#eh maybe I'll attempt lining then another time

[sollyraptor]

|| Have more Turbo and (my first attempts at) King Candy this time too

Genuinely, I am too scared to line these- there is no ctrl+Z in traditional art. Help.

Oops lined and coloured these anyway. o×o

[the-meat-machine]

Hi. I'm rereading Playing House to refresh myself on it, and I decided to write some author's commentary as I go along, just for fun. This commentary will contain spoilers for the fic up to chapter 17 (the most recent chapter as of the time of writing).

So, yeah. Chapter 1 commentary, under the cut! (And for the record, I don't expect all the commentary to be as long as this one is; I just have a lot to say about the fic in general in this first one.)

CALIBORN: DIRK. WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY PANTS.

Ah, humble beginnings.

When I first started this fic, it was just supposed to be a silly, raunchy ovi fic that I was banging out for fun in between some of my more serious stories. It had a little plot right from the start, but the plot was pretty much entirely just "an egg happens." There wasn't nearly as much stuff about Dirk and Caliborn's relationship as a whole, and DEFINITELY none of the stuff about… well, whatever it is Caliborn is time traveling about in the most recent chapter.

But as I was writing it, I gradually started folding in ideas from a separate Dirkuu relationship study that I was considering writing, and within a few chapters I decided to just merge the two fics into one. Which I think was the right call, in retrospect. I really think the story is a lot more fun this way, and the egg has worked out as a surprisingly good framing device for everything else going on.

But at the time when I was writing this first chapter, I didn't know any of that. This was supposed to be nothing more than a horny egg fic, and the chapter reflects that. It's also much shorter than most of the following chapters. I kinda like how short and punchy it is, actually. I have perhaps become a little too long-winded in some of the later chapters. Actually, that happens almost immediately, as we'll see in the chapter 2 commentary.

Caliborn literally hisses at you. You assume it's supposed to be a threat, but the sight of his tongue winding out from between all those sharp, sharp fangs mostly just makes your dick go doki-doki.

The first appearance of Caliborn's tongue. Dirk's preoccupation with Caliborn's tongue and fangs surely does not mirror the author's.

DIRK: Face it, between your skeletal posterior and my own tragically concave rump, ours is a no-ass household. DIRK: When the ass famine comes, we'll be the first to perish.

This is still one of my favorite lines in the whole fic.

CALIBORN: MAYBE YOU USED THEM TO MANIPULATE THE JADE BITCH. INTO REMOTELY TAMPERING WITH MY TROUSERS. DIRK: Dude. DIRK: What did I tell you about calling my friends bitches? CALIBORN: … CALIBORN: ……….. CALIBORN: …………………………… CALIBORN: THAT EVERY TIME I DO IT. IT MEANS YOU GET TO PICK OUR NEXT MOVIE DURING DATE NIGHT.

Here we also get the first appearance of Dirk attempting to dog-train Caliborn into being a marginally less shitty person. This will come up again with absurdly long-reaching consequences in the Jane chapter.

This line also implies that Dirk considers Jade his friend. That would be a great dynamic to explore. Probably won't happen in this fic, though, alas. Maybe I'll post a deleted scene about it someday.

Also, it may be interesting to note the quantity of punctuation that Caliborn uses. Eleven is a thematic number for the cherubs, and Caliborn frequently repeats things in sets of eleven throughout both Homestuck itself and this fic.

DIRK: What's the magic word? CALIBORN: FUCK YOU! DIRK: Eh, close enough.

Dirk cares far more about Caliborn being rude to his friends than he does about him being rude to Dirk himself. Almost nothing Caliborn does really bothers Dirk on a personal level. This is part of why they're so compatible. It also gives Dirk yet another reason to doubt his own morality. What does it say about him that he's so emotionally unfazed by any of the awful shit this dude says and does? (It says that he has low affective empathy. That's all. Doesn't mean he's a bad person. Try convincing Dirk of that, though.)

CALIBORN: IF YOU DO NOT FIX THIS. YOUR POSITION IN OUR GAME OF "HOUSE" WILL BE IN JEOPARDY.

Ah, House.

My very earliest plans for this fic didn't involve the game of House. All I wanted was to write a silly story about Dirk and Caliborn laying an egg.

The problem with writing anything remotely fluffy about Caliborn, however, is that in canon, he truly and genuinely just wants to fucking kill everyone. He WILL kill Dirk. He WILL kill all of Dirk's friends. This is a core part of his goals. So… how do you get him into a place where he won't just slaughter everyone and be done with it?

In this fic, I've resolved this by giving Caliborn a different game that he's decided he's playing: House. Now he's constrained by a new set of rules--ones that say he has to try to play nice. That he needs to learn assorted domestic skills. And perhaps most importantly, that he can't just fucking murder all of his opponent/partner(?)'s friends--because if he does, he'll lose the game. And Caliborn cannot abide losing a game.

Someday we'll get more about why, exactly, Caliborn has decided to play this game. But for now, all that matters is that he is, and so he's bound by its rules. This turns out to be VERY narratively useful for me.

Not that that's why you've been playing along with his "game", no matter what certain friends of yours might believe. They always do want to think the best of you, and there is absolutely no fucking good explanation for why you would want to shackle yourself to the biggest asshole in Paradox Space. But regardless of your motivations...

Dirk trying really hard here to avoid directly admitting that he's in love with Caliborn, not even in the narration. This will be a running theme.

It occurs to you sometimes that what normal people would actually call this game is "marriage".

Damn, I really just came out and put this right in the first chapter, huh? I mean, it's true though.

CALIBORN: RUB MY BELLY, CUDDLESLUT.

Yeah, so. I started this fic with a scene of Caliborn growing out of his pants and then followed it up immediately with a belly rub scene. I was NOT attempting to be subtle about what kind of fic this is--which is to say, a belly fetish fic. I'm genuinely shocked it's grown to have this much of an audience outside of that community.

The fic HAS grown to encompass a lot more than just the fetish shit, though. I guess by now I'd consider it basically the equivalent of one of those fics that has plenty of plot and character development, but also fairly frequent sex scenes. Except here, half the time instead of sex scenes you just get weirdly lascivious descriptions of how much candy Caliborn is scarfing down. I promise this is hot to some portion of the audience.

DIRK: The fuck have you been eating, dude? CALIBORN: WHY. DIRK: There's like a lump in there. Right here.

And here's the first appearance of the egg! The entire raison d'etre of this fic. Really, what else is there to say about it? It's an egg. It's made of candy. It's inside of Caliborn. Presumably one day it will be outside of Caliborn. One can only hope.

[dragontamer05]

Thoughts / sort of rating of the Yugioh dubs;

DM- Look for all it's flaws, weird edits and censorship over all it's fairly decent. Most of the voices are good, generally speaking the tone and story are still relatively in tact. No episodes were skipped or out right cut, although changes were made.

Are somethings handles better/ make more sense in the orignal form for sure but during a time among a sea of very mixed dubs (and even compared to some of the other series 4kids/4K tried) It's honestly pretty good.

GX- Look while I admit to having some nostalgia for it's just.. not great. The joke meter got turned farther up and while some areas they did manage to keep the tone/ emotion- particularly there's a few good lines of Jaden/Judai from the dub when desperately going after Jesse/Johan

BUt oh boy is it sure just a product of its time with just some of the dialogue feeling very peak 2000s energy. And also a lot more questionable voice choices for characters (some is decent tho)

I'll sooner recommend someone watch the sub first if genuinely interested in the series. But if you've got a bit of nostalgia or just want to have some fun riffing on something it can be a fun watch.

Other majour problem is due to the desire of wanting to get on the next series fast as possible it never got completed and never got s4

5Ds- A mess.

Once again for a lot of the main cast voices are okay but definitely getting worse/more extreme in their attempts to try and hide death / censor or alter things. Whole chunks of it simply was not dubbed at all which I'm sure made pacing weird.

Never actually watched it all but oof. Even if everything else was great just the fact that there is a good chunk that got cut / not translated makes it hard to recommend watching it.

Might be a fun curious watch I guess but probably the dub series with some of the most issues (maybe)

Zexal- Well at least it got completed, like DM did so that's something. Personally kind eh about some of the voices. Astral's is great love it, Yuma is okay but I can understand how it may get annoying for some.

Another one with pretty bad censorship problems that I think even some who's only watched dub could probably figure seem off.

Probably could have ended up a lot worse truth be told but even looking at how DM was handled probably could have been better in places.

Still suggest subs over dub generally but if knowing of the changes doesn't bother you / okay with the voices I mean there's worse out there.

Arc V-

Decent. A clear sign of things to change and improvements. Complete series, still some expected censorship and changes here and there but otherwise fairly faithful to the source. No egregious changes even any allusions to death if altered it's in away that still makes sense / doesn't totally negate it just perhaps stated less overtly or something.

Serious moments often able to be kept serious (compared to some from what I recall just the usage of jokes didn't feel as egregious / bad)

Voicing pretty good over all with only a few characters that make me question the voice direction.

Overall, for sure worth watching it's fun (also there are just some great very quotable lines that got me laughing)

Likely helped in part by being owned by Konami thus I'd assume giving them some control/input on how things go

Vrains-

So good. Voice acting great and just everything was handled well I think.

Once again Complete series, some of the typical changes that are just usual stuff at this point but for a series that can get as dark and serious as it does they handled it pretty well. I think honestly they even have a few lines that just wow.

Like as much as it would be great to have them do a dub where nothing gets changed (say for anything that is typically might happen for any localization- i.e like changing a joke that doesn't work in translation or whatever) I'd say it's pretty darn close and over solid job.

I know some people we kinda eh on that ending/scene in the last episode and I get it, wasn't what was expected or hoped for maybe but I thought it was fine. Far from the worst thing they could have done and it still felt at least fitting/ pretty in character. And if your someone watching only dub I think they still manage to hit and keep the emotion of that scene just doing it in a different way.

Sevens-

As it is, Sevens is a pretty goofy show with big Saturday morning cartoons energy. From the get go it had the makings of what would be a fun dub and they nailed.

Voice choices are so good, continuing on the track of completing series and whatever changes might have been made be it dialogue or what have was nothing that I ever noticed or affected the plot/story in anyway.

Like obviously the script can't/won't be word for word exact but I'm pretty sure more often then not whatever was used or said was pretty close to/equivalent there of whatever was in the original anyway.

It's good, it's fun and silly and I can promise that despite what you may think I'd argue the vast majority of jokes come straight from the Sub itself or at the very least it keeps within the general tone /feeling of something the character would say. Never came across any moment where a joke was used that did feel quite right.

As said as it is Sevens is a pretty silly and fun show even in its original form and the Dub does a great job of keeping the spirit alive and story intact

Sub or dub I strongly recommend watching it anyway. Yes it's animated by a different group- no longer done by Studio Gallop. But honestly it fits and works. I have no idea how much was already planned out before the switch was made or any of the behind the scenes but regardless the art/animation style really fits well the tone of the series - and you can still look at it and go 'that's a yugioh'

Plus after the plot of Vrains ngl kinda nice n fun to have what Sevens brought.

Also look it's time to accept that for as much as it is a series that anyone can enjoy the target demographic IS technically kids / a younger audience (and trying to use this as a means to attract more of that younger audience get them interested)

Go Rush doesn't have a dub yet but I'm hyped and am sure it'll be a blast to.

[dufferpuffer]

He is in some way responsible, yeah. Of course.

But I'll change your mind, sure! Challenge accepted:

He is not AS responsible as Peter. Not NEARLY. Snapes side:

He joined the Death Eaters as a child. A Slytherin child, recently cut off from his only friend. He was skilled in ways nobody appreciated... aside from the powerful group of elites who every year were gathering more power... and even though he isnt a Pureblood they want him because he is just such a clever and talented little boy- What im saying is he was groomed into a cult. A cult whose punishment for desertion or betrayal is death.

As a 21yr old surrounded by the cult, who has accepted him as long as he makes sure he stays useful like a good little boy - he got information the Dark Lord would KILL for. But he didn't know who it related to. The moment he found out he was on damage control. He begged an old powerful wizard who could (and would) kill him simply for taking out of line to reconsider his plans. To not do it at all... or to at least spare the mother. And while Voldemort could have slapped the man to next sunday, if not kill him, he was like - "Eh, you know what? I'll try. We did try to recruit her THREE TIMES... maybe you can convince her when her husbands dead."

He could have stopped there. Crossed his fingers and had faith in his Dark Lord. If the Potters were unaware, maybe it would have worked and he could attempt to have a chance with Lily if he played his cards right... but no: Snape then went and begged ANOTHER old powerful wizard, one he had BETRAYED, who could kill him and get away with it, who could get him imprisoned in Azkaban for the rest of his life... He warned him. He begged him to hide them ALL. This 21yr old man has put his neck on the chopping block 3 times: - Begging the Dark Lord. - Betraying/Begging Dumbledore. - Betraying the Dark Lord. Just to save her life. Save all their lives.

He had everything to lose by betraying Voldemort. Hell, he could have gained if the potters were killed smoothly and Lily left alive. But he did the right thing anyway. He made one mistake - he accidentally put someone he cared about in harms way - and then he was INSTANTLY on damage control. FOREVER.

Wormtail's Side:

He had a whole group of friends who adored him and supported him. He was included in their lives well after school, visiting the Potters and meeting the baby... he was loved and considered a sweet friend. Then he betrayed them all.

And I would REALLY like to give him more credit than that. I'd like to pretend he was tortured until he didn't know what he was saying or something, but that simply isn't the case: He willingly gave up the information so he could gain protection from Voldemort because he wanted to be on 'the winning side'. He didn't go 'oh shit what have I done' and try to warn anyone. He didn't fake his own death to 'get away from Sirius' and then reveal himself to have survived so he could do things right, help Dumbledore, help Remus, help keep Harry safe... He even ran off and within 2 months managed to find Voldemort and nurse him back into a body! AFTER HARRY SPARED HIS LIFE! ... You could say that simply the deed of giving Voldemort information puts Snape on equal guilt with Wormtail. I can see that. But I think other things are important to consider when judging someones actions: Intent, context, motive, followup... There's putting every hard-earned morsel you have, even at great risk to yourself and your desires, on the line in order to fix a mistake you made in a difficult situation... ...and then there's Wormtail.

Gonna leave it here since people seem to forget it.

[zodiyack]

Rude! (3,000+ Follower Fic Special 1/3)

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x Female!Hopper!Reader

Warnings: Swearing, Billy stuff, lyrics, fluff

Song: Rude by Magic!

Words: 1,798

Summary: Billy's love for Hopper's daughter is too strong to be stopped by the tough Chief Jim Hopper. Despite being told "not in a thousand years", he plans to love her regardless.

Note: Thank you so so much! I love you all, and writing your ideas, as well as sharing mine with you, has been so fucking fun and amazing! I'm sorry for my lack of words, I wish being an author came in handy with writing this, however, all I can say is that I love you all from the bottom of my heart. I've seen people do shout-outs, and ask-related stuff with their follower things, and I may do that, I'm not sure. For now, I hope you enjoy this... Thank you all, again!

Also 1/3 means that there will be two other fics released for the 3,000+ follower present!

Taglist: @urie-bowie-mercury, @matth1w, @redspaceace-writes, @fandom-puff, @darling-i-read-it, @simonsbluee, @sebastianstanslefteyebrow, @dpaccione

Masterlist | Stranger Things Masterlist

"Saturday morning, jumped out of bed and put on my best suit. Got in my car and raced like a jet all the way to you. Knocked on your door with my heart in my hands, to ask you a question, 'cause I know that you're an old-fashioned man. Yeah."

Billy was freshly graduated, working as a lifeguard whilst his girlfriend worked her own job, both saving up for their chance to ditch Hawkins and move to California. Sweet Cali. Billy was excited to show the love of his life around the place he called home. Though, physically, he left the salty ocean and windy beach behind, the place never truly left him.

You could see it in his eyes. The waves crashing in his blue orbs. He swore the scent had just barely clung to his belongings; the smell of the tangy air that followed a majority of the state. Working at a pool was the closest he got to the memory of California. Chlorine was most certainly not the salted ocean waters, but with the circumstances, he decided it'd do.

The way his face lit up whenever he talked about his home...it made Y/n more and more excited to see it. His girlfriend had grown up in Hawkins, stayed there her whole life. Never once did the Hoppers leave Hawkins.

But the second that was introduced to Billy, he knew it had to change.

Although they were saving for a big move, Billy had...other things in mind with what to do with his first large pay-check (or series, rather. Working as a lifeguard didn't pay well with just one check). He began to work more shifts to make up for the money he'd spent, and one day after calling in for a day off, he decided to put his plan into action.

"Billy, stop messing with the tie."

"It's annoying." Hands slapped away his attempts of adjusting the black silk tie.

"Well it won't stop being annoying if you keep fucking it up."

For the first time in a long time, Neil Hargrove was calm. Not happy, not amused, not pissed off for some unjust reason- just calm. He wasn't wreaking havoc and he wasn't being an asshole to his son. Billy hadn't seen this side of his dad in quite some time, in fact, he thought something important was going on and he was about to fuck it all up. And then, Susan retreated to the living room with a camera and a freshly ironed suit.

"You're not putting me in that."

"And who asked for your opinion?" Neil deflected with a raised brow. One heavy sigh later and Billy was leaving the bathroom, dawning the whole black and white getup.

Susan clasped her hands over her mouth, a tear leaving her eye, "You look so handsome! Just like your dad!"

Billy rolled his eyes, "Great."

However, his careless attitude was swept under the rug when the blue Camaro pulled up to the police station, interrupting a clearly distressed Chief Hopper bickering with his daughter. Billy had to get himself together before stepping out of the car, jaw slack after seeing the beauty he got to call his date.

"Hello Mr-"

"Don't even try play nice with me, Hargrove. She's not going anywhere with you. End of story." Hopper kept his eyes trained on the blond, body tense like a snake preparing to strike it's prey.

Y/n grabbed Billy's arm, slowly directing him to the car, "And in the sequel, we find out I am going with Billy. End of that story."

"There is no 'sequel.' The writer got drunk and lazy." She paused, turning to face her father who stood tall, arms crossed and face unamused.

"So his daughter picked up where her father left off, and then the sequel was published and the two lived happily ever after, the end."

While her dad attempted to search for a line that would better hers and force her to stay, she pushed Billy toward the driver's side and slid into the car as fast as she could, rolling down the window as Billy started it up. "Bye! I'll be back before midnight!"

The two drove off toward the school, leaving behind a trail of dust and very, very, pissed off Hopper.

Prom was better than Billy thought it would be. He didn't want to go at first, but after Max found out and spoke to her mom about it (the little redhead a cupid-in-the-making), Neil pushed him to go (as he was "doing something else besides being a lazy-no-good rebel"). It was then that he called Y/n and asked if she'd be going.

The suit came in handy. Clashing with his rocker aesthetic, he put it back on once more. The once-annoying tie proved to be somewhat okay in the end.

Can I have your daughter for the rest of my life? Say yes, say yes, 'cause I need to know. You say I'll never get your blessing "till the day I die, tough luck my friend, but the answer is no!"

Why you gotta be so rude? Don't you know I'm human too? Why you gotta be so rude? I'm gonna marry her anyway. Marry that girl, marry her anyway! Marry that girl, yeah, no matter what you say! Marry that girl, and we'll be a family! Why you gotta be so rude?

With a deep breath, he ran-over the conversation in his head once more. Like a script for an actor, he had thought of every possible outcome and every possible line for him to face it with. He almost chickened out as his fist rose to the door, but it was too late, for his knuckles rapped against it before he realized he was even knocking.

El opened the door, eyes wide when she saw the familiar mullet and button-down. "Papa..." She muttered as she backed away and out of view.

Hopper traded places with her, his lazy expression sobering up instantaneously, replaced with a grumpy scowl. "Hargrove."

"Mr. Hopper, sir."

"What are you doing on my front porch?"

He swallowed roughly, palms sweaty against his sides. "I was wondering if I could talk to you."

"You seem to be doing just that right now, Hargrove." Hop crossed his arms and clenched his jaw.

Well, this was certainly not something Billy had thought of. He was on panic mode internally, attempting to find any response that could save his hide and accomplish what he set out to do. Unfortunately, the word-vomit button seemed to be misplaced under the button labeled "help".

"I'd like to marry your daughter, sir."

Hop's eyes grew just as big in size as El's had when she opened the door. He choked on his own surprise, coughing it off, then glaring at the boy in front of him. "Over my dead body, Hargrove. If that's all, I'd strongly advise you to get off of my fucking porch while you're still alive."

I hate to do this, you leave no choice; can't live without her. Love me or hate me, we will be boys- standing at that alter. And we will fly away, to another galaxy, you know. You know she's in love with me, she will go anywhere I go-

"Billy, he's just stubborn."

"No, no, I don't think he likes me."

Y/n sighed, rubbing her boyfriend's back. He hadn't told her of his proposal plans, only that Hop seemed to have it out for him. "It'll take time, but he'll warm up to you!"

"It's been how many years since he's met me?"

"To be fair, your reputation wasn't doing you any good until now..."

"It's not like that was fucking obvious." He slouched further down in the front seat of his Camaro. To Billy, all hope was lost. If he couldn't get Hopper to give him his blessing, he was sure he'd lose his goddamned mind.

Y/n frowned. Her frown flipped around as an idea popped into her head, her lips finding Billy's knuckles and quirking his attention. "Even if he never likes you, I'm not going anywhere."

Billy laughed softly, "he'll fucking kill me if you go against him."

"Eh, that's only if he can catch us."

"You're out of your fucking mind, Y/n Hopper."

"I know."

The rest of the night was spent in the Camaro, of course, doing one of Billy's favorite pastimes. By the time the sun rose, Billy was sneaking a kiss to a giggling Y/n before dropping from her window in the cabin and running to his car, parked far enough that Hop or El wouldn't notice. He blew her one more kiss, which she pretended to catch, then he broke into a sprint.

Maybe, he thought, just maybe; there was still a chance.

His knuckles hit the door again, shifting on his feet nervously. It swung open to reveal Hopper, an unimpressed look bringing no surprise Billy's way. It was quite expected, honestly.

"What." His tone made it clear he wasn't up for fucking around.

"Mr. Hopper, if you just give me one chance to prove to you that-"

"No, no, no, no, no. Let me make it very clear to you that I want you to have nothing to do with my daughter whatsoever. No marriage, no friendship, I don't even approve of you guys fucking or whatever-"

"We're in a serious relationship, sir. It's nothing like you think it is."

This made Hop laugh. He continued to do so, holding his stomach, until he realized Billy was unamused. "Oh, you're serious?... My answer is still no, Hargrove. My answer will always be no. Go find someone else's daughter's heart to break. You're not hurting mine."

"It's not like-"

Before he could even get the words out, he was met with a door in his face. Turned down, again.

Can I have your daughter for the rest of my life? Say yes, say yes, 'cause I need to know. You say I'll never get your blessing "till the day I die, tough luck my friend, 'cause the answer's still no!"

Why you gotta be so rude? Don't you know I'm human too? Why you gotta be so rude? I'm gonna marry her anyway. Marry that girl, marry her anyway! Marry that girl, yeah, no matter what you say! Marry that girl, and we'll be a family! Why you gotta be so rude, rude?

Again, again, and again, Billy incessantly pleaded with Hopper. Different tactics were all met with the same answer; rejection.

He held up a sign outside the cabin, only for Hopper to close the curtain and chuckle as he sipped his coffee.

He asked at the door again, only for Hop to threaten to give him a black eye (which was met with "aren't you the sheriff? Isn't that illegal?").

He raced past the police station, Max leaning out the window with another sign, only for Hop to threaten them with holding cells.

He even went as far as to ask Max and El to help, but Hopper had none of that, and sent Max home with a rant full of nos.

However, if Jim Hopper thought any of it would get it into Billy's head that getting his blessing was just not happening- he was as wrong as Nancy when she claimed not to have feelings for Jonathan.

Billy had another plan in mind, and this one was impossible to say no to.

Can I have your daughter for the rest of my life? Say yes, say yes, 'cause I need to know. You say I'll never get your blessing "till the day I die, tough luck my friend- but no still means no!"

"Hopper." Billy stood before his desk, interrupting his nice date with a delicious doughnut, and earning a very annoyed glare. "I got Miss Byer's blessing. Aren't you two a thing?"

"You son of a-"

"I got Eleven's too."

"Hargrove, I'm gonna-"

"Before you cuss me out, I think you should know that I've got a stable job, an interview with a mechanic so I have a job when the pool closes for the winter, and I've got a house on the market I'm looking at. I'm devoted to your daughter and she's devoted to me. You may not like me, but I think you're a great dad, better than the one I was unfortunately stuck with. You raised a strong and amazing woman. She's incredible and I admit, she deserves better than me-"

"You don't have to say that twice." Hopper huffed, crossing his arms.

"I know she deserves so much better than me, I'm surprised she's even with me too. But she loves me, and I think you can see that. I love her too. I would never, in a million years, break her heart."

Jim stayed silent for a few minutes. The silence brought uneasiness to Billy, but that was intentional on Hopper's behalf. He finally piped up with a cough, clearing his throat, before his piercing eyes met Billy's blue orbs.

"I'll hold you to that, Hargrove."

Why you gotta be so rude? Don't you know I'm human too? Why you gotta be so rude? I'm gonna marry her anyway. Marry that girl, marry her anyway! Marry that girl, yeah, no matter what you say! Marry that girl, and we'll be a family! Why you gotta be so rude? Why you gotta be so rude?

Bonus:

(after the wedding)

"What was that about a no?" Billy quipped with his infamous smirk.

"You're lucky I'm sheriff, Hargrove."

Why you gotta be so rude?

[asknarashikari]

Neon: Hello Everyone!

Neon: This is Neon-chan and sadly, this is another stream where I can't attempt to escape...

Neon: For the moment...

Neon: Anyway, looks like I spotted a friend of mine from over there

Neon: Eh?

Neon: Well we met recently.

Neon: And he was very rude.

Neon: He helped me up one time and declared that I had a fun...

Neon: In his sister! IN HIS SISTER! That was very rude.

Keiwa: Because it is true.

Neon: Ke-

Keiwa: Let's go with K.

Keiwa: I don't like the idea of being mobbed by your fans after that revelation

Neon: Teehee.

Neon: This is surprising, you usually don't like showing your face on stream voluntarily.

Keiwa: I also know how stubborn you can be.

Keiwa: Which will end up with me being on your videos... again...

Neon: The people love it.

Keiwa: And others hate it, to a degree.

Keiwa: Besides, I spotted you entering the mall with your camera on, behind some people, so I just went ahead and went to you.

Neon: So, are you ready?

Keiwa: Do we have to?

Neon: You're a good dancer, on top of being a good singer!

Neon: You have to.

Keiwa: I don't know about being good with those things.

Keiwa: Sure, I can dance with you.

*one dance routine later, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWH2zp54IEQ*

Keiwa: I thought two more people would join today?

Neon: Well, that one bull and Ace-sama is busy.

Neon: THat's right, everyone, K also knows Ace-sama!

Keiwa: More like acquiantances.

Neon: Don't tell me you're still bitter about that.

Keiwa: Of course, I am!

Neon: Not to worry everyone, its just normal stuff among friends.

Keiwa: Welp, good thing, I did not go with my real name here.

Neon: And the platinum blond hair does cover your identity well.

Neon: Good job dyeing it.

Keiwa: Eh, it was nothing.

Neon: Okay, everyone, that's the stream for now...

Neon: Maybe if I can find Ace-sama, i'll have him dance with me too.

Keiwa: Good luck with that.

====

[Spoiler alert, the "WHO IS HE?" question trended on all SNS sites, terribly curious on who the man who danced with Neon was.

And Sara was just grinning at her younger brother]

Keiwa is such a pushover lol. He just gives in to Neon just because she asked, even though it's bound to bring him trouble down the line...

Boy, you are whipped (and your sister knows it too, rip)

How long is that disguise gonna work out for though XD Eventually something's gonna give him away...

[maideninorange]

Kuroji tsks, a smirk creeping across their face. Now they have their attention, going by the way Tsubakura's eyes have lighten up ever so slightly.

"Mm, I dunno. Isn't getting the loser as a pliant slave enough of a prize?"

Tsubakura stands up then, the old wood of the shrine veranda creaking as they move. They adjust their fluffy top hat, their lips quirking upwards to mirror Kuroji's expression, "My my, you? Asking to play a game with stakes so high? What ever brought this sudden change on?"

Kuroji shrugs, kicking a foot up against the tree they lean upon, "Our old games of wits and danmaku have gotten me nowhere, of course. As well as a bit dull, all things considered. So why not try the most classic game of chemical reactions?"

"Oh, so another attempt to 'dethrone' me, eh?" Tsubakura crosses their arms and squints, as if to prod at the still water of Kuroji's typical cool facade. They are one of few people who can make so much as a ripple in it, just raising the stakes ever so higher.

"Not just any other old attempt. They say a person's heart is one of the most fragile things out there. But also, the most precious," Kuroji strokes their hand over their chest, exactly where their own shrivelled blackened heart lies, "If I had your heart, I could do whatever I want with you. And isn't that the greatest crime of all? You'd be wholly and utterly mine, with nothing you can do about it."

"Careful there. You talk as if you've already won a game that hasn't even started yet," Tsubakura creeps oh so slightly closer, batting their pretty little eyelashes at them, "I'll have you know that I'm quite the heartbreaker actually. Who needs a lock and key when I can just steal your heart first and shatter it into thousands of pieces?"

Kuroji tries to ignore how their heart almost skips a beat at that. They swore they had almost purred that line at them, their small smirk having spread out into an eager grin as they spoke. This may be harder than they initially thought...

But then again, even a genius as brilliant as Tsubakura Enraku must have a weakness or two somewhere they can exploit. So if not their genius intellect or impossible body, why not their heart?

Who knows? Maybe Tsubakura might enjoy being the loser once seduced? Kuroji certainly would in the not unlikely chance they lost, that's for sure.

"Well what a lucky coincidence then, so am I! We're on even ground for this competition," Kuroji sticks a hand out to them, "So what do ya say? A month to seduce each other. First person to fall in love must become the other's servant."

Tsubakura shakes on it. And not for the first time throughout this conversation, the lazy haze in their eyes sharpens into something far more devastating.

"It's on."

"What's the game?"

"Love."

"And what's the prize?"

[zeldaelmo]

SPY AU

This project is close to my heart, but I decided to push it back because I have too many problems that I don't know yet how to solve. (It's a whole PowerPoint of problems, tbh. 😂) I hope that I'll have the skill level to tackle the story one day in the not-so-far future, but we'll see about that.

Dark times in Hyrule. Zelda's father has turned the Kingdom into a tyrannical nightmare. The once prospering economy is in ruins and the little earnings people have are heavily taxed to finance the expensive lifestyle of the King and his devotees. 

Zelda is still the princess. She is expected to participate at the frivolous life of the court and she hates every second of it.

Hyrule is a ruthless place — either it kills you or you kill it. Eventually, she begins a double life as Sheik and becomes an assassin. She kills important followers of her father who do injustice to innocent people — the judge who sent the family father to the gallows for paying the taxes late by a week and so on. Robin Hood assassin, if you will. 

One day, she gets kidnapped after a kill and is brought to Link. Link is second-in-line of the resistance and of course, an assassin/spy himself. Zelda… eh… Sheik has made a name for herself by taking out some of the high-ranking henchman of the King and you bet that hasn’t gone unnoticed by the resistance.

After Zelda’s true identity is discovered, Link wants her to join them. The resistance plans to kill her father, but so far their attempts were fruitless because they didn’t even come close to the castle. That’s where she has valuable information. She is the only one who knows ways inside.

Also, they want her to take the King’s place to guide Hyrule back into peace...

They work together, reluctantly at first, but then smoothly. Until a major coup goes wrong and Zelda wants to leave the victim alive - “we need people to rebuild” “choose your side, Zelda”. That's the breaking point and tbh, I haven't figured the last arc out.

I actually have a snippet written for this, although it will most likely not end up in the story. 😅 Oh, and it might be enemies-with-benefits-to-lovers. 🤣

"Did they hurt you?" His gaze on her wasn’t exactly soft, but maybe she had just forgotten what softness looked like. The beat of silence seemed to be answer enough. His head snapped from one man to the other, the now cold glint in his eyes more a last warning than a threat. "I gave explicit orders not to harm her, you useless idiots!"

The tall, lanky man who had dragged her through the moist corridors not an hour ago argued, “How do you think kidnapping works?”

“I never said you should kidnap her. I said I need you to bring her here.”

"That’s the same and you know it,” the man hissed. “This isn’t about work. I knew it from the second we found out who she really is. You want her for yourself."

Someone from behind was bold enough to use the dim light to whistle through their teeth and yell, "Be a bit more generous, Link, she isn't yours!"

Zelda expected another round of deadly glares or maybe the swoosh of a dagger before it clattered from the cave wand in a warning. She did not expect to find herself being pulled flush against him, her body betraying her with a horrible, princessy gasp.

His hand on her back was loose enough for her to pull away, but his eyes pinned her in place, invisible shackles of ice and blue. If only the cold would extend on her body, but no such luck. The cave had been stuffy before, but the wave that washed over her at their full body contact was very different. It was the sensation of cool linen on heated skin, of sweaty, hungry kisses, of rushed unbuttoning of too many layers. No. Surely not. The man had ordered to kidnap her.

The room stilled, the water dripping from the wet cave walls the only sound.

A smirk ghosted over his lips when she didn't move, knowing exactly that they stood close enough that only she could see it. He took his time to breathe her air until he hissed, "Women, my friend, belong to themselves. And if you don't get that, you better leave the country once we are over with this. There’s no place for assholes in the new Hyrule." 

His hand dropped and set her free while his lips still hovered dangerously close over hers. "If you crave a woman in your life, you have to make her want to stay."

He didn't even flinch when Zelda pulled back and spit him in the face.

[artekai]

All righty. So. The OBVIOUS idea is Takuto, but instead I'm gonna throw you a curveball: Sylens >:3

Y'ALL KNOW ME TOO WELL (bc I can never shut up but STILL) LMAO THANKS NIX

What I like about them

Ohhhh idk how I wasn't smitten by him right away because oh my god his voice <333 But also his one-liners!! He's so unapologetically mean and it's amusing to watch lol.

What I dislike about them

Needs more HFW screentime :')

Also, I think it would be nice if he had random voice lines in HZD, like a sarcastic quip when you fall down a cliff or get hit by a machine, or hurrying you up when he's waiting for you, or commenting on side quests and stuff like that. I know he's more of a "don't say more than what's necessary" kind of guy, but I just think that would be neat :3

Favourite moment

I liked the "two moms" line, he basically validated me shipping Lis x GAIA, said gay rights, and dismissed Aloy's feelings in the middle of her existential crisis all at the same time lmao. Amazing.

I also liked him torturing HADES, idk. He usually doesn't do the dirty work himself so I guess it's neat to know he's still willing to do it lol. And I do support him getting the last laugh ^^

Least favourite moment

Hmm, nothing comes to mind. I did feel betrayed when he ran off with HADES in HZD lmao, but I didn't dislike it. I already knew he couldn't be trusted but I still did, so. Guess that one's on me :')

A situation with this character that I want to see explored more

I wanna know a little about his past, why he thinks the way he does, where he comes from, if he wants knowledge for the sake of knowledge or something else... ;-; Mystery is part of the appeal but I'm curious lol.

An interesting AU for this character

One of the biggest losses of Artekai not being canon is that we'll never see him interact with Sylens :') (Not TRULY).

But that's still in the same universe, so I'll say that I do sometimes rotate a modern AU in my mind where Sylens is just a frustrated college professor and Aloy is the only student he respects lol. I don't have any concrete ideas but I do enjoy the vibes :3

A crossover

Still relevant to Artekai and terribly self-indulgent, but sometimes I think of the cryo sleep Takuto AU and I wanna see him interact with Sylens ^^ Takuto is such a perfect target for little quips lol. My guess is that Sylens would appreciate his research but criticize him for caring too much, which is honestly fair. Maybe it'd be good for both of them to rub off on each other a little, haha.

OTP (or OT3+ etc…. just… favourite ship)

Eh, I don't really have any strong preferences ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Other ships?

Honestly given Sylens' nature I'm already intrigued by the general idea of ships involving him lol. But, in particular, you know I wanna see someone attempt to ship him with HADES lmao. And I KNOW I feel very weird and alone in this take, but is it bad that I want to see Sylens develop unwanted feelings for an AI since he looks down on all other humans and HADES is his main source of the knowledge he so desperately wants?

BROTP

Sylens x "I hate that I have morals now"? lmao. No but I do enjoy his interactions with Aloy, I just wouldn't exactly call them friends lol. At least not at this point in time. Maybe in another world :') Maybe in the college professor AU 👀

NOTP

Eh, I haven't really seen any that would classify yet ¯_(ツ)_/¯

An assortment of headcanons! 

Brain's fried right now, sorry, I've got nothing :')

[takuyakistall]

selcouth | leech twins

Synopsis: An unexpected encounter with a certain pair of twins by the beach.

Tags: Leech twins/Yuu, fluff

Tagging: @myuminn

Notes: Your raffle prize! Thank you so much for joining and for letting me write your Yuu. This was enjoyable to write, I hope you like it!

The gentle, warm breeze caressed Yuu's cheeks as they sat crossed-legged on a huge rock by the shore. The occasional squawking of the seagulls, the sound of the waves crashing against the sand was enough to give them some sense of serenity. Throughout the whole day they were sitting here, they had their pen and sketchbook resting on their lap as they tried to take in the view and replicate fragments of it on their sketchbook.

It was a bit amusing to think about how accustomed they already are in this foreign world. Everything was unusual, they didn't know anything when they were suddenly thrown into this bizarre world. It was terrifying at first, anyone in their place would feel the same—or so they liked to think. Although with the help of certain friends they made along the way, they learned how to love the current reality they faced despite how wrong it may seem.

They let out a tired sigh, setting down the sketchbook and the pen and placed it beside them. They stretched out their arms, eliciting a small groan when they heard a bone make a popping noise. The sunset was beautiful today. Various shades of red and orange-tinted the whole scene—even in a different world, it was nice to know that some things never change. It was oddly comforting for them.

"Oya, Yuu-san?" A sudden voice sliced through the serene silence, making Yuu jolt up from their place and frantically looked at the owner of the voice.

"Eh~? Shrimpy is here?" Two of them. Any other student would've tensed up, sudden nervousness clawing at the pits of their stomach as they catch a glimpse of a certain pair of twins going toward their direction. Oddly enough, Yuu is part of the minority that felt nothing of the sorts, or rather, they felt more relaxed around them.

The tension faded from their shoulders as they let out a curious gasp, "Floyd-senpai? Jade-senpai?" It was a blessing in disguise—they would've never expected the twins to wind up here at the beach of all places, don't they have other things to attend to? Of course, the first thing to ask them was—!

"What are you doing here?" It was a question out of pure curiosity. The only reason why Yuu winded up here was because of the built-up stress over the past week, they barely got enough sleep, tossing and turning whenever they attempted to. Overworking theirself was another thing too. Despite being a student under special circumstances, they were not exempt from the expectations teachers had for the students in a prestigious school. Being magic-less was already big enough of a disadvantage, they have to work twice as hard as a normal student.

Of course, Floyd didn't even bother answering the question as he made his way from his brother's side to Yuu's side. Sitting down beside you on the giant rock with a lollipop candy inside his mouth, holding the stick as he removed it from his mouth to speak, "We should be asking you the same thing, no one usually goes out this far."

Yuu opened their mouth to respond but before they could do, Jade suddenly made his way towards them too—sitting on the opposite end of Yuu as he let out a small hum. "Floyd is correct. It's indeed usual to see someone like you stray this far from the school grounds." Jade mused.

Yuu squinted, wanting to avoid answering the question as they didn't know the answer theirself. That was a lie, of course; they knew why and how they ended up here but, would it be any fun if they just answered their question seeing as how the twins themselves didn't answer theirs? "I don't know either." They acted out, scratching their cheek lightly as if to feign cluelessness.

Floyd didn't want to let this slide, he knew better than to believe the white lies that came from their lips. Although one glance at their expression after saying that lie, so peaceful with an underlying tone of heartache reflected in their eyes, he couldn't help but change his mind. Surely, they must have a reason why they held such a painstakingly heartbreaking look in their face?

"Is that so?" It was a question that came from Jade's lips but oddly enough, he wasn't looking for an answer. "Shrimpy~, you need to be more careful next time. Who knows what might happen and you might get lost." Floyd decided to play along after all, sticking out his tongue as if to make fun of Yuu. They just chuckled in response, a hand going to their neck.

"My, don't tease Yuu-san that much. I'm sure they have a decent sense of direction, am I right?" Even though his words were defending Yuu, the tone of his voice implied otherwise. It was situations like these that made Yuu think that the twins really were alike in some aspects. They couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.

"Don't worry, Senpai. I won't get lost that easily." They said in response to both of the twins, it was hard to tell whether or not they were kidding about that. Silence took over the atmosphere once again and yet, oddly enough, it wasn't that awkward. Perhaps it was the presence of the Leech twins? Yuu found their presence as a source of comfort.

It was weird, yes, they'll admit it. Though in their defense, feelings are hard to control—and it's harder when they're stuck in an unfamiliar yet fascinating world. It couldn't be helped, Yuu was also a growing teen like any other student in the school. Save for maybe a few exceptions like Leona or Lilia.

Floyd fumbled a bit in his seat, saying something incoherent under his breath. He looked at Yuu at the corner of his eye and he felt something tug at him with the strings of his heart. His lips formed a thin line, the almost unnoticeable hue of pink tinting his cheeks.

Jade was as calm as ever, admiring the view of the beautiful sunset along with the other two. He kept quiet, the graceful poise he always retained during normal days still present until now—it was astounding. He didn't like being uncertain at all. When he glanced at Yuu, a certain kind of uncertainty loomed over his mind as something unreadable flashes over his expression. Yet, he retained his mask—smoothing over the cracks he may have caused as he let out a quiet sigh.

Yuu let out a yawn, eyes droopy and their whole body felt heavy. "I'm sleepy…" they let out, trying their best to stay awake. Yet the urge was too strong for them to simply ignore so they found theirself resting their head against someone's shoulder. Floyd, in particular.

His body stiffened up slightly, surprised at how much Yuu lets down their guard around them—it was unusual. Although he told himself he should've expected this, they weren't exactly normal after all. Coming from another world and all of that jazz. He didn't dare move his head to glance at them and just stayed perfectly still as if to not bother them.

Jade saw that from the corner of his eye, hands twitching slightly when he saw it. "Oya, it seems like someone is sleepy." He chuckled, lifting a hand to place it on their head—giving it a soft ruffle before retracting it back to his side. A warm gaze falling into his indifferent eyes. Floyd suddenly complained, "Eh? Why is shrimpy leaning on me?" One look at him and it was enough to know that he said those words just to cover up his face which was tinted light pink.

"Now, now, Floyd. You mustn't wake them up." Jade told his brother in a hushed tone, bringing a finger up to his lips—an indicator for him to seal his lips shut or to lower his voice.

Floyd may have been grumbling about this under his breath but in truth, he personally didn't mind it. In fact, he may even go to the extent of thinking that he liked it!

"Tch, what a pain." He clicked his tongue, the annoyed tone in his voice betraying the blush that spread on his lovely, lovely cheeks. He couldn't pinpoint exactly what he felt like, multiple emotions playing out inside his head and his head—Shrimpy was confusing him too much! Though the usual response he would show was to click his tongue and move on, feigning annoyance. Or perhaps he wasn't really feigning that feeling, who knows?

Yuu stirred a little, knocking over their pen off the ledge of the rock. Thankfully, it didn't go to the water but it was a close call. Jade stood up and excused himself from the two, on his way to pick up the pen near the shore.

Alone for a brief moment.

Floyd glanced ever so slightly at the person leaning on him, dozing off without another care in the world. 'They must be tired.' He thought. Floyd didn't really think about his next actions, he usually went with the flow—it's how he kept a free and unhinged lifestyle up until now.

Slowly, he turned his head around while wrapping his arm around their shoulders—his actions were slightly filled with hesitation. Afraid that they might wake up and question what he was about to do. In the end, he went along with it anyway.

He placed a chaste kiss on their head, his surprisingly soft yet rough lips making contact with their head. The action was light enough so it wouldn't wake them up. When he pulled away, his face was redder than before. Cursing at himself underneath his breath.

"Is this it?"

"It seems so."

"Then I'll put them here."

"Make sure to be gentle-- Ah! You just dropped them like a sack. Nice going, Floyd."

"Shut it. See? They're still fast asleep. No biggie." Floyd waved his hand dismissively, already making his exit through the door, leaving Jade behind to clean up after his mess.

Jade could only let out a sigh, staring at his brother's back in disbelief before averting his gaze to Yuu on their bed. As an attempt, he tried to put them under the covers and actually succeeded. It was nice to see that despite the rough attempts, they were still fast asleep—'How cute.' He thought.

He stared at their face for a solid minute, incomprehensible thoughts running through his mind before lifting up his hand to remove the glasses from their face. Folding them and placing them on the bedside table, he wouldn't want them to break when they twist or turn now, wouldn't he?

He allowed himself another moment of weakness, a fond gaze replacing his once neutral expression. Of course, he wouldn't let anyone see him like this and the only reason why he is the way he is right now is because of the absence of his twin brother.

Gently, with enough courage mustered up, he cupped their face as his face inched closer and closer. Only centimeters away before speeding up and placing a quick kiss on their forehead. Pulling away before he gets caught, although a part of him—just a small part—wanted Yuu to stirr up awake.

He stood up, dusting his clothes a bit before walking away. Muttering a soft goodnight before closing the door shut, heading home towards his own dormitory along with Floyd.

Omake!

Yuu woke up, hair all tangled up and messy. "What happened yesterday…?" Memories were a blur and they couldn't really recall anything else after meeting the twins by the shore. It feels like they just woke up from a very very long, fleeting dream.

[fishingwithwilly]

Alright, lad. If ye insist..

Don't say I didn't warn ya, though..

*Clears his throat*

It all happened a few years ago..

It was a night unlike any other.. stormin' like crazy, too.

I was on me boat as usual - just waitin' for the fish to bite.

It had been quite some time since the last nibble. I mean, the water even seemed to go stagnant.. And I decided that, with the weather gettin' worse, I'd make one more attempt and then call it a night.

So, I take my lucky rod and hoist her over me shoulder. I wind up an' let the line fly - the bobber landing on the water with a faint splash.

A few minutes go by, an' there's still no response on me line. And I'm wonderin' and thinkin' how odd it is - I mean, I was usin' my own homemade bait! The fish usually love the stuff and gobble it up (kinda like how ye eat eggs..).

At this point, I'm close to givin' up.. And then suddenly, I see this ominous shadow slowly creepin' towards me and Ol' Boatie.

Now, I'm used to seein' unusual things on the water (such is life as a fisherman..) I mean, I've literally seen the "Beach Creature"! But that's a story for another day..

Anyway, I brush this off and try not t' think to much about it. Maybe it's just a large fish comin' to say ahoy. But.. the shadow keeps approaching. It was now.. eh.. a yard away from me at most, an' I was startin' to get a little worried.

Usually the big'uns swim away after a while, but this one didn't seem to be following that pattern. So, I continued to watch.

Eventually, I doze off from the lack of excitement. I was only awoken by a huge, violent tug on the end of me line.

I snap awake and begin reelin' in, practically strugglin' and fightin' with the damn thing and trying me hardest to not break my lucky rod.

Eventually, I managed to pull 'er up and.. out of the water emerged the largest fish I'd ever seen! It was sleek, greyish-blue and had a stark white belly.. I couldn't believe me eyes.. What I had reeled in wasn't an ordinary fish.. It was a shark, lad. An' she was NOT happy with me - let me tell ya..

She starts thrashin' and tryin' to wriggle off the line an' I start hollerin' and trying to release the poor thing. Eventually, she manages to free herself.. Unfortunately, she was now filled with.. an unholy amount o' rage..

She starts circlin' me boat (and I hear some ominous music playin'.. which, now that I think about it, mighta just been my imagination, heh!) and I'm fearin' something is gonna happen to the poor critter.. She seemed to have gotten injured AND irritated from our little encounter, so it's normal for me to be worried about her..

A loud sound seemed to shake me from me thoughts and I look over an' see her whackin' her tail against one of the loose boards of me boat. Then, she turns and rips the plank with her sharp teeth..

The boat begins to slowly fill with water an' I start to panic. Eventually, I clambered over the side and tried to wade back to shore.

Unfortunately, it seems she was faster than this old man..

She quickly caught up to me. And.. well, let's just say she had quite the attitude.. The shark began trying to lunge at me - and I mean, I couldn't blame 'er! After all, I just hauled her out of the water with a fishin' rod! - and I start tryin' to swim faster.

However, my left foot gets caught between two stray rocks. As I'm strugglin' to free meself, Miss Sharky - I'll call her - approached me at a rapid pace. She sees the vulnerable state 'm in an' decides it was her chance.

She lunges at me and sinks her sharp, pointy teeth into my upper thigh - barely missin' the bone, luckily for me that she did..

I yelp an' let out a wail of pain before scramblin' and tryin' to get her off me leg. With all me thrashin', I seemed to dislodge one of her teeth - this caused her to loosen her grip in confusion.

I reached down and pried the tooth out of me thigh and - against me better judgement - swam after Miss Sharky. I was overcome with.. such a mixture of pain and rage that.. well, I wasn't really thinkin' about my actions.

Anyway, I finally catch her and wrestle her in the deepening water - pinning her down with my uninjured leg.

*Sigh*

I wish I could say I let her go that day...

Unfortunately, I did some things I rather regret.. An eye for an eye, you know.

Miss Sharky.. she was well fought, but.. I knew what had to be done.

Besides, I knew a young man had grown rather fond of a particular sport - gridball, I think it was.. - and his grandfather had been houndin' me about findin' a new gridball for his boy - as his had been worn out from constant use.

I got to work an' eventually stitched together somethin' that would pass as a gridball..

Let's just say.. Miss Sharky is always with us, eh?

You especially, Alex J. Mullner.

[ sprite by kebby!! ]

Congrats on one hundred followers, Lad!

I'm proud of ya!

Maybe, with those numbers, I might even consider tellin' ya that.. "shark story" I mentioned before, eh?

Unless, of course, yer too scared?

([mod] in all seriousness .. congrats kebby!!! you deserve it! your alex is so amazing :D)

SCARED!? Alex J. Mullner is scared of NOTHING!

I WANNA HEAR A SHARK STORY!!!

[sanaxking]

When Night Comes - Prologue

arrangement by @kaexloey • credit to all OPs, do not repost.

Genre: Vampire!AU

Rated: M, 18+

Word count: ~1.7k

TW: mild sexual themes, language, violence/gore, blood, mentions of alcohol & intoxication

As Sana opens the door to the dive bar, she is immediately hit with the smell of cheap alcohol and cigarettes. Taking a look around the bar, everything perfectly matches the smell. There are plenty of gross looking men (and women, for that matter) all over and in various states of intoxication.

“Ugh, I hate these fucking bars. Why did he have to be at a shitty place like this,” Sana mutters to herself as she takes her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans.

Unlocking the phone, she opens her photos app to a specific picture of a tall, fair skinned man with blonde hair and green eyes. He's smiling directly into the picture without a hint of anything he does in his free time. Looking up from the phone with her temper already boiling, she begins to scan the room in search of the man in the photo.

It doesn't take too long as her eyes settle on the handsome man deep into conversation with the unsuspecting bartender. "Got you, motherfucker," Sana says to herself with a villainous smile as she makes her way over towards the bar.

As she walks towards the bar, a pair of eyes watches her closely from the other side of the room. The unseen person slowly takes a sip of her drink as she watches Sana approach the bar next to the blonde-haired man.

"So that's when I said, 'I'll have whatever he's having!’" Sana rolls her eyes as she hears the punchline of what was no doubt a terrible joke from the man she was searching for, feeling bad for the bartender that has to act like she likes this in order to boost her tips.

"I'll have a Jack & Coke on the rocks," Sana says to the bartender, giving her a look to know she'll be taking this idiot off her hands for the rest of the night. The bartender looks incredibly grateful for the gesture, mouthing "thank you" before turning to make the drink.

Within seconds of settling onto the barstool, Sana can feel the man already burning the side of her face with his intense gaze. "Just push through, Sana. You need this," she quickly says in her head as a way to work up the courage to continue on.

“I haven’t seen you in here before, blondie. You must be new in town. I would have for sure remembered a face like that,” he says to Sana, raising his voice to get above the chatter of the crowd inside the bar. Her skin crawls slightly at his cheesy pickup line as she gathers herself to respond.

“Somewhat. I’ve been here a few months, but just thought I would try somewhere new. Can’t find many men as hot as you at my usual spots,” she responds, hoping that she didn’t lay it on too thick with the comment. Thankfully, this guy is as dense as he seems, not noticing at all that she’s obviously just leading him on.

“Well, you’re not wrong there. How about we get another round on me?”

Sana really would rather not spend more time talking with him than she absolutely has to, but in order for this to work, she knows she needs him to drink a bit more. She begrudgingly obliges as the drinks flow for three more rounds. By this point, the man is pretty drunk. Not drunk enough to blackout, but certainly too drunk to drive. Which is all Sana needs.

“Alright, alright,” Sana says into the man’s ear after he tries to push the date to a fourth round. “As much as I would love another drink, how about we call it a night and get out of here? I know a perfect place.”

“Shit, you don’t have to tell me twice. Let’s go,” he responds, while fishing his car keys out of his jeans.

“Not a chance in hell. No way are you driving us anywhere like this,” Sana says as she snatches the keys from his hands.

“Hey, you had just as much as I di-,” he begins to say in protest as you put a finger up to his lips to silence him. “I’ll be just fine, trust me,” Sane replies, hoping that he buys it without further explanation.

Once again, the guy is too dense to notice much of anything as he simply shrugs and grabs her hand as the pair head out of the bar into the misty night air.

Getting him to the car wasn’t much of a struggle, as he was perfectly content to lean as close as possible into Sana’s body to steady his stumbling feet. As she slammed his door shut and made her way around to the driver’s side, Sana took a quick look around, making sure no one saw her getting into the man’s car. Not a single soul was spotted on the empty street, giving her enough peace of mind to see this through.

As she got into the car and started the engine, a pair of eyes once again was keenly watching her every move. A few seconds after Sana pulls the Audi out into traffic and down the street, a black BMW slowly falls into place half a dozen car lengths behind.

After a painfully long 30-minute drive filled with plenty of handsy advances from her passenger, Sana pulls the car up to the seaside cliff she had previously scoped out. She puts the car in park and shuts off the engine before turning in her seat to face her passenger.

“How did you find out about this place? Seems kind of random. Hey, were your eyes always that red?” he asks her as he undoes his own seatbelt with an inquisitive look on his face.

“Don’t worry about it. All you should care about is making this a night neither of us will wanna forget,” Sana responds, internally cringing at the ridiculousness of her words. She always hates this part of these encounters. As she utters her response, the man seems to catch a glimpse of something flashing in her red eyes before his expression seems to go slack.

Sana then crawls over the center console and into the backseat, making sure to jut out her ass to give him an enticing view. When he seems to hesitate for a few moments, she quickly takes off her shirt and tosses it into his face in the front seat.

This seems to be all the encouragement he needs as he quickly snaps out of his trancelike state and climbs into the backseat with far too much eagerness for her taste. Swallowing her own hesitation, she then crushes her lips into his, allowing herself to get lost in the moment. He may be an asshole, but she was going to let herself enjoy this, even if briefly.

Sana feels his hands slide up her waist towards her semi-exposed breasts, completely bringing her out of the moment as she remembers who he is and what he did. She then feels something take over her senses as she pulls back from the kiss to get a better look at his neck. Her vision begins to pulse and it’s as if she can see his blood pumping through his veins.

A slow, sinister smile begins to spread across her moonlit face.

“How about we take this a bit furth-,” he begins before his sentence is cut off by a searing pain in his neck.

As he was beginning to mutter his advance, Sana was seeing red and finally exposes her fangs. She slowly ran her tongue along them, taking one last whiff of the intoxicating smell before swiftly latching onto his neck.

The man’s guttural scream is cut short as her fangs sink deeper and deeper into his neck, Sana attempting to suck out as much blood as she can in her first few swallows. It takes less than a minute before he loses consciousness, his body going into shock. By the time 20 minutes has passed, any traces of life have completely left his body. She continues to drain his body until she’s finally had her fill.

Feeling satisfied, Sana sits up and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. As she leans into the front seat to grab her shirt, she looks down and catches a glimpse of her bra, noticing the blood that’s smeared all over it.

“Fuck. I just bought this last night!” she curses out loud, annoyed at the carelessness of wearing brand new clothes out tonight. Before she has too much time to berate herself, a pair of headlights illuminate the interior of the car. She quickly grabs her things and hops back out into the cool air.

Just as she slams the door shut, she hears the tires of the black BMW screech to a halt along the dirt road.

"It's about fucking time, Sana! The sun is up in a couple hours and the crew still needs time to clean up your mess. You always cut this shit so close."

"Calm down, Momo. We have plenty of time to get back before dawn. You worry too much."

"Maybe if you actually followed the rules for once in your life, I wouldn’t have to worry so much," Momo responds with an annoyed look on her face.

Sana rolls her eyes at the insinuation. “Whatever. I follow the stupid rules just fine. Let's just get the fuck out of here, okay?"

As Sana gets into the passenger seat, Momo doesn’t even wait for Sana to get her seatbelt on before she throws the car into gear and speeds off down the road.

It was at about this point that Sana used to feel guilt for taking the life of a stranger. Looking into the mirror in front of her, she sees that her eyes have gone back to their normal, warm brown tint.

“Eh, he was a piece of shit anyways,” she thinks to herself with a sly smile as the car lurches forward towards their estate.

[the-insomniac-emporium]

Chasing Providence {Dimitrescu/OC} Pt 1

Fandom: Resident Evil: Village Pairings: TBA, at minimum platonic House Dimitrescu/OC, with some wlw side characters (also original, but not the focus of the story) Rating: T for mild violence and possibly triggering content Warnings: A character briefly threatens suicide as a means of prolonging a conversation (i.e. saying "if you don't listen, I'll ___") Additionally, this contains spoilers for Resident Evil 8. Summary: Months after being infected with a mysterious virus, investigative journalist Avaskian Caldwell is left with no choice: Xe has to get help, one way or another, from whatever remains of the Umbrella Corporation could be trusted. Or, perhaps, from the very person who started it all... Along the way xe'll have to get along with vampires, fight off would be hunters, befriend a hoard of cultists, all while performing the duties of an everyday servant. There's nothing xe won't try as xe's forced to chase providence. Notes: While this chapter features a somewhat talkative Ava, xe's normally selectively mute, and will be for the entire rest of the story.

1: Blood Runs Thick

“This can’t be it. No fucking way, bruv, are you sure you got the address right?” The journalist asked, eyes narrowed as xe stared out into the distant hills. One hand held a phone, currently without any signal, while the other kept a tentative grip on the van’s door handle. To their side was the driver, a middle-aged man with relatively little patience. When he replied, it was in a language the journalist didn’t speak, but could clearly understand as a swirl of profanity. “Alright, alright, I get it. Not like I could afford to pay you to take me back, anyway… I’ll just, uh, be going then. Try to have a nice day, eh, you old chap?” With that said xe opened the door, hopping out rather eagerly. After tucking xer phone into xer pocket, xe quickly gathered xer bags from the trunk, half expecting the man to drive off before xe had a chance.

Surprisingly, he stayed all the way until the journalist gave two hard pats to the van’s side. Then he practically slammed the gas pedal, speeding off in a whirling cloud of dust and kicked up rocks, promptly sending xer into a coughing fit. Curse these feeble lungs, xe thought, scowling. Absent-mindedly xe put a hand to xer throat, silently checking if xer, ahem, ‘wounds’ were still covered. Once satisfied, xe turned to the long, winding path into the village. Was this truly where the ever-elusive “Miranda” could be found? What in the blazes of hell was a scientist like herself doing here, in a mostly empty stretch of Romania? The thought sent a rush of anxiety to the journalist’s chest, as xe wondered if this “Miranda” would even consider helping xer. Xe hoped that, at the least, xer unique case would get her attention.

In the end, it took xer twice as long as expected to reach the village proper. There were no signs along the path, nor signs of life, other than countless dead birds, hung like falling leaves from every tree. Once, a display this gnarly would have made bile rise up in xer throat. But these days? After everything xe had researched? This was no hell, not when compared to the bombed ruin that was Raccoon City. Yet xe still cut xer hand when hopping the barbed wire fence, as if once again a rookie, too desperate for the truth to see the proper world. Fresh blood dropped onto the snow, but xe allowed xerself no wince nor complaint, instead focused on the figures moving in the distance. Strangers. Nay, sources. Someone would know something about the mysterious Miranda, even if they didn’t realize it.

So the journalist made haste, approaching as casually as xe could, considering the heavy traveler’s bag on xer shoulders, and the sturdy cane xe walked with. It was the latter that caught people’s attention first, as it click click clicked against the stone path. Before long there were several pairs of eyes on the journalist, some of them bearing thinly veiled hostility, others filled with nervousness.

“Who are you?” A man growls, stepping in front of a woman (his daughter, based on similar features, age difference) as he does. One of his fingers jabs into xer chest, daring them to take another move, carrying an unspoken threat within it. For a few seconds xe simply smiles at the man. Somewhat amused, xe hoped that xer natural charm would win the day, despite a quick glance telling them that most of these strangers were armed.

“I’m a journalist-” xe started to say, until the others moved their hands towards their holsters- “or at least I was, once. But I come asking for assistance, kindness from my fellow humans,” xe said, gesturing widely with xer arms. This made the others present pause, though the journalist wasn’t immediately sure that xe hadn’t just misspoken. Romanian was not xer first language. Or xer second, come to think of it. Oddly enough, however, it had clicked rather quickly in xer brain, as if xe had always been meant to speak it. “You may call me Avaskian Caldwell. Or just Ava, or just Kian, or just Vas, depending on your mood. Ah, but that hardly matters. I am here… to find a woman. Someone I have heard much about, a, how do you say… ‘marvel’ of science? They tell me she is called ‘Miranda’. Have I come to the-” xe do not get to finish that sentence. Before xe can understand what’s happening, someone has grabbed xer by the throat, attempting to life xer into the air.

For once in xer life, xe’s glad for the ‘extra insulation’.

“Fuck you, outsider, you don’t deserve to taint her name with your foul tongue!” The man shouts, squeezing xer throat, urged on by the jeering crowd. A smarter person would have been rather concerned at that point. But the journalist- Ava, as xe said- was not known for xer cleverness. That did not, however, stop xer from exhibiting cleverness. Taking advantage of xer ridiculous arm joints (which may or may not be doubled, possibly merely weird as fuck), xe reached into xer bag, ignoring the crowd’s scared reaction, retrieving an evidence bag. Inside of it: several broken vials, each marked with a symbol of terror. This is not a place of honor the symbol screamed. To the villagers, it meant something else, something older. To Ava? It meant the prophet of death, it meant Umbrella.

“I come bearing the sign of your village. I come bearing the scars of your Goddess,” Ava proclaims, raising the bag into the air. As soon as xe does, xe is released, the man scrambling backwards. Others turn away, some leaving, a handful gathering to pray. ‘Twas an odd display, but one that Ava preferred over a public execution. Only one person dares to approach: A woman, likely mid thirties, with dark eyes and darker hair. There’s a clear caution in her movements, as if it was taking all of her courage to not flee. “Do you perhaps know how I may reach Miranda? I am in dire need of her knowledge.” At this, the woman flinches, though her gaze lingers on Ava’s throat. It’s then that the journalist realizes xer collar was undone, exposing xer strange, ever-bleeding wound. The stranger does not speak until xe has covered the deformity.

“One does not simply reach Mother Miranda. But there are ways to get her attention, to ask for a, hmm, blessing,” she explains. With a sigh of relief, Ava starts to celebrate, eager to find a cure for what ailed xer. But the woman wasn’t done speaking, and her next words cut a thick line through xer hope. “It may take a few weeks, maybe less, but we can ensure your prayers are heard. Mother Miranda always rewards the faithful. Even those who start out as outsiders. In the end, all are welcome here, if they keep the faith in our Mother.”

“No, no, that won’t do!” Ava snaps, far harsher than intended. The woman flinches again, and xe starts to pace back and forth, trying to release xer pent up energy. “There has to be another way. Faster, more direct. I don’t-... I might not have time to wait. Please, please, anything you can do to help, even if it’s just pointing me in the right direction…” A gulp, eyes shining with unshed tears, a quiver of the lower lip. Falsehoods alike, directed for an honest purpose. Miranda was xer only hope for information- and, perhaps, for salvation. But the latter had never been Ava’s true priority.

“There might be one way, but it is dangerous. You’d be more likely to die on the path than reach your goal, if I am honest. Yet… if there is anyone in all the village who can grant you the audience you seek, it would be one of the four lords. If you are certain-” the woman could only watch as Ava nodded furiously, silently begging- “so be it. Follow me, but do not say I did not warn you. I do not want your spirit coming to haunt me for my act of pity.”

—————————

“An unexpected guest? How… delightful. Do tell me why you even bothered to drag this miscreant before me, Cynthia?” Lady Alcina Dimitrescu asked, with a scowl, staring down at the fragile human in question. Of all the things she had expected to find, once her head servant called her, this was not one of them. An intruder would have been more likely. Perhaps even more fun, if Alcina felt like letting her daughters join in the resulting feast. But this ‘thing’ was hardly worth her time. They were short, although admittedly somewhat plump, with a scent that implied illness. For once, she could not pinpoint the exact disease by smell alone. Not that she cared, really. ‘Twas simply… interesting.

“Please, allow me to introduce myself. You may call me Avaskian Caldwell, and I come with an… offer. With mutual benefits, I assure you, Lady Dimitrescu,” the journalist answered, giving a deep bow. Despite xer manners, Alcina seemed unimpressed, even irritated by the display. Still, she gestured with her right hand, encouraging xer to get on with it. “I am in need of a meeting, specifically one with the much beloved, dearly respected Mother Miranda. In exchange, I offer two things: The sweat of my brow, and the blood in my veins.” Much to xer displeasure, Alcina replied with loud laughter before fixing xer with a hard stare.

“Pray tell, little thing, what makes you think I won’t simply take your blood now, hmm?” She muses, cackling again, ignoring the way her servant flinched at the sound. But Ava did not waiver, instead simply reaching into xer sleeve. Slowly xe pulled out something metallic, speaking firmly as xe did.

“For one, Mother Miranda would certainly dislike losing out on this opportunity,” xe started to say, unable to stop xerself from smirking. Then the knife fully exited xer sleeve, dancing in the light, before pressing against xer own throat. It was certainly a unique threat. Instantly Alcina rises to her feet, only pausing when she realizes that she wasn’t the one in danger. “Secondly, my blood is worth more if I am alive. You see, I have a wretched ‘condition’, which does a handful of lovely, lovely, life-threatening things to this poor vessel of mine. But someone as intelligent as yourself could find plenty of use for my so-called ‘illness’. If you give me a chance to explain, that is.” Though she does not sit back down, or even nod, it quickly becomes clear that Alcina did not intend to interrupt. Yet. “Grand, grand! I do appreciate it, my Lady. Now, let me just grab the research I brought with me…”

Never once lowering the knife from xer throat, Ava digs into xer bag, forced to briefly clip xer cane to xer belt. Then xe retrieves a closed manilla folder, carefully handing it to the giantess in front of xer. Wordlessly Alcina accepts the item, opening it to peruse its contents, only pausing to put on a pair of reading glasses. A minute of quiet passes before Ava continues xer explanation.

“I heal faster than anyone else on your staff, guaranteed. Hell, I cut my hand down in the village, on some damned wire, and the wound has already closed back up, good as new. That means, of course, that if someone were to let’s say… remove some of my blood, well, it wouldn’t take too long for me to get more, now would it? Obviously there has to be some biological counter, some form of payment for my ability. The rule of equivalent exchange, and all that, yes? As it stands… I eat an extra slice of bread a day. That’s it. Nothing bad enough to cancel out the boon of my blood. My… extensive reservoir of blood. Interesting, yes?” Ava says, still as charming as ever, despite the indescribable terror in xer chest. If there was one thing that xe had learned as a journalist, it was how to hide xer fear. Which was plenty useful, in the current situation, especially when Alcina flips a page to reveal the one downside to xer condition.

“Don’t tell me you came all this way to try and deceive me. Here I was, beginning to think something of you, and you hand me a sheet that says it clear as candlelight: Your blood is dirty. Infected. I won’t be drinking it anytime soon, nor would I even consider allowing it to be used for my family’s wine!” Alcina is essentially yelling at this point. But Ava only takes a step forward, smile present but trembling, and gestures for her to turn the page. With narrowed eyes she does, quickly reading through the notes. Once, then a pause, then once more. Finally she closes the folder, setting it down upon her desk. “Fascinating. You are indeed a… unique case. I cannot guarantee you a meeting with Mother Miranda, and even if I do, it will be because of your condition. She will use you, as is her divine right to do, likely without ever once considering attempting to cure you. But if you are determined to meet her, well,” Alcina leans in with her own grin, sending chills down Ava’s spine, “I will not stop you. Here’s hoping you manage to give me plenty of blood before you ‘expire’. Cynthia, show her to the servants’ quarters. I expect her to be working by tomorrow morning. Dismissed.”

Although Ava could not help but twitch at the Lady’s choice of pronouns, xe had expected this. Eventually xe would explain the indefinite nature of xer gender. Or perhaps xe was doomed to die a horrific, tragic death long before xe ever had the opportunity. Either way, xe could not help but feel a small sense of elation, pleased to have made some progress towards xer goal. Three steps forward and two steps back was still, cumulatively, a step forward. In time, xe would likely come to regret this series of choices. But who among us could say they held no regrets at all? And if, in the end, this storyteller came away with one hell of a story… wouldn’t that outweigh the regret? Even if Ava did not know it, xe would one day learn a valuable lesson from the strange family xe now worked for: Blood of the covenant is thicker than water of the womb. Oh, and what a lovely covenant it would be.

[yuichi-ro]

god he would be trained like a dog. like honestly id meet him and be like “eh not too bad we can make him into the perfect hubby” and mr master manipulator is too simpy to realise but it all worked out so its fineeee. ngl daughter would take after me w her taste in people and probably get together w someone that resembles kisaki to some degree and kisaki vehemently denies this bc ofc he does XD

also side note; but i firmly believe kisaki got chubby hamster cheeks when he eats and its the cutest thing but he will murder anyone besides me who points it out

oh but the tragedy of golden guard/soulmate always dying holding hands while facing belos. every single time without a fail. it sickens him, disgusts him, how dare these witches corrupt his brother and take him away from him? but it will be fine. hunter was a good direction. he can always make another one if so desired. maybe he also just enjoys breaking them again and again as an eternal punishment.

oh but that night, against all odds is the first time hunter actually sleeps through without interruptions. cuddled close against you with your fingers combing through his hair, his body having collapsed from exhaustion and for once he is just a little less tense. its almost instinctively in his sleep that he reaches for your hand to face whatever nightmares could form in his head

the next few days are tough. he gets a new set of clothes, you make sure he showers and eats and drinks enough before deciding to help him with a new haircut, even if its only a slight change. any attempt for hunter to reclaim some individuality.

there is this lingering thought; a week ago your normal game of cat and mouse would have continued with him trying to catch you to join a covern and you throwing flustering bad pick up lines at his head but now? everything is different. and neither is quite sure how to handle it. the only thing you do know is that at very least you will have each other. as something more than any words could ever describe.

till the end and beyond.

dang it i made myself sad again just thinking about hunter;;; all the love to him, absolute baby

-🌌momo

Kisaki in his stubbornness to refuse that his daughter's future spouse looks or acts anything like him and it's something he'll take to the grave 😂 Height, mannerisms, looks, doesn't matter if something is similar to himself suddenly Kisaki is blind and dumb and refuses to even listen to you when you try to point it out. But obviously a type runs in the family and no one's denying it but Kisaki and his daughters who refuses to admit her fiancé is like her dad 😂

I'll take your chubby hamster cheeks and raise you one more: Kisaki who puts on some chub after he has a kid. Eats things your daughter hands him. Kinda mindlessly ate when the kid was little little and the weight just never really went anywhere. He's got the chubby cheeks with very faint crows feet now and it's lowkey cute

mmm the sick twistedness of Belos enjoys the power over living things. Mmm how it claws at this throat as he kills the sixtieth replica of his darling brother. The brother that said he'd love him no matter what. The brother who never said he was a monster as he was turning into this thing. The brother who shielded a witch of all things during a moment Belos had lost control in his creature form. The brother who chose to save a witch of all things even as rage consumed Belos and he took the very first life of his brothers. And each subsequent life after it. Every dead golden guard. None of them filling him with the power the first time it did. But readily destroying these puppets of his brother and his lover like it's childs play because had his brother just loved him more...

the getting a new hair cut 🥺 oh my god the idea of him changing his appearance even slightly so he doesn't look like Belos's brother. It's so heart wrenching and heavy I need to write this 😭

feeding him like a stray cat, stealing a few things from town to change his clothes, letting him sleep in your bed while you take the couch bc no one, enemy or not, should have seen what he did. And while you regard him as the annoyance before this. Now every time you sit on the edge of your own bed rubbing his temple while he sleeps. Sure he'll wake up in an hour because nights have been so restless. You can't sleep either and it always leads you to sitting in your own room with him. The Golden Guard. Belos's right hand man. And thorn in your side. Now wiping at his eyes for the fifth night in a row because he can't process what he's seen or what it all means. Neither can you honestly and you didn't see any of this. Just holding Hunter close when he silently cries in his lap. Rubbing his back with your cheek on his shoulder. Best you can do in terms of comfort is tell him that obviously someone stuck with his past forms thru thick and thin, and that until he finds his soul mate, you'll stick with him and make sure he's safe until he decides what to do. Having utterly no idea that the person who stuck with all those other versions of him were you. No idea that the soul mate his past side died next to was you. It had been and always will be you no matter what.

[otnesse]

Eh, kind of expected him to not be in line for the throne in France. Especially when the setting was heavily implied to be the Alsace region, meaning he's technically both French AND German. I'd personally probably have him be a Marquis rather than a prince since, technically, him being a prince was only actually stated in the prologue and not in the film proper.

Personally, liked the idea of him being a brooding orphan a lot better, especially when it definitely works better for his implied backstory of being cursed as a child. I'm not sure I entirely agree with you regarding the servants, however (New Adventures DID imply that the servants, or at the very least Lumiere and Cogsworth, DID attempt to rein in on his more bratty phase and discipline him, act as actual parental figures to him).

I'm not entirely sure I'd like the idea of the Enchantress essentially doing a neuralyzer from MiB on the village. For one thing, even if she did pull it off, the castle was still heavily implied in The Mob Song to be in very close proximity to the village, meaning they'd still most likely stumble upon it. Plus, the final stained glass portrait in the prologue strongly implied she cursed the forest as well, meaning they'd at the very least notice the radical changes to the forest and become frightened by what happened to their lord, even if they don't know exactly WHAT transpired.

The ultimate selflessness bit was more of a mixed bag for me, to be honest. I know it was meant to show his growth, but I'd argue it was a bit closer to a regression due to him essentially dooming his servants (which pre-development, you at least got the sense he wanted to eliminate the curse from them in addition to himself), with it not helping either that his resulting depression nearly got the servants, let alone himself, brutally murdered by the mob. I personally preferred it that Beast actually TRY to defend his servants from the mob in some way, whether outright fighting them or at the very least insisting that, they take him, but leave his servants alone, even BEFORE Belle arrives. THAT would have made for a good sense of growth for him, rather than regressing to such an extent that he barely even cared that his servants were in danger. I felt it really cheapened his development ultimately (not to mention also painted Belle in an unintentionally worse light by implying her "lessons" just neutered him).

Definitely agreed with your points of what would have improved the movie. I'd also add a few more. Namely, have him actually TRY to defend his servants from the mob, regardless of his heartbreak, partly as a way to make up for essentially dooming them to being cursed for all time. Maybe have him be far more explicitly selfish in the beginning (I'll be honest, while they may have intended to have him be selfish, the actual results pointed otherwise due to him being a bit too generous even knowing the context. Like, for example, giving Belle access to nearly the entire castle on the first night, with only his quarters in the West Wing being a specific exception? Yeah, I'm sorry, but that doesn't jive well with him being a selfish grouch that he was supposed to be in the beginning. At least with the transferring to a proper bedroom, he mostly did it at Lumiere's suggestion so that wouldn't necessarily betray the selfishness part [even if another motive was ultimately guilt over his more brash actions towards having Maurice leave before allowing a proper goodbye between father and daughter]. Try having Belle's access to the castle be a bit more gradual incremental doses by Beast. Same goes for the dinner scene, where Beast had to grudgingly swallow his pride to invite Belle down to dinner. Just omit that scene since it ultimately painted Belle in a bad light as a result.

So far as the triplets... in my take, he would ultimately befriend them around the time of The Enchanted Christmas, and despite disliking Gaston for what he did, he'd nevertheless ultimately sympathize with them when seeing them saddened and feeling tremendously guilty over failing to prevent his turn to evil due to similar circumstances involving Forte.

7 question ask: the Disney beast

Three facts about them from my personal headcanons.

He's either the younger brother or the nephew of the king of France. Therefore, he's not a crown prince and will never be king himself, but he will govern the region where he lives as soon as the spell breaks (which fittingly happens just as he comes of age).

His backstory from the 2017 live-action remake, with his beloved mother's death and his cruel father, doesn't apply to the 1991 animated Beast. The animated Prince Adam's parents both died when he was a baby, in either an epidemic or an accident, leaving the servants to raise him. Unfortunately, they always treated him as their master instead of a child, catering to his every whim yet maintaining a formal distance, and neither giving him the discipline nor the love he needed. This blend of spoiling and neglect is why he became so selfish and bad-tempered, much like Mary and Colin in The Secret Garden.

One detail from the 2017 remake that I like to think does apply to the animated version, though, is that the Enchantress's spell makes the outside world forget that Prince Adam ever existed. It's the perfect way to explain why Belle and her neighbors not only don't know about the Beast, but don't even know about the castle or the prince who lived there, even though he was cursed only ten years earlier.

A reason they suck:

His initial bad behavior.

A reason they are great:

His ultimate selflessness when he lets Belle go, even though (he thinks) it means he'll never be human again, and his mercy when he spares Gaston's life despite having nearly been killed by him.

A reason I relate to them:

I sometimes feel like a wild, messy misfit who struggles with self-control.

(what I consider to be) the top tier otp/ot3 for that character:

He belongs with Belle, no question.

Five things that never happened to the character that I believe should have happened:

There should have been a line or two clarifying that the biggest reason why he finally learns to control his temper after the wolf attack isn't "Belle ran away from him," but "Belle was almost killed by wolves because of him." Learning to be a better person so as not to hurt others, even indirectly, is a better reason, IMHO, than doing it so they won't abandon you.

He should have been shown practicing a method to control his temper. Visualization, a calming mantra, leaving the room, etc. Just showing him grit his teeth instead of roaring the second time Belle touches the hot cloth to his wound doesn't satisfy me: that's suppression, which isn't a long-term solution.

In the brief dinner scene before the ballroom dance, I would have liked it if he and Belle had still sipped their soup from the bowls, the way they did their porridge earlier. I know the fact that he's learned to use a spoon is supposed to show his progress toward humanity, but the earlier breakfast scene is so beautiful, a part of me wishes their compromise hadn't been just temporary.

He should have apologized to the servants for sacrificing their last chance to be human again as well as his own by letting Belle go, as he does in the 2017 remake.

While it's not really necessary, it would have been nice to see him meet Maurice again, apologize for the way their first meeting went, and win him over as a potential son-in-law.

Five people that character never fell in love with and why.

Mrs. Potts. She's too old for him and the closest thing to a mother figure he has.

Fifi/Babette. She's too flirty; he prefers more intellectual woman.

Mme. Armoire/de la Grande Bouche. She's also too old for him, and too flamboyant.

Gaston. Even if he were attracted to men, he wouldn't fall for his would-be murderer.

Any of the Bimbettes. He never even meets them.

[imagineteller1]

Horror Night

Warnings: language, gore.

Pairings: Daryl x reader x Negan.

My heart felt heavy on my chest. I choked in every breath I took. I watched, what used to be Abraham, crushed in the floor. Everything was ringing. The tears blinding my vision.

Negan talked but I didn't pay attention, I couldn't. He was in front of Rosita, trying to get her to see the bloody bat of the man she loved. In a second, Daryl took a swing at Negan.

"Daryl! No!" I screamed and ran towards him, my hands extended in an attempt to grab him. Before I could reach him, some of Negan's men were already holding me down as well as Daryl.

"No!" Negan yelled pointing his bat at Daryl. "That- oh," he chuckled. "That is a no no. The whole thing, not one bit of that shit flies here." He now kneeled in front of me. His rough hand was pulling on my chin to look up at him. "Brave little thing here, eh?"

I pulled my face away from his grasp. He stood back up. A blonde man held Daryl's crossbow at his face.

"You want me to kill him? Right here?"

"No!" I screamed. Trashing my body in the men's grip, I kicked around.

"Hey! Hey, what part of staying quiet do you not get?" Negan turned to me with his bat.

"Please, please, don't kill him. I'm begging you." I sobbed and I felt like I couldn't breath. My breath was stuck in my throat. I felt like I was having a panic attack. When I started shaking more violently I knew I was. My limbs felt as if they weren't there. I felt heavy but at the same time lite.

I heard Negan say something and then Daryl was thrown back in line. He approached me and kneeled back down. I tried to push the men away but they just gripped tighter. "I c-an't brea-th." I stuttered.

"What did you say again, darlin'"

"I-I can't br-eath." He signalled his men and I was dropped. My palms were on the ground as I tried to calm down. My chest heaved violently as I gasped for air. I felt like I was drowning.

"Holy fucking shit, she is having an attack." He joked.

New tears reamed down my face and fell to the dirt. This could be it. I looked at Daryl. He was looking at me, I saw a tear flow down his cheek. He tried to walked towards me but he was pushed down.

I closed my eyes and tried to calm my breathing. Deep breaths. I could feel the oxygen make its way to my lungs. I heard Daryl's voice telling me to calm down like he had done countless of time, but in difference, he wasn't holding me this time.

After what felt like hours I opened my eyes and felt like I could breathe again.

"Still with us, doll?" Negan asked jokingly. "Both of you are so impulsive, not surprised you two are fucking." He took my face in his hand forcefully.

I glared up at him and he chuckled. "Get her back in line." Like that I was thrown in my back and dragged to where I had been kneeling before.

"Anyway... that's not how it works. Now, I already told you people, first one's free. Then what did I say, I said I would shut that shit down." He had a maniac smile on his face. "No exceptions. Now I don't know what kind of lying assholes you've been dealing with, but I'm a man of my word. First impressions are important." Short silence. "I need you to know me. So, back to it."

In a second Negan's bat connected with Glenn's head. I blinked a few times. Not being able to believe this was really happening. We had just lost two of the strongest men of our group in a couple of minutes. I looked at Maggie and saw her sobbing.

I looked back at Glenn. You could see his skull and one of his eyes was bulging out of its socket.

My heart was beating out of my chest and I could hear every beat thumping.

"Buddy, you still there?" Negan asked mockingly. He muttered something and then exclaimed. "You are trying to speak! But you just took a hell of a hit. I just popped your skull so hard your eyeball just popped out. This is as gross as shit."

"Maggie I-I'll find yo-u." Glenn finally was able to mutter out.

"Oh, hell." Negan spoke. His voice was calm and serious. Like he actually felt sorry. "I can see this is hard, amiga. I am sorry. I truly am. But, I did say..." a smile now played in his lips. "No exceptions." He swinged at Glenn again. I jumped back in place.

No, no, no.

"You bunch of pussies... I'm just getting started. Lucille is thirsty." He kept hitting and hitting. There was nothing left to hit yet he kept swinging his bat. After he got tired he stepped away and joked. "She is a vampire bat."

The only sound was Negan's boot and our cries.

"What? Was the joke that bad?"

Rick looked up from his spot with a trembling yet determined look in his eyes. "I'm gonna kill you."

"What? I didn't quite catch that. You're gonna have to speak up." Negan mocked.

"Not today... not tomorrow... but I'm gonna kill you."

"Jesus," Negan scoffed. "Simon, what did he have? Knife?"

"He had a hatchet."

"Hatchet?" He smiled.

"An axe."

Negan laughed. "Simon, is my right hand man. Having one of those is important. I mean, what do you have left without 'em. A whole pile of work. You have one? Maybe one of these fine people still breathing. Oh, or did I-" he made a clock sound with his tongue.

Rick remained silent. Negan sighed. "Sure, yeah. Give me his axe."

Who I believed was Simon, stepped up with axe in hand and gave it to Negan. He stood up and grabbed Rick by the shoulder. "We'll be right back, maybe Rick will be with me. If not, well we can just turn these people's inside out. I mean, the ones that are left."

With that he shut the trailer's door closed and drove away.

I looked at Daryl. He was shaking. His gunshot wound could get infected with all the trauma his body was going through right now. I went to stand up but was held in place.

"I'm not gonna do anything. You have all of our weapons, what could I do?" I tried to reason with the men.

"You stay on your knees, bitch. Unless you want to end up like your friends over there." He signalled to the bodies that laid on the floor. With a thud I sat back in the ground, pulling my legs to my chest.

--

Hours had passed and the sun had come up when the trailer came back. No one came out for a couple of minutes. The air was full of tension as we hoped to see Rick still alive. When the door finally opened, Rick was pushed to the ground and Negan came out, he dragged Rick back to us.

"Here we are. Let me ask you something, Rick. You even know what that little trip was about?"

Rick remained silence.

"Speak when you're spoken to."

"Okay... okay."

"That trip was about the way you looked at me. I wanted to change that. I wanted you to understand. But you're still looking at me the same damn way... like I shit in your scrambled eggs, and that's not gonna work." He paced around and then kneeled next to Rick. "So... do I give you another chance?"

"Yeah. Yes. Yes."

Patting Rick's shoulder he stood up. "Okay." He chuckled. "All right. And here it is- the grand prize game. What you do now will decide whether your crap day becomes everyone's last crap day or just another crap day. Get some guns to the back of their heads.”

Guns cocked from behind us.

"Good. Now... level with their noses, so if you have to fire..." he imitates an explosion. "It'll be a real mess."

Silence.

"Kid." He said looking at Carl. "Right here." He pointed to the ground beside Rick. Carl was frozen in place. "Kid... now." Carl took slow steps. Negan took of his belt. "You a southpaw?"

"Am I a what?"

"You a lefty?"

"No."

"Good." He smiled as he took Carl's arm and tied the belt around it, cutting the circulation. "That hurt?"

"No."

"Should. It's supposed to." He finished tying the belt. "All right. Get down on the ground, kid, next to daddy. Spread them wings." He took Carl's hat off.

Carl did as told. "Simon, you got a pen?"

"Yeah." He threw it at Negan. He took of the cap with his teeth and kneeled next to Carl.

"Sorry, kid. This is gonna be as cold as a warlock's ballsack, just like he was hanging his ballsack above you and dragging it across the forearm." We all watched in horror as Negan drew a line in Carl's arm. "There you go. Gives you a little leverage."

"Please. Please. Please don't. Please don't." Rick begged.

"Me?" Negan chuckled. "I ain't doing shit." He stood up. "Ah. Rick, I want you to take your axe... cut of your son's left arm off, right on that line. Now I know- I know. You're gonna have to process that for a second. That makes sense. Still, though, I'm gonna need you to do it, or all these people are gonna die. Then Carl dies, then the people back home die... and then you, eventually. I'm gonna keep you breathing for a few years, just so you can stew on it."

"You- you don't have to do this. We understand. We understand." Michonne spoke.

"You understand. Yeah. I'm not sure Rick does." He advertido his attention back to Rick. "I'm gonna need a clean cut right there on that line. Now, I know this is a screwed up thing to ask, but it's gonna have to be like a salami slice- nothing messy, clean, forty five degrees- give us something to fold over. We got a great doctor. The kid'll be fine. Probably. Rick this needs to happen now- chop, chop- or I will crush the little fella's skull myself."

"Please, we all understand. Rick understands. We all work for you, stop this. You don't need to prove a point because you already did." I tried. This was my family. I wasn't gonna stay quiet and not try anything. My arms pointed at the fallen bodies.

I felt a gun press against the back of my head.

"It can- it can- it can be me." Rick stuttered out. "It can be me. Y-you can do it to me. I c- I can go with- with you."

"No. This is the only way. Rick... pick up the axe." Rick didn't move. "Not making a decision is a big decision." Negan's voice raised. "You really want to see all these people die? You will. You will see every ugly thing." He still didn't move. "Oh, my god." He groaned. "Are you gonna make me count? Okay, Rick. You win. I am counting."

"Three!"

"Please." Rick cried out. "Please. It can be me. Please!"

"Two!" He kneeled next to Rick.

"Please, don't do-" Rick sobbed and I looked away.

"This is it."

Rick screamed. I shut my eyes closed. Tears running down my cheeks.

"One!"

"Dad... just do it. Just do it." I heard Carl whisper.

I looked back at the scene.

Rick held the axe high, preparing to cut his son's arm.

"Rick." Negan stopped him. "You answer to me. You provide for me. You belong to me. Right?" Rick nodded hastily. "Speak when you're spoken to!" Negan's voice beamed making everyone jump. "You answer to me. You provide for me."

"Provide for you." Rick answered shakily.

"You belong to me, right?!"

"Right." Rick breathed heavy.

"Right. That... is the look I wanted to see." He stood up and took the axe. "We did it... all of us, together... even the dead ones on the ground. Hell, they get the spirit award, for sure." He sighed. "Today was a productive damn day! Now, I hope, for all your sake... that you get it now... that you understand how this work. Things have changed. Whatever you had going for you... that is over now." He chuckled.

There was a moment of silence before he spoke again. "Ah, Dwight... load him up." He signalled to Daryl who struggled in, who I suppose was Dwight's, arms.

"What are you gonna do to him?" I asked. Trying to sound as strong as I could. Negan turned to me.

"How could I forget about you?" He took long yet calming strides towards me. "You, darlin', are coming with me too."

"Why?" I sounded more panicked than I wanted to.

"Because..." he smiled. "You've got a mouth on you and I really, really like it. Keeps me on my feet. I have a proposal for you..." he waited for my name.

"Lucia."

He smiled and licked his lips. "You hear that, Lucille? They sound similar... okay, Lucia. I have this proposal for you. You come with me, be one of my wives, and I, won't kill another one of your group, for your blabbing mouth. How does that sound, hm?"

Shock was written all over my face. "It's your choice, Lucia. Either you come with me or... I kill another one of your friends. So, what will it be?" He passed his finger along my jawline. I looked at the truck where Daryl was in.

Maybe, if I went with him I could find a way to help Daryl escape. I looked around the group. I wasn't gonna let anyone else die, much less because of my fault.

"Okay." I said. Turning off all my emotions.

"Great." He smiled. "You and I are gonna have a lot of fun together." He licked his lips while scanning my body. "Fan-fucking-tastic. Simon, put her in my truck. I still have some words to say to our new pal Rick."

As Simon grabbed my arm and led me to a truck I looked back and saw Rick watching me. I gave him a slight nod with my head, telling him I had a plan.

I wrote this a some time ago but hadn’t posted it here. Requests are open ❤️