#by which i mean you get a slightly different colored version where i accidentally made her eyes the same colors as the trans flag 😆🏳️‍⚧️

[dadailybocch]

🤟ROCKER BOCCHI, ROCKER BOCCHI IS REAL 🤟

[nights-at-crystarium]

Fragments - episodes 41-46 author notes

You can find similar breakdown posts on older episodes in my pinned!

Get comfy and reread with me the finale of the Il Mheg arc and the intro of a certain loser.

First off, I wanna emphasize how important this arc’s for Vivi. Had he not liked Il Mheg in general and Feo Ul in particular, the rest of the story would play out very differently, and not in favor of the sundered. His initial positive impression of the First is pretty much the only thing that saves it.

We've reached a high, physically and emotionally. You know what that means, as per the shb rollercoaster rule :>

Pan pride pixie blesses Thancred, ca. 2024, colorized. I accidentally gave them the pan colors but hey it works. ALSO! Stars in his eyes.

Re: distant nightmare, I’ll let you in on a secret, or a third party perspective if you will. Vivi's full of shit, he's too focused on the big picture. He’s narrating this whole story, but his perspective is, well, just that.

Initially this was Vivi's inner monologue, then I thought that I should just let them talk, and it wrote itself.

More under the cut~

Drawing a buncha vivi-lookalikes that act soooooorta but not really like him, just slightly off, was a surprisingly fun exercise.

Luckily for Thancred, though, he sniffs out the pixie magic, and knows better than indulging them.

...Still, what a shitty fucked up day. Sorry, Thancred :’>

This here’s an example of a moment where I’m uncertain if I’m being too subtle and if this flies over some readers’ heads. He refers to Alisaie’s “job” of dragging Vivi back to msq, which she recently started lowkey dreading (episodes 32-33)

...Though she goes back to her “duty” in episode 43.

She's pointedly SILENT throughout the episode, doing her best to hold back.

Thancred's a man who can say no to begging dogs.

Gridania mention! Vivi’s gridanian! He never speaks ill of the elementals, he's wary of them even a world apart.

This pixie's life is something Feo Ul's willing to sacrifice. Episodes 42-43 tell this story in reverse order, yes this’s the pixie that was supposed to agree with Thancred and go with the Scions to the Crystarium.

As to why there’s a dozen of vivis popping up as a backup: they needed just one fake Vivi to go with the Scions, but try organizing the pixies. Their plan’s already failed when this first pixie-Vivi refused to play their part.

“Yeah no, our guy’s special, but not as special as to explode in confetti”

I love his first ingame appearance in that Varis cutscene, this moment has similar energy: barely enters the stage, instantly gets impaled on a long object. This’s not foreshadowing, no, why would you think that-

The “camera” is perfectly still, there’s even some symmetry, demonstrating how calm and prepared Emet is. He didn’t expect much and he’s still disappointed.

This’s a super old comic. I spent the first half of 2022 testing and trying to find a style for Fragments, back then I had no plans, none, zero, absolutely no interest to give Emet a role bigger than a mention. The earliest version of the script had very few Emet scenes, which, looking back on it, was gonna be a disservice to his character. Well, that changed rapidly in late 2023 when I fell for him so hard that I broke my neck, and now I look back on a lot of what I did with Vivi with new eyes. THE EYEROLL. After spending two years developing a guy for a fun wolgraha chemistry (at the same time I was perfectly aware that Exarch and Emet are foils. I made a foil for Exarch, what on earth did I expect-), I’m going through a mindblow after mindblow as I realize HOW GOOD VIVI IS FOR EMET (and vice versa ofc) and how many things they have in common. This wasn’t always the case, Vivi just gradually got more cynical, tired, ✨grey✨ and everything else that makes a guy consider hitting it with The Other Old Man.

They’re off to a great start.

From Emet’s pov, this must really hurt, as in how many other shards of Azem might’ve snarled at him like this. Even though he must be numb to it by now, who says that there isn’t the tiniest flicker of hope when he approaches yet another not-Azem. He may deny and hate and try to snuff out that spark, but the fatal Soulmate Magnet keeps doing its thing.

Parallels to episode 2.

Apparently, Vivi’s first reaction to encountering his to-be-most-prominent boyfriends is to attack them somehow.

This’s really, REALLY dumb of him, and he even comments on it shortly after. But yes, his isekai tale in the First was rather pleasant just until now, and it lulled him into the false sense of security. OF COURSE there are ascians everywhere, not just on the Source. Vivi just forgor.

Emet tests Vivi's reactions to insults/being treated as a lesser, silliness, flirt.

I regret to inform you that both Vivi and Alisaie have been disarmed so easily. The tone quickly shifts, the weapon’s lowered.

Alisaie makes bad puns/jokes in canon, I thought it'd fit if she laughed at that kinda jokes too, and in the least fitting situations, to top it off. Alphinaud’s disappointed, even if he can hardly be called an expert in humor.

“It’s up to you”. Emet stops fooling around, assuming a more serious tone. He may not respect Vivi or his agency here, but he provides him with a choice that's guaranteed to give him some trust points, and uses "we" for an illusion of unity/equality, a not really subtle nudge towards cooperation, it's not me vs you anymore, it's "us".

Whether Vivi picks up on the manipulation or not remains to be seen, but Emet gets his way here.

Forgive me this lil tangent, but I’m so giddy and excited to write Emet. If Exarch’s decently emotionally intelligent but still obtuse at times, Vivi’s a tier or two above him, he’s not a stranger to manipulation, he registers it being used on him, and doesn’t hesitate to use it too when it suits his fancy. He's quite good at people-ing. Emet, though, Emet’s THE emotional intelligence personified. He’s had literal thousands of years to practice, he leaves everyone else in the dust in this regard. It’s daunting but so exciting to write him, I hope to do him justice.

Let’s just talk.

𝓛𝓮𝓽’𝓼 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓽𝓪𝓵𝓴.

Mark this moment, remember this line for meme value. If these last words aren't famous yet, they WILL become that when we see what they talk their way into <w<

Yes I'm going all in on tragic irony of Emet's situation.

Accidental Emet rp, with the hunching over and all. Or maybe Vivi already unwittingly mirrors him. Or maybe he always did- *kicked and dumped in the trash bin*

Man. I'm guilty of enjoying drawing Vivi in genuine distress. He’s so fun when he’s agitated.

Hidden Angst Time! It's all hehe haha until you realize that this might be a product of the hectic wol lifestyle forcing him to speedrun his emotions like this. Either speedrun, or be left with no opportunity to process them at all.

Also, the sandwiches! The framing’s deliberate, they’re on the foreground all the time, and Vivi only notices them in the very last panel.

I! Love! This! Face!!!!!! A rare neutral, relaxed, thoughtful face, he isn't performing for anyone here.

Nevermind Ardbert getting brutally ignored here x’D

The fact that a guy that Vivi had briefly considered as partner material shut himself away in the Crystal Tower for what could be the rest of his life has stuck with Vivi for good. Or should I say for bad. He might not necessarily care about ARRRaha, still it upsets him that he kissed someone who practically killed himself some days later.

I recently talked a lil more about the Bitchless Liar. This’s how Vivi remembers him forever, take it or leave it. But hey, this cool Exarch guy has big balls probably <- in-universe hc \o/

This episode taught me to draw BREAD.

Even though Exarch’s been nothing but sweet so far, one thing’s to acknowledge a fact with your brain, another thing’s to wrestle with your trauma and paranoia that have all rights to exist and fester. Ever since HW Vivi doesn’t accept food and drinks from anyone except the few trusted sources. This isn’t really covered in this episode, but hopefully hinted at just enough.

He takes a leap of faith. Or maybe he’s simply sick and tired of living Like This. Maybe sandwiches kill him, and he doesn’t really mind. And, when they don’t, he goes through a visible shift in attitude towards Exarch, as we’re able to see in the following episodes.

This’s all I’ve got for now, thanks for reading till the end~

[codgod]

ok im silly and obsessed with your art so i wanted to ask you about it!

i really love your shading on art, the layering and different colors is very well done! do you have any feedback on how to do rendering and shading? cause i know nothing about it

im also curious about your anatomy, its accurate but also very unique between characters! do you mind doodling like... how your format it? u know what i mean???

NEXT I WANT TO ASK! ABOUT YOUR OUTFIT IDEAS!! where do you get your inspiration for those beautiful fucking designs?

on the drawing you made of shrimp mariana being held by charlie, im curious about how you did the filtering to make it like. fuzzy but still clear???

last but not least, what application do you use for drawing, and which pens do you use?

sorry for all the questions but your art is a very big inspiration for me and i want to be as talented as u ^^💦

this got really fucking long and i don’t even know if it’s particularly helpful but LETS GO

—

OKAY SO. shading, thing i am apparently accidentally really good at. it’s probably the thing i’ve gotten compliments on the most over the years which is funny because it’s probably the thing i’m Least confident that i can do well. therefore i can’t really give a tutorial but i can give a bunch of disjointed notes

(shown above is my Default Shading, further examples of different lighting below)

everything else under the cut or this is gonna be a mile long

i like using blue for shading, yellow/orange for lighting but generally you can just make them opposite/complimentary colours to each other and that’ll work. cool shadows, warm light or warm shadows, cool light. you get it. that’s a general rule there’s probably exceptions. i will say i hate using purple for shadows but that’s a personal preference (as is every colour i use being so saturated lol)

the orange around the edges is supposed to be subsurface scattering on skin but i put it on all the edges because i like how it looks 👍

yes there’s two different bounce lights. idk why i do this. i also just think it looks nice. i guess the one on the shading layer is more for form and the one on the lighting layer is more for the yk. lighting? anyways the first one is just a lighter version of the shading colour the second one is darker and slightly hue shifted (depending on the lighting scenario — it can be brighter if the situation calls for it)

the reason i don’t just shade around the edges is because it can make things look very flat which is the opposite of what you want when shading. sometimes it can just go on the edges in some specific scenarios but i like my shadows Chunky. basically having it go over the form instead of just along it can help show that form more

top left - night time | top right - bisexual? | bottom left - spotlight i guess? | bottom right - default/daylight again, just wanted to show a shape example

something i’ll also do a lot is have a separate multiply layer that’s just one colour and i’ll throw that over the whole thing to get the base colours correct for the lighting scenario. some people do it by eye but i am lazy so i cheat 👍 often it’ll be the same as the more detailed shadow colour but as with the top right example sometimes it’s different

shadows are either on multiply or linear burn, lights are either on add (glow) or glow dodge. depends on what looks best. same with opacity, i don’t have any real rules there

i also LOVE harsh lighting but that’s just a me thing. UMMM i can’t think of anything else to say

—

so next is ANATOMY okay this is also something i’m not super confident with lol but i can give some more disjointed notes by just redlining my own sketches lol

the uuuh “bottom of boobs is 2/3 down the ribs” isn’t technically correct? if ur drawing someone with big boobs and no bra on they’re probably gonna go lower but that’s kinda. where they come out from i guess. i also don’t think the “ribs” i draw are technically accurate but it works for a reference point

arms are a diamond (the shoulder.. muscle.. thing… idk what it’s called) and then some Tapered Tubes idk they’re not super complicated. if you wanna get more into it go google buff people and trace/redline their arms that’s how i learnt orz and uuuh i kinda also have the taking up 2/3 of the ribs but a bit Above. the way i’ve worded that makes no goddamn sense i’m bad at explaining this

ANYWAYS yeah bodies are just shapes if you want ppl to look unique just squash or stretch out the shapes 👍 and also learn actual anatomy stuff that always helps. my final message: learn to draw fat people it is no more difficult than drawing thin people

—

OUTFITS i love outfits. i have a pinterest board where a lot of my inspo comes from and it’s a section within a bigger board so ig i’m just giving you my whole inspo board. here (it’s the one called character fashion) (i do not condone art being reposted on pinterest without artists permission just ignore how much i have saved)

pinterest in general is good for outfit design stuff as long as you know where/how to look. u could also try fashion blogs and stuff

ummm a lot of stuff does just come from my own head tho, like based on clothes i like or vaguely inspired by stuff i’ve seen before. if you look through the board you can also see that like i rarely ever copy stuff directly i kinda just use whatever stuff i find as a base to work from. just find stuff you like and go from there i guess, i sometimes like picking a specific subculture or fashion style for a character and seeing what i can make from that (like missa is emo/scene, slime is like some kinda ravecore thing?? idk)

—

OKAY i’m assuming you mean like the glowy effect? makes everything look Soft?

(idk if u can even see the difference here orz also ignore how many fuckin layers i use i’m a mess) (the top layer is that catboy missa doodle i did ignore that too)

this is something i do on Most drawings to the point i have an auto action set up for it. duplicate the entire drawing (on csp the easiest way is to just merge visible to new layer), gaussian blur to like ? idk i think it’s 40% or something? i don’t remember, set that layer to soft light and lower the opacity

if that’s NOT what you meant feel free to send a follow up question LOL

OH actually if u mean the colour jitter stuff on the . colours. that’s not a filter i was just using a brush with slight hue jitter on i was Experimenting

—

AND FINALLY i use clip studio paint on my ipad and most of the brushes i use on the reg can be found here

favourites are the ones i made (i actually have more of those i need to upload—) and the raz sketch ones 👍 namely raz sketch (thick) with the density turned up a bit from the default, been using that a lot for lineart

[fangirlwriting-stories]

These Unprecedented Times

Summary: Thomas was currently spending most of his days stewing in his empty house in the middle of the nightmare that is 2020 and wishing he had someone to talk to.  Apparently, his brain listened to him though, or he's just finally lost it, because suddenly standing across the room is someone that looks like a half-snake version of him.

Or, In Which Thomas Is So Bad At Taking Care of Himself That He Accidentally Summons His Self-Preservation.

AO3 Link

Chapter One: Self-Interest

Thomas was running pretty dry on video ideas, and he had no idea why.  It was like all his motivation for creating had been sapping away as lockdown continued.  It was frustrating to no end, and he couldn’t seem to muster up the will to even try and fix the problem.  And with a lack of ideas in that regard, he was stuck thinking about everything that was going on, all of the disease and the death and the nightmares that this year had been bringing.  He tried to stay as up to date as possible in case something new had happened, but with that and all the thoughts already invading his head from information he already knew, he just grew more and more anxious about the world’s situation until he forced himself off of social media and tried to do something relaxing.  Unfortunately, that usually only lasted about half an hour before he started feeling guilty about not being up to date and even trying to enjoy himself with everything that was going on.

He texted and facetimed with his friends as often as he could, but most of the time he was alone, and stewing in everything by himself wasn’t that great either.  The only real person-to-person contact he got was when he went out walking, and learned to understand why dogs got so excited when they saw each other.

But he was fine!  He was lucky.  He wasn’t an essential worker, after all, and he didn’t have to risk his life to make a paycheck.  He should be grateful that he got to stay home, relatively safe, and all he had to do to have the money for groceries was to come up with ideas for videos, which he should be able to do with no problem.  He was fine.  He just needed to push through whatever this funk was and come up with an idea.

Thomas tapped his pencil against the blank notebook page and tried to force himself not to groan.

If only there was someone he could talk to.

“Thomas!”

Thomas yelped and spun towards the voice.  He was met with a bizarre half-snake man that looked remarkably like him.  Before Thomas could process the seven shades of what the fuck that was happening, the half-snake man marched across the room and yanked him up by the color.

“Thomas, you son of a— I can’t let this go on anymore,” the snake-man snapped, shaking Thomas back and forth, which Thomas didn’t really appreciate all that much.  “Do you know what I am?”

“Uh, I mean at this point I’d rather like to—” Thomas started.

“I am exhausted!  All of your efforts to convince yourself that you’re okay while there is goddamn global trauma going on are cutting into my self care time!  You’ve made me get sick of you lying to yourself.  Me!  So look me in the eyes, Sanders.  You. Are. Not. Okay.  Admit it.”

“What— I don’t— oh god.”  Thomas pushed the snake-man off and started scrambling backwards.  “Am I hallucinating?  Have I lost it?  Oh my god, what do I—”

“You’re not hallucinating,” said the snake-man.  Thomas looked back up at him to see him looking calmer and maybe just a bit sheepish.  “I probably should have done that a different way, but I don’t know how else I’m supposed to get through to you at this point—”  He sighed.  “I am a product of your mind and personality.  Though I suppose I do lack a physical form.”

“That… that just raises more questions…” Thomas said weakly.

“Absolutely none of which are important to address right now compared to what you are doing to yourself, Thomas.”

“How would you even know—”

The snake-man sighed.  “Look, I’m a… Side, of you, if you will.  Specifically, the Side meant to look out for your own interests.  Your bank account, your reputation, your self-esteem.  But instead of all of that, what I’ve been spending 24 freaking 7 doing lately is trying to tell you that everything is fine when we’re in the middle of a fucking pandemic with a president who barely acknowledges it’s a problem, which means I have to spend hours every day trying to get your Anxiety to not have a panic attack, and even that is barely working at this point!”

Thomas swallowed, trying to process all of that.  The… Side in front of him seemed to be more than willing to give him a moment to do so.  But even at the end of that, all that came out of Thomas’ mouth was, “…oh.”

The Side buried his head in his hands and gave a slightly hysterical laugh.  “‘Oh,’ he says,” he mumbled to himself.

“Wait,” Thomas said as an idea came to him.  “What do you mean, getting my Anxiety to not have a panic attack?  Don’t you mean give me a—”

“I said what I said, Sanders,” the Side said, shifting and crossing his arms.  “You think your fight or flight reflex is doing any better than I am right now?  I’m sure he’d be delighted to hear that you think so after running himself ragged trying to keep you up with the constantly changing safety measures.”

“My fight or flight?  Wait, is he that or my—”

“His role is to keep you safe,” the Side cut him off.  “Meaning he’s the part of you in charge of that particular set of responses.  His current title is Anxiety, and I think you can take a few guesses as to why.”

“His… title?  I’m sorry, this is a lot to process,” Thomas said, leaning back on the couch and rubbing at his temple.

The Side’s gaze softened.  “I’m sorry, Thomas,” he said gently.  “I don’t mean to be so intense right off the bat.  To be honest, I’m rather stressed, and I… did not expect this to happen.  Being able to speak to you was not something I ever considered would be possible.”

“Yeah, I think I’m with you there,” Thomas said, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees.  “I never expected to talk to a part of my personality face to face.  Are you sure I’m not hallucinating?”

“You’re not,” the Side said, looking amused.  “I believe I was summoned here because you needed me.”

“I just wanted someone to talk to,” Thomas muttered.

“That’s completely understandable,” the Side said.  He moved forward and gestured to the empty couch.  “May I sit?”

“Uh, okay,” Thomas said, shifting to face the Side as he did so.  “Can I ask some questions now?”

“We probably should slow down for a minute,” the Side said with a nod.  “What are your questions?”

“Uh…” Thomas wasn’t quite sure where to start.  He could certainly say he hadn’t expected to meet this “Side” of himself today.  He didn’t even know how this worked, or what to call this Side, or—

Oh.  Maybe that was a place to start?

“What should I call you?” Thomas asked.

“The title I would prefer is Self-Interest.”

Thomas nodded.  “Self-Interest.  Okay.  And Anxiety.  Is it just the two of you?”

“No, there are others.” Self-Interest shook his head.  “Don’t even get me started on what Intrusive Thoughts is doing to the mindscape right now.”

Thomas furrowed his brow.  “Okay, hold up.  You’re saying that all of these ‘Sides’ represent different parts of my personality?”

Self-Interest raised an eyebrow.  “I thought we clarified this already.”

“No, I mean, why are you explaining to me everything that’s going on with them?  Shouldn’t I just be talking to them directly?”

Self-Interest snorted.  “Oh, yes, you’re definitely ready for that.  You won’t even admit that you’re not okay, and you want to meet your Intrusive Thoughts.”

“Wh— why do I even have a whole side for Intrusive Thoughts?  Anxiety I can get, but—”

“It’s… complicated,” Self-Interest said.  “Technically he’s part of your Creativity, but, well, let’s just say there’s two Sides to that.  Creative thoughts you welcome, and ones you… don’t.  As much.”

“Well, can he start working on ones I want to have again?  YouTube is basically my only source of income right now, since I can’t do any auditions for shoots or plays.  If I don’t come up with an idea soon, I’ll be in trouble.”

Self-Interest blinked at him.  “You… want me to tell Intrusive Thoughts… what to do.”

“Well, yeah,” Thomas said.  Had he explained it wrong or something?

Self-Interest looked at him for another long moment.  “Sure, I’ll get right on that.  Good luck getting him away from diseases and death right now, though, that’s basically all you’ve been exposing us to lately.  Which connects back to my main point.”  Self-Interest leaned in.  “Stop trying to pretend you’re okay, and stop avoiding things that are going to actually make you feel better.”

“What…” Thomas said, not quite sure what Self-Interest was referring to.

“I get it, it’s hard to stop telling yourself you’re alright.  That’s sort of my fault.  But we’re not going to get anywhere like this.” Self-Interest paused.  “You know what, I have a better idea.  Give me that.”

Self-Interest reached over Thomas and grabbed the TV remote from the coffee table, flipping the TV on.  “Oh, are we watching the news?” Thomas asked, settling in next to him.

“Ha.  Nope.  We’re watching Disney movies.”

Thomas blinked.  “But—”

“Thomas, we both desperately need a self care day.  Watching Disney will help you, and helping you will help me.  We’re doing this.  Sit back and relax.  If you’d like, I’ll allow you to make some popcorn first.”

“Uh… I’m good,” Thomas said.  Normally he’d start feeling guilty the moment he started considering doing something just for his enjoyment with everything that was happening, but for some reason the feeling felt sort of… muted right now.  Maybe it was the fact that Self-Interest was there?

Either way, Thomas leaned back into the couch as Self-Interest started playing The Little Mermaid and relaxed for the first time in a while.  Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

Chapter Two

[krabstick32]

Hii!! I don't know how much characters you do write in one scenario/hc but maybe can I have giyuu, sanemi and uzui reacting to a foreigner reader? (since in their timeline Japan started to open up to the world I think) how would their reactions be to their different features ♡♡♡

Home Is Where You Are (Headcanon: Giyuu!Sanemi!Tengen x Foreigner!Reader)

Pairing: Giyuu, Sanemi, Uzui (x Foreigner!Reader) Synopsis: Headcanon/scenario for our boys meeting a foreign civilian reader uwu

Tags/warnings: There are brief mentions of stalkers/kidnappers (i swear it’s not what it sounds like, but I’ll put it here just in case), cursing (bc of Sanemi), and poly relationships (bc of Tengen and his wives!!), but apart from that, I don't think there are any.

a/n: waaa thank you so much for requesting anon!! I decided to do all of them and i had fun! but I'm sorry if they’re a bit OOC :(( i got too used to just writing giyuu but I hope I was able to give Sanemi and Tengen some justice :((

anyway, please enjoy <33

Giyuu Tomioka

You two meet at a bustling city (kind of like the one where tanjiro meets muzan). You’re there for business, him on a mission.

He wouldn’t notice that you look different at first—he’s too focused on trailing the demon following you, that he didn’t even realize how creepy he’d look to you

Would definitely be mistaken as a stalker or kidnapper by you

don't get me wrong!! he isn’t, but we all know babie is terrible at communicating uwu

Anyway

The whole night, he’d be trailing you, and to be quite honest, you’re getting really nervous from him following you

You tried losing him in a series of crowds and ducked behind an alleyway to hide. To your relief, he isn’t there when you take a precautionary look back

When you breath out a sigh, there’s a lone figure hidden in the shadows and for a moment you think it's your kidnapper

Oh how wrong you were.

“Look, can you stop following me? If you don’t, I’m reporting you to the police! You’ll regret i—“

“Regret what, missy?” The thing—it’s definitely not human—saunters closer, cornering you in between the walls before you’re hit with the foulest stench of rotten blood mixed with ash and acid when it breaths over your neck. “Having you as my late night meal? You look absolutely exquisite! Different, but… you would probably taste divine with having some foreign blood.”

All you can do is whimper silently as this thing drags a sharp fingernail over the delicate skin of your neck, its finger wrapping around a tad too tight

“Ah, what a delicacy!” It giggles. “Rather than regret, I think I’ll quite enjoy having you as my late. Night. Snack.”

With how frozen your body was, you couldn’t even shut your eyes as the thing moved to bite your flesh off, but a flash of blue made your world crawl in slow motion as your kidnapper (now savior) kicks the thing an impressive distance away before moving to stand in front of you.

The man mutters a quiet “dont look” and you do as told, looking away as you hear the sound of sword slicing through flesh.

When you look back, he’s sheathing his sword and there was no trace of your assailant save for the faint trace of ash and the clothes on the ground

“Are you alright?” He asks, turning to you. “I lost sight of you and that’s probably how it nearly got you. I’m sorry.”

“What just—what was I, who are you…that?” You stutter out, but he seems to understand what you’re asking.

“It was a demon, and I’m a demon hunter. It’s been targeting you and I was following it to take it down.” Normally, you’d call him a lunatic—because who in their right mind would believe in demons?—but the clothes on the floor, the ash in the air, and the thing, the demon that was about to kill you a few moments ago were proof enough.

“Oh. Oh, A… a demon—and a demon hunter. Was… was that why you were following me? Oh my god… I… I thought you were going to kidnap me!” You laugh, a touch too hysterically—the adrenaline was still pumping through your veins and it was making you feel loopy and lightheaded. “But no, I—I’m fine and It’s not your fault. Thank you. For saving me.”

You introduce yourself, and that’s when he really notices that you’re a foreigner because that’s the only time he was able to look at your face and your name sounds really… different. Pretty, but different.

“Are you a foreigner?” Ah, ever so blunt and straight to the point, our giyuu

“No!” You gasp, your tone light and joking, with a faint hint of sarcasm. He looked too cute not to tease. “What possibly gave it away? But jokes aside, yes, I am. I’m settling down here permanently for business.”

He nods a little embarassed, and you two stare at each other for a moment before looking away immediately because both of you think the other is too pretty. Giyuu thinks you’re the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen.

Anyway, he’ll escort you back to your temporary lodging (in fear of another demon, and in hopes to spend a little more time with you), and once you’re safe through the gates, you’ll offer to take him out to grab lunch the next day as a ‘thank you’ meal...maybe as a date—haha…just kidding!!… unless…?

Yeah, it was a date uwu

Now, you two would often take walks in the park after a date (or maybe the walk is already your date), and he would always, without fail, escort you back to your home like a gentleman

walks in the park is now one of your go-to for dates and taking you home after is now a habit

Moving on!!

You want to get to know him, and he wants to get to know you too, but he’s not very good with talking

So when initiating conversation, his questions are short, but are filled with genuine curiosity and you answer back in kind, with your own questions in hand.

Kind of like your own version of 20 questions

Would listen very intently when you talk about your home country, and makes sure he remembers every little thing

Also!! He loves your voice

He especially likes the way you say his name

There’s just that something about your accent that makes him feel all warm and fuzzy, and calmer than lull, his eleventh form—he could just listen to you all day

If you like to sing, he would fall in love all over again when he hears you sing in your language

He treasures the time he spends with you, and adores the time he catches you singing, may it be when you two are just spending time together, or you just doing your thing, babie is happy and filled with love and affection™

Sometimes when he has trouble falling asleep (which is often), just lay down with him and sing him a lullaby from your country and poof, he is out like a light.

The way you sing the words are just so nice and soothing and enchanting, and he loves it—loves you—so much, even if he can’t understand the words.

IN CONCLUSION: he wouldn’t notice that you look different at first (i mean lets face it, his coworkers’ physical features were much different compared to you) but once he does, I don’t think he’d care very much. He loves you for you, and if you’re someone who was born in a different country, it wouldn’t matter because he would still love you and protect you with all his heart.

He still thinks you’re the most beautiful girl he’s seen and to this day, he thinks that out of all the men you could have chosen, he is forever lucky that you fell in love with him. Regardless, he thanks the gods everyday that he has you by his side and does his best to make you feel loved and happy.

Sanemi Shinazugawa

You two would meet in a bakery

Sanemi just came from a mission around the city, and he’s looking for a treat when he enters a newly opened bakery. It seemed to be good, he’s seen a lot of people come in and leave with bags full of pastries.

Sanemi is slightly freaking out when they don’t have ohagi

“What do you mean you don’t have Ohagi? It’s a goddamn staple in bakeries!”

Even if his words have a bit of a bite to them, he surprisingly doesn’t make much of a scene, but his ohagi-less tirade is ended when you, the owner of the bakery come by to save your employee

“What’s Ohaki?” You ask, genuine curiosity coloring your voice and your accent.

Did you just?? mispronounce it and didn’t know what it was?? Sanemi is about to give you a piece of his ohagi-less mind, but he pauses, processing how pretty you were in a second before he blushes and lets out a frustrated grumble.

You thought he turned red because of anger, but really he was just flustered uwu

Of course, He would freak, but it’s not as bad as what the others would think. Though he would still proceed take up your time proclaiming the good news of ohagi

You didn’t seem to mind though, in fact you even look more and more interested as he goes on about how good it tastes

“That sounds really good actually,” You hum, trying to imagine how amazing the texture and flavor would go over with your tastebuds.

“Of course it’s fucking good.”

An idea pure as gold, strikes you as you energetically lean back forward and flash him a smile. “Then, you’d have to take me sometime to try it!”

Poor baby is too caught up with his love for ohagi that he immediately agrees and doesn’t even realize that this was a date

“Ha?! What’d you say, lady? Fine! Meet me here tomorrow and I’m taking you out to taste the best ohagi you will EVER have!”

You two meet up at the same time at the same bakery, your face flushed, and Sanemi none the wiser that this was in fact, a date.

He realizes though once he sees you arrive with your face flushed a little red and your clothes a little nicer than what he saw you wear the day before.

In my mind’s eye, he is a tsundere and he will always be a tsundere

So he blushes too, but hides it and says it's because he wants to eat the damn ohagi already!

You end up liking ohagi, and oop Sanemi ends up liking you

The bakery is pretty much your usual meet-up place

Asks about your culture and stuff and buys you some thoughtful gifts that would remind you of your home country, or cute local knick knacks that he thinks you might enjoy

But would definitely pretend that that wasn’t his intention

“Ugh, I accidentally got this, and I would never use something like this so. You have it. Fuckin’ throw it, burn it, use it or whatever, hell, I don’t really care.”

But he does, and you both know it.

Even if his reasoning barely makes any sense (c’mon, how can you accidentally buy something you know you won’t use??), you’re still really thankful when he hands you his “accidental” present for the day and you would show him this really pretty smile. Your eyes are glowing, and your hair is like a halo around your face and—

Sanemi thinks you look like an angel

Once, Sanemi said that you look really really pretty. He was embarrassed, but when he sees your blush darken and smile widen, he decides that it’s worth it and casually tells you every time you meet

When he sees you using his gift, he’d try so hard to hide the wide smile on his face

You get him some stuff too, some little trinkets that remind you of him. Sometimes if you come across ohagi in your many travels, you’ll buy him every flavor and taste it with him once you two meet up.

Down the line, you’d also consider adding Traditional Confectioneries to your menu and bring him in to critique them.

“So? How does that one taste?” A bead of sweat trails down your temple, as you anxiously waited for his feedback. You breathe out a sigh of relief though when his eyes open and his head bobs in affirmation.

“Eh. Texture-wise you nearly got the hang of it. Taste wise? A little too sweet.”

You nod and rush to make some corrections into your little notebook of recipes and make a new batch for him to try. You knew you were close, and damn it all if you weren’t going to perfect this today.

“How about now?” You push him a tray of the new batch, hoping that this would be it.

“Not bad.” Is all he says, and in the Sanemi language you’ve gotten used to these past few months, that means that it was one of the best things he’s ever tasted, and would be the highest form of praise you were ever going to get from him.

You show him a smile that makes his heart beat faster, and move to grab your notebook to write down the final recipe.

Needless to say, the customers—foreign and local alike—love the traditional sweets. Particularly the ohagi—they say it’s the best they’ve ever tasted. You had Sanemi’s high taste to thank for that uwu

He likes to pretend that he’s not soft for you.

But once you two have been together for a while, he’d show you more of his vulnerable side

Sometimes, he’d even braid or play with your unique and pretty hair, just like how he used to do with his younger siblings.

When you cook your favorite dish back in your homeland, he gets pretty addicted to it too (a pretty high bar if you ask me). It is now his second favorite food, and he learns to make it so he could surprise you!!

And while Ohagi may be Sanemi’s number one, when you’re around, you take first place.

Tengen Uzui

He’d be very flamboyant about it

I don't think there any other way for him to approach it really

But i think he’d be taken with you once he sees you

He sees you in the city and doesn’t hesitate to walk up to you and strike a conversation

He immediately notices that you’re not from around here from your looks and your accent just pretty much confirmed it 

You’re just very flamboyant—we’re not just talking about physical appearances here, but there’s just something different about you and the way you carry yourself, that just catches his eye and attention 

But he thinks it just adds your charm and would be very sweet about it!!!

He was so caught up in talking to you that you two don't notice the time pass and now its night

Even if he should really be getting ready to patrol for demons, he offers to take you back home but you decline

“Hey, it's getting late and it’s dangerous to walk alone at night. I can walk you home if you’d like.” Tengen says as he looks at you after noticing how dark it’s gotten.

“Oh, I appreciate the offer, but it’s alright!” You say, touched that he’s worried after meeting you so soon. “It’s just nearby, really and I can handle myself, don’t worry.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, i’ll be fine. Thank you for worrying though.” Tengen stays quiet for a moment until he looks back up to you and speaks. “How about…we meet each other tomorrow? Tomorrow, same time, same place—Just so I know you got home safe.”

You giggle, a little flustered as a light blush dusts your cheeks. “Oh, so like a date?”

“Yeah, like a date.” He flashes you a handsome smile that makes you feel giddy down to your toes.

“Okay. I’ll see you then.”

A few moments after you leave, Tengen’s jaunty walk down the park is interrupted when his crow swoops down to his shoulder and cries out in distress

“Demon is close by! Targets young girls walking alone!”

A chill runs down his spine. His head is running through all the horrible scenarios of you dead on the ground as he runs after the direction you left, hoping that you’re okay and you’re not a target.

He arrives just in time to see you brace yourself from the demon. His blade runs through the neck and he rushes to help you up from the floor after making sure the demon is dead

“Are you hurt? Gods, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know there was a demon around.”

“Oh, so that was a demon?” You seem fine, but Tengen could feel the guilt gnawing at him. For a moment, he forgot that demons existed and was able to forget how dangerous his job was. The least he could do was let you know.

“Yes, it was a demon and I’m a demon hunter. It’s my job to kill demons that hurt innocent humans.” He looks at the ground, but his train of thought is interrupted when he feels a hand on his arm. 

“Hey, look at me. I’m fine, you were just in time.”

“...I’m walking you home.” You don’t argue this time, choosing to thank him and hide your shaking hands. He notices though, and gently grabs one, letting you to lead the way.

You arrive home safe and in one piece when one of you speaks up again

“Hey, about tomorrow, it’s alright if you don’t want to go anymore. I understan—“

“Hush. I’m going, and no demon can stop me.”

“Okay.” The two of you smile at each other, and Tengen feels the warmth from your hand seep into his skin.

When you’re almost through your door, you turn around with determination in your eyes, and ask him to lean down a little.

You still have to go on your tiptoes to reach him, but the look of confusion on his face melts into surprise as you press a chaste kiss on his cheek.

“I um… I’ll see you tomorrow?” A bright blush coats your cheeks as you look up at him from your eyelashes.

“Yeah.”

“Okay, take care.”

“You too. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Tengen notes that your face was burning as you nod and rush to your opened door, throwing him a wave before you shut the door.

As you two date, he’d ask you a lot of questions, ask you for stories, and even asks you to teach him some stuff from your country—cooking, traditions… how one goes about courting, the whole shebang

You find it flamboyant of him that he wants to know you more

You tell him as such and he laughs when he realizes that he’s rubbing off on you

He’s also very protective of you (and his wives uwu)

Don’t get me wrong, he respects you and doesn’t think you’re helpless, but he worries, especially after what happened in your first meeting

If he hasn’t convinced you to live with him (and his wives uwu) yet, he would deck your house out in wisteria charms to ward off them demons.

He’d also tell you to carry a wisteria charm at all times, especially if he’s not around

If he already has his three lovely wives, they would immediately love you and you four would sometimes play dress up. They’d hand you some of their kimonos and you’d give them some of your dresses and you all have fun—Suma, Makio, and Hinatsuru would also love playing with your hair and makeup!! Tengen would join in too at times~

If tengen is still single when he meets you, then only the two of you would be the one doing dress up (you cannot convince me that tengen would not play with your hair or makeup)

you’d look very flamboyant either way though and even without the makeup or the fancy dress, Tengen would still find you flamboyantly gorgeous

(Again) if he’s already married with his three wives, he would love seeing the three of you bond with each other

(You and his wives love each other too, so you five are just one big lump of happiness and affection)

Like aaaa his heart feels full when he sees all the women he loves in his life getting along and caring for each other!!

He treats you all equally and showers all of you with his love and attention

Tengen will forever be glad that he met you, and got to you before the demon could, because you added so much love and happiness into his life

A/N: ngl, this was a nightmare to format u—u hope it’s not too difficult to read though!!

this is also the first time i did a headcanon so i hope i did good!! if you have some feedback or got a request, feel free to message me or send me an ask uwu thank you for reading <33

[kweebtrash]

Pay Attention, Dumbass

Pairing: Demon!Jaehyun x OC

Genre: Smut/ Comedy?? Maybe?

Features: demonic fingering

Summary: two idiot roommates accidentally summon two ancient demons. Forced into a contract, they only had two choices; die or make a deal with the devil. The most logical answer was to make them their boyfriends of course (this is lowkey a bad slice of life hentai, i swear). The demons know nothing about the human world and have to deal with “lessons” from their human girlfriends.

A/N: This used to be on my Kofi which im closing down and just putting everything up on here. This isnt continuing.

Masterlist  Johnny Version Here

-----

"You haven't moved in hours. Don't you do anything else?"

I dug into the chip bag that laid on my desk and grabbed a handful to shove into my mouth. "Of course i do," I said through the mush of chips. "I went to the bathroom."

Jae sighed. "Not what i meant. Do you ever leave your room?"

I shrugged and downed some of my soda. "Yeah. I go to work sometimes."

"Where do you even work at?"

"A bar." I went back to clicking through attacks and swerving around opponents. "Guys, come on, come on, come on!" I said into the headphone and mic set i had on. "Someone head towards the point! At least start trying to take it over!"

"A bar?" He asked, confused. "What is that?"

"Its uh..." I drifted off as i propelled myself forward and released my ultimate attack, sending my mecha exploding in different directions. I quickly reloaded myself into the machine and continued my rampage of gunshots. "Like uh... drinks. Liquor."

"Libations?"

I snorted at the stupid word. "Yeah, whatever. That."

"And that's the only time you leave?" He continued asking.

"What the fuck is this? Twenty questions?" I grabbed another handful of chips. "On the left! Move out the way!" I grumbled at my friends who were playing online with me.

"I'm just curious since you don't have the capability to rid yourself of the sin of sloth."

I glared over at him as he was reclined back on my bed, arms behind his head, and torso on full display as he refused to wear a shirt (not that i was complaining). "I do things! I just like playing video games more! Sometimes i go to school too!"

"And what proof do you have of this because i never see it."

"My never ending debt and crippling anxiety." One of my online friends asked who i was talking too and i sucked my teeth. "My boyfriend is being annoying." Queue the kissy noises and jokes of the very mature men i gamed with.

"Oh? Im annoying?" Jae grumbled. "Whats really annoying is seeing you rot away while im forced to stay by your side. Hours and hours of boredom and still im trapped in the confines of this ridiculous home with nothing to do."

I set my headset down as the round finished and turned my desk chair towards him. "Are you upset that im not paying attention to you?"

He sat up quickly and scoffed. "Please. What do i need the attention of a human for?"

"You certainly want it when you're horny." I giggled. "Heh...horny...you have horns also so it's...anyway. Are you being a baby because you want attention?"

"I am not an infant. You are infuriating. Of course i had to get stuck with you."

"Oohhh, thats how it is. Yep, definitely being a baby, now with a temper tantrum."

Jae's eyes glowered and his claws dug into my mattress. "There are so many things i want to do to you right now."

"Ooh daddy." I snorted and put my headset back on. "Sounds kinky."

"Which is it? Am i an infant or a father?! I dont understand!"

I sighed and stood up. "Do you want to try playing with me?" I gestured at the now vacant spot of my gaming chair.

Jae stared at me then the seat. "Play that ridiculous thing?"

"Yeah," i shrugged and looked down at my feet. "It's something i like to do and you're my boyfriend sooo...i guess...i mean..." I twiddled with my thumbs as my cheeks began to warm up. "It'd be cool if you tried to like some of the stuff i do."

"Is that what boyfriends do?"

"Y-yeah...sorta. Look do you want to or not?" I huffed in frustration.

He stood up and made his way over, glaring down at me with his humanized yet still terrifying eyes. "Fine. I will try it."

I couldn't help the dorky smile that beamed across my face. "Ok, cool. Sit down."

He placed himself in the seat and i sat on his lap then scooted the chair closer to the desk. I positioned his fingers on the designated keys for offense and defense as well as the computer mouse. "Here, why don't i just guide your fingers the first few rounds so you get the hang of it?"

"Whatever."

The smile started to fade as i covered his hands with mine that seemed to dwarf in comparison. "Put your stupid claws away. You cant game right with your pretty manicure."

He growled like an irritated dog and slid the claws back into his skin. With his back pressed to mine, he ended up resting his chin on my shoulder, watching as i joined a new round. His somewhat chubby cheek felt warm against mine and i willed myself not to kiss it. It wasn't like he was going to respond anyway. He was cold hearted in every sense of the word, even when he fucked it almost seemed like a chore. It still was amazing and i loved every second of it but the distant feelings was strong. Of course it wasn't a great idea to make a demon your damn boyfriend but there was rarely a time where i made a smart decision.

Deciding to suck it up and just concentrate i pressed Jae's fingers down as i helped launch attacks and maneuver us around the screen. "This is nothing but hectic destruction " he commented.

"Yep, pretty much."

"And you enjoy this?"

"Absolutely."

"I am pleased by this." I felt a slight nip at my neck as he purred into my ear. "Very pleased."

"Pleased that i like shooting people and destroying things?"

"Exactly. Its quite...sexy."

"Oh my god. You're a dork!" I snorted. "Its just a damn game, weirdo." I pressed his fingers down harder, not wanting to slow down and ruin my winning streak. "Keep up."

"Well when you're crushing my fingers its hard to do so."

"Just follow me. You dont even have to move them."

"I would like to move them but-"

"Shh, give me a sec. Bastards are on my fucking ass! God i hate when they just gang up on you for no FUCKING REASON!" I screamed at the monitor. "Such dicks. Fuckin' dicks."

"Your mouth is filthy."

"Yeah you said that when it was full of cum too."

"Hm...that was also enjoyable." Another nip to my neck, this time followed by small sucks and kisses. "Continue using your filthy mouth and destroying things. This at least is semi entertaining now."

"Glad you think so. Quit kissing my neck, its distracting."

"Distracting?! You enjoy that! You said it this morning. Specifically 'Jae'," He faked a slightly high pitched moan. "'Keep kissing my neck, oh god'."

I flushed with embarrassment and rammed my elbow into his chest. "I already have to deal with dicks online i dont need go deal with you too."

"I suppose you wouldn't want to deal with this then?"

I felt him press his hips against my ass. The grey sweatpants he had on left nothing to the imagination and i swallowed hard as my concentration wavered. "S-stop." I whimpered.

"I dont think i will." One hand left the mouse and pressed against my stomach to keep me in place. "Support that. I will control these buttons."

I pressed my lips together and simply nodded. How he had the grace to continue slight grinds against me i didn't know but i was responding to them eagerly. I arched my back and wiggled my ass every time he rolled forward, creating a sinful friction between us. My eyes drifted from the screen momentarily to see that his fingers were working perfectly over the keys as if he had played for years. "You're...actually winning."

"What? As if its hard?" He tsked. "Humans have simple minds and-WHY IS THIS MAN PUNCHING ME FROM THE SKY?"

I froze our sensual movements to cackle loudly. "That's just Doomfist. He's so OP and stupid."

"OP?"

"Overpowered, meaning there's no reason for him to even be here."

"Im going to destroy him completely until he can never return."

"They all respawn, Jae. That's how the game continues."

"Not if I can help it. I want that mongrel dead. Get that clicky thing ready. I'm aiming to destroy."

"You think I'm sexy when I want to kill things but I think you're cute, you know that?" I turned towards him to press a kiss to his cheek yet my lips connected with his when he moved.

"I am not cute....but you are...or whatever." I wondered if that tint on his cheeks was real or just my imagination.

I smiled to myself anyway, pleased with his compliment and his valiant effort to enjoy the same things I did. He was truly acting like a boyfriend-one that felt genuine even if he crawled up from hell. Just before, he was complaining about how never moved but we stayed like this for a couple more hours, even sharing snacks and competing with my online friends. There came a point in the night, though, when searching for a server with an open game slowed tremendously. Minutes ticked by and still nothing. Jae's drumming of his fingers against the wooden desk in impatience was starting to drive me crazy. "Doing that isn't going to make it go faster, you know."

"This is about as interesting as watching you play on that small screen."

"We've gone over this. Its a phone, a cell phone, a portable phone."

"Yes, yes. That stupid thing with all the colors. Its like this stupid thing." He pointed at the computer screen. "Only smaller."

"You seem to enjoy the big stupid thing judging by how many kill streaks you got."

His lips tweaked into a smirk. "That's because im an expert killer. None of them deserved to live."

"You did get my rank up and some loot boxes so i guess i should thank you."

"Yes, bask in my glory and show me how grateful you are." His hand that had remained around my waist for most of our play time started creeping its way to my thighs.

"Are you wanting me to show you how grateful i am or are you trying to show me how desperate you are?" I snickered.

"I am not desperate. Since the stupid game is not cooperating im just trying to inject some extra curricular activities."

"Such as?"

He set his head on my shoulder again and i felt his fangs dig in deeper into my neck, making me let out a drawn out whine. "J-jae!"

He chuckled from deep within his throat as i felt his tongue trail from the column of my neck up to my earlobe. "Such as...watching you squirm when i add the slightest of pressure," Two of his fingers slid between the junction of my thighs and pressed firmly against the center of my shorts. "Here."

The tips of his fingers began gliding against the fabric, the soft cotton adding the smallest amount of friction against my clit. My teeth sunk into my bottom lip as my leg began to bounce. I wanted to wait for a new game, my win streak was too precious to me but Jae was something else. Trying not to make it too obvious i adjusted myself on his lap, spreading my legs a little wider. His fingers garnered more room but he didnt move them under the fabric. Instead he kept torturing me with slow movements, occasionally pushing into the most sensitive areas. "Who's enjoying the attention now?" He teased.

Suddenly a little ping from my computer signaled that a game had finally been found. My attention quickly shifted and i put my headset back on and got into position. Jae reeled back in confusion. "Are you really going to continue to play?"

"Well...yeah. I mean it took forever to get into this game. I dont wanna lose it."

"Hey, can you be healer?" I heard my friend say into my ear piece.

"Fuck you! Im not going to be healer! You be healer, you twat waffle!"

Jae let out a heavy and annoyed sigh. I almost felt bad until i was lagging behind everyone else. I had to-

I felt his finger finally move beneath my shorts and press into my hole gently. I had to admit that he had already gotten me worked up enough to provide him with some lubrication and he slid in easily. "C-cut it out." I stammered.

"Oh no, dont mind me. Your game is more important. Keep going."

"I just mean-ah-ahh!" I tried to snap my mouth shut before my moan slipped out for fear of my friends hearing but it was too late. Jae had moved the seat of my shorts aside and pumped his finger faster, occasionally curling it an inch or two from my entrance. I covered the mic part of the headset and glared back at him. "If you dont s-stop-"

I snapped my thighs shut as he added another finger, the 'come here' motions growing stronger. Immediately, he landed a harsh tap to my outer thigh, a small growl floating in the tense air around us. "I said keep going."

"Well i would if you just-HEY! MOTHERFUCKER! I LIKED THESE SHORTS!" I looked down at the center of my shorts that had now been torn open because of his reappearing claws. "What's wrong with you?!"

Without a word he grabbed onto my ankles and set my legs up on the desk, keeping them spread. The clawed hand snaked its way to my throat and with the slightest pressure i could feel them digging in. It wasn't enough to hurt but certainly enough to make my entire body shudder with electricity. "I-i cant reach the keyboard." I whispered.

He scooted the chair closer to the desk, making my legs almost rest on it fully. "Wheres that tappy thing you have?"

"Tappy thing?"

"Where you move the sticks."

"You mean a controller?"

"You can plug it in right?" He questioned as his thrusting resumed which made my mind mush in a second.

"U-uh yeah-um its uh...d-draw-drawer!"

He let my throat go and allowed me to reach into my desk drawer and grab my gaming controller. I plugged it into my computer's usb port as my friends argued about me not pulling my weight and being static. I lied about my game lagging and shifted the mic up so i sounded muffled and they wouldn't be able to hear how much if a slut Jae made me. "There. Now you can play. Keep up that win streak. Have to get the gold and boxes, right? Have to play with your friends and ignore me, right?" He nipped at my ear as his fingers slipped out of me to rub circles against my clit. "Have to beg me to let you cum, right?

"P-please dont make me do that!"

"See? You're begging already. What a good girl you are."

My entire body tensed at those two words and i let my controller go for a moment to grab his hand and press his fingers back into me. "Keep going. I want you to keep going."

"I could but i dont have to. Maybe i can use the tappy thingy instead. More people I can kill." He jerked his fingers away and pushed them against my lips. "Clean these off for me. Dont want to get it dirty, do i?"

"Jaaaeeeee," i whined and leaned in for a kiss but he turned his head away.

"Clean. Them."

Reluctantly, i swallowed his fingers down, lapping between and tasting myself. He tested my gag reflex by moving them to the back of my throat but pulling away when it became to much. It was nothing but entertainment for him, a game of cat and mouse that made me feel doomed. "You know you love being inside me." I panted as my mouth was now freed. "I can ride-"

"Oh, how unfortunate. You died. Now we have to wait to return. You're too distracted, Ivy. A shame, truly."

I didn't care anymore. In the few seconds i had between my respawning i stood up and turned towards him, pulling his sweatpants down to stay around his knees. He had no qualms about his erection. I had felt it, of course, but it was like he paid it no mind, like it wasn't an inconvenience and he enjoyed teasing me instead. Was it another way to give me a taste of my own medicine? What a bastard! "Come here." I tried to sound as sultry as possible but he just laughed and took the controller from me.

"Lets see if i can figure this out now." Jae looked at the buttons and pressed at a few before moving the joy sticks to test them out. "Strange but i believe I can-"

It was my turn to cut him off. I lifted his head and focused on his eyes, angered by the smirk still on his lips. "Fuck me."

"Nope."

That wasn't the answer i wanted.

He craned his head to the side to look at the monitor. "Can you move? Im trying to play here."

"Shut up! You didn't even care about playing before!" I pouted as my cheeks flushed both in annoyance and embarrassment. I sat back on his lap anyway, chest to chest, and guided him inside me. Not a sound from him or even a look. He was focused on fighting now which made me want to punch him but i figured if i fucked myself on him long enough i could break his resolve. I gripped onto the back of the chair and started working up and down his length, adding kisses to his neck in between whimpers. "Jae...come on..."

"Ooh, double kill."

"I swear to god! If you dont-"

"No god, just demons."

"Yeah, you're acting like a demon. A demon asshole who wont even pay attention to his girlfriend! I cant believe you're doing this!"

He finally looked at me, dead in the eyes and it made me nervous. "It doesn't feel good, does it?"

Ok, ok. So i had learned my lesson. It was a two way street and maayybeee i wasn't being the best partner but i never figured he wanted anything from me. He never expressed a lot if affection or wonderment at what i did throughout my day. How was i supposed to know? I guess with his lack of knowledge about human things he truly had nothing to do unless i was guiding him. Fuck, now i really felt bad. What a buzzkill. "Im sorry...i understand how you feel now. I didn't think you cared. I know were just together because of the contract. I thought you still hated humans and didn't want to exist beside them."

"I do hate humans but you're my human now. Unfortunately, i have to rely on you and its maddening to be stuck here. In hell i did hundreds of things. I had a job. I had meetings with other demons. I planned wars, participated in real battles, created weapons. I was someone. Here, im nothing but a prisoner."

"Nonono! Please dont feel like that...i dont want to make you feel like that. Please..." I felt my eyes watering and i quickly buried my face in the crook of his neck. He sighed and tossed the controller on the table and shut my laptop. He kicked off the rest of his pants and with ease picked me up and led me to the bed.

"Dont ever speak of this. Not to Johnny, not to Xan. No one, understand?"

I nodded quickly as my back hit the mattress and he stayed above me. "You will do what i say just as much as im forced to do as you say. Love me unconditionally. Break me free from this world and show me why i shouldn't kill everyone in it."

I swallowed hard and nodded again. "I promise. I promise you everything."

"Good. Secondly...i would like to do battle against you in those games."

I couldn't help the giggle i let out. I didn't expect him to say something like that after being so serious. "Oh? You think you can beat me?"

"Im a strategist and a warrior. Of course i can."

"Oh, ok. You play a few rounds of Overwatch and suddenly you're the master. Just dont say anything when i kick your ass, bitch."

He chuckled deeply and snapped his hips without warning. He had still remained inside me and the sudden movement made me cry out loud. "Bring it on then. We'll see who's the better warrior here. Now," his eyes shifted into pure darkness and his fangs glistened with temptation. "Lets see how fast you can give in."

[jasontoddiefor]

Hello! I was reading the « fic rec » question and i would be reeeeaaaallly glad to have a look at what you liked! Anything Anakin-related, and preferably AU or fix it (the nile ain’t just a river yada yada...) Thaaaaaanks

Anakin fix-its? You’ve come to the right place. These are all the stories in my bookmarks tagged as “fix it”! There are more but I do not have the patience to search for all of them rn. Not all of these are as Jedi positive as I like my fanfic, but they’re all 10/10 reads regardless.

Title: The Giver Summary: Anakin had pretty much adjusted to life at the Jedi temple. He went to class, he trained with his master, and he had begun to have strange dreams. A friendly figure would meet him at night when he closed his eyes and went to sleep. As they build up their friendship, Anakin begins to slowly confide in them, telling him about his worries, hopes, and dreams. They offer guidance and wisdom, watching Anakin grow to be a Jedi Knight, and trying to figure out where everything went wrong. Sometimes, the answers that you're looking for aren't ahead of you, they're behind. Link:https://archiveofourown.org/works/22790647

Title: If you could love the flame Summary: And Anakin knows suddenly and irrevocably that they will always be this: his two royals, his two diplomats, his two myths come to life Link:https://archiveofourown.org/works/25100827

Title: Sabbatical Summary: Anakin decides to leave the Jedi as a child, and Obi-Wan goes with him. When Palpatine sends Dooku to find them, things don't go as planned. Link:https://archiveofourown.org/works/22801789

Title: where the light won’t find you Summary: Or maybe Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka do turn to the Dark Side after Mortis. And maybe they accidentally save the galaxy anyways? (But that doesn't mean they still don't cause a headache for the rest of the galaxy.) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24460300

Title: Family is more than Blood Summary:Two souls go into a sandstorm to change their fates. They find each other instead.Or the slightly cracky AU where a bounty hunter is the one that gives the Chosen One a proper family. Link:https://archiveofourown.org/works/24469039

Title: Twin Sons Summary: “He…” Anakin took a breath, trying to force his heart to stop hammering into his ribs, and he looked back at the man kneeling behind him, trying to apologize with his eyes, “he’s like me, sir. He’s like me, he’s a slave! His Master made him do this, his Master caused him…don’t hurt him. Not when we have him here, not when…not when we can free him.” - On Slavery, Freedom, and bringing Balance to the Force. Link:https://archiveofourown.org/works/24449365

Title: Aay’han Summary:��Obi-Wan Kenobi sees what the Jedi Temple is doing to his Padawan, and he acts.This affects the galaxy in ways he never could have imagined. Link:https://archiveofourown.org/works/24280987

Title: if only i knew Summary:Newly knighted Obi-Wan Kenobi and his padawan, Anakin Skywalker, have been sent to Ryloth on a simple diplomatic envoy. While there, an unsettling incident causes Obi-Wan to look at Anakin in a new light and re-evaluate...everything.The Galaxy will never be the same.aka: "come for the obikin, stay for the tzai and deep emotional discussions that dismantle every single misunderstanding in the prequels." Link:https://archiveofourown.org/works/24353887

Title:  Ib'tuur Jatne Tuur Ash'ad Kyr'amur Summary: No one knows what the Council is hiding, but the effects ripple throughout the galaxy. Anakin knows he is loved. Former slaves are freed. A long-lost Master and his Padawan are returned to the Temple. No one understands how Obi-Wan Kenobi does these things, but they are grateful for it anyway. Link:https://archiveofourown.org/works/23581780

Coruscanti Regency The thing is, when Anakin figures it out, is that it all obviously has been there, if he’d only cared to look for it.And, admittedly, he is angry. Mostly at himself, which isn’t something that happens very often, so it’s an especially harrowing realization.All these years, he thinks, I’ve been so blind. I was so busy ignoring everything I didn’t want to think about and blaming everyone else for things not under their control that I didn’t stop to look at the bigger picture.He sighs and leans back in his chair to gaze at the ceiling.If only, he laments, true remorse coloring his thoughts, I had started watching period holodramas earlier.OR, how Plo Koon watching and subsequently introducing Ahsoka to Star Wars’ version of Downton Abbey changes Anakin's life path like nothing else could.

Reading Into Things When Ahsoka first meets the Supreme Chancellor, she gets a sense of his less than wholesome interest in her Master. Her intuition will go a long way.

Simple Steps Galaxy changing events don't just suddenly occur. They are the result of a series of small steps.

like someone bereft and lied to Anakin has a weird feeling in his stomach as he walks away from the Chancellor’s office.Who would have thought that Chancellor Palpatine would be a student of the Sith? Only to know how to keep the Republic safe from them, of course. All those priceless artifacts and holocrons that he’s collected to keep safe, hidden in his private rooms.It’s a good thing that he isn’t Force-sensitive, Anakin thinks with a small laugh, because the energy coming from all those things would have driven the poor man mad in a day. He only spent maybe twenty minutes in the room, just long enough to look at the piece the Chancellor thought might be of use to him, and his head was still spinning.

Deliver Us Jango Fett cannot save all his clones, but he can save five. He can save five, if he's willing to entrust them to the Jedi. Not just any Jedi, though. One who has already defied their Code for a child. One who knows Mandalorian culture. It is worth it, to save five innocent lives. He had no way of knowing it would change the galaxy and throw the proverbial spanner in one Sith Lord's plans.

we are all just trying to be holy  There was something warm and gentle in Depa’s voice, the way there always was, the way that was starting to sound like home to Anakin, though it would be awhile now before he recognized it. “Let me tell you a secret, my young Padawan: every Jedi has attachments.” He blinked up at her, eyes wide and confused. “Even Master Windu?” She laughed, nodding. “Even Master Windu.” -- An AU where Depa Billaba takes Anakin Skywalker as her Padawan, Obi Wan Kenobi interferes just a little bit, and Mace Windu is very, very tired.

The Price of a Name Anakin isn't quite sure how to deal with the clones he now commands, especially given that they refuse any attempts to individualize themselves. The quest to help the clones is going to go further than Anakin ever imagined.

Pebble in a River He woke up. And everything changed, but of course, that's what life does. It changes. There are so many options, so many things that seem right. And yet each of those things also feels wrong. Failure isn't an option, not again. But there is no outline for success, and he's hardly the only one in the game. He's tired, and exhausted, and so very lonely. But force help him, he's going to save as many people as he can. Really, Force, he needs the help.

Entirely of the Light With Palpatine unveiled as Sidious, Anakin manages to defeat him but ends up severely injured. As he recovers, Obi-Wan finds himself helping Padmé raise her and Anakin's children while he struggles with his feelings for both Anakin and Padmé.

Aggressive Negotiations  Everything about Skywalker was unorthodox. Even his parenting skills. A war meeting was the last place Rex expected to find a pair of toddlers, but there they were. But Rex is an officer, and a professional, and he will absolutely hold a child's hand if they ask. He's not a monster.

I had a vision! Mace Windu gets thrown back in time right to the point where Anakin is first presented to the Council. He remembers the horrors of the Clone Wars and he will do everything to change the oncoming future. "I had a vision" is becoming his most used phrase, he earns himself a Padawan with a penchant for trouble and Qui-Gon lives. All is going well, isn't it? No, there's still a republic to save, an army to deal with and most certainly a timeline to unfuck. Based on the tumblr posts by suzukiblu.

The Same Hope You will come to me sooner or later, Chosen One.Maybe once, when he was in the middle of a war that seemed like it would never end, a secret relationship dividing him between two of the people he loved most, juggling the guilt of failing his padawan. Maybe the Anakin back then had felt beholden to destiny, had had no choices, had felt like he would never have any choices.But the Anakin of now is a different person, because of his choices.He chose to leave the Order. He chose a new start.He chose acceptance, and understanding, and sometimes even forgiveness.He chose Obi-Wan. Always Obi-Wan.[[ The story of how we got here and everything that happens after. ]]

A Mind Always Free "Observe. Learn what you can. Keep everything secret. Don't be emotionless, but don't allow your emotions to show. And most importantly, take what you can get when you can get it, but let it go when it is taken away from you," Shmi Skywalker said softly, caressing the face of her son.(Anakin remembers what's like to be a slave and the Galaxy is better for it.)

Home  Time travel fix-it story with a bit of a twist. After his death, Obi-Wan wakes up on Tatooine, in the body of his padawan self. But instead of trying to prevent Anakin from Falling, he decides to change the future by stopping Qui-Gon from ever meeting the little Ani. If Anakin lives like a civilian, away from the Temple and Palpatine, the world will be a better place... right?A story in which Obi-Wan learns that Anakin Skywalker will always be his home--and his ultimate weakness--regardless of his attempts to do the right thing and stay away.

You Shall Become (Me) The Guardian of the Sith Temple doesn’t particularly care for the new breed of Sith, for all that they’ve been around for 1,000 years. But they’re the only Sith the Guardian knows about. Until one day…Alternately, "How to accidentally join the Sith without really trying."

Elements The words “Yes, Master,” come out of Anakin’s mouth so naturally that Obi-Wan suspects they were his first words. The realization comes to him so suddenly: his Padawan still has the mindset of a slave. When he decides to fix that, everything changes.

The Chosen Anakin is found by Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan when he's a newborn. It changes things.

The Sun and the Ocean Five things that happened when the twins were born early.hint: threesomes happen and assholes die.

A Time For A Yes, a Time For A Hell No The Council comes to him with a stupid, asinine plan that will only work if Anakin is in on it. Only to tell them that Anakin isn't going to be in on it.That's the moment Obi-wan decides he's had enough.[Prequel to my story "Go on, Go! Walk out that door" or 'The Scene' that started it all]

Magic Blankets C-3PO accidentally saves the galaxy by teaching a young Ani Skywalker how to crochet.Or in which the power of love and crafts solve a lot of problems and the Jedi Creche is about two inches away from kidnapping Anakin at any given moment.

[transbibennyweir]

Erica, sentence 12, please?

this one was fun to do since it was kind of different than my usual stuff :D

“Well, if you had woken up properly the first time I kicked you, I wouldn’t have had to do it four more times.”

Maybe Erica shouldn’t have agreed to them splitting up. Maybe it was totally her fault wanting to after the monster of week alone. And maybe she should’ve known better than to get herself cornered in the chem lab, which was for anyone wondering, on the opposite side of the school of where everyone else was searching. Needless to say the odds were against her, but who’s keeping score?

This time around the monster of the week was another werewolf. 

Well, correction it was Ethan as a werewolf again, who was much more of the typical fang and claw kind instead of the disappointingly cute, fluffy dog that was David. However, this time around he wasn’t as scary as the last time Ethan was temporarily turned but it was still definitely nothing to sneeze at. 

Six feet tall, ripped clothes, blood soaked teeth that came to a point, and razor sharp claws that were dragging along the sides of the walls, the sound of his nails scratching harshly against the metal lockers caused a high pitched screech that made Erica’s ears ring. Despite the beast standing up right like a person, he couldn’t speak anything more than growls and grunts.

Erica hid behind the corner, attempted to steady her breathing and considered her next moves carefully. There was no way she could fight that thing by herself without seriously getting scratched up. Vampire fangs and werewolf claws did not mix, drinking their blood would make her completely sick and getting ripped up wouldn’t do her any favors either. Not to mention she didn’t have any silver on her so she had to keep running and hiding, no better than a human. How embarrassing. 

Besides, even if she would never say it out loud Ethan was her friend, second best to Sarah. She didn’t actually want to hurt him but he wasn’t in the right mind to feel the same way towards her. Ugh, nice going Benny with another amazing spell that totally didn’t backfire again. 

The werewolf let out a howl and sniffed the air. Shit. Okay. Erica needed to think faster, there had to be somewhere where she could get some kind of upper hand before he sniffed her out. Glancing ahead she could make out a classroom sign, ‘Chem Lab.’ Bingo. If there was anything at school that would be useful in a monster fight it would be in the one place they were allowed to have open fire and chemicals. 

Erica used her skilled vampire hearing to listen in on how far away the footsteps coming towards her were, after a few seconds she figured the beast was at least a few yards off from where she was. There wasn’t much time to double check her math, so as quietly and quickly as she could used vampire speed to make her way to the classroom. It was a few doors down and lucky her on the same side of where she hid behind the lockers, staying close against the wall to keep most of her cover still. 

Vampire speed helped in making sure she got into the classroom undetected, but what would be impressive if she actually found something she could protect herself with. Times like this really made her wish she didn’t steal a new phone after every meal, never remembering phone numbers really came back to bite her in the ass. 

Regrets aside, she searched through the classroom, door locked and chairs pushed to barricade herself in to buy her some more time. There was no way Erica was going to let some overgrown dog with matted fur give her some ancient undead disease, and she definitely wasn’t going to let her nerdy friend be the one to do her in either.  

Frantically she searched through beakers filled with odd colorful liquids and containers that had varying animal parts, a plan forming in her head as she glanced at the silver dissecting knife. Another loud howl caused her shoulders to jump, nerves becoming slightly unsteady, whatever she was thinking of doing she would need to do fast. 

In the distance she could hear clawed paws running along the hallway floor, heading straight towards the chem lab. Damnit, alright, time to put this plan into action and hope she doesn’t accidentally kill him in the process. 

She took a pig’s heart out of one the containers, it was still slightly damp but tough enough that it was hard to squeeze, most of the chemicals left out would only leave burn scars so not too helpful against a friend. Although, she kept the fact they were there in the back of her mind, just in case. She grabbed the dissecting knife, slim and silver and her best bet at the moment. Erica hid behind a few desks as Ethan’s beastly form banged against the door, trying his hardest to get in, growling all the while. The walls shook from the sheer force of his body slamming repeatedly into the wall. 

Erica hoped he was making enough noise that others would hear it and come to help, anything to get her out of this stupid mess that she totally shouldn’t even be a part of. It was Benny’s dumb spell! It should be Benny’s problem! Her and Sarah could be out right now, having a late night snack but no, she was at school after dark being hunted by the dorkiest werewolf ever. Granted, she didn’t want to admit that Ethan was powerful and large and way too threatening for being such a small teen boy. 

How could someone who thought Star Track the third gen was the best version of Star Track be this dangerous?  Ugh, totally lame. Erica rolled her eyes at the idea and forced back on not dying. 

Keeping the knife in hand she stabbed the pig’s heart a few times until it leaked gross clear fluids and threw it to the opposite side of the room, her plan mostly ready by the time Ethan finally broke through the door and tossed the chairs out of his way. Most went flying, banging against the walls and falling to the floor with a loud clatter. 

Seriously, Erica was going to be pissed if no one heard all this. 

The beast sniffed through the classroom, either catching onto the smell of Erica or hopefully the pig’s heart that laid far away enough that she could make her next moves. After hearing the clash of more chairs and tables being knocked over, the sound of chewing was the signal Erica needed to stand from her hiding place. Ethan’s large form faced away and hunched over as he attempted to rip apart the animal heart, it was old and rubbery distracting him along for Erica to quickly speed over and run the small silver knife through his upper back.

Ethan let out a pained howl, dropping the heart and slouching over. Erica didn’t want to say it but she felt bad for stabbing her friend in the back, literally. The knife hadn’t gone in very deep and if it had been anything but silver it wouldn’t have hurt in the slightest, no worse than a paper cut to a beast this big, but then again he wasn’t really a beast all. 

She yanked the knife out from his left shoulder, small drips of dark blood oozing out slowly and she attempted to catch him before he crashed harshly onto the floor, her vampire strength the only thing keeping her from falling over with him.

Gently laying him down, Erica watched as the hair and claws retracted back to skin and nails, Ethan’s human face beginning to peek through as it morphed back to normal. She let out a deep sign and slouched onto the floor next to him, tired and sweaty from having to be overly careful from not getting torn to bits for the past two hours. Ethan wasn’t a real werewolf, the spell could be undone by a bit of silver striking through his skin. No one really wanted to stab their friend so Benny looked for a different spell to fix the problem, but Erica didn’t trust it would really work. A knife to the back wouldn’t hurt forever and the scare would at least be small, she reasoned. 

No one could be too upset at her, Ethan would be fine now. Probably. She glanced back at him, his breathing shallow as he laid unconscious. He’s alive at least. Although his face was sickly pale and sweat was beginning to form on his face, he looked more like he was breaking a fever than being cured of a curse.

“You and that other nerd are way too much trouble for being human,” she spoke out loud to herself. “And I’m still pissed you crashed my Friday night so you better get up now before I beat you awake.” She was mostly joking, she wouldn’t hit him too hard, just good enough to jolt him awake. 

Standing up she used her foot to poke at his body, it was limp and moved easily. At first she lightly nudged him until she got fed up with waiting and pushed harder, a kick or two towards his arms would probably force him up. It didn’t.

“Ugh, seriously? I’m not carrying you and you better not die either.” Without totally meaning to, she kicked too quick and harshly at his lower chest which caused him to start coughing. “Finally. It’s about time.” Erica rolled her eyes but watched to make sure he wasn’t coughing up blood either, a ping of worry developing in her chest that she might have over done it and hit him too hard.

He couched for a few seconds longer, dry heaving before sitting up right completely trying to catch his breath. Ethan held his chest and let in an awkward deep inhale that made a funny noise in the back of his throat. “If you’re going to die can you at least do it in a less gross way? You’re getting spit on my new boots.”

“You kicked me in the chest!” Ethan tried to shout but it came too hoarse. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Why the hell would you kick me when I’m unconscious?” 

“Well, if you had woken up properly the first time I kicked you, I wouldn’t have had to do it four more times.” Erica shot back, although it might have been a little of an exaggeration. She didn’t totally mean to kick that hard.

Ethan laid back down, his right arm lazily thrown over his face to shield his eyes despite there being barely any light in the room. “You’re crazy.” he mumbled.

Erica scoffed. “Is that any way to talk to someone who saved your life?” She said, sitting across from him on the floor, too tired to keep standing. The others would find them soon enough anyways, no point in going anywhere now.

They stayed silent for a few moments, there was nothing left to say, at least Erica thought there wasn’t anything to say. In a nervous voice Ethan asked her softly, “I didn’t hurt anyone, right? The blood isn’t from a person?”

Erica could feel the fear and worry in his question, Sarah had once asked her something similar. She was always afraid of killing someone and luckily she never did. Erica didn’t know if she could say the same for herself, some nights were a blur. 

“No,” she answered honestly. “It’s animal blood or your own. So don’t worry about it.” She looked away from him. She shouldn’t care about some nerdy human, but weirder things have happened to her. Maybe it’s because he was like Sarah in a lot of ways that Erica felt she could get along easier with him than she did the others who were too loud and active for her tastes. 

“You might want to get your stomach pumped through. Hell knows how old that pig’s heart was.” She added to try to break the tension.

“I think I’m going be sick,” he rolled over on his side. “Everything hurts.”

Ethan let out a deep breath, relief visibly washing over him from not having killed anyone. Erica could sense the way his muscles finally relaxed. “And the others?” He asked, suddenly anxious again.

“Somewhere around here. They'll be here soon. Sarah can patch you up. So just take it easy there, Fido.” She kept him from standing up and pushing his body any further. “They’re all okay. Just sit down before you hurt yourself some more, dumbass.”

Slowly he sat back down, a moment went by before he spoke again. “Uh, thanks. For stabbing me, I guess. I didn’t hurt you either, right?” He kept his eyes locked on the wall not wanting to make eye contact. She smiled knowing he wouldn’t catch it.

“Like you could lay a claw on me,” she joked. “The only thing you hurt was my plans for tonight so you owe me one.”

“Yeah? Like what?” Ethan asked, an eyebrow raised. 

“Come see the next Dusk movie with me and Sarah.” 

They kept from looking at each other but knew they were both smiling. Maybe Sarah was onto something by making friends with him.

“Alright, deal.”

[flightfoot]

Ladycat Ch. 9

AO3

…

…

…

Wha-?

What-?

What am I?

You’re here to help, something whispered inside her. To be the missing linchpin your creator so desperately craves. To allow him to regain what he has lost.

Snippets of memories played.

Her creator laughing, joking with a girl in a red-and-black-spotted suit.

Them fighting side by side, again and again and again.

A curious cat - the same girl, though she wasn’t sure how she knew that - purring, comforting her creator.

Her creator facing off against his father.

The cat - the girl - saving him.

And being twisted, tainted, turned into something she was not.

Her being shuddered.

She could feel it.

Her creator’s happiness, his contentment, his peace around the girl - around Ladybug.

His betrayal, his fear, his anger towards his father, the man who he and Ladybug had been fighting for so long.

And his fear tinged with despair as Ladycat was akumatized.

She had to help him.

She was created to help him.

And… and she wanted to help.

She wanted to see him smile. 

Something changed.

A heaviness spread through her, making her feel solid.

Real.

Part of the world.

She opened her eyes.

------

“Dude, did you mean to do that?”

Adrien shook his head, eyes still locked on… on…

“I- I guess when I was asking for someone to help us, someone that could fill the gaping hole in our team from Ladybug’s absence, the Miraculous took it literally.”

In front of him stood a girl in a red suit with black spots, sporting two black pigtails.

She looked exactly like Ladybug.

The girl opened her eyes, looking at them.

A beat passed.

Then another.

Until a full minute had passed.

Alya broke the awkward silence. “Um… hi?”

The girl looked over at her. Her brow - or rather, her mask - furrowed. “You - I don’t know you but… I feel like I should…?” She seemed to mutter that last bit to herself.

Alya glanced at Adrien. He shrugged. 

Alya frowned. “Well… you SHOULDN’T know any of us, I mean, you didn’t even exist before this - wait.”

Looking quickly at her friends, her mind churned. “Am I the only one you don’t know?”

The girl shook her head. “I don’t know the boy in the baseball cap either.”

“But you DO know who Adrien is,” Alya stated.

The girl tilted her head to one side. “My creator?”

“Errrrrr…” Adrien said.

“Wait… you’re this girl’s creator…” Alya mused. “So that means… Adrien, I think you just became a father.”

“I’m… a father…?” Adrien muttered to himself. He stared into the distance, as if trying to solve a complicated algebra problem in his head, one that had a lot of different parts that he needed to keep track of.

“He’s not like him!” the girl snapped.

Huh?

“Adrien’s not like who?” Alya asked.

“He’s not like his father!” the girl hissed.

Alya shivered. She hadn’t seen that kind of anger on Ladybug’s face since - well, since the last time Chat Noir was seriously hurt in battle.

“That… that man… he HURT my creator. Adrien. He- he hurt the girl my creator loves. He does NOT deserve to be compared to his father.”

“How do you know all that?” Alya asked, even more confused. 

“It’s why I was created. It’s what I’m here for,” the girl said, standing up straight, exuding authority in a way that eerily reminded Alya of the actual Ladybug. “To help my creator against the fight with his father, to help save the girl he loves.”

----

Adrien stared at the sentimonster he created.

At the girl he made.

At his…

He- he was way too young to be a father!

And she looked the same age as him. Hell, she looked like the love of his life!

He’d assumed that he’d create some sort of monster to help him, like that moth sentimonster from Heroes Day. Like a pokemon maybe?

But… but this wasn’t some creature. Certainly not one like the moth, which only seemed to exist to blow them away, which didn’t appear to have much in the way of intelligence or will of its own

This was - okay maybe not a human, but close enough at least. 

This sentimonster was a person.

“To help my creator against the fight with his father, to help save the girl he loves.”

What?

Mentally Adrien reviewed the past minute, what she’d said.

That she’d been created to help him.

That it was why she was there.

It was true. That was why she’d been created. He’d made sure of that.

But he hadn’t expected an actual person.

He glanced down at the amok - at Marinette’s Lucky Charm.

He could command her to go into battle with them. She already seemed willing to at any rate - no surprise there, he’d created her for that purpose. It would be the safer option, especially after the “hypothetical” scenario Fu had laid out of what could happen if a sentimonster went rogue.

But would that make him that much better than Hawkmoth?

Than his father?

Hawkmoth took advantage of people’s weaknesses, of their desires in order to make them fight for him. It wasn’t usually explicitly against their will - they still had to agree to it - but as the Butterfly wielder, he could put enough pressure on them, speak enough honey into their ears that they’d go along with it. So far only Ms. Bustier had been able to resist him, and not for very long. 

This sentimonster - this person - on the surface wanted to help him. 

But did she have any more choice in the matter than Hawkmoth’s akumas?

They were willing to help him too. 

But they were vulnerable when he akumatized them. It was difficult to fight him off. 

He may not have experienced it himself (and now he had an idea of why that was), but he’d heard from others what it was like. How Hawkmoth pressed into their heads, twisting their desires so that it seemed like him ‘helping’ them was the only solution to their problems, the trouble with remembering why they SHOULD refuse Hawkmoth.

Amoks were used to control sentimonsters.

With how similar the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculouses were, he had a sinking feeling on *how* that control was enacted.

The sentimonster - the girl - whatever she was called (they’d have to figure out a proper name for her) had said that he wasn’t like his father.

She was right.

He held out the amok in front of him. “You know what this is, right?” he asked her. 

She nodded, looking a little confused. “It’s the thing that lets me exist, right? I- I might be over here, but…” She seemed transfixed by the bracelet, her eyes unable to leave its beads. “I can feel myself in there as well. Like… like this is my body, but that- that’s where *I* really am? Somehow?” She seemed to mutter that last bit to herself.

Good. So she knew how important it was, how vital. 

Walking up to her, he gently placed it in her hand, closing her fingers over the charm. She looked up at him, amazed and slightly confused, a smile dawning on her face as she hugged it to herself, holding it where her heart would be.

“I don’t want to control you or decide things for you,” Adrien told her. “Even accidentally. I’d love your help, but only if you choose to help - not because you’re forced to or feel obligated to. You exist now, and what you do with your existence is up to you.”

----

Up to her?

Well… she did still want to help Adrien. The pressure on her being, on her… on her soul, a pressure she hadn’t even known was there, lifted as soon as his fingers withdrew from her amok. So she didn’t feel compelled the way she was before.

But what she’d seen and felt while she was being created? Still held true. 

And Adrien handing her the amok just made her want to help him more.

She closed her eyes, concentrating on the charm, on the magic inside, the magic that allowed her to exist.

He’d handed her soul to her, to ensure that others couldn’t force her to do anything - even if that someone was himself.

She made her decision. The first major one of her life.

“Thank you, Adrien. I will help you.”

----

“WHAT?!”

Panther looked up, startled.

Hawkmoth glared at a nearby TV.

“Don’t be bemused, it’s just the news!” the lady on the TV said. “I know we’ve all been worried with Hawkmoth running loose and Ladybug going missing, but it seems that our worries are at an end!” 

The camera panned to several colorful moving dots, zooming in and-

Wait-

One of those was Her Boy.

Another was the girl she’d seen before in Hawkmoth’s cavern, the one she’d ignored because…

...why DID she ignore her before anyway? It’d seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but why…?

She shook her head. Something told her that she shouldn’t dwell too hard on the matter.

There was another boy she vaguely recognized dressed as a turtle, and lastly-!

That… that fourth figure…

The pit dropped out of her stomach.

That was her.

Her as she used to be at least, before.

He replaced me. He doesn’t need me.

Of course, why WOULD he want her?

Her tail curled around her body as she retreated into herself.

She- she’d FAILED him. 

She meant to protect him, to make him feel happy again! That’s why she’d fought against him, so that she could take his Miraculous and let Hawkmoth restore Her Boy’s mother, restore his happiness.

Her eyes narrowed at the replacement. 

The interloper.

 That- that copy was fooling him, wasn’t she?! Was taking on her form so she could take him for herself.

She was NOT going to let that stand.

She’d protect Her Boy, no matter what. 

Someone stroked her head.

Her ears flattened instinctively as she looked up at Hawkmoth. 

“Don’t worry, my pet,” he told her. 

For some reason she couldn’t fathom, she suddenly wanted to bite his hand off.

“They’re out in the open now. And if they really HAVE managed to get a version of you - somehow - that just gives me another chance to get the Ladybug Miraculous and fulfill my wish - and with it, yours as well.”

She yowled in agreement. If Hawkmoth noticed that Panther used the opportunity to shy away from him, he didn’t say anything.

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh Ep 29 S4: Joey Wheeler, Dead Again

It took me kind of a while to get around to recapping again, been some drama on this end due to a couple natural disasters all happening in conjunction with eachother, but thankfully we are back in the green (sort of) there’s still wildfire smoke out my window but at least...at least the fires aren’t getting any bigger.

And it’s a shame we didn’t get to it sooner, because this episode has so many wild things in it, I don’t even know where to start. There was a lot of dueling, so I didn’t have to cap a whole lot...but even within such few caps, there’s some stuff to talk about. Like first off, the Kaiba’s inability to walk five feet without getting attacked by someone.

Seto still winning Brother of the year award even after nearly shooting his bro with real ass lightning. Because remember, this lightning is 100% real. None of these are holograms.

And by the way, a “hologram” just grabbed Mokuba with real ass hands and Seto was like “Clearly still a hologram!” Because that is how deep his denial runs.

Anyways, this is where the Kaibas will be until the remainder of this episode, so we’ll just leave them where they are.

(read more under the cut)

Back at the duel between Mai and Joey, we’re slowly working out what it is the Orichalcos even does.

We have had very little indication you can break the Oricalchos control on people’s minds up to this duel, but because Joey showed heart and bravery or whatever--he’s been slowly chipping away at Mai’s crusty, neon green, outer shell.

(I had a littttle bit of a hunger for some Taco Bell Baja Blast, not gonna lie. A little bit tempted because of that weird color. And now that I’ve eaten popcorn, I am 80% itching to drive to Taco Bell and make some mistakes. But I won’t.)

Comparing this to Pharaoh and Kaiba and their Oricalchos duels (even Rex and Weevil’s) it kind of makes you wonder why this never happened.......to anyone else? I mean, obviously it’s plot reasons, but it would have been a little neat to have some character development for the other villains.

But this unnecessary duel to the death between Joey and Mai spends most of the time screaming about how deep and real their love friendship is. Just a whooole bunch of aggressive friendzoning for the lady who just aggressively hates everyone.

(Haven’t seen much of Yugioh Abridged because it’s spoiler territory but everyone who retweets Joey stuff puts “Brooklyn Rage” in there so I have learned the lingo through osmosis.)

So because, someone’s absolutely going to die, lets start going through all of the flashbacks to remind the audience to feel something when they biff it. Lets recite the times we all spent with Mai.

Remember how they brushed Mai under the rug for 3 seasons, and now that they actually need her, they’re shooting themselves in the foot because there’s actually very little evidence that they like eachother at all?

But they do show those few times they hung out: the camping trip where they almost got burned alive by PaniK, that time that Joey caught her smelling her own cards, that time that Yugi had a panic attack because he was convinced Pharaoh would murder her during a card game, that time that she almost got hit by a fireball and then Joey jumped in front of her.

PS, that fireball scene--they keep going back to that fireball scene but they cut out the part where, yes, Joey jumped in front of her--but then Yugi jumped in front of Joey, and then Yami took over and was like EFF YUGI DAMN IT while he got pegged with fireballs. Like...c’mon, Yugioh, there was a lot of fanservice in that particular episode, and you’re leaving out a majority of the ships.

Partial truth, Yugioh--you’re telling partial truths. If we’re saying friendzoning is a good replacement for some sort of romance, then this show is just a giant geometric shape of “who might possibly like who if they weren’t so addicted to friendship.” This show has “friendship” as the underlying tagline of every episode with every person.

In the process of removing romance--they accidentally made SO MUCH MORE romantic implications in this show. I just feel like this backfired in so many ways. Or...maybe this was exactly what they wanted. And by “they” I mean that one writer who stans Seto Kaiba in the back--just sitting there in the corner of the writer’s room tapping his fingers together and cackling like an evil villain. He knows what he did. Genius mastermind, slipping in his favorite ships by making every ship Yugioh-legal.

And, also the Joey/Mai duel was a lot of this type of questionable content:

Joey Freakin Wheeler.

So I forgot if I mentioned this, but my bro had this friend in college who go struck by lightning not once, but multiple times in his life. He lived in like Virginia or North Carolina--one of the monsoon States, and he’d go on this hike to the top of this mountain--and on two different occasions at the same spot, he got stuck by freakin lightning. So like...Joey Wheelers do exist. There are people out there who just...

They’re just lightning rods wherever they go and their brain is somewhat scrambled eggs because of it.

(PS fun fact I googled just now because I couldn’t remember which state Virginia was, a Virginian by the name of Roy Sullivan was supposedly struck by lightning 7 different times and survived all of them. The more you know. ((PS still on the Google deep dive and the same guy also claimed to have been attacked by a bear 22 times (he’s a park ranger, so that checks) and once he was attacked by a bear immediately after he got struck by lightning which is like some pretty pro strats by said bear.)))

But like...kinda weird that Joey’s now kinda into this, and got super into it during a lovers friendship quarrel.

Anyway, all things come to an end, so Mai decides after enough cards have been played and Joey is clearly about to die...maybe it’s time to just accept not being 1st in the world in cards. Which...would have meant she should have been playing Yugi during this duel but, wtv. She clearly wants to be mad at Joey, specifically.

And I think the show didn’t do such a good job explaining why she was focused on Joey and not any of the other duelists until the very end, but we’ll get there. We’ll finally get to an explanation of why she was so fixated on Wheeler, we just have to wait for him to die first.

Because after the lightning strikes, and after putting so much effort into punching Valon right before this...Joey is too sleepy to continue.

So he’s just gonna die here instead...

2nd time he’s passed out in a duel by the way. Remember that Joey almost beat Marik, but was too damn sleepy after the electrocution? Same situation here. Look at that parallel.

Reminder that Joey STARTED this duel.

It’s like when you’re playing a game with a toddler and then it just passes out halfway and without any warning with it’s face just flat into the carpet.

Anyway, Mai grabs him in her arms sobbing all over him like she just did with Valon and it’s like...damn, this girl can just turn it off and on huh? Like she’s only 100% or -100% when it comes to the relationship meter, huh? No in between?

Mmmm cue that irony that Yugioh loves so much, this entire duel was unnecessary, because all you had to do was yoink that necklace.

Really the solution to dealing with a lot of assholes in Yugioh, to be honest.

This really is what Seto says in the show, by the way--a glitch. I like that Seto does not accept that dragons can feel sadness, and is just ITCHING to patch that out in the next release of duel monsters. I imagine that he’ll make a meeting once this is all over with his code team and at the top of the list will be the demand “Make The Dragons Stop Crying.” triple underlined, bold, and in bright red font. The entire code team will side eye eachother, unsure if this is a literal bug or something that Seto just hears all the time but no one else can hear.

So back at the Joey death fort, Mai decides to finally illustrate with words why she had to go so hard on killing Joey wheeler.

It was because she saw his kindness and his help as a weakness and a failure on her part. Mai, who always wants to be independent and in charge, could not accept that someone else had saved her or would want to save her. Which was apparently why she decided to peace out back at the end of the Marik arc.

It’s a bit of a complicated character for a kid’s show, I’m not sure how many kids understood the pride situation here, but it’s nice they stuck in something that wasn’t just “I want to be the best.” It was more that she didn’t want to be helped in order to become the best.

(PS, there’s this flashback scene where Joey’s like “bye” as she drives away and it was unintentionally a very awkward and funny cut and I may grab that little quip. I have to cap a couple of animations, tbh, I haven’t done that in a while)

So, now that she is fully recovered, she decides to complete the parallel of when Joey saved her in a death coma and now she will do the same (although it is SLIGHTLY different since in this version she kind of absolutely killed Joey Wheeler but...still works). She decides to do the job these stupid boys have not been able to do for the entirety of this season.

(these boots are REALLY well drawn, by the way. OBSESSED with Mai’s boots.)

If only she swooped up Pharaoh and just stuck him on the back of her bike to get this final fight going.

But Pharaoh’s too busy getting lost in San Francisco, and stumbling upon Joey’s dead body.

That this is the season where Yami can do nothing right and it just keeps happening.

No idea how we’re going to resurrect Joey in so short a period of time, but we’re completely out of spooky necklaces, so I guess we can’t do the Pharaoh solution to just...stick him back in there.

Anyways, I’m off to recover from the trauma of my house burning down last week, so I’m gonna go eat a pint of ice cream while I dream of a life before quarantine (was there a time before quarantine? I honestly don’t remember)

If you just got here this is a link to these in chrono order.

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

[botslayer]

Octodad: Not-so-dark theory

From top to bottom, Octodad looks like a fairly innocent game, A simple story about an Octopus trying to survive in suburbia. But, through subtle hints and references, and inconsistencies with that premise, it is revealed that Octodad is no mere cephalopod. He is, in fact, something far more horrifying, on paper at least... What do I mean?

Octodad is not, in truth, an Octopus, He's a Cthulhi. For those not familiar with the works of H.P. Lovecraft, Cthulhi are also called "The Starspawn of Cthulhu" and "Xothians," and are a race that looks like Cthulhu who's true origins, as with everything in the Cthulhu mythos, are debatable and vague as sin, the only things known for a fact are that they look like Cthulhu (Or, in their first appearance, like Octopi), worship him, followed him from their home dimension/universe into ours, and then perished en masse while what remained of them went into a death-like sleep, same as Cthulhu.

Now, Star Spawn aren't often seen in the works of Lovecraft, but they do have a sliver of popularity in the fandom. Not as big (in the popularity sense) as Deep Ones, but not as unknown as the humble Penguins of Leng. Now, again, it's worth noting that common interpretations of Star Spawn are basically baby Cthulhus, just tiny versions of their dark and malevolent master, but to start with, they were described as "a land race of beings shaped like octopi and probably corresponding to the fabulous pre-human spawn of Cthulhu," in the story "At the Mountains of Madness." 

Octodad highly RESEMBLES an octopus, but with some interesting tweaks. Namely: His eyes, two of his Tentacles, and something we'll talk about in just a minute. But let's talk about Octodad's anatomy when compared to another octopus, namely, the one in the "Wold of kelp" at the Aquarium.

Now, this is Octopus is a giant, climbable sculpture one might see at a water park, so in a technical sense, some liberties could have been taken with its anatomy, but it looks semi-accurate to real octopi, down to the slit-like pupils and the tentacles all being at roughly the same spot despite them spreading out for kids to climb on. Now, if you pay attention, a patron of the Aquarium will note that the "World of kelp" was something else before it was the world of kelp, though they THINK it was "Squids or something" before. Based on how the section played out, I have to believe the whole affair was either cephalopods in general given how many bases of just kelp they went over, or just Octopi because HOLY CRAP there are lots of octopi out there. Failing that, I don't think the statue was a squid to begin with, the eyes are far too forward on the head, what can be seen of the tentacles makes them all look the same, and most species of squid have circular pupils and irises, not slits/rectangles. 

Octodad, in contrast to the sculpture, has vertically ovular pupils, far rounder than the slits on the larger statue, on top of that, his eyes take up a slightly larger portion of his head. Then we take a look at Octodad's tentacles, namely the two that form his mustache. These two tentacles are set away from the other six in a way that makes no real anatomical sense for an octopus. Not to mention that the two are preposterously shorter than the others, it's less like another pair of tendrils and more like a strange growth coming out of the middle of his head. Moving on from that, there's also a certain disparity with his other limbs, his "arms" are shorter than his "legs" when he stands, however, when he enters water, his limbs, save for his mustache, are all of equal length, this strange effect carries over to when he's buck-ass naked, so no, he isn't just scrunching two up while he's in the suit... Speaking of naked octodad:

What the hell is that THING in the midst of his tentacles? It's a lighter color than the others, he's still using two tentacles per leg, one per arm, and his mustache is basically vestigial. Octodad's anatomy makes no fucking sense unless you consider the idea that he has some level of shapeshifting power... and wouldn't you know it, Cthulhi have just that. To what end is a little shakey, as with most things in the Lovecraft universe, but still.

Also worth noting is the church Octodad got married at, a Church dedicated, at least partly, to Cthulhu himself. Now, we only see one window with any kind of figure on it, Cthulhu, wereas the others are all decked out with a strange symbol, as are a few paintings lining the walls of it. These paintings may be of religious significance to the practitioners of this particular faith, but a lot of it looks like some minimalist "If you get it you get it" kind of stuff, and then one is literally a crayon drawing of a child with a smiling balloon. The last vaguely Lovecraftian thing in the church is the treasure chest Octodad gets his wife's ring from, all the coins within have a squid/cuttlefish-like creature printed on them, In the story "Shadow over Innsmouth," the people of a town called "Innsmouth" start breeding with fish people. They did it specifically for the undersea gold the fish people (called Deep Ones) give out for the service. Deep Ones worship multiple gods, cheif among them are their great parents, Mother Hydra and Father Dagon, though worship of Cthulhu isn't against their laws or anything. 

The game takes a break from the hints of Eldrich horror while the family is at home, though it is worth noting that we don't REALLY know where Octodad's children came from. Hell, the game makes a joke about it at the end, Tommy asks, plain as day, "If dad's an octopus... Then where did me and Stacy come from?" While his parents laugh the question off, it has a few possible answers: The two of them (Or just Tommy) are leftover from a failed relationship/marriage Scarlet was a part of before Octodad came in, the two (Or just Tommy) are adopted, or, in a manner not dissimilar to deep ones, Cthulhi may just be able to breed with humans in this universe. 

Now, I say Tommy may be adopted/Not Octodad's specifically because Stacy says something concerning in the "Deep sea" exhibit at the Aquarium. She apparently has dreams wherein a deep, dark spot in the ocean seems to call to her. This turns out to be a sea horse ranch. Cute as that is, dreams are a recurrent theme in Lovecraft's work, sometimes compelling people into the service of Great old ones like Gla'aki, for example. Or there was that one story when a guy met Yog-Sothoth, the omniscient and omnipresent god of the universe just because he dreamed that deeply. Also "The Dreamlands" are a place in Lovecraft's fiction. I could keep going down that rabbit hole, but I'm lazy and I think that point is made.

There is also another reference (Possibly) to "Shadow over Innsmouth" and "Dagon" with the character of Chef Fujimoto. Now, Fujimoto himself is not a reference to anything in particular, but his backstory has some Lovecrafty bits. Namely, Fujimoto was once a soldier (Dagon) who cut open a combatant. Instead of human guts, "Piles of fish" were inside. (Shadow over Innsmouth.) This one might be a little more of a stretch but remember that Fujimoto is OBSESSED with Octodad and believes very firmly that there are fish people everywhere. ("Why is everyone fish!?") There are several Lovecraftian stories where the character feels he is being pursued or is surrounded in some way. Call of Cthulhu ends with one of the characters feeling that the cult is gunning for him, partly because some dude looked at him funny, and Dagon ended with the main character fearing that a servent of Dagon was coming up his stairs after him, so he threw himself out a window. The crippling paranoia experienced by Fujimoto is another hint that SOMETHING Eldrich is happening in the universe of Octodad. 

Also worth noting is that a magazine entitled "Inquisitor" can be found at Gervason's, Octodad is on the cover, and they think he's an alien. Which begs the question: Why is it that most humans will let an obviously strange man do things without much concern at all? Hell, there are three lines present in both the main game and one of the extra shorts that imply EVERYONE sees something is wrong with Octodad. And I quote/paraphrase:

"I thought he was a lawyer?" "He's slimy enough to be one."

"Is it just me or did the captain look jigglier than usual?"

"Hmmm, I don't see a blurblerulb on the list." 

These lines imply on some level that people recognize SOMETHING is wrong or different with Octodad but they don't carry the thought far enough to do anything with it... Unless perhaps at a distance, hence that cover of “Inquisitor.” 

Another thing that tends to happen in Lovecraftian horror is the mind not making proper sense of things. For example: Canonically in the mythos, the image of Cthulhu mankind sees, humanoid body, octopus head, draconic wings, etc, is not what he really looks like, it's just our perception of Cthulhu because our minds aren't equipped to comprehend the real deal. Looking too long at just what we can see of Cthulhu will unravel your mind, causing both insanity and death if exposed even longer. I think that's part of Octodad's effect. When he's dressed, the humans around him perceive what their mind makes sense of. He's in a shirt and pants, therefore he is appropriately dressed as a human, therefore their minds SEE a human even if he's not QUITE right. We see, rather obviously, that he doesn't have human hands, he has tentacles with suckers, but Scarlet refers to it as a "Hand" still, this implies she and others see his appendages as hands or feet when he's disguised or doing something "Human enough." Only really undone if he's naked or does too many strange or seemingly malicious things like accidentally smack someone with a bag of doughnuts.

This is why you can get away with randomly dragging things across the floor, their minds are telling them something is a little off, but their ability to perceive might be telling them he's just got a medical condition or something. It's nothing to judge him for, he's just got a disability. 

So at the end of that trail, what are we left with? Octodad as a Xothian/Deep one hybrid? Does that fundamentally change the game's story? Does this mean Octodad is a dark horror from beyond? Does he secretly seek to kill and maim and destroy all the things we hold dear? Will he one day help awaken Cthulhu and usher in the new age of the great old ones? No. See, Octodad, despite his horrifying inspirations, is a benevolent creature. He "blubs with a love for all mankind" in the ending for Dadliest Catch. He still obviously loves and cares for his family, whether they know his secret or not. He's just an alien from another dimension... or at least he has ancestry from another dimension. 

Now, why is that? I've got two little ideas for that: It's an often found interpretation that most of the original writings of Lovecraft focus on the idea that "It is different, therefore it is bad." Xenophobia of an extremely high sort. Mind you, I often find this interpretation lacking, but we can probably discuss that later. I feel Octodad may be a natural extrapolation of the idea that it isn't bad because it's different, in fact, Octodad, despite keeping a secret, is an all-around "good" guy. Upstanding, moral, all that garbage, he just happens to be non-human.  Something supporting this being a running theme is the scene with the Snugglefish. For those who have yet to play Dadliest catch, a section of the game takes place when the power in part of the Aquarium goes partially out. During this event, Octodad and Stacy come upon a large sculpture of a creature called a “Snugglefish.” which is covered by the dark. We shine lights at the supposedly malevolent creature, complete with monstrous teeth and evil red eyes, partially with the intent to “Blind it” despite the fact that its obviously a statue. That whole section up to then is nothing but fumbling in the dark, looking at the strange and some might say “alien” life living in the deep ocean, you can also learn some stuff about them if you pay attention.  The whole thing ends when you fully light up the spots on the statue, revealing it to BE a Snuggle fish as opposed to some giant monster. As a result of revealing this, Stacy’s fears of it go right out and she feels she understands the creature better, as with most things, learning and understanding quiet one’s fears. when we learn what something is, we stop seeing it as an immediate threat is the take away from that section, I think, which is, again, I’d say, a call to Lovecraft's writings and his fear of that which was different and unknown and how it’s so easily thrown out with just a LITTLE understanding.

Another plausible explanation for Octodad’s kindness may be that Octodad is not a Star Spawn of Cthulhu, but of Kthanid. Kthanid is not an original creation of H.P. Lovecraft, but a bloke by the name of "Brian Lumley." Lumley's creation is the brother of Cthulhu, and is considered the main reason Cthulhu is sealed away these days. Kthanid is said to look almost exactly like Cthulhu but to have "Golden eyes that radiate peace." He's a loving, benevolent "Elder God" that wants the best for not just Humanity, but for all things. It would logically follow that if a creature dedicated itself to Kthanid, or was one of his spawn, it would be at least mostly as loving and kind. So, if Octodad, or "blurblerulb" if you prefer, was a purely hypothetical Kthani instead of Cthulhi, his disposition may well fit within the actual mythos.

So, what do y'all think? Does this theory hold water? Or does it sink harder than Cthulhu going back down for a nap?

[hogwarts-riddle]

Eternalism: Chapter II

The trip back to Gryffindor Tower was just as rushed as the trip from. Hermione couldn’t help but glance back every now and then, halfway convinced that death eaters were going to appear out of nowhere. Deep down, she knew that she was most likely being paranoid as there had yet to be any real signs that the school was under attack. The warning bell would have surely gone off if it was.

While Professor Slughorn hurried her off to the Hospital Wing, which was where they had decided to prepare to send her off, Professor McGonagall went off to fetch Harry and Ron as per her request. She wasn’t about to leave them behind without at least saying goodbye.

If she was going to leave this time behind to correct Dumbledore’s mistake and save the world, she wanted to at least say goodbye to her best friends. Dumbledore had said it himself. She wouldn’t be coming back. And if, by some chance she did get to see them again, she would likely be old and grey.

Madam Pomfrey was waiting for them when they got there, looking rather worn and tired. It was almost as if the medi-witch had aged ten years since the last time she saw her. Clearly she too was suffering under the effects of the school’s lock-down.

“Is everything ready?” Pomfrey asked.

Slughorn nodded. “Minerva will be arriving soon with the time turner. She just went to collect a few things for Miss Granger.”

The nurse nodded her head, casting a sympathetic look at Hermione before moving past them into her office.

As Slughorn escorted her over to sit down on one of the beds, Hermione couldn’t help but note how his usually big rosy cheeks had lost all color, and how his eyes held a slightly haunted look to them. He was worried, and she honestly couldn’t blame him.

“You, my girl, might just be one of the bravest student’s I’ve ever known,” Slughorn broke the silence that had washed over them. “I don’t know many who would have been willing to take on such a task as this.”

She managed to give him a weak smile. Despite his propensity to show favoritism, she couldn’t say that he was a bad man. He certainly made a better Potions Master than Snape. Unlike Snape, he actually cared about the well being of his students.

“Do you really think I can do this? Do you think I can save Vol- er, Tom?”

Professor Slughorn got a far off look in his eyes, as if remembering something from a long time ago. No doubt it had something to do with Tom.

“I believe that there is hope for him, especially with you in his life,” he explained. “Tom never had any real friends. Those he surrounded himself with were only there because he was powerful and charismatic. He was good at getting what he wanted and they knew that.

“It might not be easy, but if anyone can save him, I reckon it’s you.”

She thought about her potions master and how he must feel. This was one of his favorite students, or so she had been told, that she was going back to try and save. And if it worked out as she hoped it would, she might be able to save Harry’s mother, Lily, as well. He too was counting on her to succeed.

“I’ll do my best for all our sake's, sir.”

He smiled over at her appreciatively.

They sat there, returning to a comfortable silence as they waited.

Just then, the door slammed open and in came Harry and Ron, followed shortly after by McGonagall. Scanning the room quickly, it didn’t take long for their eyes to find her and hurry towards her.

“Hermione!”

“Please tell us it’s not true,” Ron pleaded.

“Read for yourself,” Hermione told them, handing them the scroll.

The boys read through Dumbledore’s last words with increasingly widening eyes. By the time they were finished, they both looked as though they were ready to resurrect Dumbledore just to kill him again with their bare hands.

“He’s mad if he thought for one second that we were gonna let you go off and do this on your own,” Harry declared, his fists curling up into fists.

“I mean, it’s Voldemort for Merlin’s sake!” Ron exclaimed. “He’ll rip you to pieces as soon as he finds out you’re muggle-born!”

Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off before she could do so.

“How dare you dishonor Dumbledore’s noble sacrifice!” McGonagall snapped. “His greatest concern was the well-being and safety of everyone in this school! I highly doubt he would ask this if he thought we had any other choice.”

As much as Hermione wanted to take sides with McGonagall in defending the late headmaster, she found herself unable to do so. After everything that Dumbledore had put her and her friends through over the last six years, all for the so-called greater good, she couldn’t help but doubt the nobility of his actions.

“Come on Mione, surely you can see how dangerous this task is?”

She nodded her head. “I know exactly what it is he’s asking of me, and honestly, had it been just for his sake, I probably would have refused it, but think of all the good I could do if I succeed. All the lives I could save.”

She forced herself to look away, fearing that she might change her mind if she looked at their faces for even a minute longer.

“I’ve always wanted to make a difference, to make the wizarding world a better place for everyone. This is my chance to do that. Please, let me take the burden of saving the world off your shoulders for once, Harry.”

She waited for one of them to continue arguing with her, to make another excuse as to why she shouldn’t go. Moments passed yet no one spoke. She lifted her head back up just in time to see Harry step forward and pull her into a tight hug.

“You truly are the best friend I have ever had.”

Tears welled up in her eyes as she hugged him back. It definitely made it a bit harder to go, knowing that she might never see him again, yet at the same time it also gave her a new source of determination. She had to go, not because anyone was forcing her to, but because people like Harry deserved more than what life in this broken war-torn world had given them.

Pulling away, he reached out to wipe away her tears with his fingers before he stepped back to Ron’s side.

“I’m going to miss you Hermione,” he said with a sad smile.

Meanwhile, Ron was staring at the two of them as if they were speaking some sort of foreign language. “Are you serious? You’re just going to let her go?”

He nodded his head, “It’s her choice.”

She couldn’t fight the tears that continued to come. “Thank you for understanding.”

With that out of the way, preparations for her journey began.

While McGonagall filled everyone in on what was going on outside of the castle and the death eaters that had been spotted marching towards the school, Madam Pomfrey returned from her office with a set of vintage looking children’s clothes and a letter, setting them down on the bed beside Hermione. Slughorn pulled out a vial filled with what looked like murky green water from the lake, handing it to her.

It was then that McGonagall stepped forward to explain the plan.

“The potion before you is something of an aging potion, rather with the opposite effect. With this potion, you will be aged back down to that of a child, around the age of ten we’re thinking.”

“Why would you turn her back into a child?” Ron interrupted. “Wouldn’t it be easier to save the world as she is?”

McGonagall glared at the red-headed boy, causing him to shrink back.

“I assure you, Mr. Weasley, we are doing this for a reason,” she told him before turning to face Hermione again, reaching into her pocket and holding up the silver time turner. “For you see, this time turner is set to place you just outside of Wool’s Orphanage in London on the date of June 15th, 1937.”

Hermione’s eyes widened as the realization dawned on her as to what they were planning. “You want me to meet Tom Riddle before he comes to Hogwarts?” she assumed.

McGonagall and Slughorn nodded their heads.

“The potion has been charmed to be more permanent, making it so that you will age alongside him,” Slughorn added.

She had to admit that it wasn’t a bad plan. The idea of meeting a child version of Voldemort was a lot less intimidating than meeting him as a sixteen-year-old, who had probably already made at least two horcruxes. Though, she couldn’t say that she was particularly eager to go through puberty a second time.

McGonagall explained a bit more. Once at Hogwarts, she was to try and remain as close to Tom as possible in the hopes that her friendship might be enough to lead him down a different path, hopefully a better one.

“Let’s get on with it then.”

Shooing the men away from the bed, Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall put up dividers all around her bed as they urged her to undress before taking the potion. As grateful as she was for the dividers, she still felt rather embarrassed about stripping naked in front of the medi-witch and transfiguration professor. Though, she supposed that she had no real reason to be.

“I warn you, the transformation might hurt a bit,” Pomfrey warned her as she handed her the vial.

Shutting her eyes tight and pinching her nose, she brought the vial up to her lips and downed the murky liquid as fast as she could, willing herself not to think about it or the fact that it tasted vaguely like seaweed. After a few moments, she managed to swallow it down.

Madam Pomfrey plucked the vial from her grasp. “Brace yourself!”

No sooner had the medi-witch spoken, then she felt herself begin to change. Pain shot through her whole body, forcing her to collapse back onto the bed. Her bones felt as though they were slowly breaking apart one by one. Her skin felt as if it was on fire, melting clean off of her.

As her brain became overwhelmed by panic, she couldn’t think of anything to compare the sensation to. Only that it was ten times worse than the time she accidentally turned herself into a cat.

In her agony, she couldn’t help the scream that tore out of her lungs.

“Hermione!”

The two older witches had to hold her down as she thrashed about, clawing at her skin. They tried to comfort her as best they could, reassuring her that it would be over soon and apologizing for making her go through this in the first place.

Gradually the pain began to dullen to a manageable ache. Flooded by relief, she began to breathe deeply in and out to calm herself.

“It’s over now.” She felt the older witches release their hold on her.

She delayed in doing so for a few moments as she waited for the pain to pass completely, a feeling of numbness taking its place. Pulling herself up into a sitting position, she slowly opened her eyes, starting with one and then the other.

The first thing she noticed was that both McGonagall and Pomfrey seemed to have grown. She was about to question it when she remembered the reason for the pain. Her eyes snapped down to look herself over.

To say that it was weird seeing her body reverted back to that of a child was… weird, to say the least. Her legs were short and not as slim as they were, same with her arms. The weirdest part was probably the fact that her breasts were gone. They had never been that big to begin with, but it was a bit frustrating as she had been just starting to get over her body insecurities.

Opening her mouth, she could feel that her two front teeth were back to being several sizes bigger than they ought to be. “I don't suppose you could…”

Madam Pomfrey nodded her head, understanding immediately what she meant. With a wave of her wand, she cast a shrinking spell on her teeth. It felt a bit weird, but not nearly as bad as the de-aging process itself. The next time she reached in to touch her teeth, she could feel that they were back to being the same size as all the others.

“Thank you,” she gave the medi-witch a small smile.

With a sigh, she got up and started to change into the child sized clothes she had been provided with; a pair of simple black buckle shoes, a pair of white socks and a floral print dress with a sash fastened around the waist and a bit of lace trim around the collar and sleeves.

Then McGonagall took on the seemingly impossible task of styling her hair. With some time and no small amount of effort, McGonagall managed to tame her wild curls, tying it back with a ribbon to keep it out of her face.

By the time she was handed a mirror to look herself over, she barely recognized herself. She looked like one of the old dolls she had as a child, which she supposed wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. The goal was to make her fit in with the time period, and as far as she could see, they had done a good job.

Pleased with her appearance, the dividers were pulled away, revealing her new appearance to the men waiting on the other side.

Slughorn smiled at her, nodding his head in approval while Harry and Ron just stood there staring at her with their mouths gaping open.

“Bloody hell…” Ron muttered.

She rolled her eyes at them. “It’s not polite to stare, you know.”

It took them a few moments to recover and shut their mouths, and even longer to find their tongue’s.

“You look great, Mione.”

Her cheeks flushed pink at Harry’s compliment. Even she had to admit that she wasn’t completely hideous. Although, it still felt rather weird for them to look so much taller and more grown up than her.

“Now, we shall go over the cover story we have come up with for you,” McGonagall said, carefully slipping the time turner around Hermione’s small neck. It was a bit big on her child sized body, but she didn’t worry about it too much. “Your name is still to be Hermione Granger and you are a muggle-born whose parents have recently died in a car accident. With no other family to take you in, your neighbours brought you to the orphanage and gave you this note to give to the Matron.”

Madam Pomfrey held the letter out to Hermione.

Reaching out, she took the letter and turned it over in her hands to examine it. It was written in an elegant spidery handwriting that she didn’t recognize. She assumed that it was Madam Pomfrey’s.

“Is that agreeable to you?”

Hermione nodded her head. It was simple enough, without deviating too far from the truth.

“You will not have your wand with you, so I would advise that you head straight towards the Orphanage upon your arrival, but before you do so, we must ask that you destroy the time turner. No one must know the truth of how you came to be in that time. From this moment forward you belong to that time. The future you come from will be no more.”

She gulped at that piece of information. Deep down she had known that would be the case all along, but now that she was hearing the exact words coming from McGonagall’s mouth, she couldn’t help but be hit by the full reality of it. This was not just some dream that she would be able to wake up from and find herself safe in the Gryffindor Tower with Harry and Ron. This was all too real.

Still, she was determined to go through with it. She had come too far to chicken out now. There was no turning back.

“I understand.”

Everyone stepped back to give her space as she took one last look at those with her.

She wasn’t sure if Madam Pomfrey or Professor McGonagall would still be at Hogwarts the next time she entered it’s gates. The only one whose presence she knew for certain was Professor Slughorn, and of course, Dumbledore would be there as well. It wasn’t much, but it gave her a small amount of comfort to know that there would be a couple of familiar faces.

Then she turned to Harry and Ron, taking in every inch of their appearance as if to memorize what they looked like. They had been through a lot together and though she wouldn’t wish such dangers on anyone, she had to admit that it had created an unbreakable bond between the three of them. She would always remember how they risked their lives to save her from that Mountain Troll in first year and though she might never see them again, she vowed to keep them alive in her heart.

“I’ll miss you all… so much.”

With nothing left to do, she reached down and started the time turner, watching as it began to turn rapidly.

The world around her vanished into nothing as she felt herself being sucked into a void of nothing but empty blackness. It felt kind of like apparating and yet, at the same time it also felt kind of like that time when she had port-keyed to the Quidditch World Cup. Either way, it made her feel like she was going to throw up.

She was left floating in the empty void for what felt like an eternity before she felt herself being sucked back out and she soon felt her feet land once more on solid ground.

The next thing she knew, she was standing at the end of a darkened city street, a row of identical looking Victorian townhouses on either side of her, and standing straight ahead at the other end of the street was a tall imposing building with a sign above the gates that read ‘Wool’s Orphanage’.

She had made it…

[floralguccistyles]

three: a new hope

My first and only relationship had been during my second year of university. His name was James Trinity, and while at first I had been excited because he had the same name as Captain James Kirk from Star Trek, the novelty wore off very, very quickly.

It wasn’t that James had been a bad boyfriend. On paper, he had checked off all the necessary boxes. He remembered dates, sent me sweet good morning texts, and wasn’t an embarrassing eater that I couldn’t take out to restaurants. The problem with James was that he was so...boring. He always suggested we went out to a movie and then dinner for our dates. And while that was perfectly acceptable while we were starting our relationship out and getting to know each other, it got boring after awhile when that was all he wanted to do.

There was also the flower problem.

When my dad picked up my mom for their very first date, he bought her flowers. When he picked her up for their second date, he bought her flowers. When they got married, he didn’t bring her flowers because she already had her own bouquet, but he had drawn a rose on a note and had one of his groomsmen deliver it to her before the wedding. It was a stupid tradition that in reality I actually should have hated, but my heart stopped every time I thought about a guy bringing me flowers. I wanted someone to pass by a bunch of daisies and think, I’ll get some of these for Petra to brighten her day. 

James hadn’t bought my flowers.

I knew it was stupid and if James had been my dream man, my deal breaker wouldn’t have been an absence of flowers. But paired with the fact that all he wanted to do was watch movies and eat, and he had been on his phone when my parents had come to London to meet us for dinner, the lack of flowers were a big deal.

After James, there really hadn’t been anyone that had caught my eye. I was more focused on Alien Crossing, anyway. I didn’t have time for a relationship. The only relationships I needed were with Jeremiah, Veronica, and Melody. Anyone else took a backseat.

Except, of course, my parents.

“We were listening to your podcast, love,” my mother said from the other side of the Skype call, smiling in confusion because technology still freaked her out. My dad was the one that dealt with all the computer and phone problems they had, but given that he was in Bristol to help with construction of a school there, my mum was alone this time to deal with the Skype call. She had already accidentally hung up on me twice while trying to turn the volume up. “The lad you had last time, that Harry fellow. Didn’t you go to school with him?”

My experience with Harry on AC the previous week was odd, to say the least. Realistically, he had done fantastically for his first time on a podcast. He had answered my questions seamlessly and the conversation flowed a lot easier than I thought it would have. I supposed it was because he knew so much about music. And though the scores of big movies were different to the music he created, it will still interesting to hear what he thought of them. I had, regrettably, been sitting on the edge of my seat every time he had answered one of the questions I asked. It was easy to discern why people loved him all around the world. He was charming, charismatic, and knew what he was talking about.

I hated him for it.

“Yeah, I went to school with him. He was the one that bullied me all the time and then became a famous singer.”

“Right, right. His mother sent me an edible arrangement once. I offered it to our neighbor a day later because he husband passed away.”

I felt a little stab of selfish satisfaction when she told me she hadn’t eaten the edible arrangement. I’m sure Harry’s mum was a wonderful enough lady, but she had spawned Satan himself. 

I hadn’t spoken to Harry since I had watched him drive away from Outset’s lot at around three in the morning. After recording, he had stuck around to listen to the editing that Jeremiah and I did, which was unnverving but we got through it. Then, he had done that weird handshake-bro-hug thing with Jeremiah and had offered me a polite smile. He probably knew that if he tried to hug me I would have thrown him off Outset’s roof. That smile was the last thing I had seen before he got in his nondescript black sedan and drove away.

“So are you two friends now?” my mother asked. She hadn’t thought there was anything wrong with Harry being on the show. She had called me the day after we recorded and when I had complained, she had reminded me that it probably took a lot of guts and courage for him to apologize. She was a little annoyed I hadn’t accepted and forgiven, but I reminded her that I was a grown woman and could make my own decisions. 

“No, Mum. Believe me, Harry Styles and I will never be friends.”

I heard her click her tongue disapprovingly. “Sweetheart, he was very kind to apologize,” she reminded me, “and you shouldn’t hold grudges. It isn’t good for you.”

It was the same argument every time. Harry wasn’t brought up much with my parents, but when he was, it was always the same. Forgive him, Petra, he didn’t mean it. Oh, he was just a kid, Petra. I could probably guess what she was going to say verbatim. It did nothing but piss me off. Did they not care that this was the kid who had me sobbing in my room at two in the morning because I felt like shit about myself and it was his fault?

“He made my life hell, Mum,” I said through clenched teeth.

“He was sixteen years old, sweetie. He didn’t mean what he said. And look at how successful you are now! Obviously he didn’t do any lasting damage.”

I wanted to scream. I had weekly appointments with Doctor Thorne. I was hit with waves of insecurity that debilitated me. I sometimes didn’t even want to go out of my house and deal with people because I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop, for someone to call me names and make fun of me. Of course, she wouldn’t see the lasting damage he and his friends had done. I hadn’t let her known. But dear god, shouldn’t she have seen that something was still wrong? Did she really not know me?

“I’ve got to go, Mum. I’m meeting with the publisher today for my book.”

“Oh, I’m so excited for it! You’ll tell your father and I when it’s available for pre-order, right? We want to get a hard copy and he’s going to load one onto my Kindle.”

When she said things like that, so vocal in her support for me, it made me think being mad at her was foolish. “Yeah, Mum, I’ll let you know. Talk to you later.”

“Bye, sweetie. Give your father a call when you’re free. He misses you!”

I hung up feeling the way I always did. Confused and tired. Talking to my parents shouldn’t have left me feeling so exhausted, but it always did. It was like I was divided into two different versions of myself: the version I was and the version they wanted me to be. I knew they wanted me to forgive Harry, forgive all my schoolmates that had made me go literally mad. But that wasn’t who I was. I wasn’t quick to forgive. And I hated feeling like I had disappointed them because of it.

While I loved what I did, sometimes I wish I had a normal nine to five. If I had a normal job, I would have to bury thoughts my mother had put in my head and be blissfully distracted until my day was over. And by the time five rolled around, I would probably be over it anyway. Instead, I would sit and stew and work myself up. I picked at my fingernails and decided that I wouldn’t allow myself to focus on it today. Today, I would be blissfully distracted.

I grabbed my purse and changed into some leggings, shoving my feet into my slippers while I locked my door shut behind me. I didn’t know where I was going, but I knew I needed to get out of the house. Melody was unfortunately at work so I knew contacting her wasn’t an option. I could try Jeremiah or Veronica, but I didn’t want to bother them if they were doing something important. Obviously, my parents were out of the question.

So I found myself at a coffee shop.

I had a habit of carrying around a book with me everywhere I went. I kept one in my purse at all times. The book this time around was The Princess Diarist, or the book Carrie Fisher had written before she died. I had already poured over the pages four times, but the book never got old. Ordering a peppermint coffee, which were still luckily around because it was still early January and the festivities of Christmastime hadn’t completely worn off yet, I sat at one of their tables in the back and flipped through the pages of the book, drinking in the words like a giraffe leaning over to drink from a pond. When I read, I devoured. I was sure I looked a little crazy, sitting there wide-eyed and so invested, but I didn’t care.

“Any good?”

I didn’t hear the question at first. It was only when someone cleared their throat that I jumped a little, looking up from the text to see a man around my age standing next to my table. He had a drink in his hand and was offering it out to me. I eyed him weirdly. “What?”

“The book. Is it any good? Also, this is your coffee. My name’s Peter so they messed up.”

I could only stare at him for a few moments, still enveloped in the world of Carrie Fisher before I processed what was happening. “Oh. Thanks.” I took the coffee from him, our fingers brushing just slightly. Peter was an attractive man. He had dark colored hair that was cut pretty close to his head and a strong, angular jaw. His eyes were the same color as the wood grain on the table I sat at. “You like Star Wars?”

“Is that a trick question?” 

I narrowed my eyes. “Top three characters, go.”

If my insistence phased him, he didn’t show it. “C-3PO, Obi-Wan, and Vader. But only Vader from the original three. Anakin’s annoying. You?”

I was impressed by his answer. Really, there was no wrong answer to this question, but it was nice to see he had taken my question seriously. “R2, Leia, and Obi-Wan.” I took a sip of my coffee, savoring the peppermint taste before I sent him a smile. “And yes, the book is good. Might change your perception of Harrison Ford a bit, but it’s nice to read Carrie’s version of events.”

“I’ve been meaning to pick it up, but haven’t gotten the time. I was thinking about just ordering the e-book.”

“You should get the print, if you can. There’s something nostalgic about reading her last memoir in an actual book.” I, ironically, had The Princess Diarist in my Books app on my phone, but I much preferred reading it from the original source.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Before he could say anything else, the barista called his name. “Ah, this must actually be mine.” He went to go collect his coffee and I thought that was the end of it. This stranger had just somewhat made my day better and that was all he was going to do. So, I lowered my eyes to my book again. It wasn’t until I heard the chair across from me scraping against the floor that I realized Peter had come back.

“Mind if I sit?” Peter asked, gesturing to the chair.

“Your admission price is a question. Favorite Star Wars film?”

“Well now, that’s a hard one. Empire Strikes Back, probably.” 

I crinkled my nose. “I guess you can sit down.”

“Ouch,” he mentioned, though he was grinning. He lowered himself into the seat and scooted the chair back in. “What’s yours?”

“The original three are the best because of their iconic status, no doubt,” I countered, slipping a bookmark into the page I was on before shutting it. “But the new trilogy is developed so much more. And the plot line is better. So I’d probably go with The Force Awakens.”

“The horror,” he said, clutching his chest and laughing a little. It was a nice laugh, deep and strong. It filled my stomach with butterflies. “But I’ll concede. The Force Awakens is brilliant.” He took a sip of his coffee. “So, what do you do, Petra?”

I was going to ask how he knew what my name was, but as if anticipating his question, he pointed to my name scribbled on the cup. I wanted to laugh. “I run a podcast. And I’m publishing a book soon, once my editor and publisher get their act together.” He laughed again and I swore in that moment I would try to make him laugh at least three more times during our conversation. His laugh was too addictive and sexy to not hear it. “What about you, Peter?”

“I’m afraid I live a much more boring life. I’m an accountant.”

“The horror,” I parroted. 

“Believe it or not, I enjoy it a lot. I’m good with numbers.” He took another sip of his coffee. I noticed that his hands could wrap around the entire cup and he still had room to lace his fingers together. I almost swooned. Something about a man’s hands was extremely hot. “Tell me more about this podcast. What do you talk about?”

“Mostly stuff like this,” I answered, gesturing to the book I had set on the corner of the table. “Amongst other nerd things.”

“Would these nerd things include Harry Potter?”

“Naturally.”

“Let me guess,” he said, trailing off for a moment as he gave me a once over. “Hufflepuff?”

“I self-identify as a Hufflepuff, but Pottermore has spoken. I’m a Ravenclaw.”

“Damn. Do I get half a point?”

“I’ll give you the full one, just because you’re speaking the language of my soul. Which is, of course, Harry Potter. You’re definitely a Ravenclaw.”

“Hole in one. Though I self-identify as a Slytherin.”

I smiled. I wanted to ask him more about him self-identifying as a Slytherin, but his phone beeped from his pocket. He wrestled it out of his jacket and stared at it for a moment. “Unfortunately, I have to go. I only get a thirty minute lunch break.”

I felt myself deflate like a balloon. “Oh. Right. Have fun with the rest of your work day.”

He rolled his eyes good-naturedly as he stood. “I really enjoyed talking to you, Petra. Would you…” he trailed off, chuckling nervously. “I don’t know. Would you want to hang out some other time?”

I was already sliding my phone across the table. “Put in your number. I’ll text you.”

He grinned and typed in his phone number, thumbs almost too big for the buttons. When he handed it back to me, his contact glared at me like a giant neon sign. “I’ll hopefully hear from you soon, Petra.”

“You will,” I assured, giving him a smile. 

“Great,” he said simply, grabbing his coffee. “Bye.” The farewell was spoken sweetly and had the butterflies swarming again. I repeated the sentiment and watched him walk out of the coffee shop door, smile permanently on my face.

I was too excited to even pick up my book.

~

“Are you wearing your good bra?”

Melody’s question came from the small speaker of my phone. She was propped on my vanity dresser in my room, on the tiny FaceTime screen. She had spreadsheets scattered around her on her kitchen table, and I could hear her roommates playing the telly too loudly. Every five minutes or so, she gritted her teeth and refrained from telling them to go fuck themselves. 

I’d only met her two roommates once. There was Cassandra, who was a petite girl who Melody had met in uni. She had been there on a volleyball scholarship, which I didn’t think existed until I met her. She had blonde hair that was pinstraight and was always pulled back into a ponytail. The other was Vera, who had been born in Canada and moved to London with her boyfriend from uni. They were still together as far as I knew. I didn’t like being around Derek, her boyfriend, because he never stopped staring at Melody’s tits. Or my tits. Or any tits that were in his vicinity, besides Vera’s.

Therefore, I could understand her ire.

“I didn’t want to come off as presumptuous,” I answered her question, twisting and turning in my dress to try and see how the material moved. I had already tried three dresses and none of them seemed to be working for me. This one was a short green dress, but you could see my underwear line and all my seamless ones were in the wash. 

“It’s not presumptuous to wear a good bra,” Melody argued. I heard the volume of her telly turn up and saw Melody roll her eyes.

“It’s kinda presumptuous. Like I assume I’m going to have sex.”

“I hate to tell you this, Pet, but you probably are going to have sex.”

“Still, I don’t want to look like I was expecting it.”

I stripped off the green dress and stood in my room, clad in only my underwear and bra. I heard Melody tisk in the background, so I assumed my bra was not to her liking. I didn’t care. This bra was comfortable and I liked it. Although it was comfy and had completely molded to fit my boobs (as most good bras did over time), it was still white and lacey, so she couldn’t complain much. My underwear didn’t match, but didn’t white go with everything?

“Try the burgundy one. That one makes your legs look long.” This was a feat, because I had short legs. I reached for the burgundy dress she was talking about and held it up to my body, inspecting it in my vanity mirror. It was decent, I decided. Not too fussy but not too plain. “And for God’s sake, put on a new bra.”

“I’m not putting on a new bra,” I admonished, rolling my eyes as I slipped the burgundy dress over my shoulders. It had short sleeves and ended just past mid-thigh. Once it was on, I decided it was perfect. “Coat or no coat?”

Melody snorted. “I don’t care how hot this guy is, he’s not worth freezing your arse off. It’s January in London. Don’t be a twit.”

She was right, of course. I grabbed a black coat my mum had gotten for me a couple Christmases ago. I slipped on some short black boots and did a little twirl. “What do we think?”

“Better if you changed the bra, but this will do.” At my glare, she chuckled. “You look great. You’re going to know Peter on his ass. I can’t believe you met someone as nerdy and weird as you. It’s just your luck.”

“I don’t always have this luck.” I checked the digital clock I had on the stand next to my bed and decided it was probably time to leave if I wanted to make it there on time. We were meeting at a little Mexican restaurant at six, and it was nearing 5:45. “I’ve got to go, Melody.”

“Good luck babe. You’ve got this.”

“Melody, can you shut up? Vera and I are trying to watch Hollyoaks!”

I saw Melody shut her eyes. I could only guess that she was debating homicide. “If I haven’t killed myself by the time you’re back, call me. I want to hear all about it. I might also stay at your place tonight.”

“You’ve got a key. Come over whenever you want.” I was used to Melody letting herself into my flat, especially when Cassandra and Vera were being annoying. 

“Might take you up on that. Have fun tonight. Do everything I wouldn’t do.”

I ended the chat and ordered myself an Uber. I really needed to get a car. Maybe I could bribe Zach to drive me around like he did with Jeremiah. Melody had complained that Peter hadn’t offered to come pick me up for our date, but I didn’t tell her that I preferred it that way. In case there was need for an escape, I wouldn’t have to feel pressured into him driving me back to my flat. 

I had been looking forward to this date all week. We had been texting  back and forth about various subjects of nerd-ism and then after about three days of texting he had asked me out. I would not admit to jumping around my flat like a loon when he finally did ask me out, but I wouldn’t deny it either. It had been so long since I had been interested in someone that I nearly forgot the protocol for how I was supposed to act on the days leading up to the date, but the conversation had still flown well.

Once my Uber had dropped me off at the restaurant, I texted Peter to let him know I was here. Assuming he was already inside, I pushed open the door to the restaurant and walked to the front.

“Hi. Reservations for Gerber.” The hostess clicked a couple of buttons on the computer and gave me a smile.

“Great. Follow me,” she said. I noticed her name tag said Stephanie. I don’t know why I noticed her name tag first, but I liked to know people’s names. My dad had always instilled in me that I needed to be polite and get the names of everyone I came across, whether it was an employee or boss. It showed respect, he mentioned. And it was true. My dad knew the names of all of his builders and still kept in touch with some of the people he had contracted for. 

I followed Stephanie to where Peter was sitting at a booth. He was dressed in a nice navy blue jumper and dark black pants, shiny loafers on his feet. I wondered briefly how much accountants made, but didn’t dare ask. I would simply have to look it up when I got home later. 

“Wow,” he said, standing to give me a quick peck on the cheek. He smelled heavenly. “You look amazing.”

“You too,” I responded, giving him a smile as I sat across from him. 

“You want some wine?” he asked.

“I’m not a connoisseur by any means, so I’ll trust whatever you get.”

He ordered some fancy bottle of red wine I couldn’t pronounce the name of and Stephanie set off to go retrieve it. “How was your work week?” I asked, grabbing my napkin and setting it in my lap. I’d be damned if I let any food get on my dress. “I’ll have you know I’m very intrigued in accounting now. I know almost nothing about it.”

“Lots of numbers, lots of financial documents, lots of typing. The rest of the week was good. I was looking forward to this.” My heart fluttered a little bit at his confession. “But accounting is boring when you’re comparing it to podcasts. How was your work week? Any cool guests?”

“Work week was great. I don’t record this week’s podcast until tomorrow, so I’ve got tonight free. The guest is Ray Holman, who did the costuming for several series of Doctor Who.”

“That’s exciting.” Stephanie brought back our wine and poured us each a glass. When she asked if we were ready to order, I shook my head. “Couple more minutes, please,” Peter suggested. Stephanie left with a smile. 

“Have you been here before? I wonder what’s good.” I opened up my menu and started scanning the entrees they had listed.

“I was going to ask you.”

“This is my first time here.” I looked around the restaurant. It was decorated with varying shades of neon colors. It looked like a festival of some kind. There was a mariachi song playing over the speakers that had a lot of trumpet sounds. It made me want to get up and dance. 

“Yeah, but you’d probably still know what’s good,” Peter said. I looked at him in confusion and raised a brow. He furrowed his brows, like he didn’t understand what I wasn’t getting about his statement. “You know… because you’re Mexican.”

Because you’re Mexican.

I was lucky. In England, I hadn’t been made fun of for my race until high school, when Nathan Penrose had gotten tired of me not responding to his other taunts and teases. He told me to go back to Cuba, where people like me belonged. I didn’t let it bother me because I knew Nathan Penrose was a jackass. Plus, he had been in high school at the time. Though it was no excuse, teenage boys were incredibly stupid. Peter, however, was no teenage boy. This was a grown man. Who had just said I would know what to order at a Mexican restaurant because… because I was Mexican.

“I’m Cuban, actually,” I said in a whisper, unable to come up with any other response.

“Aren’t they sort of the same thing?”

I wanted to throw up. I wanted to burst into tears. I wanted to curl up in a ball and bury myself underneath blankets. “No,” I responded, my voice still pathetically quiet. “Cubans are from Cuba.”

“But you grew up in Cuba, right? So you probably know what kind of food is authentic or not.”

“I was born in Cheshire,” I tried to argue, but my mouth felt like it was filled with cotton. I didn’t have time to say anything else when Stephanie was back, notepad in hand and a cheery smile on her face.

“We know what we want?”

“I’ll take whatever he gets. I have to go to the loo.” I couldn’t stand up fast enough. I felt the embarrassment fill my veins, like ice water. My throat was tightening, a sure sign that I was going to start crying. I didn’t want Peter to see me cry. The jackass didn’t deserve it. I wobbled in my heels, teetering as I marched to the bathroom, but I didn’t care if I fell flat on my face. It would still be less embarrassing than what Peter had just asked me. 

My tunnel vision for the loo was so severe I almost didn’t hear someone call my name. I didn’t realize anything until a hand suddenly grabbed my wrist. I jerked away, thinking it was Peter and preparing myself to scream at him and admit defeat in front of all the patrons of the restaurant, but the face I saw when I turned was familiar and comforting.

“Petra?” Bailey asked. Her short red hair was pulled into a tiny bun at the base of her skull and her blue eyes were watching me with worry. “Are you okay?”

Numbly, I nodded. And then I sniffled. Bailey’s eyes widened. “Come on,” she said softly, standing from her seat. “Let’s get you cleaned up.” I could only imagine this meant a tear had escaped and my mascara was running. “I’ll be right back, lads.”

It was then that I noticed who she was sitting with. There were two men sitting at the table with her, one of them nodding his head and thinking nothing of Bailey’s weird departure. The other, however, I knew.

“Petra?” Harry asked, eyes widening when he saw the tears on my face. “Are you okay?”

I didn’t give him the satisfaction of a response. I just turned and made a beeline for the loo, feeling Bailey following behind me. I burst into tears fully when the door of the bathroom shut behind me, and Bailey was immediately at my side, brushing my hair away from my face like a mother would to a child. 

“Oh, Petra,” she signed out, her gaze pitying. “What happened, love?”

So I told her. I told her about how excited I was to go on a date with Peter, how swimmingly things had gone when we were texting, and then the cold reality that hit me like ice. Her eyes narrowed and hardened as I blubbered through an explanation, my words barely sounding like actual words and more like garbled sounds strung together. Her hands on my shoulders rubbed reassuringly as I buried my face in my hands.

“He’s a prick, Petra. A racist, selfish prick. He doesn’t deserve a second of your time or your tears.” Bailey grabbed some toilet paper from the stall and handed it to me so I could dab my tears away. My makeup was beyond saving, but she grabbed her purse and held out a concealer. “It’ll be too light for you, but it’s there if you want it.”

I didn’t care that Bailey was at least ten shades lighter than me. I sniffled, picked up the concealer, and smeared some underneath my eyes so the mascara tracks disappeared. I looked like a ghost, but I didn’t look like some racist arsehole had just stomped on my heart. I preferred the ghost. “I don’t even want to go back out there.”

“You don’t have to. I’ll take you home. Jeff and Harry won’t mind.”

That brought on the second topic of discussion. “How the hell do you know Harry Styles?”

“I don’t, actually. Jeff and I are family friends though, and he worked with Harry on his record. Jeff just said a friend was in town and asked if he could come to dinner with us.” Bailey raised her finger to blend in a spot of concealer I missed. “But Jeff’s really understanding. He’ll get it if I need to drive you home.”

“I don’t want to ruin your dinner,” I said quietly. “I’m just being stupid.”

“No you aren’t,” Bailey responded vehemently. “He’s being an arse. C’mon love, it’s better than taking an Uber home. Between you and Veronica, I’m sure you’re funding the entire Uber company on your own.”

I managed a small chuckle and tossed the toilet paper in the bin. “How much do I look like Casper the friendly ghost?”

“On a scale of one to ten, an eleven.” But she smiled. “You look fine, love. Let’s head out, yeah? Maybe you, Veronica, and I can have a good old-fashioned slumber party?”

“I’m afraid my front room won’t fit us all.”

Bailey laughed and linked her arm with mine. When we opened the door to the loo, I almost hit someone with it. Standing outside, leaning against the wall, was Harry Styles himself. 

“Christ, wear a bell,” I muttered.

“Are you okay?” he asked. He reached out, as if to check me over himself to see if I was alright, but decided better of it. His hands dropped back down to his sides. He probably knew that if he tried to touch me, I’d bite his fingers off like a rabid chihuahua. “What happened?”

“None of your business,” I grumbled angrily.

“But everything’s okay now, yeah?”

I knew he didn’t mean his concern. It wasn’t genuine. He couldn’t give a fuck about my feelings when Nathan Penrose was screaming at me to go back to “where I came from” and he couldn’t give a fuck about me now. “Leave me alone, Harry.”

Bailey and I said goodbye to Jeff, leaving Harry standing outside of the bathroom. I didn’t even look in Peter’s direction as I left the restaurant with Bailey at my side, making sure to slip Stephanie a five before I left. Bailey kept her arm linked through mine, as if she was afraid I was going to fall over if she let go. Oddly enough, I appreciated the support.

Minutes later, I was tucked into Bailey’s small little Volvo and we were on the way back to my flat. 

“Do I want to know what’s going on with you and Harry?”

“Too much to explain. I’m surprised Veronica hasn’t mentioned it.”

“She mentioned that you guys grew up together in Holmes Chapel, but didn’t mention much else. There some bad blood there?”

I let out a wry laugh. “You could say that.” We pulled up to my flat and I saw the light on. Must have meant Melody had actually taken my offer. “Looks like Melody’s there.”

“That’s good. Didn’t want you to be alone.” She parked the car and turned to face me. “You’ll be okay, right? I don’t need to stage an intervention?”

“No, I’ll be fine. Thanks Bailey. Veronica’s lucky to have you.”

“Damn right she is,” Bailey laughed. She leaned over to give me a quick hug. “Try not to dwell on what that arsehole said. He’s just insensitive and rude. And the first thing I want you to do when you get inside is delete that prick’s number.”

“Will do. See you later.” I hopped out of her car, wobbling slightly on my heels but gaining my balance pretty quickly. I walked to my front door, digging through my clutch to get my keys and holding them up triumphantly to Bailey. I unlocked my door as her headlights faded away.

Melody was sitting on my couch, her spreadsheets spread around her again. She had her glasses on (which she hardly wore) and her hair was up in a wet ponytail. She must have taken a shower. She looked up when I shut the door behind me and waved. “Thanks for letting me come over. I couldn’t get any of my shit done with Vera and Cassandra blabbering about Hollyoaks in the background. How was…” she trailed off when she saw the expression on my face. “Oh no, Pet. That bad?”

“He said I should know what to order because I’m Mexican and I would know what was authentic.”

“He didn’t.”

I nodded as I flopped down on my loveseat, not wanting to disturb the organization strategy she obviously had going for her spreadsheets. “He did.”

“What a prick! I’m glad you wore the bra you did. He didn’t deserve the good bra.”

“No he did not.” I toed off my boots. “I should have known the second I walked into the restaurant. He didn’t bring flowers.”

To anyone else, this statement might seem weird, but Melody knew what I was talking about. “Someday someone will get you flowers, Pet. You’ll be sick of getting flowers. He’ll buy you a whole florist shop.”

I didn’t believe that for a second, but it was a nice idea. “Whatever. Bailey was there with one of her friends and she drove me back. Speaking of which, Harry Styles was there.”

“And the night gets better and better.”

“Exactly.” I shrugged off my jacket. “I need a shower. I want to wash this night off of me. Will you order some take out? I didn’t actually get a chance to eat.”

“Sure. I’ll surprise you.”

I sent her a half-hearted thanks as I made my way to my bathroom. Tossing my dress on the floor as if casting off the events of the night, I turned the water to boiling. My underwear and bra joined my dress on the floor as I stepped into my shower.

If I stupidly cried a little bit more, I made sure my sobs were quiet. I didn’t need Melody knowing how pathetic I was feeling about this whole experience. 

Once I was clean and in some warm pajamas, I walked back out to the living room. In addition to the spreadsheets, Melody now had a box of pizza and paper plates spread out on my coffee table. I reclaimed my spot on my loveseat and thanked her for the plate she offered me. “What’re you working on?” I mumbled through a bite of pizza.

“Shit Trennan was supposed to get done. I’m almost done with it, but I’ll be mad about it for the rest of the week.” She looked up and gave me a small smile. “You want to watch Avatar the Last Airbender?”

“I thought you were working.”

“Eh, I can deal with you watching the telly. You don’t scream at it like Vera and Cassandra. Plus, I know seeing Zuko’s character development always makes you feel better.”

She was right. 

“Okay.” I grabbed my Apple TV remote and pulled up my Amazon account, where I had already purchased all three seasons. “Thanks, Melody.”

She didn’t look up from her spreadsheets, but she smiled as I clicked on the first episode.

~

“Who the fuck is at your door at nine in the morning?” Was what I was woken up to. Melody was standing at my bedroom door, clad in the pajamas she had packed when she left her flat last night. I was bundled in my blankets, head barely poking out above the fleece as I groggily stared at her.

“What?” 

“Someone’s knocking on your front door. Woke me up, the prat.”

“It might be Bailey checking on me. She and Veronica wake up weirdly early.” I pushed back my blankets and shivered when the cool London air hit me. Shoving my fuzzy socks on my feet before I dared to put them on the cold wood floor, I stood from my bed and blinked slowly, trying to wake myself up. I had watched the entire first season of Avatar the Last Airbender before both Melody and I decided to call it a night. I had gotten about four texts from Peter before I finally decided to just block his number. I didn’t feel like dealing with him again. 

“Tell Bailey that the rest of the human civilization doesn’t wake up at nine on Saturday morning.”

“I’ll be sure to pass the note along.” I padded out to the living room. The knocking seemed to have stopped, but I still looked through the small peephole to make sure whoever it was had left. “There’s no one there anymore.” I didn’t remember ordering anything online, but I could have purchased something for AC while half-asleep one night. It had happened before.

However, when I opened the door, it wasn’t a cardboard box at my doorstep.

It was a pretty bouquet of flowers. There were baby’s breath sprinkled in with pretty dusty rose colored tulips. There was some greenery mixed up with them, but the tulips were the center of attention. 

“If those are from Peter, toss them in the fucking garbage.”

I lifted them from my doorstep and kicked the door shut with my foot. I brought them over to my kitchen counter, staring at the beautiful arrangement. There was a small little card attached to a silver bow, wrapped around the vase. My fingers shook as I reached for it.

Petra,

I hope you’re feeling better. These are a thanks and a sorry. Thanks for letting me be on AC and getting to know the world of podcasts. Sorry for everything else.

- Harry

P.S. That Peter guy is a arse. Don’t let him get to you.

“Well, shit,” Melody muttered as she read the note over my shoulder.

Well shit indeed.

[leo-interactive-fiction]

I'm absolutely fascinated by The Residence of Reeker Hill, I'm very excited to see what you do with such an interesting premise! Would you be okay with sharing some info on the ROs, and what you mean by an unreliable perspective on your ROs?

Unfortunately, Residence of Reeker Hill is being put on the backburner as I work on my other two books, but due to that I don’t mind being a bit generous and going over some of the inner workings and ideas I have regarding it, but fair warning they are not so fleshed out and some of the ideas are in my mind at this point and not on paper. So spoilers from this point on haha.

So I had planned 7 ROs for this book: The Gardener, The Maid/Butler, The Cook, The Elusive Servant, The Failed Actor/Actress, The Salacious Twins, and The Nightmare. I’ll go over each one in detail later, but first I’ll detail a bit about the setting.

Setting: So I have this set in a mansion, colloquially known simply as the Residence. It’s detailed as more of an ethereal place, unable to be seen or entered by common folk. I kinda wanted to give it something of a Hotel California feel, but with a mansion. There’s a big lawn garden in front, the two story mansion in the center, and some open space in the back, while the entire area is surrounded by a thick forest. I have the mansion set up to have most of the residential and recreational stuff in the first floor east wing, while the utilities like kitchen, laundry, servants quarters are located in the first floor west wing. The second floor is divided into three sections, with the west being for an extremely large library, the middle serving as something of an observatory/drawing room, and the east being a forbidden area that no one is ever ever allowed to go into. This place would basically serve to move the plot along later once the MC gets (somewhat) more comfortable with their surroundings.

ROs: Each RO I have planned has a specified reason for actually being in the residence. The residence specifically targets those who are essentially down on their luck with no where else to turn, so each RO in turn has a problem such as that. Unfortunately, the residence is a cruel and toyful place, and while it allows each individual a new beginning and allows everyone to be the best version of themselves they can be, it also essentially works to personify the darker nature that caused the RO’s problem in the first place. This dark nature is showcased as a unique monster that symbolized each RO’s past that they run from.

Berry/Bonny: The first RO you meet is the gardener of the residence. They’re typically seen in dirty overalls and a straw hat, and tend to always carry around their watering can. They enjoy tending to the plants and have a considerable fear of flame and anything involving it, so they don’t eat anything cooked.

Burns/Burna: This is Berry/Bonny’s respective monster, a figure with charred and blackened skin, wearing a ragged jumpsuit, gasmask, and carrying a gasoline can. Wherever they show, a blazing fire is sure to follow. They represent the RO’s involvement with the fire that burned down the entirety of their family estate and killed those inside in the process.

Victor/Victoria: A raven haired butler/maid of the residence. They’re reserved to a fault, and talk only in short, submissive statements. The most efficient individual you’ll ever meet, they have a routine and timer for every action they take within the residence.

Viscer/Visceris: Victor/Victoria’s inner demon, a white haired, sadistic and hedonistic figure. While the only appearance change that happens is their hair, red eyes, and appearance of fangs, their personality takes a dramatic change to one of a self-seeking and human-loathing nature. They represent the repressed stress the RO faces from being a servant all their life and the pent up aggression that ultimately gets released. They are the reason for a past incident where they ultimately ended up murdering a family of five.

Cecil/Cecilia: The red-headed chef of the residence. Slightly snappy to those they feel have no common sense, they are on average a fairly kind individual, if a bit asocial. With a high sense of duty, they find great reward in having others enjoy the food they dedicate themselves to make.

Canibel/Canibella: The regret that haunts the RO, a stickly, long limbed monstrosity with rows of teeth in a mouth that stretches across the majority of their face. With sunken, hollow space in place of where their eyes are, they represent the blinding hunger they faced during an expedition they took with fellow friends in the arctic. With no more resources, Cecil/Cecilia turn to murdering and cooking the rest of the group, eating and acquiring an infatuation with human flesh.

Istellen/Istella: The shy young adult that accidentally mistakes their room for yours near the end of the book. Their name had yet to be revealed, but it is in the coding. They appear to personify a natural innocence. They are a failed actor/actress, due to the rise of an inexplicable case of stagefright that stained their reputation and ruined their chances in the industry. They have yet to recover and now very rarely talk to strangers and have a hard time being looked at by even a single person.

Inseen/Inseena: The creature responsible for the RO’s massive stage-fright, this short, sickly looking boy/girl stares unblinkingly with black, empty space where their eyes would be, an unknown black liquid seeping out of the sockets as an ever-present thin smile completes the face. The creature represents the RO’s past unreasonable desire to be the center of the spotlight, showcased by the creatures still figure until someone were to look away, then inexplicably they are one step closer. Unlike the rest of the monsters, this one is detached from the RO, and haunts them as well as you. The sleepless nights they caused the RO caused them mental fatigue that led to a psychotic episode on the stage.

Quinn/Quill: The elusive fourth servant of the house, seen so little that even the other servants forget their presence. A young adult who begins appearing to you like an apparition a little bit after the dining room scene, on the way back to your room alone. They wear a more Victorian-gothic era attire compared to the other residents. In all actuality, this servant is an apparition; a ghost of a long-dead servant that haunts the halls of the residence and has made themselves known to you due to your specific ability to see Vice (I'll explain the MC's actual vision meaning later). They wish to pass on, but require your help to find the person responsible for the accident that killed them all those years ago.

Sin/Sina: Quinn/Quill's alter-ego, a poltergeist spirit with a deep-seated hatred for humanity due to the accidental death that took their life along with Quinn/Quill's. They believe their was no accident, and it was a conspiration of several of the servants to see them killed. Unable to forgive, they seek to haunt and corrupt Quinn/Quill in order to enact their revenge through Quinn/Quill's more physical form, since they are unable to.

Penn & Lann/ Penta & Lana: The salacious twins. Pe can be identified by their more brightly colored hair and energetic attitude compared to the more muted color and personality of La. While two individuals, they are never seen apart. Consistently quoting each other as one body and mind, the two partake in every action together, from monotonous tasks like brushing teeth and sleeping to the more intricate duties of talking and sleeping with others. Being of similar spirit, they both enjoy the hunt and chase of finding partners to bed, leading to a considerably tainted reputation that eventually led to their excommunication from their community.

Pelatin/Pelatina: A grotesque and malformed clump of limbs sticking out of a singular misshapen body. Two heads can be seen vying for control of every limb, and the body juts in awkward ways due to this. This malformation represents the unnaturally strong dependency each of the twins has developed for the other, despite each wanting to be their own individual. This desire for independence and the inner competition between the two is what lead to them seeking sexual respite for validation, but eventually it lead to their invalidity.

The Nightmare: Not just a nightmare, this is Your Nightmare, and the reason for your spiral into insanity and eventual denouncement from your family. Showcased a shadowy and bloody figure, either masculine or feminine, they represent different things depending on your decisions through the game. If you embrace the nightmare, it represents your bloodthirsty desire. All of the events from before you entered the mansion weren't visions: You sought to murder every individual you met until your eventual escape from the family who attempted to shelter you. If you attempt to rehabilitate from your waking nightmares, they represent a malevolent dark spirit seeking to corrupt and possess you to undertake their gruesome actions. If you remain neutral or simply coexist with the nightmare, it represents your repressed stress from attempting to lead a normal life. It is an altered coping mechanism from the inability to successfully lead a fulfilling life.

Now about the visions, and what they really are. Most of it has to do with what Your Nightmare is to you, but one thing is certain: The visions are very lifelike. Basically, depending on your decisions and standing with the nightmare, there's different ways the visions can be determined: Sick and twisted hallucination of a demented individual attempting to justify their slaughter, The supernatural ability to see a completely different world known as Vice, or moments in which your Nightmare is attempting to possess you. This, and the decision of RO, will correlate to the ending of the game, of which there are several different interpretations for what actually happened, and what is or isn't real. So basically, the player chooses how the game interprets the symptoms you have haha.

Obvious disclaimer, this would be the fundamental basis that I have to work with, but is always subject to change as I flesh out more of the story at a later date haha.

[renzywenzy]

Joker Review

*Disclaimer* I held off posting this review until Phoenix won the Oscar. I promised myself that if he hadn’t won, I would have just left this in the drafts forever. That’s how much faith I had in this man and now here is my critique of my favorite film of 2019. 

I have a tattoo on my right arm. The tattoo is actually the Batman logo but altered. One half of the logo is normal but the other half is made up of red “HAHAHAHA’s” all over. There’s a reason why the dynamic between these two is my favorite of all-time. It’s two different interpretations of insanity colliding in an eternal battle. It’s two iconic, well-written, captivating characters having epic confrontations. 

Needless to say, I love the characters of Batman and The Joker. I grew up on them and they have played a huge part of my life. My ideologies, my way of thinking, my perception of the world, my behavior in private and in public have been directly and/or indirectly impacted by these two characters.

Any film or any form of media that have these two, separate or together, is already met with my high expectations. So obviously, my expectations for this film were through the roof. If this film was nothing short of great, I would have been really angry. 

I would have been the first to say how disappointed I was, I would have been the first to say that Joaquin Phoenix should never play The Joker again, I would have been the first to say that Todd Philips should stick to raunchy comedies and stay away from the character as far as possible....but that’s not the case here. 

I’m singing a different tune. A tune that I’m gonna be letting everyone hear with every chance I get. A tune that I’m gonna be playing in my head whenever I dance on the street. 

Ladies and gentlemen... please welcome Joker.

The Tragedy

First of all, I’ll begin with some faults that I found in the film. Not a whole lot but I have to get these out of the way so that I can end the review with high points. 

1.) The origin story we didn’t want but the one we got anyway

Now when I talk about origin story, I don’t mean Joker’s. I mean Batman’s. I’m really sorry to say but I am getting absolutely sick of seeing THAT scene. 

I have to point out that it felt like this scene was rushed. It wasn’t shot as well as the other scenes. Every other scene in Joker felt like there was a beautiful story behind it. As if there was a creative progress going through the minds of the people in the scene and off the camera but this scene felt rushed and was treated like an afterthought. 

I must admit, of all the films that showed Bruce’s parents in the alley, this one might be one of the weakest I’ve seen in a while. Even that piece of garbage Batman V. Superman had a slightly better way of showing that scene. If you’re going to show us a scene that’s been overly done since the beginning of Batman films, you gotta add a little more flavor and cinematic flair to it. Sad to say that for a film that was shot so well, this scene stuck out like a sore thumb. 

2.) A little too much dancing and a few too many ribs

As it says in the point, there’s a little too much there.  Don’t get me wrong, I love most of his dance scenes but there’s maybe 1 or 2 too many. I personally would have kept the first dance scene when accidentally shoots a gun, the one after his first kill, the one with his mother, and all the dance scenes once he completely transforms. These particular dance scenes were showing us a slow evolution and allowed to see how his mind was slowly changing. But there were a few dance scenes that didn’t really do that and instead was just kind of there. For example, the few dance scenes where he’s half-naked can be taken out completely and it wouldn’t make a difference. 

And speaking of him being half-naked. I understand the film wants us to see how weak he his and in some scenes, it wants to show you the literal scars he got from society. However in some of these scenes, it gets a little distracting. The first scene where he’s half naked and trying to adjust his shoe is just perfect because for one, you don’t know really know what he’s doing at first so it leaves you wondering for a few seconds and two, you get to see how much his frail body struggles with something so simple. 

But then you have a few scenes where he’s unnecessary shirtless like the one where he’s smoking and watching TV. It seemed needless for him to be shirtless for this scene because the main point of it was his reaction towards what was being shown on TV. Again, it’s no problem to show us how skinny and weak he looks but it has to be the point or a point of a scene or else it’s just distracting.

Small gripes but I had to find some criticisms for the film. But now that that’s out of the way, let’s put a smile on that face (I know they’re not the same. Just be like Joe and Chill).

The Comedy 

1.) Romero, Nicholson, Ledger, Hamill, and now...

 ...Phoenix

There have been numerous people who have played the Joker with each actor adding their own twist to the Clown Prince of Crime. Romero embodied the camp and goofiness of the Silver Age iteration, Nicholson provided a more laid-back and mafia-esque performance, Ledger portrayed him as a true anarchist who “wants to watch the world burn”, and the legendary Hamill basically performed multiple layers of Joker’s persona for his 20+ years as the character and is THE definitive voice (and laugh) of The Joker. 

Joaquin Phoenix joins this hall of fame (or infamy) by giving us a closer, more in-depth look at the mentally ill, physically battered, and emotionally abandoned man behind the smile. 

I honestly can’t give this guy the praise he really deserves but I’ll do my best. My lord...this man blew me away like I was a talk-show host. Powerhouse performance doesn’t even begin to describe his acting. 

This film, as well-made as it was, wouldn’t have worked nearly as well had it not been for its main star. This film hinged on how well Mr. Phoenix played the titular character and he absolutely delivered.

The film had a tough job in its hands: portray how a man was slowly dissenting into madness to the point that he lets the madness in and indulges in it. It was going to be a deliberately slow process that required an actor who can be significantly subtle enough to convey to the audience how a character is evolving but taking small steps to do so. Phoenix did that with flying colors. 

If you look at the first scene where we’re introduced to Arthur, it’s clearly not the same Arthur when the film reaches its ending. We went from a man who walks with a slouch and a noticeable stiffness to a man who vigorously dances in the streets without a care in the world. 

Don’t get it twisted, though. Phoenix didn’t play two different people nor did he play a man who takes a sudden huge leap in his personality. He played a person who displays slight changes to his psyche in each scene and these small changes eventually pile up. Arthur was meant to be a man who was layered like an onion and Phoenix’s performance mirrored that perfectly. 

Is he the best Joker? I can’t say that. Each Joker I’ve been introduced to, while having a different spin, is ultimately the Joker at his peak or even at the twilight of his criminal life. This is the first time where I’ve witnessed a Joker who is still truly staring out. And no, Nicholson doesn’t count because Jack Napier was an established criminal way before he became the Joker. So I’m not too sure yet where to rank Phoenix’s actual full-blown Joker as it doesn’t last long however excellent it was AND a huge factor for me when it comes to ranking Jokers is the interactions with Batman. There was no Joker and Batman clash here. Only Arthur and Bruce. As it stands, Phoenix’s spot on the all-time Joker list may not be the highest but in terms of pure acting, he may very well be #1. 

I know this sentiment has been repeated multiple times but I do honestly believe Phoenix deserved the Oscar here or at least a nod. 

2.) Familiar punchline, fresh set-up 

For any Batman/Joker fan, you’ve probably heard of this following quote:

“If I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice.” 

It’s an iconic quote and one that you will hear in almost any review of this film but there is a good reason for it. The line encapsulates one of the best things about The Joker: the mystery of his origins. 

As mysterious as the character is, it’s hard to keep The Joker interesting these days. He is the most over-exposed Batman villain of all time and quite possibly the most over-exposed villain in fiction period. Comic books, video games, tv shows, live-action movies. The Joker has been in EVERYTHING. Like his heroic counterpart, the Joker has been exposed too much to the point that there’s really not a lot of fresh things you can do with him.  

The last time any media brought something refreshing to The Joker was in Telltale’s Batman video game where you meet a man named “John Doe” who’s still looking for himself and finding out which path in life he wants to take. In the game, whatever John becomes is based on your actions. That was in 2017. 

The last time before that was in 2011′s Flashpoint where Martha Wayne became The Joker in an alternate timeline where Bruce dies in the alley. Even though this version of the Joker had a clear backstory and no mysterious origin, it was still fresh because of the sheer novelty of seeing Bruce Wayne’s mother as The Joker and his father as Batman.

So there are stretches of time where there’s nothing new and exciting for The Joker character but I’m happy to say that this film does breathe new life into the character. 

The filmmakers understood how this specific character should be handled and they did it in ways that are plausible. His abusive but vague childhood and his delusions help in keeping the film from being straightforward. 

Let me give some examples. In the scene where Arthur steals his mother’s files in the Asylum, it’s said that he was adopted by Penny and that he was abused by one of her boyfriends. 

Some people I’ve talked to believe that it was Thomas Wayne who put Penny in the Asylum and forged adoption papers. Some people even say that it was Thomas Wayne who abused them when Arthur was a child. Some people say that it’s true and Arthur really was adopted. 

We don’t know these things definitively and that’s the best part. It’s whatever you want it to be. Multiple choice. 

I personally want to believe that Arthur really was adopted because that just adds another air of mystery to him. If he was then we don’t know his actual birth name or who is real parents are.  

All in all, even though the evolution of Arthur into The Joker remains the ultimate goal, the film lets you make up your own path into how he got there. It’s handled beautifully and the script is clearly made with a lot of knowledge of and love for the character. 

3. A problem tackled with grace

I just wanted to point how well this film handles the issue of mental health and illness. This topic will forever be relevant and is an issue that’s been tackled in media before. Some handled it terribly, some handled it bad, some handled it ok, some handled it well. And then there’s Joker that handles it amazingly. 

As someone who sees mental illness on a regular basis, it was so sublime how accurate this film was. The image of a decaying mind and one that descends further and further down is so powerful in this film and it just never half-asses it and I loved that. 

My girlfriend is a nurse and she interacts with mentally ill people far more than I ever will and she praised it more because everything she saw from Arthur is something that she has personally had to deal with in her patients. I asked her if there was even one inaccurate and she said “No” because everything was completely plausible and has actually happened in real life on multiple occasions. Delusions of grandeur, uncontrollable ticks (like a laugh), murderous tendency, self-harm, stalking, hallucinating, you name it and most likely, this film shows it. 

Not only is Arthur’s mental illness accurate but what makes it better and why I praise it is how others deal with him. It’s scary how much it mirrors reality. Some people may know how to interact with him while others just get annoyed with him. Even those who are accepting of mentally ill people can still have be irritated with them when they come in contact with them. 

Arthur is beaten not just because he’s mentally ill but because he just looks like a weak man who can be pushed around. People don’t care if he’s sick, they’ll kick his ass or make fun of him regardless and in some cases, they’ll have even more incentive when they learn he has mental problems which is sadly similar to the world we live in today.

Joker is arguably the best adaption of mental illness for this decade (I say arguably because Bojack Horseman is up there) and I can’t believe that the director of the Hangover films got it right and speaking of which...

4. He directed what??

Todd Philips, the man behind the Hangover trilogy, Starsky and Hutch (2004), and Old School directed this film. Imagine late 2018 and you just heard who the director was and you search for the films he directed prior. Did you honestly believe, in your heart of hearts, he was going to pull this off?

Don’t get me wrong, comedic talents have proven to excel in other genres. Jordan Peele is a great example of that but that doesn’t necessarily apply to every comedian...However, it applied to Mr. Philips. 

His direction, his vision, his execution was top-notch and I have to apologize to this man because I honestly doubted him when I initially heard about it. I knew Phoenix was going to do well and I thought that the film would just rely solely on his performance but no. Todd Philips deserves a lot of credit here. Yes, he takes some ideas and cues from Scorsese (not a bad inspiration by the way) but he handles the psychological aspect in his own style.

In terms of performers, this was close to a one-man show as you can get but Philips’ contributions behind-the-scenes should to be given as much appreciation. Phoenix was the master painter and Philips gave him the tools.

Honestly, if Philips wants to direct more dramatic and heavier films akin to this, I’m all for it. If he wants to stick around and maybe direct some more DC films, I am definitely on board. In this time of uncertainty towards DC films, Philips gave me hope. Yes, I know this film isn’t part of the DCEU but if they want to create more films in the Elseworld universe, Philips should still be part of it in some way. 

5. The sound of laughter

I’m not going to lie. I rarely appreciate film scores. While I do believe they enhance a film’s quality, I’m not actively seeking it out unless it truly stands out. The only scores I truly remember and appreciate is the opening score for Star Wars, the Superman score, the main score for Indiana Jones, the Back to The Future action sequence score, Danny Elfman’s Batman score, and all of the scores from The Godfather films. 

By the way I realized the first three examples I gave all sound similar but it makes sense since John Williams made them all.

So out of the hundreds (possibly thousands) of films I’ve seen, these are the only scores I can truly remember and now we add one more to the list: the dark and beautiful score by Hildur Guðnadóttir. 

She absolutely gave me a much better understanding of how music can not only enhance a scene but be worked around it. Apparently, the music was made first and Todd Philips would shoot scenes with the score playing in the background so that he can craft scenes based on which part of the score he was listening to. This is the first time something like this has ever happened in the filmmaking process and it absolutely worked wonders. No wonder why each scene tied in so beautifully to a specific part of the score.

Hildur has made it and I hope to hear more of her work in future projects. 

6. To a bright future (hopefully)...

This section is more of a call to action than a positive point for the film. That being said, Joker’s success has opened up many possibilities for DC films moving forward. 

Let’s be honest here. The recent attempt of DC keeping up with Marvel in terms of films has not been great. DC is Marvel’s biggest competitor but when you just look purely at movie success, you wouldn’t think that.

That’s because Marvel started something solid over a decade ago and is currently having the biggest and most epic film franchise today and, quite possible, of all time. 

DC tried (and is still trying) to do the same but it has been a roller-coaster with some enjoyable ups (Man of Steel, Wonder Woman, Shazam) and terrible downs (Batman V. Superman, Justice League, Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey). 

Now with the huge commercial and critical success of this film, Warner Bros. need to take advantage of this while they have the chance. Joker is a film that is set in its own universe and not a part of the bigger DCEU and this could be DC’s way of being as successful as Marvel. Elseworld stories. Detective Comics was the first to put huge emphasis on a multiverse in their comics and I believe it’s time to bring that to the films. 

They’ve already implemented a multiverse with the television shows but now is the time to let the silver screen experience this. 

Unlike Disney, Warner Bros. has the movie rights to ALL of the DC characters. All of them. From heavyweights like Superman and Batman to less popular characters like Question and Red Tornado. They need to make use of that advantage because there are plenty of characters who have not had successful film ventures yet. Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Batgirl, Constantine (sorry Keanu) Lobo, Zatanna, Static Shock, Booster Gold (a personal favorite) and so many more. Give these characters a chance. They can shine in their own standalone movie that doesn’t have to do with the DCEU. However, if you want to put all of them in the same universe, you’ll need visionary writers capable of that. 

Consider this my call to action for Warner Bros. because I’m admittedly more of a DC fan than a Marvel. Don’t get me wrong, I love both franchises but DC was my first so I am biased towards them. I’m happy that Marvel has continuous success but it also makes me melancholic because it makes me question why DC can’t experience the same. 

Only time will tell if DC can keep this up because right now, they’re doing well overall but even if they ultimately never catch up, they can be proud of this one. 

Overall...

I love this film and its portrayal of an iconic character. They took an overused and overexposed character and somehow made him fresh again without taking away what made him so popular in the first place.

Todd Philips had a vision and he took it to a level that I didn’t think he was capable of. Joaquin Phoenix just absolutely killed with a performance that’s going to be remembered forever. 

As I write this review, talks of a sequel have already begun. I’m honestly not sure if they can do outdo themselves. My expectations will be even higher but they are most certainly welcome to exceed them again. 

[huntertales]

Part Two: Bow Down To The Queen. (LARP and the Real Girl S08E11)

Episode Summary: Sam, Dean and the reader investigate the mysterious deaths of two LARPers who were engaged in a game involving an actual fairy. While digging deeper into the game, the boys discover the queen of Moondoor is a familiar face they met just a few short years ago, an I.T. woman named Charlie Bradbury. Word Count: 6,915. Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Previous Part | Supernatural Rewrite Masterlist

A year and a half ago:

Taking down Dick Roman was a long and tedious process over the past year alone with a few casualties that the Winchester brothers didn't think would happen. But in this lifestyle, they knew not everyone lived long enough to see the ending of things. No matter how close they were. The brothers had come to that bitter reality after  you passed on just earlier this year, leaving them to try and navigate things without you. The boys were left wondering if things might have turned out differently if you were here to help them. Figure out a better solution to their plan, do anything in your power to take down the Dick, no matter what you had to do. Or even be a helping hand for a redhead named Charlie Bradbury as she stood outside of the intimidating office that she worked at. Whose boss was none over than the Dick himself. The only person who could attack him from the inside out. The brothers sat in an inconspicuous looking van parked outside the building while Charlie stood just outside the front entrance, having every chance to go in there and get started on the plan. However it was her fears that were keeping her glued to the sidewalk. No matter how much the boys told her that everything was going to work out fine. She kept muttering to herself over the Bluetooth earpiece that she couldn't do this. She wasn't a spy. Sam decided that there was one way that he could get the redhead to calm down. “Listen, who’s your favorite ‘Harry Potter’ character?” Sam asked the woman. While the question made his brother give him a slightly weird look at where he was going with this, it made Charlie focus on her answer, which was the female hero of the series. "Hermione. Well, all right, did Hermione run when Sirius Black was in trouble or when Voldemort attacked Hogwarts?" "No, of course not." Charlie said. Sam had a feeling this angle would work for the woman, he continued on by asking what did the fictional character do. "She kicked ass. She actually saves Harry in practically every book. And then she ends up with the wrong—" “Stay on track.” Sam cut off the woman, making sure she kept focus. “Okay, so she kicked ass, right? So, then, what are you gonna do?” Charlie liked the idea of pretending to be her favorite character and doing what needed to be done. The adrenaline mere seconds ago only lasted for that long before her insecurities came crashing back down on her. "Hermione's an amazing fictional character I could never live up to. She can kick ass. I can’t. I’m just some I.T. girl whose in way over her head." Charlie mumbled to herself as she continued to pace back and forth outside the front entrance of her workplace. "I can't do this. I can't. I can't do this. I can't—"

"Charlie, hey. Calm down. It’s Dean." The older Winchester grabbed the phone from his brother so he could communicate with the woman while he stared at her from the monitor. An idea struck itself up in his mind as he thought about a way to get her to get her to focus. It was gonna take more time than he wanted to waste, and it was going to open up a nasty wound, but if she wanted confidence from a real person, Dean knew exactly who he could talk about. "So you're not like Hermione. She’s fictional. You remind me of someone we knew. Smart, tech savvy.” "Yeah? So?” Charlie asked him, her nerves getting the best of her that wouldn’t let her grasp the big picture. “Was she a badass who could sneak her way into her boss' office?"

“Yeah. And she did so much more. Her name was Y/N. She was our best friend. Very smart and smooth. Could get the hell out of anyone if they dare so looked at her the wrong way. And saved our asses a few too many times. I want you to pretend I’m her.” Dean said. “Okay.” “It’s kinda gonna be hard. All I can picture is you.” Charlie mumbled. “Can you give me a visual representation of who I’m supposed to pretend?” Dean felt his grip around the phone he was communicating to with the redhead tighten slightly. Not because he was growing annoyed at time he was wasting. But having to think about the woman he lost just months ago. Dean cleared his throat as he did just that. He went through the basic information that he remembered, from your height to your hair color. And then your eyes. Simple little features that made it feel harder and harder to speak. Months he spent trying to forget you and here he was, being reminded of every little detail he’d kill to be able to see again. "I remember when Y/N first started hunting with us. Very first case that ended up with me and her getting picked up by the cops. She was freaking out, thinking her life was over. Hover she ended up saving Sammy's life. And just a short while later she managed to fool two FBI agents who were hellbent on throwing me and Sam in jail. But you know what she did? She managed to fool them. I mean, we're talking 'Usual Suspect' twist that we didn't even see coming. Now this was a girl who was a lot like you.” Dean said. “Nerdy. Happy in her own safe, quiet life who was dragged into this life unwillingly. Who could never picture herself doing the things she did. But she managed to overcome all her fears and saved countless lives. Ours too many too count.” Dean found himself rambling on about the woman that made his heart beat faster and ache all at the same time. He found himself moving his gaze away from the small screen and to his little brother, who shared the same bittersweet expression on his face at the thought of you. “She was the real life version of Hermione Granger. And instead of ending up with ginger, she ended up with the better looking one. She was the only one that kept our heads on straight. Whenever I get overwhelmed I just think about her. And it makes me feel a bit better." "Oh." Charlie found herself losing focus once again on her worries that could go wrong and on the woman Dean had talked about. She could tell from his voice on the other line that this Y/N woman meant a lot to him. "She sounds like a total badass." "She...she was." Dean agreed with the woman. "And she would be sitting here with us, cheering you on." "Then where...Oh. Oh." Charlie felt the wheels start to spin in her head of the reason why he was talking about this Y/N woman in third person. Most of the time it was because the person was no longer with them. "She must have been a special woman to you." 

“Hell yeah. Drop dead sexy and smart as hell, mixed with sarcasm as her first language—along with the God knows how many other ones she could speak. She was something special. We were engaged to be engaged, you could say. But that's no here or there. Just pretend that I'm Y/N. She'll be speaking to you and helping you get through this.” Dean told the woman. “Now you're gonna march yourself in there and kick some leviathan ass. Can you do that for me?”

The insecurities she had felt just seconds ago were replaced with the rush of confidence she needed to do this. The redhead nodded her head and headed for the doors of the office building, getting ready to kick ass in her own nerdy way. The Charlie Bradbury way she knew she was capable of.

+ + +

The Queen of Moondoor, who remained in perfect stillness on the police computer screen, was someone the brothers had met once before. It seemed they had met a few new faces while you were gone as they navigated through the year without you. Unlike Garth, she wasn't a hunter. She was someone who had accidentally gotten herself mixed up a situation after being asked to do her job. You turned yourself around in the office chair and leaned back in your seat with your arms crossed your chest, deciding it wouldn’t hurt to see who the redhead was. The boys told you her real name was Charlie Bradbury, an I.T. tech that once worked for Dick Roman. And that’s where the trouble started for her.

The story about how the Charlie and the boys met was nothing you didn’t experience before; girl got caught in the middle of risky business, girl asked to put herself in danger to help take down the monster. Which she agreed to do. But the story had a touch of humor. While you sat back and felt yourself growing a smile as Sam told you about how his brother had to help the woman flirt with a security guard, Dean wasn’t laughing along with you. He kept trying for you and Sam to focus back onto the case you were working on, you kept your focus on his brother as you put your index finger up to shush him for just a bit longer so Sam could finish the story.

"I told you never we were never gonna talk about that again.” Dean hissed at his brother, looking around the station to see if anyone else had eavesdropped on the conversation. You chuckled to yourself at how he was getting himself so worked up, he rolled his eyes from how you were finding humor in all of this. "It wasn't my finest hour. We had to...you know, settle.”

“Sette?” You repeated after the older man, exactly wondering what he meant by that. “How?”

"This, uh, sounds kinda stupid when I say it out loud...but we were barely managing without you. And Charlie was in a bit of a need of someone who was real. Who had done something like this before.” Dean said. You knew that Dean wasn’t the type of person who talked about his feelings openly and well for that matter. But you didn’t care. “So we told her about you and how many times you've saved our asses. I even went as far as to try and pretend to be you. Try to figure out what you would’ve done.”

You felt yourself falling silent for a moment as you stared at the two men that just a few short weeks ago you were yelling and fighting with every second you got. But here you were, trying your hardest not to let your smile grow too wide for someone to grow suspicious while you were here investigating. You compromised by clearing your throat and returning your expression back to a neutral one. However you let a smirk spread across your lips as you turned back around in your seat to face the computer and clicked out of the video now that you didn’t need it anymore.

"See? Shows us all that we're lost without one another. I told you both about a thousand times, but nobody listens to little old me..." You muttered underneath your breath as you finished up what you needed to do on the computer. Right as you were about to turn back around in your seat and face the brothers, you found yourself becoming frozen in your spot as your focus was ripped away from the screen at the sound of what could only be presumed as a scream. “What in the hell was that?”

While you and the boys were looking into the alibi Lance had told you about, you didn't take into consideration that suspicious deaths never took just one body. They always liked to wrack up a body count much high as they could until it was stopped. You and the boys discovered the yells had come from the very man you had spoken to just minutes before, who was broken up about his friends death, but healthy from what you could tell by just looking at him. One minute he was sobbing over his beloved friend and man in arms, now you watched as he got rolled out into a body bag by the coroner. You were just as confused as the rest of the police department about what could have caused Lance to start coughing up blood and how his eyes liquidated from his skull in the matter of seconds. The was no scientific explanation, no supernatural lead either.

“You’re gonna want to see this.” The sheriff said. He'd been here to witness the aftermath of his only suspect's death that came as a shocker to him. You followed behind the man as he lead you to another computer to pull up the security footage taken in the interrogation room. You crossed your arms over your chest as you watched the video of Lance play out almost like normal. But you found yourself fixating on when he started to itch his right arm only to pull up the sleeve. And just a split second later you saw Lance cough up the blood and splatter it all across the two-way glass mirror. "God forbid he was contagious. I'm gonna go dip myself in hand sanitizer."

You couldn't blame the man for feeling the slightest bit paranoid from what he witnessed. You found yourself wrapping your arms tighter around your body at the realization that you touched Lance on the shoulder right before his death. “No EMF, no hex bags, no sulfur.” Dean said. He was lost at what could have possibly been the reason behind all of this. “I got nada. What about you and Nancy Drew?”

“Watch the video again.” Sam seemed to have noticed the same thing you did when he bent over the desk and rewinded the video a few seconds only to stop at the part where Lance pulled up his sleeve. He zoomed in on the video so you could see what was on his arm. “There. See that? Same as Ed’s. I don’t know. Maybe they had matching tattoos. I mean, they were brothers in arms.  You guys recognize it from anything?”

“A Tim Burton movie?” You asked, shrugging your shoulders. Your mind was growing blank from where you might have seen the symbol before in your time. Maybe it was related, maybe it was a small coincidence. “Aside from the mark of the creepy here, the only thing these guys have in common is LARPing.”

"Lucky for us," Sam said. "we know the queen."

+ + +

You weren't exactly over the moon with the idea of spending your afternoon traveling into the place where grown adults spent their weekends dressing up in costumes and pretending to be someone else. Not that you didn't do it almost every day of your life while taking on cases. When you did it you weren't having fun, you were trying to do something functional with your time. Not that you were a stranger of dressing up and pretending you were someone else. You loved doing it, when you were five. Maybe you were being a bit harsh on these people who were just here to have some fun and forget about their reality for a few days.

When you and the boys arrived at Moondoor the festivities were in full swing; all sorts of tents were set up along with colorful flags that represented the different kingdoms. People dressed in costumes that looked almost straight out of the time period they were pretending to be in walked around on the grounds, smiling and enjoying themselves. You looked over at both of the boys to see they weren’t exactly pleased themselves at where this case lead all of you. But it could have been a lot worse. You shrugged your shoulders before you started walking around among the people that made you feel like you were sticking out in a sore thumb from your modern clothes.

As you and the boys were walking the grounds, passing by tents that appeared to be all sorts of shops and food stands cooking medieval foods, you came upon the sight of an active story. You furrowed your brow slightly at how someone willingly would be put into a wooden stock so his hands and head were trapped. A man stood next to him dressed in a white and red checkered outfit, probably some kind of knight you guessed. “I, Boltar the Furious, bind you to this stock so that all of Moondoor may see you for what you are—a thief.”  

“My shadow orc brethren will descend from the black hills and the tents of mo—” The man, who you could only presume was roleplaying as a orc from what you remembered from the video, went on about something. That was, until the fake teeth in his mouth fell right out and onto the ground. But that seemed no problem to be fixed.

You watched as the one pretending to be the knight punishing the orc stopped the game for just a moment so he could help out the man. He picked up the teeth up from the ground and dusted off any dirt with his gloved hand before putting them back into the orc’s mouth, who apologized for the inconvenience. Your face scrunched up slightly when he let the fake teeth be put back into his mouth without even washing them off and continuing on with his revenge speech.

“And the tents of Moondoor will be bathed in blood as we unseat the queen of the Moons from the throne she stole from the rightful heir—the shadow king.” The orc went on as a small crowd of began to grow to witness this “And you—”

“Silentium! Serve your time with honor, heathen.” The knight took out something from his satchel and threw it directly at the orc, cutting him off from whatever that he was about to say. You had to bite your bottom lip to keep yourself from laughing at what you were witnessing. “And if you need to use the chamber pot, stomp your feet thrice.”

"Excuse me, hi." Dean managed to stop the knight named Gerry when he started to walk away so you could have a quick word with him. "You are a LARPer, yea?"

“I prefer the term ‘interactive literaturist.’” He said.

“Right.” Dean said, not really caring what kind of term the kid like to use to justify whatever he was doing. He pulled out his fake badge and showed it to him. “I am Special agent Rosewood. These are my partners, special agent Taggart and special agent Crane.”

"Hold!" Gerry shouted. You furrowed your brow slightly from what was going on, causing you to lift down your arm as he pulled down his hood. It seemed there was a bit of miscommunication here. "Um, guys, we're not doing the whole genre-mash-up thing this weekend. We only do that every third month."

You smiled slightly as you blinked, “Come again?”

“Your fake badges, the cheap suits. It’s very cool. I get it. Your characters are FBI agents that somehow traveled to Moondoor, but I’m telling you it’s straight-up Moondoor this weekend.” He said, presuming you and the boys were like everyone else here. You had never been called out like this in such an awkward way that made you feel like your cheeks were on fire. Sam tried to deny such a thing, saying the badges were very much real. But they weren't. Gerry took the badge out from Sam’s hand to inspect it. "Uh, yeah, they are, and they're very good, but, well, the I.D. number shifted to ten digits with two letters mixed in at the end of the year and the seal’s from last month. Really good work. It’s just that it’s a tournament weekend, okay, guys? So you gotta follow the rules. If there’s no rules—chaos.”  

You found yourself rolling your eyes in annoyance as you shoved the badge into your pocket in realization it would be no use for you. “Resume!” Gerry shouted once again, pulling his hood back up to continue on with things in his character. “If you would like to join the army of Moons, the queen is always on the lookout for new squires.”

“Yes. Right.” Dean said. “Uh, we would like to see your queen now, please.”

“Well, the queen’s calendar is booked up months in advance.” Gerry said. “But if you wish to witness what’s in store for you in her army, her highness is overseeing new squires on the pitch as we speak.”

It seemed if you wanted to get anywhere near the queen you were going to have to follow the rules and play along. You and the boys followed the direction of where Gerry, or Boltar the Furious as he liked to call himself, pointed you in of where you would find her highness.

You stumbled across a circle of people watching a sword fight play out right in front of their very eyes, their weapons made out of nothing more than what you could presume was memory foam spray painted silver. However it was up against two individuals heavy in the fight, swinging their swords and trying to hit anywhere that would be a fatal wound. You watched as one of them with their helmet covering their face. How they could see out of the thing was a mystery to you. But it seemed they could see well enough. They managed to grab a hold of their opponent by the arm and twist it just at the right angle where they made him drop to his knees and pointed their sword at them. “Yield! I yield!” He shouted his mercy to the knight before he could find his finish his fictional fate with a bloody end. You narrowed your eyes slightly as the person took off their helmet, revealing their identity. A long flow of red hair that stood out anywhere in a crowd came cascading down, making you realize who it was. She wasn’t a knight, she was the queen. She was Charlie Bradbury. The knight, down on his knees, stared at the woman in front of him. “I love you.”

"I know. Take your leave to my medical tent and attend to your...severed limbs." The queen instructed to the knight, allowing him to go free as he got up to his feet and headed off while Charlie directed her focus to her loyal subjects. "Greyfox and Thargrim are missing. We pray to the goddess they have not fallen victim to fowl play. In their absence, the honor guard’s ranks are weakened. To join..." As Charlie conducted her duties and played out the role while taking small steps in a circle to scan the crowd, she found herself stumbling on a pair of two faces that made her feel like her heart drop into her stomach. “Oh, blerg. Uh...the queen needs some royal ‘we’ time. Talk amongst thyselves.”  

Charlie wasted no time booking out of there, leaving her people behind rather confused as to what had gotten in to her. You let out a sigh as you followed behind Sam when he saw the redhead scurry off into one of the tents just a few yards away. Dean was right behind you, but he only made it about a foot before he found himself intrigued by the foam sword. He picked it up from the ground and examined it for a moment, mumbling to himself about how good the balance felt. You stopped in your tracks and hissed the man’s name, getting him back into the reality of things. He quickly followed behind you with the sword in hand. You shoved back the gold silk curtains that lead to the queen's tents that served as her quarters. You took a second to examine the place with its color scheme of gold and reds. It was rather nice in here. Too bad Charlie wasn't going to be able to enjoy it anymore. You stumbled upon the sight of Sam trying to talk to the woman while she started to hastily pack up a bag. “Charlie Bradbury is dead. She died a year ago. You killed her. My name is Carrie Heinlein. Oh, and guess what. Now you killed her, too.” Charlie said. She began taking off her outfit and shoving the pieces into her bag. Dean tried to apologize to the woman, but all he could get out was two words before the redhead was turning around and pointing a finger at the man. “No, I buried myself. Then Dick Roman went down, his company belly-up, and I figure, ‘Hey, it’s all good.’ And I was fine. I got my life back. Now you’re here...with some complete stranger I’ve never met before.” Your lips drew into a smile when you saw Charlie’s eyes wander away from the two brothers when she realized that there was someone she hadn’t met before. You could tell the question of who you were was rolling around in the back of her mind. Before she could ask, you opened your mouth and decided to do it, hoping that it might help calm her down. But you were quickly cut off before you could even try to get out a single world. “You know what? Doesn’t matter. I’m not gonna be around long enough to remember your name. No offense. If you guys are here, monsters are here.” Charlie said. She turned back around and began to pack up the last of her things. “Why do I have such bad luck? What am I— some kind of monster magnet?” The redhead quickly turned back around to face the three of you, her question made a rush of paranoia rush over her. You opened your mouth once again to say something, but she spoke up first. “You know what? Don’t answer that. I don’t care. What I care about is not getting my other arm broken...or dying. So, I’m dropping my sword and walking off the stage, bitches. Have fun stormin the castle.” "Charlie. Carrie...Or whatever the hell your name is! Stop!" You shouted at the woman when she went storming past the three of you, passing along the crown to the older Winchester so he was now wearing it. Charlie only managed to draw back the silk curtain before you stopped her, the curiosity of your question was partly the reason why she stayed. "Don’t you think it’s kind of rude for a queen to rush off without asking a stranger’s name?”

"Fine. I'll bite." Charlie said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Who are you?"

"Charlie, I'd like you to meet Y/N Y/L/N." Dean formally introduced you to the redhead while he took the crown off his head and placed it onto yours. "Y/N, this is Charlie Bradbury."

“Wait. Like...the Y/N?” Charlie felt herself momentarily forgetting all about the reason why she was trying to run away at the sight of you. You gave her a warm smile as you tried to give her reassurance that everything was going to be fine. But her own smile began to fade as her mind remembered one small detail. She was now staring at you like you were some kind of ghost. “But, I thought you were supposed to be dead. And you look very undead. Not that I would know what a dead person would look like. Or want to, for that matter.”

"It's okay. I'm not dead. Never was. They thought so to up until a few months ago. But your friends on the other hand. Greyfox and Thargrim—Ed and Lance—they're not missing. They're dead." You told her the unfortunate news about her fellow knights. You watched as her face dropped into a panicked dread from the situation she was being dragged into once again. “Now, you want to stick around to hear the long version of what we have to say? ‘Cause far as I can tell you’ve got about two options. You can run like a coward. Or you can be a true queen and stick around to defend her kingdom before someone else gets killed.”

Charlie had a feeling she didn't have much choice in the matter of what to do. The four of you sat around the table and began to discuss what happened to her two fellow friends, all of the gruesome details made her appear queasy and unsettled. You offered a small smile as an attempt of some sort of apology. All of this was a lot to take in. But it was the things she needed to hear since it was going on in the very grounds she was speaking the weekend in.

“Drawn and quartered and bleeding out? Please stop talking again.” Charlie said, her reaction made you chuckle quietly at her nervous ticks from how she was handling all of this. "So what do you think did this?"

“Well, aside from the mark and them both being LARPers, there’s really not much else to go on.”  You said. You pushed over the crime scene photograph of the mark on Ed’s arm for Charlie to examine. “We were wondering if this might look familiar to you.”

"Wait, I've seen this before. It's a celtic magic symbol. At least it was in my favorite video game." Charlie said. "Does that help? Can I go now?"

“It’s a start, but no.” Sam said. He lifted up his arm up from the table, stopping the woman from trying to sneak out of here and running for the hills like she wanted. “Listen. What can you tell us about Ed and Lance?”

“Good guys. Two of the best members of the queen’s ever-shrinking army.” Charlie said. You repeated after the woman, wondering if her running streak of accidental coincidences wasn’t just that. "My kingdom had a lot of bad luck lately, probably 'cause of me, but maybe it's tied to this.  A month ago, one of my guys had both her ankles broken before battle. Before that, I had three people have hospital-worthy accidents while at home. You think there's any connection there?"

“They have any enemies in common?” You asked her.

“In real life? No. Everyone gets along famously. In the game, though, they had tons of enemies.” Charlie explained to all of you. She got up from her seat and headed over to another table with a map displaying the fictional world of Moondoor and the army that controlled certain areas. "Red reps are the followers of the moon—my peeps. Green for elves, blue's for Warrior's of Yesteryear, and black's for shadow orcs—total d-bags. This weekend is the battle of the kingdoms to see who wears the forever crown. This weekend, every fraction is definitely an enemy of me and mine.”

"You know, if you, uh..." Dean cleared his throat as he tried his hardest not to make it seem like he was losing focus on the case. He'd been examining the map and mentally figuring out how to help Charlie out with her shrinking army. He pointed a finger down at the red plastic figures that represented her people and gave a helpful tip. "...move your arches back and your broadswords men to the west..."

“Huh. Like the warriors. Hey, good call.” Charlie found herself losing focus for a moment about the entire situation herself when Dean engaged her into fixing her strategy. Both of them talked among themselves for a moment, having no clue Sam was growing annoyed while you looked on at the both of them becoming so engaged in all of this. “What about the southern wall?”  

"Guys." Sam finally spoke up, breaking his brother and Charlie's concentration away from the fictional world of Moondoor and back to the situation at hand. Both of them apologized as Charlie focused back again, however Dean found himself tempted to move the toy sized catapult forward. The redhead nodded her head in agreement when Sam went on talking. "So maybe someone from one of the other kingdoms got ahold of real magic and started using it to weaken your army."

“But why not just come after me?” Charlie asked. “And why the escalation?”

"All right, we will canvass the kingdoms. You should get out of here." Dean instructed to Charlie, coming up with a plan of action all on his own. "We don't want you to get hurt."

“Whoa, wait.” Sam said, stopping his brother from letting him do such a thing. It seemed he thought the idea of letting the redhead out of their sights wasn't such a good one.“Charlie knows Moondoor a lot better than we do. We need her."

“Sam, I think we can take care of a bunch of accountants with foam swords.”

“We need all the people we can get, Dean. People are dying.”

“My point, which is usually yours,” Dean continued on to argue with his brother by going with the plan that normally his little brother always liked to do. You let out a quiet sigh as you rolled your eyes in frustration from how they were acting. “Is that she should get somewhere safe and back too her normal life.”

"Okay! Okay. Before we waste more time over this petty argument, how about we handle things this way? You two work the case, I'll keep an eye on Charlie and work the odds and ends. Unless..." You proposed an idea that met everyone in the middle about a possible plan of action. You looked over at the woman to see what she had in mind, knowing this all depended on her decision. "Unless...you want to leave and get the hell out. The decision is completely and totally up to yours. Don't let this two idiots pressure you into doing anything you don't want to."

"I want to leave." Charlie said. You nodded your head at your decision while Sam seemed a bit annoyed at the sight of her leaving so soon. And while Dean was basking in the glory of winning the argument with his brother, it only lasted for a few seconds before the redhead continued on speaking to finish her thought. "But the queen...she has to stay. I mean, Sam is right. People are dying.They can't happen on my watch. And you know what? I am tired of running. I like my life here. I'm gonna stay and fight for it."

You raised your brow slightly from the way she was taking charge and putting herself in danger like this for the sake of making sure that people didn't end up like the rest of her friends. You gave her a smile when the both of you made eye contact from the bold move she made. However your concentration was broken away when you heard your phone go off. You shoved a hand inside your jacket pocket and pulled out your phone, excusing yourself for a moment so you could take this. The conversation was brief and exchanged few words with the sheriff when he called you up with an update on the case. You nodded your head as you thanked him for the information and hung up the phone, ending the conversation quickly as it started.

“So, the toxicology report came back on Lance. Nothing.” You informed the brothers and Charlie as you put your phone back into your pocket for safekeeping. “But the medical examiner said his body showed cleared signs that he was killed by belladonna.”

Dean and Charlie seemed to have been familiar with the name, but their mind went in a whole other direction when they spoke both in usion. “The porn star?”

Sam found himself staring at the two of them while you cleared your throat, wondering how this conversation turned in a strange direction that you honestly didn't expect coming. How they had came to that conclusion was all of their own doing. But, no, sadly to this dismay a porn star wasn't responsible for these supposed accidents and killings. “The poison.” You muttered the answer to Dean and Charlie, making them realize what you were really talking about. You rolled your eyes before continuing on speaking. “However, they couldn’t find a trace of it in his system.”

“Just like they couldn’t find ropes in Ed’s apartment.” Dean noted, finding a pattern here.

“Charlie, I’m gonna need to borrow your laptop.” Sam said.

“There are no laptops in Moondoor.” Charlie said. The boys gave her a look of disbelief from how this was going to make this a bit more complicated for all of you. "What? There are rules. But there is a tech tent four tents down."

"Okay. How about you guys go canvas," Sam suggested. "and I'll dig into these accidents and this mark?"

“Sounds good.” You said. As the younger man made his way towards the exit, you couldn't help yourself but bring up the no electronic role in a sort of joking manner. “Send a carrier pigeon if you need help.”

Sam thought your joke was the least bit funny as he flashed you a sarcastic sort of smile before disappearing out of sight. You looked over at the two remaining people, wondering how this was gonna go. "Okay. Besides the fact that I'm meeting the Y/N Y/L/N, which by the way, you're like a total legend. And I'm kinda freaking out being in the same room as you. I mean, I thought you were, you know...dead. But you're not. Which is awesome.”

“Yeah. I’m happy being back, too.” You agreed with the woman as you felt yourself growing a smile at the sight of her growing rather...well, giddy at the sight of you. "The boys told me you helped them take down Dick Roman? Now that’s a story I want to hear."

"Totally. It was hilarious. And super scary all at the same time. Obviously I’m gonna need the full wiki on where you have been hiding out for the past two and a half years. Dean practically chatted my ear off about you while I was breaking into Dick's office." Charlie said. You found yourself slowly looking over at the older Winchester, who was growing a bit embarrassed at the truth that the redhead slipped out from her mouth. Dean smiled slightly as he shrugged his shoulders, as if he was denying such a thing. You ignored him and directed your attention back to Charlie. "But first, you and Dean are gonna have to ditch the suit if you're gonna walk and talk with the queen."

You had only known Charlie for all of a few minutes, but there was something about her that you found oddly refreshing. From her personality to small quirks you picked up about her. She seemed like someone who was a lot of fun and yet at the same time was a bit like Dean in some ways. And it was refreshing to be spending some time with a person that wasn't a hunter or whose last name was Winchester. You followed behind Charlie as she directed you towards her duffel bag that she threw back to the bed so she could find some clothes for you to change into. Dean followed behind as he felt himself growing a smirk at the idea of taking part of this. You sat down on the bed and watched as Charlie got to work while Dean waited around.

"You can change over there." Charlie said, handing over a stack of clothing along with a few other necessities to help you blend in as she pointed over to a room divider that fit the decor of the room. As you headed off, Dean looked towards the redhead with a raised brow, trying his hardest to hide his excitement as he waited for her to help him out.  "There's a tent three down from mine. One of my peeps can hook you up. Tell them the queen sent you."

"Oh. Uh..." Dean found himself suddenly starting to panic slightly at the thought of you and Charlie being together for the next few minutes. "I'll just come back here after I’m done?"

"Yeah. That's kinda how it works." You said, "Unless you need help finding your way around."

"Nah. Nah...I'm good." Dean mumbled. "I'll be back You girls don't have too much fun."

Dean started to make his way to exit the tent, and not even with his back turned and one foot out the door, he heard you strike up a conversation with Charlie. A few seconds later he heard a chorus of laughter. He began to grow nervous at the things you were about to tell him. And the things Charlie might slip out. When two women got talking, there was no way of knowing what they were going to discuss. But he found the sounds of your laughter comforting at the same time. He didn't know the last time you made that sound, and seeing Charlie made him realize that not too long ago he didn't think he was ever going to be able to hear it ever again.

[Next Part]

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