#small world i guess. wack!

[chicorysaints]

also, i've run into like every single person i know today

[emphistic]

"I'm Lactose Intolerant"

Things Reader Should Acknowledge: I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED THIS ALREADY BECAUSE I FORGOT TO SAVE IT AS A DRAFT, i have yet to get the hang of tumblr, yuuji hasnt been born yet, the itadori parents neglect their children so grandpa takes care of them, waaaaaay later is when yuuji is born, sukuna gets his tattoos when he is older

Prologue: As summer nears its end, and autumn takes its place, you find yourself in quite the situation. A new family has arrived in the neighborhood, and your parents have tasked you with greeting your new neighbors. A wacky grandpa, a gloomy tween. Seriously, could things get any worse?

A/N: Sukuna is 10 years old, while reader is 9 years old. However, Sukuna was held back a grade, so guess who is joining your class this year? *cue the confetti*

Please REFRAIN from REPOSTING MY WORK (REBLOGS ARE EXEMPTED FROM THIS RULE)

PS: i know little kids shouldnt be walking the streets alone, but lets just pretend the world is a better place

Chores are boring. Errands, on the other hand? Well, not so much.

You shielded your eyes from the rays of the sun as you walked down the street, avoiding the cracks on the pavement. The sky bled as the sun set and the songs of the birds started to come to a halt. It was a typical Saturday, help get the groceries, head home, and assist with dinner as much as possible. However, what wasn't typical was the fact that there was a moving company's truck blocking your way home.

Wow, there's definitely a better way to go about this, you sigh. Mindlessly, you kick a pebble aside and tighten your grip on your tote bag as your stride continues.

Several men in navy colored uniforms carry boxes as another man, who you estimate is a septuagenarian, surveys the workers from the front lawn of his new house. The man, who you also assume is your new neighbor, has his hands clasped behind his back and wears a green wool sweater.

Deciding to be polite, you clear your throat, neaten up your braids, and slowly approach the man, cautious as you try not to give him a heart attack. At nine years old, one may not know much, but one might know that killing your elderly neighbor is a pretty wack first impression.

The man looks quite surprised to see you approach, and even raises a white brow.

Okay, maybe this is a bad idea, you think as your palms start to sweat. You go through several introductions through your mind just to go with the most lame one.

"Hello, sir. My name is Y/N L/N. I'm your . . . uhh, new neighbor," you cringed at yourself before holding out a hand to the man.

"Ah, wasn't expecting to meet my neighbors on the first day here. I am Mr. Itadori, pleasure to meet you," his voice sounded like that of an old man's, yet, it had such a warm, cozy feel to it. He took your hand and gave it a firm shake.

"Likewise," you say, after a few seconds of silence.

"Should a girl, — pardon my rudeness — as young as you, be walking out here alone at this time?"

"Aha, my parents trust this neighborhood enough. And anyway, I was only getting groceries from the store, it's not too far from this block actually." You pointed a finger in the direction of said store.

"Wow, you must be pretty responsible for your parents to be sending you out for groceries, huh? Good to know some children in this neighborhood help out their families," Mr. Itadori turned to face a boy, probably not much older than you, who was carrying boxes into the house when he put emphasis on the word "some".

The boy had pink unruly hair, that was slicked back and spiky. You held back a giggle at the sight.

"Grandpa, I'm literally moving furniture into the house. What are you looking at me for?" The boy grumbled, but he didn't stop as he moved the boxes.

"I never said you didn't help out. I was just simply telling Y/N here, about how some children help out their families. No need to get upset now, Sukuna." Mr. Itadori gave a small chuckle, before abruptly turning to face you.

"Oh, right! How rude of me, I haven't introduced you to my grandson."

"Oh, no worries. You guys are probably busy—" You began, before being cut off.

"Nonsense! Sukuna! Come here, boy."

Sukuna muttered something, and dropped off a box by the front of the house before moving over to you and his grandpa.

Now that the boy was closer, you could make out his red eyes, and the frown on his face. Looking back at Mr. Itadori, you noticed he did not share the same qualities as his grandson, and instead had brown eyes.

"What are you waiting for? Introduce yourself!" Mr. Itadori lightly pushed Sukuna closer to you.

The taller boy stared at you for what seemed like forever, before averting his eyes to the ground and keeping them there. "Name's Sukuna."

"Y/N. But I think your grandpa already mentioned that," you tried to lighten the mood.

You swear you heard him say something along the lines of "pretty name" under his breath, but before you could ask, Sukuna retreated to his boxes. His grandpa looked displeased at that. Actually, that's quite an understatement. He looked furious with Sukuna, but he didn't do anything other than sigh and bid you adieu and good night.

You slowly walked back to your house, your arrival being a little later than usual, which your parents questioned you about, to which you explained that there was a truck in your way.

When it was time for bed, you did as you usually did. Showered, changed into your pajamas and watched a movie before cleaning up and preparing to actually go to bed. As you moved to close your window blinds, you noticed something you hadn't seen in a long time — considering no one's occupied the house next door since it was put on sale — there was a window right across from yours, and the light was on.

You didn't plan on becoming a creep at such a young age, but due to curiosity, you didn't peel your eyes away from the window. It surprised you to see that the room across from yours was a bedroom belonging to none other then Sukuna. When you saw the pink spikes of his hair come near the window, you quickly shut the blinds.

The next morning, your mom shook you awake.

You groaned, "Mom. . . What is it?"

"We have new neighbors, honey! I've already started prepping for baking an apple pie for them—" You let her ramble on while you were still half-awake.

Oh, right . . . you never mentioned your meeting with the Itadoris. Now you have to introduce yourself to them, yet again.

"—I just need you to grab a few ingredients for me, if you don't mind."

"Sure, Mom. No problem." You stretched out your arms and yawned.

"Perfect! I'll let you get ready then. I'll give the list on your way out." Then, your mom got up, and shut the door.

You yawned again and rubbed your forehead. This was definitely going to be an interesting day, to say the least.

You met your mom downstairs and she instructed you on the ingredients you needed to purchase. "Uh huh, got it. Thanks. Bye, Mom!

Still half-asleep, you slowly slipped on your sneakers and headed out through the door. The sun warmed your face, yet sent a chill down your spine.

Apples and lemon.

Apples. . .

And lemons.

You hummed to yourself as you walked down the street, passing by the Itadori house.

Apples and lemons—

"Gah!" A little rock got in your way, and you were about to faceplant onto the sidewalk when you felt a firm hand on your shoulder reel you back upward.

You turned to see who your savior was, and cocked your head to the side in surprise.

"Sukuna? What are you doing out here?"

"No 'thanks for saving me, Sukuna'? Also, contrary to your belief, other people in this neighborhood get out the house too, y'know?"

You scoffed, jutting out your bottom lip, "Thanks."

Sukuna held a smug look on his face.

"So . . . you gonna take your hand off my shoulder, or should I do that tor you?"

He looked taken aback, and swiftly returned his hand to his hoodie pocket. "I have to go get groceries. My grandpa sent me, because our house is basically empty?" Sukuna acted as if that was common knowledge.

"What did you have for dinner last night, then?"

"Ordered in."

You mumbled, "Figured."

"Anyway, Grandpa told me you know where the closest grocery store is? I need . . . directions."

"Oh! Right," you scratched the back of your neck. "I'm actually heading there right now. You can come with." If Sukuna didn't want to go with you, he certainly didn't show it (surprisingly).

"So you're actually going to turn this way, down here, across this weird looking house or something — I actually don't even know if it has someone living in it — then go in front of this—"

"Stop talking, and maybe we'll get there faster," Sukuna muttered.

You turned around to face him; he had his hands in his pocket and wore a bored look on his face. You huffed.

"Go have someone else show you the way, then. Y'know, I was actually trying to be nice to you and all. I'm even showing you the shortcut. And now look at how you're treating me." You turned away from him.

"'Trying to be nice'? Please. You haven't asked me how day was going. 'Trying to be nice' my ass."

You ignored his use profanity at such a young age, and you came to a skidding halt; Sukuna even bumped into your back when you stopped abruptly.

"What is your problem!? So what if I haven't asked you how your day was going? SO WHAT? You haven't asked me either. If you don't like me just leave. me. alone!"

"People are so uptight these days," Sukuna shrugged.

"Uptight? UPTIGHT? Please, be my guest, and show me how I'm the uptight one here." You couldn't believe this dude. He's the only other kid in this neighborhood — besides your sibling — and he refuses to be cooperative, kind, nonetheless, a decent person.

The rest of the walk to the grocery store happened in silence. And believe me, the silence was loooouuuuddd. You wholeheartedly believed Sukuna would leave, but he didn't. Which made you even more mad.

The bell above the door chimed when you stepped in the store, out of pettiness, you didn't even hold the door for Sukuna. He scoffed at that, and you turned around to face him. "Well, here you are. The grocery store. Happy now?"

"I'm never happy."

Wow, he must've been dropped on the head as a baby, because he certainly did not get the personality from his grandpa.

You walked through the aisles one by one and searched for the items your mother requested.

Apples and lemons.

You didn't even bother placing them in a bag, insisting on carrying them yourself. Meanwhile, Sukuna was still trailing behind you, much like a lost puppy. His groceries were all in a bag, and he looked ready to pay, but he was still behind you.

Finally, you got sick of his weirdness, and peered over your shoulder to get a look of his face, which was frowning, "Why are you following me?"

He looked like he was pondering, thinking of a way to answer your question. "Girls shouldn't be walking around alone. Especially you."

"Ugh, there you go again. Always thinking you're better than everyone else. And, whaddya mean 'especially me,' huh? You don't think I can handle myself? Are you here to protect me or something? Swooping in to save the day, my knight in shining armor? Seriously, Sukuna."

He groaned, and dragged his free hand down his face, "I came from a not so safe neighborhood. Can't you see I'm just trying to look out for you? If some man came up and harassed you, and I was shopping in some other aisle, would you blame me too?" His voice softened on the last part.

"Forget it, you're right. I'm wrong," you sighed and walked to the register.

When you got home, your mom ushered you inside and hurried to start on the apple pie. You bit your nails as she worked, and she quickly took notice of that.

"Something wrong, sweetie?"

You shook your head, and mouthed a simple "no".

While you were upstairs reading a book, you heard the beeping of the oven, signaling the completion of the baking process. Before you could even put down your book, your mother called out to you from downstairs.

She welcomed you in the kitchen and took great care in wrapping the freshly baked pie in tinfoil and sending you off to the Itadori house. But before that happened, however, she made you memorize your speech, reminding you to inform your next door neighbors of who originally made the pie. And with a soft pat on the back from your mom, you were off.

It was a quarter past 12 o'clock when you finally found the courage to knock on your neighbor's front door. You heard a "coming!" from inside the house, and returned your hand to its side.

Loud footsteps came closer until finally the door was flung open. You were greeted by the sight of Mr. Itadori in a fluffy red robe, and equally fluffy slippers.

"Ah! Y/N. What a pleasant surprise to see you here."

You stuttered a bit, "Hi, Mr. Itadori. My mom and I wanted to formally introduce ourselves, and welcome you to the neighborhood — I didn't mention our very much brief meeting yesterday."

"Oh wow! You can tell your mother I appreciate her kind welcome." He turned his head into the house, and called for, "Sukuna! Come here, boy."

"Oh, I wouldn't want to be a bother—"

"Agh, you children. Always the same. Nonsense, Y/N. Utter nonsense."

Sukuna stood behind his grandpa in record time, his speed surprised you. "What's she doing here?" He sneered. You offered him a glare in return while Mr. Itadori was oblivious.

"Don't be rude to our kind neighbor. She's here to formally introduce herself."

"Again?"

"Yes. Again."

"Whatever."

Your eyes flickered back and forth between the Itadoris' banter. "I've brought some apple pie — my mom baked it."

Mr. Itadori's eyes lightened up as you presented the tinfoil covered dish to him. "It smells delicious! You really didn't have to, my dear."

"It was no big deal, I promise," you laughed (nervously).

"I will put this on the counter, one second," Mr. Itadori walked away, leaving you and Sukuna alone. The taller boy crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway.

"Apple pie? Really? Are you trying to kill me and my grandpa? I'm lactose intolerant. We're lactose intolerant. He just didn't want to seem rude, so he's putting it away."

"Oh. . . uhh, I didn't know that—"

"I can tell. You didn't think to ask first? How considerate of you, Y/N."

You stumbled on your words.

"I'm just messing with you. Apple pie is his absolute favorite."

Your jaw dropped six feet, before you came back to your senses and rolled your eyes, "Did you have to scare me like that?"

He laughed aloud, "Duh. Shoulda seen the look on your face. Priceless!" He continued to laugh, while your expression remained stoic, trying not to laugh as well. You didn't want to give him the satisfaction of thinking he was actually funny.

When his laughter subsided, he cocked his head to the side. "What's with the face? Girls don't know how to joke around or something?"

You frowned.

Mr. Itadori returned to the both of you and patted his grandson on the back. "Well! Thank you again, Y/N. Tell your family I say thanks and appreciate their kindness."

"Of course. I'll be going now." You waved to Mr. Itadori — feigning ignorance to Sukuna — and walked back to your house next door.

When Sukuna and his grandpa sat at their newly assembled dining table, they both couldn't believe how good the apple pie tasted. Sukuna even asked for a second slice.

Mr. Itadori broke the silence, "So, school starts tomorrow."

Sukuna glanced at his elder, and raised a brow.

"Since you don't know anyone else at your new school, you can ask Y/N for help. She'll be in your grade anyway."

Sukuna sighed, "Grandpa, why are girls so difficult?"

"Ohoho," Mr. Itadori's laughter boomed throughout the house. "You're a funny one, Sukuna," and he ruffled his grandson's unruly hair, messing it up more.

[steddieasitgoes]

We're Talkin' Baseball

written for @steddiemicrofic January prompt: hole wc: 404 | rated: G | cw: none | tags: Steddie as Dads, Girl Dads

As far as having children who play sports go, Steve had mostly given up on the dream. 

Their oldest, Marley, gravitated in Eddie’s direction. A two-week stint in ballet was all Steve got before she was “asked not to return” after refusing to stop banging her tiny hands against the bare. The next day they traded her pink slippers in for a drum set and the rest has been history. 

Ronnie, is much the same, preferring to stay inside reading than venture into the world of sports. 

That is, until a few weeks week ago, when out of the blue over dinner she asked if they could sign her up for Little League. Steve practically raced to the signup location.

Surprisingly, Ronnie is a natural. She throws fast and hard, nearly bruising Steve’s hand the first time they play catch. She can wack the shit out of the ball and she’s not afraid to get right under one soaring through the air. 

Steve’s proud of both his girls, he is, but there’s an extra spark that ignites in him when he realizes Ronnie is athletic.  

Unfortunately, Steve is running late to the first game of the season thanks to work. He spots Eddie and Marley immediately, lounging in their chairs with their eyes focused on the baseball diamond. Panting and sweating from his sprint from the parking lot, Steve collapses into the empty seat and scans the field looking for their girl. 

She’s squatting in outfield. Wild curls spill out from her navy baseball cap, glove discarded a foot away from her as her hands are preoccupied digging in the overgrown grass. 

“What is she doing?” Steve asks, squinting into the sun as he watches her completely ignore the ball that rolls between her and the center fielder. 

“Digging a hole,” Eddie shrugs like it’s obvious. Like digging a hole is part of the great American pastime. 

“Why?” 

“She found a tuft of fur out there before the game started. Thinks there’s a nest of…” 

“Gleeps,” Marley supplies. 

“Yeah, that.” 

“Oh my god.” 

He doesn’t get it. Ronnie isn’t even the dig-around-in-holes type. She used to cry if they forgot to wipe her hands after eating a snack when she was little. And yet. 

“M’sorry sweetheart,” Eddie coos, resting a supportive hand on Steve’s shoulder. “Looks like the Munson genes of being freaks are just too strong.” 

“At least she’s having fun, I guess.” 

Author's Note: Gleeps are apparently a small creature that debut in the Herculoids TV show. They've also appeared in various comics over the years. We're going to blame Dustin for introducing them to Marley and Ronnie lmao

[yetanothergreyjedi]

Left and Returned: Definitely Nothing Wrong

Danny Phantom x Supernatural Crossover

Part 2 Part 3

Ao3 (includes additional notes)

Chapter 4

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you guys about time travel." Dean announces at breakfast. 

"Almost wrote yourself out of existence, didn't you?" Danny guesses. 

"Not exactly… but how? How could you possibly guess that ?"

"You have the look. It's awful. Arguably worse than fighting a potential future evil version of yourself."

Dean thinks about that. He compares this experience to the demon him from the dreamroot thing. "...yeah this was definitely weirder."

Danny shrugs.

"So... how did you end up in a time travel adventure last night? I think if the Trickster came back we'd see some more signs." Sam asks.

"Castiel dropped in, confirmed the apocalypse stuff."

"Then dropped you back in time?"

"Yeah... apparently Mom made a demon deal for Dad's life. It's why..." Dean stopped himself, he barely knew Danny, what was he thinking! 

"I know?" Danny offers, looking between Sam and him.

"Right..." Dean continues. He doesn't think Danny will go all Gordon Walker on them, but if he had all the details... Dean isn't giving all the details. "Castiel also said it was Lillith who broke the seal." 

"He's sure?" Sam asks at the same time Danny asks,

"Lilith is a demon right?"

"Yeah, she's a demon, and I don't think Castiel would tell us if he wasn't sure."

"Any problem if I kill her?" Danny asks. And the quick reaction makes Dean glad he didn't elaborate on Sammy's thing.

"We've been trying." Sam tells him. "If you get the chance, please."

Danny gives a thumbs up. And Dean feels sorry that he has to drop the mood even further. "They're trying to release Lucifer."

"What's a Lucifer?"

"Ha ha." Dean says, it would probably be funny if they had any plan for beating 'a Lucifer'. But Danny... he doesn't look like he's joking. Then Sammy's phone goes off and he leaves Dean to deal with this conversation himself. Traitor.

"Lucifer like, The Devil, Lucifer."

"Oh, a name, got it! You have beef with this guy or something? "

"He's going to try to end the world."

"Think he'll be better, or worse at it than The Pariah?"

"Who's the Pariah?"

"... guy who yoinked a small town off the face of the earth for a week? Has a skeleton army?"

"What?! Kid, are you sure you're not talking about a cartoon or something?!"

"It'd be hard to forget, was around the time Vortex did his thing. Actually a lot of stuff happened then, that year was wild."

"Lucifer will have an army of Demons." Dean said, because if he didn't stay focused he was going to end up following Danny’s rabbit trails till the world ended.

"Yeah, that's not ideal. Freeing a lot of possessed people is a lot harder than wack-a-mole skeleton edition."

"I'm not going to ask." Sam returns to the table. He probably came to the same conclusion about Danny's stories a few months ago. "That was Travis, he wants us to look into something."

"Now?" Danny asks.

"Yeah, there's this guy, Jack Montgomery, has something going on with him."

"Okay, 1 problem." Danny continues.

"What kind of problem?"

"Oh, not a problem for you, Dean. But I have a sister, who has this friend, see. And she spent all of yesterday warding off marked spirits, and he hasn't called her back after playing phone tag all day.

Sam swore. Fumbling to get his phone back out of his pocket. His brother had been a mess yesterday. He'd leave a voicemail, but be in a situation while she called back. He'd gotten a voicemail after the witnesses were released, he'd left a voice-mail then too. Apparently, the loverbirds hadn't actually spoken yet.

"Oooh, Sammy's in the doghouse, huh?"

"Not yet, I'm supposed to drag him home first."

Dean grinned, "Do I get to meet the lovely Lady?" 

"I think you'll have too, though seriously, she'll understand it if this is time sensitive. Mind if I tag along?"

"Not at all, Sammy's a trouble magnet. He could use all the help he could get."

---

"Don't you love when this stuff mean spying on a man in his own home." Danny deadpans. He's not using the binoculars, holding them like they're personally offensive. 

"There are worse parts of the job." Dean reminds him, Jack Montgomery is rummaging through his fridge. "This guy? I mean this guy's boring"

"I don't know, Dean. Travis seemed pretty sure."

"Did he give any indication of what we're supposed to be— oh."

Oh was correct. Dean watched Montgomery  just abandon the leftovers and start in on a pack of ground beef. Raw ground beef.

"I'd say that qualifies as weird." Sam notes. Like that needed to be said.

---

"Thanks for helping out an old man. I'm a little, uh, shorthanded." Travis lifts his cast covered atm and They laugh politely at the bad joke. Then he gets straight to the point, and Dean's glad they're done pretending to catch up. It's awkward with Danny lurking behind them. "You track down Montgomery?"

"Yeah, we found him at his home." Sam tells him.

"And?"

"Well, he had a hell of a case of the munchies, topped off with a burger he forgot to cook."

"That's him alright."

"What's him?"

"Boys, we got a rougarou on our hands."

"A rougarou?" Dean looks to Sam for a convenient monster summary(or movie title, that would work too.). Sam gives him nothing. "Is that made up? That sounds made up."

"They're mean, nasty little suckers. Rotted teeth, wormy skin, the works." Travis tells them.

"Well, that ain't this guy. I mean, he was wearing a cellphone on his belt."

"He'll turn ugly soon enough. They start out human, for all intents and purposes."

"So, what?" Sam asks, "They go through some kind of metamorphosis?"

"Yep, like a maggot turning into a bull fly."

"No need to be cruel." Danny chides. Travis pauses, looks at Danny with an expression thats not quite a sneer. Dean really hopes that's not gonna become a problem.

"They're hungry things.” Trevor continues, ignoring the kid's glare. “First for everything, until they get a taste for human flesh. Once they get a taste they transform. One bite's all it takes. Eyes, teeth, skin; all turns. No going back either. They feed once, they're a monster forever. And our man Jack's headed there on a bullet train."

"Well, how'd you find this guy if he's a walking, talking human?" Dean demands.

"Lets just say it runs in his family."

"You mean, uh..." Sam trails off.

"Killed his daddy back in '78. Son of a bitch mangled 8 bodies before I put him down. Guy used to be a dentist. Cadillac, trophy wife... Little did I know, pregnant trophy wife. She put the boy up for adoption. By the time I found out, he was long gone, lost in the system."

The air in the room changes, this time in a way that's familiar. The unspoken threat looms... 

"You mean to tell me you couldn't find someone?" Sam asks, undeterred. Sam doesn't feel it.

Travis sighs. "I'm not sure I wanted to. The idea of hunting down some poor kid... I don't think I'd have the heart. No. I wanted to wait, make damn sure I had the right man. Apparently, I do."

The air itself has teeth, and breathing takes effort. Travis doesn't notice either. He takes a swig of his beer.

---

Travis might not notice that Danny is friggen weird, but after the comment earlier he does notice that the kid is incredibly uncomfortable. He singles the kid out to prep the flame throwers, not letting him escape with Sam. 

Dean took a chance and elbowed the kid in his side, hard enough to hurt but not hard enough to bruise. Made a face at him and the kid had quit messing with the room's... well, the room's vibes . 

Travis seemed under the impression that Danny was just new to this life, and Dean would prefer to keep it that way.

"So fire, huh?" They'd been subjected to a few stories of past hunts, and the kid had withdrawn more with each of them. Dean wants to change the subject but can't find a natural way to do so.  Better they stay focused on this.

"The only way I found to kill these bastards; deep-fry 'em."

"Well, that's gonna be..." He glanced at the kid. "horrible. Is that what you did to Jack's dad?"

"Uh-huh," Travis starts, and Dean realizes he's  being an idiot. That's just gonna get a more on topic gruesome story, but Sam, best baby brother in the world, saves them. 

He walks through the door with an accusation. "Not wasting any time, are you?" 

"None to waste." Travis informs them. "The guy hulks out, we won't be finding bodies, just remains."

Sam sits down next to the table in a controlled movement. He's forcing himself to act calm. "What if he doesn't hulk out? I did a little homework. Uh, I've been checking out the lore on rougarous."

Danny's head shoots up. It reminds Dean of caged animal seeing possible freedom.

"What? My 30 years of experience not good enough for you?" Travis demands.

"What? No. No, I-I- I just wanted to be prepared. I mean, not that you didn't..."

"Sam loves research. He does. He keeps it under his mattress right next to his KY. It's a sickness." He looks over at Sam, hiding the rescue with some teasing. "It is."

"Look, everything you said checked out, of course, but uh. I found a couple of interesting stories about people who have this rougarou gene or whatever. See, they start to turn, but they never take the final step."

"Really?"

"See, if they never eat human flesh, they don't fully transform." Well, no wonder their monster-adjacent friend is freaked. Maybe he's something similar,  hanging onto his humanity with everything he can? 

"So what? Go vegan, stay human?"

"Basically. Or in this case, eat a lot of raw meat, just not..."

"Right."

"Good on you for the due diligence, Sam." Travis gets up to pace the room. Its unnecessarily dramatic. "But those are fairy tales. Fact is, every rougarou I ever saw or heard of... took that bite."

"Okay, well, that doesn't mean that Jack will." Sam stands too. 

"So what do we do? Sit and hope and wait for a body count?"

"No, we talk to him. Explain what's happening. That way he can fight it."

"Fight it?" Travis laughs. "Are you kidding me? You ever been really hungry? I mean, haven't-eaten-in-days hungry?"

"Yeah." Dean answers, Danny nods too. 

"Yeah. Right then. So somebody slaps a big, juicy sirloin in front of you, you walking away?"

"No," Dean mutters, because he wouldn't.

"Depends.” Danny challenges.” You know what happens if you eat that big hearty meal? If you haven't eaten in days ?"

"Uh, no." Dean was never been allowed to eat what he wants after the few times he'd been starving. 

"You get sick." Sam answers. Ok, that was probably explained to him, he just remembers being hungry and grouchy about it. 

Danny nods, "If you haven't eaten in days, and you have the right information, you eat something small and light that seems unsatisfying until you've gotten it all down.  You don't risk tearing open your stomach lining. And besides! How would you know about rougarou's who don't turn?! People aren't going to announce their fantasies of eating people! They're could be generations who resist and they'd look just like everyone else!"

"And you don't know that they're are." He looks between the two of them. "I'm sorry. I'm sure he's a stand-up guy, but it's pure, base instinct. Everything in nature's gotta eat. You think he can stop himself 'cause he's nice?"

"Coconut milk." Danny declares, and Dean almost laughs. He lets the absurd statement sink in for a moment before he continues. "Coconut milk can be used as a substitute for blood. There are vampires who live off it. They get night jobs, and exist exactly like everyone else. You've had what, twenty years? You've just been waiting for this guy to crack, did you bother to look? Did you ask why a rougarou might crave human flesh? 

“Because when we crave salt, or red meat or whatever, it's usually because the body is lacking in the nutrients it needs! This all might get solved by giving him a vitamin supplement!"

"We try to help him." Sam declares. "And we're not gonna kill him unless he does something to get killed for." 

---

Danny didn't make jokes when talking to Jack Montgomery. The seriousness was almost as jarring as the conversation.

See Dean's plan had gone something like this: 

1.)Tell the guy what he is. 

2.)Convince him they aren't insane.

3.)Tell him not to eat people or they'd be back.

Repeat step 2 as needed.

Danny started similarly, steps 1 and 2 are the same, but step 3...

"You're not alone. There are people I can put you in contact if you want. They might not be the same species, but they'll have similar experiences. They might have other suggestions that will help."

Danny has a list of substitutes, advice, a food journal to track what works better or worse. That conversation leads into another and another of things that might alleviate that hunger. Then how they leave…

"I don't need to tell you why you shouldn't eat human flesh. You obviously already know. But I will warn you about the change. 'A taste' is what the stories say, and I don't know if that means a bite, or mearly a drop of blood, But if the change happens, it cannot be undone."

And Jack nods, solemn. He makes his promise, and he thanks them.

---

It's Mrs. Montgomery who finds them hours later. She finds them by asking the diner's patrons "Who owns that awful van?!"

And Danny, the only one in town with a van that awful, raises his hand. 

She's confused and frantic, but she knows her husband thought they could help with... it's unclear what Jack told her, whether half truth or blatant lie, but now everything has fallen apart. 

---

Travis' car is in the driveway.

They don't have to break into the house. Even if they hadn't had the keys, the back door is already broken in.  

It's not a surprise when they find a body.  It's a carved up corpse not a charcoaled one. 

"What happened?" Danny isn't asking them. 

---

"He's not a hunter, is he?" Dean asks his brother. They watch from a room away as Jack Montgomery and Danny Fenton speak in hushed urgent tones. When Jack had turned into the livingroom, Sam had flinched and Dean had curled his lip in disgust. Danny hadn't reactioned and Jack had noticed. So, now Danny was the only one worthy of whatever this conversation was.

"He calls himself an electrician that knows too much." Sam answers. 

"How much do you know about how he works?"

"...enough.”

"Sam... I don’t think he's human."

Sam looks at him, watches his face as he asks, "and if he's not?"

"I don't know, Sammy. I wouldn't say he's hurting anybody."

"Dean, I think there's some things we need to talk about..."

"What?"

"Not here, not now. " Sam gestured to the bloody mess on the ground and the still blood covered man in the kitchen. "When this is sorted, we need to talk about what happened while you were dead."

---

"He's going to clean himself up and pack." Danny tells them. "Then we're going to pick up his wife, see what she wants to do, then we’re going. I'll meet you at Jazz's."

"You're taking him to the Coconut Vampires." Dean predicted. 

"Yeah." Danny didn't elaborate further. 

"How does that work? What if one of 'em falls off the rails or something?"

"They deal with their own."

"Right... Sam, you still have Lenore's number?"

"Yeah,"

Dean nods to him, and steps back out of earshot. Lenore, the leader of the Cattle-Blood-Instead-of-Human-Blood Vampires, probably needed to be in touch with the Coconut Vampires. Dean never asked Sam where they went, didn't need to know. Dean knew then if he'd known where, he'd be compelled to check in person, and they didn't need him poking through all their business. Sam kept track of the missing persons numbers where they stayed, and they hadn't needed to follow up.

He doesn't have high hopes for Jack, not really, but those two do, and others do. Castiel was right, he doesn't have much faith, and the least he can do to avoid spreading his doubt all over the place. Maybe they'll prove him wrong.

He hopes they prove him wrong.

[three-cheers-for-my-balls]

MY FAVORITE RTC QUOTES

when you've been alone as long as i have, you tend to anthropomorphize your friends. (karnak)

-If you believe both armrests are yours exclusively, you are part of the problem. (karnak)

-even in competition against yourself, you can still walk away a loser (ocean)

-he was inspired by traditional african folk music, specifically the lion king (constance)

-raise a middle finger to that most ruthless adjudicator called time (karnak)

-i hope i wiped my browser history clean (constance)

-democracy rocks! (ocean)

-i trade mostly in prophecies that dont make any sense until they actually do (karnak)

-even in death i can't escape her- she's followed me to the afterlife! (noel)

-well played satan, well played (noel)

being the only gay man in a small rural highschool is like having a laptop in the stone ages. sure you can have one but theres nowhere to plug it in (noel)

When a lioness has children, she sops making love to the lion. the lion gets jealous, sometimes so jealous he eats the children. You think this would upset the lioness. far from it. they make love again like the children never existed. (jane/penny)

-noooo i cant get any wifi up in this bitch (mischa)

-my gansta persona is only armour to conceal the fact that i am naked child wandering through the wilderness holding in my hands my wounded fragile heart (mischa)

-that was wack (mischa)

-i dont know how it is in your culture but in ours, playing games with peoples lives? super illegal (ocean)

-if its yellow, let it mellow. if its brown scoop it out with your hand and put it in the compost (karnak)

-some people are right wing, some people are left wing but last time i checked it takes 2 wings to fly. we are community we are family, we are the world (ocean)

-what you need is a fother-mucking hero (ocean)

-your cousin was in grade 4 he had to get his stomach pumped (ocean)

-you challenged my preconcieved notion that all gay dudes are fun to be around (ocean)

-OHHHH sweet jesus christ. on a bike. (noel)

-its like a slurpee woodstock (noel)

-a s.xual provacetour and a novelist. who never wrote a novel. or had sex (noel)

-GOD DAMMIT CAN YOU KEEP IT IN YOUR PANTS FOR ONE SECOND YOU HORRIBLE SUCCUBUS (noel)

-that was DOOOOOPEE YOOOOO (mischa)

-mad wicked awesome! (mischa)

-fornication under consent of the king (jane/penny)

-in my country it is natural for 2 men to show affection by kissing… not always in heels (mischa)

-theres a difference between affection and smut (ocean)

-not in my bible baby, bonsoir (noel)

mine will only have profanity in chorus (mischa)

-little orphan a hole (mischa)

-teen sex? kills (ocean)

-porno is magical (ricky)

whattt just because im all gangsta dont automatically make me homophobic. its not cool to be homophobe in rap game anymore since macklemore dropped same love. that sh.t was emotionally devastativing yo. (mischa)

he turned to the last fashion of pure stregnth and masculinity in society, self agrandizing commercialized hiphop (karnak)

grab yo dicks if you in the 306 bruh (mischa)

-autotune will never die (mischa)

-my rage has subsided, i am vulnerable now (mischa)

and that is why not everybody should have a library card! and you should vote for me (ocean)

and this is why you both SUCKED at math (ocean)

-on the other hand, given the context of german history, being a party spoiler might be a good thing. (karnak)

-i guess you could say im pretty sexy on another planet (ricky)

i told you moneky lovedrop (ricky)

-life is hard enough without making up reasons to be dicks to each other (ricky)

-incredible~ (ricky)

-theres only one commandment in the bachelor man bible: dont be a dick (ricky)

-we listen to you now space jesus (mischa)

[tomwaterbabies]

I hope the surgery went well and recovery goes smoothly!!! You asked for asks and I saw you have some robo Varian art that's been eating my brain for a few days now. I guess not technically a question but I'd love to hear more about that au if you wanna ramble 👉👈

HEYYY thank you so much! it went really well and the pain is super minimal rn, i can even sit up on my desk! which was recommended by my surgeon to do anyway so thats rad

ANYWAYSSSSS... THANK YOU for the kind words im so glad you like it!! and THANK YOU for reminding me of the fact i never posted about my robot au like i had meant to 💀

here it is NOW (and to anyone who hasnt seen the art here it be)

this is long as hell btw. so sorry

SO. setting i imagine is similar to typical vat7k BUT a little darker and more dystopian. think steampunk industrial stuff... which i know hugo's kingdom is already like lol but just imagine it like. in a lot more places. this is basically a "steampunk" au too

robots are VERY common. invented by a group of scientists with the main ones being donella and ulla

robots are used as service etc etc. theyre not sentient at all so this isnt like. some unethical practice

but ulla and donella are OBSESSED with making them more and more advanced, theyre besties and all that. but ulla is Particularly obsessed with making the Perfect Robot

we know that ulla is kind of messed up in the head. in this au she kind of messes way too much with robot sentience WHILE ALSO getting obsessed with the eternal library. same stuff happens eventually. donella and ulla fight about the eternal library etc etc

BUT ALSO... ulla is working on her Magnum Opus. a son for her and her husband, who she is making to be the perfect robot. quirin is unaware of the shit shes doing and fully trusts her and supports this passion project

and well! she does make the first Sentient Robot. with the use of science and Magical Knowledge she was able to basically give life force through magical means into the robot. The robot of course she named varian. and not only is he sentient, but he looks completely human

she did some messed up stuff tho! again! she's programmed him with fake memories so he thinks he has lived a life fully as a human. he's also programmed to not notice things like the small seams on his body and all that. like his code just immediately disregards all that

anywaysss. after ulla disappears, quirin is dedicated to taking care of varian. he figures it's best to follow with ulla's choice of making sure varian doesnt know hes a robot

MEANWHILE ! because of the schism between ulla and donella, there was some wack shit that happened. namely robots going completely crazy. now all robots are Murder Robots. so the world is pretty Dystopian at the moment

Varian decides he wants to go out and find the source of what made the robots go crazy. bc this sucks lol. like everyone is Just Miserable

so he meets his friends. nuru, yong, hugo!

LETS TALK ABOUT HUGO

hugo works for donella. hugo also absolutely HATES robots. the robots have been messing shit up since he was a kiddo

he's kind of like a robot hunter. harvesting them for parts as well as getting rid of them bc theyre dangerous. usually donella directs him to different missions. and now shes telling him to join this guy (varian) bc she wants the secrets that ulla had hidden and varian is sure as hell after them

sooooo at one point. varian gets hurt maybe, or interacts with something that breaks the code in him or whatever. the code that stops him from noticing his robotic qualities. i think he probably would get super injured and like. he and all his friends stare in shock and horror as some sort of gash or sparks or whatever show a metallic inside

they all find out he's a robot together weeeee. no one is having a good time

so he's living with existential crisis. he's away from his dad so he cant travel all the way back to be like hey What The Fuck. AND he's still dedicated to his goal. but now he's just. confused, scared, and unsure if he's worthy of his humanity that he thought he had

they all try to work with this new discovery (which i think would happen earlier on rather than way later). hugo especially is like. having a crisis. bc he's always hated robots and for good reason. but varian... varian is SO human. he thinks, he feels, he cares, etc. he's more Human than a lot of the Flesh and Blood people he's been around

so you know, hugo starts to fall in love with him anyway. lots of excellent scenes of him helping varian with his mechanics, etc

and of course varian starts falling in love with him too, but is dealing with a lot of confusion as well. like is he even real, doesnt hugo deserve to be loved by a Human and not a Robot, etc etc

ok jesus christ. i think thats all the main stuff. woaghghg

[sleepdeprivedsimp234]

And, dear York, you would fall, and turn the white snow red as strawberries~

Ships: None!

Warnings: getting shot, inaccurately described historical events (the Boston Massacre), and the way that my age sh*t works is a little wonky (lets just say that NY is maybe a teenager here?).

Genre: Hurt/Comfort I guess-

Title is inspired by: “White Winter Hymnal” by the Fleet Foxes.

—————————

March 5th, 1770

Massachusetts gently held New York’s hand as the walked along the Boston Harbor, and New happily walked next to him, lost in his own little world. Mass chuckled fondly but quietly at the child like wonder in NY’s eyes as the slightly taller colony looked out onto the ocean. After a few more minutes of walking, the two colonies decided to take a break, and each took a seat on the edge of the harbor, their legs hanging over the side. He yet again chuckled at the childish wonder in NY’s eyes along with the slight spark that he had thought was long gone.

"Like what ya see Yorkie?" Mass teased, smirking when NY jumped a tiny bit.

"H-huh? Oh- uh- yeah it’s pretty I guess." NY said before turning back to look at the vast ocean. Mass couldn’t help but frown slightly at the faint-but-still-visible bruise on NY’s cheek from England.

The two just sat there in silence for a little bit lost in their own thoughts, until Massachusetts heard a small giggle from his little brother. He turned to York with a small smirk.

"What’s so funny Yo-" Mass was cut off by a splash of water hitting him directly in the face. He spluttered a little as he tried to regain his composure. He opened his eyes and smiled evilly at New York, who chuckled nervously. “Oh you little sh*t!-"

Massachusetts splashed a bit of water at New York before tackling, pinning and tickling him. He smiled when his little brother’s laughter filled the air, and he eventually stopped, gently rubbing the feeling off York’s torso. He ruffled the taller’s hair and grinned "That’s whatcha get for messin’ wit’ me Yorkie!~”

"Yeah yeah whateva’…." NY said, curling up next to his big brother.

“Hey Matthew!! Cmere!"

Massachusetts turned around at hearing the use of his human name. "Ey Yorkie I’m bein’ called i think. Ya wanna come wit’ me or do ya wanna stay here?”

"I’ll stay here." NY said, though he was obviously too busy playing with a seagull that had come to say hello.

Mass snorted a bit. "Okay then. By the way, those things bite. Just sayin’." he said before walking off in the direction he heard his name be called from.

—————————

[half an hour later]

NY had been busy playing with a seagull and a crow that resided at the Boston Harbor, and had ever so fondly given them the names Kraai (the Dutch word for crow), and Zee (short the Dutch word: Zeemeeuw, which means seagull). Animals, especially birds and cats, had always brought him a weird amount of happiness. One that he rarely ever got nowadays. He chuckled a little when Kraai jumped on his shoulder and squawked. York did his best to mimic the sound, but it sounded more like an angry cat. Kraai gave him a gentle wack with her wing and squawked at him, sounding a lot like a mother lecturing a child.

"Okay okay I know, I know that was terrible…." NY said with a small chuckle. A sudden gunshot pierced the air, making the young colony flinch. He got up and started running to where he heard the gunshot, in case of Massachusetts being hurt. That would be bad….. Zee and Kraai followed him, flying high in the air.

He got to the city square and hid behind a building, peaking his head out. What he saw was utter chaos. There were people, mainly colonists, all running around in a frenzy as about……nine??? soldiers shot at them. NY frantically looked through the crowd, trying to find his big brother. He eventually caught sight of him and sighed exasperatedly when he saw Massachusetts with a chaotic grin on his face. He jumped a tiny bit when a body dropped behind him.

"Mass!!" He shouted, desperately trying to get the older’s attention.

Massachusetts turned his head at the sound of his name, and the grin quickly faded when he saw his little brother, who was standing in the middle of it all. Sh*t sh*t sh*t he never meant for York to be a part of this! Fun was over, Operation: Get NY out here had begun.

"York?? What’re you doin’ ere’?! Are ya crazy?!?!" He yelled, running over to New York, who looked kinda scared.

"I could be askin’ you the same damn question dumbass!!” York shouted, covering his ears a little. He had never liked loud noises.

"Get outta ere’!! Are you tryin’ to get shot?!?" Mass shouted, hugging the taller colony close.

"I came ere’ lookin’ for you!! I was worried that you had gotten shot dumbass!!" New York responded, burying his face in Mass’s hair.

Mass’s face softened slightly at that as he started to escort York and himself out of the city square. Suddenly, New York threw himself in front of Massachusetts, and in turn the soon-to-be Bay State’s face paled a ghostly white as he looked down in front of him. New York was curled up gasping slightly and coughing in pain as he clutched his stomach. Mass didn’t even have to be told anything to know that NY had been shot. Especially when he saw the snow beneath them be died as red as strawberries in the summer time. DAMMIT.

He quickly picked up NY and ran behind a building, muttering an apology when he heard a whimper and yelp from the younger. Mass waited till he was sure that there were no witnesses to teleport into a clearing in the woods. He gently laid his injured brother on the ground and wrapped his jacket around the wound to try and stop the bleeding, and then closed his eyes to try and summon one of the other colonies to help. Dammit. It wouldn’t work. He was too stressed to focus. God NY’s breathing had slowed down a lot….. Wait- why wasn’t NY moving anymore?? Mass checked his pulse, and sighed in mild relief when he felt a pulse. He took off NY’s coat and pressed it against the wound, wincing when NY gasped in pain and coughed, blood spluttering on his lips. Mass cried quietly and hugged his brother close, fully convinced that this would be his brother’s next painful death. That was, until, he heard the caw of a crow above him.

Massachusetts looked up to see Kraai flying above them, and was about to swat her away until he noticed that Kraai seemed to be releasing worried-sounding coos and nudging at NY’s arm with her wing. God he couldn’t believe what he was about to do…..

"Hey uh-" Damn. Is he really talking to a bird right now? "Can ya- umm…. I doubt that you can understand me….. but if you can, NY is hurt and he needs help, can you go get help?" Mass was really hoping that this worked, even if it was ridiculous that he was talking to a bird.

Kraai tilted her head a bit before doing her best to do what somewhat resembled a nod and flying away. It worked! It actually worked! Holy sh*t! Mass could cry tears of joy and he nearly did. He hugged his little brother close, whispering reassuring words into his ears.

"Everything’s gonna be alright…..helps on the way….."

—————————

My fellow NY simps: @stawpny @misery-has-no-company-now @alaskashigh @kyledoesstuff-09 <3

And you cuz yes: @jazzyfrog <333

We love Kraai (the crow) and Zee (the seagull) here (they are original characters maybe-)

[alitontress]

Q&A: Naoki Urasawa’s Pluto

I’m going to be answering all of your asks about the story under a cut so no one gets spoilers.

Ask about the caretakers’ decision regarding Wassily going to Oslo:

Hi. Idk if you’re still doing Pluto asks but I have a question. I felt a bit confused about why the care worker ladies just let a couple strange men take Wassily away without consulting Epsilon. Maybe I wasn’t fully paying attention and there was some larger unavoidable reason for them giving him up? Did I miss veiled threats or something? Just felt like the ladies were all “oh well, we have to I guess…” Many thanks in advance.

Listen! When I tell you that part of the story makes me rage like a white boy punching drywall I just—! Ugh. Just call Epsilon *dial dial, beep boop bop* 'oh hey Epsi, my boss, the dude who takes care of the orphanage, hey ya listen, I know you're getting grilled right now, but uh there are some wack dudes here who want to take your kid away, you cool wit dat? no? okay. how fast can you get back here??' Done. Easy. Epsilon wouldn't have been put in the situation to go into Abra's trap. *punching drywall

I digress.

Here is my theory as to why they justified letting Mr. Johansen take Wassily without telling Epsilon based upon the circumstances and other factors which might have motivated them.

Of the seven most advanced robots, Epsilon has the most powerful and destructive capability. If he had joined in the war a lot of battles would have ended very, very quickly if he unleashed his photon energy.

The world might have believed a lot of people and robots wouldn't have died if he'd joined the fight. So they could've blamed him for not preventing so many deaths.

In the manga, it's stressed that people around the world very much despised and even abused Epsilon.

Not only did the world hate him for not fighting in the war, but also for raising human children.

Even though the war was over, Epsilon was still contemptible.

What I think is interesting is the false claim Mr. Johansen makes about him and his wife visiting the orphanage before, (in the anime, he says they've visited several times). Perhaps he's implying that Epsilon hadn't let them foster Wassily in the past and he's come back to try again but without Epsilon present to deny him. A child protection service would find Mr. Johansen, "a famous figure", being denied numerous times concerning if he had reported that experience to them. They might even send a representative with Mr. Johansen to see if something could be done about it...

What Ms. Griffith I think has to weigh is whether to deny Wassily being adopted because Epsilon wasn’t there to approve it, which would likely cause further scrutiny and a full investigation into Epsilon's orphanage as to why/if he's preventing children from being adopted and raised in a normal, human family environment possibly resulting in all of his children being taken away and the orphanage being shut down—or let Wassily be taken. They might even want to still take the other children away simply because they finally have enough of an excuse to prevent Epsilon from raising children, no matter how small the excuse was. Ms. Griffith knows the children are cared for by Epsilon more than any human could and she doesn't want that to stop. She could fear that if Epsilon had been there or if they had called him, that he might have denied Wassily being taken by Mr. Johansen which wouldn't have looked good, (unless, of course, Epsilon was given the opportunity to research the man and find out he had a fake identity and was working for Abullah). If the man accompanying Mr. Johansen had the authority to take Wassily away because of being some kind of child service representative, then maybe the caretakers legally didn't have a choice and they really were going to take Wassily no matter what. Letting Wassily be taken away would be beneficial to the orphanage and the children under Epsilon's care financially and maybe even legally.

So maybe the caretakers made the decision with the best interest of the other children in mind—and even to protect Epsilon.

But in the end, no one could protect Epsilon. Wassily and the other children still lost the one person who loved them more than anyone else in the world ever could...

[dcmainlybillythoughts]

Hey guess which anon is back with more angst for you. This one is semi short and not very sweet. Parts of this might be out of character, but I'm not quite sure if there is a villian who would fit this role better.

Black Adam smiles as his plan comes to fruition. He stands over the unconscious body of the tiny Billy Batson, empty syring dropping from his hand as he starts to laugh. A simple sleeping drug he got from Dr Silvanas, injected when Billy was already asleep. It will keep him unconscious for 12 hours. 12 hours Black Adam has complete and total freedom to do whatever he wishes.

Black Adam very much wants to kill Billy but where would the fun be in that? Besides, keeping him alive does have many benefits. For now though? It's time for Black Adam is take over the world. Once he locks Billy away somewhere that is. He scruffs Billy by the shirt and when something buzzing falls out of his pocket, without a care Black Adam steps on the Leauge Communicator, destroying it.

Once Black Adam has hidden away the mortal form of the champion of magic he goes out and starts trying to take over the world. Obviously the other heroes start trying to stop him but no one really has a power set that can match Black Adam but Billy. His magic tosses Superman around like a rag doll and his physical strength can shatter through any barrier the magic users put up. At one point during the fight, Black Adam looks up at the sun and says, "oh my, that time already? I'll be back to finish you all off in just a bit. After all it would be a really shame-" He pills a needle out if no where with an evil smile, "if that baffon were to wake up. To bad I can't kill him it would make this so much easier. But, I can't take over the world if the balance gets disrupted that badly~" and he simply leaves the fight. What he said about Balance being thrown out of wack if Billy dies is absolutely untrue. However he does get great joy from watching these silly little mortals who are trying to fight him panic.

After they process Adam's words everyone is thrown into a panic. He has Captain Marvel hostage and neutralized. That's why he isn't answering his communicator.

In their frenzy of trying to come up with a plan with the loose knowledge they have while trying to patch up their wounds, they make their way back to base at the Watchtower.

It's safe to say that Marvel has broken a few communicators in his day, a few may be too generous. So instead of waiting each time for Marvel to fess up that he broke it, Batman modified them to give off a signal beacon to the watchtower once broken. He really wanted to put a tracker on it to find out more about Marvel but he knew that would be a bad idea.

After getting to the location of the broken device they investigate the area for clues. Maybe where Adam took him or how he had done it. Nothing. No clues could be found, there were obvious signs of struggle by what looked to be a small figure but that couldn't be related to this, they were both walls of muscle adding a small child into this didn't make sense.

Regardless the struggle of the child was something to look into as it is their job. It seems that at one point the body fell slack like they passed out. Maybe from exhaustion or injury, though there are no signs of blood so not the latter. There was also the possibility of a drug in the mix. It would make sense why Adam had a needle but why would he use it on a child?

Even if none of the facts lined up, these things happening here didn't feel like a coincidence to anyone.

-----

They were finally here, they finally tracked down Adam and where he's holding Billy and now they have to face the truth. The truth that Captain Marvel is a small child who can barely defend himself against the greater forces of evil. They figured it out on the way here and while tracking him down but nobody had really processed it. The proof was right in front of them, there was no room to deny it further.

The scene they investigated was no coincidence. The struggling child who was drugged was Captain Marvel.

-----

I woke up to check my phone and you greet me anon, absolutely love it. Kinda got lost in my mind there with the writing. Anon your brain is so big for this, imagine all the raw emotion put into the angst to make the reader cry when the end comfort comes, or not, make them cry because of character death instead. Whichever floats your boat.

I wanted to write more about Adam holding Billy hostage and more about them searching for clues but I didn't really know how I wanted to put it. Man this idea has so much opportunity. Maybe I should start writing instead of jotting this down in a Tumblr post.

[foxluvrz]

11/19/24:

algebra: okay so i dont remember a lot from this morning except already before classes even started, 🦔 seemed in a much better mood today and was pretty friendly towards me, as well as two of my friends i was with at the time; p and e. thiugh, this i felt sort of bad about but it was absolutely hilarious in the moment is that my friend L was running late and she had gone home sick the day before, so 🦔 assumed she wouldn't be here today; but she did end up coming in before he took attendance. but as he was taking attendance he wss like, "so no L today, right? she went home early yesterday" and like me, p, AND L all like agreed with him thinking he was joking around because he does that alot, turns iut he WASN't and when he stood up to start class he sootted her and had to go back to fix it😭 it was actually hilarious but yeah. another thing that 🦔 did today that was actually awesome and i love him for is the fact that he gave us each numbers to put us into griups, but he counted a specific way so that L and i would be put into the same group even though we sit right next to eachother.. which is honestly pretty epic of him. a small thing though that happened while he was counting us into groups is when he reached me to count "5", he like pushed down sort of hard on my shoulder cause he was directly next to me standing up, and i dont know. it wasnt necessarily like a "harder" push, but like it was more forced pressure rather than just a light tap on my shoulder and i dont know, is it strange i didnt really back down/away from it? i've wrote a multitude of times about how nervous i am to be around him or in his presence, but i think that if i'm like sat down, i feel a lot more comfortable for some strange reason. i think it's because i feel more secure without the chance of like stumbling or something. i really dont wanna say something wack like "the more 🦔 touches me the more comfortable i become" because that honestlt sounds so weird both in and out of context, but like, i guess it's trye in a way?.. i know me standing next to him is scary, but when he like taps me or like comes in ever so slight contact with me on purpose, i don't feel as much fear as i should at all. also another thing is my ex bestfriend C like talked back to him or something during a game we were playing (honestly yeah she's sort of bitchy and like idk rbf personality tbh) and he like had her go iut in the hallway with him at the end of class and like asked her why she had such negativity towards him, which i dont believe she actually does; she just comes across that way and didnt mean it as talking back; so i sorta feel bad.

lunch: okay so this stuff specifically happened during lunch when me, R, and later V/J were in 🐢's room. basically, 🐢 is a d1 HATER of pokemon sun and moon series, as well as like the entire ides of ash and like all his pokemon. 🐢 believes that the only purpose of pokemon is to battle and evolve them, and if they dont/wont evolve, you should just get rid of them. and it was silly because we were talking about like what i thought the point of it was which i answered "idk, creating a bond slash friendship" which let me tell you🐢 DISAGREES HEAVILY with that.. uhm but yeah!! we talked abt pokemon lots more and how 🐢 seems like the tyoe to abuse his pokemon to which HE ADMITTED TO?? and then we went to the tipic of how its crazy that the parents in pokemon let their kids just go out ariund the world with strangers and pokemon and idek😭 this next bit was small and i dont remember it exactly but it was silly, 🐢 said something about something being *insert adjective* and i turned to R and like said something about it and then like nudged my head towards 🐢 motioning that the adj described him more then anything and when 🐢 that he thought i was saying R was it so he went "woah!! now we know what 👽 really thinks of R" to which i was like "oh yeah.. definitelyyy talking about R rn.." staring intensely at him to tell him i was talking about HIM and not R and i think/hope he got it because he started laughing at it a bit😭😭 anyways i let R try some of my tomato soup and he didnt put the lid all the way back on so some of it spilt on the table so i grabbed the crappy like brown oaper towels because that's all i could see and freaking 🐢 was joking abt it and i was like "these dont soak up ANYTHING bro." and he said "well yeah, theyre not mesnt to soak up soup" SHUT UPPP‼️‼️THIS MAN IS LITERALLY MY BIGGEST OP./j. anyways he told me where normal paper towels were after like FOREVER. and idk exactly but i think i threw something and missed terribly? But 🐢 said "wow 👽, no wonder you dont do any sports." WHAT. THIS MAN JUST CALLED ME UNATHLETIC WHAT DID I DO TO HIM. it was rlly funny and i made it worse because i tried throwing something at my friend and msised horribky and i was like "I SWEAR I DID SOFTBALL." and he was like "and how long ago was that?" and i answered "..i dont wanna answer that.." to which he asked "and did you actually throw the ball or did u pick at dandelions" AND I ACTUSLLY DID THROW THE BALL. And i said that and he seemed suprised asf😭 anyways there was a teensy bit more squabble but yeah and at the end i was like "hey 🐢, has anyone told yiu you're very unkind?" and he was like "yeah actually a lot of people have" DAMN. The grinch fr i fear💔 ALSO HES LETTING ME PAINT ONE OF THE LIKE FANBLADES IN HIS CLASSROOM ON THE CEILING FAN SO YIPPEE‼️‼️

i love 🐢 he's my dad pretty much😋

[occasionallyprosie]

Devotion - Chapter 6: "In A Minute"

Dev reunites with one person from his past, and watches another from afar.

Meanwhile, instead of getting therapy himself, he gives it to his new kids AKA Captain Link, Mask, and Tune.

Read on AO3

First Chapter, Tumblr

"I know you," Ravio said near instantly.

Dev shakily inhaled—a useless habit—and nodded.

Ravio walked over, noticing Tune curled up and asleep with his head in Dev's lap, then his gaze raised back to Dev's face.

It visibly clicked. "Link," Ravio breathed. "Mr. Hero?"

"Ravio." Dev reached toward him and Ravio moved closer. Ravio took his hands but steered them, both Dev's and Ravio's both, to hold Dev's face.

"Look at you," Ravio whispered, studying his face. "You look like I did when we first met. Wrong eye color though, and not pale enough... Why so different?"

Dev blinked and his form quickly changed.

Lately, he had been using a form that better reflected his sword form, or rather a sort of mix between the Golden Sword and the Tempered Sword. He had violet hair that barely reached his shoulders but tied it up in a green ribbon, another green strand wrapping around a bit of hair by his face. He'd given himself a darker tan, one he had when he'd spent months at a time working in his orchard when he was still human, it turned out the sun couldn't tan sword spirits. Then he wore a pale, golden-yellow jerkin over a faded, burnt orange undertunic, the fabrics and style more reminiscent of a dream long ended than his once-favored red mail.

Suddenly, he was paler, still freckled but distinctly paler and those blemishes harder to notice as they nearly faded. Purple hair turned golden blond and a pink streak on the same side as the green ribbon, which remained. Gold and orange became dark green and red.

Ravio smiled almost blindingly. "There you are. How long, Mr. Hero?"

"Over three thousand," Dev managed. "Oh goddesses, Ravio."

Ravio squeezed his hands and pressed their foreheads together. "It's alright. You've done so well, Mr. Hero. You've gone so far. You're so incredibly strong."

Dev couldn't help but let out the small laugh that bubbled up. "Don't do that."

"But it's true. You've lived so long and I can't imagine you just hid from everything the whole time. You've must've saved the world so many times, met and lost so many people, and you're still making friends." Ravio nodded toward Tune's sleeping form. "You're so strong."

Dev closed his eyes and just relished in it. In Ravio's touch, his voice, he committed it all to memory.

"I remember this," Dev whispered. "It was while I was first—After we did the ritual, during that first year or so, right? You disappeared, stopped visiting for a while and I panicked so much. Then you came back and told me about this war and-and all these people you met and you had changed and I was so proud of you."

Ravio smiled at him. "Then I guess I don't have to worry too much about not going back home."

"You will," Dev swore. "I'll make sure of it."

"You haven't changed, Mr. Hero," Ravio laughed. "Not a bit."

Dev chuckled. "Maybe a bit. I don't fight with a sword anymore."

"Oh really? How do you fight?"

"If all goes well, I never will again. I... I've had to, but I don't want to fight anymore. Not myself."

Ravio smiled. "You know, that is different."

He did. He did have to fight.

A battle later that month went south. Mask got hit and downed, and Tune was with him, across the battlefield, desperately trying to protect him. Soldiers were spread thin across it, other displaced individuals fighting for their lives. Ravio would basically be playing wack-a-mole with the monsters, as more kept appearing no matter which he hammered into the ground. Midna was handling herself but that's as far as she could do.

Link got isolated and was getting overwhelmed.

"Dev, no," Fi intervened, her spirit wreathing around Dev's in a way to sort of stop him though they both knew it was ineffective. "We should not interfere."

"I'll interfere if I want to," he snapped at her. "They're going to die!"

She went silent at that.

Link brought tried to parry some attack and was disarmed, the Master Sword flying through the air as Link frantically brought his shield up as his only defense.

A huge, axe-wielding monster was about to break that shield in half, and Link as well. Fear shone clearly in his eyes.

A wall of flames suddenly exploded and Dev was standing between them. His hand held up, catching the giant axe, and looked like golden crystal and unbothered by the sharp blade. He held a fire rod in his other hand and a vicious grin was on his face.

"Don't touch my kit," he snarled and shattered the axe with a blast of magic.

He'd done some practicing since his sprite.

Flames roared around them as he turned to Link, pulling the Magical Sword from his pouch and offering it to him. "Get to the boys. I'll help clear the way."

Link just nodded, clearly a little bit awestruck and there was an odd warmth to his face that Dev couldn't quite place.

Dev burned his way through the battlefield, slashing and burning everything down around him. The bottoms of his fire rod had a sharp stiletto at the end and he used those to take down monsters and usurpers alike. He pulled out his tornado rod to help expand the reach the flames had.

Link made it to Tune and Mask's side, Dev trusted him to keep them safe as he began to thin the herd.

He couldn't let another hero die on his watch. Not another one, goddesses please.

His own magic helped the flames curve around soldiers and allies, shielding them even from the brunt of the heat no matter how close it came to them.

In minutes, the tide of the battle turned and Dev was standing back as the young ones finished the fight in favor of Hyrule. He let out a sigh and was about to return to sword form when he was assaulted.

"Mr. Hero! That was amazing!" Ravio gushed as he appeared beside him, robes torn and clearly exhausted yet alive with adrenaline. Dev offered him a red potion the moment he noticed the blood. "You know, I've said it a thousand times, but you do look like a dancer when you fight!"

Dev laughed lightly, attention flicking across the field to account for everyone as Ravio drank the potion.

"You have, and every time I've said that you should see Cadence," Dev reminded him and Ravio grinned.

"Dev! Ravio!" Link walked over to them, Mask unconscious on his back, arms loosely hung around his neck. "We're going back to camp. You... You know each other?"

"You called him, Mr. Hero," Tune said, half leaning on his sword. He was clearly exhausted, Dev guessed the kid, even for his alleged two adventures, was not used to fighting for hours on end, days at a time.

Dev chuckled. He went over and picked the pirate hero up. "Did he, bunso? I dunno..."

"I have no clue what you're talking about," Ravio declared.

It took no time after he picked the not-quite-a-teenager up, that Tune slumped into his chest. "Y'er warm," he muttered, clearly about to fall asleep.

"That's what happens when you burn things, you tend to be a bit warmer. Proximity to fire and all that."

Ravio snorted beside Dev as Link gave a long, suffering groan. Midna yelled for Ravio to join her and Linkle, and Ravio soon ran off to join the other dark-worlder.

Link smiled at Dev, offering his sword back.

Dev shifted Tune to his back and took the Magical Sword, letting it disappear into his pouch.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine," Link assured, his voice a bit softer than usual as they fell into step. "You know, you're scary when you're protective."

"Hmm?"

"When you appeared. You looked ready to burn the world to the ground... just to protect me," Link explained, looking down. "I don't get it. You also called me your kit."

Dev blinked, then he chuckled softly. "You are mine, you know that? The moment you pulled me from the pedestal, I adopted you. That's just how it works. And... And well, I would."

"You would what?"

"I would burn down the whole world just to keep my kids safe. You, these two..." his Sprite, "I'd do anything for you."

Link looked surprised, but he didn't continue the subject any longer. Instead just falling silent as they headed back to the camp.

"Come on! There's another new person, she's so cool! She knows the same language we speak on Outset!"

Tune dragged Dev through the field of tents, Mask perched on Dev's shoulders.

"We're coming! You don't have to run," Dev teased, one hand on Mask's leg as the kid rested his chin on top of his head.

"Hurry up then!"

"He's always in a rush to meet people," Mask grumbled. "It's weird."

"Maybe, but you're weird for hating them," Tune responded cheerily.

Dev chuckled amusedly. He tagged along and as they finally came up to the mess area where a bright voice was singing some jittery tune alongside the slamming of mugs and stomping of boots.

He knew that voice.

Standing atop a table, shaking and hitting a tambourine, was the girl from his dreams.

Marin.

Dev didn't breathe, he didn't have breath, but even so it felt like his was stolen. Tune laughed and went up to join the singing and dancing, Mask even lightened up a bit in the cheery atmosphere. Dev watched Marin dance on the tabletop, he saw her pull Tune up to join her. He hadn't noticed it before, but the two had similar energy, similar warmth and enthusiasm, they had the same bright smile too. Dev found himself smiling.

She looked happy... He'd let her live this. If she recognized him, then he'd talk, but if not... He wouldn't bring up old wounds, because she was older. She looked to be at least in her twenties and they'd been sixteen when Link--when Dev had washed up on her island.

If it was a dream for her too, then... Then best she live on and forget about some boy she knew in a world they'd never get back.

He was far too old and much too immortal to let her dwell on that.

"Kit," Dev sat down on the castle wall beside the Captain, who glanced up at him, "what's wrong?"

"You know, why do you call me kit?" Link asked, the nickname apparently distracting him from whatever turmoil was in his mind.

"You remind me of a lion, a prideful, protective, ferocious, fierce lion. So kit," Dev gave him a soft look, one that generally got his kids to talk in the past, "what's got your mane in a mess?"

Link rolled his eyes with a soft laugh. "I... I'm tired, Dev. I know you probably wouldn't get it, being an immortal spirit and all, but..." he looked up at the moonless night sky. "How... How am I supposed to keep fighting when I'm leaving them all behind? There's... It's my fault. If I just gave myself over to Cia, this wouldn't be happening. They wouldn't be dead. Everyone around me is dying, Dev," he choked a bit, "how am I... Why can't I save them?"

Dev sighed softly. "I do get that, actually." Link looked at him. "I'm immortal, kit. I'm young in comparison to Fi, she's had many other wielders than you, like Mask and Tune, but I only had one and I existed for centuries before he was even born. I... I helped the royal family for a while, helped raise the princesses, hide the princes, saved the country a couple times by telling the ruling body to use some common sense. I raised those kids into great kings and queens, Link. They all died. My wielder, he died too, bled out in my arms, I half raised him too."

Link was silent.

"Then there was a mage, a long time ago, multiple but that's not the point. This one mage wanted this specific child, two of them actually but more specifically he wanted the Princess. If, theoretically, we had given him that girl, it wouldn't have mattered. He still would have destroyed all of Hyrule and killed its people."

Dev looked over at Link. The teenaged war captain was still watching the stars, but clearly listening.

"If you gave yourself to Cia, it wouldn't end this war, kit. All it would do is make our side lose you, our captain and leader, our friend and ally, our brother." Link looked at him at that last one. "She isn't alone, those monsters wouldn't stop attacking. She has ancient evils on her side, evils that the heroes of the past had to fight off. All that would happen if you gave yourself to Cia, is exactly that. You'd be with Cia. The war would not end, peace would not be won or bought, everything else would continue, they would keep attacking, and you'd be trapped in the heart of it at the whims of a madwoman."

Link flinched a bit, tugging his sleeve slightly. Impulsively, Dev set what was now his signature purple cloak around his hero's shoulders.

"I know it's hard, people are dying around you and you believe you're responsible for saving them." Link nodded slightly to Dev's words. "But this is war, Link. This is bigger than just you, even if Cia is obsessed with you, that's not how this works. Something else would have been corrupted, someone else, Lana maybe, maybe some random mage who decides to raise an ancient evil, something would have happened. Maybe you would've had to travel across all of Hyrule to gather some magical items from dungeons deep in the ground to come back and fight them alone. But I speak from experience when I say the death toll would not have been better. Without the armies to protect them, monsters would've flooded villages, flooded the castle even, or maybe the armies themselves would've been mind controlled and men you know and trust would be turning against you."

Link grimaced. Dev knew he already hated having to kill the men who had willingly betrayed the crown, to kill men who had done it unwillingly was...

"Frankly, there are dozens of other ways this could have played out," Dev continued. "But it played out this way, and when I look at our status, the statistics from battles, how you're managing your men when you're barely an adult yourself," Link flinched at that, "you are doing incredibly, Kit. Better than I would have ever done, even if I were my age and not your age."

Link tugged the cloak more around his shoulders. He let out a long, shaky sigh and silence lingered for a good few minutes. Dev just stayed at his side.

"Thanks," Link whispered into the air. "Thanks Dev."

He hummed softly. "Of course."

Dev crossed his arms as he stood in the entryway of a certain tent, Link was leaning over at table, scarfless. Dev knew that both Mask and Tune were curled up on their bed in another tent with the scarf wound around and over them both.

"You faked them out," Dev said and Link startled, reaching for a weapon only to raise Dev's own sword form against his intangible spirit form.

Link sighed, sheathing the Master Sword. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"The boys are out cold with your scarf around them. You got them to sleep and then left. You know they hate it when you don't sleep too," Dev chided. He moved over to look at the map on the table.

"I have to finish this, and finish that report," Link said as he gestured to a stack of papers on the nearby desk. Dev moved over to it and flicked through them. "I don't have time to rest."

Dev sighed. "Goddesses... you have no idea how often I told myself that."

Link made a confused noise, looking at him.

"Just—When I was younger, I had a lot to do and little time to do it. I was right of course, I didn't have time to rest, but the difference was," Dev placed a hand on Link's shoulder, "I didn't have people who could take my burdens from me."

Link looked confused and Dev chuckled softly.

"Let's finish those reports together and then you need to get some rest. What helps you relax?"

"I... doing things with my hands. Knitting, training, braiding my sister's hair, stuff like that," Link said quietly. He unsheathed the Master Sword and set it out. It disappeared in a slight flash and Dev let himself become tangible and he picked up the reports.

"Well we're currently out of yarn," Dev noted, "and training is absolutely out of the question..." he hesitated and sighed. "Fine. Sit."

Link looked a bit confused but he sat on the edge of the bed and Dev sat down on the ground in front of him. A bit of magic had the papers floating in front of and around him, and he changed his form a bit.

The green ribbon fell into his hand while his violet purple hair grew out to his mid-back. Link startled and Dev combed one hand through it.

"If it helps you relax," he said softly.

Link made a small noise, something a bit strangled but deeply touched. Fingers slid through his hair and Dev worked on the reports, murmuring what he was reading and doing to Link while the young captain braided his hair.

"When'd you have long hair?" Tune asked after a battle.

"Because Link needed to calm down and he said braiding hair helped," Dev answered, cleaning the blood off Tune's face with a rag. "Goddesses, bunso, you either gotta clean up your act or you're joining me for training after this."

Tune grinned. "Can I braid your hair?"

Dev shrugged. "If you want, sure. Not now though. Later."

Tune lit up.

After that, Dev just kept his hair long, usually braided by either Tune or Link, and then he became Mask's practice as the fairy boy wanted to learn how to as well.

It was the nature of all things to end, and war was counted among them.

Dev pulled Ravio into a tight hug, as the merchant was one of the first to go back home.

"I'll see you in a minute," Ravio joked weakly.

Dev wanted to cry. "Bye, Ravi."

"Bye, Link," Ravio whispered, his words unheard by everyone else. "Be happy."

Dev tightened his hug before finally letting go. Ravio squeezed his hands before he gave another boisterous goodbye to everyone. Declaring they'd get discounts if they ever visited his shop.

Then he was gone.

Dev stepped back beside Link.

"You knew each other," Link said.

Dev gave a strained laugh. "You could say that."

Midna had insulted them all on her way out. Marin left with a promise to never forget them.

One by one, everyone returned home, then it was just four three heroes remaining.

Mask did the best at staying strong. Link pulled them both into tight hugs, Tune clung to him but declared that Link would be alright and now Tune had plenty of stories to tell Aryll when he got home.

Mask had quietly told Link that he better take care of himself from now on.

"You hear me?" The little fairy boy glared weakly at Link. "You take care of yourself! You eat every day and sleep properly! We-We—We won't be here to make you do it anymore, so you—You gotta do it."

Link was in tears. "I will, Dev's still here to be annoying. I'll be alright, Sapling. Just—Go home and be happy, okay? Promise me that you'll find something to be happy about."

Mask's facade broke and he was in tears, crying against Link's chest.

Tune stepped away from them and he turned to Dev. He approached and hugged the spirit, and Dev wrapped the young pirate in a tight hug.

"How... How do you and Ravio know each other?" Tune asked, his face against Dev's shoulder.

Dev smiled into the boy's hair as he tilted his head. "I was just like you once," he admitted in a quiet whisper, so quiet that neither Mask nor Link could hear him. "A hero. I was younger than you, maybe even younger than Mask, when I first started."

Tune's eyes widened and he stared at him as he pulled away. Dev gently brushed his hair from his face, keeping eye contact.

"I saved Hyrule so many times, bunso. One of those times, I met this merchant... You may never visit this place or hear of it again, but there's a land called Lorule, and it's the opposite of Hyrule."

"Ravio said he's from Lorule," Tune recalled.

Dev nodded. "He is. But just as Lorule and Hyrule are mirrors, so are its people. Ravio is my mirror, he is my Lorulean counterpart. If you ever saw him without his hood, you would've seen the resemblance."

"But if he's from your past then... He's died," Tune realized. "That's why you were crying."

Dev chuckled softly. He kissed the top of Tune's head before mussing blond hair and dislodging the green cap.

"I've seen a lot of loved ones die, bunso," Dev admitted. "Ravio was one of the first, but he didn't die during my adventures, nor while I was Hylian. He died of old age. That's better than some fates I think we've both seen."

Tune nodded. "You're... you're a hero?"

"Not anymore. Now I guide the hero so they can succeed. If I have my way, I'll never have to raise a sword again... Magic rods are okay though."

Tune laughed wetly and he hugged Dev. "Love you, Dev," he muttered. "Thanks for being my big brother."

Dev hugged the kid as tight as he could. "No, thank you."

They pulled apart and Dev squeezed his shoulder.

"Now go conquer that ocean of yours, little pirate. And tell Aryll and Tetra hi from me and Fi."

Tune nodded rapidly. He hugged Link and Mask one more time, telling Mask he better take care of himself or he'd time travel just to make him do it. Mask had laughed wetly and teased Tune that he better tell Tetra he had a crush on her. Despite the prompt argument, they went through the portal holding hands, only letting go at the very last moment.

Dev spent that night talking with Link and hugging the young hero until he passed out from crying and losing the two kids he adore.

Next>>

[brionysea]

season 4 of stranger things, honestly everyone's mindset is out of wack and dealing with all the trauma that they are not fully dealing with. And no one is working together. Season 3 was like the start, 4 is like you see the cracks happening till the explode with literally having the upside down coming into the real world. Example my did Joyce think it was a good idea to thrust El in high school? She should have been homeschooling. I get why but it was so bad the end results. Its like a domino affect. We did this and this small thing. And the small things keep building up and up and thats why seasons 4 plan failed and Vecna won. They hurt him, but he still won.

it's the first time the thesis statement of the show has been really clear and cohesive, which is effective and an impressive technical accomplishment, but also: the nature of trauma and tragedy is inherently irrational and frustrating, which makes the season Not Fun to watch at times

oh well. i guess the only way to go is up

[mythicalmo]

༊*·˚✎ the one with ember | e. r

·��⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙ navi | m.list | esme m.list·͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺

content warning: established relationship, emotional manipulation, gaslighting, toxic behavior and speech from a romantic partner, toxic relationship traits, hints of social isolation word count: 2.1k

a/n: alright, this is my very first post so don't be too harsh on me if the quality is low. as for the warnings, there's nothing explicit, at least in my eyes, but there are traces of some toxic speech and manipulation so better safe than sorry. let me know if i miss anything!

"What're you doing?"

Esme jumped back as a deep voice broke through the ambience of the greenhouse. The cauldron she had was situated in one of the smaller side sections. The sounds of the fire from the burner and the bubbling from the mixtures she was working on was like a lullaby. It wasn't unusual to find her zoned out as she scurried around, her mind simply gone and lost to the world.

That's the sight that Ember must've been met with when he walked in and decided to sneak up on her. Her hand was pressed over her heart, eyes wide as she tried to catch her breath. The fire genasi in front of her was smirking at her in amusement. "Didn't mean to scare you. You were really zoned out there, huh?"

"Guess I was," she huffed out in a laugh. "What can I say? Brewing relaxes me." He gave a small hum of agreement, his arms coming around her waist and tugging her slightly. Her own came around his neck. The two of them leaned in, a chaste kiss shared between Ember making some sort of joke about her breathing in too many fumes.

"What's brewing?"

Esme immediately perked up. "Oh! Professor Fernstring is letting me do some of the prep for the potions lab next week!" She had been talking more frequently with the lab professor, her work during classes earning their attention. She was a skilled student, had some sort of natural talent for potions and working her way around plants and various ingredients. Honestly if she didn't she had no right calling herself a Wild Warden. Because the lessons weren't challenging enough for her, Professor Fernstring decided to allow Esme to take on a sort of lab assistant role. A small trial run to see how she'd cope with the work load alongside her busy school schedule. She was thrilled.

"It's a Drimteraj Elixir—it's most commonly referred to as Drime Elixir even though the pronunciation isn't the same and the original translation is lost. It's almost like a... uh—a transfigure—is that how you...— transfiguring element in potions and alchemy. It's easy to brew, the only thing that is difficult about the process is having enough patience and being steady when you mix. You want to make sure that you don't scrape the side of th—"

She was cut off abruptly by Ember crashing his lips against hers. "You're rambling again," he muttered as he pulled away slightly. She went to speak again but he merely chased her lips, rendering her unable to get a word out. "And nearly wacked me in the face a few times too."

"I-I'm sorry."

"Time and place, remember? No one needs the extra information unless they ask for it, otherwise you're just going to seem like a know-it-all." He looked down at her with an eyebrow raised, almost like an adult reprimanding a child for misbehaving. She gave him a small nod, looking down at her shoes. "And you need to work on your Common. I could barely keep up when you keep switching to Elvish."

"I could always teach you," she offered. Taking a chance, the wood elf snuck a glance up at her boyfriend, but he was already pulling away from her and walking towards her station.

"I'm too busy. And I'll never use it anyway."

A soft clearing of her throat, Esme went back over to the cauldron to try and ignore the heat of embarrassment washing over her. Ember had explained to her that she tended to get carried away and that things were different in the Arctic Isles than they were in the Feywild. She had tried to get used to the different customs and the social rules, but it wasn't her area of expertise. The social cues made no sense and there were so many exceptions to keep track of. It was hard enough trying to relearn Common after not using it for so long.

Thankfully Ember was just patient enough with her to help teach her and be firm when she needed. She adored him and part of her wanted to make him proud in some way. To show that she had taken what he taught her seriously and that he was important enough for her to put in effort. She had to pay him back somehow.

She gave the elixir one last stir and checked on the oil she was infusing beside it before lowering the burner and allowing both to cool before bottling them.

She strode into the main part of the greenhouse to grab some glass vials she was allowing to dry whilst Ember looked through her various journals and notes that she had sprawled everywhere.

The quiet of the greenhouse was comfortable. It usually was. When she was first offered the role of lab assistant by Professor Fernstring, she had the task of simply tending to and growing some of the ingredients they'd need to the labs or the prep mixtures. She managed to talk her way into letting the faculty permit her to use the smaller greenhouse they had planned on demolishing. It was out of use for quite awhile but it was perfect for the wood elf. She'd have her own space—a safe space—that she could make into a home away from home.

"Hey, babe?" She hummed in response. The last of the vials were carefully placed on the bench. "Does the Dream Elixir require two elements?"

"Drime Elixir," she corrected. Her eyes scanned over and under the small mess she had created at the station before finding her dull yellow gloves. "There's no extra elements, you can brew it all in one cauldron, another reason it's one of the simpler ones to make."

"Then why are there two potions in here?"

Esme paused, gripping her gloves in one hand as she bit her lip. One of the skills she had was the ability to brew multiple potions at once with efficiency. And in the same cauldron. It was a feat she was proud of and one of the things that managed to capture the attention of the Botany and Alchemy Department. She had multiple metal dividers to place inside her cauldron. Right now one of them was used to separate the large pot into two.

"Uh, I'm just—it's nothing. Some talon oil is all." She spoke quickly and quietly. Shoving her hands into the gloves and making her way over to the cooled cauldron, Esme tried to busy herself with bottling the oil so she wouldn't see Ember's exasperated and annoyed reaction.

"Esme, we've talked about this!"

"He's my friend, Em!" Esme's voice had a tinge of desperation. She didn't want to have this argument with him again, but it seemed like no matter what, Amarcus was always going to be brought up and case another rift that she would have to mend. "I know you two don't get along for now but—"

"What? I'm not the one with the problem here, it's him."

"You don't make an effort to make the situation easier." Her focus was wavering, trying to steady her hands to properly pour and cork the oil so she could move onto the elixir.

"So you're saying it's my fault?" Her hand slipped and she slammed the bottle down. She closed her eyes and tried to take deep breaths. The oil dripping over the side of the vial and over her gloves was tough to ignore. "Great, I'm the bad guy now."

"I don't want to argue, Ember," she spoke slowly. Esme finally turned towards him, a tired and exasperated sigh leaving her lips. He was across from her, leaning back against one of the low benches with his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes were guarded, lips pressed into a thin line as he regarded her coldly. "Can we please drop it?"

"Do you not understand where I'm coming from?" His voice took on a tone that had Esme clenching her fists. "I don't like you going out of your way and spreading yourself thin for something he can just go out and buy for himself."

She rolled her eyes, accepting the fact that he just needed to say his piece before they would be finished with this conversation. Turning back, she blindly grabbed a rag to clean the bottle and what she could of her gloves, placing in the last cork before she could get started on bottling the elixir next. "I'm not going out of my way. If I'm already in here brewing something, there's no harm in making the oil too."

Ember let out a groan from behind her. "Prims, that's not the point! I'm saying that it feels like he's more of a priority than I am!"

"That's not true!" Her voice had finally risen, the silence that followed filled with a tension that almost felt suffocating. The only sounds were the simmering from beside her and the heavy breathing from the two of them. She hates fighting and arguing, especially about a topic that somehow seemed so controversial. Ember had brought it up to her from a place of concern. He believed Amarcus was taking advantage of her and her friendship, claiming that she wasn't well-versed enough to know the difference between a true relationship and a business partnership. It was a pill Esme refused to try and swallow.

"I took your advice," she finally said after calming down. "I talked to him and set boundaries. I told him I can't give him all of my free time and I stopped communicating with him on my crystal so frequently too."

She thought that would appease him, make the air lighter. It only seemed to give him more fuel. "Well then what's worse is that means I'm still being stood up because of some plants and a potion that could've waited a day to be brewed."

"That's not fair. You know this is important to me."

Her breath hitched slightly, her mind struggling to keep up with the monotonous task of filling up bottles and vials to store them for awhile. This was usually the part she could get through easily. She had a rhythm, a routine of how she liked to do things. Perhaps Ember was right, she needed to leave the greenhouse at some point and put some things off just a little bit.

She heard him sigh and before she knew it, he was behind her, tugging at her waist to turn her around to face him. She let him, trying to keep her eyes on the cauldron to make sure the elixir didn't begin to turn color from simmering too long. His fingers gently grasped her chin, moving her eyes away and giving her no choice but to make eye contact.

"I know." His voice was softer now, his lips brushing against her forehead before leaning down to look at her. "But sometimes I'd like to think that your boyfriend is important to you, too."

"I know—I'm sorry." She took off a glove. Her newly freed hand grasped at his waist, fisting itself in his jacket. "I promise I'm trying, this is all still new to me." She gestured between the two of them.

"You'll learn." He raised her chin, a final kiss pressed to her lips in finality. "How much longer is bottling going to take so we can go?" She looked up at him with innocent confusion, her head tilting to the side. "Our date..?"

Her eyes closed in silent realization. She felt the warmth of his body move away. The only reason she reached out and followed him was due to the fact that his footsteps were retreating towards the door of the greenhouse.

"Wait!" She grabbed onto his hand, stopping him in his tracks. She only received a look from the corner of his eye. "I... I won't come up with an excuse. 15 minutes. I'll make it up to you."

Her thumb swiped gently across the back of his hand, her eyes pleading with him to forgive her for getting so lost inside her mind that she disregarded everything that wasn't in her little personal garden.

He turned to her slightly, offering the smallest of smiles. "I'll be outside."

She brought his hand up to place a kiss to his wrist, but he pulled away before she could even get close. She swallowed, watching him walk away as she tried to formulate how exactly she was going to finish bottling, cleaning, and storing everything in only 15 minutes...

soooo not gonna lie, towards the end i do feel like i rushed it a little bit. doesn't seem like it flowed the same as the beginning, if it does at all, but i did want to get this done and posted before i chickened out. i'm pretty proud of it nonetheless.

© mythicalmo all rights reserved. the modification, translation, and plagiarism of my work is strictly prohibited.

[randomkposts]

With Persona 3 and Nocturne being remastered, It would be absolutely fantastic if Digital Devil Saga and Raidou Kuzunoha came out again too. I enjoyed watching the movies, and think I would really enjoy playing them, particularly the former. The Later, however, is part of a lore I am really enjoying learning about, and that is Devil Summoners.

The series as we know it started with the invention of the COMP, by Akemi Nakajima- a Bishōnen programer and amature magician- back in Digital Devil Megami Tensei story, a game based on novels by Aya Nishitani. Check out Marsh if you want to learn more about them. 

But back to devil summoners, the most known is Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th, of the Kuzunoha clan, and the protagonist of the Raidou Kuzunoha games. The Kuzunoha clan is a clan of devil summoners based on the legend of Kuzunoha in Japan. 

"Kuzunoha is the name of a popular fox spirit of Japanese folklore, and is closely connected to the legends surrounding famed Onmyōdō Abe no Seimei. In the legend, the father of Seimei, Abe no Yasuno was visiting a shrine in Shinoda when he came across a hunter who had trapped a white fox in order to take its liver to sell as medicine. Abe no Yasuno fought off the hunter and saved the white fox, but not before sustaining serious injuries to himself. In the aftermath, he is saved by a mysterious, enchanting woman named Kuzunoha and the two eventually fall in love and get married.  

Later, Kuzunoha gave birth to Abe no Seimei, who was born with strange powers, and by the age of five, he was said to be able to to see and command lesser Oni. One day, when Abe no Seimei was still a child, he noticed his mother possessed a fox's tail under her kimono. Realizing her disguise had been found out, she fled her home and returned to Shinoda; her husband and son pursued her and she revealed she was the very same white fox that Abe no Yasuno had saved many years ago. Kuzunoha gives her son a special book that will allow him to speak with beasts, and bids farewell to her family, never to be seen again. Her famous farewell poem can be found on a silk parchment in the Inari Shrine in Izumi."

So in the Megami Tensei overall lore, naturally that forms the basis of a clan of devil summoners who exist long before COMPS become a thing. This is also a history where the Taisho era lasted longer than IRL.

 Also Hirasaki City area was once part of a small country that fought the Yamato dynasty off with magic and demons, had ties to China, and defeated the Yamato army, but lost in the long run, whereupon the queens only daughter was captured, tortured, and executed in a cruel manor, and her spirit was so angry it needed to be sealed for safety. 

And then there's whatever is going on with Sumaru that has students in school during July, but the rumors coming true isn't new (I'd guess ten years but an exact timeline is hard to pin), and that's before the city was retconned by rumors to have a history involving things like a local princess, as of The EP timeline from which the other persona games follow. 

It's also a reality where SMT 1 was averted, and instead If timeline events happened. So there are people who are born naturally capable of using magic (such as law and chaos hero), and a highschool student brought his school into an alternate dimension, filled with demons, true death was canceled, and he became ruler. Two students then proceeded to fight their way through said world and defeat him to get back to the human world. 

The history students are screaming. The devil summoner games have connections to the persona games, and the crossover brings me joy. The tech tree evolution is hilariously wack. 

So that all said, let's talk about Summoners, facts, extrapolation, and headcanons. Starting with Showing up in multiple games. (Soul hackers 2 not included as I have not yet interacted) 

Madame Ginko:- the overseer of the Kuzunoha clan, and the most respectfully treated trans person in the series, the owner of Club Cretaceous (understandably has a lot of summoners), and has preference for Dragon Demons, according to Demikids. 

In spite of her showing up the most of anyone on this list, I don't really have a lot of headcanons for her really. I heard she was a bodyswapper, and according to her bio her hobby is moon watching, and favorite food is Oden. Her blood type is Type A, which in Japan does give personality indication.

Maybe later I'll do a post on blood types and Megaten universe characters who share that blood type. 

Has a bodyguard in the form of Utsumi Kunihiko, blood type AB, who likes pizza and breeding tropical fish. 

Kinap:- first showing up in Devil Summoners as a user of the DDS-Net who gives you hints and hacks into a museum sincerity system for you. 

In Soul Hackers, Kinap is probably not the same being as last time, but who knows, as he is never shown on screen.  Spoilers ahead for plot points in Devil summoner soul hackers. 

In mythology:- "In Mi'kmaq folklore, a Kinap is a mortal human gifted with uncanny physical strength and other powers. In many legends, a Kinap's power manifests as a child, and he either becomes a child-hero or dies young by using too much of his strength too early. In other legends, an adult Kinap features as a mortal hero slaying a terrible monster or leading the other Micmac men into battle. ."

He sends the protagonist on vision quests throughout the game. Apparently Kinap was once a Shaman who tamed Manitou, and proceeded to use him in battles to be Victorious in wars, and used the slain foes as sacrifices, to grow Manitou stronger.

Then one day he realized "oh snap. Feeding it all these souls might make it too strong and I will lose control one day." So he took preventive action and sealed Manitou away. He also created Nemissa out of a fragment of his soul, but for her to be effective, she would need to understand humans. Rather than introduce her to some humans he knew then,  he sealed her and abandoned his mortal form to watch over them. And possibly Devil Summoners Protagonist IDK. Obviously that goes super well, lol. 

Let's deffine Manitou :- " Manitou is the belief of Algonquians meaning “mysterious being,” or simply “mystery”. It is an Algonquian word that represents the unknown power of life and the universe. Common among the indigenous peoples of North America, it is related to the concept of mana, a personal supernatural force, and connected to the worship of the sun. A supernatural force that according to an Algonquian belief permeates the natural world. 

Manitou is universal and manifests everywhere: the environment, events, organisms, etc. When the world was created, Aashaa monetoo meaning the “good spirit” or “great spirit”, gave the land to the indigenous peoples, specifically to Algonquian-speaking ethnic group indigenous Shawnee. In some Algonquian traditions, it was also called Gitche Manitou.

Native Americans acknowledge traditional healers and spiritual leaders who used manitou to see the future, heal illness, and change the weather. Ojibwe traditional healers used their spiritual connection to cure patients since the illness was believed to be caused by spirits and magic. To communicate with spirits and influence manitou, a healer would sing, dance, and drum beats to enter a trance. They sometimes also used hallucinogens to make a connection. For non-healers, they interacted with spirits by embarking upon a “vision quest,” by means of hallucinogens, fasting, praying, and by isolating themselves from society. A person who underwent vision quests would see objects or animals and also heard voices that would become later on as his or her guardian spirit.

In tribes that practice shamanistic rituals, manitous are connected to an inanimate object or animals to achieve the desired effect. A buffalo manitous for a successful hunt or plant manitous may be connected for healing. It involved the belief that shamans had the power to communicate with spirits, heal the sick, and help bring souls of the dead to the afterlife.

The early Native Americans in Illinois believed that each person has his own god, which they call their Manitou. It could come in a form of a bird, serpent, or other similar things, of which they have dreamed while sleeping. These manitous were considered as a lucky token. For war, manitous came in the form of species of birds, including falcons, crows, ducks, swallows, and parakeets. Representations such as skin or feathers of their manitous were displayed on their homes to ask for guidance and power when they went for fishing, hunting, or war.

As soon as adolescents became aware, it was expected that young adults start their vision quest in the wilderness. To trigger a manitou in a dream, the young adults went fasting without food and water for up to seven days. A manitou could take the form of a bear, wolf, bison, mountain lion, deer, bobcat, bird, or some other animal. "

What does the megaten wiki say about Manitou? 

"Originally Manitou was a great spirit of the land found in North America, but Kinap utilized Manitou as a weapon in ancient times. Contact with mankind and their souls threatened to turn the peaceful mindless force into an entity of destruction. Kinap then sealed Manitou away and created Nemissa from Manitou to bring death to it should it ever be awakened and become a force of destruction.

The Phantom Society and Kadokura find the entity, and make their own plans to give it the souls of mankind for their own agendas. Manitou is also capable of feeding on the souls of demons, as shown by the slain Godly soul that it gains power from. "

It kind of sounds like Manitou should have been the one sending you on Vision quests, and generally working with Kinap. They have just sort of used Manitou as a buzzword. Nemissa Is a legend of a star goddess who seduces a hunter.

But yeah, they are more used as cool names, not particularly respectfully researched or portrayed use of legends from native people. I like Nemissa as a character, but as far as mythology goes, she's an OC with a legend based name. 

If they wanted a native legend that actually ate souls, they could go for Nalusa Chito, assuming they did their research with cultural consultants of the mythology they are inspired from and portray it respectfully. 

" Nalusa Chito, also known as a Impa Shilup, was the soul-eater, a great black beingIf individuals allowed evil thoughts or depression to enter their minds, Impa Shilup would creep inside them and eat their souls. "

Don't speak their names. 

For more info, go to

As an antagonist, it could probably suit the cyberpunk setting of the time pretty well. 

"Cyberpunk narratives often incorporate a sense of hopelessness or nihilism, typically featuring a gritty and violent backdrop, with crime, artificial intelligence, class uprising, governmental and corporate corruption, anarchy, gang warfare, and transhumanism all being central themes. The range is broad but the combination of these themes in the cyberpunk aesthetic is often used to convey deeper meanings and commentate on modern society and sometimes predictions of future society."

Soul hackers was first published in 1997, during Japan's lost decade, the name for its economic crisis. 

For more information on what caused that, check here

For more information on how that impacts the people socially and culturally, check this video by Lady Virgilia

I think ending the game by defeating a soul eating depression monster , especially during Japan's lost decade would have been a hopeful ending to the game. A way of saying "maybe it does suck now, but we can turn it around"

Oh wow, I've wandered pretty off topic. I'll end this one here, and come back and talk about Rei, and other characters later.

[fearhims3lf]

TIMING: Current

PARTIES: @ariadnewhitlock @fearhims3lf

SUMMARY: Ariadne hears about Mateo's mean streak and decides to give him a haunt, but she quickly finds out that they both share the same nature.

WARNINGS: Insinuation of sibling death

Ghouls, ghouls, ghouls night out…!

Mateo fell into his bed, arms crossed behind his head, and an expression of euphoric satisfaction plastered across his face. His headphones blared with the last notes of the Misfits distorted guitar. They faded into the next song, and Mateo sucked his teeth, a little miffed at the opportunity he didn’t get to take. 

Too Drunk to Fuck by the Dead Kennedys roared to life, a perfect song for the man he’d been sent to kill. He was way too hammered to fuck anyone, especially the woman that stormed out of his room in disappointment. And then, with great relief to everyone, he was way too hammered to do anything ever again. Mateo chuckled to himself, closing his eyes as he thought about his latest kill. The police would have a field day trying to figure out who killed him. The mare was across the world and the next kill was already on the docket. All he needed to do was wait for the check to clear and he’d move out. 

For now, though? Well, it was time to relax with his eyes closed. Or so Mateo thought. There was a rustling at the end of his bed, and with no pets to account for, he opened his eyes to find a strange girl standing in his room. “What the fuck?!” He bursted out of bed, grabbing the bat next to his bed in preparation. It was more of a warning than anything. It wasn’t like homegirl would be able to take him…right?

“Yo, you got about ten seconds to explain before I start swinging. How’d you get in here?!”

She’d heard that this Mateo wasn’t always so nice. Ariadne didn’t know the specifics or anything, but if he was mean, then maybe, just possibly, she wouldn’t feel quite as awful about feeding from him. Maybe.

Or at least she could try harder to not feel bad, and then be on her way. She didn’t have to focus on it – on him – too much. Go in, get out, and go find Wynne and cuddle against them, maybe. Or maybe she’d just go to her apartment, because explaining what was going on to Wynne wasn’t something Ariadne was sure she could handle, right now.

What she hadn’t expected, though, was for him to be awake. She held up her hands, letting out a small squeak – this was like that doctor lady all over again, except that this time she hadn’t even done anything when he’d woken up, and at least she’d started to cause nightmares for the doctor. “I – I walked in. The door was unlocked!” She had no clue if that was true, but it seemed a good enough bet. She’d learned that more people in this town left their doors unlocked than she ever would’ve thought. “Sorry, I was just – hungry, and I wanted to see if you had any…” she scrunched up her face. “Any… ice cream. ‘Cause I was really craving cookie dough.”

“Are you shitting me right now?” There was a literal child mare in his room, and she was too dumb to even make a good cover story on the fly or cover her glowing red eyes. A laugh almost escaped Mateo, but instead, he groaned when he realized he wasn’t going to get to wack someone. He couldn’t hurt a kid. Not even if they broke into his home.

Well…he could hurt them a little.

Mateo closed the distance and lightly smacked the girl on the head, like any sensible person would do when a child did something stupid. “You do realize I’m a grown man and you’re tiny, right? Pick your battles better.” He huffed as he flashed his own glowing eyes at the girl, throwing the bat aside on his way to the kitchen. Whether or not the girl would follow, Mateo wasn’t sure, but he guessed he’d find out once he reached his freezer.

“I got cookies ‘n cream and cookie dough.” Taking both containers out, he waved them in front of his chest, teasing. “Now, you can have some, but you gotta answer some questions.” Mateo plopped the ice cream onto his dining table and went for two bowls and spoons, sliding them next to the sweets. “You in, or you out?” He took a seat, gesturing to the delicious flavors in front of him. “Personally, I like to mix them together. Put both flavors in the bowl and really go to town. But…” He waved the food off, shrugging. “Guess you won’t know unless ya talk.”

“No?” She looked at him, wide-eyed, and only then realized that his eyes were also red. What a win she’d had here, huh? Maybe somebody had mentioned him being a jerk just because of what he was, and by logic or whatever, that meant she was also a jerk. Even if Ariadne didn’t think she’d ever actually heard anybody call her that. Still, if one mare was a jerk, maybe they all were.

Except she’d never call Leila or Inge that.

“I’m not that tiny. I’m taller than a lot of my friends, actually. My cousin just says I’ve got like, tiny energy or whatever? I don’t know.” She rolled her eyes (for maybe the first time in forever) and turned on her heels to follow him. “Do you like, fake-sleep a lot, then? Because I do, but that’s mostly because I have a partner. I’m sorry I tried to feed on you, though.” Ariadne looked up at him sheepishly. 

“Got chocolate sauce? I’ll answer questions, yeah.” She looked over to him, red eyes wide. “Just – not too personal, please.” Because she didn’t want to talk about what a bad person she was, or about how she’d died in detail. “Do I get to know your name, by the way?”

Mateo couldn’t help the chortle that spilled out of him, and he rolled his eyes to compliment the reaction. “Right, right…” He drawled, waving her off. “I guess? It’s just nice to close my eyes. Sometimes there’s nothing better to do.” Her cousin was definitely right. She had tiny energy. Tinier than most people he’d met. Whether or not he’d be able to tolerate it though, was to be discovered. 

He paused, arching a brow at the mention of a partner. How old was this girl? She looked like a child. “If you pretend a lot for them, then that means they’re probably alive, then?” With a shrug, Mateo nodded and threw open the fridge to retrieve the chocolate sauce the girl requested.

 “Don’t wanna know anything too personal anyway, homie.” He popped open all the containers, getting his own bowl ready to eat. “My name’s Mateo.” The bottle of chocolate sauce clicked closed, the final touches applied. He slid the bottle, along with everything else toward the girl, gesturing for her to make her own bowl too. “What about you? Got a name I get to know?”

“I get that. I wish I could sleep, because sleeping is nice. Was nice, I guess,” Ariadne shook her head. She didn’t know why she was going on about that so much, except she was still startled and surprised enough from finding out that the dude she’d tried to feed from was also a mare that she wasn’t keeping her composure best as she could. Not that she was entirely sure what a good version of keeping her composure would have been, but still.

“Oh, they are very alive yeah. Very much so. Human and alive and the best person I’ve ever ever met.” Ariadne narrowed her eyes. “You better not feed on them, like, ever.” She knew she wasn’t much of a threat at all, but she did also know that she’d do anything that she could in order to make sure that Wynne was never harmed, at least not by a mare, at least not when she could control it.

Well, that was something, at least. He didn’t want to know things that were too personal, and for that she was extremely grateful. “Ariadne.” She responded, “is my name.” She grabbed the chocolate sauce and fixed herself a bowl of ice cream, taking a hefty scoop into her mouth, chewing before she continued. “It’s from a myth, and I – I like it, even though I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody else with the same name as me.”

“Well that can’t be true now.” Mateo grinned confidentially, fingers interlacing as his elbows propped onto the table. “You’ve met me now, so they can’t be the best person.” It was all in jest. Sort of. Mateo’s ego was huge, but he knew better than to let that influence his entire tone. He played it safe and accompanied his statement with a laugh, waving himself off before reassuring his new mare friend. “But don’t worry. Don’t want a mare nipping at my heels while I’m trying to eat, so they’re so safe.” Mateo raised his hand, promising. “Scout’s honor, ma.” He was never a scout, but the sentiment still had to stand. At least, he thought it should. 

“Ariadne.” Not a name he’d heard before, but there was a flair to it that almost felt Latin coming off of his tongue. Had to be a culture that somewhat intersected, but that hardly mattered when they were getting to know each other and Ariadne didn’t exactly know where the name came from. Besides, there was something Mateo was far more interested in. He took a bite of his ice cream, humming at the taste. “How long you been a mare? ‘Cause it sure as hell hasn’t been very long if you’re jumpin’ around like this. And, well…” Another bite, “You got that weird moral compass thing going on.”

 “I – well, I mean, I’ve only just met you.” Her words caught in her throat, “and I – well, I’m their girlfriend and they’re my partner, so… I think they’re always gonna be the best.” Ariadne shook her head, forcing her gaze to anywhere but the other mare. Because she wasn’t sure exactly what to make of him, or what, exactly, he made of her, which was all the more confusing, but not something she could focus on right now. “But you’re very cool. I’ll say that! I just think I have to reserve best for either my best friend or the person I’m in love with.”

She pulled at the strands of her hair a moment, “I’ve – like, not more than a year. Or, a bit more than a year, but not long. Is it really that obvious?” Ariadne took a too-big bite of her ice cream. “Also, wait, what’s wrong with a moral compass? That’s good to have, I thought, right?” Though she wasn’t sure if Celene would’ve agreed, but that wasn’t something she was going to discuss with a stranger. “Also wait, what do you mean, jumping around? How else am I supposed to get places?”

Mateo rolled his eyes, unable to relate to the lovey dovey vibes Ariadne was giving off. It was all too sickly sweet for his liking. “Well I don’t do the whole…” He gestured vaguely to Ariadne with a playful grimace, chuckling as he refocused on his ice cream. “Love…relationship…thing.” Grabbing the chocolate sauce, he dowsed his bowl even further, shrugging with agreement at Ariadne’s correct assessment of who Mateo was. Though he was sure the girl was just being sweet, as she always seemed to be. It wasn’t something he could understand, but as always, to each their own. 

“Moral compass can be fine and all, but having too much of one can make you too vulnerable and naive.” Mateo huffed, taking another bite of his ice cream. “You gotta know when to let go of morals, and trust me, there are times where you gotta. Don’t make you a bad person, but being sweet all the time can be dangerous if you’re in this supernatural world.” Taking a final bite, Mateo slid his bowl off to the side, clasping his hands together on the table. 

“As far as jumping goes, you gotta know where you’re going, or shit like this happens.” Mateo gestured between the pair. “Not everyone is so nice, and not everyone is gonna be a mare like me. ‘Cause, sure, jumping around is how we get to our meals, but without strategizing, you could get fucked, and not—” Mateo stopped himself from being too crude, waving off his words dismissively. “You know. Whatever.” Shrugging, he moved from his seat to place his dirty bowl in the sink for it to soak. “But yeah. That’s what makes it obvious. Lack of planning. I was like that too when I first started, but I’m, like, five years in now.”

“Oh, well, okay. That’s fine! Lots of people don’t, probably, so…” Ariadne wasn’t sure where exactly she was going with that particular train of thought, but Mateo didn’t seem to mind too much, if at all, so maybe this was some sort of blessing of luck to balance out the utter disaster that tonight was, otherwise.

“It’s – it’s not bad. I like having morals.” She was trying her very best not to pout, because that would only make her come off as immature, and she didn’t want anybody – but especially any other mare – to think of her that way. To think of her like a little kid. Because she wasn’t. Even if Ariadne was never going to look like a full-grown adult, she still did want to be treated with respect and not just pushed to the side, or babied.

“I did know where I was going. I heard somebody say you were mean, and I prefer to feed on mean people, and so I came here, and I – we – can’t tell when somebody’s a mare, so I just didn’t know until, well, you know.” She stuffed another spoonful of ice cream in her mouth, chewed, before she rapidly shook her head again. “Not that – I didn’t know you, so that’s not me calling you mean. You seem very nice, actually! So. Yeah.” Ariadne made another face. “Not what? But okay. Well, I – I just go where I think is best. You’ve done this for five years? When does it get easier?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Goody-goody.” He couldn’t help but roll his eyes again, glaring a little at the idea of being seen as nice. “Well, I am mean. I’m just—you’re a mare. Easier to be nice when it’s a peer.” Mateo clicked his tongue and watched with a hint of amusement on his face while Ariadne attempted to explain herself away. She definitely didn’t know what she was doing, and while Mateo wanted to tease her further, it didn’t feel like it’d be much fun. Especially considering she seemed a little more emotional. And young.

“Honestly, chica?” Mateo pursed his lips as he sifted through his memories. He couldn’t think of a specific moment when it all clicked for him, nor could he think of a general moment in time. The last five years had been such a blur. After his first kill, everything fell into place, but with Ariadne’s sense of morality, Mateo doubted she’d have a similar experience. “No idea. I just sorta…happened.” He shrugged and leaned back in his chair, balancing it on just two legs. “Think it’s different for everyone. Obviously. But I think once you settle into your life and don’t even realize time is passing, that’s when you know.”

“I thought peers were like, only people close in age to you? No offense, but you are like a fully adult adult, so I guess I never thought of it that way.” Nonetheless, Ariadne shook her head. “But okay, I’m glad you’re down to be nice to me, I like when people are nice.” She offered a tentative smile because he still seemed impossible to get a read on, even though he couldn’t be that bad given how quickly he’d turned into caring and had offered her ice cream. She still wanted to tread lightly, if only because of her near-perpetual worry that she was seconds away from messing something up big time.

“Oh.” She took another big scoop of ice cream, leaving her bowl nearly all empty, and stuffed it into her mouth to give herself a few moments to think. “Oh. Well, maybe it’ll happen to me. I hope it’ll happen to me sometime, though I dunno when I can expect that, and…” Ariadne bit down on her tongue. “Yeah, that makes sense, but also time does pass, and I guess I’m still super hyper aware of that. Did you – did the mare who made you stick around?” Part of her wanted to know if the whole up and abandon schtick was a typical thing, and she wasn’t sure which answer would disappoint her more.

“Well, I won’t always be nice, so be warned.” He rubbed at his face and chuckled, narrowing his eyes at Ariadne. How could someone be so nice all the time? Mateo didn’t get it, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to at all. While not everyone deserved cruelty all the time, he certainly didn’t believe they deserved kindness all the time either. People were stupid and often indifferent anyway, and that’s how Mateo liked to be most days. Neutrality on humanity saved him a lot of time, and helped him avoid social interactions not unlike the one he was in now. He wished it would end, if only to avoid uncomfortable questions. 

Very much like the one about who changed him. 

“Yeah.” The man swallowed with a twitch of his nose and a clack from his chair meeting the ground again. “He-Yeah. Stuck around.” And I asked him to change me. I asked my own brother to change me and I…Mateo sniffed sharply and drummed his fingers to soothe himself slightly before he snapped at Ariadne. “Think we’re done here, chica.” He chewed at the inside of his lips and drummed faster, his posture stiffening up uncomfortably. Anxiety wasn’t something he was inflicted with enough to know how to handle it correctly, but he knew how to hide his emotions. That was the appropriate thing to do, right?

Thank you, dad. 

“You should go. We’re a few hours from sunrise and I gotta get ready for company.”

“Okay, well, I think being nice is good, but I respect your choices too!” Even if she didn’t understand them, and even if Ariadne found herself grateful that she’d met people like Leila and Inge before Mateo. He wasn’t bad! She absolutely didn’t think that, but he probably wouldn’t have wanted to help her out in the same way that the others had. Which itself had been a saving grace since she’d felt so incredibly lost and adrift.

“That – well, that’s good. You had somebody around. Mine … didn’t. Probably ‘cause she was ashamed of me, but I don’t know for sure.” And she felt her chest tighten at the thought of it, and so even if the snapping did make her jump, Ariadne was also grateful for it. Welcomed it, even in its uncomfortableness.

“Okay, okay – we can go.” She fidgeted slightly. “I mean, I can. Go. I’ll go, unless you want help setting up for your company.” Which Ariadne figured he probably very much did not, but it would’ve been rude not to at least ask, right?

There definitely was no off button for this inherent goodness inside Ariadne. It contradicted everything that Mateo had witnessed and knew of the world. He didn’t understand it, and if the conversation hadn’t veered toward their creator’s, he might’ve asked more about her perspective, or even let her stay to help him clean up what little mess there was. Mentally, he shrugged, and physically, he pushed himself from the table. 

“Don’t want help.” He huffed, scratching at his cheek and moving on as quickly as he could. On instinct, he went to the door to urge Ariadne to go through it, but quickly realized it wasn’t necessary and quickly steered himself back to his bedroom. “Just blip outta here.” For the love of god, please just blip away. Mateo plopped himself into his bed and let his face remain in his pillow for a while. Memories of Junior flooded his mind and he was thankful then that there was no need to breathe as he cried for the first time in months. 

It was a relief in one way, and a deep shame in another, but no one, not even Ariadne, had to know. Out of kindness, she’d blip away. That was the hope at least. And given that Mateo was met with silence for over half an hour, he knew he had been left to his own devices. He was alone and could leave himself buried. 

Just not in the same way he’d left Junior. 

[talkingpointsusa]

Tim Pool is really pissed off that AI women aren't real.

Yeah, I spent my life savings to talk to this girl and....uh, I mean, imagine falling for this. Right guys? (Photo Credit: Timcast on YouTube)

Tim Pool is one of the great intellectuals of our time, as evidenced by the fact that he thinks the lack of alpha males is turning women lesbian for....some unspecified reason.

After looking at Matt Walsh, which is always a slog, I figured we'd end the week off on something truly stupid and hilarious and, since Dave Rubin is still in full tilt cope mode over DeSantis losing Iowa, who better than Tim Pool?

Tim Pool, a self professed alpha male by the way, has decided that AI women will lead to the literal end of society. So lets get into it.

00:01, Tim Pool: "I'm reminded of that episode of Futurama where Fry downloads Lucy Liu into a robot and is forced to watch an educational film about why you shouldn't date robots."

We are already off to a great start. When your argument hinges on a clip from Futurama maybe it's time to rethink your argument.

00:13, Tim Pool: "And the film talks about how, if everyone started just downloading fake female personalities into robots, they'd stop reproducing and civilization would end. And, of course, we are building just such a thing."

Absolutely nobody thinks that AI women are a suitable replacement for human women. Yeah, a small portion of the population is lonely enough to talk to AI women and that's unfortunate. The vast majority of men and women don't think that this is some kind of permanent solution. I think a lot of the population isn't aware that these AI women exist and those that do think it's some kind of weird novelty.

I'm glad this video is a mercifully short 14 minutes because 20 minutes of this shit would be unbearable.

00:24, Tim Pool: "This story from the New York Post. 'AI model, Lexi, makes $30k a month as a virtual girlfriend to lonely men'. No, this is robo-fishing or something. This is guys who think this woman is real giving a bunch of other guys money."

Absolutely nobody using this thing thinks this "Lexi" chatbot is real. The company that created it is called Foxy AI which provides a helpful little hint in the name for what this is. It is very clear People are paying for the AI, not in spite of the AI.

Anyway, Tim finds this all very scary.

01:03, Tim Pool: "So some guy makes an AI generated woman. Other guys pay that guy to interact with the AI generated woman. Ladies and gentlemen, you want to talk about the great filter? The answer to Fermi's Paradox? How is it that humanity will destroy itself, oh there are oh so many ways."

So, let me get this straight: Tim, who again is supposedly a serious journalist, thinks that some guys talking to a chatbot is going to cause the literal end of society.

I feel like this is Tim lashing out because he accidentally spent money on a chatbot thinking it was a real woman. Because I don't understand why he cares so much about this or how he came to this conclusion.

01:49, Tim Pool: "Or perhaps, it will be a bunch of men who never have children because they're wacking off to pictures of fake women on the internet. Geez."

Tim appears to have discovered that pornography exists. Just wait until he finds out that phone sex operators exist.

"I guess we live in a world where you can pick up the phone, call a number, and wack of to some girls voice. That's sick!"

02:00, Tim Pool: "Well, at the very least what I think is likely to happen is that evolutionary pressure will persist and thus the men who fall for these AI models and don't procreate will simply cease to exist and those who are more resilient to it will survive."

Resilient to it. Yeah, in the future people will force you to chat with AI women instead of real women and then, unless we are resilient to these AI women, society shall crumble before our very eyes.

02:43, Tim Pool: "The guys who don't find girlfriends and watch this stuff instead, they're not gonna procreate."

I don't think the kinds of people who are paying good money for an AI female are all that desirable on the dating market.

02:53, Tim Pool: "The other big issue here is that women are gonna try and compete with these AI models and they're gonna get surgery and other things to try and look like computer generated women. Yo, we are in for a wild ride."

This has got to be one of the single dumbest things I have ever watched. Not just for this blog, in my lifetime. So, according to Tim, because some men are chatting with AI generated females, real females are going to start getting surgeries to look like AI generated ones.

Absolutely no straight male on Earth would rather have an AI generated woman than a real woman. Does Tim not realize what a complete moron he is making himself sound like?!

03:28, Tim Pool: "There are accounts on Instagram that have created -- it's so simple. You write a script to AI generate an image of a woman and then automatically post it to Instagram periodically. Guys will hit the like button and then you insert some kind of ad, bang. Money."

Congratulations Tim, you've discovered what a spambot is. Welcome to the internet buddy.

05:01, Tim Pool: "This should be illegal. I think it should actually be a crime. I think it should be a crime to create an account for a fake person, charge money for interactions with that person, it's fraud. I believe it should be considered fraud."

Not when it's clearly labelled as AI and has disclaimers on their website. If you are spending money on a chatbot from a website literally called Foxy AI, you know what you are paying for.

05:41, Tim Pool: "Porn addiction and now AI women. Dude, you guys don't even wanna know what's coming next. But I'll tell ya, because you probably actually do wanna know, many of you probably already know what's coming next."

I'm going to take a wild guess and say the literal end of society.

05:56, Tim Pool: "You know, back in the day the joke is--I think it was a Family Guy joke--"

Tim Pool has such brilliant evidence to back up his argument in this episode. A Futurama joke and a Family Guy joke, well I'm convinced!

Well, lets hear him out.

05:58, Tim Pool: "Some cavemen like, drew a stick figure woman with big boobs and then they called it porn. They were like 'Hey man, don't draw porn or whatever'. I don't know if that was actually Family Guy, but that's actually the joke, rudimentary. As time went on there were drawings, don't have those drawings but people would do it and it would titillate them. And then of course, photographs and video and magazines and then you get this expansion of the porn industry throughout the 1900's."

This is deeply hilarious because it completely undermines Tim's point. If people have been viewing porn for that long and porn is going to lead to the literal end of society, why hasn't it happened yet?

06:48, Tim Pool: "And then what happens is it goes from men and women banging to crazy stuff like swinging from the ceiling fan. And these guys are driven to chase after, eventually, things that don't exist or are dangerous. You end up with really creepy awful porn. I'm talking about evil dark stuff like snuff films but people just get off on crazy disgusting things."

Absolutely no citation for this claim. I know people who have watched porn and haven't immediately sought out snuff films or other illegal stuff.

07:10, Tim Pool: "So now where we're headed is, you got young men growing up in a world where by the age 10 or 11 they've seen the most disgusting things imaginable."

What a complete moron! The idea that someone has found porn, let alone snuff films, before they turn ten is so utterly ridiculous that it cannot even be put into words.

07:19, Tim Pool: "Their brains are broken. Regular women are not attractive to them, so they aren't gonna procreate or find girlfriends."

So boys aren't attracted to "regular women" but they are attracted to computer generated women even though, as Tim pointed out earlier on, they are getting so realistic that it's hard to tell that they aren't actual women. This is because they have watched snuff films at the tender age of 8.

1.22 million subscribers everybody. 1.22 million people look at this and go "Woah, this is the kind of content I want to consume."

07:27, Tim Pool: "Outside of all the porn addiction stuff, young men growing up online don't know how to interact with people in the real world."

Yeah, there's this place that kids go to called "school" where they interact with other kids. This teaches them how to interact with people in the real world.

07:44, Tim Pool: "And along comes this woman right here. This is fake, it is AI, but it's easy."

The idea that a teenage boy has the money lying around to spend on a chatbot might be the dumbest point in this episode chock full of dumb points.

Tim plays a bit of a short film called Capitol of Conformity.

09:49, Tim Pool: "Now I made the joke on Timcast IRL, for all I know I'm like, some overweight loser who can't get a job and works at Starbucks so I plugged my brain into the neuralink so that I get to be a famous podcaster and have lots of money!"

Don't I wish. Tim is really overestimating how famous he is here. He's relatively unimportant in the griftersphere compared to major players like The Daily Wire. Also, "can't get a job who works at Starbucks" is an oxymoron.

Tim waxes poetic about "woah, what if we are all in the simulation" and about how neuralink will destroy the world (my mans never heard of VR headsets I guess) and I'm absolutely done with this dimwit.

Conclusion:

Well, Tim seems to be really pissed that AI women aren't real and seems to think it's going to lead to the literal downfall of society. Not sure why this is the hill he's decided that he's going to die on but whatever.

Cheers and I’ll see you in the next one.