#den just doesn't want them inside ok

[moodymisty]

(really sorry if this is sent more than once, firefox crashed right when I hit Ask so im re-sending it just in case)

Local Konrad apologist here to request a continuation to your 'Sevatar hunting you' oneshot you posted awhile back. sfw or nsfw, either is fine

(if you dont want to continue that plotline, np!! Just literally any Sev content would be hype as fuck, not gonna lie. love that man sm)

and i hope you and your pidges have a wonderful day❤

Soft continuation of this request

Author's note: Hell yeah I’ll continue that one! I love Sevatar <3 I hope this is ok! It didn’t quite flow the way I like but I don’t want to hold it up forever

Relationships: Sevatar/Fem!Reader

Warnings: Lewd kind of, Violence and gore warning, Pet play technically? Sev calls you his little pet, Dubcon, Biting

When Sevatar had captured his prey, he made sure not to let it go. He dragged you back between his teeth to his den aboard the Nightfall, and you haven’t seen a Salamander since.

Sevatar has done much work in making sure your base needs are tended to- such as food and water to keep you healthy and soft - while on the Nightfall.

You are most likely the most well kept baseline aboard the ship, and many others refer to you snidely, jokingly, as Sevatar’s prized little pet.

He does a lot of prowling around to keep other Night Lords away from his catch, predator proofing his quarters.

While most Night Lords would hesitate to disobey him, or tread in quarters not their own or of their stature, Sevatar knows that his little pet is worth the risk.

You’re soft, clean and fragile, and unlike many of the serfs aboard who know how to hide and not be interesting enough to toy with, you whimper and cry and beg enough to make an Astartes mouth wet with drool and his hearts pump faster.

You don’t do as much anymore- With the Salamanders long gone that wound has faded, and you know despite his demeanor, Sevatar doesn’t break his toys. He seems to take quite good care of them actually, and despite the wounds he leaves in your body, the food he gets for you and the quarters you live in is almost comparable to life with the Salamanders.

Sevatar is returning to his quarters, looking downward at his knife when he feels as if something is off. He puts his knife back in its sheath, turning the corner to finish his trip to his quarters.

His body goes rigid when he notices the door is open, locks busted and completely torn apart. Only one glance inside confirms you’re gone. Your scent is fresh still however- this only just happened.

Sevatar runs down the halls, slamming into the shoulders of other marines who quickly try to give way to him, and halfway through the hall a singular Night Lord yells:

“If you’re looking for your pet, the idiot is taking her towards the barracks.”

He also hears the same man mumble about how he warned the thief, and that he wants to see his how Sevatar will display his guts for being a blackhand.

He catches up with the thief in the halls, spotting him carrying you with a hand clamped over your mouth. The other arm is around your waist, legs dangling and kicking uselessly.

Sevatar approaches him from behind and pulls out his knife and closes the distance lightning quick, slicing the wrist around your mouth so he doesn't crush your head. The Night Lord instinctively drops you- Sevatar hears your yelp as you crumble to the metal floor and presumably twist something - trying to defend himself first and foremost. Sevatar had the advantage however both in surprise and sheer strength, and within moments manages to get the slightly smaller Night Lord on the ground.

You can only watch as the two throw punches and tear at each other, eyes wide.

You hear the crunch as Sevatar’s knife drives through ceramite armor, reaching the black armoring suit underneath. The younger Night Lord attempts to clamp onto Sevatar's body but his one wrist is mangled and won't listen, while the other attempts to grab his neck in a desperate last ditch effort.

The first stab managed to crack ceramite armor like the outer shell of a bug, it takes a second blow for him to stab through his black carapace, and reach his organs. The marine lets out a shout as Sevatar's gauntlet gets covered in bright red blood, and you can only watch in a frozen stare as he mangles the younger night lord's body into a crushed, bloody mess.

Sevatar finishes by standing up, and grinding his head into the floor with his boot, splattering blood all over the floor.

A few Night Lords pass by, rolling their eyes at the mess and speaking along the lines that he had it coming, for disobeying Sevatar.

One also mentions that Sevatar wasted a meal by crushing the Astartes like that, and even just the implications of him feasting on the man’s brain matter has bile rising in your throat.

Blood is still on your face from his initial attack, alongside whatever splattered your way as you laid on the floor and watch him crush your kidnapper. Sevatar leans closer, and he laughs when he smears it across your face with his gauntlet.

He’s examining you for any damage, and other than a sprained wrist from when the Night Lord dropped you to the floor, you’re unharmed.

“Messy.”

You say nothing, but instead lean forward and wrap your arms tightly around his neck. Sevatar noticeably stiffens.

He supposes in your mind he is your savior. The Night Lord who had broken into his quarters more than likely wanted to toy with you for a bit until you broke, then throwing you into the garbage.

It’s good to know that you’re attached to him. That you know he is your best option, and that you won’t consider trying to sneak off. While he loves it when you cry, when you beg him to stop, there’s also a part of him that loves that you want him. How lately, some of your begging has turned into cute little whimpers.

Picking you up off the ground to return to his quarters you latch to him like he’s going to drop you as well, arms around his neck.

He likes the feeling.

Perhaps some of the other Night Lords would prefer it if you ran, if you hated him, but Sevatar wants you to want him. He wants to feel that rush.

He hasn't had his armor off in about it a week, but they're safe enough in Imperium space; He can take it off for a bit.

He won't let you out of his sight while he does so however, setting you down right in front of the armoring platform as he has the serfs and mechanical arms take away piece after piece of ceramite. It can sometimes take almost a half hour to armor up a marine, removing the pieces is significantly shorter. He leaves his black armoring suit on to take off in his quarters, and pushes you back there like he’s herding an animal.

He looks briefly and notices how that Night Lord broken open the lock; He'll remember that.

He watches you quickly scurry inside of his quarters, his den, sitting on the bed and trying to pick at the astartes blood coagulating on your face. You look so small on the massive bed, and the way you curl your legs up exaggerates the difference.

"I was asleep when he broke in... I didn't have time to hide or find you."

Sevatar laughs at the idea of you being able to hide or run from an astartes.

"Just shows that I need to keep a closer eye on you. You make a lot of trouble for me."

The way you look at him is concerned. You think he's considering getting rid of you. That you cause too much trouble for him. That couldn't be less of the case. He knew what he was getting into when he stole from the Salamanders.

Walking closer he stands and towers over you, seeing the hesitation and fear in your eyes when his hand comes close to your face. Instead of your neck however, it wraps around your jaw, and he forces your mouth to open with his thumb.

"But you're a good little pet, aren’t you.”

He loves the way your mouth wraps around his thumb- warm, wet, like the inside of a wound. Your hands rise up to wrap around his wrist, while he pushes you down laying on the bed.

“I should get you one of those tattoos.”

Sevatar removes his thumb from your mouth and grips your hair, pulling your neck to the side and exposing you vein. He can see your heartbeat through your skin, along with the myriad of old scars and healing bites he’s left there.

It’s his favorite part of you; Nothing else is like the feeling of your life and soul between his teeth.

He drags his teeth down your neck and feels the way your hands clamber at his shoulders, until he finds a spot he likes and sinks his teeth in.

Your hands slap at his shoulders and you whimper, gasping in pain as his dull teeth pierce your skin. His tongue is coated in that tangy, iron taste, the salt of your skin mixing. You taste delicious- the feeling of your soft flesh underneath his hands and in his mouth makes his cock throb.

A part of him imagines biting down harder, drawing more blood and ripping your skin. The crunch of vein and bone. But he doesn’t want to damage you that much, and risk loosing his catch.

“W-what tattoo?”

You breathlessly speak. Sevatar knows some of the other- usually older - Night Lords have been tattooing their favorite serfs; Staking a claim on them.

He doesn’t need to stake claim on what everyone already knows is his, but the idea of his name, or his variation of the Night Lords symbol adorning your delicate skin rouses a part of him.

He bites again, and you take a sharp inhale- heels digging into the bed. Your thighs are forcibly spread apart to make room for his massive body, weight holding you down. He feels your heartbeat in his mouth, your very life is so close.

“You’ll see.”

[schrodingerscollective]

Here is our mind palace! We made this using Inkarnate - we used the free version which is pretty limited, however we were still able to do a lot with the free tools through some creativity and the layout is really nice! Lore dump under the cut:

I'm (Parker) gonna be talking about this along with Redfang, so we'll indicate who's talking by our names. Also, our inner world isn't sentient and not nearly as tangible as some other mind palaces, so we don't have a lot of lore and most areas aren't that detailed, however we're working on that! Also, we use the terms "headspace," "inner world" interchangeably (though I like to call it our mind palace as you can see lol) Ok, I'll go first!

Parker: My home is labelled "Parker's Tent," which is pretty much what it sounds like :) it's a HUGE tent, kinda like the ones kids dream about and it's super cool! There's lots of pillows and stuff and it's built a little bit off the ground with wooden panels (like, there's a big square platform that raises up like half a meter off the ground and the platform slopes down to meet the ground on all sides, and the tent is on that), and sometimes I just sit by the river bank outside and chill.

Then there's Wild's treehouse! It's built in a massive tree and has like a balcony all around in a circle (that's what the wooden circle under the tree in the map is) and inside there's lots of books and a hammock high up and the windows are really high up and you can see so many things! There's wooden panels that go up the side of the trunk to make a ladder, but Wild doesn't use it that much since he has wings most of the time.

There's also Nova's cabin (it's covered by trees and mist on the map because there were NO stamps that looked even remotely like a cabin lol), which is very rustic and cool :) the wood is all dark and the lights are warm and there's some awesome plants! I think they have some venus flytraps in there, but I don't know what the other ones are. There's also a circular wooden slab like the one Toothless lies on in HTTYD for Fennec (he/him), though it has some blankets and pillows and other stuff. Fennec is one of the oldest headmates in our system and works similarly to a Daemon (and is happy to be called a Daemon)! He usually appears as a brown dragon, though he's getting more comfortable changing forms to other animals so he doesn't use it all the time. He's very nice!

Redfang: I don't want to disclose much of Paint's cubby (indicated by the tree stump as there wasn't an appropriate sticker), however I will say that it's a very elaborate kid's cubby. It looks like a mushroom house and there are patches of gardens outside; the air is very peaceful.

The "little guy department," is what my headmates call the camp the warrior cats live in. It's situated in a small set of caves behind a waterfall, however I can't say much about it as they usually keep to themselves and I don't go over that way a lot. I don't even know how many of them there are, though they seem nice enough.

Then there's my den. The entrance is along the side of a small cliff, and my home is a decently sized cave that sits just below ground level. There are some pelts on the floor but not much else as I mostly go there to sleep. There's a small meadow outside my den, and when fireflies appear in the inner world some nights, a few will crawl inside my den. They don't bother me and I don't bother them, but I do think their lights are rather pretty.

Second last is the fairy door, which is likely the oldest part of the headspace and has a function different to anything we've seen in other system's headspaces. It was inspired by the small children's fairy door toy(?), however our fairy door is the size of a normal door and sits on the side of a tree trunk. Ours also opens, so there's that too. There's nothing inside as we don't have a fronting room - when we're fronting, we're just... in the body. And when we're not, we're in headspace. We don't often have use of it as forces unknown usually dictate who fronts, however it's very useful to have a visual when someone is actively trying to get in or out of front. The fairy door is on a small island, which you can cross by using the stepping stones.

The last area is the campfire, which is the group meeting place. The paths connecting all our homes also connect to the campfire, and we go there for meetings but also just for fun. We eat marshmallows, some folks fish and when it gets cold, we light the campfire (contrary to popular belief, the marshmallow-eating is not dependent on the lighting of the campfire).

That's about it. Parker has since left the building (brain) while I wrote my part, so I'm not sure how he wanted to end this post. I suppose I hope this is interesting to some of you? Feel free to ask any questions, we'd be more than happy to answer.

[find-roronoa-zoro]

Roronoa Zoro X CisFem Reader

31

"Dump me?" Zoro stood in the doorway.

The look on his face sent your gut straight through the floor.

"No, Tiger... You didn't come in at the right part of the conversation." your mouth was suddenly a desert.

"I'm not sure there was a right part of the conversation F/N." he crossed his arms, "Why is our relationship such a hot topic in the Newgate house?"

"We're just gonna..." Sabo trailed off as he scooted passed you dragging Marco with him.

"L-lets go to the den," you suggested, "I can explain."

He followed you to the next room, arms still crossed, a stern expression you'd never been the cause of plastered on his face.

"I was just nagging my brother's about the fact that they have no gray hair." you self-consciously ran your fingers over the braid draped over your left shoulder, "Marco, well, you know how he is..."

"I thought we were passed the age gap." he interrupted.

"W-we are.. I am - " you stammered surprised by his demeanor. 

That tone was new too.

It made you uneasy.

"How many times do I have to say it doesn't bother me? Who cares what other people say?" he remained still and guarded.

Your heart had begun to race - you inhaled deeply to try and catch your nervous breath.

"I - I know."

"I don't think you do know. Why can't you just take my word?" he scoffed, "I'm not a child, F/N."

"What?" you looked up at him with wide eyes, "I know that..."

"Then don't treat me like one!" his raised voice made you shrink, "You're supposed to tell me how you feel so I can help. How are we partners if you keep it to yourself?"

"Ok, that's fair." you raised your hands, "I know insecurities are bothersome."

"Who cares? I'm here to get you passed them, right?"

Oh man, you didn't deserve him at this moment.

The entire time you were upset about people staring and their judgment, Zoro was there too. He'd been there to prove them wrong while you let it eat you up.

He'd heard his fair share of sugar mama jokes and endured Marco's left handed remarks, but none of that mattered because at the end of the day you were there. You knew he worked hard for what he had and he didn't feel the need to prove it to anyone else. So, why were you so hung up on this?

"I'm sorry," you murmured stepping closer to him.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his messy hair, "I don't know what to do."

"What do you mean by that?" tears were already stinging the edges of your eyes.

"If this is going to continue to be an issue, I don't want to get any deeper than I already am." his chest felt like it was caving in.

It was completely silent for what felt like an eternity.

"Tiger -" your voice was barely a whisper.

"I... I think we need a break." his ears were ringing.

"No... No, please." it felt like your heart had just vanished while you struggled to speak through your tears.

He kissed your forehead and briskly stepped out of the room. He was completely unprepared for this conversation and to see you fall apart. It felt like his insides had just been sucked into a void.

What the fuck did he just do?

Sabo watched Zoro practically sprint out of the house. He turned down the hall hearing you sputter.

"What just happened?" the blonde asked entering the den to find you crying.

"Marco..." you whimpered covering your face, "please?"

The younger blonde turned swiftly into the hallway finally processing what was happening.

"Marco!" he shouted up the stairs on his way through the house, "F/N needs you in the den, now!"

Sabo didn't wait for a response as he continued outside. The screen door slammed against the door jamb while he halted seeing Zoro's truck already headed down the street.

"What the hell was that?" Ace questioned rounding the side of the house from the garage, "He was cursing and punched a dent into the side of his truck."

Sabo's green eyes swayed to his brother as he sighed, "I think he just broke up with F/N."

"Hey," Marco murmured calmly holding you on the sofa in the den, "try to take a breath. You'll pass out at this rate - yoi."

You leaned into his side and focused on taking a full breath through your sobs. Marco rubbed comforting circles over your back and shushed you gently. He hadn't seen you like this in a long time. The last six months were full of heartbreak, he hated that you had to work so hard to hold on to what good moments you were given. He also realized his roll in what had just taken place.

"I'm sorry, yoi."

You shook your head and looked up at him, "It's my fault. I-I was too in my head about it."

"I made it harder though," he sighed, "I just didn't want him to be in it for the wrong reasons, yoi."

This proved in the most unfortunate way that he wasn't.

Harping on the age difference provided unnecessary strain. Marco didn't want that for you.

"Is everything ok?" Sabo's voice drew your attention to the doorway where he stood with Ace holding a tray, "Here, we thought you might need these."

The boys crossed the room handing you a warm damp cloth to soothe your puffy eyes. There was also headache medicine and water. They knew you well, crying always made your head hurt.

"It's not ok," you sat up to accept what they'd brought, "but I'll figure it out."

"Why would he do that?" Sabo dropped down next to you while Ace took a seat on the floor.

"Yeah, you can't just dump someone because of one fight." your freckled brother added.

"It wasn't a fight really," you sniffled pressing the warm cloth to your eyes, "it was a major issue that I should have worked out but didn't."

Sabo sighed disappointed remembering your conversation back in December about dating younger than you. Your concern was that he wouldn't be able to handle it, and here you were not handling it.

"Should we talk to him?" Ace asked, "I mean he'll be around, he's Luffy's best friend."

"Nope, please just leave it. I don't know what to do, but I don't want any drama." you huffed having finally collected yourself as best you could.

Your head was fuzzy and throbbing and you couldn't really keep a realistic grasp on what was going on. The absolute love of your life just stormed out because you were being a child. Not your greatest moment, but you had to redeem yourself and fix it.

How?

________________

"Oh man, you're an idiot." the redhead chuckled flipping his shot glass over and waving the bar tender back over, "keep 'em coming."

The greenette next to him huffed and leaned on the bar resting his head in his palm.

"Shut up."

The bar tender placed two more shots down in front of them.

"Hey, it's alright. I mean I was stupid and dumped her too - a couple of times." Shanks held up the glass.

"I'm not like you." Zoro muttered ignoring the redhead's gesture and downing his bourbon.

Shanks scoffed, "Right, well doctor heart stealer will probably swoop back in - he's been waiting." he slapped a hand across Zoro's back annoyingly hard, " Ya had a good run kiddo."

"I gotta get out of here." the greenette stood to leave ignoring Shanks.

[legacyshenanigans]

Rowan 🐺

Aside from the odd lone wolf who splits from their pack to create new packs, Wolf packs rarely separate. Once they're in a strong unit, they tend to stay together, and can stay as this family pack for decades.

Since joining with The Gaunts and MC, Rowan sees them as his pack mates.

Rowan will go off and do things alone, but as a general rule, he doesn't like to stay away from them for too long, and it's rare for there to be times where he won't be close by to them.

Not knowing where they are causes Rowan discomfort and anxiety, and EVERY Instinct inside him tells him to go and find them if he doesn't know where they are. Even if it's just doing something like going shopping, he needs to be TOLD "I'm just going shopping" otherwise he'll panic if he assumes they're nearby and can't find them because they've gone out.

He doesn't HAVE to go everywhere with any of them, even though that would be his preference. He does understand boundaries and space if people need it, but will still worry about them while they're away or if he is away.

Marvolo knows this, which is why Marvolo will often take Rowan with him to environments where Rowan doesn't exactly "fit in," like fancy parties. Even though Rowan might do something embarrassing, deep down, Marvolo would rather that than have Rowan back at the Den, worrying if folk are ok (but he'd never tell him that) Rowan hates fancy parties, and will complain about going, but the protection of the others and his feeling of responsibility is higher than his annoyed feelings of not wanting to go.

He knows that the majority of the time, they can handle themselves, but with his past childhood trauma, he wouldn't forgive himself if anything happened to any of them, so where they go, he would rather follow.

~

[this-is-a-love-story-isnt-it]

Ok, so as I said in my post about that article where Kurtzman basically said that filler episodes should be avoided in Star Trek, I started talking about Farscape in the tags, but it started getting too long, so I want to make a separate post.

I was thinking about "filler" episodes in Farscape, and as I was looking through Farscape episodes, I realized that a lot of Farscape episodes can be considered "filler". I've recently started calling them "stand alone" eps, though. It sounds more accurate. I noticed that most of the time in Farscape, the major plot advances are in the multiple-episode arcs a couple times per season. Like, most of season 1 was what you would call standalone eps. Did it further the plot of "the peacekeepers are after us and John has wormhole knowledge that Scorpius will do anything to get?" mostly no. We see it in Nerve/Hidden Memory, and then at the end of the season in Family Ties. Then in Mind the baby (2x01) they're still inside of the main story arc of dealing with the peacekeepers who are after them and putting Talyn in danger also. Episode 5 is important for a lot of backstory (but also character driven). And then we don't get into any more major movement of the plot until the Look At the Princess trilogy (s2 eps 11-13).

And then the next time the plot gets moved forward is in the Liars, Guns, and Money trilogy (s2 eps 19-21), and then in Die Me, Dichotomy and Season of Death (s2 ep 22 and s3 ep 1).

And then Self-Inflicted Wounds parts 1 and 2 (s3 eps 3-4). Then ep 6 (Eat Me) is critical to the storyline of the rest of the season.

Actually, I'm looking at the season 3 eps, and season 3 is a pretty equal balance between plot advancement and character/relationship development. But especially with the multi-part episodes like the Infinite Possibilities 2-parter, and the Into the Lion's Den 2-parter there's plot advancement.

The season 4 eps 2-3 are major plot episodes. And then no more plot-heavy eps until Unrealized Reality, Kansas, and Terra Firma (eps 11-13). and I guess the rest of the season is actually pretty plot heavy except for ep 14. It doesn't sacrifice the character interaction and development, but the plot is moved forward or is key to the overall arc for the rest of the series after that.

So really, only less than a 3rd of Farscape episodes further the overall story along. Most other episodes are important for character development and world building. Some of them are true stand alones in that there isn't really a lot of character development, either, just kind of like a fun ep (Like Through the Looking Glass or John Quixote).

So idk, it's kind of like there are 3 types of episodes in a lot of shows. I'm thinking of Farscape, Firefly, Fringe, and Star Trek here (like TOS, TNG, VOY, DS9). There are plot heavy episodes that contribute to the overall plot or main story arc, episodes that develop characters either in relation to the plot or just backstories, and then eps that nothing really happens except a fun adventure. With Firefly I actually don't really know if they developed a min storyline yet, except for the whole thing with River. I guess that was supposed to be the main arc? But most episodes were kind of standalone eps. Like adventure of the week kinds of things which allowed for character development and character interactions/relationship development. Fringe had a bunch of "monster of the week" episodes. Some of them gave character backstories or expanded what we know about the characters, but didn't really push the arc forward (or at least you didn't realize it at the time, but like 10 episodes later it turned out to be something significant lol).

But shows like Gilmore Girls... I guess shows like that are character driven most of the time. Most of the story arcs had to do with relationships. And there were arcs like Lorelai and Sookie opening their own inn, and there were a couple episodes that almost fully revolved around that. But it doesn't really have one main storyline or arc. Even sitcoms are like this. the story arcs are usually relationship related and each ep is kind of stand alone.

I'm thinking this main storyline and filler episode thing is unique to scifi shows, actually??? Specifically the "old" ones before they started making shows that only have 6-13 episode seasons.

New Star Trek series like Picard and Discovery are 98% plot and 2% character or relationship stuff. Same with a show I watched recently called Emergence. Character relationships were developed, but every episode contributed to the one storyline. Also currently watching Containment and it's the same way. Both of those shows had 13 episodes.

[sotcwcrp]

SECRETS OF THE CLANS, JANUARY OPENING!

In celebration of our January 14th - January 28th opening, we're going to be highlighting each of the clans, to give you a better idea of what they're like / how different they are from the books!

Last and certainly nor least, our clan is...

RiverClan

ART CREDITS: carnationcarnivore on discord!

A chorus of joint laughter rings in your ears, betrayed by paws who couldn’t grip on the slippery stones, a flushed face erupts from the burbling water - though an embarrassed snicker escapes your throat, you immediately shake out that drenched pelt and relish in the playful shrieks of those same Clanmates who were giggling earlier. Almost spurred on by the whimsical river, having hunting patrols turn into splash fights was a common occurrence here.

To be your eyes into RiverClan Territory, Granitewish a Riverclan waterweaver is here to interview some of her clanmates! Take it away Granitewish!

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

"Tell me a bit about RiverClan territory!"

 "RiverClan territory? It's awesome, filled to the brim with unique fish, beautiful flowers, and...water! So many streams, ponds, pools, and rivers. I love to just forget everything and swim in the calm waters. Even though we don't have many trees, we can still cool off in greenleaf! It's refreshing to get soaked after a hot, sunny day." — Cloudfish

Just as the river flows through the veins of every Riverclan cat, the waters that give the clan its name are the lifeblood of the land it calls home. Follow along the riverbend and you'll be greeted by a plethora of breathtaking sights; vibrant flowers warming their faces in the sun, shimmering waterfalls that glow in the moon's light. You could take a trip to the hot springs to warm your aching muscles and enjoy some tea with your clanmates, or maybe you'd prefer a relaxing swim in the harmonic creek? Whatever you decide, Riverclan has enough to offer to keep anyone busy the whole day through; from the bustle of fish-filled waters to the brush of luscious foliage against fur, its territory is a bright space alight with life. Some even say the land itself is alive, and if you keep quiet enough, you can hear its gentle breath in the trickle of the river.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

“What's your favourite spot in RiverClan territory? Could you tell me a bit about why?”

"Hmmm... My favowite spot in the tewritory? Well, I think it has to be the healer's den... It's the first place I saw when I arrived in WiverClan! I still go there often to see Cypwesswatcher!" — Goldfishpaw

Duck through an archway of sedge, and you'll be greeted by the den in which Riverclan's Healers do their work. An abandoned burrow at the base of an ancient tree, it isn't remarkable upon first glance. But, stick your head inside and you'll be greeted by rows upon rows of carefully cultivated herbs hanging from the walls, with rows of nests resting beneath - that is, if Cypresswatcher's piercing gaze doesn't catch your eye first. Riverclan's Healers have dedicated their lives to the health of their clanmates, and it isn't a position they take lightly; so, if you ever find yourself injured or sick, then be sure to pay them a visit! (And yes, this includes that scrape you've been ignoring...)

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

“What's a favourite memory you have that's taken place on RiverClan territory?”

“My absolute favorite?? Aw that’s hard I love so many memories.. uhmm… ok ok I got one! My favorite memory is when Ebonhaze and I went to the siren’s cove together, and we left our paw prints in some of the mud. We’ve been doing it since we were apprentices and it’s like a little visual reminder in the world of our lov- I mean our friendship! Ahem- uh next question please." — Kiwiheart

The siren's cove is a perfect spot for Riverclan's romantic melodies, in a secluded cave surrounded by the river, echoes against the walls give promise to any yearning warrior who wants to perfect their courtship harmony. Both romantic and platonic love are deeply valued in the hearts of Riverclan cats, and a large variety of customs are enough proof to back this! Family dens, woven together with moss, reeds and brambles host a variety of loving relationships, from a couple and their kits, to platonic soulmates, their shared den is decorated to celebrate their interests and mutual affections. Specific courtship rituals, similar to that of the songs in sirens cove-- go into flamboyant and earnest declarations of romantic confessions, a bouquet of flowers to be woven into one's nest to announce the start of a relationship followed by the finding of a smooth rock from the river to commit to an engagement, there's no limit to how passionate a Riverclan warrior can be.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

“What's one thing you'd like others to know about RiverClan's culture?”

“I think Riverclan places a lot of importance on its history, and sharing that through songs. Of course, not everyone can sing like a nightingale, but no one really minds that. At least I don't.” — Flopfeather

Riverclan is rich and deeply felt, taking artistic leaps into the depths of their culture. Song is not only for the romantic heart, but a tied connection to the very start of the clan. Tunes and lyrics are woven together to memorialize their history, passed down from generation to generation. Their admiration for the finer things continues to the bright blossoms across their territory, flowers of all types have meaning for more than den decoration and visual appreciation-- but flower language is often a hobby across waterweavers and shorekeepers a like, tied into their marriages, courting and formal attires. Territorial appreciation is not only carried to the rivers, but in the stars that reflect above. Riverclan has their own array of constellations, telling the story of the mighty Riverstar and even controversially-- starcrossed forbidden lovers.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

“What's your opinion on your council?”

"Camelliastar is a really good leader, you can tell just how much he loves his Clan. Sunrise is a really fun cat to be around. And I spend so much time hanging out with the healers. One of them, Larchbounce, is even like a mother to me." — Ebonypaw Riverclans council over the last couple moons have seen much change and development from where it once was, but do not let that fool you- they are just as devout and just as willing to serve in any way that they can! Every day they work tirelessly to aid their clan and do what they must to keep riverclan going each and every day. That said at the head of the helm lies Riverclans own Camelliastar, taking leadership after Mudstar's (now Mudstorm's) retirement, he leads the clan in a different angle than most. Followed by his deputy, Sunrise, a boisterous and bashful cat. He often can be found jesting around camp and hyping up his clanmates with his bellowing height and voice. That said, riverclan follows their rule happily, happy with them in charge. That said, the healer team is also one of the most notable parts of Riverclans ranks. After all! Like all the healer teams, Riverclans are just as devoted to their work and helping their clan, and through and through have an utmost duty to their work. Though! They aren’t sticklers either! More rather than not, you can find them doing what any Riverclan cat might, sunbathing, hunting, and even weaving and other crafts! Making them cats, had you not known they were healers? You might have mistaken them for just another part of riverclans eclectic ranks!

[jonesaf]

001. edderkop

Thijs is about halfway through his sketching when he hears a yelp from inside the tent. He starts, cursing under his breath as he almost ruins the whole thing with his pencil, and looks up from his work, eyeing the familiar silhouette inside with the distinct look of a man trying to decide whether it’s worth it to get up. Thijs knows his husband well --- it had been a more startled sound than anything, and the silhouette inside isn’t hunched over in any kind of pain, nothing to make him think there’s any danger --- and for a moment, he entertains the idea of ignoring it. He hasn’t gotten the chance to draw or paint in a long time, and it’s easily one of the things he’d been looking forward to the most when they’d planned their first anniversary trip out here. More importantly, he likes how this sketch is turning out, which is more than can be said of any of the pathetic doodles he’d managed lately.

“Thijs!” Comes the whine from the tent, drawn out for dramatic effect, and Thijs sighs, and sets down his things. He’ll feel guilty now if he doesn’t. The scenery will still be there later.

Mathias, for all the good that it does with his large frame, has tucked himself into the corner of the tent, staring wide-eyed at their shared air mattress in the opposite corner like something bad will happen if he looks away, and when Thijs pokes his head in, he immediately points to that same corner. His hand is as steady as the rest of him, which tells the Dutchman that he’s not actually that afraid of whatever it is that’s startled him, but his voice still comes out in a theatrical stage whisper when he says, “there’s a spider,” like he might upset the thing otherwise.

Utterly ridiculous.

There is, however, a spider inside the tent. It’s tucked into the corner near the top of the air mattress, darkly colored and hard to spot even with the light from the electric lantern, though it’s a decent size. It looks like some kind of web-spinner, it’d probably snuck in when they’d had the flap open earlier in the day, and it doesn’t acknowledge their presence in the slightest. Thijs looks back at Mathias with a raised eyebrow.

“You called me in here for a spider?”

“It’s huge!” Mathias whines back at him, abandoning the stage whisper.

“You’re much bigger.”

“But it’s creepy!”

“It’s just doing its job, Mads.”

“But it’s inside.”

“So put it outside.”

“I’m not touching it! You do something, you’re the one who likes them.”

Thijs huffs out a breath that might be a laugh or a sigh, and ducks his head back out of the tent. He ignores Mathias’s protests --- “wait, Thijs, don’t leave me with it! Where are you going?!” --- in favor of trying to find a stick big enough for his purposes in the deepening twilight. He finds one soon enough, surrounded by trees as they are, and heads back to the tent before his husband can start worrying. Mathias looks more than a little relieved, eyeing the stick quizzically. ��Hey, I stayed for ya in case it moved but it’s still there, what’s that for? Is this what you abandoned me for?”

“I didn’t abandon you,” Thijs says gently --- well, gently for him; anyone else would call it gruff, maybe, but Mathias knows better, just as much as Thijs knows that Mathias is joking --- crawling further inside this time until he can reach the tiny creature with the stick. It takes a few tries, and he can hear Mathias just about have a heart attack beside him when it nearly falls onto the pillows once, but as soon as the spider is perched on the end of the stick, Thijs carefully pulls out and deposits the thing on a nearby tree.

“Better?”

Mathias, who by then had crawled out from the tent to watch him curiously, smiles at him in relief. “Dank je, schat.”

“You could have done that yourself, y’know.”

“I woulda just smushed it, an’ I know you don’t like it when I do that.”

It’s a considerate gesture, in its own way. Thijs pats Mathias on the head for it, which earns him a laugh, and Thijs’s lips curl up in one of his small, fond smiles. “Let’s go back inside, I want to finish my sketch.”

“Ooh! Can I watch?”

“Sure.”

[gillianthecat]

The Devil Judge: Episode 16

I just finished The Devil Judge and something about this show compelled me to take copious notes - it had emotional intensity and layers of mystery. These are long and rambling, so they're likely not of interest to anyone else, but since I spent all that time writing it I decided, why not post it. Perhaps someone will find it interesting.

Below are my moment-to-moment reactions, predictions and analysis as I watched episode 16.

eps 1&2  ep3  ep4  ep5  ep6  ep7  ep8  ep9   ep10  ep11  ep12  ep13  ep14  ep15  ep16

I wrote about my initial impressions, up to episode 5, here and here.

This is cleaned up only slightly. I followed the spelling given in the Viki subtitles. I mostly don't explain what I'm reacting to, so this will probably only make sense if you've seen the episode recently. Occasionally I give timestamps. 

ok.  here we go. deep breaths

oh god my heart. these two. their faces.

oh god. is one of them going to die? "even if it costs me my life." do they have to bury the gays even when they won't admit they're gay? It is still hard for me to imagine what a happy ending could even look like here, even if they were allowed to be in love.

Ga-On now has no power, he has to beg a low level police officer to intervene, just like an ordinary citizen.

Is he going to end up in jail too? or maybe he's trying to get himself arrested so he can bust Yo-Han out from the inside?

starting to feel like a rat trapped in a maze.  what doesn't Seon-Ah control at this point? I hope she doesn't get flattened out into just a conspiracy mastermind at this point.  

I'm confused about the timeline here.  I thought Prof. Min had been a supreme court justice for a while now? and it seems he'd known Seon-Ah for many years.  How long ago did Ga-On become a judge?  Based on my research I'm guessing any time from age 24 on, and now he's 30, so it's been 5 or 6 years?

but now it's looking like she only tried to rope Prof Min into her plot when Yo-Han began planning the public trials.  Which is just within the past year or maybe two?

(8:15)  either way, it's looking like Prof. Min truly is a moral person who got tricked by Seon-Ah because he wanted to stop the televised trials, which seemed dangerous to him (same, dude).  My first reaction is that he's pretty naive, but he doesn't see the same Seon-Ah that we get to, so perhaps she's just that good at fooling people.  

They're having it both ways: he was conspiring with the enemy AND he's a moral center in this universe.  Surprisingly that actually works for me.

"Whatever it takes"  a theme of this show - everyone has made this promise and then asked if it was worth it

I'm predicting she's misjudging him here. i still believe he's one of the few not motivated by personal ambition. he has no interest in being chief justice, he's interested in right and wrong

"Someone had to become a monster to stop Kang Yo-Han" With Prof. Min's face sideways reflected in the table!  I think this is the first time they use the reflection framing for him? now that we know he's also participating in the games of power.

Ga-On.  You're just careening around this world like a pinball now.  You lost Su-Hyeon, then you thought Yo-Han had betrayed you, then as soon as you found out he hadn't, he was sent to jail and you discovered your mentor, your moral center had betrayed you instead.  I feel like you must not even know which way is up anymore.  

he's a reactive character - that's his role in this narrative, but they make it work so he doesn't feel passive or stupid or without agency

oh god, the bandage on the hand.  the framing continues to emphasize the intensity of Y & G's connection.  

(14:05) Seon-Ah's in pink again as she enters the den of power.  Pink because she's feeling safe and in control? and the first time we've seen her in pants and not a short skirt? I feel like she's dressing more for herself now because she feels secure enough in her power.  

Cigars again.  Last time we saw a cigar someone died. a servile president Heo.  He's in the fall part of his rise and fall.  This actor is great - the role could easily feel like a caricature, but he somehow manages to make him seem like a plausible human being.

Our Two Representative Businessmen are acting more and more like cackling hyenas.  hmm, interesting theory that Seon-Ah has here.

oh yeah, i keep forgetting about this Dream Village plot.  I think it's because it's never really felt like it's the reason why Yo-Han is battling these guys?  the show is either still keeping his motivations mysterious, or is just confused about them.

Ah, the wives! I was just thinking we hadn't seen them in a while.  I hope they're going to be doing their own plotting.  

oh god, this is creepy. This is getting very dystopian.

Ga-On's note to Elijah.  It's so sweet that he wants to comfort and reassure her.  and yet it's just reminding me I'm pissed that this plot twist doesn't make sense.  and is a confusing explanation of Yo-Han's behavior

brave boy, preparing to go into the dragon's cave to rescue his prince. He's lost all his protectors and now he has to become the schemer and protector.

I keep thinking about Yo-Han's motivation.  They haven't yet sufficiently connected the dots between 'wants to protect Elijah from the guilt of killing her parents' and 'devotes his whole life to a complicated plot to take down the shadow government, committing many immoral acts along the way.' Like, he was always an outsider, and an adrenaline junkie, and walked the line of becoming the monster that everyone thought he was. He was always an ends justifies the means person. I guess I'm struggling because the big church fire reveal was framed as giving us the key insight into Yo-Han's personality and motivations.  but it was just a small detail, really.  most of what explains his behavior either we already knew or they haven't told us yet. 

Is he devoted solely to the few people he loves, and let the world burn?  He's literally said this before. and a lot of his actions support it.  but his complex plotting seems only to make sense if he cares about humanity at large, or about an abstract idea of justice.  If the foundation isn't responsible for the fire, than revenge can't be the reason he's going after them.  and i believe that he's not interested in personal power for his own sake, he's not like Seon-Ah.  or in money or fame like the Two Representative Businessmen and Prez. Heo. The only other explanation he's stated (although it's always been ambiguous if we should trust this) is that he cares about humanity and justice. which is literally the opposite of "let the world burn" 

So. Is there going to be another reveal that the foundation was somehow to blame for the fire?  Or does Yo-Han blame them because the only reason they were at the church was because they tricked Isaac into a donation?  It's a tenuous connection to motivate a 10 year revenge plot, but I could believe it fit's Yo-Han's character.  He apparently killed that firefighter just for stealing a watch off Isaac's dead body.  But the problem is he hasn't said this, and he's explained a lot of reasoning by now.  and it's so slight a connection it needs to be overtly explained for me to buy that's the reason.

maybe it's a structural issue?  I think they're trying to tell two different stories - an intimate domestic story and a sprawling political story, and Yo-Han is the connection point between the two.  but the two stories have different requirements for the character's motivations, and the writers haven't fully integrated those contradictory demands.  I think it's theoretically possible to make it work, but very challenging

But, patience. I'm sure they'll tell us more, and there's a chance it will even make all these contradictions make sense.

life in prison.  People from Yo-Han's past are trying to come back and haunt�� him now that he isn't protected. I'm not worried though.  even if he dies it won't be at the hand of these bit players.

(24:30) ok. adventure heist time.  Ga-On has smuggled himself into the medical center in a box.  what horrors await us?

i don't' know if it's intentional, but all this plastic sheeting is evoking the false mansion that Seon-Ah built for the kidnapping

well, this is disturbing.  I'm guessing it's all vibes, and there's no logical medical/research explanation for what we see, but the vibes are effective.

perfect timing on the espionage Ga-On! almost like you were the protagonist of a movie

WOW this is an interesting choice in the middle of a real life pandemic where people aren't trusting vaccines.  (apparently vaccine conspirecy theoreies are not a major problem in South Korea, but still)  

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/16/9914/pdf?version=1660218026  (opens a PDF)

Ga-On put your cap back on! These people know what you look like! I can't see how he's filming, but presumably he is.

(min 29) somehow this cartoonishly evil conversation works.  It seems like it should feel over the top, but i guess i believe in the evil of billionaires, and their honesty amongst themselves.

laughter, music and slowmo, echoing that first dinner party he attended with these hyenas

they're definitely making it seem like the Two Representative Businessmen are holding the cards here.

gasp! I jumped.  but yay allies! Ga-On, I hope you're filming everything.

Seon-Ah looks genuinely shocked and appalled.  But what did she think was happening at the dream village? It's always tricky in stories, to depict the conscience of an ambitious schemer who's done plenty of evil herself.  How do you make it feel real that there are lines she won't cross?

 Oh no, the girl from the orphanage is here. Her grief over this one individual feels realistic.  She sees herself in this girl.  And she's already been seen to have emotional connections to individual people (Jae Hui and Yo-Han)

ah, so Min Jeong Ho accepted the Chief Justice position. What is he thinking? Has he been corrupted or does he still think he's doing good with this?  "doing good" was not how Seon-Ah sold it to him, though

(37:49) I don't believe it though.  Besides the fact this is not the kind of story they're telling, that didn't even show him die. But, what did happen then?

this music, their music, playing over Ga-On's face.  It still makes me sad even though I'm pretty sure he's not dead. and we see Ga-On in reflection, hmm.  Does that mean he's behind this fake-out, or just that there is scheming afoot in general?

Seon-Ah's reaction. her face. the wine. she did love him, in whatever form of love/obsession that was. and the way they're cutting between Ga-On and Seon-Ah's reactions. hmm. 

(also that was the most colorful outfit we've seen on her, or anyone, yet) 

hyenas in their yellowing den. 

i'm wondering - As these rich men take more and more power back, their meeting places get smaller, less stylized and more "realistic" if that's the word.  those early shots from above of that stylized table in those stylized grey rooms.  whereas this feels like the kind of ugly expensive old fashioned rooms where the backroom deals really happen.  and the lighting gives everything the same yellowish tint that most of the shots from the blue house had.  It's the lighting for people who don't care how they look because they don't need to impress.  

I don't know how to interpret this yet, because I still can't predict who is going to "win" in the end. although I guess my gut is saying it's going to be the Two Representative Businessmen, cause i can't see a way out, storywise.

(40:40)  What is Min Yong Sik doing here?  If i'm remembering correctly, this is the first time that one of our Two Representative Businessmen has come up with a plan independently (on screen, i'm sure they have lots of plotting happening that they don't show us).  This feels significant, like they're no longer background characters.

um, this shot of the back of her head in her desk chair while she's holding a cigar is making me nervous.  That is way too similar to the final frames of Minister Cha. like, these are very explicit parallels. 

unformed gender thoughts on women and cigars, and the hyena trio's misogyny. which also didn't really get shown until about halfway through the series.

all four of them look confident that they have the upper hand.  Who is right?

Seon-Ah even orders her assistant to get her a gun.  Is this going to be a re-writing of Cha's story, or an echo?

I'm excited to see what her plan is! I assume she's not going to straight up shoot the president on live tv.

Oh Jin Ju, the secret weapon in this scheming, one we wouldn't have expected from her silly beginnings.  I love this for her.  and somehow despite the odds, she managed to feel like a real person.

uh oh,  what is Ga-On planning? Why does Oh Jin Ju need to leave?  my immediate thought is: bomb?  and is he acting out of rage and despair because he thinks Yo-Han is dead?  or does he know that he's not, and this is part of a bigger plan.  I can't see how they could be working together, but they have a lot of secret friends that keep emerging when needed.  oh right, he was going to reveal the truth about the medical experiments at dream village.  Is this how? is he bravely soldiering on with his work of exposing evil, despite his grief?

oh wow.  he's been suicidal since Yo-Han got arrested.  This was planned before Yo-Han's (alleged) death.  no wonder he looked so blank faced at the news. but i don't think he's actually going to die.  We have 45 minutes left.  and i don't think it's that kind of story. (she reassures herself)

the plan sort of makes sense from a p.r. standpoint, i guess.

but also, Ga-On.  you've been so broken down.  There's been so much other plotting going on that I sort of forgot about your grief, but your grief is huge.

FUCKK! I was genuinely not expecting that! (47:40) but this is the perfect way to get us out of this predicament. 

also so fucking romantic.  This is not platonic.  there is no need to shove him up against the wall to disarm the bond. Yo-Han's James Bond smile, his hands on Ga-On's chest. the slow mo, the way they look at each other.  the way they can't stop touching each other.  That embrace!! (probably the closest thing we're getting to a kiss)

Also, Yo-Han has shifted the tone to confident and humorous.  it's heist movie vibes.  So I'm starting to feel hopeful we'll get a happy ending for these two after all. it may not be a logical victory, but i'll take it.

Is he bluffing? Who cares? He's hot.

oh, i thought that was the plan they made, they were going to use the fight to smuggle him out somehow.  or even switch places with the dead guy.  but the warden was shocked.

I see that Yo-Han is not fully reformed.  still unbothered by killing this guy. In fact, he looks a little high off of it.  That's less disturbing now that I know it wasn't premeditated.  I'm glad actually that he's staying a bit feral, a little amoral.

and Yo-Han adapted and came up with the same plan as me. (everybody is getting smuggled out in body bags)

The plot is flying at us fast and furious now.  it may not make sense, but it's gonna keep moving.  and I'll place a bet on our boys winning.  I don't know how this tonal shift is going to fit with Seon-Ah's storyline.

This man loves his vengeance.  (52:20)

(53:15) I had a sudden image of the 7 of them trapped inside the court room and killing each other off, gladiator style.  we know (assume) there's at least one gun in the room. it would be a convenient way to get rid of them all, but i don't think it's going to happen. a) it leaves Ga-On and Yo-Han too uninvolved.  and b) i just don't think its that kind of story.  But I would buy one or two of them dying.  the president?  Chairman Park? Chairman Min still has a scheme afoot that i'm expecting to see play out. 

of course.  This is cute. and obvious now that it's happening.  return to our roots - the public trials.

The wives finally get names! (or perhaps the subtitles finally give the names?)

yeah, i think they would react with a little more composure? or at least pull themselves together quickly.  they're used to being in the public eye, to maintaining an image.  i guess they are drunk

but mostly i expect this is how the show is going to resolve the unresolvable - the satisfying theatrics of a trial, the powerful conveniently acting like idiots, and just ignore what happens to the country after this power vacuum opens up.  

although i wonder what's going to happen with Seon-Ah's Chekhov's gun. I'm betting someone will die.  If forced to guess, I would say her, even with this tonal shift.

(58:24)  this moment though.  this moment with Ga-On and prof. Min. it works, it's poignant, i can feel the history and the heartbreak.

but i guess we've gone to a black and white thinking type of world.  Prof. Min needs to stay the bad guy, so that Yo-Han can be the good guy and Ga-On's choice is justified.  The frustrating thing is that it still makes sense for Ga-On to choose Yo-Han even if both are morally grey. but that doesn't wrap things neatly in a bow.  It could be that what we're seeing here is just Ga-On making that choice, but it feels like this is also the show's point of view.

Yo-Han just really wants to get the public to collectively murder somebody.  

I feel like he's not actaully going to set off the bomb, the tone is too cheerful for that.  but who knows at this point.  

i was right about the 'trapped in a death room' vibes.

At least this time we're not pretending he's a legit judge.  but we've gone back to a conveniently credulous public that will do whatever is necessary to move the plot along.

but Seon-Ah's face. this whole time

 I should stop trying to find logic in places where I know it doesn't exist, but it seems like people can vote as many times as they want?  How is that democracy?  (shushshush, we're here for the vibes. for Yo-Han looking like a badass.  stop thinking)

He's going to the courtroom?  

Min Yong Sik is muttering to himself. OH! he was scheming with Yo-Han since that meeting where he suddenly became an individual?  That's why he suggested the celebration here?  I wonder what he thought the plan was?

But why do any of them ever agree to do anything with each other?  it always seems to end in betrayal. 

Drama!  but he's not suicidal.  The tone of this doesn't match that at all.

Ga-On is freaking out though, understandably.  

oh, it was a threat against chairman Min, not a promise.  that makes more sense.

i love a long-legged Yo-Han leaning against his bedframe.

I assume this part is all filmed and broadcast as well?

ooooh.  and they're connecting it back to the church fire as well.  unfortunately it's just a reminder of how flimsy that plotline turned out to be.

It's still powerful imagery though.  the lights are going on one by one. the rachmaninoff over the slow mo fighting and hair pulling that echoes the chaos in the classroom flashback.  the switch to that tender violin music and then the footage from the church fire. Yo-Han's face as he stands there unmoving. his face! his "hyung"

(1:09:02) and this is their final faceoff.  black vs. white.  waiting unmoving on opposite sides of the room as the power brokers fight like desperate children, not even noticing Seon-Ah. 

about 20 minutes remaining. 

and THAT was the correct use of Chekhov's gun.  perfect timing

Yo-Han's little smile.  I think he does love her, a little, in a way. he knows they are kindred spirits.

this faceoff. "Is it the two of us, in the end?" "Come with me, Seon-Ah."  

I think this ending is working for me after all.  bringing us tightly back to our main relationships. 

"Come with me, Seon-Ah." and that slight smile. oh, I'm getting chills.  maybe i was wrong, maybe he has to die for Ga-On to be free? I don't know!! This is getting intense again. their faces.  her slight smile. the tears in both their eyes.  they see themselves in each other. wow.  both completely ignoring the people around them begging. eyes fixed on each other

and it's not a performance of sexuality.  all their previous interactions had this layer of pretend sexual seduction. but this is just them, stripped bare at the end, seeing themselves in each other's eyes.

exhale. i'm both shocked and yet was also expecting that.  She was given too many exact parallels to Minister Cha. But why did she make that decision?

(i'm getting concerned that all three of our major women have died (and all by gun))

the last lines of the song, right before she shot herself, were"I cannot stop it anymore, it swallows me whole. save me from myself"  was that what she was doing, sacrificing herself to save Yo-Han?  she jumped out the window before for him (so far as they've explained)  "damm it, this is bullshit" she said before she put the gun to her head.  

oh god, the broken plate. and his kindness. heart wrenching

more thoughts on her "you know, i always loved you, young master" later

this overhead shot. her white dress (she wears white to murder) Yo-Han's face.  his sigh.

and as soon as the Yo-Han &  Seon-Ah relationship is resolved, Ga-On comes rushing through the door. less than 20 minutes to resolve everything.

I don't know whether to believe him.  it really depends on which story they're trying to tell.  A[repentant?] Yo-Han, ready to die for justice and because he thinks he's done with his work, feels compellingly intense.  and it gives Ga-On the chance to save him.  or to lose him.  and even with Elijah his love has been the sacrificial kind, not the stay with her kind.

but it just doens't feel like who he is.  he's not suicidal. and he would not let Ga-On stay there to die too.  that just feels absolutely out of character for any version of him.  

Once again I wonder, is this being broadcast to the nation?

"I will go with you." "You will be the hero.  For the devil, I will be enough."  wow what lines.  I guess he's genuine? and they're going for emotional intensity over plot and character logic?  i'll buy in, these guys do intensity so well.

holy fuck

and the intensity delivered.  I'm actually crying right now.  I wanted to see them together. elijah. my babies. Even though two minutes ago I was complaining that it makes no sense, it's still emotionally devastating.  my god. Ga-On.  What are you going to do? you've lost absolutely everyone.  I want to hope that it was a trick, we didn't see him die, just the ceiling falling down.  but... ah, who even knows at this point

the full circle symbolism of him destroying this courtroom at the end.  

Ga-On sitting on the curb.  Oh Jin Ju's kindness.  him wandering that house alone.  I keep crying.

I want to have hope for a twist, but I'm scared.  

remembering the times when one of them was shirtless. their history. (yeah this ain't a platonic relationship)

[long exhale] oh. this memory of the cards.  and Elijah wasn't there.  I'm starting to have hope.  Hope is a dangerous thing. oh fuck.

(1:21:55) holy fuck, yes!!! YES!! this blueprint. I think I'm allowed to hope now.  Are my dreams coming true?  Is this happy little family going to hide from the evil world together?  

they really just wanted to fit all the endings in there.

ok, whew. i didn't really think elijah would have committed suicide. but for a second there I was kinda worried.

What is this "just the two of us" nonsense, Yo-Han? you're not going to bring your boyfriend?  you left him hints.

ok, we're wrapping everybody up.  The housekeeper.  Judge Oh..

send Ga-On to Switzerland at the last second, show.  or have Yo-Han pop up somewhere unexpected to surprise Ga-On.  please don't let me down. you don't have to make them gay.  just let them be together.  Ga-On is alone now, you've gotten rid of everyone else in his life, you can't leave him without his new family.  please don't let me down.  we've made it this far.

structurally though, i think it's likely.  We have at least five minutes left and we're saying farewell to the supporting characters.  and i really don't think they'll leave him alone, this is turning into a happy ending type ending.  and an alone Ga-On is a melancholy ending.

oh, i guess they've gotta try and wrap up the political stuff too.  a sober meeting in a sober room (one we've never seen before) and a sobor new group of people (whom we've never seen before) we'll pretend that starting over with all new politicians will make things ok so our heroes are free to leave the stage.

(1:29:58) hmm, maybe I read that one slightly wrong.  It looks like there will be infighting and power games among this new group.  we do get an inspiring hero speech from Ga-On about justice and responsibility. and a brief defense of Yo-Han

I guess another possible ending is he becomes the hero he was set up to be from the beginning, and stays to work tirelessly to reform the judicial system.  But even then I think we'll see a text message or something from Yo-Han in the final seconds.

I really want him to go to Switzerland though.

ok, Ga-On yet again asking the questions that are on my mind. "It's the same, nothing has changed. What should I do now, to help create a world that doesn't need Yo-Han?"

wait. Is this it?! Is this how they're making my dreams come true?! not to mention Ga-On's dreams! 

oh fuck yeah! who cares if it makes any sense, this is amazing!  that salute at the top of the balcony!  they're having Ga-On run to his love!! 

oh my god.  their faces. the tears in their eyes. the love the connection.  it maybe looked a little like a goodbye, like a one final taking him in before he's gone forever.  But.  i'm going to choose to believe it was taking him in after you  had almost lost him. because Yo-Han's little nod just before he walked away? i'm going to interpret that as a "follow me"

ok. ok

I guess they're going with an open ending.  They had Yo-Han walk away and Ga-On stand there staring after him.  So viewer's choice.  It could be that it was their last farewell.  Ga-On stays and works to reform the government.  

But. they gave us enough for me to believe that Ga-On follows him and they end up together, somewhere, whether it's Korea or Switzerland, whether Ga-On still keeps working on reforms, or he retires and becomes a hermit with his new family.

Look, Yo-Han has already returned from being lost at least three times. He's gonna pop up in Ga-On's life again.  

fucking homophobia.  I don't know what forces were at play that led to them making what is very obviously a romance and then censoring it.  but the romance side did manage to give us an ending that felt happy with only a little squinting.  so good job them.

I could probably write a lot more words about the themes and storytelling of this series. But I'm just gonna take some time to recover from that emotional roller coaster of the final 30 minutes, and bask in their love.  

eps 1&2  ep3  ep4  ep5  ep6  ep7  ep8  ep9   ep10  ep11  ep12  ep13  ep14  ep15  ep16

[danidoesathing]

The tail end of those satanael thoughts sound like an opener to an "Akira gets a palace" fic. trauma so bad it rips a hole in reality and distorts it. thank you Grandpa Satan, very cool.

FUNNY YOU SAY THAT because I have several AUs where that legit happens. Akira palace aus have a SHIT TON of potential outside of the theater angle (not a bad one, but it's pretty common), and a post game fic that actually addresses Satanael's power and influence, and even possible role in the whole thing. Akira's unaddressed trauma gets so bad to the point of a palace forming, and Satanael's (and Akira's) power making it a lot.....bigger and more fucked up than a normal palace. I wish there were more MASSIVE palaces because I've always imagined trickster's having larger and more powerful palaces. "Trickster's Maze" by TwilightKnight17 is a REALLY good one that has been a huge inspiration for my own palace fic. but for a Satanael based one around this whole thing? now that could be really interesting

Personally, I like the idea of Akira being the treasure of the palace. Maybe even him getting mentally "lost" in his own palace, creating his own place to be relieved from the trauma and pain he's gone through. Satanael, wanting to give him that relief, lets him. It would be his will, even subconsciously. maybe it's a misguided attempt to protect him. At the same time, I could also imagine a thieves den type deal, where Akira is aware of the palace, even if he might not believe it's a palace or think it's just in his imagination/dreams, but doesn't really....address the fact its a problem until A. it starts to hurt someone else or B. it starts to fuck with reality or C. it literally takes over his mind and leads him into a state where he can't tell the palace from reality. Maybe the palace is growing over the mementos and dragging people into it, and it could almost act like a way to still change hearts (even if it's not necessarily changing hearts, I could easily see Satanael pulling some less morally clean ways of punishment). I could also it as a new form of mementos created from the trickster's sorrow and the devil's care. Satanael literally tearing apart reality to keep Akira alright doesn't really seem out of the question. Satan saved Christmas, but that doesn't mean he won't create a space time rift because he got attached to this one sad human.

I don't think Satanael be very happy with the Phantom Thieves trying to destroy the palace regardless of the circumstances. He's really protective over Akira and he does not trust them not to cause more damage, and Goro especially wouldn't be welcome by Satanael (Akira might be ok with letting him inside, because akira cares about him and would be forgiving to an extent, but I doubt Satanael would be so understanding after the murder attempt). The distrust between humanity and himself/Akira could allow this dynamic where every time they try and help with the palace, it's taken as an act of betrayal that only reenforces the palace's existence. there's a lot of interesting ideas that could come from this.

[celestialmango]

Forest of the Lost ch3

🥭🍡🥭🍡🥭🍡🥭🍡🥭🍡🥭🍡🥭🍡🥭🍡🥭

Ch2⬇️

Soft vore, Pred goes a little feral, semi-willing prey, safe vore, Pred belches loud enough to echo, prey doesn't notice they've lost their makeshift toga till the end, shorter ch this time

🥭🍡🥭🍡🥭🍡🥭🍡🥭🍡🥭🍡🥭🍡🥭🍡🥭

"ungh" a noise of protest leave their throat and they shift a bit, it's warm, kinda slimy against their skin, tight and they're curled up...wait...they jolt in panic, letting out a startled shreik and press their hands against surroundings that squish and squeeze before they hear a familiar rumble around them and a large hand rub at their back "oh" realizing it's just Pred's stomach again they allow themselves to relax a bit, feeling the gentle swaying motion of Pred walking, they feel pred give them a couple pats as prey settles down.

They're surprised that there's not much acid this time, they wonder how long they've been in here and how in the hell did Pred eat them without them waking up before shifting to a slightly more comfortable position, they have no idea what time it is due to their current.. situation, they can't bring themselves to worry much at all though, this is like the third time they've found themselves in Pred's gut and they've came out relatively unharmed the first two times, while they still have their instinctual nervousness they also feel a little bored, they don't know how long Pred is going to keep them in here this time but they figure since their not freaking out this time they'll explore with their hands a little.

~~~~

Pred grumbles while they remark their territory, little fucks are trying to worm their way in again, Pred may just have to kill or eat them to get them to stop, but it'll have to wait till they drop their snack back off at their den, they checked around there first to see how close the other Pred's invaded and to make sure it would be safe to leave their sleep catch there alone for a while. For now Pred will just carry their unconscious Prey while finishing their patrol.

Pred stalls when they feel their passenger shift and hear them shriek before starting to squirm and push at the Pred's stomach surroundings them, Pred rumbles and rubs at Prey's back, as good as their struggling might Pred feels it's better if they let their catch know it's them then let their Prey make too much ruckus and draw attention to them while they scout out their surroundings, feeling their Prey relax they start walking again and give their stomach a couple fond pats before letting their clawed hand drop to the side.

They continue clawing and scenting their territory markers, when, oh, they feel prey moving around, what are they doing in there? Pred rumbles and a small burst of air escapes their stomach, they put a hand to their gut a press, fuck, whatever it is their snack might want to stop or Pred might lose control of themselves, they'd hate for their catch to get the wrong message but if they keep it up...Pred starts moving faster, they're almost finished, just one more marker then they can go back to their den, just one more.

~~~~~

Prey kneads, rubs and presses at the flesh surrounding them, after a little bit they feel the organ squeeze them for a moment and hear Pred burp and feel them press back before the feel pred speed up, a hand pressed against Prey before a gentle sway becomes a dizzying mix of bouncing and rocking, prey starts to feel motion sick, it pauses for a moment then starts up again and quickly stops again, prey feeling like they're gonna a vomit, what's happening?

They hear stone scraping against stone twice with a pause in-between, are they back in the cavern? The nausea starts to fade as a gentle swaying returns, Prey goes back to exploring Pred's insides and they hear Pred growl deeply before they feel the world tilt forward and Pred's hands rub back with a lot more force than Prey has felt them use before. Prey stops.

~~~~~

Pred rushes to the den as fast as the can, their passenger has stopped doing whatever it was they were doing, once back inside they slow down to a walk again they near their nest when they feel Pred start up again and Pred growls low at the feeling and lays down on their back pressing a rubbing back before their snack stops. What? No!

Pred roll over on the furs pressing their prey filled stomach against the ground, they hear them release a startled noise and Pred whines rubbing their gut against the ground and rumbling, they don't want them to stop, they don't want to let Prey out, Pred wants them to keep going.

~~~~

"Wha!" The world shift again and the feel Pred roll over, Pred's weight now resting on them and squashing them, before they hear an animalistic whine from Pred and feel Pred grinding them onto the ground, ok, to the force used did not mean stop, Prey tentatively begins again and feels Pred roll back over and start rubbing back again

~~~

It feels so good Pred's drooling, it's so good, it's so good, it'ssogoodit'ssogood. Their stomach tightens and Pred releases a belch so loud it echoes through the cavern for several minutes. They feel drowsy.

~~~

Pred's stomach's too tight for prey to do more than fidget anymore, it's now that prey notices their makeshift toga is missing, they wonder for a moment if Pred digested it or removed it before swallowing them, they feel pred roll on their side and hear their heartbeat and breathing slow, huh must have fallen asleep, guess they're not getting out anytime soon, eh, at least it's warm and they're comfy enough.

They quickly follow Pred into slumber.

[sophialikesthings]

Song-No Body,No Crime-Taylor Swift

Numb. the deprivation of feelings or emotions.

That's what I was standing in that field moments after I witnessed what happened.

"Come on, We should go." JJ rubbed my back.

"We don't have a car, dumbass." Kiara insulted him.

"We can hide out in the hanger." Pope pointed

We carefully scanned the room making sure nobody else was there.

I just went to a corner and curled myself up into a ball and sat there, questioning my sanity for still loving him.

"There goes the gold!" JJ looked up at the plane that just took off.

"Fuck!" Pope yelled, throwing something he found at the wall. He grabbed anything he could carry and threw it all, things were thrown all over, shattered glass carpeting the floor.

"I need to go see him." I got up.

"What? Demi are you insane?" JJ asked.

"I am because I still love him and I don't know how to stop." I broke down again.

"I'm scared that if I leave him, That will happen to me."

===

"Demi, I don't think it's a good time right now." Rose opened the door.

"Rose, I know what happened, and you and I both know he needs me right now. So please, let me see him."

"He is in the den." She let me inside.

"What are you doing here?" Ward asked as he vigorously washed his hands trying to get her blood off of them.

"I came to see Rafe, I- I know what happened Mr.Cameron, and I promise I won't tell a soul." I put on my fake face.

"So can I see him?"

"Yes, he is in the den." He pointed at the door.

I carefully opened the door and saw a distressed Rafe contemplating on the couch.

"D-Demi." he got up.

"I saw what happened, I wanted to say goodbye to Sarah and when I got there you shot her."

"I was protecting my father, I was protecting our future!" He paced.

"Calm down!" I pulled his arm towards me. "Rafe...you have done some of the most horrendous things to me and somehow I always go back to you, I don't know why? But I do."

"Don't say that. I do what I think will protect you." He hugged me.

"Mind if I come in?" Ward asked.

"I'll go." I was about to get up.

"No, no Demi stay," Rafe asked. "Is she alive?"

Ward shook his head causing Rafe to sink into me.

"What did you tell the cops? Are they coming here?"

"I told them John B did it." Ward walked over to his desk.

"Demi, I need you to take him up to his room, get him all cleaned up." He told me " take a shower change your clothes. If anybody asked you were working all day, doin' maintenance on the druthers."

"No, Rose knows I wasn't here."

"I will talk to Rose, okay?"

"Come on." I got up and took Rafes' hand.

===

"I was protecting him." Rafe continued to tell me.

"I know, can you take your shirt off, please you need to shower." I turned the water on.

"Will you join me?" He asked.

"Rafe."

"Please, I just don't want to be left alone, because If I am, I'm scared I might do something."

"Fine."

===

"I'm gonna go check in on Wheezie, I'll be back in a minute." I got up

"Hey, wheeze."

"Hey, did you come to ignore me too?" She asked looking up from her phone

"No, but I did come to hang out with you." I got a text.

JJ

I am sorry for nagging you about staying

with Rafe, I understand you are just trying to

keep your loved ones safe

Demi

Yeah, I was trying to keep you safe.

"Who are you texting?" Wheezie asked piercing over my shoulder.

"Huh? Oh, just Topper."

"Well, I'm tired, you can stay if you'd like, or you can go bang my brother." She nonchalantly said lying down.

"Whoa! What?" She caught me off guard.

"You know what I mean, you and my brother bang, like constantly."

"You know wheeze, sometimes I wish we didn't." I lied down next to her. "I mean, I feel like it adds unneeded pressure to our relationship."

"For what it's worth, you have really nice glute muscles." She made me laugh.

"I love you wheeze." I tossed my arm over her, hugging her.

"I love you too, you are like another cool sibling."

We both drifted to sleep.

===

"Do you hear that?" I got woken up by Wheezie.

"Huh?"

I heard Rafe in the other room muttering to himself. I got up and went to check on him, Wheezie behind me.

"Hey, What are you doin'?" I walked over to him, placing a kiss on his bicep where my face stood due to our height difference of almost afoot.

"Tossin' this crap." He threw a bunched-up pile of shirts into a worn-out backpack.

"Isn't this where John B was staying?" I questioned

"Yeah, well, I don't think he's gonna be by anytime soon to pick it up, so--"

"Why?" Wheezie interrogated.

"Did you say why?" He looked at her, confused.

"Didn't Dad tell you?"

"He doesn't tell me anything, so." She sighed, propping her head up on her hands.

"Um... so, John B... Killed Sheriff Peterkin." He acted sad.

"What?"

"Yeah." He tried to get her to believe him.

"Are you smiling right now? I'm not joking. Like, this isn't a game. I don't--"

Wheezie looked away as if she was bored of the story Rafe was telling her.

He slapped the bedpost almost hitting her face, causing both of us to wince out of fear.

"Hey, calm down." I pulled him back slightly.

"I don't know why you're smiling, okay? Look at me. I saw it with my own two eyes." He lied.

It hurt me, to know that I would have to lie to Wheezie. It made me sick just how easy Rafe could lie to anyone, doubts now filling my mind with everything he's ever said to me.

"He shot her, and then you know what he did?"

I snapped back into the conversation.

"He tried to shoot dad, but you know what? I stepped in and I stopped him, I saved Dad."

"Why would John B want to kill dad?" She questioned his story.

"Because um... he thinks dad killed his father."

My eyes widened as if Rafe heard the conversation I had with John B.

"Rafe, do you want to come over to my house, Taylor, Kelce, and Top will be there?" I tried to stop the conversation.

"I can't right now, I have to help my dad with the police reports." He kissed me, walking out of the room.

"Okay, well I'm headed home Wheeze, give me a call if you need me." I hugged her goodbye.

===

That Night

===

"I hate it. I'm in a toxic cycle I can't break free from." I groaned, dumping all my life issues on Taylor as usual.

"Welcome to being a Kook, Your parents stick you into toxic relationships, ask you to make babies, then dump your ass at a mansion and the cycle repeats." She took a swig of rum.

"Taylor, I love-" I got interrupted by the boys running past my room. I heard the laundry room door shut and Topper and Kelce forcefully holding it closed.

"What's going on? Who's in there?" I walked out into the hallway.

"Please just--just let me out." I heard John B.

"Are you two insane! Let him out!" I demanded, trying to get past them.

"Word on the street bro, you are worth 25k, dead or alive." Kelce shouted.

"Kelce, stop." Taylor asked, pulling him back so I could go up to the door, next to Topper.

"I'm gonna go get the cops, don't let him out." Taylor and Kelce walked away.

"John B, It's Topper." He started.

"Hey Top, It's John B." I could hear him panic.

"You gonna try to talk your way out?" Topper chuckled.

"Let him go, He's innocent." I tried to push him out of my way.

"Just cut the bull shit. Alright?" He ignored me.

"I didn't shoot the Sheriff, All right? Rafe did. Sarah was there. She saw the whole thing, Demi saw it too."

"Oh! It was Rafe! My bad." He rolled his eyes.

"Look Man, I know you don't believe me and honestly, I probably wouldn't believe myself either, but... I-- I get it, you hate me because of Sarah." He tried to talk to him.

"You knew we were boyfriend and girlfriend, right?"

I could hear the sirens in the distance as the tension built up.

"Let him go! Please." I started crying.

"And, um, I -- I got another question." he leaned against the door that was being held shut by a chair. "Did you fuck her."

"Topper!" I hit the back of his head, my strength not enough to make him flinch.

"Yes or no John B."

"Ok-- Uh yes." He said. "We did it...once. Okay? But don't use the f-word. That's kind of gross." He spoke trying to get Topper to understand him.

Suddenly we heard the police sirens from outside.

"Alright John B! It's Sheriff Thornton out here. We got you surrounded. We don't need anymore blood shed." My dad yelled into his megaphone

"Topper, Topper please, I am begging you to let him go." At this point I was hysterical, my eyes burnt from the many tears streaming down my face.

The sound of heavy footsteps got closer as they ran up the porch stairs.

"We're back here dad!" Topper yelled.

"Please!" I whispered.

"No mercy Dad." He took me outside with him.

"Damn it!" He slipped through the vents!" I heard my dad yell, easing my worry.

"Do not put your hands on me!" I screamed as Topper held me in front of him, pushing me outside.

"Demi! He is dangerous! I am protecting you, you are my little sister and I don't want you to get hurt."

"The only thing I need protecting from is this family! You make them out to be the villains when really it's you, and everybody else on this side of the island.

As everyone was spreading out searching for him Sarah rode up to me on her bike.

"I'm having everyone meet at the church. Be there in an hour, I think the others have a plan." She quietly whispered.

===

The Church Bell went off 3 times before I ran in there.

"What are you doing!" I stopped him.

"Demi, Sarah, I warned you about these pogues!" Topper held his hands up in defence.

"He's innocent." Sarah sobbed.

"Then who did it?" Topper asked.

"Rafe! Rafe shot Sheriff Peterkin, I saw him." I finally spoke up. I could feel my eyes starting to water again.

"What are you talking about?" he didn't believe me

"Sarah, we gotta go!" John B noticed all the police starting to gather outside.

"Sarah, You realize I'm the one that loves you." Topper Repeated, telling Sarah this many times before.

"I'm sorry for what I did. I'm sorry," She apologized "But this isn't about you."

"Hey we've gotta go." John B broke up their conversation.

"You go, I'll take care of him." I took my helpless blubbering brother into my arms

"Let me make it up to you." Topper laid out his plan, Sarah and I swapped clothes. Quickly,

"Y'all smell smoke?" I asked.

"Holy shit, go." Sarah looked down the ladder to see the bright light from the fire.

Topper and I headed out of the church with our hands in the air acting as if we were John B and Sarah.

"GET DOWN." The cops were yelling at us.

"Hol-Hold shoot, those are my kids." My dad commanded the others to put the guns down.

"Demitria and Topper, What the hell were you two thinking!?" He snarled.

"I- I don't know what happened dad, I'm sorry for causing trouble." Topper apologized "They went that way." I pointed in the opposite direction.

"Are you alright? Do you need a medic?" Topper asked me.

"I'm ok, I just burned my calf, that's all." I hissed as the wind blew causing my leg to sting.

"Demi! Dem, I- I didn't mean for this to happen!" Rafe ran over to me.

"Of course you did this!" I started limping away.

"Demi, I never meant to hurt you."

"How's that turning out?"

=== Ahhhhh late post but... The final chapter of part one is tomorrow and I am actually almost done with part two!

Feedback is appreciated!

Messages are always open!

Thankful for you all

also I need someone to help me pick an ending... so If you want to help me out just message me 😊

[lucky4in]

Magic Interferes in New Orleans

Prompts from Piccadilly's book #3

Words used: ☆matriarch ☆throat ☆impossible ☆vinegar ☆apology ☆slice ☆microwave ☆raspberry ☆choose ☆snore

God! I can't take it. The dread is killing me. I'm losing all the blood in my fingers with how tight I'm squeezing the steering wheel. The honking around me is not helping. I can feel everyone's fear collectively as we sit in agitated traffic. Stress. Fault. Jitteriness. Indifference. Panic, panic, panic.

God, I hate being an empath. I can't even hear my own thoughts. I need to breath! Yeah. Take deep breaths. I'm not far from the U-turn lane. So what if traffic is moving 1 millimeter a minute? The storm can't be faster.

Hooooonk!

Beepbeep!

I have to get out of this situation before I have a sensory overload.

From my front and my rear, I'm surrounded by vehicles. I can't move back, I'll hit someone. I can't move up, because they'll think there's space to move and I'll be more stuck than before. Looking to my right I realize the road across the gate is fairly empty. That last car I saw go that way was 40 something minutes ago.

I gulp loosening my grip from the wheel but still holding it firmly in my palms. Taking a breath I turn the wheel and step on the gas. My car races through the grass and crashes though the metal gates. With a screech, my tires are finally rolling and I'm off. Towards the dark clouds like a fool running blindly into a lions den.

When I finally catch sight of the curling palm trees and the flying debris, my weariness is replaced by anger. We had a plan. A simple schedule. Prepare emergency food, water, and medicine, flashlights and documents, locate nearest shelters, fill up gas tank, clear the yard, and turn off the power. When the evacuation order is set, I would be too far away at the time, so my husband would get the kids from home and we...would...evecuate.

Evacuate.

We would meet at the nearest shelter with our separate cars...

Unfortunately, my...sweet...dearest mother decided to take it upon herself to pick up the kids herself...and NOT evacuate. Instead, she wanted her grand babies to feel safe during the storm and cook them a nice meal...at her house.

I almost had a heart attack when my husband said they weren't there. Instead, a note was attached to the fridge reassuring us that my elementary school kids, including a baby, did not infact disappear off the face of the earth. She wants them to feel less threatened and stressed over this "flood nonsense". Make it seem like a regular thunder storm.

Except it's not a thunder storm! It's a hurricane!

I told my husband not to worry about it, I will get the kids and be ok. The hurricane is suppose to be a bad one, the weather man said. Anything left undemolished by the storm by the end of this would be a miracle. Hopefully it won't be my sanity. I swear, she's impossible.

By the time I get to her house, the streets are flowing with water and clawing up her driveway like waves at a beach. I step out and my shoe kerplunks into the water. I groan, feeling my ears eject hot steam. I stomp onto her porch with a squish, squish, squish and jam the key into the lock.

I kick the door open and slam it shut, my anger seeming to accelerate as soon I step inside. I cringe a bit, noticing my youngest asleep on the couch.

"DON'T SLAM MY DO-" my mother sticks her head out through the kitchen doorway and spots me.

"-Oh, hi baby!"

I stretch a tight smile, coaxing my child back to sleep. "Hello, mother."

"You came just in time. I just need to get a few things done before we eat."

And there she is. Like always. Not worrying about a thing while marinating apple cider vinegar on peices of pork. Probably to slice into the-

Sniff, sniff.

-gumbo. Her calm persona was infuriating. Almost insulting.

"Too bad my son in law couldn't be here. He'd love to stuff his face with the beignets" she continues.

"He's at the shelter. Kinda like we're suppose to be" I say, honey tounged and all "which begs the question..." I lean in, my palms face down on the table. "Why aren't we there right now?" I sneer, bringing my voice down.

"Because there's no need to. You know that" she says simply.

"Maybe in your case, but not mine. You just felt entitled to do things your way. Like you always do. I had everything under control and-and you had me worried."

"You know nothing was going to happen to these kids. I knew nothing was really wrong."

"If you really felt so aloof about this, you should have stayed yourself. You can't just up and take my kids like that. We've talked about this."

She finally looks at me, turning away from her task. "I should be free to see my own grand kids whenever I want to."

"I would have probably excepted that, if we weren't in the middle of a god damn hurricane-"

"Momma! Momma look!"

I was interrupted by my two children excitedly telling me that a pie was on the way. All while showing me their hands, proof of a raspberry massacre. Animated. Passion. Triumph. Pleasant. I ruffle their heads with a quick "good job" and they ran off together. Their happiness almost cures my frustration. It does calm me down a bit though.

"Is is so much to want to keep your family safe" my mother asks.

Aaaaaaand its back.

"Is it so much to just listen to me? To just let me do things my way? I am in no less danger than you are just because I dont have the same... tools that you do."

"It looks like it puts you in a lot of danger if you have to evacuate the city. You could simply come here so momma can protect you."

"That makes me look like a normal person, mom. The streets are already flooding and a ton of people just saw me go the opposite direction. I look stupid and suspicious." I'm taken back to my teen years. Having a similar conversation with my mother. "Not everything can be solved with your protection. I can make my own decisions. But instead you undermine me and tamper with everything around you. Just because I dont have it, doesn't mean I cant keep my family safe or simply be a mother. How about, for once, you let mother nature do her job."

"Your father made this house with his bare hands, rehydrating himself with his sweat. No one is touching this house. Not even Cosmo's or Gaia or whatever." She huffs and turn away. A puff of steam emerges over her head, indicating she opened the pot of Gumbo.

"Well, when your the Matriarch, you can start making the rules around here."

Realizing an apology isn't coming, I groan restricting myself from wrapping my hands around her throat. Its silence between us, as there is after every altercation. Especially when the house is mentioned, cause it's always Papa's house. He passed away before I could even learn to speak his name. Mama always told us about Papa. How she met him, how he put her on her feet and built a house for her (it was told he even built the bricks holding this house up), how his devotion to his family and the love of his life lasted until death did them part.

"What makes you think I'm going to be the next Matriarch?" I ask, slipping in the kitchen chair.

"You will. It's a family tradition that you need to uphold. And you are the only girl conceived by me." She answers, this sounds almost rehearsed.

"Why don't the others take your place?" I ask, for the millionth time.

"It's only rare that a boy has ever been in place of a woman. And once a girl was brought in, he was removed immediately."

"If it's that simple then crown them and get it over with."

"Oh, do you think it's that easy"? She quizzes, slowly turning to me.

"Knowing you, probably not."

"Hyde is much more coordinated than that. If they really didn't think you were worthy, we would have known, but I always knew you were special."

Here she goes again. Hyde,, is supposedly the person that gifts the family with magic, life, and girls. It's the spirirt who thrones and dethrones us. No matter who we are. According to mom, the next Matriarch could be good or bad, Hyde has a plan for them in the end.

Along with Papa's stories, Hyde was always directed towards me because I was the only girl, excluding my half sister. Truthfully there was no way to know if Hyde was actually real. I'm not even sure if my parents have seen it. Mom would tell me tales at night of different women throughout our generation, chosen by Hyde and how I would be like them someday.

Perfect.

"Hyde doesn't give you this gift for no reason" mom reassures "they always have a plan. You can't see everything in a negative light. What if Hyde chooses Clio and you-"

I stop her at the mention of my youngest name.

"I'm not putting that responsibility on my kid" I say sternly, though It probably won't matter what I tell her "Especially if, no offense, she ends up like you. Completely dependent on Hyde's gift. IT didn't give me any when I was born, like the rest of you, and I'd like it to stay that way."

Silence once more.

"Perhaps you're afraid-"

"I'm not afraid-"

"-its okay."

"-Of this imaginary ghost."

"Sure, keep believing that. But when it happens~" she sings.

"When it happens to me, pigs will fly" I sneer, memories of that same sing song tone prodding at me.

She says nothing.

"Just let it go mom, it's just not meant to be. I'm not a child that you can hide under your wings when hail comes. However your gifts came to be, Hyde, the house, whatever, it must've skipped a generation."

She continues to stir. She sputters "but-but the family-"

"-The family doesn't know what's best for me and neither do you. I know I'm the only daughter to the Matriarch. I know I wasn't born with any gifts like my siblings. I know refusing my path makes me an ungrateful child and Hyde will handle me" I say reciting what I also heard throughout my life "But that's not my life. And I'm not defenseless."

She freezes. More silence.

"And, I mean, it's not like having voodoo is easy. It consumes you and it messes a lot of things up. This worlds order and the next."

"That's what the council is for" my mom mutters finally.

"Oh, right. The council. The same family who's just as dependent as you. Do you even remeber a time where you haven't used your gift and actually did things yourself?"

...

...

"Don't you ever think of letting go of this life? Doing things for yourself and not the family? Hyde? Papa's house? I notice how this changes you as you age. If this is the answer to our problems I wouldn't mind the sea taking this house away for a while-"

"Mama! Mama!"

"Wow, look."

I follow my kids voices and they seek for me, a glimmer of wonder and awe in there wide pupils. My 2 boys are pointing to the window in the living room. My sleeping child is now up, standing on her toes to see what her brothers are looking at.

As I begin to walk In the living room, they're rushing back to the kitchen. I take a peek and see a part of the lawn, including my rental car but the road and the neighborhood is gone. A large amount of visible debris is covering up the world around-

No.

No.

That's not debris. That's not wind.

I follow my kids. They've opened the screen door and ventured into the back yard. I race after them and stop in my tracks. The water barrier has followed us to the backyard. My kids are screaming and dancing in the sprinklers as the hurricane is trapping us in its second eye. The oceanic barrier is circling around is, refusing to touch the property. With my kids instructions I look up, the sky is dark above us like it's the dead of night, yet inside the barrier, its murky like a cloudy day.

I can't concentrate. Excitment. Curiosity. Shock. Chills.

I sigh as my daughter wobbles to me and I scoop her in my arms. I can see it now, worst hurricane in 6 years and the Crobitt house still stands. This is similar but not related to the instance when a pair of swings at the run down school across the house seemingly froze in the air a few years ago... CIA is currently investigating...

I gather my children inside, they were starting to go towards the rushing ocean and who knows what'll happen. I shut the door with a defeated sigh and sulk at the table. The beneits sit gracefully with their powder sugar and I worship it by stuffing it in my mouth.

"I told you..."

I look up. My mothers eyes are glowing that familiar bright green and she has that devious smirk on her face. She always gave me that look as a child as if she's trying to tell me something. That, or it's to prove something, which I still dont know. I dont think I ever will.

"...you're father built this house. No one is taking it from me..."

...

...

"Now, elbows off the table."

-------

If you like to write or be creative, perhaps you need inspiration, go check out this book! Its the best!

[bnha-platonic-abo]

Okay so hi! I love bnha and omegaverse and just found your account. Only read one hc and am already In love. But anyways I just really really really wanted to ask. So I saw your den headcanon for alphas. Saying they didn't like people entering them without permission. Could you maybe write how you would feel it would go down if. An omega who doesn't know much about alphas and doesn't think as they simply walk in to the den with a happy smile. They just wanted to hang out with the alpha.

Well first of all, hi 👋. I’m glad you like my stuff, but also I want to clarify that the den idea is not mine but @boku-no-omegaverse ‘s. And I do agree that it’s an extraordinarily good idea at that. So here’s a little thing I made with alpha Bakugou (‘cause he’s the one I picture the most in the den scenarios) and a little clueless oc of mine, it’s just a real simple thing, not much detail: (this takes place after UA years, in a scenario that the bakusquad lives together)

Now that he thinks about it maybe it wasn’t such a great idea to enter unnounced in the shared room that included just the most agressively crude, short-tempered person in the former class 1A. But it was a accident, he swears.

It was a break and Miraki simply had nothing better to do. He had remembered that Bakugou once invited him to have a few drinks at his place so he headed there. He didn’t knock on the door. And that was his first mistake. But I mean he knew these guys since high school they were all famous pro heroes now, he didn’t see what danger there could lie ahead. As soon as he entered his nose was filled by a strong mixture of several scents and a more proliferent one. He ignored it. That was his second mistake.

He entered but no one was in there so, he just walked in further. But he soon noticed a light coming from one of the bedrooms, decisively headed towards it. His third mistake. Then he bust open the door, and screamed in a voice loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear “What is up my good fellows?” His fourth mistake. Immediately, the air grew tense. Which made him kinda uncomfortable but nevertheless he had no time to be umcomfortable. Maybe it was the fact that he had leaned too far inside the room, or that a very strong smell invaded his senses or that he had touched too much, he wasn’t too sure which, though it probably was due to the fact that his quirk had something to do with seeing the future. But he immediately knew this was his last mistake. There was no time to react though, as he was flung out of the room.

“Hyaaaa” he screamed in a little more high pitched and terrified voice than he expected. The next thing he knew, Bakugou was on top of him and he had almost no idea why. “Wait, wait wait”, he shouted out frantically. Bakugou growled, keeping him pinned down. “Sorry sorry, I didn’t realize, why don’t we calm down and you get off of me pls, Bakugou”. But Bakugou was obviously not listening. “Kami, KAMI, Kaminari, Denks, KAMINARI DENKI, T A K E Y O U R A L P H A O F F O F M E, P L S S S S ! ! ! !”

“Yes yes”, Kaminari comes rushing over with his other alphas and they all pull Bakugou off of him and swing him inside his room. Miraki takes a sigh of relief, now just sitting outside of the door, taking his breath. “WtF”, he murmurs. “Hey dude”, Sero pats his back, “you ok?”. “Don’t you know you should never go into Blasty’s room like that”, Denki says coming from outside the room. “Yeah I sure do now.” he tilts his head still sitting, “I think I’ll go now, let’s drink some other day, Kami”. He gets up and leaves as fast as lightning. Denki and the others wave and laugh a bit as he leaves.

It’s never a good idea to enter Bakugou’s room like that.

[danvssomethingorother]

Alright, here's a Brusty prompt for you. Through this season, we got to see Brock not particularly concerned about Doc's wellbeing. I can't blame it, Doc gets kidnapped every other day and it's usually Guild related, so he knows Doc's going to be alright. So the prompt is the opposite. What IF Doc's in genuine danger, and Brock goes from believing everything is in order to realizing Doc is probably going to die if he doesn't get there in time?

Ok so I apologize on taking so long but man did I get carried away, I’m not even really done. I’m just gonna make this multiple chapters cause my gosh am I getting out of hand.

A03

---

Brock had never beenopenly affectionate, especially not towards him. Never towards Doc.

On occasion he wouldcomfort or console the boys, show them a sliver of attention their fatherhadn’t been capable of giving them since their fifth death, but never had heshown Doc that. Never when people were watching. He always kept his composureand reminded himself it was just a job, the nights they spent together meantnothing, he told himself that so often he almost believed those lies. Almostthought he could shrug off an event like this as he had taken to doing for theboys, who he almost considered his own. His and Rusty’s children, he had gottenso desensitized to their deaths, he could just grumble a curse, clean up themess, and start the next day like it hadn’t happened.

This, this was so muchdifferent. Brock didn’t know how to process he had lost Doc, he just held hislifeless body, mumbling his name into his ear. No matter what he addressed himas, the man was not responding, he was not breathing, his heart had stoppedlong before Brock had gotten here and no matter what Brock did, it wasn’t goingto start again.

He could call him Doc,Rusty, Rust, Thaddeus or even TS, something no one would have ever called him,but he wasn’t going to respond.

The man had alwayscomplained behind closed doors that he wanted Brock to act like he loved himwhen other people were around but even with his friends and sons awkwardlywatching Brock hold the man’s corpse and even shed tears as he kissed him onthe forehead, he wasn’t going to come back to him.

Doctor Thaddeus S.‘Rusty’ Venture was dead and there was nothing that would change that.

---

Most would assumeThaddeus S. Venture’s funeral would have been a quiet affair, he was not themost liked person around, but it was no real surprise to Brock the entire Guildwas on outside the funeral home demanding to see this man’s corpse, notbelieving he could die.

The older members of theGuild in particular weren’t buying it that he had died or that it was possiblefor him to do so.

Even The Monarch, who hadbeen there when Brock had brought Doc’s body from the wreckage, would notbelieve the man was gone. He had left half a dozen messages to their home phoneand a dozen more to the new CEO of the company demanding for Rusty to stopfaking his death.

Brock wasn’t allowed tomourn in peace, to keep the proceedings some what quiet for the few people whotruly did love Rusty Venture, he had to keep the peace outside.

He twisted his wrist alittle, letting his drawn knife glint in the sun light as a warning to all thesnarling and fully costumed members of the Guild surrounding him.

“I arched Jonas Venturefrom 1960 to 1986!”  

Brock just glared at Dr.Z standing in front of him with a finger close enough to his face almost askingBrock to slice it off.  

“In the entire time Iarched that man, that little boy was practically immortal! One of my henchmenshot him in the freaking head. Blood and brains splashed everywhere. The stainnever came up and I thought it would be a reminder to anyone dumb enough tobring their damn six-year-old baby into war zones but the next week Jonas hadhis baby with him on TV! You explain how that happened, but one explosion cankill him??”

Brock could explainexactly how that happened, he had known the Venture family’s little secret forover twenty years but that was long gone. Even if it was an option, it wouldn’tbring Rusty back. If it was still an option, Brock would have already taken it.He would already be back home, already have Rusty back, this entire funeralwould not be necessary but as it stood that was no longer an option.  

Brock rolled his eyes andshrugged at the old man, acting like he had no idea what he was talking about.

“This is some fuckingbull shit!” Monarch yelled shoving Dr. Z aside and earning one of the man’sfamous death glares, “I have arched this family for god damn 20 years! I knowyou have your ways of bringing back the dead. Does Rusty really think he canescape me faking his death and sneaking out the back door??! That isn’t howthis fucking works!”

“Sweetie…” his wife beganplacing her hand on his shoulder, but he wasn’t done making a scene, he stompedhis foot and made Brock snarl as he got into one of his poses, this is exactlywhat Brock wanted today, to listen to an evil monologue.

“This is god damndisrespect on his part! He did this on purpose! He ruins my big ceremony bylying about us being related! And now he’s faking his death so I can’t arch himanymore after the level of bullshit I went through to get this far!!”  

“Yeah! They have cloningand a freaking necromancer!”

Brock took a deep breathto keep the urge from killing the henchmen now yelling at him, he was onhollowed grounds, they couldn’t harm him and he sadly couldn’t harm them duringa funeral proceeding. That was agreed upon on the Treaty of ’75 and hadn’t beenchanged since.  

“You all saw the corpse…”Brock sighed pinching the bridge of his nose, “Monarch was the witness to thissince he was the first there, do we have to do this now?”

“This isn’t what we arehere for,” Monarch’s wife said with a deep sigh gently pushing back her husbandand his henchmen sending a glare towards Dr. Z as he opened his mouth again,“We have been trying to get ahold of you for days. After a level ten passes,their level is always transferred over to their---”

“You send an arch for theboys so soon after their father’s passing, and I will make sure I send thecorpse right back to you.”

“Not so soon of coursebut you are refusing to answer, and you represent the boys,” she said raisingher hands up to keep the peace between everyone, “I would rather not godirectly to your superior officers on this, you know what’s best and we need tohandle and take care of this. Nothing personal, but this is the only place wecould confront you without risk of personal safety.”  

“After Jonas’s death, hisuncles agreed Rusty needed some responsibility and six months later he wasassigned his first arch,” Dr. Z began but Brock was already shaking his head.Rusty was on drugs after his father’s passing and it wasn’t right of the originalteam Venture to toss him into the lion’s den so soon and Brock wasn’t about totoss his boys in directly after their father’s passing.  

“But I know damn well Dr.Venture is not dead!” Dr. Z concluded with a firm shake of his head, “Do youknow the amount of shit that should have killed him as a child? I refuse tobelieve an amateur newbie you refused to take care could do what pros couldnot.”

“Z,” the council womansighed out loudly, “For the last damn time, that is not why we are here…”

“No that is exactly whywe are here!” Monarch yelled out pointing his finger towards himself andtowards his henchman.

“This is a god damn ploy!Some fucking ruse you and Dr. Venture cooked up just to fuck me over more! Youwant me to fucking believe you just let him be kidnapped?? You just let somefucking piece of shit nobody kill him??”  

Brock kept a straightface, he kept every feature impassive, passing off he didn’t care but inside,he was screaming. He let Rusty, his Rusty leave that night after getting a deaththreat. He shrugged it off, it was a disgruntled level three no one.

It had ended here, Brockstanding outside Doc’s funeral being yelled at by his arches that he was lying.

“Do you know how manyhenchmen this man has slaughtered for just looking at the Venture familywrong?” his henchman cut in making his leader throw his arms up and scream‘exactly’ loud enough to make Brock cringe at the shrill cry.

“Believe what you want,”Brock snarled their way, “Dr. Venture is dead. He’s not coming back and if youcome near the boys before they register as protagonists on their own volition Iwill fucking kill you.”

Brock was done with theirthird degree, he walked into the funeral home and slammed the door behind him.He rolled his eyes at Shoreleave as he approached him and cocked his headtowards the door silently telling him to deal with the Guild members stilloutside, waiting to bitch some more at him about how he was lying about this.

Shoreleavesympathetically patted him on the shoulder as he walked down the hall, duckinginto the funeral room in time to see Dean crying at the podium, telling a storyabout the one time he had truly related to his father. He was leaving out keydetails, but Brock knew he was talking about how they were both clones.