#maybe what makes one of those two finally learn to use a real weapon...

[oonalovesastarionssimpleplan]

Astarion – and the image we expect to see when we think of a victim.

No, this isn’t meant to be a plea for you to stop hating Astarion.

This isn’t a "But look what he had to go through! Go give him the world”.

This is meant to show how different victims of violence can be – and how arbitrary it often is when we choose to feel compassion, and when we don’t.

Let’s take the same trauma, the same environment – but two different personalities experiencing it.

there will be two different pictures of a person

Victims are different. Just as different as all of us are.

Astarion’s life changed in an instant. One moment, he was a magistrate walking home. The next, he was a vampire locked in a cell. Hunger. Violence. Prostitution.

Constant surveillance, judgment, punishment. Torture. Rape. Watching others suffer the same.

Love and compassion – forbidden. No one to help. No way out.

Two hundred years.

If you try to imagine that, try to picture yourself in that situation – it’s unimaginable.

And injustice like that exists in the real world too. Children. Women. Men.

So why do some people feel no sympathy for Astarion?

Because he’s mean – and that means he deserves it

Because he doesn’t act like a victim?

– not like the victim we imagine in our heads.

And this happens in real life too.

⚠️ Trigger warning: SA and child abduction

Those who know the case of Natascha Kampusch – a girl abducted and kept in a man’s basement for eight years, who escaped – may also know that she was demonized in the Press.

And why? Because just days after her escape, she gave an interview – and she didn’t cry.

She didn’t look broken, fragile, or psychologically shattered. On the contrary: she sat upright, calm.

This isn't how we imagine a victim. In our minds, the conclusion could be, 'they couldn't have found it that bad.' maybe it is a bad person themself

But here’s what we need to understand:

People react differently to trauma and danger. Fight or flight. That’s instinct.

We develop different coping mechanisms – also instinctively. In moments of extreme stress, our subconscious kicks in to protect us.

Sometimes it makes us feel nothing. Sometimes it makes us even laugh.

It tell us, it's not that bad. We adapt, try to align ourselves with the abuser to survive.

This even happens in hostage situations (Stockholm Syndrome).

Astarion survived 200 years of unspeakable evil.

His coping mechanisms are incredibly strong.

But our idea of a “real” victim is someone who cries, rocks back and forth, and needs comforting.

Real victims, however, often had to learn to be so strong that no one – no one – sees how vulnerable they really are.

Which only means they endured far more than any human mind should ever have to.

And i think we don’t have to see him as a victim. Or what a victim should be Like.

We can see him as a fighter – one who finally, after all this time, is allowed to lay down his weapons.

[suzukiblu]

Thank-you sentences for derpsheep behind the cut; “a fake cryptid and a real romantic”. (( chrono || non-chrono ))

Tim had originally wondered if Superman was something along the lines of Metropolis’s version of the Batman before finding out that Clark Kent existed and that Superman’s voice did not actually sound like an entire star cycle happening all at once. He’d heard about Krypton long before that, of course, but hadn’t been sure that wasn’t just what humans heard instead of the actual truth. 

It’s not like the Batman actually looks like the Batman, after all. 

Well, except for when he does, obviously. But, like–that aside. 

Tim still hadn’t been entirely sure what to think when he’d found out Superman was actually just a totally normal alien who’d just decided he really liked this one specific human city, just one that was primed for the local environment to the point that if there were literally any other Kryptonians around they’d probably count as an invasive species. Like, probably the planet should be a lot more worried to have found out that Superboy’s genetically stable than anyone actually seems to be? Because Superboy being genetically stable at least implies the possibility of human/Kryptonian crossbreeding, right? And also implies that Superman now very definitely knows that there’s at least a possibility of human/Kryptonian crossbreeding. 

And if there’s any chance that half-human DNA might absorb yellow sunlight better than pure Kryptonian does, given humans evolved under a yellow sun to begin with . . . 

Well, that’s . . . definitely a thought, yeah. 

Possibly Tim should give those files of Superboy’s that he . . . creatively sourced from Cadmus another go-over or two. And maybe go looking in its systems again to see if he missed any classified ones or if there was anything that might’ve been misfiled anywhere in there. Just, like . . . for everyone’s sake. 

He definitely did not forget the whole “lab-grown weapon built like a brick house who is technically capable of disassembling him down to his individual atoms with one little tap and about two seconds' worth of thought” thing. Not even slightly did he forget that thing. 

Unfortunately Tim apparently finds that thing attractive, so that’s something he knows about himself now. 

Well, just file it in with “the idea of being stalked by said lab-grown weapon makes Tim feel admired and interesting” and “the percentage of his very brief lifetime that said lab-grown weapon must’ve spent learning how to form and cut a perfect diamond is mortifying Tim into several different awakenings”, he guesses. 

And like . . . probably something about the whole thing with Superboy finding out that Robin was sort of a freak and just immediately deciding to match said freak. Probably also that. 

Anyway. Off-topic, definitely. Superman definitely isn’t dropping Superboy off for the date-night patrol that the Batman is currently trying to crash, but even if he did, at least he wouldn’t show up sounding like an entire star cycle about it. Which . . . 

Tim does think that he’s heard a voice that sounds like that star cycle somewhere in the reflected daylight, just . . . once or twice, maybe. Come to think of it and all. 

( doesn’t Robin know it yet, it wonders?

it’s not as if a Robin’s never heard one of them before, after all. )

Just–sometimes. Sometimes he thinks that. 

Though it never quite fits, either, and he always seems to . . . 

Wait. Off-topic, right? They’re off-topic. 

. . . what was he thinking about again? 

“Just–we’re going to go nest, okay?” Tim finally tries, though it’s probably the most mortifying thing he’s ever had to say to the Batman. Like, even more mortifying than trying to explain Steph was. Still, it’s the same theory as using Robin’s body language to get his point across, right? Or at least basically the same theory, anyway. “Like. Superboy and I. Collectively. Together. We’re going to go . . . nest. Together.” 

The Batman . . . pauses. Tilts its head a little too far for a human to manage, and also a little too far for anything existing in just three dimensions to manage. Tim’s sinuses throb briefly and he smells fresh blood and burnt gunpowder for a flashed moment in the dark. And . . . popcorn, weirdly. 

He’s never been able to figure out the popcorn. 

kitten, the Batman says musingly. Tim represses a sigh. Body language, he reminds himself. Just–body language. Yeah. 

“Yeah,” he says. “My, uh–kitten and I are gonna go nest.” 

Tim will never, ever live down this conversation. Ever. Even if the Batman never mentions a thing about it again and no one else ever hears a word of it, he will never live it down.

[chanakano]

The beginning of the ANBU days

Aracha Nakao, part 3

There was a stealth-specialized ANBU team named Team Kōmori. They were used in missions where they couldn't be seen at all, where there was too much at stake for someone to be accidentally detected, and where they would need to vanish like ghosts.

They were professional and terrifying.

But one day, they just disappeared. No one knew what happened to them. The council of Konoha decided not to make any effort to find them...because the mission they were on wouldn't put Konoha in a good light.

They abandoned them. And they needed someone to fill the hole.

And Nakano was the perfect fit for the role.

She was 12 years old when she joined the ANBU Black Ops.

She had a different chakra than everyone else...the chakra of the God Hamura.

This made her undetectable to enemies. No one could feel her, detect her, or even know she was there.

That's why she was meant to be a stealth specialist.

Yoshiaki sensei prepared her for the service in the ANBU. She had learned how to fight with weapons like a sword and tantos. Her sensei taught her how to make poison, and she also got a toxin-coated blowpipe.

She learned how to be an assassin.

After she joined the Black Ops, her Sensei, the only adult who cared about her and raised her, left the village. It was overwhelming. And what troubled her the most? He didn't tell her the reason why he left.

She felt like she meant nothing to him. She was probably just a mission —a long, and draining one.

Was she even worth something?

At least being in the ANBU could distract her from her thoughts.

She underwent a one-year probation before being sent on a real mission.

This year, she was always assigned with other ninjas. It was pretty boring because they never let her do anything. She was underestimated for her young age.

Nevertheless, Nakano wasn't someone who cared about others' opinions.

After 4 months, she finally got a more interesting task to do. Accompany the newbie Hatake Kakashi.

The Fourth Hokage, who had been Kakashi's sensei, asked her to keep an eye on him. Minato knew they were familiar, but he didn’t know that Kakashi wasn’t exactly Nakano’s favorite person.

Although after what happened to him...Nakano was sure he had changed. And she decided to approach him differently.

Oh, and she was so right. That boy became a cold-blooded killer.

Nakano didn't even understand anything like...why would they put a poor, traumatized guy in the ANBU? Who thought this would be a good idea?

Reporting this to his sensei wasn't the best thing to do at all. But in the end, her reports changed Minato's mind. He decided to put him to guard her pregnant wife.

And life went on. Her ANBU life became boring again.

Nakano, Gai, and Kakashi were walking down the streets when Kurama was summoned.

They couldn't do anything.

And that was the worst.

Minato and her wife, Kushina, lost their lives, along with many other shinobi.

Kakashi had just lost the last member of his team. Poor soul.

Those were Nakano's thoughts as she walked up to his house.

She wanted to know how he was doing.

And... there was another reason.

She’d heard rumors - rumors about him joining the Root.

And she was curious how his first day had gone.

After two minutes of hesitation, she finally knocked on the door.

No answer.

Maybe he didn’t hear it?

She opened the door herself and stepped inside.

He was standing at the sink, washing his hands. He looked... troubled.

He hadn’t noticed her—but she was used to that.

“Kakashi?” she called softly.

He instantly recognized her voice, but turned his head toward the sound, ensuring he wasn’t imagining things.

“Nakano? What are you doing here?” he asked, frustrated.

“Checking on you, damn. How are you doing?”

She paused. The words didn’t come easily.

“My sincere condolences, Kakashi.”

“I’m alright. Thanks,” he said flatly.

A thick silence settled between them.

Nakano stepped further inside.

She sighed. “Aside from the modesty... I heard you joined the Root. Is that true?”

“Yes. I did.”

“And how was your first day? I’d assume not great, judging by those eyebags.”

“I honestly don’t know what to think,” Kakashi murmured. “I’m more confused than ever.”

“Why? What happened?”

He paused.

“Can I trust you?”

Nakano raised an eyebrow. “What do you think I’m gonna say—no? Everyone would say yes to that question. This doesn’t make sense at all.”

She crossed her arms. “But yes. You can.”

Kakashi looked kind of annoyed, but he needed someone to help him find answers.

"There was a boy using Wood Style." he stated, troubled

"What? Wood Style...like the First Hokage?" Nakano snapped

"Exactly. Like the first Hokage. I just don't understand... wasn't Hashirama-sama the only man to maintain wood style in the entire history?"

"Well, he...was?"

"I don't understa-"

"Listen here.” Nakano interrupted “Do you know where we'll get answers?”

"From where?"

"From the Hokage's library."

"Yes, I thought about that too. Would you help me?" he asked

Nakano scoffed, "Of course I would."

Neither of them could believe what they were about to do.

..But they snuck in nevertheless. Nakano stayed at the end of the corridor, while Kakashi went to the library and started to look for any useful information.

"The works of the first Hokage...yes, found it. Hashirama Senju, the leader of the Senju Clan of the Forest, brought peace and stability to this bloody, war-torn world. He and he alone mastered the Wood Style Ninjutsu..” Kakashi mumbled to himself

"He and he alone mastered the Wood Style Ninjutsu.

No, there's more. How is he able to use Wood Style?"

Then, he found a document containing top-secret information. He finally had hope.

But when he opened it, there was nothing in it.

"Where are the contents?"

"Is this what you are looking for?" —a familiar voice interrupted, handing papers towards Kakashi

"P-professor!" -Kakashi shouted. He bowed low before the Third as fast as possible.

"It's alright. I give you permission. Read it."

"Yes, sir!"

"I've heard the footsteps of two people, but you're the only one here. I can't feel any other chakra. That means...did your Aracha friend accompany you?

At the exact moment, Nakano appeared at the door of the library. She bowed down and said "My apologies, Hokage-sama. I was supposed to alert Kakashi if you're coming but when I noticed you were gone, it was too late. How did you even do this, my Lord?

"You'll find out if you practice keeping your focus more. You're one of the biggest hopes of the ANBU, Nakano. Don't let the village down.

"I-I'm trying Lord Hiruzen. —She lowered her head.

The papers were about Hashirama's usage of the Wood Style, to suppress the Nine Tails.

But there was a time when the village started researching and tried to revive the First's Wood Style Jutsu. They failed miserably.

But recently, many have gone missing. Even newborn infants have been kidnapped.

"Someone is continuing the experiments and trying to implant the cells of Lord Hashirama." Hiruzen stated

"Even if they're rumours, why would anyone..?" Kakashi asked

“There are those who want to obtain every jutsu that exists. Even I have wondered sometimes, if there were only someone who knows the Wood Style..had that been the case, the Fourth Hokage need not have sacrificed his life.”

Kakashi gasped. Danzo blamed Minato’s death on the Third’s weakness. But if there’s a boy using Wood Style, he could’ve helped suppress the Nine Tails! Just like Hashirama-sama did.

When they got back, of course they started to think about any possibility there was.

They wanted to set a trap for the Wood Style user: it was said that Lord Third and five ANBU would depart for the Feudal Lord’s prefecture.

They were sure that at least someone would try to attack the Hokage. And were they right?

Of course they were.

They didn’t even have to wait a mile, because a “mysterious” ANBU force attacked them from nowhere. The Wood Style user was the one to kill the Hokage. Or, at least would’ve been if it wasn’t a substitution jutsu by Kakashi.

He defeated the boy, but let him run away.

Nakano and Kakashi agreed that he should report this to the Hokage.

He probably did, although they didn’t meet after this for weeks.

Nakano was glad that he could help Kakashi. He needed some support after all. She was sure that they’ll meet again and…they did. But that’s a story for another day.

[bigkurosmash]

Fuck it, I'mma revive this blog with more than just art 'cause I saw The Dare (2019) and I need to ramble somewhere.

The Dare is not at all the type of movie I expected it to be. I went in thinking it would follow the usual slasher formula only to see it absolutely wasn't. There were familiar slasher elements, but the story had twists I don't typically see in slasher movies and I loved it.

From the environmental story telling to the set details and how the main antagonist's story unfolds between present actions and flashbacks intermingled was a delight for me. I love a good backstory and The Dare told a wonderfully bitter one. The Dare also did something so many other slasher films just never do- It humanized the antagonist and made him so real instead of hollow or so othered they're no longer 'human'.

Dominic is so complex with his conflict and, in various twisted ways, he is merciful.

vv Spoilers under cut as I go deeper vv

Dominic was not running on pure revenge if context clues are to be followed. Dominic was taught 'letting the evil out' was a good thing, a mercy, something that needed to be done. Did he feel good hurting those that hurt him? I wouldn't doubt it, but there was more to it. He was upset when Paul didn't survive and so broken when he admitted that he failed to 'let the evil out' of the last 3.

That shows there was definitely more there than just seeking revenge, at least in my opinion it does. How he instead begged for Jay to kill him even though he held all the power in that situation and could so easily kill Jay but chose not to. Dominic is well aware his upbringing has made it impossible for him to live a normal life and he laments this, wishing deeply to have it but knowing his best option [at least to him] is to be killed- put out of his misery; a mercy.

But Jay refused to kill him, meaning Dominic would have to continue living in his solitude surrounded by the memories of the horrors he went through as a child. That right there is why I assume he attacked Jay and threatens Jay's family in the hopes that would be what gets Jay to kill him. If Jay won't kill him when he begs, maybe he will to save his own family. Dominic is smart and he knows how to find what makes people tick; how else could he have such control over several people enough to put weapons in their hands and be so comfortable doing so.

Growing up in two different abusive homes, Dominic likely had no choice but to learn how to read people, figure out where the line was drawn and how to choose his words carefully to avoid abuse as much as possible. Begging, pleading, using placating words even if he didn't mean it. Which means he also knows how it feels to be the smaller/weaker person and what makes them bend when he's on the other side of it.

He's also smart and resourceful enough to track down 4 random people he only knew for 2 days 20 years later all without any of them knowing. He got his hands on 20+ year old photographs, their names, their addresses, tailed them long enough to know where they would be and when so that he could snatch them. Again, all without any of them knowing. This makes Dominic even scarier than just 'ooo big bad' and I personally love the unknown and psychological element mixed in here. Personally, I would've loved if they showed more of that as well.

Dominic is a wonderfully interesting character and The Dare shows that in so many different ways from backstory to body language. The acting is also incredible in how you can feel the victims' fear, Dominic's included, and how you can literally see the moment Jay realizes whatever plans he had were crushed the moment he finally saw Dominic coming through that doorway. 🤌

Also yeah, huge scary masked beefcake who could break you in half but also can cry is hot.

[heniareth]

An OC Kiss week gift for the amazing @icy-warden featuring Vergil Surana and Ilanlas Mahariel. Enjoy, my friend ^^

🍁❄🍁❄🍁❄

Ilanlas eyes Vergil as he steps into the circle Sigrun has marked into the ground with the bottom of her axe. His weapons are at the ready, and there is a focused, calculating look on his face. Ilanlas hides a small smile and begins to step around him, assessing the angle at which he stands and the way he holds his weapons. The earth is solid under their feet, hard, but good. Less chance of slipping. Around them, their audience gathers with palpable and audible anticipation.

“All bets are closed and final,” Nathaniel calls out. “May the best fighter win.”

“Put those pointy knives to use!” Oghren hollers.

Ilanlas rolls his eyes but doesn’t deign to give him an answer. Instead, he checks his weapons: the spell Anders has laid on them to dull the blades and prevent harm holds. It’s nicer than using training weapons. The weight of those is just different enough. Idly, a corner of his mind flashes back to this exact same setup, three years in the past, when they had been at Zathrian’s clan and freshly returned from their victory against the werewolves…

🍁❄🍁❄🍁❄

“You are looking at knives,” Ilanlas said, stepping up behind Vergil.

Vergil looked up, surprised. He had once again not heard Ilanlas approach; upon seeing that, Ilanlas was torn between pride and the nagging doubt of whether he should start making more noise while walking. He didn’t want to scare Vergil away, after all.

“It seems like a good idea to learn,” Vergil mused, turning back to inspect the daggers master Varathorn had laid out for him. “There are places where I can’t do magic without attracting too much unwanted attention, after all.”

Ilanlas nodded. Vergil wasn’t mentioning what was probably the real source of this sudden interest in weaponry. But Ilanlas had seen him get sick after touching that gem in the ruins of the Brecilian Forest, had felt the Veil flitter and thin for a moment before settling again, and from that point on, the way Vergil fought had been… different.

Ilanlas had noticed, of course, because he had gotten distracted more than once by watching Vergil fight.

“Do you know how to use them?” he asked Vergil with a nod towards the daggers.

Something flashed over Vergil’s face, there and gone. Then he said, “I do not.” Then, he gave Ilanlas a look full of sly interest. “Are you offering to teach me?”

“Yes,” Ilanlas said, maybe a touch too quickly. He cleared his throat. “But not with those. Come. We will need training daggers.”

They got them when they asked, and then they walked over to a free spot just outside the Dalish camp. It was closer to other people than Ilanlas would’ve liked. No matter. He handed Vergil two of the training daggers, pieces of wood about the length of his forearm, and went to show him how to hold them. But there was no need to. Vergil’s fingers curled around the handle in exactly the way they should. Not only that: his stance was correct as well, and different from the one he held while casting spells. If his legs were unaccustomed to the position, he didn’t show it.

“The Circle taught you how to use daggers?” Ilanlas asked, surprised enough that his words came out as an actual question.

“Hah!” Vergil made. “No. They cancelled any weaponry training long before I arrived.”

Ilanlas frowned, but dropped the matter. Vergil was a private person, and they already had an audience. Zevran was leaning against a tree just at the edge of their space, watching them.

Irritating.

Ilanlas shook his head. It didn’t matter.

“Alright,” he said to Vergil, “I will teach you how to defend yourself first.”

He demonstrated the most basic movements to redirect a simple cut coming from above, the side, or below. The principle was always the same: block with the forearm of your off-hand weapon, sweeping the attacker’s arm away from your body. They practiced this several times, first slowly, then faster. Then, they reversed their roles, and Ilanlas showed Vergil how to execute the same cuts he had been defending himself against.

Their audience, meanwhile, swelled.

There were now several members of the clan standing at the periphery of their training field. Most of them were their age. Ilanlas knew some and liked none of them. Their stares burned, and there was no way to chase them off. No matter. It wouldn’t matter. He gritted his teeth and willed himself to focus only and exclusively on Vergil.

Vergil meanwhile stepped forward again, his training dagger making the motion Ilanlas had shown him. Ilanlas fluidly stepped aside and batted the wooden weapon away.

Vergil made a face and broke his stance. “Is there a way to get past you blocking me?”

Ilanlas’s hands now felt clammy. People were staring, and he was boring Vergil.

“Yes,” he said while he saw the elves watching them giggle and whisper among themselves. “You could try and swing at me with your other hand. Same motion.”

“Watch out! Don’t let him press you so hard you run away,” one of the onlookers called out in Dalish, and the rest laughed.

Ilanlas froze.

In hindsight, he couldn’t remember if the young man’s tone had been provocative or not. In the moment, it hadn’t mattered. He battled the urge to do exactly what he had been teased about, and lost focus. He only saw the movement when the dagger was already almost upon him, and then his body moved for him. Lightning fast, he stepped aside, let the dagger fly past, blocked the second incoming strike and simultaneously stabbed for his opponent’s throat—

He stopped himself just in time. A heartbeat later, he felt a dull stab in his lower back that made him stumble into the man in front of him. Wooden daggers clattered to the ground, and hands scrambled to keep him upright.

“I’m sorry!” he heard Vergil say.

Ilanlas stumbled past Vergil, away from his hands, holding his side. The cacophony of voices from their audience howled in his ears.

How had Vergil…?

“I don’t know what happened!” Vergil said over the noise, apologetically, and more than a little rattled.

Ilanlas grunted and straightened best he could. He wanted to cover his ears. He wanted to run. He did neither of those things, but shame burned in his ears and tightened his throat nonetheless. No word came out when he tried to tell Vergil that he was alright. Their little training session had thus found its abrupt end.

The next time Vergil asked for help mastering blades, Zevran turned out to be the better teacher. This stung.

But since then, three years had passed.

🍁❄🍁❄🍁❄

Nathaniel gives the go signal. Vergil doesn’t let him out of his sight, and Ilanlas waits two heartbeats and a half before he lunges without warning. Vergil meets him halfway, their blades ringing as the barriers placed around the steel clash. Vergil and Ilanlas part again, circling each other for a short moment, and then clash with renewed vigor. Their blades are a deadly whirl of silver.

“Watch out!” Anders yells.

“Use your magic, damnit!” Velanna curses.

“Make him eat dust!” Sigrun shouts.

Ilanlas doesn’t bother trying to decipher who they are each talking to; the fight has become a dance, and he knows the steps well. Both he and Vergil already grew so much in skill during the year of the Blight, and two years apart have honed them even further. Ilanlas longs to relearn the way Vergil’s feet hit the ground on the battlefield and match his own steps to that rhythm. He lunges again, twisting around Vergil when the latter tries to put some distance between them. His swords and longer limbs give Vergil the greater reach, and he is making full use of it, barring the way like one of his walls of ice. Ilanlas, however, is fast even after the last two years, and lithe, and very experienced in braving even the coldest of facades when it comes to Vergil. They break apart again, studying each other, trying to find an opening in each other’s defenses. Feet kick up dust when they move and steel rings against steel. The Veil hums, and Ilanlas jumps to the side as ice begins to form under his feet. He laughs and tosses a handful of dirt in Vergil’s direction. Vergil instinctively flinches back to protect his eyes, and there, there is the opening. Ilanlas presses in. Vergil tries to interpose his offhand sword between them, and Ilanlas bats it to the side as he swings his offhand blade around, zeroing in just behind Vergil’s neck—

He stops, blade inches away from Vergil’s throat, the sweet taste of victory on his lips. Vergil is breathing hard. So is he. Their faces are inches away from each other.

“Got you,” Ilanlas pants.

Vergil smiles. “And I you.”

Now Ilanlas feels the dull press of the enchanted blade in his lower back.

“It’s a draw!” Nathaniel declares from the sidelines to a chorus of groans from Velanna and Anders, who had apparently bet money, the whooping of Sigrun and the swearing of Oghren. They all don't matter. Ilanlas smiles up at Vergil, adrenaline still pumping through his veins.

“Good fight,” is all his mind manages to put on his tongue.

Vergil dips his head lower. “Good fight, starling.”

Creators—

“Vhenan.” Ilanlas smiles, and stretches up to kiss Vergil.

Salt on his lips, sweat on his brow, and a willing, eager answer. Ilanlas's hands find purchase on the back of Vergil's neck, blades forgotten on the earthen ground, and Vergil abandons them likewise, pulling Ilanlas closer by the waist. The voices of the rest of the wardens melt away.

He missed this.

Ilanlas rests his forehead against Vergil's shoulder, basking in the simple happiness of being back with him, no matter who is watching.

[t00nyah]

i hope ur ready

A WHOLE POST OF LYRICS FROM (MOSTLY BLACK DRESSES) SONGS THAT I CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT 24/7

part 1 (out of ???)

BLACK DRESSES section (LAUGHINGFISH-PEACEFUL AS HELL)

LAUGHINGFISH

She started to feel ok But coming from a place as bad as that was Things can tend to find a way to tag along She didn't leave a mess with her luggage She made sure to stay on top of chores But her new chosen family was just as complicated as the old one was //FEEL SOMETHING

When everything is quiet It's louder than a scream //BAD VEGGIES

And the years behind all look the same Wounded animal freaking out on stage Get so depressed when people say "The more things change More they stay the same" //WOUNDED ANIMAL

Maybe the true self is only true when It could never survive in its true form Maybe the me inside only stays alive Because it's kept safe from the world //GOOD THINGS HAPPEN

FUCK the real ones Fuck true love Fuck being powerful, I don't care What could I dream of that is not made up Fuck this stupid world I am scared enough that I'm not afraid at all //DON'T FORGIVE THE WORLD

I won't sing my song If you find me gone tomorrow I won't feel a thing Doctors tearing up my body God could not forgive As we blink out of existence I don't mind at all Pretty sure we're ending up together

You say you wanna be saved God wanted you to live We're setting the tone Forever going out sad And no one needs songs where we're going I'm not hoping for a fight but I know I see one coming //IF YOU FIND ME GONE TOMORROW

Rook: I feel like a weapon out of control every day Fight the conditioning, blank stare, nothing to say Try my best but it all gets mangled On the way to my brain It's taking over again Devi: I don't pity the body For what? It destroys Rook: The memory of us against the world Nobody else could touch us back then //LAST LOVE SONG ON THIS LITTLE PLANET

The truth only matters if you're honest. Are you? - Man you're so fucking corny it makes me look straight //NO DAYS OFF (those are literally just two separate lines but PLEASE they are gold)

And the stereo connects right back to the mic I think I liked you better still alive I didn't expect in my dreams we'd still fight But I shoulda known and And the highway connects to the road Like the car was a part of your soul That I'm sure by now your mom sold //CAN'T KEEP THE KNOTS OUT

Earth is love But this crazy little thing called love can be a little bit intense //IT'S PROBABLY FINE

Forget Your Own Face

People say nothing is impossible but I do nothing every day - If you got- if you got what you wanted If you got what you wanted the most If you got- if you got what you wanted Would you still be fucking depressed? Would you still be fucked up by the past? Would you still regret everything? Yes. //u_u2

Give up on what you wanted Never give upuPUPUp on what you thought was true to you Unless you find some kind of other truth that means something to you Never give up on what you wanted Never give up on what you wanted Even if it's stupid God is stupid Let's be Stupid: God is here. //Let's Be

T-shirt slogan I'm a t-shirt slogan I'm a meme, I know it I got mean, I know it We learned a lot about Entertainment Tried a lot of shit, still not Entertained Yet. Isn't it crazy to be human? To bear witness to the illusion of patterns? To the illusion of order? To think that all this shit is normal? //NO NORMAL

Colorful and delicate like a paper star Shriveling in the heat of what we are At the end of time, did I do anything? Burning up like an insect in the sun I just wanna be useful to someone On the final day, did I make you smile? //doomspiral

Everything I want is fiction What I need does not exist Everything you want is right here waiting For you to take it What I need does not exist //GAY UGLY AND HARD TO UNDERSTAND

I used to want to mean Something to somebody But people never see The side of you you want to be And when the air is smoke And when the sky burns out I hope no one is looking at me When the sun explodes - I'm grateful for the time we had to do childish things Like making songs: Like this one. Stars shooting overhead as everything in the universe falls apart How romantic, like kissing under fireworks, but... As our bodies burn to light As our bodies turn to raw energy with no identity, uh... Let's meet back here again We can do a little show We can sing a couple songs We can fight over how the songs go I know it's not much For all the things in the world Not much, but let's just have- Let's just still try to have fun. //nightwish

Forever In Your Heart (oh this is about to explode)

The dead hope that you always clung to The dream that someday it would heal you Is there anywhere left to fall? I try so hard to recall hope Ancient hope Rotting hope Can we make something beautiful with no hope? //PEACESIGN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know it's not easy for anyone We're all on a clear light hell trip But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try Just don't come anywhere near me And we'll be ok I don't wanna see anyone's face I'm dealing with my own shit right now You can deal with your shit somewhere else - Stuck inside a concrete bubble Everyone is "doing their best" I think that it's kind of whatever. But dreams are not meant to be achieve

It's just not enough It's never been enough When the FUCK has it ever been enough Only to dream? //Concree Bubble

I'm just meat without a soul, Without a brain, Without anything, An animal. - The night explodes in the light From a shooting star IT'S EASY TO BECOME DISILLUSIONED WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE And it can live forever in your heart It can live forever in your heart Forever in your heart It can live forever in your sick pathetic little heart //Heaven

I know it sounds stupid for a world like this, People do their best And still come off so twisted up and so heartless And I know I'm grateful if someone tries at all Still ends crumpled up, Scrunched up, like a tossed away love letter but

I think If there was ever a right way to do it I think That nobody's ever even done it //Tiny Ball

But on a clear and cloudless day It feels like the planets atmosphere Is stitched together by everyone's pain And we just breathe it in... //Silver Bells

I don't wanna do this anymore I don't wanna do this anymore I don't wanna prove I was wrong about you I don't wanna do this anymore I don't wanna do this anymore I don't wanna prove I was right about you //Ragequitted

A little dirt might cover up the wound (Rook) A little dirt might cover up the wound But a little dirt might infect it too (Rook) Infect it too There's no right choices to make in this life (Rook) This life

All you can do is what you can do //Waiting42moro(just saying i love this song the entirety of it but like THIS particular thing is so stuck in my head...)

I tried to offer up my pain to be understood But I don't think it's my pain that can be understood, Or needs understanding.

There's not a lot of pain in the world that makes any sense Maybe people need to be understood instead. //Understanding

What does it really take to want to hurt a child? It seems like it's not much for a lot of people. //Mistake

Peaceful as Hell

it's like a pearl formed from the pressure of all the blood in a world of nightmares it's feeding on love it's growing stronger and coming alive it's so scared and confused but it still wants to survive

it dreams of a future: impending doom it clings to the hope that it might pull through and everyone stares at it with disdain but it's trying so hard every single day //LEFT ARM OF LIFE

im so cute and well-adjusted i know exactly what to say i hope no one discovers i struggle with it every day how the FUCK does language work what do people like to hear?? i dont wanna be uncool but i need TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE - I wanna give people a chance but they keep letting me down I wanna be wrong again I wanna be wrong about being wrong this world shouldn't need to feel so lonely is it because I'm too angry to be around anyone again? //IM A FREAK CUZ IM ALWAYS FREAKED OUT

it's ok to keep your soul hidden keep a secret to yourself it's ok to be a bad singer you can sing a special song all by yourself //BLISS AND STUPIDITY

//MAYBE THIS WORLD IS ANOTHER PLANETS HELL? (yes im putting the entirety of it here bc im just so full of thought about this one)

bloody worm goddess you look so pretty when you're scared to death it'll never change burning bright with fear and hopelessness - trapped inside it again i don't sleep anymore i don't have any dreams i don't have a true form //SCARED 2 DEATH

is it ok for me to be happy? is it really ok for me to happy? is it ok for me to be happy? turn up the radio play us a happiness song - come on girl, haven't you learned how to express yourself? why is it so hard to get you out of your shell? is it ok for me to be messy? is it really ok for me to be messy? is it ok for me to be messy? i don't know how to let it go //EXPRESS YOURSELF

the impossible dream of having a skin everything crawls on, everything soaks in I'll be eaten by ants but I won't feel that bad I just wanna have my body to my Self while I still Am and I don't wanna be polluted by all the violence that already twisted me up //IMPOSSIBLE DREAM

you could say anything that you want I could say anything that I want to you could say anything that you want it's up to you to choose what's important to you

but don't be weird, don't be mean you're on my computer screen it's my world, it's my life i'm a person please be nice - you can say anything you want you can say anything you want to it doesn't mean you're bad but sometimes love is holding back //PLEASE BE NICE

//666 (another one that is just fully in my head, it's so sweet and comforting)

part 2(LOVE AND AFFECTION FOR STUPID LITTLE BITCHES-WASTEISOLATION)...coming someday. no date.

[stxrfclls]

‘ bruna marquezine, cis woman, she/her, 29 / 290 , high fae/illyrian (shadowsinger) ’ ― cauldron save you. it seems SIARA DARKE has finally made it to the capital, the SPYMASTER from NIGHT COURT is said to be INTELLIGENT and is said to describe themselves with DARK SHADOWS SWIRLING IN THE CORNER, WHISPERS OF WIND ON A PERFECT STARLIT NIGHT, THE SPARKLE OF A METEOR SHOWER ABOVE A YOUNG GIRL'S HEAD and with all of this in mind their MANIPULATIVE nature always seems to get them into trouble. may the mother hold them as they navigate this unthinkable time. ; written by honey, cst, 29, she/her

a warning, she's an older muse so she has a LOT of back story. please feel free to skim it

𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬

full name . siara darke

age . 29 appearance / 290 actual

sexuality . heterosexual, maybe ?? tbh, need to play her again

occupation . spymaster of the night court

species . high fae / illyrian + shadowsinger

loyalty . night court

height . 5'8"

tattoos . her illyrian tattoo on her sternum

𝐭𝐥:𝐝𝐫;

the illegitimate daughter of a high fae seamstress and an illyrian general, siara was torn between two worlds that never fully accepted her. forced into the brutal training of illyrian camps, she became a lethal warrior, feared for both her skills and her shadowsinger abilities. hardened by relentless expectations, she embraces her reputation as ruthless and terrifying, using it as armor to keep others at a distance. sharp-tongued and mischievous with those she trusts, she hides her emotions well, preferring weapons, chaos, and fleeting distractions over the vulnerability of real connection.

𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬

( tw : kidnapping, the usual for a warrior )

she  was  never  a  planned  child,  her  birth  a  surprise  to  the  two  people  who  were  sneaking  around  with  no  intentions  to  find  love.  they  weren’t  romantic,  they  were  just  lonely  and  wanted  to  pass  the  time.  much  worse,  one  (her  mother)  was  a  high  fae  working  in  the  court  palace  and  the  other  (her  father)  an  illyrian  general  who  commanded  a  camp.

when  they  discovered  they  were  pregnant,  siara’s  mother  feared  giving  birth.  she  feared  having  a  girl  knowing  the  nature  of  illyrian  camps,  so  she  fled  to  velaris  and  siara  was  born  on  the  longest  night  of  the  year  (winter  solstice).  a  fact  siara  does  not  share  with  many.

her  early  life  was  easy,  daughter  of  a  high  fae  woman  who  made  her  way  in  the  world  by  creating  beautiful  garments  for  those  that  could  afford  them.  but  siara  was  never  meant  to  be  an  easy  child,  her  pointed  ears  and  wings  labeled  her  as  an  outcast,  half  in  one  world  and  half  in  another.

it  didn’t  take  long  for  her  mother  to  be  clueless  as  to  what  to  do,  and  even  less  time  for  word  to  reach  her  father  that  a  half  high  fae  /  half  illyrian  girl  was  born  to  an  impressive  seamstress.  he  arrived  and  whisked  her  away  to  the  illyrian  camp  he  commanded,  telling  her  mother  there  was  simply  no  better  place.

siara  was  awarded  a  harsh  treatment  by  the  man  who  donated  his  genetics  to  her.  he  treated  her  harder  than  most  other  warriors  and  he  refused  to  let  her  fail  because  he  shared  her  blood.  the  camp  was  ruthless,  training  until  exhaustion  or  bloodshed,  and  then  harder  past  that  point.  she  had  to  prove  herself  time  and  time  again  in  a  world  where  nothing  she  did  was  good  enough.  this  shaped  her,  it  honed  her  into  a  warrior  with  a  reputation  of  mercilessness  and  death.  she’s  lethal,  quick,  and  terrifying.  siara  will  never  be  someone  you  want  to  make  an  enemy  of,  and  she  takes  pride  in  that.

and  then  she  learned  the  gifts  of  her  abilities  had  not  stopped  at  wings.  siara  grew  up  hearing  whispers  around  her,  though  she  often  dismissed  it  as  nothing.  but  the  whispers  grew  louder,  and  soon  the  shadows  begged  for  her  attention.  she  was  a  shadowsinger.

once  knowledge  of  this  ability  spread,  her  relationships  with  people  at  the  camp  grew  a  mixture  of  fearful  and  hateful,  even  worse  than  they  already  were.  how  could  this  abomination  be  granted  such  abilities?  her  solace  came  in  a  friend  that  bonded  with  her  and  gave  no  care  to  her  abilities  or  father.

the  time  came  for  her  and  a  few  others  to  perform  the  ritual  to  become  true  warriors.  her  father  nearly  didn’t  let  her,  but  siara  fought  even  harder  to  push  him  into  it,  and  once  she  was  on  the  mountain  her  true  skills  as  a  shadowsinger  grew.  she  survived,  she  made  it  to  the  summit,  and  though  angry,  nobody  argued  her  initiation.  her  tattoo  is  on  her  chest,  right  on her sternum.  she  wears  it  proudly,  though  she  has  gained  a  few  more  over  the  centuries.  she  won’t  admit  it  to  many,  but  her  childhood  friend  is  truly  the  only  reason  she  made  it.

for  a  most  of  her  life  this  is  where  she  lived,  fighting,  training,  and  constantly  proving  her  place  was  earned.  eventually  she  garnered  the  reputation  of  one  of  the  fiercest  illyrian  warriors,  forgotten  was  the  stain  of  calling  her  only  half.  this  reputation  opened  the  door  to  the  courts  for  her,  and  slowly  she  earned  the  trust  of  the  ruling  family  of  the  court  of  night,  she  was  granted  the  position  of  a  spymaster  and  has  done  a  damn  good  job  at  it.

she’s  a  warrior,  fierce  and  terrifying.  a  formidable  opponent  to  anyone  who  crosses  her  path.  she  has  to  be,  her  father  gave  her  no  other  choice.  she’s  ruthless,  cutthroat,  manipulative,  and  terrifying.  her  shadows  give  her  the  ability  of  pure  stealth,  and  she  absolutely  has  the  reputation  of  lurking  in  them.  she  prefers  it  this  way,  a  reputation  that  earns  her  fear  of  some  and  respect  of  others.  she  wants  to  be  terrifying,  she  wants  to  keep  people  away  from  her.  siara  isn’t  good  with  friendships,  and  the  few  she  has  are  guarded  with  an  iron  fist.

if  you  are  her  friend  you’ll  see  a  bit  more  of  a  relaxed  side,  though  she  constantly  seems  to  have  her  duty  shoved  up  her....  but  she  can  be  mean  in  an  amusing  way,  picking  fun  at  those  she  cares  for  in  a  way  that  leaves  you  unsure  of  if  she’s  insulting  you,  teasing  you,  or  both.  mischievous,  and  playful,  but  you’d  only  notice  if  you  caught  the  glints  in  her  dark  eyes.

she  likes  to  bury  all  emotions,  pretend  they  don’t  exist,  and  never  admit  she  cares  for  someone.  it’s  hard  to  get  past  her  walls  and  even  those  she  cares  about  have  not  managed  that  fully..  siara  isn’t  interested  in  falling  in  love,  but  she’ll  happily  lose  herself  in  another  body  or  a  few.

she  likes  to  draw,  but  she’s  horrible  at  it.  you’ll  find  burned  pieces  of  paper  in  her  fireplace  and  they  are  typically  bad  sketches.  

if  you  want  to  gain  any  sort  of  favor  with  her,  buy  her  weapons.  the  deadlier  the  better.  she  likes  knives.  

she  lives  most  of  her  life  in  dresses  far  too  revealing  for  her  own  good,  embracing  her  body  as  a  bit  of  a  slap  to  the  mixed  emotions  of  her  blood. 

𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

on main : will they / won't they, adoptive sibling

other  ideas  :  dalliances,  spies,  ex  flings,  former  camp  mates,  rivals

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐬

✶ * ⁎ ⋆ 𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞 × spymaster of night ❜, ✶ * ⁎ ⋆ 𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐚 × threads ❜

✶ * ⁎ ⋆ 𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞 × spymaster of night ❜, ✶ * ⁎ ⋆ 𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐚 × inspo ❜

✶ * ⁎ ⋆ 𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞 × spymaster of night ❜, ✶ * ⁎ ⋆ 𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐚 × dev ❜

✶ * ⁎ ⋆ 𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞 × spymaster of night ❜, ✶ * ⁎ ⋆ 𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐚 × image ❜

[weerd1]

ENT Rewatch Starlog, 27 April, 2024, supplemental: Episode 3.22 “The Council”

While Degra, T'Pol, and Archer plot to figure out how to approach the Xindi council, they realize the Spheres are networked by an artificial intelligence network. That memory core might provide more information on the Builders, whom Degra says are all but worshipped by many Xindi, particularly Reptilians.

The Reptilians meanwhile have learned Degra destroyed a Reptilian ship to protect Enterprise. 

T’Pol, Reed, Mayweather, and a MACO (read that as “Redshirt”) go on a mission to retrieve a memory core from a Sphere while Degra’s people and the Arboreals escort the NX-01 to the Council planet, and Archer and Hoshi enter the chamber built into a structure that was built millennia before by the now extinct Avian Xindi. The Reptilians, specifically their leader Dolim rail against Archer’s presence, but after some talk, they agree to hear more.

Degra goes back to NX-01 where he will help make a hologram of the Sphere Builder from Phlox’s records they had on board who was testing the environment. He also tries to help Tucker with some power cells, and after a small altercation, they begin to cooperate, Trip finally seeing past his loss to what Degra is risking in helping them.

The Sphere expedition retrieves one of the memory cores, but a defense system kills the MACO in the process, leaving Reed reeling from the loss of yet another crewmen.

After the new visual presentation begins to sway the Aquatics, Dolim has a change of heart and agrees to hear more evidence. Degra tells Archer he hopes this is the beginning of a new future, but Dolim has been talking to the Sphere Builders and plan to steal the weapon and attack Earth with the Insectoids; but first he goes to Degra’s room and murders him. The Xindi Primates warn Archer just as the weapon launches and the NX-01 joins a flotilla of Primate, Arboreal, and Aquatic ships in an attempt to stop them.  In the battle, Dolim beams Hoshi Sato off the bridge of Enterprise as the weapon and Dolim’s fleet enter a subspace vortex.

Things are coming to a head now in the story, and it’s nice to see Archer truly stepping into his role of peacemaker, a great contrast from when he spoke with Daniels earlier in the season. Gratifying to see the progress he’s making, which makes the death of Degra and the launch of the weapon a real jolt when the story pulls that rug out from under us. 

I have to admit, I am still looking a little askance and the fact the species with the mammalian heritage—Humans, Primates, Arboreals, and Aquatics—ally together while the Reptilians and Insectoids are the violent hold-outs. There’s a…xenophobia of some kind layered into that writing I think, and I might suggest it would be a little more “Star Trek” in its way if either of those two species were swayed. Maybe that’s just me. 

Reed makes mention of 23 deaths in the crew, which is pretty significant for a group around 80-90.  It is nice to see he as completely accepted the MACOs as comrades now.  

Not having rewatched these since the initial airing, I have to admit I had completely forgotten about Dolim taking Hoshi, and I am genuinely excited to find out where that story goes…thanks to my old-man brain, it’s like a whole new Enterprise story for me!

NEXT VOYAGE: The weapon is on its way to Earth, and Archer faces a “Countdown.”

(Images taken from the main website for @trekcore; I am happy to remove the images if asked.)

[forthedancingandthethriving]

"What if.. I.. gave up!"

"Valeria, what?" Bedelia looks at the rebellion leader, confused. "Why are you saying that?"

"Child soldiers, Bedelia!" Valeria swims over and grips her second-in-command's shoulders. "The empire has child shoulders — they're fucking 15!" The fins on the sides of her face lower. "15..."

Bedelia looks at Valeria with a frown. "I know, but those two are safe with us now. We'll start treating Celeste and see what Lexi knows."

The rebellion leader sighs, closing her eyes. "Yeah, that.. that sounds good." She releases the other's shoulders and looks at her apologetically. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten so overworked."

"It's okay!" The SIC shakes her head. She giggles a bit. "Just surprising to see you the nervous one."

Valeria nods. "I know.. It's just.. heartbreaking. Learning the extent of the brainwashing that's been done to these poor children."

Bedelia nods in agreement, but before she can get another word out, a siren is swimming up to them, his eyes wide. "Valeria! Bedelia! You need to head to Ghost's Crag now!"

"Why?" The two are instantly on high alert. "What's happened? Did someone fall in?"

"No!" The siren shakes his head. "I-Its worse! There's a group of people trapped down there!"

○●○

Valeria had never swam faster in her life, with Bedelia right behind her. They soon got to Ghost's Crag, a giant crevice in the ocean floor. It was said to be caused by a fight between Empress Moria and a siren who could shape-shift.

Apparently, their fight lasted for eight days and eight nights, and Moria emerged victorious, and with the infamous Storm Trident in her possession.

She shudders as she remembers the lightning it could summon. The typhoons it made with a single wave.

"Down there!" Bedelia snaps her out of her thoughts, and the two swim further down.

Ghost's Crag was given its name due to the toxic fumes that came from small vents. They were small but numerous. The fumes made you hallucinate, see things that weren't there. Those who lived purely in the sea had evolved to not be affected, but those above land tended to be badly affected.

But people being trapped? How could that even happen?

In a flurry a bubbles, Valeria's weapon appears. She was blessed to have one that changes like the water, and she let's it shift to that of a large war hammer. "Bede, get ready to move and use your whip to grab them!"

"Got it!" Bedelia nods, her whip appearing in a flurry of bubbles as well.

The two dive deeper down, and she can hear voices. Discussing, talking, wondering where they are.

"Hey!" Valeria shouts once she gets to the thinnest rocks. "Hey, can you hear me?"

"Hello?!" A male's voice calls out. "Is someone there!"

"Yes, I'm real!" She assures the voice. "Listen, I'm going to smash this rock in, which is gonna flood in water. You'll need to hold you breath. My friend is going to grab you with her whip to get you guys out as fast as we can, okay?"

After noises of agreement, Valeria swims back. With a low grunt, she swings the hammer, slamming it into the rocky wall. It crumbles like paper, and Bedelia acts quickly, her whip shooting out and wrapping around many wrists.

They begin to swim, swim as fast as they can.

When they breach the surface, Valeria finally gets a good look at them.

And she feels her heart skip a beat because she's sure that she's seen those faces before. But from where? A mural, maybe?

○●○

Lexi prides herself in being very, very sneaky. You don't become a Tigerfish from brute strength alone. No, you sneak and around and figure things out on your own.

The purple octoling peers her head around the doorway, red eyes glancing around. The room she was peering into was large and open air, with what she presumed to be magic, making a dome overhead, keeping the water of the outside out.

In the center, on a pedestal, was a crown. It wasn't anything grand. It was a blackstone crown, floating in a bubble. Two rings of water circled around it, like a protection.

Lexi narrows her eyes. That must be what's keeping their base hidden. With how big this place is, it makes sense.

She looks around with a huff. The room being completely devoid of water surprised her, but she guessed it made sense. Mermaids and sirens could transform to have legs if they so wished.

Sparing one glance back towards the crown, she rushes off. Completely missing the mural in the back, show casing a giant siren wielding the Storm Trident and fighting against what seemed to be a.. younger Moria.

[lapful-of-fics]

LoveAndMore.com

Summary: Cas is feeling lonely. Charlie thinks he should get on a dating site. Dean thinks it's a horrible idea, and it has absolutely nothing to do with jealousy.

Word Count: 20K (complete)

CHAPTER 1: Revelations and Cats with No Tails

“Admit it, you two. I have a gift.”

 Charlie, Sam and Dean made their way into the map room. Charlie, pony-tail swinging to the side, proudly held up her paper target from the Bunker’s shooting range. Out of 15 shots, she’d made four to the head and eight to the chest.

 Sam beamed like a giant ray of sunshine at his protégé. It’d been his suggestion that Charlie start learning about firearms if she wanted to be a “real” hunter.

 “Don’t get cocky,” Dean warned her. “You’re not James Bond yet. You still have a lot of weapons to learn.”

Charlie wiggled her eyebrows at him and began humming the James Bond theme as she walked off toward her room.

 “Dum da da da, da da da da, Dum da da da, da, da da da”

 Sam grinned at her retreating form. Glancing over at the silent Cas, he said, “How about you? It wouldn’t hurt for you to become familiar with weapons either.”

 Cas was sitting at the table looking through John’s diary, a source of seemingly endless fascination for him. He frowned at Sam, then snapped, “I have my Grace back. I am an Angel. I could destroy this entire Bunker with a single thought.”

 Sam recoiled from Cas’s unexpected anger. “Well, yeah, but there have been times when your juice was low, for whatever reason. It wouldn’t hurt to learn.”

 Dean looked over at Cas. The guy looked worn out. And why not, he’d had a hell of a streak of bad luck lately. He’d been captured, tortured, cursed, and who knew what else. Target practice was relaxing. It relieved tension. It was a great way to work out frustration and stress. Cas needed all those things. 

 “You know, Sam’s right, man. Why not just uh, bite the bullet and give it a try?”

 He winked at Sam, and Sam groaned.

 Cas managed to look like he was about to smite them both. His blue eyes were dark with an emotion Dean hadn’t seen in them before.

 Dean practically winced.

 “It would be a waste of time,” he finally said. He got up and left the room.

 Dean stared after him.

 Sam turned to Dean. “Is it just me or has he been kind of . . . touchy lately?”

 Dean sighed. “My guess is, he’s just recovering from all the crap that’s been happening lately. Give him a few days. He’ll be fine. I mean, he’s Cas.”

 *****

The next morning Sam scrolled through the local news on his laptop. Cas was nowhere to be seen. Charlie was in the kitchen making waffles and singing. (“I’m walking on sunshine, woah-oh . . .”)

 “Hey Dean, listen to this. It’s a case involving cats and it’s super creepy. Cats are disappearing from their owners’ homes. Into thin air. They reappear a few days later, but their tails are missing.”

 Dean looked at Sam to make sure he was serious. “Saving cats’ tails, hunting things. The family business.”

 “Dude.” Sam looked at him, bitch-face in full force. “Could be a witch. I mean it sounds like some weird ritual. And who, or what else could make cats disappear into thin air?

 Dean sat down with his breakfast. “Fine. I mean what else are we doing, right? But I’m not going anywhere till I eat.”

 “Of course,” Sam answered drily.

 The waffles were amazing. Charlie, apparently, had more than one gift. She poured homemade strawberry topping over the top of each waffle, then finished them off with a dollop of whipped cream. Dean began moaning orgasmically.

 “Oh, god, Charlie, so good, you’re amazing –“

 “Could you just, maybe, stop doing that please?” Charlie asked. “I’m getting horrible mental images right now. I may be scarred for life.”

 Cas stalked in as they were eating. His clothes were rumpled and his hair was a mess, like he’d been running his hands through it all night long. His normally huge, bright eyes were half shut and dull.

 Dean looked up at him. “Hey there, grumpy. I found us a case -“

 “Actually, I found us a case,” Sam corrected him.

 “ANYWAY, there is a case not far from here. Looks like a witch. We’re leaving in half an hour, so don’t go zapping off.”

 Cas suddenly became very interested in looking at the wall behind Dean.

 “I’m sure you can handle it just fine without me,” he responded flatly.

 Dean raised an eyebrow. “You gotta hot date, or something?”

 Cas fixated his intense stare on Dean. “No. I do not have a hot date. In case you’ve forgotten, I am shunned by my own kind. I am cut off. Alone. And I have no intention of going back to a brothel.”

 They all stopped eating and turned to look at him. He looked back at them defiantly, almost daring them with his eyes to say something more. Charlie and Sam exchanged worried looks.

 Dean threw up his hands and shrugged. “Hey man, I get it. Everyone gets lonely sometimes-“

 “No. You do not . . . get it!” The anger seemed to seep out of him then, and he added, “You have no idea what this is like for me.”And with a fluttering woosh, he was gone.

 No one said anything for a moment. Cas had rarely been this forthcoming about something that was bothering him.

 Charlie swiped a finger through her whipped cream.

 “So I guess we know what’s wrong now,” she mumbled into her food.

 “Who knew angels could get lonely?” Sam asked. “I mean, I guess most of the times we’ve seen Cas, he’s been alone. And when he was around other angels, he didn’t seem too happy about it.”

 Dean snorted. “That’s cause the other angels were dicks. And I know for a fact Cas never, uh, had relations with another angel.”

 Sam set his fork down. “I don’t even want to know why you know that.”

 “Well, we’ve got to do something. We can’t just let him wander around being miserable.” Charlie wrinkled her brow, suddenly in deep thought. “I may have just the thing.”

 *****

Cas sat near a tree outside the Bunker. Although he had his Grace, he was still cut off from Heaven, and he wasn’t able to propel himself very far. Moving his wings through the plane they existed in now felt like swimming through Jello, instead of sliding easily through empty space.

 He dropped his head into his hands and closed his eyes. In his mind, he literally saw Time: intricate geometric patterns swirling like kaleidoscopes. Colors and music and memories and the voices of trees, plants, animals, people . . . all of it surged through him relentlessly, almost painfully. He didn’t bother to filter any of it. He just didn’t care.

 He was drowning in memories. He saw himself flying through an ancient sky, the incredible color of which didn’t even have a name. Spiral clouds whispered gently against his wings. It was a place that existed long ago, so far down the timeline it could never be reached again.

 He remembered the overwhelming, unspeakable exhilaration of pure, raw power surging through him as he joined with his brothers and sisters to carry out divine commands.

 He dreamt of the euphoria of existence as a wave in an ocean of Grace.

 Now look at me.

The noise in his head was replaced with his own internal voice.

 The angels have turned on me. They hate me. And rightfully so. But Hannah. Hannah, my friend since the beginning of time.

Hannah betrayed me.

Hannah allowed me to be tortured.

 And now she's dead.

I have nowhere in the Universe to go. No purpose. So much potential to help, even now. But what to do?  It’s as if . . . as if all the color has left the world.

Alone. Profoundly, unfathomably alone.

 Cas slumped against the tree.

 *****

 The case turned out to be fairly straight-forward. The witch was a dabbler, not very experienced in magic, and not very bright. She was trying to learn how to make a cat. When she was unable to duplicate the cats she kidnapped, she returned them. Unfortunately, when she sent them back to their rightful owners, although she wrapped her magic around their bodies, the tails were somehow not included. They disintegrated into space. Apparently.

 Dean slid into the driver’s seat of the Impala and groaned.

 “Good one, Sammy. That has got to be the most pointless case we’ve ever worked.”

 “Dean, we were Teddy Bear Doctors once. And that ended well.”

 Charlie piped up from the back seat. “Guys we have more important things to worry about. Like Cas.”

  Sam frowned. “I don’t know what to do for the guy. Have movie night? Get him drunk? Help him find a girlfriend?

 Dean pulled onto the road, glancing skeptically at Sam. “A girlfriend? Really? Cas? He’s a social disaster! And where on earth would we find him a date?”

 “LoveAndMore.Com” Charlie said proudly.

 “A dating site? Are you serious?” Dean was not in favor of this at all. Purely because Cas could end up getting hurt. Or taken advantage of. It had nothing to do with jealousy.

 It had absolutely nothing to do with jealousy.

 It wasn’t like he owned Cas or something. But dating?

 Out of the question.

 Sam was snickering good-naturedly at Charlie. “Is that why you’ve been in such a good mood lately? You’ve found someone online?

 “Maybe,” she answered cryptically. “But seriously.  I mean he’s obviously feeling like he doesn’t belong here. And finding someone to talk to, hang out with, have sex with-“

 “Woah, woah woah. Just hold it right there.” This was getting out of hand. “We are not signing Cas up for a dating site!”

 “Why not?” Sam asked. “I think it’s actually kind of a good idea. I mean, why don’t we ask him and see what he thinks? If he wants to try it, then I say go for it!”

 Charlie clapped her hands from the back seat. “I’ll talk to him as soon as we get home!”

Next

AO3

[xavier-elrose]

Okay, I've gotta throw my two cents in.

The main power of the ringwraiths is fear. It's not their only power, and it's most certainly not an unimpressive power, especially in a war, but you have to look at how well fear will work, in a given situation.

In the shire, it wasn't going to work all that well, no matter how well you used it. One, because you're a long way from backup, and if you use a lot of fear and the hobbits respond by attacking you, that's it. No ringwraith wants "killed by a mob of hobbits" on their headstone. Two, because they're trying to gather information. Despite what some media tells you, fear is real bad at this. You make them scared, they tell you what they think you want to hear, without worrying about piddly little details like whether or not what they tell you is true. The ringwraiths are not stupid, and are trying to use their powerset in a situation it's not very good at- they're the best that's available, but there's a big difference between that an actually being suited to the task at hand.

And, finally, they're trying to frighten hobbits. This works pretty well a lot of the time- gets them free reign through the shire, though their movements are also easy to track, which bites them in the ass a bit.

But think of Merry and Pippin. Do you know what my response would be, if I'd undergone a long and harrowing journey farther from home than I'd ever been, finally reached a safe resting place, and learned about the council of Elrond and the whole journey the ring was about to take? "Huh. Glad that's not me. Pass the bacon, would you?" Merry and Pippin don't just sign up, they push through a lot of social "Hey, maybe you shouldn't..." in order to get signed up. Elrond had been, at most, a legend to them until Rivendell, and when they got there, they said "Hey, screw you, we're coming along!" Fear is...not the most effective weapon, if you're dealing with those two.

If you need it explained why this also applies to Frodo and Sam, I think you should just reread the books.

The point being that the main power of the ringwraiths, early in the books, was being applied in situations it was not well-suited for. Sauron sent his very best hammers to solve a problem that didn't even resemble a nail, because hammers were all he had.

In war, though...

I'm mostly gonna be regurgitating from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry (which you should read, btw), but to sum up: we have this incorrect idea that battles are won by killing all of the other sides dudes.

That's incorrect.

Battles are won by breaking the other sides will, getting them to falter and give up, rather than fight on. Often achieved, in part, by killing their dudes. In this context, fear is a really useful weapon. The ringwraiths went from being a polar bear far from home trying to knit a sweater to a polar bear in its element hunting seals, and they did much better as a result.

The ringwraiths aren't especially impressive, in their physical abilities. That's why they need mounts. If they could move super fast, why would they need horses? If they could fly, why would they need mounts that fly? Yes, their mounts supplement their limited ability to see the physical world, but a wolf or a worg or bird would serve that same function, and be a lot more mobile...if the ringwraith didn't need to be carried around to achieve speeds not achievable by Just Some Dude.

This is not to say that, say, I would beat them in a fight. They were impressive Just Some Dudes. But they would lose (and did lose) against Aragorn, and you might have noticed that he can't fly, or teleport, or anything like that.

Their weapon is fear. In situations where that's a poor weapon, they performed poorly. In situations where that's an effective weapon, they performed very well.

TL:DR- life is context-sensitive.

(Context, credit, and source below poll.)

Today's poll is based on this thread with notable principles @penny-anna, @elodieunderglass, @elanorpam, and @earhartsease. All of the options above are paraphrased from their original answers.

The full original question:

Can I please ask for your top five theories on why the Ringwraiths become so much more powerful over the course of the LotR trilogy? By the end of the books a single Ringwraith holds an army of 6000 men in paralysing dread from a height of a mile, they're dismaying hosts of men, etc. And in the beginning, they're easily defeated by "jumping behind a tree," "pretending to be in a different room," "getting on a little boat," "man with a stick on fire," etc.

[stacotto]

*Inhale for four, exhale for four* Alright, let's get into it.

Guess we'll just start at the start, Asticassia is far more wrecked than we could see at the end of episode 20, death count is probably in the scores if not hundreds, and the survivors are basically in a refugee camp. Earth House and Suletta out here doing their best to make everyone comfortable, which automatically makes them the GOAT house. Petra's alive...ish! Mio's President now, for whatever that's worth, Quinharbor is a bombed-out crater, and those slimy Peil crones somehow managed to once again pull the "we didn't know this unethical thing was being done right beneath our noses" card (even if they really didn't know until someone else told them, I wouldn't put it past them to want a piece of that pie). More on them later.

The meeting between Earth House, Guston, and Belmeria is a perfect example of what I like to see in an infodump; nothing is said that characters in the room should already know, everything is news to someone. I really really dig now Suletta handled relaying her nature as a clone, and maybe feeling a little smug that my headcanon that those flashes of Eri's memories of the Vanadis Incident really were a full memory share between the two. And of course, Suletta understanding that there is probably no reasoning with Prospera, but no unnecessary angst beyond that. I like it, it's refreshing. Also hot damn, we've been theorizing about a "Caliban" Gundam for months and this is not what any of us expected but I'm not complaining; it really is thematically appropriate that Prospera's creation would be piloting the machine named after Prospero's servant.

Now to the real spectacle of the episode: The Space Assembly League charging headfirst into something they should know could not possibly end well. To paraphrase what I've been saying about Quiet Zero ever since episode 16; "You may have your guns, but I control all the triggers". You literally cannot fight against it with any conventional weapon. The only way to fight against the QZ Data Storm network is with a Gundam of your own, and Sophie Pulone showed us exactly why even that is a toss-up. The more I think about it, the more I feel we're building up to a reveal that Suletta may have actually inherited her sister's affinity to the Data Storm, it just might need a little push to fully manifest.

Miorine really cannot catch a break here. She may be President, but that pales in comparison to the world falling apart around her. Quinharbor is in ruins. Her father is still in a coma. The League has popular support to dismantle the Group by force. It's really telling that Sarius is the one telling her "Look, I'll take the L on this, you keep the Group together" but she completely refuses to sacrifice anyone else, one of my favorite tropes when done well. It'll be interesting to see what her next move is.

Ah, Elan Ceres Number 5. Curious as to how he went from Ur's cockpit to sneaking around Asticassia but that's neither here nor there; he's finally given up the act (and genuinely apologized to Suletta, that was good) and is joining up with the heroes for the final act, which I appreciate. He says "no Gundam" which does pique my curiosity as to how he's going to contribute - Enhanced Persons are no doubt chosen by the Peil AI for piloting skill, so I doubt that he won't be piloting period - but I do get the distinct feeling that he's going to pay the CEOs and Elan Prime a visit...with bullets.

Welp, guess we know who's piloting the Schwarzette whenever that comes up now; Lauda about to follow in the infamous footsteps of one "Graze" Ein Dalton. I do kinda hope that someone can snap him out of it before it's too late; most likely candidate is probably Petra if she can wake up soon, given that A) He's definitely going to try and kill Miorine, so that knocks her out, B) there's no way he's going to listen to Guel after learning he's the one who killed Vim (even if it was by accident in self-defense), and C) Suletta is still the "Mercurian Wench who ruined everything" in his eyes. If he can't be reasoned with, Guel's probably going to have to kill him, I'll put my chips on that.

We in the endgame now.

[imtooscaredforthis]

Unknown Caller

Ghostface x Reader Smut

Summary: Late at night, you start getting texts from the serial killer and your stalker, Ghostface.

Mentions of: Threats, Death, Stabbing, Sexting, Phone sex, Knife play, Oral Sex, Voyeurism, Recording w/out Consent and Danny being super horny

Word Count: 2.4K

With an exhausted groan, you collapsed back onto your bed, letting the mattress suck you in. It had been yet another long, shitty work day, leaving you mentally drained and wanting to sleep.

The only thing that kept you from sleeping was how gross, sticky, and sweaty you felt from walking around in that shitty waitress uniform. It was a summer day in Florida, after all. Of course you would be burning your ass off. And somehow, the urge to take a shower overpowered your fatigue.

So after an extra moment or two of laying down, you got up, grabbing your phone and a towel, heading into the bathroom and locking the door behind you, just in case any unwelcome visitors came in. You knew exactly who that visitor was.

You tried to shake the thought of the masked murderer, not even daring to think his name. The last thing you needed tonight was having him come around. Maybe he would just give you a break for once and leave you alone. Maybe…

Sighing, you tapped at your phone, playing some music and stripping down. Stepping into the shower, you turned the heat all the way up, letting the hot water pour down onto your skin until it turned red. You washed off all the stress and trouble from the day, finally being able to relax.

Once you got out of the shower, you slipped on a black lacy bra with matching panties, using a robe to cover it up. You had grown used to spending the nights alone, with no one to take home, no friends to speak with.

You lost them all, since they all thought you were being crazy and paranoid about being stalked by Ghostface. Even after one of your dear friends died, (the only one who believed you) they still thought you were crazy. In fact, they thought you killed him. And the cops were no help either, thinking all the threats were just some prankster or copycat.

So now, here you sat on your bed, scrolling through social media, when you got a text.

Unknown: Evening, gorgeous

You stared at the message blankly, feeling your heart drop in your stomach. It was him.

You cast a protective glance over at your bedroom window, which had the curtains drawn and the blinds shut, as an attempt of giving yourself some sort of privacy from the stalker. Was he out there? Waiting outside the window to peek, or behind your door to jump out at you. Even though he’s been doing this for a while, you’d still never get used to it.

Swallowing the lump in your throat, you began to type up a message to respond to him. You learned the hard way to answer his texts and calls.

(Y/N): What do you want to torture me with now?

Even though you were still quite afraid of the killer, there were times where you found him a complete nuisance, and got the guts to told him. This was one of those times.

Unknown: C’mon, don’t be like that. I have fun with the games we play. But I want to try something different tonight.

(Y/N): Like what?

Unknown: Like how I can see what you’re wearing and can’t help but wonder if you put all of that on just for me

You felt your face go a bright red, looking around and grabbing the hem over your robe, moving it over, attempting to cover up your body.

Unknown: There’s no use in covering it up now, I’ve already seen everything and it’s gotten me so hard

Looking at the text, you blinked a few times, making sure this was real. Maybe it was just some weird sex dream. You pinched yourself. Nope. This was real. The feared serial killer of Roseville was sexting you.

Unknown: You look so cute like that, all surprised and scared, it makes me want to cut you up and fuck you until you can’t walk.

Unknown: You’d like that, wouldn’t you?

Your mouth went dry as you tried to think of something to text him back with, your body running hot with arousal. You can’t believe this is turning you on. It really shouldn’t be.

Unknown: There’s no need to be so shy, (y/n). You know we can be honest with each other.

(Y/N): Yes I would

Unknown: Good girl

Unknown: My cock is just throbbing thinking about how nice and tight you would be, how good you would squeeze me, how I’d love to fill you up with my cum. And you’d love every second of it, wouldn’t you, baby?

(Y/N): Fuck yes

You rubbed your thighs together, feeling how drenched you were getting, a silent moan leaving your lips, not even realizing he was paying attention to every little detail.

Unknown: Shit, that was so hot. I’m really turning you on, aren’t I?

Unknown: You want to touch yourself don’t you? Want to get off on the dirty things I’m telling you? Well you can’t. Not unless you beg for it like a good girl.

You would object, but you knew you were too far in to stop yourself. It had been quite a long time since you had done something like this, and a part of you felt desperate. So, you did it. You begged.

(Y/N): Please, Ghostface. Please let me touch myself.

Unknown: Good. Go ahead, but take off that robe. You won’t be needing it.

Moving your arm out, you shrugged the robe off your shoulders, spreading your legs ever so slightly. Might as well give him a show.

You ran your hand down your stomach, moving it down to your hips, and then your thigh, while your other hand stayed high on your chest, running your finger over your clothed nipple. After a moment or two, you dipped your finger under the fabric, running it up and down your drenched slit. You played with your clit, leaning back and moaning softly.

Unknown: Fuck, I just want to run my knife all over the curves of your body

Unknown: Put two fingers in

You did as told, pushing two fingers into your opening, thrusting them in slowly. You didn’t even notice the distant flash of a camera recording you peeking out from behind your window.

You shut your eyes, biting your lip and arching your back, as you began to pick up the pace. The sound of your phone chiming managed to make you open your eyes, and snap out of your little fantasy, looking down at your phone.

Unknown: You look so fucking hot right now, I want to come in there and ruin you

(Y/N): Why don’t you?

Unknown: It’s tempting, but I need to do one thing first.

Unknown Number is calling…

You picked up, slowing your fingers. “Why’d you- why’d you stop?” He questioned between groans, his voice strained. So he was touching himself too.

“I didn’t know if you wanted me to-”

“Keep on going. Don’t stop. Add a finger.” He instructed.

An image of Ghostface stroking himself popped into your mind, making you pick up the pace. A string of mewls and whimpers left your mouth as you went even faster, feeling yourself grow close.

“You sound- shit, so nice babe. Makes me want to- even more-”

“Fuck, I’m g-going to- ah” Your body froze up, feeling yourself clench around your fingers.

It seemed like he was close too, considering how much he was panting, low groans and grunts. There was a brief silence on the other line, and you wondered if he hung up on you. But then, he spoke. “I’m coming in.”

He ended the call and you felt your heart leap in excitement, calming down from your high, and preparing for him to come in. You looked from the window to the door, wondering where he’d be entering.

A few minutes went by, and he still hadn’t shown up. A part of you wondered if this was some sort of sick game to humiliate you. If he was just going to leave you all alone.

“Miss me?” A familiar voice whispered into your ear, making you jump.

“Jesus don’t scare me like that.” You muttered, turning to face him.

“Why so grumpy? Is it because I kept you waiting? So impatient, so needy. I love it.” He grasped your chin, tilting your head and making you look up at him. He ran a gloved finger over your lips, tracing your cupid’s bow.

You felt your body grow hot at the contact, your thighs clenching together. He noticed, moving his hand away to finally give you what you so desperately craved. Grabbing your shoulders, he pushed you down on the bed, straddling you.

Slowly, he ran his knife over your skin, tracing it from your throat, down to your collar bones, and to your chest. It seemed he was being merciful tonight, because you could barely feel the blade against your skin, only a light tickle.

Moving his weapon to the middle of your chest, Ghostface sliced open your brassiere, splitting it in half and revealing your breasts. Well, there went your good underwear.

He ran his finger over your nipple, watching it harden under his touch, pinching it softly. The killer studied your expressions closely, taking in every single detail. The way your lips parted slightly, the way your cheeks heated up, and the way your eyebrows knitted together. God, you were so adorable.

Ghostface shifted his attention to your panties, cutting them off on the side, and pulling them down to your ankles slowly. He moved his hand back up to your opening, running his finger up your wet slit, feeling how soaked it was.

“So wet, all for me? I must’ve really left you waiting. Guess I better get to it then, huh?” His voice was smug, low, and full of mischief. You knew he was playing with you.

He rutted against his hips against you, making you whimper slightly. You knew he wouldn’t do anything, until you said it. “Please, fuck me, Ghostface.”

“Danny.”

You felt your eyes widen at his words. “What?”

“Call me Danny.” In all the time that you had known him, you never got a name out of him. But he was telling you it now. Why? Why was he doing this?

You were too busy processing what just happened to notice the sound of his buckle clicking, and his knife dropping onto the floor, while he was now holding his phone instead. The flash of a camera burned into your eyes, making you look up at him and snap out of your thoughts.

“What’re you doing?” You asked, squinting at the light and covering your eyes with one hand trying to hide the glare.

“Makin a little movie.” He grabbed your hands with his free one, moving them from your face and pinning them above your head. “And you’re the star. Aren’t you excited?”

“I- shit-” Before you could even respond to what he was saying, you felt his cock press up against your soaked folds.

He moved his camera down to your breasts, watching your chest heave, before moving it back up to your face. “Now what’s the magic word? C’mon, you know what to say. You’ve been saying it all night.”

“Please, Danny.” You begged, bucking your hips up against his hardened member. “Please what?”

“Please just fuck me.” You rolled your head against the pillow. He was driving you crazy at this point with how much he was teasing you and making you beg.

Finally, he gave you what you had grown desperate for, entering you with a rough thrust. It was painful at first, the killer not showing any mercy, but you forced yourself to grow used to it.

You moaned out, the feeling of fulfillment overcoming your already sensitive hole. You arched your back, grabbing onto his forearm, digging your nails into his muscle under his robe.

Tears began to stream down your face as you babbled, incoherent words slipping from your lips. It was too good, and you couldn’t think of something, anything, to say to describe it. He was fucking you stupid.

He zoomed in on your tears, watching as your eyes rolled to the back of your head. “Damn, baby. Is it really that good? Do you love getting fucked by my cock that much?”

You didn’t speak, not even sure if you could. He pinched your nipple, making you yelp. “Y-yes! Its- it’s so g-good.”

Danny moved his free hand to your clit, thrusting even deeper, until he hit just at the right spot. You cried out, clenching around him. Moaning out for him to please never stop, to keep going.

“Oh baby, you think I could stop? Not with the way you’re clenching around and calling out my name, begging for- shit.” He grunted, feeling your walls begin to massage him, you were getting close. And so was he.

He nestled his head into the crook of your neck and shoulder, pulling his mask up his face, and biting down, breaking your skin and drawing your blood, his movements growing even harsher. While you dug your nails into his back, reaching your orgasm, Danny not too far behind.

The half-masked killer wiped the blood from his lips, grinning down at you. “There, I marked you as mine. You’re my little slut, got it? Say it.”

You nodded, eyes still shut, your mouth open with only moans and gasps escaping. You forced yourself to speak, voice all hoarse and raw. “I’m your slut, Ghostface- Danny- whatever, I’m all yours.”

“That’s it. Such a good girl. Fuck-” His thrusts grew sloppy, and he rubbed at your clit even harder, making you climax once again with him. He pulled out, releasing on your stomach, and ending the video.

He pressed a rough kiss to your lips, before readjusting his mask, cleaning himself off, and fixing his clothes up. All the while you laid there, nude, panting, and coming down from the intense high you just had. You felt another flash blind your eyes, and the sound of a camera clicking, knowing he just took another picture.

Moving aside your curtains and blinds, Ghostface unlocked your window, pulling it up and stepping through. “This was fun. Let’s do it again sometime. See you soon.”

[lemonlurkrr]

@aureateart​ ok. My favourite parts of twilight princess  (and some other random thoughts about TP sprinkled in there) taken from my monster TP word vomit google doc :

Link lmao

Ok but for real, I like this incarnation of Link :)

I love Ordon (it just seems like such a chill and cozy village)

ALSO love how easy it is to interpret Link as being a sort of older brother figure to the Ordon kiddos. It’s just,, super cute? AND GHHH nice nice good thanks nintendo for giving me characters to care about/characters that I can imagine Link caring about

He didn’t sign up for any of this (tbh, none of the Links really signed up for this jshdjsd). But I mean like, dude was just going to take a trip to castle town, drop a gift off for the royal family, and come back. But haHA oopsies he did get to castle town eventually but definitely not the way he expected hsjdhsd

He’s just a little dude?

AND FUCK. HE REALLY HAD NEVER BEEN OUTSIDE OF ORDON UNTIL ALL OF THAT

everything is new for the player AND Link

Midna

She’s cool :)

she really just

*teleports into your jail cell* hello whore.

I am no master at writing but AYYYY she do got a character arc!!!

She was actually pretty helpful sometimes, I ALWAYS checked in with her before turning to a game guide

Other NPCs

NICE

Love all of the TP character designs (ASHEI’S ARMOUR??? AOWOAOAOOAO)

Saving Zelda and all of Hyrule was important yea but thinking back maybe it was more like, the Ordonians and the kids were what was pushing Link to keep on going

I like the Resistance members :) Very video gamey of them to have one NPC assigned to each dungeon but hey!!! Kinda cool getting to see a little glimpse of each of em

Idk, it’s just fun to imagine Link popping into Telma’s bar after each dungeon and taking a little rest :) (or to celebrate? maybe just chat, idk, give this man some downtime!!)

Honestly it was just kind of nice that Link wasn’t entirely alone. I mean, I know Midna was there the whole time, but I am always for giving Link a big group of friends (see my love for hyrule warriors, age of calamity, and LU LMAO)

Hero’s shade, very very cool, kinda sad he died with regrets but HEY. He got to pass on his knowledge eventually

AND the connection to OoT?? AND assumed to be related by blood too????? GOOD SHIT

Ilia, I REALLY really wanted to like her (er, it’s not like I dislike her, she’s just,,, kinda there for me).

It definitely seems like Nintendo was pushing to make her the romantic interest, but GHHHHH they really threw that out of the window for me by having her lose her memories

I saw a text post a while ago that said it would have been interesting if Ilia was Link’s sister instead and YES!! That would have been cool too :0

Wish we got to know Zelda a little more

I feel like we barely know anything about her

Idk man, like I said earlier, I never really had any sort of drive to save Zelda during my playthroughs

She obviously knows Midna, so maybe if they gave us just a little bit more of that relationship I’d be more interested in her?

TP WORLD BUILDINGGGG

Botw has good world building too, but each race felt kinda,,, isolated? I absolutely love the different architecture and vibe each town has (and all the the weapons too) but ghhh yea everyone felt so separated. As far as I can remember, we don’t see tooo much of the races interacting with each other? Now that I’m typing that out maybe that’s to be expected because of the calamity but KLSJDKJFD ANYWAYS THIS IS ABOUT TP

The world feels nice and alive, love how populated everything is

Castle town I like castle town a lot, it feels dense and busy and I really like how you can’t talk to every NPC you see

Very cool very fun that we got to see the Gorons hanging out in multiple spots

kinda wish we got to see the Zoras a little more (I guess they are a bit limited since they need water but GHHHH the tp zoras are so prebby,,)

BUT HEY, I do remember seeing a zora or two hanging out in the hot springs around death mountain after beating the lakebed temple (I think, might have been a different dungeon) 

but aaaa would have been nice to see them in at least a couple of other places. I think it would have really added to the “congrats Link!! You’re restoring peace to Hyrule” feeling you get from seeing the Gorons hanging out in Kakariko and Castle Town

ORDON

Love how chill it is and how it’s kind of separate from Hyrule proper

They really do seem to be doing their own thing apart from the rest of Hyrule

Just kinda adds onto the “he’s just a regular dude minding his own business” kind of vibes I get from TP Link

Also I like Ordona :)

THE LIGHT SPIRITS,,

Love their design

And love how they’re not exactly like a pure white?

Different spirit representing each aspect of the triforce my beloved

But yes hi I think Ordona is very cool

Who are you, how did you get here, which goddess do you represent? Do you even represent one of the three golden goddesses? Do the Ordonians know about you? Have any of them ever SEEN you??? Do they worship you? Does anybody even know about the existence of the light spirits?? FUCK so many questions but ghhh I like how they broke the status quo a bit by throwing in a fourth spirit :)

I feel like this one is kinda weird but I like that voice sample they used in the light spirit music. It’s spooky and pretty at the same time :)  

cutscenes mmmmm

Ok ok, the spooky lanayru cutscene is very good

BUT THE “Link, Chosen Hero! Lend us the last of your power!” CUTSCENE MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM LOVE IT SO MUCH

IT just

Idk man

It just hit different

I like the music

And seeing the light spirits swimming around in the light juice water whatever it is

Summoning the light arrows?

AND HHHHH “Lend us the last of your power!” THIS IS IT. This is the final battle.

Seeing Zelda bow down, and then Link putting his hand out 👌👌👌

Link: ok bud, let’s do this together :)

Connection to OoT (did I already mention this? Maybe., Whatever)

Very cool nintendo :)

I love seeing connections between all the diff zelda games.

Because like, on one hand, they’re all separate from each other because of yknow, individual hero stuff. BUT ALSO, they’re all connected because of the reincarnation stuff

Grrrr walking through the sacred grove and going “The Hero of Time walked around here a long time ago” FUCK THATS SO COOL

Is the Hero’s Shade watching me? What does he think of me? DIsappointed? Proud? The Hero of Time went through HELL so this timeline didn’t have to deal with any of the shit Ganon was gonna pull with the triforce, better not fuck this UP Link!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Midlink is cute

Kinda hurts that she smashed the mirror but that was probably so Nintendo didn’t have to worry about people going “but what about the twili??????” for any of the other games LMAO

BUT ALSO LIKE SKJDKLJFJ There are some pretty massive plot holes in TP anyway so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ whatever it’s fine we’ll just use this for angst because GOD do y’all like angst

So is Shadlink

Honestly don’t know where this ship came from but it’s cute so whatever

THE MUSIC??

Love Midna’s theme and how they referenced the dark world theme from ALttP (I remember trying to learn the dark world theme on the piano and doing the Leonardo DiCaprio point meme at the little jingle I recognized from Midna’s theme)

Hyrule field theme SLAPS.

Apparently references a couple of the other over-world themes from the previous zelda games (I got this from 8-bit Music theory’s video on the over-world zelda themes, he talks about TP at around 11:40 but def recommend watching the whole video if you’re into music analysis stuff)

So there’s this bit of the Hyrule Field theme, I don’t know the official name for it but I remember seeing somewhere it being called the “at an advantage theme” since yeah, you hear it during the boss music whenever you expose their weak points. FUCKINGGG LOVE THAT. Didn’t notice it during my first playthrough, but hearing it during my second was like a little easter egg for my ears every time :)

Midna’s lament is very pretty (and fun to play on the piano)

COURAGE THEME.

I didn’t care for it too much when I started playing the game but hearing it in ZREO’s arrangement of the Hyrule Field theme literally makes me turn into a puddle of emotions. Also hearing it around and of the Ordon kids (I think it plays after Link saves Colin) AAAAAAAAAAAAA

Orchestra piece #1 and #2 HOLY SHIT???????????????? 

Literally, the first time I listened to those I just,,,, plugged in my headphones, volume 100, layed on the floor/against my desk and silently vibed. I don’t know what the hell it is, but those two just fit so well with TP?? I still avoid listening to them nowadays cause if I DO I definitely will get overwhelmed with the “god I love this game so FUCKING MUCH” kind of feels.

Wolf link sucks at singing

the first time I heard him howling Zelda’s Lullaby I lost my shit because LKSJLDKSGLKJFSKG god that was.,, Bad. Anyways, hearing him howl some of the songs from OoT was cute :)

TP STAFF ROLL??? 

VERY GOOD. IT’s like 10 minutes long and GOD do I love every single second of it. It doesn’t have the same energy as the skyward sword staff roll or the orchestra pieces but GOD does it hit good??

Nice and calm after that big exciting adventure. Maybe it would have been more fun or emotional to have a higher energy piece but it was really nice getting to sit back and watch the camera fly around Hyrule. Seeing like, the Gorons and the Zoras having a good time, the kids returning to Ordon? GOOD SHIT.

and AAAAA that end, when you hear the main Zelda theme and see Link riding off out of Faron woods on Epona… good shit. It gets you thinking, where the hell is he going? What is he doing? Off ot do more adventuring? Going to help out the resistance or something? Going to help Zelda? Or maybe he’s trying to figure out a way to restore the mirror of twilight? Whoooo knows.

hhHHHHhhh it’s just that final reminder that YES!!! YOU JUST PLAYED A ZELDA GAME. JUST ANOTHER STORY APART OF THE WHOLE EPIC OF THE ZELDA SERIES AS A WHOLE

I also want to acknowledge the instrument/samples they used for all the twili stuff.

They’re all just so unique and contrast SO well with the rest of the TP OST. LIKE FUCK!! Anytime I hear the screech from the Twilit Kargarok? Sends a shiver down my spine. I associate those sounds SO strongly with the twili realm. (Like, the same way you associate the BSHEWW VVWWMMM sounds with light sabers)

I love it so god damn much

literally any time there’s a certain sound or motif associated with something I lose my shit

Sacred grove sacred grove sacred gro-

lovely lovely lovely so much fun playing that on the piano. AND again, I did the Leonardo DiCaprio pointing meme when I heard the theme from the lost woods come in GHHHHHHHH

shoutout to TP Faron Woods for helping me study and get through all of my schoolwork

BLEGUUHHH can you tell that I really love music?

and also yea I guess TP is kinda cool too :\

IF YOU READ ALL OF THAT THANKS I GUESS

[user21340]

my only exception

(i don’t own this gif or any of the characters in this fic)

summary: you and nat are separated when in the Red Room. you both are reunited. after holding onto a couple things to give her for a couple years you both realize love is well and alive.

warnings: violence, abuse, swearing, lil angst, fluff

pairing: natasha romanoff x fem!reader

word count: nearly 1.8k

a/n: omg i don’t know what to say! thank you for all the support on the stuff i’ve released so far. it’s super crazy seeing some of my favorite writers following me. thank you so so much for 30 followers! much love 💕💕

(italics in dialogue mean the person is speaking russian)

sorry for any mistakes i wrote this at 3am and have to get up for school at 6 😪 no bueno

It was a cold and stormy night as the power in the Red Room continuously flickered on and off even with the help of a high powered generator.

You and Natalia had been waiting for an event like this to occur so you could break out. Even though both herself and you lived only a small bit of life outside in the real world before you were taken in and trained to become a weapon, both of your humanly morals knew right from wrong. The Red Room’s treatment definitely being a wrong.

Madame B and the other monstrous staff at this facility put all you girls to bed roughly an hour ago. Nat and yourself undid your cuffs connecting your wrist to the metal bedframe so you could pack the few things you both owned before you made your escape. Both of you had talked this plan over through and through so you both were on the same page as soon as you saw that flicker of a power outage surge though the site.

At the moment you both were eighteen years old meaning both of you had proven yourselves worthy enough to hone a spot at this academy and had graduated a couple months prior.

GAME PLAN

Some information you had gathered which the staff weren’t aware of was every time the power flickered off, it disarmed and unlocked the exit door/s for nearly five seconds. The weather has been dry but cold lately not making this discovery too useful. The plan was to sneak over to uncuff yourselves in the middle of the night when these brief power outages were occurring, pack your items, and as you were about to escape bang on the wall of the large room where the girls kept at the academy would sleep to create enough of a distraction before you were out and free for good. Easy right? How wrong you’d be.

When it was time for the distraction, Nat stood by the door waiting for the next surge of lightning of whatever broke the electricities stability as you walked to the far side of the sleeping quarters where you were sure you’d have enough time to bang on the walls and sprint out of that door.

You heard a crash of thunder so you knew your escape chance would be soon. As you were about to start banging on the walls you see a door knob parallel to Nat but far away none the less start turning.

BAM

Lightning strikes, what seems to be right outside of the building. You sprint for the door only to have your arm caught by one of Madame B’s henchmen.

Just like that the power flickers.

five.

Without much thought you break away from the man’s grasp lunge at Natalia who happened to be at the door.

four.

“We’ll meet again Natalia.” you speak softly

three.

You shove her out of the door with all of your might.

two.

You use all of your remaining strength that you can muster up to slam the heavy metal door closed.

one.

Click

The door locks once again.

“You stupid little bitch. Get over here NOW!” the man practically growls.

You slowly and steadily walk over to the man as he gruesomely pummels and kicks you.

Sure the beatings, mind torture and manipulation hurt, but you’ve never experienced any kind of pain on the same caliber to what being separated from Natalia feels like.

Madame B is more than disappointed, enraged and annoyed with one of her ‘star students’. You receive daily beatings and long, tiresome training hours for helping Natalia escape. Although everyone is ‘replaceable’ in the minds of the staff as well as Madame B, they just lost Natalia so they couldn’t afford to lose you as well.

Months later the beatings finally slow down to a couple a week which you are able to endure. Madame’s mission now is to make a monster out of you by pushing you to and past your limits when training.

One night you finally drift off to sleep. You hate sleeping. It’s a constant replay of your last night with Nat. Only hoping that she made it to civilization safe and sound and is living a normal teens life. However, tonight’s dream is different. In this dream you see yourself shoving your packed-escape bag between your mattress and bedframe as you are bleeding out on the ground from the beatings. You wake up in a cold sweat and manage to kneel on the ground and slowly lift up your mattress only to find that same, small bag filled with the few, but important belongings of yours and Nat’s. You open up the bag forgetting all about what you both had packed. The most important items you see is a picture of Natalia as a toddler with alongside her mother and father, a small metal ring which you had made for her after stealing a small teaspoon at dinner, banging it against the concrete floor with a rock to flatten it out as you’d continuously bend it back and fourth so only the thinnest part is of the spoon is left which you bend into a ring before surprising Nat with it after you know she had a pretty rough day training, and lastly Nat’s papers containing important info about her such as her full name, birthplace, parents names, and birthdate.

November 22, 1984

November 22, 1984

November 22, 1984

November 22, 1984

You make sure you have this date burned into your head, latching onto any important information about her you can learn.

You hang onto those three items keeping them hidden.

Two and a half years later...

It’s late at night when you hear gunshots and fights breaking out throughout the facility. You quickly get up out of bed (once again undoing your cuffs) and grab those three items from under your mattress. You place them in your pocket getting ready to make a break for the outside world. As you reach for the door you turn back taking one last look at the place you’ve been living for pretty much the entirety of your life, only before a man in a funny red, white, and blue costume enters your view.

You bring your hands up ready for a fight.

“Look kid, I’m not here to fight you. We are breaking you out.” the man ensures

“Who even are you?” you sternly question

“Steve Rogers. But the public calls me Captain America.” his gaze settles on your figure, “Mind telling me who you are?” he pushes

“Names y/n, but look I’ve got places to be ma-“ you are cut off when Captain America’s jaw drops.

“No, we both know you don’t. But, you ARE coming with me.” you know there isn’t much room for protest but that won’t stop you from trying. You lunge at him and push him to the ground as you wave a small goodbye and sprint towards the door only for your body to fall on the ground limp. Realizing you’ve been stunned by something temporarily.

“YOU MOTHERFUCKER!” you shriek, he only chuckles.

“God, Nat was right about you.” she shakes he head with a small grin on his face.

“N-nat?” you whisper as you vision fades black.

You regain consciousness and look around only to find yourself in a weird windowy, loud vehicle type thing. You see a group of people standing around you but you see one particular familiar face hovering directly over yours lightly combing through your hair with one one hand and gently outlining your jawline with the other.

“NAT!” you screech, your brain is feeling too many emotions to comprehend at the moment.

Once she sees and hears you are awake she pulls you into a bone crushing hug.

“Y/n/n I’m so sorry I left you and you had to stay in that hellhole for so long alone I don’t know how I would’ve help up it if that-“ you cut her off

“Natalia, all that matters is I’m here with you right now.” you reason.

After getting off of what you learned is a ‘plane’ you and Nat spend hours together clinging onto one another as if, as soon as you separate you will be absent in her life for another couple years, vice versa.

Months pass by. Even though you and Nat have yet to label yourselves as a couple your hearts belong to one another after being attached to the hip to one another for pretty much every activity or mission you both do. In this time you were also recruited as an Avenger due to your skillful hand to hand combat and your masterful types of fighting you have nearly perfected from your time in the room.

The date just happens to be November 22. You are pretty sure no one in the compound is aware of Natalia’s birthday, hell, you aren’t even sure if she’s aware.

Today is the day you decide to return the missing items from her bag that you recover after she left.

You wake up next to her and wake her up with a long, graceful, soft kiss on her lips to which she responds shortly after by kissing you back as you feel as tiny smirk against your own lips.

“Hey, what was that for?” she asks playfully

“Ohhh nothing. Just maybe it’s for my favorite girl’s special day today.” Nat blushes.

“H-how’d you know?”

“Oh honey, I know e v e r y t h i n g.” you reply

Before she can respond you pull her to sit up on your shared bed and hand her an envelope containing her papers as well as he one and only photo of herself and her family.

As soon as she sees both items she sobs into your chest. (more because of the picture, you really only included her papers so she too would know all the most crucial parts of her life pre-red room era.

“Uh, uh, uh’” you tut,”One more thing.” you reach for her hand slowly and tell her to shut her eyes. You slowly slide the makeshift ring on her finger.

“Open.” you instruct

To which she gasps at the sight and just like the day you both were reunited you hugged and kissed for hours on end.

“Nat, will you be my girlfriend?” you ask with a sheepish smile.

“Of course y/n/n, I thought you’d never ask.” she takes a breath,“I know love is for children, but you are my only exception.”

“Ditto.” Natalia chuckles, “That is what the Americans say, right?” you backtrack with flushed cheeks.

She holds you tighter and presses a soft kiss to your forehead.

“Sure.” she breathes out.

[lockpicnic]

Birthright

“Febaaaaail?” The youngest Yngvi rocks back and forth on her heels, looking up at her brother with a smile that could only be described with one word: guilty. “…What’d you do now, Patty?” He doesn’t even bother to look over at her, continuing to fiddle with the strings of his bow. “Eh!? I didn’t do notin’! I just wanted to ask a question!”

She climbs onto the bed, and her brother doesn’t even give her a moment to be a menace before he lowers the bow onto his lap, turning to face her with a sigh. “What is it— Patty!” She wraps her arms around him, pulling him into a hug. “Can ya tell me ‘bout ma again?” “What? I already told you everythin’ I know, now buzz off!” But she doesn’t let go, only holding on tighter.

“Then tell me all of it again! Pleeeeeeease, Febail?” His sister hits him with those stupid puppy dog eyes she’s learned from her time begging on the street. Thankfully he’s built an immunity by now. “No, Patty— can’t you see I’m busy right now? If you leave me alone maybe I’ll tell ya a bedtime story or something.” Finally she lets go, turning to face the wall with a loud and exaggerated huff. “Fine!“

The room is quickly plunged into relative silence, only interrupted by the sounds of Febail working away and Patty shifting and squirming in place. She had never been very good at sitting still, especially when she wanted something so badly. “Why do ya fix up that bow everyday, anyway? Do ya keep breakin’ it?” He pauses again, sighing even louder. “No. Ya gotta make sure your bow’s always in good shape, that’s the secret to gettin’ the arrow to fly farther and land right where ya want it.”

Her hand slides closer, trying to touch the bow for herself. “Can I fire it when you’re done?” The thief’s eyes shine at the sight, continuously amazed by the fact that such a powerful weapon had been entrusted to her brother. “How many times am I gonna say no to you today? No, Patty— this was ma’s. I ain’t letting you get a chance to break it before I can give it back to her…maybe when you’re older.”

“Aw— no fair…”

— — — — — 

Back then she hadn’t known that Febail was a hitman, taking in money in exchange for shooting people down with their mother’s bow just to feed her and the other children. Even if she didn’t like the idea of it, it wasn’t as if she was any better. While she took from the rich while they were still alive, he took their lives.

Maybe the two of them really were good for nothing orphans, only destined to cause trouble. Even with her Holy Blood their mother had become a criminal as well…so it was only natural.

But that was all she had ever wanted growing up— to be the spitting image of her mother inside and out. That was why she had always been desperate to pick up the Yewfelle and fire it herself…and though the bow currently in her hands was nothing more than an iron bow, she fixed it the same way her brother had with his birthright.

“I’m older now, big bro…would ya let me fire it if ya saw me now?”

‘No, he probably wouldn’t. He was always really careful with it…but he’d still be proud.’

She raises the bow up high, aiming it slightly towards the sky. The target was completely out of sight— she’d have to use her instincts to land the killing bow. ‘The way ya fought back in the army…was that how ya used to take out your hits too?’

Mimicking his stance, Patty finishes lining up the shot…and lets go of the bowstring. The arrow soars, flying farther than ever before— until it embeds itself perfectly into the bullseye…her target neutralized.

“…Guess I’m a real Yngvi now, huh?”

Assassin Class: Mastered!