#its a bit completely exactly how she works but long story short her soul kinda canibilizes on other ppls souls alongside her own so she can

[arolesbianism]

Developing the random card au sekai mini stories a bit more and I'm loving the comedy Im building with Kanade and Honami. Honami vc this girl lives out in the middle of nowhere near an area where ghost sightings have been reported, and she's so deathly pale and almost dead looking, that nearby ghost must have rly gotten to her :(

[the-alice-of-hearts]

Kids again Ch 1

AO3 Next>

Ch 1: She likes to drink her coffee black

Summary:

Soulmates come in twos; At least they usually did

98% of the world's population has a soulmate bond. Of those, 80% have platonic bonds. Only .2% of all soul bonds connected more than two people.

Having three soulmates is exactly the kind of cosmic joke the universe would play on a True Wielder of the Ladybug Miraculous. If it gives a boy who still had a lot of life to live a second chance, well that is still in Creation's domain, now isn't it?

Marinette loved the boy in her heart, and the other two links were twisted around each other in a way only romantic pairs could be. If only she could have loved him enough to save him /||\ Jason wanted, more than anything, to protect the girl who his heart belonged to; protect her from the harness of the world, and then from what he had become.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves here, let's start at the beginning.

Ch 1: She likes to drink her coffee black

The first time Jason looked into his Soulmate’s life she was happy. Whoever she was, she seemed happy. The first strong emotion that he got from her was pure bliss and a sense of major accomplishment. The first time he got to see through her eyes he was eight years old. She was rushing out the door waving goodbye to smiling parents, a thermos in one hand and a cute pink backpack in the other. He cherished this memory like no other. There were other strong emotions from the bond, most of them were similar. She was happy and seemed strong. After that, Jason tried not to let his emotions overwhelm him; he didn’t want the girl with the happy laugh and the pink backpack to see where he was.

He knew he didn’t do as good a job as he tried. The feeling of worry in his heart that he knew came from her told him so. He could feel when she worried about him not eating enough, so he tried not to go to bed hungry too often. He could feel when she would panic because she hadn’t felt anything from him for too long. He would go and listen to the musicians playing on the streets; trying desperately to feel as happy as he could for her.

When he had gotten stabbed defending another kid from a man with a knife, he wasn’t sure if his panic was his own or hers. He felt like he was watching someone die though, so he was pretty sure it was her panic feeding into his own pain. He made sure to take care of himself so that she didn’t think he had died.

This went on for a long time; him looking in and seeing small bits of her life and later try to send good things back as much as he could. He figured out she was from Paris when the Eiffel Tower was in so many of the small glimpses he saw. So, he stole an English to French dictionary. He then found a bookstore, he could steal from it pretty easily, that had a copy of a book filled with his favourite fairy tales in French. He learned French, then he took it as his language elective. Slowly, he started to understand what she was saying in his visions of her. She had a small number of friends, but they were pretty close. She still worried about him far too often, but he noticed that on days where she was worried she would go out of her way to be as happy as possible. It was like she was trying to make him warm from the inside. And on those days, when was cold and hungry and desperate for a safe place to sleep, he would hold on to her happiness and promise himself that he would be happy for her tomorrow.

When he became Robin he was worried about her finding out. What if Bruce made him stop being Robin? For this reason, he stayed quiet about his Soulmate. Most bonds were platonic anyways, so he just didn’t mention that his bond was romantic.

He hoped she would at least get to see happier emotions from him. He knew that she had to have seen some of where he grew up, but he wanted to believe that maybe she would now get to see these happier moments. Jason vowed to live every happy moment to its fullest.

He hoped she got to see Alfred teaching him to cook, and him learning how to bake all her favourite pastries. He hoped she saw Dick teaching him gymnastics, seeing all the times he fell but got back up. He wanted her to see him and Dick goofing off and the times they would go sneak off behind Bruce’s back when he told them not to skip patrol to do just that and get ice cream in the suits. He hoped she saw him and Bruce sitting in the library reading, the two of them watching movies together when he was too sick to patrol. He wanted her to see that he had a family that loved him now. He hoped that she wouldn’t worry about him so much anymore; that he wouldn’t be a burden on her anymore.

He thought he had hidden this from his new family, but somehow Alfred always knew everything. Jason almost panicked when Alfred broached the conversation while he was teaching Jason to make macarons

“Does your Soulmate have a favourite flavor, Master Jason?”

“I- uh,” he tried to come up with a way to deny it, but knew that he would never get something past Alfred. Still he tried, “What do you mean?”

Alfred smiled, not looking away from measuring the ingredients. “Growing up, my best friend had a Soulmate that grew up in a troubled home. He told me he knew when she was in a better place because she started pouring emotions into everything she did so that he could feel, as well as see, that she was safe.” Alfred turned back to the cabinet looking at their ingredients. “I just thought that you seemed to be doing something similar. I apologize if I misread the situation.”

Jason stood there thinking for a moment. He looked around and listened to make sure Bruce wasn’t about to walk into the kitchen. He moved closer to Alfred so he could whisper, ”Her name is Marinette. I heard one of her friends call her Netté, though.” When Alfred didn’t stop him from talking he kept going. “She likes matcha ones best, but she always tells her mom that she likes strawberry ones because they're less work.”

That was all that was said. They finished making the cookies and Alfred packaged them up for him to have in his room. Jason was pretty sure that Alfred knew he was hoarding food, but so long as no one stopped him and probably even if they did he would keep doing it. Living on the streets taught him that a next meal isn’t guaranteed, and even if it was unlikely he would ever go hungry under Alfred’s watchful eyes, he still wanted a back up plan if he needed to make a break for it.

The next time someone asked about her was about a year later on a stakeout in Blüdhaven with Dick. Bruce had gotten scared when Jason got hurt and wouldn’t let him patrol in Gotham until his injuries had completely healed. Jason got antsy and ran away to crash on Dick’s couch until Bruce let up on the restriction.

Dick had just sat down next to him on the building they were on. “Hey, Little Wing”

Jason turned to him. “Yeah?”

“Do you ever try to send your soulmate messages?”

Jason’s throat closed up in terror. Dick kept talking as though he hadn’t noticed Jason tensing up and planning an escape route. “It’s just, sometimes I see what he’s seeing and I don’t know how to tell him that I want to look out for him, ya know? And his dad is kinda distant, but his mom loves him a lot. I don’t know though, because sometimes I can feel dread coming from my soul link but without any glimpses into what he’s seeing. Alfred thought maybe I have a platonic soulmate that is experiencing dread. Lately I’ve only had happy and joyful feelings so I’m worried that if I do have a platonic soulmate that maybe something bad happened to them. I have no idea how I would be able to send a message to a platonic soulmate though, so I wondered if maybe you knew?”

Jason had slowly gotten more confused while listening to his brother. He hadn’t considered the possibility of having more than one soulmate. “Wait, you mean you can have more than one Soulmate? I thought Soulmates were pairs?”

Dick shrugged. “My parents explained it being more like pieces of the same picture. Most bonds are platonic and platonic bonds are more likely to be someone who you grew up near, so you would have similar experiences with similar emotional responses. That’s why people don’t always notice them, but when you have a romantic bond that you can actually see through each other's eyes, you notice, yeah?”

Jason nodded. “So you have a romantic Soulmate, but think you also have a platonic bond?”

Dick ran a hand through his hair staring out at the windows they were watching, “Yeah, I don’t know how to describe it though. Honestly, I’m pretty sure I have three soulmates. The third is a lot quieter though. My mom laughed once and told me maybe it wasn’t that I had three soulmates, but that my soulmates had another link to each other.”

“Does that happen?”

“I don’t think so, but the stories about that happening are more fairy tale than concrete evidence. I like to think I have three though. I hope that, whoever my platonic bond is, they have their own romantic bond they can lean on. I don’t know if there is anything I can do for them unless I figure out who they are.”

Jason scoffed and then went on the alert seeing movement in the room. “We’ve finally got company.”

Dick smiled and ran back a few steps. “Wanna see me do a flip into the window?”

“Ten bucks says you don’t break the glass and fall on the ground.”

He laughed at that. “Be ready to pay up, Little Wing. I’ll get the two gunmen, then you swing in and help me with the others.”

He took a running start and jumped off the roof they had been on, doing a flip to keep his momentum up. He crashed through the glass rolling into a handspring, kicking the guns out of the two goons' hands. Jason followed using his grappling hook to get across to the now-broken window.

A short fight later and they had the men all tied up. Dick called the police with the info and then they were grappling away from the scene.

“Hey, Dick?”

“Yeah?”

“Earlier you said that you wanted to figure out who your platonic soulmate was.”

Dick landed on top of the building his apartment was in, then looked at him. “Yeah. I just want to know if I can help them.”

Jason followed him down the fire escape, “I thought that soulmates knew when they found each other; you make it seem like that’s not how it works?”

Dick walked into his room to grab clothes. “When you only have one soulmate, there is a glow when you touch each other the first time. It’s your soul telling you it’s complete, but if you have more than one you only get that if you find all the pieces of your soul.”

“Oh.” He caught the pants Dick threw at him. “Thanks for talking to me about this. I guess there was a lot I didn’t know.”

They crashed on the couch to play video games and eat leftovers. The conversation hung heavy in the air, though. Jason felt like, if he talked first, he would tell Dick everything, but, if Dick had had a romantic Soulmate this whole time, then Bruce had to know about it.

He looked up at his brother from where he was laying with his legs over the side of the couch. “Does Bruce know you have a romantic Soulmate?”

Dick looked down at him from where he was perched on the back of the couch. “Yeah? Why?”

Jason shot Dick's character while he wasn’t paying attention, trying to make him stop looking at him like that. He mulled over the question while avoiding the looks Dick was still giving him during his respawn times. In a small voice he finally answered, “He didn’t make you stop being Robin?”

That made Dick pause the game. He dropped down to sit on the cushion of the couch, leaning his head over Jason to look him in the eyes. “Jason, Alfred would never let Bruce use one of us having a Soulmate as a reason to kick us out of the suit.”

Jason pushed him back so he could sit up. Turning to look at him, he took a deep breath. “He kicked me out of the suit for being hurt. He fired you and sent you here. Why would having a Soulmate be any different?”

Dick reached out and hugged Jason. He felt Dick’s shirt becoming wet from tears he hadn’t realized he was crying. “Oh, baby bird, no, that’s not gonna happen, and if Bruce tries it, then you have a place here. You did really good back there, I would love to have your help anytime.”

Jason sniffled and wrapped his arms around Dick. “What if he tries to make you send me back?”

Dick was still rubbing circles on his back, talking soothingly. “Bruce can’t make me do anything. My bank account has Alfred as my responsible party, and Clark is the name on the lease. If you want to stay here you can, and no one gets to take my brother away from me okay?” Jason nodded, still sniffling but getting his tears under control. “Now enough sad talk. How about I kick your ass in this game and tomorrow I’ll take you to the gym I use and help you with your flips.”

Jason laughed wholeheartedly at that. Sitting up and discreetly wiping his tears, he grabbed his controller again. “Don’t know why you keep trying. You’re not gonna win at this any more than I’m gonna be able to do a backhandspring tomorrow.”

And that was it.

Bruce either didn’t know about his romantic Soulmate, or he really didn’t care. Jason started keeping a journal of written notes about her. He wanted to be able to find her one day, so he needed to know everything he could.

An incomplete list of things I know about my soulmate

Her name is Marinette

Her friends also call her Netté or Mari

She drinks a lot of coffee, usually black. She grabs it on the way to class. Is that a french thing? I feel like I only ever see her with coffee? That can’t be right, maybe it’s from the all-nighters? Her friends have teased her about not sleeping before. Is that more often than I think?

She ignores her own needs to help her friends

She’s like a year younger than me I think.

Her nonna (grandmother?) calls her Marinetta or Little Fairy (could I call her Pixie?)

Lives in Paris

She has an Asian mother; Chinese?

She has an Asian name, but I don’t remember it. Her parents use it but not often enough for me to write it down

Her father is French-Italian

She is in gymnastics, but can be clumsy

Kim, Nino, and Alix are her friends.

Chloe used to be her friend. She doesn’t know what changed things

She likes to draw

She wants to be a clothing designer

She made me something? I couldn’t see what it was, but her mom was really proud of her accomplishment.

She is a really good baker

She likes matcha macarons best; but she never asks for them. She feels guilty about her parents making them just for her

She can lift a giant bag of sugar like it weighs nothing

She likes to help people

She likes pink

She is nice and good. At least I think so.

The list was in a small red notebook. It stayed with him all the time; that way whenever something happened, he could write down any details. He filled the other pages of the book with things he wanted to tell his Soulmate, small bits of his life that he wanted to share with her. He had a spot in his utility belt for it to be, and a pocket in his jacket that he kept it in. He had once shown Dick the list and the pages that he had written about him and Alfred. He smiled when Dick showed him his own similar notebook. Dick’s romantic Soulmate was also from Paris; they both wondered if their Soulmates knew each other.

Jason liked to think so

[arysthaeniru]

aAAA the joy of seeing an update on your current favorite fanfic is just aAAA

I always felt that kiwami 1s Nishiki was just a bit too,, I dont know how to describe it; but essentially he just felt off, granted yakuza 1 is a product of its time and therefore the plot is a bit dated and whack as all hell

The way you write Nishiki just feels so much better and realistic; in the original he just seems so uncaring towards Kiryu? which just feels kinda OOC? You'd think he still cares about Kiryu despite it all, especially when you take Yakuza 0 into consideration; and i feel like you portray Nishiki much more accurately

I never thought much about Yumi, because honestly, in the original she was kinda just, there? You actually made her a very interesting person! like I'm actually invested in her in your story! (side note you ever think about her clone who got tortued and died? yeah who WAS that???? thats never brought up is it??)

Theres so much more to talk about but in short; This is the best fix it/rewrite of a game plot I have read to date and it brings me joy in my current stressful school life. and no I will not stop praising it or the author, because this work has made me very happy. ;)

I just have a gift for picking favorites that end up dying,,aand another favorite of mine is Mine

imo theres a lack of soft, reassuring Minedai, i just feel like he'd need a reminder that people love him as a person and not just for the money he can provide, even if its obvious

I'd love to see how you'd write them, but I understand if theres more interesting/appealing drabble requests!

- Carp

CARP, thank you for this <3 this is so sweet!!!!! I’m so happy you enjoy my Nishiki! I had fun playing with what Yakuza 0/the Kiwami additions gave us about Nishiki’s personality and outlook on the world, and trying to reconcile that with the plot that Yakuza 1 initially had. Ultimately, I fell on the side that you did: even if Nishiki’s ambition took him down a monstrous path, I don’t think he’s the sort of person who neglects to pay back his debts. And he’s aware of the huge debt he owes Kiryu. Not to mention, their bonds of trust and love vanishing completely because of jealousy felt unreal to me. Their relationship becoming twisted or strange? Yes, but vanishing entirely felt unsatsifying to me. 

And Yumi!! I had so much fun excavating her character from the clues we get of her in canon. I worry sometimes, that she’s unrecognizable, because you know, I’ve given her a college education, and a whole bunch of interests beyond hostessing alone, but people seem to like it and like her, which is great!! I hate fridging women characters, so keeping her and Reina alive was important to me, hahaha. (RE: fake!Mizuki, there’s this substory in Kiwami that actually addresses who she was, BUT IT’S EVEN MORE HORRIFYING. So that’s why Yumi in my fic is the one captured and tortured by Nishiki’s men, because the thought of this poor innocent woman getting dragged into the mess was just untenable to me.)  

Anyway, thank you for your support and kind words, and I hope you’ll continue to read and that my fic can continue to relieve stress. I--tried to write this about Mine, but Daigo kind of stole the spotlight a little??? I hope you still like it--if not, I will try a ficlet from Mine’s perspective too. I enjoy minedai a lot, but I haven’t had room to think out their dynamic yet, so this took me a while. 

Daigo’s no stranger to being desired. He’s attractive, he knows this—his mother’s beauty lives in his veins, and he’s always had the money to look after himself. Fancy soaps to wash his face, the invisible retainers to keep his teeth straight, fancy suits and skin-tight shirts to show off his frame. For all that Kiryu insists his charisma is something that comes from the soul, Daigo knows it wouldn’t be able to draw the sort of attention he does without being attractive.

Which is to say that Daigo’s not especially thrown off by the intensity of Mine’s gaze. It’s happened before, and it’ll happen again. The thing that surprises him is how much he relishes in being seen by Mine.

Maybe it’s because Mine’s an island in a stormy sea, one of the only yakuza his age who’s sensible and level-headed enough to make it big. Maybe it’s because Mine’s gaze is always so reserved, polite, never overly lusty or overstaying its welcome, and Daigo has so rarely been desired so quietly. Or maybe it’s because Majima and Kashiwagi so clearly disapprove of him—Daigo’s always been something of a rebel, and he hasn’t shaken that off, even now he’s in his thirties and is the arbiter of rules for the Tojo Clan.

Daigo can’t quite put a pin on why he’s so comfortable with Mine’s yearning looks, but he’s never been one to hold back when he wants to indulge in something good. Not exactly a hedonist, not by yakuza standards, but Daigo has never kept himself from enjoying life, in the name of some dubious ‘honour.’

Which is why, in an after-hours meeting with Mine, as they eat cheap takeout sushi together, Daigo takes his chance. A momentary slip, the slightest hint of wasabi left at the corners of Mine’s lips and Daigo swoops in, rubs a thumb over the corner of Mine’s lips. Mine stutters to a stop, mid-sentence through a rundown of the real-estate that the Hakuho Clan’s been purchasing up, and stares at Daigo, eyes bewildered.

“Sixth Chairman?” he asks, his voice still remarkably composed.

“Wasabi.” Daigo says, nonchalantly, as if it’s nothing, and sticks his thumb into his mouth, slowly licking it off with a lingering lave of his tongue. He feels a sharp stab of satisfaction as Mine’s eyes turn darker, and his gaze follows Daigo’s hand down.  

Daigo straightens up, languidly, and cracks his neck, casually. At this point in the day, he’s untucked his shirt, and he knows that a slight strip of his stomach will be visible when he stretches out his arms towards the ceiling. And as predictably as clockwork, Mine’s gaze darts downwards, to that pale expanse, to catch that brief second of skin. Daigo can’t help but feel warm. Something about being watched by Mine is exhilarating.

“Smoke?” offers Daigo, but as usual, Mine refuses, with a polite shake of his head.

Daigo knows from hearsay that Mine’s something a health-freak, so he’s not entirely surprised. It’s already too late for Daigo to preserve his health—he knows that his liver’s already been pretty ruined from long nights of binge-drinking as a youth, and this job’s too stressful to withhold from vices like smoking and drinking, without an optimal end-goal. So he walks over to the window, cracks it open a little, and lights up.

The breath of nicotine curls over his body, a tender caress, and Daigo feels his shoulders drop, as the relaxation hits. He pulls off his cufflinks, tosses them into his pockets and rolls up his sleeves. He takes it slow, runs his fingers over his skin a little more than strictly necessary. Surreptitiously checking the reflection in the window, Daigo watches Mine watch him, and smirks at how intense that gaze is, how Mine’s mouth has opened, and Daigo can just see the soft pink of his tongue.

“Dojima’s just fine, you know. When it’s just us two.” Daigo says, turning over his shoulder. He smiles, one of those charming smiles that had always gotten him whatever he wanted as a child, “We’re same-aged friends, after all.”

“Dojima-san.” Mine acknowledges, after a brief pause.

Daigo turns around, to properly look at Mine and lifts an eyebrow. “Dojima. Or Daigo, preferably. Dojima-san’s always my father in my head.”

Mine nods, face impassive. Daigo can’t read him like this. Maybe that’s why he likes when Mine stares at him, filled with longing. At least then, Daigo feels like he knows him. In moments like these, his implacable gazes might as well be a brick wall. “Right. Your Father was also in the Tojo Clan.”

Daigo smiles, wryly, and blows out a puff of smoke. “One of the most horrible men I’ve ever had the misfortune of meeting—and I had to call him Father. But damn if he wasn’t good at the job.” He sighs and stubs the cigarette out against the ashtray. “...sometimes feel like I’m competing with his dead spirit. Everybody’s looking at me and wondering if this is what my Father would do. Or what Kiryu-san would do.”

“You’re doing better than any of them.” Mine says, immediately, with a vicious ferocity that Daigo wasn’t expecting. He can’t quite stop his eyebrows rising in surprise, and Mine straightens upwards, looking self-conscious immediately. Daigo regrets his instinctual reaction, immediately. “That is to say, Dojima, that I think that you’ve pulled this Clan into somewhere far more respectable. From what I’ve heard of your Father, he didn’t have the temperament to do proper business on this level—too insistent on formal obeisance and unable to be flexible as the times require. And Kiryu-san might be very honourable, but we are yakuza. There are certain things you have to do as a Chairman, that he couldn’t bring himself to do. But you are practical and do what is necessary, while also not overstepping into excessive violence. You are uniquely suited for this job, Dojima.”

...he’s taken aback a little, he can’t deny it. Daigo wonders if his cheeks are colouring, wonders if his obvious shock is offputting, wonders if this is how Mine feels every time Daigo teases him lightly about his obvious attraction. A startling warmth spreads through his chest, and Daigo can’t stop the slight smile that touches his face. Has anybody ever said something so unreservedly kind and measured about Daigo before?

Maybe this is the difference between everybody else’s gazes on him, and Mine’s gaze. It’s based on something more than desire alone. Respect.

Daigo runs a hand over his slicked-back hair and ruffles it free, with a rueful smile, a smile that he couldn’t take away from his face, even if he tried. “I appreciate that. You know I couldn’t do it without you, right?”

He’d never really believed himself capable of attraction to a man like Mine. All of his previous childhood crushes had been on bright, cheerful conversational, pure-hearted people. Daigo had always figured they would balance out his sardonic cynicism. He’d never thought someone as reserved and principled as Mine would ever make his heart flutter. But then, there was something about that deep hunger and passion that Daigo craved. Perhaps it was because he was no longer the gloomy punk of his youth. Maybe his tastes have changed towards tall, dark and handsome. Maybe Mine’s just that special.

“Dojima—” Mine says, clearly trying to refute it, but Daigo cuts him off.

“I mean it. Everybody in this fucking Clan wants me to do something or be somebody else. Kashiwagi-san wants me to be my mother. Majima-san wants me to be Kiryu-san. Everybody else expects my Father. But not you. You deal with me honestly, and with candour, and never hold any expectations against me except success. I appreciate your faith in me.” Daigo takes a couple of steps forward, until his shoes almost brush up against Mine’s own. He leans down over Mine’s chair. “I could not do this without your backing and help. Truly. I don’t think I’ve ever had someone like you in my life. A true friend.”

Mine tilts his chin up to meet Daigo’s gaze, a hungry devotion in his eyes, and Daigo, for a moment, wonders if this is wrong. If he should hold back, like Kiryu would. But Daigo is Daigo, and Mine clearly wants him anyway, so he leans down and kisses him.

Mine’s mouth is velvety smooth and wet and hot and it is oh-so satisfying a feeling to put his hand against Mine’s broad neck and feel his warmth up against Daigo. He pulls back, with a satisfied sigh, and feels the burn of wasabi across his lips, a final parting kick.

[m-c-coy]

Sero X Kaminari ghost au

Here's a fanfic idea I won't do anything with but I hope you enjoy!

Sero lives an average life. Average job, average looks, average apartment, etc. But he likes it like that.

The only really exciting thing in his life is his friends: Mina, Kirishima, and Bakugou.

They go out every Saturday night. Tonight being Mina's turn to choose what they do.

They go bar hopping for a bit until they get lost along the way and end up in front of a fortune tellers shop.

It being Mina's night to choose what they do demands that they get their futures read.

So they go in and do exactly that. Kirishima and Bakugo get told something about love making them blind, Mina gets told that she will excel at her new job (and upon request will be successful in love as well).

Oddly enough they all also get told that they will grieve the lost of someone they all hold dear soon.

Then Sero goes expecting the same but the old lady that has been telling their fortunes almost freezes the moment he sits down

"You will have a boring life full of disappotment and loneliness."

"That's nice"

The old lady quickly grabs what looks like a necklace that has a small obsidion rock with golden lines running through it like lighting.

She buts the necklace in Sero's hand and says he must keep it on him at all times if he wants a chance of having an exciting and fulfilling life.

He tries to leave without it but she says thats its free and he needs to take it. So he does.

Over the next week of wearing the necklace he notices some werid things happening.

And by werid I mean that he is now being haunted by what looks like a blond ghost his age in clothes from hundreds of years ago.

Sero tries to ignore it to see if it will go away but he won't stop talking.

"Hi! My names Kaminari Denki and I need you to help me cross over to the after life!"

"No thanks dude, I think I'm good."

But Kaminari won't leave him alone and keeps messing with his lights, throwing things off his shelf, messing with his TV, etc.

Its driving him crazy! Denki even follows him to his job! He can't take it any more. He wants him to leave him alone!

Sero's friends start to notice his werid behavior as well and don't hesitate to let him leave their next saturday outing early for "personal" reasons.

"Why do you keep following me, huh!? Why can't you see that I don't want to help you and instead bother someone else with your problems?"

"My soul is trapped in the necklace you're wearing...I have to go where ever it goes."

Denki continues to try and apologize for the trouble he has caused. He says that he was only trying to help him but Sero doesn't want to hear it anymore. He takes off the necklace and chucks it into the tree line.

And with that. Sero walks off and is free from the annoying little ghost. His apartment is quiet, all of his stuff is organized, and he actually has a productive day at work!

But its almost to quite now. His apartment dosen't feel as lived in and he has nothing to distract him when his work gets slow.

He soon realizes that he was a little harsh on the ghost that just asked for his help. So he goes back for him.

He goes back to where he thinks he tossed the necklace and begins to search but he can't find the necklace anywhere. He's panicking now becuase he thinks he just lost Kaminari for forever.

"Did you drop something young man?"

Its the old lady from the fortune telling. She has the necklace in her hand and scolds Sero for not taking better care of his things.

Once Sero gets back home he puts the necklace back on and can immediately see Denki again. He apologizes for what he did and asks if he would still like his help in finishing his unresolved buisness.

Kamianri of course agrees with his 100 watt smile and Sero can't help but bask in the light.

The mood is almost immediately ruined though when kamianri admits that he dosen't know what his unfinished buisness is.

Time to call in the moral support!

Sero calls over Mina, Kirishima, and Bakugo to explain why his been acting weird and for their help in freeing Denkis soul.

"So remeber that necklace that ildy lady gave me, yeah it kinda huanted and the ghost needs our help."

"Bullshit!"

After Denki reveals himself and their shock wears off, they get down to buisness.

They ask Denki about his life and how he died to see if that could be any clue to why he hasn't moved on yet.

"Well I died from being struck by lighting..."

"Thats kinda manly..."

Denki tells them that he was tied to a metal poll during a thunder storm and left to die becuase the people of his town thought he was a demon in disgues.

They basically find out that he didn't have a life full of friends or fun and died to young to truly experience anything so they decide to go on adventures so that Denki could actually "live" a little.

They take him to the mall, site seeing, carnival, museums, game nights (Denki figures out that he can possess a controller and actually play with them) and even to the bars

All of them get closer to him and he feels like the finale piece of the puzzle making their little group whole.

Once Denki learns that it is socially acceptable to date the same sex, he becomes Minas wingman at the bar. Literally ghost pushing girls into her arms or stealing their items for Mina to "find" and give back

Kaminari is determined to make Kirishima and Bakugo confess their obvious feels for eachother. He give Kirishima peptalks about how they have the actual ability to be together and gives him old English poems to recite to Bakugo. Denki gives Bakugo plenty of time to confess his feeling by some how always getting the two of them alone. Whether that's sticking them in an broken elevator or locking them in rooms.

But now that the gang can see Kaminari, they can easily tell that Sero is his favorite person to help. He follows him at work making sure that his coffe cup is always in reach, holding elevator doors open so he dosen't have to take the stairs, catching stakes of papers before they can fall off his desk, etc. He does it so seamlessly that they don't even think Sero notices his actions.

After a few months of hanging out together the group is once again out on another Saturday night. They have already hit a couple bars and are now walking through the park.

Mina is texting the girl Denki helped hook her up with, Bakugo is hold Kirishimas hand as he drags them to a swing set.

Sero walks over to a pond off to the side. He dosen't even have to look to know Kamianri has followed him and is floating next to him.

Sero can't help to notice how pretty Kamianri looks in the moonlight making him look like he is glowing, but also solid. Like hes a real person.

"So, do you think that we are any closer to you crossing to the otherside?"

Denki shakes his head no and Sero mentally sighs in relief.

They watch their friends laugh behind them and Denki smiles. He's so happy that they found and are with the love of their lives.

Denki frowns at the thought.

"I didn't tell you the whole truth of how I died."

Sero turns to Denki completely as he tells his story again but this time he says why he was left to die by his towns people.

"I don't know how, but they found out that I didn't like women. Were I'm from... liking men is a sin or the act of the devil so...they thought it was best to get rid of me and cleans their town of evil."

Sero never wished so badly that he could touch Kaminari and pull him into a hug.

"That wasn't right of them. I'm sorry you had to go through that...but while you're here you are free to like whoever you want."

"What if...what if I like you?"

Sero pauses only for a second before smiling the biggest smile in his life.

"Well...seeing as how I kinda fell for you, I would accept your feeling for me."

Kaminari has a shy smile on his face and asks if Sero could close his eyes for a second.

Sero does without hesitation and its not long after he feels what could only be described as phantom lips on his.

When the pressure on his lips leaves his, he opens his eyes to see Denki moving way from him. And see as he starts fading away.

Denki looks at his hand then up at Sero with big water eyes. Or maybe thats Seros eyes. He can't really tell in the moment.

Denki gives him one last smile before thanking him for everything and then disappears from existance.

Sero tries to grab him but its useless. He's gone. He turns and walks back to his friends.

When he finally reach them and they ask where Denki is, he finally allows himself to cry.

They end their Saturday night outing in Seros apartment all cuddled together and mourning the loss of their friend.

Some more time has passed and no one has really recovered from Kaminari's abrupt departure. Mina, Bakugo, and Kirishima try to keep a brave face on for Sero's sake but they all feel the loss.

Because all things happen on Saturday, the gang decides to go on a walk around town as their activity. Mina brought her girlfriend along so now Sero has somehow become the 5th wheel and is not fan of this revelation.

His sad boy hours are cut short though when he is suddenly hit by a guy caring a box.

They both go to the ground with the box opening and spilling everything around them.

The guy immediately starts to ask if Sero is okay and if he needs help getting up, but Sero can't respond in that moment because he is staring at Kaminari. A Kaminari that he can touch!

The gang by this point is also staring and watching this guy ramble on about being new in town and helping his grandmother with some errands exactly like how THEIR Kamianri would ramble without a breath in between.

Kirishima finally breaks the spell and helps the guy pick the stuff up and asks if he would like help caring the stuff to his grandmothers.

The guy agrees and then introduces himself as Denki.

Sero can't talk or function right now. He is so confused but also filled with so much happiness he thinks that he's going to burst.

"I know I just met you guys but, I feel like I known all of you from somewhere... maybe we were friends in our past lives!"

They all laugh off the comment as they come up to a familiar hole in the wall shop that started this entire journey.

Denki greets the old women with his 100 watt smile as he introduces everyone to his grandma.

The women just gives them all knowing smiles as she ask for Sero and Denki to put the boxes into the back room.

They quickly put the boxes away. Sero had to stand behind Denki to put his on the top shelf and he couldn't help but notice the blush spreading on the others face before joining the group back outside.

The old women informs Denki that these lovely people have volunteered to show him around town and even invited him to go bar hopping with them.

Denki agrees immediately and Sero can't help but be thankful that his boring life got interrupted by the ball of sunshine now walking next to him.

[quillyfied]

Mega Good Omens Fic Rec Post 3

THE FINAL CHALLENGER APPROACHES.

This will hopefully be the last Mega Fic Rec Post I make for a long, long time; I have enjoyed it, but a lot of work goes into these and I’m tired. There are 73 titles on this list, organized by category: Jaunts through History/Canon, South Downs, Post-Apocalypse, Bus Ride/The Night Before/Heaven and Hell, AU/UA, Just Soft, Touch-Starved/Body Worship/Wings, Bonus, and H/C /Whump/BAMF. Please enjoy these treasures as I have.

Mentioned questionable material where appropriate; several authors have Tumblrs but I wasn’t able to tag them, for whatever reason. Oh well.

Mega GOmens Fic Rec Post MASTER

IF A LINK IS BROKEN OR I HAVE MISATTRIBUTED SOMETHING, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

JAUNTS THROUGH HISTORY/CANON

1. let me feel your heartbeat (grow faster, faster) – @thehoyden (T, the one where Aziraphale had a big ole crush on Crowley before the Fall and it doesn’t stop from happening. This one’s just cute; starts with a “senpai notice me” vibe that morphs into mutual pining very, very quickly. It hits the high notes of a lot of cute romance tropes and I’m into it.)

2. Pride and Prejudice and Angels – SanSanFanFan (G, the one where Miss Crowley and Mr. Fell clash wits. Kinda. Mainly it’s a lot of lovely pining and Aziraphale being sad about awful things happening in London, so he’s escaping to Hampshire for a while, where Crowley happens to be in the middle of a temptation she promptly abandons in favor of lifting Aziraphale’s spirits. Not finished, but already sparkling with Crowley being miffed about gender double standards and Aziraphale letting himself be cheered up by Crowley. It’s great.)

3. Kissing, Accidentally – @skybound2 (G, the one where Crowley can’t help kissing Aziraphale after pinning him against the wall.  Hilarious and sweet and featuring that best trope of all, Crowley going boneless and speechless at an unexpected show of affection and wanting from his angel.)

4. Visible world (or, you are responsible forever for what you have tamed) – @matchahedgehog (T, the one where Russian folklore plays a significant element and it’s weird and beautiful. I don’t think I can really convey what this is, exactly, but there are elements of building a new world and holding on tight to love even through the toughest times and it’s gorgeous.)

5. I’ve Been Drowning All These Years – @terrible-titles (T, the one where Crowley comforts Aziraphale five times and one time Aziraphale comforts Crowley. There are some discomfiting scenes Crowley is talking Aziraphale through in this one, but the comfort is sweet and the resolution is well-deserved.)

6. Moving Rocks – shiphitsthefan (T, the one where confessions are made in 1941 but they can’t act just yet, and waiting is agony. I really adore this one, especially what happens when they finally Smooch, because it happens in a spot I rarely see anyone putting it and it made me smile. The longing is so painful, poor Aziraphale. Poor Crowley.)

7.  On a Wing and a Prayer – @alphacygni-8 (T, the one where Crowley is a pining mess but he has a plan. This is another trip through history of Crowley trying to go about his business while his feels are crushing him, but I think it’s how Crowley tries to go about confessing that helps make this one a standout; there is a restaurant and there is a lot of food and there are, of course, miscommunications aplenty. The historical scenes are nothing to sneeze at, either, they’re all packed with longing and bittersweetness. Lovely.)

8. in the shapes of angels – @qwanderer (T, the one where navigating an intimate and loving relationship of any stripe is difficult when your true form is a bit noncorporeal. This one crescendos in a form of angel-demon soul bonding that really reverberates and sticks in the brain, the visuals are incredible. And the implications of switching bodies gets a lot more high-stakes, too. On top of it all this is a story about finding someone to share your life with, whatever the arrangement of the relationship might actually be, and friends it’s tender and scary and wonderful.)

9. Pilgrim – brasspetal (T, the one where Crowley is on a sabbatical to sort out his feelings and he writes love letters, of a sort. This one is one of those fics that feels like treading in deep water knowing there’s something more in the depths, but it’s more tranquil and less unsettling. There’s an overstory about Crowley traveling with a group of humans and an undercurrent about him working through how he feels about Aziraphale and the two work together to bring about something memorable and, I feel, truly impactful. It’s entirely possible that by the time the last chapter is up, the story will be something completely different from what I’ve described, and that’s cool.)

10. drowned in living waters – @mortuarybees (G, the one where Crowley and Aziraphale make out in a field and almost get caught. This one is short and sad and made me feel sad things, though the imagery is gorgeous and the argument leading up to the kissing is entertaining. Stupid Gabriel and his stupid face.)

11. Things They Need – LostSoftSpaceDyke (T, the one where Crowley and Aziraphale take lovers as stepping-stones to get to each other. This one is bittersweet and FRAUGHT, friends, it is absolutely a heart-masher. The ending rights it, of course, and beautifully, but welcome to Hopeless Longing Town, friendos, population One Angel and One Demon.)

12. Off the record – @paintedvanilla (T, the one where Crowley reports his personal sins and then neglects to report his virtues. Bookverse, a wonderful character study of Crowley and Hell’s bureaucracy and how certain things affect Crowley personally. Includes a lovely homage to Freddie Mercury, of course.)

13. By Any Other Name – ausgezeichnet (@thebeatlesaremyboyband) (T, the one where Nanny Ashtoreth and Brother Francis fake a wedding to get Thad Dowling off their backs. While it definitely has its funny moments, what stands out more to me in this one are the soft, quiet moments of pining sprinkled in between their adventures. There’s real strain between Crowley and Aziraphale with this turn of events, and I can’t wait to see it all boil over. Also Thaddeus Dowling is a dickbag in this one and is deffo getting his.)

14. God’s Gift – Katzedecimal (T, the one where Crowley and Aziraphale are undercover as a lady and her tire-woman while on a job. This one is based on one of the stories from The Akashic Records by PeniG (which y’all know I adore), specifically one where a potential 30K caper is laid out involving this exact scenario, and I love that someone actually tried to tackle some of it. The friendship is so good, and the little bit of excitement that happens in the plot is Terribly Exciting. Just ladies taking care of ladies, what could be better?)

15. All I Want (Is You) – amavyllis (G, the one where Crowley and Aziraphale don’t touch but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to. Oh, y’all, the longing. The LONGING. And the sheer ACHE of not being able to touch someone you would like to be physically close with. It is PAINFUL and it is GOOD and I am DYING.)

16. meantime i ask you to be my valentine (i’ll be your valentino) – hipsterchrist (T, the one that follows Saint Valentine’s Days through the ages. This one is really interesting, actually, and has one of the most eclectic collections of historical moments I’ve ever seen in one of these types of fics. That ending scene is on point, though; I spoil nothing but you guys TEARS. Of LAUGHTER. And also OVERWHELMED WITH EMOTION.)

SOUTH DOWNS

17. Let Me Live Here Ever – @moveslikebucky (T, the one where they’re soft and just talk about their feelings and smooch a lot. This one is part of a larger series but you don’t need to have read it to read this one. It is so very soft, y’all. So tender. I will never be over stories where they just lay in bed all day and revel in how they feel about each other and their life together.)

18. The Cottage, The Husbands – Dragonsquill (G, the series where Crowley and Aziraphale have a life in the South Downs and it is good. Featuring lots of cute little tableaus and some of the most fun OCs ever—Twelve in particular is a treat, she’s Crowley’s stylist and absolutely wonderful. The whole series is just FUN, it’s cute and casual and domestic and great.)

19. For All the Stars in Heaven – ausgezeichnet (@thebeatlesaremyboyband) (T, the one where Heaven and Hell need to shove off already. This one takes off almost without warning, and escalates rather quickly before a frankly genius solution to The Problem of Aziraphale and Crowley is found. I only deal in happy endings, so you KNOW it’s good for the husbands. Surprisingly good, in fact, I didn’t see it coming at all.)

20. Angel and Demon Teatime – @penig (T, the one where Crowley and Aziraphale entertain a few unwanted guests for a while. This one is really cool, with a lot of sensory details while Crowley and Aziraphale relive a lot of the sensations of Earth and bring them into the physical world for the spies Heaven and Hell sent after them to experience them, too. The spies are both precious, though in completely different ways, and the ways they go about changing through this visit are subtle but profound.)

21. The Tales of Eden Cottage – Jupiter_Ash (G, the series where Crowley and Aziraphale slowly settle into their new South Downs community. This one has a lot of fun OCs and some extremely touching stories (the one about Joshua in particular broke my heart in all the best ways). Their neighbors are a lot of fun and the fic in particular that has a facebook chat of their speculations on who the new guys moving into Eden Cottage are is fantastic.)

22. A Brand New Angle – @fallsouthwinter (T, the one where Crowley and Aziraphale pick a direction and gun it. Has first kisses, dancing, delightful neighbors, gardening—all the best ingredients for a heartwarming, satisfying South Downs romp. And this definitely is one—with some promising things to come, judging by the standalone in the same universe!)

23. A Safe Place for You – Vagabond (@waffleironbiddingwar) (M, the one where learning to receive love is a little bit harder lesson to take in than giving love. M for a humanly intimate scene that borders but does not cross into full smut, and an ethereally intimate scene that is weird and pretty. This whole thing is achingly poignant and heavy; every word drips with emotion and it’s both difficult and sweet, much like the subject matter, I suppose. A memorable and beautiful piece.)

24. Act of Service – @dietraumerei (T, the one where people think Aziraphale is Crowley’s sugar daddy. This one starts off hilarious and then slam-dunks itself right into the Feels Pile, with a side-helping of discussing dynamics and reaching acceptance. An instant classic and one I’ve definitely read more than a few times.)

POST-APOCALYPSE

25. Thou Knowest Us Happy – @mirrorleaf (T, the one where Gabriel gets the truth shoved directly into his face. This is a fic of a fic (the original I have not read bc it’s rated E and I can’t do that for personal reasons), and while this fic references its source quite a bit, it’s not confusing enough for the fic itself to be off-putting. In fact, it’s a gorgeous one-two punch to the throat: first, the Banishing of the Archangel Gabriel, which is INCREDIBLY satisfying; second, the Making Sense of It All, where Aziraphale and Crowley realize they’re truly free and start to explore the various contexts of their relationship, past and future, which is very sweet. A delectable little treat, all told.)

26. Courage – @mandysimo13 (G, the one that’s a good old-fashioned post-apocalypse love confession. There’s a cute little characterization of Courage woven throughout, because of course Crowley personifies the emotions he is or isn’t dealing with, but on the whole it’s adorable and intimate and cute.)

27. when the earth is trembling – @stammiviktor (T, the one where Crowley takes Aziraphale on an amazing date. Listen, I adore stories where Crowley falls to pieces under the weight of his love as much as the next dork, but Crowley delivering? Crowley being, if not confident, then at least secure in the choices he’s making? Crowley showing his angel a good time because he knows what his angel likes? SIGN ME UP, FAM. Especially if we still get Crowley coming a little undone at his attentions paying off in a hoped-for but still unexpected way (to him, anyway).)

28. Little Terrors – @runwiththisdinosaur (T, the one where Aziraphale is being more affectionate and Crowley is one hand-touch away from an aneurism. This one doesn’t pull away from Crowley’s all-consuming fear of Aziraphale Falling for loving him, and captures the messy feelings and hurt and heartbreak and healing these two getting their act together demands. Also Indian food.)

29. Forgiveness – @guanin (G, the one where Aziraphale has a well-deserved breakdown after Armageddon’t. This one is super-duper cathartic and has Aziraphale working through all of his hurt feelings and confusion over Heaven and how they treated him, and how he subsequently treated Crowley. Featuring a very patient Crowley and a very weepy Aziraphale and a lot of wondering about fate and choice.)

30. Of burnt books and courting Crowley – robynvite (T, the one where Aziraphale accidentally finds out Crowley’s in love with him and then sets out to properly woo him. I love fics where Aziraphale finally takes the initiative, and he does so with gusto. Anathema serves as a great sounding board and go-between for these lovestruck idiots, and Crowley not knowing how to handle Aziraphale being flirty is the best thing. Also, Aziraphale finds out they burned the second Agnes Nutter book and has an angelic come-apart.)

31. that I may hear my heart fall from your lips – song_of_fate (NR, the one where Crowley and Aziraphale get to be themselves at last. Y’all like awkward but shyly happy getting-together fics? Y’all like Greek vacations? Y’all like Anathema being a bro and Crowley being casual and Aziraphale being absolutely taken with him? You’ve found your fic, folks, and it’s not even finished yet. More softness to come!)

BUS RIDE/NIGHT BEFORE/HEAVEN AND HELL

32. please please please let me get what I want this time – @sarahbacou (NR, the one where Crowley is extremely tired and Aziraphale muses on their situation. The tone of this one is mournful and apprehensive, but ultimately tender as Aziraphale cares for an exhausted-to-the-point-of-delirium Crowley on the bus ride home. The scene after they get off the bus is just straight-up heartbreaking, there are no other words for it, but it ends hopeful, especially knowing what we know about canon.)

33. Ethereal Love – @mariannightroad (G, the one where trying to teach Aziraphale to sleep morphs into something a little bit more. The purest and sweetest of romances, the most sexless making love of all time (even for weird angel essence-touching, it’s pretty devoid of lust), and just really really Soft u guys.)

34. Long Night’s Journey Into Day – @whatawriterwields (T, the one where Aziraphale keeps watch through the night. This one is adorable and very tender, with a terrible nightmare and an amusing adventure involving remote tea-making and FEELINGS. Aziraphale loves Crowley so much.)

35. Maybe Tomorrow Will Be a Better Day (If You Let Me Look at Your Beautiful Eyes) – TheWinterSldier (T, the one where Aziraphale ponders about Crowley’s eyes while wearing his body. There’s some historical jumping but the majority of the story is focused on retelling Crowley’s trial from Aziraphale’s head, and the meal at the Ritz afterwards. There are a lot of emotions about Crowley’s eyes. Ironically, there were also a lot of emotions about my eyes. Or, rather, in my eyes. Just overflowing with feels.)

AU/UA

36. Hard Times – @northeasternwind (G, the one that’s the bandstand scene in the context of Speremint’s Reverse Omens AU. I love the characterizations of Anthony and Azirafell so much in this particular AU, and the building tension and sudden breaking of the dam at the end is exquisitely done.)

37. Rosemary and Sage – AJissoverytired (T, the one that’s based on the witch AU by masao-micchi and is PRECIOUS. Crowley is the Red Witch, a very famous and talented mage, who accidentally gets turned into a snake by a rival and winds up being found by Aziraphale, a mage-in-training who’s starstruck by the Red Witch. They strike up a familiar contract, with Crowley conveniently not letting Aziraphale know who he actually is, and enter the Completely Ridiculous Comedy of a pseudo-love square. The world is vibrant and fun, characterization is spot-on, and it’s so funny and sweet I’m dying. Worth the read 4000%.)

38. Only Love (Can Bring the Rain) – @soft-october-night (T, the fairy tale-ish AU featuring a sweet prince and his handsome gardener boy. Y’all. Y’ALL. Pining and childhood friends-to-lovers and class struggles and vegetable-growing contests and subterfuge, oH MY. The flavor of this one is Very Very Good, absolutely a gem.)

39. Running in the Shadows (Damn Your Love, Damn Your Lies) – @soft-october-night (M, the one that’s vaguely a Persuasion AU but is mostly a messy, emotional romance shoved into Regency decency. M for mentions of sexual activity that would most certainly overwhelm the sensibilities of a more delicate readership, but it’s not bad at all for a modern reader. I think soft_october might just own my soul, because HOT DANG, that is two AUs in a row that are scratching my itches in the best ways. The LONGING. The EMOTIONAL TURMOIL. The MASQUE BALL. The CLASS STRUGGLES. I have read it twice already and will definitely be coming back to it a lot, because there’s lots of meat on this here bone. Adam Young and Crowley’s relationship in particular is touching, and Crowley’s friendship with Anathema is top-notch.)

40. I have loved you (for a thousand years) – @asideofourown (T, the one where they’ve been dating the whole time but SOMEONE missed the memo. Classic miscommunication at its finest; Crowley’s chapter is painful enough with his pining and heartsick longing, but Aziraphale’s chapter knocks it out of the park with his perspective of actually being in a relationship with Crowley and the various misinterpretations that’s caused. They’re so stupid and I love them.)

41. Gravity – Emmbee_89 (T, the one where Crowley was Raphael and he and Aziraphale had (and have) a love so powerful Aziraphale created Time and they couldn’t be separated even after the Fall. Oh sweet Jebus and all his little elves, the tenderness and powerful heartbreak this one causes gave me actual physical pains. Bittersweet and lovely. I am so proud of them.)

42. The Love You Leave Behind – @gloriouscacophany (T, the one that’s a 1980s college AU where Aziraphale is studying abroad and Crowley is the singer of a rock band. This one is UNBELIEVABLY gorgeous. Listen, I don’t usually go in for human AUs, but this one caught me, hook, line, and sinker. The sensory details are lush (especially when Aziraphale is noticing Crowley, hoo boy) and the story has some built-in heartbreak that’s already paying off (hello, homophobia), but despite the incoming pain and torment, I have full faith and expectation of a great ride along the way. Truly spectacular.)

43. Pray For Us, Icarus – @seaskystone (G and T, the series where Crowley keeps reincarnating as a human and Aziraphale loves him. Listen, I know 90% of you already know this masterpiece, but for the 10% who don’t, this series will heck you up one side and down the other. It will drown you in sorrow so that the good moments are sweeter than air. It is so intense, so emotionally raw, so dadgum TENDER, I had no idea what to do with myself after I finished it. Like a cheese grater on a sunburn when it’s bad, like hot chocolate on a bitter cold day when it’s good. A fandom staple for sure, cathartic and satisfying as only successful recovery after a long, hard, difficult event can be.)

44. Magnesium and Oil – @quaidpoppinjack (T, the one that’s a monster hunter AU. The great thing about fandom is that sometimes people will make AUs you would never have thought of, but once you know of it, you need it desperately. In this one, instead of tempting and thwarting, Crowley and Aziraphale are tasked with gathering the escaped creatures of Eden and sending them either to Hell or Heaven to stock for the impending War. The worldbuilding is AMAZING, the little details are great (for those of you wanting Crowley in hunting leathers, welcome to the party), and the story itself is just good, okay. Great action, lovely plot.)

45. alpha centauri – @hyruling (T, the one where Aziraphale agrees to run away to Alpha Centauri during the Apocalypse. To my understanding, this work was previously deleted by the author, but I’m so glad it was brought back so I could read it, because two very scared, very piney idiots carving out a domestic life on a barren planet WITH A CAT is the jam I didn’t know I had. Watching them circle each other is great; watching it all come tumbling down when Plot happens is even better. It’s a happy ending, don’t get it twisted, but you always have to wade through the Bad before you get to the Good, after all. A lovely little piece, absolutely A+++.)

46. Truth Untold – GenericUsername01 (G and T, the series where Crowley was Raphael, Aziraphale was made to be his assistant, and holy crap on a STICK where to even start. The worldbuilding is INSANE, I love how the Archangels are described and go about their business (word to the wise, do NOT skip the prologue work, you miss all of the best context if you do). And if that’s not great enough, there’s a whole system of angel-devil nemesis pairs all over Earth, whom we get to meet when devils start wanting to repent. There’s baptism involved and it’s horrifying and heartbreaking. Not finished yet, but it’s ramping up. Also, Crowley is functionally blind, which is about to start causing some real humorous problems since no one else knows about it, certainly not Aziraphale.)

47. Take me to the room where the red’s all red (take me out of my head, that’s what I said) – @raiining (M, the one that’s a Dom/sub AU with gentle top Aziraphale and bottom Crowley. No real sexual elements in this one, but I can understand why the M is there, the subject matter might be a little Much for some people even if it is fairly chaste (if sensual). The dynamic between Crowley and Aziraphale is delicious af, especially when they’re snapping at each other and then later melting into each other. It’s just. So good.)

48. Take This Sinking Boat and Point it Home – sobakasu, sssnakelady (T, the one where Crowley and Aziraphale used to be the same being, and the combination of fundamental incompletion compounding with being in love is tearing Crowley apart at the seams. Darkly emotional and absolutely raw with feeling, quiet and powerful and subtle. Crowley is absolutely heartbreaking, but Aziraphale manages to bind it all up quite nicely—not perfectly, they’ll have to work at it, but sweetly and with perfect love.)

JUST SOFT

49. Three Unthwarted Wiles – @almaasi (G, the one where Aziraphale lets Crowley get away with a few things. Oh my heaven it’s so SOFT, I know that’s the point of this section but HRRGK. Crowley does so much for Aziraphale and Aziraphale returns the favor as often as he can and they just love each other so much I’m sobbing.)

50. The Original Bar Joke – @deathbycoldopen (T, the one where Crowley sees himself as the punch line in God’s big ineffable joke. Sad until finally it isn’t, but Crowley spilling the beans via joke-that-turns-into-scathing-self-reproach is a unique flavor I wasn’t expecting and it broke my heart. Absolutely wonderful.)

51. Love Stories – @just-quintessentially-me (G, the one where Aziraphale is the maudlin sad drunk. Guys, I’ll be real, the emotional payoff of this fic is sweet, but the real highlight for me is Aziraphale scolding a fire he accidentally sets, because nothing feels so Aziraphale as him being drunk off his wings and attempting to LECTURE a FIRE. Also Crowley’s reaction to Aziraphale setting a fire in the bookshop is…well, about how you’d expect. A fantastic little number I quite enjoy.)

52. no mind to lose – @saints-and-demons-preserve-us (T, the one where Aziraphale goes fast and Crowley is a mess. Starts with an ode to Crowley’s long hair, as it rightly should, and evolves into a rather adorable start-stop where Aziraphale engages in various touching activities and Crowley is doing his level best, bless him, to catch up and remember how limbs and lungs work. Precious.)

53. Alas, Poor Yorick! This Is Gonna Suck! – WhiteQueenWrites (T, the one where Crowley finds his perfect opportunity while teaching a theater class to the Them. Yes, it’s canon!verse, not an AU. Yes, Crowley and Aziraphale kiss while teaching Romeo and Juliet. Yes, it is exactly as adorable and tween-traumatizing as you would expect. It’s very fun!)

54. Divine Intervention (aka God Ships It) – @theladyzephyr (G, the one where God has had it up to HERE with two idiots stuck in denial. Oh, folks. This fic is a TEASE. This fic is TANTALIZING. This fic is INFURIATING. And it is so, so worth its weight in gold, because the moment of triumph is so unspeakably sweet. It’s so good, y’all. So good.)

55. Learning to Speak the Language of Flowers – @junkshop-disco (M, the one where Crowley and Aziraphale are orbiting closer. M for discussions of trauma, I think. I’m not sure if I have the words for this one but I’ll try anyway. It shifts between the night the world didn’t end and the events after, and the time Crowley and Aziraphale spent in the Dowling household, and the transitions between the two are so smooth sometimes it’s hard to catch which time period you’re in. The writing is emotive and beautiful, and the emotional impetus behind the fic is compelling. Highly, highly recommended.)

56. seasons, changes – @whatawriterwields (G, the one that cycles through four seasons of Crowley and Aziraphale’s new life in love. Gorgeous and descriptive and so sensory—it really captures a lot of the best parts of each season. And also it’s incredibly loving and I die.)

57. waking up to you – @whatawriterwields (G, the series that’s a collection of tender morning moments. Listen, this writer is the MASTER of tender fluff, and this series is overwhelming. I have had to physically clutch at my heart and wail at my ceiling because of how cute everything is. If you need a dose of fluff after reading something angsty, here’s your medicine.)

58. Nemo dat quod non habet – @liquidlyrium (T and M, the series that examines the aftermath of the trials in Heaven and Hell, and Crowley and Aziraphale have an actual conversation. M rating is just to be safe bc the makeouts can be intense, but it’s not bad. The stories are basically revolving around the same conversation from two different points; Aziraphale’s bit goes more into the kissy-kissy afterwards. Powerful and raw, but understated; there’s dignity in this series, and a good bit of playfulness. The writing carries itself exceptionally well.)

59. Where to Start – @freyjawriter24 (T, the one where Crowley’s almost kissed Aziraphale plenty of times through history. Oh, y’all. Crowley’s emotions are laid so bare. The longing is so good. The scenes are all pretty original and interesting, and you can get a good sense for what Aziraphale’s feeling in these moments, too. Top-notch.)

TOUCH-STARVED/BODY WORSHIP/WINGS

60. The Power of Touch – @wordsintimeandspace (T, the one where Crowley needs some tending to and Aziraphale is more than happy to do it. It’s lots of kissing and touching and it gets intense but not too sexual. Also some lovely communication and boundary negotiation and it’s great.)

61. show a little skin (baby I’m begging) – @summerofspock (T, the one where Crowley can barely handle seeing Aziraphale flash a little skin now and then. Oh, y’all, it’s so much fun. Crowley is in over his head, someone please help him. Ankles, collarbones, FOREARMS. Oh lawd.)

62. You’re the Only Prayer I Need – @kedreeva (G, the one where Crowley’s shedding and Aziraphale helps. Featuring an absurdly large bathtub, wing bathing, and finally the peeling of snakeskin, which sounds so intensely satisfying, tbh. Simple, companionable, and nice.)

63. Of Firsts and Foremosts – @kedreeva (T, the one where Crawly finds Aziraphale cornered by Ligur and steps in. This one has really interesting bits of lore stuffed into it and a sweetly cautious blooming camaraderie between Crawly and Aziraphale; on top of that, there’s cuddling and wing care and both are extremely good.)

64. At Least Eleven Second First Times – @enjambament (M, the one where Aziraphale has to get used to being on Earth in a body again. M for risqué elements that brush up against smut without crossing over. This one is all about feeling things, from emotional to physical sensations, and how Aziraphale is overwhelmed by it all, but there’s also bits of the inherent diversity of the world and the significance of being able to feel things and on top of being secondhand-overstimulated, it drops you directly into Feels Town and it’s delicious.)

BONUS

65. a snake by any other name – @asideofourown (G, the one where Crowley’s snake form is spotted by a herpetology student and an unlikely companionship is struck. This one is from the view of an OC and is really cute, involving Crowley growing fond of a human with proper appreciation for serpentine charms. Also the OC and her girlfriend have a fun argument about what Crowley actually is and it’s adorable.)

66. Always Trust a Dog’s Judge in Character – notebooksandlaptops (T, the one where Warlock moves back to his London home and starts building a life. This one is so good, y’all; adult (ish, he’s nineteen) Warlock is such a delight and you can see Nanny Ashtoreth’s influence all over him. It’s even better when he meets Adam and forms the biggest crush known to man (good thing it’s reciprocated, that would have been awkward), and befriends the rest of the Them (Pepper in particular is to be feared and respected). A fic about growing up and finding yourself, and I love where it’s going.)

H/C /WHUMP/BAMF

67. In Peace I Will Both Lie Down and Sleep – @fizzybiscuits (G, the one where Aziraphale is having nightmares. This fic feels so organic—like a logical continuation of the show, or at least one of many directions it could take. Aziraphale having vivid bad dreams and NOT TALKING ABOUT IT is so on-brand, and Crowley getting worried out of his gourd is also on-brand. Vulnerable and sweet and soft, once the nightmares are dealt with.)

68. A Touch Like Sunlight – @just-quintessentially-me (T, the one where Crowley acts the hero like an idiot. This is Crowley’s vengeance against the Archangels and it’s heart-pounding; of course stuff goes off the rails pretty quickly, but even the stuff that goes right has tension in it. A great adventure, with an appearance from BAMF!Aziraphale.)

69. Chokecherry – unsmilingchuck (T, the one where Crowley helps clean up Aziraphale’s hands after a frankly awful punishment from Heaven. This fic feels calm, maybe more so when it’s revealed what it’s in the aftermath of, and Crowley is very methodical and meticulous in his care. It’s clear how much they care about each other and that’s always the jam.)

70. Thus saith the Lord – @themanicmagician (T, the one where angels can be drafted into Her service like a hive mind. Oh, folks, you want historical pain? You want emotional torment? You want a thrilling chase and a tender aftercare and a triumphant victory? You want to be in your friend’s house and hear the Plagues song from Prince of Egypt and almost have a complete breakdown bc you’re reliving this fic? Then join me in singing this one’s praises, because it delivers. It does not let up even for a second, once it gets going. This is probably one of the darkest fics I’ve ever read, but the ending balances it out. It’s great.)

71. In Somnis Veritas – PinkPenguinParade (T, the one where Aziraphale volunteers to help Crowley with his nightmares. Oh, y’all. Y’all, this one is so good. Just two immortal beings, working through their various traumas together. There’s pain and healing and a beautiful, beautiful ending. This fic hits all the right notes, it’s splendid.)

72. Incongruous States of Being – @zehwulf (T, the one where Aziraphale is a BAMF and that was never truly up for debate. Featuring an argument meant mostly for fun, and then a fight meant mostly for not-fun. Protective Aziraphale through the roof, gang. Very, very good. The tension is exquisite, and the characterizations are perfection. A wonderful take on Aziraphale and his abilities.)

73. Aim Your Arrow At The Sky – @trellanyx (T, the one where Aziraphale is a warrior and don’t you forget it. Warnings for some pretty graphic violence. This fic is not epic-length but it is epic-scope; it’s downright cinematic. The details are so crisp and the action so well-described, and threaded through it all is fierce, tender, desperate love. A wonderful read, especially if you want to see two particular Archangels get theirs.)

[eupark]

HI HI HI!! if you’re reading this i’m probably at work right now and being the worst admin ever... but that’s okay... kinda. i’m admin le, but you’re more than free to also call me lizzy, my pronouns are she/her, i’m 18+, and i reside in the est. i work pretty much full time at this point, but all my free time will be spent with everyone here at eonia! don’t hesitate to IM me here, or hit me up on discord (swooping is bad#8932) if you’re having any issues at all. without further adieu, lets move on to the actual intro here. spare a like, and ill come pester you for plots.

jonas can quite literally be summed up by this, this, and this. he started as a joke of a character but now i’m too deep into his psyche to have any other original ideas.

BACKGROUND

in the year 1995, his mother was admitted into a nursing school in florence, italy. always wanting to study abroad and get away from her home city of jinju, south korea, she was ECSTATIC about it. it took some convincing her parents, but she ultimately ended up in florence for her schooling.

fast forward to spring 1997, nearing the end of her second year at school, she met apollo. he was pretty, she was pretty, you get the rest! it was a tiny fling, and she winded up pregnant with this mess of a demigod; jonas.

born a couple days before valentine’s day in 1998 to a single mother, jonas park came into the world. there were more than a few times wherein his mother considered dropping out of school and returning to korea, both during and after her pregnancy. but a born out of wed-lock child wasn’t exactly favored in the eyes of jonas’ grandparents, so she usually felt as if she wouldn’t be welcomed back with open arms, nor would her child. therefore, she stayed in italy, and in school.

apollo wasn’t around an awful lot, even in passing, but every so often he’d make sure to give her a nudge, just to make sure she was keeping on her feet. we love a bare minimum lover<3

when jonas was old enough to wonder why he didn’t have a father in his life, his mother never went into much detail about it. as far as she saw it, jonas was hers and hers alone. no god would change that. so, ultimately, jonas grew up extremely close to his mother; for awhile, they were both all the other had in their lives.

a lot of his childhood was rather uneventful, surprisingly. as absent as apollo was, and still is, he’s always managed to keep jonas relatively safe. at least, from himself.

things started getting strange when he was around eleven, after his mother got married to his stepfather. the beginnings of puberty mixing with family dynamics changing ALSO with demigod abilities manifesting and getting stronger... let’s just say it wasn’t the most healthy mix.

at first it wasn’t too bad, though; his musical aptitude could’ve easily been thought of as mere skill. he adored music deeply, and began to dream about a music career around this age. audiokinesis was a skill in him naturally, but even before he knew he was a demigod, practicing his musical skill was important to him. whether it was learning guitar or piano or anything else that piqued his interest, he was all for it.

and though he had always been able to subside his mother’s pains by mere touch for a great majority of his life, it wasn’t until he was about twelve that he really became aware of his abilities in vitakinesis. this was also when he found out about being a demigod.

imagine a boy of twelve, at home alone after school due to both his mother and step-father being at their respective jobs. now imagine said idiot boy cooking and accidentally burning his hand on the stove rather severely, and quickly trying to get into contact with his mother. before he could, both the pain and wound quickly reduced. it was mostly thanks to divine intervention of his father, but it did trigger the majority of his vitakinesis abilities. naturally, he freaked the hell out. he was pretty sure he had just burned his hand… why had the pain vanished, and why was he left with a mere dull ache? instead of telling his mother what happened, though, and asking her if he was just completely crazy (he was pretty sure, at twelve, he already was), he decided to test the ability instead.

SELF HARM TW. the incident led to him being extremely stupid and reckless, often testing his ability several times over. he burned himself on the stove, jumped from heights that shouldn’t be jumped from, even picked fights with kids at school who he knew didn’t like him just to see if he could heal himself the way he seemed to that one day after school. usually, he was able to quite well. however, since he had little control and little knowledge of how his ability worked, he wound up with a couple badly sprained wrists and twisted ankles. when he was finally satisfied (if not a little bit scared) with what he could do to alleviate his own pain, he decided to ask his mother about it. she told him about apollo readily; she knew she would have to sooner or later, but she mostly did it so she would stop catching him being such an idiot.

he started going to camp that following summer. apollo took forever to claim jonas despite it being OBVIOUS that he was his son. therefore, jonas spent a few summers vibing with the hermes kids and the other unclaimed kids in the same cabin.  jonas was only claimed at fourteen because apollo pretty much had to do so.

camp was usually pretty uneventful, too. i mean, all things considered. his dad didn’t really talk to him much, he wasn’t on the brink of any wars, it was just... camp. a couple heartbreaks here and there, a burn scar that’s never quite healed, and a few encounters with monsters outside of camp walls because he was bored... but really? nothing TOO SPECIAL ever happened.

nearing the end of high school, jonas was ready to be done with schooling forever, as he was never big on getting favorable grades, nor did he want a career that required it. as far as he knew, he would figure things out.

WELL that didn’t happen. to turn a long story short his never going back to school plan turned into a gap year from school after a near death experience trying to be a normal person outside of a protective barrier<3

to make an even longer story shorter because this intro is extremely long he’s now in his second year at eonia, majoring in video game development after a miserable semester and a half as a music major.

PERSONALITY

copy and pasted from his app but you know!

jonas is generally fun-loving, with a go with the flow type of attitude matched with a firm dislike of critical thinking that may lead one to believe he’s never had a worry go through his pretty little mind. an assumption far from the truth, but he’d never give the inclination of otherwise. his mind constantly rustles with worries about the vagueness of the “future,” and he lives in fear that he’s never quite doing enough to keep up, especially for someone of his age. in a way, jonas is stuck in a never-ending cycle of his own inertia. most of these existential fears, however, live beneath the surface, and are rarely spoken to another soul.

to the world outside of his head, he is extroverted, with a mouth that runs faster than his legs ever could. jonas is loyal and optimistic, both nearly to a fault and never for his own favor. since he runs on limited brain capacity and an annoying desire to be liked by every individual he meets, his buoyancy can become quite tiresome to many rather quickly. a passion for music hums through his veins, and many dreams reside in his heart, but life has always told him that no matter how hard he tried, he’d always come in second place. instead of overcompensating, it’s instead a complete rarity for jonas to put one hundred percent of his soul into anything; that is to say, it is rare for jonas to try his absolute hardest. to him, second place has its silver linings, and sometimes some shade. well, at least he’s an enthusiastic runner-up.

[carryonmywaywardwriters]

Heathens - Soulless Reader x Demon Dean (Short Series)

A/N: Part two! As always, feedback is incredible. And, I hope you all enjoy <3

PSA: I am NOT a minor friendly blog. If you are below 18, please come back when you’re older. I don’t want to lose my blog because you were too eager to grow up. If I discover you, I WILL block.

Part One

Warnings: Harley/Joker kinda relationship. Unhealthy. Power driven. Smut.

Word Count: Roughly 2,200

“Moose!” His voice was all cheer and glee as he stared up at the towering, still human brother. Trying to ignore the demon-killing knife in the too strong hand. The deep, loathing scowl etched onto the human's face as he stared down the monarch.

Crowley had finally given up. He had no one else to turn to. There were no other beings that stood a chance at getting near the power couple. The two creatures he'd helped shape were raising literal hell on earth. It was time for desperate measures.

“Where is he?” Sam demanded thickly. Booming in rage. Not bothering with any sort of pleasantries. After all, Crowley had his brother for all he knew.

“Ah, yes. Dean-o.” The King's lips pulled back into a scowl. It was time to get to business. Before too much more damage could ensue. “For once, we want the same thing. Squirrel back to himself.” The younger Winchester's eyes narrowed in the low sunlight as he took in Crowley skeptically. “As we both know, your brother is a... changed man. And not for the better.”

“Funny,” Sam snorted. Face twitching as he refrained from colliding into the demon and ending it all. “Last I checked, you were parading him around like some kind of prize. What brought on the change of heart?” Ordinarily, Crowley enjoyed the Winchester sass. But, not then. His eyes rolled instinctively.

“Your brother has this annoying tendency to do as he pleases. I can't control him. I've tried.” The demon shrugged, not even slightly remorseful in his actions. “I might have had better luck if he hadn't run into Y/N-”

“Y/N? Y/N L/N? She's with Dean?” Crowley watched as stark fear crossed the giant's face. “Has he hurt her? God, she has to be terrified-”

“Unlikely.” The king of hell snorted. Too sore from his latest failure to use the hunter's terror for leverage. “The only thing that girl feels is hunger for power.” Bitterness welled inside of him at the thought. You'd not only destroyed his plans for Dean, but the ones he'd had for you as well. In a single swoop. Only needing to bat your eyes to get what you pleased from the knight of hell. Your soul was the only leverage Crowley had against you two, and your only interest was in its destruction. “If I were you? I'd fear more for Dean.”

Realization crossed Sam's face, “You did something to her.” And the anger followed, nostrils flared and all. “I swear to god-”

“No,” Crowley held up his finger as he corrected the hunter. “I only ordered her to be collected as part of a contract that one of my demons created. Simply business. Nothing personal.” The look on Sam's face made it clear. He didn't believe a word the demon was saying. Smart man. “The chit made it damned difficult. Killed my favorite hound. So, I sent demons.” He kept the story simple. Not going into detail about the way you'd fought your life. He didn't need the moose endearing to you anymore than he already was. “They pulled away her soul believing it would stun her enough to destroy her body. But, that's as far as they got.” A vial was pulled out of his jacket, containing the silver blue light that had been torn from your very being. “Turns out your little pet can be quite brutal when she wants to be. And that damned knife you gave her ended up being quite effective. Now? Now we have a soulless maniac on the loose who not only wants to rule the world. But doesn't give a damn who she has to kill to get it. And I'm sure your brother is going to end up on that list if he doesn't follow her orders.” The look on Sam's face said enough. “Don't say it. I know what you're thinking. But, the soulless chit is the problem of the moment. For the both of us!”

“Why not just let it go? Let it find it's way back? If she's not soulless, then-”

“Then, Dean will remove it himself without time counting against him. We'll have nothing to make them pause long enough to gather some control back. They'll be lost.” The King's face fell, just as his reign would if you two continued to skillfully wield your weapons.

You'd already put a large dent into his army. Had weaseled out information- according to the few survivors that crossed your paths- that could give you an advantage. Letting them live only to let Crowley know just how successful you'd been. To toy with his mind.

Harley Quinn and The Joker. Bonnie and Clyde. Or any other powerful duo that could be thought of. None of them compared to the twisted, effective, relationship that you two had. When you weren't covered in blood, you were covered with each other.

“Just when I thought this couldn't get any crazier.” Sam snorted, a bitter half laugh leaving his lips as his hand ran over his stubbled jaw. “Of course it turns into this.” The resignation on his face gave the king some hope.

“Welcome to the party, Moose.”  Crowley smirked, though he felt nothing more than vulnerable. You two were too close. There wasn't much time. He would be dead as soon as you two arrived in town, and he was powerless to stop it on his own.

–

“Harder,” You moaned out in pleasure as his hands bruised into your hips. Your nails digging into the rolling muscles of Dean's shoulder and back as you rode him. Breaking the skin along the way. Not giving a damn that he grunted at the feeling. Your eyes were shut. Head tossed back as you zeroed in on the way he filled you. Yet,  you could feel the warmth of those blackened orbs watching you as you straddled his lap. His grip moving your body along his solid length.

“Alright,” His lips kicked up arrogantly. Instead of just following your orders, you were flipped so that he was on top of you on the wrecked bed. Your empty E/C eyes were darkened with lust when you opened them. The large fists clenched into your thigh and arm hard enough to rebruise the damaged flesh. He slammed his hips faster, giving you exactly what you demanded and then some.

His teeth sank into the soft skin of your throat; drawing both a cry from your lips and pebbles of blood forward that he easily licked away as he thrust sharply. Leaving another mark on your skin with a growl as your claws sank into him deeper. Body clenching hard around his dick. The hot, slick tug of your body trying to hold him hostage. Taking what you needed from him greedily. He left one hand on your hip as he pulled away. Moving to gain more control. The other gripped the wooden frame. Giving him better leverage. The wooden headboard slammed into the wall roughly. Motel room pictures rattled. Other patrons yelled out their complaints. Drown out by the cries leaving your throat.

At one time, sex between you two had been slow and meaningful. There had been lingering kisses, touches, and emotion behind every action. Cuddles afterwards. Conversation about the future. Dissections of your feelings. It had been everything a girl could dream of before it had ended.

But now? You two used each other. It wasn't about getting closer. Simply about getting off. Sex was just another tool in the power struggle you were looked in. Used as a tool for manipulating the other. Abrasive and filthy every time. Primal in nature, much like the both of you.

You both were covered with lesions; branding each other as the other's property. Possessive? Simply because you needed the other to get where you wanted. Thrived off of how much control you could garner with the right look. A simple touch. There was nothing else to it. No love. Not an ounce of fluff to be found. And you two thrived in the mucked up relationship.

“That's it.” His low voice vibrated shock waves through your system as he coaxed you through your orgasm; watching as you fell apart around him. Hips rolling. Mouth open as the delicious sounds poured out of your lips. “Fuck, Y/N...”

Writhing erratically, he tried to get impossibly closer; losing himself inside of the tight hold. Your eyesight focused in time to see his flushed face contort in pleasure. In the past you would have thought he was beautiful. Would have gotten lost in his pleasure. Instead, you focused on the feeling him getting off gave you.

How he stretched you just right when he stopped moving. The warmth of his seed coating your walls. All of it giving you a final bit of a buzz.

“You didn't win,” You huffed, face grim in determination as you came down from one of the only highs you could still reach.

“Your plan is beyond crazy.” He grumbled, rolling off of you. Displeased that the sex hadn't ended the conversation. After all? That had been the point.

“Which is why it would work.” You insisted again, moving to rest yourself over him. The position giving you better access to his gaze. Eyes that were back to the darkened green. That showed the bit of humanity you'd discovered under the surface of 'Deanmon'. “You know he's gunning on Sam wanting to get us back to the emotionally wrecked shithole we were in before.” If you could've felt fear, he'd have said that's what crossed your face. Instead, desperation was a better fit. All wide eyed and tight lipped. “He wants your brother to stop us. He's scared, Dean. All we have to do is get ahold of him- and his bones- and the rest falls into place. Crowley knows that. But, we won't get there before Sam does whatever his part is in the counter plan.” Your fingers trailed through the short, sex mused locks on his head as your voice softened back into that deadly, convincing tone. “So... we have no choice. We have to put you in Sam's grasp. Have to take care of him. Or, everything we've done is for nothing.” He looked unsure, but he nodded grimly. “I know you have a soft spot for him-”

“I don't.” Dean bit out, his demon side taking completely over at the words. Green blackened. Exactly what you needed.

“But, there's a tiny piece of you that does.” Your voice lowered into the manipulative little timbre he'd come to expect when you set your mind to something. His hackles rose. “It's the same part that Crowley wanted to kill. The same part of you that felt the need to keep me alive.” Softly, you added another twist to the knife. “I'm glad that piece of you exists...Really.” Your hand slowly moved down his sweat coated skin, until you reached the warm mark on his forearm. “But, I- we need you to push past it. If my soul comes back? I'll forget all of this. I'll turn against you. We'll lose everything we've gained.” You traced the reddened flesh. Eyes locked wishfully onto the mark. Begging for it, silently. The power it held. “Even if you can rip it back out? We 'll be too far gone. They'll have the upper hand...we can't afford that kinda set back.” Your vacant eyes met his again in a way that made his skin prickle. “You said you didn't want to lose your demon side... I get that. And you won't. Not completely. I have every detail planned out. You just have to trust me, Dean.” Your lips pressed against the anti-possesion symbol that had been etched onto his chest. The similar mark you bore on your hip. As if it meant something to the two of you. Despite both of you knowing better. “Trust us.”

He had little doubt that you'd planned out every possible scenario. Your lack of humanity made it alarmingly easy to spot weakness in anything that had even the slightest bit remaining. To see where they would go. See how to cut past it effectively. Even in himself.

He'd witnessed the skill countless times over the coarse of three months. Against demons, witches, and humans. If anything got in the way of something you desired? You cut it down without blinking. His brother was simply next on the list.

“Fine,” He nodded. You were right. He didn't want to go back to the feeling. To the wretchedness his life had held before he'd gone dark. That much, he was certain on.. “We do this. We've come this far...” Your lips lifted in a sinister grin, making him almost regret agreeing to it right then and there.

Dean/Jensen: @akshi8278​ @screechingartisancashbailiff​

Forever: @dean-winchesters-bacon​​ @supernaturalginger​​ @lilulo-12​​ @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce​​ @fanfictionismydeath​

[theotherboywhonevergrewup]

My Top Songs of 2019

It’s that time of the year again when I take a look back at all the great music that was released throughout the year and choose my top 10.  Quick disclaimer as usual: These are not what I think are the best songs of the year.  They’re not even my favorite songs of the year.  They’re simply the top 10 songs that have defined my year.  (See the end if you’re interested in the rules of the selection of this top 10; also, most of this was written in 2019 but some was written in 2020).

10. “Think About Us” - Little Mix featuring Ty Dolla $ign

“When you're dancin' in the club And the nights are getting hard Do you think about us?”

Everyone knows that I have a weakness for girl groups.  UK’s Little Mix isn’t exactly my favorite, but admire how strongly they’ve stuck together as a group.  Their chemistry is undeniable, both as people and as vocalists.  To me, “Think About Us” was the standout track from last year’s LM5, and the addition of Ty Dolla $ign was the little shove it needed to be great.  The girls shine with their vocal prowess both on their solos and together on the chorus, and Ty$’s verse splits the track nicely.  The accompanying video is mesmerizing.  Each of the girls look absolutely stunning, and they have individual sets representing the different parts of a relationship, with Perrie as the butterflies-in-my-stomach beginning and Jade as the icy, cold end.  The lyrics are quite vague, but I think that’s the intention.  It’s applicable to any stage of a relationship; it could be a love song or a break-up song.  With it’s fun beat, it’s hard to pick if you want to dance to it, belt it out, or try to do both, but it’s definitely been an infectious part of 2019!

9. “Lonely for You” - Armin van Buuren featuring Bonnie McKee

“No, you're never gonna see me cry I already got a brand new life Don't you know I'm moving on And everyday I'm stronger? I don't even know you're gone”

The Netherlands’ Armin van Buuren has a recipe to get trance music to pull at your heart, and one piece that makes this apparent is “Lonely for You.”  With the assist from US’s pop hit writer Bonnie McKee, this track is different yet familiar, a haunting disconnect to match the mixed feelings of the lyrics.  From light synths to disco-esque drums to pure piano, Van Buuren’s track pushes and pulls the same way the tumultuous narrator’s lyrics go back and forth, with McKee’s vocals surfing on the top.  The music video has a couple choreography emphasizing the push-and-pull theme, and McKee looks fantastic as usual.  Van Buuren’s Balance is full of more emotionally-rich tracks for both happy and sad times, many of which utilize beautiful piano to highlight amazing vocals.  “Lonely for You” is an altogether addictive track that was perfect for all the lonely nights of 2019.

8. “Antidote” - Mr Hudson

“You of all people After all we've been through Started out an angel And now you get away with murder”

As a huge fan of the UK’s Mr Hudson, I waited basically a decade for his sophomore album, and it did not disappoint.  While When the Machine Stops features several tearjerking songs, “Antidote” is on the next level.  The song takes the subject of betrayal and perfectly captures how trust can die.  The genius is in its simplicity.  Not a single instrument starts until the entire first verse is complete, letting the lyrics speak for themselves.  Even when the instruments do come in, it’s just soft percussion and synths.  As much as I love vocal runs and ad-libs galore, the straightforward melody had me humming this song for much of 2019.

7. “Me & You” - EXID

“Oh 야야야 더 이상 우리라는 말 하지 마마마 안 봐도 뻔하잖아 야임 마마마 지금 날 어디서 속이려 들어 그건 네 엄마마마 한테나 가서해 baby I don't care”

As I mentioned in last year’s post, 2018 was the year I fell in love with K-Pop, mostly due to Blackpink at the time.  As much as I love Blackpink (and got to see them live this year!), their limited discography didn’t leave much to be loved.  Enter EXID.  This group is stacked: arguably South Korea’s best female rapper in the game LE, one of the best vocalists Solji, and the girl who is absolutely beautiful, sexy, cute, and smart all at the same time Hani (who may or may not be my ultimate bias, sorry Rosé).  Their previous single “I Love You” missed my 2018 list because it was released so late in the year, but it turned out to be my most played song on Spotify this year.  In fact, several of their songs were on that list.  Like many of their previous singles, “Me & You” is an infectious dance track utilizing each member where they excel: Hani with her soft, sultry vocals, a splash of LE’s sick flows to split up the song, Hyelin’s powerhouse vocals to bring up the first chorus, Solji’s even more powerful vocals to take the song to its climax, and Jeonghwa on the dance break (low key kinda sounds like she’s singing “Baby Shark” but that’s a jam too I guess).  The duality of the track is what makes it stand out, with the pretty vocals and simple verses largely contrasting from the deep and dirtier synths of the dance break.  The video plays with this duality by featuring EXID as brides in white versus clubbing in neon.  The rest of the WE mini album isn’t quite as dance-y but is fun to vibe to nonetheless.  The group unfortunately may be over, since Hani and Jeonghwa are leaving their record label, but they’re at least sticking together for their activities in Japan for now.  So many more K-Pop hits were released this year, some of my favorites being Mamamoo’s “Gogobebe,” SEVENTEEN’s “HIT,” Super Junior D&E’s “Danger,” Park Bom’s “Spring,” KARD’s “Dumb Litty,” NCT 127′s “Highway to Heaven”, NCT Dream’s “Boom”, Ong Seongwu’s “Heart Sign,” and another release to be mentioned later on this list.

6. “Heartbreak” - Hunter Hayes

“Another, ‘Almost perfect’ Didn't work, but totally worth it Better to have loved and lost my mind Than lose the nerve to even try”

I remember watching the 2013 Grammy’s and watching Hunter Hayes lose all three of his nominations, at that point becoming the “Leonardo DiCaprio never wins an Oscar” meme to me and my friends.  He went on to lose two more nominations, but honestly, I always liked his music (and Grammy nominations are no small feat in the first place!).  While 2017 was technically the year I had my first date and 2018 was the year I had my first girlfriend, 2019 was the year that I really put myself out there and dated the most.  And yes, there was a lot of awkwardness and stupidity and mostly me messing up, but that’s just a part of life.  And “Heartbreak” perfectly captures all those feelings.  From the guitar to the bit of twang to the drums, this song is unabashedly fun country, and the optimistic lyrics always made me feel better.  It’s like a c’est la vie Rascal Flatts’ “Bless the Broken Road” before he found the girl. The accompanying video is also fun with a groundhog day theme as he tries to win over a girl.  The album as a whole is a fun listen, with “Dear God” being the other Wild Blue (Part I) standout to me.  Here’s hoping Part II comes out with some vibes in 2020!

5. “Tempo” - Lizzo featuring Missy Elliott

“He look like he could gain a little weight Lick the icing off, put the rest in your face”

Lizzo exploded this year, and I’m not mad about it.  She has confidence and charisma galore, and her resulting music is mad bouncy, earning her several Grammy nominations for next year, including Best New Artist.  Her songs like most of Cuz I Love You can be quite loud and in-your-face, which is fine, just not exactly my style.  However, get her on this more subdued R&B beat and throw in a Missy Elliott feature, I’m in.  This will make any upbeat R&B lover dance, and the music video is the kind of hot and fun you would expect (with a cowboy hat you may not expect).  Missy also made an imprint this year with Iconology which is her first group release since 2005′s The Cookbook.  I’ve always been a fan of her work, and this is a perfect feature for her.

4. “NONE of this has been about you” - Spencer Sutherland

“I'm afraid that you would hate me if you knew, That I've become insensitive, It's true, But even if you do”

Spencer Sutherland’s “NONE of this has been about you” off his debut EP of the same name has a lot of elements about it that I would personally want in a song of my own.  It starts off with a very simple piano and vocals with a tinge of soul.  As he continues to sing, he puts more soul and emotion into his voice, and splashes of harmonies start to come in.  A couple short riffs later and just a second before the drop.  Although, it’s not a dance drop.  A choir drops in for the chorus with some drums to announce that, in fact, none of this has been about you.  The song eventually escalates to Sutherland’s soaring ad-libs over the choir.  Beyond the musical stylings, I enjoy the message of this song.  Sure, the narrator is telling someone, possibly his lover, that his struggles are personal and not something she or he should worry about, but I also like to take it as a reminder not to always worry about others or what they are thinking.  For example, 2019 was the first full year I had an ex, and a lot of that time, I was worried about posting on social media because maybe she’ll think this or that is about her.  Honestly, I don’t recall ever “subtweeting” about her.  We’re good.  Any breakup song or black and white photo I post has nothing to do with her.  So this song is a nice reminder to keep it pushing and stay in your own lanes.  The remaining songs on Sutherland’s EP were all also on repeat throughout the year.  The man’s just got a solid voice, and I’m glad he’s continuing a soulful pop sound that is rarer than before.

3. “Beautiful goodbye” - Chen

“다시 시간을 되돌려 처음 만난다면 가로등 옆에 서 있지 말아요 미소 짓지도 왼손으로 머릴 넘기지 마요 그래야 내가 그대를 지나칠 테니까”

Now, when it comes to a piano and vocals, nothing dominated my year more than Chen, especially his debut solo single “Beautiful goodbye.”  I won’t repeat all the reasons why I love his voice so much (see last year’s post), but long story short, he’s my favorite male vocalist right now.  Don’t get me wrong, I love EXO and the energy they bring to their songs, but a full EP of just Chen really lets the listener feel his artistry, pulling on heartstrings every which way.  In this song, the narrator is recognizing that his relationship is dead but proposing that they can hold onto it just for a bit longer until they peacefully part in spring.  There’s a respect to their relationship and what it has done for them that they can take with them as separate people before they part ways.  Chen’s voice takes the listener on an adventure, starting soft and simple then escalating and crescendoing to unveil the hardened pain in his voice.  It’s not a sudden angry breakup, it’s more subtle and more somber.  In the end, his soft vibrato and the final notes of the piano leave the listener in just as an uncertain position as the narrator; is it better to hope it stays winter forever or hope for spring to come?  While I also wanted some upbeat songs from Chen, his April, and a flower EP followed by Dear my dear is chockfull of beautiful and emotional ballads.

2. “Never-ending Summer” - Cyn

“What if we don't ever have to say goodbye? I wanna keep living like we'll never die If you're mad then I'm mad too You're crying, I'm sad too I'll watch your back for you, watch mine”

Newcomer Cyn’s “Never-ending Summer” is, to me, an experience.  It took me a while to appreciate its simplicity, but then it became so addictive that it itself became never-ending.  The guitar or synth (or whatever that instrument is) plays on loop to emphasize the never-ending nature of the song and gives a dreamy vibe that’s somehow both modern and reminiscent of the 70s.  Cyn’s simple vocals evoke a carefree feeling reminiscent of running on the beach and all the accompanying imagery with her photoshoot and lyric video.  It makes sense that Cyn is part of Katy Perry’s record label Unsub Records, as this song feels somewhat like Perry’s hits off of Teenage Dream including “California Gurls” and the title track, albeit much more in Cyn’s own understated style.  This summer, I learned how to surf and have fallen deeper in love with the beach (even though a stingray stung me my last time there), and this song would keep the surfing mentality continuing throughout the year, even when it gets too cold for it to be summer (or, even if my foot is bleeding to death).  Doesn’t hurt that Cyn is unbelievably cute too.

1. “Lovebird” - Far East Movement featuring Lay

“I can sleep here alone, but you know it's better with you You could be by yourself, but you know it's better with two”

As I grow as a person and become more proud of who I am, I think it makes sense for me to become more proud of my Asian heritage as well as support Asians and Asian-Americans out there, especially in the music industry as music means a great deal to me.  That said, it’s important to me that I don’t support people just because they’re Asian as if it’s some kind of nepotism.  That kind of segregating mentality can also be unhealthy.  Far East Movement are technically a one hit wonder; they have yet to outdo their 2010 hit “Like a G6.”  However, this year I found out about their record label Transparent Music that has been around since 2016 with a goal of unifying eastern and western music.  Their previous album aptly named Identity features a ton of artists from both sides of the word, from Hyolyn and Loco to Macy Gray and Soulja Boy (shoutout to my favorite song on that album, “Freal Luv” featuring Tinashe and yet another EXO member, Chanyeol).  To me, music is about unification.  It is about bringing a deeper understanding through melody and rhythm.  Those are the simplest terms I can put it.  I hope this is evident through this list that I appreciate people and music from all kinds of backgrounds.  Even if my tastes lean one way or another from year to year, I hope my lists maintain diversity and well-roundedness.  Somehow, Far East Movement has managed to capture this sense of unification in “Lovebird,” featuring Chen’s EXO bandmate from China, Lay.  It’s not the most complex song; in fact, like many songs on this list, it’s quite simple.  The synth bends in a carefree way that celebrates togetherness along with the lyrics, and I find that beautiful.  2019 was a year of growth and life, and “Lovebird” was the perfect song to accompany it.

*To qualify for this list, the song must have been released this year.  An artist can only have one song on this list, excluding features.

[canyousevmyheavydirtysoul]

Bodyguard II: Familial Ties (Part I - Chapter 10) (Brendon Urie x Reader)

Brendon returned from his impromptu road trip a mere five minutes before the break of dawn. The journey had lasted longer than he’d anticipated, but he couldn’t deny the miraculous effect it had on him – he felt at ease for the first time in months.

He entered the facility and rode the elevator down to the cell, making his way toward the problem he’d left behind. Roman was seated on a steel chair in front of the door to the cell, maintaining a firm gaze at its occupant.

Even though Brendon had mastered the art of sneaking up on people – right down to the skill of making sure that no matter what shoes he was wearing, his footsteps were almost completely silent – Roman’s instincts were that good that he was able to detect the presence of his fellow agent, and he turned to extend a greeting.

“You can catch some sleep,” Brendon said to him, cocking his head in the direction of the elevator, “I’ll take over.”

The Samoan shook his head and scrunched up his face. “Nah, it’s all good. We rotated shifts and I just took over from Ambrose a couple minutes ago. ‘Sides, I don’t think leaving you alone with him is the smartest idea.”

Brendon shoved both hands in the pockets of his leather jacket and raised a questioning eyebrow. “Hey, whose side are you on, here?”

Roman chuckled softly. “Kinda hard to pick,” he shrugged, “None of us even know the full story.”

“Well you’re not missing much, I can tell you that,” Brendon mumbled, turning his body and cementing his gaze on his brother, whose head was hanging down as he slept.

Roman observed Brendon for a little while, internally debating whether or not he should instigate a makeshift therapy session. It hadn’t boded too well for him in the past, that much was true, but he couldn’t help but feel like Brendon was in dire need of someone to talk to. So, at the risk of getting punched square in the jaw, he opened his mouth to speak.

“Look, I know that pep talks are Rollins’ thing,” he started, making Brendon shift his attention from the assassin to the Hound, “but when it comes to being a good listener and giving sound advice, I’d like to think that I’ve pretty much got that in the bag. Ambrose is good for if you’re looking for someone to get you drunk. And possibly arrested.”

Brendon wheezed at Roman’s last comment and – realising that he was now unlikely to get himself out of the forthcoming conversation – moved towards the wall so that he could rest his back against it.

“What I’m saying is,” Roman continued, outstretching both hands, “if you wanna talk about your brother, or your family, or anything from your past, I’m always here. Full confidentiality – I wouldn’t tell a soul. And I know you have this whole enigmatic, emotionless thing going for you, but sometimes… sometimes even enigmas need someone to vent to.”

“And you’re willing to be my guy?” Brendon asked, even though he already knew the answer.

Roman nodded. “If you trust me enough to let me be, yeah. It’s just that I can tell how much having him here is affecting you – even if you weren’t expecting it to, or didn’t want it to. And I’d hate for you to self-implode over this.”

Brendon let the words sink in, staring at Roman’s combat boots as his mind worked and he tried to make a decision over whether or not he should open up to his colleague. He knew that if he did, it would absolutely stay between the two of them; Roman was an incredibly private person, so he understood Brendon’s need for secrecy to be held.

He also knew that speaking about it to someone would make him feel better. Hence, he said screw it and accepted the offer for a psychotherapy session.

Brendon explained everything to Roman. Everything from how his father left their mother while she was pregnant with him, to their childhood, to Mason running away and getting involved with Hydra, to eleven months ago when the Director informed him of his brother’s work as The Phantom Warrior, to when he faked his death so that he could look for him and get the answers he’d been wanting his entire life, and everything in between.

When he was finished talking, he drew in a deep breath and started cracking his knuckles, while Roman arched his brows and let out a low whistle.

“Man,” the Hound grumbled, “talk ‘bout tragic backstories.”

Brendon scoffed. “Tell me about it.”

Roman’s facial expression morphed into a frown as a realisation just then dawned on him. “Wait, you said Mason’s alias is ‘The Phantom Warrior’?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t that the name of the guy who killed (Y/N)’s-“

“Yes.”

“So your brother was-“

“A major part of all of the events that unfolded over the last year and a half?” Brendon spoke with a straight face and an emotionless tone, pushing himself up from the wall to stand upright. “Yes.”

“Shit,” Roman muttered, shaking his head and running a hand through his long, slick hair.

“That’s a nice way of putting it,” Brendon remarked, glancing once more at Mason, who was still asleep.

Roman wasn’t finished with the conversation, however, and so continued with his pressing questions – he was too intrigued now to even worry about a potential punch coming his way.

“I’m sorry, uce, but I gotta ask…” he started, looking for any signs of non-compliance from Brendon; when he didn’t get any – only an expectant look from the brooding agent – he continued, “This guy practically ruined (Y/N)’s life. Yours too. And considering that she clearly means-“

Brendon tensed slightly, and Roman halted his speech immediately, trying to find the words to rephrase his sentence and avoid the situation from escalating to an unpleasant one. When he found them, he proceeded.

“-she’s obviously significant part of your life, and you swore to protect her and all that. So, if you’re not interested in having Mason as your brother and if you know all the pain he’s caused, why did you blow up that jet and come on this mission to find him?”

The other agent sighed tiredly and rubbed both hands over his face, shutting his eyes for a moment before answering.

“It’s a very complicated reason. And a personal one. But the gist of it is that I need answers,” Brendon spoke, pivoting his head to look through the glass at his brother, who was showing signs of waking up.

Mason slowly raised his head, blinking away the traces of sleep and squinting as his eyes adjusted to the light. When he was fully awake, he focused his gaze on the glass in front of him. Even though it was a one-way window, he seemed to know exactly where to look and somehow, he locked eye contact with his brother.

“And he’s the only one who can give them to me.”

~

There was a clang of porcelain against metal as a plate with a sandwich on it and a mug of coffee was all but tossed onto the side table in the cell, next to the prisoner. Mason’s eyebrows arched as he looked down at the food, somewhat surprised that he was being done such a kindness.

Not too long after, his hands were freed from the restraints holding them in place, and he hurriedly rubbed the skin around the area where he’d been bound to alleviate the irritation there.

“Eat,” a hard, cold voice demanded, its owner taking up residency of a steel chair that he’d brought into the room with him.

Tossing a fleeting glance at his brother, Mason made haste of reaching for the sandwich, only then realising how utterly famished he was; he hadn’t eaten in days. He took a giant bite out of the meal he held in his hand and started chewing; he could sense Brendon’s eyes on him, so he turned to look at him.

“It’s rude to watch people eat,” he remarked through a mouthful of food.

“It’s also rude to murder innocent people and leave their daughter an orphan,” Brendon countered, venom in his tone despite it being calm, “so I guess we’re both assholes, huh?”

Mason stopped chewing, twitched his eyes and swallowed before addressing his brother. He tilted his head slightly. “Why do I get the suspicion that there’s an underlying context to your last comment that I’m unaware of?”

Brendon didn’t reply, leaving the assassin to attempt to piece together his own version of an explanation. Mason studied Brendon for a little bit as his thoughts ran rampant, then when it clicked, he let out a short, smug laugh.

“Oh, my god,” he scoffed, leaning back in his seat, “Brendon, did you find yourself a girl?”

The teasing tone of his brother’s question pissed Brendon off, and he had to fight hard not to swing his fist again. Instead, he summoned his anger into his words.

“Watch yourself,” he warned.

The threat was clear and unwavering, and capable of summoning fear into even the mightiest of men. But Mason’s brotherly instincts were clouding his mentality.

“Is she cute?” he asked.

“Mason-“

The assassin held up his hands in defence, and made an innocent face. “Hey, I’m just askin’ normal questions, here. I imagine she’s totally-“

The rest of Mason’s sentence disappeared under the smash that resounded throughout the room – a result of Brendon swiping the coffee mug off of the table, clear across the room and into the pristine wall, painting it with a nasty brown colour.

“You don’t get to fucking ask questions about her. You don’t get to talk about her,” Brendon hissed through gritted teeth, eyes wild, “You ruined her life; took what mattered most to her. Just like you did to me.”

Mason’s smug and taunting demeanour faltered, then, and his body language and facial expression turned solemn.

“Brendon, like I’ve said before, I had good reason to run away and start over,” Mason reminded, looking at his brother with downcast eyes, “And if you’ll let me, I’d very much like to try and explain everything to you.”

“I’m not interested in your excuses,” Brendon spat, seating himself back down and pointing an accusatory finger at his brother, “I told you that I brought you here for one reason and one reason only.”

“And you haven’t told me what that is, yet,” Mason sighed, closing his eyes for a couple seconds.

“I need you to explain something to me.”

“What, exactly?”

Brendon ran his tongue all along the inside of his mouth and ran a hand through his hair, taking a moment. When he finally gathered himself, he took a deep breath and leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees.

“I don’t even know how to phrase all of this, but I… you and I… we’re not normal. I know we’re not,” Brendon managed to get out.

His words managed to pique Mason’s interest, and he straightened up, raising one eyebrow in a silent request for his brother to elaborate.

“We’re stronger. Faster. Smarter. Superior to the average person. It’s more than good genetics. It’s something…” Brendon sighed and threw his hands up to visualise his puzzlement, “something else. I know for a fact we’re not fucking superheroes, so… what the hell are we?”

Mason smirked lightly and jabbed a finger in the agent’s direction. “You left ‘insanely good-looking’ off of your list.”

Brendon’s jaw tightened. “Mason.”

The assassin sniggered under his breath and straightened himself up before wrinkling his face and holding his hands out to the side.

“So,” he started, inhaling deeply and then looking at Brendon, “you’re wrong. It is good genetics. Or bad genetics, depending on who you ask. Basically what I’m trying to say is… we have a mutant gene. We’re mutants, Brendon.”

“Bullshit,” was Brendon’s immediate response.

Narrowing his eyes and shaking his head in irritation, Mason scoffed. “Why would I lie?”

“If we were mutants, our abilities would be impossible to miss. We’d be a million times more potent than we are,” Brendon argued with a slight frown.

Mason nodded. “You’re not wrong there, little brother. We do have the mutant gene, handed down to us by daddy dearest, but it’s not the normal mutant gene, per se.”

Brendon’s forehead creased to signal his confusion, and Mason furthered his explanation.

“Alright, so, we need to backtrack a little bit. When dad was born, he inherited the gene from his father. But you see, this particular gene is different to the rest of the mutant one. It enabled the carrier with the ability to trigger the gene at will; essentially, they could chose when and where to summon their abilities. Whereas with regular mutants, they don’t have that choice. So, dad had that gene and he was what they refer to in the mutant world as an Anomaly. Anomalies are incredibly rare. Only ten in a billion.”

“And you expect me to believe that we were three under one roof?” Brendon scoffed, clear disbelief on his face.

“God no,” Mason snorted, shaking his head, “No, I only said that dad was one.” Brendon frowned, and Mason shifted in his seat. “Okay, I’m gonna explain everything in proper detail, which – ironically – is precisely the story I was trying to tell you earlier, about why I ran. You see, if you’d have let me speak yesterday, we could’ve saved a lot of time.”

Now growing agitated, Brendon huffed impatiently. “Just get on with it.”

“As you wish,” Mason smirked and winked at Brendon, who rolled his eyes, “Like I said, dad was an Anomaly – a mutant, and an incredibly smart one at that. He spent his teenage years attempting to make some kind of scientific breakthrough, and when the second World War rolled around and he’d learned about the scientific miracle that was Captain Steve Rogers and his transformation into a super-soldier… that was when he came up with the idea for – in his words – ‘his only great invention’… A mutant serum.”

“But that’s impossible,” Brendon shook his head, not yet buying into his brother’s story, “Mutants can’t be created. They have to inherit the gene.”

“Yeah, but dad found a way to bypass the law of inheritance. Think about it,” Mason once again held out his hands and leaned forward as much as he could, “if regular genes such as the ones for eye colour can be extracted or manipulated and used in in vitro fertilization, who’s to say that the same can’t be done with the mutant gene?”

“So you’re saying that dad found a way to harvest the mutant gene and what? Create the better version of the super-soldier serum?”

Mason nodded in confirmation. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. And he almost had the technique mastered, too. He spent hours experimenting on himself, using the gene to develop this- this,” Mason struggled to get the words out, as if speaking it left a bitter taste in his mouth, “potion, essentially, that would greatly increase the potency of his abilities. But, much to his fucking dismay, by the time he had gotten it right, he was too old to benefit from it. He injected himself with the serum, but its effects were minimal. He realised then that no such abomination of nature came without some kind of condition, and in this case, the recipient of the serum had to be considerably younger than a middle-aged man. And…” he hung his head down and scoffed before looking up at Brendon with a lopsided grin, “I’ll give you three guesses as to who his next test subject was.”

Brendon felt his chest constrict and he was certain that his heart skipped a beat. Swallowing the massive lump that had formed in his throat, he croaked out an answer.

“You?”

“Ding, ding, ding!” Mason waved one finger in the air before pointing it at his brother. “We have a winner.”

“He used you as a test subject?” Brendon repeated, still taken aback at the revelation. He knew that his dad was a total douche, but this was beyond any douchiness he could ever imagine. Using his own son as a lab rat? That was pure evil.

Mason’s face hardened and he grinded his teeth as he recalled the memories from back then. “He fucking tortured me. Do you know how hard I begged, how much I cried for him not to do it? But do you think he cared? No, he didn’t care. He never cared about me, about you, about mom… all that mattered to him was his fucking vision.” The assassin let his head fall back and he laughed bitterly. “You know what he did? He made me train like a fucking cutthroat. Said it was ‘the only way to make sure that the serum was working’. I was seven, can you imagine that? Mind you, I passed every challenge he came up with, but that’s not the point. I was a baby.”

Brendon stayed silent as he listened, and remained silent for minutes after; the heaviness in the air was so strong that no speaking was required from either brother. Then, Brendon asked a question.

“And mom?” he lifted his gaze to meet his brother’s. “She just… let him do that?”

Mason smiled sadly. “She tried to stop him, but it was no use. He’d just berate her; yell about how she was getting in the way of his vision, and how he would be the one to change the world or some shit like that. It was a failed effort. But then she found out she was pregnant with you, and it was like there was this fire that had ignited in her – she said she couldn’t have two sons fall victim to such a tyrant, so she kicked him out. He didn’t wanna leave, obviously, but then I twisted his arm until it broke, and I said that if he didn’t, I would kill him. He was gone by morning.”

Brendon’s lipped twitched upwards ever so slightly. “Wow,” he mocked.

“Hey, you ain’t the only badass Urie out there,” Mason chuckled.

“So you’re the reason I never had a dad, hm?” Brendon spoke with a straight face, but somehow, Mason knew that he was (for the most part, at least) joking.

“If you wanna look at it like that, sure,” Mason shrugged, cocking his head to the side, “I saw it as saving your life – since, ya know, dad had the serum in his blood and passed the gene on to you when he, well, made you. But whatever.”

Brendon rolled his eyes and wheezed, standing up from the chair. “Please. I woulda kicked both of your asses. And that isn’t even a joke.”

Mason looked at his little brother – really looked at him – and saw the incredible man that he’d become and he couldn’t supress the proud smile that spread across his face, albeit a small one. “I’ll bet,” he muttered.

“So,” Brendon spoke, bringing the subject back to their father, “where’d he go after mom kicked him out?”

“Hell, if I know. I wasn’t too interested in keeping tabs on him, as you can imagine,” Mason grunted, “Although I do know where he ended up. Dead. Killed by The Winter Soldier in 1991.”

Brendon’s eyes widened infinitesimally as he pieced together the information. “1991. That’s the year you left.”

“I was too scared to run before; afraid he’d find me. So when I heard that he was dead… Fuck, I’d never felt such relief.” Mason seemingly stared into the distance, eyes clouded over with dreaminess as if he were reliving that glorious moment over and over again.

His reminiscing was short lived, however, since his brother’s icy voice tore it to shreds mere moments later.

“Why did Hydra have him assassinated? Why was he considered a threat?” he interrogated.

Mason blew a raspberry and shrugged. “Beats me. I assume it’s something to do with the serum, but I dunno. Could be something else entirely. I tried to find out, but they don’t take too kindly to their assassins – sorry, their weapons – asking questions. Makes them panicky. So eventually, I stopped asking and I stopped looking. I don’t care why they had him killed, to be totally honest. I’m just glad that they did.”

There was a tense silence that enveloped the room thereafter, one that allowed both brothers, but Brendon in particular, to fully digest the conversation that had just transpired.

The agent felt significantly less heavier; the uncertainty over his familial matters had always been a nagging, lingering thought at the back of his mind, and he was ever thankful that he had now managed to get rid of it. While the newly discovered information did pose a challenge, it was one that he welcomed dearly. Mutant gene or not, he was still – and always would be – one of the most badass motherfuckers on the planet.

Mason, on the other hand, was not feeling so confident.

He realised that Brendon had gotten what he’d wanted – an explanation – and now, Mason was of no use to him. The assassin had no idea what to expect next and so was understandably anxious.

“Brendon?” he knitted his brow. “I’ve given you what you wanted from me.”

“Yeah,” Brendon said emotionlessly, with a slight nod, “you have.”

“So… where do we go from here?”

_______________________________

Thank you for reading x

 Taglist:

@avangardv

@arosebyname

@avengertrash21

@ryan-ross-that-fucking-gay

@azumitoshiki

@tiffisnotnormal

@darknessdancing

@raversam

@theieroenthusiast

@the-ghost-of-hemingway

@laerkers

@peters-vlogs

@brendon-is-my-daddy

@hockeyswag-boll

@gutsbonesandbeauty

@username-number-01834

@untilyouburnallofthewitches

@underscoredarcy

@aminasmells

@becausebands

@converseskyline

@opheren

@justalineinasong15

@vinyloider

@attractiveugly

@twentzy—dun—fandoms

@tirzahs-heart

@tegan-eva

@i-only-date-flower-boys

@jishwatylrandtop

@blueskiesbleakeyes

@robinruns

@hi-ho-and-hello

@svintsandghosts

@brendonuriehimself

@mckenzie-evelyn

@beebo-stuff

@iamafishandigosplish

@sunshineandapplepie

@kealohilani-tepise

@bookworm104

@sheridans-dynamos

@phoenixsong16

[alexiss-fic-archive]

The Phantom Thieves of Hearts

Chapter 3: April 1st ~ Beginning

Summary:  Connie Agrees to tell her Story to Azul, hoping that it would untangle her memories and at the same time, save herself.

Notes: I dont know what thing possesed me to write this in less than a week, but i’m glad it did because it came out better that I expected.

Please enjoy.

READ IT FROM THE START ON THE AO3!!

It all began when I was heading home from buying some missing Ingredients for the next day's dinner.

It was pretty dark back then, and there was almost no one in the streets. Keyword: Almost.

As I made my way to the house, I walked across what it seemed to be an arguing couple. I ignored them at first, since it seemed to be a personal affair.

But when I listened to the woman scream for help, I turned around as quickly as I could. The bastard was trying to rape her.

I ran towards him at full speed, punching him in the head with enough strength for him to release her. I was pretty sure I made him bleed.

He tried to get up and looked at me with hatred. I was sure that he would've tried to hit me as well if my neighbors hadn't turned on their lights to see what was going on outside.

“You….” The man told me, his voice altered by alcohol. “You’ll pay for this… I’ll sue you for this… Damn brat…”

Then, the drunkard escaped from the scene before anyone could see him, leaving me with a very altered girl who was on the verge of tears.

I left the girl with my neighbors and returned home, where my explained my parents why I took so long, only receiving a lecture from my mom because I was too reckless.

But in all, it seemed that the incident went well and I just was in the right place in the right time.

Unfortunately for me, that wasn't the case, As It turned out that the petty bastard did sued me for assault a few days later at decided that I shouldn't see the light of day again just because I punched him.

♦♦♦

“What do you mean by Decided?” Azul asked Connie. “Are you implying that he rigged the trial?”

“Yes.” The girl said. “All the jury was hellbent on sending me to prison and he even threatened the girl she tried to rape to declare against me.”

“If the jury was so biased towards you, then how come you got away with a probation?” The lawyer asked intrigued.

“My dad was an old friend of the judge that took my case and told him the truth.” Connie told her. “However, the judge told us that he couldn't help us because the girl wouldn't testify in my favor. And the only thing he could do was to put me in probation for a year.”

“That still doesn't explain why a failed musician owner of a café would be designated as your probational officer.” Azul said as she checked the file for the trial.

“My parents met Mister Universe back when he was still a musician and my dad was his fan.” Connie explained. “They did him a very huge favor one time and Mister Universe told them that he would repay him one day.”

“And he accepted to be your officer just like that?” An incredulous Azul Asked.

“Yes.” Connie answered. “Mister Universe is a really nice person, you know? He just wanted to help us.”

“Right…” Azul Said in a rather condescending way. “In any case, that only explains why you got here. Now, tell me about the day you arrived to the city.”

“Okay…”

♦♦♦

A few days after the judge gave his verdict and Mister Universe appointed himself as my probation officer, I was sent away from my home to the city.

My mother was crying her eyes out while my father consoled her as the bus I was in was moving away from them. I tried to keep myself together, we would still see each other every month after all.

Still, I felt like a piece of my soul was ripped apart from me as I saw them shrink away in the Distance.

A few hours later, I finally reached the bus terminal at Beach City.

The sadness I felt moments ago was drowned a bit as I marveled at the size of the city. I hadn't seen that many people together in my life. Everyone was minding their own business, trying to live out their lives unaware of the others doing the same thing.

I wanted to take a picture of the crowd, so I took my phone away from my pocket and turned the screen on.

However, As i looked for the camera app, I found the Icon for an app I didn't remember to have downloaded. It seemed to be called, ‘Metanav’.

As I stared at the strange icon in my phone, the overcrowded crossing fell deadly silent. I looked up from my phone and found out that all the world Had stopped in its tracks.

“What the hell…?” I said to myself, trying to work my head around the weird event.

I turned around to see what was going on before i laid my eyes on another, strange occurrence in the middle of the crossing. There was an enormous pillar of blue flame that was calling my name.

“Connie…” It said in a voice that sounded strangely like mine. “Open your wings…”

I saw how the pillar's flames shifted in the way they danced, changing its shape into what I could only describe back then as a Demon that was reaching its hand towards me.

However, as soon as I blinked, the figure was already gone, and time was already moving again, returning the noisy crossing back to life.

♦♦♦

“Are you joking right now?” Azul said in disbelief. “Because that was the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard a convict say!”

“I’m not joking.” Connie said. “I told you that I was going to say all the truth, didn't I?”

“I know you did.” The lawyer said. “But that is just plain unbelievable.

“I know how weird that must sound to you.” The prisoner admitted. “But why wouldn't you trust it and let me continue?”

“F-Fine.” An annoyed Azul said before she let Connie continue.

♦♦♦

So, After convincing myself that that thing in the crossing wasn’t real and uninstalling the app from my phone, I made my way into the Rehoboth district, Where Mister Universe and his son live together.

The place was very different from the center of the city. Whereas in the city there were seas of people everywhere, in Rehoboth there were at least five people in the streets at any given time. It kinda reminded me of home.

I eventually found his house after asking the locals for it. He and his son lived in a house in front of a small café they owned: The Crystal Beans. Knowing that, it wasn't that hard to miss it when I walked next to a store that had a star-shaped coffee bean as a logo next to a neon sign that read ‘The Crystal beans! ★’ in the windows.

The store was closed at the moment but there was a man inside of it cleaning it up. Probably closing earlier because of me.

He was a tall man and was a bit overweight, however, his arms were rather muscular, perhaps remains of times past. The top of his head was completely bald, but its rear was covered by a long mane of brown hair that reached his lower back. His soft, sunburnt face was adorned with a thick beard the same color as his hair. He wore a plain black T-Shirt along with a pair of cargo shorts and a pair of blue flip flops.

Everything about this man Screamed ‘former Rockstar’ to me. So, naturally, i knocked on the door of the store to introduce myself.

He smiled as soon as he saw me and rushed to open the door.

“Um… Are you by any chance Gregory Universe?” I asked awkwardly.

“I sure am.” He said cheerfully. “You must be Connie. Please come in.”

I accepted the invitation and entered the small coffee shop. It was rather rustic and homey and that was accentuated by the golden sunlight of twilight that passed through the windows. It had a few potted plants hanging from the ceiling, framed landscapes on the wooden walls, a Single TV next to the bar and an entire assortment of coffee, spices, and ingredients behind said bar.

He brewed some coffee for the two of us and then asked me how I was dealing with all what happened and how were my parents doing.

I answered and asked him where exactly he met my parents.

“Well, It's a rather Funny Story.” He said. “Do you know those weird Stories about children being born in cars?”

“No way…” I said.

“Yes way.” He said nodding. “Our Van broke near your town, She was about to give birth, it was raining and we were in a place we didn't knew.”

He took a sip from his cup.

“Fortunately, i happened to knock on the door of a surgeon and her fiancé. She helped Rose to give birth without a problem and He helped me fix the van. He almost freaked out when he found out I was Mister Universe; his favorite indie musician just had crashed on his home.”

“Was that something normal for you, Mister Universe?” I asked him. “Having freaked out fans?”

“Actually, I was the one who freaked out more.” He said. To be honest, i was pretty much a nobody who at best opened shows and at worst a solo concert for myself.”

“Oh…” I said blushing. “Sorry for asking that…”

“No biggie.” He said. “I’m very grateful I was very Niche. I met Rose in a Concert where no one else came, and Steven had a healthy birth thanks to your parents.”

“I see…” I said before taking a sip of my coffee.

“After that, we exchanged numbers and I told him to call me if he needed me to return the favor.” He said. “And now you're here, under my care.”

“That was quite the story Mister Universe.” I said with a smile on my face.

“Thank you.” He said. “Now that we know each other a bit more, I think I should tell you what to do under my care.”

“Okay.” I said as I took a notebook and a pen from the backpack I brought with me.

“First, you have to go to school. We'll go to register you tomorrow at Steven's school.” He said while I scribbled his words on the notebook. “Secondly, I can't actually take care of you as I would want to because of the Judge's orders, So, you'll live in the storage room of the café during your stay and you'll have to help us here in the shop Whenever you can.”

“Really?” I said with a bit of disgust in my voice. I really wasn't in the mood for sharing a bed with spiders in a dusty attic.

“Don’t worry. Steven and I tidied up for you.” He reassured me. “We even bought you a new mattress for you to sleep.”

“Thanks.” I told him.

“You’re Welcome.” He said Smiling as he looked at the dark skies from outside the windows of the shop. “Now, Why don't you go to your room and rest? We have to do a lot of stuff tomorrow.”

“Good Idea Mister Universe.” I said before picking up my backpack.

“Well, Gotta go Now.” The man said as he got off his seat. “We’ll be waiting you tomorrow for breakfast at the house.”

And so, after a rather warm welcome courtesy of Mister Universe, I followed his advice and went upstairs into the attic. Where I found that he wasn’t lying about tidying the place up: They had left the place as shiny as a pirate treasure. There was a small fern next to my bed, which was located right next to a window made up of tiny red panels of crystal. The place also smell faintly of flowers.

After I left my backpack in a nearby worktable the Universe’s left for me, I went straight to the bed, where I found a set of keys with a tag that read ‘Welcome!!<3’ on top of it.

Before I went to sleep for the day, I took a moment to open up the window and see the nocturne skyline that Made Beach City so famous in many postcards. That was when I saw him. A boy about my age that was also looking outside his window.

He had short, curly hair and seemed to be a little tubby from where I could see him. He was also wearing a yellow striped pajama that made him look a bit cute.

He saw me as well and only smiled and waved at me.

‘He’s probably Steven.’ I thought to myself before returning the wave to him, to which he smiled again before closing his window.

I did the same as he did before laying down on my bed, where i decided to use my Phone for a while before falling asleep.

This time, that mysterious app had appeared once again in a corner of my phone’s screen, however, I was too tired to properly check it that night and resolved to do it the next day.

As I felt my eyes growing heavier, i thought to myself that maybe I could make it till the end of the year in a good way with the help of the universes. Maybe probation wasn’t that bad.

And so I fell asleep.

And then, I immediately woke up again. Except that I wasn't in the Cafe's attic. I was now inside a dark cubicle lined with velvet blue cushions and Chains hanging from the ceiling. I sat up on the wooden bench I lied upon to see what was happening and found myself bound by a pair of handcuffs and wearing a tattered prisoner's uniform.

I looked around the small cell before finding the only lightsource of the room, a barred door chained up from the outside, from where a blinding golden light came from.

I stood up from my seat to look at the light but found a heavy weight on one of my legs. I had a huge iron ball bound to my left ankle.

Nevertheless, I made my way towards the bars in front of me, wanting to know more about the place I was in.

And just as I reached the chained bars I saw the silhouette of a small kid. She sported a blue police uniform that matched with the blue of the cell. Her Skin seemed to be of a bright red color and had a maroon afro framing her face. Her right Eye possessed a supernatural Golden color, while she wore an eyepatch with an stylized V letter on it over her left eye.

She smiled at me with malice moments before another girl appeared next to her.

She wore the same uniform as the previous girl, but her skin was dark blue and her long, flowing hair was pure white. Her long bangs hid her eyes from me.

Finally as my eyes adapted to the light in the room, I noticed that a woman dressed in a pure white suit was sitting behind a wooden desk.

She let out a chuckle before addressing me.

“Ah… Trickster…” She said in a creepy monotonous tone. “ Welcome, to MY Velvet room.”

♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢

[miximax-hell]

There have been people, some truly wonderful souls, who have followed my blog during my long period of absence. For that, thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I don’t deserve that kindness. With that out of the way, hello! Once again, it’s been so long... And that’s exactly we won’t delve in the past now. Let’s get right to it!

Today’s miximax is one that can barely be recognised at all unless you’re specifically told who the vessel and aura are. So, just in case my handwriting is THAT awful, we’ll be talking about Sakuma’s miximax today! For him, I’ve chosen a wonderful character that is, quite literally, part of the history of videogames as a whole. After the news about a new Smash coming soon, the promise of Metroid Prime 4 for Switch, and the very successful (AND SPANISH) remake of Metroid II, it feels like a great time to bring Samus Aran into the battle! The coolest intergalactic bounty hunter there ever was makes for a very simple-looking miximax, but it was still quite tough to draw because of RUST. Ah well. No one to blame but myself.

Anyway, I think this deserves a proper explanation, so let’s see why these two make for a fantastic combo! For more on that, please check under the cut. As usual.

Well, you’ve made it this far, so let’s delve a little in the past now. ww Just yesterday, I finally finished writing my graduation thesis!! That means I’m finally free... for a little while. Just enough to enjoy half a month of debauchery AND SPEND TIME WITH MY GIRLFRIEND, WHOM I MISS VERY MUCH. Oh, and my internship ended about two and a half weeks ago, too. While I am free in that sense as well, I can’t say I’m a scriptwriter and game designer right now, which kinda sucks. But they might still hire me...! And I’m ruminating some exciting ideas of my own. I highly doubt the company I worked for will be interested in them, but, well, it’s worth a shot. And good practice, in any case. So, yeah! I hope you’ve all been well!

Anyway, let’s get right to it. A single paragraph of my life struggles was enough. ww

This is still a fairly small blog with less than 100 followers. And it will always be because of how niche it is. ww Not only that, but most of said (active) followers aren’t even friends of mine, but the aforementioned kind souls who, somehow, grace me with their presence here. That means that, for example, if I were to go on Twitter to talk about my projects for this blog (as I’ve done a couple of times in the past), only one or two of my friends would give a crap about it. And that’s assuming they see those specific tweets at all! Otherwise, the reactions I get are non-existent unless I’m specifically mentioning someone. And even that is far from being failproof. So, whenever I want to share my ideas with someone, develop them through conversation or brainstorm, there’s only one person I can rely on: my lovely girlfriend. She’s patient and super supportive of my work. Bless her soul. I’m so in love with her.

Anyway, thanks to how much I’ve ranted to her about SakuSamus, I’ve already typed down most of what needs to be said about why I think these two work so well together. I can also get away with mostly copying and pasting what I already told her over Skype and simply adjusting it a bit to make it more readable as a blog post and adding some extra details. ww So, let’s get to it!

Coming up with proper combinations for this blog can sometimes be a chore and require a lot of overthinking. However, as the wonderful @miyukiko​ would say, great ideas suddenly come to you sometimes. This had a bit of both. I'll try to skip the uninteresting bits of the creative process, but this is the important part.

Now that we've seen Sakuma in Ares and he's obviously won a lot of... prominence, if you may put it that way, it felt like a good time to take a closer look at him. Sakuma is a forward, and a pretty talented one, at that. When he becomes captain in the Ares timeline, though, his team comes to rely on him on a much deeper level too. Or so it seems, at least. To top it off, his descriptions in the original games say that he helps Kidou and acts as a strategist that coordinates the team. That’s pretty much the base we can build upon.

As a forward, he seems pretty thorough and tries to stay cool and calm, since that's the kind of soccer they play at Teikoku. And, from what we've seen in Ares, as a captain, he worries so much about his team's well-being and about being a good leader for them. You know, the usual "Am I fit to be captain?" thing that IE loves so much. ww

But there's a lot of bad stuff about Sakuma, too.

For one, despite his cool act, when he loses it, he loses it good. We all know how he reacted when he was part of Shin Teikoku and how extremely mad he would get with Kageyama, for example. Also, when he does lose it (and, arguably, even when he’s still somewhat sane), he's very self-destructive.

I think that's somehow linked to his fears: he simply doesn't want to be left alone. He panics when Kidou leaves Teikoku and, again, loses it completely. When his insanity reaches that kind of point, nothing else seems to matter, so he goes all out even if it can cost him his life. Or his legs, at least.

Related to that, and this is much more relevant in terms of sheer gameplay, he is extremely dependent of others.

He's supposed to be some super cool ace striker, but absolutely all of his shots are combo hissatsus no matter what timeline or age you’re looking at. Koutei Penguin 2gou and 3gou, Twin Boost, Death Zone, Deep Jungle... They all need 2-3 people, and, usually, Kidou's involved.

So, tough as it is to say, if Sakuma isn't by Kidou's side, he's subpar. And if he's all alone, he's basically worthless. And to add insult to injury:

He usually depends on people who aren't even forwards to score goals.

He is turned into a defender as an adult because, as I said, he's subpar as a forward if he's alone.

That makes Sakuma a very interesting case: in a universe that is all about the power you get from of your teammates, what he lacks is individuality. ...Especially when you consider that his only motivation to play soccer seems to be to play with Kidou. www

As he is, he's the absolute definition of support character. Pretty sad, if you ask me. (Oh. And many of his in-game hissatsus are very dirty and the referee complains more often than not about them. That counts too. ww)

So, here comes the difficult question: who can give Sakuma the strength, the individuality and, partially, the safety that he needs to be relevant without killing himself? After thinking about it for quite a long time, I felt like he could really use the power of Samus Aran.

(Not to go all BuzzFeed on you guys, but the answer would’ve surprised you if I hadn’t said it from the very beginning. ww)

On a technical level, Samus is strong af. Not only has she survived to and successfully finished every mission she's embarked on (as far as I’m aware), but she's pretty much exterminated full races, DESTROYED PLANETS and killed the same evil pterodactyl alien... thing that wants her dead like 11 times by now.

And what's more: she's done all of this completely alone. (Except maybe for Other M. I haven’t played that game yet, but it looked like there were more people, idk) All in all, she's a beast. But that's not all, of course. There are many heroes who go and do their thing alone. It could've easily been Lara Croft too, for example--at least in the original games.

Sakuma, as I said, seems to be driven by a will to be with Kidou and is very much dependent of other people. And when things go wrong and he loses it, he is... spiteful, to say the least. And I don’t know if you guys were aware of this, but Samus is 120% salt. I read a post about the hatred between Ridley and Samus that when Ridley was announced for Smash and all, but I sadly can’t find it right now. If any of you guys know that post, please let me know and I’ll add the link here because it was SO GOOD.

According to my limited knowledge on the Metroid Series, Samus fights three main things: metroids (you never saw that one coming, I'm sure), space pirates, and Ridley (who is the leader of the space pirates, but is not a space pirate because I, too, would listen to my Evil Pterodactyl Lord if he were to give me orders).

Long story short, the space pirates and Ridley killed Samus’s parents. She was adopted by people from a civilization called the Chozo, but the space pirates killed the Chozo too. And when Samus found a baby metroid that saw her as its mother, the space pirates and Ridley kidnapped the metroid and it eventually died because of them.

Samus doesn't fight for the greater good. Samus fights because she's fucking pissed.

But, unlike Sakuma, she uses that rage against the right people and in the right way: she is still salty as hell, but she stays cool, kicks ass, makes everyone go boom, and she's out. She does what Sakuma does, but better. Even when she's pissed. Oh, and she does things the way they should be done: with legal permission, without turning evil and stuff. And she's super respected and feared because of it, which is precisely what a captain and a forward should be like, respectively.

And the icing on the cake?

In IE3, when Sakuma has levelled up enough, he learns how to use Space Penguin. also, Samus has a visor thing that can replace Sakuma's patch and that sounded cool to me

Anyway, that would be the gist of it! As I said earlier, I’m not the biggest Metroid connoisseur in the world: I’ve only beaten Fusion and Zero Mission, and I’m currently playing Prime and Return of Samus. As such, excuse me if some other game I haven’t played debunks all I’ve said, but I haven’t found any traces of such a thing. ww

However, despite my few experiences with Metroid games, Samus is a character I love and have very fond memories of. This series represent what I love the most about the video game genre: that sense of continuous and hard-earned improvement that only comes from experiences that are constantly giving you new abilities (and even new looks) to reflect your progress. It’s similar to RPGs, a genre I love as well, but RPGs reward you more for personal progress and dedication, such as grinding for levels, and not (usually) so much for just pushing forward and defeating bosses.

Last (and least), for those who have made it this far, here’s a little something you might be interested in knowing: I’ve been inactive here, but I’m still constantly trying hard to come up with interesting ideas for miximaxes! And I think I have found some cool stuff for both Kidou and Shishido, so feel free to tell me on which of those you’d like me to work on next. They’re both very challenging to draw and fiddle with, but I’m always happy to shift my priorities in any way you guys want me to. ww

[faegrifted]

SHIPPING INFO | ABOUT MUN. REPOST DON’T REBLOG

✧ WHAT’S YOUR OTP FOR YOUR MUSE ?

Honestly, At this point just for how much plotting and development has been put into them via threads and ooc chats I’d have to say Airn x Kenzi (Re;;Sing me a song of a lass that is gone) @therisingtempest . I just have so much fun with this pairing and their story together thus far has been nothing short of delightful to write with Loren. That and the hours of back and forth between me and her just talking about these two and theorizing potential adventures and things to come to full on au verse building like!!!! Everything about this ship is what makes me enjoy shipping so much. Its just so much fun when done right even when the muses involved break your heart and make you cry and such is the case of Airn and Kenzi. ...And even if its not them, you can just assume any ship I have with Loren owns my soul at this point.

✧ WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO RP WHEN IT COMES TO SHIPPING ?

My dudes if you can imagine it I’m probably down to thread it. Though darker content or just anything that one would just assume tag as a warning would have to be talked about extensively and plotted beforehand.

✧ HOW LARGE DOES THE AGE GAP HAVE TO BE TO MAKE IT UNCOMFORTABLE ?

Kenzi is….leery of dating those younger than her and I set her being 19 at the start of the series and 25 by series end. She’s not likely to have a romantic relationship with anyone younger than her for reasons just regarding some stuff she saw and experienced while living her teens on the streets. I’m not ruling it out completely but..., anyone even a year or two younger then her is gonna be asking for a slow burn that last years. That being said she hangs with beings whose lifespans reach into centuries, so…. I’m gonna say if you’re mortal 13 years her senior is probably the oldest she’ll go but if you’re an immortal being the skies the limit. Note: This obviously won’t apply to Kenzi’s teen verse even if she’s of age cause NO.

✧ ARE YOU SELECTIVE WHEN SHIPPING ?:

I certainly like to state so in my rules so people know what they’re getting into with me. But tbh I don’t think I’m any more selective about ships than anyone I currently write with? I mean it when I say there has to be chemistry. And when I say chemistry I don’t mean both parties have to be immediately aware that they could be attracted to one another in that way. when I say chemistry I mean there has to be viable potential for a ship of some kind, enough so that I’m comfortable discussing possibilities of that nature with my partner, Kenzi is forever going to be a slow-burn girl. I don’t even plan on shipping her with any of her canon love interests without some build up and discussion beforehand and even then if my muse isn’t feeling it then it’s not going to happen. I portray Kenzi as being demisexual and PICKY, sexual attraction doesn’t happen for her outside a genuine connection to a person. She can find someone attractive but the girl needs more than a pretty face for romantic feelings/or sexual interest to occur and that takes time. Outside of that aspect, Kenzi is…., difficult when it comes to love due to both canon circumstances as well as her nature in how I’ve chosen to portray her.  All that being said though I for one really enjoy talking with my partners about potential ships and enjoy discussing where things could lead so!? I don’t think I’m selective so much as Kenzi forces selectivity and at the end of the day it's ultimately up to her. And tbh considering the ships I have more than fulfill me so I’m not exactly looking? Open to the possibility, but not looking for it currently.

✧ HOW FAR DO STEAMY MOMENTS HAVE TO GO BEFORE THEY’RE CONSIDERED NSFW?

If anything is happening in the thread that would normally merit being tagged as NSFW if it were a visual such as a picture or a gif than its ok to assume I probably consider it as such and I’ll probably be tagging it so to make sure people can block/blacklist accordingly if need be for their comfort or safety. More specifically if anything sexually graphic is being written or if there is nudity happening, I’m gonna tag it as NSFW.

✧ WHO ARE OTHER MUSES YOU SHIP YOUR MUSE WITH ?

Currently? @addictusadpotentiam @deadlynxghtshade @skeletcnkey @stemsurvivor @devilhybrid

✧ DOES ONE HAVE TO ASK TO SHIP WITH YOU ?

Something of that sort would be nice? I mean its gonna be a bit weird if we haven’t even really interacted and you mention shipping our muses but if we know each other well enough ooc and there’s been some interaction and some amount of prior discussion between another mun and myself then I’m totally open to discussion ship potential be it romantic/platonic/or anything else. Again though, ultimately it’s not up to me, it’s up to Kenzi.  Because, again, Kenzi is… difficult when it comes to relationships. She spooks easy and the person themselves has to be capable of handling the stuff that tends to be a regular occurrence in her life. Aka her travels, plus the supernatural and all the dangers that come with that.

✧ HOW OFTEN DO YOU LIKE TO SHIP ?:

As often as it happens tbh.

✧ ARE YOU SHIP OBSESSED OR SHIP MORE-OR-LESS ?
:

I wouldn't say ship obsessed no. Ship positive maybe but not obsessed.

✧ ARE YOU MULTISHIP ?

Yes, Kenzi remains multiship, I don't see that changing anytime soon but one day perhaps.

✧ WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE SHIP(S) IN YOUR CURRENT FANDOM ?

Ummmm romantically or? Cause the brotp between her and Bo will forever rule my ass. But I actually enjoyed every ship Kenzi has in the series. I talk a lot of shit about it but I did enjoy her and Hale in the early seasons. I get salty because the build of them was beautiful and I loved it up until it actually happened because it was rushed and just didn't feel or look right and instead of fixing it they took it away. Her friendship with both Dyson and Tamsin kinda wrecks me to tbh.

✧ FINALLY, HOW DOES ONE SHIP WITH YOU ?:

Being friends, having decent chemistry and plotting skills. Anyone who I’m comfortable talking with and can match me in plot and verse building has a good chance of shipping with me so long as they’re open about it and communicate that’s something they’d enjoy exploring the potential of. I mean---  I love shipping, I really do and so long as there is chemistry between both the muses and ooc then there’s a good chance I’m going to be open to shipping with you be it romantic or platonic or anything else! I am a literal ship hoe peeps. Sometimes things might work out with Kenzi in that way and at other times it won’t, the only sure thing is that some  ooc discussion will probably have to happen so if that’s something you’re interested in not only should your muse have some amount of patience but you better like me enough to be willing to come into my IM and scream at me about our babs and be ok with me screaming back <3.

TAGGING:  @stemsurvivor , @therisingtempest  , @thereforall , @airanddarkness, @thecatsidhe , @nicolettv , @devilhybrid , @inprector  ,@rcmcdium , @skeletcnkey , HONESTLY ANYONE WHO WANTS TO DO THIS AND HASNT BEEN TAGGED YET GO AHEAD AND STEAL IT FROM ME OK ITS FUN AND GOOD KNOWLEDGE TAGGED BY: snagged it from @wholehcartedly <3

[fika-wika]

🧭Where do we fit?🍃

I found myself reflecting on this for a while now. Where do I fit? where do I fit in my life, in the lives of those around me, In the world?

 I’d say starting a couple months back I really started to take a hard look at myself and the kind of person I am now vs the kind of person I used to be before the whole covid outbreak. I’ve changed, I mean yes we all change but how many times do you actually stop look into the mirror and say to yourself that you’ve changed. As humans we are constantly changing with each passing day but they are such subtle changes that you don’t really notice until you find yourself reflecting a year, 2 years, multiple years back. Or you are coming out of an uncomfortable transition/situation and that’s when it’s typically easier to notice how much or why you’ve changed as a person. These changes happen so deep within by the time we notice the changes on the outside the process is already complete within. I thought of a Caterpillar in its cocoon. Do you think they are aware that they are going through such a change while inside? Or do you think they are just going through the process their body is sending them through not knowing how or when they will come out. But knowing that what they are doing now is different and more uncomfortable than the way they were first living in the earlier half of their lives. I believe we are kind of the same, we don’t always notice the Changes that are happening deep within but sometimes we are aware that what we are doing now is a lot different than how we were first living a year ago. Before we made some decisions that started to send us down a new path that looking back now, is what changed everything in the way we started to live, think and feel about life. We typically don’t notice this metamorphosis we went through until we are already breaking out our shell and spreading our new beautiful and vibrant wings through the air happier than we were before. I believe how long we stay in that uncomfortable spot really depends on us and how long it takes us to notice that this uncomfortable state we are in is temporary and that we have to dive into and let go of all the things that are making us uncomfortable to begin with and that typically starts from looking within ourselves at what needs to change. What do we want to change.

I was looking back at myself two years ago and noticed..I was such a social person, like I remember whenever I had days off from work I’d be spending it with someone like a friend from high school. Because I felt like that’s what I wanted to do, spend time with people because that’s where the fun and excitement of my life was. With the people I surrounded myself with. But then covid had happened, I hopped into a relationship a little before that and slowly but surely I found myself isolated like the rest of the world, with the only people to look at where the faces I saw at home and the faces I saw when I went to work. At the start I was ok with that. Like I was pretty happy at home and work wasn’t a bother. I was just blessed I still had my job compared to some around me who lost theirs. But as time passed I started to no longer even want to put up wit my job, I started to grow tired of it. Then I wondered why is it that my job was good before and now it’s no longer satisfying to wake up and go to, why is that? Because I wanted change, I needed something different. We got stuck in a routine of going to work and then go home, sleep then wake up and do it all over again. That was the first problem, the second problem I noticed was that when I came home I wasn’t even doing anything, nothing I thought of as super fun anyway. Because before the friends I spent time with outside of work were what brought me that joy and the work I was working on with myself brought me joy. But being home all day with a lover, not having anymore actual time to myself at home or work felt suffocating. I didn’t know how to spend my time anymore, I felt I had lost part of who I was back in 2019. I mean, didn’t we all? Covid was such a massive shift in the way we all lived and not just externally. I feel the major shift was really happening underneath for ALL of us. To start looking inwards and see life totally different than the way we did before. To live it differently.

So come the summer of 2020 I noticed a lot of my life I needed change in. It started when I reflected on my home cause they say if you aren’t happy at home you won’t be happy anywhere especially at work. Then my lease was up and I had moved that summer of 2020 and had a new apt, new roommates and that was an amazing shift to be honest. That new home environment was much needed. I was able to come home and be pretty happy of the new scenery and feel I had and the new friends me and my Gf lived with. Next was with where I worked, I figured if I’m gonna be stuck at a job all day, why the heck am I not working somewhere where I can actually enjoy being at, enjoy doing what I’m doing? If I’m gonna work a 9 to 5 then at least let it be something new to learn/ experience. New people, new faces and personalities to get to learn. I noticed that about myself too, I am someone who really enjoys getting to know new people, all the time. I love hearing their stories and getting to know the lives they lived and what makes then uniquely them. Kinda hard to do that working a fast food ice cream store where they all just come in and out and I’m rushed to get customers through a drive thru on top of having to manage a bunch of teenagers to get through the day..it wasn’t a hard job at all. But it was no longer satisfying for my soul after 4 years. I needed growth, I needed more than what that job was feeding me. It wasn’t even about the money. I feel the money means nothing if I can’t at least prepare to go to work with some kind of joy and not expect it to be diminished by the time I leave. I needed a new source for joy. Next thing I knew I got fired, not the ideal why I wanted to leave but at the same time it was just the blessing I needed to push myself to finding a new job and thank god it happened because I ended up at amazon and this job provided me with a schedule that actually works with my natural sleeping habits and gives me more time to myself with the choice to also socialize with different people, older people with amazing stories and lives to share. And the better pay was just the cherry on top.

Now let’s see, I had a new home, a new job..what was next? Oh that’s right Me. I was happy with where I was and what I was doing to pay my bills, yet still felt uncomfortable within myself, why? Because I still wasn’t doing something that was FOR me, for MY joy with myself. And that’s when I noticed we are over half way through 2020 and so much has changed and I’ve lost track of something that actually HELPED me back in 2019 and I noticed for some reason I stopped doing this..my self care, my hobbies, the things that actually brought me joy with mySELF back in 2019. I didn’t know why or how but I had let the uncomfortable struggles of 2020 pull me away from the things that were actually important to me personally. And strangely enough, those things where exactly what I needed to not only feel happy with the accomplishments I’ve made so far that year but also to bring myself back to the happiest version of me..I had gotten back into meditation, Got back into doing tarot and writing, got back to putting the focus on my life and what I needed to be happy with myself despite everything else that’s going on in the world around me. Sadly though when I started making these changes within myself they did start to affect my relationship, Because I was no longer the person she met in 2019 and I’m changing from the person 2020 had made me into, I was integrating and I myself did not know where she had fit into that picture anymore. Long story short we ended up separating, It sucked but it also felt right at the time. Felt right for what I had to do for myself and for her to move onto something different and hopefully better.

So here we are now 2021 after the dramatic uncomfortable changes of 2020 started to settle and I’m looking at myself in the mirror and all I can say is...damn. The good kind of Damn. Like man you’ve been through a lot this past year and look at you, You’ve learned so much, made so many positive changes for yourself and found the strength to push yourself into a new direction of making all new choices for yourself and your life style, no longer living the way you used to but now living the way you want to be living. I asked What’s next? Cause as we all know, after one cycle completes, We just start a new one all over. After one struggle there is always more to learn. Keeping that in mind as they lifted the rule on masks in Texas I wanted to hang out with some old friends from high school again, It’s been over a year since I’ve seen any of them and what’s the very first thing I notice when surrounded by them? That we click yes, But something didn’t feel right, Its like we clicked but the click was a little bit off, like something was off. Yes I enjoyed their company but something about what we did or the way we hung out just wasn’t the same anymore. That’s when I realized dang, My boys are still my boys, but something in me just doesn’t match that full vibe anymore. It’s like it was there but not fully. I see then that they vibed with an old version of me. A version of me that was there, but isn’t what brought me the same kind of joy it once did. So going home afterwards left me with an “eh” feeling, like yea we were cool, always gonna be cool, but I felt that was the next thing for me to look at. The changes I’ve been going through seems to have left me with friends that no longer match the vibe I was giving off now or wanted to surround myself in. I needed something new. I needed new friends that now matched the version of me I’m becoming. That’s where I am currently, Spending more time to myself like I’m still under quarantine but happy with myself and what I’m doing now, no longer suffocated by the world around me. Yet I’m left questioning now, where do I fit among the world? among society? 

It’s crazy how much we change as people, It’s crazy how each decision we make really does change the outcome of our personalities and it’s a never ending process. Like I broke free of the cocoon that kept me in my first apt, then I found myself uncomfortably inside another at work, broke free of that one and found myself inside one within myself, now breaking free of that one and I’m now inside a cocoon uncomfortable with where I’m supposed to fly to in the world. It’s a pretty cool process honestly and each time you break free of one cycle you have those moments of joy to celebrate your new profound wings you’ve grown before You enter the next state of change. When that time comes its almost like we can literally feel when It’s time to move into the next chapter of our lives. Some of us get better at it over time, Some of us might struggle with it. Get comfortable with the comfortableness of change, because it’ll keep happening over and over throughout our life. The more comfortable we are with feeling uncomfortable the smoother our transitions.

Coming back to where do we fit? I believe there is no real answer to that question, I feel as we constantly change from one skin to the next so does the area, the groups, the societies, the home that we surround our self in. Its an ever changing human experience but what I do know is that those who are able to withstand, understand and vibe with the changes within us are the ones that fit into OUR lives. As we humans are ever changing, Where we fit as a person is ever changing but those that fit us is shown by who stay and those who go naturally. Sometimes the ones that go end up coming back later on. They didn’t fit one cycle, doesn’t mean they don’t fit in the next after going through a metamorphosis of their own. That is something to reflect on next time you look into your own reflection.

[magic5ball]

Nature Trail to Hell Arc V: Back into Hell (II)

Chapter 2: The Reunion

“Face me, demon!” the Shatster kept at with his cleaver, breath forming fierce clouds in the air. First I was right scared, sharp object and all that, but seeing how I was a ghost, it wasn’t really a problem.

No, the real probelino was getting Shatner to NOTICE me for a sec.

You know how in the movies they’ll show ghosts moving stuff around like its’ nothing? From experience, I can promise you that is GRADE-A BUNKO! When you’re spectral, you don’t have muscles and living stuff, so while going through walls is pretty neat, it also means lifting a q-tip is a complete workout!

Fortunately, my ghost lungs were still in working order, and with a bit of work I could make my breath mist. From there, I just blew on a wall, painted words on with my index finger, and… voila! Instant messaging without the phone!

SHATER YOU NERD IT’S ME

The big guy, for his part, stared like he’d just seen a ghost, which wasn’t really surprising.

A few seconds of gaping like a flounder at my little message, he stared just to the left of me, coughing out

“W-Watterson Tostig? After all this time?!”

YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT, BOOGER BRAIN.

One more deep breath.

WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE?

“R-right!” Cried Shatner. “I’ll get us some tea!”

                                                        .   .   .

My mouth was too stiff to tell him I’d rather drink sewage than something that came from a vegetable (tea does come from vegetables, right?), so I kinda just sucked it up and went along with it.  

Without even asking me what I wanted, Shatner led me to what I can only call some sort of break room.

           Empty, grey place, lit only by a birthday cake with ten little candles at its’ center. Surrounding this cake, like the world’s crappiest campfire, were a pair of overturned egg crates. I plopped my keister on one of those crates as the big guy left for the kitchen. I could only sit there, teeth chattering, wondering how my dinosaur friends were doing. There, in that barren room, paralyzed, helpless, barely able to move my teeth, realizing what a stupid not-really-a-full-fledged plan I had was, I realized something. A great, sudden revelation that strikes like lightning but leaves just as quick, but changes your life forever:

Global Warming is never there when you need it.

And who would barge in at this moment with all the grace of a sixty ton mammoth but Shatner, carrying two piping hot mugs of plant juice, a hideous abomination (‘sweater’, he corrected me) draped over his shoulder.

The sweater faded right through me as he flung it on my seat. Then, he added

“And don’t bother trying to eat the birthday cake. Bloody thing’s frozen solid by this point ( believe me, I have tried) and those candles may very well be the last source of heat in this blasted wasteland!”

Not like I could sneak a bite anyway, being spectral and all that.

Instead, I inhaled the steam coming off my tea, just the slightest bit of feeling returning to my limbs. Then I exhaled on the table, writing

WAIT. IF THE ONLY HEAT IS FROM THAT CANDLE, THEN HOW’D YOU MAKE THE TEA?

“Well my friend, that warmth you feel is the product of none other than yours trulys’ body heat!”

Just like that, I wondered if it was possible to un-inhale something. Then I remembered breathing out is a thing and felt real dumb.

“But try as I might to conserve body heat, I find it slowly, inexorably lost to the throes of entropy.” He waxed, making me forget my woes for a sec. “But enough about me, let’s talk about you. Specifically, your state of life. Or lack thereof. Because I do believe you have been dead these past few weeks. I’ve even seen the body! So-“

he said the last part real quick, like emphasizing something, “How did you get here, Watterson Tostig? How did you do it? Or are you simply an apparition brought on by the steady diet of Salisbury Steak I have subsisted on for the past few days?”

IT’S WATT, YOU NERD!

I set the record straight, really digging my index finger into the table.

“Watt. Yes, yes. My apologies.” He countered. “Now as you were saying…”

Of course, I didn’t really feel like writing down the whole story then and there. My ghost index finger was starting to get right numb. There had to be some quicker way! That’s when I remembered that, besides moving through walls, ghost can also do a crazy little thing called possessin’ folks! Now, they were never real specific about how they do that in the movies, but I figured it couldn’t be THAT hard.

Long story short, it took a good ten minutes to cram my ghost body into the Shatster’s confused mouth. If I’d only waited a year later, I’d have found you’re supposed to go through the butthole.

Not that I would have done that, anyway.

It was warm, in Shatner. Warm and moist. But most important, I could mentally project the entire story up to this point into his thick noggin in seconds. Every single crazy adventure I’d been through over the summer. By the time I’d I could see his face reflected in the linoleum floor, gaping like I’d told him the moon was made of rotten bananas.

“I’ve seen a great deal of oddity in my life,” he began, “And I can safely assure you that what you have just describe transcends nearly all of it.”

Not sure if the guy was complementing me or not, nor did I care, my eyes more focused on the beef jerky poking out of his pen holder (which all nerds have). I grabbed it, shoving the thing into his (our?) mouth.

Actually tasted half-decent! (Then again, most things taste half decent after you’ve been eating nothing but stale Cheetos and air for the past few days).

“What’s this? Tastes fancy.” I asked.

“Reconstituted Salisbury Steak.” He replied “Hilda’s terrible management of this camp irreparably botched up our food deliveries, so it was cast upon me to find a substitute.”

“Speaking of that, how did you get back here, anyway?” I asked, my voice coming out of his mouth, which was kinda weird.

“Well, if you must know…” he began. And I sat, realizing what massive torrent of WORD I had unleashed.

Shatner lectured me longtime, but the short of his story is: he ran right back home to where his little spider was waiting for him. Amazingly, he had memorized the path all the way back to his house. But when he got there, it turned out his aunt had in fact kept his spider fed, and was none too pleased with her nephew’s devious act of truancy.

“Though knowing Auntie, she was likely more furious at me for having doubted her responsibility than for absconding as I did.” Is how he put it.

After that he was dragged back to camp with all the ceremony of a death row inmate. And not metaphorically, either. His aunt literally dragged him by the collar all the way back!

“When we got there, it didn’t seem so bad. It was, I daresay, idyllic: birds chirping, sun high in sky, glowing jade green as it filtered through the tree leaves…(an entire page’s worth of pretentious crap yours truly has cut out for your own sanity), but the moment she left, the grand curtain of deception dropped, starting Act I of Hilda’s terrible play.”

           Of course, calling what Hilda did a ‘terrible play’ is like calling the first day you got soap in your eyes ‘an experience’. Kind of an annoying thing about the Shatster: rip the guy’s arm off and leave him bleeding on a cold linoleum floor and it would just be a ‘minor inconvenience’.

(Incredibly long and kinda violent) story short, Hilda basically started using Ms. Hoebag, now demon possessed, as her puppet,  giving the kids complete and utter control of the camp. Almost made me wish I stayed. Almost.

“The trouble was, this age of prosperity lasted but a few paltry hours. For as lofty as Hilda’s goals were it seemed she was not so adept at ensuring food and electricity were paid for.”

This little statement almost made me drop my jerky.

“What, did she not leave any teeth for the food and electricity fairies?”

“As a matter of fact, she forgot to pay the camp’s bills.”

“What?”

“You know, bills. What the grown-ups use to pay for stuff?”

“That’s not what my Dad told me.” I protested “He says we get it from the food and electricity faeries. I have to leave my loose teeth under the bed as payment.”

I could see Shatner’s left eye twitching. Poor guy just couldn’t handle not being the smartest in the room.

“Anyhow,” he continued, “as I was saying-“

           Without bills being payed and whatnot, it wasn’t long before Hilda stepped in to form a government, a government based on SHARING! How in the name of all that is good in the world the other kids agreed to that, I’ll never know, but apparently it had something to do with Vernon hiding all the ice cream sandwiches under his bunk. And by ‘government’, Hilda basically set up the exact thing Ms. Hoebag had going! Well, except for turning me into a martyr. And claiming everything she did was my will. Not exactly a fan of that. So once Hilda had set up her sharing policy and assigned some of the kids to enforce these laws (who might I mention were the SAME LOSERS WHO KISSED UP TO HOEBAG) it was time to vote on a camp currency. Since everyone liked ice cream sandwiches, those were chosen. Problem was, without the electricity the sandwiches melted fast as, well, ice cream in the summertime.

“Though I am not completely certain regarding the details of the matter, it seems Hilda proposed a plan to make it Christmas every day. The logic being, of course, that since Christmas is cold, and ice cream thrives in such frigid conditions, by making it cold the camp could preserve the last of the ice cream. After they sold their collective souls to a demon under the guise of a “character building activity”, their wish was granted… in the form of the most infernal, unsavory aspects of what I quite frankly consider an incredibly cynical interpretation of the winter solstice.”

“X-Mas…” I whispered, on account of that’s what we called ‘Evil Christmas’ back at my home.

Didn’t know what to be more amazed by: the fact that there was Christmas in July, or that in spite of everything, there were still mosquitoes buzzing around.

           At this point, Hilda realized that she was going to have to make the camp some money, because they (and by ‘they’ I mean she) desperately needed heat and they weren’t going to make any singing old Russian choir chants in front of the mess hall, even if it did make for some admittedly awesome camp postcards. So the kids at arts and crafts were assigned to make Papier-Mache Yugos. Amazingly, they sold because at the end of the day, they were still better than the real deal. Too bad most of the cash went into purchasing tigers. With the rest of the money, they were able to afford sixty pounds of Styrofoam, which Hilda told everyone to rip up and pretend it was heat.  (How the FUDGE does that even work?!)

“And such is the camp I arrived back at that terrible day, when Auntie returned me.”

Now, you might have noticed this has been a bit long, but gosh darn it, its’ still shorter than the little spiel Shatner gave me!

“And so I arrived here.” He sighed. “Slowly freezing to death in this wretched Gulag. At first Hilda made me haul snow like everyone else- pretended she never knew me! -before she saw my talents might be able to produce something edible from the snow. Like I could just pull food from thin air!”

“So how’d you do it?”

“You might remember our altercations with regards to the camp’s disreputable offal known as ‘Salisbury Steak’.”

“So what of it?”

Shatner wretched open a pair of creaky wooden doors leading into the floor, after undoing several rusty old locks. Even with the darkness, I could see something fleshy, pink, and BIG!

“”Oh. You’ve gotta be kidding me!”

[slicinghood]

2 Years of SpiderWaifuIsBestWaifu!

As you guys probably guessed, this is the follow up to my previous post! And I have two topics I gotta talk about, so let’s get to it!

First of all, as the title says, today marks the second year since this blog’s creation! Though, the thing is that it wasn’t always RP-oriented. I’ll go over a bit of the history this blog amassed in the two years it’s been around. So if you’re interested, join me on a trip down memory lane! If not, skip ahead to the section that says “This Blog’s Future”, because that’s where the important announcement is at.

How This Mess Came To Be

I don’t know if I ever told this story here, but originally this was a personal made only to follow a few specific people, hence the unconventional URL (which was only a joke at first since I didn’t really plan on posting anything, but it grew on me immensely with time and now I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of it dfklgjg).

After a few days of lurking and following random UT-related art blogs and such, I came across a few people RPing, though I didn’t really know what RP was at the time. (90% of my life until then had been spent on the brazillian side of the internet, where RP wasn’t exactly common or known. So when I found blogs dedicated to characters interacting with eachother and answering asks, needless to say I was quite intrigued!)

After that, I decided that, despite my limited english skills back then, I would try joining in. And who better to start with than my favorite canon Undertale character, Muffet?

“Yes, I still exist!”

I don’t remember much of my earlier RPs, other than broken english and terrible, terrible punctuation. Ironically enough, I learned how to properly write by doing one-liner interactions with some other peeps on IC streams, which eventually lead to longer RPs and me catching up with the language. Well, that alongside massive amounts of character development, buuuut that’s a topic for another day. Somewhere during that time, I came across the release of a little fangame that grabbed my attention.

You might know it! it’s called Undertale Red. I downloaded it on release day, and played it about 5 times in a row just to see all the dialogue variations and little interactions I could get with the mysterious yet charming hooded monster with a short temper. A character with a personality strongly established during the course of a single fight, with fun mechanics (which could equate to fun writing if adapted correctly), and some details which almost instantly brought my interest to both the character’s design and her then-mysterious backstory. I had stumbled upon quite something. That’s when I decided to give writing for her a try, switching out from Muffet during one of the aforementioned IC streams. I was worried if I could even use someone else’s character like that, but luckily a FAQ about Red was already underway, and another Anon sent an ask inquiring about making a roleplay blog for her, with a positive response from the author. (I wonder if there’s another Red still out there!) Cut to a few days later, and my blog was made a multimuse, adding a certain nerd to the roster, which is undoubtedly the ‘star’ of this blog to this day.

“Guess who?”

Also, a small fun fact, this blog has two deleted muses. The first of which was...

Everyone’s favorite human. They were removed because I wasn’t entirely happy with my portrayal of them, and they only ever had a single IC interaction in the blog’s entire lifespan. The big ‘plot twist’ (which at the time wasn’t as common as it is now) was the reveal of their true nature as a Souless Pacifist, which would probably lead into some interesting interactions to say the least. Still, that plot got turned into a 11 month long D&D campaign me and a few friends ran a while back. Now this Frisk is completely hecking dead and deleted from the world itself. Oof.

And the second deleted muse, this one only a few months ago, was...

Kinshi! My first full-fledged OC, who got to see the light of day for a while in that same D&D campaign. I tried bringing her original iteration to the blog, but needless to say it didn’t exactly work out. She was kinda shoehorned into the plot and I kept her way too vague, even if I didn’t plan on revealing all of her information at the start. The original plan was for her to belong to a different timeline, one that was doomed to be deleted thanks to a neglectful player, and she was obviously looking for a solution by exploring other worlds and attempting to understand the nature of timelines better. Her story would have two outcomes, both bittersweet endings, with the sacrifice of her own soul to hold the timeline together, or its complete destruction with Kinshi herself escaping to a different world, unscathed but regretful.  ... which now that I write it out, sounds extremely cheesy and boring. I’m glad I didn’t go with that. However, that deletion and scrapped events didn’t signify the end for her! She’s recently got a full makeover backstory-wise and works as a cook at the Underground-famous restaurant, The Wishing Well! The timeline stuff got completely removed, and now she’s just a really grumpy monster who likes her job way more than she lets on. Hop over to The Wishing Well’s Discord server if you want to interact with her sometime!

Aaaand that’s about all! Of course, I left quite a lot of stuff out, but I either don’t recall it well or I didn’t find it interesting enough to mention here. Besides, this post’s already long as it is. Moving on to the second topic I wanted to talk about here!

This Blog’s Future

Already went over a few issues in this post, and this is basically the outcome of that. I managed to get in contact with Taxiderby over Twitter yesterday, and after a brief conversation, got the all-clear to make Red into a fandomless character! Of course, I’ll be crediting them properly as I always have, though that’s a given with this sorta thing. Now, I know that’s a big change, but all in all, it’s not gonna be something negative. Here’s what it’s gonna affect:

What’s Gonna Happen:

Undertale will not be Red’s main verse anymore, and she will be adapted to an inespecific fandomless verse. However, the Undertale variant, along with a few others I plan to add, will be sticking around. I’ve been in this fandom since the first year of its existence, and I plan on staying ‘till the end. Just gotta branch out a bit more!

A possible change to the URL, making her Undertale verse with the current URL into a sideblog, or the other way around. I’m still unsure on this, though. Who knows, maybe I’ll just keep everything in the same blog for ease of access. We’ll see.

Not really important, but a complete revamp to my tag system. it’s commonplace in multifandom blogs, so if you don’t want to see a specific verse of Red, you can just blacklist the tag.

More interactions, hopefully! This is a big step I’m taking to make sure everyone’s least favorite doll will be around as long as possible!

What’s NOT Gonna Happen:

Any change to the character development in her UT verse. Everything will carry on the same as usual, especially with the Vanitas event going on!

Any major changes to Red’s personality/appearance/species/age. No matter the verse, she’s a doll. I don’t have any plans to make her a human, nor I ever will. (Obviously not counting M!As here, like that one time she got turned into a Dullahan.)

Any major changes to the rules. Other than some updates here and there (since those rules are old as dirt and I haven’t touched them up in a while), everything regarding rules is the same.

It’s gonna take a while until I get around to setting everything up for fandomless Red. So for now, Undertale is still the main verse, and nothing has changed yet. Buuut I already look forward to finding out where this development will take this blog and the character herself!

Anyway, thank you all for-...

Wait, what’s tha-

-New mun faceclaim coming through! I’ll alternate between this one and the old one sometimes. Anyway, as I was saying...

Thank you all for the support throughout these two years! And here’s hoping for a succesful third year of SpiderWaifuIsBestWaifu!

[pass-the-bechdel]

Leverage season two full review

How many episodes pass the Bechdel test?

86.66% (thirteen of fifteen).

What is the average percentage per episode of female characters with names and lines?

33.59%

How many episodes have a cast that is at least 40% female?

Four (episode seven ‘the Two Live Crew Job’ (40%), episode ten ‘The Runway Job’ (54.54%), episode thirteen ‘The Future Job’ (41.66%), and episode fourteen ‘The Three Strikes Job’ (40%)).

How many episodes have a cast that is less than 20% female?

Two (episode two ‘The Tap Out Job’ (18.18%), and episode three ‘The Order 23 Job’ (18.18%)).

How many female characters (with names and lines) are there?

Twenty-six. Four who appear in more than one episode, three who appear in at least half the episodes, and one who appears in every episode.

How many male characters (with names and lines) are there?

Sixty-eight. Seven who appear in more than one episode, three who appear in at least half the episodes, and three who appear in every episode.

Positive Content Status:

An improvement upon the blandness of the first season, but not by enough to actually increase the rating (average rating of 3).

General Season Quality:

Also an improvement upon the blandness of the first season; it takes longer than most shows do to find the right groove, and I still wouldn’t consider it something I’d recommend to others so much as I wouldn’t discourage them from watching it, but it’s angling in the right direction, at the least.

MORE INFO (and potential spoilers) under the cut:

Well. They really committed to proving my point about the dearth of guest female characters, huh? Twenty-six to sixty-eight, for shame. It’s not the worst I’ve seen, but that’s not a compliment. And even with an extra lady around for half the season, they didn’t manage to make a notable improvement upon their numbers. The improvement is all in the personal assessment on this one, it seems.

Credit where it’s due; there is non-statistical improvement, not just in the overall show quality but also in the handling of its characters and thus, the stories they tell. As much as it seems like a given that characters become more rounded as the story continues, that’s certainly not always the way it goes - sometimes, a character is essentially a gimmick for which the writers have no long term plan, so once they’ve fulfilled their original purpose they’re kinda just...around, not having any more personal stories or developments. Sometimes a formerly-important character will get downgraded to relative insignificance due to behind-the-scenes conflicts. Sometimes the writers come up with totally ridiculous plot ideas that require a character to behave wildly different, or to regress in their development, or they realise they bit off more than they could chew trying to make the character complex in the beginning, and so they simplify, dropping extraneous details, whittling the character down to something more manageable and 2D. The first season of Leverage did not do much to build its characters up (other than Nate), so I had prepped myself for disappointment in season two. I wouldn’t say I was elated at what I got instead, but it wasn’t disappointing, at the very least.

It feels a little like a be-careful-what-you-wish-for scenario with Sophie, since I kept on petitioning for her to get a story of her own and then, oops, she left to ‘find herself’. To be honest, while this is certainly Sophie handling a plot development that is about herself for once, the fact that it takes place almost completely off-screen means that we, the audience, don’t experience Sophie’s side of it, and so for us as viewers it’s...kinda just another plot that Nate and co have to deal with, rather than being Sophie’s Thing. And while that’s alright as far as things go with the rest of the team being Sophie’s cute friends, the main interaction we have with Sophie’s absence is, yup, still via Nate and his whinging. So, I’m still waiting for Sophie to actually get a story of her own (plus we’ll have to wait and see what developments do or do not come out of her soul-searching, because if she just goes back to the way things were before, that’s not character development, folks, that’s character stagnation. It’s character stalling). 

On the plus side, Tara is one of the better examples I’ve seen of a short-term character being introduced into central status and then packed off again once the person they were replacing returns from the ether. It’s generally a pretty dodgy move; the new character feels out-of-place and takes ages to settle in (if they settle in at all), and/or the story totally bungles things when disposing of the replacement later, especially if the newbie has settled in and become an enjoyable part of the dynamic only to be unceremoniously booted (excuse me...my Stargate SG1 salt is resurfacing with a vengeance). Changes to the status quo on tv are pretty much always polarising, especially cast changes, and whether you love a temporary lead or hate them, you’re almost definitely left in the aftermath wondering why the fuck the showrunners thought that plot contrivance was a good idea/the best way to handle a cast-related issue. That Tara’s introduction was quality, her continued presence organic and enjoyable, and her eventual departure solidly understandable within the narrative? Pretty miraculous, to be honest. I may not be big on the Sophie side of things, but at least they did VERY right by Tara. 

Notably, that still leaves us with no clear commentary from me in regards to Parker, and I’m inclined to stay with that until they FINALLY give her something more substantial to work with. I like her, she’s cool, she’s fun, she has a nice relationship with Eliot and Hardison and the three of them working jobs with the rest of the characters on second string is the best format the show has, but Parker’s characterisation is still at a point of vagueness that leaves me unsure of what commentary there could be in the first place. She was raised in foster care and it was a bad time. She’s a bit weird. That’s not exactly a definitive character outline. So, while I am enjoying her, I’m also hoping to get a clearer picture of what she’s all about, and I’ll be perfectly happy to get a clearer idea of Eliot and Hardison’s lives right along with it. The two of them are definitely more clearly drawn at present (no doubt due in large part to them being by all appearances neurotypical), but all three are sitting as the show’s greatest untapped resource at the moment, and it’s time that changed. Nate bores me to tears, when he’s not makin’ me tear my figurative hair out in frustration; gimme something else, show. Gimme more. I want to tell those persons who recommended this show to me that I’m glad for it.