#ironically right now I am surviving things hitting the fan

[astudyinimagination]

THIS. this is what I keep saying!!!! you can change your life. and you start small. and you hold on to the small stuff. because there's the thing: life can get better — life can get way better — and then suddenly, things can hit the fan. and you come crashing back down.

it's the small stuff that gets you through those times.

it’s the smallest habits. how you spend your mornings. how you talk to yourself. what you read. what you watch. who you share your energy with. who has access to you. that will change your life.

[psychedelic-ink]

if youre looking for horny joel requests what about joel after surviving a life or death fight and dealing w how horny he got either by himself, with reader, or w tess (if youre down for that!!!)

sweaty, out of breath, and looking for release in whatever decrepit building hes in 👀

I love you anon (I went with reader since I wasn't sure which one you preferred more but for future reference, I'm def open to taking Tess requests too)

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐌𝐘 𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒

pairing: joel miller x fem!reader

genre: smut, hurt/comfort

word count: 827

summary: joel survives and finds life deep inside of you.

warnings: blood mention, rough sex, feral!joel, choking, creampie, breeding kink

The sound of the rain hitting the windows is deafening. The heavy downpour makes it impossible to see outside as if the world beyond your windows has been erased. The darkness is only broken by the occasional flash of lightning, illuminating the room with a ghostly light. The street lamps are nothing more than blurred halos through the rain, casting a hazy glow on the walls. Droplets of water slide down the glass panes, creating a mesmerizing pattern. The world outside has been shut out and you are cocooned in your own little sanctuary.

However, you can’t focus on any of that—the rain, the earthy smell of the earth, the chaos. None of it. 

Instead, your moans and heavy breathing fill the dusty space, it mixes with the sound of rain, masking it from anyone else that might hear. Joel slams into you again and again, pressing you up the wall, his one hand nestled under your breasts as the other holds your naked hip, nails leaving crescent-shaped marks on your skin. 

It’s been ten minutes since he arrived home, bleeding and bruised. You came out of the room and the second thing you feel is the tip of his cock slipping into you. 

Both your bodies are slick with sweat and sex, his probably more so. His hand moves up and pinches your perked nipple, with a gasp, you press the flush of your ass into him, the stretch of his shaft sending a thrill of pleasure down your spine. Looking down, you notice dark prints lingering above your skin, it’s warm and stick— when lightning strikes you see a violent red following Joel’s fingertips. 

Your breath hitches, cunt clenching around him, he stifles a groan into your skin, teeth sinking into the slope of your shoulder. 

“J–Joel–” you moan, bracing yourself against the wall. “You’re—fuck—you’re bleeding,”

“I am,” he ushers out, his breath fans over the back of your neck. “But that doesn't matter right now,” 

Right as you’re about to protest he fucks the words right out of you, only his name dropping from your chapped lips. You smell iron. 

He stops and a sharp whine rips from your throat, you feel his lips kissing the skin behind your ear, his cock twitches inside you. “I just need you to take me,” he mutters, you can barely hear him. “I need to fuck you—’need to come inside you. Let me have this, please—” 

His voice cracks at the end, reminding you how truly broken he is. Biting your lips, you slowly nod— there’s only one thing left to say. 

“Fuck me, Joel. Fuck me however you want, I’m yours,” 

He lets it out as he exhales, “Shiiit, you’re gonna kill me with that tongue of yours.” 

Joel is thrusting into you again, his pacing fact and hard. You feel the rippling of your muscle, the room loud with the sound of skin hitting skin. He splits you in half, his shaft drenched with your slick. The air is blissfully knocked from your lungs each time he rocks his hips deeper into you, he drags his cock over your most sensitive spots, drawing moan after moan out of you. 

Your legs shake, arousal washing over you again and again. You feel the pressure building up between your legs, a pleasant warm tingle spreading from your sex to the pits of your stomach. Joel runs his hands over the blood marks, spreading it more and groaning as he sinks himself into your heat. 

You shatter when he tightly wraps his fingers around your neck, the cut of airflow makes you dizzy, a buzz settling behind your eyes. You choke and he tightens his hold. He buries himself into your heat as if it’s a means of survival, a way to breathe again, even for a brief moment. Your cunt throbs, insides fluttering as you gush around him. 

The inside of your thighs slick with arousal, the sounds of him fucking his hurt into you now louder. 

Joel’s hand drops to your hip, holding your thigh, his thrust shallow. You nearly collapse with a sudden breath of oxygen but he holds you, pushing you further into the wall. 

He spills into you with a guttural groan, he comes—and comes, comes, comes. It’s so much, he fills you with his seed to the brim, some of it trickling down around the length of him and adding to the wetness of your thighs. 

Joel holds you for a while, the rain now registering to the both of you. He drags his lips down the column of your neck, tongue tracing the skin above your pulse. You shudder. 

“I need to get you cleaned up,” he rasps. “Sorry,” 

“You need to get cleaned up too,” you tease, your fingers finding refuge above his forearm. “But how about I clean your wounds first.” 

When the hints of a grumble reach your hears, you click your tongue. 

“Please, Joel.” 

He sighs, “Fine.” 

[bleeding-star-heart]

A non-comphrensive list of rewrite ideas for DA:2's ending

So, I've talked about DA:2's ending, and while how it just manages to make sense from an in-universe perspective, it absolutely doesn't from a writer's. And part of me suspects that the reason for that is because DA:2 was a very rushed product. One that, in my opinion, could have benefited from a little more time in the metaphorical oven. Here is a list of things I would do differently regarding the ending. This is more of a brainstorm than anything; not all of these ideas are going to go together.

First and simplest: get rid of the Chantry explosion altogether. It's a waste of animation. It requires the audience to buy the absurd notion that a man who CHOOSES to provide free medical care to the homeless-and it was expressly HIS idea to do so-would just shrug off the deaths of multiple civilians.

A better idea would be to focus Act 3 on Meredith Stannard. As a tyrannical military leader with extreme views and NO respect for civil authority, she is the PERFECT antagonist.

Perhaps Meredith feels that Elthina is an obstacle to her gaining power. Maybe she believes that Elthina's "moderate" views equate to being under the control of blood mages. Maybe she's decided that would be a very convenient narrative to spin.

Either way, it is time for Elthina to go. So, step one, she kidnaps Anders. As an apostate, he can serve both as hit man AND fall guy.

Except in this scenario, Anders does not actually want to assassinate Elthina. Mainly because he believes that doing so will only make mages look bad. (We are ignoring what Justice feels).

Now, owing to player agency, what goes down can vary. The player should have the choice of whether or not to rescue Anders, and, if they choose to rescue him, dialogue options should given them a number of choices on HOW, exactly, they wish to intervene.

But the gist of the situation is: thanks to Anders's refusal, Meredith ends up killing the Grand Cleric herself.

This ends up creating commentary on how reactionaries, ironically, end up attacking the very systems that privilege them, if they believe it helps them maintain that privilege.

But if we MUST keep the Chantry explosion for some reason, then under no circumstances should Anders be responsible.

We could tie it to the previous idea and, thanks to a certain combination of player choices, have Meredith be responsible.

Or the Chantry explosion is simply an accident. Maybe it is the result of an attempt to STOP Meredith; a tragic consequence of the fighting.

But again, I am not a fan of the explosion. So, going back to an ending WITHOUT the explosion, perhaps we switch tactics and make ELTHINA the Act 3 antagonist.

Not very orthodox, no. But there is a growing, very popular alternative interpretation of Elthina as a calculating, manipulative politician.

One that could serve to make her an excellent twist villain. Perhaps Elthina grows tired of Meredith's antics. Maybe Meredith is too much of an embarrassment, makes Elthina look weak to the other Chantry leaders.

So Elthina decides it's time to kill Meredith. After which Meredith is replaced with a more compliant knight-commander, one who will not stir the pot so much. Thus, restoring the status quo.

But the problem is, Mother Petrice, like a cockroach, has managed to survive the incident with the Qunari. And she can't leave well enough alone.

So SHE decides to kidnap Anders, and frame him for Meredith's murder. Only problem is, Mother Petrice's frame-up is so laughable it ends up exonerating Anders to anyone with two brain cells.

Thus, the players are forced to choose between three factions: Mother Petrice's faction of fanatical templars (who obviously lack the necessary brain cells), Orsino and Elthina's "moderate" faction, or a third faction, one belonging to Anders and the mage rights' activists.

These are just my ideas. Feel free to chime in with your own. So long as they don't involve Anders blowing up the chantry.

[stuffymcstuffsworld]

Me at store buying groceries

Random person spots me and starts doing this weird hyper dance that any good fan can recognize. The "omg it's someone who likes my famdom too" dance.

I happen to be wearing my orange camp half blood hoodie self made with fabric markers and iron ons.

They open their jacket to reveal a camp Jupiter shirt, and I just kinda stare and point at them. They nod. I squeal, they rush over and start chatting my ear off. we rave about terrible movies. We get hyped over the TV show, and them we talk like proud mother hens bout our "babies".

Then the bomb hits. They are a Jason fan. They argue that Jason can beat one of my babies. Aka Percy... I lost it.

"I'm sorry? Did your Jason beat a God at 12? No? Oh then surely he went and got the golden fleece... what , no? Oh well he must have held the sky to be so strong.... no wait a dam moment that was Percy. Okay okay how about have an adorable cyclops as a baby brother? Ooh or surviving trips to the underworld multiple times? What's that no? Oh well then surely he defeated multiple titans... mmm not sure about that one fine. Then there's percy how can basically take on gods titans, monsters, really the only thing he can't do is kill a giant single handedly. Oh, and did your baby fall willingly into Tartarus? Willingly???? You baby was safe and sound at camp halfblood but my baby suffered on the streets starving, fighting monsters and dealing with the same memory loss. And my baby still remembers the girl he loves enough to sacrifice everything for and who is willing to give her life for him while Jason knows next to nothing."

Me poking them in the chest angrily, and fellow fan is just giving me this weird smile. "Sorry about that my real favorite is hazel she's so cute! I just wanted to see if you were a real fan." Me staring at them open mouth.

As if we hadn't just debated why the guy who played freaking grover was severely miscasted in the movies 10 mins ago. And I just make the sign at them. You know the one. The one Percy sees grover make, then he uses against Smelly Gabe. I was warding off that right away, and they stared back.

And now that I think about it, I'm like, wow... I am a scary fan.

[thecodeveronica]

SORRY I'm about to be insane again about RE6 (meaning spoilers for said game)

I LOVE CHRIS'S ENDING

IT IS VERY GOOD FROM A NARRATIVE STANDPOINT AND VERY MEMORABLE AND HITS ALL THE RIGHT EMOTIONAL NOTES

HOWEVER

they should've let Piers live, just with serious injuries, he was so good guys, I can't get over it

we could've had a disabled protagonist, it could've been good!!! even just keep him around to be on comms with Chris or something ;____;

Jake had the C-Virus antibodies, they should've had him somehow save Piers (who escaped the underwater lab somehow lol; if Nemesis can survive being dropped into a vat of acid, I think we can justify Piers being C-Virus'd up with regenerative powers and floating to the surface or something)

AND I think it would kind of tie into one line from a little earlier on in the game, when Chris and Piers are on that elevator going to the underwater facility. The one when Piers is talking about the irony in Chris being the one to kill Wesker, but now going to save Wesker's son, to which Chris says that maybe it's "fate."

Wouldn't it be ironic or maybe fate if Wesker's son also saved the life of Chris's second-in-command (who Chris explicitly wanted to take over for him, and resembles young Chris a lot)? And kind of ironic that the Chris-adjacent character would be the one infected and made a B.O.W. while the Wesker-related one isn't, despite Wesker and his whole Uroboros stuff?

IT WRITES ITSELF, ITS POETRY IN MOTION

AM I RIGHT, OR AM I RIGHT

at least give a vague hope spot at the end... like I said before in one of my long posts, just don't show the BSAA guy at the end with Chris... just leave it vague on purpose...

blarghghghgh sorryyyyyyy, I legitimately enjoy RE7 and RE8 (I know I complain sometimes, but I really do like them, 8 more than 7, but regardless), but I would have loved to have seen the RE6 newbies have had the limelight going forward in the series, and that includes Piers taking over for Chris, even if I know he functionally served his purpose.

(also, Jake fans really got robbed; dude was clearly being prepped to be more important going forward in the series than he ended up being - hell, Piers ended up getting a little more attention in the years since then than Jake lmao so I guess I should be grateful - and I blame all the goofy RE6 haters who hate on things this game did but are fine with RE4 despite it being franchise original sin for a lot of those complaints IMO)

[atomic-thomas]

(Fake ASMR Commission) Your Girlfriend Talks About Musous [Monster Hunter Frontier Roleplay]

_______________________________________________

*just so you know, Musou is pronounced [Moo-So]*

“Damnit, come on! What do you mean I didn’t parry that? My positioning was perfect. Sigh…”

*door opening sound*

“Oh, hey babe. Sorry, I’m just… A bit mad right now.”

…

“What am I playing. Are you sure you want me to explain? You probably wouldn’t understand any of it.”

…

“Okay, fair. Everyone wants to learn new things. Nothing wrong with being curious. You really don’t mind if I talk your ear off for a bit? It’s a lot of information to go over.”

…

“You have nothing better to do. Well, have a seat then. Because I have a lot to talk about.”

“I’m playing Monster Hunter Frontier. It’s a really old Japanese MMO that released in 2007. It’s servers shut down in 2019, but thanks to the efforts of dedicated fans, you can still download & play the game for free on PC using Private Servers. It no longer receives updates, but hey. 12 Years of content updates all the way up to the game’s closing date is a lot to chew through for new players who are just starting out. It even has an English Patch so you can actually read important text.”

“The monster I was just hunting was… A Musou.”

…

“No, not Moose, silly~”

“Musous are the game’s most challenging monsters. The absolute pinnacle of difficulty. They’re some of the hardest bosses you’ll ever fight in any video game. And… I’ve been trying to solo them.”

…

“Well, here’s the thing. Musous weren’t actually meant to be soloed. They were designed around the idea that a full team of decked out meta players would take them on. But if you’re crazy enough, you can beat them alone. It’s entirely possible. I’ll set the stage for just how astronomically difficult these monsters are.”

“Musous need to be slain in 10 minutes. Normally, most quests in the game give you 50 minutes which is way more than enough time to do anything. But Musous demand that you slay them in under 10. And to make matters worse, they have a huge amount of health. Far more than most other monsters in the game.”

“They have extremely fast & lethal attacks. They can lock down & combo hunters. Some attacks just outright one-shot you. And often times, their attacks cover a large portion of the area you fight them in meaning that if you don’t parry, i-frame or positioning yourself perfectly, you’re likely just gonna die instantly.”

…

“Crazy, right? With a team, you at least have some room for error. You can sometimes get hit & survive, someone can play support & there’s less pressure to do most of the damage yourself since it’s a group effort.”

“But if you’re alone, you have no such luxuries. Generally speaking, in order to solo a Musou, you need to use a skill called Adrenaline. This requires you to set yourself at a very low amount of HP using a specific Bento Meal or charm. When you’re at this low HP amount, Adrenaline activates & you gain a permanent 50% boost to your damage output which is crucial.”

“The downside to running such low HP is that everything one-shots you. You literally need to play perfectly. You need to maintain damage on the monster to slay it in time… And you can’t get hit even once. Anything less than perfection won’t cut it. I really can’t express enough just how insanely hard it is.”

…

“Yeah, I’ve soloed most of the Musous. I’m crazy enough to do it. But I’m still struggling with some of them. I can explain what the Musous are if you want.”

…

“Alright, well… Keep those ears perked up because I’m gonna talk about the Musous themselves.”

“Now the funny thing about some of these Musous is that… A few of them released in an earlier age of the game’s power creep. So these ones in particular are ironically pretty easy. Assuming you’re using the game’s modern power creep of course. We have Zenith Gear & Extreme Style which trivialize these earlier Musous’ difficulty.”

“Starving Deviljho [Devil-Joe] was the first Musou ever released &… It’s a joke nowadays. You don’t even need Adrenaline. It’s health & damage output are low. It’s slow & lumbering. You can play sloppily & still win. I can’t even really call it a Musou in earnest. It doesn’t feel like one.”

“Thirsty Pariapuria [Par-Eee-Uh-Pur-Eee-Uh] is… I guess… Kinda slightly difficult just because it’s annoying & can inflict so many different status conditions. But just like Deviljho, it’s very weak & can be slain pretty easily overall.”

“Mysterious Mi Ru [Me-Roo] is definitely the hardest of the Musous that most people consider to be in the easy category. It has a decent amount of health & some pretty dangerous attacks with weird timings. It can also inflict Crystal Blight which totally ruins you. But any reasonably skilled player can slay it after just a handful of attempts. It’s really not that bad.”

“And finally, to cap off the category of easy Musous, there’s Ruler Guanzorumu [Guan-Zor-Ooo-Moo]. This is by far the easiest Musou. It’s extremely slow, laughably lumbering, has incredibly low health & generally just doesn’t really do any significant damage. It even has a combo attack that’s supposed to kill you from full health, but you can actually survive it if you have Zenith Gear. It’s really sad. It’s a shame to because the fight itself is a fantastic spectacle. And the music is so epic! Really makes me wish the fight was harder.”

…

“Yeah, those are all four of the easy Musous. Now I’ll start talking about the Musous that actually require serious effort. There’s six of them.”

“The first one is Howling Zinogre [Zin-Oh-Grr]. Now here’s the funny thing about this particular Musou. It was actually the 2nd Musou ever released during the previous age of power creep. So you might be wondering how it could possibly be difficult. Well, thing is… The devs made it way too strong. It’s an overtuned Musou that was so overpowered on release that many players complained about it being unreasonably too hard. No team was able to slay it within the first 24 hours of release.”

“Even with modern power creep, it’s still a hefty challenge. Fast, aggressive attacks… Lightning dashes that can paralyze you into guaranteed deaths… Massive AoE attacks… It’s just a crazy Musou. Took me a good while before I got my solo clear.”

“The next one is Blitzkrieg Bogabadorumu [Boe-Guh-Bad-Oh-Roo-Moo]. This Musou is… Also kinda funny. It’s moveset isn’t actually the hard thing about it. It’s extremely slow & it’s honestly very easy to avoid getting hit. The problem is that it has a gargantuan amount of health. 1.2 Million HP to be exact. So if you’re trying to slay it alone, the difficulty isn’t the act of fighting it, but rather… Just getting the job done in time. 10 Minutes to burn through 1.2 Million HP all by yourself is… Pretty ridiculous. It almost feels like it was designed around Adrenaline because you get one-shotted at full health anyway. I have yet to solo this one. Not because it’s hard, but just because you have so little time to get through so much health. I usually end up timeout failing rather than dying to it.”

“Next up is Blinking Nargacuga [Nar-Guh-Coo-Guh]. This Musou is all about confounding you with speed. So much speed. It has super fast spin attacks, claw swipes, tails slams that shoot out poison spikes… And most dangerously, it has dash attacks that leave behind trails of razor wind that you lock you in place & deplete your health to zero. It took quite a lot of attempts before I got the solo down. Learning the fight is all about careful positioning, an attentive eye & a lot of patience. However, if you play well, it gets knocked down quite a bit giving you a lot of openings to attack. It’s certainly tricky, but it’s far from the hardest Musou. In fact… Weirdly… I think it’s actually somewhat harder in multiplayer because it’s attacks are less focused & harder to read. Especially if it gets you near a wall. That kind of poor positioning is a recipe for disaster.”

“Next is Sparkling Zerureusu [Zair-Roo-Ree-Ooo-Sue]. This was actually the very last monster ever added to the game before shutdown. But it’s not the hardest Musou. In fact, it’s actually kind of easy… Somewhat. Sure, you still need to use Adrenaline & play perfectly, but it’s attacks are incredibly fair. Very easy to read & well-telegraphed. It’s attacks consist of dazzling bursts of scarlet light. It’s very pretty & the fight itself is overall quite simple. Especially if you use Magnet Spike. Once you learn the fight, you can really bully it with that weapon. It didn’t take long for me to get the solo clear.”

“Next is a real doozy of a Musou. Arrogant Duremudira [Dur-Ray-Muh-Deer-Uh]. This one is… Yikes. Just yikes. It’s probably the worst Musou in terms of game design. It has sped up animations & janky hitboxes. Combine that with so many extremely brutal attacks & weirdly timed electrical explosions & you’ve got yourself a nasty hellish fight. It spams laser beams from several different angles, constantly stumbles hunters with tremors & is generally just an absolute terror to face. I haven’t even gotten close to soloing it yet. And to be honest… I may never.”

“And now… The Musou that I’ve been saving for last… Burning Freezing Eruzerion [Air-Roo-Zair-Eee-On]. This Musou is largely considered to be the absolute hardest challenge in the entire Monster Hunter franchise. It has a staggering one million HP & a plethora of fast, layered & complex attacks. This Musou really has it all. Massive explosions, fire & ice attacks that are rapidly spread over most of the arena, moves that require you to position quickly & carefully… The list goes on. And even if you play perfectly, you still need at least some luck to succeed.”

“It’s so fast… So dangerous… You need to pay so much attention to every little detail of the fight. And even the tiniest mistake will get you punished with instant death. I really can’t express enough just how ridiculous it is. After release, it took 8 weeks for the first team clear to be achieved & a whopping 9 months for the first solo clear.”

…

“Yes, this is the Musou I was fighting when you walked in. I’m trying to solo it.”

…

“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll succeed… Eventually… After a thousand more attempts or something.”

…

“I know I don’t need to do it. I don’t really earn anything. But it would be so satisfying, you know? Just the pride & bragging rights of having soloed the critically acclaimed hardest monster ever.”

…

“Of course I’m recording every attempt. If I’m gonna make the claim, I need video proof.”

…

“Sure babe. You can start your own save file if you really want. I need to take a break anyway. Soloing Musous really takes a lot out of a person. I’m warning you though… Monster Hunter Frontier is a pretty hard game.”

…

“You relish the challenge. Oooh~ How exciting. I look forward to seeing how you do.”

_______________________________________________

THE END

[layanasstories]

For my dear friend.

This person knows that I am talking to them.

As promised... your early Christmas Gift! What started as an idea for a one shot, ended up as a multi part fan fic, 5 parts to be exact. I really hope you enjoy this one.

With love, Layanasstories.

--

Lost and Found

Part 1

I'm hanging at the bar with my umpteenth drink in front of me. It was how long? One, two weeks? I don't remember very well, nor do I care much. Probably because of the amount of alcohol I've had. And so it goes every night these days. I come here with a stabbing pain in my heart and leave the bar numb. I look up when my glass is taken way and a cup of coffee is put down. "Hej! I hadn't ffinisshed that sjet!" I protest while trying to sit up straight, but the bartender doesn't care. "You've had enough Layana. You had the chance to wallow for two weeks, now it's time to put yourself together again". "Iff I can't trink anymore, can you be my dissstrasion?" I slur my words while fluttering my eyes at Phil. "Oh, god no. Not in the state you are in right now". He pulls up his nose in disgust but I can see his eyes are full of pity. “I know it hard you lost Richy, Layana. But you can’t keep on going like this.” He tries to encourage me, but to no avail. Due to his words I feel the tears well up. “It is not just Richy. Someone else got lost too you know. A friend.” Even though the alcohol had hit me hard I still was able to choose my words carefully. As long as I don’t know if he survived or not, I will not speak of his name to people who doesn’t know him. “I am sorry to hear that. But still, I believe your friend nor Richy would have wanted you to get wasted all the time, to sooth the pain”. He sighs walks around the bar and sits on the empty barstool, next to me. He gently puts his hand on my shoulder “Listen, drink the coffee and then I will bring you back to where you are staying, okay?”. I make a noise that sounded something like ‘sure’ and I nod.

It's amazing what can happen in a few weeks time. I started a new case, somehow this has become a thing for me, solving crimes. It wasn’t a big one, something was stolen and I found it back within a few days. The plus was that I got paid for solving it. Also I don’t drink as much as I did before. Ironically thanks to Phil. He banded me from visiting the Aurora during the weekdays. He only allowed me to visit the bar if I worked for my drinks. So, I worked on Friday and Saturday nights, then at the last hour before closing, I was able to take my spot at the bar to enjoy my well earned drinks. Yes, he even would mix me the most weird or special mixes for me. Besides that we talked during the moments I was working at the bar, we also texted almost daily. He grew on me, more then I expected. Sure he is the womanizer as the guys from the group already had said, back then. But most of the time only when he is at the bar, as if it is a image he has to hold high. The eternal bachelor, who does his own thing whenever he wants, it suits him. I'm glad he's not looking for a steady relationship or a relationship at all. Because I am not looking for anything like that. That doesn’t mean we don’t flirt on occasion. It’s a fun game to play but we both know not to go to far with it. Okay, maybe one time we crossed that line and we ended up almost kissing.

I am standing in front of my coatrack to get my jacket. It’s Friday evening, just past diner time, so I am getting ready to go to the Aurora. But suddenly there is a hard knock on my door that startled me. I don’t expect anyone so I peek trough the hole in my door to see two police officers waiting. Carefully I open up. “Good evening officers, what can I do for you?” I ask them when I open the door slowly. “Good evening miss, we are looking for Ms. Layana Schmidt.” Both had taken their hats off and the more senior one spoke. “That’s me.” I answer them but I am still a bit wary because I still no idea why they are here. “We are only here to deliver this to you.” The other officer hands me an envelope. They both put back their hats on, tap it and say goodbye. As soon as I closed my front door I open the envelope. Shocked I look at the paper in hand, my hands start shaking and my breathing stops. I read aloud almost in a whisper. The State vs Mr. Jake Samuel Hernandez (defendant). Subpoena to testify in trail in a criminal case. To Ms. Layana Schmidt. You are commanded to appear in the State court at the time, date and place shown below to testify in this criminal case. When you arrive, you must remain at the court until the judge or a court officer allows you to leave. I didn't even realize that I had stood against the wall in the hallway, in tears I sink to the floor and sit down. After weeks I had the answer, he is alive. But he had failed to shake off his pursuers. And now I'm being subpoenaed to testify against him. Feeling the panic creeping up, I frantically try to grab my phone. It's only in moments like this that you actually know who your friends really are. Because there's nobody but one that I can turn to. I haven’t spoken to anyone of the group since the happening in the mine. It seemed like they had forgotten about me the moment they had their Hannah back, and lost their Richy.

Layana: Hey Phil, I am not sure if I can make it tonight.

I thought it was best to cancel. I can't fake a smile and act happy. And how the hell am I going to explain to Phil why I got the subpoena. I can't say anything about Jake and what his whereabouts are. Phil is the last person Jake would want to see. Let alone that Phil knows about Jake's existence and his criminal activities. I imagine Jake's expression as I walk into the courtroom with Phil by my side. Disgust? Betrayal? Confusion? Probably all three. Although Phil is the only friend I have right now and I don't know if I can handle this alone. At this point, Jake doesn't have much to say. If he wants to get out, he should accept what is being done for him.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts by a message from Phil.

Phil: Hey. What’s up?

Layana: I don’t know how to tell this on the phone.

Phil: You’re are okay?

Layana: Yes, I am okay. Nothing bad happened. It’s just…

Phil: It’s just??

Phil: Just come to the Aurora, you don’t have to worry about working.

Phil: Let just talk about what’s going on before opening. And then we will see.

Layana: Thanks Phil.

Phil: No problem ;)

[skellebonez]

Who Do I Go To? (Monkie Kid Fanfic)

I totally did not accidentally post this early before I edited it or added everything from my wip file... no... but anon, you gave me so much FREEDOM with this that I just went absolutely off the rails. This is not only set in a post S3 scenario where everyone survives and most of the villains have some kind of at least semi-redemption (except LBD, rip), this does feature a crackship or two of mine (you can read the tags to see the ships before you read)! Sun Wukong also has all of his immortality and some of his powers, I am writing this with the idea that he transferred most of them to MK and some of that was permanent once LBD was defeated and MK got his own back.

So... what if Sun Wukong did start communicating with the others in S3... but still has been bottling up his emotions about the past for so long he doesn’t feel he can talk to anyone because of their shared experiences? And what happens when that guilt and grief finally has someone willing to listen?

“What are you doing here, Si-SUN Wukong?” The Demon Bull King asked slowly, stumbling over his usual insult for the one once so close to him. They still weren’t close, and it was doubtful they would ever be as long as the sworn brothers they once were, but they were no longer at each other’s throats anymore.

That didn’t change how bizarre it was to see The Great Sage Equal To Heaven just... sitting outside his new home with no warning.

“DBK!” Wukong exclaimed, more startled than the larger demon was expecting as he jumped up and turned and if he didn’t look like he’d been hit with a truck metaphorically DBK didn’t know how to describe the way his fur stood on end and the redness in the other’s eyes. “I. UH. Was. Just stopping by to say hi!”

“No you weren’t,” DBK said, face falling into a deadpan glower. “You don’t do that. Even after 500 years I know you don’t.”

“I can start!” Wukong defended, crossing his arms and looking away with a wide teeth showing smile.

Too wide.

Even after everything that happened between them, from Red Boy to what happened when he needed his wife’s fan to sealing him in the mountain and everything that transpired with the Little Thief, he recognized that unhappy nervous smile.

“You can,” DBK said with a nod, gesturing to the smaller being. “You can also be here for a reason. Like what I heard you muttering to yourself behind the door.”

“And that’s my cue to leave!” The Monkey King announced as he turned to walk away before a large hand, with shocking gentleness for the one attached to it, wrapped around his shoulders.

“If you need to talk-”

“No, haha, I most certainly have no need for that!”

“-you know we’ve already made peace. I-”

“You don’t need to do anything,” Wukong insisted, struggling only a little before freeing himself from the other’s grip with an even wider nervous smile.

“-am willing to listen.”

“Don’t have to!”

“Are you at least talking to anyone?”

Neither of them said anything, The Demon Bull King staring down at The Monkey King with both frustrated annoyance and genuine concern in his expression.

The former he could deal with, but the later was so new again that...

Sun Wukong panicked.

“.... OKEY BYE!” He yelled, jumping and allowing his cloud to catch him and take him off.

"YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM YOUR FEELINGS FOREVER SUN WUKONG!"

"I HID FROM THE WORLD FOR 500 YEARS AND I TURNED OUT JUST FINE, I THINK I'LL MANAGE!"

“He turned out fine, he says,” Princess Iron Fan called from behind her husband as she emerged from their home. “So fine that it took him losing his invincibility and his successor nearly being killed for him to admit he needed help.”

DBK grunted, nodding in agreement at her words.

“He needs more, still, my dear. Even I can see that.”

“Let’s call in some reinforcements then, darling. I think there are two people who may be able to get through to him.”

~

Sun Wukong sat on the beach of Mount Huaguo’s island home, clearly trying not to think about what had just transpired.

“Hey.”

“How did you even know to look for me here?” Sun Wukong asked, not nearly as startled this time. He’d heard the footsteps coming for a long time, the other apparently wanting to make his presence known.

“Bull King called Pigsy’s asking for MK. MK called me since he’s working. I remembered where you like to sulk. Hence: I’m here.”

Wukong groaned, wrapping his arms around his knees and burying his face in them. “I shouldn’t have even left the house today.”

“But you left,” Macaque said with a shrug, watching the other stew in his frustration at himself. “And you went to see DBK... and I guess Princess Iron Fan too? But you ran off. Why?”

“I can’t check up on an old friend turned enemy turned less enemy to ‘not exactly friend but we’re not trying to kill each other’ without being questioned?” Wukong grumbled into his arms.

“Not when you make him sound as worried as he did when he talked to MK,” Macaque continued, voice becoming more tense. “You didn’t go to apologize or explain anything, I was there when all that went down. So... did you finally go to talk about everything e-”

“No.” The word was said with such coldness that Macaque knew it was put on. It wasn’t out of malice but something else, something more worried and fearful. “No. I can’t talk to him about... I told him everything that explained what happened. I apologized. I don’t need to talk more.”

"I don't understand why you're so opposed to to just talking about, you know... how you’re doing," Macaque said with a concerned frown. It almost felt odd on his face. Almost. He was still getting used to the whole "not being mortal eternal enemies and now being friends and kinda sorta caring about each other again" thing. "I know it's been centuries and all and you're out of practice but like... it's been centuries."

"I just... can't, Macaque," Wukong rebutted as he refused to lift his head from his arms. "I just can't."

"Why?"

"Don't."

The single word stayed in their air between them, heavy and hard and meaning more than the immortal would ever admit to.

"Come on, there has to be a reason," Macaque insisted as he sat down beside the other immortal. When no response came he sighed, tail flicking absently and flipping over some of the rocks on the beach as they sat in silence for few minutes. "You know... I started talking to someone."

"What?" Wukong turned his head, just enough to look at the other monkey from the corner of his eye.

“Sandy’s a good listener,” Macaque continued, falling back down to lay flat on his back and gaze up at the clouds. He remembered that Wukong felt better, sometimes, when you looked away when talked to. Didn’t know why, but he remembered. “Not exactly the kind of therapy he thinks I need, but he lends me his cats and he lets me talk and sometimes asks if I want advice. Sometimes I say yes, but when I say no he understands. Sometimes I just want to rant at that one little one eyed cat he has and she listened to... I think. She’s a cat so I wouldn’t know. He thinks I should see someone more experienced, an expert. Maybe he’s right, I dunno, but this helps enough for now.

“... who are you and what have you done with the Six-Eared Macaque?” Wukong asked with a soft glower, one that was clearly in jest from the tiny smile the other could see.

“Same Macaque,” the other said with a laugh, sitting back up with a theatrical flourish. “Just realized that talking to someone isn’t as dumb or useless as I made it out to be in my head. A lot of the stuff I thought about alone wasn’t exactly the best. Or healthiest. But now I can get that out there and sometimes it makes Sandy look like he ate a whole lime which probably means it’s good it’s not in my head anymore.”

“You ramble a lot,” Wukong said with a chuckle, tail swishing softly beside him before nudging against Macaque’s. He tensed before it slowly wrapped around the other’s. “It feels odd, having you try to cheer me up again after... everything.”

“Bad odd or good odd?”

“Good.”

“That’s.... good,” Macaque said, squeezing Wukong’s tail with his own. “Feels odd for me too. Like I’m out of practice too. But it’s good odd...” The two sat in silence for a moment, just enjoying each other’s company before he continued. “I do think you should talk to someone. Anyone.”

“I don’t know who, though. Every time I try I just... clam up and run away. I’ve put so much on MK already,” Wukong said, tail squeezing around Macaque’s loosely in return. “And Pigsy and Sandy... After all that came out, that Sandy is Sha Wujing and Pigsy is Zhu Bajie’s reincarnation... I just... I can’t talk to them either, even though Pigsy doesn’t remember anything at all. And you... DBK... everyone... who do I go to that knows enough about me to know what they’re in for but I won’t have those memories floating around in the back of my head toward making me run away?”

“Well, you could have Sandy help you get a therapist. Prepare them in advance. Or, if you’re not ready for that, you could talk to Tang?” Macaque suggested with a shrug. “He listens to me when I’m not talking to Sandy... but that’s probably because we’re dating, that’s what it is now instead of courting, right? So he kinda has to I think? Pigsy and MK talk to him too but with me I think it’s different.”

"I don't think that's how it works," Wukong said with a half hearted chuckle as he finally raised his head all the way. "Besides, I've known Tang longer."

"By like 3 months."

"3 months more is still enough to know that if he doesn't want to listen to you he won't. The man knows how to make a speedy exit."

"Guess that's one more thing that sets him apart from his great-great-great-great-great-whatever uncle," Macaque admitted with a shrug and a chuckle of his own. He squeezed his tail around Wukong's, smile softening when he felt it being returned.

“Feels... weird though,” Wukong said with a shrug. “The two of them looking so much alike.”

“Yeah, but that’s it,” Macaque rebutted. “He’s Tang Sanzang’s great-whatever nephew 5 times removed or whatever and he looks like him. Other than that? He knows pretty much all of your history. He’s mostly out of the hero worship zone but he still respects you a lot. Aside from everything that happened with LBD and MK you two have the least history out of everyone so maybe whatever’s in your head making you clam up might not stop you. And it couldn't hurt to try. It’s not therapy, it’s just talking about something that’s bothering you. Worst that can happen is you get nervous and fumble and he takes the opportunity to ask you 40 questions about the times you were almost incinerated by a baby."

"That was one time!"

~

“Uh,” Tang started, staring out the open door with wide eyes at the being before him. “Hi. I didn’t exactly expect to you see today.”

“I didn’t exactly expect to be here today,” Wukong said awkwardly, nervous smile taking over his face as his tone became far too jovial for what he was about to ask. “Macaque sent me to... talk to you. About me?” His smile drooped bit by bit as he said these words, slowly starting to lose his determination to go through with this. “Oh second thought, maybe I should-”

"No," Tang said, reaching out to put a hand on the immortal's shoulder. It was nothing, really, not to someone as strong as he was. Not when he could brush it off and walk away. Go home. Just sit on his couch and watch Monkey King The Animated Series again and just think about how no one deserved to be saddled with his problems anymore. But Wukong didn't. "Whatever it is, we’re going to talk about this now. I know I’m not trained like Sandy is, but I know how to listen. And if you need someone to listen to you, I can. You wouldn't have come here to talk if you didn't."

“... ok...” Sun Wukong said, letting Tang wrap his arm around his back and guide him inside his shared home with Pigsy and Macaque.

It was... odd. Being inside this place for the first time. He’d been outside of the door more than once, invited in as well. But never inside.

“Make yourself comfortable,” Tang said, stopping his guidance once they reached the sofa. “I’m no Sandy, but I was making myself some tea and it is a batch of his own anyway. I’ll grab us some snacks too.”

“Snacks would be great,” Wukong admitted, watching the other disappear into the house’s kitchen before he sighed and gripped his thrashing tail and muttered to himself. “What am I doing..? I shouldn’t put all this on Tang... I should have gone with Macaque’s first suggestion, I’m-”

“Do you prefer lychee or persimmon?” Tang asked suddenly, startling the immortal for the second time that day. “We’re out of peach bao, but MK’s been making them out of lots of fruits and we have so many that I was planning on eating them myself.”

The scholar returned, faster than expected, with a full tray in hand. Teapot, two tea cups, and a steamer box that presumably held the buns he was asking about.

“Uh... persimmon,” Wukong answered, and he watched as Tang poured each of them a cup of tea and removed some clearly fresh (or at least made some time earlier in the day and freshly steamed), pieces of fruit laden bao to put on a plate for his guest before taking a seat in a chair across from him. “You were... getting lunch?”

Tang shrugged, laughing as he took a bite of one of his own. “Just wanted a snack. But,” He smiled, gesturing to the Monkey King. “We’re not here to talk about snacks. What’s on your mind?”

“Awfully forward start.”

“I try to be forward with the people I consider my friends.”

“... You consider me... a friend?” Wukong asked slowly, turning the bao over in his hands. It was well made, perfect he would say. You’d think MK would have been making them all his life, not that he’d learned how to on the drone ship while on the run from an evil super demon bent on erasing his mentor from the world.

“After everything we went through, how could I not?” Tang said, putting his food down to sip his tea and then putting that down as well and looking at him seriously. “You’re here because it’s the anniversary of the day you sealed away the Demon Bull King, aren’t you?”

The bao in his hands wasn’t perfect anymore. Instead the red lychee inside dripped from his claws from where they punctured it in surprise.

“How did you-?”

“My specialty study is your history after all,” Tang said, smile returning with a sad tint. “I’ve known the date for years but I felt it was something to keep to myself. For some reason. Now with you and DBK back I think that was a good choice. It feels too personal to have out in the open for everyone to make a spectacle of.”

“Is it selfish of me to be thankful for that?” Wukong muttered, gently placing the bao on the plate to lick his claws clean.

“I don’t think so,” Tang answered.

“I feel selfish though,” he continued, not managing to take note of how Tang sat up straighter and turned more toward him. “I went to DBK’s to... I don’t know. I wanted to apologize again? But I already did and he accepted it and it feels selfish to want to again. Then I just. I froze.”

“Why?” Tang asked, scooting closer.

“It felt wrong.”

“Because you would make him feel awkward?”

“NO!” Wukong groaned, burying his face in his hands. “I just. I feel...” He took in a shaky breath, claws digging into his skin slightly.

“Don’t,” Tang’s voice came soft and closer than Wukong expected, as did the hands on his own slowly pulling his claws away from his face. “Don’t hurt yourself. And don’t bottle it up. I’ll listen to you. No matter what it is. It’s not selfish, feeling things isn’t selfish.”

“I miss it,” Wukong breathed out, shaky and choppy as his throat tightened as the words started to pour out of him. “I miss him. How things used to be between us and Iron Fan. I miss that I never got to meet Red Son when he was Red Boy. I miss Beng and Ba and Ma and Liu and how things used to be. I miss Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing even though they’re here. I miss my Tang Sanzang. I’d been alone for 500 years and I missed so much and I did that to myself and it’s selfish to miss like that...”

He didn’t realize his cheeks were wet until his hands had been let go and one of Tang’s rubbed a cloth against them. Tang cupped his cheeks softly before wrapping his arms around him and tucking the Monkey King’s head into the space between his neck and shoulder.

“No... no it’s not. You’re allowed to miss things, Sun Wukong. Just like anyone else.”

Sun Wukong started to feel better.

He didn’t know why that was what did it, but the dam broke. It broke and his tears came pouring out as he hugged the man who reminded him so much of his Master. He didn’t know if anything he said in the mean time made any sense, if he was just blubbering and finally letting himself mourn what he’d lost and never had, but Tang didn’t ever chastise him. He let him weep and hold him and for the first time in years...

~

“Oh!” Princess Iron Fan startled as she opened the door to see who had knocked, finding herself face to face at sunset with one Great Sage. “You’ve returned.”

“Are you and DBK free?” Sun Wukong asked, smile no longer too wide. “I... kinda just wanna talk with you for a bit.”

“Well... I think that would be lovely.”

[little-smartass]

THE VAMPIRE LESTAT COVER ALBUM - the legendary Vampire Lestat is back and bigger and badder than ever, this time bringing a whole album of song covers ranging from classic bangers to newer fresh takes on chart hits! get your copy now, complete with a transcript of the artist's commentary on each song!

(songs I think Lestat would cover and release as an album in an attempt to re-kickstart his career and/or make some sort of dramatic statement to Louis. tracklist and "artist commentary" under the cut)

Survival - Muse

“And I’ll reveal my strength, to the whole human race, yes I am prepared, to stay alive, and I won’t forgive, and vengeance is mine, and I won’t give in, because I choose to thrive! Yeah I’m gonna win!”

Oh, I wish this song had been around back on that opening night at the Cow Palace - how apt that would have been! What a fucking anthem! They would have been rioting all night. I mean, they already were, but, like, because of the music. Not because vampires were being immolated in the middle of the crowd. Different kind of riot.

The Bitch Is Back - Elton John

“I’m a bitch, I’m a bitch, oh the bitch is back, stone cold sober as a matter of fact, I can bitch, I can bitch, ‘cause I’m better than you, it’s the way that I move, the things that I do!”

One day I want to have this play as I walk into Night Island. I’ll time it perfectly so that I throw off my coat - my denim jacket, or- oh, no, a fur! Maximum drama! - just as the chorus starts. Armand will know that I’m coming of course, but I think that’ll just make it even better. And I have good memories to this song... [muffled question] Sorry, gentlemen don’t kiss and tell, bébé. [laughter]

Everybody Loves Me - OneRepublic

"Oh my, feels just like I don’t try, look so good I might die, all I know is everybody loves me, head down, swaying to my own sound, flashes in my face now, all I know is everybody loves me”

Look, do I even need to explain this one? Didn’t think so.

Bad Reputation - Joan Jett

"I don't give a damn ‘bout my reputation, I've never been afraid of any deviation, and I don't really care if you think I'm strange, I ain't gonna change - and I'm never gonna care bout my bad reputation"

This one's fairly self-explanatory again. It could have been my personal anthem when I was mortal quite honestly. And it's an awful lot of fun to jump about and headbang to, don't you think? That's a new thing I've found out about, headbanging. People have been hopping about to music looking like fools for centuries but now there's a name for it. Fantastic.

bad guy - Billie Eilish

"I’m that bad type, make your mama sad time, make your girlfriend mad type, might seduce your dad time… I’m the bad guy. Duh.”

Creepy? Check. Sexy? Check. Tongue-in-cheek? Check check. This song was great and a lot of fun to cover.

Lover to Lover - Florence + the Machine

“I believe there’s no salvation for me now, no space among the clouds, and I feel I’m heading down, but that’s alright, that’s alright, that’s alright”

I don’t know, this one just felt very relevant. Also the piano was great to do. You might have noticed that I’ve picked a lot of songs with piano, and that’s because I bullied the studio into getting me a goooooorgeous grand piano for the recording space and I wanted to use it as much as possible!

Feeling Good - Muse

“Stars when you shine, you know how I feel, scent of the pine, you know how I feel, oh freedom is mine, and I know how I feel”

I just really like this song - I’ve done a cover of an excellent cover! Can- can you put emojis in this? Do people still use emojis? Well imagine I’ve put the shrug one. Wait, isn’t there- Daniel, Daniel, come here, isn’t there a shrug emoji made up of keyboard- [muffled words] yes! The shrug one! Yes, put that in the transcription. [ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ] I just like this song.

The Man - The Killers

“I got gas in the tank, I got money in the bank, I got news for you baby, you're looking at the man, I got skin in the game, I got a household name, I got news for you baby, you're looking at the man”

I feel like this one speaks for itself too. Can you put that shrug emoji thing in here again? [ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ] Yes!

J'ai Pas Envie - MIKA

J'ai pas envie, de faire comme si, comme les maris, qui disent oui, j'ai pas envie, j'ai pas envie, j'ai pas envie d'te faire plaisir, j'ai pas envie, j'ai pas envie, si tu m'aimes viens me le dire"

Look, I'm not going to translate the whole song for you, because it has all this clever wordplay you just totally lose in english… but the gist of it is that these two lovers are… at odds a lot. It's… it's maybe a little spiteful [laughter] but in a fun way! It's a fun song! Louis won't even be mad about it, it's MIKA.

Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy - Queen

"When I'm not with you, think of you always (I miss those long hot summer nights), when I'm not with you, think of me always, always"

[Long pause] God, I miss Freddie.

Let 'Em Talk - Kesha

Ah, full disclosure - I put this song in purely because of the expression Louis made when I played it in the car and it got to the line “can suck my dick” and she did that popping noise… it was incredible, and I just knew I had to cover it so I could see his expression when I said that. I can’t wait to play it to him. [laughter]

So What - P!nk

"So so what, I'm still a rockstar, I got my rock moves, and I don't need you, and guess what? I'm having more fun, and now that we're done, I'm gonna show you tonight, I'm alright, I'm just fine, (and you're a tool, so)"

I'm actually a big fan of nineties and noughties female stars - all that grrrrrrrl power, it's great fun, you know? I'd say this one is fairly self-explanatory, because I am still a rockstar! This is my new album! Fuck you EMP and your sniffy little article calling me "washed up"!

Little Lion Man - Mumford & Sons

"But it was not your fault but mine, and it was your heart on the line, I really fucked it up this time, didn't I my dear?"

This one could be self-deprecating, but it's also very vindictively angry at the same time, and that's a combination I definitely get. Like, oh, it's my fault, isn't it? It's my fucking fault again, what a surprise. Perhaps "learn from your mother or you'll spend your days biting your own neck" is a little on the nose… [muffled words] you've read my books, right? [muffled words] Good, good.

Missy - The Airbourne Toxic Event

"But I swear there's still some good in me, I think if you'd stuck around you'd see, all the botched attempts at integrity I once had"

Oh, I was feeling philosophical when I picked this one. No, philosophical isn't the right word… melancholy? Do people still use that word? "I swear I swear I swear I'll never get sad" is both furiously defiant and yet so self-defeatingly ironic. [Exasperated noise] Enough of that. Next!

Please Don't Leave Me - P!nk

"I don't know if I can yell any louder, how many times have I kicked you out of here, or said something insulting? I can be so mean when I wanna be, I am capable of nearly anything, when my heart is broken… (please, please don't leave me)"

Oh, we’re… we’re getting to this section now. [clearing throat] Well, I have to make up for that sucking dick line, don’t I? Get a bit vulnerable. Oh God, why did I decide to do this bit? [muffled words] [bad chicago accent] But why buy the cow? Because you love him, you really do. [sigh, laughter]

Next To Me - Imagine Dragons

"Oh, I always let you down, shattered on the ground, still I find you there, next to me, and oh, the stupid things I do, I'm far from good it's true, still I find you, next to me"

Why did I- I don’t remember putting so many of these ones in.

Run To You - Pentatonix

"I've been settling scores, I've been fighting so long, but I've lost your war, and our kingdom is gone... how shall I win back your heart which was mine? I have broken bones and tattered clothes, I've run out of time"

[Sigh] [clears throat] Yeah. I think we can move onto the next one.

Love of My Life - Queen

“Love of my life, don't leave me, you've stolen my love, you now desert me, love of my life, can't you see? Bring it back, bring it back, don't take it away from me, because you don't know, what it means to me”

I play this one sometimes on my baby grand when we've had a fight, and it's impossible for him to stay angry. He's a sucker for this sort of… formality in romance. God, I wish I'd realised that earlier. If I'd written him a letter in fancy copperplate script with scented paper and enclosed rose petals politely requesting him to bend me over his desk back in the day, it might not have taken two centuries of mutual blue balls for us to figure our shit out. Ah well, live and learn… as it were. [muffled words] Look, I did a whole bunch of vulnerable songs! Now I get to make sex jokes! [laughter] oh fuck off.

[dailycass-cain]

DC vs. Vampires #11 came out this week as we're one issue closer to this series finale.  Does Cass survive or not? Am I okay with it? Is this series ending satisfyingly?

We do get the most Cass since #6, but it still find it aggravating she's barely been in the series, and feels like a footnote when she kind had a descent role (along with Damian/Babs) and somehow is the one ironically left behind of the three.

First off, it feels like it's been hours since the ending of #10 with the fighting being more desperate being the first hordes of vampires against the Birds, Harley, Franky, and Damian. Instead of you know all those UV-Bat signals in the Gotham City sky (now down to a lonely one). 

Until we do get a neat calvary showing up moment with Cass and the remaining living Bat-Family (save Kate who is busy in the other DC vs. Vampires All-Out War) and-- ROY HARPER (I’m amazed he’s alive at this point)?!

If there's anything negative I have to say here is well I'm not a fan of Steph's design here, and more in love with the wild one we got by Guillaume Singelin in the secondary story from DC vs. Vampires: All-Out War #1.

I mean just look at this design. LOOK AT IT:

It just goes SO HARD. 

Cass's own outfit is interesting, but again I feel a story SHOULD have been told to bridge Babs and her better than what we got with freaking Harley Quinn. That or gotten a story with Kara. There should've been MORE one-shots I'm just saying than one with HARLEY QUINN that had ZERO PAYOFF.

I mean in this very issue we learn a JL who we haven't seen since Damian's one-shot is now a vampire. Someone who shouldn't be but is (J'onn along with M'ggan).

HOW?! How are we not getting that story?! But no the Harley story seemed to be a MUST. 

Still, I can't help but continue my feelings that I'm ironically burned out on this series story-wise as it's focus since #7. Or care about most of the art for the main series when finding out the main artist did a lot of skewy things. 

.  The remainder of Cass's part in this issue is getting Frankenstein's Monster as her co-partner and quipping about it. Which again, an interesting dynamic I wish we could've had MORE WITH.

Again, there's stuff here storywise as well. Damian is a vampire now and Cass being the only survive with her humanity and life intact in #6's Bat-Family slaughter. Yeah... again there's blood that could've been taken here for a story. 

Oh well...

The last section of Cass for this issue is Vampire Gorilla Grodd emerging and taking out her bike (though she is landing gracefully unlike Franky who got the brunt of that hit).

I do like that we're getting MAYBE some continuation here as Grodd was a vampire Cass fought before in #4 (but that was with Jason). Soooo maybe round 2 with an ending? HOPEFULLY?!

I mean you can't just bridge this prior encounter and not have some finality here right? RIGHT?!

Also, I'm again not fond of the fake that again there just doesn't feel like a villainous to chew the scenery like the earlier six issues in Vampire Hal. I expected something at the end with Vampire King, smirking at getting his encounter with Babs. But NOPE.

Again another wall of Hero/Villain Vampires this time. This time one Kryptonian and another Amazonian. I kind of wish we got Vampire Wonder Woman or Hawkgirl but I think the former might've bought it already? Anyway vampires we've SEEN then rando conversions (save Wondergirl).

So yeah another sluggish issue of DC vs. Vampires. I'm glad this series is running toward an ending. But man what wasted potential and disappointment with this concept after the first six issues. It feels like it's trying to do a DCeased thing with these last six issues and failing hard at it with no real balance with the surviving characters on the first half (instead of throwing more random characters to help the humans).

I do love if this becomes predictable as heck with the anime set-up this issue ends with. I mean come on... if Kara doesn't wipe the floor with the vampires for three pages straight. What's the point of her arc then?

But yeah, DC vs. Vampires has lost its bite and feels so much like lost opportunities now. I feel like I'm repeating myself, but yeah. While DCeased you can feel there is SOMEWHAT anchors around that series. This series lost all of that.

I'm just expecting disappointment at this stage. Other than MAYBE Cass survives an apocalypse event longer than others. But still, the DCeased stuff is the superior series thru and thru.

You had HAD thing to do series. Dustin Nguyuen laid it all out. You could've gotten him to do a variant cover. He would've killed it.

Instead...

[shirophantomvox]

Hold My Hand- Illumi x Reader

OMG thank you! My first international fan! Thank you for this wonderful prompt! This was requested by @illucilfer .

Summary: Today’s story takes place in a 1950s diner by a frequently used Interstate; Interstate 95. We know this dinner for its delicious hamburgers, hot dogs, milkshakes, and jukebox records, but every night one Patreon never returns home. A few men who were angry about your recent arrest have shot you both. As you both stare at each other exchanging mental signals, everyone around you tries to help you to the hospital. Y/N is narrating the story. I seem to have fewer grammar errors that way. FYI, Bold and italicized font will reference a thought or flashback.

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Let’s get started!

The leaves have turned bright yellow and orange, fluttering every second to the ground. I could hear little children a while away laughing and playing in the community park; throwing up the leaves, jumping into piles, and throwing them at each other. The smell of freshly baked donuts brightened everyone’s mood. All you had to do was take one bite and your face would brighten and crack a smile. Dining at Cupid’s Kitchen will always have your heart and interest.

Interstate 95 was always heavy with traffic during this time of year. The folks of Dallas celebrated mulch annually. The “Mulch Fest” was a street fair that stretched 1.5 miles to the east that contained music, drinks, farmer panels, homemaker Q&A, and other activities that southerners enjoy. Illumi and I are only here because of an unfinished assignment. We have worked night and day for countless days trying to catch Jack “Da Hamor” Gilberton, but he was nowhere to be found. Eventually, I allowed my anger to get the best of me and made the executive decision to take a day off. I barred Illumi from searching, tracking, or any form of hunting for our target. The life of a bounty hunter and an assassin can thrill, but it can drive you insane if you allow it.

Ironically, Illumi and I both enjoy fall. It is perfect for cuddling (although he acts as if he’s too good to cuddle), wearing creative hoodies, going to pumpkin patches, and attending apple orchids. I tend to “lose my cool” when we have dates there. When I was a child, my family did not go on trips like these because they were over an hour away from our home and I had 5 siblings. But once I made money for myself, I made it my mission to go to one at least 5 times out of the year. Illumi enjoys the different fudge, hot cider, and candy apples. He almost broke a tooth on one!

“Say cheese snag-a’-tooth!”

“Stop it. It’s not funny!”

“It is! Could you imagine if you lost your two front teeth? You’d look almost adorable as you did in the 1st grade!”

“How did you know about that?”

“Duh! It happens to everyone, but your mother showed me the pictures, of course.”

“Curses!”

Illumi’s sweet tooth is just like Killua’s; both have a weakness for chocolate. Except, Killua will admit defeat while his older brother keeps denying it.

Cupid’s Dinner has been in Dallas for over 55 years. A black woman established it in 1945 by the name of Mary-Lou Benson. Since then, Mary’s family has been running the shop, making sure all of her customers are happy with the service. During the turn of each season, Cupid’s Dinner gives its customer's food options based on the season. The fall options include donuts, candy apples, different flavored cider, fudge, and hot coffee specials. As much as everything looked appetizing, I could not order it all. Our server, Little Ben, placed our drinks in front of us and handed us the menu. I could tell he was happy with his line of work, just as I was to be with Illumi.

“You all take your time. I’ll be back in five.”

Ilumi glanced on both sides of the room, scanning for Jack Gilberton, already forgetting the agreement we established.

“Illumi, what are you doing?”

“Huh?”

“You keep looking around like you’ve seen Da Hamor. Eat your donut and relax, sweetheart.”

“I cannot relax. I must stay on alert.”

“If I can relax, so can you. It’s not that hard.”

“Fine. If I die, it’s on your head… literally.”

The jingling bell rang almost every second when a customer walked in. It was a joy to everyone's ears; the spirit of Mary Lou-Benson was alive and well. An overwhelming feeling of love seemed to have overtaken the diner. After examining the bistro for quite some time now, each customer had been using their cellphones at the table instead of chatting with their families. Many traditional families hated that about this generation but they should be open to new traditions forming. Illumi dislikes using cell phones or tablets at the table unless we use them for missions. He has emphasized how rude it is to be surfing the web about utter nonsense while someone is speaking. This is a pet peeve of his, something I’ll never step on his toe about. Although I think that is overdoing it, I respect it.

Little Ben served our table quickly, leaving us with two dishes of a classic chicken sandwich, kettle chips, one chocolate, and vanilla milkshake. Milkshakes were my weakness; I nearly foam at the mouth when I see one. When I found out that Illumi had NEVER had a milkshake, I almost fainted.

“No. I’ve never had a milkshake.”

“Huh? You’re missing out, pal.”

“What’s the big deal? Isn’t it frozen milk?”

“Not just frozen milk. You can add many flavors, toppings, and whip cream!”

“Well, then. You’ll have to show me sometime.”

We thanked Little Ben for his service as he clocked out for the day.

“I have to admit these sandwiches look very appetizing.”

“You can say that again!”

Before I nibbled on my sandwich, I wanted to take a moment and adore the man before me; Illumi Zoldyck. A man full of mysteries, professionalism, skill, and talent. His enormous eyes were immersed in the large pieces of chicken in between the sourdough bread. He licked his index finger vigorously; allowing the homemade honey mustard to drip enough from the bread to the plate in between licks. Just the sight of him actually relaxing for once has blown me away. For once, Illumi Zoldyck could be himself and I had the privilege to witness it.

“Um… why are you staring at me? Do I have food on my face,” he asked; violently wiping his mouth off with a provided cloth napkin.

“Oh! Ha, ha; no reason. I wanted to see your reaction after drinking your milkshake. That’s all.”

“Why? It’s just a drink.”

“Whatever you say, babe.”

“Babe? What happened to LuLu or Illumi-Lu?”

I gasped and pretended to be surprised… although I was a little.

“I did not know that you liked those pet names. I assumed it mortified you.”

“Who told you that? That never rolled off my tongue. “What I said was” — He bent closer to the table and to me; glancing both to the right and left to ensure no wandering ears were around — “I prefer Illumi-Lu to be said in the bedroom and LuLu when we’re alone, like how we are right now.”

“Aww…. ok,” I yelled in excitement.

“Don’t blow it out of proportion, alright?”

“Yes, sir.”

As we ate, Illumi hummed along to the tune that played a few times on the restaurant's jukebox. Illumi and I were born in the mid-90s, but listening to 50s music was a part of his aesthetic. I was told that he had an “old soul” which sounds romantic at first until you realize how men were during that era. His raging temper was a noticeable toxic trait, but it has drastically improved. Nonchalantly sipping on his milkshake and then eating more of his chips, he grazed the soft part of his left hand over mine as he continued to hum.

“What’s the name of this song? You seem to know it rather well.”

“Put your head on my shoulder, a famous song from the 60s. I heard my parents sing it once and since then, they have addicted me to it. Do you like it?”

“Yes, in fact, I love it. All of this is—”

“A surprise to you? Well, enjoy it while it lasts because once I find Jack Gilberton, this side of me will hide for a while.”

“Understood.”

Damn! I was just feeling connected to him again!

The music swelled; everyone seemed to be happy. Not an evil spirit insight to disrupt this beautiful moment. For once in my life, my raven-haired beauty actually held my hand tight, stole a few of my barbecue kettle chips, and gazed into my eyes harmlessly. His lips brushed against both of my hands, ever so lightly placing kisses on both sides of them. Illumi’s gentle smile warmed my heart as my lingering thoughts of hope stayed intact.

The welcoming bell jingled again. Two men in black leather jackets, stone-washed blue jeans, and tattooed all over their arms came into the diner. The men seemed to be bikers who had just left their own “spot” but one thing struck me as they continued to walk towards the staff. They both wore sunglasses when the sunset for the day. Not to mention that the lights were not dim in the diner and the moon was as bright as ever. The second man had his eyes glued in my direction. My heart beat faster as I wondered if Jack Gilberton had found us. Could you imagine?

Put your head on my shoulder

Hold me in your arms, baby

Squeeze me oh-so-tight

Show me you love me too

I am used to coming in contact with enemies on my hit list, but given Jack’s criminal history; I felt like I may not survive his attacks. Illumi will survive, but just barely. Both men approached the checkout, crowing over Little Ben’s sister. She was a short woman but full of might, and I could tell by the shakiness in her voice she was frightened. I wanted to step in so badly, but I didn't want to blow my cover just in case it was, in fact, Jack Gilberton. After I assume, ordering food, both men stood by the entrance, blocking it from others from entering and leaving. The sound of their old, beat up-lighters crackled as one lit a joint and the other lit a cigarette. This horrid smell ruined the atmosphere because they were not in a designated area and it drowned out the lovely aroma of the food being served.

“If you gentlemen would like to smoke, you need to go outside. There is no smoking in here.”

“What? You think you’re better than me because you don’t smoke?”

“Huh? I never said that, sir. I asked for you to go outside. Not all of our customers can deal with it.”

They did not move a muscle. The sound of their mucous laughter made everyone’s stomach turn. They laughed at the young girl and called her many slurs. Little Ben’s sister didn’t flinch, nor did she cry; she remained still, staring at the men. I had just enough of their obnoxious behavior.

“If you do not leave, I will call the police.”

“The hell you won’t.”

Put your lips next to mine, dear

Won't you kiss me once, baby?

He drew a gun from his left side. He aimed it at Little Ben’s sister and demanded that she emptied the drawer. She refused. Her stone, iron will reminded me of Illumi; no matter the circumstance, they remained intact, determined to fight until the end. Bravery is always encouraged, but too much will cause your life to be taken away. Little Ben’s sister grabbed a fake till that they kept under the real one and threw it at both men. Fake money fluttered everywhere in the small diner, mimicking confetti. Gunshots rang in all directions as the imbeciles recklessly shot, aiming for Little Ben’s sister. Everyone threw themselves on the ground to avoid being shot, but luck cannot spread itself throughout an entire room of people. A young child, an older man, and another worker were shot in their lower leg. Blood reflected from the ground as it continued to seep. Ignoring injured civilians is a jackass move and continuing to deny the fact would prove that the oath I pledge to meant nothing. Sure, bounty hunters must remain hidden, but if someone is injured, I must help them.

The child was lying lifeless on the polished marble floor. He would not respond to my shaking or my silent whispers. When I rolled him over, my heart broke into a million pieces. This child had no chance of survival; a few bullets struck his chest, one just inches away from his heart. A tear rolled down my cheek.

“Why must the good die young,” I whispered to myself.

“... Because snitches get stitches.”

Before I could gain sight of who stated this utterly corny response, I felt an overwhelming amount of pain in my lower back. It felt like a million tiny needles were jabbed so far through my skin that they entered my intestine. I could still hear, but my body would not move. I tried and tried, but my brain would not signal my legs.

Move! Move, damn it!

It’s odd; I could hear myself talk, but my body would not move at all. The sound of another thudding body made my mind jump. My heart had already been pounding enough to try to resuscitate my organs to move, but a familiar semi-blurring sight of none other than Mr. Illumi Zoldyck cleared my sight. My brain went wild. I didn’t know if Illumi died or if he became paralyzed, but one thing is for sure. We finally made eye contact that felt special; something I hadn’t felt since the day I met him. Our contact felt like magnets; an unbreakable bond. Suddenly, my icy hand felt warmth around my palm and fingers. Illumi simultaneously fell in a way that connected our hands. Our unbreakable bond, the warmth of his fingers laying on top of mine, and the gaze we shared somehow made me feel like it was just the two of us alone. I could hear his thoughts loud and clear; thoughts that came from the heart.

“Please help me. Before it’s too late, LuLu,” I cried, thinking I was going insane. “I don’t want to leave if it means leaving you behind.”

“I’m not going anywhere. Not without you.”

“Please! I want to live a life. Life as a bounty hunter, build a support system to our children, and a good lover is all I want to be.”

“You are a warrior and so am I. We have been through worse. This is nothing.”

Mere eye contact is all we need to exchange wandering conversations. The bond that we’ve created is something so strong that I haven’t realized it until now. The warmth emitted from his loose grasp seems to lose its effectiveness. It blurred my vision beyond recognition, leaving Illumi as a near figment of my imagination.

“Oh no. I guess this is it.”

My vision darkened. Illumi was slipping away as my lingering thoughts almost made my heart give out from exhaustion. I was ready to accept my fate, but it seemed like fate had other plans. My vision was still darkening by the second, but my sense of touch remained there. Smooth fingers outline my arms, torso, and chest. I heard muffled voices yelling and screaming about calling for assistance, but I didn’t care if they came or not. I made peace with my life’s end. Bit by bit, my breathing slowed down, but my sense of touch remained heightened. I felt a rubber glove touch my face and neck, examining it for any damage.

The jukebox continued to play Illumi’s favorite song, Put Your Head on my Shoulder. I remembered the day I laid my head on his shoulder; boy, what an endearing moment that was. It was something I took for granted, something I should have savored, for I never knew that this moment would have happened. The song grew muffled by the second verse. That verse repeated every time I tried to force myself to take what felt like my last gaze at my raven-haired beauty.

Just a kiss goodnight, maybe

You and I will fall in love (you and I will fall in love)

-FIN.

A/N: Since you’ve made it to the end, I’ll say something. The reader did not die in the end. They were later revived at the hospital.

[dontcallmecarrie]

A Very Tired Rant

tl;dr: someone unintentionally dredged up a few bad memories, cue rant none of you guys deserve but I need to get off my chest.

...you know, sometimes something happens that makes me take a step back and pause for a moment, and am torn between thinking, “wow that is a stellar example of entitlement”, and “that is some grade-A self-confidence, where can I get some?”

Just.

I’d like to think I have a thick skin. Part of it’s out of necessity, sure, but I actively try to be understanding whenever I have the energy to afford doing so.

And 99% of the time, it’s no big deal, most of the comments I get are great! And I love engaging when I have the time and it seems something they’re interested in. Sometimes it results in plot twists, sometimes in fun little what-if AU thought exercises and I hope those people don’t mind the results of my rambling when it shows up in their inboxes. 

...then there’s That Guy™. The people who either comment trying to start something, or who just don’t have anything better to do with their time.

Most of the time, I don’t bother to engage. Waste of energy, that, and it’s pretty obvious when something’s done in bad faith— though not gonna like, I’m kinda impressed by some of these guys’ chutzpah, coming onto a clearly tagged Team Iron Man fic that I specifically limited comments on to prevent anon hate [because it’s only that fic that draws the weirdoes out, it seems], and say their piece.

Man, I wish I had that kind of confidence.

Most of the time, though, the 1% of the ‘dude wtf’ comments are simply...well, how do I put this? People complaining about something I wrote in my spare time as a hobby. Which, again, aren’t many, there’s a reason I call them the 1%, but... 

Look. This has been a recurring thing, and sometimes it strikes a nerve. 

I don’t mention my personal life bs because it’s my personal life, and I prefer to keep my fan-related stuff separate for a reason, but...it’s like some people forget there’s someone else on the other side of the screen.

I still remember somebody complaining about something in a chapter of TWiFFON, and the reply I never sent back was “hey, a family member died and my first alcoholic drink was a toast to them, sorry my writing wasn’t up to its usual quality”. Another time, someone complaining about delays when I was taking 18 credits, 10 of which were very intensive research that had me running around campus just to get through the day. Now, I’m working almost full-time, in between studying for something related to a drastic career change and paying off my student loans and somebody’s huffy about the writing quality of something I wrote as a stress relief valve to survive the Trump administration. 

Just.

Kinda demoralizing, to be honest, which is incredibly unfair because they’re only a handful compared to the comments I get but these are the ones that kill the motivation, the reason TWiFFON’s possible sequel went from “once I finish this!” to “...wait I had originally planned to write more? lol, with what ideas?” and I’m torn between anger and exasperation and spite and just plain exhaustion. 

I try to not let it get to me, because I refuse to let them win, but...it sucks all the fun right out of it, sometimes. 

Sorry for the rant, I just. Kinda hit my limit today, I guess.

Now I’m off to write for whatever the mood strikes me, no promises on what comes out.

[shimmershae]

So.  Thanks to my new anonymous friend, this is going to become a thing.

Shae’s thinky thoughts about the latest episode--Acheron:  Part 2--beneath a cut. 

Because spoilers, however vague they might be.  

Let’s be real here.  This is more a stream of consciousness than anything else so if that’s not your thing, you are most welcome to nope right on out of this post.  Trust me.  I’ll completely understand, lol.  Sometimes?  I wish I could nope right on out of my own brain and the way it operates.  

That said?  Without further ado--

Episode 2′s opening, though.  Maggie trapped with hungry Walkers converging?  It totally gives me Glenn under the dumpster vibes.  I don’t know if that was intentional or just happy coincidence but way to link Maggie to her dearly departed better half, show.  

Is it just me or has Father G had more OOMPH to him these last few seasons?  Again, I have to ask--Rosita’s influence or no?  Regardless, I bet Seth Gilliam is loving the job these days.  

Side note:  am I gonna have to go to bed early every Saturday night from now until the end just so I that I might be able to SEE?  Something?  Anything?  My curtains are flimsy-ass.  I admit it.  But this is more frustrating than TXF.  Angela, WTF?  

No, seriously.  It’s like complete guess work who’s in these subway scenes.  Some of that has to do with them being overly populated by redshirts and the rest of it has to do with me having to squint and turn sideways to make out their facial features. 

Look at Daryl busting through concrete walls!  Should I call him the Kool-Aid Man considering NR has once again allowed himself to be led right into a biased, shipper trap?  Hmm.  I might.  

Imagine seeking refuge in those dark, filthy subways.  Any second now I expect to hear the skittering of rats.  Will Dog lose his effing mind a la Divergence?  He’s been shown to go off half-cocked that way, lol.  Oh well.  Guess it’ll be in character if he does.  

Impressive graffiti storyboards.  Does it mean something that it immediately cuts to the Commonwealth storm troopers afterward?  Maybe.  Who really knows at this point?  They been trying to gaslight us forever.  

LOL at Princess yet again.  Yumiko is just like da fuq is this person?  

No, really.  LMAO.  “That was her.  From last night.  Did you see how she was looking at us?”  

Then you have Eugene, hahaha.  “Oh God.  Why did he tell off the big guy?”  Like the man is totally me in this type of situation.  Not even gonna lie.  

“That’s right.  We want to talk to the manager.”  

I literally cannot wait ‘til Carol and Daryl meet Princess.  Can.  Not.  Wait.  

How sad is that note on that $100 bill?  Small moment but it totally gives me Season 4 vibes when they were on their way to Terminus seeking sanctuary.  

Hmm.  Remember how that place wasn’t what they thought it was?  I’m sure neither is the Commonwealth.  But I feel like what’s left of Team Family is totally going to do Rick proud, lol, and prove they’re messing with the wrong people if they try something.  

Daryl, Man.  You gonna have to get a better handle on your headstrong Fur Son.  I wonder if Dog would listen better to his mama?  Things to ponder.  

Sounds like Miko has this group’s number.  Or does she?  

Princess and Eugene totally look like they’re waiting their turn for the Principal’s office, LOL.  

“Stop moving!  You’re taking my nerves over the edge to a proverbial 11 on a scale of 10.”  I feel you, Eugene.  I do.  Also you, Princess.  Two of the most relatable TWD characters right there, I’m telling you.  

Princess is me when I really, really, really have to pee.  TMI?  Sorry, lovelies.  LOL.  I just...she’s so relatable.  

LMAO.  “If that fine ass dude in the orange suit...”  Princess and Mercer incoming in 3-2-----

Princess’s excitement over the toilet paper=PRICELESS.  

Eugene, Man.  You desperately need to develop a poker face.  

There’s Daryl getting another cool camera shot.  Angela?  You playing favorites again?  

Carol’s claustrophobia could have never.  I bet that’s in the back of Pookie’s mind.  You can’t tell me it’s not because Carol lives in there rent-free.  

Ohhh.  Back to the subway car.  Looks like we got the Maggie redshirts leading the way.  First sacrificial “lambs”?  

Maggie pistol-whipping Negan was kinda deserved, but he wasn’t all wrong so.  

Damn.  I’m no Gage fan.  He can fuck all the way off for what he did to my baby Lydia.  But Maggie over there with ice in her veins.  

Yep.  I think the dude just got one of the most gruesome deaths in a while.  Yuck.  

I think Alden’s faith in Maggie definitely took several hits.  I feel like he kind of had her on some sort of pedestal dating back to Hilltop times.  Father G, though?  The man is continuing to show himself a SAVAGE MFer.  

Josh gives Eugene such believable tics and mannerisms.  He IS Eugene.  

Thank you, Maggie, for lighting that flare.  I could not see a damn thing.  

What are these bad memories Negan alludes to?  Hmm?  Him being a shit husband to Lucille back when he was still taking her for granted?  

Father G on Gage’s Walker--”All that is, is a shell of a man, who died a coward.”  Kind of ironic considering Father G’s own origins, huh?  Has he any warmth in there for anybody but Rosita and Coco?  Does he equate it with weakness?  

“There are worse ways.”  And Maggie proceeds to paint us a horror story with mere words.  

Dark Maggie really surpasses anything certain fans have ever accused Carol of being.  Is she too far gone?  Who the hell knows?  I think it’s clear that she and Carol are both on a sliding scale of sorts when it comes to being able to compartmentalize shit to survive.  Personally?  I feel like Maggie might have leap-frogged Carol in this episode but it matters none because of the double standards so deeply entrenched in this fandom.  Both women have endured and had to do some horrific things.  It’s not a contest.  But it’s probably going to be turned into a season-long one.  

It’s almost like Kang was like, “Ya’ll bitches think Carol’s dark?  I’ll show you DARK.  Check and mate.”  

Whatever the reasoning, Maggie just got exponentially more interesting to me if not likable.  And before anybody out there comes at me, it’s entirely possible to be on a character’s side in some things and not be all up their ass in love with them, lol.  Like I’m attached to her because she’s family and Glenn loved her.  There’s a loyalty there and she absolutely is justified in her hatred of Negan.  But I’m not going to pretend her shit don’t stink like everybody else’s.  

Speaking of my baby Glenn.  What would he think of this version of Maggie?  I think he would be gutted and heart stricken that events led to her being like this but he’d understand because he’s pure like that.  Don’t mean he’d be A-OK with it all.  

Dog must be protected at all costs.  

Confession.  I know not the fuck who Pony Boy is, but I know him because all my fandom friends have pointed him out to me, lol.  RIP, Man.  I think you’re number’s up or close to it.  

Okay, though.  I admit it.  I am kinda LOVING Badass Father G.  

That scene in the subway car with all of them working to take all the Walkers out was already badass.  Then Daryl arrived and made it, in @freefromthecocoon’s words, HAWT.  LOL.  

Eugene staring at that little black book like it contains torture tools, hehehe.  

“Processed?  As in administratively?  Processed as in bologna or other meat stuffs?  This inquiring (enquiring?) mind needs to know.”  OMG, Eugene.  I admit it.  Even if it makes me look like a lunatic, LOL.  I straight up LMAO at that one.  I mean, ten years later and Terminus still fresh on the man’s mind.  

“You like feeling nervous?”  Well, no.  None of us that do, Mercer?  Do.  

Then he proceeds to make me howl with his “You can’t lie for shit” to Eugene.  

Josh McDermitt?  I love you, Man.  40 year old virgin, LOL.  

All this talk over the seasons of Daryl’s virginity and we have Eugene, hahaha.  But was he telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?  

Finally.  Some daylight.  Where I can see.  

Eugene’s relief at seeing his friends safe and sound was such a beautiful thing to see.  I loved those hugs.  

Mercer’s face when he snarled “beat cop” in disdain to Ezekiel.  I think I’m gonna love this dude.  

“I went to West Point.  Asshole.”  Yeah.  I am.  

I know they probably catfishing Eugene right here because spoilers tell us that ain’t Stephanie.  But my heart still did a little d’aww.  Angela.  Don’t play with his poor heart like that.  

What’s got Daryl so pensive, huh?  Is it that the note reminds him of kids being lost or taken from their family? Or separated from their family?  Is he thinking of those Grimes babies and wondering if Michonne will ever make it back and why and how she was able to leave them behind?  Tell me it ain’t that Find Me nonsense.  

“This place sure has gone to shit since the last time I was here.”  LMAO, JDM.  I mean Negan.  Sorry.  Sorry.  I still hate Negan, but JDM has me entertained at least since they gave the asshole some shades of gray.  And speaking of shades of gray.  I’m loving the gray beard.  JDM’s looking GOOD (hear that NR?  Embrace the gray).  Negan can still kick rocks, lol.  

Anyway.  That scene was CREEPY AF.  Not even gonna lie.  

The Reapers strutting right on up to our group like it’s The Purge:  ZA.  

My bad, Pony Boy. Now RIP.  

Dark, dark episode with loads of tension broken up by some welcome humor by Princess.  The girl is fast becoming a fave of mine.  

My baby’s back next week!!!

I’m just going to plug my ears and pretend they’re trying to capture/recapture the horses because they’re pets.  Not because they’re starving so bad they feel the need to eat them.  La la la la la.  I can’t hear you.  

[yamaoni]

The Second Great War of Remnant has begun. Once more, Vale and Mantle are embroiled in a massive conflict, only this time, they are on the same side against Atlas.

I don't think it was a coincidence that so many people drew parallels with the last episode and WWI. We've never seen people fight that way in RWBY. Grimm don't use projectile weapons the way humans do, so the benefits of the trench are diminished; especially if you compare it to the drawbacks.

Now, I understand not everyone in the Atlas military has their aura unlocked and the squishy soldiers need some cover, but if The Long Memory didn't nuke every grimm on Atlas, the lines would have been overrun and then there would have been nowhere for them to retreat to.

You think the very real hand to hand struggles in the trenches of WWI were bad, imagine being trapped in a narrow trench with a bear. Or having this thing explode out of the ground under you.

I refuse to believe no-one in Atlas ever thought, "if we put the dirt from the trench in a box, no only can we give our soldiers cover, we can also give them an elevated position to fire from."

The top of a wall has been the primary defensive position for the people of Remnant for a long time. You can see them in the establishing shots of most settled places the team has visited. So why are we seeing a trench now?

Simple.

Show, don't tell.

RWBY has done a pretty great job, especially in the last few seasons, of showing the audience what it is trying to convey without explicitly telling them. They especially like drawing from well known folk lore to give insight into the future of the show.

Only difference here, instead of drawing the parallel between characters, they're drawing parallels between worlds.

Remnant's first Great War started with Mantle suppressing freedom of expression, the destruction of Art and Color. Ironwood always has little in the way of color, but in his first broadcast since everything started hitting the fan, he has none.

That broadcast also included evacuation ships being blown up by fighter-bombers, Dunkirk. It threatend to level a city if they didn't surrender, Battle of Brittan. All delivered by a dictator trying to scare his opponents into submission through careful use of film.

Theories

If the rest of the season is WWII, I have several theories on plot direction. Considering how well they did keeping up with both ends of the battlefield it wouldn't surprise me if they followed all of them at the same time.

Operation Dunkirk

Or, the evacuation of Mantle.

Players: Penny, Nora, Ren, Happy Huntresses

The Happy Huntresses involvement is a given. Not only has saving Mantle been their goal the whole time, they're also stuck in the middle of it right now.

Penny is the Protector of Mantle. It would be a shining moment for her character to fully throw off the virus Watts implanted and overcome Ironwood's threats to do so. Just crossing my fingers that it doesn't end like the Iron Giant.

Nora is currently Penny's tether to sanity, so she has to go with, and I doubt they would separate Ren from her for the next arc so he's going too.

Surprise twist for this plot I'm betting will be the Starwars "they aren't warships, just people" scene everyone loves to rag on. After all, the broadcast went out that they needed help and, at least at Dunkirk, it was fishing boats and pleasure crafts that retrieved the 338,000 surrounded on all sides.

Why We Fight

Or, countering Ironwoods propaganda.

Players: Robyn and Qrow

For one, these two are unaccounted for and in the heart of Atlas' military machine. If anyone has means to do so, it's them.

The film, Why We Fight, also countered the dramatic cinematography of Goebbels propaganda by painting it as ridiculous and making a folksy call to action much like Robyn has done in the past.

Operation Fortitude

Or, the deception of Ironwood.

Players: Emerald, Jaune, Oscar

This is the mission to make Ironwood think the team is going after the relic. This theory is why I actually thought of and wrote out this whole thing. Thanks @maxiemumdamage, I had things I was supposed to do tonight.

https://maxiemumdamage.tumblr.com/post/644291955872890880/willing-to-bet-my-own-soul-that-emerald-uses-her

Only difference in my theory and their's, is Jaune is going to be playing the part of Penny.

I say this for two reasons. One, Joan of Arc pretended to be a man. While we've gotten both Jaune pretending to be something he's not and him in a dress, this would pose the first time in the story he could do both. Two, it would put him on a direct collision path with Cinder. It needs to happen at some point to bring his arc to a conclusion, but man I hope we're not about to watch him burn.

With Ozpin active again, Oscar has to go along to direct them to the vault. He's also one of two backing the idea of Emerald joining the team and Jaune wouldn't be willing to work with her without him.

Operation Overlord

Or, busting down the doors of Atlas Acadamy.

Players: Ruby, Blake, Weiss, Yang

Where Operation Fortitude was the faint, Operation Overlord was the real deal. For those that aren't history buffs, this is D-Day.

I think this is the reason we've only seen the main team fighting together once since their split from Beacon. And even then, that fight was at most pairs of fighters and not all four of them supporting one another.

RWBY tricked us into thinking season 4 was the post-timeskip level up we come to expect from anime when really we ended up watching the training flashbacks as they happened instead.

We've seen hints of it with the various team ups and combinations, but are we really ready for how much ass kicking they are about to do?

I'm hoping for a One Piece level of badass entrance that can give me shivers whenever I go to watch it again like the walk to Arlong Park still does to this day.

(Aside: if you try telling me RWBY isn't anime, I'm just going to ignore you. Anime is an art movement. If you don't understand what that means, watch this video. https://youtu.be/uFtfDK39ZhI)

Now last and certainly not least

Operation Valkyrie

Or, the death of Ironwood.

Players: Winter and Marrow

The long awaited defection. Plenty of speculation has already floated around about if and when these two where going to cave to their morals and jump ship. I don't know how many of us were expecting the straw to break the camel's back to be a nuke held over Mantle, but I certainly wasn't.

What worries me, is Operation Valkyrie failed and all its conspirators were executed. As if there weren't enough death flags for Winter before.

Even if it's not Winter that kills him. I don't see Ironwood surviving this season. Even if it means he goes out like another hated dictator. It's not like it would be the first time RT had a fallen hero chose to use his own sword.

Wildcards

Or, Murphy will have his due.

Players: Cinder, Watts, Neo, Tyrian, Mercury, Clover

These players can go any which way. Three we know for sure are going to be active in the coming episodes and I wouldn't be surprised if the other three play a part as well.

Oscar made a hell of a light show for Tyrian and Mercury to see behind them. Not to mention, Salem will still need a ride home when she pulls herself back together.

Clover keeps getting mentioned even though he's hospitalized. If he was truly out of commission for the rest of the season, they would have made us think he's dead before bringing him back like they did with Penny.

Up to now, what we've seen is a three way conflict. But one of the hallmarks of Remnant's First Great War, was making temporary alliances to fight off grimm.

The grimm might be gone, but the wild cards can't complete their own objectives if they are dead. The question is who's goals better align with their own.

Two surprise twists I can see here. One, Mercury stabbing Tyrian on his way to defection. He was raised by an assassin and has not going to get a better chance than that. Two, Clover joining Operation Valkyrie. He might have accepted that sacrifice is a necessary evil to ensure Atlas' survival, but might go Schindler's List on us and find horror in what Ironwood plans to do.

TLDR

I spent way too long writing this out. All the WWI imagery means we're getting a WWII movie with RWBY characters. Major death flags for Penny, Jaune, and Winter.

Also I finally figured out how to do a readmore. Apparently it's just been a long time since I updated.

Note: kept seeing things talking about clovers death and I kind of went ???? Isn't he barely alive in medical? Went back and watched that scene and though I am 90% sure he is dead still kind of weird that they have him in his own room instead of a morgue and the initial framing made my mind instantly think he was propped up on a hospital bed. I mean, I guess we needed to have all the ACEOPs there for their reaction to Ironwood... but it definitely made me think he was alive. That and they have a bandage on his chest wound... when he's supposedly dead. Also have a phantom memory of Harriet saying something about him being in critical but I think that's my memory playing tricks on me.

Having his face exposed instead of covered by the sheet and seeing him in the same frame as Winter being treated also didn't help my gut reaction of "Oh Shit! He's alive? How?!" If I'd followed up more on the "how" might not have made the blunder of writing his return as the final twist in my theory. Oops

[unforth]

I am finishing The Untamed and am IN. LOVE. I thought I remembered you posting a thread on where to go next in this journey but can't find it! Do I want to read the English fan translation of the novel? Do I want to read the (I don't know the word for the Chinese version) Manga? Watch the animated version? What comes after The Untamed? Help, Unforth! You're my only hope! (If you have the time/spoons/energy, of course.) Thank you!!

Ack I’m so sorry I didn’t answer this sooner, I’ve kinda been a mess this week. Anyway! You have a lot of places you can go next!

The Untamed is adapted from Mo Dao Zu Shi, a novel by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. It’s explicit, the ship is canon, warnings for dub con (acknowledged, which at least for me makes a difference) and homophobia. There are multiple adaptations of MDZS, all of which are more similar to each other than any of them are to Untamed - Untamed made some major changes in the plot (for example, changed the entire timeline for when Xue Yang, Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan are introduced, and completely invented the Yin Iron and everything related to it) and those changes aren’t present in any of the other versions. That said, they’re different, but still enjoyable. (personal disclaimer: I *far* prefer the Untamed to the others, but that’s just me, some people love the others far more.)

Exiled Rebels Scanalations English translation

Mo Dao Zu Shi Donghua by Tencent (Chinese equivalent of anime)

I think there’s some other version people read but I’ve read the Exiled Rebs translation of the manhua (Chinese equivalent of manga)

Suibian Subs has the main version of the radio drama that I know of; I hear good things about it but haven’t listened personally

Those are all options if you want more of Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian, and all the rest of our wonderful cast. Now, if instead you want some new characters to fall in love with, by the same author...

My favorite of the danmei novels I’ve read so far is Tian Guan Ci Fu. It’s also by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, and I adore it. The translation done by @yummysuika and others is phenomenal, and you can learn more about where to access it here. There’s also a manhua. It’s currently on hiatus, but you can read translations on TGCFMissy’s account on Twitter. (the first chapter is missing a few of the sections and I don’t know why but all the rest is there). The donghua has one season out, and recently came to Netflix.

Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s third novel (well, actually her first - the order she wrote them in was this one, then MDZS, then TGCF) is Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong, usually translated to “The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System.” There’s a website with the whole thing translated but I personally read the first half-or-so of the chapters here, and the rest here. A manhua exists but it only had a couple issues come out before it vanished, and the first season of the donghua aired last year and is available on Youtube.

...and finally, some works by others...

Guardian, or Zhenhun, by Priest, is one of the early danmei works to get really popular. The show and the novel are VERY different. The show is available on Youtube. I don’t have time to hunt down the novel translation rn, sorry.

Word of Honor, also based on a novel by Priest, is a break out hit right now. I’ve only seen the first three episodes so far, but they’re great and I can’t wait to watch more. It’s on Youtube Afaik there is not an official translation yet of the entire series, even though it’s all aired. The novel it’s based on is “Faraway Wanderers”

The Husky and His White Cat Shizun, usually called Erha or 2ha, is by Meatbun Doesn’t Eat Meat. There’s a show adaptation filmed, but it hasn’t aired yet, and I believe there’s a manhua and a radio drama, though I’ve not listened to each. Warning for a LOT of dark themes, especially non-con stuff.

I’m currently reading Thousand Autumns, by Meng Xishi, and I’m enjoying it a lot. There’s also a donghua; the first season is on Youtube.

There’s loads more, and in a lot of ways I’m a terrible person to ask because I have so little time for watching and reading right now.

My personal “to watch” list right now is...

Word of Honor

The Lost Tomb Reboot (I’m almost done, but it’s not on the above list cause it’s not canonically queer)

Thousand Autumns donghua

Sleuth of Ming Dynasty

Probably about six other things I’m not remembering right now

My personal “to read” list includes...

Sha Po Lang (also by Priest)

The Wife is First

Those Years in Quest of Honor Mine

How to Survive as a Villain

Faraway Wanderers (by Priest)

And I’ve got some others stashed away in my Tumblr drafts - that’s where I save danmei rec posts when I see them on my dash.

So...that’s a lot. If you want one single rec? Tian Guan Ci Fu is so far my favorite, I’d personally say go there next. :D

[dragonrajafanfiction]

Genji Heavy Industries (Part 5) Hell

In this part of the plot of the game and Novel several things are happening at once. The scene I felt was most relevant to our MC is the scene I picked. 

This scene is not in the game. Please enjoy.

Chu Zihang coughed low in his throat next to Caesar and that man’s killer’s aura subsided. You could finally breathe again. You weren’t upset with Chisei Gen and you had nothing against him. You barely knew him at all. Caesar Gattuso just had a bad habit of getting emotionally invested in every single person he came across and that’s why you were here, disguised as Hydra Executive Bureau members, helping Hydra move -- while at the same time, being surrounded by armed guards who would shoot you full of holes and ask questions of your corpse.

Chisei Gen was here with Masamune Tachibana and were talking in Japanese while observing the moving process. You keep your eyes low, maintaining that careful methodical pace that would make sure that you all got on the elevator with the fiftieth box so you could leave to escort that shipment and escape.. 

Caesar successfully got on the elevator and the operator yelled “HAI”. As the elevator descended, you caught the sharp flash of Caesar’s blue eyes, as though, with that look, he could slash the man’s throat.

Next was Chu Zihang. It would take ten more minutes of work for him to get on the elevator and Mingfei was getting a bit distracted. He was interested in what Chisei and Tachibana were talking about, being the only one who spoke Japanese. While reconnaissance could be handy, the survival of the team was more important. If you survived, you could come back. So you approach him where he is dawdling and lightly nudge him with your elbow..

Chu Zihang successfully boards the elevator. He gives you a two fingered salute as he descends down the shaft and disappears.

You’re next.

Working steadily, you pass by Lu Mingfei. “I want to say I’m sorry.” You murmur in a low voice. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you… and tried to hit you. That was wrong.”

Mingfei looks at you with a confused expression. “No… I messed up. I almost ruined everything.”

“I’ll explain later…”

“HEY YOU!”

 Both of your heads look in the direction of the voice. A man in a dark windbreaker was gazing directly at you! Your heart stills. He’s saying something in Japanese but you can’t understand.

“He’s telling you to put the box down and follow him. He has another assignment for you.” Mingfei is looking at you with a face full of tragedy. “Little Sister…” He whispers. “Please don’t die.”

You smile at him and take his hand and give it a squeeze. “It’s okay.”  You whisper and turn away to follow the man in the black windbreaker. You give a sharp bow in front of him. He presses a button on the elevator that you came in on, and it opens. He hands you a small brown paper bag and gestures that you should get in the elevator alone.

Your mind is racing. Caesar and Zihang were already gone and there was no way to get in touch with them. They would just wait for you expecting you to come down the elevator. Lu Mingfei would have to tell them what happened. Knowing Caesar, he wouldn’t leave the place without you and would probably search the building and continue to risk his life and everyone else’s lives! You had to find another way to get to them.

You turn around to face out of the elevator and don’t let your emotions show. Lu Mingfei is trying to work, but he’s pale, terrified and alone. You smile calmly at him as the door of the elevator closes.

From the moment the elevator door closed, the screen showing the floor you were on suddenly went out. The lights and the music in the elevator shut off. All the floor buttons were disabled, and the word "HELL" lit up in red above the door. 

Your heart rate jumps and you try to press the door open button but it’s too late! You’re already descending, and fast!

You try every button but nothing works! Finally, you look up through the ceiling. Just as you’re thinking about escaping through the top, the elevator slows, and the lights come back on.

The lights reflect off the bronze doors like a mirror. Behind your reflection is the fuzzy reflection of a human shaped shadow. You reach for your pistol extremely fast, but a strong grip takes hold of both your wrists.

With a mighty twist, the person in the reflection turns you around, shoves you against the elevator doors and presses his lips to yours in a passionate kiss!

Your muscles jump and you try to escape, but his scent fills your nose. You recognize his hair. You go from resisting him, to embracing him and pulling him closer.

Z. 

How did he get here? Where did he come from? You want to ask, but he doesn’t allow you to speak. He kisses you as your knees buckle and your back slides down to the elevator floor. When he finally lets you go, he smiles, watching you tremble filled with a strange tingling you don't understand. There is a satisfied glint in his golden eyes. “Good. I wanted to make sure I got to you before those other idiots did.”

You catch your breath for a moment. He was dressed smartly in a suit and patent leather shoes over his bare feet. A black serrated army knife was on his belt. He rested one hand over his bent knee, crouching in front of you. As always, that clever smile that hid an inside joke was on his delicate features. He really did look quite a bit like Lu Mingfei. But you decide Z is much more handsome. But you were alone when you got into the elevator. How did he get here?

“How do I know you're really here and this isn't a dream?” You ask.

His eyebrows raise. “Is this the type of dream you would have of me? You’ve grown up…”

You huff with amusement. “I’m serious. Lu Mingfei has proof of his guardian angel. I want one, too.”

His eyes travel the length of you and his smile fades. “I’m no guardian angel. But if it's proof you want...” He leans forward on his hands and nuzzles your neck tenderly. But then at that moment he bites down hard and you cry out in pain.

 When you touch where he bit you, your hands come back with a small streak of blood on them. Z licks his lips slightly. Your heart beats faster and you feel a bit dizzy. You’re drawn to him far more than any of the ‘idiots’ on your dating game show. “Z… I think I love you…”

He wrinkles his nose. “That’s because you don’t know any better. I’m always curious. How does a human know what exactly ‘love’ is? You could throw yourself body and soul at them and they reject you. Or you can bite them and they call it love. It’s silly.”

The elevator continues to descend and you don’t know how to answer him. “I just want to be with you.”

“Then just say that.”

“Where are we going?”

He smiles again, showing his teeth. “Hell.”

You roll your eyes. “I know, stupid. I mean in this elevator.”

He chuckles, a little birdlike.”Ke-ke-ke…” and again you delight in making him laugh. He sighs and settles next to you. You’d dropped your brown paper bag and he handed it to you again. “Here. It’s food. Eat it. You’re going to need it.”

Inside, is an apple and a small sandwich labeled “egg sando”. It was good and suddenly you feel your hunger roaring like a beast. As you devour the food, he reaches up and gently runs his fingers over your hair, much like you did to the little black kitten in Chizuru.

At the bottom of Genji Heavy Industries, deeper than the Iron Dome Shrine, in absolute darkness, a deep red "ならく" is lit up, which is an elevator light. 

The word "ならく" is an exotic word derived from the Buddhist scriptures. Naraka is the deepest part of hell, the infinite fall of the void. The evil spirits in Naraka can never return to the human world, but experience an eternal fall into a bottomless pit.

The elevator door opened. You and Z, two black shadows, walked into the darkness where no one could see. Except for the faint sound of the ventilation fan turning, there is only dead silence here. 

The wall ahead suddenly lit up. The giant wall seven or eight meters high emitted an eerie blue light. A closer look will reveal that it is actually a huge water storage tank. The wall is a glass made of hundreds of pieces of glass of about one square meter, between the glass is a narrow metal frame. Above the water storage tank, a several meters in diameter turbine and filter is installed. The volume of this storage tank is comparable to the giant fish tank in an oceanarium built to house manta rays and whale sharks. The general water supply pipeline simply can not provide enough water, so it takes water from the sewer. Sewage filtered into this storage tank, and then pumped away with the turbine when the water was changed, re-entering the Iron Dome Temple system. 

The two of you lie on the ground under the glass wall, the blue light illuminating your faces. Z’s posture is reclining upright on his elbow, like those Greek boys carved in alabaster in the Parthenon, from a certain side he looks rather feminine, but from your angle he looks handsome like a young god. You’re lying on your back, looking up at him, staring into those golden eyes.

“Someone once said that the aquarium is one of the top places to go on a date.” He said, stroking your hair.

“Is that what this is? Odd timing…” You murmur.

“Well, you are a very busy woman and many men are looking at you now. Caesar Gattuso jumped in the rain from the top floor of the dorm into a moving convertible to stake his claim. Am I supposed to wait until the mission is over for me to make my move?” 

He was right. For as much as the Takamagahara Star-Heart contest glorified looks, money, and pure carnal instincts, what pulled you to Z was the sense that he would stand over you and snarl like a lion. Once he had you, no one would be able to take you away.

“It’s just a show, Z. Are you being jealous?”

“I’m communicating… that’s what this is.” He pressed one finger to your forehead in an odd gesture. “Anyway, the date's over, we have work to do.”

You sit up. 

“Use your Soul Skills. We are at the deepest roots of the Heavy Industry Building down here. I need you to cause an earthquake for me. Go for Magnitude 7 or 8.’

You’re silent for a moment. LIke any high level skill, it required considerable amount of practice and skill to wield without causing enormous amounts of unnecessary damage and death. Chu Zihang’s Royal Flame could be wielded like him, in various ways, like pottery in his hands, but he could only control it so much. Without injuring himself and others.

S-Level Skills like yours not only could cause excessive levels of death and destruction, but also came with sequelae, side-effects to the user. In order to create a Magnitude 7 or 8 you would not escape these side effects. But you would do your best to minimize them.

You place your hands on the ground and focus, slowly working your spiritual energe through the floor, through the meter thick slab and down into the bedrock formed by millions of years of heat and pressure. As it goes, so does your mind. The ground becomes like a skin, and you can feel the rubble of the subway, and the rush of the fierce waters in the Iron Dome in a steady vibration. A golden color lights up your dark eyes like a the headlight of a motorcycle in a tunnel that eventually fills the space until its entirely glowing yellow. 

Z  peeled off a piece of gum and stuffed it into his mouth, facing this empty water storage bin. He was not anxious at all. The sound of rushing water came from the depths of the water storage bin. Some kind of large aquatic animal swam at high speed, leaving a series of swirls with its long tail. The boy fished out a laser pointer from his sleeve, and after opening it, a red laser dot appeared on the glass wall, which cat owners often use to amuse kittens. The boy slowly moved the laser pointer. The light drifted, and gradually attracted the attention of the aquatic animal. It swam closer and closer. There was not one, but a group of large fish. The big fish put their heads against the glass wall, staring at the red dot. 

Their faces were so pale, they looked like floating corpses that had been floating in the sea for dozens of days. 

The group of fish with human faces peered through the glass at the human world, some expressionless, others with mouths turned upward, seemingly smiling. 

They are not all the same. Most have long tails and scaly armor, some look like sphinxes with animal paws or have uncanny organs attached to them. Some have huge sharp claws and knife-like bony fins, and, when they breathe, the cracks at the base of their necks open up to reveal deep red, gill-like structures. 

The boy turned his wrist slightly. The sphinxes twisted their bodies delicately, chasing the dots of light and swimming fast, like a group of obedient pets. The entire tank stirred and a dark golden skeleton came up from the bottom of the tank. The shape of the skeleton was between human, fish and flying birds. It was obviously the same kind of sphinxes. It seemed that these sphinxes do not mind eating their own kind when they are very hungry, and the dark golden skeleton is covered with teeth marks, as if cut out with a logging axe. 

Z turned off the laser pointer and approached the glass wall. The sphinxes that had lost their chase scattered. 

The size of the tank is almost equivalent to a small underground lake in the rock formation. The filtered groundwater is still clear, but once the sphinx swims far away, it is no longer visible. Only a smaller one was left, swimming in the waters near the glass wall, still seemingly trying to find the mysterious spot of light. The boy pressed his palm against the glass wall, which was half a meter thick from the reflection of the glass, and was made of huge glass tiles. 

Your Soul Skill has reached depth. Earthquakes were typically created when two broken slabs of continental plates floated on currents of magma, collided, and pressed together until the pressure was too great and then they slipped. There were many such faults in Japan. The skill was to find the one that would create the right amount of slip in the right location, and at the right depth.

Forcing an earthquake was like forcing open a stuck door. You leaned into it, gradually increasing the pressure against it to force it to move. If the door was inclined to move anyway, it wouldn’t take much force and the slip wouldn’t be too great and the earthquake would be small. But to create a great earthquake was to reach the limits of your control. Only a well stuck plate could create something like that. You had to force great pressures on the plate and, when it finally moved, it was like a door swinging open uncontrollably. It would be easy to turn a 7.0 earthquake into an 8.5 earthquake by accident.

You could jostle Genji Heavy Industries… or you could destroy all of Tokyo, depending on results you could not predict. In order to best guess how to apply pressure you had to increase the spiritual roots in the ground to make sure you had maximum sensitivity. And therein lie the danger to you. It was like burying your mind into the ground, your brain. If you poured enough of your thoughts into the earth, then you couldn’t be aware of your surroundings. You might lose track of how much brainpower you have dedicated to the task and little by little, the ground would suck your mind dry of thoughts and Caesar would find you in the depths of Genji Heavy Industries, completely braindead.

The sphinx pressed its face against the glass wall to observe the boy's palm, and then its appearance became clearer and clearer. It is actually a female with long dark hair, a deathly pale but beautiful face, with faint traces of minimally invasive plastic surgery between the eyes and eyebrows. 

"You were beautiful," Z said softly, "when you were still alive." 

Pretty only in that face, the sphinx was deformed from the neck down, the lower half of its body fused into a python-like tail, the remnants of its feet vaguely visible. 

In the mythology of the world, this image of the sphinx repeatedly appears, from the ancestor of mankind, Fuxi Nuwa, to the Three Emperors, and  Five emperors of the Taihao. Emperor, "Zhuangzi" was seen by the Duke of Qi Huan in purple clothes wearing a vermilion crown shaped like a half man and half snake. In the "Shanhaijing" there are multiple mentions of a  "human face with a snake body and red, straight eyes.” The god of Zhong Shan, ZhiYin, the so-called "Naga" in Sanskrit, the so-called "Medusa" in Greek mythology, and even the group of snakes whose names have been lost in the Mayan pantheon ...... 

They are between gods and demons, symbolizing seduction and ultimate mystery. Mythologists still find it difficult to explain why such monsters appear so consistently in various myths. If they could take a look at this "beautiful" monster, they would understand that their ancestors had indeed witnessed similar things crawling, swimming or lunging in front of them. They were so hideous that they could never be a species that God would make, but only a joke played by the Devil on man. This impression was like a lightning bolt that exploded in the minds of the first people, and they passed it on from generation to generation as a myth. 

Z lit up the laser pointer, the point of light appeared in the heart of the forehead of the sphinx, like a bright vermilion mole. The sphinx's ghastly white face was suddenly lit up. If you didn't look at the ghastly lower half of the body, it could be described as charming. It stretched out its deformed claws to grab the red light in the glass wall, although its claws are hard, but only in the super-hard glass scratching out a toothsome sound. However, it couldn’t grasp the red dot! Suddenly, became furious, and issued an inaudible roar at the young man. Its huge mouth opened to reveal sharp teeth as dense as thorns. This is when you can clearly see it's horrible mouth structure. On each side of its delicate cherry lips is a barely discernible slit extending to the ear. When it opened its mouth as if the entire cranium opened! 

"You're getting ugly like this." Z said.

The sphinx's hiss lasted only a few seconds. The giant claws coming from behind dragged it back to the middle of the tank. 

Z extinguished his laser pointer and watched the killing in silence as a dozen sphinxes surrounded and killed the smaller of their kind. They bite down on their prey’s body parts, swinging their long tails wildly, using tremendous twisting force to tear the prey apart. The prey and predator together formed a strange fleshy flower, a demon flower with snake-like petals, each one twisting and swaying as red blood smoke rose to the water's surface. 

"How ugly, this world." Z said faintly, his face devoid of sorrow or joy. 

You finally make your choice and your eyes glow in the dark. You open your mouth and let out a loud moan, as though you were giving birth and push! You push harder and harder and your cries grow louder and louder!

A soft popping sound ran through the entire glass wall from top to bottom, the metal frame supporting them twisting and distorting rapidly. The feeding sphinxes also noticed the change in the glass wall and swam over, leaving their bloody food behind, as if the prisoners had heard the iron prison door slam and would have looked in the direction of the door in unison. Glass wall is shaking. First, a huge glass tile fell where water pressure topped out against the metal frame, then more glass tiles fell off. Each is a square meter square and half a meter thick. Pushed by the force of several tons of pressure,  water sprayed out through the gaps more than ten meters away.

Z produced a white silk handkerchief from his coat pocket and dabbed the sweat forming on your forehead with gentle touches, like a husband comforting his birthing wife. “You should protect yourself.” He says softly.

You grit your teeth and nod. A thick wave of soil and rock smashes through the meter thick slab and rolls over you both to form a barrier.

 A few seconds later this transparent wall completely collapsed and tens of thousands of tons of water broke through the dam, carrying an unknown number of sphinxes with it.