#not to go to bat for a really worthless minor character for a second here but ran dou looks cool actually

[cospinol]

TODAY’S EPISODE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Koku you amethyst time!!!!!!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 And it’s apparently the moment that the show’s staff have been waiting for just as eagerly as I have because it’s the best looking episode not just of this season but maybe… of the entire series since its inception…????!! I genuinely can’t think of another one that has Multiple dedicated cuts of detailed action in a row like the sequence from kyou kai snapping on the mountain road to the encounter between shin and kyou kai + rai do and koku’ou at kan ki’s camp, and certainly not one anywhere near as good looking, it’s such a treat…!!!!!!!

[quick aside, before I forget I want to add that rai do is addressing shin as ‘obocchan’ in the last cap above :DDD truly the gift that keeps on giving]

And anyways that’s without even touching on how good this sequence would be regardless of looks because it’s still Amethyst Plot time 🥰❤️💞❣️💓💍💘 Bi hei giving in to peer pressure in just the kind of moment of weakness that you can’t actually detest him for (of course you would want to believe him when he tells you it wasn’t a civilian village..), kyou kai absolutely fucking snapping, the cool head ten maintains between trying to hold shin back and immediately pivoting the hi shin unit to a defensive formation for the real possibility that shin and kyou kai actually start pvp against the kan ki army , and of course shin and kan ki putting their cards on the table :)))))

^ my favourite panel of him ever now animated!!!!!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 and my favourite moment in the exchange between them, shin’s is still yet to come (I think all his talk in this week’s episode about kan ki not being equipped to handle sei’s dream of unification *is* sweet and sincere but it’s also dumb and that’s why kan ki is able to refute him so easily; the point that really matters and where his moral stance becomes unassailable, for me, is in the fact that it’s all for hyou’s sake. there’s no counter-argument about what you may or may not be turning a blind eye to there, it’s the mandate made absolute and incorruptible instead…) but this is maybe my favourite line of kan ki’s ever… he’s just following through on the promise he made you; these are the rules you agreed to play by! 🥰🥰🥰 i don’t even need to go into the premium emycore aspect of ever part of this sequence lol, the indulgence of it all…

also I was pleasantly surprised to see that they preserved just about all all of the gore from the scenes covered in this week’s scenes; there are some minor changes (the zhao soldiers kan ki is having the saki clan interrogate early in the episode are shown a little less mutilated than they are in the manga, and there’s no nudity) but they really are minor which bodes pretty well for the saki clan artworks coming up soon :~) I think there’s a chance we might not see that scene until the week after next since next episode’s primary focus will of course be Bi Hei And The Hi Shin Unit as per the ep title, but i’m so curious to see what they do with it since the anime has *always* omitted saki and saki-adjacent activities in the past. but I won’t get ahead of myself when we still have all of bi hei’s crisis to savour first :D

also, in shin’s speech telling kan ki off, we got a little additional visual of ran dou from sanyou campaign! always on the lookout for scenes from s1-2 appearing in flashback in the current art style <3

and i really had forgotten what he looked like lol even though this is another scene I absolutely adore for similar reasons to the one in the camp in this episode - though there’s no mou ten around to step in and defend shin this time, of course… :)

[flyonlittlewinchester]

Easier

Pairing: DeanXReader

Warnings: Angst, minor character death, explicit violence, abusive relationship

A/N: Just a one-shot from my brain. If you’d like a sequel let me know but for now this is a standalone piece.

Summary: Reader comes to the bunker after her boyfriend beats her up. 

It was 2am. She opened the door to the bunker trying to be as quiet as possible. She didn’t want to wake the boys. It would be easier to answer their questions in the morning. Easier to lie in the morning. By then the bruises would be a little more faded; easier to cover up.

*buzz buzz*

Baby I’m sorry. Come back I miss you. I’ll take my meds this time I promise.

She was tempted. She wanted to believe him. She knew what kind of person he was capable of being and she thought she could save him. If anyone could change him it would be her. She was tough, she could take it. It’s not like she hadn’t dealt with worse from monsters. He didn’t even hit her that hard really. It was her fault. She shouldn’t have provoked him when she knew he was having a bad day. These thoughts slammed around in her head and she almost turned around and went back when she heard footsteps approaching.

Shit. She thought.

“Y/N?” Sam asked, clearly confused.

She painted on the best smile she could muster up.

“Hey Sammy. Didn’t mean to wake you man. I was just gonna crash here for the night if you don’t mind?” She said her voice unsure and shaking.

“Yeah sure thing, is there a problem?”

“Um no I was just ya know on my way back from a hunt. Simple salt and burn.” She said doing a terrible job of lying.

“Y/N your place is 3 minutes from here. You sure everything’s ok?” Sam asked getting more concerned by the second.

“Yeah just really tired. Goodnight.” She ducked her head as she tried to pass him but he turned the lamp on before she could.

Blood ran down her cheek from her hairline. Her lips were swollen and bruises covered her face and neck. The ones on her neck looked suspiciously like fingers and that wasn’t lost on Sam.

“Y/N, what the hell happened?” Sam was livid now.

“It’s nothing Sammy, just a ghost that got rough.”

“Simple salt and burns don’t leave finger marks on your neck, Y/N” Sam reached up to move her hair away from her face when she flinched. It was a dead giveaway.

“It was that piece of shit Derek, wasn’t it?” Sam said trying to control his voice for fear of scaring her.

She didn’t answer his question which gave him all the answer he needed.

“Dean! Get your ass up we got a job to do!” Sam shouted disappearing down the hallway.

Y/N stepped into the kitchen to try and clean herself up a little. She didn’t want Dean to see her like this. She didn’t want to see him look at her with pity, like she was something fragile. She wanted him to see her as tough and strong and someone worthy of his love. She had always wanted his love but never felt deserving of it. That’s why she always settled for cheap carbon copies that treated her like garbage. Which brings us to Derek. He was tall-ish with lifeless brown hair and eyes that could pass for green in the right lighting but for the most part looked like cloudy swamp water. He had muscles but didn’t really work out so they weren’t defined. Nothing like Dean.

They could pass as similar but there was just something about Dean that could never be replicated. But she wouldn’t ever admit this to herself. She couldn’t. It wasn’t safe. They already risked their lives enough. They didn’t need any more vulnerabilities. Besides, she didn’t deserve Dean anyway.

She cleaned herself up the best she could but the cuts and bruises were still there. She could hear the footsteps coming down the hallway and she left the kitchen to meet the boys.

“He’s a fucking dead man.” She heard Dean snarl before he turned the corner. One look at her and he stopped dead in his tracks. The face he loved marred almost beyond recognition. Her usual air of strength and confidence stripped away. He didn’t recognize the girl in front of him and it broke his heart. It only strengthened his resolve to end the life of the person responsible. Derek. Dean could never stand the guy and couldn’t fathom why Y/N would pick someone like him. She deserved someone strong and patient and-  him. She deserved him. No one could protect her like he could. No one would love her like he would. But she didn’t want that and at the end of the day he loved her too much not to respect her decisions. Even if that decision was Derek. But it was time to step up now. He respected her decisions but he wasn’t gonna let his girl be treated like that. Not as long as he lived. Y/N looked down when she met Dean’s eyes. She tried to keep her face turned as much as possible so he wouldn’t see how bad it really was. Dean approached her as slow as possible so she wouldn’t be startled while Sam hung back a little bit, twirling a baseball bat in his hands.

“It’s ok baby girl I just wanna check the cuts.” Dean said, reaching his hand up to turn her face. She locked eyes with him and the tears started to fall.

“It’s my fault Dean. He was having a bad day and I pushed him too far. I deserved it.” She whimpered.

Dean’s eyes flared with anger but he kept his voice calm.

“Listen sweetheart. I don’t ever want to hear you say that again, understand? Nothing you could do is deserving of this.” He said stroking her face with his fingertips. They felt like feathers as she leaned into his touch. He pulled her in and hugged tight, noticing when she winced.

“Where all did he hit you?” Dean asked.

She pointed to her ribs and her stomach.

“Can I see?” She nodded her head and lifted up her shirt exposing fresh bruises alongside ones that were clearly days old.

“He likes to kick.” She responded.

Dean shot a look back at Sam who was barely keeping it together. Y/N was his best friend. His family. And he didn’t take kindly to people messing with his family.

“Go get the car ready, Sammy.” Dean said. Without a word he stalked off to the garage, baseball bat in hand.

“Sam and I will be out for a bit but we’ll be back ok? I promise. Go take a shower and put on those pjs you always steal from me. They’re in the top drawer. Get some rest and when you wake up tomorrow it’ll all be over.” He kissed her on the forehead and walked off in the same direction as his brother. She followed Dean’s orders and finally fell asleep in his bed around 3:30am. Meanwhile, Sam and Dean were busy roughing up Derek. They figured torture before death was fair. They had caught him completely by surprise. He was asleep in his bed without a care in the world only to be woken up by a baseball bat slamming down on his groin.

“Rise and Shine you worthless son of a bitch! We got work to do!” Dean shouted, pointing a gun in his face just in case he tried anything. They tied him up and took turns hitting him with the bat and breaking his bones. They avoided the head. He needed to be awake for this. The best part was the house was in the middle of nowhere so no one would ever hear his screams. After breaking nearly every bone in his body the boys decided they were done.

“I’ll go get the buckets Sam. Go ahead and do the honors.” Dean said leaving the room.

Sam took his knife and made long gashes on Derek’s arms from wrist to elbow. He was already in so much pain he barely felt the knife. Dean came back with two buckets of water, sticking Derek’s hands in each one. His death needed to be slow and painful but it only took a few minutes before he was gone. They left not bothering to dispose of the body. Derek was a hunter with a lot of friends and someone would come looking for him soon. He was a crappy hunter so no one would think twice about him meeting a violent end. Besides, Dean was anxious to get back to Y/N. They had already been gone too long.

They arrived back at the bunker and Sam left to his room without a word. Dean knew how much Sam loved Y/N. Not romantically but more like a little sister and Dean knew it hurt him just as much to see her broken like that. He would need time to cope.

Dean walked into his room and saw Y/N curled up in a ball wearing his sweats and T-shirt that were just a little too big for her. She looked so innocent and peaceful. Her curls sprawled out on the pillow like dancing streams. Dean knew then that he would have to admit sooner or later how he felt about her but for now they both just needed to rest. He changed and crawled into bed next to her. Still half-asleep she rolled over and reached for him laying her head on his chest. He held her all night and that was the best sleep they ever had. And she was right. In the morning, everything would be easier.