#if you block me my posts disappear from the tag forever! it's a great feature!

[asthedeathoflight]

Sequel to my post about who's responsible for Claudia's death bc actually I've realized that my problem isn't that I don't care whose fault it was. I just don't buy everyone's claim that Louis is the one who cares. There's this assumption that Louis should be the vessel for justice, that he should never forgive Armand for what he did and that's how Claudia will be avenged. But like. I just don't think that really makes sense.

Cause like the problem is, Louis already knew Armand was responsible for Claudia's death. No matter which way you slice it, the pivotal moment of betrayal is Armand leading the coven to the cafe and allowing Louis and Claudia to be captured. He could've averted the whole thing if he told Louis not to have Claudia and Madeleine come back to Paris. I cant see how Armand not warning Louis about the coven's plans isn't the lions share of his betrayal. And Louis already knew about that. So... What? Louis can forgive Armand lying to him for months and allowing his supposed subordinates to plan his murder and luring his sisterdaughter into a trap but he draws the line at... Contributing to the blocking?

Sure it's bad, but its not that much worse than what Louis already forgave him for. And I'm not saying Louis ought to forgive him for it! I find it baffling Louis ever forgave him in the first place! I personally would not marry the guy who betrayed me and led to the horrific murder of the person I loved most in the world whether or not I thought he was doing it reluctantly.

I don't buy the narrative that what Louis discovers in the finale is that Armand was more involved in Claudia's death because... he wasn't. Louis already knew he sat by and let her die. What changed for Louis in the finale is finding out Armand was also going to stand by and let HIM die. Louis turning on Armand isn't about Claudia. Its about himself. He could forgive Armand getting Claudia killed as long as Armand was the devoted savior who rescued him from the jaws of death.

I think people who act like the finale is Armand's comeuppance and that he's been deceiving Louis this whole time and now Louis is going to rightfully beat the shit out of him aren't overselling Armand's involvement, they're underselling it. If Louis decides he's never forgiving Armand now, that's not justice for Claudia. That's just another chapter in Louis du Pointe de Lac's tale of forgiving men for mistreating Claudia as long as he thinks they're being nice to him. He failed her in Paris when he decided to knowingly marry the man responsible for her murder to spite the man he allowed to abuse her.

[world-of-puppets]

Puppetry Lost Media

In honour of reaching 50 followers last week (now 55 followers, as of writing this) I decided to cover two subjects of great interest to me: puppetry (of course) and lost media.

Everybody online loves a good old bit of lost media. Whether it be being a part of the many searches for the media in question, or watching documentaries about them on sites like YouTube. I’ve been mildly addicted to the latter kind of content for a while. From what I’ve seen, though, there aren’t many videos or articles out there specifically covering lost puppetry. So, in no particular order, here are a couple of pieces of lost puppetry I found while scrolling through the lost media wiki.

銀河少年隊 - Ginga shounen-tai AKA Galaxy Boy Troop (1963 - 1965)

Osamu Tezuka is one of the most pioneering figures in Japanese art and animation. Starting as a manga artist in the 1940s inspired by the animated works of American studios such as Walt Disney and the Fliecer Brothers, he adapted and simplified many of the stylistic techniques of both artists to create his own signature style of big shiny eyes, physics defying hair and limited animation. A style that would go on to heavily influence the world of anime and manga as a whole.

But animation and graphic art were not the only mediums Tezuka would dabble in. Ginga Shounen-Tai, or Galaxy Boy Troop in english, was a television series that aired on the public broadcast channel NHK from April 7th, 1963 to April 1st, 1965. Running for 2 seasons with a total of 92 episodes.

The series was a mixture of marionette characters that utilised the Supermarionation marionette technique, popularised by Jerry Anderson’s Thunderbirds, and limited traditional animation. The story revolves around a child genius named Roy who leads a rag-tag group of heros around the galaxy in a rocket ship in order to revive the earth’s sun and later protect it from alien invaders.

Out of the 92 episodes that aired, only episode 67 still exists in its entirety with French subtitles, and the full episode can be found on YouTube with English subtitles uploaded by user Rare TezukaVids. According to user F-Man on the Tezuka in English forums, footage of episode 28 exists but with no audio, and episode 87’s animated segments exist without the marionette segments. F-Man also claims the reason for Galaxy Boy Troop’s disappearance is due to Tezuka not being proud of the series and having all episodes of it destroyed.

Personally, I think it’s a shame that pretty much all of this series is gone. From what I’ve seen in episode 67, it looks really charming. Tezuka’s signature character design style was adapted suprisingly well to marionettes, and the puppetry itself isn’t that bad either. I love the little face mechanisms like the blinking eyes, flapping mouths and others. It gives the puppets a lot of personality and charm. Like, just look at this old mans eyebrow mechanism and tell me you wouldn’t want to watch 92 episodes of this show;

Tinseltown (2007)

Tinseltown was a 15 minute sitcom pilot created by the Jim Henson company under thier Henson Alternative banner. The pilot was commissioned by the Logo Network and aired as part of the Alien Boot Camp programming block in 2007.

The pilot (and likely the series, had it been picked up by the logo network) features a cast of both puppets and live actors as characters. The premise revolves around Samson Kight, an anthropomorphic bull preformed by Brian Henson and drew Massey, and his partner Bobby Vegan, an anthropomorphic pig prefomed by Bill Barretta and Michelan Sisti, as they attempt to balance thier lives working in Hollywood with life as parents to thier sullen 12-year-old foster son, Foster, played by Paul Butcher. Other human characters included Mia Sara as Samson’s ex-wife Lena and Francesco Quinn as the family’s manservant Arturo.

The Tinseltown pilot used to be available on the Logo Network’s YouTube channel, but was later removed for unknown reason. Since then, the pilot has not been made available online. However the characters Samson and Bobby have made appearances in other Henson related works, such as the improv stage show Stuffed and Unstrung, where they played the role as the shows producers, and in a 2011 video on the Jim Henson Company YouTube channel celebrating Jim Hensons 75th birthday.

I find Tinseltown pretty interesting as I feel like it should be more noateable or known, considering that this is (as far as my knowledge goes) the first Jim Henson Company project featureing openly lgbtq characters as its leads, and would have been the first Henson show to do so had it been picked up. As someone who’s interested in lgbtq+ representation in creative media such as animation, I realised that there’s not many examples of canon lgbt characters in puppetry. The only ones aside from Samson and Bobby I could think off the top of my head would be Deet’s Dads from The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and Rod from Avenue Q. Though, obviously, there could be more I’m not currently aware of. I don’t think the Tinseltown pilot was a masterpiece or anything. After all, there’s probably a couple of good reasons Logo didn’t pick it up for a full series. But I think it be cool if either Henson co. or Logo made this available online again, if just so we could appericate it as an interesting little footnote in the history of lgbtq rep in puppetry.

With that said, considering the pilot’s obscurity and the fact that it’s main couple haven’t been used in any Henson Related projects in almost ten years, as well as the possibility that there may be legalities preventing the Henson company from releasing it such as Logo still owning the rights, it’s unlikely we’ll see the Tinseltown pilot anytime soon.

Sonic Live in Sydney (1997 - 2000)

Sonic the Hedgehog is a fictional character no stranger to multiple interpretations of him and his universe across a diverse range of media. From the more light-hearted and comedic stylings of The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Cartoon Networks Sonic Boom cartoon series, to more serious faire such as the Sonic SatAM cartoon and the Sonic Adventure videogame duology. One of the more obscure and stranger adaptations of the character came in the form of Sonic Live in Sydney, a one an a half hour live show hosted at the former Sega World Sydney amusement park in Darling Harbor, Sydney, Australia. Originally beginning as a live show with actors in meet-and-greet style costumes, the show eventually was replaced with a puppet show during its last two years.

The shows plot was set in an alternate timeline whos continuity was a mix of the SatAM cartoon and Sonic the Hedgehog 3, where Doctor Robotnik’s Death Egg crash lands in Sydney, Australia instead of Angel Island and attempts to take over before being foiled by sonic and friends. According to Phillip Einfeld of Phillip Einfeld Puppetoons, the company that made the puppets, Sega felt the costumed actor version of the show wasn’t dynamic enough, and wished to replace it with a version featuring live puppets with animatronics. Both versions of the shows plot are identical.

While Sonic Live in Sydney’s soundtrack is available on YouTube, and some photos of the show are available on the Lost Media Wiki, no footage of either the costumed actors version or the puppet show version have resurfaced. The show was closed down in 1999, possibly due to cost, shortly before the Sega World park as a whole in 2000. So unless there is someone out there who viseted the show between 1998 or 1999 who recorded the show via a handheld camera, footage of both incarnations of the show are likely forever lost to time.

On a personal note, I don’t have much to say on this one other than how gloriously peek gaudy 90s Sonic the set/puppet design is. I have no doubt finding footage of these puppets in action would truly be a silly delight to behold...

Legend of Mary (year unknown)

This one is a little different from the other entries on this list as while the film itself in its entiraty is available on YouTube for anyone to view, the information surrounding Legend of Mary, specifically its year of release, remains a mystery as of writing this.

I have mentioned the film before on this blog so I’ll keep it brief here: in summary, Legend of Mary is a short film retelling of the Nativity featuring the Rod puppets of Austrian puppeteer Richard Teschner. the video was uploaded to YouTube by user canada 150 archive. I looked up the people credited in the film and was able to find most of them, but didn’t find Legend of Mary listed in thier credits, and was unable to find the film on sites like IMDB, tMDB or Letterboxd. I reached out to Canada 150 archive asking if they had any info regarding the Legend of Mary’s release date, and after a coupe of months, they replied saying they didn’t know.

And that’s as far as I got on my search for answers, if anyone of you guys has any information regarding Legend of Mary, then it be of huge help in finding the release date.

Sam and friends (1955 - 1961)

Sam and friends was the very first puppetry television series created by Jim Henson alongside his colabarator and future wife Jane Nebel. filmed in Washington, D.C. and airing twice daily on WRC-TV and the NBC affiliate in Washington, D.C. from May 9, 1955, to December 15, Sam and Friends would mark the first apperence of Kermit (though not yet as a frog) and paved the way for Henson’s iconic and revered legacy in the realm of puppetry on film and television.

With the impact this show had in mind, it may come as a shock to some that almost half of Sam and Friends, specifically, 42 of the 86 episodes, are considered lost. With 16 existing, 8 documented, 9 known from memory, plus 8 existing Esskay commercials and 1 memory-known Esskay commercial. Some taped episodes have been shown at venues such as the museum of the moving image while others have been erased. It’s unknown if copies of these erased episodes still exist.

This post would become far to long if I were too list every episode missing from Sam and Freinds, but if your curious, the lost media wiki article has a comprehensive list of all lost episodes.

Annnd that about it for this post. This type of content is pretty different from the stuff I usually post. So I’m egar to see what you guys think about it. If you enjoyed this article, want to see more like it or have ideas for what puppetry-related topics I should cover in the future. And again, thank you all so much for helping me reach 55 followers. Your support really does mean a lot to me, and I hope you enjoyed this as a follower milestone gift.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed this dip into lost puppetry, and have a happy holiday season!

[thefieryeclipse]

Tongues of Fire

This is my WIP post for the October WIP Weekly event @alexprompts​ ^.^

                                     “Tongues of Fire”

                                       “No one will believe me.”                                      “Us. No one will believe us.”

_____________________________________________

What if you had lived another lifetime in the span of a day? What if it was all a dream? What if nobody understood what you'd been through, except the one person you should hate most in the world...?

The future is precarious. A secret network of superhuman abilities has been revealed. People are disappearing but nobody seems to notice. In the wake of a shared five year nightmare, Peter Petrelli and Sylar are hunted, considered far too dangerous to be free. Cast out by everyone they used to know, together the two vigilantes must navigate a brave new world that not only condemns the depth of their power, but of their bond as well.

_______________________________________________

This is a post-series fanfiction of the wonderful TV series “Heroes” (2006-2010), created by Tim Kring and aired on NBC. The story is my take on Volume 6 “Brave New World”, the build up to Heroes Reborn, focusing on Peter Petrelli and Sylar and their relationship after the events of the series finale.

If you haven’t watched the show (and you really should, it’s great!), it revolves around ordinary people with extraordinary abilities: a mismatched group of people from all over the world connected by the sudden manifestation of superpowers that they must keep hidden. This show did superheroes before the MCU made it cool again - they don’t wear capes and they don’t have secret identities: think a real-world ensemble character drama but with superpowers thrown in X)

TONGUES OF FIRE - Read here

Please check out my WIP: three years in, currently 360k+ words and 35+ chapters deep.

Rating: M. Action, violence, sci-fi, danger, post-series, forbidden love, m/m, lgbtqa+, whump, angst, hurt/comfort, save the future save the world. (I’ll expand more on the tags and themes below)

TRAILER:

Please keep reading for character descriptions, story context, themes/genres, gifs, a moodboard, more artwork and warnings

GENRES/THEMES/TAGS:

Superpowers

On the run

Sci-fi

Slow burn

End of the world (save the future, save the world...)

Betrayal/heartbreak

Forbidden love

M/M, LGBTQA+

Acceptance and forgiveness

Hurt/comfort

Angst

Whump

Action

Danger

Violence (think broken bones, cuts, gunshots, burns - however some characters have superhuman healing so this isn’t always as permanent as it sounds...)

Grand acts of heroism

Former-enemies to friends to lovers

There are happy and heartwarming parts in here too, don’t worry X)

CHARACTERS:

As Heroes is an ensemble show there are a lot of characters featured in this WIP, but even if you haven’t watched the show hopefully you shouldn’t get lost in the context of the story X) Because this post would be even longer otherwise, I’ll just highlight the central two characters here:

                                               Peter Petrelli

Stubborn, caring and compassionate, Peter will never see anyone in need and not help them. He is driven by a constant desire to make a difference to the world, and will rarely listen to reason. This reckless goodness has gotten him into trouble (and/or killed) many times in the past, but he will never give up. He’s not opposed to violence if pushed to it, and can certainly hold his own in a fight. However, usually he’s the mediator who tries to fight with love rather than war. His love language is touch, and he doesn’t have much sense of personal space, almost subconsciously touching others all the time to show his support and affection.

He invests 100% into everything he does, including his relationships with family, friends and loved ones. Sadly, he’s constantly overlooked, under-appreciated and walked over by almost everyone he has ever known. Despite this, Peter is kind and will always listen to his heart, even if it leads him into danger to save someone else who won't even thank him for it.

Without recounting the entire story of Heroes, let me just say that Peter has been put through the ringer more times than anyone should do and survive. He’s been bruised, shot, killed, betrayed, walked out on, arrested and lied to too many times, but somehow he’s still miraculously resilient in his worldview. He’s impulsive to a fault, leaps before he looks and due to this is no stranger to mistakes. His biggest weakness is his own perceived inadequacy - he thinks he’ll never be good enough. He keeps mostly to himself, despite his golden heart that longs for reciprocation of the love that he gives to others so freely, and tends to work quietly from the sidelines rather than seek appreciation for his efforts.

Ability: Empathic Mimicry.

Peter is an “empath”. His extreme empathy allows him to not only understand and care deeply for other people, but to absorb the abilities of other “evos” (evolved humans) simply by being close to them.

This original ability, however, was stolen from him by his father. Later Peter acquired a synthetic version that isn’t as strong. He can still absorb other evos’ powers through physical touch, but can only hold onto one at a time. He still longs for his true ability although, naturally, he keeps this pain to himself rather than burden others with it.

                                              Sylar

Intelligent, immortal, arguably the most powerful evo on Earth, Sylar has made himself a lot of enemies over the years. Formerly known as Gabriel Gray, his superhuman ability (knowing how things work) and insatiable hunger for more turned him into a killer: slicing open the skulls of people with abilities to access their brains and, therefore, their powers. Until recently he had never had a friend, never known trust, and all he had was the urge to add to his ever-growing collection of superpowers in order to make himself feel “special”. Sylar has killed a countless number of people, evaded capture multiple times, and tried to reign himself in more than once, although nobody ever listened when he begged them for help, until Peter.

Sylar is sarcastic, witty and delights in being a downright asshole at times. Secretly, though, he’s a sensitive and remorse-ridden man, desperate to belong anywhere and to anyone who will accept him for who he is. He has been tricked and manipulated many times due to this vulnerability, which only made him more angry, wounded and violent. His ability comes with a “Hunger”, like a voice inside that “makes” him commit heinous acts. This hunger tends to come and go, however, and is more likely a manifestation of his own mind that gives him something else to blame and hide behind. Though there’s no doubt that he is, at least in part, a victim of a power he had no choice in manifesting.

By the series finale of Heroes, Sylar has finally tackled the painful journey to redemption. Truly repentative for what he’s done, and wanting to be a better person, Sylar is ready to face the world and do good this time, hopefully making amends along the way. Peter’s trust in him is his anchor, and as long as Sylar finally has someone who believes in him then he’ll keep struggling with his demons to be better, and hopefully, in time, become a hero too.

Ability: Intuitive Aptitude

Sylar can understand how things work. His power is based in empathy, like Peter’s, except he collects abilities by looking at the brains of other super humans and assuming them for himself. By the start of “Tongues of Fire” he has a lot of powers, perhaps too many to put here? The full list is on his wiki page: https://heroeswiki.com/Sylar, but basically he’s like a swiss army knife of superhuman abilities X)

CONTEXT (this is real Heroes canon):

Over the past few years Peter and Sylar have been enemies. The Hero and the Villain, like Batman and Joker or Sherlock and Moriarty, they were each other’s equal and nemesis. They faced off many times and have both wounded and killed each other in the past (thanks to the power of regeneration these deaths weren’t permanent). There have been many complicated and intense conflicts in their story, including believing they were brothers for a time; Sylar murdering Peter’s beloved older brother Nathan; and Peter nailing Sylar to a table and trying to erase his mind (seriously, watch the show, there’s too much to capture here!). Also did I mention the insane chemistry and UST between them...?

(Yes, that’s a real scene from Heroes!)

At the end of the series, Sylar was riddled by guilt and the fear that he would die alone, unloved forever. So he turned himself over to a telepath and begged him to block Sylar’s mental access to his abilities so he could stop killing, and maybe have a chance at finally finding a human connection. The telepath, Matt Parkman, tricked him and instead locked Sylar’s consciousness in a mental prison of isolation where each hour in reality is a year he’s lived there in sole torment. Peter found out and, despite their hate-fuelled past, impulsively followed Sylar into his mind to rescue him.

It didn’t work. Instead of being able to pull Sylar out with him, Peter got trapped in the nightmare as well. For five years they were held prisoner in a dead, empty city, with nothing but each other and a hell of a lot of baggage to work though. And eventually, after years of remorse and loneliness and depending on each other to stay sane, Peter forgave Sylar, accepting him as the changed man he’d become. The nightmare shattered and they awoke back in reality, where only 5 hours had passed on the outside, but to them it had been years. Together, united now, Peter and Sylar set out to save the world side by side.

Nobody knows about the other life they lived through together aside from Matt Parkman the telepath, and even he doesn’t believe them. After all, who would believe these two mortal enemies took a nap together and suddenly woke up finishing each other’s sentences, unashamedly defending, trusting and touching someone they’d despised just a few hours ago?

So now they’re faced not only with a world where abilities are in the open; but where their shared forgiveness, trust and friendship is discounted by everyone who knows Sylar only as a monster, and Peter as a heartless traitor who betrayed his late brother by choosing Nathan’s killer over them.

And this is where “Tongues of Fire” begins...

(There are more illustrations from the story available in My Gallery on Ao3)

WARNINGS:

I guess the biggest warning would be for violence. This is canon-typical violence, so if you've watched Heroes it shouldn't be anything you can't handle. And if you've not watched Heroes then imagine the amount of violence that could be aired on a network TV show in 2006-2010.

One surgical scene includes exposed organs. It’s quite graphic, but the patient is participating willingly and eagerly, and the “surgery” is done upon request, as a good thing.

Later on there's restrainment and distressing interrogation of prisoners.

Adult content and sexual scenes, but I wouldn't necessarily call them “explicit”. The focus is always on the emotional aspect more than graphic descriptions of characters’ anatomy.

And I guess that’s it from me for now! Hope you check out the story, and please don’t be shy to get in touch about it in any way, shape or form ^.^

(I don’t take credit for any gifs, they’re gorgeous but not mine. The illustrations are mine, though)

[nicole-lynne]

Worlds Colliding - Chapter Fourteen

Hi Hey Hello, It’s me, ya girl, who doesn’t know how to post chapters to stories regularly. But I can say, with great pride, that this story is finished so you will not have to wait months for new chapters. I will be posting the last few chapters in my queue

Also side note, I just discovered that my posts won’t be shown in the tags they’re tagged in if I have links to my other posts. So if you want to catch up on the story, the link to my master list is in my bio! Enjoy, like, follow, and let me know if you’d like to be tagged!!!

Relationships: Dean x OC, Sam, Stiles x OC, Scott

Warnings: death, kidnapping, violence

Description: Natalie faces something she never thought she’d have to face.

The group burst out of the vet’s office in a quiet chaos, Sam and Dean leading them straight for the Impala. Sam popped open the truck and revealed the secret compartment holding all of their hunting weapons and necessities. Scotts jaw dropped slightly as he soaked in the sight of the travel weapons vault. 

“Wow. You guys really come prepared, huh?” He chuckled awkwardly, his chocolate brown eyes darting between the men and their ammunition. His muscles were tense from the situation and this didn’t give him any reason to relax. 

Sam looked up, his hair falling into his face and his forehead scrunched as if he didn’t know what Scott could mean. He looked back down at the truck. “Oh, yeah, I guess you could say that. We go all over the place hunting down evil things, so it just makes it easier to have it with us.” 

“That’s all great, way to go fighting evil, but can we just get back on topic.” Stiles snapped at Sam and Scott. His mind was reeling with so many worst case scenarios, and now all he could think about was all the things he wished he’d said to her that morning. He wished he had taken an extra few minutes to kiss her skin and hold her body against his. There was no telling what this lunatic demon would do to her and horrible images flashed through his head. 

Dean lifted his head out of the trunk, and made eye contact with Stiles, trying to calm his own panic down. “Just hold it together. We’re going to get her, man.” He finished counting what looked like smoke bombs to Stiles and then looked at his brother. “Now let’s go over it one more time.”

Sam cleared his throat and nodded curtly. He knew that Dean needed his support so he ignored his own perturbation. “Yes, good idea. Okay, we know that they’re at an old warehouse that used to be used to store crop supplies so there’s a lot of machinery in there. It’s in the middle of nowhere, they probably chose it so no one would get suspicious.” 

“How should we go in? Won’t they hear us?” Scott asked inquisitively. 

“I think we should go in two through the front and two through the back. That way we can have the element of surprise. Stiles, you and Scott can go in the back, Dean and I will go in through the front.” Stiles opened his mouth to protest but Sam cut him off, “Just because we have experience fighting demons before and we can distract him while you guys save Nat. She’s the most important thing right now.” 

The boys nodded stiffly and Stiles’ eyes hardened slightly. It was deathly quiet before he finally asked, “Why are you so determined to save Nat? You were more than happy to leave her five years ago.” 

Sam cringed at the harshness of his tone but tears brimmed in his eyes. “You’re right. I was a stupid kid. I let my pride...and my fear get in the way of a person I cared about. Someone who was - is - family. But I won’t have a chance to make it up to her unless she’s alive. So let’s just forget about all of our petty disagreements and focus on getting her back where she belongs.” 

Dean slapped his hand on Sam’s shoulder comfortingly. This was the first time he had heard Sam say anything like that about Natalie and it felt nice to know that he had regretted the whole thing. Maybe after everything, things could get back to normal, whatever their normal was. 

Stiles and Dean’s eyes connected and they made a silent agreement that Natalie was their focus, regardless of anything else. They were going to do whatever it took to get her back. Dean slammed the trunk closed and they all piled into the Impala. It was now or never. 

-----

Natalie slumped down in the chair, her eyes following Orobas’ every move, her eyes pinched into a hard scowl. He stalked around her like he was hunting his prey. A twitch in his lip told her that he was particularly entertained by her stubbornness. 

“Now what is it going to take for you to let go of that control?” He lifted a knife up to her cheek and dug it into her skin. She let out a gutted whimper, refusing to satisfy him with a scream. “We both know that it’s going to happen, so you might as well give up now. Ya know, before you become disfigured.” He said with a sneer. 

Her grip tightened on the chair arms. “You can do whatever you want to me, but I will never help you.” 

Orobas took Natalie’s chin in his hand and forced her to look up at him, his fingers digging into her skin. “You will help me, you impudent child. I won’t care if you don’t have all your fingers or if you’re missing a leg. I will rip you open from gut to chest and then bring you back from the edge of death. I am your worst nightmare.” Natalie gulped, seeing the truth burning from Orobas’ eyes. 

He growled at her and then dropped her chin, his nails scraping against her cheeks harshly. Natalie let her head drop down hitting her chest. She willed the tears that were forming to dry up but after what had seemed like days in this position, they were being stubborn. A small tear slipped down her cheek and she sniffled quietly. 

“If you’re quite done, we shall continue.” Orobas said. He started towards her again when the door clanged open and a woman stepped inside. 

“Uh, boss?” 

Orobas snapped his head in her direction and stared at her. She shrunk at his piercing look. The woman was short and lean, barely reaching his chest. She scuffed her shoe against the ground nervously, avoiding his gaze. He growled, angrily. 

The woman jumped at the sound. “Uh, well, there’s something going on outside. You might want to come see for yourself...” She trailed off as the burning in his eyes grew deeper. 

With a huff, Orobas dropped a pair of pliers back onto the table. They clattered loudly in the empty space and he stormed out of the room. 

Natalie gritted her teeth together and took a deep breath. She focused her mind on a happier place, home with...someone next to her, keeping her safe. She tried to block out any of the other sounds, trying to find some comfort before he decided to come back and torture her again. 

She opened her eyes after a moment and her mind continued to wander, when a head popped up in the corner of the room and then disappeared again. Her vision was all a blur, her green eyes were dull and begging for sleep. Natalie was sure she had just been seeing things, seeing the person her thoughts had been on. 

“Stiles...” She muttered.

Natalie watched that same spot for a minute but he never reappeared. Her chest tightened and a lump formed in her throat. How stupid could she have been to think that he would come for her. 

She swallowed thickly, when a hand reached up from behind and tightened around her wrist. Natalie jumped in surprise and whipped around to come face to face with Dean. He was crouched down behind her chair, trying to stay out of sight. 

Her green eyes filled up with tears as relief flooded through her. His stomach flipped at the amount of blood on her clothes and cuts all over her body. Her face was bruised and one of her eyes was starting to swell. Dean wanted to scoop her up and hold her against his chest for the rest of his life. 

“You came for me...” Natalie whispered, her lip trembling. 

“Of course I came for you, baby.” He leaned closer to her drooping body, brushing a brunette tangle out of her face. Dean rested his calloused hand against her cheek and she let her head rest on it for a moment, letting the familiarity comfort her. 

Eventually, reality began to come back to Natalie and she opened her eyes slowly. Dean was still there. It hadn’t been her imagination. Her green eyes searched his, panic creeping in. “It’s not safe here, Dean. You need to leave. Now. Before he comes back. I-I can keep refusing him and once he sees that I can’t help him, he’ll stop... But you can’t get hurt. I can’t let you get hurt.” 

Dean shushed her calmly and laid his forehead against hers. “I won’t get hurt, Nat. And I won’t leave you here alone either.”

“But-” 

“No buts, we’re all here to take you home.” Natalie’s eyes widened at that. She glanced around the room and saw Stiles across the room, his brown eyes never leaving her. Her heart leapt with excitement and fear. Then she looked back at Dean. His focused had moved to the restraints around her wrists and ankles. His brows were pinched with concentration and she had to smile to herself.

Natalie took a ragged breath and held it in. She tried to remember what her counselor used to tell her. Count as many good things as possible in ten seconds, and then let it out. Dean. Stiles. Scott. Sam. Waffles. The Great Gatsby. Roscoe. Baby. The breath came out shakily. 

“I love you, Dean.” His head snapped up to look at her. “Maybe things aren’t the same as they used to be, but I’ll always love you.” He realized what she was saying and he wanted to be sad, but he was ecstatic at the words. No matter how he had wronged her, she forgave him. 

“I love you too, Nat. Forever.” A huge grin broke out across his face and he moved closer, peeking a quick kiss on her lips. A kiss to say that they were still best friends and there would never be any love lost. 

With that, he bent back down and struggled to release her restraints. Stiles was moving towards her with determination clouding his features. Natalie smiled at him and his face brightened with each step. His chocolate eyes melting with love the closer that he got. 

Then Stiles’ face changed into pure shock and panic. Natalie’s eyes scrunched in confused as she followed his line of sight. She turned to look for Dean just as his body was yanked into the air like a rag doll. 

Orobas had his hand clenched around Dean’s throat, Dean’s feet dangled off the ground and he grabbed at the hand choking him. Natalie screamed at the top of her lungs and began yanking at the restraints, trying to get free. The straps dug into the open wounds on her wrists and blood began to flow freely again. 

“Let him go, you bastard!” Her voice rose up half an octave. Hatred was bubbling up in her chest. 

Sam and Scott ran into the door, their chests heaving after fighting the demons that were protecting the surrounding rooms. Sam felt his nerves sit heavy in his stomach as he took in the sight before him. Natalie struggling in a chair, his brother suspended in the air with the life being choked out of him. A strangled cry fell from his lips and Scott wrapped his arms around Sam’s waist before he could fall. 

“Please... stop...” Natalie wailed. 

Orobas slowly dropped his gaze, their eyes meeting. A smirk spread across his lips and Natalie’s heart dropped into her stomach. Orobas thrust his hand inside Dean’s chest, and with a terrifying crunch, pulled out his stilled heart. Then without another thought, he tossed him away like a piece of trash. The light faded out of Dean’s eyes and his body crumpled onto the ground with a thud. 

It was silent for a moment. Her heart was cracking into a thousand shards. The only sound was the sound of Orobas’ shoes slapping the concrete, but Natalie could only see Dean. The last time she would ever see his smile. The last look of terror that was etched on his beautiful face. His lifeless body mere feet from her. The pain crawled its way through her veins, burning like hot flames. 

Natalie tilted back her head, unable to handle the fire any more. Her mouth fell open an earth-shattering scream tumbled from her lips. The power of her scream slammed into the room as a lock was opened within her. The boys hands flew to their ears and they dropped to their knees as an excruciating pain filled them. The room around them was shaking in the foundation and the windows were rattling loudly. 

Orobas’ had a grin on his face that began to dim as his surroundings began to crumble around him. An invisible force was yanking him from side to side, his human form beginning to rip at the seams. 

“No, stop it! This isn’t possible!” 

Natalie’s eyes were a pure white and her gaze was lethal. The bonds around her wrists and ankles snapped and she stood up freely. Wind surrounded her protectively, moving around her with ease. With two steps, she stood in front of Orobas. He shrunk away from her as she reached out and gripped his arm. 

The three boys watched in fascination at how ethereal Natalie looked. A light was shining from within her, making it almost impossible to look at her straight on.  

“You will never hurt anyone else, demon.” Her voice was smooth like a melody, enchanted with magic. She opened her mouth once more but no sound came out, only tendrils of energy emerged and wrapped around Orobas’ body. The tendrils squeezed and the smoke of the demon began to leak out of all orophases. 

Energy snapped upwards and dragged the demon down, with each pulse, he was being ripped to shreds. A final cry of pain echoed loudly and then the entire room came to a halt as if nothing had even happened. 

“Whoa...” Scott uttered. 

They all watched as Natalie swayed from side to side before crumpling to the concrete. Stiles and Sam rushed forward and dropped to their knees. Stiles reached for Natalie but Sam wrapped his arms around her first, worry haunting his face, shaking his frail body slightly. 

“Come on, Nat, I-I can’t lose you too. Pl-please wake up.” His words caught in his throat as tears rolled down his face. 

Natalie’s eyes fluttered slightly before opening. She looked up at Sam’s face, a painful expression spreading. Before she could stop the urge, she turned her head to see Dean laying on his back, his eyes looking into nothing, blood surrounding his body. With a whimper, a tear trailed down her cheek, and she looked back to Sam. Her shaky hand reached up and caressed his face.

“No, he can’t be gone. He can’t be gone. He can’t be gone. No no no.”

Sam pulled her into his lap, rocking her back and forth, as the Scott and Stiles watched them in agony. The sound of both of their combined sobs lingering in the air. 

“It’ll be okay, Nat.” 

“I’m so sorry, Sammy. I’m so sorry I couldn’t save him.” 

Scott gently placed his hand on Sam’s shoulder and nudged him. In a moment, Sam scooped Natalie’s weak body into his arms and transferred her into Stiles’ arms. She melted into his chest, her tears drenching his shirt. Stiles turned to watch as Sam picked up his brother’s body and followed them toward the exit, his face now void of emotion.

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