#she is going to make NORA have a NORMAL HUMAN HEAD!!!!!!!!

[estrellasxxminis]

Meet PRIMELLA !

Full name: Primella Smith Johnson

Text colour: Blue and in Italics

Gender: cis female

Pronouns: Nor/mal 😊 (she/her)

Species: Human, A Normal one. 😊

Race: white

Age: 28

Powers/abilities: I Can Use an Umbrella ☂️ (Primella has the ability to change something to something she wants it to be like, this includes people; even their minds can be altered, but they can snap out of it pretty easily. She doesn't do the mind alteration thing alot. It only happens if she's Just A Little Bit Too Mad at someone)

Sigh... Why does everyone have to be so Odd all the time? Why can't you be Normal, like me?

Hobbies: I like Gardening, Cooking, and I have an Instagram and Facebook! 😊

Oc blog: @the-normal-blog7

Theme:

Playlist: TBA

Moodboard: TBA

Stimboard: TBA

Voice claim: TBA

Personality: even though she appears as a kind and sweet married woman on the surface; primella is often rather nitpicky about others' appearance or personality if they don't live up to her standard of completely 100% Perfect and Normal, which leads into her using her power.

primella is often Nice and Polite, but there's always an undertone of passive aggression if something doesn't go her way.

Backstory: [Redacted by Primella]

[avianconcept]

The Great Floozy Height Theory

So if there's one thing about me, it's that I love tiny nothing character trivia. Like hell yeah I wanna know their height, or star sign, or hometown. Something about it is just like catnip to me. If there's another thing about me, it's that I like puzzles.

So when Nora leaves this super neat set of details about the heights of the floozy line like she did in ch. 13, it's not really my fault that I get weird and scientific about figuring it out.

SO. brace yourselves. 

We’re gonna break this down into Known and Assumed info.

KNOWN

Jean is 6’1-6’2

Jeremy is four inches shorter, so 5’9-5’10

Cody is noticeably short 

Cat is taller than Laila (from that one line in tkm ch.16 where Laila says that Cat is too big for her to carry off the court) 

All of them, minus Jean, are under 6’0

ASSUMED 

We’re gonna use the high end of Jean and Jeremy’s heights for this, cause it gives us more range to work with (5’10 & 6’2) 

We’re gonna assume Cody is the shortest

With this in mind, gonna go person by person and break this down. 

PAT 

Pat’s probably the easiest guess on here. Based on this: 

We know he’s taller than Jeremy, and under 6’0, which puts him at 5’11ish?

CAT

Cat’s gonna be a straight up guess. There’s nothing that indicates how tall she is, unless we count Jean not commenting on her height as indication that she’s decently tall, for a woman. Hear me out, I think Jean “crusade against short people” Moreau might have said something if she was like. 5’1 or something. Based on this (flimsy) evidence and sheer vibes, we’re gonna say 5’8.

LAILA

Another straight up guess! If she’s shorter than Cat but also not noticeably tiny, maybe 5’5? Average height for a woman?? Idk my emotional support lesbians are a mystery to me. 

MIN

Finally, someone we have a clue about! 

Based on the incredibly scientific measurement of “half a head” (apparently the human head is nine inches tall?? wild) we’re going to take half of that off of Cat and say 5’4 or 5’5 for Min?

XAVIER 

The last of the Floozies we have evidence for.

If we're pretending Laila is 5’5, that also makes him 5’4/5’5? We’ll say 5’5 for argument’s sake. 

ANANYA 

No clues other than no Short Person Hate from Jean! Going with the vibes and saying shes also going to be kinda average for a woman. Maybe 5'5-5’7? 

CODY

The only thing we know about Cody is that like Neil, they’re another victim of Short Mom Syndrome. Jean describes them as short, and they call themself that, but are we talking twinyards short, or normal people short? Aaron being able to be a pretty solid backliner while being 5’0 tells us that its possible in exy to be that small and still play for a college team. But also, most would consider 5’4 short so???? Genuinely so curious what the answer is for Cody, I’m gonna laugh my ass off if they’re 5’0. We’ll go with…5’2? For now. 

SO. That comes out looking like this

Which. Actually so funny. There's about a foot between Jean and Cody. Absolute gold. If we get any other actual information in TSC 2&3, I think I'll come back and update this for funsies!!

[novankenn]

Nora in : Tea with Jaune's family... Story-Time

"In a time before antiquity, a lonely young woman sat trapped, impressioned in a tower by her father. The once kind man, had shattered when his wife, the mother of his daughter passed while giving her birth. Obsessed with keeping her safe, he locked her away from the world..."

Nora: Wait... this sounds like that fairy-tale! The girl in the basement?

Nora: It's the Girl in the Tower!

Nora: So you are REALLY telling me a story.

Nora: Would you just listen! This is important!

Nora: Well can we get Bob to bring some finger sandwiches, or cookies? This is going to be long isn't it?

Nora: Okay. Bob!

Bob the Beowulf sticks his head in through the door.

Nora: Bob could you get us some cookies and pastures, and some hot chocolate, please?

Bob(Beowulf): *Yip

Bob's head vanishes back through the door.

Nora: I like Bob. He's nice.

Nora: Yes he is. Very well mannered, and extremely focused on his duties. Did you know that Bob is the FIRST ever Grimm to earn a doctorate in Butler Sciences?

Nora: How did he do that? He couldn't have gone to a normal school.

Nora: Correspondence courses.

Nora: Makes sense.

Nora: Anyway, while we wait for refreshments, I shall continue...

"So trapped behind a magical barrier, unable to leave the girl suffered. Her father cold, and caring only of her as a possession to keep safe, locked away from the world. So she started to wither, and it was only through her nanny and the books did she know of the outside world."

"But her reading gave her a taste for life. A desire for adventure, and by accident she discovered she could send tings pass the barrier that kept her trapped inside. So armed with ink, quill and paper she convinced her father to allow her access to, she started to send messages... seeking someone to save her...."

Nora: Is there a point to this fairy-tale?

Nora: Yes, there is.

Nora: Can we just get to it? I appreciate the build-up and the attempt to get me interested, but you're me. You know.

Nora: Yeah, your right. Okay, so the TLDR is that Grandma-ma Salem was the girl in the Tower.

Nora: Is that true?

Nora: Yes.

Nora: Well if it is true, she looks astoundingly good for someone older than dirt!

Nora: Anyway the rest of the TLDR is that Ozpin the Headmaster is the reincarnated soul of her rescuer, lover and husband.

Nora: Okay?

Nora: They got married, he grew ill and died. She tried to cheat death by conning the brother Gods... it failed, and in a fit of depression she threw herself into a pool of grimm goo.

Nora: She obviously survived.

Nora: Yes. Anyway Ozama, which was Ozpin's original name came back and the two fell in love, had four beautiful daughters... but Salem wasn't happy. After all those years alone, watching humanity rebuild she grew just a tad power hungry... and decided the best way to help Remnant would be to rule it.

Nora: So Ozpin... er Ozma thought differently and they fought didn't they?

Nora: Yes, they did. Salem attacked Ozama when he tried to leave during the night with their daughters.

Nora: No...

Nora: It happened...

Nora: NO! THIS IS A STUPID STORY! I DON'T WANNA...

Nora: Nora... this is the main point... in that clash of magical energies, one of their children was flung through time... that girl was Jasmine, Jaune's mother...

Nora: Now I'm getting a headache. So Jaune's mom is Salem's real daughter, meaning Fearless Leader... MY Jaune-Jaune is directly related to the queen of the Grimm?

Nora: Yes.

Nora: Question?

Nora: Yes?

Nora: Is this a universal constant like us?

Nora: Yes, it is but the problem is Salem and Jasmine don't know the other is alive, so it takes... Outside forces to get them to connect.

Nora: Forces like US!

Nora: Exactly!

Nora: But how does this all work? Like Queen of the Grimm just giving up, because she has great-grand-babies?

Nora: Salem has eons to fester with guilt and regret. Finding Jasmine opens her wounds, allowing love to finally touch her heart, which you know as well as I do the Arc's are masters of showering someone with love.

Nora: I do.

Nora: So do you understand? The ned for you and Jaune to have children?

Nora: So Salem has something else to occupy her time?

Nora: No, to fill her life with a loving family that will withstand the tests and trials of time.

Nora:...

The library door opened and Bob the Beowulf entered pushing a cart loaded with sweet pastries, cookies and a steaming kettle of hot chocolate.

Nora: Thank you Bob. Can you go ask Salem to join us?

Bob just nodded and padded off, leaving the two alone.

Nora: Question, does Jaune know about any of this? Because this seems like a BIG deal, and Jaune should know about it. Like it's not everyday you find out you're directly related to the big bad who controls all the grimm in the world!

Nora: To be honest... I don't know if he does... but you're right he should.

Nora: You think we could do the whole snatch and talk to him here routine you've been using on me?

Nora: Don't see why not.

(Master List)

[vanfleeter]

My Love: Chapter 7

Characters: Jake Kiszka x Sara Warnings: 18+ || Gore. Vampires. Blood. Blood drinking. Mentions of death and murder. Fire. Burning. Angst. Physical violence. Self doubt. Crying. Tears. Yelling. Arguing. Smut. Sex. Penetrative sex. Cockblocking. Heated make out.

Only a few weeks have gone by since we brought Sara back home and ever since then she has kept herself locked in our bedroom. I’ve tried everything to get her to come out.

Sex.

Blood – human and animal.

Yet nothing has worked thus far. I hadn’t seen a vampire so reserved and so closed off. The guilt of all the humans she killed has been eating at her. And while I’ve been trying to help Sara and coax her out of the bedroom, Danny has been anticipating Nora’s return back home. He’s been getting their house cleaned and ready when she returns. One speck of dust and she’ll never let him hear the end of it. If there’s one thing to know about Nora is that she is a neat freak, even when she feeds. She never wastes a drop of blood and she never gets it anywhere else on her or her chosen victim.

I’m hoping having her here again, she’ll be able to help Sara too. Nora’s been in this kind of situation before, but maybe having another female around will get Sara to talk, or at least come out of the bedroom as a first step. Just something to get her out of her mind and focused on something else.

I tried to be sneaky and have Sam come over one day and infiltrate her mind with anything happy. That only resulted in her causing immense pain to him and him limping away and refusing to ever come near her again until she’s back to her regular self again.

Silently stepping into the room, I watch her as she still sits in front of the window. That’s all she does is sit at the window and stare out of it. What she’s even looking at, besides the same old trees, is beyond me. I slip into the closet and change clothes before going back out to the room and sitting on the side of the bed.

“Are you coming to bed?” I ask, as I have every night since we got back home.

Her eyes slowly leave the scenery outside and focus on me. I brace myself for whatever pain she decides she wants to inflict on me, but instead all I see is nothing in her eyes. Absolutely nothing. Did she flip her switch again? Instead of speaking, she just turns her eyes back to the window and drops her chin into the palm of her hand.

I take that as a no.

“Please come to bed?” I ask, trying again.

“Jake…” I move closer to the edge of the bed, hope festering in my chest. “Do you still love me?”

“Do I..” I slide off the bed and kneel beside her chair. “Of course I still love you.” I reach up and grab her chin in my hand so I can turn her head. “Why would you ask me that?”

“Because of what I did..” Her voice shakes and her eyes glisten with tears. “I’m your nightmare..”

“Sara, no..” I reach further up on my knees and draw her in for a kiss. “You didn’t have a choice..”

“How can you still love me?” A tear slips down her cheek and I rub my thumb over her skin to wipe it away.

“I can still love you because I know the real you, Sara. The intense feeling you have right now is remorse. If you didn’t care about what happened, then we'd be having an entirely different conversation.” I crack a small smile and reach back over to kiss her cheek.

“Will I ever go back to normal?” She asks. “How long will this feeling last?”

“It’s all dependent on you,” I say. “You’re in control of your emotions and your mind.” I stand to my feet and hold out my hand to her. “Come lay with me, please?” She meerily nods her head and pushes herself out of the chair.

Together we climb into bed and she instantly curls herself into my body. I still miss feeling the warmth that her body used to give off, I still miss feeling her heart beating. It still beats just differently. One thing though that hasn’t changed is the smell of strawberries. That little red fruit used to make her blood so sweet and so delicious when she was human.

I feel a cool touch to my groin making me flinch. Looking down I see Sara’s hand sliding over my thigh and grasping my length lightly in her hand. “I’ve missed you..” She whispers close to my ear.

“I missed you too,” I say, turning my head to look at her. She looks up at me with doey eyes and I feel myself completely falling to her mercy.

“May I?” She says as she starts to slide the waistband of my sweatpants down to release my now aching dick. I nod my head and she kisses my cheek before sliding her nightgown up her body and swinging her legs over my waist to straddle me. “And when I say that I missed you, I really mean it.”

I chuckle and knead my fingers into her ass. “I’ve really missed you too.”

Within seconds she’s completely sunk down on me, the feeling so intense as if it’s our first time together all over again. Her fingers dig into the skin of my chest as she slowly starts moving her hips. I can’t help but to thrust my hips upwards, driving myself deeper inside and making her moan loudly.

I’m so glad we aren’t still at my brothers’ place. I won’t be teased in the morning because of how loud she is.

I can’t resist the urge to flip us over so that now I’m on top and she’s below me. “For once, let me on top.” She laughs.

“I can’t help it,” I pant before leaning down to kiss her. “You know that I love being in control.”

“Well maybe sometimes, we should switch–” She flips us back over so that she’s straddling my waist again. She pins my arms down to the pillows above my head and gradually picks up the speed of swiveling her hips.

“Fuck.. Sara, don’t do that..”

“Aww, can’t handle not being in charge?”

“Of course.. I can..” I strain against her hold on me, fighting against the throbbing feeling of needing to release. “Fuck..”

I let my head back into the pillows as my orgasm washes over me, my body tensing beneath her. She’s still moving, not wanting to stop even as I feel her own release cover me. But soon she does stop and collapses onto my chest breathing heavily. I feel wetness pooling on my skin and I look down to see her tears leaving wet trails as they slide down my ribcage.

When becoming a vampire, every emotion is heightened, especially sadness. I’ve learned that sadness is the strongest one, and I guess now–so has she..

Carefully removing myself from inside of her, I slid her off from on top and onto the bed beside me. I turn to my side and pull her into my body.

“Why can’t I stop crying?” She says, her voice muffled against my chest. “This sucks worse than when I was human..” I chuckle and bend my head down to kiss her forehead. She swats at my chest before rolling away from me. “It’s not funny..”

“It kind of is,” I say as I prop myself up on my elbows. “Babe, I’ve told you this.. Your emotions are heightened when you transition, they always will be–but you have to learn how to control them.”

“But this sucks!” She cries as she pulls her knees up to her chest.

“This will get easier,” I tell her as I wrap my arms around her and pull her close.

“And if it doesn’t?” She says. “What if.. What if I turn into Sitovo and go bat shit crazy?”

“You won’t go crazy,” I say. “Not if I can help it.” Pulling away from her, I climb off the bed and grab hold of her legs to pull her to the edge of the bed.

“What are you doing?” She groans as I pull her off the bed.

“We are going to go hunt..”

“Jake.. I think I’ve had my fill of that..”

“Not humans.. Deer..”

“Ja-a-ake…” She whines. “After everything that I’ve been through, do you really think letting me kill Bambi is a good idea?”

I laugh and kiss her lips. “Just try it..”

“But it’s Bambi..” She pouts. “Can’t I just drink from a blood bag like the wimpy vampire that I am?”

“Wimpy?” I scoff. “Ha! You’re far from wimpy.” I wrap my arms around her and pull her close to me. “But I guess since you asked nicely, we can drink from a blood bag.”

“Drink,” I say, handing her a fresh bag of blood that I had retrieved from the cooler in the basement. “I’m going to go out back and take care of a few things.”

“Chris?” She questions as she pops open the bag. I nod my head and pull my hair back into a low bun. “How did you even manage to get his body back here?”

“It’s not that hard..” I say with a smirk.

One thing that I love about living in the middle of nowhere is that I can drag a body outside without any suspicious eyes on me while I do so. I always forget how heavy dead bodies can be. The aching in my shoulders doesn’t compare to the satisfaction that I have knowing that I finally ended Chris. For all these years I was stupid to believe that he ever cared. I was stupid to ever consider him a brother. I should have killed him a long ass time ago when I had the chance to do so.

We wouldn’t be in this predicament if he was already dead. Sara would still be human, still have the option to live a normal life. Of course the Onyx would still be after her, but at least I’d still have a shot to convince them otherwise. Convince them to keep her alive.

I always knew my time with her was limited, she knew that too. If I had to give her up, I would have with no hesitation if it meant keeping her safe. As much as it would have pained me to again lose someone that I love, I would know that she was safe and she could live a life of peace and of love.

The fire ignites after I throw a lit match on top of it. The warmth of the fire heated my body, only causing memories of feeling Sara’s warm body against mine.

Picking up his body, I toss it into the flames. First his clothes catch fire followed by his hair. His eyes are still wide open from when I killed him. Flashes of the day run through my mind as I watch the flames engulf his body completely. I had never seen a lick of fear in his eyes until that day. Never once has he ever shown fear but seeing it clear as day in his eyes, I felt power surge through me like I never have before. For once in the nearly five hundred years of my life, I finally felt strong and I finally felt like I was worth something.

I stayed outside, watching the flames burn until there was nothing left except for the ashes of his body and the kindle of the wood. Putting out what was left in the pit, I turn to look back at the house. Flickering light illuminates the bedroom window. A smile spreads across my face and I make my way back inside.

Getting up to the bedroom, I slowly push open the door and peer inside. Sitting on the bed with her legs crossed in front of her, she looks at me with a devilish grin on her face.

“Feeling better?” I ask as I walk up to the end of the bed.

“I will,” She says as she crawls along the bed. “But it seems like you need a release..”

“Baby, I got mine earlier.” I say.

Her hands skim across the exposed skin of my torso, beneath the unbuttoned fabric of my shirt. “Mmm, but that was for me, and you know it.”

“Did it help?” I say as she brings her hands back around my waist and tugs on the string of my sweatpants.

“A little,” She says. “I’m trying to be in control of my emotions and how I feel.”

“So you’re channeling it all into sex?”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Most definitely not..”

I tilt her chin up and connect my lips to hers. Sliding my hands down her body, I grab the bottom of her nightgown and pull it up and over her head. Our tongues wrestle when we reconnect and she pushes my shirt off my shoulders and down my arms.

I got her laid out on the bed when suddenly the bedroom door flew open. “Woah! Hello!” Sam bellows out a laugh as I scramble to get my shirt wrapped around Sara’s naked body.

“Knock much?” I growl as I spin to face him. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Apparently barging in on you for the second time,” He laughs. “Maybe you should start locking your front door. Anyways, we need you downstairs.”

“Why?”

“Just trust me..” He says before leaving the room and closing the door with him.

“Oh this better be good,” I say as I go over to the dresser and pull out different clothes for Sara. She gives me a look and I cock my eyebrow. “Uh uh, the last thing I want is for your lady bits to be on display for my brothers..”

“My lady bits?” She scoffs and rolls her eyes. “So possessive.”

I smile and press my lips to her forehead. “Sam already pushed his limits once, I’m not letting him test the waters again.” I can see her smirk from below the bridge of my nose and I slap my hand across her ass making her gasp. “Don’t even think about it. Now get changed and meet us downstairs.”

Upon entering the living room, I find not only my brothers seated around the room, but Ellis leaning against the mantelpiece and lighting a cigarette with the burning fire. “I do have a lighter,” I say as I take a seat beside Josh on one of the couches.

“This seemed cooler,” Ellis chuckles. “Anyways, you’re probably wondering why I’m here,” He clears his throat and turns to face me. A long cut stretches diagonally down his left cheek. It looks fresh. “The Onyx is on their way here..”

“And why are they coming here?” Danny asks.

“I don’t know,” Ellis says, shrugging his shoulders. “My eavesdropping didn’t go that far.” He falls quiet, his tiny smirk fading. I follow his line of sight and peer over my shoulder to see Sara slowly entering the room. “You look horrible,” Ellis chuckles.

“I’d be careful with what you say around her,” Sam says. “She doesn’t go easy.” Her eyes flash over to Sam and he holds his hands in the air. “I’m only speaking the truth.”

“They still want me dead, don’t they?” Sara says as she steps up to the back of the couch.

Ellis shrugs his shoulders and pushes his black locks behind his ears. “All I know is they’re coming here. None of it sounded threatening–”

“Nothing they ever say sounds threatening,” Danny says as he leans forward on his knees. “Their actions are more lethal than their words.”

“What am I supposed to do?” Sara asks. “Let them take me again? Be their fucking puppet again?”

“No,” I say standing up and taking her hand in mine. “We won’t let that happen.”

“You can’t exactly say ‘no’ when they tell you to do something.” Ellis says.

“I did once before,” I say. “I’ll do it again.”

“Oh yeah? Look how that ended up.” Ellis says.

“Whatever it is they’re coming here for, we just need to be prepared.” Josh says. “We shouldn’t jump straight to conclusions without knowing exactly the reason why they’re coming.”

I feel Sara remove her hand from mine and I turn to look at her. “I need to be alone.” She says as she starts to leave the room.

“Hey no,” I say as I go after her. I stop her at the bottom of the stairs. “Don’t lock yourself up in that room again. Don’t shut down again.”

“So what if I do? It’ll make killing me that much easier if I don’t fight back.”

“Would you stop talking like that?” I say as I grab hold of her shoulders. “No one is going to kill you.”

“You should’ve just let me die that day..” She pushes me away and storms up the stairs.

“Sara!” I shout as I go after her. The door slams shut in my face when I get there. Twisting the knob, I throw open the door letting it bang against the wall. “So you’d rather be dead than to be with me?”

“Not everything is about you!” She shouts as she shoves me backwards. “This is about me, Jake! My life–or whatever it is that I’m living–is on the line!”

“And I told you that I would protect you!”

“Oh yeah? And how is that working out for you? I’m dead!” She shouts, flinging her arms around the air.

“I thought that’s what you wanted?!” I shout back. “You begged me for so long to change you and I did!”

“You did it because you were being selfish! You never even asked me!”

“What?!”

She can’t be serious. How can I ask her when she was unconscious and on the verge of death? I cannot deny that I was selfish when I fed her my blood. I did not want to lose her. I did not want to bear that pain again.

“How could I ask you when you were on the verge of death?!” I shake my head, digging my fingers into my hair as I begin to pace back and forth. “The one time that I actually do something that you have been begging me to do, and then when I do it, it pisses you off because I didn’t ask you?! You make my head spin!”

“Get. Out.” She says, her eyes lighting up with fury.

“No,” I say, standing my ground.

“Fine..” She storms past me and out of the room.

“Sara!” I shout again. My voice echoes through the halls and bouncing off the walls. “If you walk out that door,” I say as I follow her down the stairs. “I will not protect you.”

“Well you haven’t been doing a good job anyways,” She says as she throws open the front door.

“Excuse me?” I storm out of the house after her, grabbing her arm and pulling her back to me. “I have done everything to keep you safe to the best of my ability. Sure it hasn’t always been perfect but dammit, I am only one fucking man who loves you so selfishly that it physically pains me.”

A drop of rain lands on my cheek and before either of us knows it, a downpour begins, drenching us both. We look at each other so intensely, both our bodies fuming with anger and lust. Before I can even get my own hands on her body, she’s pulling me into her with her lips crashing onto mine.

“Your emotions drive me insane,” I say when we pull apart.

“I can’t help it,” She breathes. “You made me this way.”

I smile and lean down to kiss her again.

“Pardon, we seem to be interrupting something..” Pulling away from Sara, I look over to the side only to find the Onyx standing under umbrellas and clad in raincoats. Michael steps forward and flashes his pearly white teeth smile. “Hello Jacob..”

“Michael..”

“Nice pleasantries just are not your thing, are they?”

“Towards you? Never..”

Michael chuckles. “Shall we go inside? It’s quite dreary out here.”

Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I grab Sara’s hand and motion my other hand towards the door, allowing them to go first. Less of a chance of them getting their hands on her. I won’t take any chances. Josh was kind enough to get us both towels to dry off.

“Relax, Jacob. We come here with good intentions.” Michael says.

“Oh?” Josh speaks up. “That’s a surprise.”

“We put in a lot of thought,” Michael says as he takes a seat on the couch beside Danny. Danny gives him a once over before carefully sliding over to put a little distance between the two of them. The edges of my lips curved slightly as I watched him grow uncomfortable.

“About what?” Josh asks.

“Jacob’s relationship.”

I tighten my grip on Sara’s hand and turn my attention back to Michael. “Around and around in circles..” Josh sighs. “When will this ever stop? Can’t we just move on? She’s no longer human, she’s a vampire just like all of us in this room. Just let it go..”

Michael nods his head. “I completely agree..”

“I’m sorry, what?” Josh says. “Y-You agree?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Well that’s a first..” Josh says before taking a sip of whiskey.

“I have thought about what I have done and I am here to issue a formal apology to Sara. I am sorry for all the pain and trauma that I have ordered upon you. I was so blinded by this need to make Jacob realize the mistakes he had made. I wanted him to see the monster he had created and feel regret, because I knew that was his biggest fear and why he was so adamant about not turning her in the first place. We have these rules for a reason and I knew that if I let one slide, I would have to do it for everyone..”

I can sense Josh rolling his eyes which makes my lips twitch ever so slightly.

“So.. I have decided to end this war with you all and wish to start over on a clean slate. I will allow this relationship to continue in its own way. As I can see that Jacob really does love you. I have not seen him so in love since…Vo.” Michael clears his throat.

Danny smirks beside him. “May she rest in ashes..” He mumbles around the glass of whiskey.

“Anyways..” Michael continues. “That was all I wanted to come here for. I believe we can show yourselves out.”

“Please do,” Sam smiles as he motions towards the front door.

“Though I have ended this war, this does not mean that we still won’t be watching you all. You will still be held responsible for any and all actions from here on out.”

“We expect nothing less.” Josh says. “Goodbye. Adios. Hope to never have to see you again.”

Once they were gone, I pry my hand from Sara’s and I turn to look at her. “You can breathe now,” I tell her. She actually releases a breath and I chuckle.

“Well I guess that’s our que to leave now too,” Josh says. “Considering what Sam broke up.”

“Maybe they shouldn’t be so-”

“You better shut up,” I warn.

“Or what? Gonna boil me from the inside out?” Sam laughs and shakes his head. “You’re not scary, Jake.” Sara sits forward and rests her eyes on Sam. “Ow! Ow! Sara!” Sam exclaims as his finger bones crack and bend in odd directions. She smirks a little before blinking and the bone breaking stops. “Why must I always be your victim?”

“You’re just easy,” She says as she stands from the couch. “Now leave.. Jake and I have some unfinished business to take care of.”

“You two nauseate me.” Suddenly Sam begins to slowly lift off the ground. I can’t help the laugh that creeps through as I watch him panic. “Sara, this isn’t funny.” He says. “Put me down!”

“It isn’t me.” She says.

“Then who’s got me dangling like this?”

“Hello boys..” Stepping from around the corner of the threshold is Nora with her finger held in the air and pointed at Sam.

“Nora!” Danny exclaims as he runs over to her.

“Nora?” Sam looks below him, only for a beaming grin to spread across his face. “Nora! Hey! Long time no see! Mind letting me down?”

“Sure,” She shrugs her shoulders and drops her hand to her side, effectively dropping Sam to the floor.

He groans in pain and rolls over to his hands and knees. “Gently…” He croaks.

“Oh sorry, I still can’t quite do it with ease.” She giggles softly before pulling Danny in for a kiss. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.” He says. “I thought you were dead.”

“I thought I was too,” She says before turning to look at Sara. “But she helped me escape. Told me to run or she’d have to break every bone in my body, no fault of her own though. Kind of a bitch, but I liked it. Suits her.”

“Well, she is with Jake.” Sam says, dusting off his clothes. He immediately throws out his hands in defense in Sara’s direction. “Don’t even think about it.”

I smile from my place on the couch and laugh just a little. Sam is officially scared of Sara. Who knew? Standing up from the couch, I walk over to the lovey dovey couple and pry them apart before hugging Nora.

“Glad to have you back, Nora.” I say. “Finally done traveling?”

“Well I wasn’t, technically–then the Onyx practically abducted me and well..traveling is officially over.” Nora explains after we pull apart. “You got yourself a keeper, by the way–and a strong one at that too. Definitely can resist being controlled, great actress.”

I look back at Sara and she shrugs her shoulders. “Fake it til you make it?”

“That’s my girl!” I exclaim as I go back over to her. “You are special.” I pulled her in for a kiss, not caring that they were still around.

“Alright, alright..” Josh sighs. “Now we’re leaving..”

I chuckle against her lips and pull away only long enough to see the front door being closed. Finally alone. Not going to be bothered again–hopefully.

I can feel her fingers walk along my jaw and she’s turning my head back so I’m looking at her. “I love you.” She says.

“I love you too.”

@losfacedevil @writingcold @edgingthedarkness @i-love-gvf @katuschka @josh-iamyour-mama @sammysstolenbirks @asendingtothestarsasone @hollyco @musicislove3389 @its-interesting-van-kleep @katiegvf @tinydancer40 @gretavangroupie @lizzys-sunflower @fleetingjake @takenbythemadness @godly-sinsx @psychedelectable @dancingcarbon @oliverfuckingreed @cheersdannyx2 @piratejtk @katuschka @thetroublegetssoloud71

add yourself to the tag list in my master list!

[rpking99]

So I came across a video where they put Batman against Spider-Man's villains but I ended the Video early cause for the very first villain (the Scorpion... so not even one of Spidey's biggest enemies) they said Batman would just call the Justice League for help... which really go against the idea of putting one Super Hero against anothers Rouge Gallery

So I wanna ask... how would Batman do against Green Goblin, Kingpin, Venom, Doc Ock and Kraven the Hunter?

And for Spider-man... how would he do against Joker, Mr. Freeze, Bane, Ra's al Ghul and Scarecrow?

Okay I'm gonna say this to start

Spider-Man? Walks through Batman's rogue gallery. Peter has to roll with any punch that hits him so people's hands are not SHATTERED. He can CASUALLY punch Scorpion's jaw off, who is MUCH stronger than a normal human.

Joker? Looses instantly against basic jokes at his expense. And he would not be able to effect Peter the same way some of Peter's own villains can. Because... Well Joker is no match for Peter physically or mentally, and the equivalent to the Joker for Peter has all the resources in the world

Anyone who is normal human levels like Two Face, Ra's, Riddler, Penguin, Anarky, Black Mask, Court of Owls, Killer Moth, Firefly, the mob bosses. All of them are easy to be taken out. Heck BANE would get his ass handed to him because Peter would still be too strong for him. Same with Killer Croc.

Mr Freeze would also be an easy win. But also Peter would be more than happy to help him and save him/Nora

The ones who would give Peter the biggest issue are the ones with chemical weapons or inhuman abilities. Clayface is the main inhuman one here, but even then Peter is use to fighting Sand Man and Hydro Man.

Some people claim that with his experience with Mysterio, Scarecrow would be easy. .... Mystero focuses on lights and sound and illusions. There is nothing tangible there, there is no hallucinations in play. Fear Toxin could potentially trip Peter up, as well as fuck up his Spider-Sense. He'd have to the will to power through, but it's catch him off guard.

Poison Ivy would probably be his biggest issue with the phermones and vines and Peter's weakness for lovely ladies and red heads. Especially since, most of the time, she's not a bad guy just doing things the bad way.

Spider-Man sweeps Gotham

But.... On to Batman?

Kingpin and other mob style/human level villains? Bruce wins against. Him, Vulture, Shocker, guys like that. Same with Doc Ock on most days (those days when Dan Slott isn't giving Otto god mode)

Kraven? Kraven is like Bane without the venom weakness. Bruce is getting hunted, exhausted and more than his back broken.

Sand Man and Hydro Man, and kinda Electro, would give him a LOT of problems. But problems he could handle, ones he could overcome. They'd be hard but he could do it

Venom? Carnage? Any Symbiote? Spider strength, spider speed, spider reflexes, spider sense, webbing, wall crawling. All of that, enhanced, alongside tentacle attacks and being able to turn invisible? Sorry, Bruce is dead. The only way he'd win is with fire and sonic attacks, but he'd need to know their weakness BEFORE the fight to do so. Which goes against this idea. But even if he didn't, symbiotes have fluctuated so much with what they can and can't take when it comes to fire and sonics that might not even work.

And Green Goblin?

....

Green Goblin?

Sure, let's give Joker enhanced strength and speed and all the tech he could ever want. Let's give him as much, if not more, money than Bruce Wayne. Let's make him vindictive, angry and petty instead of just a sadist jokester

...

Bruce is either dead or broken by the Goblin. He can't keep up physically, Norman matches if not exceeds his gadget usage, Norman plans just as if not more than Bruce and he is just as cruel and evil as Joker without anythig that makes him hold back for Batman

[kellygreeny]

Christmas in Diamond City

Chapter 2: Bringing Christmas back into the Commonwealth

Note: Noras POV. As promised, the fluff chapter which leads to the conclusion chapter. I´m proud of myself that I coudl write this in one week! So last chapter (hopefully) next week!

Words: 1219

Nora loved Christmas back then. She hadn´t noticed that the people of the Commonwealth hadn´t heard about it and that she had missed it last year. To be fair, there was a lot going on. Loosing her son and getting an artificial version of him back, destroying a whole facility to free the Commonwealth, helping settlements and synth. Yeah, she really needed a break.

“Mom, what´s wrong?” Shaun asked his mother, who was mentally somewhere else.

“Oh nothing, sweetheart. I just remembered something. Something I loved before the war.” Nora said smiling at her son.

“Do you want to tell me, I like to hear it, please?” Shaun almost begged her. He loved hearing about the time before the war.

“Sure! When the days got colder and the nights longer, we decorated everything with beautiful colorful lights to light up the nights. We always had a tree to decorate and we baked delicious cookies and others sweets and all kinds of savory food. The whole family get together and exchanged presents.”

“Presents! The children also get them right?”

“Especially the children.”

Shaun got very excited about it. He screeched so that the other settlers got curious. Nora told them her memories about Christmas, too.

“Maybe we can build some of these colorful lights! We have a lot of material here.” One settler said.

“And cooking something which didn´t come from the ordinary would be also nice.” Another added.

“And the presents!”, Shaun mention this very important point, again, “Mom, can I make you one, too?”

“Yeah, I make also one for you,” Nora said and suddenly remembered, what she almost forgot about “Oh, Nick got something in his office, we found some time ago. We kept it for you.”

Shaun eyes glowed very bright. Nora loved to see him this happy. She wished, she could celebrate it with her whole family. Nora got a bit melancholic about it. Then she remembered that she had a new family and a lot of very good friends. And one could turn out very handy, if she want to bring the traditions back. One, who also remembered them, lived them, like her.

“Come on Shaun, do we want to visit DC? I really can imagine the market really glow up with some lights. And there we should get everything we need.”

“Can we also visit Nick, too? He has the best stories! And I want to know what did you keep there for me.”

“Of Course! We do that and it is a surprise. It´s pretty spontaneous, but I think, he will be happy to see us and tell you some of his stories.”

Shaun made a victorious gestures. And so they both travel in the direction of Diamond City. Nora had no problem traveling around the Commonwealth alone, but together with Shaun, she was more careful than normal. But the travel was without any surprises. The Minutemen and the Brotherhood had done a good job in cleaning it from raiders and supermutants.

-

Ellie was completely into a discussion with Myrna. As always, Myrna found it hard to sell something to a human who was employed by a synth and Ellie always try to convince her, that Nick is safe and a good employer. This went back and forth for quite a while.

So she didn´t recognize the two new visitors and these two headed straight to Homeplate. The person, who didn´t miss them, followed them directly. She never miss anything what was going on in DC. She knew, it´s these strange day, where Nick is hiding in his office and he nor Ellie wanna talk about it. This kind of secrets made Piper even more curious. And now, she had two more chances to get some answers and she followed them to Homeplate.

Nora and Shaun scurried into their little home in DC. Nora close the door and turned to Shaun.

“OK Shaun, you stay here and I look for Nick. You can take my stuff, but please be careful.” She went down and hugged him tight. When Nora was almost out of the apartment, Piper stood in the doorway.

“Nice to meet you two here, “ Piper greeted them. “Can I come in?”

Nora looked at her, blinking. “You are already in, it seems. But anyway take a seat, I just want to look for Nick.”

“Oh, he is in his office for sure, but…” Before Piper could finish her questions, Nora walked around her and was almost out. She knew Piper too well and she had this look in her eyes that her visit won´t be a short one for sure. Nora knew she had questions and she was going to answer them, but not now.

“Thanks, Piper. If you are already here, could you please have an eye on Shaun? I´m back in no time.” She looked over Pipers shoulder to Shaun. “Shaun, Piper will take care of you. You can tell her about our plans.”

“What plans?” Piper was confused and almost forgot why she was here.

“Blue, I don´t…” But Nora was gone.

“Oh, Piper, I need to tell you something. Here me out, before the war….” That was all Nora could hear Shaun say. She felt a bit pity for Piper, but she wanted to get the special present for Shaun and really looked forward to talk to Nick.

Shaun was going to give Piper something she could write about and this in return could bring back some of the Christmas spirit, Nora really missed.

-

Ellie was finished with Myrna for now. She got the supplies she wanted but Myna wasn´t happy about it. Ellie turned and looked around. She thought, she saw Nora, but no. Maybe it was just her imagination. She remembered that she locked the door and Nick was going to need some more time. So, she decided to visit some old friends until he was finished. A day off might be nice. Nick always paid her a bit more, when he did his big maintenance. She could and should enjoy her day off.

Nora found herself in front of the Valentine Detective Agency. She was seen by no one. She became too good in stealth that even if she didn´t want to, she still wouldn´t be noticed.

The door was locked. Ellie might be around. She might had seen her at Myrna´s. And Nick was probably on a case as always. Work didn´t become less for him since the Institute was gone. He even got cases from the Railroad to find lost Synths, now. And with more settlers around, the chances were high that one of them might need his help.

Nora was a bit sad, that she wouldn´t get the chance to talk to Nick at least for the time of his absent. She could look for Ellie later. She always knew where he was, especially after the Darla case.

But she got a key from him before she could afford Homeplate. She just wanted to get the present. She should leave a note, just to be sure. So he wouldn´t worry who broke into his office. But she was sure that he would figure it out. She was going to leave a note anyway.

So she opened the door and froze in her motion, when she saw Nick.

prev /next Chapter

[ma-lark-ey]

Lark Liveblogs Literature: THE SUNSHINE COURT BABYYYYY LETS GO JEAN

to begin: THE COVER???

The fucking NARCISSUS/DAFFODIL. Stop stop stop. Nora stop. She said it wouldn’t be a sun but I WASNT READY.

RESILIENCE. FIRST BLOOM AT THE END OF WINTER. NEW BEGINNINGS AND REBIRTH.

warning in advance for how many reaction images will be in this post. Miss Nora Sakavic has a way of making me unable to verbalise how devistated I am so I turn to goofy photos.

Also, just so we’re all on the same page:

it’s 1:20 AM. My roommate IS asleep. I am fighting the demons (downloading this book) but i am winning (it is queued on my kindle)

ITS DOWNLOADED LETS GO

Okay so context is that my Kindle is at 10%

I tried to go to bed and read this in the morning but I am

SO NOW I HAVE FRANTICALLY FOUGHT A WAR (figured out how to get this book) AND I AM READY FOR BATTLE (to cry over Jean)

ONE, TWO, THREE, LETS GO BITCH!!

Also my kindle cord is too small for me to properly lay in bed so im literally about to lay on my stomach kicking my feet like a middle schooler WISH. ME. LUCK.

CHAPTER ONE:

oh we’re jumping right in okay. god. hi baby :((

OH. I am just adding onto my #1 Riko hater agenda right now.

“The golden rule— not where the public can see” DIE. LITERALLY DIE TETSUJI

“The lack of broken fingers this time” THIS TIME??? JEAN. JEAN.

im so.

RENEE!!!

“and he had wasted them texting Renee a heads-up.” Nora please we’re only four pages in bro

Renee i love you im marrying you please give me a kiss. Mwah Mwah Mwah. She said “Bitch. Lay back down.”

currently also reading a batshit raven!neil fic and just. on the ground. about all of this.

stop the way I literally went “who the fuck is Nathaniel” Im too transgender for this.

Me, seeing the Abby content we need in this world:

Jean dont call that hellscape home bbg

Renee beating self worth into this man. ily

“Jean couldnt remember the last time he was allowed to wear color” LITERALLY KILL ME

Nora I need you to be less good at describing pain please and thanks

NOT THE BITING

DADMACK DADMACK DADMACK DADMACK!!

he fr be moving this man like a doll. love you wymack

tied him up with racquet laces I. h. lays on floor softly crying.

NOT THE DADDY ISSUES

Jean fr out here plotting 50 ways to kill his brother. he fr though Neil was the problem. no girl Neil just has no tact and autism rizz. Kevins the fucking snitch

no one:

Jean @ the Moriyamas;

“that man is years overdue for a head-on high-speed collision” YOU TELL EM DADMACK

CHAPTER TWO:

Jean please just sleep like a normal human man. God.

Even Jean be out here like “Kevins a little Chihuahua ass drama queen. Bitchboy. Wet cat man.”

Kevin: look, bro, if the 5’3 twink with enough daddy issues to make riko blush and chugs ‘fuck around and find out’ juice for breakfast can escape the moriyamas and not die, so can you.

Testuji. Testuji when I catch you. Tetsuji

Jean what the fuck makes you think anyone but Andrew Minyard will ever tell Neil what to do. Girl.

“If I am not a Raven, who am I?” A MOTHERCUCKING TROJAN BABYYYY

“I have to go to my next class.” I forgot they were in college deadass. Neil is straight up my age im gonna throw up.

Okay. It is. *checks time* 3 AM. I cannot keep my eyes open, which means i must put Jean away for sleep.

ITS IS NOON THE FOLLOWING DAY. I HAVE SLEPT. I HAVE TAKEN MY MEDICATIONS. TIME TO HYPERFOCUS BABY.

KINDLE SAYS WE HAVE 8 hrs 27 mins LEFT IN THIS BOOK. IM SAYING GOODBYE TO MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY. I’LL SEE Y’ALL AT DINNEE TIME. ITS JEAN TIME.

Hiiiiiii Thea….

“Good morning, Paris.” Now, the average man will see this as a reference to his frenchness. but real ones know Paris is prince of Troy, the man who married Helen of Troy & started the Trojan war.

do y’all think Jean has a french accent wait wait wait. obviously itd be very slight at this point but is it there. necessary question.

Assessing Thea like a fucking state exam right now. Neil could not have cared less about your ass I am gaining so much information

Hate of my life Riko moriyama.

CHAPTER THREE:

JEREMY FUCKING KNOW HI BAYYYBY

the way I literally got up and had to pace and stim for a moment even though I fully expected this. autism. my roommate is concerned. not really. she’s used to this she watched me read TKM and dramatically reenact the Ichirou Car Talk.

wow??? AFTG team actually seems happy and well-adjusted and friendly with each other??

Random Note: I’m currently watching Blue Exorcist & one of the main characters is a girl name Moriyama and I’m literally just sitting here like “This girl is way to nice and innocent to have that name.” Because she literally is the nicest girl to ever exist. Why is she cursed with the same name as my mortal enemy (Testuji)

“Tonight’s experiment was the icing on the cake, an invaluable experience no matter how it ended.” Jeremy, my love.

He has empathy… Never before seen footage. Y’all get the cameras!!

He’s so shaken about Jean,,, holding you so gently Jeremy. Here as a guy who knows nothing at all about Jeremy since I’m. so new here. but god.

Jeremy: are you sure a Raven can abide by Troja—

Kevin: Bro Jean is so pathetic he’s a bottom fr. He never disobeys an order

Jeremy: I. Okay you didnt have to say it like that, bro.

I will literally never stop respecting the Trojans strat in the final they really said. “If these fucks can win the championships with nine players, surely we can.” and then willingly got their asses handed to them.

“Xavier stumbled when he got the next serve off, and the Fox guarding him gamely hauled him back upright before running for the ball. It was a simple gesture, but it endeared Jeremy to them” I dont remember if this bit was described in tkm so i’m going to guess that’s Nicky or Matt. Aaron would fucking never.

Nah because like. Yes this proved to the Trojans how resilient the Foxes were, but it was also a message to the audience, yk? Like we know the Foxes were getting shit for their quick rise to the top after they pulled their shit together, but I personally think that the Trojans did this both for their improvement & for Foxes’ publicity. This game proved to the public at large how devastatingly *good* the Foxes were, because of their small size. The second best team in the league crumbled playing the same conditions the Foxes did *every game* and got to championships with. They proved that Foxes were, in fact, a D1 team who earned their keep.

oh hes got daddy’s money. Well. not. officially. yo what I mean.

“it was always best to have a paper trail” Neil Josten would have an anuerysm hearing those words.

Bye Jeremy I’m. Love you so much. Why do you feel like a sixty year old man in your early twenties.

“between seven and twelve students.” yikes.

“unfamiliar and accented voice.” I WAS RIGHT I FUCKING CALLED IY HES GOT AN ACCENT BABY FUCK YEAH

“you ever feel like— like you’re making a choice you cant come back from? But even knowing everything could go completely sideways, you’d make that choice every time?” okay so coming out allegories i could make aside, Jeremy is so… where to start with him. He reminds me of Percy Jackson. Endlessly loyal and selfless to the point its a bit stupid but endearingly stupid.

CHAPTER FOUR:

Okay so we’re alresdy hateflirting. noted.

Its also extremely sunny today in Podunk Hicksville where I live so it feels very On Brand.

“Jean had seen that smile in a half-dozen broadcast… He could picture it too easily, and he dug his fingernails into his own face in vicious warning.” Awww you think you can best the gay worms in your brain. goodluck with that Johnny.

“isn’t that reason enough to keep living? To rediscover simple delight one moment at a time,” keeping this quote for eternity

“enough sunlight to chase away Evermore’s shadows. They are willing to take a chance on you. Aren’t you?”

Kevin Day autistic king. taking this hesdcannon to my grave .

“the conspiracy theorists were working overtime” no girl they just aint stupid.

THEY DESTROYED HIS POSTCARDS…

CHAPTER FIVE:

I want to start keeping record of all the times Jean is like “[name] wasn’t decent enough to [thing]” because its SO funny. We LOVE a petty king.

also keeping track of all the insults he throws at Neil.

Neil likes to think he’s SUUUUCH a loner boy no friends angsty “dont speak to me” resting bitch face ass motherfucker. In reality he is a jack russell terrier — ceritifed jack russell owner who’s dog thinks hes soooo big and bad but said dog literally cries when you dont let him in the bed or say hi to people on the street

Jean is SOOOOOO dramatic 😭😭

Jean: Why would you let Kevin do this.

Neil: let him?? He did that on his own.

Jean: you’re proud of him for being a problem, arent you?

Neil: oh you fucking know I am, bitchass

“but other than his outstanding murder charge there was nothing interesting about that Fox.” i’d consider that very interesting information, Jean. Youre just deranged

“with milk, juice, and vodka dominating one shelf” that’s Aaron, Nicky, Andrew/Kevin in order. Im correct.

“There was an entire drawer dedicated to cheese.” Yeah that sounds like Nicky.

“Half the drawer was full of mini candy bars. Jean threw them all into the trash” bro Andrew is going to kill you in cold blood and not even Neil can save you.

Jean is SO dramatic. Give him Kevin’s crown.

Jean @ Neil during the final: ARE YOU WITHOUT INTELLIGENCE????? ARE YOU STUPID??? DO YOU WANT TO DIE??

Seeing the media coverage of the championship is the food I needed thank you Nora for this. I am eating it up. om nom nom

The sportscasters referring to athletes with their first name is batshit. What. why. huh. Absolutely not.

CHAPTER SIX:

Renee protecting Jean from discovering Riko’s death through media & not through them…

Everytime boys start fistfighting in this series I hear Roxanne from Megamind. “Ladies, ladies, you’re BOTH pretty.”

a) Jeans reaction to finding out was exaclty what I expected

b) I’m FASCINATED to know who called campus security. Jeremy?? Renee?? Someone in Fox tower???

Neil was gentle with someone other than Andrew? I didnt know he knew how to do that…

NEIL. NEIL JOSTEN. YEAH BABY

HES ROOMING WITH CAT AND LAILA??? YES YEA YES YESY

the Jean-Renee dynamic is so fucking important to me. MLM/WLW solidarity. theyre besties.

THEYRE SO IMPORTANT TO ME BRO.

Literally snuggling Jeremy

Oh he’s got Fox potential. Hiiii Jeremy. Give me the traumadump bbg

THEY/THEM??? DO MY EYES DECEIVE ME OR IS THIS AN HONEST TO GOD THEY/THEM PLAYER OH ILL CRY. ILL CRU RIGHT NOW

CHAPTER SEVEN:

Oh Jean. you’re about to have such a gay awakening babe i can feel it in my bones.

A FUCKING YOYO??? I LOVE HIM

“A mite bit hecked up” PLEEEASE JUST SAY FUCK /ref

OH HE WAS IN LOVE WITH KEVIN. INTERESTING INTERESTING INTERESTING.

autism coded lookingg motherfucker (stares at Jean.)

The chaos of Cat and Laila’s house is so fucking cute. Its about to be two lesbians and their distrustful pitbull rescue in this bitch and im ready for it.

CHAPTER EIGHT:

watching normal people discover the cult that is Evermore. Finally someone having a normal response to that madness. What the FUCK.

wait theres actually a cardboard dog i thought it was fanon joke.

oh my god there is actually a fucking cardboard dog. i.

jeans brain just got actually shattered by this living room. he cannot comprehend this.

Cat & Jeremy, realizing the cult rumors are real: I THOUGHT YOU WERE KIDDING! I thought it was joke! I even wrote it down in my diary! “Kevin made a very funny joke today!” I laughed at it later that night!

Okay, last night; I went to bed at 2:30 AM 45% through (college my beloathed). we’re back in business.

Jeremy is so disturbed all of the time. goofy ass.

“Loving something is not enough,”

“When was the last time you enjoyed playing?”

“ Irrelevant.”

Whats his shirt look like Jeremy. Jeremy whats the shirt look like. Jeremy. Whats the shirt look like.

Okay so I’ve reached my image limit for this post and I dont have fun reaction images on my laptop. so now I will post this & reblog with the rest of this book.

[mortemoppetere]

TIMING: current LOCATION: underneath wicked's rest PARTIES: @loftylockjaw & @mortemoppetere SUMMARY: emilio catches wyatt having a midday snack. before he can do anything about it, they become snacks together. CONTENT: suicidal ideation, brief mentions of child death

Wicked’s Rest kept Axis Investigations fairly busy. It was rare for Emilio to go a week without one new case or another landing on his desk, rarer still for those new cases to be the kind he thought normal P.I.s spent a lot of time dealing with. This particular case looked an awful lot like many he’d worked before. There was a woman, and her husband was missing. He’d vanished in the woods, and the police didn’t want to help her. They said he’d run off somewhere, claimed he’d just had enough of her, but she swore it wasn’t true. Given his experience, Emilio thought he might agree with her. There were a lot of things in the woods of Wicked’s Rest that might make a man disappear.

None of them were good.

So, he headed out. On his own, with Nora preoccupied, though he probably wouldn’t have involved her in this case, anyway. He’d rather let her work cases that might have happy endings, and he knew this one wouldn’t. He knew he was probably looking for a corpse instead of a man here, knew there probably wouldn’t be a joyous reunion. But it was better to know. He believed that, even now. It was better to know the truth, even when it hurt. 

The woods were damp, but at least the weather was warming up a little. Emilio still wore his jacket, pockets stuffed full of blades and stakes, but he tended to keep that on year round. He trudged through the underbrush, bad leg snatching away any capability of moving silently. When he heard the smacking of large jaws ahead, he paused. This, he thought, could be exactly what he was looking for. Readying his knife, he moved forward towards the sound.

—

The ranger had been tailing him, pardon the pun. For a couple days now, he'd kept seeing the same woman out and about. First at the Pit, where he won in a fight against a baukbear. Later that same night, out on the street. A coincidence, he thought, not worth confronting her over. She couldn't know he was Lockjaw, anyway. He kept his human identity pretty fuckin’ secret. But then he saw her the next day at the store. And the next, outside a bar. She was tailing him, waiting to get home alone. She knew.

So he let her get him alone. Let her follow him into the woods, let her stalk him like he didn't know she was there. Let her think she had the upper hand. 

The fight was brief. She'd seen Wyatt in the Pit, but that still didn't prepare her to face the lamia's brute strength herself. By herself. Stupid. He'd grabbed her in his jaws and whipped her against a tree, rumbling happily as her limp body fell to the wet forest floor. Time for a snack, he supposed. No use letting it go to waste. And hey! This was a fresh brain for Caleb! He'd love that, probably. Maybe. Maybe only if Wyatt didn't say how he got it. Hm. The head had been severed from the body in earnest, and now the massive alligator creature was tearing what remained of the corpse into smaller, bite-sized pieces, gobbling them down. 

Until someone else happened upon the scene, and he lifted his head from the carnage to squint his yellow eyes in the direction of the sound. The heat signature of a human was coming in his direction and he huffed, preparing himself for yet another altercation. 

—

Whatever was out here would likely hear him coming. The uneven terrain would have been easy enough to navigate in his older days, before the massacre and the injury to his leg, but now? The limb practically dragged behind him, barely serving to support his weight at all, much less do so in silence. But whatever it was was having a hell of a meal from the sound of things, and Emilio had to trust that that would distract it enough to keep it from acting before he could assess the situation. He was out here to solve a case. If this thing wasn’t related to that, and if it wasn’t bothering anyone, Emilio saw no reason not to leave it be for now.

Of course, that plan of action changed pretty swiftly when he saw the situation at hand. A giant reptilian creature eating what appeared to be the remains of a human corpse wasn’t the strangest thing Emilio had seen in this town, but it was the kind of problem he figured he ought to take care of. It was impossible to say, at this point, if the alligator creature had actually killed the woman it was currently making a meal of, but it was better to be sure a threat was eliminated, wasn’t it? And besides that, his client’s missing husband might very well be in the thing’s stomach. He’d need to cut it open to be sure.

He kind of wished he’d brought a bigger knife.

Silently daydreaming about the scythe in Teddy’s basement that he couldn’t carry around with him everywhere no matter how much he wished he could, he gripped the knife he had brought as he approached. “All right,” he said lowly. “We’ll do it quick. Make sure you can’t hurt anybody, make sure nobody finds you.” What Emilio would do to the thing would still be kinder than what someone else might, if they came across it first. A quick death was far less cruel than what most people were capable of.

—

Inner eyelids blinked first, followed by the outer ones as Wyatt sized the man up. Had a limp. Was ill equipped to deal with something as large and tough as he was, he thought as his gaze flicked down toward the knife in the stranger’s hand. Wouldn’t be much trouble, really. Still, there was something in his tone that set him apart from the ranger that had started this whole mess. He sounded almost like he didn’t want to do this, but felt obligated… on account of the dead human, and all. That was understandable. 

Perhaps this could be solved without a fight. If not, though, another brain wouldn’t be a bad thing to get his claws on. 

Wyatt bobbed his head quickly to send the arm that’d been dangling from his jaws to the back of his throat, swallowing it — sleeve and all — and straightening up, rising to his full height and staring down at the man as he let out a low, threatening rumble. “Like fuckin’ hell we’re gonna do anything quick,” he responded, figuring the hunter probably didn’t expect him to speak. Most didn’t when they saw him like this. “She came for me. You wanna end up like her, you keep comin’, mon cher. Won’t take me but one good snap.”

—

The thing swallowed the arm it had been chewing on and, if Emilio had been a man with a weaker stomach, he might have felt a bit nauseous at the sight. As it stood, however, it was easy enough to stomach. He’d seen far more gruesome things than this, even if this did land pretty high on the list. (Nothing, he thought, could top walking into an abandoned factory to find his brother tied to a post with his leg a few feet away from his body.) Still, it wasn’t exactly a welcome sight, and Emilio spared a moment of sympathy towards the owner of that arm.

A moment was all the time he had, though. Because the creature stood on its hind legs, raising to a height that towered above Emilio’s perfectly reasonable five foot and eleven inches. That was strange enough. More unexpected still, however, was the way the creature spoke. Maybe he should have seen that coming; in a town like this one, stranger things had happened. Still, the slayer took an uncertain step back, bad leg threatening to crumble under the weight he put onto it without thinking. “¡Qué mierda!” He cursed, the creature’s words likely having the opposite of their intended effect as they made him tighten his grip on the knife in his hand. If this thing was something sentient and the owner of that arm it had swallowed had ‘come for it’ the way it claimed, did that make the dead woman a hunter? A bundle of complicated emotions burrowed into his chest. “Can’t imagine why she’d do that, with the threats and all. You want me to feel bad for you?” He was out of his element here. He didn’t even know what this was, much less how to kill it. But Emilio was full of nothing if not false bravado; most days, it was the most reliable weapon he carried. “Don’t think I’d go down easy. Better take a step back, pendejo.”

—

At the suggestion that the stranger maybe ought to feel sorry for the beast, Wyatt gave a noncommittal shrug. It would certainly help his case if the man did. Then came the bravado, and the lamia snorted out a bestial laugh. “Okay, Cujo, better untwist those panties before you say somethin’ you'll regret.” He glanced down at the mangled corpse of the human woman, deciding that he wasn't going to let this uppity citizen interrupt a fine meal. “I was mindin’ my own business when this girly came along. Been stalkin’ me for days. Let her live that long, but she kept pressin'. Pressed me right into a damn corner. I don't like corners, friend.” That said, the gator bit at her torso, jerking his head roughly to get it deeper down his gullet. With the motion came a lovely spray of blood, one that decorated the stranger’s front like the flick of a full paint roller. 

Wyatt paused, mouth full and preventing his laugh from coming out as anything other than a growl. He couldn't rightly speak so he just kept eating, sinking down into a squat. It wasn't like he was going to apologize, anyway. He wasn't the one being rude right now. 

—

This conflict in his chest was a new thing. There’d been a period, once, where a hunter being killed by a thing they’d been hunting was an easy situation, something Emilio knew what to do with without question. You finished the job the dead hunter started, and that was that. Sometimes it was vengeance, other times it was pest control. For Emilio, it tended to be both. But… that was before. These days, things felt more complicated. He remembered the hunter Andy killed, the way he helped her bury the body, the way he told her she’d done the right thing and meant it. He thought of Parker and how angry he’d been when the warden went after Teddy, the way he’d wanted nothing more than to make the man pay. He thought of freeing Ariadne from that van, of his various spats with Owen, of every time he’d butted heads with a hunter in this stupid, confusing town. Things weren’t as black and white as they used to be.

That didn’t mean he particularly enjoyed the spray of blood in his face, though.

Taking a step back, Emilio grit his teeth. The metallic taste was a familiar one, though it was usually his own blood that got into his mouth. He spit it onto the ground, scowling. Enough of this shit. He wasn’t sure he wanted to kill this guy, but he was sure that he didn’t want to keep having this conversation. “I’ve got shit to do, then. I hear about you killing anybody else, I won’t be so nice.” He took a step forward, moving to shove past the creature (and maybe offer a petty kick in the process), but…

His foot was caught on something. He yanked, and sharp pain went through his ankle as whatever it was dug in deeper. Turning back, he saw that he’d somehow managed to get his foot tangled in some thorns. So much for the dramatic exit. Now he’d have to cut himself free. Grumbling, he turned around, knife still in hand. As he got close to the thorns to cut them away, though… something happened. The vines shot out, wrapping themselves around his arm up to the shoulder and climbing up his leg, slicing all the way up. Out of the corner of his eye, Emilio could see the same vines moving towards the sharp-toothed, hunter-eating stranger, too.

—

At first, all the man got in response to the warning was an eye roll, teeth crunching down through bone and cartilage. As he went to storm off, though, he suddenly stopped. Wyatt snorted, figuring this was another intimidation tactic that was falling flat. “‘M shakin’ in my fuckin’ boots,” he said around the remains in his maw, gulping them down. The man ignored him, instead bending down to… oh. Oh. He was stuck. That was hilarious. 

And fortunate, actually. The threat came to the forefront of his mind and Wyatt abandoned what was left of the woman to turn his focus on the living one instead, deciding that he should kill this one as well. It was preventative! And it meant more brains for Caleb. 

Not that he was sentimental, or whatever. 

Before the gator could rush the guy, something else was rushing his way. He gave an alarmed growl, rising up onto two legs and trying to backpedal away from whatever was snaking through the ferns toward him with alarming speed. He glanced over to the stranger only to see him wrapped in thorny vines, and let out a fearsome roar. This was going to be annoying, wasn't it?

The vines caught up to him and coiled around his legs, pulling him easily to the ground. He thrashed and snapped at them, safe from the razor sharp thorns everywhere but the inside of his mouth, which he realized with an angry snarl. Even though the thorns couldn't pierce his hide, the vines they were a part of were doing a great job of dragging him over the ground, pulling him right into the stranger and the both of them toward… toward… what was that? That hole hadn't been there before, had it? He surely would have noticed such a thing. 

—

As he tried to saw through the vines, he caught sight of the reptilian creature moving towards him out of the corner of his eye and steeled himself for the possibility of having to fight the thing while tangled in thorny brambles. It wasn’t exactly an ideal scenario. Even without the disadvantage of the vines, Emilio could admit that he was a little outmatched here. But the vines, whatever they were, didn’t seem interested in disadvantaging Emilio alone. He watched them wrap themselves around the gator, too, tangling him up so completely that there was no hope of him thrashing his way free. 

It didn’t feel like much of a victory, though. Even with just one arm and one leg taken out of commission, Emilio couldn’t do much to prevent the vines from pulling him backwards. And, unlike the shifter, the slayer didn’t have a tough hide saving him from those thorns breaking skin. His pant leg and sleeve were wet with blood now, and struggling only seemed to make the brambles dig deeper. But as Emilio was yanked backwards towards a hole in the ground, he couldn’t stop himself from thrashing. There was no way that led anywhere good. “Oh fuck off,” he mumbled, yanking at his leg uselessly. 

It was all he really had time to say before the bottom dropped out from under him and he was falling. The ground beneath rose up to meet him, knocking the air from his lungs as he just barely managed to maneuver to land in a way that saved him from a concussion on top of everything else. He wheezed, trying to determine if any ribs were broken in the fall. If they were, it would be the least of his problems. A glance up towards the rapidly fleeting light above them told him that the hole they’d fallen through had closed behind them. If not for the slayer-enhanced night vision, he’d be flying blind right about now. He wondered how well the gator could see, wondered if it would work more in his favor for him to be blind or capable. He didn’t think the two of them were on their way to friends, but they might have to settle for allies down here.

Forcing himself to still his movements and prevent any further damage from the vines, Emilio let out a breath. He glanced over to the shape of the gator in the darkness, eyeing him carefully. “Are you dead? If you’re not, and you agree not to eat me, maybe I help get you out of this. But I’m not going to help you if you’re going to try to take a bite out of me. Or if you’re dead.”

—

He’d cracked his head against a rock on the way down, sending him into a brief lapse of consciousness. Would have been far worse if he hadn’t been shifted, of course, but he was stirring again within the minute, hearing the man talking to him. Offering him help. Pushing himself up from the earth with a groan, Wyatt shook off the dirt as best he could with the vines still clinging uselessly to his hide. “Looks to me like you need my help,” the gator rebutted, for no purpose other than being a snarky asshole. “Wasn’t hungry, anyway. Just wanted your head.” He looked around them, long jaws cutting through the dark as he blinked a few times to adjust. His eyes reflected red just like any other gator from the minimal moonlight forcing its way through the brambles overhead, giving him an eerie presence as he stood there in the shadows. 

Now that the panic had subsided (they were just in a tunnel in the ground, after all), Wyatt was able to calmly free himself from the brambles, watching them slump uselessly to the dirt. What even was the point here? To pull them underground? Why? It didn’t make sense. 

He crouched down onto all fours, regarding the thorns that held the stranger in place, and the long plants they sprouted from. “You should pull those out,” he noted unhelpfully, suddenly deciding to be charitable. With a huff, the lamia picked a spot on the vines that had less thorns and closed his teeth around it, grinding it down to a paste to help free the stranger. It was with the bad-tasting plants in his mouth that he noticed thin, tendril-like roots crawling their way very, very slowly. Spitting out the vine mush, the gator let out a warning growl. Okay, so maybe there was more to this than just being dumped in a hole. “Watch out for those,” he grumbled, moving away from them to chew on a different spot on the man’s opposite side, hissing angrily as a few thorns stuck him in his tongue and on the roof of his mouth.

—

For a second, he really did think the gator was dead. He wasn’t moving, and with the thorns all around him, it was difficult to tell if he was breathing. There was a strange mix of relief and dread in the thought — relief, because he was pretty sure the pendejo had been about to eat him, but dread because if the shifter was dead, Emilio was alone here. Alone, in a small tunnel beneath the ground, unable to move… It didn’t do particularly well for a man who struggled with a deep-seated fear of enclosed spaces, even if it wasn’t a fear he’d admit to. But then, the gator shifted, and the relief turned to dread while the dread turned to relief. The two seemed to swap places, and Emilio sighed. Even in his head, things were rarely simple. Maybe especially in his head. 

“I’m doing great, actually.” It wasn’t true. It was never really true, but Emilio liked to say it, anyway. He offered the gator a blank stare at the ‘reassurance,’ blinking slowly. “Yeah,” he said flatly, “well, I’m using it.” He wondered, with an idle horror, if the gator collected heads, if he had some room in his house with them lined up and decomposing. The thought wasn’t a particularly comforting one but, given the fact that the gator hadn’t seemed interested in eating the head of the hunter he’d killed topside and claimed to want Emilio’s despite a lack of appetite, it would make an unfortunate amount of sense. 

The shifter made quick work of the brambles holding him down, and Emilio felt a flush of envy as he began the slower process of freeing himself. His dominant right arm was still gripped in the thorns, so he shifted his left into his pocket to pull out a knife and begin working on it. The thorns seemed to protest their own removal, digging in deeper as he sawed through them with the blade. The way he tensed as the shifter approached didn’t help matters much; he felt the thorns sink in a little deeper with the motion, grimaced as they did so. “Wow, never would have thought of that. You’re real helpful,” he said dryly. Then, those massive jaws were right next to him, and Emilio was pretty sure his mouth had finally gotten him killed, when…

The shifter’s jaws sliced through some of the vines, and he could move his arm more freely. Some of the tension bled out of him (along with a healthy amount of actual blood from the thorns), and he offered his temporary ally a curt nod. “Get my leg loose,” he said, nodding down to it. “I’ll work on the arm.” He didn’t particularly want those jaws anywhere near his arm, even if they did seem to be on his side for the moment. His leg was shit, anyway. Short of chomping it off entirely, he didn’t think the shifter could make it much worse. Warily, he followed the gator’s eyes to the roots that seemed to be coming their way. He could imagine what they were after; he didn’t think it was anything he’d like. “Let’s do it quick, then. Probably going to have to walk around to find an exit. The one we came through closed up while you were napping.”

—

“Napping. Right,” Wyatt grumbled around the vines in his mouth. Once they were chewed down and the rest was left to the human, he straightened up and lifted his head to look at the ceiling of brambles over their heads. “Don’t be a dick, mon frère. I can still leave you here… or swallow you in one bite. Either works for me. And you don’t need your head for neither option.” He lowered his gaze again, not loving the idea of trying to climb through those vines, but knowing that he could if he had to. This guy, though… well. He’d probably bleed out before he made it topside. Which was seeming like it wouldn't be any great loss, but it probably wasn't worth the effort of getting through that insidious tangle of plantlife. 

“Since when is the forest a threat?” Wyatt wondered aloud, sounding put out by the whole thing. “This place… swear I ain't met more nefarious critters like I've met here.” He was speaking to himself mostly, dropping onto all fours again and lumbering down the tunnel slowly, tail swinging dangerously behind him, whipping the sides of the underground structure and, unbeknownst to Wyatt, making it quite easy for the roots of the Miner's Ruin that grew throughout these tunnels to follow them. The human could follow him or not, it didn't make much difference to him. He did however swing his head to the side to regard the man with one eye once he heard him trailing behind, giving an impatient huff. “What you like to be called, man? Also, and more importantly, you a hunter? I don't like hunters.” 

—

With most of the vines sliced away with the gator’s sharp teeth, it was easy for Emilio to cut through the rest with his blade. Getting to his feet was a little less easy, of course. He didn’t like the amount of blood soaking the ground where he’d been laying, scowled at the puddle like it might soak itself back into his veins if he only looked at it sharply enough. Of course, this did very little to actually help the lightheadedness that came with standing, so Emilio figured he was better off using that energy to focus on staying upright. “Ah, I’m always a dick,” he replied, glancing back to his reluctant companion. “And if you do that, you’ll be on your own down here. Might not want that.” There was no telling what they’d run into down here, and while the talking gator probably stood a better chance than Emilio against most things, Emilio did have the benefit of knowledge on his side. It was just about all he had to offer in this state, though he wouldn’t admit to that.

He snorted at the gator’s question, staggering to follow as he walked down the tunnel. He didn’t really want to walk with a guy who’d threatened to eat him more than once now, but there wasn’t any other place to go. And Emilio had no desire to stay in the small opening with the vines that seemed capable of attacking him. “Forest is always a threat. You’ve just been lucky until now.” He had to walk close to the wall to avoid being hit by the gator’s tail, though he didn’t voice this inconvenience. If he did, he had a feeling the guy would only make things worse for him. And, still bleeding sluggishly and concentrating harder than he’d like to admit on keeping his balance, Emilio wasn’t sure he could afford for things to be much worse. “Emilio,” he replied flatly. “And you don’t like me either way, so I don’t think that matters.” He could lie, say he wasn’t a hunter, but he didn’t see much point in it. He had all the telltale signs of being one, from the weapons lining his jacket to the way he carried himself. He figured if he told the truth now, the gator might decide not to eat him. If he lied and the truth came out later, he was as good as digested. 

—

All that Wyatt gave in response to the claim concerning his luck was an uninterested snort. No, he wasn’t lucky. He’d been the most fearsome thing in the swamp back home, and as far as he was concerned, he was the most fearsome thing around here, too. The vines had just been unexpected. And clearly not intelligent enough to know when they’d bagged a meal as inedible as Wyatt. Stupid plants. Nefarious critters were certainly abundant here, but the lamia feared none of them so far. Well… none but the birds. But that was neither here nor there. 

Hm. He wasn’t wrong, certainly. Wyatt had no positive feelings for this man, which was curious considering he’d decided to chew him free of the vines. He hoped he wouldn’t live to regret that decision: there was no doubt in his mind that he could dispatch this hunter if the need arose, but he didn’t feel like expending the energy. He’d just eaten, after all, and he was tired. More tired than he always was, these days, thanks to his shitty dreams and even shittier sleep. Something that he was reminded of as they wandered through the dark and he listened for sounds. There wasn’t much, save the occasional tumble of rocks and dirt, usually a result of him brushing against the side of the tunnel. The air was quiet and still with not a single draught to be felt. That didn’t bode well. 

The tunnel curved this way and that, but for now, it was a singular path. Wyatt was about to comment on how fortunate that was when they came upon a split and the gator halted his march, looking down one tunnel, then the other. He let out a frustrated growl, angling his head again to look at Emilio. 

“Do you feel anything?” he asked grumpily. “My hide isn’t exactly the most sensitive…”

—

The shifter didn’t seem particularly interested in talking and, in all honesty, there was relief to be found in that. Emilio was far too petty to allow the gator to have the last word in any given conversation, but he was spending an awful lot of his focus on staying upright now. He had no doubt that if he passed out due to blood loss, the shifter would leave him behind. Or eat him before he regained consciousness. In a place like this, with the vines that dragged them here still hanging off the walls, both options were death sentences. 

So Emilio focused on holding on to his consciousness, dragging his leg behind him like it was dead weight rather than a functioning limb. At the moment, it was very much true. The added sharp pain left by the thorny vines only seemed to make the constant ache the limb suffered feel all the more apparent. He wasn’t sure how much more walking he had in him, wasn’t sure he’d make it to the light at the end of the very literal tunnel. He grit his teeth with each step, determined to at least avoid making any sound to showcase his discomfort. 

He was so focused on walking that he didn’t notice the shifter ahead of him had stopped until he nearly rammed into the guy. Blinking the spots out of his vision as best he could, he looked at the path ahead of them. Or… the two paths. His slayer abilities granted him enough vision to see pretty far into the tunnels, though neither seemed more enticing than the other. “If there’s anything undead in them, it’s a way’s away,” he replied, not thinking about the fact that he’d just given up the fact that he was a slayer. The shifter had already deduced that he was a hunter; what did it matter what kind he was? “Can’t see anything that makes one look better than the other, either. At least…” He tilted his head, taking a closer look and humming. “One on the left has less vines. I like the sound of that.”

—

The air was stagnant and strangely hot, and while it came as a comfort to the cold-blooded creature, it also was making him very, very sleepy. “But there is something undead around here, is what you’re saying?” A slayer. Great. One more person to worry about. Owen had been a special case, he told himself. Strictly interested in vampires, and as far as he was aware, Wyatt didn’t know any vampires. “Whatever. Less vines sounds good. Let’s go.” His head was hanging low as he plodded along, and he was so out of it that he barely noticed Emilio struggling to match pace. But eventually he did, despite the man’s best attempts to hide it, and grumbled. “What, you low on blood or something?” He knew the answer, he was just being a shit about it. “I’m not giving you a ride if you collapse. I don’t have to be fast, just faster than you.” 

As if something had heard them discussing their current shortcomings, a low, muffled sound came from deeper down the tunnel. It sounded like something being dragged over the dirt and rock, or something… slithering? Hard to say. Whatever it was, it had Wyatt stopping again as he peered into the darkness. “What was that,” he stage whispered, as if Emilio would know any better than he. Well… maybe he would, he was like a Van Helsing type or whatever.

—

Emilio shrugged, grimacing as the motion pulled at the number of small cuts and slices left behind by the vines. If he sat still long enough, he’d probably heal up pretty quick. Slayers were good at that kind of thing. But in this particular situation, it was something of a double-edged sword. If he sat still, the shifter would leave him behind to fend for himself against the vines and whatever else was down here. Emilio had little choice but to keep moving, to trail along behind the shifter as he trudged on into the tunnel Emilio had indicated. “I’m fine,” he snapped, gritting his teeth against the sting of both the wounds and the harsh reminder that he wasn’t exactly among friends here. “I know you’re not doing me any favors. You’ve been pretty clear about that.” It wasn’t hard to be faster than Emilio, even without his current state being factored in, but he didn’t comment on that, either.

He tilted his head a little, straining to hear the sound coming from deep within the tunnel. It was hard to pinpoint which direction it was even coming from, much less what the source of it might have been. Emilio looked out into the darkness, staring as far as he could see, but there was a bend just ahead that made it impossible to see too far ahead. “I don’t know,” he admitted. He glanced back behind them… only to find that the way they’d come from was now overgrown with the same vines that had dragged them here. He hadn’t realized how fast they moved before. “Shit,” he muttered. “We have to keep going. Whatever it is, we’ll just have to… Deal with it, I guess.”

Shoving past the gator, he shuffled forward, looking more like a zombie than a man who killed them. He stumbled a little, approaching the bend and turning the corner. There were… roots. Roots that were strewn over a body that looked unfortunately similar to the photo Emilio’s client had given him. “Goddamn it,” the detective cursed. “Fuck.”

—

The hunter was cursing, and Wyatt rose up into a hunkered stand to see over his head. “What? It’s a dead guy.” Covered in roots. So those roots were bad news. “Kinda looks like they turned him to jerky. Weird.” The roots took notice of their presence, receding from the body to crawl their way instead. Wyatt hissed, taking a step back. The vines were still behind them, advancing. They were trapped. The only option was to try and jump over the roots, which was definitely not something the human here was going to be able to do, given the distance and his leg. Wyatt groaned, realizing that he didn’t really have the heart to leave the poor bastard behind, helpless as he was. 

“Fuck me,” he grumbled, lowering himself onto all fours again and shoving his snout against the backs of Emilio’s thighs to knock him off his feet. He was draped momentarily on the lamia’s head, who growled out a reluctant “Hold on,” before taking as many more steps backward as he could, preparing to bolt forward and leap over the dangerous terrain. The grinding sound grew louder now, but Wyatt paid it no mind as he sprinted toward the danger, bounding through the air and hoping that Emilio had managed to secure his grip well enough to not fall off. 

Something in the distance made an angry noise as Wyatt landed safely on the other side of the tangle of roots. He lowered his head to the dirt so Emilio could dismount, gaze fixed down the dark tunnel. Something was moving. A heat signature was getting warmer as it got closer, and he felt the crawling tingle of the anticipation of a fight crawling up his spine. “We got company.”

—

“Yeah,” Emilio ground out, immeasurably angry without quite understanding why. “It’s a dead guy. Just… His wife was looking for him.” There was a hint of bitter defeat to his tone, the words feeling clunky against his tongue. Probably the blood loss, he figured. Plenty of his cases went bad; it never tended to bother him much. But lately… Every misstep felt apocalyptic, like he was failing in a thousand different ways. Another failure, another stone landing atop the mountain on his shoulders… it felt monumental, and it shouldn’t have. It was stupid. It was just the blood loss, he decided. That was the only thing that was wrong. 

He took a deep breath, tried to steady himself. He needed to get the body. He needed to at least bring that back, needed to give the guy’s wife something she could bury. Ignoring the shifter’s grumbling, Emilio prepared to begin the process of untangling the corpse from the roots with his blade only to be interrupted by the shifter knocking him off his feet. “What the fuck are you —” Instinct tightened his grip against the gator’s scales, keeping him on the shifter’s back as he leaped over the roots. Emilio hadn’t even registered the danger, really; that must have been the blood loss, too. This was why he preferred broken bones. They were so much less annoying.

The movement jostled him, and Emilio grunted as they landed. Something was moving, was coming towards them, but his eyes were still on the corpse. “We have to get him,” he said firmly, taking a step towards the body. “We’ve gotta bring him, too. He’s — His wife is looking for him. She’s — She needs a body to bury. She at least needs that.” There was a desperate edge to his tone, and he kept repeating reassurances in his mind. It was the blood loss. It was just the blood loss. That was all it was. He was still him, he wasn’t broken, there was just too much blood on the ground. “We get him, and we run. We’ll find another way out, but we gotta bring him with us.”

—

Wyatt would have frowned if his anatomy had allowed it, but there was enough disdain in his tone to convey the emotion regardless. “I am not draggin’ a fuckin’ stanky ass corpse outta here,” he argued. Because it would be him, they both knew that. Emilio was in no shape to be hauling a body around—he could barely haul himself around. The desperation in his tone didn't sit right with Wyatt, who felt like he needed to justify himself further. So much so that he was willing to give up information he'd rather not share with a hunter, but… “Listen. I just ate. I ain't full yet but I'm damn near close. What I need is a nap in the sun, mon frére. Not to be carrying two useless humans outta a hole in the ground while some fuckin’ devil is chasin’ us.” He was certainly more sluggish than he would've been otherwise, and his body was complaining about all the movement. He needed to be still to digest without making himself sick, but this whole fucking situation was not lending itself to that. “Leave it. His wife can bury his favorite sweaty ballcap or somethin’.” The thing down the tunnel in front of them was getting closer, and Wyatt felt his spine tingle with nervousness. He wasn't fit to fight right now. “Come on, man! Leave it!” 

—

“I’ll carry him,” Emilio insisted, though they both knew it was a lie. Emilio would be lucky if he managed to get himself out of this situation without the shifter carrying him — and he still wasn’t sure the stranger would even submit to that much. Odds were, Emilio was going to die down here, anyway. The shifter would pat himself on the back about there being one less hunter in the world, and Emilio’s client would never know what happened to her husband. (Would Teddy know what had happened to Emilio? They’d probably be able to guess, but he doubted they’d ever accept it without a body. Probably not even with one.) 

He let out a sound of frustration, though it sounded a little more like a whine. His wedding band felt heavy on his finger, like a cinderblock tied to his ankle determined to carry him to the bottom of a river to rot. “It’s not just — You bury them, and there’s closure. It lets it feel finished. It’s not — She’ll never be finished if we leave him here. She deserves to be finished.” Did he? It hadn’t exactly been his choice not to stick around and bury bodies when the massacre had still been raging as a backdrop to his escape, but he’d never gone back after the fact and maybe he could have. Maybe he could have seen the graves Rhett dug for Juliana and Flora. Maybe he could have dug some for Rosa and Edgar, too. For Jaime. Victor had no grave. Rhett, wherever he’d wound up, probably wouldn’t get one, either. Maybe Emilio should let the shifter leave him here to carry on the family tradition, to fall and die and decay and never let the world see a stone with his name carved into it and his body beneath it. His client would never be finished. Neither would Emilio. 

He deflated like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Whatever was coming was drawing ever nearer. The corpse was covered in roots, and he couldn’t get back to it without the shifter’s help. What was he, then, if not a collection of failures bunched together in the form of a man? Unable to save his family, unable to protect Nora or Wynne, unable to convince his brother to relinquish a decades-old grudge for the sake of a daughter who loved him. He couldn’t even manage to get a corpse out of a hole. What was the fucking point of him, he wondered? What was he good for? 

“His wife was looking for him,” he said again, defeated. “She was looking. She asked me to look.”

His eyes burned. His face felt wet. He blamed it on the blood loss.

—

Jesus christ, this dude looked miserable. Wyatt groaned and rolled his slitted eyes, squinting them shut as he cursed softly beneath his breath. “Fine! Fine. Fuck. But you are gonna owe me after this,” the lamia grumbled, turning around again in the narrow tunnel to face the relatively fresh(ish) corpse trapped in the roots. Had he died of starvation, or…? Wyatt began to guess the cause as he pushed his clawed hands into the mess of vegetation, craning his neck and stretching out as far as could, and the roots quickly slithered over his scales and made him feel… sleepy… fuck. Fuck. Wyatt gave a grunt and opened his maw, grabbing the body by its shirt with his front teeth and pulling backward. His muscles grew tired with alarming speed as the roots tried to gain purchase on him, finding it hard thanks to his natural armor. He backed up as quickly as he could, dragging the body free from the roots and down the tunnel far enough to give them a moment’s peace. There he collapsed, exhausted. “Do not touch that stuff,” he warned Emilio. “Just… need a sec. Ugh.” There wasn’t going to be a good way to get the body out of here unless it went in his mouth (ew), or if Emilio held it in place on his back… not feeling thrilled about the idea of carrying a corpse on his tongue, the lamia gave Emilio an annoyed look. 

“You’re gonna have to ride up top with that thi— guy,” he explained, glancing over his own shoulder at his back. “Keep… him secure while I figure out how to get outta here. Can you manage that?”

—

He wasn’t expecting the shifter to relent. If anything, Emilio figured the gator would leave him in the tunnels with the corpse to die. And that was the kinder outcome Emilio had predicted. He still wasn’t entirely sure the guy wasn’t planning on eating him, after all. But… instead of doing any of that, the gator went back to the body. He pulled at the roots, he yanked it free. The gratefulness Emilio felt was an overwhelming thing, enough to nearly knock him over. (Which… wasn’t saying much right now, was it? He was pretty sure a burst of strong wind could have handled that particular job.) 

He hovered a little as the shifter freed the corpse and pulled it away from the roots, following on unsteady feet. When the shifter collapsed, Emilio eyed him warily, wondering the cause. He glanced back to the roots, some part of him immediately filled with a destructive desire to reach out and brush against them the moment he was told not to, but he resisted the urge. “Any idea what it is?” Maybe Emilio would have known if not for the clouds in his mind and the way it was taking most of his concentration to remain upright, or maybe he wouldn’t have. It was difficult to say for sure.

The shifter was speaking, and Emilio forced himself to follow along. Sit up top? Up top on what? There was nothing… Oh. Right. His eyes flickered to the shifter’s back, jaw set. He wanted to argue a little, but… even if he wouldn’t have to drag the corpse along with him, he would have had trouble walking out of here. This solution was probably the only one that saw even a chance at Emilio making it topside, and he knew it. “I can do that,” he replied, leaning down to grab the corpse and nearly toppling over in the process. He steadied himself, taking a deep breath. Carefully, he grabbed the body under the arms and hoisted him up, dragging him over the gator’s back. The motion served to reopen wounds that his healing factor had already closed, but it also allowed him a moment of independence, and that made it well worth it. He paused for a moment, swaying on his feet and heaving a sigh. “Thanks,” he said quietly. “For… It’ll be good. It’ll be good for his wife to have something to bury. It’s hard to… move on without that.” 

(He tried not to think of Rhett, but it was an impossible task.)

—

“If I did, I wouldn’t have rightly touched it,” Wyatt argued with a huff, forcing a small dust and dirt cloud into the air from where his head sat useless on the ground. He watched carefully as Emilio parsed out what it was he was saying, struggling with the body but eventually getting it slung over the shifter’s back. “Don’t thank me yet, mon frère… we still gotta get outta here.” He couldn’t disagree more with what the hunter was saying about the body, but figured it didn’t much matter at this point. Arguing wasn’t going to help their situation.

Waiting until Emilio was straddling his spine, Wyatt heaved another breath and pushed himself up onto all fours, keeping his head and shoulders a little lower than was comfortable to keep the two humans from sliding off of his back and down his tail. The slithering sound was growing louder, and Wyatt’s heartbeat grew faster. Even with the adrenaline spike, all he wanted to do was sleep. Fighting something, especially something as big as whatever this was, sounded fucking exhausting. 

Yellow eyes peered into the blackness that yawned wide before them as the tunnel opened up into a cavern. The air was damp, the drips of moisture filling what would have otherwise been an eerie silence. Eerie, because they were not alone. Down the craggy stone slope dotted with a curious red moss, curled defensively in the center of the cave floor, was a massive beast. The heat signature was cool, nearly blending in with the surroundings. A snake. A huge fucking snake, with fur that ran along its spine like a mohawk. Wyatt’s interest piqued, wondering if this was another lamia. But god it was massive… way bigger than any he’d ever seen before. 

Wait. He’d heard about something like this before, hadn’t he? He was recalling the stories his father would tell of lamia that had spontaneously mutated after their fiftieth birthday—it was a fate that hung over him like a cloud in his youth, a scary bedtime story that inspired him to do better, to be better… even though his moral standing would have no actual bearing on whether or not he’d end up like this poor creature. 

“Fuck,” he whispered, knowing the bolla was awake, and that that was bad. “Fuck, the poor thing—we need to go. It’s awake. It shouldn’t be awake.” The odds were astronomically against that this happened to be a period of activity for the beast that would easily hibernate for a dozen years at a time. Wyatt moved carefully along the ledge, brushing against the red moss as he went, feeling the rust colored water drip down onto his snout from the stalactites overhead. “Hey, cover yourself. Don’t touch the plants or the water,” he warned Emilio. It didn’t bother him, thankfully — in fact, it was making him feel much better than he had in a while, even before the roots had sapped away his energy. 

The bolla shifted, body writhing and coiling in its defensive pile, eyes locked on the gator and his passengers. Gargantuan jaws parted and the creature let out a hiss, long and loud. Wyatt froze, his whole body tensed and ready to fling itself from the ledge to get away from the bolla. There was a soft breeze and pinprick of light coming from the other side of the cavern… their way out. But the bolla had something else in mind, and started to raise itself up to strike. 

“Dump the body!” Wyatt bellowed, scrabbling backward and out of the way as the bolla snapped at them, snout crashing into the wall of the cavern. It began to unfurl, and he knew what came next—they’d get wrapped up in those strong coils of muscle and be crushed to death. “Give it somethin’ to attack besides us!”

—

“Right,” Emilio mumbled, too tired to argue. People touched shit all the time when they knew it was dangerous, after all… but insinuating that he thought the shifter was probably an idiot when said shifter was also his only real hope of making it out of this mess mostly alive wasn’t really something that seemed like the best course of action right now. Bloodied and aching as he was, Emilio didn’t have it in him to be his usual levels of difficult. It took most of his energy just to get the corpse onto the shifters back, drained what remained of the reserves to climb up next to it. He held the body against the gator’s spine, tapping his shoulder lightly as if to give him a go-ahead to move.

Even though it was expected, the jolt of his ride moving forward still sent a nauseating wave of pain over the fresh wounds dealt out by the brambles. Emilio closed his eyes for a moment, thinking of the lessons his mother had drilled into him as a kid. Pain is a signal. Signals can be ignored. If you pushed deep enough, you could convince yourself something didn’t hurt. Emilio got good at it, after a while. It was hard to do after one blow, but easier after four. Dull pain was simpler to push down, sharp pain was more complex. Something like this took a lot of trying, but you could do it if you tried. Blend it all together, stuff it down deep. You couldn’t keep it up forever, but you could do it long enough to pull yourself out of a hole.

He lost himself in it, in the ignoring of the signal. It took a lot of concentration, and what little he wasn’t using on that was being spent holding on to the shifter’s back and keeping the body in place. When the shifter spoke, voice rumbling across his scales, Emilio allowed himself to believe, momentarily, that it might be good news. A way out, an exit. He really should have known better. Emilio Cortez had never been blessed with that kind of luck, after all.

He opened his eyes, letting out a sigh at the sight of some reptilian creature ahead of them. He sounded more resigned than anything else, like he’d always known this would happen. Already, his mind was writing the end of this story. The shifter would dump him here and leave him behind, and his body would never be found. Nora and Wynne and Teddy would look for him until the day they died, unwilling to accept an uncertain end. He found himself hoping the shifter would take his client’s husband to the surface in spite of everything, give her some kind of closure. It felt unlikely. 

More words trembled across scales. It took Emilio a moment to grasp them, to pull them in and translate them into something understandable. There was desperation in the tone. It was a little surprising. Didn’t the shifter know he could dump the dead weight?

Except… That was exactly what he was telling Emilio to do. It just wasn’t in the way the slayer had expected it to be.

Something gripped his throat tightly, his heart thrumming against his chest. “No,” he choked out, but he knew they were out of options. They could get everyone still living out of this mess, or… 

(Was Emilio’s life worth more than a corpse? Would it be worth it, to deny his client closure but to tell her to her face rather than hope a stranger would deliver a battered corpse to repay a man to whom he owed nothing? There was only one answer here with any certainty. Emilio just didn’t like it.)

“I — I don’t —” He wanted to give her something, wanted to allow her a grave to visit that wasn’t empty or an urn full of ashes that used to be something. But even if the shifter dumped him here, it would be difficult to get the body to the surface without Emilio holding it in place. He knew the best solution. He’d known it since the moment his mind caught up to the situation.

Closing his eyes for a moment, he nodded. He looked down at the corpse, slipped the ring off its finger and tucked it into his pocket. He patted it down and found a wallet, took that, too. A chain around its neck attached to dog tags that lined up with his client’s detail that her husband was a military man. Emilio pulled those off as well. “I’m sorry,” he murmured to the body. “I’m sorry. I wanted to do more, I —” Wasn’t that the story of his life? A thousand mistakes coated in his good intentions. He closed his eyes, shoving the body off with all his might and leaning down to grip the shifter’s scales. “Go.” 

—

Wyatt didn’t need to be told twice. He launched himself forward the moment Emilio gave him the all clear, hearing the bolla turn its attention on the corpse they’d dumped as it hissed again and started to circle around the body, gathering it up for a good squeeze. Well, at least the guy was already dead. Crushed wasn’t a great way to go. 

Scrabbling over rocks and dirt, the lamia made it to the opposite side of the cavern as quickly as he could, toward the light. Slipping into the tunnel and realizing it was far too narrow for the like of this form, he groaned. He was still half-full from his meal, and carrying Emilio out of here was going to be a lot harder when they were roughly the same fuckin’ size. “Pleeaaase widen,” he begged the tunnel, scraping along on his belly and nosing large, loose rocks out of the way. The light was getting closer but the tunnel was getting smaller, like it was one the bolla had made some time ago that was caving in on itself. Wyatt stopped, huffing and puffing and wanting absolutely nothing more than to take a nap. Nightmares be damned. “We’re almost there. Almost…” He was speaking mostly to himself, trying to psych himself up for the partial shift and the discomfort that was going to come with that. “Okay.” Fuck. 

The lamia started to shrink beneath Emilio, taking on a more human appearance, though he remained covered in scales. He got to his feet, gathering the hunter up in his arms and ignoring any protest that he could do it on his own, because that would just take longer and Wyatt did not want to start retching up bits of human right now. His shortened muzzle parted as he let out an unfortunate gag, hurrying along through the horribly narrow passage. The light brightened, the breeze kicked up, and the tunnel finally grew wide again as it sloped gently toward the surface. Wyatt set Emilio down and gagged again, shifting back to his natural form and shaking away the feeling of sick that was crawling up his spine. He wanted out of here, like yesterday, and so he didn’t even ask this time as he scooped the man up into his jaws (gently) and loped the last few hundred yards out of the hole in the ground and to the forest that waited for them. 

—

The shifter jolted forward so quickly that Emilio nearly tumbled off his back, gripping him tighter as he rode out the wave of pain that washed over his body. He’d heal as soon as he let himself sit still enough to do it, but the multitude of small cuts those brambles had left him with had opened and reopened about a thousand times since the start of this ordeal, and it was starting to get to him just a little. He buried his face in the shifter’s scales, biting his tongue to keep from letting out any noise. 

Behind him, he heard the creature — whatever it was — moving towards the corpse they’d dropped. His hearing had been a little worse since that banshee screamed at him in the graveyard but, somehow, he swore he could hear every second of the thing wrapping itself around the body, could hear each individual snap of the dead bones long after they should have been out of earshot. Was it better this way? Kinder, somehow? Emilio thought of his client, waiting for answers. He thought of his wife, and the way he couldn’t imagine her now without seeing her pale and bloodless on the living room floor. He thought of Rhett, and the answers he’d probably never get. He didn’t think there was any kind way to lose someone.

It took him longer than it should have to realize that the shape beneath him was shifting, and his brow furrowed as he tried to make sense of the situation. There was a tunnel. It was small. Okay. They’d have to walk through that, then. That was okay. Emilio was pretty sure his brain still worked well enough to send the signals through to his legs, even if one of those legs was fucking —

The shifted picked him up. It hadn’t felt quite so humiliating when he was a giant alligator, but now that he was mostly human, Emilio took offense. “Hey, I can walk just fine, estúp-” The passage narrowed, and Emilio’s mouth snapped shut. The walls were closing in, everything was getting smaller, and the air was a little too thin. They were going to die here, anyway, weren’t they? They got away from the creature in the tunnels just to suffocate. His throat felt tight. He wondered if he’d bleed to death before they ran out of air, wondered if there was any hope he’d go quickly instead of slowly.

Light broke through as they exited the tunnel, but Emilio remained checked out even as the shifter set him down and jostled the various injuries he’d collected. He was still imagining a slow suffocation, offering no protest as the shifter scooped him up into his mouth. They were out of the tunnel. They were in the forest. Emilio still thought he might suffocate. 

“Gonna eat me now?” He mumbled, trying to ground himself in the moment. Not a tunnel. Not a shed. Not a factory. 

—

Wyatt sank to the forest floor, resting his jaw in the ferns and rocking his head to the side to gently dump Emilio out of his mouth. “God, no. I feel like blowin’ chunks,” he retorted, squeezing his eyes shut and dragging his clawed hands over the top of his maw. Ugh. Ugh, he always felt like shit when he shifted too soon after eating. “Do what you will, but I ain't movin’ from this spot for a while.” He could have asked if Emilio was okay, but he felt he already knew the answer to that—the guy seemed miles away. Besides, he didn't care, right? This was just another hunter. 

All that being the case… a hunter still had body heat to be absorbed. Body heat that would help Wyatt feel better sooner. With a huff, the shifter swung his head to the side and butted it up against Emilio while the rest of him curled inward without explanation, creating a semi-circle around him. The man could get up and leave if he was offended, but the state he was in had Wyatt figuring he wasn't quite ready, either. “Not a word,” he growled. He wasn't about to listen to a bunch of bitching over the situation. 

—

Was he relieved to hear that he wouldn’t be eaten? Some distant part of him thought he probably ought to be. It wouldn’t have been great to escape this whole ordeal just to be swallowed at the end of it, but Emilio was finding it hard to grasp onto much of anything right now. He buried fingers in the grass and dirt he was laying in, tried to ground himself in the most literal sense of the word, but it seemed so far away. All he could manage was a quiet hum as the shifter claimed he wasn’t moving for a while. That meant Emilio should be the one to move, didn’t it? He should get up, should drag himself back to Teddy’s, should see if there was enough duct tape to take care of the worst of his injuries here. Most of it was superficial — there was just a lot of superficial to worry about. Death by a thousand cuts was about as much fun as it sounded, apparently. 

He was lost in some version of thought, laying on his back with his fingers in the dirt and staring up at the sky when the shifter moved again. Emilio tensed a little, but… the jaw didn’t unhinge. The teeth didn’t find his skin. Instead, the shifter pressed against him for reasons he couldn’t quite understand. Emilio lay stiller than he was normally capable for a moment before his usual small movements returned — the twitching fingers, the shaking legs. He hummed again, trying to think of something witty to say. “Your breath,” he said slowly, as if he was testing each individual word on his tongue, “smells terrible.”

—

“Yeah, well, you ain't winnin’ any flower-smellin’ contests, neither,” Wyatt grumbled. “Just shut up n’ be still. You're warm.” That was all the explanation he was willing to give, snorting with irritation and settling in. For now, his exhaustion outweighed the desire to stay awake, and he felt the quiet hush of sleep start to envelop him after only a few seconds of silence, and decided not to fight it. Except there was one more thing… “Hey, great mouse detective… I'm gonna be hittin’ you up for a cut of the pay for findin’ that body. That damn thing almost cost me my life. Twice.”

—

“I smell great,” Emilio argued, still feeling far away from himself. Had he made it out of those tunnels? Maybe he hadn’t. Maybe he was there now, being crushed alongside that corpse. The thought was almost funny, but he couldn’t muster up a laugh. The shifter settled against him, and Emilio forced himself to be as still as he was able. As soon as his wounds healed enough for him to move without bleeding, he thought, he’d be fine. Until then, he could handle being a space heater for an alligator. He snorted at the shifter’s demand, rolling his eyes. Somehow, even that hurt. “I’ll give you twenty bucks,” he retorted. “Twenty-five if you agree not to eat me later.”

—

“Twenty-five it is,” Wyatt agreed. “Now be quiet. I’m nappin’.” And if he had a nightmare? Eh… that was a bridge he’d cross when he came to it, even if it meant mutilating this sad sack of a man. (He hoped he wouldn’t. But he wasn’t gonna admit that.) The sun was warm overhead, filtered through the little spring leaves of the trees and bathing them in a smattering of gold splotches of light. The forest was quiet save for the chirping of birds and the steady, slow hiss of Wyatt’s breath as he left himself be overcome by his tiredness. 

It was no wood stove in his cozy little cabin, but it would do. 

[cricketnationrise]

Hello hello! Could I get 11:11, the white house, and June for your ficlet fest? Thank youuu ❤️

Of course! I went with a missing moment from canon from the line: "...giving him the same strange look she gave him over coffee the morning after Henry snuck into his room." Hope you enjoy! 💜

want your own ficlet? rules here.

❤️🤍💙❤️🤍💙

white house, 11:11am

June wakes up the morning after the State Dinner a little hungover and supremely comfortable. It’s one part her bed, and one part Nora’s arm slung around her waist, pulling her close in the night. Nora had been almost manic last night after the dinner wrapped, loathe to go back to her apartment in Columbia Heights. June let herself be pulled into Nora’s energy and they’d stayed up way too late watching old episodes of Drag Race and talking about anything and everything. 

June would dearly love to close her eyes and go back to sleep, but the sun is falling right across her pillow and she really has to pee. She’s as careful as possible extricating herself from Nora’s hold, trying not to wake her, but Nora pulls tighter and grumbles something unintelligible yet undeniably (and adorably) pissed off into June’s neck.

“Sorry – gotta pee,” June says quietly.

Nora doesn’t open her eyes but does relax her hold – slightly. June slips free and makes her way to the bathroom. She feels more human when she’s done – less like the sludge found at the bottom of a protein shake – and washes her face for good measure. Back in her room, Nora is asleep again, curled up in the covers, clutching June’s pillow close. June can’t help but stare at her best friend looking so at home in June’s bed. There’s a thrill somewhere in the vicinity of her stomach, but June pushes it down. Tells herself firmly that it’s the hangover.

She needs coffee.

June leaves the room, closing the door quietly behind her, and heads to the Residence kitchen in search of the life-giving liquid. Unsurprisingly, Alex is there already. What is surprising is that he isn’t slumped over the island groaning in pain like a particularly dramatic and whiny table runner. Instead, he’s texting furiously – his cinnamon-scented coffee still full and obviously untouched beside him. 

Something about the sight is strange. Alex is always in motion, mind always racing to the next thing, the next step in the plan, always wanting to be doing. But right now, aside from his thumbs typing away, he’s still – not even a foot jiggling to disturb the aura of serenity. He looks cozy in sweats, his curly hair even more of a riot than they normally are in the mornings. If June had to guess, she’d say her brother looks settled, content to just be in a way she hasn’t seen him since before Ellen ran for President – before the divorce even. 

The smile tugging at his mouth throws her for the biggest loop, actually. It’s not his media smile – all teasing and straight teeth. It's not the smile he flashes to staffers and their own mother occasionally. She’s seen all-too-often since New Year’s – the I-have-to-grin-and-bear-it-because-I’ll-drown-otherwise one that makes June want to burn the world down for him. 

This smile is small, quiet even, almost as though he doesn’t even realize he’s doing it. June hasn’t ever seen her brother smile like that – like he’s so fucking astonishingly pleased with his life he can’t contain it.

Alex eventually puts his phone down to stretch and catches sight of June in the doorway.

“Mornin’, Bug. Coffee’s fresh if you want.” He must have done more talking at the State Dinner than June had noticed – his voice is all raspy. June doesn’t move, still staring at how at home he looks in his own skin. It’s such a dramatic difference even from the night before where he’d literally been bouncing anxiously on his toes in the handshake line.

“June? You awake? You’re givin’ me a weird look.”

She shakes herself mentally, gives him a rueful smile. “Apparently not fully awake yet, Nora and I were up late talking after the dinner.”

“All the more reason for coffee then,” he teases. His phone buzzes again and Alex’s attention is redirected to it in the blink of an eye. Whatever the text is, it has Alex snorting in laughter and responding as quickly as he can. She leans against the counter and watches him over the lip of her own coffee cup. Something changed for him last night; something for the better.

“Oh hey,” Alex’s voice startles her out of her thoughts. “Eleven-eleven, make a wish, June.”

She smiles at him and closes her eyes, wishing hard that whatever is making her brother so happy lasts for a long time.

[because-she-goes]

chiaroscuro

warnings: ED behaviors, calorie restricting, toxic ex bf, matty comforting nora, happy sweet ending, angsty start, lmk if I missed anything. Enjoy!

based on this request

He noticed it immediately. The way the food in her plate would be pushed around, the near constant remarks about her body, her starting to wear baggier and baggier clothes.

“Nor, you alright? You haven’t had any of the snacks we got from the shops.” She was visiting from New York and had come around his house for a movie night. They were currently sat on his couch watching Notting Hill - normally a comfort movie of hers. She was distant this time, every other time they had seen each other in either New York or London she would be her talkative, bubbly and cheeky self. However, she hasn’t spoken to him in over an hour - quietly lost in her own world. He had tried talking to her and making his normal comments at the movie about how ridiculous it all was.

“What? Yeah I’m okay, just feel a bit off… sorry.” She meekly says to him, immediately feeling vulnerable and not wanting to bother him.

“No need to be sorry, you’re okay. Do you want to talk about it, love?” He pauses the movie and twists his torso to look her in the eyes. They looked hollow and empty where heis were swimming with worry and concern.

“You remember Derek right?” She opts to answer his question with another. Biting the corner of her bottom lip with nerves - this was still early days in their relationship and she hadn’t revealed the full extent of the mental gymnastics her ex Derek had put her through. Now or never she thinks.

“Yeah… fuckin wanker.” Matty spits out the words like venom.

“Well, he would make these comments towards the end - when we’d go out to dinner or really whenever. He’d order my food for me and kinda control what and how much I ate at times. I think it was his way of trying to control me when he realized things were falling apart. Like if I had a hard day and just wanted junk food, he would give me shit for it and say I had to watch it or else I’d be gross and he wouldn’t want me. Horrible shit like that. And I guess that mentality comes back every now and again when I’m low.” Once she started talking the words just kept tumbling out of her. Opening the figurative flood gates. Matty had felt like he had been punched in the gut at her words - feeling as if the wind was knocked out of him. How could anyone say anything like that to such a goddess, to such a pure, wonderful, caring human.

“Well… if I may, I just want to remind you that I love you for you - for your brain, your personality, your creativity, your kindness and all the other wonderful things about you. I love you regardless of shape, angel. And your body is an incredible thing, keeps you breathing and alive and existing - that in and of itself is a wonder. If anyone tells you differently, they can fuck off. You’re perfectly you, my love. You’re it for me.”

Just as she had, once he started talking he couldn’t control it. He loved the human infront of him as she was. Regardless of physical attributes, she was perfect in his eyes. Like a Boticelli painting come to life - a divine being sent to him for god knows what reason.

“I’m so lucky to love you, Handsome.” She wipes a tear as she leans in and grabs his cheeks to kiss him.

“Luckier to have your love, Honey.” He whispers to her as their lips connect and the rest of the world falls away.

A buzz fills his head. A high unlike anything else he’s ever known. In the dark of the night with the TV illuminating the pair of lovers, he realizes he has never known a love like Nora’s. The light spotlights Nora and her honey colored eyes. A loose tear moves down her cheek and he rubs it away with a flick of his thumb, palm cradling her delicate face. He prays to whatever angel brought her to him that he is able to bask in this moment - in her love - for eternity. He makes a note later that night while she’s sleeping to go out to a Tesco and get her her favorite junk foods. He kisses her forehead and rests his head on the pillow falling asleep soundly - arms wrapped around her waist protectively. Their breathing and heartbeats synchronize.

He runs out the door the next morning to get some flowers, junk food, blankets - all her favorite things when she feels low and needs a day in. She wakes up to find a note on his pillow.

“Good morning, Sunshine! I’m out running some errands, but wanted to remind you that you are not alone and that I will do everything in my power to help you through this and I am here for you always. I love you very much and care very deeply about you, my girl. I am thankful that you felt comfortable enough to tell me about things with Derek and assure you that I couldn’t care less about those things - you’re still my darling Nora regardless of appearances. You are the strongest soul I have ever known. I can only dream of being as strong, brave and wonderful as you. Love you, baby. See ya in a bit, coffees in the pot xx - Your Matty.”

In that moment, Nora realizes she has never had a love like Matty’s. Just as he had, she prays to some other worldly being that she feels it for the rest of her life.

[theonlylivinggirlinseattle]

Arlong x OC

I don’t have a working title for this story yet but here is the first part of chapter one. I’ll eventually post the full one to Ao3. Arlong has been my hyper fixation for a bit now 😅 and I decided to create a character that I think would compliment him nicely. Feedback and suggestions welcome! I don’t have the entirely of this story planned out yet but I have a good foundation. I’m still debating making his love interest a nurse shark or an oceanic white tip shark ( both are sharks that I find really neat). I’m also thinking about giving her a last name.

I typed this all up on my phone so there might be some mistakes.

Storm had a pretty normal life on Fishman Island until a horrible tragedy involving humans took the life of her parents as a teen. Ever since the incident Storm disliked humans and never wished to coexist happily with them. She had everything she could ever want on the island but she felt trapped and yearned to see what life was like on the surface. Storm was aware that fishmen were much stronger than the average human but still put in long hours in her training before heading to the surface. On the surface she faced the discrimination the merfolk talked about first hand making her heart grow cold.

I only own the OCs mentioned in the story

Warnings: none (so far)

Ch 1

It was a bright day on Fishman Island when Storm and her friend Kiki decided to go out for coffee and a stroll. Storm had just returned from her trip on the surface and wanted to spend more time at home before eventually going on another excursion.

She was a swordsman and had gained some attention for her skills and was fairly known on the island.

She caught Arlong’s attention right before she left the island two years ago and they've had a few interactions and flirty exchanges. Arlong even wanted her to join his crew but the timing was off and Storm wasn’t ready for that kind of commitment yet.

Storm and Kiki noticed a crowd forming and walked towards it only by to see Arlong holding a few papers above a small mermaid’s head. “Hey, is that that the sawfish guy you’re been seeing” Kiki whispered looking over at Storm. “There’s nothing between us it’s not like that!” Storm quickly responded. Storm saw the poor mermaid struggle to get her papers back and Storm felt like she needed to intervene.

“These papers aren’t going to change a damn thing!” Arlong laughed. Before Storm could say anything a guard started to run towards Arlong calling him a Fishman district reject. Without a second thought Arlong picks him by the neck. “Arlong! Let him go!” Storm yelled out. Arlong glances over and his eyes widen to see…her.

He hasn’t seen the shark woman in a while and as much as he would deny it he was glad to see her again.

Arlong has been with fishwomen and mermaids in the past and has always had a cocky attitude with them but with Storm he felt like he needed a different approach.

At first Arlong thought she was just a snobby privileged girl. She had the luxury of growing up with two parents in a better part of the island, but the more he got to know her he realized that she was not like what he imagined.

He was drawn to the shark woman and even admired her swordsmanship. Arlong had to have her on his crew. Besides he could never have too many fishmen who were skilled in combat.

“What are you doing picking on a rookie guard? Let him go it’s not worth it” Storm stepped out of crowd towards Arlong. Arlong smirked and threw the guard on the floor. Arlong lost complete interest in him and would much rather give Storm his attention.

Storm stood out amongst the crowd. Her long hair was neatly held back in a seashell clip and wore last nights eye makeup with a bare face. She was tall with a lean build and always carried around one of her swords at her hip.

Both Arlong and Storm didn’t realize that Jinbe was watching the whole scene. While Jinbe scolded Arlong Kiki ran up to Storm and grabbed her arm “ I promised Nora that I’d help her with something, I’ll see you tonight okay?” She said giving her a hug before heading home.

[newvegascowboy]

10, 17, 18, 24, 34, 39, and 60 for Red, Cecelia, Lafayette, and Killian. Hier sind Kekse (gave you lots because you said you were bored).

Thank you!! Most under a cut for length

10. What langauges do they speak?

Red - English, Legion Latin (being different than classical latin as Legion latin is much more of a living langauge and i imagine some aspects of it have been warped by ~30 years of imperfect teaching materials and tutors). Red also speaks a little spanish - enough to get by, but their accent is atrocious.

Cato - english and latin; various code langauges that he developed

Killian - english and sign language

Cecelia - english and a handful of spanish, some latin

Lafayette - just english

17. Do they have a day job/how do they make a living?

Red - After returning to the mojave, Red still occasionally does courier work, but mostly they work on a ranch they buy, located just outside Goodsprings. They ranch various animals, some brahmin, some bighorners. The majority of their time is spent working with horses. A great deal of money was stashed away before the secons battle of hoover dam that Red collects upon their return, so they don't necessarily need to work - they just enjoy it.

Cecelia - After the second battle, Cecelia remains in the mojave with a handful of followers. She goes to work at an outpost/settlement away from vegas, where she works as a doctor.

Cato - following the defeat of the Legion, Cato remains to assist Cecelia and the followers. He works mainly as a guard, occasionally going out to root out the legion remnants in the mojave.

Killian - when he isnt traveling collecting and selling scrap, he goes from settlement to settlement to check their defenses and work construction.

Lafayette - Lafayette grew up on a ranch, so she's very comfortable with manual labor. She enjoys the work.

18. Do they have any disabilities, mutations, or implants / enhancements? Do they have any chronic illnesses?

Red - oh boy. Red's got a lot of these LOL.

I consider Red to be minorly mutated; higher muscle density and able to function in high heat for longer than a non mutated human. Their body can tolerate a much higher internal temperature/fever than normal.

Red has a bum knee from being thrown from a horse sometime in their 20s. They're mostly deaf in their left ear, and after being shot in the head, blind in their left eye. They later receive a cybernetic prosthetic eye from the think tank, along with the artificial heart and spine.

Cecelia - also minorly mutated, since she's a lowkey psyker. She can predict shots in a fight, and tends to know the status of certain people without being able to see them. She can suffer from pretty severe migraines that knock her out for days at a time as a result.

Killian - From all his numerous injuries, Killian suffers chronic pain. It's part of why he uses psycho and med-x. He also has the usual joint pain just from being In His 40s

Lafayette - Lafayette got kicked in the head by a horse as a kid. This resulted in a form of epilepsy.

24. Do they have a romantic partner or partners?

Red - Red has lots of whirlwind and failed romances. I toy with shipping them with both Cato and Lafayette.

Cecelia - Cecelia was married to a man named Will and rhe marriage ended when he was killed. I enjoy the idea of shipping her with Julie Farkas (and oc ship with your Sweetjane)

Cato - None other than potential shipping with Red. I can also see him with Cecelia.

Killian - formerly Nora; they were separated before the war and then she was killed. No other ships (except oc ship with sweetjane)

Lafayette - none other than potential shipping with Red

34. What armor/clothing do they typically wear?

Red - Blue cotton shirt with denim jeans/chaps and a long leather duster/bandolier. Red very rarely wears actual armor (usually only as disguise).

Cecelia - long, loose shirts and belted skirts or pants. Combat boots. Big hat. Occasionally a lab coat.

Cato - typically Legionary garb with articulated leather armor on his left arm. After he leaves the Legion, he transitions into sturdy work clothes, leather armor. He's kind of uncomfortable and unused to new clothes but he wants to fit in.

Killian - usually tanktops and cargo pants. Sometimes sweaters and sweats if he wants to be comfy. If he's really serious, he wears leather armor painted in the Minutemen colors.

Lafayette - collared shirts, sturdy ranch pants or overalls. Sunglasses and scarves. She has some NCR armor she wears if she needs to, but the colors are scrubbed off.

39. What is their favorite song?

Oh lord. Im terrible at picking favorites. Genre instead lmao.

Red- red doesn't have a favorite, but they have a most hated which is Big Iron. They like anything they can play on guitar.

Cecelia- she likes things that are fast and hard and loud.

Cato- Cato doesn't really listen to music.

Killian- killian listens to like. Dad rock. Soft rock. And classical.

Lafayette- country western, bluegrass.

60. Are they religious/spiritual?

Red - Red is catholic every Sunday. Not necessarily out of genuine belief in christianity, but because Red thinka everyone needs to believe in something. Regardless, they carry a rosary and hold it whenever theyre feeling particularly thoughtful.

Cecelia - Cecelia is somewhat jaded. She's not necessarily spiritual. She thinks that what she knows for certain is more important than any potential god or heaven.

Cato - Cato wants to believe in something, but the last time he believed in something it burned him. He doesn't know if anything is worth believing in anymore.

Killian - killian grew up with religious parents and got married in a Lutheran church, but he doesn't really care too much about spirituality. He does believe in hell, and thinks he's going there when he dies, but that's a problem for him then.

Lafayette - Lafayette is pretty agnostic. She could take it or leave it. Still, there are some things that she cant explain and doesn't know how.

[vinxwatches]

watching disenchantment season 3

big spoilers. i recommend it a lot. it can be harrowing, but the ending is so worth it. if you might watch it i recommend you do. otherwise, lets delve in.

the intro promises the love pendant to be broken and the screwed crown to be bloodied. those are very bad signs even with the better ones. a book that on a page is a stairway down? holy shit stealing that for my DND campaign. was that a visual gag, or what that more future plot points? and Bean has the endless conflict between the life she wants and the people she cares about. too good of a person to have a simple easy life.

on the one side Mora is being more rude then usual. on the other her girlfriend did just say no to running of with her over friends she doesn't know. damn, with a girlfriend like that Bean with have powerful AF muscles in no time, truly hope that's the way they're taking this. beating her mom with the strength literally gained from her girlfriend would be just so beautifully cheesy. satan is going to become a goodguy just to get rid of his wife isn't he. damn, that 3d was pretty good. i mean if you know what to look for you notice that it's not the 2d models, but you need to know to look for it. there are definitely some potholes in this one. like the conflict between Bean and Nora if you think too much about certain events does not line up, but when you just take it like a normal person it really works. don't know if i like the people constantly splitting up, but it does allow for more things to happens. it's simply hard to have too many people act at the same time and certain people make others largely useless. Elfo doesn't have a lot do to when Bean is around. he fits in small things and can be easily motivated, but that's it, any other activity Bean is simply better at. he works as friend of Bean of course, but she's less reliant on others to take action now. split apart there are just more conflicts that can be interesting.

yea, ok, this conversation is painful. i mean i get that that's the joke, but it's painful because it seems like a stupid way i could come across if i stopped worrying about how things i say come across, something i in general worry too much about making friendships incredibly hard. "it's like they took a nunnery and made it awesome", ah, a lesbian bar. oh, how odd that they did the same thing twise. first with lucy and now with bad beans body. of all parts of the body that you should not be hanging from THE HEAD IS NUMBER ONE! but the overall plan makes sense, i wonder if it'll come to fruition in a more willing manor. also pretty avatar legends of Korra. oh those are working together, that's not good. that means Bean is really running out of allies. fucking hell, i'm trying to watch this while doing something else. i end up just watching it. and then it comes with these strong cliffhangers meaning that stopping to watch is also really hard.

oh... he's just dead... fuck... that... sets stakes. i mean Elfo and Luci will probably be fine, but this may be the death of Miri. well, that's one problem... delayed some more, and another... solved, and replaced for getting lost.

ok, so yes, Elfo's death set a lot of bad things into motion, undoing it also removed Mora and the great relationship Bean has with Zog, if you could ask Bean it would be a hard question. OH, that's a fun plot twist. Miri isn't human? oh. that... well it explains nothing, but it's neat.

oh, she's finally allowed to start seriously winning. it really feels like an earned powerup. in part because it has been set up well, in other because FUCKING HELL LET HER BE HAPPY DAMNIT. oh. i thought they were allowed to get away to, idk, be a minibos later. nope, instead killed to set up some evilness.

oh. making her sound mad. yea, not a joke i think works in universe. like there's one fuck setting with a non mechanical function metal prosthetic. yes i know my immersion is broken by the strangest things but it's bugging me. damn, setting up something heavy, destroy yourself the saves the ones you love? i mean media in general says "do it and for your good deed you'll survive", but i'm afraid they won't do that here. it's either better, or much, much worse. maybe a reset and you get to rebuild your life, but i'm not fan of those endings either. don't undo everything we've grown to care about, even if it can be rebuild. one is planning to kill, the other is planning to delete.

everyone's coming together for (hopefully) the final finally. oh, the tune return. i wonder if there's a meaning to it or if it's just creepy for creepy sake. fuck this battle has some epic moments. i mean there's only so much you can do with the animation style, but fuck they truly do everything possible with it. NO, you can't do that. healing magic? not real? i was fearing that, the scene seemed awfully similar before. DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE END IT LIKE THAT!

yea, no, obviously there's no care left. for episodes it was set up she cared most for Mora. the show has struggled at times to set things up, Beans magic, was probably the only thing set up more. the only motivation could be the same as Dracula in the castlevania show: a long suicide. a rocket, to the moon? why though? well fuck, now everyone is dying. i'm hoping not permanently, but i don't trust it isn't. :O he killed god "love conquers everything, and anger helps"

goodbye Bean is not a promising title, especially after the last episodes cliffhanger. AND NO i will not be ok with Bean and Mora being together in heaven. oh, magic came from the tears of joy of angers mixed with steam from hell. what will tears of sadness do? i just realized what i want: i want dangmar to have a third act breakdown finally. i love Luci's arc. it has totally nothing to do with that i wrote his speech multiple times already in less elegant words. "i've always hated weddings, especially my own" the show has such good lines. not the gay wedding i was expecting, but still one i'm very happy about. i love an overly happy ending. finally a happy ending, it was such a long wait, but it was worth it. YES, finally the third act breakdown.

wait... but the world is flat. so how it it on the other side of the moon? also what a random reveal. it adds nothing, it takes nothing away. it's "what a twist!"

incredibly unbelievable happy ending. I LOVE IT!!! literally every plot point is is resolved, even the ones even i forgot about.

seriously the show had a lot of frustration to it, victories often fell flat, setbacks and defeats were often and big, and as someone who likes happy endings it was often dreadful. honestly i don't know why i kept watching. i guess just something made clear they had plans. sure, details about people plans seemed often not fully planned out in advance, but the arcs of characters? those were old, and they revealed they were working up to the happy ending i was after for so long. Really good series, highly recommend, fuck me if it can't be harrowing, which is why i'm writing it at 2 am because i needed to get to the end.

and i finally got the best way to describe it: the show is cynical, but not pessimistic.

[player-1]

While I'm hoping to get ch 1 and 2 up, that'll be a while though. Still I have some important bits that I want to explore:

-While the Nexomon series always followed the silent protag scheme, I kinda want to make Luke (N:E protag) a bit more reactive to what's going on around him besides a few plot beats that will go right past his head. I imagine he has more of a puppy-dog personality whenever he's comfortable or quirky and very protective about his friends when the going gets tough (it'll be more of a slow burn before The Realization but there will be plenty of hints sprinkled about). And even if I also consider Extinction's story as "a new legend retold through the generations", I also wanted to tone down how many people know Luke's name unless he tells it (ie. writes it down on a notebook) or Coco/Nora/Ross introduces him, nor does everyone magically knows sign language (besides Deena, Mentor/Ulrich, and Luke's friends/siblings).

-Besides being a stickler for default names/appearances, I wanted to mix up some aspects of the default avatar and the "alternate version" that seem pretty close to what the Omnicron fam have as a human disguise, namely the contrasting stripes of hair Luke would usually cover with his goggles. And another thing would be adding the little paw rings, star-like crest, and sharper teeth from Solus just because, and it will mostly culminate into Luke believing he has “birth defects” that make him the way he is and is pretty insecure about it (which seems harsh but Ulrich and family tries their best to give him more self-confidence).

-More! Family! Fluff!

Even if Deena ran the risk of getting hounded by the Drakes if she simply breathed in Luke's direction story-wise, she will do everything in her power to be there for him emotionally and teach him the in’s and out’s of the Guild (which is a task failed successfully on her part the second Luke figures out she knows sign (an automatic friend to him)). Even if the Primordial Tyrants are mostly meant to teach Luke how to control the Tyrant of Light, they'll have their own way of showing their praise to him (positive or not); not to mentioning sprinkling in some Metta mentions/“lore” since he’s the uncle none of them want to talk about but actively seethe over since he’s one of many factors for causing this whole mess in the first place. Ulrich would definitely be the tough but caring mentor/uncle/pseudo father-figure that he was forced to be cause of Deena that unfortunately stuck to him over the years and not-so-subtly being the favorite out of all the other kids (not that he wants to admit it outright). And of course, Luke's "siblings"/friends would have a stronger bond outside of living together in the Orphanage (Coco moreso out of "jokingly" being monsters (Luke with his muteness and other "defects" and Coco being Coco), even if the Guild slowly drives them apart with the Tyrant shenanigans.

-The normal Tyrants have the same storyline (besides a few changes), but the Abyssals will have more of an air of mystery to the main story; whether they confused the Guild about their enigmatic motives, why their bones are all out of whack compared to what they really look like, or the main culprit creating these monstrosities over a millennium and never getting caught. And since Deena, Keith (aka. Ghost of Nexomon Past), and Hilda were directly involved with Venefelis/Salem; I suppose they would have some doubts if she finally changed for good as well as having some guilt about Salem staying in undead limbo since the punishment doesn't fit the crime at this point (mostly told by Deena). So out of the goodness of his heart (and the Guild coincidentally being notified of the disturbance), Luke takes the chance to break the curse and bring her back to the physical world...And then the Abyssal storyline begins.

-And finally with Byeol the mystery "Tyrant", the cheeky little cherub deserves more recognition and potential to impact the larger story. For example, if Byeol is considered a regular Tyrant, how was he created since his Primordial Tyrant (ie. Metta) was supposed to be dead and there isn’t a Renegade fighting to make him the new King of Monsters? How wasn't he targeted by the Drakes or even mentioned by the other Renegades since the Guild somewhat know about Byeol but know nothing about his motives or said Renegade? And if all that Venefelis/Salem did was stay trapped in Pinewoods for 1,000 years, how did she know about the Spencer family vaults and have a key, have a Perfect Berry despite not being able to eat as a ghost, and knowing everything about where the Abyssals were buried and Precursor Mountain? It's almost like she had some kind of accomplice to help her learn about the outside world and indirectly allow her plan her future revenge plot...

Other than that, I'll consider getting asks up if anyone’s up to anything Nexomon related. I have more than enough energy to ramble until Nexomon 3 finally starts coming out of the woodwork.

[creator-indy]

not sure if I'm a bit late for this shdhcs but if you're okay with answering, I'd love to hear some more about your ocs-! They all seem very cool and I'd like to know more about em :°]

I’ll go over my cyborg character Sydney and his friends real quick since I still love them

Sydney himself just wants to fit in with humans and do normal human things but that’s pretty hard to do when your a 15 foot tall angel cyborg clone of your mom with anxiety but his friends (and boyfriend) got his back :]

Brandon is the mom friend of the group (and cook) he dreams of owning his own food truck so in order to do that he works at a diner as a waiter/cook (he’s exhausted a lot of the time but he doesn’t let anyone know)

Frances is confidence incarnate and an expert in fashion and fighting they will beat you to a pulp and look fabulous while doing it if you so much as look at their friends and brother the wrong way

Sawyer buries himself in the knowledge that books can carry and his job as a librarian due to an incident in hs regarding an ex so that sort of scared him out of relationships for a while or at least until they met Sydney :>

Pepper is a literal bundle of chaos

his dream is to build her very own E.V.A (he has a job as a mechanic) will rush into any problem head first hes also very close to Brandon (has been since high school) they have…something going on between them but who knows :]

I cant forget about Sasha either

He’s just a regular dude

the first human syd ever met in fact she worked at the lab Sydney lived in and worked under his mom or at least they did until he saw what Nora had done to him and was like “I Gotta get this guy outta here” and thus tried busting him out but wound up getting captured and having something…bad happen to her

Which brings me to Nora who is….a piece of work let me tell you

This woman made Sydney purely to stroke her own ego she wanted to make something in her own image something as close as to being created by god In her words so what better thing to make than a clone of yourself and turn it into a cyborg from birth so it can be something other than a lowly human so yeah thats pretty fucked but she got so cocky that she forgot that just cloning your body isn’t gonna make the clone act like you so she had to transfer her consciousness into her special project but he escaped before she could (thank god) but she managed to install a cord in the back of his neck and a plug into hers i certainly hope that doesn’t come up later she also cut off her arms and legs and replaced em with cybernetic enhancements so yeah

She’s completely fuckin insane

[ask-paradox-and-friends]

Spooky fight time!

My Fallout OC (Overseer) vs. the man in the suit.

It's. All. Your. FAULT!

Harou Nakajima, aka The Man in the Suit info:

Height: 7 foot 5

Weight: 335lbs

Weapons: Tooth and Claw, Tail, Boiling Blood

Strengths: Is both the protagonist and main Villain of the ‘The Man in the Suit’ Analogue Horror series, Extreme strength (Thanks the the mysterious drug the studio forced the Goji actor to take Harou has mutated into possessing inhuman strength, Can effortlessly manhandle other Suit Actors when their Suits can weigh several hundred pounds a piece, Can effortlessly tear through Security Teams and regular humans with ease), Extreme durability (Thanks the the mysterious drug the studio forced the Goji actor to take Harou has mutated into possessing inhuman durability, Is unharmed by any attack from a normal human, Shrugs off Gunshots), Peak human speed (Despite his Suits huge bulk Harou can move faster than the average human), Possesses an extreme healing factor (Thanks to the mysterious drug the studio forced the Goji actor to take Harou has mutated into possessing inhuman healing, Heals off Gunshot wounds within minutes, Regenerated his own head after it was blown off with a Shotgun), Is remarkably stealthy despite his bulk, Can infect other Suit Actors via biting to become like him, Is constantly mutating and growing (Unknowingly has stated that unless stopped and permanently killed the Man in the Suit can most likely grow to the size of actual Godzilla), Can boil his own blood to spit it out as an attack as his own form of Godzilla’s Atomic Breath.

Weaknesses: Due to the mysterious drug and having moulded into the Suit Harou truly believes himself to be Godzilla and has devolved mentally into an animalistic state, Thanks to WW2 he harbours a deep hatred for Americans and will fly into a murderous rage when encountering someone from America or anyone he believes to be working with them.

Nora Aka The Overseer info:

Height:10 foot 7

Weight:970lbs without armor. 1290 lbs with armor.

Weapons:Righteous Authority, Deliver, Ol' reliable,Overseer guardian, Experiment 18-A, Rockville Sluger, Aeternus, Flakker, Cryolator, Big boy, The Last Minute, Sargent Ash, Le Fusil Terribles,Fact Finder, The tesla module centaur power armour model VII with X-42 tail.

Strengths:as a Fallout sole survivor/wander of the wasteland Nora had been exploring a nuclear wasteland for years becoming a legand and experienced logs worth of mutations going from a normal human woman into a large multi mutated Centaur then gets teleported away from her earth to a new one full of anthropomorphic animals and is now wandering around as a Redeemed supervillain turned Anti-Hero. Extreme Strength(is unbothered by carrying hundreds of pounds of armour and weapons. Outside of power armour is strong enough to easily overpower and kill normal humans and is strong enough to kill super mutants with her bare hands can flip cars and can carry them in power armor.) Extreme durability (can tank loads of bullets lasers and plasma shots before she can fall. She also survives miniature nukes and missiles exploding on her armour is radiation proof and is immune to most small arm fire and lasers.) Suprising speed (Despite her large size being part taur means she's faster then most men. Can keep up with a deathclaw in her armour pulling a carriage containing her team of 6 most of them are large or are Cyborgs.) Genius intellect (used to be a lawer with a acting degree and was a field medic. Made the upgrades and modifications to her amrour and weapons can easily upgrade robots and make electronics for settlements out of junk.) Her body has been upgraded by tech and mutations. (Her bones are coated in a super durable and heat resistant metal preventing limb damage had Her brain and heart removed which somehow makes her immune to headshots. Is heavy enough to not get knocked back. Lost most of her organs thanks to crazy doctors but has gills allowing her to breathe underwater increased lung capacity and with a new stomach from a plant monster from mutant fungi she can survive off of nothing but liquids and can regen from most wounds while in sunlight or passively while also seeing in perfect night vision. Somehow grew claws and hoved feet granting her the ability to climb walls and run on any terrain. Can heal from radiation and is immune to poisons and radiation.) Her weapons can disintegrate or melt others. Can heal near instantly from stimpacks. Her chest peice contains an ai that will give her stimpacks and meds if needed. The fusion cores that power her armour can be used as grenades.

Weaknesses:she is absolutely terrible at stealth. She has lost battles before as the superheros of her new homeworld has caught her before. As she is constantly mutating thanks to radiation and the forced evolution virus she is slowly outgrowing her armour and if damaged it will crush her or implode on her thanks to a welding issue. Ammo and stimpacks are finite.