#like they’re so much to them hunting this thing

[kaihuntrr]

part twenty-seven: rematch.

The final stretch on the way home. The game of hide and seek begins once more….

The sea was dangerous.

It was no place for a human.

Of course it was dangerous! 

Lizzie felt a sickening twist in her stomach as Martyn brought her below deck and into the private quarters she and Joel shared.

That thing, that beast.

That was a sea prince?

That was the same monster that stared at her all those years ago. The same rattling trill, the same red fins and long tail. Even the human features, which she had thought she was just making up to deal with all that tragedy- it was real.

How was it real?

Lizzie felt the world around her spin as she sat on the bed, Martyn was moving his mouth but she couldn’t hear anything that escaped his lips. All she could hear was the roars of those monsters, the screams of the innocent, the jaws of the demon snapping as screams and lives were cut short.

Those were sea princes. 

The monsters that had haunted her since she was a child- those fairytales she’d learned as a kid and thought nothing of- something she’d thought she’d never encounter, she’d met two of them when she was a child.

“Lizzie, Lizzie–!” Martyn called out, putting his somewhat dry hands on Lizzie’s damp coat. She was sitting in the chair by the desk, dripping puddles on the wood. She could hear her heartbeat bursting out of her chest as she looked Martyn in the eye. “Hey,” he said so much gentler, shifting on his knees to lean closer, “you’re alright, we’re still alive–”

But how long were they going to stay alive for?

“They’re going to torment us,” Lizzie tried to control her breathing, inching closer to Martyn as he gripped her upper arms and squeezed. Her hands shook. “They’re going to play with us then eat us alive, Martyn.”

Haunting screams. The sound of wood and metal twisting and bending all around her as Lizzie struggled to survive. She could remember being drenched in rainwater and holding on to a door floating on merciless waves. 

Lizzie squeezed some of the rain out of her coat. She didn’t like to get drenched. Her hands shook.

“The one that held our ship earlier didn’t do that.” Martyn mumbled, breaking eye contact to look away from Lizzie.

Was he serious?!

“That’s because it’s waiting for a better moment to strike!” Lizzie cried. She motioned outside the window as the ship plowed forwards. Distant rumblings from across the waves sent shivers up her spine. “That thing saw me and my parents on the ship. It stared at us, left, and everyone died after!”

Martyn put a hand on top of Lizzie’s. “But you’re alive, Lizzie! Please, take a breath–”

“Only because I was too young and tiny for them to notice me!” Lizzie snatched her hand away from Martyn. The knot of emotion in her stomach softened as he bit his lip. Lizzie forced herself to let out a breath. No. She couldn’t lose her temper. Martyn was her friend, he was probably just trying to rationalize things with her, trying to calm her down. Lizzie held her hand against her chest, looking at the floor. “I was small then…. Not anymore.”

“We’ll make it out of here alive, I promise,” Martyn had a hopeful smile on his face. He scratched the back of his head, “Things are just very–”

Lizzie froze as she heard the sound of bellowing thunder. Her blood ran cold as she dug her fingers into the meat of her thighs. The ship shook like her hands were shaking as she tried to keep herself together. Lizzie swore the glass in the window was trembling too, threatening to crack if the beast swam too close and so much as growled.

No no no no no no. 

It was too similar. Things were too similar. 

The storm, the loud crashing of waves, even the damned sea princes were the exact same as the ones from ten years ago. Why were they coming after her now? Were they hunting for her? Would the Canaries– no, any human be able to take these monsters down?!

“Gods,” Lizzie looked down, lowering her head and covering her ears. “Both of them are here.”

Martyn blinked. “Both?”

Lizzie had all these thoughts, all these memories buried so deep within her head, and it had only taken the glare of the sea prince to make her crack and fold. Like a fallen ink bottle, dark thoughts and repressed memories spilled out of the depths of her mind, all black and splotchy, leaving stains for another to clean up. The words fell out of her mouth.

“Wh– when all of that happened, i– it wasn’t just one beast,” Lizzie stuttered, finding difficulty in breathing. Martyn gripped Lizzie’s hand and tightened it. “There were two.”

Martyn was silent. The silence was swallowed by the wail of wind, the crashing of waves, distant animal rumbles. Lizzie tried not to think about that last sound. She worried that she would pass out the moment she did and those thoughts overwhelmed her.

Lizzie could remember the details of the two demons.

“One of them was Blue, the one we saw with the red fins and blue hair,” Lizzie shuddered. The one that had stared at her back then. The one that had stared at her friends just now. Its vacant, dreadful eyes that pierced into a person’s soul, mixed with its ungodly huge teeth were horrifying to think about. “Then, Red….” A giant wave crashed against the ship, causing Lizzie to gasp audibly and shake her head. 

Red was the one chasing them. Armored. Big. The one that spoke all those years ago.

The one that swallowed the sailors.

“Red’s going to eat us.”

Lizzie stared at her clenched, shaking hands gripping her skirt so tight that she’d wrung out all the water. Her hands had gone numb. Lizzie breathed, mentally counting down from ten in an attempt to keep herself stable.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Ten… nine… eight….

But how could she possibly stay calm with all of this?!

Martyn gently grasped Lizzie’s hand. “We won’t let that happen, I promise.” His voice was calm, or at least as calm as he could make it sound. This was life or death for all of them. No one could be so calm during a time like this. “We’ll escape Red. We won’t let it eat any of us.”

An uneasy silence washed over them. Lizzie glanced at the window, seeing nothing but violent rain and choppy waves as a distant sound of booming made its way towards the ship.

It was only a matter of time until Red caught up.

Martyn leaned closer to her, keeping his voice soothing and low. “Do you think you’ll be able to leave the room?”

“No,” Lizzie shook her head. She already felt the fingers of death closing around her throat the moment she saw Blue’s eyes, but Red? Lizzie didn’t want to see what that monster looked like at all. As far as she remembered, Red would have flaming eyes and a huge mouth for all of its victims, crunching their bones until they– Lizzie was adamant to stay in her cabin. She didn’t want to see her death coming. “I don’t think I can–”

BOOM.

Martyn stood up, his legs shaking as he made his way towards the door. He looked resolved, determined, and a bit on edge. “Joel and the others need me, so I don’t think I can stay down here–”

“Wait!” 

She couldn’t be alone again. She had to have people with her. This nightmare was happening all over again. Her mind ached and body trembled, but her heart urged her to go back. To be with her friends. To be with her love. She couldn’t be alone. Not now. 

“I’ll–... I’ll go with you.”

Time slowed in the moment, Lizzie’s gaze faltering between the bed -she so desperately wanted to crawl under the covers- and Martyn as he relaxed his stance and just looked at her, without judgment. All the chaos of the tides around them deafened. Lizzie didn’t know whether to stand up and walk out with Martyn, or to stay and hide- under the covers of the bed… like a child. Lizzie knew she couldn’t call anyone down, but the thought of being alone froze her to her very core. She couldn’t be alone. 

She didn’t want to float around in debris in icy dark water, desperately clinging on to a piece of garbage, praying that her life was far from over. She had a future now, a life she wanted to live. She refused to float alone in the icy water again.

Maybe she had pushed her luck too far when she agreed to join the Canaries all those years ago. But she wouldn’t be left behind this time.

“Are you sure?” 

Now was the only time for Lizzie to say no. 

She reached her trembling hand out as she took a stumbling half-step forward, staring hard at Martyn’s hand as it rose in an offering gesture. Martyn was her friend, a childhood buddy, and an amazing hunter. With her friends and allies, they could make it out of this place alive–

The boat rocked abruptly, nearly throwing her into Martyn. Martyn hesitantly looked out towards the hall, eyebrows creased and biting his lip. Lizzie couldn’t leave Martyn idle for too long.

Lizzie took Martyn’s hand.

“I’m sure.”

Lizzie felt a little better as Martyn gave her a reassuring smile.

She could hear the storm much better now, out in the hall, and could hear the muffled shouting voices above on the top deck. It sounded frantic up there– disorganized and chaotic, which was understandable, given the situation.

Martyn walked Lizzie up the stairs, pulling her close as she stared at her boots.

“Don’t hesitate to call for help if you need it,” Martyn paused as they were close to reaching the upper deck. Multiple sets of boots rumbled overhead as Grian shouted commands with Joel’s louder bark following, the rest of the hunters shifting and shouting reports. It felt overwhelming, much more than before. “Take deep breaths.”

Lizzie nodded, watching Martyn ascend the stairs, still holding her hand, making it easier for her to follow.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Ten… nine… eight….

Lizzie walked up the stairs and looked around her, absorbing the chaos as she tried to reorient herself. The winds pushed against her, a strong gust propelling the ship forward. Grian’s eyes were wide as he saw the two hunters and ran over. “Martyn! Lizzie!” he addressed the two as he walked forward, nodding at both before looking at Lizzie. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll try to be,” Lizzie forced a grin. “How is the escape attempt?”

“Doing well, I think,” Grian looked over his shoulder, “The beast hasn’t found us yet–”

Just as he said that, one of the towering rocks to their side toppled down, cracking and breaking and pushing the surrounding stones as it crumbled to the sea. Hundreds, no– thousands of rock chunks crashed around them. The ship swerved around the falling debris as best it could, each crash in the water tossed the ship from left to right as it tried to stabilize itself.

Lightning struck as mist formed around the stone forest, revealing the shadow of the sea prince following them.

The beast had two demonic horns that grew out of its head, multiple fins on the sides of its head, and a slithering tangled mane of hair that went below its shoulders. Its humanoid torso leaned over one of the tall rocks, large claws clasping the sides of the stone it perched on, as its thick lobster tail smashed the pillars of stone behind it. Lightning crashed once more upon the rocky waters, the sea prince moving closer with booming thuds as its golden eyes pierced out of the darkness.

The mere shadow of the beast was enough to chill Lizzie to her very core. The sea prince growled, rumbling like an echoing thunder as Lizzie swore she could hear it chuckle under its breath.

“Treasure Hoarder….” Lizzie could hear Martyn mumble, staring up at the great beast as it cocked its head and stared after the ship.

Treasure Hoarder… Lizzie was sure she heard that name before, from one of the old sea prince stories. Treasure Hoarder was one of the ‘crowned’ sea princes, the one that guards treasure. Red… Red was Treasure Hoarder? It made sense for it to have all those flecks of gold in that case.

But if Treasure Hoarder was here, did that mean the treasure–

“Well, it found us now!” Grian shouted.

THA-THUMP.

Lizzie looked above, seeing Joel grit his teeth as he swerved around a crumbling rock spire. He was focused, doing his best to steer clear of the falling rocks as the sea prince above laughed, guttural bellows and roars filled the air as rain continued to pour.

“Keep slipping through the rocks!”

THA-THUMP.

Tha-thump.

Another heartbeat.

“What do you think I’m doing?!”

THA-THUMP.

Tha-thump.

“Watch out!”

THA-THUMP.

Tha-thump.

Was that its heartbeat… echoing? Lizzie could be mistaking the rhythmic thumps with some kind of thunder, but her hands shook at another possibility.

What if there was another sea prince?

Blue had swam away, and Treasure Hoarder’s heartbeat was loud, but it wasn’t the faint one Lizzie was hearing. Either Blue had come back to finish them off, or there was a third sea prince lurking around somewhere they couldn’t see.

Whoever had told Martyn and Grian there was only one sea prince to be worried about was dead wrong. This island’s bay was full of them.

“Lizzie, you should go back downstairs–”

“No,” Lizzie stood her ground, trying to build her confidence as her world continued to shake, both physically and mentally. “If– If this ship is going down, I’ll go down fighting with it.”

Lizzie ran to the railing, trying to get a closer look at the sea prince despite her head and heart both screaming at her to turn away, to hide. She needed a closer look, even if her legs trembled with every step, even if her heart beat out of her chest and her head ached with pain.

The rocks rumbled above them as Treasure Hoarder moved, Lizzie could see the glints of gold lining its tail through the mist, all adorning a massive black shape that crawled along the rocks. The only times Lizzie could see it clearly were the moments when lightning struck, otherwise it was just a massive blob of shadow and movement on top of the rocks.

She thought it was strange- Treasure Hoarder didn’t take a step near the water.

It was climbing the rock spires and pushing them over, but it wasn’t moving through the water. She remembered that it could swim.

Lizzie looked around, watching as Treasure Hoarder pushed the rocks against each other, making them topple over, letting sudden streams of water rush in as the area around them got bigger and wider–

Treasure Hoarder wasn’t just trying to crush the hunters, but to get down into the rock forest too! It was too big to fit between the rocks!

Lizzie’s mind raced a mile per minute, trying to think of something while rain poured down from above them. She stared outward, towards the rocks, her mind blurry as her vision as thoughts began to overwhelm and overpower her. What if no one had a solution? What if this was all for nothing? All Lizzie wanted to do was curl up and hide–

Wait. Hide!

Lizzie ran up to Joel, almost slipping off her feet as she gripped his shoulders tightly. Joel's eyes widened as Lizzie looked at him with frantic eyes. “Find a place to hide under the rocks! One of the ones that’s part way fallen down. We might lose it!”

The gears in Joel’s brain turned, looking around. “Sounds like a plan!” he smiled. It was a gamble, but anything was on the table at this point. 

Lightning struck overhead, once more revealing the monster’s imposing silhouette and glowing golden eyes before it disappeared into the mist once more. Lizzie could hear the distant rhythmic thumping from earlier, but it was less of a priority in her mind as Treasure Hoarder growled above them.

Joel’s eyes flickered over the rock forest then lit up as he jerked the ship to the starboard side. Lizzie moved to grip the railings. The ship pierced through the fog, navigating through the stones until the ship barely slipped through the cracks of two rocks that had fallen on top of the other. It provided just enough of a gap to get the ship inside.

The rain pouring over the rocks like a waterfall became a curtain for the ship to hide behind, and to douse the ship from bow to stern. It wasn’t like everyone wasn’t drenched already, but it felt colder than ever before. The winds howled as the mist began to part, thunder reverberated through the heavy skies, and the waves tossed and turned in the ocean.

Yet in this moment, things felt calm. 

The ship was rocked by the waves, winds still pushed through the sails, but it wasn’t a rampant chase anymore and the ship’s hull was sturdy enough to take the bumps against the rocks shielding them.

Lizzie held her breath.

CRASH.

The sea prince leapt down from the rocks. It let out a hiss as its lobster tail slapped the water, sending out large waves upon impact, air filling its lungs as it reoriented itself. Lizzie could see its blurry form as it rose up, its shape framed by all the rocks around. The rock forest was too shallow for Treasure Hoarder to fully submerge itself, so it towered out of the water, its head on a swivel as it looked for them. 

Lizzie couldn’t understand how a beast that gigantic could even exist. All of its features were monstrous, but it looked human.

Treasure Hoarder looked around at all of the debris, all of the fallen and shattered rocks as it growled, pushing itself forward with its legs stabbing into the water as it raised its head to the sky and–

“COME OUT, LITTLE ONES!”

That voice…! 

It was a decade since Lizzie had last heard it, but she had heard it. That same voice. That same crackle through the air. Its tone was lighter than in her memory, its voice dripping with manic glee, but no less overpowering. It was the same thundering bellow, but this time it sounded…

Hungry.

Treasure Hoarder lowered its head, moving slowly as it breathed. Each time it moved there was a resounding thud, rock spires shaking as its hands and tail hit the rocks beneath the water, making the ocean shake. With each thud, the force only grew stronger, louder, as it slowly approached the crevice.

Lizzie couldn’t move. 

She could only bite her lip and shut her eyes as the powerful force stalked ever so close to their hiding spot. Would it notice them? Notice her? 

The air around them grew colder. The wind was bone chilling, but then it was suddenly warmer. Warm, rhythmic, rumbling winds echoed all around Lizzie as her skin paled in response. Her mouth opened, but she dared not to scream at that moment.

The sea prince’s mouth was right outside.

Its mouth extended wider than a humans’ ever could, lips opening almost to the hinge of its jaw, exposing the inner muscles of the mouth, along with its colossal, ship destroying teeth. Its breath smelled of fish and blood, trails of saliva glistened as a shock of lightning cracked overhead. 

The beast let out a low trill, a deep pitch as it rattled the hiding spot, and it inhaled, likely smelling for the hunters as it sneered.

“HUNTERS DON’T BELONG HERE.”

The exact same words.

Lizzie’s heart beat a mile per minute. She shook her head, shakily stepping back and nearly tripping over nothing. No no no no no. Not again. Not this again. She couldn’t bear to hear anymore. The next thing she knew that happened after the beast spoke was, was–

A distant shriek caused Treasure Hoarder to flinch, the beast suddenly froze in place.

The waves grew more chaotic as the fins on the sides of its head flicked back and forth, almost rattling the ship into view.

Then it moved its head back and rose from the water.

THUD.

Treasure Hoarder’s hand slammed on top of the crevice as it bellowed a deafening, thundering roar. Its guttural shouts were enough to cause the entrance of the ship’s hiding place to collapse as it swiftly moved away from the hunters, slamming its tail down, creating a wave that pushed the hunters out to the other side.

The loud thuds of the beast’s steps quickly distanced itself from the Canaries, fading away as Lizzie winced when she could hear Treasure Hoarder diving back into deeper water.

No one spoke afterward, probably too afraid to do so.

…But they were safe, weren’t they?

The ship quickly jerked forward as wind caught its sails now that they were free of the rock pillars, propelling the ship forward, but this time, they weren’t greeted by a raging storm.

Simply soft rain.

It was still cold, horribly so with everyone being so drenched, but the tides were slower, lapping against the ship instead of crashing against it, and the breeze felt a bit more bearable. 

What surprised Lizzie the most was–

“The sun!” Tubbo called out, smiling and pointing dead ahead. “I see the sun!”

Past the dark clouds, the stormy howls of the sea, and the last of the pointed spikes, was a sunrise. The sun’s golden light bleeding on the shimmering blue seas, the sky hues of red and orange as the ship sailed close.

But all hope faded as something rose from the water: a giant arm covered in black scales, sharp fin on its elbow, and clawed fingers. A massive dark shape trailed after it, under the water, like the arm had risen from a puddle of spilled ink.

That must’ve been the third sea prince. The sea prince Lizzie had neglected to warn anyone about. How did it get this close to them, without making so much as a sound?

She should’ve spoken up.

The clawed arm of the sea prince curled its fingers and aimed to strike, to rip their ship down beneath the waves, but–

The arm swiped at the ship, slashing the stern of the boat, but then the arm, and the sea prince, sank back under the water and swam away without another word. Without another sound.

Lizzie stared after the sea prince, seeing a tall black dorsal fin rise and sink into the water as she took in a steadying breath. She had lived, her friends had lived, and they were all going home relatively unscatched. Unharmed. They could finally go home.

Yet, as the breeze of the dawning morning fluttered through the ship and caressed Lizzie’s cold skin, she could only clench her hand against her chest. She could feel Joel’s arms wrap around her, trying to soothe her with words of comfort and gentle kisses, but she could only focus on the passing tides and distant rumbles of thunder. They had survived, for now, but how long could they last when it finally came down to capturing a sea prince?

[lucky-clover-gazette]

okay i have THOUGHTS about this line

he didn’t have to say that to make his plan work. i mean yeah, being nice to the player definitely earns their favor and future assistance, but he could have just as easily gone the route of gaslighting them into feeling bad and like they caused the problem, eliciting a more shame-based and desperate and less uplifting and righteous kind of reliance. like if volo really hated the player, and was truly cruel, that’s what he would have done. the player would have still gotten the chain and felt indebted to him for the plate hunt, but they also would be miserable and feel lonely and hurt and confused. but volo doesn’t do that, he grounds the player and validates their feelings, which were hurt by the cruel townspeople more than the event volo caused to prompt that cruelty. like truly, it’s only volo’s fault that the player gets banished through the most like simple calculated logic—yes, if he hadn’t caused the rift, they wouldn’t have been banished, or brought here at all. but kamado CHOSE to banish them based on his own paranoia and disdain for outsiders, and the others enabled it by choice. volo didn’t make that happen, just how he didn’t make or even want arceus to get the player involved in the first place.

i don’t think volo hates the player, personally, at all. or at least, i think that he hates them and cares for them just as much as he hates and cares for himself. i know this isn’t groundbreaking volo theorizing material, but he’s absolutely projecting his disdain for society based on his vague past experiences here. he dislikes the outsider because his plan demands it, but he dislikes everyone else because he personally thinks they’re terrible. it’s kinda neat how he “fake” compliments the player’s loyalty to him as a merchant so often, bc i think loyalty is something he actually takes very seriously. and he probably saw how loyal the player was to the galaxy team, and then the way they kicked them out, and was genuinely pissed and hurt on the player’s behalf.

the things he says at the end of the game are said in extreme distress and defeat, and while they are not NOT reflective of his character and motives, i’m shocked by how many pokemon fans regard volo like he’s a nihilistic and amoral sociopath. passion and compassion are behind nearly everything volo does, for better or for worse. they’re behind moments like this, and moments like his ranting at spear pillar. he is a person who constantly grapples to align his personal moral code and lofty ideals, which live in this weird space between the manmade and divine, with the flawed reality of existence. his entire mentality is full of contradictions, because he is a man who thinks he should be god, but in reality could never be a good god, because he is still very much a man. it’s the emotion, idealism, and intellectual curiosity of humanity that drive him, not the impartiality, absolutism, and complacency of an omnipotent all-knowing deity.

so like, with this line. he specifically mentions that the galaxy team has treated the player poorly. not that the galaxy team’s choice was illogical, not that the player just needs to try harder to get them to accept him. he is emphatically rejecting the premise that the player did anything to deserve blame, even though he has no intention to actually explain why this really happened or volunteer himself to take the blame. because ultimately, volo is not the person to blame for the galaxy team’s cruelty, and he knows it. and he also knows that it’s the cruelty that has hurt the player, more than the sky problem itself, because he has been treated like an outsider too. and he can’t DO anything about that. even if he told the truth, the damage has already been done. the player knows how their supposed allies would react in this situation, regardless of the logic or truth. and volo can’t fix that. he does not believe he can make people kinder or the world a better place, which is exactly why he wants so badly to remake it. for himself, bc clearly he’s been through some shit too, for people like the outsider, and for anyone else whose loyalty and dedication have been met with rejection and apathy. which is so deeply tragic and ironic, because by being the only person to care for the player in this moment, he is making the world a better place for them.

volo is, at his core, a hypocrite. he’s like if you put the ingredients for a hero into a blender, but accidentally used the “tragic hypocrite” setting so he came out a janky villain instead. to volo, concepts like loyalty and self-righteousness are driving forces, much moreso than simple black and white morality or consequentialism. this makes him a hypocrite because he believes a perfect world is possible as long as his moral code is strictly followed, and his evil plan is to prove it. but in his efforts to do so, he proves over and over again that a perfect world isn’t possible, and certainly would not be possible under his control.

like, okay—if someone suggested that the means of pain and suffering in the world justified the ends (the world), volo would disagree and claim that arceus is responsible for the pain and suffering, and therefore does not deserve the power to create/rule worlds. but then, following that very same logic, if volo needed to get a random person banished and betrayed in order to create his better world, then those means wouldn’t justify his ends either. which is WHY we see him subconsciously draw a line here, between the things he’s not responsible for (other people being cruel, arceus transporting the player) and the things he is directly responsible for (the way he treats the player in these circumstances, either with derision or support). and wouldn’t you know, in this instance where it truly is up to him what the means are to his ends, he chooses kindness where he could have been cruel. because while arceus sending the hero and the town banishing them weren’t really Volo’s means to Volo’s ends, this conversation sure as hell could be. And he doesn’t want his better world built on a foundation of suffering and pain.

by saying this one line and treating the player as he does here, i think volo accidentally exposes something deeply true and good about himself. this man could say “i’m a villain and i don’t care about the player” and fully believe it, but at the same time demonstrably possess the morals and compassion of a hero, which he uses to actively care for the player. he is a delusional hypocrite, but he’s definitely not heartless. and i just think that’s neat.

alternatively, volo is completely heartless, knows that people are endeared to people who want to protect them, and methodically uses that knowledge here for his convenience. that very well could have been the intention, and it makes sense too—but i personally enjoy entertaining the notion of depth where i see potential for it. so yeah.

[l0stfoster]

I wanna know more about the harpies they interest me so deeply ‼️

HARPIES TALK TIME!! They're some of my favorites to think about. I'm gonna re-post the little bits of info about them from the original post ab Cursed here, just so this can be like a little collective master list of Harpy info :D INFO BELOW THE CUT BECAUSE I'VE LEARNED MY LESSON!!! If I add more info about harpies I'll likely edit this post

- All the greaser Harpies look out for one another. It doesn't matter if they're not from the same gang, or if their gangs have tension; you look out for one another. They may necessarily not be each other's flock, but it’s natural for them to stick together. - They flock together as much as they do because a harpy escaped Tulsa once, completely disappeared, and it set all the east side harpies into a panic. They can't leave Tulsa, so it's better to always have a connection to ensure you won't HAVE to leave. - The harpies love to play fight. They will absolutely beat the shit out of each other and then grab lunch as if nothing happened. All of the harpies have bird habits too. Most of them sleep on their stomach because catching your feathers underneath yourself when sitting up hurts. - Gifting culture and flock marking with feathers is a huge thing for them all. Almost all harpies have feathers from other harpies, though the symbolism with those isn't for flock marking and stands more as a general display of loyalty. - All harpies have an inherent aversion/fear of cats since felines are a pretty big predator to birds. Even harpies of birds of prey or the birds you'd traditionally see that go for cats have that built-in instinct to avoid. (Little fun fact, they're not fans of Umbra, and Paul abuses that. He has let Umbra gnaw on Tim's feathers before out of spite) - Not a single harpy can see glass, they're all victims to the DX windows. - Pretty much all of them can enter torpor willingly as well. Some do it more often than others, it's a preference thing. - Most of the harpies can't fly well in rain, it's just difficult in most weather conditions that aren't clear skies. However, bad weather doesn't stop them from trying; it just means there's an increase in broken bones and hurt birds for a day. - All of them can chirp, coo, whistle, copy voices, etc. Certain harpies are better at it, as the kind of bird they are makes it either easier or harder. The Shepards are a good example, being black vultures and all. Vultures don't have voice boxes and usually make low growling sounds instead of other noises. But since the shepherds are harpies and not full birds, they can make normal bird chitters and such but it’s raspy because they’re not really supposed to be able to make those noises. - They're very territorial by nature. - They generally don't eat bird meat for cultural reasons, but every now and then the birds of prey and scavengers do. It's sort of in their nature to be uneasy about it, though, and they're not fond of watching people eat bird meat either. - They all have hollow bones, so they're pretty damn light. - A lot of them affection bite. - One baby harpy gets adopted by pretty much any harpy in the proximity. Two's sister was a victim of every Harpy taking the chance to fly with her, preen her, etc. It's like that motherly thing where moms will whip around if they hear any child yell "mama", only it's that the harpies will be up and arms the second a baby harpy makes a sound. - On that note, though, the babies get bulled (lightly) for their goofy-looking wings. Mostly the ones who look like blended cotton balls as babies. Some baby birds are REALLY ugly. - They have a really good sense of smell and even better eyesight. I would not want one of them hunting me down. - Their talons are hella sharp and their nails usually get sharp as fuck too.

[sepetajmikolikomehoces]

Bojure snuggles. They’re so cute together, don’t you think? Did you have any thoughts about that tonight?

Oh, I had thoughts. So many thoughts. 630 words worth of thoughts, in fact.

He knows his reputation. Muca. Cat man. Sunshine. Jure is even man enough to admit he quite enjoys them, even plays up on his monikers on more than one occasion. Always a smile, always lands on his feet. Well, mostly. There was that incident in Dublin. And the hunting tower. And the time with the–

He knows. The others know. They know him well enough now to keep the metaphorical door open, because just like cats, Jure will choose his moments of intimacy. He’s just as likely to – quite literally – hang off any of them, as he is to withdraw, to be happy and content in his little bubble. 

It’s a balance, and his scales seem to always be a grain away from tipping this way or that. Jure doesn’t mind, not usually. Not so long as the step from one to the other is easy. A hug, a touch. Spending precious freetime in his garden, phone turned off. They are gradual, he can always feel the shift, can prepare, can plan.

It’s worse when the pendulum swings too far, too fast. Jure loves what he does, would not choose anything else in the world, no one else to share it with. And it’s fine when it’s euphoria, when it’s love like light and energy in his veins and Jure flies high and thinks maybe this is the time he can stay. 

(or at least not crash)

It’s fine. Until it isn’t. Until he is horizontal on stage, tired to the bone. Until he needs a week away from everything. Until he needs closeness like he’ll perish without it but can’t find the right words to ask for it.

“Stay.”

Bojan’s hand on his shoulder is gentle, sending shudders through his body. Everything is happening so much, so quickly, and it’s exciting. New single, new tour, hype and excitement. And Jure is so, so, so tired. The idea of driving home has been haunting him for the past hour as they wrapped up another long day, but home is home.

Quiet.

His own bed.

Too quiet.

Alone.

“Kris has a family thing tomorrow, he’ll stay at home,” Bojan continues, voice gentle and even. “Come over. You can– Don’t feel like you need to drive back home tonight. It was a long day for all of us.”

Jure hesitates, pauses in his efforts to tidy up something that has been in order for a while already.

“I don’t…”

“Please. Please, stay.”

Maybe he and Bojan are the same in a way, Jure thinks as he nods, finally looking up to meet Bojan’s gaze. Fine until they aren’t. How many times have they not ended up seeking each other out for comfort, equally tactile when their moments align? 

So, he goes. Follows Bojan home, follows Bojan’s lead, follows follows follows until within the safety of four walls two arms open and take him. Jure could melt when fingers gingerly thread through his hair, fingertips digging into his lower back and his spine seemingly unlocking vertebrae by vertebrae. His nose pressed against the crook of Bojan’s neck, the warmth and scent there familiar and comforting. From far away, words filter through, slowly unfolding meaning and intent, lining themselves up to lead him home like lanterns in the night.

Easy.

Easy.

Easy.

Like the nap shared on the pullout sofa bed.

Like Bojan clinging to him in tears after Martin’s last gig with them.

Like too many nights in Hamburg, in London, on the bus; wordlessly seeking comfort, always finding arms that will open.

Like now. The steady thump of Bojan's heart, fingertips drawing meaningless shapes from the nape of his neck down his spine and back up. It’s closeness like he needs it. Jure sighs, long and slow, and drifts off to sleep.

[leafatlaw]

Wow so the new mythic quest epsiode was really, jo and brad hate who they are and are stuck in jobs they hate, and they’re cold ruthless killers, but they won’t kill a pregnant rat, instead they just give it to David.  and then poppy makes fun of Ian once and they seem so fragile after sarian. It’s like Ian’s only thing is his creativity and he puts his entire being into that, and he values the control so much. But poppy relies on him so much and she’s not the best at people and her coding is so important to her. And these people care so much but they can’t agree on anything else. And Ian really did try his best for poppy but it wasn’t enough. Not when poppy has always been there for him. But he CANT do the same.

[thestobingirlie]

i love the scene where steve hits billy with his car for a lot of reasons, but one of it is for the monster hunting trio of it all.

so, jonathan’s in the car, trying to get away, nancy’s standing guard, shooting at billy, and steve is the one that swoops in at the last second, sacrificing himself for them (obviously he didn’t die, but could’ve so it still counts)

anyway! first of all, you get the parallels to season 1, with jonathan repeatedly dragging the both of them away from the demogorgon and to safety, nancy shooting the demogorgon to try to save them, and steve running in, to dive in front of the demogorgon.

just, like, at their core, these characters aren’t totally different. they’re changed by what they’ve witnessed, but their instincts are still the same, even nearly two years later, they’re still trying to save each other.

just, in both seasons, they’re protecting, but in different ways. jonathan is trying to save them by getting away, nancy is trying to save them by killing the thing that’s threatening them, and steve is trying to save them by diving in front of them all, and doing whatever he can to protect them.

[hsslilly-blog]

shirt with a heart and child of divorce written on top but then there’s a picture of huntclaire. you wouldnt get it. i do

[konshokoentaiko]

i always thought i was a very typical enemies to lovers girlie but i think i just realized my actual taste in ships is the dynamic where the two are supposedly equal rivals/enemies who represent diametrically opposed themes (for the Aesthetic), but in actuality it’s just one of them yanking the other around on a chain while the other whines and rages and protests and ultimately makes an absolute spectacle of themselves

so uhhh. how did THAT happen and when and why

[pynkhues]

https://x.com/pixielayer/status/1818003659675869381

since you're in your smut writing renaissance era... i'll just leave it here and hope it sparks the creative juice flow *wink-wonk*

(ok that sounded weird. i'm out)

Lmaooo, anon!! LOOK, I will keep it in mind.

[quietwingsinthesky]

if i ever have to play beyond two souls again im going to kill someone someone’s life ends with me

[sosaysdean]

How was the episode?

hiii. I actually really liked this one

[harpysongs]

Literally shoutout to every paleokin who’s type hasn’t been discovered yet, who’s type only has scattered incomplete fossils, who’s type is constantly being re-evaluated, who’s type can’t get enough funding for research.

[teabookgremlin]

i’ve started thinking of my shifts as did i win or did [company name redacted] win and today. today [company name redacted] won

[mangostar]

went back to the rampage i was stuck on in mhr and made it online and the 3 other ppl carried me so hard im so thankful

[temporarytemporal]

cling to me

I know I said I was going to distance myself from this piece of media because of all of its terrible connections, but these two characters seem to have taken root in a permanent place in my heart, and I can't let them go.

Anyway, here's some character design notes below the cut for the one person out there who's obsessed with these characters as much as me.

Early DSMP: the era of childhood innocence

Bandanas: They sport each other’s bandana’s (they’re hidden in the design for every era). I love character designs with complementary colors (and I love how red and green are also cranboo’s colors)

Disks: Early on, cat and mellohi represent the peaceful moments ctommy shared with his favorite people, but they went on to be a symbol of victory and independence from the people who have hurt him.

Flowers: Ctubbo collects flowers and tries to memorize the meanings and symbolism tied to each type of flower. He also collects them for his bees.

L’manberg: the era where children became soldiers

Horns: Ctubbo’s horns start to grow in here.

Pogtopia: the era of an exile and a secretary of state / spy

You can tell I joined the fandom at the end of this era because I don’t have many notes here or for the l’manberg era.

Exile: the era of an exile once again and and a president too young

Hair: Ctommy’s hair starts to grow longer as he neglects taking care of himself.

Clothes: Ctommy’s clothes are tattered; one shoe is destroyed and he took to wearing cw-lbur’s (f-ck ccw-lbur btw!!) trench coat.

Bandages: Ctubbo’s wrapped in bandages from his recently earned firework burns. He’s gone blind in his right eye, and he’s missing the ring and pinkie finger on his right hand.

Compasses: They share their matching ‘your tommy’ and ‘your tubbo’ compasses

Hog Hunt: the era where one sought to kill the blood god while the other sought refuge there

Stolen goods: Ctommy’s has his antarctic empire outfit plus all the goods he stole from ctechno like the turtle helmet, golden apples, and the axe of peace.

Bedrock: Ctommy wears his counterpart piece matching techno’s from his ear.

Prosthetic: Ctommy’s right foot had to be amputated after he loses it to frostbite in the trek to cemeraldduo’s cabin. Ctechno gives him a simple prosthetic.

Disc Finale: the era of mended relationships and a final stand

Headband: Ctommy begins to wear a devil headband to fit in more, as he’s one of the few humans on the server. The devil horns were chosen to resemble ceryn’s real ones.

Patchwork: Ctommy learns to sew, and he fixes his tattered clothes from exile.

Post Revival:

Devil horns: Ctommy’s devil horns (plus a tail) become real after revival, and he gets a white streak in his hair.

Prime cross: The bad things that have happened to them both that they survived strengthen ctommy’s faith in prime, whereas they weaken ctubbo’s faith.

Sweater: Ctommy makes himself a sweater from friend’s wool.

Mechanical inventions: Ctubbo pursues his passion for engineering more as he makes mechanical bee drones and studies nuclear physics. He also makes himself prosthetic fingers, and he upgrades ctommy’s prosthetic foot.

Marriage ring: Ctubbo marries cranboo platonically and wears the ring on his horn. He also founds snowchester so he can have a place to protect his loved ones and raise his son. He grows out his hair to avoid eye contact for cranboo and to cover his scars.

Body type: Ctubbo gets chubbier and gains some muscle as he gets a bit happier in life.

Post DSMP:

The prison break and everything after it never happened. These are my OCs, and I make the rules because every actor/writer who played a part in their creation either abandoned them or turned out to be a terrible person. Cbenchtrio live happily ever after and begin their journey of healing while cdream rots in prison forever.

[raeathnos]

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