#doas might change name

[oobbbear]

This is so funny to me look at how Dream of a star Sun holds baby moon vs. how Ct Sun holds baby moon

[cadaverre]

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈ the swords are drawn, they really are

JUNO ☆ they/them (i dont mind she/her) ☆ minor (xv) ☆ bisexual ☆ cancer sun, libra moon, sag rising ☆ intp-t ☆ aus ☆ either a celestial god or a pebble ☆ anxious mess ☆ i change my theme way too much ☆ sparkling water > regular water ☆ in love with piercings and wants all of them ☆ professional procrastinator ☆ a humanities/arts/music girl in a science/maths world ☆ dont know much abt society but i know i hate capitalism ☆ wouldnt survive a day without spotify ☆ free palestine!! ☆

LOVES ⭑.ᐟ - literature, the arts, queer culture, astronomy + astrology, witchcraft, feminism (no terfs allowed!!!!), cold drinks, miniskirts, doc martens, dark red, nail polish, mascara, lipgloss, brie (always dreaming of cheese), pinterest, spotify, my headphones, the ocean, my grandparents house, spring+winter, fiddling around on the guitar, fantasising about being a famous musician, finding new music, snow, going to concerts, psychology, web weaving, learning languages (currently learning spanish and i want to learn latin!)

BOOKS ⭑.ᐟ - osemanverse, the hunger games, books by rhiannon wilde, tim te maro's subterranean heartsick blues, all the best liars, books by octavia butler (specifically parable of the sower and parable of the talents), the last true poets of the sea, acotar, the weight of the stars, the seven husbands of evelyn hugo, the picture of dorian grey, house of hollow, howls moving castle, harry potter (mainly marauders, FUCK JKR), i kissed shara wheeler, red white and royal blue, song of achilles, wings of fire, the secret history, crime and punishment

MOVIES + SHOWS ⭑.ᐟ - juno, dont look up, little women (2019), scream (i like most of them but 1996 is my fav by far), ladybird, barbie (2023), some of the mcu (thor and guardians of the galaxy <33), spiderverse (itsv is my love), gilmore girls, stranger things, loki, heartstopper, arcane, scott pilgrim takes off + scott pilgrim vs the world, mean girls (i love both hehe), dr who, percy jackson (the show, i um havent read the books), gossip girls, do revenge, my little pony, the bear, hannibal, we are lady parts, bottoms

MUSIC ⭑.ᐟ - boygenius + solos, taylor swift, glaive, brakence, paramore, ricky jamaraz, melanie martinez, lana del rey, ashnikko, girl in red, billie eilish, doja cat, big thief, adrianne lenker, ethel cain, mitski, remi wolf, cigarettes after sex, ericdoa, tv girl, clairo, the neighbourhood, bon iver, deftones, maneskin, courtney barnett, poppy, the smiths, american football, susannah joffe, renee rapp, mcr, the front bottoms, pierce the veil, gracie abrams, feeble little horse, esha tewari, radiohead, chappell roan, charli xcx

ALBUMS ⭑.ᐟ - the record, 1989 tv, around the fur, riot, three cheers for sweet revenge, all we know is falling, hypochondriac, girl with fish, doa, things with wings, punk2, songs, masterpiece, guts, lust for life, dykttatuob, punisher, stranger in the alps, i care so much that i dont care at all, collide with the sky, manic, badlands, folklore, trafoamp, k-12, crybaby, portals, this is why, ttpd + the anthology, hit me hard and soft, the bends, brat, the secret of us, home video

TALK TO ME ⭑.ᐟ - asks and dms are open for chatting/venting/whatever, i might take a while to respond ☆ i rarely follow people without an intro post/descriptive bio (with name, age group and pronouns especially) ☆ discord is astraeasparrow ☆ i dont currently have any trigger warnings tagged but just send me an ask/dm if you want me to tag something specific!! ☆dni: people who are: rude, racist, homophobic, transphobic, zionist, terfs, sexist, ableist, antisemitic

TAGS ⭑.ᐟ

#juno.txt -> ramblings, original posts

#asks -> asks ive answered

#ask bait -> send me asks!

#tag games -> tag games ive participated in

#beautiful mutuals -> interactions with my beautiful mutuals !

#spotify -> my music obsession

#junocore -> posts that are so incredibly mecore

#🩻 -> posts abt/for my fav

(im working on a better taglist with my moots tags)

SOCIALS ⭑.ᐟ pinterest ☆spotify ☆ carrd ☆ pronoun page ☆ letterboxd ☆ stats.fm

SIDEBLOGS ⭑.ᐟ @likeasugarcubeinateacup (notes app poetry) -- @sirenliight (short poetry + aesthetics) -- a close friends blog (you can ask for the url, i might say no) (im not that active on them though)

NOTES/UPDATES ⭑.ᐟ

☆ prev urls — astraeasparrow -> gu1lty-as-sin -> glcive

☆ last updated: july 10th 2024

☆ dividers by @plutism

thats all!! stay hydrated and have a wonderful day/night everyone <3

[26790048]

The Boboiboy x Dead Or Alive Challenge (A. K. A Elemental Hero In a fighting tournament)

This mindset came to me as I was reading the Azur Lane x Boboiboy Wattpad fanfic by Jikdot and MHA x Boboiboy Galaxy by StarTwinkle (both I recommend a read), and since I’m recently into the Dead Or Alive series and quite disappointed by a lake of fics in Wattpad and FanFiction.Net. So I wanted to see if something like this could work with some future fanfic authors.

Okay for the DOA fans, Boboiboy is a popular Malaysian CGI animated show about the titular character getting 7 (started with 3) Elemental powers (along with their Second Tier forms, Third Tier forms,although he has two and one of them is uncontrollable,and Elemental Fusion) from a Power Sphere named Ochobot and along with his friends (Ying, Yaya, Gopal and Fang) they go out and save the world and the Galaxy. There has been two series (the original and Galaxy), two movies (a third one being released in 2025) and comics (I think the rest like the Elemental splits, TAPOPS etc can be explained by looking at the Boboiboy Wiki or some other sources).

For the Boboiboy fans, Dead or Alive is a fighting game series from the 90s that mostly centre around the Mugen Tenshin Clan and DOATECC (a company that host DOA tournaments but hides their schemes behind the publics eye) and that’s all I could say about the story of the franchise (like I said, I just got into the series so I’m not as knowledgeable about it as other fans of the franchise, so if you want to learn more about Doa, either just watch a YouTube video or look up some of the lore).

But what I do know is that DOA is a fighting game with Breast Physics and a lot of Fanservice (which I’m not complaining about) that has Ninjas, Clones, a Wrestler that turned into a model but turned into a singer then went back into the wrestling world and also it’s connected to Ninja Gaiden and has an Ecchi spinoff called the Xtreme series in which most of the girls are just chilling in Zack’s island (the most recent one Venus Vacation has 19 new Girls, so if you want to, you could include them in this crossover).

WAYS IN WHICH BOBOIBOY COULD FIT INTO DOA

Boboiboy teleports into the Dead or Alive universe due to either a new Power Sphere or a Dimensional Teleportar (You could place him at any DOA game but I recommend starting from DOA 1) and stays in that dimension until his friends find a way to get him back.

They take place in the same Universe. With that you could start this crossover from any series but I recommend using the First Three Seasons and the Movie (you can Age up Boboiboy if you want to) taking place during Doa 1 to 4 (yes the first four games take place in a year and I know it’s bullshit but I do recommend the Movie taking place after DOA 4 or Xtreme 2) and the Galaxy series taking place in DOA 5 to….uh Venus Vacation? Either way you can start the crossover from any entry of these two series.

3. (Even though I don’t count this but I don’t want to be the only one who feels this way so I’ll include it here) Reactions, you could make the cast of Dead or Alive react to some clips of Boboiboy like his first uses of the Penta and Hepta split against Bora ‘ra, the Elemental Fusions against Retak���ka or some of your favourite clips from the series, you could also use plain shenanigans like the Boboiboy Instagram posts which are about what Boboiboy and the others just do in life other than fighting.

How Boboiboy could influence some events in DOA (or you, the author could change some weird decisions by the development teams.

(This is something I thought off when writing this challenge) Boboiboy saving False Kasumi (from Doa 5) from getting killed by Hayate and Ayane, since False Kasumi isn’t someone with evil intentions and really thinks she’s the actual Kasumi I think that Boboiboy might try to stop Hayate and Ayane from killing her (fighting them if need be) and try to get her as far away from Kasumi Alpha.

Might try to get Ayane to open up as to why she hates Kasumi and at least try to be friends with her as that is something I could see Boboiboy doing as he’s dealt with sibling relationships before (Fang and Kaizo) but not to this extreme so it might be a challenge for him.

Boboiboy could also participate in the Ninja Gaiden series like with Razors Edge where Boboiboy could help Ryu with dealing with the Goddess and finding a cure for that disease that was killing him. You could also have Ryu try to train Boboiboy on mastering and obtaining his Third Tier powers.

(Now this is for the future authors) Try to make Boboiboy interact with the other characters in the series as he could build new friendships, rivalries and relationships and try to make some characters arcs not be redundant (Cough Leifang Cough) but also let them interact with Boboiboy’s Elements like how would Jann Lee interact with Fire/Blaze, how Hitomi would interact with Leaf/Thorn/Jungle, Kokoro with Water/Ice etc. The possibilities are endless.

You could put in some villains from Boboiboy into DOA like Ejo Jo, Adu Du (although he is less of a villain), Kapten Vargoba etc. You could also put in Reverse Boboiboy (which is a fan made version of Boboiboy but evil and bloody) alongside his holy handsomeness that make some of the toughest Guys and Girls of the series blush (okay that last part was a joke….probably).

This is specifically for Genra. Make him a Mugen Tenshin Clan member that was captured and controlled by DOATECC out of his free will which was probably intended in DOA 3 and not another villain that was hungry for power (don’t know why Dimensions did that) as that makes Ayanes story more interesting and heart wrenching.

You could also add New Elements and Fusions if you want to.

(Okay that’s all I could write about this crossover and man was it stressful to make but anyways I hope some future fanfic authors will enjoy the idea).

[blvcklizard]

So, I've decided to recycle an old theory of mine, because I actually believe in that part of it.

I think Sigma isn't actually born from the book, he was simply given amnesia by the page. (Now, I don't doubt that the book can create people. I just don't trust that Sigma is.)

I see how that might be related to other things, but it's a little weird to me that Sigma's age is stated to be "unknown" in his character card. Like, if I remember correctly we know that according to Fyodor, he was created three years ago. And sure, the "unknown" is probably referring to his physical appearance, so what about the other parts of his info that are "unknown"?

It's his birthday and ability name. And yes, that makes sense, since those are two things that are taken from the irl authors, and Sigma isn't one.

Except that if that were true, why not make something up? He obviously has a birthday (even if I'm wrong and it happens to be the day he was written down) and ability name, and if Sigma is just "Sigma", no more and no less than the character we've seen, there is no reason why those couldn't just have been made up. Like, neither of these informations are plot relevant, and while it gives him this aura of mystery and unfamiliarity, there doesn't seem to be a real reason beyond that.

Because here's the thing, the character we know as "Sigma" doesn't really exist. For all I know, it's actually been stated that Sigma isn't his real name, but what's giving it away even more so is his ability. Correct me if I'm wrong but the only "independent" ability user (excluding family members that have an ability for plot reasons, such as Tachihara's brother for example) in the series that isn't based on an author is Nemo, and I'm not counting him because he only appears in a light novel. I can't think of a reason why Sigma would be the exception here.

I see that this argument is rather weak in light of the actual theory, since just because he's probably an author too doesn't mean he can't be born from the book, but let's keep looking at his ability. It's, said simply, flawed. Taking only the bare base into consideration, he can't use it for his (or whoever is using him, poor Sigma) benefit without giving his enemies the same advantage. And like, yeah, it makes sense, there are very few abilities in this manga that don't have any weaknesses/ties to conditions, but if the DOA had the opportunity to create a perfect character, why wouldn't they get rid of this? The only explanations I could think of are that giving their enemies information is part of their plan (and I'll say it as it is, I'm not smart enough to judge whether this is true, because I can't imagine it is, but I may very well be overlooking some stuff) or that they couldn't give him a different ability because of the plot rule (which makes even less sense to me). The information exchange just seems like more risk than Fyodor would usually be willing to take, but maybe that's just me.

On a similar note, if you think about it, the role Sigma played on the DOA's plan... is ridiculously small. He's strong, and yet they threw him away after one move, and technically he had been meant to do even less, as Fyodor told him not to pick a fight with the Hunting Dogs (although I can very well imagine this was a reverse psychology type of thing since he knew Sigma would do it anyway). My point is, there are so many ways you could use a person that's created from the book, and none of them apply to Sigma in the slightest.

Okay, and why tf would the DOA mess with Sigma's memories?

1. As Fyodor pointed out, it's a power boost. Assuming that his personality didn't drastically change, Sigma would be a lot weaker without his wishes and despair driving him. (I like how this is turning against the DOA now, but let's see how this proceeds.)

2. It might have been a practice run. Overwriting memories is like, a central part of the DOA's plan and I don't see Fyodor as someone who likes taking risks. So if they were going to power up Sigma a bit anyway, this was a perfect opportunity.

Who is Sigma then?

...no idea. In the original theory I said that he might be Mishima, and while the possibility exists, I don't think it has any more base than literally any other suggestion (aside from how similar their names are, to be fair). His color pallette also fits the russian characters, so maybe he's someone else entirely.

[great-master-airplane]

for the 3 ask thing:

is there any bsd character you would like to write that you haven't before?

what material thing comforts you the most?

what is your third favourite dinosaur?

Ooohhh thank you!!

I still technically haven't written Nikolai, so he's at the top of my list! He's been asleep in the doa fluff piece that I'm writing to go along with my skk au, but I'm hoping to change that soon ^^ I'd also like to write Akutagawa someday, but I haven't found the right fic for him yet.

I have a build-a-bear raccoon (named Karl, of course) that I cannot sleep without. He smells like lavender, and he's incredibly calming. I also have a very oversized sweater that I wear to ground myself.

Do you have any idea how difficult it was for me to decide what my favorite dinosaur was, let alone my third favorite? I'm going with the pterodactyl. I like things that fly, but there might be a couple dinosaurs I like more :3

[unbounded-cardinality]

Democrats, now is the time to take some risks.

Biden nomination is DOA

As a Biden donor, I take little pleasure in acknowledging the pulse of widespread anxiety among voters: President Biden should withdraw his nomination for the American presidency, and he should do that imminently so voters can better evaluate eligible successors.

No one wants to be called a quitter or ineffectual or simply too old -- and to be sure, I've been called all of those things and more. You cannot go through a long life in America -- not to speak of a long public life in America -- and not confront what William Shakespeare called the slings and arrows of mankind. President Biden notably has survived precisely because of his habit of weathering the worst that life can throw at us.

As President Kennedy so eloquently said, it is now time to pass on the torch to a new generation of leaders. Not only that, this moment is one in which we should embrace risk -- taking chances that in a more stagnant moment in history might be discouraged or even impossible:

As others have written, a Gretchen Whitmer nomination speaks to many constituencies, preeminent among them the manufacturing belt of the American midwest. A Whitmer nomination would not only bring fresh perspective, but a more youthful one that hopefully will bridge this moment -- in talent and decisions -- with whatever happens in the next 20-40 years.

A Pete Buttigieg nomination might worry many pollsters. But we should balance those worries against the vastly deeper concerns of another Trump presidency. A gay president may not be what middle-of-the-road, family oriented voters want; but if those voters are going to support Trump anyway -- even fathoming voting for Trump -- we already are in a bad spot. I'll take a gay, Iraqi war veteran and Harvard graduate any day over Trump.

I have personal doubts about a Kamala Harris nomination. But a curious alternative would be Michelle Obama. With name recognition and spouse to an honest statesman and former president, her nomination would resonate with many voters angling to steady the ship -- that is, voting into The White House a known quantity without Trump's disruptive and antagonizing habits.

Flexibility will distinguish the Democrats

Anyone in corporate America will tell you that great leadership is flexible -- you have to be, because the one certainty in the future is that you don't know what's going to happen.

In the face of all the uncertainty in coming years, the GOP is inflexible with its nominee -- President Donald Trump. The GOP is not going to change candidates, even if polls indicate that voters neither like him nor Biden. The reason: because, dangerously, President Trump has taken over the GOP.

Meanwhile, the Democrats should project flexible and imaginative leadership by downgrading the Biden nomination and bringing in fresh faces for replacing Biden.

July 13, 2024

[lonelygamedev]

Devlog 10: Iteration Part 2

So...  been quite busy. I started a trello board for projects I started but never finished. books. programming projects. 3d art projects  video games etc and each month I would try to complete a small amount of projects before I start new one’s and due to trying to finish a few projects I haven’t had enough time to work on the zombie game. after a month or 2 I finally have time and been trying to get into the swing of it. mostly small changes at first but later on some bigger changes. My goal was to add more Depth without adding complexity. Basically Complexity is like the amount of and input’s you have where as depth is the amount you can do with those input’s. which is something I felt like was lacking. The only input I added was a left shift key for healing yourself with a expansive item. Which was a really good idea. allowed for resource management, preparation and longer fight’s. But how to add more depth to the combat? well sorta just thinking I noticed that there aren’t really much choices to the weapons. they sorta just do damage. and other’s might damage enemy armor and while trying to think of a solution to this. I came across the concept of “rock. paper. scissor it“. a piece of advice given out by something called “mental checkpoint“ in a video by “butWhyLevin“. I don’t really watch most of them but it sounded like a good Solution to my game. Basically you make enemys weaker against some attacks more then other’s. Alot of combat system’s do this. from Elemental systems in JRPG’s. Doom’s guns. and DOA fighting system(which if i remember correctly from my brother is very similar). and this means I have more reason to add a variety of guns other then “it shoots really fast“. It allows for experimentation and active thinking when buying. Another thing that I also thought was a good idea was Different Enemy states. so far there is just ‘Knockback‘ and ‘Execution‘. but I wanted more. eventually i came up with 4. ‘Stun‘, stops the enemy for a bit. ‘Stagger‘ which sends the enemy and stops them for a bit. ‘KnockBack‘ which sends the enemy flying. putting all other’s that hits it into a stagger state. and when ended leads to a ‘Knockdown state‘ which is basically just the execution. now the problem comes from adding all theses ideas sense the original health system didn’t allow for attacks with names and was extremely messy. So I had to remove it and Do it all again. adding a new enemy state one at a time and organize it to allow for more variations. that way a Gun enemy responses to a shotgun blast is different then a zombie Right now I got the states finish. With that done I started slowly but surely experimenting Aside from health. Enemies been bugging me with how they moved. They where extremely indecisive. Eventually I created “weights“ which decides why a enemy would go to a point. Like if it as enemys or not. or if it’s close/behind the player. And when standing still it allowed for really cool Behavior. Such as  two gun enemies teaming up for a flank on both sides. But when moving it was just indecisive. 5 feet in a different direction would just make 2 enemies go “Oh I want to be on the other side!“ instead of committing to a plan. and I couldn’t find a way around it for awhile. Around the same time I decided to join the brackeys game jam for another failed project. But for the game I decided to try out Finite state machines for the first time. And I quite enjoy them for how simple compared to behavior trees. and where alot more easy to write. But the tutorial I used also had a method for changing a variable in another class. the person used to change to different states. After that failed I went back to the zombie project and looked at the code. I hated the fact that some behaviors have to contain a reference to a specific class so I can’t reuse the code. So with the new found knowledge of being able to find a variable and change it. I begin to add some new nodes for changing any boolean. int. float etc and see if they’re in a specific state. Another change I made was put movement into it’s own script outside of the AI. with all this I begin changing the entire A.I. getting the zombies to work was easy. The shotgun guy..well that took alot of work. But with a new start I was able to fix alot of the indecisive behavior and flaws. one of which was gun enemies mixing into the crowd. Which I was able to fix by it checking whether or not enemies was nearby and if they where. they move to a point far away. Through I cannot remember how I fix the indecisive. but point is I did it and now the shotguns are actually a danger After that it took quite some time fixing up the enemies(Or I was lazy). during the mean time I still felt like something was missing. Eventually out of random I decided to up the speed of the zombies and the game was instantly alot more fun. It was alot more intense and force me to think and act faster. but thing’s could use a little polish

[dazais-guardian-angel]

BSD is ultimately a hopeful story, about characters healing and finding their reason to live, and a place to belong. Outside of exceptions in the light novels, this applies almost every character in the main manga who isn't some sort of main antagonist (and even then there are exceptions, like Francis). Bram has lived a tired and lonely life for a very long time, ever since he lost his entire kingdom and his daughter somehow, and the story has set up the fact that he hasn't had any desire to live, any vested interest in the world all this time with the loss of said daughter — until he met Aya, who explicitly reminds him of her. He feels genuine care for her and worry for her, and he wants to be her knight, and sees her as his princess; she is his new reason to keep living. Before knowing her, he might have been fine with giving in to Fyodor taking over his body, but that certainly won't be the case anymore. If he's still in there, he's going to keep fighting, to get back to Aya, his new daughter, and I fully expect it to happen. It only makes sense that it will, with the series' track record, and the message it wants to send.

I have a strong suspicion that the flashback with Fyodor in Bram's castle isn't over yet, and that in the upcoming chapter(s) we're going to find out that Fyodor was somehow responsible for Bram losing everything he held dear. If that's the case, it would make perfect sense why he would jump at the chance to kill Fyodor at the request of the ADA, and maybe even was willing to join the DoA in the first place in hopes that he could one day get his revenge (so he obviously must not have known how Fyodor's ability works, but I think his "I see" in his last moments when he felt something was him putting 2 and 2 together, realizing how Fyodor seemingly came back to life back then even though he was supposedly killed). And it would give him even more of a reason to want to fight to get his body back: to return to Aya, and to get vengeance on the rat who destroyed his life and separated him from his daughter twice.

Also think it's very important to remember that Aya is named after an author, even though she does not have an ability, and that abilities usually form after some sort of trauma. Irl Aya's history is vaguely similar to BSD's Aya's: she lost her mother and sister at a young age, and a reoccurring theme in her works, many of which are memoirs, are her feelings of inferiority as she was growing up in comparing herself to them and her aunts, brought about by her demanding father. None of the names really jump out at me (not that the book names ever have much to do with the abilities/characters aside from a few lol), except for the title of one of her memoirs, called "Father's Death". If Aya was ever going to awaken an ability, I can't think of a more appropriate time for it to happen than now. And if it does, it's likely that said ability will play a major role in taking Fyodor down, and bringing Bram back to her — after all, Jouno originally entrusted Aya with being Fukuchi's undoing precisely because he knew he would underestimate someone as unassuming and "weak" as a random little girl (and look where that led him!); why wouldn't that happen again with Fyodor underestimating her? He took her new father — her real father — away from her: he has absolutely no idea what kind of enemy he just made. Aya doesn't go down without a fight, she never gives up, she is a threat, and Fyodor isn't going to see that threat coming, because he underestimates the power of bonds and the power of "ordinary" people, just like Dazai talks about in Meursault. He made an enemy out of her, and he made an even stronger existing enemy out of Bram, and they will fight their hardest to get back to each other. Bram's return will be all the more satisfying and emotional after all he has to overcome to achieve it, and how much he's changed thanks to Aya's presence in his life. :')

so i know like nothing about character analysis but i'm almost 100% sure that bram is alive BECAUSE

he just got his body back, and it would be strange to set that up for such a long time and then to only use it for bram to kill fyodor

asagiri is a coward when it comes to killing characters

he keeps having these flashbacks when he's with aya to someone we assume is his daughter, and it makes zero sense for the manga to set something up with that only to discard it

bram is immortal: if fyodor dies in this body then chances are he's getting it back, as his ability can apparently revive the dead by infecting them with it (see akutagawa) and he's kinda infected with his own ability

[kryoymir]

I dunno if anyone noticed but I didn't do the update this Monday. This is mostly because I changed my work schedule and I don't actually work Mondays anymore, which is usually when I would do it. Instead I went to a very boring meeting and then went out to lunch with a couple people above me in the company.

I don't have any news to share on the album, mostly because I had other things cooking all week that weren't related. Instead, I asked around and had some friends and family give me questions to answer. So I compiled them all here.

Q: What made you want to start music?

This is the quintessential question for all musicians, I think, and the one that I get asked the most. In middle school, I discovered some early Groundbreaking music that really spoke to me. It was super inspiring for me because electronic music wasn't all that much on my radar at the time aside from some bands that incorporated elements of it, but at the time I had never been exposed to something to heavily focused on electronics that I enjoyed to the degree that I did. I started doing some research into it and downloaded my first DAW, and from there it kinda blossomed into a passion.

Q: What's your inspiration for your music?

This is one I get I feel maybe a little more often than other musicians might, and for pretty good reason. My music has evolved into something that is vastly different from what I usually listen to in my free time, which leads a lot of people I know personally to ask what inspires it. And the truth is, I dunno! There's not a whole lot that I can point to and be like "I wanted to do this but in my own version".

Q: What genre do you think your music falls under?

I wanna be cool and say something like "I don't really indentify with a genre" or say I'm 'post-genre', but in reality the most succinct way to describe it is as synthpop.

Q: Can you play any instruments?

Uhh kind of. I have a passing familiarity with keyboard/piano and have taken enough guitar lessons that I do have a fairly decent technical knowledge, but I'm not good enough at either to incorporate it into my music aside from very, very rarely.

Q: Is there a piece you're proudest of?

As far as covers go, there's a few I continue to be impressed with. One-Winged Angel, Hyrule Castle, and Guilty Hero stand out in my opinion. With my original music, there's usually one major standout on each album, and they're normally the singles- if a song is released as a single I'm probably really proud of it. But to name a few, Light It Up!, Luminary, Between Dreams, and DOA are probably some of my favorites. And, not to hype myself up too much, but I'm really excited for the new album. Conversely, there's some that I've grown to dislike and almost regret putting out in the first place. The biggest one that comes to mind is Neverending Memory.

Q: Do you have a process?

No. Not one that's set in stone, anyway. It varies a lot from song to song but most often starts with me writing a melody I like and then building on it from there. I've started with a baseline, a beat, or once the breakdown and then I reverse-engineered how I wanted the rest of the song to sound from there.

Q: Have you ever written vocal music?

Yes! I have been in two bands where I was the primary lyricist but neither produced enough music to release it. I do still occasionally write lyrics and have plans to begin voice training in the future but for the moment I am sticking with instrumental music.

Q: Do you listen to your own music?

In my humble opinion, every musician should listen to their own music. I largely believe the first and most important target audience for any creative should be themselves. You should make media that you enjoy, and would willingly consume, which is why I do, in fact, listen to my music from time to time.

Q: How do you occupy your non-musical free time?

I'm an avid weeb and have been gaming a decent amount lately. I just finished the Dead Space remake, and am reading a large amount of Junji Ito manga I recently acquired. Some other hobbies of mine include cooking.

Okay, that's all the questions I got. If you've got any you would like asked you can either reply to this post or submit them. News on the new single coming soon.

[jackjolene]

BioShock/Sinking City/Vampyr: The Return to Rapture

In summer of 1969, Jack, Liz, Tenenbaum, Porter, and Eleanor bid farewell to Masha, Leta, Sally, Daisy, Annabelle, Charles, Joy, and their friends before boarding the Mary Catherine and departing for Rapture. The second expedition to Rapture is larger in scope and in goal. The first expedition was meant to simply find and rescue the kidnapped little girls. This time around, a small fleet of vessels accompanies the Mary Catherine, their captains and crews paid well to keep quiet about their goal: To rescue the survivors of Rapture itself.

Their Forward Operating Base (FOB) will be Minerva’s Den; it is an ideal place thanks to its disconnection from Rapture and to its lack of splicers, courtesy of Porter. Hopefully, they will find it already set up as a base for them and with allies waiting for them.

Subject Sigma, Porter, wasn’t the only Alpha Series Big Daddy that Tenenbaum thawed out. There was another one, unique in that their designation wasn’t a Greek letter, but the name of a Greek deity: Subject “Artemis”.

While Delta was tearing through Sofia Lamb’s Family to get to Eleanor and Porter was working his way through Minerva’s Den, Subject Artemis was aiding Tenenbaum in rescuing Little Sisters and taking ADAM from the Family. In fact, Tenenbaum was able to make a unique Gene Tonic, “Master Protector”, for Porter from the ADAM Artemis took.

Prior to picking up Porter from his office in Minerva’s Den, Tenenbaum gave Artemis a mission to perform until she returned to Rapture with the ADAM cure: To do anything and everything to prepare for their return. The main directive of this was to find every unspliced survivor in Rapture and get them to Minerva’s Den for easy rescue. Also, Artemis was to gather supplies for them: Food, first aid kits, ammunition, ADAM, anything they or the survivors might need.

While the unspliced survivors are evacuated from Minerva’s Den to the Mary Catherine and the other ships waiting above, the five of them (Jack, Liz, Porter, Eleanor, and Artemis) will scour through the unflood buildings of Rapture for the Splicers. This time around, they will be utilizing non-lethal tactics to allow them to cure the splicers with SERPENT and then take them back to Minerva’s Den for evacuation to the surface. Once they’ve cured every remaining splicer in Rapture and evacuated every living person, Jack will activate the self-destruct from Ryan’s office and they’ll finally put his dream to rest as they rise to the surface.

Upon arriving at the Lighthouse, the Mary Catherine‘s radar and sonar systems pick up that Rapture’s defense system is still active (top of the line tech for Jolene Industries!), which makes using their new submersible to go directly to Minerva’s Den a DOA. With that little hiccup in their plan, it’s decided that they’ll go down the same way Jack did when he arrived in 1960, via the bathyspheres at the Lighthouse. 

After a lengthy argument with Tenenbaum that she should wait on the Mary Catherine until they’ve disabled Rapture’s torpedoes (and also instructing the crew to not let Tenenbaum anywhere near the NEW submersible), Jack and Co. retrace his original steps into Rapture and descend via a bathysphere. 

Andrew Ryan’s old introductory speech starts up just as before. About ten seconds into it, Eleanor tears the projector out of the wall. Everyone applauds. 

 When they arrive at the Welcome Center, Jack and Liz find that not much has changed in Rapture, other than it has decayed further and the banners that declared “No Gods or Kings, only Man” and “The Great will not be constrained by the small” have been torn down and replaced with graffiti that “Babylon is Fallen” and “We will be Reborn in the Cold Womb of the Ocean”. Even these though, are showing signs of neglect.

As they make their way through the Welcome Center (they have to make the hole in the Kashmir Restaurant’s restroom bigger for Porter to squeeze through), they find that it’s quiet, not the good kind of quiet. And the bodies, well, fresh bodies that they come across look like they’ve been torn apart by some kind of large animal.

In the Medical Pavilion, they find that a new kind of monster has moved in to replace Dr. Steinman’s madness. This creature is unlike anything they’ve ever seen, even in Rapture, like a Human candle whose skin and features have melted away to almost nothing, multiple octopus tentacles lining the arms, legs, back, and even protruding from their mouth and other orifices. Dr. Steinman would have been elated by the lack of symmetry.

Upon sensing them (it can’t see them as its eyes sockets boast tentacles instead of eyes), it attacks, its cry a horrible, wet, garbling sound. Despite her horror, Eleanor has enough presence of mind to freeze the creature’s feet to the floor to immobilize it and then shoot it with a dart of SERPENT. Rather than curing it, however, the SERPENT acts like an acid instead, dissolving the mutated splicer and killing it.

Moving on after a moment of processing, Jack and Co. move on, hoping that there’s nothing like this ahead of them. It goes unspoken, but everyone knows they’re not that lucky. 

It doesn’t take long before they’re fighting for their lives against more of the things. The old types of splicers (Thugs, Leadheads, Spiders, Houdinis, and Nitros) have been replaced by new and far more horrifying kinds: Octopus, Crab, Fish, and some that are beyond classification. The one thing they all have in common is that they’re incredibly animalist, vicious, and brutal, and they’re out for blood.

The SERPENT darts are effective at killing the Mutants (”Splicers” doesn’t really cut it anymore) in one shots, but the dart guns can only kill with one shot. They left their guns on the Mary Catherine, and while their plasmids are effective, more and more of the creatures just keep on coming. Just when it looks like Jack and Co. are about to overrun and killed, aid arrives.

Gunfire interrupts the creatures advance as another Big Daddy enters the room, blazing away with a huge machine gun in one hand and its other using Incinerate! like a flamethrower. At its sides are two others who seem to wield some sort of teleportation plasmid, but nothing like the Houdini splicers. While the Big Daddy bulldozes his way through the Mutants, the other two prefer a more tactical approach. They select their targets, dart in, deal damage with either various melee weapons or guns, dart back out, dodge their targets attacks, repeat, occasionally mixing it up with strange plasmids that seem based on shadow or blood.

Between Jack, Liz, Porter, Eleanor, the new Big Daddy, and the two splicers(?), they are able to repel the Mutants and get to safety. Introductions are in order: Jack and Elizabeth Jolene, Charles Milton Porter, and Eleanor Reed give their names. The two newcomers introduce themselves as “Dr. Jonathan Reid” and “Lady Elizabeth Ashbury” (for all the plasmids they have, the closest thing that says “splicer” is the discoloration of the man’s eyes (slightly bloodshot)). The Big Daddy is none other than Subject Artemis.

When Eleanor hears Dr. Reid’s name, she recognizes it from her father’s memories. Back in the late 1800s, an Englishman with the surname Reid married “beneath his station” and then left for America rather than deal with his family’s criticism and High British society’s disdain. Somewhere along the way, the “i” in Reid was exchanged for a second “e”, making it “Reed”. 

Right after World War I, back when it was the “Great War” or the “European War”, the Reeds in America learned about a member of their family back in Britain, a “Dr. Jonathan Emmet Reid”, who had disappeared shortly after arriving back in London during a particularly bad stretch of the Spanish Flu. Charles had wanted to honor a family member who was also a veteran of the First World War, and thus, “Jonathan Emmet Reed” had gotten his name.  

Despite noticing Dr. Reid’s reaction to her (adopted) surname, Eleanor decides it’s best to hold off investigating possible familial relations. Besides, he can’t be “the” Dr. Jonathan Reid; that was forty years ago!

Dr. Reid and Lady Ashbury explain that they were investigating the origin of a Big Sister that was killed in London. The trail led them to Rapture, where they arrived shortly before Tenenbaum, Porter, and Eleanor escaped themselves. Having lost the chance to get out with them, Reid and Ashbury elected to help out Artemis with preparing for their return.

A little while afterwards, a man by the name of “Orrin Oscar Lutwidge” arrived in Rapture. From what they’ve learned of the man, he aided Andrew Ryan in building Rapture and keeping it a secret, only to become incensed when Ryan didn’t allow him to take up residence. He managed to come to Rapture by himself, only to find in the midst of its Civil War. He left prior to Jack’s own arrival, but has returned.

The first thing Orrin did was to bring order to the splicers by giving them ADAM from the corpse of Dr. Alexander “Alex the Great” Gilbert. With the former members of the Rapture Family now in his thrall, he sent them out to gather the bounty of Rapture for himself, so that he could bring its technological advances to the surface and make a fortune.

Something was greatly wrong with that ADAM, however. The splicers who took the ADAM from Alex the Great’s corpse became more and more aggressive, insane, and finally animalistic, their bodies mutating further into the monstrosities they’ve faced just now. Most splicers have become these Mutants, leaving few original splicers and unspliced individuals alive. The final de-evolution of Rapture has arrived.

Liz has an “episode” right there, just like when she was in Rapture trying to save Sally: A gothic city, its streets a confusing maze of twists and turns, its citizens either turned into slavering monsters or hiding in their homes in terror. A masked figure wearing a tricorn hat and armed with strange weapons is the only one to stand against the monsters in the end.

When Liz’s episode ends, she apologizes as Jack gives her a bandage to wipe off the blood leaking from her nose. She can’t help but notice Dr. Reid and Lady Ashbury’s eyes flicking to her nose before quickly looking away, an odd look like hunger in their eyes.

Orrin Lutwidge has sequestered himself in Arcadia. To protect himself from the Mutants, he has enlisted the services of the “Diamond Partners”, a group of veterans from the Rapture Civil War. They were part of Sinclair Solution’s “Home Consumer Rewards Program”, testing “products” for “home defense” during the war. The best of the best, they banded together after the war to work for the highest bidder. Right now, the highest bidder is Lutwdge and he’s getting out of Rapture, one way or another.

When Eleanor asks about the Big Sisters, she learns that after Sofia Lamb’s disappearance and the dissolution of the Rapture Family, the Big Sisters just up and left. They seem to have withdrawn into the old Little Sister’s Orphanages; anyone who goes into them, unspliced, spliced, or Mutant, is never seen again. Sometimes, they are heard though, screaming very briefly.

Thankfully, Subject Artemis, Dr. Reid, and Lady Ashbury have been largely successful in rescuing the unspliced survivors and escorting them to the safety of Minerva’s Den. There, they’ve gathered food, weapons, ammunition, first aid kits, and enough ADAM to splice an army. 

Funnily enough, the Robotic Little Sisters from McClendon’s Robotics in Minerva’s Den have been great for that last job. Unlike the mindless Bouncers, Rosies, Rumblers, and Lancers, Alpha Series Big Daddies are perfect for this; they don’t need to be bonded to the Little Sister to protect them, and thus, the Little Sister doesn’t need to a little girl at all.

Right now, they all need to get to Andrew Ryan’s Office to shut off Rapture’s defenses. Otherwise, their evacuation is going to go very slowly. Also, they need Tenenbaum to come down and figure out how to alter SERPENT to be able to cure this new kind of ADAM, or make an entirely new cure altogether. 

The good news is that Dr. Reed has been studying the new ADAM and has a good understanding of how it works and what they need a cure to be able to do. The bad news is that they don’t have much time; the Mutants are constantly evolving, and how long will it be until they develop fully-functioning gills and are able to leave Rapture without the aid of a submersible?

[infjsnightmare]

How You Met: Rats in the House of the Dead + DOA Style

***SPOILER ALERT*** Manga spoilers

A/N: Back at it again! Spoiler alert for this one, since it contains manga-only characters. Also, I will be including the last two mentioned members of the DOA in separate editions since one of them thematically is a bit more difficult to write for and the other one will fall into a different group for their edition. I mashed the Rats and the DOA together because neither had very many characters. I also didn't include Pushkin since we don't get much of his story, although if there is anyone particularly interested in him, I could write him in the extras. More brief author's notes under the cut for those who don't mind spoilers.

Spoiler A/N: Bram Stoker will likely be included in the extras since I will have to write it for him being pre-impailed, so I'm thinking something victorian or gothic stylistically. "Kamui" will be included in the Hunting Dogs edition for obvious reasons, so he does not appear in this one. So, here we go?

Fyodor: The top shelf. Of course that's where the canned peas you needed were. You'd been staring down the cans for at least 5 minutes now, wrestling with your pride about whether or not you should climb the shelf in the supermarket. Your eyes began to glaze over in thought, but you were brought out of it by a low hum to your right. A tall, pale man stood there beside you. He must have been watching for a good few minutes, too. The second he saw your eyes turn to his direction, he put on a honey-sweet smile and it had to have been the fakest one you'd ever seen. Your eyes narrowed as his slender arm moved past you to reach up and grab the can for you. Except... he put it in his cart and began to walk away, leaving you incredulous. Just then, he stopped, tilting his head to look over his shoulder at you. A devilish smirk had taken root on his face.

"Oh my, did you need one, too?"

Ivan: The cafe you frequented was crowded during the lunch-time rush, but you were lucky to have gotten there early, finding a nice window seat. You'd been sipping your tea, eyes focused dreamily on the book in front of you. The romantic fantasy between two strangers, the air of mystery as lovers meet. The book was all that you could focus on to drown out the onslaught of customers and chatter around you. Suddenly there was a slight shadow blocking the light from the cafe. You looked up, seeing a slender man with long, angelic locks and the most serene expression of joy on his face. Your eyes scanned the porcelain cup on his hand, noticing the tag for the tea was the same as yours. When his pale lips opened to speak, the most pleasant voice rang through.

"Excuse me, but is this seat taken? There don't seem to be many open spots at this time of day."

Mushitaro: You were at the bookstore, perusing the shelves half-heartedly. You'd been bored at work and your colleague had mentioned picking up reading as a hobby. Except you had no idea where to start. You thought that maybe a mystery would keep you entertained but, beyond that, you were clueless. You saw a well dressed man in a suit with slicked hair sheepishly glancing through the mystery section, while carrying what looked like an occult-based novel. You must have looked as out-of-place as you felt, since his eyes kept wandering from the shelves back to you. You quickly snatched a random book from the shelf and turned to go check out. The man grabbed a book from an author named Yokomizo and haughtily replaced the one you had taken. He sighed dramatically, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

"If you insist on reading a mystery, you should at least make sure it is one of quality."

Sigma: You'd heard about the sky casino from the old lady at your grocery store a few days ago and thought that it might be a fun weekend trip with a few friends. So, here you were getting settled into your room before heading out to test your luck. You were wandering through the hallways for at least 10 minutes before you realized you were thoroughly lost. Your friends had already headed out together as you said you would stay behind to unpack some things. You wished you had gone with them when you had the chance. You hastened your pace as you looked around each corner for any indicator of where you should go. You quickly turned into another hallway, crashing headfirst into what may just be the most gorgeous man you'd ever seen. Your face flushed scarlet as you began an incoherent stream of "I'm sorry"s. He held his hands up to placate you, a warm smile on his face, framed by his silver and lilac hair.

"Don't worry at all. I should be the one apologizing. After all, I'm the manager. It's my job to make sure everyone is alright and here I am bumping into a customer."

Nikolai: You had just gotten done viewing the latest installment in the SAW horror movie franchise. You were jittery as you exited theater number 13. All the excitement had your nerves on fire. You enjoyed watching horror movies, but sometimes you wished your friends would agree to come with you. You threw your empty popcorn container in the trash can. Standing next to it was a super lifelike jester mannequin. It must have been, since it didn't move even a centimeter and the expression never changed. You were admiring how well made it was. It must be for a new movie coming out and you wondered what kind of movie it would be. But, it suddenly moved out of position and grabbed you, the white braid swaying behind the tall man as he smiled a maniacal grin. He let out a laugh similar to the doll jigsaw uses.

"I want to play a game!"

~After Note: You ran screaming as the man chased after you. You heard him apologizing profusely as he caught up behind you. You stopped to hear the man out as he explained that he had just wanted to get the attention of such a cute human bean. You couldn't stay mad as he bowed his head in apology with a playful wink and a mischievous smile.~

[the-bjd-community-confess]

Some of my first interactions with bjds were pretty bad… for some it might have deterred them from collecting. I started off on DOA but since I don’t use forums I got banned because I didn’t read the rules and tried to change my username. Second thing to happen was with my first artist doll I bought, it was a nightmare. I waited a year and a half with bad communication. When I would ask about it she was dismissive and then eventually asked me if I had even paid for the doll (which she found I did pay). It was frustrating because a big name doll customizer got theirs like 5 months before (same preorder). When she finally sent the doll, I got a message that it was delivered but to another person. USPS told me it was a duplicate tracking number. The artist refused to report it… so it makes me think she never actually sent it. So I lost out on $500. Then she had the nerve to send an email about buying her new doll sculpt, which was double the price. I obviously blocked her and deleted the email. I never reported it on transactions gone wrong because I’m new and she’s got a huge following and has been around for a long time. Anyways bad experiences… I’ve gotten every other doll I’ve ordered for the most part since. As for DOA… who needs that. The mods are a little petty and lack empathy. I prefer Instagram anyways.

~Anonymous

[b3crew]

REVIEW | "Life With an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated Into a Total Fantasy Knockout" | B3 - Boston Bastard Brigade

If you have to take a breath in-between saying a show’s title, it’s best to trim it. I know this is me being a broken record, but I need to point out that the English title of this series is actually LONGER than the original Japanese title. That show is Life With an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout, a new isekai series that takes a different spin on the usual tropes we’ve seen in the genre. And the good news: most of it works!

Based on the manga series of the same name, Life With an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated Into a Total Fantasy Knockout follows two childhood friends: Hinata Tachibana (Kent Ito) and Tsukasa Jinguji (Satoshi Hino). After a night of heavy drinking, Tachibana confesses that he wished he was a very beautiful woman, as his luck with the ladies is DOA. Enter the Goddess of Love and Beauty (Rie Kugimiya), who transports Tachibana and Jinguji to another world to be heroes. She also takes Tachibana, and switches his gender to that of a beautiful woman (M.A.O).

Not content with her interference, the Goddess of Love and Beauty puts a curse on the two friends, forcing them to have special feelings for one another. Thus the two friends — albeit awkwardly — set out to save the world so Tachibana can be a guy again. As the journey goes on, they cross paths with wannabe hero Schwartz von Liechtenstein Lohengramm (Kaito Ishikawa), the angry elf girl Telolilo Lilili Lu (Yukiyo Fujii), and others who either try to thwart or help with their plans.

The premise of Life With an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout may be seen as problematic, as it takes the concept of having one’s sex changed as the main joke of the series. On the surface, one can understand why some people might not laugh at such an ordeal. Fortunately, while Tachibana’s gender is central to the plot, it doesn’t necessarily revolve around it either. Quite the contrary, the series would rather focus on how both Tachibana and Jinguji evolve as comrades-in-arms and heroes during their journey.

Click here to read the rest of the review!

[tyrannosaurus-trainwreck]

It feels remiss to talk about Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog without at least tipping a hat to the absolutely amazing theory that Penny was an Evil League of Evil plant spying on Billy for Bad Horse the entire time.  Like, it’s just the perfect crack theory? 

So Penny’s kind of keeping tabs on repeated applicants, realizes that her undercover persona might have come to the attention of one of this year’s finalists, and writes in as DeadNotSleeping to get him monologuing on the subject.  Yes, Dr. Horrible has a sad, mumbly crush on her. 

So, how serious is he about getting into the League?  Serious enough to keep a critical heist going even when his crush keeps trying to talk to him?  Can he keep his shit together under pressure, maybe not tell a civilian he barely knows that he admires Bad Horse?  Maybe not psych himself up using his real name during an assassination with dozens of witnesses and a news crew?  Is he (ugh) actually committed to his whole “social change” thing, or nah?

Hammer showing up and giving her an opportunity to get close to a superhero is frosting on the cake, and she spends the rest of the show alternately baiting Horrible and making Hammer hang around with the unsexy and unfortunate, pretending to be a good person to impress her/keep up appearances and making an ass of himself in the process.

Nothing in the text reeeeeally contradicts it, either--she’d have to stay in character whenever she’s out in public if Dr. Stalker’s going to follow her around and hide in the bushes, and it’s not like it would be hard to fake her death after being injured in the explosion in the finale if her whole identity was easily ditched for a new one. 

Billy just kind of assumes she’s DOA, but Billy’s also been punched across the room and taken an exploding deathray to the face.  If she was a spy, she’d have known what was about to go down and armored up accordingly, and the point at which she ducks out of the Hammer-zone is right after he says something that spy!Penny would know is going to set Billy off. 

Instead of completely fleeing the scene--the homeless shelter Billy subsequently shoots up is only just opening, so it’s not like she couldn’t go package bedrolls or toiletries or whatever if she wanted away from Hammer--she just gets out of the probable blast radius and hangs back to watch it all play out.

Her “death” puts Horrible on the front pages, and his lack of remorse about the whole thing cements his commitment to supervillainy, landing him a spot in the League.  Penny spends a few months recovering from her shrapnel injuries, enjoys a well-earned vacation, and gets redeployed under another name.  And let’s face it--Horrible never bothered making anything like a real connection, so all she’d need to do would be change her style and deportment, and she could bring him his fucking coffee during meetings and he’d never recognize her.

[dumbbitchenergy17]

I’m Sorry (Part 4)

Summary- You are Michael’s vessel as you are Dean’s kid and letting him use you instead of your dad.

Dean x Daughter!Reader

Word count- 3862

Masterlist

It was an abandoned church people were hanging from chains, some crying others passed out from their wounds one man slowly bleeds in a goblet bound to a chair. Footsteps approach Michael healing a cut on the man bleeding Michael takes the goblet that is now full of blood and nods approvingly.

“A little of this… a little of that.” He pours some angel grace in and swirls it as it dissolves, “and," Michael forces the man’s mouth open and pours the blood down his throat. 

“Yes, good boy.” The man begins to choke and gasp before the vessel burns out. 

Michael frowns, “Hmm. Too much ‘that’. How disappointing.” He grabs the corpse and drags him over to a pile. All failed attempts bodies piled up with burned-out eyes and blood pouring from it. Looking over the line of people in chains he spins his knife

“Alright. Who’s next?”

In the bunker, Mary and Bobby look over weapons “Who goes to Duluth in October. Sure Michael didn’t touch down in Orlando?” Bobby says check over a handgun

Mary looks over at him “Jo was pretty specific. Duluth.”

Bobby sighs ”Yeah, well, angels ain’t exactly known for their veracity.” Mary clears her throat and looks behind Bobby, as Cas enters “No offense.” 

Cas nods ”None taken. I tend to agree with you.” Mary clicks the barrel back in handing it over to Sam who sits with his laptop. “Here you go.”

Sam nods scrolling through the police reports “Thanks” Footsteps cause every to look over at who entered and it was Dean holding a beer

“Hey Dean how are you.” Mary greets him everyone walking on eggshells.

“I’m fine do we have anything.” Dean sits across from Sam taking a sip.

“Uh yeah, so I’ve been searching through police reports in Duluth. Cops just turned up a pile of corpses that was dumped near some train tracks just north of town and their eyes were burnt out.” Sam explains tilting the screen toward everyone else.

“So Michael. We should go now.” Sam glanced over at Cas 

“No. This isn’t just Michael we’re talking about.” 

“It’s Y/n,” Dean stated

Sam nodded “Yeah. Cas, you know why you can’t come with us, right?”

Cas looked down upset he couldn’t help “My angelic presence would be sensed by Michael, thereby nullifying your hopes of a sneak attack.”

Sam gave him a pity smile “Yeah, sorry.”

“And, you need me to stay here and babysit Nick and Jack.” Cas frowns putting his hands in his coat.

“It’s not babysitting, Cas,” Dean responded sipping his beer.

Cas look over at Dean and frowned “Only in the sense that they’re not infants, but they both have to be supervised. Jack is lost without his grace, Nick is...he’s just a mess.”

“Well, it-it’s not his fault. Cas, Nick was housing, you know. He-he deserves a shot at rebuilding his life.” Sam defended Nick even though he did house Lucifer. 

“And yet every time I look at him, all I can see is the supreme agent of evil.” Cas retorted but frowns seeing Jack walk in feeling bad talking about a touchy-subject

“You’re talking about my dad again? Look, I understand. Being around Nick...it’s hard for me, too.” Jack says

Mary comes over placing a hand on his shoulder “Uh, Jack, we’re going to need you to sit this mission out. Not a permanent thing.” Jack nods

“I know last time, I sucked when it mattered, and I need to improve. So...that’s what I’m gonna do.” Sam stands up grabbing his gun

“Alright. Okay.” Sam looks over his family and rests on his brother who nods in return

“Let’s move.” When they arrived at the station they were taking into the morgue where multiple people laid on tables.

“These are just some of the victims. More are in the hall, a couple in a storeroom,” The coroner grimaced “we don’t usually see this kind of action in Duluth.”

Mary glanced over the other bodies “The injuries all pretty uniform?” The Coroner nodded handing Mary over a clipboard 

”Yep. The boys upstairs think maybe we’re looking at a spree killer.”

“If they were DOA, you have an ETA on TOD? Any sample DFA?” Bobby questioned, Sam quickly clears his throat, “DNA.”

The woman glanced at him and shook her head. “Uh, frankly we don’t even know the precise cause of death. I mean, there were the neck wounds of course, but there was also considerable internal trauma, so-” her phone goes off “Excuse me.” She gives a smile walking out.

“Yeah. Sure,” Dean nods and looking over at Bobby “DFA.” he smirked

“I’ve been fighting a friggin’ apocalypse for 15 years, my, FBI might be a little rusty.” Bobby countered.

Mary grabbed gloves “Let’s give them a quick once-over, see what they missed.” The brothers and Bobby pulled on gloves as well each going over to a body studying it.

“Angel kills for sure, and not grunts,” Bobby look at the distinctive burned eyes, “We’re talking 5-star smitings.”

“Knife slits in the throat, but it doesn’t appear they bled out.” Dean pointed out leaning the head back pointing to the scar.

“He kept these people alive for a while.” Mary said looking at the others Sam opens the mouth of one of the corpses 

“Maybe these people aren’t people. Looking at a vamp.” He presses against the gums fangs popping out.

“Same here.” Bobby said, “Me too.” Mary added.

“Why milk ‘em if he’s just gonna smite ‘em?” Bobby questioned. Dean glance at Sam “And why is an archangel hunting vampires in the first place?”

Sam went over to the Coroner’s office and knocked on the doorframe “Sorry. Excuse me. Um, did anyone come to claim or identify these bodies?”

The women nodded “Oh, yeah. A young lady. Said she heard about the killings on the morning news, thought she might know one of the victims.”

Dean leaned forward “And?”

She shook her head “She didn’t. Then she disappeared, never even gave us her last name.” Sam glances outside to the parking lot 

“Huh. Do you happen to have surveillance cameras outside?”

Back at the bunker, Jack is seated at the table in the main hall reading when Cas enters. “Looks like about...two centuries of biblical lore. Light reading.”

Jack looked up at the angel ”I’m researching how long it takes archangel grace to replenish.”

Cas sits next to Jack “Well, archangels being exceedingly rare, the data on that is woefully scant.” Jack points at a section “The books say it can take from a month to-”

“A century,” Cas cuts him off, “Yeah. Complicating factor being your human component, which slows the process,” He pauses, “Jack, um...mourning what you’ve lost...it’s wasteful. Might be smarter to focus on what you still have.”

“You don’t understand what I’m going through.” Jack frowned feeling dejected. 

Cas placed his hand on Jack’s shoulder “Yes, I do - a little. At the time of the Great Fall, when angels were banished from heaven, I lost what I thought was everything. I had no grace, I had no wings. I felt hopeless and useless.”

Jack looked up at the man he sees as a father-figure “What did you have left?” 

“Well, uh...well, I had Sam, Dean, and Y/n. But I had something else that was extremely helpful. I had myself. Just the basic me, as, uh...as Dean would say, without all the bells and whistles. You know, Sam and Dean, they weren’t born with their expertise. They’ve been at it since they were children. Failing, winning, developing over the years. And Dean had no idea how to raise a kid and Y/n is one of the smartest, bravest, human I have ever met. Patience, persistence - those are skills too. The past, where you come from, that’s important, but it is not as important as the future and where you’re going.” Cas explained thinking of all the times the brothers and he has gone through hell and back and helping Dean raising a child was one of the greatest accomplishments in his time on earth.

In a hotel, Michael looks at himself in the mirror smoothing out the wrinkles in the suit fixing the buttons. His reflection in the mirror changes from Michael to the Winchester daughter

“Get...Out.” She breathed out angrily.

“I don’t think so.” Michael smiles staring back at the girl in the mirror

“You can’t.” She cried

The archangel grins “Oh, but I can. Because see,” Michael punches the mirror, and Y/n is gone he smirks smoothing out his vessel’s hair,

“I own you. So hang on, and enjoy the ride.”

In a cheap apartment in Duluth, a young woman lies in her bed but is interrupted by pounding on the door.

“Yes?” She calls out.

“Lydia Crawford, this is the FBI. Open up.” Sam call out Lydia looks terrified and tries running for the window while Sam keeps pounding on the door

“Open up!” Sam yells again. Dean breaks down the door and rushes in gun drawn with Sam right behind him, with Mary and Bobby following.

“Hey! Stop!” Dean yelled.

“Get away from me!” She cries trying to put as much distance between her and the Winchesters.

“Don’t move. We know who you are. We know you went to the morgue.” Sam threatened his gun pointed at her.

“We saw your license plate on the security cams and pulled your address. You should’ve ditched the car when you first got turned. Made this way too easy.” Bobby commented Lydia look at the four of them

”You’re not FBI. You’re hunters.”

“That’s right.” Dean nodded and begins to pull out a knife

”I haven’t done anything wrong!” Lydia exclaimed.

“No, vampires never do.” Bobby replied sarcastically

“My nest, we - we fed on animal blood,” Sam paused and lowering his gun and Dean lowered the knife, “We lived quiet lives, until...until she came.” Lydia explained still shaken from the incident.

“She? She who?” Sam asked

Lydia shook her head “I don’t know her name, but...she was strong. She tied all of us up and one by one she’d take blood from us. I couldn’t see what she was doing, exactly, but every time there would be this explosion, and my friends would be dead. When she was coming for me, a couple of the others tried to att- tried to attack her. I was able to get away, but...they didn’t make it.” She started tearing up at the memory.

“Why was she killing you? Did she say?” Sam questioned

“I don’t think she meant to. It-it’s just that...things seemed to go wrong. She wasn’t killing, it was like...it was like she was experimenting.” Lydia said 

“Experimenting? What for?” Dean asked Lydia frowned

“That’s - that’s all I know.”

“Okay,” Bobby nods grabbing his own blade, and advances to Lydia, “Nice chattin’ with ya.”

Lydia presses herself further into the wall holding her hands up ”Wait! Wait! I-I don’t know what she wanted, I-I don’t know who she was, but I do know where she is. If - if you let me go.” Dean and Sam look at each other having a silent conversation.

The door opens in and in walks Michael and a woman.

“Thank you. Oooh, Very elegant. But then, so are you. I didn’t expect you to be interested in this side of the spectrum.” She giggles

Michael chuckled leading her into the room “Yeah… Thanks for showing me around,” He uncorks some wine and pours them both a glass, “I didn’t realize there was so much going on in...where are we again?”

“Duluth.” She answered taking a sip of her wine.

Michael nodded “Of course. Nothing like where I’m from.”

The woman hummed “What’s it like in your hometown?”

“Hmm. Empty. Windswept. Dead bodies lying around.” Michael shrugged taking a sip of his drink. 

She chuckled “You’re so funny. What a nice surprise, meeting you. I bet you were wondering what I was doing, all by myself in that bar tonight.”

Michael smirked “I’m pretty sure I know exactly what you were doing in that bar tonight.”

The woman smiled setting her glass down “Oh, Michael. I am so not that girl.” she walked closer to Michael

“But you really are, aren’t you?” The woman wrapped her arms arounds around her neck

“You’re terrible.” She sighed. His vessel smiled showing off a dazzling smile

“You have no idea.” The woman giggled moving her face closer to the young Winchester and her eyes flash green and her teeth come out ready to bite what should have been an unsuspected victim. Michael grabs her by the throat as his vessel’s eyes glow blue.

“Did you honestly think I didn’t know what you are?” Michael lifts her off the floor choking her as she trashes in his arms, “You think you picked me? I picked you.” Michael throws her across the room and turns over to take a sip of wine and turns back to her still on the floor.

“Now, summon your master.”

Still in Michael’s room he hands a glass to a man seated next to the woman from earlier.

“You first.” The man points to his glass.

“One hundred-year-old cognac. Strong notes of vanilla and apricot,” He takes a sip, “and zero notes of silver.” The man also drinks “I appreciate you accepting my invitation.” Michael crosses one of his knees over the other.

“Yes, well, the ever-tactful Melanie,” he nods over to the woman, “thought a refusal might be unwise. She thinks you’re a god.” 

Both of them chuckle “An archangel with a decent vessel. But close.”

The man nods “And I’m the leader of a werewolf pack. Why on earth would an archangel care about us? About me?”

Michael smiles swirling his drink “I admire you. Eating on the run, surviving, despite being stalked by those venal humans, who think of you as nothing but vermin.”

The man leaned forward “My pack has survived and prospered for centuries, despite the humans.”

“Yes, well, I’m new to town, and from my perspective, the real monsters of this world, the ones that cheat, cover, lay waste to this planet, are the humans. Who made them top dog? Pardon the pun.” Michael explained taking a drink of the cognac.

“God, I suppose.” He questioned

“God who? Between us, Phillipe, God’s on permanent vacation. Gone fishing. Demons and angels don’t seem to be much of a factor here, so, I’m in charge.” Michael smiled leaning back in the couch

“And what do you want from me?” The man we know as Phillipe asks.

“You and your kind, you are who you are. You kill, but not for sport, for trophies - to live. There’s a purity in that. Isn’t it time you had your due?” Michael explained waving his hand towards Phillipe.

Phillipe frowned confused “Our due?”

“There are ways to enhance your - let’s call them ‘talents’.” Michael points out. 

“And these ways are..” Phillipe waves his hand hoping he would explain.

“Fully tested. There were some misfires early, I will admit to that. But I have cracked the code.” Michael explains clapping his hands together.

“And now what? Do you propose we wage a way on the humans, keeping only as many of them alive as we need for slave labor and a steady food supply?” Phillipe laughs “Because I love that world, but believe me, it’s an absurd dream.” 

Michael smirks “Is it? Why be the hunt-'ed’, when you can be the hunt-'er’, hmm?” He smiles watching his plan slowly come together.

After Sam and the others had left with the information on Michael, Lydia rushed around her apartment frantically packing her stuff to leave. The sound of someone appearing and as she turns to grab another handful Michael is sitting at her table.

“Lydia..” Michael singsong. She freezes the items in her hands falling.

“I didn’t!”  Lydia defended

“Of course you did.” He laughed at her attempt to lie. “The hunters,” Michael stands up, “Why do you think I dumped your brothers and sisters in plain sight? Why do you think I let you escape?” He points at her watching her face fall.

“You let me escape?” She whimpered

“Rule number one: you can’t have a trap without bait,” He smirks walking past her, “That brings us to rule number two, which says once the trap has been sprung, you don’t need the bait anymore.” Michael’s eyes glow blue and Lydia scream as she is burned out. Her body hits the ground and Michael turns looking at it before leaving.

Back in the bunker Jack turns the corners of one of the halls with Cas following him

“Jack, what were you thinking. Taking that kind of risk?” Cas scolded him

“It wasn’t a risk.” Jack disagreed

“To-to go out there alone?” Cas sputtered “Jack, you have been on the radar of every angel and demon and power broker in creation since the day you were born and I’m sorry, but you’re not exactly yourself.” Cas followed Jack as they entered the war room and Jack turned around

“Weak and defenseless, you mean.” He stated

“I mean that the possibility of capture is real, yes.” Cas explained

“I heard what you were saying, Cas, about me finding out where I came from. I never knew my mother. I thought the next best thing might be for me to meet the only real family that I have left.” Jack confessed

“That is not-” Cas visibly reins in his frustration, “Well, did it help?” Cas sighed and Jack nodded “And you didn’t tell them who you were, did you?” Cas questioned

“Of course not.” Jack deadpanned “I...wanted to. I wanted to tell them I was their grandson. They thought I actually kinda looked like her?” Cas nods in agreement Jack smiles but it fades as he sits against the steps to the library, “I...couldn’t tell them that she died. They just love her so much. I know I should have.”

”What you did you did from a place of kindness. I suppose there are worse ways to be human than to be kind.” Cas reassured the Nephilim sitting across from him

“Have you heard from Sam and Dean? Did they find Michael?” Jack asked 

“Yeah, they think so.” He nodded

“So they’re going to try to kill him?” Jack stated Cas shook his head

“Uh, no. No, the plan is to subdue him using angel cuffs and spellwork. They have to get Michael out of Y/n.”

“And if he doesn’t leave?” Jack noted

“Then they’ll try to drive him out.” Cas responded.

“And if that doesn’t work?” Jack said getting upset

“Jack-” Cas started

“Cas, Michael has to be stopped.” Jack cuts him off

“I know, and he will be - after Y/n is-” Cas tries to reason with him

“No, Y/n doesn’t matter” shot Jack, “You’re all so focused on trying to save Y/n and I get it, I understand, but - if she can’t be saved, if it comes down to her or Michael - Michael has to be stopped. Caged, or killed-”

“And if that means that Y/n dies too?” Cas shouts

“Then Y/n dies.” Jack snaps, “I know this Michael. I’ve seen what he’s done to an entire world, and so have you. If stopping that from happening here means that Y/n has to die, then…” Jack and Cas both start at each other, “Do you think she’d want it any other way?” Jack stands up and walks away leaving Cas there with a choice.

Back in Duluth Sam, Dean, Mary, and Bobby enter the abandoned church Lydia told them.

“You think vamp-girl was lyin’ about Michael hanging out here?” Bobby asked looking around the place.

“Not sure why she would. I mean she has every reason to want him dead.” Dean states aiming his flashlight over in some dark corners

“She wasn’t lying about the slaughter happening here,” Mary called out her flashlight pointing to a stain on the floor, “whole lot of dried blood on the floor.” 

Sam walked further into the church “Why was he killing them? And what does she mean by ‘experimenting’?” He questioned.

Bobby shrugged “Don’t look like he’s here.” The stained glass windows shatter sending glass flying as werewolves break through them. “Werewolves!” Bobby yells and is then tackled by one.

Sam fires his gun at one coming towards Dean and it has no effect. “Silver bullets aren’t working! Nothing’s working!” He yells. 

Dean punches one of the werewolves “Son of a bitch!” Dean yells and is tackled by another and smashed into a bean. Mary is struggling against another as they both fall to the ground. A werewolves tries to go for Sam but he grabs his machete and decapitates one

“Well, that works.” Bobby yells and is punched by a werewolf. Dean pushes the one of him grabbing his machete and chops one of the heads off, Mary stabs the werewolf with one of her knifes but it has no effect and is shoved to the ground. Mary grab the small hatchet and began to chop at the werewolf before is falls to the ground. Bobby is pushed to the ground and before he is attacked Mary throws the hatchet into the werewolf’s back and Bobby decapitates it. Mary hears growling and turns and sees another werewolf but Dean decapitates it just as Sam kills the last one.

“Is everybody okay? Anyone get bit?” Sam pants out

“No.” Mary replies.

“I’m okay.” Bobby answers all of them grouping up again

“What the hell kind of werewolves were those?” Dean asked wiping the blood of his blade.

“Silver didn’t touch them.” Mary added Sam sighed all of them out of breath from these new monsters. A loud bang causes everyone to look towards the door as it opens revealing Michael, backlit in red light.

“Oh god.” Mary breathes out He slowly walks towards them raising his hand. Which she uses to grab a post and staggers into the light breathing heavily removing her cap as she does.

“Dad. It’s me.” You breathe out your voice shaking. Dean stares back at you tearing up. Dean rushes towards you as you knees give out and helps you sit down. Sam is sitting next to you with Dean in front of you.

“Y/n is it really you?” Dean asked looking over you

“Yeah, it’s really me.” You answer your hands are shaking trying to understand what was going on.

���Are-are you okay?” Sam questioned

“No, I’m not okay!” You yelled putting your face in your hands. Dean placed his hand on your knee making you look up at him.

“But you got Michael to leave.” Dean tried to reassure you that everything was ok.

But you shook your head. “No, I-I don’t...I didn’t.” You stated.

“What?” Bobby questioned looking at the younger Winchester. 

You look at your dad in fear, “He just - he just left.”

Dean squeezed your hands “Why?”

“I don’t know…” You shuddered, “I don’t know.”

[kookie-doughs]

Y/N L/N AND THE HALFBLOODS

Percy Jackson X Reader

-Y/N L/N met Percy Jackson and everything was now ruined.

CHAPTER 18: High-Key Want A Three-Headed Dog

We stood in the shadows of Valencia Boulevard, looking up at gold letters etched in black marble: DOA RECORDING STUDIOS.

Underneath, stenciled on the glass doors: NO SOLICITORS. NO LOITERING. NO LIVING.

It was almost midnight, but the lobby was brightly lit and full of people. Behind the security desk sat a tough-looking guard with sunglasses and an earpiece.

I turned to my friends. "Okay. You remember the plan."

"The plan," Grover gulped. "Yeah. I love the plan."

Annabeth said, "What happens if the plan doesn't work?"

"Don't think negative." Percy said.

"Right," she said. "We're entering the Land of the Dead, and I shouldn't think negative."

Percy took the pearls out of his pocket, the three milky spheres the Nereid had given us in Santa Monica. They didn't seem like much of a backup in case something went wrong. I had mine mixed up in there in case mine was rigged, Percy insisted upon it.

Annabeth put her hand on Percy's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Percy. You're right, we'll make it. It'll be fine."

She gave Grover a nudge.

"Oh, right!" he chimed in. "We got this far. We'll find the master bolt and save your mom. No problem."

"Don't worry Percy. We'll do this."

He looked at us, and smiled.

He slipped the pearls back in his pocket. "Let's whup some Underworld butt."

We walked inside the DOA lobby.

Muzak played softly on hidden speakers. The carpet and walls were steel gray. Pencil cactuses grew in the corners like skeleton hands. The furniture was black leather, and every seat was taken. There were people sitting on couches, people standing up, people staring out the windows or waiting for the elevator. Nobody moved, or talked, or did much of anything. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see them all just fine, but if I focused on any one of them in particular, they started looking... transparent. I could see right through their bodies.

The security guard's desk was a raised podium, so we had to look up at him.

He was tall and elegant, with chocolate-colored skin and bleached-blond hair shaved military style. He wore tortoiseshell shades and a silk Italian suit that matched his hair. A black rose was pinned to his lapel under a silver name tag.

Percy read the name tag, then looked at him in bewilderment. "Your name is Chiron?"

He leaned across the desk. I couldn't see anything in his glasses except my own reflection, but his smile was sweet and cold, like a pythons, right before it eats you.

"What a precious young lad." He had a strange accent—British, maybe, but also as if he had learned English as a second language. "Tell me, mate, do I look like a centaur?"

"N-no."

"Sir," he added smoothly.

"Sir," Percy said.

He pinched the name tag and ran his finger under the letters. "Can you read this, mate? It says C-H-A-R-O-N. Say it with me: CARE-ON."

"Charon."

"Amazing! Now: Mr. Charon."

"Mr. Charon," I said.

"Well done." He sat back. "I hate being confused with that old horse-man. And now, how may I help you little dead ones?"

Percy looked at me for support.

"We want to go the Underworld," I said.

Charon's mouth twitched. "Well, that's refreshing."

"It is?" I asked.

"Straightforward and honest. No screaming. No 'There must be a mistake, Mr. Charon.'" He looked us over. "How did you die, then?"

I nudged Grover.

"Oh," he said. "Um... drowned... in the bathtub."

"All four of you?" Charon asked. We nodded. I could see Annabeth wanted to face palm.

"Big bathtub." Charon looked mildly impressed. "I don't suppose you have coins for passage. Normally, with adults, you see, I could charge your American Express, or add the ferry price to your last cable bill. But with children... alas, you never die prepared. Suppose you'll have to take a seat for a few centuries."

"Oh, but we have coins." Annabeth set three golden drachmas on the counter, part of the stash we'd found in Crusty's office desk.

"Well, now..." Charon moistened his lips. "Real drachmas. Real golden drachmas. I haven't seen these in..."

His fingers hovered greedily over the coins.

We were so close.

Then Charon looked at Percy. That cold stare behind his glasses seemed to bore a hole through his chest. "Here now," he said. "You couldn't read my name correctly. Are you dyslexic, lad?"

"No," Percy said. "I'm dead."

Charon leaned forward and took a sniff. "You're not dead. I should've known. You're a godling."

"We have to get to the Underworld," Annabeth insisted.

Charon made a growling sound deep in his throat.

Immediately, all the people in the waiting room got up and started pacing, agitated, lighting cigarettes, running hands through their hair, or checking their wristwatches.

"Leave while you can," Charon told us. "I'll just take these and forget I saw you."

He started to go for the coins, but I snatched them back.

"No service, no tip." I said staring at him.

Charon growled again—a deep, blood-chilling sound. The spirits of the dead started pounding on the elevator doors.

"It's a shame, too," I sighed. "We had more to offer."

I held up the entire bag from Crusty's stash. I took out a fistful of drachmas and let the coins spill through my fingers.

Charon's growl changed into something more like a lion's purr. "Do you think I can be bought, godling? Eh... just out of curiosity, how much have you got there?"

"A lot," I said. "I bet Hades doesn't pay you well enough for such hard work."

"Oh, you don't know the half of it. How would you like to babysit these spirits all day? Always 'Please don't let me be dead' or 'Please let me across for free.' I haven't had a pay raise in three thousand years. Do you imagine suits like this come cheap?"

"You deserve better," I agreed. "A little appreciation. Respect. Good pay."

With each word, I stacked another gold coin on the counter.

Charon glanced down at his silk Italian jacket, as if imagining himself in something even better. "I must say, lad, you're making some sense now. Just a little."

I stacked another few coins. "I could mention a pay raise while I'm talking to Hades."

He sighed. "The boat's almost full, anyway. I might as well add you three and be off."

He stood, scooped up our money, and said, "Come along."

We pushed through the crowd of waiting spirits, who started grabbing at our clothes like the wind, their voices whispering things I couldn't make out. Charon shoved them out of the way, grumbling, "Freeloaders."

He escorted us into the elevator, which was already crowded with souls of the dead, each one holding a green boarding pass. Charon grabbed two spirits who were trying to get on with us and pushed them back into the lobby.

"Right. Now, no one get any ideas while I'm gone," he announced to the waiting room. "And if anyone moves the dial off my easy-listening station again, I'll make sure you're here for another thousand years. Understand?"

He shut the doors. He put a key card into a slot in the elevator panel and we started to descend.

"What happens to the spirits waiting in the lobby?" Annabeth asked.

"Nothing," Charon said.

"For how long?"

"Forever, or until I'm feeling generous."

"Oh," she said. "That's... fair."

Charon raised an eyebrow. "Whoever said death was fair, young miss? Wait until it's your turn. You'll die soon enough, where you're going."

"We'll get out alive," Percy said.

"Ha."

I could feel we weren't going down anymore, but forward. The air turned misty. Spirits around me started changing shape. Their modern clothes flickered, turning into gray hooded robes. The floor of the elevator began swaying.

Charon's creamy Italian suit had been replaced by a long black robe. His tortoiseshell glasses were gone. Where his eyes should've been were empty sockets—like Ares's eyes, except Charon's were totally dark, full of night and death and despair.

He saw me looking, and said, "Well?"

"Nothing," I said. "I never knew you could look cool dead."

I thought he was grinning, but that wasn't it. The flesh of his face was becoming transparent, letting me see straight through to his skull.

The floor kept swaying.

Grover said, "I think I'm getting seasick."

When I blinked again, the elevator wasn't an elevator anymore. We were standing in a wooden barge. Charon was poling us across a dark, oily river, swirling with bones, dead fish, and other, stranger things—plastic dolls, crushed carnations, soggy diplomas with gilt edges.

"The River Styx," Annabeth murmured. "It's so..."

"Polluted," Charon said. "For thousands of years, you humans have been throwing in everything as you come across—hopes, dreams, wishes that never came true. Irresponsible waste management, if you ask me."

Mist curled off the filthy water. Above us, almost lost in the gloom, was a ceiling of stalactites. Ahead, the far shore glimmered with greenish light, the color of poison.

Panic closed up my throat. What was I doing here? These people around me... they were dead.

Percy grabbed hold of my hand. Annabeth took my other free one. I knew she wanted reassurance that somebody else was alive on this boat.

I could hear Percy muttering a prayer, though I wasn't quite sure who I was praying to. Down here, only one god mattered, and he was the one we had come to confront.

The shoreline of the Underworld came into view. Craggy rocks and black volcanic sand stretched inland about a hundred yards to the base of a high stone wall, which marched off in either direction as far as we could see. A sound came from somewhere nearby in the green gloom, echoing off the stones—the howl of a large animal.

"Old Three-Face is hungry," Charon said. His smile turned skeletal in the greenish light. "Bad luck for you, godlings."

The bottom of our boat slid onto the black sand. The dead began to disembark. A woman holding a little girl's hand. An old man and an old woman hobbling along arm in arm. A boy no older than I was, shuffling silently along in his gray robe.

Charon said, "I'd wish you luck, mate, but there isn't any down here. Mind you, don't forget to mention my pay raise."

He counted our golden coins into his pouch, then took up his pole. He warbled something that sounded like a Barry Manilow song as he ferried the empty barge back across the river.

We followed the spirits up a well-worn path.

I'm not sure what I was expecting—Pearly Gates, or a big black portcullis, or something. But the entrance to the Underworld looked like a cross between airport security and the Jersey Turnpike.

There were three separate entrances under one huge black archway that said YOU ARE NOW ENTERING EREBUS. Each entrance had a pass-through metal detector with security cameras mounted on top. Beyond this were tollbooths manned by black-robed ghouls like Charon.

The howling of the hungry animal was really loud now, but I couldn't see where it was coming from. The three-headed dog, Cerberus, who was supposed to guard Hades's door, was nowhere to be seen.

The dead queued up in the three lines, two marked ATTENDANT ON DUTY, and one marked EZ DEATH. The EZ DEATH line was moving right along. The other two were crawling.

"What do you figure?" Percy asked Annabeth.

"The fast line must go straight to the Asphodel Fields," she said. "No contest. They don't want to risk judgment from the court, because it might go against them."

"There's a court for dead people?"

"Yeah. Three judges. They switch around who sits on the bench. King Minos, Thomas Jefferson, Shakespeare—people like that. Sometimes they look at a life and decide that person needs a special reward—the Fields of Elysium. Sometimes they decide on punishment. But most people, well, they just lived. Nothing special, good or bad. So they go to the Asphodel Fields."

"And do what?"

Grover said, "Imagine standing in a wheat field in Kansas. Forever."

"Harsh," Percy said.

"Not as harsh as that," Grover muttered. "Look."

A couple of black-robbed ghouls had pulled aside one spirit and were frisking him at the security desk. The face of the dead man looked vaguely familiar.

"He's that preacher who made the news, remember?" Grover asked.

"Oh, yeah." Percy said. "We'd seen him on TV a couple of times at the Yancy Academy dorm. He was this annoying televangelist from upstate New York who'd raised millions of dollars for orphanages and then got caught spending the money on stuff for his mansion, like gold-plated toilet seats, and an indoor putt-putt golf course. He'd died in a police chase when his "Lamborghini for the Lord" went off a cliff."

"Humans." I said rolling my eyes, "What're they doing to him?"

"Special punishment from Hades," Grover guessed. "The really bad people get his personal attention as soon as they arrive. The Fur—the Kindly Ones will set up an eternal torture for him."

The thought of the Furies made me shudder. I realized I was in their home territory now. Old Mrs. Dodds and Mrs . Rudolph would be licking her lips with anticipation.

"But if he's a preacher," Percy said, "and he believes in a different hell... ."

Grover shrugged. "Who says he's seeing this place the way we're seeing it? Humans see what they want to see. You're very stubborn—er, persistent, that way."

We got closer to the gates. The howling was so loud now it shook the ground at my feet, about fifty feet in front of us, standing just where the path split into three lanes was an enormous shadowy monster.

My jaw hung open. All I could think to say was, "He's a Rottweiler."

I'd always imagined Cerberus as a big black mastiff. But he was obviously a purebred Rottweiler, except of course that he was twice the size of a woolly mammoth, and had three heads.

"I thought he would've been a mastiff."

"Same..."

The dead walked right up to him—no fear at all. The ATTENDANT ON DUTY lines parted on either side of him. The EZ DEATH spirits walked right between his front paws and under his belly, which they could do without even crouching.

"I'm starting to see him better," Percy muttered. "Why is that?"

"I think ..." Annabeth moistened her lips. "I'm afraid it's because we're getting closer to being dead."

The dog's middle head craned toward us. It sniffed the air and growled.

"It can smell the living," I said.

"But that's okay," Grover said, trembling next to Percy. "Because we have a plan."

"Right," Annabeth said. I'd never heard her voice sound quite so small. "A plan."

We moved toward the monster.

The middle head snarled at us, then barked so loud my eyeballs rattled.

"Can you understand it?" I asked Grover.

"Oh yeah," he said. "I can understand it."

"What's it saying?"

"I don't think humans have a four-letter word that translates, exactly."

Percy took the big stick out of his backpack—a bedpost we'd broken off Crusty's Safari Deluxe floor model. He held it up, and tried to channel happy dog thoughts toward Cerberus—Alpo commercials, cute little puppies, fire hydrants.

"Hey, Big Fella," He called up. "I bet they don't play with you much."

"GROWWWLLLL!"

"Good boy," he said weakly.

Percy waved the stick. The dog's middle head followed the movement. The other two heads trained their eyes on Percy, completely ignoring the spirits. Percy had Cerberus's undivided attention. I wasn't sure that was a good thing.

"Fetch!" I threw the stick into the gloom, a good solid throw. I heard it go ker-sploosh in the River Styx.

Cerberus glared at me, unimpressed. His eyes were baleful and cold.

So much for the plan.

Cerberus was now making a new kind of growl, deeper down in his three throats.

"Um," Grover said. "Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"I just thought you'd want to know."

"Yeah?"

"Cerberus? He's saying we've got ten seconds to pray to the god of our choice. After that... well... he's hungry."

"Wait!" Annabeth said. She started rifling through her pack.

"Five seconds," Grover said. "Do we run now?"

Annabeth produced a red rubber ball the size of a grapefruit. It was labeled WATERLAND, DENVER, CO. Before I could stop her, she raised the ball and marched straight up to Cerberus.

She shouted, "See the ball? You want the ball, Cerberus? Sit!"

Cerberus looked as stunned as we were.

All three of his heads cocked sideways. Six nostrils dilated.

"Sit!" Annabeth called again.

I don't know why but petting this gigantic three headed dog would have made my bucket list complete. I walked up to Annabeth with Percy and Grover panicking behind.

"I want to pet him. Cerberus sit!"

"Sit!" Annabeth yelled.

Cerberus licked his three sets of lips, shifted on his haunches, and sat, immediately crushing a dozen spirits who'd been passing underneath him in the EZ DEATH line. The spirits made muffled hisses as they dissipated, like the air let out of tires.

I said, "Good boy!"

Annabeth threw Cerberus the ball.

He caught it in his middle mouth. It was barely big enough for him to chew, and the other heads started snapping at the middle, trying to get the new toy.

"Drop it.'" I ordered.

Cerberus's heads stopped fighting and looked at me. The ball was wedged between two of his teeth like a tiny piece of gum. He made a loud, scary whimper, then dropped the ball, now slimy and bitten nearly in half, at Annabeth's feet.

"Good boy." She picked up the ball, ignoring the monster spit all over it.

She turned toward the two. "Go now. EZ DEATH line—it's faster."

Percy said, "But—"

"Now.'" She ordered, in the same tone she was using on the dog.

"You should go too. I wouldn't mind."

"How are you sure he'll follow you?" Annabeth laughed.

"I had a dog you know. Real sweetheart. Pretty sure he'll be as cute."

Grover and Percy inched forward warily.

Cerberus started to growl.

"Stay!" Annabeth ordered the monster. "If you want the ball, stay!"

Cerberus whimpered, but he stayed where he was.

"What about you guys?" Percy asked us as we passed her.

Annabeth looked at me and nodded. "Y/N wants to pet him," she muttered. "I think she can handle him."

Grover, Annabeth and Percy walked between the Cerberus's legs.

I was tempted to make Cerberus sit to be honest.

When made it through. I said, "Good dog!"

I held up the tattered red ball. The ball was tattered and this is going to be the last trick.

"Cerberus, could you get closer to me?" I called hesitantly. All three heads leaned down.

Oh gods... Oh gods... I'm going to pet him... I reluctantly touched his head. His head leaned to my touch. "Good boy." I cooed petting each his head. He whimpered on my touch.  "Okay boy." I leaned my head against his middle one.

I threw the ball. The good boy's left mouth immediately snatched it up, only to be attacked by the middle head, while the right head moaned in protest.

While the monster was distracted, I walked under its belly and joined us at the metal detector.

"Bucket list solved." Annabeth and I fist bumped.

"How did you do that?" Percy looked at Annabeth and I, amazed.

"Obedience school," Annabeth said breathlessly, "When I was little, at my dad's house, we had a Doberman... ."

"I had D/N you knew that." I was surprised to see there were tears in her eyes. "I promise I'll play again!"

"Never mind that," Grover said, tugging at Percy's shirt. "Come on!"

We were about to bolt through the EZ DEATH line when Cerberus moaned pitifully from all three mouths. Annabeth and I stopped.

We turned to face the cutie which had done a one-eighty to look at us.

Cerberus panted expectantly, the tiny red ball in pieces in a puddle of drool at its feet.

"Good boy," Annabeth said, but her voice sounded melancholy and uncertain.

The monster's heads turned sideways, as if worried.

"I'll bring you another ball soon," Annabeth promised faintly. "Would you like that?"

The monster whimpered. I didn't need to speak dog to know Cerberus was still waiting for the ball.

"Good dog. I'll come visit you soon. I promise we'll come back." I turned to the others. "Let's go."

Grover and Percy pushed through the metal detector, which immediately screamed and set off flashing red lights. "Unauthorized possessions! Magic detected!"

Cerberus started to bark.

We burst through the EZ DEATH gate, which started even more alarms blaring, and raced into the Underworld.

A few minutes later, we were hiding, out of breath, in the rotten trunk of an immense black tree as security ghouls scuttled past, yelling for backup from the Furies.

Grover murmured, "Well, Percy, what have we learned today?"

"That three-headed dogs prefer red rubber balls over sticks?"

"No," Grover told me. "We've learned that your plans really, really bite!"

I wasn't sure about that. I thought maybe Annabeth and I had both had the right idea. Even here in the Underworld, everybody—even monsters—needed a little attention once in a while.

I thought about that as we waited for the ghouls to pass. I pulled Annabeth closer as she wipe a tear from her cheek as we listened to the mournful keening of Cerberus in the distance,.

"We'll come back..."

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