#the concept behind the nowhere king and what it would have looked like if it had been executed properly is really impressive to me

[mymarifae]

the nowhere king is still one of the coolest most interesting concepts for a villain i've ever come across... and i say concept because season 2 of centaurworld didn't go super great.

like the pacing was just... off. it took an entire season of build up for us to even See him for the first time and then we learn his whole deal immediately within like 35 minutes of the finale. it's just too much packed in - and this isn't so much the writers' fault as it is netflix's because we all know netflix loves to cancel animated shows after 1-2 seasons so i feel like the writers did their best to squeeze everything they had planned into the painfully small amount of room they were given.

there are scenes in that finale that tell me the writers Wanted to build certain things up more and if they had been able to it would have been one of the most stunning finales in any show. like the sequence where we see the elk slowly deteriorating into nothing but bones and rot from the magical radiation of the key. or the scene where the mutated bayden swoops in and the birdtaurs realize who he is (the whole final battle sequence is pretty fucking impressive even with all of s2's flaws). or the scene where the general stabs rider.

SERIOUSLY that one could have been MONUMENTAL like it's pretty insane as is but the problem is. we never really got to know the general. it's obvious the writers wanted to establish a father-daughter dynamic between him and rider, but it just... didn't pan out with all the time constraints. but had they been able to establish that properly... oh my god. having him turn around and stab her without remorse would have been fucking NUTSSS it would have been so good. centaurworld could have been so good!!!!!!!!!!! fuck!!!!!! damn you netflix

[vlazed]

The Knight is Mayor Holiday

AKA “You might be overthinking the ‘Who is the Knight’ question”

One of the biggest discussions I’ve seen in regard to Deltarune relate to the identity of the Knight, the presumed main antagonist of the story and the one behind opening Dark Fountains in Hometown. Many candidates have been discussed, each with varying reasoning and evidence for them.

But all of the discussion feels a bit… reachy, at times. I think some people are expecting some crazy reveal that needs 4D chess analysis to figure out, when it makes more sense to simply analyze it from the angle of Deltarune’s overarching story and character arcs. In a good story, these kind of things don’t come out of nowhere, and Toby’s narratives are no slouch in being well structured and detailed.

Which have lead me to a pretty simple conclusion: the Knight is Mayor Holiday, Noelle’s mother.

But let’s back up a bit.

Before anything else– who Mayor Holiday is.

She’s Noelle’s Mom, Rudy’s wife, and the Mayor of Hometown. She’s responsible for organizing the Festival coming up later in the week that has been mentioned by multiple characters.

She has been mentioned to be a bit of a stern figure, hard on Noelle and making her home life difficult due to Rudy being on the hospital and unable to mediate things at home.

Her name likely starts with a C, as the letter on Asgore’s wall regarding his rent is signed with that as the initial. Her stern wording with Asgore here also makes sense for reasons I’ll discuss later.

That’s most of what we know so far. Plenty of stuff can be inferred from those details and other aspects of the story, but those are the main bits for now. Now, moving onto the Knight itself.

So far, in Deltarune, multiple times Darkner characters have referred to “the Knight”, specifically being implied to be the one creating dark fountains across Hometown.

So far, a few things have been made clear about the Knight:

1.) The Knight is a defined character within Deltarune and not just an abstract concept

One take I’ve heard being bounced around a bunch is that there isn’t one particular Knight in Deltarune, and that, in fact, there are multiple.

While I don’t think this is completely untrue, Queen’s dialogue positing that she could make Noelle into a new Knight shows that. However, this also shows that the Knight wasn’t a predefined role– the current, main Knight opened the fountains and became known as the Knight due to how they presumably presented themselves. Seam describes them as having locked away three of the four kings of Card Castle, meaning they have had direct interaction with the Dark Worlds themselves. This is how their title of “Knight” was known in the first place by King and Seam.

To me, this shows that, while the role of Knight is interpreted as a particular person. Queen wasn’t positing that anyone who opens a fountain is labeled as a Knight, but rather that she would make Noelle into a replacement, a new knight in the previous’s place.

One particular piece of evidence I want to point to is this quote from the UNDERTALE 6th Anniversary Stream, where Toby described an idea he had for an opening animation for Deltarune:

This is what makes me most strongly believe that the Knight is meant to be a defined character. If the Knight was a misdirection, and is rather a title used to refer to anyone who opens a Dark Fountain, Toby referring to a silhouette of the Knight looking down at the other characters wouldn’t make sense, because multiple people would be the knight and need to be there. His vision depicted one figure being seen as the Knight, opposing the characters atop the staircase and next to the door.

While other characters can and do open Dark Fountains (Kris at the end of Chapter 2 being a prime example) and this could make them knights in their own right, they are not THE Roaring Knight, the specific Knight that Seam, King, Jevil, the Swatchlings, and Queen refer to.

2.) The Knight is responsible for opening fountains throughout Hometown

This is a much simpler point to make clear. The two fountains we have thus seen in Hometown have likely both been opened by the aforementioned Knight.

In Chapter 1, it’s stated that the Card Castle fountain is recent, unlike the Castle Town one, described as being created recently by the Knight that put King in power.

In Chapter 2, the Swatchlings and Queen again refer to the Knight, saying that it was the one who created their world. Given Queen’s relation to King, it is likely they speak of the same figure, which is reinforced by the inexplicable appearance of the library fountain, similar to the storage room one. This creates a pattern indicating the same character is likely behind both.

“But how are you so sure it’s Mayor Holiday?”

Simple, she has all of the traits and narrative ingredients to fit the role in a satisfying manner that is coherent with the current story.

1.) NARRATIVE COHERENCE

Deltarune thusfar has had the relationship between the Dreemurr and Holiday families as a focal point of it, having grown apart ever since the disappearance of December Holiday. It is the reason for many of the occurrences in the story, like Kris and Noelle drifting apart, Asgore losing his job, and more. This conflict underlies much of Deltarune’s narrative and character arcs, and thus it makes sense for the Knight to relate to that conflict given its focus in the story.

2.) MOTIVATION

Mayor Holiday also has pretty clear motivation for WHY she would be the Knight. Her daughter, December, has been missing for what is presumably years after an event that clearly took a toll on her. It was shown in the Police Station that Asgore was removed from his role there:

The only person that would presumably have the power to do this would be the mayor, as the Chief would be the highest rank within the force itself.

Asgore failing to find December after her disappearance would absolutely be reason enough for Mayor Holiday to fire Asgore. She lost her daughter, and would see Asgore’s failure as unforgivable given his position.

Because of this, Mayor Holiday clearly has a vested interest in finding December. Finding December is still seen by those who know her as a possibility, specifically with the track “FINDHER” being released during the Spamton Sweepstakes. Opening the Dark Worlds makes perfect sense as a way for Mayor Holiday to try and find December.

Given what we know of the bunker incident, chances are her disappearance wasn’t conventional, and Mayor Holiday would realize finding her wouldn’t be conventional either. This would lead to her opening fountains, attempting to find December in the darkness. Her not finding December in the first few Dark Worlds could lead to her trying to go deeper, darker, potentially trying to bring about the Roaring via the Town’s festival she’s responsible for organizing. It makes perfect sense for why she’d be opening them up given what we know.

3.) PROPER BUILDUP

What’s important in a narrative is to build up ideas and characters as the story progresses. It’s why characters develop in arcs, change happens gradually, and thus it makes sense to gradually introduce concepts that will become important later.

The festival is clearly something that is being built up as what is likely the capstone for Deltarune, potentially the stage for the final Dark World or the Roaring itself, as it seems like it will take place at the end of the week, right before Asriel comes back home.

This is being done through small character dialogues, starting somewhat small with the characters at the Mayor’s office referring to it coming up and Mayor Holiday working on organizing it, to more direct foreshadowing with Susie talking about it with Kris in the ending of Chapter 2.

The slow buildup of the Festival directly parallels the slow buildup of Mayor Holiday herself, being mentioned in Chapter 1 to being given more references in Chapter 2, with Noelle’s arc of gathering the courage to stand up to Queen, who is clearly a stand-in for a mother figure for Noelle. Given how hard Mayor Holiday is on Noelle, it makes sense gathering this courage is something she would need in her personal life as well.

Noelle is going to likely stay a major character, too. She’s the centerpoint of the Weird Route thusfar, saying to herself in the hospital that she needs to find out what’s happening with Kris, implying she’ll have a major role in that story. Alongside this, the screenshot given of her in Chapter 4 also implies she’ll remain a major player moving forward.

If Noelle’s arc continues as it has, it only makes sense that she’ll eventually gather the courage to stand up to her mother in the light world as well, which would also flow well if Mayor Holiday ended up being the Main Antagonist, giving Noelle’s development a direct relationship to the main conflict.

Probably the biggest reason I think it’s Mayor Holiday: she actually has a connection to Kris and Noelle.

Like I said, the relationship between the Dreemurrs and Holidays is a focal point of Deltarune’s narrative. Given this conflict, it would give Kris and Noelle, two of the main characters, a direct relationship with the main antagonist. It sows seeds for how they develop, how they relate to the overarching conflict, and how it might be resolved. If the Knight was, say, Papyrus or Alvin, their identity as the Knight would have far less narrative weight.

I could talk more about why I don’t think it’s those two, but that’s probably the most concise way I can put it– it wouldn’t make for as interesting of a story. Papyrus hasn’t been given a meaningful connection to Kris, to Noelle, to that town, not that we know of. Him being the Knight wouldn’t make for an interesting reveal because we only know him in the context of Undertale. He has been given no stake in Deltarune thusfar, which wouldn’t make as much sense because Toby wants Deltarune to be seen as separate from Undertale. Mayor Holiday directly connects with the main themes and conflicts of Deltarune, and thus would make the most sense for being the main antagonist.

———

So, uh, yeah. It’s Mayor Holiday. Evil mom truthers can hop on board with me and be totally awesome and correct. Sorry if this was a bit long winded, figured I’d rather be concise than understate my ideas. Feel free to correct me on any front, or if you think there’s reasoning for another knight or how they would be more compelling.

[total-drama-brainrot]

Saw this somewhere and wanted to throw it your way, sorry if you’ve been asked this before but what do you think of the concept of Noah always having been an assistant (even before the first season)/never playing as a contestant would look like?

The thing about Noah as a contestant is that he's, for all intents and purposes, kind of useless. And by that I mean Noah as a character isn't important to the plot at all in the grand scheme of things. He's barely important from an episodic point of view either; Noah does very little throughout Total Drama in terms of story relevance, and just in general. (Lazy king 👑.)

So taking him out of the equation wouldn't really affect too much in the grand scheme of things, save for probably preventing his friendship with Owen and, from a fanon standpoint, the rest of team E-scope. He'd be pretty much the same person, just behind the camera instead of on it.

But that's kind of a boring answer, and not at all what you were looking for, right?

So, let's say that Noah lands himself a job working as the personal assistant for some hot-shot A-list celebrity through one of his many siblings' various contacts; is it nepotism? Probably. But who's Noah to look a gift horse in the mouth? A fairly easy job following some pretentious asshole around all day and grabbing him the occasional coffee sounds like a pretty sweet gig, especially with the salary and various benefits that come with the job description. So Noah takes the job without question.

And that's how he finds himself stuck in the middle of nowhere, Muskoka, on an undisclosed island owned by said A-lister whilst he films the first season of his new Reality TV show, Total Drama Island.

Being Chris' personal assistant was supposed to be an easy pay check. "Supposed to be" being the point of interest there; Noah didn't anticipate Chris being as sadistic or as childishly needy as he was. If he wasn't running around like a headless chicken trying to accommodate for Chris' oftentimes outlandish whims and fancies, he was stuck answering to the producers in the host's stead- and the producers were pissed with Chris more often than not for his frivolous use of the show's budget. Something about having a genius level IQ and enough snark to make grown men cry apparently made him qualified enough to deal with the industry big-wigs. Noah was far too overworked to question it.

So much for an easy pay check.

Noah's not bad at his job by any means. In his professional opinion, the whole show and Chris' career would be in the dumps without his personal input keeping everything afloat. That doesn't mean he doesn't loathe his job with every sleep-deprived inch of his being.

And, inevitably, Noah ends up spending a lot of time around the campers themselves. Mostly as a consequence of always having to remain "on set" so to speak, since Noah's pretty much contractually obligated to linger around Chris' vicinity and wait for his boss to assign him some menial task to do. Most of the campers are just as egocentric and insufferable as he'd first assumed- and honestly, what else would he expect from people who singed up for a Reality TV show?- but a select few turn out to be decent company; namely Owen and Eva (and Izzy, but Noah refuses to admit that the "Psycho Hose Beast" is actually bearable to be around).

He'd even go so far as to claim they were friends good acquaintances.

Of course, his job takes precedent over frivolous things like relationships, platonic or otherwise, so Noah doesn't exactly have the free time to hang out with them. Which is probably for the best considering if he did spend a lot of time around his friends acquaintances, the other contestants would have a solid enough foundation for accusations of foul play in the competition, and that's a headache Noah really doesn't want to deal with.

Consequently, Noah floats through the filming of Island, and later on Action, maintaining cordiality with his little group and cold indifference towards pretty much the rest of the cast. Not that he doesn't keep close tabs on the campers; of course he does, not only is Noah incredibly observant by nature, but he's also the one in charge of accommodating for these weirdos... plus, Chris is oddly invested in his "prize cast of ratings jewels", whatever that means. So Noah knows these people, probably more than some of them know themselves, thanks to a combined sixteen-ish weeks of observation and forced proximity.

In turn, the competitors know of Noah, though for the most part he's regarded as little more than a spectre on set- Chris' elusive personal assistant who the cast will occasionally see the barest glimpse of, usually hidden behind an impassive pair of mirrored sunglasses and, more often than not, rushing off to do whatever it is a PA does. Chris does get a little lazy in Action and on a few occasions does get Noah to make a "guest appearances" on screen- mostly just to deliver him a coffee and a gluten free muffin during the downtime of that day's challenge- but he's still practically non-existent to he majority of the cast.

Which is fine by him.

What isn't fine by him is the surprise addition of two people he knows nothing about, come the third season.

One of those contestants happens to know a lot about the cast, and a concerning amount of information about him. It's uncanny, just how much Sierra seems to know about everyone around her, even more so because of the way she practically worships the ground they walk on. Sure, Noah's encountered the odd super fan here and there- not fans of himself, of course, but in this time as Chris' assistant he's had to chase off more than enough rabid fans from trying to sneak their way onto the set of whatever show Chris was working on (or more accurately sic the on-scene security on them)- but Sierra's brand of crazy takes it to a whole new level. Noah doesn't like her on principle and is both incredibly vindicated and incredibly concerned when her stalkerish behaviour rears its ugly head. Not that he's allowed to do anything about it; the producers are adamant that Sierra's outlandish behaviour is entertaining enough for the audience to ignore the immorality, and given how much Chris has been allowed to get away with in the past Noah's inclined to begrudgingly agree.

And the other new contestant? The one who qualified for the apparently non-existent Total Drama Dirtbags (and Noah totally isn't salty about that show being an elaborate ruse that he spent countless sleepless nights working on)? Noah's just as concerned about his friends acquaintances ignorance to Alejandro's inherent sliminess as he is about Sierra's blatant disregard for others' privacy, but again it's not like he can do anything about it. He's not even supposed to be on the show, so any sort of interference would be a big no-no.

Oh, what's that? They want him on the show?

Fuck.

Turns out, Noah's brief appearances during Action (characterised by his usual level of sass and snide comments) really resonated with their audience; they like him for some inexplicable reason, and want to see more of "Noah, Chris McLean's mysterious personal assistant".

So he's pretty much forced into acting as a co-host of sorts, much like Chef had done for the first two seasons, all whilst carrying out his usual tasks. Is he happy about this? Not a chance in hell, and he lets the producers know exactly how he feels about the sudden change in his contract. Not that it changes anything.

And the best part? World Tour is a musical themed season. If they expect him to sing, they've got another thing coming.

But, as a small part of him chimes in, spending more time on camera would give Noah plenty of opportunities to spend time with his friends acquaintances. There's a non-zero chance that he could have fun, even if it's at the expense of his valued privacy.

His new status as part of the show does allow Noah some opportunities to skew the competition in the favour of his friends acquaint- no, screw it, his friends. That's one silver lining of the whole situation.

Better yet, he can tilt things out of Alejandro's favour, since the former Dirtbag seems to have a knack for manipulating the competition anyway- Noah might as well make things more challenging for him, as it seems this game is too easy for him thus far.

[honeybeezgobzzzzz]

𓅨 Your Fate is Sealed With Mine: Chapter Thirty-Four

Your Fate is Sealed With Mine: Y/N Burgess is the granddaughter of Alex and Paul, and after having spent so many summers at their manor and always wondering why she was forbidden from entering the basement, she descends the steps into the world of the Order. She broke out the being that had been trapped in that glass cage, but what does he want with her now that he is free?

Warnings: Morpheus Tries A Thing Called ‘Apologizing’ (Also Finally Get’s His Shit Together), Fiddler’s Green Plays Therapist, Flashbacks.

To Note: Morpheus/Dream x Female!GranddaughterReader, based on Netflix’s ‘The Sandman’, Reader now has long-ish hair for plot reasons (Just so Morpheus can tug on it later).

Word Count: ~2.1k

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Apologizing. Not a concept that Morpheus had ever considered, but one that he was sure he needed to employ. Which is how he found himself searching out his trusted Librarian within the vast depths of the Library. Given the rapid expansion of the wing since his return to full power, Lucienne could be anywhere. Turning down a row of shelves, Morpheus strode his way towards the desk in which the librarian usually could be found. She was nowhere to be seen. Morpheus headed up a nearby spiral staircase and began striding through the upper level.

“Lucienne?” He questioned.

“My lord. There’s something I must tell you.” Lucienne’s voice spoke out. Morpheus turned around to see the librarian emerging from a row of shelves.

“And I will listen.” Morpheus answered, his chin dipping slightly. “But first, you must let me tell you that you were right.” Lucienne looked up at her king in shock. Dream of the Endless, apologizing? What had this realm come to? “The vortex was responsible for the damage to our realm, and I was…” Is was almost painful to say. “Wrong, to risk our safety in the hope that she would locate the missing Arcana.”

“You were not entirely wrong, sir,” Lucienne replied, looking over her glasses. “She’s found them both.”

“What? The Corinthian and Fiddler’s Green? Where? How do you know?” Morpheus instantly questioned.

“Fiddler’s Green told me,” Lucienne explained shortly before the arcana himself appeared, hat tucked neatly against his side as he approached his king and creator. Fiddler’s Green stopped next to Lucienne and bowed his head.

“Apologies, lord, for having left.” Fiddler’s Green spoke.

“Why? Why did you leave?” Morpheus asked, the betrayal he felt clear in his voice. “I trusted you. You were the heart of the Dreaming.”

“No, sir,” Fiddler’s Green protested. “You were the heart of the Dreaming. And you were gone. I was curious.”  He went on. “And it turns out that life as a human contains substance I never even imagined when I was here. Which is why I’ve returned because… he’s murdering them.”

“The Corinthian?” Morpheus repeated, alarm bells going off in his head. His beloved creation was never meant to murder. Certainly not the very beings he was made to serve.

“He appears to have built up a cult of worshippers who kill for pleasure, endangering the waking world and the life of a friend called Rose Walker.”

“The Corinthian has found Rose Walker?” Morpheus repeated.

“Can you imagine the damage he could do with someone like Rose,” Lucienne blurted out, her eyes wide with renewed worry.

“Oh yes, but it is much worse than that,” Fiddler’s Green went on, fingering his hat and cane nervously. “It appears that the queen has taken it upon herself to assist Rose in finding her brother and I fear what the Corinthian will do when they cross paths. He can surely feel her power.”

“You must tell me where they are,”

Fiddler’s Green and Lucienne walked down at hallway, leaving behind their brooding king who now seemed to be in a darkened mood with the knowledge that his queen was in such proximity to his rogue Nightmare. His reaction wasn’t surprising, not with his history of protectiveness towards is lovers. But Y/N Burgess wasn’t just a lover and she wouldn’t bend to Morpheus’s will simply because he bid her so. No, Morpheus had a tendency to fall in love with powerful woman who did not take kindly to being told what to do. Certainly not by him.

“So, he too spent the last century in the waking world.” Fiddler’s Green mused softly after hearing about how Morpheus had been trapped in the basement of a manor for over one hundred years. Lucienne nodded her head in agreement.

“Yes, but he seems to have experienced the worst of humankind.” She reminded the arcana. “And certainly has held some short comings regarding his captivity.”

“Still, his time there appears to have changed him as it has changed me.” Fiddler’s Green argued back. Lucienne gave him a look of skepticism.

“How so?” Fiddler’s Green let out a chuckle. “Lucienne, he came to you and told you he was wrong. It was very nearly an apology. The Morpheus I knew was incapable of that.”

“Hmm.” Lucienne sounded, thinking over Fiddler’s Green’s words. “Then perhaps he will be merciful to you since you came back on your own.”

“Oh, it doesn't matter what happens to me. What matters is that Dream stops the Corinthian and saves Rose Walker and her majesty.” Lucienne raised an eyebrow at her old friend, shaking her head slightly.

“There is no saving Rose Walker.” Lucienne informed him. Fiddler’s Green looked taken aback.

“Why on earth would you say that?” He exclaimed.

“Do you not know?” Lucienne questioned as the pair came to an abrupt stop. “She's a vortex.”

“Oh. Oh, dear. I should have realized. What have I done? He's... He's going to have to kill her.” Fiddler’s Green worried, he set his gaze back on the librarian. “Lucienne, her majesty has no intention of letting anything happened to Rose Walker! She said so herself, she won’t allow any harm come to Rose and her friend. I fear she will defy Lord Morpheus. Lady Y/N is quite serious about her promises, she is already quite upset with Lord Morpheus as it is. I also fear that she will try to take on the Corinthian herself.”

“You will come to learn that Lady Y/N is not as accepting to Lord Morpheus’ ways and has a perchance to challenge him. Thus the reason why she has left the Dreaming in the first place.” Lucienne explained, adjusting her spectacles.

“Oh dear, she did indicate that she was quite upset with him. I tired to explain his point of view but I’m afraid that she still remains quite hurt by his actions.”

“Unfortunately their affairs are not ours to meddle in. We can simply advise, but I will say, in Lord Morpheus’ endeavor to keep the queen safe, he has only pushed her away with his actions. He certainly hasn’t told her why he acts the way he does. Their entire relationship is based on misunderstanding and miscommunication.”

“Fiddler’s Green,” Morpheus called, approaching the arcana at a slow pace. Fiddler’s Green peered over his glasses at his incoming king and knew what he wanted of him.

“Hello, sir,” Fiddler’s Green greeted, bowing his head. “Is there something I can help you with?”

Morpheus came to a stop in front of him and looked down for a moment before responding, his eyes meeting the gentle ones of Fiddler’s Green.

“You were last to interact with Y/N, is she well?” Morpheus asked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “I’m afraid I have a proclivity to upset her unintentionally and our last encounter was… rather intense. I fear I have severely upset her and she now seeks to spite me for my actions.”

“Oh sir, I am sure she isn’t—“ Morpheus shook his head and held up his hand to cease Fiddler’s Green’s words.

“No, I am well aware of how my recent actions have pushed her. She can be quite spiteful when angered and I believe I have earned such emotion from her this time.” Fiddler’s Green let out a gentle sigh, miscommunication and misunderstanding indeed. These two had absolutely no idea what to do with each other.

“Sir, when I spoke with Lady Y/N, she wasn’t angry or planning on spiting you.” Morpheus’s eyebrow rose in question and Fiddler’s Green rolled his cane between his hands. “She was most upset, sir. It hurts her to stay away, I could feel it. Her actions are not out of spite, but out of a need to prove that she is not a servant who will blindly take orders.”

“Of course she isn’t, she is the queen of the Dreaming and my bonded. She holds the highest power in this realm and can do as she sees fit.” Morpheus replied, his tone indicating that he clearly thought it was an obvious statement. Fiddler’s Green raised his eyebrow.

“But sir, have you allowed her to exercise such will?” He questioned, causing the Endless to actually think about that. “I know you wish to protect her but perhaps in your endeavors you have ignored the very power only she can wield.” Fiddler’s Green wouldn’t say it out loud, but only Y/N Burgess had power over Dream of the Endless, and it seemed that he had forgotten that. “No, sir, she isn’t angry with you. I believe she is deeply hurt that you do not yet treat her as your equal.”

“I’ve been watching over her since she was but a defenseless infant.” Morpheus spoke softly, remembering the endless days and nights of watching Y/N learn how to crawl, to walk, to speak, to dream. “She has suffered because I chose her and I do not wish for her to experience any more of the terrible pain I know I have caused her by choosing to bind her soul to mine. Life has been cruel to her, does she not deserve to be sheltered and protected?”

“Perhaps, sir, may I be so bold?” Fiddler’s Green questioned in hesitancy. He knew that his lord needed to hear what he had to say, but whether or not he wanted to, was another question entirely. Morpheus nodded.

“Of course,” Fiddler’s Green smiled gently, his brows crinkling together.

“When you love someone, you protect them from their pain, you don’t become the cause of it.”  That gave Morpheus a lot to think about.

After speaking with Fiddler’s Green, Morpheus found himself taken to the queen’s wing of the palace. The wing did not seem, nor feel, as light as it had when Y/N had occupied it. The statues were sad and the flowers that dotted the space had long since died. It was as if the wing itself had regressed back to its disparaged state upon it’s queen fleeing from the realm. Was it not days ago that the pair were enjoying each others company without fighting or dirty looks? Morpheus found himself staring at the untouched bed neatly made up.

Y/N had returned to her reading while Morpheus was enthralled with the way her fingers combed through his hair and brushed across his forehead. When had he last felt this at peace? It had to have been hundreds of years. He nearly felt like rumbling in happiness, much like a cat stretched out under the sun. This was what it was to be bonded, to have a connection that was born from the very center of one’s being. If only this could last for eternity.

“You are making it hard to concentrate, Morpheus,” Y/N’s soft voice rivaled a choir of angels. Morpheus couldn’t help the twitch of his lips, a small part of him overjoyed that she found him just as distracting as he did her. A dark eyebrow rose.

“My apologies, I was simply marveling at your exquisite beauty.”

“Well don’t get sappy with me now, I was just starting to tolerate you,” Y/N replied, amusement twinkling in the eyes that remained glued to the book. “Words can be becoming, especially when describing a woman, Morpheus, but they are often fabricated.”

“You think I would be so untruthful in my words to you?” She hummed in answer. “Y/N, I will see you across any world or realm and think you are the most beautiful being I’ve ever seen for as long as I breathe.” Y/N paused in her reading, the gravity of his words registering in her mind. “There is my heart, and then there is you, and I am not sure there is a difference.”

“Then your heart must be quite twisted and cracked, Morpheus,” Y/N spoke, her voice devoid of emotion save for lingering pain.

“I have eternity to fix that.” Her eyes finally dropped to his, those starry eyes bored into hers. “You will forever be my dream.”

Her lips twitched shortly before she added a sentence to his bold statement, her words whispered gently.

“Or perhaps your waking nightmare.”

Y/N was his greatest strength and his darkest desire. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Morpheus pulled out the ruby necklace Y/N had yanked from her neck and refused to wear it despite it’s protective intentions. It hummed with his power and echoed with hers. When Morpheus took care of the Corinthian and the vortex, he was going to have to sit down with Y/N and explain everything. It was not a conversation he was looking forward to.

Date Published: 12/9/22

Last Edit: 8/20/23

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[morgulscribe]

Rings of Power Season 2, Episode 4 Thoughts

Random thoughts while watching the episode, not a review.

Spoilers below!!!

The depiction of the Gray Havens remind me a bit of Thomas Kinkade paintings.

A wide angle, dramatic shot of the elves traveling - shout out to the Eregion travel scenes from the film trilogy.

So the Axa Bridge is out… I've been in this position SO many times in LOTRO, looking down over the edge of a bridge that is broken in half, with nowhere to go and no place to cross over.

Nenya gives Galadriel visions of danger when the party considers going through the Barrow Downs. As I suspected, the writers must prefer the theory that Galadriel's magic powers come from the Ring, and not from her studying under Melian and her natural strength as the sister of Finrod Felagund. Most likely, this is the reason why Galadriel has not come across as very magical in the series so far.

The interactions between Elrond and Galadriel become amusing when you consider the fact that she is his mother-in-law in the books.

When I saw Tom Bomabdil from behind, I thought he was a woman at first, and I was already shipping him with the Stranger.

Does Tom Bombadil attract toxic trees wherever he makes his dwelling? Do the trees become toxic after being forced to listen to his singing?

I'M NOBODY --- IS THIS AN EMILY DICKINSON REFERENCE!!!!!

I like the costume/physical appearance of the Stoor matron, but I think some of the ears on the Stoors are clownishly big. Also… Nobody's hair.

I hope LOTRO puts in a hobbit village in the desert. It looks like a wonderful place to explore... and break your legs by jumping off roofs and balconies.

I'm not sure I like the concept of Tom leaving the Withywindle to go to Rhun. To me, having him explore Middle-earth and eventually settling down in the Withywindle makes more sense.

I like how Tom refers to the stars as being new.

The elves refer to the Barrow Downs as being an ancient graveyard… This would refer to the the region being used as a graveyard by the Edain in the First Age. However, the barrows would not become haunted until the Witch-king of Angmar sent evil spirits there in the middle part of the Third Age.

The Barrow wights are impervious to the elf weapons… That's because you need Westernesse damage type, not Beleriand. Now if you want to fight spiders and ancient evil, then Beleriand is what you need. (LOTRO reference)

Since Galadriel has seen the light of the Trees, I think she would technically be able to see the true forms of the wights - the spirits that are possessing the corpses. But the elves do not seem to be very magical in Rings of Power.

I am coming to the conclusion that this show likes sea creatures and things with tentacles to the same extent that LOTRO is obsessed with spiders.

Sûzat… Nice reference to the true name of the Shire.

Nice image of the two ents looking like the Two Trees.

Is Theo Lord of Pelargir???? Does that mean that his dad is nobility, and that Arondir knows who he is? I think I may have missed something.

Orcs stepping on flowers as they march… Good touch. If my memory is correct, I think Tolkien wrote a line about orcs/goblins going out of their way to stomp on flowers in either The Hobbit or LOTR.

Galadriel making a dramatic stand against the orcs would make SO much more sense if the writers had used the theory that this character is insanely powerful and magical even without Nenya. Otherwise, it seems like a very stupid action on her part.

A STAR SHINES UPON THE HOUR OF MEETING…. SCREAMING CRYING SHRIEKING LIKE A NAZGUL AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[lonelywretchjervistetch]

My DC Cinematic Universe: Superman (Epilogue)

Epilogue: A New World

So, it's currently February 4, 2023 when I write this, and James Gunn officially announced part of his DC Studios plans a few days ago, on January 31. Included in these plans were two revelations. First of all, the first chapter of the new DCU is called "Gods and Monsters", presumably bringing in multiple projects that follow that theme. And frankly, I think that's pretty interested, but also.. conflicting for me for a couple of reasons. I dunno, it feels somewhat simplistic as things go, but that's not necessary a bad thing. Call it the cynic in me.

Secondly, though, is the announcement of the upcoming films Superman: Legacy and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. And my thoughts on those are complicated, but interested. I have some trust for Gunn, but hopefully that doesn't degrade with these new projects. I'm gonna tackle the latter one first to say one thing:

Please, PLEASE read Tom King's Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.

This book is absolutely incredible. It's pretty obviously based on the book True Grit, which has had two film adaptations, and it pretty well-known. But King uses the concept behind the Western, sets it in space, and makes Supergirl into its Rooster Cogburn. Whether or not you like True Grit or Supergirl as a character, this story revitalized both effortlessly. It gives us a new view at Kara Zor-El, now 21 years old in the universe of the story, and also lets us see a whole new and truly gritty view of a backstory that, frankly, makes sense with every incarnation of the character. It's a brilliant dissection of the character, and the fact that it's being brought onto the big screen...this could be the Logan of DC films. Oh, and if you couldn't tell from the above art, it's absolutely gorgeous as well. Just trust me, you should read this book.

So, yeah, I'm real excited about that annoucement. Is it how I would introduce Supergirl personally? I mean...no, not really. She's a character that I think should be introduced elsewhere, then given this story as a series. Additionally, I think that a story like this would be an interesting way to introduce other elements of the DC Universe on a cinematic sense, while the book relies on very little knowledge of the DC Universe, except for some VERY specific references that kinda come out of nowhere in context with the modern DC Universe. That may be nitpicking, though. Lastly, while this is a great Supergirl story, I honestly think it would function better as a series than it does as a movie. Because, frankly, we already have a movie like this, and it's called True Grit. But don't get me wrong, I'm super excited to see what Gunn and company do with this story.

And then, on Superman: Legacy...I have...thoughts.

Hey Now...

OK, look, All-Star Superman is, without a doubt, one of the greatest Superman stories ever written. It's a written and drawn testimony to one of the greatest heroes that has ever lived, and acts as an epic of love, loss, and redemption for Superman and everyone around him. More than that, though, it's a reflection on the man himself, as well as his, at the time, 70-year history, and a love-letter by comic book historian and underrated wunderkind, Grant Morrison. They're a goddamn genius, and I hope you all know that! Read or listen to their book Supergods if you want a better view of the history of the superhero in DC and Marvel. It singlehandedly gave me a greater appreciation for both Morrison and comic books in general, AND SHOULD BE REQUIRED READING FOR ANY COMIC BOOK FAN!!!

So, that said, what is All-Star Superman about. Well, as that above image implies, it's revealed that Superman is dying of solar radiation, due to the machinations of Lex Luthor. So, in the process, and with the knowledge of his imminent death, Superman has more power than he's ever had before, and decides to use it to use his remaining time well. He tells Lois his secret identity, decides to try and permanently save the world, and finally deals with Lex Luthor in the most poetic possible way. I won't reveal the ending, but suffice to say, it's a perfect ending for this story, as well as being a true-blue ending. It's also an excellent reflection on both Clark and Luthor, as a decent story for Lois as well. So, it makes sense from a quality-based standpoint that Gunn is using this story as a basis...

...Right?

Look, I love All-Star Superman, genuinely. It's a beautiful story, and was also made into a great movie. Seriously, if you haven't seen the movie, check it out! It's on HBO Max, and it's a pretty close adaptation to the original, with some frames taken straight from the panels of the book. But it's also absolutely not a modern Superman story, in any way. All-Star is, if anything, a love story to a Superman long-since gone at the time it was written. Specifically, it's a story about the Silver Age Superman, as well as a love-letter to the time period.

As an example of this, this is a Superman with the ability to make tiny suns on an anvil, which is a comical amount of power. It's the kind of power that only a Silver Age Superman can have. It's also a Superman that's never told Lois who he is, which isn't a deal-breaker at all, but is representative of an older version of the character. Additionally, due to the events of the story, he actually becomes immune to Kryptonite. And in case you're wondering how the fuck that's even possible, the answer is simple. And, uh, spoilers ahead here, but...

Superman dies at the end.

See why this is a weird choice for a Superman movie, especially the first story for a new version of Superman. All-Star Superman is, by it's very purpose, an ending to an insane story. Throughout this story, Superman is essentially exacting his last will and testament, and doing everything he can to end his life in an ideal way. And as such, it's also a love story to the character and all facets of his life. It's true that this story have given us some of the greatest Superman moments in any book, with the suicide prevention being one of the most famous of these. And yeah, it's a great take on the character in a lot of ways. But even then, it's simply not a Superman for a modern age. And that's not the only problem with using this story.

See, the villains are, as fucking always, Lex Luthor, a couple of Kryptonians very similar to Zod, and a crazy-ass cameo from Parasite. There are also some weird-ass side characters that are pure Grant Morrison, like the UltraSphinx and Quintum. It's either already been done, or it's just a weird choice to throw into a new version of Superman. It's a story that makes no sense as a beginning, for the most part. But, yeah, there are scenes like this.

Morrison's got a great grasp of the character, and they write a lovely book. But still, weird choice for an inspiration. That, of course, is assuming that Gunn follows this book to a T, which I personally doubt. I mean, Gunn is a smart man, and a good writer, not to mention probably aware of everything I've said. So why say that this is the story he's basing the film off of? I think the obvious answer is that this is one of the most recognizable stories (and covers) of any modern Superman story, and that (again) it has multiple moments that exemplify Superman. In fact, when you read Gunn's statements about Superman, it seems like he's mostly taking the innate goodness of the character, which we see in All-Star for sure.

And with that said, using the entire story makes even less sense when you consider the released description of Superman: Legacy.

Written by Gunn, the film will hit theaters on July 11, 2025, and focus on Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing.

Y'know what classic-but-underrated book that actually sounds like?

Lemme tell ya, I adore Superman for All Seasons, and it isn't really a forgotten story...but I feel like it tends to slip under the radar as a great Superman story. That may because it doesn't have any massive stakes, or world-ending threats. It's a down-to-Earth story about a down-to-Earth guy trying to do good. Each chapter is told from a different supporting character's perspective, all about the Kansas boy turned local hero. And through it all is a story of Clark Kent trying to figure out what the right thing really is.

This is one of my favorite Superman stories, and the tone for this book is what I took my tone for my story from. Granted, I added some big stakes to that, but the character of Clark Kent himself is based on the kind person seen in this story. It's not necessarily a book that I think everyone loves, but it's absolutely one of my personal favorites. Check it out if you want some perspective into my ideal Superman.

Look, Superman is hard. I get that. He's a difficult character to nail, and most people don't really get the character. But there are some amazing stories by writers who really understand the character. Grant Morrison's grasp on the character mostly veers into the Silver Age incarnations, but he still gives a more modern version of the character some great moments. Alan Moore REALLY gets Superman, and his Silver Age homage Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? is another underappreciated classic story, while For the Man Who Has Everything is one of the best comic book stories ever written. It also has the benefit of showing just how tragic the Superman story really is, and was turned into a brilliant episode of Justice League Unlimited (which is the only adaptation of his work that Moore actually likes).

There is, of course, the timeless What's so Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way?, written by Joe Kelly, and is another iconic one-issue story. Turned into the equally excellent movie Superman vs. the Elite, it's a great treatise on the seemingly black-and-white morality of Superman in a greyscale world, while also revealing that his methods are actually far more complex than they first appear to be, using Manchester Black as the opposing force. It also manages to humanize Superman without putting him onto a moral high ground in a condescending way.

Superman: Grounded, while being a somewhat controversial arc in Superman's story, is one of the best recent stories about the character, literally bringing him down to Earth. Not universally amazing, but it has some fantastic character moments for the Man of Steel. And, uh, speaking on controversial, The Death of Superman story actually has some amazing moments for the character, but is honestly a great story for his supporting cast, and lets us see the Man of Steel through the people who did and didn't know him best.

For a great Golden Age Superman story, as well as a story about a young Superman, check out Superman Smashes the Klan (which is inspired by a true story, fun fact). That's also an example of a Clark Kent-biased Superman that I absolutely adore, but it's also an amazing story about being an outsider in general. Genuinely one of the best comic book stories I have read in a while.

And there are many others, of course. Hell, the 2016 Superman run was pretty great until Bendis aged up Superboy. But that's an anger-filled rant for another day, I think. Fact of the matter is, there's a lot of Superman material out there that's great, and I always feel burned that people think he's a boring, over-powered lout of a character with nothing interesting about him. Especially as compared to...some.

I won't go into another rant about it, but Superman deserves a lot more attention than he gets. His stories, his humanity, his very essence...they get overlooked and ignored in favor of characters seen as more interesting because they have a tragic past, which somehow makes them relatable. But Clark Kent is, in all ways except for physical, a wolf human. And thinking of him as such is what gives us some of his best stories. I like All-Star Superman as much as the rest of us, but it REALLY doesn't do that very well. It does it, don't get me wrong, but not very well. By focusing on a Superman of a different time, rather than Clark Kent of today, it gives us a purely good, but also alien, Superman. I trust Gunn...but All-Star Superman, to me, is not a complete Superman. So, for now, I'll just have to pull a Clark Kent and...well...hope.

And with that...well, I think the time has come to put Superman away on the shelf. And turn my gaze from the daylights of Metropolis...to the nights of Gotham City.

What the hell am I getting myself into?

Next: My Cinematic Universe: Batman (Coming Soon)

[andybondurant]

New Post has been published on Andy Bondurant

New Post has been published on https://andybondurant.com/2023/06/06/contemplation-god-in-creation/

Contemplation: God in Creation

A few years ago, I traveled with our church youth group on their annual Summer Camp. You need to understand something about how our church does youth camp…it’s not normal. Like most church camps, we travel to a remote camp location with activities, chapels and sleeping bags. What sets this youth camp apart is what happens around that tradition.

The Ultimate Road Trip

It’s an ultimate road trip. The year I participated, we traveled from our home in the KC suburbs through Nebraska and South Dakota for a short stop at Mt Rushmore. From there we drove across the plains of Wyoming into the open sky lands of Montana. We rode past Billings and Bozeman and through Missoula until we arrived in Glacier National Park. After an unbelievable hike in Glacier, bathing in an ice cold lake and a few nights in tents we headed to Yellowstone and then finally to our camp location in Wyoming.

There are lots of memories that stand out about this journey, but let me share two with you. First, I had never been that far north during the summer. While in Kansas the summer light lasts until about 9pm, in Glacier, it wasn’t truly dark until closer to 11pm. As we drove to our campsite near the park, I kept wondering when it would be dark. I mean not twilight but truly dark. We were in the middle of nowhere, with no city lights, and it still wasn’t dark. 

I wasn’t prepared for this, but it helps explain the immensity of my other memory. We finally arrived to our campsite a little after midnight. It was completely dark, and we were busy figuring out the sleeping arrangements (setting up tents) for the 40 people with us. After unloading a trailer of luggage, food, tents, arranging and setting up tents, and getting the students to their assigned tents with all their luggage (a much more difficult task when dealing with the dozen or more junior high students on the trip), I finally had a moment to look around. 

I heard God in the silence of the night sky

For years I lived 20 minutes outside the suburbs of Kansas City. I regularly spent time beyond our small town lights. I have often seen the stars in the country night sky. This background doesn’t hold a candle to what I saw in Montana that night. The sky was perfectly clear. The best way I can describe what I experienced was the feeling of being in a planetarium. A doom of stars in 360 degrees surrounded me. A group of 4 or 5 of us stood and looked in awe. 

Image by Denis Degioanni on UnSplash

In that moment I experienced God. To put it another way, I heard God. It wasn’t an audible voice. The experience wasn’t some sort of moral lesson for me to pass on. What I heard was the existence, majesty and vastness of God. I knew God is.

Contemplation: See + Be God

The ancients call this experience I had contemplation. Contemplation, among others, is way we hear God. After a bit of study on the concept of contemplation, I developed this definition of contemplation:

Contemplation is seeing God in the world around us and being God to the world around us.

There are three basic ways I’ve seen to contemplate God.

We contemplate God through culture.

We contemplate God through creation.

We contemplate God through every day life.

Contemplation in Creation: God exists in glory

Of three ways of contemplation, I find contemplating God through creation to be the most natural. When we view and study nature in both the macro and micro, it points us to an intelligent design. Because there seems to be an intelligence to the design of nature, then it speaks of an intelligent Designer behind the design.

The Poet-King, David, wrote about his experience with contemplation in Psalms 19.

“The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.”  ‭‭‬‬

Psalms‬ ‭19‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NLT

Contemplation in Creation: God cares

When I look at nature, I see God. But I don’t just see that God exists, I see that God cares.

Take as an example bats. Yes, the winged, flying bats that get such a bad rap from vampire mythology. It’s estimated that insect eating bats save American farmers between $3.7B and $53B every year in pesticide costs. This doesn’t include the costs on the ecosystem if bats didn’t exist (like the ability for insects to adapt to pesticides). God cares for us by creating bats to naturally suppress insects that would destroy crops and could overrun our world. 

Now think about your own body. Get this, you have between 60,000-100,000 miles of blood vessels in your body. If we were to take these blood vessels out of your body and lay them end-to-end, they would stretch around the world more than three times. God cares enough about you to oversee 60,000+ miles of blood vessels in your body.

Again, David writes about the delicate care of God to put us together perfectly:

“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭139‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

When I contemplate nature – whether it is out in the wild or within my own body – I see God is both glorious and he cares for me. Do you see God in creation?

How to Contemplate in Creation

David makes it clear creation is a natural way to contemplate God. So how do we do it? Here are three tips (and yes, these tips are the same as contemplating God in culture):

1. Ask God to open your eyes.

I’ve made it a practice as I meditate in the morning to ask the Holy Spirit to fill me fresh for the day. As part of this process, I ask him to open my eyes and ears to see and hear him throughout the day. A great first step to seeing God in creation is asking him to reveal himself to you.

2. Train yourself to see God in creation.

For many of us, we’ve learned to compartmentalize the secular and the sacred. We have taught ourselves to that God belongs in his box, and the world belongs in a different box.  We need to train ourselves to see God doesn’t remove himself from either box. 

When you take a walk or you make a road trip (even if it’s just an hour away) look at God’s creation. When you learn something about the human body or the natural world ask yourself what that tells you about God. Determine how it displays God’s glory and majesty, and how it reminds you of his care for you and all of humanity.

3. Share what you see with others.

I love talking about my trip to Montana. I have other stories of looking into the Grand Canyon, running from tornadoes and climbing an active volcano. All of them end with sharing the power, majesty and care of God. 

Contemplation isn’t just seeing God in creation, it is using what we see to be God to the world around us. So when you are having a conversation about your walk in the park or discovery about the world, share how creation points you to the glory of God.

God as creator is both glorious and caring. Do you see God in the culture around you?

[love-toxin]

this may seem outlandish.. foolish, even… but i bring you, as an offering, the concept of SCARYASS SUB YANDERES!?!?!?! i’ve had this idea in my mind for sooo long and my god it’s been driving me insane. i think it works well just because of the inherent obsessive, frightening nature of yans in the first place? it’s scary, the way they’d do anything for you. kill people for you, abandon everything they know for you, die for you. it’s terrifying. and sooo fucking hot.

specifically eddie and steve…. my god. My God. they’re both just drooling over you, and grovelling for even an ounce of your attention. whimpering and begging by your feet like dogs… its food for thought, eh?  

at first you’re scared of them. they’re always lurking somewhere, far away that they think they won’t be noticed, but they are. you know they’re there. creeping around the bushes, just out of the corner of your eye. they’re always there. changing their schedule when they don’t have any classes with you. they’re a permanent pest that’re always ogling over you. nasty ass stalkers <3. it’s even worse when you notice them beginning to team up. it was bad enough when it was just one of them cornering you, eddie offering you a spot in hellfire every day after class and steve flirting with you every chance he gets or when you stop by the family video store. but both of them? absolute menaces. 

the king and freak of hawkins?  a surprising duo! it’s unheard of. nobody would’ve ever thought of it. nobody would even believe you, and nobody does. and they have their eyes on you. watching you, following you, bothering you, and you’re just so scared. they won’t leave you alone, and nobody seems to believe you, either. they’re just so big, and you’re so small. steve’s always been strong, you know that, and you’ve seen it too. playing on the sports team, roughing around and fighting constantly, you know what he can do. and just because eddie’s thin doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have height. he’s so fucking tall. and not to mention his reputation? even before the whole chrissy incident, he’s had a reputation of being a monster with connections outside of the school. (it’s only reefer rick, but he’s not gonna tell anybody that.)

you try your best to avoid the two of them, but you can’t. not anymore, at least. one of them is always shepherding you into the other. eddie padding behind you after school, and steve always so conveniently positioned. and one day, eddie’s hounding you after school. he’s not stopping either, chatting you’re ear off. you’re not even talking back, just trying to get away from him. schoolbooks clasped tight to your chest, looking at the ground, and he’s just bouncing behind you. you don’t even realize where, and it’s dark out now, how long have you been out? 

you’re immediately snapped out of your thoughts when you hear steve. eddie’s laughing, of course he is, and steve’s cooing at you. you back up, but there’s nowhere else to go. let’s say you’re in the woods, right where eddie does all of his deals, and you have nowhere else to go. you’re trapped in between the both of them, their eyes dilated to the max, and you’re about to cry. 

they’re going to kill you. that’s your only thought, and you start to sob. you close your eyes and wait for something to happen but… nothing does? they back up and give you space. steve’s freaking out, instincts kicking in from having to watch the kids for years, and eddie’s the same, if not worse. 

they’re… pampering you. it’s weird. eddie’s on his knees, grasping at your hand and kissing at your hand trying to make you feel better- to fix his wrongs. steve’s rapidly shooting out questions, “are you okay?” “what’s wrong?” “who hurt you?”

and honestly… you kind of like it. both of the two biggest, baddest guys in hawkins reduced to simpering little idiots? it's a nice change.

Holy shit this is long as fuck. apolocheese.

A-ANON, ANON!!!!!!! YOU......YOUR BRAIN........SUB YANDERE STEDDIE + ANGELFACE.....IM ON MY KNEES.....

ok. breaking this down. the individual stalking aspect: fucking gold. you have both men constantly in your peripheral, Eddie and Steve both fighting for as much time as they can possibly spend with you, and being absolutely nasty stalkers in the process. coming home after a long day of avoiding them both and finding your drawers raided, your cassettes out of order with a couple missing, maybe even your sheets wrinkled and smelling a bit of sweat like someone's been laying in your bed.

maybe one day you walk through the halls at school one day and see Eddie with a bloodied nose, Steve with bruises around his neck and his wrists, and the two guys who usually don't even acknowledge each other are glaring daggers at each other the whole day. but when the marks fade and heal, you start seeing them get a little closer....and they often do so while watching you. when they start sharing those smarmy grins and whispering to each other as they pass by the other in the hallways, that's when you start to really worry.

and you're right, nobody will believe you. the only noticeable change is Steve flirting with you whenever he sees you at school or when you're at the video store, and you should consider yourself lucky. why don't you just go out with him? give the poor guy a chance at least, since he's so nice to you? but the people telling you that don't know how invasive he is, they don't know that you've spotted him hanging around your house late at night and seen him glare down anyone who talks to you. and they don't know that when he leans in close to whisper into your ear, the dirtiest things come out of his mouth that only you can hear. "I just wanna rip that little top off you" and "wish I could fuck you over this counter, sweetheart" and "meet me in the back and I'll make you fall in love", things that make you scurry away from him as fast and as soon as you can manage, leaving him shaking his head and smirking at the back of your head because you're so, so cute when you're playing hard to get. but obviously he needs to be a little more direct.

Eddie, at least, is slightly more believable. but he's much, much sneakier, and way more subtle about his advances than Steve. he's more of a menace--always on your heels every perceivable second of the day, running you ragged with questions and mindless chatter that you never can seem to get away from. and it's not just talk, either--he's always using his stature against you, boxing you against your locker or the picnic table out by the woods, drawing his lips close to yours like he's gonna force a kiss out of you, only to breathe softly against them as he asks you again if you'll join Hellfire. don't you wanna spend some more time with him? he'll even give you a private lesson on D&D, just for you, the cutest student in the whole school. you have to push on his chest to get him to even lean back, before you duck out of his reach and dash away, and he's too giddy from having you touch him to even worry about you getting away and telling someone he was being a creep.

and when he gets you back in the woods after school, corraling you like a little lamb towards the jaws of the wolf, Eddie can't help but have a spring in his step. he can't wait for this one.

when you see Steve waiting there by the trees, leaning against the trunk of one, you immediately back up. but you come to a stop when you hit Eddie's chest, and with a quick glance over your shoulder to make sure he's not gonna get out of the way, you turn your gaze back to see Steve approaching you and fear starts knocking your knees. Eddie holds your shoulders from behind to keep you from running, and when Steve gets close enough to lean down real close to your face, his hand on your chin, the tears spill out of you and you hiccup those choked-up words: "please don't kill me..."

the air changes almost immediately. Steve shakes his head like he can't believe you just said that, his eyes soften, and a "never, baby" escapes him. meanwhile, Eddie turns you around by the shoulders so you're facing him instead, and drops to his knees so he's tilting his head all the way back to look up at you. he grabs your wrist in a strong hand, and pulls your arm closer--and he nuzzles your palm with his face, kissing along each knuckle and all five fingertips while his other hand is braced on your thigh. Steve wraps his arms around your midsection from behind, and coos those sweet words in a reassuring tone "are you okay? did someone hurt you? sweet thing, don't have to be scared of me, okay?"

it shouldn't be so comforting, so satisfying to have them both whimpering for your approval, but it is. they'll do anything to pull that smile out of you, and as soon as they get one, they'll both relax and get even cuddlier in your presence. even though they're the ones who scared you in the first place, and they're the ones who have such an unhealthy attachment to you....but you've been suffering under their thumb for so long, would it be so bad if you took a little bit back from them? torture them a little to get what you want? that seems like more than a fair exchange for the hell they've put you through.

[reilliane]

✤ — Universe: Tyranny ✤ — Concept: Introducing two of the core members in the Queen's Retinue ✤ — Characters: Alatus, Kazuha A/N: WELL HERE IT IS-

It is seldom for you to leave the Kingdom for you've managed to keep foreign interdependence intact without the need for meetings. Yet, this particular Kingdom has always been on thin ice with Khemia long before you have taken the throne. A war is a possibility. Aware that even the previous King has made time to visit the foreign nation, you've to go ahead and do the same thing if you wish to keep Khemia to yourself. A war is far from one what you want in the first place—despite putting your initial focus on military power—unless, of course, threatened. So, set at the season of spring, you left the Kingdom in the careful care of your brother, accompanied with a retinue smaller than usual.

You do not plan to stick around in a foreign nation for too long.

To your complete and utter surprise, however, the second you arrive at the Kingdom of Kuni, its sovereign is nowhere to be found—and understandably, those left in charge are panicking. Cognizant of the way your title is known past the borders, you needn't utter a word as they take initiative, scurrying to accommodate you. It's amusing.

A woman who goes by the name of Miko is the one to welcome you personally in the palace, lit with pretty violet flames—it's presently evening—upon the candles and chandeliers.

Such splendor for a Kingdom known for conquest. One will think at first glance that bloodshed isn't in the roots of this place.

Oh, but that'd be a little presumptuous to say... given you've risen for the Crown whilst spilling blood.

"We have arranged it best, suited for the Queen," the sly-looking lady smiles as you arrive at the door. Your lodging for the next few days and nights.

"As expected," you compliment, wearing a minute smile, "I look forward to meeting your sovereign by dawn."

She nods—not knowing that their ruler won't actually be arriving anytime soon—before turning to the pair of men three steps behind you as assigned.

The rest of your servants and retainers have already been set to do other works, from presenting the gifts you've bought to giving them their time of leisure. All that's left now are...

"And these men... your Majesty? Your guards, I believe, where would you prefer their quarters to be?"

You meet their eyes, a flick of interest seen in your [c]s before you shake your head and enter the room.

"I could care less. You may ask their preference, it is up to you."

The door shuts and the pink-haired lady is then left standing with the rest of the Queen's retinue; a blank-faced servant and a smiling—he seems mad, though—knight.

Alatus

✤ — Good evening, I'm Alatus of Khemia's Elites, the Yaksha. Thank you kindly for accommodating her Majesty in spite of our sudden arrival.

It would appear that the messenger crow sent has failed to deliver its message, do allow me to amend—... not needed? I see, well!

My gratitude, lady Miko.

... Oh, my preference, you ask?

If it isn't much of a bother, I'd like to be stationed someplace far—not too far, of course. The reason? Well—

... I beg your pardon? Harboring enmity towards her Majesty?

Hah, how bemusing. Do understand that I'm not trying to be rude, but I won't be answering that comment of yours, lady Miko.

Well then, shall we be off? I've much to do, still. And one of them is to tend to her Majesty... as ordered.

Kazuha

✤ — A wonderful night to you and the rest of Kuni, lady Miko.

Yes, our journey was nothing short of safe. The people are welcoming, I am certain that her Majesty is delighted, I assure you.

That said, I'd like my quarters to be close to the Queen, if you please. Distance by rooms does not matter, as long as this is met, then—yes, thank you kindly.

It comes without saying that in turn—

Ah, yes. I've yet to introduce myself. My apologies, lady Miko.

I'm Kaedehara Kazuha.

Hm? Oh, indeed—I am of noble blood, but the prestige of our name has dwindled in antiquity. It's not a matter that must concern you.

I am the Queen's personal Knight and servant.

Both public and private.

a/n: if you catch my drift in these voicelines, dearies.. ADAENFWLEJBELback

@cherryflushz @e7t3 @scarlet-halos @lordbugs @nebulaera @annoying-and-upset @hanniejji @applepi1415 @tjjjrsj @koi-chairowo @one-offmind @01-407 @tjjjrsj @midnightraindropme @yvechu @alana5021 @uwu-dreams @hanniejji

[franki-lew-yo]

The General is also Elktaur.

He is Elktaur as much as Nowhere King is. Elktaur is a bad person who’s flaws are equally divided between his two parts.

Here. I wrote a thing out months ago and have been editing it bit by bit over the course of these months to distract myself from my SSI sitch and now to get me thru our national health crisis (in my country). Read it before I eat your cat.

((content warning: horror gifs and, ab*sive relationships and self harm talk))

Part of the reason I love this story +character is because it’s such a new take on the "corrupted-now''/''meevil"-villain trope AND the "love was my motivator"-villain backstory! Usually the idea behind these kinds of tragic villains is there's a 'good side and a 'bad side' and the bad side overcomes but because their love for this ONE person is their only redeeming feature that then 'redeems' them at the last moment before death. Elktaur, and by extension his two halves, is not this.

According to Megan Dong's interview with Vortexcentral, the reason the General 'turned' on the elk is because the General’s what happens when power and privilege corrupt a person’s influence, i.e. the General got everything he wanted when he was Elktaur and is terrified of losing it or “going back”, now that he feels he is his 'best self'. - he is Arial+Aladdin but if they took a VERY dark turn - The General is the side of the Elktaur that hated being a centaur; not hated centaurs, but hated himself and valued human life more; he’s the side that outwardly dreams of glory and being a hero, and tbf, probably thinks he does care about people. The way he says “sorry kid” after stabbing Rider and tries to appeal to Mystery Woman doesn’t sound like some halfhearted, backhanded Rick Sanchez-style neg to me. They sound like the words of someone who earnestly believes they have no choice other than to do what they did. They sound like someone who believes their own lies. From everything that's shown in the show, the ''poison you [General] fed me [Woman]'' that Mysterious Woman's talking about were NOT words of gaslighting or emotional abuse, but they were still lies; they were hollow words. It doesn’t matter how many times he says he’s sowwy and how much he thinks he cares for her and the people under his command: he does not. He doesn't actually care cuz he's not willing to take the sacrifice that would actually save his people or admit even wrongdoing. Horse even outright calls him out as such, to his wife -

"He doesn’t love you. THAT is not what love looks like!"- Horse

As the General, Elktaur entrapped Mysterious Woman in a marriage and lived life as someone he wasn't. This isn’t a Rose Quartz trying to tell Greg abt her past as an abusive monarch and him telling her it doesn’t matter now; the General was ALL about living with Mysterious Woman as the human he was determined to be. He didn’t trust her. He didn’t really respect her or any of the humans who’d he’d come to rule. He wanted her love as he wanted every other vague concept of respect and was determined to keep it, but in the fullest sense, he did not truly love her back. Nowhere King is the half that earnestly loves Mysterious Woman and I think a lot of fans already know/feel that. The problem is they (and me in the past hey I'm not perfect but I'm trying to fix this) treat it like General’s inability to love is the ONLY problem and that Nowhere King’s love is ''pure'' because it’s 'honest'.

Nowhere King (and Elktaur)'s love is Not pure just because he at one point, values her. Nowhere King is possessive. “She was meant to be mine”. He’s a self-AWARE possessive bastard who wants to end the pain and I think wants her to be happy and free of him, BUT-- never forget it's the NWK’s side who outright negs Mysterious Woman for HIS failure as Elktaur:

“ You made me what I am, but it’s okay. I forgive you.” - Nowhere King, decoded meaning thru links

Much in the same way General doesn't think he's hurting others but is, I don't think NWK wants to hurt her by saying that but at this point in time he's a monster who can ONLY commit suffering, so he does, even to the one person he doesn't want to hurt. That's all he is now.

There's also the bit where -you know- when NWK can’t have her, when she tells him to get over her because his obsession with her got him into this mess; HE DOESN'T and opts to torturing humans by turning them into minotaurs and then trying to destroy EVERYTHING that isn’t her. Love not only doesn't always redeem someone it can make someone more dangerous. >> The General doesn’t care about MW to the point that when they’re separated he seems more annoyed and he tries to soften her pain by just telling her more of what she wants to hear; the Nowhere King is obsessed with her to the point of putting the weight of ending the war all on her shoulders because of his mistakes. -This, by the by, is why I structured my playlists in chronological order rather than out of sequence as Horse sees it in the show. When you see the whole story from point a to point b makes you see firsthand how Elktaur is lying to the woman he loves and slipping more bit by bit into becoming a complete monster-

The General is unselfaware, prideful, self loathing, determined to save the world while not actually CARING ABOUT ppl he hurts. He's a narcissist; The Nowhere King is self aware, cares for only ONE person, but makes her and everyone else miserable and wants to destroy everything if he can't have his way = He's a Bojack Horseman. These people are what the Elktaur, now separated, became. 

A bit I know some critics are gonna throw back at me is the part where MW says “you locked him up in the dungeon, did you think it’d have no effect?”, which, to some people, is confirmation that ALL the problems of the show happened because the General locked up and abused the Nowhere King- that if he hadn’t done that then the Nowhere King wouldn’t have become so possessive, cruel, and hateful. I object to that take. It’s not what the General did at that moment but what Nowhere King points out was the mistake Elktaur made earlier:

"We [Elktaur] made a mistake, WE [Elktaur] have to undo it!"- Nowhere King who is also Elktaur but only half of him-flonking christ- YOU GET IT

The moment when Elktaur decided to change himself at all was his first step toward evilll. He was not his worst parts yet, but he was acting upon his worst instincts the character sings about in ''Ghosts''/''Elktour Suite part 5'' - he let in his ghosts because he didn’t know any other way or any life without them; by the time the General was accustomed to living his new life as a human, he (General) probably saw the elk as the ghosts that were wearing him down while the elk, now alone, recognized that he was always better than those ghosts.

Elktaur wasn’t a bad person, or at least he was no better than Horse was shaping up to be in ep 2 and 8 of season 1 - ONCE. It's as understandable as it is selfish but what Elktaur wanted was respect: he appreciated human stuff and human culture even though he didn’t like humans themselves. He wanted understanding when humans wouldn't understand him and none of his own kind 'knew him' Jack Skellington-style. He was smitten by and then hooked on Mysterious PrincessWoman when she did the thing he always wanted and NOTICED him, and she knew her magic. Lord knows how much of a simp he'd be had he really gotten to know her - the tragedy in the actual story is he didn't. He let the ghosts in. He was too wrapped up in his own self loathing and inferiority complex that for this one moment, he made what would be the biggest mistake of his life. Not just his life, EVERYONE's lives. Anyway

this is why Elktaur 100% deserved to die and why his death was actually a HAPPY ENDING for the character.

We don't see the final look on his face when Mystery Woman stabs down but we do see him reach for the shadow of his antlers. He’s finally back together, his pain’s finally over, he wouldn’t hurt her anymore- he prolly still didn't want to die but he even says he has peace. Best of all, he got to hear what the General needed to hear and what the Nowhere King had longed to hear for so many years:

''Don't you know I would have loved you the way you were?'' - Mysterious Woman

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

A lot of my sizzling hot Nowhere King (I refer the whole character; elktaur, elk/nwk, and the General as that cuz that's how I knew him for months before the finale +makes it easier) takes are rooted in my amateur horror junkieness

Already made this point but Nowhere King is a reversed-Seth Brundle: Brundlefly is horrifying because he's conflicted about, but still absolutely willing to do, what he almost does to Veronica- you can't completely blame the fly part of him any more than you can't completely blame Seth. Just as Brundlefly as a whole isn't blameless for what either side of him did, neither Elktaur's sides can't be the 'good' or 'bad' side and can't really be forgiven for either's actions - they are one in the same. NWK in particular reminds me of Frankenstein's monster from the book:

'' I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other. I may be a Hogwarts Student, but I'm also a satanist '' - The Wretch, 4 real

Maybe another reason I'm protective of my General boi getting the diss is because General reminds me of Adelaide from Us. ((major Us spoilers incoming)). There's so many ways to view Us, but me personally I just can't see Adelaide as wholey evil +uncaring like Red (the REAL Adelaide) says she is. She had a very sympathetic motiv to switch herself out as a child, given what tethered are, but also given what tethered are, knew nothing BUT that reality and how to behave. By the time she was an adult she'd realized how to love others and talk she'd realized the gravity of what she'd done as a child, buried that reality until she believed she WAS the real Adelaide at heart, and in the end she would do anything to protect the family she had and had 'earned' but was still responsible for the Tetheredpocalypse and everyone who wasn't her fam dying.

Final thoughts/TL:DR --

-In "Once Shattered Now Whole" NWK's not just reliving the memory of him cucking himself, he's remembering witnessing in real time him LYING to the woman he loves and being unable to do anything about it.

Dying with regrets IS NOT the same as a 'last minute redemption arc'- ohmayhawd get off TvTropes whydon't you?

Nowhere King/Elktaur is a war criminal and an emotional abuser but I draw the line at the insistence he doesn't genuinely love Mystery Woman. He does; genuine love doesn't make you a good person or your actions hurt any less. Want a familial example of this with a better ending and an antagonist who isn't a villain? See Encanto.

I wonder how much less hate there'd be for General if he were also voiced by Brian Stokes Mitchell. Mitchell can do a younger voice and has range- I think the inference that General is a completely different person is swayed by him having a different VA.

Yes I watched all of Centaurworld again to proof read this and wholy moley is General so much more interesting when you realize he's Elktaur AND I love all the hints to his true nature. ((when he arrives back in the camp in S2 ep 6 it first appears as though a centaur is approaching: "I know my enemies better than I do my Allies": him playfully pretending to not be who he is when he first meets Rider feels very Elktaurish to me: I HAVE MORE...))

Elktaur is the ACTUAL king of the tumblr sexymans and NOT Onceler cuz he's multiple characters at once and actually well written. Lorax 2012 could maybe be saved if Lorax DeVito had killed Oncie with his own ax but you can't have everything,can you...

[multifandomthoughts]

Earl Grey with King

Requested by: @shankss-magnificent-ass

Trigger Warnings: Canon typical violence, description of King’s face (aka slight manga spoilers)

Author’s note: this is my first time writing king, so he may be a little ooc.

Gender Neutral Reader

Part of the Soulmate Tea Party Event!

Your job was simple. Eliminate one of the headliners, specifically King the Wildfire. The ringing of heavy metal in your ears grows louder with every painstaking step you take. Others were graced with pop music, classical, jazz. But not you. Ever since you could remember, a string of hardcore songs graced your ears and often made it difficult for you to perform tasks.

Case in point. You’re leaning up against a crumbled wall, one that was destroyed by your comrades. You take a deep breath, one that puffs out your chest as you scan your eyes across the premises. All the other samurai were able to successfully breach the enemy’s stronghold and your nerves were shot. Feet trembling, you try to stand all the way upright. Step by step, your sandals create sound and stability.

The worst part of it all was that as you tracked your illusive target through the castle, the closer you got the louder the sound blared. If you weren’t certain it was only in your head, you’d be terrified King would hear it and you would be found. Each step you take has you cautiously looking around, and every shadow you see has to be analyzed for friend or foe.

There had been some enemies following you and attempting to challenge your strength. If you hadn’t been so determined to eliminate your target, you may have decided to toy with them. However the labyrinthine structure of Kaido’s hideout made it next to impossible to catch up to your target once he had left your sight, so following close behind was the only option. Finally, he seemed to have stopped and you were left behind cover out of his view, where you were now. Taking a brief glimpse around the corner, you saw it’s a dead end. Perfect, he had nowhere to go but through you. This was the ideal place to confront him.

Breaths growing shallow, you prepare yourself, unsheathing your sword. With a sprint, you lunge for attack. Silence envelops your ears; nothing but the clashing of weapons can be heard. You don’t realize this until it’s too late. Fortunately, King seemed to be expecting your ambush, and brushes it off like you’re just some pesky mosquito.

As you collided with the nearest wall, a few thoughts came to mind. First of all, “Ow.” Secondly, “He’s tougher than I thought.” But finally a third concept shone through your consciousness. “Why isn’t music playing? Is my soulmate dead?” That final thought throws you into overdrive, and you begin to panic. King however, has no such thought, and grasps his sword, determined to cut you down.

As you charged back at the dark suited beast before you, he again blocked you effortlessly but this time didn’t send you flying. “Is this really what’s happening? What a damn inconvenience…” he muttered, though you weren’t sure why. Was he actually that dismissive of your all or nothing attack on him? Gritting your teeth, you tried to launch off his sword for a slice at his masked face. Though you got millimeters away from slicing into him, he flapped his damn wings and flew just out of range. “Bastard… I swear I’ll take you out!”

“Take me out…why would you want to do that? Wouldn’t you rather join me?” His voice disappears as he got further and further away from you. Slumping against an adjacent wall, you sigh in disbelief. You had your chance and you blew it, he had escaped easily. To make your frustration worse still, the music started blaring in your head again. But wait… that meant your soulmate was alive! Then why did it stop when you… were face to face with… King?!No, it couldn’t possibly be!

You follow in the direction he was flying, as fast as your feet can take you. You’re going to confront him again, albeit for a different reason this time. The cuts, scrapes and bruises you’ve received don’t deter you. After sprinting for miles, you’ve arrived at your destination. “A greenhouse?” You think to yourself. “What motive could he possibly have for going here?”

Closing in again, your head is blaring with sound once more and it only supports your fears. “I don’t want to ruin such tranquil scenery, but bringing you down is my sole mission so I will if I must.” You draw your sword once more and run towards him, but he holds up a hand. “We both know that will only do more harm that good, and you’ve already begun to realize why.”

“You can’t possibly be my soulmate…” You hiss through gritted teeth. The grip on your sword tightens as you raise it and lunge. As if he anticipated this, King sidesteps, and you hit the floor. With a snicker, the man walks forward, towering over you. “You think I hadn’t noticed the racket in my head quieting down the moment you came lunging at me the first time?” He asks expectantly. “I’d hate to think my destined match is a fool who can’t follow simple logic.”

You slam your fist on the ground, enraged. “It can’t be like this, I refuse! You’re the enemy, the worst thing to come to my country in all our lives!” King just sheaths his sword and bends down before you. “Search your feelings, you know it to be true. We don’t get to decide our fates, and it’ll just be hell to fight them.”

“When Kaido crushes your puny little rebellion, then we can determine how you feel about joining me and my crew.” You glare daggers and splash a hand through the nearby pond. “And when Luffy and Lord Momonosuke win the day, maybe you’ll decide to join US.” Laughing at the prospect, you hold out a hand for a handshake you’re sure won’t come to pass. However, it does, and he clasps your hand tight with a fire in his eyes.

You were very glad to have finally met you soulmate but what now? Suddenly an idea pops into your head: he’s supposed to be your enemy still, so why don’t you treat him as such? Nobody had to know you had formed a truce with a nefarious pirate, let alone it being your soulmate. Without warning, you release your hand and unsheath your sword, waving it in his face. “Now then, it’s time I defeat you, King!” With a wink and a lip bite you raise your sword to his neck and gently press at the edge of his leather mask. “Now to expose you for the villain you really are beneath the surface!” You yell far louder than needed. Rather than actually cut it off though, you pull back and tilt your head inquisitively at him. With an amused shake of his head, he reaches up to remove it himself.

Your jaw drops to the floor. His chiseled face and long hair leave you in awe. “How can he be this pretty, he’s a villain!” You think to yourself. Before you can even finish processing that thought, he bends down and leans in towards your face. Internal panic sets your face ablaze, before he whispers gently “Until we meet again…”

As he flies off, only one thing comes to mind. “Maybe I could go for him.”

[robininthelabyrinth]

Prompt~ hoping you'll like it ♥️

Things between the Nie brothers are not always nice and happy, they fight, just like any other pair of brothers, and sometimes things are said, sometimes these things are heavy and painful. Sometimes they're said in the wrong moment (maybe at the eve of a battle? Sunshot campaign?) and huaisang doesn't know what to do with the broken look his brother gives him before leaving the unclean realm. Because what if he doesn't return? What if the last thing he said to him was how much he hated the man he became?

Labyrinth - ao3

“But I didn’t mean to wish him away!” Nie Huaisang cried out.

“That’s really too bad,” the goblin king said, looking pleasant and humble and charming the way he always did, even in his cape of glittering gold and high-browed hat. “I wish there was something I could do for you, but the rules are the rules. You wished him away, and I took him.”

“Aren’t you supposed to only take babies?” Nie Huaisang demanded.

“Your brother’s enough of a crybaby to count, it’s close enough.”

“It is not!” Nie Huaisang wrung his hands. “You don’t understand, the last thing I said to him was that I hated him! Meng Yao, please!”

“It’s Jin Guangyao,” the goblin king corrected. His smile looked a bit strained. “Listen, do you think I’m happy about this? He’s my sworn brother! I’m only doing what I have to –”

“Oh, save it for Lan Xichen,” Nie Huaisang growled. “Show me the labyrinth already.”

“You’re going to face the labyrinth,” the goblin king said. His voice was very polite, and yet still expressed significant doubt. “You.”

“Yeah, me!”

“You remember that it goes ‘through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered’, right? Not ‘through a nice teacher and a forgiving grading system’?”

“Yeah, well, your father is a fragging aardvark. Let me at the labyrinth already!”

-

“You know what,” Nie Huaisang said thoughtfully. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

The life-sized animated puppet blinked at him. “You – don’t want my help?”

“Nope. I’m good.”

“You haven’t even gotten into the labyrinth yet!”

“It wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t have a chance to get in,” Nie Huaisang said, patting around his sleeve and pulling out a fan. “So I’m just going to walk over and beat at the wall till something happens.”

The puppet followed him, staring blankly. Quite a change from his original apologetic ‘I’m sorry, I’m busy with my own things, I really can’t help you, also it’s too dangerous and you shouldn’t go’ response.

“You were blackmailing me to help you just a moment ago,” the puppet said after a little. “Don’t you need a guide?”

“Listen, I’m bad at memorizing things and I’m a little useless, but I’m not actually dumb,” Nie Huaisang said, fanning himself. “Jin Guangyao is a demon of the mind above all else, and the labyrinth is supposed to be ‘fair’ – which means, more than likely, that the labyrinth is a reflection of the subconscious, specially tailored to each person’s strengths and weaknesses. And that means that you, who sound exactly like Lan Xichen, are almost certainly a set-up sent by Jin Guangyao to ‘reluctantly’ aid me and then betray me.”

“Uh,” Lan Xichen-the-puppet said. “My name’s Hoggle, actually.”

“Whatever makes you feel better, er-ge…A-ha!” Nie Huaisang beamed at the gates that automatically opened. “Perfect!”

-

“Oh, don’t go that way,” the worm said. “Never go that way. And are you sure you don’t want to come in for a cup of tea?”

“No time,” Nie Huaisang said. “Thanks a lot – wait.”

The worm blinked at him.

“You’re a pretty attractive worm, in a slimy sort of way,” Nie Huaisang said, frowning at him.

The worm blinked again. “Why, thanks!”

“No, that’s not what I meant. Is your name Su She, by chance?”

“Definitely not!”

“Mm. Oddly vehement of you. Never mind. Just, quick, could you tell me exactly why do I not want to go that way?”

-

“I don’t suppose straight ahead is an option?”

The hands-faces stared at him.

“I’m just saying, I feel like most of my problems so far have come from the fact that I decided to accept the whole concept of turns. It seems like a mistake.”

“…it’s a labyrinth,” another set of the hands said. “You have to make turns!”

Nie Huaisang shook his head mournfully. “I should’ve brought Baxia or something and just – ZIP. Gone straight through. You know what I mean?”

“I’m dropping you in the oubliette regardless of your decision,” the first set of the hands said. It sounded a bit like Sect Leader Yao. “Just so you know.”

“My life is so hard,” Nie Huaisang sighed. “So hard! Do you know what it’s like to be overlooked by everyone? Do you know how hard I have to work at being this useless?”

“Drop him,” the set of hands that sounded like Sect Leader Ouyang said, and the set of hands that sounded like Sect Leader Yao said, “Yes. Now!”

Down Nie Huaisang went.

-

“I can take you back to the beginning of the labyrinth,” Lan Xichen offered.

“What, and waste all that time? I have a time limit, er-ge!”

“It’s better than being stuck in an oubliette. That’s where they put people to forget about them, you know.”

Nie Huaisang’s eyes filled with tears. “You want to forget me, er-ge? You think I’m useless, don’t you? A good-for-nothing, who’ll never amount to anything –”

“Please don’t cry.”

“ER-GE! WHY DON’T YOU LOVE ME!”

“Please stop crying!”

-

“So what’s the point of you?” Nie Huaisang asked the Wise Man with the Talking Hat.

“Not everyone exists to contribute to your storyline,” the Talking Hat snapped at him. “Some of us’ve got our own problems. Now hand over the candy!”

“Don’t be mean,” the Wise Man said. He had a white cloth over his eyes, and was smiling like he found the hat funny.

“Awww, but daozhang…!”

“Different plotline entirely, I guess,” Nie Huaisang decided. “Probably just here as a foil. Shall we keep going, er-ge?”

“I can’t believe you scammed me to get out of the oubliette,” Lan Xichen mumbled. “I can’t believe…”

-

“Oh, leave him alone, he’s just sensitive!” Nie Huaisang snapped.

“Am not!” the upside-down creature snarled, curled up on itself and trying to hide from all those that had been hitting him. Its fur was a vivid sort of purple. “Go away!”

“Don’t you have some sort of special power to help you here,” Nie Huaisang asked him as he tried to get him down before the goblins came back with weapons. “Rocks, maybe?”

“…lightning?”

“Well then get to it, will you?” Nie Huaisang frowned. “Wait. Lightning, constantly being tormented, terrible at communication, and purple? You’re Jiang Cheng, aren’t you?”

“…maybe.”

“Well then get down faster! I need to copy someone’s notes here!”

-

“Leave me aloooooooone!” Nie Huaisang howled, running away from the measuring snake.

-

“Wow,” Lan Xichen said, holding his cheek. “You kissed me.”

“You saved me from the snakes,” Nie Huaisang said. “Can we focus on how we’re in this awful stinking bog?”

“It’s not that bad!” a voice piped up. “I don’t smell anything!”

Nie Huaisang turned to stare, then pinched the bridge of his nose. “Of course you don’t,” he said. “I bet the total absence of a sense of smell helps when you eat spicy food, Wei-xiong.”

“There’s nothing wrong with spicy food!”

“You’re short,” Nie Huaisang informed the small goblin-like creature with the big grin and the red ribbon in its hair. It looked vaguely fox-like, or possibly like certain large breeds of rabbit.

“Why you..!” Wei Wuxian crossed his furry little paws over his chest. “Just for that, I’m not going to help you.”

“Uh-huh,” Nie Huaisang said. “Really. That’s awful…oh no! A dog!”

Wei Wuxian jumped high into the air. “A dog?! Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan! Save me!”

Much to Nie Huaisang’s surprise, a furry dog immediately darted out of nowhere – only Wei Wuxian didn’t seem afraid of it, but rather hid behind it, teeth chattering.

Truly, Nie Huaisang reflected, the eyes of love are blind.

“I think the ‘dog’ is gone now,” he said. “Your brave and noble Lan Wangji must’ve scared him away.”

Wei Wuxian’s head popped out from behind dog-Wangji. “Well, Lan Zhan is really cool…hey. Are you trying to manipulate me?”

“Is it working?”

“No!”

“So you won’t help me?”

“No!”

“Not even if it means you get to figure out a really tricky puzzle?”

“No – wait. A puzzle?”

“I can’t believe this is going to work,” Lan Xichen muttered from behind Nie Huaisang. “I mean, I can. But also…Wangji…I love you, but you could do so much better than this.”

-

“Ugh,” Nie Huaisang said. “I’m so thirsty.”

“Have some Emperor’s Smile,” Lan Xichen said, offering a jar.

“Amazing,” Nie Huaisang said, accepting it and taking a swing. “I had my doubts, you know, but you’re actually good for something after all, er-ge –”

-

The golden bird was Nie Huaisang’s favorite.

He’d worked so hard to bring it back to his aviary – it couldn’t be forced, he knew; it would play along at first but in the end it would turn on you and bite you. It had to be coaxed with gentleness and kindness, approached indirectly so as not to spook it, convince it that you really did mean well – that you were harmless, that it had no reason to fear you. It was arrogant, too, proud of its shining feathers and ashamed of the brown plumage of its chick days, which still remained visible on its tender underbelly. Ironically, that was Nie Huaisang’s favorite part of it, the soft and gentle part; it might not be as pretty as the gold, but it felt more genuine.

Nie Huaisang smiled as he brushed the beautiful feathers, and the golden bird allowed him. He felt cherished, treasured. So what if he had to hide all the sharp parts of himself to get this close?

It was fine. He didn’t like to be sharp.

He wanted to be soft. Soft and gentle, careless and free, relaxed and without effort, good for nothing –

Wait.

No!

-

“It’s all junk,” Nie Huaisang hissed at the pile of burning fans, tears in his eyes. “I want my da-ge!”

-

“You’re all right!” Wei Wuxian exclaimed, helping pulled Nie Huaisang up.

“Huaisang-xiong,” Jiang Cheng said, looking relieved. “You’re back.”

“We have to go to the temple beyond the Goblin City,” Nie Huaisang said, teeth gritted together. “We have to. I won’t let that bastard…we’re going to go there and throw all his damned tricks right in his face!”

“Just us?” Wei Wuxian asked. “I mean, I’m awesome, Lan Zhan is fantastic, and of course Jiang Cheng is great, too, but…uh…there’s a lot of goblins in the city.”

“We’ll sneak in,” Nie Huaisang said. “He thinks he’s sidelined me entirely – he thinks I’m useless. He won’t be expecting me to get this far.”

“I can get help,” Jiang Cheng said. “I have friends.”

“…not to be rude, Jiang-xiong,” Nie Huaisang said. “But – really?”

-

“You know what,” Nie Huaisang said, eyeing the pile of rocks following Jiang Cheng around, each one painted with a name. One of the names was yellow. Two were in white, with forehead ribbons. “This is fine. I feel like it says something really rude about my empathy for and interest in our junior generation, or lack thereof, but you know what? I don’t care. It’s fine.”

-

“You saved me,” Nie Huaisang said blankly, looking at Lan Xichen, who shrugged, abashed. The remains of the mechanical temple guard were scattered all over. “Over – him?”

“Huaisang –”

“No,” Nie Huaisang said, holding up his hands. “Don’t. Don’t…I don’t want to hear you talk.”

Lan Xichen’s head dropped down and he looked at the ground. “You knew from the beginning what I was like,” he murmured. “I never tried to hide it –”

“I forgive you for being what you are,” Nie Huaisang told him, and Lan Xichen looked up at him, startled and pleased. “I forgive you for not having the backbone to stand up against Jin Guangyao for me – or for da-ge. For being willfully blind for so long, for needing someone else’s proof of his ill-intentions, for always picking him first, for never trusting me…I forgive you, even if you’d never forgive me for the same.”

He dashed away the angry tears in his eyes.

“I just wish this wasn’t a fucking metaphor.”

-

Nie Huaisang left the fighting to the people who knew what to do – Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, Jiang Cheng, even the rock-juniors – and went to the temple at the center of the city alone.

Some things, he knew, needed to be done alone, even if it was the type of alone when you were surrounded by other people. Even when those other people stood by his side and made him promise that if he needed them, he would only need to call. Some things…

“I want my da-ge back,” he said to the maze of stairs.

“Then go and find him,” Jin Guangyao replied, looking smug, and Nie Huaisang had to go up and down all those fucking stairs, because Jin Guangyao was nothing if not predictable with his trauma, looking all over, looking for –

Looking for pieces.

“It’s just a metaphor,” he whispered to himself, ignoring how tears were streaming down his face. “It’s just – I need to put him back together, it’s fine. I’m not too late – I’m not too late –”

-

Jin Guangyao held Nie Mingjue’s head in his hands, blinded and gagged and bound with talismans, pulled out of whatever oubliette he'd shoved it into to forget about what he'd done. “Beware, Huaisang,” he said, still smiling. Always smiling. “I’ve been generous up until now, but I can be cruel.”

Nie Huaisang laughed, scoffing. “Generous? What have you done for me that’s generous?”

“Everything! Everything you’ve wanted, I’ve done – I cared for you, I gave you attention, I got you out of work, doing your schoolwork for you and coming up with excuses to get you out of saber training. I gave you presents, fans and pretty clothing, and when that brute of a brother of yours tried to take them from you, I rescued you. And then I even managed your sect for you, answered all of your questions, any time you had – Huaisang, I’m exhausted trying to live up to your expectations of me. Isn’t that generous?”

Nie Huaisang bared his teeth. “Half of those are burdens that only fell on me because of you. Why should it matter to me that cleaning up your own mess and satisfying your own guilt is hard? Why should I pay such a price when all I wanted was to be your friend? When all da-ge wanted was to be your friend? How dare you, Meng Yao!”

“Huaisang…” Jin Guangyao shook his head mournfully. “Huaisang, the last step here is to say the words to break the spell. But you were never good at memorization, were you?”

Nie Huaisang bit his lip until he drew blood.

“Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered,” he said. “I have fought my way here to the temple beyond the goblin city –”

“Huaisang, stop! Look at what you’re risking here. You know how everyone loves me – do you think anyone will forgive you for taking me down, for tricking them all? You’ll be all alone!”

I already am, Nie Huaisang thought.

“My will is as strong as yours,” he said. “And my kingdom is as great…”

His voice trailed off.

“I ask for so little,” Jin Guangyao said beseechingly, convincingly, looking just like he always did, like the man who'd been their friend. “Just let me fool you, and you can have anything you want. No responsibilities, no stress, a life of your own. You can even have Lan Xichen, if that’s what you want…”

What’s the last line, Nie Huaisang thought, hating himself for being such a poor student, for cramming things into his mind without any order, for never being able to retain a single drop of it no matter how hard he tried. What is it? Why can’t I ever remember?

“It’d be so easy,” Jin Guangyao crooned. “Much easier than this. Just fear me, love me, believe me, and I’ll be your slave.”

Sharp teeth in a false smile.

Nie Huaisang shook in terror. He couldn’t – his da-ge needed him – he couldn’t be afraid, couldn’t be a coward, couldn’t be good-for-nothing – couldn’t let Jin Guangyao win – couldn’t let him –

That was it.

Nie Huaisang raised his head until his eyes met his enemy’s.

Sensing something wrong, Jin Guangyao’s eternal smile dimmed, and he began to step forward, reaching out, but it was too late.

“You have no power over me,” Nie Huaisang declared, and the world within a world collapsed.

-

Nie Huaisang opened his eyes.

-

Nie Huaisang sat in his desk in the Unclean Realm, trying to amuse himself by trying to figure out what exactly he’d eaten the night before that had given him such bizarre dreams. It was not successful, on account of him being alone.

Alone, just as he had been every night, and every day as well, since the success of his scheme at the Guanyin Temple.

Just as the dream-Jin Guangyao had threatened.

It wasn’t that Nie Huaisang regretted what he had done – the dream was clear enough about that; he’d do it all again in a heartbeat if he had to. But in the dream he’d been working alongside his former friends, with Lan Xichen betraying but then returning to him, with Wei Wuxian dragging Lan Wangji around, with stone-faced Jiang Cheng and the rather interchangeable junior squad behind him…and in his dream, in the end, they’d let him go to take his revenge, telling him that if he needed them for any reason, he could just call.

Just call, and they’d come back to him. Instead of turning from him in disgust, they’d stand by his side…

“Stupid subconscious,” Nie Huaisang mumbled to himself. “What do you expect? That I'd write to them and say ‘for no real reason at all, I find that I rather need you’?”

Silence answered him.

“Well, I do,” he said with a sigh, putting his chin on his hands. “Does that make you happy? I do need you.”

“You do?” Wei Wuxian’s voice rang out, and Nie Huaisang jumped nearly out of his skin. “Well, why didn’t you say so?”

Nie Huaisang turned, staring: it was Wei Wuxian at the door, the human version of him, and of course there was Lan Wangji right before him, and Jiang Cheng, and the (still mostly interchangeable) juniors, and – and even Lan Xichen, who Nie Huaisang was sure had gone into seclusion with no intent to leave.

“What are you doing here?” Nie Huaisang squeaked. And why hadn’t any of his sect disciples warned him?

“We just bullied our way though the door before anyone could stop us,” Wei Wuxian said cheerfully, answering the unspoken question first. “As for the rest – it turns out that I had the strangest dream the other night, really, truly bizarre, and obviously I had to tell Lan Zhan all about it, except it turned out he had a strange dream too.”

Nie Huaisang’s jaw dropped. “But –”

“I felt da-ge’s qi woven into the labyrinth,” Lan Xichen said quietly. “I thought it’d have long ago dissipated or been locked away, but – it was there, in every stone, in every turn. Every obstacle that didn’t really hurt you, every goblin that was more silly than scary…he was there. It was unmistakable.”

Nie Huaisang swallowed. The story of the labyrinth, baby-stealing wish-granting goblin king and all, had been one that Nie Mingjue had told him as a bedtime story, when he'd been a child in need of comfort; he hadn’t thought of it in years before last night. “But…why…?”

“Because Chifeng-zun has a demented sense of humor?” Jiang Cheng suggested, looking irritated.

“Jiujiu means that he hasn’t had that much fun in years, and also that you should throw a party,” Jin Ling said. “You are hosting all three of the sect leaders of all the other Great Sects. Also, why were we rocks?”

“Uh, no idea,” Nie Huaisang said. “Da-ge’s weird sense of humor, no doubt! Anyway, did you say party? I can do a party!”

He rushed out of the room, calling for his servants, calling for them to bring food and wine and tea, and as he did, he looked out of the window – a golden bird was flying away, looking hunted as if something was chasing it, and even as he watched, it crossed the borders of the Unclean Realm and suddenly dissolved into a fizzle of golden dust.

Nie Huaisang put his hand on the stone wall, and felt a familiar echo.

A very familiar echo.

“Oh,” he said, to his servants, feeling somehow simultaneously sheepish and filled with joy. “And while you’re at it, can you bring me my saber? I seem to have – misplaced it…”

[caker-baker]

The Loop - Pt. 1

At exactly 4:13 in the afternoon, the world would end.

At exactly 6:00 in the morning, it would start again.

At exactly 6:01, the villain would realize the loop started again, and scream.

This was the 48th loop, and the twentieth scream.

“Morning, boss.” Some poor fool chirped happily.

“Good morning for coffee.” The poor fool said.

“Good morning for coffee.” The villain said.

The fool dropped the cup they were carrying.

“I know what you’re going to say next.” Coolly, the villain was on their feet, walking towards the unfortunate henchmen. “Sorry, boss. I’ll get that cleaned up. Is there anything else you need?”

The henchman chuckled, chalking it up their boss’s need to know every possible outcome. Besides, they had been here a while now, maybe the boss just picked up on their mannerisms.

It didn’t stop the feeling of fear as the villain strolled off, their frustration evident.

For the villain, that was the fifth time they had scared the henchman like that. Each time it was amusing.

Less amusing was their situation.

The villain had no clue what to do, if they had to set something right, or complete a mission. They had fun with it the first few times around, setting and resetting the narrative. After that it got repetitive, no matter what the villain did.

Once they went on a crime bender, a few casualties, a couple millions worth of money gone - and it was all to see how long it would take to be caught.

They did a different string of crimes the next loop, only to be caught in the same amount of time.

The next time, with different crimes, the hero showed up. That was what the villain wanted this loop, however, they would use a different method.

The villain skipped out on public crimes this time, choosing instead a public declaration - the hero for the safety of the citizens. If the hero didn’t give themselves up, the city would go boom. It wouldn’t be destroyed at the villain’s hands, however. Whatever blast happened at 4:13 would be the culprit, but no one needed to know that yet.

At 7:30, the announcement was made.

It was humiliating, threatening the hero’s beloved city, only to turn around and ask for help.

The fact remained, there was nowhere else to go. However helpful the henchmen were, the villain was the brains behind every operation, they were just the muscle. Going to any sort of government official always lead to immediate arrest, no matter how unthreatening the villain was. The hero was the only one they trusted to take them seriously, as horrifyingly defeating it was to admit that.

It was only an hour wait before the hero got to them.

“Alright, I’m here, no weapons, no powers-”

“Spare me your speech.” The villain groaned, swiveling in their chair. “Want anything? Water, soda?”

The hero, who was fully expecting a base of henchmen ready to grab them, only blinked.

“Uh, what?”

“Suit yourself.” The villain mumbled. “Take a seat.”

There was another chair opposite the villain, one the hero didn’t move towards.

“What is this?” They asked.

“Fine, fine.” The villain stood up, stretching king arms. “Right down to business then. Ever heard of a time loop?”

The hero furrowed their eyebrows, cautioning a step towards the villain. “What’s your game? You feeling ok?”

“Would you just listen?” Hands were clenched tightly together. There were only seven hours and thirty minutes left, which would be a lot if the hero could shut up.

“Ever heard of a time loop?” The villain asked again.

“I’m familiar with the concept.”

“Great, we have our work cut out for us then.” As much as they didn’t want to admit it, they were relived by the hero’s knowledge, even if it wasn’t much.

“I’m sorry?”

With wide eyes, the villain raised a finger. “Listen.”

The hero almost opened their mouth, but didn’t after glancing at the villain’s somewhat frazzled form, instead letting the villain continue.

“The world ends in seven hours. At 4:13 to be precise.” There were no cushioned words to ease the blow of what the villain said. “It has ended at 4:13 forty something times now. Maybe forty five, I’ve lost count.”

Clearly dejected, the villain let themselves deflate back on the chair. In shock, the hero copied them.

“I hate coming to you, but I hate this even more.” The villain admitted. “I think you can help.”

The hero replied with a raised eyebrow. “How, exactly?”

Exasperated, the villain threw their hands in the air. “I don’t know, you’re the hero. I’m not meant to go through things like this!”

“Ok.” The hero’s voice was slow. “Ok. How do I know you aren’t lying?”

Tired eyes shot to the hero, the rolling chair moving towards them.

“Look at me.” The villain commanded. “I am practically begging you. If you get us through this, I will literally do anything you want.” A lie, but that’s what villainy was good for. “I will give you anything you want. Money? Power? Annoying government authority gone?”

“Alright, I get your point.” The hero sighed, a sudden strain in their voice. “The world really ends?”

“Yeah. More annoyingly, not by my hand.” The villain scoffed at their half joke.

With a heavy heart, the hero stood again, hating that the villain had come to them as a last resort.

“Then let’s go save it.”

[honeydew-mel0n]

Can I request Vergil chaperoning his daughter at her prom dance? Thank you! 🙏🏼

So, remember what I said about writing a semi-soft Dadgil? I got really excited to write Dadgil (that isn't the fucking dadV sequel) and this concept is so funny to me but,,,,,, this was a little difficult. I don't actually know anything about dads, or prom.

But!!!!! Thanks for the request!

Dad!Vergil × Daughter! Reader (chaperoneing her junior/senior prom)

Last Dance of the Night

“Are you sure you can’t do it?”

You whisper into the mouthpiece of the phone, shooting glances up the stairs, being able to catch a glimpse of your father straightening himself up in the hallway mirror. “No can do, I know it’s really important, and I'd love to be there but- Hey!” 

You jolt back at the sound of your brother's voice through the phone, once again looking up the stairs to check if he heard the loud squabbling coming through the phone. He’s frozen in place, trying to assess something. Before pushing back his hair.

“Anyway, look Bug, I can't. I'm busy.” A sigh leaves your lips as your shoulders slump. “You’re useless.” “HEY-” 

You hang up, quickly dialing another number on the rotary. You listen to it dial, half expecting him not to pick up, but it clicks and there's a hefty sigh from the other end. “Devil May Cry.” “Hey, Uncle Dante. I, uh, need your help.” “What happened?”

You tap your foot on the carpet. “Sooooo, prom being tonight, I checked the list of parent chaperones who signed up. And…. Dad's name was there.” There’s silence on the other end for a good minute before a roar of laughter. “Please, you could show up for him, and don’t even have to stay. Sign in, then sneak out the back door. They’ll see that you’ve already signed in and won’t let him in.” 

As the laughter continues on and your hope dies, why did you ever think you could rely on your family? The hair on the back of your neck shoots straight up. Oh no. You slam the phone down and turn on your heel. Trying your best to pull a smile that didn’t show how scared you are. 

“Hey dad.” His face is blank, there’s no sign of anger. “It’s getting late, shouldn’t you be on your way already?” You nod, swallowing hard and trying to find an excuse.

“Just made a quick call to Nero. Big day, he’s really excited for me. I really should get going though…” He just nods, wrapping a lace shawl around your shoulders. You drop the nervous smile and a real one forms, his thumb rubbing the fabric gently. “You look lovely.”

“Thanks Daddy.” You hop onto your tiptoes, and he leans down just slightly. You press a kiss to his cheek. 

You slip out the front door waving a goodbye, knowing full well he was watching you from the window. It didn’t take much power walking to escape his view before ducking into your date's porch. Quickly checking to see if you were followed before you decided to knock. 

Their mom opens the door, a delighted smile splits her face. “Oh my gosh Honey! You look so pretty!” She welcomes you in, taking you to their living room. Quickly hurring off to get her child. Looking over their happy family photos you smile melancholy. 

There are loud footsteps, and your date stops abruptly, jaws going slack. “Wow…”

-

You both wave goodbye to their mom as you walk to the overcrowded gym. The staff stand in a row on each side of the door, screaming and cheering as all of the students make their ways inside. 

You cringe as teachers in their 40’s fake enthusiasm, their only real joy being that most of you will soon either be gone for the summer and the others leaving at the end of the year and be some college professor's problem. Your eyes scan the room before ducking behind a wave of people. “*Babe, what the hell?” “My dad.” 

Their eyes widen as they look through the crowd, finding him quickly before returning their gaze to you. “Why didn’t you tell me before?” your face warms. “I was caught up in the moment!” You two try to walk casually to a table and sit down.

God the decor was bad.

If you’ve ever seen the 70’s version of Carrie, where the prom decor was aggressively cheap and 70’s… That, but worse. The gym still smells like last week's basketball game, and no plug in air freshener is going to erase that. 

Kinda smells like your uncle's shop. 

You both keep your heads down. “What did you tell him?” “Last week I told him that I didn’t have a date, and that I was going with a group of friends because we all couldn’t get dates.” They narrow their eyes. “Babe, why?”

“He pretends he doesn’t but… he worries a whole lot about me. I knew he’d stalk you if I told him the truth. But hey, you aren't a boy, so maybe he won’t react badly.” Their eyes widen and you shiver, it’s that icy stare you know all too well. They swallow, before straightening their collar. “What about our plan to sneak out?” 

You look around at the four different doors. “We’ll find a way, give it an hour.” 

“I figured out a way to get out, but I do want to dance with you first. I just need to use the bathroom first, wait for me, okay?” you nod and watch as they walk past a crowd of people and seemingly disappear.  

The lights dim and time passes, things eventually become more lax. You wanted to move around to try and get a escape path (and to experience what you can of prom), but your date refuses to get up at all, especially to dance and make something of the time you have.

They clear their throat and start to get up, leaning down and whispering. 

And you wait. 

And wait, and wait. Maybe, maybe they did disappear. Looking over the groups and couples dancing, and those who were still sitting like you, they were nowhere. Not in here at least. You sigh, sinking down in the uncomfortable metal chair. 

More time passes, and nothing. You start to wish you’d just gone with some friends, maybe then you wouldn’t have gotten ditched and actually had a good time. 

The clock ticks on, and it's becoming more obvious that the staff are getting ready to kick everyone out. The D.J. has been playing straight slow songs for the past 20 minutes, and you’ve had to watch couples and friends slow dance together and two people get crowned king and queen.

You tried your best to seem happy, like you were enjoying yourself. 

Pulling out your phone you see a notification from your dates account. They posted 7 minutes ago. It’s a video of them and their friends fucking around outside of a conveniance store in prom suits and dresses. You feel yourself tear up, slouching lower in the chair. The lights and people become blurry, c’mon, you don’t want to cry. 

A hand comes to rest on your shoulder, you look over your shoulder to see your father looking down at you. “Y/n.” “Hey Dad.” You say, no longer having anything to hide. Not that you can hide anything from him for long. 

He takes the seat your date had, lips pressed shut in a permanent scowl, just like normal. It didn’t scare you, that's just him. “It seems your companion abandoned you.” You scoff, pulling up your shawl. “Yeah…” “You’re upset.” “That obvious?” 

You laugh at your own joke. If he’d been your brother, he would’ve laughed too. But he sits there awkwardly, not knowing how to comfort you in this situation. “They couldn’t even give me one dance before they left me either.”

The current song playing stops and you can hear a few people whine at the idea that the next would be the last of the night. 

A hand is extended to you, your fathers, he stands waiting. It's not an option, it's a demand. You take it, getting up and following him.

The song starts and he starts to dance, but you trip over yourself. Stepping on his feet several times. 

“Sorry… I forgot how to dance.”

Both remembering too-small tiaras being shoved in his hair, little feet with sparkly plastic princess slippers on his, and a random song playing in the background. Trying desperately to teach you how to dance after you’d begged him to. 

Forgot.

You watch him smile, just slightly. The darkness giving him the anonymity to do so.

He never did, but you had so much fun. 

“That's fine, just do what you used to.” 

You step onto his feet, making you move the same as him. A question burns under your skin before you chew your lip. “You’re not mad at me?” “For?” “Lying about who I went with.” There’s a low growl like sigh. “We will deal with that later.” 

You nod, not worrying about it now. Resting your head on his chest, closing your eyes, tears streaming down your face now... All of what happened melts away, the safety of your father makes it go away. He always does. 

[davidmann95]

Sooo… Superman and the Authority?

magnus-king123 asked: Your thoughts on Superman & the authority Give it to me...lol

Anonymous asked: Seeing Bezos take his little trip into space the same day Morrison puts out a Superman comic that touches on how far we’ve fallen from the days when we dreamed of utopian futures where everyone explored the stars was a big gut punch. Not used to Superman being topical in that way.

Anonymous asked: What'd you think of Superman and the Authority#1?

This is far beyond what I can fit in the normal weekly reviews, so taking this as my notes on the first six pages, with this and this as my major lead-in thoughts:

* Janin's such a perfect fit for Morrison - the scale, the power, the facial expressions selling the character work, the screwing around with the panel formatting as necessary to sell the effect, the numinous sense of things going on larger than you can fully perceive amidst the beauty and chaos. It's a shame he wasn't around 25 years ago to draw JLA, but I'll take him going with Morrison onto other future projects.

* His intro action sequence is such a great demonstration of why Black actually does have something to offer, and also how he's such a dumbass desperately needing Superman to save him from himself.

* While Jordie Bellaire didn't legit go with an entirely monochromatic palate the way early previews suggested, it's still an effect frequently and excellently deployed here. And glad to see Steve Wands carry into this from Blackstars since there's such an obvious carryover from its work with Superman.

* "Gentlemen. Ladies. Others." Great both because of the obvious - hey, Superman's nodding at me! - and because it's a phrasing that reinforces that this take on him (and let's be real Morrison) is old as hell.

* I'm mostly past caring about whether this is an alt-Earth Superman until it becomes indisputable one way or another, this and Action both rule so what does it really matter? But while there are still a couple signs in play suggesting some kind of division (the Action Comics #1036 cover, Midnighter up to time-travel shenanigans) the "lost in time" quote clearly thrown in after the fact to explain how he could have met Kennedy outside of 5G that wouldn't be necessary for an Elseworlds, the assorted gestures towards Superman's current status quo, the Kingdom Come symbol appearing in Action, and that Morrison would have had to completely rewrite the ending if this wasn't supposed to be 'the' version of Clark Kent going forward as was the intent when they first planned it all say to me that no, no fooling around, this is our guy going forward one way or another.

* Janin and Bellaire making the first version of the crystal Fortress ever that actually looks as cool as you want it to.

Anonymous asked: I like that Superman and The Authority is basically the anti-All-Star; instead of the laid back, immortal Superman who is supercharged, we have a stressed, ageing Superman whose tremendous powers are fading. The former will always be there to save us, but the latter is running out of time and needs to pull off a Hail Mary. Also, he mentions in his monologue to Black that he was "lost in time" when he met JFK, so maybe he is the main continuity Clark. Or he's the t-shirt Supes from Sideways.

* You're absolutely right - the power reversal is obvious and the ticking clock in play seemingly isn't for his own survival but everyone around him as he wakes up and realizes all the old icons grew complacent with the gains they'd made and he's not leaving behind the world he meant to. Both, however, are built on the idea of preparing the world to not need them anymore - it'll still have a Superman in his son, but that'll only work because of the others he empowers and inspires. The question is what happens to Clark if he's not going to live in the sun for 83000 years.

* Clark's 'exercise' here does more to sell me on the idea of Old Man Superman as a cool idea than however many decades of Earth 2 stuff.

* Intergang being noted alongside Darkseid and Doomsday speaks to how much Kirby informed Morrison's conception of Superman.

* This isn't exactly the most progressive in its disability politics but at least it makes clear Black's being a piece of shit about it.

* It's startling how much Clark can get away with saying stuff in here you'd never expect to come out of Superman's mouth. "I made an executive decision" "Privacy, really...?" "You have nowhere to go, Black. Nothing to live for." "There are few people in my life who I instinctively and viscerally dislike, and you've always been one of them." It only works because there's zero aggression behind it, he's just past the point of niceties and being totally frank while making clear none of these assessments preclude that he cares and is going to unconditionally do the right thing every time. He is absolutely, per Morrison, humanity's dad picking us up when we're too drunk to drive ourselves home.

* The story doesn't put a big flashing light over it, but it's not even a little bit subtle having the material threat of the issue be a ticking timebomb left by the carelessness and hubris of generations past.

* Manchester keeps trying to poke the bear and prove his hot takes about Superman and it's just not working. The front he put up under Kelley is gone after decades of defeats, and as Morrison understands what actually conceptually works about him as a rival to Superman underneath the aging nerd paranoia he's exposed as what he absolutely would be in 2021: a dude with a horrific terminal case of Twitter brainworms. I was PANICKED when I heard there was an 'offensive term' joke in this, I was braced for Morrison at their well-meaning worst, but it's such a goddamn perfect encapsulation of a very specific breed of Twitter leftist who uses their politics first and foremost as a cudgel and justification to label their abrasive, judgmental shittiness as self-righteousness (plus it's a killer payoff to a joke from way back in his original appearance). Cannot believe they pulled that off when they're so very, very open about basically not knowing how the internet works.

* @charlottefinn: Manchester Black using his telekinetic powers to force someone he hates to fave a problematic tweet so that he can screenshot it and start a dogpile

@intergalactic-zoo: “Once they cancel Bibbo, Superman won’t be *anyone’s* fav’rit anymore!”

* Friend noted this issue had to be fully the conversation because the whole premise stands on the house of cards of these two somehow working together, and with three 'silent' inset panels the creative team pulls off that turning point.

* So much of this feels on the surface like Morrison bringing back the All-Star vibes with Clark, but when he drops a "That's all you got?" in a brawl you realize what's underlining that bluntness and confidence in the face of failure is that deep down this is still the Action guy too. This dude ain't gonna get wrecked in his Fortress while the other guy chuckles about him being A SOFT WEE SCIENTIST'S SON!

* Bringing up Jor-El made me realize that Morrison already spelled out that this is the final threat to Superman, what he faces at the end of the road:

"Now it's your turn, Superman."

* A l'il Superman 2000/All-Star reference with the Phantom Zone map!

* There's so much intertextuality going on here even by Morrison standards - Change or Die with the old hero putting together a team of morally nebulous folks out to 'fix' everything, Flex Mentallo with the muscleman trying to redeem the punk, Doomsday Clock with the fate of the world hinging on whether Superman can get through to a meta stand-in for an idea of 'modern' comics cynicism, DKR and New Frontier and Kingdom Come and Multiversity and Seven Soldiers and What's So Funny and All-Star and Action and the last 5 years of monthly Superman comics and Authority and probably Jupiter's Legacy and Tom Strong - but none of that's needed. You could go in with the baseline pop cultural understanding of the character and not care about any of the inside baseball shit and get that this is a story about a leader of a generation that let down the people they made all their grand promises to as inertia and day-to-day demands and complacency let him be satisfied with the accomplishments they'd made long ago, looking at a new era and seeing the ways its own activists are dropping the ball. The only thing that fundamentally matters in a "you have to accept you're reading a superhero story" sense is that because he's Superman he's willing to own up to it and listen to people who might know better about some things and try to set things right while he and those who'll take his place still have a chance. And yes, the oldster looking back on their legacy with a skeptical eye and hoping for better from the next generation, hoping most of all that their little heir apparent can fulfill the promise inside of him instead of being a provocating little shitkicker, is obviously also autobiographical.

* The overlaying Kennedy reprisal is such a great visual of a sudden intrusive thought.

* The Kryptonite secret is the obvious "This is going to matter!" moment, but "He lied about his son" is a bit that doesn't connect to anything going on right now so maybe that's important here too? More significantly, the Justice League can't actually be the villains here but that Ultra-Humanite's crew are in an Earth-orbiting satellite makes pretty clear what's up.

* I've said before that between Superman, OMAC, and a New Gods-affiliated speedster this was going to use all of Morrison's favorite things. King Arthur playing a role isn't exactly dissuading me.

* Love the idea that all the antiheroes have their own community in the same way as the capes and tights crew. They definitely all privately think the rest are posers though and that they alone are Garth Ennis Punisher in a mob of Garth Ennis Wolverines.

* Manchester's fallen so far he's gone from trying to convince Superman to kill to convince him to dunk on people for their bad takes and Clark just doesn't get it. Official prediction of dialogue for upcoming issues:

"According to these bloody Fortress scans, the only thing that can restore your powers is an unfiltered hit of dopamine. Don't worry, Doctor Black has a few ideas."

"Hmm. Maybe I'll plant a nice tree?"

"...fuck you."

* Ok I already talked about how great the Fortress looks in here but LOVE this library.

* A pair of pages this seems like the right spot to discuss from Black's original appearance that underlines both his and Superman's inadequacies up to this point:

Responding to the problem of "the government and penal system are hopelessly corrupt" neither of them has any actual notion of what to do about it in spite of their respective posturing beyond how to handle individual outside actors - each is in their own way every bit as small-minded and reactionary as the other. Clark's coming around though, and he's holding out hope for the other guy.

* Superman: Have a lovely mineral water :) proper hydration is important :)

Manchester Black: *Is a dude who can get so mad he vomits and passes out. At water.*

* That last page is the one to beat for the year, and does more to put over the idea of this as an Authority book than that Midnighter and Apollo are literally going to show up. It also feels like Morrison tacitly acknowledging all the ways the premise could go or at least be received wrong - from Superman saying 'enough is enough' to who he's bringing into the fold to go about it - in the most beautifully on-the-nose fashion imaginable. Maybe they'll save us all! Or maybe they'll drown us in their vomit.

[teenagegoldrush]

Prayers

words: 2,866

MASTERLIST Season Two

A/N: I do not claim to, nor do I own Outer Banks; the concept, characters, plot, etc

DAYS AFTER JOHN B: ELEVEN

The next morning, Kie picked them up for school.

Going to school was a chore. Waking up early, having to pay attention, spending eight hours inside when the weather was perfectly nice, having to socialize with people other than her friends, it was a bore.

That being said, despite her distaste from school, she knew she’d have to graduate in order to get out. Which meant, Andy actually kept up on her grades. She did her homework, studied for tests, and did the bare-minimum participation.

Her grades were nowhere up to par with Pope, that boy just had natural aptitude, but she was passing, and that was all she needed to get her diploma.

Today, there was a test in history, Mr. Sunn stood, monitoring them as they all focused, silently, answering question after question.

The door to the classroom opening, broke everyone from their trances. “Mr. Sunn, can I borrow Pope for a minute?”

At the mention of Pope’s name, Andy looked up. She didn’t recognize the man.

Mr. Sunn stood, walking over to the man. “We’re in the middle of a test.”

“I’m from the Vanderhorst Foundation.”

Those words convinced Mr. Sunn. “Mr. Heyward, it’s for you.” He said, giving Pope permission to exit the room.

Pope rose from his seat, quietly leaving the room, the random man following him. Andy returned to her test, but in just a few minutes, Pope returned, frantically walking back to his seat, and envelope in his hand.

Right behind him, Kie whispered. “What was that?”

Wordlessly, Pope turned around, showing them the envelope, which was closed with a wax seal, and entrapment of a bundle of wheat stamped into it.

Andy’s eyes widened. Holy shit.

“What the f-“ JJ said, seemingly at the top of his lungs. He noticed Mr. Sunn staring at him, annoyed. “Fudge. What the fudge.” He corrected himself.

Pope shook his head. “Talk later.” He whispered, placing the envelope back on his desk and returning to his work.

After history, they all had free period, and decided to spend it in the library, the safest and most internet-accessible place in the school.

Every question JJ or Kie had, Pope ignored, trudging through the groups of students to the library. “Am I gonna have to beat you with your protractor? What is going on?” JJ asked, agitated that Pope was not answering him.

“Sh!” The librarian scolded them upon arrival.

“Seriously, Pope you’re driving me insane.” Kie agreed as they all sat down in the computer area.

“Okay, so that guy was from the scholarship committee. Take a look at this.” Pope handed Kie the letter, but JJ intercepted. “Read it.”

“Out loud.” Kie said.

JJ peered down at the paper, the girls patiently waiting for him to read it. “I can’t read cursive.”

Andy’s shoulders dropped, leaning over and plucking the letter out of his hands. “Dear Mr. Heyward, I am reaching out because I have material evidence that could exonerate John B Routledge. It is of vital importance that you come and meet with me at my offices at twenty-seven King Street, Charleston, eight P.M sharp, tonight. Please come alone. Regards, C Limbrey.”

“Charleston?” JJ said.

“That’s like an eight-hour drive, plus the ferry.” Pope agreed, pacing back and forth. “How would we get there tonight?”

“We’d have to leave right now.” JJ answered, actually contemplating the insane idea. “And material evidence? What does that even mean?”

“It means she can clear John B.” Kie replied.

“Oh shit, then we’re going to Charleston!” JJ grinned.

Kie sighed. “I gotta tell my mom.”

“You in?” Pope turned to Andy, who hadn’t spoken much during the conversation.

“Got nobody at home waiting for me.” She replied, spinning herself in the desk chair.

“If we get it this time, we are not giving it to Shoupe.” Kie said.

Beside her, Pope was bent over a computer, typing away. “I’m not sure, but I think whoever this Limbrey person is, they might be related to the Captain of the Royal Merchant.”

Andy squinted, leaning under Pope’s arm to look at the picture. “Big John had his portrait in his office.”

Pope nodded. “So this person who wrote the letter, is most-likely related to the captain of the Royal Merchant, and she wants to discuss freeing John B with me?” He repeated back to himself.

JJ shrugged, clapping Pope on the shoulder. “I say we go.”

Pope jumped from JJ’s smack, looking down at Andy for confirmation. “Ya’ll are the ones with parents that care where you are, not me. I vote yes.”

He then looked at Kie. “It’ll take some convincing, but I think I can get away with it. After all, it’s only one night.”

With that, they all left school, they had to sneak out, through the doors by the pool in the basement.

They made it to Kie’s car, and they were off to pack overnight bags. First stop was JJ’s, he was in and out in less than five minutes, even though his dad wasn’t home (That was another story in itself).

Next was Andy’s, she grabbed a few random things, some snacks, portable charger, a blanket, the necessities for a road trip.

Then they headed to Pope’s, where they split off into two separate cars, the boys in Heyward’s truck, the girls in Kie’s car, and they met at Kie’s, where they were to leave her car.

Kie sighed, turning the car off. “Just beware, this probably won’t go down without a fight.”

“I won’t ask.” Andy shook her head, getting out of the car.

“Good, don’t.” Kie followed her. “Not worth the hassle.”

Andy tossed her backpack in the back of the truck, hopping inside next to JJ. “What’s going on?” He asked, questioning why Andy didn’t follow her inside.

“It’s not gonna be quick, and they’re gonna argue, so I figured I’d be better off just staying here.” Andy shrugged. “Just don’t push it, especially when she comes back, alright?”

“Yes ma’am.” JJ nodded, sliding further in the seat next to Pope. The two of them chit-chatted while they waited for Kie.

After a few minutes, Kie and her parents stood on the steps, just ahead of them, and Anna looked angry. “So how’d you get this rig, cause I know your old man didn’t let you have it?”

“I undid the intake valves on the carburetor, made it start pinging.” Pope replied.

“And now you’re gonna take it to cousin Jeff’s house, get it fixed… crash overnight.” JJ talked through the hypothetical plan, and Pope nodded.

“Mama’s letting you stay out on a school night?” Andy snickered, imagining Pope’s mom’s face when she found out the truth.

“I think we’re rubbing off on you Pope.” JJ smiled slyly. “Lying to your old man, stealing his truck. Kinda sounds familiar.” JJ laughed, looking over at Pope, who had no reaction to his prior statement. “Alright, sore subject, my bad-“

“I’d say we have about eighteen hours before he absolutely looses his shit.” Pope turned to look at them. “So as long as we get it back before then, I think we’re good-“

The sound of Kie’s voice yelling, interrupted Pope.

Andy looked up, seeing her coming down the steps towards the car. She slid over, opening the door for her.

“Look at your life!” Her dad was yelling.

Andy ducked her head out the door, smiling and waving at him. “Nice to see you Mr. C.”

Kie swatted at her, sliding into the seat next to her. The four of them were absolutely squished, thigh-to-thigh, no room for personal space.

“Hi, ma’am, sir. I promise to have your daughter back at a reasonable hour and safe.” Pope waved out his window.

“What are you doing?” Kie asked, hand on her door.

“Kiara, listen to me, you wanna go? Then go. But if you don’t come back at the proper time, then don’t come back at all!” Anna shouted, causing Kie to slam the door shut.

“She’s bluffin’.” JJ said, wiggling his arm out from beside him to wrap around Andy’s shoulder.

Kie sighed. “This shit would be so much easier without parents.”

Andy raised her eyebrows, looking at her. “Careful what you wish for, girlfriend.”

The drive to the ferry was a short and quiet one, the four of them staking out in the back of Heyward’s truck as they crossed to the mainland.

“I can’t handle it anymore! Boarding school? They seriously want to send me to a boarding school!” Kie groaned, propping herself up in the truck bed. “My parents are so paranoid of me being a Pogue like it’s the worst thing that could ever happen.”

“Hey, I hear they got good weed at boarding school though.” JJ grinned, seated atop the truck, literally, on top of it, a joint in his hand.

“I’m not going to boarding school!” Kie snapped back. “They’re gonna have to kidnap me, tie me up and throw me in a van. Cause I’m not going.”

Andy nodded in agreement, tucked in the adjacent corner of the truck bed. That’s the only way she’d get to a boarding school, that and she’d have to have parents that actually cared about her, and had money.

JJ hopped down from his seat, lighting the joint. “Well I say, we just crumble some herb right now, worry about the rest tomorrow.” He handed it to Kie.

“Hey Kie, have you tried to hit John B back that number yet?” Pope asked, standing outside of the truck.

“Like twenty-million times.” She replied, taking a hit.

“That’s quite a few times.” JJ nodded, taking it back from her.

“Some random lady at a hotel keeps answering.”

“Well, until we hear from him, we gotta try and clear his name.” Pope held up the letter. “Right now, this letter’s our best chance.”

“Right, stay on task.” JJ nodded to himself. “That’s why I love you Pope-“

Kie stood up, holding the joint out to him. “What Pope are you gonna be today?”

He took a moment to contemplate, before shaking his head. “I’m good. Gonna try to focus.”

Kie nodded, disappointed. “Good Pope. Boring Pope.” She turned to Andy. “What about you? Still going sober?”

Andy chewed her lip. To tell the truth, in the past (almost) two weeks since John B, she had thought about lighting up many times, lighting up and never stopping, same with drinking.

But another part of her took over, this part grew stronger every day. Her anxiety had taken hold again, telling her that there was no use in trying to dull the pain because it would never go away. So she had figured, why bother?

Eventually, after the alcohol wore off or she came down from the high, her anxiety would be there, waiting in the wings.

She just let it consume her whole. “Nah, I’m good.” She shook her head. “Stay sober with Pope.”

JJ frowned. “Who are you, and what have you done with my girl?” He gasped in shock, as Kie sat down next to him.

“I’ll take that then.” He grabbed at the blunt.

Andy rolled her eyes at their attempt at peer-pressuring her into smoking, stretching her legs out and laying down for a nap, her backpack as a pillow.

After a decent nap, a blunt, and roughly an hour, they made it to the mainland, squishing back in Heyward’s truck, they began their 120+ mile drive to Charleston.

Kie kept skimming the letter, trying to understand what it meant. “Guys, I’ve read this thing like a thousand times, it makes no sense. I mean the Limbreys own like half of Charleston.”

“What do the Kook kings of Charleston know about a murder on Kildare Island?” Andy questioned, peering over Kie’s shoulder at the letter.

“And why you specifically? That’s the other creepy thing.” JJ asked, nudging Pope’s arm.

“”Please come alone”, that’s hella sus.” Kie agreed.

“I was thinking the same thing, I think it’s because-“ Pope began, but the sound of the car sputtering and slowing down, interrupted him.

Steam leaked out the hood, fully covering the front windshield. “Oh, come on!”

“Pull over, that’s a lot of smoke.” Andy said. “Even for your dad’s truck.”

“Pope, I got sensitive lungs man, c’mon!” JJ grumbled, rolling up his window.

“I’m pulling over!” Pope yelled, whipping off the road.

“Yo, just slow down!” JJ yelled back, bracing himself. “What’re you doing, dude!”

Pope hit a particularly big bump, sending something flying off a tire.

He slammed the car to a stop, leaning down and pressing the hood lever. “No, no, no, no, no.” He mumbled, getting out of the car.

“Oh my…” JJ sighed, getting out the opposite side.

“It’s gonna blow up!” Kie scrambled out the side Pope left out of. “It’s gonna blow up!”

“It’s not gonna blow up!” Andy said, following JJ.

“Your little tinkering probably unhooked the radiator, Pope.” She stood beside him, peering into the hood.

“I haven’t seen this before.” JJ held the hubcap of one of the tires, like a prize. “Knocked the entire hubcap off!” He set it on the ground at Pope’s feet.

“Might wanna reschedule your meeting tonight-“

“Uh, plan B?” Kie spoke, aloud. “Public transportation. We could hitchhike, we could rent bikes.”

JJ walked up to Andy, looking into the hood too. “Yeah, it’s the radiator.” She said, confirming Pope’s problem.

“My dad’s gonna kill me.” He said, monotone.

“Yeah, he might.” JJ nodded, turning back to him.

Andy swatted his chest. “I’ll look up any towing companies nearby.” She said, walking back to the seat of the truck where her phone was.

“Preferably the cheapest towing company!” Pope called after her.

“Where we are, you might just wanna take what you get.” JJ shrugged.

“JJ, read the room!” Andy scolded him.

After some searching, they found the only nearby garage that offered towing services, and two hours and one awkward ride in the tow-truck later, the four of them found themselves even further in the middle-of-nowhere, at a garage that looked straight out of the early seventies.

The repairman looked over the car, Pope impatiently waiting five feet away.

“Think I might’ve found a problem.” He said, making Pope jump up and rush over to him.

“A problem-“

“There’s many problems with this truck, kid, but I found a few big ones.” Andy thought Pope was going to faint with that statement.

“I definitely think it’s the intake valve.” Pope gritted his teeth.

“Look, I can put a rush on it, but it’s gonna cost you a little extra.” The repairman shrugged.

Andy, growing extra anxious, feeding off of Pope’s anxiety, shook her head, walking away and joining Kie and JJ, as they sat in the back of an old pickup that was sat in the yard of the garage.

“We’re in the middle of nowhere, dude’s in heaven right now. Gotta know the calibration point before you do anything with the intake valve JJ-“ He was mocking Pope.

Andy noticed Kie’s solemn face as she didn’t perk up at JJ’s teasing of Pope like she normally did. She tapped his shoulder, nodding in Kie’s direction.

JJ swatted at her leg. “Hey, you alright?”

“My mom is so worried that I’m gonna be a Pogue that she’s willing to send me to boarding school.” She said, looking up at them in disbelief.

“Well, I guess that’s what you get for hanging out with the wrong crowd Kie.” JJ said mockingly, taking a sip from his flask.

“I mean, I’m not gonna go.” She shrugged. “It’s too late anyway, I already am who I am.”

“Ain’t all that bad.” JJ smiled softly.

“Anna should be more thankful her daughter didn’t turn out more like me.” Andy nodded, agreeing with JJ. “She’s got a pretty great girl right in front of her and she doesn’t even realize it. Being a Pogue ain’t a death sentence.”

“Just look at that guy over there.” JJ pointed at Pope, who stood, seemingly arguing with the repairman. “He’d do anything for us. That’s a Pogue if I’ve ever seen one… Bone-deep.”

Kie smiled, looking back at them. “That’s just our opinion though.” Andy smiled back, leaning into JJ as he took another sip of his flask.

It didn’t actually take very long for the garage-owner to make the truck drivable again, but it did take $370 of Kiara’s parent’s money, and basically all of Pope’s stress.

Lucky for them though, the man let them sleep in the truck on his property, so at least they didn’t have to travel any further that night. Each of them had brought a blanket, laying them out on the bed of the truck so it was a little more comfortable than straight-aluminum.

Andy laid against the back of the truck, JJ beside her, on his back, an arm protectively draped around her shoulders beneath them, as they used their backpacks for pillows.

“Night everyone.” Pope announced softly.

“M-hm.” Andy mumbled, pulling the flask out of JJ’s limp hands, sleep taking control over her quickly.

“Good night.” Kie said, as sleep blissfully took them all over.

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