#the way they recall him is that he has to come to them and then give a hand boop

[contact-guy]

okay I wanna talk about writing this a little bit!

-In the last lines of the comic, Holmes is recalling this conversation.

-There's a part in Granada Holmes (The Hound of the Baskervilles) where Holmes takes off his glove to shake Watson's hand. There was something so intimate about it, I wanted to capture that when he writes the letter.

-For that drawing of Watson standing looking out at the Falls, I kept thinking of a line from Lord of the Rings. It's when Samwise thinks that Frodo has died. He leaves the body, determined to carry on his mission, but stops for a moment to look back. "He peered out at that high stony place where all his life had fallen in ruin." There may be one or two commonalities between the things I like okay?!??

-Also for that drawing, that canon line "who was to tell us what had happened then?" shook me to my core when I first read this story. I knew I had to work it in somehow. What happens to the narrator when his protagonist dies?

-More canon lines - Moriarty talking about an "engine tearing itself to pieces" and "the days of the great cases have passed" are things that Holmes says himself.

-There's an instinct to drawing comics that makes me love making them more than any other medium. When a character is going to go through something complex, first I make sure that I can draw them experiencing that emotion. If I can't draw it, then there's probably something wrong and I need to write a bit more. Here are some sketches I did as I was ideating (which ended up being used in the comic):

-I was agonizing a few months ago about how to do this story, how to bring Holmes to the brink of the cliff and then bring him back. Sometimes when I'm stuck I just freewrite to see what comes up, trying to step through things from the character's perspective and see what makes sense. Here's some of this that I kinda think slaps:

When he survives…

He didn’t expect it. He was fully prepared to die. And he almost steps over that cliff, he does. Because he’s written himself into the end of the story. He’s written John the perfect ending.

But he doesn’t. Some animal part of his starved and neglected body, the part that kept him from falling in the first place, that kept him fighting. Is it the part that was loved and nurtured by watson? Some lingering love keeps him from following Moriarty. Hands that touched him in tenderness and love, now holding him back.

So everything since then has been trying to portray that in the most effective way possible. thank you for reading!

THE FINAL PROBLEM - part 9

This update comes with a content warning, which you can read here if you're so inclined.

THE FINAL PROBLEM - part 9 of a few more - part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5 - part 6 - part 7 - part 8.

This is in the Watson's Sketchbook series!

[ghouljams]

Ok, just wanna say that I love your Hephaetus!Nikto.

Just a few things I’d like to say about Aphrodite. Love the way you have them written, I am in no way trying to make you change your interpretation of them.

She is one of the oldest gods along side Poseidon. Their lore dates back way before Ancient Greece and yet Aphrodite still predates him. Aphrodite is not just a soft thing. She started the Trojan war dammit. And she’s been associated with War as well, and not just in the sense that she has a relationship with Ares but of herself (then again haven’t done much research on this part so I could be wrong).

And Aphrodite is of the sea. The sea is no tame thing. It is wild. She is the Goddess of love and beauty and I’m getting a little pissed at Nikto for thinking she wouldn’t find him beautiful when it is her literal job to see the beauty in everything. Like come on dudeeee!!!!

I think the way you wrote him also pairs kinda well with the way you have the other Olympians view Aphrodite!Reader. I’d wonder if Aphrodite!Reader will ever snap on them and show them what it means to be the goddess of love and beauty.

Also fun fact, the ancient Greeks had multiple names for love that all had different meanings. I personally don’t know them all, but from what I recall, Eros is what they call romantic love.

Sorry for blabbing on, you don’t have to respond to this at all, just wanted to vent a little.

Oh no you're fine venting, I think a lot of people often think of Aphrodite in a specific way (pretty goddess of love who just cheats on her husband and is vindictive all the time) and here's what I will say regarding the way I'm writing Aphrodite!Reader:

Neither the reader nor Nikto is a reliable narrator.

Aphrodite sees herself as this wonderful loving force but she still walks the battlefield, taking trophies as often as she takes lives. She views herself as innocent in all of this drama and rumors, but she's done nothing to stop them(It's nice having Ares talk about how beautiful and good in bed she is, y'know?) She loves Nikto but she also treats him a bit like a curiosity, waiting for him to come to her because, well, everyone does eventually.

And Nikto is stuck in his vision of being cast aside by the gods. He's trapped in their mockery of him, why wouldn't he assume his unwilling wife, who begged to be kept a virgin goddess right before their wedding, doesn't like him? Aphrodite forces their way into his life, into his space, disrespecting any boundaries he tries to put up, of course he's wary of them. But at the same time Nikto only sees the parts of Aphrodite that they want him to see, the soft, the gentle, the loving with sweet voices and stroking fingers, so of course he thinks they're a bad fit. He's every bit her opposite.

The Trojan war has yet to happen in the timeline of the hephaestus!Nikto anthology, but I keep thinking about it because it will feel very out of character for Aphrodite to start a war over something as petty as vanity, but that's only because we've been seeing her through her own eyes.

Also I will say I think a lot of my softening of Aphrodite comes from my disbelief at the way goddesses act within Greek mythology. You're telling me every single goddess is vain and jealous, that they can't keep their man from cheating on them, that the Goddess of love can't find anything to love in her husband, that Artemis would turn her back on her desire to remain a virgin because one guy looked at her the right way? Like the way that the goddesses are depicted just reeks of misogyny and that particular brand of ancient Greek hatred for women. IDK So excuse me for making Aphrodite a little out of character from the myths in my attempt to give her the benefit of the doubt where no man ever did.

[toxinoire]

While Polites isn't my fave, he seems very strong willed but very traumatized and Open Arms shows it.

It's the fact that he's a soldier, he's killed people, he's seen the filth of the world.

He chooses to greet the rest of the world's beauty with kindness and open arms, but for a more twisted traumatized reason.

Listening to the song, you hear these specific lines: "I see in your face, there's so much guilt inside your heart" and "So why not replace it and light up the world? Here's how to start: greet the world with open arms"

It feels enthusiastic, until you recall that Polites is also a soldier.

Come on, "I know that you're tired of the war and bloodshed" so is he. "You can show a person that you trust them when you stop and lower your guard" He wants to trust more people, but ones he knows he can trust. For example: Ody, Eury, the crew. He wants them to have open vulnerability, because they're all traumatized and should, quite frankly, be open with each other.

He should have the same guilt as Odysseus. He has just as much blood on his hands as Odysseus. He does. But he lets go of the guilt, why? Those are the filth of the world, they're not the ones you can embrace with open arms, they're not the amazing parts of life.

Polites is ruthless in his own way. He greets the beautiful things in life with kindness and open arms, yes. But I'm sure he wouldn't hesitate to rid of the filth in it. The Lotus Eaters for example: they welcomed them on the island. They hadn't tried to attack, hadn't been on guard. No, they were all "Welcome :D" which is why Polites believed them to be nice, and he was willing to believe that because he literally just got back from killing multiple Trojans.

In the Cyclops Saga, Polites doesn't even protest killing Polyphemus. If he's truly as kind as he appears, he probably would have protested. He'd probably tell Ody that they killed his friend first, try to negotiate more. Maybe he'd be the one to negotiate. But he doesn't, he was also one of those soldiers fighting Polyphemus, but he had died.

But one might say "Oh but in the Underworld his last thoughts-" Yeah true, but when you're on the brink of death, after seeing so much filth in the world, you'll want to see something nice in it.

He wanted to still see the beauty of the world even as he was smashed by a club. Wanted Odysseus to let go of the guilt as Ody is very much a dear friend of his and doesn't want him to suffer, so he tries to convince him to at least see the beauty of the world.

He wasn't intending for Odysseus to try to be merciful or spare his enemies, he just wanted him to see the remaining beauty in an otherwise filthy world.

Polites is actually more layered if you take note that he's a soldier. He wasn't naive and too trusting, he just wanted to see good in an otherwise bad world. That was a trauma response.

[elodieunderglass]

“Eohippus,” I say to the Doctor.

The Doctor is an ageless, genderless, timeless being: an unstoppable force. I have unlimited amounts of horsegirlness and am something of an immovable object. They look incredibly shifty.

“Eohippus,” I say again, menacingly.

“Merychippus?” They’re a man at the moment, and he tries this with a placating smile.

I know what he’s up to. He thinks there’s significantly more chance of human-related bullshit, and alien fuckery, and all the other bullshit he actually likes if we go see Merychippus, the first of the grazing horses. It’s basically just a horse, though. You can see those anywhere. And I know that the minute we step off the TARDIS it’s going to be a series of bullshit escalations leading up to the Doctor saving something in front of an adoring audience. I distinctly recall not fucking stuttering and I said I wanted Eohippus. I want the ancestral form. Strange, elusive, tiny; poised like a dancer on hard little many-toed paws.

You’ll never meet a unicorn in your life, but if you crack spacetime in just the right way, you could meet something better: the strange alien wild seed of something your species has chased for all of history. Before you were you and they were horses. Who’d want to waste spacetime on anything else?

“Do you only take people along with you just to convince yourself that you’re not selfish?” I ask, interested. “Or do you normally take children - no, not children, children would argue - but fuckable young people, I bet. Girls, mostly. In their twenties, I bet. Because they’ll just smile and agree and compromise.”

“That’s very rude,” the Doctor says, startled. “Like. Wow. Seriously?”

“Is it true? Eohippus.”

“Not true at all. Pliohippus.”

“Pliohippus comes just before Equus, you quack.”

“Why do you even care? They’re not like they’re real horses. Just a generic beetlin’-around, weird little spotty beastie paddin’ around like a long-legged boring badger. D’yiu want to see some real proper horses, alien ones? I know a race of them with blue shiny wing cases and six genders. Caste system based entirely on the production and rating of poetry - ”

“Oh, they’re spotted?” I cry happily. “Wait, you’ve seen them?”

“All they do is run about on the forest floor, eatin’… fruit.”

“Fruit?”

“I don’t know. Boring things. They don’t even neigh. Just trundle around like guinea pigs.”

“Doctor,” I say eventually, pondering this, “you like horses, don’t you.”

“Absolutely not,” the Doctor says. “I only humour you to keep the peace. And it isn’t bloody working.”

“You like horses. Let’s meet the first ones. Again. And do it properly. Look them in the eye and see the spark of the kinship - see if we can feel the deep emotional connection of the bond-”

“What bond is that?” The Doctor says, but - hahahaha. I’ve got him. The Doctor is such a horse girl.

“The deep emotional connection of the kinship between horses - well, horse-shaped things - and humans. Well. Human-shaped things. Is it still there? Did it start there? When you look in the eyes of Eohippus, will you feel it?”

“Feel what?”

“The thing you feel when you look at horses,” I say. “Excitement and adventure and potential and wonder, the desire to love and be loved by it, a thousand wishes, and the feeling of being there at the dawn of the world.”

“We could just go to the Big Bang -”

“I didn’t say the Big Bang. I said the dawn of the world. It’s different. Are they horses? Will you feel the same way with Eohippus? Is the feeling there?”

“Rubbish!” says the Doctor, looking hot and bothered, and setting the coordinates.

Of course it does escalate from there, with running and shouting and aliens (seeking to stripmine the earth’s resources before there were humans to defend it; quite a good plan honestly; genuinely can’t work out why they aren’t all trying that?) but I don’t care; I’m sitting on the forest floor with Eohippus in my arms, having decided that there’s nothing stopping me from doing so; at the dawn of the world.

“NOT the Big Bang,” I say again, as the Doctor squats down beside me. “The dawn of the world.”

And we are quiet for a while.

“Wow,” the Doctor says eventually.

“Yeah.”

“They really are all in there. All the horses that ever were and will be. In that little eye. It’s a kind eye,” he announces, as horse girls do when they mean to compliment a horse with few other notable positives. “And that’s where it all starts.”

“Yeah.”

“Bellerophon and Secretariat and Arthur - I had a horse called Arthur.”

“What happened to him?”

“Gave him back. Can’t keep a horse in the TARDIS.”

“Keep this one,” I say impulsively.

“You know we can’t.”

“… can we clone it?”

Something Doctor Who misses out on is how none of the companions are extremely interested with any one thing. All the companions are all “idk, I have a few ideas of stuff that’d be cool to see, but I’m up for whatever! All of space and time, woohoo! :)”

And that’s great for them and I know it makes for a better show overall but I think it would be more realistic for someone to say “I want to see every historically significant moment for my special interest, and then I want to double back for mundane bits too.”

I, for example, would be an insufferable companion.

I’d be like, “okay now take me to the place and time where they first used stirrups for the whole ride instead of just using them as a foothold to mount the horse. Then I want to watch Ray Hunt put a first ride on a colt. After that we’ll take a nap, and then let’s sneak onto set of the Return of the King to be extras in the Ride of the Rohirrim”

The Doctor would be all “please. This is the twentieth horse-centric stop in a row. We have all of space available to us. Can we leave Earth this time I’m begging you”

And my annoying ass would go “not unless there’s horses in space” roll credits

[beeshoesometimesdraws]

❤️ x 🌒

give the not so angry dorito some comfort (*´ω｀*)

Warmth

(V4 Eclipse)

———————————————————————————

It settles inside him again as he sits in the dark of Foxy’s room, purple lights setting the walls aglow. A once unfamiliar turned more and more familiar feeling.

It seeps into his chest like oil in the tank of a car. Warm and filling in a way that sparks…something deep inside of him. Something that makes him rush to cut off the whirring rumbles that purr to life in his chest (a sound he vehemently dismissed as the sputter of some inner engine when Ballora pointed it out). Something that overrode the logical side and made him listen to other parts of himself that he rarely had before. It was as frightening as it was strangely enjoyable— this…something.

The drone of the television had long since faded to black silence. Eclipse could barely remember what had been playing on it before— some anime Monty had convinced everyone to watch for movie night— he thinks it was about exorcists but he’s not entirely sure. Jake and Andy and even Andrew had seemed to enjoy it though.

Speaking of…

Eclipse looked down as he felt a shift against him. An endo body cloaked in black curled against his lap like a cat, arms folded under their head. Tucked against his right side was the ghostly visage of Andrew— the touch of the kid’s phantom body against his felt fuzzy and barely there, like the static buzz from the screen of an old television. It was odd but not unpleasant.

Eclipse could feel it as he watched the two—technically three, actually—sleep peacefully. That warm feeling burrowed itself into his chest and spread itself over his body like a blanket soft as down. He only vaguely recalled having this feeling before in his previous lives (never in his third but there was a flicker of that something hidden somewhere in the recollection of his second and first). This life was the most he had ever felt it, though this life was also his first experience of many different things— things that before he would never have thought himself capable of experiencing.

Eclipse is broken from his train of thought by the quiet clearing of a throat. Looking up, he is greeted by Puppet’s smile. It is the kind of curled, crescent-eyed smile that he has come to associate with her more playful moods— or rather, a display of mirth typically aimed at him.

“What?” He grumbled out in a low voice.

“Nothing, Nothing.” Puppet waved her spindly hand dismissively. There was a small pause and then she continued, disregarding what she had just said, “I’ve just…never seen your rays do that before.”

Eclipse blinked slowly, brows furrowing, “Do what?”

“Spin.” She made a circular motion in the air with her finger, “Actually, I haven’t seen your rays move much at all. Sunshine’s do all the time, but not yours.”

Only then did Eclipse became acutely aware of the slow, circling motion of his rays. Quickly, he locked them back into place, “Tch, it’s not important.”

Puppet’s pinprick eyes twinkled with…something, hands cupped around her face like an enraptured child, “Come on, dude, it was kinda cool.”

Eclipse’s eyes narrowed and she raised her hands placatingly.

“Alright, alright.” She paused before a cheshire smile creeped slowly onto her plastic lips, “You’re such a softie, you know that?”

“Go fuck yourself.” He hissed, though the usual flash of annoyance was barely there now.

Puppet only laughed softly and stood from her seat in one of the smaller chairs, heading over to the door lit by Foxy’s Roxanne’s purple insignia, “We’re gonna be playing some games, maybe watching some more movies and stuff in the theater if you wanna join later.”

Eclipse grunted but didn’t say anything.

His gaze trailed back to the his kids sleeping soundly against him. Andrew shifted, curling closer— the soft, staticky feeling mingling with the strange warmth filling his chest that Eclipse was not privy to. There was a quiet click as his rays unlocked— something he didn’t acknowledge as the slow, circling motion began again. Just like he didn’t acknowledge the quiet rumbling that had started up in his chest.

“Oh, by the way– Eclipse?” He looked up to see her smile once again. But this one was different— softer around the edges, “For what it’s worth, you’re pretty good at the whole dad thing.”

———————————————————————————

[earthlybeam]

I struggle with chronic migraines, and I’m stuck at home with an awful one. I was wondering if you would mind writing something about Elrond taking care of a partner with a migraine? Thank you so much for sharing your writing. It’s absolutely incredible ❤️

I’m so sorry to hear that you’re struggling with a migraine right now. I hope you’re able to find some relief soon. Thank you for your kind words means so much 🥹❤️‍🔥 And enjoy my dear ❤️‍🩹🫶✨

Elrond suffers from chronic migraines from his insight so Elrond knows exactly what to do for you 💙🦋✨

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Lord Elrond Version below

📜 𝓔𝓵𝓻𝓸𝓷𝓭

✶ Elrond’s Care for His Partner During a Migraine Though Elrond himself has witnessed many pains throughout his long life, he is all too familiar with the struggles of chronic migraines, having endured them occasionally in his own way. This makes him especially empathetic and attentive when it comes to caring for his beloved during one of their painful episodes.

✶ Understanding and Patience as Elrond knows that migraines are not just physical pain but often include sensitivity to light, sound, and touch. He is patient with you, understanding that words may not come easily, and he speaks in a soft, calming tone, offering you gentle reassurance. His presence is quiet, soothing, and always deeply aware of your needs. “Meleth nín, I understand the pain that clouds your mind. Rest now, and I will be here, silent as a shadow, until the storm has passed.”

✶ Dim Lighting and a Quiet Space Since Elrond is keenly aware of the sensory overload migraines cause, he would gently guide you to a room with soft, dim lighting or perhaps a quiet corner in Rivendell. The sun may be setting, and he’ll carefully draw the curtains, letting in only the faintest rays of twilight to ease the intensity. The soft flickering light of a few candles is all that is needed in the space he creates, ensuring there are no bright, harsh lights or distractions. He will lower his voice, allowing you a calm atmosphere where you can focus on rest.

✶ Tender Care as Elrond’s touch is always gentle and deliberate, especially when your migraine is at its worst. He would sit beside you on the bed, never forcing any contact, but simply offering the comfort of his presence. His hand might hover over your forehead, cool and soothing, or he might lightly massage the pressure points along your temples and the back of your neck to ease the tension. His magic as a healer extends here, his healing arts focused on calming and alleviating your discomfort. If you’re open to it, he may use an herbal balm or brew a calming tea made from elvish herbs to soothe your senses, gently guiding your hands to hold the cup as he watches with caring eyes. “Let the peace of Rivendell enter you, Meleth nín. Drink, for it will bring rest to your weary mind.”

✶ A Soft, Soothing Voice as Elrond knows that words can be both comforting and grounding. In the silence of the room, he might softly speak to you in low, melodic tones. He recalls stories from Middle-earth, especially from a time when he was younger and healing from his own physical struggles. These stories are quiet, designed to ease your thoughts away from the pain. Sometimes, his voice might even be a simple, tender reminder of your love and the future you share “There are many who walk under the stars, but none have seen them as we will, together, hand in hand.”

✶ Presence Over Action Even if you do not speak, Elrond respects your need for solitude. He would not leave your side, but instead remain quietly within reach. His calm presence fills the room, offering peace without words. When you’re ready for his touch again, he is there. If you need silence, he will give you that, just as you wish. The deep bond between you means he knows when to speak, when to wait, and when to let time work its magic.

✶ A Cool, Comforting Atmosphere If you are too warm, Elrond will gently arrange cool cloths on your forehead or your neck, feeling the temperature carefully to ensure it’s just right. He might open a window to allow a cool breeze from the river to drift in, and he always makes sure the air is fresh without any disturbances. His elvish senses are finely attuned to ensure the environment is precisely right for healing. “I will make this world quiet for you, love. Rest and let your body and mind find solace.”

✶ Gentle Reassurance and Tenderness His concern for you is woven into every action, and his deep care for your well-being will always show. If you need to talk, he listens, and if you need quiet, he knows the comfort of silence. He will not rush you, but instead offer space for you to heal in your own time. Elrond will often give small, unspoken gestures of affection, like brushing the hair from your face, kissing your brow softly, or even holding your hand, simply letting you feel the warmth of his presence. His every action is intended to provide comfort without overwhelming you.

✶ Mindful of His Own Struggles Though Elrond would never let his own discomfort distract him from your needs, he is aware of his own sensitivity to migraine-like pains. There are times when his heightened senses become overwhelming for him, too, and he understands the exhaustion that comes with migraines. This shared experience allows him to connect with you on an even deeper level. Perhaps he, too, will take a moment to rest beside you, closing his eyes for a while to simply experience peace with you.

✶ Elrond is not just a healer in the sense of curing physical ailments, but a master of emotional support. His gestures are deliberate, slow, and filled with love and concern, ensuring that you feel as safe and cared for as possible during this painful time. His patience, wisdom, and empathy make him the perfect companion in moments like these.

Elrond Caring for His Partner with Chronic Migraine.

Lord Elrond’s soft footsteps echoed faintly against the stone floor of Rivendell as he entered the room, his heart immediately heavy at the sight before him. You lay on the bed, your face contorted with pain. The migraine had returned, and this time, it felt as though it might never relent. He could see it in the way your body was curled tightly against the ache, your hands gripping the sheets as if trying to fight against an invisible force. He knew this pain all too well. He’d watched it claim you time and again, each bout more merciless than the last. The pressure building behind your eyes, the way every sound, every shift of light became a dagger piercing through the calm. It was familiar to him, almost a shared agony. He longed to take it away, but he knew that, like him, you had to weather the storm in your own way. His heart ached for you, the person he loved more than anything in Middle-earth.

The world felt distant, hazy at the edges, like you were trapped beneath a layer of fog. Your mind was at war with your body as the migraine pulsed relentlessly. The pressure behind your eyes was suffocating, a constant, throbbing reminder that you were powerless to escape. It felt like time had stopped, like the world was spinning around you, but you were caught in the stillness of your own pain. You couldn’t remember how long you had been like this, lost in the torment. The silence in the room was oppressive, but not unbearable—not with Elrond near. Gently, he knelt by your side, his hand reaching for your forehead. His fingers brushed against your cool skin, a soft touch that was meant to be a comfort more than anything else. The strands of hair that had fallen across your face were swept aside with tenderness. When you felt the familiar touch of his fingers brushing your forehead, it was like a small ripple in the storm. His presence was your anchor, the only thing that kept you from completely succumbing to the darkness inside your head.

“Peace, my love,” he murmured, his voice a gentle balm against the harshness of the world. His heart swelled with love for you, but it was accompanied by a deep frustration. He wished he could take all the pain away. But for now, all he could do was be here. As pulling you from the edge of your thoughts. It was low, soothing, and for a moment, the pain seemed to soften around the edges. You wanted to respond, wanted to tell him you were aware of him, that you appreciated his care, but even the effort of moving was beyond you. You tried to shift slightly, to turn toward him, but the movement only made the pain worse. The weight of the migraine pressed on you like a thousand stones, keeping you pinned to the bed. You couldn’t fight it, not now. But you didn’t need to. Elrond’s steady presence was enough. His touch, gentle and tender as always, was a steady reminder that you weren’t alone in this. You could feel him close to you—his warmth, his love—like a shield against the cold, hard reality of the pain you were enduring. His hands were so gentle as they brushed your hair from your face, and though you couldn’t manage more than a flicker of a response, the act itself was enough.

You barely stirred, your breathing shallow and slow. He could see the tightness in your brow, the way your lips pressed together as you fought against the agony. Elrond knew you had become accustomed to these moments of suffering—knew how much you hated to be a burden, hated to be seen in this vulnerable state. Yet, he would never see you as anything but the light of his life, and this was no burden. He had to remind you of that—remind himself too. He moved toward the window and drew the heavy curtains tighter, shutting out the daylight that pressed in, leaving only the soft flickering of candlelight to illuminate the room. The darkness wrapped around you both like a comforting blanket, and he felt your body relax a fraction as the room became softer, less harsh. When you heard the soft rustle of fabric, you realized that the light had changed, and the soft glow of candlelight filled the room. The sunlight that had made everything worse was now gone, replaced by the comforting shadows of the room. The change was subtle, but it was enough for you to breathe just a little easier.

When he returned to your side, Elrond hesitated for only a moment before lifting your hand in his, holding it gently in both of his. You hadn’t even noticed when Elrond had sat beside you. But now, his warmth enveloped you as he took your hand in his, his touch both a comfort and a promise. His warmth was a quiet reassurance that you weren’t facing this pain alone, that you never had to. His hand held yours with such tenderness that it almost made you want to weep. You didn’t have to fight this battle by yourself. He spoke quietly, though his heart ached at seeing you in such distress. “Would you like some water, or perhaps a cool cloth?” he asked, though he knew you were too tired to answer. Still, he needed to offer the option. He never wanted you to feel as though you were powerless, as if you didn’t have a choice. The sound of his heartbeat, steady and strong, began to drown out the pounding in your head. The warmth of his hand anchored you, and for a moment, the pain seemed almost bearable.

You couldn’t respond, your eyes barely open, the weight of the migraine too much to bear. He didn’t press. Instead, he simply stayed, his hand steady in yours, offering his presence. Your gaze flickered, and you managed a small, almost imperceptible movement, your fingers tightening around his just slightly. He was there, he realized, in the way you sought him without words. The gesture meant everything. Even in the depths of your pain, you still found strength to reach for him, to let him in. Elrond leaned closer, his thumb brushing the back of your hand slowly. It was the only way he could think to reassure you, to remind you that he was there. “Rest, my love,” he whispered softly, his words as much for himself as for you. “I am here. Let go of your worries.”

Your eyes fluttered closed again, and Elrond watched you for a long moment, tracing the curve of your jaw with the gentlest touch. He stayed by your side, not wanting to leave you even for a moment. He knew this pain, this battle, and though he could not take it from you, he could stand by you as you fought it. His love was a steady thing—constant, undemanding, and he hoped, a balm for your soul. Elrond sat beside you, his thumb brushing the back of your hand with a slow, steady rhythm. He could feel the change in your breathing—slower, more even—though the migraine had not yet passed. His love for you swelled in his chest, and with it came a quiet promise that he would stay with you, no matter how long it took. He knew how much this hurt you—not just the pain itself, but the vulnerability. The trust it took to let him see you like this, to let him care for you in this way. There had been a time when you would have hidden this suffering from him, when you would have tried to endure it alone. But now, here you were, resting beneath his touch, allowing him to shoulder some of the weight.

His heart swelled with love, and he allowed himself a moment of gratitude for you—your strength, your trust. His thumb moved over your hand once more, each stroke a silent vow. The migraine had not released its grip on you, the world still a blur behind the relentless throb of pain. Every breath felt too much, every sound like an assault, each faint light an invasion. You wanted to retreat, to escape the pounding in your skull, but all you could do was endure. And yet, even in this agony, you could feel Elrond beside you. His presence was a steady warmth, a quiet comfort that anchored you in the storm. You clung to it, even though the rest of your senses were lost to the pain.

You weren’t sure when Elrond had returned to your side, but you could feel his warmth beside you now. His hand hovered near your forehead, cool and gentle, like a whisper of peace against the fire that burned behind your eyes. The faintest pressure of his fingers, just a soft caress, sent a ripple of relief through the storm, as if his touch could tame the ferocity of the migraine, if only for a moment. His presence, steady and unyielding, was like a shelter—a safe harbor amidst the chaos. Elrond’s voice, soft and soothing, broke through the haze of your mind. “Let the peace of Rivendell enter you, meleth nín. Drink, for it will bring rest to your weary mind.” You felt him carefully lift your head, his movements gentle, as if you were the most fragile thing in all of Middle-earth. His hands were firm yet tender as they guided the teacup to your lips. The scent of the elvish herbs was calming, delicate like the first breath of spring. The warmth of the tea, mixed with the soothing aromas, wrapped around you, inviting you to surrender. Despite the weight of your pain, you felt an instinctive pull to trust him, to take whatever comfort he offered.

With the smallest movement, your fingers barely brushing his, you took the cup into your hands. Elrond’s eyes were on you as you sipped, his gaze filled with nothing but care and love. You could feel the coolness of the porcelain against your fingers, the warmth of the tea against your lips, and yet, it was Elrond’s quiet presence that truly calmed the storm inside you. “Thank you,” you whispered, though it was barely more than a breath. Your voice was hoarse, almost drowned out by the intensity of the migraine, but Elrond heard you nonetheless. His heart swelled at the simple expression of gratitude, a reminder that even in your deepest pain, you could still reach for him, still let him in. “You do not need to thank me, my love,” Elrond replied softly, his voice full of quiet tenderness. “I would do this a thousand times for you, if it meant easing your burden, even for a moment.”

His hands remained steady around yours as you drank, guiding the cup to your lips with a grace that seemed almost effortless. You could feel the magic of his healing flow through him, a quiet force that washed over you, coaxing the tension from your shoulders, loosening the tightness in your temples. The tea, cool and fragrant, slid down your throat like a balm, and the effects were immediate. The pain didn’t vanish completely, but it softened, as if the sharpness of the migraine had been dulled, made bearable once more. Elrond waited in silence, watching over you, his eyes never leaving your face. He could see the subtle changes in your expression—the slight loosening of the tension in your brow, the way your breath became just a little bit steadier. He remained by your side, sitting on the bed with you, his warmth radiating in the quiet space between you both.

When the cup was empty, he gently took it from your hands, his fingers brushing yours as he did. His touch lingered for a moment longer, a promise that he would stay beside you, through every storm. “Would you like more, meleth?” he asked softly, though he knew that sometimes, all you needed was his presence. Your gaze met his, and despite the pain still clinging to you, there was a flicker of something—perhaps gratitude, perhaps something deeper. “No,” you whispered, your voice coming back with a little more strength. “Just… stay with me.” Elrond’s heart fluttered at your words. Without hesitation, he moved closer, his hand resting lightly on the bed beside you, offering his presence without asking for anything in return. He knew, after all, that sometimes all you needed was for him to be there, steady and unwavering.

“Always, my love,” he murmured, brushing a lock of hair from your forehead with the gentlest of touches. “I will stay, for as long as you need me.” His hand moved slowly to the back of your neck, gently massaging the pressure points there, soothing the tension that had built up from hours of pain. His touch was light but deliberate, each movement meant to ease your suffering. You felt yourself relax into the softness of his hands, the sharp pain in your head still there but no longer consuming you. For a long time, neither of you spoke. There was no need. Elrond’s presence filled the room, steady and unyielding, and you let yourself drift into it. His quiet healing, his gentle touch, his words of love—they were all you needed in that moment.

The storm within you hadn’t passed, but with Elrond beside you, you knew that you could weather it. His love, his care, were the things that would carry you through. And with each passing moment, the pain seemed a little less unbearable, softened by the tenderness of his touch and the healing magic he wove around you like a protective veil. “Sleep, my heart,” Elrond whispered, his voice a quiet command. “Rest now. I am here, and I will not leave you.” And as you finally allowed yourself to drift off, the weight of the migraine still pressing but dulled by the balm of his presence, you knew—no matter the pain, no matter the struggle—he would always be there, watching over you, offering his love, his care, and his steady warmth.

[moonshinesonic-moonstarslight]

Paper Planes story notes:

Okay, so who else wants to see Shen Yuan trying his best to not get trapped in og!Shang Qinghua's web? While said character is casually sipping vinegar like it's fine wine because he's aware of the System, the fact that he has lived through many different versions of this story, that he is the vessel of the creator god, and that out of all the souls in this game "Peerless Cucumber" is the only one who has Airplane's favor so much.

Not even Mobei Jun has the same benefits for being the "favorite character" as Peerless Cucumber gets for being the favorite follower. Seeing that he gets happy endings, purposely left blind to the inevitable tragedy to come, the story warped to benefit his wims, and he's the only one who gets Airplane playing along personally with his story beyond the usual song and dance.

Yeah, for the possessive vessel who is in a love-hate relationship with his god... Peerless Cucumber is the one person he is willing to put up with the System in order to be able to pull him off his pedestal.

Lucky for him! The System has been getting bored with the usual storylines and decided that it wanted to see how User 002 would be able to handle a meta-knowing character and see if it can finally be free of giving said user Easy Mode. (It has to offer it and Shen Yuan keeps taking it...)

So it allowed Shang Qinghua to recall the past storylines and the things surrounding Airplane (Which is something that has been permitted before so no big deal), made sure that the traitor didn't go into his tried and true tactics of focusing on getting Mobei Jun to become king while doing everything to make the North the only true stable part of the demon world one Tianlang Jun gets sealed away. (Og Shang Qinghua has two people who are worth the heartbreak and suffering that ultimately is his fate: Mobei Jun and Airplane. Not that he would tell either of them, especially Airplane, but that doesn't mean he doesn't see them as the only people worth his effort.)

In order to get what it wants for this story, the System pushed for Shang Qinghua (still a lowly disciple and fighting against his need for human connection because he knows how it's going to end up) to make connections in the sect. Basically either make a friend with one of the other characters or find a lover with one of them.

And while Shang Qinghua isn't keen on facing the pain of connecting with another person only for it to crumble into tragedy... He has befriended Shen Jiu before. Mind you it never ends well. But he has.

While he always tries to keep a pessimistic view, Shang Qinghua actually has a lot of optimism regarding making changes in comparison to Airplane. So here he goes again attempting to have a relationship with Shen Jiu.

So Scumrat was a thing that had happened before Shen Yuan got transmigrated in. It ended pretty nastily but given that Shang Qinghua has a habit of leaving the past in the past while Shen Qingqiu has a habit of avoiding his actual feelings... Neither had brought their past up and have been moving on with a distant professional relationship.

However... Shen Jiu was in love. Still in love actually. There is one person he would lay with and that is his sneaky shidi who is too pretty for his own good. Shen Qingqiu had to fight to control his impulse to look at no other person when Shang Qinghua is in the same room. He was able to control it after a few years, but it is still a fight. (Shang Qinghua has a way of digging his way into people's hearts and just staying. Does he realize this? Nope! If he did it would be a thousand times worse.) He also has a weakness for Shang Qinghua's attention and touch. Thankfully, Shang Qinghua (who knows about this weakness) has never found a reason to use that weakness against him... Yet.

And while Shen Jiu is gone... his body is still present and the echoes of those memories are deeply engrained to where not even a soul transfer can change that fact.

Shen Yuan doesn't know this. And he doesn't have the training to ignore his body's need to watch and melt under the touch of Shang Qinghua.

Who is more than willing to use Shen Jiu's weaknesses against Peerless Cucumber. Especially once he notices that the transmigrator can't pull his eyes away when they first meet. Not even Luo Binghe can drag those eyes away and Peerless Cucumber has blatant favoritism to the little godling. (They meet before the IAC because Shang Qinghua is not dealing with shoddy paperwork thank you! Basically, he came back from a melon seed trade deal to an amnestic Shen Qingqiu and, while being completely aware of what happened, decided to be a 'good shidi' and assist his shixiong with relearning how to do the administrative side of Peak Lord work.)

The System is sitting back on Shang Qinghua's side and pushing on Shen Yuan's. If it could eat it would be popping back popcorn as it watched the showdown between the Author's Vessel and the Favorite Anti-Fan.

Still trying to figure out what happens after the sudden realization that the scum traitor is fully aware that you are not his shixiong and he has no reason not to use said shixiong's weaknesses against you.

Shen Yuan is desperately trying to remain standing and keep the protagonist from landing into the traitor's web. Because Luo Binghe likes his shishu for some reason.

[neragufetta]

Who, when, why and how did they wrote the diary?

I'm still thinking about the diary appeared in BAe1, since it's the one reveal which comes completely new, all the rest we had already known or at least conjectured. Who wrote it? For what reason? When? How could it be so accurate? Here's my hypothesys.

To be clear, in this post I'll consider "present" the date June 10th 2019, 03:55 PM.

Let's first start with what we know and what we can deduce: it is handwritten, in a mix of Chinese and Latin, which seems to show the intention to hide the diary from any potential reader or hacker; it details to the minute events that only CXS, LG and QL witnessed, and, the way the scene is edited, Lu Guang seems to be recalling the diary, which means it was written before present events.

There are different possible scenarios to explore but, without getting too lost in chatter, I want to start with one theory in particular, leaving the rest for later.

In my opinion, we should ask ourselves the question: ‘Who do we know that is aware the diary exists, knows the events transcribed in it, has a reason for transcribing them, and has the power to write them bofore happening?' I know it sounds trite to say but the most obvious answer is Lu Guang: Lu Guang has experienced the events personally, he intends to change the past but he needs to have perfect and maniacal control over every detail, which could explain the nees to to transcribe all the events in as much detail as possible in order to plan precisely what to leave unaltered, what to change and how.

The problem is that, if Lu Guang is the author of the diary, one has to wonder how he managed to write it down: Lu Guang experienced these events in one or more previous timelines, true, but how could he have transcribed the events with so much minutiae simply from memory? If he knew the events by heart, he would have no reason to transcribe them, and for the time being, I feel I can rule out the possibility that the diary has travelled through time.

As far as we know Lu Guang possesses at most two powers:

 - his original power, which, in his own words, allows him to know the twelve hours after a photo was taken, provided it was taken more than twelve hours earlier

 - the power to immerse himself in photos, obtained from CXS, which we do not know, however, whether or not he retains once immersed.

Writing down the diary with these powers seems impossible to me, so in order to explain how he succeded we have only two option: either Lu Guang lied about the nature of his powers (which is likely, ngl), or, and this is my guess, having both powers had an expected effect: the condition that the photo must be older than 12 hours in order to be used ceased to exist, allowing Lu Guang to take a photo and then use it to find out the next 12 hours in advance!

I know this sounds far-fetched but let me explain: from Lu Guang's point of view, coming from September 13th 2021, all photos prior to this date were taken well over 12 hours earlier, so even a photo just taken in 2019 for him is past and usable, nullifying the 12-hour restriction.

This way, by taking a photo he could know the future 12 hours in advance, transcribe them and then assess what to leave untouched and what to change.

I may have also spotted a possible faint piece of evidence to support my thesis, but since it is related to the kidnapping of CXS by Vivian's clique, and there are still a lot of unresolved details about that event, I won't go further.

Now, I know that this is just one possible explanation to part of the evidences, but it is also the one I wanted to focus on and share with you, without boring you too much. However, if you are very, very curious, the following section expand the other possible explanation I could come up.

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

THE BORING ANALYSIS

Let me repeat and expand some of the info I briefly shared before:

The events are written in Chinese, whereas the rest is in latin

This could be because the authors of Link Click didn't want to disclose the full content of the diary and decided to throw in a bunch of anonymous ipse lorum sentences, which mean we can ignore the latin content. However, if it was actually written in latin, it would mean that whoever wrote it put good effort into hide its content to the casual viewer, only to leave the most important details (like events and corresponding times) in clearsite. Not a wise choice, imo, but characters in fiction aren't always wise, tbh, so both option are in place.

2. It's handwritten

Whoever handwrote it spent their good amount of time doing it, considering that writing it on a computer would have taken him far less time. It makes me wonder what advantage manual writing might have had over digital writing and the only answer I can come up with is that a computer could be hacked and the author did not want to take the risk. That's shows proper dedication.

3. It contains details from an event known only by the trio

Whoever wrote it was either present when the events took place or had access to the memories of those who were present or had an insight into the future.

4. It is briefly displayed while LG thinks that everything is going the same way

The speach - video association seems to imply that Lu Guang had had previous access to the diary, he read it and possibly wrote it.

5. It contains a number of detailed events that had yet to happen

I can think of only two explanations: either the diary was written in the future and then transported in the past, which would require a complete new power, never seen in the show before, or it was written in the past, which suggests that either the author went from the future back to the past or had knowledge of present events before they occurred.

With this in my, let's proceed with the questions one by one:

WHO wrote it?

Someone who became aware of the facts, due to one of the following option: - they were present at the time of the facts - LG, CXS or QL - they foresaw the events thanks to some power - Such powers could be those of Xiang, Lu Guang, Li Tianxi, or someone we don't know yet  - the facts were reported to the author, by someone who experienced and/or foretold them - in this case they could be anyone.

WHEN was the diary written?

Either in the past or in in the future and then sent somehow back to the past

On behalf of WHO?

The author wrote it either for himself or for another recipient

WHY did the author write the diary?

So that someone, the author themself of a different recipient, could keep track or learns the events in advance and: - stick to the events as they happened - could intervene at the appropriate time and change the events - could intervene at the appropriate time and prevent someone else from changing the events, or at least adjust the course, should some change occur

Extra questions with a yes/no answer: if we assume that Lu Guang read the diary, was he an intended recipient? Is the diary safe?

What strikes me the most, again, is that the events are listed by the minute and, let's be honest, if the author had written the list of events based only on memory, they could not have been so accurate, therefore the scenarios I can imagine are the following:

 - the recipient of the diary is the author themself, and they cannot rely on memory only but have knowledge of future events thanks to some power or someone sharing the information

 - the recipient of the diary is the author themself, they have detailed memory of the events but still need to write them down for planning

 - the author and the recipient are different people, the author knows the events to the minute and wrote them down for the recipient's interest.

I hope it makes sense, explaining these past/future concepts is brainwrecking and I'm pretty tired at this point and not all that interested in exploring other possibilities,  such as that Lu Guang is not the author of the diary but stole it or received it from someone else. Feel free to explore the possible outcome yourselves.

Bye!

[nightsandrewrites]

Banter with the Bat Boys

Pairing: Reader x Bat Boys

Summary: Cassian doesn't think you know a single good pick up line, but maybe you've got something up your sleeve?

Word count: 923

Warnings: None, Flirting

a/n: Just a little blurb, we love seeing the bat boys get a little flustered.

------------------------------------------------------------------- The fire pops in the hearth as it adjusts to the fresh logs that Cassian threw in. The drawing room grows cozier and as he moves back to his armchair a swirl of warmth meets you. This room is your sanctuary tonight as a strong blizzard billows through Velaris. You’d come to dinner at the High Lord’s home to provide an update on your latest findings on a cursed object that had found its way onto the marketplace. You were joined of course by Azriel and Cassian. Azriel was eager to hear of your results given he was the one to undercover the artifact and Cassian, well he just had a strong case of fear of missing out.

When the meal wrapped no one was too eager to get out into the chill so your small party quickly moved on to evening drinks.

“So, you had no better offers tonight Cassian?” Rhysand questioned leaning back in his armchair and bringing his drink to his lips.

“Oh plenty of offers, I just like to do some charity work you know. What would guys do without me?” Cassian’s face pulled into a wide grin.

“Yes, I can’t imagine how we’d get along?” Rhysand rolled his eyes.

“Please there were no offers, you had no where else to be.” Azriel chimed in. He tipped his glass in Cassians direction before taking a deep drink.

“And how would you know?” Cassian lent forward, elbows resting on the corners of his armchair.

“Spymaster.” Azriel simply pointed at himself.

You couldn’t help the giggles that bubbled up at their interaction. They truly acted as brothers and your heart felt so light seeing them be so content on evenings such as these.

“What are you giggling at over there? Did you have any better offers tonight?” Cassian challenged from across your little circle of chairs.

“No she didn’t.” Azriel quickly said before sipping his drink again.

“Hey!” You whipped out a hand from your blanket and slapped it playfully across Azriel’s arm. He grinned at you apologetically. “I happened to have business here tonight and I could have plans if I wanted to.”

“Oh really, cause I don’t recall the last time I saw you with a male?” Cassian’s wings fluffed behind him as he settled back in his chair.

“Some of us don’t feel the need to advertise our every conquest.” You wave your hand in his direction.

“Now, now, you two. There’s no competition.” Rhysand places his drink down on the low table between you all.

“Oh we know that already, I don’t think Y/N has a single good pick up line.” He smirks at you.

“I have plenty of good pickup lines thank you.” You take a small sip from your glass.

“Well do share.” Cassian gestures to the room.

“I don’t need to waste them on you.” You retort and resist the urge to stick your tongue out like a child.

“Well tell Azriel, his ravishing good looks mean he’s heard every pickup line from here to Spring.” He nods like it's settled. “He will judge.”

Your eyes dart across the faces in the room looking for a way out but both Azriel and Rhysand are watching you expectantly. Bastards. Of course they would side with Cassian.

“Fine.” You place your glass down a little harder than necessary as you swing your legs off your chair where they had been curled.

You stand and move towards Azriel, he watches you carefully as you step around his armchair. Rhysand picks up his glass again like he’s ready for a show and when you glance over to Cassian he only raises an eyebrow at you expectantly. His cockiness only fuels you and you know what you need to do.

You lay a hand across the back of Azriel’s chair and lean forward so that your lips almost brush the hollow of his ear. Behind a cupped hand you keep your voice low so that the others won't hear.

“I can’t decide whether I want to scream your name” You whisper to him “or feel you down the back of my throat.”

You straighten with a small smile. Rhysand seems shocked and Cassian now has both his eyebrows raised. When you glance down at Azriel a soft pink dusts the top of his cheeks.

“Ye- uh-, I mean, um she’s got it covered Cassian.” Azriel throws his head back and downs the remainder of his drink.

“Oh now I have to know what you just said.” Cassian is grinning again “I haven’t seen anyone have that effect on Azriel in a long time.”

“Rhysand” Azriel’s growl rumbles through the room “Don’t try and get in my head.”

“Hey just thought I’d see if you’d like to share that’s all.” Rhysand raises his hands in innocence.

“Well it’s been fun boys, but it looks like the weathers clearing and I should get home.” You turn and grab your long coat from the back of your chair triumphantly.

“I’ll take you, it’s still snowing and you can avoid the cold if we winnow.” Azriel quickly stands.

“Thank you, I appreciate it.” You give him a warm smile in reply. You bid the others goodnight and make your way to the door.

“It’s still snowing.” You hear Cassian mimic as he brings his glass up to finish his drink. As you make it to the hall you just catch sight of one of Azriel’s shadows tipping Cassian’s glass forward and its contents emptying into his lap.

[coyotecrumb]

i just remembered that i had a tokyo ghoul au fic i was writing and it was kakuja!gojo x human!reader but there was a big focus on gojo's backstory and how he started cannibalizing other ghouls

basically reader winds up finding out about the ghouls at anteiku but you don't report them bc you have a vivid memory of being saved from a binge-eating ghoul by a second ghoul wearing a mask that looked like a white wolf. you never thanked them for getting you home safe that night so it's something that's always in the back of your mind.

the one thing that you find a little odd is that one of the residents of anteiku is a human child. megumi's sweet, if a little skittish, and you're curious about how he ended up being raised by a group of ghouls. that's where gojo comes in.

(way more material under the cut)

he tells you "oh yea i killed his dad and then i found megumi in his apartment so i just brought him here lol" and you're like ??!?!?!? but he explains more later once you've grown closer.

in the past, there was a ghoul named getou who was gojo's closest friend. getou was really passionate about humans and ghouls coexisting, but gojo never particularly cared about the topic. after an encounter with megumi's father, both of them were left traumatized and getou crashed out, started insisting that humans all needed to die, etc. the two of them fought.

“I had a best friend. But we fought.”  You count the stars in the sky, the few you can see; the rest blotted out by light pollution from the city’s lights. Gojo wants you to ask, so you ask. “What happened?”  He is silent for several moments. When you look over at him, he’s staring back, wearing that flat, impassive expression that he wears when the jokester’s mask falls. Except—you’re not so sure if it is impassiveness, anymore. There’s something else there, something you can only see now that you’ve known him for all these months. It might be something close to sadness.  Electric blue, his eyes burn brighter than anything in the night sky above you. His words come out calm, even, as if practiced and committed to memory.  “I killed him,” Gojo says. “And then I ate him.” 

so basically the two of them had a tacit understanding that the only way either of them would concede to die was through being devoured by the other. which is cute and fun. ummmmm and gojo's mask was modeled after a raven. and getou's was modeled after a white wolf !

here are some more snippets from the archives:

what would have been the opening scene.

There’s a strange sort of shroud that hangs around you, these days: a blurring of the senses, putting distance between you and yourself and the world, erasing the boundaries between flesh and earth until you don’t know where you end and dirt begins.  You are half-real. Mostly wanting. You spend your hours saying things to people that you can’t recall ten minutes later. It is not the worst way to live. And then—in some moments—you reenter your body all at once, the world crystallizing into furious, brilliant color. You become something real: another speck in the teeming anthill that is Tokyo, visible yet invisible to passersby. You can feel your own breath.  Your therapist gives you words for these things. Dissociation. Anxiety. When you experience a traumatic event, your mind and body can get stuck there even if you’re not in danger anymore.  Inertia. You walked out of that night—made it home—and with you came the memory of a silvery voice, clinging to your clothes, tinging your dreams.  You don’t fear it. The voice is something that pulls you towards it like it has you on the end of a string: coaxing, kind. But there’s no way to explain that to your doctors, who believe, like everyone else, that pure luck was what saved you from death’s jaws those few years ago.  Luck, you think now, taking the stench of blood into your lungs. It’s always luck. Gray skies stretch out overhead. The wind, on the cusp of autumn, carries the slightest chill. The alleyway behind your workplace might have been clean, once, but now it’s riddled with piles of trash that sully the air with their odor. You smell nothing but filth. Filth—and blood. The ghoul, hunched over and gasping, keels into a row of trash cans. An explosion of crashes hits your eardrums, loud enough to remind you that— Ah, right. You blink, your vision sharpening. This is real. More clatters. What little you can see of the ghoul's face is taut with stress, but undeniably young: the look of someone forced to grow up too fast. He can’t be any older than you. Blonde hair caked with gore falls across his forehead, nearly obscuring the black sclera of his eyes.  A young ghoul, kakugan activated in broad daylight, without any hint of a mask to hide his face. This, you realize, something twisting in your gut, is the look of prey, hunted. In his agony, he has not noticed you. Heart heavy like a sinking stone in your chest, you press against the brick wall behind you, nails digging into your palms. Blood continues to fall. Most of it comes from his shoulder, which— You bite back a gag. His arm is nearly entirely severed, dangling at an odd angle, bone and torn sinew visible where his wound meets rank air.  His kagune wraps around his other arm, spiraling into a shape reminiscent of a conch shell, colored an iridescent ocean blue. It glints in what little sunlight reaches it, keen like the blade of a dagger. Deadly; designed to kill. But it’s beautiful in a way that makes your heart ache, pain shooting through it like you’ve jarred an old wound.  You haven’t seen a kagune up close since— Yellow light, blotting out the stars. Asphalt against your palms.  A white mask. “You’re going to be alright. I promise.” 

shoko's the one to bring you to anteiku after you save nanami.

“Yaga,” Shoko says breezily, “I found them!”  The man glances up, then back down. Does a double take. “What—“  “I caught them up on Nanami and everything.” Shoko slips behind the counter, humming cheerily. “They're cool.”  He splutters. “What—you—Nanami? Shoko, when I tell you to look into someone, that doesn’t mean to tell them things and bring them here!”  “Ehh? But they helped Nanami, so I figured it was fine…” Shoko goes for a sip of his coffee—“Ach, Yaga-san, this has sooo much blood in it!”  If the man’s hair was long enough to grab, he’d be tearing it out in clumps. “You—I can’t even—You know what? No more investigating for you. And no smoking indoors!” 

megumi's introduction.

A faint rustle sounds from the hallway. You barely register it, eyes snagged on the way the snowy-white of Gojo’s hair glows under the overhead lights—but Gojo locks in on the noise like a hawk, head snapping in the direction of the door. His shoulders draw up, his eyes widening in something like anticipation—then he’s darting out into the hallway before you can even think to ask what’s wrong, disappearing silently into the dark.  At first, there’s nothing. Just some rustling; quiet footsteps. But then there’s a thud, Gojo’s triumphant cry, and a child—a child?—is squalling in a high, plaintive voice, “No!”  Gojo tromps back in with the glowing smile of a cat presenting its owner with a dead mouse as a gift. Attached to his outstretched arm is his hand, which wraps around a diminutive ankle; attached to which is a little boy, arms dangling to the floor in defeat, scowl dark enough to rival a thundercloud. [hypothetical material] As soon as his feet touch the floor, the little boy is off. His socked feet patter across the room with determined speed; within seconds, he’s out the door and gone.  Gojo brandishes a hand in the direction of the empty doorway, and says in a proud, indulgent voice, “Megumi!” 

more megumi and gojo's initial explanation.

Megumi, the third child residing at Anteiku (Gojo promises you with what you hope is a genuine expression that he is not hoarding any more children to shock you with) is different from what you’re used to from Nanako and Mimiko.  Like them, he is shy—but even around those he knows, there is no furtive giggling, no brightly-colored toys, no games of tag or pretend. Megumi is a reclusive shadow, spends most of his time observing the patrons of Anteiku in such isolated corners that you have no idea where he is half the time. When he emerges into the light, it’s with great reluctance, face preemptively sullen like he just knows he’s not going to like what’s about to happen.  He does not speak except to answer questions wherein Yaga gives him no choice but to do so: to select one of two choices for dinner without pointing, to reveal to you the name of the little stuffed wolf he keeps with him at all hours of the day. And, of course, to protest Gojo’s affections, which he showers upon Megumi with the grandeur of a philanthropist giving meals to the starving and which Megumi rejects with the fervor of a cat trying to avoid a bath.  He’s tense, skittish, wary of adults with the sort of reactive viciousness that reminds you of a spitting feral kitten.  And he is human.  “I killed his dad,” Gojo tells you gaily, slurping up blood through a straw. He ignores your wheeze as you choke on your cake and the look of abject disdain that Shoko turns on him from where she works behind the counter. “He deserved to die, total asshole, but his kid lived with him, and I couldn’t really leave him there, so, like—“ He shrugs. “I brought him here.”  You recover enough to squint at him. “You kidnapped a toddler?”  “You’re catastrophizing,” Gojo says.

some nanako and mimiko.

In the spring, Megumi is enrolled in a nearby primary school. Mimiko and Nanako are not. What follows is mutiny.  “How come Megumi gets to go and we don’t?” Nanako howls, stomping her foot. “I want to go to school, too!”  Mimiko, standing behind her sister with her doll hugged to her chest, does not yell but does something much worse: lower lip jutting out, she stares up with her enormous brown eyes, glinting with tears that threaten to spill over.  Yaga has taken his sunglasses off and is massaging his temples, wilting with exhaustion. Shoko and Gojo watch from behind the counter, visibly brimming with delight and offering absolutely no help.  “It’s not safe for you,” Yaga says for the nth time, pleading. “Megumi is human. He won’t be hurt there. But you two are ghouls, and you’re too young to have total control over your kagune or kakugan yet. I don’t have to tell you what happens if people discover you’re a ghoul, right? It’s too great of a risk.”   Nanako’s face is red with rage. “But that’s not fair!”  “I know, and I wish you two could go with him, I do. But this is about your safety.” 

maybe i'll write out a full version of this idea someday, but it's been set aside for now. i'm still very fond of the idea of ghoul babies nanako/mimiko and human baby megumi all running around together though

[aritsukemo]

Gifts | Demon Slayers

Summary: In which someone gives you a gift and they find out.

Characters: Obanai, Kanao, Inosuke, Zenitsu, and Kanae

Warnings: Old draft so possibly extra bad grammar mistakes. Majority of these are pretty unserious pretty unserious. Extreme depictions of jealousy ahead ( Obanai and Zenitsu ) Inosuke being Inosuke, aside from that it's pretty fluffy. Female reader is implied ( Some much more than others ) Read at your own volition.

A/N: I start school again on Wednesday and the news has me so depressed that I've been unable to write anything. That said, anything posted in the near future will be scheduled ahead of time. This was written over on my Wattpad some time before I quit. ( Which you can find the full scenario here ) It's nothing much, but it's something.

"Aren't these beautiful?" You gasped out as you presented your boyfriend the glittering bouquet of roses. A beautiful collection in your favorite color and non-stick glitter—something he doesn't recall buying you.

 "They're nice," He replies. His movements slowed as he slides his bag strap over his head and off of his shoulder. His eyes never left the bundle in your polished hands, and you were too busy oogling to notice, but his gaze hardened the longer he stared.

He didn't buy that for you, but they got here somehow. So, did you buy them for yourself? He decides to ask, "Did you buy those for yourself? If so, you didn't have to. If you would've told me, I could've bought that and more for you on my way home."

Your smile widens, "As always, you're the sweetest man I could've ever asked for," and you set the flowers aside at last, granting him the blessing to see your gorgeous, cheesing face as you walked up to him.

You leaned in, planting your lips to his slightly bandaged cheek, and for a moment, the boiling lava that had began to bubble at the base of his chest cooled as did his thoughts. It only lasted for a moment though, because as soon as you parted from him, you replied to his previous question.

 "I actually didn't buy these myself. A coworker of mine did," And that simple response was enough for that volcano inside him explode all over again. Not that you could tell. On the outside, he seemed as calm as usual aside from the many veins flexing from his head that you didn't seem to catch.

 "Oh really?"

You nod your head, "Mhm! But really I should've been the one to give them roses! They close up the restaurant for me all the time so that I don't have to risk the dangers of driving too late at night. Same goes for my shifts! Ever since they were hired, I haven't had to deal with late night weirdos!"

Obanai was nodding along, but not a single one of your words had processed in his head. His mind was on other things, other people—a certain cretin matching your description down to the tee coming to his mind and infuriating him so badly that one would think the lava inside of him would just boil right out through his pores and melt his skin.

But, of course, his voice gave away the exact opposite of what he was feeling when he spoke to you, "Say, love, is the coworker who bought you these also the one who walked you to the car last Friday?"

 "Yeah! I'm glad you remember them!" You obliviously replied and he followed up with, "..And they're working the night shift tonight, right?"

 "Yes..but why are you—"

 "No reason," He simply said to you before leaning in and planting a bandaged, tender kiss to the side of your head, promptly ignoring the confused look you give him as he turns on his heel.

 "I'm going out," He says, your favorite little snake beginning to peak from his clothes as he walked, grabbing his work bag filled with textbooks and graded papers in the process which only left you more befuddled.

 "Huh, but you just got here.. Where are you going?"

 "Don't worry, I won't be long. I'm simply in the mood for takeout. I'll be back with some for us in a little while."

 "..Oh. Well, alright. Be safe!"

"Morning, Kanao!" You chirped after catching her in one of the many hallways of the Butterfly Manor.

At the lovely tune of your voice, her lips—which were moving since she was passing on Shinobu's instructions to a Kakushi—stilled. Her gorgeous lilac eyes seemed to noticeably sparkle as she caught a glimpse of you. Although it could've just been due to the lighting or your imagination..

As the Kakushi left, Kanao made quick strides up to you, her uniform's skirt, which she was still wearing having just got home, swaying with every little sway of her hip or movement of her thighs. She stops before you, allowing you to pull her in and squeeze the daylights out of her, all while wearing her usual smile.

 "I'm so glad you made it back safely!" You said, parting from your crushing hug after a while, "And not a scratch on you! Hehe~!"

After you broke the hug, Kanao's eyes darted down, watching your lips move in a rapid succession as you began rambling about what you did last night. She was listening for the most part, but her eyes never left your mouth which she noticed was rather dolled up and coated by a unfamiliar, but pretty lipgloss.

It was a little darker than what you'd usually wear, but it still fits you perfectly as it contrasted your skin well and ultimately brought out your eyes more. Your smile too—she especially loved how it looked stained in that color.

 "Ah-! Sorry! Did I start rambling?" You said upon the realization, your face beginning to grow hot from embarrassment.

 "Look at me! You just got home and I'm already talking your ear off.." And then your lips dipped down into a small frown, which she'd be lying if she said didn't look just as pretty as your smile when all shiny like that.

As your lips parted to allow another apology to slip out, Kanao leaned in and captured them with her own. It caught you off guard, but on instinct, your mouth closed and only opened again when she eventually parted..

 "I- Kanao.." You were at a lost for words. It wasn't often that she initiated stuff, much less kisses but..damn, did she look good with her lips coated in your new lipgloss.

..Oh, right! That's another reason you were excited to see her. You wanted to show her the new makeup kit you were given! Right! Foucs!

 "Oh, Kanao! This really nice woman gave me a makeup kit for free the other evening while I was out shopping! She called me pretty and said it would suit me! ..Ah, but in the end, I still only have the courage to wear the lipgloss.."

 "Do you.. Do you think I look as nice as the lady told me I'd look..?" You asked, semi-nervous. You couldn't help it. Even though you know there's a bat's chance in hell that she'd insult you, the possibilty was still there. Not that it lasted very long. As soon as you finished talking, Kanao leaned in again, answering your question by deciding to cherish your lips in kiss so sweet, it put Mitsuri's pancakes to shame.

 "Uhm..Inosuke. What exactly am I looking at?" You questioned as you stared at the ring in your palms which was currently staining your hands brown and let off a putrid odor.

 "It's a flower crown! I made it myself!" He said proudly, puffing his chest as he did so. You couldn't help the way your brows knit together.

 "Is that so.." You mumbled out, trying to find the right words to say about this..gift.

Flower crown, he said, but there's not a flower in sight. Just twigs forced together by wet, sticky mud. It was nothing like the pretty arrangement set atop your head right now that was given to you by Kanao and certainly not as nice smelling. Nevertheless, you stretch a smile on your face and tell him in the most convincing happy tone you could muster, "Thanks, Inosuke! I'll cherish it!"

Unfortunately for you, that doesn't seem to satisfy him. After you thanked him, he went silent, staring at you for a long while. You had to resist the urge to scratch your cheek and stain it with mud to alleviate the awkward feeling in your gut..

 "What's wrong?" You asked, the color draining from your face when he told you, "Put it on."

 "B- But, I already have a crown on," You said, your smile crinkling at the ends, "And two crowns would look silly.."

 "Then take off that one," He said in a 'duh' tone of voice. Your smile wrinkles even more.

 "Uhm..b- but if I do that..then the mud will melt away and I won't be able to wear again— Yeah!" You stammered, "I think Tanjiro said it'll rain soon! You spent so long working on this..uh- wonderful crown for me that I wouldn't want it to get ruined!"

Inosuke pauses, and for each second of silence that passed, the image of your head soiled by mud as twigs poked you became clearer and clearer. Luckily, the next words Inosuke says are just what you were praying to hear.

 "I knew that!" He said, "Obviously, I was just testing you to see if you knew that it would rain soon!" And you sighed out a breath of pure relief as you nodded your head.

 "Right, right.. Of course," You said, "Glad I passed the test then."

 "And I promise, I'll wear it as soon as the rain passes," You ended up leaving it out by 'accident' in the end. Best part is that you had managed to stray so far away from the topic of the gift that Inosuke eventually forgot about it! ..Unfortunately, it was at the cost of the flower crown Kanao made you as you found it too risky to wear it around your boyfriend out of fear he'll remember that god awful mud crown.

 "I'ma kill him!" Your boyfriend said, veins flexing from every angle of his face with nothing short of murder in his whited out eyes.

 "Zenitsu," You called sternly, "Don't you dare." But it doesn't seem that he was willing to listen to reason. That said, you latched onto him as soon as he began walking. Nevertheless, Zenitsu was as determined as ever and kept trying to walk away. With you being physically stronger, however, he didn't get anywhere and was forced to walk in place.

 "It's was just a kiss on the cheek. Plus he's a literal child," You said, causing the man you loved to look back at you with eyes of betrayal.

 "Exactly! A kiss on the cheek! That squirt tainted my girlfriend's cheek with his lips!" He shrieked before his head turned as did his tone, changing to one much more aggressive as he said, "He needs to be dealt with!"

 "No one is getting dealt with!" You yelled, "I'm not letting you hurt a kid who's done nothing wrong!" And you turned and began walking away, arm still tightly gripping your boyfriend's arm. Zenitsu had no choice but to be dragged away by you, steam practically blowing out of his ears as he caught a glimpse at the little boy who kissed you—who was laughing and grinning from ear to ear.

He's never wanted to dice someone up more in his life.

 "Oh my," The drawled chime of your girlfriend's surprise was the first thing you heard when you stepped into the common room. It causes your eyes to wander, trailing over to the couch where Kanae was waiting for you with a smile on her face.

 "I know it's been some time since we've last spent time together, but you didn't have to dress up for me. Not that I'm complaining," Her glossed lips parts, opening just enough for her to slide her cup between them. She then speaks, her voice bouncing around and vibrating the cup, making ripples in the tea inside, "There's nothing better than having a nice view while you drink or eat something, makes it taste ten times better!"

You could feel your skin being set aflame at her words, but you played it off in the best way you could; by giggling like a little girl.

 "Well aren't you the smooth talker," You said as you walked up to her. Your hand reaching out to accept the cup she had begun to raise in your direction, "Are you trying to fluster me or something? If so, it'll take a lot more than pretty words."

 "Not at all," She says, but her smile told you otherwise. Not that you cared enough to call it out, deciding to sit beside her instead, "But really, I'm surprised! That type of clothing isn't something you tend to wear after all."

 "Shinazugawa bought it for me a while back. We were out on a mission togther and my clothes were in tatters by the end of the fight. Since it was raining, he took me to the first inn he could find and bought the first thing he saw at the market we passed through and told me to put it on," You explained, adding, "And that something happened to look like somehing out of a fairytale.."

 "Is that so? He really did that?" She said, her voice pitching as her tone perked up, "He's come such a long way from that meeting! I'm so happy for him!" And then she takes another sip of her tea, "Next time I see him, I'll pass on my thanks to him for his kindness!"

 "Pass on mines as well," You said, reaching for one of the many treats set on the table, "He went out on his next mission while I was changing so I never got the chance to."

Dividers were made by me, pictures used are from Pinterest, post formatting is inspired by @xxsabitoxx

[11queensupreme11]

So…kinda depressing ask but Demeter’s recent death kind of had me wondering, especially since you mentioned in an ask once LONG ago—so long ago that’s it’s to the point I can’t even find it anymore 😭—that Poseidon wouldn’t kill his siblings just severely mutilate them.

((I’m assuming u totally ditched that when it came to Demeter’s death—which is totally fine cause either way it flows well with ur story and ur description of Poseidon because if Demeter is permanently dead it checks out because she took something from Poseidon that he would never forgive and he would see that as a betrayal which would, in his mind, justify the killing. And if she is still alive (although I don’t see how that could be possible- how can u stay alive when you’ve been…ripped apart 😭😂😅) but living like Adamas then that’s also possible since she is his sister and he’s spared his siblings before (adamas) after mutilating them of course.))

All that to say, it got me wondering. Could and/or would Poseidon or any of the other yans, if they ever became like SUPER (astronomical levels, really) upset with Percy. Result to…killing her? Could they?

yeah demeter is permanently dead, no coming back at all. no revival, no reincarnation, etc. i'm pretty much going the canon route on how deaths are handled! so in ror, when gods die they go to niflhel! same goes with the human souls in the after life (and by that, i mean, after dying in midgar, if they die again in helheim/valhalla, they go to niflhel)

in the ror wiki:

HOWEVER!!! the only difference is that in my fic, gods don't have souls. instead, they're made of divine essence. so for the sake of my fic, when a god dies, their divine essence is destroyed

so yeah, no coming back for demeter or zagreus 😅

as for ur other question.......

the yans absolutely CAN kill percy. ror characters are ridiculously op in terms of physicality, especially the gods cuz i gave them a huge buff. do you guys recall those brief lines i'd type up throughout previous chapters that are always something like "he gripped her arm so hard had it not been for the Curse of Achilles he would've snapped her bones" and stuff like that? yeah i was being fr, these gods can easily crush her to death on ACCIDENT 💀 it's the whole reason i set the story in-between pjo and hoo so she would still have the achilles curse! they're gods who don't interact with humans, they don't know how to be gentle 😭 even a high five could've ripped her hand off or shatter her lmaooo

as for cú chulainn, he's in the same boat (in terms of physicality). since i'm not going with canon (cuz it was too late for me lol), cú chulainn will be the "human with the strength of a god" kind of demigod, like what heracles was pre-ascension. so since he has the strength of a god, he could ALSO kill percy, HOWEVER. unlike the gods, he knows how to actually be careful so he has a lesser chance of actually killing her. the only issue is his ridiculously op gáe bulg which is canonically stated can't be "dodged nor guarded against". if ra and morrigan weren't fast or strong enough to dodge it, there's no damn way percy can 💀 again, the curse of achilles will save her here AS LONG AS SHE KEEPS HER FRONT FACING TOWARDS THE SPIKES. if she has her back to it..... 💀💀💀💀 but i can't see a scenario where he'll ever be so mad he uses that weapon on her.

also there's his freaky 👹goblin mode👹 thing i forgot to mention, but that hasn't been talked about in the manga yet and so far, from the myths, it just makes him more stronger and uncontrollable. if he were to get angry and get into ríastrad then yes, she'll be in a lot of danger 💀

so yes. the yans absolutely CAN kill her, but they won't ever be angry enough to actually want to murder her (excluding beelie's demonic destrudo ofc). the most likely scenario is that they accidentally kill her in a fit of rage. the gods have a higher chance of doing this, cuz they can literally just obliterate her or smite her without needing to even think that much.

[misterspectacular]

MY ASSESSMENT OF EP 1 OF MEGAMIND RULES! - MEGAMIND VS DUDE MONKEY

I'm going to be going through each episode of MEGAMIND RULES! to review them! Basically state my opinions and talk about how much I love Megamind and the things he does and stuff

Starting with episode 1, obviously.

S1 E1: Megamind vs Dude Monkey

I love the Megamind DreamWorks intro. I'm so happy we have one that was made specifically for him, at long last. It's perfect, too -- Megamind is the man (kid) on the moon, fishing for Chum. Brilliant! And the fact Megamind gets pulled down pahahaa

--

The theme is incredible, everyone knows it. I particularly love when Megamind throws the bags of money, we do a little spin around him, and then he kisses us. If I'd never seen him before, this would be the moment that I succumbed to his handsome-ry.

--

"You've met your match, Evildoer! For I, Megamind, am the hero of Metrocity! And you will feel my… steely justice with the force of a… an angrly llama!" -- Megamind working on his new act. He's used to spouting villainy, this is hard! "I think you're improving, sir! That's way better than attacking their mothers personally!"

--

"Villains, beware! For I am the White Knight of --" I assume he was going to say 'Metrocity'. I love the Batman references (The Dark Knight of Gotham). I am a huge Batman fan so to have Batman peppered throughout Megamind content is truly delighful.

--

Dude Monkey reminds me of Ron from Kim Possible. Except horrible. HAHA the subtitles when Dude Monkey says "shall we stop another crime?" are actually "shall we SCHTOP--" which is exactly how he pronounces it, HAHA! That's hilarious.

--

Megamind: What IS that thing?! (I love that he doesn't realize Dude Monkey is a person.)

--

Dude Monkey is so annoyingly obnoxious! Megamind: What in Hades' hamper just happened?! (That's such a good exclamation.)

--

Roxanne saying "I don't have actual control over the sun" feels like a Mr. Burns reference. Would that make Christina Christo Smithers? You know, I can see it.

--

Megamind breaking through the window and innocently Ollo-ing only to get a monitor thrown at his face is pure gold. Roxanne really has a thing for throwing things at people, doesn't she? She did it to Music Man in the original film too HAHA! She calls it "muscle memory", I wonder if she means "back when you were Evil and I had to defend myself". But DID she really even defend herself physically from Megamind back then? Hmm… we really need more content from the old Evil days.

--

Megamind likes tacos! Important! He also likes toquitos, chocolate milk, coffee, kombucha, and donuts, as I recall! Perhaps I missed something. If so, I'll find out soon enough (since I'm going to be going through the entire series again with Notice-Things Goggles on).

--

Megamind @ Nighty-Knight: "If he pops his Halloween head up again, I have just the treat for his tricks!" These lines are TOO good.

--

Megamind using the word "bombastic", PFFT! It fits right in with the others words often tied to him. "Mega", for example, and "Swag" (promotional items). "Uber" was also a popular word in the live-action script. I feel like all these words are a part of the same package. Also -- Bombastic apparently doesn't mean what it SOUNDS like it means. I was thinking "bomb" as in "amazing" and "tastic" as in "fantastic" but it's actually more of a negative term. I have a feeling Megamind didn't realize that either.

--

"Why hire a second-rate wanna-be when you can have a first-rate is-a-be?" Oh my God, Brent and Alan, I know they're the ones coming up with these lines, they're hilarious. This episode is super funny, every one of Megamind's lines are pure gold. You can really tell how much effort they put into writing the characters, especially his.

--

I love when Megamind nee-nah nee-nah nee-nah's Christina, maahahaha!

--

"What about that icèd cream you promised?" It's interesting, in the subtitles it has a little dash over the e (è) to convey the pronounciation. "Primarily used in languages like French, Italian, Catalan, and others to represent a slightly open 'e' sound." Fascinating! I just watched an episode of the Simpsons where Mr. Burns refers to it as icèd cream, as well -- I do think the creators were inspired!

Oh, ice-cream! He likes ice-cream, as well!

Food Megamind Eats (will be copy+pasting this to other posts if he eats other stuff and I need to add to it): Tacos, toquitos, chocolate milk, coffee, kombucha, donuts, ice-cream

--

"Time to get my blue bod ripped" pahahaha, I love that he can go from using the dialect of an elderly man from the 1920s to talking like a teenage boy who's been living in a frat house amongst his peers for the past 2 years.

--

I love that Megamind thinks Dude Monkey looks up to him and is inspired by him -- seeing the world through rose-colored glasses, I love that about him. (Have I mentioned that I love things Megamind does yet?)

--

"What's with this troll business? They've been extinct for decades!" I'm really curious if there are actual trolls in their world (wouldn't be far-fetched, there are aliens and shadow-people), or if Megamind just THINKS trolls existed in their world. If they did exist, I'm imagining it's something he learned when he was still on his home planet (maybe mom was telling him a bed-time story about the long-lost troll and then clarified that they are extinct once he expressed fear. I realize I'm totally making this all up but let's go with it).

Keiko really is a necessary addition to future (technically present) Megamind content, because Megamind himself has been so sheltered and secluded that he would have NO idea what's going on, ever. Her being there to assist him is pretty important!

--

Hehe they used an edited version of one of my favorite promotional images of Megamind! "It's big for a reason!"

--

"I went viral on Metrocity once! Gave everyone dance fever!" Hahaha I love that, it'd be great to see that. I hope the next theatrical Megamind movie is a prequel and we get to see more of Megamind and Metroman's battles, and get to see Machiavillain training him, and also get to see how Megamind met Roxanne! What a dream that would be! Also, giving everyone dance fever reminds me of Rachett and Clank with the Groovitron (a floating disco ball that, when thrown, plays disco music that mesmerizes anyone near it to dance uncontrollably until it expires)!

--

Megamind's little dance when he "wins" the point-battle is great (I giffed that)!

--

"Make me virulent on the onternet!" (Virulent: (of a disease or poison) extremely severe or harmful in its effects.) Hehehee

--

Chum being entertained by a baby dancing just like a grown-up is pretty funny, given that's what baby Megamind was doing in some old commercials HAHA! Also, there was apparently a dancing baby meme back in 1996 that was/is really popular, I wonder if that's what they're referring to. I bet so!

--

"Villains are red, heroes are blue. Stop robbing that bank, or feel my Kung Fu! Or, you know, I'll think of something later." I love that Megamind can seem egotistical at times, but he's actually quite self-conscious and self-questioning. He puts on the 'I'm the best' act to cover up his insecurities. I also think it was his way of giving himself what nobody else would (except Minion), considering he was looked down upon and was alone for so long!

--

"Treading the boards" is a term that originated in the 1700s. The question we've all been asking -- IS Megamind geriatric? Technically, no, but he definitley does have a tendency to use out-dated terms/phrases. Which makes him all the more lovable! (I love Megamind, by the way)

--

Megamind Before He's On Camera: Hello, my biggest fans! Megamind here!

Megamind Once He's On Camera: Hello, my biggest fans! Your little fannies will shake as you worship the splendor that is --

So real. You know how it is, when you're just existing, and then suddenly you're existing but on camera? It changes everything you ever knew about how to exist!!!

--

De-ep Freeze, De-Sintigrate, De-Gravity, De-Moralize, De-Lock, De-hydrate! Those were some of the features on his De-Gun that I was able to see! (I'll update this as we go, too.)

--

Dude Monkey: Say "Megamind's Cheugy!" (That apparently means "something or someone out of date or trying too hard.")

--

Megamind being obsessed with views, man I've been there! When you're trying to make a living off the onternet, and rely on views to make said-living, you get kinda obsessive! I love that Megamind puts his all into learning how to be up-to-date with slang terms haha! He really did learn quite a lot!

--

"Only 100 views?! Why haven't I become a virus yet?!" He's so adorable. I would rewatch his stuff a THOUSAND times if I could! … Oh, wait, I do. (I imagine Megamind just coming into my room and being like "kinda creepy, but flattering…!")

--

Megamind being scared that he's become "unpopular". That's interesting to think about, even when he was a villain, he was loathed, but he wasn't unpopular. They LOVED loathing him! He was Metrocity's Number One Supervillain!

--

Keiko then tries to help him, and he shuts her down! He decides to take matters into his own hands! He's too impatient to do as she requests and just wait it out! He's on his way to seek INSTANT gratification!

--

Oh my Gooodd, Dude Monkey is the wooorrrssstttt! And Christina is a bully! I have to assume she's cruel to Megamind out of jealousy, but jealous or not, that's my man she's bullying! Cut it out, woman! And I don't know why, but it's super funny to me when Megamind refers to her by name. "Heelarious, CHRISTINA!" I think it's so funny because they're acting like a couple of highschoolers who are fighting over the hunky football player.

--

Oh, this is the best part! Megamind trying out all the different disguises and personas haha! This is him using everything he learned whilst browsing the onternet!

"If this is the hero Metrocity wants me to be, THEN SO! SHALL! I! BE! IT!"

"Crimes a-poppin'! Daaang!" HAHAHA he's such a dork, I love him. "Scope that! Crime much, am I right?" HAHAHA "You'll LOL as I trick-shot these handcuffs right on Nighty-Knight's wrists!"

"Nah! Crime-stopping rocks!" "CRIME-A-DOODLE-DON'T!" (best line ever hahahaha)

Oohh, cowboy Megamind is delightful, he's been my phone background since this episode came out last year on March 1st (I can't believe it's almost been a year already, 2024 FLEW by)! BACKSLASH RAD!

--

So funny that Chum gets obsessed with memes hahaha, new special interest activated!

--

"Imagine her telling me I don't know what I'm doing!" (-RECAP- Keiko really is a necessary addition, because Megamind himself has been so sheltered and secluded that he would have NO idea what's going on, ever. Her being there to assist him is pretty important! -END RECAP-)

--

Roxanne: I need a 30 minute nap after eating three chicken wings! (Paahhaha)

--

Another incredible line: "On my way to the hospital. My back is LOUSY with stab wounds." This is Megamind's way of calling Roxanne a back-stabber HAHAHA

I do love that Roxanne WANTED to pick Megamind though, and that it was just the city that preferred Dude Monkey. She agrees Dude Monkey is dumb! Yay! "Dumb-ocracy, am I right?" "You can't unspoil my sour mood with mayoral dad jokes, Roxi."

--

"I posses super intelligence, otherworldly handsomeness, and selfless humility. Yet, I am felled by a bananalamadingdong." 1.) The first sentence has such "I decided to pick something a bit more humble; MEGAMIND! Incredibly handsome, criminal genius and master of all villainy!" vibes, 2.) HE'S EATING CHIPS! HE ALSO LIKES CHIPS! ADDING THAT TO THE LIST OF FOOD MEGAMIND EATS

Food Megamind eats: Tacos, toquitos, chocolate milk, coffee, kombucha, donuts, ice-cream, chips

There's also a Chinese food box, an applejuice box, and a soda cup on the floor! I wonder if that was from him or from Keiko? We later find out Keiko throws her garbage right on the floor of the Lair so I'm not sure! It wouldn't surprise me, though, if Megamind was the one to consume those things. He eats to comfort himself, as later episodes prove.

--

Megamind truly fears people laughing at him! He really doesn't want to come off as a "bafoon" in any way. He prides himself on his Mega-Mindery, for a while that's all he felt he had going for him -- plus, I mean, his very NAME is based on how intelligent he is. He expresses fear at being laughed at in the original film, too -- being in his jammies in front of Roxanne terrifies him! Running away from the pieces of Metroman's statue after he blew it up "I hope no one's seeing this!" Also there was concept art of Megamind as a kid being laughed at by all the students at school because he dressed up as a superhero and wore a wig. MEAN! I think it's part of why he doesn't like being laughed at and does what he can to ensure he isn't. Trauma!

--

Little Terry Sasko Says: I love that Megamind messes up just like me. In a weird way, that's inspiring. (So real)

This whole episode ties in really well with the original film, with Megamind wanting to be something he's not. He always has trouble with that; he wants to be perceived in a very specific way -- and that way is whatever gets him the most positive attention. My boy has trauma and he needs hugs (from Roxanne. Also kisses).

--

It's kinda funny, but what Nighty-Knight's up to is obvious if you pay attention to HIM during his scenes earlier in the episode. I… was not paying attention to him, at all. Had no idea what he was doing. Too busy looking at Megamind. ALSO -- it's hilarious how Megamind is coming off as a genius as he explains his thought process, but it's more like everyone else is just dumb (looking at you, Chum). HAHA!

--

Roxanne: Please give me good news, like a meteor is heading this way so I don't have to listen to this speech. (HAHAHA ROXANNE, she can have a dark sense of humor, it's great.)

I just heard Dude Monkey in the background saying "fish don't have lungs like humans do. They have gills!" (SHOCK AND AWE!!!)

--

Nighty-Knighty: You dare talk confusingly to the Duke of Darkness?? (Nighty-Knight is by far my favorite member of the Doom Syndicate, he's hilarity shadowified.)

--

Dude Monkey saying "we so do not have the budget for this!" when Nighty-Knight starts using his powers -- I bet the writers added that in there because it was an actual concern! I mean, really, can you imagine being given only a certain amount of money, and having to know what you can/can't do based on the amount you have? That sounds like it'd get really complicated. (I think that's why sometimes in movies, in one scene the CGI will be fantastic and in the next scene it'll be sub-par, more of the money went toward one scene than the other.)

--

"Welcome to MEGAMIND'S RULES FOR DEFENDING YOUR CITY!" That's the name of his channel, apparently! That was also the title, or at least the working title, of this series when it was first announced!

--

Dude Monkey and his friend remind me of the guys from "Dude, Where's My Car?"

--

WOAH, I just realized Megamind said "Metro City" instead of "Metrocity" for the first time this ep! Ha! We do know he's capable of saying words correctly, he just tends not to, or forgets to. But when on camera, or when he knows he shouldn't, he changes it (such as right now, where he is on camera for his channel)! That happened in the original movie, too, where he's about to say "shool" to Roxanne as Bernaard, but quickly changes it to "school". It also happens in a later episode, when Megamind and Roxanne swap bodies. I think he categorizes things in his brain, and when one folder is open, the other is closed, so he is on and off with things depending on which folder is open. Kind of like he goes into modes. THIS Mega-mode doesn't say that, but the OTHER Mega-mode does.

--

OH, more features on the De-Gun revealed! I know some new ones were added, or some were replaced, so I'm going at it as if it's a gun with new features. Meaning I'm not going based off what I know to be true about the De-Gun in the original film.

So now we have: De-ep Freeze, De-sintigrate, De-Gravity, De-Moralize, De-Lock, De-hydrate, De-stroy, De-bilitate.

(ignore that I focused on "de-bilitate" twice)

--

Megamind after he freezes Nighty-Knight: Pretty chill, home boy! (HAHAHAA)

--

crowd goes wild

Megamind: "Thank you, thank you! Oh, please no, you're too much! But it is fitting." (HEHEE)

--

Chum making his own meme, and it's just a picture of Megamind with the words "Inspirational Hero ROFL"

--

1.) Nighty-Knight looks cool without his armor. He's literally a shadow person.

2.) I love holographic-brain Machiavillain. It's fun that our introduction to the character was him as a holographic brain. It makes you wonder what he really looks like! I'll bet he was peeved at being a holographic brain when he's so obsessed with his hair.

--

I'd say it's my 11th favorite episode! There are 16, so 11 of 16.

1 - Thrilling Conclusions 2 - Extra Credit 3 - A Cake for Keiko 4 - Villain City 5 - Who Wants to Save a City 6 - Game Over 7 - Mission: Machia Fest 8 - The Art of Destruction 9 - Blue Prison 10 - MegaMayor 11 - Megamind vs Dude Monkey 12 - Roach Hard: With a Vengeance 13- Hero for a Day 14 - The Villanous Origin of Mr. Donut 15 - Of Mice That Are Men 16 - Too Much Chum

[sepulcher666]

Here's the full thing:

I Trudge Through Corpses

I stand with a lone scout, the only survivor of his company. We had fought through the crumbling cathedral and navigated collapsing roofs and detritus to get so far. This dangerous journey, however had exacted it’s toll. Only one of us is getting out of here. 

“Reclusiarch.” The young man rasps. He grasps my forearm heavily, using it as a crutch to right himself. It seems he wanted to face me with as much dignity as he could muster. There was pride in those pained eyes. I would listen to whatever he had to say. 

“May i make a final request, my lord?” I had heard this far too often these past weeks,

I nod. “Make it known to me, and i will fufill it to the best of my abilities.”

His shoulders sag slightly in relief. He was losing strength by the minute. “Give me final benedictions. Something a battle brother would deserve.”

The ruined altar in this church was only but a few steps away.

I gently pick him up and lay him against the shrine. I start to recite the benedictions and the rites of passing. 

Both of us know that help is a long way off from here. The Calix will not make it in time to save him, no matter how much I wish it would not be so.

As i finish, I notice he’s fallen still. The stuttered rhythm of breathing i had heard from his lips has ceased now. He has died. 

I lay his bolter across his chest and give him a warrior’s salute. He deserves as much. 

“May the Emperor see you to his side.”

—-

I left him behind. The only survivor of our scout detachment. Whatever is left of him is crushed underneath the ruins of the shrine. I left them all behind. 

The thought repeats in my head like a ruthless, repeating drumbeat of guilt, anger and shame. I know they died well, but some part of me believes this could have been prevented. That i could have been better and somehow prevented so many from dying.

But I know what’s gone is gone now. Their legacy will lie in the dirt and ashes of this world once we are done with it. Their names will be forgotten.  It is my duty to bring the news back to the chapter that the convent has fallen.

 I feel the rents the carnifex had left behind on my armor. For whatever reason it’s poison has not completely eaten away at the protective layers underneath the ceramite but it has rent it’s toll on the cogitators and systems. I can see the alarms that blare in my helmet. They fill what little vision I have and blast noise in my ears. I cannot hear any of them but the sound of my breathing and the destination ahead. There is so much smoke and dust that roams around the battlefield that it makes anything not within a few feet difficult to see. 

My eyes hurt so much. They blink in an attempt to clear the dust that covers the thin film of moisture that is quickly drying up now. I cannot recall how far I have walked and how I have even made it this far. My hands are covered in blood that is not mine. My injuries have slowly been torn open by activity and exhaustion. I should have died by now. 

I have pushed my armor and my body too much and too far. 

I come upon a familiar encampment within a ruined cathedral. Familiar etchings line the walls, with a heart and teardrop upon the entrance to the door.

The guards see the familiar emblem on my pauldron and let me pass into the cathedral.

—--------

I barely notice the bulky form of an Apothecary Biologis come up to me and haul me to my feet. He is surprisingly deft for how much his armor restricts his movement.

“What happened?” An unfamiliar voice comes out of his vox speaker. I cannot help but note how heavily accented it is. I did not have much time to acclimate all of the new primaris arrivals. I shut off the alarms, blaring in my helmet to hear myself think for a moment. Enough to answer his question.

“I escaped alone- The Cathedral of Saint Vitulia Under Siege- The fortress is overrun-” I feel a painful spike and fresh blood flow down my lips as something else tears open in my body. I was going to continue- to tell him that the last scout attached to the second company was with me-

I feel stale air hit my face as he tears off my helmet and pricks my neck with a stimulant. It is enough to numb whatever pain clouds my thoughts. It is not enough to banish the searing guilt and melancholy that follows. 

“The Cathedral of Saint Vitulia has fallen. The convent of the Crimson Chalice has gone silent.” My voice trails off. Sorrow keeps my voice from continuing. 

The Biologis nods. He has heard enough from me and uses his vox-bead to communicate this information to whatever command still remains here. Part of me wishes to go with them. To see this through. But i know they will not let me die here. 

I feel a second prick at my neck, and the world goes dark.

some art for something I plan on writing

[beansnpeets]

Thinking about human behaviour compared to animal behaviour again.

It's funny to hear people (the older gens) complaining that "kids these days are lazy, they don't wanna work, etc." What do we get for busting our asses? There is no reward. Many will never own homes. Many are unemployed, trying to find work, and nobody will hire them because they don't have a million years experience and a masters degree OR they want people to work for minimum wage??? People are giving up because there is no reward. Why would we do all this for nothing?

Same as a dog that won't recall when you haven't reinforced it with a reward. Your dog isn't going to do what you tell it to if there is no incentive. No, your dog SHOULDN'T listen just because you're boss and it should respect you. That isn't how it works. They don't think that way. And honestly neither do people.

When we went hiking Sprocket wasn't always taking treats gently from me when I recalled her or she checked in and I rewarded and my one friend told me to stop giving her treats. I told him I won't work for free so why should she. And he said "I do things for free all the time because I want to do them," and I didn't say it then, but I wish I had, but if you like doing it, that's the incentive. It's a self-rewarding behaviour. Just like anything else a dog does, like chasing a squirrel or sniffing things or getting into the trash. Heeling instead of going off to sniff stuff or recalling off of something they want to chase is something you have to reinforce. You have to give them something better so they make the choice you want them to make. They won't make it just because they *respect* you. They won't willingly recall off of exciting prey out of RESPECT. You need to give them a tangible reward for that. You cannot possibly expect your dog to listen just because and then punish them for disobeying you.

Yeah, Sprocket bit my fingers a couple times. The one time pretty hard. But she was excited. She knows how to take gently and I reminded her and she tried very hard to be gentle most of the time. I wasn't going to stop rewarding her for checking in with me and recalling while we were off leash hiking in the woods. I want her to know that coming back to me is good and in the event of an emergency I would like her to not blow me off.

[buttercupart]

timeskip Molly concepts - probably when she's around 16-17 ish, maybe even early college? ( I'm not a big fan of the "ooh the bubbly character gets older and is now SUPER SAD" trope so this is more like... Molly is still Molly, she just gets older and faces more hardships/life stressors that come with age, and struggles to maintain the same high level of positivity/resiliency she used to have )