#hashtag just dark knight things

[5-7-9]

I realize i should probably elaborate on how We Are Robin was inspired by a legitimate movement.

So while researching interviews by We Are Robin’s writer Lee Bermejo, I tried checking for the ones that were straight from his words rather than articles that quoted him. So i almost missed this one article that was worded as though it was not an interview, but CBR quoted from USA Today so it must’ve been. If it weren’t for a DC comics forum that had already read it, i wouldn’t have noticed.

When the series opens, it really doesn't have an identity, Bermejo says, but the group knows its mission statement. "It's one thing to put a hashtag on your Twitter account as a teenager and feel like you're part of something. It's a whole other thing when the (stuff) hits the fan and you have to stand up for what you believe in."

"Just with everything that we've seen happen recently with Ferguson, there's a lot of issues here that I think can be touched on and should be touched on."

"There's that element of this particular moment we're passing right now, and with a book like this you have a chance to comment about certain things and bring them into the Bat-universe in real interesting ways."

As a longtime fan of the Dark Knight and his supporting players, Bermejo admits that he always had a hard time figuring out why Batman would have a teen sidekick and put a kid in danger in the first place - for the writer, that was the beginning of how a series such as We Are Robin could work.

"Maybe there could possibly be many of these kids out there on the streets who have different talents and different capabilities that could be useful to Batman," says Bermejo.

"With ideas and big concepts, teenagers can get really passionate about that stuff and it can be their whole life. That was something interesting to me, that this thing could be bigger than just one guy jumping around in a domino mask."

(Just the first 3/three forum pages, I’m not reading all that 💀) Seems as though Bermejo wanted to make a commentary about Ferguson metaphorically through the Batman mythos. My interpretation of his message: the disenfranchised youth of America that have no one to help them (authority figures like parents and Batman) feel as though they must take justice matters into their own hands. Something Robin originally meant to represent, a child character for other children to project on. Bermejo thought to implement that literally into the story, where Robin is an actual symbol children use. In the case of real life, justice is done by protesting. But in the matters of DC comics, specifically Gotham? Their protesting comes in the form of vigilantism.

In the chapter where the We Are Robin kids try breaking up a random riot that kinda appears out from nowhere?

But when the Robins join in to stop the riot, they were suddenly framed by the Robot Batman cop as the aggressors (being controlled by Jim Gordon as he was temporarily “Batman”). Indiscriminating its force of authority onto the kids as well as the rioters.

This carries into the Riko’s POV chapter. After a WAR member died from a bomb, the television shows Troy’s parents being upset at the We Are Robin movement, claiming it “does more harm than good.”

Troy’s death is probably another comparisons to when 6 Ferguson protesters died. So his death seems to ask the question, is protesting worth it if it gets you killed? Are protesters making the situation of unjust violence worse? Riko answers: “I think… I think he was trying to do what he thought was right.”

If you aren’t aware of the Ferguson unrest, an 18 year old boy (Micheal Brown) was shot by a police officer after being accused of robbery. When nothing came about the police officer in question, many in the black community began protesting for about 400 days for the officer to be reprimanded. The media would often call it riots, with the negative connotations of unnecessary violence. This was apart of the Black Lives Matters movement of anti police brutality.

(here’s one video but i recommend doing your own research because i’m not great at keeping sources)

I’m sure you can see the similarities now. If not… essentially the We Are Robin is an allegory of the Ferguson protests. The vigilante kids are fighting crime, while the Ferguson protesters were the black community fighting injustice.

Robin War actually touches back on this Ferguson inspired media conflict, by having such an interestingly similar story involving a teenaged boy and a robber and a person dying from being shot 🤔

But here’s the twist: a We Are Robin member walks into a convenience store, he intervenes a police officer trying to stop a robbery, then, because this WAR member was a young probably “immature” teenager, accidentally shoots the police officer with his own gun.

Ha. Ha. 😐 Certainly not an insensitive plot to use at all (sarcasm)

(I should remind you all that Robin War was a piece of garbage mostly written by Tom King, and other writers like Tim Seeley and Scott Lobdell. i don't really need to explain everything wrong with these guys right now. Except for the parts Bermajo wrote, those were the best despite the surrounding shitty plot).

There’s also plenty of police imagery. See here an iconic picture of the Ferguson protest as a poster right smack down in the middle of a panel. Just in case you aren’t fully convinced about the Ferguson allegory… 🙃

Smack down in the centre of this panel has a iconic redrawing of a Ferguson protester (Edward Crawford) catching a tear gas canister thrown by the police, and throwing it right back at the riot cops faces 🖕☄️

So yes, We Are Robin was an activist movement.

[mysticstarlightduck]

My Words Into Potions Intro!

The Event (@moon-and-seraph)

I'll be working on two WIPs this March - my goal will be to attempt to finish Enchanted Illusion's first draft and give Of Starlight and Beasts a good headstart!

Title: OF STARLIGHT AND BEASTS

Genre - High Fantasy (medieval) Adventure/Dark Fairy Tale (with a tad of romance, that's a subplot)

Summary - In an ancient enchanted kingdom, Corah, the daughter of their land's most renowned adventurer, seeks to become the best knight that has ever lived. However, after meeting a young man with strange magic and no memories lost in the woods, Corah finds herself thrust into an unexpected quest when the once-thought-dead Queen returns to enact her revenge on their peaceful kingdom - and now it falls to Corah and her mysterious new friend to prevent destruction from reaching their land, if she wants to achieve her dream to be knighted. But are things quite what they seem?

POV - Dual POV (for now?), with some occasional POVs from important side characters.

Lenght - Novel/Book

Tags/Hashtag - #wip: of starlight and beasts, #wip of starlight and beasts

WIP Soundtrack - Of Starlight and Beasts Playlist

Snippet/Excerpt -

[...] Corah climbed the sandy stone wall, expertly weaving her way up towards the broken ramparts despite the weight of her armor straining her arms. Her hands reached the ledge, and she was able to fling her leg onto the walkway, pulling the rest of her body upwards.

Taking a moment to catch her breath, she wiped the dust off of her hands onto her trousers, waiting for her friends to reach her. Arammys' sunny locks were the first to peek through the ramparts, though, in his struggle to get a grip on the stone, his hands nearly slipped - she lunged, grabbing hold of his wrist just in time, and helping him heave himself the rest of the way up.

Behind him, Eidan followed suit, pulling himself over the wall nearly effortlessly. Arammys stared at him, impressed and annoyed at the same time.

Turning around as the duo started to bicker, Corah rolled her eyes, looking down to the city below, the sprawling sea just barely visible through the white stone buildings was filled with trading ships from near and far, the sky seemingly filled with colorful flags and banners. But she knew better than to trust the city's apparent normalcy - the Crimson Queen's soldiers were already here, just waiting to catch them on the streets down below.

"We'll need to figure out another plan, it seems" She winced, sighting a suspiciously familiar hooded figure just out of the rampart's gate ahead. Her hand instinctively went to the hilt of her sword.

Just as she was about to back away, Arammys popped up beside her, not noticing the enemy just below. Corah pulled Arammys behind a pillar just in time before the person looked up, nearly spotting him. She whispered through gritted teeth, exasperated. "Do you seriously have a death wish?"

"I didn't notice that the guy was there!" Arammys replied, an indignant remark spoken through a whisper as he pulled the hood of his cloak meticulously over his head, obscuring his hair and face. He peered over the pillar, this time more carefully, onto the street below, noticing more and more of the Queen's men. "Gods, the city is really crawling with them. How are we supposed to reach the docks? They'll kill us!"

"No, they won't." Eidan broke his silence, motioning with his metallic arm for the duo to follow him, "I know a way in. But you're really not gonna like it." [...]

Title: ENCHANTED ILLUSIONS

Genre - Victorian-inspired Dark Fantasy/Mystery

Summary - The brutal war between humans and mythical creatures came to an end 100 years ago, with a peace treaty being achieved and the rival nations finally coexisting peacefully in the capital city of Ansburke. Now, however, a crooked secret organization - dubbed the Hemlock Society - seeks to plunge the city into civil war, preying on the prejudices left over from the previous centuries of warfare to feed the uneasiness between humans and Myths once more. Now, as tensions reach a boiling point, a group of misfits and outcasts must work together to thwart the Hemlock Society's dreadful plans before civil war erupts, in a race against time to save both the people of Ansburke and their own lives, as they dive deep into the world of intrigues and secrets that lay just beneath the city's perfect surface.

POV - 5 Main POVS, with occasional POVs from important side characters.

Lenght - Novel/Book Series

Tags/Hashtag - #wip: enchanted illusions, #wip enchanted illusions

WIP Soundtrack - Enchanted Illusions Playlist

Snippet/Excerpt -

Augustus and Harriet walked down the cramped alleyway, following their unexpected guide. Whilst the necromancer maintained his usual unphased composure - hands behind his back, chin held up high, relaxed smile - Harriet could not help but look over her shoulder once every few seconds. Every shadow seemed to be someone ready to jump at them, to drag them to the deepest bowels of this town and never return.

She pushed the intrusive thoughts down, scoffing at the outlandish notion. Still, the sky was unnaturally covered by smog - smoke continuously billowing from the foundries' skyscraping chimneys, mixing with the cloudy mist - and the lamplit streets were a cramped maze of shops, tents and intricate buildings, metal being the most prevalent sight. Nothing like Ansburke, she thought.

The quicker they find what they're looking for, the sooner they'll return home. And hopefully, stop this madness from unfolding. There was an unwelcome, fiery chill in the air and people bustled through the street around them. She inched closer to Augustus, their shoulders brushing - and tried to convince herself it was simply so she wouldn't get lost in this industrial maze, not to sate the pit of uneasiness that had taken hold of her chest since they reached the gates of the city. Ahead, the eccentric young man leading them whirled around.

"Alright, if ya guys wanna blend in and find out more about that scumbag of a Mayor, you'll need to get some local clothes - not that there's nothing wrong with," He gestured to their dapper attires, now slightly torn and dusty after their ordeal at the train ride, which stood out like a sore thumb when compared to the crowds around them "that, but you two scream 'Ansburke' just by existing." [...]

[surpriserose]

i cant get over how fucking fascist the dark knight rises is which like...i knew going in it would be if only because its based on frank millers the dark knight comics (and also no mans land???) And frank miller is the biggest piece of shit in comics whos not alan moore or garth ennis but christ i think nolan managed to go even more mask off

Okay grain of salt im not the biggest comics guy i just read the good stuff sylvie sends me so im not as knowledgeable about comic stuff but i stay silly anyways im gonna go character by character thats easiest for me

So batmans barely here except to become disabled and then practically heal overnight so very cool point number one 😐 but half of the movie hes stuck in the scary pit prison (because the Lazarus pit is too silly for nolan) with all the arab guys who didnt get whitewashed and its so boring and it sucks and only white people made it out of the pit ever basically who gives a shit it sucks honestly the only reason im mentioning this is because i honestly forgot bane wasnt the main character about an hour in because like? He should be? and ill get to that

Joseph gordon levitt is there and his character has a name and i do just want to call him joseph gordon levitt instead but thats long as fuck and hes robin so im just gonna call him robin even though he sucks ass. the whole point of his character is to be the good cop to gordons bad cop but it doesnt really work because thats a shitty fucking thing you see in media all the time because they always just go for the its just some bad apples approach look at this good apple dont you love apples approach but honestly nolans deepthroating the boot so much its even worse here. and yeah dudes robin but hes like.... nolans oc as robin because thank god i dont want dick in this movie (which would bring the whitewashing count up to 4 characters) or god forbid jason todd but i think its really telling how even robin in this universe has to be a fucking cop instead of like any of the disadvantaged kids bruce actually takes in like yeah this robin is still an orphan but thats way less important to the narrative and to nolan than being a cop.

gordons also barely here and i dont give a shit about him i wish he died i mean i always wish he died because hes a cop he is THE cop in every batman piece of media (except when he was jack the ripper one time or something?) and why even the most benign batman media is copaganda because theyre fucking besties. really i just want to talk about one scene before I get to the bulk of this post bane. late in the fucking almost THREE HOUR LONG MOVIE theres a scene where gordon is rallying the cops and goes to some cops door and hes like "why did you let your wife answer the door dont you know whats going on out there?" as if women are being raped on the streets of gotham which we never even see a fucking hint of??? the actual main issues affecting gotham at the moment are food issues and even thats not a problem because aid is getting in slowly and thats actually how gordon gets MORE FUCKING COPS into the city its insane and im gonna come back to this again with bane but while we're talking about the misogny -

-lets talk about catwoman who just kind of exists doing the catwoman thing of oh im on batmans side but not really and im on banes side but not really and it sucks but lets start with the misogyny before i talk about catwomans spineless centrism. when catwoman is caught by joseph gordon levitt shes taken to prison and the cops specifically point out shes taken to a mens prison (?????) because of the new laws because shes such a risk that a maximum security womens prison cant hold her but a mens prison can because womens prisons are all knitting circles i guess. This is really just an excuse so she can be in the prison that bane stages a prison break on (based) and come back for the climax and also have a hashtag girlboss moment where she does a sexy flip attack against a man threatening to sexually assault her which is just so classy nolan. and i want to fucking point out that this is blackgate prison which in most batman media is ALREADY FUCKING COED this shit was so unnecessary and gross and i just...its still pissing me off obviously so lets get to catwomans shitty fucking robin hood shit and why robin hood narratives are rarely ever radical. yes stealing from the rich and giving to the poor is cool but here and in most narratives its really only cool because its..one person or a small group. A society wide redistribution of wealth? out of the question thats too scary just go back to helping one kid steal an apple lady and hating that bane is literally crashing wall street (based) and breaking into rich peoples homes and bringing them to sentencing trials for crimes against humanity (based). Catwoman will have no part of that thank you and will instead just kind of...hang out until batman gets back.

side note what the fuck is up with the timeline in this movie batman gets his back broken and taken to the pit which is located in....an "ancient part of the world" the batman wiki tells me which holy shit okay the racism continues forever. but batman is not in gotham and again his back is literally BROKEN until it gets healed because he....was hoisted into a standing position with a rope? and idk how long that takes whether its months or a day because the movie seems to suggest both???

okay lets talk about talia al ghul and ras al ghul really quick before i get to based bane. Ill start by saying they're really fucking whitewashed like probably the worst example ive ever seen? Talia (or miranda tate as she's called for most of the movie) is played by a white french actress and Ra's al ghul is played by white irish actor and racist liam neeson. Because the comics are also racist ras al ghul never is really given a clear country of origin besides vaguely arabic slash east asian partially because hes so old but also again the racism but hes certainly not white again...because of the racism. and neither is talia who is only slightly less vaguely chinese and arabic. nolan gives even less of a shit than most batman writers though which is a high bar. talia was so boring and poorly written i barely remember her but they gave her half hearted attempts at environmentalism (incremental and done by begging the rich for everything though of course) before saying oh its actually because she and bane want to blow gotham up with a bomb which...god its all so stupid i honestly forget the bomb shit exists because it makes no sense and seems to have a detonation timer of 24 hours which again is why i literally have no idea what the timeline is. this shit is so stupid and unnecessary except to be the secret reason banes populist revolution of gotham (based) is actually bad but its so fucking tacked on even beyond most reasons why communist characters in media eat a baby to show theyre actually bad and so is communism because communists love neutron bombs.

BANE TIME! I'll also start out by pointing out that bane is whitewashed since hes supposed to be from a fictional south american slash caribbean island prison which......man. He's just tom hardy here though. Lets keep talking about communists eating a baby so theyre bad now. I think this is a trope people associate more with the mcu which is fair the falcon and the winter soldier pulled some shit because of course it did but i think we should consider the dark knight rises as a prime example instead. Not the originator since anti communism didn't start with nolan although i wish i could blame him for that too. Banes list of crimes batman has to stop him for are killing cia agents (based), crashing the stock market which he didn't even kill anyone at (not as based as he could have been), stage a prison break as previously mentioned (based), revealing police corruption (based), forming a militia to govern gotham while theres a transition of power from the rich and the police to the people (based), killing a bunch of cops (based), exploding some of gotham including all but one of the bridges out of the city (really just a strategic decision since hes about to have the american military on his ass and needs to counter that), and blowing up the pittsburgh steelers (extremely based). hey why is this guy the villain again? hey why does gotham have a wall street now why is this such a big deal is it possibly because the occupy wall street protests happened before during and after production of the movie? no that certainly couldnt be the case theres no way nolan would hate peaceful protests and create a movie where god forbid they werent peaceful and cops were instead treated like they treat protestors so we feel bad for them instead of people who are literally sick and tired of their labor being exploited by capitalism for the benefit of the rich. like jesus christ this movie is so blatantly fascist explaining the plot should have anyone going hey wait a minute. and you may say im biased in favor of bane as a communist but jesus christ are you seeing the shit nolan is pulling im being even handed in comparison i mean the fucking climax is batman showing up to rally the cops against bane and the mostly citizens militia of gotham like jesus fucking christ. banes not even a fucking dictator hes literally just some guy in most of the scenes after gotham is taken back by the people hes not even the guy sentencing and killing the rich and the police thats scarecrow! hes just on the sides like everyone else. and while im on scarecrow (jonathan crane hes not called scarecrow in the movie but he is that judge guy) nolan treats it as unreasonable that these are not hearings to determine the guilt of the police and the rich they protect because the people have already determined that theyre guilty but they just fucking are by definition. you dont get rich under capitalism by working hard you get rich by exploiting hundreds of thousands or millions of people out of their labor and livelihoods these people are fucking guilty even if they havent killed anyone with their own hands. but because bane does kill people on screen we're supposed to think hes worse but he only kills rich people and cops and the pittsburgh steelers!!!! like holy shit i hate this fucking movie i hate christopher nolan

[theseagullking]

Ayo funny pinned post with more info about myself less goooooo

Also there's commission information at the end that you should look at

--[Basic Info]--

Seagull | 20 | They/Them | Biromantic Asexual | Aries

I have no clue what I'm doing here, so I apologize if something weird or wacky

I don't know a good way to put info so this'll probably change a lot

--[Main things I do]--

Draw my ocs!

Draw fanart sometimes!

Stream!

Edit videos!

Scream!

--[My Art]--

Most of my art is in some way related to my ocs. I don't have an official comic or anything like that, just drawings and short comic here and there. Also the story my characters exist in doesn't really have a name, but my twitch chat have titles it the TSKCU (The Seagull King Cinematic Universe.) Comic would make more sense, but they really wanted it to be cinematic.

Also, all my ocs have a hashtag here so if you wanna look at a specific guy you can. All of them are basically the same format

seagullsocs (insert character name)

Dnd characters are in the format

seagullsdnd (insert character name)

--[Media I Like]--

Music:

AJJ

Lemon Demon

NateWantsToBattle

Tally Hall

Nickelback (no that's not a joke. I am sorry)

Rare Americans

Jack Stauber

And there's a lot more, but there's the main folks I stick with

Games:

Minecraft

Night in the Woods

Hollow Knight

Fire Watch

Omori

Legend of Zelda

Splatoon

Overwatch

Movies/Shows/Anime:

Batman Dark Knight Triology

Agents of Shield

Darker than Black

Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood

Soul Eater

Trigun

Blue Exorcist

--[Other Things I Like That I Didn't Know Where To Put]--

Space (stars, planets, etc. It's so cool)

Shirmp

Seagulls

Deer

Stingrays

Uncooked Ramen

Dnd

Basically anything glowy

Plants

Snowboarding

About anything I can squish in my grubby claws

--[Art Hardware and Software]--

Programs:

Fire Alpaca (art)

Krita (Animation)

DaVinci Resolve (Editing)

Tablet:

Huion Pro 13

--[Links To Other Places]--

ArtFight

Carrd

DeviantArt

Discord Server

Fandom Wiki

Fiverr

Instagram

My Anime List

Pronouns Page

Red Bubble

Refsheet

Spotify

TikTok

Twitch

Twitter

Webtoon

Which oc are you quiz

YouTube

--[Commission Info]--

[onelickactivate]

Cracking TikTok Fame in 2025: TOKmate Review

Let me take you back in time. Not so much, just 15 years, to 2010. Social media has just become a thing. Facebook is a little more than 5 years old, Instagram has just launched and that’s that. There are some teeny tiny apps here and there, but only a handful of people are using them. Social media is considered nothing more than a way to talk to friends without going outside your house. 

Fast forward 14 years later, and social media is now pretty big– and not just user-count wise. People have started to realise that social media is not just something where you talk to your friends or connect with people. But you can also do a myriad of other things like promoting your business, promoting someone else’s business or service if you have a good reach, then earning commission for that, and much more. 

What we know today as TikTok, was initially launched as Musical.ly during the same time, in 2014. Although it started as an educational platform, that soon changed. It became a platform where people could lip-sync to their favourite songs, and very soon it also became the perfect platform to promote businesses and brands. In the past 11 years, TikTok has been the catalyst to building millions of careers. What people don’t realise however, is that these careers are not made overnight. Behind what you think is a “sudden blast to fame” are:

Countless months and years spent trying to master the algorithm

Tons of posts that had a very meager, or worse, no reach at all. 

TikTok has made “going viral” not just a buzzword but a career path, a business model, and for some, even a dream. But for every creator that does go viral, there are hundreds of thousands that don’t. 

And with every passing day, as TikTok’s audience is increasing (nearly 25% of the world’s population now), so is the competition between the creators. 

Today, trying to go viral squeezes all the creativity out of a creator but most of the time it just doesn’t happen. So, if you have also spent hours upon hours, trying to figure out what to post, what trend to follow only to see your content get lost in the void, then you are at the right place.

Because the software that we’re gonna talk about here will eliminate the role that ‘luck’ plays in going viral. This tool will simplify the entire process of creating viral content, and creating something won’t be a shot in the dark anymore, it will be a sure shot guarantee to success!

<<<✨ Create. Innovate. Shine. Say hello to TOKmate! 🎥>>>

Meet TOKmate: The Shortcut to Viral Fame

No more spending endless hours researching trends and hashtags that don’t even end up working. TOKmate is here and it is here to change the game completely in your favour, in a way that you could have never imagined.

This AI-powered tool is not just about finding what works, because you can do that on Google as well. But this is about using proven data to replicate the success for your content. Simply speaking— it’s effortless. 

TOKmate is not just for a particular group of people like influencers. Whether you are a business owner, a freelance content creator or a marketing agency, the one platform you have been missing out on is TOKmate.

At $597/month $67, You Get:

Free Commercial License + Low ONE-TIME Price During Launch Period Only! (With a 30-day money back guarantee)

Viral Content: A Mystery To Solve

Before we talk about why TOKmate is this knight in shining armor for anyone who wants to get famous or grow their business on TikTok, we need to know what TOKmate actually solves— what are the challenges that organic methods pose when it comes to solving viral content?

Trends Move Too Fast:Trends come fast and they become irrelevant even faster. Rarely do any trends come that last for a while. So, it becomes very overwhelming keeping up with things that change this fast.

Algorithm Remains A Mystery:If there’s one thing that beginners and professional creators have in common, it’s the inability to understand how social platforms decide what to promote.

Content Creation Isn’t Cakewalk:Thinking about the perfect idea for your next video, shooting it, editing it— these are just 3 steps, but they take hours, sometimes even days.

Competition Is Everywhere:Millions of videos are uploaded on TikTok daily. Yes, MILLIONS. It really puts into perspective that standing out in that heap requires more than just a good idea, but perfect execution as well.

<<<✨ Create. Innovate. Shine. Say hello to TOKmate! 🎥>>>

How TOKmate Solves These Challenges

Now you are going to have a complete understanding of how TOKmate is not an average tool, but more like a personal assistant for creating viral content. Here’s what sets it apart:

1. Find What Works In Seconds

You must come across posts in your feeds that have crazy high views, sometimes even in hundreds of millions. Don’t they leave you wondering “How?” Worry no more because now with TOKmate you will be able to discover the most viral content in your niche with a pretty simple keyword search. See for yourself what’s worked before and how you can build on it.

2. Put Your Own Touch To It

If you think you can go viral just by plainly copying trends, you can’t be more wrong. The key is making those trends your own and TOKmate allows you to do just that by adding captions, hashtags, and edits that go with your unique style.

3. It’s The Age Of Automation, Isn’t It?

Why would you want to spend hours posting manually? Use TOKmate’s scheduling feature, and set your content calendar for the week in minutes. The posts will be made for you!

4. Accurate Insights

What good would TOKmate be if it just showed you what’s trending? It gives you practical insights so that you can turn your posts into an engagement magnet.

Who Benefits Most from TOKmate?

TOKmate is a pretty versatile platform, but there are some groups in particular that will find it absolutely game-changing:

Content Creators: Content creators are always looking to grow their follower count, but the more they want to do it the more time it consumes. TOKmate ensures your efforts are pointed towards strategies that work.

Small Businesses: If you have a small business that you want to grow using the power of TikTok, then things do not get better than TOKmate. Create tons of branded AND engaging stuff that drives traffic!!

Marketers & Agencies: However high your clients’ expectations are, stay ahead of them by delivering high-performing content, only with half the effort.

At $597/month $67, You Get:

Free Commercial License + Low ONE-TIME Price During Launch Period Only! (With a 30-day money back guarantee)

The TOKmate Process: Simple and Effective

If you think that using TOKmate must be hard, or that it must be a complex software, then wait till you read this, because even though the software does so much, it demands very little from you.

Find Content: Enter any keyword or niche to discover the viral posts related to that instantly.

Customize: The platform has a lot of built in tools that will allow you to edit captions, hashtags, or even the visuals so that the content can fit your goals like a glove.

Schedule & Post: Let TOKmate take care of all these logistics, you just have to ensure that you do the little work that we talked about above, and TOKmate will handle taking the posts live at the right time.

With these three steps, you can achieve what used to take days—in minutes.

<<<✨ Create. Innovate. Shine. Say hello to TOKmate! 🎥>>>

Why Timing Matters Now More Than Ever

Short-form video is booming, and platforms like TikTok and Instagram are rewarding creators who deliver consistent, engaging content. But the competition is heating up.

By leveraging TOKmate today, you’re not just keeping up—you’re staying ahead. The insights you gain and the time you save will put you miles ahead of others still fumbling with outdated strategies.

Your Move: Turn Virality into Reality

Imagine a future where going viral isn’t about luck but strategy—a future where your content consistently drives traffic, engagement, and growth. That’s the world TOKmate opens up for you.

At an unbeatable one-time price, with no subscriptions or hidden fees, it’s the ultimate investment in your social media success.

So, what are you waiting for? Click below to discover how TOKmate can transform your content game today.

At $597/month $67, You Get:

Free Commercial License + Low ONE-TIME Price During Launch Period Only! (With a 30-day money back guarantee)

[u2-canhappentoanyone]

The order in all of this disorder

You’ve been lied to.  And it wasn’t by the movies.  No, it was the people who didn’t believe them.  Does life not imitate art?  I think it does.  All I ever wanted to be was a work of art, my life an endless cinema. 

The world isn’t like that, they’ll tell you. It’s cruel and it’s cold, and none of it makes any sense at all.

I know.  I’ve lived that life.  Entropy is the ultimate fate of everything, right?  Cue “Disorder” by Joy Division.  My life always has a soundtrack. “I’ve been waiting for a guide to come and take me by the hand…”

Feeling, feeling, feeling, feeling, feeling.

I think most people see the world, but I feel it.  I feel it so much it brings me to my knees.  In the greatest gratitude, in the depths of despair.  Either way - I feel a lot.  And I suppose I feel mostly that we’ve all lost our way, and forgot that greatest of commandments -

“Love one another, as I have loved you.”

That’s no ordinary love.  No, this is the Creator of the Universe demanding that we love each other the same way God does.  Do you know how much God loves you though?  Infinite and eternal.  Unbreakable.  Agape, as the Greeks say.  To them love was such a complex concept they delineated it into several different words.  We just say “love,” and we throw this word around a lot, though maybe not enough.  No, we’re too busy clicking heart icons and “Like” buttons.  Welcome to the “Like everything, Love nothing” generation.

Passion has become a sin; enthusiasm a character defect.  Better to be cool, yes, cool and cynical and utterly outraged, if you have to get emotional about anything. The talking heads on TV have become an endless argument, and the walls of bathroom stalls now line the strange rooms we navigate through screens.  Where is the love?

I find it in moments.  In a dragonfly zooming by, the right card flipped over, a song that makes my heart sing, the smile in my mother’s eyes.  Didn’t people used to talk like this, in novels and poetry?  Now we speak in #hashtags and @mentions, 140 characters or less.  Just get your damn point across, will you, and make sure that as many people as possible know you ate a #sandwich today.  Is this all we are?  I think we are something more and I want to prove it, because I think when you take those words seriously - “Love one another, as I have loved you” - if you can do that just for one person, I really think you can change the entire world.  

He’s already doing it.  I see him.  I see the way he looks at others.  There’s not a hint of condescension.  Whether it’s the fans screaming at his existence (he exists!) or the people in far-off places too many of us want to just pretend don’t even exist… he is that Love, with a capital L.  The Love that transcends all human understanding.  He knows we are all one, and to let one of us die is to kill us all.  Ubuntu.  I am because we are.  He gets it.  Why don’t they get it?  Why is everyone so mad at such a perfect embodiment of the Light?  Darkness gathers around the light… 

I think more people should love this way.  Yes, it’s dangerous.  But it’s the only way forward.  We’ve become like the lukewarm church, afraid to just go all in and BE love.  We look at love from a distance, watch it on Netflix to escape our sadness only to ridicule the absurdity of such romance.  Because life just can’t be romantic, or magical, or any of the things our bones remember.  We have forgotten who we are.  We are all mystics, bodies in souls, capable of moving mountains with the very beating of our hearts.  

I am a knight of faith.  He’s one too.  There aren’t many knights of faith.  Even Kierkegaard could only think of a few.  Abraham, Mother Mary - wow, am I really comparing myself to them?  My faith is quiet. His is loud.  Not intentionally - okay, maybe sometimes his faith demands an audience of 50,000 or so - but it’s mostly in unplanned photographs and carefully-planned meetings and hearings and dreams and responsibilities and action and vision, oh so much vision into visibility.  It’s the kind of faith you have when you hear a preacher in Indiana of all places talking about an HIV/AIDS-free generation back in 2001, when that sort of thing sounded absolutely ridiculous, and you just hold onto that and think, “With God all things are possible.”

But he didn’t wait on God.  He did the work.  He still does.  My faith is different.  I haven’t nearly saved an entire continent or helped solve the refugee crisis or anything like that.  I just… believe.  Believe in him, and that same passage - “With God all things are possible.”

[starswornoaths]

thinkin about ancient creation magicks.

thinkin about how it required the caster to have a clear image in their head of the thing they were trying to create.

thinkin about how dynamis can affect that process.

thinkin about how dynamis can be infused in these creations.

thinkin about how the warrior of light knelt in front of a corpse at what had been a dark and low point in their life, and the corpse stood back up again.

thinkin about that corpse telling the warrior of light "you needed a mentor, so you made one."

[sad-brunnettee]

☁️ 💌 ☁️ 💌 ☁️ 💌 ☁️ 💌 ☁️ 💌 ☁️

Requests open? | Yes No |

RULES

What’s behind the clouds?

Follow the rainbow

Asks

Stranger things: waiting for s5

One piece: episode 809 dub

Alice in borderland: watched it all

Fluff 🧸

Angst 🫧

Dark themes 🗡️

Masterlist

Chishiya:

Reader has flu 🧸

Entertainment 🗡️

The memories that haunt us 🧸

Niragi:

Stuck with you Pt. 2🗡️

Crossovers

Game 4 (Chishiya x reader- squid game cross over) 🫧

Lost at sea (Niragi x reader- crossover with one piece)🧸

Squid game (niragi x reader- crossover with squid game) 🗡️ (Mini cont.)

Trafalgar Law:

Reunites with reader pt.1 pt.2 🧸

Being a mind reader 🧸

Sleeping beauty🧸

Nightmares🧸

Zoro:

He cheats part 2🫧

Sleeping beauty 🧸

Knight in shining armor 🧸

Nightmares🧸

Sanji

Insecure reader🧸

Sleeping beauty 🧸

Yandere! Sanji x innocent reader🗡️

Nightmares🧸

Billy Hargrove:

I'm just like you pt. 1 pt.2 pt.3 pt.4 🫧🧸

Caribbean Queen 🧸🫧

Hispanic reader🧸

In a heartbeat pt.1 pt.2 🧸🫧

Bisexual reader 🧸

Troublemaker pt.2 pt.3

The freaks of Hawkins

Yelan personality 🧸

Heaven can wait🫧🧸

Stranger Helper

Leaving California 🫧🧸

Living with Regret 🫧

Eddie Munson:

Hispanic reader🧸

Graduation 🧸

Dreaming of you🫧

Bachata Rosa🧸

Spanish rock🧸

Readers dad shows Eddie Spanish rock music🧸

Clueless - short cont.🧸

Reader with a band🧸

Slavic! reader 🧸

The rockstar & the popstar 🧸

Dancing quebradita🧸

Part of the family🧸

Tutor🧸

Yelan Personality 🧸

Steve Harrington:

A few night stands

Double babysitters part 2.

Second choice 🫧

Steve with Mexican girlfriend 🧸

—

My main hashtags

#sad-brunnettee

#blog updates

# 🍵 time (I talk about my feelings)

—

🎞️ credits of dividers (by order)

@animatedglittergraphics-n-more

@the-witch-of-one-piece

@silkholland

[midnightswithdearkatytspb]

VelvetCardiganBucky’s Recommendations 2021: Week 10 | February 28th –March 6th

Welcome to week 10 of my recommendations, if you would like to be featured on a future list, I follow the hashtag #VelvetCardiganBucky, message me, tag me in your future works, or reblog this post and link to your story, one-shot, Masterlist, writing challenge, etc.

Be aware some if not most stories and writers on this list are meant to be consumed by an audience of those 18+. My blog is also an 18+ blog.

✨Page breaks are made @firefly-graphics✨

🗓Weeks 11 & 12 or 12 & 13 may be combined into 1 list as my best friend, that I haven’t seen in over 3 years, is coming up to stay with me at my Aunts in the city.

«Last Week

Week 11»

My Masterlist

My Fic Rec List of Mafia/Mob Bucky/Sebastian & Steve/Chris/Andy

Stuff I Posted This Week:

I’ll Stand By You » Steve Rogers x Reader — Steve Rogers will never leave you, no matter how dark your past is.

Bucky Barnes

(Mini) Series:

*A Mutual Weirdness by @ayybtch » Bucky Barnes x Reader — I am a very weird person. I somehow managed to find an equally weird person whose weirdness matches my weirdness and we ended up in love. All of these are completely stand alone stories inspired by some strange things my partner and I have said to each other. You don’t need to read them in any particular order, nor do you need to read them all to understand what’s happening. Just enjoy the weirdness. | This series is just so fluffy and funny, each and every chapter you will find yourself laughing, I promise.

Run To You 🪙 Pt. 8 by @bestofbucky » Mob Boss!Bucky Barnes x Reader — Mob boss Bucky Barnes hires you to be his bodyguard. | The Angst is here and it is so good. This series just keeps getting better and better.

*The Pure and The Poison after → Beg For Daddy after → Some Old, Something New by @sweeterthanthis » Stepdad!Bucky Barnes x Female Reader, Peter Parker x Female Reader — It’s time to give Daddy a taste of his own medicine by bringing your boyfriend, Peter Parker, home for dinner. | If you ever wondered if you are in denial of that secret daddy kink of yours, I suggest you read this series. Because let me tell you it’s filthy in a good way but it leaves you going, I could have sworn I didn’t have a Daddy kink or maybe you go, that was just perfect! Lau just knows how to feed your soul!

Drabbles:

*Hugs My Love by @thatfuckingweirdo » Mobster!Bucky Barnes x Reader — You just really need a hug, and Bucky is the only one you want it from. | If you are suffering from the Monday blues, this is the remedy just for that. So fluffy, it’s like being wrapped in that favorite blanket of yours.

Up, Up and Away by @thatfuckingweirdo » Bucky Barnes x Insecure!FemaleReader — Bucky turns soft in the middle of sex, and you’re left wondering if you were the cause. | This was really good and as a plus!size girl I felt a connection, but by the end all you feel is adoration from Bucky.

One-Shots:

No Goodbye by @badassbuchanan » Bucky Barnes x Reader — Bucky’s left to pick up the pieces of a broken heart. | Please have tissues on standby for this one. It’s so good y’all, but man do you feel the angst. I’m really hoping for a part 2, which I think after going back to read it alludes to it. We’ll see. I’m easily confused folks.

*Die Happy by @mrwinterr » Ghost!Bucky Barnes AU x Female Reader — You summon a really friendly ghost. | This is so fantastic and the smut in this list left tingles down my spine. 10/10 would recommend.

edge of the devil’s backbone by @sunmoonandbucky » knight!bucky barnes x princess!reader — Your knight has sworn to protect you always, even if that means committing a grave sin. | Don’t we all wish we had a Bucky who slayed those obstacles in our ways for us and wrote us beautiful letters when we were apart? So Good!

*Cheeseburgers Make Me Happy by @buckysdolls » Bucky Barnes x Reader — Ooh can I get one where the reader is maybe Morgan’s babysitter or something and post Tony’s funeral. And Bucky is just there, very sad and reader and Morgan just kinda cheer him up and fluff. | While this is fluffy, I still had a few tears slip, but I still loved it oh so much.

*Dawn by @msmarvelwrites » Bucky Barnes x Reader — ‘so far away… So alone. This place was once somewhere you could truly feel yourself. But if you couldn’t fight, what good were you here? | Brontë thank you for pulling on my heartstrings in such a beautiful way. This showed that sometimes you can’t and don’t need to go through depression alone and it’s okay to ask/rely on others for help.

Steve Rogers

(Mini) Series:

One Step Closer by @river-soul » Dark!Steve Rogers x Plus Size!Reader — Three weeks after your training session with Steve goes horribly wrong, he brings you to his office to remind you who you belong to. [Dubcon and explicit sex, 18+] Sequel to Points of Authority | I love, love, love this mini/series so much. The smut in this is so good and dark!steve always sends chills down my spine.

Dark Commander by @jtargaryen18 » Hydra Supreme aka Commander Steve Rogers x Civilian Reader — Immediately following the Battle of New York in May 2012, the world is about to learn that Hydra is very much alive, a parasite that’s infiltrated both SHIELD and the US Govt. The world is about to meet the Hydra Supreme… Will the Avengers be able to stop Hydra before it’s too late? Will they be able to stop its Dark Commander? | I have had dreams about not only reading this series but all about being in this series, (that’s what happens when you re-read before bed) that’s how much I love this series. I can’t recommend this enough, @jtargaryen18 writes such amazing stories, this is no let down.

One-Shots:

*did you ever hear about the girl who got frozen? » Steve Rogers x Readers — in which the reader breaks free from her perfect fantasy. | I truly loved this and I highly recommend everyone read this, when you do please have tissues by you.

Mission Birthday by @nony-bear » Steve Rogers x Reader — It’s your boyfriends birthday… the only problem is, he didn’t tell you. | It’s so fluffy and sweet it will make your teeth ache, but leave with a smile on your face.

my old man is a tough man, but he got a soul as sweet as blood red jam by @cloudystevie » Mob Boss!Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader — steve gives you what you want… kind of. | Get yourself a cold drink, because I promise you, you’re going to need a cool down.

Ari Levinson

(Mini) Series:

Lead Me Home 🏠 Pt. 1 🏠 Pt. 2 🏠 Pt. 3 🏠 Pt. 4 🏠 Pt. 5 by @river-soul » Alpha!Ari Levinson x Omega!Reader — While on an aid mission to Sokovia, your colleagues are targeted and killed by Alpha soldiers. Left stranded and alone, your only hope is to trust a strange Alpha named Ari who promises to get you home safe. [Mentions of violence and A/B/O dynamics] | Love me some Ari Levinson but add in some Alpha!Ari you make me really happy! I can’t wait to see what happens next.

One-Shots:

Distraction by @wanderinglunarnights » Ari Levinson x Reader — Working on a case together you spend a lot of time together on the road. You have to spend the night in the local motel and of course there’s only one room with one bed left. | Short and hot, just the way you needed it sometimes.

Andy Barber

(Mini) Series:

*To Have & To Hold Sequel to Blackmail by @stargazingfangirl18 » Mob Boss!Andy Barber x Reader — You’re settling into married life with Andy when you see just how far he’s willing to go to protect you. | This is such a good follow up to Blackmail! There is action, angst, smut and fluff. Like it has everything I could ask for and more. Looking forward to part 3!

One-Shots:

A Second Too Late by @angrythingstarlight » Andy Barber x Reader — You meet the man of your dreams. Too bad he’s waiting for someone else. | I honestly don’t know what is going on with my hormones but I was tearing. It’s really good but honestly anything I read by @angrythingstarlight is good.

In Between The City Walls of Dying Dreams by @darkficsyouneveraskedfor » Ex-Con/Dark!Andy Barber x Shy!Reader — One night, you’re saved by the last person you expect, but you don’t know that he’s only saving you for himself. | Can I just say that since it’s by @darkficsyouneveraskedfor you know it’s going to be good? This didn’t let me down. I also felt like I related to the shy!reader as I often don’t have a lot to say to people, unless I really know someone. Also amazing smut!

Cock Worship by @ozarkthedog » Andy Barber x Reader — It’s just what the title says of Andy Barber, reader shows her man just how much she loves Andy’s cock. | This was short and perfect.

Chris Evans

One-Shots:

Vacation Mornings by @angrythingstarlight » Chris Evans x Reader — No better way to spend your vacation than wrapped around your man. | The smut is great and it makes you feel fluffy.

A Terrible, Terrible Love by @punani » Chris Evans x Fem!Reader — You broke up seven months ago, and moving on was as easy as teaching someone how to drive stick shift. You live in his mind as much as he lives in yours, and perhaps some things are worth reconsidering. | This honestly showed that not all relationships are sunshine and roses, giving you a perhaps realistic take on love, with some really good smut!

Stucky

(Mini) Series:

*Twice Burned after → Twice Bitten by @cherienymphe » DarkVampireKing!Steve Rogers x SoftDarkVampireDuke!Bucky Barnes x Reader | King Steve has the reputation of the kindest king in all the land. How sad it is that such a man always seems to be burying a wife, leaving him lonely and searching for another. Seeing how Queen Margaret’s death affected you, the king hopes to raise your spirits by marrying you off to the handsome Duke, James Barnes, unbeknownst to you, sealing your fate. | I love vampires, but what I really loved is this especially dark!vampire king Steve. The smut in this was so good and I got chills while reading this. I’m so looking forward to part 3 when it comes out!

The Miracle by @heavenhatesme » Bucky Barnes x Reader x Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes x Reader, Steve Rogers x Reader — When infertility threatens mankind with extinction and there hasn’t been a baby for almost 18 years, what happens when two certain super soldiers fall for the same woman and accidentally impregnate her? | Sometimes you just need a good apocalypse au before bed and even though it’s just the first chapter, it still leaves you craving more!

One-Shots:

Deviation of Control by @navybrat817 » Bucky Barnes x Reader, Steve Rogers x Reader — Winter Soldier turns the tables on Captain Hydra. — If you are looking for some really good smut, look no further, this has it.

Loving You Is a Losing Game by @river-soul » Soft Dark!Steve x Reader x Winter Soldier — AU from CAWS where the Winter Soldier is recaptured by Hydra and mind wiped. As Steve searches for his best friend and former mate, he discovers the Omega Hydra bonded to him. Looking for a way to lure the Winter Soldier out of hiding and bind Bucky to him once more, Steve decides the best way to accomplish that is through a shared Omega, whether she is willing or not. [ABO dynamics, dub-con and breeding kink, 18+] | Do you ever just want to yell at Steve? Yeah I did in this.. the cliff hanger had me going please Miss. can have some more. 😂

Initials by @americancowgirl19 » Stucky x Reader — Bucky and Steve finds their third soulmate in Wanda’s sister. Only problem is that she’s supposed to be dead, not Hydra’s new prized possession. | Sometimes you just need something that hits you in the feels with some angst and some fluff, and this is one.

Misc.

(Mini) Series:

A Boyfriend For Hire by @happygowriting » Dayton White x Bucky Barnes — Dayton White doesn’t really have time for relationships but he’s a little tired of the constant comments on his one night stands, finding himself a high class escort willing to play the part of his boyfriend. James “Bucky” Barnes is not who he expected to be, but maybe it’s who he needed. | The smut in this is really good, I want to start off by saying that, also that I never would have thought to pair those two up. I’m not fully interested in seeing how this story plays out.

One-Shots:

Leave Out All The Rest by @avintagekiss24 » chris beck x black!reader — Chris Beck returns to earth, and you are there to greet him after to really hard sleepless years. | This was so beautiful, had really good smut and so just fluffy. We need more Chris Beck on here and I’m so glad I read it!

Lost in the Lapse Again by @the-iceni-bitch » Robert Pronge (Mr. Freezy) x dark!fem Reader — Mr. Freezy’s domestic bliss gets jarringly interrupted. | I’ve never seen the movie, but if I had to imagine how Mr. Freezy to be this is it and the smut in this is so good!

[forasecondtherewedwon]

Runaway Ride

Fandom: Never Have I Ever Pairing: Devi/Paxton Rating: T Word Count: 4889

Summary: Kamala gets herself into a pickle, Devi needs to go to her, and Paxton has a car. Problem-solving has never been so simple, but that's how it is when your new boyfriend is Paxton Hall-Yoshida. Throw in a little hand-holding on the highway and this family crisis might just be the best date Devi will ever have.

When they finally took a break from dancing—disconnecting hands from hips and shoulders, lips from lips—Devi stepped away in a dreamy headspace. She almost collided with Jonah, but he didn’t tell her to look where she was going, only offered a shrewd, indulgent smile.

Actually, everybody was treating her like that; every eye that caught hers on her way to the table where she’d left her stuff was unjudgmental, admiring, straight up fairy-godmotherly. Devi hadn’t received this much notice since her dad’s death and her subsequent paralysis. And those looks had been pitying, freaked out. Positive attention was new and cool and she wondered, as she grabbed her phone out of her turquoise clutch, whether her socials would show more of the same when she opened them. Would people have snapped stealthy pics of her and Paxton dancing now that she’d been vaulted into the pseudo-celebrity strata of the high school hierarchy? Would the Insta posts be captioned with hashtags of their ship name? Paxi? Daxton? Vishwall-Yoshumar?

Devi never got to check.

Unlocking her phone, she found two missed calls from her mother. Maybe two wouldn’t have seemed like a whole lot to someone else, but Devi knew that, in order for her mom to risk rudeness by stepping away from the company she was hosting at home not once but twice, she’d need to be pretty frantic. Two missed calls from Nalini Vishwakumar were the equivalent of six or seven from any other mother.

Skirting the edges of the gym as she headed away from DJ Humanoid—that nit-witted saboteur of slow dances—Devi was about to call her mom back when her screen changed to an incoming call from Kamala. She pressed her other hand to her ear and answered it.

“Hey. Do you know what’s going on with my mom? She called me twice and, honestly, she knows I’m at the d—”

“Devi, shut up. Sorry,” Kamala sighed. “But I may have kidnapped your history teacher and now I’m panicking a little.”

Devi stopped in her tracks.

“You did what? Why is the sound weird?”

As she was trying to identify the background noise coming from Kamala’s end, her eyes swept over the crowd of her classmates and landed on Fabiola’s. Her friend had been smiling, mid-sway as she held Eve from behind and chatted with Sasha, but it fell off her face like Devi off Dr. Jackson’s roof. Fab disentangled herself from her girlfriend and crossed the room to stand with Devi. She was frowning, silently asking for an explanation for Devi’s distress, but Devi didn’t really have one yet.

“We’re in his car on the highway,” her cousin was saying. “He was a little drunk, so I’m driving.”

Devi had imagined that Kamala was exaggerating, but no, this was really starting to sound like a kidnapping.

“You better be on hands-free right now,” she lectured. Then, because she wasn’t exactly a paragon of road safety herself—barely an hour ago, she’d walked right out in front of Paxton’s jeep—didn’t wait for confirmation. “What the hell happened? Context, Kamala!”

“Well, as soon as I snuck out of the house—”

“But why did you sneak out?!”

“Devi, I can’t talk about that right now!” Devi’s eyebrows shot up at the clear and abnormal hysteria in her cousin’s voice. “I ran out of the house,” Kamala continued, “totally directionless, and the first thing that popped into my head was Manish’s invitation for me to come to karaoke…”

“Ew, what the fuck, don’t call Mr. K that.”

What? Fab mouthed at her, but Devi shook her head.

“That is his name and what he asked me to call him. Anyway,” Kamala said, sounding strained, “I went to your school and met up with him and now I’m driving his car and I think I might have shut my sari in the car door, but I’m scared to pull over and check because if I stop the car, I’m going to have to confront things and I think I’d rather not do that yet.”

“Kamala,” Devi said in a heavy, careful voice. “You have to pull over. I totally get what you’re saying because it sounds like something I might do—minus the part where you kidnapped Mr. K—” Fabiola’s eyes went dramatically wide as she was adjusting her tiara. “—but this isn’t you. You don’t run away from your obligations and elope with my teachers!”

“Manish and I didn’t elope. It isn’t in any way romantic.”

“For sure though? It’s not?” Devi heard another voice in the car ask.

“Mr. K, back off! Kamala’s in the middle of a crisis!” she shouted. “And please be drunk enough to forget that I yelled at you.”

“Devi, what should I do?” Kamala asked, sounding desperate in a sad way now.

“Where are you?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Ok, well, which direction are you heading in?”

“Um, either north or south.”

“You’re a disaster,” Devi muttered.

“What was that?”

“Uh… I said, don’t drive any faster. Try to read the next sign you pass so you can tell me where you are.”

“Alright,” Kamala said.

Devi tilted her phone away from her mouth so her cousin wouldn’t hear her frustrated sigh. She locked eyes with Fabiola.

“Kamala panicked at her engagement dinner and ran off with Mr. K. They’re either headed for Mexico or Canada, but I’ll know more in a minute.”

Fab blinked.

“Wow.”

“I know. It’s a lot. And this is me talking,” Devi emphasized.

“I don’t know if you would do anything this big. Mainly because you don’t have a driver’s license.”

“True.”

“Santa Barbara in twenty-six miles,” Kamala said in her ear.

“Damn, you made good time.”

“The traffic was quite manageable.”

“Try to calm down a little and get off the highway when you can. Don’t go past Santa Barbara. I’m coming to talk you down in person,” Devi said. “Oh, and don’t answer any of my mom’s calls; she’ll just stress you out.”

“That doesn’t seem very responsible. How about I send her a text when I stop to let her know I’m ok?”

Devi rolled her eyes.

“Suit yourself.”

“Thank you, Devi. But how will you get here?”

“Let me worry about that. Text me when you stop so I know exactly where I’m going.”

“I will.”

“’K. I’ll see you in a bit.”

Devi hung up and sighed massively, slumping into the wall and feeling a streamer crumple against her back. She and Fabiola stared at each other.

“What are you gonna do?” Fab asked.

“Be the hero my family needs, but not the one they deserve.”

“Are you misquoting Batman to justify doing something reckless?”

“First of all, rescuing Kamala isn’t reckless, and second of all, the movie isn’t called Batman, it’s The Dark Knight. Young-ish Christian Bale, hello.”

Fabiola pointed a finger at her own face.

“Young-ish out-of-touch lesbian, hello. At least I was close.”

Devi sighed again while Fab smiled sadly at her in obvious sympathy.

“It’s after ten at night. How am I gonna get to Santa Barbara?”

“Assuming you’re not going to ask your mom—”

“No.”

“Then you need a ride.”

“You need a ride? I’ll drive you.”

It was Paxton, walking up and tentatively taking Devi’s hand while darting uncertain glances at Fabiola. Devi felt her entire face light up.

“You don’t want to know where or why?” she teased.

His expression said those were insignificant details. Wow. Devi’d never had a fantasy where Paxton joined forces with her, bounty hunter-style, to track down a flighty Kamala, but this felt oddly romantic. Passionate even? They’d see where the night took them.

“You wouldn’t wanna leave the dance unless it was serious,” Paxton reasoned. “So, I’ll drive you. You wanna go now?”

“I guess we better. Lemme just grab my…”

“I’ll get it,” Fab said, raising a hand like the nerd she was as she volunteered.

She darted back through the dancers to grab Devi’s things and Devi watched their classmates part for their Cricket Queen. She was so proud of Fab. Also, she felt kinda bad for ditching such a momentous occasion. But Kamala needed her, and would totally do the same for her if she ever went off the deep end and kidnapped a dude while fleeing a proposal. Not that Devi could see herself fleeing a proposal (she glanced at Paxton as she thought this, then quickly away, thinking, Way too soon!). Carrying out a kidnapping? With a sufficiently convincing pro-and-con list, anything was possible.

“Basically, Kamala freaked and drove to Santa Barbara with a drunken Mr. K,” Devi said, because Paxton might not have asked to be informed, but she wanted him to know what he was getting himself into. Beyond that, she wanted to give him the chance to say, No way, Devi. I came here to look hot and dance up on you, nothing more.

“Oh shit,” was what he said.

“Damn right, oh shit. You still want to drive? This is going to take a while.”

She should probably have felt guilty about trying to subtly persuade him with her eyes, but not only was Paxton the least complicated option, he was also her first choice. If she maintained eye contact long enough, Devi figured it might trigger some kind of boyfriend override that made going for a long drive at night just as appealing as staying here and dancing with her butt pressed thrillingly to his groin when the teacher-chaperones weren’t looking.

“As long as we can hit up the bathrooms first. I was going to, but then I got talking to Trent, and then Marcus was doing a handstand…”

“Definitely,” Devi assured him. “Good call. Empty the tank. Oh, actually, that reminds me… how much gas do you have in your jeep? If we need to stop at a gas station, I’ll have to factor that in to the ETA I give Kamala.”

Paxton shook his head at her, smiling in what she liked to think was affectionate amusement.

“I filled it up on the way here. I needed a minute to, uh…” To her epic astonishment, he ducked his head self-consciously, cheeks pinking. “You know. Get my shit together. Up here.” He tapped his temple with his index finger. “I wanted to show up for you, like, completely. You know?”

Right as Devi was at dangerously high risk of sagging to the floor in blissful bonelessness, Fabiola sprang to her side, shoving the rest of her possessions at her.

“Ok, ok!” Devi said, harried.

She had to dump it all on the bathroom counter a minute later anyway, but after she’d done her pre-road trip pee, she came out and gave Fab a better thank-you.

“Your Highness,” Paxton told Fabiola with a nod.

Fab nodded back, smiling wryly.

“Prosecutor.”

“I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship,” Devi assessed, “but we gotta go! Say congrats to Eve for me again!”

“Sure. Drive safe!”

Devi and Paxton pushed through the doors together, striding quickly with his hand wrapped around hers. In the parking lot, she glanced sideways to see him digging his keychain out of his front pocket.

“Oh,” she said, “so I wasn’t just feeling that you were very happy to dance with me.”

Until they got into the jeep, it was too dark to see whether she’d gotten him to blush again, but she liked to think that she had. He was definitely smiling.

They got in and Devi carefully tucked her skirt around her legs, mind on Kamala’s cautionary tale. At least it was until Paxton leaned forward to shrug out of his jacket and she saw his shoulder muscles jump beneath his fitted button-down, his narrow black tie swinging forward. Dang. Fifty shades of Hall-Yoshida.

“Santa Barbara?” Paxton double-checked once he was settled behind the wheel, steering out of the student lot.

“Santa Barbara.”

Until they were on the highway and heading out of Los Angeles, Devi did her best to keep her worry about Kamala’s situation contained to the way she flapped her phone against her thigh. Usually, she was stressing about the problems right in front of her (when she wasn’t blatantly ignoring them, only to have that approach bite her in the ass later), but with whatever was going on with Kamala, she kinda had to look ahead.

Had she wanted Kamala to get engaged to Prashant that badly? Well, the best thing about Prashant was that you never knew when having additional hot relatives would be to your benefit. (Devi was already hoping that Mr. K would get over the more nerve-wracking elements of this night and just remember having fun with her stunning cousin… and that this could possibly translate into at least a month of generous grades, if she could somehow spin these shenanigans as an intentional blind date arranged by herself.) However, an engaged Kamala was wholly different from a married Kamala. She wouldn’t be around to watch nonsensical episodes of Riverdale, or be duped into hijinks, or listen to Devi when her mom was too tired, or bitch about her shitty lab-mates in exchange for sitting through Devi bitching about her complicated feelings on the subject of Aneesa dating her ex. She wouldn’t live with them anymore, and the family that had begun to miraculously fill out after her dad had died would be back down to three. And the other two members of it would be old (Sorry, Mom, she thought) and not at all prepared to champion her dating life or the cleavage-accentuating formal dress currently buoying it.

So, yeah, Devi was looking ahead—eyes glazed over as the yellow lights of cars slipped around them to prevent her vision from fully adjusting to the blue-black sky—and feeling more than a little nervous and scared of the Kamala-shaped hole she’d have in her life if her dazzling, dorky cousin left her house for one she might eventually fill with the most beautiful children the world had ever seen.

Thankfully, Paxton was there. It startled her when he took one hand off the wheel and felt across her lap to grab hers, loosely interlacing their fingers. Devi quit hitting her phone against her leg. She sent off their updated location to Kamala and then let her phone fall flat.

“Did she say where she was?” Her boyfriend’s voice was quiet in the car and she realized for the first time that her head had been too crammed with thoughts to put on any music.

“Carpinteria State Beach. Do you know the exit?”

“We’ll find it.”

“And if you want me to drive while you rest on the way back…”

Paxton laughed.

“No way. Safety first.”

“Says the guy driving one-handed,” Devi countered, not that she was eager to surrender the hand warming hers.

He turned his head just long enough to shoot her a look.

“Whoa, pal, eyes on the road!” she said. (She had a half-baked plan to call her boyfriend ‘pal’ a few times and thereby de-weaponize the word in a memory that still felt like a fading bruise, an almost-gone sore spot in who she and Paxton were before they were openly a them.)

“Sorry,” he said, staring out the windshield again. He grinned. “You look gorgeous.”

“Really?”

“So gorgeous.” Paxton’s voice was softer this time, the underlying laugh it had carried since she’d offered to drive his jeep drained out of it. It was nearly a sigh.

“Thanks. So do you.”

“You know, I feel fucking awful for hitting you with my car, but I still think I mighta felt worse if I’d walked in and seen you dancing with somebody else.”

Devi twisted their hands, touching the back of his to her thigh so she was sandwiching it between leg and palm for a moment, aiming for reassuring.

“I wanna say I would never be that flaky, but my previous offenses speak for themselves.”

“So does doing this with me.”

“Uh,” she droned, “to recap, you left a fun thing to do a huge favour for me. You’re talking about it like this is my act of redemption. I feel like if you examine it for a sec, you’ll see how I’m actually kind of a dick for accepting your help.”

“I want us to be together,” he said bluntly. “Here we are. Together.”

“It’s that simple?”

“I don’t see why it can’t be.”

“Huh. I think you’re really gonna be good for my tendency to overcomplicate a situation.”

Paxton laughed and unthreaded his fingers from Devi’s. But it wasn’t to release her for pointing out that this date was, in actual fact, the coordinated response to a family crisis; his fingertips moved lightly over her palm, momentarily trapped when her fingers flinched inward in reaction to how it tickled, then traced along the thin skin of her inner wrist. He wasn’t trying to pull away. He was lingering. Though his touch when he sunk his hand into her hair or drew her closer by her waist had always been fairly gentle, it had often had the faint aggression of hastiness to it, clutching her as they made out in her room, always listening for footsteps in the hallway. How Paxton touched her now was pure, exploratory tenderness. It made the hairs on the back of Devi’s neck stand up as a wave of shivers rushed up her spine and crested somewhere around the nape of her neck.

He must’ve felt that wave break, the foamy aftereffects in some tic of her arm or quickening of her pulse while his fingers skimmed gradually up the inside of her arm towards her elbow, because he chanced another quick glance at her.

“That feels good,” she explained.

Paxton looked forward, nodding slowly, and shifted in the driver’s seat.

“Good.”

She thought it must have felt good for him too, knowing he’d made her shiver.

—

The miles were flicking past for Paxton—another, another, another, as fast and steady as the dashed lines painted between the lanes, his arms cutting the water on the front crawl. He wanted Devi, beside him, to believe that he was paying attention to his driving, but he was honestly kinda zoned out. Like that time he’d swum to San Diego, he let his body go through the motions (in this case, twitching the wheel, putting on cruise control when traffic thinned so he didn’t have to focus on the pedals) while his mind floated freely.

Where it floated was to his girlfriend.

At ten years old, he’d been the last kid in his swim class to jump off the 10m board. It was optional—a treat after getting water up their noses turning somersaults below the surface and doing egg-beater legs in between—but all the other boys in the group had done it eagerly, shrieking on their way down to sloppy pencil dives. Paxton had climbed the stairs all the way to the top easily enough, even stepped onto the wide platform, bordered by metal railings and rough under his bare feet. He’d walked out to the end and frozen to find himself so high above the pool.

He hadn’t feared the water, he’d feared the air. Being so exposed on his own at the end of the diving board. Eventually, he’d retreated, then surprised the coach waiting down at the poolside by turning around and taking the jump at a run. Few memories felt as good as the sensation of giving himself back to gravity and letting it reunite him with the water. He’d just had to get past the exposure.

Same thing tonight, going to find Devi at the dance. Holding her hand in his had been him reaching the platform, but when they stood together, just inside the school’s doors, Paxton hadn’t known for sure whether he would take the leap or retreat. And not just for a running start this time, but in a way that turned his sixteen-year-old present self back into one of those nervous ten-year-olds who wimped out and had to take the coward’s way down—descending each step they’d climbed. He might not have run, and yet he hadn’t needed to back up and race into their relationship either. Momentum hadn’t carried them inside for everyone they knew to see them. It had been a calm approach, even if he’d been shaking on the inside when he saw Trent staring at them.

So maybe Paxton had learned something in the last six years, or maybe it was harder to feel exposed with somebody right next to you.

She really did look gorgeous, like he’d said, and because he didn’t want her to worry about his focus if she spotted him gazing at the side of her face while she texted her cousin, the glances he stole were of the knee region. Her dress’s overlay sparkled when the high lights of eighteen-wheelers passed them and the specific teal of the dress itself reminded him of a river he’d swum in once during an out-of-state family vacation. Natural and deep and fresh, and exasperating for his parents because he’d accidentally doggy-paddled himself all the way to a small waterfall and hadn’t heard them calling him back for dinner around the campfire. He felt all that about Devi, except for hoping for a different reaction from his parents when they met her.

Holy shit. He was going to have to introduce his girlfriend to his embarrassing hippy parents. But then, she’d already met Rebecca, so maybe they were set? A sister’s approval should count for a ton.

No, no, no, Devi would have to meet his parents. He was doing this. The two of them were doing this. Paxton exhaled determinedly through his nose and made himself concentrate on the remaining miles he needed to cover. His mind, anyway. His hand continued to stroke and search, covering his girlfriend’s hand with his until he had her fingers tucked away protectively under his own, and then caressing all the way up to the crook of her elbow so suddenly that she made a noise between a laugh and a yelp because he’d unintentionally tickled her. Man, she was cute.

The very end of their journey required the most concentration from Paxton; he finally took back his hand to have both on the wheel as he steered them off the highway and Devi’s got lonely or something, because it chased across to where he was sitting and landed on his thigh. His jaw clenched. He could feel the heat of her palm through his pantleg and congratulated himself on being a driving legend for driving smoothly to where they needed to park for beach access.

Devi had a pink sweater that she put on, but Paxton grabbed his jacket out of the back as well in case she needed it. It was almost midnight and a breeze rolled up off the water, rippling his tie and swishing Devi’s dress. He didn’t have to ask what they should do next—there was just one other car parked nearby and Devi’s cousin was already standing outside of it, raising a hand to wave sheepishly as they got out of his jeep.

“Here,” he said, holding out his jacket for his girlfriend to put her arms through the sleeves. “You guys talk. I’ll be down at the beach.”

Devi turned her back to him as she accepted the jacket, but she glanced over her shoulder with a look of concern.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. You’ll want privacy. I need to stretch my legs anyway.”

“Just don’t swim away, ok?” she requested. “I don’t think I can handle more than one rescue mission per night.”

Paxton could tell by her expression that it wasn’t entirely a joke. He grinned and gripped his lapels, now on Devi, reeling her in.

“I promise. You’d probably take the opportunity to try to drive the jeep home, and I don’t want to risk that.”

“Me committing grand theft auto or me getting hurt?”

“I bet they tested you for smartness,” he said, “but you think they have a test for being a smartass? You’d score high, Vishwakumar.”

“I know, I know, you don’t want me to get hurt.”

She was so infuriatingly flippant, rolling her big brown eyes at him.

“That’s right,” Paxton said plainly. There he was, up on the platform again.

Devi straightened his tie and let her hand rest flat on his chest. He remembered how overwhelmed she’d looked the first time he’d placed her palm there, right on his skin. Even now, it almost made him laugh.

“Ok,” she said, and he was surrendering himself to the sweet strength of gravity, propelled down to the beach while Devi stayed to talk to Kamala.

—

Devi had heard that there were tidepools here, and she was nervous about stepping into one and spearing some aquatic animal on her high heel. Well, she couldn’t magically improve her night vision, but she could take her shoes off and remove the possibility of impalement. They dangled from her fingers as she picked her way down to the beach.

Her boyfriend was sitting in the sand, staring out at the ocean. It just looked so romantic—with the stars the sky was too bright to see at home, and the waves, and the back of Paxton’s white shirt in the moonlight—that Devi decided to slip into the scene without saying anything at all.

A mistake. Paxton gasped and jumped. Apparently, he hadn’t heard her over the noise of the water.

“Sorry, sorry!” she said.

He sighed and smiled, getting to his feet.

“How’d it go?”

“I think it went well. She was feeling calm enough to drive, so she’s on her way home now. She’s gonna cover for me until we get back.”

“That’s good… but what about Mr. Kulkarni?”

“He was passed out in the passenger’s seat,” Devi stated. “I guess he’s kind of a lightweight? Kamala said she’s going to drive back to our school and leave him and his car in the parking lot. She’s planning to call my mom for a ride home. If it were me, I think I’d take the bus and try to sneak back into the house as quietly as possible, but Kamala still has a lot to learn about how to thoroughly dodge your problems.”

“And maybe about how to climb to the second floor of your house from the outside?” Paxton suggested with a meaningful smirk.

She did her best to return it, but the odds were that it didn’t look nearly as sexy on her. Then again, she had moonlight and midnight and well-displayed cleavage on her side.

“How’d you learn to do that so quietly anyway?” Devi asked, tossing her shoes to the sand and stepping forward to boldly wrap her arms around Paxton’s waist.

He’d had his hands in his pockets, but as soon as she’d begun to move towards him, he’d pulled them out. His arms encircled her, his hands on the back of his own black jacket. Although Devi wanted to offer him the jacket back—he felt slightly chilly through his shirt—she didn’t want the two of them to separate. Besides, body heat was a thing. This was practically what it was for. So Devi just pressed herself closer, breathing the scent of the ocean and Paxton’s fading cologne.

“Trent,” he said.

“Yeah, actually, that checks out.”

Were there boundaries between warming someone up while having a conversation and just hugging them? It wasn’t clear to Devi, but it felt good when they both went quiet for a while. She stood unevenly on the cold sand and listened to the thud of Paxton’s heart.

“You never said yes,” he said eventually, quietly.

“Yes to what?”

“I told you I came to the dance as your boyfriend and you never actually agreed to be my girlfriend. We kinda just started making out.”

Devi lifted her cheek from his chest so she could look at him. He didn’t appear disappointed, more like he was making an observation. Maybe he’d been reflecting, out here in the dark, while she and Kamala had talked.

“In my books, that’s an obvious yes,” she said, grinning. “What more do you need?”

She could see him trying not to smile.

“A little atmosphere would be nice,” Paxton said. “Maybe a long drive, or the beach. A full moon. Romance me, Vishwakumar.”

Devi vibrated with silent laughter. Or her heart was just beating really, really freaking hard.

“Sounds like you’ve got some pretty big expectations there.”

“And stars,” he added. “There should be a shitload of stars.”

With that, he took one hand off her back to point far above them. Devi tipped her head back, the light of the stars a friendly blur as she tried to pick one to settle on, just one. Paxton’s face coming forward to hover over hers blotted them out. Her boyfriend kissed her, light and ghosting and then firm and slow.

“On the other hand,” he said, pulling back a little, “I think we were onto something with the making out.”

Devi smiled and dug her toes into the sand to make herself taller, lips at the ready and realigned with his.

“We did set a precedent.”

[t4tbruharvey]

your posts about the Phantom of the Opera just made me think about Harvey Dent for some reason again (probably because of your. tags. actually) and the Harvey-TwoFace Raoul to Erik pipeline....

and it made me even more curious to find out if and how he's gonna be implemented in the new Batman movie's universe (I mean they made the perfect setup for him to show up, right) and if there's gonna be any poto inspirations...I mean Reeves clearly has a thing for broken characters and tragic villains and afaik even mentioned poto as an inspiration in some interview (about joker but poto mention is poto mention) so...fingers crossed for a good and complex live action Harvey ? lmao

HELLO anon you are about to suffer from all my thoughts about this. see. okay. i was only shown phantom BECAUSE i'm a harvey fan :) he's my favourite character of all time and there are definitely a lot of parallels there like not even the face thing (which, uh, doesn't actually hold up as a similarity? erik was born like that and hides it constantly whereas harvey Was Not and is pretty open about it as two face and like there's something to be said about his mental problems as a child and like metaphorically him trying to repress it and be hashtag good enough is a mask in a WAY but the face thing specifically isn't a parallel) AND ALSO like genuinely 'the world showed no compassion to me' is really killing me

i think that like reeves should not only include him in the sequel - hashtag not my DA @ the guy who had his head blown off - but also he should let him be Gay please god. i think if reeves did include him and made it poto inspired i would love to see it be in a way that explores his underlying issues and where they come from (fucking. the world showed no compassion to me!!!) instead of just going 'he sucks' as they did in the dark knight, which is a film that becomes EXTREMELY compelling if you take his childhood abuse into account but falls incredibly flat because textually it's ignored <3

[brazenautomaton]

Fixing Afterlives: The Maw, First Visit

So our Shadowlands journey starts with the Maw. You know what? People hate this scenario now because you can’t skip it and have to go through it on every character, but the first time through, this is actually really good. You’re kicking in the gates of Hell with a platoon of Death Knights and then everything goes tits-up and you don’t have a beachhead and you’re lost and wandering and there are awful, awful things everywhere and you’re hiding and isolated and need to learn how to escape. You just need the option to skip it on your alts.

Plus the aesthetics of the Maw are great. They sell what it is -- the hostile architecture, sinister crystal formations, the way everything seems swept and shaped by a windstream of souls. We’ve seen plenty of environments that look like a Hell of flames. This is a Hell of pure suffering. Pain is what lives here. Pain is all that enters and pain is all that is produced. It’s only after you went farming Stygia for a while that the pain gets inflicted on you.

So we assemble the crew, get the exposition while we put together the Helm of Domination, get given a portal stone to establish a beachhead, and we bust in to find the four captives: Anduin, Jaina, Baine, Thrall. We rally the Death Knights into enough of a formation to make it in and find the evidence of Jaina, and I like that, I like how you track her by the huge formations of ice -- it shows you her power and the mark she leaves. Finding her is mostly the same although her dialogue is less generic and content-free (from now on assume I apply this caveat to all dialogue). She’s more confused and disoriented and even though she’s fighting it’s with a resignation that she knows it won’t work and she’s starting to think she’s only hurting herself by trying. She acts like she has been there for years. But you say you and the DKs are here to save her and she follows against her better judgment and agrees to try and find Thrall, who she struggles to remember, but seems to be trying very hard to be able to remember.

Then the Mawsworn Kyrian show up and laugh about her hopelessness, and you fight them. And they kill the shit out of you. 

More and more and more of them keep coming and they’re level 60 when you’re level 50 and if you do some bullshit to survive eventually one of them will grab you by the neck to Silence you, lift you into the air, and do the ol’ Val’Kyr Special and fatally drop you. You unavoidably die.

This is necessary early to establish what dying in the Shadowlands means. Play a special graphic effect when the player dies, something more drawn out and grasping. Play a sound effect appropriate to race/gender of the PC of them struggling against great pain and gasping. Then you appear next to a Spirit Healer (yes normally in the Maw you just respawn alive so you have to pick up your Stygia like in Dark Souls, we’ll explain the discrepancy later), a Mawsworn Spirit Healer, who says “No. Your suffering will not end. The Maw claims you.” and then starts to chase you the fuck down with a bunch of shades. You need to run, as a ghost, to claw your way back into your body. Obviously, if the shades catch you, you get dragged back to the start and the Spirit Healer fucks with you a bit. 

Your body has been dragged over to the area where Jaina and the rest are hiding; they fled while you were being merced. Jaina sees you stir. And she says “I’m sorry, champion. Death is no respite here. It is so hard to fight the pull… I struggle to even remember my body when I try to return.”

Jaina has been brutally killed over a dozen times. This is not her first rodeo. This is not her first escape attempt. This is not the first time she’s killed that particular Mawsworn tormenter whose name I don’t recall. It doesn’t end. It never ends. She doesn’t know why she tries any more, when she knows it will fail and she will die and suffer and claw her way back to her flesh and every time it gets harder and harder. All it buys her is the ability to offer futile resistance and maybe that isn’t even worth it.

Mood: established.

From there it goes mostly the same. You try to pump the shades for info about how to escape and they don’t know, they can’t know, they can’t even want to escape. The info you get is a memory of spitefully hating someone who fled to the waystone. You rescue your buddies. You see the Jailer fuck up Baine, only instead of giving him a spirit poison, he fucking snaps the dude like a Kit-Kat and drops his lifeless corpse, and you drag it to safety. You don’t need to find a poison dagger to counteract the spirit poison; you need to keep him safe and clear a path for his spirit to flee back to his body. Thus reinforcing what the danger here is and how it’s different and what they fear.

And while you do this, at some point, you run into Sylvanas. Maybe she just walks up to you while you’re all collected around Baine trying to help him revive. Since the Jailer won’t be saying “it’s not like you won anything b-b-baka, it was just a temporary setback,” you need to establish that feeling that he views your victories as completely meaningless. Sylvanas knows you’re here saving Baine. So does the Jailer. It does not matter. You cannot accomplish anything. 

Thrall kills her dead. She just gets back up. She has an escort for her soul to go back to her body. “How many times are you going to try that before you learn it’s futile? Come now, Thrall. I know you’re smarter than this. I know you respected me more than this.”

And then stuff like “How could you do this, Sylvanas? How could you betray the Horde?” Thrall is incredibly angry and offended at her. He thought he knew her. “Neither of us had any illusions you were not a monster, Banshee Queen. But I trusted you anyway because I knew you wanted what was best for your people. You were a monster, but a loyal one. How can you now turn your back on what little principle you had?” Sylvanas is hurt by this, but she doesn’t linger on it.

Jaina, however, is desperately trying to flatter her. Do this to sell the kind of impact this has had on Jaina, and what this suffering drives her to. “Please, Sylvanas. I know you were my enemy but you were an honorable one. It isn’t too late. Someone as cunning as you must know that this will end in ruin. I promise… I promise… I will surrender if you let me return. Kul Tiras will become servants of the Forsaken. Just, just let them live… please, you could rule our world, not slaughter it…”

Jaina breaks down in tears. Yes, she just tried to surrender her people to the enemy for mercy. Jaina is breaking. All of them will. The Maw is a Bad Place and makes them give up hope. That’s how we sell the threat. Not by making the enemies bigger or spikier, showing how they have broken these heroes. Less screaming anger. More pain.

Sylvanas scoffs at her offer. “It doesn’t matter where your people’s loyalty lies, Lord Admiral.” And then she says the phrase that will become a motif: “Nobody escapes the Maw.” She leaves. She doesn’t care what you do. It doesn’t matter.

But you have to still hold on to that sliver of hope that maybe the waystone is a way out. So you get Baine up and you sneak past this big-ass Maw army that can fuck 31 flavors of your day up. The jailer notices you and sends out a force to stop you at the waystone, and he repeats the phrase when he sends out the order: “Nobody escapes the Maw.”

So there’s the event, you fight off the army while the waystone charges, the army gets bigger and bigger, the charge meter gets stuck at 90%, you go to kick it and it teleports you to Oribos.

The mob descends on the other captives. Sylvanas and the Jailer look completely unconcerned with your escape. After having clearly seen you physically leave the Maw, Sylvanas brushes it off with “Nobody escapes the Maw.” Dun-DUNNN! Cutscene end.

You appear in Oribos. The Protectors stop you because you stink like the Maw and what the hell dude, yada yada. This is when you get a tour of the city, here’s the profession trainers, the bank, the transmog. Only secondary details need to be changed here. One, this is an instanced version of the city where no other players exist (you are the first one there, nobody else is). Two, Lich King Bolvar (hashtag #notmylichking) arrives from Azeroth and says SOMETHING to justify other players coming from the Maw but being less important than you. Something like, he saw what you did, there are other adventurers from Azeroth still in the Maw, his DKs are hunkering down in defensive positions and will try to make their way to the Waystone once it cools off because you already activated it, since you are the more special one, and there might be a chance that a couple others might have an echo of your power because they have had similar adventures. You are the True Maw Walker, and the context of the massively multiplayer element is “for your story, all those other guys have shitty Maw Walker powers that only work once you opened the pickle jar for them.” They can’t bring passengers, either.

Third, not the most importantly but yes the most importantly, if you are Forsaken or a Death Knight or Mechagnome or whatever you get a special dialogue where you say “Why do you keep calling me a ‘living mortal’? I’m not alive. I’m undead / a machine / maybe something else like maybe I missed the fact that vulpera are made of rocks and string.”

So Tal-Inara or whoever can be like “Oh, THAT’S what that is. Something was odd about you, mortal, that I couldn’t quite place. I call you ‘living’ because your soul is still tethered to a body. To us in the Shadowlands, to be bound in a vessel like this is far more important than the nature of the vessel itself.” That’s why people keep calling you “living”, to them you’re easy to mistake for one.

Kyrian in the Maw is disturbing news, and also WEIRD, because as Tal-Inara reminds us, “Nobody escapes the Maw.” Why would the Kyrian go down there when they can’t come back? It is terrible but not unheard of for mortals to try and speak to the Jailer but they never GO there because they can’t get out. And yet Sylvanas just walked in there? And he is mustering armies? Better go to Bastion and find out what is up. Let’s crank open this gateway, and...

[deanwanddamons]

1st Blogiversary and 2K follower celebration

Thank you to everyone who has got me to 2K followers. I only started this blog a year ago, and started writing at the same time, so I am overwhelmed by this! I have had so much love and support it’s unreal and have made some amazing friends along the way ❤️

So to celebrate, I have decided to go with ‘famous lines from films’ prompts.

These are some of the most famous lines from classic movies and I would like you to use the words as the basis of your fic. If you want to base the fic on the actual movie, that’s fine, but you don’t have to. It can be completely different if you wish.

It can be angsty, smutty, fluffy, smangsty, flangsty it’s up to you, but MUST be inspired by just this one line. It doesn’t matter if you’re familiar with the film or not. If you are then awesome, if you are not then it will be interesting to see your interpretation of it out of context.

As an added bonus and to make it a little bit more fun, when I reblog and comment on your submission, it won’t be me commenting, it will be Dean! I got this idea from the lovely @crashdevlin​ who was very happy that she had inspired me.

Banner created by the wonderful @winchest09​ 💗

Rules below the cut:

You must be following me to enter.

A signal boost would be marvellous.

There are 30 prompts in total and TWO people can have each prompt. Please send me an ask to claim your choice. I’d rather an ask than a DM as it will be easier to keep track.

I would prefer all fics to be reader insert, but OC’s are also welcome.

There’s no minimum word count, but there’s a max of 5K.

If your fic is more than 500 words please use the keep reading tab.

I will accept any and all smut except age play, non con and toilet stuff, so PLEASE tag accordingly.

You can write for any SPN character(s) (or actors/actresses) but I would prefer Dean or Sam/Jensen or Jared as the main protagonist. You can, of course, include any of the other characters in the story.

Any pairings are welcome but I do not read Destiel or Wincest. (No disrespect, but neither are really my thing, I’m sorry).

You can combine your fic with other challenges, bingos and requests if you wish. 

Tag your work with the hashtag #deanwanddamons2Kcelebration and tag me in the author’s notes.

There’s no real deadline, but if you want to be included in the masterlist then I’ll be creating this on 1st February 2021, so please post before then.

If I haven’t reblogged your fic within 48 hours please message me. I am very chatty, so if you want to message me at anytime please do 😀

I reserve the right to not reblog any fic I read that I find offensive, does not abide by the rules I have set out here, or does not have adequate warnings.

My ask box and DM’s are always open so if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Prompts:

“I’m going to give you the choice I never had” - Interview With The Vampire - @themrsdeanwinchester​

“Don’t tell the elf” - Lord of the Rings - @justagirlinafandomworld​ @little-diable​

���Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn” - Gone With The Wind - @msmarvelouswinchester​ @ophelialoveshandsomemen​

“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in” - The Godfather - @wingedcatninja​ @katelynw93​

“I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her" - Notting Hill - @qveenmikaelson​ @tvdspngirl314​

"There's no place like home" - Wizard of Oz - @missjenniferb​

"Darling it's better, down where it's wetter" - The Little Mermaid - @wonder-cole​ @herstarburststories​

“Play it again Sam” - Casablanca - @mishkatelwarriorgoddess​

“I see dead people” - Sixth Sense - @jensengirl83​ @soaringeag1e​

“Life's like a box of chocolates” - Forrest Gump - @440mxs-wife​

“This house is clean” - Poltergeist

“I’m the king of the world” - Titanic

"I am a Librarian!" - The Mummy - @winchest09​

“Call that a knife? This is a knife” - Crocodile Dundee @cajunquandary​

“Show me the money” - Jerry Maguire

“You can’t handle the truth” - A Few Good Men - @jensenswinchester​

“And most of all, I’m scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I’m with you.” - Dirty Dancing -  @a-winchester-fairytale​ @waywardbaby​

“I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse” - The Godfather @downanddirtydean​

“Go ahead. Make my day” - Sudden Impact - @smol-and-grumpy​

“This one goes to eleven” - Spinal Tap

“You had me at hello” - Jerry Maguire - @jawritter​

“Say hello to my little friend” - Scarface

“I feel the need; The need for speed” - Top Gun - @waywardnerd67​

“Why so serious?” - The Dark Knight - @anaelsbrunette​

“Love means never having to say you’re sorry” - Love Story

“To me, you are perfect” - Love Actually @unnuevosoltransformalarealidad​ @thinkinghardhardlythinking​

“I wish I knew how to quit you” - Brookback Mountain - @stiles-o-dylan24 @calaofnoldor​​

“We’re gonna need a bigger boat” - Jaws

“I just wanted to take another look at you” - A Star Is Born - @deanwinchesterswitch​ @deangirl93​

“I want to play a game” - Saw - @chocolateheart​ @there-must-be-a-lock​

Tagging those who may be interested - @winchest09​ / @katehuntington​ / @jensengirl83​ / @deangirl93​ / @whatareyousearchingfordean​ / @msmarvelouswinchester​ / @smol-and-grumpy​ / @janicho88​ / @deanwinchesterswitch​ / @ladywinchester1967​ / @flamencodiva​ / @ellewritesfix05​ / @muchamusedaboutnothing​ / @deans-baby-momma​ / @magssteenkamp​ / @jawritter​ / @waywardbaby​ / @chocolateheart​ / @jay-and-dean​ / @superfanficnatural​ / @waywardbeanie​ / @katymacsupernatural​ / @holylulusworld​ / @atc74​ / @kickingitwithkirk​ / @amanda-teaches​ / @soaringeag1e​

[lochrannn]

AU-gust: Escaping the Family

Read on AO3

No warnings

prompt no 6: Gaming

Characters: Lila Pitts, Diego Hargreeves, Five Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves, Vanya Hargreeves, Luther Hargreeves, Allison Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves

Relationship: Lila Pitts/Diego Hargreeves

-

This is by far the weirdest birthday Lila has ever had.

She’s in a new city in a foreign country, she’s in an escape room for the first time in her life, and she’s somehow ended up in a team with six bickering adult siblings and their teenage brother, who were apparently all born on the same day as her.

This, she finds completely unbelievable, though why they would lie, just to make use of the promotional free admission to people born on the first of October is entirely beyond her.

They’re all wearing stickers with Hello, my name is _______ and their handwritten name printed on them, though Lila feels it’s a little superfluous, as everyone except for her already knows each other, and she was also instantly annoyed when the little twerp in the pretentious school uniform wrote ‘Five’ on his name badge and his siblings are apparently indulging him.

Whatever, she’s not here to argue with a teenager. She’s really not too sure why she’s here at all.

Maybe she was feeling a little low and lonely when she passed the building and saw the ad for the birthday special, but now she's not too sure why she thought this was a good place to meet new people.

Currently she’s quickly losing her cool watching these complete strangers make an absolute pig’s ear of things.

The boy, Five, apparently, is sitting at an antique looking bureau trying to fiddle with something and swatting his brother Ben away, whenever he’s trying to help or interfere, she’s not entirely certain which.

The two siblings who look like models or influencers or something like that, Allison and Klaus are in another corner of the room and flicking small marbles up against the ceiling, though Lila is completely in the dark as to why, and going off their constant criticising of each other’s aim, they’re not doing a particularly good job.

The remaining three siblings Vanya, Luther, and Diego are huddled together in yet another corner, arguing over a scrap of paper and the presumed meaning of the words written on it, though it’s mostly devolved into hissed threats of bodily harm between the two bigger brothers and exasperated eye-rolling from Vanya.

Nobody has paid any attention to Lila in a solid fifteen minutes.

She’d take it personally if it weren’t for the fact that the only reason they seem to be interacting with each other is so they can make snide remarks about their lack of success with their respective tasks.

Lila decides that she’s had enough.

“Jesus Christ, you people are by far the most dysfunctional family I’ve ever come across and I should know, my parents were murdered in a botched robbery when I was four!”

By the end of her outburst she is shouting and now a pin could be heard if it were dropped.

The little wanker in the knee high socks is the first to break the silence, “Thought this was an escape room not a therapy session for traumatized orphans.”

“Hey, Five, don’t be mean to the nice crazy lady!” Diego, who she’s admittedly has had a bit of an eye on, jumps in, but right now the last thing Lila needs is some arsehole pretty boy white-knighting her, so she levels him with the deadliest glare she can manage and to her satisfaction he withers a little and doesn’t say anything else.

The rest of them just stare at her with differing levels of disbelief.

“Right!” Lila says with a determination that she’s mostly using to cover up the sudden awkwardness, “this might not have occurred to you, but can I suggest that we work together as a team and maybe try and solve the puzzles together?” She tries to keep the sarcasm in her voice to a minimum.

The siblings give each other slightly confused looks as if working together may be the furthest thing from their minds.

In the end Vanya is the first to break and says, “We’ve got a message here and I’m quite certain that it’s in Greek, though Diego says it’s Latin and Luther says it’s Russian. Does anyone have an idea what to do with this?”

Five gets up in a huff, storms over to unceremoniously take the note out of Vanya’s hand and then mumbles, “This is definitely ancient Greek, nice spot Vanya! Give me a minute, I think I can translate it.”

Ben, who has now finally got a chance to look at what Five was fiddling with at the bureau, calls out to the rest of them, “There’s two overlaying circle plaques here with the letters A to G in lower case and capital letters on them. There’s also some random small b’s and hashtags strewn in.”

“Let me see!” Vanya comes over to Ben excitedly, seemingly having had an idea. “Oh yeah, that’s a circle of fifths. Hold on we just have to turn it like this to get the right parallel modes together -”

There’s a click and one of the draws opens and Ben reaches in and presents a key to the rest of the group.

Lila is a bit surprised herself at how effective her little tantrum seems to have been.

“Ooh! Ooh! Do us next!” Klaus says with a little enthusiastic clap, looking expectantly at Lila, as if she’s done anything beyond merely pointing out that they should work together.

Allison, next to him, gives him a look that is mostly just an eyebrow lift, but Lila doesn’t need to have grown up with siblings to know that this is probably a very frequent expression between the two of them. Then Allison turns to the room at large and starts explaining, “There’s a small hole up there in the ceiling and we’re pretty certain there’s another switch inside it and there were these conveniently placed marbles that look like they just about fit through the hole, but we've missed everytime so far. I don’t know, maybe Five could get on Luther’s shoulders and see if he can reach it that way…” Allison trails off looking up at the ceiling.

“Show me?” Diego says slightly hesitantly, having kept quiet since Lila had put him in his place with a look.

He walks over to his brother and sister, takes one of the marbles from Allison, flicks it up at the ceiling without much hesitation, and hits the ceiling just next to the tiny hole in the wood panelling.

Without a word Klaus hands him another marble and Diego flicks this one up as well, manages to hit the hole and there’s another click from one of the draws in the bureau.

Ben reaches in and pulls out another key with a delighted, “Aha!”

-

In the end they get out using the two keys on the locks on the door and punching the code that Five deciphered from the Greek message into the additional keypad.

And then Lila suddenly finds herself out on the cold pavement, her quasi teammates a little way off, apparently arguing over where to go for food, though she’s trying strenuously not to eavesdrop, as now, after she was trying to get away from them as fast as possible, she feels a little forlorn.

She’s pulling the edges of her coat more tightly around herself while she’s wondering whether to try and catch a bus or splash out on a taxi for the occasion of her birthday, when Diego separates from his siblings and wanders over to her, hands stuffed into his jacket pockets.

“We’re… uh… we’re going for some food, d’you wanna come with?” he asks uncertainly, pulling a hand out to point a thumb over his shoulder towards his family.

Lila looks around him to where the five grown-ups and the teenager are apparently in the middle of a heated argument, and though a moment ago she felt oddly lonely, the thought of spending the rest of the evening with their constant bickering feels like a little much after all.

It seems Diego recognises the dilemma playing out on her face because he crosses his arms, looks down at his boot where he’s kicking at nothing on the pavement, and mumbles, “Or I could ditch them and you and I go out for a drink?”

Lila would have probably said yes anyway, but the shy smile on his face when he finally looks back up at her is stupidly irresistible.

“Won’t your siblings miss you for your birthday dinner?” Lila asks sincerely, though she hopes he’ll say they won’t.

“Eh, we meet up every first Sunday of the month, so I’ll see them at the weekend anyway,” he offers with a shrug.

“Well, do you know of anywhere where I can get a decent pint around here, then?” Lila asks with a bright smile on her face and a small flutter in her chest.

[jhoudiey]

#ChickenChallengeComplete

Jumping back in time a bit here, wrote a fic to go along with the Halloween story cause a half a bird and magicamonsters makes for some angsty shit. Warnings I guess for bullying/humiliation (of the same vein Malleus was hit with in the event story), but tried to work in some wholesome bird dad at the very least.

Word Count: 2850

***************

“Yoru, I can’t talk now, I’m doing intense research!” Idia motioned for her to hush when she walked into his room unannounced. He was sitting on his bed, attention fixed on a screen that was seemingly in the middle of some awful student made film. 

“Looks to me like you’re watching a movie” She said dryly, sitting on his bed next to him and glancing toward the screen. On it, a person with a pumpkin for a head gestured wildly. Idia paused it and glared at her. “How dare you suggest that my intense concentration on this film isn’t research! Look! Witness the details of the costumes! The backdrop! The tense mood the music has set! It is Pumpkin Hollow! Truly a masterpiece!” He stared at her, as if daring her to contradict his ramblings. She blinked slowly at him, still not seeing anything he had mentioned. To her, the movie looked grainy and poorly made, but maybe that was it’s charm? Idia had always been peculiar about certain things. 

“Okay, what’s the research for then?” She asked, knowing Idia was about to launch into one of his never ending rants. “Halloween! I am on the planning committee this year, and as such it’s my responsibility to decorate the Library in a way to please the guests that will be coming to NRC! And what would be more exciting than getting to experience the beauty that is PUMPKIN HOLLOW in person!? I’m gathering info so that the projection mapping I have been working on is flawless! No detail will go astray, it would be an insult to the film! Look! See the Pumpkin Knight!? That will be Ignihydes costumes! Ahaha! I cannot wait! Soon everyone will understand the mastery of the greatest B horror movie of all time.” Yoru patted him on the shoulder, smiling slightly “I will leave it to you, then” She got up to leave and heard a muttered “I wouldn’t expect a normie to understand…” from Idia. His attention glued to the screen again before she’d left the room.

****

“Whoa Idia, this is impressive!” Yoru exclaimed, eyes wide as she gazed around the library the first day of the stamp rally. It had transformed completely, the shelves and pillars transformed into trees and pumpkins. “This is going to be great! All of the visitors are going to love this! Do you mind if I stay in the upper area and watch reactions? This is so cool!” Idia beamed, he knew his work was a flawless replica of the film, and was glad that even a normie like Yoru was able to appreciate it. The hours ticked by, Yoru amazed at the details every time the projection show started, she had thought that the film looked cheesy and contrite, but being in the middle of it was something else entirely. She went home that night feeling as if she had just spent the whole day in the forest.

Yoru found herself visiting the library every day during the event. She’d gone to the other dorms earlier to check out what they had set up, but with the amount of people that had started to pour in, she wasn’t comfortable being so exposed everywhere else. She’d managed to get rid of her wings and the talons on her hands, but her feet were still that of a bird, stubborn as ever. From the upper decks in the library she felt as if she was able to participate, while still keeping herself hidden, people outside of the school were always rude about her bird features so the less she was seen the better. All was progressing well, though she’d noticed Idia getting more frustrated with the crowds as the days wore on. The visitors weren’t listening, they were eating and drinking in the library and had started trying to feed Ortho, getting some books destroyed in the process. Still, despite the disturbances she kept to her shadowy corner, enjoying the projections and low chattering of the crowd. So long as she was hiding, everything would work out

“Oh hey! Check it out! That chick has got bird feet!” Yoru wheeled around to find a couple that had ignored all the signs posted about not entering the upper levels of the library. “Oh! We should get a picture! I bet it’ll be huge on magicam! I wonder if she’ll let us touch them like the Draconia Challenge!” the girl of the pair giggled, stepping towards Yoru with her phone held in her hand. “Haha yea! Hurry! We’ll call it the Chicken Challenge!” The pair roared with laughter as Yoru tried to back away from them. Crowley had made sure to tell her that the guests were not to be harmed, even if she couldn’t use magic he knew she was able to deal a heavy amount of damage in a short amount of time. Dead guests were hard to explain away, so Yoru had promised to leave everyone alone, no matter what. 

“What the hell are you doing up here?” She snapped at them, trying to find an escape route between the shelves. For the first time in almost a year, she wished she’d had her wings back so she could simply fly away to escape them. As it were, there was nothing she could do about the advancing teens taking selfies as they approached her, trying to get her feet in the shot. The couple looked at each other and nodded, suddenly jumping forward to either side of her. They grabbed her around the shoulders, raised their phones up, “Everyone say CHICKEN CHALLENGE COMPLETE!” The flash from their phones flared, laughter ringing in Yoru’s ears. “Hey, check my hashtags, do you think this will get us trending!?” the girl giggled as the boy checked her phone. #ChickenChallengeComplete #secretchicken #chickeninthetrees #comefindit He howled with fresh laughter. “Secret chicken! That’s too good! Should we say where we are so more people can find it?” “No! Lets keep it more of a secret, it’s more fun if it’s harder to find right?!” They couple walked away talking as if Yoru only existed as a means to entertain them. The hot feeling of inadequacy and shame flooded into her stomach, she hadn’t been this humiliated since her elementary school days before she had learned to fight.  

She looked down at the crowd of people below, knowing there was no way for her to make it back to her bedroom without being spotted. She swallowed the bile that had crept up her throat and ventured deeper into the library hoping that no one else would stumble across her to complete whatever the so called “chicken challenge” was. She had barely made it out from between the original shelves of books when another group of people were rushing at her shouting that they’d found her, taking pictures and touching her legs as she pushed through them searching desperately for privacy. She hoped the darkness of the back wall would give her some respite from the plague of visitors as she climbed the stairs towards the upper levels of the library. She knew that the higher she went the less routes of escape she had, but she couldn’t face the crowd below, not in a way that would leave everyone uninjured, that is. She found herself in the farthest reach of the library, saddened to see that it wasn’t bathed in complete darkness, the light from the projections was too strong. She climbed the shelf to sit on the very top of it, at least this way if the visitors found her, they could only get a picture of her shadowed body. Yoru hugged her knees to her chest, looking out across the library, watching the people mill around and climb the stairs in the dark looking for her. She hoped that ten o’clock would come soon, but she hadn’t thought to check the time when she first arrived, it was likely hours until she would be able to make it home. Cameras continued to flash as guests found her, the tallest of them braving to jump and touch her feet from where she sat, her muttered mantra of “don’t hurt them, don’t hurt them” the only thing keeping her from lashing out.  

What seemed to be hours later, she heard a single pair of footsteps coming towards her. She’d shut her eyes long ago not wanting to see the gleeful faces of those who had found their elusive chicken. “Y-Yoru?” Idia asked quietly “I thought it might be you up here. I kept seeing cameras flash in this corner, it kept throwing off the projections. Ortho said you were trending on magicam…” She refused to look at him and nodded, worried that somehow he’d be able to see how red the skin around her eyes had become. “Umm… there’s only an hour left, I-I brought a pumpkin for you… if you wanna at least hide your face…” He handed her a hollowed out green pumpkin prop, the same that he was wearing. “It’s….it’s easier if they can’t see your face…all these normies..ruining everything...” He muttered, not knowing how to help his friend. She reached down and grabbed the pumpkin, firmly pressing it onto her head “Thanks Idia… I hate this…” Her voice caught in her throat with her last words, and she curled herself tighter around her legs. “I’ll try and adjust the projection so no light gets up here… It’ll be done soon…” He shuffled away, back into the thick of the crowd, and true to his word, the upper floors became a little darker. She suspected Ortho had stationed himself at the foot of the stairs as there were no more visitors for the rest of the evening. 

She jumped from her perch as the lights came on, hurrying as quickly as her chicken legs would carry her towards the safety of home. She ignored the cries from the other Ignihyde students shouting that they needed their prop back and she couldn’t just steal it. Yoru had never really considered the campus to be especially large, though today it seemed as if the library and the sanctity of her bedroom were leagues apart. The ghosts of laughter ringing in her ears drowned out the conversations of the lingering students talking about the successes and failures of the day. Mentions of the word chicken seemed to cut through the air as swiftly as the flashes of the cameras had cut through the projections. Even on campus she wasn’t free from the questioning looks, she stared at the ground hurrying her pace to make it home. She felt  herself bump into someone and muttered “shit” before realizing she’d been walking staring into the pumpkin, not even seeing the outside world.

“Ahh Yoru-san, you must be more careful, if you’d knocked into me any harder I may have been injured!” Azul teased “It seems you’ve stolen one of Ignihydes props, is that why you are in such a hurry? Hand it over, and I’ll return it to Idia-san before we head back to Octavinelle” He reached towards the pumpkin but she slapped his hand away, as far as she was concerned the pumpkin wasn’t coming off until she was alone, she wouldn’t let anyone see her face in the state it was in. Jade stepped up behind her and put a firm hand on the small of her back, holding her in place until they were finished with her “Fufufu, Azul, it seems Yoru-san would rather like to keep her pumpkin hat, perhaps it was a gift from Idia-san for the success of the Chicken Challenge that seems to be trending on magicam”. Yoru’s stomach dropped again fresh tears springing to her eyes, it seemed everyone was aware of her newfound notoriety. “Huuuuh? Chicken challenge? That’s stupid” Floyd complained, trying to pull the pumpkin off her head again. She stepped free of Jades hand and slapped Floyds away continuing her race for home.  “Fugu-chan isn’t even a chicken. Find the Fugu-chan sounds way more fun...” She made it out of earshot as fast as possible. It was one thing to hear all the unknown visitors calling her a chicken, but she wouldn’t be able to get Jades delighted voice praising the successful chicken challenge out of her head. 

Her bed came as a welcome refuge, she pulled the blankets up over her head and completely cocooned herself within them. She hadn’t felt so small since she was a child. Yoru had always looked forward to Halloween, even in elementary school all the children would give her a day of freedom and focus on all the other ghosts and ghouls and forgot to make fun of her. Halloween was supposed to be the day where she felt most normal, instead she’d been turned into a sideshow freak act. She crawled out of bed to dig through her desk to find her phone. She wanted to see how far it had gotten, dreading that there may be a repeat tomorrow. She didn’t have to look far on magicam to find the endless stream of #ChickenChallenge posts. Most curiously, there was often a second hashtag of #DraconiaChallenge with a picture of the guest touching Malleus in some way. This must have been what the first couple to find her was talking about.  Yoru had only ever briefly talked to him when he interrupted her late night rooftop brooding, but she felt a certain solidarity with the horned prince she’d never experienced before. Turns out all freaks were fair game on campus this halloween, it wasn’t just her. 

A gentle knock on her door indicated that Crowley had arrived home. “Yoru, you in here?” he asked before quietly pushing his way into her room before waiting for an answer. He looked at the lump of blankets in the center of her bed and sighed. “I... heard about the magicam challenge” he said faintly, frowning when the lump seemed to sink further into the mattress. He sat on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on where he thought her head would be. ‘Are you okay, Nugget?” he asked, mad at himself for using her nickname in such circumstances. He felt her shake her head, it had been years since he’d seen her like this; a blanket-ball of Yoru meant that she had been crying, and he didn’t know how to fix it. He sat with her in silence for a moment, not knowing what to say but not wanting to leave in case she wanted him to stay. “All of that attention and no one lost an arm… I’m so proud of you!” He heard her sniffle from her blanket cavern “Thanks to your hard work the police weren’t called and we’re free to live another day!” He joked, hearing the faintest snort of laughter from her. “You hungry?” He asked, hoping that his attempt at humor had cheered her up a little bit. He felt her nod and hurried to make her some sort of dinner, wondering if he could convince one of the school ghosts to make them something good. As he was banging around in the kitchen he heard a faint clicking of talons on the floor, he turned to look at her and saw her completely wrapped in blankets with only her feet and the tiniest sliver of her face visible. 

“I came to investigate to make sure you weren’t going to burn the house down” She muttered peering over his shoulder to look into the frying pan. Crowley let out a dramatic sigh “you wound me! I so kindly offer to make you dinner and you come down to bully me!” He let out a longer, more dramatic sigh to prove his point. She smiled a little and nudged him away from the frying pan, if left to his own devices he would burn the house down for real, and she was too hungry to watch a house fire. “If they come busting in here for that stupid challenge tomorrow can I rip their arms off?” she muttered quietly, poking at the sausages in the pan. He looked at her inquisitively “you know the rules, Yoru! We can’t have the police called on us!” he said shaking his head. “But… they would be breaking into our home, perhaps a sort of deterrent to chase them away… it would be self-defense after all... ?” He muttered, more to himself than to Yoru. “I can string up the corpse of the first person to come in outside the door to ward off anyone else…” Yoru suggested. Crowley jumped back in a show of fake shock “No no! We couldn’t do that!” He crossed his arms and shook his head furiously. “On campus? Absolutely not! How could we explain that! You're forgetting one of the first rules I taught you!” He looked at her and smiled, she laughed a little, still poking at the sausages. “Yeah yeah” she sighed. “No body, no crime” they said together, both hoping they’d one day be able to forget today.

[starswornoaths]

🌹🌹🌹🌹?

Random WIP sentence asks - Accepting!

“And yet that would be more than we have.” Aymeric answered, his tone clipped. “There are near a hundred knights—along with a civilian, and a member of the clergy—all dead, and all slain with reports where your presence was documented.”

“Those near a hundred knights,” Serella snipped, her panic obliterating her otherwise vast wellspring of patience. “Did not answer to you, and you know that.”

“I am not ignorant of how the Temple Knights were split by the Theocracy. Nor am I ignorant of the notion that there are those who would cling to old ways. What I would know is what made you their judge, jury, and executioner, with no attempt to reach out for official assistance?” Aymeric pressed. “The knights involved were—“

“Men and women of the good faith,” Serella spat. “Who answered to none but their amoral urges and twisted a corrupted system for their benefit. And when that system was replaced, they carried on as they pleased in the dark.”