#like even to a monster that’s so tragic and disturbing to walk around using the face of someone who’s life was cut short in probably a very

[pixiestein]

do u think frankie ever feels weird about wearing a dead person’s face

[demialwrites]

The Monster

It's times like these I wish someone would take an idea off my hands. I was looking at a time travel fic and thought of a Reader who goes back in time to help Rufus's mother and maybe prevent her death, too. It goes wrong almost immediately.

Domestic violence and character death

President Shinra is choking Rufus's mother in the other room again.

You clutch the wailing baby to your body. You're trying to comfort him but he needs his mother. You're not his mother and so he will not be comforted. How that man can do this while his own son cries beggars belief.

This has happened enough times that you're well beyond able to hold it together. That's the other disturbing part of this. That you're beyond caring. You feel like you're turning into something like the monster that has his fat sausage fingers around his gagging wife's neck. Just a little. Maybe a toe or a finger. You wiggle your toes in your shoe, thinking you might find an ugly monster's toe if you took it off.

The sudden silence is suffocating. But before you can spiral-

“You. You've been promoted to full time. Congratulations.”

It's President Shinra in the doorway. You know he's there because of how close his voice sounds. Otherwise, it's dark. You catch a hint of cigar smoke. Rufus is also silent. He probably cried himself to sleep but you want to hope otherwise, that your warmth finally soothed him.

“Where's Mrs. Shinra?” you ask, pretending as hard as you can to not let on you know what just happened.

“Gone. She ran away. It's the strangest thing.”

“I'll need formula,” you say, when he doesn't offer any more lies.

“Ask the housekeeper,” he grunts.

Then he's gone.

You walk the short distance to the crib and place the baby gently on his back. You pull the small blanket up under his arms, as he currently has his tiny, pink fists in the air. Such an adorable child. Physical appearance shouldn't make this more tragic but it does. Mrs. Shinra was beautiful and yet it did not prevent her death. Rufus is an adorable baby but that probably won't prevent any suffering.

You were sent here to help. So what went wrong? Would Mrs. Shinra still be alive if you hadn't been here?

You notice the wet dot next to Rufus's head before you realize tears have started rolling down your cheeks. You turn around and lie on the floor to weep. It doesn't wake the baby. A tiny mercy. Then you remember his mother's body might still be lying on the floor out there and start weeping anew. How can a person start crying again when they hadn't finished? You have this last, nonsensical thought before drifting off to sleep.

You wake up curled up next to the crib. You push yourself up, peeling your cheek off the carpet, knowing it left a pattern in your skin. Rufus is crying because it's time for his feeding.

It's still dark out. Could it not at least be dawn? You could use the hope it brings, even if it's a drop in the bucket. But there's no point in being grumpy at the colour of the sky so you stand up.

[thisgirlnamedblusy]

Holi, espero que estés bien. Si quieres, claro ¿Podrías hacer que Marylin (laurel) y reader tuvieran una relación pero se termina porque te enteras de su plan de acabar con los excluidos, después de unos días ella te vea salir con alguien más y aún no acepte su rompimiento?

Hola!!! Eres la primera persona que me escribe en mi idioma natal, y eso mola mucho!!! Yo en Tumblr escribo en inglés para que todo el mundo pueda leerlo, pero si prefieres leerlo en español, puedes hacerlo AQUÍ. Muchas gracias por tu petición!! Espero que te guste!!! Cuídate mucho!!! :)

Translated request:

Hello, I hope you are well. If you want, of course, could you make Marylin (laurel) and reader have a relationship but it ends because you find out about her plan to finish the outcasts, after a few days she sees you dating someone else and she doesn't accept your breakup?

You can't hate me

Pairing: Marilyn Thornhill/ Laurel Gates x Fem, Teacher! Reader

Warnings: Angst love

Word count: 2,890

Summary: You know her, and she is not a murderer, she is your girlfriend, you have to be wrong, or so it’s that you like to think…

N/A: Requests are open!! Sorry if there is some delay answering them, work is an awful shit :( But I’m working every day on your requests to write them asap!!! Sorry about the language mistakes. I love you all!!!

“A house?” You asked amused, not believing your girlfriend's words at all.

Everything in Nevermore was beginning to be disturbing. A monster in the woods, a student in a coma, cover-ups...

At least you had her, you had Marilyn. She was the most innocent of your companions, a tender, sweet and affectionate woman. It didn't take much for you to love her, because she earned it every day. You were convinced that she was probably the woman you had been looking for for so long. You even declined an invitation to have dinner with a girl from the village who was apparently quite well known for her beauty.

You and Marilyn were walking around the academy when she unexpectedly told you that she had bought a house in that town.

“Yes, it was a real bargain. Although it is abandoned... Do you know the path that leads to the academy from Pilgrim World?” The redhead told you, with hope on her face. She told you that one day you would leave Nevermore and start a real life together, but you didn't think it would be so soon. The commitment was a little scary to you.

“Yes, I know… But there's only the old Gates mansion and… Wait.” You stopped walking, surprised by what you thought that meant. “Have you bought the Gates mansion?”

“Exactly,” she answered, sighing. “It had been abandoned for years, and it was reduced.”

“Uhh, just thinking about it gives me chills. Surely you don't know what happened to that family, right?” You said, creating a terrifying atmosphere. She looked away and made a strange face for a second.

“Well, I've heard some rumors. They didn't have much luck,” she told you, with a somehow broken tone, “sorry, such tragic stories make me sad.”

“That's because you're human, Marilyn. But don't feel sorry for them, they deserved it,” you said, taking her hand affectionately. The redhead nodded and faked a smile.

“Do you think someone deserves to die just for doing what they think is the right thing?” She asked, causing you to widen your eyes. You didn't used to talk about such philosophical things.

“Uoh, uoh, put the brakes on Socrates. I think I'm not ready for that kind of moral debates,” you said joking. “But what I am sure of is that if the right thing to do was to annihilate a group of people for a certain reason, they must not have been very right in the head…”

Marilyn looked at you and her expression relaxed, nodding slightly.

“You're right, (Y/N)…” She said with an almost inaudible voice. “I was wondering if you'd like to come with me to take a look at the house. You see, I want to reform it so that I can call it “home” one day.”

“Well, even though it's scary, it's probably much better than the rooms here, surely when I get out of here I'll need a good chiropractor,” you said jokingly, placing a hand on your back.

“It's just that the bed is too small for both of us…” she said, following your joke.

“I don't think that's why it is, I also like to sleep on the edge.”

Marilyn gave an adorable laugh and squeezed your hand hard.

“Will you accompany me tonight? The truth is that the place makes my hair stand on end,”she told you with some fear in her voice.

“Okay, but if the monster comes I'll run until I get to New York,” you said sarcastically.

You weren't some superhuman creature like a vampire, or a werewolf, you just had visions from time to time. If you had to face that horrible monster, you would have nothing to do.

The mansion doors creaked in a chilling manner. You couldn't help but look around. Now the house belonged to the nicest woman you knew, but something about that place gave you a bad feeling, and you were pretty good with forebodings.

“It looks like the Amityville house,” you said, contemplating the huge house that rose in the dark. The redhead laughed. Strangely she was very calm, and you knew her well enough to know that Marilyn wasn't exactly brave, or that she liked those kinds of places. You thought that anyone who bought a house should feel the same, after all it was hers, and with a little work, surely she managed to eliminate that terrifying aura that surrounded it.

“Don't worry, (Y/N). No one has died here, or at least that's what the real estate agent told me,” she told you, reassuring you while she put the key in the lock.

“It's still scary…” You muttered, glancing at the overgrown garden that surrounded the house. Marilyn looked at you and kissed you tenderly, running a hand over your cheek.

“Don't be afraid, honey, you're with me…” She whispered to you. You nodded, not quite sure that was any real comfort.

When the door opened, you peeked out timidly. Inside it was even worse. Your hands began to sweat, a sign that something was wrong. You swallowed and followed the redhead into the house. That there was electricity was clearly a plus. It was still a dark house, but at least it wasn't so dark.

“It's quite big,” you commented, looking at every detail.

“Of course, it is,” Marilyn said. “Too big for just one person.” Saying that, she winked at you and kept walking, entering what looked like an office. You smiled. Of course she was meaning what you thought she was meaning.

“That will have to be discussed, right?” You asked amused. She shook her head.

“When it's reformed you'll see that there's nothing to talk about,” she joked. “I need you to wait here for a moment. I have to check something in the garage.”

“Are you going to leave me here alone?” You asked scared. She shrugged her shoulders.

“I have read that this type of environment is ideal for rats. If you want to come with me….”

Rats terrified you. They were your worst phobia. You were definitely better off in that old office.

“Okay, okay, okay, I'd rather stay,” you said with a disgusted face.

“I thought so. If it's clear I'll come for you. I'm sure you like the car left behind by the previous owners.”

You nodded, as Marilyn grabbed what looked like some kind of rodent poison and headed out the door.

You sighed, trying not to get nervous. The office was intact, save for the obvious passage of time. On the wall was a large portrait of a family, the Gates, no doubt.

“I hope you don't mind that I'm here… Bunch of fanatics,” you hissed, remembering the terrible plan that family had for people like you.

There was something in that painting that looked familiar to you, but you didn't know what. You moved a little closer to take a closer look, and reached out your hand to brush away the cobwebs. Suddenly a dizziness shook your body, and you had an all too familiar feeling. Your legs wobbled and you fell to the ground, ready to receive a vision that surely would not be pleasant.

“Kill them all… Be a man!”

“She's too young, Ansel, you shouldn't talk to her like that….”

“Laurel is old enough to know that outcasts are scum….”

“Mom… Why has Garrett gone to heaven? Was he not happy with us?”

“Enough, Ansel! I have already lost a son…I don't want to lose our daughter too!”

“Don't tell me what to do! You are a coward, incapable of realizing that our son was murdered by those monsters, and they have to pay for it….”

“Oh, fuck!” You yelled as you opened your eyes. You were there, lying on the ground, and you had just had a rather disturbing vision. It was the Gates family, no doubt. Those horrible memories were accompanied by images, images of the monster, of the terrifying family, of Joseph Crackstone…. The last of them was a bookcase, which seemed to be in that same house.

“Shit, I knew it wasn't a good idea to come here…” You said getting up from the ground with somewhat blurred vision. “My goodness…”

Your eyes cleared and you leaned against a nearby table, trying to forget that horrible sight. But the problems were only beginning. The dim light in the office began to flicker.

“Oh no, what now?” You asked, looking for Marilyn with your eyes. Soon it was pitch black. The light that saved you from dying of terror disappeared. You immediately took out your phone and turned on the flashlight.

“Marilyn?” You asked on the air. There was no answer.

Your phone vibrated, making you jump in the air.

“(Y/N)?”

“Oh, thank God…” You sighed with relief when you heard your girlfriend's voice. “I'm in the dark.”

“I know. The fuse blew. You have to turn it on again.”

“Okay…Tell me where it is," you said, pointing the light towards the door.

“Leave the office and right in front you will find the library, on the wall at the back is the fuse box.”

“Okay, okay, here I go.”

You hung up the phone and left the office, trying to calm yourself down.

“Okay, okay, in front, it must be here,” you said to yourself. You entered the room, checking that at the end of it, there was the fuse box. You reached over and opened it, carefully lifting the switch. The power came back on and your heart rate returned to normal. You quickly searched for the light in that room and when you turned it on, you leaned against the wall, closing your eyes.

“Come on, (Y/N), you're 25 years old, you can't be such a coward,” you chided yourself. You pulled away and looked around you. You soon realized that there was something there that you had already seen. The bookshelf from your vision was in front of you.

Your curiosity was your weakness, and you went to the furniture observing every detail. It couldn't be a coincidence. Your visions were never a coincidence. You didn't see anything unusual at first, but a closer look made you realize something important.

“Why isn't there dust here?” You asked, looking at an ornament on the wood. It was evident that someone had touched it, as its twin on the other side was covered in the same layer of dust than the rest of the house.

Your instinct made you take your hand to that ornament, and as soon as you put it on it, it sank and the books that were there moved, as if they were a secret door.

What was behind that mechanism made your hair stand on end. It was an altar, but not just any, it was one dedicated to Joseph Crackstone.

“Disturbing...” You said, reaching your hand towards one of the candles that had been placed there. “This candle…”

A vision invaded your mind, but not so intense as to make you faint.

“No, it can't be…” You sighed, upset.

What you saw was something impossible. Marilyn, your dear Marilyn was there, lighting the candles and looking with great devotion at the image of that pilgrim. It didn't take you long to remember all the strange phrases the redhead had once said and the circumstances themselves, for a terrifying revelation to appear in your mind.

“She is… She is Laurel Gates,” you whispered, scared. In some way that you couldn't explain, you knew, but you had nothing to make you really think about it. You thought that this time your intuition was wrong, until that moment.

Marilyn was your girlfriend, you loved her, you loved her very much. Worse was not who she claimed to be. She was part of the most hated family at Nevermore, of the bigots who tried to kill all people like you. You couldn't tell her anything, you didn't dare. What you were also sure of is that you couldn't continue with her, your principles prevented you from doing so. The Gates were murderers, hate killed them all, and Laurel was probably up to no good.

You had to run away from there, and save your next move for later, or never.

 Some days later…

“Okay, we'll see you there,” you said before hanging up the phone.

The following days were horrible. You decided on the strategy of ignorance. She was looking for you, she was calling you. But you didn't answer. Avoiding her was difficult, but she seemed to give up after a while. You never talked to her. You hadn't even officially broken up. Silence became your best ally, and your next step was to try to forget everything you felt for her.

That girl you turned down seemed receptive to meeting you. You didn't want to use anyone to forget, but starting to meet people was a good first step.

You made it to the cafeteria, still thinking about Laurel. She might be a Gates, but she was still the woman you were in love with. If you weren't distracted, you would end up going crazy, or falling into her intolerant arms.

“Hi, (Y/N), I'm glad you decided to go out with me,” that girl said. You just nodded, calling the waiter.

To your dismay, Laurel walked in there too and fixed her eyes on you, looking surprised and clearly angry. That made things very complicated. The redhead seemed to ignore you and she went to the counter.

“Hey, why did you change your mind? I thought you had a girlfriend.”

You turned, snapping out of your thoughts.

“Oh, well… Not anymore.”

You didn't talk much. When the tea arrived at your table you used it so you didn't have to say a word. You were in love with Laurel, and that couldn't change that fast.

“Are you alright?” The girl asked. You shook your head.

A little dizziness, followed by a terrible fatigue suddenly hit you. Your vision became blurry, and it didn't seem like any trance. You made a feint to get up from the table, but you fell to the ground with a crash. You couldn't make out the voices you heard before everything went black.

Your eyelids were heavy, but you began to feel conscious, taking in a familiar smell of dust and abandonment in your nose. You tried to move, but something in your wrists prevented you. You were tied up

You were able to open your eyes and you found yourself in what seemed to be a little boy's room, or a girl's in this case. The atmosphere was familiar. You were at the Gates mansion, and you weren't alone.

“Finally you wake up…” A familiar voice said.

Your vision cleared and your worst fears were confirmed. Marilyn, or Laurel, was sitting up in bed, looking at you with a disturbing expression.

“What are you doing? What have you done to me?” You asked, trying to get out of your bonds.

“Calm down, I just want to talk,” she said, her voice too relaxed.

“Well, I don't want to talk to you, Laurel. Yes, I know everything, I know who you are, and be thankful that I didn't want to find out what you're up to,” you said furiously.

“Honey... I'm the same woman as always...”

“No, that's not true. Since you were a little girl, you were raised to hate the marginalized… To hate us…”

“You are not like them, (Y/N). You are my girlfriend, and I love you,” she said, caressing your cheek. You moved violently.

“We're not girlfriends anymore, Laurel. I could never be with you. You are just like your family, just like Joseph Crackstone.”

“You and me know that this is not true.”

You shook your head, giving up. You couldn't let go of the bonds.

“Wait until I let go. Because I'm going to throw all the Jericho police on you,” you hissed, with tears in your eyes.

“You won't do anything. You love me. You would never do something like that,” she told you, running her hand through your hair.

“You're wrong.”

“You think so? Let's check it,” she said, taking a knife from the table. You stared at her in horror, until Laurel began to cut your bonds. You sighed as you felt free and rubbed your wrists. “Go ahead, (Y/N), go hand me over to the police. I promise I won't move from here.”

Her tone of voice was childish and wicked. You were determined to do it, but when you got out of bed, your feelings attacked you mercilessly. Happy memories of your relationship came to your mind, to make you feel weak and powerless. You couldn't hurt her. She was right.

“Come on, (Y/N). You are free,” she insisted.

Tears slipped down your cheeks as you turned to look at her. She got up and approached you with painful slowness. You grabbed her waist and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

“You should be locked up…” you whispered, leaning your forehead against hers.

“But you don't want that...”

You didn't answer. You just leaned in to kiss her. It was an evil kiss that you knew was wrong. She was your enemy, but you couldn't help but love her, and want to live together in that house, whatever the consequences were.

[creepy-spooghetti]

Eyeless Jack Headcanons

I have no idea how I’ve had this blog for a whole freakin’ year and I have yet to write any headcanons exclusively for Jack, aka one of my favorite Creepypastas.

Let me change that now~

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵ 

Jack is no doubt a tragic character, though for much different reasons than the others.

He’s isn’t open and emotionally vulnerable with anyone, like at all. After all, him trusting people was what ultimately turned him into what he is now.

He tends to hang around in his infirmary most of the time, and when he isn’t he’s being sent on missions or out gathering food.

I think you know what I mean when I say “food”.

He isn’t happy with himself, he hates what he was forced to become, and he hates his entire situation. But there’s simply nothing that he can do about it. 

He sees himself as a monster. It makes him feel terrible when he goes into somebody’s home and they look up at him with absolute horror. If he still has a heart, it’s been shattered to kingdom come.

He doesn’t want to scare anyone, he doesn’t want to hurt anyone. It may sound surprising because he’s a cannibalistic demon, but really, he’s just an insecure, broken guy pushed into awful circumstances. 

Because of this, he tries to make his “collection” process as simple and painless as possible. When he sneaks into someone’s house, he’s sure to knock them out with drugs, take a kidney from each person, sew them up, then leave them behind. He couldn’t handle killing them.

He stays far away from children. When he was a normal person, he loved kids, especially since he had a little sister that he always took care of when his mom wasn’t around to do so. He would take whatever punishment Slenderman gave him before he’d ever lay a finger on a child.

He doesn’t bond with anyone in the Manor. He’s friendly with certain people, but he doesn’t consider anyone his “friend”. Not even Sally.

He just sticks to himself, and only speaks when the moment calls for it. He doesn’t get annoyed very easily, but obnoxious people like Jeff, Ben, and Kagekao absolutely drive him crazy.

When he was human, he was 5′10″, but when he got reincarnated, he gained quite a bit of height. At 6′4″, he’s one of the tallest ones living in the Manor.

Despite being quite slim, he’s abnormally strong - a side effect of being an otherworldly entity. It does come in handy at times, but it doesn’t mean that he enjoys having it. 

When he was in college, he was studying to become a pediatrician, or more specifically, a hematologist/oncologist. He wanted to make a difference in young peoples’ lives, be their hero, work hard to save them, since he couldn’t save his own sister. 

Of course, that plan got flipped upside-down when Jenny and her idiotic cult decided to use Jack as their human sacrifice.

Jack cannot eat anything but organs, no matter how much he may try. He can’t go more than two weeks without eating anything, and if he tries to consume normal food, he’ll be so sick he can’t even walk properly, and this could last for days. 

This makes him very miserable, because the thought of eating literal pieces of people is just so repulsive. He can eat animal organs, but they aren’t nearly as filling. 

However, when he starts eating, a darker, more animalistic side of him surfaces. He blacks out for a time and can’t seem to remember anything about it. The only thing he knows when he comes to is that his mask is lying across the room, his stomach is full, and his clothes, hands, and face is slathered in blood and other bodily fluids.

Thankfully, nobody ever sees him in this state because he does it in secret, inside of a room found in the basement, that only he and Brian have the keys to. 

If anyone were to disturb him during his feasting, there would not be good consequences. He’s very aggressive when his demonic instincts kick in, so if somebody showed their faces, they might just end up six feet under.

Even though Jack doesn’t have his eyes anymore, he can still see. Sure, it’s mostly a colorless world with vague shapes, but it makes his job as a whole easier, as he can rely on his sight and not just his other senses.

He’s a very quiet individual, and he’s good at creeping others out, even if it’s unintentionally. This is due to the fact that he remains eerily silent and just stares. Because of his unblinking gaze, it isn’t received well. Ever.

If he’s feeling particularly distressed, lonely, or sad, he likes to lock himself inside of a dark closet, tuck his knees into his chest, and listen to calm, relaxing music until he settles down. The other residents of the household can go hours without seeing a single trace of him, and then he’ll just randomly reappear and get back to work as if nothing happened.

Since he’s so mysterious and secretive, they have no clue as to where he vanished to and they can’t even begin to imagine what he was doing during that period of time.

He wants more than anything to be able to go back to a normal life with his friends and family, but he knows that’s impossible. Even if he somehow escaped Slenderman’s evil grasp, he wouldn’t be accepted into society. People would be scared of him. They would see him as a threat, a monster.

In a way, he knows they would be right.

[lokiskitten]

Will you do a sequel of the Valentines Day fic like you mentioned at the end of part 4?

Loki Laufeyson | affliction pt1

Loki Laufeyson x fem!reader

A/N : this imagine is meant to follow the events which occurred in my previous series :”Valentine’s Day”!! You can find it lower on my page.

plot : A couple of weeks have passed since you’ve first slept with Loki. However, after learning that you are pregnant, you find yourself forced to reveal it all to your partner. Unfortunately, his reaction doesn’t turn out to be the one you expected.

warnings : very light smut, angst, fighting/arguing.

Loki and you had been seeing each other since a couple of weeks now. You had managed to keep it a secret, and that from anyone in the kingdom which obviously- and certainly- included your parents. You couldn’t truly explain why and how Loki never failed to make you feel so good, but you knew that you did not wish for those sensations to end any time soon. You two were meant to be together, wether the royal family wanted it or not. Though, shortly after your little unprotected frolics occurred, you had progressively started to become sick here and there. Your doctor had easily established a diagnostic which he promised to keep to himself for now, and that no matter if Loki was Prince. You were pregnant.

Pregnant with Loki’s child. What worst could potentially happen? Now, it was sure that you would have to annonce that to you respective families- something you didn’t feel ready to do. Or at least, certainly not alone. Therefore, you felt like the young man should be the first person to learn about it, especially as he was the father and you trusted him more than anyone else. Little did you know, there was still a lot of things you needed to learn regarding your boyfriend.

[ ... ]

It was a lovely spring afternoon. You and Loki had decided to reunite in his room in order to spend some time together. As you laid down on top of the young man, lovingly grinding your hips against his in order to make sure that his member would be coming in and out of you at a pleasurable pace, Loki had his arms wrapped around your back. His hands were soon to move down to your bum, digits digging into the soft flesh as if he wished to guide your hips through the intercourse. His thick thighs tensed upon sensing his nearing orgasm, soles now resting against the mattress instead of being on the loose.

It didn’t take long for white sperm to spray out of his urethra, staining your walls and cervix as both of you moaned in harmony. It was nothing too intense, but you always enjoyed spending time with him in that way no matter what technic or pace you two used. You allowed Loki to fully wash out his orgasm before you could get off him, your silhouette slipping underneath the covers as you pulled the sheets all the way up to your chest. Your breasts were now covered, as well as everything which came underneath.

Turning around, the male’s arm wrapped around your body as his chin rested onto your shoulder, his lips pressing delicate kisses against your warm flesh in order to let you know that he loved you. As his eyelids closed, yours remained clearly open as your brain wouldn’t stop thinking about how you were meant to annonce such a tragic piece of information to him. “Loki?..” you finally found the strength to speak up, though it would probably take you a large amount of time to finally arrive to the point where you would annonce your unwanted pregnancy.

Opening his eyes upon hearing his name, Loki was now ready to dedicate his entire attention to your seemingly tired self. You turned around and allowed your body to face his, the tip of your fingers nervously tracing shapes against his bare chest. “Yes?” He asked face to your lack of constructed sentence. “When we make love.. what happens?” You asked shyly, hoping that he would understand that you were hinting towards the natural fertilization process. Ending face to face with such a peculiar question didn’t seem to disturb the demigod who, instead of answering you right away and as seriously as he could, simply lowered his body in order to rest his head against your chest. A smirk displayed on his features.

“A lot of good things~” Loki purred, hand squeezing your waist in a possessive manner. You couldn’t help but sigh face to his answer, though you remained aware that getting mad at him so soon probably wasn’t such a wonderful idea. Instead, you tried to explain the matter in another way. “No. Look, when two persons make love, what happens to the woman? Inside of her body.” You asked him on a determined tone, hoping that he would understand that you weren’t joking around. Though Loki remained silent, cluelessly looking up at your face. Again, this sight managed to irritate you.

“Jesus. I’m pregnant!” You announced on a frustrated tone, staring right into Loki’s eyes to make sure that he would understand that it was an absolutely serious matter. An awkward silence settled in the room, the two of you making eye contact as you desperately waited for your boyfriend to say something. But instead of speaking up about the matter, he calmly turned around and sat down on the edge of the bed before getting up and walking over to the window. Face to this peculiar yet thankfully passive reaction, you sat up and frowned. “Loki?..” you solicited him shyly, scared that any of your words could now cause an outburst.

“It’ll kill you.” He ended up affirming, back still facing your silhouette. You frowned even harder. “What do you mean?..” you answered hesitantly, suddenly becoming scared of the situation due to your partner’s remark. You couldn’t seem to understand how a fetus could be responsible for your death. “It’ll kill you, freeze you from within.” Loki explained further, causing chills to appear on your back face to this terrific announcement. However, you decided to carry on fighting his statements. “Loki this is our child... Nothing will happen to me.” You affirmed softly, hoping that this would manage to make him change his mind about all those rather creepy thoughts and suppositions. You obviously had no idea that he was a frost giant.

Loki knew that in order to prove you wrong, his only remaining option was to show you what he truly was. A monster. Turning back around, his eyes were the first part of his body which switched from green to red, skin and hair soon following as the young man turned into a frost giant before your bare eyes. It was an unexpected, impressive, and intimidating sight all at once. You didn’t know how to react, fearing that any negative remark would cause the young man to get offended. “See me as I am. The monster your mother used to tell you about back when you still were a child.” Loki spoke sternly, which betrayed the fact that he felt ashamed of what he truly was.

Gasping anxiously, your hands gripped onto the bedsheets in order to contain the amount of fear which travelled through your organism. However, your brain was soon to remember that the man who stood before you, and who you loved, would never do anything to hurt you. Meanwhile, Loki made sure to regain a normal appearance as himself felt ashamed of his true nature and didn’t wish to remain in that form for too long. Now this managed to reassure you entirely. “Get rid of it. And try to stay discreet. I wouldn’t want the entire kingdom learning about our frolics.” He finished, words as cold as his birth specie.

Those statements broke your heart. You could barely believe that such cruel words had escaped Loki’s lips- though little did you know it all came from the personal and internal sufferance he was forced to deal with. Instantly you got up from the bed, taking decisive steps towards the man who found himself backing away out of surprise. Your hand harshly landed against his cheek, his head turning to the side in a rather violent manner. “How dare you! You’re talking about our child..” you spoke, tone turning from angered to saddened. Your voice was filled with sorrow.

A harsh sigh escaped Loki’s lips, his green eyes landing onto your face again as he barely managed to find the words to express himself face to such unexpected violence. “You’re acting just like your father.” You ended up adding whilst taking a step back, body soon crouching down in order to reach for your clothes as this statement managed to pull Loki out of his shocked state. He was now as angered as you were. “He’s not my father, and I’m nothing like him! How dare you-“ the demigod began, though only to be stopped in his track by your silhouette which moved back up on its feet.

“Then why are you acting like him?” You responded sadly, pulling the straps of your dress over your shoulders before turning around and beginning to take decisive steps towards the door. Again, the raven haired man was left in a state of shock before he finally managed to get back to reality face to your departure. “Where are you going?” He questioned calmly, muscles flexing underneath the sun of Asgard which penetrated through the large window. “To see your mother.” You answered, hand reaching for the door knob before you opened the door and exited his room.

You believed that if Loki refused to understand, his mother surely would manage to feel empathy face to your distress. The young man was left alone with nothing but his own distress as painful company, stomach growing knots due to anxiety taking possession of his organism. He didn’t fear his mother’s reaction at all, and expected her to be happy for her son. However, Odin surely wouldn’t appreciate to learn that the girl who was formerly meant to go to the ball with Thor had been stolen by his youngest son, and that on top of that she was pregnant.

I hope y’all enjoyed this! Feel free to let me know what you’d like to see in part 2! Sorry for being kinda inactive. Love y’all ❤️ requested tag : @delightfulheartdream

[adamwatchesmovies]

Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)

The original 1922 Nosferatu is unique because it precedes Bella Lugosi’s portrayal of Dracula. It does things with its story and vampire that no one else has done, which gives it a unique atmosphere and taste. The same applies to Werner Herzog’s stylish 1979 take on the story. This is a vampire film unlike any other.

Estate agent Jonathan Harker (Bruno Ganz) is sent by his boss, Renfield (Roland Topor), to Transylvania. There, he meets the enigmatic Count Dracula (Klaus Kinski). The count is in fact a vampire who, upon learning of Jonathan’s wife Lucy (Isabelle Adjani) becomes infatuated with her. Trapping the husband in his castle, Dracula leaves for Wismar, Germany, leaving a plague in his wake.

When you think "vampire", you picture a handsome man or woman who seduces via hypnotism but wouldn’t need to, as they never age. Blood keeps them young and healthy and they have a myriad of special abilities that make them near-invincible. It’s less of a curse and more of a superpower with a drawback. Not in Nosferatu. Even more than in the original, this Dracula is a walking plague, an unloved, immortal, wretched creature whose presence drives those around him mad and who is always surrounded by plague rats. The Count is never convincing as anything but a monster that needs to be exterminated but people don't believe in vampires so everyone just sort of tries to stay away. Their reluctance to believe in the supernatural is what makes Dracula so dangerous.

When you break down this story, it isn’t all that complicated, which leaves Herzog a lot of room to play with the visuals. The whole thing is like a nightmare. Not the vivid kind you see in movies; the real ones you have at night where you can’t quite pinpoint what exactly triggered it. An otherworldly logic dictates the story's flow and when it's over, you’re less disturbed by any one specific image or event than by the way it made you feel. The pacing is strange, some of the visuals will leave you puzzled, it’s off-putting and, at times, uncomfortable but this makes it one of the most successful vampire movies I’ve ever seen. What is a vampire but a walking contradiction, a creature who should not exist but does? Even knowing what Dracula is capable of would drive you a bit crazy and that feeling is here. You sense Jonathan’s despair when he realizes Dracula is after his wife because the monster’s obsession with her makes no sense, the prison he’s in shouldn't exist and the whole situation is impossible.

Nosferatu is off-putting. While watching, I was impressed by the cinematography, its prevalent strangeness and Klaus Kinski's performance. It's so peculiar you wouldn’t flinch if you learned he was a real-life vampire. Sometimes, the film's unorthodox choices did leave me unsatisfied but much like the original film, I can’t stop thinking about it. This is an unconventional horror film that’s different from every other. It’s tragic and disturbing. The conclusion is perfect. I foresee myself visiting it again and my feelings towards it growing only warmer. I suspect repeat viewings will allow me to fully absorb the cinematography, the shot composition, the use of lights and shadows, the deliberately strange choices and the way they all come together. Nosferatu the Vampyre is an unmistakable, unforgettable motion picture. (German version on Blu-ray, March 30, 208)

[salamanderdr]

Lost Family in a Mad Town

My ‘Town That Went Mad’ one-shot

By @salamanderdr

tw: death/child death/trauma

Featuring: c!Karl, c!Dream, c!Corpse, and Robin

Authors note: Also I am in no way a writer so sorry for any typos. I’ve never actually written a fanfiction so the only place I can put it is here. I wrote this because I couldn’t get the idea out of my head and I had to get it down. Karl and the others did such a good job on the stream. I literally wrote this in one sitting, I hope ya’ll like it qwq. 

/////////////////////////

Karl had been having these dreams for a while now. It didn’t seem like anything special. To him, they were just interesting stories to tell his friends. These stories are what he became known for, and he enjoyed the attention. What made the dreams so special is that most of them involved Karl’s friends getting into unusual shenanigans, which inspired most of the young men’s hangouts. However, one dream, in particular, caused Karl to reconsider if there was more to them. 

~Once asleep, Karl finds himself in a rather interesting dream. In the middle of a small village, Karl stands next to the town’s water fountain. The setting is more rustic than he is used to, and his bright multicolored hoody stands out among the bustling villagers. Despite his appearance, the quaint villagers paid him no attention. Concerned, Karl realizes that he can't interact with the townspeople. Unsure of what to do with himself, Karl spots a familiar neon green hood. Karl walks up to the figure and lays his hand on their shoulder, whispering, “Dream... is that you?” The brightly clothed man whips around, shock in his voice, “H-how… who are you?” Karl tilts his head, “It’s me Dream, Karl. Don’t you remember me?” Dream put his head in his hands, “I-I… Karl? Y-yes.. I re”. Suddenly a deep voice pulls both men’s attention away, “Cornelius! You still waiting for us?” Karl looks behind Dream to see a pale man with cat ears and tail, holding the hand of a sweet-looking boy with a hat full of lovely wildflowers. Karl’s heart became warm, something seems familiar about the boy, like if he could be an old friend. Karl speaks again, “Dream, who are they? Did he call you Cornelius? Jeez, what the honk is going on?” Dream quickly turns to Karl, “I’ll explain it later. Just go on, I’ll find you.”  Karl shakes his head “Oh, it’s fine I don't think they can see me.” Dream sighs, “fine, just stay quiet for a bit so I can focus.”

Dream walks over to the two who patiently wait for him “Sorry Corpse, I got sidetracked.” He gently offers his arm to Corpse. Still holding the boy’s hand, Corpse hooks his arm with Dreams. Dream smiles towards the boy, “Y’all didn’t miss me too much, did ya, Robin?” Robin giggles, “If anything, we’re better off without you.” The three laugh as they walk down the path as Karl follows close behind, also laughing to himself.

As the day ends and the night comes, Karl finds himself sitting beside Dream outside his little cottage. Slowly rocking in his chair, Dream speaks, “ I started remembering a little more, not much but enough to kinda understand what’s going on.” He looks at Karl, “I know you later down the line, don’t I?” Karl nods, “Yeah… so this really happened? You had a little family Dream?” he smiles. Dream frowns, “I did, a very long, long, long, long time ago,” he sighs, “this happened like hundreds of years ago, Karl, and you weren’t here. I guess those dreams you have are actually real things that happen.” Karl scratches his head, “I guess I’m learning new things about myself every day, haha. Hey, why don’t you tell me about them… if you want”. Dream looks longingly through the window where Corpse and Robin sleep, “ I found them. I was just planning to mess with the village for a bit, but then I got attached”. Karl's smile grows wider at this, knowing how Dream can be despite his usual dark intentions “and?” Continuing, “I found a boy and his blind friend, and I decided to play house… t-that’s it…” sweat starts to pour from Dream’s forehead “I lo-lost them, and it’s my fault.” Karl's face drops “W-what?”

Suddenly the dream changes and Karl faces a gruesome scene. Dream is on the ground, blood flowing from a deep wound in his chest, being held by Corpse, who is crying. Karl falls towards Dream, shaking him, “Dream! Dream! What’s happening? Who did this?” Dream splutters, unable to speak. Corpse cries for help, “Please someone! R-Robin, go get help!”. Not noticing him till now, Karl watches as Robin flees into the night in search of someone to help his dying adopted father. Corpse turns back to Dream, his voice shaking, “It’s gonna be okay Cornelius, Robin’s getting help.” In Corpse’s arms, Dream lifts his hand to Corpse’s face and wipes the tears from his sightless eyes, “Sorry, Corpse.” Karl watches helplessly as Dream takes his final breath, shocked about how tragic things have become. Karl stumbles to his feet and runs into the forest.

After several minutes, Karl leans against a tree, gasping for air. A voice suddenly speaks up, “Tragic, huh?” Karl jumps at the voice with a welp. He searches the empty trees to see Dream in his bright outfit, and this time, his disturbing clay mask with the eerie smile. Karl catches his breath and stutters, “W-wait, you died?” Dream moves closer, sitting in front of Karl, the morning sun reflecting off the mask, “Oh come on. You really think it's that easy for someone to get rid of me?” Karl shakes his head, “Of c-course not. It’s just, it was so convincing, it scared me. I’ve never seen you like that… What’s happening, what happened to you? What happened to Corpse and Robin?”, concern and millions of questions fill Karl’s head. Dream rolled his hidden eyes, “I guess I’ll be honest with you… it won’t really change anything. Well, you know I’ve been around for a while, and of course, you know I’m hard to kill. Those idiots didn’t know that though.”, he turned his head away “Karl, I bring chaos wherever I go, and I knew whatever that was wasn’t gonna last long, but I ignored it.”  Seeing the Dream he was familiar with sitting in front of him, the one who terrorizes many of his friends in the present, his voice hardens, “Yeah, that’s for sure. So you left them thinking you were dead. That’s cruel. Even for you. They cared about you, Dream.” Dream looks back to Karl, “Well, it was a different time I couldn’t just reveal myself. The ones that ‘killed’ me already saw I would only bring trouble, but they didn’t realize it all started when they decided to take a man’s life. It only fanned the flames of chaos. Hahaha, if I did reveal what I am, I’d be in real trouble. Then I would have hurt Corpse and Robin.”, he looked towards the ground. Karl narrowed his eyes, “You didn’t want them to know you’re actually a monster.” Dream didn’t respond. Then in the distance, a bell rings. 

Karl and Dream appear in the middle of the village to see the villagers in utter disarray. Dream speaks, “The Dream you spoke to was able to remember you only a little bit. When I was 'killed' I was able to show up. He should be watching right now. Heh, I guess I showed up so I could finish the story for him”. Karl looks at Dream, “so what is that story?” Dream looked at the crowd of angry townspeople, “Just watch for now.” Karl turns his attention to the mob. The people are angrily fighting about who killed the man known as The Wise Cornelius, paying no attention to the poor blind man and his adopted son, who were the real victims. As Karl watches, he begins to understand Dream’s role in the village. Yes, he was part of the family made up of a blind cat boy and a tragically orphaned child, but he also brought a lot of new knowledge to the villagers. His brilliance also seems to be what made him a target for the murderers’ Dream mentioned. To Karl, at least, the killers just didn’t understand Dream’s ideas and saw it as some sort of sin against God, knowledge, only meant to drag them all to hell.

Karl is snapped out of his thoughts to see two villagers dragging Corpse toward a prison, “W-wait! Dream what’s happening? What’re they doing to Corpse''. Dream didn’t speak. Robin’s cries rose above the crowd as he ran toward Corpse “Please don’t! It can’t be Corpse!! We’re all family, He would never hurt Cornelius!” Grabbing the arm of the villager, Robin is pushed to the ground “shut up kid! It couldn't be anyone else but him”. Corpse calls out to Robin as the other villager pushes him into the cell, “It’ll be okay, bud. It’s ok.” Tears running down his face, Robin grabs the bars of the cell as the villagers lock it, “Corpse, I can’t lose you too! You’re like a father to me!” Corpse places his hands on Robin’s “I-I know b-buddy.” Robin’s cries echoes throughout the village prison grounds, “P-please don’t go! I need you!”. Karl couldn’t help himself and began to cry too. Dream places his hand on Karl’s shoulder “They didn’t like how chummy I was with them, they framed Corpse because they believed I had already corrupted him” his grip became tighter, making Karl wince “they targeted my family Karl and I didn’t do a thing about it!”

The whole village, along with Karl and Dream, watched as the friendly local cat boy dropped into a lava trap, dying instantly. Robin fell to the ground, broken, weeping uncontrollably. No one comforted him. Dream speaks once more, “Robin was an orphan. His mother disappeared when he was very young. His father died in a war. He was so strong, and he was able to make his own family, but he lost that too. A child can only take so much really”, his voice grows cold when he says this. Karl nervously glances at Dream. 

It was suddenly night, and Karl stiffened as a blood-curdling scream came from one of the cottages. From the dark, Dream sighs, “Another innocent life lost.” Karl stutters, “H-how long do they keep this up?” Tired, Dream answers, “Till there is no one left. They let their paranoia corrupt them. The feeling they had about me doesn’t leave, so they turn to just taking everyone else to hell with them”. A shiver runs down Karl’s spine. Dream voice is ice  “They kill and kill and kill because they are too stupid to realize they are the evil they fear! Now that they have started this whole mess, they can’t stop”. Nervously, Karl whispers, “You really to cause people to go mad…”. Ignoring the comment, Dream asks, “And do you know who they blame all these deaths on?” Karl’s vision changes and his eyes widen in horror at the person in the prison cell. “A poor, innocent, orphan boy.” Karl looks directly into Robin’s eye, but the boy isn’t looking at him. He is looking at a figure behind Karl. Karl turns to find the ghostly figure of Corpse. The spirit walks through Karl, speaking to Robin and placing his hands on the doomed boy’s head, “Straight to hell buddy.” Just like that, Robin is gone. 

Karl jumps awake, his bed soaked with sweat, fear being the only thing he feels. He cries for a long time. After a while, there is a knock at the door, and wiping his face, Karl opens the door. He finds Dream in his doorway, “Well, that was a weird dream, wasn’t it, Karl?” Dream lets himself in. Karl's eyes follow Dream, “W-was that real?”, Dreams sits down on Karl’s bed “Yes, that was real. Now you know one thing that happened in my past... that I caused”.  Concerned, Karl asks, “Jesus Dream, there’s more?!” Dream lets out an unsettling laugh “Hahaha, of course, Karl! You don’t even know a quarter of the chaos I’ve caused, the villages and countries I’ve destroyed by just existing!”. Karl backs up, “so you let that happen? To your family, Dream?”  Dream leaned back on his elbows, “Don’t worry too much about Robin… Did he seem familiar to you Karl?” he nodded, and Dream continued, “That’s because he came back as Tubbo. He got another chance at life. Pffft, not like it’s any better really! Don’t know about Corpse though, bet he’s still in hell”. Shocked, Karl angrily speaks over Dream, “How can you say that? Do you not care about them anymore, Dream?”. Though Dream’s mask was covering his face, Karl can tell Dream is grimacing, “Corpse, Robin died ages ago. I could care less now”. Horrified, Karl truly realized the monster he let into his house and into his life. 

Karl didn’t sleep again for a while.

[lorelylantana]

Spontaneous Chapter 1: Step One

Last fic post in 2020! It's been a wild ride y'all but here's one last beginning before the year ends.

Next

Ao3

Chapter rating: G Overall rating: T

What-

What in Hylia’s name did she just watch?

During her captivity, Zelda imagined several different scenarios for Link’s clash with Ganon. It gave her hope to think about standing before him as he smiled at her once again. Maybe, if she was lucky, he would take her into his arms, reunited at last before riding away to rebuild Hyrule. But never, in her wildest dreams, did she think of this situation.

There was the Hero of Hyrule, walking toward her in all his barely dressed glory, giving her the most roguish smile she’d ever seen on his face. A horse walked up to him, unsaddled and almost identical to Epona, his steed from a century ago. The mare nuzzled his shoulder, and he grimaced, looking down at the side of his ribs where one of the Blights must have nicked him. He moved to cover the gash with his own hand but she smacked it away.

“Now you stop that!” she scolded. His hands were covered in all manner of grease and dust and no doubt several other kinds of dirt you kept away from open wounds at all costs. She turned him around and batted his arm away so she could take a closer look at the cut, her hand coming to rest on his stomach as she did so, an inch above the waistband of his shorts. She felt more than heard him suck in a breath.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. Did he have internal damage? His face was flushed and he shook his head. Did he have a fever? That’s a bad sign. She turned her attention back to his bleeding side to look for signs of infection. It didn’t look too bad, actually. Still, without Mipha’s Grace, may her soul rest, Zelda wasn’t comfortable leaving it alone. She grabbed his arm, which was noticeably thinner than it was 100 years ago, and dragged him towards the Sacred Ground Ruins, where the water thankfully still ran clear. It was a short trip, but she was still shaking with exertion but the time they reached what was left of the stone platform. The Epona horse followed without instruction, which implied some measure of domestication, but without any tack to speak of she couldn’t be sure.

She sat him down and began tearing at some of the cleaner sections of her dress. Link scratched the back of his neck.

“You don’t need to-”

“If I never wear this dress again it will be too soon,” she huffed,  sitting on the lip of the fountain. She dipped the cloth into the water and wrung it out. She turned back to him and patted her lap, “Come here.”

“Are you sure?” he asked. She wasn’t amused by his hesitation, especially when the growing flush on his cheeks could be indicative of a fever.

“I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t sure. Now lay down so we can see to that cut.”

He waited a beat longer, as if waiting for her to withdraw her offer. Then he settled in her lap, letting out a soft sigh as he relaxed. He wasn’t shivering, so perhaps it wasn’t as severe as she feared. She pressed her hand onto his cheek, which was warm, but not alarmingly so. Perhaps it was a reaction to the warm summer’s day rather than illness. She hoped so. In a perfect world she would have a Hyrule herb poultice to spread around the cut, but for now they’d have to settle with a simple bandage.

“Tell me,” she prompted as she began rubbing the blood away, hoping to distract him from the pain a little, “What happened after you woke up?”

“Not much,” he admitted, “I woke up, followed the old man’s instructions, and then he gave me a paraglider, and then I flew to the castle. I made my way to the top, and then I was here.”

She paused, “That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

She needed a moment to process the implications. “Exactly how much time has passed since you woke up?” Her perception of time was a bit skewed when she was imprisoned. For all she knew, he’d been running around Hyrule for months, but that didn’t explain his conspicuous lack of pants. He considered a moment before answering.

“A day. I think?” he looked sheepish when he clarified, “I may have spent more time necessary exploring the plateau.”

Zelda wasn’t about to complain about his response time when he single handedly beat down the apocalypse mere hours after his return to the living, so she focused on their next steps. She had him sit up while she tore off more of her dress to wrap around his torso. 

Her first thought was that he needed to get dressed, but he made it this far without clothes, so he’d probably survive a bit longer. Infection or no, she wanted to get the cut taken care of as soon as possible, and without any degree of medical equipment, their best option was a hot spring. There was one inside the castle, but with monsters still lurking with the walls it was hardly an ideal, despite its proximity.

Zelda looked to the sky, it was still late morning, so there was enough time to ride to lakes at the foot of Death Mountain and have an hour or two to soak before the sun went down. 

“Alright,” she said, standing to stretch. He followed her to where the Epona horse stood. “A hot spring would do us both a world of good, and the closest one is to the northeast. Is that agreeable to you?”

He shrugged, content to follow Zelda’s plan. He helped her mount before settling behind her, and though she couldn’t be certain, she would have sworn she could see a solitary spirit wave them goodbye as they passed. It looked like her father.

 The guardians were still walking about, lit up a bright orange. Even if her mind knew they posed no threat now that they were freed from Ganon’s control, she couldn’t help how her heart sped at the sight of them. Link must have noticed, because he insisted they urge the Epona horse into a canter, despite Zelda’s reservations. It seemed that his skills as a rider weren’t lost to time, which was a relief. The roads were empty, even when they left Hyrule field, but Zelda was too exhausted mentally to ponder it for too long. They passed Foothill Stable as the sun began to set.

As they came up on the turquoise water, she swung a leg over the Epona horse’s neck, a move made possible by her freshly shortened dress, and slid down. Zelda untied the bandage  around his waist and dipped her feet in the water. She put her hair in a ponytail while he sank into the spring with a moan. Link had offered his hair tie, but Zelda wasn’t going to take an accessory from a man wearing only his undershorts, so she declined, opting instead to tie it with a spare scrap of dress. She absentmindedly brushed his hair back before taking stock of the meager inventory.

It wasn’t as sparse as she’d assumed. There were a few odds and ends, bundles of wood and various herbs and mushrooms. She also came across a few gems and a handful of rupees, which she set aside. She tried to make the best camp she could, listening to Link paddle around idly. She built a fire and arranged the mushrooms and found a stick to skewer them with. Once she returned she found Link by the fire, slicing a trout into chunks to cook. If he’s quick enough to catch a fish with his bare hands, then his skill hadn’t depleted, only his strength.

Yet still strong enough to best Calamity.

They ate in relative silence, until Zelda finally scrapped up enough courage to ask the devastating question she already knew the answer to.

“What do you remember?” she asked. He shifted next to her, his shoulder brushing against hers.

“Nothing.”

She nodded, taking a bite before speaking again. She didn’t have the strength to face reality as a whole. Not yet, so instead she addressed the small pieces she could handle.

“Can I have these?” she asked, pointing to the gems. He nodded, tossing his empty skewer into the fire before going to sit in the water again. Zelda took the gems and walked back to the stable.

She made it as far as the sign marking Death Mountain's ascent before she had to stop and rest, huffing as she sat down on the warm rock. She tried to adjust her sandals, only to have them come apart in her hands, so she just tossed them aside. If Link could fight six different abominations in quick succession barefoot, surely she could walk to a stable. 

But as she stood up on shaking legs she felt a gentle bump against her back. The Epona horse had come for her, and Zelda was not proud enough to refuse her assistance, using the rock as an impromptu mounting block. 

“You’re a brave one, girlie,” Ozunda said, walking up to the counter, “walking about after the day went red like that. Everyone’s been buckled down since.”

“The disturbance has since passed,” she replied. She didn’t tell them the Calamity was no more because she didn’t think she could handle a celebration surrounded by her kingdom’s ruin. Instead she walked to the merchant sitting on the floor, placing the gems on his makeshift table.

“How much can you give me for these?”

He ended up giving her 210 rupees for the stones, which she in turn used to purchase a set of Hylian trousers and a sturdy tunic. He even threw in a hair comb he had in stock, though she suspected he pitied Zelda for her tragically bare feet and disheveled hair.

Zelda walked out of the tent to where the Epona horse waited patiently. She looked around for a rock to help mount, but a stable hand came to help her up. Zelda focused on thanking the young woman instead of how frail she must look to warrant unrequested assistance.

“You want to register that horse, miss?” Ozunda called as she turned to go, “It gets you a stable issue saddle and bridle, just twenty rupees.”

“It’s not my horse,” Zelda answered, “We’ll come by later.”

She returned to their campsite with the bundle of clothes to find Link already stretched out, fast asleep. She tucked the clothes under his head and set the boots to the side and placed her fingertips across his chest lightly, only removing them when he felt him take a breath. She ran the comb carefully through her hair. Letting it down from it’s braid for the first time in one hundred years. Then she ducked behind the rocks to give her some measure of privacy while she stripped off the dress. After several careful tears Zelda was able to separate that dreadful outer layer from the rest of the gown. She set them aside while she finally stepped into the water, letting it melt away some of the physical strains weighing on her.

And then Zelda was alone with her thoughts, without an activity to occupy her thoughts. Zelda was left to grieve.

She hated herself for it, but she felt a flood of relief overpower that grief. Granted, she’d had a century to come to terms with devastation of Calamity, but it felt wrong to rest when the Champions, her dearest friends, were tethered to this world, not allowed to pass on. They would have to visit each Divine Beasts and release them of their duty. 

And then what?

Things didn’t go at all as she’d expected them to. She wasn’t so foolish as to believe everything would go according to plan, but she never would have thought Link would charge the castle before he had a chance to remember himself. A trip to Kakariko was in order. Impa would be able to tell them where to go from there. Perhaps Purah lived still, and she could share some of her findings with Zelda.

For the time being, she had to help Link get back to what he was. She knew it wasn’t fair to put her beloved Champion through all this to begin with, much less without so much as a memory to guide him. He might not want to travel with Zelda, perhaps only freeing her out of a lingering sense of duty before exploring the wilds at his leisure. She owed that to him, if that was his desire. She could make her own way once they reached Kakariko. At the very least, she was obligated to point him in the right direction.

Before all else, though, she must rest. Her eyes were closing of her own accord, and her mind grew hazy.

She pulled herself out of the water, using the torn cloth to wipe herself down before slipping back into the revised dress, now coming to a stop right above her knees. Zelda sat down beside the long dead fire. She leaned against the warm red stone, Link’s sleeping figure the last thing she saw before falling asleep.

[365days365movies]

February 22, 2021: Pillow Talk (1959)(Part 1)

Y’know, I actually do like Doris Day.

She’s funny, she’s talented, and she’s a timeless beauty that I remember very well. TOO well. You guys ever have that one thing that your parents crammed down your throat SO MUCH that you got sick of it? Well, that’s what my Mom did with The Thrill of it All.

Which is, for the record, a cute movie, and one worth watching again at some point. But I’m gonna ease my way into that with Doris Day and Rock Hudson’s first movie, 1959′s Pillow Talk. 

However, while I’m not stranger to Doris Day, I’m afraid that I don’t know too much about Rock Hudson from experience. Well, there is one interesting tidbit about him: Hudson was one of the biggest stars of the ‘50s and ‘60s, and his career continued up until his death in 1985...from AIDS-related complications.

Yeah, Rock Hudson was one of the biggest gay celebrities in Hollywood, although he never publicly came out. However, it was somewhat of an open secret in the community at large, and basically all of his female co-stars know about it. 

And said secret was revealed posthumously, after his tragic death during the height of the AIDS crisis. He was by far one of the most high-profile deaths during this time period, and you’d think that would’ve caused more waves about the AIDS-crisis, considering that he was good friends with...well...another actor.

Yeaaaaaaaaah, not gonna get into Reagan and ALL OF THAT SHIT here. This here is a movie blog, not a political blog! But, uh, yeah, a LOT of fucked-up shit about Reagan and the AIDS crisis, obviously, and part of it was Rock Hudson. So, yeah, it’s something that I wanted to address before we got into this whole shindig.

Because, again, I’ve never seen a Rock Hudson movie, but dude was a pretty huge deal, and this was a part of his life that I felt it unfair not to at least acknowledge. SO, with that out of the way, let’s have a little Pillow Talk. SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap

We start with that might be one of my favorite opening sequences so far this month, which you can see above. From there, Jan Morrow (Doris Day) wakes up, humming the theme song from the credits, which is clever, considering that she sang it! Talented lady, seriously.

Jan wakes up and goes to the phone, intending to make a call. However, this is where we get a pretty stark cultural difference, and a needed history lesson for some of us, me included. See, Jan’s phone line is actually a party line, seen through this neat little visual edit.

See, this is what’s called a “party line”. From the 1870s onwards, there was a shortage of available phone lines. By the time you get to the ‘60s, more and more people had personal phones in their households, but without enough lines to go around. And so, some people were forced to share their phone lines with others, hence the party line system!

Here’s the thing, though: if somebody was on the line already, anyone else on that line could hear the conversation of other people. Which is exactly what’s pissing of Jan right now, as she needs to make a call, but the line is being used by her party line partner, songwriter Brad Allen, who’s serenading his girlfriend (?) Eileen (Valerie Allen). Not sure that they’re actually dating, but Eileen definitely wants to.

After Jan’s insistence, they get off the phone, and Jan’s able to begin her busy morning at last. Well...almost. Brad’s now talking to Yvette (Jacqueline Beer), and she wants him to sing HER song to her, which is LITERALLY just the Eileen song with a different name and in French! Which is...hilarious. It’s very funny, not gonna lie.

Once again, Jan tells him to get off the party line, and hangs up angrily. She leaves just as her cleaner woman, Alma (Thelma Ritter) arrives, fresh off of a hangover. Jan goes to try and get a line of her own, and the manager, Mr. Conrad (Hayden Rorke) makes a WEIRDLY sexist comment about jumping to the top of the list if she were pregnant. Which, yeah...weird.

Anyway, Jan, in her frustration, tells Mr. Conrad that she’s hired of sharing the line by a “sex maniac.” Mr. Conrad asks for specifics, and is AGAIN WEIRDLY SEXIST ABOUT IT. He asks if his dalliances with other women disturb her in particular. But yeah, he also says that if he is indeed a “sex maniac,” they may need to disconnect him altogether. Which has...uncomfortable undertones all on its own, but whatever, moving on.

On her way to work, Jan’s friend Jonathan Forbes (Tony Randall) shows up to bring her a STRAIGHT-UP CAR, holy shit! He’s doing so to thank her for decorating his offices (she’s an interior decorator, he’s a car dealership owner, so...fair exchange?). She insists that it’s too personal, which confuses him, as it isn’t perfume or lingerie.

But, uh, dude? IT’S A WHOLE-ASS CAR!!! Look, I’m with her on this one, don’t just give me a fuckin’ car out of the blue! I don’t care what the reason is, tell me that shit first! And Jonathan is CLEARLY trying to make it just a little more personal, if you get my meaning.

Jan finally arrives at her office, owned by Mr. Pierot (Marcel Dalio), and she tells him that an inspector has been sent to look after Mr. Allen. This inspector is Miss Dickenson (Karen Norris), and being of the wimmins, is immediately entranced by the apparently irresistible Mr. Allen, sabotaging any attempt at inspection.

The next morning, the inspector’s report comes through, and Miss Dickinson has of course cleared him of all charges. He calls her, and the two clash in a way that definitely means they’ll never, ever, ever fall in love, no sir, not these two, not a CHANCE IN HELL

They agree to make a schedule for using the phone, and Brad accuses Jan of being jealous of his free-wheeling, bed-hopping lifestyle, which she takes great offese to. But after they hang up, she thinks on the idea of having bedroom problems. Looks like Jonathan wants to fix that, on account of being the THIRSTIEST MAN ALIVE.

Dude has three three ex-wives, all of which were revolts against his mother, for which he’s seeing a psychiatrist.

...CHRIST, the man’s a walking-talking red flag. Jan also says that she doesn’t love him, like...AT THE FUCK ALL, and the man just straight-up says, “How do you know, we’ve never even kissed.” Ai which point, any normal person would see the phantom neckbeard and whip out the fuckin’ bear mace, but Jan just lets him lean in for the goddamn kiss!!!

Jan...standards, Jan. My God. Anyway, she still turns him down, he asks her to get married again, and she leaves. For God’s sakes, man. Anyway, she goes home, where Alma’s listening to Brad serenade a girl over the party line. Jan notes the time, and tells him to get off the line. He calls back, and tells her off.

Brad gets a visitor: his old college friend FUCKIN’ JONATHAN AGAIN. He bemoans being a millionaire (po’ babyyyyy), then reveals that he’s pining over Jan, whom he doesn’t know is the person on the party line with Brad. He hears a good amount of information about Jan from Jonathan.

After the conversation, Brad tries to somewhat reconcile with Jan, but she doesn’t have any interest in doing so. That night, the two have separate affairs. Brad meets up with a woman named Marie, and  serenades her with the same goddamn song from earlier, that suave motherfucker. Dude flips a switch, and the door fuckin’ LOCKS! Jesus, state-of-the-art hook-up tech of 1959.

Meanwhile Jan is attending a dinner held by an extremely client, Mrs. Walters (Lee Patrick). Needing to get home, she has her son Tony (Nick Adams) give her a ride. But on the way home, they stop and WHAT THE FUCK TONY??? I actually can’t find a clip or GIF of this, so I’ll tell you...he is ALL THE FUCK OVER HER, and it’s GROSS. CAN WE PLEASE STOP SEMI-RAPING DORIS DAY? WHAT THE FUCK, IN NO WAY IS WHAT I JUST WATCHED OK, HOLY SHIT!!!!!

Like...wow, that was the most uncomfortable I’ve felt watching a movie in a WHILE. And it’s not even because of the act itself, it’s because of how...OK it feels in the context of the film. Jan is BARELY upset by this slimy little weasely-faced rapey CREEP LITERALLY ASSAULTING HER IN THE FUCKING CAR. And in case you were wondering, yes! This film was written by FOUR MEN.

This is gross. Sorry, but this whole sequence is gross, and it gets even LONGER, because she AGREES TO GO GET A DRINK WITH HIM. WHY, JAN? STOP ENCOURAGING THIS BEHAVIOR. He tries to get her drunk (but ends up drunk himself), but she tries to leave. However, who should be sitting one table but Brad, who realizes who this is. Jan tries to leave, but Tony tries to get her to dance with him, AND SHE ONCE AGAIN AGREES, JAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!

And its during this time of distress for Brad that, OF COURSE, he finds himself extremely attracted to her. And since he knows who she is, but she doesn’t know him, he decides to fake his identity. And there we go, we’ve got a creepy-ass one-sided relationship set-up.

Meanwhile, lightweight Tony passes out on the floor, drunk as shit. Brad goes into help, putting on a take Texas accent and calling himself Rex Stetson. And OF FUCKING COURSE, she’s lost in his fuckin’ eyes. Damn those eyes, and his suave bullshit.

They shove Tony into a cab, then take his car, which appears to be too small for Brad, which makes sense, given the fact that Hudson was 6′4″, goddamn! The two take a cab, and the two reveal their mutual attraction to the audience, through their inner thoughts. Looks like all Jan needed for a relationship was handsome-ass Rock Hudson.

In her thoughts, she thinks on how honest and down-to-earth Rex Stetson seems, unlike “monsters” like Tony and Brad Allen. And OF COURSE this is how we get this started. OF GODDAMN COURSE this is how we start this relationship. Liar revealed, LIAR REVEALED, I FUCKIN’ HATE THAT GODDAMN TROPE SO MUCH

Soon after “Rex” takes her home, he goes home herself, and gives her a call, inviting her to dinner the following night. She accepts. Then, in the middle of the call, Brad pretends to pick up the line as himself, in order to set up the two identities as being separate...this is reverse You’ve Got Mail, isn’t it?

Think about it. Two people that hate each other, and they’ve never seen one another, but also love each other after meeting in person. IT’S THE OPPOSITE OF YOU’VE GOT MAIL. Ugh. Fine. Even down to the fact that he has a sizeable advantage over her, due to his full knowledge of the situation. He even tries to use his identity as Brad Allen to set-up their date the next night for success.

And it works, goddamn. A clever yet manipulative asshole, this dude is. They get on a horse and carriage, and we hear the inner thoughts of Jan, Brad, and the dude who owns the horse. And, yeah...it’s funny. The two go to dinner, where Jonathan shortly arrives. Brad gets him out of there with...mildly fatphobic means, but it is the 1950s, so things were just kinda...entirely that.

But in any case, Brad gets away with it, and he and Jan spend a hell of a lot of time together going all around the city. And the whole time, he’s playing the role of “Rex.” Ugh. This is a good halfway point, so let’s go to Part 2 here! See you there!

[shiny-procrastinates]

(re)Watching Magia Record S1 - part 7

part 6 here

Hello everyone and welcome back to this quasi-watchalong of Magia Record season 1! Last time, Iroha met a magical girl mercenary called Felicia, and the two ended up caught in the Rumor of the Lucky Owl Water. When our girls went to erase it, a cult group of weirdos called The Wings of the Magius stood in their way and got Felicia to join them promising the extinction of all witches.

Who are these weirdos? What are they up to protecting the Rumors? Is what they promised Felicia true? Et cetera, et cetera. Let's just go to the episode to find out already.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story: Magia Record S1 episode 7

O-oh... what a way to start an episode, huh.

We get a look into what led to Felicia becoming a magical girl and, like most magical girl backstories, it's tragic. This is the reason why Felicia's obsessed with destroying all witches.

Continuing from the previous episode, Felicia was taken to a subterranean waterway, that might be their hideout. Wait, didn't Kaede say something about a rumor of a giant underground empire some time back? She might've been right after all hahaha

After walking a while, Felicia is met by Tsukasa and Tsukuyo Amane, two of the, uh, generals I guess I could say, of The Wings of the Magius.

The weirdo twins explain that their organization's objective is fulfilling the wishes of the Magius, whose objective is the salvation of all magical girls. See, so they are the ones behind the salvation propaganda.

The twins say their objective cannot be completed without the eradication of witches, which... well, is not a lie. Without the witchfication, there would be no witches. It's all fine until there, but then they're also protecting Rumors, who kidnap people, so... yeah.

...uh, hey, Kyoko? What are you doing here?

Back to Iroha's group, Iroha is worried about just letting Felicia go like that, to which Yachiyo answers it's fine because she planted a GPS on her... sasuga, Yachiyo. Why in the heck did you have that?

"Am I being tracked too...?”

Yachiyo says this much is normal (no it's not), since she didn't trust Felicia to begin with, but Iroha just feels bad knowing Felicia's circumstances.

The trio heads towards Felicia's position and find the entrance to the waterway. Waiting for them there was...

Chibi Kyuubei. For as adorable as he is, he manages to look even more suspicious than the original. And he only shows up when there's a rumor around, too! I don't trust him.

Back at the underground waterway, Kyoko and Felicia are having a little chat. According to her, Kyoko only just ran into them too. She says that as long as she has Grief Seeds, food and a place to sleep, the rest doesn't matter, but she also seems to be aware that the WoM are fishy. Felicia agrees uneasily, but hearing that they might be behind the witches gathering in Kamihama seems to already have put doubts in her mind.

The two have a meeting with the Amane twins inside the Rumor's barrier.

The twins explain the logic behind the Lucky Owl Water once again, and Kyoko says this

There it is! This series' core. Funny hearing that from Kyoko, since I think she doesn't even know how right she is yet.

Kyoko rejects the Water and lays out her terms: as long as she can keep gathering Grief Seeds, she's fine with anything. However, the twins affirm that those are not necessary in Kamihama. Normally, I'd say these two are bonkers, but... well, we saw what happened to Iroha and Kaede. These two must know about that too. At this moment, a black feather comes in and interrupts their little show.

Iroha's group was making their way through the waterway when the Amane twins block their way and, together with them, Kyoko and Felicia.

The Amane twins tell Iroha to do what they say if she doesn't want to be swallowed by bad luck and Iroha asks them why would they create that Rumor, to which the twins once more say it's for the sake of the Magius and their salvation. See, cult.

Yachiyo cuts to the chase and confirms they're here to battle, and the twins pull out something strange on them.

So, yeah. There's pocket monsters, and now we have pocket witches too, apparently.

The twins called a witch upon our girls, which, according to them, they are controlling with magic. As the girls begin fighting against their familiars, Yachiyo asks the twins if they have any idea of what exactly they're doing. Tsukasa apologizes, but affirms that witches will be gone if they can realize their plans. The twins (literally) pull the rug on Yachiyo and Tsuruno and chase after them, leaving the (weak) Iroha to Kyoko and Felicia.

Iroha gets whacked by the familiars and Felicia comes in to help. Iroha then once again dashes in her direction and they do a connect. Upon further thought, I think Iroha's assist is a booster in a more literal sense, since it turned Felicia's hammer into a rocket-hammer. My theory is that it's the same propulsion magic that makes her crossbow work.

Felicia's hammer causes a quake and one of the twins asks what's going on. Well, what did you think would happen if you released a witch in front of someone who notoriously goes berserk when they see witches? The twins might not be very smart.

Damn, I missed a number.

Kyoko bounces too. She wasn't very convinced with the twins' vague talk of "salvation".

After transforming, Kyoko does her good act of the day, busting a hole in the barrier and telling Iroha to go on ahead. Iroha hesitates to leave her friends behind but obeys when Yachiyo tells her to go.

With Kyoko guarding her back Iroha manages to make it out of the witch's p*kéball and into the Rumor's barrier. Like it's said, out of the frying pan into the fire. Oh and there's 7-6. I'm really missing numbers left and right today.

No Iroha, don't go chase the Kyuubei towards the light...! Just kidding. Iroha gets out of the tunnel and finds the Rumor's main body. She confirms with her tutorial mascot if she only has to break that, readies her crossbow and... gets swarmed by owls. C'mon Iroha, did you really think it'd be that easy?

While Iroha's busy sucking at battles, Felicia's not having a better time with her reckless style either. Kyoko saves her ass and tells her she's not winning like that.

This whole sequence is just great in terms of animation, shame I can't really screenshot that T-T

As someone on a similar spot, Kyoko gives Felicia some advice, telling her she's a magical girl for her own sake; that's how it should be when she's betting her own life.

The two cooperate on destroying the witches, with Felicia bonking the whole barrier to smithereens. Nice job, rocket-hammer!

The girls go back to the waterway and the twins' Soul Gem is quite drained. Tsuruno tells them to stop already, but these two weirdos say that's just what they wanted.

Saying that they'll be able to show that Kamihama is a place of salvation, the two do the same thing Iroha and Kaede had done.

Uhhh... if the salvation that the Magius is preaching is spewing out a witch from your body, that's already super fishy. There's no way there's no downside to this. This is Madoka we are talking about... right...?

While Yachiyo's group learns a shocking and disturbing truth, Iroha's busy getting her ass kicked. Poor Iroha

and oh god, I don't think anyone would ever catch this number if they weren't pausing as much as I am to write this.

Iroha keeps getting wrecked by the owls, miraculously escaping unscathed thanks to the Lucky Owl Water. As the numbers keep counting down, Iroha starts questioning what happened to her back in the Seance Shrine. Uh, Iroha, is this really the best time to be introspecting?

No matter how many times I see it, this scene still creeps me out.

While Iroha gets another round of spawning a witch, Yachiyo's group fight the twins', to no avail. Back to Iroha...

Oh no the witch talks now? Eek... oh, wait wait is this still Iroha's voice?

Not that the first thing it said is wrong, but Yachiyo's words really remained in a negative manner, huh? First in the Seance Shrine and now this. Iroha, don't go getting yourself killed trying to become stronger, ok?

A-at least it's a bit cuter now... if you can call a witch that... rather, why did it change?

Iroha's thing makes short work of the Rumor and the Chibi Kyuubei peaces out. As if it wasn't suspicous enough, it turns into freaking water. Goddammit Chibi Kyuubei.

Iroha just lies there tired.

Uhh... yeah, sure, if you count an eldritch abomination coming out of you as part of yourself, then yeah you did.

Like last time, Iroha's Soul Gem is pristine clean now.

Back to the twins, thanks to the floating water falling they realize that the Rumor's been defeated , then start panicking.

"Someone", whose voice we're already familiar with, comes in to check on the situation and the twins apologize for their failure.

Whelp, this is awkward. Hello there, Mifuyu. So you joined a cult.

Tsuruno gets really emotional. She runs up and hugs Mifuyu. who stops the Black Feathers from attacking her. Tsuruno's really glad that she's back and says they'll have to make a "Welcome Back Party" at her family's restaurant, but Mifuyu says she's not going back, because she's part of the cult The Wings of the Magius now. (couldn't they choose a shorter name for their group? Geez)

Mifuyu shifts her attention to Yachiyo and says she's happy that they went even to Seance Shrine to search for her; Yachiyo says it's thanks to the Kamihama Rumor Files (the notebook Yachiyo carries around) that she left behind.

Yachiyo asks but Mifuyu implies she's the one that was left behind.

Mifuyu invites Yachiyo to join the cult but Yachiyo, obviously, can't agree with their methods. She questions if Mifuyu hadn't resolved herself as a magical girl but Mifuyu, like we saw in the flashback, really wants to be saved. Yachiyo's the only one who's strong like that.

Yachiyo says she'll stop her by force if she has to and they prepare to battle again, but Mifuyu uses her magic and has her group leave.

Iroha's group leave the underground waterway (seems Kyoko has gone her way already too). Felicia tries to leave too and says she has nowhere to go back to when Iroha stops her and asks, so Iroha tells her to come over to her place.

Felicia says she doesn't have to do that for her, but Iroha says she's doing this for herself, that she needs Felicia's strenght. Felicia argues that Iroha will get in trouble again if she's around and all the girls chip in saying they'll help her learn to hold herself back. (I'm not sure what this far framing is doing but I do like how it lets us see the body expression of all the girls at once.)

Huh, weird, why is the screen so blurry? I can't type like this...

Iroha apologizes for what they said and insists on having Felicia over, even if just for the day. Yachiyo comes in and tells them to stay over at her place instead.

*sobs* so beautiful ;-; I wish I knew the name of the ost track here it's really pretty too.

It really is Kyoko, it really is.

At Yachiyo's place, Iroha's on the phone with her parents while the others wait for her to eat. It seems like her parents finally decided on where she's going to be moving to, and whatever they said was a surprise.

There goes the last number! The Rumor's gone so this has to be purely for the sake of finishing the countdown, but I have long given up on trying to find the ones I'm missing in this episode.

And there's the title card. Don't leave the episode yet, though, as there's still an after credits scene.

To absolutely no one's surprise besides Iroha's, the place her parents decided on is Mikadzuki Villa, Yachiyo's place. Now, I did say that last number must be purely illustrative, but I'm inclined to agree with Iroha here on it being thanks to the Lucky Owl Water since there is no other way I can rationalize Iroha's parents, from overseas, managing to find the phone number of Mikadzuki Villa, that's not even doing boarding anymore, calling while Yachiyo's around to respond, making an agreement to let Iroha live there, and Yachiyo not even telling Iroha her parents called. So yeah, I say it was the Lucky Owl Water.

Felicia comes with Tsuruno and reveals she's also been living in Yachiyo's place. She's happy she'll be freed from living alone with Yachiyo and her "nagging" and Yachiyo tells her to clean up; Iroha says she's glad to see them getting along.

“When did I turn into a mom?“

That's a new type of bishie sparkles alright. Can all models do this? Is it like some special ability like Gabs' censor light rays? We'll never know.

After the various types of ad, now we have spam too. Magia Record is actually warning us about the dangers of the internet.

...In all seriousness though, that's some mysterious text. How do they, whoever "they" are, know that Iroha's a magical girl? And most of all, how do they have her number? Guess this is going to be the mystery for the next episode. (Also, I never noticed this before but you can hear a veeeery quiet chime when the messages come in. Nice detail!).

- x -

Aaaand with that, we have concluded episode 7! This one also ran on longer than I expected and, surprisingly, managed to surpass the number of screenshots of all others at about 43 images. sugoi

I couldn't catch all the numbers this time, but the ones I did were: 13-12 with Iroha on the bridge; 10-9 when Kyoko "betrays" the WoM; 7-6 when Iroha finds the Rumor; 6 through 1 happen while Iroha's fighting the Rumor and the last 1-0 was in Yachiyo's magazine. With that, I'm missing 12-11; 11-10; 9-8 and 8-7, which I have no idea where they are. Oh well.

I realized partway through that it kinda seems like I'm dissing Iroha every chance I get, but I assure you I don't hate her. In fact, she's my favorite character! This is coming purely from a place of affection, and a bit of frustration at what the anime did to her character, so don't mind me, it's aaall good.

With that out of the way, this was episode 7! We are now over halfway through, with a buckload of mysteries and barely any progress being made towards finding Iroha's younger sister. Poor Ui, if you even existed. Tomorrow, we'll be watching episode 8, so I hope you'll read me again then. Have a great morning/afternoon/evening and see you later!

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt.26

Lance kicking himself. He’d gone and called Keith “a snack”. The stupid hunter had looked so awkward that he couldn’t help it, it’d slipped out and now he couldn’t take it back. Lance was now left with the hope there’d be a tragic mine accident and the earth would swallow up his stupid body. Sure, Keith was unfairly handsome, but those moments did not exist. Not at all. Those moments didn’t exist because he most certainly was not being won over by Keith’s easiness now they weren’t fighting over him being turned. Groaning to himself, he dragged himself out of the bronco, not blaming Keith for the way he’d leapt out as soon as he could. He’d known the man for like two weeks. His judgment was clouded by Keith being everything he wasn’t... Oh, lord. He was pathetic. This always happened. Someone showed the vaguest niceness and bam, he was an idiot.

Heading to the back of the bronco, Lance grabbed the the coil of rope and the shovel. The flashlights were for Keith’s benifit, seeing he could see in the dark and all. He wanted to say something, but whatever he said might just turn into him word vomiting out something worse. Setting his jaw, Lance started walking to where the entrance had been shown on the map. Stupid Pidge. All he’d done was care about her. Now she was planning on doing something dangerous and his undead arse had to make sure nothing bad happened.

Having been left behind, Keith jogged to catch up with him

“Do you know where the entrance is?”

“Yeah”

“Vampire memory again?”

“Something like that. You were supposed to stay at the car”

“What if something happened to you?”

“You could pack up, take Blue and head to Coran’s. I’m sure you’d be sent back out into the field and forget all about me”

Keith let out a groan of frustration

“Will you stop that?”

“What?”

“Thinking this is easy for me”

What did Keith have to worry about? His target would be dead, or at least immobilised. It’d be job over and goodbye Platt in the process

“I never said it was. I was simply expressing that my death would be inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. You’re not coming in the mine”

“If we can even get into it”

“I’m sure the council would take care of the entrance, otherwise with all the nosy tourists an accident would have happened by now”

“But they might not have. You can’t go in there alone”

“Umm. I’m dead. Nothing’s going to make me more deader than I already am”

Keith huffed

“Fine. But if you die then I have to explain that to Shiro”

“Let him use the house. Hell, Matt can just live there”

“That’s not funny”

Lance shrugged. Keith was doing that thing where he sounded like he cared again, and Lance only had so much people power left

“Who said I was trying to be?”

“It’s not. So don’t joke about that”

They fell into an awkward silence. Lance guessing Keith was now thinking about Adam again. He’d gone and put his foot in that. Reaching the entrance to the mine, there was dirt built up at the bottom of an iron door. The padlock had seized into the latch holder, but a solid tug by even a human would have seen to that

“So this is it?”

“Yep. It’s definitely not made sturdy enough to keep a determined gremlin out. Here, take the shovel, we won’t need it yet. It looks like the door opens inwards”

“Is that another vampire thing?”

“It’s a hinge thing”

Keith let out a soft “oh” that Lance knew he wasn’t meant to hear. Passing over the shovel, he decided to pass the hunter the rope too

“If I get into trouble, you leave. Don’t try to help me. I can survive more than you can”

“Then don’t get into trouble”

Accidentally using too much force, the ancient padlock all but crumbled in Lance’s hand. Lance shaking off the debris in annoyance

“Did you mean to do that?”

“Nope”

“Look, this seems really dangerous. For all we know, Hunk might have talked Pidge out of this”

“Hunk would have given it his best shot, but Pidge never gives up on anything. She’s fierce and she’s brave. Sometimes she acts before she thinks, meaning though she’d never set out to cause trouble, it finds her anyway”

“I noticed that”

“It’s hard not to. The only things she fears is drunks and the world running out of coffee. Wait here while I check the entrance out”

The door groaned on it’s hinges, Lance using his strength to convince it swing open. Dust billowing out as the dirt floor was disturbed. Coughing, Lance covered his mouth. The place smelt of dampness and dirt, not a healthy combination for human lungs. Stepping through the doorway, his eyes fell on the entrance put a few metres ahead. That was good. Hunk would never want to climb down there, his best friend was smart like that. Walking over to the remains of the ladder, the bottom of the pit was annoyingly dry. The ladder only missing half a dozen steps, but the edges seemed sturdy enough to repel down

“Keith, stay there. I’m going down”

“What?! No”

“I’ll be fine”

“Wait...”

“See you soon”

Swinging himself over and onto the ladder, it groaned under his weight. His sense of self preservation was kicking in, around about the same time the ladder was kicking out...? Missing the step, he found it in time for the ladder to snap, Lance falling the last half a dozen metres to the floor where he landed squarely on his back. Fuck. That hurt like a mother trucker

“Lance!”

“I’m okay!”

Just winded, sore, and regretful of his actions. At the top of the tunnel came the light of a flashlight

“Lance?!”

“I’m fine!”

“What happened?”

“Ladder snapped! Dude, relax!”

“You’re stuck!”

“I’m not stuck. I brought rope for a reason”

Lance huffed to himself, knowing Keith couldn’t hear him

“Lance?!”

“I’m fine! Stay up there!”

Regretfully, Lance pealed himself up off the floor, dusting himself off the best he could, unappreciative of the cobwebs hanging on. Ugh. He couldn’t even bill someone for the damage to his clothes because he was the idiot responsible. Turning away from the remains of the ladder, Lance eyed the dark path ahead of him, his skin bursting out in goosebumps. This was a god awful idea

“Lance?!”

Lance closed his eyes, reminding himself not to snap at Keith

“Wait there! I’ll be right back!”

The mine was in bad shape. Parts of it were indeed starting to collapse. Wood beams had split, while their metal replacements were rusting through uselessly. There was the smell of death, but he hadn’t seen anything yet. Feeling a spider running up his arm, Lance flicked it away. The place was icky. He wanted his pyjamas and his glass of wine. Pidge was lucky he loved her. Following the main tunnel, it slowly sloped downwards, the temperature dropping as he walked. In the distance the silence was beginning to be filled with the sound of water dripping and something moving. Fan-fucking-tastic. There was nothing rad about this at all. It was all sucking balls, until it wasn’t.

The end of the mine had flooded. A natural spring lapped at the edge of where the tunnel would have continued further before reaching it. Wading into the frigid water to pass the curve in the wall, his eyes widened as the room turned into a cavern. Okay. This was really fucking cool. He’d missed the turn for wherever the town tunnels connected to the mine, but this was definitely interesting. Somewhere out there he could hear what he assumed to be Keith. Keith was definitely missing out on this. Hidden away from the world, the cavern hadn’t been disturbed in so long that it’d reclaimed its natural beauty. Small bioluminescent something or other grew along the far wall. Fish were actually living down here, their movements making the barest of ripples. From a sniff he could tell the water was fresh, with salt traces from the ground.

“Holy fuck”

Struck by the beauty, he’d let himself tune out. Keith nearly blinding him as he shone the torch across the darkness

“This is awesome”

“I told you to stay up there”

“You stopped responding. I tied the rope off of to the front of your car and rappelled down”

Lance cursed buying 50 metres of rope. At the time he hadn’t known what he was going to use all of it for, but he was sure having more than he needed was better

“That’s not safe. What if you’d fallen? Or gotten lost?”

“I followed your tracks. This place is amazing”

“Yeah... I bet no one’s been down here in decades. Did you bring your camera?”

“How did you know?”

“Lucky guess. Can you see across the water? There’s something glowing on the other side”

“Gimme a sec”

Turning his camera on, Keith used it to do what his eyes couldn’t

“Wow... I’ve never seen anything like it”

“There’s fish down here too”

“For real?”

“Yep. We must have missed the turn off”

“I’m kind of glad we did. Would you have told me about this place?”

“Would you have believed me if I had?”

“Probably not... I’m not going to hurt anything by taking photos, will I?”

Lance shrugged

“I don’t see how. There’s bats here, but I don’t think you’re going to summon a lake monster”

“The exist?”

Keith sounded concerned, again, Lance shrugged

“No clue. Why don’t you tell me?”

“I don’t really know... I mean, if vampires can exist, they can too. There’s a theory that as humans were evolving not all stayed on land, like how whales used to be land animals, they moved to the sea and mermaids evolved”

“I’m pretty sure mermaids don’t exist”

“I think it’s one of those things we’ll never know. How’s the water?”

“Gross. The bottom of the pool is clay. I’m pretty sure my sneakers are ruined”

“No normal person just wades out into a potentially contaminated body of water”

“I thought the tunnel continued... it looks like maybe it does over where it’s all glowy, but that’s about it for foot exploring. I think once we’re done, I should collapse the tunnel down closer to the entrance. A place like this shouldn’t be spoilt with too many visitors”

“You’re right about that. Want a hand out?”

“Nah, I’m just gonna chill. Get it, because the water is so cold...”

“You deserve to stay in there for that. I’m going film first, this thing isn’t bad in night mode”

“Go for your life. I’m happy enough watching the view”

Keith really seemed into what he was doing with his camera. Lance wading back to the closest bit of dry land. His shoes felt soggy, water spurting out the holes for his laces when he stepped down hard. Swapping to camera mode, Keith started snapping, Lance hearing the twittering and flapping of wings

“Fuck! We have to go!”

“What...”

“Bats! Run!”

Keith ran, Lance close behind him. The colony of bats hot on their trail as they followed the tunnel. There had to be an opening somewhere if bats were able to get in and out. Unable to outrun them, Lance pushed Keith down, shielding him as the shrieking animals passed over head. Within a matter of moments, they’d passed over head, Lance rolling of Keith to flop on his back. Though it wasn’t really funny, he found himself starting to laugh

“Lance?”

“We fucking legged it... I think they’re pissed...”

Laughing harder, Lance covered his face

“... oh my god... we must have looked so stupid”

Beside him, Keith started to laugh

“I had no idea what to do”

“Neither did I! They didn’t get you, did they?”

“No... did they get you?”

Lance’s laughter started to die down

“Nah... god... we’re losers...”

“There was dozens of them”

“I know... fuck... I needed that. Are you sure you’re okay?”

Lance turned his head to face Keith, Keith already looking towards him. The flashlight trapped between the hunter and the dirt, with his camera held protectively close. Keith probably couldn’t see him very well, but Lance could see everything. Keith looked genuinely relaxed and not like a man who’d upset a colony of bats

“I’m fine. We should get moving”

“Yeah. Who would have thunk there’d be bats in a cave?”

“Someone smarter than us”

“Rude. Alright, come on, you still need to climb up a rope”

Lance helped Keith up, he didn’t smell blood but the hunter might be bruised come tomorrow. Falling into step, the walk back was taken at a slower pace. This time Lance paused to examine each branching tunnel entrance

“This place would be pretty cool to sus out”

“I thought we were doing this for Pidge”

“We are. I mean, I was. You’re the one who followed me down. It’s just kind of cool that years ago people worked these tunnels. The put all this hard work into something they believed in. You know?”

“I’m pretty sure they were only down here for money”

Lance pouted as he crossed his arms

“Spoil sport”

“Takes one to know one”

“Don’t you think it’s cool? They didn’t have a plan, all they had was blind faith and strength and they made this happen”

“Maybe a bit... it’s hard to imagine the feelings. People died down here working side by side with the same people for probably years. They all made this happen”

“You sound nostalgic”

Maybe a little. In Platt life moved so fast. So many people no longer cared about things they couldn’t see on their screens

“If you’re asking whether I would have made a good miner, I totally would have rocked a pick axe”

“Because you’ve got rocks in your head”

Lance kind of felt a tad proud Keith was teasing him. He’d really come out of his shell

“I’ll have you know my head is filled with cat memes and bad music”

“That sounds about right. You don’t act like any lawyer I’ve ever met”

“That’s because Mami raised me right. A guy could spend a lifetime exploring this place”

“Are you giving up being a domesticated hermit to go full hermit down here?”

“Maybe? Maybe I’ll do some mining and strike some gold down ‘ere”

Lance’s attempt at an accent was so horrible he ended up laughing at himself. Keith’s disgusted face only made things funnier

“Whatever that was, don’t do it again”

“Yessir. I’m just a poor miner boy, never even played the banjo. Papa said I got rocks in my head, but jokes on him, he’s got rocks in his bed”

Keith let out a laugh, shaking his head as he did. Lance having to look away because he found himself enjoying the sight too much

“Oh, god. That was even worse”

“Come on then, mister big bad hunter. What can you do?”

“Not that. I’ll leave that to you”

“Spoilsport”

“That’s my middle name”

Reaching the rope, Lance stared up at it. That was going to be a hell of a climb for Keith

“Will you be alright climbing?”

“I just have to make it up to the ladder. I’ve climbed bigger things than this”

“Right, well, when you get up, get yourself away from the entrance. I’m going to knock a couple of beams out. Gravity will do the rest”

“What about the door?”

“I’ll call the council in the morning and tell them I found it how it is. They’ll be forced to fix it”

“You don’t need a hand?”

“Nah, I’ve got this. I’ll pretend I’m punching you”

“Thanks. See you top side”

Being the worrier he was, Lance made sure Keith was at the top before walking down the tunnel a bit. The wood was so old that he didn’t need much force to splinter it... it kindly deciding he needed splinters in return for the punch. Breaking through the sides of four supports, he started jogging when he heard the ground start to creak. Definitely time to get out and get home.

Lance was already starting the engine by the time they heard the crash. Dust pouring out of the mine as they both watched from the bronco

“Well that’s done”

“Yep”

“Time to head home?”

“Yep. On it”

It was no good. He was having too much fun hanging out with Keith. He didn’t care that his shoes were still gross, or that he was messing up his rubber car mats. He’d had fun. Actual fun where he hadn’t had to hide away that part of himself.

[writerfangirlbooks]

Scooby and the Winchester Gang

Scooby Doo Gang & the Winchester brothers - no real romance, just fun plot. 

Request by: @newsodapop67​(way back in 2016 when my spn book was still new! Waaay before the Scoobynatural crossover was announced!) 

Prompt: "you should make it so the scooby gang is trying to trap the monster but Sam and Dean and stuff are freaking out bc they're doing it wrong."

Word Count: almost 1,200

Credit to gif owner!

The Winchester brothers saw the clues of a werewolf clan in a small town in Mississippi. Soon enough, the Bunker was abandoned and the Impala was driving in the back roads. A very careful and 80's painted van was in the parking lot of the police's investigation center.

Dean frowned with distaste as he stared at the van. His younger brother shook it off with a small smile and a shrug, nearly having to drag his stunned idol inside. Sam and Dean Winchester stood inside the police office and were even more surprised. Once three steps inside, very colorful people were inside looking around.

A shorter girl with a brown bob-cut hairstyle in an orange turtle neck, short red silk skirt, and big glasses was the first to notice the tall brothers. "Well, jinkies! Hi, guys, I'm Velma. This is my gang," she motioned to three others, plus and dog. "Fred, Daphne, Shaggy, his dog Scooby."

Sam was flabbergasted, which didn't normally happen. Dean's eyes became stuck on Daphne - a girl just taller than average height, pale orange hair, a purple dress, and boots. She turned and caught his eyes. Neither looked away. Fred, a tall blond, noticed and stepped forwards. Shaggy was off in the corner with Scooby Doo, trying to sneak eat some Scooby Snacks that Daphne didn't know they had.

"Nice to, um, meet you all. I'm Agent Gabriel and this is my partner, Agent Leitsac Jr.," Sam said, earning a dirty glare from his brother.

They both pulled out their fake badges and showed them around for a quick second, before beginning to put them away. Fred jumped forward, very interested, and unsuspecting.

"Wow, really? That's so sweet! Mind if I take a look?" He asked eagerly.

Together, the Winchester brothers told him a plain no. Dean asked, "Have any of you seen the sheriff around? We have some questions about the recent murders going on."

"What a coincidence," Daphne smiled and stepped forwards, her fingers running consciously around her bright green scarf. "So are we. It's real tragic isn't it."

The two were hooked under the other's gaze. "Very," Dean responded slowly.

Sam cleared his throat and walked to the front desk, inspecting it. "No one has been here since morning. The donut is half melted and very cold. What time did you get here?"

"Just ten minutes ago," Velma answered.

"Yeah," Shaggy spoke up. "All the food they have here is cold."

"Shame," Dean mumbled, finally breaking eye contact and scanning the walls for anything suspicious, such as an unusual stain or design.

"Have you even looked around? Or have all of you just drooled around in here?" Sam shook his head and began to head towards one of the doors inside of the office.

The whole gang began to frown and object at once, each at an unusual octave. Dean shook his head with a sigh and the brothers split up, the other looking around the two doors. Fred followed Dean, not joyful about the lustful staring contest between the girl he loves and this random agent.

"Jeepers; gang, look at this!" Daphne let out a screech from the small interrogation room. Everyone ran to the commotion.

"What?" Fred and Dean demanded.

"There - there is a mouse! Under the cabinet," she let out a low sob and shook.

Apparently, mice frightened her. Sam scowled and went to the black heavy cabinet. Behind it, laid a dead grey mouse that was almost cut in half.

He made a disturbed grunt and pushed the cabinet over, allowing all the others to view it as well, causing a simultaneous gasp of shock. Dean's face wrinkled in disgust and halfway let out a shudder, walking towards it. Sam stepped to the side. There was no noticeable scent, other than the blood and decay of the small animal. However, they recognized the claw marking.

<->

They arrived in the small town just after noon. Now, it was seven at night, nearly pitch black outside with few lights. Though the brothers were nowhere near terrified, they understood that werewolves had way better hearing than him.

Silently, they passed the guns filled with silver bullets to one another. Their boots were careful not to trip or scratch anything in the mix of dirt and grass. The trunk closed quietly, as if it understood the situation at hand. Dean locked the Impala and the two set off down a narrow path. From what they found out in the previous hours, there was about seven werewolves, all rogue made clan.

All was going well until the Mystery Van showed up again. The Winchesters let out a growl of annoyance and continued their path, guns risen to chest height. Sam has checked the calendar and discover there wasn't a full moon due for two more weeks. However, after examining the three dead bodies and mouse, it was very clear it was a full-on werewolf attack.

In Sam's pocket, he had the words to an ancient, but newly discovered, trick to de-wolfing a person. That would only work if everyone cooperated, which was highly unlikely. A low-pitched, definitely wolf-like growl sprang from very near the brothers. They turned, ready.

"Would you do it for a Scooby snack?" Daphne's high pitched voice rang out, causing the brothers to do a full three sixty.

There was some rustling and the voices of a conversation between Velma and Fred was clear. The brothers looked around, waiting for the attack. These morons are going to get us killed, Sam thought. What's a Scooby snack? Dean wondered.

The gang stumbled into the woods and came face to face with the Winchesters. Daphne raised a suggestive smile and the large dog instantly began to sniff around, followed by his friend with hair as long as Sam's. Velma carried a map in her hands, biting her lower lip. Fred held a flash light as he looked around. He aimed the brightness right into their faces.

"Hey! What are you two doing here?" He asked, surprised.

"Our job! And be quiet; they have good hearing," Dean hissed.

"Who has good hearing?" Velma asked, looking up.

"The werewolves. What are you doing here?" Dean asked in a low voice.

"Ruys! Rover here!" Scooby Doo said loudly.

The brothers' eyes widened and their faces fell into shock. Dean looked over at Daphne. "He talks?"

"Of course he talks," Shaggy said, walking around a tree stump. "And we're here to find out who is wearing the masks. We think it's the sheriff."

Sam was appalled. "What do you mean 'wearing the masks'? These are actual monsters, that could seriously hurt you. You all could die."

Fred couldn't help but smile as he said, "There are no such thing as monsters. My friends and I have been doing this for years. We hunt down weird things and find the truth."

"You've been doing it wrong," Sam muttered. A howl pierced through the wind in the dark, stopping all conversation. It was time to be serious.

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[qbrooklyn1056]

El angelito que cambió NYC!

The lack of resources when it comes to children should never be an issue. Why is it that rich children get treated so, much better than less fortunate children? Aren't children, children and they all should be loved and tread equally? This is no where near the case for most poor children. The system seems like they fail to protect black and brown babies, like to them its not as important as finding justice for white baby. When describing children, you think of lovable, sweet and some of the smartest little humans you’ll come across. Children are the key to joy some may say and their pure innocence makes up for some of the most hilarious and memories moments. What happens when you have people who use their children innocence for their own personal gains, and the lack of a system making sure putting the safety of children needs at top priority. You get a dead child and a ton of excuses. Either way, 6-year-old Elisa Izquierdo, who would have been 32 years old this year, but instead is resting in Cypress Hills Cemetery. This would be at the hands of the people who she should’ve been most protected by.

Elisa Izquierdo was born on February 11th 1989, in Brooklyn NY, at Woodhull hospital. She was born to Gustavo Izquierdo, who was a Cuban immigrant dancer, and her mother Awilda Lopez who was Puerto Rican. The pair met in a homeless shelter in Fort Greene Brooklyn, where Izquierdo was a caretaker, and she was a resident of the shelter. Two years into the relationship Lopez got pregnant with Elisa. Izquierdo would break up with Lopez after discovering she was heavy into using crack cocaine, and that was actually part of the reason she was into the shelter anyway. She would lose her two oldest kids to child welfare (Now ACS), the same year Elisa was born. Elisa had crack cocaine in her system and Elisa was permanently place with her father. He made sure she was his world and got her into a good school, but a health condition would interfere with him paying for Elisa schooling. Says the daily news, who covered the whole story throughout the trail.

Should a parent that had been on drugs get their children back? For most, I would say, Hell No, not untroubled the child is 17 and older. This way the child can fight back or speak up against the abuse if its happening. Plus,, most abuse patents, usually only go after the weak and small, because they can't fight back. Now, the same year her mother claimed to completely drug treatment and had an apartment on Manhattan Lower East side, Rutgers Houses projects. She was now married to a maintenance worker named Carlos Lopez. Lopez was granted unsupervised visits every second weekend. This is where her two oldest siblings would tell family, that Elisa was being abused and lock in a cupboard by their mom and step-dad. (Family members did nothing). While Elisa would return home and begin bedwetting and had scars all over including her genitalia. She would vomit after coming from her mom house and would refuse to go in bathrooms. (Information also provided by the daily news), I don't know about most people, but if a child is showing all these signs, something is very wrong. This is nothing you sweep under a rug this is something the U.S. Marshall's should even be notified of. This little girl was being treated like a human punching bag, all for just being herself. Elisa story should be made into a movie or shown at them programs for people who abuse kids. Should also be shown to new parents, so they can have an understanding of the real world. Even people thinking about having a baby Should see this story, so they know how much work kids are but they may also come to realize they're not ready for a child.

Her father is the type of dad I believe anybody wouldn't want as a dad or any woman would love to have a baby by him, because of how much he cared and loved his daughter. He was a real standup guy who just wanted the best for his baby girl. He never could imagine that the person he had a baby with, was the devil in the flesh. Himand teacher notice the bruises, and she said she didn’t want to go back to her house ever again. Elisa also, told a social worker what had happened, and Izquierdo tried everything to stop the visitation rights, but the courts said she could continue to see her daughter, but under the conditions she doesn’t hit her child Izquierdo would purchase tickets for Cuba for the date of May 26, 1994, he planned on moving him and Elisa there. He would be rushed to the hospital in May, finding that he had Lung Cancer, he would pass on the same day him and his daughter was supposed to start their new life May 26, 1994. The director of the school still tried to report the mother after the father died because the school was worried. Since he wasn’t there to fight for her anymore. I sometimes wonder why God took him away from that Elisa, because she really needed him at this time, but even though this story is tragic. It's because of Elisa's story a rules and regulations have change when it comes to children.

This is were we see things get really bad for little Elisa. This is were child welfare dropped the ball over and over. This is were this beautiful little girl will lose her life because everyone around her was dropping the ball. Her mother would get temporary custody after she filed a permanent custody order of Elisa, Izquierdo family would challenge the decision, Lopez lawyer made her seem like a saint, who wasn’t going to use drugs again, and Elisa wanted to be with her biological mother. Judge Phoebe Greenbaum approved permanent custody in September 1994. Elisa was withdrawn from private school and sent to public school 126 in Manhattan. She was said to be “uncommunicative, emotionally disturbed, and urinated often”. Also, the principle at the new school said “Elisa was tearing out hair and walking with difficulty.” In 1995, some ones sent an anonymous letter to child welfare and said Lopez cut off Elisa hair and was locking her in dark rooms. The school kept reporting and child welfare kept saying “Not reportable “due to lack of evidence. The evidence was obviously there. It was supposed to be a caseworker checking on Elisa all the time. Lopez back on drugs and that spring withdrew Elisa from 126 and didn’t enroll her another school. She was in her six child and but Elisa for some reason was always her target. Why wasn't this judge disbarred? This is a slap in the face to any child going through abuse. You are basically giving the abuser a pass to do whatever they want to the child with no consequences. Do you really think that a person on drugs, who beats her child everyday, is going to change overnight? I'm here to tell you absolutely not, Not when they don't even like there own child. I believe a lot of these people should have been brought up on charges and given prison time to show the world we will not tolerate this kind of abuse.

To imagine this poor little girl being beating and abused by somebody that she hope would protect, turned out to be a monster. The mother was an evil women with real problems, besides drug use. In my opinion she knew exactlywhat she was doing, because she didn'treat all her kids that way or even think about doing half the things she did to Elisato the others. I mean this women made this child. eat her own feces, sexually assaulted with a hairbrush, hair mopped with the floor, and way more horrible things. Carlos Lopez would beat Elisa and the oldest two because they weren’t his. November 22nd. Lopez would phone her sister and says her daughter was “retarded on the bed" and she had fluid coming from her nose and mouth, which was said to be brain fluid. She was told to take her to the hospital and she said “I’ll think about it after she did the dishes.” The next day a neighbor came to see what was going on and told Lopez to call the police and she said “No.” The neighbor did and Lopez talked of committing suicide. She would admit that she threw her daughter into a wall two days prior. The autopsy revealed broken fingers, vaginal tear, burns, welts, and a bone protruding through her skin.

Elisa story gained lots of media attention and the Newspapers, such as dateline, New York times, and time magazine just to name a few. Everyone was in some way scolding child welfare services for dropping the ball horribly. Judge Phoebe Greenbaum faced a lot of backlash and claimed she followed proper procedures in the case. Then Mayor Rudolph Giulliani would create ACS (Administration for Children Services). Devoted to child welfare, which years down the line would have a lot of similar cases like Elisa. In 1996 then Governor George Pataki signed Elisa's law which is for every agency whether private or city work together to make sure children are safe, and to also protect the child’s privacy or workers in case of any situation with abuse. This is about the need to increase accountability in the city.

This whole situation is just wrong, so many people failed this child and looked the other way. I guess it goes back to what I was asking at the beginning. I believe poverty can play a big part in children not getting enough love and support from their families, because they have to work and make sure things are taking care of. One thing I learned is no matter what, talk to a child and see if anything is going on. Any little sign of anything you confront the situation, you don’t want to wait until it too late to do something about it. Hurting one of most God creatures is absolutely disgusting, and there should be no coming back from that. I wonder if she was from a family with money would child service had taken her case way more serious? The answer most likely is yes. Money talks in this country and the sad part is, people don’t take action until its always too late. One child is too many to lose to child abuse.

 • Daily News

[treatian]

The Chronicles of the Dark One:  The Dark Curse

Chapter 138:  His Remarkably Persistent Caretaker

His tower was quieter than the Great Hall anyway. It was more familiar, more peaceful. And he liked its darkness. It wouldn't be long until the sun began to creep up over the horizon and flood it with light, but for now he found the darkness comforting. There was something to the gray that accompanied the sunset, something clammy and perfect about the color it cast about his tower that seemed to fit his mood. He wanted to sit at his wheel and spin, and he would. Straw into gold, wool into thread, he hadn't made up his mind which just yet. But that was okay, he didn't need too.

His first stop was by the mantle, the place that he'd hidden his Curse and protected it against the Blue Fairy. He'd already made one tragic mistake tonight, he couldn't afford to make two. And so he numbly remembered the signal he'd received from the castle and the panic he'd felt that she might have taken Belle or the Curse. The door to the inner chamber, the place that he'd left Belle was wide open, and obviously, he'd already seen her more than he cared to in the last few hours, so there was no need to worry about that. But as for the Curse…

In the clearing his magic had told him it was safe. It took him only a moment to confirm his defenses and discover that they were all intact; not a single one was tampered with or disturbed. And breathing just behind the stone, with a heartbeat all its own and a blackness he'd recognize in an instant now was his Curse…a product of his mother's magic.

Why had she created the Curse? What was her anticipated result? Did he have to worry about anything? Would his plan work? Was there anything he should know but didn't?

Those were the questions he should have asked her. Those were the questions he'd needed to be answered and now he would never know, he'd never have those answers. The Blue Fairy surely wouldn't tell him, the Red Fairy wasn't answering his summons, and now the Black Fairy…she wouldn't be taken by surprise ever again, not now that she knew who he was. She might not ever answer a summons by him again. The doors were all closed. The windows locked. There were no other hallways to venture down to give him the answers he needed, at least none that he knew of because he didn't have clues and he certainly didn't fucking have answers!

Trust was not really something he did well, but in this particular case he found no choice but to have trust. The Seer had yet to lie to him. If she said the Dark Curse was the way back to Baelfire then he'd have to trust her. At the moment, she seemed to be the only female in his life that he could trust…

He sighed in anguish and rolled his eyes the moment he heard the door to his tower open then close. A baby's squeal echoed up through the tunnel to his ears.

Belle.

He should have known that she was not one to give up.

Her footsteps were quick, and he just barely had time enough to push himself away from his mantle and begin spinning at his wheel before he saw a glow and then the top of her head appeared at the stairs. She carried a candelabra in one hand and little Gideon in the other pressed tight against her side. She still looked determined, but her face had softened, cooled. Fortunately for her, so had he.

"You are on very thin ice!" he hissed.

She only swallowed and set the candelabra down on a table. To his horror, he watched as she removed one of the candles and used it to begin lighting other candles he had around so that it's light invaded his depressing gray tower. Stubborn woman.

"Look, I can't imagine what you went through-"

"It's none of your concern-"

"But the child is!" she stressed, keeping her tone forceful but just below what would be considered yelling. "You grew up without a mother, and I am so sorry about that, but this child…he's loved by his parents."

"And how would you know that?" he questioned. He was almost dying for her to say something childish like "I can feel it", but he knew she was beyond that. And he knew the moment he said the words he wanted to take them back. It was just like the gauntlet all over again. She'd taken his words as a challenge; an opportunity to prove something to him. She was worse than stubborn.

"They care for him," she explained, coming closer. "They made him decent clothes and kept him healthy and clean. Parents that do that will be missing him. And listen to him cry! He's been changed and well-fed and slept since he got here. Now, he's heartbroken!" she claimed. "He misses his mother and father too! Please…please don't sentence him to the same fate as you by making him grow up without a mother!"

"Why not?" he demanded, finally turning himself so that he could truly look at her. "I turned out perfectly fine!"

But he hadn't. And they both knew it. The silence that she allowed to stretch between them as his false observation went unanswered denied it.

"If that were true, then you wouldn't be stealing children and demanding answers that make you miserable," she finally pointed out gently.

Miserable. He wasn't always…

Suddenly he felt guilt creep up on him as he remembered...he hasn't always been miserable. His aunts, Mr. Oak, Margery, Baelfire…he hadn't been alone, not always. They had taken care of him before he'd become this. His life may have been sad, but it wasn't bad. In fact, it might be because of them that he had the amount of humanity he did as a Dark One, that when he returned from stressful nights he was able to sit down at his wheel to spin and deny the instinct to kill like he'd had earlier. Other Dark Ones hadn't always managed that instinct well. He had.

And Belle…what he wouldn't give to count her as one of those people who saved him, to have arms to fall into again, to give comfort like his blood family never had.

That was a stupid thought. It was thoughts like those that fueled his fantasies. Fantasies...not visions!

"Look…" she finally swallowed, jumping up and down a bit to settle the screaming child in her arms. "I know that despite what you say and how you act, there is more to you than just this thing that you have become, what she helped turn you into. And I know that you don't want this child to suffer the same way that you did just like I know you don't want him to be here forever." She knew? How was it possible for her to be so certain? "Tell me who his parents are. Let me take him home so that we can get back to our peace and quiet, so that we can talk about what happened."

Talk about what happened…didn't she understand that was the last thing he wanted?!

"There will be no talking regardless!" he roared, pushing back from the wheel and moving to escape her again. He didn't want to talk to her or to anyone, not to her about his mother or with Bae about his father! He just wanted to forget it all! If he could take a memory potion and afford to lose the knowledge, he would.

"Fine…" he heard her sigh behind him. "Make me a deal."

The monster inside of him, a moment ago tired and exhausted from the night's events, rolled over with inescapable interest.

"Deal?"

"Well, the other one worked out so well, why not?"

If he wasn't trying so hard to be upset with her, he might have laughed at her sarcastic joke.

"Let me take the child back to his family and in return…in return I'll forget everything I saw and heard today. I'll never mention the Black Fairy, or your mother, or even this child again!"

He winced even as she said the words and reminded him just how great her own knowledge was.

"I could just as easily take away your voice or erase your memory," he suggested.

"Take away my voice, and you'll soon learn that there is more than a voice to complaint and protest. You won't be able to silence me forever. And if you take away my memory, then you'll hand me a baby and I'll spend the rest of my days asking questions about him. Those questions will be a constant reminder of tonight! Every time we speak, every time you see him, he will be a constant reminder of this conversation, tonight, and your stubbornness.

"Please," she begged. "I know you didn't want to hurt him or me, you just wanted your answers, but…she won't come back to you now, not now that she knows who you are. He's of no more use to you. Let me take him home."

She had the upper hand. Damn it all. He looked down on her, and yet she was the one in control. An answer to every question, a counter argument for every point he made. She was right in every conceivable way, and he hated that almost as much as he hated what had happened tonight. This was not a night he wanted to look back on. Ever. And that was exactly her point.

"His parents live a fair distance from here, in the middle of a distant wood. Jack and Jill, royals cast out of their home they are farmers now, working the land. Even if they told someone the child was gone, there is little chance anyone would help them," he finally admitted with a sigh.

"Okay…" she sighed with something like relief as she heaved the child into her arms one more time. "I have to find them."

"Stop!" he yelled before she could start toward the steps. Foolishness. How was it possible for someone to be so foolish and so incredibly intelligent all at the same time?! Did she really think it would be that simple, that she'd just walk down off the mountain and find Jack and Jill in the forest, dressed as he was, with a baby in her arms and without a map? She'd be gone for weeks. And after what happened with his enemies…

"I can't have you roaming about the countryside!" he concluded as she looked at him with confusion. He waved his hand and let magic take them.

And that was how, as the sun rose, he found himself hidden in some distant shrubbery, watching as his caretaker walked the baby in her arms over to the couple that came running out of the house to greet him.

His mother took him, held him in her arms, and hardly seemed to notice Belle as his father joined them. They exchanged a few words, but he watched the look on Jill's face as she held her child close. His aunts had held him like that when he was little, and he appreciated everything they'd ever done for him, every sacrifice they'd ever made, every comfort they'd given him in troubling times. But he couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy as he watched Gideon's mother hold him. It was an embrace he would never recognize, no matter how much he longed for it.

The moment Belle walked back into the tree line, he was quick to use his magic to get them away and back to the castle. He was eager to let this experience fade away.

[keelywolfe]

FIC: Winter Makes You Laugh a Little Slower

Summary: Rus is all by himself for the day. Finally.Surely he won't manage to get into trouble.

Tags: Spicyhoney, Brotherly Relationships, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Pregnancy, More Angst

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Chapter List

What Will Be, Will Be

Something To Say, But Nothing Comes

Can’t Go On, Thinking Nothing’s Wrong

Seldom All They Seem

Voices Are Heard But Nothing Is Seen

~~*~~

Read it on AO3

or

Read it here!

~~*~~

This morning was probably as alone as Rus had been in weeks. Ever since a little spark showed up to orbit his soul, he felt like he'd been under constant supervision from one person or another. But not today.

Today, his brother was already gone to train with Alphys. Edge was gone, back to his own world to go through his own morning routine that Rus didn’t ask too many questions about and Red wasn’t downstairs stinking up the sofa with his mustard fumes. Guard duty seemed to be over, for now. Red still checked in from time to time to raid the fridge and Rus thought maybe he caught a flash of a tragically emo jacket out of the corner of his socket once or twice, but the danger time was before the souling descended. Once it moved on to baby mode, all that was left was the wait.

(And if Red’s sudden absence was disturbing his peace, niggling thoughts of something he almost remembered, Rus wasn’t gonna dig in too deep. He had plenty of his own shit to worry about without adding Red’s nasty soup du jour)

Yep, all alone—except for the kid who was making a pretty good attempt to give Rus a matching set of bruises on either side of his spinal column. He wasn’t complaining too loudly about it; he’d known what he was signing up for, but damn, the kid would have to take after Edge in the energy department. Sometimes it felt like they were trying to use his rib cage as a jungle gym.

Anywho, now seemed like a perfect opportunity to take advantage of the lack of supervision and head out to take care of something before Rus managed to put it off. Again.

Rus dug through their hall closet, pawing through mittens who’d lost their mate and sandals that never got worn, a tennis racket, the leash for the pet rock. Searching until he found a pair of boots in his size. Normally, Rus alternated between his fuzzy slippers and his sneakers, but then, normally he didn't end up standing in the snow for very long. His morning exercise routine used to be a quick shortcut to his sentry post where his tootsies would be propped up out of the slush as he settled into nap mode.

But since it’d been unanimously decided that he shouldn’t teleport while he was smuggling skittens under his shirt, this trip would have to be made on foot.

Yay.

Wasn’t a quick little stroll around the block, either. Once he got out of Snowdin proper, his path led through the woods. Past all the Buns’ sentry stations with a few quick pauses to scratch behind ears, trying to fend off any excited rabbity enthusiasm. Everyone in Snowdin knew by now, his little butterball belly might not be real obvious with his loose sweatshirt, but he’d told Muffet when he went to pay off his tab, just to explain why he wasn’t stopping in as much.

There was no gossiper like someone with hundreds of spiderlings at their disposal.

So far, seemed like everyone was okay about it. Not that he was thinking anyone was gonna kick them out of town or anything, Monsters didn’t usually roll that way, but it was kinda nice to have it confirmed. His own link in the gossip chain told him the big question buzzing around was who is the daddy. On the Undernet, there was a betting pool and there were a lotta names from some of his old one-nighters on the list.

He really hoped Blue was the one with a hefty bet on ‘other’.

Scrolling through the list only made Rus scoff. It was almost insulting, really. Sex was one thing, one great, messy, fun thing, but did anyone really think he would’ve shared his soul with any of them? Not likely.

(He still had a hard time believing he’d done it with Edge; impulsive, sure, but not usually that impulsive. The memory of it was blurry, pleasure-soaked and sweet, Edge desperately asking and him blindly agreeing, the hot press of souls, the brilliant surge of magic between them)

Seeing the Buns was good, though. Once he’d been taken off sentry duty and toned down on the visits to Muffet’s, he didn’t see them much anymore, and he couldn’t help laughing as all of them hopped over to wriggle excitedly around him. Even Greater Bun scrambled out of their armor in the hopes of more pets.

They were too polite to nose at his brand-new belly, (most of them, anyway, Lesser Bun gave it a hopeful nudge, but sighed sadly when Rus stepped back before he obligingly went back for the normal scritches, teeth chattering happily)

But they all loved little ones of any kind, had to really when they had that many of their own. Bunaressa accepted pats almost solemnly, whispering to him. *I am knitting something for your baby.*

“that’s really sweet of you,” Rus said, honestly. He crouched down where Bunamy was flopped in the snow and gave him a furious scratching behind his long ears while he huffed out a contented groan, “don’t forget, they aren’t gonna have a tail, so only four limbs and a head.”

Both of them laughed in their bunny way even as Rus struggled to stand back up. His belly wasn’t that big yet, but he wasn’t exactly used to having one at all so it threw his balance a little off. He wobbled unsteadily, almost dropping back into the snow.

Bunamy caught his elbow, steadying him, “Careful, there. Do you need us to come along?”

*Yes, we can come along, keep you safe!*

“that’s super nice of you guys, but i’m good,” Rus grimaced. The last thing he wanted was another bodyguard, he’d only just kicked the habit.

Bunno was the only one a little distant, eh, no surprise there. He’d been that way since Rus shut down the pussy factory. There was probably some pun in there about cats and rabbits, but Rus wasn’t much in the mood to figure it out. He left Bunno smoking his carrot, heading further down the path.

Out here, the woods were quieter, the only sound his boots crunching on the frozen path. He went past his own sentry post where no one was currently stationed. Not much to see there and Rus wondered if Alphys would assign him back after the kid was born. He wasn’t sure. He had to work, no option there, he wasn’t about to let Blue be the only one bringing in the G. But he also wasn’t sure yet what they were gonna do about the skitten. He kicked idly at a pinecone as he walked, shoving that thought out of his mind. One thing at a time.

Onward, ho. Through the too-wide bars on the bridge that were almost not too-wide enough for his growing belly. He squeezed between them and earned a hearty kick in his floating rib for his trouble. Seemed like the kid didn’t care for the walls closing in, who could blame ‘em? Rus gave his belly a soothing rub, murmuring, “easy, baby, no more squeezing.”

Until they went home, but eh, that bad news could come up later.

The walk was taking more out of him than he’d expected, and Rus was panting by the time he got to the door, wiping his sweaty forehead on his sleeve before it could freeze to his skull. Probably Red would have a fit if he heard about the lack of hat and gloves, but it turned out building a skitten from scratch made a fella pretty damn hot. There were times Rus felt like steam should be sizzling off the top of his skull whenever he stepped outside and chilly as it was, right now the cold was soothing on his overheated bones.

He dusted snow off one of the steps and sat down, catching his breath even as it fogged out around him. Once he was as comfy as he could be, all things considered, Rus reached back behind his head to rap his knuckles on the door he was leaning against. “knock knock.”

Rus waited, not terribly surprised that there wasn’t an answer. It’d been weeks since he’d come.

The minutes ticked away and Rus reached back, tried again, “knock knock.”

Again, nothing. Rus pulled his lighter out of his pocket, flicking it open and shut absently, the sound of it loud in the quiet. He’d quit smoking, but it felt too strange not to have his lighter with him, the weight of it a familiar, comforting presence when everything around him was strange. He thought about knocking again, wondered idly how long he was planning on sitting here alone with the wind whispering through the trees around him.

Fuck, he wanted a cigarette.

“when you decide to make an appearance, kid, the first thing i’m doing after we shake hands is having a smoke.” Rus flicked the lighter closed decisively. “course edge might have a thing or three to say about that. blue’s already been at me, says since i’ve quit for this long, i should keep it up. edge would probably agree.”

Rus trailed off. Edge. Yeah.

Every time he thought he had things figured out with that guy, Edge threw a curveball for him to fumble. Like the past few nights, going from sleeping in his bed to putting it to a better use. He hadn’t really been expecting it considering that Edge hadn’t made a move on him since he’d learned about the baby. Thinking back on Edge walking in on him three fingers deep was a little embarrassing now, but hey, it got results.

Now Rus only wished he knew what it all meant.

“curveball, yeah,” Rus sighed. He slipped a hand under his sweatshirt and the cold bones of his hand against the firm swell of encasing magic made him waffle between flinching away and leaning into the soothing cool of it. The baby stirred under his touch, shifting inside him in that weird, alien way it had. “see? you know what i mean.”

Rus had been perfectly happy with his life before they got the machine working. Okay, maybe happy was an exaggeration but the point still stood. He’d been getting by, content to spend his days sleeping at sentry stations and his nights behind Muffet’s bar, finding ways to feel alive stay awake. It was fine, Blue never said a word about it except to scold him a little on mornings he stayed out too late, because his bro was awesome that way.

Then he met Edge and his whole daily schedule was fucked along with him.

“completely fucked up,” Rus sighed, then he winced, rubbing a thumb along the stretching pseudo-skin where the itch sometimes threatened to drive him crazy. “don’t make that your first word, okay, papa edge would never let me live it down.”

He hadn’t even liked Edge when he first met him. The way he dared to show off as a smug, self-righteous prick when he was touting around that much LV. Took a little while for Rus to pull his head out of his pelvic cavity enough to recognize that maybe someone from murder world might need that kind of control over themselves, because fuck knew there wasn’t much else he could control.

“he tries, though,” Rus murmured. A flutter of movement under his hand and Rus nodded firmly. “that’s right, your papa tries so damned hard.”

Once he got that figured out, didn’t take too long for Rus to decide that maybe a little narcissism was okay, especially when it let you sleep with your smokin’ hot alternate for another world. That Edge went along with it was the real surprise; Rus liked to think he was pretty irresistible when he actually kicked on the charm, but he hadn’t actually expected it to work. That first time, Edge’s hands were shaking when he cupped Rus’s face, leaning in for a kiss—

Rus shifted, a different sort of heat warming his pelvis. Yeah, time to think about something else, damn, why did being pregnant go hand and crotch with being horny all the damn time?

But whatever, he’d been okay with doing things the way Edge wanted it. Casual. Occasional. Rus didn’t really do relationships either, thanks. The couple times one of his part-timers put in an offer for a full-time position, Rus knocked them off his list.

Until Edge.

They’d never even talked about what they were.

“not even sure there are words, kid,” Rus sighed and the baby kicked in commiseration. “friends with benefits? only, i’m not sure we even got the friends part.”

It was something, though. Once they got going, Rus found that nights in the alley behind Muffet’s with bricks rough against his back while someone fucked him against the wall wasn’t appealing anymore and neither was getting the knees of his pants soaked with snowmelt while he moaned around someone’s cock.

What he got from Edge was a lot less often, but Rus wanted it, so much more.

“quality over quantity, kid, make a note,” Rus murmured. The lighter clacked shut in agreement.

He wondered if Edge knew. They’d never talked about it and it was pretty obvious Rus wasn’t sleeping around now. Even if anyone out there found his shift from stick figure to pumpkin appealing, the state of their new nightly entertainment was proof of that much.

But then, Edge also never questioned that the baby was theirs.

“wasn’t supposed to go this way.” The words sounded too loud in the stillness but they were true. A few random nights were supposed to be all Edge had to offer. That was fine, wasn’t like Rus was some kind of hot catch either.

Until the skitten showed up and knocked them off the rails.

“not that it’s your fault,” Rus told his belly reassuringly. “you didn’t ask for us to drag you into this.” It was always the innocents who got screwed up by other people’s bullshit, wasn’t it. Screwed up, fucked over, left behind, left alone. “not you, though, kid. i’m gonna take care of you. we will. we’re gonna be good. i promise.”

He could taste salt-sweet tears at the back of his throat, stupid fucking pregnancy maudlin shit. Rus reached back with a clenched fist, pounding it against the door, “knock, knock!”

He almost fell off the fucking step when deep voice replied, muffled through the door, “Who’s there?”

Rus closed his sockets, exhaling shakily. His voice sounded normal enough, pitched to be heard through the door, “otto.”

“Otto who?”

“otto tell you i didn’t mean to be away so long.”

They both laughed and if Rus was a little too loud, giddy with relief, his pal through the door said nothing.

They’d spent plenty of afternoons like this, calling jokes back and forth to each other until Rus was practically rolling in the snow, the miasma of apathy that always seemed to hang threateningly over him blown away.

Rus sighed, his breath clouding the air. Today wasn’t gonna be one of those days, but he felt like he’d owed his friend this much. For a promise he wasn’t gonna be able to keep.

“listen. i’m sorry it’s been a while since i was able to visit,” Rus told him. Even through the door he could hear his companion shifting his weight as he sat and he wondered, not for the first time, exactly what sort of Monster was hiding in those ruins. “but this isn’t a return to the status quo. i wanted to give you a heads up i might not be able to make it back for a while.”

“Is something wrong?” Concerned, yeah, that much Rus expected. His pal always struck him as being someone’s dad. Maybe someone who used to be someone’s dad; there was an undercurrent of sadness in his deep voice that no amount of puns could chase away.

“depends on your definition of wrong,” Rus admitted. “i’m...uh...well, i kinda traded knock knocks for knocked up.”

“You’re pregnant?”

Rus grinned and said teasingly, “you sound surprised.” Fuck that, he sounded shocked, and Rus was kinda curious to hear why.

His buddy didn’t let him down. “I am. I knew all skeleton monsters can carry, but, and please accept my apologies for assuming, you didn’t speak of anyone in your life except your brother.”

That seemed like a great question to avoid, but luckily, he had another good one to latch onto. “how did you know i’m a skeleton monster?”

“Your accent. Skeletons have a certain hollow ring in their voices, I’m assuming because it echoes within your skulls.”

Rus sat up straight, turning to stare at the door behind him. An accent, really? Fuck, he’d never noticed it, maybe cause he was used to the sound? “you serious?”

“Of course not.” Rus huffed out a laugh, settling back down as his pal went on, “It’s the puns you make. A skele-ton of them. Even then, I wasn’t certain, but you seem to have confirmed it. How far along are you?”

It was the sort of question he’d been avoiding with anyone in town, but out here with a door between them, it was easier somehow to say. “soul descended a couple weeks ago and by the way, that sucked, no one told me it was gonna suck, i’m gonna write my own damn pregnancy book when this is over and the first chapter is gonna describe all the ways it sucks.”

From the other side of the door came a sound of pure commiseration. “Ah, but it’ll be worth it in the end, when you’re holding your child in your arms.” A pause, then hesitantly, “Are you keeping the child?”

“hell yeah, i am,” Rus grumbled. “i’m not digging through all this cereal not to have a prize at the end.”

“Yes, of course. Of course you are.” There was something odd in his pal’s voice but before Rus could ask, his tone changed entirely. “You should head home. There’s a storm coming.”

Rus frowned, glancing upward. The air in between the ground and the cave ceiling was as clear as Snowdin ever got. “you sure?”

“No jokes this time, I’m afraid. I can feel it.”

Snowstorms in the underground were caused by magic, not any sort of weather pattern. That his pal could feel that incoming surge of power was another clue about them, but now wasn’t the time for games. Bad storms were rare, but they could be dangerous as hell. Rus pushed up awkwardly to his feet, struggling to get properly upright. “i’ll try to stop by after the kid is born, yeah?”

He never could’ve guessed his pal’s reply, “I think it would be best if you didn’t. Take care, my friend. Goodbye.”

“wait, what? hang on!” He could hear movement behind the door, the sound of a heavy bulk moving, standing, walking away. He pounded on the door until his fist ached. “come on!

There was no reply, but Rus didn’t really expect one. He scrubbed a hand over his face, impatiently brushing away the dampness that was starting to leak from his sockets. Fuck it, the snow was starting to fall, he didn’t have time to be crybabying. Rus turned on his heel and started back towards Snowdin, let his long legs eat up the distance.

It was no use. By the time he was past the bridge, the snowfall was constant. It was already getting hard to see, there was no way he was gonna make it back to town, not when he couldn’t see his own hand in front of his face.

What he could see was his sentry station looming up ahead and Rus managed to wade to it through the rising snowdrifts. It wasn’t much, but it was partially enclosed, he wouldn’t be getting buried at least.

The chair inside was a spindly piece of junk and Rus wasn’t about to trust it with his new weight. He went all the way to the back of the shelter, sitting down in a corner that was least touched by the blowing wind. He tucked his hands into his pockets, tugged up the hood of his sweatshirt. A quick check on his phone told Rus what he already knew; the storm was cutting off his signal, he wouldn’t be sending messages anytime soon and he hadn’t told anyone where he was going because he wanted some time on his own.

Well, he was sure as fuck getting his wish now, wasn’t he.

He wasn’t actually too worried; the sentry post made for a pretty crap shelter, but he had some food in his inventory, his craving for spider donuts was endless. The storm would probably blow over by morning and then he could head for home.

No, what worried him was Blue and Edge not knowing where he was. The last thing he wanted was the two of them out in the storm looking for him. Wasn’t much he could do other than fret about it and Rus was sure he’d be doing that plenty.

A couple hours later Rus wasn’t so confident. The wind was howling ferociously, whipping through the little sentry post and carrying with it painful specks of sleety snow. Rus gave up on his pockets and pulled his arms into his sweatshirt, wrapping them around his belly to offer whatever meager warmth he could. It was so cold, so much worse than he’d been expecting. This storm was a much worse tantrum than Snowdin usually offered, no gentle snowfall here, but howling wind pounding against his little shelter.

Rus still had his lighter, a heavy weight in his hoodie pocket, but the only thing around to burn was the sentry post. Probably be a poor life choice to burn down the roof over his head.

No, over their head. The baby was wriggling vigorously; their souls were still attuned, and they were picking up on his distress.

“shhh, it’s okay, kiddo,” Rus mumbled through numbed teeth. “it’ll be fine. we’ll be okay.”

He suddenly remembered Red’s rough voice telling him that his soul would let go of the souling before letting his HP drop to zero. It hadn’t been the comfort Red seemed to think it would be, Rus didn’t want either of them to…to let go. He curled up tighter, murmuring soft reassurances to his baby, who surely couldn’t hear a word.

He was too cold, teeth chattering, his shivering constant; he needed to do something.

The chair.

Rus staggered to his feet and picked it up with numb hands, smashing it down on the floor. It splintered apart instantly, fragments scattering. Rus gathered them up awkwardly, kicking them into a pile. There wasn’t much in the station, not even his usual scattering of honey bottles. Blue must’ve cleaned up one day. In his inventory, all he were the spider donuts, each wrapped in their own square of wax paper.

He crumpled those up to use as a sort of kindling, tucking the paper balls around the splintered wood. For a minute, the lighter refused to work, the blowing wind and his frozen hands working against him.

“come on, you motherfucker,” Rus muttered. He held it in both hands, thumbed down on the rasp as hard as he could and a wavering flame leapt up.

The paper caught easily, Rus shielding the flame as best he could with his body until the broken bits of the chair began to smolder. The warmth was pathetic, wavering outward and Rus hunched desperately over it. His hands were so cold the pain was starting to fade, but he couldn’t worry about that. He curled as close to the fire as he could, trying as much as possible to direct that heat to his belly.

“sorry, kid,” Rus mumbled. He was so cold. “i always was a fuck up, don’t know why i thought this time’d be different.” He tipped his skull back so the tears he could feel forming didn’t slide down to freeze on his face, instead tasting them on the back of his tongue, nauseatingly sweet.

At first, he thought the sound was only the wind, howling in the distance. Slowly, Rus started to realize it wasn’t from the storm but from something getting closer, something living.

Something living that whipped open the little door on the side of the sentry station, letting in a painful spray of snow and cold but also a huge body, ducking and turning sideways to even get inside.

“greater bun?” Rus croaked out. He wasn’t entirely convinced he wasn’t imagining this, his mind painting him a rescue that wouldn’t be coming.

Greater Bun wasn’t real chatty on a good day. He grunted once, happily, his large pink nose wriggling as he scooped Rus into hefty arms, carrying him outside into the storm. Where a sled was waiting, Bunamy at the lead with Lesser Bun and Bunaressa harnessed behind him.

Greater Bun settled him into the sled into a nest of blankets before abandoning his armor, diving into the sled to lay against Rus. He burbled out an encouraging whine and Rus gratefully buried both hands into that heavy, silky fur, nearly crying at the aching warmth.

A screech from Bunamy cut through the howling winds and they were off.

The ride back to Snowdin wasn’t as fast as a shortcut but it felt pretty damn close. Long Bun legs leapt easily through the snowfall, the sled careening after it. Rus drew a blanket over his face to protect it from the slashing wind, clinging fiercely to Greater Bun. He didn’t protest the grip, snuggling in close and setting his head on Rus’s knee. The warmth was lulling and Rus didn’t even notice falling asleep, only jolting awake as the sled came to a stop.

He looked up blearily, taking in the blinking Gyftmas lights from his own front porch through the heavily falling snow and…oh. His brother was standing with an expression of such concern Rus would only swallow against his guilt. Next to him was Edge and the fury in his expression made Rus cringe. He didn’t have a single fucking excuse, he’d risked their kid with his own stupidity, not even bothering to leave damned note to say where he was going when a dozen or more careless post-its surrounded a sock in his own living room.

“i’m sorry,” Rus began, miserably, already knowing Edge wasn’t going to forgive him. Why the fuck should he. Rus deserved that anger, deserved whatever choice words Edge used to rip him open, idiot, fucking idiot, and—

Being scooped out of the sled, blankets and all, into Edge’s arms where he was held with fierce tenderness was probably not anything he deserved, but fuck if Rus wasn’t gonna take it. He wrapped both arms around Edge’s neck and held on tight, ignored the warm tears he could feel seeping down his cold face. Fuck, why was crying all he could do right lately?

“Never worry me like that again!” Edge growled against the side of his skull, but it wasn’t anger Rus heard. It was a plea, desperate and thickly said.

“i’ll try,” Rus whispered. The world whirled around, Edge carrying him towards the house. A crowd was gathering, voices from Snowdin, congratulating the Buns on a rescue well done, wondering curiously and a little too loud about the skeleton carrying Rus away.

Welp. Wasn’t much question of who the baby daddy was anymore. He really did hope Blue won the betting pool.

The second they were in the house, Edge peeled the snow-crusted blankets away, kneeling to help Rus off with his boots. Rus tried to help and wobbled unsteadily almost doing a somersault right over Edge’s head. Edge braced him even as Rus caught his uncertain balance. The baby squirmed, a weird rolling movement that made Rus wince, “don’t worry, the baby is fine.”

“Are you fine?” Edge countered, glaring up at him.

That made him blink. “um. yeah? i really wasn’t out there too long, probably get to keep all my toes.”

He waggled them in Edge’s grip, wincing as Edge rubbed them firmly, checking each one for feeling. “That’s not funny.”

“sorry,” Rus said, softly and Edge paused, his head dropping briefly. He looked back up at Rus, the crimson of his eye lights softened.

“No, don’t apologize. I don’t mean to yell,” Edge said heavily. “It wasn’t your fault. Blue said the storm came on unexpectedly and you couldn’t know how long the walk would be. You’re too accustomed shortcutting everywhere, your perception on distances is probably skewed.”

“must be.” Rus agreed. Edge was so agitated, he probably would have agreed to anything. His hands moving over Rus restlessly, checking toes and fingers for frostbite, brushing over the slight ridge of his nasal canal, the delicate rims of his sockets.

“You seem fine,” Edge murmured distractedly. His fingertips were sharp, his touch careful as it drifted along Rus’s cheekbone.

Rus swallowed hard and managed, “i must remind you of red, huh?”

That snapped Edge out of it. He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“cause i passed mustard.”

Yeah, that was the face of someone who was regretting a lot of life choices.

Except, maybe not, because he was cupping Rus's face in both his gorgeously warm hands, leaning in to brush their mouths together. Edge always smelled faintly spicy, the kind that made Rus think not of tacos, but gingerbread cookies, fresh from the oven. That kiss moved to brush across his forehead instead, affectionately, testing his temperature as much as—

(affection? does he get to call it that?)

— as anything.

Then Edge sighed and drew away. “Sit down, get wrapped up,” he ordered. “There’s soup heating on the stove and I’ll get you some tea."

Never let it be said Rus couldn’t follow orders after he nearly died out in a snowstorm. He settled on the sofa, dragged the pile of blankets over him and it was only when he was tucking them in that he realized Edge hadn’t even touched the little rounded pot of his belly. All that concern had been directed at him.

Huh.

The door opening and his brother coming in blew that thought away as Rus was absurdly caught in a different storm, this one of his brother scolding him vigorously, “What were you thinking, Pappy, why did you want to go out to that nasty Sentry station anyway, what would you have done if you saw a Human!”

He let Blue ramble on. His bro didn’t even pause when Rus snagged him by the scarf and reeled him in, tucking his warm little body next to him like his own bony hot water bottle.

Edge came out with soup and tea, and they all sat together as Blue turned on the television, bundled in blankets, and it was like…like…

Like family.

But the thought of family made Rus wonder where Red was. He should be here too, there was plenty of room on the sofa. His memory of the souling descending was vague and clouded with pain, but there was something there, something Red told him, what was it?

Eh, he was too tired to figure it out today. But he stuck a note on his mental fridge, that he was gonna need to corner Red. Just as soon as he figured out the questions.

tbc

[aspoonofsugar]

By any chance have you seen RWBY Volume 7? What are your thoughts?

Hello! Sorry for the long wait!

I have watched it and I will gladly share my thoughts!

However, I would like to make clear that I am more a casual viewer than a hardcore fan, so I have surely missed many details.

Personally, I have really enjoyed volume 7 and it is one of my favourite volumes so far. I have especially liked it because of two characters I ended up loving for completely opposite reasons. These characters are Ironwood and Penny.

I love Ironwood because he is a character who passes the majority of the season walking in perfect equilibrium between being a possible ally and a possible antagonist. At one point he seems to grow in the right direction, but immediately later he regresses and ends the season as a full fledged villain.

All in all, Ironwood keeps exhibiting a contradictive behaviour throughout all the volume. He wants to tell the world the truth and has informed a small group of people he claims to trust. This seems to be almost in opposition with Ozpin who has kept even his most trusted comrades in the shadows about important truths. However, Ironwood’s ambition to tell the world is in conflict with him being too scared to share the information with people he has to work together with. This is a contradiction with which Ironwood will fight for the whole season and against which he will eventually lose.

Ironwood, just like Lionheart before him, loses to fear. However, he does so in a completely different way than the late headmaster. Lionheart was so scared to die that he betrayed Ozpin and allied himself with Salem. Ironwood does not want to switch sides and he wants to stop Salem like everyone else. However, his wish to do so makes him obsessive and paranoic. In short, Lionheart did not fight his fear, while Ironwood fights it too much and would want for it to disappear. The point, however, is that fear will never completely disappear and human beings must learn to live with it. This is why symbolically Salem can’t be killed. It is because fear can’t be conquered with simple might and prowess. However, this is what Ironwood is trying to do. He refuses to admit that he is scared and keeps trying to suppress his fear and to make it vanish by gaining more and more control and this of course backfires spectacularly until in the end Ironwood completely loses control.

He loses the leader of the Ace Op who died because of a fight which was avoidable. He loses the support of people like RWBY, JNR and Oscar who were genuinelly trying to help him. He loses the alliance with Robin and the rest of Atlas and finally he loses both Penny and the Winter Maiden. At the end of the volume Atlas is divided with two groups fighting each other while they should overcome their respective differences and work together. Ironwood’s paranoia, inability to face fear and to trust others are the reasons of this. It is probable that he will become more and more isolated and will be left behind by more of his own comrades in the next volume.

All in all, he is a very tragic character and it is very sad to see him spiral out of control especially after he has shown the potential for growth when he accepted to tell Robin and Atlas. That moment led to several conflicts being solved and made so that two of Salem’s most trusted agents could be neutralized. The moment Ironwood really starts facing his insecurities and fear and opens up to others he is rewarded, but his fear blinds him and does not let him realize the positivity of the results obtained. A leader should be able to make of the people around him a strength, but Ironwood does the opposite and ends up seeing others as his weakness.

Penny has gone through an almost completely different journey. Penny’s problem is that because of her nature she has been objectified by others since she was born. She has been created with a specific objective in mind aka the idea of building a protector. Penny has been destined to fight and to become Mantle and Atlas agent since before she was born and we have seen how she has been struggling with this and with her lack of freedom since the beginning. Before being accidentally killed by Pyrrha Penny states her plan of running away and during this volume she shows how much she wishes for normal human relationships. In her words she would like to find a way to do both what she wants and what she must.

Throughout the series Penny is constantly referred to as either a weapon or a monster and she ends up a victim to others’ schemes multiple times. Emerald has her killed during the tournament to spread anger and panic. Tyrian basically uses the same trick, but this time Penny is in the role of the perpetrator. At the same time, her boss clearly does not see her as a person and states that Penny is under “his complete control”.

This behaviour is interesting as well and once again shows Ironwood’s contradictive nature and his inability to truly understand the ideals he believes in. As a matter of fact Pietro explains that he created Penny because he wanted a protector with a soul. He even stated that his research was different from the others and that he was surprised it was the one which caught Ironwood’s eye. We do not know why Ironwood preferred Pietro’s ideas over the others, but what we are sure of is that by the time of the volume he has completely lost sight of what he could have potentially seen in that research. As a matter of fact he is suffocating Penny’s soul which is instead trying to emerge. Penny’s ideas and her feelings become more and more apparent throughout the season until they affirm themselves in the finale. Penny does not want to repress her feelings like Ironwood, the Ace Ops and Winter. She wants to affirm them and to fight for them. In the end it is her good heart and her iron body which lead her to the Winter Maiden. She manages to reach her and to receive her powers both because of her human soul and because of her robot body. Because of this, her becoming the Winter Maiden is an affirmation of her personhood and identity. Her new role is also a way to reconcile what she must do with what she wants to do as well.

All in all the volume shows how difficult it is to trust people and how trust is something which needs to be built and maintained. It also shows the futility of trying to repress one’s feelings.

This is especially shown in the fight between the Ace Ops and RWBY. As a matter of fact the Ops are clearly slowed down by her feelings both positive and negative towards RWBY. It’s clear, thus, that throughout the season the two groups have grown fond of each other and the sudden antagonism between their members leads to different kinds of feelings in the Ops.

Elm and Harriet reacts with anger and a sense of betrayal, while Marrow shows indecisiveness and a lack of resolutions. All these emotions clearly disturb the Ops’ performance.

To be more specific Elm’s anger disturbs her teamwork with Vine. As a matter of fact she lashes out at him and projects on him her sense of frustration. This is in contrast with Blake and Yang’s teamwork. This specific confrontation shows how much Yang and Blake’s relationship and closeness has grown throughout the season and how much they complement each other even more than the Vine and the Elm of the fable.

Harriet’s anger and hotheadness leads her to relentlessly attack even when she can’t move her arms and in the end she loses because of her own speed just like the hare of her fable.

Finally, the way Marrow loses is similar to what happens to the protagonist of The Dog and its Reflection. As a matter of fact  the dog of the fable is running away with meat in its mouth, but at one point it sees its own reflection in the water. The dog thinks that the meat in the mouth of its reflection is bigger than its and opens the mout to take it, but lets go of its trophy in the process and loses it. Marrow ends up doing something similar since he uses his semblance against Weiss, but has to let go of her in order to use it again against her Knight. All in all, the motif of reflections in Marrow’s fable is interesting when combined with Weiss’s own motifs since her character song is called Mirror Mirror.

All in all, it is as if the confrontation underlines how Weiss and the Knight are nothing, but two different aspects of the same person, two manifestations of who Weiss is. Marrow can’t properly face both as he can’t face his own contradictions and indeciveness, while Weiss is making progress in accepting who she is, her own different sides and in reconciling them. This is why she was not fazed when she was stopped by Marrow and could easily keep on fighting with her Knight. Marrow can’t face his own reflection, while Weiss is becoming more and more able to face hers.

All in all the Ace Ops insist on keeping one’s own feelings in check, but this makes them vulnerable when their feelings become explosive because they are not able to properly control them and to channell them.

Adding to what I have said about Weiss I think that in the next volume she should have a more prominent role since this is her country and where her family is. I was also surprised at how easily Weiss’s father was taken care of. All in all Weiss had already grown strong enough to win against him, so I am wondering if the real struggle for her will be about bringing her whole family back together. As for now her family is a mess with her mother being passive, her brother probably acting as a jerk to attract Weiss’s attention and Winter working with Weiss’s enemy. Weiss’s development as for now has been about growing distant from his father’s mentality and influence, so it is possible that what is being asked of her now is to bring the rest of her family back together, so that it can be rebuilt.

These are my major thoughts as for now. Other than these I liked Oscar’s development, Robin and I keep loving Neo and hoping for her to be given more depth. I am also curious to see if something interesting will develop with Mercury and Emerald, but they were not present in this volume.

Thank you for the ask!