#seeing some of the most bizarre takes like none of you have seen a vampire movie????

[machneherald]

i don’t WANT to be this person or sound like it but i wish nosferatu wasn’t a ‘trendy’ movie. too many people not understanding gothic horror watching it then get mad when it has gothic horror tropes

[wallwriterstuff]

Hi! Can I please request a Demetri x mate!human!fem!reader where she’s Bella’s younger sister, and when the Volturi come for Renesmee, the Cullens tell her to stay with Charlie, since they had a bunch of vampires with them plus the Volturi showing up, it’d be bad with a human in the mix. Being related to Bella (haha) she doesn’t listen, choosing to hide behind a tree to try to see how Bella and her family are (she was worried what the Volturi would do). I’m sure everyone would realize there’s a human there, and Aro sends Demetri to check it out, who finds Y/n, and quickly realizes she’s his mate. Ooo that would be nerve racking to Bella because she’d see Dem speed her younger sister over to where all the Volturi are. I’m sure she’d have to go back to Volterra with them, and she’d be a little freaked out. Awhhh it’d be so cute to see them bond, and on New Year’s, she wants to watch the ball drop (because it’s a tradition), and when it’s the New Year, she kisses Dem for the first time!

Little Red Riding Hood Part 1 ||Demetri Volturi x Female Reader||

Part 2: The Big Bad Wolf 

Part 3: What Soft Lips You Have 

Part 4: And They Lived Happily Ever After 

Warnings: None, just Aro being a manipulative little meanie 

Words: 4793

Summary: Against her sister’s advice, Y/N Swan sets off on a one woman mission to protect her family, unaware of the price she will have to pay to do so. 

One of the worst habits you had was wondering the house late at night when you shouldn’t be. It wasn’t your fault really, insomnia didn’t have an easy cure and your sleeping medication was…well, when you woke up in the morning you felt drunk, they weren’t really something you enjoyed using. It had been an innocent quest really, a simple mission – get a warm mug of milk to go back to bed with. If anything, you were perfectly in the right to go wandering your own home. It should have been safe, even at 3:24AM.

Riley Biers shouldn’t have been there.

But he was.

In your living room.

And so were you.

Until you weren’t.

Alice had seen it all in advance of course and whisked you out of that room so fast the venom hadn’t even had time to properly enter your system after Riley bit down. Charlie hadn’t even been woken from his slumber by the time you were whisked into the depths of the forest to a nice little clearing where you could scream to your hearts content and nobody would hear you. Carlisle had saved you that night, sucking the venom out as quickly as Riley had injected it. The night that had followed was a surreal, whistle stop tour of the vampire world and its laws, laws you were technically breaking since you knew about the Cullen’s now. Of course, that meant you knew about the newborn army to, but you decided to stay out of that one. Some things however…some things demanded your attention, and whether you were human or not you simply had to at least see your family would be okay.

After a whirlwind few months your sister was saved, married and knocked up. Come Christmas, your hybrid niece was looking to be nine years old and your father was suspicious but none the wiser to the world you knew all too much about. You had carefully hidden your bitemark with polo necks, a sudden and bizarre choice your father had commented on once but quickly dismissed after you spouted some fashion facts Alice had prepared you with – fashion and Charlie did not mix and he dropped that conversation faster than one might drop a saucepan on fire. Of course, Renesmee (who you had created a variety of nicknames for just to tease Bella because otherwise you…well you’d have to call her Renesmee, and that was just cruel) was unique in every way, and unique and unknown equated to threat and danger in many minds, many minds the Cullen’s had slowly swayed over the few weeks since Alice had informed them of their impending death sentence.

You hadn’t been allowed to visit since the nomads and covens had started arriving, and though you understood the reason it didn’t make it any easier to know your sister, your niece, your extended family, were all in danger and you weren’t getting to spend what might be their last moments with them. It was only made worse when Bella and Edward had brought your father tickets to go fishing out of state, and tried to do the same to you. You loved your TV shows, truly you did, so for them to somehow get you backstage passes for Supernatural of all things was…immense. What you hated the most was how tempted you were to go. Who would say no to a long stay in a five star hotel, all expenses paid for and any bills you accumulated paid for by a Cullen, bottomless credit card?

When Edward and Bella had dropped you at the airport, part of you really had been ready to say goodbye to them, but as you stood in line for the gate the heavy weight of guilt settled in your gut and wouldn’t stop squirming. You had to turn back, you had to go. Nobody knew when the Volturi were going to land exactly, but you knew the day, and with Charlie and Sue gone for their fishing trip you would have nobody to stop you doing the incredibly dumb thing you had set your heart on. The taxi fare home had been extortionate but you couldn’t exactly have called anyone for a lift could you? You called the hotel and told them you were cancelling your stay, having to push your backstage pass for the Supernatural set deep into the depths of your bag to manage the grief of missing that opportunity, but family came first.

A restless night’s sleep later and you were dressing for the snow. It had fell fast and thick since Christmas day, so you had to set out early if you were going to get anywhere fast. Bella was your sister and you loved one another dearly, so of course you had spoken all about the upcoming battle, her hopes and her fears, her plans.

“There’s a clearing to the North of the house, we’re hoping if we engage them there it’ll be far enough away from people to stop anyone else getting involved by accident.”

Clearing to the North of the Cullen residence, right. With your Grandfather’s old compass you had set out, bundled in your thickest woollen coat and decked out the whole nine yards with scarves and hats and gloves. The air was freezing, nipping harshly at your exposed skin till your ears and nose were tinged red. Sniffling, you trudged through the layers of snow, stumbling over your own feet once or twice in the hereditary Swan way before regaining your footing and ploughing on. The trees seemed never-ending, an identical blanket of white on each and every one that towered above you, encroaching from all sides and making you lose all sense of direction. If it wasn’t for the compass in your hand you could have easily gotten lost in the winter wonderland, but a break in the treeline finally made an appearance. Numb as your extremities were, you forced your tired body to cooperate and propelled yourself forward, stumbling towards a tree you might be able to see past.

The forest was eerily silent, not a single scuttling animal or twittering bird to be found today, and the clearing itself was so large and the covens spread so far apart you could barely see a thing either, not with your dull, human eyes. A swarm of black gave away the Volturi, the mismatch of beiges and neutral tones on the left letting you know your family had yet to be taken down. A sigh of relief escaped you and you clapped a hand over your mouth in alarm, heart skipping a beat in your chest. Vampires had extremely sensitive hearing, there was no way somebody hadn’t heard you, and if it wasn’t the sigh that gave you away then it would surely have been the sound of mitten slapping flesh. Pressing into the bark you peeked around the tree trunk, heart hammering in your chest now as you tried to establish what was happening. You couldn’t hear a thing, could barely see. Ness sat atop Jacob, his russet fur glinting in the bright white of the snow-covered landscape.

“It all looks so terribly interesting from this distance does it not?” the smooth voice was right by your ear, and you screamed louder than you ever had in your life. Whirling around you shrunk back from the vibrantly red eyes of an admittedly handsome man, his expression devoid of any emotion as he looked you over. He had boxed you in against the tree trunk, his cloak billowing about him, the shiny, golden ‘V’ hanging around his throat making your chest constrict. Volturi, he was a Volturi guard. With wide eyes you stood in a silent stare-off, unable to decipher the emotions flickering through his eyes as he stood a step toward you.

“Stay away from me!” you cried, cringing back into the bark behind you. His head tilted.

“You came to spy and did not expect there would be consequences?” he asked, not stopping till he was almost on top of you. Your breath hitched. He had the most gorgeous looking face but you could identify the features of a killer in it. The glowing red irises didn’t look at you with malice however, more…confusion. His sharp, pearl white teeth weren’t bared to take your throat out but carefully sealed away behind plush lips. You could almost believe he didn’t intend on hurting you if his hands weren’t still reaching for you.

“You’re here to butcher my family, I had to…” you trailed off, because in reality what could you do? What could you possible say to this vampire that wouldn’t make him laugh? You were human, you stood no chance. He had paused, waiting patiently for your answer, yet when you gave him none he proceeded to pick you up like you weighed next to nothing, your feet being whisked out of the numbing snow to dangle over his arm. His eyes never left yours.

“Hold tight little one.” He suggested, his voice devoid of any emotion. If there had been any part of him you might have been able to appeal to before it was gone now, hidden behind a stony exterior. The world blurred around you and the jarring movement thew you off balance as he set you on your feet again, your body tilting in a way it shouldn’t till he was forced to grab you and hold you steady. Nausea rose quickly in the back of your throat, the world still spinning and blurring your eyes. You could see the edges of black cloaks swirling in your vision as you fought back the urge to be sick. There was no way to hide your anxiety now, your heart hammering away for all to hear, your breathing too quick to be normal.

“You seem to have distressed our dear friends, Demetri.” The smooth voice was sickeningly sweet, entirely false to your ears. Trying to take a steadying breath, you forced yourself to look up at the three imposing figures before you. A giant stood behind them, two young twins to their right. The three were quite obvious to you form the stories you’d heard, and your shudder had nothing to do with the cold this time. Demetri, the man holding you, had yet to let go of your waist, and his hands felt strangely soothing, their firm grip something that felt grounding and reliable despite your terror in this moment.

“An intruder who has already seen too much, end her now as yet another of the Cullen’s mistakes.” The blonde sneered. You swallowed, mind spinning. You were dead either way, right?

“My niece is not a mistake.” You retorted. You were proud that your voice didn’t waver once, though the grip on your waist tightened slightly and you weren’t sure if it was to warn you or scold you. Caius hissed, eyes narrowed in a vicious glare.

“Your niece? May I, my dear?” Aro stood before you, taller than you had expected with hair almost as long as yours. You knew it wasn’t a request, but you found yourself desperate either way to avoid touching him and shrank back from his extended hand, straight into Demetri’s chest. His hand was hesitant, but it lifted from your waist to lightly skim down your arm, his lips close to your hairline as he whispered, “Do as you are told now, little one.”

He carefully extended your hand for you, noting the tremor in it once more as Aro’s eyes flickered between you. He removed your mitten with a flourish, your hand immediately clenching and unclenching at the sudden blast of arctic cold it had previously been shrouded from. Aro’s skin was somehow even colder and your shivering grew in intensity. Very vaguely, you could hear Bella shouting something, but the distance was so great and the clearing so vast it swallowed the sound. His eyes flickered over yours, completely pinning you to the spot, and then they looked past you to whatever was happening behind you. Demetri was blocking your view when you tried to see what Aro was seeing.

“Sweet Y/N, your bravery in coming here is applaudable. I can only hope our own dear ones are as dedicated to our family as you are to yours.” Aro sighed, a hint of melancholy in his voice. You flinched, knowing the next words from his mouth would most likely be spelling out your death sentence. The sound of the breeze was all that filled your ears for a moment, the anxiety and anticipation growing in your stomach making it difficult to hold onto the meagre breakfast you’d forced yourself to eat. It occurred to you in that moment that this would be your final moments with your family, your last chance to say goodbye, and they could hear it. Squaring your shoulders, you held your head high.

“I came because I love them, and I don’t regret that. You can’t destroy my family, their witnesses are proof of that. My niece was created out of love and the legacy of love they would leave behind will be far too great for you to overcome. So go ahead and do what you have to to me, if I can die with half their grace then I know I’ve done them proud.” You clenched your fists at your side, prepared for the bite that Aro would deliver, maybe Demetri. Caius looked most upset by your little speech, hissing quietly and looking prepared to spring towards you. More muffled noise from behind you let you know your family had heard, even if you couldn’t hear their goodbyes you felt them in your heart.

Aro’s head tilted slightly, his expression cold, and then his mouth opened slightly and he was leaning forward. You closed your eyes, flinching as you braced for the pain of a bite you knew well, but instead you felt cold air, and when your eyes snapped open you were shielded from Aro’s bite by a tall, lean body, one strong arm curled backward to keep you caged against his spine. Demetri.

“Master…please.” He extended his hand, ripping off his glove with his teeth as he went. Aro eagerly took his hand, probably as desperate as you were to know why one of his most treasured guard would so openly defy him. Some of the Volturi’s people were starting to whisper behind them but a lethal look (from the giant of a man you guessed was Felix from Bella’s stories) silenced them. His grip on your hip tightened for a moment, the silence deafening before Aro chuckled.

“Ahhh…così si forma un legame eterno.” he murmured. You scrunched your nose, having no idea what he meant since you didn’t speak Italian. When Demetri carefully moved aside, giving Aro as slim a chance to access you as he possibly could, and your heart twisted with gratitude that he would even bother to try. You swallowed, doing your best to keep your fear from your face.

“Aro.” Caius growled. Aro held his hand up, forcing his brother to heel even if he couldn’t placate him.

“You are intriguing, Y/N. The Volturi do not offer second chances, but for the sake of our dear Demetri we are willing to bend the rules just this once,” Aro smiled, a shark-like grin that made your stomach sink, “You have a choice before you. Your family are quite innocent in regards to the accusation against your niece, for that we will deliver no justice-“ there was some uncomfortable shuffling behind him Aro dutifully ignored, “-however you are a law broken, yet another example of the Cullen’s inability to guard our secret from humans. An example must be made, you must be dealt with appropriately. Either you turn here, now, or you come with us, and we turn you.”

It was a Hobson’s choice. What Aro was really asking was how dead did you want to be? Dead dead? Or undead dead? If you let Carlisle bite you now in the clearing there were so many unpredictable nomads around. Bite your wrist and it would take forever for the venom to reach your heart and really start the change, you would be tortured right in front of them, a punishment for them all no doubt. Bite your throat and blood would spill, blood so many of those nomads wouldn’t think twice about feeding from in any other situation. So, what did you do? Did you choose the option where you ended up far from home but safe? Or did you choose the option that did not guarantee your safety but did guarantee your family would suffer watching you suffer?

For the first time since you entered the snow you felt warm, warm with so many eyes on you. Swallowing thickly, you tried to will your mind to work faster to outwit the vampire before you. In the end, you could only think of a compromise.

“My father’s not home right now. If I chose to come with you, could I have time to pack some clothes?” your voice was slightly weak, your heart aching in your chest. Your father would never see you again, he’d have to believe you just ran off, that you were the same flighty woman your mother was. Bella might never get a chance to see you again either, an eternity of knowing you would never lose your sister, but that you would never be reunited. It was painful however you spun it. Aro’s smile only widened, knowing he had successfully backed you into a corner.

“But of course! Such a…noble, sacrifice, must be rewarded. You have earned that much my dear. Demetri will take you now.” Aro gave his tracker a nod and Demetri seemed to relax, swiftly turning on his heel to march you across the snow. His hand was gentle on your arm, but the speed he set almost had you running to keep up, like he was desperate to get you out of there lest Aro change his mind. As you were escorted out of the clearing, you dared a single glance back at Bella, her face the very picture of horror as Edward held her back. All you could manage was a weak smile as your sister disappeared from view for what was possible the last time.

Once you were far enough into the trees that the clearing was out of sight for you, Demetri suddenly came to a stop, exhaling sharply and dropping his hand from your arm. It ran through his hair but barely ruffled it. Whatever he was thinking, you weren’t about to be privy to it as he slung you across his back with ease. You gasped, clinging on tight.

“Hey! What are you doing!” you protested.

“Taking you to your home. You are slower than I am.” He retorted, his voice quiet and his grip on your thighs firm. You held on tight, heart rabbiting in your chest.

“You don’t even know where I live.” You squeaked. Demetri chuckled, the sound vibrating through your gut.

“No, but I know where the Cullen’s live, and I find it hard to believe that in all this snow you walked all the way here. Now hold on tight and try closing your eyes, it may help with the nausea, cara mia.” He gave you seconds at most to bury your face in his shoulder before he took off, maybe…or not? You weren’t really sure but you didn’t dare lift your head to look. He made sure his gait was smooth, every stride flawless so he didn’t so much as jostle you, and by the time he gently encouraged you to unwind your legs from his waist you were in front of the Cullen’s house. The only reminder you had ever ran anywhere with him at all was the windswept state of your hair – it was unfair his still looked perfect.

He had been right of course, you had driven to the Cullen’s today. It was hard to imagine him sitting beside you in your small car, his cloak about him and his outfit all…well, what even was he wearing? Why did that even matter when this Volturi guard was escorting you to pack things that would be your only reminder of home? Demetri was quiet, watching you carefully as you stared at your car. Nothing made sense. Why had Demetri saved you when he was the one who hauled you out in front of Aro? Why had it felt like he was protecting you? Why was everything so…comfortable? Being around him was like being in the company of an old friend, it was familiar and warm, inviting, the silences felt natural.

Demetri quietly called your name, his expression questioning, but you didn’t bother to give him an explanation, simply pulled out your car keys and got into the driver’s seat. The radio chased away the silence, your fingers clenched tight around the wheel as you tried to figure out what to pack.

“Where are we going?” you asked him finally. Demetri kept his eyes on the horizon.

“To our home, to Volterra. You will be joining us in Italy.” He answered. Italy? You didn’t know the first thing about Italian culture. What was the food like? The people? The language? You’d need to pack warmer clothes, and they didn’t accommodate turtle-necks – not that you needed to hide a bite from vampires. It wasn’t really until you pulled up in the driveway of your home that it really struck you, the weight of the deal you made hanging heavy on your shoulders as you idled in front of your childhood home. In your mind you could see yourself running up the drive, your suitcase abandoned for your father to pick up as he welcomed you to stay for the summer. Other winters where you had opted to spend Christmas with Charlie over Renée flashed through your mind next, dilapidated snowmen and strung up lights over the porch flashing bright. Tears stung your eyes.

“I’m never coming back here, am I?” you whispered. Demetri remained silent, and you were grateful for it. There was nothing he could say to make this better and you suspected he knew that. Furiously wiping at your eyes, you rummaged for your house keys and cleared your throat. “You should wait until I open the front door, it’ll look suspicious if you follow me in and any of the neighbours see.” You muttered, already climbing out of the car before he could argue. It was a slow walk up the drive, a walk where you desperately tried to imprint the bumps in the concrete, the muddy smells of the forest surrounding you, and the awful netting in the windows’ you father hadn’t changed since your mother moved on, into your memory.

The smell of stale beer from the cans in the recycling box beneath the sink hit your nose as the door opened, the familiar smells of Charlie’s aftershave and Sue’s perfume coming next. The house was cold, quiet, desolate even. Demetri was in front of you in the blink of an eye as you shut the door behind you, nobody would have seen him enter for sure. He glanced around himself, obviously curious at the choice in décor and the photographs along the walls – you couldn’t bear to look at them. With a soft sigh, you left him in the living room, knowing he would do what he liked anyway regardless as to whether or not you invited him upstairs.

The suitcase you had packed for your trip would need to be unpacked, some of your jumpers and long-sleeved shirts would not be needed in Italy after all. It would be hot, and heat was not a friend to wool. Your wardrobe doors flung open, you were contemplating what to put back when Demetri interrupted you.

“Vampires do not feel temperature the same way humans do. When you turn it will be no issue to wear jumpers, if they are what you prefer.” He said. Brows crinkling, you subconsciously lifted a hand to your throat.

“It’s not really a fashion choice,” you murmured, “But I guess I don’t need to really hide a bitemark from a bunch of vampires, do I?” Just like that the air changed; you no longer felt comfortable with Demetri, not when he was giving off such a sour energy. He radiated danger, anger. He took a breath to visibly compose himself, but his eyes were still darkened by anger, near black with the rage he radiated. The leather of his gloves squeaked as he clenched and unclenched his fists. You took a step back from him, biting down on your lower lip as your heart skittered.

“Show me,” he said, eyes blazing. You shook your head. “Show me.” He growled, stepping forward this time. Gulping, you reached up with a shaky hand to pull the turtle-neck down as far as you could, thankful the material stretched slightly. Demetri peered past the fabric to the silver crescent shapes of Riley’s teeth, emblazoned on your skin until Volturi venom decided to buff out that imperfection. He hissed quietly, his fingertips tracing the mark and sending shivers down your spine. He was freezing cold, cold as a corpse actually since that was technically what he was, so why did his fingers leave a blazing trail of fire across your skin?

“It’s just small, it’ll go away anyway if-“

“It will not, go away.” Demetri ground out, his eyes fixated on the scar. He looked genuinely disgusted and you couldn’t tell if it was at you or the bitemark, you couldn’t tell quite why it bothered you so much either. Why did you care so much that this upset Demetri?

“It won’t?” you asked weakly. He winced a bit, letting his hands drop and looking away. You counted ten whole seconds before he dared turn back to you.

“No, it will not. Venom is what will immortalise you, petrify your system, it has had a chance to do so to those cells it has touched already and they will be forever changed by it. My only hope is to bite down there, that by breaking the surface with my teeth it heals over with my venom.” He almost growled the word at you in his frustration and you swallowed, blinking in surprise.

“You’re going to be the one that turns me?” you questioned. Could he even do that? Did he have the self-control? You had thought Aro would do it if you were honest, though you couldn’t say you were over the moon to have that old coot’s teeth in your throat it was guaranteed to at least be safe. What right did Demetri have to steal your life? Why was he so angry over the thought of another vampire biting you? Had he claimed some weird sort of vampire dibs?

“Of course. The Volturi have laws they enforce but when it comes to affairs between mates, they leave well enough alone.” He informed you, head tilting. Your breath caught in your throat.

“Mates?” you whispered, mind reeling.

“You do not feel the pull?” he asked. He had yet to step back from you, unbearably close and yet somehow not close enough. For a moment you couldn’t say anything, simply trying to desperately scramble to think coherently enough to consider answering.

“I don’t…I barely know you, you can’t just…say that.” You stammered. Demetri very gently grasped your chin between his fingers, tilting your face upward so you were forced to maintain eye contact with him. You weren’t sure what he was searching for, if he found it or not, but he dropped your chin with a sigh.

“Pack, tesoro, we have little time.” He murmured. You were relieved when he stepped back – it gave you a chance to breathe.  Mate? Demetri thought you were his mate? You knew what that meant, Edward had explained to you what his connection with Bella was like after Riley had introduced you to his world, trying to help you understand how awful the months leading up to Bella’s running away to Italy had been for both of them. Is that why he had been so protective of you on the field? Is that why he was so furious another vampire had dared mark you? It crossed your mind then just how selfish your decision actually looked to the outside world. In your head, you had been saving your family from suffering, but to them it probably looked like you had chosen to run off with your mate because you didn’t trust they would take care of you. How were they ever going to forgive you for this?

[imlostinsantacarla]

Anonymous said: I hope I'm not too late for this! Not sure if you wrote it before 'cause I can't find it. Could you write David or Paul from Lost Boys having a crush on you would include? Whenever you have time but could you please let me know if you've got my ask? Tumblr like to eat them sometimes

(a/n: heya hun! sorry that i didn’t answer this one sooner. i would have lost the request if i had. also my apologies for how long it’s taken me to actually get around to having written this piece as well. i’d experienced a really bad case of writer’s block! i also decided to do the rest of the boys, so i hope you don’t mind that. thanks for requesting and i hope you enjoy reading! - admin kat 🌙❣)

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

The Lost Boys Having a Crush on the Reader Headcanons:

David:

° When David’s interest is peaked by someone in a romantic sense, he’s surely unable to look away from them. So be prepared to catch him in the act of staring at you more often than you had previously noticed. When you make eye contact, he 

° He’s not a stranger in the department of having the capability to come up to you and strike up a conversation. No, he’s more than capable of doing that. Only, he much prefers to hang back and wait for you to come to him. He wants to know that you’re interested in him as well, he sort of plays hard to get.

° But once a conversation is struck, he’s a true flirt, albeit subtly to begin with, which creates wonder around whether or not he actually is. It makes him simper wildly at you, some of his comments going straight over your head. However, once you do pick up on the fact that he’s interested, and you reciprocate those feelings in return, he’s a shameless flirt all round!

° It’s a common occurrence for David to thus offer your rides on the back of his bike. He even allows Star to begin riding with either the likes of Paul or Marko. When you accept, it’s a humongous ego boost!

° David is both protective and possessive, bordering heavily on the verge of territorial. So don’t be surprised if potential threats are either scared off or wound up being found washed up on the shore. You’re his. He’s made up his mind and there’s no room for anyone else.

° As stated above, in David’s eyes you’re already his, so in his opinion, you might as well get comfy for the ride because you’ll be his for forever. He’s not like Paul, he’s either in all the way or not.

° When David is experiencing a crush, he’s certainly attempting to win you over heavily. So he spends a lot of the time complimenting you. It’s a very direct way for him to communicate that he’s interested in you. He only enjoys it all the more if you become flustered in response.

° If you knew him very well, you’d completely comprehend why the boys look at him gobsmacked when he’s less snarky with you, in conjunction to being happier with you around. They guys surely thank you profusely for that!

° David is an all in or none at all kind of man. If he’s interested romantically in someone then he’s going to be giving you all of his attention. He expects nothing short of the same in return, so don’t be surprised when he sulks slightly when you laughed at Paul’s dumb joke for thirty minutes straight.

° Although he loves his boys, he also is a man and needs his alone time. So, during his alone time, he enjoys spending that time with you. It’s one of the rare moments where he allows a slightly softer side to come forward. It’s a chance for him to get to know you more intimately, and not just in a sexual manner.

° When you’re in the hotel, David situates you on his lap, especially when the other boys are around. Again, it’s an ego boost, but it’s also a direct way of telling them to back off and you’re his. Not that they’d try anything anyway.

° When you’re doing your own thing on the BoardWalk, expect this suave vampire to run his eyes up and down your figure because damn! He scored lucky. You catch him every time and the guy winks at you.

° The majority of the time he’s quite literally eye fucking you. This is especially the case in public or around the boys. He knows that he’s doing it, but do you complain? Hell no!

° Again, he even winks when you catch him red handed. He’s not shy about it, even if it makes you feel embarrassed. David enjoys watching you squirm underneath his smoldering gaze.

° He’s definitely the type of guy to catch you off guard because your momentary fear boosts his pride in himself. He laughs at how you jumped at his presence.

° Unbelievably to the other boys, he actually shares his cigarettes with you, which is a first! The last time Paul tried to pinch one he got a swift kick up his backside for it.

° David never stops smirking around you when he likes you! It’s physically impossible for him not to.

° He also teases you relentlessly, especially when it results in you becoming abashed.

Dwayne:

° To begin with, it’s challenging to tell whether Dwayne likes you or not because he’s already so quiet. You genuinely assume that he hates you or something which causes you to avoid him a lot as he’s quite intimidating.

° But nevertheless, he finds himself staring at you a lot more. You catch his eye immediately with little effort and peak his intrigue.

° You also just so happen to catch him in the act of staring at you. It’s a process that tends to fluster the pair of you, your eyes meeting for a flicker of a second before finding something else to focus on, as though both of your lives depended upon it!

° This sort of thing happens for a couple of months as it takes a lot of courage for Dwayne to be able to talk to you. He also doesn’t trust people as easily as Paul does, which can make him come across as unapproachable and intimidating, but underneath he can be really chill and gentle if you get to know him.

° Whilst all of this is happening, the other boy’s are busting his balls for being such a pansy about it all, which gives him the courage and edge of defiance to actually go up to you and introduce himself. The whole ordeal leaves you a stuttering mess, which he finds utterly adorable!

° And to the surprise of the other boys, he speaks to you a lot more frequently and in quantity than with most people, - including them -. It’s quite bizarre for them to witness, leaving them wondering what you’ve spiked him with! News flash, boys, it’s nothing.

° Dwayne definitely finds a way to emotionally connect with you on some basis. He doesn’t outwardly say that he likes you, but his actions tend to speak louder than his minimal words.

° With that noted, he’ll probably buy (or steal) small things or snacks because they’re your favorite or the small item reminded him of you or you said you really wanted. It’s genuinely the kindest gesture you’ve experienced in your life and it wins you over. He’s spontaneous with his gift giving and very casual about the whole experience. He does stumble over his words a little when he tries to explain why he got it for you. But nevertheless, it’s very sweet!

° It doesn’t matter if you’re not dating Dwayne yet, he likes you which means that he’s already beginning to care about you as a person. This leads to him giving you his jacket on colder nights because let’s face it, this raven haired boy is really an angel sent from heaven! It doesn’t matter that he’s shirtless, he insists every time.

° To your amazement, he will make flirty comments to you, which puts you into a state of shock for a few seconds. He usually does this whenever the boys aren’t floating about, their beady eyes scoping out the scene makes him awfully antsy, and not in a good context.

° Dwayne compliments you so much, but in a respectful fashion because Dwayne drinks respect women juice™! And you can fight me on that one.

° He also buys you food, particularly your favorite icecream. It’s kind of a gesture of, “Hey, let me take care of you!”. Argh I love him so much!

° When you’re walking on the BoardWalk side by side, your hands do brush up against one another, yet it’s not until you’re on a ride that you’re scared to be on does he actually grab hold of your hand. It’s his way of letting you know that he’s never going to let anything happen to you when he’s around. It’s so fucking cute!

° It’s a very rare occurrence to see this boy smile, but when you’re around, he just can’t help himself! Paul and Marko think it’s hilarious and always comment on it.

° Dwayne laughs at all of your jokes, even the ones that aren’t particularly funny. He thinks they’re funny though, which is a plus!

° He drives you places at night if you need to go anywhere. He doesn’t think that it’s a hassle at all, he sincerely enjoys spending time with you.

° If it’s not already apparent yet, Dwayne becomes very protective of you because when he cares about someone, he’s willing to keep them safe.

° He will stand up for you whenever anyone is giving you shit. He usually tends to back away from violence or anything heated, but when it comes to you, he’s willing to defend you by tooth and nail.

Paul:

° Be prepared for extreme flirting and teasing! When it comes to Paul having a crush on you, he isn’t going to hold back. He’s going to pull out all the stops.

° When Paul likes someone, he’s inclined to speak far more often. Can you believe that’s even possible? Well, it is! And it’s practically on the verge of blabbering, but you find it adorable, nonetheless.

° Due to the fact that he talks nonstop around you, it’s almost a given that he becomes tongue tied at some point. It makes you laugh softly at him because you’ve never seen someone so happy to be around you before until you met Paul. It was a little overwhelming to begin with, but now you’re so used to it.

° It’s incredibly obvious that Paul likes you, even you can tell. He’s also up front about the entire ordeal by flat out telling you honestly that he likes you. He’s not shy and that’s a known fact by now.

° Though to begin with you thought he was joking, but it turns out he really wasn’t!

° Paul is the most shameless flirt out of all of the boy’s, which leads to him winking at you so often that you swear your heart implodes in your chest. He’s a huge fan of how embarrassed you get when he does it also. He can’t help but  laugh in response.

° Dirty innuendos as well as cheesy pick up lines are a given. This man spits them out like fire! And he’s not even worried if they don’t land well because he’ll just bounce back in with another one, and another one...

° Out of all of the boy’s, he’s the most welcoming and warm one. So, he’s not a stranger when it comes to physical contact. He encourages it whenever he’s with you. He hugs you a lot and will place his hands on you more, - not in a particular fashion that is sexual, especially if you’re not into that -. It’s his way of letting you know that he’s interested, it bridges the gap between you two, reminding you that he’s there and very much so interested in you.

° He wants to be around you all the time, honestly. Marko calls him a nerd because of it, but Paul just puts his buddy into a playful choke hold and calls it a night. Nah, Paul’s not embarrassed that other people know that he likes you, in fact, in his eyes it only makes it clearer that other people should back off. They really don’t stand much of a chance against him.

° Paul is a funny guy, so it’s just common knowledge that he’s going to make you laugh very hard on a constant basis. You pretty much have permanent abs now. Nothing is better to him than the sound of your laugh and the sight of your smile. When you break out those two things, Paul is putty in your hands! He prides himself on his ability to make you beam like the sun and laugh so hard that you’re crying. And that’s not even an understatement.

° He always has an arm wrapped around your shoulders. Again, it’s about contact. He tries not to do it without your permission if you’re not a fan of physical touch, but he just can’t seem to help himself. He gravitates towards you like you’re his personal sun.

° One specific way to know that Paul is really crushing on someone is when he feels comfortable enough to share his favorite music and bands with you. He’s a big fan of rock and metal, wanting to share it with you comes naturally to him. He’d be stoked if you enjoyed the same music as him, but he won’t slander your taste in music if it’s different. He may not like it, but he’s certainly not going to force you to listen to something you’re not fixated strongly on. I mean, after all, he’s quite a chill guy.

° We also know that Paul is quite an emotional guy beneath all the hair and the dirty clothes. If he likes you, you automatically mean something to him, which means he’s protective of you. He won’t stand for anyone making fun of you, trying to put you down or anything negative regarding you. He’s stomping out that fire before it can burn you. And you better not be surprised when people wind up dead afterwards. No one messes with you. Period.

° Funnily enough, he also shares his weed with you (if you smoke that is. If not then that’s all swell too!). Yeah he’ll share some with the boy’s, but if he’s smoking a joint he won’t ever let them have a puff. He goes halfsies with you, the sight is astounding alone!

° Paul gives you piggy back rides whenever you desire. Sometimes he doesn’t even ask you!

° He lets you borrow his jacket whenever you want and tells you how good you look in it as well. Great, now there’s less work for him to make other competition back off!

° If Paul likes you he’s going to speak to you about his interests and will actually listen to you too, even if you have great knockers that he can’t stop ogling at! 

° He will include you in everything that he does because he likes you that much and wants you to be included. Excluding others makes him feel bummed out, especially when it comes to you. He wants you to feel comfortable around him and the boys and as though you matter because you do!

° It’s not a question of whether you want him to or not, but Paul will just pull you into his lap when he’s sitting down.

° He’s also kind of sweet because he’ll hold your hand when you walk with him, especially when the BoardWalk is packed that night, as not to lose you in the crowd. Like, any excuse to touch you he’s game for because he really likes skinship. He’s just so excited when you’re around him, he can’t help himself!

° He’s the type of guy where when he sees you come onto the BoardWalk that night, his eyes light up!

Marko:

° I’m not quite sure how this is even physically possible, but Marko will smile even more when you’re around. He just feels like you’re his personal sun and you have the ability to pull him out of the darkest of moods and into a much lighter one.

° Paul has quite the habit of teasing Marko about it, which just results in Paul getting thrown into the ocean 900% of the time. And you bet your ass that Paul is surprised each time it happens.

° It’s incredibly sweet when it occurs, but Marko’s eyes have a habit of lighting up like torches when he sees you. It’s genuinely the most adorable thing that anyone has ever seen. This especially happens when you first appear on the BoardWalk at the beginning of the night, and honestly, it occurs every night.

° Marko will flirt like a champ with you because he is the king of flirting! You thought Paul was good at getting the attention of girls? Meet Marko, the one with the ability to gain your attention with just one of his big goofy grins. And you can bet your ass that he makes your heart flutter intensely.

° One thing most people aren’t aware of how much Marko loves animals, after all, he’s befriended every pigeon and rat back at the Cave. So if you make an appearance in the hotel, it’s expected that he’ll show you his scruffy pets and he’ll allow you to feed them with him.

° The boys steer clear of all taunting then, because Marko isn’t afraid to beat their asses if they fuck this up. It’s happened before. But let’s be honest, Paul interrupts 9/10 times because he wants his buddies attention. You find that adorable.

° Physical touch with other people that aren’t his brothers is incredibly rare from Marko. This is due to his lack of ability to trust others. Marko is the most guarded individual in the group, being a strong contender with Dwayne and David. But with you, he finds himself hugging you more often. It’s an odd sight for the boys to see at first, which only feeds their suspicions that Marko indeed does have feelings for you.

° But nevertheless, the other boys particularly enjoy seeing Marko happy, so there is little room for complaints here.

° When Marko has brought back grub for the night, he’s more than happy to share his own food with you, which is a strong indicator that he trusts and cares for you. He happily sits back and allows you to stick your fork in his takeout box of rice. He’s totally relaxed about it.

° Now when Paul attempted to do the same thing, Marko almost bit his hand straight off. It’s fair to say that Paul was left traumatized.

° Speaking of food, Marko will allow you to go on food runs with him for the boys. This is due to the simple fact that he enjoys your company, and also slightly because he knows that if he leaves you at the hotel with the boys, they’re 110% more likely to tell you a bunch of embarrassing stuff he’s done in the past. He’d rather spare himself the mortification, thank you very much!

° He’ll also get your favorite takeout whenever you’re at the Cave too, regardless of whether the other boys hate it or not. Even when the boys bitch about it, he’ll just grin and say something cheesy like, “The guests choice.” lmaoo what a nerd!

° Marko is also very talented when it comes to winning things at the arcade or the game stalls on the BoardWalk. He’s never been a stranger when it came to winning that adorable plushie you had been eyeing up for the past hour and a half. And he’s even more delighted when you carry it around the BoardWalk afterwards with an enormous grin plastered on your face. It genuinely just melts his heart!

° Marko is quite the independent man, which just amplifies his guarded nature. It’s scarce for him to ever ask for the opinions of others, yet he finds himself always asking for yours. Your opinion is one that he truly values because he enjoys hearing your thoughts and opinions. To him you’re equal and if you show him respect, he gives that back without hesitation.

° Catch Marko genuinely listening to you when you talk. To him, it doesn’t matter about the subject at hand, just the sound of your voice encapsulates him in utter focus. It’s especially so when you’re discussing something that you’re interested in or passionate about.

° Anyone can figure out that Marko has a crush on someone when he listens to their problems and provides solid advice in response, but only if you’ve asked for it. Although Marko would love to just waste anyone who upsets you, he knows you wouldn’t be a huge fan of that. Instead, he opts on listening to your issues and providing comfort where possible. This deepens your emotional connection, and overtime makes it easier for him to open up to you in response.

° Just insert fucking heart eyes everywhere by this point! Marko can’t get enough of you. It’s a wonder that you haven’t picked up that he likes you, but then again, the boy is a tricky one to read so it’s challenging for you to comprehend whether his actions are motivated from a platonic perspective or a romantic one.

° Marko’s most prized possession is his jacket, and he never parts with it, even during the mad heatwaves that constantly occur in Santa Carla. However, he’s managed to shed his jacket a few times when it comes to you. He’ll plant the article of clothing over top of your shoulders, particularly when you’re shivering in colder weather.

° Don’t make a big deal out of it though! It just embarrasses him and he becomes a gushing mess. Besides, he likes the way it looks on you, as well as warding off any potential competition. After all, Marko is a possessive man!

° Expect to be complimented loads of times during the night. He manages to do it such a nonchalant way you tend not to notice it, but he’s always gratuitous when you accept it and return a compliment. This also strengthens your bond, making it a rather positive one and helping him to unwind and relax around you.

° I headcanon that Marko is quite perceptive and observant. So it’s a common occurrence for him to notice new things about you like a new haircut/color/style, clothes, jewelry, etc. and he compliments you on them/it. He wants you to feel good and confident around him, as well as letting you know that his focus is primarily on you and no one else.

° Much like Dwayne, he will tend to get you small things and gifts that consist of your favorite candy, etc. which emanates the fact that he’s thinking about you. It’s a sweet small gesture that you never fail to thank him profusely for. But Marko just waves it off like it’s just the casual thing that he does for everyone, only he doesn’t and you know this.

° Marko will tend to whisper rather flirtatious comments in your ear, especially when he is behind you. This happens a lot whilst you’re waiting in lines for rides or for food. He can’t help but grin silly when you start to grow flustered over his words. 

° His nimble fingers will also brush the hair out of your face as he speaks to you. It’s a bold move considering how guarded he is, but he wants to see your breathtaking countenance when he’s speaking to you. The action usually makes you get abashed, which he honestly loves deeply.

° With Marko there’s going to be lot’s of eye contact incorporated with a ton of smiles! The entire ordeal makes you swoon for him, and he’s more than aware of this.

° He’s developed a habit of looking at your lips a lot when he's talking to you. He also checks you out fifty times in an hour. He’s not even abashed when you catch him! He just grins that much wider at you, because in his eyes, he can’t help it.

° Out of all of the boys, I believe he’d be the most nervous to tell you his feelings in fear of being rejected. But also, it’s foreign for him to let a new person in behind his walls, so there’s a lot of nervousness swirling in his heart and brain about it. You’re probably going to have to be the first one to admit it, which he’ll gladly follow suit in.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

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The Star Trek: The Original Series Episodes That Best Define the Franchise

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By the time my generation got to watch Star Trek: The Original Series, the episodes often were being presented in top-ten marathons. When I was ten-years-old, for the 25th Anniversary of Star Trek, I tape-recorded a marathon of ten episodes that had all been voted by fans as the best-ever installments of The Original Series. Later, I got lucky and found Trek stickers at the grocery store and was able to label my VHS tapes correctly. But do I think all the episodes that were in that marathon back in 1991 were really the best episodes of all of the classic Star Trek? The short answer: no. Although I love nearly every episode of the first 79 installments of Star Trek, I do think that certain lists have been created by what we think should be on the list rather than what episodes really best represent the classic show. 

This is a long-winded way of saying, no, I didn’t include “Amok Time” or “The Menagerie” on this list because, as great as they are, I don’t think they really represent the greatest hits of the series. Also, if you’ve never watched TOS, I think those two episodes will throw you off cause you’ll assume Spock is always losing his mind or trying to steal the ship. If you’ve never watched TOS, or you feel like rewatching it with fresh eyes, I feel pretty strong that these 10 episodes are not only wonderful, but that they best represent what the entire series is really about. Given this metric, my choice for the best episode of TOS may surprise you…

10. “The Man Trap” 

The first Star Trek ever episode aired should not be the first episode you watch. And yet, you should watch it at some point. The goofy premise concerns an alien with shaggy dog fur, suckers on its hand, and a face like a terrifying deep-sea fish. This alien is also a salt vampire that uses telepathy that effectively also makes it a shapeshifter. It’s all so specifically bonkers that trying to rip-off this trope would be nuts. Written by science fiction legend George Clayton Johnson (one half of Logan’s Run authorship) “The Man Trap” still slaps, and not because Spock (Leonard Nimoy)  tries to slap the alien. Back in the early Season 1 episodes of Star Trek, the “supporting” players like Uhura and Sulu are actually doing stuff in the episode. We all talk about Kirk crying out in pain when the M-113 creature puts those suckers on his face, but the real scene to watch is when Uhura starts speaking Swahili. The casual way Uhura and Sulu are just their lovable selves in this episode is part of why we just can’t quit the classic Star Trek to this day. Plus, the fact that the story is technically centered on Bones gives the episode some gravitas and oomph. You will believe an old country doctor thinks that salt vampire is Nancy! (Spoiler alert: It’s not Nancy.)

9. “Let that Be Your Last Battlefield” 

There are two episodes everyone always likes to bring up when discussing the ways in which Star Trek changed the game for the better in pop culture’s discourse on racism: “Plato’s Stepchildren” and this episode, “Let that Be Your Last Battlefield.” The former episode is famous because Kirk and Uhura kiss, which is sometimes considered the first interracial kiss on an American TV show. (British TV shows had a few of those before Star Trek, though.) But “Plato’s Stepchildren” is not a great episode, and Kirk and Uhura were also manipulated to kiss by telepaths. So, no, I’m not crazy about “Plato’s Stepchildren.” Uhura being forced to kiss a white dude isn’t great.

But “Let that Be Your Last Battlefield,” oddly holds up. Yep. This is the one about space racism where the Riddler from the ‘60s Batman (Frank Gorshin) looks like a black-and-white cookie. Is this episode cheesy? Is it hard to take most of it seriously? Is it weird that Bele (Frank Gorshin) didn’t have a spaceship because the budget was so low at that time? Yes. Is the entire episode dated, and sometimes borderline offensive even though its heart is in the right place? Yes. Does the ending of the episode still work? You bet it does. If you’re going to watch OG Star Trek and skip this episode, you’re kind of missing out on just how charmingly heavy-handed the series could get. “Let that Be Your Last Battlefield” is like a ‘60s after-school special about racism, but they were high while they were writing it.

8. “Arena”

You’re gonna try to list the best episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series and not list the episode where Kirk fights a lizard wearing gold dress-tunic? The most amazing thing about “Arena” is that it’s a Season 1 episode of The Original Series and somehow everyone involved in making TOS had enough restraint not to ever try to use this Gorn costume again. They didn’t throw it away either! This famous rubber lizard was built by Wah Chang and is currently owned by none other than Ben Stiller.

So, here’s the thing about “Arena” that makes it a great episode of Star Trek, or any TV series with a lizard person. Kirk refuses to kill the Gorn even though he could have, and Star Trek refused to put a lizard costume in a bunch of episodes later, even though they totally could have. Gold stars all around.

7. “Balance of Terror”

The fact that Star Trek managed to introduce a race of aliens that looked exactly like Spock, and not confuse its viewership is amazing. On top of that, the fact that this detail isn’t exactly the entire focus of the episode is equally impressive. The notion that the Romulans look like Vulcans is a great twist in The Original Series, and decades upon decades of seeing Romulans has probably dulled the novelty ever so slightly. But, the idea that there was a brutally cold and efficient version of the Vulcans flying around in invisible ships blowing shit up is not only cool, but smart.

“Balance of Terror” made the Romulans the best villains of Star Trek because their villainy felt personal. Most Romulan stories in TNG, DS9, and Picard are pretty damn good and they all start right here.

6. “Space Seed”

Khaaaan!!!! Although The Wrath of Khan is infinitely more famous than the episode from which it came, “Space Seed” is one of the best episodes of The Original Series even if it hadn’t been the progenitor of that famous film. In this episode, the worst human villain the Enterprise can encounter doesn’t come from the present, but instead, the past. Even though “Space Seed” isn’t considered a very thoughtful episode and Khan is a straight-up gaslighter, the larger point here is that Khan’s evilness is connected to the fact that he lived on a version of Earth closer to our own.

The episode’s coda is also amazing and speaks of just how interesting Captain Kirk really is. After Khan beat the shit out of him and tried to suffocate the entire Enterprise crew, Kirk’s like “Yeah, this guy just needs a long camping trip.” 

5. “A Piece of the Action”

A few years back, Saturday Night Live did a Star Trek sketch in which it was revealed that Spock had a relative named “Spocko.” This sketch was tragically unfunny because TOS had already made the “Spocko” joke a million times better in “A Piece of the Action.” When you describe the premise of this episode to someone who has never seen it or even heard of it, it sounds like you’re making it up. Kirk, Spock, and Bones are tasked with cleaning-up a planet full of old-timey mobsters who use phrases like “put the bag on you.” Not only is the episode hilarious, but it also demonstrates the range of what Star Trek can do as an emerging type of pop-art. In “A Piece of the Action,” Star Trek begins asking questions about genres that nobody ever dreamed of before. Such as, “what if we did an old-timey gangster movie, but there’s a spaceship involved?”

4. “Devil in the Dark”

When I was a kid, my sister and I called this episode, “the one with giant pizza.” Today, it’s one of those episodes of Star Trek that people tell you defines the entire franchise. They’re not wrong, particularly because we’re just talking about The Original Series. The legacy of this episode is beyond brilliant and set-up a wonderful tradition within the rest of the franchise; a monster story is almost never a monster story

The ending of this episode is so good, and Leonard Nimoy and Shatner play the final scenes so well that I’m actually not sure it’s cool to reveal what the big twist is. If you somehow don’t know, I’ll just say this. You can’t imagine Chris Pratt’s friendly Velicrapotrs, or Ripper on Discovery without the Horta getting their first.

3. “The Corbomite Maneuver” 

If there’s one episode on this list that truly represents what Star Trek is usually all about on a plot level, it’s this one. After the first two pilot episodes —“Where No Man Has Gone Before” and “The Cage”—this was the first regular episode filmed. It’s the first episode with Uhura and, in almost every single way, a great way to actually explain who all these characters are and what the hell they’re doing. The episode begins with Spock saying something is “fascinating” and then, after the opening credits, calling Kirk, who is down in sickbay with his shirt off. Bones gives Kirk shit about not having done his physical in a while, and Kirk wanders through the halls of the episode without his shirt, just kind of holding his boots. 

That’s just the first like 5 minutes. It just gets better and better from there. Like a good bottle of tranya, this episode only improves with time. And if you think it’s cheesy and the big reveal bizarre, then I’m going to say, you’re not going to like the rest of Star Trek. 

2. “The City on the Edge of Forever”

No more blah blah blah! Sorry, wrong episode. Still, you’ve heard about “The City on the Edge of Forever.” You’ve heard it’s a great time travel episode. You’ve heard Harlan Ellison was pissed about how the script turned out. You heard that Ron Moore really wanted to bring back Edith Keeler for Star Trek Generations. (Okay, maybe you haven’t heard that, but he did.)

Everything you’ve heard about this episode is correct. There’s some stuff that will make any sensible person roll their eyes today, but the overall feeling of this episode is unparalleled. Time travel stories are always popular, but Star Trek has never really done a time travel story this good ever again. The edge of forever will always be just out of reach.

1. “A Taste of Armageddon”

Plot twist! This excellent episode of TOS almost never makes it on top ten lists. Until now! If you blink, “A Taste of Armageddon” could resemble at least a dozen other episodes of TOS. Kirk and Spock are trapped without their communicators. The crew has to overpower some guards to get to some central computer hub and blow it up. Scotty is in command with Kirk on the surface and is just kind of scowling the whole time. Kirk is giving big speeches about how humanity is great because it’s so deeply flawed.

What makes this episode fantastic is that all of these elements come together thanks to a simplistic science fiction premise: What if a society eliminated violence but retained murder? What if hatred was still encouraged, but war was automated? Star Trek’s best moments were often direct allegories about things that were actually happening, but what makes “A Taste of Armageddon” so great is that this metaphor reached for something that could happen. Kirk’s solution to this problem is a non-solution, which makes the episode even better. At its best classic Star Trek wasn’t just presenting a social problem and then telling us how to fix it. Sometimes it was saying something more interesting — what if the problem gets even harder? What do we do then? 

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The humor and bombast of “A Taste of Armageddon” is part of the answer to that unspoken question, but there’s also a clever lesson about making smaller philosophical decisions. In Star Wars, people are always trying to rid themselves of the dark side of the Force. In Star Trek, Kirk just teaches us to say, “Hey I won’t be a terrible person, today” and then just see how many days we can go in a row being like that.

What do you think are the most franchise-defining episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series? Let us know in the comments below.

The post The Star Trek: The Original Series Episodes That Best Define the Franchise appeared first on Den of Geek.

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wangxian vampire au

featuring vampire hunter lwj and shitty vampire wwx

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It was supposed to be an ordinary, by-the-numbers hunt. With an illustrious monster hunting career under his belt, Lan Wangji hadn’t thought much of it when his guild forwarded him the typical rumors of a small village recently plagued with vampire attacks. There was even a potential location for its den in the form of a nearby manor, long abandoned since its last inhabitants were murdered a century ago.

His subsequent investigation into the rumors proved to be more concerning; not for fear of great violence, but rather the lack of it. An air of levity permeated the village and its inhabitants, as if it hadn’t been recently targeted by a dangerous beast. As if there weren’t villagers and cattle alike with telltale signs of a vampire bite who curiously, after closer inspection, only lost enough to fill a thimble.

And then there were the village folk themselves.

“You mean Wei Wuxian?” Nie Huaisang, a local artist, said in one of Lan Wangji’s cursory village interviews. “I’d ask if you didn’t hunt one of my most generous patrons, Hunter Lan. Just last week he’d paid my rent five times over!”

“Unfortunately,” Jiang Wanyin, the local sheriff, said when Lan Wangji asked if he was aware of the regional vampiric patronage going around. “His habit of throwing money around has been a pillar of this village’s economy for decades now. So we put up with the guy, despite him being both a vampire and annoying as all hell.”

“He hates blood,” Wen Qing, the village doctor, stated during Lan Wangji’s visit to the local clinic; he had been searching for the vampire’s victims in hopes of an interview, but found that none had even visited the clinic after being bitten. “Well, most types of blood. There are certain types he tolerates, but he’s picky enough that the vials I sometimes bring him are the only sustenance I know of that he can stomach.”

At that, an unconvinced Lan Wangji asked, “Why would a vampire so repulsed by blood —“ already a ludicrous concept “— bite two villagers and a cow in a single night?”

At this point, despite consistent testimony throughout each interview, he was still unwaveringly skeptical about the supposed character of this “Wei Wuxian.” For even though he made it a habit to see the best in people, the claims spouted by these villagers conflicted with every teaching Lan Wangji had stood for since leaving his mother’s womb.

Wen Qing rolled her eyes and supplied him with a fairly useless answer: “Why don’t you ask him yourself?” 

Miffed at what was turning out to be a rather unconventional hunt, Lan Wangji set out to do just that. He’d already been here for nearly a couple of days, and the traps he’d laid around the village border weren’t enough to entice the vampire to bite (ha). 

Blood bait, this time. Collecting blood samples from a few villagers as well as himself, he set up another set of traps, more sophisticated than the last, around the forest that surrounded the vampire’s manor instead of the village itself. Hopefully its close proximity would be enough to lure out the beast. No matter how blase the villagers — who were reacting to Lan Wangji’s preparations the way a mother would react to her child’s first piano recital — were in regards to a vampire in their vicinity, he knew he needed to dispose of it quickly before it began a killing spree.

A week passed. No success.

No matter. Unspoiled bait was the logical next course of action — so he called for the aid of local volunteers, and waited with the ensuing party of virgins at the village square throughout the night. 

A few hours in without a single vampire sighting, he began doubting the validity of the volunteers’ virginal status, but decided to nonetheless wait it out. The rising sun made Lan Wangji blink away the inherent fatigue of staying up all night, and the vampire still didn’t come.

Lan Wangji had never been met with such failure before. Fed up with standing idle, he decided that now was the time for action. Diving head-first into a possible vampire den was a risky move, but judging by the villagers’ tales of the vampire’s ineptitude, it lived alone and wouldn’t put much of a fight when faced head on. So when the sun was at its highest point in the sky, he barged into the manor with Bichen and his silver-tipped crossbow at the ready, expecting the worst.

He was met with nothing. As he crept around the manor, he deduced that it seemed more like the home of an eccentric than a mythical bloodsucking beast. Mountains of stuff lined the manor’s interior, ranging from artistically ambitious portraits to antique candelabras. Strewn across any available flat surface were schematics of half thought-out contraptions Lan Wangji could only imagine what their functions were. The parlour was the most uncluttered of the rooms, with a homely lounge area and a stocked liquor cabinet, its setup optimized to entertain at least a dozen guests.

What sort of vampire entertained guests?

Best not to dwell too much into it until the creature was dead. The lower floor was empty, so he made his way upstairs. As unoccupied as the floor below. Maybe he overlooked something outside? He could scout around the manor’s expansive gardens, of which there was a curiously thriving radish garden. But just as he was about to start another outside search, he heard a soft shuffle over his head and through the ceiling. 

Ah. There was an attic.

His patience long since fizzled out, Lan Wangji yet again forgoed a stealthy entrance. Once he spotted the ceiling attic door, he stomped his way up the pull-out staircase to face the target of by far the most frustrating hunts of his career.

As soon as he entered the attic and registered the scene before him, he took a moment for himself to stare.

Unlike the rest of the manor, the attic was in fact occupied; only, the man who occupied it stood stockstill against its darkest corner with a look of utter terror on his face. His body was awkwardly contorted in such a way that he was cast in shadow — in some places only a hair's breadth away from the thin beams of light that streamed through the uneven paneling of the attic’s outer wall, as well as its fully open window, effectively pinning him where he stood.

“Oh, thank everything that is holy,” the man, who is definitely a vampire, said with relief. “Please, good sir, could you please do me a favor and draw that curtain and plug those holes?”

Lan Wangji opened his mouth. Closed it. Then said, “You’re Wei Wuxian?” when really he should have dragged the beast out of the shadows and into the damning sunlight, because of course it was.

“How — oh, you’re the hunter everyone’s been warning me about!” was the vampire’s reply. The stiffness of its absurd posture slackened in surprise, but immediately straightened when its arm grazed the edge of sunlight. The barest hint of smoke sizzled from the contact.

Damn those villagers; really, Lan Wangji should’ve seen the betrayal coming. But before he could take further action, the vampire had the audacity to smile, fangs and all, at him, and say, “I was warned beforehand of your intentions, though I must say how surprised I am no one had thought to mention just how handsome you are.”

This was not the first time a target had tried flattery as a way to escape Lan Wangji’s sword. It was, however, the first time one had done so when in such a predicament: trapped into a corner of its own home by poor woodwork and an open window. 

Lan Wangji couldn’t help but feel a drop of pity at such a surprisingly human but nonetheless pathetic display.

He said to the beast, “I am not sure you should be commenting on my appearance right now, considering your…current predicament.”

The beast’s — Wei Wuxian — face fell. “I lost track of time!” he bemoaned. “I somehow fell asleep while cleaning my attic, and when I woke up...well.”

Suddenly, all the tales the villagers spun about the vampire’s ineptitude began to make sense.

“You attacked two people at the neighboring village,” Lan Wangji recounted, taking a step forward. “And a cow.”

“I was hungry.” Wei Wuxian wrinkled his nose; a far too human quirk. “Wen Qing hadn’t come by in a while so I decided to…but I barely even hurt them! They’re blood tasted way too gross, so I left after only having a sip.” He frowned, a guilty expression on his face. “I tried to get rid of the taste with cow’s blood, but then it looked at me with its huge cow eyes and started mooing really sadly, so I let the poor guy go.”

Never, throughout the entirety of Lan Wangji’s career, had he seen a more pitiful sight. It almost made him feel bad about killing him. However, strangely pathetic target aside, Lan Wangji had a job to do. 

He took another step. Even cast in shadow, he was close enough to see the telltale signs of Wei Wuxian’s vampiric nature: his pale pallor, his clawed hands, his red eyes. He could see Wei Wuxian’s face, too; which, a moment before, had been smiling at him. Protruding fangs aside, his smile was nice. As was his general appearance. If Wei Wuxian had been human, Lan Wangji would consider him handsome.

Wait. What?

Misinterpreting Lan Wangji’s approach, Wei Wuxian perked up — as much one could when frozen in a pose reminiscent of a ballerina mid-pirouette  — and said, his smile returning, “Ah, good. My muscles were just about to start to cramp.”

Maybe he was too distracted. Of course this bizarre interaction was preventing Lan Wangji from continuing his hunt, filling his mind with enough wayward thoughts to distract him. Did vampire arms usually bend that way? Did vampires usually have the capacity to be stupid enough to lose track of time and fall asleep next to an open window? Did vampires usually have smiles that seemed so kind?

Okay. No. Slow down.

Lan Wangji shook his head, as if that would help with much. “You seem convinced that I will help you,” he said, “despite knowing who I am, and why I am here.”

Wei Wuxian blinked at him. Vampires did not blink. Why the hell was he blinking. 

“You seem like a nice guy, if a bit intense,” he said. “At least, that’s what Wen Qing told me. And I already explained this whole misunderstanding. I’m certain you won’t find anyone in the village that’s actually mad at me for what happened.”

He was right — Lan Wangji hadn’t. “That doesn’t change the fact that my job is to kill beasts like you.”

“But I didn’t do anything?”

“That doesn’t —” Lan Wangji exhaled heavily through his nose. He shouldn’t be entertaining the thought of casting aside his duty for — what? An admittedly attractive vampire who was already entirely at his mercy? All vampires were considered, by human standards, attractive. This one was no different.

Belatedly, he realized that, at one point during what was turning out to be one of the strangest conversations of his life, Lan Wangji had strapped his crossbow to his back holster and unsheathed Bichen, his hand already off its hilt.

“Look,” Wei Wuxian said, voice frustratingly placating, “you seem a bit tense. Why don’t we go downstairs? Sit down and have a chat. Healthy discussion, moral debate, all that shit. Then you can decide if you still want to kill me based solely on preconceived notions of my species. I had some friends over last night and I still have food left if you’re hungry.”

Lan Wangji frowned.

“People food. Like, food that isn’t people, but for people to eat. Uh.” There was a nervous edge to his laugh. “Usually I’m more smooth than this? But I’m currently pinned to a wall, so. Help? Please?” 

All vampires had an innate ability to hypnotize; Lan Wangji’s last hunt was so good at it, he’d had to plug his ears with wool to escape its pull. He knew the heavy, paralyzing feel of a vampire exerting its will onto its prey.

Wei Wuxian was not doing that. Lan Wangji wasn’t even sure if he even could, given his current track record of vampiric competency. It just seemed like he was, in a clumsy, almost endearing way…

Asking Lan Wangji out to dinner?

With no small sense of how incomprehensibly inane this hunt has become, Lan Wangji walked to the window and drew the curtains closed.

-----

originally posted on twitter

[jingabitch]

Armed to the Fangs ch.3

Summary: You grew up in the Hunter’s Guild, understanding that it is your sacred duty as a hunter to protect humanity from the vampires that lurk in the dark, draining the life from anyone unlucky enough to be caught. While making the rounds one night, you encounter Taehyung, a fabled born vampire - not that you know that when he tries to entice you into a dark alley. Next thing you know, you’re kidnapped and taken to their home, where you realise that all of them somehow crave your blood and seem to know more about your past than you do. Finding out about where you came from might be the key to setting humanity free.

Pairing: eventual ot7 x reader

Warnings: some description of violence, angst, pining, eventual smut, slow burn, minor sexual content (i dont even know if it counts)

Word count: 3.2k

A/N: hope you guys enjoy this!! it’s more slow burn and setting up but the plot is inching forward.

Series index

You ended up staying in that room for three days. It was a good thing there was an en suite bathroom, although come to think of it, you weren’t sure if vampires even had bodily functions. There was a lot you didn’t know about them, you were coming to realize.

Unfortunately, because you didn’t have much to do after exhausting all the ideas you had for escaping, you pretty much just worked out, showered, washed your clothes in the sink and took naps while waiting for your clothes to dry. You had no choice but to basically lie around and get lost in your thoughts, and that was never a good idea for you. With so much time on your hands, your thoughts inevitably turned to darker musings, like whether the Head knew about these vampires, and why he kept it secret from everyone.

Come to think of it, what did they mean when they said they were figuring it out? Figuring what out? After Jimin’s visit, they’d left you alone for the most part, although they served you three meals a day religiously. The meals were beautifully prepared and delicious, which was also confusing. Did they have human servants who knew how to cook? Did one of the seven mysterious brothers cook? Could vampires taste food?

Initially, you’d been blasé enough about it, figuring that the others would come to rescue you in short order, and everything would be fine. But when you woke up on the third morning and realized that you were still locked in that room, you began to panic. Three days was as long as you could be gone from the Guild.

When your breakfast was delivered – a hearty abalone porridge topped with crushed seaweed that honestly smelled better than anything you’d ever eaten at the Guild – you sat up quickly to catch whoever it was who’d brought your food before they left, clutching the sheets to your bare chest. You’d left your clothes in the bathroom drying after your evening workout, and gone to bed nude.

“Hey,” you croaked in your gross morning voice. You hadn’t spoken yet today, and it definitely showed. You cleared your throat and tried again. “Good morning.” No harm buttering him up, right? It was the cute, doe-eyed one you’d woken up to the last time, and you wondered if he’d be a little more pliant if you were nice to him, since threatening to shoot his brains out hadn’t exactly worked out in your favour so far. Live and learn, as they say.

Jungkook, who’d been studiously avoiding looking at you – or inhaling your scent – looked over in shock at you and regretted it a second later. He and his brothers took turns bringing you your meals, and from their discussions about it, you seemed to alternate between completely ignoring their presence and demanding to be set free or for more information about why you were being kept here, and he’d expected that since it was still pretty early, he’d be in and out without much interaction with you.

It seemed that the powers that be were bored today, because they’d seen fit to torture him on this fine morning. He was a good person, he thought. Maybe he sometimes struggled with controlling his hunger, compared to his brothers, but he was the youngest, and he was working on it, okay? He tried his best! He shouldn’t be faced with the ultimate temptation of his mate, naked and in his bed, holding the sheet to her chest and actually being nice to him for once.

You raised a brow as Jungkook just stared at you wordlessly, his jaw open.

Then you saw his eyes flicker, changing colour for a second. It was enough for you to grab your gun from under the pillow, aiming it at him with your right hand as you continued holding the sheet over your chest with the left.

“Hey, whoa,” he protested, his hands in the air as his lower lip slid out in a slight pout. “I thought we were past that.”

You pointed your gun at him more insistently, if it were even possible. “I saw your eyes change colour! I’m not going to be a sitting duck while you try to kill me,” you accused.

Jungkook flushed, and you stared in awe. He really was unfairly beautiful, you thought reluctantly, not wanting to admit that one of your captors, and a member of the species you had been taught were soulless, vicious predators, was so attractive. Really, if he’d been a human man you’d have been all over that in an instant.

“I wasn’t trying to kill you,” he defended himself, his pout intensifying.

“Are you telling me I’m seeing things?” you asked incredulously.

“No, I…” He frowned as he trailed off, not sure how to explain to her that he’d gotten turned on. It wasn’t his fault! She was literally lying naked in his bed.

You raised a brow at him, clearly not willing to back down without a clearer explanation, and he wished, for the thousandth time, that his mate wasn’t a scary hunter who was all too eager to blow his brains out at the slightest provocation. In fact, he wasn’t sure why all of them were still alive at this point, given the way you waved your gun around.

“Uh… vampires’ eyes change not just because of hunger, but physiological arousal in general…” he offered hesitantly, before cringing away. You wasn’t going to shoot him, were you? It didn’t occur to him until after he’d said it that you might take that as an even worse insult. Who knew what would set you off, really?

Instead, the hand holding the gun fell to the bed as you gaped at him in shock. “Oh…” you murmured, looking down awkwardly as you flushed. Jungkook could hear the blood rushing through your veins as your heart rate sped up and looked up at the ceiling so you wouldn’t notice his eyes change colour again.

There was something he was supposed to tell you, but it completely slipped his mind as the only thing he could focus on at the moment was leaving as quickly as possible to wallow in his own misery and embarrassment somewhere else. Jesus, of course he would be the first of his brothers to make a fool of himself in front of their new mate.

“Wait!” you stopped him as he scuttled towards the door. Embarrassment or no, leaving this place was your main focus right now. You had to get home by today.

Jungkook paused, his hand on the lock, and turned to give you an inquiring look. “Do you know when I’ll be free to go?” you asked, placing your free hand on the mattress in front of you as you leaned closer.

“Uhh…” Jungkook gave you a wide-eyed stare, his gaze flickering down and then returning resolutely to your eyes. Your question had actually reminded him of what he’d originally intended to say. “An agreement was reached last night; they’re sending someone to come get you today.”

There was a lot more that he wasn’t allowed to tell you, and from the way you squinted suspiciously at him, you had picked up on his caginess, but thankfully you were distracted enough by the prospect of getting to go home, and you just nodded in acknowledgement. “Thank you,” you said, more politely than he’d heard you say anything in the past couple of days, and although he knew it was just your joy at being away from what you deemed to be soulless monsters, his heart couldn’t help but warm at the way your lips quirked up in an almost-smile.

Once Jungkook had departed, you quickly got out of bed and got dressed, then ate the porridge he’d left for you. It really was nice, and under different circumstances you’d have been more vocal about your appreciation for the food.

It was Namjoon who came to get you, the one you’d dubbed in your mind as Mr. Tall and Stoic, since you didn’t know any of their names. You were ready and waiting for him, in all your clothes with your weapons back in place, more than eager to leave.

He led you through the hallways of the massive compound, and because this was the first time you were seeing it, since you’d been unconscious when they brought you to the room, you looked around curiously. It was decorated like a Victorian manor, complete with dramatic stairs down to the foyer, and a giant painting with the seven brothers hung on the wall behind the steps.

“Jesus,” you murmured to yourself, barely audibly, as you gazed at the painting. You’d seen five of them, but the other two men in the painting were strangers. All of them were beautiful, of course, but somehow you found yourself being drawn to the one with a long face, a delicate, sloping nose. He wasn’t smiling – none of them were – but the somber expression sat wrong on his face somehow, sending a pang through your heart.

He looked like he’d been through a tragedy, based on the slightly strained lines around his mouth and his cool gaze, and you felt the bizarre urge to stroke his face.

Namjoon, noticing the way that Hoseok had caught your attention, pursed his lips to hide his smile. Based on your scent, he’d already been fairly sure that you had some connection to Minhee, Hoseok’s mate, but this was just further evidence to him. Your sudden appearance in their lives meant more than any of them had initially thought, and he couldn’t help but wonder if this meant that things were finally turning around.

“Jennie-unnie!” You greeted the hunter who’d come to get you enthusiastically, all but flying across the foyer to her. To her credit, the older girl just grinned at you and opened her arms, letting you slam into her as she hugged you. There were more hunters behind her, senior members of the Guild, but you ignored them for the moment.

“You’ve had quite the adventure, haven’t you?” she asked, quirking a brow at you.

You pouted up at her. “It’s not like I wanted this,” you whined. Now that you were going home and around one of your closest friends, your demeanor was visibly more relaxed, and Namjoon, as well as Seokjin who was standing in the foyer as well, looked on in a mix of jealousy and fondness. They knew why you were on guard around them, but it still stung that their mate had this cute side they weren’t aware of.

“I know, sweetie,” she soothed, brushing your hair off your face. “You ready to go?”

You nodded eagerly, separating from her as you prepared to walk out. Before you could even take a step, however, Namjoon and Seokjin stepped forward. “We’re coming too,” was all Seokjin said. You hadn’t seen him since the first night, so you just gaped at him. The elders, however, just nodded and started moving off.

Jennie shrugged at you, and helplessly, you trailed after them, wondering just what was going on. There was no way this was normal – vampires being allowed into the Guild headquarters?

You didn’t have much time to think about it, though, because soon enough you were being ushered into one of the vehicles that were parked in the massive driveway. Of course they had such a ridiculously lavish place, you thought, taking your seat in the armoured car next to Jennie. The vampires didn’t get into the same car as you, so you didn’t know where they were or how they were getting to the Guild, but you thought rather spitefully that it would make sense if they turned into bats and flew there.

When you arrived back at the headquarters, the Head’s personal assistant-slash-bodyguard was there waiting for you. You sighed – this was not good news. You were probably going to get the scolding of your life for being so incompetent as to get caught, and then stupid enough that you weren’t able to figure out how to get out of there without being rescued.

“Master Bang wants to see you in his office. Report there in half an hour.” With that, he turned and walked away.

Jennie was looking at you with concern, and opened her mouth to say something comforting to you. Feeling bad about how much you’d inconvenienced everyone already, you forced yourself to smile, putting on a brave face to reassure her. “I’m sure it’ll be fine, unnie. At least he gave me some time to freshen up, so it can’t be that bad.”

They were, as they say, famous last words, but you didn’t know that then.

You opened the door to your bedroom and stepped in, immediately being accosted by your baby.

“Injeolmi!” You fell to your knees to greet your cat, who was meowing loudly at you. “Oh, I’m so sorry baby for leaving for so long, are you okay?” You picked him up for a cuddle, looking over the room. The litterbox was a mess and stank to high heaven, of course, but thanks to your foresight, it didn’t look like he’d gone hungry. You’d managed to rig a contraption to release the right amount of food into his bowl three times a day, so even if you weren’t around for a couple of days he would be fine. It wasn’t the first time you’d been gone for longer than usual, although you’d never been gone quite so long before.

Unfortunately, because the container you’d used could only hold three days’ worth of food, that was as long as you could be gone for. Sighing, you put him down and went to clean up the litterbox, wrinkling your nose at him as you got a large trash bag to dump out the litter. The whole situation in there was disgusting enough that just scooping out the poop wouldn’t be enough. “You’re lucky you’re so cute,” you muttered at him as you emptied out the litter, tying off the trash bag to cut off the stench, then got a fresh bag of cat litter.

Once that was settled, you went to your bathroom to wash your hands and refill his water bowl, then opened the window and lit a scented candle to combat the smell, which was still somewhat eye-watering.

Your irritation at the disgusting task was ameliorated, however, by Injeolmi going to lap at the fresh water you’d set out for him. Your heart squeezed at how cute he was even when doing mundane things, and even though you knew you shouldn’t disturb him, you couldn’t help going to pet him.

When he was done, you got his bag of treats out, opening a plastic sachet of Churu and waving it enticingly in front of him. You laughed lightly at his enthusiasm for the snack. Unsatisfied with just letting you hold it in front of him and squeeze the tuna-scented paste out, he’d actually placed his front paws on your hand to hold the snack to him.

“Oh, you love it, don’t you, baby?” you spoke to him in a silly baby voice, smiling indulgently at him. “You’re such a good boy, my son,” you cooed at him. He ignored you, of course, too absorbed in eating his treat.

When it was all gone, you disposed of the plastic packet and went to take a shower to freshen up before your scolding from the Head. It didn’t take long to get ready – you were an expert at quick showers by now – and you dressed yourself in a plain black turtleneck and jeans. Your outfit was intentionally chosen to make you look like a competent hunter, just like everything about the persona you showed him. He didn’t even know about Injeolmi, the cat you’d adopted after finding him as a kitten on the streets during your rounds two years ago.

Speaking of which, Injeolmi meowed plaintively and took a few steps towards you when you exited the bathroom and made to leave the room, causing you to panic. “Stop, baby, you’re going to get cat hair on my clothes!” That would definitely be a disaster, you thought, cringing. “I’ll see you soon, baby. Love you!” you said as you left your room.

You raced all the way to Master Bang’s office, knowing that you were cutting it really close with the timing because of all the time you’d spent lavishing love on Injeolmi. Standing outside his door, you took a deep breath, patting your hair back into place so it didn’t look like you’d rushed here, then knocked on the door.

“Come in,” he said, the sound slightly muffled by the wood.

You entered, already starting to greet him before you caught sight of the two vampires who’d followed you back to the Guild already in the office, and the words dried up in your throat. “Uh…” you said intelligently, then cursed at yourself internally.

“Yes, come sit down, we have some things to discuss,” Master Bang said, gesturing at the seat between the two vampires. Hesitantly, you made your way over, sitting gingerly in it. Your butt was perched on the very edge of the seat, and your back was ramrod straight, every inch of you radiating discomfort at being so close to them.

“We have come to an agreement,” Master Bang started. “Seokjin made an excellent point about this being a prime opportunity to improve human-vampire relations.”

You were sure your mouth was hanging open unattractively. Human-vampire relations? Was this some kind of joke? You stared incredulously at the man who’d taught you to shoot a gun and explained to you the moment you could understand words that vampires were evil and would drain you in an instant given half a chance.

Before you could voice your doubts, however, he’d continued. “The vampire clan has formally requested an ambassador.”

You blinked in response.

“You will be going to live with them as the representative from the Guild, effective immediately.” He concluded his instructions and sat back, his arms folded across his chest in a manner that brooked no opposition.

“Sir, please –” you tried to reason with him, let him know that this was definitely not a good idea. The thought of leaving the only home you’d ever known and going to live with a bunch of predators made your stomach turn, but he was having none of it.

“Pack up your things. You’re leaving with them.” At that, he seemed done with you, but you had to try once more.

“Sir, please, I really think I would be better utilized here,” you tried again to persuade him. You had a kill count higher than all the hunters currently on the streets, didn’t that mean anything?

He just glared at you, and your shoulders slumped as you slunk out of the room in defeat. Right as you were about to leave the room, you heard him speak again. “A hunter who’s useless enough to get caught doesn’t deserve the title.”

Biting your lip viciously to quell the sobs that threatened to rise in your chest, you ran back to your room to cry.

[marshmallow-phd]

Midnight Hours

Part of The Untamed - EXO Wolf Universe

Genre: Wolf!AU

Pairing: Sehun x Reader

Summary: For you, being a good witch was easier said than done. Something dark was lurking inside of you and the others knew it. When you’re forced to tag along with Soomi and help a local wolfpack face a coming evil, you’re sent on a path that breaks into a crossroads. While you struggle with your inner demons, could the wolf Sehun be the key to your ultimate fate?

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I 11 I 12 I 13 I 14 I 15 I 16 I 17 I Final

**

The woman who stood in front of you was beautiful. Hauntingly so with her thick, baby blonde hair, translucent skin, and soft features. She was small. Not just in height, but everything about her. It’s almost as if there were a dozen signs around declaring her harmless and to come closer. But there was one thing that stopped you from doing so. One thing about this woman that whispered danger.

A pair of red eyes.

They put an edge to her sweet smile, taking the innocence away and replacing it with cunning intent. In a way, they reminded you of a cat, refracting the light in a way no regular human’s could.

“Who are you?” you finally found your voice to ask.

“My name is Molia.” She took a step towards you which you immediately retreated from. All it did was make her laugh. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’ve been waiting for you.”

Your heart was pounding in your ears. It was a miracle that you were able to hear anything she was saying at all. “It’s you, isn’t it? The one I’ve been seeing in my visions?”

“Yes,” she replied with a high pitched giggle as if the notion of it being anyone else was absurd. Once again, she moved closer to you and once again, you recreated the distance. Her smile faded. “(y/n), I’m not going to harm you.”

You shook your head. Being here, alone, it didn’t feel right. “I don’t know how you expect me to believe that.”

“Did you ever see me do anything harmful?”

Thinking back on the visions, you frowned. There weren’t enough to the scenes you’d witnessed to truly say either way. “No… but the feeling–”

“There is always fear in the unknown.” Before you could blink, Molia was behind you, her hands resting on your shoulders as she whispered in your ear. “I’m just like you, (y/n). The two of us need to join together.”

You spun around to face her. “What do you mean you’re just like me?”

Instead of answering, Molia took your hands and pressed your palms together. When she pried them apart, a small flame no bigger than a coin sparked to life. She scooped up the fire into her own cupped hands where it grew to twice its size. Then she snuffed it out, barely a puff of smoke to prove its existence.

“That’s impossible,” you whispered in disbelief. “How did you- how could you-” For some reason, you could not connect what you’d witnessed to the logical part of your brain. Not even Mother Willow could do such a thing.

“I was telling the truth.” Delicately, she lifted your face with a finger under your chin so the two of you were looking eye to eye. “What do you know the other witch like you?”

“The other one?” you said. You’d been told the story of the witch centuries ago who lost control. It was told to you like a warning every time your own usage went a little too wild for the elders’ comfort. By now, you knew almost every word by heart. But it was no fairytale. “She was a witch who used her power for selfish reasons. Eventually, they drove her insane and she nearly took out an entire village before she passed herself.”

Molia scoffed. “They would record it that way, wouldn’t they? Take the blame from themselves.”

“Are you saying that’s not what happened to her?” As much as you wanted to believe that mothers of old wouldn’t manipulate historic records, you couldn’t quite put that much faith in them. They believed themselves to be the epitome of goodness and they wouldn’t want anything to tarnish that good name.

“No,” Molia stated firmly. “That’s not what happened to me.”

You stumbled back.

No. That wasn’t possible. Magical or not, witches didn’t live that long. Not even wolves lived that long. “You can’t be….” But then you looked into her eyes again.

Her red, inhuman eyes.

“Are you–”

“A vampire?” she giggled, her previous charm coming back to the surface. “Yes. One took pity on me when the elders’ turned against me. We faked my death since they never would have let me live if they’d known the truth. For the past four hundred years, I’ve been in hiding, wondering if I could ever be truly free. Then I found out about you.” With a pale hand, she reached out to you, cupping your cheek in a palm so cold it might as well had been an ice pack fresh from the freezer. “I don’t want you to feel the loneliness that I have. I want you to feel like there is someone on your side. You deserve that.”

As pretty as her words were, you couldn’t say they were correct. Sehun’s face flashed in your mind. “But I do have someone.”

Molia scoffed as she dropped her hand. “That wolf? He didn’t even take the time to listen to you when it mattered the most.”

“But he was right,” you defended. “It wasn’t Mina.”

“No, not entirely.” A sly grin stretched across her pale pink lips. “Mina may have not been the one you saw in your visions, but she isn’t entirely innocent. Or she could be. Depending on your point of view.”

“I’m not really in the mood for riddles.”

Molia laughed softly. “I’m sorry. Old habit. I simply mean that when I saw poor Dana’s friend come into town, I thought she could be useful.”

“Useful?” Yeah, if you wanted to experience something shallow, maybe.

“Unfortunately, you haven’t met the real Mina,” Molia went on. “Each time you’ve seen her, she’s been under my control.”

You gaped at her. “Control? Why?”

“I needed to see you alone,” she said. “But with the way things were going with that wolf, I wasn’t going to be able to.”

“So you made us fight?” It was bizarre to hear that she went to such lengths. Almost laughable at the absurdity. Why didn’t she simply approach you the few times you were alone in the forest?

“I didn’t make you do anything. All I did was adjust Mina’s character a bit. Think about it. What did Mina do, hm? Flirt a little? Make you feel a little jealous?” The space between you and Molia disappeared again as she came in close, tapping your cheek with her index finger. “That’s all. The words said by the wolf were all his own doing. As were your own words. Mating isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, is it?”

“You’ve got that right,” you murmured. His words echoed in your ears, but you shook them away. “Look, I know you said that you wanted to make sure that I wasn’t lonely like you were, but else do you want from me? This giant scheme can’t be just about meeting me and sisterhood.”

“You’re right,” Molia agreed. “It’s about unlocking your true potential.” She leaned in and grasped your hands tightly. The pressure made you flinch. She was holding on so firmly, as if you’d float away if she didn’t keep you down on the ground. “You are so special, (y/n). Fire, water, earth, air? That’s just the beginning of what you can do. Those cute little tricks you show the child and mongrels? It’s barely the tip of your powers.”

Just a tip? There was already so much that you could, what else could there be? The mothers thought you were dangerous now, they’d always cautioned you on getting out of control. Mother Willow said time and time again that these powers could be all consuming, that they could take over and make you lose yourself.

“Don’t think about them,” Molia said as if she could hear your thoughts. “I know what they’ve told you because they told me the same thing. But it’s not true. These powers are a part of who you are. They aren’t meant to be suppressed. The more you let them out, the more you know them, the better off you are.”

Like a period emphasizing her words, a raindrop fell from the heavy clouds above you, landing on your shoulder. With a giant wave of her hand, Molia swirled the air around to create a dome over the clearing. You watched as the rain stopped several feet above your head and rolled to the side, keeping you dry.

“How did you do that?” you asked in amazement. The rain came down harder, lightning flashing in the air and the wind picking up to the point that the trees were bending to its will. But you felt none of the storm’s strength in your safe little bubble.

“Oh, this is nothing a little practice can’t create. You’d be amazed at what you’ll be able to do in time.” A flash of rebellion swept through her eyes. “But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The important thing to do now is start your training.”

“Training?” A feeling – giddiness or maybe excitement – swept through you. But you quickly pushed it down and away from you. “I don’t think- I mean, I should probably head back. Sehun will be worried.”

“Why do you even still worry about him!” Molia shouted. Her outburst made you jump. It was terrifying how quickly she’d gone from sweet and encouraging to enraged and fiery. But as swiftly as the anger had come, it dissipated just as fast. The harsh expression smoothed out to one of gentleness. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for. I just don’t want you to be hurt by him anymore.”

You weren’t sure of the right way to respond. You couldn’t say that he didn’t hurt you because he did. His hot and cold actions in the beginning hurt, what he had said only a few hours ago had hurt more. That didn’t take away from the times he was kind to you, however, or the way you felt when he held you. The softest pillow couldn’t give you the same reassurance or sense of security that your head against his chest could.

“Come,” Molia grabbed your hand, effectively taking you out of the sweet memories that nearly had you running back to the farmhouse. She led you further into the clearing until you came across very familiar stacks of wood. “Let me show you what you can do and then you can decide if you still want to leave. Alright?”

No. Not alright. You should go. No matter what she was offering, the right thing for you to do would be to go back. You’d discovered the answer. Molia was the culprit, not Mina. But her offer was too tempting, too enticing. Besides, you had a feeling as to what she was going to teach you… and you wanted to see it in person.

Molia led you over to the stacks of branches and fallen trees. You were curious as to whether or not she was the one who had moved them, but you never go the chance to ask as she took her stance behind you.

“I know fire is your strength,” she said. “Just as water is mine.” Her hand fell on your shoulder, exactly as you remembered. “Your power is fueled by your emotions. But you can’t rely on soft feelings. You have to dig deep. The stronger the emotion, the more control you’ll have. Focus on the wood and imagine creating the fire.”

You nodded, taking in her words. She was right. Your powers always surged when your emotions were driving. Would it be possible to let your emotions connect to the power inside of you while still keeping grasp of them?

Slowly, you lifted a hand, reaching out in front of you to channel the energy building up inside.

“Think of hate,” she whispered behind your ear. “Think of your pain.”

It was too easy to obey. The ache that simmered in your chest grew in strength as the memories of every wrong that had ever been committed against you replayed in your head. Your eyes swelled with tears as you remembered all the times that you were ostracized, judged, ridiculed beyond mercy. All of it continued to rise, feeding your powers. It collected in your hand. It pushed and shoved just wanting to be released. 

“Good. Now let it go. You are so full of potential. Don’t hold back and see what you can do.”

Whoosh!

Flames burst forth from the dried wood. As if calling up to the rain that still poured down from above, they danced and waved. They gave off the extreme heat that you remembered from your dream. Sweat started excreting from your pores and rolling down your face. It made you feel like a roast in the oven on the highest temperature.

Behind you, Molia burst into laughter. You turned to see her jumping and clapping with delight. Not quite the madwoman that had haunted you that night.

“Now,” she said with eager eyes. “Kill it.”

Spinning on the balls of your feet, you faced the fire head on. It was easy to tap into that source once again and in one swift motion of your arm, you extinguished the flames as if they never existed. 

Molia squealed with delight. Now it was you who wore the large grin. Each breath came in shallow and heavy but fast. Adrenaline rushed through your veins. Never had you felt like this when you’d practiced before. It was freeing. You wanted to stay in that euphoria.  

“Show me more.”

**

Sehun stared out the kitchen window. He counted the drops that hit the glass, each one feeling like a bullet to the heart. 

Somewhere out in this storm was you. Almost every worst possible scenario was playing his head, tormenting him as invisible demons laughed at him. You could be lost, passed out under a tree while being soaked by the rain. Or maybe you’d been caught by the threat, who had you chained up and was torturing you for its own pleasure. He could almost hear your screams echoing around him. Had you fallen down and been swept away by the river? Had you come across a dangerous animal that chased you down? With each thought, the scenes became more and more terrifying. 

“Sehun, are you listening?”

Sehun snapped his head around. “What?”

Junmyeon sighed. “I know you’re worried. We all are, but I need you-”

“Do you really think your worry is as great as mine?” Sehun growled. Junmyeon didn’t answer. No one did. Sehun’s shoulders heaved up and down, slowing in rhythm as he was able to reign in his frustration. Staring down at the hardwood floor, he mumbled, “Sorry.”

“It’s understandable,” Soomi said with her typical amount of gentleness and compassion. Not even this could break her character. “And it's scary, thinking that she’s out there, alone in this. But she’s a survivor. She’ll be okay.”

Sehun shook his head. “I can’t just leave her out there while I’m here safe from the storm.” 

All throughout the night, the wind and rain only began to grow stronger. The sun was certainly gone from the sky even if he couldn't see it. What a perfect metaphor for how he felt now. His light was gone, hidden from him behind what seemed impenetrable. 

“There’s no way to find her,” Chanyeol argued. His mate took hold of his hand, squeezing it comfortingly. Did they really have to do that here? Right now? 

“Would you leave Lanie out there by herself even if you couldn’t follow her scent?”

“Leave me out of this,” Lanie begged. She let go of Chanyeol’s hand and leaned forward,  massaging her temples. 

Harper huffed. She’d been pacing back and forth since Kris had explained to the pack about your disappearance. Sehun was thankful to have someone on his side, who was just as eager to find you as he was. “I agree with Sehun that we should go look for her, weather be damned.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Luhan barked in a tone that was unusual for the more mellow wolf. He was scowling, irritated. It was so unlike him, but Sehun couldn’t think about the reason behind it now. 

“Is there any sort of shelter she might be able to find in the woods?” Lottie asked desperately.

“No,” Minseok answered. “In these trees, there’s nothing but this house and the city.”

Sehun straightened up as soon as those words left the older member’s mouth. An idea of where you might have gone struck him. He didn’t even think. He just ran. Out the back door and through the rain. The ground slopped beneath his feet, whimpering at the weight of his feet as the mud squished between his shoes.

His clothes suctioned to him, restricting his movements, but it didn’t slow him down. Not even the yells of his name or the shouts for him to stop. He pushed through the wind and didn’t flinch when the lightning cracked across the sky. 

Finally, the construction site came into view. 

“(y/n)! (y/n)!” 

This was your place. The place the two of you came to be alone, to get away from the loud and rowdy house. Some of the roof had now been constructed and the house and garage were starting to look more like structures that could shelter someone from this weather. 

“Sehun! What the hell are you thinking?”

Huddled under the tree line, several of the pack members – Junmyeon among them – look at him in confusion.

“I thought she might be here,” Sehun yelled over the sound of the rain pelting down on the wood around him. “It could keep her safe from all this.”

“And is she here?” Jongin asked hopefully. But Sehun shook his head, disappointed. The former visibly deflated. 

“Then come back with us,” Junmyeon ordered. “This is crazy, Sehun. I know she’s your mate, but if you’re sick or hurt, you’re no use to her.”

Sehun kicked at the ground, frustrated. “I can’t just go back. It’s wrong. All wrong.”

“We’ll find her,” Junmyeon promised. “One way or another.”

But how could Sehun put faith in that? Junmyeon was smart, resourceful, strong, but he wasn’t all knowing, he wasn’t magically, some old wizard who solve all problems with a few wise words. He couldn’t just point to a map and say that’s where you were. Not even Soomi had been able to do that. Going back felt wrong. It felt like giving up. And he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t give up on you. He had so much to apologize for, so much to say to you. 

As if to give him one single act of mercy, the rain began to let up. The clouds started to break apart, letting the darkened sky behind them peek through, tiny stars dotting the black backdrop. In one such cloud, part of the moon shined through. 

Two days. 

He had two days until the blood moon.

I won’t give up, he declared to you silently. I’ll keep searching and I’ll bring you home. Just, please, be safe until then. 

Then he fell to his knees, splashing the water around him. Junmyeon approached slowly and squeezed his shoulder. A small comfort, but one he would take this time around. Starting tomorrow, he was going to run the entire length of this forest, covering every inch until he caught some sort of sign of you. He wouldn’t stop until he found you. That he was sure of.

[flybi91]

sorry guys i have no idea what the fuck i’m doing and none of this was proofread but i had fun and i guess that’s what counts

Orlo’s a recently turned vampire, it happened when he was at the front. He killed a soldier to survive and save others, but the idea that for the rest of his life he now had to purposefully hurt and drink from humans just to live made him feel sick, but the animal blood wasn’t helping and any blood from a dead person that the doctor gave him made him ACTUALLY sick.

He was terrified of taking any blood from someone bloodletting in case anyone saw, plus while it happened quite a bit bloodletting wasn’t common enough to sustain a person. 

So he took to drinking as much animal blood as he could, although he had to drink what he assumed was MUCH more than if he’d just drink from a human.

To his shock Peter actually tried to help by offering to give him serfs. 

He felt his stomach roll at the memory of his cruel, disgusting words. How the king had less compassion than a vampire he’d never know

He jumped at peter slapping him on the shoulder “They’re just serfs, it’s not like they can’t be replaced. And HEY, maybe you won’t be a virgin anymore!” 

You’re a serf, you’ve heard rumors of count Orlo getting bitten by a vampire when he went to the front about a week ago but you took it as bizarre superstition.  

Although you noticed he hasn’t left his room in a few days. When you saw him for the first time since the accident later that evening you were serving food and drink at one of peter’s stupid parties. You were shocked with how sick and pale he was, almost grey, and he wasn’t eating or drinking anything or talking to anyone.

You knew it was probably just from the shock of everything he’s been through and you KNEW it was just rumors and superstition but seeing him like that you couldn’t help but think, what if he is.

You noticed people ignoring him like they were afraid of him, not it the typical way they usually did. Even Peter was being less of a cunt to him. Catherine was the only one that would try and have a conversation with him but even she was a bit wary around him and he was just too out of it to really participate, although she DID actually looked concerned for him which is more than you could say for half of these assholes. 

But you knew just because people were acting like he was a vampire didn’t mean he was, it just meant people were being stupid.....right?.

You weren’t best friends with marial but you got along well enough and she was friends with catherine. You pulled her aside before she could go back out.

“I know we can’t talk, I just have a question, does Catherine know what happened to Orlo?“

You were expecting her to roll her eyes and make fun of your “stupid crush” and make a rude comment about him as per usual. But you weren’t expecting her to look around to make sure no one was listening before talking in a hushed whisper.

“Look i don’t know for sure and i don’t know the details, BUT something did happen to him. I know you don’t believe in it but i’ve been around him more than you have these past few days and if there was ever evidence for a vampire, he’s it “

You stood there slack jawed while she quickly scurried away to serve drinks.

You walked around with your tray as people took drinks off of it. You tried to calm down and get your mind off of it but your eyes kept flicking back to Orlo. 

You were always rather fond of him, he was sweet and kind and didn’t treat you less because of your position. He was probably the only person of status that would conversate with you. So you were upset thinking about the 0000.000.001% chance that he was a vampire, you didn’t want to think about how frightening it was for him or how much pain he’d be in.

You decided to walk over to Catherine and Orlo under the guise of offering them drinks.

Catherine gave a sad smile and took a glass. You didn’t talk to her very much but she was kind and she was currently looking at you like she knew exactly you were thinking.  Orlo politely declined a drink. Infact come to think of it you haven’t seen him eat or drink anything all night. NO he’s just in shock over killing someone.

You were cleaning up the last remnants of the party when you saw Catherine pull Marial aside. You tried to not pay attention or eavesdrop but you couldn’t help but notice a strange muffled sound coming from the box Catherine was holding and the disgusted look marial gave her. You quickly got back to cleaning, trying to look innocent.

“she’s gone”

You shot up and spun around to see marial standing behind you holding the box.

“what are you talking about“

“oh come on, we both knew you were listening, you’re not as sneaky as you think“

You blushed in embarrassment. “catherine saw me?!”

Before she could open her mouth to answer you, you were both startled what was ever in the box, it started shaking a little and now that it was closer you noticed there was a squeaking.

Before you could ask about it she was trotting off “sorry i REALLY have to take care of this“

You went after her. 

She side eyed you as you caught up to her “you’ll get in trouble if you follow me“ 

You snorted at the statement. “when have you ever cared about getting in trouble“

She sighed and rolled her eyes. 

“Soooo...what’s in-“

“Rabbit“ 

you scrunched your nose at her statement. “and were bringing it to someones apartments?“

She gave you an uneasy look. “Orlo’s apartments”

You tried to control the nerves bubbling up inside you. “Well i suppose it would be nice for him to have a pet, must get lonely for him”

Your friend stopped walking, turned to you with a hand on her hip, and gave a look of disbelief. “And WHY pray tell, would WE be bringing him a pet at midnight? HM?”

You chuckled nervously. “I mean what else could it be”

You held up a finger for her to stop. “AND even IF he is, WHICH HE ISN’T i’m sure they would find a better solution than little animals like bunnies”

You picked up pace before she could ask another question as she stood there for a few seconds gawking at you.

You two were waiting outside the door to be let in. You looked at the box again and felt terrible for the poor thing as it squeaked and scratched. It must be scary to be locked up in a tiny box like that. Your attention was pulled away from the box as the door opened for you.

“count Orlo is ready to see you“

You entered his apartments and it...was normal, nothing creepy, no dead animals, just.....typical Orlo, you sighed in relief and released a breath you didn’t even realize you were holding in.

Orlo opened his bedroom door and he temporarily froze, clearly not expecting you to be there.. Now that you were closer and in better light you were concerned with the fact that he REALLY looked sick.

“M-m-my a-apologies, i wasn’t expecting you,”

he gasped and threw his hands up “NOT-NOT THAT IT’S A BAD THING YOU’RE HEAR I JUST-“

GOD if he was a vampire he was probably the most timid vampire you’ve ever heard of. 

Marial let out an exaggerated sigh and rolled her eyes before thrusting the box towards the poor man. 

Orlo blushed, mouth gaping as his eyes flicked between you and the box. You went to ease his fears by taking it from marial and put it on his desk but before you could he grabbed it and clutched it to his chest.

“SORRY sorry it’s just...personal“

Your friend crossed her arms, clearly frustrated with him. “she knows it’s a rabbit, lobcock“ she turned on her heel, marching out of his apartments. She spit the last word with such venom you were sure it could probably kill him. 

He looked down at the box clutched in his hands before looking at you.“I-i-i-i promise i can explain“

“There’s nothing wrong with having a pet”

You smiled as he started to relax, clearly pleased that you didn’t bring up silly stories and accusations about him. “Please sit”

“Oh i can’t, they’ll-”

You jumped a bit when he put a hand on your shoulder before pulling it back. “OH sorry, i didn’t mean to- its just that- i-i, well you can stay here and relax a bit if you’d like, you won’t get in trouble”

“OH I don’t want to impose on you, you probably have a lot of work to do”

“No it’s fine, i’ll ask for some tea and cakes, you must be hungry.”

While he went to go fetch a servant to get the tea you took the time to look around at all his books. You couldn’t read more complicated books like Orlo could. There’s been a handful of times where the man had even let you borrow some of his easier ones, well borrow is a strong word as you’d be beaten if someone of your class was caught with a book. But there’s been a few times where he let you sit in his apartments and let you read under the guise of needing an assistant. You smiled at the memory of the one time where he read one of his complicated books to you and explained all the meanings and philosophies, it was all completely lost on you, you just sat there staring at the poor man. 

Your eyes landed on something peculiar. You tilted your head to look at the spine of the book, you felt a bit dizzy when you noticed it said it was about vampires. Your curiosity got the better of you. You looked around to make sure no one was there to see as you carefully lifted the book and looked at his writing on on the parchment. You noticed a strange smell and a stain that wasn’t ink. Well you noticed it when you walked in but the palace was so vile you didn’t pay attention to strange smells but it was particularly pungent. It was covered in scribbles about blood, animals, the effects of different light.

“The tea is-”

You were so absorbed in your discovery you screamed and huddled into the corner.

“I’m sorry, i’m sorry, i really am, i just-” Well it wouldn’t matter if he was a vampire because in a few minutes you’d be dead for looking at his notes. It didn’t MATTER that you were good friends you were still a serf caught looking at his notes.

He quickly put the tray down and walked over to you, hesitating coming any closer when he saw you flinch.

He stayed a decent length away. “Please sit down i promise i won’t harm you”

You slowly uncurled from yourself and walked towards a chair. 

He very carefully walked to his seat, making sure to not get too close to you so as not to upset you.

“I hoped you wouldn’t find out, at least not like this” 

You tried to speak normally but you voice came out barely above a whimper. “So it’s true” You looked up from your lap

“Yes, although I truly promise I wouldn't harm you. I feel bad enough that I have to do this to animals but drinking from the dead makes me sick. Though i still don’t know if it’s just me or vampires as a whole as i haven’t meet any others, well…...not extensively” 

You gently picked up the box and held it on your lap. “Soooo this isn’t-”

“Isn’t a pet, no, i’m afraid not” he gave a forced laugh

You looked at the box again and made a motion to open it. “Can i?”

“Oh, yes!. Believe me, i wouldn’t be doing this if i didn’t have to”

You opened the box and gingerly took out the cute fluffy little thing.

You smiled as you scratched the fluffball behind the ears. “You can talk to me about what happened if you’d like”

His jaw clenched as he looked at the fire, you’ve never seen him so upset. “I prommis you don’t have to i just thought-”

“No it’s fine, i probably should talk to someone it’s just….hard”

He sighed and put his head in his hands.”I-i--it was the night the carriage crashed, apparently one of the soldiers was a vampire, he tried to kill me with his bite, and as i’ve found out, there’s no difference between a vampire bite intending to turn or kill, it depends on the length of time but when i killed him it wasn’t enough to kill me and i’m now cursed, I probably deserve this.”

Your heart broke for him, you’ve never seen him look so distraught. Not even the words of the court got the him this much. You held the rabbit to your chest and got up to sit next to him on the couch.

“So i presume any blood would do?”

He looked at you and quickly got up before answering. “W-w-well a-acording to the doctor it would b-b-be better if i h-had human blood”

He was turned away from you, towards the fire. He was shaking and visibly distraught. You put the little creature back in the box and quietly walked towards him. Now that you were right next to him you could see how pale he was and all the little purple and blue veins that ran through him. You should be scared, any normal person would in this situation but you just didn’t have it in your heart. He looked so broken. Your brow furrowed with concern when you noticed his eyes were red, was that blood?!.

You pulled off your head piece and gently dabbed under his eye, the cloth came back stained with red. “I-i-i-it seams that the only liquid in my body anymore is the blood”

“You need to drink, you look ill.” 

“Oh that’s just from the light. See light doesn’t kill it just, well it reveal things”

You watched him as he seemed to perk up, walking around the room grabbing books and other odds and ends.

He ushered you to a darker part of the room. “ See how my hand looks more normal?”

He lit a candle, put his hand over it and you were shocked when it started to pale in the light.

You looked up at him not knowing what to say or do. He opened a book to a page about the sun.

He leaned towards you. “See? It says that In the dark a vampire will look like a normal person but light shows their truth.” he put his hand over the candle again. “And this is just with candles if i was out in the sun i’d look…..well-” his mood quickly changed. “I’m disgusting” He stood up and walked away from you. “Why do you want to talk to me, to a cor-”

You gently shushed him. “It’s ok, it’s not your fault, you don’t deserve any of this, you’re one of the kindest people i know”  

He looked at you, his face stained with blood and his lip trembling. “But how are you not afraid of me, of what i am?”

You were both startled by the chime of the clock signaling it was one in the morning.

“My apologies, i did not intend to keep you here so late, you should be sleeping.”

You picked up the bunny once more. “It’s ok,you need to talk to someone. You were saying th doctor suggested human blood? So that means the doctor is helping you yes?”

He crossed his arms and snorted as he rolled his eyes. “If you can call what he does helping, more like shots in the dark, lucky guesses, and experiments.”

You walked towards him and the bunny started squirming more and more. You shrieked and dropped the thing as it bit you. 

You clutched your hand and looked at the mark. It wasn’t a lot but it HURT “I didn’t know bunnies could bite that hard,sorry i think it scurried under-”

You looked up to see Orlo’s terrified expression, It looked like he was using every single muscle in his body to keep himself under control.

 “You must leave, i’ll find it by myself”

“What are you talking about i-”

Then it hit you. You looked at your hand and realized the skin was broken. He could smell your blood. It felt like time slowed down for you. You thought about how kind he was towards you even though you weren’t a lady, or perhaps he was kind to you BECAUSE you weren’t a lady. Then you thought of the pain and fear he was in, and how he was one of the few people outside of your family that you unconditionally trusted. And there was always a little voice in your head that kept mocking you, saying you two could be together if status didn’t matter. You hated that thought, you kept trying to push it away. Status did matter and your dreams were just a bitter reminder of something that never could be. But if you couldn’t be with him, you wanted to be held, just once.

“It’s ok” you stepped towards him and he flinched.

He backed up, trying to get away from you. The words peter spoke about serfs echoing through his head “I shouldn’t i-i dont i-”

He was shaking. You couldn’t tell if it was from fear or hunger.

He had a look in his eyes that chilled you, a look you’ve only seen on wolves. 

You tried to sound brave. You stedied yourself as you walked towards him. “From what you’ve said, you need human blood. Animals won’t be good enough for ever. It’s been only a week and look how sick you are. I know you said it because of the light but it’s not just that. You need to eat”

His jaw was so clenched it looked like his teeth would break. “Please i don’t want to hurt you. I don't even know if i can control it ” his eyes became tinged with red as it threatened to spill from his eyes. 

Your hesitated before looking at your finger again. You squeezed it to get a droplet out before tilting your head and rubbing it on your neck.

You could tell he was starting to falter as his hands reached for you. Before he could pull them back you grabbed them and held them in yours. He was absolutely freezing.

“Please”

“Why do you want this so badly?”

Your eyes watered as you thought about telling him. You felt so foolish. “Because i’ll never get another chance to be this close to you“

He looked at you even more confused than before. “What do you mean? We’re friends we-”

It all clicked for him and his mouth fell open.

“You mean?”

You shook your head in confirmation as tears freely flowed down your cheeks.

“Well what makes you think you won’t get another chance?. Because you’re a serf?”

“Of course we can’t Orlo, you know that” You leaned in, resting your head on his chest. He froze for a moment, not use to being this intimate. 

“All i know is i’m a count meaning i’m one of the highest ranks besides the king and queen. I’m free to marry who ever i wish”

You pulled back and looked at him in shock. “Orlo, what do you mean?!”

“You’re one of the most pleasant people to be around, you’re kind, and funny, and you’re so excited to learn i just- i just thought you’d never be interested. I was just happy to find a friend”

You leaned in again. Savoring the feel of the silks and velvets of his clothes. And how you were pleasantly surprised by how sturdy he felt.

You rested your head on his shoulder and he gently brushed your hair away from your neck. You could feel yourself blushing at the closeness. He gently touched your neck.

“Are you sure you want this i could-”

You looked up at him through your eyelashes. “Please, i’ve never been more sure of anything”

“From what i know it  should hurt, but then again he was trying to kill me, so please try to relax”

You closed your eyes and focused on Orlo, the feeling his arms wrapped around your waist holding you tightly, the smell of ink and leather, the warm and luxurious feel of his jacket. 

You flinched as you felt a prick and a burning sensation but it slowly melted away. Strangely enough it felt warm, like being wrapped up in a fluffy blanket. You sighed as he ran his finger through your hair, gently scratching your scalp, it felt amazing, almost overwhelming. You relaxed even deeper. You knew you’d fall if orlo wasn’t holding you.  You didn’t know if it was a vampire thing or if it was the blood loss but could swear you could here Orlo in your head.

“Thank you so much, no amount of words or actions could ever repay you for your kindness, i insist you stay with me instead of going back to the servants quarters, mockery of peter and the courts be damned ”

You felt extremely tired, like you haven’t slept in actual days. You hummed at the feeling of him licking your wounds. You felt him pick you up bridal style but you couldn’t say anything or even open your eyes, you tried but he shushed you, you whined and grabbed for his hand when you heard him walk away. 

“Sleep, i’m just changing”

You smiled knowing at the crack of dawn marial would march in and demand to know everything that happened. 

You tried sitting up when you herd him come back. He rushed over to you and tried to get you to lay back down. “You need to rest you-”

“THE BUNNYS SAFE!”

He tried to stifle his laughter.”yes it’s safe, i found it hopping around” He held up the box with the little thing inside and you smiled. 

“What do we name it?”

“You need sleep”

[werezmastarbucks]

Whitmore Guy - the ghost

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Kai Parker x fem!Reader slowburn

whatever gifs I’m going to use on this one, I hope the creators are okay with that

word count: 2044

warnings: none

“Have you seen the new IT guy yet?”

“The uh- what?” Ric was trying to consume a chocolate bar without taking his eyes or hands off the paper he was grading. Y/N sighed patiently – or, rather, to gain some patience. Every time she felt like yelling at Saltzman she took a deep breath and travelled down the memory lane back to the times when he was just a history teacher at school. Back when they were all teens with awkwardly round faces and acne, trying really hard to impress each other, and survive ‘animal attacks’ that just started happening in the town. She recalled thinking the new teacher was actually a vampire. The sheer stupidity of her, while Stefan Salvatore was literally sitting next to her.

Back then, Ric was still youthful, energetic, even handsome, as some girls claimed. Y/N always perceived him as a parent figure, the uncle you may bump into in a bar you go to with your mates to pretend you’re old enough. To think that this grumpy, scruffy grandpa thirty-hundred years old used to be that energetic, bopping teacher they could all trust…

“I’m saying, have-you-met-Mal-yet?”

“Huh?” Ric looked up to her, and his hand inserted the bar into his mouth quickly, so that he could start chewing.

“Are you doing okay, mister Saltzman?”

Y/N called him that when she was trying to be ironic.

“We got a new IT guy? Where the hell is he? I’ve been struggling with this thing for ages”, Alaric pointed at his laptop, safely shut, after it had vomited a siren-like crackling earlier that morning. God only knows what kind of websites Ric has been visiting.

“He’s been in for like, couple of days”.

“Yeah, that’s when the password changed, I saw that”, Saltzman frowned, “that note on the first floor, on the notice board, said that there was a treasure map or crap like this. The whole place has been running on mobile since Monday. Is he toying with us? Who hired him?”

“It’s ‘revenant94’.

“What?”

“The password”.

Y/N settled her coffee mug on the desk and stretched her back, checking the room for people simultaneously. They were alone in the teacher’s space; Y/N liked sneaking in here for lunch breaks or when she just felt overwhelmed, to socialize, bizarrely.

“Anyway, I’ve met him the other day. And he’s weird”.

There it is. The magical spot to hit, to light that hunting spark in Alaric Saltzman’s light green eyes. He has always been an adventurer first and everything else second. Vampire hunting was just a necessary measure in the dire conditions given to him at the point of his life.

“Bad-weird?”

“Weird-weird”, she still wasn’t sure they were completely safe chatting about this in here. She got up and closed the door gently. Then Y/N started pacing lazily between the unevenly placed desks, standing checkers to chess, in a mysterious pattern.

“He looks too good, and he acts too friendly. He is…” she tried to find the word, it was on the tip of her tongue, and yet, it escaped.

“Weird”.

“Your notoriously inaccurate gut feeling once placed an innocent man among monsters”, Ric reminded her.

She recalled that. That one time she was completely sure her neighbor Bruce killed her father, for reasons she wouldn’t be able to awaken anymore. In reality, they still didn’t know who did it, but it wasn’t Bruce as the man was away from the town the night it happened.

“Don ‘t you allow that maybe you think he’s weird because he’s cute? Sometimes you say weird when you mean adorable. Or angry. Or upset. You just generally like labeling people freaks”.

“Okay, you’re not taking it seriously”.

Ric threw himself back in the chair and sighed noisily. He studied the ceiling for some time.

“In our life, Y/N, we have every right to be paranoid about good things. After everything that’s happened every nice thing comes across as a warning. That’s a normal reaction. But if you think he’s off, I’ll check on him, sure. I mean, I will meet him inevitably, right?”

They looked at each other. Y/N shrugged.

 ______________________________________________________________

Ric wasn’t able to get ahold of Mal for the whole of next week, in fact, and it was strange how for the first seven days of Mal’s working Y/N was the only person who’s been talking to him. The guy even complained once that he felt like a ghost, which sparkled the whole new package of fiery theories in her. Then, the next day, she saw Mal chat with the English major student. In a rather flirtatious way, mind you; but it at least proved he was real.

Alaric was left a little puzzled after Mal had fixed his barely breathing laptop; but mostly annoyed.

‘How fast is this guy talking? Does he ever breathe or something?’

To her question, whether he was able to place Mal among any species of supernatural creatures, Saltzman replied something along the lines of yeah, a sickeningly energetic young man with ego, which in his language usually meant abnormal, but not alarming. Y/N was more than sure that Ric gave up on life and just tried to get away from the IT guy as far as possible. What happened to the previous one anyway? Some people said he’d left. Others claimed he just disappeared after Friday’s party at the Craze, a new bar opened almost on the border with Mystic Falls. Nobody really cared. Mal managed to charm just about everybody – that is, when people finally started seeing him – except a few very exhausted individuals who refused to enjoy life.

The feeling Y/N was getting about Mal was inexplicable, good, too good, in fact. She was torn between enthusiastic and careful; one feels that way when a person calls you in the middle of the night and tells you that you have won a billion dollars. How come you don’t remember buying the lottery ticket?

The fact that he had a girlfriend wasn’t all that important – Y/N craved companionship, not romance; her friends were enough but they were all carrying weight of, well, ten years of fighting this damn town. Mal didn’t have all that. He blasted music in the basement where he had built himself a mancave using old boxes and discarded cupboards from the science floors. He always smiled. He was smart. He didn’t take any shit from anybody. And for some uneven reason, he treated Y/N like she was his partner in crime. Maybe that was the most suspicious thing. Y/N always wanted an older brother, and all male figures she chose to act in that character, pushed back.

 _____________________________________________________________

Damon weighed the glass in his hand lazily.

“Caroline’s been livid with you about the dance party?”

Y/N sighed, rubbing her knee. Ever since Caroline graduated, she’s been delegating her tasks to Y/N, who apparently had nothing better to do than organize two celebrations every month. No wonder she completely forgot about the selection of music for that one party that was supposed to happen at the end of the month, vaguely described as a nostalgia flick. Many times Y/N got ready to say, hey, Caroline. I have my own shit to do. If you want these events, come back to the college, get a job and do it yourself. I have tons of crying young adults every day whimpering over their dead dogs and burnt deadlines, and frankly, I deserve four holidays a year.

But she never said it, somehow.

“I am turning into a pusharound”, she realized, as she stood up, walking to the Damon’s sacred alcohol table. She took a glass which burst in a welcoming ringing, and poured herself a little of smelly golden liquid.

“I thought you liked organizing things. Whatever happened to ‘I’ll make them all dance to Stevie Nicks until their butts fall off?”

“It faded, Damon, it went down into my shit storm of a work. I am drained. I’ve been feeling completely lost for the last six months”.

The vampire’s sharp eyebrows made a gracious swing. Every time Damon did his trademark face of an Italian statue Y/N couldn’t help but remember the years when she’d been helplessly in love with him. She and her knee-length socks, and lots of jewellery, and bravery of a suicidal teenager, she thought that was enough to win his love. The disappointment was bitter.

“Why’s that?”

“Eh”, she brushed it off, relaxing deep in the sofa, outstretching her feet, “autumn was nasty, you know that kind of seasonal decline, and then, no snow in winter, and bang, it’s cold spring, and you gotta not eat again because nervous… and it felt like it’s been two days since Matt died, but when I look at the clock, it’s already mid May, and I can’t believe it. I feel like I haven’t processed his death properly, and it’s tugging on me. But I don’t really know what to do at this point. Everybody’s moved on”.

Damon drowned his face into his glass with that preoccupied look he wore when he couldn’t cope with what he started. Sometimes, he could only listen. That was the least he could do for the girl. Listen to her babbling away, and remember that it could have been much worse, she could have been much further away from him.

“Thank God I have my buddy now and I even almost figured out what to do with this shit faced party. No more parties after this one… I’ll tell her I won’t organize stuff people don’t appreciate, I mean…”

“What buddy?” Damon intervened passively.

Y/N jumped up, balancing the glass in her hand, and decided it would be best to down it until she poured it all on Damon’s couch, and he tore all her hair out. She gulped whiskey in two breaths, trying to clench her teeth so that she doesn’t puke it all back. As soon as the drink flows down and reaches whatever cells there are, it will soothe her, and clear her head. She sat on her legs, piercing Damon with a concerned look.

“There’s this new IT guy at Whitmore. He’s too cool to be true, and everybody loves him, except for Ric, and I’m sure you’ll absolutely hate him, too”.

“Why’s that?”

“He’s very chatty and charming, like a complete psychopath. He’s got dead eyes but he’s incredibly funny, and we listen to the same music. He’s always up for anything. He’s too…”

The look on Salvatore’s face said he understood exactly the type of person this guy was. Damon met many a folk like that; take Kol, that idiotic creature that was draining life of every party of people. Or early version of Jeremy, depressed yet too loud, craving attention. Or even Forbes herself; now she’s a friend, but back in the times, she was unbearable. Damon still had vague nightmares in which Caroline was trying to get him to go on a picnic in her usual commanding squeaky voice.

“So, steer his energy in doing this dance for you. And go easy on yourself, little one”.

When Damon called her that, Y/N felt like she was sixteen again, laying at the den of a tiger, if tigers dug caves or, like, very complicated dungeons, with skulls of their enemies scattered and the suggestive fires blazing along the walls. She shivered internally, asking herself, how she had managed to finally escape Damon’s glamor. She remembered being completely heartbroken, and then suddenly, she wasn’t. Good for her.

“Yeah, I’ll get him to help me. But I would be stoked if you could examine him. Ric couldn’t take him, the guy’s too colorful. I have a weird feeling about him”.

“What kind?”

She was tired of shrugging with confusion.

“Just do it. You’ll see. There’s something wrong about him”.

“Do you always hang out with people you deem suspicious?” Damon sounded painfully familiar. Ric and him, they became almost like a married couple over the years. Same old narrative, sung in slightly different tempos.

“Okay”, he gave up. “I’ll come to your nostalgia flick dance thing, and I’ll take a look at him. Will that make you happy?”

She looked at the alcohol sanctuary again.

[impalementation]

i have a job

1.05 never kill a boy on the first date

OWEN: Hey! So. Where do you know Buffy from? 

ANGEL: Work. 

OWEN: (to Buffy) You work?

1.07 angel

BUFFY: Y'know, I'm the Chosen One, it's my job to fight guys like that. What's your excuse?

2.03 school hard

JOYCE: Wait till you get a job. Sleep tight.

Buffy gets up from her bed and walks over to her desk. She pulls open the top left drawer. In it is a jar of holy water, a cross, a few stakes, a set of brass knuckles. She looks up at her reflection in the mirror.

BUFFY: I have a job.

2.10 what’s my line part 2

KENDRA: You talk about slaying like it's a job. It's not. It's who you are. 

BUFFY: Did you get that from your handbook? 

KENDRA: From you.

2.11 ted

BUFFY: What? I kill vampires, that's my job.

2.13 surprise

XANDER: I mean, what kind of a future would she've really had with him? She's got two jobs--Denny's waitress by day, Slayer by night.

3.14 bad girls

FAITH: You're actually gonna take orders from him? 

BUFFY: That's the job. What else can we do?

3.15 consequences

FAITH: I guess that means you have a job opening.

3.21 graduation day part one

WESLEY: Buffy, you don't know what you're doing. 


BUFFY: Get a job. 

4.09 something blue

BUFFY: Spike, these are my friends. Besides, it's kinda my job. 



SPIKE: (pats her hand) For now.



BUFFY: What? You want me to stop working?

4.11 doomed

BUFFY: Pain, death, apocalypse, none of it fun. Do you know what a hellmouth is? Do you have a fancy term for it?  Because I went to high school on it, for three years. We do not have that much in common. This is a job to you. 


RILEY: It’s not just a job.


BUFFY: It’s an adventure, great. But for me, it’s destiny. It's something that I can’t change, something that I can’t escape. I’m stuck!

RILEY: Buffy, where is the bad here? It just turns out we're even more well matched than we thought we were. I mean, you’re a-- (sees people nearby) fry cook--and so am I! 


BUFFY: Yeah, but you’re an amateur--fry cook, and I come from a long line of fry cooks that don’t live past 25.


RILEY: Which is exactly the attitude I’m talking about. Look, I know the risks of what we do. I also know it’s more rewarding than any other job on the planet. And fun.


BUFFY: Fun? The last person I know that believed that is in a coma right now because she had so much fun on the job.


RILEY: I’m not saying that you shouldn’t take your work seriously.

4.13 the i in team

WILLOW: Well, what's their ultimate agenda? I mean, okay, yeah, they-they neuter vampires and demons. But then what? Are they gonna reintegrate them into society? Get them jobs as bagboys at Wal-Mart?  

4.15 this year’s girl

RILEY: All my life [following orders]'s what I've been groomed to do. They say jump, I ask "How high?", I get the job done. Just don't know if it's the right job anymore. 

BUFFY: I know how you feel. Giles used to be part of this Council. And for years all they ever did was give me orders. 

RILEY: Ever obey them? 

BUFFY: Sure. The ones I was going to do anyway. The point is, I quit the Council. And I was scared. But it's okay now.

5.01 buffy vs dracula

DRACULA: Very impressive hunt. Such power. 


BUFFY: That was no hunt. That was just another day on the job. Care to step up for some overtime?

5.02 real me

RILEY: You know what I mean. You have super powers, and college...a studly yet sensitive boyfriend.


BUFFY: And a pesky life-or-death job that I can't quit or even take a break from.

5.10 into the woods

BUFFY: Vampires are vampires. And my job description is pretty clear.

5.12 checkpoint

BUFFY: You came to beg me to let you back in. To give your jobs, your lives some semblance of meaning.

5.13 blood ties

DAWN: You worry about me because you have to. I'm your job. Protect the key, right?

5.14 crush

SPIKE: It's not so unusual. Two people...in the workplace...feelings develop.

6.04 flooded

MR. SAVITSKY: Well, the problem is, you have no income. No job.

A demon attacks.

BUFFY: No job? I wish.

6.05 life serial

BUFFY: The demons! They were these three big apey things!


XANDER: No. No, not here. Not at my job. That's your job.

6.11 smashed

BUFFY: Your job is to kill the slayer. But all you can do is follow me around making moon eyes.

6.12 doublemeat palace

SPIKE: Oh. I see. That why you took this job? Prove something to yourself? A normal job for a normal girl? Good way to drive yourself crazy, that is.

BUFFY: Ucch. That's great. That's, that's just great. I try to do the simplest thing in the world, get an ordinary job in a well-lit place, and look, I'm right back where I started. Blood and death and funky smells.

6.13 dead things

BUFFY: You got the job done yourself.

6.14 older and far away

HALFREK: I know it must seem weird, talking to a stranger about stuff, but um... I want you to know that if something's going on, something's up, my job...the most important part of my job...is looking out for you.

BUFFY: Dawn...the most important job that I have...is looking out for you.

7.03 same time, same place

BUFFY: I got to get a job where I don't get called right away for this stuff.

7.04 help

BUFFY: I'm a counselor here because I wanna help. I know what it's like to walk these halls and feel lost, alone. I just want to make things better, connect. (stands and intimidates) And I'm going to connect with your face if you don't stop wasting my time and help me do my job.

7.05 selfless

ANYA: I have a job to do. And so does Buffy. Xander, you've always seen what you wanted to. But you knew, sooner or later, it would come to this.

7.07 conversations with dead people

HOLDEN: What, you like fight vampires--professionally?

BUFFY: I don’t get paid. It’s more like a calling.

7.08 sleeper

BUFFY: (about to stake a vampire) Sorry, ma'am, but it's my job.

7.16 storyteller

ANDREW: (V.O.) It was cold last night, and the wind was crew-ell, but the Slayer had a job to do. (vampires attack Buffy) Unfortunately, vampires have a job to do, too.

7.17 lies my parents told me

NIKKI: You know I love you, but I got a job to do. The mission is what matters...right?

7.20 touched

FAITH: Things are different, because now...I'm your boss. [...] I'm your leader, which means I go first, and I make the rules, and the rest of you follow after me. Is that clear? So, Kennedy, back the hell off, and let me do my job, all right?

many things of interest here. putting it under a cut.

1. the tendency to talk about buffy’s opponents as if they’re bizarre coworkers. or people who have been equally roped into a duty. “i have a job to do. and so does buffy.” “two people…in the workplace.” “your job is to kill the slayer.” “get them jobs as bagboys at wal-mart?” (as if they’d be “unemployed” if they weren’t killing). one might say that demons count as “coworkers” not just because they’re part of buffy’s “work” but because, like buffy, they supposedly lack choice because of their demonic natures. buffy lacks choice about her duty and demons lack choice about morality. (again, supposedly. anya’s declaration in selfless that she has a job to do seems like it’s supposed to be pointed and ironic because anya does, as she has proven multiple times, have a choice. she has a self. and she demonstrates that self by giving herself up at the end of the episode. similarly, faith asking the mayor if he has a “job opening” indicates that she’s making a moral choice to change sides.). buffy’s line to spike in dead things about “[getting] the job done” may have been random, but it feels darkly meaningful in this context of spike failing to do his “job” as a vampire by killing her. is he succeeding for once by providing her a death-like escape?

2. the very few times that buffy clarifies that her slaying is not like a job. such as her conversation with riley in doomed or her conversation with holden in conversations. again, this distinction emphasizes buffy’s lack of choice. i’ve seen people be offended that buffy doesn’t charge or get compensated for her slaying–unlike angel–but it’s always made sense to me because buffy is in large part about how to make choices in situations where it feels like you have no agency. and if slaying had more of the trappings of an actual job, like money, it would give the false impression that her duty was something she had a choice about. (i’m talking on a symbolic level, not a practical level. on a practical level, of course there’s no real reason that buffy shouldn’t get paid.). because money is compensation for a choice. unlike buffy, riley is free to leave his job as a commando because he really is just an employee. similarly, angel can get paid (again, symbolically) because he does, technically, have a free choice about whether to be an agent of good. by contrast buffy’s lack of compensation indicates that she is in a state of forced servitude under the auspices of “heroism.” money would make the situation seem less unjust.

3. the conflation of “job” with “duty” and “role” and “purpose”. i think it’s very interesting when buffy tells wesley to “get a job” or tells the council she gives “their lives, their jobs, some semblance of meaning.” there’s an implication that the council lacks the sense of duty and meaning that buffy has. if wesley had a job like buffy has a job, what he’d really have would be a purpose. and buffy’s easy linkage of “lives” and “jobs” points to the way that her own life is inextricable from her job—because it’s not actually her job, it’s her duty. she is putting down these people who think they should have power over her by emphasizing how inessential they really are. they may have more choices than her, but they’re too lily-livered to do anything worthwhile with them.

4. the way this language of duty plays out in buffy’s relationship with dawn. dawn is buffy’s dependent in several different ways. she’s someone that buffy needs to protect from supernatural threats, and she’s also someone that buffy needs to emotionally and financially take care of. there is this open question of: if “jobs” are things that buffy resents because she doesn’t have a choice about them, then does buffy have the same resentment for dawn? how is dawn supposed to know whether buffy really cares for her? it’s something any kid would worry about with their caretakers, just put in a supernatural context. but because the concept of “jobs” is so layered and fraught for buffy (and the show), there is something particularly meaningful about buffy declaring that dawn is her “most important job”. in both a sweet way, and a very sad way in the context of season six. because to some extent, taking care of the “life” dawn represents is still a difficult and unpleasant duty for buffy. although one she is feeling increasing ability to prioritize.

5. the relationship between buffy’s slaying and the jobs she ends up doing for money. both her doublemeat job and her waitress job in anne involve buffy attempting to be ordinary in some way. to claim an identity during a time when she is very confused about her identity, and disconnected from her righteous slayerness. but both episodes end up painting this sort of drudgey labor as something that actually destroys identity. you may choose to have the job, but the job wants you to be a faceless cog in a machine. whereas buffy’s language in help paints her counselor job as actually an extension of her slayerness. she threatens someone in the name of her counselor job, but with the language of her slayer job (“I’m a counselor here because I wanna help. […] And I’m going to connect with your face if you don’t stop wasting my time and help me do my job.”). she’s talking about both, which suggests that buffy’s identity is at peace with that sort of work. because it’s work that has to do with helping people. this will take on greater poignancy over the course of the season as buffy is forced away from the “helper” part of her slaying job, and into the hierarchal role of “boss.”

…probably more but that’s all i have for now.

[psychosistr]

Chariot’s Companions

Summary: Taking place in the Eyes of Heaven universe, Jotaro and the crusaders get sent to the coliseum alongside Giorno and his gang. What they find there is a haunting reminder of Passione’s past and a startling realization about one of the crusaders’ future.

Notes: This is the first story for my 100 Follower Giveaway, written for my little sister who has always been my biggest fan and greatest supporter in everything I do. Love you, T, happy valentines day!

Extra Note: Warning, this is a long fic with canon-typical violence for JJBA xD

Edit: Decided to start tagging my sister on the stuff I mention her in ^^” Go check her out, she’s very sweet and really intelligent, often posting stuff about Transformers and comic books: @mark-xeen

Everything seemed calmed for once on the usually busy streets of Morioh, Japan. There were a few people walking around on the main street, but not too many as it was the middle of a weekday and most people were either at work or school at this time. One of the few people walking around was a tall teenager dressed in a dark school uniform with a torn black hat and a large golden chain on the front of his jacket.

The tall boy rounded a corner behind the local convenience store and glanced around once he was out of sight of the general public. He then reached into his jacket and pulled out something rather odd: A turtle. Specifically, a turtle with an odd key embedded in its back.

The boy set the turtle down in a shaded corner behind the building before reaching down and touching its back. He was quickly sucked into the red gem embedded in the turtle’s key.

Inside of the gem was what appeared to be a hotel room. It was fairly plain with only the most basic of furniture and no bathroom, but it was still a safe enough hideout for the time being. The only downside was that it was..well..rather crowded by this point..

The boy’s name was Jotaro Kujo. He had recently found himself caught up in a series of bizarre adventures starting with the appearance of what he at first thought to be a ghost haunting him turning out to be some sort of guardian spirit called a stand that was actually protecting him. He soon became part of a world-traveling adventure to save his mother’s life when an ancient evil vampire that was an enemy of his family from over a hundred years ago stole the body of his great-great-grandfather and received a stand of his own and, in turn, caused Jotaro, his mother, and his grandfather to all manifest their stands too. On his mission to defeat the vampire, Jotaro had teamed up with others like him and his grandfather who had stands and, at the tragic cost of half of their group’s lives, they succeeded in defeating the nearly immortal vampire. Just as they thought their journey was over, though, the remaining three members found themselves caught in an entirely new adventure that involved traveling through space and time itself to stop an alternate-universe god-version of the vampire they all fought so hard to defeat and were trying to prevent him from gathering the pieces of a “holy corpse” that came from an alternate timeline and provided guidance to Jotaro’s bloodline- the Joestar family.

Along the way they gathered more allies- friends and family and other members of the Joestar bloodline, and even some alternate reality counterparts to a couple of them. The turtle they currently found themselves residing in had come from the timeline of a boy in Jotaro’s family who had a bit of an odd connection to the others- Giorno Giovanna. He was the bastard son of the vampire they were fighting, DIO Brando, who had conceived him with a woman before he had fully integrated his DNA into the body of Jotaro’s great-great-grandfather, Jonathan Joestar, resulting in a son that was part Joestar and part Brando. He was turning out to be a strong ally with a sharp mind and powerful stand.

The only thing that bothered Jotaro about Giorno and his group was that they seemed to know something about him and his friends that they had all unanimously agreed to keep quiet about. Specifically, they seemed to know something about Jotaro’s friend Jean-Pierre Polnareff. When they first met him, the group had called him “the turtle man” then quickly tried to cover it up by calling it “Italian humor”. He would have been fine if that were it, but what really bothered him was that Giorno and the others seemed to keep a cautious, almost fearful eye on Polnareff. They all seemed especially jumpy whenever he called out his stand, Silver Chariot. Narancia and Bucciarati had both flinched the first time they’d seen it come out and Giorno himself had subconsciously tightened his hand into a fist as if he was preparing to fight before forcing himself to relax.

Jotaro had no idea why they were so cautious around Polnareff and his stand. Polnareff was loud and annoying, but he was still a good man with a good heart. He was so noble that, even while under the mind-control of one of DIO’s sinister flesh buds, he’d still shown respect and consideration for his opponent- another member of their group named Mohammed Abdul- and had formed a quick but close friendship with every member of their group. Polnareff had been the only one besides Jotaro and his grandfather, Joseph Joestar, to survive the fight against DIO and his minions. As such, the three had formed a strong bond from both the fight as well as their shared grieving of their dead friends. Polnareff had sworn to Jotaro and his grandfather that, if they ever needed him, he’d come running to help them from anywhere in the world, and Jotaro knew he meant every word of what he said.

So, with all that he knew about Polnareff, it made no sense to him why Giorno and his gang would be so distrusting of him, even though they acted friendly enough on the surface. Either Polnareff was unaware of the looks the Italian group gave him, or he was just choosing not to say anything- either way, it annoyed Jotaro to have one of his only friends treated like some sort of ticking time bomb.

As Jotaro weaved through the crowded hotel-like room of the turtle’s hiding space (which was actually the doing of a stand), he found his group hanging out around one corner of the couch. His grandfather was sitting on the couch himself as he told some story, likely about one of his adventures from his youth, as usual. Polnareff was sitting on the armrest nearby, laughing loudly every now and then at a particularly funny part of the old man’s tale. Abdul (the fortune-teller that first taught Jotaro and his grandfather about stands and was the one to fight Polnareff then realize he was being controlled by DIO) was leaning against the wall beside Polnareff, listening with the occasional nod and a calm smile. Sitting on the floor facing the others was a boy about Jotaro’s age with red hair and a green school uniform, his name was Kakyoin Noriaki and he had also been controlled by DIO but had become a loyal friend after Jotaro freed him from the vampire’s control. Lastly, sleeping on the backrest of the couch by Joseph was a small black and white dog- he was a stand user named Iggy who tended to be grouchy and violent, but was still clever and had been willing to sacrifice himself to save Polnareff’s life.

Jotaro hid a small smile behind the high collar of his coat as he watched them all talking freely. While this adventure was odd and stressful, it was proving to be worth it to have their group back together again.

DIO, in his attempts to take out Jotaro and the Joestar bloodline, had used his powers to resurrect and/or control many of his family’s allies. Quite a few of the people currently in that very room had died and been brought back to life under DIO’s control as weapons against their friends. Thankfully, after using the parts of the holy corpse that they’d gathered, they had managed to break DIO’s control and save their friends from his influence.

Kakyoin, Abdul, and Iggy were all prime examples of this. It was a shock to have their friends suddenly return from beyond the grave and call them enemies, but Jotaro and the others were relieved to have them back after so much strife. Now they were all together again, fighting alongside each other and telling stories just like before. It may have been a roundabout way for it to happen, but getting his friends back had been worth the hard work he’d put in to tracking DIO’s movements.

Now, though, Jotaro was tired and needed a break before continuing the search. It was exhausting being the main one to walk around while everyone else got to rest inside the turtle-room, damn it…

Polnareff looked up at Jotaro with a grin. “Oi! Jotaro!” He waved as Jotaro took a seat beside Kakyoin on the floor. When Jotaro’s only response was a grunt that vaguely resembled a greeting, Polnareff laughed at his friend’s usual cranky demeanor. “Getting tired again already?”

“I’ve been the only one walking around for days now.” Jotaro shot back while pulling his hat down to cover his eyes, leaning back to lay on the floor and get some rest. “If one of you wants to carry the damn turtle, be my guest or shut the hell up.”

Abdul shook his head with an amused chuckle. “While we sympathize with your plight, Jotaro, I don’t think it would do much good for one of us to carry this burden- after all, none of us have any holy corpse parts and would have no direction on where to go. Perhaps you could try asking one of your relatives to take over if you need a break?”

“I’ll think about it..” Jotaro replied while settling in for a decent rest. The rest proved short-lived, though, when he felt a familiar pulsing from within his jacket after only a few minutes on the floor. “You’ve gotta be kidding me..” He grumbled while sitting up. Reaching into his jacket, Jotaro pulled out the now familiar glowing holy corpse part that had been with him throughout this particular journey. Looking around to see Giorno also holding his corpse part in his hand but no one else doing the same, Jotaro rose to his feet. “Yare yare..” He jerked his head at Giorno, motioning for him to follow. “Lets go..”

“Right.” Giorno said while rising to his feet as well, giving a quick wave to the members of his group before joining Jotaro.

The two raised their hands and were teleported back outside of the turtle.

Giorno wasn’t really one for conversation unless it was necessary, which was fine with Jotaro since he wasn’t either. He was definitely the least annoying out of his relatives, even if he did share blood with DIO. All of that meant that he didn’t really mind being around the other boy and was okay looking for the next lead from the holy corpse with him for a while-

Actually, it turned out they didn’t have far to go at all, as there was a familiar golden fissure in the ground only a couple feet away from the turtle’s resting spot. The two boys approached the portal to who knew where, but were stopped when the corpse parts physically yanked them back.

Jotaro looked down at the corpse part in his hand with a scowl. “What now?” As if in answer, it tugged him back towards the turtle ever so slightly. He noticed Giorno’s doing the same. “Yare yare..make up your mind already..”

They re-entered the turtle to the surprise of the room’s occupants, earning a few confused stares from their comrades.

Polnareff was the first to speak up, calling over to him from his spot at the couch. “Wow, that was quick! Or did you just miss us that much?” He grinned at his own teasing, enjoying the glare that Jotaro shot him.

“Shut up, Polnareff..” He grumbled as he allowed the holy corpse part to guide him. It led him over to his group and, understanding its meaning, Jotaro looked them over with a flick of his eyes. “Looks like you guys are coming with us, so get up- I literally can’t go without you.”

Polnareff grinned and jumped up to his feet. “Alright! I was getting tired of just sitting around, anyway.”

Kakyoin and Joseph stood up too, Joseph grabbing Iggy off of the back of the couch despite the growl of protest. “You’re coming too, get over it.”

Iggy’s response was another growl and an attempt at biting Joseph’s metal hand, but he calmed down after Joseph gave him a stick of gum and reluctantly allowed himself to be held as they were all transported outside of the turtle.

They were soon joined by Giorno and his gang outside, Narancia looking them over curiously. “It wants ALL of us? Wooooww, this must be a big one!”

“That can’t be good..” Fugo muttered.

Giorno joined Jotaro at the opening. “I agree with them- this is a bit strange and likely dangerous.”

Jotaro looked at the fissure in front of them seriously. “Yeah..” He didn’t like the feeling he got from this at all. At most the holy corpse usually only sent out one or two of them, never this many at a time. It made him feel uneasy but he did his best not to let it show as he stepped into the light with the others.

For a few moments, everything around him was blinding gold and he had to close his eyes until it passed. When everything finally settled down, he found himself in a familiar location.

“The Coliseum?” Trish asked from somewhere behind him while he was looking around. “Why would it bring us back here?”

He looked back at Giorno and the others, but, after doing a quick glance over them, noticed that someone who was normally very hard to miss was, in fact, missing. “Where’s Polnareff?”

After he pointed it out, everyone looked around in search of the large Frenchman.

“How..?” Abdul looked confused and worried, as Jotaro noticed he often did when it came to Polnareff. “He was right beside me when we went through..”

“It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve gotten separated going through there.” Joseph said while crossing his arms with a contemplative expression. “That’s why we had to start using the turtle in the first place- it made sure everyone stayed together..”

Kakyoin nodded in agreement. “He shouldn’t be far, though. The portals usually deposit us where and when we’re meant to be.”

“That is reassuring..” Abdul replied, though he didn’t look any less worried for Polnareff’s safety. “Still, I hope he doesn’t get into too much trouble…”

“Knowing Polnareff, that’s a pretty real possibility.” Joseph uncrossed his arms. “We’ll have to keep an eye out for him while-” Joseph stopped when he heard what sounded like metal scraping against metal nearby. “Huh? What the hell was that?”

Jotaro scowled slightly as he headed towards it. “Whatever it is, it’s probably why we’re here in the first place. We’ll look for Polnareff after we deal with it.”

While everyone was still worried about the missing Frenchman, they had more pressing matters to attend to for now- namely, finding out what brought them there in the first place.

They all rushed towards the sounds, hearing the bang of an occasional gun shot as they drew closer. When they arrived to the source, which was in the center of the coliseum, they saw three people fighting in the ancient arena.

Two were immediately recognizable as DIO’s henchmen: The lovely but conniving Mariah, and the cunning but cautious Hol Horse. Though it was very obviously them physically, there was something off about the way they were acting.

“Damn it! I can’t get off a shot like this! How the hell do you run around with all this weight?!” Mariah said while gesturing to her own top. Strangely, she was holding Hol Horse’s Emperor gun in her hand as she tried to fire it at their opponent.

Hol Horse shot her a glare as he touched the ground nearby. “Stop complaining, my chest isn’t that bad!” An electrical outlet appeared beneath his fingertips on the ground, sparking with electricity.

Mariah tried firing off another round, but the bullets seemed to have a mind of their own and flew off in random directions instead of hitting their target. “I was talkin’ about all the damn metal you keep in here! Seriously, why the hell would you walk around like this?! It’s heavy and I can’t move without somethin’ stabbin’ me!”

“I said stop complaining!” Hol Horse snapped while touching the ground to leave another outlet, effectively setting up a line of them to act as a trap. “Lord DIO wants that arrow, no matter the cost! If we fail him just because of your whining, then I’ll make sure you never get any use out of your ‘second gun’ again!”

Mariah shuddered and backed away as their target got closer. “You’re one heartless witch, y’ know that?”

Jotaro and his group were beyond confused by the verbal exchange, as well as what they were witnessing from Hol Horse and Mariah.

“What in the world is going on?” Abdul was the first to say what was on all of their minds, a look of confusion clear on his face. “I have fought against both of them in the past, and they are acting completely out of character. Not only are they behaving differently, but their stands have also switched users. How is that possible?”

Bucciarati looked at him with a worried expression. “Wait- did you just say that their stands were switched?”

Abdul nodded as he pointed to Mariah holding Emperor. “That is Hol Horse’s stand, the Emperor.” He then pointed to the electrical outlets that Hol Horse was leaving on the ground. “And that is Mariah’s stand, Bastet.”

Bucciarati looked like he was about to say something else, but his attention, as with Giorno and the others in their group, was suddenly stolen by a soft “kah” sound coming from the direction of the battle before them.

Jotaro looked at the third figure that had previously been obscured because of Mariah and Hol Horse’s angle: It appeared to be a man dressed in black- no. Upon closer inspection, it would be more accurate to say this “man” was completely black, meaning he seemed to be made of shadows. Everything on him, from his skin to his clothes to his very being was like looking at a walking, three-dimensional shadow with the only other color on it being its hollow white eyes and mouth whenever it opened it to reveal a similar whiteness. In its hand it tightly clutched a golden arrow, but it made no move to attack with it in any way.

“No..No way..!” Narancia gasped while staring at the dark figure. “It can’t be! Y-You guys said you beat him, right?!” He looked between Giorno, Bucciarati, Trish, and Mista.

“We did!” Trish confirmed, looking equally as terrified as the rest of her group (minus Fugo, who seemed a bit lost on what was going on). “Bucciarati finished him off!”

“Yeah!” Mista nodded, not taking his eyes off of the shadowy being. “We saw it disappear with our own eyes!”

Giorno looked away from the figure, glancing around as if he was searching for something. “The one from our timeline was defeated..but..there is another possibility..”

His words hung heavy in the air between him and his gang. Narancia looked around too, trying to spot something. “Wait, Giorno..you don’t mean..”

“I do.” Giorno confirmed Narancia’s fears with a serious expression. “Use Aerosmith- see if you can spot Polnareff anywhere nearby.”

Narancia nodded and summoned Aerosmith, having his stand fly high up into the air and begin circling the coliseum in a sweeping motion as it searched high and low.

“What does Polnareff have to do with this?” Jotaro asked while taking a step so he was directly in front of Giorno and looking down at him. “What exactly is that thing?”

Giorno frowned slightly before regaining his calm demeanor. “That is Polnareff’s stand: Silver Chariot Requiem.”

Everyone in Jotaro’s group, Jotaro included, were shocked by this news.

“THAT’S Silver Chariot?” Kakyoin said with a shocked expression. “How..? We’ve seen his stand hundreds of times- it looks nothing like that.”

“Not to mention it’s a fairly short-range stand.” Joseph added while looking back at the stand in question. “At most I’d call it a mid-range stand, but even that’s being generous. Polnareff should still be close enough that we could see him if that was actually Chariot.”

Giorno shook his head with a solemn expression. “You are correct, but, as I said, that is not merely Silver Chariot- that is Silver Chariot Requiem. This is Silver Chariot after it has been empowered by the arrow in its hand. Unfortunately, Polnareff is unable to control his stand when it is like this and it becomes autonomous- moving with the singular goal of protecting the arrow.”

“You guys seem to know a lot about it.” Jotaro looked down at Giorno with growing suspicion. “You fought it, didn’t you?”

“We did.” Giorno admitted while looking Jotaro dead in the eyes. “We had no choice in the matter, unfortunately- it was out of control and we needed to get the arrow from it to defeat Diavolo.”

“And what happened to Polnareff when you defeated his stand?” His eyes narrowed dangerously, looking like he might resort to violence depending on Giorno’s answer. “You guys said that Bucciarati ‘finished him off’ and that you ‘saw him disappear with your own eyes’. So, answer me..” He was practically looming over Giorno at this point. “What happened to Polnareff?”

To his credit, Giorno did not look intimidated by Jotaro’s towering figure in the slightest. “We did not hurt Polnareff.” Giorno chose his words carefully. “He asked us to stop his stand, since he was unable to. He thanked us after it was over.”

He was leaving parts out, that much was obvious. If a stand is damaged or destroyed, then the user will suffer the same injuries or die too- that was a truth that they had all come to learn over the course of their journey. To say that they defeated Polnareff’s stand to the point of it disappearing without harming Polnareff was suspicious, to say the least.

Before he had a chance to call Giorno out on it, though, their attention was drawn back to the fight. A loud gunshot was heard followed by “Mariah’s” voice yelling in pain.

“God damn it!” They looked back and saw that she had a bullet wound in her leg. “It’s no good! Emperor’s turnin’ on me when I use it!”

They then saw “Hol Horse” barely managing to dodge a spark of electricity from a nearby outlet. “Bastet isn’t listening either! We’ll fall back for now and contact Diavolo!”

The two then retreated, “Hol Horse” having to carry “Mariah” since her body was injured and unable to run.

Once they were gone, Narancia’s Aerosmith returned to him and he looked back at Giorno. “Hey, Giorno! I checked everywhere, but I didn’t see Polnareff anywhere on Aerosmith’s radar.”

Giorno brought a hand to his chin as he thought the information over. “Hm..I see..this is still a strange turn of events, but he may simply be outside of the coliseum at the moment.” He looked back towards Chariot as it continued its slow pace forward. “At any rate, we should leave Chariot alone for the time being. Its main focus is protecting the arrow, so as long as we don’t try to touch it, we should be safe.”

“……” Jotaro looked back at Chariot. He didn’t like the idea of leaving it like this, but he was more concerned with making sure that Polnareff was okay and keeping the rest of his group safe. “Fine. We’ll leave it for now- at least until we know Polnareff’s okay.” He started to walk away, following Giorno’s group since they knew the coliseum better than his own group did. He was stopped after a few steps, however, by a firm grip on his arm. “..?” He looked back over his shoulder and saw that Star Platinum had materialized behind him and was holding onto his arm while looking at Silver Chariot. “Star Platinum? What-?”

He soon saw that Star Platinum was not alone. Magician’s Red, The Fool, and Hierophant Green had also materialized and were looking at Silver Chariot Requiem alongside Star Platinum.

Before he could get the attention of the other stands’ users, he watched in stunned silence as Star Platinum opened its mouth and let out a loud cry while still looking at Silver Chariot Requiem. “ORA!!”

Everyone turned to look at Jotaro and his stand in surprise. Abdul and the others noticed their own stands out as well, him and Iggy looking as confused as Jotaro when Magician’s Red started letting out its loud screeching bird calls and The Fool began howling.

“Magician’s Red?!” Abdul tried to call back his stand, but it didn’t seem keen on obeying its master. “What?! This..This has never happened before- Magician’s Red has always listened to me!”

Iggy was barking at his stand, apparently trying to do the same as Abdul, but with the same results.

“Giorno!” Jotaro turned his head to look at the blonde. “What the hell’s going on?!”

Giorno, for once, looked completely at a loss for an explanation. “Silver Chariot Requiem has the power to control souls, as well as stands, but we’ve only ever seen that happen when one of us attempted to attack it. This..This is completely new..”

“Guys, I think we have a problem!” Trish said while pointing to the other side of the coliseum.

They looked at Silver Chariot Requiem and saw that it had actually stopped walking and was now staring directly at them with its emotionless gaze. “……” It turned so that its body was now facing the group and began walking directly towards them.

“It changed direction?!” Mista asked in a worried tone. “It’s never done that before! It’s always walked in a straight line and only turned long enough to grab the arrow! What the hell did your stands do?!”

“Don’t ask us.” Kakyoin shot back while looking at his Hierophant Green with a confused frown. “This is all as new to us as it is to you.”

“We need to get out of here.” Bucciarati said while looking towards the exit. “Silver Chariot Requiem is too dangerous to fight- any damage you try to inflict on it will be reflected back onto you. Not to mention it can regenerate as well as control both souls and stands. There is a way to defeat it, but I don’t know if it would be wise until we know where your Polnareff is..”

“Agreed.” Giorno said while using Golden Experience to open the nearest gate. “For now, our best option is still to retreat.”

They found their exit blocked, however, by a combination of thorny purple vines and green tendrils. All eyes turned to Kakyoin and Joseph, the older of the two staring at his hands in confusion as the purple vines grew from them seemingly without his consent. “What the hell?! I swear, I’m not doing this!”

“Neither am I..” Kakyoin said while looking at Hierophant Green’s lower half that had detangled into its strand-form before weaving with Hermit Purple’s vines at the exit. “It would seem our stands don’t want us to leave.”

“Damn it!” Mista swore while grabbing his gun from his pants and taking aim. “Looks like we’ve got no choice but to fight it. I’ll try hitting the things around it instead of attacking it directly- hopefully that’ll be enough to slow it down without Sex Pistols going crazy again. Fugo! Narancia! Back me up!”

The other two boys called out their stands as well. “Right!”

As the three of them began firing at the ground and objects around Silver Chariot to trip it up, Giorno looked to Bucciarati. “Bucciarati, see if you can open up a doorway with Sticky Fingers.”

“Got it.” Bucciarati said while summoning his own stand. “Sticky Fingers!” The stand appeared and went to one of the walls, forming a zipper on it and attempting to open its portal to the other side. Unfortunately, before they could make use of it, a red string of flames suddenly shot out and wrapped around Sticky Fingers. “Ah!” Bucciarati gasped when he felt the bind tightening around his stand, as well as himself.

They looked to see Magician’s Red, its arm outstretched as it used its Red Bind to keep Sticky Fingers from moving and opening the portal out of the coliseum.

“Bucciarati!” Trish summoned Spice Girl and the pink stand attempted to strike Magician’s Red, but was intercepted by The Fool and a barrier of sand. Spice Girl tried to soften the sand, but, as it was already a loose and shifty material, it did not do much good. “Damn it!”

“I’m okay, Trish!” Bucciarati got her attention, looking frustrated but otherwise unharmed. “It’s only restraining me, so don’t worry. Try creating a soft spot in the wall for us to break through. Giorno, cover her!”

They both nodded and went to their assigned tasks. When Trish rushed to one of the walls and started to soften it using Spice Girl, The Fool attempted to pursue her. Giorno and Golden Experience stood in its way, however, and proved to be a much better opponent against the animal-like stand.

The Fool howled as it tried to knock them over with a small wave of sand, but it failed due to Golden Experience’s power: Sand is technically inorganic, so, when Golden Experience touched it with its ability, it was able to convert the sand into simple green leaves and flower petals that flew away harmlessly in the breeze.

It growled and continued trying to attack the pair to get to Trish and Spice Girl, ignoring Iggy’s annoyed barking at it.

Jotaro watched the chaos around him unfurl without being able to do anything about it. Nothing was making sense here! Their stands had turned on them, they couldn’t recall them or command them in any way, Polnareff was missing, and Silver Chariot Requiem was getting closer by the second. It had been a while since he felt so powerless and he was racking his brain in an attempt to find a way out of this situation, but nothing was coming to him.

“It’s getting closer!” Mista called while stepping closer to the group with Fugo and Narancia. He looked back at them with a serious expression. “Look, I know you guys may not like to hear this, but we’re running out of time here- we need to destroy Silver Chariot Requiem!”

Abdul, who had previously been preoccupied with attempting to regain control of his stand, turned his attention instead to Mista. “No! We still do not know where Polnareff is and what will happen to him if his stand is destroyed in this state!”

Mista held up one of his hands. “Look at yourselves!” The hand he held up had started to peel apart in certain spots, revealing some sort of secondary body growing beneath it. Startled by his exclamation, Jotaro and the others looked at themselves, as well as Giorno’s group, to see that they were all starting to show similar symptoms- as if something was attempting to grow from within their bodies. “This is what Silver Chariot Requiem is capable of! It may not be doing it on purpose, but if we don’t destroy it, then we’ll be completely switched with something from another world!” He glanced over his shoulder as if he was looking for something that no one else could see. “Bucciarati found Silver Chariot Requiem’s weakness before: There’s a light that’s casting a shadow behind it in a way that anyone looking at it will always see it facing away from them. The source of the light is attached to the soul, so, if you look behind you, you should see a ball of light. If you crush it, it’ll destroy Silver Chariot Requiem and undo all of the damage it’s done.” He grabbed something from behind his shoulder and tensed in preparation to break it.

“No!!!” Abdul shouted and ran up, tackling Mista and forcing the boy to release his grip on what he was holding. “I will not allow you to harm Silver Chariot until we know that Polnareff is safe!!”

Mista struggled against Abdul’s strong grip. “If Silver Chariot’s in its Requiem form, then Polnareff’s probably dead already!”

Abdul froze, eyes widening slightly. “What..? Polnareff is..?” He shook his head. “No! His stand is still here, so he must be alive somewhere!”

“Some stands can survive after their users die! We’ve seen it happen before!” Mista managed to take advantage of Abdul’s brief moment of worry over Polnareff’s life and worked a leg in between them, using it to shove Abdul off enough that he could free himself. “Sorry! But I’m not planning on dying or turning into whatever’s taking over our bodies!” He reached behind himself and attempted to grab what he’d gotten before.

“Magician’s Red!!” Abdul shouted with anger blazing in his eyes. To everyone’s surprise, his stand finally turned to him in recognition. “Red Bind!” Abdul called out his command while pointing at Mista.

The fiery bird stand actually obeyed him and raised its unoccupied hand, firing off a second binding rope of red flames that wrapped around Mista.

“What?!” Mista struggled against the ropes that had him trapped, Sex Pistols even trying to tug them off but the tiny stands weren’t strong enough. “How the hell-?!”

Abdul stood and stared down at him with a piercing gaze, Magician’s Red moving to stand behind him as it usually did. “I was willing to give my life to save Polnareff before- I will gladly do it again. That is still his stand- it is as much a part of him as Magician’s Red is a part of me! Neither of us will allow you to harm them!” Magician’s Red echoed its user’s words with a loud shrieking-birdlike cry, flames erupting behind the pair menacingly.

“Abdul..” Jotaro watched his friend’s reaction for a moment, confused and intrigued about how Abdul seemingly regained control of Magician’s Red if it was truly being controlled by Silver Chariot Requiem.

“Ah! Hey! Stop it!” Jotaro turned his head and saw that Iggy had stopped his barking at The Fool, and had instead moved over to where Trish and Spice Girl were still working on softening a hole in the wall- the work was taking a while as the stone was very old and one wrong move could make the entire wall collapse before it had time to soften. Iggy had bitten Trish’s skirt and was pulling it in an attempt to drag her away. “Let go!” She tried pulling her skirt back from the dog’s mouth, but he kept a firm grip with his teeth. “What’s gotten into you?!”

“Grrr!” Iggy growled, barking around the fabric in his mouth. “Rrrf! Rrr! Arrf!” (Translation: “He’s right! Polnareff’s around here somewhere, we can’t just leave him!”)

Once again, everyone was surprised when The Fool suddenly dissolved into sand before reappearing behind Iggy with a protective growl. It formed a shield of sand over the area that Trish and Spice Girl had been working so hard on, stopping them from further affecting the area.

“Iggy..” Jotaro looked between the dog and the Egyptian, feeling like all the pieces were suddenly coming together. He tuned out the arguing that had started between his group and Giorno’s about what to do next and instead looked up at his own stand. Star Platinum was still watching Silver Chariot Requiem and had a firm grip on Jotaro’s arm. Looking closer at its hand as he moved, though, Jotaro saw that Star Platinum was only preventing him from moving towards the exit, not when he moved towards Silver Chariot Requiem. He then looked up to his stand’s expression- it was serious as usual, but it also looked oddly..concerned..maybe even worried as it looked at the approaching dark figure that was once its friend- “…!” Jotaro blinked as the realization finally struck him. “Shut up..” He said once, but no one could hear him over their own shouting. “EVERYONE SHUT THE HELL UP!” He yelled firmly above the roar of voices, everyone instantly doing just that as they turned to look at the teenager. Jotaro moved his arm out of Star Platinum’s hold, his stand allowing it as it read his intentions. “Our stands aren’t being controlled by Silver Chariot- they’re trying to help it.”

Kakyoin looked at his Hierophant Green with a tilt of his head. “Are you sure, Jotaro? I’ve never seen Hierophant Green behave like this before.”

Jotaro glanced over his shoulder at Kakyoin. “Have you ever argued with yourself about whether what you were doing was right or wrong? Or doubted yourself so much that you weren’t sure what you wanted?”

“Not particularly, no.” Kakyoin thought while tapping a finger to his chin. “I’m usually fairly certain of my own actions. Why?”

“Our stands are a manifestation of our will, right?” Jotaro looked back up at Star Platinum. “I didn’t always command Star Platinum- he used to move around on his own, but he still did whatever I wanted, even if I didn’t know what I wanted. He’s always done that because that’s what stands do: They move according to our will, not just our thoughts.” He looked back to Silver Chariot Requiem, the stand now only about 20 feet away. “Regardless of what it looks like, that’s still Silver Chariot. It’s still Polnareff’s stand and we don’t want to leave it or Polnareff behind..or let them get hurt.” He started to walk forward towards the stand, more layers of his skin peeling away to reveal eyes and muscles and other body parts forming underneath. “Our stands figured that out before we did- that’s why they wouldn’t let us leave.”

Joseph looked at Jotaro with a serious expression. “Jotaro…” He followed Jotaro’s lead, Hermit Purple retracting and allowing him to follow his grandson. “I hope you’re right about this.”

They were soon joined by Kakyoin, Abdul, and Iggy, each member of the group being followed by their respective stands. The closer they got, the more deformed they became, but they all ignored it in favor of reaching Silver Chariot Requiem.

When they finally reached it, their stands floated past them to gather around Silver Chariot Requiem. The Fool nudged at Chariot’s leg with its head in a typical gesture of animal affection. Hermit Purple began to very loosely wrap around Chariot’s legs as it walked, connecting with it but not hindering it in any way. Hierophant Green and Star Platinum each gave one of its shoulders a slight squeeze as it walked by them. Magician’s Red, being the last one that it passed, made a soft cooing noise and carefully grasped its free hand for a moment, nuzzling its head into Chariot’s shoulder. Chariot spared it a look that somehow felt softer than its usual blank gaze before Magician’s Red released its hand and allowed it to take the final step to Jotaro and the others.

“……” Silver Chariot Requiem stared at them with its empty white eyes for a while before raising the hand that clutched the arrow. It looked at Jotaro expectantly as it held its hand out and Jotaro understood its silent request. He held his own hand out underneath it and the stand carefully placed the arrow in his waiting palm. Once Jotaro curled his fingers around the arrow to hold onto it, the shadowy stand’s once expressionless face relaxed into a calm but tired smile. It opened its mouth and they heard a faint, raspy voice speak- it sounded like the voice they’d hear when Silver Chariot would shout “Hora hora hora!”, but breathier and without the metallic echo. “Mi..ssion..com..plete…”

It closed its eyes and its body began to dissolve into tiny sparks of white light, starting at its feet and slowly working its way up towards its head. As it disappeared, the tiny lights floated around Jotaro and the others and they all began to hear Polnareff’s voice like distant echoes through the small sparks.

“I..I’m done..I can’t go any further..”

“Chariot..you..have to complete my mission..”

“Please..this arrow..it’s..too dangerous..”

“You have to protect it..”

“Don’t let anyone else take it..”

“Jotaro..Mr.Joestar..my friends..please..get it to my friends..!”

“Get it to my friends..”

“Protect it..”

“Don’t let anyone take it..”

“My friends..”

Everyone’s bodies returned to normal as the last of the lights faded away into nothingness, the last thing they saw of Silver Chariot being its calm smile.

All of them were shocked by what they’d heard. Pain pierced them from the strength of Polnareff and Silver Chariots’ convictions. But, what shook them the most was the haunting thought of what those words really meant…

Jotaro’s head was tilted down as he led his group back over to Giorno’s gang on the sidelines, the shadow of his hat over his head obscuring his eyes and leaving only his mouth set in a hard line visible. “……” The other members of his group all had a similar look about them, their eyes hidden in shadow and faces tense with clenched fists at their sides. When they reached Giorno’s gang, Jotaro was the first one to speak. “Tell us the truth. Now.”

Giorno stepped forward for his group to speak on their behalf. “We already told you-” Giorno was suddenly knocked onto his back by Jotaro’s fist slamming into his cheek. “!!”

“Giorno!” Mista was quick to rush to Giorno’s side and check on him, kneeling down to help him sit up.

“H-Hey! What the hell was that for?!” Narancia tried to sound defensive and angry, but it came off as scared when speaking earned him a warning growl from Iggy.

“I’m tired of your bullshit.” Jotaro walked over to where he’d knocked Giorno over.

Mista tried shielding his friend with his body while looking up at Jotaro. “We didn’t lie about Polnareff! I swear!” Star Platinum grabbed Mista and held him away from Giorno while Jotaro leaned down and roughly picked the younger teen up by the front of his jacket. “Giorno!”

The other members of Giorno’s gang tried to get to him, but were blocked by Jotaro’s group, each one of them looking as angry as Jotaro about the situation.

Jotaro stood to his full height, easily lifting Giorno off the ground with one arm and scowling up at him. “You may not have lied, but you sure as hell didn’t tell the truth, either. Now..” He grit his teeth for a moment, his hand tightening in a white-knuckled grip on Giorno’s shirt before looking up at Giorno again with a hard glare. “You’re gonna tell us why we just heard what sounded like our friend’s dying thoughts!!” He gave Giorno a rough shake, his other hand clenched tightly around the arrow. “You said that you defeated Silver Chariot, but you never once said what happened to Polnareff. You know, though, don’t you? You’ve been hiding it since the first time you saw him, always looking at him like he was some sort of ticking time bomb about to go off..” He lowered Giorno just enough to barely stand on the ground- just enough that he’d be able to talk properly. “So, talk- was he your enemy?”

“No.” Giorno answered while meeting Jotaro’s hard gaze unflinchingly, even as a dark bruise began to form on his cheek from the punch he was given earlier. “It’s the opposite: Polnareff was an invaluable ally. He was the one that told us the true secret of the arrow’s power, as well as the one to finally figure out the truth about Diavolo’s identity. Without him, we never would have been able to defeat Diavolo. We were nervous about his stand because we knew how powerful and uncontrollable it could become, but we consider Polnareff our friend.”

“Then what happened to him?” Jotaro pressed on, knowing that Giorno was still withholding information. “What happened to him when Silver Chariot Requiem appeared?”

“……” Giorno glanced away, his calm expression faltering for a moment before he took in a deep breath, exhaled it slowly, then finally said the words they had all obviously been avoiding out loud. “He died.”

Magician’s Red began to spark up with flames swirling around it as Abdul narrowed his eyes at Giorno dangerously. “How?”

“Diavolo killed him for knowing the truth about his identity.” Giorno elaborated while glancing in Abdul’s direction, Jotaro’s grip preventing him from turning completely. “As a final act to prevent Diavolo from getting the arrow, he had Silver Chariot stab itself to unleash its full power. By that time, though, his body was already dead-”

“So..” Jotaro cut him off, his glare not softening at all. “What you’re telling me..is that you KNEW how Polnareff was going to die..and you didn’t bother warning him about it?”

Giorno looked as if he felt slightly guilty for half a second before he regained his calm expression. “We were concerned with how he would take the truth about what happened to him-”

Once again, Jotaro stopped Giorno with a firm punch to the cheek, managing not to stab him with the arrow in the process. “Bullshit! I told you to stop lying!!”

“Please, stop!” Trish pleaded with him. She tried moving closer, but was blocked by Kakyoin and Hierophant Green. She looked up at him beseechingly. “He’s telling the truth! We weren’t sure how he’d react to the truth, so we agreed to keep it a secret- that way he wouldn’t panic!”

Kakyoin gave her a cold glare as Hierophant Green loomed behind him like an imposing shadow. “Why don’t you just come out and say why you REALLY kept it a secret: You were afraid of what would happen to your timeline, weren’t you?” The way Trish froze up and was unable to reply right away was all the answer that they needed. “You were scared that if Polnareff knew the truth about how he died, then he wouldn’t come to Italy and you would all die instead when you lost.”

Bucciarati stepped out in front of Trish protectively, Sticky Fingers floating behind him as backup. “It was a reasonable fear to have. We lost much in our fight against Diavolo, and we stood to lose even more if we failed. The timeline as a whole could have been damaged by-”

“Get off your god-damn high-horse!” Joseph suddenly cut him off and stepped forward, jabbing a finger into Bucciarati’s chest and paying no mind to his stand at all. “The timeline’s been fucked up long before any of us even got involved! I’m going around interacting with a younger version of myself, I’ve met my grandfather and uncle when they were both younger than me, and events in my past happened weeks ahead of schedule! Hell, half the people here are supposed to be dead, just like you, but I don’t see you offing yourself to protect Jolyne’s timeline!” He glared at the young capo, his eyes showing no mercy or tolerance for Bucciarati’s words. “I stopped my best friend from running off and getting himself killed because I didn’t want my younger self to live through the same pain that I did. Yeah, sure, I was scared of how it would affect my time line- hell, if Caesar lived I may not have had the resolve needed to win against the Pillar Men and Jotaro may have never been born- but I still chose to save my friend’s life. If any one of you actually considered Polnareff a friend, you’d have done the same ages ago!”

“He’s right.” Jotaro said while glaring at Giorno. “For weeks you’ve all gotten to sit around, share a room, eat, talk, and laugh with Polnareff, all while thinking about how he’d die and not saying a damn thing about it. Now it might be too late and there’s a chance that our Polnareff is dead because you decided to keep your damn secrets and save your own asses. You might as well be accessories to his murder..” He tossed Giorno to the ground roughly before turning his back on him. “Guess you had more of your old man in you then I thought.”

Giorno had started to sit up after being tossed aside, but he froze when he heard Jotaro say those words. “……” He looked back down at the ground, saying nothing, but the way he hung his head spoke volumes to how deeply Jotaro’s words had cut him.

“Let’s go.” Jotaro said while heading towards the exit. “We’re gonna go find Polnareff. The rest of you can do whatever the hell you want, just stay out of our way.”

Kakyoin and the rest of his group followed Jotaro out of the coliseum, leaving behind Giorno’s gang to mull over what just happened.

“…” Abdul was the first to speak once they were outside of the old building. “Do you think that Polnareff..could he actually be..dead..?” He seemed uncomfortable with saying it out loud- hell, all of them were uncomfortable with the idea of it, but they all knew how close Abdul was to Polnareff and they understood his worry for the other man.

“He’ll be around here somewhere.” Jotaro replied after a minute. “One way or another, we’ll find him.” They didn’t come this far, go through all this hell to finally get their group back together, just to lose someone yet again. No matter the cost, they WOULD find Polnareff.

Iggy suddenly stopped and sniffed the air. “???” He walked away from them, sniffing along the ground. His ears perked up and he started barking. “Arf! Arf! Arf!” He looked back at the others before taking off towards the town. (Translation: “I smell something! This way!”)

Jotaro and the others trusted Iggy’s sense of smell and direction, so they followed the small dog into town. It didn’t take long for them to hear the sounds of a fight (things breaking, bodies being tossed about, etc.) coming from a vacant street.

They arrived to see a figure that Jotaro recognized from his fights alongside Giorno’s group: A man with pink hair in a mesh top by the name of Diavolo. This was the mob boss of Passione that Giorno and the others had worked so hard to defeat.

This was also the man they were told would one day kill Polnareff…

“You can’t hide forever!” Diavolo called while looking around, his back currently turned to Jotaro’s group and unaware of their presence yet. “I defeated your worthless stand when it was ten times stronger- this version is nothing against the power of my King Crimson!” He was suddenly blindsided by a wooden crate that was thrown at him from the side while he had his head turned in the opposite direction. “!!” He stumbled slightly but quickly righted himself and attempted to look at the alleyway the box came from, but it was already empty. “Come out already, you cowardly French rat!!”

“I think not, mon ami.” A familiar voice called tauntingly in a way that echoed around the area, making it impossible to pinpoint its exact location. “See, I’ve been warned about what your stand can do and what its range is, so I’m not taking any chances.” To accompany his words, a potted plant was suddenly thrown at Diavolo.

Unfortunately, Diavolo saw it coming that time and was suddenly in a different location than before, the plant now lying broken on the ground where he previously was. “Then your plan is to hide in the darkness and throw things like a child? Pathetic! At least when I fought you before, you had the decency to die like a man!”

“So sorry to disappoint you.” The voice called back. “But I’m not planning on dying today!” Jotaro and the others caught a glint of silver on a roof top before it ducked away again.

“That voice..” Abdul said quietly.

“Yeah..” Kakyoin nodded while looking around. “There’s no doubting it..”

“Looks like we got here just in time.” Jotaro started walking towards Diavolo. “Let’s lend him a hand.”

He gestured for Kakyoin to circle around and get in position at a close enough distance from Diavolo before nodding towards Polnareff’s voice while looking at his grandfather and Abdul, telling them to try finding him. They nodded and ran off quietly to their assigned positions. Meanwhile, Iggy jumped up onto Jotaro’s shoulder, already guessing what Jotaro would want from him and not complaining for once.

Once Kakyoin was in position, he called out his stand and tried using the Hierophant’s tendrils to bind Diavolo. He seemed to know what was about to happen, though, and he was up in the air above where he just was, looking as if he had disappeared and reappeared before they even had time to blink.

He looked at the trio with a scowl. “Damn it..more rats crawling out to cause trouble..”

Jotaro was the one to approach him with Iggy on his shoulder while Kakyoin stayed back, all of them glaring at Diavolo. “Normally I’d ignore something like that and give you an option to back off before using Star Platinum to beat the shit out of you.” He held up his hand that was still clutching the arrow. “But we just found out that you caused some trouble for one of our friends- so we’re gonna skip the warning and go straight to the part where you get your ass kicked!”

Iggy followed his lead perfectly and summoned The Fool behind Diavolo. The stand quickly transformed into a wall of sand that spread outward, blocking Diavolo’s main route for retreat.

Jotaro wasn’t 100% sure what Diavolo’s stand could do, but he had enough information for a vague idea: It was a powerful and close-range stand, meaning that it wouldn’t be able to touch him till he got within at least 5 meters, so he’d have to wait until the last possible moment to strike. It also seemed to have some sort of perception ability, since Diavolo was able to avoid Kakyoin’s binding attack even without being seen. His final bit of information came from what he’d heard about Diavolo’s fight with Giorno- his power was similar to DIO’s in that it affected time.

With all of that in mind, he charged forward with Star Platinum. The stand looked just as angry as its user, both clearly ready to beat the pink haired man to death for what he did to their friend. It let out a loud “ORA ORA ORA ORA!!” when it was close enough to fire off a barrage of punches.

Just as Jotaro predicted, however, the fists missed their target and the man was suddenly a few feet away. He scowled as his back hit the wall of sand behind him, his eyes searching for a way around the barrier but apparently finding none. “Damn it! I don’t have time for this!” He had his stand out now- an angry looking red spirit with a white face and an odd pink growth with a second face on its forehead. “It was a mistake coming here without Giovanna and his group- you left behind the only person ever able to defeat me.” Diavolo said with a sneer. “Without him, even five against one, you won’t be able to touch me!”

“Only five against one?” A voice called out from a distance behind the sand wall. “Wow, that crate must have hit you harder than I thought- you’ve forgotten how to count!”

Jotaro saw something silver begin to pierce through the barrier of sand right behind Diavolo. Diavolo seemed to be aware of it too and looked like he was preparing to dodge it.

Seeing his opportunity, Jotaro activated Star Platinum’s trump card. “Star Platinum: The World!!” There was that familiar, odd feeling of everything freezing around him. He didn’t take the time to dwell on it, though, since his window of opportunity was limited.

He and his stand moved quickly, closing the distance between himself and Diavolo. He grabbed onto Diavolo himself while punching him in one of the legs with Star Platinum.

Time resumed and Jotaro felt Diavolo try to move in his grasp. The silver thing was no longer piercing through the wall of sand, but was now embedded in Diavolo’s side- it was the blade from Silver Chariot’s rapier. Jotaro didn’t even see it move after he let time resume, so that meant that Diavolo must have used his stand’s own ability right after Jotaro did before he even had time to register what happened.

“!!” Diavolo looked at Jotaro, his stand, and the wound in his side with a shocked expression. “Impossible! How-?!”

Jotaro held tight while his stand prepared for a point-blank barrage. “I guess DIO didn’t tell you- he’s not the only one that can stop time.”

“ORA!!” Star Platinum cried while surging forward with a punch aimed right at Diavolo’s face.

“Jotaro! Behind you!” He heard Kakyoin call to him and saw something from the corner of his eye dodging through the tendrils of Kakyoin’s stand.

Before he had time to respond, someone tackled him from behind and grabbed him. “?!”

Surprised, he turned his head to see what looked to be an exact replica of himself grabbing him in the same way that he had grabbed Diavolo. The replica even had the same expression on its face..except..it seemed to have a digital timer on its forehead? What was going on?

The timer on the fake Jotaro’s forehead ran out and it changed shape with a clicking sound similar to a phone hanging up and a weird distorted effect around its body- like looking at the static from a TV set stuck between channels before settling on a proper signal. It revealed itself to be a stand. A humanoid one with a purple and white color scheme and eyes that reminded Jotaro of the speakers on a cassette player.

Taking advantage of Jotaro’s surprise and confusion, the stand in question used the hold it had on Jotaro to toss him away from Diavolo. “!!” The distance forced him to call back Star Platinum and release the wounded man.

“Jotaro!” Kakyoin caught him and Iggy using Hierophant Green and set them down on the ground, keeping his eyes on the duo in front of them and eyeing the new stand cautiously. “Anyone you know?”

“No.” Jotaro said while also eyeing the stand in question.

“Of course you wouldn’t recognize my Moody Blues- you haven’t been to Italy yet.” A voice said from somewhere above them.

“!!” Looking up at a nearby building, they saw someone watching them from the second floor balcony.

Seated casually on the railing and looking down at the fighters below was a man dressed in black with long white hair. He had a dark aura around him, similar to what Kakyoin and many of their other allies had while being controlled by DIO.

Diavolo glared up at the man above him while removing Silver Chariot’s rapier from his still bleeding wound. “You certainly took your time..”

“I do not work for you, Diavolo.” The man stated with a scowl on his painted lips. “The only one I answer to-” He tipped himself forward to fall off of the balcony, the purple stand- presumably his own- catching him and setting him down on the ground in front of it. “-is the one who will cleanse my past.”

“Great, one more headache to deal with..” Jotaro glared at the newcomer disdainfully.

“Jotaro!” They all heard Polnareff’s voice calling from somewhere above them. “Don’t hurt him- he’s with Bucciarati’s gang!”

Jotaro glanced up towards the other man’s voice, narrowing his eyes a bit when he couldn’t see the source up there. “How did he..?” He looked back over to Diavolo and his unwitting accomplice. “Guess it doesn’t matter right now. Think you can handle the new guy on your own?”

He didn’t need to say anything more for Kakyoin to know that Jotaro was talking to him. “His stand’s a bit odd, but nothing I can’t handle.”

“Good.” The taller teen adjusted his hat, his usual serious look on his face as he returned his focus to Diavolo. “Now, let’s try this again.”

In perfect sync, the trio of stand users went on the offensive. Kakyoin attacked the unknown stand user with Hierophant Green, attempting to wrap him up in his stand’s long limbs. With a wave of his hand, though, the stranger’s stand moved in front of him and transformed into a version of Star Platinum with a timer on its head- the imitation stand repeating the barrage of punches that the real one had attempted to use on Diavolo earlier and using the motions to knock away the green tendrils.

Meanwhile, Iggy summoned The Fool behind Diavolo again and created another wall of sand to block his possible exit. With his path blocked off, Jotaro called out Star Platinum and had him use his “Star Finger” attack in an attempt to keep some distance between them. Diavolo’s own stand appeared and, once again, he was able to dodge the attack with ease. He even avoided the spears made of sand that The Fool launched out from the wall behind him, proving too slippery for them to land a clean hit without getting closer.

Preparing himself to do just that, Jotaro noticed something out of the corner of his eye near one of the buildings, something metallic like gleaming silver- Ah.

“Yare yare daze..he always likes to put on a show, doesn’t he?” Jotaro tried to keep his face neutral, eyeing the rapier that had been tossed to the ground by Diavolo’s feet. “Oi, Iggy.” He nodded towards the abandoned blade once the dog was looking at it. “Fetch.”

“Grrrr..hmph..” The slight growl that Iggy gave, accompanied by the shift in his stance, seemed to say “I’m not your pet…but I guess I’ll play along this time.” With a bark, Iggy commanded The Fool to return to its usual form, the animal-like stand grabbing the rapier between its teeth and attempting to dash away with it.

“King Crimson!” Diavolo called his stand and the angry red faced being appeared instantly. It attempted to beat The Fool down with its speed and strength, but was surprised when its fists only broke away sand. “What?! The stand doesn’t just manipulate sand- it’s MADE of sand as well?!” Before he could do anything with his newfound revelation, The Fool moved outside of King Crimson’s range. “Damn it!” His attempts to follow it were impeded by purple vines that suddenly wrapped themselves around his feet. “?!!”

“Hey now, you weren’t thinking of leaving, were ya?” The voice of the vine-stand’s owner asked as he came into view. Joseph smirked at the crime lord, pointing back towards Jotaro. “You haven’t finished playing with my grandson yet!”

“Yare yare..” Jotaro approached Diavolo with Star Platinum at his side. “Jiji, don’t talk about this like I’m a little kid on a playdate.” In his peripheral vision, he could see Magician’s Red assisting Hierophant Green against the other stand user- the fire attacks of Abdul’s stand being much harder for Moody Blues to counter or copy and leaving it wide open for Hierophant Green to tie it up. “If we’re gonna treat it like anything, let’s make it a game.” Once he was within five meters, he had Star Platinum prepare his attack. “How about my stand’s favorite game?” The stand began to surge forward with a punch right on Jotaro’s next word. “TAG.”

“ORA!!” Star Platinum shouted as its fist swung right at Diavolo’s face.

“King Crimson!” As expected, Diavolo used his own stand’s abilities to dodge the attack and slip out of Hermit Purple’s vines. “Your attacks are useless against me! As long as I can see what’s about to happen, my King Crimson is invincible!”

“Oh yeah?” Polnareff’s voice called from above them. “I bet you won’t see THIS coming!”

“!!” Diavolo looked up towards the building, preparing for an attack from above. “You won’t hit me with that tw-”

“Star Platinum: The World!” Jotaro said quietly, activating his stand’s ability and freezing time once more. He moved quickly, getting everything in position before letting time resume.

“-ice!” Diavolo finished his sentence from earlier. As he prepared to dodge, though, he found a wall of sand quickly springing up in front of him again. “When did-?!”

“HORA HORA HORA HORA!!” A familiar cry to the crusaders sounded through the air as a silver rapier swiftly slashed and stabbed into Diavolo multiple times from behind.

“!!!!!” Diavolo gasped, soon coughing up blood from the assault. “Impossible- nothing can escape my Epitaph’s predictions!” He managed to turn his head enough to see Silver Chariot in all its gleaming glory standing behind him. “H..How..?!”

Jotaro pulled his hat down slightly as he explained everything. “Your stand lets you see into the future and jump ahead of it, right? That’s one scary ability..if it didn’t come with such a big weakness.” He looked down into Diavolo’s eyes as he said the other’s weakness aloud. “You can’t see what happens if time is paused. Your stand couldn’t predict it earlier when Star Platinum broke your leg, messing up whatever future you saw where you avoided Silver Chariot’s attack. Then, just now, you couldn’t see me bringing the others closer, throwing off whatever prediction you got before I stopped time.” Star Platinum grabbed Diavolo by his arm, the other too injured now to properly escape again. “Let this be a lesson to you and everyone else you work with..” He glared at Diavolo, looking him right in the eyes with a more intimidating energy than should have been possible for a teenager going up against a mob boss. “Don’t ever challenge us- past, present, or future.”

“ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORAAAA!!!” Star Platinum cried as he delivered a barrage of strikes against the pink haired man that nearly matched Silver Chariot’s earlier attack in speed and precision, all culminating in a fierce uppercut that sent Diavolo flying far into the distance and crashing through several buildings. “ORAAAA!!!!!”

“Très bien, Jotaro!” A voice laughed from behind Silver Chariot. The stand soon disappeared to reveal its owner, Jean-Pierre Polnareff, smiling at his comrades with one of his usual bright grins. “I knew you’d come up with something good in the end!”

Abdul’s face lit up with a smile nearly as bright as the Frenchman’s upon seeing him in the flesh. “Polnareff!” He ran towards the other man, leaving Kakyoin to watch with an understanding smile from where he stood beside his own stand (which had the unnamed and unconscious stand-user tied up securely).

“Abdul! Good to see you too, mon ami-” His greeting was halted when Polnareff found himself being firmly embraced by the Egyptian. “Huh? Abdul??” He looked to his companion in confusion- while he himself was undoubtedly a very physical person and had trouble understanding boundaries at times, Abdul wasn’t usually so forward unless the situation called for it (such as restraining one of them to prevent a violent altercation). “Abdul, what’s going on? I know I disappeared for a bit, but I couldn’t help it! The stupid portal spit me out over here and I tried to find you, but I couldn’t, and then that Diavolo bastard showed up, and-”

“You’re alive..” Abdul said quietly as he clutched to the tall-haired man like he might disappear if he relented his grip in any capacity. “You’re ALIVE…” He repeated, holding on just a little bit tighter.

“Eh?? Of course I’m alive.” Polnareff put one arm around his friend, leaning his head back enough to look him in the eyes. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“After we saw what happened to your stand at the coliseum, we thought something might’ve happened to you.” Joseph explained while walking closer to the rest of the group.

“My stand?” Polnareff still looked confused as he summoned said stand. “Silver Chariot’s fine, what are-?” He stopped and blinked, his eyes going wide as a thought seemingly struck him from out of the blue. “Ohhhh, I get it now!” He patted Abdul twice on the back to make him let go before running off towards one of the buildings. “I’ll be right back!”

“Yare yare, where is he going now?” Jotaro tried to sound annoyed, but, to the others who were familiar with his mannerisms by now, they could see from his posture and the slight upturn of his lips that just barely peeked out from behind his collar that he was just as relieved as the rest of them to find their missing member safe and sound. Turning his attention to Kakyoin and his knocked-out captive, Jotaro walked over to the pair. “So, what do we do with him?”

“Polnareff said he was with Giorno’s group, right?” Joseph joined his grandson in looking over their prisoner. “If that’s the case, he’s probably being controlled like the others were.”

“Which means you could fix him with your piece of the holy corpse.” Abdul suggested.

“True..” Kakyoin looked down at the man being held by his Hierophant with a mild look of disdain that wasn’t necessarily directed at their prisoner. “But it’s not like we owe them anything after what they’ve done.”

“I get where you’re coming from,” Joseph sighed, scratching his head under his hat. “But it’s not like this guy was a part of it.”

Abdul folded his arms and looked to Jotaro. “In the end, the decision is not ours to make. What do you think, Jotaro?”

Jotaro looked down at the unconscious silver haired man as he mentally weighed his options. On the one hand, Kakyoin was right- after the way Giorno and his group had kept secrets from them about Polnareff’s fate and been so willing to potentially kill him earlier, they hadn’t exactly earned any favors from Jotaro. On the other hand, though, his grandfather was also right- whoever this guy was, he hadn’t been a part of any of that and it probably wasn’t fair to punish him for what his team did when he hadn’t even been there for it.

What finally motivated his decision, though, was glancing around to his friends- to Kakyoin, Abdul, and Iggy, who’d all been lost to them at one point and brought back as puppets against their will. In the end, NO ONE deserved that.

With that in mind, Jotaro reached into his jacket, pulled out his piece of the holy corpse, and held it out towards the unconscious man. “If we don’t deal with him now, he’ll just be another pain in the ass later.” Just like usual, the corpse piece glowed and its light dispelled the darkness surrounding the stand user.

“Nhh..” The man in question slowly opened his eyes and looked around in confusion, Kakyoin recalling his stand so the man could get to his feet. “Where am I? Wait…is this…Rome..? How did I..? Ah!” He gasped, his eyes going wide as he recalled something urgent. “That’s right! I have to find Bucciarati!”

“If you’re looking for him, he’s probably still at the coliseum with Giorno and the others.” Kakyoin gestured in the general direction of the aforementioned building.

“!!” The longer haired man finally took notice of the others around him and assumed a defensive position, his stand soon appearing to further protect him. “Who are you and how do you know about Bucciarati and Giorno?”

“We’re..” Jotaro almost said friends, but stopped himself. The title didn’t feel right anymore after what had happened earlier. “On the same side as them.” That answer seemed more accurate.

“And I’m just supposed to trust that you’re telling me the truth?” The man’s defensive stance did not waver even slightly.

“If I may?” Kakyoin cleared his throat to get the suspicious man’s attention before speaking again. “We’ve been forced to spend quite a bit of time with them in a fairly small location, so I’ve picked up a few things: Bucciarati’s favorite movie is ‘The Postman’. Mista has a superstition around the number four that boarders on a phobia. Narancia’s favorite drink is orange juice and he is terrible at basic math for his age. Fugo has stabbed Narancia in the face with a fork before and they both still argue about it. Giorno enjoys music by Jeff Beck-”

“Okay, that’s enough.” The man’s posture finally relaxed. “You convinced me the moment you mentioned Bucciarati’s favorite movie- he only admits that in friendly conversations.” He allowed his stand to disappear for the time being. “My name is Abbacchio. Now, you said Bucciarati and the others were back by the coliseum?”

“That is where we last saw them, yes.” Abdul replied with a shrug. “However, that was quite some time ago.”

“Well, I can just track their movements, even if they did leave.” Abbacchio started to walk in the indicated direction right as Polnareff returned.

The Frenchman ran up to the group, panting to catch his breath while holding something behind his back. “Sorry, I just didn’t want to leave this behind!” He grinned as he began to move his hands. “You’ll never guess what I found here!” He presented the group with something that surprised them all.

“Is that…the turtle?!” Joseph stared at the creature in question with a look of disbelief.

“I thought we left it behind back in Morioh?” Abdul was just as surprised as the others for a change, having no explanation for this bizarre turn of events.

Abbacchio turned back to them when he heard their exclamations, raising an eyebrow. “Coco Jumbo? What’s he doing here if the others are at the coliseum? They wouldn’t leave him behind..”

“Long story.” Polnareff waved off the others’ questions without a second thought before holding the turtle out towards his group expectantly. “You guys have to go inside. Trust me- there’s something you’ll DEFINITELY want to see in there!”

Jotaro eyed the smiling man suspiciously but, after seeing no signs of this being some sort of prank or joke, he reluctantly moved his hand to touch the key on the turtle’s back. “Fine…but call us out if there’s trouble.”

After receiving a nod and a thumbs up from their companion, everyone but Abbacchio and Polnareff moved to touch the turtle’s key (Iggy jumping up and perching on Jotaro’s shoulder so he could be taken inside as well).

The inside of the turtle’s stand was almost exactly as it had been when they left- minus all of the people from before and a slight rearrangement to the location of certain small pieces of furniture. At first, they thought the room was completely empty, and likely would have continued to think so if the sound of the refrigerator behind them opening hadn’t caught their attention.

“Let’s see if I still remember this..” A voice they knew all too well spoke from the same area.

“!!” They turned to look at the only other occupant of the room and they stared in shock at the figure currently pulling drinks out of the fridge.

“One regular cola for Mr.Joestar.” A glass bottle of cola was set down on the coffee table in the middle of the room.

“Hey now..I haven’t gotten so old that my eyes are playing tricks on me, right?!” Joseph rubbed at his eyes to make sure what he was seeing was real, but the image did not change.

“A cherry cola for Kakyoin.” A dark red can was set next to the bottle.

“It’s not your eyes, Mr.Joestar…unless we’re all getting too old…” Kakyoin didn’t take his eyes off of the person at the fridge.

“Small coffee-flavored milk for Iggy.” A carton of the flavored milk was opened and poured into a saucer before being placed on the ground by the table.

“Arroo..?” (Translation: “Who..?”) Iggy made a confused sound before moving closer to sniff the person curiously, his eyes widening as he recognized the scent. “!!” (Translation: “You’re-!!”)

“Iced Americano for Jotaro. You probably haven’t tried this yet, but trust me- you’ll be living off of this by your second year of college.” An iced coffee bottle with the described name was placed by the other drinks on the table.

“……” Jotaro watched the person carefully, torn somewhere between confused and concerned.

“And one green tea for Abdul- sorry it’s cold, I know you prefer it hot, but I don’t have a kettle or tea leaves in here.” A can of green tea joined the other drinks on the tabletop.

Abdul tried to voice the thought they all had on their minds, but it seemed hard for him to get the words out. “You…You’re-”

“Think I’ll stick with a bottle of Perrier this time- can’t beat a classic.” The man at the fridge stood to his full height, giving the others in the room their first complete look at him.

“-Polnareff?!” Abdul finished his exclamation right as the man turned to face them.

He grinned in response to their surprised expressions. “Good to know it really was impossible for you to forget me.”

The person they saw was indeed Jean-Pierre Polnareff, but he was quite different from the one they’d left outside of the turtle: For starters, he had dark bags under his eyes that spoke of many sleepless nights and years’ worth of hardships. One eye in particular looked worse than the other, though, bearing a long scar and a cloudiness that was still recognizable even under the sheer eyepatch he wore. The damage on his face (as well as the artificial fingers he still had like the version outside), was nothing compared to what had become of his legs that were apparently cut off mid-thigh and replaced with prosthetics that, logically, should not allow him to stand at all, let alone with the ease he was demonstrating.

Jotaro was the first one to recover from the shock of seeing Polnareff’s appearance. “You’re the Polnareff that worked with Giorno’s group, aren’t you?”

Polnareff took a seat on the couch while opening his sparkling water. “You’re as sharp as ever, Jotaro- or I guess I should say ‘you’re as sharp as I remember’, huh?” He gestured to the other seats around him after taking a quick swig of his beverage. “Go on, sit, we’ve got a lot to talk about.”

After a moment of unspoken deliberation, the group grabbed their drinks (minus Iggy who sat on the floor by his milk) and sat in the various chairs around the small room. Joseph took one of the armchairs directly across from Polnareff with Jotaro taking one closer to the opposite end of the couch. Kakyoin sat on the far end of the couch next to Jotaro while Abdul opted for the spot directly beside Polnareff.

“What happened to you?” Abdul gave the (now older) man beside him a concerned frown while looking him over from head to toe. “Was this Diavolo’s doing?”

“Ah, so you’ve already heard about all of that, huh? Younger-me was pretty surprised to see all of this, so I’m guessing you just found out about it pretty recently.” Polnareff’s smile faded slightly, giving him a more somber appearance as he began to speak of his own death. “Yeah…this was what happened after my original fight with Diavolo. I survived our first encounter, but he didn’t make it easy for me. After that I went into hiding before I found out about Bucciarati’s group and met them at the coliseum to give them the arrow.”

“You mean this?” Jotaro pulled the arrow they’d received from Silver Chariot Requiem out of his jacket and tossed it over to his older friend.

Polnareff caught the arrow easily with his good hand and looked it over with a melancholy smile. “You got it..I can’t believe it..I told Chariot to make sure you got it, but I didn’t think you’d actually…” He gripped the arrow tightly in his hand, looking down at his reflection in the metal. “I went through so much to keep this thing safe…I thought we’d finally succeeded after Giorno’s group managed to defeat Diavolo…but then I found myself here in this strange alternate version of the world and I could feel Silver Chariot Requiem moving around again, even though Bucciarati already defeated it..”

“Did you really ask them to destroy your stand?” Joseph popped the top off of his cola before continuing. “Weren’t you worried about what would happen to you?”

“My body was already dead by that point…as far as I was concerned, my life was over- I’d accepted it.” Polnareff sighed, waving off the question with his free hand and a shake of his head. “When Silver Chariot first changed into its Requiem form, it ended up switching the souls of everyone in the city- Giorno’s group swapped bodies and I ended up being swapped with this turtle. It’s a bit of a letdown, being stuck in this slow body all the time, but it ended up being a blessing in disguise since it kept me from dying.” He reclined back against the couch, looking up at the red ceiling that let them see the sky outside of the room. “This will probably take some getting used to, but at least I can stick around a bit longer and help Giorno, Mista, and Trish when this is all over.” After a moment of silence that felt awkward and tense, Polnareff looked back at the others and noticed that they all had pensive looks on their faces. “What? Was it something I said?”

Seeing after a moment that no one else was going to fess up, Kakyoin reluctantly bit the bullet and did so himself. “We…may have gotten into a fight with them because of you…”

“Quoi?!” Polnareff blinked twice while looking around the room. “You-You’re serious?”

“Mhm..” Abdul nodded slightly, resting his forehead on his hands with his elbows braced on his knees. “We used our stands on them…I tied up Mista with Magician’s red…Iggy bit Trish’s skirt…Mr.Joestar yelled at Bucciarati…Jotaro punched Giorno in the face…twice…”

“WhaaaaaaaAAAT?!” Polnareff nearly fell off of the couch with a startled sound. “Why would you DO that?! You guys are supposed to be on the same side, right?!”

Joseph cleared his throat, his fingers absentmindedly toying with the cap from his cola. “We thought you- well, the younger you- was dead and the Silver Chariot Requiem in the coliseum was his.”

“……” Polnareff stared at them for a few more minutes before he threw his head back in a hysterical fit of laughter. “Mon dieu! I can’t believe you actually did that!” He wiped away the tears of joy from his eyes, looking at the embarrassed expressions everyone had on their faces with a shit-eating grin. “I can understand Iggy and Jotaro..even Mr.Joestar…but Kakyoin and Abdul, too?!” He held his sides as another bout of laughter overtook him.

Jotaro scowled, pulling his hat down over his eyes to help hide his own embarrassment. “Yare yare…you’re too noisy..”

“Sorry, I’m sorry..” Polnareff gasped for breath, trying to reign in his laughter but keeping the grin on his face. “It’s just…I missed this so much! I missed how you guys would rush to defend each other and all of the bizarre, insane situations we’d find ourselves in. I mean, really: You guys got mad at a mafia group because they knew how I died in the future- which was THEIR past- and you thought that meant the past version of me was dead because my stand- which was already defeated before- showed up in its arrow-powered form…it doesn’t get any more bizarre than that! Who else would I hear a story like that from?” He looked at everyone, the joy in his voice changing to something more tender and caring. “It’s been so long since I got to be in the same room with everyone and laugh like this.” He smiled fondly at Joseph. “Mr.Joestar’s memory’s gotten so bad that he barely remembers who I am half the time…” He smirked at Jotaro. “I still get to see Jotaro pretty often, but Mr.Big-shot-working-dad is too busy between his career and Jolyne to take breaks for very long.” His smile softened as he looked to Abdul and Kakyoin. “And…well…it’s not like I had many other friends left to go to, you know…?” He wiped a few more tears from his eyes, though they didn’t seem like the same joyous ones from before.

“Polnareff..” Abdul gently placed one hand on Polnareff’s shoulder, offering him what small amount of solace and comfort he could.

A sound somewhere between a broken laugh and a sob left the Frenchman’s mouth as he tried to smile more despite the tears that continued to fall. “When younger-me found me…when he told me about what happened at the airport and about all of you coming back to life…I…well, I didn’t THINK I would lie to myself- not about something THAT important..it’s just…I couldn’t believe it…the idea of all of us sitting together, getting to talk, enjoying each other’s company one more time…I didn’t think it would be possible!” He attempted to scrub away his tears using his arm, leaving only the broken smile on his mouth visible. “I’m sorry…I’m happy, it’s just-!”

“Yare yare…” He heard Jotaro’s voice, suddenly sounding much closer than it was a moment ago. “Just shut up already.”

Suddenly, there were multiple hands on his arms and shoulders, along with a distinctive set of tiny dog-paws on his lap.

When he lowered his arm, Polnareff was surprised to see that it was not just Jotaro who had moved closer- everyone else had as well.

They were all holding him in an embrace similar to the one he had once shared with Jotaro and Joseph at the airport when they all said goodbye. Abdul was pressed against his side with one arm wrapped around his back. Kakyoin was beside Abdul with his hand on Polnareff’s forearm. On his other side, Joseph had an arm wrapped around Polnareff’s shoulders. Iggy was standing on his lap with his hind legs while his front legs steadied him against Polnareff’s torso so he could look him in the eyes easier. Lastly, Jotaro was beside his grandfather with one hand firmly gripping Polnareff’s arm.

“…!” Polnareff’s eyes widened at the feeling of the embrace before the tears started up again. He sobbed once, crumbling within the hold of friends he never thought he would see again. “Merci...Merci d'être mes amis.”

None of them needed to know French to know what those words meant, they each just gave Polnareff their usual smiles- however big or small- to let him know that they felt the same way about him.

They all stayed in the room with the future version of Polnareff for as long as they possibly could, knowing that it may very well be the last time he got to see any of them again. When they finally left, he gave them some parting words:

“Thank you…all of you…for both our time together now, as well as the time we spent together back then. I hope younger-me knows not to take the time he has with you for granted- and that he doesn’t make the same stupid mistakes I did when I was his age! He’d better tell you guys how much he cares about each and every one of you and how much he loves the time he’s spending with you because, for me, those months we spent together were the best days of my life. Oh, and TRY to go easy on Giorno and the others, okay? I know you’re mad at them for not saying anything about me, but they lost just as many people fighting Diavolo as we did fighting DIO…so..cut them some slack, okay? For my sake? I’d appreciate it…take care, everyone- of each other, and younger-me too. And…thank you…for being my friends.”

As they exited the turtle, they found themselves back at the entrance to the coliseum. Polnareff had been waiting by the turtle and, before the others could ask what they missed, he put a finger to his lips and gestured for them to follow him.

The Crusaders entered the coliseum together, arriving just in time to see a much needed reunion…

Giorno’s group had stayed in the coliseum, sitting down for a few minutes and taking care of any bruises or scrapes they’d received during their minor scuffles with Silver Chariot Requiem as well as Jotaro’s group.

“Hold still, Giorno.” Mista had improvised an ice-pack for the swelling bruise on Giorno’s face using some cold pieces of metal (softened by Trish and Spice Girl to avoid adding unnecessary pressure) and some spare cloth.

“Thanks, Mista…” Giorno’s eyebrows twitched slightly from the sting of the cooling pack touching his bruised face, but his gloomy expression remained otherwise unchanged as he stared at his hands where they rested on his lap.

“Seriously?” The word was accompanied by the clacking of heeled shoes over dirt and rock. “I rush over here to find you, and you’re all just sitting around licking your wounds?”

“!!!!” The eyes of everyone sitting within the coliseum suddenly snapped up to the figure who had just walked in.

“N…No way..!” Mista stared with wide eyes.

“He’s..!” Trish’s eyes began to mist over with tears, her hands going to her mouth as she gasped.

Fugo looked at the others with a frown. “Hey, didn’t you guys tell me he was-?”

“He was..” Giorno’s eyes remained locked on the new comer. “But…so were Narancia and Bucciarati…”

Bucciarati initially had the same surprised reaction as the others, but his look of shock quickly melted into a relieved, teary-eyed smile. “You’re-”

“ABBACCHIO!!!!!!” Narancia cried as he sprang to his feet, practically sprinting to cover the distance between himself and the older man so that he could throw his arms around him in a bone-crushing hug.

Abbacchio nearly fell over from the force of the tackle, digging his heels into the dirt to just barely remain standing. “Oof!” He began pulling on the back of the boy’s shirt, trying to dislodge him. “Hey, Narancia, you’d better not be wiping your snotty nose on me, you little sh-!”

“You-You-You were dea-ead! We were o-only gone for a few mi-inutes, and-and-a-and when we got back, you were..you were..!!” Narancia sobbed, refusing to let go as if he were afraid Abbacchio may disappear if he did so. “We-We h-ha-a-had to leave you beh-h-hi-ind! I didn’t want t-to, but-but Bucciarati said we h-had to-o-o!”

“……” Abbacchio’s annoyed glare softened slightly and the hand that had been trying to pull the boy away instead patted him on the back. “Alright, alright, I get it..it’s fine. Bucciarati made the right call- it was too dangerous for you to stay there.”

Bucciarati was the next one to walk over, giving the ex-cop a caring look and tender smile that said far more than his mouth did. “Welcome back..Leone.”

Abbacchio returned the look with a slightly softer (well, soft for him, at least) smile of his own. “Sorry I took so long..Bruno.”

The rest of the gang steadily made their way over to their newly revived comrade, happily welcoming him back…except for Giorno.

Giorno’s eyes drifted to the coliseum’s entrance where he saw Jotaro’s group silently observing them. He made his way over to them after quietly placing the make-shift icepack on the ground. “Thank you,” He said once he was close enough, looking up at Jotaro with an expression that was slightly more open than his usual looks. “For bringing him back to us.” He looked out to where his friends were celebrating Abbacchio’s return, a soft smile on his face as he watched the older man try once again to pull Narancia (who had stopped crying as much and begun to laugh while stubbornly clinging to the longer-haired man) off of him. “He was the first casualty in our fight against Diavolo..losing him..was one of the worst things that we went through..” He returned his attention to Jotaro’s group, looking up at Jotaro himself with a slight frown. “You were right about us…we were scared of changing our timeline…we lost Abbacchio, Narancia, Bucciarati, and even Polnareff, all so we could defeat Diavolo and keep him from getting the power of the arrow…each loss broke us more and more, but they all contributed something that ultimately led to Diavolo’s defeat…after everything we lost to get that far, the thought of changing something and having to go through all of that again- to lose everyone and risk losing EVERYTHING to Diavolo with all of our sacrifices meaning NOTHING…it was terrifying to think about.” He bowed his head, no longer meeting the taller teen’s gaze. “That doesn’t excuse what we did..what we hid from Polnareff and risked putting him through..and for that, I am sorry.” His fists clenched at his sides, a barely visible tremor going through his shoulders. “With time, I hope that you may see m- see us in a different light-”

“Yare yare daze..” Jotaro’s annoyed voice cut Giorno’s apology short. “Just shut up already.”

Giorno looked back up at Jotaro with an expression that bordered on pleading. “But, I-!”

“Don’t waste time saying things that don’t need to be said.” Jotaro’s hand came down to rest firmly on Giorno’s shoulder. “We all said things we didn’t need to already…so let’s just keep moving.”

“!!” Giorno understood the unspoken sentiment all too well, and it made the slightest of smiles return to his face. “You’re right…we have far too much to do to dwell on the past.”

“Exactly. Now come on, we’ve still got work to do.” Jotaro gave the shorter boy a slight smile of his own, letting go of his shoulder and heading inside the coliseum with the rest of his friends.

There was still a lot that needed to be done. Bridges to mend. Wounds to heal. But, in the end, if there was one thing that both sides could come to an understanding on, it was the hardship of losing cherished friends and comrades due to tragic and bizarre circumstances beyond their control.

Perhaps that understanding would be enough to bring them together- just as it always seemed to bring the Joestars and their allies together in the end.

End Notes: So, this idea was one that my sister and I came up while eating at a sushi buffet one day. I love the Eyes of Heaven game and have probably played through the story at least 5 times. While we were eating, we talked about how the different stages you could fight in were different in the story mode versus the regular modes and how they had more interactive elements outside of the story mode. On that topic, we talked about how the coliseum had both Silver Chariot Requiem and Polnareff’s soul in the turtle body present, and how messed up it would be if the stardust crusaders (among other characters) could react to that sort of thing- thus this premise was born!

I also decided to add Abbacchio because he does technically appear in the picture alongside the rest of Passione in their little “Happy Ending” universe picture, but he was tragically one of the characters that got cut from the game in its early stages because, according to my sister, they couldn’t figure out what to do with him mechanics-wise. Which is a shame because I would’ve loved to see the entire gang reunited, so I added him in here for that reason alone x3

[feuilly-cakes]

Eclipse - 3* Review

Alright, so, this book dragged on. Lots happened, but in my opinion it should have been split up, perhaps pre-graduation and post-graduation. I couldn't tell you what order most things happened, whether half the scenes were necessary, or whether I really enjoyed most of the book, because it was just so long. I can say I didn't hate it, and though I was wishing for it to be over by page 400 I knew certain points that were upcoming that had to happen first, so I used them as little goals to reach. For a first time reader I'm not sure how well the length of this would go down as the plot is a bit repetitive, with Bella running off to La Push, going back home, running off to La Push again, running off home, and arguing with Edward, arguing with Jacob, arguing with Alice, arguing with Charlie, arguing with herself... I'm simplifying of course, but it was really a bit long. Despite all this repetitiveness there was growth. This book was mostly about wrapping up old plot-lines and Bella working through her complicated emotions around being changed into a vampire and giving up her human life. Spoilers from this point on. Bella, in this book, has discovered she's not ready to be a vampire yet. Amongst being targeted by unknown vampire threats and her complicated relationship with Jacob, she feels "unease" at her impending deadline, only a few weeks away, after graduation. Edward, bless him, is really trying to convince her to go to college even for a year to give her time to make up her mind fully, but she's having none of it, while also having very real terror at the realisation that she will be leaving everything and everyone behind after graduation, only a week away at this point, to become someone bloodthirsty and wild. Emmett and Jasper have been taking bets on her body count, the news of crazed newborn vampires on a killing spree in Seattle has reached her ears, and she is Panicked. Adding to this, Edward wants her to marry him before he will personally change her, and later add the condition that he will only sleep with her as a human if they are married first. So she's not ready for marriage, not quite ready for vampirism, and her best friend Jacob is being mean about it all. It takes her nearly 400 pages to work through these feelings, and I greatly appreciated her arc in this book. It's very realistic to have these emotions right before massive life changes like marriage or eternal life as a creature of the night. When she is finally ready, she's ready for everything. Another aspect of Bella's story is her new knowledge of her selfish actions regarding Edward and Jacob and even Charlie. She feels very guilty about keeping Jacob around when she's chosen Edward, for both of their sakes, and also for threatening to move out every time Charlie is unnecessarily antagonistic towards Edward. It's a big step up from the last book, where she was constantly behaving badly, though she never acknowledges that Jessica is against her because of her own actions putting them both in extreme danger. Some Vampire things, including Edward, because he didn't really stand out much. -On Edward: He was pretty much obsessed with the idea of being a soldier when he was human. He said he was "too eager to be a soldier" for love. Edward is once more coded as Demisexual, obviously unintentionally, but I'm sticking by this one. He "wasn't the least bit interested" in Rosalie, when everyone else was, and in Rosalie's words, someone who has known him for 70-ish years: "he never wanted anyone" and "never showed the slightest preference" when meeting the beautiful Denali sisters. I will die on this hill. Edward tells Bella he actually wants her to be a vampire "more than anything" but feels that he's being selfish and so denies that wish, hence his being so against it. - Bella feels relief when Edward touches her, "as if [she'd] been in pain and that pain had suddenly ceased." This is either a Bella thing or a vampire thing, and one is more interesting than the other. - Jasper feels gratitude towards the Volturi for their part in keeping the Southern Vampire Wars in check. Bella doesn't understand how he could see them as the good guys, but there's definitely a middle ground to be seen. - Victoria has a babyish voice, "the kind of voice that went with blonde curls and pink bubble gum" and I still can't compute this information. - On Rosalie: She, like Bella, knew the Cullens as a human. She said she "never liked Dr. Cullen or his wife and her brother" because they were all more beautiful than her. She isn't actually that vain in current day, as after what happened to her she "began to blame the beauty for what happened" and wished she looked normal and not beautiful. As far as victim blaming, this isn't really the best point of view, but she goes on to describe how she murdered her attackers. It's still a harmful mentality to be sharing with a teen audience though. After explaining her history and her full reasoning for her dislike of Bella in the beginning and the reason for not wanting her to become a vampire, she apologises for her behaviour and they share a smile. Bella knows they aren't friends yet but they are on their way to not being against each other. It's a good moment of development that I missed in all my previous times reading. Onto the main differences to the films. - The terms of Bella's grounding are different. She must go home straight after school and work, but Edward is allowed over for a certain amount of time in the evenings. - After the Florida trip, Jacob calls Bella's house to check in on her and see if she would be at school the next day. Bella assumes it's to check she's still human. Jacob was checking to see if Edward would be there to talk to him about the treaty in a public area. Bella never gets on his motorbike. She goes to class and has a bizarre conversation with Edward. Her actual first trip to La Push happens a different day, as a split second decision after losing a shift at work, and she drives herself down quickly to avoid being caught by Alice. - The motorbike scene takes place on another day, with Alice as the vampire instead of Edward. Alice has kidnapped Bella to prevent her going to see Jacob when they made plans. At school he turns up and she bolts with him, then later has a fight with him and rides herself on her own motorbike back to Alice. She does take the bike back, after she makes up with Jacob, Edward buys his own motorbike and Bella realises that's weird, and Edward gives her a helmet and jacket so she can ride back on her own with him following for protection to the treaty line. - Jasper tells Bella his story at the Cullen house, in front of everyone, and explains the history of the Southern Vampire Wars in detail. - After getting back from the fight, Bella gets the story from Charlie's point of view. He heard howling, Billy was acting weird all day long, like he knew Jacob would get hurt, and when he was at Billy's he heard a wolf yowling in pain right outside, only for that to stop when Jacob starts swearing up a storm as he is carried inside. Charlie remains oblivious. There were several instances of creepy/gross behaviour, offensive language, uncomfortable situations, and straight up disgusting behaviour that I noticed. I should just call this Red Flags at this point. Let me count the ways, in chronological order. 1. Edward displays some creepy and controlling behaviour when Bella decides to go see Jacob and gets to her truck only to find Edward there and the truck missing a vital part. He refuses to allow her to go to La Push. Throw the whole man out. 2. One of Bella's school friends calls Jacob "the big Indian". 3. "You're kidnapping me, aren't you?"Edward bribes Alice into kidnapping Bella and guilting her into going along with her plans. 4. The bonfire scene. Stephenie Meyer made up those legends entirely, which begs the question: why not make up a whole new group of people to be werewolves instead of bastardising the belief system of a real group of people? 5. Jacob assaults Bella. He kisses her against her will and acts like he hasn't done wrong even after she punches him and makes it clear he's done something terrible. Trash. 6. In response to this information Charlie, a police officer and Bella's father congratulates Jacob and takes his side. He praises him for assaulting his daughter. ACAB. That's all I can say. 7. If the previous incident isn't enough, Jacob later threatens suicide to make Bella kiss him. For clarity: he threatens to kill himself to manipulate Bella into kissing him, then when he doesn't like the kiss he does it again to get a more enjoyable one. Kill it with fire, you disgusting future r*pist. I hate him here. Considering at the beginning he was defending Bella's right to choose and to know everything that happens that could endanger her, these vile actions are a huge departure from his character, and I don't know how we are supposed to believe the idea that he can go back to being the good, friendly Jacob who would never ever hurt Bella. None of that should have happened, and it was pure laziness that there wasn't a more believable reason to make them kiss instead of an assault and emotional abuse. It makes me so angry because when I hated Edward in New Moon his actions were actually in-character for him and made sense, but these efforts to make us hate Jacob and then forgive him are so out of character that its clear how Stephenie Meyer wanted the story to go, and she did a bad job of it. To end on a less angry note, let me slip in these little tidbits. Sam feels "betrayed" that Bella let the Cullens back into her life after they hurt her, and that information makes me want to know even more what went down at La Push in New Moon. Who was she close too? How close? Did Sam become friends with her or does he really know her through Jacob's memories? Also, Edward's been dropping hints about the Pack not being normal werewolves, so there's a bit of foreshadowing for Breaking Dawn.

[incomingalbatross]

Fic: Guiding Light

@foundfamilybingo fill (very belated) for the “Lost/Stranded” square, in the Gravity Falls fandom!

@awesomebutunpractical, this is for you. Thank you for waiting, and for generally being the fun and friendly Tumblr presence/mutual that you always are. It is late and I am tired right now, but I hope you like this fic. :)

Characters: Stan Pines, Soos Ramirez, Abuelita Ramirez Warnings/Pairings/Ratings: None, none, gen Length: approximately 2k words

Stan had given Soos the week off and now he was starting to wonder why.

Sure, it was the kid’s first week of high school or whatever, and sure this was always a slack week in the tourist trade and maybe he didn’t need another pair of hands, but geez. He hadn’t thought about the fact that what’s-his-name, the latest cashier kid, would be leaving too. What, was he supposed to do everything by himself around here?

Ugh, fine, whatever. He might as well close up and get some work done downstairs—at least he didn’t have any kids hanging around underfoot, getting in his way, right?

See, if things had gone the way he’d maybe kinda assumed they would, with Soos showing up whether he was paid or not to babble about his new High School Experience and generally occupy Stan’s space for hours…well, Stan wouldn’t be getting anything important done, would he? No.

So yeah, it was a good thing that it seemed like the kid might’ve finally wised up—here it was late Tuesday, after all, and Stan hadn’t seen a trace of him since Saturday, which was practically a record.

Maybe, Stan thought… Maybe after three years of this kid underfoot, being weirdly obsessed with Stan and the Shack, high school would be the thing that finally sent life back to the status quo. With Soos moving on to whatever teenagers did nowadays, and Stan in the basement, uninterrupted again.

Good.

Stan was just turning to the vending machine, still grumbling under his breath, when the phone rang. Ugh, after eight o’clock? What was it, a vampire telemarketer?

“Hello,” he barked into the receiver.

“Mr. Pines,” a quiet, softly-accented voice responded, “would you send my boy home? It is getting late, and he will need to be up early for his new school tomorrow.”

Stan grimaced, surprised and vaguely offended. “What? I mean, maybe if I had him, but I haven’t even seen Soos today. I toldja I’d give him the week off!”

There was a slight pause from Soos’s grandma. “He has not been at the Shack today?” she repeated.

“No…” Stan’s gut was starting to catch up with his ears, now, and that wasn’t a good feeling at all. “Wait,” he said. “When did you last see him?”

There was a sigh from the other end of the phone—a worried sigh. He’d never heard Soos’s Abuelita sound worried before. “This morning, before school. He texted me after school that he would be late home—I have given him a phone now, he is a big boy—and said then that he would be visiting your Shack.”

“He hasn’t shown up that I noticed,” Stan said slowly. “But…if he has a phone, why call me?”

“He has not been answering,” Abuelita said, and the bad feeling in Stan’s gut solidified into a block of ice, cold and heavy.

This was Gravity Falls. And the kid had gone missing. That was a bad, bad combination

“I’ll, uh, I’ll look around,” he said quickly. “I mean, maybe he’s just outside, or wandered in here while I wasn’t lookin’, or something. I’ll find him—I mean, it’s Soos. Where would he have gone?”

There were a lot of bad answers to that question, he knew—“gone” and “gone willingly” were very different things. But he shoved that knowledge deep, deep down, where it could panic by itself and not distract him.

From the hum Abuelita gave in response, she wasn’t much more reassured than Stan. But all she said was, “Thank you, Mr. Pines. Please make sure he gets home when you find him,” and her voice when she said it was a bit closer to its usual untroubled calm.

“Yeah, sure,” he began, but she had already hung up.

He dropped the phone and ran his hands over his face. “Okay, think, Stan,” he said to himself. “It’s Soos, he’s got some weird thing against lyin’ at all, let alone to his grandma. So if he said he was on his way here, somethin’ must’ve happened on the way…”

But that was too wide an area. It could’ve been at school—second day would be pretty early for the “lock ‘em up and leave ‘em” level of bullying, but heck, it wasn’t like Stan hadn’t seen it before. (Though that target had never been alone at school…) It could’ve been in town.

It could’ve been in the woods, and that thought made his gut twist more than anything. He told Soos the woods weren’t safe, but if the kid tried to take a shortcut or something…

He shook his head. “I can’t do this alone,” he muttered, and turned back to the vending machine.

—

There was a spell, in Ford’s dumb journal. Well, there were more than a few spells, most of them either bizarrely useless or straight-up dangerous, but this one had been…special.

A spell to “trace the threads binding your heart to others,” his brother’s stupid fancy handwriting read. When tested, it produced several strands of light emitting from my chest outward, in various directions, until out of my sight. And then he went on about the colors of the lights, because he was a nerd.

A warning, however! The entry concluded. This spell lasted only an hour (it was somewhat annoying to constantly have invisible-to-others lights around me during that period, honestly!), and once it broke I was unable to recast it. There may be a time limit in which it needs to “recharge,” it may be once per user, or there may be another component required for repeated use of which I am unaware. In any case, this is something to be aware of. (Although it is a largely useless spell, so I don’t foresee that being much of an issue.)

Stan gritted his teeth, reading over the instructions one more time. He could’ve tried it before—he’d thought about trying it before—but, well. There were a whole lotta factors that could keep Ford’s “thread” or whatever showing up for him, even if it worked, and if it did what good would it do him? He knew where Ford was, or at least how to get there. No point using something that might not even work to check that he was out there. (If he weren’t Stan would know, anyway.)

But he’d always kept it in the back of his mind, anyway, just in case. In case it became useful…or in case, one day, he just needed to try for evidence the Ford was still out there, that they were still connected.

He only got to use it once, after all.

“Well,” he muttered now, slamming the book shut, “here goes nothin’, Soos. This better work.”

He shut his eyes and chanted the weird gibberish words Ford had written down (seriously, how was this magic? He could make up better magic-sounding words than that). Then, cautiously, he cracked his eyelids open again.

“…Oh, wow.”

There was a whole tangle of multicolored lights coming from his chest, enough that it took him a minute to sort through them. He didn’t look long at any of them, though, mind focused on Soos.

There was a cluster of strings all stretching off in the same direction (towards town, he figured after a second), two bright red-and-purple strands dancing around each other and zooming south next to a couple fainter multicolored ones, a quieter but colorful string stretching east, and…

Oh yeah. That one was definitely Soos.

Stan couldn’t have said how he knew this one—almost the brightest one there, woven out of red and purple and yellow all mixed with traces of blue—was Soos’s. He just felt it, as soon as he focused on it; it felt like Soos, somehow, warm and confusing but good. Important.

Time to follow the trail, then.

—

In the end, with the help of these ridiculous magic lights, it was almost too easy. “Almost,” because Stan would never, ever complain about an easy win if he could get it, and also because he knew how bad the things that could’ve happened were. But still. It was a little anticlimactic to just follow the string to Soos and then find him actually sleeping against a tree in the middle of the woods.

Stan just stopped and stared at him, for a minute, because really? Here was Stan, charging to his rescue in the middle of the night (okay, okay, nine PM, whatever), when it wasn’t even a work day, and what kinda welcome did he get? A sleeping teenager!

He looked okay, though, so that was good. And the rope of light between him and Stan looked…kinda cool, maybe, now that Stan could see both ends. It disappeared into Soos’s chest, just like on Stan’s end, but the colors changed when they reached the kid. On his end, there was still red and yellow, but the purple gave way to green and there was a lot more blue there. Weird.

Eh, whatever.

“Soos, hey, wake up, kid,” he said, crouching down. He was tempted to yell it, just for entertainment points, but after dark in these woods that was probably not a good idea. Instead, he reached out a hand to shake the boy’s shoulder. “C’mon, time to go.”

Soos blinked his eyes open immediately, looking up at him with those stupid starry eyes Stan had always thought kids were supposed to grow out of. “Mr. Pines!” he cheered, throwing himself at Stan. “I got lost but I knew you’d find me!”

“Oof,” Stan grunted, falling back under the kid’s weight as he caught him. “Yeah, sure, kid, I only gave you a week off, not forever. What’re you doin’ in the woods anyway? Talk about a dumb idea…”

Soos shrugged, arms tightening around Stan. “I, uh, I don’t really know, Mr. Pines,” he said, sounding guilty. “I was on my way to the Shack, cause I wanted to tell you how high school was, but…then I heard singing?” He sniffled. “And I know you always say not to go into the woods, but the singing was really pretty and I wanted to get closer, and then I met these people and they were really cool-looking and I think they said there was a party? But, um, I don’t really remember that part too well. I just remember walking in the woods with them and feeling sleepy, but then they stopped? And they were all, like, yelling at each other about somebody being, like, ‘marked by the Great Protector’ or something, and then they left. And then I realized I was lost in the woods, but Abuelita always said when I was little that if I was lost I should stay where I was and wait for somebody to find me. So I sat down to wait, and then I was still tired so I guess I fell asleep.”

He paused, and then sniffled again. “I’m really sorry, Mr. Pines, that you had to come looking for me,” he said dolefully. “I was really proud of being in high school now and being, like, mature and stuff…but then I went and Hung Out With Strangers and tried to go to a Strange Party and I’m really sorry! Am I…Are you gonna fire me? Or make me take extra time off work?”

“Moses, kid, of course I’m not gonna fire you,” Stan blurted out. Freakin’ wood folk, thinking they could take his kid… He didn’t know what they thought they were talking about with that “marked by the ‘Great Protector’” stuff, because Soos wasn’t marked by anybody, but they were lucky they’d run off before Stan got to them.

“I might make you come back to work early,” he added, “so you don’t have time to do stupid stuff. But…eh, you’re not dumb. You know the drill, right? You made a mistake, big deal. Learn from it and don’t do it again, capisce?”

Soos hugged him again, and okay, they were approaching a limit here. “Got it, Mr. Pines, sir!” he exclaimed, almost bouncing, and Stan groaned as he got back to his feet. Kid was too enthusiastic to live with, seriously.

“Yeah, okay, good,” he muttered, pulling the teenager up. “Let’ get you home then. Oh, and Soos?”

“Yes, Mr. Pines?”

He fixed him with a raised eyebrow. “Whatever you think you saw or heard out here, that’s the kinda stuff that’ll make people think you’re crazy if you talk about it. Got it?”

Soos nodded earnestly. “I got it, Mr. Pines. I won’t talk about it to anyone, even the guys at school!”

“Oh yeah? You made friends with any one those guys yet?”

And they began trudging home, Soos happily rambling about his new school experience. And if the lights winked out, finally, just as Stan refocused on them in search of Ford’s, before he could settle whether it was there or not…

Well, that was okay for now, he figured. He’d used the spell for something else important, in the end.

[lorem-text]

Fantastic Cryptids and Where to Find Them

 Maria and John called earlier today, waking me up an hour before my alarm was set to go off, to let me know that today is officially Self-Indulgence Friday. And at Night Owl, what that means is today we each make a post -be it a recording, a video, or, in my case, an article- related to something we like.

If you go to Maria’s blog, you’ll see a beautifully edited montage of her hiking to the locations for her photoshoots. Likewise, John has uploaded a recording of himself reading Hard in Hightown in his best Varric impression, which is honestly on point.

For my part, I decided to indulge in one of my oldest and most persistent interests: Cryptids.

Now, I know that most cryptids are no more than embellished myth spread by word of mouth and the chances of ‘known’ cryptids existing are infinitesimal, but I’ve always been fascinated by the stories people come up with for them and the environments that inspired them.

So, based on years of recreational research and an evening spent meticulously rating every cryptid I could find based on story, context, appearance, realism, and a number of other factors, I give you my top favourite cryptids, in no particular order.

The Bloop

The Bloop is a powerful, ultra-low-frequency underwater sound of uncertain origin detected by the NOAA (National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration) in 1997 in the South Pacific. Earlier speculations attribute the sound to a very large, still undiscovered, marine mammal. It was later noted, however, that not all animals make sounds proportionate to their size, like the pistol shrimp which is only a few centimeters long but can make sounds as loud as a jet engine.

Regardless of its actual appearance, that creature has been named ‘Bloop’ after the sound.

I said before that the chances of any of these cryptids existing are infinitesimal, but the Bloop is an interesting case, because its existence has not been disqualified by the scientific community.

Since the sound was first detected, many have tried to make sense of it and various theories have risen in the scientific community.

In 2012, the NOAA determined that the sound is “consistent” with noises generated via non-tectonic cryoseisms originating from glacial movements such as ice calving, or an icequake; seabed gouging by ice. However, confirmation of this theory was not possible.

Another suggested scenario, first suggested in 2014, is that the sound was caused by an erupting underwater volcano, but many have argued that a volcano is unlikely to have produced such an odd frequency.

Still, regardless of whether the Bloop is a living creature or ice breaking off of the Antarctic ice shelf, it’s spurred the imagination of many people and will likely continue to do so for many years to come.

Camazotz

With its first modern sighting in 2004 and the latest in 2009 in Mexico, the Camazotz is another curious case as there’s evidence supporting its existence all the way up to the Mayan era, where the firth myths of it originate.

Let me explain.

The “snatch bat” or “death bat” of Mayan legend. It was supposedly a giant bat which attacked human beings and other large animals, drinking the blood. it was also known as the “sudden bloodletter”. Fossils of Desmodus draculae, the giant vampire bat, support these legends. There have also been skeletons of Desmodus draculae found which were sub-fossil, of very recent age. These suggest that the bat was still common when the Mayans were around, and some believe a few specimens may still exist today, explaining the sightings.

But that’s just a theory; a cryptid theory.

Mothman

No cryptid list is complete without the iconic Mothman, who swooped in near West Virginia one cold autumn night in 1966.

On November 12, 1966, near Clendenin West Virginia, five men were in a cemetery preparing a grave for a burial when they saw something they couldn’t explain. Lifting off from the nearby trees was a brown winged creature, cloaked in shadows. When questioned about their experience, the men held to the fact that what lifted off beyond the trees was no bird it was humanoid.

The state of West Virginia has had its fair share of strange and inexplicable events throughout the years, such as the visitation of the Flatwoods Monster and the mysterious case of Indrid Cold, but none have marked it quite as much as the Mothman.

The Jersey Devil

Another classic, the Jersey Devil has been a hit in cryptid circles for actual centuries.

With its first reported sightings all the way back in the 1700s and continuing on until the past decade, the Jersey Devil is deeply rooted in folklore and legend in the area of Pine Barrens in New Jersey, and is still found in various media, from sports teams to video games.

What makes the Jersey Devil interesting is the variation in its sightings; by putting the Jersey Devil on this list I could essentially use it as an umbrella term for a variety of cryptids.

But, let me explain what I mean by that.

Originally, the Jersey Devil was originally described as having hooves, a snake’s tail, bat wings, and a head vaguely resembling a horse. Essentially, it was a chimera. However, the Jersey Devil of modern sightings is a bunch of different things. The name has been applied to cryptids that somewhat resemble the original Jersey Devil, but throughout the years it has also been applied to nearly every New Jersey cryptid imaginable, from hairy humanoids that resemble Bigfoot, to mystery birds, and even Eastern cougars. One popular modern interpretation of the Jersey Devil often seen in movies and video games, such as The Wolf Among Us, describes the creature as a hairy humanoid with black dur, a deer’s head, and glowing red eyes.

Unfortunately for anyone hoping to discover the truth behind the illustrious cryptid, a number of well-publicized -but not very convincing- hoaxes have managed to complicate the matter even more, scaring researchers away from the topic.

Loch Ness Monster, aka Nessie

Okay, I know I said this list had no particular order, but I couldn’t resist leaving my favourite for last.

The Loch Ness monster, also known by the nickname Nessie, is probably the creature that most often leaps to mind when people think about cryptids or cryptozoology. Nessie is virtually a symbol of cryptozoology. This creature has probably been the object of more sustained media attention than any other individual type of cryptid, with the possible exception of the Sasquatch and some less traditional cryptids such as the infamous Grey Aliens.

First sighted somewhere around 565 AD (yes, you read that right) with the first serious wave of modern sightings coming in the 1930s, Nessie has been a part of Scotland’s folklore for as long as the mythical water dragons and kelpies said to reside in Loch Ness.

Although older legends were much more variable in regards to Nessie’s appearance, modern accounts describe a creature with sleek, rubbery black-ish gray skin, approximately twenty feet long and a serpentine body with humps along its length, and one or more sets of paddles. Nessie’s head is typically described as either roughly horse-shaped or smaller and rounded like a turtles, with some witnesses reporting small horns or a crest and a straggly mane running down the creature’s neck.

Now, onto the theories!

Starting with the most bizarre, some more untraditional theories suggest Nessie comes from some type of space-time anomaly, causing a plesiosaur, bassilosaurus, or some even say sauropod to be transported to the modern day. Taking second place in the ‘bizarre theory’ list, some self-proclaimed cryptozoologists suggest genetic experiments and mutations.

However, any theories suggesting that Nessie is -or is related to- a plesiosaur or some other type of dinosaur were officially discredited last year, in September 2019, when a group of scientists tried to catalogue all living species in the loch by extracting DN from water samples.

Following analysis, the scientists have ruled out the presence of large fish, such as a sturgeon, or prehistoric reptiles. Suggestions that catfish or a wandering Greenland shark may be behind the sightings were also discounted.

They did however discover another type of DNA in the loch that may solve the mystery behind Nessie; eel DNA. Eels are very plentiful in Loch Ness, with eel DNA found in pretty much in every location sampled. According to Prof Neil Gemmell, a geneticist from the University of Otago who was involved in the study, the sheer quantity of the material suggests that what people see and believe to be the Loch Ness Monster might actually be a giant eel.

Even so, the most prevailing theories at the moment are that any sightings of the Loch Ness Monster are actually surfacing trees, mountainous reflections, the results of seismic activity, or even swimming elephants form travelling circuses which were popular in the 1930s, when most of the Nessie sightings were recorded.

Still, there are countless less popular theories surrounding the sightings to add to the more widespread ones. In the end, we may never truly know what Nessie really is, but it’s certainly fun to speculate.

Eliot Wilde, journalist and writer for Night Owl and host of Night Owl FM

[queensdivas]

A Damned Soul Chapter 2 (A Gwil Fan Fic)

It’s all coming together! WHOOP WHOOP! If you would like to be tagged please let me know! If you got requests on one of the Bohrap boys or the dads! Please feel free to request! I hope you all enjoy because holy shit this is getting fun to write! 

@mexifangorl @leah-halliwell92 @bonafiderocketqueen @i-live-for-queen @its-funny-til-its-not @b-i-g-i-r-l-b-i @teathymewithben @mayofbrian @brianmydear @i-live-for-queen 

Previous Chapter 

Next chapter

Masterlist 

He viewed the world as the first cinematograph when he would be walking around this mortal world. The people in constant motion, the quality of viewing, and even trying to add the old piano music along for the ride. It was the only thing that was keeping him sane before walking into a church to drown himself in holy water. 

Fixing his black gloves as the coat man took his cloak off the from the hanger. He placed his dark purple hat on top of his head then prepared himself for the walk out to start his day. Breakfast was on his mind Walking out to the cool evening as the world changed into the fast moving of what he saw. 

Till his eyes drifted to her..is when the reality of how the world looks would come back to his sight. Hundreds of times he’s witnessed this moment...words still manage to fall short in this instance. It was how she carried herself around the world when he would see her. Always walking with a destination to go..strong footsteps..not light like some kind of fae.

To him..she was an absolute Goddess…

She walked down the street with a basket full of pastries to take home with her which I’m assuming was her little herb shop down the street from my home. Till a bum came running behind her, pushing her down and snatching her basket. 

“Thank you for the free pastries! You bitch!” He screamed as I held my cane up to hit him on his leg, collapsing before me and basically rolling all over the sidewalk in pain. Grabbing the basket from the ground as she dusted off her dress then smiling as I handed her basket back to her. 

“Ummm..thank you Sir Lee.” Her eyes always looked down when we would first come into contact. But never doing the lifting of the chin so we could meet. It was seeing her standing before me in embarrassment or even humility. 

The sunset was causing a little sunburned was beginning form which was time for me to get into the next building. Tipping my hat to her as I moved swiftly past her but her eyes lingering as they always do after we first meet.. 

“Wait..Sir Lee..if it’s not too much of a burden..may I ask… Oh never mind you look like in a hurry.” 

“No please..your want is my command.” She gulped as she hid her face again from me..I don’t mean to frighten her. Just these precious moments seem to fly by so damn quickly. 

“I know it’s not far..but will you please walk me home..if it’s out of your way then never mind. Oh never mind you’re too busy!” She scurried off before I could even give her my answer..which will always be yes.... 

When it comes to the sunlight and vampires. It is your enemy yes..but you won’t burst into a pile ashes with being in it. Eventually they become a little resistant to it so going outside to the world with the sun won't kill them. It’ll hurt a little bit at first so basically it’s like they’re getting a very bad sunburn. Luckily for Gwil. He’d been alive since the 7th century so the sun hadn’t been a major issue to keep himself alive. Still hurts after a little bit. 

In his bright red 63’ Corvette Stingray which stuck out like a sore thumb, traveling up along the coast in the strong winds of the night traveling along with him. He was determined that this would be the last time..or would just stay outside on the sunniest day of the year.

Parking at the cottage as the sun was already setting creating a gorgeous orange backdrop of what he would be viewing for when he wakes up from his slumber. The realtor came out of the cottage with her perky smile on her face and a large yellow folder for all the paperwork he has to sign. 

“Mr. Lee! It’s truly a pleasure doing business with you!” She shook my hand with her eyes trailing up and down my body. I can’t tell you how many damn times these women just keep staring at me like I’m some sort of eye candy to them. Quite revolting.

“Now you’re more than welcome to walk around to see how the movers got everything put together and ready to go.” This isn’t the first home I’ve had to buy over the millennials. Usually my home has been a castle, some large mansion, and large flat on a square. 

Sitting on top of the hill the cottage sat that was a pearl white color but was also a little into the hill so the top would be covered in grass. Keeps a nice natural temperature for the house. My new home was a little smaller than most of the grand places I’ve lived before. As in it’s not a castle, a mansion, or even large flat on the square. It had a living room, a bedroom that is pitch black..for obvious reasons. No kitchen which makes the living room much larger. Then of course a bathroom. 

“Now regarding the whole no kitchen. I can always expand the cottage for some room for a tiny little kitc.

“No kitchen needed. I plan on doing most of my cooking outside so to enjoy the view.” Lying to her as she nodded then placed the paperwork I needed to finish signing on the living room table. Scribbling down my signature on the lines so I could get this woman out of my hair. I’ve got things to start working on before tomorrow evening when she should be shopping for the catch of the day. 

“Please doing business with you mam and I hope we can do business again.” Practically shoving her out of the cottage then locking the door tightly. Might as well get some rest before I go grab some dinner.

The curtains were shut all over the living room of the cottage as I walked over to the record player. Usually some very light chants get me to fall asleep after a move such as this. Pressing the play button as the house was beginning to fill with beautiful music. 

IF it’s one thing I miss about the 13th century was the vast amount of chants that were sung all Sundays. Thought entering a church would practically be a death sentence for myself..walking by them in the early mornings after a night of hunting was always pleasurable. 

Entering into the bedroom to see a very large cat sitting in the middle of my bed. His tail softly moving on top of the covers, those very yellow green eyes were staring directly at me..as if he was planning on pouncing at any moment. Cats in this world are very interesting. The whole “cats have nine lives” is very real and to the point some cats have been with me for a very long time...all annoying with their meows and purs. 

“Look. As much as I love cats and all the so called happiness you bring to this world. I would prefer not to have you in my home. So c’mon.” Standing at the edge of the bed but he wasn’t moving an inch..stubborn feline! 

“Alright then you stubborn feline.” My hands reaching down to him as he began squinting at me. 

“Call me a feline again..I dare you ya bloody blood sucker!” Did...did he just talk…? That’s so damn impossible! I must be tired and a little bit of a headache most likely because I’m hungry! 

“Shocked to see a feline talking to you?” 

“HOLY SHIT!” Falling to the floor as I backed myself to the dresser! Stopping so that he wouldn’t pounce at me to scratch my eyes out!

“How the!?! What the!?” 

“Your really going to question why I’m talking? We live in a world with vampires, witches, and other mythical creatures. Is a talking cat really so bizarre that you threw yourself against the dresser?” He had a thick American accent which stung like a viper somehow! Still sitting on top of my bed but closer to the edge so we could have some sort of eye contact. 

“If I say yes...I get the feeling you’ll scratch my eyes out.” He sat in the middle of my legs. His ears pointed straight up as I tried to get this entire situation in my head. Like I said..I’ve had cats follow me around..but none of them have ever had some sort of conversation! 

“So you’re a talking cat...and you’re bothering me because…?” 

“I’ve heard of you before. You’re very famous for your tragic story. To some fellow immortals your story makes even Elvis Presley sad.” Elvis is alive? 

“Elvis is alive? I thought he died in 1970 or something…?” Rolling his eyes as he got down from the bed and even appeared bigger than what he was on the bed. His grey fur was very fluffy and his paws were massive for a cat. 

“You’re missing the point you idiot! Those of us who have been wandering this world since the beginning have seen heart aches and the destruction. But you..oh boy have you inspired the masses.” For an American cat his vocabulary is better than what I thought it would be. 

“So you’re bothering me because I inspired the masses?” 

“Nope. I’m here to help your dumbass because after watching this fail countless times..it’s now just utterly depressing.” This cat is making me feel absolutely stupid! A stupid cat is making me feel so god damn stupid! 

“You may call me Hyacinth! That’s what my last owner called me and I’ve liked the way it sounds. Now I’ve got to grab some dinner and your stomach growling is flooding my ears. So let’s go find some sort of grub!” Prancing off into the living room as I stayed there in shock. His head poking back into the room with annoyance written all over his face. 

Opening the door as he walked out to the front porch, looking around the coast before us. I’m feeling elk. DO you think I go running around eating whatever virgin blood is available? I got tired of human blood around the 14th century...mostly because that nasty plague.

We started walking along the coast in silence..trying to read each other’s thoughts, emotions, and not wanting to attack each other. He doesn’t plan on staying around does he? I need to get on with my life and this cat will get in the way with it! 

“So..Hyacinth. I know you said you’re here to help...but why and how do you plan on helping me?” We stopped walking as he entered the water a little then began searching for some sort of fish. 

“Like I said. Some of us have had enough of what happens. You think you’re alone in this world..but you’re not the only ones who’ve been completely thrown under the bus. We figured if we start with you..eventually we can all finally have some sort of peace in our lives. A spark has to..” He stopped to dive his head down then pulled out a tiny fish in his mouth. 

Their pools of blood crept into my nose with my eyes turning dark red. They’re so close..small animals have been doing the trick..but they’re so..juicy! A white cloudy trail appeared before me that would lead me to those Elk! I could distinctly hear their calm heart beats which was like hearing Beethovens symphony’s for the time! Loud! And so damn desirable! 

Squatting on the rock from a short distance to see their blood vessels flowing through each of their bodies. Which one was diseased, weak, pregnant, and the healthiest. My tongue grazing against my lips, my fangs beginning to grow from hunger. It's been so long since I’ve been fully filled..

It’s come down to the point where drinking human blood is just gross. Most humans blood these days are filled with so much damn sugar, diseases, drugs, and even to much damn coffee. But animal blood..no..wild animal blood that live on the richness of nature it was fuels me now. Mostly small animals..since I’ve been living in areas where Elk just don’t come to live in your backyard. 

Hyacinth wandered over to where I was drowning myself in my delectable meal. Once finished, he sat down next to me as I sat up. Licking the blood off my lips then beginning to clean myself up. 

“As she ever seen your true form?” Catching my breath as he looked up at me. 

“Yes..every time. She never cowards away..”

“I think I’m beginning to hatch a scheme for us. Oh yes..it’s all coming together.” 

[bemused-writer]

Fanfiction questions: 6, 22, 28, 38!

Thanks for sending this in!

6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.

Oh, so many fandoms.... This won’t include everything by default of there probably being too much but I will list what I can think of! I’ll start with my more current fandoms:

Wei Wuxian/Lan Wanji (The Untamed) - There’s so much I like about these two in the live action. Their loyalty to one another, their growth over the course of the series, and they way they learn to understand one another so well. Other things I really liked was how pleasantly romantic things were between them. The music, the longing, and how they can work together in unison.

Noé/Vanitas (Vanitas no Carte) - I... almost don’t need to say why I like this ship. It’s taken over all my writing. 8D Still, they are such a great balancing act and Mochizuki is writing their adventures so well.... I’m just very impressed. I also really like Jeanne/Dominique but they haven’t gotten much attention in the series yet. :0

Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens) - I just love how they’re nontraditional entities, uniquely eccentric, and that while their friendship has spanned centuries they still have new things to learn about one another.

Oz/Echo (Pandora Hearts) - They didn’t get much time together but they were both in a unique position to understand each other’s suffering in a unique way. I really like these two. The one “date” they went on left quite an impression on me; I think if they’d been given the chance they could have really improved one another and brought a special light to each other’s lives. 

Sherlock/Wato (Miss Sherlock) - It’s hard not to ship every version of Holmes and Watson and these two were no exception! I really hope we get a second season but I loved seeing the progression of their relationship in this show and loved how unusual the cases were. Thought they handled things very well.

Eleanor/Tahani (The Good Place) - Honestly, I like all the ships on this show but these two and their kind of background flirting is just great. Love them. 

And now some fandoms I’m a little less active in (at least at the moment):

Dean/Cas (Supernatural) - I don’t know if I’m really holding out for this to happen in canon in any overt kind of way. It’s been long enough since I’ve watched the show that I’ve created a little distance there. Probably for the best. XD Even so, I always thought these two had something special! 

Korra/Asami (Legend of Korra) - I remember watching season 1 and thinking “These two would be cute together but that’s unlikely to happen.” I’m very glad I was proven wrong. They’re just as epic together as I’d hoped!

Ned/Chuck (Pushing Daisies) - Such an ideal couple. They talk things out, they love each other dearly, and they’re both pretty unusual in all kinds of ways.

Yuuko/Watanuki (xxxHolic) - Pretty sure I’m one of the only people shipping this. XD But it is my opinion that Watanuki had feelings for Yuuko that surpassed his feelings for everyone else. Were they reciprocated? I don’t think they were returned romantically, but I ship it all the same.

Kamui/Subaru (X/1999) - I remember, at some point, this ship had a lot of people disliking it. More recent people will use their familial relationship in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle as a reason but back in the day it was just because it got in the way of all the Subaru/Seishirou and Kamui/Fuuma shippers. At any rate, in X/1999 Kamui and Subaru are not related and they are pointedly portrayed as a healthier version of the Seishirou/Subaru relationship. Anyway, I think they would have been really nice with each other and I still need the ending of this series in case CLAMP ever wants to, you know, do that....

Willow/Tara (BTVS) - Before certain events, they were just adorable and also a power couple.

Cain/Riff (Cain Saga/Godchild) - Tragic, loyal, and bizarre. This sums up their relationship and the series pretty well. I’m always moved by these two.

Data/Deanna (Star Trek: TNG) - Probably also the only person shipping this, but you know? It would have been cool. Also, I think I’m probably only supposed to pick one ship per show but Q/Picard is just also incredibly good. 

Miharu/Yoite (Nabari no Ou) - Just everything about these two is great and tragic and awesome.

Cosima/Delphine (Orphan Black) - They had a lot of troubled points in their relationships but they pulled through and that was nice to see.

Louis/Armand (The Vampire Chronicles) - It’s been quite some time since I’ve read this (I’m due for a reread) but I distinctly recall rooting for these two because I was (and am) convinced Lestat isn’t good enough for Louis. I’m not exactly caught up on the series, so maybe I would change my mind but... I don’t know...

I’m forgetting so many....

22. Is there anything you regret writing?

At the moment, no! I had a phase when I was a teen where I regretted writing all of my fanfiction, though. It was a difficult time in general and I just felt like none of it was that good and I shouldn’t have spent so much time on it--it seemed like I should be doing other things and there was just a sense of shame. It’s weird thinking back to that time because I’ve definitely moved past it. Unfortunately, I deleted my fanfic from that era. Now I’m trying to recover it so I can see the progress I’ve made, but there’s been so-so luck in that regard. Anyway, this is why I encourage people to at least keep a copy of whatever it is they do. You might want it in the future even if you don’t at this point in time!

28. If someone were to draw a piece of fanart for your story, which story would it be and what would the picture be of?

Hmmm, I’ve actually been fortunate enough that someone did draw some fanfic for one of my stories! But, this is talking about something that hasn’t been created yet. Honestly, I would love to see art of Jeanne taking down VotBM in The Descent. I feel like that is the best action scene I’ve done to date and there was something just... really awesome about her throwing a sword across a room with pin point accuracy. 8D I’d also like to see art of the characters in The Dark Wanderer (the sequel to that), especially Dominique dressed as the necromancer.

38. Do you use established canon characters or do you create OCs?

Generally speaking, I try to keep with pre-established characters since I figure we’re all reading fanfic to see more of them! However, most stories can’t make it on their own with just those characters. Many plots will be too big to only have that limited number, so I create OCs as well to better serve the story. For example, there are a lot of OCs in my interpretation of Vanitas’s background (Dealing with Monsters) because we haven’t yet seen his backstory. If I didn’t create any OCs, there wouldn’t have been much of a story. XD