#it's a crime that they cut out flowers from anime

[hecblp]

when you're about to visit your favorite debtor

[wonderjanga]

I love your headcanons!!! Do you think that with Fawcett being a time bubble and magical influence and when new technology is introduced to the city that it changes? Like the engineers study magic as well due to the proximity to the Rock of Eternity? I'd imagine like perpetual motion machines do exist and parts of the plumbing system are fantastical magic animals. Like the old telephone wires are autonomous snake-like entities that Marvel has to untangle sometimes. (They do get tangled up). It's all very surreal and dream logic stuff.

I would love to see what's under the hoods of their cars. Do they run on pixie dust or dragon tears? Are there small sprites keeping it all together?

I’ve actually never really thought about this but here are some ideas! I think they would study magic when getting engineering degrees cause I’m pretty sure they’d just think of it as apart of engineering maybe. Like for example, when building houses they’d make fairy doors in certain places. I also think that instead of Lightbulbs for street lamps they hire fairies every night to make themselves light up. They get payed in pretty stones. Detectives can hire ghosts to help solve crimes. I think their cars run on either, but they’d be higher quality gas so most people would use normal gas. I also think there would be lawyers who work specifically with cases about fae. There’s gonna be lawyers to get that first born back. People might use magical herbs in everyday cooking too. Like someone might get a dried leaf called mystic petals because when ground up, they taste similar to sugar. (The plant makes hair, skin, and eye color more vibrant) One of the teachers at an elementary school is a Lich that has nothing better to do but teach. Or a Centaur works as a PE teacher. I also think that Fawcett could be so affected by magic that the buildings and sidewalks could be sentient. Like a little kid’s about to trip on a crack and the pavement moves the crack out of the way. Or someone who’s vandalizing a building gets hit in the face when the building pushes a brick out. Certain roads seal up their potholes, and maybe Billy is running down an alley being chased or something and the alley walls close up behind him cutting his pursuers off. The flowers grow all year around in a certain part of a city, it could be hot all the time in another, it could snow frequently in another, and trees could start turning orange and letting leaves fall in another because of the presence of spring, summer, fall, and winter fairies who split Fawcett up into small kingdoms. Billy oversees their diplomatic affairs. You find Santa at the grocery store buying cookie mix because “it’s cheaper here than at the North Pole”. The Spirit of Halloween would start pestering people in beginning of September to put up their Halloween decorations. The Easter Bunny would be a local attraction to go see, as it would be in a meadow every Easter making eggs and giving them to other bunnies to go hide. There’d be tones of restaurants in Fawcett with from from multiple creatures. You can go to a small place on 45th, where you can order from fairies who make sandwiches and soups using traditional fairy recipes and herbs. Or a small stand ran by orcs who sell Owlbear on a stick and roasted Blood Hawk legs. There could be a pair of yetis who sell snow cones using snow from the Himalayas. They have human flavors like grape, and yeti flavors using fruits grown from their tribes. When zombies crawl out of their grave, there’s insurance for both the damage to the coffins and the ruined grave and for people who get bitten. Doctors tweaked the polio vaccine for zombification. Wind elementals help people they favor when they fall. Water elementals help move snow from roads. Earth elementals help with construction. Fire elementals help melt down metals for jewelry stores and factories. Harpies sing for crowds. Gelatinous Cubes can be used as lubricants for machinery and extremely strong glues. I also think the rock messed with time. There are dinosaurs displayed at the zoo. Certain buildings look like they’re from different eras. Gothic architecture, favored by vampires. Victorian architecture. Neoclassical architecture. Also there are wyvern. Though they’re all the size of vultures. They’d have multiple different scale colors which have been made into jewelry or bags. Animal rights activists heavily protested that, and did the same thing they would do to mink coats in the 90’s to the dragon scale items. They threw paint on them. Mimics have exterminators to sniff them out. Shapeshifters wear certain tags while in magical form so they won’t get flagged for animal patrol. There’s also a bunch of other races such as lamia, gorgons, lizard people, homuncules, and goblins.

[randomheadcanons1234]

Even more random hermitcraft headcanons that I won’t elaborate

Bdubs He was once sick of getting told that he was short and wore high heels for the day at the end he had a concussion, a broken ankle and a promise to never where high heels again

Cub has replaced some of his teeth with metal

Docm has dressed up as a princess on multiple occasions for Doccy

Etho used to run up to people scare them and run away again. That stopped when he got shot by a gun, when he tried to pull this with Zedaph

False is the designated driver because she somehow knows every shortcut

Gem has killed gods before

Grian is that type of person who says that they can’t handle horror but fall asleep to true crime stories

Hypno used to sell Ballons, he can make animals out of them

Impulse has venomous claws, he has accidentally poisoned some of his friends because of this, he feels really guilty

Iskall builds really weird things for fun like a robot who has legs for hands, which has pink hair and talks about waffles. The hermits are concerned

Jevin can’t swim, he can float but if he tries to move he sinks

One time when joe was drunk he showed up in a god meeting and started to make yo mama jokes at them, many cried

Keralis has all the gossip even from servers where he isn’t even on

Mumbo has gotten drunk only once and that was the they he found himself in his base surrounded by Armourstands that had their legs cut off. And had the heads of his friends

Pearl eats cods in front of Grian

Ren has a collection of baby photos of his fellow hermits, no one knows how he got them

Scar has made flower crowns for all the hermits

Skizz used to be choir kid

Joel and Lizzie once came to a party where Joel wore a sparkly pink dress and Lizzie a green suit

When stress doesn’t know a word she just makes one up

For some reason tango loves bats

The reason why Beef goes by Beef is because middle school he only brought beef to school. After a while the other students and even the teachers started to call him Beef and that stuck. Now he just goes by Beef

Wels knows galactic

When Xb used to be a kid he ate dirt

Xisuma never takes his helmet off, so the hermits try to take it off themself all their plans fail though and they still don’t know how he looks

Zedaph used to be a part of the creepy pasta fandom

Cleo is the best dancer on hermitcraft

[adrianlikesdinos]

so. I've been meaning to do a deep dive analysis into the symbolism behind the flowers the Ripper uses in the episode Futamono for awhile now. buckle up yall. here it goes.

In the episode it is brought up that all three of the flowers used (white oleander, belladonna, and ragwort) are poisonous. Jack sees this as the Ripper judging his victim to be toxic; However, flowers hold a lot more meaning than what is just seen on a surface level and I am willing to bet money Hannibal, with his attention to detail and culture, is more than aware of these flowers meanings, even far past just their Victorian meanings. And, there is also the placement of these flowers and why what type replaced what organ.

Lets start with the white oleander. Known in the Victorian era as a sign of caution, used as a warning against the complex nature of love and romance, this flower commonly represents love, desire, and seduction. This meaning and its name is said to stem from a Greek myth. A young man, Leander, was trying to woo a woman and he would swim a great length to her every night, but, one night he gets caught in a tempest. His body is discovered after his love goes out looking for him, calling "oh, Leander! oh, Leander!" his dead and drowned body is clutching the flowers. As a symbol of their love, the flowers continue to grow. This myth is important in the context of this Ripper victim because he had been drowned, the water in his lungs being the first hit or tip in the direction of framing Dr. Chilton and freeing Will. This flower, often symbolizing love, seduction and serving as caution to love and its effects, can also give some bit of motive as to why Hannibal is now working to free Will after he was the one to frame him. Hannibal has realized his misses Will, which is evident in the way he sits alone in his office every week at 7:30, and is now trying to win back his favour. Lounds was not his first attempt at courting. There is also meaning in the etymology of this plants name. Some believe the name comes from a mix of rhododendron and olea (olive,) two plants oleander resembles. When mixed with the belief the name come from the greek words ollyo, meaning "i kill," and aner, meaning "man," it gives the impression of a sort of wolf in sheep's clothing that is very similar to Hannibal's "person suit" further connecting Hannibal to this flower personally. It is also important to note the reason behind what flower replaces what organ. This flower replaces the intestines. There is hardly any symbolic meaning behind the placement of this flower except that oleander poisoning causes GI distress that is particularly prominent in animals and causes severe abdominal pain.

Belladonna is very well known for being extremely poisonous, all of its symbolism stems from this fact. The Victorian meaning for this flower is a warning and an omen of death. Its poisonous properties were already discussed in the show so I won't spend time on how its most popular symbolism is Death. The flowers were placed in a dead body. This is a crime show. Omens of death are a Tuesday night. In Homer's the Odyssey, deadly nightshade was used to poison men who landed on Circe's island and turn them into pigs. The addition of this flower implies the Ripper’s belief his victims are nothing more than rude pigs. The piece that stood out to me the most, however, was the flowers use in the Victorian era to dilate pupils because it was seen as attractive and seductive. After extended use, these eye drops would leave women blind. This directly represents what Hannibal is doing to Alana. The episode cuts from Hannibal declaring to Alana he needs to get his appetite back, straight to this victim. in Mizumono when Alana realizes how blind she has been Hannibal is quick to say "in your defence, i worked very hard to blind you." Hannibal prides himself on how effective his manipulations are, the addition of this flower is a blatant brag. a taunt. The effects this plant's poison has on the body are symptoms very similar to those Will suffered from throughout season 1, like headache, confusion, hallucinations, it also disturbs cognitive capacities like memory. In domesticated animals it causes narcosis. What flowers replace what organs is dependent on how that plant affects the body, this flower, however, does not mainly affect the heart and it is not commonly the cause of death when poisoned. The common cause of death is respiratory failure. It would make sense that, because the lungs needed to stay with the body, the Ripper chose to replace the heart instead because the circulatory system supports the respiratory system.

Ragwort, though poisonous, is never really of any danger to humans. It takes quite a lot to kill and because of its unpleasant taste it is hard for humans to build up enough in their system to do any harm. This plant is also very common, seen as a weed in most places. It holds very little symbolic meaning. What is commonly known about this plant is the danger it causes for domestic animals like horses and cows. It is said that if one seed is inhaled by a horse it would kill it. This wives tale is highly exaggerated but wives tales always come from some vein of truth. When this flower grows in pastures it probably won't do much harm if horses eat it, but too much is incredibly damaging. It becomes deadly when this plant mistakenly ends up dried into animal’s hay. It kills by attacking the liver, the organ which this flower replaces. The toxin itself does not affect the body but the broken down product, it destroys DNA and actively kills the liver’s cells. The danger it poses to animals is what creates symbolic meaning in its use. By replacing the liver with this flower it signifies the Ripper's belief that his victims are nothing but livestock. And the flower's lack of symbolism in culture creates a blank canvas for the ripper to paint his own meaning.

so yeah, flowers are really cool. the Ripper is a hopeless romantic. I would say this is a product of too much time on my hands but school has been kicking my ass and this took like 5 days to put together.

I might be doing a part two because during my research for this, a post by @alice-lecter pointed out the flowers actually used are not the ones mentioned when Jack, Zeller, and Price are discussing the body. Because of the use of both narcissus and hyacinth, I am almost certain the flowers actually used hold at least some meaning because of how Greek myth is often used in the show itself (mainly referencing the whole Achilles and Patroclus conversation.) but that is an analysis for another time. :)

[hayleythecannibal]

TWISTED MINDS: Act II- Chapter Twenty-Six Mizumono

TW: Crime scenes, Gore, Implied Death, Death, Cannibalism, Guns, Animal Death, Mental Heath, Pregnancy, tragic loss

Warning this is Fem!reader. You can also find this on Wattpad and A03 under the name @HayleyMarieOfficial. Comment if you want to be added to the taglist.

Taglist: @punkin-time @miaowkitty @gabriella-aesthetic @urlocalfanficwriter @dilfdemolisher

Twisted Minds Masterlist

HANNIBAL LECTER'S OFFICE - DAY-

Find HANNIBAL smiling as he works on the card. An invitation card. For Jack Crawford. To dinner at Hannibal's house. Hannibal finishes the beautifully-drawn card and looks down upon it.

BAU - JACK CRAWFORD'S OFFICE - DAY-

The invitation sits on Jack's desk. MOVE UP from it to reveal JACK and Will. “Hannibal's invited me to dinner.” Will doesn't answer. Holds Jack's gaze. We are now in his office. He sits opposite Will.

HANNIBAL LECTER'S OFFICE - NIGHT-

“You sit in that chair, as you have so many times before. It holds among its molecules the vibrations of all our conversations ever held in its presence.”

“All the exchanges, the petty irritations, deadly revelations, the flat announcements of disaster.”

“The grunts and poetry of life. It's all still there. Everything we've said. Listen. What do you hear?”

“A melody.”

“We are orchestrations of carbon. You, Y/N and me and that chair.” “And Jack.”

“And Jack. All of our destinies flying and swimming in blood and emptiness.” He smiles.

BAU - JACK CRAWFORD'S OFFICE - DAY-

“Everybody's settling in for dinner.”

“I'll be wearing a wire. I'll have riflemen on rooftops of neighboring houses. Sight lines to all windows.”

“He'll try to kill you in the kitchen, for convenience. Make it easier to prepare the tartare.” Jack stares at Will a moment, "digesting" that. Then: “SWAT team will be on the ground for immediate access to the kitchen, dining room and front door. Can I convince you to wear a vest?”

“He would smell it. Besides, he's not going to shoot either one of us, Jack. He'll cut us.”

GRAHAM/BAILIE HOUSE - NIGHT-

Will walking toward his house which houses the person he calls home. The lights burning, warm and homey.

HANNIBAL LECTER'S OFFICE - NIGHT-

“Little did Agent Crawford know what waited for him when he stepped into my office that very first time. How seldom we recognize the sound when the bolt of fate slides home.”

“Jack won't be easy to kill. He'll be armed. He's strong, well trained. We can't hesitate.”

“Hesitation is a consequence of indecision or uncertainty. I'm not suffering from either. Are you?”

GRAHAM/BAILIE HOUSE - NIGHT-

Y/N enters the room with her heart in hand. Her heart racing. with everything that has happened and that will happen. it feels right to tell Will about our little love. the seed he planted is flowering into something beautiful.

As she walks into the living room. Y/N sees the man she's fallen so deeply in love with. She can't help but think about how handsome and strong he is. His muscles and hair are so inviting to her. Will Graham sits down and looks at his beautiful love. "I made you some Coffee." She said. "Thank you, Honey."

"There is something I want to talk to you about."

"Yes, my love?"

"Well, you know how I haven't been feeling well lately." "Yes."

"And we both wanted a child." "Yes." I take a deep breath. "Well, I took a test. and It turns out that I'm pregnant." Will was stunned. He looked at me with tears of joy forming in his eyes. "We're going to be parents?"

"Yes." He gets up from his chair and goes over to me and kisses me passionately. I kiss him back, wrapping my arms around him. After a minute we break the kiss and stare into each other's eyes.

BAU - JACK CRAWFORD'S OFFICE - DAY-

“Hannibal thinks you're his man in the room. I think you're mine.” Will does not respond.

HANNIBAL as he studies Will.

“When the fox hears the rabbit scream, he comes a-runnin', but not to help. When you hear Jack scream, why will you come running?”

“When the time comes…” “When the time comes…”

“...will you do what needs to be done?” “...will you do what needs to be done?” Each one want a different thing. But all he wants is to keep the woman he loves and the child she carries safe. “Oh, yes.”

GRAHAM/BAILIE HOUSE - NIGHT-

Will walks up to the porch and reacts as if he's about to greet an old acquaintance. And he is. He climbs the steps. The front door swings open revealing Will standing just outside. His DOGS surround the door, not to greet their master, but instead, they BARK and GROWL at him!

Will backs away from his front door as it reveals GARRET JACOB HOBBS standing on the porch, haloed by the porch light, the only warmth in a monochromatic night. “Shhhh.” The VICIOUS BARKING and GROWLING of dogs abruptly fades away. Will looks down -- a HUNTING RIFLE now in his hands. Hobbs moves to the railing of the porch and Will follows him.

Will's house now sits high in a TREE overlooking a FIELD OF SKELETAL TREES resembling ANTLERS. A DEER BLIND. until it reveals the BLACK STAG slowly making its way directly in front of their sights. Garret Jacob Hobbs indicates for Will to look out beyond the porch. He smiles at Will. “See?” Will looks the direction Garret Jacob Hobbs is indicating and raises his rifle, looking through the scope.

FBI - FREDDIE LOUNDS'S DORM ROOM - DAY-

Will Graham and Freddie Lounds. “The correspondents of those august journals who always looked down on me can eat their hearts out. Nothing sells better than a survival story.”

“I wouldn't count us as survivors just yet, Freddie.”

“I'm counting me as a survivor. I started as a cancer editor at a supermarket tabloid. "New Cure for Cancer." "Cancer Miracle Cure."”

“Cancer is very-lucrative media.”

“One in five Americans dies of it. The relatives of all those dying, worn out, prayed out, trying to fight raging carcinoma masses, are desperate for anything hopeful.”

“We're all desperate for a little hope. I want you to do something for me, Freddie, or rather, don't. Don't write about Abigail or Y/N. You can write about me, you can write about Hannibal. But leave Abigail and Y/N alone.” Freddie considers the odd request, studying Will, then: “You really don't know if you're going to survive him, do you?”

“Let her rest in peace. And My family live quietly.”

HANNIBAL LECTER'S OFFICE - NIGHT-

Hannibal smiles down from the second-floor landing. He turns and continues pulling out patient journals. Surrounded by stacks of the journals, Will peruses the one in his hand. He continues to study the patient journal as he crosses to the burning fire. One more moment of consideration, then he tosses it on the licking flames, which wrap around it.

It roasts on the fire, the ENCEPHALITIS CLOCK devoured by flame, leaving CURLING BLACKENED ASH. “Won't your patients need these after you're gone?” Hannibal approaches Will by the fireplace, a handful of leather-bound patient journals in his arms. “The FBI will pore over my notes if I left them intact. I would spare my patients that scrutiny.”

“That's very considerate.”

“I'm dismantling who I was and moving it brick by brick. ive gone from this life, Jack Crawford and the FBI behind us, I will always have this place.”

“In your "memory palace"?”

“My palace is vast, even by medieval standards. The foyer is the Norman chapel in Palermo, severe and beautiful and timeless, with a single reminder of mortality: a skull graven in the floor.”

“All I need is a stream. Or Y/N’s Heartbeat.”

“In those moments, when you can't overcome your surroundings, you can make it all go away.”

“Put my head back, close my eyes, wade into the quiet of the stream.”

“If I'm ever apprehended, my memory palace will serve as more than amnemonic system, I will live there.” Will studies Hannibal a moment, considering his future: “Could you be happy there?” Hannibal reflects on the question, uncertain, but smiles.

“All the palace chambers are not lovely, light and high. In the vaults of our hearts and brains, danger waits. There are holes in the floor of the mind.” As Will turns to pick up more files, Hannibal leans toward him. Hannibal's nostrils FLARE as he inhales.

BAU - CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY-

Y/N listens as Alana confesses: “I feel poisoned.” I sigh softly. “We've all been poisoned.”

“Even my memories are suspect. I keep compulsively poring over every moment I've spent with him, struggling to separate the man I know from the man you know.”

“Will doesnt pretend to know him. He just understands him.”

“He saw what no one else could.”

“All it took was the traumatic.”

“Most of the literature on coping with the traumatic focuses on how people deal with the aftermath. We're still in the thick of it.”

“Almost through the worst of it.” I sigh, No matter the end of this, it wont be the end. I’ll still lose someone. Maybe even myself. “How will you get through the rest?” I consider that, then avert My weary eyes. “You'll have to ask Jack.”

“I'm asking you. Jack and Will set some sort of trap and Their goading Hannibal into it.” I look at Alana, his silence an admission. Her eyes begin to well with tears, sad about being left outside to watch some horrible unraveling of events like a bystander. “How can you be sure he's not goading Will?”

“I can't.” I sigh with worry, Cradling my belly. Alana sighs, fearing the worst.

HANNIBAL LECTER'S HOUSE - DINING ROOM - NIGHT-

a standing pair of RACKS OF LAMB, INTERLACED RIBS, like the hands of prayer or a church's

steeple, to find Hannibal sitting at the head of his table, considering his reflection in the rippling red wine. “Do you know what an imago is, Will?” reveals Will by his side. “It's pulled apart, warmth erupting, extending like wings.”

“It's a flying insect.”

“It's the final stage of a transformation…Maturity.”

“When you become who you will be.”

“It's also a term from the dead religion of psychoanalysis. An imago is an image of a loved oneburied in the unconscious, carried with us all our lives.”

“An ideal.”

“The concept of an ideal always searching for an objective reality to match. I have a concept of you just as you have a concept of me.” Will takes a drink.

“Neither of us ideal.” Hannibal considers that; there was a brief moment that he believed the ideal before he smelled betrayal. Question is….is he the only one that has betrayed him? “We are both too curious about too many things for any ideals. Is it ideal that Jack die?” Will hesitates almost imperceptibly. “It's necessary. What happens to Jack has been preordained.”

“We could disappear now. Tonight. Feed your dogs. Take Y/N. Leave a note for Dr. Bloom, never see her or Jack Crawford again. Almost polite.” Hannibal Smiles at the Thought. A family within the madness of their fantasy. “That'd make this our last supper.” “Of this life. I am serving lamb.”

“Sacrificial? Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

“I freely claim my sin. I don't need a sacrifice. Do you?”

“I need him to know. If I confessed to Jack Crawford now, you think he would forgive me?”

“I would forgive you. If Jack were to tell you all is forgiven, Will, would you accept his forgiveness?”

“Jack isn't offering forgiveness. He wants justice. He wants to see you. See who you are. See who I've become. Know the truth.” Hannibal takes the moment in, thoughtful, raises a glass: “To the truth, then. And all its consequences.” Hannibal says, tears threatening to brim in his eyes.

FBI ACADEMY - CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY-

A group of FBI TACTICAL AGENTS and FORENSICS TECHS are gathered as Jack Crawford is pointing to MARKED SNIPER LOCATIONS on a satellite picture of Hannibal Lecter's neighborhood. BRIAN ZELLER and JIMMY PRICE are to one side. Kade Prurnell has entered with Alana Bloom following a few steps behind.

Jack sees Alana and Kade standing together, sighs, then: “Gentlemen, would you excuse us.” The team gets up and heads out. Zeller and Price at the back. “Not you two. Stay right there.” Zeller and Price stay. After the tactical agents have exited: “Boy, you know how to go out with a bang. This is entrapment, Jack.”

“You can't entrap someone into committing premeditated murder.”

“Yes, you can. You're doing it.” to Zeller and Price “Either of you fabricate evidence?” Zeller is genuinely unsure, “Define "fabricate."”

“Are you asking if we built something or just lied?” ignoring them; to Jack “You conspired to violate Dr. Lecter's property and personal rights. The only one involved in this investigation we can confirm has killed someone is Will Graham. And How do we Know that Dr. L/N isnt involved in any of this?”

“It was self-defense. And Y/N is expecting and has only ever been helpful, and at most times the voice of reason during cases. Me and Will wouldnt put her life and her unborn childs life at risk.”

“You're using yourself as bait.”

“I'm the best bait we have.” Kade takes a breath, focuses. “Hannibal Lecter is being induced to commit murder by an undercover FBI informant. This is outrageous government conduct. Do you realize who will be held responsible?”

“Hannibal will be held responsible.”

“You would never get a conviction.” Jack scoffs and crosses his arms.

“If Hannibal is who we believe him to be, you would've just handed him his Get Out of Jail Free card.”

“You should thank Dr. Bloom. She just saved us all a lot of trouble.”

“Thank you, Dr. Bloom.” Alana holds his gaze. “You're not thinking clearly, Jack.”

“We are as close as we will ever be.”

“You're distracted. I understand your wife is very ill. Pending an enquiry, I'm putting you on forced compassionate leave. Agents will be waiting in your office to relieve you of your badge and gun.”

BAU - JACK CRAWFORD'S OFFICE - DAY-

Jack stands behind the desk. TWO AGENTS wait to escort him out. Kade Prurnell watches the process. All plays MOS. Jack holds her gaze for a second and then walks out, the agents in close attendance behind him.

JACK CRAWFORD'S HOUSE - BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON-

Bella, her hands lie across her chest. The room is silent, motes of dust drift through the dimming light of the dying day. Night is coming. Bella's breathing RISES and FALLS...Jack sits in a chair, watching his wife sleep. Rise... Fall… Bella misses a breath. Jack studies her more closely. Bella breathes again, a flutter, and then a full breath. Jack rises and stands over his wife, takes her hand. She doesn't stir, breath continuing to rise and fall. Jack watching Bella sleep...

BAU - JACK CRAWFORD'S OFFICE - DAY-

Kade Prurnell sits behind Jack's desk, going through RANDALL TIER CRIME SCENE PICTURES, SATELLITE PHOTOS of Hannibal's house and various paperwork. She's boggled by it all. Alana Bloom enters the office. Kade looks up from the various pieces of evidence, noticing Alana. “This is staggering.” Alana approaches the desk, thoughtful. “What are you going to do about Hannibal Lecter?”

“What Jack should have done. We froze his passport and we're getting a search warrant.”

“Hannibal already opened his doors to the FBI. There won't be physical evidence. The only way to catch him is in the act.”

“You think we should've just let Jack Crawford hang himself and everyone else in his department.”

“No, but Will and Jack are still your best chance to catch Hannibal.” Kade references the Randall Tier crime scene photos. “The man Will Graham killed in self defense? He was mutilated. Limbs removed. Head severed at the jaw. At a certain point, self-defense stops. Will Graham didn't stop.” Kade tosses the crime scene photos back on the pile. “Jack Crawford sanctioned this. And then he covered it up.”

“I have to believe Will was trying to maintain his cover identity.”

“Reality doesn't go away if you stop believing in it, Dr. Bloom. It's stubborn like that. The reality of this situation is Jack Crawford was misusing the power of his office.”

“They're desperate.”

“They are breaking the law. This is criminal conduct. I have to bring charges against these men.”

“They're not going to stop.”

“That's why they're being brought into custody.”

“Jack knows what you'll find, he knows what you have to do. You have to know that won't stop him from doing what he has to do”

ALANA BLOOM'S CAR - NIGHT-

Alana sits in her car. Pondering what to do. Debating her actions. She pulls out her cell phone --

GRAHAM/BAILIE HOUSE - NIGHT-

The telephone RINGS and Will picks it up. “Hello.”

“It's Alana. Is Jack with you?”

“No. Why?”

“I... I wanted to find some middle ground between believing the world is perfectly safe and terribly dangerous. I was trying to…” Her voice trails off, overwhelmed with emotion. “What did you do?”

“They've issued a warrant for your arrest, Will. For acting as an accessory to entrapment and the murder of Randall Tier. They're going to arrest Jack, too.” LIGHTS and the CRUNCH of gravel draw Will to the window. Two FBI SUVs are pulling into Their driveway. “Good-bye, Alana.”

“Will?” He hangs up. Grabs his coat and gun. “Y/N! Honey we have to Go!”

HANNIBAL LECTER'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - NIGHT-

Hannibal Looks up as Jack Crawford enters. Hannibal smiles. “Hello, Jack. You're early.” Hannibal never stops chopping. It slices down on the meat. ALL SOUND IS DULLED. What we can hear is the RHYTHMIC BREATHING and HEARTBEAT of Hannibal against the ORGANIC HUM of his CIRCULATORY SYSTEM.

Hannibal turns the block of knives in front of him so the handles are now facing Jack, should he want one. The light reflecting off of his kitchen knife dances briefly across his face. “Would you care to sous-chef?” Jack glances at the knives. “I want to thank you for your friendship, Hannibal.”

“The most-beautiful quality of a true friend is to understand and be understood with absolute clarity.”

“Then this is the truest moment of our friendship.” Jack’s hand drifts toward his coat, brushing his thumb across the fasten of his sidearm holster. Hannibal THROWING HIS KITCHEN KNIFE AT JACK.

Jack Crawford dives out of the way as he draws his gun from his holster and SHLUCK... Hannibal’s KNIFE MOVES THROUGH Jack’s hand at the wrist, his gun clatters to the floor. Hannibal vaults over the kitchen counter as Jack pulls the knife out of his wrist, swinging it immediately. The blade whisks through the air, narrowly missing Hannibal.

He yanks another knife from the cutting board and swings it in a deadly arc. Jack jackknifes his torso to avoid the blade, slashing back at Hannibal with quick swipes. Hannibal deflects Jack’s knife with his own and they dodge, parry and block each other’s blades.

Jack thrusts and slices into Hannibal’s waist, who twists around the knife, knocking it from Jack’s grip. Hannibal lunges his knife at Jack’s belly, meaning to gut him. Jack blocks the knife with a cutting board and then smashes the cutting board into the side of Hannibal’s head, knocking him off balance, but not quite down.

He grabs Hannibal and bodily swings him crashing into the cupboards. Hannibal throws his weight back at Jack, driving him across the kitchen, but not far. Jack is solid. Jack maneuvers his arms around Hannibal’s throat and begins to squeeze a chokehold. Hannibal writhes and kicks, trying to throw Jack off balance, but to no avail.

His eyelids flutter and pinch as he tries to focus and remain conscious. His body goes limp and he slumps in Jack’s arms... just enough for his shoulder to drop and allow his hand to reach a SHARD OF GLASS on the floor.

Hannibal plunges the SHARD OF GLASS into Jack’s neck. He recoils and stumbles back, clutching his neck. Hannibal acts quickly, picking up a butcher knife and turning on Jack. Still clutching his neck, Jack stumbles back into...

Jack falls inside, kicking the door closed on the advancing Hannibal. SLAM. SLAM. SLAM. Hannibal throws his shoulder into the pantry door, Jack’s foot braced against it. SLAM. He throws his shoulder into a braced door. Jack holds his neck wound with one hand as he fumbles for his phone with the other. SLAM. SLAM. SLAM. The door splinters. The terrible focus of a predatory animal.

HANNIBAL LECTER'S HOUSE - NIGHT-

Alana approaches the front door, hesitating on the walkway. She stops, debating if she should stay or go and what the hell she was doing there in the first place. The RAIN is loud, drowning out all else in the night. She turns and starts to walk away, then stops and turns around again. This time, right up to the door.

Which is slightly ajar. Alana pushes the door open ever so slightly and listens. Straining against the rain outside... then begins to identify the SOUNDS OF STRUGGLE and a SUSTAINED SHOUT from Jack. Alana goes pale, pulls out her phone, dials. She holds the phone with one hand and digs through her bag with the other.

“911. Please state the nature of your emergency.” Alana fishes her gun out of her bag. “I'd like to report gunshots.” Gun drawn, Alana pushes the door open. She hears somethingWUMPF with a RATTLE, followed by a series of SLAM-SLAM-SLAM. “Jack?”

HANNIBAL LECTER'S HOUSE - NIGHT-

Alana wades through the darkness, toward the slidingdouble doors of the dining room, open not even an inch. CUT RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE by a single SLIVER OF LIGHT, the room falling into darkness around her, gun at the ready.

HANNIBAL LECTER'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - NIGHT-

SLAM. SLAM. SLAM. The door finally splinters under Hannibal's force. Alana Bloom in the doorway. “Hannibal…” then clearer “Hannibal.” Hannibal stops, turns to see Alana. “Hello, Alana.”

She looks around the broken, bloody room, mounting horror. Hannibal sighs, truly disappointed to see her here. “What a terrible and wonderful thing it is to see you.”

“Where's Jack?”

“In the pantry.” The moment of truth. “I was hoping you and I wouldn't have to say good-bye. I imagined a farewell less sorrowful, less present, an echo. Nothing said nor seen. You may've thought that rude.” He takes a step toward her, her finger tensing on the gun.

“Stop.” He does. “I was so blind.”

“In your defense, I worked very hard to blind you. You can stay blind. You can hide from this. Walk away. I'll make no plans to call on you. But if you stay, I will kill you. Be blind, Alana. Don't be brave.” She pulls the trigger. And the gun CLICKS. She pulls it again and another CLICK. “I took your bullets.” CLICK. CLICK. Alana stares. Frozen. As huge simple terror washes over her. Alana RUNS. Hannibal takes a breath, then gives reluctant pursuit.

HANNIBAL LECTER'S HOUSE - ENTRANCE HALL/STAIRWAY - NIGHT-

Alana runs through the hallway and starts up a large staircase. down the stairs as Hannibal comes charging behind her. Alana speeds up. But he is faster... As they round a bend in the stairs, he grabs for her. His hand clutches at her ankle. Grasps her shoe. Alana slips, kicks her foot from her shoe and scrabbles on her knees.

KICKS Hannibal hard with the other heel, catching his face and rocking him back. Hannibal smiles. Takes his time now as he follows her. ANGLE DOWN THE STAIRCASE as Alana runs toward us, Hannibal slowly stalking behind.

HANNIBAL LECTER'S HOUSE - UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - NIGHT-

Alana comes up the stairs, into the hallway. She makes for a bedroom door.

HANNIBAL LECTER'S HOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHT-

Alana BURSTS into the dark bedroom and SLAMS the door closed. Turns the key in the lock. Stares at the door. HEART SLAMMING. CIRCULATORY SYSTEM pounding in her ears. She GASPS for breath. She is lit only by MOONLIGHT creeping through the window. Alana thinks quickly. Pulls the spare clip from her bag and ejects the empty one from her gun.

Alana SLAMS the clip into the gun and draws the slide and FIRES TWICE into the door. BANG. BANG. TWO BEAMS OF LIGHT pierce the gloom and hit Alana like laser beams.

“I found more bullets.” A SHADOW moves outside the door, blocking the beams of light for a second, and Alana fires again, making a third.

ALANA -- in profile -- breathing hard, facing the door. Lit by the orange beams of light. Gun at the ready. Aiming down the barrel, just as she was taught. Standoff. And then a figure -- indistinct -- steps from the shadows beside her. Ghostly, long-haired, ethereal...

Alana senses her presence and turns. She instinctively turns the gun to Abigail. Then lowers it. ALANA as so many things register. “Abigail…” Abigail fights tears, on the edge. “I'm so sorry…” And she suddenly SHOVES Alana, propels her backward and PUSHES Alana OUT OF THE WINDOW.

HANNIBAL LECTER'S HOUSE - NIGHT-

The front of the house, viewed from the street. HEAVY RAIN FALLING. Lights burning golden yellow.

Beyond that PLANE OF FOCUS, a blur of violence inside as Alana comes through the bedroom window, SHATTERING GLASS and SPLINTERING WOOD. Alana continues to sail through the rain, accompanied by a cloud of shattered glass.

Over this, a series of single notes, played on a harpsichord, an incongruous, pretty sound, its pace somehow suiting Alana's beautiful-yet-terrible descent… Alana hits the cement outside with a sickening THWACK and a SHOWER OF BROKEN GLASS She lies broken and unmoving, pelted by rain, staring into middle distance, not breathing.

HANNIBAL LECTER'S HOUSE - NIGHT-

Will and Y/N run to the corner and Hannibal's house. Guns drawn. He slows as he sees Jack's and Alana's cars outside. And then they see Alana Bloom! Will rushes to her. Drops to his knees. Until... she takes a deep breath, having had the wind knocked out of her from the fall. She tries to speak, urgent and desperate -- blood bubbles over her lips.

“Don't talk. Just breathe…” He pulls off his jacket, rolls it up and places it gently around her head. Y/N pulls her phone from her pocket. Dials. Alana grasps his hand tight. Smearing her blood on him. Will looks around, anguished. The call connects:

“This is Dr. Y/N L/N. I need ERT at Hannibal Lecter's residence.” Y/N holds Alana's gaze. ‘Jack's inside…’

HANNIBAL LECTER'S HOUSE - CELLAR - NIGHT-

LOW ANGLE in the cellar, lit by cracks of light from the floorboards above. Blood slowly forms HEAVY DROPS along the edge of the boards and then DRIPS down. Follow it back up through the cracks...

Where Jack is lying on the floor, still grasping his neck wound. Blood PULSING past his hands. He is fading. He holds his cell phone. We see it is dialing. But not 911... "Bella" flashes on the display...

HANNIBAL LECTER'S HOUSE - DINING ROOM - NIGHT-

Will and Y/N step into the dining room. Their movements are slow. So, so tense. They slide toward the kitchen. Eyes darting. Comes round the corner to see...

THE KITCHEN

Lights still on, blood and destruction everywhere. Will looks at the room, the blood smears and the chaos. BLOOD POOLS from beneath the pantry door. They cross to

the pantry door and then stop, realizing Their not alone. Abigail Hobbs stands in the kitchen.

Abigail turns and sees him. Her face is tear streaked. She is agitated, doesn't know what to do.

Will struggles to process her. They stare at one another. Y/N’s heart almost stops. Tears fill them. Will can't begin to understand and yet understands totally… “Abigail...?”

“I didn't know what else to do. So I did what he told me.” Abigail begins to shake, fighting sobs. Y/N goes to comfort her. Enveloping the girl into a tight maternal hug. “Where is he?” Her face suddenly falls. Will has a millisecond to register, and then, before he can react... “Hello, Will.”

I turn around keeping A hold of Abigail. Hannibal is looming behind Will. Arm coming round as if in an embrace, moving swiftly. Will is still in shock about Abigail when Hannibal warmly welcomes him with open arms. “You were supposed to leave.”

“We couldn't leave without you Two.” BLOOD SPRAYS up between them, splashing their faces. Abigail SCREAMS as Will's gun drops to the floor and his hands go to his belly. “No!’ I shout tears spilling from my eyes. Me and Abigail watch in horror as Will staggers and falls against the wall. His gun out of reach. Will looks down --

To see blood SPILLING from a WIDE CUT across his abdomen. His INNARDS straining at the wound. I attempt to go for him but Abigail Grabs my arm. “Abigail let go.” I say fighting against her hold. She just cries “I’m sorry”

“Time has reversed. The teacup I've shattered has come together. A place has been made once more in the world for Abigail. A place was made for all of us. Together. I wanted to surprise you. And you... wanted to surprise me.” Hannibal is heartbroken. Will is shaking, trying to remain conscious and out of shock. I’m still Crying.

“I let you in. I let you know me. I let you see me.” Hannibal says Stroking Will’s hair. “You wanted to be seen.” I never wanted any of this to happen. I Would've left with them if I'd known. Then maybe My friends ...My Will……The father of our child….wouldn't be bleeding out on the floor.

“By both of you. A rare gift I've given you. But you didn't want it.” Will isn't so definitive. “Didn't We?”

“You would deny me my life.”

“Not your life.”

“My freedom, then. You'd take that from me. Confine me to a basement cell. Do you believe you could change me the way I've changed you?”

“We already have.” Hannibal studies Will a moment, realizing he's right. “Fate and circumstance has returned us to the moment the teacup shatters. I forgive you, Will.” Hannibal stands next to a terrified Abigail who realizes she's made a bargain with the devil. Abigail lets go of me and goes to Hannibal. “Will you forgive me?” Hannibal is genuinely sad. Will has time for a single, shocked: “Don't…”

And Hannibal CUTS ABIGAIL'S THROAT in a single, sleek motion, right across the scar where her father once did the same. Abigail's face shows shock and horror. And then blood SPRAYS and Abigail crumples to the floor before Will. “No!” I attempt to get to her but Hannibal Grabs me by my waist. I Cry out like a mother would for her child. “No…no..” I cry.

Abigail clutches at her throat to stop the bleeding, but it pours from between her fingers. Will is horrified. “You can make it all go away.”

“Put your head back. Close your eyes. Wade into the quiet of the stream.”

Will drags himself to Abigail and takes his hands from his own terrible wound and places them against her throat. Trying to stem the flow of bleeding. A bloody Will pulls Abigail to him, lifting her head higher to try to stem the blood flow. His own wound TEARS and he SCREAMS in pain… And then it is too much and Will collapses backward to the floor. His own face is inches from Abigail's. She looks at him.

Hannibal Turns me to face him. I look broken. Tears falling. “Please…I'm pregnant…” Hannibal shushes me as he strokes my face. “I could never hurt you…..not now not ever….not even in the midst of this failed plan to capture me.” He strokes my belly gently and Kisses my forehead and my tear stained cheeks. “I’m sorry Y/N.”

We hold a look and then Hannibal disappears into the darkness, I scramble to Will. Cradling his head in my lap, I put pressure on his wound. “Its gonna be okay, you have to be okay”

HANNIBAL LECTER'S HOUSE - NIGHT-

SIRENS WAIL in the night, coming closer. ALANA BLOOM -- lies on the ground outside, breathing in shallow gasps, eyes staring upward. Hannibal, now in an overcoat and carrying a valise, STEPS OVER her and keeps walking. Alana's faint breath mists the air... the puffs coming slower and slower.

HANNIBAL LECTER'S HOUSE - PANTRY - NIGHT-

JACK CRAWFORD -- eyes struggling to stay open. Still. Slow, weak breaths. The phone RINGS one last time in his hand and then CLICKS. “Hello...? Jack...?” Jack's eyes flutter and close...

STREET - NIGHT-

Hannibal walks away with his valise as FLASHING LIGHTS and SIRENS invade the street behind him.

HANNIBAL LECTER'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - NIGHT-

ON ABIGAIL HOBBS -- gasping, her eyes reflecting – Fading. He sees the black stag, it now lies on the kitchen floor, breathing in great steaming gasps. Dying… His eyes fixed on the black stag as its breath slows and finally stops… Stinging pain brings him back to Y/N Crying as she struggles to somehow stop his bleeding. His Hand Resting on her belly, as one child dies and the other one grows.

[talesfrommedinastation]

Redneck Doug on ALL the other Clones in Star Wars!

As promised, for reaching a new number of followers, here's Doug's list when I asked him to name off all the clones in 'The Clone Wars' and 'The Bad Batch'!

Some are obviously repeats of other posts, and some are brand spanking new.

I'm using my autoethnography skills to their fullest extent, here, people.

This is LONG but hey! 7 seasons of The Clone Wars and 3 seasons of The Bad Batch means animated Star Wars in the Days of our Lives of animation.

If I'm missing someone, let me know! I'll reach out to Doug!

Enjoy, everyone!

CW: Redneck Doug just rambles needlessly about people.

And Clermont Lounge is one of the scariest and yet, most fun places in the ATL and I could 100% see one of the 501st working there.

-----------------------

Bly: That’s a boy, his name’s Miguel. Got his friends, they drink Pabst, shoot the empty cans behind the garage when they done, and hit on every woman that walks by. But Miguel’s got his eyes on Babe-the-Blue-Jedi and steals flowers from people’s yard and gives them to her. Babe-the-Blue-Jedi knows the man’s not that bright but his heart’s in the right place and that’s all that matters, right? 

Rex: That's Rex. He's a king. Respect him. 

Cody: That’s Obi-Wan’s Boyfriend, he’s sad all the time. We know why. (Confirmed that Doug is a Codywan shipper and I don’t know what to do about that)

Howzer: That’s my niece’s boyfriend, Jorge. We all love Jorge, nice guy, owns an auto repair shop and always remembers plates and napkins for the cookouts after church.

Gregor: Jorge’s cousin, Manny. Met him once at Christmas in Miami, nice guy, only drinks brown liquor and insists everyone arm wrestle him. But he’s got a good job as a PE teacher, we respect education, come on now. 

Hardcase: Wiggles. He laughs at everything and never wears a helmet both on his big head and his lil head and that explains everything about the man.

Kix: Nurse Mark. He's tired and sick of your shit, sick of the creeps trying to get the Fentanyl, that's a crime now, ain't it.

Echo: "Eh, Toaster Strudel. Homeboy looks like his daddy had an affair with a convection oven on shore leave and forgot to pay child support."

Mayday: Aw, I liked this guy so much! That’s Sassy Park Ranger, he’s the type that gives you your camping permits, warns you about the bears, and then is all disappointed when you don’t properly stow your food and the bears destroy the campsite. I need to go back to Little River Canyon, that place was pretty. 

Scorch: The Son of Robocop. His daddy told him to get off his lazy Robo-son ass and go get a job, so he works for the Empire now, because no one can get a job in Detroit. That’s why he’s a bad person. (Because he works for the Empire? “No, because he’s a Lions fan and that ain’t a good look for anyone.”)  

Fives: Alex-from-Manitoba. He reminds me so much of this awesome guy I knew, Alex, was from Winnipeg, we worked in oil together. Smart, knew his shit, loved guns and getting his hair did. No one listens to him, management hates him, and he gets fired. Man I was so pissed off when that happened with that damn alien that ran the ocean on the mall! He deserved better, damn it!

(Fives or Alex-from-Manitoba?

“BOTH!!!”)

99: 99!  

(You actually remember his name?  

“Hell yeah! He’s one of the most important characters! Why would I not?” 

::cue me, quietly staring at all the weird-ass names over texts and saying NOTHING in response::) 

Wolffe: Bernando. I dunno, man, he got that Bernardo energy. I’ve met three and they all looked like they wanna run off into the woods and come out when they got a deer they need to process and take a shower and find a lady before running back into the woods. Also Bernardo never has a girlfriend that lasts more than 6 months with him. Don’t know why. Just trust me. 

Gree: Carnie Joe. Man, he looks like the type of guy who drives an ice cream truck but there ain’t no Bomb Pops inside if you know what I mean. 

Cut Lawquane: Not-Wolverine. He ran away from the Empire, grew out his muttonchops, wanted to join the X-Men, Charles Xavier said ‘Nah son you need super powers for that’, and then Not-Wolverine stomped off into Tremors-land and started a pot-and-chicken farm like every other hillbilly in Kentucky. But he got a hot wife out of the deal and some nice kids and lots of guns, and ya know, that ain’t a bad ending for the man. 

Commander Fox: Red-Chief-of-Police. He’s absolutely on them Ticky-Tack videos my nieces and nephews watch where the cops are doing bad things but they ain’t gonna get fired over it. Man. It ain’t right. 

Tup: Alex’s-Friend-Matt. Aw, Matt, good guy, but too much brain damage after that time he fell off the roof while laying down tar. He grew out his ponytail to hide the dent in his head and talked funny afterwards, but he real good at roughneck work and I can’t fault the man, nope. 

Hevy: That’s Ross. He’s always mad because he’s insecure. He’s got a lot of Nerf guns and only eats stuff you can find at 7-11. 

Jesse: That’s Jesse, he’s a trucker, was a bouncer at Clermont Lounge in Atlanta, and has three ex-wives who all hate him. He shaves his head because his hair hates him too. 

Crosshair: So that there's Daddy Warcrimes. All you need to know is he lives on beer and Slim Jims, has more guns then Jesus got faith, and that he does your mom on the weekends, and then you thank him for his service.

Hunter: Aw man, we got Rambo up in this place. Daddy Rambo. He looks like he's got some hot wife with a huge butt who makes amazing biscuits, but he only showers on the weekends for reasons he won't tell you.

Wrecker: I know, I KNOW, he's got some cool Star Wars name, but in my head, he's Julio. He looks like a Julio, ya know? Every Julio's been the nicest guy with a truck and a million friends. I swear. I bet he's a contractor and lays pipe like you wouldn't believe. ::winks::

Tech: Hm, yeah, I know him. That's Ryan-from-Accounting, somebody's hipster dad. You know, everyone knows a Ryan who works in accounting, he's quiet, only drinks IPAs, and has a bitch wife named Laura who drives a Kia and is always yelling at him. Poor man. I hope Julio saves him from his bitch wife Laura.*

Omega: Little Orphan Blondie. I hope she gets real parents or something besides those freaky alien things running the mall on the ocean.

Emerie Karr: Stepsister-Beth. She’s got a stick up her rear, was in a sorority known for bitchy Daddy’s Girls who wouldn’t touch below the belt but are all about using other places for their date’s hoses to put out the fire, and only drinks almond milk lattes. She’s a bitch to waiters and drives a Prius. 

(“Doug I drive a Prius.”

“Yeah, but you ain’t a southern sorority girl so y’all forgiven.”)

Nemec and Fireball: Trigger and Nutsy. They’ve been in a survival militia in the Florida Everglades and that’s all you need to know. 

CX-2: The Guy from Tron. He’s a guy, and he was in the movie Tron. That’s it. 

[spinchip]

NEVER THE DARK

Chapter 15

Read on Ao3

Prologue - Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 10 - Chapter 11 - Chapter 12 - Chapter 13 - Chapter 14

warnings: Character death

I LOVE WHAT I DO NOT HAVE. YOU ARE SO FAR. // MY LOATHING WRESTLES WITH THE SLOW TWILIGHTS.

“She’s already seen you face, why does it matter if she knows your name?” Kai asis from where he’s still sprawled across the front of Miss Emma.

Birdy sits down heavily, his back to the group, “it does not matter." He says simply, but there’s a slump to his shoulders that telegraphs defeat. Hopelessness. Nya knows that this is bad. "All that matters is getting you to the Mountain of Madness.” 

Miss Emma floats on. Jay has stopped shocking her, collapsed on top of her bell tiredly as Kai keeps them moving. No one says anything. Over time, Miss Emma begins to droop again. When Jay gives her another shock, she just seems to lower herself quicker to the ground.

“She wants us off.” Nya realizes as the jelly's tentacles pool along the ground under them.

“We are a heavy burden for her to carry.” Birdy agrees.

They are passing over a forest- this one is a menagerie of blues, reds, and purples. The grass is a dark teal and white flowers and tall tubes protrude from the earth. Miss Emma drops low enough in a clearing that they can jump off without getting hurt and stops completely, waiting.

“Thank you.” Birdy says quietly to the animal. Kai pets her bell as a gesture of appreciation, and they all slide off her and onto the forest floor. The moment there are no more hitch-hikers on her bell, Miss Emma slowly drifts away, flying high enough to disappear into the clouds.

There's a long, tense moment as no one knows what to do next.

“We should keep moving.” Birdy says softly.

“She was telling us the truth, wasn’t she?” Kai asks bluntly.

Lloyd steps forward, “Kai-” He starts but Birdy cuts him off.

“What did she tell you?”

Kai locks eyes with Birdy and the air grows thick with tension.

It’s Jay who speaks next, “Barath told me you murdered Farley. He said that you were a warlord in your past life, and that you had committed crimes among the worst of all the people banished here.”

“Genocide.” Kai clarifies, “Destruction of land, culture, food. Untold numbers of death and destruction. Samira told me about how you’ve kept trophies of those you killed. Your mask, your knife… all belonging to the dead.”

Nya can’t help her own need to know the truth and she speaks up next, “Wox told me you were dangerous. That the respect these people have for you is based in fear and hatred.”

Cole hesitates, “And Ila said you walked into Oasis the day after you killed Farley covered in his blood.”

“All true.” Birdy doesn’t hesitate to confirm it. “You were right in the throne room, Kai. I am a monster.”

“Birdy-!” Lloyd whips around to face him, appalled, “No!”

Birdy squares his shoulders, “No, Lloyd. I must take accountability. I cannot run from this.'' He doesn’t break eye contact with Kai, “This is who I am, yes, but I have no ill will towards you all. Samira was right that I know how important you are to Ninjago too, and I will not allow my home realm to go unprotected and vulnerable without you. I belong here, in this place, but you do not. I will get you home, I swear it.'' His voice takes on an edge of desperate honesty.

They were still so far from the Mountain of Madness. If they left Birdy here and tried to find it on their own, it could be ages before they got out of here.

Lloyd looks from Birdy to the others, waiting. It hits Nya that Lloyd is waiting on them to weigh in- he wants to hear what they all have to say. It’s not like Lloyd never asks what they think on large decisions of this nature, but ever since they lost Zane Lloyd had taken the full weight of leadership and had refused to share it with the rest of the team. He was the one who made decisions. He was the one who was always alone in that choice. Maybe he was tired of being alone.

Nya doesn’t know what to think.

Cole steps forward first and Nya knows his opinion well enough that she can tune him out, “I still trust him.” But when he speaks, she looks at Cole and really listens, taking in everything he says, “He wasn’t working with Samira. He wasn’t in cahoots with Maurice. Everything he’s done has been solely for us, at the detriment of himself.” He locks eyes with Birdy, “Maybe he did some bad things… some really bad things… but he’s trying to help us. It’s all he’s been trying to do. I don’t think he’s going to lead us astray. I still want him to guide us.”

There’s a pause after Cole finishes, “Cole is right.” Nya says aloud, finding the truth in her words. Everything Cole said made sense. Birdy had been on their side from day one- “He stopped Maurice before he even knew we were the elemental masters. He had no reason to do that, but he did.”

“You can’t be serious!” Jay gapes, “Didn’t you hear him? Confirmed murderer! Evil bad guy here!! How can you just take his side?”

“I’m not on anybody's side but ours,” Nya fires back immediately, “I may not be thrilled about putting my faith in a- former- dicator, but I want what’s best for us, and getting back to Ninjago as quickly as possible is exactly that.”

Jay looks down at that, thinking.

“I can’t follow him.” Kai says sourly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Lloyd finally speaks up, “What Birdy did in the past-” He looks back at Birdy and pauses, face twisting as he hesitates on what to say next, “It wasn’t as black and white as it seems.” He settles on finally, “I trust him.”

There’s a heavy, tense silence. Lloyd meets Kai eyes, his expression imploring him to see sense.

“I don’t trust him.” Kai reiterates firmly. He closes his eyes with a grimace, “...But I do trust you. If you think this is the right call… then I do too.” he bites out begrudgingly.

“Fine.” Jay echoes, crossing his arms, “Let's go then.”

Birdy takes a moment to look around and get his bearings before he starts to walk, the others falling in line behind him. It's... awkward. He doesn’t speak much, only opening his mouth to warn them of obstacles, “Avoid the flowers,” He says, pointing to one of the numerous white flowers dotting the ground, “They tunnel into the ground. It is like stepping in a hole.”

Jay immediately steps in one and face plants, but he’s fine.

Nya start to notice that the plants they’re trekking through for this leg of the journey are strange, even for the Realm of Madness. Everything is coated in a thick waxy film and all of it is shaped like funnels or cups. Tall purple speckled plants with tube protrusions, green vase-like plants that grow as tall as her waist, huge pink and purple trees with tops like a sea anemone- and the plants she noticed that aren’t cup shaped have a sponge-like texture. Everything here is geared towards catching rain.

She looks inside one of the purple plant tubes and sees a small puddle at the very bottom, feeding into the stem. Raising her hand, she shoves at the liquid- but it doesn’t move.

“Birdy, what’s up with the water here?” She asks, pulling her hand away.

“It’s not water.” He answers stiffly, but she doesn’t think the discomfort is because of her. She’d noticed how still he’d seemed as they traveled deeper into the forest. There was something about this place that rattled him, “It’s acid.”

“ACID?” Jay squawks.

“It rains acid here,” Birdy says apologetically, “But we should be safe. It is the dry season.”

“I thought you said nothing was guaranteed in this place?”

“We need to move quickly.” He says bluntly.

As they hurry through the forest, Nya keeps an eye out for any potential dangers. That snake spider in the white forest had snuck up on them. She wasn’t keen on being surprised again. Because she’s looking towards the trees, she doesn’t notice everyone’s come to a stop until she runs into Cole.

“Oof-” She stumbles back, “Sorry- what happened? Why are we stopping?”

“I apologize.” Birdy says, emotionally flat where he’s standing in front of a large purple tree, “I was simply making sure we were on the right track.” When he starts moving again, he takes a wide step over something. As the others begin to move, Nya sees that the thing Birdy had stopped at and stepped over was a oblong dark spot on the grass. She’d seen a few of them before, scattered around the forest. She steps over it too but doesn’t ask about it. Birdy's voice had taken on that tone that comes when he’s not feeling like himself.

She blinks, surprised at herself for knowing that.

“If you don’t know where you’re going, then we should stop and take a break.” Kai says, pausing in the middle of that clearing underneath the tree's arching canopy, “We can keep going once you’ve got your head on straight.” he crosses his arms, planting himself firmly.

Birdy shakes his head, “I remember the way now. We should cover as much ground as possible today.” he says, voice toneless and disconnected. His body language is empty too, his shoulder slumped and his hands loose around his staff.

“I mean… we haven't had lunch.” Cole points out with a wry smile, “A quick snack break couldn’t hurt.”

“Do we have food? Or will we need to forage.” Nya asks.

“We have food. Cole hooked us up.” Jay says, slinging his backpack off and opening the top.

“I got Ila to make us some stuff for the road after… our talk.” He frowns, rubbing his chin, “I’m kinda surprised she did, actually… considering how they were plotting against us.”

“The food is safe. Ila is different from Samira.” He reassures them. There’s a thick pause. He hasn’t moved from the edge of the clearing, “We shouldn’t stop here.”

“Why? It’s the dry season, isn’t it?” Kai responds dryly, waving away a sandwich Jay offers him.

There’s a pause before Birdy stiffly sits down. “Alright.” He says blankly before he crosses his legs and gets into a classic meditation pose.

“You like to meditate?” Lloyd tilts his head.

“Sometimes.” Birdy doesn’t offer any additional information, and the group goes quiet as they eat and rest.

“So what’s the game plan when we get home? I mean, we don’t know anything about... Anything.” Nya turns to Lloyd.

He pauses mid-bite and frowns, “Well… we need to meet with Pix first and foremost. There’s no way she hasn’t been gathering intel in the time we’ve been gone. Mom might know something about that gauntlet and who might have gone after it, so we could go to the dig she’s on and ask her.”

“If we do that we gotta stop at home so I can get my gameboy.” Jay says immediately, “Do you know how long it’s been since I haven't played video games? I’m going through serious withdrawal here!”

Kai shoots him a withering stare that Jay is completely oblivious to.

“Well, as long as you don’t go pretending a piece of wood is a gameboy, then I’m not too worried about you.” Cole comments wryly.

“Oh, don’t tempt me. I have a whimsical imagination.”

“You like to play video games?” Birdy asks quietly.

“Yeah! There’s this game called Prime Empire, that’s the one I’m really into right now.”

“We were all really into it when it first came out.” Lloyd snickers, alluding to an inside joke Birdy’s not a part of.

“We were sucked into the game.” Cole explains even though Birdy hadn’t mentioned his confusion, “Jay saved us. It was a whole thing.”

“...You have had a lot of adventures.” there’s a pause as Birdy tries to think of what to say, “I would like to hear more about them.”

Lloyd hums, “Well, other than a few small fight here and there, and the current situation we’re in, the last big ordeal we had to take care of was The Mechanic and Fugi-doves team up.”

“The Mechanic cyborg-ed him.”

“Badly.” Nya adds darkly, “I could have done so much better.”

"Don't get any ideas." Cole ribs, nudging her playfully with his elbow.

Jay nods, “Yeah, he botched it up pretty bad. Fugi used to be a nothing villain, like, petty things. Now that he’s all…” Jay waves his hands in the approximation of gears turning, “Scary looking, he’s got actual minions.”

“I turned into the ocean.” Nya informs him, “But I got better.”

“Before that was Shintaro. We were invited by the princess for her birthday.” Lloyd continues.

“Queen Vania now. She’s cool, I think you’d like her.” Cole smiles.

“Her dad, the king, ended up being this evil warlock. His best friend was a floating skull.”

“Interesting…”

“I think you’d like him more than Vania,” Kai mutters, “Birds of a feather flock together.”

Lloyd graciously doesn’t acknowledge Kai, “Prime empire was before that, and then there was…” He stops. The air grows thick. “Let’s not talk about that one.” He murmurs.

“...What kind of game is it?”

Jay perks up, “Let me just tell you the story!” He launches immediately into an animated recap. The others interject every now and again to add their perspective and to correct Jays embellishments. “-And that’s how I lost my eye!” He says, pointing at the patch. Cole takes over after that, talking about princess Vania and the caves beneath Shintaro. The conversation devolves into one long timeline of their most recent life-or-death situations that Birdy listens to intently. He stops them with the occasional question, but otherwise is quiet while they recount it all.

So it’s a surprise when he interrupts Nya’s explanation of the Mechanics plot by leaping to his feet and taking a confrontational step towards Kai, “What are you doing with that?” He demands.

Kai jumps, surprised. He’d been leaning against the tree mindlessly checking his pockets for something to fiddle with- he looks down and realizes he’d fished out the painkiller Samira had given him and was rolling it between his fingers absently. “I’m playing with it.” He says with a raised eyebrow.

“That is not a toy.” Birdy bites out. Maybe he wouldn’t be so aggressive in any other environment, but this place put him on edge in the worst kind of way.

“I know that.” Kai shoots back sharply, standing to his full height, “What’s your problem?”

“Give it to me.” Birdy orders, holding his hand out, “I am not going to watch anyone else die here.”

“It’s not poison!” He clenches the pill in his fist, “It’s a painkiller for FSM’s sake.”

“It is engineered to be horribly addictive.” Birdy stresses, stepping up to Kai, “The withdrawals for that could kill you-”

“I've been managing my alcohol withdrawal just fine, thanks, I'm sure this wouldn't be any worse.” He snaps, shoving the pill back in his pocket.

Birdy jerks as if struck, “You are so dependent on alcohol you would die from it?”

“Stop talking to me.” Kai turns his back on him bitterly.

The air is fraught with tension, the energy pulled so taut it was only a matter of time before something snapped.

Birdy opens his mouth, “Do you think your friend sacrificed his life so you could ruin yours?”

CRACK-!

It all happens so fast Nya can barely keep up. Kai’s fist connects with Birdy's mask so hard he goes sprawling in the dirt. He stumbles back, slamming into a tree and slumping down at the base of it. He’s got one hand holding his mask in place reflexively, looking up at Kai in shock.

“You-” He snarls, body a pillar of fire as he towers over Birdy, “You do not get to speak about him! You are not even a fraction of the man he was! He may have been a robot, but he was more human than you will ever be!”

Cole gets in front of Kai and pushes him back. He keeps his hands on Kai’s chest to stop him from advancing on Birdy again, “Kai, stop!”

From his place on the ground, Birdy reaches a hand under his mask to wipe at his face. His fingers come back stained dark with blood, nearly black in the strange lighting of the realm. He looks up at Kai and his hand tightens around his staff dangerously.

“What are you going to do? Are you going to hurt me?” Kai spits, leaning to glare at him over Cole's frame, “Just like you hurt Farley? Fine then, go ahead! I can take you!”

Birdy looks down at his hand like it’s not attached to him. He throws the staff on the ground as if it’s burned him and shakes his head hard to clear his vision. He hasn’t said a word, mute in shock. He stumbles to his feet but he has to use a tree to catch himself, leaning on it to keep his feet under himself.

“I’m the master of fire! You don’t scare me!”

Birdy is shaking all over, hand trembling where he has it pressed against the strange tree. His chest is rising and falling rapidly and he has all his focus on Kai.

He turns and vanishes into the woods.

“Birdy!” Lloyd takes a step after him but aborts the mission, whipping around to Kai, “You two stay here with Kai and maybe knock some sense into him.” He points at Cole and Jay before turning to Nya, “Nya, come with me.” She has to scramble to keep up as Lloyd darts after Birdy, but it’s not long before Lloyd stutters to a stop.

He lets out a low growl in frustration, “I don’t know where he went.” He scrubs at his face roughly.

She places a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, “Just take a deep breath, Lloyd.”

“Everything fell apart so quickly.”

“I know.” She swallows roughly and looks away. She doesn’t have the words to make this okay. If they can’t find Birdy, if they can’t convince him to come back… they’ll be lost in the middle of nowhere in a realm that wants so so badly to kill them. Her eyes flick over the ground right to a footprint is half hidden by the leaves of a bright red shrub.

“Look!” She points to it, hoping a solid lead will cheer Lloyd up, “He went this way!”

They cautiously start to track Birdy, being extra careful not to miss any indicators where he ran off to. Finally, they come upon another small clearing. Another large, alien looking tree stretches up above them, the trunk of the tree is a deep blue and there are several bulbs along it where the wood splits to reveal huge chunks of a pale blue spongey growth. On the other side of the tree, Birdy’s foot sticks out from where he’s sitting in the dirt under the shade.

“Birdy!”

And right next to his foot is his mask.

Lloyd stops in his tracks the moment he sees it. “Are you okay?” He asks, staying out of sight of Birdy's face.

A gloves hand reaches out and takes the mask, slipping it on with his body still mostly hidden, “I am alright.” He stands up then and comes around the tree to face them, face once again firmly hidden. He’s holding a water bottle in one hand, using it to rinse the stain off his gloves. Well, he’s trying to.

“Here,” Nya says, stepping forward, “Let me.”

She swirls water around his hands and uses it to sweep the dark blood off the fabric. While she works, Birdy speaks, “I apologize if I worried you. I was always intending to return, I just needed a moment to… attend to my injuries.” He finishes awkwardly. “I was not going to leave you stranded.”

“Birdy, I didn’t come after you because you’re our guide.” Lloyd says, “I came because I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Speak for yourself, Nya thinks. Well, that’s not entirely fair- she did think that Birdy wasn’t the villain he made himself out to be, and she trusted him to a degree. She wouldn't call them friends, but she didn't want to see him hurt either. Maybe her decision to follow Lloyd was almost entirely based on selfish reasons, but she had also been alarmed by Kai’s punch, worried about the brutality of how the hit had landed. Kai could knock out an opponent's teeth with a weak swing- there was a lot of damage to be done with a sucker punch like that.

“He isn’t like that, really.” She finds herself saying quietly as she draws out the last of the blood in Birdy's gloves, “He didn’t used to be, at least. He was more levelheaded than me before… Before we lost Zane.”

Birdy stays quiet.

Nya keeps going, “He took it the hardest out of us all, I think. He feels a lot of guilt. He lost his elemental abilities right before it happened, y’know? So I think he blames himself.” she moves water over his gloves absently. The blood is gone, but she can’t look up to meet his eyes, “And yeah, Zane was special to all of us, but he did something else for Kai. Kept him balanced, maybe. He got lost after Zane died. He trained until he collapsed, he spent hours patrolling the city, he kept busy because then he could dull the pain. And when he had to stop moving, he drank.”

“Grief does funny things to us all.” Lloyd says softly.

“You’re right. Zane wouldn’t have wanted this for him, and Kai knows that, but you were wrong to speak on his behalf. He’s gone, and none of us want to hear a stranger put words in his mouth.” She lets the water drop, splashing to the ground.

A long moment passes quietly, “I apologize. It was not my intention to disrespect your friend.” It’s his turn to drop his gaze to the ground.

“C’mon,” Lloyd says softly, “I think the others will want to hear that too.”

When they get back to the others, the air is tense. Kai is leaning against a tree attempting to wrap a bandage around his bloody knuckles. Jay is hovering at his elbow and Cole is standing off to the side, not looking at either of them.

Kai notices them first, but cuts his eyes away and pointedly ignores the trio rejoining their group.

“It was wrong of me to bring up your friend.” Birdy says before stepping any closer, “I reacted so strongly because I was afraid for you, Kai. Those pills are designed for control. Samira supplies the people of this realm and then twists their addiction against them.”

“I don’t need your worry.” Kai says, but it’s lost some of the bite it had before.

Hesitantly, Birdy approaches Kai. Slowly, with enough time for Kai to draw away, and with more than a bit of caution to stay out of easy access of another swing, Birdy cups Kai’s injured palm. He takes the bandages next, moving to wrap his hand, “There is not a switch I can flip to turn it off.” Birdy says wryly, carefully winding the gauze around Kai’s hand, “I am sorry for what I said.”

Kai just stares at him.

“...You may not trust me, but I trust you.” He continues, finishing up dressing his knuckles, “I believe you would have made the correct choice.”

Something shifts in Kai. his features soften and he pulls his hand away gently- his guard is still up, but there’s a change in his heart, “Y’know, you’ve got a hell of an iron jaw.” he tries for a joke, but it falls flat. Then, “Why are you doing all this? After everything you’ve done, why have a change of heart now?” He asks, search for an understanding. He didn't get Birdy. Maybe that was part of his aggression- he didn't understand how a warlord like him could just... suddenly decide to be a good person. There had to be a catch.

Birdy looks away, ruminating over his thoughts and looking for the best way to put it all into words, “I am trying to make up for the pain I have caused. I regret the things I have done. I wish I had never stepped foot in that throne room- I have been stuck in the dark ever since, plagued by the mistakes of my past... but I have a choice, now. Even in the darkness, I can choose to reflect the light.”

Kai freezes, looking at Birdy with wide eyes. He opens his mouth, but there’s a crash through the underbrush that interrupts him.

A massive two-legged beast blasts into the clearing with a series of loud clicks, hissing at the group gathered there. On top of the animal, on a makeshift saddle with a pair of leather reins in her hand- is Morrigan.

“I found you~!” She sing-songs.

Her steed shakes its head hard, obviously agitated by the bit shoved in its beak. It’s a massive thing with a set of wings to match, and it’s body was a patchwork of soft brown feathers and iridescent scales. Large slits flutter around the base of its throat as it breathes in, scenting the air. It’s feet are distinctly bird-like, with claws like a raptor and rough textured skin. It isn't happy about its predicament as a faithful show pony, flicking it’s head and flapping its wings in rage.

“You disrespected me, lover! I told you- either you gave me those flowers or something very bad was going to happen.” She flips her brown hair over her shoulder with a flourish, grinning down at the group with shark teeth, “I’ve come to collect, darling.”

“We don’t have the flowers any more!” Lloyd argues.

“Oh, I know that, little boy.” She giggles, “I’m here to do something very bad!”

With that, she shoves her finger out towards them and commands the vulture-bat beneath her, “Sick ‘em, boy!”

With that, the beast roars- and its small beak splits in half, its face opening up in four pieces to reveal a garbage disposal of razor sharp, serrated teeth stained with old blood. Its dark purple tongue flicks out before it crashes forward with the intent to kill. Despite its massive size, the thing is fast. It is upon them before they can think, and it’s only the speed of a ninja that saves their bones from snapping in those jaws.

“What is that?” Jay squawks in unison with the bird, who charges at him.

“A vulture-bat!” Birdy says as he leaps for his staff, fear bleeding into his voice, “Keep your eyes on it! It is quicker than you think!”

“Ew.” Nya says with a nervous laugh, mostly to herself. The bird is horrifying in it’s awkwardness- it’s bones seem too big for it’s body, the tautness of it’s skin revealing the spaces between feathers and scales. Little peeks of pink flesh that’s stretched so thin the blood vessels underneath are clearly visible. It moves unnaturally too, it’s body too long for it’s legs. Every other step it’s chest slams to the ground and bounces back up like he’s compensating for a missing limb. When it roars, foul smelling spittle flies everywhere.

Then she sees it. A long, thin appendage coming out from it’s tail feathers.

It whips it’s body around and her only warning is the high pitched whistle that comes from a deadly strike. She ducks, and the tree behind her explodes.

It’s like razor-wire, thin enough to decapitate any animal that comes it’s way, yet sturdy enough to nearly halve the trunk without even the hint of structural weakness.

Morrigan pulls on its reins so she can look at her targets, “Y’know why I haven’t killed anyone, Birdy? Because everyone does as they are told and gives me what I want.” There’s a manic shine in her eye, “Now you’ll see what happens when you disobey.”

She pulls out a knife and stabs the vulture-bat in it’s haunches. It roars in rage and shakes itself hard, trying to dislodge her, and when that doesn’t work it dives forward with the intent on killing anything around it. It’s pain needed to go somewhere.

Cole brings up a wall of earth high enough to trip the beast and it crashes to the ground, it’s claws scrabble for a moment and it’s back on it’s feet in almost no time. Kai throws a ball of fire in an attempt to scare it, but the singed feathers only seem to enrage it further. It’s mostly a game of cat and mouse with the ninja just barely dodging teeth and claws and a razor tail.

Nya knows they can’t dodge forever.

Birdy dives under the razor-wire that nearly takes his head before he pops up at the beasts underbelly. He’s almost trampled before he managed to grab hold of a patch of feathers and haul himself up onto the animals back. He’d only done all of that to get out of harms way, but now that he was nearly face to face with Morrigan, he had no idea what to do. He brandishes his staff anyway, trying to find his footing on the rampaging beast.

Morrigan stands up, hands still wound up in the reins to keep her balance and she brandishes her sword, “You think you're the only one with a thirst for blood, don't you? You think you're the only one with the guts to slaughter someone!” She snarls with a sadistic smile, “You have no idea what I'm capable of when I don't get my way.” She yanks the reins to one side and the animal veers sharply, whole body tipping and turning. Birdy crashes sideways off his feet and is nearly flung from the beasts back before he can catch it’s tail feathers in one hand.

Nya flicks her wrist and calls a ball of water to her. She throws it as hard as she can, watching it soar through the air and slap into Morrigan. What’s most important is how the water drowns the leather and the scales on the monsters back.

The beast turns toward Nya sharply at the attack, and Morrigan can’t keep her footing on the slick saddle.

One foot slips from under her and she can't catch herself. She tumbles down the beasts shoulder, but before she can hit the ground her body yanks to a painful stop. The reins are still wrapped around her wrist, leaving her dangling at the monsters chest. The bird slams sideways into a tree because of how hard Morrigan yanks on the reins in her fall, narrowly avoiding bashing her to paste. There’s genuine panic on her face as she swings her sword up, trying to slice through the reins so she can survive this encounter.

Birdy crawls up the bird to it’s neck. He nearly throws himself off it when he lunges for Morrigan, holding his hand out for her to take, “Let me help you!” He shouts, voice nearly lost among the vulture-bats cries.

She would have to drop her sword. She looks at him for a long moment before her face twists in hatred. With a mighty heave, she swings the sword at Birdy, aiming for a killing blow. He yanks his hand back and she misses, the sword cutting into the vulture-bat’s shoulder.

It rears back in pain and Birdy goes flying off, rolling to a stop in the dirt.

Morrigan is thrown backward and shaken around as the vulture-bat reacts to the sharp sting. It spots her as she’s thrown to the side, it’s large black eye focusing on her. It understands immediately. With a sharp turn, It whips its head around so she goes flying in a wide arc- right in front of its mouth.

It’s face splits in four. It lunges forward.

The crunch of shattering bones makes Nya feel sick. Blood splatters across the clearing as the bird shakes its head like a dog with a toy, other… debris raining down from its jowls. She didn’t even have time to scream. That must have been a mercy.

The blood pooling on the ground seems to be eagerly absorbed by the ground, leaving swathes of darker spots on the grass.

Nya can see its throat spasm as it swallows what's left of her.

Everything is quiet. The beast’s gills flutter again.

Birdy grabs her arm, snapping out of her trance. “Go!” He orders urgently and quietly.

She turns and runs. She can see Jay ahead of her, and she focuses on not losing him and nothing else. She doesn’t flinch when the vulture-bat roars behind her, and she doesn’t stumble when the earth shakes as it chases after them.

“It’s gaming on us!” Lloyd shouts from somewhere behind her.

“We have to fight!” Cole confirms.

They break out of the forest into muddy earth, the thickness of it sucking at Nya's feet as she tries to run. There are no trees out here in the wastelands- well, no trees big enough to hide behind. The spindly little black plants will do nothing for them now.

She turns around right as the bird explodes from the forest, a looming monster taking up all her vision. Her heart leaps up to her throat. It doesn’t hesitate, covering the land in three long strides before it’s upon them again.

Cole tries to use earth, but the mud is too soft to even slow the beast down. Jay flings lightning but the bird is fast, dodging that and Kai’s fireballs alike. Lloyd hits it heavily on the side with a ball of green energy, and the beast roars in rage as it turns on him. There’s more fighting- fighting is too generous for what they’re doing. Surviving, maybe. Just barely. It’s so angry that any real damage to it just pisses it off even more, too much adrenaline in it’s system to feel any of it.

It bites dangerously close to Cole, whipping it’s long tail back with deadly intent-

SNAP

The tail slams into Birdy's side- hard. It’s enough force to throw him back until he’s tumbling in the mud, coming to a stop on his back.

Black blood streaks across the wet earth.

His whole left side is torn open.

Nya is moving before she can think, “Keep it distracted!” She orders, flying across the mud. She slams down on her knees at Birdy's side, trying to assess the damage- did they pack enough bandages? How bad is it that he most definitely got realm of madness mud all inside his wound?

He has a hand pressed against his side. His glove is soaked through with blood. He makes no attempt to move, “Nya.” he says quietly.

“You’re gonna be fine.” She reassures him immediately, “Just lay still.” She tries to pry his hand away from his side, but he won’t move it.

“Nya, it is too late.” His voice is resigned. She feels like his voice is always resigned, always ready to die, “I need you to listen to me. Please.”

She shakes her head, “Just move your hand. I have medical training, I can help you.”

He acts as if he didn’t even hear her, “You have to go north-east from here. Towards where the sun rises- if you see a tree split in half by a lightning strike, you are going in the right direction.”

“Birdy, move your hand! You’re going to bleed out if you don’t let me stop the flow!”

“Keep walking past that split tree. You’ll see four big mountains in front of you-”

“What are you talking about?” She snaps, stressed and desperate.

“I’m telling you how to get to the mountain of madness.” He says soberly.

She looks at him in disbelief, “Take us there yourself!” She snaps. She pulls on his hand and he lets her, too weak to fight her anymore.

Underneath his torn blue tunic, past the dingy white robes underneath, is glimmering silver skin and a tangled mess of torn wires and gutted tubing. Nya’s brain stalls.

“Nya.” She jerks as if she’s been struck. Everything else vanishes to background noise. That’s not Birdy's voice. It’s softer, higher-pitched. It’s the sound of snowfall and red tailed hawks and fresh baked cookies. It’s the sound of home.

She slowly looks up at him, at that stupid stupid mask. Her eyes are blurry with tears.

“Zane?”

“Watch out!” Jay screams, the sound of the fight behind them blaring reality back into her ears.

She turns around and the beast is upon them. She’s too rattled to think straight-

Zane bursts forward spilling oil and transmission fluid all over the mud. He shoves Nya back, behind himself as he pushes his hand forward in a desperate attempt to change the way this fight ends. A giant pillar of ice shoots out of the mud in front of him and brutally slams into the Vulture-bats chest. Ice spreads at the point of contact, frost swirling up its skin in painful cracks. The beast squawks in startled pain, jerking away from the two before it finally decides the fight isn’t worth it. It flaps it’s massive wings in a panic, scrambling away from the ice and taking flight. It flys like a bat out of hell, it’s ground speed nothing compared to how quickly it takes off towards the horizon.

Zane's knees buckle, and he crashes into the mud and doesn’t move again.

[neverniko101]

(For Horror!Dreamtale thingy!) Back yet again with another Askkk, okay so saw the recent one with Ink being 'ded'. Was he actually knocked out cold, or dead-dead but revived lol

Heya folks! I’ve downscaled Horror Dreamtale to just be a normal ask blog instead of the chapters so I do t get burnout. But yes! Send asks!

Extra info under the cut.

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Masterpost

Next

Previous

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Firefly (HDT!Dream):

- Acts as a vigilante of sorts, working to fight local crime and cult activity

- He and Frostbite had a…disagreement…and haven’t spoken in years. Firefly misses his brother, but doesn’t want to head into the woods for fear of being chomped by the purple beasts

Frostbite (HDT!NM):

- Lives in the woods, defending the tree

- Hunts the purple beasts and eats their magic, bringing the bodies back to Muffet

- Cranky >:(

- tries not to eat people

Lumi:

- Proud, a bit of a jerk

- Glows in the dark

- Very obviously plotting to overthrow the kingdom, but he’s so harmless that no one takes him seriously

Papyrus:

- he

- he’s Papyrus

- what more do you want me to say

- Idolizes Undyne and Lumi

- Born from the roots of the Tree

Kin:

- Necromancer

- just a nice little fellow

- Accidentally summoned this angry little demon and now it won’t leave

Nik:

- Angry little demon

- it won’t leave

Alphys:

- Has a crush on the local captain of the Royal Guard

- Definitely doesn’t sneak out to see her

- Expert on magic

- Accidentally started a cult

Muffet:

- Lives in the woods near the tree

- Sews bodies from animal parts and other materials and injects them with modified magic from the tree

- Attempting to make a beast capable of destroying the city since nobody would buy her doughnuts >:(

- Made a deal with Frostbite- Muffet would attempt to make a replacement positivity guardian to restore the balance (since Firefly left) and Frostbite would hunt down her failed creations and bring the materials back to her

Doc:

- he is a doctor

- precious boy

- Scared of snakes

Undyne:

- Scarred by a recent beast attack

- Determined to find the source of the attacks to protect the townsfolk

Flax:

- Thief

- Failed experiment of Muffet that escaped the forest

- Trying to find where he came from and what she should do with her life

Toriel:

- Passive aggressively bugs people to join her flower cult

- Bakes pies with flowers in them

- Everything is fine :)

The Reborn (Asriel):

- He’s Flowey

- Flowey the Flower

Asgore:

- Sad divorced man

- Trying to stop the beast attacks

The Leech:

- Dying human that drinks the sap of the Tree to survive

Mettaton:

- he is Mettaton

- He runs a circus

- 👍

[hitomisuzuya]

Heizou x fem! reader. Smut. Bondage. Use of handcuffs. Orgasm denial.

This for my beloved, treasured, dearest @kichikichiko ❤️❤️ you are amazing omg

One of Heizou's favorite places to fuck you was in his office after hours, especially after he finished a successful case.

Your fingernails were digging into the wood of his desk as thrust inside of you. You moaned, pushing your hips back to meet his thrusts. You were acting with urgency tonight.

Why?

Because Heizou was being a little shit.

Right as your orgasm was about to wash over you, he laughed softly and pulled out of you, leaving you breathless and panting. "Again?! Why, Heizou?! Why?!" You cried out, practically crying from being denied four times in a row.

Heizou rolled you onto your back on his desk, rubbing his cock between your legs teasingly, making your body twitch in agony. "This is hard on me to, darling, trust me. But your walls are clamping around my cock so well, you can't blame for wanting to enjoy that as much as I can, do you?" He kissed you gently, biting your lower lip.

When positioned himself to thrust back inside of you, you pushed him off of you. "Ugh, just get off of me, Heizou, I have had enough," you snapped, brushing away a few tears.

Heizou thought you were joking. The grin fell from his face when you started to put your clothes on, refusing to even look at him. "I know you get excited and can't help yourself, you are a man after all. And I love you, but you can be so mean sometimes."

Heizou was genuinely freaked out now. You'd never reacted like this before. "Look y/n, I'm sorry..." He stuttered. He didn't think he had ever felt so helpless in his thought process before. Something he always prided himself in.

It gave him his abilities to be a detective.

But more importantly, it gave him to the ability to woo and please you.

Getting up, Heizou put on his pants and followed you to the door.

You cut him off before he could say anything.

You see, you needed extra shock factor.

To disarm him.

What he didn't see was you grabbing his handcuffs off the hook next to the door. "Save it, Heizou. Come find me later when you are ready to grow up."

You started to open the door. Heizou pushed it closed. "Please, let me make it up to you," he scrambled with what to say again.

"Oh? And how to you plan to do that?" You raised an eyebrow at him, sidestepping around him without showing him the handcuffs hidden in your hand.

"Tell me what to do. Your wish is my command," Heizou said. He was ready for anything. Flowers? Dinner? Dancing? A new stuffed animal? Anything you wanted, you would get it.

"Heizou, you are under arrest," you declared, handcuffing his hands behind his back.

Heizou had to give you credit. You'd been so smooth and a brilliant actor. He didn't even notice you steal his handcuffs. "..You little minx," he chuckled, "And what are the charges? I have the right to defend myself in a court of law."

"Actually you don't," you replied, backing him up against his desk. "Orgasm denial is a serious crime, Heizou. One that has immediate and severe punishment."

You got down on your knees, and took his already hard cock out of his pants. You teased your tongue against the tip, looking up at Heizou, your eyes swirling with desire.

Heizou groaned, stroking your hair. "You know I always love it when you do that. This doesn't seem like a punishment at all."

You continued to flick your tongue along his cock, kneading the tip into his more sensitive areas. You hit every single one with total accuracy, making his cock twitch on your tongue.

"Fuck..I'm going to cum," Heizou moaned, trying to thrust into your mouth.

You pulled away, making Heizou whine, cursing under his breath. "I thought we were making up.."

"No, we aren't. I will tease you like this all night until you fuck me properly. Don't underestimate me, Heizou. I want to fuck you, I do. But you need to be put in your place. Now what's it going to be? You are in my custody and at my mercy. Weigh your options carefully," you said, rolling the head of his cock between your fingers, making him moan.

"You would leave here handcuffed all night, wouldn't you?" Heizou was desperate right now. All he could think about was how much he needed you.

"Well?"

Heizou could do nothing, his hands aching to touch you as you stripped in front of him. "What are your demands?"

"That I ride you to my heart's content. The handcuffs stay on, of course. You need to learn your lesson, so no touching from you," you rubbed up against him, making sure his cock barely grazed your cunt.

"You are evil, but I deserve it," Heizou quivered with anticipation as he maneuvered himself awkwardly to sit on his desk. He squirmed as your sank his cock inside of you, wrapping your arms around him.

He nearly passed out from the intensity of his orgasm. Maybe orgasm denial would become a more consistent thing if it meant he would be punished like this.

[vuulpecula]

@rickgrimesdoingrickthings cont.

"I've brought this as an offering...hoping you would hear out my request." ... He had learned the art of sword, had a strong moral code, was chosen to be part of the patrol of the small burgo- however one night, he wasn't enough. A group of bandits attacked, desiring nothing more than a cross of gold the baron owned. He should have hired more soldiers, suspecting the marauders could come. The men killed the weaker guards- Rick alone had no chance- the marauder leader even allowed Richard the chance to just...leave, no one else had to get hurt. But his stupid honor...made him fight. Not only he was severely beaten by the gang, he was humiliated. They stole the cross from the vault, dragged Rick along until they found his house, stomped the door open, humiliated him in front of his wife, slashed his face with a blade under his eye, leaving a scar, a mark of shame and defeat- and to send the baron a message, they cut Rick's arm off with an axe, then burned the wound- up to half his forearm. The small village heard all the screams, but did nothing, in fear. Once Rick recovered, he was expelled from the city. His wife didn't want him anymore, saying he wouldn't be able to work and provide, saying he was stained her name, that he was a shame. The nobles there wanted him to go- they were afraid- wanted to forget what happened- to many, he wasn't even a man anymore. 'Better leave before you make debt here and becomes a slave.' An old couple said, giving Rick some bread and a short cloak so he would protect himself from the cold. 'Good luck my son.' Both were sad, but he had to go. After walking for days, taking breaks, surviving in the wild, he found a village' it had walls. A new place. He asked for information, they said it was up to their leader accept him or not. Their culture seemed different...less...arrogant. He had nothing though, not even his right hand or a sword to fight. His clothes were beaten, cotton and leather getting worn out. Rick walked to the sunflower fields he had passed by and collected some flowers- that was all he had to offer. No strength to walk farther, no money of food- not even a decent body to offer, missing half an arm and face marked, maybe the scar would soften with time and fade, but his hand wouldn't heal back. Intrigued by the sadness and determination in his eyes, the gatekeeper let Rick in. Once he had the chance to talk to the leader, he lowered his head, cloak hiding his amputation, it still brought him shame and bad memories. "I've brought this as an offering...hoping you would hear out my request." He took a deep breath. "Any work...I'll do. I know many things, I can be useful. I will be. Please. Let me stay." On the road he wouldn't last much longer- unarmed and tired, bandits probably would kill and violate him for fun, or maybe some animals would hurt him. He was hungry and thirsty and dirty, on his knees, which were so heavy and hurting. He was slowly setting, like the sun. Maybe he would faint right there. He was asking for help. Begging. He needed.

It was not wholly unusual to see types like him wandering throughout the woods surrounding the village. Lost souls, banished for whatever reason. Was it better, to let them wander instead of rot away in a cell, forgotten? They had commit no crime, or crime worthy of a sentencing, but still, they were shunned from their communities. More than once, her walls had been a half-way home of sorts for these travelers. Some stayed, some left, she always gave them the choice. Crimes were dealt with swiftly, but accidents, mistakes, those were never good enough reasons to her.

Dressed much like a man in leathers and wool, Fox looked upon the traveler from beneath her hood. Examining him when he could not do the same. Leaning her elbows on her knees, legs spread, taking up all the space in front of the throne, she waited to see if he would faint. He looked like he could at any moment. Such a frail thing, he was. After another moment, she gave a silent command with the slight lift and fall of her head. Beside her throne, a knight in light mail stepped forward. A hand on his sword hilt as he approached Rick where he knelt. Carefully, he took the sunflowers from his grasp and returned to his monarch, bending a knee to present her with the gift.

Fox reached out, looking the flowers over. She whispered something and her knight spoke for her, voice booming. "This is a gift that shall die--will you too die, stranger of the woods? Or will you stand, take these seeds, and plant within these walls a garden?" He took a few steps toward Rick, one hand still on his sword hilt, but the other reached out. Offering him help up from the floor.

Leaning back in her throne, Fox waited again. Head bowed so that she saw the stranger only from his waist down. Not wanting to risk her identity being shown so soon. It was foolish to suffer the way he did and yet, still not want the sanctuary of a woman, yet there were others who had made that mistake. Spitting on the ground when she, a queen in name only, offered them life.

[blackestfang]

My mlp infection idea but it’s more so after the infection and a mystery.

- prankster wanted to put poison joke into the water at the ponyville day spa however there’s a problem.

- the prankster has tritanopia blue color blindness.

- instead getting green flowers that look like poison joke.

- the flowers are smashed up and put into the water before they open for the day.

- some ponies say the water looks a bit green but get in anyways.

- the next day the spa is closed as everyone who got in the water has a terrible rash on their body.

- no matter how much they itch it doesn’t stop the skin swells and blisters turning slightly green.

- it begins to get dangerous by night fall. Ponies are asking for help to reach the itch, rubbing on edges, or in worse case using sharp objects.

- fear erupts when the first pony says they no longer itch. The skin torn away and green flowers blossoming out from their body.

- the ones that helped their friends itch or touched what the infected touch begin to itch.

- the first fatality, more of the skin was ripped off showing more flowers, the roots digging in deep preventing the pony from moving and draining the nutrients out of the body.

- ponies are rushed to the hospital where nurse red heart, twilight and zecora find the cause.

- green parablooms. A flower that spreads its seed by little pricks in n the petals to put the seeds in the body of animals where they force out the body.

- all infected by the dayspa are far to gone to be saved, they are sent to the evergreen forest to die.

- those of the second wave are a bit better off, some are forced to leave while surgery can safely remove the plants before they do serious damage.

- a third wave did start but medication killed the plants before they could start blooming.

- a note in cut up letters appears while the infected are recoving saying “I’m sorry, it was suppose to be a harmless prank.”

- so the investigation begins on who caused the infection.

Dead

- aloe

- lotus

- bulk biceps

- octavia

- caramel apple

- daisy

- neonlights

- royal pin

- bonbon

-lyra

——-

Surgery required but alive

- rarity

- rose

- vinyl scratch

- derpy

- strawberry sunrise

- apple jack

——-

So now with 10 bodies and 6 injured the culprit is now highly wanted for their crimes. Who did it though? Given how fast the spread was they must have either earn protection or be a unicorn, and since the colors got mixed they know they’re colorblind. Whoever did this though will suffer dire consequences

[demvalhaken]

Welcome to, I’m having an unnecessarily hard issue trying to get the Western Hornets into a smaller size~ (Fancy squiggle)

I think I fixed it?

WOOHOO, JPEGS ROCK!

FUN FACT: THE WESTERN HORNETS AREN’T EVEN THAT BIG?!

Muahaha, the canvases are all different sizes because I just scaled it up as I progress farther in the drawing >:]

I WORKED MY ASS OFF TO DRAW ALL THESE AND IM SO PROUD OF MYSELF FOR NOT ABANDONING IT!!!

Yes, the Eastern Hornets stick out because they were done first

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…

THIS IS WHERE THEY LIVE (YES ITS A MESSY MAP BECAUSE I’VE NEVER DRAWN ONE DIGITALLY)

Berry Hive was bombed

Luna Hive is so awesome though!

If you grab a magnifying glass, you will see the borders! North, East, South, and West!

Okay soooo, the Northern Hornets live in the coldest region

The Eastern Hornets live in like, forests, plains, and cool little mountains

The Southern Hornets live in a tropical area. Imagine a humid, jungle with a ton of water

The Western Hornets are parched… they’re dehydrated grapes… deserts are not that wet

Late Warning: This probably gonna be reallllllllllyyyyy long

Is that what I think I hear?! Their economy? Oh yeah, I’ve got it all figured out and totally not making it up on the spot with scarce prior knowledge

Northern Hornets Economy Trade

What is an economy again? A thing about goods and services? Ha! Yeah, we’re just gonna talk about trade because I don’t got that kind of patience!

Traded items!

The Northern Hornets often trade iron, jewels, glacier honey (An ice-coloured honey that comes from the ice flower that grows on the mountains) They also trade a ton of ores as well

Northerners aren’t that popular in the Klaudin trade

Eastern Hornets Trade

Traded items: Silk, cotton, most other fabrics, exotic fruit and spices, and astronomical stuff

The Easterners are a huge part of the Klaudin trade

Western Hornets do not trade that much with the Eastern Hornets

NETR (North-East Trade and Relations) is a major thing in both the North and East for their trade

The Easterners are also often known for trading literature

Southern Hornets Trade

Traded items: Most exotic fauna used in dishes, lumber/wood, medicinal plants, and most animal products

The Southerners are a lesser known part of the continental trade.

They mostly are known for food products

They have an alliance with the West but not a fancy acronym name

Western Hornets Trade

Traded items: Desert fauna, pottery and clay, textiles and woven goods, and straight up salt.

The Northerners get most of their salt from the Westerners, despite having a bad history with each other

They are mostly just known for their pottery, woven/textile stuff, and art is general

The West Hornets are in an alliance with the South Hornets

I guess we go on to appearance differences?

Now if you look at the Hornets, all of them are unique! They have different mouths, antennae, wings, and eyes

Largest Wingspan to Smallest: Southern Hornet, Western Hornets, Eastern Hornets, Northern Hornets

Best Eyesight: Western Hornets

Longest Antennae: Northern Hornets

Best Average Strength: Northern Hornets

Worst Crime: Western Hornets

Best Reputation: Southern Hornets

Worst Reputation: Western Hornets :(

Each species has different mane styles

Northern Hornets: Often left alone or braided Eastern Hornets: Well-kept and sleek, often just left alone but came be styled in every way

Southern Hornets: Left long and untouched, some braid their manes, some stick colourful things in it like feathers

Western Hornets: Tied back or cut short

Palaces!

Northern Palace

The Tyvin Palace (Could be changed later on) is a massive structure built in between two towering mountains. The palace is insulated and heated. It’s made of timber, iron, stone, and probably other materials.

Halls are lined with carvings and tapestries featuring wildlife or cool events!

Eastern Hive(s)

Berry Hive: Bombed by ? It is still unknown. The hive took half of Queen Berry’s ruling to build, unfortunately, she died with her creation from burns

Luna Hive is a hive constructed by her daughter, Queen Luna (Formerly Princess Luna) The hive is situated in the trees, being elevated. It can be warmed or frozen during winters or summers. It’s made of mostly timber.

Southern Palace (Skra Palace): Just a bunch of buildings built on trees. It’s made of timber, mud bricks, rope, and leaves. It has no insulating, but Southern Hornets don’t get that too extreme cold weather. If necessary, fires will be lit for warmth

Oasis Hive (Palace by some locals): A palace made of sun-dried bricks (Adobe), quartz, and sandstone. It has thick walls and a giant shaded courtyard. The windows are often covered with tapestries during the day if it’s too hot. It’s decorated with wind chimes, tapestry and other woven things, and a ton of greenery!

Everything hurts…. My back, my wrists, my fingers, my legs. I HAVE BEEN SITTING FOR LIKE THREE OR FOUR HOURS WRITING THIS!

I can’t write anymore, maybe I’ll add more in a future post!

Okay, soooooo! Final thoughts!

BYEEEEEEE, I WORKED SO HARD ON THIS

Their older selves! Plus this silly thing!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING ALL THAT IF YOU DID!!!

MY BACK HURTS

[meguwumibear]

Let Not the Lord be Angry

Summary: Nai contemplates the bible. A human interrupts his quiet contemplation.

Word Count: 1,200

Warning: minor character injury (mentions of blood), knives (obviously), egregious and probably inaccurate biblical references, nai and his homicidal ideation, i think that’s everything but let me know if i missed something!

Notes: Pre-July incident. Implied future unhealthy Nai x reader relationship. Experimented a bit stylistically with this.

Nai’s reading the bible again. The one that woman gave him. The one he used to read on the ship.

He favors the book of Genesis. The beginning. Creation. Let there be light. And there was light. Let there be people, forged in the image of their creator, who shall have dominion over the sea, the land, the air. They may eat from every tree but one. They know they are naked. Have they eaten from the tree? Send them forth. Drive them out. Protect the plants.

Now command a great flood to wash away the humans for their crimes against both the heavens and the earth. Rain for forty days and rain for forty nights. When the humans can settle again, confound their speech so they can do nothing but babel.

Two angels sent to Sodom and Gomorrah. There are not ten righteous people in these lands. Destruction by fire. Destruction by brimstone. She who turns back turns to salt.

And, here, now, a human, standing before him. An ugly thing made uglier by their journey. Sunburned and sweating. Panting like a bitch in heat.

He summons his knives.

“That a threat?” the human spits, throat hoarse with thirst. “Think I’ve never seen a blade before?”

“I think you’ve never seen something like me before.”

“I’ve seen you before. A face like yours is hard to forget. You stole from my town, so I followed you here. I am not afraid.”

That’s amusing. A human? Unafraid? You are surely a liar. A liar, or a pissant who’s yet to fully grasp their own cosmic insignificance.

Before he kills you, he will become your teacher. Your master. Your guide. You will learn your limits. You will taste the fruits forbidden.  Come let him show you. Let him open your eyes. Learn what becomes of women who look back and bite off more than they can chew.

A pathetic little human who couldn’t even survive without leeching off his brethren, who would die without the nourishment they provide. Feeble and weak. Fragile as a flower. Wilting and withering away without the water your kind oh so desperately needs. Petals falling one by one. Stem sagging. Roots rotting. You were not meant for his new Eden. You could not survive there.

Yet you survived here on the inhospitable planet Gunsmoke. For days you lived on. Without proper food and drink. Without shelter from the sun. Flesh burning. Skin reddening. You persisted. You searched. And finally, you found.

What will you do now?

“What are you doing with the plants?” you demand. There’s a ferocious look in your eyes. Something feral and beastly. Pure anger. Pure animal. Nothing human in them at all.

“I doubt a stupid thing like you could understand.”

“You underestimate humans. That will be the death of you. My mortality makes me privy to things beyond your comprehension.”

A sound. Quick and sharp. Then pain. Quiet and stinging. On your left cheek. Just below your eye. You lift a finger to the wound and it comes away bloody. He cut you. With one of his knives. Split your flesh and bled you. When you look up into his eyes you see not a monster, but a boy, frightened and alone.

“What set you against us?”

“Corruption and cruelty. You are ravenous little beasts. Your sins exceedingly grievous. Your kind stole knowledge of good from the garden of Eden and still choose to be anything but.”

You stare at him. Unflinching. Even as ribbons of crimson unfurl across your face. “My people cultivated this land. We built something from nothing. Churches and orphanages and homes. In elementary school my class learned to make paint from the elements. We painted a mural on the wall of our school. It’s still there today. By taking our plant you’ve doomed both the righteous and the wicked alike.”

“All of that you did at the breast of my kin!”

“Has no one ever helped you? Surely you did not enter this world alone.”

He thinks of his mother. He thinks of Rem Savrem. He thinks of the snake in the garden of Eden. Mother Rem. Mother snake. Rem the mother. Rem the snake. Mother seductress. Mother temptress. Enchanting. Enticing. Beguiling serpent. Bewitching snake.

He thinks he understands Vash a bit more now.

His ticket to the future is supposed to be blank. His future is supposed to be waiting there for him. That’s what that wicked woman always promised him. Something next. Something still to come. Was Eve’s future blank or was it always written that she’d be driven out of that paradise? Was her story always meant to end that way? Cast out from the garden. Cursed with a womb. Could she ever have been something more?

Could you?

Humans die so terribly. No matter how they go. Plummeting out of the sky as their spaceship crashes to the earth. Struck down by a torrent of blades. He’s never seen one die of natural causes before. Never seen one succumb to starvation or thirst. He imagines somehow that of all the ways to die, naturally is the worst.

A sick part of him wants kill you this way. Or, rather, he wants to watch you die this way. He wants to watch your fat and muscle slough off the bone. Wants to watch as your belly bloats with air. There’d be so little to you he could count all of your ribs. They’d be so brittle he could break one off for himself.

He doubts you’re going to last much longer. 

You’re well past your expiration date.

You’ll die without him.

Your eyes widen. He’s said that last thought aloud. Those beastly eyes of yours are frustratingly unreadable. He expects fear but is met by fears distant cousin. Acceptance maybe. Or understanding. You know you’re a dead girl walking. This was a suicide mission.

There’s no pleasure in beating a dead corpse. How cruel would it be if you were to live? Crueler still if you were kept alive by his murderous hands. The thing about Nai is he’s good at being cruel. It’s familiar to him. And, yes, how cruel it would be for him to let you live. To sit you in his lap and force food down your throat. To punish you when you bite fruitlessly at his fingers. To shove his fingers deeper into your gaping mouth.

He thinks of Tesla. The first. The lab rat. He thinks of all the poking and prodding the humans subjected them to. Pumped full of poison. Pickled and preserved. All that’s left: an arm, a brain, some eyes. Not feeling. Not thinking. Not seeing. Hidden away, but not discarded. Rem’s dirty little secret. The team’s guiltiest pleasure.

What could your body handle? Just how long could it go without food? Without water? Without air? What if he gave you just enough to keep you going? What if he forced bite after agonizing bite down your throat? What if he wrapped his fingers around your neck and squeezed and squeezed and squeezed?

What if he used you all up? What if he sucked you dry?

What if you learned what it was like to be a plant?

[swords-of-a-soilder]

The Healing Process

Chapters 19

A Warning

Phil tap his feet as he sloughed in the purple love seat across from Roier whom was dressed in a beautiful red dress and marvelous wig. He tap their pen on the clipboard as he waited for Phil to speak; but grew inpatient and decided on just starting the conversation.

"How are you feeling today?" He started, "any particular feeling you can hammer down?"

Phil shrugged his shoulders but stayed silent, his eyes started out the window to the landscape behind them, Roier wrote something down in his notebook with half lid eyes, "Well surly watching your friend die is enough to put anyone in emotional distressed.. do you blame yourself?"

"I'm sorry mate?" Phil asked with a nervouse chukkle.

"Cellbit tells me you've been isolating yourself since previous events." He began, "I suppose what I'm asking is, is this a form of punishment, do you think you should be blame and thus you're isolating yourself from confort?"

Phil eyebrows knitt in annoyance as he scoffed, "I don't want to being comforted because I don't wanna be pitted."

"Oh yeah, you seem to highly dislike being pitted.. why is that?"

"Because.. everyone looks down on you like some kind of helpless animal!" Phil explained, "it's patriozing, I don't wanna be the sickly baby bird everyone is fawning over, like any second if anyone even says his name I'm gonna.." Phil suddenly fell quite, starring upwards to stop his flowing tears, to no avail.

Roier grabbed the box of tissues nearby then offer them to Phil, whom cursed him under his breath as he took the box, "We've all been in need of help before, everyone on this island. It's not a crime to need support."

"I'm not the one who needs the most help right now, Richardlyson lost his father for Gods sake!" Phil debated as he pulled tissues from the box which he released his tears into.

"You watch your friends died right Infront of you," Roier rebuted"your pain is just as valid."

"I could of prevented this!" Phil double down, "I asked him about the goop he said it was nothing, I should have pushed him, I should have made his answer me!" He blew his nose loudly in a tissues then disgard it for another. "What kind of friend am?!"

"If I heard correctly, you were also suffering, you're being too hard on yourself."

"Everyone keeps fucking saying that; "you're being to hard on yourself, but I have to when I've gotten this weak!" Phill debated,

"People use to call me The Angle Of Death, I was terrifying and now...now I'm nobody... I'm not powerful, not scary, sure as hell not Strong. I couldn't even save my friend... God techno would be so disappointed in me.." Phil ended

Cellbit tapped his feet anxiously as he waited on a park bench, awaiting Phil return, soon enough Phil slowly approached an exhausted look in his puffy eyes.

Cellbit would hope the tears were a good sign, he'd been told it's not good to keep emotions in. "Did it go well?" Cellbit asked as he stood up.

"it went.." Phil cut himself off and instead processed down the path, "you said you found something?" He inquired

"Right well, it's certainly something."

Cellbit stood in awe at the sight Infront if him, a ocean partied in the Middle by a circular garden, with a path lead up to it. In the garden were humongous flowers among thick tall grass, guarding all this were two workers."looks like we have to get pass the workers some how." Cellbit Noted

"the audicity of these men." Phil complaining, "Guarding another man's birth right."

"huh?" Before he could inquire further Phil slide down the path then approached the workers with intent focus, the first working immediately put his hand out to stop Phil, who seemed extremely annoyed.

"you're in my way mate." Phill warned, "I just want to read the letter addressed to me." The guards shared glances with each other in thought, but ultimately decided against it.

The guard lowered his hand , still shaking his head no. Phil rolled his eyes, he then took his Cane in both hands which he used to bash the workers over the head knocking him out cold. instantly the other worker reached for his gun tucked in his belt, however before he could even pull it he'd feel the sharpness of a knife pushed against his neck.

"I don't think you want to do that." Cellbit warned with a whispered directly to the workers ear, "he'll respawn, what about you?"

The worker took the warning, slowly rasing his hand in the air to show defeat, Phil squint his eyes at the worker, then stole the gun for him, which he hide in his inventory. "Let him get his friend."

Cellbit obliged, releasing the worker who quickly tuned to his friend, he then return his knife to it's hiding spot . "Might wanna take him to a hospital mate," Phil mocked, "going unconscious like that could be a sign of brain damage."

They carried up the path ignoring the fustared worker, as they entered the beautiful structure. Cellbit took the time to observe the structure futher, he ran his fingers through the water, appualed to see fish swimming around it.

Soon a large sunkiss fish found his hand appealing and sawm around it, leaving Cellbit staring In wonder. Phil noting Cellbit absence turned to see him playing with said fish, thus he snuck his camera from his back pocket and snapped a quick picture of the scene.

Cellbit hearing the snap turn to find Phil fondling with his camera, with a smile he pulled his hand from the water as he approached Phil. "Did you get a good shot?" He tesaed

Phil snapped his head up, now aware Cellbit was above him, "I was just colleting evidence, "he lied as he buried the camera on his person.

"mhmm, sure." Cellbit teased further, in reality he was happy to see Phil even momenterly returning to himself. "I can't fault you for taking pictures, this place is beautiful!"

"Of course it is, Everything Rose makes is beautiful." Phil stated, he soon turn to a sniffle as tears push their way from his eyes. Cellbit moved closer, offering his handkerchief from his jacket as he inquired about Phil wellbeing.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Phil insist as he wipped his tears, "It's just Forever would say something like 'that includes you philza' and I would tease him like 'alright,ok' but secretly I'm flattered and I just.."

Cellbit watch in semi-concern, a part of him told him to comfort the old man yet this was the first time since it's happen that he'd be so vunerable. So instead he keep close, waiting for Phil to finish, and that he did.

"Fuck I didn't expect to miss him this much!" Phil complained with a sad chukkle, "I swear he's so annoying, why do I want him back? FUCK Cellbit I just really want him back."

Cellbit upon hearing his name rested his hand in his shoulder as an attempt to reassure him, it seemed to be helpful. "I know what you mean, I miss him like crazy everyday."he input, "Which is funny because normally he just pisses me off." He joked

Phil laugh along side him, then took a deep breath, he seems a little bit happier at the mention of Forever, maybe therapy was a good step after, he took one last sniff and completely wiped his tears, then handed Cellbit the handkerchief.

"okay," Phil Began, let's do this!" They may their way to the alter in the center of the garden, built from prissmarie decorated by coral. In the structure was a neatly placed book with Phil's name on the cover.

Phil fished the book from it's space then opened it as he began to read, Cellbit waited patiently for Phil to recount what he had read, but Phil seem more distressed the more he read. eventuallly he release a shaky sigh as he pass the book of to Cellbit.

Cellbit watched as he walked to a random patch of flowers, where he laid face down in the grass. Cellbit then decided to read the book but found himself horrified by the words in front of him. There was no hope to the statement made, not even a wish of good luck.

In fact if one could sum up the words in front of them, it all came down to; 'run, they're coming'. The cestal order had found them and Cellbit didn't know the first step to take. He looked over to Phil, looking for emotional support or a wise word, just.. something .

He felt panic settle in as he became awear of Phil's current state, he had completely transformed back into a large bird, lying still on the ground surrounded by Wither Roses.

Cellbit quicky rushed over to the old crow shaking him awake, Phil bealry open his eyes as he met Cellbit's gaze, Cellbit sighed in relief.

"Oh thank God, I thought the stress killed you." Cellbit admit, "I mean with the wither roses and you transforming." Phil spoke his head no, giving the younger man piece of mind. it seemed this was just Phil dealing with the sudden stress. "are you gonna be like this all day?" Cellbit inquired

Once again Phil shook no, Cellbit exhaled as he broke some of the rose so he could move closer to Phil, he leaned against his body the fluffy crow allowing himself to fall asleep. Phil decided on not waking him up and instead rest.

[csolarstorm]

The Eternal Flower Files: The Sun King

Let's talk about King AZ, the king that became a wanderer.

Pokemon X and Y draw a lot of connections between King AZ and King Louis XIV of France. Remember that portrait in Parfum Palace? The one that reminds our player character of AZ?  Well, Parfum Palace is based on the Palace of Versailles, and the painting looks a lot like like Louis XIV. He called himself the "Sun King" for reasons that will be clear later in the post.

Screenshots from Pokemon Generations Episode 18: The Redemption

Notice how in AZ's last scene at the end of Pokemon X and Y, the sun is beating down hard on him in nearly every shot, including during the battle. Then when when Floette appears, she descends down from the sun.

While X and Y compare AZ to the Sun King, here it seems like the sun symbol...is Floette herself, as if the sun is Floette watching AZ. Floette's Eternal Flower is likely associated with light, but the sun itself? I don't have a full theory about this. Not yet anyway.

Another symbol associated with King AZ is the inchplant, historically known as "Wandering Jew".  It's a vine that shares some similarities with the Eternal Flower, especially the reddish-violet variants.  It even has three-petaled flowers, like the trillium.  The zebra-like stripes on the leaves especially remind me of the black triquetra markings on the Eternal Flower's petals. 

Sources: Succulent Depot, OrchidWeb: Tradescantia zebrina

If you've listened to Z-A theories lately, you might have heard of AZ's widely agreed on other inspiration, the story of the Wandering Jew, or "Eternal Jew". This is the antisemitic folk tale of a Jewish man who was cursed with immortality after mocking Jesus on the morning of crucifixion, and made to wander the earth until the end of days. This story has fueled centuries of antisemitism, even being used by Nazis for propaganda in WWII. 

We know anime can't resist playing with European history and western religious symbols. Pokemon wouldn't be the first anime to be inspired by Ahasuerus (Fate/Requiem), Xerxes (Fullmetal Alchemist), or Cartaphilus (Ancient Magus' Bride), which are all names associated with various versions of the Wandering Jew.  Personally though, I imagine this story catching GameFreak's attention because of the plant, considering how much flower symbolism runs the Pokemon franchise.

Sources: (1) Getty Images, via History.com, (2) Internet Archive via Wikipedia

So here we have a set of conflicting inspirations for AZ: the Sun King, and the Wandering Jew.  "Conflicting" is an understatement, because Louis "the Sun King" XIV actively persecuted French Jews. He called himself the Sun King because he considered himself God's representative on Earth.  Not only did he expel the Jews from the French West Indies, he stripped Calvinists of their religious liberties, and sometimes even went after other Catholics. (Source: History.com)

What do we make of these conflicting inspirations? Well, fiction can be cathartic. I think GameFreak switched the roles of the Sun King and the Wandering Jew for their story. In real life, the Sun King enjoyed a nice, long reign, unscathed by the people he persecuted and exiled. But in Pokemon X and Y, it's not the innocent religious minorities that wander the earth. It is the Sun King himself, forced to live eternally with the crimes he committed as the ruler of Kalos.

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Multiple drafts of this post were reviewed by @fluffybunnybadass, who helped me cut straight to the substance. Thank you!

Want to know more about Eternal Flower Floette's connection to sacred geometry? Or how about all the Pokemon characters named after the fleur de lys? Ever since the announcement of Pokemon Legends: Z-A, I've been serving up lots of Gen VI theories, so check out them out below:

The Eternal Flower Files: Flowers of the Fleur de Lys

Eternal Flower Files Short: Thismia

The Eternal Flower Files: Sacred Geometry

Xerneas and Yveltal are Fungi: Let Me Explain

Poll: What Does the Λ in Legends Z-A Symbolize?

Pokemon Legends Z-A: What Is the Λ?

Aaah, it's an A! Is the A in Z-A the Tree of Life?

How much longer am I going to have to wait for a freakin' Unova remake?!

[that-tall-queer-bassist]

You should watch Mogswamp's SOS smp series!!

Why? Basically, Mog is a competent person who is great at singleplayer, and adorable when doing social things (like this smp)

You won't be bored, his entire series takes about 4 and a half hours, with the last video (covering multiple weeks) being 1 hour and 14 minutes of engaging gameplay, commentary, and interactions, like all of his episodes.

And! If you were wondering why the video in the background looks like animal crossing, it's because he adds fun gimicks to many of his videos! The Stardew Valley one might be my personal favorite.

Anyways, I'm rewatching and having a blast, but I noticed his first episode only has 300k views, which i think is a crime, so if you've been on the fence, this is your sign to watch!

Here's the link to his finished series, in order!!

(embroidery details under the cut)

it's gonna be a bookmark! One of the corner ones. Plan is to fold along the orange line to make the backing, sew along the raw edges, then fold one more to get a corner pocket bookmark :)

was inspired by this pinterest picture and while i'm aware they have square backs like this one, I already had the diamond mapped out for a different project. (this piece was put aside for being too small)

Gonna add some leaves to around the flowers, and more flowers across ofc, maybe wrap the edges in yellow or green? haven't decided yet, probably green.

oh, and yes this is from an old pair of jeans, they had so many holes and the fabric was too thin for me to repair them, so now its my canvas :)