#i don't think he should go back to being ice king i think he needs ways to make peace with every part of himself and his life

[giantkillerjack]

Calling it now that I think Simon is going to have to genuinely reconnect with Gunter and NEPTR and the other weirdos who kept him company in his time as Ice King.

[inbarfink]

"Just move forwards, Simon! Well, maybe I don't want to move forwards!"

Okay, so it’s pretty damn obvious that Simon’s whole rant here is not just about the physical act of moving forwards through the Time Room. Like, I don’t need to explain what ‘moving forwards’ means in this case, right? But… the thing I’ve been thinking of is that the metaphor here might actually extend more than just this one line.

Because, yeah, Simon does need to move forwards. Metaphorically because embracing change and accepting you can’t actually go back to some idealized past where things were Better is the only way he can actually be happier. And literally because there is an Angry Beetle Cop out to murder his head off for the crime of being chosen by God as a sapient hard-drive. 

But moving on is hard, and you know why?

Because it is hard to move forwards in this silly little mumu.  

And again, this is both metaphorical and literal. Simon is fully aware that he should move forwards with his life, but this robe is yet another painful reminder of the trauma he’s trying to move on from. Yet another example of people treating him like he’s Ice King. Yet another symbol that him being Simon again is seen as some sort of a mistake.

And also, it’s just obviously physically, literally uncomfortable for him to move in this thing.

Simon was forced into a fit designed for a Wizard who could Fly. He’s constantly lifting it up and being so careful about his steps as to not stumble on it, and also trying so hard to not flash his genitalia to God and God’s two OCs that he shoved in his brain. Not to mention he’s running around the Time Room barefoot. And, like, at least when Ice King wore this he still had underpants.

But the thing is.... like, okay, the thing about the Shorts Scene is that it is kinda unfair Fionna got her outfit upgraded into a more comfortable variant while Simon still has to wear the Trauma Robes. But the important thing to remember is that Fionna got those lovely shorts because she explicitly complained about the skirt.

You can say that Simon’s problems should’ve been Obvious and maybe that’s true… but it’s still notable that unlike Fionna, who immediately complained when she started to find her outfit kinda uncomfortable - Simon lets out one sarcastic grumble when he first gets the robe and then just keeps his mouth shut and quietly wallows in his misery until he reached his breaking point. 

That seems notable especially with what we see of Simon in “Simon Petrikov” and how hard it is for him to be honest with his loved ones about his problems. 

I’ve seen some people express some anger at the way Finn and Marceline acted towards Simon during that episode. Saying they didn’t care about Simon enough. But Simon was deliberately hiding his struggles from them - and especially from Marcy. You know, he opened up to Finn and Finn was honestly doing what he thought was best. The problem being that Finn is pretty-messed-up himself and not good at therapy.

And Simon decided the best solution was just to drop the whole thing and pretend that Finn’s adventure did help as a way to end that nightmare without directly confronting him about Actually Making Things Worse. As far as Finn is concerned, Simon was doing badly and is now doing well. And as far as Marcy is concerned Simon is doing just fine! And this situation is not likely to change unless Simon actually speaks up!

Of course, this is easier said than done. I mean, like I said, he was TRYING to open up to Finn and from his perspective, got punished for even trying out for help.

And with the mumu, the situation is a even more complicated. Yes, Simon didn’t speak up when he had the chance to say ‘hey, actually it’s also pretty hard to run around barefoot in a robe! I would like some Pants please!” But also… where Finn and Marceline have both expressed nothing but genuine concern for Simon and take his issues very seriously in their own way - Prismo, Fionna and Cake have all been kinda callous about Simon’s situation and his mental well-being so far. 

So maybe it wasn’t totally unreasonable for Simon to assume that any attempt to assert what would make it easier for him to actually move forwards will fail. Or at least would be far too emotionally grueling to actually be worth it. I'm not saying that's for-sure what would've happened. I mean those three aren't just jerks for the sake of being jerks - it's just that Prismo is kinda occupied with his own grief-induced-depression-spiral and Fionna and Cake don't really get Simon yet. And we're surely going to get to a point in this narrative where these two genuinely care about him too sooner or later. But I can see in that moment why he would think that.

And so he keeps wallowing in the misery and resentment as it gets increasingly harder and harder to keep going forwards. Until he breaks and decide that maybe, what he actually wants is to just stop.  

[over-powered-reader-insert]

Two Kings and a Heir

Ghost king Nico Di Angelo meets Ghost king Danny Fenton who meets Damain Wayne after some how being launched in to the dc univers ( Nico and Danny that is)

Danny needed a safe place as his univers is nolonger ( reaveal gone wrong)

Nico isn't sure how he got into the dc universe but he's knows that he's not in his new work any more ( takes place before the trils of Apollo)

Because ghost work diifertly in the dc universe Danny would have relearn how to use his powers: ie control over his ice core, intangibility, invisibility, ghostly wail, eco blast ect. His ghost sense is going haywire, half going off. There's no puff of mist leaving his mouth, but is has his entire body tense. Danny learns quickly that the ghost of this world works differently, no one but him can see them, and even then it's hard for him the see them half the time. ( it's just a slivery after image in hisn periphery but they disappear when he tries to look at them head on.)

Hunger still affects Danny, not as much as before the accident, but he's still half human and he still need to eat. Something cheep and greasy. There were no nasty burger here, just a place called bat burger where he clocks an nother kid around his age as being something more then a laminar but close to a halfa like him, developing core maybe?

Nico new that he wasn't in New York anymore when he woke up, and he's quick to learn that he's in jersey, in a city call gotham. A place that didn't exist before. he's half scared that he was placed in the lotus casino again, he knows that's impossable. but the fear lingers. ( it happens once but who's to say that it won't happen again?) Nico needed information, he don't know where he is, when he is , so he plans to summon a ghost. But first he needs a happy meal.

The clost thing to a mc' Donald's is a place called bat burger. There Nico meets Danny, and they both clock each other as pooled who has an extremely association with death, and the underworld. Another child of hades? Maybe.

Silent communication passed he tween the two of them. The cashier clears her throat, and Danny orders first before stepping to the side and lingering awkwardly behind the other boy as he places his order, a kids meal. The kid walks to a booth at the back, one shrouded in shadows. Danny is half compiled to follow, every time he meets a halfa they tried to kill him first and get to know him second. But so far this was going great. He joins the kid at the booth.

Silence lingers between then the boy stared out the window at the few passing cars, Danny decided to pick at napickn, a black stylized bat decorated the corner. How was she supposed to go about this with out fist flying? He's not at his strongest at the moment. He's been doing good so far at ignoring the ach of the vivisection wound. Hastily stitched half healed, sleeping and eating would heald the thing faster, he just need a place to sleep, and stock up kn canned food and granola bars. Maybe he could break into one of the abandon buildings.

" Nico." The boys said suddenly.

Um

What?

Name, name, names. That was his name. He should-

" Danny! Yeah... call me Danny."

This was a good start, names are good. It doesn't matter that he's on the sudden verg of panic, or that he was getting a migraine from the constant half use of his ghost sense.

" son of hades?" Nico asked tentatively as I'd he was sharing a secret.

" what? No my dad isn't-"

" Hecate then, she's your mother right? Your too old not to know who your godly parent is, and you can't be unclaimed." Nico said in a rapid wishper, his eyes darting around the room as if expecting someone to attack.

" No wait, dude calm down, I think I know what's going on." But before he could answer they were called to get food. Looking over his shoulder the cashier looked unimpressed. Right food, the original reason why he's here.

Part two later

[acourtofthought]

Tamlin was the first one to try to stop the King of Hybern during the cauldron scene. Does that undermine what Lucien did?  Lucien thought Elain was in danger in the Night Court but he told Tamlin to “get her back” instead of trying to save Elain himself. Yet Sarah notes that this behavior is that of “a mate already going wild to defend what was his.” Lucien only left the Spring Court when Feyre was already leaving and he had to leave anyways for his safety. Does that undermine his actions? Mor was the first to offer to go search for Vassa. Does that undermine what Lucien did? Unlike Cassian, Azriel didn’t offer to go after the Valkyries at all when they were taken to the blood rite, even though this happens after the bonus chapter. He only said that they needed to get Eris. Does this mean he doesn't care?

No because Tamlin's actions were focused on the king while Lucien's were focused on Elain.

Even as recent as SF we know Tamlin is in love with Feyre therefore it's logical to assume that anything he does is about her. Protecting her, helping her, etc. Tamlin trying to stop the King doesn't have anything to do with Elain specifically so much as Tamlin trying to stop the Kings madness overall because this wasn't what he agreed to (something verified when he says "this is not part of our deal"). A deal which was made in order to break Feyre's bargain with Rhys and get her back.

But Lucien? He tried to step towards Elain before she was put in. Someone he broke free of the kings shackles for, someone who was then revealed as his mate. Lucien paid no attention to Nesta as she was put into the Cauldron, he was more interested in picking up Elain and holding her in his arms so she didn't have more of the Cauldron dumped onto her.

How can anything Lucien did for Elain be undermined when he had never even met her? They were complete strangers yet his instinct wasn't to stop the King but go to her.

This is Rhys after his bond snapped, after suspecting he had a bond with Feyre for months:

No, I don't think Lucien's actions, the "get her back" moment, means his bond with Elain should undermined. He was completely blindsided by the snapping of his bond. If Rhys nearly stole Feyre away but only managed to avoid it by winnowing then I think Lucien being out of his head and having no idea what he was doing or saying can be forgiven. How often do we see Lucien panting and snarling? He's usually quite controlled so it's clear he was a bit out of his mind. Also.... how exactly would Lucien be able to get her back from a High Lord in that moment? "Lucien should have gotten her back himself!". Except Rhys sent Mor in to Spring to retrieve Feyre, right? He didn't even go get his own mate so it's not really as simple as everyone claims.

No, Lucien leaving with Feyre after Spring's downfall doesn't undermine his own actions because Lucien wanted to get Elain back long before that:

End of ACOMAF:

Start of ACOWAR:

People need to remember Lucien is not yet a HL and definitely did not have the power to go against the most powerful HL of Prythian history at the beginning of ACOWAR.

Lucien isn't stupid. Getting himself killed trying to get Elain isn't going to help Elain therefore it was necessary for him to form a plan, not just storm the gates. He knew Feyre was playing him but he knew he had to play the game.

However he was ready to get Elain long before the Spring Court fell, it was just Feyre was finally done playing the game at that point which meant he could then demand his answers.

If another male had been the first to suggest going after Vassa than it might undermine Lucien's actions a bit more but girl power is a theme in Sarah's novels, just as much as the romance. However we also need to remember Lucien is not an Inner Circle member. He doesn't get to order the IC around and tell them how they should be operating, what soldiers they should be sending out, that he should be the one to handle the information accordingly. He rightly gave them time to work through the information as it was presented to the NC since he was only a guest, then spoke up. But either way, he was the only male who fought for her vision.

He was also clearly stunned by everything that had just been revealed:

What happens to Elain also affects Lucien and I think people forget that. Just like her depression caused him actual devestation. I think people need to give the guy a few moments to process the information since she's literally the other half of his soul, whether they accept the bond or not.

Once again, people forget a mated male struggles to react rationally.

In SF, Az was not a mated male. Even if he has a bond with Gwyn he's got no clue, just like Rowan didn't seem affected by Aelin's multiple near death experiences at first. Because of this Az was able to logic that entering the Rite meant her death. I don't think Az would have cared about his own safety but when the laws clearly state she would die too, that it would guarantee her death and he at this point in time was level headed enough to remember that in the way a newly mated male could not, I think it makes sense why he wasn't overcome by emotion to the point it would risk her life.

But Az showing zero concern for Elain when Elain was put into the Cauldron? Az being second to Cassian in offering Elain a dagger? Az not believing in Elain's ability to handle the Trove? Az not feeling Elain's vision was worth pursuing? Az putting Elain's life at risk for both Feyre and Briar simply because he wanted to be the hero who could do it all? Az avoiding Elain at her lowest and only looking into her riddles after Feyre asked it of him? Az looking at Mor with lust while Elain sat in the room with them? Az never giving her credit for her bravery during the war? These things do undermine the supposed feelings he has for her.

[dragon-kazansky]

When the raven calls

Morpheus x Female Reader

You, his raven, die protecting Jessamy while rescuing the Dream Lord. When Morpheus returns to his realm, he mourns your loss, only to find a stranger waiting for him in his throne room. The stranger claims to be you, now in human form. He doesn't understand, but his raven will always watch over him.

{Masterlist}

{Previous Chapter} - {Next Chapter}

Chapter Eleven - All together now

☆☆☆

The knock on your door is firm but also cautious. You can tell he is hesitant. You know it's him before he even speaks.

"Go away."

For the first time ever, Morpheus doesn't know how to feel about you. You've never spoken to him like that before. You've always welcomed him. Now he senses your disdain toward him.

"Can we talk?"

You don't answer him. Morpheus feels hopeless right now. Upsetting you was something he never wanted to do. Ever. Not since... Not since he realised just how he felt.

He gently rests his head against the door and sighs softly.

"I did what I had to do. Gault will learn her lesson, and she will return one day. I did not think this would upset you so much."

Morpheus is startled by how quickly you open the door. You glare up at him, eyes still glistening with tears.

"Upset me? You've hurt me. How dare you send Gault away like that. She was trying to protect the boy. She wasn't harming anyone."

"She was keeping Jed in a lie. It is not our job to protect them from their waking lives." Morpheus tries to tell you.

"I know that much. God, you're so... difficult!"

Morpheus stares at you.

"You punish people just because they dare say no to you. How can you be so happy about that?" You look at him desperately. "Gault. Nada. Neither of them hurt you. Just your pride."

Dream clenches his jaw. He didn't expect this personal attack on him.

"I hate that I care so much. I hate that... that I can't do anything to fix any of this. I hate... that I feel the same way she did, and yet you're letting me go about my business."

"You feel the same way?" He asks, unsure of what you're referring to.

"I'm not the way you made me. Not any more. I changed. You're not punishing me for being different."

"Your case is different."

"Is it? Because it doesn't look it to me. Gault wanted to be a Dream. I think that's beautiful. You denied her that wish and sentenced her to the darkness." You wipe at your eyes gently. "I don't like being human any more..."

Morpheus feels his heart break.

You turn back into a raven. "I won't need this room anymore. I'm going to stay a raven. So, forget everything. Forget me stupid emotions and... and the clothes and the ice cream, and all that stuff we did."

You fly past Morpheus and disappear into the palace.

Morpheus stands there with his thoughts.

☆☆☆

You had gone to the library to seek comfort in Lucienne. She wasn't surprised to see you back in your raven form. The main reason you had stayed in your human form so long before was because Dream had asked you to stay like that.

She could see he was particularly fond of you as a human.

Still, she said nothing and let you keep her company. After all, Lord Morpheus had been quite clear to her about her place in the Dreaming.

It seemed everyone was having issues with the stubborn king.

Matthew comes flying in quickly and lands on the table beside you and Jessamy. You look at him.

"I don't know how she did it, but Rose just got Lyta pregnant."

"What?" Lucienne looks at him confused.

"Apperantly it happened in her dream, and when Lyta woke up-"

"She was still pregnant."

"Very much so," Matthew confirms.

"Then it's starting." You say. Lucienne nods.

"Rose is weakening the walls between the realms."

"You gonna tell the boss?" Matthew asks.

"No." Lucienne says.

"No?"

"It's none of my business."

You caw softly and step a little closer to her hand, pecking her finger gently with affection.

"Uh, since when?"

"Since Lord Morpheus reminded me that I'm merely a librarian and should concern myself with my books from now on." Lucienne tells him.

"He said that?"

"He's being an ass." You scoff.

Matthew is surprised to hear speak badly about him. He had always assumed you looked up to the guy. You had always been so fond of him and talked very highly of him before.

"What is wrong with him?" Matthew asks.

"Nothing is wrong with him. He's always been this way." Lucienne explains. "He's juat been away so long I'd forgotten. He's determined to deal with the vortex and the missing Arcana by himself. Without anyones help. So any news must be reported directly and exclusively to him."

"Okay. But can I keep you in the loop?"

"You'd better not. In his Majesty's current mood, he could banish us to the Darkness." She sighs. "As he did Gault."

"All right, fine. I'll go back to spying on Rose. But you should make up with him. Both of you."

"I should make up with him?" You ask, almost laughing.

"Yes. Now's not the time to be fighting, not when there's a vortex getting people pregnant and runaway Nightmares doing God knows what."

You sigh. "I'm not going to talk to him."

Matthew caws.

"I'm going to help you." You say.

"Huh?"

"With Rose."

"Is that a good idea? You wanna tell the boss first?" Matthew asks.

"Nope."

Before either Matthew or Lucienne can say anything, you fly off. Matthew turns to Jessamy, who had been quiet this whole time.

"What is happening?"

Jessamy looks at him. "They're having their first fight."

Lucienne looks at her. "I see."

"I don't." Matthew caws.

"They're in love." Lucienne says softly.

☆☆☆

You sit outside the window of Rose's room. You can see her talking to Lyta about dreams. Lyta wants to live in her dreams with her husband and the baby.

Rose's phone rings, and she answers it. You can't hear the other side, but you can tell Rose is talking to Jed.

She knows where he is.

You could go there and keep an eye on Jed.

Someone knocks on her door and you decide to leave.

You fly off.

The location in question is a hotel. It may be three hours away from Rose, but with your access to the Dreaming, it did not take long at all. You land in a tree opposite the hotel and decide to stake it out.

☆☆☆

Morpheus is in his throne room looking at his broken windows. Something is happening in the Dreaming. Quakes. Violent shaking, leaving damage behind.

Something was wrong.

"Loosh? You in here?" Mervyn comes in but stops when he finds Morpheus. "Whoops. Oh, sorry, boss. I was looking for Lucienne. See ya." He tries to leave.

"Wait." Morpheus stops him. "Why were you looking for Lucienne?"

"Oh, well, we just had some minor seismic activity and a little, you know, damage i wanted to report." Mervyn says.

"Then why not report it to me?"

"Uh, because you're busy? While you were away, Lucienne started taking care of that stuff, so I figured... why bother you when-"

Morpheus looks displeased. "Mervyn, if the Dreaming has been damaged in any way, I will be the one to address it."

The whole place shakes again. The window cracks even further.

"Oh, for crying out loud. You want me to fix that for you? Or will it just keep happening?" Mervyn asks.

"It will not keep happening because I will find the cause of the disturbance, and I will eliminate it." Morpheus declares. "Thank you, Mervyn."

"Uh, you're welcome."

Morpheus looks back at the window in thought. He then walks away, heading to the library.

He walks through the aisles with books under his arm. He walks with determination and then stops when he reaches where Lucienne is.

"Lucienne?"

"My Lord."

"I have come to return these..." He hands the books he was carrying. "And to assess the extent of the damage from the recent disturbances." He looks around. "Have... you any idea as to what caused them?" He asks.

"I assumed it was you, sir."

"Me?"

"Making further improvements to the realm... now that you're back."

"Lucienne, when we last spoke, I did not mean to imply that your efforts beyond the library are without value."

"Oh?"

"I really wish to relieve you of responbilities with which, had I been here, you would never have been burdened."

"I see."

"And... in that time, did you experience any... similar seismic disturbances?" He asks slowly. He speaks carefully.

"I did not."

"Have you any... theory as to their origin?"

"Speaking strictly as a librarian? I do." She says. "But you won't like it."

"Go on."

"I know you're waiting to see I'd the vortex will lead you to The Corianthian and Fiddler's Green. The way she led you to Gault."

"She may yet still." He says.

"Yes, but while you're waiting, she's putting cracks in the foundation." Lucienne sighs.

"Rose Walker has visited this realm before and done no damage. This is something else, something new."

"Perhaps. But if there is something new in the Dreaming and you did not create it, how did it get here? This is the vortex. I assure you."

Morpheus thinks it through.

☆☆☆

Dream stands at your door. He hadn't brought himself to dismantle the room after what you said last time he spoke to you. In fact, he hadn't seen you since that conversation.

He felt sad. Sad that he had upset you. Sad that you had refused your human form. Sad that he didn't stop you from leaving when you got mad at him.

He wanted to talk to you, but he knew you weren't in there. "What am I doing?" He asks himself.

Morpheus walks away.

I'm sorry. He wanted to say.

Morpheus decides to give you your space and go deal with whatever is happening on his own. He can make things up with you later.

He finds himself in the dream of Lyta Hall. Rose is there, too. As is Lyta's deceased husband.

He needs to fix this.

"What do you think?" Matthew caws.

"Tell Lucienne she was right about the source of the tremors, and that I'm taking care of it."

He walks down to the house.

☆☆☆

You see Rose climb out of a car that just pulled up. There's a man with her. One you recognise immediately, though he didn't always look like that.

"Hm."

They head inside the hotel. You look around and then fly down to the ground, landing on two human feet. You won't get far going inside as a raven. You head for the entrance.

When you get inside, you don't see Rose or the man she was with. You sigh and look around the lobby. It's busy.

You don't even notice The Corianthian who had come inside because he thought he saw Jed run down the hall. He noticed you though.

It just hasn't clicked who you were yet.

He goes back outside. You walk further into the hotel.

Gilbert had seen and heard some things he would rather have not. He walks out of one of the rooms and frowns. As he turns, he catches a glimpse of you. Something clicks.

He knows you are.

He goes to call you, but you walk away. He panics. Gilbert heads back to the lobby and leaves a message at the front desk for Rose. He then leaves the hotel.

He needs to see Morpheus.

☆☆☆

Back in the Dreaming, Morpheus enters the library looking for Lucienne.

"Lucienne?"

"My Lord. There's something I must tell you." She comes out from between two shelves.

"And I will listen." He says. "But first, you must let me tell you you were right. The vortex was responsible for the damage to our realm, and I was... wrong to risk our safety in the hope that she would locate the missing Arcana."

"You were not entirely wrong, sir." She days to him. "She's found them both."

"What? The Corianthian and Fiddler's Green? Where? How do you know?" He asks.

"Fiddler's Green told me."

Gilbert comes into view and joins them. He looks at Morpheus with shame. He bows his head and looks back up at Dream.

"Apologies, lord, for having left."

"Why? Why did you leave? I trusted you. You were the heart of The Dreaming."

"No, sir. You were the heart of The Dreaming. And you were gone." Gilbert tells him. "I was curious. And it turns out that life as a human contains substance I never even imagined when I was here. Which is why I've returned because... he's murdering them."

"The Corianthian?"

"He appears to have built up a cult of worshippers who kill for pleasure, endangering the waking world and the life of a friend called Rose Walker."

"The Corianthian has found Rose Walker?" Morpheus asks, needing to know for sure.

"Yes." Gilbert looks confused.

"Can you imagine the damage he could do with someone like Rose?" Lucienne says, looking at Dream.

"You must tell me where they are."

"I thought perhaps you knew." He said. "Your raven is there, at least, I believe it was her."

Morpheus' heart sinks.

"My raven...?"

"Yes. Although, she appears to be human now." Gilbert wad rather confused. He didn't know you could do that.

Your name falls from his lips.

"No..."

Lucienne looks at Morpheus with worry. She knew you had gone to see Rose, but it didn't dawn on her that you would go so far. Now you were close to The Corianthian, too.

Morpheus leaves the library immediately.

☆☆☆

You see no sign of Rose or of Jed. You decide they must be upstairs somewhere. As you turn back around to head for the lifts or elevators as they call them in this country, you find yourself face to face with The Corianthian.

"Well, hello."

"Oh dear..."

☆☆☆

@missdreamofendless

@kpopgirlbtssvt

@sitkafay

@snowsatsu

@ladyofdreaming

@thoughtsfromlayla

@modest-irish-goddess

@mystic-mara

@dreamingblueberries

@littlemoistcarrot

@simpingdeadcharacters

@bluespecs14

@modest-irish-goddess

[plump-lips-imagine]

Could we get a part two to the human expert x bowser? The first one was so cute!

ASK AND YALL SHALL RECEIVE!!! (Ya simps.)

Cupid and The Dragon: Second Chapter

A week has passed since that last encounter. Bowser treaded aimlessly in his kingdom looking for you. You weren't in the guestroom he let you stay in, and Kamek didn't know where you were either. With an Irritable look written across his face, he grumbled.

"Stupid Human. Where'd ya go?"

The guards would've found you if he didn't. there was no real reason to find you himself. he could just order someone to do it for him a wait on his throne like a king should... But maybe they wouldn't find you.

He took a pause from moving, his mind racing. Maybe you weren't in the castle anymore. Maybe when you had the chance, you dipped out so you wouldn't have to do these lessons anymore. Maybe you escaped as soon as you saw an opportunity.

Bowser's form began to shake, and his face scrunched up in anger at the possible scenarios. And to think he was starting to get used to you being here! Were you just acting chummy to let down his guard?! Well, two can play it that way. Well, he can just lock you in a cage again when he finds you, you couldn't have gone that far! He just needs to call Kamek and-

"My, My, I see you like strong women, don't ya." Bowser froze at the sound of your voice just around the corner. His head turns as he quietly makes his way to you.

With a turn of the corner, he saw you looking intensely at the Hammer Bros hands, with a gentle gaze as your hands cradled his in such a loving manner. His face was flustered at your insight. Two other bros were looking intensely at the reading being down with curiosity, one shell was a snowy blue, while the other was a fire red.

"Woah, bro. Is that true?" The Ice bro asked.

"H-How did you know?" The Green One asked.

"So, it's true?!" The Red one looked at his bro with excitement.

You giggled at the trio of bros' astonishment. "Hehe, I see a heart that jumps with glee at how fierce she is, with nothing holding her back...And she wields a boomerang. She has a pretty blue shell too. She's a determined spirit, and compatibility wise....." You paused for a second as he gulps. You were getting everything right so far, he was scared that it would be a low percentage.

"98%!!" You exclaim with glee swimming in your eyes. He looks at you shocked. It was that high!?

"Aw sick, way to go bro!!" The fire bro cheered as he puts his bro on the back.

"That's like, nearly soulmate percentage!" The ice bro says with the same enthusiasm.

The now flustered Hammer Bro has a wobbly smile on his face. "Well, what should I do? How do we get together?"

You close your eyes deep in thought and open them up to stare into his eyes. "Ironically, the thing you love about her is the same thing that's keeping her away from you. She's a little afraid that you find her too intimidating. You'll have to make the first move. Just be yourself. I suggest asking her out during training."

"I will!" He says with determination. Hehe, another satisfied customer!

"You got this in the bag!"

"Yeah, you're going to be a number one couple for sure!"

"Thanks guys!"

Aww. It's nice to see that even as minions for an evil king, there is some healthy companionship in the kingdom.

"Yo, Cupid. Can I go next" The fire bro waved his hand excitedly at you.

"Hey! I was here first, so that means I should go first!" Ice bro retorted, raising his hand too.

"Fire beat Ice, Bro. That means I get to go next." Fire bro say with a smug look on his face, pushing him back.

"That has nothing to do with this!" Ice chided back with a scowl, butting up against him back. You and Hammer Bro just look at them with blank looks a y'alls faces.

Well. More or less healthy companionship.

"Well, Well, Well. If it isn't a hallway full of no-good slackers." A Dark Low tone growled, making everyone in the hallway jump a bit. You now just noticed a shadow taking up the light look up to see Bowser, A deep scowl on his face, watching you and the three bros quivering in fear. Huffs of smoke puffed out is nostrils as he peered down at all of you with an intense glare.

"S-Sir, we were just uh...-"

"Good morning, Bowser. Did you sleep alright?" You butted in to try to ease the tension that was created all of a sudden, giving him a warm smile.

His glare only softens a little as he Gruffs at you, but his eyes glare back intensely when he spots the position you were in. Your hands were still cradling the hammer bros' as he shook like a leaf at his boss' eyes being directed at him. A low growl came from Bowser's throat.

He takes a couple of steps in front of you, causing the Fire and Ice bro to quickly move out of them and the Hammer bro to jolt back, releasing his hands from yours. Bowser suddenly grabs you by the waist making you yelp in surprise.

"Human, with me. Now." He then gently but firmly placed you between his arm while glaring at the three fidgety bros. "And you three..."

He stomps the ground loudly. Making everything around them jump. "GET YOUR BUTTS TO THE TRAINING DECK!! I WANT ALL OF YOU TO TRAIN ALL DAY! IS THAT CLEAR!?"

"Y-Yes Lord Bowser!!" They all salute, still shaking in place. Bowser Grunts and turns away with you in tow, still being carried by him.

Sometimes you forget how easy it is for him to carry you. It's almost way like nothing to him. It makes you feel weird how close he has you, being carried like luggage. He had pretty scales. they would glimmer in specific lighting so sometimes it would be easy to miss Them. They shone like diamonds. You didn't really mind being carried like this, because he was still mindful of you, so it wasn't too tight on your body. it was kinda fun.

"Why weren't you in your room?"

"Huh?" You were brought out of your thoughts by Bowser breaking the silence. He struggles to not snap at you for repeating yourself.

"You weren't in your room when I went to get you. Why?" He retorts at you. You look at him as you think of an answer.

"Well, I woke up early so I didn't want to disturb you before you woke up. And I was bored so I decided to do a few love readings for minions that were willing to get one. I guess I lost track of time." You meekly explained. Bowser rolls his eyes and looks back down at you.

"What's the point of me paying for your service if you're just going to give yourself for free? He grumbled. You shook you're head frantically.

"I wouldn't do that! They promised to tell me more about the Kingdom and about its inhabitants. I saw a lot more than regular koopas and goombas and I wanted to hear more from them while you were asleep. I was...a little curious."

"Well, don't do that again. I don't need any of my minions slacking off just for a love reading. That's only for me and I only got it. I ain't paying you to get chummy with anyone else. Got it?" He growled, just thinking about you wasting your time on anyone else but Him.

You frown at this. How are you going to learn now? "I understand...I'm sorry."

Bowser looks down at you and sees your disheartened gaze and his face softens up. a moment of silence happens then he lets out a low breath, one that he didn't know he was holding in his throat. His anger dissipated. He rubbed his hair, struggling to find the words to say.

"After our session, I'll allow you to ask me any questions you have about this Kingdom. Also, I'll let you use our library to learn a bit about the inhabitants. Just stop looking like a kicked puppy."

You look up at him in surprise. " Really!? You don't mind. I won't bother you?"

"If it had bothered me, I wouldn't have proposed it in the first place. You're teaching me about humans so I might as well tell you a thing or two about my minions." He grumbles. Your eyes lit up in excitement.

"Of Course! I promise to not ask too much! You can count on me to work extra hard on teaching you how to love a human!" You beamed.

Bowser felt himself having to control the urge to cover his eyes at the nonexistent bright light around you, his face feeling a bit warm. You were going to be the death of him one day.

***

Both You and Bowser stood in his Private room.

"Peach. I stand here before you for one thing. A chance. Please, let me show you that I can treat you like the Princess that you are and more. Will you go out with me?" He holds out his hand in front of you.

You are back in your peach outfit, with no reaction on your face. You then clear your throat as you prepare your answer.

"No." You said Bluntly.

you see Bowser's eye twitch in frustration, struggling to keep in his true emotions as his body shakes in anger.

"I......I............" He takes in a deep breath, "I......u-understand." he finally force himself to say as he lets out a breath of relief. You smile at him.

"Excellent. You took that rejection like a champ! That's the best one yet!" You praised Bowser, who was struggling on the floor a bit.

You see. Rejection is a part of life for the everyday human. Especially when it comes to love, so we have to accept rejection than refusing to take no for an answer.

This was a struggle for Bowser the most. Every other time y'all would practice with each other, it usually ended with him on a rampage or you ducking for cover from the fire that he spewed. Such Progress!

"Guh...This Sucks. I thought rejection would be easier to handle over time."

"Heh, well don't get to hung up on it. Most humans struggle today to handle rejection, so you're doing a lot better than most. You're doing awesome!"

Bowser stares at you for a moment and gets back up with a smirk on his face. "Heh, of course! I am the king of Awesome. I can handle any obstacle far better than any human. Anyone for that matter!" He puffs out his chest with Pride. you just stare at him.

"Your delivery when asking the question could use some work."

"Oh puh-lease, that was going to make her gush at me, and you know it."

"Eeeeh, gush isn't the word I would use."

Bowser glares at you. But it didn't carry the tone that his usual glares do. This one was in a more playful manner, with a non-threatening tone.

"Oh yeah, you think you can do better?"

"Well, I'm not a love expert for no reason. I am known to be a charmer."

He scoffs. "Alright prove it. Use your charm on me." He stands tall, waiting.

"Alright, Challenge accepted." You say as you clear your throat. a pause was made and then you look at him deep in the eyes.

"My dear King. Your passionate spirit wraps around my soul like a never-ending flame. I may not offer much but my love for you is in full, so please," You brought his claw to your face as your cheek rested on his palm. "won't you let me become yours, my handsome Koopa? And let me break you out of your shell?" You finished, with the gaze of undying love.

K.O.

Bowser felt a critical hit that felt like an arrow to his heart. His face flushing red from the confession and he has to hide his face away from you. Holy Shit. He was this close to putting you in his Treasure vault.

"Damn it.... Well Played."

"Thank You! It's in my nature!" You say playfully.

You get up and take the Peach wig off your head. " That concludes on lesson for today. Only one more lesson to go. You're on fire."

Bowser rolls his eyes but a smile creeps on his face. He couldn't help it. You just have this way of bringing him up in some way. Your good mood is infectious.

As he looks at you and takes off the makeup, his mind began to wonder. You were alone when you were captured here. And you didn't show any signs of missing anyone. Surely somebody like you has someone waiting to go home to, right?

"Say, Cupid."

"Hm?" you hummed, letting him know you were listening.

"Since you're like 'The' Love Expert and everything..., you got a lover yourself?"

You pause and turn to look at him surprised. Silence takes of the room, making Bowser a little uncomfortable. Why did you look like that?

"Nope. Honestly, never had a lover to call my own in a while."

"What? But I thought if anyone were to have a lover, it would be you." He looks at you puzzled, now by your side to look at your face.

Your face had a smile, but your eyes shine solemnly. You sit down, making him do the same.

"Well, I wasn't always the Love Expert that I am today" you admitted. "I've been called a lot of other things before. Witch, Noisy Hag, Perverted Creep, delusional Moron. Turns out, lots of people don't like to be read like a book, even when they ask you to. Ironic Right?"

A pathetic attempt at a joke was made but he didn't laugh. he had to hold down his angry for all the names that people used at you.

"But it's not just that, I grew up around a town where love.... wasn't love. It was mean, bitter, toxic, and hateful. With a town like that; Who needs enemies?" You stood and looked outside, the night sky mixing in contrast with the lava-filled landscape. "But hey! It's not so bad! I was able to get away and bring so many lovers together through hard work. I may not be able to find my own love now, but seeing genuine love around makes it worth it." You smiled at him with a determined look.

He stares at you. He wouldn't say it out loud, but he couldn't help but admire you a bit. Your resolve to help them find love in the unlikeliest place made him...respect? Yeah. It made him respect you.

"And you know what, jokes on that town. They missed out on the most amazing spouse they could ever have, hehe!" You say, with a joke in your tone.

"Yeah, they did." He Concurred, sounding so sincere, which shocked both of you. He thought that he only said that in his head. It made you giggle softly.

"Wow, you're becoming a real charmer!! 10+ Points!"

Oh, Shut Up." He says, grabbing your face playfully in his hand, making you whine at the contact. But he was actually glad. He didn't like that far-away sad look you had. He much rather have you act like a goofball instead. A weird, charming goofball.

***

"Alright, Almost done. tell me the most important things in a relationship?"

Bowser looks at you with a begrudging look on his face. Struggle to say the words out loud.

"Do we really need to do this again? I don't see how this wi-" He stops mid-sentence seeing the expression on your face, one that holds a silent plea to comply. He sighs, his red eyebrows knitted in focus..

"Honesty."

"Okay."

"Communication."

"Good."

"Trust."

"Mhm."

"Safety."

"Great."

"V-Vulnerability."

"And....?"

"Affection!"

"Right! You remembered!"

Bowser was a bit bashful under that gleeful gaze, but it was balanced out by the praise he oh so craved.

"Now. The final element of a Great and Loving relationship is this key factor. It's Respect."

"Huh? Are you sure it's not the ability to give your partner everything you want?' He asked as if it's an obvious question to have. You roll your eyes.

"No, Your Majesty. There's nothing more powerful than having respect for your partner." You think about your words for a minute. " You see, Relationships will have its ups and down. You might like red, she might hate red. She may like apples; you may loathe apples. Sometimes, we can't always agree with our partners or have a different viewpoint, but that's okay. Respect is important because it lets you know that no matter the differences and no matter our disagreements, I will always see you in a positive light. And I would never make you feel less than."

Bowser listen intensely, but couldn't help but quip out, "Stars that was painful to here. That was so corny."

"Hey, I'm letting down some really good advice. C'mon!" You blushed in embarrassment, feeling embarrassed for the way you let out your soul on your teaching.

"Bwahaha! Right, right! I'm sorry. I was just joking." He smirks at you playfully. You huff and then hold out your hands.

"Let's see that percentage, shall we?"

Bowser lets your small hands touch his gigantic ones, seeing you focus at the percentage.

"Congratulations, King Bowser. You are at exactly 50%. Which means my work here is done."

"Only 50%!"

"I'm afraid the other half is Peach. Only She can make it go up now. You are as high as you can get. You are 50/50 percent, which is lucky considering where we started off." You explained.

Steams of frustration come out of his nostrils. "You could've told me this before we did all this." He's silent for a while but then nods. "Alright. So now what?""

"That's for you to decide now. I can give you anymore advice then I already have. I'm done.... Are you still going to keep me here?"

Huh. He hadn't thought about that. If everything is done, then technically he doesn't need you here anymore. Your usefulness has taken its course. And yet. He didn't want you to leave, but he couldn't think of a good excuse to make you stay.

"I guess you have done your part. Your...free to go."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. I've kept you in here long enough. Don't make me repeat myself." he said a little harshly, making you flinch.

'Why did I say it like that?' he asked as he scolded himself for your reaction.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye! Thank you for having me as your teacher. And thank you for the large sum of coins, I'll be able to bunker down somewhere in Toad Town for a while!"

'Bunker down?'

"What do you mean, 'Bunker Down'?" He questions at the bomb you just dropped.

"Huh? Oh, well I'm a traveler. I don't really have a place to call my own yet ever since I ran away. That's why I've been traveling so far to see if anywhere was a good place would be to settle down."

You explain as if it was obvious, but Bowser looks at you in Bewilderment. You didn't have a home? At all!? This is unacceptable!

he grumbles something under his breath.

"Huh?" You didn't quite get that.

"I SAID THAT FROM NOW ON, YOU WILL STAY IN MY CASTLE!!" His voice booms at you while also making the room shake a bit. You stare at him in astonishment.

You both stare at each other for a bit before Bowser clears his throat to calm himself a bit. "Well, if you want to! You've already been here a while and I've grown used to you. The minions seem to like you as well so-"

You cut him off with a hug to his abdomen, making him freeze a bit. Huh, no one has ever willingly given him a hug before. This felt Nice. Really Nice. He almost doesn't want you to let go.

but you do, much to his dismay, but you're smiling at him.

"Thank You! I swear I'll do my best in whatever role you give me!"

He sighs. "Yeah, yeah, worry about that later..." he pets your head softly. But then something comes to mind that he'd never really thought about.

"I've...Never gotten your name."

"Huh?"

"You're name. I can't just keep calling you human and Cupid. What's your name?"

You giggle at this. that's right. You forgot to introduce yourself completely. "My name is (Y/N) (L/N). At your service."

"Well, (Y/n). You're lucky because you're now part of the best kingdom there is!"

"Hehe, Yay." You yawn, feeling sleepiness coming into your body. "I think I should retire for the day. it's getting late. I believe in you, Bowser. You're going to make a princess very happy. I just know it." You exit the room, leaving Bowser by himself, in his thoughts.

Huh. He would've thought he had gotten used to that cheery personality but you still manage to lighten his confidence in ways that his own army couldn't do. He could get used to you having you around. It'll be an adjustment to accommodating a Human, but since he was going to do the same for Peach, doing the same for you wouldn't be a problem. Perhaps even easier.

....

Right the princess. If he really is going to confess to her at the time is right, he might as well do a little practice.

He thinks of ways to compliment Princess Peach. Her Golden hair, the beautiful never moving crown, her beautiful (color) eyes.....wait.

That's not right. he closes his eyes to envision her in his head. Her pink beautiful dress, her elegant posture, the beautiful (color) hair on her, their cute eyelashes, the way they beam at him with no care in the world, their curious nature, the kind eyes when they look deep into his, their cute pout, their soft kissable face, and-

Hold on! Wait a Minute!

Bowser Tries to think of Peach, but the images always become you. You're grace and your smile floods his mind every time he tries to focus.

You! You.You.You.

You.

Bowser's face turns red at a sudden realization he has. Oh no.

'I think...I'm in love with (Y/N).'

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s2 episode 13 thoughts

so i read the description of this episode and i was thinking to myself, yeah, this one seems believable. i keep loosely acquainted with the drama of the funeral world, and after learning of the harvard morgue scandal of last summer, i was like. well. the truth echoes art, i guess.

but that was the POINT of the episode- that the real world is scary, even without vampires and bigfoot!

so we begin with a funeral for a poor little girl. and it is an open casket, which is upsetting, and these little kids that i assume were her classmates are looking in. and then to make it even MORE upsetting, this creepy man working the event shows up and starts... touching her hair...

boy, i hope that child actress got a fat check for that very uncomfy bit part.

next we see a man eating an ice pop in the embalming room, to which i say: king. and he's hearing some weird stuff, and who emerges but... donnie!

(donnie's the guy who was stroking her hair... and he's holding scissors... and the girl's hair is scattered all over the floor...)

donnie briefly morphed into a demon, and ice pop man banishes donnie from his realm upon realizing he cut the little girl's hair. he says "i should report you" but i don't think he actually did.

(PRO TIP: if you are in a workplace where this type of event happens, please do file a report)

anyway. agent time. they're arriving in a graveyard. and i saw a gif this morning of mulder lifting the caution tape up so scully can get her umbrella in!!! it is suuuuch a cute moment. and a tiny consolation for the agony the rest of this episode produced.

the policeman is blabbering on about aliens and says to mulder, "you know andy" and he says "no i don't" "well, he knows you" which is sooooo funny. another example of mulder being famous amongst the nerd population.

poor scully looks absolutely horrified at this little girl's desecrated body...

and while the policeman thinks it's aliens, which may be a first, mulder does not, which again may be a first, because he says he's seen cases like this before

"you okay, scully?" he asks, noticing that she is Not Okay, but seeming unsure of how to approach the situation. she insists that she is, and perhaps he accepts this at face value.

they share an umbrella <3 but whilst doing this she's deeply shaken, and says she's surprised he isn't bothered. he says he prepared himself, and i thought he was going to elaborate on what preparing yourself for a case like this looks like, but he didn't

and she's shocked that they drove all the way here for a case that isn't aliens... why did we come here then?

because he got them tickets to a football game. LMAOOOOO this man........... football date night. it does not sound pleasurable to me but maybe watching his nerdy face light up would make up for the misery. i was giggling here. he wanted to take her out and show her his culture.

okay so now we're back to donnie. he's applying for a new job. he says he used to be a cosmetologist.

NOOOOO they had to miss their game because there are more bodies dug up and violated... and since this took place in the 90's they didn't even have facebook marketplace to try and sell their tickets beforehand... this is truly a devastating loss </3

and did they show a football player with the same name as the dude who runs this show... you can't sneak that stuff by me...

scully has to walk out after seeing the pictures of the crime scene and i'm already so deeply sad for her but oh boy, past me, wait a bit and see where all this goes!

mulder says that the police need to put an alert out NOW and the policeman is all "well we don't have a whole lot of guys on the squad so it might take awhile :(" THEN HURRY??? mulder says he thinks this dude is gonna kill someone and you're gonna complain about lack of resources???? WORK OVERTIME???

poor scully is sososo shaken and mulder pops his head out to where she was sitting... he says he'll cancel their plane tickets so they can stay longer and she's just staring out into the distance... SOMEONE HELP MY QUEEN PLEASE

then we get a glasses and takeout moment as the agents come up with a profile for a guy who steals body parts from dead people

donnie sees a woman on the side of the road- a working woman, if you will- and he takes her back to his place. and this woman is sooo pretty. but he's running her a bath and marty i'm scared.

(wait i just realized i can straight up insert the reaction images i'm referring to on here)

HE IS OBSESSED WITH HAIR... first the little girl's, and now he asks this woman if she needs shampoo for chemically treated hair...

he goes to take a phone call- congrats, you got the job- and she sees his room is FILLED with wreaths from funerals. and she might be naked but i was still yelling at the screen GIRL YOU NEED TO RUN!!!!!!

well. we cut to body time. so we know how that went. it is a spectacularly bloody body. and our freak has escalated from desecrating graves to killing real people.

mulder wants to go look at the body and asks scully to come but she can't bring herself to do it. WHY IS NO ONE NOTICING THE STRESS SHE IS IN. HOW CAN WE TAKE STEPS TO AID HER.

(i think that mulder is trying his best to Not Make A Big Deal out of her visible distress to make her feel better, and instead just gives her space and respects her lack of desire to discuss the whole thing. because there is no way he doesn't actually notice)

now donnie is on the job as a grocery deliveryman. which i am familiar with as i do use doordash occasionally. but the woman whose house he's delivering too just. LETS HIM IN??? to pack up the groceries. is this how the job worked at the time... can anyone confirm or deny... because i'm trying to imagine welcoming the doordash or instacart guy coming in and putting the food away for me... and i feel my skin crawl... what a textbook murder situation...

and if that isn't bad enough, the woman tells donnie they have 3 daughters and leave the backdoor open........ this does not bode well for the plot....

he asks to go to their bathroom and he digs through their trash to find a clump of hair and he SNIFFS it and then pockets it... we need someone to deal with this man with a QUICKNESS.

scully is in autopsy mode now, and unlike her usual very professional self, she looks like she is going to pass out conducting this one. which is remarkable because she has seen some nasty stuff, but this is what puts her over the edge.

in her report, she's writing about how every autopsy tells the story of a life, and that being killed for someone to take a piece of your body is perhaps the most dehumanizing death imaginable

someone who saw this freak donnie says that he looked like an ordinary guy, so this is gonna be a tough search. so mulder is going into deep psychoanalysis mode, saying it must be driven by a very intense hatred of women. which seems fair. i'll trust the oxford trained fellow.

now donnie is in class and he sees a woman and we know what's coming, but when he approaches her and tries to get creepy, she kicks him away and manages to run!!!! thank god honestly we could use a victory.

the phone wakes up scully from a nightmare where she sees the same demon we saw earlier and also SHE was the one on the autopsy table- but mulder says they have a suspect at the station. and i'm like, yes! they're gonna get him!

but it isn't him that they get! they brought someone else in, and we SEE donnie watching their interview moment and this was the narrative taunting me

mulder can no longer try and ignore scully being so on edge, and he says "scully, if you're having trouble with this case, i want you to tell me" and my first reaction was, king, do you have eyes, she has been about to collapse this whole time. but now i see he is doing the best he can to put the ball in her court, and yet she STILL denies it. lies straight to his face.

"i'm not having trouble", she says <- okay so we all see that this isn't true but i respect that he's trying to be mindful of her boundaries. however i would have been like hey queen let's get you out of here <3

"i just don't want you to think you have to hide anything from me", he says, and i kiss each of my fingers like i just savored a delicious meal, because that is EXACTLY what i wanted this man to say. mmm angst. just what i had ordered.

so donnie is asking the guy who DID get questioned what they were talking to him about, and what their names were, and he remembers scully's name because she has the same name as a baseball announcer i guess? and then they let the donnie go -_-

she goes back to DC to get a fingerprint read on the body but says something about maybe not flying back to the case that night... she did NOT want to be there!!!!!

at this point we learn that the FBI has an on sight therapist, which honestly makes perfect sense... but man. this scene.

she's referring to herself in the second person, talking about how you have to become used to seeing death in med school and in fbi, and she's distancing herself to try and cope. and the therapist brings up losing her father and her coma, and asks if she feels uncomfortable with her partner, and she's like no, i trust him with my life.

wow. that's incredible. but!

"i don't want him to feel like he has to protect me"

and i cannot imagine a world in which mulder, the protector, would ever NOT try and guard those he loves like some sort of snarling beast. but she must still feel horrible after just coming out of a coma, and he had been so scared to welcome her back, let her come on the missions, she had to PROVE herself, and she can't make herself feel guilty knowing he'll see her as something to protect.

(as if there was ever going to be another way)

so yeah i was basically barking at the screen here.

she says she's lost faith, and she needs it back. and where do you get faith these days?

but, while she was away, they found a print. she calls mulder to tell him this and decides that she'll fly back that night.

"anyway, you could use my help" "always" <- what if i started crying.

but someone called for her while she was away... and i knew it was that donnie freak........... foreshadowing....

so the agents trace the prints to donnie and bust into his house, where they find his endless funeral wreaths and even a FINGER in the fridge, but no donnie

and this is just as scully is arriving from the airport AND DONNIE IS STALKING HER. and i wrote, donnie, i will get u with my bare hands.

and he HITS HER CAR and DRIVES HER OFF OF THE ROAD and then mulder comes to the scene and they find her car but no SCULLY

back at donnie's place, he is running a bath and my screen was dark enough to see my face in the reflection and it could best be described as looking like that dizzy emoji. "oh girl i am UNCOMFY", i wrote, but in a sort of horror way that you expect from the genre.

she's tied up in his closet and sees him as a DEMON again which is more evidence that she has had to endure SO MUCH and i'm getting duane berry flashbacks with the gag in her mouth and i'm feeling a profound level of defensiveness for a person who does not exist

mulder is stressed, there are no witnesses, and he's pissed, he says "there are people that can videotape police beatings on darkened streets, they manage to spot elvis in 3 cities across america every day, but no one saw a pretty woman being forced off the road in her rental car"

AUGHHHH his bloodhound nature, need to find answers, is kicking in again.

(and also he thinks she's pretty)

so back at donnie's place, he is approaching rapidly with a knife, and mulder is sleuthing. the car they found was donnie's mother's car, so maybe they're at donnie's mother's place... but he is PICKING UP THE KNIFE AS MULDER SPEAKS

he ASKS ABOUT HER HAIR to properly shampoo it which is SO FREAKY but she manages to BREAK AWAY by shoving him into the tub. yes yes those FBI agent skills are kicking in!!!

shes hiding and he yells "there's no way out, girly girl" which briefly took me out of the scene because i just know that he would have said "girly pop" if the writers had their hands on that phrase and it was distracting but still. STILL.

she's hiding in the closet and he opens the door and she SPRAYS HIM WITH ROACH SPRAY and runs and they're tussling about when...

MULDER BREAKS DOWN THE DOOR and sees her!!!! he's calling for paramedics while the policemen take care of donnie

and the first thing she says to him is "i'm okay", reassuring him despite her awful situation, perhaps referring to her mostly uninjured body, but she's shaking like a leaf, and she just keeps saying that she's fine, she's fine, until he lifts her chin up to look at her face...

and she starts SOBBING into his chest. he's got his fingers in her hair and he's mumbling "it's okay" to her again and again and. i could feel my heart melting. i was a mere puddle of a human being at this moment. it's okay. it's okay.

there is something i think you will understand that is so rich about seeing characters hit their breaking point. it tells the audience so much about them- here we see that scully's biggest fear is the evil that lies in the ordinary, in the idea that anyone could be a monster, that this is a world of constant fear, and how do you try and rationalize the things that humanity is capable of doing? how do you walk down the street knowing that someone, anyone that passes you by could be a devil, metaphorically speaking? and she doesn't have the luxury of believing that it could be some outside force- some aliens, or evil vampires- manipulating people into doing their bidding, like mulder does. she knows that it is flesh and blood people that she sees everyday at the grocery store or next door or even those she autopsies, that do horrific things. and that there is a capacity for that in anyone, and no way to keep yourself or those you love entirely safe. what is there in this cold world of facts if there isn't faith? and again, where do you get more faith when you run out?

(and, of course, her deep and terrible fear of needing protection. needing to rely on someone that isn't just herself. of inadequacy. how scary that must be for a person who sees the terror in the rest of the world)

so yeah. love to see a character break. and i love it even MORE when we get to see someone they love comfort them. hurt/comfort trope remains undefeated.

the episode ends with mulder writing the case report and talking of very similar things as i just rambled on about- about humans being demons, and demons being what humanity comes up with to explain that- but this is delivered over a slideshow of donnie's childhood pictures to emphasize how he was just the boy next door, except that honestly he looked like young sheldon. so i was a bit taken out of the whole thing.

so yeah. this episode did not leave me with the warmest and fuzziest of feelings, but in terms of horror it was definitely one of the scariest so far, again because the entire lack of supernatural causes. i mean you could choose to interpret that this guy genuinely WAS a demon, but i think that defeats the purpose of the episode and scully's character study we get as a result. i was spooked, but we still had some good moments, such as attempted football date.

overall, i thought this episode was great. and we could talk about how the creepy killer was super queer coded, and discuss if this was done in bad faith, which could be an interesting conversation- but i find it not entirely relevant to the overarching theme. like, the scary part was that he wanted to keep your fingers, not that he called scully "girly girl", and i didn't get the sense that those two things were being equated in the episode.

now give me 10 beach episodes, or perhaps a journey to a museum, or a spa, or the mountains, or an ice-skating trip with matching scarves worn by our agents, or a day at the mall. really i don't ask for a lot!

[unofficialsapphire]

ALL TOO WELL PART III (CONTINUATION)

YUICHIRO X READER

The moment the girl's lip pressed on his cheek, you felt your world stop spinning.

You knew right there and then that you needed to get out of there fast as you couldn't hold your tears that's threatening to spill out.

As you hurriedly walk outside, you quickly look for the nearest bench you could sit on as your legs feel about to give out.

But all the energy left you, making you stumble and sprain you ankle, making you yelp in pain, you plopped down in the grass, not caring if your dress will be smudge with dirt.

But you couldn't focus on your sprained ankle, the scenarios keeps playing on your thoughts.

Yuichiro smiling at another girl.

Dancing with another girl as they were crowned the king and queen prom night.

Everyone was cheering on them, "They're so cute" "They look good together" "are they together?"

And that girl kiss his cheek, everyone cheered loudly at the scene, shipping them all the way.

While you stood there and watched the scene unfold.

When you came back to your senses, you quickly stood up, wincing in pain, you look at your ankle at starts to swollen, taking off the heels, you looked around if anyone had seen you. Letting out a sigh when the coast is clear.

You quickly limp on the the nearest bench. Looking up at the sky to stop the tears that's trying to escape. No, you're not going to let yourself be seen this side of you. You're always the one who's strong among your friends. Never allowing anyone to see how vulnerable you are. Being weak should not be in your vocabulary.

You closed your eyes, trying to control your breathing, the tightness on your chest makes you wanna scream out, but then again, you keep reminding yourself. He wasn't yours to begin with, there was no promises to be broken, he wasn't yours to lose.

And that thought alone makes your heart clench, not understanding why you felt this way.

Laughing to yourself as you shake your head, you felt silly. Already knowing no one could ever understand how you feel, it was better to keep it all this together to yourself, no one should ever know.

Why are you now on this spot? Secretly crying and alone. Oh, it was because you became so comfortable and had set high expectation that you didn't stop for a moment and try to think that not everything is a fairytail.

For now, you need to fix yourself, taking off your satin gloves to use it as your handkerchief to clean off the eyeliner that smudges on your face.

"Y/n?" You frooze as you try to wipe your face, looking up, you see Yuichiro looking at you in concern look.

Upon seeing your tears stain face. He quickly rushes to your side, asking what was wrong.

"My ankle" You managed to whisper, thankful that you have an excuse to why you're a mess right now.

"You're so clumsy Y/n" Yuichiro scold you out of concern as he examined your swollen ankle. "shit! It's swollen. We need ice!" He exclaimed, looking frantically.

"Wait for me here" he told you before dashing off inside the venue to probably gets some ice in the juice or whatever.

He came back not too long with Mari and Muichiro with him.

You smile awkwardly to them, waving them off "I'm fine, you should go back inside" You try to reassure but Yuichiro flick your forehead scolding you, "What's fine with that" pointing at your swollen ankle.

"He" was all you could say.

He did some kind ogmf first aid on your ankle while Mui and Mari assist him, you try to wave them off to enjoy themselves inside and not to waste their time on here with you but they insisted.

"Alright I'm taking you home" Yuichiro muttered, Looking back the two, "You should return now, I got this."

He reached his hand out to you to pull you up, once your up standing, he drape your arm to his shoulder to support you walk, and called a taxi and the two of you went home.

"You are so clumsy Y/n" Yuichiro repeated again.

"I know" you muttered. He was right. You're clumsy, you always don't seem to know where you going, you always fall, like falling for him and you ended up hurting.

Once you're outside in your door, Yuichiro frown, "I'm sorry"

"What for?" you asked.

"I'm your date and I'm supposed to take care of you, not only didn't get a chance to share my first dance with you, I failed to take care of you" he muttered quietly, kicking the small pebble on the ground as as he stared at them in disappointment.

"It's okay Yuichiro" You said, smiling slightly to him as you lightly pat his head.

"I feel bad" he said.

"You should be" you wanted to say but stop yourself.

"I'm fine Yui, and it's not your fault I'm clumsy hehe" you said, squeezing his hand to reassure him but deep inside you wanted to scream buy you knew you didn't have a label.

"I promise to be there for you" he said,

And that's the first promise you didn't believe.

I thank @cloudymistedskies for letting me use Mari as Muichiro parter

[the-monkey-ruler]

how hardworking is bajie in the novel? fanart gives off the impression that he’d rather do anything but work

And he WOULD! HE DOES NOT LIKE TO WORK! Rather nap and kick back.

But honestly, next to Wukong, he does do the second most amount of work when it comes to fighting demons and getting food.

Don’t get me wrong man will complain the whole time while doing it but he is a competent fighter in many regards. Man was the Marshall in Heaven that only answered to the Jade Emperor himself, a navel officer so he knows a thing or two about fighting and tactics he just doesn't apply himself often. Not since being pig shaped.

There are many times he was the one to fight demons alongside Wukong, sometimes they even coordinate attacks with one another to get the drop on their enemy.

He was able to kill Princess Jade Face, Great King Fox Number Seven, the Wansheng Princess, all six of the tree spirits, White-Faced Vixen Spirit, King of the Southern Hill, King of Heat Protection, and King of Dust Protection. That isn't even included in the assistant kills that helped with Wukong and in enemies such as the Pythron Demon.

Funny enough he gets pretty protective of Sanzang when it comes to him being sexually harassed as well. I like to think that is his own personal turning point when it comes to respecting other people's boundaries.

But also he 'sacrifices' himself for Sanzang's place XD

I've always read it as it's more of a threat than a promise. Because he also knows that women won't go for him being a pig. Which is a little sad but also him using his appearance to his advantage to scare women in the Women's Kingdom. Says he won't be turned into a fragrant bag cause no one would even want him.

The main reason he is so antagonistic is that he IS THE CLOWN. There is a scene Bajie is being cooked by a GAINT streamer and he complaining he is going to come out wrong if the fire tenders (that Wukong is stopping) don't cook him RIGHT. Also that Bajie knows Wukong in diguse by seeing his cheeks and thinking "I KNOW THOSE CHEEKS ANYWHERE!"

Literally, his role in the book is to make laughs and to be the verbal and literal punching bag. Wukong himself is funny, absolutely, but he needs someone to play off him as well. It is very like that one group of Abbott and Costello vibes in some scenes where they just verbally poke on one other, and often there are cases were they pull pranks. Mostly Wukong at Bajie but still.

Like Wukong letting Bajie get captured by an enemy just so he can save him later. HE DOES THIS TWICE. He was mad Bajie thought he died (legit thought he died) in the first one and he took money from Bajie the second time he saved him XD told him it was the 'groups' money and they should share.

And I know people give Bajie hell for being a shit to Wukong but also… Wukong is ALSO a shit back to him. Wukong isn't one to be walked over and he definitely has his fair share of making Bajie feel that revenge for being a shit in the first place. They are shits to each other. Which makes them ever more enjoyable. Wukong is even the one to put a paper saying "I can heal the king" in Bajie’s back pocket when he falls asleep FACING THE WALL NOT TO SCARE ANYONE WITH HIS FACE. Man was legit trying NOT to get into trouble and Wukong knew this was going to be hilarious.

HE WAS PRANKED.

Also Bajie carrying Wukong thinking he could 'trip' and send Wukong flying. But Wukong anticipated this and made a clone of himself to be on Bajie so when he trip the clone drifted away as Bajie and Wujing just looked on in horror as their brother MELTED before their eyes. And Wukong turning into a woodpecker to peck at Bajie to wake him up.

That one was elaborate.

He does have some good ideas even from time to time despite his laziness. He knew how to get Bailong to walk across ice safely and for once USED THE RAKE AS A RAKE to clear a forest. Also that he knows a bit about farming because he was a farmer for a least three years with the Gao family.

So again he is capable and knows a bit despite his ignorance in other matters he just hates to admit he is wrong and hates to admit even more when he can’t do something. Which is hard to do when you are working with someone with MUCH more knowledge and power like Wukong.

I really think that Bajie looks up to Wukong while also being incredibly jealous of Wukong as well. That he relies on him as a companion but lets his own insecurities and jealousy get in the way of working with him, rather purposefully trying to make things harder for Wukong as if to get back at him. But I really think Bajie knows they need Wukong. Even when Wukong is knocked out and unconscious from the Red Boy fight Bajie doesn't believe for a second he is really dead, rather just going straight into reviving him. He also tells others they should treat him with high respect, make it sound like Wukong is danger but also that he is just so powerful in general and that he deserves to be regarded as such.

I don't think it's a coincidence that Bajie is the one after Wukong's first banishment that he has to go get him to save the rest of the group. Because he is the one that messed up by convincing Saznag Wukong was lying. But he also knows they can't do this journey without Wukong. He might be big talk but I think he's going to get Wukong was a humbling moment for him too cause he knows they are going to lose. Another way he shows that is when he thinks Wukong really dies he gets MAD. Because he knows now there is no chance, they are really going to DIE and he is upset.

I still think that Bajie just wanted to get back at Wukong for making fun of him in when GuanYin strung him up to a tree after the Ginseng Fruit arc. But he really didn't know what the fillet implies as he has never seen it used until then. It doesn't make it right but I do think it explains himself a bit more.

And even when Bajie went back to get Wukong, Wukong gave him a tour of his mountain AND STILL pulled a fast on him by having him think he wasn't coming when he was right behind Bajie the whole time. He just wanted Bajie to sweat a little longer. But there was something about Wukong having Bajie see how whole home and what he is leaving but also that Bajie really enjoyed seeing where he lived… even if the Little Suns threw Bajie around like a sake of flour weighing nothing… BUT HE STILL HAD A NICE TIME.

Bajie seems to have a lot of faith in his brothers, even if he rather run away and avoid a fight altogether because he is a bit of a coward he is more often overconfident on taking on demons with his group.

But when he thinks Wukong might actually die after they think they lost Sanzang to a demon he tells him he can't else they will have too much to grieve. And how he only feels confident in battle when he knows Wukong is behind him. I do love it when Bajie and Wujing look on in awe at Wukong and his power he thinks they might be gossiping about him and gets suspicious, leading to another prank.

And I feel like he gets that kind of confidence only later throughout the series, where he actually stops trying to divide the luggage when things go bad and tries to see to the end of the journey to get the scriptures. He is still a lazy guy that rather sleep and eat all day but he gets a bit better along the way, participating with his party in the journey and starting to see the goal to attain the scriptures as something he also wants to and actually trying harder to prove that to himself. It takes him a lot longer than Wukong and even Wujing but I think he really comes around to being a team player.

This kinda turned into a Bajie apologist post but I just really love this pig. He is a lazy asshole that starts shit he needs a good slice of humble pie because he cares a lot

[hockybish]

https://www.tumblr.com/hockybish/754308681886203904/did-i-ever-tell-you-guys-that-lola-had-a

Uh I do not recall this 🥺 poor Lola! When did it happen and how did she tell mason and her brothers but mostly jack?

Lacey and Zuzu's guardian angel

warning: miscarriage. most is under the cut. I don't think I go into too much detail.

She miscarried sometime between Lacey and Zuzu and she was already back playing with the Ducks

She had just found out. The team doctor informed her a day or two before a game and she was processing everything, and kept the pregnancy to herself for now. The doctor suggested not playing that since she had just found out and that they would go over options on what to do later.

She refused to not play stating that she made it this far, one more game wouldn't hurt, and plus she wanted to tell Mason before doing anything more.

So Lola pushed the thought of being pregnant to back of her mind. And went on to play the game that night. During the first period she got hit hard. She got up skated it off, continuing to play. At the first intermission she was spotting a bit and cramps were just starting.

Again I want to preface that she had just found out and that she was totally forgetting that she was pregnant. Lola thought it was her regular period. And she went out to play the second.

The cramping started to get worse. She was still on the ice when it finally hit her what was going on. She held it together the best she could. Maybe if she could get to the bench and get to the locker room discreetly or maybe even she could make it to the second intermission.

But she was caught in a vulnerable position and got hit again. This time she struggled to get up and needed help off the ice. Mason was beyond worried when he skated up and she was crying. He wanted to be with her, but he was still needed in the game. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and told her everything will be okay.

The doctor almost had like a sixth sense and could tell what was going on. He helped her change and get cleaned up the best he could and took her to the hospital.

Mason freaked out when he learned she had been taken to the hospital. They told him during the second intermission what was going on with Lola. He wanted to leave immediately. He needed to be there for his wife while she was going through something horrible.

He got out of the locker room as fast as he could after the game. He was on the verge of tears fumbling with his keys when a teammate who was also a father put their had on his shoulder and offered to drive him to the hospital.

Lola apologized like crazy to Mason. It was her fault, she should had listened and not played the game He was hurt that she didn't tell him she found out. He doesn't blame her for anything.

The Ducks made up some excuse that her appendix burst and needed to be removed, that could buy them sometime. And it gave both Mason and Lola their privacy to deal with the loss and for Lola to heal.

Jack was in town with the Devils, they were set to play the Ducks the next day, and Quinn was up the road in LA playing the Kings. Jack was devastated for his little sister. He knew how much she wanted another baby.

[washymylifeaway]

hi rye how have you been spending your time LET ME TELL YOU.

kavetham? haikaveh? idk idc but them..

for starters i just want to put out there that if kavetham is my sakuatsu then cynonari is the sunaosa because i love them and if the bestie agenda isn't alive between at least one pair in the four i get so sad. anyways kavetham has taken over my ao3 and it's so bad LOL. this is mostly for me because i like having consolidated lists of fics i've read to go back to but i'll be kind and give the tumblrinas (?) a little taste too. anyways list under the cut also don't follow me for genshin i'm not a genshin girlie (famous last words)

pre warning, i think it goes without saying that there's like alcohol mentioned in like almost every single fic.. kaveh is (apparently but what would i know) not the healthiest when it comes to coping habits so .. forgive him..

check the warnings and the tags before you read!

truck, barter, and trade by Seungshi03 (T) 20.7k // when i tell you if you're going to read one fic on this list it should be this one. the humor. the plot. the kid. this needs to be framed and immortalized. they're so stupid they're so silly THEY'RE SO IN LOVE

rumors, fame, and reputation by rysarium (T) 27k // THIS. READ IT PLEASE. it's so so funny and very entertaining. you go from loving them to wanting to punch them so bad to loving them again. i will say i thought it was so unfair for kaveh to get the movie wrong because technically he heard it from source so what there was an interview 1034209384 years ago let al-haitham lie in peace (ALSO CYNO IM YOUR BIGGEST FAN YOURE SO FUNNY KING SPEAK YOUR TRUTH)

The Fall, the Rise, and Everything In-between by writingrosez (T) 22.9k // i really did dread the divorce arc in this one i knew it was coming but i really was hoping it wouldn't but it happened (when i say i verbally said NO so many times while reading this LMFAO embarrassing.. i'd do it again...) also poor lumine LMFAO

if i wake up and you're still here by alcyonenight (M) 8.4k // no because why did this fic literally have me punching my screen (completely real) while i was reading it. they both are so silly and dear to me (said in tears) but i love the hanahaki trope so bad and this was *chefs kiss*

burn up, burn out by alcyonenight (T) 8.6k AND pockets full of stones by alcyonenight (T) 11.6k // ELEAZAR AU!!! baby's first eleazar fic and it ruined her. miserably. i loved both of these so much, wonderful reads truly (they both made me so sad)

get on your nerves (to get your attention) by acynthe (M) 3.9k // what better way to get to know a character than by reading him pine over one person for way too long? right? anyways this fic really set me up into understanding that haikaveh = watching ice melt in the arctic during winter..

Work engagement by gwendee (G) 3.6k // silly little boys in their silly little parties with their silly little plans.. the line that stuck with me was bringing their love to new heights because cyno was right.. it was funny..

and yet by luminvies (G) 11.8k // this fic was so poetic and eloquent to me it was a wonderful read and kaveh is so silly girlie pop in it HAHA. but really, it was a wonderful read and i loved how fleshed out kaveh felt despite this being written before he was released LMFAO

In a Language He Understands by Maeyari (G) 13.2k // this was so funny and Kaveh becoming a homewrecker is so insane whaat (totally not fake and not clickbait) that aside, it was a very light hearted read and i enjoyed it very much

what are we by lionkeychain (T) 5.1k // if i had to re route you to Kaveh being the silliest dude alive it's this one right here. i would send you here. he is so . i am so . about him. AHHHHHHHHHH. anyways, he's just a dude with a lot of love ykwim?

inertia by smallghosts (T) 3.6k // i think it's funny how al-haitham plays fetch with Kaveh in like 85% of fics (this one included) anyways the summary was so funny i just had to read it and in context it's even funnier to me. Kaveh you're so funny ily king ('being in love with you is gross.' me: HELPDKLNLEEE?GLD>SD>? literal definition of boom roasted).

first love, worst love by caniculeo (M) 11.6k // babe wake up. the circus is back in town. babe go back to sleep. the girlies broke up.. again.. anyways. had to take a laugh break when al-haitham hit on nilou. literally put my device down and had to catch my breath. then when kaveh pointed behind al-haitham. oh god. ALSO highly recommend the second fic in the series with cynonari. cyno i love u my funny king.

Burgeon by gloomyparfait (T) 8.2k // another hanahaki fic rye? really? YES. please i love irrationality. they're so chewable in this fic i love them dearly. i need to blend them. mince them up like beef tartare.

okay this is not an extensive list (def missed some good ones i've read) and i have more i want to consume (!!!) but i haven't gotten around to some of the longer ones just cause my attention span is bad these days. i'm very excited for some of my future reads and so perhaps there will be a part two because i am down in the trenches right now. regardless, i hope you enjoyed this list and now it's time for me to disappear again. bye bye

also if you've written a fic on this list and you would prefer for it to not be on this list/on tumblr, just lmk and i'd be more than happy to remove you!

[androgynousblackbox]

How I Met Your Father. 8 [Radioapple, Appleradio]

How You Met My Friend

A03 link

When they reached the hotel, the lights were still off. The minions had finished with the wall so from the outside it looked like nothing had happened.

"Do you think Charlie is at her room?" asked Lucifer when the limo stopped, not really waiting for an answer as he opened up the door.

He went out to the driver seat to pick up the keys from the little imp, giving him mindlessly some tip in the form of a thick portion of money just had on his pocket.

"Tha-thank you, sir!" The imp could not believe his good luck.

The same luck that evaporated the moment the shark went running back to the hotel. He didn't realized how much until a black tentacle closed around his ankle. The strong grip left no defense as he was dragged over the floor, leaving him hanging in front of the radio demon. Of course he knew who he was and knew the fear at the pit of his stomach when that infamous smile turned to him.

"I hope you know I am not killing you simply because a small insect like you is not worth it" stated Alastor, as pleasantly as commenting about the weather. The tiny speck of sinner's blood on his cheek was all that he could see. "But if I find out that you told anyone about what you saw today, I will hunt you down and everyone you have ever cared about. In fact, I will kill all of them in front of you before I finish you off and then, I will take my time with you. I like my privacy after all and I do no like peeping toms. Are we clear, my good man?"

The response was immediate, like a reflex when a nerve was struck.

"I haven't seen anything! Ha ha ha, I don't even know who you are, sir! I have no idea what you are talking about! I can't say anything if nothing happened!"

"Wonderful" said Alastor, letting him fall to the ground. Alastor used another tentacles to grab at the bunch of money, without imp noticing it's abscense as he ran away.

He put it on his own pocket. He didn't need it, nor wanted it, but the little imp did and that is what he deserved for taking his eyes off the road for one second when carrying such valuable passangers.

"Al! You have the key!" called Lucifer, getting back from failing to open the doors.

In the vehicle he had cleaned up the blood with a simple gesture, but had forgotten to change his form back. Alastor debated with himself about telling him directly or count how long it took his oblivious husband to realize on his own. One time it had taken him two full days to notice, right until he had a meeting with the Queen of Gluttony and she laughed for two minutes before asking what he was doing disguised like that. He always wondered how long it could take without any inteference.

"Coming, my dear" Alastor walked with long strides, taking it out from his pocket.

He decided he was going to keep quiet, see what happened. As soon he opened up, Lucifer went inside, already looking for Charlie.

The other residents must not have come back or were already sleeping. Dazzle and Razzle had even moved all the luggage of Charlie back where it belonged, and the wall was finished, so nothing at all was moving on the lobby.

"She is in the kitchen" explained Alastor, already going there.

Since Charlie did had a good amount of his own magic on her, he was always able to detect her location as long they were on certain vecinity. Lucifer himself wasn't able to do that without a specific spell. His magic was far too much to keep track of every trace of it, it was the equivalent of an ocean being aware of each drop. Alastor had learned to at least appreciate that connection with his fawn.

"Should I have brought something for her?" asked Lucifer in a whisper, as if Charlie could be listening. "Ice cream or something? Didn't she mention she liked frozen yogurt? Would a machine for that help her feel better?"

Alastor sighed. The return of his tiny anxious king.

"How about we first talk with our daughter before deciding anything?"

"I feel bad going empty handed… I know I warned her this could happen, but I don't like that it happened. Maybe I should have prepared her better? Would that helped? Great, why I didn't think of that before? Fantastic move, me."

"It's not your fault that heaven is dissapointing, love" He stopped right before their reached the kitchen. Lucifer turned around and looked surprised when Alastor put both hands on his shoulders. When he spoke, the radio filter fizzed out to the its end. "This is not about you. It's about Charlie. Let Charlie talk whatever she wants and we will nod and be understandable because that is what supportive parents do. You can get her everything she wants later."

Lucifer pouted for just a second before he sighed. A small nod of agreement shook his head and Alastor hummed, kissing his forehead.

"Oh, wait, you still have blood on you" Lucifer quickly conjured up a napkin on his hand to clean it up. He hold the chin of Alastor gently as he worked. "Charlie is going to get worried if she sees it."

Alastor had actually forgotten about it. He wasn't used to getting any stains from his quick for fun killings, even if he did loved his husband covered in them. He let Lucifer take care of him. In the dark of the hallway the king wouldn't notice how different his own hand was than usual, but the stain had attached itself to his memory.

"Thank you" said, clearing his throat. He let a second pass before he added. "You should probably change form too."

His experiment would have to be realized at another time.

"Huh?" Lucifer lifted his hand to his face, feeling the shark nose where nothing should be. "Oh, fuck!" He snapped both his fingers at the same time, returning to his real figure. "Is it better now?"

Alastor looked at him and then turned his gaze to the side.

"Perfect."

He saw the shine of Lucifer's smile before he straighten up his shoulders, taking a deep breath.

"Hello?" called Vaggie, coming out the frame to the kitchen. When she noticed the couple, more Lucifer than Alastor, she visibly relaxed. "Oh, it's actually you. Sorry, I heard something and I got concerned."

"It's fine" said Lucifer, hurrying to her to hug her. Not the same bone crushing hug of usual, but not less heartfelt. "Are you okay, sweetie? It must have been hard for you too."

Vaggie's shoulder fell, patting the back of the man as she blushed, like she never expected someone to ask her that.

"Oh, me? I am okay, actually. Thank you, sir" she commented. "I didn't even missed it as much as I thought I would. Adam tried to be an asshole because he didn't know that Charlie knew about me, but it didn't worked so he was just an asshole in general. The whole meeting was… well, not how we expected it to go. You should probably go talk with Charlie, sir. She needs you more than I do."

Lucifer let out a small, sad, chuckle.

"Someday you are going to stop calling me sir" promised, patting her head. "Thanks for taking care of my baby, sweetie."

The blush of Vaggie got more intense as she quickly nodded her head, looking down.

"O-of course, sir. Always."

Lucifer's eyes soften up, as if he had not a single doubt about it. He gave her another quick squish, Vaggie responding to it with more confidence, before going to the kitchen.

Vaggie and Alastor got behind. She looked at him down and up, uncomfortable.

"Uhm…"

"No need, dear" Alastor went past her.

His family needed him after all. Vaggie seemed to be relieved as she followed him.

Charlie was sat down at the table, a fresh bowl of ice cream with chocolate chips for extra comfort in front of her. She had calmed down somewhat since coming back, but when Lucifer hugged her strong her sobs returned.

"Dad, it was so awful…"

"I know, sweetie, I know. I am so sorry."

Over the shoulder of Lucifer she saw Alastor coming and extended one of her hands with grabby fingers to him. Alastor remembered a similar scene when Charlie was in highschool and failed at a exam she had worked hard on, purely because of her own nerves. Back then it had taken Lucifer donating an obscene amount of money to the school for them to allow Charlie to retake it. This wasn't going to be solved quite as easily. Alastor joined on the hug, rubbing the back of his daughter, which somehow broke her calm even more.

"They-they were so meaaan! I told them everything about how people are improving here and they didn't care! Angel had done everything on the stupid list of Adam to get into heaven and they just kept talking about his job as if that changed anything! Then Adam said he was going to come to the hotel first! The rest of heaven didn't even know about the extermination! And now they want to come here!" Was what they could understand from her crying filled quick rant as she crushed them back, sniffling into the stripped vest of Lucifer. "I am so sorry, I am so sorry, I don't know why I keep making things worse for everyone…"

At least that was clear enough for them to respond to.

"Hey, hey, don't say that" said Lucifer, brushing her hair back and rocking her head gently, like when she was a lot smaller. "It's not your fault, sweetie. None of it is. Heaven is like that. They don't like anything that goes outside of their idea of how things should be. It has always been that way."

"That is not reason to come kill people!" That was the last coherent portion of Charlie's speech before she devolved on weeping again where they could only caught words like "doom" and "everyone", which was still plenty explanatory by themselves.

Lucifer kissed her head over and over, his own eyes getting wet but still containing his own tears by some miracle. Alastor reached to scratch her softly in the space between her antlers. By experience he knew that was a especially effective massage.

"Whatever happens, I will be here" promised Alastor.

Charlie elevated her head towards his hand like a kitten, sniffing.

"And if any of them put a single finger on you, I will come too" added Lucifer.

"Are those really the only options?" Charlie whiped her eyes quickly as more new tears come in. "Just let them come here and do whatever they want while you try to keep me alive? What about the rest of the hotel or everyone else? What safety can I offer them?"

"I can han…" started Alastor and Charlie growled, actually growled, her own antlers growing in size for a moment.

"STOP SAYING THAT!" She squeezed his hand against her eyes, both turned to black, for a moment. "Dad, I am sorry, I love you, but that is not enough right now." With a quivering sigh, she looked them again with her mismatched normal ones. The antlers also came back to regular size. "They are not going to stop until they kill us all and I can't only depend on you to take care of everything. That is not fair to you or anyone else here on the hotel… if they even decide to stay. I wouldn't blame them if this is the last drop for them."

"I will stay" said Vaggie, standing at the other side of Charlie to reach her shoulder and give it a squeeze. "No matter what, I will stay right here with you. We can do this, honey."

Charlie smiled a little bit, the unspoken thank you more than clear as she took her hand and squeezed back. Lucifer sighed, looking up to Alastor, who gave a small nod, before he turned again to their daughter.

"There is…" He groaned. This was literally the last thing he wanted to talk about. Up until now every extermination have been a stay away from it and you will be fine business. This was a declaration for a war now. "There is a way to defend yourself. Angels can be killed too. They are not invulnerable, especially not here."

"What?" asked both Charlie and Vaggie at the same time.

"H-how? I never knew about that" Vaggie protested.

"Yeah, figures" Lucifer scratched his head. "You… The exorcists, I mean, they are only send to exterminate, not to fight. They never had to defend themselves before because they assume there is no threat. But there is a way that they do have" Lucifer sighed, pointing at his own left eye while looking at Vaggie. "You already know. What did they used with you?"

"A spear…" Vaggie answered before looking at her own weapon resting against the table. "I-I thought that they could hurt, not that it could just… actually kill. Is that really all?"

"That is all" said Lucifer. "Angelic steel. You can even treat them like zombies if you want. One quick beheading and you will never have to worry about them again. Just" he made the gesture of cutting his own neck, "and they will go down. You can't cure that."

"Then that means we do have a fighting chance" said Vaggie, smiling to Charlie but the princess remained silent, staring at her father like it was the first time she saw him.

"You knew that" said Charlie, her brows furrowed. "You knew that angels could be killed all this time and never thought to tell me?"

If he wasn't so pale already, the face of Lucifer would have gone paper like at the tone of her daughter, one he never heard before. The accusation on her voice left him speechless for a second, but only a second at least.

"For you to go fight against heaven?" The king grabbed his chest, as if trying to control his own beating heart. "Honey, even if you did had the right weapons, that doesn't mean that I would want us to go to war. I never wanted that to happen or much less for you to get involved with it."

"Oh, so you were protecting me?" Charlie stand up, her antlers getting bigger as her eyes blackened without pupils. She chuckled without any trace of humor. "Funny that. Sera was saying the same thing when she explained why she hide the extermination from the rest of heaven. I guess you two are not that different after all."

"Charlie…" Lucifer stared at her, not knowing what to say.

Charlie ignored him and lifted her gaze to Alastor.

"Did you know about it? Were you also protecting me by making me believe we were powerless to do anything?" She added with a sneer: "Was it fun to watch at least?"

"Young lady, you are going too far now" warned Alastor, static noises filling up the air, just before Lucifer intervened.

"No!" said the king quickly, acting as a barrier between his husband and daughter. "Alastor had no idea! I never thought to tell him. Nobody else in hell knows besides us and… Carmilla Carmine. She deals with angelic steel and killed one of them in the last extermination. If anyone can help with weapons and fighting against them, it has to be her."

Charlie blinked, taken aback.

"What? How long were you planning to sit on that information? Were you ever planning to tell me?" Charlie sighed, squeezing a fist at her side. "No, you know what, I don't want to hear it. I will take care of this. I don't need your help. Thanks, papa."

"Charlie" Lucifer tried to reach with one hand, but Charlie had already moved out of the way to get out of the kitchen with Vaggie following just behind.

She did looked back for a second, as if wanting to say something, but in the end was unable to find any word. Lucifer let himself fall to the now empty chair, rubbing his face. The kitchen was silent for a few moments.

"Why did you lie, dear?" asked Alastor finally, unbearably gentle. "I am just as guilty as you are in this situation."

Lucifer pulled his cheek down as he looked up, showing the tender pink flesh under his desperate eyes.

"She doesn't need to be angry at the both of us right now" said, letting out a heavy amount of air that seemed to do nothing to calm him down. He pushed the bowl of ice crean to a side in order to make his arm cacoons, squeezing his forehead against the wood. "Please, tell me that you know a way to make this less shitty. Some way to help her. Anything."

"I might" Alastor admitted. "But she will need to come herself to convince them."

"Cannibal town?" asked Lucifer's muffled voice. That was the only kind of group he could imagine Alastor would need to convince to do anything, rather than just threaten them.

"Indeed" he moved one of the chair next to his husband and sat down. "They are a strong group, but more important than that, they are a big number. With that and convincing Carmilla to provide for us the weapons, there is a good chance this could result in our favor. Of course, I would be here even if she was angry at me."

"She won't listen if she is angry" Lucifer lifted his head only to rub at this temples. "For my name, that totally took it from you."

Alastor shrugged. There was no point arguing the obvious. Lucifer sighed again and he extended a hand to rub the arm of the king. Lucifer grabbed his hand, but didn't moved it, turning his head to look at him with dry but heavy eyes.

"I never wanted this to happen."

"I know, love."

"All this time, the last thing I ever wanted is for her to be their target. I already have enough thinking that you could be next."

Alastor hummed, moving his chair closer to hug the tiny king. He didn't bother to remind him that no extermination was ever get to him, mainly because he wasn't a fucking idiot that was just going to walk around the streets when it was time, because he understood that Lucifer just needed to unload before saying what he really wanted to get at.

"I know" agreed, kissing his crown and feeling no small satisfaction when the body of Lucifer melted a bit against him.

"Sera saw them kick me out of heaven" Despite the tears that were already staining his cheeks, his voice remained firm as he spoke. "She didn't say a word not to anger them further or be punished too. I would never do that to Charlie. I would go to hell all over again if it was for her."

Alastor hummed, helping up to lift the king with his tentacles to accomodate him on his lap. Only then Lucifer seemed able to let go, looking utterly defeated as he buried his face on the face of Alastor. He breathed in, as if letting the smell of his husband to be its own form of comfort.

"I would never treat my own kid like that" continued Lucifer, his arms wrapping around Alastor's middle. "Ever. I don't care who it pisses off."

"I am sure she knows, my dear" said Alastor, wrapping him too as he nuzzled the top of the blonde hair. "She won't be angry forever. Not even I can manage that and you give me so many reasons for it. If I can forgive you, she will too. Just give her some time."

Lucifer suddenly snorted, reaching up to rest his chin on the space between Alastor's shoulder and his neck.

"You love me" sang Lucifer lazily, kissing the neck that was exposed on his new suit. His lips moved slowly with no rush. "You look so dumb trying to deny it."

"I never denied it" said Alastor with a grin, moving his neck to leave the king to nibble at his skin. A pleasant warm installed on the pit of his vast stomach. It wasn't a sexy kind of warm as much as the warm of a soft blanket, enjoying the intimacy of being so close someone who he knew would never bite without permission. A safe and comfortable feeling Lucifer could soak on too. "You can love someone and still be upset at them. We both know that. Charlie will come around."

"You promise?"

"Sure" Alastor looked down when Lucifer separated his lips from him. He caressed the red cheek, still a bit moist from his tears. Charlie had gotten upset at them before, it was inevitable, but she hasn't in a long time and even more since she directed it to Lucifer, so of course it would hit him the hardest. "I will talk with her."

"Don't" said Lucifer, shaking his head slightly. "That can wait. The priority now is getting Carmine and the Cannibal Town on her side. I will feel better when that is secured."

"Consider it done" assured Alastor, lifting up from the chair. He accomodated Lucifer on his arms to carry him bridal style. It always amazed how despite all his strenght, all the weight of his husband didn't mean a great effort for him. "I have a feeling that they will actually take a liking to her rather quickly, despite her dietary choices."

"How come?"

Alastor smiled widened.

"Oh, let's just say that they will find other similar interests."

--

On the next morning, Charlie called for a meeting with the residents to announce them about the news. Alastor sat on his usual seat. His daughter gave him a tight smile as greeting, the eyebags of a sleepless night more evident than ever, before she turned her attention back to everyone else.

"So, how bad was it?" asked Angel first, as soon he sat down. Husk had already started drinking up from his flask, not bothering with a mug, and Sir Pentious likewise looked like his night wasn't any better. "You wouldn't look so much like shit if it was good news."

"How about you let her speak first?" said Vaggie crossing her arms.

"In this life if possible" Angel lifted a hand to Charlie. "We are listening, princess."

Charlie joined her hands together, her thumb rubbing each other as she gathered her thoughts.

"Well… Angel is not really wrong. Heaven doesn't really have any interest in redemption."

"I am shocked" Angel rolled his eyes. "Shocked I tell you."

"Angel" warned Vaggie, rubbing the shoulder of Charlie. "Come on, honey."

Charlie sighed.

"That is not all. Adam got… especially pissy during the meeting, so now he decided that on the next extermination this is going to be their first stop. Me and Vaggie were talking last night, so he think we may have a way to get some stuff we need to defend ourselves. We can't really garantee to keep any of you safe any longer. You should really be looking for a better refuge until this is over" Her eyes lifted up to the ceiling for a moment, but somehow remained her composure while avoiding looking to anyone's face. "We are staying because this is our home now, but you have no obligation to do the same. I will understand no matter what happens. I… I just want you to know that I really enjoyed having you all here. I am sorry. I am really sorry."

After those words, Charlie covered her mouth and moved to the door. Vaggie went after her.

"Fucking knew that we were fucked. Should have bet on that" sighed Husk, taking a long swift.

"Do you mind sparing a zip?" asked Angel and wasn't surprised when his only answer was a middle finger.

"I can fix you something quick" said Husk, standing up for the bar.

"I will have ssomething too" Sir Pentious stand out as well.

When the three moved away, Alastor did as well, letting his shadows to take him right in front of Charlie. She was already at the entrance of the hotel, holding onto herself and speaking to Vaggie in whispers that suddenly got interrupted when she saw the black spot coming to them.

"My dear!" said Alastor, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Excelent speech you gave out there. Truly makes your old man proud."

"What do you want, dad?" Charlie wasn't trying to be hostile, but was clearly too tired for pleasantries.

"Straight to the point! Excelent!" He stomped his cane on the ground. "I will be brief then. Come with me to visit an old friend. I think she could be of a lot of help for our cause. Your companion right there can handle Carmilla on her own, don't you, dear?"

"I mean" Vaggie looked from Charlie to the radio demon. Charlie wasn't more sure than her so she just shrugged, curious at least "if you really think that is necesary, sir…"

"Indeed it is. Thank you, dear, we are counting on you!" Before Vaggie could add anything else, he was already putting his arm around Charlie's shoulder and taking her away on a shadow.

When they materialized once again, Charlie stumbled over her feet, making her to rely on Alastor to not crash against the floor. It had been the longest travel she had that way before. Alastor was glad enough when Charlie didn't immediately throw up.

"Easy there" Alastor hold her shoulders, giving her a moment to stabilize herself again.

"Where… where are we?" asked Charlie, holding her head and realizing she didn't recognized the streets.

"I told you, we are visiting an old friend that I think could help" Alastor streighten up, offering his arm for his daughter to take on.

Charlie looked around, doubting, but if Alastor himself was the one offering the contact then it should be fine. She was more used to have one or both of his parents in disguise before getting close to them in public. But for the rest of hell, they would already know about Alastor's job at the hotel and that she was the owner. Seeing them walk togehter in a public space shouldn't be that big of a deal.

"Do you really think that is going to work?" asked Charlie.

"It doesn't hurt to try" Alastor looked in front, like this was any normal outing. He patted her hand. "The only issue is that she doesn't know, so if she asks…"

"You are just the hotelier that works with me" recited Charlie, understanding the protocol. "Papa is my only parent and my antlers have nothing to do with yours."

"Very well."

Charlie looked down, taking a deep breath. She was way past the point of questioning why Alastor didn't had any trust not even in the people he called friends. That was just the kind of thing she had to learn to accept growing up.

"Is papa going to be busy today?"

"I don't know, dear. I am not the secretary of his Majesty."

Charlie glared at him.

"Seriously? You can't tell me that?"

"My, if I barely know the king at all!" Alastor smiled at her with a spark of humor. "But if I did… I can only imagine that he sends his best regards and wishes his daughter for the best."

"Gee, thanks" Charlie rolled her eyes, pouting. "I can't believe he just… hide that from me. I am not a child anymore."

"Mmm."

"I am not saying that is not scary! It is! It really is! And I kinda get it, with how heaven treated him, but shouldn't that be all the more reason to prepared me for the worst?"

Alastor made another non commital noise, which was all Charlie needed to keep going.

"It's like he doesn't understand that I need this thing to work! It's not just like, some hobby to do on the side while waiting for something better! This is really important for me. I don't know how else to tell him for him to understand that. You do, Alastor, don't you?"

"Of course."

Alastor moved her to a side, making her avoid a cyclist cannibal that she didn't even notice as she continued her ranting. She was truly her father's daughter after all.

"Thank you! I just don't get it. Does he think I am weak? That I can't defend myself? Is that it? Well, sure, if I don't know that is even an option I won't! But I can learn if needed! Would it really be so much to ask just a little bit of trust? Just a little bit, just a tiny bit of "sure, Charlie, I recognize you as someone capable so here, have everything you need in order to save the people who you care about." I don't think that is asking much! We wouldn't even be in this mess in the first place if he haven't allowed the extermination!"

Alastor's feet stopped moving, a subtle crack of static coming off from somewhere around him. He looked at Charlie, who was just confused by his sudden change in demeanor.

"Sometimes" said, choosing his word carefully, "things are a little more complicated than what they seem, my dear. You shouldn't judge so quickly" Then, as if he was done with the subject, he perked up again, pointing with his staff a sign. "Anyway, here we are! Charlie Morningstar, I present to you Cannibal Town!"

"Oh" Charlie looked around, only then taking in the quant portion of the city that looked remarkably better than care of than others she had seen. She had heard a lot about that place, mostly as where Alastor got the "especial meat" for especial ocassions, but she had never see it herself. Some cannibal kids were playing with a ball as couples walked hand in hand. "This is surprisingly nice."

"And soon you are going to know the reason why!" Alastor took her arm again, directing her to a pale pink building. The sign on top read Franklin and Rosie emporium, but the name Franklin had been crossed out. Before they came inside, Alastor fixed up the bowtie of Charlie and brushed her hair behind her ear. "I want you to know the overlord in charge of this place. She conducts her territory with an iron fist. We could count with the assistance of her people if you just convince her."

"Are… are you sure about that?" asked Charlie. Truth be told, besides Alastor, she hadn't interacted a lot with cannibals besides seeing them feasting on the fallen demons after each extermination. Something that didn't really inspired a lot of trust for her.

"Beggars can't be chosers, my dear" Alastor opened up the door for her, letting her enter first. "Besides, you need as much allies as you can gather."

She couldn't argue with that. The whole emporium seemed to be a truly popular place for the town. It was almost entirely filled with cannibals looking at the product with the constant murmuring of their conversation. A single voice stand out over everyone else as soon they were inside.

"Is that Alastor? Darling, where were you?" Between a barrier of people, a tall woman with a big hat made her way to them and hugged Alastor. Charlie blinked, not used to seeing her father being affectionate with anyone outside of their family. "I was wondering when you were going to come around! I got some more meat of bull demon that you really liked the last time and I saved some torso just for you, dearie!" She winked an eye and giggled happily, up until she noticed Charlie behind her and then gasped loudly. "Did you really bring this pretty thing with you? Alastor, aren't you just shameless! She is far too young for you."

She laughed at her own joke. Alastor's eyes went wide as he froze in place.

"Oh no" they said both at the same time, Charlie taking a long step back.

"No, no, no. Not that. At all. Not even close. Nope. No, no, no" She lifted both her arm to cross in front of her, looking almost green. "Please, don't say that again."

"Well, alright" Rosie frowned slightly, without losing her own smile. She turned to Alastor, leaving a dainty hand over his chest. "I was just saying because I keep hearing all these rumours about you dating around with these cuties. You made quite a scene the other night that sounded like a fun time. Not that I judge you, darling, not at all! I am glad that you are enjoying your bachelor years!"

"That is nice to know, dear" Alastor cleared his throat, putting his arm around her shoulder. "This young lady you see here is Charlie Morningstar, the princess of hell. Charlie, I present to you the Cannibal Overlord, Rosie. The most deadly, ruthless and loveliest woman you are ever going to meet in this side of hell."

Rosie gave her a little courtsy.

"It's an honor to receive you on my humble shop, princess. What can I do for you? I have every part of any anatomy that you could ever want!"

Charlie smiled more sincerely. She did seemed to be nice with Alastor and she was happy to see that.

"N-no, thank you. We didn't came for food."

"Speak for yourself, dear" Alastor's eyes squinted on a bigger smile to Rosie. "I will be taking that bull demon meat for later."

"Of course, I wouldn't expect nothing else!" Rosie giggled, clapping her hands together. "Well, princess, if you don't want to sink those pretty teeth on something, what else could I do for you?"

Charlie looked over at Alastor, unconsciously looking for some reaffirmation. When the radio demon nodded slightly, she perked up.

"I-I was actually thinking about asking you for a favor. If that is okay with you."

"Oh?" Rosie tilted her head, touching her jaw with a finger. "Then come with me, dearie, so we can talk more calmly." She put an hand on the shoulder of Charlie to guide her to a more private space, where she offered her to take a seat as she took another. Alastor stand out at the side of Charlie. Rosie smiled to one of her employees leaving two cups of tea on the small table between them, along with a plate with severed pinkies. "What kind of favor are we talking about?"

"Well… I don't know if you heard about the Hazbin Hotel I am working on."

"That silly redemption project? Everyone in hell heard about it! I am telling you already, dear. Nobody in my town will want to change their ways to enter heaven. I still do not understand why Alastor is there, but who is going to torture that out of him!" She chuckled, winking an eye to Alastor in a joking manner. "You will waste your time if you try to reclute them for that."

"No, nothing of that" Charlie grabbed a portion of her long hair and started brushing it. "Actually, we have a different kind of problem already. The extermination is going to start on the hotel and I was… wondering" She looked again to Alastor, waiting for his smile to keep going, "if you could maybe send of your people to come help us fight back."

"So you want us as fighters?" Rosie laughed gently, almost covering her mouth. "That is a huge favor indeed! We do love a good blooshed just like anyone else, but why would we do that? You have to give me a better pitch than just asking nicely, sweetie."

"Well, um…" Alastor put a hand on Charlie's shoulder and squeezed once before leaving her, joining his hands at his back as he looked casual. Charlie gulped, finding her words. "We don't just want to fight. We plan to take them down. You can do whatever you want with the bodies later. Have you ever had angel meat?"

"Can't say I have!" Rosie perked up. "Do you really think it will come to that, dear? Do you have the means for it?"

"We are getting them. Right as we speak. We only need people who will use them. I promise that if you come with us, we will have a real chance."

"Mmm" Rosie smiled, taking a sip from her own cup. "You are awfully quiet for such a talkative man, Alastor. I thought that hotel was also important for you? You know that Mimzy fummed for days after you kicked her out, poor girl."

"I am nothing but just a humble employee" said Alastor, patting the head of Charlie. He really couldn't help but to feel proud of his fawn taking control of the situation, offering bloody feasts completely on her own. "Of course I would let the manager to do the speaking. I am mostly here for support and vouch for her word."

"Well, you haven't been doing a lot of vouching now" Rosie put her cup down and crossed her legs, an amused smirk on her face. "Do you really think this is a good idea? Can you assure me that promise will be fulfilled?"

"Absolutely, my dear old friend" Alastor extended a hand to take hers, giving her knuckles the softest of brushes against his lips. Charlie stared at the exchange with a slight frown, but didn't say anything. "Lend us your people and I promise you will be sick of all the new meat you will have. Rivers of angelic blood and viscera all for you, nothing less than what a lady like you deserves. The sky will rain gold the day of the battle and those angels will regret the day they ever came close to us. We will teach heaven a real reason to fear us."

Rosie laughed good naturedly, taking out her hand only to gently slap him on the shoulder.

"Oh, honey, you do know your words to charm a lady" she commented. Charlie made a line out of her lips, looking at a side. "Well, I am sold!"

"Wait, really?" said Charlie, blinking.

"Yes, of course! I love it when a young lady is taking charge and Alastor has been a good friend thus far, so if he is giving his word then I believe it. But you will still need to convince the rest, dear. There is only so much only I can do if you want them all to cooperate" She put her chin on her hand. "Just add a little of pizzazz and you will have them eating out from your hand. Figurely speaking."

"She knows her way around that, she's a natural" added Alastor with a sincere smile. "It will be easy as pie."

It wasn't as easy as pie. In fact, it was a disaster. Between Charlie stumbling over her words at the mic and Susan's expected hackling, Rosie announced a little break through her megaphone to take a black eyed Charlie to a side.

"No, no. Stay" Rosie stopped Alastor when he tried to follow them. "We are having a girl's talk, no boys allowed. Keep them entertained until we are back."

The ears of Alastor's flattened, but nodded. Charlie could feel the stare of her father as Rosie guided her back to her emporium, entering to a space behind some curtains that looked to be the office of the owner. Charlie sighed as she sat on the couch.

"I am sorry" said, rubbing her face.

Rosie sat at her side, holding both her hands on her lap.

"Dear, I am sorry, I am sure you have a lot on your mind right now, but I really have to ask this" Charlie lifted her sight to her. The overlord smiled for a moment. "Please, don't take this the wrong way but… what relationship do you actually have with Alastor? I have been way too curious this whole time."

"Whaaaat… what do you mean?" Charlie started twisting a lock of hair, her smile shaky and uncomfortable. "You heard him, he is just like, a friend, who works with me. That is all. Nothing more or nothing less!"

"You are a terrible bullshiter, darling" pointed out Rosie gently, patting her knee. "Come on, it can't be that bad. It's not like you are going to tell me you are his secret daughter or something."

Rosie chuckled at her own suggestion and Charlie joined in, laughing way too loud for anyone's comfort.

"That is a joke! Good joke! Extremely good joke! That is so funny, I can't believe you would even think of something so…" She stared at the other lady, realizing the shock on her face far too late. Her shoulder slumped, as if caught in the act with her hand on the cookie jar. "What gave it away?"

"Besides the red tips of your fingers, horns, the stitches and your eye, you mean?" Rosie sighed, her smile coming back as she was getting over her own surprise. "I don't know, called it some good old intuition and knowing Alastor for a good while. The way he acts with you is definitely out of the norm for him. I have never seen him so…"

"Supportive?" tried to help Charlie.

"Protective. Oh, I am sure that most people wouldn't notice anything, sweetie, you don't have to look so guilty."

"Sorry" Charlie looked down at her fingers. It was only the very tip rather than the two falanges Alastor had. Was it really that obvious? Nobody had clocked her before… although it wasn't common either for her and an Alastor without disguise to be seen at the same public space together. "Nobody was supposed to know."

Rosie nodded.

"Yeah, I imagined that. That man for sure loves to think only he holds all the cards" She then smirked, getting closer as she lowered her voice, as if sharing a mutual secret. "I guess if anything I feel some sense of vindication now. Years ago I had this crazy thought that Alastor had the glow with him. You know, that glow that new parents get when all they think about is their baby and all they want to do is get back home to them. I saw him staring at the baby stores and the families walking around more than usual. I thought oh, maybe he is thinking of eating a whole family! That is neat! But at the back of my head I was, why is he looking at the baby toys too then? He said he was just bored and wasn't paying attention, but I knew something was up. I didn't insist much either because he seemed happy, and who I am to question someone's happiness? I guess now I know what that was all about. You were the baby all along" She smiled more warmly now, brushing her hair back, not knowing she was imitating the same thing Alastor did before meeting her. "Such a pitty he never trusted me enough to tell me. I would have spoiled you rotten myself if I could. Oh, I am sure you were the cutest little thing growing up."

Charlie blushed a little, but did felt comforted by her words. She wasn't angry or dissapointed in Alastor. She understood, or at least didn't felt inclined to criticize what Alastor had done by keeping her on the dark.

"I also wish I had known you before" commented Charlie, honestly. Even if she would end up not eating the same things, Rosie did seemed a genuinely sweet person. "But dad was really paranoid about someone using that information against him."

"They would have. That was a wise decision. A little extreme, yes, but understandable. It's a cut throat world out there, dear, especially for notorious overlords. That is why you don’t hear about many of us in relationships or with families. Teams of overlords working together are extremely rare for the same reason. Everything we care about can be used as leverage, as a new weapon."

"That is what he said for why I couldn't mention to anyone he is married to papa either."

Rosie blinked a few times.

"He is what, honey?" asked and something on her tone gave Charlie pause.

"He… he is married to my papa. I was raised by both of them. I thought that was implied?"

"No, it wasn't, dear" Rosie streighten up. "I thought he was a father in the sense of a donor that decided to get involved on the child's life. I can't imagine why the king would choose a sinner as a donor for his heir, but that is besides the point. I didn't know that they actually had that kind of relationship" Rosie looked at her curtains for a moment, in direction to the center of town where Alastor should be keeping the other cannibals still in place. Her eyebrows came together as a thought came to her. "And he has been dating around? Oh, no. Sweetie, I am so terribly sorry. I never expected something like that from him. That must be so hard for you."

Before Charlie could add anything, Rosie brought her to a iron hold hug and petted her hair.

"What?" said, confused for a second until the meaning of those words reached her brain and she blushed violently. Rosie thought that Alastor was cheating on her father. "Oh, no! No, no, no, it's not like that at all! That was all my papa! All those dates are just papa shapeshifting!"

Rosie free her enough to look at her face.

"Really? All of them?"

Charlie nodded.

"To… to keep the secret better" explained, deciding to guard the part of papa's social anxiety for herself. No matter how upset she was with him, they still deserved some privacy. Despite the misunderstanding she felt a bit good for talking with someone else about her family, having a chance to defend them for once. "It's all just them. Dad would never do that."

Rosie turned her head slightly to the side.

"Well, if someone is going to know better than me I guess it's going to be you" She smiled indulgently. "It's still hard to imagine, you know? I am the matchmaker of this place so you would think I would notice if one of my friends got married. On top of that, to a king! With a kid! It's kinda romantic in a weird unorthodox way I suppose" Rosie sighed. Somehow her black eyes seemed to soften as she caressed her cheek. "Your papa must be a special devil if Alastor took so much time and effort to protect what you guys have.”

"He is" admitted Charlie, looking down.

"Oh? Was that the issue all along?" asked Rosie, picking up on her tone. Charlie blushed a little, but nodded. There was no point lying at this stage of their conversation. "Well, I am not an expert on daddy issues, but I am told I am a good listener! Come on, dearie, tell me all about it!"

So Charlie did. All about how she did always resented papa for allowing the extermination to happen, everything about how frustrating it was knowing that neither him or dad truly believed on her dream and how she was fine with all of that. Really, she was! Or at least it was easier to put it aside. But the ommition of the angel killing felt like the final slap to the face. A reminder like no other that he still only saw her as a little kid that needed to be protected and couldn't do much of anything outside of him. Rosie brought a new cup of black liquid that Charlie took without thinking and drank as she continued. It was bitter, but just a a few half dozen of sugar cubes made it all good for her.

"What is this, by the way?"

"Rose tea, my dear" said Rosie, wisely keeping to herself that all her roses were fertilized with fresh bodies exclusively to make them stronger. Charlie hummed approvingly, taking more. "So, now you feel that because your dear old father hide that from you he doesn't really trust you to lead and that makes you doubt yourself more?"

"Oh" Charlie's eyebrow came together. "I guess that is a way to summarize it."

Rosie chuckled.

"Sweetheart, I say this fully understanding your feelings and also a bit from where your papa comes from" The overlord crossed her legs and smiled deviously at her, flicking her wrist. "Fuck it. Since when what our parents think should determine the rest of our lives? My own father wanted me to settle down and have 8 children like his mother. Suffice to say, the only children I ever care about are those on my town and they all have their own parents to take care of them. I like more the role of the fun aunt that sneaks treats when they aren't watching" She smiled, patting her knee. "I think you have some potential within you. I think Alastor sees that too or else he wouldn't have brought you here. You could always just show it to the face of the big boss of hell himself and make him realize how wrong he was, rather than already thinking he was right. If this silly hotel idea is really that important to you, then he will come around anyway."

"I don't know about that" Charlie rubbed her face with a hand. "Every time I try to advocate for it somehow I only make it worse."

"With a song and dance, right? I heard the rumors about the TV thing" Rosie suddenly perked. "Oh, now I understand why Alastor was talking about "lack of professionalism" so much when we talked about it."

Charlie cringed at the memory.

"Yeah, that."

Rosie smile widened as she reached to take the hand of Charlie.

"You just need the right audience for once."

--

Turned out that Rosie was right. Once she got into the rythm of things, not even Susan was enough to stop Charlie's ambition. The cannibals agreed to participate on the battle and she decidedly ignored Alastor promising them all the angel bodies that they could eat. In the end, she was exhausted so she waited outside the emporium as Rosie was packing the bull demon meat for Alastor to take out.

"Do you plan to share it with someone, darling? I feel like this is a lot even for you in one meal." asked Rosie, having to put the meat in two boxes for easier carrying.

"I have a few candidates in mind" Alastor chuckled nonchalantly.

"Another one of your conquest?" Rosie made a little gasp. "Oh! I completely forgot. I have these new finger tips made with a new recipe I am trying. Would you mind taking a bite and tell me what you think, dear?"

Alastor looked at the box offered up in front of him. He wasn't planning to take any snacks, but only one wouldn't hurt, so he took on one.

"Is it good?"

"Juicy" commented Alastor. "The blood being kept inside is a nice touch."

"Oh, that is not the only thing inside" Rosie chuckled sweetly as she took the hand of Alastor, pressing her finger over each of his fingers until stopping on the anular one. "Ah. Is this where the wedding ring is hiding? I would ask you to show me, but I guess we already established you don't want to do that."

"What are you talking about, dear?" Alastor's eye darted to the entrance for a second and Rosie brought his attention back to her, softly redirecting his chin.

"Oh, no. Don't try to blame that sweet girl for a thing. It's not her fault that you can't hide at all how much you care for her, especially for someone who pays enough attention" Rosie's smile went wider as she traced a finger over his cheek. "Alastor, my dear friend. Flaunting your charm all over the place is one thing, but doing that to the father of your child? You know what I feel about cheaters, don't you?"

Alastor's eye immediately went to the box of finger tips and back to Rosie. He remained still, his smile didn't falter, but his ears went back on his head. Rosie let the moment last a little longer before she completely lost it, snorting.

"I am sorry, I am sorry, I couldn't resist" said Rosie, picking one of the finger tips and bringing it to her mouth so he could see they were not, in fact, poisoned with anything. Just some new spices she wanted to test. "It's not every day that I get to play a little joke on the radio demon, I had to take my chance. I know all about the shapeshifting thing, love."

Alastor's shoulder relaxed.

"Hilarious, my dear" said with all the amusement of a dead fish.

"Indeed it was" Rosie chuckled again, her gaze staying on his glove a moment longer for Alastor to have it grip his staff. "I really wished you had told me."

Alastor looked around them, but the emporioum was empty, except for a few employees cleaning up the tables that were already talking between each other. Most cannibals were back at their homes having dinners with their families or significant others.

"Nobody was meant to know" said as his only attempt at apologizing. After a while, he continued as he rubbed his finger: "The last time someone got close to finding out it didn't end well. Now more than ever before I can't risk it."

"I am sorry for that, sweetie" Rosie said sincerely, extending her hand over his and giving it a gentle squeez. "Everything gets more complicated when kids are involved, I understand. I hope you know already I am not saying a word to anyone and nobody else find out. Just me, for as long you want me to keep quiet."

Alastor nodded. He didn't really put that into doubt. If anyone in hell would know to keep their mouth shut, that was going to be her.

"I appreciate it."

"Of course, dear" Rosie smiled as she inclined further over the counter. "Just tell me a little something and I will let you go with that darling girl of yours already, okay? At least for now because I can't promise I won't ask more later."

Alastor sighed.

"If you must. One question."

"One question." Rosie looked over at her employers, just to double check, and practically whispered next to Alastor's face. "Does he make you happy, dear?"

A sound of static broke the calm silence installed between them and Alastor pulled back, not meeting her gaze. Somehow that seemed to be even a better answer than what Rosie expected and she clasped her hands together, delighted.

"I see!" Rosie laughed candidly behind her hand, before giving him a soft peck on the check. "I am glad for you, my friend. Say hi to your darling from my part as you both enjoy this. Don't worry, this one goes on the house too. Consider it a late wedding gift."

Alastor looked at her for a moment, his ears flickering. It was weird, but not entirely repulsive to see other people refer to his husband like that. To have others recognize them as they were. They never even had wedding gifts.

"I will" promised, doubting for only a second before he reached out to squeeze her hand back. "Thanks."

Rosie waved at him and then Charlie when he opened up the door, reuniting with his daughter. Charlie looked at him as if nervously waiting for his reaction.

"I am not mad that she knows" clarified Alastor, which did calmed down Charlie. He pet her hair, letting his finger to brush it a moment longer. "Apparently it was more my fault than yours anyway."

Charlie took hold of his arm, hugging to it.

"Let's go home, dad."

Home meant finding out a long line of Carmine's branded boxes being delivered to the hotel, with a brand new winged Vaggie waiting for them. Inside of the hotel, even though she was happy everyone had decided to stay, she was taken aback by the imps workings on reinforce the hotel, the stairs, the windows, everything that could need it. Charlie recognized their white uniforms as the ones from the servants at the palace.

"Yep, I want all that glass covered!" was directing Lucifer, flying over the lobby as he was checking something off a piece of paper on his hand. "Everything that is fragil or could be used as a weapon I want it down and turned into an actual weapon. It won't finish the job, but as long it hurts them for a bit it will be enough!"

"Dear" called Alastor, seeing that Charlie seemed incapable of forming any word.

Lucifer turned around in the air, smiling wide.

"Hey, welcome back!" said, landing in front of them. "How was it? Do we have the cannibals coming or…?" Before he could finish his sentence, Charlie had already launched herself to his arms and making him drop his clipboard. Lucifer hugged her back, too taken aback to know what else to do. "Sweetie…?"

"I will prove you wrong, papa!" declared Charlie, holding up his face by squeezing his red dots until he was doing a duck face. "I will prove you I can do this! That this can work! I know it can!"

Lucifer's eyes darted for a second to Alastor, who shrugged, and then back to his daughter.

"Okay" said, still lost when Charlie hugged him again, squeezing as tight as she could. Lucifer frowned a bit, but returned the gesture the best he could, rubbing her back. "I…I am sorry I didn't tell you before, sweetie. Really. I love you."

"I love you too" Charlie made a sound between a sniffle and a sigh, not quite a sob yet, and kissed his cheek. But when she put her hands on his shoulders, she had a determined look on her face that not even her teared up eyes could diminish. "We have Cannibal Town."

"Hell yeah we do! I knew you could do it! I told you guys that she could do it!" bragged Lucifer to the hotel residents.

"Yes, we heard you literally all afternoon" sighed Angel, rubbing his face. "We appreciated the extra help and the many, many, many pep talks, your Majesty."

"The moment you and Alasstor went off, the king just came and took charge" commented Sir Pentious.

"He screamed a couple of times too" added Niffty, giggling. "His horns came out and spit fire. It was great."

Lucifer blushed.

"They were handling Alastor's piano wrong!" justified Lucifer in front of Charlie. "Everything valuable is going to be put on the palace for safe keeping and I couldn't let them ruin it. That was the opposite of the whole point!"

Charlie smiled and gave him a quick hug as she admired around. Even the bar of Husk, that offended Lucifer’s taste so much, had been protected with bags of sand and all the bottles were behind a thick plastic.

"While you are done fortifying, how about I make dinner?" offered Alastor. "No, dear, I won't use the meat I just got" added to Charlie, who was about to ask. "This one is just for me and Lucifer. I will make something else for everyone else."

Alastor lifted the chin of Lucifer and gave him a small kiss on his lips. Lucifer put his hands around the waist of the demon for a second, letting them linger for a moment until Alastor moved again. Charlie followed his trajectory with her eyes until a sudden thought made her gasp. She made her way to the stairs, avoiding the imps carrying valuables through an open portal.

"I forgot something important!" announced before she dissapeared through a door.

Lucifer looked at Vaggie, hoping some kind of clarification. Vaggie seemed just as confused as he was for a second, only for a smile to spread on her face.

“We brought some things back from our trip” explained. “We uh… planned to show you yesterday but…”

“Souvenirs?!” Lucifer got excited regardless, saving her from dwelling on it. “I love souvenirs! Aww, you shouldn't have!”

“Where should we put all these boxes, ma'am?” asked a Carmine's employee. Sir Pentious was admiring all that cargo with big shiny eyes, as if in love, but not daring to touch it.

“Sir Pentious” called Vaggie. The man blinked away from the spell to look at her. “How about you take care of placing our weapons? I only ever had my spear so I imagine you must have some more experience handling multiples ones.”

“REALLY?” Sir Pentious positively shaked in place.

“Sure. He is the one to listen” Vaggie said to the Camine's people.

Sir Pentious immediately asked what kind of weapons they were bringing. Angel asked for some bullets while Husk eyed at some jars full with angelic steel shavings, that could be added to his cards.

Lucifer extended his wings to keep directing the imps to protect the place. For the first time since Charlie started her little project, he felt optimistic about it. That morning when the sinners said they weren't just going to up and leave now, he was starting to see by himself the influence of Charlie on them. Heaven wasn't the goal, but fighting for something, with someone, was still valuable enough to make a stand. Seeing them all cooperate with each other made him believe that maybe, just maybe, even his curse of only seeing the worst of humanity could change.

--

The dinner itself ended up moving to the lobby when Charlie had the idea of inviting all the servants too. Lucifer set up a large table and multiplied a bunch of chairs until everyone was seat. Likewise, he multiplied the dishes that Alastor made to be distributed between everyone. They imps weren't going to be with them for the final battle, but they had worked the entire day and Charlie wanted to compensate them for it. Alastor let his own wine sway on his glass as Lucifer gave everyone a full plate, happily announcing that they could always get seconds if they wanted to. When the praises over his good started to come in, as he expected them too, he rised his glass before taking the first sip.

"So how was it?" asked Lucifer, finally sitting at his side after attending everyone. Charlie herself was laughing and talking with the residents, so he didn't want to bother her. "Tell me everything."

"Oh, we had a minor setback at the start" commented Alastor, "but after a pep talk from Rosie, she pulled it off flawlessly. They will only ask for the bodies of our enemies."

"They can have them" affirmed Lucifer with a sneer. "Actually, you know what? If any of those fuckers touches Charlie, save a piece for me. I will shit them out happily."

Alastor swallowed up, disimulating the shiver of delight that ran through him at the complete disregard of his husband over his own species. His charming and casual cruelty was one of those things that didn't happen often, but when it did it remind him how lucky he was.

"There was also something unexpected" commented, reaching out to take the hand of Lucifer to brush at the king's ring. "Rosie now knows. Apparently I acted too fatherly to escape her eyes and then Charlie told her the rest. I trust her so she won't say a word regardless" he added, brushing his lips against the knuckles of the king.

He rather chose to omit the little prank of Rosie. Falling into the bad side of the Cannibal Overlord was never a comforting thought to have.

"You did?" Lucifer cooed. He wasn't the one so concerned about their secret being find out, that was always more Alastor's priority. "Aw, that is so sweet. I wish I have been there" He snickered lightly, locking fingers with the radio demon as he got closer as he lowered his voice. "I bet you were so hot on dad mode."

Alastor cleared his throat, looking away.

"You were busy here too" commented.

"Well, of course I was!" preened Lucifer, looking satisfied with himself. "My daughter and husband are going out for an actual army, Vaggie was out getting weapons and I was supposed to stay on my ass the entire day waiting? I had to do something too…" The face of Lucifer fell a little", since I won't be able to do anything that day. Unless they hurt her, that is…"

"Which won't happen" added Alastor, kissing his forehead as a charm to dispells darker thoughts.

Lucifer smiled softly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You won't let it happen. Big bad sexy radio demon and all."

"Exactly" Alastor nodded and looked around the table. They were all a strange group, no doubt about it, but a unified front nonetheless. Husk even smiled more than usual as he showed to the imps some magic tricks. He didn't even need to pull out the contract to keep him there. Seeing them all together like that, maybe a little bit of optimism wasn't that misplaced. "Now let us eat, love."

Eat they did.

Once all the plates were cleared, Lucifer opened up a portal to let the imps return to the palace to take a well deserved rest before resuming their duties the next day. The sinners likewise announced they were going to bed, all the while Niffty cleaned up the table as a little red thunder going from side to side.

Vaggie yawned into her hand and nuzzled against Charlie as they exchanged some words. Lucifer, right at their other side, pretended to not be interested at all when Vaggie stand up from her chair.

"I will be heading to bed now. Good night, your highness" Vaggie bowed her head slightly before going to the stairs.

"Good night, sweetheart! Have a good rest, you deserve it for what you did today! We are so lucky to count with you!" responded Lucifer loudly and he nodded to himself when he could hear Vaggie almost tripping with her own feet. He turned to Charlie with a smirk. "I am totally nailing this father in law thing! Don't worry, sweetie, she will feel part of this family one way or another."

Charlie snorted.

"Alright, papa, thank you" She said before she inclined to a side, pulling up a bag that they had seen before.

The bag had a design of cartoon wings all over and a logo advertising heaven just in case they wondered from where it came.

"Well, as you both know, we did managed to talk with grandma and have a coffee with her. She had never forgotten about either of you, so when I told her who I was she literally was "oh thank goodness, I thought I was going insane for a second there and seeing aparitions already." She was so happy to hear about how I came to be and how you were the best parents I could ever ask for! And you know what she said?" Charlie didn't wait for an answer before she followed up, making an actually decent imitation of the accent of her grandma. "I always knew Alastor was going to be a good father. And if I known I was a grandma, I would have always had all the candy he didn't want you to have in hand just for you." She showed me this quant little candy shop and told me to grab anything I could want, because they don't handle money up in Heaven anyway so it's all for the taken! How amazing is that"

Charlie pulled out a large box of bombons, giving it to Lucifer. Most of the bombons were already gone.

"These were her personal favorites. They are so filling, though, so we couldn't finish between the three of us. Then she insisted on getting me a hat because I gave her one and this is what I got!" She put her head inside of the bag, coming out with a fake halo around a white and blue hat. "Isn't it cute? She made me pose for a bunch of pictures for her to show all her friends! That is not the best part, though!"

Charlie then opened up the bag further and put her hand in, far deeper than what the bag should be allowing to for what it looked from the outside. When she finally touched what she was looking for, she quickly put it on her back.

"She said that she one of her hobbies is knitting and crochet. In fact, she took after it after the reunion with dad because she wanted to make something to commemorate it. It took her months to get the hang of it, but she finally made something to represent the two of you and she wanted for you to have it. See!" She then showed the content of her hand to them.

They were a pair of circular dolls made out of yarn, almost blobs, with little limbs and details. One of them was all red with eyes pointing in different directions and a small plastic monocle glued to the side, large cat looking ears standing up from the head. The other doll was smaller, basically the same body, but with yellow eyes with large red pupils and a charm of an apple hanging from it's neck with a red ribbon.

"Aren't these the most precious things you have ever seen in your life?" cooed Charlie, rubbing the two dolls against her face. "She said that if she knew I was coming she would have made new and better ones with what she has learned since then, but I told her these were perfect already. It's you as kitten!"

"Aww!" Lucifer cooed, accepting the white one. It looked so goofy, but honestly that only made it all the more endearing. "So that is what they are! I thought they were little devils. I can see that now. She made these with her own hands?"

"Yes! She is so talented, papa! She had made a bunch of blankets and scarves and things! She wanted to gift me some of it too, but I had to tell her that hell was too hot so I wasn't going to get a chance to wear any of it. Here, dad" Charlie passed the red one to Alastor, who contemplated it on the same manner as recieving the first duckie from his husband.

No doubt it was going to go to the same safe with it. While Charlie excitedly showed the little bear plushie that her grandma gave her, he sniffed the little toy. A trace of lavander perfume that made him think on his mother reclining over her work, doing and undoing in order to get it right, placing the details and sewing ever so carefully. She didn't had the same artistic skill with a pencil like Lucifer, but somehow she had managed to create her own memory.

"Grandma said it was her first ever project that she finished and was happy with" commented Charlie, pulling up a couple of butterfly made of yarn as well. "These I think are supposed to go on clothing, but I will keep them just like that. Oh, and you wouldn't know what else she told me!"

Charlie ontinued on talking about the new updates with her grandma's life that Alastor didn't get to hear since the first time. The book club she organized with her friends, the baking competition they won, the pottery class that she was terrible at but it was still so relaxing to do. A full vibrant life in which she still thought about her son and the tiny eccentric man she met everyday. Now, she was adding a princess with her same eyebrows and Vaggie into her prayers.

"She was so interested on the hotel too" sighed Charlie, accepting the cup of tea that Lucifer conjured up for her. He made another one for himself and a cup of boiling hot coffee for Alastor. "I barely had to say anything to convince her about the rehabilitation plan. As soon she heard about it, she was sure it could be done. It was… a nice change of pace, honestly" She looked down for a second, a faint smile still on her face. "I really liked her. Do you think I could ever see her again?"

"Well…" started Lucifer, not sure of how to respond, when Alastor went instead.

"Why not?" said with a light chuckle. "We shouldn't have met her at all and yet we did. If we already defied our chances once, who says we can't do it again?"

"Can't argue with that logic" admitted Lucifer, scratching his neck. He didn't want to give his daughter any false hope, but Alastor was right, weirder things had happened already. "Maybe someday, sweetie."

"I will take that" Charlie drank the rest of her tea as if it was whisky, lighting up her eyes again.

[lovevalley45]

#fictober23 day one

"Don't worry, I got you."

fandom: naddpod (campaign 3/ba2mia)

word count: 707

Calder knew that he should have felt safe and cozy inside Callie’s Tiny Hut. It should have been impossible to feel anxious or tense in a magic Airstream flush with duck decor. 

Yet, as he sat on a comfy pillow, knees pulled up to his chest, he still felt as frigid as he did in Ultris’ helm. The toasty warmth was almost suffocating after endless weeks, months, years in the barren arctic prison dimension.

It was only the three of them - well, four if he counted Foster, which he did - back together again in the spell’s protective radius, along with the bronze serpent. General Bronzebeard and Kenna had decided to make camp out the hut, saying they’d keep watch. He was pretty sure they were just giving them space to reunite, catching up on lost time themselves. That made the hut feel even more cavernous.

Calder couldn’t help watching Sol and Callie from his spot on the floor. The two of them had done their best to catch him up earlier, but it’d come at him so fast he was sure he’d forgotten a good third of it already. They’d chugged along without him, even picked up one of the Titans of Bahumia as their legendary chaperone. They’d saved him, like he knew they would. But things weren’t the same as he’d left.  

There was, of course, the serpent Callie had dubbed Honeysuckle whose back she casually stroked. That hand was much frostier than he remembered it being, cool ice crystallizing against its shiny surface. She’d taken up his frosty mantle, sliding from spring into winter. Calder couldn’t help longing for her to bloom again. 

Beside him, Sol attempted to repair a burnt hole in his scarf of displacement, a thick needle between his webbed fingers. When he’d emerged from the helm, he’d seen Sol’s knuckles covered in the mushrooms he’d gotten from King Shroomrot. However, they had dripped with a deadlier fungi than before. 

After everything, he should have just been happy to be out. But only worries plagued his mind. 

Sol yawned, snapping him back to reality. “Boy, I am pooped.” He set down his scarf. “I think I’m ready to turn in.”

Callie stood from her spot beside Honeysuckle, stretching her arms above her head. “Yeah, it’s a long trek back to Irondeep,” she said. 

“Right. Yeah,” Calder said, nodding. “I guess we should sleep.”

Ultris wasn’t going to get in. Ultris was gone. He was gone, right? Those thoughts raced through his head as Sol and Callie made their bed for the night - one big nest, just like old times. Though he’d spent the last few days with Jaina, the two had kept their distance in his makeshift camp. Now he found himself hesitating. 

“Calder? You coming?” Callie asked. 

“Uh huh.” He stood from the pillow and sat on the edge of the nest, hands resting on his knees. 

“Are you just going to sleep like that?” Sol said. 

“No. Obviously not. Let me just-” Calder laid down and did his best to shimmy into place, right into the space Sol and Callie had left for him. As he did, Foster flew in, landing on his chest and nestling in. He was effectively trapped by a duck. 

He felt Callie’s cold skin brush against him, ice against ice, and couldn’t help his flinch. “Sorry. Are you okay there?”

“No,” he admitted. “I feel like I’m going to wake up in the helm again.”

“Well, we don’t have any Molsons,” Sol said. 

“We might. It would probably be a hot Molson, though,” Callie added. 

“Dang,” Calder muttered. 

“But you don’t need a Molson. You’re okay now. You’re back with us,” she said. 

“Yeah. Don’t worry, I got you. We both do,” Sol told him. 

Calder looked up at his friends. Though they’d not left each other’s side since he got out of the helm, the same joy of seeing them after so long rushed over him again. He thought about the carvings he’d left behind, his attempts to not forget their faces. 

“Thanks, guys,” he said. 

As the three of them made themselves comfortable, trying not to jostle Foster and fit together, Calder felt truly warm for the first time in a long time.

[isabelleofnorcal]

Which Godzilla movie should I see first?

Everyone wants to know: where should I start? Sure, we could come up with watch order lists and all of that. But the series has 33 36 movies in it. So, here's every Godzilla movie with a rating of how good of an idea it is for it to be your first Godzilla movie.

Every movie is rated on a scale of 1 (absolutely not) to 5 (excellent movie with no prior knowledge of Godzilla required).

I'm going in release order.

Buckle up!

Godzilla 1954 - 5 First movie is both very good and has no continuity with previous entries because there are no previous entries. This is always a good first choice for Godzilla.

Godzilla Raids Again - 3 Not as good as the previous one. Follows directly from the previous one. You should always watch the Godzilla 54 before this one.

King Kong vs. Godzilla - 4 (1962 Japanese, avoid the '63 American version at all costs) Doesn't follow directly before the previous one, though Raids again does explain why Godzilla is in an ice berg at the beginning of the movie.

Solid movie, good if you want to start with Godzilla fighting another monster in a big showdown.

Mothra vs. Godzilla - 4 This is a weird place to start, it kind of assumes knowledge of both Mothra and Godzilla. The only keeping it from being a 3 is that it's really, really good and that might overcome continuity concerns.

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster - 3 This movie is where Godzilla becomes an anti-hero and you should watch the previous movies + Mothra and maybe even Rodan to appreciate it. It's a really good movie, but it's just not enough. It's like if Infinity War was your first MCU movie

Invasion of the Astro-Monster - 3 We're in the middle of the Showa era now. Godzilla is fully a good guy and Toho has their own little monsterverse going now.

At the end of the day, there are just better choices.

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep - 4 This is a bit surprising, but it's the start of some stand alone island adventure w/Godzilla. It's very representative of other Godzilla movies. If you like it, you'll like other movies in the series. If you don't, you might still like the best ones

Son of Godzilla - 4 Another stand alone island adventure. Representative of the series as a whole, but not the best of the series.

Destroy All Monsters - 2 This was meant to be the end of the series. To many references to other movies. Best saved till later.

All Monster’s Attack - 2 This is a straight-up clip show staring a little kid. Not bad, but best saved for when you're watching every movie in order or some other similar project.

Godzilla vs. Hedorah - 4 Good movie. Personal favorite of the 60s/70s era, which likely inflates my score. But it's a good stand alone and has a strong message. Also, the director was told he'd never make another Godzilla movie, but he was a producer on Godzilla 2014.

Godzilla vs. Gigan - 2 This movie is really a back door pilot for a Jet Jaguar series. It good enough on it's own, but it's just not a good enough example of a Godzilla movie to justify anything higher even though it's not bogged down in continuity.

Godzilla vs. Megalon - 3 An ok enough stand alone. Has aliens, manga artists with hot girlfriends. But that's really all it has going for it. Not the worst place to start, but unless your watching with someone who loves this movie specifically, I'd pick another one.

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla - 3 Solid stand alone. It's a late entry, but I think it stands out. Not bogged down in continuity. But like Megalon, I wouldn't suggest watching this first unless it was with someone who liked this movie specifically.

Terror of Mechagodzilla - 2 It's the capstone of the Showa era. It's the last Godzilla movie for Ishiro Honda, and the last movie directed by him before going to work with his old mentor, the legendary Akira Kurosawa.

Honestly, this should be last Showa move you watch.

Return of Godzilla - 4 Technically in continuity with Godzilla 1954, but all you really need to know is that Godzilla attacked Tokyo 30 years earlier, which the movie helpfully explains.

It's a weird choice, but not a bad one.

Godzilla vs. Biollante - 3 Follows directly from Return of Godzilla and is closely tied to it, even as it has no returning cast members.

Godzilla vs. King Khidorah - 3 Not bogged down in continuity, but very much unrepresentative of the series as a whole, even as it does a good job or representing early 90s Godzilla movies.

You'd be better off starting from Return of Godzilla and watching in order till Destoroyah

Godzilla vs. Mothra - 3 We're starting to get some continuity here that might cause you to get lost, but I don't think it's enough to bump down to a 2. Again, you'd be better off starting at Return and going to Destoroyah.

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II - 2 Not a sequel to Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (that would be Terror of Mechagodzilla, see above) but a sequal to vs. Mothra above. And, by this point, we've got recurring characters and a full-blown 1-a-year series going on.

Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla - 2 The title alone should make you want to watch it, but you should hold off till you've see the other movies in the Heisei series starting with Return. Sorry!

It's the capstone of the Heisei series AND it makes direct references to the 1954 movie. You will be lost if you start here. This movie is actually good, so I'm not giving it a 1.

Godzilla (1998) - 4 First American Godzilla and it's not great. The writing terrible, the acting worse, but it's just a huge amount of fun.

Will make whoever sees it curious about the Japanese films though!

Godzilla 2000 - 4 Honestly, the most solid entry point to Godzilla that isn't 1954 Godzilla or Shin Godzilla. There's no origin, Godzilla is an anti-hero and it's fun. It's theoretically in continuity with 1954, but it barely matters.

Godzilla vs. Megaguiarus - 3 It has a black hole gun. Add 1 to the "should I start with this movie" score if that's your thing.

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack - 2 Not bogged down in continuity per se, but it references a lot of previous movies. Best for Godzilla buffs or if your watching all the movies.

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla - 3 Fine movie, a little to pro-military for my tastes but I saw it in the theaters recently and still enjoyed it. No major continuity issues, but not the best example of the series as a whole.

Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S. - 2 In direct continuity with the previous movie. Kind of expects you to get all the references. There are way better choices.

Godzilla Final Wars - 2 A love letter to the Showa era. A 50th anniversary film chalk full of easter eggs and refs to previous Godzilla/Toho films.

You should watch every Showa era movie first, and then wait a year before seeing this. It's a great movie, but it requires nostalgia

Godzilla (2014) - 5 Good movie, no reliance on previous movies. It's only mark against it is that it's a Hollywood movie, not a Japanese one.

If you like this, you almost certainly like other Godzilla movies.

Shin Godzilla - 5 Excellent movie and requires 0 previous knowledge of other Godzilla movies. Has easter eggs for the fans, but they're not obvious and you will miss nothing if you don't know what they are.

Godzilla: Planet of Monsters - 1 First anime Godzilla and it sucks. To be avoided by anime fans and Godzilla fans alike. Requires no prior knowledge of Godzilla but the movie is so different from the every other Godzilla movie in the series, it's a terrible first movie.

Godzilla: Planet of Monsters - 1 First anime Godzilla and it sucks. To be avoided by anime fans and Godzilla fans alike. Requires no prior knowledge of Godzilla but the movie is so different from the every other Godzilla movie in the series, it's a terrible first movie.

Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle - 1 I could rate this lower, it's my scale after all, but I'm not going to. It's a direct sequel to Planet of Monsters and was teased at the end of the fist film.

I'm obviously not going to recommend this as your 1st Godzilla movie.

Godzilla: The Planet Eater - 1 Everything I said about City on the Edge of Battle applies to this movie as well.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters - 4 In a perfect world, you should probably see both Godzilla (2014) and Kong: Skull Island first, but fuck it. This movie is fun an awesome.

Godzilla vs. Kong - 4 Sure, it's a direct sequel to Skull Island and King of the Monsters, but let's face it, you want to see two famous monsters fight. And you want it Hollywood style.

And you should have that.

Gonna be honest with you, I can't imagine someone watching Godzilla vs. Kong and not becoming a Godzilla fan for life.

[hezuart]

Hi Hezu! It’s been a while, Hope you’re doing Well 😊 since the Blaech TYBW Arc is getting Animated👀(more excited to see the Animation), There are Questions I Got to Ask! What would happen if Ichigo Took Rukia instead of Orihime to Face Yhwach? Would it have changed The story that we Currently have or Remain The Same? (To Me, I Think The Main Characters Ichigo and Rukia should Ended The Final Arc As They Are “🖤The Death and Stawberry🍓” Plus They Started The journey and shouldn’t They have finished the Journey Together as Well? I don’t know The Ending in The Manga was Messed up for Me😖) and Also How Would You have Rewritten TYBW Arc? Sorry That There are to many Questions😅😔

Ah! I almost forgot to Mention, Have you Heard about “Vanitas no Carte”?🤔 it’s Anime About Vampires and More🦋

So the whole thing with Ichigo and Yhwach was already a bit of a mess, what with him stealing Ichigo's powers, the Fullbringers kinda just showing up as a Deus Ex Machina... and the overall rush of the storyline just didn't fit as a finale. I would have completely rewritten BLEACH's final arc so it wouldn't have come down to Ichigo chasing Yhwach through a portal. Anyway, Rukia, despite being more powerful than Orihime, probably wouldn't have made a whole lot of difference in the fight. Her bankai is too dangerous to use on an unpredictable enemy. Her ice powers might have proved more useful than Orihime's powers, but overall I don't think she would have won them the war. She could have very well become an injured damsel in distress too. It is very weird that Renji of all people comes along to the final battle, and not like... ALL of them. Out of everyone, Renji is the one who doesn't belong in the main cast, but they always act like he does. He wronged pretty much every member of Karakura in some way, and he's never made up for it. Rukia spent time in the world of the living and time with the Karakura team  when Renji hasn't. (Even when he did, he spent it with Urahara, who is also a shinigami) So he can't relate to any of them. He may be one of Ichigo's rivals but its just very random for him to come in to assist Ichigo, especially when in the end he barely puts up a fight before Aizen has to interfere. Well for one, to fix the arc, I would have honestly had Yhwach kidnap Ichigo, brainwash him, and train him as a proper Quincy, because Uryu is really useless here. I feel like Uryu, once he realizes Ichigo has been captured and Ichigo is a QUINCY, Uryu would finally have a purpose and kick it into high gear to try and help not only himself but also Ichigo. He's gotta drop his secret agent nonsense with Yhwach to try and get Ichigo out unscathed, which involves needing the help of the other members of Karakura. I’d fix Bazz B and Jugram’s friendship. Maybe have Jugram turn against Yhwach for the sake of Bazz B in the end. (I’d fix a lot of other Quincy characters too, to make them more likable and relatable because honestly I don’t care about any of them) There wouldn't be zombies in the way they were introduced. X-axis guy would never turn into giant mitosis birds because what the fucking hell was that I'd also have more flashbacks explaining the soul king, on top of Yhwach's actual overall plans. Aizen escapes. He never gets back in that chair. At some point maybe ichigos powers go haywire because yhwach is controlling his Quincy side and that clashes with his hollow. Any excuse to see more zangetsu. Maybe Quincy Zangetsu gives up because he knows its inevitable that Yhwach will win, but Ichigo and Hollow Zangetsu manage to convince him. Ichigo gets a badass complete bankai, a perfect fusion of ALL his powers that Yhwach never foresaw, and destroys the man. (See the Bleach Brave Souls all powerful version of Ichigo for reference) Ichigo becomes Soul King, or maybe even Aizen becomes the Soul King. Whoever becomes the next Soul King is placed in Stasis, unable to move or speak……. Or maybe that whole thing is tossed out and they can freely walk around the Zero Squad Barracks. If Ichigo doesn’t become Soul King, then he at the very least would no longer be allowed to return to the human world and he’d probably become a captain, resparking the Shiba family Noble line.

Side note but I’d explain what on Earth was going on with Komamura’s family history, I’d probably kill Toushiro or make him ill (his life was cut in half and he becomes an adult for some really weird reason when he goes bankai… like I know hes the most popular BLEACH character in Japan but he’s been through way too much to come out unscathed like that) Nemu and Mayuri would have never had that creepy Stockholm syndrome chapter sequence. Absolutely kill off Mayuri. Maybe Nemu could take over as the new squad captain in his place. Ichigo’s friends’ tickets would actually be usable and have meaning despite the horrible timing they received them. Orihime and/or Hachigen fix Captain Kyouraku’s eye (because wtf why is that not fixed yet. Like yeah , eye patches are cool but sir there’s people who can fix that for you. Right there. Even Nemu could probably make one for you. Fix it.) Neliel and Grimmjow would have gotten a fight scene against some powerful Quincy, maybe see some Segunda Etapa forms from them. Def a lot more bankais from other characters, especially Hisagi, whose bankai was hinted at, but never received until the novel. 

And probably so much more. I would have rewritten the entire Fullbring arc as well. Given Orihime and Chad proper upgrades. I would have never separated the gang as much as Kubo has the past decade... There’s just so much to fix.  ~~~

I've heard of Vanitas no Carte and I've seen some episodes. It looks really pretty and it seems like something I could get into. The main character sorta reminds me of Lelouch. Unfortunately, the anime has a major tonal dissonance problem. One moment it's very serious or scary, and the next the characters have a complete 180 comedic reaction, and it seems to happen constantly to the point where I'm taken out of the story because of it. And I'm also confused on the direction of it. It seems to tease a romantic subtext with the main characters, Vanitas and Noe, but they both actually have girlfriends??? That they are super romantically involved with? But the girls don't have as much screen time or an overarching plot that truly relates to main characters' overall story? I mean I haven't watched the full thing, so maybe I'm missing something, but we spend a good chunk of time focusing on those relationships instead of the plot at hand and I don’t understand what their purpose in the story is. So I could check it out, but I think it won’t be something I’ll be able to stick to.

[annieqattheperipheral]

ok i got thoughts on leafs contract negotiations and they may be unpopular... or you're just not interested, which is actually v smart bc it only ever makes ur blood boil to get riled up over something u have 0% control over. Just not a smart way to live life

AM34 does not deserve to be the highest paid player in the league. puhleeeeez *rolling my eyes in natemac* this is a salary cap league and he barely comes in clutch in the playoffs. Like what nonsense world are we operating in rn dude

Bunts isn't going to get re-signed by Leafs and i think that's a good thing for him. He got more eyes on him here in Toronto after arizona and now needs to go build his own rep outside of here cuz rn he gots leafs stank on him practically a stigma. His style of play and willingness to defend his teammates is seen as a negative by the league when that's a prized trait on any other team. So yea time for him to fly the coop he needs to go off into the land and show the refs and league what a dedicated and devoted team player he is and stop fuckin picking on him (that playoffs 3-game suspension would've been 1-2 anywhere else; that was penalization for being a leaf. george parros career ended vs the leafs so we get pigeon-shit on at every turn)

Willy deserves to think he should be in the range of the salaries of am, mm, jt. Only gd fella who shows up for the playoffs and continuously improves and just had his best season and scored on par w AM. If he doesn't get it here its leafs own fault for having set their stars' salaries that high compared to other teams when u know you're operating under a salary cap (yes yes i know it's harder to attract & keep stars on Canadian teams). I want the best for willy and if he doesn't get it here then yes go get ur bag elsewhere styles. This unbothered king will not be affected and will give it his all wherever he is. But he is thru n thru Toronto style and loves it here and i hope we get to keep him bc i love him and want to keep him in my tiny Toronto condo

Mitchy is our best player. Anyone in any of the comments of any post/tweet/article on leafs contracts who says mm should be traded for the cap relief-- why would we trade the singular player who makes everyone else on the ice better omfg with u idiots i cannot anymore pls gtfo

JT is only now returning to form after that scary injury. 21-22 season was a wash for him returning from that and no one should've been saying shit about him. 22-23 he showed his worth. Truly beautiful stuff. Yes he's overpaid but yea we're stuck w that. Idk. Also he needs to step up on the team culture side of things and get his ducklings in a row; he may be too much of a disciplined parent to be in the loop w the core. Maybe this season connecting w knies in his basement will get him back down w his ppl [insert "how goes it fellow teens" skateboard meme]

There's a 50/50 chance of keeping ROR and my goodness that would be an enthralling coup. His entire short leafie stint he maintained an outsiders perspective and w his keen experienced eye observed shit. The leafies have a history of learning from and bonding deeply w these short-term elders dubas would bring in for playoffs... It would be incredibly useful for the core to become one w ROR and truly embrace his drive on the ice. (also ror u haven't kissed jt firmly on the lips yet after winning the cup together so like idk where u think ur going)

Schenn... All i can say is ty ty ty for coming in embracing this place like the home its always been for u and instilling such a sense of family and comraderie. Like wtf do u mean these dumdum idiots never before did team dinners during playoff away games until u came along????!??!???? They never heard of getting on the same page???? That kinda stuff translates right to the ice. Like i don't even play team sports anymore and i could tell u that. Pls stay. Pls let treliving & shanny understand how valuable u are to team culture. And you're the other half of Mo🥺🫶😭

I love Mo and he should never be let go ever and i fear the day will come when we are all old and graying when they will set him free on an ice drift a la Avs EJ and i will cry enough to shut the city down from flooding and the subway will go out of order.

Ok phew glad to empty my brain of these idiots for a bit while we wait for news instead of speculation. ty for reading if u did💙 GLG😭