

"You should never ask anyone for anything. Never- and especially from those who are more powerful than yourself. They will make the offer and give it of their own accord."

It’s something that Fenrir live by, is that genuine help would come without the need for obligations afterwards. During Talia, Fenrir actively create scenarios around him that make people that he’s dependent on rely on him, out of obligations or respect. So whatever help Fenrir gives, he calculated them all so that they’d be beneficial “technically” to him.

Yet for certain individuals, those he love dearly such as Hermia, Boothill and Aventurine- He was willing to suffer a loss for them, which, for a person all for survival like Fenrir, is a tough decision to take. He broke his own ideals and virtues so that he could protect and satisfy these people, his family and he hates whenever he does that because it showed him that someone is having control over him and he’s at their mercy, which means they could just leave him and he’s very vulnerable to them. To put trust in these people so much that he’d voluntarily help them is like to trust them with his life.

i also like the concept of Talia recycling everything, even people considering some people would see that they’ve been “used” beyond so they were given a chance again. that’s why i felt like aventurine was suitable for this considering his past and his potential inferiority complex there.

the foundation between aventurine and fenrir relies on a lot of trust, and gamble as they could not read one another. it connects back to aventurine’s eidolons being game theories and avidity’s being about desires and non-co-operative game theories (one wins at expense of another while game theory is both party wins through trust and cooperation). fenrir’s eidolons are still in writing, but i want it to be based on 7 deadly sins or something, he does have a lot of religious references for the new lore rework.

fenrir was created before i know of aventurine, but i did tweaked a lot of things about him when aventurine came out. though the fundamentals still stayed, they were just made for each other rurururouuouogugh….

[anachronistica]

a promotion.

I was recently promoted. As of about two weeks ago, I am a fiancée. My Dom decided that I was worthy of marriage. That all of the work I’ve put into our dynamic has finally paid off.

I am one of those odd people that truly think that you have to earn the right to be engaged. That it is the next step that should be given to a submissive once they’ve proven they are a viable long term option. A truly good girl. Of course the Dom also needs to prove himself, but more so in a way that the submissive is still interested in being with him. That the love is there. He needs to remain consistent. The rules, structure, and discipline need to remain present consistently.

Complacency is the death of all dynamics, and the second you start to detect it, you’re already heading downhill. A good submissive should always be watching for complacency on both sides. And to be ready and anticipatory to do what it takes to get back to the baseline. Hopefully, a good Dom would recognize this as well and curb it immediately. It’s so important for a submissive to follow the rules, to be respectful, to thrive during your training. And it’s important for Adam to uphold those rules and to maintain a consistent level of training.

This is my first engagement to a Dom. I will not take this chance for granted and I am so excited about the opportunity to marry somebody that I not only love more than myself, but someone that I live to serve every day. Being a wife is one of my largest goals. I’m not because of having children, having a big wedding, or any of the gimmicky shit. But because I truly want to belong to somebody. To finally be a full possession. Along with marriage, we are also doing a very traditional collaring. We’d like to invite friends, but we are still deciding on what we’d like to do. For our actual wedding, we’ve been going back and forth between eloping and having a real wedding. The collaring has been the same. I hope we figure out what we want soon. 

But either way, I love being a fiancée. And I can’t wait to be a wife. I am so grateful. 

[sherl-grey]

dangerous words I fear but I’m craving some OFMD critical but civil discourse… s2 finale spoilers included below the cut. this is incredibly long FYI bc I’m truly desperate to get all my thoughts out

I want to preface by saying I loved S2. I think I loved it more than s1, I think there were some absolute GENIUS moments this season (the entire Calypso episode was *chef’s kiss* my favorite), and I think the cast, crew, and DJ deserve a lot of love and, of course, a renewal for another season.

I know there’s been a lot of anti-finale-critiquing posts out there (and yeah, I also don’t want to see baseless hate or, god forbid, people trying to interact with the cast/crew with anything less than love and respect) but personally, I think the biggest sign that I love a show is me wanting to pick it apart. I think digging into the writing and decision-making and characters of a show means you really appreciate the choices that were made even if you don’t agree with them, because you’re working to understand the story on a level most people only dive to if they’re forced to in an English class. No story is going to be perfect. No story is going to be written specifically for me unless it’s literally by me. But sometimes I still want to study it like a bug under a microscope, you know?

So here we go: I didn’t like the finale, and I didn’t think it fit very well with the rest of the season/show. Weirdly enough I didn’t feel a need to discuss online until I started reading the interviews DJ has been giving about the finale (specifically the choice to kill Izzy and Ed/Stede’s ending) and I’m so curious as to whether others interpreted things the same way. (Yes, they’re DJ’s characters. No, I don’t think all viewers are obligated to interpret things the same way as writers did—that’s half the beauty of storytelling and media consumption.)

Izzy’s Death

Let’s unpack the big one first. I think a lot of what DJ/finale defenders (if I may respectfully call fans who enjoyed s2e8 that) have mentioned is that Izzy’s arc was over and he’d served his narrative purpose. I’ve got a few different issues with this:

1. Part of what I love(d?) about this show is that I did not think this was a show that kills characters once they’ve served their narrative purpose, or a show that kills characters as punishment/retribution for mistakes/earlier actions. To me, OFMD symbolizes the idea that everyone is deserving of love, forgiveness, and second chances. I truly trusted that no one on the Revenge crew would die in this show, and to be proven wrong was a bit disheartening, to say the least. Will talk more on the suicide notion in the next bit because I think it was symbolic, but Izzy also now represents a suicidal character who finds the will to live again. I’d argue that a “full arc” for a character like that should be ending in happiness, not death (and especially not with a line like “I want to go” or whatever the specific words were).

2. DJ seems to describe Izzy’s role as being a mentor to Blackbeard, which I personally struggle to see at all. Despite the Captain/First Mate status difference, I think most signs have pointed towards them being roughly equals—the unrequited love Izzy feels for Ed, the way the two of them stand right up to each other when everyone else would be afraid to, the clear shared history and longevity of their friendship/companionship. (If anything, I’d argue Izzy takes on the mentor mantle for Stede in s2, though it’s a bit glossed over because of how crunched for time everything was.) I certainly have trouble seeing the “father figure” relationship that DJ mentions in interviews, because I think Izzy is the one crew member that puts himself on even ground with his captains.

But even humoring that, Ed’s story has been about shedding Blackbeard. And DJ has a great quote in the Entertainment Weekly interview where he says that Izzy and Ed are both Blackbeard, that the two of them together are what makes Blackbeard “happen.” So in theory, if we’re killing Izzy off to further Ed’s storyline, it’s to ultimately kill Blackbeard, right? Especially since his line at the end is to “just be Ed.”

Except we already have metaphorically killed Blackbeard, several times. I think S2E3 is a really interesting episode because in season 1, it can be argued (and is, by Chauncey Badminton) that Stede kills Blackbeard in his own pirate-y way—with kindness. The crew is also somewhat a part of this, as they all accept and love Ed for who he is and not only because he’s Blackbeard; the crew follows the example of their captain and it changes who Ed is as a person. S2E3 is a crew under Blackbeard, and they also kill Blackbeard following the method of their current captain—violence. And this “death” is, in my mind, the death of Blackbeard while Stede symbolically saves the part of him that is just Ed. (Bonus: we also get Ed trying to sink his leathers, and while it might just be because he’s on a damn boat, it’s interesting that Blackbeard’s clothes are drowned/sunk while Ed’s metaphorical comeback was being saved from drowning by Mer!Stede.)

So Ed’s half of Blackbeard is dead. If we stand by DJ’s idea that Blackbeard is half Izzy, we’ve still got half of Blackbeard left, right? Well, that would’ve been right immediately post-S1, but then they gave Izzy a beautiful arc that seems to be a shadow of Ed’s S1 track. Ed and Izzy are very similar characters, but in S1 Ed is on the receiving end of love, acceptance, and admiration—namely from Stede, but also from the crew. Meanwhile, Izzy is subject to contempt and hostility… once again, namely from Stede, and also from the crew. Ed blossoms under the love during S1 until that’s taken away; Izzy simply moves in the reverse direction. He continues to be an antagonist while being treated like one, but once others start treating him with kindness (Fang hugging him, Jim and Archie amputating his leg while Frenchie lies for him, the whole crew making him the unicorn leg), he too becomes a part of the family. And wouldn’t you know it—Izzy has a near death scene as well, a suicide no less. Izzy is the one who is responsible in S1 for “bringing back Blackbeard,” so the symbolism of him pulling the trigger on himself is huge. This is Izzy killing his half of Blackbeard! Because Izzy Hands continues to live, even if it takes him some time to remember how to live without Blackbeard at first, and his relationship with Ed effectively dies here.

(As a side note, this growth arc and the way Izzy fully transforms into a member of the Revenge crew afterwards—whittling Lucius a shark and talking to him about forgiveness, dressing up in drag and singing to the crew, cracking silly jokes about Ed and Stede’s relationship—are also why I find the “Izzy Hands is the symbol of traditional piracy and his death is symbolic of traditional piracy dying” argument to be weak. In season 1, he was that definition, but we’ve literally watched him grow out of it. He’s no longer symbolic of something stagnant that will remain the same or be destroyed—he’s symbolic of something that grows and adapts to the new situations, that survives when all of the rules change on him.)

And then we have the return of Blackbeard: Pop-Pop pushing Ed to go back to doing “what he’s good at,” Ed fishing his leathers out of the ocean, Ed killing a ton of people because he thinks Stede is likely dead or at minimum in captivity/grave danger. This bit seems to go against everything the season was building towards; Blackbeard was almost entirely gone, but Ed is now the one who brings him back because he thinks Blackbeard is the one who can save Stede. And that’s fair, but what does that have to do with Izzy at this point? Why does he need to die for Ed to put that part of him away again? While we’re not owed a main character having a death that serves a narrative purpose, I’d hope for that to be the case, and I struggle to interpret what happens to Izzy as beneficial to either plot or character.

3. I think the actual core arcs of the show are character arcs and not plots. I get that they might’ve been trying to wrap plots with Zheng and the British in case they aren’t renewed, but I don’t think it was necessary—the pirating has always been secondary to the rom com and the found family, IMO. In S1, we had two main characters, but I’d argue Izzy got enough focus and attention to be a third this season. Which left us with a great character-driven story: we’re watching all 3 of them come into their own and discover who they are individually, while also discovering that the changes in themselves are causing friction between them now that they’re growing into new people. Which is an amazing story to tell, if you ask me, but the fulfillment of that story requires all three characters to be there. The conflict to be resolved is how these characters can become the people they want to be and still coexist together, because on some level they’re family now. Notably each pair combination of these characters grows together or apart (or in Stede/Ed’s case, both) during this season. Ed and Izzy are growing apart because they hold each other back from becoming the person they want/need to be; to complete this narratively, I would’ve expected the next challenge to be finding a way to become friends again as their new selves while letting go of the fact that they used to have a toxic relationship when they used to be different people.

Ed and Stede’s S2 Ending

So Izzy’s death is the big talking point, but I also think DJ’s take on Ed and Stede was interesting. He said that they deserved a happy ending for the work they put in this season. I agree with him in theory, but I’m curious as to whether others agree that they put in a lot of work. I think Stede followed through with his goal to come back and tell Ed how he feels, and to stay instead of running away from his problems. I think Ed followed through with trying to understand who he is and what his needs are while also trying to find the courage to open himself up to love again. But critically, they never talk. E7 makes a point to highlight the miscommunication/lack of communication between them, and then in E8 they still aren’t shown talking.

(I realize part of the issue is the limited amount of time and the amount of plot shoved into episode 8. I get it; personally, I think the plot should’ve been sacrificed for the characters. At this point, we were 7 episodes into a very character/relationship-heavy season. Plot could’ve waited for a potential S3.)

What’s more—there’s a huge, glaring gap between where they left off and where they end up. Ed left in S2E7 after he begins panicking and realizing Stede is becoming deeper entrenched in pirate life just as he’s finally finding his way out of it. Not once do they talk about this, but suddenly they’re retiring together? And right after Ed says Izzy was his only family and Izzy calls the crew his family (which… is also an unearned line, as Ed and the crew have almost no bonding or forgiveness this season, since we focused mainly on Izzy with the crew and Ed with Stede), they leave the crew to do their own thing? They’re all relatively minor things that could be fairly easily addressed by dialogue, but they fact that they’re not only serves to underscore the way that Ed and Stede really aren’t on the same page.

I want them to get their happy ending. They deserve it. I’m just not sure that I agree that they earned it to the degree that it was received, with retirement alone together without their crew, if that makes sense.

Positivity Tax: Calypso Love 😊

I’ve probably got more to say but those were the big ones on my mind after reading the Vanity Fair and Entertainment Weekly interviews. Just to counterbalance some of the more critical things I’ve said, I wanted to share some loving analysis of the Calypso episode:

1. It’s a minor thing, but the way this episode shows that Ed’s actions as Blackbeard had consequences is amazing. Despite him arguably committing the more grievous wrongs in S1, he’s the one we get the least redemption for in this season (his apology to the crew wasn’t great, and most of his screen time is spent repairing his relationship with Stede), so for him to have to face something that happened because of his past actions is cool, especially because it was done in a way that doesn’t further damage his standing with the crew.

2. The way Stede saves the day is incredible. Competent Stede this season has been an absolute joy to watch, and his success in this episode is twofold: first he wins his way, with signature Gentleman Pirate flair. He listens to Ned’s crew, helps facilitate communication between them, and encourages them to stand up for themselves and demand better treatment. That’s a very classic Stede win. But then he wins in the traditional pirate way, and it’s absolutely glorious; he’s been working towards becoming a better pirate, both in terms of stomaching violence and building up the necessary skills. Ned’s crew can be taken down with kindness, but Ned himself is a pirate and will only be matched by another. I genuinely cannot think of a more perfect way to show that Stede is still himself while also showcasing the newer side of him that he’s been working towards this whole time.

3. Speaking of that newer side of him, the way this episode starts to open up Ed’s insecurities? The combination of seeing his least favorite parts of himself reflected in Stede as well as watching Stede grow into the career that he’s trying to leave? Amazing conflict development.

4. I’ve already talked so much about Izzy but the way this truly caps off the crew’s acceptance of him as part of the family is gorgeous. He’s an entirely new man at this point and there’s no jokes made, no friendly ribbing… just love and acceptance. It highlights both his newfound comfort and familiarity with the others as well as the extent to which they care about him.

5. Less analytical, but it’s also just a really pretty episode.

Considering the fact that I have zero OFMD mutuals and this was a whole essay (I’m on mobile and can’t see how long this is but I’m honestly scared), I would be shocked if someone made it down this far, but if somehow people are here and open to civil discussion… I’d love to know how you felt about this, if you thought DJ was right, if you were a little more on my wavelength and thinking things weren’t adding up, etc. Realistically I’m not sure if anything could change my mind as I’ve done a lot of stewing, particularly about Izzy arc, but new perspectives are always refreshing. Much love to the fandom and of course the creators, who hopefully never see this and get their s3 renewal 🤞🏼

[thebluestbluewords]

the children crave the coffee

shameless ot5 babyfic, only it’s set during the time before the actual baby, when they’re discussing the theoretical parenting of a kid.

+

“It’s called being diurnal, and based on this kids genetics, they probably won’t be.” Evie adds. “Honestly, we probably couldn’t have made better odds for a nocturnal kid if we’d planned it.”

Ben sticks his head out of the walk-in closet, which they’d been considering as an adjacent-but-separated baby room, with a hurt look on his face. “Hey, I resent that. I sleep.” 

“Mhm,” Evie hums. “When?” 

“At night.” 

“During what hours, babe? Given the chance to sleep whenever you want.” 

Ben goes delightfully red when he’s embarrassed. Like a little ripe tomato. 

“Normal ones?” he offers, “Very normal and respectable ones?” 

“Lies!” Evie says delightedly. “You were awake until three am the last time we had a weekend off. I’ve seen your game stats, and I know how long you were playing the sims.” 

Ben groans, and knocks his head into a wall. “I’m going to unfriend you on stream if you’re going to use your friend code powers for evil.”

Evie cackles. “You can try, but I’ll log into your computer while you’re asleep and share them again. There’s no way to hide your sims addiction from your loving wife.” 

There’s a thud from the kitchen area. “I’ll hide your game stats!” Carlos calls. “But you have to help me raise our kid nocturnally!” 

“No deal! They’ve got to be functional in regular society!” 

Carlos bounces back into the bedroom area. “Coffee is the answer. Kids love coffee. It’s how they have so much energy.” 

“I don’t think we can give coffee to an infant,” Ben says, but his expression looks suspiciously like he’s considering it. “That feels….wrong.” 

“Start ‘em out with mostly milk, build up to it. It’ll be fine.” 

“I feel like anything you say with this much confidence has got to be wrong.” Ben says slowly, which is probably the right thing to think, or whatever. It’s not like any of them have ever had parents who actually cared enough to pay attention to what they were drinking. “I feel like I’m going to look in one of the parenting books and it’s going to say that any drip of coffee that passes a child’s lips before ten is basically a death sentence.” 

“The parenting books actually say fifteen,” Evie adds. “And it’s not a death sentence, just child abuse.” 

“Fuck off.” Carlos says, sharp, like it’s a reflex. “No it’s not.” 

“I was drinking espresso before I turned ten.” Mal says. She’s pretty sure the coffee isn’t the part of her childhood that was abusive, but Auradon has different standards. “I’m fine.” 

“Yeah, me too.” Jay adds. 

“Don’t do this—“ Evie starts. “No—“ 

“I don’t think the coffee was actually the part of my childhood that was abusive. I think it was the way my dad hit me, actually.” Ben says thoughtfully. They don’t often give him the chance to join in when they get into the shitty parts of their childhoods, so this is actually good. It’s a bonding experience, and Mal should swallow down the part of her that wants to rip king Beast’s head off. 

“I think the fact that my mom wouldn’t give me coffee was more abusive than the other stuff.” Carlos chimes in. 

“No, that’s definitely wrong.” Evie says firmly, “because if you’re not claiming child abuse it means the rest of us can’t either. I’m pretty sure that giving your tiny child chemical burns is more abusive than denying them coffee, and while I’m not an expert, I am willing to go to court over this if you’d like.” 

“I think your mom starving you was pretty bad. You don’t have to have the same problems to count as abused.” 

“I know that, but it’s more the principle of the thing.” Evie says, frowning. “I feel guilty calling myself an abused child if you’re not doing the same thing.” 

“Solidarity.” Carlos says, nodding. 

“I suppose so,” Evie says doubtfully, “but really I think it’s because I came out so well-adjusted compared to the rest of you.” 

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

Soul Mates: Part One

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~1.8k

Summary: A man is accused of rape and kidnapping in another state, so he moved across the country to get away from those allegations. Now, the same thing is happening but this time, it might very well be true.

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there are any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them. If you’ve seen the show, then it’s the same level of angst unless otherwise stated

x

"No mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips; betrayal oozes out of him at every pore." - Sigmund Freud

Missy Dewald is missing, there are already three dead women in Florida, and everyone in Florida seems to think that William Harris is the man who kidnapped Missy. For the past week, they've been conversing with Hotch for some advice on what they should do. Hotch kept telling them to wait and make sure William is the one they want, but they are so convinced this is the man that they need.

William has a history of kidnapping and raping young women in Atlanta. There have been charges against him, but the victims refused to testify against him, so the charges were dropped. He and his family moved from Atlanta to Florida to start new, but some theorized it was to escape that stigma.

By the time you get to Florida, William is already in handcuffs and is taken into custody. The first impression you get from the brief look of William is that he's arrogant, cocky, and confident that he is going to make it out of this just fine.

Hotch is pissed the police didn't wait to bring William in, but it is what it is. Detective Jeff Lindin really thought that William was holding Missy somewhere on his property, but when they arrested him, she was nowhere to be found. Jeff greets your team when you arrive, but you're keeping your eye on William.

"All week, you've been saying he needs privacy and time. You told me he wouldn't keep her on his property, but I wouldn't listen," Jeff sighs.

"Detective, we have a witness who can place him at the abduction site. He has a history of similar offenses where he did use the same MO in Atlanta," Derek says.

"He fits the profile of a high-functioning successful family man living and working in the area. You had probable cause to make the arrest. We just don't have enough to prosecute him yet."

"What's our next move?" Jeff asks.

"The key to finding her could be in his house, so we're gonna need to dig through all there is about his friends, family, and his work life. Agent Morgan and I will interrogate him," Rossi says.

"He holds his victims for two days before he kills them. Missy disappeared yesterday. So, as long as he stays in custody, there's a good chance she could still be alive. Talk to the detective that arrested him for the Atlanta rapes. Find out what went right and what went wrong with their approach," Hotch says to Jeff.

"Williams is a successful litigator, so we're gonna need some leverage, something to throw him off guard. A discrepancy in a previous statement is enough to give us the upper hand. Y/N read anything off him that you can."

"Sure thing."

"I'll get on that," Jeff says. "Now, we can only hold him for so long after he talks to the judge. What are the odds we can get him to break in the next twelve hours?"

"That's not going to be easy, but it's not impossible."

Rossi and Derek head to the interrogation room, and you follow behind them without actually going inside the room. You can read William from the window just fine.

"William Harris, I'm Special Agent Derek Morgan. This is special agent David Rossi."

"Before you answer any questions, I need to remind you that you're entitled to have a lawyer present," Rossi says.

"I am a lawyer."

With that, Derek takes out some pictures in the file he's holding. He lays the first one on the table, and it's of one of the missing girls.

"Does she look familiar to you?" Without waiting for his answer, Derek lays out the other two pictures of the dead women. "How about her? Her? No? These girls were raped, strangled, and dumped."

"My god. I have a daughter their age."

"Missy Dewald went missing yesterday."

"What do you think you have on me?"

"We have a witness who can place you at the mall at the same time as her abduction. Rumor has it that you seem to have a history of this type of behavior."

"How is that?"

"Tell us about Atlanta."

"Atlanta? Those charges were dropped. It was a mistake."

Will is acting like this isn't a big deal. If he continues with this cocky streak, he is going to give something away that will incarcerate him for the rest of his life.

"Because the two rape victims wouldn't testify, and now you cover your tracks by killing them."

"I didn't do this."

"You've been married, what, eighteen years? Do you remember that feeling you get when you fall in love? You miss that feeling, don't you? Being married to the same woman is like ordering the same entree for eighteen years."

"Agent Rossi, every minute you spend with me is another minute she's alone with him," Will sighs, clearly bored.

"So, we've brought in the wrong guy?"

"Yes."

"Just like they did in Atlanta?"

"Yes, and by the time you realize I've been telling the truth, this poor girl could be dead."

Derek and Rossi can handle this guy, so you leave and go find your boyfriend who is looking through Will's personal laptop with Penelope on the phone. You have to stop and lean against the wall because Spencer is too gorgeous for you to focus on walking right now. He's been growing out his hair, and this morning, he slicked it back with a bit of gel. He always looks good, but this is a sexy look for him.

When he sees you, he waves you over with a smile. You bite your lower lip in thought as you walk over to him. You lean down and kiss his cheek while he works.

"Did you two find anything?" you ask knowing Pen is on speakerphone.

"Give me a minute. I will find the grime."

"So far, William Harris appears to be quite intelligent. He's covering his tracks pretty well," Spencer says to you.

"Yeah, just because you delete your history, doesn't mean all your dirty cyber laundry isn't hanging out there for me to find on your hard drive. Rookie mistake."

While Penelope is searching through his hard drive, Will is granted a bail hearing. He is taken to court to see how much bail would be, and it's a whopping five million dollars. His wife and only daughter can't pay for that, but you know he'll try and manipulate his way into getting her to pay it. You kind of feel bad for Sharon and Angela, who are his wife and daughter respectfully, because they had to deal with this in Atlanta. They moved to Florida to get away from all of this, and now they have to deal with it all over again.

On the other hand, Penelope found something interesting on Will's hard drive, and you think everyone else will find it just as interesting. Rossi, Derek, and Jeff gather around to hear what you and Spencer have found with Penelope.

"Garcia's been digging through William's computer. She found an encrypted link to a web page. It took us to an unsearchable, untraceable blog with tons of journal entries. It's like some sort of diary."

"Did you find anything incriminating?"

"I was able to differentiate between two distinct voices of two authors. I found various idiosyncratic words, phrases, punctuation, and orthography within the blog entries consistent with each separate person. Words like 'soda' and 'pop'. One guy uses dashes while the other uses ellipses," Spencer giggles.

You can't help but giggle along with him because he's so cute when he gets like this. Rossi, Derek, and Jeff just stand there and stare at you two, and you look away with a blush.

"One side of the discourse made a reference to the devil's strip," you say, changing topics.

"What the hell is that?" Jeff asks.

"It's a small patch of grass that separates the sidewalk from the street. That term is only used in Central Ohio. William lived in Atlanta for twenty years, but he grew up in Columbus. The other guy uses words like 'turnpike' and 'filling the gas tank', which are both specific regionalisms for Florida."

Will comes back from the court in handcuffs, and Derek looks over at him with concern.

"Kid, are you sure about this?" Both you and Spencer give Derek a bitch face, and he nods in understanding. "Right."

"Keep it up, baby," you grin and kiss Spencer's cheek.

You follow Rossi and Derek back to the interrogation room, but you stay outside the room. Rossi gathered some of the papers Spencer grabbed from the journal entries.

"Was there a new development?"

"I can't remember the last time I smiled for so long that it hurt. I've never felt like this before," Rossi reads from the papers. "It sounds like you're bored at home. Are you having an affair?"

Will keeps his composure when he hears Rossi read some of his private entries, but you can tell it bothers him. He's keeping a cool composure because he believes that whatever he did won't come back to him.

"I told you, I'm happily married."

"Does your wife know about your secret diary? I bet she'd like to know how good you are at keeping secrets."

"I'm not sure what you think you've found, but you've gone from completely wrong to completely insane."

"You're hiding something, William," Derek glares.

"No jury will convict me because somebody saw me at the mall, and you think I'm talking with someone other than my wife," William scoffs.

Jeff comes storming through the room you're in and into the interrogation room with a purpose. William looks at him with the same cocky expression on his face.

"We found Missy."

"Told you so," Will smirks.

"You son of a bitch!" Jeff goes to attack Will, but Rossi and Derek effectively hold him back. "Damn you!"

If Missy is found dead, then you'll have better luck getting something off her than you will with William. Rossi and Derek stay behind with Will while you, Hotch, Jeff, and Emily head out to the dump site where Missy still is. It's a good thing they didn't move her because sometimes, that tampers with the evidence lingering behind.

"That's her. That's Missy. I looked her father in the eye and swore I'd find her alive," Jeff says painfully.

"So, since we've been here, this girl's gone missing and now turned up dead. Do you think he dumped the body before he was picked up?" Emily asks.

"The ME estimates she was killed several hours ago."

"But we've had William in custody. Do you think we have the wrong guy?"

You slap on some gloves and kneel down next to Missy. You move the hair away from her face and lay a hand flat on the skin below her neck. Images of her final moments on Earth flash before your eyes, and you try to concentrate on one image at a time.

William isn't in any of them, but a scrawny white man with glasses is. He's all over Missy, trapping her and pinning her down to the table. She has a look of pain on her face as he bites her, and that's evident by the bite marks you notice on her collarbone.

Traces of Will's energy can be found on Missy, but it's mostly that of the white man.

"We don't have the wrong guy, but he has a partner." You stand up. "Will's confident that this partner won't turn against him, and he's doing everything he can to get Will out of jail."

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

[leonsliga]

https://twitter.com/BayernNewsw/status/1762100914259648872?t=UVN8cg2KCTKBeOaVs0qNMQ&s=19 what do you think of this?❤

Hey anon! Thanks for sending me this ❤️ if I’m honest, I’m generally distrustful of bild as a news outlet. Even though they’re not always that way, they’ve just got this tabloid vibe that I find tough to swallow. Their articles always feel crafted in such a way as to pit fans and footballers against one another, and I don’t think that’s always fair.

That said, they did provide photographic evidence of them partying (supposedly). The guy in the first pic in the thread looks like Leon, but I’m not entirely sure. I couldn’t quite locate Phonzy in the pic either, but that’s not to say neither of them were there. I’ll be curious to see if other news outlets apart from bild report on it (as far as I can tell, they’re the only ones who have); maybe then we’ll get a bit more information and insight.

Now let’s talk about the party itself. Should they have gone? Probably not. Should they have stayed out that late, knowing they had training later that day? Definitely not. I understand wanting to blow off some steam (and wanting to meet up with the legendary David ‘Alaboom’ Alaba lol), but the problem with being in the public eye is that someone will inevitably find out you’re doing it. Bild’s business is quite literally finding out other people’s business, and if you want to have a party or go to one, they’ll be the first to know about it. Hell, they’ll probably invite themselves to it in some facet. Such are the perils of being in the public eye, I suppose.

I think I can understand why they went though. They were probably still buzzing off the adrenaline of their victory and wanted to celebrate. Couple that with the prospect of a reunion with an old teammate, and bam! You’ve got reason enough to party. Not only that, but Leon, Phonzy, and Serge are under scrutiny at Bayern, and maybe they thought they could escape the pressure for just one night. Besides, let’s think of football like a normal job. When you’re off the clock, that’s your time, and you can spend it how you like. Should football really be any different? Should bild or other news outlets really have the right to judge how they spend their time off? I guess the tricky thing is when you look at this event through the eyes of disgruntled Bayern fans. And that leads me to my next point:

Can I understand fan anger towards this? Of course I can. It was right after a match, and the way we’ve been playing this season doesn’t exactly scream “party time.” Far from it actually. But truth be told, if the rumors are true and they stayed out as late and partied as hard as bild seems to imply they did, the coaching staff will probably punish them accordingly; besides, if this is all true and not exaggerated in the slightest (because let’s face it, we can’t rule out bild exaggerating some details), TT actually has a chance to do something right for once and score some easy points with Bayern fans on his way out the door 😂

Quite honestly though, I’m sure showing up to training massively sleep-deprived and possibly hungover is quite the punishment in itself 😅 if they’re old enough to make their own choices, then they’re old enough to know the consequences of them ahead of time. Leon, Phonzy, and Serge aren’t the first to go out and party after a match, nor will they be the last, but that doesn’t mean it’s wise, but they’re still relatively young, and I’m guessing suffering through training while wishing for death that morning was lesson enough lmao. It would be for me anyway 😵

Now that I’ve said my piece though, I’d love to hear from you all. I know I’m biased when it comes to Leon and our Bayern squad as a whole, so I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the matter. Do you feel the same way about it as me? Do you have a different take? Or is there something you noticed that I might’ve missed? I welcome any and all opinions—just please be respectful 🫶

[needlab7]

hi i just finished your vwbb fic and im in shambles

the way you wrote wolfwoods steadfast comforting presence, the hole of his absence, his gentle kindess, his everything... the way vash sees and feels about him is how i feel and felt about him while reading trimax and seeing the way i love him perfectly reflected in the way vash does was an absolutely indescribable experience i honestly dont know how to put into words

the trust and the 'of course he catches him', the warmth, every time vash describes something about him as dear or darling or calls him his dearest friend- wolfwood is so so loved, as he should be, as he deserves to be...

and their constant back and forth and how considerate and attentive they are of each other when one of them misses a step, the understanding between them even when they cant say the words, their little 'wolfwood' 'hm?' thing with vash calling his name for reassurance or just because he can and wolfwood always always answering it, 'and silently slipping the promise of every year he has left into the margins' oh god...

im crying writing this, ive cried multiple times while reading, i cried after finishing reading, and i will probably cry again thinking about wolfwood and this fic, thank you so unbelievably much

Hi!! Oh my goodness, I am also crying with you !! ;v;

You are so sweet, I don’t even know where to start. Thank you so much for saying all of that <3 I was dumb enough to open this at work and was frantically fanning my face like no! you cannot cry here!

I’m so glad that you saw a reflection of your feelings about Wolfwood in the way I wrote him and the way that Vash views him. I tried to make him as gentle and soft as I possibly could while maintaining his snappishness because he really is a very tenderhearted person who never got a chance to be. Life and circumstance forced him to be violently defensive of himself and those he loves, and that driving part of his personality and the fear behind it don’t go away. But now he gets to be protective in the gentle way of a big brother or of a dear friend

This is the kind of domestic life he always should have been allowed to have. And now he is able to shed a lot of his self-protective defenses and let himself be as vulnerable as he wants and to feel safe doing it, even if it’s uncomfortable or he stumbles along the way. Because Vash will be there to catch him, too

And of course Vash adores him. But he also sees Wolfwood as the flawed person that he is, and he loves him for and despite it. They annoy each other and piss each other off sometimes, but at the end of the day there is just so much love and care and respect. And it’s fun for them in a strange sort of way to get to be angry about things that matter, but things where the stakes are so far below the life and death level they are used to. Things that they can get past with a huffy conversation or a few hours spent ignoring one another

All of their unspoken communication and awareness drive me absolutely up the wall. I had so much fun trying to find ways that they could learn to fill out and grow together when they’ve both been confined to these restrictive roles for most of their lives. And how they can recognize in one another just how hard they’re trying, and be respectful of the difficulty and thankful for the effort. 

They just…they just love each other so much ;; and I wanted to give them this peaceful and mundane future where they get to be earnest and then embarrassed about it, and say goofy things and heartfelt things and to reach out for help in whatever clumsy ways they are learning to be okay with, and to know ultimately that they are understood and they are loved

This kind of devolved into me just rambling about vashwood…

But again, thank you so so much. Truly, I am so happy that I was able to touch you in some way with this fic, and I am indescribably grateful that you would take the time to let me know <3

[kirkfall]

putting the L in LGBT

this is just the first part of my DND / Curse of Strahd character’s backstory. his name is sopping fucking wet. i love him.

length: ~3.1k

They’ve been choking on the mist for what feels like decades; the dead have been piling at their feet for even longer.

There’s something about this shithole that Sop can’t put his finger on—something beyond its suffocation and the masses of the undead that have been clawing their way out of the dirt for days. Something far more sinister, like turning to find the path they’d taken gone, or finding themselves turned around in the woods at least five times before they finally managed to escape it.

Something like the hissing in the shadows. Or the figures that Clara swears she sees, just at the edge of her sight, but never catches.

“I can smell evil,” she’d noted, grimacing and wrinkling her nose as if she’d tasted something unpleasant. Maybe the vomit from earlier, when she first dug her hands into the soil to feel out the space. “But I can’t see it.”

Sop understands that, sort of. He’s studied, examined, and healed the dead, the undead, and the dying—respectively—long enough to know something is wrong. There's nothing he can see beyond the skeletons being shat out at them, nothing he can hear beyond the scrape of their bones as they stumble across fields, nothing he can smell beyond death, and death, and death.

But he can feel it. Sop can feel an unease just underneath his feet. It radiates through the land. Like a poison—slow acting, lethal, hard to detect. Hard to identify. Seeping into the veins of the people living on it, making it near impossible to save a fucking soul. It’s an energy he’s never felt before. Something ominous and malicious and entirely wrong.

Something like the bodies piled up before them having fought for their lives—only for the latest toxin of the week to snuff their lives out.

“Any survivors?” Sop sits back on his heels, hands dropping to his sides as he releases his spell. Shakes the remainder of it from his fingers, tries to ignore the feeling of blood underneath his nails. The woman wasn’t going to make it from the beginning—none of them were. The undead were rising fully armed, something that the average family is woefully unprepared for.

“No.” Graves’ voice has a light tremor to it. Sop lifts his head, gazing up at his friend—his free hand is wound tightly into the fabric of a cloak, war pick tossed to the side. His shield is still up. Shards of bone are embedded in the metal—remnants from the undead shattered by Bane’s spell. “The father died fast, I saw ‘im go down. I tried to save the kids.” When he looks up, Sop sees the torturous grief etched into his eyes. “Three of ‘em.”

Damn. “How old?”

Graves shrugs. “Maybe ten, same as my kids back home. Didn’t stand a fuckin’ chance.”

He hears Bane’s low whistle behind him. “Looks clear,” she calls over, “Lawson went to finish off the bastards who ran into the woods.”

“Told her not to go alone,” Clara adds, exasperated. “Never listens to me.”

Graves’ laughter, though hollow, makes it easier to breathe. “Eh, she never listens to anyone. You’re not special.”

“That,” she says, “is not what your mother said the night we left town.”

“S’that the truth? If memory serves, your father—”

“Alright! Okay,” Sop pipes in, lifting an arm to wipe the blood from his forehead. He won’t be able to do much—maybe a minor healing spell, what with the way he’s fucking exhausted himself—but he should check. “Everyone alright? How are we looking?”

“I’m okay!” Bane says, a bit more cheerful than any of them have any right to be. “Sexy as hell, too.”

Sop can’t help but snort. “That’s because you put yourself in the middle of a storm and blew up most of the skeletons, Bane. Nothing touched you. Probably not even the bone dust.”

She sticks her tongue out at him. “Damn right. What, are you jealous?” she asks.

“Remind me—when was last time you cast a spell that didn’t nearly kill one of us?”

“Hmm.” Bane pretends to think about that for a moment. “Probably a year ago. Before I picked up shatter.” Her shoulders droop, lips slipping into a pout as she points a finger at him. “No one’s died!”

“Then no. Holding onto the fact there’s still time,” Sop says, solemn and as serious as possible. It lasts only a moment, after which Bane flicks a couple of sparks in his direction. He blows her a kiss that she pretends she doesn’t see. “Clara?”

“Twisted my ankle,” she complains, lifting her leg to examine it. Scowls, but shrugs. “But you and Graves kept me right the hell up. Kiss it better in a bit and I’ll live.”

“Done. Graves?”

“Fuckin’ drained.” Sop looks up at Graves, who grins at him through bloody teeth. He drags himself up, hand pressed to his side and his own weapon and shield lying forgotten on the grass as he stumbles toward his friend.

“Where is it? How bad?” he asks.

Graves’ lips are set in a grim line.

Sop puts a hand on Graves’ shoulder, shifting to force eye contact. “Where?” he repeats, and then a bit more gently: “I’m going to cast the spell anyway—but it’ll be more helpful if you’d stop being stubborn and tell me—”

“Back.” he grits out. Immediately, Sop gives his shoulder a light, comforting pat, and shifts around to peek at his back. There’s a sinking feeling in his gut, and his hands are shaking. Sop isn’t sure if it’s the exhaustion or the fear—he knows this isn’t good. Yes, they’ve been injured in the last three days. Minor injuries—cuts, bruises, a mild concussion—but nothing serious. Nothing life threatening. Nothing like whatever it is that Graves doesn’t want him to see. And Sop, for the millionth time in the last three days, doesn’t know that he can save him.

Graves’ wrist catches his arm, jerking him back. Graves meets his eyes, and Sop can see it in his eyes that he knows it’s bad.

“Don’t do anything stupid,” is all he says.

And then he lets go. His handprint adds to the mess that the woman’s blood left all over his clothes and his skin. Sop pushes it down—something to think about later, or preferably never, and moves behind Graves.

He finds an arrow, cut clean through his armor. The chain mail and the leather underneath. Deep. It explains the blood—and why Graves was hesitant to let him look.

“Bane.” It could just be a standard arrow. It could be poisoned, or barbed. But without knowing who fucking fired it it, Sop can’t even guess unless they pull it out. He turns, looking over his shoulder, and shouts a second, more panicked “Bane!”

She’s crouched at his side in an instant, one hand on Graves’ shoulder to keep him steady. The other hovers over Sop’s shaking hands. “Right here. It’s gonna be okay. Small spell, good as new. Right?”

“Yeah,” Graves pipes in, voice lower and raspier than a minute ago. He spits blood on the ground. “S’what I heard. Got the best fuckin’ healer right here takin’ care of me.”

“We need to take the arrow out. Where the hell is Lawson?” Sop glances over his shoulder, toward the woods. There’s no sign of her yet—he looks over at Clara, standing a few feet away and looking lost. “Clara?”

“I’ll find her,” she says, glad to be given something to do, and then she’s gone.

“Don’t worry about Lawson,” Bane tells him, reaching into her pack for a waterskin. She pours the water over her own hands, and Sop offers his own for the same. “She took down an entire camp of bandits on her own. Couple of bones in the woods? Easy. What first?”

Sop tries to remind himself to breathe. He remembers Elias, back home—the arrow had pierced his front, but it was a similar enough procedure. Arrow comes out, healer steps in. He’s just not sure that their combined strength will be enough for this, and he’s fucking terrified that whatever poison is killing these people has had enough time to infect them.

Arrow comes out, healer steps in.

“Arrow comes out,” Sop says, forcing his voice to stop shaking. He shifts back around to his friend’s side, laying a hand on his neck and turning his face toward himself. He waits until he knows Graves sees him. “Graves, we need to take out the arrow. It’s going to hurt, but you—you’ve already lost a lot of blood. You’ll probably pass out.”

Graves scowls at him.

“Shut the hell up.” He knows that look. It’s the same one he turns on the others when they’re about to waste a spell on healing him—when there are more important things and people who need that strength. “You’re not fucking dying. We’re getting the hell out of here and retiring.”

“Knew you wouldn’t last five years.” Graves spits out, a smile still on his face.

“With you four? You’re lucky I’m here now. I should have fucked off after the first bar fight.” 

He can do this. He’s done it at least once before—just not in a land where healing magic won’t stick, or the dead refuse to stay that way.

Bane shifts, holding Graves still as Sop wraps his hand around the arrow.

“On three?” she suggests. Sop nods.

“One,” he says.

Bane meets his eyes. She nods, murmuring a prayer under her breath—the color drains from her eyes, a glow spreading down her arms. “Two,” she breathes.

Sop braces himself to pull the arrow out. “Three,” he says, and—

A bloodcurdling scream echoes in the woods. He feels the magic slip from Bane’s grasp, hears the sharp intake of breath as she recognizes the sound of it.

Clara.

“Get his shield.” She’s moving before Sop even finishes saying it, abandoning one of her daggers for the bloodied shield. “I’m going to take this out and heal it myself. You’ll have to—”

“Are you out of your mind?” she snaps back at him, but steps to the side to guard them anyway. “You’re running on empty, and I saw your side.”

“I’m fine. Take a potion, it’ll close right up. But if I don’t do something now, Graves won’t be.” Sop doesn’t wait for her okay. He yanks the arrow out with one hand, grateful that Graves is already unconscious, and murmurs a healing spell under his breath as he tosses it to the side. He imagines the threads of a tapestry—torn, but fixable. The thread of life can be woven back together, organs stitched and blood replenished. It only takes a bit of patience and a hell of a lot of energy. He pours his into the wound, forcing flesh and bone back together through sheer force of will.

But it doesn’t close.

Blood seeps through where Sop’s hand is pressed against the wound—slower, perhaps, but not nearly enough. The spell took hold. It’s just not enough.

He’s about to call out to Bane when a figure bursts out of the woods, a hand is pressed to their throat. Their arm is covered with blood—their entire body is drenched in it. It takes him a moment to recognize them, but—

“Lawson!” Bane drops her blade, sprinting to meet her halfway—Lawson collapses against her with a sharp cry, and Bane hugs her to her side to drag her back toward their safe spot. But the sound of movement in the woods doesn’t stop. “Sop, check her. Give me status.”

“But Graves—”

“Is already fucking dead, and I get the feeling the rest of us will be very soon if we don’t get our shit together.” She’s right. Sop hates himself when he lets go of Graves, lying him down on his side to ease Lawson to lie in his lap. He can’t see shit with all of the blood—he lifts a hand, mumbling a quick apology as he summons water above her head.

And drops it on her.

She sputters, flailing for a brief moment, but meets Sop’s eyes a second later. Her breaths come in quick, terrified pants, and it pains him to ignore it in favor of looking for wounds.

“Sop?” Bane asks.

“Scrapes from the trees,” he says, framing Lawson’s face with a hand on either side of her face. “I don’t think most of this is hers, Bane. I don’t see any major wounds. We need to find Clara—”

“No,” Lawson breathes, nails digging painfully into Sop’s arm. His breath catches in his throat at the sheer terror in her eyes. “No, no. Clara—Clara, they—oh, god, there was so much blood. They’re coming, they can smell her blood.”

“Who?” Sop asks.

“Her throat.” Lawson’s voice is small, shaking. More afraid than he’s ever heard. “Ripped it like fucking paper, oh god.”

Sop doesn’t know what the fuck he’s supposed to say to that. It could’ve been an animal, but that wouldn’t have spooked her this much. And it sure as hell wouldn’t have taken out the nature cleric. There’s not been an animal alive—or undead—that Clara couldn’t persuade to hang out with them for a while.

Whatever’s out there—whatever rustles the trees, making the leaves and trunks groan and shake—Sop is a bit terrified to find out.

“We need to get the hell out of here,” he says.

“We can’t!” Lawson grips him tighter, and Sop can feel her nails breaking skin. But what the hell is he supposed to do? Throw her off? “No, we can’t leave her—we need to find her, and—and maybe we can bring her back—”

Sop wishes he could. He wishes he could give himself for it, breathe his life into Clara and Graves so they can live. Because he can’t watch this happen again—he can’t let them die again, not when they deserve live so much more than he does.

“Law,” he starts, voice soft. He tries to fight the pity and agony that seeps into it, but realizes it’s pointless. “We can’t—”

“Sop.”

His gaze snaps up to Bane, who is studying the forest intently. He follows her gaze to the now still and silent forest.

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” she says slowly, “but I don’t think the woods are supposed to be this quiet.”

No, Sop thinks. No, they’re not.

“And things were definitely moving just a minute ago, yeah?” she asks.

“Yeah,” Sop says.

The realization seems to smack something into Lawson—her grip on Sop loosens, and he inhales sharply as the air hits the new wounds. Ignore them for now, he tells himself. There’ll be time when they all get out of here. 

“They’re here,” she whispers, both horrified and horrifying.

“Well,” Bane exhales, rolling her shoulders. “Time for round two.”

Sop’s throat is tight. His own weapon is too far away, and the strength he has left is hardly enough to heal Lawson’s insignificant wounds. “Don’t do anything stupid.” he tells her.

Bane doesn’t look back at him. “Who’s gonna stop me? Graves? You? Someone’s gotta make it back home to take care of his kids, Sop, and it’s not gonna be me.” She hesitates. “Listen. When you get home, tell my parents—”

The silence breaks.

A dozen figures spill from the void of the woods, fangs and claws dripping with fresh blood. His stomach turns as he realizes exactly what they’re facing—and it’s no surprise he didn’t realize it or detect them sooner. The energy surrounding them, the masses of the other undead—it would have been more than enough to cover their trail.

“Stay back!” Bane shouts, raising her shield—thunder rumbles overhead, threatening and warning. A promise of death, should they come any closer. The vampires growl and hiss as they stare up at the clouds, and wisely make no moves against them.

“These bastards killed Clara,” Lawson says, and Sop lifts a hand to her back as she starts to sit upright. The whole of her is shaking as she reaches for Graves’ abandoned weapon—he can’t tell if it’s fear, shock, or anger. A mix of the three seems likely. “I will take as many of them down with me as possible.”

Sop doesn’t know what to say. “Maybe—”

“No,” Bane interrupts. “No maybes. No miracles, no gods. It’s just us.” She turns away from him, jaw clenched. Her voice breaks when she adds, “It’s always just us.”

Lawson drags herself to her feet. She takes up Sop’s abandoned shield—puts herself next to Bane and looks back at him. The fear is gone, overwhelmed and overpowered by vengeance and anger. A feeling all too familiar for every one of them—anger at the world, at the gods, at the people who left them. At the people who took them away. At themselves. “Stay down,” she orders. “Or I will hit you with your own shield.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Sop says weakly.

Satisfied with the answer, she turns back toward the vampires. “COME ON, THEN!” she screams, bashing the war pick against his shield. One vampire snarls, taking the taunt—it lunges forward, invading their space in the blink of an eye.

Lawson buries her pick in its eye, shoving it to the ground and yanking its head off with a guttural noise. Its blood splatters over her, over Sop’s shield, and the ground beneath them.

“WHO’S NEXT?” she challenges. Because they’re already going to die—things can’t get worse from here, can they?

The vampires, clearly, accept the challenge. There’s a movement between them, like a wave as a mutual decision is made—and like a wave they stumble forward, a tide of destruction.

Lawson swings her pick up, murmuring a quick spell under her breath; a beam of dark, pulsating energy bursts from her hand, blasting a vampire back a few feet. The second beam hits as it tries to regain its footing, leaving in its wake a gaping hole where organs might have been. That is, if they hadn't disintegrated, or weren’t spilling out onto the ground.

That gives the rest of them pause. Pause, for a few moments.

Then they remember that there are three worn adventurers and ten of them.

The air becomes tight and prickles with raw power as the undead surge forward, and Sop has just enough time to rip free a thread of magic to weave a shield of pure faith around himself—faith in the people that he loves, rather than a god who watches idly as their followers are cut down—before lightning strikes and Bane’s rage shatters the world around them.

[talenlee]

USP-07: July's Custom Cards

New Post has been published on PRESS.exe: USP-07: July's Custom Cards

While the Outlands rage at all sides, as the Vast’s people slowly gather themselves to respond to the Ice Palace and the open door of death in the Usurper’s Throne, what are the Palace boats doing? What of the culture of Vampires that scourged a whole mountain range and ruined forests of centuries of growth, how have they prepared for the obvious oncoming war?

They haven’t.

They’ve been busy.

They’ve been busy fighting with one another endlessly about who, exactly, is the most royal member of all these Royal bloodlines.

Warning: Wizards employees, this post contains unsolicited designs of custom magic cards.

This month was a chance to dig down into the multiplayer mechanic The Monarch. Every card this month has some reference to the word ‘monarch’ on them, or at least did in development (no promise that I haven’t done something since that messed it up a little).

I have a firm opinion that the Monarch should not be being introduced to the game too early, and that introducing it should, for every colour but blue, sit at around four mana. I didn’t put any monarch cards in blue for this set – I mean unless you count the Heir Splitter adventure.

The monarch is a thing for the vampire families to fight over, and this time around I think the flavour text and names help convey that in this case, they’re arguing over royal blood in a very literal way: If you have the most royal blood in you, you’re the monarch, after all.

We have a bunch of characters who have been mentioned before finally showing up on their own cards here!

Ustrulf and Lagan are examples of the Palace boats treating vampirism and Royal Blood as a sort of art form. They’ve made vampires of a dragon (very impressive) and vampires of a mandrill (dear god why). Neither of these characters can talk, and that’s why they don’t show up in flavour text – they’re both people, agents, that have been dehumanised and maligned by the system that supposedly respects them.

Anyway, don’t know how well it’s going to matter, but it seems likely to me that Lagan is going to go eat some faces when things go wrong on the boats. And yes! Lagan’s name was based on an anagram of Ravagan’s.

Kima, Dheru and Xaia form sort of the core of the political archetypes in the Palace boats. Kima is a true believer in the Royal blood; she is, in her heart of hearts, convinced that the boot is necessary, and she is intent on being the best of boots. It’s pretty unfair, all things considered, that she’s the one who has to take the task of an assassin to herself (which is why she has the Royal Assassin ability), but who can also convince people to obey the crown (hence her Preacher ability).

Xaia is the overseer of (some of) the Masqued, and considers it her duty to keep eliminating unworthy monarchs. In her opinion, if the monarch is constantly changing, nobody’s going to clamp down on the movements of people like her. Xaia’s an interesting challenge to me because I don’t see what the card is for, I can’t quite work out what obviously it connects to. Basically, I can’t see what the deck built around her wants to do, but I can see things you might want to try. It’s very easy to build a card to fill an obvious slot, or to force cards to interact with them. It’s a lot harder to ask the question of ‘is this good?’ and have the answer come back ‘maybe?’

And then there’s Dheru. Dheru has been excluded from Royal Blood for good: He cannot become the Monarch, he is forbidden from it…

And therefore, his opinion is that he will test every monarch.

This test usually takes the form of digging up old alliances and finding new reasons to attack everyone who takes the throne. I like Dheru a lot, because Dheru’s adventure is interesting. This kind of bidding mechanic normally takes a lot of words and lines of text, in order to make the card work in a consistent, simple way – but in the case of Dheru’s adventure, to make it less wordy, it instead lets you make strategic choices about who starts the bidding (and therefore, who gets to end the bidding).

We also get a mention of Thanabel (sungoth commander imperium, thanks for the name Jade) and Druan. Notice how we’ve seen Druan already, but her title is different? Thanabel will show up later.

The Monarch is a contentious mechanic for legacy and other competitive formats, which I think should inform thoughtful commander designs. You don’t want to make cards that are priced in a way that they may have an impact on legacy, even if you know that’ll never be a factor. That meant I priced most things higher, and yes, once again I used undaunted to keep some things off the table.

One of my favourite cards in this month, for what it’s doing, is jiggling coagulation. First, there’s the lore points it makes. It’s the source of royal jelly, a blood-synthesising delicacy beloved by the Vampire Royals. But when you actually look into the source of that powerful, pungent treat, you find that it’s synthesised out of the movements of… a

thing.

It’s big and it’s gross and it’s dripping, it’s definitely found under the docks, but also, crucially, it’s a vampire. This is something made out of something Royal, otherwise, how else would it be able to make the Royal Jelly?

The Jiggling coagulation itself was modelled on my old favourite card twisted abombination, which is, in my opinion, a value card allstar. It can win the game if the game goes long and slow, and it has a purpose early on. If you can reanimate or get it back out of your yard, same deal. That was the basic thinking on this card.

While I’ve got the opportunity to mention, check out this saga. A thing I did with the sagas this time around is that all the sagas are unified in having names that start with prepositions. These sagas are meant to be read as the titles of stories, in the more penny-dreadful, cheap paperback style stories.

The monarch is a mechanic I like a lot, and part of what I like about it is the way it encourages aggression. I tried to make sure that the cards that introduce it either protect the monarch (and therefore build up time) or encourage people to attack players like Dheru does.

The Usurper’s Palace (USP) is a collection of Custom Magic cards made with the general structure of a commander draft set. The cards are posted, one per day with different themes every month, to the Custom Magic subreddit, on my Mastodon and Cohost. Follow along for more!

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#2023CustomMagicCards #CustomMagicCards #UsurperSPalace

[rhysdasiorarchive]

“It’s the most sensical course of action,” Rhys replied simply, as if he were stating something that should have been common knowledge. Recognising the flippant arrogance embedded into his tone, the elder witch frowned at himself and cleared his throat before hurrying to reword his explanation. “The council resides primarily within Krovs. That’s where the damage will be significant if inflicted. The deaths in Portugual and Spain were likely warm-ups, something to test the waters to gauge the council’s reaction, see what kind of measures and repercussions would be put in place, that sort of thing. Plainly speaking, nothing significant has been put in place other than a slight upping of security which, truthfully, feels like a token gesture to me. Or so I would imagine, anyway. Intuition tells me I’m not far off the mark with assumptions regarding the murderer’s arrival in Krovs eventually. Whoever’s behind this has an end goal in sight. To get to that goal, they’ve got to cause lasting damage. The castle keeps an array of larger, far more significant targets within its walls – not to speak ill of the deceased–” cutting himself off, Rhys glanced upward and murmured a quiet ‘sorry’ to any lingering affronted soul that may have been watching on in purgatory at Rhys’ butchering of the concept of respect. “Call it the natural progression of things. I really don’t think I’m exaggerating the possibilities here.” 

Despite having always been able to pride himself upon remaining stoic and composed even in the most absurd of situations, Rhys struggled to hide the burst of laughter that escaped him at Seth’s extravagant display of his linguistic capabilities. Turning away from both Seth and the property to hide himself and the depths of his amusement from the approaching assistant, Rhys attempted to disguise his laughter through a series of small coughs, gradually forcing his amusement to a standstill to regain his composure just in time, turning his attention back to the matter at hand, as the poster boy of respectability. “Fucking hell,” he murmured, an edge of amusement still present in his tone only loud enough for Seth to hear. “At least it was a valiant effort.”

Shaking the assistant’s hand firmly, Rhys gave a warm smile in immediate response. “Thank you for taking the time out of your day to meet with us, Antonio. Especially during such uncertain times. On behalf of the council, we’re ever so sorry for your loss,” pausing for a moment to turn his attention to the property looming before them, Rhys braced himself for yet another testing investigation. If Portugal’s findings were anything to go by, Rhys felt confident he knew what to expect. Or, at the very least, he hoped he did. “If it’s quite all right with you, would Seth and I be able to take a look around the premises? If there’s time a little later on, I’d be grateful for a chance to examine your councilman’s sun ring – simply for the sake of comparison and potentially in contrast with current findings. We won’t disturb anything, I assure you wholeheartedly.”

"What makes you think the killer would be heading to Krovs?" Seth asked, curious for Rhys' insight even if he knew that answer. Krovs Castle is a notorious hot spot for councilmen and quite a few lived there. If he were to glance at a map, it'd look like the killer was making his way through Europe one country at a time and taking out the ones not in Russia first. Whether Roman was behind it or not seemed like a good start for interrogating. After all, a skilled hitman wouldn't have his identity revealed if the familiar slave managed to avoid that even winding up in Krovs Castle. He could also have acquired a group in those jobs for the Portuguese councilman –– he knew that Roman was young, much younger than himself, and definitely not that powerful compared to other demons. Regardless, all those thoughts flew to the back of his mind once their contact arrived.

"Shit, well, I failed it in school," he muttered only for Rhys to hear the last of this conversation. Seth also said all this with complete seriousness painted across his features. "Hola senor tortuga is the best I can do." Clearly, it was in everyone's best interest for Rhys to do the talking or hope that perhaps this person spoke a lick of English for poorly educated Seth's sake.

The contact in question was another witch who appeared in their mid-30s with neat brown hair, tanned skin, and olive green eyes. "Hola, you must be Mr. Dasior and Mr. Harper, si? I am Antonio, the former councilman's assistant," he introduced himself, extending his hand to greet both men. "Muchas gracias for making the trip out here to investigate this. I think it is great that the rest of the council is looking into it. If there is anything I can do to help you both, please, let me know."

[autisticoscarpiastri]

While You Were Gone

Steve Harrington x reader

Warnings: discussions of starting a family and spoilers for the end of season 4. I think that’s it.

So to preface this, reader is the same age as Steve and they’ve been dating for awhile, let’s say since summer. She goes to school somewhere that isn’t close to Hawkins, but isn’t so far that you have to drive more than say, three maybe four hours. Also reader knows everything with the Upside Down and knows the gang.

Steve heard a knock while he was mindlessly watching the news to see if anything new happened. Everyone who was unharmed was safely at home with their respective family, but Steve was stuck in that empty house that held nothing but bad memories, all alone. He couldn’t dwell on that for long. He opened the door to find you standing there.

“What the hell happened?” you demanded immediately after the door started swinging open.

“Y/n, why are you here? Shouldn’t you be at Disneyland?”

“Yeah, I should be, but my parents called my hotel to let me know that a massive earthquake hit Hawkins and asked me to come home, so I’ll repeat, what the hell happened?”

Steve opened the door more to let you in. Once you were inside, he said “You might want to sit down for this; it’s a long story.”

So you sat down on the couch as Steve turned off the TV and started explaining everything. Vecna, the murders, the Upside Down merging with the regular world.

Once Steve’s done explaining, you immediately ask “Is everyone okay?”

Steve sighs before he tells you “Max is currently in a coma. She technically died, but they were able to revive her, but they don’t know if she’ll ever wake up.”

“No, not Max,” you reply with melancholy. Although you would never say, Max was your favorite of the kids because she reminded yourself of a younger you. You were her surrogate sister.

“And also Eddie Munson died fighting off a hoard of demobats. He joined our team when he was used as a scapegoat for Chrissy Cunningham’s death.”

You nodded your head solemnly. You barely knew Eddie, only hearing about him and seeing him in passing during your senior year. You knew that Lucas, Dustin and Mike adored him from what you heard when you came back for Thanksgiving and Christmas break. You couldn’t imagine how heartbroken they must be right now.

You broke out of your revery to take your boyfriend’s face in your hands. You brush his hair back and ask “Are you okay?”

He holds your wrists while you tilt his face, inspecting for even the slightest of injuries. “I’m fine,” he responds. You look him in the eyes with the most tender look possible before looking at his lips. He leans into the gentlest kiss possible. There’s so much emotion in it, but all your worry fades away now that he’s here in your arms.

“I don’t think I can go back to college after this,” you explain after you break away from Steve’s lips.

“What?” Steve asks, confused.

“What if something happens while I’m away? What if I’m not here to protect the kids?”

“It’ll all be okay. I’ll be here to protect them. Nancy and Robin are also here to protect them. I know how much your education means to you. You can’t give it because of some inter-dimensional demon is trying to take over the world.”

“You do know dumb that sounds, right?”

“Look, the point is, college is your one chance to get out of this deadbeat town; your one shot at escaping. You know you can’t give it up. Think of our future together. You want to get a job in some city, so we can get an apartment together and maybe have a couple kids. I don’t want you to feel like you’re forced to give it up. And say something does happen? I’ll personally drive up and pick you up from college so you can help out. Is that a deal?”

“Okay,” you respond. You go in for another soft kiss, expressing all the emotions you can’t put to words. You pull back, resting your forehead against his and say “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he responds.

[robininthelabyrinth]

Prompt: what if jc was lxc's age (and jyl maybe 2 or 3 years older) and wwx was lwj's/nhs' age when he was brought to lotus pier? (Or anything that involves a much bigger age gap bw the jiang sibs and wwx - where wwx is babey)

Untamed

“You know what,” Jiang Cheng said to his sister, who looked at him. “I’ve changed my mind. I’m not marrying a woman.”

Jiang Yanli’s lips started twitching uncontrollably and she hid her smile behind her sleeve. “Oh?”

“Nope. I’m going to marry Chifeng-zun.”

“On the basis of…?���

“If you take two adult men in charge of two Great Sects,” Jiang Cheng said, doing his utmost best to keep a straight face, “with all the power we can generate between us, we might – maybe – have a chance at disciplining our baby brothers.”

Jiang Yanli burst out laughing.

“There, there. It’s all right,” he said, grinning, reaching out to pat her on the shoulder. “You can join us if you’d like. There’s enough room in Qinghe for two wives.”

“We are not both running away to Qinghe,” she said, giggling. “A-Cheng!”

“What? I think it’s a great idea. If our parents want us back, they can negotiate with Chifeng-zun for it – may they have more luck than they had with the whole medicinal herb debacle.”

“A-Cheng, I am officially tabling this idea,” Jiang Yanli said, still snorting. “Older sibling privilege.”

“I let you out of the womb first as a matter of courtesy,” Jiang Cheng sniffed. “And now you use it against me? A-Li, how could you?”

“Call me jiejie! It doesn’t matter how much older, a few shichen or a few years, older is still older.”

“You probably elbowed me with those sharp pointy things you have on your arms. Weapons of war.”

“Older is older!” she sang. “Now tell me, what did A-Xian do this time?”

“Would you like it in chronological order, or in order of severity? I can also group it by theme, if you prefer.”

“Oh no,” Jiang Yanli said, covering her eyes. “Oh no.”

“And the chief-most theme,” Jiang Cheng said, continuing anyway, “is still called Lan Wangji.”

“Oh no!”

“He has the worst crush,” Jiang Cheng said, shaking his head with endless amusement. “And he just – refuses to admit it. ‘Nooooo, shixiong, we’re just friends, he can’t even stand me most of the time, he’s always trying to get me in trouble, but sometimes he lets me sit next to him and spend time with him and he’s so handsome and I really just want to make him laugh –’”

“We have,” Jiang Yanli said thoughtfully, “raised an idiot.”

“He was fine when we got him,” Jiang Cheng disagreed. “We have spoiled an idiot.”

“This is true. Maybe we should go form a mutual complaining society with Chifeng-zun; isn’t his little brother also an idiot?”

“Oh, you have no idea,” Jiang Cheng said. “Worse: they’ve teamed up. Nie Huaisang buys Wei Wuxian porn now.”

“Oh no…”

“In return for help cheating on his tests!”

“Oh no!”

“So that’s why I’m going to marry Chifeng-zun,” Jiang Cheng concluded. “Our parents may be disappointed by my decision, but with our powers combined, we might be able to save the world from our respective younger idiots.”

“Maybe,” she said, and shook her head. “A-Cheng – about our parents…”

Jiang Cheng shook his head as well, echoing her action but more in denial. It wasn’t anyone’s fault that she took after their father and he took after their mother, that she was born a shichen prior to midnight and he a shichen after and their personalities completely different as a result; it was no one’s fault that their parents didn’t get along, with their mother disdaining what she perceived as Jiang Yanli’s passiveness and lack of passion and their father despising Jiang Cheng’ prickly temper and difficulty communicating his affection without scolding.

It certainly wasn’t Wei Wuxian’s fault for being younger and more brilliant, talented at everything he did and with just the sort of personality their father liked best – the combination of his former best friend and the girl he’d once thought of marrying – and that he’d always made that preference very clear to everyone, even to their mother who often worried that her husband would dispossess her children in favor of his foundling and who lashed out at everyone in response.

That had hurt – hurt a lot, even, and Jiang Cheng was soft and sensitive underneath all his defensive layers, but any time he got angry over it he would look at Wei Wuxian, their little A-Xian, baby Xianxian, who adored his older siblings more than anything and was adored in return, and he forced himself to get over it. He was old enough, by the time Wei Wuxian arrived, to know to whom the blame really belonged.

“I spoke with Nie Huaisang while I was at the Cloud Recesses,” Jiang Cheng said in an undertone, one reserved just for his sister. “He’s asked me to pass along a message to his brother, the next time I go night-hunting, about the whole debacle – he’s so terribly apologetic, you understand, he couldn’t wait for the post – if we get to Qinghe by tomorrow, Chifeng-zun will be able to get to Gusu in time to intervene before our father does something wretched like cancel your engagement and take A-Xian home early from his studies.”

“The engagement I wouldn’t mind,” she remarked. “If Jin Zixuan feels so strongly about it that he’d get into a fistfight with A-Xian, it’s better not to marry, no matter what our mother might think. But on no account is A-Xian to be sent home early! He needs his education!”

Unsaid was everything else he needed, things he could get better at the Cloud Recesses than anywhere else.

“Then we go?”

“We go,” she agreed. Between the two of them, Jiang Cheng had more talent at cultivation, but she was steadier, even in her overall mediocrity: when the two of them flew on a sword together, they could make it much further and faster than anyone expected.

Qinghe wasn’t really close enough for a quick jaunt – they flew all night without stopping – but Chifeng-zun was amendable to their scheme, jumping at once onto his saber and making his way straight to Gusu. A waste of spiritual energy all around, really, but far faster than their father would move, with his Sect Leader’s dignity and retinue, rushing to the Cloud Recesses to save his precious little Wei Wuxian from having any connections in life that weren’t to the Jiang sect, and the Jiang sect alone. 

And never mind how much he needed those connections: needed to have friends his own age, needed to have more time with that crush of his, needed independence and freedom and everything the Jiang sect supposedly stood for - needed for them to support him and act as the foundation beneath his feet, rather than the chains tying him down to earth.

Chifeng-zun – who was only a few years older than they were – was really a very understanding person, getting the problem at once and immediately agreeing with their view on things. Perhaps there really was something to be said about the difference in generations…

“Let me show you to rooms where you can rest,” Chifeng-zun’s aide said, a slender young man with a polite smile on his face as he saluted. “I’ll arrange for refreshments as well.”

“We hate to trouble you, but in all honesty you are a lifesaver,” Jiang Yanli said to him warmly, and he unexpectedly flushed red at the cheeks. “A-Cheng, let’s follow this handsome young man and rest a while before we return to the Lotus Pier.”

The young man was blushing.

“What’s your name?” Jiang Cheng asked, and the blush faded away at once as the man paled a little: it would be one he expected them to recognize, then, and not in a good way.

“This one is Meng Yao,” he said, and saluted again even though he’d already saluted once before, and Jiang Yanli’s eyes flickered to Jiang Cheng’s very briefly before she caught his arms and raised him up.

“I’ve heard of you. Smart and talented enough to get Chifeng-zun’s attention, even so far as becoming his personal deputy - you must be brilliant. Truly, you deserve a better father,” she told him, and he stared up at her, dumbstruck.

“Don’t mind her,” Jiang Cheng said. “She’s trying out this new thing in which she says everything she feels without thinking first.”

She elbowed him. “And isn’t it your fault?” she asked snappishly. “You’re the one who needs to speak your mind more; I’m just modeling good behavior!”

If she’d been older than him – really older, rather than just a few shichen – maybe she would have held her tongue more and played the role of the peacekeeper, trying to protect him from his father’s indifference the way she had tried to when they were both younger, just as he had tried to distract his mother from her with his hard-fought accomplishments. It wasn’t until they had little Wei Wuxian to spoil and care for, a joint task that required both of their attention, that they realized that splitting their forces like that was pointless and self-defeating: it wasn’t actually helping that Jiang Yanli suppressed so much of her spirit until she felt like little more than a reflective mirror with no content, nor that Jiang Cheng nearly worked himself to death trying to prove that he was worthy of his father’s love and respect that he would never receive, and it never would.

So they stopped.

They were trying very hard to stop, anyway.

“You’re very kind,” Meng Yao murmured, and led them to their rooms.

The moment he closed the door behind him, Jiang Yanli turned to Jiang Cheng and said, “I’ve changed my mind about your plan – we can run away to Qinghe. You marry Chifeng-zun, and I’ll marry that charming boy out there.”

There was an audible thudding sound from the corridor outside, as if someone had accidentally walked into a wall, and they both grinned at each other.

“Mother would kill you,” he warned her in an undertone.

“And being married to someone who disdains me enough to fight over my worthlessness in public wouldn’t?” she retorted, smiling even though her expression was tinged with pain: if she had one ambition in life, it was to never become their mother. “The marriage agreement might have been forged by our mothers, but the text of it says ‘the Jin sect leader’s son to the Jiang sect leader’s daughter’. Why can’t I marry him?”

“He hasn’t been acknowledged.”

“Only technically. Everyone knows he’s the real deal, or else his father wouldn’t have made such a fuss about it.”

“But –”

“Anyway, he must be a good man, or Chifeng-zun wouldn’t have promoted him.”

“I don’t know about that,” Jiang Cheng said. “Chifeng-zun doesn’t have the sense of self-preservation the heavens bestowed on a lemming.”

There was a vaguely audible snort from outside their door. It seemed Meng Yao, at least, had the good sense not to leave guests in his house unattended, and no discrimination against the very useful business of listening at doors.

He also had a sense of humor, which was good given Jiang Yanli’s newfound ambitions in his regard.

“Yes, well, I wasn’t saying I’d elope with him tomorrow or anything,” she sniffed, eyes dancing. “Give him some time to prove himself to me.”

Jiang Cheng couldn’t help but smile back. “That’s true,” he said, raising his voice a little. “At Chifeng-zun’s side, he’ll be able to make a name for himself until the whispers all say that his father was an idiot for keeping him away.”

“And if even that doesn’t work, I’ll marry him in and make him help me run the Jiang sect,” she said cheerfully. “Who needs Lanling Jin?”

“Wait, since when are you inheriting the Jiang sect?”

“I’m older! And anyway, aren’t you marrying Chifeng-zun? That means you’ll be away helping run his sect, and that leaves an opening at home for me.”

“…huh. Good point.”

“Maybe you can just swap places with Meng Yao,” she said, starting to giggle again. “And we can all see how long it takes anyone to notice…”

“Our parents might not,” Jiang Cheng said dryly. “But Chifeng-zun would. If only because I have my sights set on his bed, and I don’t think Meng Yao does.”

“You don’t know that; everyone wants Chifeng-zun. Maybe you have competition.”

“Better to have competition than be oblivious. Do you want to hear the whole story about A-Xian and Lan Wangji’s tragic mutual pining disaster? Xichen-xiong told me all the details he’s been leaving out of his letters.”

“Tell me everything!”

[idiotwhotalkstoomuch]

Haha, yeah Ace would absolutely do that!

I prefer a demon slayer Yuu though simply because of the angst potential. Since being a demon slayer is really dangerous, the prefect would obviously have a shit ton of scars so imagine how everyone would react to seeing them? Like in the event that the prefect is supposed to become the next pillar of a breathing technique, they’d have to be super skilled and have to fight a ton of powerful demons to reach that point so that just makes the amount of scars they have even higher!

Also during an overblot, maybe they get severely injured due to the debris flying everywhere but instead of being phased, they’re like; Tis but a scratch! But everyone else is like; No it’s not!

And the dorm heads after overblotting! Like if the prefect gets badly injured every time it happens which leaves a scar and they’re already aware of the other scars, they’d feel really bad for hurting the prefect, because they’ve already been through so much they deserve a peaceful life! Being at NRC, for the most part, has clearly given them the chance to truly act their age where they can also receive the help they need to work through their trauma and then because of the overblot, things are taking a few steps back again! Of course the prefect is like; “It’s fine, I’ve faced worse!” But that honestly just makes all of them feel worse because damn.

Knowing all this, I bet Crowley and everyone else would be reluctant to send the prefect back to their world cause they don’t want to see their friend suffer more pain.

Everyone is frankly quite horrified at the amount of scars they have on their body and how some of them are near parts of their body that could very well be fatal

They are 16! They should be going out pulling pranks and getting on the teachers’ nerves or being a good student preparing for their future not fighting in battles that could very well kill them

Crowley confiscated their sword because it’s dangerous to have in school but luckily they didn’t get through all those battles and be able to be a candidate to become a pillar only relying on their sword, they can make do with what they get

Despite Deuce’s horror at MC’s situation he’s also pretty curious on just what pillars are and about the demon slayer corps in general though of course he always goes about the topic gently despite the fact it really doesn’t MC that uncomfortable (he wants them to focus on having fun! Not fighting with their life on the line)

Ace takes it upon himself to make sure you have loads of fun in NRC and his shenanigans with MC are actually given some slack when MC is shown to be genuinely enjoying themselves (though he still gets punished, boi you thought)

Jack wants to protect them but also respects their strength so becomes more of MC’s self preservation because they don’t need to run into battle! There are magic wielded though MC can’t really be stopped when the situation escalates

Riddle would feel terrible if he scarred or injured you in any way (which considering he fought with rose bushes, I BET HAPPENED) and want to make it up to MC but MC is just dismissive of it insisting it’s okay when it’s not. (He gets Trey to teach him how to make tarts properly and gifts them to MC who accepts it cause free food!)

Leona on the outside is dismissive of the whole thing cause big whoop the kid has scars, not his problem. Inside however he does feel a little bad though considering the nature of his power they likely didn’t get too injured especially since when faced with demon blood arts that can send you flying without you even seeing (Reference: Yahaba’s demon blood art. The partner of the Temari demon), Leona’s muscles really doesn’t intimidate them

Azul feels pretty shitty about trying to take away their home after learning that they were okay with it for the most part because they didn’t really need sleep much anyway (seriously when do demon slayers sleep, they train in the day and fight demons to sunset the next day, if you think you can stay up all night become a demon slayer, they are on another level) but ultimately settles for treating them to a free treat in the Mostro Lounge and is off. He doesn’t like getting personally involved

Jamil was worried about his plans in all honesty with the fact that MC could see through him and is surprised when they approach him post overblot like he didn’t deceive them and send them flying with Grim. When MC explains he doesn’t need to feel alone, he just feels bad and mends their Haori as an apology (since he saw Riddle and Azul already apologize with food)

Vil didn’t insist on MC working with them since they had recovering wounds and scars that could possibly be aggravated by his strict training but they laugh off the idea his training is strict cause compared to demon slaying training it’s a breeze. When he accidentally injures them in his overblot (since he you know, DESTROYED THE STADIUM) as an apology he does something gets a gift personalized to something MC would actually like (since he luckily has Rook to find out what MC likes) and gets them some potions to speed up their recovery

The students would openly protest if MC was going to be sent home. They shouldn’t have to go back to such a bleak world where death is staring them at the face! They can just stay here and be a teenager!

MC however would insist on coming home because they still have precious loved ones at their home world who they wish to protect and they can’t just live a normal life here while their comrades are likely off fighting demons and possibly even the upper moons and Muzan Kibutsuji something that the students would reluctantly have to accept.

Okay so I know you prefer demon slayer! MC but Demon! MC has plenty angst potential too! I mean with some exceptions, most demons didn’t exactly want to become one because the life of a demon is not an easy one

They would be close to Malleus as a demon since they can only come out when it’s night and Malleus and his centuries of wisdom could be an interesting conversation buddy to the immortal (from everything but the sun and wisteria) demon.

Demon! MC would be way more nonchalant about taking hits than a demon slayer! MC because hey! Their arm might’ve been blown off but it’s already regenerating and since none of the guys have sun powers or Nichirin blades, they can only be killed by being pushed into the sunlight (which no one is possibly an asshole enough to do when they saw what happened to them after Crowley dragged them off to get some sunlight cause “it’s good for them”).

Demons feel the pain of their injuries (ex: Nezuko wincing when her leg was blown off by the Temari demon and the Temari demon’s death) so them using themselves as a meat shield while practical makes the NRC students feel awful when they recall them remarking on cutting themselves the other day or some other passing comment of pain cause they can feel it but take every hit.

The Pomefiore students and Crewel night even volunteer to work on a potion that could get them some form of sun resistance after a near miss after an overblot attack where the sun got exposed to them and if it wasn’t for Adeuce tackling them and hiding them under their bodies they surely would’ve been nothing but ash but MC just laughs bitterly at the idea of sun resistance as it’s after all what “that man” desires most

With demon! Mc being sent home, demon! Mc might actually accept staying in Twisted Wonderland unless they’re someone like Tamayo who’s actively making something to work against Muzan though if they’re just a demon with humanity still in them trying to survive I imagine they would actually like to stay which would make a happy ending but still full of angst potential