#that doesn't mean he hasn't made actual mistakes though

[utilitycaster]

Wait. So CR3 ended with Liliana, Ludanis, technically Predathos (within Imogen or something?), and all the gods all still alive (though technically in mortal form)?

I understand that sometimes it's journey before destination and the story is more important than the finale of the story but....W-what was the point??? If the BBEG Cult Leader who kicked this whole thing off to kill the gods and the gods are both still alive what was the point??

So Liliana was alive, Ludinus was alive (having used Clone or similar), and Predathos ran away because the gods assumed mortal form and there was nothing to eat on Exandria.

Really, while again I have my many critiques, the actual only part of this end state I think is a genuine mistake is Ludinus.

I think that Imogen deciding to join with the Volition and assassinate Liliana would have been a compelling character moment for Imogen; when she didn't do that I felt that Liliana dying when she chose to defy Ludinus would have been a compelling character moment for Imogen. When that also did not happen, my general feeling was "I don't really care about her fate, but it doesn't matter at this point," so her ending is one of the many "yeah, that's fine I guess" ones this campaign delivered. I don't think she's a good person, but I also think that now that she's just a regular-ass sorcerer and her cult leader tried to horribly murder her and then disappeared she has no motivation to continue committing crimes so yeah wandering around figuring out who she is now makes sense. It's still not interesting; most of my criticism in the end is "this wasn't very interesting."

The gods becoming mortal was genuinely interesting and any critique I have is how poorly it was signaled, how irrelevant it made any of the excruciatingly dull circular discussions throughout the campaign (and how hypocritical and stupid it made the characters as a result, not that that wasn't a problem from the start), and how malformed the logic of what this means mechanically for clerics was. But that is an interesting change, to me, especially since the Divine Gate is now down. Idk I think it's possible for the cycle to genuinely begin again; I mean, wizards figured out the rites of ascension before. Will one of the gods-become-mortal undo their own bindings, or will some wizard studying this phenomenon hit on the formula? The party (and fandom) discussion of Who Gets Power was rendered completely pointless but like, the actual concept is great.

Ludinus, however; honestly it makes no sense either way because not only did he do nothing to narratively earn any kind of redemptive ending [if I say "earn" know it's narratively because he is a pretend guy and the people who act like fictional characters are real and should get capital punishment are Calvinist freaks]; I don't see why he'd just hang out making tea unless he somehow thinks the gods are genuinely gone, having missed out on the happenings after his form was killed. Like, look. I do not believe that you have to kill the bad guy to have a satisfying ending, but you do need to follow through with the implications and this doesn't seem to have done so. The only possible ways this fits with his character are either that he's biding his time to do some other bullshit (possible, and if he pops up in a one-shot or miniseries to do villainy and get murdered I'll grant this), if he somehow hasn't found out and thinks the gods are dead (less likely but admittedly pretty funny, and if he lives out the remainder of his life in an isolated cottage, blissfully ignorant, thinking he got his revenge when he never did, that is a boring option but see above, this campaign usually went with the boring option for character development so what else is new), or if we somehow managed to get an ending that is more unwilling to give someone any kind of follow-through in the end than Ted Lasso, which is embarrassing, and I liked Ted Lasso for what it was.

[vashtijoy]

Thinking more about Akechi's rank 3, and about its flow into rank 4 at the jazz club—where Akechi begins to open up to Ren, by taking him somewhere special to him that he hasn't shared with anyone else.

Don't you think it seems off, on a first glance? Like it doesn't work? Because Akechi does not seem to entirely appreciate Ren's intervention. If you look at their phone call afterwards, it seems like Akechi lost control in the café, and is trying to take that back from Ren. He threatens him with what Ren "took" from him!—"I'll be dictating everything, from hair to accessories". Ren dictated the hair and accessories in rank 3, and now Akechi needs to do the same!

Make no mistake, this exchange, while cute as a button, is also Akechi struggling to regain some control that he feels he lost. He needs payback; he needs to meet Ren's challenge; he needs more.

So what's going on?

always in chains

As Akechi mentions in the engine room:

This line, of course, suffers in translation, so let's take a closer look:

Akechi 君は、今までの自分とか、人間関係とか⋯そういうものに囚われない。 kimi wa, ima made no jibun to ka, ningen kankei to ka… sou iu mono ni torawarenai You don't allow yourself to be enslaved by such things as human relations or past selves…

Did you understand this line on its first pass? Or at all? "Past selves"? What is this, Akechi, are we bringing in reincarnation now? What do you even mean by "human relations", is this a biology class?

Let's rework it a little. ima made no jibun—that's "the you until now". We might say "who you've always been". And ningen kankei—well, that is "human relations", translated very literally. But nobody would ever say that—it just means "relationships"! When you talk about your ningen kankei, you're often talking about your skills with relationships—how you get on with people. And Akechi gets on with people very well.

So what is he actually saying?

You don't allow yourself to be enslaved by such things as human relations or past selves… You're not a slave to expectations, or to how others see you.

Akechi will later tell us that these chains have bound him since his earliest days:

Those chains are the core of the resentment and envy he feels for Ren. More than anything Shido could potentially do to him, the expectations of others are what bind and torment Akechi. And this difference in how Akechi and Ren respond to outside pressure is one of the most important contrasts between them.

back to rank 3

So what does all of this tell us about rank 3, when Akechi is spotted by celebrity hunters?

In this situation, Akechi can't do anything but leave. He has to be the good boy everyone expects. He can't just sit there soaking up the adulation, and it seems clear that he isn't so inclined—look at the way he cringes away in his seat, and more to the point, look at his face:

Before he's accosted, his sprite and model match—he is probably genuinely pleased! But afterwards, though the sprite is sad, the model looks angry. Akechi can't confront his fans and ask them to leave him in peace. He can't dare to be angry with them, even though he's spitting tacks. He is chained—he can only ever do what people expect "Goro Akechi" to do.

Not just as a celebrity, but in every sphere of his life, even when he's carping to Sae or showing off for Shido, he is a slave to his public image—to the expectations others have of him. He cannot act outside that box. Society put Akechi in chains from babyhood—and his response was to own them, to build a bigger, better cell for himself. That he understands—he tells us how it works repeatedly!—and that he recognises, but can never escape.

So what is it that Akechi learns about Ren, in rank 3? It's that if you dare put Ren Amamiya in a cell, he'll tear it down.

Akechi could only dream of acting the way Ren does in this moment. Ren takes a huge risk here—on how Akechi will react, on how the crowd will react—and it pays off. Rather than submitting to the chains others place on him, Ren refuses to be bound. Ren is ungovernable.

Of course that's catnip to Akechi. Of course, even though it unnerves him, he wants more. He's drawn to Ren like a moth to flame—and this is the genesis of the bitter envy that will become so toxic by rank 8.

revision history

Click here for the latest version.

v1.1 (2024/10/06)—clarified some pronouns.

v1.0 (2024/10/06)—first posted.

[sorcerly]

ok but what if neve and lucanis get together during datv, break up because they're both working through their damage on top of having a fuck ton of new stressful responsibilities, and don't see each other for a year, two, five?

they try to write messages to each other, but - they're both important people. they just don't have time. they might share stories once in a while through the post, sure, but any important things they have to say to each other... it's difficult to write it all down properly, in ink on paper like that. most attempts perish as crumpled parchment thrown into a fireplace.

there's a stretch of many months, maybe even a full year, when they don't hear from each other at all. until SOME twist of intrigue brings them elbow-to-elbow in the shit again.

I think for Lucanis it's a surprise, that he can feel some glimmer of ease again when he's around Neve (she was always the one who could make him feel safe, comfortable). The time since the veilguard has been nothing but the stress of carrying on the Dellamorte name and answering to Caterina's expectations and trying, trying so hard, to be who he needs to be as First Talon - putting his head down and slogging through all the parts of the job that he hates, dreads, never wanted in the first place.

I think for Neve it's a bit of a shock, because she actually does not recognize him immediately. and it's not because he's changed his appearance - he still wears his hair in that neat mullet (though now with some gray in the black), dresses smartly in crow leathers, keeps his beard trimmed. truly the way he carries himself hasn't changed that much either (he's always been guarded, careful). but his face. his eyes.

Neve remembered relishing every unguarded glance she caught from him. those eyes that shone so brightly in the light of the kitchen candles when they were both up at ungodly hours. even though he had seen so much pain and misery and death, Lucanis' eyes showed his heart; still soft. open. welcoming. easy. dark and warm like shadows cast by firelight.

when she sees him for the first time in years, those eyes are cold. hard. closed off. even though he slept so little at the lighthouse, Neve can't help but feel that she has never seen him look so, so, so tired.

and i think it likely doesn't take long for Neve, greatest detective in Thedas, to see the way he interacts with the other Talons, with Teia and Viago, with Caterina - and put together exactly what's been going on. And I think she'd stop at NOTHING to try and fix what she sees as a terrible mistake made by the veilguard, including her. they aren't to blame, of course not, how could they have known? but even so - when the veilguard ended, Lucanis was left to the snakes and the dogs.

so maybe she makes a pact with Teia and Viago, who had almost given up on Lucanis when Neve showed up again. maybe she finds a surprising ally in Illario, who has always known what First Talon would mean for Lucanis. maybe she calls on Davrin, Rook, anyone else from the team who might be able to help. one things for sure tho. Neve and Caterina fucking hate each other.

and then neve and lucanis kiss

[trash-sonamy]

Sonic and Amy's relationship through the years: why did it change?

From games to shows, comics to official publications, it's evident that the dynamics of Sonic and Amy's relationship have changed through the years, with Amy toning down her fangirling and Sonic often being the driving force of their ship with his flirting, teasing and subtle jealousy (as user @essycogany pointed out in this analysis). But why are we witnessing this change? Let's dive into some key moments and reasons.

Disclaimer: I'm going to disregard the "canon" factor because it's not relevant to the general public perception of their relationship.

Sonic X

Any good sonamy fan will remember the fateful episode 52 of Sonic X. I interpret this episode of the series as the key moment that shifted their dynamic.

From the beginning of the series, we see an Amy that is very vocal about her crush and chases Sonic around, with Sonic having a few not-so-nice moments of pushing her and trying to run away from her. Their relationship shifts through the series though, and we begin seeing more of Amy's side as a determined fighter (that scares even Eggman!).

I won't over analyse episode 52 as it has been done countless times before, but Sonic going back to his world and seeking Amy in the first place means she's a valuable friend (or something else) to him. This moment alone brought popularity to the ship and to Amy as a character, which brings us to the next point.

Character development

I'm gonna risk saying that Sonic and Amy are the characters that have suffered the most development throughout the years. There are other characters who had development and even met different versions of themselves, but Sonic and Amy stand out in my opinion for different reasons.

Let's analyse Sonic: from the beginning, Sonic was always supposed to be cool, a beacon of positivity and the embodiment of the hero that always saves the day. The first Sonic games are pretty straightforward about that. However, in more recent games and shows, we've been seeing different sides of him: he has made mistakes (and recognized it), he has been impulsive, he has felt grief, sadness and anger and he hasn't been shy about it. Sonic Prime showed us probably the most emotional version of Sonic we've seen, and guess what? That pleases the public because everyone enjoys a flawed hero.

Moving on to Amy. Amy has a somewhat controversial birth, given that she was (apparently) created to be "Sonic's girlfriend" / romantic interest. Her crush on Sonic was, for some time, her only personality trait. With new games and media, she gradually gained her space and we started seeing more of her. Her kindness, her strength, her empathy, her leadership skills — all of which exist despite her crush on Sonic. She became more appealing as we got to learn more about her, and solidified her position as a valuable member of Sonic's team.

The development of these two characters as explained above made it possible for the dynamic we have today to grow naturally: Sonic openly teasing and (very often) showing signs that Amy means a lot to him, which is a result of Amy being her own self and showing her strength and independency — traits that we know Sonic appreciates.

Progression of values in society

I don't want to make this sound more deep than it actually is, but it's true that certain dynamics wouldn't be acceptable today simply because we as a society have progressed. The trope of the fangirl chasing her idol everywhere might have been a fun gag in the 90s, but it's just not it for today's standards. It has been made very clear that Sega wants to stir away from that image since that, for Sonic Generations, they edited the scene from Sonic 06 where Sonic shoves his hand in Amy's face to push her away. This kind of behavior doesn't align with Sonic's current values either.

Teasing is just fun!

Honestly, teasing sonamy is just too much fun without the commitment. One of the writers for Sonic Boom once said it:

And isn't that true? It's refreshing seeing the cool, composed Sonic blushing or showing jealousy, as it is to see how Amy reacts to her crush behaving this way. As a longtime sonamy fan, I just love searching for all the small hints and teases and over analysing them (like I'm doing now). It's endless material for gags too — check this compilation of sonamy moments in Twitter takeovers.

In conclusion, Sonic and Amy's relationship changed as they progressed as characters and Sega aimed to please a wider audience, giving space for fans to interpret their relationship as they please.

I also want to state that the points are my personal opinions and obviously open to be discussed. If you think I missed any point, please do let me know. Hope you like this!

[cynthiav06]

Does Percy ever have any trauma from Gabe?

I mean, in Tartarus, he says it smells like Gabe and I cannot fail to acknowledge his self-esteem issues which Gabe contributed to, but I mean more specific trauma like hating beer and gambling, etc. Something like that?

Percy has suffered due to Gabe for a long time, which contributes quite a lot to his trauma. You see, Rirodan was writing a children's book, and he didn't want to go down too many uncomfortable details, but the signs were there. A lot of them. And despite the canon's inconsistencies, Gabe is at least mentioned in accurate context every small time that he is referenced.

Rick, however, just to be safe, makes Percy's personality so that Percy avoids thinking of Gabe, and rightfully so. Let's take this slow. Because two important things, Percy's situation in the first book and all his issues are due to Gabe and, of course, he carries forward trauma from those situations, so what are they?

1.

Physical abuse is a part that is usually glossed over by the readers to some extent, even though it's in the first book. What I am trying to say is it is always acknowledged that Percy was abused, but rarely does the fandom go down the rabbit hole of specifics. If you see it once, you won't stop seeing it.

Gabe has both verbally and physically abused Percy so much that he has an extreme amount of self-esteem issues and a self-depreciating personality.

Not only did Gabe abuse Percy, but he also made Percy work part-time jobs or side hustles just to get extra money from Percy. Mind you, Percy was barely 12 in the first book, probably still 11, and this had been going for a while.

2.

If that wasn't enough Gabe controlled the budget of the family, not allowing Sally to spend more than he allowed and he splurged most money gambling so Percy grew up in very poor conditions but was sent to boarding schools with rich people which led to a lot of bullying from their end. Since Percy fought back, he somehow earned the per usual misnomer of being a troubled kid.

Cue all his expulsions. Some may be due to monster business, but most were definitely due to Percy fighting against bullies. Why is that notable? This is the start of Percy's anger issues. Percy has a lot of repressed anger from home due to Gabe and not being able to fight him (he hasn't tapped into his power yet, at least not enough of it). Plus, the bullies and horrible living conditions all contribute to Percy's attitude.

3.

Now, if you remember, in Book 1, Gabe threatens Percy severely so that he won't harm his car. But Percy was 12, and he himself says he wasn't going to be driving, but that wouldn't stop Gabe from blaming him. This means Gabe blamed Percy for everything, relevant or otherwise. We can see this in Percy's behavior when he immediately correlates every mistake as his fault and is always reflexively seen taking the blame for everything, even those that weren't his fault.

This scene actually creates a nice parallel against that scene in Book 5 where Percy is on a drive with Rachel in Paul's car and he is very suprised that Paul himself offered the car to him and didn't even impose any rules on Percy. He is however very worried when Blackjack dents the car because even though Paul is not Gabe, Percy has this natural fear against him at least subconsciously but is also very suprised when Paul doesn't get at all angry over the dent. It's such a sweet moment for Percy; he gets to learn how good fathers are.

3.

You mentioned gambling and drinking. Percy shows great dislike for the game in book 1, but he is forced to play cause of Dionysus. He's relatively good at it but doesn't play because he associates the game with Gabe. Same for alcohol. There's a line in the book where Percy says he knows how to recognize when others have been drinking or, as Percy calls it, hitting the happy juice. Obviously, alcohol makes Percy uncomfortable in itself, and he immediately dislikes Dionysus because he is a drunkard and a poker player along with a build similar to Gabe, which makes Percy naturally dislike him greatly. It doesn't help that Dionysus is a complete asshole but his initial natural dislike of Mr. D is due to Gabe.

4.

We all joke about how Percy is a fugitive and known terrorist in tons of states. This is all Gabe's fault. Percy gets in such problems with the law all due to Gabe and how he set literally every police department possible on Percy's trail. Now Percy, being Percy, he manipulates the officers to get on their good side, but he obviously still has problems with the law due to this entire fiasco.

The fandom likes to say that Percy got all his dark aura after Tartarus, but Percy has literally had killing intent since he was 12. One of his first lines in the book is "I am going to kill her" in reference to Nancy Bobofit. He gets gut punched by the realization that Gabe has been hitting his Mom. Gabe literally raised his hand against Sally in front of Percy in book 1. You can't tell me Percy recovered from that. He thinks then too of pulling Riptide and killing Gabe but realizes it wouldn't work on Gabe. Now Percy, who almost always means exactly what he says when talking to people, calls Gabe 'human by the loosest definition.' A 12 year old thinks that you can imagine how bad the situation was.

After Book 1, Rick heavily avoids mentioning abuse in his book cause he is trying to write for kids, but it shows.

Percy thinks of Gabe when he first accidentally iris messages in on one of his Mom's and Paul's dates. Percy is immediately suspicious, which is obviously why Sally hadn't told him anything before this. She wasn't completely sure about Paul, and she also didn't want Percy to worry. When Percy sees her laugh with Paul, he thinks of how much trouble his Mom went through with Gabe.

This is important because after Book 1 when Percy finally learns why Sally kept Gabe around in his head he twists the narrative as his Mom suffered Gabe, not that both he and Sally but only Sally suffered Gabe and why? To protect him. He BLAMES himself for something that's obviously completely not his fault. But in his head, he ends up masking his own pain and considering only Sally's pain valid. This is why Percy doesn't talk to anyone about Gabe and also why everyone thinks Gabe was a bit of a jerk but not an abuser. We literally see PERCY DO THIS TO HIMSELF. Same thing in The Last Olympian. Same thing in Mark of Athena. He talks about how his Mom suffered by staying in the awful marriage, not about himself.

5.

Now the famous House of Hades scene. See Tartarus draws out negative emotions and experiences and worst nightmares of a person to feast on. This is very telling because despite the endless life-death situations Percy has been in ,he thinks of Gabe. Because to Percy, self suffering is no suffering at all. But his Mom suffering is the worst of all. Now Annabeth obviously doesn't get the cue because she has no idea about how Percy lived in his past. While it is true that Annabeth cannot be held responsible for not getting why Percy brought up Gabe in Tartarus and took it as Percy making a joke; a case can be made against Annabeth's lack of initiative to learn more about Percy's life before all this. I digress as that's a completely different discussion. Point stands is that Percy is so unbelievably broken yet loyal that he doesn't even consider his own pain valid.

The next mention of Gabe is directly in Chalice of the Gods. Percy rather openly thinks how much he hated family dinners with Gabe. Also, he has a very nice conversation with Sally soon after he recovers from being turned into a child, where he talks about how powerless being a child felt and how afraid he was. I am certain that the implications indicate at both monsters and Gabe and how a young Percy had been very afraid of both situations but more of Gabe than monsters. Go figure.

It's plenty clear how much trauma Percy has from Gabe and how much he has trained his mind to either avoid it or redirect it elsewhere lest he regress into bitterness and anger issues.

It's probably longer than you expected, but I like systematic exploration of points, hence the long rant. I have done my best to break it down, so it's easier to follow. Also, I am very, very happy for this ask as I really love to explore Percy's personality and Percy's powers. Feel free to send me more along this line of thought.

@fourcornersofcreation ,@hermesmyplatonicbeloved, @helenofsparta2 , @ogjacksonsimp, and @berrybore have all also made posts exploring some of Percy's trauma and they will probably have things to add as well. So please check their posts on this topic as well in case I missed anything.

[meshla-cyarika]

My Love, My Life

Pairing: Tech x Jedi!reader

Word count: 1,063

Tags/warnings: angst, grief/mourning, there's alot of signs of autism shown in Tech in this fic but less obvious ones.

Summary: After finding your name in the Imperial obituary, Tech doesn't know how to move on.

A/N: How many aura points do I lose for crying while I wrote this even though it's not that good? I was originally going to have a part two of the reader's perspective where it's reveal that oh my god you're actually alive, but I dont know whether to do that now purely because of how deeply Tech is shown to be grieving and I kinda don't want to take that away from him. Yk what I mean? But if people say they want a part 2 who am I to deny them? Also, yes, the title is based off of that one ABBA song cuz I was listening to it while I wrote this.

--------------------------------------------------

The Marauder was tingling with tension. The genocide of the Jedi, the betrayal of the Empire, the loss of Crosshair and the gain of Omega all happened over the course of twenty-four hours. Everyone had their own reasons to be on edge.

Tech's mind had been on autopilot for days. As soon as he saw what Master Billaba's men did to her and how quickly Crosshair became bloodthirsty for all Jedi, time seemed to stop. He had frantically typed on his datapad to try and find an explanation for such a brutal attack. When Tech saw that it was a full fledged genocide, he swore his heart stopped beating for a second. The only thing that kept him from having a panic attack was his advanced biology.

When they got to the Marauder and fled Kamino, Tech was instantly searching the Imperial database for the list of the dead. He never thought he'd have to check an obituary to find your name, but there you were. Jedi Knight. Executed on Lothal. The reference image they used for you was haunting. To see you stood there, just so alive, with the word executed next to you was enough to make bile stir in his stomach.

It didn't feel real. Tech looked at your information in the obituary again and again and again, but his mind just couldn't process the information. He felt like the only way he could believe you were dead is if he saw your body laying before him and he could never bring himself to do that.

Everyone noticed the difference in their brother. Even Omega, who hadn't even been with them that long, noticed his irregular behaviour. His brothers were puzzled by his reaction to their new living  situation. Out of all of them, Tech should be the least likely to get emotional over this. Then again, change has alway been a problem with Tech. It always takes longer for him to process things like this.

They began working for a trandoshan called Cid to do some seedy work. It was obvious why Hunter made them work for her, obvious to Tech anyway. It was because being sent out on missions that have various conditions is all they ever knew. The concept of settling down on a planet and ignoring the war raging on outside is foreign to them.

It's been ten months, three weeks and five days, since your death. Tech's behaviour hasn't changed and his siblings have assumed it's all because of Crosshair up until this point. Tech had been understanding with Crosshair on Kamino and held only mild hatred for his decision.

No. This is something else entirely.

Hunter's heart aches at seeing his brother's despair and having no idea what's making him feeling this way. Tech being Tech, will never say.

He finally snapped when one of Cid's workers, Phee, persistently kept making moves on him. Tech couldn't help the pure emotion radiating off of him in waves, as he shouted and yelled at the woman. It should be you laughing at his sarcasm, it should be you calling him pet names, it should be you with him. He just wants you and that's the one thing he can't possibly have and it hurts, it makes it feel like his heart has been ripped straight out of chest.

Tech stormed off to the Marauder which was a mistake, because everything in there reminds him of you. Your first kiss on his bunk, your late night conversations in the cockpit, your shared experiments at his desk.

He wants to scream and yell at how unfair everything is. Out of everyone in the galaxy, why you? Why did death have to take you? His perfect cyar'ika who could do no wrong and managed to cling to the little faith you had left through the most devastating battles.

Grief is something Tech has experienced only a handful of times. The feelings still feel new and uncertain and that unnerves him. Tech's emotions are usually filed away in organised compartments that only he understands. Now, everything is overflowing and overlapping. Everything is too much.

It's like a bad dream. He doesn't want to be here anymore. He wants the comfort of a familiar routine, back when his biggest concern was what days him and his cyar'ika would be on shore leave at the same time.

Tech sinks down into the far corner of the bunk room, ripping off his goggles and letting them clatter agaisnt the durasteel floor. He draws his knees up to his chest and wraps his arms around his shins, before leaning his forehead agaisnt his kneecaps.

The last time he found himself in this position was back when he was a cadet. As much as he tried to ignore it, the regs had gotten to him. 99 had found him curled up in the corner of an embryo lab. He had said nothing at first, just sank down next to him and let him know that he was there if he needed him. Tech found himself wondering for years why he couldn't have been like everyone else, why the Kaminoans made his mind work this way. Tech would give anything to be "normal". He never asked for any of this.

A set of footsteps stomp their way up the ramp and Tech doesn't bother looking up. He's prepared for the demanding yells, the overbearing questions and the looks of outrage on his brothers' faces. What he isn't prepared for is someone sliding down the wall next to him. Tech almost flinches at the feeling of someone placing a hand on his back and tenses all the muscles in his body instantly. Eventually, his body goes back to being lax and a shaky sigh leaves Tech's lips, as he leans into his brother's side.

Tech doesn't want to talk about you to his brothers. If he talks about it, then it's real. Your body is rotting on Lothal and he'll never see you again. He can't face the reality of it. It's too real. He can't do it.

The hand on his back rubs soothing circles into his spine. I'm here, if you need me.

Someday, he will tell the tale of his beautiful cyar'ika and you'll become an honoured part of their mismatched family, even though they had never met you. You will forever live on in his heart.

[rosegoldenatlas]

Fuck you *analyzes Stan and Ford even though everyone has done it at this point*

Friendly reminder that Stan is literally a traumatized genius. Like yeah Ford may have been good at science in school and did some nice notes on weird shit he saw but to build his portal he needed to get tricked by a demon whom he knew was super dangerous.

Meanwhile Stan taught himself how to build it ALONE in just 30 years when before he barley got by in school and he only saw A THIRD of the blueprints throughout most of building it. Stan was kicked out of his house due to an actual accident and due to that has some clear issues that lead him to a life of scams and crimes because he wanted to prove that he wasn't a failure. He went to jail in 3 countries and has successfully conned SO MANY PEOPLE. He ran a successful business of only fakes and cons for 30 years, hasn't paid taxes in who knows when maybe he never has paid taxes. He literally had EVERY ONE OF HIS CRIMES LISTED ON PUBLIC TELEVISION AND STILL GOT AWAY WITH IT. Also he is ballsy as shit. Like this man hasn't feared death in decades I'm pretty sure. Even though he has clear issues he still is able to be a good person (not legally but yk what I mean). He had been betrayed by Ford and his life was ruined since highschool due to that and his first instinct after hearing Ford call for help (just like he did when he was younger and being kicked out) is not to pull the curtains and look away but to go all the way Oregon and ask what he needed help with, saying that he will understand what's going on, offering support- and then is tossed aside AGAIN. He finds out that even though he made that mistake years an years ago Ford has been relatively well off and has a house and the money to build this giant machine. While Fords taking a blind eye to Stan getting kicked out ruined his entire life and shoved him directly into a life of crime without much of a choice.

Of Course he bitter. He was betrayed twice! So he gets into a fight and gets angry and makes his second mistake, pushing Ford. He didn't mean to do it. He didn't know how it worked but it happened. So he immediately tries to fix his mistake. This time he has to do it right. So he teaches himself Advanced science only learnt by one person from an inter dimensional chaos demon well enough to build the machine using a third of the blueprints and sheer force of will.

When he finally gets Ford back after 30 years he's expecting a thank you and being allowed to keep the shack that he's had longer than Ford at this point. Instead he gets a punch to the face and is being told off. Being told off by doing exactly as he was told 'just do something!' Ford had said before. And now he was being told that he shouldn't have? After 30 years of work? Yeah I'd be pissed too. But Stan holds it together for the twins.

When weirdmageddon happens he has one request, say thank you. He doesn't even care if its an actual thank you any more. He just asks for it and starts the ritual. He's angry and upset and he's always being cast aside as the dumb sibling and he thought he was away from that but Ford ruined it and Dipper was definitely thinking that Stan was the dumb one. But Stan mumbles on last comment and still does the ritual. And then- grammar Stanley. Its like spitting in has face and saying 'even after all of this, your still the dumb one, still the screw up. Can't even keep up with basic grammar and always angry always the dumb, strong one'. But now he's not even stronger because of Fords alien space dimension hopping trip. Now he's just the dumb one who cheats his way through life because he can't do anything the right way. Its a punch to the gut that after all he had done he got a half assed 'thank you Stanley' and then told in fewer, more simple words 'you're still the screw up of the family'. Yeah not the best time to be pissed but I completely agree with Stan when he lashes out and attacks Ford.

Then even after all of that he still says that he wishes Bill would go in his head instead. He says that he agrees that he's got nothing up there. And Ford doesn't disagree. He didn't comfort him. He just goes 'oh yeah but he doesn't want your stupid thoughts he wants mine'. And I don't care what anyone says, it was Stans idea to swap clothes with Ford. Stan is the con guy. He get his memory wiped.

In the last few minutes while everyone is getting their endings, Ford says that he wants to make the Stan o' War 2 and go off and sail. Its not exactly what Stan wants, he wasn't treasure hunting, of course he does. But anomaly hunting is all he knows he can get at this point. So he goes. He never gets told the things he needs to be told like 'you're not a screw up' or 'you're not stupid Stanley' he gets one thing. He gets 'you're our hero Stanley'. Which wow. Stanley gets to be the one thing he never got. He didn't have anyone backing him. He had Soos eventually, but Soos was always like a kid to him (hell yeah Stan adopt Soos I think its such a cool idea please). Dipper and Mabel technically have his back but they are literal children who do not need to hear their grunkles trauma more than they already have. Its always just been Stan watching out for all of them as best he can. He has Ford at the very end on the boat. But he still has a lot of issues to sort through.

While Ford, we don't have much on Ford. He isn't in the series a bunch and I haven't been able to get my hands on the book of bill yet, even then I don't know how much new stuff we learn about Ford other than the confirmation of his indistinct and ambiguous relationship with Bill. (I was right they so fucked). But I will try as hard as I can to sympathise with Fords side of things (I was one a fan of Ford before I started digging into Stans lore more).

-

In Fords perspective, Stan intentionally ruined his project to keep him in Jersey to finish their boat and treasure hunt. He doesn't believe Stan when he says that it was an accident because it matches up too well. Stan gets kicked out that night, Stan asks for Ford to help, but Stan had always been the stronger one. He would be fine. So he pulls the curtain closed. He goes to a different college than what he wanted to but still earns his degrees and even is able to get his hands on grants that most scientists would kill for. Its enough to build a house and keep him fed and well off for YEARS without a second job and even after all of that he still has enough for his gadgets (not to mention his giant underground lab that must've cost a fortune to build). He makes a friend and they work together trying to learn more about the anomalies. He hits a wall.

He can't find out any more that he already knows. So he summons a demon that he knows is OP as Fuck and can kill him. But the triangle called him smart and is telling him new things. So he listens. He doesn't question what he's building a portal to. He just makes it. Only when his friend gets irreversibly traumatized by what lies on the other side he begins to question, but its too late- he already fucked the triangle and the portal is finished. So he shuts it down and begs for help from the only person he knows would help- Stan. Sure they didn't part on good terms but Stan had always looked out for him.

When Stan arrives he's paranoid, Bill could be anywhere. Bill wants to be on earth. Bill will destroy everything. He shows Stan the portal and hands him the last of his journals he needs to hide. He tells him to sail far away, to keep him and his research safe. Stan is angry with him. Still? After all these years? He hardly remembers that part of the night. He remembered the morning more for obvious reasons. Stan is yelling at him, and for what? That was years ago and the fate of the world is much more important that a family spat.

Stanley takes out a lighter and pulls it to his journal. All of his research could be gone in an instant. Years of work all in a blaze. What if something happened and he needed that information? What then? So they fight and Stanley gets hurt by the hot brand on the side of the metal work table. All of his anger drains in an instant. He didn't mean to hurt Stan. He just- he didn't want all he had left to be destroyed and got angry (parallels, huh). Stan hits him. He's floating. He's going to- he going to go through the portal. He panics and throws the book back mid air 'Stanley do something'. And he goes through.

He spends years in space. We aren't told how it goes explicitly but he gets better at fighting, a lot better so we can assume there was a lot of that. But he remains the same person if a little tougher, there are no major scars or personality changes. So we can assume he is relatively (I use this very loosely) unscarred by this time.

When he's brought back he's still scared, if that's what is on the other side of the portal, what could happen of that came to earth? Stanley took a huge risk. He risked everything for what? Him to come back? That isn't worth it. Stan doesn't understand the risk he took opening that portal on purpose. He fights, he shuts down the portal, he disassembles the portal and catches the rift. Every precaution is taken. Stan doesn't understand what is happening, he doesn't understand the danger they're all in. And he wants to be thanked for it? For putting everyone at risk? Why the hell would he do that.

During weirdmageddon he prepares the circle, everyone is compliant but Stanley. Stanley is being childish. Asking for a thank you of all thing while the world is ending. But he swallows his pride, he is right but that doesn't matter now, not when the world is at stake. 'Fine, Thank you,' he mumbles and they grab hands. He hears Stanley spit out a 'see, between him and me I'm not always the bad twin.' And he had already lost so much today, he falls into an old habit 'between me and him, grammar Stanley.' Then there are hand on his throat, Stanley is shouting at him. He's ruining everything. This was childish! It was one comment! Can he not act like an adult for once in his life?

Bill arrives, their locked up, and Stanley crumples. Blaming himself. Ford says down next to him. He was the idiot who made a deal with Bill in the first place. Its not all Stanley's fault. They pass a flask between them. They toss around last second ideas. None of it would work. And then 'what I he went into my mind, its not good for anything' he laughs, it would never work. 'Its not your mind he wants' he sees something flicker in Stans eyes. An he suggests something, a new scam, a new way to cheat the system. Might as well try it.

It works. He had to erase stans mind but it works. After everything. After all of it. Stan is a hero and he doesn't even know it. They walk back to the trashed shack with tears in their eyes. Mabel is desperately trying everything she can, Dipper is dead silent, Soos is on the verge of a breakdown. He just feels resigned, he's lost a friend to the memory gun before and he's lost Stan before. Maybe he can get through this too.

Stan remembers. Stan remembers and he's back to how it was before, Ford is looking now, he sees the way Stan is clearly posturing for the kids, for everyone really. How had he not noticed before? The way Stanley was speaking and acting, it was kind of like their dad. Tough and stern and impossible to impress. But Stan was that at a level that wasn't suffocating. He was so different from the Stan from their highschool days, and he hadn't even noticed the change until now. It was disturbing how much was different from before that he hadn't even seen because of being in his lab. It felt weird not knowing this Stan. So he made up something on the fly, anomalies in the ocean he said, the Stan o' war version two he offered. The disbelief in Sans voice when he asked if he was actually asking this was saddening.

---+---

Anyways, my real reason for preferring Stan over Ford is this: Stan had a more fleshed out character, he had arcs and he didn't even need a redemption arc. We just needed to know more to see why he was acting the way he did. He isn't a bad person. He's just a person. Yeah he breaks the law but he is a kind guy. He has so many layers and he's much much more that was originally let on. While Ford was shown much less on screen, from what I did see I could tell that he thought he was better than Stan. He puts him down constantly and can't bother to build relationships by reaching out first. Dipper was friends with Ford because Dipper had to reach out again and again. Stan tried reaching out the olive branch to Ford but when it didn't work and he was 'betrayed' twice and insulted a lot. Ford didn't even try to fix this when it is clearly his responsibility to do so. If we had more time after the series showing character growth over time from Ford I might think different but alas.

[strawberry-writings]

୨⎯ Ithaqua with a reader who has a crush on him ⎯୧

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚You finally confessed in the snowy place of Leo's memory.˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

— ♡ When you first saw him you were fascinated with him. He seemed so amazing, his laugh, his abilites, and yeah...Whenever you see him you can't take your eyes off of him. There's just something special about him that pulls you in. You never told anyone about your crush on him, but once you did your close friend asked you this specific question.

"Have you seen his face though?"

Of course they wouldn't mean any offense by it. But they're actually right. You haven't seen his face, but you could care less. Appearance doesn't matter! Your eyes naturally gravitated towards him, and you always hoped that nobody would notice.

You often read books in the library since nobody is allowed to go outside the manor. Ithaqua often came in the library as well. You couldn't help but to always secretly look at him for so long.

You were quite obvious as well. Whenever you wouldn't see Ithaqua in the library, suddenly you only thought about where he could be. One time you were looking for the Night Watch because you couldn't find him anywhere and you made the great mistake of asking someone. The conversation went like this.

"Ah, excuse me? Have you seen the Night watch? I can't seem to find him anywhere."

You asked quietly to the Perfumer. She's known for having a loud mouth. She gasped and yelled out loudly.

"Do you have a crush on him!?"

The other survivors nearby looked at you two in confusion and or curiosity.

"I normally see him in the library! So wouldn't it be normal for me to wonder where he went?"

You desperately tried to reason with Vera. She just didn't buy it. Unfortunately for you, she always caught you looking at him everytime he was nearby and your body language changed as well.

Poor (name) was so obvious and couldn't hide their feelings for him. Not a while later a rumor went around saying that you had a crush on him and it was true. But that never stopped you from admiring Ithaqua. Due to your luck, you had to go against him in a match. Oh no, he probably already knew about the rumors. But strangely he decided to be friendly for this match because he wanted to speak to you.

He luckily found you first and looked at you. You couldn't tell if it was in curiosity, disgust, or maybe in adoration due to his mask. He reached his hand to take his mask off and behind it was a playful smile.

"So you're the one i heard that liked me a lot?"

He said in a mischievous tone but you could only admire his facial features. His eyes were beautiful, his cheeks had a slight tint of blush on it, his smile is adorable, and you could see his pretty hair as well.

"Ahaha! Rumors spread quickly don't they? I have no choice but to say yes. I actually do like you a lot..."

(name) replied with a stutter. Why were they so dumb? Ithaqua is gonna think they're weird and what if he hates them?

"I think you're cool! Your abilites are fascinating, and more..."

"What "more"?"

Ithaqua asked in a teasing tone. Just like he wanted to hear how much you liked him.

You quickly mumbled.

"Your voice, and that handsome face of yours."

He chuckled a bit at your response. So shy just for him, he hasn't had anyone admire him so much like this. Ithaqua thought of you as cute.

Ithaqua found you something new. He knew that your thoughts of him were different from the others, many thought neutrally of him but no one has thought this positively about him expect for his mother. He wants to get to know you more.

It feels like something big has happened with Ithaqua, he has never felt so curious about someone before.

"Do you want to grab a cup of tea with me sometime and have a chat? But of course, we could chat right now."

Ithaqua asked to the (hair colored) young person. (name) shyly replied back after realizing what they got themselves into.

"Ah, sure!"

While (name) and Ithaqua were having a good chat together, the other survivors were wondering what was happening. Why wasn't the hunter chasing them? And why couldn't anyone find (name) decoding. The two kept on endlessly talking throughout the match that they even forgot they were in one. Until the other survivors discovered them throwing snowballs at each other.

The other survivors kept quiet though. And whispered to each other instead to not attract any attention to them.

"Oh my, they seem like they would make a lovely couple. Their chemistry is so good."

The Entomologist said to the other survivors standing beside her. But the other survivor had to say something else that wasn't as positive.

"Aren't these types of relationships forbidden by the Baron? I find it unacceptable that a survivor and hunter would date."

The magician spat with venom. He couldn't believe that a survivor and a hunter could get into a relationship. He found the idea extremely weird.

But their thoughts don't matter. After all right now it was just you and Ithaqua. You can't feel any nervousness around him anymore, it's just like you two are meant to be.

That's their love story.

[24-05txt]

The portrait was an accident.

Not an accident he regrets, but he sure as hell hadn't intended on getting here—lurking in his Sergeant's room in the early hours of the morning.

He just... well, sue him, he hadn't really been thinking when he made the offer. It's so easy to just fall into the flow of conversation when he's with Johnny that he hardly considers what comes out of his mouth at all—every word could very well bypass his brain entirely.

It had just seemed natural. "You only draw the pretty boys naked? So if it were me... do you need me to be joking?" and then he'd gone and agreed to a nude portrait done by Johnny himself. Worse still was that it was good. Soap was one hell of an artist to make it so that Ghost couldn't help but glance back at the image of himself every few minutes, gaze sliding off uncomfortably only to return as if magnetized.

He's not prone to looking at himself beyond what it takes to do basic hygiene or wound-care. It's not an uncommon occurrence to catch sight of his own maskless reflection and mistake it for someone else—his father, his brother, a stranger—but Johnny's drawing looks...it looks good.

(It looks familiar. It doesn't look like his father, or his brother, or anyone else. It just looks like him.)

When he tears the page out by the perforated edge, he hesitates to fold it over, and settles on resting it face-down on Soap’s desk until he's ready to leave. He might bite his own fingers off if it was smudged or creased or worse.

Fuck.

That's it. Just fuck. Ghost got himself into this mess and he will reap the fucking consequences—doesn't mean he has to be happy about it, though. Or maybe he is happy—maybe this is what happy looks like on him. Maybe that creeping, restless feeling that's been crawling up his throat is happiness.

He doubts it. More likely that he's caught something.

---

Soap takes a snuffling sort of breath, lungs shuttering full under his palm, then deflating with a slow exhale.

He wasn't meant to stay this long.

Problem is, it's turned out to be really fucking mesmerizing to watch someone breathe—to feel someone breathing with his hand splayed over their back. Actually, it's worse now that he can feel it too, nearly every sense he has is focused in on the steady, predictable, rise-fall-rise of Johnny sleeping.

(Worse still is that he's avoiding the real problem: the fact that he'd meant to leave as soon as the portrait was done. He was meant to have a laugh with Soap, tease him some, then dress and head back to his own room to sleep off the mission. He hadn't been planning on falling asleep—wasn't supposed to. Wasn't expecting to be that comfortable, wasn't expecting the way Johnny took it in stride like this was just something they did.)

Emotions. He lifts his spare hand and bites his wrist through the mask. It's not sharp enough to satisfy him but it is enough to remind him not to bite himself. Rabid animal he is, Johnny mightve had a point in the mess. It still takes him a second or two to commit to being a human being and stop gnawing on his own arm. Every time he thinks the habit is dropped, it comes back with a vengeance. Used to be he'd have his own dental record written in bruises around his fingers and constant sores on his tongue, though, so he'll take what success he can get.

(Similarly, as long as Price doesn't see, it hasn't reached a point of concern. Funny how much he measures by Price noticing. He wonders if Price has noticed this, yet; has noticed how Johnny has Ghost wrapped around his wrist and held in the palm. Surprising that the old man hasnt said anything yet, if he did.)

[yanderu-deredere]

swallow.

★ you don't know what the hell you drank last night but whatever it was, you needed to stay away from it forever. and you needed to get out of here. even if last night was the most perfect night in the world.

a/n: here's that next part that i promised ya'll and it's full of lore and i really enjoyed it a lot! it's definitely something and i hope you guys enjoy it! the next and last part will be out tomorrow so hope you guys are excited for that

like always, heed the warnings and hope you like it! not as smutty as the usual content! might actually be a bit sad...

part one (bite.) ★ part two ★ (chew.) ★ extras (bite and chew.) ★ extras (taste) ★ part three ★ (here) ★ part four (digest.)

pairing: poly werewolves x male reader word count: 2544

warning: bottom reader with male parts and pronoun, no explicit sexual stuff but allusions to what happened in the previous chapter

It felt like you woke up slowly and then all at once; you were vaguely aware of the things around you like the blanket over you, the body against you, the clothes on you, and then, suddenly, it hit you like a truck.

You bolted upright, heart palpitating in your chest, your eyes wide and your breaths coming in short soft spirts.

Then, you were looking behind you, still panicked, hoping everything last night was some sort of fever dream.

Beside you, on the couch, was Leonard, his fluffy hair a messy nest this early in the morning. His glasses were off, probably tucked safely away somewhere. He was yawning and rubbing at his eyes, looking at you all dazed and confused.

Oh, no.

"Wh-Wh-- Leo." You stuttered out before cupping your forehead, your head feeling like it was spinning "Please, tell me, last night--"

"You didn't fuck me within an inch of my life? No can do." Leonard didn't even give it to you slow and soft.

You let out a sound like a dying cat.

"What, don't tell me I was wrong about you." Leonard crossed his arms, looking angry at the fact that you were looking a little anxious "You said you were into guys."

"I'm into guys!" You snapped a little, your panic rising to something you couldn't control "I just-- I have a girlfriend! I hadn't even broken up with her yet! I cheated on her!"

Leonard looked a bit off-put by how you spoke to him; understandable seeing as your tone wasn't exactly friendly.

You wanted to apologise because it wasn't entirely his fault. It took two to cheat and, though he pushed you, you were the one that ended up caving eventually.

Before you could apologise, however, he just huffed and threw a pillow into your lap "Oh yeah, stellar girlfriend you have there! She hasn't even messaged you about where you are and she left you at the bonfire!"

You stopped for a second, confused, your anger dissipating as a nauseating feeling appeared in your stomach "How do you know that?"

Leonard seemed to realise that he made a mistake because his anger dissipated immediately too, replaced with an embarrassed expression "I-I--"

"I'm sorry he went through your phone."

Your head snapped back and you looked to see it was Mel with a tray in his hand. Behind him and to the side was Isamu with a similar tray in his hands too.

"Mel! L-Look, I-I didn't mean to!" Leonard snapped, turning his body away from you "I was just charging your phone and it turned on! There weren't any notifications so I looked through it and checked!"

"What kind of a pathetic girlfriend doesn't even text her boyfriend after he's been gone an entire night?" He continued, shaking his head, his tone absolutely disgusted.

"We wouldn't treat you like that." Leonard added, that disgust made way for a more sheepish expression as he finally glanced at you, hoping you would pick up what he was putting down.

You could, if you wanted to and, honestly, a part of you did. But you were scared to. So, instead, your eyes flickered to Mel, hoping he'd help you out.

Mel was just sternly looking at Leonard.

"Here, we made breakfast." Mel pushed the coffee table close with his shin before placing the trays down, Isamu placing his tray down right after.

Then, Isamu sat on the floor while Mel sat on the other side of you, the two of them looking at you expectantly, like they were excited for you to praise them.

The two trays contained four plates of waffles, each with butter. There was also a little thing for maple syrup and honey as well as a glass of orange and apple juice for each of you.

Then, if that wasn't enough, there were some eggs on the plates too and some bacon. It was a whole buffet, just for you. The cheater. The person who was going to leave them and go crawling back to your girlfriend.

You immediately felt bad "This is too much--"

"It's not too much! Especially after last night!" Isamu quickly interrupted you as he sat beside you, small smile on his face.

You felt your heart break a little bit in your chest but you knew you had to nip this in the bud or else you'd just end up leading them all on.

"I'm sorry, but last night-- I was drunk, and it was a mistake--"

"A mistake!" Leonard stood, his expression aghast like you'd just told him you murdered his parents "It wasn't a mistake! How could you-- Why would you--"

Mel held up a hand and Leonard immediately shut up but you could see that there were tears in his eyes that he was desperately holding back.

"I can see that there's some communication issues going on, okay, so let me just clear the air." Mel sighed, his hand still up like, if he put it down, Leonard would immediately pounce "He didn't mean it was a mistake like that, Leo, you know that."

"He just feels really guilty about cheating with his girlfriend, right?" Mel turned to you, that polite smile on his face not exactly reaching his eyes "If you didn't have a girlfriend right now, you would stay with us, wouldn't you?"

You gulped, your mouth suddenly feeling a little dry. You took a second to think about it. In all honesty? You nodded, cheeks feeling suddenly a little hot.

"You all are really great and I had a great time. It was really fun talking with you guys and drinking with you guys and the-- uhmmm--" Your voice cracked as you got even more flustered "The sex was really great, I swear!"

Mel grinned, that brightness finally reaching his eyes. He reached over and clapped a hand on the back of your neck, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on your skin "Our darling here is just loyal to a fault, is all. Can we really blame him for that?"

Darling. You flushed even hotter at the nickname.

Like all the hot air was taken out of him, Leonard deflated, his shoulders sagging as he sighed "Whatever. Your girlfriend doesn't deserve it."

"You're right, Leo." Mel's hand on your neck fell and he used it to grab something. You realised it was your phone because he plopped it in your lap. "That's why he's going to break up with her right now."

You felt like ice water was dumped all over you.

"D-Du-Dump her? Right now?" You stuttered out as you looked to Mel, eyes wide and shaking fingers slowly taking hold of your phone.

You could see Isamu looking at you hopefully and Leonard smirking victoriously at you from the corners of your eye but all you could do was stare at Mel.

There was that polite smile again, the one that he used to cover up something much darker. It showed in his eyes; it was something predatorial, something that made you feel like a pinned insect, something that made you feel like you were in danger.

"I-I can't just break up with her." Your brain worked to find excuse after excuse, your instincts screaming at you to get out and run "I-I'd at least like to break up with her in person. She deserves that much."

Then, for some reason, you broke his gaze and looked down at your lap. When Mel sighed, you knew it had been a mistake to look away.

Instead of replying, Mel cupped your chin, his thumb and forefinger digging into your cheek a little bit. He tilted your head up so you were looking at him again and that polite smile that you were so wary of was gone.

Instead, it was replaced with that dark look he had that night, when he had Isamu in his lap. You felt less like an insect and more like a small rabbit surrounded by a bunch of wolves.

A bunch of hungry rabid wolves that wanted nothing but to chase you.

"You know we can't do that." Mel let the words out slowly, like he was speaking to an idiot or, perhaps, like it was hard for him to say "We can't let you leave for right now, darling."

"Wh-Why not?" You felt a zing of fear crawl up your spine as you tried to pull your face away from his hand. Instead of really succeeding, his grip on you just got harder.

"You have to understand that we just want what's best for you, darling. You understand that, don't you?" Mel spoke softly, soothingly, but the words weren't effective when he looked at you like that.

Like he could eat you without regret.

But, still, you tried your hardest to remember him yesterday, the way he took care of you and housed you. So, you nodded.

When you did, he let go of your chin and pulled you in by your waist, perching you on his lap.

As soon as he did that, Leonard and Isamu crowded close, the expressions on their faces akin to ravenous wolves.

It was like a trigger had been pulled and now there was something to how they were acting. You didn't understand it very well but you felt both scared and safe trapped in between all three of them.

"Why don't I explain while Sam and Leo feed you, hmmm, puppy?" Mel nosed behind your ear, his breath warm and causing your ears to turn hot.

You didn't think you had any say in it but you nodded for show anyway.

Mel looked thankful for that at least.

You thought that, when he said feed you, he meant like with a fork or something, However, Isamu and Leonard took turns ripping bite sized pieces off of the waffles and soaking them in syrup to feed you. With their hands.

You accepted them, even going so far as to lick their fingers feebly, since you felt like you didn't have much of a choice. And it seemed to placate all three of them too.

They didn't look as wolfish as before, that was for sure.

"You might not believe me but please keep your mind open." Mel sighed as if he'd had this conversation one too many times before "You see, the reason we can't let you leave is because... we're werewolves."

You stiffened in his lap. And not in the fun way.

Now, your previous wolfish comparisons felt like jokes.

Leonard snickered at your reaction, obviously amused before stuffing another piece of a waffle accompanied by a small piece of bacon into your mouth.

Mel was less amused and pressed a kiss to your temple "I know it's-- It's not exactly easy to believe. But, it's true. We're werewolves and you're our mate."

"It's why you can't leave. We won't be able to control ourselves if you try to leave." Mel continued to explain, his hand flexing around your waist as if just the thought of it made him angry or scared or something.

"It's worse for Leo. He's not had that much training." Mel hesitantly let go of your waist to run a hand through Leonard's blonde fluffy hair "His parents paraded him around in a circus. It took him a long time to find us. He hasn't had much time to learn control."

"So, what, the wolf--"

"No, not the wolf. Us." Mel immediately dismissed that thought "I know, the media promotes this idea that the wolf and the human are separate but it's not-- we're not two separate beings in one brain. We're werewolves. We're one thing."

"It's just that, when we shift, it's like being inebriated, you know? We can't control ourselves." Mel sighed, pressing his cheek against your temple "It becomes all instinct to try and help our shifted bodies to survive."

You had enough of this. You know you you said you'd keep your mind open but this was ridiculous.

Still, you supposed you owed them for housing you for a night and for, you know, hopefully eventually leading you out of the forest.

So, you gave them the benefit of your doubt "Can I see?"

It was their turn to stiffen and stare at you with shock.

"What, you seriously didn't think you'd tell me about werewolves and I wouldn't ask to see?" You huffed, crossing your arms and looking at them like they were the crazy ones.

Mel nodded like 'yeah, that made sense' but, when he looked to Isamu, the man shrunk back and shook his head like Mel was volunteering him for the War or something.

"N-No way! No way! I-I can't! I can't!" Isamu stuttered out, the panic obvious in his voice "I can't control it, not around him!"

"Well, Leonard definitely can't... You have better control--" Mel moved his hand to cup the back of Isamu's neck but Isamu moved away, shocking both you and Mel.

Leonard looked like you pissed in his cereal "That's not true! I could totally control myself!"

Mel shook his head, sigh ragged "No, you're going to end up hurting someone--"

You turned in Mel's lap and looked up at him "Why don't you do it?"

Isamu and Leonard audibly gasped and Mel looked at you like you'd suggested he cut off his dick or something. The grimace on his face would've been hilarious if it weren't for the fact that it was confusing.

"I'm-- It's not the same for me. I'm not like Sam and Leo." Mel tried to pull you back against him but you resisted, obviously displeased. "Darling, I don't want you to see me like that."

When they all looked at you like you were the crazy one, you just let out a loud noise of frustration "You get why I'm angry, right? You're telling me all of this unbelievable stuff and then, when I ask you to prove it, you won't!"

"You just keep making up excuses why you can't prove it! How can I believe you then?" You finally fought your way out of Mel's grasp, your phone in your hand as you stood, your face hot but this time with anger.

You were tired of being left to their whims! You were tired of letting them decide everything. You were tired of being scared of Mel, of being intimidated by how beefy and sexy they were.

"I'm sorry, but I just-- I think you're crazy!" You screamed, stomping your foot as a show that you were putting your foot down.

Mel looked at you sadly, like you were about to make the worst mistake of your life "Please, darling, don't."

Part of you felt like you were. The part of you that enjoyed them doting on you, that enjoyed their attention and their affection, that enjoyed the fantasy they offered you, wanted to believe them.

But the other part of you overtook that. The other part of you knew that these three were just crazy and you needed to wake up from this weird dream.

"If you won't help me find my way out of the forest, I'll just find my way out! Fucking keep playing this weird freak fantasy of yours for all I care." You stomped to the door "I need to get to my girlfriend."

Freak. Fantasy. Girlfriend.

Oh, no.

[thecatundertheladder]

how about fsm's and lloyds first meeting in the fsm lives au?

First of all thank you so much for asking!!! I had a lot of fun writing this even if took ages. Right so I haven't completely figured out when the ninja actually meet Fsm, but I'll get to that later. I do have a rough timeline so probably in between seasons five and six (Possession will obviously get retconned a lot). Garmadon is alive btw.

Lloyd had never really made the connection between his grandfather and the First Spinjitzu Master. Like sure he knew it logically, but there was a real difference between 'my grandfather is the First Spinjitzu Master' and 'the First Spinjitzu Master is my grandfather'. And besides, the guy was dead, as far as he could tell, so it didn't really matter other than 'hey I inherited cool powers and also his arch nemesis'. Honestly, the only things Lloyd knew about his grandfather were that he invented spinjitzu, used the golden weapons to create Ninjago, fought the Overlord, and he had two kids, who happened to be Lloyd's dad and uncle.

So naturally it was quite a shock when one day at breakfast Wu announced that his father was coming to visit in a few days.

What resulted from that statement was a rather long and, uh, productive (not really) conversation (a very loud debate).

Cole: What?! But he’s supposed to be dead! Kai: No no one of my village elders said he just left this realm and would return when we need him most. Morro: Nah grandpa just does whatever he likes. Though he was in another realm last time I checked, at least that's right. Jay: What the fuck does that even mean?!

That ,of course, sparked a whole other debate about why Morro knew that. It got sorted out in the end, eventually, after a few thrown noodle bowls.

But while the others seemed to calm down after that, Lloyd steadily got more anxious. Because this was his grandfather, the man who had created Ninjago itself, and fought the Overlord the first time. Yes, Lloyd had done that as well, but what if he didn’t met his grandfather's expectations? What if he was disappointed in him?

Morro, on the other hand, was pretty excited to see his grandpa again; it had been two years, and despite Morro taking advantage of Fsm's omniscience to inform him about various coming and goings, he hadn’t had an actual conversation, and he had a lot of things to show him as well. But Lloyd had seemed pretty anxious since Wu’s announcement, so, like any good older cousin, Morro cornered him on the way to breakfast.

Morro: What’s up with you? You’ve been anxious ever since dad told us grandpa was coming here. Lloyd, mumbling: What if I don't live up to his expectations? Morro: Huh? Lloyd, louder: What if he's disapointed in me? Morro: As someone who's actually meet him, his expectations are don't die, and don't kill innocent people. Pretty low expectations if you ask me. You'll be fine.

This makes Lloyd feel a bit better, but he's still anxious, and he refuses to talk to anyone else about it because, to him at least, it seems a bit dumb to be anxious about meeting his grandfather when no else is (they are, Lloyd just hasn't noticed).

Anyway fast forward to The Day of The Arrival. Lloyd gets up earlier than usual in order to mentally prepare himself for meeting God. And, since he's expecting to have a few hours before the First Spinjitzu Master arrives, he doesn't really bother to make himself presentable before making his way to the kitchen.

This was a mistake.

Because when lloyd enters the kitchen there's man(?) sitting at the table wearing a black kimono with gold detailing. And Lloyd's first though is 'fuck, its the First Spinjitzu Master' before he realises that the man (? seriously why is it so hard to tell) is in his late thirties at most. So Lloyd's next thought is 'why is this random person in my kitchen?'

Lloyd, suspicious: Who are you and why are you here? Fsm, smiling: I'm your grandfather, and I'm your grandfather. Lloyd: You can't be my grandfather! You're like thirty! Fsm: I am not thirty, I'm a shapeshifter. Fsm, now vaguely concerned: You didn’t know that? Why didn’t you know that?

So, luckily, Fsm, by being themself, manages to almost completely allay Lloyd’s anxiety by getting up, telling Lloyd to follow him, and going to find both his children so they can smack them on the head because come on you two this is Morro all over again (Fsm can't really talk though, his godly domain should really be 'forgetting to tell people important information'). Because he can understand Morro not knowing that Fsm - and subsequently their descendants - isn’t human, but Lloyd is actually related!

Lloyd, meanwhile, is shocked. God, his grandfather, is in his house, looking all of thirty, and stalking through the monastery all while grumbling under his breath about his kids not telling Lloyd something, all while Lloyd trails behind him like a lost fawn.

It’s then Lloyd remembers his pyjamas and bed hair, and he just, internally cringes. Like, c'mon, this is the First Spinjitzu Master, and here he is looking like he just got out of bed (that he actually did just get out of bed is completely pointless in Lloyd’s mind). But something about this thought process must have shown in his face and body language (never mind that Lloyd is behind his grandfather), because suddenly the First Spinjitzu Master (man Lloyd really has to get his name) is turning around, stopping Lloyd in his tracks.

Fsm: Stop that. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I am 25,000 years old, and I have raised two children, I have seen a lot worse than bed hair.

That makes Lloyd blush, but his grandfather is already on the move again, seeking out his children.

Of course, once Fsm does find their children, Lloyd has the pleasure of finding out that his grandfather his half oni, half dragon (“dragoni”, his father says, “easier on the tongue”).

But once Lloyd processes that he’s not fully human (and, like in the show, he’s pretty calm about because it makes a lot of sense when he actually thinks about) he starts to bond with his grandpa and damn the First Spinjitzu Master is not anything like he expected him to be, but honestly, Lloyd is actually kinda relieved about that. He’s a lot more approachable than Lloyd expected, and it seems he’s where Wu and Garmadon got the more, um, eccentric sides of their personalities. Lloyd is still a bit nervous around him, but that slowly goes away over the few weeks that Fsm is staying for.

Throughout those weeks, Lloyd kinda starts to get comfortable around Fsm. Lloyd shows Fsm a bunch of video games (I've decided this includes Minecraft because, listen, Fsm would be great at Minecraft (specifically creative mode) and you can't tell me otherwise), as well as board games, which leads to the interesting revelation that Mystake (Mystake?! Who runs the tea shop?!) banned Fsm from playing uno a few months after it come out because he tackled someone after he had to pick up 16 cards.

Hope you enjoyed!

But yeah I’ll probably do a separate post for the family bonding.

Also I feel like I need to give fsm a proper name at this point. I’ve been calling them imaragami (ih-ma-rah-gar-mi) since I started thing this whole idea up but tbh it’s just a bunch of random syllables put together (I’m kinda attached to it at this point tho). But anyway what do you think?

[endead-art]

Epic the Musical, badly summarized by yours truly (spoilers for every song somewhat)

After the gods mess with Odysseus a little too much

And maybe made him kill someone, who knows

They sailed to an Island FAR FAR away from his kingdom because they were like "holy shit food! I love food!"

Polites was given food by the inconspicuous villagers, but Odysseus was smart and did the checking before the taking.

Athena decides that she hasn't had enough messing with Odysseus.

And after Athena messed with his head, Odysseus takes before checking. Ehhhh it's fine, robbers can just trade their way out of stuff right?

NO THEY CANNOT HOLY SHIT THE COPS ARE BRUTAL

Odysseus and crew fights back against justice because it's survival of the fittest motherfucker. NO ODYSSEUS I KNOW YOU HATE ATHENA BUT DON'T TELL THEM YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION!

Athena leaves because she was getting annoyed that Odysseus isn't acting like his usual self. That makes the messing with him not fun.

Man traffic am I right?

Eurylochus is questioning Odysseus, in which he replied with "trust me bro"

After being left by a god, he decides to ask for help to another one. And unlike classic Odysseus, he actually listens. Actually, no he doesn't.

He encounters the father of the guy he hurt and he's pissed. What do you mean about the son? No, not that. They have different philosophies.

They encounter a woman. Very dangerous. Oh yeah they're also a god so screw them, Odysseus is gonna fight them head on.

Odysseus meets his friend who is also a drug dealer and takes the drug before going into a fight.

That drug apparently makes his hallucinations real. She also has that type of drug I think. The battle was epic, until she got desperate.

Odysseus says no to this.

The high boy hears the voices of the dead after visiting the place of the dead.

Odysseus meets blind guy who sees a lot of stuff. I don't think he sees what the blind guy is putting down though.

Odysseus is getting very desperate right now. VERY DESPERATE.

Holy shit that's his wife that he's been trying to get too. I think the guy is mentally unstable if that's what he's seeing (ignore the fact that he heard dead people whispering to him).

Nevermind it was a catfish. He sure fished that cat though. Cut them up nice and smooth. And then polluted the ocean COME ON ODYSSEUS HAVE SOME DECENCY!

I think he got too desperate. He's bargaining with a murderer to get back to his home.

Eurylochus thinks Odysseus is stupid, so he takes charge instead. And promptly made the same mistake as last time (yes, the sheep).

The guy was not happy with his cows being killed so he called his brother. What's with these people and calling their families after their animals get killed? Anyways Odysseus bargains even more lives yippee.

Boy who was abandoned by his father since birth wants to see his father

Promptly gets beaten down by suitors who wants to see his mother instead. He even got help from a god oh wait the family doesn't have a good track record with those

The son of Odysseus somehow got along with Athena though. And Athena begins to miss Odysseus.

So she stalks him. You know who's not stalking him? This girl he's stuck with for a long long time. She makes her obsession very obvious. Odysseus, yet again, says no to this.

Athena plays a game with Zeus, and 5 other people. It came down to the two of them, and Athena won. But Zeus is a sore loser so he kinda... destroys the whole game.

Girl who forces herself into his life is sad he doesn't want her in his life.

The dealer came back and says the obvious. Oh yeah also cleared the traffic somehow.

HERMES I THOUGHT YOU CLEARED THE TRAFFIC WHAT IS THIS? At least I get to get home after all that.

He does not get home. The father is pissed.

And then Odysseus is pissed. And the father continues the family tradition of being stabbed by Odysseus.

You know how Odysseus is desperate. His wife is desperate AND smart... until she saw the change in weather and immediately assumes that's him.

The suitors are so mad they can't string a bow that they resort to murder.

Odysseus outdoes them in both.

After murdering people, Odysseus stops being mentally unstable and becomes mentally unwell. Telemachus on the other hand is very well. And Athena is scarred for life

The couple reunites. They talk and cry and argue about furniture. They also didn't kiss.

[ukelele-boy]

I was talking in discord about Hermes and Artemis and wanted to share it here as well.

I headcanon that Hermes at the end of toa is going into denial because he always believed gods do not change, as a sort of comfort to him failing to save Luke and the other mistakes he made. Seeing apollo be openly changed is making him doubt himself and he lashes out due to this. He doesn't want to believe apollo has changed, because that means gods were always capable of change and he no longer has his biggest defense for his actions.

he needs more character development and is a very interesting character to explore. Given how he contrasts apollo in many ways.

Mythologically he and apollo are close and I tend to borrow that as backstory when I think about them. I think between him and apollo there's a lot of stuff they haven't worked out. For two who claim to be best friends on paper, they haven't acted like it in a while.

There's probably a lot of unaddressed grudges (May castellan comes to mind immediately and that's only one from recent decades. There could be more going centuries back.)

On Artemis:

In TOA, its clear that Artemis still hasn't gotten over her delusions of Zeus and her own image of Apollo being a dramatic airhead (that apollo encouraged to protect her and himself..)

Apollo cannot be open with her because she would rebut him if he ever brings up this vulnerable topic and it would really hurt him. He just newly finally accepted the truth and her rebuttal or reiteration of past beliefs would be a terrible hit. But making her understand puts artemis in the same horrible shock apollo went through.

Hence they cannot bond properly because they always have to keep up walls around each other to sort of protect each other, in a messed up way.

Chronic: what do you think Artemis would think of Apollo's change post toa? I can't imagine her not being weirded out by it, since Apollo being loud and an idiot seems pretty baked into her perception of him

but toa altered his personality (the way she knew it at least) pretty fundamentally.

Me: I think this could work pretty well. To do initial bonding over this and then work out their misunderstandings about each other once they've gotten a degree of closeness back.

I have hope that this will encourage artemis to look at apollo through a new lense and be more open. Which is why I feel at the end of toa, they have more hope than ever before of actually understanding each other. They need to put in some work first though.

Someone once said artemis fatal flaw is righteousness and I've agreed ever since. ❤️‍🔥It also lines up nicely with mythology.

You can see her thinking her leaving Olympus and their fakeness for the hunt is her version of righteousness and she feels that she's on the right, hence she doesn't pause to examine things closely anymore. She's come to decisions about Apollo and the others. But this leaves nuances out and ended up hurting her and Apollo's relationship.

[rius-cave]

The reason why I think killing off Adam permanently is a huge mistake is the fact that he deserves redemption the most. Out of all Hazbin characters, he's the one who deserves to be redeemed, both literally and figuratively in the viewers' eyes.

He's been introduced as an utterly obnoxious, narcissistic and egoistic asshole, with literally zero obviously positive qualities expect maybe him being a funny guy?? Although his humor was built around vulgar and sexist jokes so it's debatable. He was clearly meant to be an antagonist and that only, kinda like the Vees (although that has room to develop yet, and certainly gonna in s2). No concrete reason was stated as the motivation of his behavior, we can only assume things but it's clear there wasn't much thought, he just wasn't destined to be explained and redeemed. He's just like that.

And that's the big issue. He's kinda portrayed as he's always been like that (why Lilith left him etc). But there's the fact that he's in Heaven. How could he be in Heaven if he's a guy full of negative traits, shitty behavior and issues like narcissism (or even a potential god-complex)?? I don't think it would be possible for such problematic people to pass divine judgement and become winners, not even if said person is the literal first man and hasn't eaten the apple. Yes, we see how lenient Sera is with him about the whole extermination and his behavior, I wouldn't be surprised if Heaven has always been just as lenient, but I don't think they could've determined if he got to Heaven (especially since even Sera doesn't know how people get there).

So what's the point of saying all this? That he HAD to be better at some point. He had to be as "pure" and good as it leads one to become a winner. And that automatically means something had to change that later on. Be it the treatment Heaven gave him, how he's been praised as the first soul to get there, the perfect man, or some kind of untreated trauma from earlier (being abandoned, betrayed, etc) or even just seeing what humanity became (disappointment). I absolutely believe this would be reason enough to give the guy some development and redemption. He was caused to become what he is now by other people and circumstances in some sense, and he, unlike any actual sinners!!!, was actually "good enough" for Heaven. He made mistakes, he had flaws, but he wasn't all bad despite being portrayed like that, he wasn't hopeless, and him being an angel was the proof of that.

But even if he didn't get redeemed, he would've absolutely deserved atleast some character depth and an explanation of why he is like that. Sadly, that obviously wasn't Vivzie's goal, and probably won't ever be. (I still do have a slight hope that Adam will come back in some way once, though that's mostly just desperation on my part and me being delusional lol)

Wow anon, you really went off here. I understand. I also have Thoughts™

See, I am in a bit of a difficult position, because I see most things as, well, as they are. On one hand, yes of course I believe that Adam absolutely deserves a redemption story, or if not that, at least more story, ya know? On the other hand, I understand Adam's narrative purpose for the show and what the big picture is. I also understand the writing flaws of the show and how maybe one explanation is just that, the writers don't have that big of a scope in mind lol.

But also there are limitations that are outside of their control. Adam could honestly easily have a complete season to himself with how much potential as a character he has, but Hazbin Hotel is not about him. Yes, it's about redemption, but it's not about his redemption, you know?

And let's be honest, most of the potential that fanon usually attributes to him is mostly based on the real biblical character that he's "based" on. If he was just a shitty angel with a shitty motive with some shitty beef with Lucifer and hell, I don't think as many people would've cared this much about him. But I also feel like Adam being THE Adam from the bible was more like.... An adendum. Like they knew they wanted a main angel antagonist, and then just went "oh wouldn't it be cool if it was Lilith's ex husband too lol" and then rolled with that.

As for Adam being a good person once, trust me, that is also my headcanon, it's one of my favorite headcanons in fact, but... I wouldn't be surprised at all if it wasn't like that.

I think Adam was a good person once because of all the reasons you listed, but one of the reasons why they made Adam such a shithead is, yeah so he can work as a fun villain, but it's also to shed light on Heaven's hypocrisy and the fundamental problems of the system. It also serves to highlight how ridiculous Heaven is for allowing someone like Adam in for being privileged from the start, but not allowing the people in Hell who are arguably not worse than Adam. Adam isn't only a villain, he's also showcasing the issues of Heaven and their double standards.

And on the subject of the writing process, sometimes for shows like these, it's completely possible that the writing team is aware of how good of a character Adam is, it's highly likely that they've seen the sinner Adam AUs and all the love he's gotten since the show ended, and some of them probably agree that it would be an awesome story! .... But they still had to choose not to do it.

Again, at the end of the day, Adam is not a core part of Hazbin or its themes. Sure, he could represent redemption, but we're also kinda doing that with Angel and Pentious and maybe with other characters. They can't tell EVERY character's story because that just goes outside of the scope of the show. So, they need to prioritize Angel, or Husk, or maybe even Alastor if he gets some sort of redemption too. The show has a set of main characters and it has to put them before the villains, specially when they didn't even know if they'd get a season 2 (or how many more seasons they're going to get). The main cast is already a bit underdeveloped and I can't imagine them cutting even more of that for the vulgar, genocidal villain.

It's hard being an Adam fan that also has a vague idea of how shows and writing work lol

[emathyst9]

...Have I told anyone on here yet that my version of Elizabeth is actually Henry's daughter

I'm not sure what the circumstances are entirely but here's the thing

Elizabeth actually looks strikingly similar to her "mother", who she has no blood relation to, kind of serving as a reminder of the past for William, since he's partially why Mrs. Afton is out of the picture (either he killed her or she left idk I've made good writing for both ideas)

But William is extremely ashamed by the truth of this since Elizabeth was not planned for at all

Not that he hasn't had a kid before (btw he's trans I don't care argue with the wall), but her existence was the very definition of an accident and was kind of mortifying for Will since it was proof of his feelings for Henry and vice versa, so he comes up with this idea

Since Elizabeth was born shortly after the disappearance of Elise, he alleges that she is Elizabeth's mother, even naming Liz after her (though not for the lie he wanted to honor Elise in a weird way; the original name he gave her was Ellis, but of course Liz is also trans and changed it a bit which reminds William of Elise even more)

There's a photo of her in a locket that Elizabeth wears and everything

She's told that she looks just like her mother, and is given this whole dream of someone she wants to meet and get to know, that her mother would love her and that she was so much like her, which Liz is a bit like her, and William really would have wanted them to meet, but anyway

She has no idea that it's just some cover story because William doesn't want to confront his past and imperfections (he thinks it's an imperfection that he made a mistake), though he unfortunately sees it every time he sees Elizabeth, always feeling that he has to confront it again, which leads to his distance that he sometimes has towards her

This isn't intentional on his part either most of the time he doesn't always realize that he's putting up any sort of wall, he does try to be there for Elizabeth, but he unfortunately has his moments where he gets overloaded and unintentionally lashes out

Which he doesn't usually get to reconcile on that even when he's aware and does want to apologize, because by that time, Liz has already left the room

So anyway Elizabeth's only parents are William and Henry, so by technicality, it's more like she has two fathers

Henry is probably the only one to know the truth of this, none of the other kids know (but you know I think Michael would have his suspicions he is pretty smart), and unfortunately, since he believes it would be safer as well, Henry helps uphold the lie even though he wishes he could just be truthful at times

Oh god damn it that's actually really mean because Liz would never find out until maybe after her death and that just makes William even worse oh now I feel bad

[silverynight]

Underworld

<---Previous

Part XX

Izuku suddenly wishes there was a way to communicate with Ashido directly. He still is going to try to contact Iida and even though he talked to him in the Olympus and found out he's a very nice god, Izuku still feels like he's not in the position to ask him for a favor because Izuku is just a demigod.

But he has to do it because he wants to deliver gifts to the immortals who were nice to him while he was staying there.

He has made a natural chewing toy (three actually) for Dynamight; it'll repair itself so the cute hell hound can play with it as many times as he wants.

He has a lot of flowers and flower crowns for his friends and a very special necklace for Katsuki. That one doesn't have any flowers but leaves, orange ones because Izuku has always thought that's Katsuki's color.

It also has a very special type of thorn for protection; Izuku designed it himself and applied a little bit of his powers to make it harmless to the user.

By the time Iida answers to his call, Izuku is nervous and slightly blushing.

The messenger is nice; he's a powerful and very efficient god who's polite with everyone so Izuku is not flustered because of him.

He's nervous because he hasn't gotten over the crush he has for the king of the underworld.

And, if Izuku is being honest, part of him hasn't made a real effort to get rid of it because having a crush feels nice and warm; it's like endless spring inside his heart.

"That's it, Midoriya?"

Izuku has to blink a couple of times in order to focus on the god in front of him.

"Yes, just tell her I'd like to see her," he nods, smiling at Iida before handing him a flower.

"There's no need!" Iida assures him, moving his arm up and down repeatedly. "This is basically my duty. You don't have to give me anything in return!"

"But I want to because you're my friend now!" Izuku insists, beaming at him.

"Oh... okay. T-Thanks."

"You're welcome!"

***

Izuku doesn't expect her to respond the same day, much less to visit him herself just a couple of minutes later.

He gets startled when she appears on his field, but gets over it quickly and rushes towards his friend to hug her.

"I'm glad to see you again too," she chuckles, pulling him a little bit closer before taking a few steps back. "Everyone misses you."

"I miss them too," Izuku nods, beaming as he adds, quite excited: "Would you take me to the underworld to pay them a visit? It doesn't have to be today..."

"I'll take you now!" She grins back.

"Really? But I don't want to... I mean we can schedule so I don't interrupt–"

"Nonsense!" She cuts him off, taking his hand. "You're always welcome in the underworld! Anytime!"

"Okay. Let's go then."

There's a sensation of familiarity as soon as he opens his eyes and realizes he's back exactly where he met Ashido for the first time.

It's been a while and he'd be lying if he didn't admit he missed that place more than anything... or maybe it's not just the place.

For a moment it feels like home.

"Do you want to go to the castle?"

"Not right now," he blurts out, looking around excitedly. "I have a lot of flower crowns for the little kids! Let's find them!"

As he did back when he first stayed in the underworld, Izuku spends a lot of time finding kids and putting flower crowns upon their heads to cheer them up.

They start calling him Queen, like the other ones did. He's still not sure why children always mistake him for the Queen of the underworld.

"Maybe they sense that we need a Queen," Ashido mumbles after Izuku says that last bit out loud and he can't help but blush when his friend winks at him.

"But I'm not..." He stops suddenly; the painful idea of Katsuki looking for and eventually finding some pretty goddess to marry crosses his mind.

Izuku shakes his head. No, it's fine; Katsuki is his friend and he deserves to be happy, he should be happy for him as well.

He really needs to get rid of his silly crush on him.

"Are you alri–"

"Izuku?"

"Kacchan!" As soon as Izuku says his name, the god of the dead rushes towards him and takes him in his arms as if they hadn't seen each other in ages.

"I thought you hated this place..."

"I don't," Izuku pushes him gently so he can see his face. "I told you I wanted to go back!"

"You did, but–"

"I brought you a gift!" The demigod cuts him off because he doesn't like to see him sad. He knows his gift will cheer him up. "Look! I made this necklace for you. It won't hurt you and you can use it as protection against–"

Katsuki puts it on immediately. He looks from the gift to Izuku like it's the best thing that could have happened to him.

"Is this in response to the gift I brought you the other day?"

"Well, of course..."

Katsuki's face lights up. He looks really handsome when he's absolutely happy. He takes Izuku's face in his hands and presses their foreheads together, prompting Izuku to blush.

"I'll give you your second gift soon, Izuku."

Second? Why would he give him a second gift? Izuku is suddenly confused but he doesn't have time to ask about it because Katsuki pulls him closer again and makes them appear inside the castle.

"Dynamight has missed you a lot."

Just right after he says that a huge hell hound comes running down the stairs, wagging his tail. He must've picked up Izuku's scent as soon as he entered the castle.

"Oi, be careful!" Katsuki warns the dog.

"It's alright, Kacchan!" Izuku smiles right before Dynamight reaches him. No, he doesn't manage to push him to the ground because Izuku is way stronger than he looks.

He can help but chuckle as he tries to give all three heads the attention they deserve and as much pats as Dynamight wants.

After a while Izuku finally gives the dog the toy he made for him.

"Midoriya!"

Both Kirishima and Kaminari embrace him at the same time, prompting Izuku to grin.

"I've missed you guys..."

"Are you going to stay?" Kaminari asks, almost hopeful.

"I just came to pay you a visit."

"Alright, that's enough," Katsuki growls, before pushing Kirishima and Kaminari away from Izuku.

When he feels Katsuki's hand on his waist, Izuku is glad he doesn't have his own flower crown on him otherwise it would have given him away. His cheeks turn slightly pink though.

"Come on, Bakubro... don't be that possessive! Midoriya is our friend!"

"SHUT UP!"

Izuku can't help but chuckle as soon as he hears them arguing and notices Ashido rolling her eyes at them.

He had missed this. All of it. And he has the feeling that even though he knows he has to go back to the mortal realm soon, this time it'd be even more difficult to leave his friends.

***

Next--->

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