#god damn hunters and their need to self destruct | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thebindingofpillo · 5 months ago

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when it comes to characters such as lazarus, do you think anyone could trust him with any sort of firearm? or like, does any character know how to use weapons? Esau, Lazarus, Samson, Judas, Eve, (and maybe Eden) look like they know how.

Oh boy now this is an interesting question mhmmm… First we need to keep in mind that my story doesn’t really take place in America. I didn’t really want my AU to take place in a *real* country, I intentionally kept it vague, so that people could fill in the blanks themselves. Reincarnation can take place wherever you want! But since I’m more familiar with Italian legislation, some of it might seep into my setting. Which means: guns are rare and difficult to obtain.

Funnily enough, I have an inside joke with my friend that Isaac owns at least one gun. The boy got tired of all the supernatural bullshit so now he’s fighting back.

With that being said: realistically, I think the only one with some expertise with guns would be Cain. He’s very old, he’s seen a lot of stuff, went through a lot of shit, and knowing how to protect oneself when faced with adversity is really important. He’s probably more used to older stuff tho, I can’t really see him with a high-tech automatic rifle. Maybe a tommy gun lmao. I don’t think he killed anyone else besides Abel tho, he doesn’t really want to go through that again.

As for the others you mentioned… Lazarus and guns seems like a terrible combination, knowing his chronic bad luck that thing would go off on him all the time. And while he can’t really die, accidentally shooting himself isn’t really something I’d wish upon him lol.

Judas would not trust himself with guns. At all. He’s already got some pretty strong self-destructive tendencies and Azazel would never allow a gun in their house. Judas has a problem with offing himself in every life, and Azazel always tries his damn best for it not to happen. He’s failed every single time, but that doesn’t deter him. He’s already pretty on edge with Judas living in a normal house with normal dangerous things (like knives) adding a gun to the equation would make Azazel explode immediately so that’s a big no no.

Esau strikes me as the type of guy who would know about weapons/guns but wouldn’t own them? Idk he doesn’t really seems like the type… Jacob might have an interest in Medieval weapons tho, he’s enough of a nerd for that. He probably tried to rope Esau into some historical reenactments but his brother wasn’t really having it. I can see Jacob taking on something like medieval fencing if he wasn’t disabled. Also Lazarus would make fun of him lol.

Samson wouldn’t really know his way around a gun or any other weapon, so he would be a danger to himself and others. Big no no.

Eve might know something about guns? Maybe her father was a cop, or a hunter. I could see that… tbf I didn’t really think about Eve’s parents, maybe this could be interesting! I can definitely see baby Eve looking at her dad cleaning and assembling his guns. The only gun she uses is the tattoo gun in her shop lol.

Maggy strikes me as a blunt force trauma girlie, she should have a warhammer. Or a crowbar, as a treat.

Lilith can’t see, so she wouldn’t even get close to a gun, or any type of weapon. Too risky.

Bethany is a wee baby, her defense mechanism is just curling up in a ball and hoping for the best.

OKAY now onto Eden and Azazel. They do absolutely know how to use weapons. Every angel has a weapon (usually a sword, Azazel and Eden both had swords) every angel is a warrior of God, and fighting demons is part of their purpose. So yeah, both Eden and Azazel (who used to be an angel) know their way around weapons, Azazel was quite the skilled warrior, and even used to create his own! When he first started living amongst humans he learned how to be a blacksmith and goldsmith, and he was really good at it. Azazel’s weapon is currently under archangel Michael’s care, and Eden lost theirs lol. As for guns, Azazel isn’t too fond of them and Eden wouldn’t really need them anyway even if they technically know how to fire one (they’re a Cherub, and Cherubim are omniscient).

Apollyon, being an angel, also knows how to fight but never ever had to in the billions and billions of years he existed. His main weapon is a spear that doubles as the Key for the Abyss.

#ask tag #tboi reincarnation #lore post #I hope it’s every character lol I might have missed some #If you have additional questions let me know! I love answering them

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lediz-watches · 2 years ago

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So I watched all of The Winchesters

I watched it all. I liveblogged it for my own amusement and torture.

Having watched all of The Winchesters, and none of Supernatural, my final impression is that:

This show was not intended for newcomers. This was a show for the fans.

My GOD I wish it had been because there were SO MANY GOOD IDEAS AND CHARACTERS and arrghhhh I UNDERSTAND why you’re all in this terrible love-hate relationship with this fandom!

Ahem.

Okay, carrying on with my final episode reflection:

John and Mary are not their own characters. They are 20 year old characters that are being given tools that could change their story. So I was actually watching a predestined downfall being pushed sideways. And that is… an interesting idea. I like that idea, because I do like redemption. I like the idea that these characters can be saved.

The problem is that we didn’t get to see them be saved, we’re just supposed to have hope.

This show was not a hopeful one for me. And that ending was not hopeful.

If Mary and John had decided to stay in town with Carlos and Latika, I might have had hope.

If they had both left and gone their separate ways, I might have had hope.

But these two alone together, with the limited context I have, is not a hopeful scenario. They pull each other down.

In a way, there’s a beautiful mirror happening here, where Carlos and Lata contrast John and Mary. Carlos lifts Lata up. Lata keeps Carlos grounded. They’re queerplatonic and outsiders and beautiful in how they fit together. And I am obviously invested in that, but we don’t see enough of it. In contrast, we have Mary indulging John’s darkness, and John pressing Mary into dark habits. They’re traditional and acceptable and dangerous. And I don’t care for it, but we see so much of it because that’s the relationship that results in Dean and Sam and their whole universe. They are what the fans needed to see to round out their story.

And the story with the akrida… that was the overarching narrative, and I think it was again talking to those fans.

Joan was a villain who spoke to someone that experienced a more developed story than I did. She was interesting, but to me and my experience, she felt like… she didn’t quite come out of nowhere, but it was pretty damn close.

I think the show was too short to find its rhythm, in a lot of ways. It didn't earn its ending, for me.

My favourite episodes were the monsters of the week, so I didn’t care enough about the akrida plot; and the Hunters being their own worst enemy wasn’t woven into enough of the story as a whole to feel justified.

Mary being a hunter felt right. It feels right to who she is as a character. But her only self-destructive trait was her attraction to John – everything else was just her rebelling against her father or learning how to lead. John was self-destructive—John is destructive in general—but he’s not a hunter. He’s… just a violent person being used for hunting purposes. The show holds him up as if he’s Ur Example of A Hunter, but the show itself does not portray other hunters as like him, while it goes out of its way to tell us what’s wrong with him as a person.

Carlos is a hunter, but he’s (mostly) healthy, and has a healthy approach to the job. He’s the hero they think of themselves as. And Lata feels like what the Men of Letters thought they were, as well. And she has self-destructive tendencies, but again, she’s not really a hunter, and her story was not addressed in the akrida queen’s accusations. She was just the vulnerability Joan exploited to get to them.

This was a show of possibilities. I like the universe. I want to explore it. I like the ‘new’ characters. I want to get to know them better. And it’s sad that I’m not going to, because even if this series does continue, it won’t be for those characters, it’ll be for Mary and John and the original fans.

Which is fair. But it’s not for me.

I hope the old fans got some kicks out of it though. It was a fun ride… when it wasn’t pissing me off.

Good work, Mr Ackles. I hope it was what you wanted. <3

#the winchesters #final thoughts #I liked it #I will not be watching Supernatural #I liked what it could have been more #I still love Carlos #I still love Millie #I still love Lata #Thanks for letting me play

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olivine-gal · 28 days ago

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I have a few proposals!

First would be The Menace with a Message - your villainy isn't for self-gain, but rather sending a message or correcting a wrong you see in society, laws be damned. If it's a sympathetic goal, you could introduce some moral grayness and internal conflict to the story - assuming you're in a well-written story, of course. Just as capable of being either an unsympathetic message, or just a plain nonsensical one, potentially as a strawman. Examples include Magneto, Poison Ivy, Anarky, Mad Stan.

Second would be The Challenger Seeker - you don't want money or power, you want to to prove you're the strongest there is. You might want to hunt the hero for sport, you might want to best them in righteous combat, or you might want to humiliate them at their own game - either way, you NEED to be the winner. Examples include Kraven the Hunter, Battle Beast, Bane in his debut, Skulker, the Riddler.

Third would be The Cursed - you're not a villain by any semblance of choice, this existence was thrust upon you by some horrible accident. Whatever it takes to keep you alive or reverse your condition requires you to commit some unsavory acts. You might be willing to compromise, or you might keep slipping until all that's left is a rotten heart. Overlaps with **Jekyll and Hyde**, but the difference is there's no off-switch. Examples include Mr. Freeze, Parasite, Gorr the God-Butcher.

Fourth would be The Hero of Another Story - you're not a villain, no, seriously! You uphold justice and punish criminals, but that responsibilities is what drags you into conflict with the main story. Maybe your methods are too extreme or destructive for the hero's liking, maybe you're seeking justice against someone the hero calls a friend, or maybe it's just a big misunderstanding or frame-up. Prone to be one-offs, but sometimes they stick around if their actions devolve into outright villainy. Examples include Namor the Sub-Mariner, Manchester Black, the Punisher, the Hulk (all situational, of course).

Fifth would be The Collector - you have an interest in a particular set of things, and you would very much like these things above all else. Maybe these things together give you access to even greater power or riches, or maybe they just look really nice in a set, or both! Examples include Brainiac, Larfleeze, and, well, the Collector.

Sixth would be The Herald - your goals are irrelevant, because your true purpose is to serve the will of your master, who is probably in the Planet Eater category. Thus, the threat you serve is moreso the threat of your master, who you are typically trying to summon or break free from imprisonment. Examples include the Silver Surfer in his Debut, Rasputin of the Hellboy series, and the minions of Darkseid.

An Incomplete List of Supervillain Archetypes

Ok, so my first attempt to brainstorm some supervillain prompts was derailed in a very perplexing way, but I am undeterred! Let's try this again in a way that's honestly a bit more fitting with my usual process - namely, by looking at the genre in question ans figuring out what archetypes are there, as well as what kind of... well, the words "theme" ad "motif" seemed to confuse people last time, so let's use the word "flavor" here for. So yes, a list of archetypes and flavors.

An incomplete list, as you no doubt noticed from the title here, because 1. while I've consumed a fair amount of superhero media, I'm by no means an expert and 2. I'm purposely leaving out archetypes and motifs that are dependent on a pre-established hero. That means no Mirror Universe counterparts, evil doppelgangers, guys with the same powers as the hero but they're evil, evil living versions of the hero's costume, etc. This is a list to make a rogue's gallery that isn't necessarily based around a particular hero - rogues for the sake of having rogues, rather than to further one good guy's narrative. We're not trying to make Morlun the interdimensional vampire who only eats Spider-Men here.

And since this is an incomplete list, I am officially inviting you, the person reading this, to point out anything big you think I missed! Just don't start listing college majors, ok? I already have another post about supervillain archetypes that's gathering a list of college majors. Inexplicably.

Supervillain Archetypes

Ok, we're gonna start with a list of, like, personality and story roles supervillains tend to come in. The Archetypes, if you will.

The Bank Robber with a Gimmick - the Silver Age classic. You rob banks and do other naughty but not-necessarily lethal crimes, but more than that, you do it with a gimmick, and goddamn are you devoted to committing to the bit. The bit is more important than the crimes - in fact, the crimes are really just a means to make everyone pay attention to your gimmick.

The Evil Genius - you are extremely book smart and are making it everyone's problem. Again, no need to suggest what degree the mad scientist has, I have a whole post where people are inexplicably doing that already!

The Big Monstrous Guy - you're a big guy with some sort of hideous deformity/mutation that makes you look like a monster. It may also make you act like a monster, although it's just as likely you only act that way because everyone treated you as a monster first. You are often reduced to being the dumb muscle in a given scene, but might get moments of pathos that show how hard it is to be a big monster guy.

The Wildcard - you're an agent of chaos who doesn't really have a plan/goal beyond making everything escalate as quickly as possible, and that's why we love you. In-universe, though, almost everybody thinks you're very annoying.

The Copycat - your villainy hinges on imitation. You are adept at stealing other people's identities, disguising yourself as someone else, and/or even taking the super powers of another person outright. Ultimately, the threat you pose isn't inherent to you - it's something your victims brought to the table.

A Normal Businessman - you view all people and things as nothing more than resources to exploit in your pursuit of wealth and power. Love for anyone but yourself is a weakness to be exploited, and all other living beings are only worth whatever labor you can extract from them as quickly and cruelly as possible, and should be discarded ruthlessly and without mercy when they no longer provide you that utility. In the real world you'd be treated like royalty, but since this is a fictional world, you actually face... resistance? Somehow? As if someone wants people like you to actually face consequences. How unnatural.

The Foreign Tyrant - you rule some made-up country, planet, or plane of existence that doesn't exist in the real world and thus can be as comically awful and dystopian as the writer desires. Everything that's wrong with your foreign home is more or less your fault, because you rule it with an iron fist. You tend to be pretty theatrical about it, too.

The Mind Taker - you're a villain whose main scheme involves some form of mind control, brainwashing, or other methods of forcibly recruiting innocent people into serving you. You're often a seductive figure, and always a manipulative one.

The Mind Fucker - you screw with people's perception of reality in order to enact your schemes. Maybe you send their feelings into overdrive, maybe you dazzle their senses with magnificent illusions, but ultimately you make it that anyone who wants to oppose you has to fight their own mind in the process.

The Jekyll and Hyde - you're not a bad guy, really! But, well... sometimes a part of you takes over, something you bury deep inside, something you really want to keep caged inside you. And when that "other guy" comes out, well... they're pretty bad, actually.

The Anything But Retail - you approach super-villainy the way you would any other job. You're not here for the love of the game or because you're theatrical - this is just the only thing that pays the bills that you can see yourself doing.

The All-Time Hater - you are, quite literally, a hateful person, and by gum you are going to make everyone know it! None of your schemes serve any goal except making people you hate suffer - your only ambition is to make life worse for others.

The Super Mafia - you walked straight out of a gangster movie and into a Saturday morning cartoon, and somehow that transition wasn't nearly as difficult as it should have been. Time to make these costumed fucks sleep with the fishes, even if all your goons now carry harmless laser guns instead of actual pistols.

The Planet Eater - you are a villain whose threat is so great that you threaten the very narrative itself with destruction by way of raising the stakes so high that nothing will ever have any meaning ever again. If the writers aren't up to snuff, you will make everything that occurs after you feel like either an anticlimax, or a pathetic attempt to raise the stakes to an even more inconceivably high level. If you threaten to kill the planet, the next bad guy will threaten the universe. If you threaten the universe, then they'll threaten the multiverse. If you threaten that, then by god, I don't know how we'll raise the stakes from there, but a hack writer will definitely try. A good writer can avoid that terrible fate, but unfortunately you're far more popular with bad writers than good ones.

Supervillain Flavors

These are more surface-level ways to categorize supervillains, mostly concerned with, like, their aesthetic - i.e. the theme of their costume, weapons, lair, etc.

Clown (note to self: don't even try it. You'll never escape Harley Quinn's shadow. It's a fool's errand.)

Reptile

Spider

Insect

Shark

Other "scary" animals

Obscure Animal the writer got obsessed with and decided to theme a bad guy around

Cat-themed Cat Burglar (note to self: don't do this one either. We already have a good one with Catwoman and then also a less good one with Black Cat, who's just Catwoman but at Marvel. There

Space alien

Robot

Cyborg

Mutant (radioactive)

Mutant (toxic waste/pollution)

Mutant (genetically engineered)

Mutant (setting specific source of mutation)

A classic Gothic Horror monster but now they wear superhero tights. Werewolves, vampires, ghosts, etc.

Literally Satan

Satan but we're too cowardly to fully embrace that he's Satan so we're gonna, like, try to have plausible deniability and claim our Satan isn't literally Satan (but he's more or less Satan)

Wizard (fake)

Wizard (real)

Knight

Witch

Fantastical Monster (dragon, gorgon, etc.)

Adapted from/inspired by real world mythology

A god in an old world mythology sort of way

A god but in a cool 60's cosmic way

Anthropomorphic Personification of Abstract Concept

A normal businessman

Elemental Powers (Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Ice, Lightning, etc.)

Shapeshifter

Power Stealer

90's Extreme Radical Wanton Gun Violence

90's Extreme Radical Body Horror

Ninja

Caricature of Obnoxious Media Trend (shock jocks, reality TV, celebrity culture, etc.)

Alright, that's what I've got off the top of my head. What'd I miss?

#mouse chat

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castielcommunism · 3 years ago

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you're my favorite spn blog anytime something happens i go to see what you have to say about it. anyway i have a question - what do you think about sammy's bloodfreak powers? do you think they should have kept that up after the first apocalypse? i think they had a narrative purpose that they fulfilled for the most part, but brushing them entirely under the rug like they did in the show does them a disservice especially since they are so important in early seasons

thank you!!!!

and yeah like sam has always been the guy messing up the monster/human binary in the show and tends to be the focal point in discussions of the morality of killing monsters, but the moral position of the show itself is ultimately “all monsters are bad and must be destroyed” with a couple asterisks thrown in for acceptable exceptions (ie garth, benny). and that binary is represented on a grand existential scale with the Michael/Lucifer Sword plot in s5 - Dean is supposed to embody the pure essence of humanity and Sam is supposed to embody the pure essence of monsterhood. The show consciously acknowledges that the truth is a lot more complicated, of course - some of Sam’s most human elements are about his own monstrousness, and Dean both outright rejects his own special place in humanity (“I don’t like getting singled out at birthday parties, much less by god”) and is often the one who voices the most monstrous parts of human belief in the show, which is the willingness to designate people as un-persons who are worthy of destruction.

but then like s5 ends with Sam dying and being doomed to hell for all eternity and Dean retires and moves into the suburbs so like narratively the show is like yeah lol monsters deserve punishment for being monsters and humans deserve reward for being humans. but THEN season 6 starts and we see that Dean is deeply unhappy and Sam comes back soulless (again another wrinkle to the monster/human divide) so it keeps going.

Sorry this is kind of rambly but like, spn wants to confront its own premise without actually interrogating it, if that makes sense. You have all these arcs that tackle what it “means” to be a monster or what it “means” to be human (demon blood powers, soulless sam, the trials, demon dean, human cas arc, the attempt to make crowley human, the existence of benny and garth, etc) but the show always falls back to baseline, which is that monsters need to be killed and humans are the good guys.

And I think that’s a product of the show always wanting to stay the same rather than a conscious ideological project. Like the show fundamentally doesn’t want to change its formula, but because part of that formula is an essentialistic worldview that posits that there are Inherently Good People (humans) and Inherently Bad People (monsters), there can never be any resolution to those arcs other than, damn I guess monsters are bad* (some terms and conditions may apply if you demonstrate your usefulness to the Winchesters).

Season 12 even gets at this with the BMOL, who are like why haven’t you guys industrialised and institutionalised hunting? All monsters are bad so why haven’t you killed all of them yet? This is a moral failing on your part so we’re gonna do it for you. But the conclusion to that arc isn’t Sam and Dean going man maybe we should rethink hunting if that is the logical conclusion of our own beliefs, they just do like, the hunter version of the American Revolution lol. Which would be hilarious if it were done with any sense of self-awareness but I have my doubts.

ANYWAY. I don’t think the show is ideologically capable of letting Sam be a blood drinking demon freak for a sustained period of time, because it demands that the text confront itself about its own foundational beliefs. Having seasonal arcs where the brothers are different kinds of Freak allows for you to eternally reboot the question “are all monsters bad?” and then not have to answer it. Again, I don’t think this is intentional - disconnected seasonal plots that all vaguely rhyme with one another is a product of network television and constant threats of cancellation. supernatural can’t be viewed as a single coherent text, because network demands and other external forces often supersede narrative. but Sam is like the eternal fly in the ointment that they refuse to either acknowledge OR get rid of. so while I would have very much liked for him to keep his powers and still remained a sympathetic main character, that alone would require more than the show is capable of giving the audience imo

#asks #sam.txt #libertariannatural #meta #sorry this is a really rambly unstructured post

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raveyardantics · 3 years ago

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Okay, I think I’ve finally managed to put my complicated feelings about Danny Phantom into words

So right off the bat i’m gonna say there is good in the show, and I’m glad so many people have found enjoyment and community in the phandom space, absolutely love to see it. But at it’s core, this is a white show. And i’m not just talking about the lead character is white, i mean everything from the character design to personalities to even the vibes it puts off if you think about it for more than 30sec at a time, it just screams WASP and as someone who is very much not that makes it harder to look past it’s flaws.

Again, I like making content for the show, some of my favorite people I’ve met on this hellsite have come from this circle, but there’s always a part of me that thinks: I keep doing it because it’s the easy road. At it’s height Danny Phantom was damn near a global phenomenon and there are still tons of vocal fans so the engagement is easy and since it’s fanwork there’s not as much pressure (to me, I know some others think differently and that’s why y’all need to be reblogging and communicating with creators more if you want them to continue to create for you). It’s a lot easier for me to go “well i can fix that” with someone elses recipe than to go through the trial and error of building from the bottom, and tbh I’m leaning on that heavy. That only goes so far though, I have tons of fics about Maurice and Angela and Tucker and Damon and Valerie but then i’lll look at the source material and there’s always a flash of “actually, that’s more work for black characters than this show deserves from me” which is a WILDLY self destructive mindset if I want more content for said black characters.

Also like... there are so many other shows that do more with less and better with the same building blocks, shows I love and want to talk about WAY more and have much more of a connection to but unfortunately didn’t manifest the following DP did (three guesses why)

The Secret Saturdays? Does the “monster hunter parents with monster adjacent kid” thing much better, better character dynamics and comedy and an A to B plot that doesn’t walk back things every other episode

Generator Rex? More consistent worldbuilding, much better creature design, amazing three seasons with fantastic payoff.

Tutenstein? I’m even throwing in Tutenstein since i know you could make the argument than DP is supposed to be more episodic than the other two series but even Tutenstein handles it’s mythology better, often with a much better comedic timing and the episodic flow because it doesn’t try to bite off more than it can chew with a bloated cast.

I could go on (special shout out to El Tigre, MLAATR, ATLA, and Static Shock who also fit in this lil chunk of my brain) but the point’s been made. I love the skeleton of the show but my god is the meat a mixed bag to me.

#idk man i'm just spinning my wheels #reblog if you want

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alternautxyz · 3 years ago

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so thems owl house huh

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

so that happened and i feel like talking about random stuff again

also spoilers

damn dude just like true colours

ok but seriously

in general this episode was really great, but i can’t help but feel like it was rushed and that multiple sections were supposed to be whole eps. its not a bad thing in the ep and i don’t even think i really hurts the viewing experience, but there were multiple parts that were kinda glossed over like the big fight and what happened between the king concussion. i can’t blame any of this on the crew but disney for making a dumb mistake, and seeing the potential for a season 3 at the end, i can only feel bad for what disney missed out on. and even then dana and the crew did a great job for what they had.

ok back to random stuff that last goodbye between the adult squad is very (crying noises)

also why did eda’s sigil thing not apear until raine touched it

illusion guy who really cares about appearance shows up to one of the most important moments of his life like he just got out of bed. hilarious

yknow for something that happened within a plot of a kids show, the whole eda gambit worked out surprisingly well for the first few minutes until eda’s arm is very visibly cursed

note to self: the collector is very naive when it comes to trusting people. like even after being betrayed by belos he still took kings words seriously one he pinky swore

also belos likes screwing people over. yes we already know this. like i get why he didn’t want to let out a destructive god of chaos, but like still mean you just lied and with a smile on your face

so luz just straight up almost died with the petrification thing. good thing she noticed the glove in the corner and went specifically for that as she was being petrified. smart move kill the guy

or was it before idk

ok so the draining happened and since the only two drivers have sigils, the ship just straight up crashed and presumable cracked king’s head and now they had to leave alador behind to keep of the abomatons hope he’s fine

then they showed up at the altar thing and have to look at everyone dying. guess they really know their plan failed

and now they’re going to luz how did king sleep through all that lol

also how is hunter more fine than everyone else with sigils

ok so after that illusion spell gus might just actually know all of belos’ backstory good for him i guess we’ll need that later

belos was being nice to hunter and idk if that was an act or not. either way he went insane the second he saw flapjack so i guess it was caleb’s palisman

belos specifically put all the golden guards into one specific hole. damn dude just like hollow knight

also the collectors in the hole of failures massive L for him

also kiki knows about all of this

and the titan locked the collector away so thats cool

and king’s collar hides him from the collector so thats cool too. since it was on all of the walls where he was born those symbols were probably to protect him from the danger of the collector

also what was the collector doing at the end if they didn’t even know how to play owl house were you just destroying the place to be dramatic

damn raine just ripped off eda’s arm just like amp

ok so the whole arm chopping thing protected her from the draining spell, but that was going to be fixed anyways. it could have also helped from the curse if that wouldn’t have been stopped by the spell stopping. and it means she can still do wild magic if she ever can again so thats cool too

where did luz get the eyebrow scar tho we just never see it happen

and yeah the collector’s cool and the luz possession theories and now deemed outdated and funny

they just turn the tone of the scene from intense to “wtf is happening is this actually happening did they just do that” and its honestly great

“i play it every day” “i play it every hour” (pain noises)

(everyone dying) “boop”

i really like the type of villain that is just not fazed by anything and treats everything like its no big deal. like the collector treats everything like a game and just casually destroys the big bad of the series in like a second with no fanfare. then they just. move the moon. like with an ipad. no fanfare. it’s great

also belos probably isn’t gone forever so

he then proceeded to destroy the whole world for an owl house

and now they’re going to the human realm that would have made a great few seasons huh disney

they put a lot of emphasis on the belos blobs dripping onto hunter so that might be something or they may just be dramatic

also luz is just very down with sacrificing herself so i guess the protagonist role is really getting to her

so king pushes them into the portal and now the main trio is separated and one of them with their magical friends ins stuck in the human realm

just like amphibia

truly is the true colours of the owl house

also speaking of amphibia ANNE BOONCHUY ANNE BOONCHUY IT’S ANNE BOONCHUY SHE’S ANNE BOONCHUY THIS IS HOW THE CROSSOVER CAN STILL HAPPEN

ok so like theres a headline about anne being in a frog land and it being a hoax. so like amphibia happened in the same universe as this and probably happened a while ago and people are already questioning the legitimacy of it damn. now i’m already questioning when in the amphibia timeline this happens like is it during 3A, after frogvasion, a few years after that. must be wild to hear this happening while your daughter’s also claiming to be stuck in another world

anyways that last scene was really good and captured the right emotions for me but my brain still reeling from amphibia just made me think of that.

so yeah now we wait for the specials and im curious as to how the story will continue. idk how they’ll follow up on the collector, how they’ll get back, what they’ll focus on, and how this story will end, but i’m sure that whatever happens will be a fun ride. or a painful one. that works too

#the owl house #the owl house spoilers #toh #damn tho just like true co- *gets shot*#but yeah pretty cool #alttalks

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scarfdyedshadow · 4 years ago

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The Unveiling of Ibaraki-Douji’s Character Across FGO (1/2)

I should start with the disclaimer that this isn’t specifically intended to be an analysis of Ibaraki as character, or so to speak an analysis of her narrative arc, character development, and growth over the course of Grand Order. For that, I extremely recommend reading the meta posts of @xenodile. They are very thoughtful, insightful, and nuanced analyses of her.

This is more or less a consolidation of my thoughts on the reveals made about her character over time, the slow meting out of tidbits about what lies under her surface and what her true basis is. In short, the deciphering of her puzzle. In that regard, this post won’t go into Ibaraki content irrelevant to that, such as the relative low points of her treatment over time.

Ibaraki: “Kuha, kuhahahaha! Woman, woman, woman! Is this the first time you’ve seen something like me? Then engrave it within that body. Cram it in in place of the organs that’ll be devoured by insects after death. Violent like a rampaging beast, terrifying as a god, miserable as an insect! Knowing neither human weakness nor a warriors’ pride, lowly so as to wield one’s rotting arm as a weapon! That is an Oni. One who terrifies humans with all they have, a man-eating demon!”

When we’re first introduced to her in Rashoumon, Ibaraki is an intimidating presence, speaking of the depravity of the oni and how she is the embodiment of it. Right off the bat, there’s something to be said about her being fixated on what an oni is and how she fits the bill, rather than her own individuality.

Ibaraki: “Kuha, kuhahahaha! How nice, how nice!”

Kintoki: “This isn’t nice at all! Your eyes aren’t laughing at all, damn you!”

Ibaraki: “….mu, don’t insult me. I’m not used to laughing. Laughter from the bottom of my heart, huh… I can’t do it like Shuten.”

And only just a bit later, it already becomes clear she’s forcing herself a bit. She’s not used to laughing, to be able to do it fully and genuinely. And again, shortly thereafter, her weakness is called out.

Kintoki: “Can’t you tell? Bah, whatever. Hey General, can you tell her?”

Protagonist: “It’s because you haven’t eaten Shuten.”

Ibaraki: “Y-you human! Don’t say such a cruel thing! Eating Shuten was just a manner of speech! That... like hell I can eat her! I would never injure the Shuten that I respect so much, you fool!”

Kintoki: “See? She’s like that.”

Protagonist: “…a chicken.”

Quite contrary to her initial impression, Ibaraki’s fundamental nature is that of a coward. Certainly she has some capacity for fierceness and fighting, but she doesn’t truly live up to the violent, miserable, and terrifying image she projected at the beginning. And as for why she did that?

IbarakI: [Blushing] “C-can’t help it, this is an Oni’s custom! An Oni must always put on airs! That’s what Mother taught me!”

At this point we learn that the airs she puts on are an ideal she tries to live up to in order to be a proper oni, as taught by her mother. That’s someone that will come up later, but for now we learn from her debut event that Ibaraki feels compelled to hold herself to a particular impression, to appear as a fierce inhuman oni, due to her mother’s teachings.

There’s nothing in particular I want to highlight in her profile and lines, wherein she mostly presents as she does at the beginning of the event, as an imperious and deadly leader of oni. It certainly can be gleaned from her lines though that she puts a particular emphasis on her being an oni as opposed to a human. Throughout her various appearances in this interim period, she continues to insist on being a true and vicious oni while generally in practice being a big dork, though she never truly acknowledges this.

And indeed, throughout all this, her esteemed mother she seems to hold in veneration, perhaps even fear, continues to come up. It’s evident that even if she isn’t physically present, her influence is felt every time Ibaraki pushes herself to be a proper oni, to hold herself to that standard.

And then we get to her mats profile.

Ibaraki isn’t just upholding that image with words and to a mild extent actions, she’s literally pushing her own body to adhere to that particular image. It makes what we’ve known about how she forces herself pale in comparison.

Her personality section, as much as it understates what she went through because this game isn’t the ideal of taking things as seriously as they should be, explicates why she is how she is quite clearly. Her mother of noble birth, devoid of love, literally beat her into the mold of a proper oni. The reason she acts the way she does is because she was forced to every single day act as a proper scion to the oni, assume responsibility as a leader of oni. She was left with no choice but to mutilate her own heart and strive to act as a prideful monster, and she is constantly self-conscious of maintaining that image.

This then would seem to be the final word on how Ibaraki’s character came to be, but there are some additional wrinkles, first alluded to here as well.

Watanabe no Tsuna is a hunter of oni, the man who put an end to her grief stricken rampage and humiliated her by cutting off her arm. It’s only natural that she should hate him and want to kill him. But why then does she feel the conflicting impulse of wanting to talk to him? Why does she feel strong curiosity about him? What is there to be curious about, when he did what any human would do if possible and put a stop to her destructive rampage? Shuten only offers a cryptic answer, and Ibaraki is left with the lingering question.

Dialogue 9 I am an oni from Hell, but from the looks of it, that one's an oni of the present world. I can sense the blood of a high-class god from Shuten Douji, but Ibaraki Douji has a smell similar to mine. ...She must have been a human, originally. (If you have Shuten Douji and Ibaraki Douji)

The sparrow Beni-enma, soon to release in FGO NA, has a line for Ibaraki Douji, and it is a truly absurd place to receive such a major revelation. Ibaraki was not born as an oni, but as a human. It’s a detail that contextualizes why her mother of noble oni stock was so unrelentingly harsh on her, why she was so particular and forceful about making her into a proper oni. Such is doubly necessary to make up for the deficit of having once been human, of being so impure. It contextualizes as well why she didn’t take to that traumatic teaching easily, why she still lapses into a sweets loving coward. Her fundamental nature isn’t quite that of an oni, and that’s why she has to push herself so hard.

But then, how has this not especially come up before? Ibaraki’s basically never alluded to having formerly been a human, something which you would think impossible, even if she has an image she works hard to maintain. Likewise, she seems a certain degree too casual, too unaware, when it comes to what her mother put her through, even if she bears fear and awe.

Of all the places to do it once again, the tail end of Beni-enma’s interlude answers the matter, and once again contextualizes all of Ibaraki as a character prior. She was so thoroughly traumatized, so thoroughly indoctrinated, so thoroughly broken, that she repressed the memories of what she endured. She only remembers it as a distant emotional impression of having to crawl towards an impossible goal, of having to smile even as if she was in agony.

And Shuten maintains that illusion. Ibaraki has always been how she is. She’s never been through anything like that. She’s always been an oni’s oni, the ideal oni everyone wanted, and there’s no need to dwell on anything else.

Ibaraki is able to maintain her current self by burying her trauma deep inside of her, clinging to a reality of a stern but teaching mother that never existed. Of course she’s full of pride. She’s an oni, so she should act like an oni. There’s no need to think about difficult things, or be moved by uncomfortable sentiments.

Of course she doesn’t remember being a human. She had her past torn away from her by what she was forced to become, her memories ripped to shreds by the unsentimental abuse of her so called mother. To acknowledge what came before what she is now would be to undo her entire self.

And Shuten reveals she maintains this lie so that Ibaraki can remain happy. She fears Ibaraki will fall apart if the delusions she clings to are torn away. To simply allow Ibaraki to be carefree and pursue her desires is all she feels she can do.

But why does Tsuna come up? What bearing does he have on Ibaraki’s trauma? He’s nothing more than a sworn enemy that put a stop to her rampage and disgraced her by cutting off her arm. Certainly his presence stirs up some feeling, but it should have no bearing on her past, her pain, what she was and what she forces herself to be. Why does Shuten believe that if Ibaraki were to meet Tsuna, she might break down?

Tale of the Beginning and the End

― And just like that, it was all over. Grisly claw marks, destroyed houses, shattered household belongings. And a single woman nearby, close to the brink of death. I may or may not make it in time. It seems like I was wrong from the start.

I never expected us to come in contact with one another. The last thing I wanted to do was to even look at you. However, as long as you were alive. As long as you were happy. I thought that would be enough. But look, this is the reality.

she's dead / it's your fault she was killed / it's your fault that oni escaped / you must kill her don't avert your gaze / look away i'll carve out those golden locks of hers / you're not done yet decapitate her / kill yourself who should I blame? / no one is to blame

― And just like that, the man ceases his delusional thoughts. Oni are meant to be killed. I will slay her...that's all, nothing else to it. No, think. I have to keep thinking. Even if I die, until I die, even if I become corrupted.

I remember that look in her eyes, like bubbles that floated away and vanished.

Quietly, without a hint of any intense emotion, I stared back at the girl who had fixed her gaze on me. Everyone is a sinner. Oni are sinners, people are sinners, the girl is a sinner, I am a sinner. They are not just sins, but responsibilities as well.

I tightly grasp the hilt of my sword. I have no intention of giving it up to anyone. Having it even be stolen would be absurd. "Slaying that oni, is my duty."

― Tsuna, Tsuna, TSUNAA!

......the oni's claws approach. Something, whatever it is, swells within my trembling heart. I rotate my body, turn my arms, and swing my sword.

The truth of this fight, along with its conclusion, will soon disappear to the passage of time.

No one else can understand, will be able to understand this fight to the death between the two of us.

Watanabe no Tsuna’s profile paints the picture of a man unmoved as he slew countless oni. He is without hatred and without joy. He is akin to a robot.

And yet In his Bond CE this man who is even uncertain he has emotions to begin with, when it comes to Ibaraki, is left questioning everything he is. He is wracked with self loathing, desires even his own death, and condemns himself as a sinner. He berates himself and rages at himself.

He never expected to come into contact with her. The last thing he wanted was to ever see her again. It was enough that she was happy and alive. And yet it had come to this. No one but him can understand the truth of this fight.

The picture is perhaps of having come home to ruination. A doll lays discarded. Why is it that Ibaraki-Douji wishes to talk with a human she has only known as a sworn enemy in a single encounter? Why is that she has such a sheer curiosity about him? Why is it that to meet him again might break down the illusion of what she is? Why is it that the machine of a demon slayer breaks when it comes to encountering her and her alone?

Ibaraki-Douji, despite everything she pushes herself to be, was once human. She had a human family, and a human past. And perhaps that past is not quite as dead as her heart makes it out to be.

#fgo #fate grand order #fgo meta #fate grand order meta #ibaraki douji #ibaraki-douji #watanabe no tsuna #fate series #fgo spoilers #ibaraki doji #I fully expect information from 5.5 and Tsuna's lines to either add to this or potentially mess up the impression I garnered from the CE #time will tell #fate grand order spoilers

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spoondrifts · 5 years ago

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long post ahead I'm sorry-

crack au where Jonah Magnus is a good guy but everything keeps going wrong and he spends all of his time running around trying to stop his employees from diving headfirst into their Fuck Up™ of the week

in this au Jonah is almost entirely incompetent but he's got the exasperated parent thing down enough to make up for his lack of braincells

he's also at least 7% dumber than he is in canon

s1 Jon: please call pest control there are so many worms

s1 Elias: I already did

Jon: and??

Elias: they ate them

Jon: the worms?

Elias: the pest control guys. the worms ate them

Elias spends the entirety of season 2 desperately trying to convince Jon that none of them killed Gertrude (in this au Gertrude just had a stroke or something in the tunnels). Elias stops Jon from destroying the table but a week later something heavy falls on it and the NotThem escapes anyway. Elias bashes in Leitner's head with a pipe after mistaking him for the monster and Jon gets framed.

now Elias has to convince this hunter that Jon is innocent while Jon runs around and harasses various fear avatars (who are all very amused with Elias' wayward Archivist). Jon assumes Elias knows nothing about all this bullshit because Elias is just his weird and uptight boss who accidentally killed someone, he can't possibly know that there are literally fear gods ruling over them

olive ⚰ has named the group 'Avatars ✨'

JMagnus 👀: Jude please don't hurt him. I'll explain everything when he gets back to the Institute.

🔥: too late

JMagnus 👀: What?

🔥: too late

🔥: burned him

[JMagnus 👀 is typing]

JMagnus 👀: Where is he now.

🔥: going to mike

JMagnus 👀: Mike Crew???

🔥: ya

Elias RACES to Mike's house but he. he fucking misses them. the Beholding helpfully tells him that they're all going back to the Institute so Basira and Daisy can interrogate him, which isn't ideal, he'd really like to not go to jail, so he drafts up an employment contract on the way back and barely manages to escape the whole thing with his life intact.

then he explains everything to Jon because if Jon is going to end up being the Archivist, being uninformed won't do. Jon becomes the Archivist completely on accident and Elias is desperately trying to make all of this work because, haha, the Unknowing is coming up, and Elias is not in the fucking mood to deal with clowns.

olive ⚰ has named the group 'all that is terror uwu'

spidey🕸: lmfaooo jonah how do you make an archivist on accident

JMagnus 👀: He stumbled into it. All I can do now is ensure he doesn't die.

JMagnus 👀: Or get further injured by the rest of you.

🔥: woops

🎭: hEy gUyS lOnG tiMe nO sEe

🎭: gEt iT eLiAs

🎭: sEe

JMagnus 👀: Beholding puns are not amusing from a manifestation of the Stranger.

🎭 has named the group 'eLiAs bE niCe tO niKoLa cHaLlEnGe'

🔥: haha

spidey🕸: I'm sure Nikola will be on her best behavior

🎭: yEaH i wOnT kiDnAp yOuR aRcHiViSt

[JMagnus 👀 is typing]

mike n ike: hey guys what'd I miss

🔥: arent you dead

mike n ike: yeh but I came back

JMagnus 👀: NIKOLA ORSINOV WHERE IS JONATHAN SIMS

🔥: can't you see haha

mike n ike: heh "see"

JMagnus 👀: NIKOLA

spidey🕸: wow he must be pissed

spidey🕸: he left out the punctuation

JMagnus 👀: I WILL BREAK ALL OF YOUR PLASTIC BONES WHERE'S MY ARCHIVIST

🎭 has left the chat.

JMagnus 👀: what the FUCK

since he's still a coward Elias sends Michael to go fetch Jon, only finding out after the fact that he very nearly almost signed Jon's death warrant. Elias is now speedrunning Jon's development because fuck the Unknowing is coming up really quickly and Tim is a self destructive mess and Melanie keeps trying to stab Elias and Martin is a pining idiot and goddammit he didn't sign up for this

Elias prepares Jon the best he can for the Unknowing, because even though he knows the ritual will fail, the Circus can still cause a considerable amount of damage and he needs them out of the way.

the Unknowing happens. Jon ends up in a wack ass coma, Tim is dead, Daisy's in the coffin, and Basira is starting to look like the better choice of Archivist because jesus christ Jon has no self preservation instinct. Elias doesn't get arrested this time around but his ex husband starts coming by the Institute and fucking with all his employees. and the Flesh is attacking. jesus. goddamn.

olive ⚰ has named the group 'bully elias'

JMagnus 👀: Why are you all so mean to me? I'm arguably the nicest one here.

🔥: ur joking right

Peter Lukas: you're not nice you didn't buy me an anniversary gift 😢😢😢

JMagnus 👀: I was busy.

Peter Lukas: doing what

JMagnus 👀: Stopping the Flesh from destroying my Institute. Besides, you didn't remember my birthday.

Peter Lukas: you're 200 years old how could I remember 😓

helen!!!!!: We All Know I'm The Nicest One Here!!

JMagnus 👀: How did you make your text that colorful?

helen!!!!!: IDK

JMagnus 👀: Liar.

helen!!!!!: That's Literally My Job

olive ⚰: hey eli your archivist just woke up I think

🔥: ew why

helen!!!!!: How Delightful!! Maybe I'll Throw Him A Glad You're Alive Party!!

olive ⚰: should we invite him to this chat since he's an avatar now

Peter Lukas: no 🙅 🚫❌

Peter Lukas: I hate archivists 😤😤

olive ⚰: still mad about gertrude huh

🔥: were all still mad about gertrude

🔥: but jons fine once you burn some manners into him

JMagnus 👀: Can you all please stop hurting Jon? Or talking about hurting him? I would like my Archivist to not acquire any more scars.

🔥: damn

Peter Lukas: damn 😔

Elias keeps trying to teach Jon how to pick certain victims to feed off of because personally he has no qualms about feeding from innocents but Jon!! actually trusts him!!! so Elias doesn't want to push Jon into making decisions that will offend his moral sensitivities.

things are actually going okay for a while. Elias starts going home at a reasonable time in the evenings and Jon is actually getting some sleep. and then-

Elias is having a nice dream about Peter trying to fish Simon Fairchild out of a sky filled with eyes when he abruptly sits up in bed, wide awake.

"Ah, fuck," he says to Peter, who is laying on the floor where it is Lonelier™. "Jon's doing something stupid. I Know it."

Peter's mumbled "isn't he always" goes unnoticed as Elias hurries to the Institute, where he finds a fucking rib on Jon's desk and the coffin in the middle of the room.

Peter Lukas has named the chat 'archivists ruin my sleep schedule and my sex life'

JMagnus 👀: What the fuck do I do?? I can't go into the Buried! Why is Jon so stupid? I didn't know he had zero braincells when I hired him!

🔥: ngl why havent you fired him yet

JMagnus 👀: Beholding won't let me. We're all bound to the Institute.

🔥: F

JMagnus 👀: Why are there no Buried avatars in here? Please someone help me.

mike n ike: lol the buried is gross why would anyone go down there

spidey🕸: does he have an anchor?

[JMagnus 👀 sent an image]

🔥: is that a fucking rib

spidey🕸: wow that's not a good anchor at all

spidey🕸: he needs someone he loves

JMagnus 👀: Thanks. Gtg.

spidey🕸: np

🔥: are we not going to talk about his rib

🔥: how the fuck did he get that out of his body

🔥: yall

🔥: YALL

it takes three days for Elias to find Martin.

"Please tell me why the fuck you're dabbling in the Lonely," Elias says as Martin steps sheepishly out of the fog.

"Ah. Well. Jon can't See into it very well and sometimes we like to spice up our se-"

"Stop before I have to gouge my eyes out again."

"A-Again-?"

Elias drags Martin back to the Institute. Martin starts setting tapes on the coffin because "Jon loves these" and Elias starts bashing his head into the wall.

Jon climbs out of the coffin with Daisy and Elias almost considers locking Jon in his office so the damn archivist can't do anything else ridiculous. instead, Elias very calmly takes Jon by the shoulders, and shakes him like a rag doll.

"Stop fucking with entities, you stupid, stupid man," Elias says, shaking Jon more viciously now.

after several hours of breathing exercises Elias returns to his house and doesn't take his Sight off of Jon for the rest of the night, which is a fun experience for Peter when he wakes up and finds Elias' bloodshot eyes staring directly at him in the morning.

JMagnus 👀 added Daisy to 'archivists ruin my sleep schedule and my sex life'

Peter Lukas has named the chat 'archivist hate club'

JMagnus 👀 has named the chat 'shut up peter'

Peter Lukas has named the chat 'you love jon more than me'

JMagnus 👀 has named the chat 'I don't love either of you I'm heartless'

Peter Lukas has named the chat 'I want a divorce'

spidey🕸: jeez take your marital dispute elsewhere

spidey🕸 has named the chat 'lonelyeyes dni'

Daisy: wtf is this

mike n ike: it's a chat for avatars

mike n ike: and ex avatars ig

Daisy: didn't I kill you

mike n ike: yea

JMagnus 👀: Hello, Daisy. Welcome to the group chat.

Daisy: why is Jon not in here

Peter Lukas: because I hate him 😁

spidey🕸: Elias talks mad shit in here and Jon would get offended

Daisy: if you talk bad about Jon I'll rip your throat out

Daisy: :)

JMagnus 👀: Noted.

mike n ike: he's kinda rude tho

Daisy: I've killed you once

Elias' only goal now is to keep Jon and his assistants from pulling any more wild stunts without his supervision. his renewed involvement with the archival staff results in a few things he'd hoped to avoid: drink invites, physical contact (Martin is surprisingly quick to start hugging Elias once he realizes Elias won't stop him), and- shudder -feelings. because Elias genuinely cares about his staff and doesn't want any harm to befall them. especially Jon. Jon is his Archivist, the only one to ever succeed like this, and Elias will be damned if he lets anything happen to him.

"Why do you care?" Jon asks, once, compulsion thrumming like static on his tongue. "About us, I mean. I would've assumed you'd want to perform the Beholding's ritual."

Jonah Magnus attempted the Watcher's Crown once, when he was young and new. he'd brought his patron close, but not all the way through, and the backlash of power killed all the inmates at Millbank and severely crippled Jonah's connection to the Eye for months afterward. he grew to assume that the Beholding simply preferred the world as it was--ripe with fear for watching. it didn't need a ritual.

he instead dedicated himself to growing stronger, cultivating his Institute of knowledge, his stronghold. if he tore out a few people's eyes when he got too old, then, well, collateral. but he doesn't want the world to end, and knows now that no ritual will ever succeed unless it brings in all the Powers at once. and he doesn't want that either.

it's concerning to him that Jon seems to be collecting marks regardless. the only ones he's missing are the Dark and the Lonely, and Elias is determined to keep it that way.

he explains all of this to Jon who, to his credit, takes it pretty well. Jon is fascinated with historic life and Elias spends some time simply recounting tales of his youth, when he still bore the name Magnus.

they bond. it's good.

and one day Basira does a little too much research and discovers the dark sun waiting in Ny Alesund. she insists they need to go and see what's left of the People's Church, they need to ensure everything is taken care of. Jon is rather insistent too. and Elias wouldn't have been inclined to let them go, except Peter was finally home after weeks at sea, and it wasn't like Jon was defenseless, he could call Elias if anything went wrong...

so, very reluctantly, Elias gives them the all clear. Basira, Jon, and Martin head north, and Elias almost forgets they've gone when he arrives home and Peter already has dinner prepared.

Jon comes back marked by the Dark.

Elias curses himself, over and over, for being foolish enough to let them go, for not keeping a closer eye on them. he knows the ritual won't work unless a certain incantation is spoken, so he'll just have to keep world-ending written chants away from Jon. easy. and it's not like Jon will even get marked by the Lonely. Peter wouldn't.

(but Martin doesn't have the same level of control, and sometimes...)

it's an accident. Martin and Jon are testing it, pushing the boundaries, when Martin pulls them both into the Lonely. Elias threatens divorce until Peter caves and fetches them, but it's too late. Jon has been marked by all fourteen Powers.

Elias tells him, and warns him to check everything he reads.

helen!!!!! has named the chat 'apocalypse babey'

JMagnus 👀: How are you doing that?

JMagnus 👀: And the apocalypse is not imminent. I have the situation under control.

olive ⚰: ha yeah

JMagnus 👀: What do you mean by that?

olive ⚰: nothing

JMagnus 👀: Well, now I certainly think it's something.

olive ⚰: it's just

olive ⚰: don't you think it's kinda weird that @spidey🕸 has been offline for so long

🔥: thats weird shes always online

JMagnus 👀: Oliver, what are you implying?

olive ⚰: idk

olive ⚰: just weird, that's all

🔥: never good when the spiders are quiet

olive ⚰: hear hear

Elias gets a sinking feeling in his stomach, and beside him, Peter looks alarmed. meanwhile, in his flat with Martin making tea in the other room, Jon has a statement clutched in his grasp.

Hello, Jon.

I would apologize for the deception, but I'm afraid that's quite what I'm good at. I'm not one to monologue, that's more Jonah's shtick, so shall we get on with things?

I admit I underestimated Jonah Magnus. He's still remarkably easy to manipulate, but when he abandoned the Watcher's Crown ritual I knew I would have to take a different approach. The Mother is not so satisfied with the world as she may have insinuated. It is our turn to rise, Jon.

At the age of eight, you were marked by us. We sent you to the Magnus Institute in the hopes that a new Archivist would rekindle Jonah's desire to end the world. Unfortunately, it seemed as though he grew fond of you, and so we brought in a new plan. We marked you. One fear at a time. Jonah gave an admirable attempt at protecting you, but ultimately, he is an incompetent old fool, and I am a Weaver. Even Jonah Magnus dances to invisible strings.

Everyone underestimates a spider until it bites. Poison is poison, Jon, regardless of the medium in which it is served.

You will be safe in this new world. Martin, too. Perhaps even Jonah and his Lukas, if the Mother deems them worthy.

Now, please repeat after me...

Jon reads the ink scratched words, eyes welling up with tears and hands trembling, as thunder crashes outside and a howling gale picks up beyond the windows. Martin is shouting something, there's the crawling press of Elias' gaze as it rests heavy behind Jon, a silent observer. He can feel Elias' soothing presence, cool and calm in the raging storm.

Elias is still watching out for him.

Strings are wrapped around his wrists, jerking his arms up in a poor mockery of religious regard, strange hysterical laughter clawing out from his throat.

Jon's tears run red. Somewhere, Elias is still watching.

The door opens.

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ms-march · 4 years ago

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Lyric Prompts from the LBL Playlists- Adrienne Fairfax

PROMPT LIST #1- there will be a total of four lists all made from the songs of the playlist in the description. These don’t have to be used specifically for the person/relationship in the playlist description, that’s just where the prompts came from!

You do not have to specifically use these only for LBL. I would be thrilled if you would Feel free to use this for any of your fics or OCs, genders can most definitely be changed (I just typed them as a copy and paste from the lysis page so)!!! You can tag me in them and I would be delighted to read any :)) and of course you can always send me some too!!!!

“I never was ready, so, I watch you go”

“She would have made such a lovely bride”

“I don’t know who I am, I barely know where I’ve been”

“I look up at the stars at night, and I sometimes wonder if the atheists were right”

“If I’m going to change things, I’m going to need a partner in crime”

“And though this getting worse, I don’t wanna spend a day in it without you”

“Am I allowed to look at her like that? Could it be wrong when she's just so nice to look at?”

“I'd never tell, no, I'd never say a word, and oh it aches.”

“She means everything to me”

“Even when she's next to me, we could not be more far apart”

“I will be ok admiring from afar”

“I knew you once, and it was nice.”

“I’ve never met a man who thinks so much like me that we say the same things at the same time”

“Your mind is playing tricks on you, my dear”

“Soon it will all be over, and buried with our past”

“We used to play outside when we were young and full of life and full of love”

“They say when it rains it pours, but a light drizzle for now is fine for me”

“I'm okay with feeling nothing, but I feel nothing if you don't feel it too”

“My life's a beautiful nothing, but it's nothing if not shared with you”

“I don't mind the pain if my lungs burn with you”

“Though I don’t know where I’m going, I know what I’m doing, and I hope you’ll be there for me”

“Our self-destructive nature is all that we have ever known”

“Those summer nights seem long ago”

“You always take it further than I ever can”

“I understand, I'm a liability”

“The truth is I am a toy that people enjoy 'til all of the tricks don't work anymore, and then they are bored of me”

“That moment again, he's insisting that friends look at each other like that”

“Sometimes giving up is the strong thing”

“I gave it my all, he gave me nothing at all”

“Sometimes to run is the brave thing”

“The snaps from the same little breaks in my soul”

“I know when it's time to go”

“Her smile makes it hard to be mad it's not her fault that I'm so fucking sad”

“There's a beauty in knowing your place in the world, in loving yourself and knowing your worth”

“The truth begins to show”

“Lover, hunter, friend and enemy, you will always be every one of these”

“You and I, always in disguises”

“In life, in love, this time I can't afford to lose”

“You don’t understand, it’s all part of a plan”

“You're so ambitious for a juvenile”

“If you're so smart tell me, why are you still so afraid?”

“Where's the fire, what's the hurry about?”

“But you know that when the truth is told that you can get what you want, or you can just get old”

“Slow down you're doing fine, you can't be everything you want to be before your time”

“Too bad, but it's the life you lead”

“Don't you know that only fools are satisfied?”

“You belong among the wildflowers”

“The world has stood against us, made us mean to fight for you”

“You belong on a boat out at sea”

“Run away, go find a lover”

“The New York streets are just as busy as they used to be”

“You belong somewhere close to me”

“You always knew the melody but you never heard it rhyme”

“Sail away, kill off the hours”

“ all the wonders I have seen I will see a second time from inside of the ages through your eyes”

“You belong with your love on your arm”

“Welcome to the end of being alone inside your mind”

“Run away, let your heart be your guide”

“You're nothing short of magical and beautiful to me”

“When someone tells you they love you, you’re going to believe them”

“You belong somewhere you feel free”

“I'm right where you left me”

“I'm still at the restaurant, still sitting cross-legged in the dim light of a corner I haunt”

“When oblivion is calling out your name”

“They expected me to find somewhere, some perspective, but I sat and stared right where you left me”

“You left me no choice but to stay here forever”

“Are you going to leave a path to trace?”

“The darkest hour dies at the dawn”

“If I could talk to a younger me, I’d tell me to go slow”

“This time on earth it moves so fast”

“When it's gone, it's gone”

“Follow your heart like a bird set free”

“If I could talk to a younger me, I'd tell me to be bold”

“Dreams can't be bought or sold”

“Feel the love inside your chest, watch it overflow”

“True love asks for nothing back”

“t's not an easy reckoning, but sometimes I have the notion that womankind, and her heart and mind, sails on a restless ocean”

“Love will come, and love will go, as the years roll on forever”

“You knelt by my mattress, and asked for my hand, but I was sad you asked it”

“I must admit it, that I would marry you in an instant. Damn your wife, I'd be your mistress just to have you around”

“Sometimes I have the notion that womankind, and her heart and mind, is a tall ship on the ocean”

“I was late for this, late for that, late for the love of my life”

“While the church discouraged, any lust that burned within me”

“The only gifts from my Lord were a birth and a divorce”

“I was Cleopatra, I was taller than the rafters, but that's all in the past love, gone with the wind.”

“God knows I don't know exactly what I'm doing, but good news, we got her to get through it.”

“You'll see close to perfect patience if you watch her every move”

“Blue eyed girl, let your hair hang down.”

“Let the colors of your soul spill out for everyone to see.”

“In a world of black and white and gray you make something beautiful every day”

“I can't think of a better way to spend the time I have, so, I'll spend it with you”

“I'll march right along to your beat. The rhythm of your spirit makes me feel much more alive”

“There's wisdom in the way you speak and I see "I love you" in your eyes”

“I wouldn't mind staying up talking to you all night as you're telling me everything about the books you read”

“Before you came along my skies were often dark and clouded, but the atmosphere is clear now that you're here”

“I've heard my whole life that home is where the heart is, but I cannot feel at home when you're not near”

“When you hold my hand in yours there is wonder written on your face”

“I'd love to live inside your heart because it is a wonderful place”

“But none of that is ever who we are”

#prompt list #prompts and drabbles #prompts no. 1 #lbl #luck be a lady #turn amc #turn: washington's spies #adrienne fairfax #benjamin tallmadge #marquis de lafayette #john laurens #amrev #lams

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leefi · 4 years ago

Text

ORV 19 (II)

Okay, wait - so there actually is something special about YSA.

[Incarnation caught in the scenario. The direction of fate is turning. The stories of the stars are gathering in one place and the fate of the constellations will begin.]

“What are you talking about? Are you referring to Gigantomachia?”

*GRABS MY NOTEBOOK*

I hurriedly grabbed Yoo Sangah’s body. Then I felt someone’s gaze from the sky. I shouldn’t raise my head right now. Nobody told me this but I instinctively knew. If I looked above me…[The exclusive skill ‘Fourth Wall’ has offset your mental shock.] I looked up with confusion. There was something in the distant Great Hall. It was a presence that destroyed Ariadne’s power. It seemed to be a tongue or a tentacle but in the end, it didn’t resemble anything. It was a fear that was beyond language and it was unable to be comprehended. A god from another world.

Same unknown god as before? I will name him Bernus.

thanks for letting me use your body to talk to the gods homegirl. *fist bump*

YES YOU WILL YES YOU WILL YES YOU WILL I'M SO PROUD OF YOU I LOVE YOU STAY SAFE *waves a little kdj flag*

Antinus didn’t have much time left. ‘…I need a new host.�� Antinus shook as she thought of the men who killed the Disaster of Questions. Those humans prevented the disaster that destroyed her planet. She was desperate in front of the unbelievable sight and decided again. She would get revenge through any means. She would exterminate the humans who destroyed her home, Chronos. ... At this moment, her antennae reacted. ‘This aura...?’ A familiar aura was felt. It was a power that she felt from the insect kings species found on Chronos in the past. Antinus’ increased her pace. If she infected a person with this potential, revenge wasn’t impossible. Finally, Antinus reached the location and encountered an unexpected being. She couldn’t believe it. How was this presence on Earth? “K-Kieeek―!” She instinctively made a sound and the boy’s eyes gleamed in the moonlight. “You will be the first insect!” The boy, Lee Gilyoung, laughed at Antinus.

KDJ: I've always wondered, is it fun for a writer to read what they wrote?”

HSY: it is very fun.

liar

"Using multiple stigmas will place a burden on Yoo Sangah-ssi’s body.” The damn Olympians wouldn’t tell her this but there was a limit to the story that a single being could afford. Every stigma contained the history of the constellation and the random blend of histories would impair the human spirit. If Yoo Sangah borrowed the stigmas of a large number of constellations, her remaining vitality would be reduced in an instant. Then in probably one year…

YSA... ;_;

Yoo Sangah smiled faintly. “Thank you for your concern.”

...

There were numerous wounds on the back of Yoo Sangah’s hand as she spoke. The wounds felt like a big hole for me. Han Sooyoung had said, ‘In the end, reading is the process of keeping the irregular holes in place.’

YSA!!!!!!

Yoo Sangah took the meat from the monsters and distributed it to the people. Some people felt sorry and bowed to her.

“It is just leftovers. It doesn’t matter.”

I left Han Sooyoung alone and pulled a yanaspleta stem out of my bag. It wasn’t possible for everyone to become a ‘hunter’ in this world. By now, there would be a great deal of research about the monster species all over the world. The man who received the plant from me bowed deeply.

“Ah! Thank you…”

“It’s nothing. Difficulties should be shared.”

Of course, I was essentially a different person from Yoo Sangah. All my good deeds were planned activities.

LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR

I like that we have somebody (HSY) offering a more jaded perspective even though I disagree with it. The reality is that YSA's perspective will be right sometimes and HSY's will be right others.

Oh SHIT. Is this the central disaster?

What motivates a disaster to come back and destroy their own home planet? I understand why they leave to destroy others - survival - but their own? What's the incentive? If their sole purpose is destruction, where do they even go when they're done? What's the incentive to even live?

Yoo Jonghyuk had attempted it several times in the mid to late regressions. The first thing he did was find Shin Yoosung and try to prevent her from becoming a disaster. He failed every time. No matter what changes were made to the Shin Yoosung in the present, the future Shin Yoosung would return in five days. Then she destroyed Seoul.

*puts head in hands*

*HEAD HITS DESK*

This child, who might become a disaster, would become my ‘first incarnation’ in this round.

She's going to defeat her future self.

#orv19 #ayah reads orv #omniscient reader's viewpoint

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sweetchup · 4 years ago

Text

The Hard Path

Type: Oc Story request

Word Count: 4K words

Warnings: Past abuse and PTSD

Author Note: I know I’ve been gone for a while. Not really any excuse except school has been beating me up. I hope @lelewright1234 likes her OC request.

“Oh, Great Gods from above. The ones that protect us and our families every day…”

Leah kicks the man to her right and attempts to escape. Though it was proven to be futile as she was preceded to be thrown back into the harsh muddy ground.

“Please accept this child as a worthy sacrifice…”

“No, let me go! Stop!” She shouts as the men forcibly drag her up the wet stone staircase to the altar, “Please anyone! Help me!”

Leah’s pleas and cries fall on deaf ears. She couldn’t tell if it was the sound of the downpouring rain drowning her out or if the citizens chose to ignore her. Though, she soon believed it was the later as the citizens from her village began chanting in unison with the great priest.

“Wang-go, Monster of destruction and creation. Please accept this child as your sacrifice and new holder.”

The great priest holds up a ruby dagger he took from his pocket. As he showed it off to the crowd, they roared with excitement. Though as soon as he lifts up his palm they fall into a deadly silence. Taking one last look at Leah, he swings the dagger above his head before plunging it into—

“Leah!”

Leah is startled awake and pants heavily. She realized she wasn’t there. She wasn’t back at her village.

“G-Gon.” The curly haired girl chokes out. Gon gives her a concerned look as he proceeds to sit down next to her. Leah tries to say something else in response but stops short of answering when a cold feeling hits her clammy forehead. Very startled, she looks up to see Killua on the other side of her pressing a cold water bottle to her forehead.

“What are you doing startling us like that, idiot?” Killua says jokingly. Though his face didn’t reflect that as he looked at her serious and slightly concerned.

“Startled you?” Leah slowly repeats mumbling. Using a napkin from the dinner they had a while ago, she attempts to wipe some of the cold clammy sweat from her forehead. Ever so slowly she seemed to be coming back to reality. She wasn’t back in her wicked village. No, she was on a blimp with Killua and Gon going to York New City. She wasn’t some sort of kid anymore, she was a hunter learning Nen.

“Yeah, you kind of started to fight in your sleep while mumbling something and all of a sudden a gigantic storm started to form.” Gon explains sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Oh. I’m sorry about that.” Leah apologies, though it comes out almost robotically. Unconsciously, she traces her chest over where her heart was, the whole reason she got chosen for her “gift”. Killua and Gon look at each other concerned before Killua lets out a soft sigh. Leah feels Killua ruffle her puffy hair making her look at him.

“Don’t apologize idiot. It’s not your fault you have some ancient disaster god or whatever in you.”

“I know you are right Killua. But still—“

“If you’re thinking of saying something about how you should have been able to control your powers better, don’t. Remember Gon and I are Hunters. Leah, we aren’t going to go down that easily.”

“Yeah!” Gon shouts, finally back in an enthusiastic mood. “Plus you’re our friend Leah. I don’t think you would ever hurt us.”

Killua and Leah blink together before Leah breaks let’s out a small giggle and Killua lets out a sigh.

“W-what? What did I say?”

“I swear you’re an idiot sometimes.”

“Hey! No I’m not!”

“Yes you are! After you went and fought Hisoka, you might actually be counted as a mega idiot.”

“I—“

“Killua. Gon.” Leah interrupts, grabbing the two’s attention. Giving them both a warm smile, she ever so gently says. “Thank you. Thank you very much”

Both burst out into a bright red blush with Gon letting out a cheeky laugh and Killua mumbling something unheard under his breath.

The cute moment is disturbed however, as all of a sudden a crackling sound comes over the intercom and the pilot's voice is heard throughout the blimp.

“Thank you for joining Blimps-RS for this trip. In about 15 minutes we will be landing in York New City. Please remain seated and remember to fly safe with Blim—“

“Hey guys look at this!” Leah looks over to Gon’s loud call and her eyes widen. Her and Killua scramble over to the window. Looking down the three wowed at the great lights of the city. Leah had never ever seen a city so gorgeous before. She had only heard in books at how magical cities were but she had never imagined, nor dreamed such a sight as this one.

Ever so slightly Leah smiles to herself. Maybe this trip wouldn’t be that bad.

“Ok so you remember what to do right?” Killua says for what felt like the 108th time in a row. Leah lets out an exaggerated sigh as she repeats what she had been saying for the last 20 minutes.

“I have to disappear for 2 hours around town while you guys help Kurapika with the phantom troupe. If I get into any trouble make sure to call Leorio. I also will make sure I don’t converse with any strange people because they will only have bad intentions for me.” Leah repeats, sassily imitating Killua’s voice at the end.

“Killua. I think Leah gets it. Let’s go.” Kurapika says, dragging Killua out of the restaurant.

“You better stay out of trouble, you hear me!” Killua shouts one more time before he disappears out of sight. Leah sticks her tongue out towards him in response before shaking her head. Here she was thinking this trip to get some video games would be fun but all she has been doing is being forced to hide from these “phantom troupe” people while the others go on a manhunt to try and kill them. She didn’t even have a moment to spare to check if there were any special books up for auction.

As she was grumbling to herself in misery about her bad luck, she feels a hand on her shoulder. Looking up she sees that Leorio hasn’t left with the others yet. Watching closely, she sees him reach into his pocket and take out some cash.

“Hey Leah. I know things haven’t been great for you, having to hide for most of the time on this trip. Why don’t you go buy something nice on this trip? Maybe a souvenir or something?”

Leah hesitantly grabs the money from him, “Are you sure? You don’t have to give this to me. I have a hunter license just like you and can use some of that money.”

“True but think of this cash as my thank you for being the only sane person on this trip.” Leorio says, slightly grumbling in self misery at the end.

“Okay then. But don’t think of asking for anything back later. I’m not giving you a single cent~” Leah teases out to the tall man. Leorio only shakes his head before leaving the restaurant to catch up with the others.

“Bye leorio. Stay safe!” Leah shouts out before quickly turning back to the cash in her hand. Counting it, she realizes she has more than enough to get a new needed book. Now just the question was where could she find one. Letting the thought sink in, she leaves the restaurant and begins to walk around the streets of York New.

She knew any new book would solve her thirst of knowledge, but it would be much more convenient if she found one about her powers. The books explaining her village gods and the chosen ones to hold them are few and far to find. Especially hers,.... Wang-go.

Wang-go, The god of destruction and Creation. Originally locked away by his brothers and sisters who feared him. He was locked up for centuries on end until eventually the chains that kept him trapped down began to slowly snap and break. Fearing for the worse, the people of her village offered the gods a vessel to lock him in. A woman with a type of heart defect, a husk empty heart. Now, per tradition, anyone who is born with a husk heart bears the burden of having Wang-go sealed away in them.

Herself was the most recent holder with the last being almost 6 generations ago. This makes the information Leah seeks few and far between. However,...

Sneakily smiling to herself. Leah searches through the auction menu. In no ways is she giving up. She will be able to master her powers and not just a little bit, no, she will figure out a way to perfect them.

“There you are..” Leah eyes a specific item on the auction menu. Zaviers’ ancient artifacts and wonders. On the menu, the store had just auctioned off a scroll yesterday that was only just 30 kilometers away from her village. So there is a high enough chance that the store had a book or artifact about her village gods.

Now all she need is to get there and search those shelves.

“Damn it…” Leah sighs, slightly frustrated. An hour had gone by being in this store and there was still nothing about her gods. “All I need is one book about Wang-go, just one book.”

“Wang-go huh~?”

Leah freezes up as someone blows on the shell of her ear. The next thing Leah knows, she is half away across the room and feeling slightly nauseous. She thanked her stars for practicing her teleportation power recently.

“Oh~ how exciting. You never do fail to amaze me, don’t you, Lele?”

“Hisoka…” Leah mumbles angrily under her breath. This wasn’t good, she remembered Gon and Killua mentioning to her that they found out he’s part of the troupe. Plus after seeing him fighting in the arena against Gon, she doubts she can stand a chance against his Bungee gum. Shifting her feet slightly, she gets into a readied stance, ready to bolt out of there when she has a chance.

“Now, now, I’m not looking to fight you. I’m actually here to ask for your help.”

“Help? Not a chance. Give me one good reason I should help someone like you.”

Hisoka let’s out a chuckle as he pulls a clear bag out from behind his back. He twirled them around with his bungee gum as he waits for Leah’s response.

“Wait a minute…T-those are…”

“Wang-go scrolls? Why yes they are, Lele.”

“How in the world did you get your grubby han—“

“Now, now~ I’m on a tight schedule. How about we chit chat more about this…” Hisoka takes the bag back into his hand before waving it around. Making it disappear in a cloud of smoke like magic, “... later~.”

Leah pauses for a moment, taking in her options before sighing. “Fine. But, I swear to god if any of this plan has to do with hurting any of my friends I’m out, you hear me?”

“Crystal~”

“Okay… so I know I agreed to help. But, why the heck is Illumi here as well?” Leah groans, scooching more into the corner of the backseat of the car. Hisoka lets out a small chuckle from the passenger seat but he chooses not to respond and continues to toy with his cards.

“Chrollo paid me some money for a Job and I need to pick up the rest in person.” Illumi says, his bug like eyes trained on the road ahead. Does this man just not blink?

Leah just decided the best option would be to ignore Illumi’s presence for now. Looking out the car window, she decides to somehow entertain herself by watching the little water droplets racing down the transparent surface. It was strange, the rain in New York. Mostly due to the fact that the city bordered a Desert.

Letting out a sigh, Leah thinks of the possible scenarios as to why Hisoka would need her. Well, she actually didn’t exactly need to guess why, she knew that he needed her for her powers. It was actually more for what. She just— Suddenly she feels her phone go off in her pocket.

Hesitantly, she sneaks a glance at the two men sitting in the front and sees them occupied in a conversation. Leah, determining it was safe enough, unlocks her phone. She bites her lip as she opens the missed messages from Killua.

From: Killua Hey where are you? The plan fell through.

From: Killua Get back here as soon as possible.

Leah blinks and knits her brows in confusion. What is Killua talking about? They planned to track the base to tail a specific member. How did that fall through?

Sent: Leah

What do you mean it fell through?

Leah’s blood ran cold as she read the next message.

From: Killua

The troope has already left York New. Kurapika also got a message from Hisoka saying that their partnership is over with.

Sent: Leah

Killua. Hisoka hasn’t left, I’m with him right now.

Before Leah could see what Killua could send back, a card splits the screen in half. Flinching she drops the phone on the car floor, watching it glitch and fizz out.

“Now. Now, Lele~. Let's pay attention to the situation at hand shall we.” Hisoka tells the young girl with a smile. Leah lets out a shaky breath and decides the best option would be to not test her luck for now. Fighting Hisoka right now would be a bad option especially with Illumi here as well to back him up if need be. Watching carefully, she observes as they drive through the maze-like outskirts of the city. After a couple of turns, they come to a stop in front of a train station.

Looking around confused, Leah mutters out “Why are we here?”

Illumi and Hisoka both ignore her again as they get out of the car. Hisoka comes around to the back doors to let her out.

“Hisoka! I’m serious. Tell me why we are here?”

Hisoka stares at Leah as she glares back at him. Somehow seeming to contemplate his answer, he finally says. “You're a gift.”

“Excuse me?” Leah stutters out as Hisoka grabs onto her wrist, pulling her out of the car. Hisoka begins to explain as he forces her to walk with them into the station.

“You’re a smart girl aren’t you? I’m sure you can understand this quite well. The boss has found out that I’ve had some connection with the chain user. So I’ve lost some… trust… with him per say.”

Illumi signals to Hisoka to go through a specific doorway, causing the three of you to enter an empty hallway with hardly any people. Even with the lack of people, Hisoka doesn’t relax his grip against Leah’s wrist as they continue to walk.

“I thought I was at a loss you see. I had lost the boss’ trust and lost a chance in getting so close to fighting him. But then I remember, your cute little face—“

“Don’t call me cute you narsistik clown.” Leah snaps back as the three of them return to a crowded area. Though after a quick look around, Leah realizes they are back outside yet this time on steel platforms with many trains coming to and from.

“Some just don’t know how to take a compliment.” Hisoka laughs unbothered by the girl’s offhand insult. He just continued on with his task of yanking Leah onto one of the train cars. “It’s just I remembered the Boss being so disappointed when he couldn’t find the chosen ones from the tribal areas of Aruni. Thankfully, I realized quickly that since I knew you are one of those chosen ones, the boss will surely find you interesting and in return, hopefully forgive me.”

Catching Leah off guard, Hisoka suddenly harshly pushes her into one of the private train cars before closing the door.

“Hey Hisoka!” Leah yells, stumbling up rather quickly from being thrown on the ground and tugs at the door handle. Though she curses under her breath as soon as she finds out it is locked shut, “Open this up righ—“

“A Child?”

A shiver goes up Leah’s spine as she hears a male’s voice from behind her. In a flash, maybe due to her instincts or maybe her training, she leaps to the other end of the cabin. With a hammering heartbeat, she observes the black haired male in the same room as her. The train car was not that large, so it gave her a rather good glimpse at him. Some being the cross-like tattoo on his forehead or the crystal blue earrings poking out from the tufts of his hair.

“Oh my. How interesting.” The man seemed to marvel at something and take a step closer. “What sort of power is going on with your hands?”

Quickly, Leah takes a short glance around and gasps as she sees her hands glowing and sparkling. She wanted to practically bang her head on the wall for making a stupid mistake as to activate her powers.

“Oh I see.” Leah takes a step back from the man as he continues to approach, “That’s not a Nen ability is it? I guess Hisoka wasn’t bluffing this time around.”

Ever so suddenly, the man pauses his approaching movements and instead takes a seat at one of the booth chairs. Gesturing to the seat across from him, he unnervingly smiles and says “Please, take a seat.”

Leah breath and heart stutters in unison. There was nothing friendly about that man's smile. It was like staring at the teeth of a poisonous viper, ready to sink its teeth in and go for the kill. Taking a gulp to hopefully moisten her dry throat, she knows she has to force herself to move. That man was not asking her to take a seat, it was an order. Cautiously she makes her way and sits down from across the man.

A thick silence enters the room as the man pours himself and Leah some tea. He takes a light sip of his tea but Leah doesn’t copy his movements. She can only stare at the hot dark black water in front of her. Even with her throat as dry as sand, she doesn’t attempt to drink it.

The man opens his mouth to speak but a loud whistle cuts him off. The main lights of the cabin suddenly shut off and the train begins to slow chug forward, now leaving the station. Leah turns to look frantic out the window.

“I need to go.” She breathes out, her heart beating faster the further they get away from the train station.

“Pardon?”

“My friends. They are still in York New City. I can’t—“

The man lets out a chuckle causing Leah to pause. Crap, what was she thinking. She can’t let her emotions get carried away. This isn’t some normal person she is conversing with, it’s the leader of the phantom troupe. A person with a class A bounty on his head.

The man takes another sip of his tea, finishing it off, before looking back at Leah. “I’m going to ask you some questions. Answer them if you can.”

Leah slowly nods her head. She knew she didn’t have a choice in the matter.

“First, What’s your name?”

“Leah.” Her voice cracks a little as she speaks causing an uncomfortable feeling in her throat. In order to sort the discomfort, she grabs her cup of tea and takes a sip. Surprisingly, the man waits patiently before asking another question.

“What’s your god?”

Hesitant, she decides to answer it simply and vaguely. “Wang-go”

“Ah, The God of destruction and creation. Though most considered him to be a Monster due to him being predicted to look as a ugly mix of boar, man and crane.”

“How do you know that?” Leah speaks out. Such information was only known by city elders and holders such as herself. The man ponders for a little, taking a quick glance at the desert scenery that has come to view now that they have left the city, before getting up and grabbing something. Coming back, he places the bag down and takes out a scroll.

“Though I can’t read your native language, I had a native translate bits and pieces of it to me a long time ago.” He seemed to skip over the obvious part of slaughter some to get the scrolls, but Leah decided to not press into that topic.

“Do you know what’s in these scrolls, Leah?” Leah shivers. The way her name rolled off his tongue like they were old time friends was extremely disturbing to her.

“I’d have to read them. I was never allowed to look through them.”

“I see. Then, who taught you your powers? I heard they had to be trained and practiced over many years to use on command.”

“Well, I do have a book that I got a while ago…” Leah pauses for a second. She was in a tough spot. If she revealed that she hasn’t mastered her powers, she could be considered useless and killed. Though, she could also be let go instead. Was it a good idea to take that risk though…

“I see, so you're not well versed in your abilities yet.” Leah freezes. This was going horribly for her right now. She in no way was stupid or trying to make it obvious in her hesitation, it was just this man always seemed to somehow be one step ahead of her.

Being extremely on guard, Leah watches as the man leans his hand over to her. He strangely extends his pinky out to her. She gives him a confused look as a sudden lightning strike flashes on both of them.

“How about we make a deal, Leah.”

“A deal…?”

“I will allow you to use all of the scrolls and books I have to help you gain your powers.” The man pauses for a second and a serious look comes onto his face, “However, in exchange you will become the troope’s temporarily new number 11 and I will personally be in charge of observing your progress.”

Knowing she has no choice, Leah reaches over to agree but stops short when he speaks up again.

“I want your honest commitment. Not to force this on you.”

“Why? Won’t you just kill me if I don��t agree?”

The man hums in agreement, “Usually I would but in this case it would be such a waste to kill you. As well as the fact that it would be an honest nuisance if you agreed and tried to escape every chance you got. So it would be beneficial if you agreed willingly.”

Leah thinks for a moment. She knew the right choice was to go back with Gon and Killua as well as the rest. It was so obvious, they were her friends. Yet,... why couldn’t she just do so.

“Leah! Stay here! Killua and I can take care of this.”

“Idiot. You have to be careful, you aren’t as strong as us yet.”

“Don’t worry Leah. I’ll make sure to retrieve those idiots, just stay here and read a book.”

“Trust me, Leah. I don’t want you to come. You aren’t fast enough yet to go against the troope. You’ll just end up being an easy target.”

Oh… she knew why. She was just tired of being left behind again and again. She wanted to prove she was just as strong as her friends. She wanted to join them on their adventures as well.

Gon…. Killua….Leorio. And Kurapika. I’m sorry but… I can't continue to be left behind anymore.

“I-I. I accept.” Leah says, hesitatingly connecting her pinky with his. She shivers at his strangly cold hands touching hers. Even more strangely, like out of a movie or book, thunder and lightning crashes throughout the sky in that moment

“Excellent. I realized I haven’t formally introduced myself. My name is Chrollo Lucilfer but you can just call me boss.”

Standing up from his seat, he gestures for Leah to get up as well which she does as well. Lightly, Chrollo places a hand on her shoulder and begins to lead her out of the private train car. “I say we go introduce you to the other members.”

“Of course…

...Boss.”

#chrollo lucilfer #gon freecss #phantom troupe #Killua zoldyck #gon #killua #Chrollo #hunter x hunter #hxh #oneshot #oc

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pbandcas · 4 years ago

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It All Ends the Same

Done for @bend-me-shape-me ‘s SPNAdventCalendar prompts! Warnings: Self destruction, angst, Dean has self worth issues, referenced drug use, bittersweet ending Pairing: Endverse Destiel Read on AO3 Master Post Day Six: Christmas Curse

It All Ends the Same

“Dean?” Cas’s voice was quiet behind him and the hunter sighed. Poking at the dying embers he shuffled over just enough for Cas to sit beside him if he wanted.

He knew the offer would be accepted before Cas even realized he was moving. “What, Cas?” He asked, once the other was seated beside him. The space between their bodies simultaneously too much and not enough. Dean wondered when this rift happened. When did they let themselves drift apart like this?

“What are you still doing out here?” It was a simple enough question to pull him back to reality. He knew Cas meant nothing by it, that he couldn’t possibly know. How could he when Dean never said anything? How could he when Dean refused to let him in. Refused to let him close enough to understand the weight of his own thoughts. Yet at the same time, the question still picked at a scabbing wound mercilessly. What was he doing out here? What did he gain by stewing over this every year? What more could he hope to understand.

Shrugging he shoved the stick into the dying fire again and muttered, “It’s the 23rd.” As if that could explain it all. As if that told the former Angel why the night haunted his dreams and memories for the past 3 years. As if that could make the hurt disappear.

Cas was silent beside him for the longest time and then, “Sam wouldn’t want this to haunt you.” Dean stiffened and his fist clenched around the stick. Yeah. Sam. “You can’t keep doing this. Remembering is one thing, but Dean. You’re obsessing. You’re letting your memories take over and drown you.”

“How is it any different than you lamenting about the fall.” It was curt and sharp and Dean knew it was a low blow. But he was hurting. He was hurting and Cas was getting too close again and he couldn't-- He couldn't let that happen. Beside him Cas seemed to fold in on himself.

“It’s different because this is still hurting you. Every year you think about it and it hurts you.” Dean could feel Cas’s gaze on him but he refused to look over. Instead he watched the embers glow and pop. Eating away at the charred wood like a disease. “It’s a curse on your very soul and I ca—“

“Falling wasn’t a curse on you?”

The world grew still around them and Dean finally looked over at his companion. Cas was no longer watching him or the fire. Instead he was staring at the long scar across the back of one hand where it disappeared up his sleeve. His expression was distant and his voice thick when he finally spoke again. “No.” He looked up to meet Dean’s eye then, “No, it wasn’t.”

With a huff Dean leaned forward to fold his arms across his knees. “No?” Shaking his head he let his eyes fall back to the ground. “Why is it I don’t believe you?”

“Because you never believe me, Dean.”

The pure sound of disdain in his tone made Dean smile. It was just so Cas. The smile slipped the next second though. It was so very Cas. Except… it was the Cas that didn’t exist anymore. It wasn’t his Cas. It wasn’t the Cas who gave up his wings. The Cas who was forced to live as a human now. The Cas that found solace in drugs and alcohol. The Cas who’d follow any order blindly if Dean was the one giving it. “How do you not see this as a curse?”

He felt Cas shift ever so slightly closer to his side before he murmured, “Because I still have you.” Dean let him move a hand to rest over top of his own. “Why does the 23rd haunt you, Bee?” Dean huffed and rolled his eyes at the nickname as he turned one hand over to tangle their fingers together. It was too close. Too close, too close, too close but Dean couldn't help it. He wanted and needed and Cas was right. There. He was right there and so willing to give Dean all the comfort and hope he needed. But he couldn't do it. He couldn't do this. Not to Cas.

“Christmas is about family, Cas, and every year it reminds me that my family is gone. Every year it hits me, again and again that Sammy is gone. That mom and dad are gone. That my whole god damn family is gone.” He sucked in a ragged breath, yanked his hand away from Cas’s and then choked out, “So yeah, it is a fucking curse. Every Christmas I’m cursed to remember I’m fucking alone.” It felt like a knife twisting in his heart. He'd rather hurt him this way though. He'd rather hurt Cas now, and keep him here.

The sharp sound of a hand connecting with skin cut through the night air. Dean’s mouth dropped open as he brought his hand up to press against his stinging cheek. Blinking rapidly he leveled a disbelieving look at Cas.

The man’s face was drawn back in hurt and frustration and Dean could see his hands shaking in his lap. “Shut up.” Cas growled finally, “Shut the fuck up, Winchester. Yeah, they’re gone. Okay. I’m not going to sugar coat it because you’re a fucking big boy. They’re gone, but you’re not fucking alone.” He was though. He was and it was all his fault. Because if he wasn't, then it meant someone else would get hurt. And that someone else always seemed to be Cas.

Pivoting his body, Cas grabbed Dean’s cheeks and forced him to look him in the eye. He couldn't do it. He wouldn't do it. “You do this. Every year. You seclude yourself. You pull away, you push me aside when I try to help. What the hell am I then? If not your family, what the hell am I? You say you’re cursed to be alone every Christmas? Well whose fucking fault is that, Dean?” He pressed their foreheads together and let out a shaky puff of air, “I’m right fucking here.”

He wouldn't hurt Castiel.

The raw emotion in his eyes made Dean look away, swallowing hard. “That’s not what I-”

“Finish that sentence and you can stay outside tonight.” Cas cut in sharply, eyes narrowing as he forcibly moved Dean’s face to look at him again. “It was what you meant. It’s always what you mean.” There was a bitter note to his voice that made Dean flush in shame. It hurt. It hurt a lot, because he knew it was the truth. It was the truth and Dean hated himself for it.

Cas gave him everything. His energy, his wings, his Grace, his life. His love. His devotion. And what did Dean give him back? A slap to the face. He took all that love and threw it back in Cas’s face because he was too ashamed and afraid to hold it too close. He brought his hands up to cover Cas’s before he slowly pulled them down and took a step back. “You’re right.” Cas gave him a sad smile even as Dean watched his face crumple.

“You’re right.” He repeated as he dropped Cas’s hands and took another step back. Clenching his jaw he met blue eyes briefly before turning on his heel and stalking away toward their cabin. It was a stupid thing to do. He should have stayed. Should have talked about it. He should have fixed whatever broken thing had settled between them. Yet at the same time he knew Cas would forgive him. He always forgave him, and Dean would continue to push and push and push.

Instead he walked away. He walked away as the hitch in Cas’s breathing rang through the frozen air. He walked away because that’s all he could do. He didn’t deserve the kind of loyalty Cas bestowed on him. He didn’t deserve it because he couldn’t bring himself to give it back. Because if he gave it back, he wouldn't be able to stop. If he gave it back, Cas would get hurt. Instead he walked away. Even when he knew it hurt the fallen Angel every time.

About an hour later Dean heard the door open and shut again with a quiet click. He didn’t bother looking up from his spot on the bed as the soft footsteps grew closer. He merely set the worn photograph down on the side table and pat the mattress beside himself. Cas sunk into his side in an instant and the smell of weed stung his senses.

Sighing, he tipped his head to the side and pressed his cheek against the crown of Cas’s head. He did this. He caused this distress and disenchantment in the once mighty warrior. He wasn’t strong enough to say yes then, so now he wasn’t strong enough to save Cas. Turning his head, Dean pressed his lips to smoke scented hair and just breathed. He let the strong smell of leaf litter, and camp smoke and weed wash over him. He mourned the loss of ozone and morning rain. Of honey and peppermint.

He longed for the time he could press his nose into soft brown hair and smell home. “I can’t call you family, Cas.” He muttered after a moment of silence. Cas remained still and quiet where he was curled into his side. Dean wondered vaguely if Cas was too stoned to even register he was speaking. To his own disgust he hoped that was the case. Cas didn’t need to know. It’d only hurt him more. It’d only hurt them both more. That was after all, the curse Dean was forced to carry.

“I can’t call you family because then you’ll leave me too… and I… I don’t think I could stay alive without you, Angel.”

#destiel #Endverse Destiel #deancas #spn #supernatural #my writing #Endverse #I just really like the idea of Cas calling Dean 'Honey Bee'#And then shortening it to just 'Bee'#dean winchester #castiel #SPNAdventCalendar2020 #day 6: Christmas Curse

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dammitadolfnomorecake · 4 years ago

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Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 183 prt 2

Shiro snorted humourlessly

“He threw it in my face. When you woke up, he threw it back in my face that you wanted to die. He didn’t do anything...”

“What did you expect him to do? To turn me into a vampire? Between being a werewolf and a vampire, being a werewolf has to be the better option. Or can’t you care about me the same you used to, now I’m a wolf?”

Shiro snorted again

“I asked him the same thing. If he couldn’t love you as a werewolf and that’s why he’d prefer you die”

“No wonder he’s so mad at you. You know he’d be devastated if I did. He just... he wanted me to come back so badly...”

This was awkward. All Shiro seemed to really talk about was Lance. Not Curtis... his actual boyfriend

“How’s Curtis?”

“Up and down. Coran said it’d take some time for his mind to adjust. Why?”

“He’s your boyfriend and he’s a friend. Do I need a reason to care now?”

“No. I just... never mind”

Keith was sick of this. He wanted to have a normal proper conversation with his brother

“If you have something to say, say it. If you regret making the choice then tell me. You keep talking about Lance and when I try to ask you about Curtis, you brush it aside. I don’t get what you’re thinking when you don’t talk to me”

“I don’t regret making the choice to save you. What I want is for you to be happy, and it worries me that you’re rushing into things with Lance again”

Who was rushing? He and Lance had a ton of issues to work out

“Lance and I aren’t rushing. Last night was the first night he let me sleep next to him again. We’ve barely hugged. Forget kissing and sex stuff... We’re both trying to figure out how to keep things going between us because we love each other”

“I just don’t want you being hurt”

He was already hurt. He’d been hurt and that’d led to this whole bloody mess. The demon had been contained all along. Lance nearly lost the twins and nearly lost him on top of it. Now he was a werewolf and his own brother hated himself for turning him into one. All Keith wanted was for everyone to act normal, but he couldn’t handle normal right now. He could barely handle whatever he was.

Scratching between Kosmo’s ears, Kosmo thumped his tail lazily. Would he enjoy being a wolf the next time it happened? Would he remember it? He couldn’t be scared of what had happened. That was the new normal, though it did scare him that he didn’t remember

“Right now, the only thing hurting me, is that you can’t forgive Lance. My ego already thinks of him as my mate and it’s fucking crazy. I have to wear glasses or I see way too much. I’ve got Lance’s hoodie on because everyone smells too much. Look, I know I was a dick when you came to see me. I know because I couldn’t stop the words coming out my mouth. I was so damn angry. All I wanted to do was break things. I can’t take but what I said, and it sounds like a cop out to say it was ego talking. I’m glad I’m not dead. I’m glad I’m going to know my twins, even if that scares me now more than ever. I don’t know how to be a dad and now every action I take has to be careful. It’s almost too much to cope with, then Lance... God. He’s fucking frustrating. He doesn’t hate me. He doesn’t blow up. He’d rather self destruct than hurt me. I know I’m being impatient but I don’t know how to keep my head up when you two aren’t talking. I don’t know a lot of things anymore and half the time I don’t feel like the old me is still in here”

“That’s part of the reason I want to bring you home. I want you to know I’m here for you. I want you to rediscover all those things you love”

That sounded a lot like Lance. He’d copped a peek at Lance’s white board and print outs. Lance had made all kinds of notes he thought might help Keith and activities he thought might help him adjust to life as a werewolf. For some reason there was a printout of a page about London, with a Chinese menu taped to it. He didn’t get it, and he didn’t want to question it when Lance had put so much work into it.

“I appreciate that. For now, I feel like I need to be here. I couldn’t handle a room filled with our friends. I don’t think I could handle crowds”

Shiro raised an eyebrow

“You’ve always been bad with crowds”

“Ha ha. You’re not very funny”

Huffing, his brother crossed his arms. Shiro’s wounds from that day still looked bad. Maybe he didn’t want to talk to Curtis about it because Curtis blamed himself too much as it was. They really needed to talk it out... and now he was sounding like Lance. Lance loooooved talking things out

“I thought I was hilarious”

“Try harder, old man”

“Maybe you should accept my sense of humour for a change?”

“And give into your lameness, I think not”

Some how the tension had started to lift from shoulders. He still wanted very much to hit his brother, but Shiro was trying to make an attempt at normalcy

“You’ve always been lame, kiddo”

“I’ll remember that next time I wolf out”

Shiro’s heart gave a particularly hard thump, interrupting its strong and steady rhythm. Hearing heartbeats... was so weird. Lance’s being so slow in comparison

“Shiro, don’t be like that”

“I didn’t say anything”

“No, but you thought it”

Keith didn’t want to admit he’d somehow had become a lie detector, not when Shiro had a right to his personal thoughts and feelings

“The idea of you... It worries me. That someone will label you as a threat and someday they’ll come for you”

Coran couldn’t protect him and Lance forever. He’d assured Lance so many times that he’d be there to protect him, now he’d have to give some real thought to how to protect himself

“They’d be foolish. Three werewolves, one a hunter, and a vampire. It’s not like the first time we came here”

“You hated Lance so much. I remember you sulking the whole time because you couldn’t just kill him on the spot”

“After Adam... Lance was just another vampire that deserved to die. If I’d killed him, I wouldn’t have all of this... I know he’s changed me, but I think in some ways it’s for the better”

“He’s changed all of us”

“This is true. Will you talk to him?”

Shiro brought his hands up to scrub at his face

“I don’t know what to tell him. I was disappointed he’d give up on you so easily. I was disappointed that he didn’t take care of himself after his body started aborting. I was disappointed he spent every moment by your side, but didn’t seem to care that much about Curtis as he never really asked for us to come see you. And it hurt. He was cold as he told me you wanted to die, almost as if he enjoyed knowing how much it hurt me. Your brainwaves were stable initially. You never came out from going under. Then suddenly you got worse. I wondered if he’d given you his blood out of desperation, but Coran said no. He found traces of Lance’s DNA in your blood stream, dead cells... that didn’t turn you. It made no sense but I still wondered if that was why you didn’t wake up”

“That’s probably because I kissed Lance when his lips were bloody. The way Coran explained it is that there needs to be that intent to turn for the curse to take. Lance never wanted me to turn. He’s probably been beating himself up...”

Stopping mid-sentence, Keith looked back over his shoulder. Shiro frowning as he followed his gaze

“What is it?

“Lance and Curtis went out the back to have a talk...”

“I should...”

Shiro really shouldn’t. Lance was mid-apology as Curtis tried to stop him. This hearing too much thing sucked

“Leave them. They need to talk. Sorry, I can’t remember what I was saying”

“I thought werewolves were like vampires”

“If we are, then I haven’t really noticed it much... Rieva said she’d tell me more. Apparently werewolves have adapted rapidly in the last hundred or so years, but there’s certain things that are important”

“Like?”

“Just because we turn into wolves doesn’t make us like them. We’ve steadily become more human than wolf. Things like that. It’ll be handy to know for future hunts”

“Then you’re coming back?”

Yeah. Lance had been right about him still needing his job. As long as Shiro was still working, he couldn’t leave his brother to be put in potentially life threatening circumstances

“Yeah. I mean, it might take a bit longer, but... I need to be doing something. I want to protect my friends and my family, including you. The thought of anything happening to you... I couldn’t stand it if it was caused by my wavering back and forth. I want my kids to not have to worry about werewolves and vampires, or their friends being hurt... This is all subject to whether you and Curtis will let a wolf partner with you”

“You can’t be any worse than Matt”

“I don’t know. Matt is like a technical genius”

“You have your own qualities too”

Keith’s ego growled internally at Shiro. Lance would have jumped in to defend him, telling Shiro how manly and skilled he was. Keith didn’t really know what to defend himself with

“Thanks. I feel like you just handed me a participant trophy for nothing”

“Nah, you’re fine. So I really can’t tempt you to come back home?”

“I’m sorry... but for now, I think this is where I should be. When my ego settles I’ll come stay for a bit... provided things are going well with the twins”

“Did Lance talk to you about them?”

“A bit. You know, we still have a nursery to finish”

“I’m allowed back in there?”

“I won’t bite...”

“That’s all I ask. Reckon there’s any cookies left?”

“You know Hunk. He’ll have three other stashes with him”

“That’s true...”

The conversation petered off comfortably. He’d talked to his brother and Shiro did seem kind of wanting to make up with Lance... Hopefully they’d make up today. He still had so much to talk to Shiro about, but for now, he was content getting back on even footing with his brother.

#oncebittentwicestupid #once bitten twice stupid #ashratherose

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