#remember kids where there is a monitor there is a video I can make these guys watch

[rottenpumpkin13]

I mean if you really think about it. Technically Chadley is kind of Sephiroth's little brother

Anon you are so right. Unfortunately we don't have it it canon, but highlights of their sibling bond would include:

• Sephiroth frequently gifting Chadley toys and other trinkets he himself was deprived of during childhood because he wants to make sure Chadley doesn't go through that. Chadley has more Lego sets and two-person games than he knows what to do with.

• Chadley going to Sephiroth for real world advice and getting trolled in grand older brother fashion.

Chadley: I think I may have romantic feelings for Professor Hojo's new intern.

Sephiroth: How so?

Chadley: Whenever I'm around her, I have heart palpitations, my vision blurs, I become sweaty and my speech is slurred.

Sephiroth: You've just described a stroke.

Chadley:

Sephiroth: You can have the same symptoms by consuming a double bacon cheeseburger.

Chadley:

Sephiroth: Which is much more fulfilling than romance, in my opinion.

• While researching "ways brothers bond," Chadley found funny videos of siblings jump scaring each other. He now frequently hides behind corners, donning a scary mask or fake blood, to scare Sephiroth. He finds it hilarious when Sephiroth gasps and clutches his heart. Sephiroth, in turn, isn't sure when he'll ever stop pretending to be scared, but he doesn't care. He likes seeing Chadley happy.

• Chadley steals Sephiroth's music taste, much to Hojo's chagrin, since the kid likes to blast the heavy metal and obscure goth music in the labs.

• Stealing each other's food.

*They're walking when Chadley's shoelaces come undone*

Chadley: Hold my sandwich for me please.

Sephiroth: Sure.

*Chadley bends down to tie his shoes. When he stands up, his sandwich is gone*

Chadley: I told you to hold it!

Sephiroth: I'm holding it in my stomach.

• Chadley uses social media for researching/ mimicking "sibling behavior" and likes to replicate things he sees. This is how he ended up on a "fun ways to annoy your brother" video. Sephiroth now gets sprayed with water—like a cat—at random when he's trying to rest.

• Chadley's excited rambling about materia and his research is never reprimanded by Sephiroth, who listens happily, remembering how he wished he had someone to listen to him gush about his interests when he was a child.

• Chadley is helping Professor Hojo assess Sephiroth in the labs. When Hojo's back is turned, Charley socks Sephiroth in the arm. Sephiroth, annoyed, punches him right back. Hojo turns around right as Chadley gets punched.

Hojo: Honestly Sephiroth. I expected better from you.

Sephiroth: But he hit me first.

Chadley: He bullies me constantly, Professor.

Sephiroth: !?

• When the labs feel suffocating or Professor Hojo is being particularly difficult, Chadley likes to escape to the 49th floor and use Sephiroth's office as a quiet spot. Sephiroth isn't always there, but when he is he makes sure to distract Chadley and give him the attention he needs. Eventually Sephiroth gives him a spare access card to his apartment if Chadley ever needs it.

• This later evolves into sleepovers.

• They constantly take advantage of their height difference—Chadley through piggyback rides and Sephiroth through fun methods of discipline.

*Lazard walks by Sephiroth's office and sees Sephiroth sitting on Chadley*

Lazard: What in Shiva's name are you doing??

Sephiroth: I caught him trying to go to Wall Market.

Chadley: It's for RESEARCH.

Sephiroth: Clearly he's at the age where he needs to be monitored lest he falls victim to recreational drugs and gang activity.

Chadley: I was just going to conduct a survey! GET OFF ME!

Sephiroth: Struggling will do nothing but amuse me.

• Not even Sephiroth is safe from your little sibling stealing your stuff.

*Chadley walks in with a shiny device in his hand*

Sephiroth: Is that my transmuter?

Chadley: No.

Sephiroth: It says Sephiroth on the back.

Chadley: No it doesn't.

Sephiroth: Chadley, I'm looking right at it.

Chadley: So? You don't even use it.

Sephiroth: Just because I don't regularly use something doesn't mean you can take it without permission.

Chadley: Hm. I guess I should probably give this back.

*Chadley places Masamune on the table*

Sephiroth: HOW—?

• Other SOLDIERs and troopers on missions with Sephiroth have reported seeing his face "light up" whenever he gets a call from Chadley.

[l33bang24]

OMG It’s You… (Part 4)

YouTube! Fem reader x Stray Kids

Summary: Y/N’s YouTube channel is taking off after her reactions to Stray Kids MV God’s Menu. Now she’s making videos nonstop along with working a full time job. What would happen if she got offered a job of a lifetime and met the boys of her succession?

⚠️Warnings⚠️: the kids misbehaving, Chan and Lee Know being parents, Felix being the golden child (let me know if I missed anything)

🏷️: @laylasbunbunny @weirdowithaphone @silverstarburst @jusanontstuff @anxiousskylar @drewsandsebastianswife @amararosesblog @niaalove (Taglist open)

(A/N: Hi everyone!👋🏻 I hope you enjoy this chapter. I’m hoping to have some more chapters coming up. (As long as I can stay in my creative mode.) Also if you could have your own fandom name, what would it be? 🤔)

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 2.5 Chapter 3 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 6.5 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9

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Felix’s POV

After having the conversation with Lee Know Hyung, I felt ten times better. I knew that I probably overreacted when Seungmin teased me about watching Y/N’s videos. I never realized just how much I needed her videos. She feels like a breath of fresh air and she has this way of pulling you in. Sometimes I wonder if this is how Stays feel about us. (It is.)

I was shocked when Lee Know told me about how much he enjoys her videos as well. I thought he was just saying that to get me to speak up. Though I realized that he wouldn’t lie to me about something like this. When I looked up at him, I could see the sincerity in his eyes.

Once Lee Know left, I made a promise to myself not to talk about her so much. It’s hard because I feel like I need to tell everyone about her. Some might say that I’m her biggest fan, and maybe I am. Since our comeback is just around the corner, everyone has been on edge trying to make sure we have everything done.

When things get tough, I always resort to watching Y/N since it helps me to relax. Seeing someone who has a much simpler life that’s not hectic like mine makes me somewhat jealous. Then I remember that I wanted this life and I knew what I was getting into when I auditioned for it.

I knew that if I ever met her in person that I would be nervous around her. Which seems silly to most people, but in my mind she’s the one person that I could look up to outside of my members. I just hope I won’t make a fool out of myself.

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

Y/N’s POV

I woke up feeling like I got hit by a truck. Muscles feeling stiff and sore. Getting up slowly, I climb out of bed. I had worked the weekend so I didn’t have much time to work on any videos or record anything. Walking into the kitchen, I grab a mug out of the cupboard and head towards the coffee maker.

One thing about coffee is I never feel like I get any energy from it. If anything it makes me more sleepy than awake. After fixing my coffee the way I like it, I walk back to my room and sit down in my chair. I turn on my laptop and monitors.

I had seen where my followers had been asking if I had a PO Box where they could send me mail. At first I ignored it because I didn’t see the need for having one. Though over time messages started pilling up, especially when I do a livestream and that’s all they ask about. I debated whether if it was a good idea or not. Since I knew that there were people who didn’t like me very much, I wasn’t keen on getting hate through the mail. Overall, I decided that I would get one made so that would please my followers.

I decided that I would make a short video about it and post it on YouTube. I stated in the video about how I didn’t want anyone to feel obliged to send me anything, and if they did then I didn’t want anything like personal items. Like merch that they already bought for themselves and sending it to me since I didn’t have it. “I will leave the PO Box address at the bottom of this video. Depending on what I get, I might make a video of me opening the mail that y’all sent. I feel like all of you would like that. And if you want to stay anonymous then you can just put that in the letter or in the package. I’ll repeat myself again, please do not feel pressured about sending me anything. I don’t need anything from y’all. Just knowing how much you all support me is enough for me. I don’t need letters or packages to tell me that, but at the end of the day you have the decision to do whatever you want. I love you all and I hope you have a great day. Bye!” I wave at the camera before ending it.

I had just realized I never changed my clothes. I was still in my pajamas and my long robe. “Oh well. They’ve seen worse.” I shrug editing the address in the video. Taking on last look at the video to see if I like it, I post it to my channel. “I have a feeling that I don’t know what I just signed myself up for.” I thought to myself.

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

(Back at the JYP Building)

Group Chat name: Stray Kids (literally)

Group chat: OPERATION SFM (No parents allowed)

[alexanderwales]

Movie Review: Subservience

I did actually end up watching Subservience. I had absolutely no preconceptions going into it, but ... man, bad movie. I will admit to having watched this one on a second monitor while playing a video game, but I don't think that really impacts my reading of it.

It turns out that it's an erotic thriller, and specifically, a type of erotic thriller that I'm not sure has a name, but which I'll call "man ruiner". These were all the rage in the early 90s before petering out, and I've seen it called the "woman from hell" genre, though this is a somewhat more specific subset that would exclude movies like Single White Female.

Basically, there's a hard-working but horny family man, a woman comes into his life and seduces him, he either cheats on his wife or resists temptation, then the woman goes psycho and attacks his family, his wife, and him, before dying, with the man having learned a valuable lesson and reconciled with his wife.

Fatal Attraction is the ur-example, and there aren't that many of them, even if there were enough that people got sick of them. Swimfan is a bad movie, but I have the impression that it's the most recent one people really remember.

Often the woman in question is a subordinate of some kind: a nanny, temp worker, an assistant, someone who is, in theory, in a position of much less power than our male lead. Sometimes, she's young. Sometimes real young, like creepily young (The Crush).

The psychological impetus for this kind of movie is male desire. It's playing on a male fear of a "moment of weakness". One of the key features is this inverted power dynamic. The woman is the aggressor, not just when we get to the thriller part, but as we're ramping up. The woman might be a maid or teacher or employee, but she's on the pursuit almost from the get-go, and her obsession is what drives the plot.

So this movie is just like all of those. Our protagonist is a construction foreman whose wife is in the hospital with a weak heart, and he's taking care of two little kids on his own. He hires a hot robot maid/nanny, played by Megan Fox, who basically immediately begins acting inappropriately. She eventually sleeps with the main character, but when she does, he has basically as much deniability as he possibly can while she pushes through his weak resistance. I'm pretty sure a movie like this will always have that structure, attempting to preserve the man's "virtue" and make him into a victim of the woman and her wiles. These movies are always sympathetic to the man even as he makes his "mistake".

The fact that she's a robot woman is immaterial until like ... act three. She could have just been a maid he hired until then, and virtually nothing about the plot would need to change. There's a half-assed B-plot about robots taking over a construction site and automation taking jobs, but I never felt like they were taking that seriously, and I doubt anyone in the audience was thinking that either. It didn't tie in well with the main plot.

There's fuck-all explanation for why the robot maid goes psycho, except maybe that it's part of a bad batch and our hero had her do a minor memory wipe so she could experience Casablanca fresh without her pre-programmed spoilers. This somehow gave her root access. I know that sounds stupid, but I swear that's like half the explanation they give.

This movie, and others that are in the same subgenre, come from this sort of anxiety about having power over other people, and especially being attracted to people we have power over. It's a horror story whose moral is "don't fuck the nanny" or "keep it professional with the secretary" or "absolutely do not chat up that sixteen-year-old" or just "don't shit where you eat". I think that these are good morals, but I feel vaguely gross about wrapping them in eroticism and presenting the people these horror stories happen to as the victim. The roles are almost always reversed in real life: the protagonist of this sort of movie is in a position where he's far more likely to be a perpetrator abusing a position of power. It's still a plot I can get behind, if they execute well (by this I mean, sell me on the mistake, sell me on the allure), but this one didn't.

(There is at least one example of an opposite-gender version of this basic plot, 2015's The Boy Next Door, which features Jennifer Lopez as a teacher who sleeps with a teenage student in a "moment of weakness" and gets her life wrecked when he goes obsessive stalker on her. 12% on Rotten Tomatoes. I haven't seen it but the trailer is the whole movie.)

So a bad movie, overall. It sadly had nothing to say about artificial intelligence or our relationship to it. It doesn't even really have much to say about these characters, and their relationship to each other, and the ethics of fucking a robot maid. There is a genuine lack of subservience. It's the kind of movie that makes me want to write a better version of it, something that gets at its actual themes more than it did, making better use of the conceit. But I felt no desire to absolve this man of his sins, and I think that's also one of the central fantasies the film offers, so maybe if I ever attempted to write a "man ruiner" film I would end up getting it wrong.

[talas-first-lady]

Can we discuss how Evil Gideon was lying, though?

I was thinking today about how completely unrealistic the Astra runs for President prediction was and the more I think about it, a lot of the other predictions don't add up. I'm going to go through in the order they were in the episode.

(She may not have been purposefully lying but she definitely just showed them whatever Chat GPT popped out.)

Zari: Seems plausible on the surface, but I have some concerns.

Her award show dress is UGLY. The red color is pretty but the orangey overlay ruins it. The ruching is in the worst possible place and makes her look larger than she is right through the middle. The bottom is kind of wrinkled. And then she has really small, understated jewelry and her hair up, so there's nothing interesting at all going on in the shoulder/neck region. Zari dresses better than that.

She makes billions with her cosmetics company. Despite the fact that we have repeatedly been told throughout the show that she is terrible at selling cosmetics. Her lip kits don't even sell. Everybody has lips! Her perfume destroys people's sense of smell.

Audible lipstick. Not a thing anyone wants. Not a thing that makes any sense. Evil Gideon is making this stuff up. And yes, it's the future, but nothing we've seen of the 2040s on Legends really looks all that much more technologically advanced than what we have now.

EG fails to consider that Zari has grown as a person since whatever info she has in her files, which is the whole reason Zari is upset about the prediction. It's plausible that she would go back to her career as it was, but she cares about people now. She would absolutely be doing some sort of philanthropy.

She's so pretty. But also, I'm not 100% convinced that that even is a dress because it looks like they may have just shoved a piece of fabric at her and said "here, hold this under your arms."

Behrad:

Totally plausible that he could become famous, either for his talent or via his connections, but he has never wanted to be famous. You expect me to believe that the man who hid in bed to avoid imaginary TV cameras is going to purposefully go into a career of being on camera?

He can't account for his whereabouts for several years of his adult life. He is not passing a background check to become a children's performer.

His record is called "Grey Hound to the Moon." Which is great, except that both the bus company and the dog spell it Greyhound. One word.

Avalance:

Knowing what we know now about Sara's biology, this is plausible.

But I feel like they might run into some issues trying to sign their kid up for school when one of them is legally dead and the other was never legally born.

Do kids get to do video calls from camp these days? I don't know. I am old. I had to bring quarters to the designated calling home payphones at a predetermined time to talk to my parents.

Gwyn:

He knows too much. They can't send him back to the 1920s. All of the Legends are aberrations waiting to happen, but sending anyone to the past is a no-no.

If they are going to send him back, wouldn't it make more sense to send him back to New York? Since that's where he last was?

Nate:

He has to somehow convince someone to publish a book about how time travel is real. Nate Heywood. Who you may recall from that controversial fake documentary about time travel a few years back. He seems like a reliable source.

You don't grow a hideous beard over the Heywood jawline. You just don't.

His TV interview is totally bogus. Nate knows how to schmooze. He's not going to be all "I can't answer your simple question about what time travel feels like because you must first read all 500 pages of my book."

"I never said that out loud before but that is the title I picked out." Gideon can literally monitor your dreams, dude. I know that she's never personally kidnapped you and put you into a time loop, but she knows things.

Astra:

Remember how she couldn't find a job in season 6? Because she's legally dead and legally still a child? She also has no education, no work experience, and a grand total of like 6 people who can vouch for her existence. She is a mess. No idea if she's legally eligible to run.

And she definitely wouldn't win, given that all of the above would definitely come out. She also doesn't look her legal age (which barely makes her old enough to qualify), she's terrible at keeping her temper, and she's literally a witch.

Also, she runs in 2040. We know for a fact that Dwayne Johnson is the President in 2045. So at best, she gets 1 term.

That wig is preposterous.

Spooner:

Again, she definitely knows too much to go back to the 1920s.

Everyone is already suspicious of Gloria Cruz. You don't think they're going to have questions when her daughter goes missing and then some 20-something shows up out of nowhere?

They are not running an apothecary. They are getting burned at the stake.

[sukunaspinkyfinger]

omegle adventures! featuring gojo satoru & nanami kento (f!reader)

"one day out of boredom, you decide to convince your boyfriend to fuck around on omegle with you"

contains: crack, mentions of male reproductive body party (it's omegle, ifykyk)

GOJO

Satoru needs almost no convincing to begin his first-ever journey on Omegle with you, even if you warn him about the possible dangers beforehand. He plops down on the couch beside you and swings an arm around your shoulder as he yoinks your laptop in his lap and waits for the site to load, impatiently. You try to hide your laugh the moment your webcam turns on, debating if it was a good idea to introduce your unhinged boyfriend to this even more unhinged website.

For the first couple of minutes, everyone just straight up skips you and Satoru, or the person on the other side simply stares at their phone without saying a word.

"Booooring..." a defeated sigh escapes the tall man as he leans back on the couch, turned to you. It seems only you were aware of the new candidate that just loaded in.

"Yo." 

The child sitting in his gaming chair seems rather disinterested as he takes a sip from his energy drink, his eyes drift between his monitor and Satoru, who turns to him with a cocky smile.

"Yo, kiddo. Whatcha' playing?" Satoru asks him with a lot of enthusiasm as he gestures over to the child's monitor that showed the loading screen of a familiar video game. The kid on the other side blinks at least five times as he takes a good look at your boyfriend before he answers with a very unimpressed tone. 

"Your hair makes you look like my sisters rat that got electrocuted last week. It climbed behind the fridge and chewed the cable. My dad noticed it because it got stinky."

Satoru is in disbelief, not sure if because of the sudden insult or because of the gruesome story the kid described with a poker face. You hold your tummy as you begin to laugh uncontrollably, which earns you a rather unamused look from your scarred boyfriend.

"I'm playing Fortnite, by the way. I could easily 1v1 you." 

That's it, you remembered the name of the familiar game which your boyfriend also plays very enthusiastically every Friday night accompanied by Yuji and Megumi. Which is why Satoru stiffens the moment the child on the other side of the screen states that he would, in fact beat your boyfriend in a 1v1, whatever that means. Their conversation suddenly forms into a heated debate about game's strategies, something about building and nineties, which you didn't really get, so you decided to get up from the couch to get some snacks. 

The moment you stretch your legs and stand up, Satoru does so as well with such eagerness it almost knocks you over. He sprints into your living room from where you can hear the beep sound of his PS5 you gifted him for his birthday. For the rest of the evening, Satoru forces you to watch him compete with the kid for hours, whining and kicking as he loses for the 27th time.

NANAMI

It was a long and especially boring Sunday evening. The weather outside was horrendous, so you decided to stay inside and relax but somehow nothing seemed interesting enough. You tried reading a book, watch a show, even did the dishes while waiting for your long-term boyfriend, Nanami to finally arrive home to no avail as nothing could keep you entertained.

Hours later, he finally steps through the front door and greets you with a loving kiss as he takes off his long, thick coat. "How was your day, sweetheart?"

You explain your unusual boredom to your boyfriend as you lead him to sit on the couch with you and as you serve him some dinner, a genius idea pops into your head. You briefly remember the website you and your best friend used to mess around on when you were kids and thought it would be fun to do the same with Nanami. To your surprise, the exhausted man obliged as he helped you set up the laptop as comfortably as possible while you two cuddled on the couch as none of you intended to change positions.

"Care to elaborate about this...Omegle?" he asks, seemingly curious as he types in the link in the search bar.

"You basically get to talk to random people online, it's fun, kind of." you pause as you remember some of the vile stuff you used to laugh at with your bestie as a teen. "There are a lot of weirdos, though, so beware."

Nanami was about to protest upon hearing your words but it was too late as your webcam loaded in and the first person appeared on the other side. At first, you two could only hear rustling and deep breaths coming from a man, which earned a confused expression from the both of you. As your boyfriend realized what was going on, he angrily skipped the shameful person on the other side, though no avail; for some reason, every creep decided that today was going to be the day, the perfect day for them to stroke their soggy dicks on Omegle. Of course, most of them landed in your chatroom, how convenient.

However, your boyfriend - despite the uncomfortable looks and disgusted sighs - still decided not to throw away the laptop and sanitize his eyeballs with bleach. That, until one particular face appeared on the screen, grinning at Nanami like some kind of maniac. Your boyfriend's eyes widen in shock and despair as soon as he realizes the identity of the white-haired man staring back him like a demon from hell.

"Nanami?? Y/N? No way, who would've thought I'd run into my good frien-"

Nanami quickly shuts the screen of the laptop, almost breaking it the moment he hears Satoru's excruciatingly exciting shriek. He just can't escape him even in his own home, can he?

"Honey, are you okay?" You ask while trying not to burst from the laugh that slowly but steadily creeps up from the depths of your stomach as he looks at you with a defeated expression on his handsome face.

"Grab your coat." he states out of the blue as he stands up and grabs his car keys.

Despite the tragic events of the evening, at least the two of you got to enjoy a cute date in a nearby café and that is what you call a "win-win".

gojo's still trying to beat that kid in fortnite as we speak

[cuttyclowngirl]

Daima EP.4 (Spoiler) review/theories

• My bad Glorio, I wasn't familiar with your game. He actually can fly & is a league stronger than I thought. I was wrong. Good. He's even more fascinating than before. How does a demon from the 3rd world obtain such strength? Why would he need it if he was a simple bounty hunter/assassin as viewers suspect? All that & he can't sense ki?

• Glorio & Shin's (Supreme Kai's) "U can't fool me" dynamic continues to grow ever more tense. Who's going to crack first?

• Glorio sorta gave up on on finding his plane almost immediately in favor of finding a new vehicle. Was the plane even his to begin with? He also doesn't seem to care that about being late to see King Kandan. The nearest Tamagami is miles in the opposite direction they've been heading so far & Glorio still insisted they just gather the balls instead of prioritizing the meeting with Kadan, which tells me he never actually intended to see the 3rd world King & probably wasn't sent by King Kadan.

• Glorio suddenly switching up & almost insisting they gather the balls, coupled with that "All according to plan" smirk/hmph is further feeding into my theory about him working for Dr Arinsu. (There were two shots in the conversation where Glorio's eyes are suspiciously off screen) She was probably watching on a Magic Monitor & sent Glorio a telepathic message/order.

• The shopkeeper couple are absolutely lovely "one & done" type silly characters. Love their designs, their bits, their voices & interactions. I hope they'll be featured in future video games. (Glorio is such an experienced haggler, he even saw through a not so obvious deafness trick. Tells me Glorio socializes a lot.)

• "Medi Bugs". Toriyama never missed an opportunity to remind everyone that JRPGs were one of his special interests, huh? Revive Bug restores stamina. (Compared to Senzu, but wasn't stated to have healing properties. Let's remember that.) Achichi Bug heals burns, Zutsu Bug cures headaches, Beaut Bugs make your skin silky. JOIN BUG: "Feed halves to 2 people & they can fuse for a while". Introducing a Demon Realm exclusive type fusion. Can't wait to see what it looks like.

• Aside from the multiple unnamed Medi Bugs Goku made Glorio ("Goliro" lmao) buy, which we saw in his bag, the shopkeeper lady said they had "most of the different types of Medi Bugs", meaning even more might be introduced later. She also called the Medi Bugs "souvenirs" so they're clearly not rare/hard to find.

• The heavy air yields yet another obstacle in the form of even lower mobility in any attempt at flying at high speeds. "It expends a lot of energy & will tire you out quickly".

• Poor Shin has to keep Goku on task like a kid on a leash, reminding him that the main mission is rescuing baby Dende.

• As I had hoped, the Tamagamis are strong, even by Glorio's standards to the point he's never heard of anyone gathering all 3 balls. So Goku & crew will be the first in ages to do so.

• Demons apparently believe their set of D balls are the originals. Fandom discourse fuel right there.

• "Sky seeds". Shin said he's never heard of one, meaning the "Great Fiend Flower" & their Sky seeds are 3rd world exclusive. The whimsical orchestral cover of Jaka Jann coupled with Goku's attitude throughout the Sky seed riding sequence was pure dragon ball charm. (I got a lil emotional.)

• The Supreme King's military police are called "Gendarmerie" a word derived from the medieval French phrase "gens d'armes" meaning "Men-at-arms".

• Finding out that the red Magic Collars we've seen several demons already wearing are actually oppression devices really hurt me when I remembered that those lovely shopkeepers were wearing them too... I think the scarf Panzy wears is either hiding her collar or concealing an awful scar caused by her manually removing her's that she'd rather no one see.

• What could the life force sucked out of poor demons by that awful machine possibly be for? Keeping the Supreme King young and strong? Like in "Go Go Ackman" where the souls of dead humans kept the demon king young & strong?

•Goku & crew are fugitives now. The obstacles just keep staking. (Bulma's def gonna yell at someone.)

• Panzy seems to be your classic plucky eccentric rebel who's inventions only work half the time, which already sorta sets her apart from Bulma the giga genius & GT's Pan. I look forward to her future antics & discovering her motivation for traveling with Goku & crew. (She should either learn how to fly or make herself a pair of roller skates for quick getaways.) There seemed to be some focus on her eyes. Could her eye color be an additional plot point? I don't remember any other demon having purple eyes like her's specifically, but I'm probably reading into it too much.

[fandom-go-round]

Can I ask for a part two on the yandere parents Soundwave and Megatron? Like if the reader regains their memory and tries to escape.

Part One

Warnings: Kidnapping, Yandere Parenting, Reader with Amnesia, Memory Stirring, Gaslighting, Chasing, Trapped Reader

Something nags in the back of your mind the longer you’re on the Nemesis. It starts off as a small itch, something mostly ignorable but popping up at the oddest of times. Your father tells you to ignore it the one and only time you mention it and you do your best. The issue is that it never goes away and eventually you give in. Something isn’t right about your dads and you want to know what.

Sure, you know that the giant metal beings aren’t your biological dads. That’s a no brainer. But they’ve raised you since you were a child and it’s all you’ve ever known. The other mechs on ship are kind and mostly polite (ignoring Starscream) but it still feels off. You get lost all the time, even though you should know this ship like the back of your hand. You feel odd when Soundwave records you, even though he’s been doing it for years. Megatron’s laughter sends a shiver of dread down your spine, even as you bury it deep down.

It comes to you in the middle of the night. You have to go to the bathroom and you don’t want to wake your fathers up, even if they would take you there. Wandering through the halls, you make your way there alright but getting back to the berthroom is difficult. You end up roaming, looking for a familiar door and not seeing it. You pass by the control room and freeze when you see a video playing. Blown up across all the monitors is a video of the Autobots. Not just the bots, the kids and yourself too, running from the Decepticons and retreating through a spacebridge.

Memories comes in waves and you stumble back, one hand on your head. It pounds in time with your heart and you know you have to leave, to get out as quickly as possible. There have to be spacebridge controls somewhere, you just need to find them. Tenacles slide along the hallways and you run, trying to remember where everything is. Loud, thundering pedsteps send you into a panic, scrambling into a closet. Megatron walks past, his canon hot and you hope you can make it out alive.

[zeondraws]

I always wonder why I have been so busy the past months but then I remember all the things I'm doing with SWTD:

(this is more of a thought post about my life/thoughts/feelings than a lore post! Ignore if you are not interested in this, I don't mind)

Taking Screenshots

Multiple recording sessions (for audio or funny moments, and so on)

Multiple playthroughs of the game

Doing an AU for some reason

Drawing the characters (much art)

Also learning how to use procreate, while my big tablet is packed away until November

Working on a video project

Learning how to use OBS

Datamining the gamefiles for more info with fmodel

troubleshooting fmodel because it's showing me the middle finger for the billionth time

learning how to use a dumper to get mappings file (to view files in fmodel)

learning how to install mods and learn how to use them

troubleshooting my pc or laptop because of my silly shenanigans

rebuilding the models in blender while simultaneously watching blender tutorials to understand what the hell I'm doing

read about TCR's other games and play them (I still have to play Little Orpheus)

Trying to research movies or any blogpost/YouTube posts regarding the game

Other types of research that I can't think of right now

Sharing results with others and discuss the findings to figure lore out

confusedscreaming.mp4

????

It has a lot of reasons why I am super determined and stubborn? when it comes to something I'm passionate about. (It's really hard to explain)

Family always dismissed my hobbies and didn't support me much for them. They often gave me false promises and made me wait for nothing

Often treating me like a baby, as if I can't think for myself. I had to fight a lot for my passions the past decade or so. Even dealing with a former coworker who was very manipulative and tried very hard to belittle me.

I can't even explain all the stress I had to endure because of my old job. Constantly monitored for mistakes, constantly shoved to a corner, freedom taken away, bullied, my feelings had been manipulated so much that I just.. had entire months where I cried every single day. And I'm not even kidding, I went to work in fear, I walked home in fear, I woke up in fear. I still remember that evening where I was so afraid of everything. I was so scared to even be in my apartment, I just balled my eyes out because it was too much at that moment.

Only thing that kept me going was my determination, hope.. daydreams. . and seeking out help (therapy, friends) and using the anger I felt for my coworker to work on my art/passions and show myself that I'm not worthless.

Sometimes my coworker would treat me badly on some days, so after I went home I used my anger and sadness to make art. Even if I sat there drawing for 5h. It did help me to improve a ton in my skills.

I think that event made me go through this journey of? self reflection and growth. It's wild how much happened after that.

Family wasn't helpful in this painful time period, one told me I'll end up alone, that I shouldn't talk to people online or that I should be happy to have a job (Talking to family is like talking to a wall). Or another family member who tries so hard to treat me like an object.

It fills me with anger, but they're all I've got. I thankfully have many friends I can go to when needed, but I wouldn't be able to fully abandon my family. It's probably because I felt so down when my mother passed away over two years ago. I haven't talked to her in years because of her mental condition, but her passing hit me badly.

I have struggled for a while to work on other skillsets because I was too afraid, doing videos, blender, drawing humans idk why, maybe no confidence in myself to try it out

.. Suddenly swtd gets released and my head does a 360 and is like "I'm going to learn all of this now, hold my bear". Using my obsession about this game to learn something new, which helped me overcome so many hurdles. Like the amount of times I threw myself out of my comfort zone while I tried to fiddle with the game.

Like, look at the difference in my human art

This is the first time I drew Muir like.. I forgot when I drew this, two months ago?

And then like this is from a few days ago

... *compares* I don't know how to explain the difference, I think there is one-

Like,. It's hard to compliment myself because of the sheer amount of stress I endured over the year. I've been out of the old job for 3 weeks now. I'm so glad I'm out of there.

I remember how I always wanted to draw an entire dragon, not just a bust. And look I ended up drawing one!! Ok with Roper's head but yea!

I think family difficulties and other events made me feel very detached from others. I never felt/feel like I belong anywhere. I moved so often that this feeling persisted. And it may persist for who knows how long. I only recently got a diagnosis, I have a form of depression, but it's somewhat mild. Hence why I'm still able to perform in daily tasks and work. Tho I don't want to use my condition as an excuse, I rather just want to show that I'm capable of something. That even people who struggle mentally can find success in what they do.

Life throws so many hurdles but I think I am slowly used to living in the chaotic environment. I keep drawing and work on my hobbies while I wait to move apartments.

I try very hard to change my mindset even tho my mind had been so used to the negative spirals. But I try to stay determined and keep on learning. I am not all knowing and I need to remember that mistakes are ok and that I need them to keep learning and have progress.

I've been pushing aside so many thoughts while I messed with the game. Even tho it's 2AM I needed a quiet moment to think about it all.

I am very open with my thoughts and feelings, it's what I usually do on my Instagram account when I post my art.

Tomorrow is another day to learn something new.

[judjira]

the office

tags: fluff pairing: reader x jihyo after hours wc: 1938 back to masterlist

Drat.

Your keys to the apartment.

You left them at your desk, in your cubicle. You can still remember when you tossed them onto your desk this morning, lazily and with a huff, as you were about to start another day as a mindless corporate slave.

Sulkingly trudging back inside, to the lobby of your office building, you shoot an apologetic smile to the night guard who barely even reciprocates.

Soon enough, you’re on the elevator, mourning your forgetfulness.

But don’t worry, it’s alright. Soon enough, you’ll get those keys and be out of here in a jiffy, exploring the nightlife.

Then, maybe you can marvel at the grandeur of the city that is somehow asleep and awake at the same time.

For now however, the elevator dings at your floor, and the doors slide open.

Your floor of the office is the same as the one above it and below it. Rows and rows of cubicles that are barely different aside from a nameplate.

Of course, people customize their cubicles to their own liking, but the point of working is to not be comfortable, why would you want to make your workplace feel more like it’s yours?

Because it’s not. It’s not your space. It is owned by some cruel, nepotistic CEO who lives in the lap of luxury, all the while his workers slave away, barely earning minimum wage.

Everything in an office space is hostile. The glaring fluorescent lights that flicker every now and then, the narrow and tight walkways amongst cubicles, the drab white and grey colors that are too boring to look at. Everything in here screams hostility.

Therefore, why would you wanna own any of it?

Still, though, you ponder as you arrive at your cubicle, the only sign of personalization, a bobble head of some video game character or anime protagonist that you really like next to your monitor.

There’s nothing wrong in trying to make it a little less hostile.

You grab the keys by your desk, dutifully ignoring the stack of papers next to your monitor that are reserved for tomorrow morning.

Tonight, you explore.

Where to first?

“You died.”

“Aw, you gotta be kidding me!”

That attracts your attention immediately.

Because the office is empty, no one should be here in these disgusting, loathsome, horrid walls that confine an individual to the end of their life.

But there is someone here. And it sounds like the space does not confine them to misery as of this moment.

In fact, it sounds very much like they are playing a game.

You peer over your cubicle walls, and spot another cubicle, glowing light shining out of it in the office that is only lit by the hallway outside.

The voice actually sounds familiar. You’ve worked with this person before.

And you’re actually disheartened.

Because this person is the laziest, most unprofessional, most unproductive piece of shi—

“Oh, hey!”

She waves, and you sigh in dismay.

“Hello, Jihyo.”

The woman in the chair beams at you, controller in her hands, as she waves you over.

Jihyo is younger than you. Maybe not in terms of age, she’s only a few years down, but in terms of experience and maturity? You’ve got about centuries more than she does.

And with her bright grin, tied hair, and folded up sleeves, you are only affirmed of this fact.

“Didn’t think I’d see you around here at this hour, you workaholic.”

Hey! You actually take offense to that. You take pride in the work that you do, you’re good at it.

But somehow, the fact that you’re actually taking pride in the mindless slavery you’re part of disheartens you further.

Still, you shake that off.

“What are you doing here? You’re not supposed to be here after ho—are you playing video games?”

You cut yourself off as you stare incredulously at her computer, a video game screen paused.

“Okay, they’re just called games, you boomer. No one calls them video games anymore. And yes, I am. Y’know, these PCs they let us use have some really high specs.”

Jihyo tucks her feet onto her swivel chair, and you notice that she is still wearing her formal button up, unbuttoned at the neck and sleeves folded, and her slacks, that seem rather stretchy and comfortable. She’s not even wearing her flats, as she perches her bare feet on her chair.

“Jihyo, you could be fired for this.”

She scoffs, smirking as she turns back to the computer to unpause the game.

“As if. I rerouted their monitoring apps to an empty unit over in one of the other cubicles. They think I’m just doing work. They have no clue what I’m actually doing.”

This is what’s always pissed you off about Jihyo. Always lackadaisical, always carefree, always about avoiding work. There was probably never a moment in her life where she thought about work.

Still, though. The smile on her face is quite telling, as she offers you the controller that’s in her hands.

“Wanna play?”

It betrays every measure of what this space is supposed to be, an oppressive, capitalistic nightmare that traps you in its clutches, never to be free.

But Jihyo looks as if the space around her barely even touches her. As if somehow, the cubicle she’s called her own is a safe haven from the nature of the space around her.

And indeed it is. Chock full of all sorts of personalization, stickers, mini posters, figurines, colorful pens and pencils, sticky notes. All of it screams Jihyo. Well, you think it does.

You don’t know Jihyo well. All you really know about her is the fact that she’s a relatively new hire, she doesn’t like doing work, and she sometimes steals other people’s food from the refrigerator.

But seeing all of this now, it’s a glimpse—no, more than a glimpse. It’s a screenshot of what Jihyo’s world looks like.

Jihyo is smiling at you, untrapped, unbothered, and unbound from the world you call work.

It makes you wonder.

“I’ll just watch you, if that’s cool.”

She shrugs, unpauses the game again, and scoots her chair over in the small cubicle to make room for you.

You grab one of the chairs in the cubicle next to her and sit.

“So, what brings you back to the office? Got a few more files you’re working on, you workaholic?”

The insult makes you roll your eyes.

“For your information, I was just getting my keys. Unlike you, I actually finish my work on time.”

Jihyo chortles, to herself more than anything. And the sound she makes, loud and proud, isn’t as bad a sound as you thought it would be.

“As if that’s something to be proud of, you boomer. Do you even have any hobbies?”

Hobbies. Unironically, that’s a word you haven’t heard of in a long time. When’s the last time you actually spent time doing something you personally enjoyed?

“Well…yeah, I do. I mean…sometimes.”

Your defense sounds weak, even to your own ears, as Jihyo fixes you with a look of pity.

“You gotta learn to get out more. Enjoy life. You’re not gonna discover the answers to the universe sitting in your cubicle, jotting down timesheets.”

The way Jihyo talks about it, almost preaching and sagely, sounds as if she’s got the answers to the universe herself. Which makes you scoff.

“Is that what you’re doing? Discovering the answers to the universe?”

Jihyo actually pauses her game again at that, and instead of glaring at you or shooting another insult at you, she grins with that impossible positivity that has no place in this world.

“Hey, it helps.”

Does it, you wonder? Is that why Jihyo seems so free from the burdensome chains that everyone in this office seems to carry? Amongst all of your coworkers, Jihyo is indeed the only one that seems to carry some semblance of individuality.

Hell, within time, even you molded your personality to better fit the tight box of corporate work, becoming another cut out copy of the mindless drones that offices today produced.

And that is…sad.

“Look, far as I’m concerned, I need my me-time. And this constitutes as part of that. I’m an individual, not some cog in a machine.”

Jihyo’s right. If there’s anything her unbridled carefree attitude succeeds at, it’s defining herself as a person, breaking from the walls of normality and moldong her own space to live in.

Perhaps that is why she’s always drawn your attention.

“…well, whatever works for you.”

You manage, watching as she strikes an enemy in her game with some sort of lightning bolt.

“Yeah, it works for me. And it’ll work for you too, y’know. As soon as you get that stick out of your ass.”

You hate to admit it, but maybe she’s right.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

And keep it you do. But that’s not the only thing you keep in mind.

Jihyo, from this close, is a beautiful woman. Well, you imagine she’s beautiful from far away as well. Not that you need to imagine, because you’ve seen her from afar. In fact, it’s what originally drew your attention to her.

She stood out in a crowd of fresh hires, her effortless beauty and cheek-to-cheek smile always somehow managed to catch your eye. Then, when she started being the most frustrating co-worker ever, your eyes always seemed to land on her form.

And now, with this night of nights only just beginning, she’s only somehow gotten more beautiful, the only light illuminating her face coming from the monitor in front of her. She’s sticking out her tongue to the side, evidently focused on her game.

Until she glances at you, catching you in your moment of weakness.

And she smiles.

“I thought you were going to watch the game, not me.”

Instead of backing down, as you normally would, you shrug, ignoring the way your heart pounds at the confrontation.

“Sorry. Can’t help it.”

She hums, before taking her phone, and handing it to you.

“Here. If you’re gonna just stare at me all night, you might as well make yourself useful and order something.”

You blink at the phone, before looking back up at her.

“Are you really gonna stay here all night?”

Jihyo shrugs, grinning.

“Hey, it’ll make me look productive.”

The illusion of your momentary romanticization of Jihyo doesn’t dissipate at her careless comment. In fact, it only affirms your thoughts.

You admire Jihyo. And her capability to just be herself, no matter how oppressive the environment.

“…and what makes you think I’m sticking around?”

Jihyo’s gaze turns to you, and it’s only then you fully shed yourself of all of your assumptions regarding your frustrating co-worker.

Because it’s only then that she smiles fully, as if she truly sees you, caught up in a web of mismatched priorities and lost humanity. She sees you past all of that, and truly smiles.

“Is that really a question when you’re staring at me like that?”

No. It isn’t.

You already made up your mind. This is where you’ll be spending your night of nights, away from the city, away from the lively lights, away from the surreal sounds.

Here, inside a space that is not quite yours and not quite Jihyo’s, but still tailor-made to the two of you.

A space where you can truly just be yourself.

“Don’t be so assuming. I’m just here to make sure you don’t mess up the servers.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure. Come on, scooch closer so you can see the screen.”

And Jihyo will be with you the whole time.

[helluvascribe]

Hazbin Hotel S1 E4: "World's Fair"

https://archiveofourown.org/works/63905872/chapters/163903249#workskin

The sea-blue serpent demon roared and bared its sharp teeth…at a small size from inside a jar. After the monster had gotten loose, Baxter had to shrink it with his shrink ray. He was warned by Vaggie to “keep it in your lab or better yet, get rid of it.”

Niffty admired the beast inside the jar. “Can I pet it?”

“No,” stated Baxter, folding his arms. “Lophiiformes is my science experiment to test my Speed-Growth formula and to have a monster to scare off any enemies who would dare stand against my genius!”

“Don’t let it loose again,” warned Vaggie. “And Niffty, get back to work.”

Niffty stared intently at Baxter, her face blushing before she snapped out of it and darted off to clean more rooms.

Vaggie gave Sir Pentious one stern glare before leaving. The snake slithered off back to his quarters with the Egg Boiz.  

Vaggie sighed. “Why can’t those guys just behave for once? It’s like trying to raise kids on drugs.”

“It’ll be alright, Vaggie,” Charlie said, hopefully. “We got Baxter back safely from the desert, remember?”

Vaggie snapped. “But now he has more deadly weapons he could use for who knows what! We can’t redeem anyone if they still have weapons around!”

“Again, we need to defend ourselves against the Vees and the angels,” Angel Dust deadpanned. “I’m surprised all of us have survived each other so far.”

Vaggie then pondered in thought. “Hmm…”

“So, you’re saying no weapons at all?” Charlie asked. “That would be nice!”

“Sadly, not,” Vaggie explained, holding out a hand. “I hate to admit, but Angel Dust is right. Perhaps we need to figure out what kind of weapons could be used for defense and get rid of the more destructive ones.”

“Easier said than done,” Angel Dust mentioned. “Those inventors and other criminals will say ‘killing is for self-defense,’ and get stuck in their ways. We can’t monitor them all the time.”

“We need to keep the angelic weapons at least,” advised Husk. “They can be used to kill all kinds of demons, even the powerful ones.”

“They can…kill angels, too,” Vaggie spoke in a soft low voice. The Hazbin crew stared in stunned silence.

“Really?!” Charlie gasped. “You mean the Exorcists aren’t indestructible?!”

“No, they’re not,” said Vaggie. “Besides killing anyone, the weapons can also damage angels and scar demons.”

“Is that how you lost your eye?” Charlie asked, wide-eyed.

Vaggie stuttered nervously. “Y-yeah, I got into a fight with another Sinner, and they used my spear to…ya know…” she lied, making a stabbing gesture toward her eye.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Vaggie,” Charlie responded, hugging her briefly. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

“Oh…uh…thought it would be too traumatic for you to hear…”

“It’s alright,” said Charlie. “It’s hard to survive in Hell, especially when you’re a lost Sinner from Earth.”

“Rrrright,” Vaggie smiled nervously, briefly putting her hands behind her back, feeling the stubs of where her Exorcist angel wings once were.

“Thanks for telling me,” said Charlie.

“Sure,” said Vaggie. “Just try not to make any deals with Alastor or forget it after many more months.”

Charlie stood red in the face, already losing her confidence.

Going back to the topic, Charlie began. “I mean…I’m sure you could train them to just use weapons in self-defense instead of, you know, pleasure in destruction and murder.”

“Wait, what about Alastor’s dangerous powers?” Vaggie asked.

“Alastor’s magic is another matter,” said Husk dejectedly. “Best to start with dealing with physical weapons first.”

Charlie waved a hand. “I bet we can help redeem these guys, one eliminated weapon at a time. I mean, they’re in my hotel under our surveillance. What else could they possibly use the weapons for?”

Charlie had just finished speaking, when a video flashed on Angel Dust’s phone: “Introducing Hell’s Weapon Expo World’s Fair! Sign Up Today!”

Vaggie glanced at Charlie, both of the girls downcast. Vaggie began, “Guess that answers your question. Shit just keeps getting worse, doesn’t it?” Vaggie growled in frustration as Charlie’s eyes widened in concern and fear.

0 0 0

“Guys,” Angel Dust called. “You might wanna see this.”

Baxter and Sir Pentious glared daggers at each other as they walked into the parlor, but both came over to Angel Dust, Vaggie, and Charlie.

Angel Dust showed the advertisement video. A smiling Vox appeared on the screen. Next to him was a picture of a slowly spinning globe that showed a large neon red pentagram.

“Greetings geniuses and gunslingers of all ages! Looking for an opportunity to show off your egregious exploits?! Come on over to Hell’s new Weapon’s Expo, located right here in Pentagram City! Demonstrate your deadliest devices and prove your prowess in…”

 Vox briefly lowered his voice, his left eye making hypnotic motions, “…gory gains!” More images showed a variety of weapons, guns, spears, swords, bombs, axes and more on the screen. “Whoever wins the contest shall receive infernal eternal glory, an angelic weapon of their choice and of course, tons of fucking money! But be warned dear Sinners, for this contest shall be judged by Carmilla Carmine herself, the top weapons dealer! Plus some other Overlords. Me? I’m just hosting this thing, so keep those profits coming in! To make this extra spicy, we’ll have contestants from all the Rings of Hell showcase their gadgets! So be prepared for some cultural trading and sharing. Sign up today at the center of the city near the clocktower and let’s dial up the chaotic fun! Applications are due in a few days and the event will be seven unholy days of sin. First the contest, then meet and greet, and then free weapon testing on your enemies! Be there or be double dead, fuckers!” Vox laughed as upbeat futuristic music played before the commercial ended.

Everyone stared wide-eyed and in silence. Sir Pentious and Baxter then looked at each other and spat at the same time: “I’m gonna beat your loser ass!”

Angel Dust smirked. “Ya know, you two have more in common than you think.”

“Shut up, spider!” they both roared, before narrowing their eyes at each other again.

“I’ll make the best inventions that Hell will ever see!” Sir Pentious bragged, hand over his chest. The Egg Boiz cheered behind him. “It’ll be my best work since my time alive!”

The Piscine Machines stood erect before Baxter. “I’d like to see you try, old fossil,” Baxter retorted. “Everyone knows my IQ is superior than yours and my inventions are, too! Former lab partner.”

“Nobody is gonna want to see a girly fishy nobody,” Sir Pentious hissed. “And a smelly fish that Frankenstein pooped out. You’re nothing more than a background character and an Einstein wannabe.”

“Some words from a goofy old-timey villain no one can take seriously! You’re the butt of all sex and exploding jokes,” Baxter cackled.

“And you’re just a lunatic who needs to be in an asylum!”

“I’ll shove those Egg Boiz down your gullet you cock-sucking cobra cunt!”

“Anglerfish asshat!”

“Tyrannical troll!”

“Diabolical deranged dick!”

“Schoolboy sissy shit scientist!”

“Here we go again,” Vaggie groaned out loud, leaning her head back slightly and almost ripping out her hair.

Charlie took a breath. “Is it…too much to ask for you guys to stay here and…?”

“’Talk about our feelings?’” asked Sir Pentious with sarcasm at Charlie. “Not at all. I’d be happy to talk…after I’ve won at the fair!”

“I see a 0% probability of that happening! In fact, I’m going to get started, slowpoke!” Baxter stated. “I’ll see you at the sign-up, sissy-suck-snake!”

“I hope not, fishy-fuck-face!” Sir Pentious snapped. The two inventors turned their heads at each other, arms folded, noses in the air and marched to their respective lairs.

Amid the tense silence, Angel Dust added with a mischievous grin, “I’m planning on joining with Cherri Bomb. I bet demons will love my guns just as much as my…” he grinned, “…parts and fluffy things people think are tits.”

“Absolutely not!” Vaggie cut in, folding her arms. “If you’re staying at this hotel, you’re not going to run off and kill people!”

“Relax, toots! I’m only gonna show off my…guns if you will,” he winked. “No harming others, ya have my word.”

“And you’ll come straight back to the hotel?” Charlie asked.

“Absolutely! If I don’t have work with Val.”

Charlie’s face fell.

“Ready to quit?” came Alastor’s radio voice into Charlie’s ear. He grinned with red eyes.

“Nope,” Charlie folded her arms. “We will…wait and see how things go.”

“You’re just letting two mad inventors run amok?!” Vaggie inquired, incredulously.

Charlie turned to Vaggie. “We just need to make sure they don’t use their weapons to kill anyone! Then we’ll bring them back to the hotel once the contest is over!”

“But this whole thing is run by Vox! You know he wants to bring this place down and create chaos!”

“Well…” Charlie explained, stuttering slightly. “If this contest can help Baxter and Sir Pentious bond over similar interests…”

Sir Pentious and Baxter slammed their doors at the same time…

Charlie smiled nervously. “…I’m sure it’ll turn out better than we think. Hopefully.”

“Alastor, you’re not thinking of participating in this bullshit too, are you?” Vaggie asked, eyebrow raised.

Alastor laughed and shook his head. “I could destroy all their little toys in an instant. It’s been quite entertaining here already!”

“Tell me about it,” Vaggie groaned.

“But for now, I’ll be off hunting and eating venison in my room,” Alastor said, reminiscing. “Ah…my good old bayou in New Orleans!”

“Can you make a portal to Earth and stay there?” Vaggie snapped.

“Nope, I enjoy you sinning failures too much.”

Vaggie sighed and shrugged. “Worth a try.”

Alastor hummed as he vanished to his room in shadow.

“I’ll watch Baxter, you take Sir Pentious,” Vaggie said. “Make sure they don’t kill each other or anyone else.”

“Who’s gonna watch over me?” Angel Dust asked, grinning at Husk.

Husk sighed, a bottle in his pawed hand. “I ain’t talkin’ to you.”

Niffty clapped her hands. “Two bad boys! How exciting!”

“Wait…I thought you said…” Charlie began.

“That snake is going back to being bad!” Niffty snickered evilly, making Charlie squirm inside.

None of the Hazbins noticed a few of Alastor’s shadow minions glancing at the doors of the inventors and emitting supernatural sinister snickers.

0 0 0

Sir Pentious sat at his work bench in his room. Before him on a table were a variety of tools, screws, blowtorches, and blueprints. Sir Pentious had his goggles on over his eyes and was using a blowtorch to meld some metal beams together. Extra space had been added to his hotel room for his workshop.

“Wrench,” called Sir Pentious, holding out a gloved hand. One of the Egg Boiz placed a wrench in his hand.

“Screws,” he said. Another Egg Boi placed screws in his hand. The room was full of banging, whirling, fizzling, cranking and the grinding of steampunk gears.

“I shall make a grand zeppelin, bigger and better than before! It’ll have double the weapons and lasers. Even Alastor will think twice! When I make my grand entrance at the fair, the crowd will surely adore me and my masterpieces!”

He pondered. “Hmm…should I bring my Skinflayer 11,000? No, I’d better keep it here at the hotel…in case bratty Baxter tries to sneak up on me. I know what I’ll call my vehicle of war… the Soulslicer 20,000! Perfect!”

“Excellent, boss!” rooted several Egg Boiz in the background. More eggs climbed onto an unfinished hunk of machine parts, screwing in screws, hammering in nails, lifting gears, and putting pipes into place. A few were testing parts of weapons, firing holes into the wall. One Egg Boi stomped on a small fire, putting it out with a yelp. Another Egg Boi in the corner was drooling over a poster of Sir Pentious dressed in a blue military uniform with red eyes on the chest like badges.

“I’ll prove to Vox that I’m NOT a failure! I’m the ultimate everlasting extraordinaire…the vilest of all villains! He’ll be sorry he ever bossed me around!” Sir Pentious banged his fist on the table and laughed.  “I’ll blast that fish-brain boy to bits with this!”

Frank the egg glanced around and spotted something coming in from underneath the door.

“Uh…boss?”

“What is it?” Sir Pentious snapped, not paying attention.

“S-something dark is coming in the room!”

“No one can enter my secret lair,” Sir Pentious proclaimed as a horned shadow minion of Alastor slithered under the crack in the door and flew off to the side in an upper corner. Frank pointed upward with shaking small black fingers. “It…it’s back, boss! I see it!”

“Oh, quite your yapping and get back to work!” Sir Pentious hissed at Frank before melding more metals together. Frank shuddered as the grinning shadow floated down and behind the giant machine. Before long, Sir Pentious stood up, wiping his face with his arm, and staring proudly at a dark gray prototype of another zeppelin.

“Alright, let’s test this baby out!” he called. The shadow minion unscrewed several screws and bent the wires and pipes where the engines were. Frank jumped and yelled frantically but was drowned out by the sounds of the other eggs hustling and bustling. Two eggs opened up a window and two sat at the controls in the front interior of the war machine.

Sir Pentious pressed a button and the engine rumbled to life. Sir Pentious grinned as the Egg Boiz steered the ship toward the window. Victory was his!

The engine suddenly rumbled and sputtered, and black smoke puffed out of the engine holes.

“What the shit?!” Sir Pentious cried out.

“It’s gonna blow, boss!” cried Frank. Several Egg Boiz ran for cover. Sir Pentious leaped out of the way before the back part of the zeppelin exploded with a smoky blast. Sir Pentious screamed and curled into a ball on the ground as smoke filled the shaking room. He stood up and coughed as the smoke cleared.

He slithered forward and gasped. The back half of the vehicle was now burnt rubble and several windows were broken. The two Egg Boiz who had been in the cockpit were now shell pieces and yok.

“FUCK!” Sir Pentious roared. “Now I have to start from scratch again! Who did this?!”

The Egg Boiz cowered and stepped back. Sir Pentious glared at Frank who whimpered and lowered his small black top hat. “I’ll have you scrambled for this!”

“S-sorry, boss, it wasn’t me, I swear!”

Frank then stared at a piece of paper that fell from the sky, pointing upward. Sir Pentious glanced at it and snatched it from the smoky air. He peered closely and read a note: “Blow up in your face, ha! -Baxter.”

Sir Pentious’ face turned crimson red, and the eye on his gray top hat glowed an angry red as well.

“THAT FISH BOY IS SO DOUBLE DEAD!”

From up in the air, having dropped the note, the shadow minion laughed evilly before vanishing from the room.

0 0 0

Baxter hummed as he got to work in his laboratory. Cyan fluorescent lights hummed overhead. He grinned as blue electricity zigzagged from one metal pole to another on a device in front of him. “Oh ho, ho, that stupid serpent is gonna shit his scales when he sees my greatest new invention!” Baxter examined a blueprint of a towering transformer-like robot shaped like an anglerfish. In front of him, the tower of metal was almost complete. It had six metal arms, two thick metal legs with spikes on them and a metal head with a window where Baxter could sit and control it. A nearby remote also allowed it to be on autopilot. In the robot’s six hands were a variety of weapons.

“One gun shall fire my new cactus juice substance and put the audience in a hallucinogenic stupor. One will shoot mind-control rays, another, poisonous green goo from the Hell eels. One will shoot angelic bullets...hopefully I’ll get enough. The next, deadly blasts of electricity that make tasers seem like toys! Hahaha! The last one…shit, I don’t know. Shit? Maybe it’ll just shoot out shit. Whatever works.”

Klein grinned evilly too…until his sensors caught something unusual. “Unknown presence detected,” called his robot voice, a scanner popping out from its metal head. Baxter glanced around. “You fool, I don’t see anyone. You locked the doors, didn’t you?”

“Yes, master.”

“Then perhaps it’s a glitch in your system.”

Alastor’s shadow minion poured in through the crack in Baxter’s lab door, blending in with the darkness.

“Negative. The presence appears to be…non-physical.”

“Non-physical?” Baxter scoffed, standing up and walking to the robot. “You know there are no transparent ghosts in Hell!”

“Technically, you are a ghost, master.”

“Technically, I don’t care! Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to become the greatest most evil genius at the expo! My masterpiece is almost…”

Baxter paused with surprised cyan eyes as Alastor’s shadow minion pushed the robot forward with magic. The towering invention moaned and groaned as it slowly tipped forward. Baxter screamed and leaped out of the way just as the hunk of metal crashed down onto the floor. Baxter stood up and seethed at the broken parts of his robot. He then spotted a note that flew down to the ground. He picked it up and it read, “Guess your project is now 100% defective! -Sir Pentious.”

“I’LL SKIN THAT SERPENT ALIVE OR UNDEAD!”

 Baxter screamed in rage as Alastor’s shadow minion laughed again before vanishing.

0 0 0

Sir Pentious and Baxter stormed into the parlor, almost wrestling each other to the ground. Baxter stomped on Sir Pentious’ scales and the snake grabbed Baxter’s esca and yanked it hard. Soon, they were yelling and rolling on the ground.

“Break it up!” Vaggie bellowed as Charlie looked on in concern. Vaggie tore the two men off each other. Charlie held down a seething Sir Pentious, while Vaggie held a bellowing Baxter back. Alastor watched in the background with red glowing eyes and an evil yellow grin. Niffty, Husk, and Angel Dust sat on the couch with popcorn in their hands. The two men stood up, eyes blinking and glaring on their bodies as they briefly turned into their more demonic forms.

“This sneaky old snake has been messing around with my latest invention!” Baxter bellowed.

“Oh, shut up!” Sir Pentious hissed. “I know you destroyed my zeppelin earlier in my workshop!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! Old fart!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! Neurotic juvenile!”

“Will both of ya shut the fuck up and let’s go sign up already?!” Angel Dust cried. “The expo is startin’ in several hours!” He pointed outside to a line of demons heading to the clocktower.

“No, Angel!” Vaggie and Charlie protested at the same time, but Angel Dust was already out the door, carrying his trusty collection of guns. Sir Pentious and Baxter raced back to their lairs to finish their inventions. “Okay, then!” they both said. “We’ll be back!”

Vaggie groaned in frustration. “With the drugs and the weapons accessible, Angel is never gonna redeem himself!”

“Let’s focus on one problem at a time,” Charlie encouraged her girlfriend, putting a hand on her shoulder.  

A few hours later, Sir Pentious and Baxter raced out the door, their minions carrying their respective inventions behind them underneath heavy-duty coverings. Sir Pentious gasped and stumbled as he glanced down.

“Watch out, swine!” Sir Pentious yelped as he nearly tripped on Angel Dust’s pet pig Fat Nuggets, who was strutting in the lobby. The pig squeaked and ran back to Angel Dust’s room. Sir Pentious slithered to catch up to the mad fish scientist, his Egg Boiz chattering excitedly behind him. The inventors seethed at each other as they made their way through the crowd of demons. They made it to the black podium stand near the clocktower, where Vox stood with the sign-up papers in front of him.

Vox revealed a grin of cyan teeth. “Sir Pentious! Baxter! How lovely to see you two fine gentlemen today.”

“How do you know my name, TV man?” barked Baxter as he scribbled his name and invention onto the paper.

“I know things,” Vox leaned in. “Quite simple, really.” With one last flip of the bird to the serpent, Baxter ran off with his invention, trying to find a spot away from the dense crowds.

Then Vox sneered at Sir Pentious. “So, the failure spy has come back to see me. Don’t expect any praise.”

Sir Pentious looked off to the side and wrote down his name and invention in the contestant slot for the Pride Ring.

“What makes you think you can win this expo, after you could barely follow through with your task?” Vox asked, his eye moving in hypnotic circles.

Sir Pentious hissed, standing up straighter. “You don’t know my strengths, you talking picture box! When I reveal my most vile, diabolical device of doom, even you will shit your pants!”

Vox scoffed. “I’d like to see you try!”

“I’ve been in Hell for a long time!”

“So long, I think your gears are rusted,” Vox snickered.

“I’ll be the best inventor there is, and nothing will stop me! Not that fish freak, not you, not that stupid hotel pig of theirs.”

“Wait, pig you say?” Vox asked, eyebrow raised.

“A pet owned by that spider sex creep, Angel drug something.”

Vox paused and an evil gleam sparked to life in his eyes. “Interesting. Whatever you say.”

Sir Pentious huffed as he and his minions continued on toward the convention. Vox grinned evilly. “You’ve actually been quite helpful this time, Pentious…”

Vox held up his phone and tapped it with electricity from his finger.

“Vox?” came Velvette’s voice.

“Hey Velvette, baby, I have a little job for you…”

0 0 0

Charlie and Vaggie sat in the parlor worrying about Angel, Sir Pentious, and Baxter.

Charlie put her face in her hands. “They’re gonna cause more trouble with those weapons at the expo! I can’t afford to lose my clients!”

“That’s it. We have to go after them!” Vaggie said. “At least keep an eye on them.” Vaggie looked at Husk. “Hey, lazy cat, you’re coming too!”

“Getting pulled into these shitty adventures for crying out loud,” Husk groaned.

“What about Alastor?” Charlie asked.

Vaggie watched as Alastor leaned against the wall and smiled before fading into the shadows.

“Forget it,” Vaggie said. “He only likes to watch us fight and fail.”

No one noticed a slender figure outside dressed in black with a hood decorated with a pink <3 heart at the top. The figure tossed a grappling hook, and it caught on the edge of a slot where a window was. The figure climbed the rope and then pulled open the window. She stood inside Angel Dust’s room, a menacing slender figure with magenta glowing eyes and an evil grin. Fat Nuggets was drinking from a bowl of water. A shadow hovered over the pig. The pig turned to the side with wide surprised eyes.

A loud shrieking demonic squeal rang through the hall. Niffty was finishing dusting a vase and then froze.

“What was that?”

She darted over toward the source of the sound. She arrived at Angel’s door, where it was decorated with neon pink hearts and pictures of Angel Dust, Husk, and the girls. She opened the door but could only see an open window and a figure running off into the distance with something struggling in a sack.

Niffty raced down the stairs and over to the girls, a worried expression on her face. “Charlie! Vaggie!”

“What is it, Niffty?” Vaggie asked.

Niffty huffed. “I-I heard a loud squeal and I think the pig is gone!”

“What pig?” asked Vaggie. “One of Baxter’s monsters?”

“No! A pet! I think someone stole it!”

Husk then sat up with wider eyes. “Angel Dust’s pig?”

Niffty nodded.

Charlie gasped. “Oh no! Fat Nuggets! I completely forgot about him!”

Vaggie stood up, holding her spear. “How did someone get into the hotel?!”  She seethed. “I swear if Alastor is up to this…”

“We don’t know that,” Charlie said. “Maybe…Fat Nuggets just ran away after Angel Dust!”

“That pig always stays at the hotel and near Angel’s room,” said Husk. He glowered. “I’m afraid Nif may be right.”

Everyone looked worried.

“Angel Dust’ll be heart-broken!” Charlie cried. “We have to save his pet!”

“And stop those mad geniuses from causing any more trouble!” Vaggie added. “Buckle up, Sinners, we’re going to an expo.”

“You know Charlie’s not a Sinner, right?” Husk said.

“I know that!” Vaggie roared.

“Oooh, I can’t wait to see some more bad boys!” Niffty giggled, twirling her sewing needle.

“Keep an eye on her, “Vaggie said to Husk. Husk groaned as Niffty briefly tugged on one of Husk’s cat ears.

Vaggie glared at Klein and several robot minions holding small tasers. “Robot, guard the hotel.”

“At your service, Vagatha,” Klein replied, doing a robotic salute. “Bring back a victorious Master Baxter!”

“No promises,” Vaggie called as she, Charlie, Husk, and Niffty headed outside toward the convention.

0 0 0

Vox stood proudly in his usual suit outfit, broadcasting his expo live on TVs throughout Hell. He grinned as he saw more demons attending and his VoxTech views climbing every minute.

“Helluva hello, filthy demons of all ages! Welcome to Hell’s one of a kind Weapons Expo! We have a horde of contestants from all over Hell’s Rings and we’re very excited to see all their deadly weapons! But first, this expo is sponsored by VoxTech’s Angelic Security, the ultimate protection app for any extermination! Buy and upload today!”

The crowd cheered, already hypnotized by Vox’s words. Vox pressed a button, and through electricity, everyone was transported to a nearby park with more room for the show.

“Let’s meet today’s judges. Give it up for our old guy Zestial!”

The elder black spider-like Overlord demon wearing long black robes and wearing a tall black top hat gazed at the crowd with several green eyes on a black spider-like face. He took his place at a tall table with screens at the front to allow him to see the various inventions. The table was covered with a white cloth stained with red and black blood.

“Zeezi!”

A pink giant dinosaur Overlord lady with wild colorful hair and a tail stomped over to her spot at the judges’ table.

“The head judge Carmilla Carmine herself!”

The angelic weapons dealer strode forward to her spot at the center of the table. She was a slender woman with sharp white angelic ballet shoes pointed like weapons. Her face was light gray, and she wore a dark gray mask around her reddish eyes. One bang of her hair was black. She had white hair and pointed horns on her head with thin black stripes. Her hair ended in small curls near her black hoop earrings. Her hands were giant and white with black nails. She wore long black leggings with white crisscross designs, a black top and her dress ended in sharp pointed ends like sword points. Her two daughters Odette and Clara wandered around, looking at several other inventions and writing on their clipboards.

“And Carmilla’s secret assistant, Charlie Carmine!”

Another woman took her spot next to Carmilla. She had tall red high-heel boots decorated with barbed wire, dark red pants, a red dress with dark red stripes on it and red goggles on her head. She had long red hair and large red eyes with small black pupils. Her skin was white, but her left hand was giant and red with a gear on it. Her arm was made of molten lava and could shapeshift. She looked like a fusion of Sir Pentious and Cherri Bomb, with an edgy steampunk look. Sir Pentious blushed when he spotted her face.

“Yeah, I didn’t know she existed either!” Vox admitted. “But she does the dirty work of melding the weapons with angelic essence for Carmine and her daughters to sell! Heard she died in the 1830s.”

Vox cleared his throat.

“And now…our contestants! Please come forward!”

Epic warrior music blared from the speakers as machines and electricity towered toward the city. The audience applauded and stepped back to allow more room. Through various colored portals in the red sky, demons descended downward with their diabolical dangerous devices!

“Here comes the not-so sloth, Sloth Ring!”

Floating gracefully from the Sloth Ring were four demons with the heads of goats and sheep. The first one had a pink goat’s head with a white candle with a pink flame on it. His name was Hypno. The second was a sheep that looked at peace, with a candle of a teal flame on her head: Zeezee. The third was a strong bull demon with long curved horns and a blue flame: Morphi. The last was a white sheep with a lavender candle on his head: Lulla. All four wore white doctor’s coats.

They landed on the ground before the crowds.

“Greetings, fellow Prides,” sang Hypno the leader. “We present our amazing invention sure to keep you content…for a long time!”

Hypnos and Morphi held up a long pink ray gun which read “Deep Sleep Dreams,” in light pink. “Fly high, folks!” sang Lulla.

Zeezee pressed a button, and teal beams of hypnotic rays pulsed over toward the crowd. Many demons instantly swayed and had drugged happy looks on their faces as distorted lullaby music played.

“We have your favorite drugs and substances flowing in our machine! We can mimic any drug of your choice!” sang Hypnos. “Ecstasy, crack, meth, angel dust, you name it!” He mentioned to the various glowing substances in the see-though veins of the device.

“Did somebody call me?!” Angel Dust called out from the background.

With an evil grin on his face, Hypnos pressed more buttons. Various colored rays shot out, causing the demons nearest to the device to laugh uncontrollably, fight each other, fall asleep, scream in agony, or drop dead completely.

There was a rather sleepy round of applause as the judges examined their device, Carmine’s daughters careful not to get too close.

“A sleep ray? Boring!” Sir Pentious dramatized.

“Don’t get lazy! Cast your votes now!” Vox began with a fake yawn. He cleared his throat.

“Don’t get too jealous, but the Envy Ring is next!”

A gush of ocean water spilled out from the purple portal and a triad of aquatic demons with many eyes morphed before the audience. Three demons stood before them, one blue, one green, and one teal. Their names were Shimmer, Glimmer, and Swimmer. Swimmer was a teal female, Glimmer was a green female creature, and Shimmer was the blue male leader. They were all slender with fish fins, eyes all over their bodies and their arms like tentacles. They wore clothing made of fish scales. Underwater otherworldly music played.

“Land-dwellers!” sang Shimmer. “Prepare to meet your watery end!”

Shimmer held out a large golden trident and pressed a button. The prongs extended and each turned into different things. The first one morphed into a golden sword that shot out to stab some demons before being retracted back into the device via a rope. The second prong opened up to a hole that fired fish nets that electrocuted several captured demons. The final metallic prong in the middle opened up and fired acidic water onto more demons, melting them instantly. Swimmer grabbed a struggling pink demon and held him in front of her partner. Glimmer held a smaller blue gun to the demon’s face and open mouth that sucked out all the water in the pink demon’s body, causing dehydration. The pink shriveled demon dropped dead at their feet. More applause.

“Big deal,” Baxter scoffed. “I’m the ultimate water creature!” He grinned and held his small sea serpent in a jar.

“Water you waiting for? Cast your votes!” Vox chuckled.  “Time to get aroused by the sexy folk from Lust!”

Seductive club music played as a horde of pink succubi and incubi with small bat wings and BDSM clothing descended down from the dark blue portal. The group was called XXXtreme, and they had various names: Phallo, Booby, Clitora, Lubey, Vaga, among others. They did seductive dancing around poles and displayed phallus shaped torpedoes, cannons, and guns. One succubus fired a gun that shot out condoms and sex toys that exploded. Another one of their weapons shot out acid semen and noxious gas. And, of course, there were love potions.

“Oh, yeah, I’m gettin’ hot already!” Vox chuckled. “These performing inventors are going for the green! Give it up for Greed!”

Circus music blared as a group of performers danced and flipped out of the green portal. Six demons dressed like jesters came down to the ground: The Fearsome Freaks. One jester wearing a striped skirt balanced on a ball, juggling rainbow bombs before tossing them into the air. The bombs exploded into fireworks as the audience cheered. A large shirtless tan male demon spun a pole into the air, the two ends lit with green flames that gradually turned red. After spinning the pole, he popped a flaming sword into his mouth before spitting it out at several bystanders.

“We feed on Greed! We feed on Greed! Glory is all we need!” sang the Greed contestants.

A third performer female hollered war cries as she rode a demonic elephant covered with green armor, the many-eyed gray beast trampling more screaming demons. She also fired a gun accurately at several dummy targets as she balanced upside down. The fourth performer threw angelic knives at targets with his eyes closed. The fifth spun through the air, firing fiery bullets through the air in a spectacular dance. The sixth one just stood under a green spotlight telling bad weapon jokes.

“What is Satan’s favorite gun? A caliber 6.6.”

“Bravo, bravo!” Vox clapped as the bloodstained performers bowed.

“Show-offs,” muttered Sir Pentious.

Vox continued. “Sickenly sweet with plenty to eat! Here comes Gluttony!”

Through the yellow-gold portal came four muscular Hellhounds, who howled in triumph as they came down to the ground as club music blasted in every direction.

“Let’s get this party started, hooligans!” chorused the black Hellhound leader, who had named his group the Hellhound Hooligans. Bael was the back hound leader, and he carried a black electric guitar that shot out deadly electricity at demons whenever he played it. All the Hellhounds wore colorful party clothes, boots, jeans, and torn shirts.

“Taste the honey, fuckers!” sang an excited tan Hellhound, Bella, who held a large cannon that fired alcohol bottles of intoxicating honey at the crowd, who reached out for them in excitement. The demons danced and dodged more attacks from the contestants, including Beezi the white female Hellhound’s very explosive bomb pies and poisonous pink cotton candy. Bubba the brown hound laughed and demonstrated her flips and tricks, using an axe on a chain to swing at various demons.

“Don’t be late to the party…vote now!” called Vox.

“They make me sick to my stomach,” Baxter remarked.

“Y’all know the roughest, toughest warriors in Hell, they’re all the rage in Wrath!” called Vox.

There was a roaring of cheers and western rock music as a dozen Wrath Ring imps charged from an orange portal, riding on stallions with flaming manes. The Wrathful West Warlords were one of the finest fighter groups and blacksmiths in all of Hell and it was easy to see why. Two muscular imps wearing cowboy hats led from the front on motorcycles, wearing spiked armor.

Following the two imps were four other males who came toward the audience and showed off their angelic weapons. One held two broad swords that had been forged in the volcanos in Wrath. Another showed off a mace that shot out spikes as he swung it around. A third imp drove a large black tank into the park and a fourth imp did a presentation of various torture devices. A dozen more imps wearing cowboy hats, knight armor, samurai armor or general uniforms, danced in a line as they flaunted their well-crafted destructive tools. Maces, swords, knives, throwing stars, cannons, katanas, cutlasses, revolvers, rifles, bombs…Wrath Ring had every kind of weapon from all kinds of time periods at their disposal!

“Nothing beats classic war anger!” said Vox. “Vote, vote, vote!”

“And finally, here come our proud Sinner contestants from right here in Pride!”

As royal music with a circus flair briefly played, the audience gasped in awe as the contestants were announced.

“SIR PENTIOUS!”

“BAXTER!”

“ANGEL DUST!”

“CHERRI BOMB!”

“CRYMINI!”

“LOOPTY GOOPTY!”

“LYLE LIPTON!”

The seven Sinners came forward, revealing their masterpiece inventions. They sang as their inventions were analyzed and tested. Vox was enjoying all the chaos and calamity.

“Sinners! Cower before me!”  Sir Pentious sang.

“When this day is done, you all will adore me!

My new zeppelin is running and here!

The Soulslayer 20,000 is your new worst fear!”

The new zeppelin hovered in the air; now black with the outer shell made of snake scales. The windows were red, and the weapons extended from an opening in the front of the ship that looked like a serpent’s mouth. There was even a large black hat structure that was added on top of the ship with a round window at the top that allowed for more surveillance. Sir Pentious laughed evilly as the Egg Boiz inside fired the cannons. Several destructive blasts shot out from the extended cannons in the zeppelin, razing parts of the city.

“Not so fast, fool of the past!” Baxter fired back in song.

“For my day of glory is here at last!

Brace yourselves for Destructo Doombot,

Initiate the Baxter Blast!”

Baxter laughed manically and pressed a button. A giant blue robot with slender flexible legs and six weaponized arms towered onto the scene. The robot fired a wide range of blasts, shooting acidic water onto the buildings.

Charlie, Vaggie, Husk, and Niffty raced as fast as they could toward the park. They narrowly avoided a falling roof and a water splash several feet away. The asphalt street cracked and crumbled before them.

“This is mayhem madness!” Vaggie cried in song. “The city’s gonna blow! I knew we shouldn’t have let them go! If we don’t get them back to the hotel…things will not end well!”

“I think we can still reason with them, it’ll be fine,” Charlie sang back before her eyes widened, “There’s not much time!”

“Stab! Stab! Stab!” Niffty trilled in song.

“Vox doesn’t care for the city at all. He’ll gladly grab at money and see us fall,” Vaggie added in anger.

“Any ridicule from Vox…Sir Pentious cannot take it. Just a little further…we can make it!” Charlie huffed.

“All this running around, I’ve had enough,” Husk growled.

“Bad boys so strong and tough!” Niffty grinned.

Angel Dust posed with several guns in his hands on stage. Vox scoffed.

“Another one bites the Angel Dust!” Angel Dust grinned in song, striking a pose. “Bang, bang!” He held a small gun and squeezed a button. A small flag came out of the slot which read “Eat my dust.” Several of Angel Dust’s porn fans swooned and cheered. “Come too close and get caught in my web.” One of his guns fired a pink spider web, capturing several winged demons. “I can fuck hard and fight hard,” he smirked. He grew six arms and fired his weapons all at the same time, earning more cheers and claps from the crowd.

Cherri Bomb and Crymini posed together, each holding a bomb in their hands. Cherri Bomb had white skin and a single cyclops eye. She wore a pink tank top with xs on it, one of her white shoulders revealed. She had torn black pants and tall pink high heel boots. Her hair was blonde with pink highlights done in a ponytail. Crymini the hyena Sinner grinned next to Cherri Bomb, her fur white and dark pink. Her eyes were yellow with pink iris. She wore a spiky black collar, and a short pink dress with a white skull on it. Her legs were spotted, one had black stripes, and one had pink spots. She also had a thick pink and white tail that matched her thick long bangs of hair near her pointed ears. 

“Dames of destruction, relish in the arson,” Cherri Bomb began, tossing a pink bomb that exploded into pink smoke in the sky. She brandished a small metal shooter that fired sticks of dynamite into the distance that let out more explosions.

“Never afraid to make our mark,” Crymini added in song, as she sprayed red graffiti onto a nearby wall that read, “BAD BITCHEZ RULE THE WORLD!”

“Rebellious streak hotter than Hell’s center,” Cherri Bomb grinned, doing spectacular flips, and fighting poses. She and Angel Dust posed side by side and grinned.

“We say ‘bomb’s away,’ to our blown-to-bits foes,” Crymini harmonized, using a torch like a paintbrush to create flaming designs and words in different colors on the ground: “ROCK YOUR SOCKS OFF!”

Sir Pentious blushed in secret as Cherri Bomb threw one final bomb behind her that exploded in pink smoke. Like Rosie, she was attractive to him…just in a different, less-formal way. He had never seen a woman so tough, so rambunctious…and so beautiful before…at least not during his time in Hell. Cherri Bomb had spunk and despite being an annoying rival…Sir Pentious couldn’t help but feel there was something more…

At the same time Crymini and Cherri Bomb finished, two rival Sinner inventors rolled and spiraled onto the scene. The two men glared at each other, but still seemed to work together, if not to prove themselves better than everyone else.

“I am Loopty Goopty, dastardly inventor of all things loopy and loopish!”

A tall slender demon arrived, riding on a spiral of black metal loops, almost as if they were extensions of himself. He wore tall lime green boots and a black suit with a green color on his waist and a green upward spiral on the chest. He had a red cape and red gloves on his hands. He had wavy tall red horns on his head, red skin, a long nose, and a cliche villain black mustache. He also had a black top hat with a green rim and green hypnotic goggles over his eyes.

Lyle Lipton rolled into action, wearing a green suit with a red undershirt, black sleeves, and green gloves. He revealed a grin of piano teeth and a wavy white mustache obscured part of his light green face. He wore a small black top hat with a red rim and red hypnotic goggles. The lower half of him was black with red stripes…he had no legs but could roll fast to get around.

“I am Lyle Lipton, experimenter of the poor and inventor of endless youth!”

The two Sinners posed in front of their zeppelin ship.

“Look at my loops!” sang the eccentric Loopty Goopty, reaching his hand to swing himself from building to building. He danced and spun in his own spirals before coming back to the ground.

“React to my rolls!” added Lyle Lipton as he crashed through walls unharmed with his speedy rolling body. “Face the music, demons! I have achieved supervillain strength!”

“We shall bring glory to ourselves and be heralded as your vile saviors!” Loopy Goopy added, arms extended, grabbing demons and squeezing them. “For we are dead but cannot die!”

“So that makes you like Frankenstein,” Lyle Lipton said to him. “An eccentric loopy zombie.”

Loopty Goopty paused and turned to him. “Says you, piano man! You got owned by a piano and now you roll in your own ego.”

“At least I didn’t get killed by my own invention!” Lyle Lipton fired back.

“Oh, the heat is on, folks!” Vox called as he relished their arguments. “Let’s see what the judges have to say.”

The judges first looked at the Sloth Ring inventions combined with the votes.

“Good for drug parties, otherwise…nay,” Zestial remarked.

“SUPER COOL!” remarked the dinosaur Overlord.

“Needs more gore,” Charlie Carmine remarked.

Carmilla Carmine said, “Okay inventions but I sense a rather…lazy effort.”

“On to Envy!” called Vox.

“I thinketh the design creative but too confined to water,” Zestial said.

“A GOLDEN TRIDENT WITH WEAPONS INSIDE? WHAT A FINTASTIC CLASSIC!” exclaimed the dinosaur, banging her fists on the table.

“Eh, not bad,” said Charlie Carmine.

“No angelic power and a half-assed display of bravado,” remarked Carmilla Carmine in disapproval.

“Lust!” called Vox.

“Eweth,” Zestial remarked with a disgusted look.

“AROUSING AND DEADLY! I LOVE IT!” smiled the dinosaur.

“Kinda pathetic. Not steampunk enough,” remarked Charlie Carmine.

“Yeah…no,” said a disgusted Carmilla Carmine. “Save your tools for the bedroom.”

“Greed!” Vox continued.

“A circus performance doth not equal true brutality. Maketh more war-like,” Zestial commented.

“CIRCUS PERFORMANCE WAS DYNAMIC AND WILD! ENCORE, ENCORE!” stomped the dinosaur lady.

“Indeed, very creative,” said Charlie Carmine, “But still not my favorite style.”

“Like clowns playing with toys and lacking cold strategy,” Carmilla Carmine scoffed.

“Gluttony!”

“A shooter that fires drugs, food, and alcohol…a fruitless child’s toy on the battlefield,” said Zestial. “Thou should be ashamed.”

“WHOO! PARTY WEAPONS AND INCREDIBLE BOMBS! DO MORE!” cheered the dinosaur Overlord.

“Boring,” said Charlie Carmine. “Needs more sharpness and less blinding colors. Though…I would like that recipe for the rotten candy.”

“Juvenile and ill-crafted,” said Carmilla Carmine.

“Wrath!”

“Me thinketh thou imps put on a spectacular show. A classic example of the grace, brutality, and effectiveness of war and thine culture,” remarked a pleased Zestial.

“YES! YES! CAN I JUST SAY YES!” beamed the dinosaur Overlord.

“Are you really approving everything?” asked a skeptical Charlie Carmine. “But yes, I very much approve their work.”

“Very impressive, fine craftsmanship,” Carmilla Carmine said in approval for the first time. “Just tone down the wrath…a lot.”

The board read:

Sloth: 12

Envy: 13

Lust: 8

Greed: 16

Gluttony: 10

Wrath: 20

“And…Pride!” announced Vox.

Sir Pentious and Baxter were tied. Loopty Goopty was in third place, Lyle Lipton was in fourth, Cherri Bomb was fifth, and Crymini was in sixth.

And then…

“The porn star is out,” Carmilla Carmine remarked, glancing down after Odette came up to her.

“What? Why?!” Angel Dust asked angrily as boos were heard.

“This is a weapons expo, not a porn show.”

“I gotta show off my stuff at some point. Look how good I am at fightin’!”

“You do have great skill, but I’ve seen better.”

Angel Dust slumped and walked off the stage just as Charlie, Vaggie, Husk, and Niffty reached him.

Angel Dust fumed after he spotted the small piece of paper that was in front of Carmilla Carmine that hadn’t been there before. On it was Vaggie’s handwriting: “I’m just after the prize money. – Angel Dust.” Vaggie had told Odette about a “really important customer inquiring about fighting techniques. Here is the number.”

Angel Dust wasn’t happy.

“Bitch!” he spat at Vaggie. “You made Carmilla drop me out!”

“We have to get you back to the hotel,” Vaggie said. “You could’ve used that money for more drugs! Or who knows how mad you’ve have gotten if you had stayed longer.”

“That prize money could’ve helped me pay off my debts to Val!”

“Well, thank goodness you’re okay!” Charlie said, wanting to change the subject.

Angel Dust glared. “What you ya mean, ‘thank goodness?!’ None of these people know true talent when they see it.”

“I told you that entering the contest was a bad idea,” Vaggie reprimanded. “Killing is not allowed for you anymore!”

Angel Dust shrugged, hands out. “I didn’t kill anyone! I swear!” Angel Dust glanced back at two wounded demons he had shot earlier. “Well maybe a little…”

“Hotel. Now,” Vaggie glared, pulling him along.

“Wait,” said Charlie. “Baxter and Sir Pentious!”

“What about ‘em?” Angel Dust asked.

“Look,” said Husk, pointing to the stage. Niffty had popcorn in her hands with an excited grin.

“The final feud is on, folks!” Vox announced. “After Wrath coming in second, we are down to our two finalists! Mad Inventor Sir Pentious and Mad Scientist Baxter!”

(“I’m The Sinner Winner!” song)

The two men pushed buttons on their own remotes and their battle inventions rumbled to life in the distance.

The crowd cheered and voted some more as the two Sinners glared daggers, put on their goggles, and began to clash. They were each lifted up by their minions, rising into the air. Like boys in battle suits, they comically exchanged punches and insults. The Egg Boiz stumbled and held each other’s hands, also trying to support their master. Several Egg Boiz broke the glass of a few Piscines, causing the biotic fish to spill out. But more Egg Boiz got cracked from metallic punches from the robots.

Sir Pentious and Baxter circled each other as the crowd watched. Sir Pentious briefly hypnotized Baxter, causing him to stumble and nearly lose his balance. But one shock from one of Baxter’s robots tazed the snake in the tail, allowing Baxter to snap out of the trance. In the background, the zeppelin and Baxter’s Destructo robot also fought each other. The giant robot tried to crush the warship in its metal hand, but a rapid barrage of bullets briefly blinded the giant Baxter-lookalike robot.

“I’m the Sinner Winner!” Sir Pentious and Baxter sang at the same time in a duel, seething.

“You may think you’re hot shit, but you’re just a beginner!”

“I’ll wipe the floor with your fishy face!” Sir Pentious hissed.

“Your slow brain cannot match my pace!” Baxter retorted.

“Cower before my steampunk splendor!” Sir Pentious grinned, gears grinding behind him. Charlie Carmine grinned in approval.

“Watch your confidence get mixed in a blender!” Baxter scoffed, shaking a flask of teal liquid that fizzed with steam. Carmilla Carmine facepalmed at the idiocy of Vox and the contest.

“Without my work, yours wouldn’t exist!” Sir Pentious sang.

“Mine is a recognizable improvement, I insist!” cackled Baxter.

“You weren’t even in the first season!”

“I enjoy being alone for a reason!”

“I should fire you again for treason!”

“In your body, I’ll add a lethal lesion!”

They both sang at the same time.

“I’m the Sinner Winner!”

“I’m the Sinner Winner!”

“You may think you’re hot shit, but you’re just a beginner!”

“You may think you’re hot shit, but you’re just a beginner!”

“I’ll make sure the ass anglerfish drowns once again!”

 “I’ll make sure the sissy shit snake gets roasted alive!”

“All will bow in my coils!”

“All will be my lab subjects!”

“And now I say, farewell mother…”

And now I say lebewohl you piece of…”

“STOP!” Charlie, Vaggie, Husk, and Niffty shouted at the same time. Charlie briefly flared in her demonic form before reverting back.

Baxter and Sir Pentious paused as Vox himself stepped onto the stage, slowly clapping.

At long last, both of their inventions groaned, fizzled, and collapsed at the same time. The zeppelin crashed and exploded to the ground in green smoke, while the robot slammed to the ground in an explosion of metal and teal light. Many demons flew backward from the force of the explosions. Charlie and the others ducked for cover, rising only when the smoke had cleared.

Baxter and Sir Pentious both slumped in disappointment and frustration as their minions gently lowered them to the ground and scampered off. They brushed themselves off and breathed hard.

“D-did I win?” Sir Pentious asked with a nervous grin.

“Congratulations to both of you!” Vox grinned, arms out. “That was an amazing performance! So incredible that I now have 6.6 billion views on VoxTube. Now, to determine the final winner. Sir Pentious…”

Sir Pentious gulped.

“Since you’re the oldest, you have the privilege of coming forward for your demonstration. I have examined one of your weapons and it appears to have transmutation powers?”

“Yes,” said Sir Pentious as Vox gave him his small gray gun with various settings on it. “It can turn things into monsters without having to grow them in a tank,” Sir Pentious smirked at Baxter. “But I have yet to make some modifications…”

“Too late for that,” said Vox. “Now’s the time to prove your worth! If you can successfully demonstrate the effectiveness of your weapon, you win the contest!”

Sir Pentious beamed, his eyes wide with tears. “Really?”

Vox nodded. “And gain my approval back! And win lots of money! And brag in Baxter’s face!” Baxter folded his arms.

Sir Pentious had an evil smirk on his face. His dream was coming true at last!

 “But if you lose, well…I guess I’ll have to ask Baxter to do it instead!”

Baxter grinned, but Sir Pentious folded his arms. “He won’t even get a chance!” Sir Pentious loaded his gun. “Let’s get started!”

“Whether it works or not, at least you can say you tried,” Vox said.

“Yes,” said Sir Pentious, aiming the gun. Velvette appeared and pushed a cart forward with a cloth on it to Sir Pentious.

“I present to you…your test subject!” Vox grinned. “Begin!”

Velvette removed the cloth and underneath it was…

“FAT NUGGETS?!” Angel Dust cried in shock.

Sure enough, the pet pig was struggling and squealing on the table as his hooves were restrained by small chains.

“SIR PENTIOUS, DON’T!” Charlie yelled.

Sir Pentious looked taken aback. “The swine pet?” He pointed a finger. “So, it was you who stole the pig from the hotel!”

“All thanks to you mentioning it,” Vox smirked. Sir Pentious lowered his eyes as Vaggie and Angel Dust burned holes in his soul with their stares.

“Go ahead, snake man…turn this runt into a monster and you’ll be back to true Overlord status!”

“B-but I could kill him!”

“Who cares? You’ll still be rewarded no matter what, I promise!” persuaded Vox.

“Sir Pentious, don’t shoot,” Charlie pleaded.

“You kill my pet and I’ll make sure you’re double dead!” Angel Dust snarled at the snake, tears in his eyes. He aimed his gun at Vox, but Vox held up a hand. “Wouldn’t do good for Hell’s hottest porn star to strike an Overlord. Especially if my sexy buddy Val found out, heh?”

Angel Dust wavered, hands shaking on his weapon. He was at a standstill. If he were to attack Vox, Velvette could roast his beloved pet to bacon. Vox also grinned at the Hazbin crew. “So nice of you lowly has-beens to join us!”

“Stop trying to mock us and my hotel!” Charlie bared her teeth. “As the princess, I demand you to let Fat Nuggets go!” Vaggie gave her a proud look.

“No one in Hell listens to royalty,” Vox purred in a low voice, moving a menacing electric gloved finger toward Fat Nuggets. “One step and he’s toast.”

Sir Pentious’ eyes darted around, sweat beading his face. Velvette kicked one of his Egg Boiz for good measure.

“He’s trying to divide us so the hotel fails!” Charlie called. “You already said, ‘sorry.’ Now it’s time to act for the good of your friends!”

“We’re not friends,” Baxter stated.

“Stop ruining it!” Vaggie barked.

It was all up to Sir Pentious now.

Vox grinned. “You have no friends to begin with! So…what’s it gonna be, Sir Pentious? Wanna be the vilest villain you were destined to be? Or will you always be a good for nothing joke of a failure?”

The tension built as the snake’s hands shook holding the weapon. He stared into Angel Dust’s angry eyes, Charlie’s pleading ones, Vox’s hypnotic orbs…and the innocent sweet eyes of Fat Nuggets who gave him a somber look.

“I…I…”

Sir Pentious inched forward, closer and closer and closer…

“I think I’m gonna slip!”

He stumbled on his tail and fell forward onto the table. Velvette gasped as Sir Pentious nearly fell on top of Fat Nuggets. Sir Pentious and the wheeled cart rolled forward past Velvette and off the stage. Velvette fired rounds from her gun, but the bullets bounced off Sir Pentious harmlessly. Sir Pentious gave Baxter a look, pointing at the chains. Baxter nodded and fired a few blasts from a gun, breaking apart the chains and freeing the frightened Fat Nuggets.

“FUCK!” Vox roared as Sir Pentious held the pig close in his arms and raced over toward Angel Dust. More bullet blasts caused Sir Pentious to slow down, making him nearly drop the pig. Vaggie pointed her spear at Velvette, who had tried to grab Sir Pentious from behind. Sir Pentious tossed the pig to Angel Dust just as Vox tackled him to the ground. The crowd cheered and chanted, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” Fat Nuggets nuzzled into Angel Dust’s white fur and the spider demon sighed in relief.

Vox had Sir Pentious in a chokehold, but Baxter aimed one of his weapons at him.

“Back off, I say!”

Vox chuckled as he stood up. “Trying to save your own rival now?”

“The only one who can kill him…is me!” Baxter spat. He shot a blast at Vox, who let go of Sir Pentious and raced off in pain.

Charlie helped Sir Pentious up. She and Vaggie supported him, his arms on their shoulders as the Egg Boiz lifted his lower serpent body.

Vox stood up. He and Velvette soon found themselves outnumbered by the Hazbins. Carmilla Carmine also looked at him in disapproval. Vox stared nervously at the cameras. “Sorry about this interruption, folks! Due to unplanned circumstances, I officially declare the winner of this weapons expo to be…ME!”

Vox posed as the golden VoxTech Angelic Security logo appeared on the screen. “Because let’s face it, the greatest weapon of all is the one used on the mind, ears, and eyes…the most subtle weapon of all! Magnificent media! Horray for me!”

Many demons cheered while several others booed. Cherri Bomb and Crymini took a selfie together, posing as explosions and flames flashed in the background. Crymini had managed to snatch some of the prize money. They labeled their Voxtagram photo with #BestWeaponsExpoEver. The brave demons who avoided the chaos exchanged tools and inventions. Some took selfies with the various scientists and inventors, grinning when they got their creations signed by them.

“YOU FRAUD!” yelled Lyle Lipton and Loopty Goopy to Vox. “You stole our victory!” Vox mentioned for one of his managers to stop the Hazbins. Vox fled the scene in a flash of electricity, leaving Velvette to run to her pink and purple fancy car on foot. She zoomed away, barely escaping the enraged inventors.

“Take that, shark fiend!” Baxter shouted as one of Vox’s managers rushed at him with a taser.

Baxter hit the manager with his cactus juice ray, making him drop the taser. He began dancing like a chicken and saying everything he hated about Vox…live on TV. “Vox wants Alastor to notice him!” “Voot Floop cereal is overrated!” (No one ever saw him again after that.)

“Let’s get outta here!” called Angel Dust, holding Fat Nuggets in his arms.

“What happened, Sir Pentious?” asked Charlie.

“I…uh…sorta tripped…on purpose.”

Husk grinned. “Clever trick, kid. Wasn’t expecting that from you.”

Charlie gave Sir Pentious a hug and he winced a bit. “I knew you had a good heart!”

There was a sudden roar and a shaking of the ground. The Hazbins slowly looked up. Demons screamed and scrambled away as Baxter’s blue sea monster towered over them. The monster let out a thunderous screech and promptly crunched a screaming demon in its mouth. 

“BAXTER!” Vaggie raged.

“HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT SO MANY EXPLOSIONS WOULD ALLOW IT TO ESCAPE FROM THE JAR?” he yelled over the noise.

“SHRINK IT BEFORE IT DEVOURS US ALL!” Charlie yelped, stepping back.

But then Niffty jumped up and down. “I HAVE A GREAT IDEA!”

“What, Niffty?” Husk asked.

The Hazbins soon found themselves screaming and riding on the scaly back of the many-eyed monster as it slithered back to the hotel.

“THIS IS FUCKING INSANE, NIFFTY!” Charlie cried, holding on for dear life.

Baxter was using his pulsing esca to guide the beast as much as he could. Husk, Vaggie, a hurt Sir Pentious, and Charlie screamed as they bobbled up and down, nearly falling off. “WHEEE!” cried Niffty in excitement as Baxter cackled at the front near the monster’s head. Baxter hollered, “I KNEW MY INVENTIONS WOULD COME IN HANDY!”

The Egg Boiz got to work stitching up Sir Pentious’ wounds, while the Piscine Machines helped keep the serpent calm, using telepathic communication through their escas.

“Angel,” Sir Pentious said, in a softer voice. “I don’t expect you to forgive me after my spying on you and almost losing your pig…”

Angel Dust shot him an angry look.

“…but I sincerely apologize for my selfish behavior. No more showing off weapons from now on…”

Vaggie smiled.

“…at least in public.”

Vaggie’s face briefly fell but she shrugged. She figured that Sir Pentious would continue to improve.

“I’m proud of you, Pentious,” Charlie said.

“I’m a loser,” he said, dejectedly.

“No, you’re not,” Charlie comforted. “You saved Fat Nuggets and hopefully learned your lesson with Baxter. Plus, you stood your ground against Vox. That was amazing!” Vaggie nodded in approval as well.

Baxter and Sir Pentious folded their arms, but they no longer argued.

“Hey, why’d you save Sir Pentious from Vox?” asked Husk to Baxter.

“Vox just made me mad,” Baxter claimed. “I don’t care about Sir Pentious.”

“Perhaps you admit I have some prowess,” said Sir Pentious.

Baxter scratched his neck. “Well…yeah…that was pretty clever what you did to save the pig.”

Sir Pentious beamed.

“Well, both of you technically lost the expo contest…” Vaggie said.

“I think it was a tie,” said Charlie, trying to cheer them up.

Baxter sighed. “Well since we both lost our inventions and perhaps our lives…perhaps I will refrain from quarrelling with you.”

“Same,” said Sir Pentious.

Charlie smiled.

“But that doesn’t mean we’re friends!” Baxter spat.

“Wholeheartedly agree with you!” Sir Pentious snapped.

“Wonderful, Baxter! You’re improving also!” Charlie exclaimed.

“Finally something you two can agree on,” remarked Husk.

Vaggie sighed, glancing at Charlie’s hopeful eyes again. “If you guys promise not to leave the hotel or cause any more trouble, you may stay.”

Baxter and Sir Pentious smiled.

“But you both have to do your part to clean and defend the hotel. Plus the redemption part.”

“I shall do my very best!” declared Sir Pentious.

“And shrink this beast for good when we get back,” ordered Vaggie to Baxter.

Baxter sighed. “Okay. I’ll do my part too…as long as I don’t have to participate in Charlie’s superficial social sessions too much. Or Angel Dust’s sleazy acts.”

“It’s a deal,” said Vaggie.

Niffty raced down the beast’s side and snatched a pink smoothie from a pair of demons at a table. She climbed back up, the bottom of the glass in her mouth before scouting closer to Baxter. “You know…I’ve been interested in more of your inventions.” She held out her smoothie to him. “Can you… tell me more?”

Baxter looked at the smoothie. “Where did you get that?!”

“Want some?” Niffty slurped from one of the straws.

“Yuck! Who knows who ate it!”

“We’ll be great friends, someday, I just know it! You’re just so…slippery.” She giggled.

“Niffty,” groaned Husk as the beast headed back to the hotel as the sun set.

0 0 0

Vox sat in his studio again, Velvette behind him, screens glowing in the dark.

Vox furrowed his eyebrows. “I was so close to getting my views to be the highest in all of Hell! I almost brought that hotel down, would’ve been hilarious to see Angel Dust heartbroken! I knew I should’ve slaughtered that swine when I had the chance!” He slammed a fist. He narrowed his eyes as he saw the news: “Drama At Hell’s Weapon’s Expo! Vox’s Embarrassing Secrets?! Plus, Snake And Fish, Who Would You Smash?”

“Well, we still have plenty of tricks up our sleeves,” said Velvette. “Hell will eventually belong to us completely…it’ll just take time.”

“I’ll make sure no Sinners will ever be redeemed in that dump. No one will ever leave Hell, especially from me. When I’m through with that little princess and her rag tag bitches, every Sinner in Pentagram City will be hanging on to every word I say for eternity!”

Vox grinned evilly, his eyes glowing red and his teeth glowing cyan in the darkness.

[amelikos]

Some character notes and episode notes for HZ050, writing them down for future reference.

The ep starts with a collab vid between Gurumin and Nanjamo. They both talk about Dot's upcoming basics test (Gurumin doesn't say she'll be the one facing Nanjamo though, just that it's a trainer who happens to have a Kuwassu like her). Nanjamo mentions she won't go easy on her opponent and hopes that Dot will be able to fight in a way that is true to herself. After she posts the video online (which immediately gets Dot lots of views since Nanjamo is popular), Dot wonders what being true to herself means.

Dot decides to talk about it to Liko and Roy (she is really comfortable having them over in her room now and she wants to know their opinions). She mentions the battle she had the previous day (she said "yesterday", which is nice that we get a specific mention of time) and Liko and Roy tell her she was cool (I love when characters like Liko and Dot are told they are cool in their own ways). Dot brings up the fact that she came up with a plan at the time and followed it, so she wonders if that's what being true to herself means. She even made a simulation of her upcoming battle (with Harabari and Kuwassu, taking into account their moves etc) and thinks that if she sticks to her plan, she should be able to dazzle. Though, she knows that unexpected things can happen during battles or even during streams. Which makes Liko remember a Gurumin vid that went viral because Gurumin messed up during her livestream (and this vid spread and made her known online) (it's cute how much Liko knows about Gurumin and I wonder if she was a fan ever since Gurumin's early days and before she was popular or if she got to know her after that vid which spread her name around). The whole interaction between the trio was fun (Liko and Roy kept watching the vid and the VAs did a nice job with making them sound like they were trying not to laugh, and Dot was embarassed and asked how long they were gonna watch it, good trio moments). At night, Dot keeps thinking up of a strategy in her room and watches vids of Nanjamo's Harabari to analyze its battle style (since Nanjamo streams her basics tests online, Dot can actually check battle videos to analyze them, which is an advantage). She knows odds aren't in her favor given the types matchups but she considers taking advantage of Kuwassu's speed to gain the upper hand during the battle.

The following day, Liko and the others are about to leave for Dot's test. Murdock had a whole cheering getup ready since he wants to support Dot (the whole thing was super cute and he put lots of effort into it!), but Dot didn't want him to come (very realistic tbh, lots of kids get embarassed about their relatives at such events). Murdock didn't push the issue. Dot thought he was making a big deal out of it, and Liko told her that Murdock was probably just worried about her, which Dot understands deep down (small but good scene between the two because they keep showing moments with Liko and Dot walking together behind Roy and talking... I just like these interactions and the way they emphasize their bond).

Meanwhile, Sango and Onyx were monitoring the trio from afar, as they knew one of them had a test in Hakkou City. Sango thinks it's a drag and doesn't want to monitor them, she wants to check out some famous local churros.. Onyx thinks they need to gather some intel on Terapagos somehow (though Liko didn't bring him with her since she didn't have her Terapagos bag). Clavell shows up and wonders why Sango and Onyx are there since their course doesn't take them to this city (he remembers their names and where they are supposed to take their tests, he really seems to care about his students). He wonders if they came to check on their friends (referring to Liko and the others) and he is happy to see everyone so invested in their studies and growing. Onyx is very bad at lying btw (which is cute... he is also very polite to Clavell). Clavell suggests they go watch Dot's test together, but Onyx and Sango left while he was checking his phone, leaving the poor man by himself (I hope Sango got the food she wanted this time).

Afterwards, Dot makes all the arrangements for her battle and the trio meets Clavell who catches up with them and gives them encouragements. He starts rambling on a lot, so Dot goes ahead on her own to not miss her test (and there was a small moment of Liko telling her to go on and that she'll join her with Roy). Clavell kept talking to Liko and Roy, and both of them were too polite to just leave or remind him that Dot's test had begun. Though Roy eventually started watching it on his phone (it reminded me of that one JN episode in which Gou wanted to support both Koharu and Satoshi so he watched Koharu's contest on his phone to make sure he wouldn't miss it). Eventually, they all head to the battlefield.

Dot VS Nanjamo was very good and dynamic. Dot had a clear plan (evading attacks with speed), but also learned to go with the flow and have fun. Nanjamo had lots of energy and clearly put everything in this battle. She overwhelmed Dot and kinda dictated the pace of the battle for the most part. Dot managed to use Terastal too (and she did so when the power was out, so it wasn't caught on stream when she did), and Kuwassu learned a new move. Dot lost the battle but passed the test, which is good for her arc (Nanjamo is her senior so she can't catch up to her so quickly, and Dot also needed to go through that moment of feeling frustration after a loss and realizing she wants to get better and catch up to Nanjamo etc). Both Liko and Roy were happy that she passed her test (and they both held Dot's hands to congratulate her, which was adorable). Nanjamo also had a moment where she looked over to them and smiled (she is really happy to see Dot making friends).

At the end, the trio meets up with Clavell again. He congratulates them once more for completing their basics tests, and reminds them that they have reports to write before heading back to the academy (so next couple of episodes will be focused on their reports). He also asks Dot to teach him all she knows about streaming (and yet another long conversation begins, while Liko and Roy wait).

Overall, very good two-parter. Nanjamo is the only gym leader with this much emotional weight and history with one of the main characters, so I appreciate that they took time to build up this confrontation. I wonder if we'll see her again in the future.

[aceouttatime]

15 questions for 15 friends

tagged by @korblez! thanks dearie <3

ARE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?: My deadname was my mother's favorite name. My chosen name, Alex, is very similar--I kind of just flip-flopped the gender of it. I also chose my middle name when I was getting it legally changed, and I decided on my father's name.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?: Probably about ten months ago. I can't remember, but it's been way more difficult since starting testosterone ~2 years ago.

DO YOU HAVE KIDS?: No. Observe: A. I'm as gay as a room of monkeys on nitrous oxide, B. I'm a trans man who does NOT intend on using the uterus he was given, and C. I'm 20. We ain't ready.

WHAT SPORTS DO YOU PLAY/HAVE YOU PLAYED?: Was a cheerleader against my will for 12 years and a gymnast for 10. Those are. Uh. Very uncomfortable activities for a closeted trans man. Also messed up my body (abdominal issues, back issues, joints that crack like bubble wrap), but hey, I have a few cool party tricks to pull out now! I also played basketball for a few years and peewee soccer when I was real little.

DO YOU USE SARCASM?: No. (I am a liar.)

WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?: How they hold themselves, i.e., body language like tense shoulders, a puffed-out chest, downcast eyes.

WHAT'S YOUR EYE COLOUR?: Green! Olive green with a few dots of brown.

SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?: Depends on my mood. Do I want a think piece? Psychological horror, all the way. Am I sad and need Comfort Content? Happy endings please or I will cry inside.

ANY TALENTS?: I can fall asleep anywhere, anytime, given five minutes. I can do a great worm and also flips. I can draw pretty pictures sometimes that usually have gay people or aliens (or both) in them.

WHERE WERE YOU BORN?: the USA BAYBEE RAHHHH 🦅🦅🦅 Ohio, specifically. It's mostly corn, highways, and the occasional building here (if you spot any signs of civilization, please let authorities know, as it is a rarity and must be documented for research purposes).

WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES?: Drawing, reading, writing, skiing, rollerblading, hiking, biking, embroidery, bracelet-making, video gaming, window shopping (poor college student with Spending Anxiety), taking care of my plant children, stopping my roommate's cat from eating plants (she has no survival instinct but is Very Cute), and many more that I can't think of at the moment.

DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS?: One dorm cat (my roommate's, she's a ragdoll mix) named Eda, and two dachshunds (my parents') named Dunkin and Bailey. Dunkin is barely out of his puppy years, and Bailey is Strange and Brick-Shaped.

HOW TALL ARE YOU?: 5'7. 5'8 if my spine is not Fucked-Up that day.

FAVOURITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL?: Science, history, and English. Psychology, if that counts (it's what I study in college)!

DREAM JOB?: Clinical psychologist for NASA (basically I'd help research, implement programs for, and monitor the mental wellbeing of personnel). Pipe dream? Yes. More reasonable career path? Clinical psychologist working private practice somewhere nice (and warm and maybe not in the States). -----TLDR; Astronaut therapist.

I'll go ahead and tag (with care, no pressure!): @straypurplebread, @who-is-riley, @swaps55, @daisywalletchains, @sparatus, @thetrashbagswasteland, @whiskynorocks, @notjumpinglamps, @threewhiskeylunch, @westernlarch, @maxiepenguin,

[sassymajesty]

15 questions

tagged by @butmakeitgayblog and @talktomeinclexa 🩷✨

were you named after anyone? no. my parents just had a couple names they liked. and when i was born, they had narrowed it down to two names, my mom just went "yep, she looks like that one"

do you have kids? i do not, and i go back and forth about having them in the future too

when was the last time you cried? thursday 🤪✌🏻

what sports have you played/do you play? literally none. i have no fucking clue how i made it through 12 years of pe, i remember playing chess during class or being the first one to go in dodgeball

do you use sarcasm? pretty often, yea

first thing you notice about people? i only realized this recently, but ✨vibes✨ as in, whether or not they have a draining energy. i try to gauge pretty quickly if they're someone i can be open with or if their company will leave me empty and i'll have to monitor how often we can hang out

scary movies or happy endings? happy endings all day long

what are your hobbies? at the moment, with the semester i'm having? sleeping and nothing else. but in regular times, i like reading, writing, gardening. keyboard stuff and stationery. i very much enjoy watching video essays and stand up comedy

what is your eye color? according to des's eye color poll, russet brown 💅🏻

any talents? i'm sure i have some but i genuinely cannot think of one

where were you born? são paulo (a tiny town in the state, but that gives you a general idea)

do you have any pets? i don't and fun fact, i've never had one 😔

how tall are you? 5'10 (178cm)

favorite subject in school? physics, hands down. math was my first love, but then physics came around and i was hooked. and i mean i liked it to the point where i'd ask for extra work and ended up borrowing different textbooks to study. what a nerd

dream job? academia. i'd really love to study for a living, but you can barely make a living out of that in here

tagging @dreamsaremywords @100hearteyes @anonymous-red-506 @elialys @wanhedas-dagger i have no idea who has done this already, but if you see this and you haven't, tag you're it

[42bakery]

My beloveds @captainbradmarchand and @fabiochampioraro tagged me to respond some questions, so here we go.

rules: answer these 15 questions then tag 15 people you’d like to know better

1. Are you named after anyone? Not really. My mum had a classmate with the same name and she liked it. But the classmate was written in the Latin/Spanish way (no 'h' in the name), while mine is in the English way. Please don't ask me why.

2. When was the last time you cried? I'm in my period, so I'm a fucking mess. I think it was yesterday when I saw a compilation video where people did cute things for others. Yes I'm a train reck when on my period

3. Do you have kids? Nope

4. What sports do you play/have you played? I did rhythmic gymnastics for three years. I wasn't really good, but I had fun. I also like to play 21 when I can, but my wrist is o fucked up for that

5. Do you use sarcasm? Yes I use it so much when talking in Spanish that it could be considered my mother tongue. I do try in English, but it doesn't came as natural

6. What’s the first thing you notice about people? Their eyes and their height

7. What’s your eye color? A weird mix in between blue and gray

8. Scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings but in a found family way. I'm so done with the romantic ones. I'm also okay with cliffhangers

9. Any talents? I have either the most freaking good memory ever or I can't remember what I ate 2 seconds ago. I also can write.

10. Where were you born? In a hospital in Terrassa, province of Barcelona. Fun fact, that wasn't the hospital I was supposed to be born. Well yes, but not really. There's a closest one to my house, but my mum had a high risk pregnancy (I was too big) she was then monitored in that other one.

11. What are your hobbies? Reading books and manga, watching TV shows and occasionally films (not a film girly), watching sports and writing.

12. Do you have any pets? Yes I had 1 cockatiel named Pica that passed away on October last year (not our fault, he eat something that make him sick and no one knew). Now we have 2 a female named Oro and another male named Pada

13. How tall are you? Around 171cm

14. Favorite subject in school? In school it was Spanish, then Maths in highschool and in the course up to university it was Biology and later on Microbiology

15. Dream job Working with virus in a lab

I can't remember who did it and who didn't, so forgive me if you have already been tagged: @suzuki-ecstar @distinguishedfifty @collecting--stardust @fangirling-throughlife @game-set-canet @bobendsneyder64 @alex-marquez @kingofthering @nyehhh-hh @micksdoohan @whoregaylorenzo @ilikecarsandlike4people @milla8920 @its-always-silly-season @celestinovietti

[eywaseclipse]

Written in the Stars Chapter 3: Rescue and Loss

Characters: Na’vi oc reader Tani, Jake, Neytiri, Kiri, Tuk, Lo’ak, Neteyam, Spider, RDA

Synopsis: Lo’ak, Spider, Kiri, and Tuk explore the site of the old shack, and get captured by the RDA Avatars. Mom, dad, Tani and Neteyam rescue the kids, but at a great cost. 

Warnings:  Angst, violence against children, major character death

Word Count: 3k

“I thought we lost them.” Jake’s eyes begin to tear. Neytiri sighs rubbing her thumb on his skin lovingly. “I understand. But you do not need to carry this burden alone Ma’Jake. We are a family. Sully’s stick together.” He sighs with a breath of relief. Grateful his mate is able to knock some sense in that thick skull of his when he needs it the most. “I know.” He nods to her. “Let’s get cleaned up.” She rises, taking him with her back to the tent. Unbeknownst to the Sully family, this war has only just begun.

Meanwhile at RDA Avatar Driver Space Station Base

The sound of a monitor slowly awakens Quaritch’s senses, a bright light burning into his skull. A slow arrival of consciousness flowing through his body. Blinking, a blurry figure hovers over him. A blue bald creature. “Colonel, hey, it’s me. Wainfleet. You’re awake.” With his military training and killer instincts he feels a surge of power radiate through his body, launching a heavy punch to this strange man. His body begins to thrash, as a fight or flight response. He feels multiple figures restraining his large body back into a glass wall. 

Screaming and scrambling fill his ears with sound. His senses on complete overdrive. “Colonel, calm down!” He hears in the background. He suddenly stops, realizing where he is. His hands fly up in defeat, “Alright, I’m cool. I’m cool.” Chest heaving with adrenaline he looks down to his hands; blue? He slowly lifts his head, to where the two way glass is, bringing himself to see this foreign reflection. “I’ll be damned.” He eyes himself up and down in this new body. An Avatar. He lifts his lips to reveal fangs, actual feline fangs. He scowls, immediately reminded of the enemy. “Well ain't that a bitch.” He snickers. His squad laughing in the background. 

He and the scientists run through a series of tests ensuring the success of his transfer to his new body. Now in zero gravity he’s instructed to pull a video log on the last known documentation of his human body. Watching his old self speak, his memories flood back into his brain like a light switch. “If you’re watching this well, that means I got my ticket punched.” The video goes onto explaining the fail safe of launching his own Avatar to ensure the colonel’s survival.

Selfridge appearing, explaining the memory drives implanted in the driver’s brain. “Oh you can kill us, but we’ll just regroup in hell. Remember the real enemy out there. Jake Sully.” His ears perk up to the familiar name. The hatred burning inside of him. He scowls to the monitor as the screen goes to black. Later that evening the squad prepares for landing into Pandora’s atmosphere. The mission is simple: Kill Jake Sully and everyone he loves. 

Next Day on Pandora

Lo’ak, Kiri, Spider, and Tuk all skip along the Hallelujah mountains, happily yipping and laughing amongst the clouds. The sky is clear and bright, the sun in the sky in a high noon. Lo’ak hears Kiri tease Spider. “Come monkey boy, keep up! My 7 year old sister is faster than you!” She laughs in his direction.

The group bounces from rock to rock making their way to the forbidden destination of the day. As they crawl their way down the canopy vines, they descend into the part of the forest that has been off limits to them ever since their mother and father won the battle against the sky people 15 years ago. A small voice breaks Lo’ak’s concentration. “Guys wait up! You’re too fast!” Tuk squeaks. Spider shakes his head in irritation. 

“Dude why’d you bring her anyway?” Lo’ak huffs. “She’s such a cry baby! “She’s all I’m telling! You’re not supposed to go to the battlefield. I’ll tell mom if you don’t let me come!” Mimicking her child voice. Kiri stands to defend her sister. “Hey! Don’t pick on her!” But Tuk is not bothered. Instead she sticks out her tongue waving her tail to her brother. “Mmmm!” She playfully teases. The destination is now in sight. “Bro look, there it is!” Lo’ak excitedly points to the helicopter wreckage.

Now covered in vines, moss and leaves, it looks hauntingly beautiful. Tuk gasps with curiosity as her older brother and Spider climb the branches to get a better look. “Are there any dead bodies up there?” Lo’ak and Spider share a mischievous look. “Bro, come on!” They hop down leading the way to the old shack. As they walk along the forest floor something comes into sight. Footprints. “What the hell?” Spider questions. 

They all share a look of concern. “Who’s do you think those are? Human?” “No they’re way too big for human.” Lo’ak says quietly. “Avatars?” Lo’ak looks at Spider with shock. “Yeah, but they’re not our guys.” He touches the boot prints softly, silently tracking. “Lo’ak what’re you doing?” Kiri interjects.

He shushes her so he can focus. “Shh. I’m tracking.” They follow his lead as he trails the footprints that go all the way to the shack. Suddenly there’s movement and sound. They hide behind the brush of the flora and fauna. “Holy shit.” Spider whispers in disbelief. Avatar bodies. A squad in military uniforms, circling the shack with their machine guns. Spider turns to Lo’ak “Dude this is it. This is the actual spot where your dad and my dad fought.” Their eyes lit with curiosity. Lo’ak sighs. “Shit. I gotta call this in.” Kiri rolls her eyes. 

“Are you kidding me? Dad is going to ground you. For LIFE!” She hisses. He ignores her comment, and presses his fingers to his neck comm. “Devil Dog this is Eagle Eye.” Jake, Neytiri, you, and Neteyam, on an afternoon ride, hear his neck piece come to life. Jake’s ears pinned hearing his son’s voice. “Eagle Eye send your traffic.

A silence falls to Lo’ak as he quietly braces himself for what he’s about to tell his dad. “I’m at the old shack. There’s Avatars in camou and carrying AR’s.” Jake’s heart stops, he swears this kid is going to be the death of him. “Who’s we?” He practically grits through his teeth.

He hears a soft sigh through the microphone. “Me, Spider, Kiri… and Tuk.” Neytiri and you suddenly gasp. Your heart now racing. “Boy you listen to me, you get the hell out of there right now, stay out of sight. Do not engage. I repeat, do not engage.” He hears Lo’ak’s “Yes sir.” Neteyam interrupts his thoughts. “Dad, come on, I know a way!” Banking right, they descend into the territory that he swore he’d never step foot on again. 

With complete terror coursing through your veins, you allow your adrenaline to drive your emotions assuming the worst. Your thoughts flowing into your Ikran, causing her to hiss with power. Your trance broken with Jake’s voice booming. “Land over to the branches.” Signaling for Neteyam to have you all to find a spot for regroup. With the Ikrans now mounting on the forest branches, you climb down to face your leader. It’s only 4 of you.

God only knows how many of the squad members there are. But you don’t care. Your family needs you. Eclipse now falling into place your heart clenches with fear. “Alright we’re going into a full mission rescue out there. Neytiri will signal the call, and Tani, you and I will make our way as a team and then split off to flank them on each side, copy?” You nod your head in agreement. 

“Yes sir.” Neteyam is visibly upset he’s not included in this scenario. “Dad what about me?” Jake turns to his son, “You stay with the Ikrans.” Neteyam gasps with frustration. “But dad, I’m a warrior like you, I’m supposed to fight!” Jake steps close to his son, “You stay to the Ikran. That’s a direct order. I’m not gonna say it again.” Filled with defeat, Neteyam retreats to the Ikran scowling. “Yes sir.” You wince at the interaction, knowing Neteyam is more than capable to assist, but Jake can’t take any chances. You and Neytiri turn to wait for his signal, and head out. 

Earlier Right After Lo’ak Calls Activity In

Lo’ak sighs, knowing that he very well might get grounded for life because of this. Him, Spider, Tuk, and Kiri slowly make their way back into the thick of the forest as quietly as possible. “Come on Tuk, hurry up.” Kiri whispers. They’re now a few clicks away from the shack, sensing they’re in the clear. When all of the sudden Tuk screams. “Drop your weapons! Hands up! NOW!” An Avatar member screams. Tuk’s kuru is pulled, as she shouts in pain.

Kiri lunges to her trying attempting to get her sister, but she’s not fast enough. Her own braid aggressively pulled, causing her to scream in agony. “Shut up!” A bald Avatar yells in her ear. Lo’ak and Spider are pinned as they drop their weapons.

Lo’ak hisses in pain reaching out to Kiri. A large Avatar circles around them with a disgusting smirk on his face. “Boss, look, 4 fingers. We got a halfbreed.” The bald alien smirks, holding Kiri’s hands into the air. Their leader walks up to Lo’ak squatting. “You, show me your fingers.” Lo’ak immediately defies the alien, bringing his hands up to him, flipping both middle fingers to his face. He snickers.

“You’re his aren’t you?” Lo’ak spits a vicious hiss into the air making the strange man chuckle darkly. “Oh you’re his alright.” Quaritch now seething with anger grabs a fist full of Lo’ak’s braids “Where is he?” Lo’ak speaks in Na’vi “Sorry I don’t speak English, to buttholes.” He’s met with another sharp tug to his head, releasing a second hiss. “Really?” Quaritch laughs. Kiri begins to mutter in Na’vi praying to Eywa. “Mawey calm.” She’s met with a harsh tug to her braid causing her to scream in pain. “Shut up!” She’s brought to her knees.

“Don’t touch her!” Spider pleads. Quaritch’s interest now on the human boy. He kneels eye level, “Miles?’ Spider huffs in defeat. Quaritch’s eyes squinted deep in thought. And then it hit him.“I thought they put you on a ship back to Earth?” Spider snickers to the blue man. “You can’t put babies in cryo dipshit.” 

Quaritch pulled back to reality, realizing where this boy’s loyalty lies. “Boss what’s the move, what’re we doing here?” Quaritch turns to the monitor his squad member is holding, pulling up the last memory of his human body, causing a new surge of anger radiating through his body. He calls in to his superior. “Iron Sky, blue on actual. Over.” 

He hears “Standing by for extract, over.” The Avatars get out handcuffs and bind each kid preventing them from escaping. The sky now begins to release rain into the night filled forest. Lo’ak hangs his head in defeat, when he suddenly hears the call. He knows that sound. Another yip rips into the air from the distance. Spider slowly turns to him, as Lo’ak nods his head in agreement. His mom and dad training him and his siblings for this, in case something like that ever were to happen. Rescue mission. He looks to his sisters, making sure they heard the call; they do. Bodies now tense, they anticipate for his mom’s and your arrows to release any minute. 

You and Jake make your way to the forest, tracking the bootprints that lead you to the kids. Neytiri is up ahead, pressed against the trunk of a tree. Now sounding off her call. She releases two more to ensure the kids hear. That’s your cue. Jake hand signals to you, you to the right, him to the left. Your heart is pounding through your chest, as you make sight of an Avatar figure right in your path. You quietly unsheathe your dagger, and slit his throat. He falls to the ground with a light thump.

Jake releases his tomahawk into the skull of an RDA member, not losing a beat of his stride. The group of Avatars now in your line of sight, Neytiri draws her bow. Kiri whispering into the air. “Shut up.” One of the Drivers hisses to her. Kiri keeps whispering. “I said shut up!” Suddenly whipped onto the ground, a hiss of an arrow shoots straight into the skull of the alien. “Contact made!” Rips into the air as the shouting commences. 

The Sully kids sink their fangs into the aliens, as they release them screaming in pain. Tuk runs to Lo’ak. Spider and Kiri, run making a break for it, as the live rounds of ammunition tear into the night lighting up the air around them. You and Neytiri now firing your arrows one by one into the demons. Jake thrusts himself into action, slamming his ax into the bodies of the RDA. “Agh!” You hiss into the air as your arrow makes contact with the enemy. Neytiri’s signature feathers, now in front of a cowering Quaritch.

“Is that you Mrs. Sully?” Neytiri’s eyes immediately widen with disbelief. “I see you’ve been busy making a whole litter of half breeds. Why don’t you come on out here Mrs. Sully?” She hisses into the air, fueled by raw primal rage. “DEMON! I will kill you as many times as I have to!” She spits. He continues to taunt her.

Unbeknownst to her, one of the RDA members has target locked on the back of her head. He brings his fingers to the trigger, ready to pull. As he releasees the bullets an arrow flies straight into the back of his skull, killing him on impact. Neteyam, huffing stands behind him as he makes his way to the fight. You’re releasing another arrow into the eye socket of a demon when you hear the shots closest to your left. 

You whip your head around to asses the damages, only to find Neteyam running to you. “What the hell are you doing here Skxqwng moron!? You are supposed to be with the Ikrans!” You yell in frustration. Just as he is about to respond, out of your peripheral you see another demon raise their gun, aiming fire.

You launch yourself to throw Neteyam out of the way, your body just barely escaping the bullets yourself. Jake right behind you two saw the demon just in time for his ax to be catapulted into his chest. You hear the remaining squad retreat to avoid major casualties, as you grab Neteyam from the ground. “You okay? Hey, hey look at me.” He’s still in shock, but completely unharmed. His small voice responds with “Yeah.” You bring him into a hug. 

“I should pluck your eyes out!” You  now grip his face. Jake meets you and him, to ask where Neytiri is. You whip your head to where you last saw her position, as you hear footsteps making way to your group; the kids. Neytiri now slumped to the trunk of the tree, with a hand pressed to her stomach. A stray bullet made impact, ripping straight through her gut.

You’re first to rush to her side, the panic now reaching your body as you grasp what’s happened. You bend down eye level to her, “Neytiri?” You say in a small voice. Her breaths quick and sharp, as she fights the pain. Her body heaving. You look down to where her hand is covering her wound, dark blood seeping down drenching torso, and loincloth. You hear the others circle in behind you. “No no no no.” Jake whispers in shock. Bending down next you he stares at his dying mate. 

Neytiri grabs her bow, shakily handing it to you. “Tsmuke sister, Take my bow. You must protect the people now.” She says in shuddering breaths. You hesitantly grab the wood, tears now flowing from your cheeks. “Mama?” Tuk squeaks from behind you. Kiri grabs hold of her baby sister, watching as her mother speaks. Jake takes Neytiri’s face in his hands.

“Hey, hey look at me. You’re gonna be fine. We’re gonna get you out of here okay?” His voice quivering with horror. “Ma’Jake, there is not enough time.” She says weakly. “You must be brave, for our children. You have strong heart.” As she brings her blood soaked hand to his chest. “You will find happiness again, both of you.” She whispers, as she looks to Jake, then you. 

Your body now quivering with your sobs, you pray to the Great Mother. “Please Great Mother! HELP US!” Neytiri grabs your hand, taking her final breaths. “Our Great Mother does not take sides Ma’Tani, she only protects the balance of life.” Your mind is racing, in complete denial. “Come here, children.” Neytiri beckons the kids. They slowly circle around their dying mother. “Be kind to one another, Agh!” She hisses in pain. “Mom!” Kiri shouts in fear. “Mom please don’t leave us.” Lo’ak begs. “You must take care of each other when I’m gone.” Her breaths now shallow, and quick, the life leaving her body.

You hear Jake’s quiet sobs over your louder ones, there wouldn’t be any way to get her back to medical tents in time. You await your worst nightmare. “Tani, I give you my-” Your ears perked, but she does not complete the sentence. You grip face, eyes wide with disbelief. “Neytiri? NEYTIRI! NO!” You shake her, silently praying she will wake. Her pupils now completely dilated, her body stills. Jake hangs his head low, as he watches you scream over his dead mate. “Mom?” Neteyam speaks beside you. You screech over her body cradling her head. Your heaving form violently shaking in tears. 

Your primal screams rip into the night sky. Lo’ak shocked, has never seen such visceral pain. He sobs onto his older brother’s shoulder as your continued hoarse screams solidify his reality. Jake numb himself, grabs your shaking body, “Hey it’s okay. We gotta get out of here. It’s not safe.” You mind desensitized to his words, continuing your screams.

It isn’t until Tuk touches your shoulder in desperation that you snap out of your trance. “Tani!” She cries. Jake touches his neck comms with a shaky voice, “Devil Dog to Norm. We need assistance on an emergency evac. Over.” Your sobbing form, turns to Tuk, your watery eyes meeting her big ones. You throw yourself onto her, squeezing tight. Lo’ak grabs hold of you both, hugging your bodies, as Kiri and Neteyam join in all desperately afraid to let go.

“This is Norm, I read you. Send your coordinates. We’re sending a heli out now. Over.” Jake states the coordinates to Norm, as you cry into little Tuk’s hair hiccuping. Your breathing begins to even out as you feel your body reach a paralyzed state. You hear the helicopter before you see it, the loud whirling of motors ripping into the forest canopy. You all look above, to see Norm in Avatar form with a few of the other scientists, lower a cage like contraption onto the floor. You look to your dead friend’s form, guarding her body, hissing at the aircraft. 

Jake touches your shoulder. “Hey it’s okay. They’re here to help, we need to get everyone out of here.” Your wet eyes, stare at him, with a slow nod you step away from Neytiri. Jake and you help Norm carry her to the aircraft, as they hoist her lifeless form into the sky, like an angel of death. Jake does an internal head count now that he sees his kids. “Wait where’s Spider?” He asks. Kiri begins to sob onto your shoulder. “They took him!” You and Jake share a concerned look. Just when you thought things could not possible get worse. The enemy has captured the human boy who knows all your operations. “We need to get out of here. Now.”

[localcatbehaviourguy]

My experience with Jay's Prehistoric Pets

My family used to go there all the time when I was little to see all the animals because it was free to enter. We stopped when I was around seven for reasons you will soon find out. Here's what I remember.

A lot of the animals were thin and he live-fed every single one. I get that some snakes apparently won't eat frozen/thawed prey, but it was every single one. Live feeding is an ethical issue due to the distress it can cause the prey. When live feeding, you also need to closely supervise to a) make sure the snake eats the prey quickly to avoid distress for the prey, and b) because scared prey may fight back and if that happens, they can seriously hurt the snake so you need to be able to intervene. But they gave every snake, even species that are usually, if not always, okay with eating f/t, a live mouse and then, before the snake ate the mouse, they would walk away and wouldn't supervise. If the snake got attacked or didn't feel like eating, that would be a massive issue. I'm not a snake handler, but I know I wouldn't leave my cat alone in a room with a rodent due to how the rodent could damage my cat (and my sympathy towards the rodent.) I feel like you don't leave a pet in a risky situation like that. That feels unnecessary and really, just lazy.

There were red-eared slider turtles you could feel. Another customer saw me and my brother, both very little, and warned our parents that we couldn't touch the turtles because they would bite. There was no notice posted and no employee was warning people about biting reptiles in a room full of children. Also, if a reptile has a habit of biting when touched, which is entirely reasonable, they shouldn't be in a free-roam situation where someone can provoke them to bite. They bite out of self-defense or to protect their boundaries, and they probably bite because the situation distresses them- they had no hides, they were in a fountain like at Chinese restaurants with the koi, so it was hard for them to escape the situation- so don't put them in that situation. Not good for the reptiles and not good for the kids.

And the monitors

Oh gods, the monitors.

They had at least one, usually two, massive (bigger than me) monitor lizards free-roaming the floor at all times. A monitor is a very large lizard and can easily cause a lot of damage when distressed, untrained people should never been freely interacting with them. But they were free to roam. It was probably frightening for them. They're surrounded by loud children and massive adults and they have no hide, they probably also got kicked or stepped on way more than necessary. Which leads me into why we stopped going.

One of those monitors, easily three or four feet long, crawled under my baby brother's stroller while we were there. Now that I think about it, he was probably just looking for a hide. But obviously we couldn't have that massive, powerful reptile underneath a baby's stroller, so they had to get it out from under the stroller. My dad and another guest had to pick up the stroller (it was one of those big ones meant to last multiple kids) and carry it away to get the monitor out from under it. Dad could not get close enough to unbuckle my brother due to the dinosaur who he understood would protect itself if it felt like he was threatening it, so they lifted the stroller with him inside of it. Where were the staff? Watching without a care in the world. If anyone should have intervened there it should have been the keepers who have experience with the animal and should know how to handle situations like this if the animal is going to free-roam, but it was on my parents and a small group of concerned parents to figure this out while the employees just watched. Of course, seeing how they treat animals in videos, they probably would've dragged the poor thing by its tail, harming it and putting my brother in danger.

Yeah, we stopped going after that.

It's not surprising to me that I googled that place years later to find all of the controversy about them mistreating animals. Hopefully, since I don't see much about them endangering guests, the monitors no longer free-roam and are instead in an enclosure to be admired from afar. But yeah, that place was probably one of the worst zoos I've ever been to.