#oH and also the other humans were cool i like the lady and the guy they were fun

[hall0wedwyrm]

JUST WATCHED GODZILLA VS KONG AND IM SO EMOTIONALLY ATTACHED TO THEM SOMEONE HELP ME

also ive never needed to see a sequel more than i need to see The New Empire...... i need to see it right now.

but also i think im gonna watch King of Monsters too... i need my big monster fix..........

[mokulule]

Dead on MAYn Day 1 - still untitled.

Prompts used: Dinner interrupted by a rogue/gang fight, courting rituals.

This thing keeps growing so I figured I should just post the first part. It will be continued eventually it’s kinda going places I didn’t expect. I am also using the flickering prompt, but it doesn’t appear in this first part.

Danny dug into his burger with gusto. It was not Nasty Burger, but it was greasy and cheesy and juicy and definitely hit the spot after a whole day walking about Gotham taking in the supernatural sights.

Sam was entirely less impressed with the vegetarian option and had set it down with a grimace and was now just picking at her fries. Tucker had taken it as a personal win for the Meat Team™ and was lording it over her with his eyebrows - thankfully he was too busy eating to actually say anything, which Danny was very glad of. You could only hear the same arguments so many times. At least age and maturity had assured they didn’t end their friendship over it.

“So,” Sam said, “What’s next after this?”

Danny finished chewing his mouthful, before speaking. “I’m not sure, I figured just go back to the hotel for a bit, chill until nightfall? Gotham’s court won’t be in session until then.”

“Seconded. My feet hurt,” Tucker chimed in.

“Maybe if you didn’t spend all your day sitting in front of a screen all day-”

And they were at it again… Danny tuned them out with the practice of years of being on the sideline, humming in agreement when prompted. He loved his friends dearly, but arguing was a part of their love language that he didn’t feel like participating in.

He let his eyes wander around the small diner, and found himself frowning as a group of men hurried inside.

If Danny had been less used to his ghost sense warning him of trouble, maybe he would have reacted in time - or at all. As it was he found himself frozen in shock when he saw the guns - regular human guns, not ecto-guns, ecto-guns he knew how to react to.

It was strange to realize that nobody had ever pointed a normal gun at him before and someone was pointing a gun at him right now - of course it would be in Gotham he got that experience.

“Hey you, stand up slowly and get over here. Hands where I can see them.”

Oh.

Danny’s brain suddenly caught up to the events.

A group of five armed men had entered the diner waving guns. Three kept their eyes on the door and windows as if they expected someone to follow them. One was moving behind the counter towards the back, maybe looking for the waitress who had skedaddled as soon as the armed men entered and the last one had his gun trained on Danny, who of all people in the diner he’d figured was the best option for a hostage.

Danny resisted the urge to laugh.

Slowly he did as bidden, raising his hands and standing up.

On the surface he wasn’t an unreasonable choice. He was short and lean, if he was completely honest he looked like a stiff wind could blow him over. Sam in contrast looked like trouble and Tucker had grown up annoyingly tall, and if Gotham police was like most places it was probably wiser to pick a white boy as hostage anyways. The rest of the people in the diner were two heavy set construction workers and a lady with arms broader than Danny’s thighs, like damn. 

So yeah, Danny was apparently the best choice. 

Regretfully, he left his dinner to cool on its plate as he took carefully measured steps towards the… what? Mobster? Gang person? 

A part of him was wondering how much a gunshot could hurt him. Would it hurt him? In human form probably, as long as he was tangible. Would it kill him the rest of the way? He wasn’t particularly keen to find out.

His eyes flickered to the other armed men when one of them hissed at the guy at the door. “Do you see him?”

Danny considered doing something for about three steps, but he wasn’t experienced enough with real guns and fighting humans that he thought he could risk it. He’d also prefer to fly under the radar while he was here. He was on vacation, not here to mess with anyone.

There was a familiar feeling in his throat, wanting to be let go. His head snapped towards the kitchen. What! That couldn’t be right?

The man grabbed him and put the gun to his head just as a crash sounded from the kitchen and the wisp of cold breath escaped his mouth. Everyone turned towards the noise. The man who held him tightened his hold and pushed the gun so hard against his head he had to tilt it. 

Something black came flying out the door and the jumpy gunmen shot at it, but with their attention on the object (a pan, it was just a pan) they didn’t notice the man who followed behind. He was fast, not much more than a red brown blur, shooting the furthest man in the arm so he dropped the gun and then coming in close, punching the first man and kicked the next in the belly. He moved so smoothly, effortlessly. 

Danny forgot to breathe. Because that there was the source of his ghost sense. Because that there was also a human.

Another halfa.

Here in Gotham of all places! 

His heart gave a hard thump in his chest and he gasped, remembered breathing was a thing he sorta needed as a human. He still couldn’t take his eyes off the other halfa. Now there was someone who knew how to fight. His core hummed pleasurably in his chest. The other halfa had taken care of those goons in less than ten seconds. The fourth one was probably dealt with in the kitchen. And the fifth-

Danny was abruptly reminded of how the fifth had a gun to his head, as he annoyingly poked him with that barrel and pulled him backwards towards the door.

“Not another step or he gets it!”

Danny grimaced. He finds another halfa and he’s a fucking hostage? Stellar first impression, right there! Someone please shoot him- or wait, considering the situation that was probably not the wisest turn of phrase. 

“How about you let the civilian go, and I won’t break your kneecaps.” The voice was menacing though clearly modulated and there was a delightful, almost cheerful undertone.

Now that he was standing still, Danny could better appreciate him. He was a big man, probably near a head taller than Danny and so much wider. Death had clearly not stopped him from putting on muscle. Normally Danny might have been jealous, but honestly he was too busy appreciating the other halfa. 

He was wearing a red helmet, faceless except for a pair of glaring eyes and he had a large bat symbol across his chest. This last bit should put Danny off. There were very good reasons Danny didn’t want to catch any attention here. He couldn’t think of them right now. But there were… reasons… yes… and thighs walking towards him-

“I swear I will shoot!”

Oh for fuck’s sake! There were too many people involved. Danny promptly stepped down on his captor’s instep, ducked and twisted out of his hold. 

Red Hood, because that was his name, Danny suddenly remembered, promptly shot the gun out of the man’s hold and took him down with a punch and a crunching kick to the right knee. 

Shit, Danny was jealous, not of the broken kneecap of course, but he also wanted to throw down. He could show the other halfa what he could do, make friends, or more? Would it be too forward to gift him one of his moon rocks?

It probably was too forward? This was the first halfa he met who wasn’t a fruit loop or related to him. At least he hoped he wasn’t a fruit loop.

“Are you alright?”

Danny shook himself out of his thoughts to find that he’d been approached.

Now that he was up close Danny could really appreciate how those arms looked strong enough to bend him in half and- Danny’s gaze stopped at his waist. Was he actually wearing a leather corset? It did great things for his-

“That was either brave or stupid.”

The words had Danny’s eyes snapping back up to the glaring helmet. Danny was frozen. How was he supposed to talk to him? His mind reeled. Do something! Anything!

“How’s this for stupid?” Danny blurted and promptly punched him in the gut with a good deal of ghostly strength. Red Hood bent over with a pained oof.

Fuck! Danny’s brain screamed at him in despair. He could not believe he’d done that! Glancing around he couldn’t find Sam or Tucker so he quickly ran out the diner. 

He was grabbing for his phone in his pocket while running, when he was pulled into an alley. He was so wound up he nearly threw another punch, but then he realized it was just Sam and Tucker.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

“Danny!” They spoke in eerie unison. Tucker snorted, but Sam continued, “Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

Danny shook his head, realizing he must look a little dazed. He felt a little dazed. He didn’t even feel like taking the obvious bait.

“I punched Red Hood,” he admitted.

“What!” There they went again I unison, almost as if they practiced it.

“Do you think he’d like a moon rock?”

The looks they sent him then, they were indescribable. Absently he padded his shoulder to make sure he hadn’t grown a second head.

“Are you sick, Danny? Was there something in the food?” Sam put her hand on his forehead checking his temperature, even as she looked at Tucker, “What are the chances there’d be blood blossoms in a random burger?”

“Extremely unlikely, more likely something new, never seen Danny react like this.”

Danny grumpily pushed Sam’s hand away. “The food was fine. I’m fine.”

They gave him twin dubious looks.

“Look, let’s just go back to the hotel room. I just need a little rest and I’ll be fine.”

-

Jason gasped in pain to the sound of laughter in his comms. What the Hell was in that guy’s food that he could throw such a punch?

“What did he did the little guy do, Hood? Kick you in the jewels?” Dick managed to ask through laughter.

They didn’t have visuals, small mercies, but Oracle the traitor had let on to the former hostage’s scrappy stature in the run down of the situation.

“He did not.” Jason growled and turned off the comms, done listening to those idiots. Shit, fuck. Definitely a meta, that had been super strength. Keeping one hand over his pained abdomen he walked over to kick the goon who had decided to crawl for his gun in Red Hood’s apparent distraction.

“Don’t even think about it, I am not in the mood for it,” he growled and the goon whimpered.

When he finished securing the goons, of course the meta was long gone. Jason sighed in annoyance. Just his luck.

[bones4thecats]

Meeting Their Future King Ghidorah! S/O

Characters: Mei Dragon, Red Son, and Demon Bull King Inspired By: My love for Chinese mythology & Godzilla films A/N: This is literally my favorite piece I've ever written. I love Godzilla so much, it was one of the only franchises that I have ever really stuck with growing up so doing this was fun! Anyways, I do hope you guys enjoy this so much! ⚠️ Spoilers/Trigger Warnings for: Mentions of war, fighting, and being imprisoned (maybe slight spoilers for Godzilla: King of Monsters)⚠️ Fanart Refrences: Credits to Nekkyo Usagi on ArtStation

╔══════════════════════════════════════════╗

╚═════ Mei Dragon ════════════════════════════╝

🐉 As a once destructive and head-strong being made only to destroy all that surrounded you, you served the Lady Bone Demon for many years before her imprisonment by Tang Sanzang

🐉 She had sent multiple demons off to the Antarctica to seek you out, and thankfully for her, they freed you with ease

🐉 Landing behind the skeletal-demon, you looked over the enemies she had been holding off more a mere few minutes and huffed, blowing a large amount of smoke out of your nose

"...Uh, Mei? Do you think you can handle this thing?" MK asked.

"I think." She answered.

🐉 You readied yourself, awaiting your Lady's call for you to charge into battle at full-strength. And, when she moved her hand, you launched forward, readying an attack at the Monkie Kids

🐉 Another sight then knocked your back and unconscious from hitting all of your heads against the nearby buildings and floors. Sun Wukong, Macaque, and another dragon then turned to your master and began fighting

🐉 As you opened your eyes again, you reached up and cupped your head. Man did your head hurt from that hit...

"Hey. Are you okay? Sorry if I hit you hard." A feminine voice said.

"Who are you?!" You growled, attempting to form human words again while claws emerging from your larger paw-like hands.

"I'm Mei, uh, descendant of the Dragon of the, oh what was it again? Oh yeah! The West!" She announced, scratching the back of her neck embarrassingly before holding out a bowl of soup to your larger draconian form.

🐉 You cocked an eyebrow and your head while your fellow heads did the same as you. And once you knew this human was of no harm to you at the moment, you groaned and deactivated your dragon form, being covered in a large amount of light

🐉 The large amount of yellow-glowing light made everyone around launch to where you were, and they were all surprised to see Mei talking to a human dressed in gold scale-printed armor with two dragon heads on their shoulders and another on their head like a helmet

🐉 Your cape was being twirled around in Mei's fingers as she asked you questions, some on your childhood, others on your fights and more that you could easily catch with your excellent hearing

"Mei? Who is this?!" Pigsy yelled while the others readied their weapons in anticipation for your attack.

"Oh! This is King/Queen Y/N of the Kaiju! They're really nice! And you should feel their hair! It's so gosh-darn soft!" She said, stars in her eyes as she moved from your cape back to your hair.

🐉 MK then ran up to you and began messing with your hair with his friend, and while this would've annoyed you if it were literally anyone else, you just accepted that they were young and dumb

"Well then King/Queen Y/N of the Kaiju, do you pose any threat against us?" asked Tang.

"No. I could honestly couldn't care less about harming you mortals anymore. With that Bone-Broad is gone, I have free will again." You then picked up your chopsticks and brought more noodles to your lips, blowing on them to cool them out before chewing on them and laying the utensils down in the bowl again and finishing. "You guys are completely safe from my attacks now. Also, whoever made those noodles deserves an award."

🐉 Despite the stoic expression on your face as you spoke, Mei could feel that you were smiling on the inside, you were just stubborn and needed a Nutcracker named Mei Dragon to help you open up!

🐉 And boy, would she open you up!

╔══════════════════════════════════════════╗

╚═════ Red Son ══════════════════════════════╝

🔥 As a former member of Heaven, that being a representative of the Dragon Clan, you were very close with many members. Well, that was until a revolution came and you left the hopeful land and was imprisoned within one of Antarctica's many icebergs

🔥 Over time, the Monkie Kids had been fighting against a powerful demon, one who had been terrorizing China for multiple weeks. But, when it opened another portal in an attempt of sending Sun Wukong away, a rogue fire blast from Red Son accidentally exploded in the winter wonderland

🔥 All of a sudden, the sound of a large roar made everyone, especially Sun Wukong and Ne Zha to look up in shock when a large yellow dragon crawled out from the hole and spread it's wings out wide

🔥 Next thing Red Son knew, Wukong had grabbed him and MK before picking them up and taking them away from the pathway you made when fighting against the demon

🔥 Red Son was shocked to see how you picked up his father with your tail and helped him and the others defeat the demon before sitting down, allowing Mei and the others to pet your nose

"F-Father?! Who is this beast?!" He yelled.

"This is King/Queen Y/N of the Kaijus. An extinct species of demons. They are the final one living, we both go back." Demon Bull King said.

🔥 You looked at the large demon and his offspring and nodded at them. And when you blew on the humans, making them take a few steps back, they saw how gold covered your large and scaly form before blinding them

🔥 As everyone opened their eyes once again, they saw a more humanoid figure standing there. The scales that once donned your figure now laid on your armory, two dragon heads on your shoulders with a third one on your head, a long cape behind you with a long and far more fancy than normal loincloth around your hip, and long H/C hair going down to your mid-back

"Whoa..." Red Son whispered.

"It's so great to see you again, Y/N!" Wukong said, wrapping his arms around you and he twirled you around in the air.

"Yes... it's nice to see you as well, Wukong." You said. "Now put me down before I fry your head."

🔥 Wukong let you down before introducing you to everyone, saying how you were a hatchling when the Samadhi Fire was created and how you were imprisoned by Heaven when you proved to be a threat to the Jade Emperor

"It's so good to have another dragon around! I'm Mei!" A young girl said, lifting your hand and shaking it excitedly while MK did the same just moments later.

🔥 As you met every member, you noticed the large form of Demon Bull King and walked to him before bowing lightly, showing respect to your old ally. He then nodded and poked your helmet before pointing towards his son and motioning him to come forward

"Introduce yourself." He ordered.

"I'm Red Son. The son of Demon Bull King and Princess Iron Fan. You must be... Y/N." He said, holding his hand out reluctantly for you to shake.

🔥 You held your own hand up, making him let out a small questioning noise as you chuckled before saying how he didn't need to shake your hand if he didn't want to, you didn't mind

"I-uh, okay?"

"So, Y/N. Do you mind telling me how it was being stuck in an iceberg?" The Monkey King asked.

"If you tell me what it was like being underneath a mountain." You teased.

🔥 You were an odd one... but you seemingly understood Red Son to a degree despite just meeting. Maybe he could get used to you...

╔══════════════════════════════════════════╗

╚═════ Demon Bull King ═════════════════════════╝

👹 Before Demon Bull King was imprisoned, he was very close with Sun Wukong, Azure Lion, Yellow Tusk, Peng, and Macaque. And one day when they were speaking, Macaque and Wukong began to speak about an old friend of theirs

👹 The others were interested in your story, and they listened intently as the two primate-beings began to explain everything about you. From your species to your accomplishments

👹 And Demon Bull King had to admit, you were a fairly cool founding being

"So, they're kinda like a King/Queen of the Kaijus?" Yellow Tusk asked.

"Yeah! And they're super powerful! They can release these gravity beams from their mouths in their dragon form and they can fly really fast, they're just so cool!" Wukong said.

👹 DBK chuckled as Wukong began to shake Macaque while asking if he remembered if he had spoke to you about the upcoming battle they had with Heaven, to which he shook his head and made the Monkey King sigh and cross his arms in a pout

👹 Maybe the demon bull would be able to meet you here soon

»–•–«

👹 As his brothers swarmed the other parts of Heaven, the sound of wings flapping made Demon Bull King look up and ready himself for battle

👹 A large three-headed dragon stood before him, their large tail swinging behind them as he growled and narrowed his eyes in a reply to the territorial actions of you

"You must be King/Queen Y/N of the Kaijus." DBK said.

👹 You nodded, since you couldn't speak clearly in your monstrous form and stood before walking carefully towards the member of the Brotherhood. Your wings folded in as you lowered your middle head to look at his face clearly

👹 At that moment, you heard a warrior come up behind you and swung your tail, hitting the fighter and sending him flying away at a fast speed while DBK watched in shock

👹 Looking back at him with your right and left head adjusting to look around, you blew on his face, making him nervously look down with a light amount of blush on his face, your eyes and gaze were quite... different to him

👹 A yellow light then made Demon Bull King move his head away while other fighters yelled as they were blinded by your spell

"What in the..."

"I agree with your cause. The destruction that has been brought upon the mortal realm is to much, even for me. I shall help you and your brothers out without any reward." You then cocked an eyebrow at the male, "You're welcome."

👹 A high amount of blush covered his face as you held your hand out, the gold rings, wrist bands, helmets and rest of your armory shining with the constant light changes surrounding you both

"I'll have your back, alright?" You assured.

"Y-yeah." He answered.

[undreaming-fanfiction]

My Blessing

Back when Eddie was still human, he used to think it would be incredibly cool to be a vampire. Child of the night, Nosferatu, all that stuff from his beloved books. He would be untouchable and the people who wanted to hurt him just for being different would wither away and die of old age while he'd still be the same. Maybe he'd visit them in their dying hour and sneer at them, taunt them as they were about to see what awaits beyond. All of that used to sound so good.

As he's learned during last 80-ish years, being a vampire sucks (no pun intended).

He sees it all. World wars. AIDS epidemic. Satanic panic. More and more pain, people wasting away before his eyes. The music is cool, but he wonders if he'll grow tired of it all. Eddie is still young, he doesn't want to believe that this is all there is. But each year, each decade makes him more and more hopeless.

And he's so, so lonely. He still has Wayne, his vampire uncle (he categorically denies the term "father" or "maker"), but he sometimes too resigned, too used to all the pain and violence. He doesn't know many other vampires and making any sort of a connection with a human is painful to think about. People are so fragile.

He's always loved turning into a bat and just flying around the city, avoiding the curious eyes of humans and finding lone vantage points, observing the night life on the streets. One of his favorite spots is on top of the Harrington bank, a building from the 1920s with old bronze statues and old, tall windows. He started visiting the ledge in late 1980s, sometimes spending the entire night there. He'd land on the ledge and turn back to his real form, plopping down next to a statue of a young man. It's so human-like, Eddie forgets it's just an object, a piece of art, and talks to it. He tells it about the stuff that has been happening in the world, all that's fucked up but also the good things, how he saw a group of girls chasing away a stalker of a random lady, a homeless guy giving his last few bites to a stray dog. How a kid he used to know in the 80s is now all grown up and has children of his own. He sometimes wonders who made the statue, but there is no signature, no mark, just that pretty face looking down at the street, lost in thought.

It's on a stormy night in 2022 that it happens. Eddie lands in his favorite spot, lights up a cigarette (immortal lungs are a great thing to have) and talks to the statue, as always. Tells it how he actually wrote a novel and got it published, summers are long and the daylight doesn't kill him but it sure hurts, rambles about how he got Wayne his first flannel shirt and it was love at the first sight. The rain is thick, heavy, but Eddie likes it, it makes him feel a bit more alive. He hears thunder, closer and closer, but the lightning is probably somewhere behind him, he doesn't see it.

That is, until it hits the statue, and Eddie panics because sure, it was just an object, but it was like his friend, it was a constant in his life, what is he going to do-

And then the statue straightens its spine and groans.

Eddie's cigarette falls somewhere into the streets and burns a hole in the umbrella of a lady bitching about the undeserved help provided to the poor. Not that he notices. His eyes are glued to the statue that stretches its arms and runs its fingers through the thick hair that suddenly has color, a sun-kissed brown, and then it turns to Eddie and smiles.

"Oh finally, I was waiting for ages to introduce myself. Hi. Thanks for keeping me company all those years. I'm Steve. Steve Harrington."

Eddie shakes the offered hand in daze and mutters "Eddie, Eddie Munson" before promptly turning into a bat and...what? Does he want to run away? Does he want to shriek his little heart out and never come back? Probably not. Not with Steve smiling at him like he's the best thing in the whole world. So he just lands on Steve's outstretched hand and squeaks "Still Eddie Munson, only pocket size."

And Steve, bless his heart - does he have one? Do statues have hearts? - just laughs and tucks Eddie under his old-fashioned jacket to protect him from the rain. "Oh, I know. The first time you landed here and turned back, I thought I'd finally gone crazy."

He opens a window behind them and climbs inside with Eddie, a window that's always been dark, the only dark room in the whole building. And then they talk. Well, Steve does.

That's when Eddie learns the room is Steve's, preserved, stocked and cleaned throughout the decades. That he's the only son of the founder of the bank, Richard Harrington, now fortunately long dead and burning in hell. That even before the Great Depression hit, the bank was facing difficulties and Richard Harrington decided to make a deal with...something. Something ancient and lurking in New York, something feeding off the misery of people living there.

That's when Eddie learns that Richard Harrington offered his only son to preserve his fortune.

He just stares as Steve shrugs, retelling his story as if it was no big deal, finding a change of clothes for both of them in a huge closet full of things both old and new, a strange blend of fashion spanning last century. "It was a deal for one hundred years. One hundred years of prosperity for one hundred years of...that. I guess my father felt a little bit guilty afterwards because he included in his will that I'd always have a place to come back to. This room. And some financial security too, that's what he'd said before he passed away. He used to talk to me through that window sometimes, after my mother drank herself to death."

"Uhhh." Edward Munson, ever the eloquent fantasy book author, has nothing better to say.

He turns back to Eddie, smiling at him and offering a black t-shirt. "I don't think he knew I could hear him, that I heard and saw everything. Still, nice to know he cared...as much as he was humanly able to." The smile doesn't falter as he adds: "I don't want to sound pushy, but maybe you should turn back to change clothes? You're still wet."

And oh, Eddie is still a bat. Yep. With a sound that sounds like a plop, he transforms back and takes the t-shirt. "Thank you. Steve. Uh. That's  fucked up, man," he offers lamely.

"Oh yeah, it sucked. Well, used to," he nudges Eddie, tossing him a towel when he sees his hair dripping on the floor. "But then you started showing up. Talking to me." Now his smile is slightly smaller, sad, and Eddie wants to visit Richard Harrington's grave and punch his remains, build them into a bird feeder, revive the asshole and kill him again. "It was just...so lonely. I had no way of telling you, but when you started visiting and just, kept showing up, almost every day, it felt like a blessing."

Eddie swallows, his throat suddenly dry. "A blessing?"

"Yeah." Steve turns to him and the sincerity in his eyes is so intense Eddie feels like turning into a bat again and flying in circles, shrieking into the night. "You were my blessing, Eddie," he says as he squeezes his hand.

And Eddie just stares, his undead heart breaking for this boy, cursed just as horribly if not worse than he is. "You know I'm not...not human, right?" he whispers but his hand doesn't leave Steve's. "I guess you can probably tell from the bat thing, or that I'm literally the room temperature-"

"-or the fact that you once told me that it's a shame I'm not alive because I look delicious and you're sure my blood would be too," add Steve with a mischievous smirk.

"Uh. Shit, yeah. That too," Eddie stutters, trying to recall all the embarrassing stuff he told Steve during the last thirty or so years. "That...doesn't bother you?"

Steve snorts in laughter and shakes his head. "You literally thought I was a piece of bronze an hour ago, man. Does that bother you? Did you prefer me when I didn't talk?"

Eddie scoffs at that, offended. "Hell no. You were just a pretty face, but now you're a pretty face with a ton of personality. I...you know, you were my blessing too, I think. Even if you couldn't answer, I didn't feel as much alone next to you. Is that weird to say?" 

The squeeze of Steve's fingers gives him the answer he needs, but he still melts inside when he hears "not at all. I just hope you won't get bored of me now that I'm...different," he whispers, staring at their joined fingers. "You'll probably find me boring. I don't know much about what's going on outside. I could watch and you told me a lot, but...uh. The world seems so hectic and fast-paced, it will probably take me a while to catch up."

And Eddie has to laugh because that worry is so strange to hear voiced out loud, as if Steve being alive, breathing and next to him, as if that made him something less. "Oh just you wait, Steve. You spent over thirty years listening to me ramble, now I'm expecting at least thirty years of your monologues so we can be even. You know my dirtiest secrets now and I'm a man with a thirst for knowledge. Really," he adds because the young man next to him is still silent, "you have nothing to worry about. I've kept you company and you have done the same for me...and it works for us. So what's a little confusion about these modern days? Come on pretty boy. I will be your guide."

Steve gives him a smile that is so radiant Eddie thinks it should hurt, it should burn him like a torch, but it's just warm. Kind. "I can work with that."

Steve is the only human Eddie ever turns. He expects to agonize over it for much longer, to feel guilty, but Steve has already lived longer than he has and he still has thirst for life that is infectious, something that drives Eddie to join him, try new things, not mourn what is lost to time but be thankful that he has the chance to see it all. He finally wants to participate, to join the world again, not just observe it.

The first time Steve turns to a bat, he ends up flying in circles in absolute ecstasy, laughing and making the weirdest somersaults and loops. Eddie could watch him forever and the best part is - he can. And he does.

But before all that, Eddie brings Steve to see Wayne, to introduce him to his only family. Wayne shakes his hand and gruffly laughs: "Well, look at that. My boy has finally moved on from that statue."

Without missing a beat, Steve smiles at him and announces "oh not at all, sir. I'm the statue."

Eddie has some explaining to do, but for now, he just laughs.

[1moreff-creator]

DRDT is back!!! Here’s my live reaction to everything that happened this week! Obviously take everything I say with massive piles of salt, these are in the moment reactions and aren’t supposed to be fully coherent thoughts.

DRDT CH2 EP12 SPOILERS (Oh that feels good to write)

We’re back!!! Teruko we fucked up!!!

The theory that Charles was going to bring up the possibility of a wrong time of death was true! There weren’t really any other theories about what he was going to say from what I saw, but it’s still cool we got that right. You have no idea how giddy I am to finally hear him talk about it, after waiting so long for him to finish the sentence lol.

Also Teruko’s face lmao.

Oh, poor Teruko, she looks so sad. She’s gonna bring up the marks on the wrist, right?

Or, yeah, the swinging.

(Does this screw up any theories? No, her body was still likely strung up at 7:30 AM, which is what most people thought I’m pretty sure)

Ah, Whit. I missed how shady he always is even when he has, like, an airtight alibi for the time the fish were taken (which is still around 7:30 PM to nightime btw, don’t forget Nico’s account).

They’re not gonna bring up the time the fish were taken, are they? That furthers my belief that the person who took the fish and the murderer are different. Nothing concrete obviously, just kinda narratively works better that way.

“Or did you do it on purpose?” Veronika how I’ve missed you :D

David’s face lmao xD

“I’ll fix that mistake” (Paraphrased) Hell yeah! Go Teruko! :D

I missed you too, Literature Boy Insane. That “pathetic” voice line was cool. Also, thank you Hu.

J: “The body would have been cold if it was drenched at some point.” (Paraphrased). Interesting point about the water, I wonder if it’s important or not. We know she wasn’t drowned because the relax room wasn’t open at 7:30 AM, right? So I don’t know how she could have gotten drenched.

Ace no genuinely how do you not know how water works what.

“The range of human stupidity is larger than I thought.” Charles, you’re great.

[Levi and Nico complain about Arturo’s medicine skills] Okay, but like, Arturo has repeatedly told you he’s not that kind of doctor. Like you can blame the guy for a lot of shit but this one ain’t it chief.

(Also don’t think I don’t see how Levi throws suspicion on Arturo. Small point towards Levi!Culprit and Levi!Accomplice)

“You shut your whore mouth!” Okay maybe I don’t need to defend Arturo actually, he seems like he has it handled. You good my guy?

Oh shit we actually brought up that Arturo is ridiculously young for someone in the medical field. I did not have that in my (hypothetical) bingo card.

Twelve?! Dude my guy wanted out of that house yesterday damn.

Dude he’s kinda going off! I was not expecting Arturo fans of all people to eat this good this episode, but this is interesting!

Oh right the crazy lady- “Adorable”? Verturo shippers eating!

“Feel free to add to the number of dents in the computer lab” (Paraphrased) PFFFT Charles!

Wait wasn’t there actually a dent there? Wasn’t that a thing I saw on people’s theories? Holy shit is that actually going to get addressed?

[Whit explains] AHAHAHAHAHA HOLY-!

“I let it slide because it was funny” I missed MonoTV too actually.

And no fish! Nico’s account of the fish still being there last time they checked goes unmentioned, meaning it’s likely going to be used for a twist later!

New alibis? Could be possible.

Whit: “I don’t have an alibi. Neither does Charles” (Paraphrased) Which you know because…?

Oh so that’s not addressed. I repeat the statement of Whit being unnecessarily shady all the time.

????? DAVID AND J ALIBI???? This could be kinda huge actually.

David: “Oh. Shit.” This is the reaction of a man being cleared of murder. That’s so funny.

Didn’t David usually wake up late? Inconsistent sleep schedule ig.

J: “Oh yeah, and Veronika.” Girl you gotta say this shit earlier.

Yeah, look, J, you went and made Veronika sad! >:( /j

David: “Whoops” Holy shit every line this man says is gold actually what?

David? Lying? Noooo, how could you say that? I forgot how funny post magical girl transformation this man was.

David I am going to need you to give an actual answer. I spent hours looking at That Video and I still don’t know what your deal is please-

“And she’s Teruko” J’s also really funny actually. Hold a knife to someone’s throat once and they hate you forever, smh.

“Oh and don’t say something like “I wanna kill myself” that’s boring” (paraphrased). Holy shit I missed Veronika- that’s my second fave right there! (Min you will always be N1 don’t worry).

David-Veronika duo is great actually.

By the way David said “the truth is…” I am not expecting a serious answer.

You know, for a moment I actually did think he genuinely thought he was the blackened. But my first instinct was right.

“I would have actually tried looking at the crime scene” Bro what the fuck is he actually cooking.

“A good person” drop!!!! If you know, you know!

Also, I wanted to point this out here, I might have accidentally misinformed a part of the fandom a bit? One point that I brought up was that several important people to this chapter have been called “a good person”, and one of the examples I gave was Hu calling David a good person. Which… I don’t think happened? I evidently misremembered a line where Hu called David a “good friend”, which is a different phrase with different connotations in DRDT, and I genuinely apologize for that. Especially because I have seen people repeating that David had been called a good person in the past.

But now David has called himself “a good person”, if in a roundabout way, so the point actually stands lol.

Oh shit the Xander name drop.

… He was trying to kill Teruko wasn’t he. Because Xander tried it, and because David has Teruko’s “the killing game is all your fault” motive. Oh shit.

Speaking of the “good person” point, that argument might actually be dead lmao. Given that Xander got called that and he’s, well. Not particularly important to chapter 2, let’s say.

[Hindsight Post-Video: Actually, the argument could now be “anyone referred to as a good person is deeply important up to chapter 2”. Or, alternatively, argue that Xander is somewhat important to the Chapter 2 trial because he inadvertently caused David to magical girl transform. The “good person” list in case you don’t recall is Teruko, Levi, Eden, Arei, and as of this episode, David and Xander. We’ll see what we make of it once the chapter ends ig]

Oh Teruko is pissed I am loving this.

Holy shit the voice acting is amazing holy shit Teruko is going off she said Xander didn’t treat David like a human (“No Longer Human” reference??? I might just be insane though) oh this is incredible!!!

Oh he knows something deep. This motherfucker knows what was written in Xander’s “kill Teruko” note I bet.

WAIT HE KNEW XANDER BEFORE HOPE’S PEAK?! HE KNOWS WHY HE’S THE ULTIMATE REBEL?!

Motherfucker you are going to tell us what Xander did before Hope’s Peak and why you know his work or I swear to God-!

Okay actually, David, I am going to need you to give… a straight answer at some point? Like I get you’re canonically bisexual (and it’s showing) but a single straight answer isn’t going to kill you.

Also, the music?! Is peak?!

David: “If the answer is no…” Neat sprite! Just thought it looked nice, and the line’s cool too :>

The return of the Teruko Baffled Sprite, long awaited.

Secret reveal? The killing game’s her fault?

Okay not the angle I was expecting in the slightest. Obviously gonna have to analyze how truthful he’s being at the moment, but he’s basically pulling a DRV3 ending logic thing. Cool!

So… Xander is absolutely Opening Guy, right? Like, I know that was the most common theory, but c’mon.

YEAH HU GO OFF!!!!

Voice acting going crazy too!

I adored Hu’s screaming section. How long till it’s revealed she has the “hopeless child” secret?

Hu’s a queen, hell yeah.

Pffft J’s high horse voice line-

Thank you Charles for being the only competent one (affectionate). Btw what does Veronika think of David’s reasoning? I was kinda hoping we’d see that.

[Red herring joke] Whit. Whit /disappointed/silly

Oh shit I was not expecting that line to actually cause a reaction damn.

You know, I’ll be honest and admit Eden’s really not acting that much like a culprit. I still think she is, I’m just surprised I’m not able to confirmation bias my way into suspecting her through her voice lines :v

Aaaand we’re back to Ace v Nico! Woo!

Okay wow the new alibis are like, laser focused on going against the most popular theories, huh? I’m not going to say anything’s deconfirmed yet obviously, but Hu!Culprit, J!Culprit, even Veronika!Culprit and theories surrounding David being involved have some questions to answer damn.

[To the question of if anyone else had alibis] “Nope” Whit how do you know this.

Levi!Accomplice also takes a hit because Eden and Levi aren’t trying to alibi for each other, but it can be explained. If they never prepared to give each other alibis, it’s safer to just… not, since they can’t actually say what they were doing during that time. And yes, possible explanations like this is why I’m not calling anything outright deconfirmed yet.

I wrote that before Levi three dotted directly after Eden, looking like he was thinking of trying to give her an alibi. Now that’s confirmation bias that can’t be safely used for theories!

Oh right J still hates Arturo xD

[The whole thing about excluding suspects who had an alibi at night and not in the morning] Oh God, Levi really wants me to think he’s the culprit huh? The method’s still too crazy for me to really believe that, but still.

This is also bad for Levi!Accomplice. Not a dealbreaker, but still weird that he’d say something that could point in Eden’s direction. I am not even going to try to defend that yet.

Cool. Can we finally talk murder method?

Levi: “That’s my secret.”

Oh okay, we’re not talking method yet.

…

Wait, WHAT?!?!?!!?!!!?!

THAT’S-! That’s not-! What the hell?!

Okay, so. Cool, Levi’s the remorseless murderer, we got that one right. But, the reveal is so insanely out of left field holy shit…

I am not lying when I tell you I had to get up and start PACING like I was not ready for this. I am vibrating. He just- He just said that shit! What the hell?!

I have genuinely no idea how the hell this is gonna play out. Holy shit I cannot wait for the next episode. It’s just… so peak!!! We are so back!!!

—-

General Closing Thoughts: This episode was awesome! I was lowkey a little worried that the first episode back wasn’t going to be as insane as it ended up being, but wow it blew me away. And it was only twenty minutes? When the episodes go up to possibly an hour??? It’s just… holy shit.

It was awesome to finally start getting some insight into why David Did That, and I’m genuinely super excited to see where this goes. I’m still trying to figure out the exact angle on things like hiding Teruko’s secret, if he even is doing that because I now believe there is a non-zero chance he isn’t actually lying. Like, it’s low, but not zero. I do find it strange Veronika didn’t react to it, though, but at least we got that one line before David started talking.

But that’s only the cusp of the iceberg. I genuinely adore the details we got on Arturo’s backstory, and Hu’s blowup, and Teruko’s remorse- it’s all so awesome.

(The fucking dent in the wall of the goddamn computer room got an explanation I still cannot believe that. Wow)

Props to the voice acting and the music btw, absolutely incredible all throughout.

Btw, correct me if I’m wrong, but there weren’t any “minigames” this episode, right? Nothing wrong with that, just found it interesting.

Theory-Related Initial Thoughts: This episode is… possibly one of the biggest theory slaughters I’ve ever seen?

Like, obviously, again, it’s still too early in the trial to fully rule out anything, so I’m going to leave it to the other DRDT scholars to revise their own theories to fit the new evidence, but wow those new alibis are something. Between Hu, J and David having alibis for 7:30 AM, that’s three of the top suspects who weren’t there at that exact time to either kill Arei or mess with the body. Again, maybe there’s explanations for it, I’m not calling anything unconfirmed yet, just that many theories were inconvenienced.

As for my theory, Eden!Culprit Levi!Accomplice… ups and downs. The more Eden speaks, the less I’m convinced she’s the actual culprit, even if I’m a decent 80% sure she took the tape; the more Levi speaks, the less I’m convinced he’s an accomplice. I’m not going to deny that their dialogue isn’t 100% what I would expect. I don’t think it’s disqualifying, I still believe it to be the theory with the best evidence, it’s just that some things strike me as odd.

That was what I thought… until the end. Because I have no idea what’s about to happen with Levi revealing the secret like this, but… there is a very possible Levi!Accomplice turn here? Like, it’s the “Levi’s holding the glove” idea; the moment Eden loses her alibi, Levi does something that immediately puts a target on his back, potentially trying to get himself voted off before people catch on to Eden as a possible culprit. First he tries to argue that he shouldn’t be a suspect because of the alibi thing, which could make him more suspicious in some people’s eyes (maybe that’s too much 4D chess but it could work), then revealing the secret. I don’t know how likely this is, but it’s a genuine possibility.

Otherwise, I’m… not entirely sure what the angle is? I need to rewatch the trial to figure out why Levi’s talking about “detailing the trial” then immediately revealing his secret. I didn’t rewatch any DRDT before the episode, hence the confusion. But… at this moment, I don’t know what Levi’s cooking, other than possibly accomplice behavior. And even that feels more confirmation bias-y than anything.

There’s also the really weird line where Whit just… knows, Charles had no alibi at 7:30 AM? Unless they discussed it or I’m forgetting something, I don’t actually remember how he’d know that? Was he stalking Charles? Was he just wandering the halls? What kinda-?

(I don’t think that’s likely, but I don’t have a really good read on what’s happening there)

Other than that, here’s a crackpot one to lighten the mood. Mastermind business. I’ve never brought this up before, but I’ve always believed that were Veronika to be the mastermind, she would get revealed early. As in, possibly at the end of this trial, given Teruko had some idea to end the killing game after her chat with Veronika in the movie room.

I’m bringing this up only because Veronika didn’t react to David’s explanation of what he was trying to do by claiming to be the blackened. She was set up for a reaction with the whole “please tell me it’s not boring” thing, and then she… didn’t. It’s possible, in a conspiratorial sense, that she didn’t react because David hit the nail in the head, and Veronika was genuinely upset at the idea. If that’s the case, her reaction could be postponed to the end of the trial, maybe the end of Trial 3, for the early mm reveal there. It’s a very half-baked idea I’m failing to communicate properly ‘cuz I’m eepy, but it’s there.

I rank it in the same level of mastermind evidence as “Nico is unafraid of grabbing MonoTV by the tail.” Immensely silly and should not be considered solid evidence by any means, and yet it’s still probably gonna get mentioned if I ever make a mm probability ranking lol.

Anyways, absolutely incredible episode all throughout. Holy shit were so back, this was amazing. See you next week for more peeks into peak!

[marymary-diva17]

my past and future (2)

When you had thought you will never see the ones who hurt you, so much in the past for a long time or ever again it seems like you were wrong. As the ones from your past had come back seeking refuge from the return of old enemies, now you had to face them all over again after things had ended horrible between you and them. Now your life was going to change even more now, if the return of the RDA was not enough on you now your old friends and ex love have come back. Now after all these years everyone had changed but now it was time to see if it was for the better or worst.

Y/n " ......." It was early morning and the day of helping the new arrivals learn the ways of the water. The twins knew Jake is their father and that the sully kids are their siblings as well. It was easy to see that the twins were coming to their own terms when it came to the sully family as whole and as individuals.

Renya " mom we are going to head out to meet with others and the sully kids"

y/n " good but not before breakfast growing kids need a good meal"

renala " yes mama" the twins soon sat down on the mat as your served them breakfast, the kids seem happy about getting a chance to bond with their siblings.

renya " mama are you sure it fine if we bond with the sully kids"

y/n " yes it will be fine it will be good for you all to make friendship with other kids, I cant make you stay away from them as other mother might do"

renala " yes mother we will make sure not to let you down"

y/n " you kids never let me down now go have some fun" the children had nodded their heads towards you, they soon ate breakfast and soon went on with their day. You had watched from the home as they meet with their friends and soon took off towards the sully home.

y/n " oh great mother please watch over them"

With the children

tsireya " we are going to start with some basic and take you all for a swim if they fine with you guys"

neteyam " that good we are here to pull our weight"

tsireay " okay and yes we will love you to meet our friends they will be helping as well, this is renala and her brother renya"

lo'ak " hey"

renala " hello"

tuk " hey you are very beautiful and you have the same color as me"

renya " well yes we got them from our mother"

neteyam " now that I'm a better look you guys look like you can be from the forest"

aonung " you can ask them question later on we have should be getting to our lessons"

kiri " oh okay" the twins soon walked off their friends and the sully kids, it seems like they had gained the sully kids attention. The lessons soon stared the sully kids were amazed to see how well the twins, had been able to stay with the three metkayaian teens even due they looked omatacayia.

lo'ak " wow you guys are good swimmers how is that possible"

rotox " even they are forest navi they were born here spending thier lives learning the ways of water and the forest"

kiri " wow"

renya " yes but soon enough you will be good swimmers it take time" renya had finally showed his hands and bit more and his forehead getting the attention of the sully kids.

lo'ak " wait you have five fingers and eyebrows like I and my sister, and even our dad that amazing"

renala " yes it something we inherited from our mom"

tuk " who your mommy is has to be the very nice lady that helped us today"

renya " yes she our mom we got these features from here, so you don't have to worry about being bullied here for being different as our family different"

lo'ak " cool I never thought there were more avatar that were living so far out here and having kids"

aonung " Well as much is talks sounds amazing we have to get back to the lessons we can talk during our break" The sully kids seem to interested in the twin as they were omatacayia and had human DNA like them.

neteyam " wait so you are sixteen I'm sixteen as well"

renya " oh cool aonung also sixteen as well"

aonung " yeah"

lo'ak " you are twins as well wow that rare among navi"

renala " yes we are twins but renya is the oldest"

kiri " so if you were orb here and your mom is avatar then that means, your dad most of been metkayian right" the twins had gotten very quite and it seems like to was swore topic.

tsireya " the twins don't speak about their father"

kiri " oh I'm sorry I didn't know"

renala " it okay none of your knew it just us and our mom at all"

tuk " well our daddy seems to know your mommy they might be friends, so our daddy might know who your daddy is we can ask him ... come on we can go speak with him"

neteyam " tuk not now renya and renala might not want to know, about him right now"

renya " thank you for the offer tuk but we do know little about him since yesterday and that all, we rather not make our mom mad"

tuk " okay"

renala " hey why don't go see the IIu it will be fun and we can teach you to ride" the children had soon switch up the topic and mood, to something more cheerful and going on a new adventures as well.

somewhere in the village with you

y/n " you were on your strimwing coming back from some task, you always love going for a ride on your creatures.

????? " y/n" you soon heard Jake voice you soon turned around and saw him he was with tonowari and tsu'tey.

tsu'tey " good dive and landing we saw you come in"

y/n " thank you"

tonowari " y/n has been able to adapt very well she had shown the clan a former sky person can learn the ways"

y/n " I had very good teachers so how is your lesson going"

tsu'tey " we are getting there it not easy but we are still getting the hand of it"

y/n " don't worry you will learn the ways but it will take time"

Jake " thanks I have fallen off a couple times"

y/n " that remind me of when we were learning the ways of the clan, and you had fallen off the direhorse a couple times" Jake had laugh at what you had said, a bright smile growing on his face.

Jake " yes"

y/n " those were good days I remembered grace got on your case called you a moron"

Jake " still a moron at times"

y/n " your have mature over the years I can give you credit for that"

tsu'tey " it great to see and speak with you again it been so long, since the last time we saw you"

y/n " yes it has been a long time since I saw all of you and it seems, like you all are doing well"

Jake " you seem to be doing good as well"

tonowari " yes y/n here has become an important member of the clan, and has help us understand these human invaders that have come"

Jake " wow"

y/n " yes but tonowari is being nice when I arrived here many years ago, they were dealing with the after effects of the human I had helped them and when the RDA came back I helped them again"

Jake " you always had that gifts of looking out for others and being there for them"

y/n " yes after all this time if hasn't changed"

Jake " I'm happy to know you are still the same person I remember"

tsu'tey " so how has life been here for you find anyone after ..."

y/n " no I haven't but I made a life here and found some joy"

Jake " I'm happy for you y/n and I had spoke to the others they will be here in couple days, they will love to see you again we all missed you" you had become silent you didn't end on good terms with all your friends when you left that was easy for anyone to see.

y/n " I will like to see them as well it has been so long"

Jake " maybe some day or night you can come over and have dinner with my family and meet everyone"

y/n " sure I will love that" Soon enough you had parted way from the three males, as there was other task you wish to complete. There were times when you ran into mo'at or neytiri as they will strike up o convention with you, but it still hurt to speak with neytiri.

Later that night

y/n " so how was the lessons"

renala " they were good mom we got to know the sully kids more, they learned we are twins and that your our mom"

y/n " ......"

renya " we are sorry mom"

y/n " it okay my son I'm fine with you telling them"

renya " we saw you speaking with Jake today how did it go"

y/n " it went well but there is still some hurt when I speak with him"

renala " hey mom maybe when are our guest are here we can find you, a new husband that tsu'tey guy seem very nice" you laugh at your daughter words making her laugh as well.

renya " yeah mom you deserve to love again"

y/n " well when the time right I will love again" the kids smile at your words which had made you smile as well.

???? " good evening" the family soon looked up to see Jake sully and his two sons standing there, you soon got up from where you are sitting and walked towards the entrance.

y/n " hello it didn't know we will be expecting guests tonight"

Jake " oh yes I had come by you drop off some stuff that you might think you will need, and my sons came along to help"

lo'ak " yes dad we walk by here with the twins today"

Jake " twins"

y/n " yes my children my son renya and my daughter renala" renya soon stood up and walked towards the entrance.

renya " I can take that for you sir come on guys I can show you, where to put everything"

Jake " okay" renya had taken the box from Jake and soon went deeper into the home with lo'ak and neteyam with him.

Jake " wow you have kids I"m guessing that your miracle"

y/n " yes they become my miracles" soon the boys had return talking about something.

lo'ak " hey dad y/n has some of the same human stuff you have even renya knows how to use them"

Jake " wow ... wait you kids have five fingers and eyebrows"

y/n " yes they inherited it from me"

Jake " wow"

neteyam " they are even the same age as me dad sixteen, with renya being the oldest"

renala " yes that my older brother"

Jake " sixteen years old so they were born a year after the war"

y/n " yes just like your son"

Jake " wow I'm happy for you y/n it good to see you have a family"

y/n " thank you Jake"

Jake " your son kiding of remind of neteyam and twins are very rare, as well coming from what I had been told"

y/n " yes that is true twins are rare but I had them born as forest navi but raised of reef navi" it seems like Jake was looking at the twins more but his eyes seem to be on renya as he looked like the second version of neteyam but a older version of lo'ak.

neteyam " dad we should be getting home mom will have dinner ready"

Jake " oh yes I will see you later and it was good meeting you kids as well"

renala " yes it was good to meet you as well sir"

lo'ak " see you guys tomorrow" Jake and his sons soon left the house but Jake kept on looking back at you, and the twins he had many question about the twins. He was going to speak to neytiri about this and later on you, as the twins were to close in age with the neteyam and you and him use to have a romance relationship as well. He really need to find out more about your life here and the twins, he knew he was not the only one who had questions about you and your life here.

[fanaticsnail]

Okay the yandere doffy has me thinking many thoughts!

Before I begin i must bring attention to the fact that Mr Mingo is based off of the title character from the tale of Don Quixote. Which is originally a cautionary tale towards chivalric romance storys that were popular at the time it was written (the 1600’s). And in the story Don Quixote is a man disillusioned with these chivalric tales (hes batshit crazy). Don Quixote decides to become a knight amd chooses a courtly lady to be his love. Expect he doesn’t know her name (and shes just a servant) so he calls her Dulcinea, which roughly translates to sweetheart. (Also our beloved Corazon is named after Don Quixote horse, Rosinante)

So like, personally, i cannot see Doffy as being anything other than a yandere. He just exudes crazy possessive energy, and just crazy in general lol. But i wont condemn Reader for being blinded by his kind facade at first, but then slowly realizing (as it becomes too late) that this guy is fuckin nuts.

So keeping these things in mind, i absolutely see Doffy calling the reader Dulcinea, but whether or not he actually remembers her name or not is up for interpretation (with all the code names hes given his subordinates i wouldn’t be surprised if he just doesn’t know/remember their real names).

Now i reveal my trap card, Corazon!

If this takes place before all the crazy sad stuff then i can seriously see Cora feeling kinda responsible for the Reader. Like shes just as innocent as any of the kids hes kept from joing. And maybe she even latches on to him once she realizes that Doffy isn’t that cool of a dude. And we all know intense situations bring about intense emotions, so of course Cora develops some feelings for Reader.

But oh does he feel guilty about it! Reader is already being manipulated and gaslit by Doffy and having a mix of intense emotions and feelings for him! This is no time to be adding another layer of confusion for her with Cora’s budding feelings as well.

I AGREE WITH ALL OF THESE THINGS SO SO MUCH. THIS IS AMAZING.

Okay okay okay, so there's a few ways I could go about this.

You are naive and truly do not know what a despicable human Doflamingo is and slowly and uncertainly begin to grow in love for him. Everyone pities you because of your misguided notions that Doflamingo cares for you, because to the outside: it looks like he's manipulating you. In actuality, he truly does love you, but nobody believes him.

You are fully aware the sway you have over Doflamingo. He loves you, and you use it to your advantage. He gaslight, gatekeep, girlbosses you and keeps you trapped in Dressrosa until he believes you truly love him in return: which you can never truly do because he is such a horrible person.

You know he is obsessed with you, but truly do not realise that he is because he loves you. Even if he confesses, you never truly believe it: especially considering he has killed everybody he had claimed to love (exception of his mother).

AND I'M SORRY, DID YOU SAY CORA'S BUDDING FEELINGS TOO??? 👀👀👀

Because I'm so there, you have no idea.

I am also very much digging the fact you called him Mister Mingo because I'm now rolling about it. I call him "Mingas" in my house, and my toddler calls him "Kormingo" 💀.

[thewertsearch]

CEB: wait… CEB: are you saying that vriska is interested in me? CEB: like, romantically?

I think she thinks she likes you, the same way she thought she liked Tavros. In her eyes, you're a potential replacement for him, which is a dangerous position to be in.

In short: yes. But watch out!

CTG: do you like her CEB: well, like i said, i thought she was pretty cool… CEB: kinda bossy! but also pretty friendly. CTG: yeah ok CTG: but i mean CTG: anything more than that CTG: like CTG: if earth wasnt destroyed and she werent in some other universe on a planet full of unspeakable frothing dipshits CTG: and she was on earth visiting your town or something CTG: would you want to ask her to go see one of your dumbass movies

Dave is actually helping John talk through his feelings, which is sweet as all hell. His instincts around this are surprisingly good, too - it probably would help John to separate his feelings about Vriska from his current situation.

Try to divorce yourself from the session, just for a second. You're not John the Player - you're John the teenager, and a girl likes you.

What do you think about her?

CEB: i don't think i have ever actually liked a girl before in that way, so i am not really sure what i am supposed to feel or do…

Grew up in a small town in Suburbia, USA.

Raised by a single father who struggles to relate to him.

No extended family to speak of, unless you count the ecto-sister he learned about an hour ago.

Has a social circle consisting of three online besties, and never mentions any IRL friends.

Uses stilted phrases like 'not a homosexual', and is so confused by his own feelings that he can't identify a crush.

John Egbert is a very sheltered kid, is what I'm getting at. I wouldn't be surprised if Karkat and Vriska were the first people who ever had crushes on him. This is all completely new to John, and I don't think has the slightest idea how he's supposed to respond.

Dad's great, but if John asked him for relationship advice, he'd tell his son to get a decent aftershave and a well-pressed suit. He's flying blind, and things will only get more complicated from here on in.

CTG: did one of the human ladies reject you ?CG: OF COURSE NOT. CTG: how did it go did you stand in a quadrant like you were playing four square CTG: holding a bucket full of flowers or slime or whatever and jade was like no thanks bro

I mean, he might have started with John, but he seems to hate Jade quite a lot, too.

We now know this was after his confession to John. Maybe it was a rebound?

CTG: or maybe it was a guy who rejected you ?CG: FUCK OFF. CTG: haha wow bingo CTG: see how i look right now thats a poker face might want to take some notes ?CG: I SEE NOTHING BUT A COWARD BEHIND DARK EYEWEAR CLEARLY DESIGNED FOR WOMEN AND A PAIR OF IMPUDENT LIPS PURSED SO TIGHT IT'LL SOUND LIKE AIR SQUEALING OUT OF A BALLOON WHEN I PUNCH YOU IN THE GUT.

Pursed lips?

Karkat. No, Karkat, look at me. Do you have a little crush on all the human kids?

You do, don't you. Oh my god, you do. Just stay away from Rose, or Kanaya will chainsaw you in half.

?CG: AND JOHN, PURELY HYPOTHETICALLY, IF ONE OF US IN THE FUTURE DOES MAKE SOME SORT OF SOLICITATION YOU DON'T QUITE UNDERSTAND… ?CG: BECAUSE OF PERHAPS SOME CULTURAL DIFFERENCES ?CG: I MEAN NO ONE IN PARTICULAR HERE ?CG: MAYBE TRY TO UNDERSTAND THAT PERSON MIGHT NOT BE THINKING TOO CLEARLY AT THAT MOMENT

Karkat, you're killing me here. I'm dying. You don't get any Boondollars from killing a liveblogger, Karkat.

[raptorladylover6969]

VERY passionate rant under the cut

“The Handler has dino DNA‼️” “The Handler is a robot‼️” “The Handler is a Brooklynn clone‼️” GET OUTTTTTTT GET TF OUTTTTTT I AM SO SICK OF THE SAME. GOD DAMN. DOG SHIT THEORIES. IM TIREDDDD OF IT. ITS THE SAME THING EVERY TIMEEEEEEEE AND I HATEEEEE IT. I WANT NEW THEORIES. ONES THAT ACTUALLY MAKE SENSE. ONES THAT ARENT THE SAME FUCKING THEME ALL OVER AGAIN UGHHHHH.

One thing I hate about Jurassic World youtube channels is when it comes to theorizing abt characters, THEY DONT KNOW HOW TO ACTUALLY AND PROPERLY ANALYZE. It’s like they never payed attention in english class 😭 esp when it comes to The Handler, because yes offence, just saying, their “character analysis” videos are absolute shit. I was yapping abt this early with @koi-fish-boy

What I mean is, instead of coming up with new theories, these “theorists” just take already existing theories, slap it into a video, add some other info that is not even considered a character analysis but just info thats RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR FACES. The other worst part is, they never show any evidence to support their theories, they don’t make connections. They just go like “Oh The Handler blah blah creepy lady blah blah whats her deal? Blah oh shes probably part raptor or a clone blah blah blah k like and subscribe” GET OUT- 🗣️🗣️💥💥‼️‼️

I could debunk some of these theories right now even I am feeling THAT petty. “Brooklynn clone?” They don’t have the same facial structure, The Handler is 10x more paler, Brooklynn has a button nose while The Handler’s is straight, and have you taken into consideration that other blue eyed white ppl with freckles exist????? Brooklynn isnt the only white chick that exists 💀 “Dino x human hybrid?” this idea for a plot has been scrapped long ago. And even if she was a dino hybrid, she HAS to retain dino like features, like scales, vertical pupils, dino vocals, sharp teeth. NO, her having big eyes and pale skin DOES NOT = DINOSAUR FEATURES. Theres millions of people with big eyes and who are also sickly pale. “But she doesnt blink!” Yes tf she does I have the timestamps to prove it, she actually blinks A LOT considering the little screentime she has. “Robot??” We see her display humane emotions such as empathy in the final episode (I mean this theory itself has already been scrapped by countless ppl so 😼)

The problem here is that ppl dont reeeeealllllyyyy ANALYZE a character, they just observe the surface, find a couple of things here and there, and call it a day. They don’t use all of their senses when looking into a character, they only document what the naked eye can see. That is NOT what analyzation is about. Character analyzation is about digging DEEPER into the character, putting yourself in their POV, in their shoes, reading their facial expressions, their body language, spending hours playing back the same clips over and over again just to find new info, taking note of the dramatic lighting changes, the ambience, making connections, USING CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS TO UNBOX THE MYSTERYS OF SAID CHARACTER. Cmon guys did we learn nothing from Brooklynn??🤨🤨 like no joke me and @koi-fish-boy spent hours rewatching scenes with The Handler and found a BUNCH OF COOL NEW SHIT THAT NO ONE HASNT EVEN TALKED ABT YET.

People dont also seem to have enough balls to connect neuroscience to their theories, which is strange because incorporating psychology and the human brain, or any kind of science to a character analysis can rlly help with coming up with new theories. Why do you think MatPat’s theories were so good and interesting? It’s because he makes CONNECTIONS. He incorporates math, history, folklore, religion, and science into ALL OF HIS THEORIES. HE PUTS WORK INTO THEM. HE THINKS CRITICALLY.

All theories are valid, even the far-fetched ones, thats the whole point of a theory, its supposed to be crazy, but actually putting in the work to find evidence to support your theory WILL STRENGTHEN IT, and make it 100x more interesting. You can’t just introduce a theory without evidence to back it up, there needs to be at least 1 reason to even consider your theory plausible. Like the clone theory, I’m not entirely against it cuz cloning IS a thing in the JW universe, like that theory makes the most sense cuz its happened before, so why not again? I still think its absolutely crap, but I’ll admit, it makes sense. Why? Cause theres evidence to back it up.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk 🤗

[the-blossica-fan]

Greetings!

Ive been looking at the insanity that is the Personality Swap Phenomena!

(Btw the swap thing from JKK? In short this is an ability someone has that by clapping their hands, they can swap the position with someone else, pretty handy in a fight!)

Random ideas for swap:

Engima and Lucy or Engima and Ulrich, in both cases Engima will lose his shit.

Vertin and Matilda - why not?

Kakania and Semmelweis - i keep putting ppl with beef swapped together lmao.

Jessica and Tooth Fairy - the most random combo tbh

Windsong and Kakania - switching around the healthy and doomed yuri

I dont have any other swaps but general idea of how it started maybe?

Laplace being laplace was attempting to alter floppy disks to enhance performance and distance it can take people, however a mixture of incantations and accidents later multiple arcanists are infected and swapped around, the only problem is who is who since it affected a wide range of people at once.

Hello Comrade!!

Oooo, well that is quite a useful ability, I didn't know that but it's damn cool!

I lost everything because Tumblr gave itself an update I did not consent too. I got so frustrated I postponed it. I'm sorry 😞

Enigma and Lucy personality swap but Enigma is aware of his personality change but is unable to do something.

He'd be an annoyance, no offense to Lucy. His long explanations feel like he's explaining to a dumbass and the way he understands emotions is limited.

"This formula doesn't seem to be working, the results are bigger than the required number. Perhaps if we could use a more specific formula we could get the needed results."

"Why the fuck are you talking all fancy?"

I bet some people were about to punch him because of this. They can forgive a robot lady for acting this way, but a human? We know how it went with Ezra, but Enigma is older.

He's far more approachable now, doesn't look as tired and unorganized as before, but he's twice as annoying now.

(small Lucy-Enigma: The awakened is slightly racist towards everyone equally and glares at anyone who approaches her)

With Ulrich's personality, he's actually a nice and approachable dude. Like this one uncle that appears once a year for family dinner and is a cool and chill guy.

Ulrich surprisingly had enough patience with everyone except for Enigma, so imagine seeing Enigma so chill

It feels forbidden.

Enigma would be an approachable dude, more than he was with Lucy's personality since he doesn't over explain whatever thing he feels like explaining or acts weird.

And he hates it.

(Ulrich-Enigma, can't glare at people so he sits there and his black thing in his helmet rolling around in frustration)

Vertin-Matilda is certainly something.

"Mm? Of course I'm great, I'm the Timekeeper. You don't have to say it twice"

Such a smug and prideful personality mixed with her charming good looks and a gorgeous smile? Vertin is certainly more attractive now.

Unfortunately, Vertin is not unable to escape Matilda's girlfailure personality.

"Ah, yes yes. I'm amazing and all of that, no need to mention it."

"Mm, this change makes you look... Cute"

"?! Please don't say unrelated and out-of-context things, Mesmer!"

"and a bit annoying"

Matilda-Vertin is accidentally charming.

Her cute baby face, her bright blue eyes and such a calm and chill personality makes up for a squishable look.

"You is very cute Matilda!"

"Mm, Thank you Kanjira. But, could you let go of me? I fear my jacket is tearing apart"

"Tearing apart?!"

Oh yeah, she's a bit of a prankster. Her awful pranks and terribly delivered jokes are funny for the wrong reasons. But funny nonetheless.

"This bread... It looks pretty moldy."

"It looks pretty bread-y to me"

"..."

Kakania-Semmelweis being emo is so... Cursed.

"Look within the mirrors, see yourself in a whole new light."

"Kakania, are you okay?"

Her fancy words and silly delivery is so funny but also cursed. She's so weird sometimes as well, just staring around with silence and a small peaceful smile

She's not rambling, she's not ranting, she's not chatting your ear off, she's just watching people do their thing. Politely adding comments every once in a while.

Sometimes, when she's in company of the people she's comfortable with (unsurprisingly, this Kakania doesn't talk to many), she does some silly stuff because she can and because she wants to.

"This is definitely inedible"

"MS KAKANIA SPIT THAT OUT IT'S BEEN THERE FOR MONTHS"

Semmelweis-Kakania is Lorelei's biggest time consumption.

"And, so, this chapter concludes after 30 pages of s-"

"My little musical note, I don't mean to sound rude. I really do enjoy your talking, but I have a date and-"

"Oh! Right, sorry. Me talking must have eaten a lot of your time. Please, let me scort you."

"It's not necessary"

"I insist!"

She's a chatterbox all the way through. I have a feeling she reads fanfiction so she has definitely chatted someone's ear off about her favorite. She's supposed to keep it a secret but oh Lord.

Fan of novels like Carmilla, which is again, supposed to be a secret. Unfortunately Kakania has never been a fan of secrets and tends to talk a bit too much, so Semmelweis' secrets are flying out there. Once she goes back to normal she's going to be SO pissed.

(Lorelei there listening about Semmelweis' favorite fanfic about vampires with a traumatized look)

Jessica-Tooth Fairy being actually creepy

She's naturally uncanny, a cervitaur with a weird vibe and ragged looks would freak anyone out, the thing is that she's a sunshine so she doesn't scare anyone in the end (unless you're the unfortunate Green Lake explorer, sorry)

But now that she's silent, has a calm personality and pretty much just stands there? Oh Lord, she's creepy.

"You seem to have dropped your-"

"AAAAA WHERE THE HELL DID YOU COME FROM?!"

"I was here this whole time"

She's still kind and playful, but it's more in a calm way. Still grabs carbuncles and lets other people pet them, they're her good friends;

Without the fixation for teeth, and instead for horror movies, her lines are weird. She could be asking for an arm or an eye, jokingly, and people would turn to her weirdly.

"If you see an eye, please bring it to me. It is a dear gift for Jennifer."

"A what"

Tooth Fairy-Jessica shining so brightly Z had to replace her glasses for sunglasses.

Affectionate, hyperactive and compassionate, with her cozy yet uncanny looks? Okay, you've got me.

There's something about seeing Tooth Fairy smile so happily that's blinding. She's affectionate as well, but in a different way than usual. She hugs people and plays with their clothes in an absentminded way.

Z is still struggling to get rid of her lipstick in every part of her face, a little too affectionate for their usually reserved relationship.

"I really like your- Uhm.... I, I remember that word, hold on."

"My jacket?"

"Yes, indeed! It suits your eyes!"

"It's the same as always, Campbell."

"Is that so? I always felt like it made you look pretty, I just wanted to say it today."

Accidental flirt.

Kakania-Windsong has not left Marcus alone on their investigation, not even one bit.

"This is Freud's last theory! Such a well crafted truth he has made. What do you think Marcus?"

"Erm, I think it's a little exaggerated."

A huge nerd, a huge loser. Her personality is already pretty fixated in her habits but with Windsong's personality, she just holds onto the thing and doesn't let it go until she has analyzed every line of it.

And when she sees Isolde? God bless her soul.

She can't get too close to her, she knows that, but that doesn't stop her from making a fool out of herself within sight.

*BAM*

"K-Kakania?! Are you okay???"

"Doctor? Did you just trip with the table?"

"..."

Compliments make her shy, unlike usual. And she's a lot more sensitive so, careful with what you say about her (Turns to Semmelweis)

Windsong-Kakania also hasn't stopped talking Vila's ears off about her latest map on Ley Lines.

She hasn't been making a fool out of herself, but it's harder to pinpoint the difference since hers and Kakania's fixation are similar.

The biggest noticeable change is the fact she can flirt without stuttering. And that she can talk without dying of self-consciousness in the middle

"(Has been talking for hours analyzing Ley Lines)"

"I'm so in love with you."

"Mm? What did you say?"

"The line here is blue."

"Oh!"

Clueless in romance to the point Vila has been purposefully dropping bombs then playing them off as nothing. She loves to see Windsong's confused face almost about to get the hint before she changes subject and she enthusiastically continues the topic.

As for how it started, I had the idea of it being because of X, but the floppy disks are pretty interesting!

This could have been Laplace allowing X (And Ezra as a collaborator) to expand their current investigation on Floppy disks. After using their knowledge and presenting a disk with a larger range and capacity, Laplace was ecstatic to try it out.

Someone forgot that X is the well known "Creator of useless things" and most of the time, he fails. And Ezra is unfortunately a little new with the technology, so the mixture of Ezra's fungus magic and I failure made up for a tragedy.

Instead of teleporting people, it changed their personality traits for a certain amount of time. It took a couple tries to determine this phenomenon, and it's still hard to find out a difference.

[patibato]

[Bitter Sweet Sixteen] 002-A17 - Alien Egg

Ushio: …

The washbasin isn't dried after use, and of course, the mirror's covered in water.

The towels are wet, and the paper I brought for my own use is empty.

And best of all, they're playing appropriately loud music for a quiet night…

…Hahaha, hahahahaha…!

(This is why I don't want to live together with humans!)

*footsteps*

*door opens*

Ushio: You lot- -!?

*spray*

Akuta: Ah, whoopsie.

Ushio: What… is this…?

Akuta: Cola!

Nanaki: Aaah, it got all over your face. That's what happens when you come in without notice. Poor thing.

Muneuji: Are there towels? Kinugawa, please check to see if the floor's dirty.

Kiroku: …

Nanaki: We were having an "Adult-Free American-Style Party". Didn't invite you cuz we figure you hate lively stuff.

Ushio: … …

Akuta: YEAH~! I always give a warm welcome~! The carbonation'll reduce the wrinkles on your brow~♪

Ushio: …Why are you sucking the can from the side.

Akuta: This is "shotgunning". Saw it in a movie. You make a hole in the cola's guts, put your mouth there, and drink it di-rect-ly!

Makes you look like a super refi~ned adult. Popular with the ladies too!

Ushio: …

Nanaki: Ahahaha, you really are stupid. So soothing.

Ushio: It's not.

Muneuji: I see, so that's how all adults consume canned beer. I learned something new.

Ushio: …Is your helmet fully waterproof?

Muneuji: Yes. It's very pleasant, being guarded from the spray.

Akuta: Gimme another!

Nanaki: Aaalright, what song do we put on next. DJ's gotta be good at picking something to liven things up

Ushio: You guys can go to hell.

Akuta: Huh!? Of course we can! Falling, falling~!

Nanaki: Fine by me. When that happens, you'll be going there with us.

Ushio: …

Kiroku: …Ku… …

…Kurama… you might… know this, but-

Right now, the adults are… at a gathering… with some of the locals-

Ushio: -Buddharupa…

Kiroku: …!

Ushio: Idiotake doesn't listen, and it's annoying how Panda just has to get the last word in, so I'm gonna talk to you.

Kiroku: … …

Ushio: Why is it that you aren't stopping them?

Aren't things in a terrible state all over? Are you calm, even seeing such a disastrous scene?

Kiroku: Disastrous… scene?

Ushio: Selfishly using other people's paper, leaving clothes lying around after getting changed. Making my face all wet and sticky with cola. Saying things are noisy is an understatement, aren't they causing a disturbance?

What are you doing, hiding in a safety zone without stopping them? It's obvious the adults will be angry when they return, isn't it?

Kiroku: … Uh… ah…

Ushio: Hey, why? I'm absolutely not letting you get away until I get an answer.

Kiroku: … Ah… um…

Egg: …!

Kiroku: Ah.

*beep*

Ushio: … …

Muneuji: Oh. It's the egg.

Akuta: It's clinging to Ushio's face…!

Kiroku: …The, egg…

Ushio: Hh…

HOGYAaaAAAAAAAAAGH!

Kiroku: …Has, sprouted… legs…

Ushio: AAAAAH NO, WHAT IS THIS! OFF! GET IT OFF! SOMEONE GET IT OOOFF! NOOOOOO!

Kiroku: Kurama… you're kind of… r-reacting like a little girl…

Ushio: I can't see anything! Oi, Buddharupa! You're there aren't you! Huwwy and, and, get, get it, get it aaawff!

Kiroku: …Don't, move…

Egg: …

Ushio: …What the hell…

Kiroku: The egg has… legs…

Ushio: I can SEE that! That's so disgusting! Something like that, on my face…!

I'm going to wash my face. With a scourer.

Kiroku: -…But it's… so cute…

Ushio: Is something wrong with your aesthetic sense.

Kiroku: ……

Akuta: Yeah, I also got mega scared when I saw it earlier! It's all squiggly! So cool!

Nanaki: …I don't think it's alive, but I wonder if it has a purpose.

Kiroku: …I don't know… but, it's… cute…

Muneuji: I'm proud to be able to witness the miracles of space.

Ushio: You guys, what are you talking about this so casually for!? That's not normal!

This is ridiculous! Ridiculous, ridiculous, ridiculous! Saying it upfront, I'm changing my mind!

No way we can keep this! We've gotta throw it in the sea! It's my turn next, so I'm telling you now I'll definitely throw it away!

Nanaki: Yes, we're on the same page.

Ushio: First time I'll agree with you. Alright, the people who want to throw it away are me, Panda, and Kinugawa, so that's three. Majority rules means-

Kiroku: …!!

Ushio: …What is it.

Kiroku: I won't hand it over…

Ushio: Huh!?

Kiroku: I absolutely… won't hand it, to anyone… won't let you… be cruel to it.

Akuta: Ah, you comin' over to our side? Then we're the majority once again~! I'm not throwing it away!

Muneuji: Not throwing it away.

Kiroku: … Not…

Nanaki: shit.

Ushio: …

Right. That's fine. Give it here.

Kiroku: I won't, let you… throw…

Ushio: You're too suspicious. I won't. It's just my turn now.

Or do you think I'm a guy who's so bad at reading the room that I'd try overturning a majority decision?

Kiroku: …

Ushio: (I mean, obviously I'll throw it away. Aaah, but I don't want to touch it directly… I'll put it in a bug cage or something later…)

-Later, then. You guys make sure to clean up properly.

Akuta: 'Kaaay, good niiight. Nanaki, put a new song on! Something with oomph~!

Ushio: …

*door closes*

*Akuta and Nanaki laughing*

Muneuji: ……

News Reporter: "Moving on to our next report."

News Reporter: "Early this morning, a fire broke out at a coastal park in a metropolitan area. A cleanup robot's entire body was…"

Ushio: ……

News Reporter: "The incident saw no casualties."

Ushio: ……

Momiji: (Ushio's watching the news like it's the end of the world… I wonder if he's alright.)

Ushio-kun?

Ushio: …

Momiji: (No response. …Seems he doesn't want to talk.)

*door opens*

Muneuji: I have returned.

Momiji: Ah, welcome back. Thanks for going in my place!

Muneuji: No need to thank me.

In regards to Kinugawa, who is working hard by himself in the atelier, I would be happy if I was of even a bit of help.

Momiji: Kiroku-kun… how was he?

Muneuji: He's holed himself up in there, immersed in his creation like a man possessed, but-

*knock knock*

Muneuji: Kinugawa.

Kiroku: …

Muneuji: Pardon me for entering while you're concentrating. I come with provisions from Chief.

It's a large size bento centered around deep-fried food. An irresistible course for any growing Japanese boy.

Kiroku: …It's big… and… tawny… Thanks…

Muneuji: I'll leave it here. Well then.

Muneuji: Though there didn't seem to be any signs of it just yet, I'm sure he'll wolf it down sooner or later once he gets hungry.

And - I feel his countenance has changed somewhat. Any indication of his melancholic worrying has disappeared, or rather-

It was like an evil spirit had been purged from him.

Momiji: I see. That's great! Good job… ah.

Is that a souvenir? Did you get that for your family?

Muneuji: Yes. I took a quick look at a souvenir shop on my way back, and as there were many good-looking items, I got this for my younger sister.

Momiji: (So you really love your little sister, Muneuji-kun.)

Alright then, could I get your report on how everyone's getting on?

Muneuji: Understood. To start, as I'm sure you are aware, Nanamegi has begun composing his own music as he found simply operating it to be boring - he's full of motivation, and doing well.

Isotake has been vigorously shooting various scenes in Shodoshima, and is enthusiastic about editing them to match shots from the festival.

Momiji: Everything's progressing soundly, then!

(It's Day Five of the study tour, too… the festival's the day after tomorrow.)

(My only concern is…)

Ushio: …

Momiji: (This kid, who's lying down in front of the TV… I guess.)

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Masterlist

[gonetoforks]

1. How exactly does Yuichi's body work? Is he connected to anything, wires, buttons or batteries in his robot skeleton? Is his clothing sewn to his body, or can he change it whenever he wants?

2. If he gets dirty, how does he keep his body clean afterwards? (Sometimes stuffed animals get quite dirty and you can't get the dirt out even if you've washed it several times) Can he use another doll and use those parts to create his body again or does he need help from Splinter?

3. Was he ever interested in talking to Mrs. Cuddles?

4. What would Yuichi look like without cotton on his body? (I'm going to laugh really badly, sorry)

5. Did he ever help April with her job of cheering up the children? What does he think of the kids? Did he ever ask Donnie to make any improvements to him?

6. Does he live with his family or with the turtles? If he lives with the turtles, where does he sleep? Or have they ever wanted to sleep with him so they could use him as a stuffed animal at bedtime?

7. How old is Yuichi?

8. Does he know Hana, Chizu, Gen and Kitsune? What does he think of them?

9. Will there be a Jei in your Au?

I wish you a beautiful day!

1) Yuichi’s body despite being mostly robotic, mostly runs on organic types of fuel! tho he sometimes drinks things like motor oil or coolant, not batteries though, he tried those. they aren’t incompatible with his hardware though, he’s just allergic. (￣∀￣)

2) When he gets dirty, he just takes a shower (puts himself in the washing machine) cause since his fabric skin has a lot of the properties of normal skin, so it doesn’t usually become a permanent issue. but his fur does stain pretty easily for days on end which he finds really annoying haha

3) Not since he was removed from the US entirely when she went to prison. (the kids show set where she’s listening to laughter all day) He was young when it went down so he never wanted to drag up a past he didn’t even remember and only made his aunt upset. All he’s been told about her is that she’s extremely violent and that’s why she’s locked away.

4) that one panel from Junji ito’s hanging balloons akshjsahjsajjks oh god xD i don’t know if i can draw that aksjdjshakdjaksja (below the cut for horror imagery lol)

oh dear lord akdhakjsakdja

5) He was never around before she got fired from those multiple jobs but i think he would find the human kids very tiring while also finding creative ways to deal with them. He also would have to manage trying to stay the same size throughout all their laughing and screaming which kinda sucks for him. it’s not completely involuntary but making the effort to not do so is incredibly overwhelming like masking at a really loud party, it makes the poor guy really tense.

5.5) Kinda the opposite actually! Donnie really wanted to give him some cool mods but Yuichi was like, “you are a engineer, not a doctor, i am not letting you near my skeleton, crazy boy” aksjaksjsmsjs

6) He lives with his family! Though after actually befriending the turtles, he does get invited to a lot of sleepover parties hahaha

7) He’s the same age as Leo & Don, so i think he’d be about 17 post-movie. so he’s not quite as naive or clueless as canon yuichi lol

8) Yes! Hana’s been his adopted sister for quite a while. Chizu & Kitsune are familiar with Yuichi & his family cause Chizu just drops off batches of orphans with no explanation. She took control of the Neko Ninja clan quite a while ago, they use the connections Lady Fuwa made to sabotage trafficking rings and rescue the small children she would have brought up. Chizu’s eager to make connections with other martial artists since the clan has lost its main source of members, Kitsune is her bodyguard and historians will say they were quite close friends. Gen, similar to canon, came from destitute parents, so him and his sister were surrendered to the Cuddles family orphanage as tweens. They made friends with Yuichi cause they were around the same age, and are both studying to be doctors!

9) I’m not entirely sure yet, but he’d definitely be a cool character to include! i think if i did it would probably be through some sort of time travel shenanigans, that sounds fun

aaaaaa i also wish u a wonderful day!!! (о´∀`о)

[saltyr3mix]

EVERYONE ELSE GO HOME YOU ARE MY FAVORITE PERSON IN THE ENTIRE WORLD FOR THE NEXT HOW EVER LONG THIS TAKES YOU TO READ. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS.

Ladies, gents, all of the above below and in between here is my rambles about new life sparrow because he has infested my mind like the skulk that infests him.

OK WERE DO I EVEN BEGIN WITH THIS GUY

Okokokokookokooo SO

We love a flawed character who has good intentions and a not so good way of showing them. he comes off as over enthusiastic and insensitive at first with his studies of hybrids. which is....just a tad bit relatable as someone often seen as energetic i can be too much for people at times so i get it.

Also everyone that drew the parallels between the way Sparrow talks about hybrids and O!Owen talked about demons is correct. it's terrifying. and if sparrow ever goes down that arc i will write incredibly angsty fanfiction about it and cry.

If you haven't already im going to point anyone reading this in the direction of my New life smp fic, Storming sacrifices on ao3 by Salty_R3mix cause thats where a lot of this next part comes from.

i head cannon that on New life when players die/switch hybrids they have to fall into a coma like state to do so and it takes time in between those shifts. Sparrow is on the longer side of these shifts for the more drastic the change the longer. to go from human to machine and then machine to skulk. thats like a solid month or two of their body just reforming and recreating. both times.

ALSO THE MOST RELATABLE THING ABOUT HIM.

HE DOESN'T WANT TO BE HUMAN.

WHICH IS JUST SO SAME BESTIE LIKE IF I LIVED IN A WORLD WHERE PEOPLE GET COOL TRAITS AND MAGICAL POWERS AND I WAS JUST BORING? YEAH I WOULD STUDY THEM AND TRY TO BE ONE TO! BOLD OF YOU TO ASSUME MY LOVE FOR FANTASY AND MAGIC ISN'T ALREADY BASED OFF THE NEED TO ESCAPE THE REAL WORLD BECAUSE IT SUCKS AND ITS BORING ANDGHYKULKNBVGVUKL

Anyway hes also insane. like, i get it. but also you could have found a away to make the process less painful im sure. hes smart. but his egarness got the best of him.

Anyway one of my favorite things to think about and debate is the 'chip' in his head. cause to me and my messed up little mind that has read well over at least 20 hours worth of sbi hybrid fanfiction in the summer of 2022. to me that just sounds like instinct. hot take but i don't think it was that big of a deal. what was wrong with the situation was prior to becoming a copper golem, Sparrow was human. if any other hybrid became a copper golem. they would be a lot less bothered by it. Sparrow was not used to that sheer level of inhumane instinct that it overwhelmed him and he just let it. t Not knowing what else to do. until eventually getting so lost and consumed by it that he had to you know....blend himself.

I miss him though. i like robots. and he was so fun to draw. i draw him all the time. just because the design i made for him is one of my favorite things ever.

OH AND SKULK SPARROW. THIS MAN. HE IS SO MESSED UP. THE NARRATIVE CAME CRASHING DOWN IN FRONT OF HIM AND SCREAMED THAT HE IS DOOMED.

I haven't seen a character so demised by the narrative that wasn't my own since outsiders Apo and maybeeeeeeee Celio form wtd. beside the point.

He is so overwhelmed and underwhelmed at the same time its iconic. one seconded hes lonely after copper literally abandoned any former relationships. the next he can hear things through the skulk. but then he brings a guy down. kills him. decides to build a gate. AGAIN. WE KNOW HOW THIS ENDED LAST TIME OWEN. WHEN HAVE GATES EVER WORKED IN YOUR FAVOR. i think it's just a cannon event for them at this point. Owen with gates and Apo with levers. (GUYS IM JOKING HERE. DON'T CARY THIS CURSE INTO PIRATES PLEASE LET THEM BE HAPPY FOR ONCE)

Ok yeah. Im really excited to watch skulk and other versions of sparrow later realize that no matter what monstrosity he ends up as. he'll never be as free as he was human again. Every hybrid comes with their own form of instinct that he will be forced to follow. some lighter than others. and hell, even if he does end up as human again the effects are still there forever lingering.

ALSO I AM HEAD OVER HEELS IN LOVE WITH THE 'Wait? His name is sparrow but he still answers to Owen. this clearly must have lore implications.' PEOPLE. To anyone who has ever had that thought you are the best. i've read i think 3? fics based of it and oh my word im obsessed with that idea and the different takes on it.

and here is where i come to a close. do i have more to say? probably. but my hands hurt and my thoughts are slowing in pace so if you want more feel free to ask id be overjoyed but ask another day. i mean i didn't even touch on his interactions with the other players.

i am so clearly sane and stable about this character btw. i don't know what made you think otherwise.

[royaltysuite]

The Tales Of Lady Baccara and The Straw Hat Pirates

Chapter One: The First Encounter

Summary: After the events of the liberation of Drumm Kingdom, Y/n reveals herself to the Straw Hats as Chopper’s older sister. However, the reunion is short-lived as she is now interrogated by Luffy and his Straw Hat crew.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So, did ya miss me, Chopper?” Y/n asked, holding back the urge to wrap her arms around her little sibling. “Y/n, is that really you?!” Chopper shouted in disbelief. The sight of it was a bit hilarious to the surrounding people in the room. “Of course it’s me. I’ve just been hidden in your shadow the entire time and made sure that you were safe and happy. Even when you were living with the crazy lunatic, Dr.Kureha.” “Wow, that’s amazing…” chimed in Nami’s voice from the background. “Oh, I’m so rude. Sorry for intruding upon your ship. My name is Y/n Baccara, a wolf-woman from the depths of the woods in Drumm Kingdom. It’s a pleasure to meet you all. If it hasn’t already been clear from what Chopper said, I am his sister.” Y/n explained.

“But, you’re not a deer though? So how could you possibly be siblings?” The swordsman spoke as he made his way around Y/n. “It’s quite simple, you see. He’s my found family. I was once alone and abandoned by my people. They believed that embracing their wolf self was the way nature intended for us, but I was against it. I didn’t want to be seen as a monster to the humans I saved, but they didn’t care. So, they left me to die in an abandoned quarry after a hunt. It was almost a full week until Chopper found me and took me to Dr.Kureha’s. Since then, we formed a bond as siblings even if we weren’t together physically.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet! Chopper, why didn’t you tell us this? Also, stop staring at her like she’s a freak, idiot mosshead!” Nami pointed out. “It never came to mind. All I know is that I’m glad you were always by my side, big sis…” “I’ll always be there, Chopper, no matter what…”

The moment was enough to dispel any form of suspicion from the crew, They then went on to explain to Y/n the plans to bring Vivi back to Alabasta Kingdom in order to stop the war that’s bound to happen between the Royal Army and the Rebel Army. “That is devastating to hear, Vivi. If you would like, I could help by contacting this Pell you speak of. He has the ability to shift into an eagle, right?” “Yes, that’s right. But, could you reach him from such a long distance?” “Not exactly, I’d have to be within a wide enough vicinity around him without drawing suspicion from other citizens. After all, he could take me as a part of the rebel army.”

“That is true, but other than that?” Usopp inquired, very wary of the plan. “I could possess him and plant any message you’d like me to leave.” Y/n answered calmly, as if it was a normal situation. “POSSESS?!!” Everyone shouted. “That’s so cool! Can you possess me, too?!” Luffy bellowed loudly with excitement before being smacked upside the head by Sanji. “It doesn’t work that way. I can only possess animals, not humans, ya silly goose.” Y/n chuckled, booping Luffy on the nose with a small smile. The action made his face tinge a light red before he went back to laughing. “Anyways, guys, the plan when we reach Alabasta - find and stop the REAL culprit behind this civil war before Alabasta crumbles to nothing. Alright?!” Nami yelled, the sound of the rest of the crew’s cheers echoed loudly into the night as the Going Merry sailed through the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next few days on the sea were full of excitement. I never thought that being around other people would start to heal, especially after reuniting with Chopper. All the time that I spent with Chopper in his mind, I could feel the never-ending anxiety that he had. All the fear of being rejected by outsiders that didn’t understand him. It all hit me like a harsh wave and I wanted nothing more than to just leap out of his mind and comfort him. But, I knew that it was going to be an important step in him becoming more confident in himself.

“Sis, is everything okay? I was calling for you, but you seemed distracted.” “Oh, Tony, I didn’t see ya there. What’s going on?” I replied, shaking myself out of my daze. “I was trying to let you know that we’re approaching Alabasta now and we’re going to a city called Nanohana to restock on supplies. Did you want to come along?” “Sure, sounds interesting. Hmm, maybe they’ll have some smoked fruits…” I mumbled as we made our way off the ship towards the rest of the crew. 

As we made plans to grab only essential supplies while in Nanohana, things quickly took a turn as Luffy had run off. “Luffy, wait!” I hollered, quickly making chase behind him. Soon enough, I caught up to him and saw him sitting at a bar next to an open space in the wall. “Luffy, why didn’t you wait for us?” I sighed, trying to catch my breath before sitting next to him. “I’m hungry. Hey, old man, gimme food. Gimme, gimme, gimme food.” He chanted, clearly food being the only thing on his mind. “Sorry if he disturbed anything, if we could get one of everything on your menu along with some smoked fruit on the side please.” I told the barman, who was still in shock at the scene in front of him. 

It was quite hilarious to see just how simple-minded Luffy was sometimes. “Adorable…” I whispered to myself as I rested my arm on top of the bar counter. Once the food hit the counter in front of Luffy, he immediately began inhaling almost everything in sight. The sight was something out of the ordinary to the bystanders in the bar. As Luffy kept eating, the sound of moving rubble had my ears perking up in alert. I slid off of my seat and took a couple of steps to the side to stand in front of the giant hole in the wall.

The pile of rubble began to move and out popped a large man in a puffer coat. He then stood to his feet and shook off the dust before turning around. Both him and I made eye contact with one another then he began stomping in my directions. “Just who is this guy?” I muttered, tilting my head in confusion. As he got closer and closer to where Luffy was sitting, I stepped to the side. It seemed like he had some unfinished business with Luffy who continued devouring food. Puffer coat guy halted in his steps and he addressed Luffy, who blatantly ignored him until the guy shouted loudly in his face. Luffy took a pause in his meal as the dots began to connect in his head and he recognized the guy. 

“Oh crap, it’s Smoker…” Luffy gulped, a nervous sweat drop beading up on his forehead. Luffy then grabbed up the rest of the food and shoved in his mouth. He then grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me out into the street. The action startled me and I stumbled a bit before catching my footing. “Uhh, Luffy, why are we running away?” I shouted, trying to figure out what was going on. “Is he an enemy or something?” “I guess you could uh… say that.” The answer made me deadpan a little, but it didn’t matter. Right now, we need to get out of here quickly before the Marines catch wind of us being here.

[madraleen]

The Case Study of Vanitas - Season 1 (ie eps 1-24) A mixed first-watch commentary (*fair warning, i actively dislike stuff)

-the fairy tale style introduction is such a beautiful beginning.

-favonius codex, is that you?

-what is this op, are the guys in love?

-THE AIRSHIP IS SO COOL

-BLUE MOON, AND WHITE-HAIR-GUY SEEING PARIS FOR THE FIRST TIME AS HE HOLDS ON TO VANITAS AS THEY FALL TO THE GROUND AAAHHH

-HUMAN?! VANITAS IS HUMAN?!

-wdym you'll slay him in the end, noe, i'm not prepared for an unhappy ending even though i only just met y'all

-NOE'S FACIAL EXPRESSIONS ARE SO CUTE

-oh okay, so vanitas is human with some blue vampire power

-please freakin decide if vanitas has human nails or claw-like nails 'cause atm, gloveless, he has both depending on the shot

-wtf did just happen between vanitas and jeanne? leave the woman alone.

-akira ishida could be reciting an omelet recipe and i'd still listen all riveted, but the world formula stuff is actually interesting

-every time vanitas interacts with jeanne, i want to slap him.

-lil noe-louis-domi are adorable. the noe-louis-domi ep is the one i’ve been the most interested in so far. like, even if i end up disliking the rest of the anime, this ep is peak, ep.5

-please make me like vanitas. i really want to like vanitas, but for now i'm edging towards dislike.

-ah yes, jeanne/domi is actually a ship i can get behind.

-the op is telling me i'm watching a certain kind of anime and the actual anime is telling me i'm watching an entire different thing and it annoys me

-it's nice hearing kengo kawanishi in roland's role. i haven't heard him in the slightly-deranged/overly-emotional range before.

-awww, roland is a good egg after all!

-oh i see, i do like vanitas, just not when he's being ~alluring. THAT vanitas i don't like

-i repeat, DOMI/JEANNE!

-when jeanne is tricking vanitas, and he's suspecting her but playing along, they're so cute. aw damn, she'll fall for him? blergh

-oh come on, jeanne crying and being scared over whatever's up with her is actually sad

-LET NOE/US PEER INTO YOUR FUCKING MEMORIES, VANITAS! LET US SYMPATHIZE!

-AYUMU MURASEEEEEEEE

-the vanitas and noe interactions are so damn cute.

-hold up hold up, ayumu murase's range??

-pretty sure vanitas is on a time limit or sth, right? where's your earring, vanitas darling?

-no offense but jeanne has more chemistry with chloe in their hellfire witch backstory scene than she has had with vanitas in the entire anime

-nice chloe twist!

-roland, what a good egg

-astolfo's backstory tho <3

-hold up hold up, seriously, ayumu murase's range?????

-roland and olivier though <3 

-i am plagued by mikhails and mishas

-dude, misha's and vanitas' backstory >>> present story, like- the backstories are SO strong and streamlined compared to the present arcs. and i really like lady vanitas

-wait, domi's arc tho? chef's kiss

-poor noe, all of his closest people want him to be the one that kills them.

-MISHA, NOE AND VANITAS ON THE ROOF, PEAK

-aaah, i see, noe "will slay him in the end" as in the end-end, of the story, when vanitas succumbs to the book, okay. the last two eps were peak, i'm so emotionally confused. i'd gladly watch a s2. that said-

-i really don't like how romance is handled, and it's too present to just ignore. i don't find it cute, nor funny, nor romantic, nor alluring, nor particularly toxic, i just find it annoying and forced, lacking chemistry.

-i'm so confused on how i feel about vanitas. there's moments where i liked him, a lot of moments where i was neutral, but lots of others i found him incredibly annoying. but also, he's so complex, which is great, he's a well-crafted character, and you *get* it after you’ve seen these bits of his past, you come to understand him. and part of me thinks that we’re *supposed* to half-like and half-dislike him, that we’re supposed to mirror noe’s sentiments a bit, the “i don’t like you, but also i want to get to know you and to understand you and i’m never leaving your side, ever.” it’s just that for me, vanitas doesn’t have the charm or strength of character to be magnetic even when i dislike him, and i don’t know how i feel about that. i think if i didn't dislike the vanitas/jeanne approach so much, i might have been more fond of him.

-but again, that said: i'd like a rewatch, now that i know vanitas' backstory.

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers West Coast #65: "Whatsoever a man soweth..."

December, 1990

The REAPER and the ROBOT Part One He's back from the GRAVE -- and ready to PARTY! ... FEAR the REAPER!

Uuuuugh. Can we not do something different?

Grim Reaper suuuuuucks! He's one-note! Even the title of this arc seems to suggest we're back to his old nonsense. The Reaper and the Robot.

Oh, is Grim Reaper going to have a problem with Vision? How fresh and original!

Although, Vision is with the East Coast Avengers. Maybe Grim Reaper is going to harass Jim Hammond Human Torch instead. That'll be new.

Anyway, a quick recap of Grim Reaper's last appearance. He teamed up with Ultron to put Wonder Man and Vision in a giant blender. Superhero shenanigans ensued and Vision and Wonder Man wound up pursuing Grim Reaper into a dark cavern. And then he stumbled off a cliff when Wonder Man ruined his perfect little brother fantasy by claiming credit for doing an embezzlement.

Uh, so, Wonder Man Simon William's original origin is that he was a competitor to Tony Stark but his company got into trouble and Simon did some embezzlement and got arrested. The Masters of Evil bailed him out and turned him into Wonder Man and then he died. Then Grim Reaper came to avenge Simon by attacking the Avengers instead of the Masters of Evil and also revealed that he, Grim Reaper Eric Williams, did the embezzlement instead and framed his goody-good brother.

And then it was later later revealed that the first thing was correct and Simon did the embezzling and just let Eric take the blame because he was ashamed.

Anyway,

Simon visits his brother's grave at the graveyard.

Where he recaps their entire relationship and says how weird it is that he has an easier time talking to him now that he's dead.

Hey, it be like that sometimes.

Simon apologizes that the two brothers drifted apart and says that all the murder attempts probably meant they cared for each other more than most brothers.

Sure!

Anyway, as soon as Simon leaves the graveyard, Eric pops out of the ground as the living dead.

Oh, sure, don't stay dead. God forbid I be happy.

Nekra reveals herself to be the one that brought him back to life. You know, that lady he was smooching on back when he was alive?

Apparently, she and Black Talon brought Reaper back as a zombie later in the Vision and the Scarlet Witch vol 2 book. And Nekra and Reaper smooched again shortly before he re-died. This made her realize she loved him so she studied voodoo herself so she could bring him back.

Reaper doesn't want to be a zombie again and have to take orders but Nekra tells him he doesn't have to obey anyone! Although, he does need to absorb a human life through his scythe once a day to keep living. She recommends he start with the ornery groundskeeper who has started yelling at them for being in the cemetery after hours.

Instead, Grim Reaper backstabs Nekra and eats her life.

Grim Reaper: "Like you said, Nekra -- this time -- I don't have to do what anybody tells me. Anybody!"

What a dick.

Grim Reaper: "You were right -- about my needing to absorb life -- to hang onto my own approximation of it. Still, in sucking out your life -- I've become the walking personification of death! Now, far more than before, I've become -- THE GRIM REAPER!"

It's decades too late to try to be cool, guy.

Anyway, back at the Avengers West Coast Compound, Palos Verdes, Los Angeles, California, Hawkeye is back to training in that device that swings him around by his feet.

He's trying to get three bullseyes in a row but US Agent throws his shield to block the third one. Apparently, just to be a dick.

US Agent: "What's wrong, archer? Think you're the only one who can use a night workout? 'Course, I guess a guy like you needs all the practice he can get."

Hawkeye then punches US Agent in the face. Deserved.

But US Agent is still a super soldier even if his personality is garbage. So he judo flips Hawkeye into a bush when he tries for a second one.

Wanda and Quicksilver interrupt the fight to ask what the heck is going on. And then Wonder Man returns from the grave visit, telling Hawkeye and US Agent that if their enemies (like Master Pandemonium) had seen the Avengers fighting amongst themselves, it would make them so happy.

Geez, Wonder Man. You know that the Avengers always have drama. You were the one causing drama back during most of Englehart's run.

Anyway, he suggests that Hawkeye and US Agent shake hands and forget the whole fight.

Hawkeye: "How about we forget to shake hands, and let it go at that?" US Agent: "What he said."

Wow. So they can agree on things. If only they could broaden that 'fuck you, Wonder Man' attitude into a general sense of camaraderie.

Anyway, Wanda wanders to Wonder Man and asks if they can talk. Because they haven't really talked since her whole Evil and Crazy phase and boy do they have a lot to talk about.

Will they though? I mean, they try!

Scarlet Witch: "I merely wanted to -- well, to thank you for all your kindness while I've been recovering from -- everything that's happened to me lately." Wonder Man: "What are friends for? I see you're not wearing your costume, though -- either of them. Your hex power still hasn't kicked back in, huh?" Scarlet Witch: "No, and I can't be certain it ever will. In fact, with so many things I thought were -- permanent -- having been altered lately, perhaps it would be best if the Scarlet Witch phase of my life were over with, as well." Wonder Man: "Don't even think that, Wanda."

Yeah, editorial will never allow it.

Anyway, Wonder Man has had a hell of a day, thinking about his definitely dead brother and thinks this conversation will be easier over food.

And he looks truly miserable. Like, my god, this is a man in a dark place.

So Wanda suggests Taco Loco and drags him off.

Anyway, over in the plot, Grim Reaper wanders into an abandoned gun emplacement in the coastal hills of San Pedro. Currently being used by the Cult of Satanish, who I guess is like Satan... ish.

The cult gets in his face for interrupting their ritual and then he starts slaughtering. Because they're full of delicious life energy.

Is this your plan, Grim? Just killing random weirdos to live another day?

In his slaughter frenzy, Grim Reaper doesn't notice one of the cultists running away.

Back in the character beats, Wonder Man and Wanda have sat down at a restaurant and instead of talking about what they need to talk about, they're gossiping about Hank and Jan.

Apparently, Hank and Jan have officially explicitly decided to try to see if they can work as a couple again. Instead of them... I dunno, they were like dating in secret but it was super obvious and yet things kept happening that would interrupt them from ever speaking it aloud.

What was the point of playing coy with it?

Speaking of weirdly prolonged subplots, where the fuck is Tigra? I can't believe the Avengers lost an entire person, smh.

Some fans of Simon come right up to the restaurant table and ask him for his autograph. Specifically, the autograph of Simon Williams, semi-famous actor from Arkon 5, a cinematic masterpiece.

The fans don't even have any idea that he's a superhero. Which is weird. Since a huge part of his PR plays up the idea that he's an actor who is a superhero. To the extent that when he was really attacked for real by Last Roman Emperor Romulus Augustulus Wearing Abomination As a Meatsuit, everyone assumed that it was just a stunt and not a real violent assault.

My point is that it's odd that these young fans don't know Simon Williams is Avenger Wonder Man but they say they don't watch a lot of TV.

So, I guess it's possible. That they're just really big fans of his movies and don't pay a lot of attention to anything else.

Anyway, that one cultist that escaped Grim Reaper's murder spree stumbles into specifically the restaurant that Grim Reaper's superhero brother Wonder Man is in, cries out about a Grim Reaper killing people in a bunker, and then drops dead.

It's just vague enough that Wonder Man has to follow up on it! Annnnd, I guess he didn't bring his rocket belt? Because he asks two cops that were in the restaurant if he (and Wanda) could get a ride.

The cops are like 'yeah, okay.'

When the cop car arrives at the bunker, Wonder Man rushes ahead and finds a bunch of murdered people. And also, Grim Reaper jumps out like a slasher villain.

Wonder Man wonder slams a table into Grim Reaper and yells at him for killing a bunch of people.

Grim Reaper's response is funny because he's like well they weren't exactly saints but like I didn't really take that into account either. Just had to slurp some delicious life.

Wonder Man: "That means -- you're even more murderous than you used to be -- which makes stopping you my business!"

He's not wrong.

New zombie Grim Reaper will kill a minimum of 365 people a year if left alone. That's ridonk.

Grim Reaper is all jacked up on life energy so he's able to take Wonder Man punches like a boss. Getting punched hard enough that he cracks the concrete wall and shakes the whole place like an earthquake. And then bouncing right back to knock Wonder Man across the room.

The cops pull their guns and start blasting Grim Reaper. Blasting through him too. I guess being super jacked up on life energy doesn't change that his body is all squishy.

Grim Reaper knocks the cops aside and declares that even though he's eaten enough life for the day, he's going to kill Wonder Man just cause.

Wonder Man presses X to doubt because Grim Reaper is obsessed with him. All his dumb schemes were to either get revenge for him or turn Vision or Wonder Man back into the brother he used to know.

So Wonder Man just rolls the dice on letting Grim Reaper hit him with his scythe.

And he's sorta right. The scythe just FTHKs off his rock hard pecs. It's not clear whether it wasn't an earnest attempt to kill Wonder Man or whether the scythe just isn't up to cutting an ionic energy man.

But something weird happens. A weird sibling interaction.

The life energy flows out of Grim Reaper through the scythe and goes into Wonder Man. And neither of them like it.

It drains and weakens Grim Reaper. And the energy is so foul that it incapacitates Wonder Man with nausea and disgust.

Grim Reaper is so drained that he needs to eat another person to get through the night. Annnnnnnnd Wanda and the two cops just happen to be available...

Wanda tries to do a hex but gets nothing. Her powers are still gone after that Immortus thing.

But she's resourceful. So she kicks over a lantern, the only light source, and casts the bunker into darkness.

Grim Reaper can't see in the dark so decides to just fuck off.

Wonder Man: "Eric -- if you really are Eric -- wait! If something's wrong with you, maybe we can help!" Grim Reaper: "What I need, little brother, you clearly can't give -- and you sure won't stand by and let me take it for myself! I may be dead -- but I need life, like a living man needs food -- and no one is going to stop me from getting all I need! NO ONE!"

And then he fucks off.

Wonder Man laments that he was too disoriented by getting scythed to give chase.

Wonder Man: "I've got to find him -- or else every life he takes -- every drop of blood he spills -- will be on my hands!"

Mmm, that's good drama.

And now for subplots.

As mentioned earlier, Hank and Jan are off trying out being a couple. Including having a married couple argument.

So I can sigh once again about how Wasp is being portrayed since Byrne's run started.

Dr Pym: "Hank and Jan couldn't fly in a Rover, oh no. Or even just take a plane. They had to rent a car and drive, just like folks. Results: one flat tire, equidistant between closed service stations, in a car missing a jack."

I'm so glad that Jan organized the travel arrangements entirely so she could make all the wrong decisions. It has nothing to do with anything but she's just got to be wrong so Hank can be right =_=

Luckily, Hank and Jan got their flat in front of a farmhouse. Which Hank notes is odd because a lot of pesticide spraying has been doing in this area.

The old farmer couple that answers when Hank knocks says they don't have a jack. But also luckily, Hank completely ignored Jan when she asked him not to bring a Rover, his ant-brained aircar that loves him. So when she laments that she was wrong not to let him bring it, he can bring it out, secure in his rightness.

Also, when he uses his Pym Particles to expand Rover, the farming couple explodes.

THEY WERE ROBOTS ALL ALONG.

BECAUSE ULTRON-13 WAS BEHIND THIS!

WHATEVER THIS IS!

Like, seriously, what are you up to, Ultron? Why did you put fake farmer robots in the middle of nowhere? Just to ruin Hank and Jan's stupid couples trip?

I miss Mark the Ultron...

ANOTHER SUBPLOT.

Remember how Ann Raymond came to find the truth of what happened to her husband Toro and she just kept hanging around?

Well, in this back-up story "Toro, Toro, Toro...", Jim Hammond Human Torch and Mrs Raymond have put out an ad and ran it in papers around the world asking for information on what happened to Toro. They only received one response, an anonymous letter asking to meet them at the Channel Islands.

And when they get there, the letter writer turns out to be the Mad Thinker! And he brought a Giganto! A robot Giganto!

Mad Thinker: "And who more fitting, than he who not only caused Toro's death southwest of Lisianski Island -- but who also first resurrect you from suspended animation, years ago? I thought it past time I disposed of the surviving half of the Torch-Toro team!"

Human Torch do what Human Torch do and throws fireballs at the Giganto, melting its skin and revealing that it's a robot.

But in the meantime, the Mad Thinker has fucked off.

Hammond and Mrs Raymond decide to go investigate Lisianski Island, which Mad Thinker really emphasized it. So they miss Mad Think coming out of the water and ripping off his face to reveal...

NAMOR MCKENZIE!

Who disguised himself as the Mad Thinker to help the two of them get closure and couldn't just tell them because he's busy faking his death at the moment.

As one does.

I'll just be happy if we get this subplot wrapped up.

Anyway, back to the Larry Hama Avengers run next week. And the week after that, Ultron stuff.

Follow @essential-avengers. Like, reblog, and comment. Or don't. I can't make you. Until I get the Mind Stone.