#if you couldn’t tell I like the 10 summons the most lol

[aberooski]

Assigning Final Fantasy summons to GX characters because why not?

With specifications on which version of the summons I've assigned them, only some genuine explanations of my thought process, and I will take no criticisms 😌

In my mind how this works is that the summons function like they do in 13 at least at least to a certain point. Like how they obtain their summon at some point throughout whatever story is being told here, or maybe some of them have obtained them already, and they're summoned via crystals in the heat of battle when needed. So in my mind as I'm picturing all of this, I'm picturing the 13 summoning technique to an extent.

Alright, let's get into it!

Jaden - Anima (FFX)

If you know the Anima lore you know this is actually so big brain

Yubel -> Anima

Syrus - Valefor (FFX)

I like the idea of Sy and Zane having a similar type of summon (Zane gets Bahamut, spoilers) with them both being creatures that fly, a dragon and a big bird. But Sy's is weaker in power and has a gentler spirit, but that spirit is strong. Very thematically accurate for them.

He could also have Doomtrain to sync up with his deck archetype I think that would be funny

But he gets Valefor because I have a lot of sentimental value towards her and she's one of my favorite summons and he's my favorite and I said so 😌

Chazz - Ixion (FFX)

My favorite lightning summon

Thunder boy and his lightning horsie ⚡

I would honestly just love to see it

Alexis - Shiva (FFX version cuz she's my fav summon period)

Decks are being taken into account and she plays an ice deck in the manga and while she's in the society of light in season 2 🧊

I don't have a crazy in depth explanation for this I just feel it in my soul. I've always said she would be a Shiva girl like me even without her and Atty both having an ice elemental association betwixt all the GX media.

Giving my favorite girl my favorite summon

Atticus - Diablos (FFVIII)

Nightshroud -> Darkness -> Diablos.

Another big brain choice actually

He could've also had Shiva pretty easily tbh and I considered that, but ultimately went with Diablos for the Darkness representation.

I mean come in, the guy is basically possessed by the main evil entity of the show and Diablos is essentially the devil.

Bastion - Leviathan (FFVIII)

His ace monster is Water Dragon, come on now. 💧🐉

Hassleberry - Titan (FFXV)

Titan is a big strong man as is our boy

Also he's Earth element and if Hassleberry had an element he would be Earth I feel it in my non-dinosaur bones.

Sadly there are no dinosaur summons I'm sorry bby 😞

Chumley - Choco/Mog (FFVII)

I'll be so for real I had such a hard time figuring out Chumley like from the summons I had left to choose from cuz I added Blair and Chumley to the list last, I couldn't find one I thought fit super great

But as I was going over the summons lists again I pictured these guys appearing alongside Chum and I just smiled. It just made me smile and so does he.

Sometimes it's just that simple.

But I did also consider Fenrir as an option as well.

Blair - Siren (FFVIII)

Siren specializes in status ailments (silence specifically) and you could argue her love deck reolves around a status ailment, namely Maiden In Love causing male monsters to fall in love with her, which actually is sort of a thing in some FFs through the Lamia enemy but shhhh

8's Siren can also heal status ailments so that gives Blair more abilities available to her to support the party

Valefor would've been another choice for her I just feel the vibe there but I want Sy to have her so 😌

Garuda could be another decent potential choice for her as more of a combative summon than a support summon, I feel that vibe too.

But I dunno I was just drawn to Siren for her so there you go.

Zane - Bahamut (FFVII Remake or FFXIII/XIII-2)

Dragon

Bahamut is typically among the most powerful of all the summons if not the most powerful depending on the game.

I'm wrestling between 7R and 13, 7R has almost some cybernetic action going on that gives me Cyber End energy while maintaining the classic dragon design, and 13 has Chaos Bahamut in 13-2 so he could have Bahamut then it could morph into Chaos Bahamut once he enters the Edgelord Supreme era to facilitate the shift from Cyber End to Cyber Dark if you follow my brain's logic

Aster - Phoenix (FFXVI)

......I-I mean..... Phoenix... Aster.... Aster Phoenix..... 😅

I literally could not resist 🤭

I would also except Odin for him though I think that would be cool too that's a vibe

Jesse - Carbuncle (FFVI)

Ruby Carbuncle ✋

Axel - Ifrit (FFX)

The perfected classic design imo

Badass fire boy 🔥

Like dude imagine Axel with Ifrit by his side

Unmatched

Jim - Syldra (FFV)

Syldra was Faris's pet and best friend since childhood who became a summon later in the game after sacrificing herself. Very reminiscent of Shirley being Jim's best friend/pet/protector since they were both young.

The implications of of the idea of Shirley sacrificing herself for Jim and becoming the summon makes me upset tho so we can just delete any timeline where that happens 😁

Crowler - Alexander (FFVIII or FFXIII)

Alexander is typically a machine or like a straight building or structure of some kind and Crowler plays Ancient Gears so 🏰

8 is a very good classic Alexander, just a great summon, and 13's I have a lot of sentimental value for but also him being a guy that turns into a defensive wall in Gestalt mode and with the way Crowler will put himself between harm and the kids at times.... thematically accurate Alexander?

Crowler wouldn't be beating the Dad allegations any time soon with that version on his side

7 Rebirth's Alexander is a close 3rd choice I think too I really like that design

With Alexander I was trying to think about practicality cuz they're all so massive and occasionally story relevant so he's not always a readily available summon so I sadly ruled out 9 and Type-0 as much as I really wanted him to have either of those too

Really wrestling with the specifics of this one

Sheppard - Ramuh (FFIX)

Wise old man

Sheppard is kinda dumb tho and makes some questionable decisions but he means well he's got the spirit

Banner - Chaos (FFXII)

In the lore, Chaos died and and was reborn several times.

Banner died and was reborn when he transferred himself into a new body, then he died, then still stuck around as a ghost.

Debated switching Phoenix from Aster to Banner and finding another one for Aster but clearly I did not lol

Also considered Phantom from 6 because it's just a ghost and uh.... Ghost Banner. But Chaos is cooler.

Adrian - Zalera (FFXII)

I was gonna give him Odin because of the insta kill move and how he had Exodia which is an automatic win but then I was looking at the summons list and was looking through the 12 Espers and listen.

Zalera is an Esper of death who clutches a woman in his arms and uses her wails to inflict death.

This really reminds me of Echo clutched in Exodia's hand screaming as she's being murdered by Adrian in the interest of obtaining Exodia.

Plus we had no 12 representation I chose Banner's after this and as 12 is my second favorite ff behind 10/10-2 that is criminal.

Welcome to my mind. 😌

[ghostly-penumbra]

20 Qs for Fic Writers

Thanks for the tag, @summerssixecho!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

Thirty-six as of now! Most of them are still from events (I put all the filled prompts in one work per event, don’t @ me), but when I really like one of these I post it as a stand-alone :) and I have a few fics outside events too! Woo!

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

132,746 as of right now, but I’ll still finish Ectober so that’ll change quickly. (and as I said before, some fics I post "twice", in the event's work, and as a stand-alone)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Danny Phantom almost exclusively, the exception are the CrossOvers :p

I love The Sandman and Supernatural ones. I’m into DPxDC as well.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Seven Ways to Summon the Ghost King (1,187 kudos): Seven different ways in which a tired, stressed and sleep-deprived King of Ghosts can be summoned!

Results may vary.

Holiday Gift 2022 (439 kudos): ALL ghosts need to honour the truce. Including those who don't know they're considered part ghost.

Poison Blood and Weighted Crowns (408 kudos): The Justice League asked for help to the Ghost King.

The King demanded Jason Todd in exchange.

Jokingly, Robin accepted.

King Plasmius had the deal be honoured.

Ectober Week 2021 (365 kudos)

DannyMay 2021 (243 kudos)

5. Do you respond to comments?

YUP. Sometimes I forget and only see it years later tho. But I do like answering comments so I try my best! If I don’t answer is ‘cause I can’t think of anything else to say but I still try! (I don’t really answer in FFN anymore tho, because I forget if I’ve already answered and I don’t remember how to check that, and I don’t want to accidentally answer twice lmao)

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Uhh… not a big fan of angst, and even though I tried my hand at it in the past don’t remember where I put it anymore

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Dragon :') Danny gets dental! (lol ok, I can’t really tell, idk)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

My fics ain’t popular enough to get hate I believe lol.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

LOL. I WROTE LEMON ONCE. YEARS AND YEARS AGO (almost ten year now. I was fourteen). After that, I haven’t, but I have an idea for a fic and if I actually get to write it I know it would be explicit.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

asdfghjjklñ I fucking love CrossOvers so much. I’ve written some "niche" ones but I believe the craziest/crackiest was Doors :))

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

None that I know of. (Again, not popular enough lol)

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Other than ramble with the discord buddies, nope I haven’t.

13. What's your all-time favourite ship?

None tbh, I do like some ships but I’m aro and I don’t really have an OTP.

14. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Not much in the way of WIPs but I do have several plot bunnies I entertain before discarding.

On DPxDC I had a demon twin AU where Damian killed Danny as a kid with pressure from Ra’s al Ghul, and they met again after many years, with Damian as Robin and Danny as the Ghost King… and Danny didn’t forgive Damian. I had a lot planned and wanted to include a lot of worldbuilding, but ultimately I decided I couldn’t give Damian’s character justice as I was projecting heavily on my broken relationship with my abusive brother, and Damian deserved better than to be compared to my brother.

Also DPxDC, the aforementioned explicit work, which would be Danny/Valerie/Jason, with them dealing with being ecto-entities with the ecto-acts in place, Danny dealing with being King and trying to be an astronaut, Valerie coping with her feelings on her nature and her Wayne scholarship, and Jason being a crime lord with a family of vigilantes, and their broken yet existing relationships. As they navigated the complex ensuing dynamics, they dismantled the GIW and took down the Ecto-Acts.

I would also like to do more for Dragon, but I really don’t feel like it rn

16. What are your writing strengths?

Instrospection and mindscapes, if I can say so.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Anything that isn’t introspection and mindscapes.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Naruto :)

20. Favourite fic you've written?

aughdabdsufsda, I don’t really know, I love several of them for different reasons, but maybe Father and Sons? I love Clockwork and I love my Sandman crossovers, so I liked mixing both.

I’m not tagging anyone, but I encourage anyone to try! It was really fun!

[writing-on-the-wahl]

Writing Snippet #10

O Positive

Part 2

Ok so @im-a-wonderling had a FANTASTIC idea for a snippet, but I’m putting the ask below to not cause spoilers lol:)

Special thanks to @im-a-wonderling as well for the beta read, edits, suggestions, and expert medical knowledge to help make this way more realistic than my original draft! You’re amazing!!!

—————————————————

Hero shifted from side to side as she stood in line, fingers clutching a bottle of orange juice.

“Well you’re prepared.” Hero’s head shot up as the attendant waved her forward. “Normally people wait until after to go for the juice.”

She chuckled nervously. “That’s me... prepared.”

“ID?” She scrambled through her wallet, making sure she didn’t grab either of the two aliases she’d already used at different locations that morning.

She would have used the same ID, but last time she’d tried to explain that she healed super fast- a result of her powers- and could donate more, the resulting argument had lasted nearly an hour, with nurses questioning whether her “magic blood” could even be used at all (it was perfectly normal blood thank you very much), and they’d still only let her donate the normal amount.

She handed him the correct ID, and he shoved a clipboard full of paperwork at her. A phlebotomist led her to a reclining chair. Even though she’d filled out the information twice that morning, it still took approximately twelve years to finish the stack of forms. The phlebotomist returned, and began asking her an equally long list of questions. She only half paid attention to the stream of questions.

Have you received any blood transfusions?

No.

Have you traveled in the last 6 months?

No.

Are you free of HIV or any other blood diseases?

Yes.

Have you ever been pregnant?

Yes.

Wait! No!

The phlebotomist chuckled as she snapped on a pair of gloves. “Ok let’s see that arm.” Hero held out her mark-free arm. After the first donation that morning, the needle mark and resulting bruise had been gone in a matter of minutes. After the second, she’d had to wait over thirty minutes before the signs of her deception to fade. The phlebotomist wrapped a tourniquet above her elbow before consulting her paperwork.

“It says here you’d like to do a double donation?”

“Yes.”

“You have to be 150lbs in order to donate that much sweetie.” The older woman eyed Hero dubiously.

Her throat went dry. “I know. I am.”

“I’m just going to take one bag today; you’re looking a little pale, honey.”

“But the other phlebotomist let me—”She cut off and cleared her throat. “I mean, last time I donated. It was fine.”

The phlebotomist shook her head as she felt the inside of Hero’s arm for the vein.

Hero forced a cheery smile. “This is important. I’ll be fine.”

By tomorrow, she added silently. Or the day after that...

Last time she’d only been able to get in one regular and one double donation before she’d gotten called into help with a work emergency. She’d spent the rest of the day in bed, but had woken up fine the next morning. Of course, that was only half the amount of blood...

The woman narrowed her eyes before shaking her head.

“The shortage is the worst it’s been in years, but I’m only going to take one bag today.”

“But—”

“Unless you’d like to go stand on that scale over there?”

Hero blanched, then mutely shook her head.

The woman muttered something that sounded suspiciously like ‘I thought not,’ before raising her voice to a normal volume. “And make sure to take it easy and drink that orange juice you’ve got there.” She nodded at the bottle in Hero’s hand as she swabbed her arm with an alcohol wipe and picked up a needle.

“I will.”

————— 30 minutes (or so) later —————

Hero made it ten steps out of the building before she collapsed against the wall, head swimming. She peeled the tape and cotton ball off her arm. Blood immediately began to trickle down her forearm.

She struggled to unscrew the cap of her juice, hands shaking. Finally, she succeeded, the cap slipping through her fingers and bouncing against the sidewalk. She brought the bottle to her lips, but only managed a few sips before her stomach revolted. She clamped a hand over her mouth and closed her eyes, willing herself not to throw up.

She closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall, ignoring the curious stares from pedestrians on the crowded downtown street.

She needed to get home.

A quaking boom shook the ground, and Hero cracked open her eyes to see a plume of smoke a few blocks over.

Most likely the bank on main. Or the diamond store next door.

She took a step towards the plume of smoke, but the ground was still rocking, and she had a feeling it wasn’t from the explosion. She closed her eyes as panicked civilians began running to and fro.

Her phone rang out in a pealing tone, sending her a foot into the air, her orange juice falling to the ground with a sticky splash.

The emergency line.

Groaning, she accepted the call.

“Hero! Villain just set off a bomb on Main Street.”

“Diamonds or bank vault?”

“BOTH! You need to get over there now!”

Hero covered her eyes. She wanted to, she really did. If only the ground would stop moving.

“It’s my day off. Send Other Hero.” She cringed at her seemingly callous words, but she didn’t think the Hero Agency would exactly condone what she’d just done.

Even if she was just trying to save lives.

“Other Hero is undercover spying on Supervillain. Your phone shows you are six blocks away. That will take you 12 seconds to get your speedy butt over there.”

A second explosion rocked the ground.

Oh he didn’t. Hero growled, pushing off the wall and taking a hesitant step forward.

The ground was finally still. Much better. She pulled out the spare mask she always kept in her purse and fitted it across her eyes.

12 seconds, she scoffed.

————— 9 (and a half) seconds later————

Hero skidded to a halt in front of the shattered front windows of Pristine Diamonds.

The windows of the bank next door were in a similar condition. She rested a hand against the ash stained wall, gasping as the world spun.

She forced her head up, scanning the scene. A gaping hole had been blown in the wall connecting the two businesses, and smoke was still pouring out of both buildings. She darted into the diamond store, moving without her super speed through the black air. She made it to the back of the store, where the massive safe stood empty, the door hanging drunkenly off one hinge.

She cursed and made her way to the jagged hole. She was halfway across the bank lobby when a figure leapt from the smoke and she was thrown to the side.

She scrambled to her feet as Villain faded back into the smoke. His laughter echoed around her as she spun in desperate circles. The smoke thickened until it was nearly solid around her.

“You’re slow today, Hero.” The voice rang out behind her, and she whirled around, but there was nothing but smoke.

Her vision was truly swimming now. She swiped at her eyes. “And you’re extravagant. You can create smoke from nothing, you didn’t actually need to set off a bomb.”

“I was creating a passage between the businesses. They should thank me.” The voice was to her right, and she spun again. There was no point in super speed if she couldn’t see. Her head was starting to pound.

“And that outfit.” The whisper brushed against her neck, and she whirled around again, only to see the smoke curling in around the place where Villain had just stood.

She glanced down self-consciously at her pink shorts and baggy tie-dye T-shirt.

“You already ruined my day off. There’s no need to mock my clothes as well.” She huffed, taking determined strides in the direction she hoped was the door.

“Who said I was mocking?”

She sensed him behind her the instant before he attacked. She spun. He hit. She flew. Across the room. To the floor. Over chunks of rubble. And into a brick wall.

Her back cracked against the wall, knocking the air from her lungs.

Smoke swirled through the air as Villain emerged, the dark tendrils receding to lap at his heels.

He looked surprised; he’d never actually managed to land a blow that direct before.

Hero forced herself off the ground. It was time to retreat. She summoned her powers, but between her swimming head and the sharp pain in her leg, she made it only a few feet before sinking back to the ground with a quiet whimper of pain.

She forced her blurry gaze up to Villain, who was regarding her with a strange expression on his face.

“I thought you healed as fast as you can run.”

She blinked, and realized he wasn’t looking at her, but at her leg.

She looked down. Blood seeped from a long shallow gash on the outside of her calf, no doubt from a sharp piece of rubble.

Smaller cuts and bruises covered the rest of her body, and none of them were healing.

“That’s strange.” She wiped clumsily at the cut.

Villain’s eyes narrowed. “You seem oddly off your game, Hero. You haven’t lost that much blood.”

She mustered the energy to glare at Villain. “I did tell you this was my day off.”

“I wonder if it’s from the blood earlier.” She mused, floating on a hazy cloud.

The tendrils of smoke scattered as Villain knelt down beside her.

“What blood? You came to fight me when you were already injured?”

His voice sounded as though he was speaking through a tunnel.

“There’s a national blood shortage. Worst it’s been in years.”

“So?”

“So, I donated.”

Villain scoffed as he produced a cloth from somewhere and began wrapping it around her leg. “You have regenerative healing powers, a pint of blood wouldn’t have made you this weak.”

Hero shook her head and weakly held up five fingers.

Villain froze. “FIVE PINTS OF BLOOD!” He roared, smoke dancing angrily around them. “ARE YOU ABSOLUTELY INSANE!? YOU SHOULD BE DEAD RIGHT NOW!”

Her head throbbed with every word, and she flinched away.

“I heal fast.” It was barely a whisper, but his fiery eyes met hers.

“I don’t care how fast you heal. No one can survive losing half their blood.” At least now his rage was contained to a low snarl. He grabbed Hero’s hands and pulled her to her feet.

“Your hands are freezing! What were you thinking!? Why would you face me after donating that much blood?!? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

He continued to seethe as he swept Hero into his arms and strode through the bank. He paused only to swing a bulging duffle bag onto one shoulder before he swept out through a second gaping hole into a back alley. A dark SUV was waiting in the shadows. He tossed the bag into the back and slid Hero into the passenger seat.

She curled against the warm leather.

“I was just trying to help.” She mumbled, her voice muffled as she spoke into the headrest.

“I know.” A hand ran down her hair. “Close your eyes. Sleep.”

She forced her eyes wider, remembering. “I can’t. I have a job to do.”

Villain shut her door and rounded the car to the driver’s side. Slipping into place, he started the engine.

“Not today.” He managed a small smile even as his eyes crinkled in concern.

“It’s your day off, remember?”

Original request from @im-a-wonderling:

“I started thinking about a story where the hero donates blood and then the villain does something that the hero has to go and face them. The villain notices the hero is off their game, but assumes they’re just tired or something. Then, the hero gets injured. The injury is really minor in terms of blood loss, but the hero is pale and sickly and can’t stand up and the villain gets all protective like “WHY would you come and FACE ME if you DONATED BLOOD today?!” And the hero mumbles “They’re having a blood shortage.” And the villain is ready to wring the hero’s neck for not taking care of themselves. So they just scoop the hero up in their arms and brings them back to their lair to feed them and let them sleep.”

Again thanks so much for the request!! I hope I did it justice:)

[wooyunhwa]

kingdom of welcome addiction | C.S.

view pinned post for masterlist!

Genre: smut (mostly suggestive in this part though)

Pairing: demon!san x fem!reader

Word Count: 3.8k

Warnings: blood drinking, virgin mc

Synopsis: When you accidentally summon a bloodthirsty demon boy to your bedroom, you form an unexpected contract with him.

A/N: Thank you for reading and comments are super appreciated as always!

If you had to read the words pythagorean theorem one more time, you were gonna smash your brains in. 

You reached over to your phone, unlocking your screen to the group chat. 

y/n: anyone wanna come over and help me with this dumb problem? my heads gonna implode. 

chaeyeon: busy tonight, Y/N. lol, just summon a demon or smth. 

yuri: lmao that ouija board is still there right? I think we left it under your bed 

chaeyeon: I don’t think you summon demons with a ouija board, yuri

y/n: ugh you guys are no help. brb, summoning demon...

You realized how weird this conversation would sound from an outside perspective, but it was a sort of inside joke you had within your friend group. You and your friends had joked about ‘summoning a demon’ before, and you’d even used a Oujia board a few times and done fake seances to freak each other out. The results were always disappointing—not that you ever actually wanted to contact the dead or anything, but you were at least hoping for a spooky story or something you could tell. 

You knew they were joking around, but your brain felt a little delirious from all the math churning it into mush. 

You switched tabs from your test, typing in the search bar “how to summon a demon”. You chuckled a little under your breath at the ridiculousness. But at least then you could tell your friends you actually tried. They’d get a kick out of that. 

You followed a few rabbit holes down some forums, mockingly reciting strings of incomprehensible Latin. If you were gonna do this, you were gonna commit fully. 

“You called?”

You scrambled backwards, nearly jumping a foot off the bed at the sudden unfamiliar voice echoing in the room. 

Then you saw him. 

He was perched on your bookshelf, one leg dangling lackadaisically over the edge, the other folded up at his side. You caught a glimpse of his piercing crimson-red eyes illuminated in the dim candle-lit room. He looked particularly cat-like in his position, a devilish grin painted on his face, what looked like fangs coming to two sharp points in his mouth.

The man picked up a pen from your bookshelf, twirling it in his hand casually with playful twists of his fingers. “You’re new…” he mused, glancing at you up and down. “And... cute. Fresh blood. How'd you get my number, hmm?”

You sat stunned, dizzy from confusion. Your words were lodged in your throat, unable to utter a single sound. This had to be a dream, right? Had you fallen asleep while working on your homework? It wouldn't be the first time.

He tapped his fingers impatiently against the oak of the bookcase, waiting for your next move. The only words you could manage came out in a hoarse croak, shaky and uncertain. "This—I'm dreaming…" 

He shook his head, clicking his tongue tauntingly against his teeth. "Oh, there's a lot of things I could do right now to assure you you aren't," he started, the gleam in his eye particularly sinister as he drew his gaze up and down. "But trust me. You wouldn't want that." 

“Who—”

“I have a lot of names, but you can just call me San. Your friendly neighborhood demon.” He flashed a fiendish smirk. “Well, maybe don’t linger too much on the ‘friendly’ part.”

“D—demon?”

“What, you didn’t know? You’re the one who summoned me, darling.” He drew out his words, slowly, carefully, continuing to play with the pen in his fingers. The way he spoke sent shivers down your spine, as if he had the power to kill you at any moment. He probably did.  

He pressed his palms against the top of the shelf to hoist himself off, the books on it threatening to topple with the sudden movement. The minute he vaulted down from the shelf, you were able to get a better look at him. 

The first thing that drew your eye was his impossibly broad shoulders, accentuated by the tight cut of his shirt. It contrasted against his tiny waist, cinched in neatly with a belt. His proportions were unreal, and so very fittingly non-human. He was undoubtedly the most incredible sight you'd ever seen in your life, human or otherwise. He made his way over to the bed where you sat. You snapped your laptop closed, pushing it to the side, your blood turning to ice as he inched closer to you. The way he sauntered across the floor almost seemed like he was floating, like gravity was merely a fun game to him.  

He poised himself over you, his powerful stance alone commanding you to look at him. His fingernail dragged under your chin with a distinct sting, pulling your gaze up to his intense eyes. It was cold, like a dull knife, causing your body to tremble slightly. His piercing eye-contact was entrancing, even spell-binding—you couldn't tear your eyes away. "How cute," he teased sing-songily, “you’re a virgin.”

Your eyes widened, still pulled in by his magnetic gaze. “How did you—” 

"I can smell one from a mile away. The scent… it's just so…" he paused to lick his lips, drawing his tongue slowly over his black metal lip ring. "delicious." 

“Anyway, you must have had a reason to summon me, no? A soul to harvest? A sacrifice maybe?” Something about his tone was giddy at the idea. “At your service, darling.” He drew down in a playful bow, his mouth twitching into a smirk. 

You hated to say it, but he was entirely your type. From up close, you could see his other piercings more clearly, several earrings lining both ears, glimmering against the cartilage. His right eyebrow donned a shaved slit, decorated with another piercing. Of course the demon you summoned in your dream would be your ideal man. Well, he kind of looked like the edgy Hot-topic boy of your 7th grade self’s dreams, but you couldn’t deny that was still kind of your type still. His jet-black hair framed the sharp cut of his jaw perfectly—you were sure he could see you practically drooling over him at this point.  He looked crafted by heaven—hell?—itself.  

Even so, no single part of you desired for him to take your virginity right this second. Maybe under different circumstances, but not with the time ticking down on your math assignment and the fact that he was a fucking demon you just conjured into your room.

You shook your lewd thoughts out of your head, worried for a moment that demons might have some sort of mind-reading powers you weren’t aware of. “Well, uh, actually… I need help with my math homework.”

He snickered, his eyes trained on you like prey. “You can’t be serious. Tell me you’re not serious.”

“I’m kind of serious. It’s like 10% of my grade.”

He clicked his tongue against his teeth again, breaking eye contact finally, and you felt a sense of relief as you finally had a moment to breathe away from his suffocating glare.“For someone who just summoned a demon you’re a real buzzkill.”  He perched himself on the edge of the bed, resting his butt lightly against the edge of the frame. “Fine,” he groaned. “Let’s say I actually helped you. You know how this works, right? If I do something for you, you have to give me something in return.”

You gulped. This was a dream, it had to be, and the best you could do was go along for the ride. Even so, you couldn’t help but feel shaken, despite doing your best to convince yourself it wasn’t real—like some sort of subconscious defense mechanism your body employed in danger. And, well, he kind of seemed like danger. “Like what?”

“Well, normally...” He glanced back over, pinning you down with his gaze once again. “It’d be your soul.” 

Your breath stopped in your throat. You weren’t quite sure if you were ready to give up your entire soul for 10% of your math grade, although that was a pretty accurate metaphor for your college experience. 

“Your virginity maybe?” he hummed, drawing his tongue back over his lips, then, seeing your expression, shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. “No? Damn. It doesn’t hurt to ask.”

“Um… I can offer to make you dinner?”

He paused, his eyes widening for a second, then burst into a cacophony of laughter. It was the first time he broke his exterior, and for a moment, he looked a bit more human. “I’ll take it.” Then, more “but you realize a contract with a demon is binding, right?”

 “So, I’m contractually obligated to make you dinner, that’s what you’re saying?”

He paused, his smile turning amused once more. “Feisty. I like you,” he winked flirtatiously, sending heat rising in your cheeks. You hated to say it, but he was devilishly charming, on top of being probably the hottest being, human or not, you’d ever seen. 

You glanced at your phone, noting the time ticking down slowly but surely.  “Okay, I’m not joking. The math. My assignment is due in 45 minutes.” 

He clicked his tongue in annoyance. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”

He sat next to your side on the bed for a while, guiding you through the problems like some sort of hot e-boy math tutor. Not that you were complaining about that. The way he sat was surprisingly cute, one leg tucked up at his side, the other folded underneath him.

“Where’d you learn math, anyway?” you asked, admiring his immaculate side profile as his eyes trained on the laptop screen, typing the answers in. “They have like, demon school or something?”

He gave you a side glance, and you once again felt uneasy under the heat of his gaze. “A demon never reveals his secrets.”

“I thought that was a magician.” 

He visibly stifled a laugh, pressing his lips tightly to avoid giving you the satisfaction of breaking his serious exterior. “Can you be quiet? I’m focusing. I’m a demon, not a mathematician. This is way out of my scope of work,” he grumbled through his teeth. 

You watched him silently as he worked. As he typed, his tongue lingered just outside his parted lips in concentration. “Even you sitting next to me is distracting,” he hissed quietly. “You don’t realize what your scent is doing to me right now.”

Right. Your virgin scent. Was that really so appealing to him? 

“Fine. I guess I’ll go make dinner. You promise you’re gonna turn this in in time?” 

“I’m contractually obligated,” he responded dryly. 

You hoisted yourself off the bed and headed to the kitchen to make dinner,  but something about leaving a stranger in your room felt strange. No stranger than accepting he was a demon, though, you supposed. 

You returned with a large plate of pasta, pretty much the only thing you had on hand. He received it apprehensively from you. 

“What?” you asked, offended at his look of disgust. “Sorry, I didn’t have any fresh human souls on hand. My bad.”  

You sat across from him on the bed, watching in fascination as he nibbled slowly at the thin spaghetti noodles. “You have any hot sauce or anything?” he asked, wincing as he took a few more bites. 

“I barely had enough pasta to feed two people. I’m a broke college student. Anyway, I never forced you to accept the dinner offer.” 

“I didn’t think it’d be so bland. What, you didn’t know demons prefer spicy food?”

“I didn’t know demons existed until today. Whatever, it doesn’t matter. This is all a dream I’m going to wake up from in a bit anyway.”

A wicked smirk danced up on his lips again. “Oh, you still think it’s a dream? Cute,” he sang condescendingly. “Well, then I guess it wouldn’t matter if I did this...”  

Your heart seemed to stop in your chest as he crawled forward on his palms. You felt his breath linger on your neck first, then the gentle scrape of his pointed canines against your sensitive skin. Every hair on your body stood up. He pressed them down slightly, just enough to feel the tension on your flesh. Then he bit harder, nearly piercing as he sunk them in.

You reeled back, shoving him off you breathlessly. “What the fuck-”

“You still think it’s a dream? Then it wouldn’t matter if it sunk my teeth in. You’d just wake up, right? Isn’t that how dreams are supposed to work?” he taunted, a smile curled up on his lip. His fangs gleamed under the still-dim light of your bedroom. “Humans are so amusing,”   

You wiped at your neck, rubbing circles where his teeth pinched your skin. He sat himself upright again and stood up from the bed. “Well, my end of the deal is over. Consider you released from your contract.” 

“You’re leaving?”

“Well I’m not gonna stay here.” His hand came up to his ear like a phone. “Call me if you have a soul to harvest. You know my number.” 

He was gone before you could blink, like an apparition, disappeared just as quickly as he had appeared. Your eyelids grew heavier as you reflected what had just happened, and you wondered what would happen if you fell asleep in a dream. Would you just wake up? 

You collapsed into bed, still unsure whether or not the past few hours had actually happened or not. Part of you hoped they had—there was something about him that was so deeply captivating, you would do anything to see him again. 

As he said, you did have his ‘number’.

You woke up dazed, still unsure if you had dreamt the events of the night before. The only sure way to know was to check your assignment—if you had really fallen asleep while doing your homework, you wouldn’t have turned the assignment in, right?

You opened your online class page, scanning for the assignment, and there it was, in bold letters: 

Submitted: 98%. 

Your breath caught in your throat. You felt two distinct emotions: relief that you got the assignment turned in, and complete disbelief that your encounter last night was not part of your imagination.

You could summon him again. 

He seemed about as harmless as a demon could seem. At first, he had been entirely intimating—his aura made it seem like he could have eaten your soul right there with no second thoughts. But watching that powerful being, capable of so much evil and chaos, do something as mundane as your math homework… that was the most entertaining, and almost adorable thing, you’d ever witnessed. 

Besides, you had something he desired, something you could dangle in front of him to keep him coming back. You had your virginity, which seemed to be the ultimate prize for a demon like him. The way he had talked about it last night, it seemed you were irresistible for him. But he also accepted your rejection so easily. 

As long as you kept drafting up meaningless contracts, he had to oblige, right? You weren’t sure exactly how it worked, but that’s how it seemed from your interactions last night. If it worked like you thought it did, his job as a demon was to make a contract with his summoner, no matter how insignificant, as long as he takes something in return. 

That night, you read the same latin phrase you had before he’d appeared, this time off a sticky note push-pinned in your wall. 

You heard him again before you saw him, and you whipped your head around to see where he was standing behind you. 

He wore the same playful, devilish smirk, displaying his fangs. “Hmm, you decided to let me harvest your soul now, have you? That was quick.”

It had barely been 24 hours, and yet you’d already forgotten how incredibly hot he was, for lack of a better word. Your lips parted slightly in awe, forgetting for a second to formulate a response. 

“I hope your silence is a yes,” he interrupted. 

You shook your attraction to him out of your head for a moment, remembering what you brought him here for. “I want you to clean my bathroom.”

He laughed in disbelief, plopping himself down on the bed. “I’m sorry, you want me to what?”

“That’s how this works right? I summon you and do what I want. And I give you something in return.” You leaned against the desk behind you. 

“What am I, your errand boy?”

“But that is how this works, right?”

He clicked his tongue against his teeth in annoyance. “Yes,” he grumbled reluctantly. “But what do I get this time?”

“I cook you dinner again.”

“I’m gonna need more than that.”

“I’ll let you bite my neck. Draw blood if you want.”

His eyes widened at your proposal. His reaction confirmed your suspicion—the blood of a virgin must be like crack to a demon like him. His face went flush. “Deal,” he confirmed eagerly. 

You watched him as he cleaned, and there was something satisfying about watching this bloodthirsty demon scrubbing the bathtub on his hands and knees. He almost looked a bit pathetic. You stood in the door frame, unable to help from grinning at making him perform such menial tasks. A lot more was at stake now than just dinner, so you might as well have some fun with his end of the bargain. Even on his knees, you couldn’t help but watch him in awe. Every part of him was sculpted immaculately—his appearance was distinctly human, and yet he was in all other ways otherworldly. 

“I can’t believe I’ve been reduced to some human’s lowly errand boy,” he hissed through his teeth. 

“Less talking, more scrubbing,” you demanded with a smirk, and he shot you a deathly glare. 

You followed through with your promise of dinner, and this time you came prepared with hot sauce. He devoured it eagerly, and you felt proud for making a dinner worthy of a demon’s praise. 

But there was still one more promise you had to follow through on, and the thought made your head spin.  

He sat across from you on the bed, eyes trained on your neck in a very un-subtle display of desire. You’d never felt so wanted, even if it was just the thought of your virgin blood that had him practically drooling. 

“You sure about this?” he asked hesitantly. It was strange that he was even asking permission, as he seemed so eager the other night to just sink his teeth right into you. 

“I’m contractually obligated,” you teased dryly. Then, more seriously, “But yes, I am.” 

He placed his left hand on your neck, steadying it in place. His fierce, almost predatory gaze washed over you completely. 

He leaned forward, parting his lips to drag his teeth gently along your neck. You tipped your head back, giving him a better angle. He teased there for a while, lingering his sharp canines on your skin. His breath was hot and heavy against your neck, the warmth of it sending chills rocketing down your spine. Your lips parted slightly, gentle moans escaping at the sensation. The situation was predatory, and yet it felt completely sensual in a way you couldn’t quite describe.

He paused for a moment, lips fluttering over your skin as he spoke. “You have no idea how hard it is not to completely drain you,” he whispered, voice dripping off his tongue with a sort of lustful hunger. “I promise I’ll only take a bit.”

He sunk down, and you heard it before you felt it—the distinct sound of teeth piercing flesh. You cried out a bit, bringing your own hand to your mouth to muffle your whines. It stung a bit, but in a twisted way, there was something about it you liked. You felt his tongue draw over your wound slowly, lapping deliberately at the fresh blood like a starved animal.  

He moaned against you, and it echoed in your ear like the most divine sound you’ve ever heard. He may have been a demon, but his noises sounded like they came from heaven itself. He pulled your waist against his as he slowly bathed his tongue over the punctured flesh, his fingers squeezing as he grasped at your waist. He littered a few faint kisses across your blood-stained skin, moving slightly down towards your shoulder blades. The sudden sensation drew soft, pleasured moans from your lips. 

As he finally pulled away, parting his lips tenderly away from your skin, you caught the faintest glimmer of his blacked-out eyes before they flickered back to normal. His deep red irises sparkled like rubies as he maintained eye contact. He brought one of his hands up from your waist, gently wiping at his blood-stained lips with the back of his palm. “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself for a second. Your skin tastes so sweet, like candy,” he praised softly, voice deep and wanting. “And your blood, fuck—it’s like nothing I’ve ever tasted.”

The seductive gleam in his eye signaled that you had awoken something in him, something you hadn’t meant to. He was still holding you, probably without even noticing, but you didn't want to draw his attention to it quite yet. You wanted to experience it for just a bit longer if you could. Something about the way he held your waist against his made you crave more of him. 

Almost as if a switch flipped, his expression went dark, his fingernails suddenly digging all the way into your waist. You yelped in pain as he nearly punctured the skin through your clothes. “I need you to walk away from me right now. Before I do something I’ll regret,” he growled. You watched as his eyes flashed to the same demonic black for a moment. 

You gulped, slowly backing yourself away from him, scrambling off the bed. "Farther," he groaned painfully, his breathing becoming heavy and labored. His hands clenched at the blanket on the bed, balling into restrained fists. "Now."

You ran from the room, your feet moving before you even knew where they were taking you. You ran all the way down the hallway to the front door, sliding your back down against it as you collapsed to the floor. Your limbs shook weakly, trying to calm yourself down. You must have sat there for an hour or more, completely frozen, not quite aware of the passing of time. You wiped the blood of your neck, but it didn't do much, smearing it across. 

When you managed to finally stand up again, you made your way hesitantly towards the door of the bedroom, swinging your head around the doorframe first. 

"San…?" you called apprehensively.

But he was gone, leaving only a light imprint on the sheets of the blood-stained bed and two deep punctures in your neck to remind you he was ever there.

[to be continued]

[alwaysahiccupandastrid]

His Dark Materials S2 Ep 6 - Rambling/Thoughts

I really cannot believe that we’re at the penultimate episode already, oh my gosh. It’s gone by so fast??

Again, because I’ve reread TSK in the last couple of weeks, the book is fresh in my mind but I’ve probably still missed stuff

Also last week was so intense and seeing the “previously on” section made me remember just how intense that was, so it’s a hard job to top that!

ANGELS AHH RIGHT AWAY IM GEEKING OUT

“The last time they were seen was to make war” - IT’S HAPPENING ASDFGHJKL

Ruta going off to see Asriel and me just remembering what exactly went down between them while she was there with him... heh

So Will’s hand looks AWFUL oh my god poor Will 😭

Pan is REALLY into his Red PAN-da form oh my goodness

So the other kids out for revenge terrified the living SHIT out of me, dear god I don’t think it could be any creepier than dozens of them appearing out of the shadows like that, like it’s genuinely terrifying

Serafina just dropped right in to rescue them and I was both relieved and a little disappointed? Because in the book the whole chase sequence is so much longer and more important, like it takes up most of an entire chapter I think, and here it’s like two minutes?

Serafina: What does this edge cut? // Lyra: Everything (Will at the same time: Nothing.) - 😂

I missed Lee and Jopari tbh so yay to seeing them once more! And they’ve crossed into the next world!

Oh hi again Mary!

^ I wasn’t expecting to see Mary again this series because in TSK book, her last appearance is going through the window (which was last episode), so I’m a little curious as to whether we’re going to get a TINY little peek into The Amber Spyglass here (it’s been years since I reread it, I apologize). Because last series they did a bit of TSK (namely introducing Will + him crossing into Cittagazze), so it would be interesting!

“Good, something I can understand for a change” - LOL Same

Serafina wants to take Lyra back to her world?? Really??

Not gonna lie, the two girls spying on Mary was kind of low-key creepy

Lyra mentioning that she crossed worlds to find out about Dust and mentioning Roger 😭

Also I’m so emotional over just how much she wants Will to be safe, like she would really do anything to keep him safe and I love it

Lyra asking the Alethiometer where Will’s dad is and “he’s in this world” - ahhh it’s going to happen!

Also I really hope that the BBC/whoever decides to sell replica Alethiometers because the design is so beautiful?! I would fork out serious dough for one, and it would go nicely with the one I have from the film

No but seriously, words don’t describe just how badly I want a replica

“I wanted to fly so I summoned you here, now I’m flying” - LOL OKAY THEN JOHN

Ooh damn, that outfit Marisa is wearing is FINE. I’m slightly gayer than I was before, ngl

I was like “nooo Mary don’t be nice to these kids, they’re awful”

But it’s very sweet that she offers them food?? Like she pulls a chocolate bar out and is like “it’s no good for you, it’s full of sugar”... I love her

The way that Mary was so happy and excited when they mentioned Lyra, only to tell the girls off for trying to kill her - more of a mum than Mrs Coulter tbh

“Miss, can I have a hug?” - AWWW OMG WHY AM I SAD

They asked Mary to stay and look after them omg 😭😭😭

“Come with me, I’ll bring you to your adults” - ooh okay this could go any number of ways... Either she actually reunites them with their families and all’s well, or she takes them up there and their parents/adults are all dead (for lack of a better word)? Or the Spectres attack after Mary leaves them with the adults??

Jopari talking about meeting his dæmon and also a little bit about trying to get back to his family :(

“Can you magic us up a fire?” “One moment” *presents a box of matches” - LMFAO

Wait did Serafina seriously just imply that she thought Will might hurt Lyra?!?

Serafina saying that if protecting Lyra means protecting Will as well... Yes, protect Will please! Protect BOTH of these children, I literally BEG you, they’ve gone through far too much

Ooh okay so the witch ritual/spell was kind of cool to see!

Lyra saying “please tell me he’ll be alright” 😭♥️

The fact that Lyra curled up close to Will and then Pan (in ermine form) curled up CLOSER to Will is so cute, they both love Will so much

Pan: “We feel safe her... don’t we?” / OOF OKAY THIS IS F I N E

I already know what Lyra’s “other name” is because I read the book but the hints are anything BUT subtle tbh. “Mother of us all, cause of all sin, tempted by the serpent”... I’m not even that religious but I think it’s pretty obvious.

Also, if Mary is playing the part of the “serpent” within Lyra’s destiny, does that mean that Mary has tempted Lyra? Or that she will?

Boreal being nervous about being in the city and Marisa is just so unimpressed by him... Mood

That smirk she had when going up to that Spectre victim was so chilling, we have to stan Ruth Wilson and her incredible acting

Also, fun fact, Ruth Wilson went to my sixth form college and is from Surrey (like me), and she grew up in Shepperton, which is where my Nan used to live when she was alive (my uncle and aunt live there still), so that’s super exciting!

“We could learn from this” - PLEASE DO NOT MA’AM

God I hate the Magisterium so fucking much, the patriarchy is so strong with them

Oh great, now they’re gunning to kill Lyra :/

Also, off topic, I’ve only just connected that Will Keen, who plays Father MacPhail, is Dafne Keen’s dad?!?

“She’s lost a lot for one so young” - AND SHE’S STILL GOING TO LOSE PEOPLE, WHY IS THIS FAIR PHILIP PULLMAN 😭

“She must be protected” - AGAIN, they BOTH need protecting PLEASE

The Spectre noises reminded me of the noises of the Smoke Monster from LOST, so that’s definitely trippy for me

Thanks, I hate it

I nearly shouted “WHAT THE FUCK IS SHE DOING” out loud in front of both my parents, I seriously thought she had a damn death wish

I have never been so damn tense in my entire life as I am watching this show - and I KNOW what happens

HOW DID SHE DO THAT WITH THE SPECTRES SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN

Lee’s so worried about Lyra - 11/10, Father of the Year

The Magisterium airships... NO. FUCK. WE’RE AT THAT POINT ALREADY AND IM NOT OKAY BECAUSE I KNOW HOW AND WHERE THIS ENDS AND I HATE IT

I deadass thought Marisa and Carlo were about to kiss when he ran up to her and I actually said out loud “NO please don’t”

Look I must just be so dirty minded but when she said “let’s celebrate”, my immediate reaction was “NO NO NO NO EW EW EW NO” and “I hope she just means having a drink and not doing the frickety-frack”

I was so close to tearing up as Will was talking about his mum, her illness, and the boys who were mean to her because of it. His love for his mum is so beautifully written and the way Amir Wilson is playing Will is so wonderful

I was also close to tears when he was talking about his dad and how he used to imagine about his dad, so maybe I’m just emotional anyway

“Could go to school... have friends” - okay yeah no I’m definitely crying 😭

“I couldn’t trust anyone.” “Until you met me.” “Yeah.” - EXCUSE ME ♥️😭 my HEART

I love one (1) soft boy, and one (1) feral girl and her dæmon

The relief I felt when I saw Marisa and Carlo were literally just having drinks 😅

“They consume what makes us human, so I just suppressed that and hid it” + *cut to the monkey looking kinda sad/uncomfortable* - Umm fUCK OKAY THEN

Why am I feeling sorry for the monkey?!?

“You think we’re equal?” - LMFAO RIGHT

EWW THEY KISSED. No, just... nO

When I saw his snake dæmon moving towards her monkey, I thought one of two things was about to happen: 1) the monkey was going to pet and paw and the snake as Marisa seduced Boreal, or 3) the monkey was going to strange the snake and kill Boreal

OKAY THIS TOOK A SHARP BUT NOT UNWELCOMED TURN

“You’ve NEVER been my equal.” “You’d only hold me back.” - OH MY GOD YES THE SHADE

She’s not wrong though let’s be honest here

So she poisoned him I’m assuming? She poisoned his drink because the monkey didn’t actually touch the snake... damn.

Her just sitting there and continuing to drink with his dead body there is... damn.

“Into that valley” NO NO, please no

Jopari really just summoned a whole damn storm huh

Also the fact he fully trusts in Lee’s abilities to land them safely :3

Lee: “Can we trust him?” // Hester: “Do we have another choice?!!” - LMFAO I love them so much

THE WAY I NEARLY SCREAMED WHEN THAT WITCH GOT ATTACKED BY A SPECTRE OMFG AT LEAST WILL WAS THERE TO SAVE HER

Okay but did Marisa REALLY sit there for HOURS with Boreal’s corpse sitting opposite her?!?

Her burning her hand on the flame in front of the monkey, and the monkey clearly whimpering and in pain was so agonizing to watch, I can’t take this show

Also, you have to wonder just how many times she’s harmed herself (and him) for her to keep doing it with next to no problems (like separating from each other all the time)

I was so excited to see the birds attacking the zeppelins, like it was one of my favourite details in the book, and I worried that they wouldn’t have the budget for it but yay!

I do kind of wish that we’d had Sayan Kötor as the “eagle Queen” leading them though - she probably was but I wish we’d actually seen it or heard Jopari say it or whatever

THEY SHOT THE GAS CANNISTER OH SHIT THEY’RE GOING DOWN HARD AND FAST IN THAT BALLOON

HOLD ON BBC YOU CANNOT END THIS THERE?!? EXCUSE ME?!

The last episode is next week and on an hour earlier, so that’s exciting! I have no idea what I’ll do once this series ends, or when we’ll even get the third and final series because of COVID and filming delays, but I’m excited for it nonetheless and hoping it’s next November/December or something!

[fencer-x]

Fencer’s Big Eva Review

Just got done watching the Eva finale, so it’s time to get out thoughts while they’re fresh! Caveat: Eva is difficult to understand for native speakers, and I’m definitely not a native speaker XD I feel like I got maybe half, and got the rough gist of like 10% of the rest, and the remaining was just no friggin’ clue. Would’ve gone better if there’d at least been JP subs, but you’ll have to deal with what I’ve got for now!

It should be obvious, but there’ll be HELLA MAJOR SPOILERS for the final Evangelion movie. Ready? Let’s go.

The movie very helpfully starts off with a ~2 min recap of the movies thus far. This was great because I didn’t have time to rewatch the previous three before going, and while I’ve seen them a few times, it took me a second the recall what had happened at the very end of Q, so I was glad to get a very brief recap.

The actual movie itself opens on...Paris! Or Paris post-Near-Third-Impact (Third Impact?), which is a red and black wasteland. It seems that Wille has been developing these things that look like Entry Plugs that they shove into the ground and restore everything to pre-all-impacts (so like, blue water and everything); couldn’t get HOW it managed that, but they had them and were attempting to restore Paris.

Would have been a walk in the park except for weird Eva-Angel-Machine hybrids that were trying to prevent them from activating the plugs. Lots of fighting happens, with Mari piloting her Eva to give them cover while the Wille staff set everything up. Eventually they manage it, and Euro Nerv is restored.

Then we switch over to right where Q left off: Asuka, Clone!Rei, and a catatonic Shinji wandering around trying to go who knows where. They eventually get picked up by...Touji! Yes, an older Touji now who lives in a commune of survivors, scraping out a semblance of a life in one of the areas protected by the aforementioned plugs (they had another name but I couldn’t get it).

In this community, Touji is the local doctor--and he’s married with a kid! He married Hikari, and they have an infant daughter named Tsubame. 

Now, let’s check in how our main three do when introduced to this relatively normal life they get to enjoy for a few weeks:

Asuka: Still in ‘fight mode’, ready to go at a moment’s notice. How she thinks she’s gonna fight when she has no Eva idk, but for this entire little bit, she’s either naked or in her plugsuit. She stays with Aida Kensuke, who’s kind of the handyman, and is generally just rude af.

Shinji: For 90% of this bit, he’s totally shut off. He’s incredibly fucked up from having JUST watched Kaworu die, essentially because of him, and Asuka has on a DSS choker, and every time he sees it, he collapses and begins vomiting violently. He stays with the Suzuharas at first but is quickly sent to stay with Asuka and Kensuke because they don’t really know how to deal with him. Kensuke manages to get him to open up a little bit, but eventually it’s Rei who gets him started on the path back to being himself. At one point he runs away and ‘lives’ alone for a while in what I think was either the building where he first met Kaworu playing the piano or one that looked a lot like it. He goes out to do odd jobs with Kensuke a lot, and on one occasion he’s taken to an ‘outdoor lab’ where some workers are experimenting with new gardening techniques. It’s here he’s meets...Kaji Ryouji. No, not that Kaji Ryouji. That Kaji DIED. This is the son he had with Misato (named after him).

Rei: Now, let me say I’ve never been super interested in Rei. I didn’t dislike her, like I did Asuka, but I wasn’t really interested in her either. She was just there. Guys.....I LOVED REI IN THIS MOVIE. I would have watched 2.5 hours of the Rei Learns To Be A Human show and been happy for the $20 I paid. Rei spends her time in the commune learning to be an individual. She stays with the Suzuharas and learns what different words mean, like “Good morning” and “Good night” and “Thank you” and “Goodbye”, she gets super close with a bunch of old ladies who essentially adopt her and teach her how to plant turnips and what a bath is, and she becomes her own person. When she first arrives, the Suzuharas think she’s “Ayanami Rei”, but she explains that she isn’t, so they call her “Sokkuri-san” instead (”Miss Spitting Image” essentially), and the old ladies find it amusing at first but then encourage her to choose her own name, and when she can’t think of one, they tell her to have someone choose one for her, so she asks the Uber-Depressed Shinji to choose one. These interactions are what eventually pull him back to himself, but ultimately he’s unable to come up with one, because “Ayanami is Ayanami”. She thanks him for trying anyway, returns his SD player to him..............................and then dissolves into a pile of LCL fluid, as apparently all clones eventually return to LCL. Fantastic, because Shinji didn’t need EVEN MORE TRAUMA.

Somehow, the above doesn’t break Shinji, and he resolves to go back to Wille and face his father I guess?? I’m not entirely clear on why (gotta go read some reports of my own I guess lol). Back on the ship with Misato et al., Shinji isn’t forced to wear a choker but he’s put in a cell with like explosives in it I guess. He starts having visions of Kaworu helping him accept things.

At this point it’s getting close to the climax, and Wille are going after Nerv/Gendo once and for all. During the final fight, Asuka tried to take out Unit 13′s core, and then she’s not managing it, she rips off her eyepatch, and we see that the patch was keeping the 9th angel bound within her eye, so she decides to throw away her humanity and let it take over to destroy Unit 13. Unfortunately, she’s killed in the end--how? She’s approached by a vision of her ‘original’. Yup, Asuka was a clone herself, like Rei, and she turns back into LCL and she and unit 02 are absorbed by Unit 13.

Eventually the fight comes down to Shinji vs. Gendo, who has thrown away his own humanity and bonded with Unit 13 in the hopes of completing the Human Instrumentality Project. He and Shinji go head to head as Shinji summons (???) Unit 01 from inside Unit 13, and there’s a really REALLY WEIRD final fight between the two that involves some weird animation choices. Lots of storyboards and overly CGI’d CGI, and some bits that seem to take them through the different incarnations of the Eva series.

We also get Gendo backstory by the boatload as he and Shinji have an actual goddamn conversation for once. Mari features prominently in Gendo’s flashbacks so she was definitely one of his classmates it seems, who introduced him to Fuyutsuki. I’m still not entirely clear on who she is/was.

However, through this conversation, Shinji gives the people he’s interacted with most closely/been closest with closure I guess? Gendo, Asuka...Kaworu.

So about Kaworu. Their conversation was VERY VERY WEIRD; it’s made clear that Shinji is also now aware of all the different iterations of their meeting. When they talk, it’s set at the beach where they first met in the TV series, and Shinji says he remembers all the times they’ve met before. Shinji mentions that Kaworu reminds him a lot of his father, and then there are some very strange flashbacks (????) of Kaworu’s that I feel like imply he’s to Gendo as Rei is to Yui. At one point, he’s seen talking to Fuyutsuki, trying to decide on a name for himself and settling on ‘Nagisa’ as it means ‘beach’, where the ocean meets the land. Fuyutsuki later addresses Kaworu, who’s sitting in Gendo’s desk, as “Commander Nagisa”. Kaworu reflects to Shinji that he failed so many times to make Shinji happy, but he’s realized now that that’s because he doesn’t know what would make Shinji happy and it was arrogant to think he knew better. He was looking for his own happiness all along.

In the end, after all these goodbyes, Shinji is left with the decision of what to do with, well, reality. He decides, in a conversation with Rei, that he’ll reset everything--create a ‘neon genesis’--to a world without Eva or Angels.

Our last shot is an older Shinji meeting his (presumed??) girlfriend Mari on a train platform. On the opposite platform waiting for their own train are Kaworu, Asuka, and Rei. Shinji and Mari hold hands and run, laughing, from the train station.

NEON GENESIS EVANGELION GOT A HAPPY ENDING. 2021 REALLY BE OUT HERE WILDING.

My final thoughts:

Okay I’ll say it: the fuck with Shinji/Mari endgame? Believe me, it was completely out of left field even in this movie. They just happened to be the only final survivors. Mari flirted a hell of a lot more with ASUKA and was distraught at her death than she did with Shinji. They were a kind of cute couple in the end, but very ????? 

I’m disappointed Shinji wasn’t the one to give Kaworu his happiness in the end, after Kaworu spent so long and so many lives and realities trying to make him happy and failing. I’m choosing to believe, since these multiple realities/resets are canon now, that he did it in one of them. They all deserve the happiness of their choosing, not just Shinji’s, and Kaworu showed us time and time again that his happiness definitively involves being with Shinji.

I’m sure I missed a lot, because yanno, Eva, and it was long enough as is, but gosh I wish I could’ve understood more of everything that was going on, cause there was SO MUCH WEIRD SHIT.

If I watch this movie again, I will 500% just be watching those “Rei learns to be human with the help of a bunch of old cackling biddies” bits :> Those were THE BEST PARTS OF THE MOVIE.

[theprotagonistdies]

Mortal Kombat 2021 Movie Review (w spoilers)

Just wanted to get this off my chest now that the movie’s been released in America. I watched this on 8th April when it was first released in Singapore, and two more times the following week.

So, overall I give the movie about a 6.5-7/10 or C+. Acting: Decent Story: Average at best Action: Above average to Good Gore: Graphic but not as often or much Best highlights: Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero, Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, Costuming

I’ll be referencing some comments by others about the movie, but this’ll all be my opinions. I reviewed the movie based on my understanding that it’s a low budget film before even watching the movie. I am also a fan of the game (though I do not play, I watched most of the lore)

-------

When I first watched the movie, I was excited. The intro showing Hanzo Hasashi’s backstory would be something familiar to fans of the game. As expected, his wife and child were killed, but as we know it, they have an extra baby girl who later survives and carries on the bloodline. At this point, I was already ‘eh’ because it was so predictable what happens next. I was already disappointed that they named the son ‘Jyubei’ in the subtitles, when the wife didn’t even utter his name in Japanese. In the game, Hanzo’s son is called Satoshi. But one can say that’s something petty.

Anyways, as it goes on, we meet Joe Taslim as Bi-Han. He’s menacing, he’s cocky and has the presence that fills the screen. Already, I was smitten. While some people were saying the movie is rushed, I’d say this part of the intro felt a little draggy. But, the fight scene after is great, and we see Hanzo and Bi-Han throw hands.

I’d have to say at this point: ALL fight scenes including  Bi-Han/Sub-Zero were great. They’re the best. Every other fight scene with the other characters were decent but not great.

Then we get introduced to Cole Young. From the get go, I do not like new characters not in the lore. I’m that type of person who does not like original characters in fanfiction. And his story further made me feel that a lot of time was wasted on him. Mortal Kombat has story elements around family, yes, but it’s not central, and it made the movie too wholesome and not in a way that I feel implemented well. In my opinion, it made the movie a little cringey at times. I like Lewis Tan who plays Cole but unfortunately he’s been given a role that was completely unnecessary.

A Youtube reviewer said it best: Why make up an entirely new character when there’s a plethora of characters to choose from? Heck, if you want him related to Hanzo, you could have used Takeda or something (though yes i know he’s not related to Hanzo, but he could be like a distant cousin relative whatever, with Takehashi on one of this other parents side).

There’s Jax and Sonya - why not just use Sonya? She’s the one gathering all the information. They could have used her. 

Anyway, moving on. We also meet Kano. He was good and I see a lot of people loved him. Personally I thought he was okay, but he was too comedic in my opinion and felt underwhelming. While funny quips and mockery are appreciated, he felt like what Liu Kang called him: A small, angry little bunny. Not at all what I’d expect of the leader of Black Dragon. 

There was... it that supposed to be Reptile? I honestly do not know, but I don’t believe that’s the Reptile we know from the game, and more of a mindless monster that has Reptile’s abilities.

I loved Sonya in this movie. Jessica McNamee was amazing as her. One - she’s attractive as hell, and Two - she felt far more relatable than Cole Young. From her being a soldier living in her ‘shithole’, to her curiosity in trying to find out more about the Mortal Kombat tournament.

They look for Raiden’s Temple in the desert. This was a little slow and again, I say Kano just felt like a chump here. A try-hard doing his best to appear intimidating but failing.

Liu Kang appears. Kano won’t shut up. Liu Kang’s introduction was interesting and I liked it, but later on his monologues and exaggerated actions were so odd and ‘extra’ to me that I was cringing. I don’t know why they don’t just make him a normal guy who’s a Shaolin monk lol.

Raiden is as cranky as we know him in the game. He’s kinda dull here, but to be honest, so is he in the game, so I don’t mind it. I saw someone compare him to the 1995 version which while I enjoyed and appreciated, did not think he suited the game and movie. So Tadanobu Asano’s Raiden is fine to me! Also, shut up to the people who get on others’ case on the way they pronounce Raiden. In Japanese it’s Rai-den, not Ray-den, like they say in the game. Both are correct, so shut up.

Sub-Zero makes an entrance again, menacingly running down the hall and making me sploosh, and Kung Lao also makes an entrance. Here you can see how poor the CG is. This is where you can tell the budget is low and realise that all the sets we’ve seen so far is pretty small and closed.

The ‘arcana’ thing that they made up to explain their powers was honestly pretty smart and I quite liked it. It then becomes a training arc, which while understandably can be seen as slow, it’s quite needed for the story.

The villains in this story were sadly underutilised. Admittedly I am unfamiliar with Nitara and Reiko, so them being throwaway characters did not affect me. Kabal, while very charismatic, died but I felt it was a decent end. I personally wish they could have included him more. However, for Mileena and Goro, I could see the moment I watched it that people were gonna be mad. I’m not fans of either of them but I understood that they are major characters in the game. So for them to be offed that easily was... tbh very disappointing and quite insulting. I sincerely hope they will bring back Mileena for the next movie, experimented on and brought to life using Kitana’s blood or something.

But best villain? Obviously goes to Bi-Han/Sub-Zero. Honestly I went into the movie expecting to root for Scorpion but I ended up being so in love with Joe Taslim’s menacing and chilling portrayal of Sub-Zero. He’s soooo good. People said he was like a slasher film villain and I think they made a great choice doing so!

As for Cole - I’m still not a fan of him or his powers. I like they used tonfas, but as some called it - he has literally plot armour which, tru. Hahahhaa.

So finally after all that, we finally get to the last fight.

Sub-Zero is about to kill Cole then Scorpion is summoned. They both fight and actually one can see Scorpion is winning? He got more hits in than Sub-Zero (two stabs, a side slash and a throw from Scorp, meanwhile Sub got one slash and a throw) so I don’t understand why people thought he actually needed help from Cole.

Also, this is another major complaint about the ‘wholesomeness’. Why was Hanzo’s family killed but Cole’s family spared by Sub-Zero? Why couldn’t they just killed them off for extra weight to the story instead of making it so safe? I felt that would have redeemed Cole’s character as more of  Mortal Kombat character if they did so.

But I really enjoyed the fight here. As I mentioned all fights that involved Sub-Zero are amazing and people not giving the credit to this fight scene are blind. I also saw a comment that said they were expecting ‘John-Wick level’ of fight. Both fair and unfair comment because: It’s a low budget movie and they are two different styles of movies. John Wick is more realistic while this one is more fantastical. Though for them to call this a Marvel level choreography... I’m not sure bc Marvel put a lot of money, so that means for their budget the MK movie did well? So IDK but I believe the fight choreography was good in this most especially in the Sub-Zero/Scorpion fights.

Fatalities were great, costuming were great and for the sets while small and enclosed they did good.

Story could have been better and I cannot stress how much I find Cole’s role completely pointless. Pacing wise I actually do not find a problem with it. I only wished for more fighting and less about ‘family’.

From the movie overall I understood it as to be a set up, and even before watching it, from the trailers, I somehow knew it was not going to have a tournament so I don’t know why all these people in comments are lamenting about the lack of a tournament. It feels clear to me that this is a set up movie and more are to come.

So while I have a lot of issues with this movie, I do think it’s a fun watch which is why I give it a pretty generous score imo.

Hopefully we’ll have more to come, improving everything in all aspects with hopefully a bigger budget!

[entamewitchlulu]

My Top Anime of 2021

I watched a decent amount of anime this year! Let me tell you which ones were the best!

It’s all under the cut because of gifs and length lol

Quick honorable mentions to Urasekai Picnic and So I’m a Spider, So What?

They were both, for the most part, fun rides, but suffered from really disjointed writing and some extremely bad cgi lol.

Now onto the actual top ten!

10. Fairy Ranmaru

No I can’t believe this got onto my top ten either. This is a wild magical boy show about fairies who have to collect, like, love energy or something, for reasons. The plot is thinner than a sheet of paper and the show is mostly fanservice for dudes in skimpy clothing with sculpted abs.

I will be the first to admit that I do not think any of the boys are attractive. I tend to like anime boys but these boys are not pretty when they become fairies imo lol. So why is this on my top ten??

Uh. It was funny. And fun. And it took itself seriously which I feel like magical boy shows need to do more. Also it was a little gay which I can appreciate even if it is for fanservice!

9. Healin Good Precure

This is actually my first modern precure?? I’ve watched the original and it’s Max Heart sequel, and I’ve been trying to keep up with Troppre, but this was the first Precure I actually sat down and watched while it was airing.

I think that unfortunately COVID took a lot out of its production, leaving some of the ending with a lot to be desired and some really boring filler near the end where they should have been ramping up lot tension, and I feel like there were other intentions with some of the story threads that got changed, but overall I really enjoyed myself. I liked the premise, I liked the characters, and I had fun. I’m still Team Justice for Daruizen tho ;w;

8. Moriarty the Patriot season 2

I wanted this show to be so much higher on the list. Unfortunately, it was adapting some of my least favorite arcs from the manga, decided to skip my favorite Sherliam scene, and ended with a really underwhelming conclusion. I’ll be honest when I say, though, that I don’t think the show could have ended much differently, as I feel like the narrative’s take on what a revolution really requires was...shallow at best. Still, it was still gorgeously animated, and had some really incredible Sherlock and Moriarty moments that stick with me, so it was worth the time spent.

7. The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent

I keep saying I don’t like isekai, and then I keep enjoying it. This is a really cute, mostly slice of life isekai about a businesswoman summoned to another world to be the legendary Saint. However, another girl was also summoned, and they all decide they like her better! So Sei goes off to work in an apothecary, hoping no one notices just how powerful her magic is so she doesn’t get involved.

This is really simple and slow and gentle for an isekai, but Sei is really lovable and I relate to her “i don’t really want to get involved in all this political shenanigans...i just want to make Potions” attitude. Plus, the romance?? Sooooo good and cute. Cannot believe I don’t get to see them kiss. I finally ship a canon het couple and y’all won’t let me see them kiss??? unacceptable.

6. Nomad: Megalo Box 2

When I heard that Megalo Box was getting a sequel I was like really?? it doesn’t need one!! it ended perfectly!! but then it ended up being amazing??

It was really sad to see Joe cut off from his friends and his found family because of his guilt, but as we get to watch him grow once again, I realized that this story really was more necessary than I thought. The happily ever after of before couldn’t always last forever, and Joe and his team aren’t necessarily primed for tragedy once they thought everything was okay. Getting to see everyone grown up and dealing with their new lives, in the fallout of losing someone important, was so well done. And of course, the sound design of this show is always amazing. Great tunes and amazing fight scenes.

5. Pretty Boy Detective Club

I did not expect this to rank so high lol. I can’t even really tell you what this show is about...it’s about a bunch of grade school kids playing detective, but specifically PRETTY BOY detective. They ostensibly solve mysteries, but mostly they just talk about things that I feel lik ordinary eleven year olds would not talk about with some really pretty animation. But idk! It was well made, and the characters were a lot of fun.

4. Shadows House

I cannot fucking wait for the sequel to this. This is a beautifully animated and eerie story about a family of faceless Shadows, who employ Living Dolls to act as their servants and their “faces” to show their otherwise inscrutable expressions. The Living Doll Emilico has just woken up and been assigned to Lady Kate, whom she is desperate to please. But Kate seems to have far more on her mind.

The worldbuilding of this story is so subtle and fascinating, and as the mysteries of Shadows House unfold and the relationship between Kate and Emilico progresses, you only grow more and more invested. I want more soooooon!

3. Fruits Basket: The Final

Fruits Basket was one of my first ever manga, and it still holds a very special place in my heart. Finally getting to see these last arcs animated was a young me’s dream come true, as we get to see the finale of everyone’s character arcs, the final breaking of the curse, and the long awaited culmination of Tohru and Kyo’s relationship as they can finally hold each other for real. I was a little nervous about this adaptation, but they did the series so much justice, making it honestly the way I would recommend you experience the series, even over the manga. I will admit my bias lays with the wrap up of Akito as a character, and the story did not disappoint in showing her as the multilayered person she is with all the gravity she and the people around her deserve. The animation is stunning, the music incredible, and again: if you want to experience Fruits Basket, watch the rebooted anime. It’s the best way.

2. The Worlds Ends With You

I was all sorts of nervous about this anime coming out, because historically, video game anime are not the greatest. But holy hells did they deliver. TWEWY already has a really solid style, artistically, musically, and narratively, and the anime brought it’s A-Game in depicting that. It translated the art style so effectively while also making it able to be animated, and I absolutely love the way it looks. The fight scenes are so good, too!! They’re so fluid, and I love the touch of the pin flashing over the screen before it activates, seamlessly showing the game’s battle system without taking too much time away from the story. Voice acting is superb, music is superb, and the story that was so good in the game was so excellently adapted, without any feeling of rush or crunch. 

1. Zombieland Saga: Revenge

And my top anime of the year has to go to Zombieland Saga’s incredible sequel. Sequels are always so contentious, it’s so easy to get them wrong, especially when they’re highly anticipated. But the girls of Franchouchou delivered as always. Their new music is great, costumes and stage direction incredible as always, and getting to see each of their stories continue, balancing each member so perfectly, was such a delight. If you haven’t seen ZLS yet, where have you been?? Go support our zombie idols!

[yarrowleef]

Read Darkness Within all in one sitting last night and then passed out so here are my scattered thoughts i wrote down as i read, (afterthoughts in parenthesis)

Darkness Within Spoilers, obv

UGH GOD THE SECOND HAND EMBARRESMENT FROM SQUIRREL FAKE FLIRTING WITH ASHFUR IT HURTS

Just remembered Sandynose died and got a small boost of happiness (will Hawkwing and Plumwillow ever be allowed to talk again now? I mean probly not b/c they aren’t protags and non-protags don’t rly have friends but I can hope. Sorry, Hawkwhing and Plumwillow’s short-lived friendship in Hawkwings Journey was one of the last times I felt something)

Ghost fleas lol

Mothwing: i’m rude now. (but more importantly, Fuck Tigerheartstar for forcing his son to be around the cat that hurt him so badly, like he HAS to know how upset everyone is regarding Shadowsight and his accidentally helping the imposter, and he’s making him be the sole one to tend to him??? There is NO REASON Puddleshine couldn’t have done it. You think Puddleshine is going to try and murder someone?? )

Oh no don't make this a traveling book, and a ROOTBRISTLE traveling book this is going to be insufferable

BACON AND EGGS

Lightleap Is Good (Hey didn’t Shadowsight have another sister? lets be real we all knew Pouncekit was going to end up as the forgettable 3rd one)

Bristlefrost’s crush continues to feel unnatural to me. It’s like she’s grasping at straws romanticizing the most generic things.....wow....I love how ur just so...bare minimum competent....being polite to the loner we came all this way to ask for help like any somewhat reasonable person would....How admirable...I love the way you just *clenches fist* exhibit some basic traits of loyalty and skill that literally every warrior has (I s2g I’m this close to head canon-ing Bristle as a clueless aromantic who doesn't understand what romance is actually suppose to feel like so she just looks at feelings of low-bar admiration and assumes “oh I guess this is that “romantic attraction” everyone’s always talking about? guess I must be in love???” because both her crushes have felt out of nowhere and like. Idk fake/forced sounding like she’s just telling me that that she’s In Love Now while I continue to not actually feel it at all from her end. I know it’s just that I hate the way Erin’s write female characters in love but this head-canon makes me laugh)

Got scared because I thought they were going to villainize Spotfur for not wanting kits for a minute, but also excited at the concept of maybe exploring a female character that doesn’t want to be a mother, but it turns out she was just pulling a Sparkpelt and actually DID want the kits all along and was only hesitant because she’s sad. Shrug oh well.  (the only female character in warriors that was distinctly upset about pregnancy and motherhood was Lizardstripe and as we all know she was eeeeeevil and abusive and “overly ambitious” because why else would you not come around to being happy about motherhood?? YES I’M STILL SALTY ABOUT YELLOWFANG’S SECRET, BAD BOOK)  Whatever it’s fine so long as Spot doesn’t lose her rebel leader spirit forever and default to “soft mom” personality for the rest of her life, I gotta have hope because I actually like Bristle and Spot’s current relationship. Also I am actually very grateful they never made Bristle resentful at Spot for getting with her crush, as lots of middle grade/YA media has a very bad habit of demonizing female romantic “competition” and its super gross, so I rly do like that Bristlefrost is so protective and caring towards her instead. )

This series is trying to tell me that Rootspring is actually Big but I refuse to accept that. he has dumb scrawny bitch energy and we all know it

Sunrise: “Thunderclan may be better with a new leader” lol go off (i mean........they right tho...It’s unfortunate that the tension in this whole plot is a bit dampened by the fact that i DO in fact want bramble to die v badly. I don’t even have special hatred for him, I’m just bored of him.)

Yes Lionblaze beat the shit out of Ashfur

*HOLY SHIT THAT’S FUCKED!!!! (I wrote this in reference to the ghost summoning scene, this was all I could manage at the time, that scene was WILD and I am VIBING WITH THE HORROR OF IT ALL)

* Brashfur: Oh yeah? Could Ashfur fake THIS? *stands up with slightly better posture* Shadowsight: oh damn you got me there...... (asdfhhfhhgh im sorry that was really funny, how did that prove anything?? ONLY A ~REAL~ WARRIOR COULD STAND UP STRAIGHT WE ALL KNOW ASHFUR IS INCAPABLE OF GOOD POSTURE!)

End of the book: *LAUGHING NERVOUSLY* WHAT THE FUCK??? (I thought he was just gonna kill Squirrelflight right there holy shit can you imagine the RIOTS that would ensue in the wake of all this Squirrel/Bramble discourse I was so scared for a second.  

 But it’s fine, she just....went to super hell instead......Warriors has come so far lmao WHAT IS HAPPENING

Final Notes:

*On Mothwing, I don’t think her behavior struck me as “CHARACTER BUTCHERING” as much as it did for other people? I mean.....Warriors fans will say that literally any time a character does ANYTHING less then perfectly nice I think her actions just seemed that much harsher because we are reading from Shadowsight’s POV, and Shadowsight is taking everything 10x more personally right now (understandably so, but Mothwing isn’t inside his head) she wasn’t trying to hurt him. Also... like... Shadowsight DID get his name too early. It’s not Mothwing’s job to put his feelings above everything else, she’s not even his mentor, Puddleshine on the other hand, as his main mentor, I don’t understand what his deal is ignoring Shadowsight, that’s not how you help an apprentice but I suppose I chalk many of his mistakes up to also not being the most experienced medicine cat (he barely even had his own mentor.) Maybe he’s distant because he feels guilty and actually blames himself for not guiding Shadowsight better?? the two of them haven’t communicated about it yet so idk

 any way I give Mothwing a pass to be a little short tempered right now as a cat who has had her abilities periodically questioned all her life no matter how hard she works or how much experience she has, just because she doesn’t vibe with the spiritual cult side of the clans, I can understand why she’s a bit defensive of being questioned and frustrated watching so much hurt happen Yet Again due to reliance on StarClan visions over common sense, and I for one still stan her for slandering StarClan and refusing to accept Mistystar’s bullshit banishing like everyone else. Sometimes a character is at the end of their rope and can’t manage to be 100% nice 24/7 and that’s maybe not inherently bad writing? idk just my hot take. At a certain point we all gotta reckon with the fact that our perception of most popular supporting characters in heavily colored by fanon and we can’t always get mad at the authors for not adhering to it

*The sisters magic shit is my fav worldbuilding warriors has had in AGES, I love the way it’s described and it actually feels like it adds something to this world. I love this horror imagery with the ghosts, very excited for that. 

*still won’t be thrilled if Ashfur is working alone, because his motive doesn’t make sense right now. I mean the trying to get Squilf thing, sure, whatever, but the “I will make everyone pay for what they did to me”???? cause like?? Who??? they didn’t do anything to him?? Ashfur’s grievance was very specifically JUST Squilf. He has no other cause for revenge, he had no other beef or complaints about the clans to my knowledge? The cat that killed him is dead, and she’s like, the only other one that I could see as having “wronged” him?? I guess he also didn’t like Firestar much according to Graystripe’s Vow (and on account of how willing he was to kill him w/ Hawkfrost) but Firestar is ALSO dead. I don’t understand his angle. Will have to see last 2 books to judge i suppose.

*All in all I am interested to see where this is going!! but also the pacing as I feared is becoming a major issue. It’s better then ending the main conflict on book 3 like Vision of Shadows did, but omg. Hardly anything happened in all these pages. I realized I was over half way through and nothing about the situation had actually CHANGED or advanced at all in all that time. Similar to the past 2 books which I believe could have been combined, this plot felt like it should have been the first half of a book. Discussing whether or not to kill the imposter isn’t much of a standalone plot, it’s just the set up to a plot. Finding the sisters didn’t need to be a whole long thing, the debates about the Imposters fate didn’t need to be repeated 10 times, all those chapters illustrating that “Shadowsight is sad” were also drawn out, repetitive, and interchangeable, we probably only needed 2 or so chapters showing his struggles to get the necessary information across. It felt like a lot of padding, it was really slow and I did a lot of skimming. I am still very interested in the overarching plot and mystery behind the ghosts so that kept me reading but man this “will they won’t they kill him” plot did not justify it’s own whole book. Alas this is a persisting issue that will never be resolved while they continue to force 6 books into 1 series that doesn’t need 6 books. I’m sure the writers are doing the best they can with these unfortunate constraints but still, it’s a wonder this slow padding isn’t more of a detriment to their younger readers that the books are supposed to be marketed to.

[incognitajones]

20 stories, 20 first lines

@cats-and-metersticks tagged me!

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 authors!

[cut after the first five, because this gets long]

1. True and False: “Kaytoo said you wanted to see me.” Jyn hadn’t been happy to hear it—a summons from General Draven was rarely good news—but she’d swallowed her reluctance, like the good little Alliance soldier she was trying to be, and reported to the briefing room.

(I cheated & included two lines because starting with dialogue is always a little limited, imo)

too long, but at least it outlines the dynamic quickly

2. ask again later: Jyn knew what she was doing when she went behind Cassian’s back.

pretty decent, sets up the main story issue right away

3. we haunt ourselves: Davits Draven is a haunted man, but that’s nothing unusual.

clichéd, but gets the job done

4. Trick or Treat [a random collection of prompt fills, but the most recent chapter posted is long enough to be a stand-alone story, so I decided it counts]: This was supposed to be the perfect date.

not bad; you can sense the "but" coming, which gives it some tension

5. Unexpected: Tall, dark, and miserable at the end of the bar was drinking expensive bourbon like soda pop.

somewhat better attempt at establishing setting & mood right away

6. pulse to pulse: Cassian’s bones burned from the marrow out and lightning crackled along his nerves.

aiming for evocative, landed on vague and meaningless

[These next three are drabbles, which makes it hard to judge, since one sentence can be 10-20% of the whole thing]

7. Healing Process: Bodhi tells himself this is not so different: maybe he’s never been with two people at once before, but sex is sex.

8. Revealed: Din never saw his second mother’s face until the day she died.

9. Recruitment: Draven didn’t expect many useful recruits from Dantooine’s smashed Separatist cell.

10. Design Flaw: “Bodhi Rook. Are you unoccupied for the next five to ten minutes?”

a good example of why it rarely works to start with dialogue

11. Life Sentence: The most confusing thing about being rescued from prison was the lethargy and lack of purpose.

possibly the worst of the lot; not only is it boring, it's grammatically wonky

12. root system: It takes far less time than Prax would’ve expected to disentangle him and his daughter from an entire life on Ganymede.

a bit clumsy but again, at least it establishes the premise quickly

13. Filling the Role: Jyn Erso never listened to her impulses; it was too dangerous to act without knowing each and every variable, as far as possible.

not bad - it's appropriate that it sort of plays against type for the character, since this is an AU

14. what stranger miracles: Ben can’t even manage to die right, apparently.

another short but decent one

15. It Must be Christmas Time: Jyn walked into the the café and stopped short, almost skidding on the wet floor in her snowy boots.

meh--the only thing it manages to do is establish the season, but the title alone would do that

16. ask me no questions: Early afternoon is a slow time at the spaceport on Ord Mantell, and the mag train out is nearly empty.

double meh

17. A Presence of Departed Acts: Rey didn’t recognize Kylo Ren’s face at first. But then, she’d only seen him unmasked twice, and the last time had been seven years ago.

this one is pretty good, especially with the second sentence (which is included since I waffled back & forth on whether to combine them into one)

18. Bilateral Treaty Negotiations: As soon as he handed his invitation to the protocol droid for scanning and stepped inside the Royal Palace of Alderaan, Bail realized this gala, announced as a celebration of the coming of spring, was actually a job interview.

the longest of the bunch--definitely too long

19. disassemble my despair: Poe was one of the few people Rey trusted to fly her anywhere, but her fingers still twitched with the desire to grab the throttle out of his hands.

another extremely meh one

20. Dispatches [another collection of prompts, so I picked the last chapter added]: The tiny shed that Cassian called his office was crammed to the ceiling with boxes of disposable gloves, gauze pads, and other stuff Jyn couldn’t recognize.

not great but conveys setting

Wow, I knew I wasn't good at writing pithy but evocative opening sentences but it's kind of a let-down to see it proven, lol. Out of 20 I'd rate 8 as decent to good. I don't see any strong patterns, although they do tend to be fairly short, and I open with dialogue less than I'd have guessed. Of these, my favourite is probably #17 since it plants a hook pretty well and it's one of the few that came to me easily.

I've lost track of who's done this meme recently and who hasn't, so I'm just tagging @englishable and @fulcrumstardust --but I love reading these, so anyone who wants to should join in!

[inhibited-irregularity]

EUROVISION 2021, personal favorites:

- Russia 🇷🇺

Manizha, Russian Woman: Absolute favorite. The sheer originality of the song! Her energy and the level of absolute badassery! She can sing, she can rap,and she's a bomb of energy. The way reggae and brass and hiphop and Slavic melodies overlap and it somehow works, the transitions between fun and "I'm bitter about the sexism and I'm mocking it unapologetically and making a stand" and the anthemic, emphatic and powerful message to Russian women; I was swelling with emotion while watching her. While to an American or a Westerner it may seem like performative feminism, I'm gonna remind you that in Russia and other Slavic countries that's very much not a thing and actually a very unpopular stand to make, and in Russia, The Balkans, and Eastern Europe in general, hundreds of women face domestic and sexual abuse on the daily, and those who do come forward rarely get support and are mostly dismissed. Let's not forget that Manizha got a huge backlash from the Russian government officials, and a big part of it was for her Tajik roots. The honesty of her message is real, and she's speaking from personal experience and the experience of women around her - nothing performative about her song, and you can tell from her delivery that the fire within her is true and she leaves her heart on the stage and pours it into the song. The staging and costumes are great as well, and symbolically well thougt-through. I would really like her to win, or at least get to the top 5. Most of all, I hope her message is heard and felt. 10000/10

- Italy 🇮🇹

Måneskin, Zitti e Buoni: definitely the closest thing to my actual music taste this year, so liking them off the bat wasn't a surprise. However, they're not just your regular Franz-Ferdinand-ish young alt rock band that wants to do rock "properly" - they have IT. The X factor, the Je ne sais quoi. I've been exposed to that particular genre, and I can confidently say that the song still manages to be refreshing and original (that bridge, those riffs!) The band has a great energy and no matter how much Damiano steals the show, they are still a unit and nobody is left in the shadows. They have the spirit of great rock bands of the previous century, and yet they don't try to copy anyone (khm,Greta Van Fleet, khm). Damiano's vocals are both powerful, seductive and provoking, and I'm still admiring the sheer amount of emotion he can pack into a single line and the nuance and yet rawness behind it. I'm not gonna state the obvious lol (the obvious being yes, I'm thirsty as well, he becomes yet another unattainable rockstar for me too,and yes they all look great) Anyway, great song, and maybe the clearest and most serious candidate for the number one spot, taking both the jury and the public into consideration. 10/10

- Iceland 🇮🇸

Daði Freyr and Gagnamagnið, 10 years:

What can I say about this masterpiece that hasn't already been said? A clear fan-favorite (hi, Valentina), but with the guns to back it up. The song is contagious, fun and campy, and unlike some other songs with said qualities, actually good from a musical perspective. Daði is incredibly charismatic and his sense of humor shines through, and even though he's the star of the show, the same can be said about the other band members. The synergy Måneskin has can be applied to Gagnamagnið as well, even though the energy is entirely different. They're serving us fun, sunshine, kitties rainbows sugar spice and everything nice, and manage to do it with zero cringe factor (plus those funky keytars). I'm one of those Eurovision fans that lament the golden age's (2004-2009) campiness (We'll never forget you, Verka), and Daði managed to bring it back, but modernised, polished and still sincere. I personally preferred the epic dad joke that slightly more commercial Think About Thing was (but that's one tough act to follow), but I'm always down for a husband adoring his wife and singing praises to their relationship. Since we're on tumblr, I feel obliged to use the term "cinnamon rolls" in describing Daði and the band. 9.5/10

- France 🇫🇷

Barbara Pravi, Voilà: She brought the theatrics, she brought the drama, and she brought the 101 in "that's how you perform". Her personality leaps through, and her voice is both beautiful and full of emotion and power. I'd hire her to star in a serious and artistic movie. Despite the fact that Voilà is from its melody to the singing style to the video to the vibe and the aesthetic hands down the most French thing I've seen since Amélie (do not come for that movie), it miraculously doesn't come across as a cliché, but rather an homage, and an individualistic one at that. It's not entirely my cup of tea, since I'm usually biased to songs that may come off as snobbish (I mean, the jury is going to lap it up), and are all about being proper and technical and oh how ~artistic~, but Barbara puts the soul into the immaculate. I'm not giving her the highest mark because I'm yet to see the performance, but I'm rooting for her. If she delivers the performance, we might have a clear winner. 9/10

- Ukraine 🇺🇦

Go_A, Shum: I'm a sucker for all things ethnic and mytological, so this was a no-brainer. I want that song played at every party. I want to go to the forest in the video and chant and summon the spring with flute and hard-bass. Kateryna Pavlenko has some unexplainable power over me, and her eyes are simply hypnotizing. The vocals are great, proper Slavic ethno right there (seriously, check out Slavic folklore and traditional music), and she has a subtle punk quality too(?). Ukraine came to save the spring and make us forget about the pandemic, and minus the Maruv fiasco (justice for her!), they always deliver and I expected nothing less. On the other hand, I loved the original version much more and couldn't help but be a bit disappointed with the revamp (yes, I know they had to), and while I personally love Shum, I think some other acts are more deserving of the higher placement. Go_A are not my winner, but definitely soon to be in my playlist. 8/10

- San Marino 🇸🇲

Adrenalina, Senhit ft. Flo Rida: You know that golden age of Eurovision I mentioned? THIS. I'm Serbian, so I can't resist a banger reminiscent of our horrible turbo-folk elements (and I say that endearingly,takes me back to 18th birthday parties (boy I'm glad that's over)). Let's just crown Senhit this year's Queen of Camp. The wild factor of Flo Rida...just?? Amazing. Can't wait to see how the performance goes (EDIT- it went great, I had a grin on my face the entire time and couldn't help but dance along). A certain refreshment after Serhat and Valentina Monetta endless loop. They didn't dial down the weird, but made it catchy af, and the vocal can rival any Balkan folk diva. While I think it's definitely the most entertaining entry this year, it's far from being the most original, and it's not really my genre of preference. Will vote for Senhit and root for her to qualify. 7.5/ 10

- Sweden 🇸🇪

Tusse, A million voices: As I mentioned before, I'm the first person that starts complaining about Sweden Superiority as soon as Eurovision season begins, and I'm with you all with being tired of Sweden qualifying just because they're Sweden and usually just bringing the same brand of MTV/Calvin Harris/American pop, or a successful and not-so-subtle imitation of the performances that did well the previous year,but listen: A million voices is a solid pop song and I'm going to die on that hill. It actually embodies the essence of pop - a catchy, pleasant melody sung by a good vocalist, with a short,sweet and uplifting message. It's not the same as previous years, it's not commercial, just good pop - good pop being something you immediately like and vibe to no matter how many common elements of the genre it checks. It relies on RnB rather than electronic sounds, auto tune or various DJ effects. Tusse is charming and charismatic af, and he's a 19yo kid doing an amazing job on a global stage. You don't have to like it, but there's no need to hate on it (ask Jendrik). Imo, Tusse deserved to qualify. Not winner material yet, but I wish him a fun time and a successful career. 7 5/10

- Switzerland 🇨🇭

G'jons Tears, Tout L'Univers: I saw the video first, and I HATED IT. It came across as a Duncan Lawrence-high-art wannabe, something technically perfect, but empty of soul or meaning, another soft boy with a sad falsetto, another jury-points bait. BUT. I changed my mind entirely after seeing him perform. Hands down, it was touching and epic. Reminding me of Hamlet aside, he DELIVERED, and made me love him, and actually enjoy the song. I still think the song is less original than Tusse's voices, but I enjoy the troubadour vibes of the pre-chours. G'jon is absolutely adorable, and I'm not gonna be mad if he wins. 8/10

shout-outs&honorable mentions:

- Serbia 🇷🇸 Yes, some national bias, but I'm proud of our girls. Ever Since we placed 2nd with Željko's Lane, we had that goddamn flute e v e r y year, and the same outdated scenography with a side of extra pathos (I'm sure that ruined Sanja's chances and her otherwise great performance back in 2016.) Finally something fun and actually representative of the music popular here. They looked flawless and the energy was off the charts. Go, Hurricane!

-Finland 🇫🇮 Yes, cheesy and corny and I cut my finger accidentally from watching the video on all the edge, but I'm biased because they're bringing emo and nu-metal back, and that's the music of my early adolescence (hello, Kaulitz brothers and Andy Biersack,hello Gerard Way and Linkin Park) Call me grandma lol

- Malta 🇲🇹 DESTINY CAN SIIIIIIIIING! I wasn't impressed with the song initially, but the performance blew my mind.

- Ireland 🇮🇪 A for effort, and so nice of her to try and give us something unique! While it wasn't good enough to qualify, it was super fun and she seems so nice. Also, we all know that she was out of breath an can sing much better than that. Still wasn't bad.

- Romania 🇷🇴, for being so young and brave enough to put on a show. The nerves got the better of her, but the song itself is good and no doubt she'll do well in the future

- Lithuania 🇱🇹, thanks for the memeries

- Croatia 🇭🇷, Not my cup of tea, but Albina gave a great performance

-Norway 🇳🇴, for embodying the spirit of Eurovision

- North Macedonia 🇲🇰, for the disco chest

- The UK 🇬🇧, for putting some effort

(Might edit later)

[levyfiles]

Last week the @skepticbeliever-bookclub prompted us to post a selection of our favourite shyan fics so there’d be a nice little way to highlight all the hidden gems of favourites we might already recognise and love while sharing a few we might never have found otherwise. Last December I posted a little list of some of my favourites so I figured I’d dust off that list with a few new additions of particular favourites I treasure. 

Be All My Sins Remembered by spoopyy

Summary:  In every lifetime, they find each other.

Review: This fic manages to take you on a long journey through what feels like a series of AUs and they all weave in and out of the wealth of their relationship with some vivid descriptions of the historical settings their journey takes them through. As someone who grew up reading Anne Rice’s epics through historical events, this fic is right up my alley. A vampire Shane passing through the wave of human society’s climb searching for a reincarnated Ryan again and again, trying to hold on to him and keep him through great tragedies and timeframes that just don’t let them be together. This was one of the first fics I read when I was only a lurker and to be quite honest, I need to give this one a nice re-read, maybe for the book club which would be loads of fun. Either way, 10/10. Would be Hurt in the heart again.

Perfect Fit by @beaniegara

Summary:  There’s a legend that says anyone able to take all of statue Shane’s cock will summon the god to the mortal realm. Given the statue’s excessive size, no one has ever succeeded to prove or disprove the story. Until Ryan that is.

Review: Listen. You wanna talk actual fandom legends. This fic is one of them and it pulls out all the stops on being delicious and evocative. Also features one of my favourite incarnations of size queen bergara. Good stuff and you’re really rooting for Ryan in this lol.

a prize for rotten judgement  by sarcasticfishes

Summary: “You’d drive each other crazy. You sit together at your office all day, and then you’d be commuting home together, eating dinner together, watching TV together, going to bed — well, not together, but you get it, right?”

It doesn’t sound so awful to Shane. There are worse people he could be spending all his hours with than Ryan Bergara.

Review: The moment I happened to glance at the notes of this and saw that Fie’s secondary title for this would have been Ryan and Shane move to the Suburbs, I about lost it with excitement. Primarily because the show this references is one of my favourite comedies and that is one of my all-time favourite episodes. Let me tell you though, even if the reference is lost on you, this story is so much gold rolled into a heart-gripping tale of two best friends who spend every waking moment together taking the plunge to share a home and they were roommates oh my god they were roommates. Shane is pining and you’ll pine right along with him as you’ll yell and holler for him to stop being so damn real and full of doubt. It really is worth every gasp of pain and all the more for the execution but the delivery will leave you in delight. Certainly had me yelling at the author. This fic is gonna be one of my timeless favourites; I knew it the moment I began.

Everything’s Weird and We’re Always in Danger by beethechange

Summary: Ryan perches on the edge of the bed, an indistinct shape that Shane can only just make out in the dark, so he turns the lamp back on. He wants to see Ryan’s face, wants to know that he is alright. Ryan’s cheeks are damp, his hands fisted in the hideous flowered duvet.

“It won’t go away,” Ryan says miserably. “I’ve been like this since we got here, basically, and it won’t fucking—”

“Ah,” Shane says. “Well, you know, sometimes fear…adrenaline…they can affect people. Physically.” He waves his hands indistinctly crotchward. “It’s a, a scientifically known phenomenon.” Shane feels a little better staying in the realm of scientifically known phenomena.

Review: Word of advice. You see a fic is authored by beethechange, run don’t walk because you’re absolutely always going to be treated to the best of banter, the best of prose, chemistry, organic execution and feels right up the bottom end of your heart. This fic, this changed everything I thought I knew I wanted out of a bed-sharing fic. It’s got a little bit of two treats here. You got a sex-pollen-esque situation mixed with bed-sharing and holy fucking damn that is more than you think you deserve, but read this because you do deserve the best of the best. The build up, the dialogue, the surprisingly hilarity of it, the hotness woah, and The Aftermath. When you think you know what you’re in for, you’re wrong and you’re most pleasantly surprised. Get this fic in your life and honestly? while you’re at it, you could do a clean sweep of every fic in her list of works and while my less than adequate reading time management may still be short on some of her most well-recommended pieces, I have an adamant faith that Bee doesn’t disappoint. Go get y’all juice.

Maelstrom by thewindupbird

Summary:  Here’s the thing about driving halfway across the country to see someone. You can’t really deny, after that, that you’re pretty much head over heels for them.

Review: Listen. One morning on a day off, I just laid in bed and read this– all 40k+ words– while lying there clutching my pillows, hurting and loving every moment of it. The descriptions of Americana, the slow steady metronome rhythm of Ryan’s feelings as frightened and helpless as they feel when you’re relating deeply to them juxtaposed with the deep-seated struggle of understanding what it is to be with someone you love so much but your mental health is burning quiet holes in your ability to express it in a way that can be understand. Ryan’s fierce determination, breaking through the silence of their non communication is really Everything to me in this fic. i think I really left my heart in the scene in Shane’s parents kitchen. That finished me. Read this fic and understand the deep relief you get when you’ve finished a fight with someone you fiercely care about and they understand you and you understand them and it’s OK; it’s gonna be all right. Augh.

5 times Shane had to overrule Ryan’s “No Homo” + 1 time he didn’t have to by ghoulboyboos

Summary: There was only one thing that would truly drive him up the wall with Ryan, much more than any debate about ghosts ever could: Ryan’s consistent twitches of “no homo” when any sort of physical contract between them happened.

Review: I have such a soft special spot in my heart for this fic particularly because Lud manages to examine a trope I tend to avoid in such a sweet and honest way I couldn’t not love this fic. The story takes a painstaking and very real look at the “no homo” issue as it weaved through the journey that was early days Ryan and Shane. Shane’s reaction to in this and how he communicates with Ryan has such a very heartfelt and once again, real quality to it. I get in my feelings all over again about how far they’ve come and what it meant for Ryan to have Shane there. Lud really nails this piece and it’s a classic in my eyes.

A Burial on Box Hill by InkStainsOnMyHands

Summary: The Celtics believed that the yew flower symbolized both immortality and death. Meanwhile, for centuries, the buxus flower was seen as a symbol for safe passage into the afterlife.

Or,Shane and Ryan were never the same after investigating the Black Forest of Germany alone.

Review: Let me just quote my bookmark comment here. Usually I flee from tragedy like a cat spotting a cucumber but the brevity and the prose dragged me in and now I’m a functioning mess. Bless this fic. Oh my god it’s short and reads like one of those quick horror stories you’ll read to your friends just as the scary stories are transitioning from the urban legends to the ones that feel real. Big warning for main character death but still read it if you appreciate a good story told.

Body Farming by shiphitsthefan

Summary: Failed suppressants and a surprise heat: the worst of cliches, and here Ryan stands, living the trope on location with the alpha he’s hopelessly in love with. Even worse, they’re spending the night in the famous Bell Witch Cave, completely alone and with no way to contact the outside world.

Ryan knows he can survive and keep his preheat a secret, as long as Shane will stop being so protective and concerned. After all, it’s not like Shane wants to bond with him.

Right?

Review: Now judging from the reactions of many people I’ve spoken to, big heavy ABO kink is not popular here but guys, GUYS. This one. Let this one in I promise it is not what you think it is. The dynamic is organic and the worst side of the trope is subverted in all the best ways and lord help us, the smut is hot, like swelteringly smoking. It’ll stay with you.

Believer by cellard00rs

Summary:  Some demons and otherworldly creatures love climbing up the power ladder. Shane is not one of these. He likes where he is (thank you very much) and has no interest in moving up. All he wants is to give his friend Ryan a nice birthday gift. So, naturally, everything goes to hell.

Review: This fic is another fandom legend. When I think demon!Shane. It’s this and one other one that always pops right into my mind. This was my first exposure to the bureaucracy meets the supernatural!Shane trope and I was sold from the get-go. The Shane in this fic is everything I imagine a demon!Shane is and his ginger care for Ryan, the concept of their bond and how even though Shane is a demon and responsible for keeping the supernatural a firm secret from Ryan and the rest of the world, his skepticism is relayed through his status as a demon. I want to talk more about it but I think so much of the enjoyment comes from the surprises as the plot unfurls.

hey boy, take a look at me by weakspots

Summary: Ryan is 27, for Christ’s sake, and he’s not exactly hideous, so there’s really no reason to spend his money on a dude — a dude — whose face he’ll never see but whose livestreams he’s been jerking off to for roughly 4 months now. He should be going out and partying and fucking random chicks. Or a guy, whatever, just to get it out of his system and confirm to himself that he really is 100% straight.

Because he is. This is morbid curiosity, if anything.

Review: I’ve been a long-time fan of this universe and it was a universe I didn’t know I needed until this author gave it to us. We or rather me, a desperate audience, just devoured this with every update. Not only is it hot, but it has the delicious intrigue of secret identity, anonymous stuff and a LOT of blush-worthy prose therein. This version of Shane makes me thrive but the titillating nature of straight-identifying!Ryan being bowled over by the turn of events that leads him to his world tilting into the gravity of a camboy just--you Have to read this one!

Heartbeat by quackers

Summary:  So the guy Ryan sits next to at work is a vampire. That’s no big deal, right?

Review: I could talk your literal ear off about this fic. Vampires, man. I love the trope; you don’t know me as a person if you don’t know this at least. And this fic kept me fed all damn year. It was a readable garden. If there is one thing I can guarantee about quackers’ work, it’s that their world-building is a festival of detail. The realms and alternate universes they work with while still managing to keep Shane and Ryan’s voices so familiar and real is a talent not attributed to your everyday author. This fic propelled me into wanting to write more and more because quackers makes stories so much fun! Reading their work is, to me, not unlike the feeling I got when I was younger and finding series that speak to my need to escape this crummy existence, made me want to believe in fun spicy things like a vampire that lived through centuries, cynical but still searching, navigating a world where people are still people, adjusting to differences and prejudices, finding comfort in a guy that understands that and more. I’ve talked about this fic in more than a few different posts so I’d just be reiterating a lot of things I loved about the more historical aspects of Shane’s journey, the way Ryan is so firmly curious and inventive in ways to connect with Shane. Look, even if vampires aren’t your thing, I can promise that if you visit quackers list of work, you will find something for your supernatural-lovin’ palate that speaks to a gentler side of your own curiosity about monsters and the jocks that love them. lol.

I’ll Crawl Home by carrieonfighting

Summary:  “Shane was almost unnerved by how quickly he’d settled into this body, this name, this life - his friendship with Ryan was the most time he’d spent with any human before, and yet the man fascinated him.”

Review: This is the second fic I think of when someone says the words ‘demon!Shane’ to me because ohhhh my word, this fic is a masterpiece. I really am hard-pressed to find anything better than the feeling I get when I think of demon!Shane headcanons interwoven with the irl Buzzfeed reality and the idea of the Ryan as we know him being protected and watched and loved so deeply by a demon that found him so long ago and wanted nothing but to protect him. I feel an almost vicious glee reliving that moment when Ryan and Shane are on goatman’s bridge and man, I just really love canonical fic mixed with a slight twist. The writing in this makes it work so well with lines that still haunt my heart and soul like “Ryan liked popcorn. So did the demon. Genuinely, not just out of a desire to please the human – he liked the way it crunched between his vessel’s teeth. There were some aspects of taking a corporeal form that were… nice; laughing, coffee, feeling warm. Ryan made him laugh.” FUCK! The beautiful agony of it, watching the demon fall in love with Ryan through the eyes of his vessel. Just stark with pain and unspoken, well-written angst and pain with a perfect ending, I wouldn’t change for anything. I love this for us as a fandom and will always love that author crafted this piece and shared it with us. (Also every time I hear Work Song by Hozier, I think of this fic again and sigh).

[rupertgayesarchive]

surgery anon again and YEA I remember all my questions. the big ones were... who sent him back. i was like hm cas died b4 Chuck died. Chuck possibly sent him back to save himself? OH ALSO did death send cas back to save himself (herself? is billie dead. the death sent him back theory is sponsored by a line in chapter 25 where dean is thinking about sending sam a postcard and an old man is staring at him being like send ur brother a post card before it’s too late. racked my brain for who r old men in supernatural who could do time travel and would be not evil but not making things easy either. and my sister was like ‘oh well death’) ALSO i went in for a long while about what cas would do when he got his memories back. i remember being like the fic is INSANELY in character so we should draw our conclusions from what already exists in canon, like 7.17. so cas would probably start worrying immediately about if they ended up defeating Chuck and probably assume that Chuck sent him back. also he’d probably worry that he like.. took advantage of dean or something because he’s insane. and then I was like he’d probably want to know if Chuck, assumed to be the one who sent him back, was in like current timeline heaven. also at this point my sister began giving input as well she became my sounding board lmaooo. we were like well he wouldn’t be able to go to heaven probably so he’d need to ask an angel.

also I was very jntersted in this because cas having positive relationships with some of his siblings is... very nice to see and the most underutilized part of spn. so I was like he’d probably wanna call or summon an angel to talk. but also a ton of angels that he personally killed would be alive again and I think he’d feel really guilty/overwhelmed so he wouldn’t wanna trap any of them? so I was trying to list off all the angels that cas canonically was friends with or implied to be close to prior to Lazarus Rising. and my list was like... ok samandriel, hester, balthazar. a bunch of others who im forgetting right now. but then my sister was like wouldn’t naomi simply have lobotomized them. and I was like oh true!! well... balthazar faked his own death prior to season 6. and he and cas were canonically very good friends before balthazar went to earth. BUT, balthazar stated that cas rebelling was the final reason that he decided to fake his death. BUT ALSO... I feel like.. the timeline works out like 2008 cas pulls dean out of hell. 2009-10 he rebels against heaven. there’s like a few months period where Balthazar could have faked his death and then around a year to fully embrace hedonism. so I feel like... even before cas rebelled he would’ve been like shirking his duties or something in an Aziraphale good omens type beat. this also accounts for naomi not paying attention to him. SO LIKE... also this is just an elaborate explanation for why balthazar, who I love, should be in ur fic. but I think for these reasons it makes sense that future cas, with this knowledge, would summon balthazar for help? questions? idk, I just liked cas having an angel who was friendly with him and he trusted. i mean your fic has given cas so many friends and I love it I’d be fine if you didn’t introduce any new characters at all! i just thought it’d be interesting to see and also be a good way to introduce like you know.., broader angels i suppose. if the time travel shenanigans are sticking to the s1-2 timeline angels couldn’t be super heavily involved, unless cas butterfly effect-ed it (which is mad interesting) anyway I think cas would be panicked about the future and last and would wanna ask about the state of heaven, if Chuck was there in the current timeline. and I think it’d make the most sense and least disturbance that he summon balthazar. because they were friends and also I don’t think balthazar would like.. tell anybody.

im literally SO sorry this is so long and I’m like hm. maybe i should send a second ask with more thoughts. anyways i hope you’re having a good night im feeling better already :)

i’m loving the ask box essays, truly we’ve never been more free when we’re allowed unlimited characters in our messages to other tumblr accounts.

i guess i shouldn’t be surprised that people wonder how cas got sent back, like that was one of the first things i knew about this fic, the who did it part, but in my mind it didn’t really matter/isn’t as interesting as what happens BECAUSE he’s sent back (you will get an answer to the ‘who’ btw. eventually. there are some hints in my fic as well as what some people have commented and things that are in my heard from your mother au tag on here...)

when cas gets his memories back, there are several things happening at once, so he may need to put his 12 years of trauma on the backburner for a bit lol.

angels will appear to some extent as well. i think it’s interesting that despite some of the higher-ups making remarks that cas has a ‘crack in his chassis’ and had to keep getting mind wiped, quite a few other angels seemed to like and respect him, at least earlier on in the show. he had enough, idk, charisma? to lead angel armies. more than once, too! that, combined with the fact that other angels besides him need to get sent to naomi imply (even if spn didn’t really do much w it bc, you know,) that a decent amount of angels may be more into humanity and free will than we’d think. i’m sure we don’t see so many of them later on bc, you know, most of them are dead, but at this point in the show? who’s to say. cas spends enough time reading about class consciousness that he starts an angel union against lobotomies lmao. they can’t take ‘em all, right?

i also think cas needs to end my fic by having twenty hand made friendship bracelets worn on both wrists at all times and ppl constantly blowing up his phone bc he’s that guy!! :) 

[ts-unsolved]

Final Wrap-up for Chapter One

((since chapter one will be coming to a close shortly and there is still an assortment of questions left over, here is a masterpost of responses to queries that couldn’t be addressed during the story! 

[reminder: the ask box will be left open, however the characters are not available. please keep in mind that non-plot related questions will not be answered by the characters after this post.]

Anonymous said: ((Just wanted to tell you your drawings are so pretty and I love ur blog. That is all I have no braincells to ask questions))

Anonymous said: OKAY MOD I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW I LOVE THIS AU SO MUCH AND ITS SO COOL AND GOOD AND YOUR ART IS TOO!! sorry for caps I’m just excited

Thank you! Sorry I didn’t always get around to answering asks like this, but for every one that was sent in, I appreciated it with all my heart. You guys are angels 💖

Anonymous said: What is one haunted location you guys would really like to visit someday?

Poveglia is definitely the highest on the list for the notoriety alone, although they would likely never get the permission to go (the history in general is almost excessively horrible and tragic, so nothing good would come out of doing an episode there. Maybe it’d be good as a final-chapter type location? 🤔).

@anxious-fander-bean​ said: Hey Logan, have you ever tried swing dancing? It's really fun and good excersize! There's also a lot of bouncing and upbeat music, so Patton might enjoy it as well! ((I'm doing it. I need the qpp boys to be happy and have fun, bc they deserve it.))

(LOGAN: I’ll...consider it.)

You did it, you got them to go on some good ol’ platonic dates! B)

Anonymous said: I feel bad that I don't have any deep question or something along those lines, but what's your favorite thing to bake, Pat? - 💐

That’s alright! Questions don’t have to be deep to be fun/interesting. 

(PATTON: Cupcakes! You can make so many different flavors, and there are tons of fun ways to decorate them!)

@why-should-i-tell-youu2 said: Why cant anyone else see the seal?

You need to have The Sight to be able to see demon sigils. Patton has this ability naturally, and Dee has it because Elliott taught it to him. Otherwise, Virgil and Roman would be the closest in terms of gaining this ability, but a scared/skeptical part of them is holding them back. 

Anonymous said: My good dorks, is there a way to, I don’t know, get a better/more effective charm for your office? One that costs more than $10? -🍁

Anonymous said: Hey, Logan, potential naturalistic explanation for ya: depending on what the charm was made of, shifts in ambient room temperature could have caused minuscule expansions and contractions in the material that would eventually crack the charm. Do I believe my own explanation? Absolutely not. Am I grasping at straws for a non-supernatural explanation? Absolutely. And ambient room temperature doesn’t even begin to explain the red symbol around the charm

(LOGAN: Our budgeting is already a mess as it is, the last thing we need is to waste more funds on decorations. And that theory seems much more reasonable than the contrary explanation.)

Anonymous said: Is the demon that Pavreen summoned the same demon that possessed Elliott?

Anonymous said: Welp Virge SUMMONED A DEMON- (Why do I have a feeling Remy was the demon that possessed Elliot-)

Nope, they’re all different demons! The demon that Parveen summoned is notoriously difficult to contact, so a bunch of teenagers wouldn’t have been able to do it. Likewise for Remy; you can only summon him once you have his True Name, and he’s already destroyed most references to that (sorry Patton).

Anonymous said: omg omg omg what part of mythology is remy part of???

He’s not from any particular mythology, but he is partly based off of Alps from German folklore and the general mythology around sleep paralysis!

Anonymous said: Can Patton see supernatural beings like ghosts and demons and stuff? I just think it would be interesting if his scars make him able to see them :3c

Anonymous said: If both Dee and Patton can see the sigil, and Dee can see ghosts, does that mean Pat can see ghosts too? With the whole red glowing thing (forgot what its called) it seems to be connected.

Yes he can see ghosts/demons, and you’re right that the scars (or rather the deal with the demon which gave him his powers and scars) are what lead to him being able to do it. The red is just a general indicator of something supernatural/not of our Realm.

Anonymous said: Wait so if Patton and his family all have that mark could that mean Patton is not completely human 👀 -🌈

I supposed you could say that Patton’s not entirely human because he’s a witch who was born without a soul, but he’d find that pretty offensive tbh.

Anonymous said: Are Elliott and Patton maybe related, even distantly? Also, roman needs to suck it up and have Feelings for the Snake Man

There’s no relation between Elliott and Patton. Elliott is the child of a seer and a psychic, Patton is the son of witches. They’re similar, but different. (Also you’re assuming that Roman hasn’t liked the Snake Man since high school, but considered him off-limits because he’s his brother’s best friend).

Anonymous said: Does Patton know that Dee can see spirits and does Dee know that Patton is protecting them all?

Anonymous said: Dee, pat, do you know that each other can see the sigil? 

Anonymous said: is ... is patton a witch and dee a dee-mon and that's why they don't like each other.....?

Anonymous said: Pat what do you think about making deals with demons?

They’re both aware of each other’s secrets! Technically they’re both doing their best to protect everyone, but that doesn’t mean they agree with each other’s methods or bond over the shared responsibility. 

Patton is indeed a witch, and Dee is a regular human who happened to summon a demon one time. Patton thinks Dee is the occult equivalent of a satanist, which he disagrees with because dark magic is unnatural/dangerous in his eyes (making deals with demons only leads to trouble!), and would prefer Dee not endanger his friends. Dee doesn’t like Patton because of his perceived moral superiority, and finds the way he can be so secretive and two-faced creepy 

Regardless, they’re both sitting in glass houses and have more in common than they think.

Anonymous said: Patton Should Hug Dee *

Maybe. But he won’t. 8′D

Anonymous said: Since Dee has been able to see ghosts for a long time, was he an open believer in ghosts before Elliot died? Since it was mentioned that the reason he lies about his belief is because he knows that they're dangerous, he wouldn't have had a reason to hide it in the past. And if he did are any of the others aware of the belief change? Well, besides Remus. I'm guessing that one is pretty obvious.

He may have been more involved as a believer in the past, though that doesn’t mean he was ever super open about it. He was aware of how it would look like to outsiders (being genuinely skeptical at one point himself), so he wasn’t going to paint a target on his back by talking about ghosts and demons and things most people can’t see.

Of course, that didn’t stop people from stereotyping and making those sorts of assumptions about their friend group anyway, but no one besides them really knew about their secret-- not even Virgil.

Anonymous asked: What would happen if one time, the gang ended up getting something supernatural on camera?

The result of that would depend on the being. Ghosts can kinda appear on camera, although it’s very rare for them to appear as a full bodied apparition, which is why they usually only manifest in spirit orbs or light/shadows. Poltergeists are better since they’re able to interact with objects, but likewise since they can’t manifest into a physical form they can easily be brushed off. Demons and other miscellaneous creatures will straight up not appear if captured directly on film; you’ll simply get video glitches and distortions.  

So essentially, they may technically have found something already, but capturing evidence that’s also compelling is a lot more difficult than you’d think. I imagine there’s a good chance that anything legitimate wouldn’t get taken too seriously because of how easy it is to fake evidence nowadays.

Anonymous said: Okay so a little bit of a rant but not really ig but imagine the ladylike and unsolved crossover for this AU like I can see it as like Thomas' friends dressing up Roman and Dee in style and seeing a blushing mess and maybe flirting going on because of how good the clothing complements each other but this is kinda a weak idea lol

It’s not a weak idea at it, it’s really cute! (though I may just have a soft spot for the Ladylike cast and crossovers). 

The only thing to note is that I’ve chosen not to include Thomas’ friends in this AU because I personally weird about writing fiction about real people? (I was on the fence about including character!Thomas for a while too, tbh). So, apologies to anyone who’s sent similar asks or wanted to see any of Thomas’ friends; they wont be around!

Anonymous said: Did Dee and Remus ever have that talk Dee said he would try to have a while back????

They might have gotten the opportunity to chat back when Remus came back to help shoot the Room 1046 video. It wouldn’t have been a complete reconciliation by any means (dealing with years of baggage in one sitting is Hard), but now Remus is aware that Dee is open to discuss things again at some point in the future, so progress!

Anonymous said: wait wHAT?! When did he (Emile Picani) die?? Give us the deets oh wise one

Anonymous said: emile is... dead? what happened?

I see y’all, but unfortunately you’re not getting any answers from me just yet! You’ll have to wait until the next chapter~.

Anonymous said: Shit is about to go down and I am worried about the next ghost "adventure"

:) Don’t Worry About It.))

[peterstanslizzie]

Reacting To: The Hollow (Season 2 Episode 6)

Episode Title: Dead End

Spoiler Warning: Kindly proceed if you’ve watched the episode already or don’t care about spoilers.

1. The episode begins on a somber note; Adam, Mira, Kai PLUS Reeve and Vanessa are standing next to Skeet’s burial. They’re obviously distressed by the sudden passing of their friend. Regardless of what we’ve just seen, I still think that the show is going to find a way to bring him back. 

2. As they make their way to the Jazz Club, Reeve tells Vanessa he still doesn’t trust the trio and the same goes for Adam. Reeve also believes that they’re still playing the game. 

3. Kai notices Adam wearing the skull key he had stolen from Jules’s chateau in episode 5 and points it out for everyone to hear, including Reeve and Vanessa. Reeve is suspicious of Adam collecting random objects without keeping them in the loop. Umm, they just got together as a group; Why would he think that Adam is withholding information from him especially after everything they’ve been through last episode? Reeve is always so hot-tempered; It’s really annoying. 

4. Adam and Kai get to arguing with each other and thank goodness for Mira because she pulls them by their ear, which causes them to stop. She must have done that plenty of times when the three of them were a team back in the day. But they go back to bickering when they couldn’t decide on a path to take. This time, Kai is the one to stop them. We also find out some tidbits about Kai’s parents; Apparently they don’t seem to have a good relationship with one another. I wonder if they’re separated or divorced...

5. Reeve asks Vanessa (who seems out of it) to fly out to scout for locations but there’s no need for that because Mira discovers a random underground metro station behind the bushes. As they descend, Kai reminds Vanessa that he’s still mad at her for manipulating him last season. 

6. I’m glad Mira is around to keep the peace between Adam and Reeve. Their constant arguing is getting old real fast. They board a train and it immediately starts moving. But they’re not the only ones on this train because there is also a group of ghosts seated on the train as well and just like Jules, they’re French too lol. PS, I didn’t catch the ‘ghosted’ pun Kai made at first when he was talking to one of the ghosts. 

7. They look at the map of the metro and are unsure if the train will take them to the jazz club. Vanessa points to a headline of a newspaper one of the ghosts is reading that mentions about a train that had crashed at the end of a train line. By the way, can Mira read French? There are also photos of the victims and it turns out that the ghosts of the victims are in the same carriage as them. Creepy!

8. They then realize that these ghosts are there to relive the crash again, which means that the very train that they’re on will crash too. They run over to the driver (also a ghost) and pleads for him to stop the train but he isn’t able to do anything; I guess it’s because he’s a ghost lol.

9. Yet again, Adam and Reeve are arguing about which buttons to press to stop the train. Kai, who is extra sensitive to listening to people argue because of his parents’ history isn’t coping well during this time. Poor Kai! He must have been so traumatized. Adam, go get yo’ man, even if y’all are about to die. 

10. Vanessa tells Kai to fix the predicament they’re in but Kai is still hurt by the bad stuff she’s done to him. I’m glad Kai is calling her out and not sweeping those things under the rug. What she did was absolutely terrible. Anyways. with his powers of ‘engineering’ (I guess), he asks Adam to pull the lever to set off the braking system but Reeve starts to butt in. OMG REEVE! Kai asked Adam! UGHHHH! It’s not a competition. They accidentally break the lever and I am so mad. Mira does the best thing in the episode so far and that is locking them out of the train conductor’s room. Thank you Mira!

11. Kai breaks open the control panel, exposing the wires underneath but he’s not sure which ones to disconnect. Luckily, Vanessa realizes that the metro map isn’t a location map, it’s actually a map of the circuitry. With the basic knowledge of French she has, she tells Kai to disconnect the blue and green wire and the train manages to stop just before it could crash.

12. The doors open and the ghosts are free to leave the train at Montmartre station. But they’re ghosts?! They should be able to phase through objects, no?

13. I’m loving Mira in this episode! She is not taking any of Reeve or Adam’s BS! I agree, their constant fighting is so dumb and it’s not accomplishing anything. To be honest, the main problem here lies with Reeve. He is so stubborn but I  wonder what really happened that caused him to leave Adam and Mira in the first place.

14. They exit the station and immediately, they see the jazz club just opposite of them. The door opens and from the looks of it, another team is leaving the club. They explain to our protagonists that they don’t have their memories and they have their own set of powers. These people are probably in the same positions Adam. Kai, Mira and Vanessa, Reeve, Skeet were last season. 

15. However, the long hair girl (we find out later that her name is Nisha) quickly assumes that our main characters are the bad guys and she threatens to attack. Reeve, who is the most annoying person on this show so far makes the first move on the only guy on their team, Tyler. But he’s not down for the count because he strikes Reeve with a lightning bolt. So, we get this episode’s first fight scene.

16. Nisha also has fire powers like Kai and she proceeds to attack Kai and we get a fire on fire battle between the two. We also find out here that players can’t have the same powers within ‘The Hollow’, which is definitely not the case at this moment. Interesting! I didn’t know that. Hence, the digital world that they’re in now is very different to what the game was last season. 

17. The shaved-head girl, whose name is Iris I believe (from me checking the end credits) has the power to grow bigger. She tries to attack Mira but Reeve uses his telekinetic powers to stop her. Oh and on top of Tyler having lightning powers, he has the ability to summon hail too. So, he has weather powers a la Storm from the X-men, I’m assuming. He distracts Reeve with the hail, allowing Iris to break free from Reeve’s grip. 

18. She then confronts Adam and wants to fight him but Adam, with his chivalry, doesn’t believe in hitting girls. Well, Adam is gonna have to face the consequences because she grows into a giant and picks Adam up and she snatches the skull key from him. He really should’ve left that thing in his pocket. We see that this opposing team has stolen a gun-like weapon from Jules’s chateau and thinks that the key will activate the weapon. But Iris is shrinking and they decide to make their escape instead. 

19. Okay, so it seems to me that Vanessa had something to do with the game restarting and all of them being back in ‘The Hollow’ once again. With tears filling her eyes, she tries to tell them but the rest of the group were too busy focusing on getting to the club. Ughh, I want to know what she did! Maybe her eventual revelation will explain the glitch she had in her eye at the end of Season 1 after the game was over. And no wonder she acted weirdly when Reeve mentions about the glitch to her earlier in this episode. So, is Vanessa a glitch herself? Hmm....

20.  ‘Death’ is back! And he’s working as a bartender/mixologist behind the counter lol. However, Death doesn’t recognize them, just like how Akuma didn’t seem to remember them in episode 4 either . I guess resetting the game had something to do with it. They ask him about Weirdy and he tells them that Weirdy is going to be performing later tonight.

21. Benjamini, the short-stature bodybuilder-like Italian man from the carnival last season is also working at the club. The five of them sit around a table, waiting for the show to start and Vanessa tries to confess to them something about the weapon the other team has but she gets interrupted again! It would be best if these people actually listen to her! So, is her secret about the weapon and not about the glitch? Or is it both? I’m confused. After interrupting her, the others talk about the other team they just fought and what would happen to them if they were to win the game. 

22. Anyways, the show starts and Plague (from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse) is on stage and he introduces Weirdy to everyone. Our heroes try to go over to him but they are blocked by Benjamin, Benjamini’s partner/brother?, also from season 1. Weirdy proceeds to play the piano and he starts to sing the song, ‘Creep’ by Radiohead. How appropriate, given his name. I’m actually digging this cover. It starts out similar to the actual song and then it turns a corner and we get a Jazz rendition of it. It’s pretty cool!

23. They do their best to capture Weirdy’s attention but the Benjamins are making sure his act doesn’t get interrupted. Reeve uses his powers to disable them and they manage to get to the front. Weirdy is really into his own performance but eventually, he notices the group and is really surprised to see them. He actually flat out tells them they don’t belong here and he thinks that they’re coding errors, despite telling their truth to him. He ends his song with a snap of his fingers, which opens a portal under them and they fall into it. 

24. They all teleport to the tip of a mountain, where the only thing supporting them is a weird looking platform. What’s with ‘The Hollow’ and it’s love of high altitudes? LOL. Anyways, they are all balancing the platform at different points and if anybody were to make even just a slight step, it would cause the entire platform to tip over. Why can’t Reeve use his powers to levitate everyone? Adam reminds everyone not to move, which is sound advice but guess who doesn’t like being told what to do? F*ckin’ Reeve. LIKE WILL HE EVER SHUT UP?!

25. For the 4th or 5th time this episode, these two argue on the platform. Kai calls out for Mira to stop them. And ironically, she’s in the centre of all of this...lol. I feel for Mira in the picture above; She’s either going to yell at them again or break down crying from all of the stress of them two arguing. And the episode stops here. Well, this was certainly an episode filled with argument after argument, wasn’t it? It annoyed me to no end. Check back with me tomorrow for when I upload my review of episode 7. Till then, have a great day everyone! Bye!

[sassaetcie]

Silver x Idia (The Molten Charcoal) chapter 5

Sorry for the long delay www

I... got out a bit. Even if I had this test and... was proud of it? Somehow... I mean, sure I was proud of it, especially the fact Trey listened to me and didn't look at me like I was some kind of creep because of my hair or name or eyes or lips or fingers or heavy breathing... I didn't even... suffocate once... He was really nice, yep. He really listened to me... so many times. Sure... there was the Wishes event when he kind of sided with Deuce but... At last he's not fucking dumb like Deuce... Even if Deuce isn't probably absolutely dumb... Well, at least he could praise me so... I don't know? And people didn't doubt the fact I was the one that invented this strategy...! So I was... happy, I think. Or at least feeling a bit less weird than "usual". These flames had almost started to look like clouds around me. Blue clouds... These clouds would drive away for sure. But they would not spread an unwanted arson, a fake arson, a superficial blaze. Of course talking with people like this could transform them into cumulus, but a single trouble would turn them into hot steam before anointing him with the fake will-o'-the-wisp again. I had walked through the corridors, hiding my hair with... my hood. Somehow it finally became mine and stop slipping through my fingers as any stream would. The black, gray and blue outfit was... no more drenched in... my blood's light. I should stop saying "blood" stuff, tho. It's so stupid... I stopped and leaned some seconds in a corridor's shade for sure. I... clasped my hands. Of course they weren't frozen nor cold. But they were... neither dry nor hot with sweat. I grabbed one with the other... No, I grabbed the other thanks to the one. They felt somehow slim, perhaps skinny compared to other people, and my fingers were still shaking but not as much as before, for sure... This was my skin. I could see pearls of sweat... Even if it was ugly or unsightly, this was still some "water". Not that I would drink or lick it, thanks. But these tall slender, spectral... hands were of alabaster now... They could resist fire and water alike. I probably stood a while like this... After all, everyone was supposed to be either in lessons or being tested... So I wasn't supposed to be found out. Maybe I should have moved before? Because that was a very normal situation, I should maybe have been even more cautious... There's no way normal would articulate itself around me, after all... Tho NRC is probably another kind of normal, but that's something else. I leaned stroking my hands like that... for probably some seconds at least, but probably not minutes? Even for me, it would have been weird. Yet, I should have gone back to the den before. Because nothing good was supposed to occur to my surroundings...

And thus the epitome of water, or ice, had come. His smile was indeed that of a sun, burning down every last remnant of my confidence. Everything about himself was so shiny and dazzling, and yet he just made me burn as if he were made of the same hair as I was. But he was more likely an aqua-elemental. Perhaps more of a djinn since I wasn't of the same area as he was... Well I wasn't of the "same" area anyway. He told me he was happy to see me... That it was weird to see me... Sure thing it was weird, I usually don't go outside, that's pretty obvious...? Why was his supposed standard, normal, usual, water hurting me? Why did he seem made of lava in front of me? His red eyes never tried to harm me intentionally... I hate how shiny he is... I hate so much when he gets close to me. I suffocate SUFF SUFF SUFFSUFFSUFFSUFFSUFFNO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY I'M A WEIRDO. No, I should try to think of better things... Like how Trey worked perfectly with me and never mocked me. He didn't seem like he was lying either. He really seemed amused in some way, but not because of my stupidity. Some people probably respected me... respect me, here. And not for my rank... Not for my rank... He asked me if I was alright since I was sweaty and clutching the hood around my hair. Did I look alright? Of course I'm not. OF COURSE I'M NOT SUFFSUFFSUFFSUFFSUFFSUFFSUFF SUFFO SUFFOCATESUFF SUFFO SUFFO SUFFSUFFSUFFIt's not his fault, RIGHT? He wasn't doing it on purpose, was he? WAS HE? That's okay... That's okay, I just... had to tell him I wasn't feeling good so I told him I felt hot, but that it wasn't because of some weird illness because he could have been dumb enough to tell others to bring me to the nurse's office... He told me he could make rain happen if I was feeling too hot. That his unique magic was changing the weather into raining. WHY? WHY IS HE THE ONE WITH THIS POWER? I don't understand. SUFFOCATE SUFF SUFFO NO. NO I SHOULDN'T HAVE... I'm sorry Ortho. I'm still jealous and afraid of everyone but... I want a power that seems as useless as his... I want to be able to summon water and touch it like everyone... I just ran away and went straight (lol) back to Ignihyde... my room. It was suffocating. Everything was just suffocating. I was suffocating. Suffocation was strangulating me. Every stiff sound my computer made sounded like suffocation. I just stretched my back while sitting trying to grasp some air. I could do it! I can do it! I couldn't. No matter how I breathe in, I can't breathe properly. Only a part allows me to breathe... I can put this cursed hair away, air won't come in. I can raise my hands and body to the only sky I am allowed to see by myself, air will curl back to any other place than myself. One. Two. Three.                                                

I cannot breathe properly again. Was I too fast? No... I'm just doomed, right? I'm just so fucking stupid, I probably even don't know how to breathe, I'm sorry Ortho, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm neither a fucking adult like they are, nor I'm like the other students, I'm just a fucking weirdo, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry... NO! I should try to breathe again. Let's breathe properly... I can do it! I saved Ortho... No, Ortho believed in me... I have to do this.

One.

Two.

Three...

IT DOESN'T WORK. NO MATTER HOW MUCH I COUNT I JUST... I JUST SUFFSUFFSUFFSUFFSUFFSUFFI'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'm sorry... I have to yawn to breathe... Just because I was happy to stretch my hands... Just because I was glad not to feel squirm today... What am I doing wrong...? I should sleep... Crying is worthless for someone like me... My tears just feel hot and disappear again. I'm tired...

[Started Recording at : 10:00 am : Seventh? Day]

-BIG BROOOOO! OPEN THE DOOR! IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO GET OUT TO MEET. YOUR. LOVED. ONE.

-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH?! BUT IT HAS ONLY BEEN... FOUR DAYS? RIGHT?! RIIIIIGHT?!

-Actually, you have slept two days after the exam, so I have all recordings ready whenever you feel the need to learn things for future exams.

-H-huh? Two days? But...

-Well, another day has passed since you've awoken only hours ago but you've spent these hours on videogames... Or have I misunderstood something? :(

-N-no! Of course not, O-ortho! But... are you sure... I can't have slept for two days in a row... I'm not a-a princess or something like this...

-Well, anxiety can lead to disrupted behaviors, so it is not that weird you actually have slept for two days, especially with your bad habits when it comes to slumber.

-Y-yeah but two days... I'm not that much...

-Well, whatever! Let's go!

The room opened among its unique blue fire. Had the heat peaked or lessens? No one was used to this temperature swinging and lurking through the whole room, barely restrained by such weak walls. Ashes or obsidian walking away would probably be decided sooner or later. The hellish trail of cursed un-will-o'-the-wisps seemed to have expanded... It was time to wash all of this gloomy blue out of this body stuck to such blazing ideals, lit with yet another kind of light. The doll's arm reached out to the human yet separated one.

-Let's go, Big Bro!

-Y-yeah...

-I'm going to walk a bit with you and then I will let go to the tree where you met with Silver so that I can check no one gets between you two, okay?

-The tree where we met...? Is i-it a shojo stereotype supposed to cheer me up...?

The supposed doll closed the door, sealed this heat away, even if it would have means to escape if anything was to fail on this day. The burning One was lurking and scratching Idia from the inside, after all. Wind blew from Ignihyde's far end. Freshness and magic were still running the place at the moment. The light steps barely echoed on the soft floor, or perhaps Ortho's ones were the louder. He extracted pride from these very legs, after all. His steps were noisy, even if he had been maximized. Ignihyde dorm was not dingy, neither dark. Only lit to a certain extent. Sunshine was painful for most of them, and so had become the whole dorm. At least Dire Crowley never asked for the whole dorm to change its way of thinking nor lighting.

-Okay, we're going in Night Raven College's main building. Are you ready, Big Bro?  

-Y-yeah... I've taken some walks before, it s-s-s-s-hould be alright...

The mirror teleported them as it was supposed to be, no matter the heat and fake sun. How far his power went was something they had not calculated yet, after all.

-Haha! This is as fast as usual, this is nice. Do you think the mirror might need an update sometime, Big Bro? :o

-An... update? Pfffffhehe... That would be fun... That would be really fun, yeah.

The temperature was now stuck between ocean and magma. The dorm's crossroads was not a source of anxiety for Idia, after all. And thus, not at all for Ortho. No parasite nor virus could invade him as long as this area was 200% safe for his... big brother, after all. Others were probably between 0% and 100%, Ignihyde being rather 75% because of the throng of students sometimes walking between each rooms to ask for plugs or volatile memory they might have burned because of modding too much some of their games or an infinity of problems-solutions only Ignihyde truly come up with. And Idia's room was only 150% safe since people online could start insulting him, even though he would beat them up or hack them if they were trying anything, and sometimes he could hear him crying because of the heat or things he could not entirely make sense of. Ortho checked his proto-hand, though it was probably not a prototype anymore. The Shroud son had worked on it for a long time, as little as long could mean. Well, sure Ortho would not mind knowing such a great amount of "time". Not knowing was something quite problematic in his condition, after all. Touching his fellow's head would be troublesome, in the end.

-We will soon reach the court... In less than 5 minutes, Silver will arrive if he is not already there. Are you ready, Big Bro? I'm sure you can do this!

-T-thanks but you're the one...

-Yes? :D

-N-n-n-n-o, nothing... Thanks for making this true... We'll see if everything proceeds smoothly...

-I'm sure it will, you're the best!

The boy hit his hair, aiming his back, above his back. His mouth tried to swallow some air, as softly as he could among the buzzing atmosphere, as much as air was running away from him. A little hand blessed him enough to breathe again, petting his back for a few seconds, enough to shatter the curse which he could have brought, willingly or not. He spread his self in the body he was born with, and took a step. He lead his feet as far as they could, watching them whatever could happen around him. He could not touch water, after all. Thus, he should not be worried about it... If people were afraid of him, then he should not be afraid of them. And the other way around. But where was Silver? Where was he among the Earth's debates? The tree was stopping the sunshine, and would do the same with rain. And above all with mist, thunder, hail... Thus, their beings would be in this shadow of a tree and not under the tree itself. Or would it be under the shadow itself? Only a few more steps and he would be entering the shadow layer. How billions of shades were in it? Calculating the mirror's power would be far easier, in the end. And thus, as many solutions were dripping from the tree's twigs hindering the sun.

[Ended Recording at : 10:15 am : Seventh? Day]

I didn't expect to find him asleep, tbh. Well... I kind of. I found him sleeping the first time so it wouldn't be that weird for the second time... But wasn't I supposed to be earlier than expected? Or was he the kind of person to be in front of a classroom even earlier?! Or was it the other way around... which is, he was here maybe BECAUSE I make him miss a lecture?! Or perhaps... he was on his way and he fell asleep... No, it didn't seem so at first. Because I remember his bag was not next to him, and his wand wasn't in his hand either... He was simply... slumbering. A squirrel came forward and rubbed his head on his soft-looking, attached by a same mind, fingers. He probably dozed off earlier... but not that earlier. More animals would have gathered if it were to be the case, especially since no it hadn't been raining on this very morning. So he had just... arrived before I did. This wasn't like the last time for sure. No animals, no unexpected meeting, no ceremony robe. (Not that he wasn't cute in his ceremony robe but-). Maybe the shadow was blessing me in the end, lol. There were not enough things in common with the last time to hinder me... Well, I was already anxious as hell, but that wasn't that shocking, lol. But that was like last time for a thing at least... Was I supposed to wake him up? I mean, he didn't judge me for watching him sleeping last time so... Not that I enjoyed it, though?! I just... didn't know... Was it more awkward to wake him up or let him sleep? He could have been angry... He seemed to be in such a deep and sweet slumber I just couldn't awake him... And he didn't seem to be that angry... So letting him asleep was probably the good choice to reach a good end? But what if he hadn't sleep and... what if he didn't want to sleep?! Maybe he was narcoleptic?! (well he likely still is but-). But if I had been to awaken him not on purpose, maybe I could avoid the bad end and reach the best end instead of the neutral end I thought to be the good one?! Then I needed to sit... but not in a normal way (if I could sit in a normal way among all of these elements which weren't mine). Of course I needed to sit as cautiously as possible and not hurt Silver on purpose... Did I dare to write this?! I can't think of hurting him. Well, I probably can under a certain point of view but it's not mine. It's not mine... I was supposed to sit as slowly as possible and break something, like a twig put on purpose under my foot or something like this. Then it wouldn't be my fault for sure, right? But wasn't I lying to him... My legs just betrayed me and I fell down because of how much the rest of my body was shaking.

Of course I had semi-planned this one... I mean that was something I was very likely to do but... It was the first time it came in handy?! This was also the most cliche one but... the fact he rolled to the right to catch me wasn't absolutely one, I guess? Why would he had rolled if he could have straightly (lol) caught me? And I wouldn't have felt AWKWARD AS HELL BECAUSE HE CAUGHT ME IN HIS ARMS AND UGFGKFKGFKREOIGIGKFGK?! Even if I try to write only to put some order in my brain, it just gets more chaotic... But I just... can't think of this day without crying and all... His indigo eyes were wide open, especially for him. They sure looked like a calm lake but... they didn't feel as if they were made of water either. A pale purple gauze opposed all of the ocean from swallowing this "prince" into his blue hue. Yet, none of them were a prisoner. His blue and His purple were, simply, together. His black uniform wasn't that different from our shades, it seems... And all of the leather strips looked like a complex armor, I cannot think otherwise. Sure... it wasn't a thief's outfit, nor that of a killer nor... Well, it could be seen as such because of the black and green hue... I guess some people would find it ominous.

-So you have arrived, Shroud. I'm sorry, I fell asleep once again... I just can't control myself on this point, this is quite the bother.

I tried to gather my hands, legs, thighs, chest, head, knees, ankles, arms to move. Two barely shook out of the body I was supposed to have. There was nothing to escape for sure but... There may have been something to escape, actually. Whatever it might have been. His hands wrapped by a serene, quiet black had touched my forehead, each of his fingers dancing far from my cursed, hated, despicable, despised, hateful, ugly, heinous hair.

-Are you... ill, Shroud?

-H—h-h-huh? S-s-sure I'm not, S-S-ilver... IsitokayifIcallyouSilverthough...?!

-Well, yes? I don't have a second name, so yes... Please do, I don't mind. You just felt hotter than usual... Hmm, probably more like warmer. Sorry, didn't mean to be mean.

What did he mean by warmer or hotter, though? I guess my... hair was truly invading. Not that much a surprise... Even if he was in mid-water... It was probably too much to handle for anyone who was closer to normality than I was. And yet he was kind...

-I... I'm sorry if my hair is weird and if you're feeling hyper hot a-and sweating all over the place and I should have cancelled the date, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, you're probably losing a precious time right now, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm...

-Oh no, I like your hair.

Well, of course I didn't expect this one in 99% of the roads. There was still a percent in which Silver was indeed a true Prince Charming. I guess I... wasn't wrong so far. Well either way I wouldn't have been wrong anyway. I did plan everything, after all, and the keikaku... Yeah. But that he truly liked my hair was still such a tiny percent... Miracle could occur, I would have guessed. But that wasn't a miracle, for sure. Miracles didn't truly exist. People sure tend to believe for some reason or hate the concept of miracles by cynism but... I just want to be in-between... It's who I am anyway... I just... can't be normal, can I? Well, I'm probably better in most fields anyway... right? Silver isn't a miracle that exist for me... I will probably even be a burden for him.

-M-my hair?

-Yes. It looks... peaceful? I don't really know how to tell you that and I don't want to offend you in any way but... It just looks like a chimney fire I could sleep to. For a long time. Even if I would like to avoid falling asleep out of nowhere...

-P-peaceful? Are... we... t-t-t-talking about the same thing...? I mean, I don't mean to insult you either, you're really nice but I just cc—c-cc-an't understand why would someone think my hair is p-p-pretty or something like this...

-It feels warm and... saudade to me.

-Sau...?!

-Yes... I would like to touch them, but would it harm you if I did? Or me?

-I... I don't know... I'm sure it will. My hair isn't as warm as you think... You're just... just different from everyone... But it won't be enough... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...

-That's alright. If you don't want me to touch your hair or even your hand, I would understand. You're quite the soft type, Shroud.

-H-huh?

-Lil... My Old Man was the one who sent me here earlier, but I was kind of... happy to see you wanted to talk to me. We discussed this "type" things earlier but I didn't really understand anything. Oh, yes what did you want to tell me, Shroud? I am sorry if I'm too blunt or something like this. I'm kind of lost, too.

The True Prince had arrived. If he had been to guess what was to happen, then he would have been a Perfect Prince, which I didn't want. Because he would have been... too much. I guess I have some stupid fears but... I can't have too much... I'll just end up breaking everything... If he was dense, and not dense on purpose, thus not manipulative and not ending up a Villain Prince, which was another path... Then we could be equal in some ways. Of course... There was still a lot of crossroads before I could... reach this potential happy ending. If he was a True Prince but yet wasn't in love with me, then it would be a Neutral End at most. If he was a True Prince but ended up hollow even after I love him, it would be a Bad End, probably. If he was to hate me... it would be another Bad End. At least there was a possible Good End... I wasn't in Drakenkard 3 lol. ... I didn't even know how to sing in a wonderful way, probably.

-I... Huh... Is it okay if I talk for a while? O-o-o-only if it doesn't bother you, o-of course... I... just want to be as clear... as... understandable as possible... I-I don't mean that you won't understand o-o-o-of course! It's just that I... need to explain... a lot...

One of his definitely lead hand approached the other one he handled so easily. He took of his left or right glove, whatever actually. His barely long fingers made the black clothing disappear from the alabaster hand which could have been protected so far from the crown of flames piercing my soul. The awakened limb rubbed each of his eye surrounded by the soft veil of maskara, darkening his face, tho maybe not to my level lol. One time. Two times. Three times.

-I've rubbed my eyes. I should be awakened for a while. I hope. Please start. I want to listen to you, Shroud.

I... just needed to do what I usually did in my fanfictions... and all that kind of stuff, right?

-W-w-well... I... really like you? I can't tell you if it's affection, deep affection, crush, squish, love, love at first sight... I just can't tell what's going inside my brain but... I... just love everything about your appearance, that's true. Your eyes look so different, so dreamy. I feel like there's... a whole castle inside? I'm sorry, this is weird, right? I'm sorry but... Your hair looks like messy snow, like the purest snow, that no human has ever tried to play or make profit of... Your skin looks so soft and delicate, and yet I... I've seen you sometimes in your sport outfit and you got... these arms... and your face just looks like the old prince stories... Yeah. That's it. You look so much like a Prince who could save me. I'm just sorry, it's pathetic, I know... But you won't make fun of me... will you? I love you... You look so much like a prince... I feel like you can fulfill any of my dream as long as I'm with you... You're... You... You were so nice... w-w-when we first met... You didn't judge me... You just... YOU JUST... you just asked me things... and answered... You didn't laugh... even if you had lied... you didn't laugh... You just... You just... kept your composure... You didn't call me a weirdo... You didn't want my inheritance either.. You just... You. You... I love your lips too. They look soft and sweet and not a bunch of skin ready to spit poison and lies... And your ears look so round... so human-like... And your nose doesn't look like the kind to hurt when two foreheads lay upon e-each other and... your height comforts me... Your voice is serious but never shouting... you don't stress me... You... I just... can't believe someone as good as you exist... I'm sorry... We, teenagers shouldn't think like this but... Thanks for... thanks for existing... Love doesn't mean anything for someone like me, I just don't understand it... I guess... Thanks for.. making fairies flying into my veins?

How could someone answer something like this? Fairies were probably running through my head, and they were probably fireflies I thought made of water.