#i love a big ol monster man i love making him Worse i love making him Something Else

[tracksdowna]

mmmmm thinking about him (scorpion)

[paragonrobits]

Talk to the people that fight the monsters in the dark, skulking in the alleys no one remembers and hiding behind suits and smiling faces in the expensive buildings, they'll tell you stories. They say there's a city block that doesn't belong to the city anymore.

Don't make trouble for the people there. The unspoken statement is that the people there aren't... exactly human anymore. They used to be. But there's worse things in the dark then men with the hearts of wolves or undying monsters that drink the blood of the living; worse than patchwork men that spread disaster in their wake and don't understand why. Sometimes, a terrible mystery ensnares someone, trapping them in promises and story and lies, and drags them away.

What comes back isn't human anymore. It's still a person, though. They reason and understand things, same as the humans they were, once. You leave them alone, the local Union rep says. They're no harm to no one, as long as you don't bring trouble to them.

Don't rat to them, you get warned. If someone who looks too good to be true comes around sniffing for their addresses, you just smile and nod and say you never heard a damn thing. Don't rat them out. Because the people in that place will know, and they'll find you, and your family. You try to throw them back into hell, they'll return the favor three times over.

But it goes both ways; if you watch out for them, mind your business and keep their secrets, they'll help you out.

The Union rep tells you a short little story; he says that most of the time, the people in that city block look the same as you or me. There might be a few signs; a girl with teeth unnaturally sharp and pointy, or a man who knocks on wood and it makes a noise like HE'S made of wood. But if things are going normal, you won't see what they really look like, just a kind of magical mask that hides them. But they got their fancy tricks, and they know all about escaping bad situations.

So if you do your part in the deal, they'll help you out. Pretty much anything; a single mother went down to them after some bad business with her ex came up and her kids went missing. Well, she talked to Pop Hammerfist, the big ol' dude that looks like someone carved a tree into a man. Her ex was on the news in the hospital a few days after, yelling about the trees following him, and her kids were back home safe and sound, and with the ex having already signed a few agreements to pay his damn alimony already.

Or a little boy with a missing cat came up to them and asked for help. If any of the real hunters or Union folk had heard about it, they would have stopped him, but the people in the city block didn't turn him away. They nodded, and listened, a few hours later came back with the little boy's cat, safe and purring up a storm. You help them out, they help you out; I hear that kid tells 'em stuff he heard. 'Spose there's a lesson in that. We're all in this together, long as we don't tear the boat down with us in it.

Reminds me of a story about the lady who brought the cat in, in fact. A big lady; has to go to special shops to get clothes that fit. Weird shiny teeth, too, with the weirdest damn braces I ever saw, if those are braces. You hear some funny stories about her, that when she comes knocking the whole floor shakes, but she couldn't be a sweeter lady. Nice to kids, loves cats, always help out. If she's got the weird habit of speaking in rhyme before she says anything else, well, we all got our promises, I guess.

Well, a while back, we had a Slasher. Yeah; the thing that happens when a Hunter goes bad, or someone just gets too much of a taste for murder. Killing opens up a soul, and some part of us leaks out, or something else gets in. This particular fellow liked to call himself a real genius; a real nasty piece of work that liked making elaborate death traps and leaving people to die. Well, we worked out he was there when they started finding the bodies, and by that point he'd already gotten the Big Lady.

...Yeah, that's the name of that lady I mentioned. Long story.

Well, we found what was left of him, and his death traps. The whole place was smashed to pieces by something big. Big and helliciously strong, I'd say. It was like the set of those torture horror movies got hit by a storm. And they found the guy, or. What was left of him. Looked like a wild animal had bit him up, or a jaguar.

Well, from what we heard, he got her all right. But she might have been a bit more than he bargained for. I'm not sure exactly what she did to him, but they were cleaning his blood and bone off the wall for weeks. They said his skull looked like something real strong had just slugged him, so hard he sorta splashed. Don't make me draw you a picture, pal.

But, yeah. Funny thing is, they said the fist mark was so big you'd need a person the size of an elephant to throw that kind of punch. And we kept seeing cats around the area. Really, really big cats.

..You remember about promises. You keep 'em with the city block folk, because they got all kinds of things keeping promises to them.

What happened to the Big Lady, you ask? Oh, she's still around. Helps out the local Union cell now and then. Good hand if you need brute force.

She don't much like having to handle anything that's got too much iron in it; steel is fine, but not real iron. She saws its an allergy.

...Yeah, I know how it sounds. But we got our funny ways, and she keeps her promises, so keep your nose out of it, yeah?

[fandomizer]

Salvatøre

Angst, Songfic, Fluff a bit? AU

Captain America x daughter! Reader

Iron Man x teen! Reader

Male! Oc x Reader

TW: Character death, Swearing

╔═══════════════════╗

                    𝖓𝖔𝖜 𝖕𝖑𝖆𝖞𝖎𝖓𝖌: Salvatore

                        [Subject: Achlys]      

                 03:18 ——◦———— 04:37

                            ↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

                ↠ⁿᵉˣᵗ ˢᵒⁿᵍ ↺ ʳᵉᵖᵉᵃᵗ ⊜ ᵖᵃᵘˢᵉ

╚═══════════════════╝

"Catch me if you can!"

...

Only thing the young-looking-man was feeling was guilt as he walked down the hall of big mansion. If only he didn't brush her off. If only he didn't blame her. If only she wasn't born. He would stop thinking like that.

---

"Cap, the kid's not from them. Why can't you see it? Why won't you see it?"

"She's on something and I'm going to prove it."

"₵₳₮₵Ⱨ ₥Ɇ ł₣ ɎØɄ ₵₳₦!?"

"What are you doing?" the authoriative voice of his was blended so well, like no other thing could, with disgust and suspicion.

"Working on my tan? Can't you fucking see I'm reading or at least trying to, get a life and leave me alone old man! Like you always do." old teen said, last part coming out like a mumble.

...

Cap could feel other's eyes burning holes into him. Looks of scorn. Looks of 'we told you so' and such. They wouldn't make him feel bad, not even one bit, if his eyes didn't happen to catch two pair of eyes. Two blue, two brown.

"Good fucking job 'America's Golden Boy' we didn't bring it but you created a monster." with that the, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropis, was off the sight.

Then Captain looked at his best friend with a metal arm, searching for some understanding in his blue eyes. Only to not find it.

"Buck, you know I am right. I was always right about her. She's one of t̸̙́̓̎͠h̴̢̲̜̠̹͓̪͐̀̚ͅͅë̷͓͗̍̓̈̊̿m̵̧̪̟̱̣͇̗̑̂."

"I was once one of t̸̙́̓̎͠h̴̢̲̜̠̹͓̪͐̀̚ͅͅë̷͓͗̍̓̈̊̿m̵̧̪̟̱̣͇̗̑̂ too but you never stopped believe in your ol' friend Bucky."

---

"Who is this?"

"Salvatore. Uhm, my boyfriend."

"Oh! How great! So now you also bring your boyfriend here. As if you weren't a great burden enough."

...

He had always seen her as a mission. A mission, to take care of. A mission, which was put into await to be accomplished. A mission, he did everything to mess up.

They were right when they said he created the monster. In the end she was his daughter but would the greatest great Captain accept it? Of course not. That thing was everything but his child, in his logic. She was a mistake or maybe not even that because to Captain she was a creature, a toy, a new weapon of Hydra. Something that made him look bad.

A little something that painted him as a traitor.

---

Dying by the hand

It was going great until a new group got in to game. Gorgon.

"Who are this people?"

"Gorgon. I think they are here for me.”

"You think or know?!” her father yelled to coms.

“What the fuck is your problem with me? Huh! I did nothing expect exist!”

With that a gunshot was heard all around the base. The girl looked down, hands cupping the bloody wound, eyes widening with shock and pain. The boy’s eyes who had shot the girl was teary. He didn’t know how that happened nor did he want to. The girl fell down. Knees first.

Of a foreigh man

“NO?!”

The boy ran towards his love as soon as he broke out of his daze. He threw himself to ground, next to (Y/N). He took her weakening hands off of the wound, only to put his. 

“It’s not your fault.”  (Y/N) said with a sad smile drawing up her lips.

“No. No you can’t. You can’t leave me.Please, don’t. Please!” he was sobbing when he had said it.

...

“Go to your room!”

“Happily!”

Bang!

---

“It hurts, Salvatore.”

“Shh, everything’s gonna be okay.”

The girl shook her head, stopping when it made her headache worse. The boy looked so broken. Tears all over his face.  (Y/N) brought her right hand up to her lover’s face to wipe some of his tears. Passing the half dried blood on her hand to his face.

“Sing me something?”

Salvatore nodded, rubbing off the remaining wetness with his hoodie’s sleave.

“Calling out my name, in the summer rain- Ciao amore.”

“A dopo amore.” she said, the same time with the boy’s last sayings.

---

“He is not staying here! We got to do something.”

“I think, Salvatore can wait, Capsicle.”

---

“Hey kid, something’s wrong?” Stark asked to thirteen year old.

“No i-it’s fine. Was just thinking.” (Y/N) whispered thoughtfully.

“’Bout what kid?” taking out a big ice cream tub from the fridge.

“I- Nothing. Just nothing.”

“Oh come on now Poison Ivy, don’t pull that trick on me.” a smile broke into the girl’s face with the mention of her nickname, given by Tony Stark himself. A real one in a very long time. She debeated in her mind before taking a deep breath and start talking her thoughts out.

“Why does he hate me, Uncle Tony?”

After a long halt Tony began to talk “He doesn’t hate you kid. It’s just... how he is.” he looked at her face to find some emotion or a sign that showed him he said the right thing. “Now, it’s time to eat soft ice cream. Would you do the honor Ivy?”

...

“’Cacciatore’ what does that mean?” Steve asked with so much concern in his voice.

“Means: Hunter in Italian.” red head said showing off her knowledge on different languages. 

“Is this what this person calls themselves?”

“Yes, it’s possible... S-”

“-Boss, you should see this.”

“What is it FRIDAY?”

Limousines

“𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐆𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐝. 𝐆𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐧: 𝐀 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐲𝐝𝐫𝐚 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐰 𝐄𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬?... 𝐔𝐡! 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫. 𝐂𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐝, 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥. 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨? 𝐎𝐮𝐫 ‘𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥’ 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲’𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐨. 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲’𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥, 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐯, 𝐛𝐥𝐚 𝐛𝐥𝐚. 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡-” the reporter’s profanity was unheard.

“Shit.”

“I told you there was something wrong wi-”

“Not now Brooklyn!”

Ciao amore

___

They all turned to compound that night with so little knowledge of what was gonna happen. It was two fourty-four. The last time Omíchlē Kómpos had been held by the safest safety, Nick Fury’s secret chamber. The Omíchlē Kómpos was busy with being stolen whilst Tony Stark, compound’s owner, was trying to get high.

When Hemera had rose from the underground, Tartarus, did Tony Stark came into kitchen, with a killer headache. Only thing he wanted was to have a cup of black coffe. So he got into motion. Taking a cup from the shelf. Without realizing the note on it, put it on counter then filled himself a cup of hot-black-coffe. He opened his phone, four familiar faces showing up after he did so. Him, Peter, Salvator and Subject Achlys, also known as (Y/N). One year, it was not much but still managed to hurt the arogant man. And the fact that today was her birthday didn’t heip at all. She would have turned fifteen if she were still alive, this was what caught the greatest Stark off guard. But she wasn’t and the man wanted to blame someone for her dead. Even though he knew nothing could have been done that day.

He had finished his coffe right before seeing the sticky note. It read.

‘𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀𝓈 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒮ℴ𝒻𝓉 ℐ𝒸ℯ 𝒞𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓂 :)’

༺༼╚═══════ - ════════╝༽༻

Translations

Ciao amore: Hi love

A dopo amore: See you later, honey/love

Cacciatore: Hunter

𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫: Savior

Omíchlē: Mist

Kómpos: Knot

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐬: Messenger of the Olympian gods.

Hemera: Goddess of Day

Achlys: Goddess of misery and sadness also may be goddess of deadly poisons.

𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐬: Deepest region of the world, the lower of the two parts of the underworld, where the gods locked up their enemies.

𝐆𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐧: Any of three snake-haired sisters in Greek mythology whose appearance turns the beholder to stone.

╔═══════════════════╗

Thanks for reading :)

╚═══════════════════╝

[lovezbrownies]

Jima do you genuinely stalk my every thought... YOU'RE SO SPOT ON IT SCARES ME???? BRO THIS ISNT HEADCANON ANYMORE THIS IS FACTUAL CANON!!!!!!!!!

Jima have I ever told you how much i love how you think...

Siolis

Siolis would of course never eat animal meat! Loves to eat people though

The most specific lunches in the world and dare someone mess with their lunch... Well, they just won't eat until they get home where Siolis will then order a mini fridge to be installed in their office. They're a pacifist!!

DING DING Siolis is so picky with clothes they once burnt a horrible gift Red gave them in front of his eyes... Red learned his lesson and only gives fancy expensive pens as gifts for Sio, which Siolis much prefers!

If you think this poor overworked individual has the time to hone in on their cooking and baking skills then you shall be sorely mistaken, has almost burnt down many appliances due to their very noticeable lack of expertise... Hired a cook soon after to cook every meal and pack it up in the mornings!

Gen

Gen's concerning ability to ingest anything unedible is terrifying, was sent many times to the hospital due to her strange appetite for metals and plastics... (Definitely ate her mother's rings as a toddler)

Gen will forever curse her mothers for encouraging her to use those forsaken plastic high heels, poor thing skidded her knee so hard she started wailing like Grim, something that horrified her.

This woman has an intense routine for every damn thing, but imagine her hair, her pride and joy. Oils, natural remedies, ridiculously expensive clinical herbal shampoos and conditioners, and then you come in... With a common supermarket shampoo and conditioner... Damn near divorces you but Gen thankfully shows you the light via her studying your own hair and giving you a routine to benefit it.

Really likes deviled eggs! (I cannot comment I haven't ever tried deviled eggs :<)

Grim

Grim is a huge consumer of books, especially of the romance genre, monster x human? UP HIS ALLY!! God x worshiper?? GIVE IT TO HIM!!! Two lovers who fight a war on the opposite sides?? OHH BABBBYYY (Slight Poppy War mention sorry I'm crazy over the series) And if the cover looks bad and worse yet... has actual human photography rather than cartoons or scenery? Shoot the damn thing he won't buy it ever!

Really hates deviled eggs! (I cannot comment I haven't ever tried deviled eggs :<)

If this man doesn't start to sneeze due to the massive amount of pepper on his medium well steak he actually won't consume it (Again I cannot comment I haven't had steak in years cuz it sucks #chicken4lyfe)

Grim takes his workout far too seriously, spends ages making up the perfect routine to maintain his muscles and even gain some more, and if he dared to miss a day? He will genuinely, deadass, without hesitation, eat an entire cake in shame. Grim has problems holding himself back from sweets, so when he's ashamed of himself? Cake is the only answer for him.

His moms didn't pay for art lessons his entire life for him not to use it right! Grim will most definitely paint and draw you and then draw hearts and love poems all around his drawing... What a big ole sap!!!

Red (Extra)

Older sibling but heavily relies on Siolis, but also severely overprotective of his little sibling. Red would nag Siolis begging them to ruin some guy's life cause they hit on you and the day after would overhear someone talk shit about Sio and that person wouldn't live to talk shit about anyone ever again.

Supports Siolis' strange habits, wouldn't be surprised when Siolis ends up telling him about a certain crime they committed the night before, Siolis would be nervous of what Red would think of them now but all their older brother said was "You were a weird fucking kid i ain't surprised at all, keep at it just not at anyone who doesn't deserve it or some corny shit like that."

Somehow drinks very responsibly, even though he deals with a lot of big alcohol companies. Doesn't like alcoholics at all, has a lot of policies in his club to make sure no one drinks too much and gets themselves hurt. Big softie though they don't show it.

Broke so many bones when he was young, not a year would go by without Red sporting that year's cast in the yearly family photos

Gets along with Gen!

moot you're too smart for me....

@lovezbrownies oc headcanons (they are all useless to any plot)

Siolis—

- vegetarian

- brings a caesar salad with specifically a poached egg to work every day as if it’s some kind of ritual

- hates wearing navy blue. will wear all other kinds of blue just not navy blue for some reason (this includes dark jeans…)

- tried baking once, never again 💀

Gen -

- ate a coin once. Grim is afraid of her having any sort of change nowadays

- had those plastic high heels when she was 5 or something and fell down the stairs (projecting)

- has an intense hair care routine. will NOT let darling use their own shampoo

- really likes deviled eggs

Grim -

- likes reading bizarre romance books, and typically chooses books by the cover art

- HATES deviled eggs

- likes his steak medium well with way more pepper than usual

- works out 5 days a week, gets REALLY sad whenever he misses a day. like, he mourns it

- i KNOW he kicks his feet and giggles when thinking about darling. he writes in his dumb little journal “they looked at me 🥰🥰”!!! theyre married

[gojira007]

*cracks knuckles* Awright, let's do this. Kris Dreemurr-5A, Susie-4E, Noelle Holiday-2F, Ralsei- 3B, Asgore (Deltarune)-3A, Toriel (Deltarune) -4C, Astaroth Dreemurr- 2B, Sally Acorn- 2A, Knuckles the Echidna- 4F, Tails- 1D, Bunnie Rabbot- 4A, Rouge the Bat- 5D, Julian Robotnik- 3E .

((Captions under the cut))

You are tired. You are hurt. You are ready.

"Well, what can I say, Susie? I guess I'm just feelin'...courageous today."

"NO EVERYTHING IS FINE NOTHING IS RUINED WHY WOULD YOU THINK OTHERWISE ANYWAY HELLO GOODBYE AND HAVE A NICE TIME AWAY FROM WHERE I AM RIGHT NOW!"

"...kris. kiddo. I love you. You know I love you. But your old man needs you to do him a big ol' favor and never, ever do that again."

"No, Asgore, please, by all means! You, of all monsters, tell me about being responsible!"

"...ah good. Another of those fights, is it? Forgive me if I just...excuse myself to the kitchen for the next few hours...."

"Nnnnnnoooooo, Sonic, it doesn't...look...that bad...."

"...it absolutely looks that bad. It looks worse, in fact."

"No missions, no staying up late, no juicebox...this is officially the worst day ever."

"I'm used t'Freedom Fightin' bein' a rough job, but I swear on every aunt 'n' uncle I ever had if I have t'put up with one more stupid Badnik that thinks it's the first one to ever think of grabbin' me by the ears I'm gonna have t'put my fist through every last wall in existence."

"Oh how adorable you are, thinking you can get between me and my diamonds...allow me to help teach you to never make that mistake ever again!"

"Please, Charles, I swear to you it's not what you think. I'm not...I'm not a monster. I just...I thought I could improve it...."

[libertys-lovers]

Psychic, poison, and dragon for whoever you want, from the Pokemon ask game!

Well, as soon as I read this question, Sasha walked into the room. Soooooo we’re gonna do this with him 😈

That is what you wanted, correct? I saw that you wanted to answer these with me in your mind.

AH?!?! Awe man, ya gotta start knocking when you go in there lmaaaoooo. It’s all good though, because you’re absolutely right! I just wanna introduce ya more, ya know?

🔮Psychic Type🔮 ~ What’s our favorite daydream scenario with each other?:

OH- Oh I didn’t even realize- Awe man that’s a funny coincidence-

What is?

Just the fact that like, you’re a psychic, and the question submitted was psychic themed. I swear that was an accident lmao.

But anyways, what DON’T I like imagining with him? I like to imagine myself spoiling him with affection, kissing his cute lil forehead, kicking ass with him and the other Psychonauts in our group; normal stuff like that! The idea of us going alien or ghost hunting lives in my head rent free though. I just think we’d make a great duo. Plus it’s super fun, PLUS I’d love to see you all excited when we find some good proof! Just that big ol’ smile on your face as we see some suspicious “shooting-stars” or something. Pure bliss….. oh no, I think I broke him- He’s just looking at the floor and blushing NSKWNWKW

That was just incredibly sweet of you, that’s all. I suppose I’m not used to you saying these things… outright yet, nor was I prepared to say them myself. But there would be no good reason to deny answering. I think I most often daydream about showing Liberty around our dimension more. I’m incredibly curious on how you’d react. I want to see what things amaze you, and what things you’d recognize from your own dimension! I… can’t deny that I love imagining your smile, either. Or your laugh, for that matter.

☠️Poison Type☠️ ~ When one of us is sick, how do we take care of the other?:

I mainly just try to make sure Sasha lays the hell down and relaxes, lol. Get him some meds if he needs, and at ANY sign that his head is being affected, I do whatever I can to make it go away. Like, headaches and stuff suck as is, but that stuff gets SO MUCH WORSE when your brain is essentially your weapon. Trust me, I know- Sometimes classical music helps him sleep, so I’ll play some of that until we both pass out.

I suppose I don’t do much differently than she does. I’m much too busy to keep an eye on her 24/7, but I still try to check on her to make sure she’s staying at home to rest. She has a tendency to work even while she’s sick, and though I don’t pressure her to stop her efforts (or else I’d be a hypocrite), I try to gently remind her that she needs the rest.

🐉Dragon Type🐉 ~ What crypto/mytho creature do we associate with each other?:

Hmmmmmmm. I don’t know. You kinda remind me of a vampire, Sasha.

A vampire? Really? Why?

I’m gonna be honest with you, I have no idea. You just have that vibe… you know? I’d say Frankenstein or his monster but… I don’t know if that counts. OOH! B U T there actually are psychic vampires! They feed off of emotions instead of blood, I think. It’s actually pretty cool. So nevermind, that fit great!

How interesting! The folklore of your dimension is quite intriguing. Hmmmmm, let’s see. I’m not sure if you’ve heard of them before, but you do remind me of a phenomenon called “Rods”. Of course, these are merely just photos of bugs with motion blur, but there are still some that believe they are extradimensional entities! I believe that fits you rather well.

…kiss me

What?!

You heard me! Kiss me!! I can’t believe you know about the damn Sky Fish!! I thought I was the only one!!! I always forget they’re called rods though- Anyways, MAN I love you, I love you so damn much- Thank you for being such a huge nerd omfg-

🌂Your Host, Liberty~ | Sasha Nein

[lillian-nator]

Wallflower AU (aka highschool au made w/ @bellfort3)

V i b e s - hanging on the roof; walking across train tracks; skipping school; Lakes, yes, something with lakes; something with different types of sodas. - My angsty teens are gonna have painted nails - Tommy bleaches his hair; Wilbur dyes his hair black - dramatic fuck. - Wilbur in eyeliner plz - Wilbur wears doc martens; black, yellow, maroon, silver shiny - Tommy's worn the same exact jean jacket for the past 5 years; it's 2 sizes bigger than he is; but he wears it every single day; it has fur on the inside; and its light washed with tears; the tears didn’t come like it; he's just ripped it over the years - He doesn't wash it very often, but he's glued patches on it, and Wilbur's drawn on it in sharpie. He just layers hoodies or flannels under it when it’s cold, but still wears it when it's hot - Tommy's also worn the same shoes for YEARS, they’re duct taped together at this point, they're white converse, they're not white anymore, and he's bleach-washed them SO many times that they permanently smell like chemicals. - The laces are frayed, so bad that he doesn’t even wear the laces most days. - Tommy doesn't shy from going in mud or water though, he'll wear the shoes to their fullest and then some. - I think you can tell by now, that Tommy just doesn’t come from a lot of money. - They live in a kind of run down town, very poor, old, smallish. - Wilbur is middle class, which is very well off in the area he lives in. - Wilbur gives off family disappointment vibes. Where he has to sneak out at night, Tommy can leave through his front door. - Wilbur calls Tommy “sunshine”, but very sarcastically since Tommy is a dick :) - Tommy has one of Wilbur's old beanies; it's black and monster branded, the monster logo is green - Wilbur gave it to Tommy 3 years ago, and Tommy never gave it back - btw Tommy's 17 and Wilbur's 19: Tommy's a junior and Wilbur's a senior - Wilbur only drinks Green Apple Monster - Tommy drinks sugar free redbull, but mostly only when Wilbur buys it for him, because Tommy usually doesn't have pocket change - Wilbur and Tommy bring speakers to the train tracks and dance and by that, its them jumping around and occasionally pushing someone over - Tommy uses his allowance to buy cigarettes; Wilbur vapes - both mentally ill - Wilbur is essentially the modern emo. He has this one yellow and black flannel that's oversized, and he wears it multiple times a week - it’s a problem.

- Dream, Wilbur, Karl, Tommy, Big Q, SapNap, Punz, and Tubbo - That’s the group. - I have just been talking about Tommy and Wilbur but they are the main characters so you can suck it. - A scene with Dream, Wilbur, Karl, Tommy, Big Q, SapNap, Punz, and Tubbo, at a lake, throwing each other in, and Tommy gets his shoes soaked, but he saves his jacket from the fall. Water gun fights, and they drink energy drinks and eat chips. they lay in the grass and contemplate life, Talk abt life yes. Abt existence. Abt how shit it is. Half of them have to wake up early and sneak home, the other half get to stay as long as they like. - Tommy tucks his t-shirts into his pants, which are always very baggy black jeans with just gigantic holes. - Tommy and Dream both have ADHD, however, Tommy's meds are purely from welfare, he cannot afford to give any out. Dream however? From an upper-middleclass family. Basically millionaires in this town. He can afford to lose some of his meds. - He yells in the clearing "COME GET YOUR DRUGS CHILDREN" - Besides, I've learned that there are like so many different ADHD meds, and maybe Tommy is just on something a lot stronger than adderall. He can't partake in the pill popping, but he doesn't mind. He does it every morning. - They don't do it often, maybe once a month, depends on how big Dream's prescription is - not that he regularly takes them like a good boy should - And I won't ever write this, but Gogy hangs out with them every so often, in which Gogy and Wilbur have an on and off again hooking up type relationship - whenever they hang out, Gogy like sits and Wilbur's lap and shit - Tommy and Punz GAG - "EW the fuck - get your hands off eachother. ITS GROSS - NO PDA IN MY BACKYARD"

- They hang out in an abandoned Building. But they don't try to fix it up. They're not fucking VSCO girls. They just want somewhere to hang out - If anything they make it worse - they fucking trash the place - It’s not intentional though - It’s like they can have fun without worrying abt the mess - just, sometimes they spill hawiian punch mixed with vodka everywhere - THEY GHOST HUNT AND OUIJA BOARD AND SHIT - They hang out in cemeteries too. they play manhunt in a cemetery, but like the regular version- like just hide and go seek in the dark. - they've done seances even though almost all of them are atheists - anyways the point of the fact is, is that half of them (excluding the minors you know) I'm looking at you Karl and Q - somethings going on between you two have made out with guys, and I'm not gonna sugar coat it, most modern like takes on religion do not take kindly to that

- they go to prom - and Dream somehow ends up with a ton of weed, because he had just turned old enough, and had the money - and they get fucking high OUT of their minds, like they're never doing it again - like, George and Wilbur definitely hooked up at Wilbur's house, which they aren't supposed to do - because Wilbur's parents will fucking flip that Wilbur is sleeping with a random person. No one is quite sure where SapNap ended up, and Tommy lost one of his shoes. In a panic, they spent the next 3 hours looking for it to find it at the lake by the school - Tommy fucking cradles it to his chest. -  (are wilburs parents homophobic?) (yes maybe a little side of homophobia) (Is wilbur bisexual or gay?) (he is ‘whoever the fuck looks bangable’) (fair enough) (he is ‘gogy my king’) (TRUUUE) - the bleachers - they hang out under the bleachers

- Gogy = Stylish stoner - very popular, but never not high - Karl is like the goody two-shoes of the group, doesn't skip class, and is on the principals list, however, he will NEVER back down from space brownies - its his weakness - Tubbo has a subway pass, and they do that thing where Tubbo swipes it and everyone fucking bolts into the subway, and they take all the trains at like 4am and just hang from the bars and shit - Wilbur still dresses relatively like, nicely and scholarly, which puts everyone off. He wears very loose sweaters with button-ups underneath. with khakis or black jeans and his docs - where his best friend, our Tommy, wears borderline yellow converse, and one bleached two-sizes-too-large jean jacket, and some second-hand-store hoodies, that are always a bit too worn in, but so, incredibly Tommy - Tommy who legit hasn't brushed his hair in years, not with a brush anyways - too frantic to brush his teeth most mornings. but always chewing gum; Tommy's always everywhere at once - ADHD meds only half-working on him, they couldn't afford the good shit - He'll never quite understand Dream handing out his adderall for free, Tommy would kill for the hard shit, but hey, he's never gonna stop his friends from having a good time

- Let's talk about Karl Jacobs - good ole' goody two shoes Jacobs - all of his teachers are constantly trying to get him to stop hanging out with Tommy and gang - every parent teacher conference is "we love your boy, but we are concerned about his friends" - Teachers have meetings with him, about how the people you surround yourself with can change your future - Karl's like, from the good side of town, plays first in the drumline, plays violin on the side, straight a's, clean-white-air-force-ones type of guy. Name brand clothes. Combed hair - Packed lunch every day from his mom; gets dropped off by his mom, kisses her goodbye; Mom is like very involved in school too - PTA parent - it's fucking good kid Jacobs - and he's sneaking off with fucking potheads to go to college parties and abandoned buildings - Does he do drugs? Well, he’s a big fan of treats if you know what I mean :wink wink: - ….you ever see Ted's video about a 500mg edible …. yeah. - big fan of gummy bears and brownies - Karl shows up to Parties and there are shouts of "Fuckin' goody-two-shoes Jacobs is HERE" - a lot of people make fun of him and think they can push him around - He seems like a softie; welcome mat type beat - but fucking watch this man chug 5 cups of whatever you give him, and then still win beer pong - Like his best friend is fucking quackity, he can do the hard shit - its very much a his parents have no clue who he actually is type beat - Look, his parents have no clue where he is ever - And if they even know he’s out, they don’t know where or with who - If his mom is at all involved in the school, she'll hear about Quackity, basically a drug dealer with how much hash weed he hands out on a daily basis. - Tommy has to be contained in order for the school to run smoothly, and Wilbur is a dramatic fuck that sleeps through most of his classes - Tommy has to take frequent breaks - They make him spend 3rd period in the principles office - Like he obviously needs help but he can’t afford it at all. Even the school can’t do anything for him bc he can’t get anything official for himself - like he can't even try to concentrate - He gave up so quickly in high school, bc they don’t have enough time or staff to help him - he tried in middle school - but man, did he give up in highschool - Yeah. He knows it is hopeless. Can't even afford college anyway. he'll just do whatever Wilbur does - here's an idea: Fucking Karl Jacobs showing up to school one morning just absolutely hammered out of his mind - Karl just showing up to first period AP Physics, and he's barely awake, honestly smells so much like weed and booze, and if he breathed anywhere near you, you could just feel the alcohol radiating from his breath - He's extra bubbly, laughs at everything - takes out his notebook to take some sort of notes, and just fucking giggles at the shapes and equations. He is very spacy, he clearly stayed up all night doing something very illegal; he gets up and jumps around. 2nd period band? oh boy - He gets sick at lunch bet - Like everyone got Drunk but Karl got FUCKED up - It was his birthday, bet - He took like 17 shots over the course of like 8 - 12ish hours, and I looked it up, despite karl being super scrawny and probably like 140 - 150ish pounds - which isn't a lot for being 5'11 - will not kill him - BECAUSE, you guessed it, he turned 17 - He didn't sleep, he was awake taking shots and just fucking who knows what until 6am when they stumbled to school - at lunch, 11:30 in the morning - he's head down on the table, miserable - he doesn't have a hangover yet, because it's only been a few hours, but man, is he nauseous - just the smell of food makes his stomach churn - and the thing about fucking Jacobs showing up drunk as hell - is that at least one of his teachers has called his mom about it - SHES PRESIDENT OF THE PTA FOR FUCKS SAKE, ONE OF THEM KNOWS HER - And the teachers aren't stupid, Karl is so obviously drunk - generally Karl is pretty quiet in class; but now he has no distinction between hanging with hs friends and being in class - he's shouting and cracking jokes and is very tempted to kick his chair over - Anyways, Karl fucks himself over, end of story  - ONTO PUNZ’S RELGIEOUS TRAUMA WOOOOOOOOOOOO - It's Punz - fuckin' golden boy Punz; he plays football; and goes to church; and calls his mother "momma"; wears a nice church outfit; and is polite to the bible study mothers that come over on tuesday nights and gets them drinks - just a fuckin' golden boy - A religious family. Go to church every Sunday. Sunday school. Holidays. But. The kid just realizes that they don’t believe in god. Them telling the group like they’re high and he’s like “you know? Some of the shit that’s happened to us proves to me that god rlly isn’t real.” - and Punz like prays every day for Tommy's dad to get his job back; or for Gogy to get better parents; or for Karl to live the life he wants; and NOTHING EVER WORKS. THEY'RE ALL STILL FUCKED. - by the way we will get the the Tommy's dad losing his job later - But Punz's life is controlled by something he doesn't even believe in anymore - because he's still going to the like church breakfasts, and christmas service, and every sunday morning, and helping his mom's ladies bible study, and his parents are talking about sending him to a youth bible camp - - and he doesn't even think he believes in god anymore. - Punz kind of took out his own personal, religious, and family struggles out the way most teenage boys do. Drinking, and lots of sex. - SO I just imagined this like, really dramatic moment, where its the morning after Punz had a one night stand at some sort of party down the street, and he's long past saving his virginity for his wife, but he's buying her the morning after pill, which his church is just so against, and he has like the moment of, "if you do this, you're done." and he does it - he's had a couple of those moments, like, when he first had sex, and when he first smoked weed, or popped a pill, or snuck out at night, or skipped church - but that was the moment of "there is no going back" - like any type of drug or procedure that aborts an embryo, or that blocks fertilization thats already in process in like: the biggest no no in his church community - so once he stepped out of that drug store, he kind of took a breath, and just came to terms with it - "I'm an atheist." - Punz is the pastors son. - he's like, pre-commited to a catholic college - he’s in deep. - so when he first announces it to his friends, one really late night, "I think god might not be my thing." - they just start whistling and say "FINALLY, THE PASTORS SON HAS TURNED AROUND." - Dream just like turns over to him "how many chicks did you fuck to make you realize that?" - Tommy just slings his arm over Punz, "I'm glad you've quit the Jesus shit, Punz. Your better than it." - There’s gotta be this girl ok. He rlly rlly wants to have sex with her but he always backs out. The thing that breaks him. Is that he gets drunk and loses his virginity to someone who is not that girl - like, he likes this girl, and has a good connection with her, and she likes him, and he knows that its gonna be comepletly consentual, and she's like fucking beautiful right? - and she's the one he wants to loose it to and he's a stupid fucking idiot and loses it to some fucking random ass chick that doesn't even go to their school - This triggers a spiral. After that? He slowly starts giving less of a fuck abt everything. He fucked up the one thing you can’t do over and god he’s so painfully aware of it and so painfully aware that he didn’t even fuck up right. - You’re supposed to wait till marriage. Nope. You’re supposed to do it with someone you love and trust. Double nope. He. Fucked. Up. - its just like he wanted to do something bad. he wanted to fuck something up. he was questioning his faith, his like, great and sturdy and always-there faith for the first time, and what better way to test faith than to do something shitty and see what comes of it. and so he was planning and planning and planning how he was gonna do this terrible thing - which is such a good kid thing to do, to put so much thought into your own rebellion - but he wanted this to go perfectly. - Little Pastors Son, Punz, wasn't gonna wait till marriage. - He was gonna have sex with the girl of his dreams before they were even dating - but man did he like her. Did he want her. - And then he fucked some random girl when he was black out drunk. He's fucked everything up - he can't wash this away with confession - he's tainted. He's dirty. - He looks in the mirror and doesn't recognize the heathen staring back. - He hates who he's become. - But he never goes back - he can't. He's dirty. He's wrong. - but the more he goes down the spiral - the more he realizes that one mistake shouldn't have made him feel like that - that if god was real, which he honestly wasn't sure in that department, he wouldn't want Punz to feel like the scum of the earth for doing something wrong. especially when he felt so bad after he did it. This system was fucked. He didn't want to be apart of another cycle - and he's just lying to himself every time he goes to church, and reads a cerse for his mom, and meets with younger kids at the church, and plays flag football with fucking church virgins who are good catholics and follow all their mommas orders - And every night when he says grace he means it less and less. he always does it when his momma asks, but boy does the lords word mean shit to him anymore From Ethan: - A turning point to the others in Punz's breakaway from Catholicism is like - He prays before he eats, usually. Sometimes they wait for him to finish his prayer before eating themselves, just out of politeness. He's a friend, he gets that shred of etiquette - And then one day he just doesn't. They got some fast food for a whole group dinner out at their hangout spot (a warehouse, did you say??) Tommy is staring at it intently but he waits for Punz to pray. Tubbo's already started eating but the rest wait - And Punz just starts eating - Dream nudges him, "No prayer, Pastor's boy?" - "No prayer," Punz mumbles into his food. "I'm trying something new." SO, TOMMYS DAD LOSING HIS JOB ARC W000000000 - it starts with Tommy showing up in a different jacket one day - like you have to understand, he's worn this jean jacket every single day for as long as WIlbur has known him, which is like 6 years - Like Tommy shows up in this giant, khaki work-jacket and it's his dads... - HIS DAD DIDNT DIE - his dad lost his job, which is essentially death to a family who already couldn't sustain themselves - and Tommy shows up to school, face pale and cheeks sunk in and there are visible bags under his eyes - and Wilbur just rushes over immediately and hugs him so tight to his chest - and Tommy just sobs, "pops lost his job -" gasp "I can't - we can't pay the bills this month. everything - its all falling apart Will." - "Hey - hey. Stop. It's gonna be fine. You're gonna be okay. You always are dude." - Tommy does have to get a job - and he probably does drop out of school unofficially, like he just stops going. - he sleeps during the morning classes, and heads into work at 10am - he's a carpenters assistant. it pays well as they need young, able men. but most of the younger citizens in the town go to school - he has to take the day shift because the day shift pays better - he doesn't mind it, he doesn't - it gives him the opportunity to get all of his energy out; but he misses going to school. as much as he hated it, he misses his friends. - and lets be honest, its hard as fuck for his dad to find a new job, he doesn't have a great resume - he didn't graduate from highschool. and he isn;t in top health condition, he definitely doesn't have health insurance - so Tommys stuck with this job for a long time - his dad uses his last paycheck to buy Tommy workboots so tommy feels in debt to him - He’ll get his GED eventually. - I think - The like religious status of the rest of the group brought to you by me - Everyone who I don’t mention is just a hard atheist - Karl and Wilbur are catholic, but to a lesser extent, Wilbur doesn't really go through with lent, and Karl only sometimes does. They go to a different church and go pretty much on holidays only, a sunday a month maybe. - SapNap goes to Punz's church, they've been friends for years. - He goes to sunday school but misses a lot of sermons because of his siblings sports games. - He is involved, but not to the way Punz is - SapNap's mother is in fact in Punz's moms bible group - Punz sometimes doesnt attend the bible group and Sap's mother is all "now you tell that pastor's boy to actually attend next time, got it?" and Sapnap dies a little on the inside - And George is an orthodox christian, but he's pretty much quit due to the blatant homophobia he's seen at his church. 

AND NOW ON WILBUR SOOT AND KARL JACOBS AND BARKING - Wilbur has siblings, fun fact - that we will never talk about or address - but definitely nothing like Wilbur, more the Karl Jacobs type - Wilbur is the oldest. he's always lectured about being 'a good influence on your brother and sister.' - They’re big sports kids. Softball and Basketball (tall genes). Straight Bs; Bed by 10pm; Have never missed school - Parents pride and joy :) - Just good suburban kids, Have friends next door, help the neighbors, attend the cul-de-sac barbecues. - Basically who Wilbur used to be up until highschool (until Wilbur met weed and a good group of stoners) - Sure he was a disappointment and he had no clue what to do with his life - But he was happier - Never really liked being the goody- two-shoes boy next door, he doesn't know how karl does it “Playing good boy like a dog” - Also he used dog terms around Karl - Because he’s “Playing good boy like a dog” - He’ll throw Karl a beer and smile “go fetch” - He laughs so hard when he sees Karl be good in a class or play it up for his parents; Because Wilbur’s so past trying - Wilbur will walk by and just bark at karl. Bet. Just Growls lowly; Walks in a  circle; Anything to make Karl’s parents (or Wilbur’s own) stare at him and scurry away - Karl’s parents push Karl forward and like hold their younger kids close to their chest, whispering “keep close, don’t look at him” - They tell Karl to stay away from kids like him. - And boy do Wilbur’s pa#rents hate it, They push him along and whisper yell at him As he throws his head back and cackles - I mean imagine, like a stereotypical middle class suburban family: House wife, blue collared father, Two kids; in sports jerseys, Girl in braids, boy in khakis - And then there’s Wilbur: Doc Martins, black jeans, collar and sweater, beanie. Definitely high on something - Chains LOTS OF CHAINS - And he's Barking. Fucking Barking At the nice family down the street - And then he takes out his vape right in front of his parents and silently offers Karl a hit with a smirk - Cause Karl’s too busy playing good boy - And as Karl’s family looks back, as Wilbur is corralled by his mom - He flips them off with the biggest smirk uou will ever see - Wilbur's kind of an ass - And Karl really wants a hit of that vape.

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 05 (second part)

(Masterpost) (Continued from Episode 05 first part, over here)

Breaking News: Zewu-Jun Continues to be Handsome

Just. Look at that man. 

Water Ghost Field Trip

Lans Xichen and Wangji are going ghost hunting and the Yunmeng boys want in. For a simple "can we come?" conversation, a whole lot happens here. Lan Wangji uses his mouth to say he definitely does not want these boys to come while using the rest of his face to secretly beg his brother to invite them.

Corporate recruiter Wei Wuxian advocates for Wen Qing, talking up her skills, and then does the same for Wen Ning.  He pays careful attention to what everyone is good at, and advocates specifically based on their abilities. While Wen Ning makes heart eyes at him.  

That’s my future dark master

Wei Wuxian also promises to protect Wen Ning, which he ultimately does for the rest of his first life. Wen Qing gives both Jiang boys a genuine sweet smile, and dismantles another anti-WWX ward or two, while still being very protective of her brother's secret.

Lan Xichen says yes to everybody. Lan Xichen is that indulgent elder sibling who's just a bit too old to play with you after school, but will take you to the park when he isn't too busy with varsity and debate club. [OP mentally hugs her third older brother]

Back at the Inn

Fastidious local boy dislikes dust; plans to build house on corpse pile

They get to town and Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian check into a room together. LAN XICHEN WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Each of these boys came to this town with his own brother, but they are rooming together, how did this even happen?

(more after the cut)

Does this mean Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng are rooming together? and if so are they going to have a hot but ultimately meaningless one-night stand while each pines for the person they truly desire? 

Wen Qing is rooming with her own brother, and the other hot girl cultivators stayed back in Gusu. Wen Qing never catches a break.

The innkeeper tells the Hardy Boys cultivators that there’s a shark ghosts in the lake and they’re going to have to close the beaches in the middle of July, oh dear. 

Lan Wangji takes a lingering look at one of the beds and then goes to sit at the desk. Wei Wuxian tries to chat with him, fails, and goes and lies down on the bed.  They’re not quite getting along yet but they’re moving in that direction, like when you bring a shelter cat home and introduce it to your established cat. Wei Wuxian is obviously the stray tabby in this metaphor, while Lan Wangji is one of those stuck-up Blue Russians. 

Physically they are setting the template for many of their future domestic interactions, in which in which Lan Wangji meditates or plays guqin at his desk while Wei Wuxian lays in bed recovering from his latest physical or spiritual injury. 

Walk from Dock to Dock

Instead of taking a boat from the dock directly outside the inn, the cultivators walk through a bunch of random countryside.  How does anyone around here sell their fish, if the lake isn’t next to the town?

Wei Wuxian chats with Lan Xichen, laying out his case for why all the recent weirdness is connected. Lan Wangji, who has been shut out of his brother’s thinking on all of this, listens super carefully. Lan Xichen straight up lies and says “nuh-uh” and then walks faster to get away, so Wei Wuxian tries grilling Lan Wangji instead.

At this point WWX reveals that he, terrifyingly, shares Lan Xichen’s ability to tell what Lan Wangji is thinking by looking at his face.

Lan Wangji distracts him by pouring out his wine. This isn't LWJ being puritanical; he's escaping from the conversation by using the power of pettiness.

This works perfectly, getting Wei Wuxian to completely drop the subject and allowing Lan Wangji to make a run for it.

Note: Lan Wangji may have just now made up the “No Liquor on Night Hunts” rule, because Wei Wuxian asks him “why don’t I know that?” and if anyone knows Lan Clan rules at this point, it’s Wei Wuxian. 

R-A-G-G M-O-P-P Rag Mop

They take a bunch of boats and all stand in the middles of the boats while they use magic, presumably, to move the boats and also to keep from falling the fuck over because you're not supposed to stand up in a boat, assholes.

Cue JAWS music.

Wei Wuxian cleverly spots a rag mop on Lan Wangji’s boat. I would like to know where the Department of Dubious Effects sources their goddamn nerve, because we are in Classic Doctor Who territory with these mop monsters.

Wei Wuxian is out here being impressive, and Lan Wangji is doing his good goddamnest to not be impressed, and to be a sulky bitch while he's at it. He rejects Wei Wuxian’s explanation for why he splashed water on his boat, and rejects this friendly shoulder bump, telling Wei Wuxian to stay away from him.

Look at how Wei Wuxian reacts to that. He is dangerously close to being done with Lan Wangji’s bullshit.

He is opening the fight playbook here. He takes a big ol’ step over the boundary that Lan Wangji just set, which means the first phase has begun.

Let’s take a moment to appreciate the not-at-all suggestive framing and prop placement in that shot.

Lan Xichen is amused at these two extremely deadly extremely horny youngsters getting ready to kill and/or make out with each other.

Suibian

Before this can turn into a fight, the water mops start attacking and Wei Wuxian gets to show off his sword skills. 

Wei Wuxian’s crazy high level of cultivation always makes Lan Wangji weak in the knees, which is part of why it’s so distressing for LWJ when WWX gives up the sword during the Sunshot campaign.  Cultivation is the heart of their romance, and while Dark Wei Ying is also a high-level cultivator, Lan Wangji isn’t ready to share his narrow path until much later. 

Lan Wangji is impressed enough to ask Wei Wuxian about his sword, and is rewarded with the most Wei Wuxian answer ever, as he explains why he named his sword “Whatever.” 

The important relationship being shown in this moment is not Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, but Wei Wuxian and Suibian. You can see how he loves it and it's like he's talking about his pet. 

And it loves him back, as we later learn. This comfortable symbiosis is part of what he gives up when he sacrifices his core.

Jiang Cheng gets injured by a seaweed mop and Dr. Wen hops over to help him and look at his leg, leaving Wen Ning alone in his boat. This doesn't actually cause a problem for Wen Ning because he's a very strong cultivator. 

Later, as the Ghost General, he's more formidable than any other fierce corpse out there, and he is harder for Xue Yang to control than Song Lan is. Which means he’s right now he’s probably one of the more powerful cultivators of his generation in spite of his youth and his wandering-soul problem. 

Dance of the Water Ghosts

Now things start to get dicey. Wen Ning notices the color of the water is wrong and Lan Wangji correctly deduces what the water ghosts are doing. Then Wei Wuxian correctly identifies the water demon. As a corporate teambuilding exercise this is going very well, but as a night hunt it is maybe a little more dangerous than expected. 

Lan Wangji says everyone needs to ride their swords and all of the actors fling their arms out in a T and pretend they’re not just standing there in front of the camera. It’s so fucking ridiculous I can’t even.

However, it’s even worse when they show them standing on the swords. It’s SO MUCH WORSE when they show them standing on the swords.

Back to Corporate Strengths Finder 2.0: Su She has no strengths, just weaknesses. Instead of riding his sword he wants to take one last swipe at a rag mop. He sends his sword into the water and it loses its bluetooth connection and he can't get it to come back out.

The entire group of Lan clan disciples hop up into the air on their swords and not one of them tries to help Su She, which is hilarious.  

Sweet baby Wen Ning, however, being a good lad, does go help him, and gets possessed, oops. 

Wei Wuxian grabs Wen Ning and flinches when he sees his white eyes, but hangs on to him. 

When Lan Wangji sees that Wei Wuxian is in danger he makes this face and goes and grabs him and Su She.

A hilarious midair conversation ensues, along with some relationship negotiation. Wangji is touch starved and aims to keep it that way. At least in public.

Lan Xichen fires up the battle flute and seals the water demon and oh my god how is he so elegant and beautiful?

What’s Wrong With The Baby

Wei Wuxian back at the Inn is checking on Wen Ning in a genuinely concerned way, having basically signed on as a co-elder sibling at this point, sensing that Wen Ning is broken. Wei Wuxian is friendly with everybody but he's particularly protective of anyone who's hurt.

Wen Qing shows up and tells him quite directly to get the fuck out, but he surprises her by understanding what's up with Wen Ning and making it clear that he's on her side as far as care for Wen Ning goes, while he still knows that she's up to something.

Giving Gifts to Girls, Yunmeng Brothers Style

Wei Wuxian: I deduced that your beloved brother has no personal firewall and can be possessed easily in spite of his high cultivation level, so I used my expertise to make a special talisman that can protect him from invasion by hostile entities. Here, even if you and I are sorta enemies I want him to have this. Also I’m going to throw in a casual acknowledgement of your professional expertise.

Jiang Cheng: I bought you a comb

Squeeze This

Wei Wuxian tosses an approximately testicle-sized loquat fruit to Lan Wangji and Lan Wangji catches it without looking, and an ENORMOUS romantic music cue swells up. 

Then he rejects it and throws it back. He doesn't, of course, just avoid catching it in the first place because that wouldn’t be elegant and pointed enough. In a later episode, when they begin travelling together, Wei Wuxian will announce his presence in this same way, throwing a loquat fruit at to Lan Wangji, who will catch it and keep it.

Wei Wuxian tosses the rejected loquat over to Jiang Cheng, who catches it, not realizing he is going to be Wei Wuxian’s second choice man in every instance from this point onward. 

Outtro

Soundtrack

Jaws music obvs

WuJi aka Wanxian which is playing constantly when they are in the library, presumably this is the sound in LWJ’s head

Lookin’ Out My Back Door by CCR

Nothing, from A Chorus Line

Rag Mop by the Ames Brothers (warning before you google it: this will give you a permanent earworm)

Writing prompt: Nie Huaisang and Jiang Cheng explore Gusu while WWX is stuck in the library  

Restless Rewatch Episode 06 is here!

[apocalypseornaw]

Always be yours (Pt 2/2)

Warnings? Demon! Dean, mentions of cheating, sex, killing and lots of cursing

You sat just outside of the armory flat on the cool tile floor with your eyes closed. You couldn't bare to walk through that door. It had been weeks since that night you spent wrapped in Dean's arms. You told Sam you'd seen Dean, that he had sought you out. You didn't tell him everything that had happened or that Dean knew what had happened between the two of you.

You weren't praying for the simple fact that you knew with the exception of Cas no one was listening that would care. Sam had left to get the blessed blood after carting Dean inside the bunker. You'd stayed out of sight the entire time. Now you had to face Dean and watch him go through what you knew would be an excruciating process to flush the demon out of him.

"Are you ok?" Sam's voice drew you out of your thoughts. You opened your eyes to see him standing about a foot away from you "Just trying to get my head on right Sam" he nodded with a sympathetic smile "You know you don't have to go in there yet. This is gonna take a while" "I can't do that Sam. I can't turn away, he wouldn't do it to me if positions were reversed nor would he do it to you"

He held his good hand out but you shook your head and climbed to your feet "Let's do this"

--------

You took a deep breath as you watched Sam splash holy water and repeat the Latin that would concentrate the ground for the process to work. Dean hadn't looked your way yet and you weren't sure if you were relieved or hurt. 

You watched Sam draw up the blood in a syringe. Dean eyed it as well finally meeting your eyes before saying "Sammy you know I hate shots" Sam shrugged "I hate demons" you flinched when Dean snarled at Sam before Sam splashed holy water on him and injected the blood into his arm right below the mark.

Dean's eyes never left yours, a groan of pain leaving him before he shook it off. "Look Dean there's a lot more doses to go. You could make it a lot easier on yourself" Sam told him then turned to walk off. He stopped where you were glued to the floor staring at Dean. "Are you ok?" 

Dean spoke up "Oh Y/N's fine alone with me black eyes and all. Isn't that right sweetheart?" A flicker of a smile flashed across his face and your stomach flipped. Sam looked between the two of you visibly confused before Dean smirked "Oh she didn't get around to that Sammy? Yeah me and her had a damn good time in Colorado"

"Y/N?" Sam's voice wasn't accusatory just simply asking. You stared past him at Dean "Yeah I fucked him that night Sam" "A few times" Dean added and you felt your face warm from embarrassment. "Come on" Sam grabbed your arm to pull you from the room and you heard a slight growl from Dean before the two of you made it out into the hallway.

-------

"You didn't tell me you had sex with him" Sam's voice was barely a whisper. You followed him down the hall to the kitchen "Didn't exactly know how to throw that into casual conversation" 

You sat down at the table holding your head in your hands. Sam walked to the fridge then sat a bottle of water down in front of you "It's understandable Y/N. You love him" you slowly raised your eyes and he nearly choked on the water in his mouth "How did he find out?" You shrugged "Crowley somehow? I guess"

You normally didn't hear Sam curse a whole lot but the string of words that fell from his mouth would've made a sailor blush. "Shit you shouldn't be here then" you shook your head "I'm not fucking leaving you alone with him Sam. He won't hurt me, there's still something inside of him stopping that whether it's the Cain and Collette thing. You on the other hand, our real Dean he'd never forgive himself if he did something to you. The least I owe you both is staying through whatever happens next"

He reached across the table and gently grabbed your hand and gave it a light squeeze "You're still my best friend, you know that. We'll get him back and deal with the fall out of everything that happened" you swallowed hard then said "If we get him back Sam, I'm leaving. I know Dean...seeing me and you in close quarters he won't handle it well and I won't be what tears you two apart" "and if he doesn't want you to leave?" He asked in almost a whisper and you laughed sadly "Then miracles really do happen"

-------

The second dose you didn't go in for and there were no words exchanged between Sam and Dean. You stood in the hallway listening to Dean in pain and fought everything inside of you that screamed to run to his side.

------

The third dose you walked in behind Sam. Dean met your eyes "For all you know he's killing me sweetheart" "Or you're screwing with him and me" you replied trying to not let your heart get in the way of your brain.

"Besides the lore didn't say anything about an exception to the cure" Sam added and Dean scoffed "The lore..hunters...men of letters. What a load of crap it all is" when you nor Sam said anything in return he tilted his head at Sam "Oh you got nothing?"

You shook your head at Sam trying to remind him that this was the demon part talking not Dean. You were relieved when he said "What do you want me to debate you? This isn't even the real you I'm talking to" Dean turned towards you "Y/N did I feel real enough to you? Hell come here and give me a kiss baby" you turned and walked out without a word and heard him laugh before turning back to Sam.

--------

You tried to call Cas but he didn't answer so after a moment you walked back into the room. You heard Dean say "Crowley told me all about it. So let me ask which one of us is really a monster?"

You walked further into the room and cut your eyes at Sam "What's he mean? What did you do?" You knew both you and Sam had went to different extremes to find Dean but there were a few weeks you barely saw each other. "Oh she doesn't know..man that's rich"

"You two were trying to get a twenty on me and Crowley from any direction you could but Crowley didn't want to be found and no one showed when Sammy summoned so he found a way" you looked from one brother to the other "Sam?" He was looking at Dean who half smirked "Oh he would've liked to have gotten there before the deal went down but he didn't really care about poor ol Lester..did ya Sammy?"

It didn't take a lot to put together what you'd missed. "Oh Sam" Dean chuckled darkly "Yeah I killed Lester myself and his wife married that tattooed guy" "I never meant" Sam started but Dean cut him off "Who cares what you meant? That line between us and what we hunt ain't so clear is it? Wow you might actually be worse than me. I mean you found a guy at his lowest, used him and then it cost him his life and his soul. Nice work and Y/N here fucked us both so what does that say about her?"

You felt like you'd been slapped in the face when Dean threw those words at you. Sam injected another syringe of blood into Dean's neck and you tried with everything you had to not let yourself break before walking out the room. You could hear Dean asking Sam if he or you had the stomach to do what would be needed should the cure not work and felt your knees weaken at the mere thought.

-----

Sam found you in the map room staring blankly at the screen. "Hey, that's not really him" you raised your face and knew he saw the streaks of tears when you said "Isn't it?" You pushed away from the table when he took a step towards you and shook your head "I just need a minute" 

You walked past him to the room you'd been sleeping in. You sat down on the edge of the bed and looked over to the photo of you, Dean and Sam at Bobby's place that was leaned against the lamp next to the letter Dean had left that night. 

You knew all that was happening had been a possibility and the truth was any amount of heartbreak was worth getting Dean's eyes back permanently green. If that night was the last you got in his arms you'd be grateful for it if he just survived this cure.

-------

You wiped your tears and headed back to the armory. The moment you got to the doorway your heart dropped "SAM" you screamed running in to Dean's side. You stepped closer than you should've but his head was dropped down and you couldn't tell if he was breathing. "Baby, please wake up Dean. Come back to us please" you slapped his cheeks lightly and heard Sam come running in behind you "Is he ok?"

"Yeah if drowning in your own sweat while your blood boils is ok" Dean answered slowly opening his eyes and you hadn't realized just how close you were to him until that moment. "He could stop this darling. You know I'd never hurt you. Just make him stop" you quickly stepped away from him and shook your head "No. We want the real Dean back"

You knew Sam was drawing up another dose but Dean leveled you with his gaze "You think the real Dean is gonna be so forgiving? I mean at least I screwed strangers you on the other hand, my baby brother? That's low Y/N. I would've preferred you fucking Cas" 

"Well if you hate me at least you'll be human to do so" you replied then walked out hoping he didn't see the way your hands shook.

------

One minute you were walking back to the armory after making sure the outer door was unlocked for Cas then the next Sam was pulling you into a side hallway holding his hand over your mouth. "He's out" he mouthed and your eyes widened.

"What's the plan?" You whispered once he moved his hand. "C'MON SAMMY. DON'T YOU WANNA HANG OUT WITH YOUR BIG BROTHER" rang through the quiet air and you flinched. "We need to lock it down. Keys are in the map room" you nodded then pointed "I'll go left and make some noise for him to follow. You go right"

"Y/N..be careful" you half smiled "You too"

--------

You ran down the hall towards the bedrooms making sure to let your feet fall heavy. "Dean?" You called out hoping he'd come after you and not Sam. Sure enough you felt the air shift a half second before your back was shoved against a wall "Hey there beautiful. Where's Sammy?" He had one arm across your chest holding you in place while the other held a hammer.

Your eyes flicked towards it and he smiled "It's not for you. If I wanted to nail you there's better ways" you groaned at the fact that even murderous Demonic Dean had to make bad jokes. "I don't know" he nodded and moved forward catching your lips in a bruising kiss "I believe you but I don't need you getting in the way" 

You weren't sure what he meant until he shoved you roughly into a storage room and shut the door. "DEAN GOD DAMMIT DON'T DO THIS!" you pounded against the door and heard the key turn in the handle "Just calm down baby" was the last thing you heard before his footsteps disappeared down the hall.

-------

Painfully long minutes passed before the door slowly opened. You half expected it to be Dean covered in Sam's blood but let out a breath of relief when you saw it was Cas and flung yourself into his arms hugging him "Thank god" you muttered squeezing the angel who returned the hug fully. "Dean didn't hurt you, did he?" You shook your head "Just locked me in here so I wouldn't get in the way"

He grabbed your arm "Come on. Sam's fine but there's only two more doses to give Dean" you let Cas pull you to the armory trying to ignore the growing knot in your stomach.

--------

You stood between Sam and Cas while Dean slowly woke up. He looked between the three of you "You look worried" you nodded to Sam who splashed the Holy water onto Dean. He didn't even flinch "Welcome home Dean" Sam said with a relieved smile.

-------

You were sitting on the counter in the kitchen nursing a beer. You'd seen Sam when he got back with Dean's food and had told Cas goodbye before he left but you still couldn't face Dean. What he said had stuck with you. He may have cheated as well but it was with strangers and as a demon. You had slept with his brother of all people. You wouldn't want to be with you either.

-------

Hours passed. You saw Sam head to bed and slowly headed towards your own room. You stopped in front of Dean's door and almost knocked but thought better of it. The moment you went to step away though the door opened and you heard his voice "Y/N?" You turned around with a small smile "I just wanted to check on you" he nodded then glanced back into his room "You haven't been sleeping in here have you?"

You shook your head "I couldn't" you didn't know what else to say. Every time you'd tried to sleep in the bed you shared with him you'd ended up crying yourself to sleep. "Do you want to? I mean fuck I don't have a right to ask but will you just lay down with me? Let me hold you." You couldn't believe your ears but your mouth moved faster than your brain it seemed "Are you sure?"

He gave you a smirk that was a ghost of his usual one "I started the day as a demon and tried to kill my brother but you're asking me if I'm sure" you held your hand out and when he took it walked into the room pulling him behind you.

------

He shut the door then pulled you behind him to the bed. He sat down on the side of it and pulled you between his legs. You stood there with your hands on his shoulders just enjoying knowing you had your Dean back even if he decided he no longer wanted to be yours. "Are you scared of me Y/N?" He asked and that shocked you more than anything "What? No" he glanced down at his lap then raised his eyes to you playfully "You could be closer" 

You kicked your boots off then climbed onto his lap effectively straddling him. "I've missed you and not just the sex, this" he whispered burying his face in your neck. "Do you still love me?" You asked and he drew back to look you in the face "Yeah Sweetheart I still love you. Can you ever forgive me for everything I did?" "Are you still mine?" You asked and he kissed your neck lightly "I'll always be yours even if you don't want me"

You smiled and felt tears trying to sting your eyes "I've only ever wanted you Dean" he noticed the tears glistening in your eyes and gently wiped them away "Those women didn't mean anything. The mark and being a demon..it fucked me up and i didn't want to risk hurting you. I stayed away as long as I could but when Crowley told me that you and Sam.." he trailed off but his hands tightened around your waist. "It didn't mean anything to us but helping to keep each other sane and alive. I was hurt and lost and so was he…" Dean cut you off with a kiss and you melted into his touch.

When he pulled away he pushed your hair back out of your face "Can we call this a new start?" His hands had slid under your shirt and you felt his fingertips trailing across your bare skin. "Please" you all but whispered pulling him into another kiss. 

Tags: @akshi8278

[merryfortune]

Blue since the day we parted

Written for 100ships on Dreamwidth

Prompt: #13 Blue

Ship: Ai/Shoichi/Yusaku

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS

Word Count: 1,745

Rating: T

Warnings: Choose Not to Warn

Tags: Canon Compliant, Angst with a Happy Ending, Missing Scene Fic

   A tear glistened in the corner of Playmaker’s eye as he reached out into that cloudy, blue sky and touched Ai, plucking him from the digital space.

   Ai convulsed inside his hand. Just an eyeball. Reconstructed, refigured, recantered and then he remembered. Playmaker’s heart lurched with worry as he cradled Ai, standing into the wind and letting it roll off him as he waited for Ai to say something. To do something. Anything. And then a tear to match the ones dripping slowly down the side of Playmaker’s face welled up on the rubber duct of Ai’s entire eyeball.

   “Yusaku…?” he murmured. “Yusaku! Yusaku! My Yusaku!”

   “Y-Yeah, it's me, Ai.” Playmaker beamed and Ai was happy that such a wide smile would be his first memory in this refreshed, new world.

   “I thought… I thought I was a goner.” Ai mumbled, grateful to be alive but grim in his certainty that he was very much not so supposed to be alive.

   “You know me,” Playmaker shrugged, “once I decide something, it becomes my purpose. Be it for three months or ten years, I just get absorbed in that one singular desire. Looking for you, piecing you back together, that was my one desire this time.”

   “And I bet it was just as destructive for you than if was just plain ol’ revenge.” Ai replied.

   Playmaker didn’t have a verbal response to that but the guilty look on his face spoke volumes. Ai nodded in his hands, moving himself up and down against Playmaker’s palms.

   “I thought as much.” Ai mumbled. “You never really change and yet…?”

   It, too, was written all over Playmaker’s face just as much as the guilt of having pushed aside so many of his connections just so he could reconnect to this one. Playmaker found it worth it though. Unbelievably worth it. He kept smiling, even if his initial grin had shrunken in on itself and steeped with guilt.

   “I can’t help it, your right,” Playmaker replied, murmuring, “Ai means to love people but I feel like I can only do it when I have…”

   “Ai?” Ai piped up hopefully.

   “Yeah, exactly.” Playmaker told him.

   “Oh, you incorrigible…!” Ai complained and he seemed rather cranky in Playmaker’s hands now, frowning and pouting but then he let up on it. “I love you, too. Thank you for bringing me back, for having hope.”

   “My pleasure.” Playmaker replied.

   “So, what now?” asked Ai. “Am I going to be stuck like this forever? My handsome visages? Gone, perished, truly a fate worse than death.”

   “I’ve got that all figured out,” Playmaker assured Ai, “So let’s log-out.” He shifted slightly and an admittance followed, “There’s someone else I really want back now, though, as well. Its kind of co-linked to getting your body back, too.”

   Ai had a sneaking suspicion that he knew what that meant so he perked up immediately, “Let’s get to it then, Playmaker! Seize the wind, already!”

   Playmaker laughed and it was such a lovely sound to Ai. It was unrehearsed and croaky but it was laughter nonetheless. They logged out together shortly afterwards. A cavalcade of pale blue data turning into sparkling shards of data before disappearing entirely.

   When they resurfaced, the location was not where Ai expected. He was still in the palm of Yusaku’s hands as he ventured out of a dark niche where his Link VRAINS rig was set up. It was familiar but it wasn’t home - or at least Yusaku’s apartment, even if it had never really felt like home until the end, when it was more about the emotions imbued in the walls than the walls themselves.

   Looking around, the first thing Ai saw, through the guards of Yusaku’s fingers, was the ocean. It was about midday, early afternoon, and the ocean was sparkling. It was a rich azure through the silver railing and the framing of the huge doorway into this building that Yusaku had made his next hovel. Ai realised where they were; they were at the site of their final showdown, if not a warehouse or two either.

   Ai wriggled in Yusaku’s hands so he could look up to him, “What happened to the apartment?” he asked. “Wh-Where’s Roboppy’s shell?”

   “Somewhere safe, don’t worry,” Yusaku replied and then he shrugged, his gaze grew distant, “I’m not sure what happened to the apartment. Landlord never tried to contact me when I bailed, I left behind whatever I couldn’t bring with me so I could stay here. It was easier than trying to move all your stockpiles there. Mightn’t be the most luxurious of places but its quiet here.”

   “Yeah, nothing more soothing than the sounds of construction.” Ai complained because he knew, for one, that he could hear the sound of jackhammers somewhere along the industrial pier.

   “Okay, serene.” Yusaku corrected himself.

   “But if there’s people around… how are you…?” Ai’s voice trailed off.

   “It’s not easy but I’ve managed alright to hide out undetected. I think the workers enjoy having a ghost around. So long as it doesn’t touch anything important, they don’t care if some electricity is pilfered.” Yusaku said but he brightened up, returned his gaze to Ai. “But now that we’re together again, let’s try and find somewhere really nice to live, yeah?”

   “Yeah.” Ai excitedly replied.

   “So let’s get you into your not-meat suit.” Yusaku said. “I don’t have all the means to give you back your Ignis body but take your pick of SOLtiS bodies.”

   Yusaku drifted through the vast, freezing warehouse like it was his home, showing Ai to one of the many stashes of cold, lifeless bodies that belonged to them. As eerie as it was to have so many empty SOLtiS androids around, Ai jumped into one enthusiastically. He wormed and wriggled his way into their shell and the eyeball became a beating heart. Yusaku watched, breathless, as a dressed and ready Ai appeared before him in the form of his dashing persona as a human.

   Whilst Ai may have been groggy and vague at first upon revival, he was really in the swing of things now as he popped up on his two legs like he was born to walk. Yusaku smiled gently whilst Ai stretched out all his nuts and bolts, making sure his limbs hadn’t rusted and got as close to limber as a robot could be and at the very end, made a very satisfied sigh.

   “Alright, what’s next?” Ai asked.

   “I think you know,” Yusaku said and though his heart thudded in his chest, a beg not to, he reached out to take Ai’s hand, “let’s go.”

   “Of course, partner.” Ai replied affectionately.

   Their fingers intertwined and linked together and then they were off with the wind. Not forever, obviously, Yusaku wanted to circle back later to grab Roboppy and a few other things that would be difficult to replace retroactively but for now, he and Ai were really putting the blues of the warehouse behind them both. And they both knew where they were headed on the interim, following the winding, concrete paths that allied themselves with the ocean so down below at the base of the steep cliffs here.

   When they arrived where they wanted to go, they still arrived looking like they ought to be dead. A corpse and a ghost: neither sure which was which but it was worth it.

   Cafe Nagi’s van was set up to the side of the Stardust Road. The last of the lunch time rush customers were trickling in and out, a waiter with a fluffy ponytail darting around them, fetching them refreshments and the like who paused to stare, puzzled, as his brother abandoned his post behind the grill.

   Yusaku smiled, tears in his eyes again that turned his smile creaky and all the more sincere, “Hey Kusanagi,” he said as Shoichi rushed towards him and Ai with a disbelieving smile, “I-I’ve missed you.”

   Before Yusaku knew it, he was swept up in a big bear hug from Shoichi. His arms surged around Yusaku’s scrawny frame and were so warm, Yusaku couldn’t have been more thankful for it. He buried his wet face into Shoichi’s chest and wrapped his arms around Shoichi’s waist. He felt so cared for as Shoichi’s hand cradled the back of his head, his fingers in his blue hair - and Ai, Ai was involving himself in this hug one way or another, too. Trying to reach both Yusaku and Shoichi but Shoichi was hogging Yusaku but Ai didn’t mind.

   “Never - and I mean never - do that to me again.” Shoichi growled. He was angry and sad and happy and relieved all at once. All that really broke through the barrage of emotions that he felt was love.

   “I promise.” Yusaku replied. He hugged back tighter. “I absolutely promise, I - I don’t want to be separated from you or Ai ever again, both of you are my precious partners.”

   “I believe you, Yusaku.” Shoichi consoled him. His head shifted to the left slightly, “And I mean it, Ai, I’m glad to see your back as well. I don’t want you running off either.”

   “It’s good to see you again, too, hot dog man.” Ai mumbled very fondly and with something of a tint of sadness. “And trust me,” he added, “there’s nowhere I’d rather be right now with you two.”

   “Same.” Yusaku mumbled.

   “I’m glad,” Shoichi replied softly and though he didn’t want to, he loosened his embrace of Yusaku so he could see his face properly, his cheeks were red and he looked dishevelled, there were bags under his eyes, “Yusaku? Ai?” Shoichi murmured.

   “Yeah?” Yusaku mumbled.

   Shoichi tilted his head to the side slightly, “Do you want to come live with me?” he asked. “Me and Jin?”

   “I’d love to.” Yusaku replied.

   “Me too.” Ai added on.

   Yusaku hugged Shoichi again. He couldn’t wait to move in with Shoichi and together they could get Ai his little Ignis body back too. It was all happening and Yusaku couldn’t be happier. He had been so depressed and angry since Ai died. Everything else became a blur to him. Lifeless, miserable. He didn’t want that anymore or ever again. So, he was determined to never let go of either Ai or Shoichi ever again and then, like an armory, the legendary spear and shield to pierce and protect and their tentacle monster too, they could go forward and progress. Reconnect and co-link. That’s all Yusaku wanted.

[popculturebuffet]

Prince of Wishful Thinking (Tom Retrospective): Tough Love or The True Monster

Hello all you happy people and welcome back to Prince of Wishful Thinking, what is usually my look at the life and times of Tom Lucitor but since I NEED to cover the season 3 finale as vital part of Tom’s story, we’re taking one last look at the tragic tale of Meteora Butterfly before the finale sends these two stories hurtling together. You’d THINK this would be the last detour of this already sizeable arc.. and you’d be wrong as i’ll also be covering Kelly’s World, as I feel it’s vital for both “Curse of the Blood Moon” and “A Boy and his hard to remember title”, as it provides extra context for Marco’s anguish in the former.. and provides extra evidence for why a CERTAIN MOMENT in the latter pisses me off to no end.. seriously even when as universe dies and the only people left are Frankllin Richards and Galactus, there will still be a little note reading “Fuck how they treated Kelly” written in all caps so Galactus remembers to yell it. 

So sadly that DOES mean it’s been three entries in this retrospective in a row that either haven��t feature Tom at all or in the case of the last episode only had him in short cameos. I mean we did get his love affair for pie but we also got a creepy goblin man forcing his girlfriend and best friend to kiss each other, his best friend being WAY to eager to jump to that conclusion, and neither considering using Marco’s Scissors because the writers only remember he has those half the time in Season 3... and clearly I ddn’t either as I forgot to mention that plot hole, something @jess-the-vampire​ brought up to me. Sadly I DID forget to consult on this when we talked earlier this week , and she’s not online as I write this so I won’t have her insight for this one. 

But if you want some Tom content, i’m happy to share my crossover ship for the boy with you. I’ve been shipping him with Octavia from Helluva Boss lately.  Because of course it’s Helluva Boss, i’ve not been at all subtle with my obession with it and much like Letterkenny, X-Men and Dragon Ball Z Abriged it is a love I never plan to be subtle about. 

But I just think they compliment each other well: They have contrasting atittudes, and tastes in music, but seem like they’d share hobbies. Like taxidermy.. I could see Tom buying this... demonic combination of a badger, a skunk, a deer and my nightmares Octavia is preciously holding up.

Granted I also feel tom would both animate them with their dead souls.. and then use his new woodland friends of the dammned as a chorus to sing “Can You Picture That” from the Muppet Movie, because that’s what my mind does on a regular day. I think the contrasting attitude creates great chemstiry and it made me also realize I have a thing for ships with directly contrasting home lives.  Tom has two loving decent parents who deeply love one another and at worst simply didn’t reign in his worse behavior because it was standard for demon stuff. Octavia in contrast simply has two parents, one who DOES love her and tries his best, but his best includes calling his side piece “My big dicked blitzy” right in front of her and hiring said side piece to guard them, and her mother who clearly thinks so little of her daughter’s emotional well being she hired a cowboy to shoot her daddy dead in the middle of a large crowd. The point is I think they’d be adorable and they both badly need to be happy after being emotionally fucked over by people they care about. 

But  alas my new ship will have to wait as we marginally important things to get down too.. things that will impact both this season and the next’s endgame and utterly destroy Eclipsa and Moon’s relationship for good. Sound fun? Well if so join me under the cut won’t you?

We open in the Pidgeon Kingdom.. and things aren’t exactly great.. and by that I mean Meteora stomped a hole through it and ravaged the place and Rich demands blood.. and vengance.. and possibly blood vengance. But not Tekken Blood Vengance.. he already has like 5 copies of that on dvd. Still needs it on Blu Ray though, hook him up if you got it. 

So Moon and Eclipsa are trying to smooth this over/find out which way did she go George which way did she go, and are angrily dismissed after they try Rich’s patience, not helped by Eclipsa not being familiar with the Pidgeon Kingdom because they hadn’t slaughtered everyone who used to live there yet. Look that’s what happened, Star outright mentions in the Big Book of Spells that htey suddenly sprung up where another kingdom was and no one knows what happens. There was some bird murders up in that place.. or birdur if you will. Some birds drank some human blood. This is what Alfred Hitchock tried to warn us about with his film built on horrifying actress abuse. 

The point is with some more pidgeon-led murder stabbings on the cards our heroines are trying to find her since their attempts to convince Rich not to go on an Archer Style Rampage fell on deaf ears. 

But it’s clear from the second the two are alone both have diffrent priorties: Eclipsa desperatley wants to find the daughter she lost and talk her down from what sh’es become, help her become better and hopefuly heal from the pain she’s been in. She’s lost her husband, her kingdom and centuries. She can’t loose her baby girl too.

Moon on the other hand... clearly has no intrest in helping Meteora or stopping this peacefully. Her first thought is stopping Meteora. Her living through it is not necessary. It’s also clear her racisim isn’t REMOTELY gone depsite Buff Frog and Star’s best attempts and despite learning just how deeply and horribly Mewni’s engrained racism has hurt eclipsa and destoryed Moon’s own family history. To Moon this is just a big monster to fight.. i’ll dive into this more in a bit.

For now our heroines encounter an angry mob. This time their not here for Homer Simpson, but for Meteora as her rampages have destroyd their towns, livelehoods and given some weird guy a hat. It’s the best bit of the episode and i’m embarassed I forgot it happened. 

So with them being no help our queens back out but end up finding some actual help: Eddie! You know the guy from the episode I skipped over... River’s cousin or something like that. He dosen’t have a wiki entry, I do not know why. He’s voiced by Rhys Dharby of Flight of the Conchords Fame whose since made quite the career as a voice actor. No major roles yet that i’m aware of, but a lot of delightful minor ones like this. It’s good to see him he was one of the highlights of that show and not just because he sang this..

Eddie showed up in the Bog Beast of Boggabah and I honestly forgot he was in this episode.. but again, it’s Rhys Dharby. It’s not like suddenly finding out “Aw god dammit Pauly Shore is in this”. So Eddie agrees to help as he’s been tracknig Meteora.. and we find out something troubling: Meteora is getting BIGGER. Gradually, to the point the bog from said episode Is skipped over is drained because she DRANK IT. We also get a great exchange “I’d hate to see the size of her mother” “Actually her father more than helped with that”

Awwwww.... seriously Esme Blanco is a national treasure and has some great deliveries in this one.. and some heartbreaking ones. But before we can get to that it turns out Meteora sucked the powers out of Eddies family.. who he misses..e xcept one guy> That guy can fuck right off. Seriously Eddie is also a national treasure and I wish he’d shown up in season 4. I mean he couldn’t of HURT it. For one it’s Rhys Dharby and for another that season shot itself in the face, both feet, the groin and then the face again enough that I don’t think anything could hurt it as bad as the writers already did. 

But sadly we say farwell to Eddie as he goes out how men have since the begining of time.. deciding to poke a strange creature till it murdered him. Or took his soul out in this case, speaking of which...

Yeah while I couldn’t get Jess in time for this review, she did bring this up in the past: Meteora’s ablility to pull a 

Comes right the fuck out of nowhere with no build up and no explination for it. She DID drain personalites and according to this episode youth.. but that was with a big ole machine. It MIGHT have been intended to be one of Globgor’s powers.. but that makes zero sense, as if he COULD do that, as we saw with Toffee last season when he had that power, also out of nowhere but at least it made a touch more sense given his power was draining magical energy anyway at the time, so adding souls to that isn’t a huge stretch, but as we saw that would’ve been game over for the comission, especially since we DO see him fighting them one on three next season. If he had this power, he wouldn’t be in crystal and I think they realized that, but just tried to act as if his daugther COULDN’T do that and assumed everyone would casually forget. And I get not accounting for me writing about this years later, even I wouldn’t of thought that, but not counting on fans both young and old to latch onto a continuity error? Have you met fandoms Disney, have you? It dosen’t bring the story down entirely and I get WHY ti’s there, so she can nonlethally kill people so we’re not down most of the cast for Season 4, but it feels like an easy win button and one she barely uses despite it being eye beam activated. It should be easy enough to pull, boom, soul suck, win, rinse and repeat. It’s okay to have uber powerful tequniques but they have to have a drawback. For instance the Kaioken from DBZ. It’s a really damn cool technique that gives the user a neat red aura and amplifies poewr.. but the more you amplify the more strain it puts on your body and the more likely you’ll die, and Super later creatively explained why it hadn’t been used since Super Sayian was introduced because said form would’ve sped it up so much it’d be too much for a body to take. Here whie Meteora dosen’t use it in EVERY fight, she uses it enough that it makes no sense this isn’t just her first move for every fight she gets into, mental breakdown or not. 

That being said Meteora’s current mental state as she talks to her mother, having regressed to talking in only a few words and acting like a child, makes perfect sense. Henious already wasn’t in great mental shape to begin with, having a slow sustained breakdown since Marco overthrew her. and now on top of this she remembers her whole life has been a lie, starts to mutate into her natural state at a rapid and likely unehalthy pace, and then finds out on top of all of this Mewni is rightfully owed to her. Given she ended last episode blowing a guy up for rejecting her, it’s not a stretch that given even more power and no time to process anything, Metora would deteroate further. 

Esme and Jessica really knock this scene out of the park as Eclipsa presents Metora with her old doll Bobo and gently trying ot talk to her.. but you also get the fear Eclipsa feels as she tries to awkardly manuver around the fact her daughter is far more unhinged than she was prepared for, even threanting Eclipsa simply because Eclipsa wanted to be called mother instead of mommy. But despite this fear.. Eclipsa wants to help and Walter beautifuly captured metoera as a hulk like tragic figure:a being with low sanity and too much power desperate to be loved by the one person it cares about. And it makes it even more heartbreaking as Eclipsa explains what happened: bad people trapped her , a disfunctoinal society with a racist queen and even more racist subjects has taken hold in her absence... and it’s clear both want opposite things: Meteora wants what sh’es owed, her family back on the throne and Mewni back in her graps, but has lost herself so much to rage, anger and insanity she can’t see it’s not hers to take, while Eclipsa.. just wants her daughter back. She’d be happy just settling down with her and having a LIFE after hers was taken away. Eclipsa just wants a chance to be with what family she has left. It just HURTS to know that despite RIGHTFULLY hating the comission, despite having eveyr reason to take the crown from Moon by force and make the world better by force.. she dosen’t want that. She just wants some peace. It’s selfish... but it’s hard not to be when you havealmost nothing to hold onto. Eclipsa has lost her legacy, her husband and her crown... Meteora is all she has and all she wants and sh’ed of been happy if she just accepted that. If that was enough. 

But the real telling part, and the thing that ultimately makes this go as bad as it does.. is Moon’s reactions to all of this. Sh’es CONFUSED by Meteora having a toy as if that’s foreign to her a monster would, and she’s cleaerly livid , if restrianing it, at both Meteora’s deire for the crown and Eclipsa RIGHTFULLY calling out the state of how things are, and mildly at that. Despite seeing how much damage Mewni’s inherent racisim has done, how it lead to her living a lie, ruined Eclipss, Globgore and Metora’s lives, despite how DESPERTLY her daughter struggles to fight against it, despite seeing firsthand that Monsters can have famiies and lives... she can’t let it go. She can’t see monsters as people. SHe dosen’t see a flawed person who was turned into a metpohrical monster by years of brainwashing and abuse and is slowly unravling under the weight of her true self.. she just sees a threat to her kingdom. She dosen’t see her kingdom as racist, just as it should be. And she dosen’t see herself as stepping down like hse damn well should’ve the MOMENT she found out everything. Because at her heart Moon can’t accept the truth and clings to her racisim. 

And that my friends.. is what ultimately leads to Tragedy. Not Meteora’s unraveling mental state, not Eclipsa’s naitvite. What happens next is ENITRELY Moon’s fault. Whle Eclipsa was failing to get through to Metora, she was trying her best and might of gotten somewhere.. but Moon was already settling to attack.. and does so, making it look like Eclipsa set her own child up. 

A fight ensues, a suprisingly even one... but Eclipsa breaks it up and PROVES her way could’ve worked. In one of Esme’s best performances sshe tearfully tells her daughter she loves her.. that ALL she wants is time with her to make up for what she’s lost.. she dosen’t need a kingdom or her crown or her wand, all things she DESERVES... she just wants her daughter. She just wants to help her baby girl before she goes so far down this path of hatred and vengance she’s alreayd well trod upon there is no point to return to. 

It gets through to Meteora, makes her stop... and Moon TAKES ADANTAGE OF THAT. She then restrains metoera with a magical rock barrier and starts palpatineing her to death. It’s a horrifying moment that ultimately shows who Moon really is.. that when given the chance to let Meteora go, let her CHANGE and grow as a person and help the kingdom.. she instead tries to kill her. When she’s no longer a threat,  hasn’t seriously hurt her in their fight, and could use her power to RESTORE the damage she’s done, fix what she’s broken and help the kingdom grow and mend the bridges racisim has torn down. But all she can see is a monster, and something to destroy.. not someONE to save. 

So Eclipsa does what Moon would do if it were star about to die and saves her daughter, desperatly trying to stop mooon.. and allowing Meteora to get a clear shot and take half of moon’s soul. While Eclipsa is able to stop her from taking the full thing, Moon is left disoreinted and half alive and leaves on insticnt to parts unknown while Meteora escapes. Eclipsa is left alone, devistated and with her daughter truly lost. And the worst is truly yet to come. 

Before we get into final thoughts i’d like to talk about how this scene impacts Moon’s betryal later. To me having rewatched this scene.. it only makes it work MORE making it clear Moon simply can’t fahtom racial equality and that she can’t fahtom that eclipsa had very good reason for doing what she did ... to me it comes off as her using Eclipsa betryaing her as a very flimsy justifcation to not validate her rule and to first retire and then try a coup. That “Well she “BETRAYED” me so i’m fine. “ But in truth... she betrayed Eclipsa first. She attacked her daughter TWICE when Eclipsa was close to getting through to her Her reasons are flimsy.. because i’ts not ABOUT eclipsa, but what eclipsa represents: equality with a race Moon dosen’t see as people. It’s about Moon’s racisim coloring everything tills h’es truly blinded and should have lost everything She didn’t because the ending is a fucking disgrace, but we might get to that at some point, the point here is for all that disgrace’s faults... it did get it right here, and Moon was always portrayed as being unable to let go of her racisim no matter what it cost her or how much her daughter despteratly tried to change her. Trust me as someone whose Dad used to argue that gay marriage meant he should be able to marry his cat, and who still argues against trans people using the bathroom of their choice, I get trying desperatley to change someone who don’t wanna. “Sigh”. 

Final Thoughts: This episode is truly excellent. The writing is top notch as is the voice acting for all involved and the climax isa true, well led up to tragedy. The animation is also on point, with the characters emotions on perfect display. This is an episode I now realize is one of the series best and worth ar ewatch if you haven’ts een it. Truly amazing stuff that gets me pumped for the finale.. and disapoints me in how the series could reach these highs for one finale.. but would sink to it’s lowest point for next seasons.  Next Time on Prince of Wishful Thinking: Star tries depseratly to find her mom, while Marco, Tom and a motely crew of misfits try to take down Meteora and Tom learns the awful truth from the photo booth and wears a zuko ponytail which weirdly looks good on him. That boy can rock anything let me tell you. 

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And if your intrested in Tomtavia... please hit me up. I’m really proud of it and until then... i’ll see you at the next rainbow. 

[king-finnigan]

For the drabble 11 & 27,please :)

Situation 11: Soulmates AU Sentence 27: “Sorry. You’re just…really adorable.”

***

Jaskier hates flowers. He really does. He understands how people can see the beauty in them, he understands how they symbolize sharing hurt and how their delicate petals represent the fragility of life and stuff, but he’s really fucking tired of seeing them grow out of his skin over and over again.

He’d been excited as a kid, when he first learned that your soulmate’s wounds appear on your skin as flowers after you turn 16. He’d admired the few small flowers that adorned his teacher’s skin, the delicate petals that grew out of his father’s fingers every time his mother accidentally pricked herself with her needle while embroidering a dress. He’d made up elaborate fantasies about what his arms would look like with flowers on them, would try to think of which flower he wanted to appear on his skin, the first time, would imagine pricking himself on a needle and making a flower appear on his soulmate’s skin, as a little ‘hello, I am here’. 

But that was before he actually turned 16. Before his excitement died down when he grew more and more flowers on his skin the following days. Of course, they would wilt and fall off if his soulmate’s wound had healed, which happened remarkably quickly, but that didn’t make up for the sheer quantity of the flowers. Truly, they were everywhere - on his arms, legs, on his face, on his back - and he even coughed up some petals a few times, as he wondered what the absolute hell his soulmate got up to in their spare time.

And the worst part of this wasn’t the flowers themselves, it wasn’t having to clean his room every day of wilted petals, it wasn’t having to pull on his clothes over the flowers, feeling them pull at his skin uncomfortably, it wasn’t even the worry as to what was going on with his soulmate that they got hurt so often and abundantly.

No, the worst part was the staring. Everywhere he went, from the day he turned 16 and the flowers had bloomed on his skin, people stared at him. Either they were giving him pitiful looks or curious glances, or whispered to each other as they looked at him from a distance. Hell, at least kids were giving him glances that were more admiring and slightly wondrous, but they, too, were staring. Everyone was always fucking staring. 

Eventually, he’d gotten enough, and had set out on the road, newly bought lute in hand, flowers tucked under his doublet uncomfortably. Might as well give them a reason to stare, he figured.

That still didn’t stop him from feeling slightly uncomfortable as people didn’t even look him in the eyes, instead directing their gaze to the numerous flowers adorning his skin. It actually even got a bit worse - people would now feel welcome to reach out and tug at the flowers, for some reason, making his skin pull uncomfortably. He wasn’t hesitant to punch them in the face whenever that happened, and he didn’t feel sad for their soulmates, who were undoubtedly sneezing petals out of their noses.

He now finds himself in a tavern in Posada, getting food thrown at him. Well, at least it’s better than rocks, he supposes, like some kids did yesterday, calling him a ‘flowery freak’. Not the worst insult he’s ever heard, but it had hurt all the same when he’d gotten a rock against his head. The wound on the side of his head is still a bit fresh, but healing, luckily. 

He picks some bread off the floor, stuffing it in his pockets, cringing slightly when the movement bends the flowers on his hip, making them pull at his skin uncomfortably. He looks up, spots a stranger with white hair in the corner, and immediately the ‘interesting thing’-alarms are ringing in the back of his head. 

As he makes his way over to the stranger, he notices that the man is wearing black armour, that he has two swords leaning against the wall next to him, and is absolutely devoid of any flowers. Strange. Either this man no longer has a soulmate, or his soulmate is very careful. He does seem to brandish some bruises and cuts and numerous scars, and Jaskier pities the man’s soulmate - they must be as covered in flowers as he himself is.

He leans against one of the wooden pillars holding the roof up. “Love the way you just sit in the corner and brood.”

“I’m here to drink alone,” the man rumbles, refusing to meet Jaskier’s eye. 

“Good, yeah, good. No one else has hesitated to comment on the quality of my performance, except... for you.” He moves to stand in front of the man, who casts one look at Jaskier, before looking away again. Strange. Usually people don’t hesitate to openly stare at him, or do look away but seem startled or disturbed. This man, on the other hand, seems unbothered. “Come on, you don’t wanna keep a man with bread in his pants waiting. Give me a review. Three words or less.”

He sits down opposite the strange man, who rolls his shockingly amber eyes. “They don’t exist.” The words barely register in his mind, when he sees that the man has a small flower, on the right side of his head. Oh, so he does have a soulmate.

He almost forgets to answer, and blinks his thoughts away. “What don’t exist?”

“The monsters in your song.”

“And how would you know?” Wait a minute. “Oh, fun. White hair, big ol’ loner, two very-” he swallows thickly “very scary-looking swords. I know who you are. You’re the Witcher. Geralt of Rivia.”

The man- Witcher, doesn’t respond, and Jaskier looks at him for a second. “Do you have a soulmate?”

Geralt frowns at him. 

“Do you have a soulmate?” Jaskier repeats. “Because I’d imagine they must be covered in flowers, just-” He frowns as the realization from earlier starts to set in a little more. “Just like I am.”

Geralt looks at him, and Jaskier grows skittish under that intense gaze. “What are you staring at me for? Hmm?” He’s so fucking tired of always being stared at, and this man had been a breath of fresh air, with the way he refused to look at Jaskier and didn’t seem too taken aback by the entire bouquets growing on his skin. So having him staring at Jaskier feels all the more annoying.

“Sorry,” the Witcher mumbles, looking out of the window again. “You’re just... really adorable,” he whispers, almost inaudibly, and Jaskier has the feeling he wasn’t meant to hear the words.

This Geralt-guy doesn’t seem too bad, Jaskier decides, and he actually wouldn’t mind being this Witcher’s soulmate. At least then there’d be a good reason for him to be covered in flowers - after all, a Witcher’s job is dangerous - and he wouldn’t have to worry about the fact that his soulmate gets beaten up on the regular. He supposes it would also explain the fact that his flowers wilt and fall off more quickly than they’re supposed to, so that’d be a mystery out of the way, and-

His eyes drift to the flower on the side of Geralt’s head, in the exact same spot Jaskier got hit by that rock, yesterday. Wait a minute.

He narrows his eyes at the Witcher. “Do you, by any chance, have a flower on the inside of your left ankle, Witcher?” Geralt looks at him again, seems startled. 

“Yes. Why?”

“Because I hit my left ankle last week and got a bruise. I- I... got a cut on my head yesterday. There’s a flower on your head. And you seem like you’ve gotten a lot of injuries, all your life, and I...” He lifts up his arms, flowers peeking from under his sleeves, motions at his neck, at the petals around his throat, then waves at the rest of himself.

“What are you saying?” The Witcher grumbles at him.

Jaskier leans forward. “I think we’re soulmates, Geralt of Rivia.”

***

Send me a situation and a sentence, and I’ll write a drabble!

[blueroan-equestrian]

The Girl with the Hippogriff

Smut warning it’s a more a brush over

So I didn’t know how exactly I wanted to end it so I went with something similar to ‘and that’s how I met your mother’ but not quite

I am a sorceress who live up on a mountain with nothing but a hippogriff to keep me company. I have no need for anyone, my hippogriff, Atlas, keeps me safe catches me meat and the ground fertil. All I could want I can get right here even clothes and shoes from traveling trades men. I have lived like this for a long time, humans are often afraid or jealous of what they are not and provoke violence when they come across a being that is different than themselves. So I choose solitude rather than having to watch my back all the time.

I am gathering wild flowers from the the tall grass in front of my house, when I first heard the dristress cry of my Atlas. “Atlas! Atlas come!” I yelled out as I dropped my basket and began to run back further up the mountain towards his cry’s, “Atlas come!” I called again as I continued to run towards his calls. After what felt like an eternity his strong wings brought him to me. He had a bloody rope around his neck and seemed to be bleeding behind his ear. “Oh no! Who’s done this to you? Come let’s go back to the cabin and get you patched up. We’ll be safe there.” I bring him into his room and onto his nest where I carefully take off the the tight rope that was bound around his neck. I took some potions and began to heal his wounds before wrapping some bandaging around him. “Who would have been so stupid to go after you?” I groaned getting up and going into my living room/ kitchen. “Well you stay there and rest I’m going to see what is out there.”

I headed out to climb back up the mountain. Before I could reach halfway there a very muscular, dark haired man, carrying a sword on his back, and one in his hand appeared from the other side. I only snapped my fingers and he was in front of me, “Drop the sword and I will consider not setting you on fire.”

He raised his eyebrows but didn’t argue, he just dropped it, “I didn’t mean to frighten you ma’am, I’m just trying to profill a contract for the town a little ways over for a...”

“Hippogriff...” I finished for him.

“Yes, do you have the same problem?”

“No I have the opposite problem.” I snarked.

He tilted his head, “the opposite?” He questioned.

“Yeah, those fuckin townspeople are going to get theirs. Atlas has never stolen anything from them but you can tell them now they are fair game and if Atlas doesn’t take em I will now! Atlas is my hippogriff and I be damned if you think you can hurt him. I raised him and he would never hurt anyone and you should be ashamed of yourself!” I snarled.

He chuckles and flashes a cheeky smile, “Strong and passionate, I like that in a woman. A woman who has fight is a very attractive woman.” He moved so that we were practically standing chest to chest.

I glared up at the tall handsome man and gave him a quick once over, “Well I wish I could say the same but all I see is a dog with a bark that is worse than it’s bite. Well go on, leave before I decide to turn my fury on you as well.”

He laughed loudly, “You are a feisty little one, but I am willing to bet your bark is also worse than your bite.”

I smirked, “Usually that would be true but this matter involves my Atlas and I am slow to forgive those who harm my beloved Atlas.”

He tilted his head back with a grin, “I understand but I am not disagreeing with you or fighting you with this but perhaps I can convince you to talk about your Atlas with me and why the towns people have such an adversion to him.”

“I presume it’s the same answer to their adversion to you., Witcher.” I contorted crossing my arms.

He laughed heartily, “Girl you’re funny, but I can’t say that you’re wrong.”

His relaxed posture and easy going attitude made it easier to relax and not want to kill him for his crime. I wave for to follow me, “Well come on.”

He followed me but he kept a little bit of distance between us, probably more for my sake than his. I led him to my cabin and stopped at the door and said, “No sudden movements, okay? I mean it, Atlas won’t take kindly to the intrusion. But he won’t hurt you if I’m there but still no sudden movement you got me?” He gives a quick nod before following me into the cabin. Atlas immediately clocked onto the Witcher and looked at me like ‘what the fuck mom!’

“I believe you have something to say to Atlas...unless you’re the rude sort.” I say as I turned to him with an expecting look.

“You’re right,” he says with a little nod, “I am sorry for trying to wrongly persecute you. I am sorry.”

“Thank you... Mr....?” I questioned.

“Eskel, ma’am. And might I ask who might you be?”

“(Y/n), now, you hungry?”

“Yes ma’am.” he hummed as he sat at the kitchen table and I went about making us a meal to share. I am not much of a cook but he ate it up without complaint. We ate together but we didn’t talk we just ate. I cleared the table and go to wash the dishes but Eskel quietly moved in to take over cleaning up. As he washed up I went into Atlas’ room to check on him before returning to the room with the Witcher. “So Witcher, tell me how exactly is my Atlas only maimed and not dead if you got ahold of him? And how exactly is it you got ahold of him?”

Eskel turned to look at me, “Well... your hippogriff is oddly trusting.”

“And yet you continued to try to kill him? Even though he posed no threat?” I questioned as I put a hand on my hip.

He raised his eyebrows, “He’s a monster and I’m a Witcher.”

“Who says so? Who decides who is a monster and who is not? There are plenty who would say you are a monster.”

“Perhaps I should have said beast, instead.”

“Who’s to say it isn’t you who’s the beast!”

“I just can’t win with you can I?” He laughed shaking his head. “But you have to admit your hippogriff is an anomaly.”

“Yes I know. So what happened? Why is he only wounded then, Mr. I am a Witcher.”

“Well once I roped him and he realized his situation... well he is rather strong and even when I striked him, he waisted no time retaliating, he just used all his strength to pull and flew away. I will give you that he is different and I will tell the villagers that I am turning down the contract.” He says as he shifts his weight.

I smile, “Good, then I am glad I didn’t act rashly.”

He smiles back, “I am too, though I suppose when it’s my time, I wouldn’t mind if it was at the hands of a beautiful woman such as yourself.” He takes a step my way and I do the same.

I reached out to touch his chest, “What lies underneath this armor of yours? Why don’t you take it off and let me take care of you?”

He smirks and leans down and plants a deep kiss on my lips, “I have to turn you down, though as tempting as it may be. Perhaps next time we cross paths, but I would have to be foolish to take you up on it now.” He chuckles.

I give him a coy smile, “Maybe, but be careful when you go back to the town empty handed, but I am sure that you can handle yourself in the midst of an angry mob.”

...

A decade goes by before I see him again. I still live on my mountain with Atlas when he came and knocked on the door. “Eskel, what a surprise.” I hummed. “Come in.”

“Still on a mountain with the hippogriff huh?” He chuckles.

“Shut up and get in here.” I remarked back.

He sat at my table and I made us something to eat. He told me about his travels. This time around he said he was in need of lodging and I was more than happy to allow him to stay with me. “You can take my bed, I have no problem sleeping with Atlas in his nest.”

“Oh well I wish you would come warm the bed with me.” He says with a wicked smile.

“Oh? Well I wouldn’t want my guest to be cold.” I purred.

Eskel was surprisingly a snuggly person. He got into bed and laid behind me pulling me close in his arms. Sleeping with me in the most innocent of ways. He stayed with me for a period of time. In that time every night he would wrap me up in his arms. He grew on Atlas. The two now could sit in the sun together at ease as I gather up various herbs and tall grass. Eskel would sometimes go out and hunt. He would let Atlas join him and Atlas just loved tagging along. The sight Eskel with a big ol hippogriff prancing after him like some sort of gigantic dog, holding whatever their kill was in his beak. Atlas no matter what was proud to show off their spoils. Eskel would smile and laugh as Atlas would trot around him and then to me. So when Eskel asked me to come with him to stay the winter at the place he grew up in, I agreed.

Eskel put me up on his horse behind the saddle so that I could hold onto him. Atlas can’t walk great distances so he alternated between walking and flying.

We reached the fortress and I called Atlas to come down and walk with us so that any of Eskels ‘brothers’ would see him alone and try to take him down. But Eskel assured me he would make clear Atlas was not to be harmed. The two he called brothers teased him but it was clear that they cared for one another. At night I slept in an old bed with Eskel. I might live on a mountain but this was by the ocean and it was so much colder. “Are you alright?” Eskel asked as he moved to get a fire started.

Scurrying under the covers of his bed and peaked out, “Freezing, my toes just might fall off.” I giggled.

He stripped down to his underwear and says, “Well let me help you warm up then.”

“Eskel! You’ll freeze, put some clothes on!!!” I giggled girlishly.

Eskel practically jumped on me pressing kisses all over my face and neck. “I don’t know baby girl, I think it might get too hot if you ask me. All we have to do is get a little movement going. What do you say?”

His hands had already started to push up my dress, “Mmm well then what are you waiting for? Keep me warm.”

“Yes ma’am.” He growled as he latched his lips to my neck as began to grind down on me as he pushed my dress far enough up to expose me to him. I reached down to release him. Eskel was the kind of lover that set you on fire with a single touch. He was giving and sweet. He took it slow like he was worshipping my body. It was sensual and meaningful. When we both met our peaks were sweaty messes, we snuggled up and fell asleep.

I woke up to Eskel running a hand through my hair as he softly hummed a melody. “Good morning.” I whispered.

He smiles, “Good morning my sweet.”

“What was that you were humming?”

“Oh.... it’s the lullaby my mother used to sing to me when I was little.” He says with what sounded like sadness in his voice.

I smiled and reached out to return the affection, I gently caressing his hair back. “What do you want for breakfast, I can make anything you want.”

He smiles and with out saying a single word Eskel sunk under the covers and moved in between my legs. His warm breath hit my womanhood sending up surge of excitement through me. I moaned at just the idea of what he was about to do. He flicks his tongue out and made contact. I let out a gasp encouraging him to continue his work. The louder I got the more intense he got. He had me screaming his name as I met my end. He crawled back up me with a big grin, his lips and chin covered in my juices. His swiped at his lips cleaning it off. He leans down and kisses at my neck before he rolled over humming, “You’ve out done yourself, best breakfast yet.”

I giggled as I sat up to straighten my dress and then get fully dressed. “Alright, what do you actually want to eat?”

“Eggs.” He says as he stretched out relaxing.

“Alright I’ll be right back.” I promised before portaling home to make us something to eat. Once I had managed collecting what I needed from town I work quickly to cook the meal and get back to Eskel.

Eskels smile is like sunshine. The room was practically lit up by just his smile. “Breakfast, I hope I didn’t take to long.”

“Not at all my sweet.” He adjust himself so that he was leaning on the wall behind the bed, “now get in bed with me gorgeous I’m cold.”

Eskel took our finished plates and set them aside before he rolled over me and initiated another round of gentle and sweet sex.

....

That’s how I met him, my husband, Eskel.

[athina-blaine]

MoMM Chapter 2: The Estate, Part 1 (Preview #2)

(View preview #1 here!)

“Sorry, I just … wanted to say thank you. For– for taking me in.” He cleared his throat. “My name is Martin, by the way. Martin Blackwood.”

The man inclined his head. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mister Blackwood.”

"Oh– just Martin is fine.”

“Martin, then.”

“Um ... c-can I ask for your name?"

A long moment stretched between them as his host merely stared, expression unreadable. Martin’s breath stilled in his lungs– was he being measured? Found wanting somehow? He’d only asked for his name–

“Jon.”

Martin stiffened, but with a curt billow of his cloak, the man vanished, closing the door behind him.

Jon.

Martin wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but it hadn’t been that. Jon. It was just so … common. Approachable, for such a seemingly unapproachable man.

A distant ringing in his ears had him settling back down against the pillows. That was … not a good sign. Had he really been knocked out all day? Despite being unconscious for eleven hours, though, he didn’t feel very well rested.

Hard to relax, with the worst case scenario waiting for you back in the real world. Barclay would have him begging on his hands and knees if he wanted to continue working in the castle, especially after last night’s disaster. 

Martin dropped his head in his hands. He was as good as sacked.

Distraction. He needed a good distraction. Anything to take his mind off of agonising over this. Thinking about it was pointless, anyway– not like he could fix things confined to a bed.

Lifting his head, he took a moment to peer around the room. It was … honestly stunning. Bigger than the dormitory he shared with three other people back at Barclay’s castle, and the bedsheets were so soft they bordered on sinful. The bed frame and accompanying desk and chair were a rich, expensive mahogany, and the plush pillows sweetly tempted his eyes to slide shut again.

Even Lord Barclay’s accommodations weren’t this opulent. An unexpected twinge of guilt shot through Martin’s chest, as if he were doing something wrong. Stealing comfort that didn’t belong to him.

His eyes were threatening to close when the door opened again. Jon had returned, hands occupied with a silver dinner tray– silver. Bloody hell, even the utensils were silver!

“I apologise for the simplicity of the meal,” Jon said. “It’s been some time since I’ve cooked for anyone but myself.”

Did … was Jon implying that he, the lord of this house, had cooked for Martin? That he regularly cooked for himself? It didn’t bear thinking about– why wouldn’t the kitchen staff be making his meals?

He looked down at the dinner tray; on it was a bowl of boiled vegetables, and next to that, a gently steaming cup of tea. Simple, yes, and yet Martin found himself oddly charmed.

“It looks wonderful,” said Martin, entirely too genuine. Under the attentive eyes of his host, he shovelled a spoonful of turnip and carrot into his mouth and started to chew. He paused.

Jon leaned forward, poised. “How is it?”

Steeling himself, Martin kept chewing, scrambling for a neutral expression. The outside of the vegetables were soggy, but the inside crunched against his molars, sending a shudder down his spine. Underboiled, his mind supplied helpfully.

It was, perhaps, one of the worst meals he’d ever eaten in his life.

“It’s great,” he said, smiling through the curdling of his stomach. Oh, Christ, what a blatant lie; but Jon had made this himself, and Martin was going to die before he willingly insulted a lord to his face.

And– it could've been his imagination, but there was something defensive in the set of Jon's shoulders. Vulnerable, even? Something that kept the truth locked tight in Martin's throat.

Jon released a quiet breath. “That’s … good. I’m glad it’s to your satisfaction.”

Dazed, Martin continued to struggle with his meal as Jon scooped up a bundle of clothes, depositing them on the bed.

“These are for you to wear to bed. You can find something to change into tomorrow in the wardrobe, although please tell if there are any that don’t fit.” He winced. “You’ll have to excuse me if you find anything that’s been chewed through. It’s impossible keeping the moths out this time of year.”

“Tha– thank you?”

“You, ah,” Jon hesitated, before clearing his throat. “You’re welcome to stay here until you’ve made a recovery.” A strange expression passed over his face. “My only stipulation is that you remain in your rooms at night.”

“Oh. Um,” Martin paused to swallow. “S-sure, of course. Is it– can I ask why?”

Jon narrowed his eyes. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”

Martin blanched. “I’m sorry, you’re right. I-i-it’s just, I don’t know …” kind of strange, he wanted to say, but the impatient twist of Jon’s mouth stopped him.

Jon let the silence stretch for a long time. Then he crossed his arms. “I have a dog.”

“A ... dog?”

“Yes. Big, vicious thing. He’s not partial to strangers.”

Oh. Well, that … that made sense. Still odd, though– Barclay had a whole team of hunting dogs, and none of them were allowed to wander the grounds without supervision. They weren’t pets. Maybe this one was, though.

“What’s his name?” Martin asked.

“What?”

“The dog?” Martin held up his hands in apology. “Sorry, it’s just, I love dogs. My neighbors had one when I was a kid. Ol’ Frankie.”

Jon’s eyes narrowed further. “John.”

 “... John.”

“Yes.”

“John the dog?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“You named the dog after yourself?”

“I came into possession of the dog after it received its name. And, besides, it’s John that’s spelled with an H.”

“I … see.” Martin didn’t see. “Obviously.” It had not been obvious.

Jon glared, as if daring him to continue. After a moment, he reached into a pocket in the lining of his cloak. “One last thing. I noticed … well, here.” With an oddly stiff motion, he held out a small glass jar full of cream. “For your hands. It would be irresponsible of me as your host to allow them to ulcerate unchecked.”

Startled, Martin glanced down at his hands– they were still covered in blisters from scrubbing last night’s mountain of dishes. In all the chaos, he’d forgotten about them.

“Th-thanks,” he said, accepting the jar.

With a satisfied grunt, Jon stood back. “I’ll let you finish your meal. You can expect me tomorrow morning with breakfast.” One hand on the door, he hesitated, then added in a soft undertone, “Welcome to the estate.”

Jon was gone before Martin could answer. He was alone once again.

Unscrewing the lid of the jar, Martin gave the ointment an investigative sniff– honey and almonds. He scooped out a dollop and rubbed it into the damaged skin of his hands, sighing as it cooled the gentle sting of his blisters. It was astonishing that Jon had noticed at all– Martin would have left them to rot on their own, otherwise.

He finished his dinner, half out of pragmaticism, half because he was sure he’d hurt the feelings of his host if he didn’t. At least the tea was good.

Tray set aside, Martin began unbuttoning his dress shirt. What an unusual sight he must have made, passed out on the ground in formal wear. The clothes Jon had provided were silky against his skin, marred only by the must of disuse– still a luxury, for all intents and purposes, especially for a person with Martin’s background.

It wasn't enough to distract him from the cold knot of dread sitting heavy in his stomach. But  Jon had been right; even if he did know the way, he would never make it back in his current state, especially without Phillipa.

At the very least, things couldn’t get much worse from here.

Martin settled back against the pillows, trying to find solace in that. With so many thoughts racing through his head, it should’ve been impossible to sleep– but the moment he closed his eyes, the rest of the world slipped away.

--

Catch the full chapter on Oct 2nd!

Check out the Monster of Magnus Manor here!

[duhragonball]

BEGIN: Hellsing Liveblog Ch.1

Okay, so in 2017 I tried to do a minimalist log of my experiences watching/reading  JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.    At first, I tried to confine myself to posting one zany  screencap from each episode, but as I got deeper into the story I couldn’t help but write giant blocks of text about my thoughts.    So by the time I got to Part 6 I was essentially doing an honest-to-goodness liveblog.  I even went back and re-covered Part 5 in more detail, just because I barely understood it on the first read.   

In 2019, I decided to do a full-on liveblog of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, since I thought it would be a cool big thing to do.    It was a lot of work but I found it immensely satisfying to discuss the whole story in order.  

After that, I thought it might be nice to tackle something smaller, and Hellsing seemed like a good pick, because I really loved the Hellsing Ultimate anime when I watched it in 2016, and for a while I craved More Of That.    Only there wasn’t more, the Hellsing TV series was a hot mess, and that’s about it.   That just left the manga, which I didn’t want to read right after consuming the anime adaptation.    So I decided to liveblog Hellsing in 2020 and... I didn’t.    I just never felt like getting started.    Call it apathy, call it real life getting in the way, call it me being too busy to commit to the project.    All I know is it’s 2021 and I’m just now getting started.  

I meant to start yesterday for the New Year, but work kicked my ass this week and I needed to decompress more than I realized.   But today, I’m like “No more delays, I’m going to break ground on this, because I want to make this happen.   So here we are. 

I think there’s fan translations of the Hellsing manga out there, but I found them nearly impossible to read, so I purchased the digital editions of the official translation published by Dark Horse Comics.   Unfortunately, they don’t seem to sell that on their website anymore.   The only reason I still have my copy is because Dark Horse let’s you keep your purchases even after they stop offering them for sale.   For example, I’ve got a bunch of Star Wars comics from them, and they’re still on my account, even after Dark Horse lost the Star Wars license to Marvel when DIsney bought Lucasfilm.   I... don’t like to think about that too much.    Let’s just get rolling here.

The story starts on June 14, 1999.   At least, I’m pretty sure it was 1999, but that’s one of the reasons I’m reading this, so I can get my facts straight.    There’s a new vicar in the town of Cheddar, up in northern England.    The comic makes it seem like he just wandered into town one day.   I always figured he was an established member of the community who just happened to become a vampire, but this probably makes more sense.    Everyone calls this dude “The Cheddar Priest”, which leads you to take that description at face value.    It’s easy to think that he’s a real priest who’s lived in Cheddar for a long time.  

But it makes more sense if he’s not.   He just dressed up as a vicar so he’d have an easier time preying on the villagers.    The local church would accept him, and his clergy robes would give him an automatic authority.    On June 21, the first incident happened, where a young man on an errand to the next town over never came back.    So the Cheddar Priest played it very carefully to start out.   He waited a week to start feeding, and his first victim was someone who was going to be alone for a while.  And he took ten more victims over the next ten days.   Finally, someone caught sight of the priest with blood trickling from his mouth, and he managed to survive the encounter long enough to tell the cops about it.   But when they questioned the priest, he just attacked them, which brings us to July 5.

By this point, the police have sealed off Cheddar with roadblocks, since no one has come out of the village since they first confronted the priest.   At some point Sir Hellsing shows up to take over, and everyone’s like “Sir Hellsing is a g-g-g-g-girl!?”  It seems kind of odd to me that all these people would be expecting Hellsing but know so little about her, although she did inherit the title from her father, so maybe they were thinking of him when someone told them who was coming.  

The really distracting thing about Sir Integra Hellsing in this manga is how... curvy she is.   Both anime adaptations focus on making her very thin and angular, probably to emphasize her visual distinction with Seras, but also probably to play up her masculine traits.   She wears suits, never dresses, goes by “Sir” and not “Lady”, and immediately takes charge of every situation she’s in.     The Team Four Star abridged parody of Hellsing Ultimate has a few bits where other characters mistake her for a man.    I don’t thing Ultimate went that far with her design. But I could see someone slipping up on that.   

But the manga Integra looks a lot more feminine, maybe because Kouta Hirano was going in the opposite direction.    She wears a suit and goes by “Sir”, so he wanted to make her look more babelicious for the sake of contrast.   That’s a technical term, by the way.    Also, this is literally chapter one, so making her look different from Seras isn’t necessarily an issue yet.  

Anyway, Integra explains what most readers probably already knew from the back cover of the book: that there’s a vampire in Cheddar, and the cops have no idea how to deal with this.    She has already found visual evidence of “ghouls” in the area, which are humans that have been turned into zombies by a vampire bite.    If the human wasn’t a virgin when they were bitten.  We’ll get into that later.   

The cops think she’s talking crazy, because they think vampires and ghouls are fictional, but Integra explains that supernatural monsters are real, but highly classified.    That’s how she got called in to this matter, because her Hellsing Organization, aka the “Royal Order of Protestant Knights”, is responsible for destroying these creatures.   

What doesn’t make a lot of sense, though, is how Hellsing can properly respond to these kinds of incidents if no one knows to report them.    The tragedy of this chapter is that a lot of innocent people got killed because the police tried to handle it themselves.    What they should have done was to contact Hellsing immediately, except no one knew they were dealing with a vampire because no one thought vampires were real.  And no one knew Hellsing was the agency to contact, because Hellsing’s mission is a secret.  

For that matter, why should any of this be kept a secret at all?   If vampires are a real thing, why not tell the public about it?   That may sound like a stupid question, but tigers are real, and everyone knows it, no matter how big and dangerous tigers can be.   I suppose there’s a fear that if people knew it was possible to become a vampire then they’d try to do it for the immortality, but keeping it a secret didn’t stop the Cheddar Priest.   If anything, all this secrecy gave him a three-week head start.  

While explaining the plot to the police, Integra also explains how vampires work.    By drinking the blood of a virgin of the opposite sex, they can turn that virgin into a new vampire.  Any other victims just turn into mindless ghouls, which are “nothing more than the vampire’s servants”.   So sending cops into Cheddar only makes the problem worse, because the Priest will just eat them and generate more henchmen.   Her solution is to send in a single “special anti-vampire expert” to take care of the whole thing.   His name is Alucard, and one of his first lines in this story is about how he wants to suck some blood.     So he just sort of strolls into Cheddar while...

Of all the police they sent into Cheddar, only one remains, and the Cheddar Priest and his ghouls chase her into the woods.    This is Seras Victoria, as we later find out, and she’s in deep shit right here.   All her comrades are ghouls now, and her gun doesn’t work on vampires.   I’m guessing the only reason she survived this long was because the priest had to take the time to kill and feed on the others.  

Here, we see the Priest is also aware of the vampire rules Integra laid out.    He seems to want a devoted army of ghouls, so maybe this was his plan all along.   If he just wanted to feed, he probably should have moved on to the next town before everyone got suspicious, but instead he’s making a stand in Cheddar, steadily building his army while the police are powerless to stop him.   And maybe this is why Hellsing is a secret.    He thinks he’s unstoppable because he doesn’t know what measures are in place to stop him.  

With Seras, ol’ C.P. decides that he should rape her before drinking her blood, because he figures there’s a nonzero chance that she might be a virgin, and he specifically doesn’t want to turn her into a vampire like himself.   I’m not sure why, but I always figured he was concerned that a vampire Seras would turn against him or at least make things difficult for him.  

But then Alucard shows up and introduces himself.   The priest orders his ghouls to gun him down, but it turns out that Alucard is a vampire himself (gasp!), and the guns don’t work on him, just like they don’t work on the priest.   Then Al whips out his gun, which does work, because it fires bullets laced with silver from a cross that was in a cathedral.   Wait, I just got a clue.  I always thought it was weird that silver bullets kill vampires in this story, since that’s more of a werewolf thing, but that’s why the silver was from a melted down cross.    That way it’s good for vampires and werewolves.    There might also be some Blue Kryptonite in there for possible Bizarro infestations, but it’s never outright stated.

So then the Priest gets nervous and takes a hostage.    He never dreamed that there was another vampire running around, let alone one working as a  vampire hunter, in the service of humans.   He assumes that Al will let him go in order to save the girl, but instead he asks her if she’s a virgin, and the priest realizes there’s only one reason he’d even bring that up: Alucard isn’t here to save anyone, he’s just here to kill the Cheddar Priest. 

For some reason, despite saying the bullets would kill vampires, Alucard runs his arm through the Priest after he makes the shot.   Maybe that was just for flourish.    The real reason he used the gun, of course, was that he knew Seras would die in any event, but at least this way he stopped the Priest before he could decapitate her or something.    Seras’ wound is fatal, but at least there’s time for him to offer an apology and give her a chance to consider his (implied) offer.

When Alucard returns from the village, he’s got Seras wrapped up in a blanket, and it turns out she’s a vampire now too.    And this is kind of the most important moment in this whole story, because Seras is the best character, there are no elections, and this her origin story.   

I think a lot about Seras’ fateful decision here.   It’s often framed as a choice.   Whenever she gets frustrated with her situation, Alucard reminds her that she could have just refused him, but what kind of choice is that?   She could either “live” as a vampire or bleed out in the middle of nowhere.    Seras is a survivor.   She kept fighting the priest until the bitter end, and when there were no other moves to make, she accepted the one path that would allow her to continue.   

Also, I think a lot of their relationship is based on Seras seeing what Alucard is and wanting that for herself.    He marched right into Cheddar like a badass, ready to beat all the bad guys, but that’s the same thing she did earlier.    The only difference is that his gun actually worked and he had the power to use it.   I don’t think Seras wanted to become a vampire, but becoming a vampire hunter? One as strong as Alucard?   Yeah, she would want that.   Especially after the utter despair and humiliation she just experienced.   But we’ll have plenty more to say about Seras, don’t you worry.

I was planning to cover three chapters in one post, but this one is pretty important, and I kind of went overboard, so I’ll save Chapters 2 and 3 for later.   Doncha dare miss it!

[knarme-stray]

*Sips more of my Sephiroth tea*

Sssoo. We do know that one ingredient of a person’s character and personality is the natural temperament the person is born with, something affected by the genetics and neurological qualities of that person. The rest is how that biological set-up reacts to and develops with the given environment. So we can assume Sephiroth’s natural-born temperament being a mixture of that of Hojo and Lucrecia, who are polar opposites as people.

Let’s try to figure out the natural temperament of Hojo and Lucrecia, shall we?

Hojo - I’m very confident that he is a natural-born psychopath without any inherent ability to feel bad for what he does to other people. Why I think he is psychopathic (born empathy-less and antisocial vs. made that by environment, which is what a sociopath would be) and not sociopathic, is because he has a high status in society and he seems to be living his dream life, a. k. a. he performs fantastically well and plays the system to benefit what he wants (in his case, his science). This takes ability to self-regulate and follow a calculated plan on how to do things, instead of acting impulsively and having melt-downs like sociopaths do.

     And just.. Look at that bulging skull of his, - it doesn’t take much brains to guess from appearance alone how much of a natural-born capacity for intelligence he possesses. He is a genius, lacks any regard for the well-being of others and therefore his primary way of viewing other people is seeing them as inferior beings and objects to use and manipulate. If he has any shreds of  prosocial feelings and instincts within him, they’re poorly developed and don’t allow him to see other people as his equals. His own observations of his own intelligence support his view that he is above everyone and he sees no problem in it. He operates in a completely different reality than the majority of other people, and I bet he knows that, feels smug about that and so forth.

      We do know that he is curious and he feels immense joy in solving problems and discovering incredible things he can create. I would say he is almost playful in this regard (and his “toys” are all living beings...). He likes to stretch his good ol’ mind muscle around things as far as he can. Damn, he’s even creative. I think the way Hojo sees himself is someone different, someone better than everyone else who’s had the joy to be born into a world where he can do the most magnificent things with science, explore his curiosity to his heart’s content. He may be human but he views himself as very separate from others because he naturally doesn’t feel similiarly as the majority of everyone else. Sound familiar?

Also. Hojo has a huge drive, he’s really darn efficient and energetic. He just keeps going like a train. Look at the amount of monsters he has made. This man runs on his sheer inspiration and won’t sleep. He is aggressive, too, and will kill or otherwise dispose of people who get in his way. He’s ain’t no mellow fellow... He’s really dangerous. 

     Hojo scores very high in the natural psychopathy spectrum, intelligence, aggression, curiosity, creativity, drive and self-confidence. He’s a wicked, dangerous, genious powerhouse of a person. Never driven my emotional turmoil, but well-calculated intent.

...

Lucrecia - Just how different from Hojo can you get? One thing she has in common with Hojo, - being intelligent because she did make it to a Shinra scientist after all. She seems to be very poorly equipped with social navigation skills, given with how Hojo could talk her into terrible things despite her personality seeming like a more good-willed one. She gives me mild Asperger’s vibes? Intelligent but veeery unprepared for how absolutely vile and manipulative can other people be, too willing to assume good about people because she herself would rather be fair to others.

     It really, really gets to Lucrecia if she discovers she has hurt someone. She can hardly cope with that knowledge at all, it makes her self-destruct psychologically. She may have followed a poor judgement, but she definitely feels for others. She felt terrible for what happened to Vincent and I’m sure losing her baby was traumatizing for her too. (That scream of wanting to hold him was just... Heart-breaking.)

     She is also a very nervous, turbulent type of person, which makes her likely to have difficulty maintaining a good self-esteem and makes her easily affected by other people’s opinions.  She is naturally someone who’s straightforward with people, - she prefers honesty and kindness, but her judgement got swayed by manipulation.

      So, Lucrecia is intelligent, scores high in empathy, suffers from social difficulty, is nervous and likely to develop a bad self-esteem, and probably the straightforward honest type who finds it hard to grasp that some people are wicked and dishonest like corckscrews because. She may be even using her own brainpowers against herself, - to rationalize and play mental gymnastics to convince herself to believe in manipulation under heavy pressure and flattery etc. ... How do these qualities manifest in Sephiroth?

Sephy boi is...

- He is absolutely impressive at keeping his calm and composure on the outside, making him good at hiding his true thoughts and emotions. He clearly withholds this information so that he could have more freedom and avoid more manipulation. He consciously breaks rules like sparing the lives of Genesis and Angeal. He can calmly follow a plan he made and lie about things to do them differently than ordered. Hojo trait? (Ofc his nobility to help friends doesn’t come from Hojo, - that’d be a Lucrecia thing..)

- But he is also absolutely emotionally turbulent inside, leading into huge disaster once all his lines have been crossed. We have seen how Lucrecia breaks down and is entirely consumed by it, and I assume Sephiroth has the same internal tendency. It’s just that he has a waaaaayyy longer patience to be broken than what his mother had.

- He always felt different... I can completely see how both Hojo and Lucrecia would’ve felt “different” for their whole lives. Be that science-loving brilliant girl who struggles with social difficulty and navigation (Lucrecia), or be that genius psychopath of a boy (Hojo)... Either way, you’ll feel like a weird outsider even without any Jenova in you. But heck, I do bet Jenova added to that.

- He gets attached to people which he certainly didn’t inherit from Hojo! In Crisis Core Angeal notes Seph has lost weight during the time his friends went missing. Hell, he’s been feeling physically sick from the sheer stress of that and struggled to eat. He is deeply affected by these things. His entire physical health gets worse when people important to him disappear, and I could see Lucrecia being similiarly strongly attached to people. Poor Sephiroth, born to be a soft and loving person but having to deal with this bs. :c

- Even though he was basically born into being manipulated, his curiosity and intelligence make him something of an independend thinker to begin with. He sniffs out information on his own even before Nibelheim, and even considers the desertion before he has deserted. He doesn’t look up to others for judgement, - he follows his own. In this, he shows the kind of intellectual independence Hojo has. He doesn’t depend on others for giving him answers, but trusts himself the most with those. Like Hojo, Sephiroth probably sees himself as the brightest mind around.

- He is extremely driven and determined just like Hojo, like darn. He accomplishes BIG things entirely on his own.

- He is aggressive, also like Hojo, but his aggression is more impulsive and more swayed by emotion than Hojo’s.

- He will deny and distrust his own feelings until they blow up on himself. Like Lucrecia denied her own feelings when Hojo manipulated her, I think Sephiroth must’ve also lived in a lot of self-denial while in Shinra. And it was disastrous when all that bottled-up turmoil spilled over. Ta-da, Nibelheim happened.

- Sephiroth is idealistic and wants things to have a purpose that he can morally justify somehow. (Yes, even when burning Nibelheim because at that moment he had decided that humans are Bad TM...) Do you think Hojo ever gave a fuck about such things? Sephiroth would never be content being just a sword that cuts nor a vessel for a gross blob of an alien, - at all times he believed in a greater purpose and some kind of moral virtue, no matter how delusional and twisted all that may have gotten with him.