#david shore when i get you

[hilsonamore]

we, as a society, do not talk about the “if you are gonna say that you’ve always been secretly gay for me… everyone just kind of assumed” scene enough

[5-htagonist]

i dont know how to connect these pieces together, except for something regarding how the characterization is done, but venture bros, homestuck, utena, house, some others i cant think of rn... something about the way the characters interact and build in these captivates me. the complexities, the almost... impromptu way these characters develop so naturally, and i think it comes from different places in most of these though homestuck and venture bros probably holds the most similarity in terms of expertly utilizing retroactive foreshadowing to create beautiful and complex character relationships. house feels like it moreso... accidentally happens upon great and logical character development lol. i usually wonder if im reading too far into it when i watch particularly great moments. and utena's characters feel so 3d because they really are-- the sheer amount of different utena stories that adds and expands and also contracts on different aspects of each character ends up building a very 3d and symbolic picture in the mind.

[birdsongvelvet]

With everyone memeing on The Good Doctor I just want to point out it’s the same damn show as the superior House, by the same showrunner even, except House got to be fun DGAF 2000s autistic protagonist gets to be an antihero jerk who you can’t help but love while Good Doctor has to be late-2010s pity party moralistic about it

[sonicfanthenightfury5099]

Slashers with an S/O who has a Newfoundland Dog

A Newfoundland Dog is my dream dog, and I had this thought of stabby men with a Newfie dog.

Characters: The Sinclairs, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers (78, 07, and 2018), Thomas Hewitt, Bubba Saywer, and John Kramer (I know he's not a Slasher but I've watched Saw X and wanted another character to add here)

CW: Boys getting Slobby kisses from a large dog

Vincent Sinclair

Your dog came with you when you came to Ambrose. A 6 month old Newfoundland Dog

Your puppy found the way to the basement and found Vincent working at his desk

He was surprised that it wasn't Jonesy, and he walked with pup to find you

Let's just say one thing let to other

Vincent fell in love with Annie, your chocolate Newfie. He thought she was just like Jonesy, but he was so wrong.

6 months later and Annie's head is near his hips

You love seeing your big doggo with your Wax Hubby, giving kisses

Left side of his face is covered in slobber

Vincent would sketch your Newfe when whenever he doesn't know what to draw

Jonesy has a new friend to play with

Bo Sinclair

Your 3 yo Newfie walked into the Church when you weren't looking and had to go get

Bo turned around and got a big slobbery kiss from your doggo

"DAVID, GET BACK HERE." You said getting your Dog to come to you. Leaving Bo's face covered. "Sorry." You said as you closed the door.

You were telling your dog not to do that, when Bo came out to have a Cigarette

"Sorry about that. David is really friendly with people." You said 'That a Dog?" Bo said, "He's a Newfoundland Dog."

Bo thinks your dog isn't one but a Horse

David would try to give Bo more kisses when he sits on the couch

He would guard his food when he's eating at the table as David tried to get at it

"There a reason you named him David? Was it from that Werewolf movie?" He asked as he patted David resting head on his leg. "Yeah, you seen it?" You asked, "I may see it on tv."

Lester and Vincent definitely love David.

Lester Sinclair

Automatically in love with your pooch

Your dog, Aaron, knocked him over when they jumped up

Lester's face was covered in slobber, which he cleaned up with his tank top as he got up

Jonesy was taken aback from how big your dog was. But they got along real quickly

Bo and Vincent thought you owned a bear from how big they where

He's giving a lot of treats to your doggo

Michael Myers

Oh Great

A Dog?

Michael met your puppy when he came home from his walk

A black and white pupper looking at his face

Michael wanted to get rid of it as he grabbed the scruff of their neck till he heard your voice screaked at him. "DON'T YOU DARE HURT BOWIE!! "

Michael definitely wanted not to be hit by something, so he put down Bowie.

Michael would have Bowie giving him kisses on his cheek when he's on the floor. He didn't like it, with a sour look on his face

He had to get used to your puppy

A few months and Bowie is much bigger than when they were a puppy. Michael noticed that he had to ask what breed Bowie is.

A Newfoundland Dog?? And they Get How Big?? Oh God

8 months later, Bowie is near his hips and needs a lot more food.

Michael would take them for a walk when you're at work

Bowie is now fully grown, and their face is right at his when he sits on the couch

Michael is now in love with Bowie

Jason Voorhees

Hello, did you bring home a bear cub?

It's a Newfoundland Dog? Never heard of those before

That's an Adorable face I can't resist

Jason's keeping a close eye on your puppy when they go outside

Jason decided to give them the name Teddy cause of the mistake he thought

Couple months later, Teddy is double in size from the day you brought them home

Poor Jason nearly had a heart attack when Teddy jumped onto the lake, but Teddy started to swim back to the shore

Fun fact: Newfoundlanders have webbed feet that's great for swimming and a thick coat to fight the chill of the water.

Jason will take Teddy on long hikes when you're at work

His face is going to he covered in slobber from Teddy

Michael Myers RZ

Oh God, there's a Bear in the house

Oh, it's a Dog

Definitely a Big Dog

Michael didn't know what to do, so he just patted their head

When he's just working on his masks, Danny is right beside him

When on the couch, he let's them lay on his lap

He would give a kiss if they kissed him first (But not with His Tongue lol)

Thomas Hewitt

Thomas met you with your big doggo when your car broke down near his mama's gas station

Thomas was shocked at the size of your dog. He thought it was a bear when he saw them.

Mickey was the name of your Canine pal

Holty got licked by Mickey whenever he sat down on the couch. Thomas couldn't help but snickered

Thomas would come up from the basement to see Mickey laying at the top of the stairs waiting for him.

Laying in bed, Mickey would wake him up with wet doggie kisses on his face

Luda would spoil them with little goodies

The Hewitt resident's is a Dogs dream place. A lot of running around and places to go have privatize

Peepaw Michael Myers

Michael was taken aback by this large Dog, he thought it was a bear at first

It just Woofed. it's a Dog

Normally, not a Dog person Michael felt differently with this Newfoundland Dog

Michael would be woken from his old man naps with a slobbery kiss from Arnold

Would definitely give them a scratching on their neck when he's reading a book

You catch Michael napping with Arnold on the couch

Michael may share his food with Arnold

Bubba Saywer

Bubba Squealed in delightment, seeing a puppy bolting towards him

You brought home a puppy to brighten up Bubba's mood

Nubbin being himself tried to play fetch with the new addition to the family

"A Newfoundland Dog? Do they find new land?" Chop Top asked

Drayton hopes the dog doesn't pee inside the house

Jed gotten bigger as the months go by

Bubba loves getting kisses from Jed, but not Drayton

A run outside with you and Jed

Happy man loves the Big Doggo

John Kramer

Long story short, you became a caregiver to him

You sometimes bring your 5-year-old Newfie dog with you to John's "place of work"

Definitely a highlight of his day when you're gentle gaint rest there head on his leg. Much easier for getting pats on their head

Kisses on his hands

One Apprentice hope they don't pee on the floor

Bonus Character:

Corey Cunningham

Doesn't want to let go of your puppy when he comes over

Automatically, his therapy Animal

Loves getting kisses from your puppy makes him feel much better

Definitely would stay with you overnight to be with your puppy longer

He would volunteer to dogsit when your go to work

His mother is going to wonder why he's covered in dog hair

[caffeinewitchcraft]

Fate and Mercy and Dead Girls

Summary: Sometimes, when things go very wrong, the Chosen One gets a wish. That’s where Danielle comes in. (Tagged with Blood, violence, child death)

--------------

Danielle is cursed.

This battlefield is nice. It’s early afternoon and the breeze that comes from the forest to the east is sweet. The fighting has only just begun and the scent of blood is still hovering at the edge of her senses. It hasn’t erased the taste of the dead girl’s last meal – bread sweetened with honey – yet. She’s used to storm clouds the size of mountains roiling overhead, the electric sting of lightning against her skin, the crash of blades against armor and arrows against shields. The sun is warm and honey-sweet against her cheek and there’s no fighting going on right now. There’s only the low murmur of voices from all around and some muffled sobbing.

If she weren’t waking up in the body of a dead girl, she’d call it picnic weather.

Time to pay attention.

“—Chosen One is dead,” a man says. His voice matches the weather more than the situation. Calm. Even. Gentle. A wave lapping at the shore before the tsunami. She can feel his aura undulating through the ground, dark and demanding. Demon King? Mad Emperor? Dark Lord? One of those types. He projects his words over the renewed sobbing. “Do you see your folly now, honorable knights? The wasted months of defiance? You were never going to defeat my army even with years and seven fabled soldiers at your mercy rather than the one. Here, the day of your final rebellion, your Hero lies dead after only one volley.”

Hero. Danielle is cursed, she shouldn’t be feeling pity for anyone but herself. But there it is, the familiar bile in the back of her throat, the prickling of her eyes, the tightening in her chest. This dead girl was their Hero. They made her their Chosen One. From the feel of it, they didn’t school in her magic or train her in swordsmanship. Her muscles are burning from death, yes, but also from overexertion.

What do you want? Danielle asks. All of the right systems are under her control now. The ground is cold against her back, the girl’s tiny curls a tickle against her face. The air is sweet underneath the scent of a dying blow and she can hear the conversations around her clearly. The Dark Lord is still gloating, giving the knights their time to mourn and his own forces time to ready the next attack. Sweetheart, what do you want?

The girl’s soul shudders. I-I’m not dead?

The arrow pierced your heart. You’re dead.

A dizzying swirl of emotions cloud the girl’s next words. Grief-sorrow-panic-relief-fury-horror. Danielle has to reinforce her barrier between her soul and the girl’s to avoid being swept away by it all. All of the dead girls Danielle is called to are strong, and this one is no different. Danielle can’t hear her clearly over the roar of her emotions, but this one is talking very quickly.

…live…wanted to…please…save…

Danielle peeks out from under her eyelashes. It’s bright for a battlefield, but there’s a familiar red staining the ground as far as she can see. The armored feet of both sides’ soldiers are about thirty feet away, a hazy barrier of magic holding them apart.

“Let down this barrier!” Knight David screams. The girl’s knowledge flows into Danielle’s mind like a spring. He’s the head of the kingdom’s number one knight squad, a former S-rank adventurer, and a mentor to the Hero. He bangs the hilt his sword against the Dark Lord’s barrier. It crackles under the assault and doesn’t break. Knight David swears. “You’ll die for what you did! She was just a little girl!”

Another memory: Knight David didn’t think of her as a little girl. He gave her a woman’s sword that took her a month to learn how to lift, much less wield. He told her he had faith in her. He told her she could do it. When she asked how, he pushed a curl behind her ear and told her victory was fated.

The Dark Lord laughs, the sound like the tide retreating into the sea. “Is the kingdom so hard-pressed for soldiers they bring children to the battlefield?”

“She was Chosen,” Knight David says. There are genuine tears in his voice. “Nobody wanted that for her. Nobody.”

“She was nobody,” the Dark Lord says. The magic barrier trembles and he smirks. “Just as you’re about to be.”

Knight David’s magic sets his sword ablaze. “You’ll pay for this.”

The demons chitter behind the Dark Lord, straining against his commands. They want blood. They want to attack. They saw the Hero fall and they’re emboldened by her death. They’ll tear the humans apart.

In contrast, Knight David’s forces aren’t so sure. Knight David’s teeth gnash and he swears at the Dark Lord, but his men look from her body to each other. It was so quick. So fast. Did they demons hold greater power than they were told to kill a Chosen One so quickly?

“Prepare yourselves,” the Dark Lord says. The barrier fades.

“To the death,” Knight David swears.

Danielle presses again. They’re running out of time. What do you want?

Save them.

The words roar through Danielle’s temporary body. Save them. Her magic ignites like coal in a furnace and she gasps, steam escaping from her lips as a dead girl’s heart restarts.

“W-what?” someone whispers.

Danielle opens her eyes.

It’s not a very big war. There are maybe thirty combatants on the side of the Kingdom. She assumed from the girl’s memories that they’d all be knights, but there are adventurers mixed in among them as well as the occasional wizard. They’re all kitted out in the colors of the Kingdom though. Armor painted with the Royal family’s crest, bandanas with the fallen star motif embroidered on, red tassels on their weapons. Maybe they don’t have the Kingdom’s army behind them, but they have the King’s favor.

The Dark Lord is the only one who’s managed to keep his mouth shut after her sudden resurrection. His side is comprised of dark wizards in tattered robes and nearly a hundred demons. Danielle can see wolves the size of horses, goblins with wooden clubs, and vampires hiding in the tree line.  It looks impressive, but the girl’s memories tell Danielle a different story.

This is the last stand for both sides.

“The Hero lives,” Knight David says through bloodless lips. He’s younger than Danielle thought, his beard only just touched with silver. His eyes shine wetly and he raises his sword over his head. “THE HERO LIVES!”

Knights, adventurers, and wizards lean back and scream their jubilation to the sky. Some of them weep openly, staggering as close to her as the Dark Lord’s barrier allows with their hands spread wide as if to embrace her.

The Dark Lord is silent as the kingdom’s forces rejoice. He looks like a human though he’s gone to great lengths to hide that fact. His long, black hair is twisted around his horns, emphasizing them. His clothes are as tattered as his forces’ and there’s dried blood staining the hem of his cape. His nails are long and painted an unending black that makes them look like talons.

If it weren’t for the depth and darkness of his magic, he wouldn’t register to Danielle as a Dark Lord at all.

“Hero,” the Dark Lord murmurs. His red eyes gleam a beat before his pupils swell, turning them black. He doesn’t raise his voice above the noise, but magic makes it so Danielle can hear him easily. “Killing you quickly was the last mercy I had for you.”

“Mercy,” Danielle says. The word echoes from her involuntarily. She pulls the arrow from the dead girl’s chest. The wet and meaty sound of it finally silences Knight David and his allies. She coughs and tastes blood.

“The fates have seen the justness of our cause and protected the Hero,” Knight David says into the silence.

“Fate,” Danielle echoes and coughs blood again.

Knight David doesn’t hear her. His chest swells. A talented orator, he knows just what to say to erase the horror of her death and reinvigorate his squad. “Dark Lord -no! – Demon, you’ve lost.” He points his sword directly at the Dark Lord. “You just don’t know it yet.” The knights cheer.

Oh, Danielle thinks, he knows it.

The Dark Lord stares down the length of Knight David’s blade impassively. His lip curls into a sneer that must look truly demonic to the knights of the kingdom. But from her vantage point, Danielle can see the way his clenched fists tremble. The barrier wavers imperceptibly and then holds. The Dark Lord can’t sustain it for much longer, not if he wants to have enough magic to fight.

As soon as it falls, the kingdom will strike. And, with the Hero on their side, they’ll have the conviction (and the magic) to take on a thousand demons. The Dark Lord only has a hundred.

Danielle staggers to her feet. This body is on the weaker side of the ones she has inhabited, but it’s not the worst she’s had to work with. Her legs hold her weight and the heart beats strongly once she uses her magic to patch it.

Knight David grins at her, the fever of battle bright in his eyes. “Hero!” He holds out his hand. “How glad I am to see you alive! Cast your strengthening spell.”

A memory: They taught her to strengthen her allies and nothing else. Training sessions ran late into the night as they pushed her to expand her range, power them up more, amplify magic higher and higher. This girl knows exhaustion more intimately than the affection of another.

Knight David slashes the barrier. He doesn’t wait to see if she’ll obey. Of course she will. This dead girl has never defied him before. She owes him and his kingdom too much. Who else would elevate an orphan to the heights of a Hero? He strikes again and this time his blow leaves a crack in the Dark Lord’s magic that splinters out like a spiderweb. He grins meanly. “Come, soldiers! Reclaim our land! Defend our home! Defeat evil!”

The knights smash their weapons against their shields and bare their teeth. “For our homes! For our families! For good!”

“Kill,” the Dark Lord hisses as his barrier fails piece by piece. He leans towards Knight David like a snake about to strike. A sword as black as night materializes in his hand. “Kill them all.”

“Hey,” Danielle says, “don’t you think you’re moving on a little fast?”

Nobody hears her. Nobody asks her if she’s alright. Nobody cares.

It’s Danielle’s curse to care.

The Dark Lord’s barrier crumbles. The air fractures and fragments tumble from the top and towards the combatants on either side like sparks. It’s ten feet in the air, eight feet, seven feet--

Her magic billows from her like smoke, scorching the grass as it balloons forward. Blood burns and vaporizes under the heat. The wolves are the first to notice it. They whine and back away from her wave of power, cowering behind their lord. Danielle hisses through her teeth and her power surges a little faster, touching the Dark Lord’s magic before the demons can alert their master. She’s powerful enough to do this even with him fighting her, but that would be…messy. She wrests control of the barrier from the Dark Lord. She builds it back up to twenty feet tall and adds new walls. The King’s forces used to be the only ones trapped. Now the Dark Lord turns and blinks at the misty cage that’s formed around him and his army.

The sudden silence hurts her ears as hundreds of eyes follow the scorch marks from the barrier to her.

Knight David’s sword wavers. “Hero…?”

“Your Hero isn’t here anymore,” Danielle says. Experience tells her to rip this bandage off quickly. She gestures to the dead girl’s clouded eyes. “Did you really think she survived an arrow to her heart?”

She can see from their faces that they did. Knight David opens his mouth and then closes it. He swallows hard. He says, “You’re not—” His face hardens. “Who are you?”

The Dark Lord watches her with black eyes, but he’s not still. His power tests her control of his barrier. He doesn’t find a crack.

“You called it fate,” Danielle says. She limps towards them. There’s an arrow in the girl’s thigh she didn’t notice before. She pulls it out without breaking stride and throws it to the side. The furnace that’s consumed the dead girl’s heart churns with rage. “You lot always believe in fate. Makes everything you do look prettier, doesn’t it? More palatable.”

“It is fate. The Oracles of Trilbia spoke of a girl with untold power who would be our savior. We needed—”

“LOOK AT HER!” Danielle roars. She slams a hand against her chest and then holds her palm high overhead. Red shines wetly on her palm. “She was a child! Fifteen summers and you stand there and call her a savior?”

“I ask again,” Knight David says. His eyes flash. “Who are you?” He draws his sword point slowly, purposefully, away from the Dark Lord. He points it directly at her. “What have you done to the Hero?”

Danielle won’t answer stupid questions. “You’re cruel. What you did to her – nothing can justify it. Especially not something as fickle as fate.”

“The Oracles—”

“Should die,” Danielle interrupts. She bares her teeth. “Or at least be honest. If they wanted a child sacrifice, they should have killed her on an altar with their own hands.”

Knight David hits her barrier. It throws him back and he shakes with rage. “Who. Are. You?”

“And you,” Danielle says, turning her attention to the Dark Lord. She holds her bloodied palm out to him. “You speak of mercy. You think giving her a quick death mercy?”

To his credit, he doesn’t deny it or flinch away. He nods shallowly, eyes never leaving hers.

“There was mercy, I’ll give you that,” Danielle says. She staggers towards him and stops just short of the barrier. They’re barely two feet apart when she says, “It was her mercy that she died quickly. Not yours.”

The Dark Lord’s nostrils flare. “I don’t understand.”

“You will,” Danielle promises. Her heart aches. This isn’t the time for that. She stokes the fires of her magic until steam escapes from her lips again. Only then does she twist towards Knight David again. “You killed this girl. You threw her into battle untrained. They may have shot her, but it was you who brought her here. This is your fault.”

“You’re some malevolent spirit,” Knight David says. He sweeps one arm out as if to banish her. Behind him, his forces tremble. “A vile devil come to sow seeds of doubt. Our conviction is firm. Oh, monstrous devil! Release our friend, release the Hero and your end may be swift yet.”

Devil? Danielle loses hold of her rage for a moment. Yes, yes she supposes she is. There are forces at play here that she might call devilish. But being called a devil by him?

Ridiculous.

“Maybe you should pray,” Danielle suggests. She nods slowly, warming to the suggestion. “Yes, that’s what you should do. You should pray the big, bad devil away.” She approaches his side of the barrier and the grass withers under her feet. “Pray, Knight David.”

“Hold fast,” Knight David says to his knights. He raises his sword to her and braces himself. “Do not be swayed by—”

“No, don’t pray,” Danielle says. She laughs without humor, chest shuddering with the effort. “Prophecize. Summon a hero to defeat me. Go on. Do it.”

“You will pay for the horrors you’ve committed today. Wearing the skin of the Chosen One damns you to the furthest—”

“Oh, fine, I’ll do it for you. There will be a knight,” Danielle says. She lurches forward and presses her hands against her barrier. Knight David stumbles back when it moves with her, allowing her closer and closer. She laughs again. “A Knight with red splashed across his breast and his shining sword melded to his hand.”

Knight David chokes on a scream as her words become truth. His sword melts under a sudden wave of heat, the silver-plating dripping through his fingers. He falls to his knees and grabs his wrist, trying to shake his hand free of the molten metal. It cools as rapidly as it melted, and he stares in horror as the silver binds his fingers to the hilt forevermore.

Danielle comes closer and the kingdom’s forces flex away from her like a school of fish in the face of a predator. “And this knight,” she says, “will be a Hero to his people. He will rise through his pain and destroy the devil that wore the skin of the little girl he sent to slaughter.” She spreads her arms wide above him, the sun beating down on her crown, and waits. After a beat she says, “Go on. Make the prophecy come true. Stab me. I’m waiting.”

Knight David keens through clenched teeth. “Y-you monster. You w-won’t—” He breathes in deeply and glares up at her. His feeble attempts to raise his arm don’t move his sword more than an inch. “You won’t break me.”

“I don’t have to,” Danielle says. Her arms fall to her sides, and she looms over the fallen knight. The air isn’t sweet now. The smell of burning flesh is more familiar than blood. “She didn’t ask me to break you.”

“Didn’t ask?”

Danielle turns. Unlike the knights, the Dark Lord isn’t backing away from her. He’s as close as he can get, pressed right up against the barrier. He’s rearranged his forces while she wasn’t looking so that the hardier demons are shielding the smaller.

“Didn’t ask,” Danielle agrees. She taps her temple. “Right before she died, I asked her what she wanted. See, nobody here gave a fuck what she wanted before she died. Fate is fake, but belief isn’t. They believed hard enough that the universe heard their pathetic little prayers for a savior. And, at the end, it took pity, but not on them. No one cared so it sent me. I asked what she wanted. She answered. Now we’re here.”

Knight David shudders at her feet.

“Are you a spirit of vengeance then?” the Dark Lord asks very casually. His shoulders are tense, undermining his nonchalance. He speaks a touch too loudly and very carefully doesn’t look back at his army. “Is that it?”

“I’m what she asked for,” Danielle says. She eyes Knight David’s comrades. There’s a wizard somewhere in there valiantly trying to heal Knight David’s wounds from afar. It’s slow going so she ignores it. “Though, between you and me, I think some vengeance is owed here, don’t you?”

The Dark Lord’s jaw flexes. “It is.” He raises his chin. “And you shall have it. I only ask that you let my people go. They are blameless in all this and only had the bad fortune to follow a misguided lord—”

Howls and screams of protest drown out his words. The demons lunge against his orders, mouths frothing and eyes wide in fear. They don’t want their lord to die, they deny his words, they can’t bear to lose him.

The Dark Lord’s power snaps over them and they quiet all at once, voices stolen by his power.

“Let it only be me. Please,” the Dark Lord finishes quietly.

Danielle watches him with interest. “You would die for them?”

“I return the loyalty I’ve been given.” He bows his head. “I will beg if you’d like.”

“What makes you believe I want your death?”

“I know my part in the Hero’s fate,” the Dark Lord says. His lips thin and he stares down at Knight David with more hatred than she thought possible. “Humans brought her here to slaughter, but I gave the order. I called it mercy to kill a child quickly so she need not suffer. We both know I lied. I killed her to keep her from strengthening the kingdom. No matter how I did it, it wasn’t mercy. It was evil and it was…not necessary. It wasn’t necessary but it was easier than the alternatives and so I killed her. I resigned myself to carrying that sin before I ever stepped foot onto the battlefield.”

Oh. Danielle has to blink very quickly as heat rises behind her eyes. The Dark Lord isn’t lying. He isn’t hiding from the truth of his actions nor is he justifying his hand in the Hero’s death. There is sorrow in his voice and his hands are loose at his sides even though his eyes are watchful, waiting for her to strike. He’d let me strike him down. He will stand there and do nothing while I slit his throat.

“It was wrong,” Danielle says. Her throat aches. “It was wrong to kill her.”

The Dark Lord’s head sinks lower. “Yes. It was.”

“She was a child.”

“She was.”

“She didn’t have a choice.”

“I know.”

“She deserved better.”

“Yes.”

Danielle’s chin trembles. This— after all the dead girls, this is a first. “You did it to save your domain.”

“I did.”

“It was evil.”

“Yes. The most evil thing I’ve done.”

“She didn’t ask me to kill you.”

“Ye—what?” The Dark Lord blinks, finally looking back up at her. His eyes are red again, pupils dilated. “She didn’t?”

“No.” Danielle lets the barrier slip out of her control. She can see the Dark Lord more clearly without the wall of smoke and his eyes are more than just red. They’re red-rimmed. Danielle reaches up with her bloodied palm and cups the Dark Lord’s cheek. He shudders at the chill of her touch but doesn’t pull away. “You had no mercy today, but she did. She knew her power would mean the end of your people. She knew she would not be able to resist the order to cast her spell when they gave it. So when the first volley came, she didn’t run. She didn’t raise her shield.”

“Mercy,” the Dark Lord breathes in revelation. His face crumples. “Oh.”

“She died quickly,” Danielle says. The girl’s memories are so hot that Danielle feels burned. All the dead girls are strong. This one is not an exception. “She knew an evil thing would be done today. She chose. She chose.”

The Dark Lord’s voice is thick with tears. “She shouldn’t have had to. She—No!”

Danielle doesn’t know what’s happened at first. The Dark Lord is staring at her in mute horror. His cheek is stained red but her hand is no longer on his cheek. Then she processes that she’s been hit quite hard in the back. She looks down.

A bloody sword is sticking out of her chest. It retracts with a sickly sound and Danielle finds herself on her knees, staring down at the river of blood gushing from her breast. She let down her barrier to speak to the Dark Lord, face to face. She didn’t think she’d be leaving her back open to the other side. Or, rather, she didn’t think Knight David would recover enough to kill her again.

“The devil speaks lies,” Knight David says. His words are thin with pain. He can no longer raise his blade to the sky. His arm is trembling from the effort of stabbing her but still he faces his forces and spurs them to action. “And lies have no place in our kingdom! Our friend, our Hero died for us! So we could win! So we could prosper! So we could—”

He killed her again.

Danielle surges to her feet. The dead girl’s heart is torn to pieces in her chest, but Danielle’s magic surges through her veins like blood. She rises up behind Knight David and shrieks, “Stop killing her!” She drives her hand through Knight David’s chest and rips out his heart.

It happens too fast for anyone to react. The Dark Lord holds his breath and the world goes still. Danielle lets the heart fall and the thud as it hits the grass is loud in the quiet.

Knight David sways once, twice, and then drops to the bloodied ground.

“You didn’t have to die,” Danielle says. She’s looking at the other knights and adventurers and idiots who believed in fate. She’s talking to Knight David. “Even after everything you put her through, she didn’t want you dead. She was good. She was great. And you killed her for it.”

“Mercy,” someone stutters. Then, another. “Mercy, please.”

“No,” Danielle says. Petulant. Like a child. “You didn’t stop him. Not a single one of you tried. She didn’t tell me to save you.”

They combust before they can run. A long time ago, her power wasn’t as controlled. Her fire didn’t get hot enough fast enough. They screamed back then. Screamed and wailed and cursed.

Her fire doesn’t give them a chance to curse her now.

When it is done and she’s satisfied that nothing but ashes remain, she turns to the Dark Lord. He doesn’t flinch from her though there’s fear in his eyes. Even now, he expects her to kill him. Even now he accepts it.

“Bury her,” Danielle says. The fire crackles behind her. “Clean her body and dress her in new clothes. Bury her somewhere where war hasn’t touched and say something kind over her grave.”

The Dark Lord swallows twice before he can speak. He doesn’t ask if this means she’s going to leave him alive. He understands what she means. He says, “I-I will.”

“She saved you,” Danielle says. She wants him to understand that. “She could have wished for anything. Revenge. Peace. A second chance. She didn’t. She wished to save you.”

“She will be honored,” the Dark Lord says. He breathes in deeply and gently reaches out to cup her cheek, an imitation of her earlier touch. His palm is warm against her cold skin. If he is repulsed by the feel of death, he doesn’t show it.  “I will see to it.”

Danielle closes her eyes. Though she doesn’t lean into his touch, she doesn’t pull away. It is the singularly most affectionate moment she’s experienced in decades, but it’s not for her. “Her name is Samira.”

The Dark Lord releases his breath. “Samira. Thank you for telling me her name.”

Danielle lets her curse sweep her to the next dead girl.

----------------

Thanks for reading! If you’d like to see stories like this or some more serialized stories, please consider supporting me on Patreon (X)! Currently I’m working on the Cinderella retelling I have posted on here :)

See y’all next week!

[cloudberriesforaqueen]

Elsa giving Anna time to process her new looks! 🤭

She was surprised by Elsa's new appearance. Her sister wasn’t just different, she was transformed. The woman standing there was the most beautiful person Anna had ever seen... Elsa looked, well, stunning. No, it’s more than the dress and the hair, Anna realized. She looks… free.

— A Frozen Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick

Then, with a magical flourish, Elsa created a new dress for herself, too. It was a long, frosty, pale green gown.

“Whoa!” Anna said.

— Frozen Fever: The Junior Novelization adapated by Victoria Saxon

The Water Spirit washed Elsa onto the shore and she stood there—tall, glistening, ethereal. Anna stopped before she reached her sister. It looked like her, but she was different.

“Is it really you?” Anna asked, not sure what to believe, thinking maybe her eyes, or her brain, were playing tricks on her.

— Frozen 2: The Junior Novelization adapated by David Blaze

I noticed Elsa does a thing where she stands in silence for a moment whenever she shows herself to Anna after a significant outfit change. We know it's because she is also glad to reunite with her sister, so they have an exchange of smiles and soft eyes— In Frozen 2, Anna literally thought Elsa died so, of course, she needed a moment to take in seeing her again.

But I like to think it's also because Elsa's giving her some loading time to process her new magical girl transformations 😆

Elsa doesn't like to show off, but I wonder if she ever gets excited to show Anna her new looks (as sisters often do), but is still somewhat shy to present herself for the first time! It's like when you're finally done getting ready for an event or a date, so now you have to exit your room and let your family see you lol

We also know that the Frohana does good-naturedly tease Elsa's extravagant sense of style which I think adds another layer of wholesomeness to it ♡

[neil-gaiman]

Hi Neil,

I guess I've been working up to this letter for the last 4 years. I would just like you to know how much I appreciate everything you've done with Good Omens, and I mean that from my heart.

When season one aired, one of my best friends had just moved away, so I had a lot of feelings about Crowley and Aziraphale's friendship and the threat of its loss. And then of course the pandemic hit, and I was home with small children, missing everyone.

It was around this time that I listened to David Tennant's interview with Michael Sheen, where Michael talks about how life is hard, and when you find these things that make you happy you have to hold onto them. "These fragments I have shored against my ruins", etc. And those were such important words for me and allowed me to lean into Good Omens and let it shore me up.

Which it did. I found such a home in the character of Crowley, and I also was lucky enough to find my voice as a writer and enter an amazing creative community of kind and brilliant people. It re-affirmed my own queerness and gave me a framework to better understand it. I now have friends unlike I've ever had in my life and they really have have shored me up in the darkest of times.

A month ago my mom died, and it has been so incredibly hard. But again I found refuge in the story, which insists that the world is worth loving, despite everything. And I feel held by the experiences of you and the other creators, because I know you have been there, I know we are all missing people who are gone.

And in a very basic way the lead up to season two has been a happy place to put my mind, away from my grief,

All the little puzzles and tidbits we've been getting have been a fun game, I have so enjoyed reading the books and watching and listening to things referenced. It has been very soothing to play in a created world, where things have meaning and intentionality, and a message about love.

So thank you and Terry and everyone for creating and insisting on telling this story and being so generous with the fan community. I hope you and yours are well and you are finding joy and love yourself.

Cheers, Elizabeth

That makes me so happy. Thank you. I'm glad it helps.

[randomitemdrop]

Trick or trivia

Happy Halloween! I do enjoy trivia of many types, but one of my favorite genres is what I call the Berenstein Timeline: unmade shows and movies, versions of classic movies where studios and producers made different decisions, some better, some much worse. All of these are real projects that were, on some level, considered (there are some recurring names)

"Heat Vision & Jack", a 90s pastiche of 70s-80s action shows starring Jack Black as an astronaut on the run from the law and Owen Wilson as his talking motorcycle

"Jurassic Park" directed by Tim Burton with Johnny Depp as Alan Grant, Jim Carrey as Ian Malcolm, and Vincent Price as John Hammond

the 90s "Batman" directed by Ivan Reitman; Bill Murray and Eddie Murphy were going to star but couldn't decide which of them would be Batman and which would be Robin

Back in the 1970s the American network was getting good numbers showing heavily-edited reruns of "Monty Python's Flying Circus", so they tried to sell the Pythons on the next logical step: an animated Saturday morning cartoon

"Edward Scissorhands" still directed by Burton but starring Tom Cruise or maybe Michael Jackson

"Return of the Jedi" directed by David Lynch; Harrison Ford was considering not coming back for the third movie and so when he came out of the carbonite there was a chance he would have been Christopher Walken

Guillermo del Toro's "At the Mountains of Madness". Also "the Hobbit" and lots of other things, he seems to have a lot of unmade projects

the 2010s "Star Trek" movie directed by Quentin Tarantino, where the edgy reboot crew visits the Gangster Planet from that one stupid episode of the original series

Everybody knows about the unmade "Superman Lives" starring Nicolas Cage in the title role, but did you know it was going to be directed by Tim Burton and include Christopher Walken as Brainiac, who would have been a green head on spider legs

Harold Ramis didn't particularly want to act on camera, so when they were casting "Ghostbusters" Egon could have been Christopher Walken, Christopher Lloyd, Jeff Goldblum, or John Lithgow. Supposedly the movie was originally intended to be a relatively serious exploration of Dan Akroyd's very real interest in paranormal investigation, although this clashes a bit with the fact that Peter Venkman was originally going to be played by John Belushi and Winston Zeddmore was written for Eddie Murphy who backed out when the character's backstory and most of his lines were cut

John Waters' animated series "Uncle John" on 90s MTV

the original version of "Bill & Ted's Time Van" starring Pauly Shore and Sean Penn

"Red Dragon" (the original Hannibal Lecter novel) directed by David Lynch starring John Lithgow as Hannibal Lecter and Mel Gibson as Will Graham

the 1970s "Dr. Strange" TV series

the 1990s Disney animated "John Carter of Mars"

the 1990s Warner Bros animated "King Tut" musical with songs by Prince

the serious horror version of "Beetlejuice"

Drew Barrymore's 2000s remake of "Barbarella"

the Dungeons & Dragons movie James Cameron was going to make until TSR left the table over merchandising disputes, forcing Cameron to go work on some dumb movie about the Titanic

American "Doctor Who" movie starring Michael Jackson

Canadian "Doctor Who" cartoon by Nelvana starring a Doctor based intensely off of either Jeff Goldblum or Christopher Lloyd

"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" directed by Terry Gilliam

"Good Omens" directed by Terry Gilliam and starring Johnny Depp and Robin Williams

"The Black Cauldron" using character and background designs by Nightmare-era Tim Burton

[misty--nights]

I'm working on another Dead Boy Detectives fic rather than work on my actual college stuff and it's got me thinking bout Niko and luck. Spoilers for the whole show, of course.

I find it fascinating how Niko keeps stumbling upon all these situations that seem like they have nothing to do with anything, only for her to find the key to whatever problem they encounter next in said random situation. It's a pretty consistent, too, that she seems to walk a line between bad and good luck. Like something bad will happen to her, only for that to be immediately offset by something really good that she found by chance. It's honestly kind of wild at times.

So, when we first meet Niko, she's being possessed by parasites that want to explode her, which doesn't seem very lucky. Except, that somehow the girl who moves across the girl just so happens to be with a couple of ghosts who can save her. Just in the nick of time, too. And at first that doesn't seem like that big of a deal. It's what the boys do, right? It makes sense they saved her just in time because that's what they do, and that's the kind of show this is. But this bad luck / good luck thing keeps happening to her until the end of the show.

In episode 4, she goes with the gang to the lighthouse and goes off on her own to talk to the gift shop lady. She doesn't find what it is that is drowning the people, but she does find information about the Washer Woman and about Lilith, which at the time seems to her and the others like just random information. She then goes to find the red sea glass and gifts it to Edwin on a whim, without knowing what it can do for them. She just finds it, like it's nothing, when later we see Tragic Mick spend so much time by the shore looking for one, and we see how hard it is. And I know they say in the show that only those who really need her can find the Washer Woman, but out of all four of them, Niko doesn't seem to be the one who needs the Washer Woman the most, as we see when Crystal is the one who receives a personalized riddle thing. Which, again, is something that will be super important later and Crystal gains that knowledge thanks to Niko just stumbling upon the key to finding the Washer Woman on accident.

Then, in episode 5, she just happens to stumble upon Jenny's secret admirer and manage to set up a date with them. Now, I know. I know Maxine is actually a stalker that ends up trying to kill Jenny, bad luck. Except nothing really happens to her there? @carpediemma has a post where she says that the floor was most likely dirty because she promised Jenny to clean the floors for a month if the date went wrong and Jenny was sort of banking on it being bad. With Niko's track record with luck, I think that is very possible. Again, bad luck / good luck situation. The date she sets up is ruined because Maxine tries to kill Jenny, but because she made the bet and Jenny fully believed the date wouldn't work, Maxine slips and fall.

Episode 6 might be a bit of a stretch. Technically, it's Crystal's decision to go to Tragic Mick's in search for some way to get rid of David, but it's thanks to Niko that she actually gets the heart gem thingy. So, bad luck there, because the gem takes away all of Crystal's powers. However, and this links back to episode 4 again, it's thanks to her finding the sea glass that eventually Crystal has the way to start discovering her real abilities.

In episode 7 she stays with the Night Nurse while Charles goes to hell and Crystal goes to find David. She starts reading the Night Nurse's book as a way to find something about her dad. Nothing she finds there would be useful for contacting, seeing or bringin him back. However, she does manage to stumble upon the exact passage she needed to buy Edwin and Charles some time after they get back from hell. And yes, maybe you could say that she read the whole book during the time Charles was gone, but I doubt it. We don't know how long exactly it takes Charles to find Edwin and return, but we do know it can't be that long, because the Night Nurse keeps insisting she can't keep the doorway open for long. I think at most he would have been gone 40 minutes, and that's me being generous. It's enough time for Crystal to confront David and come back. In any case, I don't think it's enough for her to carefully read the whole book front to back, no matter how good her reading comprehension is, specially if she was looking for something specific, like something about where her dad ended up in. I think it's more likely that she just found the page with the loophole she would need by chance, read it, filed it in her memory for a "just in case" and continued looking for what she wanted.

Finally, in episode 8, we have the whole Lilith thing that was set up in episode 4. She finds about her and files it as an irrelevant detail, until she hears Tragic Mick talk about Esther's deal and tells Crystal how she can contact Lilith, which ends up saving Crystal and the boys at the final confrontation. Besides that, though, there's the whole bear figure that Tragic Mick gives her and the explosion at Jenny's shop. In the explosion, Esther takes Charles and Edwin (bad), but neither her nor Jenny, the two living people in the shop at the time, are really injured in the commotion (good.)

And then the bear thing. In episode 7, she hears his story and tells him how they found the Washer Woman, and he can't find a piece of red sea glass of his own. Even though he is really desperate for a way to find her. (which, again, it's odd Niko is the one to find the Washer Woman when she wasn't that in need for the Washer Woman's assistance. The whole group was, but it was Niko who found her, but anyways). He gifts her the bear figure as a way to thank her for trying to help and they move on from that. And she accepts it and goes to Esther's place with Crystal, convinced of the protection of the bear, and then dies to save Crystal. Except she doesn't really? She's fine at the end, in some sort of frozen land, with Litty and Kingham, and by the way she holds the bear figure, it's implied that's what sort of saved her, even if she is no longer tied to the mortal plane.

I don't know, there was no real point behind this, just something I've been thinking about for a while. I think if someone has a shot at helping Tragic Mick return to sea, it's her, because she just has the luck to find solutions she wasn't even looking for. And I'm convinced if she ever makes it back to Port Townsend, that's just what she would do. On accident, but still. That's just the kind of character she is to me.

[youcalledmebabe]

webgott pretty please!

75. “I’m going for a swim. Do you wanna join me?” (preferably it’s joe who asks. if you are so inclined. 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂)

send me a pairing and a number and I’ll write you a Drabble

happy Webgott Wednesday yna!! enjoy some hot pygmalion summer Webgott. full disclosure this will 10000% be a fic someday.

Waves crash onto the shore. David can just barely make them out from the porch of the summer house. The moon shines bright tonight but his vision isn’t what it used to be; all the straining to see his journal in the dark in Europe has caught up with him. Or maybe he’s just getting old. Twenty-six tomorrow.

He lights a cigarette and takes a contemplative puff. Laughter and chatter filter out through the windows. It seems nobody has noticed the guest of honor has absconded.

The screen door creaks open and David sighs. Please don’t be his mother. He glances up to see Joe, offering him a glass.

“Water,” Joe says. “You’ve been mainlining gin all night.”

David takes a sip and pats the step next to him. When Joe sits, he offers him a drag of his cigarette. Joe doesn’t give it back.

“People keep asking me if I’m Bobby.”

David grins. He supposes Joe does have the reediness of the Kennedys but one word out of his mouth would disabuse anybody of that notion. “My roommate from Harvard. He’s in Hyannis for the summer. But maybe you’ll get to meet him.”

“You really think I’m gonna stick around the whole summer?” Joe says, but it’s a half-hearted barb. He’d come to Long Island at David’s request, had endured a week of the Websters already and earned the affection—if not approval— of everybody but his father. And David hadn’t even managed that in twenty-six years, so he could hardly fault Joe for it.

“Maybe,” David hums and lights another cigarette.

David watches Joe smoke his cigarette, how his face looks marble under the moonlight. Age is doing him nothing but favors. He feels a little guilty for not being completely honest with Joe.

“I lured you here,” he blurts out. “Under false pretenses.”

Joe stubs out his cigarette, amusement flickering in his expression. “I miss you and I want you to come to my summer home was a pretense?”

“Well, no. But it wasn’t the entire truth.”David sighs and takes a drag. “My parents want me to get engaged this summer. Or to go to law school. ‘War Hero’ got me through 1946 and Harvard student got me through now but my mother needs a new accomplishment of mine to brag about at her functions.”

“Just go to law school, Web, Jesus. You talk enough for it.”

David shakes his head. “Bobby’s going but…it’s not for me. I want to write. Lawyers have to actually work.”

Joe flicks his arm. “You’re a spoiled brat.”

“I invited you out here because I want you to get engaged.”

“So that’s why you tried to marry me off to Ann the second I walked through the door,” Joe muses.

“If you marry some wealthy heiress, your life is set, Joe. And we’ll see each other every summer. Maybe even during the year, depending on who the lucky bride is.”

Joe smirks. “I want no part of this life. You’re all crazy. If I were a writer like you I’d write some great piece on this place.”

“Very Nick Carraway,” David says, frowning. Joe was supposed to want to marry rich.

Joe snaps his fingers. “Gatsby.”

David stares at him, surprised he remembered. But then, he shouldn’t be surprised. Joe had read it too, and Joe had a great memory. So sharp, so intelligent.

“You look like you want to kiss me. Just because I get your little book joke. You’re so easy.”

“Maybe,” David sighs. “But it wouldn’t be very ethical to do while I’m trying to marry you off.”

Joe snorts. “None of these women want to marry a cab driver from San Francisco.”

But what if they did? David knows plenty of rebellious young women, plenty of fathers who would be indulgent enough to let Joe slide into the family. If David could just teach him how to walk the walk, talk the talk, he’d be in.

“I bet that I can get a girl to want to marry you. Probably more than one. I’ll teach you to be a perfect gentleman. It’ll be like Pygmalion.”

David would do Pygmalion right though. There was absolutely no danger of him falling in love with Joe. A bit of fooling around in Austria wasn’t love; Joe had made that very clear. And David was much older and wiser now. He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

“Whatever that means. We can talk about it in the morning. Speaking of luring,” Joe says. “Can’t believe you haven’t tried to get me in the ocean yet.”

The truth is David doesn’t entirely trust them to be around each other in a state of undress. He glances out at the water, waves pushing into the shore. It does look inviting, and so do Joe’s eyes. But his party persists inside.

Joe sheds his jacket and loosens his bow tie, scowling. He stalks down the steps. “I’m going for a swim. If you want to join me.”

“Well when you ask so nicely, how can I say no?” David retorts, but he’s taking off his own jacket and running after Joe anyway.

By the time they reach the beach, Joe’s only in his trousers. David’s itching for him to take them off; to see moonlit skin.

“You hate swimming. You just want to see me naked,” David says. “Now who’s easy?”

“Nobody hates swimming, Web. It’s just that nobody else is as weird about it as you.”

David grins at him. How he’s missed Joe’s affectionate ribbing. It just doesn’t read the same in a letter. A whole summer of Joe’s teasing; a whole lifetime of summers if he can just get Joe to marry one of Ann’s ditsy friends, or maybe one of the women being offered up to him. “I’m so glad you came.”

Joe waves a hand. “Just here for a free vacation,” he says, but he’s smiling back, and inching closer.

“Kenyon? Kenyon! Come inside. You need to say goodbye to the Gilmores.”

David turns and squints at the porch. His mother is framed by the lights, martini glass in hand. He looks back at Joe and the water longingly.

“Duty calls, Kenyon,” Joe says but his expression softens. “Come meet me back out here when the party is over. We’ll go for a birthday swim.”

“You’ll be okay out here alone?” David asks.

“Survived a war, Web. What the fuck could go wrong in rich person USA?”

Plenty, David wants to say, but it’s mostly psychological. Joe will be fine. He nods at Joe and slouches back up the beach to a woman his parents want him to marry, already counting the seconds until he can be in the water with Joe.

[zsakuva]

Hello!! Even though it's absolutely irrelevant, I thought I'd ask anyway since you seem the best person to answer the question(s) I'm about to ask:

First of all, I am someone who has listened to/ is open to listening to most types of music. But these days I feel like I'm falling behind in music genres such as ambient, folkkore or soundtrack annd much more.

On the other hand, it would be hard not to realize that you listen to these genres religiously in the short time I was able to use Discord!! So you kinda get the point of me asking this question specifically to you 🦉

So, let's ask you, King Crumpet, do you have any suggestions?, or important stuff you want to talk about? Let your people be cultured too!!

I normally consume soundtracks of things that I've played/watched before, and many are nostalgic for me. But I tend to listen to music that helps with my work, so I curate my playlists when I'm searching for a specific theme or mood. I also listen to my 'Discover Weekly' and 'Release Radar' semi-regularly to find new songs, so the artists in total are ALL over the place.

So in no particular order, I'll list off soundtracks that help my brainstorming/writing (bear in mind I don't listen to the whole soundtrack, just pieces that fit what I need):

MOVIES/TV SHOWS/ANIME

Game of Thrones - Ramin Djawadi

House of the Dragon - Ramin Djawadi

The Hunger Games movies - James Newton Howard

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Bear McCreary

The Wheel of Time - Lorne Balfe

The Untamed - Hai Lin

Tales From Earthsea - Tamiya Terashima

Psycho-Pass - Yugo Kanno

The Sandman - David Buckley

The Bourne Trilogy - John Powell

Oppenheimer - Ludwig Göransson

VIDEO GAMES

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Jeremy Soule

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Jeremy Soule

Final Fantasy XII - Hitoshi Sakimoto

Final Fantasy XV - Yoko Shimomura

Horizon Zero Dawn - Joris de Man

Moss - Jason Graves

Pine - Tumult Kollektiv

Detroit: Become Human - Nia Fakhrara; Philip Sheppard; John Paesano

MISCELLANEOUS BUT NOTABLE ARTISTS

Yuki Kajiura

Gareth Coker

Nobuo Uematsu

Two Steps From Hell

Howard Shore

Jia Peng Fang

Will Savino

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (normally renditions of video game soundtracks like Tomb Raider II)

Hans Zimmer

Loreena McKennitt

Mark Eliyahu

Yutaka Yamada

[hilsonamore]

my soul wont properly rest till david shore makes a public announcement that house and wilson were actually in love. In the physical sense. Explored each other’s bodies and everything.

[ellohcee]

@jaspvid-week day 6: angst/hurt/comfort, in which a merman who's gotten a little too comfortable coming to shore to see the human he'd saved from drowning, finds himself caught by a fishing boat and taken to a strange place.

More under the cut:

He peers around the corner warily, scouring the area for employees, ready to feign being lost at a moment’s notice.

He sees no one, hears no sounds of conversation or footsteps or working, so he creeps quickly over to the large tank, the most likely one that they might keep something as big as a merman. The wall is mostly concrete on this side with a few observation windows, but there is a set of stairs leading up to the second level that overlooks the large tank.

He bites his lip, waiting another pause to make sure the coast is clear before he starts tip toeing over to the stairs. As he passes one of the windows, he does a double take, seeing a large green tail disappear behind a coral formation.

“Davey!” Jasper whispers frantically as he runs up the steps, kneeling in front of the short glass wall between the tank and the floor, his eyes scanning desperately. He passes over schools of fish, a few small sharks, a sting ray, until he sees that tail again. He looks around nervously, wary of calling for the merman too loudly and attracting attention. “Davey!” he tries again, a little louder.

His heart races as he sees the figure turn and swim towards him, ducking down as it nears before abruptly turning upwards to launch himself out of the water just enough to grab the edge of the glass partition, hauling himself up just as Jasper reaches out to pull David into a hug, holding him tight and uncaring to the water that soaks into his shirt as the merman’s arms wrap around his shoulders in turn, David’s body trembling in his hold.

“Oh, Jasper,” the merman says in relief, eyes clenched shut where his face is buried in the crook between Jasper’s neck and his own arm.

“God, I’m so glad to see you,” Jasper whispers as they hold each other, remaining like that for several aching moments before separating just enough to face each other, one of David’s hands clenched over the edge of the glass as Jasper takes the other in his own. The clawed, scaly fingers shake in his hold, gripping tight.

His eyes rove over the merman, checking for signs of harm, before picking out a few scratches in the dim lighting, small patches of scales missing from his tail. His heart drops, putting his free hand on the ginger’s shoulder. “Fuck, what did they do to you?” he whispers in dread.

“They didn’t- it was mainly from me struggling in the net,” David replies, his voice shaking and hand clinging tightly to Jasper’s. “Jasp- I’m- I’m scared, they were talking about moving me somewhere, some place far,” he says frantically. “I don’t know what they’re going to do to me!”

“It’s okay, it’s okay, I’m gonna get you out tonight!” Jasper insists.

There's an uncomfortable pause, a shaky breath, a dread.

“T-tonight?” David repeats weakly, heart sinking in a sickening feeling as his fins droop. A cold feeling swirls in his stomach, almost feeling like he’s been sucker punched. “Why- why not-”

“I’m so sorry, I can’t do it now,” Jasper says, his heart breaking at the look on David’s face, how let down he sounds. “There’s too many people around, I’ll never be able to just walk you out. I have to wait til tonight when the place is empty, and even then I’ll still have security to worry about!” he insists gently.

David chokes on a quiet sob, trying to hide it. “I understand,” he whispers, looking away, his hand still holding tight and trembling around Jasper’s, his knuckles surely white under the dark scales.

“I’m so sorry Davey,” Jasper says, his voice breaking, his eyes welling with the beginnings of tears as a terrible feeling runs through his chest. “It’s my fault this happened, and I hate to leave you in here any longer… I- Believe me, if there was any way I could get you out now-”

“It’s okay, I understand,” David says softly, sincere, squeezing his hand tighter, his lips pursing briefly as he tries to keep himself together. He takes a breath, letting it out slow. “I’m just glad to see you,” he says, so soft Jasper almost can’t hear, eyes closing tiredly, tears dripping into the water below him.

Jasper frowns, his heart aching fiercely to see the merman like this, captured, frightened. Dreading whatever these people have planned for him. Jasper heard the news report speaking of this place he’s to go to, a national marine institute. He can’t let it happen or his chance of getting David out will be gone.

He leans down, prompting David to look up at him, and moves closer until their foreheads are touching gently, David’s wet hair mussing with his own. The ginger stares at him in surprise, his eyes bright, a little red in the face as the breath trembles past his lips.

“I will get you out, I promise,” Jasper says quietly as the merman’s eyes well with fresh tears. “Or I’ll get my ass arrested trying,” he adds with a weak grin, his voice breaking again.

David stares up at him for a long moment, tears running trails down his cheeks as his lip trembles a little. “I trust you,” he whispers, blinking against the tears that blur his vision, unable to muster a smile in return but still thankful for a sliver of Jasper’s usual humor. It’s a comfort it this strange place, this glass box of water that seems so small, so confined, leaving him so exposed. At least the aquarium staff hadn’t hovered around his tank too long, treating him like any other ‘wild animal’ that needed some observation but not too much so as to cause undue stress. Leaving him to acclimate.

It was probably the only thing that allowed Jasper to sneak in here to see him, and for that he’s endlessly thankful.

Jasper takes a breath, swallowing the lump in his throat. “I- I should go before someone finds me, I don’t want to ruin it for tonight,” he says regretfully, hating the way David’s face falls again, but the merman nods without complaint, his eyes flickering briefly down.

“Okay,” David whispers, looking up at Jasper again as the man leans back, preparing to release his hand, but Jasper hesitates. They stare at each other as the low buzz of the aquarium goes on around them, the hum of systems keeping the water filtered, temperature controlled, manufactured ocean currents lapping water at the edges of David’s tank. Lights and filters and fans filling the space between them.

The pause is both a comfort and curse, words needing to be said but smothered beneath the heavy tension. It’s all held back for now, everything that’s pressing to be said slipping instead through the desperate grip between their hands and the ache behind their eyes.

For a moment, Jasper almost considers scooping David out of that damn tank and making a run for the ocean right here and now, security and people and cameras be damned, but he fights the urge. Much as it hurts to leave the ginger here any longer, he needs to wait until closing to have a chance. He can’t be slowed down by crowds of people and aquarium employees on top of security.

So he takes a breath, bringing their linked hands close, and presses his lips tight against David’s bony knuckles in a chaste but desperate kiss. He closes his eyes, breathing slow through his nose, feeling the trembling in David’s hand and hearing his breath hitch and soaking up this little bit contact. It won’t be the last, he tells himself, just to tide them both over until tonight.

It’s not the last.

“Okay,” he finally sighs as he pulled back, meeting David’s eyes, wide and shining in the soft blue light of the tank. “I’ll see you tonight,” he promises.

“Okay,” David repeats softly, still frightened, still devastated, but finding himself comforted by that one small gesture. So raw and full of emotion that he can’t possibly begin to untangle right now. It will have to wait until Jasper gets him out of this terrible place, he has to have faith that his friend will succeed. Faith that he’ll see the ocean again, and not this big research facility he hears murmurs of.

Jasper moves his hand from David’s shoulder to grip the one hanging on the glass wall, carefully lowering David down into the water. When their hands finally slip apart, the merman drops down under the surface with barely a sound. Jasper watches his figure sink down with a heavy heart, his chest aching, but he stands and turns to go back down the steps. He quietly trots down the stairs and stops at the observation window in the big concrete wall, seeing David.

The merman swims closer, putting his hands on the glass and watching him, red hair waving slowly in the current. Jasper watches him back for a long, heavy moment, managing a smile and wave, wishing to give the merman hope. A wordless promise to see each other again.

David finally manages a shaky smile back, one of his hands returning with a small wave. Jasper’s smile widens, his heart racing, his mind whirling with a plan of action for tonight, and he turns and hurries out of the employee area. He’s already been back here a long time, he doesn’t want to push his luck.

Tonight he’s getting David out of here.

[sparklingcid3r]

Do you ship cherry and sodapop? If you do, what hcs do you have for them

yk i didn’t think much of this ship when i saw it floating around and then i got nice and cozy under my blanket and it hit me like a bullet to the skull, i was jumping around banging the wall just being an actual freak for them. idek what happened

so yeah i’ll live and die on the cherry cola train

- They are exactly the person the other needs, and exactly the opposite of the partner that broke their heart

- Cherry needs someone who will see her and love her for who she is, who’ll listen to her when she talks and look at her like she hung the moon and the stars

- Soda needs someone who wants to love and be loved, who isn’t afraid of things getting tough and who will entertain his less serious side

- Two-Bit and Marcia are the ogs, but Cherry and Soda omg they’re so “Uptown Girl”

- Soda is obsessed with Cherry’s hair. He loves everything about it. Anytime they’re standing next to each other, he’s twirling it in his finger, playing with it, braiding it

- When they’re cuddling, Soda absolutely will be putting his face in Cherry’s hair because he thinks it smells so good

- Even though Soda’s dropped out, when he doesn’t have a shift they’ll make plans for him to pick her up after school so they can go on walks through nature trails

- Soda tends to go too fast because he likes being on the move and getting to their destination while Cherry likes appreciating the nature they see on the way

- Cherry loves how brown Soda’s eyes are. He says they’re boring and not as cool as her green ones but what she doesn’t tell him is that when her and her girls go on beach trips, she’s collecting little rock’s and shells that remind her of his eyes and putting them in a little cork jar tied with a ribbon

- In a perfect world, Two-Bit, Marcia, Cherry, and Soda go on double dates

- Absolutely Soda and Cherry are that couple that get one milkshake and two straws

- But they both end up getting one more for themselves anyway. They were disappointed at how awkward and unromantic it actually was

- Modern cherry cola would eat up all the romantic tiktok trends. Finding jewels at Michael’s that match each other’s eye color and making bracelets, slow dancing in the snow to “Until I Found You”, setting up their camera on the ground and making hearts with their hands to have a lockscreen, oml i’m so single

- More on that, it’s Soda recording Cherry in a white dress running down the shore to “Ceilings”

- Back to the 60s—they love exchanging music. Cherry gave Soda her records of Brenda Lee and Frank Sinatra to listen to and Soda lent her his only Chuck Berry and David Bowie records

- When Cherry’s parents were out of town, she invited Soda over and they didn’t even do anything like both their friends teased them about. They put Elvis on the record player and danced around all day. When they came back from the grocery store, they put him right back on and started baking cookies

- The Valances have a beagle that loves Soda more than anyone. You’d think she was about to fly away with how hard her tail was wagging when he walks through the door. Soda will roughhouse with the dog and she loves it because other than her walks, she doesn’t get to do much in the house

- Inevitably Cherry asked him to actually meet her parents. Soda was less than thrilled, but agreed

- It killed him when he had to ask Darry for help getting ready to have dinner with her parents. He wanted to make a good impression but didn’t know how to style his hair. He just remembers all the times he clowned on Darry for doing the same thing

- Darry has mixed feelings about the relationship, mostly because he doesn’t want to see Soda get hurt the way Paul hurt him, and absolutely prohibits Cherry from being over unless he or Pony is in the house too. In his head it’s to prevent another Sandy incident. At the very least, if Cherry is someone Soda’s as serious about as he was Sandy, then he’s using protection, no exceptions

- Soda starts wearing a bigger jacket like Dally’s when the weather gets cold in hopes that Cherry will say she’s chilly and Soda can give it to her. He just wants to see her wearing his jacket he’s so down bad

- Cherry’s absolutely NOT any better. She purposefully left her coat in her house and only wore a cardigan just so that she could say she’s cold and get Soda’s jacket for the day

- As much as she’d love to keep it, she knows he actually needs the jacket back for the winter since she doesn’t know if he can afford to buy another one

- It helps them have all those romantic moments all over again, so it’s absolutely a win in her book

- They both love to hum. When it’s quiet and just the two of them, Soda will start humming the start of a duet and stop so that Cherry can hum the woman’s part. They’ll get so into it that they might as well just start singing, they’re clearly just singing with their mouths closed

god i need fanfic about them fr

[ria-coolgirl]

When an alien loves an earth boy!

A lost boys au

Hey guys! I’m back, but just for this chapter of my fic and will continue posting more chapters, but for now. Enjoy this chapter!

Contacts: canon motorcycle with a twist, Aliens, Alien courtship, David x Micheal

Summary: When Michael agrees to a motorcycle race with the boys, he’s world is changed by David’s alien courtship that changes his and David’s lives forever!

Chapter 1

The slight gentle breeze blew against David’s face as him and the others watched the concert on the beach from afar, it had been a couple of years since they landed in this strange planet called Earth and ever since then they founded humans to be interesting creatures.

The concert was packed with people, all dancing and sweating from the summer heat. The concert was loud, but exciting to watch, who knew human music could be so much fun to listen to. Paul particularly enjoyed the music that humans made, even getting a boombox to listen to it everyday. He nodded his head to the beat of the music with delight.

Everything was peaceful.

As they continue to watch the show that’s when David saw…him, the guy had curly brunette hair that almost reached down to his neck in the back, a face that looked like it was modeled after a Greek god, his body was lean with a muscular tone to it and those eyes, eyes that remained him of the waves of the ocean crashing on the shore on a sunny day.

It’s was perfect, he’s eyes so perfect and so blue that he could swim in them forever, made him wonder if those eyes were seen up close and never even look away again.

That’s when David noticed that the guy in question was staring back at him. David looked away with a shy smile on his face feeling his cheeks begin to heat up, his heart racing faster than a comet in the night sky as he looked away from the guy’s gaze.

He revved his triumph and Paul, Marko and Dwayne followed suit with him to the boardwalk, as they waited for Star and laddie to come back to their bikes laddie came back and went up to Dwayne’s bike. “How was the concert, bud?” Paul asked him as he ruffled his hair. Laddie nodded enthusiastically with a smile, “It was awesome!”

“I even danced with Star!” Laddie says still smiling. “That’s great, kid.” says Dwayne as he smiles back at laddie it’s was good to know that laddie was getting comfortable being on earth and enjoying himself knowing that earth is pretty different from his home planet mars moon Phobos. “Hey speaking of Star, where is she?” Paul questioned.

“I thought she would be here by now.” Paul says tipping his feet impatiently. He knew that the boardwalk was pretty big and packed with people and tourists, but it doesn’t take this long to come back! Paul lounge on his bike with a pout worrying for Star if she got lost or something.

David sent a message to his worried friend telepathically. “Don’t worry, starlight will come back soon Paul.” From the corner of his eye he saw Star walking towards them, “See, nothing to worry about Paul.” Paul sighed in relief knowing that Star was okay and smiled lightly.

David also noticed that she was walking with someone, it was the guy, the guy who was on the beach earlier! “Guys, this is Michael” Star introduced him to the others smiling lightly in turn they introduced themselves to him.

“Michael”

David thought to himself, what a beautiful name for a human especially who looks handsome as he is. But he pushed the thought to the side and notices that he had a bike too. “You know where Hudson’s bluff is?” “Over looking the point?”

Michael slightly chuckled at the idea of a race between them he knew that he couldn’t possibly beat him with his bike, but he though it wouldn’t hurt to try it out. Michael smirked “I can’t beat your bike, but I’ll try.” Dwayne, Paul and Marko smiled with a mischievous grin their have raced against each other before during their times in each other’s planets, but never before with a human.

David smirked at Michael as he revved up his engine in response, “well then show us what you can do, Michael.” Dwayne, Paul and Marko revved up their engines as well. “We’re going for a ride, man” Dwayne said to laddie.

One by one each of them went down the stairs of the boardwalk to the beach. They yelled and howled into the night as they drove away along the sandy beach, speeding across the road to the woods. Michael gained speed and was near David’s bike that’s where he noticed that he was staring at him, probably to egging him on.

“Come on, Michael” David says smirking at him, he wanted to see what this human could do, how far he if willing to go to do something well he was about to find out! Michael contemplated on what to do he didn’t want to be seen as a coward for no doing anything he needed to do something fast!

“Show us what you can do” echoed in his mind when it came to him, he rev up his motor, ignited the spark plug in his motorcycle and sped up his engine. Sparks began to fly out of his motorcycle they were blight more blighter than sun flares in space. Michael pulled a goofy smile on his face as reached the near end of the cliff and turned safely away from the cliff and parked his bike.

Meanwhile David and Star look surprised at the sight of the sparks, more so of David looking in awe. He didn’t know what to think he was impressed by Michael’s skill with the sparks and driving, but more so with his confidence in the race. His heart continued to pound, his face flushed as he slowed down his bike his eyes saw nothing, but hearts everywhere.

Dwayne, Paul and Marko caught up with them to get off their bikes, “I saw some sparks, are you guys okay?” Marko asked “no, Marko we’re fine.” “Michael won!” Star runs towards them as she explains what happened in detail. “Michael was making the sparks, they were brighter than the sun!” She explains “wait if Michael was making the sparks and he won the race that means-“

Before she could finish her sentence she bursted into a giggle as she cover her mouth with her hand as they realized what she meant by that. They smirked with excitement, “Looks like someone is gonna jump the broomstick!” Paul joked.

Michael looks at them with confusion and denial there was no way this could be happening it was just a race nothing more! David snapped out of his trance feeling his excitement boiling over, he couldn’t contain his joy anymore he ran towards Michael and gave him a bear hug with a lovestruck smile “you won the race and my heart, darling.”

“D-darling?”

This will not end well!

Tag list: @hypocriticaltypwriter @popironrye @beestungdog and @walmart-icarus another one else’s who wants to be tagged in the next chapter!

[zora-db]

Gather your fragments.

I'm feeling very bleak about the prospect of getting season 3 of GO.

BUT, I am here to remind myself, and anyone else feeling similarly, that they can't take away the things we've already been given. Each moment of joy is a fragment we can catch and keep.

MICHAEL: You know, there's, having talked about T.S. Eliot earlier, there's another bit from The Wasteland where there's a line which goes, These fragments I have shored against my ruin.

And this is how I think about life now. There is so much in life, no matter what your circumstances, no matter what, where you've got, what you've done, how much money you got, all that. Life's hard.  I mean, you can, it can take you down at any point.

You have to find this stuff. You have to like find things that will, these fragments that you hold to yourself, they become like a liferaft, and especially as time goes on, I think, as I've got older, I've realized it is a thin line between surviving this life and going under.

And the things that keep you afloat are these fragments, these things that are meaningful to you and what's meaningful to you will be not-meaningful to someone else, you know. But whatever it is that matters to you, it doesn't matter what it was you were into when you were a teenager, a kid, it doesn't matter what it is. Go and find them, and find some way to hold them close to you. 

Make it, go and get it. Because those are the things that keep you afloat. They really are. Like doing that with him or whatever it is, these are the fragments that have shored against my ruin. Absolutely.

(David Tennant does a podcast with... Michael Sheen)