#i wonder if it shows double on people's feed or if only i can see the duplicated post

[vampiricmechanic]

tumblr keeps DUPLICATING MY POSTS MAKE IT STOP

[verstappen-cult]

HOW YOU GET THE GIRL | CL16

— 02. THE MEDDLING

PREV. PART | NEXT PART — [ SERIES MASTERLIST ]

summary: in which charles has an embarrassing crush on alex's childhood best friend and everyone meddles. content warnings: faceclaim is taylor hill but you can picture her as you’d like! some cursing and for the sake of the smau imola was not canceled. note: thank you sm for the love you showed the first part! once again if you see some mistakes please know that english is not my first language and i noticed them once everything was finished. if you want to be added to the taglist, just let me know! ♡

INSTAGRAM STORIES

MAY 14, 2023.

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM POST

📍 ROMA, ITALY

Liked by yourusername, lilymhe and 432,503 others

alex_albon Don’t believe anything they say, I won ⛳️

view all 3,799 comments

lilymhe i’m not gonna say anything. 🤐

user35 so it is true. they were with charles and Y/N user36 We don’t know that user37 someone working there confirmed it

charles_leclerc mate you fell like three times

user38 WE GOT THE CONFIRMATION user39 omg this makes it real user40 BUT WAS Y/N ACTUALLY THERE

user41 not his entire comment section filled with charles and Y/N fans 🙄🙄🙄

user42 PARENTS

yourusername shut up you know i won

user43 OH MY GOD OH MY GODDDD user44 i cant believe it i’m having a crisis over this user45 context pls user46 everyone’s saying they were in a double date and apparently this is the confirmation.

pierregasly thanks for (not) inviting me!!!

📍 ROMA, ITALY

Liked by charles_leclerc, zendaya and 756,223 others

yourusername i won. i have witnesses.

view all 2,498 comments

alex_albon keep saying that 🥱

yourusername SHUT UP

user47 not a single pic of charles and her together but we know they were together

user48 feeding us crumbs

user49 she looks so pretty

zendaya tom keeps saying we need to play golf when you’re back in london.

yourusername tell him i’m gonna kick his ass

landonorris you should play with people that actually knows how to play: ME

lilymhe SORRY? yourusername dw lils, i have your back

user50 i love how she’s befriending everyone

user51 thanks to alex user52 and your point is? user51 she’s using him for his fame user53 LOOOOOOL

pierregasly thanks for (not) inviting me!!!

user54 what’s more hilarious to me than this whole “double date” discourse are pierre comments on both alex and Y/N posts because they did not invite him.

Y/N & ALEX’S iMESSAGE

THURSDAY MAY 18, 2023 — PRESS CONFERENCE

charles is sitting next to lando and max, pierre next to him as alex stands in front of them. he’s aware they’re talking about what they’re expecting from this weekend, but he can’t seem to focus on what they are actually saying, only picking up pieces of the conversation. he’s too focused on his phone, the message thread he has with Y/N staring back at him. the last text he has from her is just a simple ‘cool’ after he was trying to play it cool.

“what you doing, charlie?” max asks, playfully poking him in the ribs. he immediately locks his phone, raising his head only to find that everyone is looking at him already.

“i know what he’s doing.” lando wiggles his eyebrows and charles wonders if he really needs his fingers to race. “you screwed up.”

charles knows he screwed up, and definitely doesn’t need lando reminding him the awful mistake he made for just trying not to sound too intense because, of course, he’s made that mistake in the past. and every girl he’s had something with always said the same: ‘you’re too much, charles’, ‘you’re taking things too fast, we should take a break.’ so ever since the last girl he dated, once again, said the same thing, charles promised himself he would not be that guy.

“hey,” alex has this look of pity in his eyes that he doesn’t like, not even one bit. “maybe we could do something to help you.”

“i don’t need your help.” charles’ tone is too sharp and abrupt it’s makes him feel a little bad for talking to his friends like that. but just a little.

“look, you like her, right?” pierre chimes in, but doesn’t wait for an answer. “alex is his best friend, if you want a chance with her, he’s the only one who can help you right now.”

but why does he wanna help him?

alex must see the question written all over his face because he says, “she’s dated a few assholes in the past and i really want something good for her. i trust you, charles.” he tries to look serious which only makes charles laugh. “besides, i have the perfect idea.”

ALEX’S iMESSAGE — MAY 18, 2023

INSTAGRAM POST

📍 VENICE, ITALY — MAY 19, 2023

Liked by scottyjames31, lance_stroll and 976,665 others

yourusername a few days ago i had the pleasure to celebrate two of my favorite people, Chloe and Scotty James. and spent two wonderful days filled with love and joy in the beautiful venice! so happy for you both. 👩🏼‍❤️‍👨🏼🩷

i wish i could stay here forever, but back to reality for now. :(

view all 7,455 comments

user55 i didn’t know she’s friends with the strolls

lance_stroll I have very embarrassing videos of you, just remember that 🍾

user56 why lance and Y/N look kinda good together

user57 That’s exactly what I was thinking. They would look pretty good as a couple user58 he has a girlfriend user59 and Y/N is probably dating charles user57 only rumors

user60 back to reality? she’s not gonna be in the paddock this weekend?

user61 why would she? nobody wants her there

user62 i thought she was in italy for the gp

user63 just a coincidence user62 still hoping she’ll be there

francisca.cgomes I’m gonna need to borrow that beautiful dress! ❤️

user63 she really knows everyone now user64 literally. she was just one time at a race and befriended everyone

user65 i feel like we’re missing something

Y/N’s iMESSAGE

SATURDAY MAY 20, 2023 — THE MISSION 007 DINNER

the second you see a head of brown hair standing at the door, you want to walk over to where alex is sitting and smash his head on the table. you made sure before arriving to the restaurant that charles was not gonna be there tonight, even lando told you he was busy with some ferrari event. obviously, both lied to you.

“hey, charles!” george, who’s standing next to you, his girlfriend carmen at your other side, waves at him. and for the first time since that fateful dinner a few days ago, you make eye contact with his bright brown eyes.

butterflies break free inside your belly, even when you try to repress everything he makes you feel.

you’ve known charles for no more than ten days but it really feels like you’ve known each other your whole life. everything is so easy with him, you can’t remember when was the last time you felt this way, if it ever happened.

you thought everything was going well between you two and, for a minute, you let yourself believe he could like you. but then he gave you the cold shoulder and everything came crashing down.

and that’s your problem. you always feel so much in so little time that when things don’t go the way you’d like, everything hurts twice as hard.

there’s no one to blame but you.

“hey,” is it possible to like the sound of his voice so much that you feel your knees going weak?

“you’re the last one to arrive. here,” george shares a look with his girlfriend that you don’t really know how to read, and both move aside. “you’re sitting here tonight. we’ll go find our seats.”

you want the earth to swallow you. you want to be in a plane far away from here because the seat george is pointing at it’s right next to yours.

before you can open your mouth to say something, the couple slips away. and suddenly it feels like you and charles are the only ones in the room.

no one says a word for what feels like hours. you’re actually trying to find a excuse to leave when charles sighs, defeated.

“i’m sorry.” his voice is almost a whisper, something only for you to hear. “i acted like an idiot.”

“yeah,” you agree because you don’t know what else to say. he did act like an idiot, ignoring you for days, not answering your texts even when you asked him if something was wrong.

“i can explain if you’d let me.”

his brown eyes bore into yours, so soft and sincere your heart skips a beat. and even if you want to say no, your whole body begs you to accept.

“let’s eat first and enjoy the evening,” his face lights up like a kid on christmas day. “then i’ll let you buy me dessert and we can talk.”

TWITTER — SUNDAY MAY 21, 2023

TAGLIST (bold means i couldn’t tag you) — @leclerc16s. @willowpains. @berrnuu. @minkyungseokie. @sassyheroneckgiant. @scott-mccall-could-lift-mjolnir. @nessacarty1. @a1leexxa. @storminacloud. @lovstappen.

note: i hope you liked it. i’m sorry if i forgot to tag you! please let me know what you think, likes and reblogs are greatly appreciated. <3

[shoyastars]

Big thank you to @n0t-evenhere for looking over my fanfic! I appreciate the help, go check them out!

Now then! Onto the birthday celebration!

Birthday Photo - NSFW

—

April 30th - Ray’s Birthday

Headlines and even the news announcing the Hero Binary Star’s birthday. You sigh as you know how these things usually go, everyone will want to give your boyfriend or Binary Star their gifts and attention, while you just want to spend time with him. You can’t help but curse the NAHA for hogging him.

You bring yourself to be reasonable again, after all… if everyone’s favorite hero wasn’t able to be seen on his birthday then people might cause useless drama over it, however some people still criticized the NAHA for making him work on his birthday too. A double edged sword, if only he had a cloning ability… wait scratch that, you didn’t… who knows what type of shit he could pull if he had one…

You turned off the tv and decided to go back to making a cake instead of going to a store. He liked your cake last year, so why not do it again this year but with more practice and with the help for decoration from YouTube tutorials that you thought Ray would like. You were more confident in this one, but only setting a cake didn’t sit right with you… yes you did it last year, but what gift could you give him? He can buy anything he wants, of course you were an option, but it really didn’t make your thought easy. You sigh tired, as you hummed to a relaxing melody playing in the background, somehow causing you to drift off into sleep, you felt so relaxed your eyes completely shut..

The buzz of your phone against the table annoys you enough to reach for it, in your half asleep state, you yawn and manage to answer the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey Star, just wanted to call and see how you were holding up at home.”

Hearing Ray’s voice causes you to wake up instantly, looking at the date, you sigh in relief that you didn’t sleep the full day away.

“I’m good, just um… watching some tv and doom scrolling… a lot of things popped up about you.”

“I bet… but I’m more interested in spending time with you after all this…”

You felt your face head up, as much as he is supposed to have his birthday about him, he still can’t help but be selfish when it comes to you.

“Yeah yeah.. why make it about me though? Seriously if anything I should be more excited to see you today of all days.”

Ray chuckled as you smiled on the other end of the phone. Sometimes you wonder if you still were dreaming upon how the two of you crossed paths… it would’ve been one hell of a dream… but reality always has its surprises… speaking of surprises… his gift… many times have you thought of getting his gift for his birthday…. Yet… the obvious always settles in…. He can literally buy anything he wants or needs, but you were someone he’d rather have over any object he can use anytime.

“I’ll see you when you get home! Happy Birthday Ray.”

Ray smiles on the other end, a light pink across his face, hearing your voice was at all was definitely the best gift he’s had all day.

“Thank you Star.. I’ll see you soon.”

The beep as the call ends, the settling thoughts come in, you had no idea or at least have an idea for a gift for his birthday… maybe some would say it’s unnecessary, but you really couldn’t think of a better idea. You knew him well by now, you weren’t dumb not to notice. However… you were sure you didn’t have anything too interesting to the eye.

You saw an interesting thing come on your feed though, taking Burlesque photos… though they came up as a show for the groom during the wedding or at reception… you remember having a having a camera that could help you take one… it is old however.. you would have to see if it still works, after all what's wrong with this idea? If anything it’s been awhile since the two of you…

You shook your head and decided to go through with it, even if you end up regretting it later… At least you won’t have work tomorrow… all the better for it. At least you hope.

You searched for awhile, till finally finding the old thing. Though you wiped away the dust, you pressed the button to take a quick photo to see if it’s still useable, lucky it still does…. You did need a shower.. you didn’t like how sweaty you were after taking a nap.

When you did take pictures of yourself, looking at them now, you were hoping it was good enough, you took at least three, one you accidentally made blurry, the other you didn’t like, third you were ok with. You sigh as you then decide to at least keep it on your nightstand. You wondered how to actually give it to him after he comes back. Last time you tried to send him a photo of yourself, you immediately regretted it when you were running late to your job in the morning. So that’s off the table.

You wondered if you had a small box, maybe you could do one of those annoying open a box to another box…. No… that doesn’t even sound like a good idea for just one photo of you…

You looked online again, only find the people doing this were handing it to their partner, or had a whole damn photo book of themselves to give to their partners. You were annoyed at this point, you were starting to think this was a bad idea, you grabbed the photo when suddenly you hear the door open and shut.

‘Fuck! What time is it??’

“Star, I’m back!”

“Uh…”

You quickly turned off your phone and went to get the photo, you didn’t know what to do. Only for Ray to look over at you in your panicked state and wonder what exactly you’re worried about.

“Something wrong?”

“Nope! Nothin, nothin at all!”

“Star…”

“Aren’t you going to take a shower? You probably should go!”

You go to push his towards the bathroom as he looks confused, yes he was still in his hero suit after a long day, but he was mostly concerned for you.

“Star, what’s going on?”

“You just arrived at a bad time is all! Besides I need time… to do something…”

Ray looked at you, he really wished he didn’t promise to not read your mind unless it was an emergency.. He really didn’t like it when you hid stuff from him, but he seems more focused on your facial expressions. It’s become a new habit, when he finally caught on he only smiled a bit.

“Alright, I’ll be out soon.”

“Perfect! Ah! I mean… ahem! Just, don’t take too long.”

Ray chuckled at that as he closed the door behind him, you let out a sigh of relief, now you just needed to think, or at least whisper to yourself what exactly to do…

You didn’t want to just give him a photo, maybe… maybe it would be better if you and him were to-… you honestly were at a loss, why did you think this was a good idea?

Well… you took it, so you might as well go all the way.. you go to get something more suitable for tonight, you liked what you saw, he’ll probably like it too, however you also needed to keep things settled until the right moment to give it to him. When you went back to the kitchen for the cake, you made sure it was all good. You were hoping this will all work out. Despite the fact it was a trend online instead of an original idea for his birthday, you take a deep breath and as you mapped out a plan on how to give him this gift… or at least what you call a gift.

You heard the bathroom door open and close, when you saw him peak in you felt you’re heart racing. Ray seemed to notice you’re nervous movements, however you had to go through with this. You can’t just pull out now, you were a fucking villain before, you faced the dangers of criminal life in the shadows, and faced double, even though he nearly cut you’re finger off. You took the cake you made and Ray smiled as you placed it on the table. He patted you’re head, perhaps to ease you’re nerves.

It really didn’t help.

“Looks like you took time to make me a cake yet again, thank you Star.”

“I did my best to improve my baking skills this year, so enjoy it while you can.”

“I know I will, since it’s made from you.”

Ray took the fork you provided along with the cake, and as you did with your own slice. A bit of talking would pass as you slowly begin to ease you’re nerves over the surprise. You and Ray would eventually go to the bedroom you two would share when he stayed over, usually it’s just you’re bed but you and him would share it mostly. Ray would open the window and light his cigarette for a quick smoke. You begin to lay back in bed, Ray gives a small smile seeing you so relaxed.

“Tired already?”

“What can I say? Made a cake and waited for you to come back.”

“Sorry, can’t really help it.”

“No, it’s fine. After all… it’s a double edge sword situation where you have to go, if you didn’t fans would rally around.”

Ray laughed a bit at that, you looked at him as he did. Giving him a bit of a look.

“What?”

“Were you… nevermind..”

“No, tell me!”

“…Were you jealous of me getting all the attention from fans of that guy?”

You felt you’re face heat up, Ray begins to laugh again. You covered your face with a pillow.

“Shut up!”

“Star- it really isn’t that serious.”

“Really? Especially since they get you all day?”

Ray sighed and put out his cigarette, sitting beside you, as you peaked at him with some of your face still in the pillow.

“They can have Binary Star, but I recall that you wanted me, Remember?”

You grumbled into the pillow, but knew he was right. You could care less for Binary Star… you said you wanted him, so you have him. Yet again, Ray was alway the guy you fell for… so to say the people had him… was wrong.. because that wasn’t him but a mask he put on for a show he’s forced to play…

“Yeah… I guess, I’m just upset that I couldn’t spend most of my time with you.. especially on your birthday. I want to spend time with my Ray ya know?”

You laughed a bit awkwardly, Ray ruffled your hair smiling at you. You smile as you then go to fix your hair. You two shared a quick kiss before gone to get off the bed, only to stop.

“Something wrong-“

“What’s that?”

You looked where his gaze was, that’s when you remembered. The photo! You quickly go to reach it only for him to take it before you could. You immediately knew this was the moment you wished you could just disappear. Ray looks at the photo and you a couple of times, he runs his hand through his hair a bit, still sat on the the edge of the bed. You want to say something, but what? Surprise??? You hated how you forgot about one simple thing on your bedside table! So embarrassing… so humiliating how you didn’t go through with your plan!

“So uh.. this is you?”

“I- wanted to give you gift this time…”

“Oh, a gift huh?”

“Don’t start…”

He looked at you as you go to cover yourself with the blanket. After a bit you felt the bed shift by his movements, he moved the blanket away from you, meeting eye to eye now. You tried to look away but one of his hands cupped your face, his thumb moving over your bottom lip. You saw the look in his eyes, a familiar desire.

“I think it’s cute..”

He leaned in close to your ear, making you’re heart race again, you swear you were going to have a heart attack. His hot breath can be felt against it.

“However, I prefer the real deal. Wouldn’t you agree, my star?”

You couldn’t help but feel your face heat up at his words, he chuckled at you’re reaction, moving away from you’re ear to look at you. Was he really teasing you right now? Well you did take the photo knowing he was going to be like this, so why are you still getting flustered like some teenage virgin reading smutty books?

“I didn’t know if that would be a good gift ether way so-“

“So, I’ll be sure to cherish this when I think of you.”

“Ray, what the fuck!”

“Ah ah! You said it was a gift.”

“I- well, true… but-“

“So easy to tease.”

“Fuck off!”

You cover your face with your hands, as much as you are glad he likes it. Does he really have to express what he’s mostly going to do??? What else would he do other than jerk it to your photo? Ray smirked as you kept you’re hands to your face. However, he wasn’t really planning on just teasing you.. especially after seeing you like that for him..

You felt as his hand went under you’re shirt, you immediately turned your attention to him.

“Ray- Wha!”

“What? Don’t tell me you weren’t expecting me to not adore you after giving me such a thoughtful gift.”

Feeling his warm hand trailing over your body felt good, you couldn’t resist it… you wanted it.. however a deep part of you still felt more embarrassed by the situation. Jesus Christ, why can’t you just pick a struggle today?

Small sounds of pleasure came from you as he began to kiss and nip your neck, you liked how he did that.

“Did you also plan ahead by picking out these clothes for easy access for me?”

“Shut… up..”

He let out a small laugh as his hand trailed down, you wanted it, you really did, his touch was drawing you in more and more. He really did know what he was doing.. him hearing the small gasps of pleasure were even better, he continued to treat you like this, he wanted you to know how much he loved his gift, this was definitely the best gift he’s been given all day, instead of those gifts those people though he might like… maybe for that guy, this though…. He loved this one more..

The small whispers of his name as he continued were beautiful to him, he always liked hearing you say his name. His name. No one else’s… you were his, he was yours. He hoped you knew that, even after all this time…

“Ray-“

“You’re doing amazing Star.~”

The time you let yourself go with him felt right, so safe, so good. Ray smiled at you as he went to take off both his sweater and undershirt, his scars and muscular frame now visible to your eyes, he leaned in to kiss you, a deep passionate kiss. Assisting you in taking off your clothes as you two were so lost in each other's lust. Finally hearing that stupid belt come off, you were both eager to continue this dance with each other. Hands intertwined as you continued to feel this pleasure with him, the moans between the two of you were sweet melodies to each other's ears, such passion, so much love for one another, it drew both of you in. Two broken souls, two who wanted to find each other, to try and become something beautiful together. The hunger along with the love in Ray’s eyes only further shows how you don’t regret your decision, and how you have no regrets.

The moan of your name with so much affection in saying it was enough to make you feel content, to feel so satisfied with this outcome. The two of you now breathless, sharing one more tender kiss. How close his face was to yours, causing the both of you to feel content in this moment. Just the two of you in this moment of bliss.

He cherished this gift, as you treasured his love for it. Resting in each other’s embrace, no longer a care in the world.

—

In the Morning, the sun shines on your face as you groaned in annoyance, you realized that your clothes were still on the floor as you woke up a bit, going to get off the bed proving impossible, your tired boyfriend clinging to you. You signed in as you ran your hand through his messy hair, a hum of approval from him as he kept his arms around you. This moment is counted as a beautiful moment of peace for you. You stayed like this for a couple more minutes, the rest of the day, despite it not being his birthday anymore, was enjoyed by the two of you.

Just being with you made his day all the more brighter, the people can have Binary Star, Ray on the other hand, was all yours. Forever and always.

You were His Star, as much as he was Your Ray.

—

Happy Birthday to our Favorite Hero! <3

[dunmeshistash]

ive always wondered if milsiril's overprotectiveness of kabru was less because of infantilisation (although she def like all elves has that problem) and more so out of guilt. she was a captain of the canaries during the Utaya incident I believe and she witnessed what happened and she couldn't stop it. and she left the canaries because of it and took in the kid who was the Only survivor, raised him in extreme comfort so he'd never see the horrors again and didn't want him anywhere near the dungeons! like i think learning self defense for defenses sake would have made her hesitant but she would have obliged but because it was specifically for the dungeons she was so against it. also like he must have had a rough few years dealing with that trauma as well which doubled her protectiveness

I believe it's a mixture of both, I don't think you can really take away the guilt (actually unsure if that's the best word to describe it) nor the race relations from how Milsiril sees Kabru.

I am the Milsiril apologist ™ but the fact she see's Kabru as a child even now is a big part of their relationship, she's a mother that can't grow up (both for being an elf and for her own issues) and that has to cope with her children outgrowing her fast

Putting a read more cause as usual when it's about Milsiril I talk too much

We can see in every way Milsiril acts that she sees Kabru at most as a toddler during his time with her, she's hand feeding him, has him in a room full of toys and talks about him like he's a cute baby.

I think people are too mean about this side of Milsiril tbh. I think it makes her interesting and it's clear (to me at least) that she does her best to provide for her children even if she doesn't truly understands them. Even in that first interaction with Kabru where she's trying to hand feed him they were *already* training with swords beforehand.

Milsiril also talks to Kabru in a way that kinda seems to expect him to understand more than what a small child would like we can see in the AB extra

So her infantilization doesn't extend to underestimating him at least, rather I think that's how she shows affection (which is still bad 😭)

Anyway, about her trauma with the dungeon and guilt (or maybe shame? Fear?), I do think that was one of the motivations for her to take Kabru in as I said in this post (beware I am a Milsiril apologist and I am VERY biased in seeing her in a more positive light, doesn't mean it's true) but I think that side of her manifests in her sudden switches from crybaby mom to ruthless master

Milsiril is very emotionally unstable from what we can see, she's really trying to convince Kabru not to go into dungeons and when tears don't work she switches into training him so hard he'll give up on his own. I've seen people call this her "true colors" or say she was using "crocodile tears" but in my opnion both the tears and the threat are genuine, I don't think it's a planned switch but rather the fact she's unstable to begin with, both the crybaby mom and the scary swords master are her true self.

Anyway! I think both guilt and infantilization are intertwined in her love towards Kabru, I've said this before but she's a flawed caretaker in a world where she does not have the resources to become a better one. She's traumatized she's depressed and she's an elf, but she's the only one (that we know) willing to at least *try* to treat the people she cares for the correct way. If it wasn't for Milsiril Kabru would have been raised by elves like Rin was (and we know that went very bad, they traumatized her), and Mithrun might not have received the proper rehab he needed to go back into the canaries (He might have managed but we see Milsiril put in the effort to help him cope besides being the one to tell him about Utaya)

That is all to say: Milsiril is still flawed!! It's part of what I love about her, and it's the reason so many people dislike her too. I'm saying this cause sometimes when I go on my Milsiril rants I get asks putting down Kabru to raise her up and that's like, very uncomfortable lmao. Even if she did her best he still was the one that to deal with all of her shortfallings while being raised and he's still the one responsible for getting to where he is, she just made is easier than it could have been.

Disclaimer as is usual for my Milsiril posts: I'm a Milsiril fan, my interpretations of her are very charitable because I often see people being way too uncharitable about her. Please read the original material and make up your own interpretation, this posts only contain what I think it's relevant for my point not an objective view of the whole. I've also already made several posts about her and I don't want to keep repeating myself so if you think I glossed over something important that's probably why.

Edit: thinking more about it, maybe rather than feeling guilty herself she might blame "elves" as a whole for the failure in Utaya, it does say she left it "in disgust". It's not that clear how she feels about it.

I still think it's shared trauma though, I don't think it's possible for Milsiril to not have been affected by what happened there and I think it's part of why she doesn't want Kabru to go to dungeons again. But her way to cope is to turn away from it (and blaming "elves" might be part of how she copes) while Kabru's is to face it so it doesn't happen again

[dark-lord-of-awesomeness]

Love, love, love the last chapter of the shifter!Stan. 1000% of shenanigans and chaos. Truly awesome how any normal human reactions for things aren't even in suggestion category for Stan, they are just some faraway indiscreet wibes that he's seldom avare of.

Makes me think of the both Stan twins shifter universe. They would be such menaces having zero understanding of humans and encouraging each other's worst impulses. Basically that "logical, that's logical" scene from the comic but a thousand times worse. Every newfound skill becomes a one-upping (and hopefully discreet) competition, every insane idea gets quickly rationalised into research or something like that. Maurice's "something evil is out there trying to get you" is the only thing keeping them from going awol. Stans are being the most unhinged duo ever while Shermy is. just. kinda there? Having the weirdest childhood experience ever.

And at the same time poor Maurice is going through the experience that would've made them go gray if they were human. They so didn't sign up for this.

It would be so cool if you found a little space for this idea in your ever-growing list of shorts to make

Thank you! Shifter Stan is even worse at acting like a member of society than regular Stan, as he can quickly shift into someone else and avoid all the consequences of his actions. Never learns anything. Only ever vaguely aware that humans would actually get upset if someone kidnapped their kid.

Double shifter Stan and Ford is a nightmare universe for Maurice. Not only did they have unexpected twins, their twin spawn are feeding each other the worst ideas in an endless loop that makes them almost impossible to control. The only reason they never get suspected of being shapeshifters is their equally terrible loop of paranoia they feed each other and the fact that twin spawn with a single base in unheard of. Random vampire sees Ford by himself being weird with shermie and goes 'hmm, maybe?" but then Stan wanders up equally weird and its just 'no, just weird triplets, shifters are only ever twins' and they're safe. Meanwhile Shermie is desperately trying to either trying to fit in with them or desperately trying to escape their insanity because he was not cursed with the Pines chaos gene and is a very normal kid here. He loves his brothers but he just saw Stan eating dead bugs and Ford dissecting rats to 'learn their powers' and he just wants to kick balls around and play hooky on the beach. Everyone expects him to control them but he's sitting their crying with his brothers on leashes begging people to help him. When they finally disappear on their ship its a relief and a constant anxiety because at any point in his life he knows they'll show up again with potentially worse chaos following behind.

He spends every day of the rest of his life on egg shells, wondering when they'll pop up again. And they do, at his kids birth, bringing gifts and telling him how happy they are for him and congratulating him on things no one has told them, knowing things about him they shouldnt, and he has a melt down so bad they finally admit they were shapeshifters and the jolt of relief that whatever is up with them in not genetic makes him burst into tears. Then smack them across the heads for stalking him and being creeps and almost ruining his childhood.

Years later when his kid has their own triplets, Mabel, Mason and Maurice (which his brothers insisted on when they got a surprise two extra kids for reasons they wont explain), his heart rate sky rockets at their exchanged glances and elbow nudges.

I will add double shifter to the list, because now i feel so bad for Shermie i'm going to write it from his pov.

[lura-valentine]

Dabi and Hawks as fathers. How do you imagine the two of them when you think about the different ages? Baby, child and young adult.

Chaos!

They would be absolute chaotic fathers who would drive their partners, like Rain (my OC) crazy with their behavior. They would do a lot, and I mean a LOT, of stupid things with the child.

Both of them separately would be manageable, but if you had a DabiHawks situation, it would definitely be a jackpot in the chaos lottery. Rain would then literally have two adult children at her side, who would constantly provoke each other and raise the child (in this case Kaji) in the craziest way.

➡️ To Rain's priofil

➡️ To Kaji's profil

Kaji in the baby phase

Dabi

Changing diapers, what is that? Dabi grabs the little one by his diaper and holds him at eye level like a packet of chips. "Rain, I think he's leaking. Do we still have the guarantee certificate for the boy?"

Lullabies? No! Instead of sweet lullabies, Dabi plays dark rock ballads from his smartphone or gives baby Kaji dry advice like: "Sleeping is overrated. Get used to it."

Warmth and security? Absolutely YES. Even if Dabi doesn't admit it, he loves lying on the couch while the little one sleeps on his chest. "You're a damn chilblain, no wonder you can only sleep peacefully with me."

Proud father? When Kaji first uses his Quirk (maybe spitting out a mini Frostflame), Dabi would annoy Rain with a grinning, "See? Mine!"

Hawks (foster father)

Play until you drop? Hawks has a lot of energy, so he could play with Kaji for hours without getting tired. But if Kaji screams - then there is a frantic panic reaction: "Rain! I think I broke him!"

Flying lessons at a baby age? As soon as Kaji shows the first signs of wings, Hawks would throw him into the air - just a little bit. Rain panics when she sees this, but Hawks remains completely calm: "Everything is under control! Birds fall out of nests and survive."

What is a cradle? Hawks likes to use his feathers to rock Kaji to sleep. "My feathers are much better than a stupid baby bed, aren't they, my little one?"

Multitasking level: God: With one hand he feeds Kaji while typing messages with the other and changing diapers with his feathers at the same time. Rain watches him in horror: "You can't do EVERYTHING with your feathers, Keigo!" - "Why not? It's efficient!"

DabiHawks

Feathers VS Shopping Bag – Rain comes into the room and sees Kaji either safely wrapped in Hawks' feathers or being held like carry-on luggage by Dabi.

Changing diapers? No thanks. Hawks passes the job on to Dabi, "Hey, flamethrower, you're good with heat, right?", and Dabi counters with, "You do it, bird brain. You have sensitive feathers." Rain ends up doing it himself.

First flying lesson? Double trauma for Rain. Hawks and Dabi argue about how Kaji should learn to fly. Hawks wants to do it gently with feather support, while Dabi just lets him go: "Either he flies or learns how to fall." Rain? She's about to set them both on fire. He's still a damn BABY!

Kaji: Toddler Phase

Dabi

Dabi constantly gives Kaji mean but loving nicknames like Frosty, Bluewing, or Ice Block. The more Kaji gets upset about it, the more fun Dabi has.

Dabi teaches Kaji all sorts of nonsense, like how to steal food or put on a super serious look to unsettle people.

Dabi secretly likes to praise Kaji, but he rarely does so openly. Instead, he gives high-fives and pats on the back.

Has silly competitions with Kaji, like who can eat faster or who can stare at Rain longer without blinking, which always makes her freak out.

Hawks (foster father)

Hawks playfully teaches Kaji to control his powers by playing "catching with feathers" or having small dogfights. “If you hit me with your ice flame, you’ll get an extra dessert!”

Cool upbringing, but with control. Hawks gives Kaji a lot of freedom, but in reality he keeps a discreet eye on everything. If Kaji runs too far away, a feather comes out of nowhere and picks him up to bring him back like a drone. "Did you want to run away? No, little one, not today."

Flying duels in the living room. As soon as Kaji can use his wings, there's no stopping him. Hawks would fly with him through the apartment, knocking over furniture, while Rain yells in the background: "Keigo, this is NOT a race track!"

Super laid back dad. Hawks would never get too worked up about small problems. When Kaji falls, instead of drama there is a "Phew, crazy flight! But next time you'll land better."

DabiHawks

Double chaos, zero control. Dabi is the father who teaches Kaji how to get up to mischief while Hawks teaches him how not to get caught. Rain realizes far too late that her son is being raised by two of the biggest tricksters she knows.

Food problems. Hawks wants Kaji to eat healthy. Dabi? Just give him what he eats. Hawks: “Eat your vegetables, Kaji.” Dabi: “Here, eat a bag of chips. Vegetables are overrated.” Rain comes in: “WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?”

Training - serious VS play. Hawks does exercises that are actually just games, while Dabi tests Kaji in real combat situations. Hawks: "Dodge my feathers, Kaji!" Dabi: "Catch that fireball. Oh yeah, it hurts."

Resistance to Rain: If Rain makes a serious parenting decision, Hawks and Dabi disappear out the door with Kaji. “Ehh, we have to go out for a moment, no, little one?”

Kaji: Teenager Phase

Dabi

The rebel gene comes through - Kaji has Dabi's stubbornness and Rain's strategic cleverness - a bad combination for a teenager. While Rain can't stop preaching, Dabi celebrates when Kaji causes trouble.

Dabi never gives good advice directly, but instead packages it in mockery: "Oh, you're tired? Yes, life is hard when you cry so much."

If Kaji gets into serious trouble, Dabi is the first to arrive. Anyone who gets too close to Kaji will receive a very unhealthy burst of flames.

Is incredibly proud, but rarely shows it openly. Instead, he says things like: "Not bad, kid. Maybe you are my son after all."

Hawks (foster father)

Hawks would tease Kaji, but always with a hint of wisdom. "Oh, you want to be a tough guy? Cool. But tough guys also think before they rush into stupid situations."

If Kaji wants to keep secrets from him, forget it. Hawks knows everything. "Oh, you were out with someone? Don't worry, I know your friends' entire family history.

​​When Kaji is really down, Hawks gets serious. No sarcasm, no games. Just an honest "Hey, I know how it feels to think you're on your own. But you're not."

Hawks would never openly admit that he is worried, but he is constantly near Kaji without him noticing. And if someone threatens Kaji – Hawks is there in a flash.

DabiHawks

Dabi as bad influence, Hawks as damage control – Dabi: "Okay, so if you want to intimidate someone, all you have to do is look threatening and speak slowly." Hawks: "Or you can just use charm and get what you want without people being afraid of you." Kaji? Uses both – and Rain just wants to get away.

Training is a declaration of war - Hawks relies on speed, Dabi on raw power, so Kaji is constantly caught in the crossfire of both. Dabi: "Attack me with full force." Hawks: "Just kick him between the legs."Rain: “I SWEAR YOU TWO WILL BREAK HIM!”

School problems? Nope.Thanks to Hawks, Kaji always knows how to talk his way out of trouble. Thanks to Dabi, he is not afraid to talk his way out of trouble if necessary. Teacher: "Kaji, have you done your homework?" Kaji (grins): "Did you like doing homework when you were a student?" Hawks in the background: "Oh, I'm so proud." Dabi: "He wasn't aggressive enough, but it's OK."

My moral supporters

@doumadono | @unhinged-bratty-boy | @indignant-alpaca | @kyuubinicole | @hultaj69 | @vegemania | @bonelesscunt

mention accounts that my works ❤️ and 🔄. If someone no longer wishes to be mentioned, please write it.

[theamityelf]

Have you ever done a despair v3 class? I’m always fascinated by the idea because there’s a lot of interesting avenues characters like kokichi or shuichi or tenko or heck korekiyo since his killings tend to stem from a really fucked up place of hope would go. I can’t deny I’m biased towards despair kokichi because I simply feel like him being a leader is incompatible to him feeling enough despair to become ultimate despair unless he’s faking

Actually that’s kind of a fun idea kokichi faking it and then maybe running into despair heart Makoto who can tell Kokichi’s not quite like the others in how he operates, how he brags about how he killed his old members — but this one supposedly new member he lucked into glancing at with dyed hair and contacts has the same cheek bones and posture as the one in the picture kokichi showed him

This is fun, because I definitely think that for some characters despair is doubling down on their Thing and for some despair is turning their back on their Thing, so...

Actually Despair Kokichi: Still a leader, because I think for him despair can be doubling down on his Thing, or twisting it.

His hangups around being known/understood are all the more intense. Instead of a small group of closely-knit troublemakers, he has a huge group of despair gremlins who he's constantly feeding incomprehensible orders to, because he has intricate plans that are executed in tiny, tiny pieces for the express purpose of having underlings who are perpetually confused but utterly obedient.

No one except Kokichi really knows what's going on, so if they get the order that today they're going to hide a red backpack under someone else's bed at 4 in the morning, they're doing it. Why? Because someone already followed the order to hand the red backpack to them at 3:30, and who's to say it isn't a bomb or something? Best to do as they're told and get it out of their own hands.

It's an understood thing that underlings who follow orders perfectly don't die, but ones who are a minute late or an inch off, underlings who disobey, experience major, often fatal, consequences. Not punishments, but consequences. Like, you were late to drop off the backpack and it exploded, killing you. Or, you were told to be here but instead you were there, in the line of fire. While the obedient always survive.

And whether that's because Kokichi is just that good at planning things out, or whether it's because no one knows what anyone else has been told, so if some henchmen die, he can just lie and say they did something wrong, is anybody's guess. Whatever the case, his orders are followed and things run smoothly.

(Draining the humanity from everyone drains the fun from everything. He's basically just playing chess with no one, forever. It sucks.)

People rarely see him in person. They get their orders through handwritten notes and digital messages. Periodically, he'll do a mandatory all-hands video conference call, just to be unbearably corporate about it. That's the main time they see him.

"Hello, hello, henchpals!" he says to the camera. "Is everybody having a wonderful Wednesday?"

Stylistically, I am one synapse-fire away from saying he looks like Rio Ranger from YTTD, but I will instead say he has a mask on every side of his head. A mask fully covers his face (and the back of his head, and the sides; it's four masks; you get it). He only lowers it from his eyes for scary reasons. Like, an underling who has gotten in hot water with him might see him place one hand on the front of his face mask and lower it just enough to see his eyes (which both have colored contacts; they're different colors, and neither is purple), and he says, "Would you care to repeat that?"

When you can see his eyes, it means you might die.

When an underling (or adversary) has to be punished, it happens very publicly and brutally. The all-hands meeting might involve everyone watching a Saw trap happen.

His clothes themselves are similar to his canon outfit, as far as being aesthetically coherent and involving a lot of buckles and straps. The core takeaway of his appearance is that it takes time. He gets up in the morning and does a whole process to transform into who he will appear to be. He has to put in different color contacts just for his face to be hidden behind a mask. That kind of stuff.

And lastly, even as Despair Kokichi, I don't think he's following Junko. Even if she personally swayed him to despair, I feel like his takeaway would be, "Okay. I'm doing this now." And I feel like, under most circumstances, she kinda wouldn't care to get him under control. Just let him cook.

Kokichi always knows what's going on, because he's got surveillance provided by Miu (who supplies his tech) and Kaito (who is watching everything from a satellite, probably).

-With Despair's Throbbing Heart Makoto:

The start of this scenario is definitely, "Kokichi has a scheme playing out and Makoto's luck ruins it."

Something like, Kokichi's minions are destroying a water tower so they can simultaneously take out the locals' water source and flood the locals' food storage. (There's a reason. Probably to make them reliant on some other source, or to make them vacate the area in a specific way.) But Makoto happens to be traveling with a suitcase that exactly matches the suitcase full of explosives that they were going to use to take out the water tower, a weird switcheroo happens, and Makoto accidentally drops half an abandoned warehouse on himself but no one (else) is hurt and nothing important is destroyed.

When Makoto wakes up, he's in Kokichi's lair, because Kokichi's minions found him in the collapsed building after realizing they had the wrong suitcase and basically going, "Where did an explosion happen?" And naturally, once Kokichi heard about what happened, he had to meet the guy who ruined his plan. Facial recognition says it's none other than Makoto Naegi (and I guess the larger context of this AU suggests he would already know Makoto as his senpai?? So that's fun! Preexisting feelings.).

One of Kokichi's underlings is tending to Makoto's injuries while Kokichi sits in a swivel chair not far off, maybe spinning around so that his four masks give the unsettling impression that he's always facing him, or maybe just sitting there and staring.

Because he is trying not to be understood, he doesn't tell Makoto that it's him, and his voice is probably being warped by something he's wearing. But Makoto can tell it's him anyway. It's annoying! Stop calling me Kokichi! Stop being my friend!

The V3 cast has an emergency Zoom call about what to do with Makoto. Shuichi wants him. Badly. But Kokichi ends up keeping him, because in his mind, he's the only one who can withstand Makoto's good vibes. Shuichi would crumble and give up on despair after a day! But Kokichi can handle this dork. (He honestly wouldn't have told the others that he even has Makoto, but Kaito saw. From space.)

And from there, obviously, it's Despair Kokichi X Traumatized Makoto.

Faking Despair Kokichi: In this case, he still leads a large organization, but there's way more input from his underlings, as far as despair stuff. (And he isn't wearing the four face masks or color contacts. Maybe a scar on one side of his face, to imitate Monokuma. Not a full-on Glasgow smile; just something that looks like one without cutting as deep. But he dresses closer to canon.)

The vibe is, he lets his underlings do all the despair stuff they suggest. They want to take out a water tower, then go for it. His main bit of input is, where they want to kill any stragglers they find who are either clinging to hope or just not giving themselves over fully to despair, Kokichi orders that those people be taken prisoner instead. For reasons. He assures his lackeys that there's a fun reason.

It has the aesthetics of cruelty; his underlings are doing all kinds of destruction and menacing the public, kidnapping people, etc. And his lair is literally a prison for the hopeful. It's not pretend; their will to fight is genuinely being crushed by this.

BUT, they're alive. And they're safe. And there's a lot of them. Instead of leaving them to get picked off in the streets one by one, he assumed control of those who wished them ill and made it so the hundred-or-whatever despairs under his leadership have compiled a thousand-or-whatever non-despairs all in one place. All they need is a morale boost and an opportunity.

-With Despair's Throbbing Heart Makoto:

Makoto is the morale boost and the opportunity. When Kokichi's minions drag Makoto to him, Kokichi sees immediately that Makoto can be the one to turn the tables here. He just needs to chuck him in with the prisoners and watch him work.

Because it's Kokichi, he doesn't let Makoto know that he isn't really despair. He acts like a villain, acts like he wants to break him, etc. It's somewhat a way to punish himself for everything he's given his underlings permission to do, in the name of the big picture.

When the prisoner revolt does happen, Makoto is the one who keeps the other prisoners from straight-up killing Kokichi. (He doesn't manage to stop them from killing a lot of Kokichi's underlings.)

Kokichi is thrown in a jail cell, first by his ex-prisoners and then by the Future Foundation. Makoto can't 100% defend everything he did, because he definitely did some stuff, and I can't stress enough that the other prisoners were not happy, but he stands by Kokichi where others want to harm him.

Kokichi tries to hide it, but he's really emotional about how much Makoto believes in him. This has all been pretty scary, and he's kind of exhausted.

If he is given the opportunity to escape, he won't. He'll just be on his cot staring at the ceiling with the cell door open. Or maybe he'll have gone to stay in another cell, just to be silly.

[thatsmybook]

I wonder if Nicholas Scratch has a reputation in the witch world as being one that leads witches to their deaths. This could be why he is associated with the Darkhold or being an agent of Mephisto. "Old Scratch" or "Mr Scratch" is traditionally another word for the devil. This is Nicky's lasting known legacy in the world.

The truth is even worse. Yes, a child from birth was used to lure witches to their deaths when they gave in to their empathy for him and let their guard down. He was made to do this by his mother, even before he knew what he was doing. Nicky is the cause of and surrounded by death all of his life, and when he is able to understand what he is doing, he does it to make his mother happy.

Then, once he is dead, his mother uses the song he made with her out of love to lure even more vulnerable women to their deaths.

Nothing about Nicholas's life or legacy is good. Agatha made it that way. She did not do it maliciously to taint who Nicky was because she didn't care about the opinions of others. (Although she lets them believe a different story because her real story is too awful, so she must care a little). She knew he was a good soul, and that is all that matters to her. But she does know that when he was old enough to understand, he did not like that they were murdering witches together. His opinion is the only one she cares about. So she can not face him. Tellingly, she does nothing to change her ways in order to potentially be redeemed by him were she ever to meet him. Instead, she doubles down and carries on.

When Death calls her a coward, it makes me think she means this: she is too cowardly to do the work to change. To come to terms with the trauma she experienced with the first witches, she called family. To move beyond them and not treat all witches like they are her original coven. All witch-kind get punished for her original coven's actions. She tells Nicky witches will kill them so they have to kill them first. She's had 70 years before his birth and hundreds of years after to know that that is not true and to find a coven that will help her with her unique type of power and not judge her. To make her own found family of people who will understand and guide her to learn control of her succubus powers. To find witches like Billy who will trust her and willingly give her power. To then find witches who will feed, heal, protect her and her son and divine their future. She is over 70 years old when she gives birth to Nicky. She's had time. What does she choose to do with the time she's had at that point? Kill so many witches that she attracts Death and Death's love. What does she choose to do with the time Death gives her with Nicky? Make the beauty of his life and creativity about death and destruction.

As Death said during her trial with the spirits: she is scared. She was not scared of her mother as much as she was scared of Nicky showing up to punish her. When he does show up, he implores her to stop.

Her grieving stage is stagnant at anger and at times, shame. She occasionally shows signs of the acceptance stage when she whispers "sometimes boys die", and when she draws in Death's power during their kiss of death. Unlike every other person who walked the witches road (all who went there willingly knowing it was dangerous and deadly (apart from Sharon) but willing to face their trails and do the work to gain acceptance), Agatha walked the road knowing she would not be making any changes.

Her journey continues on in ghost form. And this is the dissatisfaction one feels with her at the end of the show. She has moved the needle ever so slightly by deciding to guide and love a boy who knows her yet accepts her. But she sees the road as a con the same way that she saw tarot as a con, and she won't use them as tools to finally complete her arc. The reason the other witches aren't ghosts is because they don't have unfinished business. Agatha knew she had unfinished business and that becoming a ghost was her likely future. She made a calculated move.

I prefer Billy as the witch that Agatha is going to coven up with more than Wanda. Wanda is a very traumatised witch and the two of them together would not have helped each other. Billy has come from a loving family with a therapist mum. He has a stable relationship with someone who fully accepts him. He has a strong moral compass and is interested in Agatha's ability to feel over her reputation as an evil person. So the road ahead for Agatha could be one where she works for and gets the solace she needs.

[tobiasdrake]

Episode 2 of Agatha All Along and the show remains a fantastic rewatch.

This exchange is hilarious in retrospect. Agatha tells Billy right up-front that the Witches' Road is fake. But he refuses to accept that answer and accuses her of trying to deflect him from his goal.

Originally, this scene came off like Billy showing his determination and persuading Agatha that he has what it takes to make this journey.

But in retrospect... Yeah, he just sounds like a naive teenager who thinks five seconds of Googling makes him an expert, mouthing off to the one person who actually knows how bullshit this is better than anyone because she wrote the fucking con.

He is not the hero of the piece. He is a child making mistakes.

Even after she's forced to play along and pretend like the Road is real, she still tries to warn Billy off of it. Because. Yeah. The legend has only one purpose: to kill witches and feed Agatha. Speaking of which.

This is it. This is what persuades Agatha that attempting the Road con is worth doing.

The camera lingers on the locket and Nicky's hair. Which is almost a red herring, as it leads us to believe that it's the locket that convinced her. It's not, though; the locket and Nicky are deeply connected to the Road, so this is still meaningful.

But it's those words: "You really think you can outrun them with no magic at all?" That's it. That's why Agatha chooses to "go on the Road". Billy made a solid point, and she could use a shot of magic before she flees the Salem Seven.

So. Sure. You win, Billy.

Let's go eat some witches.

In retrospect, this is the funniest line in the MCU. He has no idea. He has no idea how in over his head is, what he's participating, or about the numerous murders he's about to commit. XD

Holy fucking shit, no wonder Agatha began projecting Nicky onto Billy. This double-act to trick Jen into dying for the Witches' Road con is straight out of Agatha and Nicky's playbook.

This was their life together. If Nicky were alive today, this is what he and Agatha would be doing.

Alice has sharp instincts. She calls out the Witches' Road as a con and she is dead-on.

Billy corrects Agatha's use of that particular phrase but Agatha knows what she said. She is intends to smash these nuts, not crack them. This was a red flag that went straight over Billy's head.

"Hi, this is really awkward but everything's about to fall apart around me so I just. Need you to stand nearby and look like you're participating while I murder three people. Cool? Cool."

"I promise that as soon as this is done, I will leave you standing there shocked and horrified, surrounded by corpses, and bail faster than you can say 'Witness Testimony'! You should. Probably also leave at that point. Because. Y'know. Cops. Haha!"

An interesting detail that Agatha makes Billy leave the basement. She's trying really hard to pull the wool over his eyes. She wants to carry out this murder without him realizing what happened.

If everything went as planned, she was probably planning on scooting upstairs like "Sorry you missed it, everything happened so fast, but uh we did the Road thing and I got my mojo back so HOP IN THE CAR LET'S DRIVE".

She doesn't want him to see the true nature of the Witches' Road. This is a departure from how she acted with Nicky, who was fully aware of and complicit in the murders they carried out together... But also came to be bothered by them.

XD Don't worry about it, Sharon. It does not matter if you sing it correctly. The song does absolutely nothing.

Agatha suddenly gets fucking fierce as they near the end of the song. Just pure scowling malevolence. She gets aggressive, like she's preparing for a fight.

Which, of course, makes sense in retrospect. She is, in fact, preparing for a fight. Getting her game face on. Readying herself to get nasty and provoke the coven into letting her kill them as soon as the song is over.

This is her predator face. The prey is in sight and the hunt is on.

But this hunt doesn't go the way they typically do. Because she had to do it in a hurry. Lilia correctly points out how weird it is for Agatha to suddenly be slinging out accusations and insults like this when. Like.

The Road was her idea to begin with.

Lilia's like, "What are you doing, Agatha? This is your thing. This temper tantrum feels a little forced and performative."

I love how spooked Agatha looks when they open the doors. You can feel her going "What the fuck what the fuck what the ACTUAL FUCK"

She is so freaked out, she breaks character. Why are you so surprised, Agatha? I thought you'd done this before.

Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?

I think this is it. Right here is where she pieces together Billy's identity. She takes a quiet moment, still looking entirely WTF WTF WTF, to feel how real this space she's stepped into is. This space that shouldn't exist.

A few seconds spent just... contemplating the stairwell.

Then, when she finally begins to truly descend, it's with a smile on her face.

She's got it. She knows what this is. She's the only witch alive right now who can truly comprehend what this is.

Then, once she steps out onto "The Witches' Road" and takes in all of its splendor, she casts a knowing look back at Billy.

Billy thinks this exchange is about, "Yeah, I knew we could do it. Great work, team. We made it!"

But really, Agatha's expressing, "Holy shit, Wanda Jr., this is a hell of a thing you've assembled. Okay. Okay. I can work with this."

[warriorlid14]

from the ashes

Marco knew he had hit rock bottom when Jake, of all people, was lecturing him about mental health. 

Jake, who had once spent an entire month without so much as stepping foot outside his apartment, not even to get groceries. Jake, who they’d literally had to throw off a cliff to snap him out of his depression. The same guy who wouldn’t recognize mental stability if it rammed him like- well, like a ship ramming through a blade ship.

“I’m just saying,” Jake continued. “The physical labor has really done wonders. I haven’t felt this well since- well, you know. Maybe something similar could help you, too?”

Three months ago when they arrived back on earth, they found out that apparently the U.S. Government had been none too pleased that they’d stolen a spaceship and hijacked two of their morph-capable soldiers. Jake, ever their noble, self-sacrificing fearless leader took the fall. Technically, he was a felon. He was also the world’s biggest hero, so he’d gotten a slap on the wrist.

He was on probation and had to complete hundreds of hours of community service. Currently, he was helping the rebuilding process of a neighborhood that had been destroyed by a forest fire a couple of hours out from the city. Naturally, his absolute lunatic of a best friend had taken it as a wellness retreat.

“Mhm, yeah. Totally,” Marco said. He slurped the rest of his double espresso (quadruple espresso? Did it count as four if he’d had two of the drinks?) without even looking up from his notes. “So is this before or after we build libraries in underprivileged countries?”

“Marco-”

“No, it’s very noble and all,” Marco said, standing up. “But alas, I am but a very busy man so I’ll see when I can fit it into my schedule. Call my assistant to check in. Linda, you’ve met her right? Just hired her.”

Jake sighed. “C’mon man, you know I’m only trying to help. Quite honestly, you look like shit.”

Marco finally deigned to meet his eyes, a mock indignant look on his face. “Excuse you, I’ve been ranked in the Top 10 sexiest men two years in a row now. One which I wasn’t even on earth, thank you very much.” 

He knew he was being an ass.  An obnoxious one at that. Jake looked genuinely concerned. But this wasn’t how their roles worked. Jake was the tortured war hero. Marco was… well, he was one of the sexiest men in the country. If only according to Teen Magazine USA. Whatever.

“Not to kick you out or anything, but I do need my beauty sleep. Gotta be well-rested for the new gig tomorrow.” An obvious lie, indicated by the two empty mugs of coffee and the dark circles under his eyes. Nothing a little make-up in the morning couldn’t fix.

Jake stood up as well, gathering himself to leave. “You don’t have to do this, you know. You can just take a break.”

“And I would! If I needed one. Goodnight, Jake.”

But Marco quickly found that he was wrong. The next night, flipping through channel after channel showing his very public, very humiliating mental breakdown during the live premier of the game show he was hosting that morning, he knew that this was his rock bottom.

……

Tobias was hungry. Which unfortunately wasn’t an unusual occurrence. Not for the last three months at least.

He’d left his territory unguarded for almost a year and a half, and a younger, opportunistic hawk had taken it over in his absence. He’d considered fighting her off, but he had spent over a year in a cramped spaceship, feeding on frozen mice and rats with no ability to hunt or fly. He’d gotten rusty, grown soft. 

And, if he was being completely honest, he was getting old. His once vivid red feathers were fading, and he was slower than he once was. He grew tired faster than usual, and had to endure the occasional body ache. He couldn’t prove it, but could swear his eyesight was weaker.

So, Tobias had been forced to find a territory on the outskirts of the hork-bajir valley. It was smaller and closer to a major highway. The wildlife, and therefore his food supply, was more limited. Not that a plentiful food supply would make much of a difference if he couldn’t catch anything.

The only benefit to being this close to a highway, though he’d never admit it to anyone, was that there was an ample supply of roadkill. 

With a mental sigh he flew towards the highway, past his territory, past a couple of scurrying mice he knew he was too slow to catch. Past the property Marco had bought years ago, a place to stay in when he or the others had business in the valley. 

It was usually empty, but today, a moving truck was parked in the driveway. At the sight, Tobias veered back, curious. The back of the truck was open, and a second later, a gorilla jumped off, carrying five badly-taped moving boxes in its burly arms. 

Tobias flew closer, within thought-speak range, and called out, ((You know you could make a killing as a mover.))

It was a testament to how often they heard other people’s voices in their heads that Marco barely flinched at his words. He looked up at him as Tobias swooped down and landed on the truck. 

((I’ll keep that in mind,)) Marco said, and continued up the driveway. He set the boxes inside the open doorway.

((So, what are you doing here unloading a moving truck? You’re not moving in, are you?)) Tobias asked, cocking his head at Marco.

((Needed a sabbatical,)) Marco said with a shrug. Tobias paused for a second.

((In the middle of nowhere, Wyoming?))

((Oh, you know, nature does wonders for the soul and all.)) Marco waved his hand in the air dismissively before jumping back into the truck and unloading two more boxes.

Tobias looked at him quizzically, waiting for Marco to elaborate, but he didn’t. Something was definitely up with him, but Tobias knew better than to pry.

Marco dropped off the boxes at the doorway and turned to him. ((So, are you going to just stand there, or are you going to come and help?))

Tobias considered leaving and resuming his attempt at finding lunch for that day. He glanced at the boxes strewn around the patio and mentally sighed. He fluttered down to the floor and began to morph.

……

Marco sat in his bathtub, a bottle of wine in hand. He wasn’t sure how long he had sat there, staring blankly ahead, but it had been long enough that his fingers were starting to prune. 

He hadn’t done much more than lounging around for the past couple of weeks. Hadn’t even set a foot outside of his house. 

Whatever. He needed a break. And he didn’t really want to see or talk to anyone anyway.

His friends and family didn’t seem to get the memo, however, as both his house phone and his cell phone rang a couple of times a day. The caller ID always showed Jake or Cassie or his mom. He texted them all an “I’m fine. Stop calling” a couple of times, but he knew that wouldn’t hold up for much longer. He was almost offended that the most he had gotten from his so-called celebrity friends had been two separate “thinking of you” text messages until he remembered he didn’t particularly care. 

His dad never called.

With every day that passed, Marco became more bitterly resigned that he would likely not hear from his father for a very long time. Maybe not ever. Not without Marco being the first to reach out at least, and like hell that would happen. He didn’t feel like being kicked out of his former house once again, thank you very much.

It was a sick sort of funny, that this was how he lost one of his parents. Not to death. Not to the yeerks. Not to resentment of Marco letting his mom remain a controller for so long. Not to the lies and secrets he’d held onto for years. 

No, it was for one stupid comment. One selfish declaration Marco had made so many years ago, hoping that it would bring his parents closer together.

Load of good that did. It was barely a year after the war that the cracks in their newly reunited family started showing. And a year after that that his parents had gotten divorced. And then it was all, “Oh Marco, we both love you so much” and “Oh, Marco, nothing has to change.” 

Bullshit. It was all a load of bullshit. Funny, wasn’t it? He had tried so hard. Had gone to hell and back hundreds of times. Had been dismembered and shot at and psychologically tortured for so fucking long, all to get them together again. To be the family they once were. 

And they couldn’t keep it together for even two fucking years. Marco took a long swig of the bottle of wine.

He didn’t care that he was being immature or ridiculous, being an adult and still caring this much about his parents’ divorce. Being this affected about his dad going back to Nora, fucking Nora. Especially when compared to the turmoil of his mom’s death and enslavement. But dammit, with the way he’d had to grow up since the war, no, since his mom’s supposed death, he’d earned a lifetime of immaturity, hadn’t he? 

The media didn’t think so.

Okay, so maybe he’d snapped a little bit. Whatever. It had been one day. Just one bad day and now his entire reputation, and his reputation-dependent career, had gone down the drain. He should have known better.

The day of The Incident he had been sleep deprived and running on caffeine, adrenaline, and not an insignificant amount of anxiety. He had been irritable. Snappish. Just minutes before going on air, one of the crew had approached him from behind. Marco had flinched, turned around with a snarl, already morphing gorilla before he realized what he was doing.

It had been the look of fear that the guy had given him, the sideways glances from the others. Marco had created the perfect suave and funny and hopelessly charming persona. But right then, in that studio, he was not Marco the hero to the studio crew. He was Marco the killer. Marco the tactician. It was enough to send him spiraling. 

He should have seen the signs. Should have walked away.

Instead, the whole world had seen him lose it. He was no longer Batman. No longer Iron Man. He was pitiful, wounded, deranged, Marco the broken Animorph. He was angry and humiliated at losing his reputation. Shallow? Definitely. 

Losing his career, though? He was… well he was upset.  He might have just lost what he always wanted. He was rich and famous and successful. He had been on top of the world. He should be devastated to lose that, right? But he was mostly relieved he wouldn’t have to host that stupid game show.

After the war, there had been something missing, a hole in his life. Something… Something. And the hole grew bigger and bigger until he was so bored, so dissatisfied, a part of him was relieved when Jake dragged him along for a final mission. Which was just insane, right? 

The relief had been short lived though. Soon they found themselves in space for months and months until they were sick of each others’ presence. Until they saw a mockery of their friend Ax on their screen.

And then Ax had died. 

And Marco had been the one who killed him.

Marco took a long swig from his bottle of wine.

It had to be done. Ax was dying already, would die a longer, more painful death if Marco hadn’t intervened. And they had to make sure The One was truly defeated. They had to make sure there were no remnants of that creature left behind.  And Ax had practically begged them to do it. 

It had to be Marco who did it, too. It couldn’t be Tobias. The kid was already barely hanging on. Having Ax’s blood literally on his hands would likely end in him trying to smash himself into a window again. It couldn’t be Jake. He had been on the other side of the ship, too far to help, and anyway, killing Ax would surely send him spiraling back to the dark place he had been in after Rachel’s death, all his emotional progress down the drain.

Jeanne might have been able to handle it, but she wasn’t an Animorph. She wasn’t one of them. And only one of them could do it. Had to do it.

So that left Marco. He could handle it. He was handling it. Maybe not with the grace he wanted to, but... 

He snorted. God, he was a mess. Had been for a while. 

He sank lower into the bathtub. He really, really should have seen the signs.

Once upon a time, years ago, he’d tried therapy at his mom’s insistence. The therapist had told him that he had a habit of not actually feeling his emotions. At shoving them aside or rationalizing his way around them. Marco had thought it was bullshit. He woke up most nights screaming in terror, of course he was feeling his emotions.

But maybe she’d had a point, since he’d willingly gone on live TV amidst a mental breakdown without a second thought, not realizing what was happening, not seeing the signs.

Whatever. He had plenty of time to feel his emotions now, here in his bathtub and with his mind mush from the alcohol. Marco made to take another swig from the bottle, realized he had finished it, and reached instead for the can of beer he’d also brought into the bathroom.

…..

Ok, so admittedly he wasn't a great friend. He’d known something was wrong with Marco. The day Tobias had helped him move in, he’d been dismissive and quieter than usual. The bags under his eyes had been pronounced. And though Marco had tried to hide it with worse than usual snippy quips, he seemed rather sad.

Despite this, it had taken Tobias almost three weeks to fly by the house again. He told himself that he was busy. Hunting was a more time-consuming task than usual, after all. But if he was honest with himself, he knew that it was because he could not deal with anyone else’s emotional baggage. Not when his own threatened to pull him under on a daily basis. 

It had been easier, before their trip to outer space, to let his hawk brain take over and not think. But now that he was in a new, unfamiliar territory, now that hunting and surviving were more taxing, his human brain had to step in to fill the gaps. And with it came the weariness and grief that he had to expend multitudes of mental energy to keep at bay. 

As well as the constant nagging thought that he shouldn’t shut out the world again. But that was just his conscience, which had coincidentally taken the voice of Ax.

On the day Tobias mustered the mental energy to check in on him, Marco was fast asleep on the couch. Through the blinds, he could see various crushed up, empty beer cans strewn around the living room. What seemed like a half empty liquor bottle sat on the coffee table next to the couch. Tobias couldn’t see into the kitchen, but he was sure a similar site would have greeted him there. He peeled away, not willing to wake him up.

When he flew by the next day,  he saw an unfamiliar car in the driveway. Jake was standing in the living room with Marco. Though he wasn’t close enough to hear them, by the way Marco was gesticulating and the expressions on their faces, he knew they were arguing. 

Tobias circled around. He managed to catch a particularly slow rabbit while he waited. Finally, Jake walked out, and he managed to catch the tail-end of whatever fight they were having.

 “Don’t make me call your mom, Marco!” 

Marco responded with a middle finger shoved out the door and slammed the door shut. Jake sighed, muttered something under his breath and patted down his pants, looking for his keys. It was strange to think of him, of any of them, driving to get to places instead of flying.

Tobias swooped down and perched on the hood of Jake’s car. ((What’s up with him?))

Jake looked up, startled, and smiled when he saw him. He looked surprisingly well, all things considered. Well-rested, and he’d gained some weight. The haunted, tired, “the weight of the world is on my shoulders” look Tobias had grown accustomed to was still there, but not as prominent as it’d once been.

“Tobias! What are you doing here? How are you doing?”

((Oh you know. Peachy,)) Tobias said, failing to keep his voice from sounding sardonic.

“Mhm,” Jake hummed.

Tobias didn’t own a mirror, but he knew he didn’t look nearly as well as Jake did. Last time he’d seen Jake, Tobias had been flying away from the ship, weak and malnourished. Tobias knew he hadn’t gained much weight back. He hoped Jake didn’t mention it.

He didn’t and gracefully returned to the topic of Marco. “Don’t suppose you’ve turned on a TV or picked up any magazine in the past month?”

((No. I’ve tried set up a cable connection up on my tree, but they never have anyone available to set up the satellite dish.))

Jake grinned, then said, “He uh… had a media shitstorm.” He scratched at his nose, and glanced back at the door, clearly debating how much he should reveal. He settled on, “He had a bit of a breakdown on live TV. He… hasn’t been doing well since we got back.”

((I figured that much,)) Tobias said, and Jake nodded.

They fell into a familiar awkward silence. The contempt and vitriol Tobias had felt towards Jake in the aftermath of Rachel’s death had waned over the course of the three years before their mission to rescue Ax. And aboard the Rachel, they’d settled into a cordial relationship. But the easy camaraderie they’d once shared was gone, and Tobias wasn’t sure if they’d ever get it back. Or if he even wanted it back.

Jake cleared his throat, and said, “So I guess you’ve settled nearby, then?”

((A few miles out, yeah.))

He nodded, hesitated, then asked, “Do you think you can keep an eye on him? Check in every once in a while?”

Tobias almost said no. He knew Jake well enough to know that this wasn’t just about Marco. This was his way of trying to get Tobias to stay connected with the group. But due to recent, tragic events he owed Marco big time. Mercy killing one of your comrades in arms must leave an emotional toll, after all. Had it been Tobias (it had almost been Tobias) the strand of sanity he was holding onto would have snapped long ago.

So he said, ((I’ll see what I can do.))

And if he was honest with himself, he could admit that he had gotten used to human company aboard the Rachel, Marco’s especially. Jeanne, Santorelli, and Menderash were strangers to him, and Jake was a nonstarter. Though forced by circumstance, Marco’s had been the most consistent company he’d had since Rachel’s death, even counting the few times he’d interacted with Cassie and the hork-bajir over the years. On occasion, he even missed him, though he’d never admit it to him.

Jake seemed relieved, gave him a small, thankful smile, and said “Later, Tobias. Tell him to call his mom.” With that, he got into his car and drove off, leaving Tobias to wonder what he’d signed up for.

…..

It was not hard at all to find out what had happened. Tobias hadn’t even had to try. A hunting trip had taken him close to a more touristy, recreational area of the park. It wasn't a good hunting ground, since the people scared away most of the prey. But that meant that there was no competition in the area. Not during the day at least.

As he was flying over, he saw a flash of a familiar face. A quick morph later and he had taken the crumpled, stained magazine out of a trashcan. “Animorph Loses It On Live TV!” was printed in bold letters on the cover page. 

Tobias flipped through the magazine, read a direct quote from the incident. “What, you don’t think I’m funny enough? I’ll show you funny.” There was a picture of Marco, sneer on his face and an almost crazed look in his eyes.

Later, he didn’t find Marco at his house. Instead, he found him walking by the side of the highway. Tobias did a double take.

Marco was someone who cared about how he presented himself to others, more so than most people. He had never been the best dressed when they were kids, but he was always put together. Moreso after the war. Anytime Tobias had gotten a glance at him, either on billboards or in magazines or on TV displays, his outfits were always coordinated, his hair was always well-maintained. He always had a smile on his face and well-prepared quips at his disposal. Even aboard the Rachel, it had taken a few weeks for Marco to break his Marco-the-celebrity act and go back to being his usual self with actually tolerable levels of obnoxiousness.

Now, though… he could see food stains on his old, torn T-shirt and jeans. His clothes were crumpled in a way that suggested he had slept in them, maybe for a few days. His hair was a tangled mess, sticking out every which way. There were patches of stubble on his face. And his eyes were dull and bloodshot.

“Your stakeout skills have gotten rusty, Birdboy,” Marco called out without looking up at him, pulling Tobias out of his thoughts. He dropped some altitude, flying closer.

((Well, I wasn’t trying to hide,)) he said defensively. ((Where are you going anyway? Out for a nice stroll?))

Marco shrugged. “7-eleven up the street. Out of beer.”

They travelled in silence for most of the walk. Which probably should have been more unnerving. Usually, Marco never shut up. But he’d grown accustomed to Marco’s eerie silence after… Well, he tried not to think about the aftermath of Ax’s death too much.

Still, the silence told him just as much about Marco’s mental state as his unruly appearance did.

As they approached the 7-eleven, Tobias said, ((Do you want me to go in instead? Nobody recognizes my human morph.)) 

Tobias could see that there were only a few people milling around the 7-eleven, but anyone who wasn’t living under a rock would recognize Marco. And he really didn’t need any more unwanted attention.

Marco rolled his eyes at him, knowing what he was getting at, and began to morph as he walked. Soon, he was in the body of a middle aged man. Before walking into the store, he said, “You don’t look so hot yourself, you know.”

Tobias waited for a few minutes for Marco to emerge, struggling to carry a few frozen pizzas, half a dozen cups of ramen, and, Tobias quickly noted, three cases of 24-can beers.

Marco must have sensed his trepidation because he said, “You can join me or you can leave.”

After half a second of hesitation, Tobias landed in some nearby bushes to morph to human, then helped Marco carry the bags. He pointedly ignored the way Marco’s breath already smelled like booze. No wonder he’d walked.

Maybe it wasn’t what Jake meant him to do, aiding and abetting Marco’s current bout of substance abuse (or joining him), but he was not here for Jake. Besides, Tobias was hardly in a position to judge anyone else’s bad coping mechanisms. 

…..

It used to be fun, Marco thought, drinking with his friends. They hadn’t done it often, what with them being minors and all, and Jake insisting they needed to stay alert if something happened, and Tobias and Ax having to stay at least sober enough to demorph. But it’d been fun. Even aboard the Rachel, where they waited until they were bored out of their minds to break into the bottle of scotch Santorelli had snuck onboard, it hadn’t been this depressing.

He passed the bottle of whiskey. 

Marco had been sitting outside in his backyard an hour after sunset when Tobias, flying overhead, presumably heading back to his territory, had seen him and turned around to join him. Even at night and from a distance, he could tell that Tobias looked miserable.

“Out for a late snack?” Marco said as Tobias began to morph, tone too flat for it to really be conversational. Tobias just nodded and grabbed for the bottle.

Marco didn’t point out that it was too dark for Tobias to really hunt anything, or that he was almost as thin as he’d been back on the escape pod when they’d all almost starved to death. Tobias didn’t point out the fact that the bottle had been halfway finished by the time he’d joined him. 

It worked.

Maybe Jake or Cassie would have been better company. But then they’d be lecturing him about his drinking habits and getting professional help and blah blah blah. Misery loves company, and Tobias was just as miserable as he was and that was good enough. Besides, it was less sad if he was getting absolutely plastered with someone else instead of by himself, right? 

Okay, so maybe he was just depressing. The worst part was that Marco couldn’t think of a single joke to balance it out. He took a swig of the bottle and passed it back.

Neither of them said a single word until Tobias, now glassy-eyed and struggling to his feet, demorphed.  

((Thanks for the drink,)) Tobias said as he took off. Marco tipped the now empty bottle at him in farewell, but didn’t say anything else.

When Marco went back inside and looked at his empty house, he was struck with a feeling of loneliness so intense he almost picked up the phone to call Jake or Cassie or his mom. Almost flew out after Tobias.

Instead, he shook his head, stumbled to the couch, and turned on the TV. As he dozed off, head spinning, knowing that he’d wake up with a hangover, he was struck with how painfully familiar this scene was. Beer cans strewn around. Miserable man sleeping on the couch. No food in the fridge.

Marco almost smiled bitterly. There was the irony and humor he was looking for. He was asleep before he thought of a punchline that was actually worth saying.

……

Marco awoke to the sound of banging on his door. Even in his almost zombified state, he still bolted up at the sudden sound. Then, realizing what it was, he groaned and laid back down. Every knock on the door felt like it was shooting straight to his head. He’d once again forgotten to morph before bed to get rid of the morning hangover.

He would have gone downstairs and yelled at whoever it was. Sales people or Jehovah’s Witnesses or whoever. But he might have thrown up if he tried to stand. He pulled the sheets over his head instead. Eventually, the persistent knocking subsided and Marco relaxed, about to doze off again before more intense knocking, this time coming from his back door, made him jump out of bed.

Who the hell had the gall to break into his backyard? He stomped over to his window and yanked it open, leaned his disheveled head out to window and opened his mouth to yell and-

“Mom!?”

Eva looked up at him, hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun, glaring. “Did you forget how to use a phone, or what?”

Shit. It’d been about a month since Marco had called her. He’d meant to. Even if just to get her off his back. He knew his biweekly text messages wouldn’t hold her off for long.

“Come open the door!”

“Right. Going!”

He quickly gargled some mouthwash and threw on a t-shirt. Not a clean one. He hadn’t done his laundry since he’d moved in. He had no time to brush his hair. Not before she’d start attempting to pick the lock. His mother was persistent.

Marco winced as he reached downstairs, considered at least kicking some of the cans under the couch. But he had glass sliding doors at the back of the house. His mom had already seen everything.

“Hi, Mom!” he said brightly and leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek in usual greeting. He tried not to wince at the brightness of the sun.

“Apestas a alcohol,” she said in greeting before walking past him. Marco sniffed at his shirt. “It’s coming out of your pores, sonso.” Damn.

“Sorry, I had a party last night.” 

It was an obvious lie. It wasn’t like he had many friends at the moment. Still, she didn’t say anything. Just took a look around and wrinkled her nose.

Marco tried to think of something clever to say, but his brain was still too mushy to come up with anything.

After Eva looked around the house for a few seconds, she turned back to him and said, “Go take a shower. I’ll get started cleaning here.” 

Marco opened his mouth to protest, but a quick glance and a stern “go” had him sighing and stomping up the stairs. Had it been anyone else, literally anyone else, he would have told them to fuck off. 

He took a long shower. It took a while for him to sober up. And he was dreading talking to his mother. He knew it would leave him feeling guilty and a little ashamed and he was tired of feeling bad.

Marco walked down the stairs, feeling better and more alert, but still grumbling like a kid being put on timeout. He found her piling dishes into the dishwasher. She stomped over to him when she saw him, a scowl on her face. Well, that’s not good, he thought. She slammed something down on his coffee table.

“What is this?” Eva demanded, revealing a small ziploc bag containing a white, powdered substance. Marco swallowed nervously.

“It’s not mine. I’m just holding it for a friend?” he tried weakly.

Eva sighed, deflating, suddenly looking more tired than mad. That was worse.

“Marco, what are you doing?”

“Look,” Marco said, suddenly defensive. “I’m an actor, okay? This is normal. It’d be weirder if I wasn’t doing drugs. Besides, I can morph. I literally can’t get addicted to anything.” Not physically, at least.

“Oh, I don’t care about the drugs,” Eva exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. “Mijo, you’re wasting your life away.”

He couldn’t help but roll his eyes. He ignored the way his mom’s eyes narrowed at him.  “It’s barely been two months. It’s not like I’m some sort of bum. I’m a war hero. I’m a millionaire.” He sounded like an ass, but it was true. “I just need a break okay? I need to relax.”

“This your idea of relaxing?” his mom asked, gesturing at the bags of trash she’d gathered. Marco rolled his eyes again. He muttered an affirmative under his breath but couldn’t meet her eyes. “I’ve given you time. I’ve given you space. But this isn’t healthy, mijo. You need help.”

“I’m fine,” Marco snapped. “I know it doesn’t look like it, but I’m handling things.”

“Another one of your friends is dead,” Eva said flatly and Marco winced. “You are fighting with your dad and you’ve blown up your career. You’re on your way to becoming an alcoholic. You need professional help.”

Marco didn’t answer. He turned away from her angrily. And guilty and ashamed. He considered telling her to leave, but couldn’t bring himself to do so. He was about to stomp up the stairs like a petulant teen, but his mom said, “Finish cleaning up here, will you? I’m going to get some groceries.”

“I’m an adult. I don’t need my mom buying me groceries.” She gave her own eyeroll, but didn’t otherwise respond to his outburst before walking out the front door, keys in hand.

Marco did stomp his way up the stairs, got about halfway up, then sighed and turned back down to finish what his mom had started.

….

His mom left the next morning, threatening to come back and drag him outside by the ear if he didn’t at least call her once a week. After she left, he found that he’d cleared out all of the liquor in the house in the middle of the night, as well as his well-hidden illicit drugs. He sent her a message asking for monetary reimbursement which was of course ignored.

Marco’s mood did not improve over the next few days. Especially not when he’d been forced into sobriety. He could go out and get more alcohol, of course. And he would, later. But for now, he lay on his couch, letting himself wallow in bitterness and anger and self-pity. He’d earned the right, damnit.

Maybe his mom was right. Maybe he needed professional help. Instead, he flipped aimlessly through the channels on TV, not really looking at what was on. It was like that Tobias found him a few days later, swooping in through the open back window. Eva had left it open before leaving, talking about fresh air and sunlight. Marco hadn’t bothered to close it.

((Tidied up the place?))

It had been a while since Tobias had dropped by. Tobias was like a ghost. Appeared and disappeared at whim. Flashed into existence when he remembered he was a person and was gone when he forgot he was alive.

Marco shrugged and continued to stare at his TV dully. “My mom stopped by.”

((Ah. Guess you finally called her then.))

Marco stopped scrolling through the channels. Glanced back at Tobias. “What?”

((Jake,)) Tobias explained. ((I talked to him a few weeks ago when he stopped by your place. Told me to tell you to call your mom.))

An image appeared in Marco’s mind, then. Jake and Tobias and Cassie. All sitting around discussing him. Talking about how he’d lost it. How he’d finally snapped. They shook their heads pityingly in his mind. Poor Marco, he heard them say. Poor, poor Marco.

“What, you’re best friends with Jake now?” Marco snapped, suddenly angry.

Tobias stopped mid-preen and cocked his head at him. ((What?))

“You two sitting around, talking about my problems? As if you’re not both more fucked in the head than I am?” He could his heart beginning to pound wildly as his tone grew more accusatory.

Tobias sighed. ((Look, Marco-))

“No, no, tell me. Did you invite Cassie to your gossiping sessions, too? My mom?”

Marco could practically hear Tobias roll his eyes at him, which just made his blood boil. He was not being ridiculous. He was not overreacting. ((Oh, grow up, will you? They’re just worried about you.))

Marco snorted. “That’s rich coming from you.  Tell me, when’s the last time you talked to your mom?”

Tobias fixed his sharp glare at him. ((Fuck you, dude. Are you contractually obligated to be an asshole to anyone trying to help you?))

Marco sneered. “Oh, you’re helping me? You? The guy who disappeared from the face of the earth for years? No, you’re here because you feel guilty I had to kill Ax when you didn’t have the guts to do what needed to be done.” Even as the words were coming out of his mouth, Marco knew he would regret them. But right now, he couldn’t find it in him to care.

There was a loaded silence, then a seething ((This might be news to you Marco, but people with common empathy don’t rush to kill their family members at a moment’s drop.))

It was a low blow, meant to hurt. Marco turned from Tobias and began walking away. Without looking back, he said, “Why don’t you do what you do best? Piss off and go sulk on your tree.” 

The only response he got was the sound of wings flapping and then nothing, as Tobias took to the sky.

This time, Marco had noticed the signs, but perhaps too late. A few minutes later, he sat at the foot of his bed, curled into himself as he tried to take deep breaths through waves of panic.

……

Tobias moped for a few days, angry and more than a little hurt.

He knew that Marco had been angry at him, after the war, for disappearing for years. But he’d thought they’d worked it out aboard the Rachel. One night, Marco had snapped at him, after a particularly frustrating day, accusing his disappearance as the reason Jake had been depressed for years. Tobias had informed him that he didn’t particularly care about Jake’s feelings. When Marco threw Loren and Ax and Cassie and himself at his face, though, he’d shut right up. 

Marco had missed him. He’d been worried about him, as had the others. He didn’t say it outright, of course. Not the part about missing him, at least. But Tobias had gotten the point after Marco had accused him of abandoning his friends a couple of times.

Tobias had missed them, too, though he didn’t tell him that. He did try to explain, not in so many words, that it hadn’t been them that he was trying to run from, but the never-ending, soul crushing, nearly life-ending grief and pain that had taken over his mind and his heart, after Rachel’s death. How impossible it had been, for a while, to be in his own presence, let alone the presence of others. Marco had gotten the gist of his non-apology. They’d watched a couple of hours of crappy TV together, and just like that, they were friends again. 

Sadder friends, now that Rachel was dead and with the looming worry for Ax, their missing friend, the third link of what had once, towards the end of the war, been a team within their team. Marco had joined him and Ax as a fellow outcast after his so-called death, and though Tobias had been a little annoyed at the disruption of his and Ax’s little home, he’d appreciated Marco’s company.  So it had been nice, back in space, to have a friend back in the absence of everyone else.

And then Marco had killed Ax. 

Tobias had been the one to find Ax, alone and too far gone to save, in a secluded corner aboard the blade ship. It would have been him who would have had to do it, slid his sharp, hork-bajir blades across his throat or through his brain. But Marco had found them, seen the grief and despair and horror that were so obviously visible even through Tobias’s hork-bajir face. He’d understood, immediately, what Ax was asking. And so he’d laid a hairy hand on his shoulder and told him to look away. And just like that, Ax was really, truly, dead.

He had wondered if Marco resented him for it. He’d never accused him of anything, after they escaped, their sad band of four surviving members. They had been crammed inside an escape pod, shooting to earth for four months on four hundred square feet of space, one bathroom and barely enough food to keep them from flat out starving.

Santorelli was dead. Menderash was dead. Ax was dead. 

Ax was dead. As was the weird normalcy they'd all fallen into before running into the blade ship. 

Tobias didn’t remember much of those four months on their way to earth, after the loss of his uncle and very best friend in the whole world. They had slept a lot. Both to conserve energy as they were low on food supplies and because the four of them had been reduced basically to zombies. He would hear Jeanne cry, occasionally, though he couldn’t remember if anyone had tried to comfort her. Jake would pace around sometimes, muttering to himself, though it was far more unnerving when he paced silently. 

Marco would watch the same movie over and over again on the small movie player he’d manage to save. Tobias didn’t think he’d ever be able to watch The Princess Bride again without clawing his face off. Occasionally, Tobias would see tear tracks on his blank face, almost like if Marco himself didn’t realize they were there at all. Once or twice he had caught him taking a benadryl to knock himself unconscious faster. Maybe Tobias should have checked in, asked him how he was doing. Apologize. Thank him.

But Tobias himself had retreated once again. He didn’t morph. He barely talked. He sometimes ate. When, finally, they’d arrived on earth, without looking at him, Marco had asked, “Are we ever going to see you again?”

((Yes,)) he had said, after some hesitation. ((I can’t tell you when, but you’ll see me again.)) Marco had nodded and Tobias had left. He didn’t see him again until the day he pulled into his now home.

So maybe Tobias wasn’t an amazing friend. But he thought they still were. Even sadder friends now. Marco, once again an outcast like him. Both of them more broken and damaged than ever. But still friends. 

Maybe not.

It was okay. Tobias was still terribly angry at him anyway. So he’d give himself a few more days to mope and then he’d get over it and reach out to Toby and Cassie. He’d hang out with them more. He had to. Before he died, he’d promised Ax that he wouldn’t completely isolate himself again.

He really wished he’d done no such thing.

……

Finding Tobias was harder than he’d anticipated. Which Marco should have known. No one could disappear as well as he could. It didn’t help that he didn’t actually know where his new territory was, besides knowing that it had to be close by.  So, he’d had to find Toby first to get the precise location.

And of course, Tobias wasn’t there. He also wasn’t there the next couple of times Marco flew by. He was getting increasingly concerned that he’d pushed his friend into another years-long bout of isolation, that it’d be his fault, when he finally spotted him a mile out from his house. Tobias was flying lower than him, circling around, presumably hunting for something.

Marco angled towards him, and called out, ((Birdboy!)) 

Tobias didn’t answer, and Marco flew closer towards him. ((Hey, Tobias!))

Still, no answer. He did a double-take, but- no. It was him. Marco would have rolled his eyes if he could. Petty ass. 

((That’s cool. You don’t have to talk. I think I’ll stick around for a while, though. I’m catching some killer thermals. I do sure hope I don’t accidentally scare away any prey, tho-))

((What do you want Marco?)) Tobias snapped, irritated. 

((I just want to talk.))

Tobias sighed dramatically in his head, and proceeded to land on a tree. Marco landed on the foot of the tree and demorphed. When he was done, he said, “I, uh wanted to apologize,” he said, looking at the branch Tobias was perched on rather than directly at him. 

((Go on,)) Tobias said, after a moment.

Marco sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Look, I was way out of line, okay? I’m sorry for bringing up Loren. And Ax. And… well, the rest of it.”

There was a pause, and Marco expected him to fly off or at least to feel the sogginess of bird shit land on him. But instead, Tobias said, ((Okay. Whatever.))

Marco finally looked up at him. “What, that’s it?” Despite the lack of facial expressions, Marco knew Tobias was still irritated.

((What do you want me to say?))

Marco shrugged. “I thought you’d be angrier.”

((Of course I’m still angry! You had no right throw Ax and Loren in my face like that.)) 

Marco wanted to say that Tobias had no right to throw the cliff incident at his face either, but that would just piss him off even more. And he was so tired of everyone being angry at him, deserved or not.

“I know. I was just being an asshole.”

((Yeah, well, what’s new?)) 

Marco snorted. Wasn’t that the story of his fucking life lately? 

“You got me there,” he said, mock cheerfully. “Anything else?”

((For the record, I had no intention of leaving Ax like that. I was going to ki-)) A pause, then, with more bitter resignation than anger, ((I was going to do it. I know you resent me for that, but-))

“I don’t resent you for Ax,” Marco interrupted, surprised. “I do resent you for coming here trying to give me advice when we both know you are even more fucked in the head than I am.” 

((Oh trust me I am under no illusions about my sanity. I am well aware,)) Tobias said sardonically.

“Good. So don’t try to lecture me again.”

      ((Fine. And you stop being an asshole to people who are just trying to help you.))

Marco glared at him. “You’re one to talk,” he said, and immediately regretted it. So much for not pissing him off.

But instead of flying away, like Marco thought he would, Tobias said, ((Oh, I’m not an asshole to people trying to help me. I just don’t let them find me.))

Marco laughed. He sat down and leaned against the tree. “You know, I think I finally understand you now. I want nothing more than to sit around and play video games and watch trash TV and partake in some light substance abuse and be left the fuck alone. Is that too much to ask?”

((I mean, I didn’t do any of those things, but sure.))

“That’s because I am way more fun than you, my feathery friend.”

They sat in silence for a while. And then Tobias said, ((Hey, Marco? About Ax? I… thanks… For… You know. Taking over.))

Marco shifted, uncomfortable now. “Yeah, well, gotta pay it forward. Jake and Cassie did the same thing for me. With my mom.”

((Yeah. But Ax was your friend, too. I know that had to have messed you up. So thanks.))

Marco shrugged, but didn’t deny it. “Yeah, well, I didn’t come here to be sad. I think I’m gonna go back to bad TV and video games. Want to come?”

((No,)) Tobias said, and Marco nodded, trying not to look disappointed. Then he grinned when Tobias added, ((I still have to go find my lunch. I’ll stop by tomorrow.))

……

And so, just like that, Marco and Tobias were once again a constant in each other’s lives. They saw each other once or twice a week, Tobias stopping by between meals. They would joke and bicker and watch an installment or two of whatever Marco was currently binging. Sometimes they went out for a fly. Sometimes, Marco would convince Tobias to morph human and play video games or have dinner with him. 

Occasionally, when it had been too many days between his visits, Marco would fly around and find Tobias, usually flying aimlessly, lost in his own head. He would join him and talk to him, rambling about one subject or the next, not minding when Tobias gave one word responses or said nothing at all. Usually, on those days, he could pull at least one complete sentence out of Tobias before he had to demorph. Occasionally, he’d be able to convince him to join him back at the house.

Sometimes, when they watched a show or a movie, Tobias would notice that it’d been too long since Marco made a quip about whatever they were watching. So he would take over and chip in with his own wry commentary. Usually, he could get a lame joke out of Marco. Sometimes, he could pull out a genuine laugh out of him.

They were bruised and broken, both of them, reeling from their still open wounds. But the company helped.

[radioappleheadcanons]

Part three! (here are parts one and two) This one is a bit more Vox-heavy than the others, but that's because I couldn't think of any other things, they'd have issues over once they worked through the things mentioned in the first two parts. So, picking up where we left off.

A large portion of the city got to see Vox freaking out and yelling at Alastor, demanding to know who his supposed rival is and why they got to make demands of him. One-half of the viewers are convinced that Alastor must have done something because Vox would never be upset that he's not a rival. Now, he clearly just wants to know who it is, so he can hold them against Alastor. The other half read the room a bit better and insisted that no, Vox is actually just upset that he's been replaced. It starts several wars within the Vees fandom, which usually Velvette would be angry about, but honestly, she's having too much fun watching it. If it starts really hurting them, she'll do something but for now, she is just watching the chaos, trying to get a feel for it.

But no matter what side they’re on, they all want to know who the person Alastor was talking to on the radio was, and who, if Vox was to be believed, got to negotiate the terms of his forgiveness with Alastor.

But then Vox just shows up in person, insisting that he's there to help. Literally everyone knows he's not, but they can't do much about it, because he does have a live stream going. With a lot of annoyance, they give him a tour. He tries to bribe several people to tell him who the rival is. No one does. They just roll their eyes.

RadioApple has mixed feelings about it. On one hand, Alastor loves attention. He thrives on it. On the other hand, this really isn't anyone's business and he'd prefer if it had never gotten out. Lucifer is in a similar boat. They talk about it, deciding that they simply aren't going to address this. It's not the greatest idea but they know that feeding into it will just make it worse. So, Vox has doubled the doubt of drones he's got watching the hotel, and now they have people showing up to try and scope them out. Thankfully after kicking a few of them out and wrecking the drones they get the point across.

Meanwhile, after dealing with it a bit, RadioApple decides that it'll be funny to mess with people. So, they have Lucifer use a voice filter and do Al's radio show. They have Alastor, sans fillters, answer the phone when the sins call Lucifer. They enjoy the sheer chaos, and no one puts the pieces together, because the sins aren't talking to sinners, and the sinners can't even get to the other sins. Alastor in particular enjoys watching people fail around like a bunch of headless chickens trying to figure it all out. But they also just never mention it again, which just makes everything worse because they now have no leads whatsoever at all and everyone is just wondering if maybe Alastor was just screwing with them.

Only he definitely seems to be in a better mood and refers to whoever this person is sometimes. Eventually everyone (-vox) accepts that they're not getting answers. and then the world rival changes into a partner, and everything loses their mind because WHAT? Surely you don't mean the same mysterious rival right? No? You do? Okay well, what does that mean?

People are finally desperate enough to try to get information out of the others, which is a mistake because the others make it to mess with them. So, there's a lot of ‘Oh the Roach King? Yes, his Raoch Queen is wonderful’ or ‘Oh Strawberry Pimp’s latest commitment, yeah they hot together’ and the like.

[mrspark7777777]

Atp I'm genuinely wondering whether I should just drop BTS and Jikook and just focus on JM, the only one who gives his everything for his work, not even an ounce jealous of anyone and is ready to give his own spotlight to his loved ones. While The negativity I feel from certain members towards him is so high. With JK too, he wasn't able to stay a bit more or visit Jimin during FACE era but got time to travel half world to see Tae. Ik jikookers like JK thus not calling out his bs and only dragging Tae for his double face. Jimin might love both of them so much so he might not be expressing this distaste but Jimin doesn't deserve this bro. When he'll find someone who'll genuinely be there for him whenever he needs him ? Atp the only one who has genuinely supported his all ventures is Jhope. They are the real soulmates of the group not the one assigned by Fandom.

I am so confused by your ask, anon. Is there a different JK other than the one I know? Which BTS do you mean? Because the one I know has member JK who has always put Jimin first. Always protected and defended him even when he didn't need it. Always been there for him.

Did you just miss this part?

Music is almost everything to Jimin the perfectionist and JK has always been there to help him. Be it a listening ear, or vocal lessons. Its literally INSANE to me when people like u come to me to denounce JK for something V did. JK who btw, has always corrected any misinformation thats been laid down by V. JK who purposely doesn't feed the vermin if he can help it.

So anon, what are you on about? Seriously. Here is a post I made ages ago about how well JK shows up.

And God knows i didn't even scratch the surface.

JK wasn't able to stay a bit more or visit Jimin during FACE

Bro, the editing on that Bangtan Bomb is so shady we don't know how long JK stayed. As for not visiting Jimin's promotions a) they were short as hell. we even saw how shocked JK was to find that out during that Jimin live where he asked to come visit and Jimin informed him he was done. So you've conveniently forgotten that JK was asking to go see Jimin. b) Jimin went to live with Pdogg during the production of FACE. We have talked about this alot already but he did so to avoid distractions and I bet you his boyfriend would have been the biggest distraction of them all. So don't be blaming JK for a decision Jimin made. c) last but not least please stop conveniently forgetting just how much JK promoted and supported FACE. Something he never did for any other member.

U wanna stop supporting BTS and JK, you do you. But don't sit there and say JK doesn't care about Jimin or has never supported him because you would be lying.

[archonofdivinity]

I’m bored, I’m dropping my Stamhart playlist

I’ve made this to be sort of how I imagine their relationship going through the series timeline chronologically so… uh. vague spoilers near the end lol???

Stamper POV mainly. Oh and: OP headcanons Stamper as having BPD with Francis as his FP.

this charming man - the smiths.

I would go out tonight But I haven’t got a stitch to wear This man said, “It’s gruesome that someone so handsome should care”

the world is not enough - garbage.

People like us know how to survive There’s no point in living if you can’t feel alive We know when to kiss, we know when to kill If we can’t have it all, nobody wins

using you - mars argo.

Someday we'll both be older I wonder if we'll be together looking back on the past But I don't care if I don't live to see another day oh I love you in the worst way

step on me - the cardigans.

Oh, I think you're spinning inside my head I think of you all the day 'Cause you're in my way Oh, I think you're holding the heart of mine Squeeze it apart, that's fine

there is a light that never goes out - the smiths.

And if a double-decker bus crashes into us To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die And if a ten ton truck kills the both of us To die by your side, well, the pleasure, the privilege is mine

why do you let me stay here? - she & him.

Why don't you sit right down and stay a while? We like the same things and I like your style It's not a secret, why do you keep it? I'm just sitting on the shelf

the table - the beautiful south.

This table's been pushed against the door When tempers, well tempers flare at night Banged upon with knuckles clenched my friend When someone thinks that they are right

the gardener - the dresden dolls.

We'll make a man out of you yet You won't know what will hit you next The gardener's coming to collect You wanted love, that's what you'll get

total eclipse of the heart - bonnie tyler.

Once upon a time I was falling in love But now I'm only falling apart There's nothing I can do A total eclipse of the heart Once upon a time there was light in my life But now there's only love in the dark Nothing I can say A total eclipse of the heart

girlfriend - the beautiful south.

So just remember how he would tell you lies  And then pretend that everything was so sweet  No need to sacrifice  If you're not satisfied  He's just a canine running round on heat 

he's my man - luvcat.

He's my man And I love him like nobody else can He's my man He's gone quite mad No, nobody has to understand

the hand that feeds - nine inch nails.

So naive I keep holding on to what I wanna believe I can see But I keep holding on and on and on and on

black sheep - metric.

Got balls of steel, got an automobile, for a minimum wage Got real estate, I'm buying it all up in outer space Now that the truth is just a rule that you can bend You crack the whip, shape-shift and trick the past again

backstabber - the dresden dolls.

Come on join the bloodsport, show us some support Still working in the drugstore, is it because you're a fucking Backstabber, hope grabber, greedy little fit haver, God, I feel for you, fool You shit lover, off brusher, jaded bitter, joy crusher Failure has made you so cruel

i hate everything about you - three days grace.

I hate You hate I hate You love me I hate everything about you Why do I love you?

last request - paolo nutini.

Oh, I've found, that I'm bound To wander down that one way road Oh, and I realize all about your lies But I'm no wiser than the fool I was before

[monster-rinds]

Chapter 14: Not the key

We monsters are not lifeforms. Despite how well we can sometimes mimic life, we do not operate via the same mechanisms and drives.

I don’t remember if I’ve said this already, but as far as I know we don’t reproduce. We’re very singular beings, not made up of anything remotely like cells. We don’t have mitochondria, we have standing waves and strange attractors and things like that. We don’t have anything like DNA, and we’re essentially immortal. Except when we’re destroyed. So relationships built on sex are just not something that happens for us.

We just exist, and if we exist long enough and eat well enough, we can get pretty complicated. But when we adapt, it’s deliberate. It’s through learning. It’s through looking at the world around us and deciding what to do about it.

However, we do have one basic drive that we share with life, and that’s to eat. Like life, we are whorls of enthalpy and entropy that must continue to feed to function and exist.

And I’ve been doing that for a long, long time.

Even though I couldn’t sense the emanations of other monsters quite in the same way that Felicity could, because I was saving my energy for other things, I was still aware of our target since before Felicity had signaled me.

It was due to their behavior more than anything else.

It didn’t hurt that I was supercharged from being surrounded by a larger crowd of excited people than I’ve experienced in a long, long time. My ability to be alert and to think quickly was at what felt like my maximum.

It was exhilarating.

Anyway, before diving into the employee-only hallways and rooms of the convention center, Felicity seemed to decide that tending to her vessel’s needs was an essential part of her act. So, we went to where the food was, and she bought a bottle of water and an under-cooked slice of microwaved pizza. The corn dog vendor had already packed up.

And then we sat on a bench while she ate and drank, and I noticed our pursuer walk right on by without looking our direction, and then disappear into the crowd. No doubt they were planning on doubling back and reestablishing their bead on us from further away and in a less obvious position. 

To make that easier for them, I pulled out my phone and played with it for a while.

When Felicity was ready to move on to the next part of our plan, she squeezed my hand again.

I responded by beaming a smile and leaning in to kiss her on the neck.

She squirmed and giggled, and that made me feel like she maybe did have enough energy to do this.

The food and water was helping her host’s vessel, and that meant she had more reserves for herself, I thought.

I realized I’d been doing a lot of hoping lately, and that was a bad sign. A signal I was putting myself in too much danger. But I kept at it for the time being.

Still, I had a nasty trick up my sleeve, just in case. Well, an old and timeworn trick that I never-the-less was phenomenally good at.

---

Something that surprised and worried Felicity was that she was not seeing more emanants amongst the crowd of con-goers.

Obviously, there would be quite a number of riders and parasites amongst the humans, and just like herself, they were hard to detect unless they showed themselves. Even for her. But she expected to see more emanants like Synthia and more predators, too.

When Fuzzy-feet walked by and kept going, she expected it would be because another predator was nearby and had made a stronger claim on Synthia. But, if there was, she couldn’t spot it. And, after a bit, Fuzzy-feet appeared again, further back in the crowd, around the corner of the T-section in the hallway. She saw its aura wafting up above the masks and heads of the crowd around it.

That’s when she squeezed Synthia’s hand, while wondering what was keeping this convention so quiet and free of emanant activity.

Come to think of it, the theater had felt this way, too. Only a couple of emanants besides herself and Synthia had felt bold enough to make their presences known.

And then Synthia was leaning over and kissing her in the neck.

It was just an act, but it tickled and tingled, and playing up the natural human reaction of pleasure and embarrassment to it was easy. It came naturally, like the body knew what to do.

She giggled and squirmed, and then stood up, pulling on Synthia’s hand, whispering loudly, “Alright, let’s go fucking snog.”

Synthia squinted at her as she stood up after, saying, “Snog? What are you, 2004 LiveJournal?”

“I beg your pardon. It’s perfectly cromulent Queen’s English,” she retorted.

“What are you gonna do about it? Colonize me?” Synthia snapped, snickering.

“Maybe behind that door over there,” Felicity responded conspiratorially, pointing at a likely candidate for where they wanted to go. It was unmarked. It might just be a supply closet, but it looked heavier duty than that, like a light fire door.

The banter they’d fallen into was maybe a bit too old for their appearances, but this was an especially geeky place, and they were trying to be silly and weird to match their cover. No one seemed to even notice.

Their mark was likely too far away to hear them over the crowd anyway. It was mostly their body language that mattered here.

So, Felicity let Synthia look at the door, nod, grin, and then lead her to it. And then she stumbled along like before, but with a little more anticipatory energy.

Or so she hoped. She was still feeling fairly discombobulated from hunger and weakness, even if she had a little more lucidity than before.

Synthia paused before the door, saying, “Wait a second. I need to look something up. Maybe there’s a floor plan.” Then she pulled out her phone and keyed up the page for the con, and poked at a couple of links.

The map that she found didn’t include this door, but she left that up anyway and kept her phone out. What was more important was that she was more traceable this way.

“Yeah, let’s see where this goes,” she said. Then she reached for the nob and surreptitiously did something with the lock that neither Felicity nor Amber could do. Being a physical emanant with tight control over your form had its perks.

And what was behind the door was exactly what they were looking for, a service corridor, so they ducked in and closed it.

The color of the carpet changed from the pattern of the main floors to a solid dusty rose, and the walls were a simple textured eggshell. The ceiling had the worst fluorescent lighting installed.

It went back into the building several paces before intersecting with a main corridor that was twice as wide but with the same lack of decor.

Synthia led them to the first corner and around it, then paused, looking down at her phone but doing nothing in particular.

“Listening for our mark?” Felicity whispered as quietly as possible.

Synthia didn’t respond.

But after a couple of breaths she started moving again, looking satisfied.

“What was that about?” Felicity asked.

“You didn’t notice?” Synthia asked back.

“Notice what?”

“Perfect,” her partner in crime said. “I’ll explain later. Right now we gotta keep quiet and keep moving.”

Felicity shut up and looked back.

These corridors weren’t infinite, nor massive. There were solid double doors at either end of this big corridor. It looked like the halls existed in small sections between main areas of the convention center. But there were enough side corridors that they were able to do a little snake action.

At the next corner they took, Synthia paused again, squeezing Felicity’s hand for some reason.

They weren’t putting on their act anymore, or didn’t need to, but they were still holding hands, and Synthia was probably just subconsciously keeping it up. Maybe trying to be reassuring like a human.

Then they moved to the door at the end of that side hallway and paused yet again for a couple silent breaths, before Synthia opened it.

On the other side was an empty ballroom or meeting room of some sort. Maybe a party room. It was a little bigger than your typical classroom, but instead of a desk it had a dry bar in the corner to their right, and rails for lighting, with a wooden floor.

And it was completely devoid of any other furniture or fixtures or decor. Like it was being left a blank slate for whomever might book it in the future.

“Yes!” Synthia hissed. “Love it. Let’s set up behind the bar. They’ll have to go around to get at us.”

“Sounds good,” Felicity heard herself say, still looking around at the room. She really wasn’t as present as she wanted to be. She hoped that whatever Synthia was doing would give them a good edge.

She felt herself being dragged by the wrist into the room and toward the far wall where the entrance to the bar was. It didn’t make a lot of sense, she thought, because anyone bringing supplies from the service halls would have to make this same trek to get to the bar. But, sometimes things got rearranged for other reasons and thoughtful architecture got nullified.

And she had a fleeting thought that the bar and service door were like some sort of allegory for what was going on in her broader existence, but she couldn’t really explain how at the moment.

Then, suddenly, she felt herself falling.

“The mark is right on our tail, but moving cautiously,” she heard Synthia saying.

And then she lost consciousness.

---

I found myself looking back into the startled and confused eyes of someone I assumed was Amber.

Well, shit.

I lowered my head and loosened my hold on her hand after a quick squeeze, in case she wanted to let go. I could feel her bewilderment and alarm as it fed me.

“What…?” she asked, glancing around. “How…?” She at least appeared to recognize me when looking my way.

I tilted my head and gestured slowly downward with my left palm, “Hold on a moment, Amber. Let me catch my own bearings really quick.” But I waited to see her nod before doing my thing.

Then I did what I’d been doing in the hallways and put a little two-dimensional pseudodomain down covering the floor behind the bar.

We were in Portland, let’s call them pseudomains.

This is a thing I normally did when being pursued, if I had enough time and wherewithal to pull it off. And I wished I’d had the forethought to use it in the theater. But what we’d been doing there was so far outside my typical modus operandi it hadn’t occurred to me at the time. Here, however, the slow chase had prompted me to remember the trick.

“OK,” I said to Amber when I was done. “Let’s stand here in the middle of this space and wait. This might end up being a little scary, but you’re OK. You’ll be safe.”

“What are we doing? Why am I here with you?” she pulled herself together enough to ask.

“Have you had any blackouts before?” I asked her back.

She shook her head, “N… no? I don’t… Never.”

“What’s the last thing you remember?” I asked, keeping my words quick, to imply that she should answer quickly, too.

I could feel the other teratovore stepping on my second to last pseudomain. One more and they’d be walking in the door. There was no time to break the ice for Amber. She was just going to have to witness this if Felicity didn’t take back over real quick.

She scrunched up her face, and said, “I remember talking to you at the checkout counter with my friend Josephine. We were going to have fajitas.”

“You’ll probably remember more than that as you talk about it, or when you see Josephine next,”  I told her in a reassuring tone. “But that was yesterday.”

“Yesterday?” she gasped, radiating quite a bit of incredulity and fear. Good. I wanted her engaged but with lots of adrenaline and alertness.

“Yeah, and Josephine, I think, has a big huge crush on you,” I told her, based on my memories of Josephine’s emotions. “It’s probably reciprocal.”

“What?” she blinked, taken aback.

The last pseudomain registered a monstrous footprint. I had time for one last line and emotional reaction from her to recharge me before the door opened. I decided to see if I could trigger Felicity to come back forward again.

“Remember that monster that almost ate you?” I asked.

“What?!”

My plan was that, if Felicity wasn’t present and couldn’t attack our mark, I would expand the pseudomain beneath me to envelope the teratovore and trap them. To have the strongest control over it, I needed to be in the same domain as my attacker, so I didn’t want to do that with the one that was at the door.

What happened instead was phenomenally bad timing, to say the absolute least.

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[unpopularwriter25]

It’s me again ^0^ I rlly liked the last one w/ Keiko and I have one more oc for kny if thats ok? :D

Name: Sora Hoshino

Age: 23/24

Gender: Female || Sexuality: Straight

Appearance: Sora’s short, only 150cm tall. She’s plump and chubby, having a pear shaped body. (Sora has chubby turnip legs hehe). She has black to purple hair which is often tied up in a bun. She has a scar across the middle of her face, reaching up to her nose. Sora has earrings shaped as a star. Hoshino wears the usual demon slayer uniform (black) but sleeveless. Sora has a dark blue haori which do not cover up her shoulders. The bottom is decorated with white constellations. Her eyes are often seen as tired, but her smile is soft and gentle. Sora also wears a monocle on her right eye!|| Weapon: Sora uses a scythe which also doubles as a grappling hook!

Personality: She’s quite shy upon first encounters, often hesitating to even squeak a single word from her throat. But as the Constellation Hashira warms up to the person, Sora tends to speak quite loudly and often talks with excitement and enthusiasm about her interests. When she’s on missions with younger slayers, Sora acts like a mother figure. Sora makes sure that the slayers are comfortable and have some hope in themselves before and after the mission. “Objection! I disagree!” Is not something Sora would outright say, often silently withdrawing herself from the conversation. In all in all, Sora is a shy but yet, loud and enthusiastic character. She enjoys taking care of those younger than her and enjoys talking about her interests.

Hobbies: Sora spends her free time researching and working on biology and chemistry. She enjoys helping Shinobu in her free time at the Butterfly Mansion. She also enjoys chasing snails and other insects. Sora does get quite angry when someone insults the bug or crushes it. The Constellation Hashira often researches about bugs or constellations (obviously). She based her breathing style off of her love for constellations and the stars. She also enjoys reading, cooking, and writing!

Likes/Dislikes: Sora enjoys spending time with children. Playing, comforting, feeding, you name it! She likes curling up in a warm room, being cuddled and just reading her favourite book in silence. Sora also enjoys physical affection, and is her main way of showing her love (if she’s not reading cheesy poems or yapping about some new bug she read about). Sora does not like it when someone insults a random roach she had found and now keeps as a pet. She gets easily angry when they do so. In general, she does not like insulting unless it’s to an evil person/demon. Sora doesn’t enjoy being alone for too long, it starts to get to her slowly. Hoshino is also ashamed of her body, thinking she’s too wide or chubby.

A bit of background information: Sora used to be a mother and wife, unfortunately both have passed away due to a demon. Hence why she has decided to become a slayer. Sora often questions her ability when it comes to missions, wondering if she could really protect the people she loves. (Sora does bash herself if one of the slayers she is working with gets seriously hurt).

ANYWAYS TYSM!!!!!! AHHH!!! This is super fun for me as I get to see who (my already shipped) ocs get to be paired with! This allows me to experiment with all sorts of new ships. I really am super happy, TYSM!!!!

Thank you for the request!! I hope you enjoy!!

I ship you with Tengen Uzui!!

Tengen’s larger-than-life, flamboyant personality is a perfect counterbalance to Sora’s shy and reserved demeanor. His confidence and assertiveness can help Sora feel more at ease and gradually draw her out of her shell. Conversely, Sora’s gentle and nurturing nature can temper Tengen’s occasional brashness, grounding him and providing a calming influence.

Once Sora warms up to someone, she becomes loud and enthusiastic, similar to Tengen’s always-energetic persona. This shared enthusiasm can create a vibrant, lively atmosphere when they are together, fostering a strong, supportive bond.

Sora’s motherly instincts towards younger slayers align with Tengen’s protective nature towards his comrades and wives. Both characters are deeply compassionate and prioritize the well-being of those around them, making them a formidable team in both battle and daily life.

Their shared experiences of loss (Sora losing her family, and Tengen his siblings and many comrades) create a foundation of mutual understanding and empathy. This common ground allows them to provide each other with emotional support and comfort.

The significant height difference between Tengen (198 cm) and Sora (150 cm) creates a visually striking pair. Tengen’s tall, imposing figure contrasts with Sora’s petite stature, emphasizing his protective role and her delicate yet strong presence.

Their physical contrast can also lead to endearing interactions, such as Tengen often looking out for Sora, and Sora providing subtle, nurturing care for Tengen.

Tengen’s flamboyant and colorful style, with his headband, flashy attire, and jewel-adorned look, contrasts beautifully with Sora’s dark blue and black uniform decorated with white constellations. This visual diversity highlights their unique personalities and strengths.

Sora’s role as a mother figure to younger slayers complements Tengen’s protective nature. Together, they can create a supportive environment for their comrades, ensuring both physical safety and emotional well-being.

Tengen’s experience and skills as a Hashira can help mentor Sora in combat techniques and strategies, while Sora’s nurturing side can aid in caring for injured or traumatized slayers, complementing Tengen’s efforts.

Sora’s Constellation Breathing techniques, which likely involve intricate and celestial-themed moves, can synergize with Tengen’s Sound Breathing, which focuses on rhythm and explosive power. Their combined abilities can create a unique and formidable fighting style, covering each other’s weaknesses and enhancing their strengths.

Sora’s scythe, doubling as a grappling hook, offers versatility and agility in combat, complementing Tengen’s dual Nichirin cleavers. This combination can lead to innovative strategies and dynamic teamwork in battle.

Both characters have experienced significant loss due to demons. This shared history allows them to understand each other’s pain and provide mutual support. Tengen’s resilience and confidence can help Sora build her self-assurance, while Sora’s gentle, nurturing presence can offer Tengen the emotional solace he sometimes needs.

Tengen’s unwavering confidence can inspire Sora to believe more in her own abilities, helping her overcome her self-doubt and insecurities about her body and skills. In turn, Sora’s empathetic nature can help Tengen connect more deeply with his own emotions and those of others.

Tengen’s Sound Breathing, which utilizes sound waves and explosive techniques, can be complemented by Sora’s Constellation Breathing, which likely involves precise, celestial-themed attacks. This combination can create a powerful and versatile combat duo, capable of handling various types of demons and battle scenarios.

Sora’s grappling hook scythe adds a layer of mobility and surprise to their combat tactics, while Tengen’s agility and strength can provide the brute force needed in battles. Their different yet complementary fighting styles allow them to adapt to various challenges and support each other effectively.

[j4xotto]

Despite what people might think, Valentine’s Day was actually one of Jax’s favourite days of the year. He loved all the cheesy conventions of the holiday, the string of romcoms he could always count to be on at the movies, the candy chocolate hearts, and even the sight of red roses lining every street corner in NYC, the price dropping the closer it got to February fourteenth. The fact that he wasn’t able to love his significant other openly never dampened his enthusiasm for the holiday. Sure, it stung a little that he couldn’t join in on the Instagram posts and parade his loved one in front of the world, but it never stopped him from splashing out on an armful of roses for his loved ones, whether that be his Mum or Annie.

Guilt washed over him as he thought of Annie, who’d been keeping him at arms length ever since the revelation he’d been spending their favourite holiday with another girl. No matter where Jax was in the world, he had always made a point of coming home to Annie so that he could spoil her rotten. They’d spend the holiday curled up under blankets, watching When Harry Met Sally, or his best friend would put on her prettiest red dress and he’d take her out. Jax knew, perhaps more than most, just how lonely Annie could get, and this time of year only seemed to exasperate it. Her Dad adored her but also sheltered her, which meant dating was generally a no-go. And because Annie was one of the most beautiful people he knew, inside and out, he never for a second wanted her to be lonely.

Scrolling through his Instagram, he was relieved, and a little tickled, to see Elias’ face plastered all over Annie’s feed, as well as her story. It alleviated a little bit of pressure on his chest to know Annie wasn’t alone.

“Didn’t think he had it in him.” Jax mumbled, his thumb double-tapping over Eli’s face. Although, if he knew Annie, he could almost be certain she had been the one to make the first move. Either way, he was sure Eli was over the moon to have the girl of his dreams on his arm.

“What was that?”

Lifting his head, Jax noticed his uber driver had his eyes trained on him in the rearview mirror, having mistaken Jax’s words as meant for him. The man flushed a little in embarrassment, shaking his head as his driver moved his eyes back to the road.

“Just talking to myself, sorry.” Jax apologised in his soft, Australian lilt. Running his clammy hands over the fabric of his jeans, Jax thought about Sephy. Lovely, agreeable, funny Sephy, who’d said she\d spend the day with him despite the fact he was certain she could have any man, any man at all as her Valentine. And why was he nervous? It would be funny, if it weren’t so pitiful, that the one Valentine he got to show off happened to be a woman he wasn’t even really dating.

For about the fourth time in their short drive, Jax felt the other man’s eyes on him.

“Sorry to ask, man. You look so familiar to me, are you Jax Otto?” he asked, a smirk playing at the corner of his lips.

A high, nervous laugh fell from Jax’s lips as he shoved his hands in his pockets, fumbling around for his phone. Not for the first time, Jax wondered exactly what had given him away. Sometimes it was that people couldn’t recognise Jax outside of his race suit, outside of the car, even. Other times people heard the accent, the dark crop of hair, the too-nice clothes and made the connection, much to Jax’s dismay.

“Uh, yeah. That’s me.” Jax stated, trying to inject some enthusiasm into his voice. As Jax grew more nervous, however, the man behind the wheel grew even more animated.

“Oh, man! I can’t believe I’m driving Jax Otto, wait till my wife finds out - she loves you, Jax, just loves you.”

The city whooshed by as Jax nodded good-naturedly, tapping out a text to Sephy to let her know he wasn’t far now.

“Tell your Mrs I say hi then, won’t you?” Jax said, leaning forward to clap his driver on the shoulder. “Can you just pull over here? This is me.”

The uber screeched to a sudden stop outside of Sephy’s Brownstone. The whole thing was so new that Jax and Sephy had never stepped into one another’s apartments, the man was half afraid he’d get lost on the way there. Jax looked down his phone, as though to make sure this was the right address. He had half a mind to step out onto the street, walk up those steps and call for her himself.

“Jax, man, is that your girl?”

Lifting his head, Jax was filled with a sudden quiet reassurance at the blonde head of hair ducking out from behind the door. A small, pleased smile crossed his features as his hand found the car door handle, spilling out onto the street to greet her.

“Yeah, that’s her.”