#i wish we kept something similar in the anime

[every-sasuke-uchiha]

[chipistrate]

sigh

I miss SBTV

[kurogane2512]

Hello :3

Happy Path to Nowhere 2nd Anniversary! I was watching the stream and the last part, the cat animation, made my heart melt so I wanted to request something! Could you perhaps write a little story where like the plot line of the whole surprise the Chief thing happens with female Chief? The last scene with the three, Chief, Hella, and Hecate, made me scream from cuteness overload and had to muffle it since it’s midnight where I live. 😭

I wish they had the morning call in the Chinese stream too, but a simp could only wish. Or did I miss that part? Was trying to find Angell’s morning call in Chinese since I’m a simp and since I primarily use Chinese voice acting for most of my games.

Happy gaming and love your blogs ❤️

I missed the stream cause it happened at like 7 am here but I went and saw the recording after seeing your request, the cat animation melted me oh my god it was so fcking cute sjdfhiofhewoifh 😭❤️

Unfortunately idk much about the CN stream, I saw the jp stream later just to see the morning calls and it wasn't there so I saw the VA talks and they had Langley and Hecate other than the 3 new Sinners. Similar to you, I'm a simp for the jp voices haha I play every gacha in jp vo

Thank you for the request tho I decided to do it asap so as to coincide with the anni. Happy 2nd anniversary to all my ptn people here!! ❤️

Characters: Various x fem!reader (Chief) [platonic for Hella, Hecate and other teen/children Sinners]

Type: SFW, Fluff (there is a surprise scene which wasn't in the official video, that's why this is even romantic at all~)

It was a normal day at the MBCC with everyone going about their duties and daily life. But the usual calm was interrupted when Nightingale walked inside the recreational area and asked the Sinners to gather around for an announcement. The ordeal was strange since all announcements were normally made through the speaker and only specified Sinners would be called in for special tasks. Nightingale chose the perfect time she knew everyone would be here so as to involve everyone, and still asked for any absentees to be called.

"Ahem, thank you everyone for heeding to my request. I will get to the point right away. Some may or may not know, next Saturday is Chief's second year in office. It has been a long and hard journey for Chief since her awakening, she has achieved lifelong milestones and made DisCity a safer place for everyone, especially all of you. To show our gratitude and appreciation, we will be holding a celebration for her. So, I'm here to ask you all if there is something you'd like to do for her. I'm sure she'd be very happy to receive something from you."

Everyone immediately perked up with excitement and interest hearing the announcement, some whispers and talks already beginning to form.

"Yes yes! I have a proposal!" Hella raised her hand and came forward, beaming with energy. Her proposal was simple enough, organizing a party with everyone's contribution in something or the other. None of the Sinners had any reason to refuse hence the proposal was quickly accepted and work began soon after. Eirene, Langley and Zoya were appointed as the co-leaders with Hella and Hecate (mostly Hella) leading the whole thing, it was fun for her to order everyone around but they all knew she was simply too excited and wanted everything done perfectly.

Different groups were formed and each given a set of duties. By the end of their planning phase, everyone had a work to do no matter how small or big. The incoming days felt like a hurricane with how busy everyone was and also had to keep the party a surprise, it was difficult to keep it a secret considering how involved you were with the bureau's affairs and caught on to many suspicious things that were being brought in and out. Still, eventually they had prevented any big revelations and kept you sufficiently intrigued.

"Oi, why is the banner not up yet?! We only have 4 hours left!"

Hella shouted, calling EMP and Horo to get on with the work. It was early Saturday morning, the day of the celebration. Fortunately, all necessary props had arrived thanks to Eirene's connections and authority in Eastside, the only thing left was to decorate the venue and make a cake. Cabernet had proposed to call the best pastry chef in DisCity for the cake but Chameleon and a few others suggested to make it themselves so as to make it more special.

Almost everyone participated in the cake making, right from bringing the ingredients to giving a hand in the making process and decorating it. The flavor was decided to be your favorite one and a signature topping was chosen for everyone to show their love for you. However, most didn't anticipate how chaotic the kitchen would become for making a simple cake. There were too many clashing opinions on the choice of frosting, shape, layers etc.

In the end, Nightingale had to step in and sort out the mess by proposing a common ground- 3 layered chocolate cake with vanilla frosting topped with strawberry pieces and chocolate puree around the edges, accompanied with 1 piece of signature topping by everyone. They beamed with pride looking at the finished cake and decorated venue, now all that was left was calling the special guest.

"Good work, everyone! Thank you for cooperating, we have 1 hour until the party so everyone can get ready till then and prepare anything else if they'd like. I'll bring Chief over later." Nightingale announced and some Sinners dispersed away to their cells to get dressed while others went to the cafeteria to have a break after the grueling preparations.

Hecate and Hella were seated together in the cafeteria. Hecate noticed Hella's cheerful demeanour and overall excitement about the event, finding her state quite interesting.

"Hella, why are you doing this?" Hecate suddenly asked.

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"This party.... why are you doing it?"

"H-Huh? Isn't it obvious....?!"

Hecate tilted her head, "Is it?"

Hella looked at her in bewilderment then sighed, "Don't you think she deserves it after all that she has done? It's exactly what Nightingale said when she announced it."

Hecate looked down with a blank expression, "I don't understand it too well. But, if it's like what Chief says to me about resting and taking things easy then...."

"Mm, that's a good enough explanation."

"But I still don't understand why you took charge of this. I didn't think you were the type to do something like this."

Hella looked almost offended and scoffed, "What do you take me for?! Of course, I understand her struggle and hard work for us. Is it so wrong to want to pay her back?"

Hecate pondered for a moment and noticed Hella's pout and slightly reddened face then gave a faint smile, "I think I get it now. I hope she likes it."

Hella grinned, "Of course, she will! My choices are the best!"

They smiled at each other before continuing their own work. It was now time for the celebration to begin as Nightingale made her way over to your office. She gently knocked on the door and stepped in to see you swamped with work as usual, likely not even realizing it was your work anniversary.

"Chief, you are required in the recreational area for a bit."

"Oh, is something wrong?"

"Yes, the Sinners are facing some issues. They'd like you to come and resolve it."

You nodded and wasted no time to get up to go. Nightingale always admired your work ethics and dedication towards the Sinners' wellbeing, she really wanted today to be a day for you to feel appreciated for all your efforts. You were walking through the corridor when you noticed everything was quieter and empty than usual, the guards seemed to be missing and barely any noise came from all around.

You reached the recreational area and tried to listen to any sounds considering there should be a ruckus but everything was too quiet. You looked over at Nightingale silently standing behind you with her usual expression then sighed and opened the door. All of a sudden, you were blinded by bright lights causing you to squint your eyes followed by the sound of each and every Sinner speaking their greetings for you.

"Happy 2nd year in office, Chief!~"

When you finally opened your eyes, you saw all the Sinners gathered around in front of you. In the frontmost row were Hella, Hecate, Zoya, Coquelic and Shalom all holding a big cake in their hands. Your mind couldn't comprehend the situation and you took a moment to look around the area until finally realizing what was happening.

"2nd year in office....?" you questioned then looked at Nightingale who was now on your left, standing with everyone with a smile on her face.

"Yes, Chief. Today is the day you were awakened and took charge of the bureau 2 years go."

You suddenly remembered the date and realized it was true, how could you forget the day your life changed forever? You then looked back at the Sinners and became slightly flustered seeing all the preparations they made, especially the beautiful and cute cake right in front of you.

"Hurry up and cut it, Chief! We can't wait to have it!" EMP shouted from behind Hella, making everyone chuckle.

"Thank you everyone, this is.... I-I don't have any words actually, I feel really happy. You all didn't need to do this, really...." you mumbled.

"Hmm, don't be so humble now, Chief~" Coquelic hummed.

"Hehe, indeed. Everyone contributed in this, you should thank their efforts~" Shalom added.

You smiled brightly at everyone then blew the candles and finally cut the cake. Kelvin and Ignis stepped forward to distribute slices to everyone while you were taken inside to sit at a sofa and served some snacks and beverages. All the Sinners formed groups around you and an atmosphere of laughter and celebration commenced. Some time passed and you were chatting with Langley when the sound of plate breaking was heard from across the room.

"A-Ah I'm so sorry, Hella!" EMP desperately apologized to Hella who was currently on the floor, her face covered with pieces of the cake and the plate shattered beside her. It seemed EMP accidentally bumped into Hella and made her fall which caused the cake to stain all over her face. Hella looked at EMP with rage and embarrassment as everyone stared at her, some even laughing at the ordeal though nobody meant any harm.

Hecate was the one to come forward and offer a tissue to wipe the cake from Hella's face and helped her stand up while Kelvin hurriedly gathered the broken pieces of the plate. You looked at the commotion and quickly made your way over to see Hella snuggled into Hecate's shoulder with tears in her eyes. EMP ran away before you could scold her, you decided to instead comfort Hella. You walked up to them and patted Hella's head, making her look at you.

"Are you okay, Hella? You can have some of my cake instead, and there is still more left that you can have."

You spoke with a smile and Hella sniffled her tears, you then patted Hecate's head too.

"Good job helping her, Hecate."

Hecate felt all warm and fuzzy inside hearing the compliment and simply nodded her head. You had both of them sit on the sofa and brought a new slice of cake then offered a bite to Hella who reluctantly accepted it, deep down you knew she loved this kind of attention.

"T-Thank you, Hecate and idiot Chief...." Hella mumbled, making you softly chuckle and pat her head more.

The sight of you three sitting together this way was quite adorable for some Sinners, giving them the image of a small and loving family with you as the mother of them. Some Sinners couldn't help but feel quite attracted to you, not that they already weren't, but seeing you act like a parent gave them.... fantasies.

"Oh, Chief, she's always so.... aaah, I want her even more now!~" Garofano pondered in a lovey-dovey haze.

"Oh, to have her feed me that way.... And perhaps I'll feed on her too, hehe~" Cabernet pondered, licking her lips.

Such similar thoughts roamed in every woman's head who liked you a bit more than usual, a kind of feeling they'd usually hide but felt overwhelmed by now. The celebration eventually ended by evening and you decided to go to your room to take a nap before continuing with paperwork. You had barely reached your room and begun to change your clothes when a huge commotion occured outside and you went to see what was happening, only to be met by the sight of various Sinners gathered around and arguing over something.

"Hey hey, everyone, what's the matter?" you cautiously asked and tried to calm them down.

"Hmph, always so pretentious in your approach, Hush. Don't forget the MBCC is under my jurisdiction." Langley stately claimed to Shalom who smirked in response.

"You can keep the MBCC under you, everyone knows Chief will be under me~" Shalom retorted.

"How many times have you tried to bribe her, Countess?~" Eirene mocked Chelsea.

"Oh, more than enought times than you have played chess with her, Quinn~" Chelsea retorted.

Everyone seemed to be engaged in some kind of banter with each other and completely ignored your intervention, making you confused and nervous about what the issue was. Coquelic was the first one to act differently. She had been silently standing on the side with Garofano and Sumire behind her and waiting for her turn but seeing the unnecessary trouble, she decided to take matters in her own hands. Her small frame made it easier for her to squeeze in through the crowd and stand in front of you with a sly smirk.

"Ah, Coquelic! What's happen—?!"

Your words were blocked as she suddenly pulled you down near her face by grabbing your chest harness then placed a supple kiss on the left corner of your lips, hard enough to leave a mark of her red lipstick. Everyone instantly became quiet seeing her bold action, some even gasping in surprise.

"Everyone was wasting so much time debating over who'll go first so I took the initiative. You are welcome to come to my room if you want more, Chief~"

Coquelic declared before waving at everybody and walking away, leaving you quite dumbfounded at what just happened. You then looked at everyone else and knew you were in trouble, probably the best kind of trouble, though. As if like dam broke down, everyone lunged at you and pushed you inside your room until you were seated on the edge of the bed and had them hover around you, some even climbing up and going behind you while the rest fought to have space in front.

"Everyone, calm down! Let's do one at a time, okay?!" you proposed a solution but it didn't seem like they were keen on listening.

Garofano and Sumire were first to act following their mentor's steps and placed a kiss on each of your cheeks, leaving a lipstick mark just like Coquelic did. This was followed by Chelsea and Lady Pearl, the latter of them kissing your jaw and the former kissing your forehead, again leaving lipstick marks. Next was Cabernet who acted swiftly to be alone and wasted no chance to kiss your lips, pulling away with a lick and imprinting her lipstick too.

"Hehe, you taste so good, Chief~" Cabernet remarked before being pulled away by Eirene who straddled your lap and held your face to kiss the right corner of your lips, similar to Coquelic's action and also leaving her lipstick mark.

"I'll take more from you later, Chief~" Eirene said with a smirk then got off you and made space for Langley and Chamelon who sat on each side of the bed beside you and examined your face, seemingly finding an empty space for them to make their mark.

"You look adorable, Chief. But you should have left some space for me~" Chameleon teased while sliding her hand down your neck and unbuttoning the first button of your shirt.

"Hmph, such behaviour is intolerable from you, rookie. I expect you in my office later to compensate for this~" Langley stated.

Both of them dived near your exposed neck and kissed on either side, a muffled moan leaving your lips at the overwhelming contact. Just like everyone, their lipsticks were also imprinted on your skin distinctly. Shalom came in next and surprisingly, brought Nightingale along with her who was seemingly standing outside the whole time and watching the ordeal. You could tell Nightingale was clearly embarrassed and reluctant to follow through with her desires, but you pulled her in by her arm to tell her it was okay.

"Oh my, aren't you quite bold with your Adjutant?~" Shalom teased.

Nightingale was too embarrassed to kiss you anywhere other than your forehead, while Shalom kissed near your ear, her breath brushing past making you shudder. Your body was heaving by now with all the sensations you were experiencing, but you could still see more were left. Oak Casket and Raven soon got their turns, the former kissing your hand while the latter kissed your chin. By now, it was difficult to tell who kissed where, but they all knew their special spot.

Some of the last few people were Anne, Serpent, Angell, Bai Yi, Cassia and Eleven- all of them kissing at different spots on your face and neck and leaving their lipstick marks too. At last when it all ended, you practically plopped on the bed with exhaustion and caressed all the kiss marks with your fingers before smiling to yourself and closing your eyes. You were surprised they didn't just tear away your clothes and mark you all over.... perhaps that was saved for some other day.

[lynnuvo]

𝑀𝓎 𝒮𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓉-𝑀𝒶𝓎𝒷𝑒-𝒯𝑜𝑜-𝒮𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓉 𝒢𝒾𝓇𝓁

Characters: Toga Himiko x Female (Y/N)

You and Toga Himiko were not only friends but classmates back in middle school. She had a fair amount of companions, but you were her best friend--the one person she felt she could go to about everything. After all, you were the first person she invited for a sleepover and her last.

One day, she gathered the courage to share her family troubles with you. She shared her quirk and thus, her strange interest in harming animals, including the one where her parents caught her sucking the life out of bird when she was a child. Although it unsettled you at first, you collected yourself and thanked her for entrusting you with her history. You sympathized with her wish to be "normal." Your response to her confessions opened a door. With others around, she was her usual, well-behaved, cheery Toga. But when you two were alone, her cheeriness doubled, and the topics you two would discuss sometimes turned from everyday things to "would-you-rathers?", "wouldn't it be better if?", and deep desires. She asked you a LOT of questions. You were worried that if she kept going, you might have to spill every single thought about you. Thankfully, her questioning spurts would only last for a short while.

It wasn't long before your friend group noticed how much closer the two of you had gotten over the past three months. You were dubbed "Toga's Best Friend," and you didn't mind it. In fact, you loved it. You loved Toga. Just not enough to sweep her off her feet and kiss her.

Luckily, this allowed you to encourage Toga to confess to the boy she developed a crush on. It was sudden, and you were sure there had to be more to the boy than just him taking the time to talk to her about birds in the library during study hall (she forgot to do her homework and met him there). But there wasn't.

You picked at the rice you packed for lunch. The echoes of chatter in the cafeteria felt like white noise to the headache forming in your head. Not an actual headache, of course. But your situation sure felt like you needed one. "What's so special about him?"

"He's cute. Adorable. I'm in lovee~" Toga Himiko said as she stared dreamily at his figure three tables across. Her pupils may as well have been hearts. "I like him a lot."

"Then why don't you just tell him?"

"I don't know. He probably won't like me. He barely knows me."

You scoffed. "And you barely know him. What if he's actually a bad person?"

Toga leaned closer. "Do you know something about him?"

"No, but..." Your lips pursed before you shoved a spoonful of food in your mouth. "We don't even know his name."

"We'll find out."

"Come on, Toga. You can find someone else--someone you actually know."

Toga leaned even closer with a cheeky smile spread across her face. "Are you insinuating I should be with you instead?"

"Wha-No! You know that's not what I meant!" Some gradient of pink and red spread across your face. "Just--Forgot about it!"

"You're so cute, (Y/N)-chan!"

Conversation similar to this would continue for days, then weeks. It wasn't a lot, but no matter how many times you both talked about it, Toga never approached him for a conversation, and the few times he approached her to converse, they didn't get to a point where they exchanged numbers. You honestly felt sorry for her, but no amount of advice would be convincing enough T for something to actually happen. She would even invite you over to her house to conjure up a plan (and have fun), but it was all for naught. You didn't think she'd confess anytime soon.

--

But then she did confess.

In the worst way possible.

The news that Toga Himiko, your best friend, attacked her crush at graduation spread like wildfire. At this time, it was a week after graduation, and you holed yourself in your room beating yourself up for ever letting Toga leave your side. After the actual ceremony, you left to join your parents but couldn't find Toga for some reason. Even after you messaged her repeatedly to meet up before you went to have a celebratory dinner, she didn't appear. Even to this day, you sent her messages, but she didn't reply.

"(Y/N)," your mother called from the doorway. Her worrisome gaze fell on you fidgeting with your phone. "You should probably stop messaging her if she's not answering now."

You turned to her. You knew how tempted she was to wash your face and chide you on your dark circles like she had the first day you broke down crying, but she knew better with the way you lashed out. "Why? She might answer."

"Honey." Your mother walked inside and sat down on the floor beside you. She brushed a hair from your face and took your phone away gently. You didn't feel like fighting back. "I spoke with her parents. They gave her phone to the police a while ago."

"What?!" Your eyes began to well. "How could...this is so...."

The following week was miserable. You barely ate and slept for most of the day. Some of you and Toga's mutual friends messaged you throughout the week to check up on you--and on the case. They were all encouraging but also skeptical about Toga's true nature. They couldn't believe this behavior would come from her. But you did. You didn't predict her to act this irrationally, but you did expect the pressure to be "normal" to get the best of her at some point.

When the next week began, your mother urged you to buy groceries from the store. It was her way of saying you needed a breath of fresh air. Luckily, you were more willing to accept help. You retrieved the grocery list from her hand and set on your way, mind still on the girl. You were halfway there when you heard your name.

"(Y/N)..."

Your body freeze. You spun around to see a girl in a black hoodie and black pants. She wore a white mask. Despite the clothing, you instantly recognized the girl from her glowing yellow eyes.

You ran into her arms; she embraced you right back. "Toga! It's really you! Where have you--mmph?!"

Your breath left you as Toga threw your body into the alley beside you. Your exposed shoulder scraped the sidewalk, making you yelp in pain. Toga hurried over to hush you. Out of the corner of your eye, you barely made out the silhouette of a tall figure before your vision went completely dark. Someone must've put something over your head--and body. Like a potato sack. You felt a prick at your ankle; adrenaline surged through your body. You just started to scream when an arm forced its way into your mouth from outside of the bag. You bit down as hard as you can, and the person groaned—a male. You tried to bite down more but pull away real quick. The texture and taste of the potato sack was awful, and you felt things in your mouth. You spat them out. Hopefully, they weren't splinters.

"Be gentle with her!" Toga chided as you were thrown onto someone's shoulder.

A low, masculine voice sounded real close to your head. "Why do I have to do this little side-quest for you? We haven't even made it to the base yet, and we're gonna be introduced with this random hostage. We're not gonna get in like this."

"Yes we will! She promised she'd be with me no matter what!"

A promise? Oh. That must have been something you made while you two talked about her family issues. You don't remember making this promise, but it must be because your head is so clouded from how despondent you've been recently.

"You realize that's before you became a murderer, right?"

"Yeah, but (Y/N)-chan is my favorite girl. I can't leave her behind~!"

"Her family is going to suspect you had something to do with this."

"Either that or she ran away to find me. I'll make it worth her while!"

Your heart fell. You loved Toga, but you loved your family as well. Even if you wanted to be by Toga's side, you didn't want to leave everything behind.

And Toga? A murderer? She hasn't even graduated high school yet and she's already a villain?!

Tears streamed down your face. You knew you should fight back--kick the man who held you--but if Toga could kill people and still be so cheery, what would she do to you? Her sharing this information must mean the man with her is some kind of villain or accomplice or someone who doesn't care about such things, which is still pretty scary.

When you couldn't hold back a hiccup, you heard Toga's footsteps fall. Her soft voice sounded to your right. "Don't worry, (Y/N)-chan. You'll be able to rest once the dose sets in. We can talk about everything once you wake up in our new home."

You cried for a good moment. The man muttered something about getting his shirt wet. Sometime after your eyes ran dry of tears, weariness began to kick in. You closed your eyes. The last thing you could remember thinking about before you knocked out was the hypothetic situation if you had just made her fall in love with you instead.

[autistic-ben-tennyson]

I have a lot of things to say about this character. I used to identify with her a bit but I no longer do and a lot of the writing in her “arc” has aged poorly. The narrative wants to portray her as just someone who longs to be understood. What we got though is a character who never grows and remains selfish and inconsiderate. I respect and understand that she’s important to a lot of people who are queer and neurodivergent as I am too but I don’t think she’s as good as her stans say.

I’m going to contrast her with two protagonists I am fond of. The character I named my blog after, Ben Tennyson, and Akko from Little Witch Academia which I just finished watching. I actually compared the former to Luz in a more positive post back when I liked her but I think a more critical comparison is needed now. Some have said it but TOH is just an isekai anime for queer people. Any development Luz may have had regarding being less impulsive and selfish got dropped in favor of her just wanting to be understood. She gets everything she wants, to be the hero, to date the rich popular girl, and never be criticized or challenged by anyone.

If Lumity was a cishet ship, it would get a lot more flack from people. Amity herself is woobified by her fans when she was often nasty to Luz or Willow for no reason and didn’t do much to redeem herself for the latter. Luz chose to keep lying to Amity and kept secrets even after she promised to do better. Despite suffering from bad writing in UA, Ben/Julie was still better than this. Julie actually held Ben accountable when he lied or screwed up and she never bullied him, Gwen or Kevin. Ben does try, even if he’s not very good at it to be a better boyfriend and spend more time with Julie as seen in “Revenge of The Swarm” after promising he’d do better.

Some other things that make Ben better than Luz is that his hero fantasy is actually deconstructed. He learns he can’t mess around and do what ever he wants. While he jokes around and acts like a brat, he admits it’s because he’s scared because of the stakes that come if he fails in the episode “The Forge of Creation”. This is not to say Ben 10 is great as it does slip into isekai territory as well with that disgusting harem episode in OV, but it does a little better. He’s also actually bullied as shown in the OS and AF which makes him a bit more sympathetic whereas fanon is used to make Luz more likable than what just the show itself tells.

Regarding Akko, she’s similar to Luz in that she’s impulsive, selfish, rude and wants to be a witch to live out some fantasy. The difference is that Akko learns to be more responsible, that not everything is about her and that she can’t just get whatever she wants. While patience is still something she struggles with by the end of the series, she still grows and becomes a better person. Whereas Luz was willing to abandon everyone while wallowing in self pity, Akko ran away for a few hours after learning that Chariot, her mentor, idol and friend was the reason she was struggling but a quick talk with Diana brought her back. The thing is that a character who’s not a noble saint but still very sympathetic can work such as Shinji Ikari but not if they’re framed as heroic like Luz. That’s why a lot of the show’s writing has not aged well.

To recap, this isn’t to bash people who do identify with Luz and like her. I used to as well, but she’s got some flaws that are often brushed away and the narrative seemed like it wanted to have its cake and eat it too. Wanted to challenge traditional fantasy tropes while ultimately turning into a chosen one wish fulfillment for Luz. TOH was praised for its representation as well as by people who view it as the anti SU but its not the greatest show ever and there are some troubling implications.

[hamsterrodent]

I finally chose to use the relationship chart @onelittleornotthing made, so here's a simple overlook of their relationships!

And under the cut, some more detailed descriptions of their relationships👇

"Peppino is very interesting; he used to be super aggressive towards me, but now, he's actually really nice. I don't know what changed, but I don't mind. He's nicer than- uh.. n-nevermind.."

"I've-a warmed up to him, but he can still sometimes bug-a me. Although, I always have-a this odd, familiar feeling around him.. yet something I only could wish-a for.. like me with Maurice, but.. sweeter?"

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"Gustavo has always been so patient with me! I really appreciate his care and kindness."

"Rattino is so cute! I've always been a fan of little critters, and although it took a while, he became very fond of me!"

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"I've heard about her, but.. I feel uneasy around her. When I see her, I always go to a different room as fast as possible.."

"Fakie tells me about him; this Rattino guy sounds so adorable! But I never see him."

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"The tax guy? Mysterious; all he cares about is that green paper stuff.."

"Spaghetti's rat? It's a weird little rat, especially since Peppino complained about shorty having a rat in his pizzeria."

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"B-boss..? He made me.. and he kept me.. but he treated me.. bad..? N-no, that can't be it..."

"Oh, that critter? I'm surprised mister rage guy took it in! At least it's off my hands.."

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"T-the boss always talked about it; I never see it, but sometimes, I feel as though a presence I don't recognize watches me.."

"Pizzahead's 'failed creation', as he called him. But honestly, Pizzahead was a little insane and unpleasant. So I want to investigate him for myself. He seems nice enough. After all, I can do what I want with that a**hole gone.."

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"He talks.. a LOT.. b-but that isn't to say he's b-bad!!! I-I PROMISE!"

"A shame, I wanted to be able to examine his body and do art studies on him. And perhaps make art of him? He should be similar to Mr. Peppino, but.. I don't think so."

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"Vigi is very kind and understanding. I like talking to him, and he makes great cocoa!"

"I've always been more sociable with animals rather than people, but Rattino is a nice in between. I can have full, normal conversations while still technically speaking with an animal."

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"He talks about cool stuff. But.. he sometimes says and does unreasonable things; mostly to Mr. Peppino, but he does it to me as well.."

"Eh, I don't care about him much. But he listens to me, doesn't argue, and it pisses off the italian man when we talk. Up yours, chunky!"

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"I never met him in the tower, but I wish I had! He's so cuddly and loving.. but I've been told it wasn't always this way.'

"(Rattino's so cute and small! Don't touch him, or you regret life choices.. Rattino is like baby brother to me; special..)"

[pinkberrypocky]

How Kyoko Did What Mami Couldn’t

A long rambling series of thoughts about how kyoko and mami are more similar than they seem and how kyoko is the one who truly succeeds at it

So normally I think of Sayaka and Kyoko being the duo to think about, but upon this rewatch I noticed some interesting things about Mami. Mami’s role in the anime is essentially to show Madoka and Sayaka the ropes of being a magical girl and help them decide if they want to become magical girls themselves. However, there is a massive gap in this goal of hers/our perception of her role in the show and what she actually does in the anime. Mami tells Madoka and Sayaka that she wants them to know the stakes of becoming a magical girl before they decide if that’s something they are willing to go through in order to have a wish granted. On a surface level, this seems like exactly what she does. She takes them with her while she hunts and kills witches, she talks with them about potential wishes, and she even warns Sayaka about the possible complications of making a wish for someone else’s sake. However, in actuality she only encourages Madoka and Sayaka to become magical girls, all while sheltering them from the true weight of the profession, though this is likely not known even to her as she does so. She takes them into witch fights without ever warning them that this is a life or death scenario and she might not be able to protect them. Instead, she tells them that she’ll protect them and puts up a front that she is an unstoppable and untouchable object. But that obviously crashes down very quickly when she dies in front of them in the third episode. While telling Madoka and Sayaka that she is going to teach them what it is to be a magical girl, she effectively shelters them from the very things they need to be aware of in order to make an informed decision on whether or not to make a contract. 

I want to emphasize that I don’t think this is intentionally selfish, though it definitely is in function. Mami didn’t have a choice when she became a magical girl, it was make a contract and become a magical girl or die. So it makes sense that it’s important to her that Madoka and Sayaka make an informed decision before jumping into magical girlhood. So why doesn’t she? Why does she put active effort into making sure they don’t see the ugliest parts? Why does she put up a front that she isn’t affected by risking her life to fight witches? Because she was trying to give Madoka and Sayaka the protection that is so starkly absent from her own life. Mami has no close relatives, her parents died in the car accident that forced her to become a magical girl years ago. This means she has been on her own for a long time. And remember, all of the characters are middle schoolers. Mami had to grow up far too fast and so she tried to protect Madoka and Sayaka from this by sheltering them from the cold truth about being a magical girl. Not that I’m saying she kept explicit secrets, Mami died never knowing about the truth of the soul gems or the witches, but she kept the psychological effects and risk of serious physical harm from them, even though it was with good intentions. 

What’s wrong with that? I think we can all agree that these girls could all use a more active parental figure to protect them. So was Mami in the right for this? No. The issue with this is that it is starkly incompatible with the goal she expressed to Madoka and Sayaka, to teach them what it’s like to be a magical girl. Unfortunately, Madoka and Sayaka have already been pulled into this world and as such deserve to be informed about what that entails. Mami is incapable of doing this. But if Mami really wanted what was best for Madoka and Sayaka and to be a mentor to them, wouldn’t it make more sense for her to tell them the truth and then help them work through it? Yes, yes it would. But she can’t, because the real obstacle holding Mami Tomoe back from being 100% honest with Madoka and Sayaka is the fact that she is so deeply afraid of being alone. Mami has been alone since becoming a magical girl, both in the way that being a magical girl isolates all of them but also in that her family is dead. Mami has no one. So when Madoka and Sayaka enter the picture with the preassigned, by Kyubey, context that they might want to become magical girls, Mami is set on selling them the job. Because if Madoka and Sayaka become magical girls then she won’t be alone anymore, both in fighting witches and in life. So even though Mami has the surface level goal and knowledge of making sure Madoka and Sayaka know the truth, she has a much stronger goal hidden beneath the surface from even herself: to not have to be alone anymore. So in actuality, she doesn’t want Madoka and Sayaka to realize how horrible the job is, because if they did there’s no way they’d join her and she’d remain alone. Because of this goal that she herself isn’t aware of, she consequently presents a false narrative of what it is to be a magical girl, therefore putting Madoka and Sayaka in immense amounts of danger. 

Mami is a tragic character because what she wants to do is the opposite of what she does, and as soon as she reaches her goal she is killed at the height of her positivity. But that’s not to say that there isn’t a character who doesn’t do the work of explaining the truths of the magical girl world in an accurate and effective way in the series. But that girl isn’t Mami, it’s Kyoko. 

The moment in the show that sparked this whole train of thought for me was in the scene in episode nine right before Madoka and Kyoko confront witch Sayaka. Kyoko asks Madoka if she’s sure about coming with her, reminding her that she can’t say for sure that she can protect her and pointing out that she doesn’t even know if her plan will work. Madoka affirms that she wants to come along, and begins a bit of a monologue about how she’s never been able to help the magical girls since she is too scared to become one herself. Kyoko immediately tells Madoka that she’s one of the lucky ones, that if it’s not a life or death situation she shouldn’t even think about making a contract with Kyubey. Madoka pushes back on this but Kyoko holds firm, insisting that it’s not wrong for Madoka to enjoy her life and that there is no pressure or reason for her to become a magical girl. Whether or not Madoka is able to truly hear and internalize Kyoko’s words is separate, though based on the end of the show I think we all know that conversation did not encode, the fact of the matter is that Kyoko bore all the truths of the situation to Madoka. She didn’t pull any punches, and she didn’t shelter or protect Madoka from things that she thought might be too hard on her. 

This lack of sugar coating is really important to Kyoko’s character as a whole. Throughout the show she always speaks what she believes to be the truth, which is really all you can ask of her considering the earth shattering secrets Kyubey kept from all of them. You can see this a lot with Sayaka, who Kyoko tries time and time again to convince to change her ways to put more emphasis on herself. Kyoko knows that Sayaka is functioning as if the world follows her strictly constructed ideals, and she also knows that the world doesn’t. She used to think like Sayaka, but she was forced to face the truth that sometimes the world is horrible. Sometimes the people you love most hurt you. Sometimes a wish you made out of love only leads to pain. She tries countless times to convey this to Sayaka, which is exemplified most plainly in the scene in Kyoko’s father’s old church. She tosses Sayaka an apple, saying she has a long story to share with her, but Sayaka immediately throws the apple to the floor. The symbolism of apples cannot be ignored in this scene, especially considering the setting of the church and the nature of the story Kyoko shares with Sayaka. Sayaka rejecting the apple, the biblical symbol of knowledge, at the beginning of the scene shows her refusal to face the truth even when it is handed to her.So even while Kyoko failed to be heard, which is very reminiscent of her father and the nature of her wish and I plan to discuss further later on, she did not fail to convey the whole, brutal truth. Kyoko acts truly selflessly when she tries to get Madoka and Sayaka to understand the realities of being a magical girl, which is so interesting considering she is so adamant that she is a selfish person. All the other characters in the series want so badly to be selfless, but end up finding that in the end they are unable to get rid of that selfish part inside them. As I described earlier, Mami does this when she warps her portrayal of magical girl life, but it can also be seen in Sayaka who makes a wish to heal her crush’s incurable injury and ends up feeling cheated and jealous when he doesn’t recognize her. Sayaka sets out to be a magical girl like Mami was, and in this way she completes her goal. She strives endlessly, however hopelessly, to be selfless and eventually dies in the process. Sayaka suffers because no matter how hard she wants to be selfless she isn’t. Which isn’t to say she’s a bad person, very few people are capable of doing things that are 100% selfless, nevermind doing so all the time. But Kyoko, who is always saying how selfish she is, is the one who is able to be truly selfless by giving Madoka, and attempting to give Sayaka, the whole truth without any sugar coating so that they can make their own decisions based on what they want. Kyoko thinks she’s selfish because she doesn’t believe that fighting is something that should be done unless there is no other option, but it is actually this belief that allows her to selflessly present Madoka and Sayaka with the truth.

[kaimukiwahine]

Just gonna type my thoughts out based on my notes I wrote while playing the To the Moon Beach Episode. So spoilers/long ramble.

Short things:

They brought back many minor characters from Finding Paradise, thought that was very cute

References: The "Are you winning, son?" in the airport was charming but I did not expect to get a full FNAF section

I love the use of previous games OST: updated versions and the lo-fi versions

Animations were very charming and expressive; they even joke about it ("didn't have a budget for it. The dance lessons")

That inverted/hanging jellyfish planter. I need it. I need it now.

Rob learning what people are up to on the internet these days only to instantly regret it

Willis and Taima still going at it. They are lifelong couple goals: keeping the flame alive while dropping wisdom

I need that soundtrack.

Bigger things:

Johnny and River addressing what most players/general audience found concerning about the original game and overall premise of the series: Altering and overwriting of memories or basically the reality of the dying. While jokingly Johnny says he could never see himself using their services, both conclude it's their choice and they just need to accept it

This was slightly touched on in the Minisode but for it to be brought into attention by the original characters that kicked off this series, it's something.

The three books at the beginning already set forth what this game is gonna be all about: grieving and acceptance of the passing of a loved one. The first run through, Eva completely numbed her memories to enjoy the beach and time with Neil. But there was always something.

Second run, she "confronts" as Faye states the truth: Neil is dead.

It was hinted that Eva started drinking (in the store) and has been repeatedly using the machine Neil left behind that Neil becomes concerned for her. (Similar to Collin in Finding Paradise.) While she wants to stay on the beach and relive the same day over and over, it's not possible.

There was a brief mention of immortality. One being a jellyfish that reverts back to infancy as it reaches the end of their lifespan and questioning if it's still the same jellyfish or not. Then compared to humans how we regenerate new cells except the brain and heart.

Roxie finds it romantic, Eva wishes that those also gets replaced with every pass.

Neil's death was either sudden or his condition was kept secret from Eva? Eva mentioned he didn't give her enough time to prepare and Neil didn't know what to do and I think he said he made the machine just so he just doesn't disappear and to leave something behind for her.

*Edit* I completely forgot about Paper Memories. I'm guessing the phone call Eva got from Roxie was that Neil passed away (given how distressed Roxie was in that one panel). It is possible that that portion was in the machine and that Rob and Roxie were aware. That whole portion is basically like this Beach Episode.

Edit2: thinking again, the call could be him in critical condition since in the comic Neil mentions making that garden. Eva not replying to Neil on how he died makes it sound like it was traumatic. She mentioned something about a surgery when talking to Lynri and Quincy and asking how he is when he visits them but not sure if that's involved or just a throwaway line.

Neil lives on with regrets; mostly wishing Eva was his girlfriend and more. Though he isn't real in the game, he still carries the memories he had. He built her "a garden" (comic reference) but she started spending too much time. And she can't fully enjoy it because he continues to keep her at arms length.

Neil locked himself in his room, much like he did in many instances throughout the series and now canonically, all throughout the life Eva and Neil has been together. Thinking he's doing what's best for her when all she wanted is him to be "here'

He regrets those decisions but it's understandable on why he did it. In Impostor Factory, Lynri's condition was hereditary and is in Neil. Seeing Quincy's face of absolute loneliness knowing he's about to lose his wife and eventually his son, it would devastate anyone. Neil making a machine to make it so that Eva would never have to go through that, while admirable, changed nothing. If not, made things worse.

How they close the game was brutal: The world Neil created for Eva to never be alone after he has passed slowly fading away, concluding with Eva being alone, crying, as she turns the machine off.

You couldn't just leave it like this for them. Together alone on the beach.

No. It's just Eva. Alone.

[spudfromspace]

Is this actually real?

Hello, this story is the result of me thinking of multiple things at the same time and spiraling into a rabbit hole of thoughts, i think i might have ADHD. This is the first story I've written in a long while (around 4 years), so it might not be that good. Anyhow, let's get on with it. Also, this'll be male character/s x male reader, ok? No hard feelings, but we need more x male reader works, also this is an au if you couldn't tell

*i groan, rubbing my head as the world around me feels like it's spinning. Eventually, i was able to stand up and take a look at my surroundings, it looked like a forest*

W-where am i?

*i was about to explore my new surroundings, but then i saw something approach me from the woods. It was some cat thing with rings on its ears. It looked strangely familiar, but i couldn't remember why*

Welcome, i am kyubey

Wait- this seems oddly familiar-

I am capable of granting you one wish, anything you desire

Wait a minute-

But in return, you will become a magical boy and use your powers to fight witches

WAIT A DAMN MINUTE-

*i start to freak out, realising just who this is*

OH HELL NO, I AIN'T RISKING MYSELF AND BECOMING A WITCH. BACK YOU DEMON!

*i yell at it, picking up a random stick on the ground and pointing it at it*

*"kyubey" starts laughing and falls on the ground*

Hahahaha! I'm just kidding!

*it transforms into something else, something with a more human appearance but the ears and tail were still there. They stand up and walk towards me, putting their hands up to show they weren't there to hurt me*

Chill, I'm not gonna do anything bad

*i lower the stick*

Then who are you, where am i and what the heck is going on?

Well, first my name isn't important but you can just call me kyu. Second you are in America, well, America in another world. And third basically you died and are now being subjected to a similar fate as most shonen isekai anime protagonists

Wait.... WHAT!? THAT CAN ACTUALLY HAPPEN!?

*i was very shocked after what i was just told. I died... and was now in another world like in those isekai animes*

You good? Had enough time to get it together yet?

It's been barely 2 minutes... THAT IS NOWHERE NEAR ENOUGH TIME FOR ME TO GET IT TOGETHER AFTER LEARNING I JUST DIED AND AM NOW IN ANOTHER WORLD!

Well get it together already, there's still a lot we need to get through before i can leave

What?

Well i cant just leave you in this new world without having any knowledge about this place and unable to live by yourself, i am legally not allowed to. Since unlike most of those isekai tropes where people get sent to worlds in more medieval times and you can just start your life without people questioning who you are and where you came from, this world is just as modern as your previous one, and since you don't originally belong to this world you wont have things like your birth certificate, school files, personal files, proof of existence, etc...

Wait.... so then how am i supposed to live here if i basically don't exist?

*they chuckle and snap their fingers, multiple documents appear around us*

That's what I'm here for, I'm in charge of your transfer to this world and with some magic i made some of these documents and files that will serve as your identity and proof of existence in this world, stuff like your birth certificate and things i mentioned previously, these will become apart of this worlds databank making it as if you were always part of it. I kept your information identical to your original one except for the fact that now it would be as if you were already an American citizen, instead of living in (insert country), your data would be stated that you moved to America just recently with the purpose of studying

But what about where I'll live? How am i supposed to get money or a job? And studying, how could i afford tuitions?

I'm getting there, jeez, be a little patient won't you? You'll be provided with a small house for yourself, as for school stuff, you'll find documents inside said house for your school, since I've already enrolled you. And as for money and job, well, that's where the fun stuff starts

*they were grinning after saying that which worried me a bit for what they meant by that*

What are you talking about?

Well, remember what i said earlier? I wasn't kidding about that turning you into a magical boy part, but before you panic, no it's not like madoka magica. You will be a using powers and stuff to fight bad guys and get paid by the government for saving people, sounds fun right?

What kind of powers? And is there some kind of catch? Cuz a free house, powers, and a job sounds too good to be true...

The only catch is college, you'll have to balance fighting bad guys with attending school while not failing. And as you probably now from all the shows you've watched with similar tropes, that isn't an easy task, but one thing you won't have to worry about is hiding your identity

Is it because magical girls/boys outfits have magic that make people as blind as a bat when it comes to their identities, regardless of how identical they look?

What? No, not like miraculous ladybug blindness, it's more like the powerpuff girls

Ah, ok then. So....what powers do i get? Are they cool powers?

Eh, I'm too lazy to come up with powers, here just pick which ones you want

*they hand over a screen displaying multiple characters fictional characters*

Wait, aren't these characters from works of fiction? Won't they exist in fiction in this world too?

Well yeah, some fictional works from your world exist here too, just like how things like nintendo exist here too. But don't worry, all the characters in that screen are characters that don't exist in this world, as to avoid copyright infringement. So just take your pick and I'll give you those powers.

This isn't an easy decision to make, can't i just pick later? How about you show me where ill be living first?

Fiiinnnneeee..... but I'll only wait until tomorrow, so make up your mind by then ok?

*kyu snaps their fingers and then we suddenly appear in a bedroom, me falling into a bed*

This is your new home, information about your house, school, and city are all in those documents beside you on your bed, and just use google maps for getting to your school. You'll also have food in the fridge and some money if you look in your drawer. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be taking my leave, I'll be back tomorrow afternoon so have a decision by then ok?

*kyu then disappears, leaving me alone in my new house, in a new world, in my new life. I plop myself properly down on the bed, looking at the ceiling and thinking of everything that just happened during the last hour or so*

Holy shit.... i think i just became an shonen protagonist.... ew

*thinking back to what kyu said, i needed to think of what powers i want*

Eh, I'll figure it out tomorrow morning, i need to sleep after all this shit

End of part 1

This is the end for this part, i hope this wasn't too bad. As for the powers and stuff, I'll keep thinking for what powers would be good or i might just make a poll later on which characters powers we could have, you guys can even comment some suggestions. No dogday and catnap for now, maybe in the next chapter if i get to that part fast enough

[braxiatel]

You know that “if it were a drawing I would call it a doodle or a sketch” incomplete fic I posted a while back?

Well here’s another from a few months ago.

Mumscarian (shocking, I know) hunger games au except instead of being told from the POV of someone in the hunger games it’s told by someone they left behind.

Content warnings are all similar in style and detail to the hunger games books, anx include injury (with specific mention of broken bones, spinal injuries, eye injuries, burns), references to genocide, displacement, and loss of a parental figure. Child- and animal endangerment, dissociation, non consensual body modifications, and possibly more that I cannot recall at this moment. Proceed with caution.

———

Cats have healing powers.

Scar was the one who told him that, on a cold winter’s day in front of the fire. Had it really only been months? It felt so much longer…

Something about their purring, Scar had said. He had been more specific than that, but Mumbo’s head was somewhat hazy at the moment.

But the purring healed you, Mumbo could remember as much.

Still, he was pretty sure Jellie alone wasn’t going to get him out of this one, not for lack of trying.

It was her fault he was here anyway.

… No, that wasn’t true. He would have said as much to himself if not for the fact that even moving his lips to take in gasping breaths was agony.

They had been warned before the bombs started to drop. There has been time to run, Pearl’s hand in his so they did not lose each other in the crowd.

Until he saw a woman carrying a goat in her arms and remembered-

“I have to go back,” he panted through strained breaths - he was nowhere near as fit as Pearl, who had been washing the coal-smeared clothes of half the Seam since age eleven to make ends meet.

“What?!” Pearl asked, continuing to pull him towards the hovercraft that was waiting on the green. “Mumbo if we stay we’re going to die. Whatever you forgot it isn’t more important than your life, if can be replaced, I promise. Just-”

“Jellie,” he interrupted her. “We forgot Jellie.”

Pearl’s grip slackened. The crowd kept moving around them, indistinct bodies pushing them forward and together.

“It will break Scar if he comes home and finds out she’s gone. I’ll just… two minutes, okay? I’ll be two minutes. I’ll go to his house and if she isn’t home I’m leaving without her. I just have to try.”

Pearl had looked as though she wanted to argue. She was practical though, in the same way Grian was, in the same way every child that grew up in the Seam was

“No sense in wasting time then. Go. Two minutes, Mumbo, and no more.”

Jellie continued to purr in his arms, unaware of the danger they were still in.

Suppose he had fancied himself a romantic, running back into a doomed town to save his sort-of-boyfriend’s cat.

Grian would laugh and call him an idiot… or he would have once. Grian didn’t do a great deal of laughing these days.

Mumbo could taste blood on his tongue. He wondered if any of the animals that lived in the forests beyond District 12 could smell it, if at any moment a mountain lion might finish him off, defenceless as he was.

He wondered if any of the animals were even still alive.

There had been blood on his tongue the day it started too.

His father - his adopted father that was - always chided him for the habit of biting on his cheek when he was nervous. But not today. Xisuma may have been smiling under his breather, but the Mayor of 12 was anything but calm. Wishing that another boy - any other than Mumbo - would be the one whose name was drawn today, did not sit well with Mayor Xisuma, who had been appointed to keep the citizens of 12 in line and dedicated himself to keeping them safe instead.

Today Mumbo bit his cheek, lined up with every other boy age twelve to eighteen in the district.

Well, almost. Scar had offered him a wink from the line of girls, standing out like a sore thumb in his trousers and the white shirt that had long ago been tainted a greyish brown by wear.

Although Scar was only a little more than a year older than Mumbo, he had been towards the back with the other seventeen-year-olds, while Mumbo was perfectly in the middle, still two weeks shy of sixteen.

“You look as if you’re about to implode from sheer stress,” a familiar voice has said from behind him.

Mumbo couldn’t remember what he had replied anymore, but he did recall how the hints of blonde in Grian’s hair had stood out in the sun that day. Pearl, he knew, always insisted on both of them having a proper bath before the reaping.

They would have shared the same banter they always did. Grian would tease him for being nervous when his name was barely in the draw at all, and Mumbo would mentally assure himself that Grian was right, he was safe.

That had been the day he learned what he should actually have been fearing all along.

The world had stopped turning when Scar’s given name was called out.

It had taken a moment before anyone had recognised it, it had been years since he used it last after all.

“I prefer Scar, actually,” he had corrected, stepping out of the lineup with a smile on his face.

Scar’s nose wrinkled when he smiled and meant it. Mumbo had admired it a thousand times in breaks between lessons and walking home through the Merchant’s section of the district, had tasted it on his lips far too few times for Scar to go off to his death now.

Grian’s hand was a steadying presence on Mumbo’s back for only a moment before the next name was called.

“Grian Xelqua.”

This time the world had stopped spinning altogether. In Mumbo’s memory it did anyway.

His next real memory was sitting opposite Grian, in a room adjacent to his father’s office, babbling about making sure Pearl wouldn’t be left alone through sobs.

He had felt so awful about those tears. There he was, crying about the prospect of losing Grian and Scar, when his best friend and his boyfriend were both about to leave to die horribly in the Hunger Games.

He had only been given a moment with Grian before Pearl arrived. Even thinking about the look on her face as she went to tell her twin goodbye still chilled Mumbo to the bone.

Next, he had guided to see Scar, the seat still warm from Cub having sat there only moments ago.

Most people would have put Cub’s quick departure down to the fact that he and Scar were cousins so many times removed they were only barely more related than anyone else in the Merchant’s section.

Mumbo knew the truth to be something else entirely. Cub was a man of few words and a practical one at that. In the coming weeks, many would look sideways at his apothecary as it continued to be open even as Scar fought for his life in the games. Mumbo understood, though, and so did Scar.

“I love you,” it had been the first time either of them had said it, their romance still new. Now Scar spoke the words carefully, stroking Mumbo’s tear-stained cheek before he continued to add: “But when I leave this building I am going to have to forget that, and I want you to do the same. I love you, Mumbo, and that’s why I’m going to make sure you don’t lose both of us.”

At the time he hadn’t thought he would ever know greater pain than having to hide his feelings away, watching Scar use his golden tongue to charm the masses of the Capitol, convincing them of his undying devotion towards Grian, never once mentioning Mumbo in all of his interviews.

He was certainly in more pain now... Mumbo had always been a bit of a spoon, though, so it was no wonder he was wrong about that too.

Jellie crooned in his arms and Mumbo forced his right eye open - the left remaining stuck shut just as it had since the fire had licked across his skin.

Jellie’s fur may be a little singed, but Mumbo’s blood had put any fires that had touched her out. He almost wanted to laugh at that, but his lungs were stinging from the smoke and the ash in the air and it was all he could do not to choke on it.

Above the chasm he was lying in the wind blew harshly, stoking the fires consuming the forest around him.

It was definitely ironic that he should die this way. For months now he had had nightmares of flames, ever since that fateful day when the 74th Hunger Games had ended.

Grian had all but dragged Scar through the forests, Scar’s left leg trailing after him like deadweight and his right barely able to support him, fire chasing them ever forward.

Mumbo had been sick three times that day. When the fire started, again when a dagger was wedged into Grian’s right eye, and finally when the game makers had announced that Grian and Scar could not win together after all.

He had missed the part where they took each other’s hands and walked to the edge of a cliff, ready to throw themselves off together instead of either of them winning alone.

The fire crackled above the chasm again.

“Go,” he hissed through uneasy breaths, nudging Jellie with his shoulders. “Please.”

Scar would be devastated if she were to die this way, and he had only just started smiling again…

Hollow. That was the only word Mumbo had known that might describe Grian and Scar when they returned from the games. Facades, stitched together and polished by the best the Capitol had to offer, the very picture of Capitol beauty with none of what mattered left.

Scar had smiled and joked that hey, at least they had taken the tits while they were rearranging his skin to cover the fact that his leg had been mangled beyond recognition by a trap once meant to hold a fully grown bear. Mumbo had laughed. It hadn’t been funny in the least.

And while the things Scar said rarely failed to make Mumbo feel sick to his stomach, it was Grian’s silence that disturbed him.

That had come to a head one evening when Grian had torn the prosthetic eye from its socket, hurtling it so hard against the marble walls of his house in the victor’s village that the plastic had cracked. A new had arrived within the week.

Mumbo coughed and hacked, pain wracking his body as the smoke clawed on the inside of his throat and his lungs.

Stupid, stupid Mumbo. He had known the chasm was here, he had seen it on his adoptive father’s maps of the district enough time that he should have known to run the other way.

Granted, it had been more than half a year since he had last stepped foot in the mayoral office, when his father had disappeared overnight and his uncle had been put in charge of District 12 in his stead.

Xisuma’s brother had never been fond of either of them, and he paid little mind when Mumbo simply moved into one of the many spare bedrooms in Grian’s house in the Victor’s Village after they returned from their victory tour of Panem.

Officially he had become Cub’s apprentice, the district still needing medicine even though their one apothecary was now living with his cousin-nth-removed in luxury.

Unofficially he and Scar had finally talked again, combing out the tangled knots of their relationship and what it could even be now that Grian and Scar were only alive because of their status as the star-crossed lovers in the eyes of the citizens of the Capitol.

Mumbo loved Scar enough that he did not mind only holding Scar’s hand in private, did not mind how Scar looked at Grian in public view and in quiet moments at home when he thought no one would notice, did not begrudge Scar a single bit of the patience and space he needed before he was ready for Mumbo to kiss him again.

Scar, in turn, had not minded how Grian latched himself to Mumbo, how Mumbo and Grian would share a bed when nightmares kept them awake, and how Mumbo could not help but blush whenever Scar spoke of Grian.

In another world, they might have spent years dancing around the issue before they developed the emotional maturity to recognise that there was love enough between them for all three of them to share.

In this world, however, they were not afforded the luxury of time. It had felt as though Mumbo had only just gotten his two favourite people back, only for it to be announced that in a few months time, he would have to see at least one of them leave again, off to compete in the 75th Hunger Games as the only two living tributes in District 12 apart from Impulse, whose experience as a mentor was the only thing standing between Mumbo and the very real possibility that both of the boys - the men - he loved would return to him in a coffin.

Mumbo sobbed at the thought, then sobbed again when he continued to shake, muscles tensing and untensing around broken bones and ruptured organs as the morning sun rose to greet him, crimson red through the not-so-distant fires consuming his home.

Surely Grian and Scar were dead by now. The games… Mumbo was not politically savvy the way his two partners were, but he knew well enough that they had been supposed to die in the arena.

“Go,” he begged Jellie again, the burns on his face stinging as salty tears ate away at them.

Scar wouldn’t want her dead. Scar wouldn’t want anything, because he was no doubt dead in a box somewhere far, far away in the Capitol, but he wouldn’t have wanted her dead had he been alive.

The fires were close now, the air so thick even Mumbo’s desperate attempts for air seemed to yield none.

No one would miss him.

It hit him just then.

He was going to die, a broken body left to rot or burn in a chasm by a broken District. Grian and Scar would die too, his father had been dead for months. No one would even know that he was gone, just one name on a dizzyingly long list.

Silly, silly Mumbo, running back into a town doomed to burn to save a dead man from a broken heart. Pearl had been right, he shouldn’t have gone back.

Oh, Pearl! She would know he was gone. How had he managed to forget her? He felt he ought to know but his mind was providing nothign but static.

Another pang of guilt. He had promised Grian she wouldn’t be alone once, and now she would, all because he had been too sentimental. Because he had been too slow, clinging tight to Jellie as he watched the hovercrafts take off. Because he had taken a wrong turn, getting himself thrown into this stupid chasm by one of the countless bombs that had devastated the only home he had ever known.

“Go away,” he hissed at Jellie while he still had air left in his lungs to do so. “Shoo.”

Jelliw finally rose from her position at his side, earning herself a wet sob when her fur rubbed against one of Mumbo’s burns.

She yowled back at him, a familiar tone of complaint that most often harbingered-

Mumbo cringed when the first drop of rain hit his ruined skin, but instantly felt a wave of relief as water cooled his burns.

Soon the air was clearing too, his breaths less ragged but just as wet as it travelled through his ruined chest.

His one good eye fixed on Jellie as she sought shelter under an outcropping of rocks, looking expectantly at him, unaware that he couldn’t move to join her.

For now he was enjoying the relief of the rain anyway. His burns cooling, fat drops of rain slipping between his cracked lips to wet his tongue. He was certain he was far too calm when he congratulated himself on the fact he would likely bleed out rather than die of thirst.

Above him the fires hissed and sputtered, and for the first time since the alarms had sounded, he allowed himself to disengage from the situation.

His mind floated to the town he had grown up in. Would any of the Merchant’s Sector still be standing? He very much doubted it, given how long the bombs had continued to shake him to his bones and make his teeth clatter even after his tumble to the bottom of the chasm.

If any parts of the Seam were still standing it would only be because it covered a far larger part of the town than the Merchant’s Sector ever did, most of the houses barely able to withstand normal wind and weather.

Mumbo had called the Victor’s Village home for the past several months, but he found himself hoping it had been destroyed as well. There was nothing left for him there, even if he had held any hope of surviving.

Mumbo opened his eye with a start realisation: he very much did not want to die.

Silly thing to forget, really, but as had been established Mumbo could be rather silly.

He must have been drifting in and out of consciousness, because by now the crackle of the fire had grown distant, leaving a deadly quiet in its wake. The rain had stopped, and the clouds cleared enough to allow him to see the last rays of the setting sun painting the sky bruise purple.

He heaved in fresh air, his whole being shivering and shaking with the cold rain soaking his broken body.

His eye drifted to the side, to where Jellie was lying on her paws, watching him intently. She had a cut on her ear he had not seen through the haze of the smoke, but seemed otherwise unharmed.

Here were his choices:

He could stay where he was, dying of exposure or to his wounds.

Or he could try to move, and at least die somewhere slightly more dry and comfortable.

The choice would have been easy to Grian and Scar, he thought. Grian would have clawed his way out of the chasm by now, and not even death could have stopped Scar from holding Jellie in his arms.

To Mumbo it was far from simple.

See, Mumbo didn’t want to die, but he very much didn’t want to be in pain either and he had a feeling moving would hurt a great deal.

His mind was hazy, something that had been vivid earlier unclear to him now. Why did the thought of Grian and Scar make his eyes sting with sticky tears?

He didn’t want to leave them…

With a sob Mumbo realised he really had no choice at all.

“Jellie?” he asked. “Get Scar, won’t you? I need you to get him… I need you to get Scar so that he’s here when this is over.”

Jellie for her part stood and stretched, and that was enough to convince him that somehow the cat had understood his pleas.

Okay. This was it…

He flexed his toes but otherwise had no luck kicking against the ground.

No other thing for it, then…

If pain had weight the one that hit him must be hundreds of tons.

His lungs screamed for air, seizing as he dragged himself one little bit forward. The bone clicked in his arm, but far worse was the white-hot burning radiating through his spine and into his legs.

He wouldn’t have made it much further than half a metre when he collapsed against the wall of the chasm, his ears ringing… or perhaps that was simply the screams echoing through the chasm?

With each thundering beat of his heart panic spread further through his body, seaping into every muscle and every fibre.

“Help,” he called, voice hoarse and throat dry. “It hurts.”

A noise from above his head. A flicker of hope.

The rain had washed the blood from his face, at least enough that he could force his other eye open and locate the source of the sound. Jellie, despite her age, was quite athletic and had made it almost all the way to the top of the chasm.

Well, it wasn’t help, but it was a start, right? Jellie would run home and get Scar, or Grian, or maybe even Xisuma. Someone would find him…

The sun rose and at some point in the night Mumbo had stopped feeling the bite of the cold - in fact the chill dew on his skin was quite refreshing, as was the trickle off water next to his head.

He couldn’t move to drink it all, but with a tilt of his head he was able to gulp some of it down, soothing the dryness in his throat.

The forest was so quiet today. Mumbo had only ventured beyond the fence with Grian and Scar twice in his life, but what he recalled most clearly was how alive it had been compared to the stifling settlement they called home.

There were no birds now, no rustle of the wind in the leaves, not even the distant sound of hares and other small animals skittering through the forest floor.

Mumbo’s stomach churned. Was that roast meat he could smell on the wind? When had he even last had something to eat…?

He wished his clothes were not so heavy. If only they were lighter, he might be able to move and remove his shirt. When had the sun become so warm?

He tilted his head to drink more water, mud and ash sticking to the sides of his mouth.

The moon, too, was warm tonight. Mumbo had never known it to be as much before, but nonetheless, it was even warmer than the sun had been. He felt as though he was burning up.

The stars were so bright, as bright as Mumbo had only ever seen them through his father’s telescope. It had been the nicest thing they owned, the lense scratched but still functional enough that he had been able to look through it and dream himself far away.

They moved oddly, reflecting in the helmet of the person standing at the top of the chasm.

Their language was garbled too. Mumbo never knew there were animals that looked like people in the forest…

He blinked, tilting his head a little for a better look.

The person-animal recoiled and Mumbo wanted to shush it, tell it he grew up sheltered in the Merchant’s Section and had no idea how to harm it even if he wanted to.

It made another garbled sound. Except…

Except…

“-Nd a survivor. I repeat I have found a survivor. Requesting urgent medical attention.”

The person-animal - who may in fact just be a person, come to think of it - climbed down the side of the cave.

First they removed a glove, revealing pale skin, and then their helmet. A cascade of red curls fell out, framing a young woman’s face.

“My name is Gem, Scout for District 13. Can you hear me? Can you tell me your name?”

He blinked, certain he ought to know how to respond to that. His tongue, however, remained unyielding.

“Mumbo! MUMBO! Let me go! I need to see him!”

Mumbo wished he had the energy to turn his head and look up and see the owner of the voice, but he was simply too tired.

“Get him out of here and start working on getting a stretcher down here, I think his spine might be broken,” Gem said over their shoulder. Their tone was far softer when they turned around and spoke to him. “Mumbo? Is that your name? Mumbo, listen to me, you need to hang in there. Whatever you saw during the bombing of 12 could be very valuable to the resistance, so you have to hold on a little bit longer so we can get you to a doctor.”

The bombing of 12…

Mumbo knew he should feel something. Panic, grief, anger, anything at all.

In reality, he just felt tired.

“Grr… ggi,” he tried.

“You want Grian?” Gem asked. “Sure, sure. He’s on his way to the hovercraft and in a moment you will be too. I’m just going to give you something for the pain and the fever, okay?”

Fever? Since when did he have a fever?

A weight on his chest lessened a little, relief flooding through him as the dull throbbing of pain he had been feeling from his everywhere began to subside.

“Don’t fall asleep,” Gem instructed. “You might get a little tired but it’s very important that you don’t fall asleep.”

Mumbo wanted to open his mouth to tell them that of course, he wasn’t going to fall asleep. Instead he blinked and a moment later he was somewhere new. It looked like home, looking like the Market Square, only not at all. The Market Square should be bustling with late afternoon activity, judging by the sun being in the west. The market Square was surrounded by buildings on all sides, whereas this place barely had any rubble worthy of being called ‘walls’.

There was a mask over his face, one that reminded him of his father’s breather, its edges digging into his flesh.

“Let me go this instance or I swear I walk - and don’t think Scar won’t do the same. We both care about him and- Mumbo!”

Grian’s face entered his view. The Capitol liked to style him in a way that made him look older than a mere seventeen, but that was not the reason Mumbo could see no trace of the boy that had once sat next to him in school barely more than a year ago.

His one remaining eye was dark, clouded by unbridled fury.

His gaze softened a little when he sat next to Mumbo.

“Can I touch him?”

Yes, Mumbo wanted to say. His body felt so wrong, cold and hot and numb and aching, all of it all at once. He wanted Grian to hold him, wanted Scar to join in as well. Come to think of it, where was Scar?

“If you’re careful.”

Hold on, that voice was familiar. Cub? Why was Cub here? And where was ‘here’ anyway?

That train of thought died as cold lips pressed against Mumbo’s temple. Odd, Grian normally ran hot.

“Hey.” Another kiss, this time on his forearm of all places. Then again, it was one of the few places that didn’t tingle with pain… “Thought I’d lost you for a moment,” Grian whispered, one of his fingers trailing over the part of Mumbo’s arm he had just kissed.

The world shook, and Mumbo’s body went slack with pain.

“Gently,” Grian hissed over his shoulder. He looked at Mumbo again, and he looked so very human. “Be gentle… Mumbo? Mumbo?! Mumbo, you have to-”

If Grian actually told Mumbo what he wanted him to do, it was lost somewhere between the humming of the world around them and the static in Mumbo’s ears. His eyes had slipped close, and for the first time in days he felt safe to rest.

—

Mumbo was aching.

That was the first thought that crossed his mind. Next was this: he was not at home in the Victor’s Village, nor was he in the small apartment in the Justice Building that had been his childhood home.

The bed was too short for him, the linen too coarse, and most offensive of all there was an incessant beeping next to his right ear.

Heavy footsteps - familiar ones at that - approached and a door swung closed with a whir.

Right. The door opening had woken him in the first place.

He opened his eyes and had to blink when he saw the familiar face of his dead father.

“Xisuma?” he tried to ask, the name muffled by the mask sitting on his face.

“Oh, Mumbo, thank goodness,” his adoptive father said in the same tone as he would normally use when Mumbo came home half an hour late after taking the long way home from school with Grian and Scar. “Grian, he’s awake.”

Mumbo strained his eyes, only barely able to make out the bright red colour of a familiar sweater.

“What?” Grian, too, seemed to just have woken up. “Oh! Mumbo!”

A chair scraped across the floor and a moment later Grian came into view too.

“You’re alive,” Mumbo tried to say, trying to enunciate the words as much as he could with his mouth being as dry as it was.

“We could say the same to you,” Xisuma told him, pushing a lock of hair out of Mumbo’s face just as he had done when Mumbo first came to him at age seven. “I don’t know if you have the worst or the best luck in the world. Falling down a ravine like that, and staying safe from the fires and the bombs. Do you know the scouts only found you because Jellie found them and insisted they follow her? She’s getting a well-deserved rest now, but you’d better thank her when you’re up and about again… or well… Well, yes, when you see her.”

Though his father’s rambling was a comforting background noise Mumbo had missed dearly, one thing stuck out to Mumbo.

The bombs. The fires.

“12 is gone,” he shuddered.

“Some of the people made it out,” Xisuma told him. “The ones smart enough not to go running back after lost pets.”

Oh, had he really done that? Mumbo was certain he must be blushing with sheer embarrassment.

He couldn’t bring himself to regret it, though. Scar would have been devastated if anything had happened to Jellie.

Scar.

The thought struck him and the beeping sound increased.

“Gri?” He asked. “Where’s S…”

Mumbo choked on the words, his throat aching from the smoke he had inhaled and the dry air flowing through the breather covering the lower half of his face.

Grian waited for him to finish coughing, his hand resting on Mumbo’s right arm as a steady presence.

“He’s okay,” Grian told him, though the waver in his voice told Mumbo otherwise. Grian had always been a terrible liar, and Mumbo knew him far too well to believe him.

Judging by Grian’s expression he realised this too.

“He’s alive,” Grian corrected. “The Capitol have him. But we’re already looking into saving him. We’re going to get him back, Mumbo, I swear. You came back and he will too…”

Grian rose to his feet, kissing the same part of Mubmo’s forehead he had earlier.

“I’ll fix it all,” Grian promised him. “The two of us, we’ll find a way to bring him back, even if it means burning the Capitol to the ground.”

[momolady]

Sleeping Beauty: Author's April #4

(This was intended to be the sequel to my Huntress in the Castle story. It would have been about them rescuing Nadine and solving the curse on the castle once and for all.)

One:

My brothers had thought life in the royal palace would be boring. They were used to doing what they wished, going wherever they pleased. In the palace they had certain restrictions, but outside they were given free run. Even among the knights, which is where they spent most of their time. They trained with the knights, challenging them to playful bouts.

Beyond the palace walls they mingled among the common people easily, after all that was who we were. They went to the sea, fishing and running about the docks. They traded amongst the shops and cobblers. And even within the palace their individual interests were met.

D’Arcy had become the royal physicians assistant, and was often found with the Queen’s apothecary. Craig took to the horse houses and the animals of the palace. The queen kept quite the menagerie in the garden. Finn was often either at sea or with the knights. Or causing trouble. But that was normal Finn. Peadar was the same as well, often keeping to himself, watching the others with a kindly eye. He would place himself in the gardens or in the kitchen where he could watch the comings and goings with ease. And the kitchen did feel more like home.

The only one who couldn’t seem to find his place was Niall. I tried to keep him company as much as I could, but he knew my place now was beside Vered, at the forefront of the royal family. And sure, he found pastimes to occupy him, but unlike the others, his nook in the new life hadn’t been chipped out yet.

“I’m sure once the castle in the forest is done, it’ll be easier.” Vered explained to him one evening. I was glad the two had gotten to know one another. And they were both similar in the regards that they both weren’t fitting in well.

“I do miss the village.” Niall sighed.

Vered smiled. “Why don’t we plan a hunting trip. Just us men.”

Niall laughed. “And leave Fianna alone? She would probably wreck something.”

Vered nodded. “That might be true. But she knows more than anyone that you need it.”

Niall sighed, shaking his head. “This is all I ever wanted for my family. Never wanting for anything. Never having to risk our necks for our next meal. But, I still feel so uncomfortable. Like I’m missing something.”

Vered nodded. “You haven’t found your fate yet.”

“What? Like my Gran’s stories?” Niall scoffed.

Vered laughed at him. “They worked out for your sister. Fantastically so.” He leaned against the railing of the veranda. “Didn’t Granny tell you boys any stories?”

“Some.” Niall answered with a shrug. “But we were boys, we didn’t listen. Fianna was the only one who paid her any mind, let alone believe her.”

Vered smirked. “Well, I bet you’ll listen now.”

“My Gran told me I’d slay a dragon.” Niall scoffed. “There are not such things. No such creatures.”

Vered slapped his palms to his chest. “And I was a horrible beast.”

Niall hesitated, doubting himself for just a moment.

Vered laughed then. “So what is to say you aren’t going to slay a dragon? You saw with your own eyes what is inside me. You saw your sister die and yet she lives.” His eyes narrowed on Niall. “I dare you to listen to Granny now. We’ll see what fate has for you, dragons and all.”

Niall felt shaken to his core. If she had been right about me all these years, imagine what else she was correct about. If Niall had remembered correctly and he was to slay a dragon…well good lord! That meant he was to slay a dragon.

It took Niall some time to actually go see Granny. He went to several others before actually going to see her. It wasn’t like Niall to get the straight answer right away. First, he came to see me and Peadar, since we were both in the library together.

“When Granny told you stories about Vered-”

I shook my head. “She never told me about Vered. She never told me about anything, except that there was an evil in the forest meant for me.”

Niall cocked a brow at me.

“It isn’t her place to reveal the future.” I said. “I wasn’t supposed to know what was going to happen to me.”

“You worried about what you didn’t listen to?” Peadar asked.

Niall scoffed. “And you actually listened to her stories?”

“I listened because she’s Granny. Believe it?” Peadar shrugged. “Up until I saw Vered I didn’t believe what she told me. Now, I’m starting to.”

Niall flaps his arms out, exasperated. “Oy, yeah? And what did she tell you?” He asked huffishly.

Peadar and I exchanged looks, he had been telling me some of the tales Granny had told him since we had gotten to the royal palace. We both smiled, laughing to ourselves.

“Granny told me to pay very close attention to women’s shoes.”

Niall’s mouth hung open. “And you are just going to believe her?”

I laughed, covering my mouth to keep from laughing to loud.

Peadar put his hand on the top of my head. “She told Fianna there was an evil meant for her. If all I have to do is study women’s fashion then so be it.” He chuckled.

“Do you even remember what Granny told you?” I asked.

Niall looked away, arms crossed tightly against his chest, bottom lip protruding farther out than usual.

“Oh come on!” Peadar scoffed.

Niall sighed, letting his arms slip back to his sides. “She told me…she told me I’d slay a dragon.”

Peader nudged me. “Well…excuse me and my shoes then.”

I furrowed my brow. “You should be talking to Granny, Niall.”

Niall sighed, rubbing his chin and looking out the window. “Yeah.” He sighed, turning on his heel and leaving us.

Peadar looked at me. “He’s avoiding it.” He explained. “I don’t think he wants to admit that he was wrong.”

I pursed my lips. “He won’t be able to avoid it for long.”

Niall found the twins and D’Arcy in the kitchen, eating fruit the serving girls sliced for them with giddy joy.

“I don’t remember what Gran told me.” Finn shrugged, biting into an apple.

D’Arcy rubbed his chin in thought. “I remember her saying something like…I will be surrounded by beautiful women.”

Finn and Craig busted out laughing.

“You can’t be serious?” Niall scoffed. “She told Peadar to keep an eye on women’s shoes!”

Craig cleared his throat. “Well, Gran always tells me to stay away from wolves. But I just thought that was common knowledge.”

Finn coughed and slapped his hands together. “I remember now! I remember!” He coughed again, almost choking on apple in his excitement. “Gran told me to listen to cats!”

Niall threw up his arms in frustration. “Shoes? Women? Wolves and cats? Is this woman really being serious?”

The three exchanged looks. “She was right about Fianna.” D’Arcy said. “Sure, her tales sound exaggerated, but I believe she’s right.”

“What’d Gran tell you?” Finn asked.

Niall sighed. “That I would have to slay a dragon.”

“Ooh!” Finn giggled. “Wanna trade for my cat?”

“Just go talk to Gran.” Craig sighed. “Get the straight answer from the source. Don’t keep trying to avoid it. Might turn out the dragon is a metaphor for something.”

“And my women are a metaphor for what then?” D’Arcy laughed.

“Madness?” Finn chuckled, winking at a serving girl as she walked by.

“Just go talk to Gran,” D’Arcy scoffed. “What? You afraid that she’s right? Don’t wanna hear what’s good for ya?”

Niall picked up an orange wedge. “How is hearing that I may get eaten by a dragon good for me?” He laughed, placing the orange wedge between his lips.

“It’s belly could be full of gold.” Finn retorted. “I’m sure if the thing is big enough, and it swallows ya whole-”

“Oh really, Finn.” Craig scoffed.

Niall sighed, rolling his eyes. “Guess there is no avoiding it.” He shrugged then and pursed his lips. “Gotta go talk to Gran.”

Granny was all but eager to finally talk to Niall. Most of the boys had come to her, just to double check if the stories she had been feeding them were true.

“I’m glad you finally came to me, Niall.” She said, tucking into the chair before him. “I was beginning to get afraid you would leave without being prepared.”

“Leave?” Niall asked.

Granny nodded. “Oh yes, Fianna and Vered are going to ask you to accompany them to view on the progress of the palace soon.”

Niall shook his head. “I haven’t heard of this.”

Granny’s hand whipped out, slapping his hand. “Of course not! They don’t even know yet. But a letter will arrive soon, and then you’ll go.”

“Go to what?” Niall gasped. “You always told Fianna she had an evil meant for her.” He brought his palms to his chest. “What is meant for me? You told me when I was young I would slay a dragon!”

Granny nodded knowingly, stroking her long braid. “Ah yes. I was excited with you. You being the eldest and having such an amazing journey ahead of you. I let too much slip there.”

Niall laughed. “You’re serious!” He exclaimed. “An actual dragon?”

Granny shook her head, clicking her tongue. “I shouldn’t say anything else on the matter.” She sighed. “But, since you know that bit already,” she reached out, gently holding Niall’s hand. “You are so important to this family Niall. You have always had to be the strongest. But sometimes, showing what makes you vulnerable is nothing to frown at. It is often in our darkest times, when we have nothing at all, that we show our true strength.”

Niall thought about me then. Remembering the night I had fought Vered. It hadn’t been my strength, or my blade that had defeated the monster. No. Niall could remember standing there seeing my bow before the beast, he thought he would never see me again, his last vision of me being that of my bloody death. Instead, he saw something remarkable, he saw me save us all.

Granny leaned closer to Niall, holding his face between her palms. “No matter how you fight it, you will need someone to take care of you sometimes.”

Niall nodded slowly. “But…what does that have to do with-” He stopped himself and laughed. “Thank you Granny.”

She smiled. “Good boy.

Niall leaned back in his chair, looking over into the fireplace. He and Granny sat in a peaceful quiet for a moment. Granny drank her tea and finished darning one of Finn’s socks. It was when she pulled out my veil that Niall began to feel eager about his fate.

“How come Peadar only has to worry about shoes?” Niall asked, a broad smile on his face.

Granny smiled up at him. “Oh believe me, you’re going to think dragons look pretty good when you see what your brothers have to deal with.” She laughed.

Niall reached out, holding onto the end of the sheer silk of my veil. Granny was working hard, making her fingers ache, to get the beading just right. The Queen had given her special beads made of this crystal with a mother of pearl like shimmer to them.

“When I was a young girl, I never would of dreamed of this.” Granny sighed. “I had never even seen a castle in my lifetime. And here I am, living in one.”

“You never foresaw this?” Niall asked.

Granny shook her head. “I don’t like poking around into my own future.” She plucked a bead from the tin. “Oh no. Too many problems come with that.” She clicked her tongue. “I did use it to make some money, back when I was young and when your grandfather passed.”

Niall knew Granny had always wanted to go back to being a fortune teller when his mother and father both died. But Niall wanted Granny to be comfortable, he wanted to earn the family’s bread. Granny had paid her way many a time, she deserved a respite.

“I haven’t gone very far in my life,” Granny continued. “But I have seen things that would make your eyes pop clear out of your head!” She said with a proud bob of her head.

“If looking into the future is so bad, Gran, how come you did it for us?” Niall asked, leaning towards her.

Granny smiled gently, knowingly. “Because you want to protect those you love. I wanted to make sure you brats turned out happy, safe. I’d do anything for you.”

Niall reached out, holding Granny’s hand for a moment, then released her to continue her beading work.

That night, Niall woke up from a sound sleep. The world was pitch black, save for the sliver of light coming through his curtains. For the split second his eyes were open, he saw something move, something faint. He closed his eyes again and then opened them wide in a flash, realizing what he had seen was a person.

He sat up with a jolt in bed, there was something pulling open the crutains. A pale, white hand stretching into the moonlight and smoothing their hand across the cold glass. Niall was stunned, he was frozen in place. What was this specter he was seeing.

The figure turned, face illuminated my the moonlight. She watched Niall with a curiosity, a small sigh escaped her and she sat on the windowsill, looking out over the castle.

“Excuse me.” Niall said.

The girl jumped, turning and looking at him with wide eyed fright. “Puh-pardon?” She gasped, her long auburn hair cascading off her shoulder.

“What are you doing in my room?” Niall scoffed.

The girl looked from side to side, wide blue windows of disbelief. She looked back at Niall, brow pursed. “You can see me?”

“As plan as day!” Niall snapped as he rose from bed.

“That…that can’t be.” She scoffed, standing herself. “Wait, aren’t you Fianna’s brother?”

“Do not change the subject.” Niall scoffed. “Who are you and what are doing in-” The woman’s hand went through Niall like a cold breeze. There was no substance to her, just shadow.

The woman watched, Niall slack jawed and stumbling back to his bed.

“You held me once.” The woman said. “You were the first man to ever hold me besides my father or brother.”

All Niall could do was stare up at her. A ghost!

“I’m Nadine.” The woman answered, folding her hands against her skirt.

“But…but they said you died.” Niall whispered.

Nadine shrugged. “Maybe I am. Maybe I’m not.” She shook her head. “I can’t figure it out. I don’t even know why I’m still here. You’re the first one who has even been aware of me.” She sat down on the windowsill again pulling her knees up to her chest.

Niall shook his head. “How long have you been here?”

Nadine shook her head. “I could not say. A day. A year. Forever? I have completely lost my sense of time or reasoning. One moment, I was dying. The next I am…wandering.” She turned her head, looking out.

Niall stood up, walking to the window and looking over Nadine. Her long, dark auburn hair, splayed out in a million soft waves down her back. Her skin, white and fragile as porcelain. But she had the strong, regal features that Vered did. There was no use arguing that they were related. They even had the same haunting, blue eyes.

Nadine looked up at him. “Or perhaps you are dreaming.” She retorted. “Perhaps this is all just a trick of your mind. Maybe your mind recreated me to help ease your ill-ease in the palace.”

Niall shook his head, breathless. “That must be it.”

Nadine laughed. “Oh wouldn’t that be a wonderful solution for us all.” She looked away from the window, folding her fingers under her sharp chin. “I haven’t talked to anyone besides my brother in so long.” She chuckled softly. “I barely talked to Fianna I admit. I was terrified of her.”

Niall chuckled at this. All his life, all he could remember doing was talking to me. From the moment I was born I was his.

“She talked about you a lot.” Nadine replied. “I didn’t realize one could love their family so much.”

“But you stayed with Vered all that time.”

Nadine shook her head slowly, almost not moving. “I had to. What I would of given to run away, to leave him behind and…and all alone.” Tears began to dribble down Nadine’s cheeks. “And then…then he changed, and that scared me more.”

Niall sat back in the window, opposite Nadine. “Siblings tend to do that. Like…I can remember when Finn was little. He was scared of his own shadow.” He laughed. “I see him now and wonder where that frightened little creature went.”

Nadine nodded softly. “And what about Fianna?”

Niall sighed, thinking about me as a little girl again. “She used to cling to me. She wouldn’t let me out of her sight, and when I did she just hollered.”

Nadine cracked a smile through her tears.

“And then one day…” Niall became distant for a moment. “One day I realized she didn’t need me. And that was when I began clinging to her.”

“And now?” Nadine’s voice a barely audible whisper.

Niall stared beyond sight, he looked inside, all around himself. “And now…it’s my turn to face my fate like she did. I can’t cling to my family anymore.”

Nadine was wiping at her face then and Niall held his hand out to her, presenting her with a handkerchief. “Don’t cry, please.”

Nadine took it gingerly from his fingers. “It has been a while since a man has offered his hand to me.” She murmured, looking at the handkerchief as if it were made of gold and jewels. “Thank you, Niall.”

“Niall.”

He bolted upright in bed, nearly half scaring me to death.

He looked at me in disbelief. The world around him was bright with morning light now, not midnight blue. “Fianna?”

I nod. “I came to get you, you slept clear through breakfast.”

“I did?” He gasped breathlessly.

“Yes.” I furrowed my brow at him, studying him closely. “Are you alright?”

He shakes his head. “I had the strangest of dreams.” His eyes wander back to the window where Nadine had been sitting. He could see her perfectly. How could that have been a dream?

“What was the dream?” I asked.

“I’m not sure.” He lied. “There was a girl, and she was alone…I think she wanted a friend.”

I tilted my head onto my shoulder, watching Niall’s somewhat lost expression. I brushed the hair away from his forehead. “Are you sure you slept?” I slipped the pad of my finger across the dark circles under his eyes. “You look like you haven’t slept at all.” My hand falls back to my side. “Why don’t I bring you a small bite to eat and then you just try to get some rest?”

He shakes his head at me and begins to stand. “I promised to take the twins out to the sea today. They wanted to go fishing again.”

“They go fishing at least four times a week these days!” I easily shove Niall back into bed. Almost too easily. It scared me for a moment.

Niall chuckled. “You’ve gotten stronger.”

“I don’t like that, Niall. Stay in bed.” I commanded. “I’ll get D’Arcy or Vered to take the twins fishing. I’ll go myself if I have to. But I really do think you should stay in bed.”

Niall stood again. “I just need to get something to eat is all. Go on. I’ll be down in a few minuets.”

I didn’t like it, but I silently conceded and left his room. I went and found Vered, hoping his company could somehow ease my mind. I found him in the library, having taken his lunch and scurried off there were he felt more comfortable. He sat before the fire, a roll in one hand and a book in the other.

I slipped my arm around his waist and curled into him. He was reading another book filled with the language I couldn’t read.

“Something is wrong.” He said to me, setting down the book.

I shrug. “I’m sure it isn’t anything. It’s Niall.”

Vered lifts my hand and kisses the cup of my palm. He stalls for a moment and I hear him sniff.

“What?” I scoff at him.

He looks down at me confused and bewildered. “You smell like my sister.”

“Nadine?”

Vered smells my palm again. “It’s faint, but I can tell it is there. I could not mistake that scent.”

I turn and hold my palm to my nose. Of course, only Vered and his beastly senses could detect something so faint. “That can’t be possible. She vanished in the garden.”

Vered’s eyes were distant, hazy. “Yes but…where could that scent have come from?”

“I only touched Niall.” I say. “He held Nadine in the castle when we came to look for you. But that was ages ago.”

Vered shook his head. “I have not smelled it on him since either. It’s baffling me.”

Two:

She was there again, as if waiting on him to return from wherever he had gone. They didn’t speak at first, just acknowledged each other’s presence. The library was such a great, grand place, with so much to occupy yourself with. And Nadine seemed absorbed in a massive, old tome. She had it sat on the floor before her, the pages and her skin aglow in the light of the fireplace.

Niall sat up on the sofa, feeling pretty assured he had fallen asleep there while talking to me and Vered.

“Do you like poetry?” Nadine asked suddenly. She looked up at him and curled her legs under herself.

Niall shook his head slowly, still comprehending these strange encounters. “My mother used to read it to me when I was a child.” He looked down, seeing the ornate pages of the book spread open before Nadine. “But I’m afraid I haven’t encountered anymore since.”

“Your mother.” Nadine murmured softly. “Fianna didn’t speak much of her.”

I shook my head. “She died when Fianna was just a baby.” I put my forearms against my knees, leaning over. “All Fianna has known is Granny and us.”

“And how did that happen?” Nadine asked.

Niall chuckled. “And how did you happen?”

Nadine smiled softly, unsurely. “An accident.”

My brother nodded, fiddling his thumbs. “My father was an accident.” He said with a gentle nod. “He got gored by a wild boar.”

Nadine averted her eyes. “Oh…”

“I think that’s why D’Arcy took such an interest in medicine…because the doctor of our village couldn’t really do anything.” Niall’s dark eyes took the chance to scan over Nadine, her pale skin, fragile looking hands. The sharp outline of her face was what stuck out most to him. Her thin, pointed nose. Her small but shapely mouth. She reminded him of brambles and thorns. Thin and delicate, but he knew if he moved at her without caution, he would bleed.

“Fianna hadn’t even been born yet.” Niall then chuckled. “Actually, Fianna hadn’t even begun to show in mother yet. We only had Granny’s word to go on we had a sister coming.”

Nadine looked back up at Niall. “How old were you then?”

“Old enough, but still not old enough to take care of a family of six, soon to be seven.” Niall answered lowly. “We had to rely on Granny back then.”

“Her fortunes.” Nadine beamed.

Niall nodded. “Yes, her fortune telling.” He studied Nadine’s smile, so faint and sweet, and even baring the same color as the berries that grew just at the edge of the forest he loved so much. “Did Fianna talk that much about us?”

“Vered liked it when she did.” Nadine answered with a slight nod. “He liked the smile it brought to her face.”

Niall nodded slightly, leaning towards her. “You said Fianna scared you.”

Nadine sighed, a shy smile appearing on her face. “I just knew she was meant for Vered,” she murmured. “What else could of brought her to the castle? From the moment she forced herself inside, I knew. She was, is, so strong.”

“But…” Niall tried to pick his words carefully, “why afraid?”

Nadine’s smile vanished and she stared blankly into the fireplace. She smoothed her palm out, pressing into the spine of the book that was open in her lap. “I realized…that no one would come for me.” She avoided his suddenly sympathetic stare and shook her head. “That was my curse.”

“Then what am I?”

She shook her head again. “Who knows?” She laughed. “I still can’t figure out what I am.”

Niall reached out tentatively, placing his hand over hers. Nadine jerked, then shivered. She looked down at his hand, up his arm, and then into Niall’s eyes. “You scare me, too.”

Niall laughed softly. “Why?”

Nadine tried to avoid his gaze, but she couldn’t force herself to look away from him. She trembled under his hand. “Because I won’t be able to stay with you.” Her voice the flicker of a dying flame. “I can’t keep you.”

Niall’s eyes widened. “Nadine?”

She stood suddenly, the book slipped from her lap and bursting into dust. “I’m sorry. I can’t…” She then took off running, becoming a wind. A wind that blew out the fire, leaving Niall in shadows.

“Nadine!” Niall sat up shouting.

“Who?”

Niall turned, seeing D’Arcy sitting by himself at a table, books open before him. He turned, looking at the fireplace roaring, at the floor where the book had turned to dust, it was clean.

“Have a bad dream?” D’Arcy asked, shutting the book before him.

Niall ran his fingers through his hair. “No…” He stood up. “I need to see Vered.” He said as he began walking out of the library.

“He and Fianna are in the garden!” D’Arcy called after him.

Before Niall had even reached the garden Vered began to twitch. He turned his nose up to the wind and inhaled deeply.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

He looked ahead, eyes wide, but brows cocked suspiciously. “I smell her again.”

My mouth hung open slightly. “You mean, Nadine?”

He turned abruptly, twisting around me and bracing himself towards the door as Niall came running out.

“Niall?” Vered and I echo each other.

[your-local-hoemie]

Imagine our favorite gingers with a constantly sleepy s/o T-T s/o just casually falling asleep on a chair during a social event coz her social battery is non existent (this is so me)

-🐢anon

Somehow tumblr is exposing my red flags better than what my therapist did, how ya’ll outing me like this 💀

Also hELLO! Yesyesyes our favourite ginger snacks are bACK!

I legit had to do this instead of catching up with Genshin because I was doing Heizou’s hangout quest and bro had me giggling and kicking my legs istg Hoyo knew what the fuck they were doing with him and I can’t handle it.

Warnings: fluff, swearing, established relationship, gn!reader, not-proof read.

Characters: Childe, Thoma.

Childe~

Dude finds it funny

Seriously had to hold back from teasing you about it 24/7 and it’s starting to break him

Ego boost 2000

At first he was very concerned!

Thought you died again 2.0

Kept asking if you were hungry or sleeping alright since he legit thought you weren’t taking care of yourself

Which you probably wasn’t knowing ya’ll, drink some damn water.

But when you told him it was just because your social battery was akin to a decomposing gummy worm, he immediately started laughing

Him being a extrovert makes it kinda hard for him to understand why social events are exhausting for you

Even if it’s just like 30 minutes

Even so, he loves his baby and will absolutely make sure to be prepared!

Always has something on him that can double as a pillow!

If he forgets it or can’t find anything then he’ll lean you against his arm or lap

He’s so casual about it too 💀

Unless he’s feeling like a lil’ shit and decides to tease you.

If you’re embarrassed about it or feel insecure about not keeping up with his ungodly amount of energy then he’ll be quick to put your mind at ease!

There’s nothing you could do that would make this man embarrassed by you

Gets suuuper cocky and proud when people look at you snoozing away against him

Mans just like-

“Yeah, I know you wish you were me right now”

If someone complains or gets annoyed by it then well

I think we all know the drill by now

He’ll help them take a nice nap too

Permanently

Or at least make em wish they could take the forever nap

Sometimes if the event or meeting is super boring which it usually is for him he’ll get lost staring at your face and admiring all your pretty features~

Ends up feeling bad when he has to wake you up but loves seeing your groggy face change from confused to panic within seconds

Usually ends up with you hitting him because he didn’t wake you up

Which usually ends up accidentally encouraging him to take you home so you can “rest” in bed >;)

Thoma~

You’re so lucky omg you have no idea

He got so concerned when he noticed you acting kinda off during a outing during one of his days off

Boy kept a super close eye on you and made sure you all stopped to eat just because he thought you had forgot to eat ;-;

when you ended up falling asleep on his shoulder he was fROZEN

Like you know when an animal falls asleep on you and you legally can’t move?

That

He panicked

After he tried slightly nudging you he simply just accepted his fate

After this happens a couple more times he eventually figured it out!

He’s good at being social given his close relationship with the Kamisato clan but he prefers keeping to himself a lot

So he’d definitely be able to understand!!

Knows how to help you recharge quickly too!!

He also grew used to you taking naps randomly when your energy was completely used up and prepared for it~

Very similar to Childe in that aspect!

Though he’s get too flustered to let you lay on his lap in public jkfjdkdkk

When it’s time to go he’ll wake you up by softly kissing your cheek or brushing it with his finger while gentle sitting you up

Doesn’t even give you a reason to feel insecure about it!

He’s so sweet and gentle that he’s just naturally comforting to be around

Always reassures you even if he thinks there’s even a slight chance of you feeling guilty ;-;

Occasionally calls you his sleepy angel if you’re being particularly cute!

If anyone gets mad about it he’ll simply tell them that if it’s annoying then you can both just leave

Has zero patience with anyone who dares to get mad at you for things you can’t help

When you both get home after a draining day he’ll make sure you’re all nice and tucked up in bed while he makes dinner

Please show him how much you appreciate him istg this boy is so precious

Look at me being productive uwu

Seriously how do people have the energy to just be social and not pass out the first chance you get it genuinely scares me-

[loislane41319]

Fear.

Pairing: Dean Winchester x reader

Wordcount: 3094

Summary: The first time Dean sees you scared.

Warnings: Typical Supernatural stuff. Vampires, beheading vampires, death, deep feelings of guilt, loss of loved ones.

Note: I'm sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything. All three of my best friends recently moved away and I've been going to therapy for, among other things, ADHD.

Last week I had my last therapie session and, while I wrote this a few weeks ago, today I finally finished editing it!

Thank you so much for waiting for me and I really hope you'll enjoy this.

For those who'd like something less violent I am working on a dad!Spencer Reid story. I don't know when I'll post that though.

Story:

Fear is a funny thing. It can just appear out of nowhere or it can sneak up on you, like some virus that you’re not aware of until after it’s caused an infection. Fear is a feeling, but unlike happiness or anger it always comes with a bodily reaction. Depending on the situation and the person, the body can react to fear in different ways. For instance, when you come eye to eye with a tiger, you might feel your chest start to tighten. This means your muscles are getting ready to take action, possibly in the form of fighting or in the form of running away. Others might start to sweat excessively, so that their bodies will stay cool while running and then there’s the kind of person who will drop to the ground and play dead. Now, when encountering a tiger the latter method is useless, because tigers will sneak up on you and attack from behind. However when you encounter a female bear protecting her cubs, pretending to be dead is exactly the way to go.

Now, these reactions stem from a long time ago when humans regularly came in contact with wild animals, because we lived amongst them and they were a source of food. Nowadays however, we might react to having a job interview or giving a presentation in the same way our ancestors would while encountering a sabre-toothed tiger. That is, unless your job is to hunt ghosts, demons or other supernatural beings.

Of course, these hunters are humans so they know fear. Probably even better than normal folk. The thing about hunters is that, while they are afraid, they don’t show it. They can’t, otherwise whatever creature they’re hunting will gain the upper hand. So, while learning what monsters are out there and how to beat them, a hunter will learn how to handle their fear. They’ll learn to keep their breathing under control, so they won’t start hyperventilating and panic, but they’ll be able to keep thinking clearly. They learn to think on their feet, so that, even when a creature does gain the upper hand, they can turn the tables just as fast. And most of all, they learn that being scared is okay, because their own fear won’t kill them, but whatever creature they’re facing might.

You are one of those hunters. You’ve been hunting for almost two decades and you’re good at it. You were also a mystery. You had some impressive kills to your name and so other hunters starting talking about you, but no one actually knew you. Rumours were spread and you were made out to be some kind of superhuman. Eventually, the word most used to describe you, was fearless.

The rumours eventually also reached the Winchesters. Dean was not only impressed, but intrigued by the stories he heard and his desire to meet you kept growing the more he heard about you. Sam however, had his doubts about the rumours floating around and would rather focus on facts.

Dean was granted his wish though. Four months ago you met the brothers while working the same case. You got along well and after working together and solving the case you worked together more and more.

While drinking a beer on the hood of his car, you even opened up to Dean about losing your mother as a child and since he went through something similar, you two became very close. Bit by bit you pulled away the veil that you had draped over your past. You shared stories about your family , your pain, but not your fear. Never your fear. To you, fear was something you couldn’t allow yourself to feel. Instead of learning to deal with it, you had taught yourself to bury it, deep down inside of you where no one, not even you, could get to it. And it worked. You killed vampires, ghosts, werewolves and demons all on your own. It didn’t even matter how many there were, you would always get the job done. Until one fateful night.

You and the Winchesters were working a case that involved multiple bodies, found with bite marks and without blood. The culprit was a vampire. That you knew almost instantly. What you didn’t know however, was how many there were or where they were held up. After the third victim was found, you realised all the bodies were left around an old abandoned factory and you decided to investigate.

Ever since you entered the town though, the hairs on the back of your neck had stood up straight. Why? You didn’t know. You just felt like something was off, but since you had no idea what, you shrugged it off and focused on the job you had to do.

The second you found yourself at the factory though, your heart started banging in your chest, harder than it ever had. But, as always, you shoved the feeling down and kept going. There were three buildings in the area and you decided to clear them together, one by one. The first building was empty. When you thought you had cleared the second building, suddenly you were pushed to the ground. You managed to catch yourself, but as your hands hit the ground, an image flashed through your brain. You saw your hands on the exact same floor except everything was covered in blood. What was going on? Within a second you were back to reality, without any idea what had just happened. Your skin was now clammy, your breathing heavy and you were sweating profusely. “Y/N, you okay?” You heard Dean ask. You got up and after turning around you noticed a beheaded body and blood dripping off of Sam’s machete. It was a vampire that had pushed you down. “Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s get to the last building.” You answered and all three of you kept going.

You walked over to the third building and stood next to Dean as Sam opened the door. Before entering, you swallowed hard, trying to calm yourself down. For a split second, you wondered if you should let Sam and Dean handle this building without you, but you immediately threw that thought out of the window. How could you even think about leaving your friends just when things got difficult?

The second you entered the factory hall, you felt like you had walked into a wall. You staggered backwards, slamming your back into the wall behind you as your brain was flooded with images of this very hall covered in blood and remains. Suddenly you heard your brother. He was screaming, vampires were growling and suddenly you were on the ground and the blood was gone. The next second you could see Sam and Dean fighting some vamps, but you couldn’t tell what was real anymore. You saw a vampire coming straight at you, but you weren’t sure if it was really there, so you had no idea what to do. You pressed yourself against the wall, pulling your knees against your chest. In an attempt to make everything stop, you covered your ears and closed your eyes, hiding your face between your knees.

As the last vampire’s head hit the floor, Dean started looking for you and Sam. He found his brother first, standing over another dead vampire a few feet away. “You okay?” Sam asked. “Yeah” Dean answered and he was about to ask where you were when he heard you whimpering. “No, no, no. Go away, leave me alone.” You mumbled. For a second Dean wasn’t sure if you were actually you. You were hyperventilating, tears were streaming down your face and you looked so small Dean could barely recognise the strong, powerful woman he had gotten to know in the last few months. Both brothers ran toward you and knelt down next to you. “Hey, Y/N? It’s Dean. It’s safe now. Nothing’s gonna hurt you. Can you open your eyes for me?” Dean softly asked. Somehow, through all the screaming and the blood and the violence in your head Dean’s voice was crystal clear. Like a light in the darkest night you tried your best to focus on his voice and you let him guide you back to reality. “Dean?” You managed to get out through sort breaths. “Yeah, Y/N, it’s me. It’s okay. Try to breathe.” He told you. You slowly looked up at him and while everything outside of you was calm and quiet, your body was still a complete chaos on the inside. “I-I can’t.” You told Dean as your right hand found your heart. “Yes you can. Here.” Dean said. He took your hand from your heart and placed it over his own. “Try to match my breathing. You can do this, I know you can.” He told you and you tried your best, but your erratic breathing didn’t change. Dean looked at his brother, wordlessly asking him for help. Sam held his hands up, wordlessly telling his brother he didn’t know how. Dean looked back to you. His heart broke seeing you like this and it hurt so much more because he couldn’t help you. He racked his brain, trying to think of anything that might help you. 

Suddenly, an idea popped into this head. It may have been the most ridiculous, dumb idea he ever had, but he had to help you and there was nothing else he could think of. Still holding your hand over his heart, Dean laid his other hand in your neck and pressed his lips against yours. 

In the last for months Dean had loved getting to know you. He deeply enjoyed hanging out with you and felt honoured every time you told him something about yourself you hadn’t told anyone else. He had wanted to ask you out for two months now, but had never found the courage to do that. About a week ago you were working on another case. You had found changelings and after killing the mother, one of the human kids didn’t want to leave their cage. It was a little, four-year-old girl and Dean couldn’t help but stare at you as you talked to her. “I know you’re scared and your mommy isn’t here right now, but I can take you to her.” You told her. “But there are scary people out there.” The little girl whispered. “I know, but I will be with you the whole way, so I can protect you, okay?” You asked her. “Even from him?” She whispered back, pointing at Dean. A small smile appeared on your face. “I know he seems scary, but that’s my friend Dean. He won’t hurt you, I promise.” You told her and as you took the girl into your arms, Dean realised he didn’t just like you. He was falling in love with you.

As he let you go, you could finally take a deep breath in. You took a few moments to steady your breathing and then you noticed the two faces staring questioningly at you. “Y/N, what happened?” Sam asked you. “Not here. I gotta get out of here first.” You told the brothers, shaking your head. They nodded and the three of you got up and left.

About an hour later, you were back at the motel. You and Dean had both taken showers and Sammy had gotten the dinner you were now enjoying. You made smalltalk for a few minutes, until Sam decided to address the elephant in the room. “Y/N, can you please tell us what happened? I mean, in the months that we’ve known you we’ve seen you kill all kinds of creatures, including vampires, without braking a sweat and tonight you had a full blown panic attack. Do you even know what caused it?” He asked. You softly sighed and nodded, knowing you could get around it any longer. “I grew up in a family of hunters. As you know, my mom died when I was little and so my dad and my brother started hunting together, leaving me at whatever seedy motel room we were staying in. One day, when I was fifteen, I decided I was old enough to join them. They didn’t agree, so I figured I’d prove it to them. They were after a vampire and I had overheard them talking about where they thought it would be that night. A few hours later, I snuck out and went there. The vampire was held up somewhere in an old factory. Three buildings and lots of ground to cover.”

“The place we were tonight.” Sam filled in. You nodded. “Yeah. I noticed the lights were on in the third building, so I went in. I found my dad and brother inside and it turned out there wasn’t just one vampire. There were five of them. The moment one of them noticed me, I screamed. It ran straight at me, but my brother managed to kill it in time. 

My dad however, had gotten distracted by my scream, giving another vamp enough time to stab him. My brother yelled at me to run, but there were still three vamps left. I did what he told me and waited for him outside, but he never came out. He was barely eighteen. He saved my life twice in one night and had to make up for it with his own.” You felt a tear slide down your face and fell quiet. “And all of that happened in the building we were in tonight?” Sam asked. You nodded. “I always felt like their deaths were my fault, because if I hadn’t screamed, they’d still be here. So I decided I couldn’t be scared anymore.” You admitted. “Y/N, I’m so sorry.” Sam told you. Dean took your hand, causing you look at him. “I’m so sorry about that, Y/N, but their deaths aren’t your fault, they’re the vamps fault and it’s okay to be scared. Everyone gets scared sometimes, you just can’t let that stop you.” He told you sincerely. “I mean, you’re sitting next to a guy who shits his pants every time the Plucky Pennywhistle’s commercial plays.” Dean added grinning. “Haha. Here’s an idea. Take Dean on a flight. He’ll scream like a little girl the whole way.” Sam bit back, got up and disappeared into the bathroom. 

The silence that followed was heavy. Dean cleared his throat and started gathering the fast-food wrappers that were all over the table. As he got up to throw them away, you decided you had to get something off of your chest. “Dean, how did you know kissing me would help me breathe?” You asked as you turned to him. He just shrugged. “Read it somewhere, I think.” He mumbled. “So, it was just that? Just a way to get me to take deeper breaths?” You asked, getting up and walking towards him. “Yeah, I was just trying to-“ You turned him towards you and softly pressed your lips against his, effectively cutting him off. He kissed you back, dropping the towel he was holding in the sink and wrapping his arm around your waist. One of your hands found its way into his hair, while the other intertwined both of your fingers. Then you pulled back. “I’m sorry, I did not mean to, I’d-“ You tried to walk away, but had somehow forgotten you were still holding Deans hand. “Not so fast. I have something to admit. I didn’t just kiss you to stop you from panicking. I didn’t know what to do and I wanted to kiss you before it was too late.” Dean said while walking closer to you. “Really?” You asked him. “Yeah. I’ve wanted to ask you out for months, but I was so scared of losing you that I kept chickening out. So, this is me, not letting my fear stop me. Y/N, will you go out with me? Because I think I’m falling for you.” You were so close, your foreheads and noses touched and you could feel Dean’s breath against your lips as he talked. You pressed another kiss to his lips and a smile appeared on his face. “Yes, I’ll go on a date with you. And Dean? I fell for you four months ago.” You told him. Dean kissed you again and then you finally let go of his hand. “We should get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.” You told him, trying not to laugh at the pout on his face.

The moment the door closed behind you, you felt cold. Part of you wanted to get back inside and stay with Dean until the morning and another part you was yelling at you because it’s just one night. You could be without him for that long, couldn’t you? So, you went to your own room and got ready for bed. Once in bed, though, you couldn’t sleep. You kept tossing and turning and for whatever reason you were freezing. After a few minutes, you decided enough was enough. You got out of bed and made your way back to Sam and Deans room. The light was still on and Sam was still in the shower. Dean was in bed flipping though channels. His hand disappeared under his pillow when the door opened, until he noticed it was you. “Hey, what’s up?” He asked and turned off the tv. “Hey, can I sleep here tonight?” You asked softly. Then you saw the most adorable thing you had seen in a while. Deans eyes started shining and his lips turned into the sweetest smile. “Come here.” He said. He held up a corner of the blanket and moved back as you crawled into bed next to him. The first moments were a little awkward as Dean was laying with his back toward the edge of the bed and you laid with your back towards him. He loosely laid an arm around your waist and waited to see how you’d react. You took his hand, intertwined your fingers and pulled it against your heart. Then you softly kissed Dean’s knuckles and the awkwardness melted away. Dean wrapped his other arm around you too and pulled you against his chest. “Goodnight, handsome.” You whispered. “Goodnight, sweetheart.” Dean whispered back and pressed a soft kiss to your shoulder. Not two minutes later you were both fast asleep when Sam came out of the bathroom. He immediately noticed you in his brothers bed and couldn’t help but smile. Finally.

[slashermoonlight]

dbd asks! 5, 11, 17 please :)

oh I didn't think someone would sent an ask for real :D

5. fave case

I don't count ep 7 and 8 because I think they are more like our characters' personal stories than cases. All cases this season have something that I really like, but my favorite has to be The Case of the Creeping Fores, simply because it happened in a forest. I love forests, I love trees, I love imagining myself walking through that forest and watching as the spirits of animals just walk around. The murder mushroom, too. It's scary, but the visual on the ground is so pretty. I do wish I could see it with my own eyes. I mean, I'm human so maybe it won't be as dangerous, hehe.

11. an animal you'd like to see person-ified for an AU instead of a [crow/cat/walrus]

I know it said no crow but love crow so so much, so I really am happy this season. If we can meet Monty again it would be lovely :D or some other crows, maybe they can come in group, The Case of a Murder of Crows or something.

But I would like to see our group of friends running into dinosaur ghosts. I think that will be hilarious. And weird. Or they can person-ified some squid, the small one is okay, but the bigger one will be more exciting I think. A Giant Squid, or a Colossal Squid ):D I want their human form to not understand how human moves in general and keep pressing their body into flat planes and trying to slither due to habit. Or arrange all of their limbs on chairs/tables/other humans instead of sitting normally.

17. how did you get interested in DBD?

I didn't even hear about it or see the trailer when it dropped. I was bored one day and it appeared on my recommended watch list. So I tried. Tbh, I keep expecting to drop it halfway through the first ep. Because I watched Lock and Co. and it wasn't for me, and this seemed kind of similar. I wasn't feeling any of our three main characters at all. But then Esther came onto the screen :D I stayed for her everything and then I was hooked. I kept watching to see if they can give me more Esther/Esther-like moments and then I get to see the characters develop and it was so good. I'm so happy that I stayed. The Edwin's rant scene and when Crystal's scream "he's our fking demon now!" ticked many of my boxes, too.

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

John Musker recently spoke of his final years at Walt Disney Animation Studios, and on directing MOANA under the stewardship of John Lasseter. There's some stuff worth noting in here...

To start off, he kinda repeated the words Bob Iger said when evaluating Disney's 2023 movie releases that didn't do very well at the box office, in describing what's not working with WDAS' most recent films. Namely the box office bombs STRANGE WORLD and WISH...

We weren’t trying to be woke, although I understand the criticism. The classic Disney films didn’t start out trying to have a message. They wanted you to get involved in the characters and the story and the world, and I think that’s still the heart of it. You don’t have to exclude agendas, but you have to first create characters who you sympathize with and who are compelling. I think they need to do a course correction a bit in terms of putting the message secondary, behind entertainment and compelling story and engaging characters.

The key takeaway here is "you don't have to exclude agendas".

While I found Iger's similar statements to be confounding and toothless, seemingly catering to all the angry assholes on YouTube who call everything "woke" and think about Brie Larson 24/7/365... What John is saying is a very basic thing about storytelling, in that it's character first.

That being said, I personally don't feel the problem with WDAS' recent movies is that the messaging is front-and-center. I think that so-called messaging, like some of the character work, feels like an afterthought too. Specifically in STRANGE WORLD and WISH, not so much ENCANTO. But it is instead the rushed and hurried pacing of their over-crammed stories, the sort-of plainness of the presentations, weird dialogue choices (throughout my first viewing of WISH, I kept saying "Who talks like this?"), kinda reheated old hat tricks. It sometimes feels like the films made under CCO Jennifer Lee's watch are just trying to recapture FROZEN in some way or another... Without understanding why that film ticked with audiences and where the overall zeitgeist was in late 2013/early-to-mid 2014.

Also... Messaging. I'm not taking Musker to task specifically, because I know what he means in his words... But when others say it: All art is either political or about something, anyways. Choosing NOT to say anything is still saying something, it's still a political act to bow out or to be indifferent. Every Disney animated movie is about something, and they are indeed the works of their creators, so that means that their views on life and the world are somehow within the stories themselves. "Message" in this context, to me, reduces a work of art to a mere statement, like an after-school special or something. John and Ron Clements' Disney animated movies simply knew how to mix the themes with the character work, the storytelling, the worlds they put together, etc. You can't tell me with a straight face that something like THE LITTLE MERMAID, ALADDIN, or MOANA aren't about something or aren't political in any way, shape, or form. Especially the first of those three examples. The spirit of Howard Ashman would have a word with you if you think otherwise.

John also points out that the Lasseter years, which a lot of people online alarmingly pine for, weren't these amazing halcyon days. And this statement only confirmed the rumors I had heard about MOANA's production, how both John and Ron Clements were warded off on various things during its making:

MOANA was a very difficult project. It was our idea, but with Pixar and John Lasseter, our story kept changing hands. In the ’90s, we had Jeffrey [Katzenberg]. He was an emperor, you know. But there weren’t 10 Jeffreys. Now, you have too many people to satisfy, before we didn’t have 15 directors telling you how to make the movie. But in some ways, they were right, it was a good thing.

I feel like John's being very balanced in his words, finding the positives of that kind of environment while still calling out the not-great stuff. I love to hear these stories in former directors/animators' own words, and what the Lasseter and Lee regimes have been like. I feel that there are potentially fantastic movies buried in STRANGE WORLD and WISH, the former I rather liked still and the latter I found a fairly pleasant diversion.

I feel the fault lies in the execution, not so much the concepts, themes, or ideas. While some pockets of animation fandom online strongly feel that that earlier iteration of WISH with a younger version of Asha's grandpa being some kinda Star Boy would've been automatically better than the released film, to me it's down to the storytelling itself. Like, I think Asha, the silly goat, and the cute star thing could've been a fun trio and the movie itself a pretty fantasy flick, but it doesn't really get there. The Human-Star WISH, if made, could've also suffered from the same writing problems and similarly underwhelming songs.

STRANGE WORLD could've been this really dynamic sci-fi pulp adventure with a funny and super-enjoyable bickering family at its core, with the environmental themes intact... but it's mostly just kinda there in its execution, the characters kinda flat, the dialogue is forced a lot of the time, the dramatic beats aren't properly built up, and the film's editing makes it feel like it had been thrown into a dicer. There doesn't seem to be the hand and personality of the directors/filmmaking team, it's almost like a template is set for them. And they fill in the blanks and eke out as much personality as they can. See, I don't get that out of Pixar's recent films, all of which feel much more director-driven. And ARE about something, too, whether explicitly political or not. This current iteration of WDAS would not have made a movie like LUCA or TURNING RED.

For the forseeable future, it's sequels to favorites from last decade, who knows how those will be executed. Maybe an original or two sneaks in, I don't know, but I wonder if Lee and the leadership themselves looked at the response to WISH, STRANGE WORLD, et al. and are figuring things out. Or staying the course. But it isn't just people online saying it, nor critics. More than one Disney veteran is saying it... WDAS is in a bit of a rough spot at the moment. The solution isn't as simple as "they need to have romances and villains again" nor "they need to be less left-leaning", to me it's really... Let the filmmakers try something cool, even if it doesn't land. If it doesn't land, it'll be a cult classic thereafter. Live-action directors get to mess up all the time and make these 45%-scoring-on-RT released-by-A24 movies that later get hailed as auteur classics... Why do some animated movies have to live up to this weird nonexistent standard?

Back to Musker... In addition to this, John still expresses interest in adapting the DISCWORLD book MORT, from Terry Pratchett. He and Ron tried to get that going at Disney Animation after finishing THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, but it didn't pan out, so the pitch that morphed into MOANA happened thereafter. He feels it's a tough sell in today's "risk-averse" environment... Though somehow, the DISCWORLD book THE AMAZING MAURICE AND HIS EDUCATED RATS recently happened as an animated feature. The interview seems to confirm that METAL MEN, the DC animated adaptation that he and Ron were heading up at Warner Animation, isn't a thing anymore. John's new thing is his self-made short I'M HIP, so hopefully that circulates somewhere we can all see it.

[undeaddollz]

HENRY BOWERS ANALYSIS!!

btw this is long as shit as it was a ramble to my friend on discord. this is how i interpreted henry, not including the obvious parts of his personality like the racism and much more. thats obvious and everyone knows that, heres something i picked up as i love psychology! i also have a patrick one if you guys would like!

and you can always ask for me to do another IT character as well and i'll try.

so henry is such an interesting character!

it's so obvious he replies on being perceived as masculine and strong because even though he hates his dad he still wants butch's approval and to finally be good enough.

it's part of why he's such a fucked up person and bullies others because it makes him feel stronger and powerful which is something he craves since he is beat at home which makes him feel weak.

bowers gang is a very interesting group of boys, henry is friends with them cause they're kind of like him. we dont get a ton of insight on victor and belch but we know they just think its all in good fun, they dont get as much of a kick out of bullying as patrick and henry. but more or less they're all pretty similar, which henry thrives on. it's obvious he doesnt rely on them or gets emotional with them, belch and victor seem to want henry to but he screams at them every time so they're used to just ignoring the abuse henry goes through.

How henry has a problem with anyone who isnt like himself is an extremely deep rooted problem and the one to blame for this is butch, he beats henry over anything he can, even just little reasons. butch definitely puts some gender roles into henry's head and told him to "stop having a smart mouth" (a reason he hates richie.)

The reason pennywise chose to possess henry is pretty apparent, while it could've gone with patrick i feel like there isnt a lot in patricks mind to break to make him become a mind slave, which is why he just killed patrick instead, using his corpse to manipulate henry. while patrick can be strong he's so mentally fucked up with so many disorders he would've probably just thought his family dying was funny. which makes him a not so great target since he wont be broken like henry could. Henry was having problems at school, home and in his head, there were still parts of him that could be broken as he was not past the point of no return. deep down henry had a lot of fears, one of those fears even being patrick, patricks killing of animals and his own little brother scared henry. while henry could only wish his dad dead, patrick was able to make things like that happen and get away with it and have no guilt, even brag about it.

Henry was still a fairly normal kid until the rock war, thats when i believe he started to go crazy and when pennywise started to get a hold on henry as patrick died shortly after. While henry is scared of patrick that doesnt mean they werent friends, patrick was part of henrys routine, i think having a bit of a routine kept henry sane but the clown started to disrupt that and put henry on edge.

It continues to add shit onto henry's plate to break him. A friend goes missing, he's continually beat at home and it's getting worse. He gets embarrassed in front of his friends, just more and more is added on.

He's then forced to kill his father and then his two closest friends, then made to go back home with evidence planted in his room that he killed all the missing kids. usually he would end up in jail but pennywise knows it will need henry again so it has henry sent to a mental hospital where he endures more abuse and never recovers from having his mind broken as 1, the staff are awful 2, pennywise visits him every night in the form of his dead friends. He mostly takes the form of victor as victor was henry's best friend. the movie isnt fully accurate and uses patricks corpse only when it was actually victor who meant the most to henry, patrick is used as a scare factor.

Although patrick is the one who stuck around to the end and got the same kick out of making people suffer like henry did. he always supported crazy ideas unlike belch and victor. grief is one of henry's huge motivators and pennywise took advantage of that as grief is one of its specialties