#jinx enjoyers are not surviving

[viktorgf]

guys we are not surviving act three of arcane

[jayktoralldaylong]

One of my favourite things about Arcane is that all the couples can be read as toxic, which is GREAT.

I'm tired of people bringing morality debates into dark media. Let dark media be fucking dark. You guys wouldn't survive a day in the TMA fandom, needing everyone to be as good as gold. How are they going to make for enjoyable complex characters if they're not morally grey. In fact, I wish there'd been more expansion on just how morally black they can become!

"CaitVi is so toxic" According to lesbian statistics, that sounds just about accurate. 💀 Heck, I wish Caitlyn had done more (Not really, but it would have been nice to further explore the darkness in her heart). Isn't it adorable how she immediately folded as soon as Vi called her cupcake? Caitlyn's like one of those villains that will consistently do the most....until it comes to someone else hurting her girlfriend. The only one allowed to hurt her girlfriend is her. 💀

Then let's talk about Vi. Someone pointed out how Vi never cared about Zaun's independence in the first place and many people yelled that they were wrong. But actually, they were right. Vi never wanted Zaun. Zaun was Silco's dream, and Jinx inherited that dream cause Silco would never shut up about it. Vi wanted Piltover to take responsibility for all the shit they allowed to happen in the Undercity. That's a part of the reason she joined up with Caitlyn in the first place. Let's not forget she wasn't dissuaded when she dragged Jayce down to fight with her and he killed a child. Children been dying, it's been her whole life. Someone needed to do something about it, and Zaun would have just isolated the people from all the privileges that Piltover SHOULD have been providing for them. Some people just can't accept that Independence cannot in fact solve every problem, and sometimes independence is colonisers running away from the responsibility of fixing the mess that they started in the first place.

Besides, we all know Vi joined up with the Enforcers because "I feel like I am worthless if I can't be of service." She'd already run out of family members to serve, Caitlyn was the next best thing. She's just like Jayce.

And speaking of Jayce, let's talk about his violent levels of codependency with anyone who'll give him attention. People LOOOOVE to talk about Mel, but it's there with Viktor too. When bro wasn't basing his worth on his inventions, he was centering it around Viktor.

Viktor who decided at some point in his life that he would not LIVE without Jayce. He was fine dying without him, but living without him was unacceptable. Oh how healthy. 🙄😂 Viktor be the kind of toxic ex to threaten divorce 500 times over, then burn the world when you actually leave him. Jayce is no better cause he's the kind of guy to keep going back to his toxic Ex.

Yes, Mel is manipulative. That's what I love about her. How are you guys failing to give this woman the praise of being an outsider in Piltover, but running their entire council. 💀 Girl raises her hand once and the whole government starts spinning. She was the best sugar mummy Jayce and Viktor could ever ask for. She kept the whole city running. Literally the entire of Piltover dancing on her palm. And yes she manipulated Jayce but let's not forget she thought that was a love language. 💀 You wanna be mad at someone, be mad at Ambessa for raising her that way.

I also don't think it's fair to blame her for the Undercity situation, she's not native. Monkey see, monkey do, and not a single one of those Council members actually cared about the situation down there, it was deplorable. 💀 Jayce did way more in his two weeks as Councillor than any of those drug pushing, money laundering, Piltovian heads of government.

And that just covers MelJayVik, we don't even need to get fully into TimeBomb, cause we know what's wrong there. 💀 Surely we have not forgotten the many teammates Jinx has killed, but making sure to never kill Ekko cause that's her man. Ekko has a lot to unpack, like how his consistent and unwavering love for Jinx is an indication of a lot of doors he might not be ready to open. I know they dynamics go crazy and I love to see it.

Ambessa and Sevika are a crack ship but I'm sure we all know bedroom dynamics go crazy with Mrs. Warlord and Miss Liberation. I love it when characters clash in a toxic heap. It's insane and should be explored.

Quit saintifying my toxic ships with your woke morality debates. If you want everyone to be sunshine and rainbows then you should be watching literally anything else. 💀 "It's not healthy." GOOD, I like it that way. 💀 Angst, spice and trauma are the recipe for a plethora of explorative fanfiction. Any of their dynamics can be taken in any toxic direction and I want that EXPLORED.

[paradox-time]

Big Fat Arcane Spoilers.

Ok. I'm putting my opinions on here. All interpretations and opinions in good faith are valid, like what you like, hate what you hate.

I loved the finale of Arcane. When I saw episode 6, I had some predictions. I figured Vander would be back, I figured Jinx would be an independent force but not at violent to piltover. I figured Sevika would be a leader in some capacity to replace both Silco and Vander as the glue holding the Undercity together.

I had 3 predictions for Viktor:

Worst Case Scenario- Viktor survives and is morally the same as before the end of ep6 or is a benevolent/good character

Neutral Scenario- Viktor dies a la ep6, and his story ends there. Not my fav, feels like wasted potential, but would be fine with that ending.

Best Case Scenario- Viktor Comes Back Evil!!!!!!

Let me be clear. Viktor has been my favorite character since 2021. I love everything about him and his story. The way I was cheering like I was watching volleyball when I saw his split face and heard the Machine Herald voice and watched the Noxians roll him in like a big cursed egg. Seeing him beat the shit out of Jayce and turning off gravity like a fucked up version of the fire extinguisher in space scene from Wall-E. Girl I loved it!!!!! He deserves it!!!

I am a tragedy enjoyer who loves when cruel self-fulfilling prophecies destroy every facet of what someone swore to stand for!

The end where he eventually sides with Jayce (and sacrifices himself?) and saves everyone was also pretty good 👍 👌

[albinokittens300]

SO. Since we are getting into promo time for season 2 and I am kinda late to this party, handful of theories I am down for. I don't think any of these are orignal speculation, as I've seen them most of them several different places but. Yea, general thoughts on how I am feeling about S2...so when it airs I can come back and cringe at myself XD.

-No way Caitlyns mom survived unfortunately.

-Viktor and Mel probabbly lived, but in extremely rough shape. Enough to isolate Jayce and opening him up to being manipulated by Ambessa.

-Yea Ambessa is 100% gonna be the one pulling the strings through Jayce at least at the beginning.

-I don't know if I feel like Caitlyn is gonna get to become sherif by the end of this season like she is meant to end up becoming. If she does, it's gonna be at the end, imo. Though I imagine Vi will end up becoming an enforcer by the end.

-Sevika probably has taken most of the power and influence SIlco had for the time being. I imagine her thing is gonna be getting all them chem barons to work as a unit to actually stand a chance to fight Piltover whenever they attack. Because they will.

-Jinx most definitely is gonna keep confronting people. I mentioned before Ekko feels like the natural next name on her list. But I think Sevika will be seeing her face pritty soon as well. Singed may also be on there somewhere because of the shimmer infusion situation. Point being I don't think Jinx is going to be hiding out. Her twisted tea party seemed like the beginning.

-Ekko will be creating the the Z drive in the first few episodes, and probably finish it by the second or third. I have a whole think I want to post about my thoughts on just how much the firelights are gonna be joinning in the conflict. But that is an entire post on it's own.

-I want to think Hiemerdinger may risk going to see if he can't talk Jayce down at the point he sends everything at the undercity. Maybe. Or he is gonna throw everything into beefing up the undercity as much as possible.

WHEW okay. A lot lol. Again, these are just speculation I got so give me some grace XD. Put out mostly for enjoyment while everyone is waiting, and to laugh at myself later on.

[sir-adamus]

So for curiosity, how do you feel about how Cait and Vi's reconciliation was handled? Is there anything you wish they'd had more time for or do you think it was handled as close to perfect as they could?

i didn't have a problem with it, i thought it was fine

i feel like - and i have to speak about this season in general, you can feel the constraints holding things back through this season. my overall enjoyment isn't affected but it's clear that they had to sacrifice a lot of stuff to fit in the limited runtime

season 1 is primarily centered around like 6 or 7 characters with only 2 or 3 narrative through-lines because until Jinx fires Jawbones in the finale, the story is contained primarily to those characters, but with the looming threat that it was going to spill out onto a wider scale. so season 1 ends with the event that's going to cause things to start rapidly escalating which season 2 had to deal with pretty much hitting the ground running

and the problem with the story no longer being contained to this small cast of characters but to an escalating conflict spanning both cities with outside actors also making their play is that a lot of scenes that would have helped convey internal character conflicts and fleshed things out as they progress either didn't happen or were instead inferred through the means of a music video as a bit of a narrative cheat to get a point across because there's only so much runtime that can be dedicated to it

because if you look at the soundtrack of this season compared to season 1, there's twice as many songs, and a lot of those were used for precisely that - because unlike with season 1 we didn't have enough runtime to get all the meat out of it because there's so many more moving parts (this is why episode 7 is one of the best ones because it's contained to three characters and completely removed from the main conflict - and even then, Heimerdinger's character arc feels inconclusive), and i think the final two episodes are where this is most noticeable because Jinx is at her lowest point, then Ekko shows up to talk her down and next we see her she's leading the Zaunites alongside him with a new look and seemingly in a better place (as her attempted sacrifice wasn't something she planned)

but the problem is you have to infer a lot about how we got from point A to point C because point B happened entirely offscreen to the point that it felt like they were really struggling to pack everything in and because you can make those inferences it was one of the easier things to cut, when those scenes would've done a lot to show that turning point for Jinx, and using her position as Zaun's symbol (could even use a music video sequence there to show Ekko sharing his experiences in the other timeline to set up a potential future reconciliation of Piltover and Zaun cos now he knows it's possible, as well as show Jinx and Sevika commiserating over Isha), and set up her choice to get the airship and leave without letting anyone know she's alive (again, inference, Caitlyn is holding the head of the same monkey bomb that Jinx used in her final scene, so you can conclude that when they got down there to try and recover her body they didn't find her or Warwick, and Cait's trying to figure out how she might've survived)

this season would've really benefited just from having an extra episode in each act to pace things out more and let us sit in those moments that had to be montaged past - like overall i had a good time, this is going to be a show i come back to over and over, it's the kinda show where it being bittersweet and open-ended makes sense, but i can see the holes that had they been filled would have elevated it from good to great, and that like a lot of good shows, it's an ending ultimately held back by the limitations of the run time, the structure (three episodes per act across three acts), and possibly budget limitations too

[vr3kka]

it took me a while to watch & fully process the entirety of Arcane, and I was already late to the party

while there were many elements of S2 that were enjoyable, animation on point, threads of interest etc - as many of you have already voiced, there were also some narrative choices that (for me) fell flat

I'm not in the zone to overanalyse & dissect anything, I'm more on a creative thing rn, but I will say this - I'm heavily leaning towards a personal comfort headcannon of Silco surviving, and having Sevika/Jinx/Silco working out their shit to heal together and stomp Piltover bc honestly fuck Pilties. unite the lanes etc. that's where I wanna live, so that's where I'm gonna ☆

[arcane-ish]

Arcane season 2 - Act 2 Review

through most of the act my feeling was that the pacing was off.

I just hate all the spacy, trippy stuff and it really ruins my enjoyment of the episodes.

Not really enjoying design for Warwick much, I want my fluffy furry Warwick. I also think the spooky horror stuff could be way spookier and more effective.

Ambessa isn't bad but she just isn't that interesting and effective. I think she just doesn't do enough interesting evil stuff compared to Silco.

However, enough meaningful emotional stuff happened in episode 6 to tide over a lot.

I don't buy that Warwick is dead. His whole point is that he has healing factor.

Caitlyn and Vi work really well together. After act 1 I was thinking about posting how the main thing that is missing for me between Vi and Caitlyn as a couple (at least compared to their League counterparts) is a sense of fun and raport. They got that back in episode 6.

Vi versus Ambessa was really fun.

I'm sorry Jayce and Viktor fans, I just like Jayce too little to be at all invested in this storyline. Good for Skye getting screentime I guess. Seriously, I would have gladly deleted that entire storyline fro the show. Just have Jayce, Viktor and Mel survive the explosion and then go off on a spa vaaction all season (sorry Mel fans). I would have gladly swapped all of that for Ekko and Heimer screentime.

Vikto and Singed got the most meaningful discussion on opposing philosophies.

It amuses me that they gave Caitlyn a dedicated training montage with Ambessa just to explain how Caitlyn could hold her own against Vi even though she's generally ranged.

I like Zaun going collectively "I am Spartacus" over Jinx.

I think Isha impersonating Jinx and doing an attack thing is kind of stupid. She is cute enough that she doesn't feel too excessively like a self insert and the way Jinx and Sevika react to her is gold. However, she still feels super contrived.

I'm kind of surprised by the relative friendliness of Singed vis a vis Vander and I was almost relieved when they went to him wanting to sacrifice Vander again in the Viktor camp. Ah, that's my unscupulous evil scientist, just the way I like him.

The Mylo and Claggor ereasure is really sad and I'm not even one of the people who particularly cares about them.

So... Vander and Silco flashbacks. One of the main things I wanted out of season 2. Am I satisfied.

1.) I'm glad that despite what is being said it didn't feel like a cheesy love triangle to me (my nightmare was that they would do Vander x Grayson).

2.) That said, my best case scenario, my biggest wish was actually for the fallout between Vander and Silco to actually be about politics and for us to get to actually let them voice their politics disagreements in an argument. (again more like the discussion between Singed and Viktor).

I like that it didn't violate my headcanons of them too much, however it didn't trigger my meaty thinky thoughts particularly about the political stuff either.

The thing that triggers my brain the most is actually their secret hideout, and it's about half !!!!!!!(/)§/$IHIUAHSIU!!!????"!! and half I'm not sure this makes sense.

How is that thing still preserved so pristinely? How come Silco never went there? I have to many questions!!!! And escaped Warwick went to that place and scratched on the door :( :( :( :(

I feel like I want to point out that Vander thought of Silco even before thinking of the girls (right after the monkey that was their undoing).

I wish we would have gotten to see the number on Silco's miner's badge just to see if his number is right after Vander's number to indicate that they joined at the same time if they are apart.

Can we get Ekko to do that particular time rewind that Jinx is talking about?

[arcadiabaytornado]

can u elaborate on how the weapons each arcane character fights with represent their personality n how max makes the choice about who to sacrifice depending on what she feels she needs to do? i love reading u ramble

Okay. Here's the deal. I'll make a post later about why Max leans toward sacrificing Arcadia Bay, but I'm not going to do it in this post because this post got LONG. I know you said you like my rambling, which I appreciate, but I think this post is going is going to be long even for the ramble enjoyers.

The first character I'm going to talk about is Caitlyn. She fights primarily with a gun, a long ranged weapon. The difference between a melee weapon and a long ranged weapon is pretty big. With a melee weapon, like gauntlets, you have to get up close and personal to commit an act of violence. While with a ranged weapon, like a gun, it's easier to distance yourself from your actions. That's notable for a character like Caitlyn who is A: Very kind and not someone who relishes in violence. B: Very privileged and has never experienced violence in the same way Vi has.

By using a gun Caitlyn is able to distance herself from the violence. Which matches her personality when you think about her well meaning but also often naive view of the world. However, there's another character that uses a gun that isn't much like Caitlyn.

More Undercut

And that's Jinx.

So does everything I say about why Caitlyn uses a gun still apply? Yep! Because Jinx uses a gun when we're supposed to be drawing a parallel between her and Powder. She uses a gun during the dock fight where she hallucinates Vi's face on the pink haired girl. She uses a gun when she kills Markus, the man who took Powder's sister away from her. She uses a gun to try to kill Caitlyn, a "monster" that Vi once would have forced to go away. Finally, she uses a gun to kill Silco when he threatens Vi. I think when Jinx uses a gun we're supposed to be thinking of her in terms of Powder, and that's why she uses a weapon that is less destructive than the weapon she uses when she wants to be Jinx: Bombs.

Bombs, much like Jinx, are chaotic and unpredictable. Once you throw one there's no real way to mitigate the damage or even 100% predict how much harm they'll do. That's very symbolic of Jinx, who's mental state has deteriorated to the point where she's very unstable and hard to predict. It's also noteworthy that Jinx, a character who is haunted by her past trauma, uses a weapon that can be a trigger for her, as we see with the bunny scene. I think that's symbolic of Jinx still living in the past, and wanting to prove to herself and others that her creations can be helpful to Silco's crusade. That is until Episode 9, when she gives up and tragically accepts herself (and therefore her creations) as a "jinx" and decides to bomb the council.

Speaking of the council! Mel is the only character who doesn't have a true weapon and doesn't engage with violence! This ties neatly into her trauma and resentment of her war mongering Mother, and her choice in the end to not vote for war with Zaun. It makes me wonder if, next season, (assuming she's alive) she'll come back with some kind of weapon, or if she'll stay defiant by staying unarmed.

Sevika is somewhat similar to Mel in the fact that she doesn't have a traditional weapon, but unlike Mel she is a fighter. She uses her enhanced arm to fist fight, which I think ties into her dedication and loyalty to Zaun. Fighting is part of survival in Zaun. We see that with teen Vi, Vander, and Silco. Sevika is no different from them in the way that she knows how to defend herself. and I think the fact that she fights with a mechanical arm ties into another aspect of Zaun: The technology.

Technology is what Viktor has begun to use as a weapon, albeit, unintentionally. While Viktor wants to use the tech for the good of himself and others, the hex core in his possession ends up killing Sky. This is symbolic of the way Viktor isn't actively trying to cause harm with tech, but he causes it all the same in a desperate attempt to save his own life.

Jayce is much the same. While he's not actively trying to cause harm with tech, he still does so. I find this interesting because Jayce's character could be summed up by one word: Progress. We usually see progress within tech/society/whatever else as a positive thing, but Arcane asks us the question "What happens when society takes a step toward a more destructive path?" And I think this question is symbolized by Jayce's hammer. A hammer is a tool that can be used for far more than causing harm to people. It's a tool often used to create new things, which is why it's heavily symbolic when Jayce rigs the hammer with hex tech technology to makes it more of a weapon than a tool.

His rigged hammer is symbolic of Jayce taking progress and warping into something dangerous. Which is a harsh contrast to Vi, who uses a weapon that is only really made for fighting.

Vi uses gauntlets, a melee weapon used for combat. Combat is a large part of Vi's character. Her skill in fighting is what she uses to survive in the streets of Zaun, and for both better and worse, it's what she typically defaults to when facing adversary. It only makes sense for a "hands on" character like Vi to have a weapon that is best used in a hand-to-hand fight. All of this could also be applied to Vander, another character who uses gauntlets, as he was just as hot-headed as Vi back in the day. Which ties into my next point:

It's further symbolic that she uses Vander's gloves. Vi is Vander's prodigy, and by the end of season 1, she closely replicates him in an ideological fashion. She no longer wants a big bloody war between Piltover and Zaun like she did as a teen, and has started taking steps to do things more diplomatically. Vi uses Vander's gloves because her arc is a parallel to his. But do you know who else's arc parallels Vander's?

Silco. The leader turned Father.

Silco uses a knife as his weapon. In criminology, knives are often considered as "personal" weapons because you have to get close to someone to use it. That's very symbolic of the fact that Silco only uses the knife on Vander, someone he was close with before their idea of Zaun took them in different directions. Him using a knife could also be a reference to the phrase "stabbed in the back" as he literally stabs Vander in the back after Vander tries to drown him.

That's my analysis of the weapons of each prominent Arcane character. I would do a better job closing out this post, but I wrote a small book above and I'm tired of typing so...post over. Scroll on. Thank you for reading.

[ravenkinnie]

i love love love the way you write jinx and the way you talk about her and her relationships!!! not to be annoying bc a lot of ppl in the fandom are like 16/17 but the general interpretation of jinx as little more than a victim of her circumstances and silco’s manipulation who should make up with her sister, be caitvi’s slightly annoying third wheel and ekko’s (or lux? lmao nothing against either ship but yk) quirked up gf is soooo boring (like god forbid a girl contains multitudes and is both a meow meow and an absolute cunt) and your take on her is such a breath of fresh air! not sure if you talked about this in a post already but what are your hopes in general for the new season and ofc for jinx in particular?

❤️❤️❤️ that's my pookie and even tho I'm hoeing across runeterra she will always be the one

no fr fr and listen I do feel like I'm fighting in a kindergarten when I hate because I realise it's cause everyone I'm beefing with is 18 and just likes the same YA archetypes as everyone else at that age but if 10k bitches can post it on ao3 I can hate on it. especially because it erases a supremely well done character that they made out of a lol champion I wouldn't even think twice about when she first released like that's a talent and that's work

and also if people want to complain about female characters in media it feels disingenuous to then remove agency from complicated female characters we do have to make them one dimensional - like one thing you cannot say about jinx is that she's flat - in personality I mean cause well. she is an active dynamic character with insane narrative potential and a lot of layers and being both a victim and a victimiser is an important part of that

my main hopes for season 2 are honestly

*I hope its consistent internally with its own ideology </3 I think s1 at the end starts unraveling a lil because it seems to despair for this both sides ass take but it just wouldn't make any sense with league lore or the show itself. here I mostly fear for ekko gkbknj

*everybody should become a somewhat worse person, like vi provably will because she will become an enforcer, caitlyn seems to also be heading for some corruption arc, obv viktor is there, so I think this will be fulfilled teehee

*I want jinx to have her own arc and I mean an arc where she develops her own goal and motivations outside other characters too and maybe this goal will be to love evil till the day she dies, ill take it!! I just think seeing jinx grow outside that child/flighty troublemaker into a full on villain/terrorist will be fantastic and will also give her actual league lore another layer that hopefullyyyy they can continue to build on (and they will never stop banking on jinx like that's basically leagues mascot)

*mel survives </3 like it would be way too much of a loss of a great character to give her so little storyline of her own, she needs to be in s2

*overall, sorry to be a freak but I'm a tragedy lover and enjoyer and I know they are tied to champion lore somewhat now but I still hope it ends sad or bittersweet for everyone. and when you say tragedy people often think of character death but that's probably the least tragic ending you can give a bitch, the true hollowness in losing everything you once were and could have been is what im talking about!!

*I did say this before but I hope jinx kills imagine dragons in arcane universe. first of all they are touring in israel so they deserve that but also it would be really funny to see them on her list of victims like just whole ass imagine dragons under silco or sth

[samuelyaboyy]

Had to make a introduction abut me cuz idk

My name is Sarah

My favorite shows are the muppet show, animaniacs, ghost and Molly McGee, casagrandes, the loud house, don't hug me I'm scared, sonic x, sonic boom, the letter people, Eddsworld, sesame street, Rocko's Modern Life, Ren and Stimpy, CRiTORA, Catdog, moral Orel, muppets tonight, fanboy and Chum Chum, Fred Figglehorn, cartoonmania, mandela catalogue, walten files, Fred the Show, hi hi puffy Ami yumi, your favorite martian the series, nostalgia critic, angry video game nerd and potter puppet pals

My favorite movies are the muppet movie, the muppets, muppets most wanted, adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, Fred the movie, Fred 3 the movie, Fred 2 night of the living Fred and CartoonMania: the movie

My hyperfixations are mad scientist cartoon, the rockafire explosion, goosebumps, vocaloid, utau and clone high

My favorite music artists are lemon demon, neil cicierega, your favorite martian, will wood, will wood and the tapeworms, tally hall, Bart baker, ghost and pals, your favorite martian and oingo boingo

My favorite video games are quiplash, trivia murder party, trivia murder party 2, Friday night funkin, five nights at Freddy's, Dave and Bambi, sonic the hedgehog, Omori, team fortress 2, roblox, item asylum, survive and kill the killers on area 51, my singing monsters, my muppets show and my singing monsters dawn of fire

My comfort media are inanimate insanity and peewee's playhouse

I am a bisexual, pansexual polyamorous aroace non-binary transgender genderfluid and xenogender boy

I use he/they/faun/xem/it pronouns and neopronouns

I make xenogenders

I make headcanon about characters from every media

I'm neurodivergent, autistic and ADHD

DNI if:

Homophobic

Transphobic

Ableist

Racist

Vegan

Imvu players

P3d0

Autism speaks supporters/defenders

Xenogender anti

Neopronoun anti

RCTA

Z00ph1l3

N$fw

F3t!sh ppl

Inflation and v0r3 enjoyers

Lemon Demon anti

Spam bots

Favorite characters

Muppets - Uncle deadly, Dr phil van neuter johnny Fiama sal minella marvin Suggs Mr poodlepants chip bill the bug bobo the bear lew Zealand doctor Bunsen honeydew beaker Wayne and Wanda waldo C graphic digit newsman bill the bubble guy Wilkins wontkins bobby Benson link hogthrob Constantine the frog Sam the Eagle Howard Tubman Carter Zelda rose and Mulch

Sesame Street - Count von Count, Bill the Bug and Limbo/Nobody

Bart Baker - Taylor Swift, PSY, Lorde, William, Britney spears and Adam levine

Lemon Demon - Neil Cicierega

Animaniacs - Wakko Warner

The Ghost and Molly McGee - Sharon McGee, Leah stein-torres, Pete mcgee, Libby stein-torres, jinx, Molly McGee, scratch, Darryl McGee and Ezekiel tugbottom

Battle for Dream Island - Puffball

Friday night Funkin - Meri, Beepie, Dave and Bambi

Fred Franchise - Fred Figglehorn

Jashin-Chan - Hatsune Miku

CRiTORA - Kimi canicani, Iggy digahol, Avery Darling, eggy, queen virus, dundun qwerty, Pluto Georgia, spottie Leonard and Ernie joefreckler

Adventures of Elmo in grouchland - Huxley

Channel Awesome - Nostalgia Critic/Doug Walker

Muppets 2011 - Tex Richman

Cinemassacre - Angry Video Game Nerd

Muppet Movie - Max, Doc Hopper and Snake Walker

Pokemon - Sylveon

Fred the Movie - Kevin and Judy

Peewee's Playhouse - Cool Cat, Dirty Dog, Conky 2000, Randy and Chairry

Muppets from Space - K. Edgar singer

Rockafire Explosion - Rolfe Dewolfe and Dook Larue

Cartoonmania - Lucifer Killingsworth, Rufus, Ed Ted Ned and Fred, Anne Mermaid, Roy and Professor Qwertyson

Muppets Most Wanted - Dominic badguy

ABC Muppets - Pache/Pizza

Don't hug me I'm scared - Colin and Shrignold

Muppets Tonight - Heather Locklear

Muppets Wizard of Oz - Wicked Witch of the west

Crash and Bernstein - Crash

Fraggle Rock - Large Marvin fraggle

Clone High - Topher Bus, Abe, Professor Scudsworth and Mr. butlertron wesley

Scott the Woz - Scott the Woz

Owl House - Collector

BFFS list

@elle-eedee @emishows123 @splashy900 @boogiestronic80s @nightmaremp @moshywoosh @cheezecirno

Might pin this later 👀

This was inspired by @emishows123

[clownpi]

New Lightcannon idea: Prince of Persia crossover. A new exhibit of rare relics from Shurima opens in Piltover with the highlight being the supposed 'Sands of Time' hourglass and Dagger of Time. The ancient Vizier attacks the Museum to gain both items, and use them to turn both cities into a replica of his kingdom he was master of in ancient times. However Jinx (Surviving being stabbed by the Dagger she just happen to be wanting to rob as well.) makes off with the Dagger in a visiting Lux being dragged along for the ride.

Never played the Prince of Persia games (I seem to be saying that a lot with having not watched/read/played lol) so I'm only able to talk from context clues, but I'm somewhat struggling on figure out how to mentally develop the idea (If that makes sense).

Usually with these submissions it gets my brain buzzing, but with this one I don't really know how it would go. Like I can see Jinx being a little gremlin sneaking in to the exhibit, maybe getting found out by Vi and Caitlyn (who are patrolling the exhibit given it's high profile nature and the fact Jinx likely sent them a note expressing her interest). Lux could also be there as a diplomat.

It's just I'm drawing a blank on how the story would advance past getting the cool dagger.

I don't know, for some reason my mind just drifts to the Mummy given the subject matter and my enjoyment of the movie. In that case it could be an AU (or take place in Runeterra who knows) where Lux hires a team to explore newly discovered ruins that are thought to house unimaginable treasures.

Team would be: Lux (Kinda over it archeologist), Ezreal (Well-intentioned explorer friend that's a massive idiot surviving through sheer luck and is practically unkillable), Sivir (Local guide, gruff with a heart of gold when it counts, constant mocker of "Dumb foreigners"), Jinx (Ex-Convict hired due to her unmatched skills when it comes to traps and engineering, keeps flirting with Lux), and Caitlyn and Vi being thrown into the bunch as Jinx 'technically' isn't an Ex-Convict since she escaped prison early because she got bored.

Villain would be Xerath or something, who the accidentally unleash and have to deal with.

Maybe I just want to rewatch the Mummy.....

[independentzaun]

🍒 Would they ever want to get married? , 🍎 How do they flirt with the same sex? & 🍏 How do they react to flirting from the same sex? for Sevika and Silco

In normal verses Sevika wouldn't want to for one simple reason. She doesn't expect to survive working for Silco. She fully expects that some day she will die bleeding out on the street, and she doesn't want to put someone through that. I say normal verses because obviously there are exceptions... like with Elise. She's absolutely here to get married to Elise. If Elise is willing.

How does she flirt with the same sex? Playfully, and confidently, and at times rather bluntly. It is not hard to tell when she's interested, and if she's interested it's not hard to get some time together with her. Sevika doesn't play games, and is the healthiest of my muses sexually so she's pretty up front about things. As for flirting from the same sex she reacts very enthusiastically, and sees no reason at all not to.

He is married, and it's to The Cause. There must be a Free Nation of Zaun, and while that stays unfulfilled how could he possibly imagining joining his life to another in such a way? Not to mention Jinx would get jealous, and quite possibly kill the other person. That said he would be willing to marry for political reasons.

Flirting with other men? He plays games, and does everything possible to keep a power difference between them so he doesn't feel threatened. To be blunt for as much as he does enjoy men, and his natural inclination has him leaning more towards men than women because of trauma he has issues trusting men or feeling safe with them in such situations. So if he's flirting he will be pushing boundaries, seeing what they will accept and take, being a bit of a brat, and trying to force them to admit just what it is they want. It's not really a healthy thing to be honest. His reaction to them flirting with him? Somewhere between vague suspicion, and enjoyment. Deep inside Silco does enjoy the thought that he's still wanted by other men, and if someone comes up to flirt he's probably not going to immediately tell them to go away so long as they are interesting about it. That said if it's just some generic "Hey sexy/daddy/did it hurt when you fell from heaven" thing he's going to roll his eyes, and tell them to go away.

[witchcraftandburialdirt]

❛ no one touches what’s mine. ❜

✧ ── 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐑 𝐕𝐈𝐁𝐄𝐒 LOCUM TENES VERSE

"No one touches what’s mine."

Those words echoed emptily throughout the stale air of the Entresol layer, each one like a sharpened knife ready to plunge into those responsible for this attack. One which painted the remaining walls in a thick crimson hue - if it weren't for the smell, and flies, it would be difficult to tell the truth of what the liquid actually was. Gore and sanguine viscera squelched under the ridges of his boots as he stepped across the threshold of the sieged office, not Silco's main hideaway, but another far off location his beloved ward had been at. It had been ransacked, various corpses left to rot along with the reminder of what was once a wall - now splintered and sharp, how Jinx had managed to survive such an attack Robin had no idea, but then again; he wasn't getting paid to play detective. That would come in his free time later, surely something had to be within that girl's blood to cause her to become so demented... Maybe she wasn't even human, but that would only be whispered to him through the blood collecting in the treads of his leather boots.

A quiet beep indicated that his gas mask had detected something foul in the air, something which billowed from the road's pipes - eager to taint and poison any living thing that dared allow it in. Robin's masked face rose tediously and angled back to peer upwards at where the sky would be...although it was still moreso a haze of jaundice than the blue expanse he had seen above in Piltover. Whichever light could penetrate the smog bled further into murk - all beauty of that illuminated silver stripped away; as if Zaun itself was a place destined to kill any beauty dwelling within it. For once - haunting eyes did not befall upon Silco when he spoke, green discs gazing firmly upward until he lowers his head to continue his search within the bloodied mess under him. He stared and stared and stared into the pools under his feet, his visage was less human in its motion - as if no one exsited under that mask, hood and various layers - maybe he was just a ghost as so many Zaunites would say.

Sometimes he wondered if they were right, what really was there to life once the rest had gone? Perhaps all of this time he really had been dead, wandering on a repeated path and doomed to spend eternity within an infected city where so many people had died. Robin's fingers brushed through the filth below as he raised a small vial, the glass of which just barely had the markings of an inscription. How generous, to practically invite him to their manufacturer. The breath of delight he let out was distorted by the filter nestled by his mouth, human but no less rapturous as the two ear-like structures atop his mask twitch and curl in a particular direction, catching various radio signals within their motions. Granted he wouldn't be explaining to Silco about every channel he had found - if he did not ask, he had no reason to share such things. After a few moments he rose once more to rotate halfway towards the Eye of Zaun, posture strong as the vial rested between the pads of his thumb and index finger.

The doctor's boot was loud as he stepped towards Silco, finally getting to a decent proximity between the two of them, where their words were only for eachother. The intimate space wouldn't allow for any other curious ears, and the modulator sprange to life once more as he spoke, murmuring lowly for the man. "This is from a manufacturer in Bridgewaltz - one of their top buyers is...the Firelights, ha! How shocking." Oh what venomous sarcasm coated his words, "They have a base around here, nestled in the Chemtech Seam; it holds some of their less...humanitarian creations. As kindred as our enjoyment would be to raid them and cut off all of their heads, to reveal our position so readily would be damaging long term. .. Pity, it would feel good too.”

The vial was slid into a small bag and lifted towards the man, hollow, cold discs deeply reflecting the heterochromia of the eyes before him, and he stepped ever closer. Their time together had grown, and while perhaps trust was still a long ways away - there had never been any signs of disloyalty, not a whiff of betrayal. And so, their sides pressed together he murmured once more, "Allow me to plant a chip within the walls of the Seams, I'll translate their morse or radio clicks, that would tell us everything about what they've inside and what they plan to do with it. As for here well..." Once again the space between them was freed while he took a step to the side, "It is a miracle your ward survived, I've no reason to believe any of the others did considering the....well, everything." A dismissive wave, "That being said, while I partake and have knowledge of mortuary skills and procedures; I do believe that is why the cleaners are here. I would much rather like to focus my energy upon Jinx, I do not trust the competency of the doctors she has been left with - very little of them have any sort of mercy, and I'd like to grant her some while she's being...taped back together again. Allow me to work on her, you'll find that most of those people in the medical ward have the phreonology of a mule. So...I'd prefer we leave now, we've enough info off of this bottle - I can pick at it later."

[independentzaun]

Watching Jhin stand there was the faintest gleam of satisfaction in Silco’s eyes. A gleam that increased for a second as the blanket was dropped. “Would I be? A good surprise can be enjoyable when delivered correctly.” There was something quite agreeable about, for all intents and purposes, walking into another man’s space without so much as asking and than not only making yourself at home but in fact encouraging a display of hospitality. It wasn’t something just anyone could do after all, and there was a kind of power within it so how could Silco resist when the opportunity arrived? It was always a delight to show another man someone their place in things.

When Jhin returned Silco had an arm out across the back of the sofa, and somehow looked both comfortable and as though he did in fact own the place with a confidence few others could muster in Zaun. The Eye of Zaun however had ruled the Lanes and worked towards The Cause nearly his entire life, and so he would be dead and damned before he ever showed an outsider anything other than confidence. “Well look at that, you do have yet to disappoint.” There was every chance Jhin might disappoint later after all, and even if he didn’t there was no reason at all to make it easy on him.

Watching the other man avoid eye contact Silco could practically feel his hands itch with the urge to grab him by the chin and force him to make eye contact. He ignored the urge however for now. Perhaps later, or perhaps not. Waiting for the tea to be filled he reached out taking a bit of bread, and cheese to eat. “The prisons are hellholes. Places for uncaring punishment at best.” Shaking his head Silco frowned for a second. “Stillwater is a bit of a problem being on an island. You’d have to get there without being seen to be effective, or to get arrested and work from within which would be difficult and than you’d need a way back. No one wants to swim those waters, and few could survive the swim anyways. Although, if she was… available, well I do know someone whose very good at explosives and rockets. However it seems a waste to bring it to ruin without having a way to also extract the prisoners, or at least some of them so even than it’s complicated.” She of course being Jinx, but that was a subject Silco had no desire to get into in that moment.

“I’m open to ideas however. I’d love to see it brought down.”

Transfixed in his explanation, Jhin listened to Silco with the most attentive of stares(as attentive as one could be with only a small peep hoke in a blanket to see through, anyhow). It was always interesting to delve into the psychology of others, this man in particular had peaked his curiosity in ways he had yet to understand. His views on one's mental health reminded him very much of how the Noxians interpreted those sorts of things. Not necessarily a bad thing, though he was half certain that if Silco had understood the full extent of his personal struggles, he might not have been so keen to agree. Then again, this man had participated in some rather grizzly affairs with him. Silco was not exactly the most sane of individuals himself; granted, his sadism and violence came from a place of deep seeded anger and radicalism. It was different.

Blinking slowly at the elder man's gesture, he bristled a bit beneath his security blanket like a frightened cat, making the motions to stand. A nervous, pathetic wheeze of a chuckle escaped his lungs, turning briefly away from him to go busy himself with fetching the treats he'd brought with him. It was enough, but perhaps not the luxury Silco would expect-- this was, after all, only one of his many hideouts. He did not have all of his belongings here.

"You'd be surprised what sorts of things I'm capable of when I'm encumbered," he remarked, no intent for it to sound--well--suggestive, but it still ended up that way. Despite that slight protest, the blanket was still dropped with what was noticeable hesitation-- his back still turned and hair now a mess thanks to the hasty coverage as he dissapeared into a nearby room. When he returned, it was with a piping teapot, two dainty cups, and a tray full of what looked to be some expensive breads, cheeses and spreads, as well as small cakes on the opposite end of the platter. He leaned down to set them before Silco, each cup carefully filled while the man that poured them made a poignant effort to avoid making eye contact, pale cheeks obvious and flush.

Contrary to his choice in facial wear, he was not missing an eye-- the one that was usually covered appeared perfectly functional, and entirely unmarred, just as the rest of his angular visage displayed. There didn't seem to be a single thing wrong with him visually, hell-- he bordered on handsome, which begged the question as to why he insisted on concealing himself in the first place. He tried not to make a big deal of it, though. He knew it was something most others would find silly. The last thing he wanted to talk to Silco about were his insecurities.

"I should like to agree with you. Unfortunately most others don't see it that way. I spent 16 years in prison for it. I even had a short stint in that asylum that used to be down here-- before it was destroyed. It was a very unpleasant experience. I'd take Tuula over any sort of facility they have around here any day. I can only imagine how horrible your actual prisons must be. I wonder how difficult Stillwater would be to bring to ruin."

[moondrop-writes]

Hi!! Happy Holidays!! I was wondering if I could request Percy and Hermes (platonic)?

Percy sees Hermes's delivery truck (sometime after the 2nd great prophecy/quest) and goes to say 'hi'/catch up and bring some rats for George and Martha? Maybe he mentions that Hermes's temple in Tartarus helped him and Annabeth survive. Thanks 😊

-@pjo-hermes-stan

hi hi!!! i hope you have an enjoyable holiday as well!!! and of course i can. i hope you enjoy this piece :) i tried to write it smoothly, but it's been a while since i've written anything for pjo.

Percy's life has been normal, which is significantly abnormal considering the crap he'd been through the past few years. He wasn't attempting to jinx it though. He hadn't even seen a sign of a monster for the past month, and Riptide has taken temporary residency in the drawer of his bedside table. He'd been able to just be a seventeen-year-old in New York, and it was amazing.

Skating through the city, chewing on candy from Sweet on America, as he laughed. It felt good to be able to be care-free and relaxed.

That was until he spotted the truck.

It was subtle, he'd admit, but Percy's eyes trained on the caduceus immediately. A shock went through him, and his hand went to his pocket for his sword, only to come up with empty candy-bar wrappers.

What did Hermes want?

But then again, what did any god want?

Tucking his skateboard under his army, Percy walked up to the truck, watching as it unloaded into a nearby warehouse. He isn't sure if he should've been surprised to find the god of messages there considering it seemed like such a miniscule task, but Hermes noticed Percy the moment he moved to take a step closer.

"Ah, Perseus, nice to see you around!" The god was dressed in his delivery wear, a clipboard in hand and a pencil tucked behind his ear. He flashed a dazzling smile that reminded Percy all too much of his son.

"Hermes," he greets, with a polite bow of his head. He'd rather not piss off any gods at the moment. "What are you doing? I thought the gods were working on claiming their kids." it's a subtle implication, but Hermes eyes glint over.

"Ah, we are. I think I've claimed two in the past week. I can't recall," he laughs easily, and takes his pen from his ear. Percy watches as it molds into a caduceus, with two snarling snakes. They immediately reel back upon seeing Percy.

Martha's tongue peaks out, and leans forward, inspecting him. George does the same and is the first to break the silence. "Do you have rats on you?" he hisses, and Martha nudges into his side.

"Uh, no," Percy says and turns back to the god, "then what are you doing here? Surely you have more than two unclaimed kids."

In the back of his mind, Percy can hear George whining about a lack of rats as Martha chides him over manners. He pushes it away and out of his mind, focusing on the god in front of him.

Hermes has a raised eyebrow and his mouth twitches into a smirk. "I should be offended that you see me as a... promiscuous type of god, but you have a fair question. The gods have decided that not only should we work on claiming our kids but helping out in humanity more. My company sales were lacking so..." he trails off, looking behind him as multiple workers carrying heavy brown boxes into the large warehouse.

Percy clicks his tongue and nods.

"But enough of me, how about you?" a gentler look comes across Hermes face, one he'd only seen given to May Castellan. Percy's brows furrow.

"What? Uh, I'm alright. Why?"

Hermes looks at him like he's dumb.

"You went through a war, twice. The world seems normal, but you can't stop thinking about the horrors you went through. And you can't ask anybody about it because they'd call you crazy. See what I mean? I'll ask you again. How are you?"

Percy hates how right he is. He hates how easily he knows how he feels. Percy hates gods like Hermes. He hates all the gods, sometimes. Still, he shrugs and looks back to the caduceus. Martha's looking at him expectantly, and George has already disengaged in the conversation.

"Better. As good as I can be, y'know," Hermes nods, and it seems like he's genuinely interested in what Percy has to say. He's talked to plenty of gods who'd asked how he was, and when he actually tried to express himself, they brushed him off. It was kind of heartwarming.

"Yes. I've been informed of your troubles whilst on the quest to stop Gaea."

Percy laughs drily, shrugging. "If you can dub Tartarus as a 'trouble'."

Hermes sighs in agreement and purses his lips. Martha makes this weird hissing sound, which was probably meant to be a coo, but turned out to be sort of terrifying. For some reason, Percy was endeared by the snake.

"I am sorry about that. I will say there is nothing I could've done, but I am sorry."

Percy nods, before a thought crosses his mind. He thinks about sitting at Hermes shrine, eating peanut m&m's, Annabeth by his side.

"You did do something," he says, and a look of bewilderment crosses Hermes face, "well, not you, but your kids did. There was a small shrine down there, I don't know why or how, but it was connected to Camp. It helped us, a lot. Connor delivered a message for us, while we were down there. I don't think I ever thanked him."

Hermes smiles, unlike the one he'd had before. It was much more enjoyable to see. A proud look came across his face, almost smug over his child's small feat.

"Well, I'm glad. I have never had an active--"

"Boss! The truck's unloaded!" A new voice calls, peaking around the truck. The guy stares suspiciously at Percy but waits patiently.

The caduceus shrinks back into a pen and clipboard, and with one last whine from George, Percy's mind is clouded by mist. He can't even imagine it being a caduceus anymore.

"The world calls me, Perseus, I must go. I'm no Apollo, but I cannot foresee any kind of troubles coming your way," and with that he walks away. Percy stands there, a bit stunned, until the truck drives away.

He drops his skateboard and bites his lip before taking off.

--

Later that week, if he stops by the pet store and buys a few dead rats, his mom doesn't question it.

And if he drops it off by the warehouse by the door, it may or may not say it's for George and Martha.

The next day it's gone. When he gets home, on his apartment door, is a small sticky note with a smiley face on it.

[polarisbibliotheque]

DMC OC Week - Day 3: Past

OC + DMC Universe

Summary: “After 10 years, Dante goes back to the city of Remény, a place where he left much more than dead demons and thankful humans. He’d finally meet her again.”

Content: Honestly, everything you’d find in a DMC game. But with more existential crisis and exploration of repressed feelings (it’s a wild ride).

Age rating: +16

Word Count: 3.3k

“So… What’s your name, lady?”

On that grim day, when all hope was lost and Diana thought death was certain, that man in a red coat jumped in to help her defend her own life. She deemed it as good as gone, but that man stood by her side when no one else did.

And not only that – when Diana was sure she would get mortally hit, he stood in front of the blade, a scythe piercing through his chest. She screamed in horror as blood gushed from the wound, pooling around her feet and sprinkling on her hands and face. He couldn’t die, not for her. If the only person who decided to help her had to give their life for Diana, she would choose to die – he definitely was too good to go in such a terrible manner.

But he simply took the scythe off his chest and kept on going. As shocked as she was, Diana still managed to get the bloody scythe from the floor and fight. It was heavy and clunky, but she’d do whatever she needed to survive.

When all demons were gone, that man turned around to speak to her for the first time.

“Diana. And yours?”

“Most people call me Dante.” As he answered, Diana could only raise one eyebrow. ‘Most people’? How many other names did he have? “Those people who left you behind, you know them?”

“Hmmm.” Her reply was nothing more than an annoyed hum and it would remain like that. Diana checked her wound to assess how bad it was, but her heart ached more than any physical pain she felt.

What happened that day was only the last drop of water to overflow the cup of hurt emotions Diana had inside. For too long she had dealt with being mistreated by everyone around her – but she didn’t expect to be left to die like that.

Dante kept watching her for a while… She reminded him of someone.

“You think they’ll open those doors now to let you in?” He had to find out what to do next. Dante needed to get the job done, but now she was under his protection. He wouldn’t leave Diana behind, but he couldn’t move on killing demons relentlessly with a hurt human by his side. He needed to get her to safety.

And Diana just stared back at him.

“Perhaps if we ask nicely.” Her statement dripped sarcasm, making him laugh briefly. It wasn’t a laugh of enjoyment, but one that recognized how humans could sometimes be worse than demons. And it also recognized some mannerisms from a company he missed so much in his life.

“What about your family? Do you have someone around?”

“I told them to leave during the first wave. We weren’t together when the demons attacked, and I didn’t want them to die because of me.”

Diana barely looked at Dante, but he felt a pull in his heart with her words. He knew exactly what she meant – Dante himself would get the people he loved to safety first during emergencies and if he died, so be it. At least they were safe.

Especially if it was his family. If he still had one.

“The sun’s about to set, we better find a safe place to spend the night.” He looked at the skies, the color changing to a darker tone. At night, the city would be swarming with demons that lurked in the shadows – and those things would smell Diana’s fresh blood like sharks.

“Don’t worry about me, you have a job to do. I can go on my own.” Diana took the scythe from the floor again, testing the weight on her leg. It hurt more than she expected, and it didn’t stop bleeding.

But she learnt to be alone. It had been a very long time since she couldn’t trust anyone, and that day sealed her belief that she could depend on herself and herself only. Although Dante saved her, Diana also thought the world of the people who left her to die. The people she forgave so much so she wouldn’t be alone – but she was. Left to die. Left to survive.

Dante furrowed his brows. Vergil. Diana had some of his mannerisms: the way she was cold and distant, sarcastic and stoic. A lone survivor – instead of keeping it light-hearted like the Crimson Slayer, she had the cold, polite aura of the Dark Slayer.

Dante couldn’t leave her there to die.

“Well, you’re not going very far with that leg of yours.” He pointed out, making her stare at him. “C’mon. I’d prefer to continue our chat in a place where those demons won’t turn you into their Happy Meal time.”

A faint smile appeared on Diana’s lips, even though she didn’t want to. That alone made Dante a little more content about himself – he knew Vergil was hard to crack, but Dante had his ways to deal with his brother. Perhaps he could do the same with her.

When someone was so used to harshness, a little kindness could go a long way.

*

The mirrored walls were covered in blood. Chairs and tables were tossed around, broken, blocking the way. The floor had drag marks everywhere, covered in crystals of broken glass, bottles and cups. There were no bodies left – and if there were, they wouldn’t want to see them.

A pub wasn’t the most obvious choice for a safe place to spend the night, but it had only two entrances: Dante and Diana blocked the back door with chairs and tables, making sure no demon could enter. They left the front door unblocked, though – if they needed to escape, that was the route.

Dante knew a handful of demons who could teleport through the barricade, so an escape route was a must.

Diana sat by one of the last chairs on the bar, the scythe resting by her side, close enough to be grabbed in an emergency. Dante stood by one of the blood sprinkled windows right at the other side of the pub, checking if the streets were safe.

But he also checked on her. Diana’s wound was worse than he initially thought, and Dante was suspecting there was some sort of poison that wasn’t allowing her to heal. It kept bleeding and that was a huge problem – not only because it could attract demons, but it was unsafe for a human to bleed so much.

“Hey, Diana. Let me take a look at that.” He decided to approach her, which seemed to startle her. Diana was too lost in thoughts to remember she was there with someone else.

“It’s ok. I’m fine.” She answered briefly, but shied away from him as soon as Dante was close enough to touch her.

That annoying tug on his heart stroke again. What the hell did people do to her to make that woman so avoidant?

He understood Vergil – he really did. Neither Dante or his brother had an easy life and even though Vergil did some stupid ass things in pursuit of power, Dante knew where it came from. He knew why Vergil was so avoidant and so closed up, deeming his feelings as a weakness – Dante could never really judge him.

Yes, Vergil was a pain in the ass to deal with, but he could understand wanting to become full demon and leave all his humanity behind. For his brother to get like that, though, it took a lot. Dante’s heart always got hurt seeing another human with those traits, because it usually stemmed from a great pain.

He had always been the soft-hearted twin.

“Ei, I know a thing or two about first aid.” He sat on what was left of the seat by her side, leaning most of his weight on the bar. Dante didn’t want her to get even more uncomfortable – reaching out was a matter of patience. “But I do know a lot more on demonic wounds. Scythe through the chest, remember?”

Diana let a little smile color her lips, making Dante smile back – a little proud on breaking through that thick coat of ice, even if it was just a little bit.

“That thing isn’t healing, right? We’ll have to patch it up somehow until we find someone who can properly take care of you.”

“I don’t need to be taken care of.” Diana’s response was almost automatic – she even stopped talking as soon as she noticed the words coming out of her mouth. Luckily, Dante brushed it off and didn’t tease her as she expected he would do.

“Oh, I know that. You faced head on a bunch of demons with a metal stick as a weapon.” It was a compliment, and she wasn’t expecting that. Dante took Diana completely by surprise and disarmed her so easily. She didn’t even know what to do with herself. “Say what. I’m gonna find whatever bottle's left on this joint and pour us a drink. Whenever you get uncomfortable, we stop to have a sip and chat. How do you feel about that?”

Diana still shied away when Dante leaned a little towards her but he took her answer as a good omen.

“If you can find a surviving drink in this place, fine.”

*

“You have to be quite strong to be able to take a stab through your heart and keep on going.” Diana barely moved as Dante saw what he could do on her thigh.

It was way worse than he was used to see in humans. Diana mentioned a Monk at the Cathedral who could help, but he didn’t want to break the news that it was probably going to take a lot more work than just patching her up. There was something more at work there – Dante couldn’t make out if it was a poison, a jinx, a hex, or whatever else those demons had in their bodies. He just knew she was at a great risk.

But Dante also didn’t want to admit that to himself. He decided to stay in denial and tell himself “everything is gonna be alright”. He probably was being too overdramatic, too much of a doomsday person. Or at least that’s what he wanted to think.

He wasn’t going to lose her. He wasn’t able to save his brother and bring Vergil back to a normal, functioning life where he didn’t have to know only suffering and harshness – but he could do that to Diana. He could save her. He had to.

“Eh, it’s part of the job.” Dante brushed it off, already used to it. He lost count of how many times he was impaled by blades.

Dante immediately stopped what he was doing, though, when Diana took her glass from the table to take a sip of whisky. He leaned back, taking his own broken glass between his long fingers covered by black leather gloves.

“Everything ok?”

“Hmmm.” She just nodded back, taking another sip of alcohol. Dante waited, knowing she’d say something else. At least that’s how it was with Vergil. “I’m not used to that much… Touching.”

“It’s ok. You’re doing fine.” Dante’s lips searched for the part of the glass that wasn’t broken for another sip of whisky, looking aloof to allow Diana to smile briefly. She tended to smile when he wasn’t looking, even if it was a shadow of a proper smile. “We have the whole night.”

And in those sky-blue eyes, she found nothing but honesty. Dante wasn’t human, Diana knew that. But his heart was an open book in his eyes – there was something in there. A kind of pure honesty mixed with loneliness. A longing for kindness in return.

Dante waited patiently until Diana said it was ok for him to work on her wound again. He had a few first aid things resting on the bar that could help – the most he could find on that hopeless place. She didn’t touch her glass for quite a while.

“Scythe through the chest, just like the song…” She muttered to herself, drawing his attention. “Shot through the heart, and you’re to blame…”

“Darlin’, you give love a bad name.”

As soon as Dante sang back to her, Diana smiled. The very first honest smile that lit up her face, making Dante smile back. They were making progress.

*

“You seem to know my brother well even though you spent years apart.”

Vergil walked gracefully by Diana’s side. Enveloped by the darkness of the night, both moved silently like specters, making almost no noise. They didn’t want to draw the attention of demons during a rescue mission – they could investigate further when people were safe and the whole crew got back together.

“Dante did help me when I had no one else. He isn’t that easy to forget.”

“That you are right.” Vergil’s tone was annoyed, making her smile. “His foolishness is remarkable.”

Diana didn’t want to laugh out loud, but she did – making Vergil raise an eyebrow towards her. He wasn’t used to people laughing of the things he said… Well. People other than his brother. Dante seemed to be the only one who thought Vergil’s dry humor was funny. Having another person outside his family be so… Welcoming to him was surely different.

“It is, but it always puts a smile on our faces, right?” Diana agreed with a sigh, contemplating the bright moon high in the velvet blue sky. “He can always make me smile.”

Vergil wasn’t expecting that remark – but she was right. In all his foolishness, Dante made him smile even when Vergil didn’t want to. The Dark Slayer lost count of how many times they ended up laughing when Dante started to follow him around during an argument to “hug it out” while Vergil literally ran away around the shop’s table.

It was very angry laughing between both, but it always worked like a charm to make them less angry and stop screaming at each other.

“Hmmm.” And Diana furrowed her brows when she noticed Vergil had the same mania she had to hum while thinking. She wondered if Dante also noticed that years ago. “You’re also right about that.”

“Does he follow you around for a hug when you’re avoiding all human contact as well…?”

“…And you keep pushing him away, but that idiot is worse than a hungry koala?” Vergil completed her question, making Diana start laughing immediately.

And even though he didn’t want to, Vergil ended up laughing as well.