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clovenhoofedjester · 7 months

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jellicle lineups; part 1/4

hi catsblur ! today i am presenting to you the fruits of my labor. my own little versions of the jellicle cats; obviously based on the replica designs With Fun Little Twists ! such as, they are not naked. ramble below the cut, both on designs and some personal thoughts on the characters

these designs are very much first-draft, subject to change, blah blah. you will very likely be seeing me drawing them differently if i post more of them. i just. urrbhhh. i had 2 draw them....

and the clothes ! even though they're very feline i draw them a bit too human-y for the nakedness to not look consistently weird. i will be drawing them closer to the stage designs in some instances but for rn. clothes. it was a fun exercise in character design too

the kittens are all young adults, think 18-20 ! as much as i love headcanons like demeter being sillabubs mother, it shrimply will not work out timeline-wise. so headcanons like that will be delegated to like... siblings and stuff

victoria | 🍧 💌 🩰

i started out with victoria's design not only because of her being the Main Kitten, but because she has such a concise and clear aesthetic to me. she actually started out with a simple pastel brown dance practice fit before i decided that i wanted to make the outfits ornate(ish) and ended up with a proper ballerina getup

i also quite like when victoria is not just solid white with some grey (love ones that are more yellow or brown) so i colored her fur with some blue and pink-ish tones not only to add more depth but to resemble the trans flag LOL

and i wanted to try something different with making her a bit more lavender than baby pink. i also based her overall look on obc victoria, portrayed by cynthia onrubia :^]

to move on to character interpretation, i think victoria is partially deaf and mute. she primarily communicates through dance. as one of the oldest kittens she'd be 19 in human years

plato | 💐 🕯 🍬

plato's design doesnt stray too far from his standard replica design but i tried to add my own flair . i tried to keep the creepy porcelain doll aesthetic going w their face added some more depth like some other designs with different colors and bold face stripes

i also really like the outfit i chose for them. the flower in their hair and on their shirt is a peony which is a popular wedding flower :") because im a sucker for platoria and very much subscribe to the idea that the ball we see is their funny cat wedding in a way

the outfit is based on standard ballerino costumes but i tried to stray from it with the silky half-skirt thing and pointe shoes. lets go queer cats lets go

i think plato is also very quiet and that's why he and victoria were so drawn to each other. i also quite like the idea that he was a bit of a troubled stray before he found the jellicles. they would be 20 in human years

electra |⚡🥭 🔔

boy i STRUGGLED with electra's clothes i struggled so hard. i think i'm happy with what i ended up with though—i originally gave her the babydoll dress that sillabub has (inspired by artsed electra) but figured that i wanted at least one of the girls to be more tomboyish/butchy. thank you to that one production which apparently had electra be one of the raffish crew and get in on some of the boys' choreography

im very happy with what i did with her fur colors as well. silly little tortoiseshell :] its based on a nonrep but i have no idea which one. enjoy her freckles too

i think electra deserves to be a little spunky. [whispers] i also think shes bombalurinas little sister. she'd be 18 in human years

etcetera | 🎠 🍯 🏅

i needed at least one cat with a circus aesthetic. say hello to my magnum opus: jacked tumbler acrobat etcetera. it was only a matter of time until someone said fuck it and let one of the girls perform lifts and stuff. this is mostly because ive always really liked how shes usually the cat to do the flying trapeze bit and wanted to push it further

i also struggled SO EXTREMELY HARD with making her colors look nice and makeup distinctive but i figured it out in the end—thank you obc cettie for the mismatched eyeshadow and such. i also wanted to give a cat a short bob type of head fur/hairstyle and she fit the bill

nothing much about specific character notes other than like... i want to make her related to some of the cats but cannot for the life of me figure out who 2 assign. also she'd be around 19 in human years, a couple months younger than vic

sillabub | 🌻 🧋 🎼

i think of all of these little fellas sillabub is my favorite. several elements are balanced in her design—the standard jemima with a darker/reddish palette, the more softer and lighter sillabub design, the red eye patch from il sistina jemima, and the overall aesthetic of obc jemima with the big hair and wide, deepset eyes

i've seen her typical design critiqued by some people and wanted to incorporate those critiques by making her look less similar to demeter/bombalurina, adding more red to her body fur, and making her makeup more distinct and less... wooo girl give us nothing. and i included the squiggly on her collarbone

i also really REALLY love her overall aesthetic of sweet kindhearted girl NAMED AFTER A DEMON WITH SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG COLORING AND GIGANTIC SPIKED COLLAR !!!! so i decided to push it by making the collar definitely too big for her, giving her a slightly "edgy" outfit and making her hair resemble devil horns

as for character stuff, i think she has magical powers though i haven't developed exactly What they are yet. beyond her sweet exterior they trouble her. [whispers] i also think shes demeters little sister. she would be 18 in human years, a few months younger than electra and tumblebrutus

pouncival | 🌱 🩹 🍵

i struggled with pouncival's clothing design like i did electra's because i didn't go into drawing him with a particular gimmick in mind. but i think i'm happy with the casual formal look. it makes him look like such a kind young man even if he's a little shit

i did have a lot of fun trying to make his makeup distinctive from tumblebrutus'—so many fellas with brown eyepatches ! so his colors are more dark and striking. i also tried to make him look less like Typical Cis Man by giving him a bit of black lipstick

enjoy his freckles too

but like. i think hes literally such a little cis guy. nothing else for me to add for my specific interpretation of him it's all laid out. this guy fucking loves rocket league, fishing and chess. he'd be 19 in human years

tumblebrutus | 🎡 🥊 🍦

SWEET TUMBLEBRUTUS. i think drawing him here gave me a soft spot for him. with his outfit mirroring cettie's i didn't much struggle with that. his colors are also based on obc tumblebrutus

when i was first conceptualizing my own versions of the cats i wanted at least one of them asides from grizabella to have wavy fur. and idk what it is, maybe it's the lack of content for him, but i was really drawn to the idea of curly tumblebrutus!

i wanted their design to be distinctive from pouncival's so i made their colors softer, kinda watercolor-y. OH AND THEIR FUR IS ALSO MEANT TO BE A LITTLE TRANS FLAG COLORED

as for character, i think he is also a bit troubled, as a son of grizabella's. you heard me, people. i'm probably the first person ever to headcanon that. he'd be 18 in human years

AND THAT'S ABOUT IT ! thank you for reading this far, have a great day and stay tuned for more designs in the days to come !

#cats the musical #cats 1998 #character design #chibi #sfw furry #victoria #plato #electra #etcetera #sillabub #pouncival #tried glazing this; didn't love the artifacting effect so it remains unglazed #i suppose i am laying down and dying at the hands of tech bros #tagging 98 because theyre all based on it as a baseline #my art

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not-a-space-alien · 1 year

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hello!! I've just started reading Watch Your Step, and i love it so far T o T !! Do you have character sheets/commissions/descriptions of what each character looks like? I'd love to draw them ^^ !!

Hey that's so sweet! I'm glad you're enjoying it!!

So, you are allowed to picture the characters differently if you think that's fun, but all the visuals that exist of all the characters should be linked in the story masterpost! But I'll recap the main details here to make it easier to reference!

Thistle

By @echollama and @bottlesandbuttons

Height: 5.56 inches

Thistle probably has the greatest "open to interpretation" factor in his look. The only details that are specified in the actual text of the story is that he's bug-like enough to freak out people who are creeped out by bugs, and that he has long black hair. (That and the details of his wing being torn, as well as thing like him emoting with his ears, which implies they're probably longer than a humans'.) I personally would love to see some different takes on what that could look like, but this has been his most consistent character design.

Marcy

by @freshpoof03

Height: 5' 3"

Marcy's only canon descriptors are that she's implied to be fat at certain points, and this contrast Thistle notes with Teddy in 1.10:

Out of all three of the giants, Teddy was the one he was the least familiar with, and the least comfortable. She was the opposite of Marcy in a lot of ways. Marcy was thick, Teddy was thin. They had different skin and hair colors. Marcy had long hair, Teddy had short. Marcy liked looking at bugs, and Teddy hated it. Marcy loved to touch him, handle him, examine him–loved it too much, an unsettling amount.

She also looks "alt" enough that people assume she's a lesbian in 2.3.

Teddy and Colin

They don't have art yet, but these are their picrews!

Heights: 5' 6" (Teddy) and 6'2" (Colin)

Teddy is implied to black at a few different points in the story and is contrasted with Marcy as I said earlier. Colin is specified to be white and very plain-looking in 2.3

With the power of crowd-sourcing, they even managed to find slurs to hurl at Colin, a cisgender white man who even on his most rebellious days never managed to look more countercultural than the average saltine cracker. If the fire hose of boiling malice hadn’t been so scary, it might almost be impressive.

Colin also spends a lot of time outside, so I imagine he has perpetual tan lines.

Jewel

By @echollama

Not much to say here honestly. Clownfish mermaid.

Length including tail when stretched out: 6 inches

Violet and Petunia

By @dearheartwitcher

Heights: 3.5 inches (Violet) and 2 inches (Petunia)

Violet (left) and Petunia (right) are specified to be "mousey," fuzzier than a human, and have tails. Also open to interpretation, but Petunia is specified to have colorful clothes made out of candy wrappers and black fur.

Severa

by @echollama

Her right arm is torn off in the shredder till just past the elbow in 2.10. The grey hair and ribbon, and being green, are all that's specified in the text.

Length including tail when stretched out: ~30 inches

Moon

by @echollama

Moon probably has the most detailed description out of anyone

But no. He was clearly male–although possibly this was a case of using magic to change appearance without being able to change larger features of sex, such as body size, which Thistle had heard of but never seen firsthand. But this new person’s wings were too different to be a pixie–they weren’t translucent like Thistle’s but solid and powdery like a moth’s wings, green and purple appendages stretching out behind him. He had long, shiny black hair, braided elegantly, and his clothes were fine, no cobbled together rags like Violet and Petunia had had…finer even than Thistle’s own clothes. And he was….fuzzy. The ends of very soft-looking fur poked out from the top of his shirt and the ends of his sleeves. He was sitting cross-legged on the ground in a patch of rapidly waning moonlight, sheltered under the leaves of a sapling, eyes closed. As Thistle’s footsteps grew loud enough to alert this stranger to the pixie’s presence, his eyes snapped open. They were red–and reflective, indicating he had better night vision than a pixie.

The cane is for balance because he has foot drop in his left foot.

Height: 8 inches

Sierra

Only has a picrew, but not really any description details given.

Height: 5' 4"

Lalitha and Jaden

Also only have picrews, and no real descriptions given, but Lalitha Mishra is a Hindi name.

And lest we forget...

Mochi

Image taken from google

#Watch Your Step #my writing #long post #gt

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deitiesofduat · 2 years

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[18] -- YAMM

✦ TITLE: Lord Yamm -- The Foreign God of the Sea and Storms

✦ SACRED ANIMAL: The Octopus ✦ DIVINE WEAPON: Trident ✦ NOTABLE EPITHETS: "The Great Sea; The Judge of the River; Lord of the Tempest; Lord of the Rivers" ✦ PROFILE: https://deitiesproject.com/portfolio/yamm/

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Lord Yamm is a Semitic/Canaanite deity who serves as an adversary to the Egyptian pantheon.

A tyrannical sea god who originated from a realm beyond Duat. Hedonistic and possessive, Yamm has an insatiable desire for collecting various rare 'treasures' -- both material, and otherwise. He is also known for having a ruthless temper that can cause destructive storms.

DEITIES x OC_TOBER -- Deity Profiles [Full Character Lineup]

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Ah yes, the designated octoprick that I inexplicably fixated on for a while 😂

Though he doesn't hold a solid role in the main story, Yamm serves as something of a secondary antagonist in DEITIES -- with different motivations and a bit more depth to work with than the big-bad, Apep. His current character exists thanks to very indulgent headcanons with friends and their OCs, where he acts as a recurring villain we hate-to-love and love-to-hate.

Along the way, Yamm branched out into an OG and AU version of his character. I'm not sure how confusing this is for those following the blog, but just to reiterate from the Relationships section in his profile page:

"OG!Yamm" refers to the original canon that closely follows the mythology in Ancient Egypt, where his character is portrayed as an adversarial and tyrannical god. "AU!Yamm" refers to alternate canons, where the worst traits from his OG character are nixed and he forms healthier relationships — explored for fun and particularly in AUs and events.

Meanwhile, I will say it was funny to draw Yamm on his 'land legs' for this line up, I'm so used to drawing his canon design with the tentacles. In either case, Yamm's actual height on human legs is 6' 9" (lmao--), but because he often uses his hybrid features for his lower half, he can increase his height by supporting himself on his tentacles. Thus, he's usually towering over everyone else \o/

For other fun facts, there are actually quite a bit that are scattered all over his tag, and others I'm still sitting on after developing his character over the past couple years. For those curious, the askbox is open for a few more days ✨

(( Also, for anyone who doesn't know the poor character who OG!Yamm is always tormenting, it's Lord Indra, Jinkz's leviathan deity OC. My sincere thanks and apologies to her for letting me borrow her handsome sea serpent whenever I draw Yamm, but Yamm gets his comeuppance + they get along better in AUs to make up for it. ))

#Deities of Duat #DEITIES Project #DEITIES Profiles #Yamm #deities #artwork #characters #design references #OC_tober #OC_tober 2022 #octopus #egyptian mythology #egyptian gods #// sorta -- yeah I know--#mythology

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legendsgalore · 2 months

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Magolor and Taranza Gijinka

So I have been thinking about what certain Kirby characters would look like as humans recently, and have been trying to sketch it out! These are just sketches for now, but I am working on color version atm, as well as full body drawings. So for Magolor, I would imagine him to have a long sleeveless coat/vest thing with a hood, to emulate his on his little, fox/cat/owl body. I would imagine this is made out a of a heavy, but not thick material. The type that drapes very well, as he uses a belt buckle around his waist to create some shape with it. This would be a white color with gold accents on it.

The reason I picked a sleeveless one, is to show off the undershirt! I imagine Magolor to be surprisingly toned, he IS a dimensional explorer afterall, he is no pushover! But as he is a mage, he is not a muscular person. So his shirt would be a fitted one over the arms, and I put some fun gear patterns on the shoulders! I imagine this as a deeper blue (you can see the color in that weird blob in the bottom right corner bleeding through the page) with the gear being a golden yellow.

Additionally, he wears a necklace that sits just above his collar bone, with an additional chain hanging from the middle bead that has a golden star at the end!

Not pictured is I imagine Magolor goes and does field research often, collecting samples, testing spells, etc. So not only is his clothing built for adventure (pockets!), but he has on a pair of good boots! They're shorter ones, and I'm leaning towards lace up style, with more gear insignia on the back. I think halfway through the adventure with Kirby, or maybe once Kirby and co get all the Lor pieces, they return to see that Magolor swapped shirts (and to return the pieces ya know). This once is a more flowy style, that drapes on his figure compared to the fitted one from before (though in my drawing it looks skintight haha). I'm unsure if I want to keep the deep blue color, or go for a lighter blue-grey here, to signify something is off about Magolor when Kirby returns.

For his hair, at first I was imagining something half up-half down, but then I remembered that is the hairstyle I always use for Meta Knight, and that was not going to cut it. This is the part I am most iffy about, but so far I have enjoyed this messy bun! I think it pairs well with him having pretty features, and a longer nose, neck, pronounced collar bone, etc. Like even though in actuality Magolor is a round little cat guy, I enjoy picturing him as an angular pretty anime boy. Kinda a heart-throb-and-he-knows-it type. Too much of an ego on him, but well earned so you can't really bash him for it. Now for Taranza, I have less pictures, but a much more solid idea of what I want him to look like. For him I think I am staying much closer to what his in-game appearance is, but with more formality and prettiness!

(Please ignore how awkward that drawing looks, I drew his head at an angle, and it looked fine in pencil, but then I inked it without giving any weight to the lines, and then I did flat colors and now he looks quite bizarre)

So he has his cape thing, which I decided was kinda a half-shoulder cape, rather than a full body one. I felt that it matched better with the idea that he works/worked for royalty. And that is reflected in how his cape is held in place by like brooches?? Idk what you actually call the equivalent for cufflinks but for a cape, but it's there.

For the rest of his outfit, I wanted it to look like a worker at the palace's uniform, but slightly fancier, so it's a fitted, collared shirt with buttons (that get bigger in the middle to match Taranza's in game design), with a belt (idk if I like the buckle or not on it), and then slightly fitted pants. He just has some slippers for now, or maybe they could be loafers, but boy is magic and flies around when he can so why need sturdy shoes?

On the same train of thought, Taranza is not very muscular, but he is quite lithe and slender. Which is part of why the formal royal uniform suits him well I think!

His hair is basically the same as his in-game, and I imagine the general shape to match Kurapika from HunterxHunter's.

#kirby #kirby fanart #magolor #taranza #kirby series #kirby gijinka #magolor gijinka #taranza gijinka #human characters #my post

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longboxd · 2 years

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2022 comics reading log

In the early days of last year, I was inspired by some twitter mutuals to post my comics reading in the new year and kept it up from Jan 1 2022 till just about the bitter end. Something about it really helped keep me invigorated by the medium even in some pretty bleak times, so I’m going to keep it going this year, but here at Longboxd instead of on twitter, which I'm trying to spend less time at. Before I can do that though, I want to archive the 2022 entries in a spot that’s more permanent/less twitter-iffic, so here we go—pretty much every comic I read in 2022! (As transcribed from here)

Part 1: 1-21 (of 387)

(I can "only" post 30 images at a time here, so that’ll dictate the length of these catch-up posts)

1) Timeless #1 - I mean, Lol at that final page reveal but this was a fun comic. I like Kang stories and this is good Kang.

2) Service Industry by T Edward Bak

3) Human Target #2

4) Grrrl Scouts Stone Ghost #1

5) Krania #1 by Brian McCray - “I will unmake you” - I sorta wish this was hornier?

6) God Bless The Machine by Connor McCann - A messy dystopian exploration of tech and social media etc that trucks along efficiently, wraps up nicely. Definitely some JTHM energy in the drawings that is chunkily satisfying.

7) Reckless: Friend Of The Devil - A fun read, but didn’t work for me as well as the first. Less "badass/men’s adventure magazine moments" than in vol one, maybe.

8) Cult Of The Ibis by Daria Tessler - Like Tove Jansson designed the "oh fuck I’m losing it" nightlife montage from your favorite noir movie.

9) Firepower #18

10) Future State: Gotham #7

11) Future State: Gotham #8

12) Rust Belt Review #3 - Very solid anthology that seems firmly targeted at the more "literary" side of alt-comics (though of course there are some rowdy exceptions). 2-3 cartoonists clearly influenced by Sammy H, lots of humanity in the stories.

13) Tuki vol 1 - It's nice to have a new Jeff Smith comic to enjoy—he's great at this (this being funny/intense/heartfelt adventure comics), it's easy to sorta forget just *how good* until a new book comes out. Glad it's in B/W too.

14) Crisis #53 - The late 80s/early 90s was the best time for big format anthology magazines, great for just flipping through. Random issue of CRISIS has Sean Phillips doing his best McKean/Fregredo, & Steve Whittaker’s colors(!) on these Munoz SINNER pages are interesting (but print muddy).

15) Crisis #54 - This one has a Paul Grist/Mark Millar prison comic.

16) Avengers #98 - They don’t make ‘em like they used to (kind of bad, chaotic, and hard to read)

17) Nightwing: Leaping into the light TPB

18) X-Men #6

19) Human Target #3

20) Boy Maximortal #3 by Rick Veitch - Veitch found a new life in POD publishing in a way that feels like it’s a spiritual sibling to those Ditko/Snyder joints, & we are richer for it. These are uncut Metaphysical Boomer Cape Comics & I love them unreservedly (also the indicia warmed this slow cartoonist’s heart)

21) Ninja Funnies #1

To be continued!

#inklogging #longboxd #2022 comics reading list #comics reading list #comic books #bincrawling

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prometheusinitiative · 2 years

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Ridley & Royce Krolik || Interview

A jaw drops in disbelief as the recording begins playing, and before the introduction is even out, the woman observing is already shouting over the person on the screen. “What the—?!”

She fumbles with the case for a few seconds, attempting to pry the screen away from the rest of the device, briefly convinced that there’s more within than what she’s witnessing. Slack jawed, a flurry of confused expressions scramble across her face, shoulders slumping as she rests an arm on the back of the chair she’s since dropped into.

Whatever she was expecting? This ain’t it.

It’s not a live video feed, but there’s a light indicating the camera is recording her—them—and whoever’s on the other end has a full view of someone in cracked sunglasses and fresh blood splatters. She paws at several parts of the case looking for some way to turn it off, identification tags around her neck jingling as she leans forward. The video feed changes; she is gaping at her own mirrored reflection now.

That’s going to be fun to explain. Another rehearsal on the schedule.

A hand encased in a fingerless leather glove reaches up to raise her sunglasses and drag her eyelids downward before the glove comes off with a quick tug; the hand beneath is just as bloody, knuckles bruised and purple from where they’ve cracked against a solid surface again and again and again.

Over her shoulder, she can see someone hovering just out of view at the top of the staircase behind her, arms slack at his sides, wearing heavy clothing nobody has any business wearing when it’s over one hundred degrees outside. His squat, heavyset frame is dwarfed even further by the rabbit mask he wears, unsettlingly large and disproportionate to the rest of his body. Despite being obviously human beneath it, the mask’s design is mostly realistic, with eyes positioned proportionately on its sides, but centered just enough to appear predatory in stark contrast to where a lagomorph’s eyes belong.

Everything about him, even without much of him actually being visible, feels wrong.

“What draws you toward working with Ascentsy?”

The bloodied woman doesn’t turn around, fixated on the reflection of the person behind her. “Hey, what gives? What is this? Seriously?”

No answer.

She turns so she’s looking directly at him, and rises from the chair with surprising speed, halfway up the stairs in an instant to grab the heavyset man by the collar of a grey polo shirt, lifting him off the floor with uncanny ease. “Royce, are you fucking serious?”

“What can we offer you?”

The man in the rabbit mask—Royce—does not react, staring into the camera from a comfortable distance. The question prompts meant to be addressed by whoever the intended recipient go unanswered.

“What can you offer us?”

Royce’s companion raises her voice. “I’m talkin’ to you! What is this? That wasn’t our guy, Royce!”

But his face remains fixated on the screen, interest captivated in a way that is completely alien to the person now shaking him by the lapels of a jacket that looks like it didn’t originally belong to him. Unconcerned, he gives his head a quick snap to the left. The behemoth accosting him stops.

“What do you mean ‘yes’?” She sets him down, still bewildered, and Royce descends the stairs to take the chair the other person occupied prior.

Silent, his features are hard to describe other than his short frame and hands with their squat fingers, clothes plain but noticeably rumpled; neither he nor the woman with him seem familiar with keeping themselves in a polished, professional state. The windows in whatever building they’re occupying are open without any visible screens or curtains; the world outside is flat, unremarkable, cloudless. White noise crackles against the case’s microphone from rippling wind blowing through the open windows. A single saguaro cactus can be seen within the frame of the easternmost window upon closer inspection.

Royce reaches past the open case for something, a close-up view of his mask briefly obscuring everything else on the screen. For a moment, he sits there, hands folded politely over what looks like a stack of paper, a permanent marker tucked neatly between his fingers. Finally, his head lowers at a slight angle as he begins writing. Behind him, the woman stomps down the stairs to join him, still waiting for an answer.

After a moment of careful thought, he turns in the chair to address her first, the paper he reveals to her obscured by his bulk. She considers it but does not seem convinced by whatever is written on the paper, hands on her hips. A leather jacket or vest hangs around her elbows, and from the newly revealed full view of her, the entire right side of her body is visibly dark with fresh blood.

They speak in a series of silent, mostly untranslatable gestures before Royce makes a quick motion with two fingers, as though twisting or turning something in air.

“You want me to translate?”

Another quick tilt of his head to the left.

“You’re sure about this?”

The gesture repeats.

An uncomfortable silence follows before the woman relents. “Fine. Uh… Is there a way to, like, replay the thing, or…” The case closes for a few seconds and then re-opens again. No change. The woman closes it a second time and does not consider that it might still be recording, talking in a faint voice. “Who got this again? Or… Oh. I guess we don’t know. But that guy wasn’t Jennings. No ID on him, but I remember seeing him with Seth—yes, I’m sure, I know what I’m talkin’ about!”

Something shuffles; the heavy footfalls indicate the woman’s pacing. A pause. “You think they have a checklist of the people these went out to?”

Another pause for Royce’s unseen response.

“I guess. Not like it’s the real ones. Feel like the worst case scenario is… Rejection?” She is not considering the fact that she is covered in blood and has alluded to attacking whoever the Ascentsy case’s intended recipient was meant to be.

The case opens again and the woman from earlier is on her knees beside Royce like a parent instructing a child through homework, nearly the same height as him even while on a different level surface. Her eyebrows rise in a mix of confusion and uncertainty; it feels like she’s talking to herself. “Uh, I’m Ridley Krolik, this is my brother Royce. We’re, uh…” What is Ascentsy, anyway? Her knowledge is clearly nonexistent with the blank realization visibly crossing her face. “We’re interested in working with Ascentsy because… Uh…”

Still staring into the camera, Royce taps his marker against the paper off to the side, then holds a hand palm-up, tracing two fingers down its center to the end of his middle finger. Ridley’s interest perks up in a way that might be surprise, but the confused non-answer that follows might be a bit too honest in terms of how little they both know.

“Well… Because we know how to deal with stuff. Lots of stuff. Uh, so, we came from, like… Well, see, we grew up in the church,” Ridley says the church with such a matter-of-factness that it feels like both words should be capitalized. “And, uh, in the church, an important thing about the way we were raised was, like, preparing for storms, and helping others, and making sure we had supplies to get back on our feet and stuff after a disaster. Food, shelter… A means of defending ourselves. But what ended up happening was…”

Royce writes something and holds it up to the camera; his handwriting is neat with a slight downward angle to it in capital letters: PROGRESS.

“Ser… Serg… Oh, it’s backwards.” She laughs. “Progress. Uh… Yeah, uh, it was kind of the best thing that ever happened to us. We’re looking for…”

Another hiss of the marker dragging against paper before Royce holds up a different word: PURPOSE.

Ridley stares at it for a moment—an inclination of disagreement? A chunk of dark, windswept hair falls into her face that she quickly rakes back. “We’re, uh, looking to rebuild. Something like that. Both of us have pretty free schedules nowadays, so it seems like as good of an opportunity as anything.”

They exchange a look, but no further communication ensues; there is an unspoken agreement that the answer suffices. Royce’s hand hovers over the silver button before giving it an experimental press.

“Do you consider yourself more of an independent worker, or a team player?”

This question is far easier to answer, and Ridley doesn’t need prompting to start talking this time. “Oh, we’re team players, for sure! You can’t have one of us without the other because we work so well together. This guy?” Ridley balls one bruised hand into a fist and jerks a thumb in Royce’s direction. “Got some rock-solid brainpower going on even though we never went to—”

Royce’s head snaps to the side immediately, head jerking to the right afterward.

Ridley pauses, reconsiders. “Well. I guess it doesn’t matter.”

They move on. The wind continues to flutter against the microphone.

“Where do you see yourself a month in the future? A year? A decade?”

A more confident answer comes to this question, surprisingly. “Maybe in a different location. A nicer place, like… Like the city.” There’s a specific naivete that comes with this belief. The city can mean anything; there’s thousands of them across the world. “A place where people are really putting their back into getting things back to the way they were.” Whatever that means. “Royce, what do you think?”

The rabbit mask tilts as a slight diagonal, as though Royce is looking off to the side in consideration. The marker taps against the table’s surface; he’s thinking about what to write. Ridley takes notice and keeps talking to fill the silence.

“And for a year and a decade, I mean… Well, hell, there’s so much to do out there! Even with that much time, it feels like it’s just not possible to see everything and do everything and be everywhere. I think—”

She’s excited now, teeth raking her lower lip in anticipation, “—I think I wanna try lobster. That’s an easy goal to try and accomplish in a year, right? A decade, though, uh…” Royce holds up ten fingers after she struggles for a moment. “Oh, it’s ten? Like, ten years?” He nods, Ridley laughs. “Oh. Yeah. I guess that checks out. Ten years, though, that’s a lot.”

Ridley puts heavy thought into the question. While she mulls it over, Royce begins writing again, holding up a new piece of paper a minute or so later with the most words he’s had to offer so far: RECOVERY IS A LONG JOURNEY. WE HAVE FALLEN FROM THE PINNACLE.

“I think I want to know what it’s like to maybe live how people live after,” Ridley finally replies. “So, ten years… Have a job? A house? Provide for a family? It’s been two, so far. Actually, four? It’s been a few. Not sitting around on your ass all day is a pretty huge development for me, personally. Maybe meet some other people like us, figure out what they did when shit hit the fan and they had nowhere to go.”

It’s not the most interesting answer, but heartfelt. They agree in unheard whispers that there’s nothing else for them to say. The sincerity and innocence behind the answer, however, is easily brushed aside by the sight of drying blood and an unjustifiable fashion choice. Ridley presses the button this time, shrugging one arm out of her jacket to rest it on the back of the chair again.

“A paranatural disaster strikes the building—the first things you notice are how the lights cut out and the air grows thin. What’s the first thing you do? Anything you’d prioritize?”

“Armed and ready always!” Ridley assures, and Royce begins writing. “Happy to take the lead on things, but you’d best believe either of us is ready to put someone in their place if they think about trying anything funny while we’re in a bind like that.”

Royce holds up his latest statement. DETERMINE WE ARE FINE FIRST.

Then: HELP OTHERS SECOND.

“We had to learn a lot when…” Ridley sighs. “When life as we knew it changed.”

“Tell us about a time you experienced failure, and what you learned from that moment.”

At first, neither of them has an answer.

“Pretty basic,” Ridley replies, decidedly nonplussed. The answer comes naturally. “You fail, you try again. Different problems create different solutions. Sometimes you just gotta get creative with how you correct ‘em.” She stretches her arms upward with a yawn, legs spread wide as she shifts around for a bit before finally leaning back into the chair. Her cropped shirt rides up just enough to reveal an impressive set of abdominal muscles and the handle of a shiny, silver handgun poking out from the waistband of her fatigues.

Beside her, Royce is still writing, carefully arranging several sheets of paper with his neatly capitalized letters taking up the entire space so it’s legible from a distance. Ridley shows no interest in whatever it is he’s writing, staring intently into the camera and then looking off to the side, attention captured by nothing and everything all at once. She’s bored and ready to wrap this up.

One by one, Royce holds up four sheets of paper, each of them containing a phrase that he lingers on for enough time to read three times over:

BY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON

THERE WE SAT DOWN

YEA WE WEPT

WHEN WE REMEMBERED ZION.

Neither of them says another word. The last thing the recording displays is another close-up of the rabbit mask as Royce leans forward to turn it off.

#submission #interview #prologue #ridley #royce

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mleelunsford · 2 years

Text

Darkstalkers Redesign Thoughts Part 4 & 5

The final rounds! I was really getting worn and burnt out, so I don’t think a lot of these last ones were my best. Here are my thoughts anyway.

Part 4

Q. Bee: Q. Bee is the scariest Darkstalker for me. I hate insects to start off, if not a genuine phobia then very close. Secondly just the idea that the “humanoid” part of her is all a façade formed to lure people in creeps me out. I tried to make her body look more like it was formed organically rather than she’s wearing clothes, gave her some extra limbs to be a bit more bug like. My favorite part is the pose though, the hand could either be seen as for her lower face searching, or for her “true” face, covering her mouth while she laughs.

Lilith: Another difficult one! All of Lillith’s backstory is about her being Morrigan’s sealed off energy trying to return to her. Which is why she has matching outfits with Morrigan in the original. I wanted to reflect this by having her form an outfit that resembles the Morrigan redesign I did in shapes, but doesn’t quite get it right, and doesn’t look like real clothing someone would buy. With floating bits showing the whole thing as being formed mystically.

Huitzil: Originally Huitzil was based on Japanese dogū figurines. My only idea was to bring back more of the detail and designs of those figurines to add a bit more flare. Also I read that the designs on some of them showed signs of being painted in vermillion, so I added some of that coloring.

Bishamon: Two big things I changed here: I wanted to make him less like a solid blue man and more ghostly. Secondly I wanted to make the chest piece of the armor more of a face to pull him away from being another stomach mouthed monster like Lord Raptor. I referenced Samurai masked and Oni depictions. I saw some Samurai masks had mustaches and thought hat would be a way to make him stand out more. I also shadowed his “human” face a bit to pull focus from it. Making the armor’s face the one you are drawn to.

Part 5

Demitri: I just wanted to give the boy some decent clothes. Who told him a skin tight body suit and a frilly jabot was suitable for every day life? Just gave him a fun layered suit and a Dracula trophy.

Jedah Domah: I’ve never liked how Jedah looks. Striking to be sure, and works great as a sprite, but in drawings I always thought he looked a little lackluster and a bit confusing. I tried to keep some basic shapes from his original look while making him a bit more intimidating (at least to me) and grim-reaper-like.

Pyron: Not much to do there with the battle-loving fire alien, but I suppose I realized I never liked his horns. I made some horn-like shapes formed by fire instead, and mostly kept him the same otherwise. There’s something charming about his original simplicity and I didn’t want to mess with it too much.

Marionette: Never a full character, just a mirror match style mode (like Shadow, who I neglected to redesign as he’s kind of just some sludge). I just tried to give her a more interesting cosutme, and made her look more like she is the puppet master than being a puppet herself. Also, not important, but a little behind the scenes thing: I have a big 20 inch Spider-Man action figure from the Toby McGuire movies, I used it as reference for how to draw the joints on Marionette here.

And that’s all! hope you enjoyed these. I thought about doing some Midnight Bliss versions down the line, but I need some rest from these now. Thanks for reading!

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levi-my-beloved · 3 years

Text

Birds of a Feather

Chapter 2

Pairings: Canon!Levi x F!Reader

Warnings: Violence, swearing, descriptions of sexual acts

Word count: 5.9K

Summary: You were the most notorious criminal in the Underground City. With your organisation of highly skilled professionals, only one man could take you down. He also happened to be Humanity’s Strongest… and your ex.

A/N: big ol’ oof i’m back again with more BoaF shenanigans. i’m having way too much fun with this, and i know i said chapters would be released every two weeks but i actually got way too excited not to post these sooner. haven’t had any issues with accidentally deleting this post yet, but i wouldn’t put it above myself. anyway, here’s chapter two of “Birds of a Feather”

𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔

You hated surprises. In all shapes and forms. You liked to be in control of the situation, able to predict every move your victims would make. The job was going smoothly, all the steps falling into place. Infiltrating the nearest MP warehouse was easy enough. Stealing medicine, ointments and food was child’s play. You wondered how any of them became members of the MP in the first place, considering how incompetent they were. Only a few throats had to be slit on the way, one of your knives now dripping in their blood. Running it through the crease of your elbow, the crimson came off on your leather suit. Various straps and holsters held knives and blades of all sorts, some were more intricately designed than others.

Crouched low behind a large, wooden crate, you remove one of the smaller daggers from your boot, now clutching it in your left hand. They seemed to have upped their security, judging by the increase of soldiers walking around the place, each with their own rifle on their backs. Shit, they were really getting fed up with you. A small, satisfied smirk sliced across your shrouded face. Even with upped security, this was easy as piss.

That was until a commotion above you had you stopping in your tracks. A strange zipping sound followed by what you could only assume was the releasing of gas filled the air, followed by shouts, some familiar, most unfamiliar. Shit, how the fuck did they know you were here?

It wasn’t long before you were scampering onto crates of weaponry, back up to the broken window in which you’d entered. Swinging up from a beam, you landed deftly on the windowsill, peering out. Dread pooled in your gut at the scene.

These soldiers had skills you’d never seen. Swooping and swivelling with expert precision, it would have been mesmerising if not for the fact that they were chasing your Shadows. Your family.

“Shit… PHANTOM AND RENDEZVOUS,” you shouted, your voice carrying across the rooftops. It was a simple command. Disappear and meet up back at the hideout. But, in doing so, you’d given away your position, and it wasn’t long before you too were racing across the rooftops.

Taking out a set of throwing knives from your waist, you leapt from the tiles onto a balcony, spinning behind you and throwing two of the steel blades at those who were in your pursuit. Both knives hit home, sending two of the three soldiers spiralling into the streets below. Dead.

But one was still on your tail, dodging the two falling bodies effortlessly. Using your momentum, you crashed through the wooden window, rolling as you landed before continuing to flee.

Shit, this really wasn’t good. But one question still circled your mind. How the fuck did they know you were there? How could you possibly have been compromised? The job was airtight. Nobody outside your trusted group knew the positions you would be in and when.

The thought had thrown off your rhythm. Not concentrating on where your feet were falling, you’d missed the staircase right in front of you, only noticing when your foot met air instead of solid ground. Throwing your hands up to somewhat protect you, you were thankful for the corner as you slammed into the wall, your front jolting in protest. Shaking your head in an attempt to free yourself from the disorientation, you swiftly stood and wasted no time skipping the rest of the stairs, shouting a quick “Sorry!” to the couple who yelped in surprise as you vaulted over their kitchen table and burst through their door, back out into the streets. You had a few seconds reprieve before the hissing of gas met your ears, and once again took off running.

The street was irritatingly busy, you having to pick your way through the crowds whilst the zipping and hissing of ODM gear threatened to swoop down from above.

“Fuck fuck fuck.” You muttered, now shoving people aside. This was not ideal. Though the crowded street gave you some cover, it had slowed your momentum significantly.

Scanning around as you sprinted, you saw the perfect opportunity to broaden the gap between you and your pursuer. It was risky as shit, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

With a burst of speed fuelled purely by adrenaline, you raced towards the broken wagon. It acted almost as a ramp up to a swinging tavern sign. ‘The Broken Casket’. You’d never been and honestly had no interest in going, but you silently thanked whoever decided to place the sign at the perfect angle for you to use as a stepping stone. The wagon creaked as you sped up the planks of wood with cat-like agility. Using your arms for momentum, your foot connected with the swinging sign as you leapt across the street. However, in your planning, you’d failed to notice the sound of ODM gear had ceased behind you. It only occurred to you after another body slammed into yours mid jump, a low grunt interrupting your thought process as the two of you crashed into the dirt.

Surprised shouts and exclamations of the crowd brought you back to your senses as you expertly kicked the soldier from your body, rolling to avoid any sort of attack coming your way. This was bad. This was really bad. Drawing two more blades from your leather suit, you flipped them in your hands, ready to face off against your attacker, who had already begun his onslaught with his own steel.

The singing of metal rang in your ears, sparks flying with every collision.

Raising your arm beside your head, you blocked a heavy kick to your face, hissing ever so slightly at the contact. Shit, this guy was good. Ducking beneath a swipe, you took advantage of the fact you were wearing a masked helmet, bringing your head up viciously. You watched as he dodged backwards, his footwork borderline perfect before sweeping for your leg. Barely having enough time to register the attack, you leapt and twisted, bringing your own leg against the side of his head. He mimicked your block, your foot connecting with his forearm instead of his skull. You’d traded blows with hundreds of people before, each fight ending in just a few seconds. You knew you were good. Really good, in fact. But the man currently shrouded by a green cape was just as good. Dare you admit, maybe better than you.

No, you wouldn’t admit that, not when you had just landed a solid hit to his stomach with the hilt of your knife, not the end you’d wanted to land but at this point you were thankful for any successful blows. Rolling deftly to the right, you lunged once again whilst you thought he was still reeling from the impact.

He wasn’t.

He had lulled you into a false sense of security and let you believe the blow had impacted him more than it actually had. A knee cracked against your jaw, throwing you to the side. Sliding against the ground, you slammed into a wall, slumping as you recovered. Your hand came up to cradle the side of your face, wincing as you gently took hold of your chin, before jerking your jaw back into place. You couldn’t deny it. That hurt. A lot.

“You done?” raising your head from the dirt, you glare into the void beneath the hood, a voice you’d sworn you’d heard before, but you pushed down the confusion of familiarity. Slowly placing your blades back into their scabbards, you raised your hands as you stood, taking a step forward away from the wall behind you.

“Shit… Yeah. I’m done.” You admitted lowly, now standing before him, arms still raised in submission. That was until he came closer. You tried not to give away your plan as he cautiously walked towards you, keeping your eyes trained on the ground until you could see the tips of his boots in your vision. You couldn’t help the feral grin that sliced across your face.

Before he had time to question it, your foot connected with the underside of his chin.

It was a move Prongs had taught you a very long time ago. If ever you were in trouble, this was your best bet of escape.

The world turned upside down as you flipped backwards, watching in satisfaction as the man staggered backward. Now it was his turn to cradle his jaw.

“Never let your guard down, Scout.” You spat, before bolting away. That was close. Too close. You just hoped the rest of your Shadows had made it back.

꧁⎈꧂

What. The FUCK. Just happened? He had never seen someone with those kinds of skills before. It would have been impressive if it wasn’t a life or death situation. Levi stood there in the middle of the street, slouched ever so slightly, eyes wide with shock.

What the fuck just happened?

His hand still cradled his chin painfully. How the fuck was he just bested? He wasn’t even thinking clearly throughout that entire chase. All that was running through his head was how the fuck this guy was able to pull of moves like that. He’d seen some daring examples of parkour in his time but leaping over an entire street? Swinging from overhead bridges? The leader of The Nest was on a whole other level. He thought back to their entire ordeal. He must have been taught by someone. There was no way he couldn’t have been.

For some reason, that voice played in his head on repeat. A teasing carousel. He wouldn’t dare assume, but it sparked something in his mind. Something he wouldn’t dwell on now, but if they managed to catch this Raven, then maybe he could figure out just where the hell he’d heard that voice. Sure it was a little muffled and distorted by the mask, but it still bothered him.

Straightening himself, he pulled the hood of his cloak lower against his face. He told Erwin this was ridiculous. He told him this was a fruitless expedition. He was getting a little sick of people not listening to him for various reasons. He suspected it was because of his background.

Levi had done half of the job he was tasked with. Keeping the leader away from the rest of the group for as long as he could. Whilst he wasn’t able to detain him, this should be enough to please the Commander. As if remembering where he was, his skin began to crawl. The filth all around him almost felt suffocating.

“Shit…” he muttered, running his hand through his dark locks, sweat making them stick to his forehead. Looking back to where he’d watched the criminal race away, he pulled the triggers on his ODM gear, the gears shooting into the brick and wood of the upper streets before engaging his gas to meet up with Erwin and Hange. If everything went to plan, they would have the leader of The Nest already detained by the time he got there.

Levi couldn’t deny this operation had been a shitshow. They had severely underestimated the skill of these Shadows. Comrades falling left and right in their pursuit.

It was strange, being back. Dragging up memories he’d tried so hard to bury. His past suddenly creeping back up behind him. Gritting his teeth, he decided to concentrate on where he was going rather on the tendrils of discomfort seeping into his mind. He would face those demons later, when he wasn’t surrounded by death and filth.

Now he thought about it, facing the underground city and facing titans were similar in many ways. Both were terrifying thoughts to most. Both seemed to be caked in dirt and grime. And both seemed to result in the inevitable high death toll. It was frustrating to no end, but it wasn’t a surprise. Everything seemed to result in death. The only constant in this cruel world. It followed him like a curse.

His thoughts twisted back to you. Wondering if you were down here, somewhere. You were always so mysterious. Even when the two of you were together you’d disappear for days on end, only leaving a cryptic message behind. You’d never told him where you went, and he’d never pried. The wind in his ears took the form of your bubbling laughter, images of you clutching your abdomen after he’d told some sorry excuse of a joke.

Shit, he needed to get out of here. The longer he stayed, the further his thoughts strayed back to you.

꧁⎈꧂

You had never run so fast in your life. Wanting to meet up with your Shadows as soon as possible, hoping they would all be there safe. It was a fool’s hope, you knew that, but it was the only hope you had left, unable to shake the unease. Had you all been compromised, or just you and your Shadows? Was the location of The Nest safe? Was Scarlett safe?

You had come to the conclusion you must have been betrayed. There was no other explanation. It seemed impossible, one of your trusted betraying you all to the MPs, but how else would they have known you would have been at the warehouse? How else would they have known to call in the Scouts? They knew MPs alone couldn’t take on you and your Shadows, so they asked for help from a more skilled regiment. That was the only conclusion you could come to as you arrived at the rendezvous point.

Only to be greeted by an eerie silence. Not a soul to be seen.

This was wrong. Everything about this felt wrong. They should be here by now. Unless…

Unless they were at the backup site...

“NOW!”

A woman’s voice had your head jerking up to see you were surrounded. You watched the Scout pull some sort of trigger and as you did, time itself seemed to slow down. A faint click to your left alerted you to whatever trap they may have set. Leaping into a forward roll, you felt a rush of air behind your head as you dodged. Your heart pumping faster than ever as you look behind you, seeing the weighted net that had missed you by less than an inch.

Returning your gaze to the rooftops, you watched as several soldiers zipped onto the ground around you. The hidden square you’d chosen as your first meetup point now riddled with green capes, rifles and blades pointed in your direction.

You were trapped.

“What the fuck do you want?” your voice sounded a lot more confident than you felt. Coming out as a threatening demand rather than a timid question. (E/C) eyes widened behind your mask as a tall, blonde haired man pulled down the hood of his dark green cape. You knew that face, you’d seen it in the papers. The Commander of the Scouts had come to pay you a visit.

How thoughtful.

“The question still stands, Erwin Smith. What the fuck do you want?” you stood a little taller, though he still towered over you. Subtly, your hand went to one of your blades on your belt. If he got close enough, you could sink it into his throat. Throwing the Scouts around you into disarray was probably the only way to escape this, though those chances seemed incredibly slim.

Erwin raised a thick eyebrow to you.

“I’m surprised you’re familiar with my name, considering your… living conditions,” though he seemed to choose his words carefully, they still fanned the flames of hatred in your gut. His perceptive eyes glanced towards your hand nearing a wicked dagger on your belt. “I’d strongly advise you against that,” he warned, his voice low as he nodded his head to something behind you. Swiftly, you turned, and immediately regretted everything. Horror and guilt pierced your heart as you beheld Una as she was dragged forwards, a blade positioned near her throat. “Her life is in your hands, Raven. Co-operate, and we’ll let her go. Fail to do so…” the blade pressed into her throat a little, a small trickle of crimson staining the pale flesh of her neck.

“R-Raven, I'm so sorry,” she rasped, finding difficulty in speaking with the steel against her jugular.

“Shh, shh Una, don’t speak. You’re okay, yeah? You’re fine, you’re going to get out of this, okay? You’ll be alright,” you tried to reassure her as much as you could, but you knew she was scared. You could tell by the way her hands shook by her sides, her eyes squeezed shut. Fuck, this had not gone to plan.

Turning back to Erwin, your voice lowered to a snarl.

“Alright. What do you want? I won’t ask again,” the arrival of another soldier briefly held your attention, faintly acknowledging him as the one you fought earlier. Your jaw tensed as he landed next to the Commander, his face still shrouded in shadow by his hood. You felt a sick satisfaction in knowing that the inevitable bruise blossoming under his chin was from your fight earlier. But he didn’t seem bothered by it.

Annoyingly.

“I’m sure you’ve guessed what we want by now, but I’ll tell you anyway. We want to take you with us, back to the surface, where you will atone for your crimes. In return, we will release this girl and allow the rest of your gang to go free,” it was an incredibly good deal for you, the only issue being…

You die.

The image of your wife danced behind your eyes as you closed them. She was right. You’d been captured.

But a strange calm settled over you. Maybe you could see him again. You’d finally be reunited and free of this world’s filth.

“Alright,” there was almost no hesitation to your answer. Something that caused Una to cry out.

“NO! Raven you can’t! They’ll kill you! Get the hell out of here, I'm not this important!” she attempted to bargain with you, only resulting in that blade pressed closer to her throat.

“DON’T!” you shouted, your voice now breaking ever so slightly. “Please… let her go.” slowly, your hands came up to your masked helmet. Removing it, you allowed the reveal to settle over the soldiers around you.

The leader of The Nest was a woman.

The shock was always something you revelled in. Of course, under normal circumstances, a venomous smile would crawl across your face.

But not this time.

Levi had completely frozen. Eyes wide, mouth parted in shock. His heart was a sick amalgamation of sheer joy and utter terror. Though your face had changed slightly with age, he’d recognise those eyes anywhere. They were harsher than before. Colder. No longer the eyes of a softer, young girl, but those of a savage, hardened killer. But it was you. You were here, in front of him. You were alive.

And he’d knee'd you in the face.

“RAVEN DON’T.” Una knew it was already too late. Your face had been revealed. There was no turning back now. Tossing your helmet to the side, you turned back to face the trio now in front of you. The woman who had pulled the trigger on whatever trap they’d set was now staring at you almost in awe. Erwin’s expression too seemed surprised, but it was the expression of the shorter man next to him that caught your attention. He seemed frozen solid, unmoving. You tried to catch a glimpse of his face beneath his hood, but that only provoked him to shadow it further.

“Let her go. Let them all go,” your voice had dropped significantly, though your eyes still held that steely determination. Staring up at Erwin, you watched as he nodded his head for Una to be released. Raising your hands to show you had nothing up your sleeves, you slowly walked over to her form sprawled out on the floor, head refusing to rise and look at you.

“Raven… I—“

“It’s alright, Una. It’s alright,” you cooed, gently lifting her chin to look at you, her hood still hanging low across her face, her features stayed hidden throughout everything. “This wasn’t your fault. None of this, was your fault, okay? We were betrayed, and I'm pretty sure that wasn’t you,” you chuckled gently, trying to lessen the tension.

Still, you could see the slivers of silver lining her eyes in the low light, tears of guilt welling up. “Hey, listen to me. You’re going to be okay. You’re all going to be okay. We prepared for this, didn’t we? We knew this might happen someday,” your voice was soft as you spoke to her, as if you were simply trying to comfort a child after a nightmare.

Helping her to her feet, you reached for your mask, lifting it from the floor and placing it in her hands. Her breath hitched in her throat as her eyes widened.

Una knew the significance of this.

“Give it to Prongs. Tell him I’m sorry it wasn’t quite the ceremony we would have wanted. Tell him to look after them for me. Look after her, for me,” taking a step back, you fisted your hands to stop yourself from tearing up, eyes trained on the ground. “I’m so sorry,” you whisper, before raising your head. “Now go. Get the fuck out of here.” your commanding tone returned, giving your last order as the leader of The Nest.

Levi’s heart clenched at the exchange unfolding before him. Though your appearance may have changed, you were still as soft as ever. He’d tilted his head down at your gaze, fearful of your reaction when you’d figure out who he was. How this would look. Him, in all his ‘Humanity’s Strongest Soldier’ glory, and you, the Underground’s most dangerous criminal. He wouldn’t be able to stand the flash of betrayal he knew he’d see in those familiar eyes.

Unable to stop your heart shattering as Una turned and ran, you took a breath. Raising your hands once again, you allowed soldiers to pull each arm out by your side as they began searching your body for weapons. You always made a habit of bringing a ridiculous amount of knives and blades with you on every job. And this was no different.

“That was honourable of you, Raven,” Erwin was the first to speak, though the title now made you scoff. You wouldn’t tell them your name, not yet anyway.

One of the soldiers patting you down was forced to gesture to a friend, her own hands now full of your various weaponry. And that was only your belt. You flicked your eyes to the three in front of you. The woman looked like she was going to burst any second.

“THAT WAS INCREDIBLE! Sorry, I couldn’t contain myself any longer. The way you dodged that trap was unlike anything I’ve ever seen! It was AMAZING! Who taught you to do that? The name’s Hange, by the way. Hange Zoë, science and titan enthusiast. I’d shake your hand but you seem to be a little tied up at the moment!”

The sudden explosion of excitement caught you off guard, your expression turning to one of sheer incredulous confusion, before realising you’d probably have to listen to her babbling throughout your entire journey back.

“I didn’t know you were going to torture me. Just kill me now,” you huffed sarcastically, expression darkening as soldiers roughly pulled your arms behind your back, clasping them in manacles after making sure all weapons were removed from your legs, your expression unchanging.

But that didn’t seem to deter the scientist. If anything, she found your attitude amusing.

“Wow! Levi, she’s just like you! Is everyone from the Underground so unapproachable?” she asked cheerily as the two soldiers holding your arms began to steer you away. But you refused to move. Levi too seemed stuck to the spot.

Everything went still, and it was as if nothing else existed but the two of you.

Ever so slowly, Levi pulled down his hood, revealing those dark bangs you remembered so clearly. Silvery blue eyes met (E/C) ones. It wasn’t quite the reunion either of you were expecting, but you were both here. Alive

“Levi…” you whispered after refinding your voice, torn between wanting to run to him and running away from him. Fear clung to your heart, knowing how much he would hate you for what you’d become.

Levi schooled his expression back to neutrality as Hange looked between the two of you.

“Do you two… know each other?!?!” Hange’s beam of excitement caused him to cringe internally. Looking you up and down, the raven haired man raised a thin eyebrow in what looked like disgust.

“Tch, no.”

Well, that wasn’t what you were expecting. You blinked in surprise, eyes narrowing to your previous lover, trying to mask your hurt. Maybe he didn’t remember you? But with the look of recognition in his stormy eyes, you swiftly ruled out that possibility. What you’d feared all these years had finally come to fruition. You’d found him again.

And he despised you.

Levi turned on his heel, stalking away from you as the two MPs tugged on your arm, finally prompting you to move. He didn’t think his heart could shatter much more. After losing his mother, his family, his home.

You.

He didn’t think he had the ability to break any further. But life clearly thrilled in proving him wrong.

꧁⎈꧂

The walk back to the surface was agonising. Both of you stealing glances at one another at every opportunity. His, masked with indifferent contempt, your’s overflowing with betrayal and rage.

How could he stand there and say the two of you didn’t know each other? As if you hadn’t been in a relationship for years. As if he didn’t know every little thing about you. As if you hadn’t shared his bed, moaning in ecstasy as he pried you thighs open, burying his tongue, his fingers or his length between your aching folds. As if you hadn’t heard every whimper and groan he could make, coercing them from his throat as you swirl your tongue around the head of his cock. As if you hadn’t been the one to finally hear those three words you never thought he could say. As if they weren’t directed at you.

Great, now you were angry and aroused.

Dragging your eyes away from him, you focussed on the long street ahead of you, now failing to notice the way his expression shifted slightly as he looked in your direction.

As you walked, more and more civilians stepped out of their homes to watch, many of them nodding their heads in respect, or removing their hats in mourning. You return their gestures, refusing to let your head bow as you dip your chin in recognition.

Levi could do nothing but observe the strange reactions from the swiftly gathering crowds. Some of them even shout to you.

“We owe you, Raven!”

“Give those fuckers hell!”

“Don’t let them take you lying down!”

You chuckled in response, both a sound and expression he’d missed so dearly. It made those long dead butterflies flutter once again in his stomach.

Even more so when a little kid approached you.

“Miss Raven… Why are there soldiers everywhere?”

Your eyes softened to the grubby little girl, crouching down where you stood, much to your escort’s dismay.

“They’re here to make sure little squirts like you listen to your mommy and daddy and go to bed on time,” the kid squealed in delight in your words. You lamented your hands not being free, the temptation to tickle the little tyke almost overwhelming, making your wrists squirm in their restraints.

“Hey, get the fuck out of here, stupid kid,” the soldier to your left delivered a harsh kick to the child’s side, sending her sprawling to the floor and out of your way. You don’t think anything could have brought you more rage. Not even your ex’s indifference to your existence.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” standing swiftly to your feet, you glowered dangerously into the MPs surprised eyes, now struggling in his grip as the kid started to cry. “She’s just a kid, you foul mouthed, pig eyed, vile piece of shit,” if it wasn’t for your circumstances and situation, Levi would have laughed at your insults. Clearly you’d broadened your vocabulary since the last time he’d seen you.

It was only when you’d managed to deliver a harsh, bone cracking kick to the soldier’s kneecap did Levi decide he should probably intervene, as much as he’d originally intended to stay away from you.

Something he subconsciously didn’t want to do.

“Oi, move along. I’ll deal with her, fucking degenerates,” his sharp voice cut through the commotion, causing the soldiers to stop in their tracks and whirl around.

“Captain Levi, sir! We were just—”

“I don’t care. Go.” he ordered. If they were Scouts, they wouldn’t have dared to hesitate, but since they weren’t a part of his regiment, it took them a moment for the order to register in their small minds, before they scurried away.

As soon as your arms were free of their grip, you immediately rushed to the little girl’s side, cooing gentle reassurance.

“Hey, come on now, you gotta be brave, yeah? You can’t cry every time a pig like that gets the better of you. Hell, then I’d never stop crying,” your little joke stopped the kid’s sobbing. Clearly your reputation extended even to the children of the Underground. “Where’re your parents, kid? Where’s your mom?” you asked, ignoring the obvious gaze burning a hole in the back of your head.

The little girl sniffled, pointing back to the head of a worried looking young woman, searching frantically for her little girl. A soft smile graced your lips, before you gently gestured for the girl to run along back to her mother, that smile growing as you watched her scamper off and giggle slightly as she was reprimanded in a giant bear hug.

“You haven’t changed, have you?” Levi’s cold voice brought you back to reality, prompting you to rise back up to your feet.

“Thought you didn’t know me,” there was none of that friendly familiarity he’d seen in your eyes earlier. There was only cold, ruthless ice. He shivered despite himself.

Softening his own gaze as you turned your head to him, he could recognise that spark of hatred. He’d seen it so many times when you faced down some sort of oaf who’d decided you were easy pickings back when the two of you were teenagers. He suddenly felt a pang of pity for all those who had suffered under this glare.

It was indeed terrifying.

“(Y/N)—”

“Don’t fucking call me that. You don’t get to call me that,” you didn’t try to tame the loathing fury in your tone. You didn’t pretend you didn’t revel in that confused look in his eye. Good, let him be confused. Though you didn’t know why. He should know well enough why you were furious.

“Okay…” —Levi took a breath— “Okay. Raven, then. That’s your alias, isn’t it. Raven?” He didn’t know why he was asking you such an obvious question, but he couldn’t help it. He had a craving just to hear your voice. The same voice that had haunted him for years, the same voice that had awoken him from the few hours he would be able to sleep.

Still, where his tone had lowered, yours refused to. How dare he show up after all these years and then claim he didn’t even know you.

“Obviously,” you spat, pure venom lacing your tone.

“So this is where you went. This is what you did. You were a part of The Nest this entire time and you didn’t think to tell me?” it was his turn to spit, clearly whatever had caused his gaze to soften previously had been replaced by something you couldn’t quite place. You weren’t as good at reading him as you used to be. His face had changed with time, and he’d clearly learned to school his expression much better than he used to.

“So what if it was? You don’t know me, remember?” you couldn’t help but use his words against him, wanting to drive home how much it had fucking hurt. Your eyes flickered to the now blackened bruise on the underside of his stupidly chiseled jaw. Something ugly twisted in your gut, whether it was satisfaction or guilt, you couldn’t decipher.

As if in retaliation, his own eyes glanced at the almost matching mark on your chin, the same mixture of emotions flashing briefly in his eyes before he took hold of your arm. It wasn’t as rough as you would have expected, but if anything, that simply annoyed you more.

“Tch, just move already,” the two of you had started to draw more attention to your conversation than either of you would have liked. So reluctantly, you placed on foot in front of the other and started walking again, returning back to acknowledging and recognising the respect those gathered were giving you. You remembered everyone you’d helped. Bringing them food, water, medical supplies.

“RAVEN!!” A loud shout of your alias had your head whirling to the right, searching for the owner of the voice. “RAVEN?!?” a small, older woman pushed her way through the people, almost falling to your feet. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes as she looked up at you.

You recognised her as one of your regulars. Her son had fallen ill months ago, and needed a medicine the MPs refused to hand out if not for a hefty sum of money. You’d offered your services to her after seeing her begging in the street, the sight hauntingly familiar to you. “I… I wanted to thank you. For everything you’ve done for me. For my son. He— I fear he wouldn’t be alive today without your help,” the woman hiccuped through her gratitude, drying her eyes with a worn, stained handkerchief. Your expression shifted to one of gentle indifference. You wouldn’t make the same mistake of outwardly showing your caring side like you did with the little girl.

“Make sure he stays rested,” was all you said, before continuing on without the prompting of Levi behind you, who now stood still in mild shock. Watching as many placed a hand on your shoulder as you walked, your head still held high.

“I don’t know what you men plan on doing with her, but she’s only ever helped us. She’s a good person,” the older woman’s eyes only spoke the truth as she looked to Levi, who only glanced back at you in response, watching as you climbed the stairs.

“I know. She always was.”

You stopped and turned back before you left for good, eyes lingering down the crowded street, a thousand faces peering up at you. Hats in hands, hands folded over one another in mourning. You recognized that with your leaving, a lot of people will go hungry. Many will die of diseases or viruses without the medicine you could steal and distribute. You knew Prongs was good, but he didn’t quite command that same kind of respect you did.

With a final nod of your head towards the crowd’s respect, you turned and left the Underground, leaving your past along with it.

#levi aot #levi attack on titan #captain levi #snk levi #levi x reader #levi ackerman x you #levi x you #levi ackerman x reader #aot x y/n #aot x reader #aot x you #snk fanfiction #snk #levi smut #levi ackerman smut

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thejakeformerlyknownasprince · 3 years

Note

aside from the actors being like 10 years older than the characters, and the bad effects what’s so bad about the animorphs tv show? is it worth a watch just for fun?

Short answer: No. Not worth it. It’s so bad on so many levels, and has fundamental writing problems that make all of the characters stupidly inconsistent (if they’re yeerks) or morally reprehensible (if they’re Animorphs).

Longer answer: The Animorphs TV show is unfortunately quite badly written and also quite limited by its own budget, to the point where the characters and plots and themes simply do not translate. The yeerks aren’t threatening, the battles aren’t violent, the team isn’t close, and 0% of what makes Animorphs unique — from the body horror to the humor — makes it to the final product.

However, in the interest of fairness, a few things I do like from AniTV:

• Stealthy yeerk tech.

I love the detail that the dracon beams look like flashlights. Yes it’s cheesy, and yes the decision probably came from budgetary constraints and/or censorship. However, it just makes so much more sense to me than the ray-gun design from the books. The tube shape not only looks harmless — allowing controllers to arm kids as young as Karen without drawing attention — but it seems like it’d be much easier to use for hosts with hands as small as taxxons’ or as large as hork-bajir’s. The ray-gun look seems a little too ergonomically correct for humans in particular.

Also, the use of yeerks-in-thermoses, yeerks-in-thermometers, and yeerks-in-phones all makes the threat so much more flexible and immediate. Rather than having to go through an elaborate process of luring humans to yeerk pools, AniTV controllers only need to come up with an excuse to press an innocent-looking object against your ear.

• Paranoia and uncanniness.

Richard Sali as Chapman might be the best performance on the show. He does this cool thing where he has completely normal-looking reactions to Melissa asking a question or Marco misbehaving... only the reaction always comes a solid 2 - 3 seconds too late. It’s unnerving as hell, and it really sells the idea that this is an alien playing a part.

Plus, the use of minor background characters who are just... walking by. Once the show hammers home the idea that every single passerby could be a controller in the opening of the second episode, it can increase the tension in a scene just by having a few extras wander by in the background of the frame. It’s an effect that works well in visual media, and one that doesn’t require a big budget.

• Having Elfangor just hand Tobias a physical CD of his hirac dilest instead of messing around with mystical andalite bloodline crap.

Honestly I prefer the “space CD o’ intel” device because it’s a problem the audience can immediately get behind. We understand instantly why it’s useful, why just plugging it into Jake’s computer won’t work (although it’s adorable they still try), why it’s dangerous to have, and why it’s going to take some additional plot time to figure out how to get it open.

The plot itself that comes out of the disc is frequently kinda cool. The Animorphs and controllers go back-and-forth over it for a while, only for the controllers to get it, only for the controllers to discover it’s biometrically locked to Elfangor’s DNA, so only Ax can get it open, so there are a bunch of controllers gunning for him... And then there’s the twist that it’s biometrically locked not to andalite-Elfangor’s DNA but human-Elfangor’s DNA, meaning only Tobias, not Ax, can open it. Great plot fuel, and much easier to understand than the whole “utzum” thing that Elfangor uses to give Tobias his hirac dilest in book canon.

(Technically, it’s incorrect to say Elfangor hands Tobias the CD, because he waits until Tobias has already walked like 50 feet away and then attempts to throw Tobias the CD, only to miss and have it fall in a hole... but I’m doing my best not to criticize AniTV in this list.)

• Dead. Grandpa. Tuxedo.

The best characterization note in AniTV has got to be Cassie loaning Jake a tuxedo that belonged to her grandfather so that he can wear it to their school’s dance. Cassie says she found this thing in her attic, Jake is unironically enthusiastic about the history behind Dead Grandpa Tux, Rachel threatens to disown Jake rather than have any member of her family appear at a high school mixer in a fucking tuxedo from the fucking 1940s, Jake and Cassie are blissfully unaware that “way too formal” and “50 years out of style” are concepts that exist... It’s all so beautifully in-character.

• The escargot scene.

• The secret ex-controller support group.

Obviously I’m fascinated by the lives of former yeerk hosts, but I also think that the potential for the group of them that Tobias encounters is nearly infinite. As the kids mention in #13, even just one or two escaped hosts have the potential to destabilize the whole Yeerk Empire through showing that escape is possible. Toby’s warriors are incredibly important for the war effort, and Eva eventually becomes a massive source of insider intel from the Empire. The idea of a group of humans who used to be controllers all helping each other while also helping the Animorphs is so friggin cool, and I’m just really bummed that we only got like 30 seconds of screen time for them before Tobias gets them recaptured by yeerks.

All right, I think I’m out of nice things to say. AniTV has its moments; I’ll give the show that much.

#animorphs #anitv #anitv meta #animorphs meta #controllers #if this seems like a list of every single element i stole from the show and incorporated into eleutherophobia #you might be right #anonymous #asks #long post

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loveislattes · 3 years

Text

Everything Comes at a Price (Demon!Dark/Fem!Reader) Chapter 2

You can find Chapter 1 here!

Commission prompt: Reader is really depressed, and Dark decides to roughly Fuck the depression out of them.

Important: Reader has female pronouns and is a vagina owner!

Warnings (For this chapter specifically): Depression, talks of death, smut, dom/sub, rough sex, Demon!Dark, demon-like anatomy, shadow tentacles, oral (male receiving), very minor breath play, teasing, pet names, dirty talk, minor degradation, praise kink, unprotected sex, primal/power play, and multiple orgasms!

A/N: Other than the kink warnings, this one is safe to read! No gore/death. No beta- there may be a few errors.

As always, if you would like to support me, I have a Ko-Fi (here) for donations and I usually have a few slots open for commissions (unless life gets in the way)!

Tags: (If you want to be tagged in my writing, just let me know!)

@when-the-sun-goes-dark

@underthedark13

@fruitypieq

@another-thirsty-blog

@hcrystal02

@just-a-little-bat

“You’re sure? The doctor is sure?” you questioned earnestly.

“Yes! Yes! They say it’s like some kind of miracle. They expect her to make a full recovery after some physical therapy. Isn’t it great, Y/N?!”

You could feel your lips twist up into a bittersweet smile as tears poured from your clenched eyes. The taste of salt was bitter on your lips as you nodded asininely into the phone.

“Yeah, that’s- that’s amazing,” you whispered, “Listen, auntie, I’ve got to get ready for work but please keep me updated if anything changes.”

The phone fell into the fluffy blankets across your lap and you let out the choked sob that you’d been holding back. Wish number four had been a success. You’d done some actual good with your imminent death.

Despite the good news, the oppressive cloud around you didn’t dissipate; Unsurprising but disappointing nonetheless.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” you hissed, smacking your cheeks a couple of times.

Suddenly, a terribly wonderfully awful idea popped up and there was a modicum of relief in your chest. You snagged up the coin from its perch on the bedside table and clutched it to your chest close.

“Dark, I think I know my last wish. Is it possible to wish for death?”

There was no immediate answer, nor did you die immediately. A tremor in the atmosphere of the room was the only sign that something had changed and you brought your head up in surprise. The sight of the debonair demon standing amongst your depression room instantly filled you with shame. Great. Just what you needed to be added to your already heaping pile of negative emotions.

“Hello, darling.”

You managed a weak little hello in reply as he began to stroll your way. You weren’t sure whether you should stand up to greet him or just allow him to come to you, but he quickly made that decision for you as he came to a stop at your side.

“I regret to inform you that you’ve managed to find one of the three types of wishes I’m unable to grant. Is there something els-”

“Please, Dark!”

He leveled you with narrowed eyes and stated factually, “I can’t kill you. Killing you negates the contract. That includes putting you in any imminently dangerous situations, so don’t try it.”

Finally, you found the power to stand and glared up at him through tears.

“Can’t you break the rules, just this once?! I give you permission to keep my soul after I die if you do it! I just- I can’t take this anymore! Maybe you don’t understand it because you all Mr. Powerful Demon but I’m so fucking tired. I’m tired of being alone! I’m tired of hurting when there’s literally nothing wrong! I’m tired of not being able to do a damn thing to make it better or change anything or- or-”

You fell into a messy pile of limbs and blankets on the bed, wrapping yourself up as best as possible, sobbing into your hands to keep a modicum of your dignity intact. Much to your surprise, you felt fingers brush against your hair as sharp nails began to massage through your strands.

“I must say, you’re definitely one of my more interesting clients,” he hummed lowly, “Even so, I’m unable to bend the rules, even for you. There’s a lot at play here that you’ll never understand but the short of it is that even I do not play with Death’s dealings, darling.”

As he spoke, you could feel the first peek of daylight glimmering through the shadows of your mind. Whether it was from his odd praise or the sensations his fingers were provoking, you weren’t sure, but it was nice. Ever so slowly, you found yourself leaning into his touch, chasing the dopamine rush he provided.

He let out a humored chuckle as you nearly fell off the bed in the pursuit and you could only manage a subdued apology in reply.

“Don’t apologize for being adorable, pet,” he teased.

Cheeks warming harshly under the sudden pet name, you buried your face in your hands and groaned slightly.

“Now that that’s sorted, I will leave you be. When you’re ready to make your last wish, you know how to reach me.”

There was a strange catch in his voice that you couldn’t quite place but it was enough to put you into action.

“Wait!” you called out when he turned away.

Carefully wiping the tears from your face, you stood up and took a steadying breath before reaching out to him. It was such a simple request but you could see the curiosity and confusion plain on his face. Nonetheless, he took your hand and allowed you to pull him in close. It had been so long since you’d even held someone else’s hand. More of the demons in the back of your mind were backing down, the sudden influx of serotonin of skin-to-skin contact turning them away.

“Okay, I get it, you can’t kill me,” you murmured, licking your lips nervously, “But you said you find me… interesting, right? Erm, do you think you would be able to do something else for me instead?”

It was like you had flipped a switch, the way his eyes clouded over with the devious smirk that curled up his lips and how his head tipped to the side in obvious inquiry.

“I’ll need you to be more clear on what you’re asking for, pretty little pet,” he cajoled, “It would be quite remiss of me to act without being completely sure what you want from me.”

Oh, the asshole! He was going to make you say it out loud! It was obvious in his gaze that he knew he had all the power here, in every sense of the word, and he was using it to his advantage… and you couldn’t deny that you loved it.

Face hot with mortification, you chewed on your lower lip before whispering, “I- I can’t. I can’t ask.”

Fangs peeked out in a grin as he leaned down, tipping your head up until you were nose to nose with him.

“Do you want me to kiss you? Touch you? Fuck you?”

Gods, he made it sound so dirty, so sensual. Shivers rolled through your bones as he teased the apex of your jaw and throat with his sharp claws.

“I need to know.”

You gathered every last drop of confidence and finally stammered out, “Fu-Fuck me, please?”

“With pleasure, darling,” he hummed softly, “But first…”

Fingers tangled in your locks once more, jerking your head back and his mouth slammed against yours. A choked sob passed from your mouth to his as he guided you back onto the bed, following with the grace and ease only an inhuman being could manage.

“If it gets too intense, just tell me to stop,” he breathed out as his lips fell to your jaw, “It’s been some time since I’ve allowed myself to indulge with a human and you are just so damn breakable.”

A sick thrill shot through your body at the warning. Why did a part of you want that? It was terrifying, thinking of a demon losing themselves and going feral on you, and yet it sounded so deliciously taboo.

“Okay,” you finally replied when you realized he was waiting for an answer, “I will.”

“Good girl.”

Oh. OH. It felt like all the air left your lungs and you couldn’t stop the tiny little noise that escaped your lips in embarrassment and desire.

His lips curved up against your throat as they slowly moved. Nibbles and kisses blazed a path up the sensitive column of your neck until teeth toyed with your ear lobe and he let out a little chuckle.

“You are going to be so much fun, pet.”

Your hands found his hair and held on for dear life as his fangs dug into your neck; not deep enough to draw blood but rough enough to tear a pained scream from your lips. Throbbing agony blossomed through your skin and still, you found your body arching into his, silently eager for more of what he could give you. Oh and the endorphin rush! The moment he released your abused flesh, it was like your body was on fire.

Moving without thought, you guided him by the hair into a frantic kiss, hoping to convey your need without words. Thankfully he didn’t seem offended by your little takeover of power and allowed you to soak in all you needed until he finally put a stop to it with a nibble on your lower lip.

“Enough, it’s time to prove that you really want this, darling,” Dark purred as his fingers dug into your cheeks symbolically.

You nodded the best you could and followed his lead as he pulled you to your feet. With a snap of his fingers, suddenly his clothes were gone and you were left staring at him in awe. While he looked incredible in the suit, it did a complete disservice to the glorious form hidden beneath. Black tattooed tendrils encircled his arms and legs, tapering out somewhere on his back, creating the most tantalizing contrast of shades against his toned limbs as he flexed them teasingly.

As your eyes traced the designs down his solid form, he suddenly gripped your shoulders and pushed you down onto your knees, tossing one of your pillows down after.

“If you’re going to worship me in such a way, you might as well do it from in your rightful place on your knees,” he purred.

Lips parting in surprise, you felt your insides curl up with embarrassment as you slipped the pillow under your knees and nearly apologized, but then he was stepping closer and you lost all thought.

Fuck, was he ever right; It was akin to staring up at a god! Not only were you given the best view of his body, but the way he stared down at you with desire and complete superiority had you trembling with need.

“Now, show me what that pretty mouth can do, pet.”

Oh, that, that you could do. Scooting in closer, you reached out to grab his cock but your hand was smacked away instantly. It stung more than hurt but it was surprising nonetheless.

“What-”

“Hands behind your back,” he demanded.

Cautiously, you did as he asked and were rewarded with a much softer smile.

“Good girl.”

Those words again. It was like they had a direct line to your cunt. Clenching needily around nothing, you let out a soft whine and let him pull you back in. As his cock neared your lips, you were finally given the chance to look it over closely. Despite being only half-hard, he appeared average length and a bit thicker than most you’d encountered. It was also darker than the rest of his skin but what set it apart the most was the ridges encircling it. Every inch or so down his cock were these ridges, smooth but creating quite an obvious size difference.

As you pondered over the way it would feel inside you, you let your tongue tentatively trace the tip and moaned at the familiar taste. He let out an encouraging sigh and tightened his hold, subtly pulling you closer until you threw away hesitation and took him in your mouth as far as possible.

“Mmmm, that’s it pet,” he praised huskily, “Get me ready to fuck you.”

Clenching your thighs in hopes of relief, you shifted higher onto your knees and followed the pace he set. Another difference you began to notice was the massive vein on the underside of his cock, the way it throbbed against your tongue with every swipe quickly became an addicting sensation. It was like his body was praising your efforts in its own way.

“Take a breath,” he warned.

You barely got a lungful in before he arched into your face, hastily fighting back the urge to gag as he slid into your throat. Tears welled up in your eyes as saliva pooled in your mouth. You were mortified as both spilled out the instant he began to fuck your mouth. Embarrassing noises escaped your throat, far beyond your control with each thrust of his cock, but it didn’t seem to bother him one bit.

“Look at you,” he rumbled out huskily, “What a good little pet you are, swallowing my cock like you were made for it.”

As suddenly as he had started he stopped, releasing his hold on you so fast you nearly toppled over as you coughed for breath.

“Impressive, now get up here.”

Once you felt you were stable enough, you climbed to your feet with his assistance and were immediately thrown back on the bed. As your skin rubbed against the cool sheets, you were suddenly made aware of your lack of clothes.

He apparently sensed the shock in your expression and offered you a sly grin.

“What can I say, pet? There are some things I am impatient over.”

Dark kneeled on the bed and gripped your ankles, spreading your legs so he could easily fit between them. Rather than climb over you as you had expected, he instead traced gentle lines up and down your legs, slowly bit by bit growing closer and closer to your cunt but never actually touching. It was maddening. You could feel yourself quaking and twitching uncontrollably under every pass of his claws; your silent pleas coming out louder and louder each time until you were nearly sobbing with need. Teeth soon joined in the effort, searing bite marks into the meaty parts of your thighs while his tongue lavished the wounds fondly after.

“I haven’t even touched you and you’re dripping wet for me,” he groaned quietly as he traced the crease between your sex and thigh, “Imagine what a mess you’ll be once I’m finally inside you.”

Desperation tore from your chest in the form of a whimper at the mental images burning in your mind. Your heart nearly flipped on itself in pleasure as he finally moved up the bed.

“You look like you’re struggling, darling,” he teased, “Is there something you need?”

You nodded frantically and whimpered out, “Please!”

Tantalizing shocks ran through your core as his fingers oh-so-tenderly ran over your lips, ghosting just where you needed him the most. Frustration began to well up like the sweat beading your forehead and you couldn’t help the huff that escaped.

“Tell me that you need to be used,” he breathed, ghosting sharp canines along your throat, “And I’ll give you what you want.”

“I- I need to be used,” you gasped out.

His responding moan was pure ecstasy as his fingers finally found your clit; the way his cock twitched again your leg an overwhelming aphrodisiac. The scrape of his facial hair prickled against your chest as his head ducked down and his lips pressed chaste kisses along your breasts. Swallowing hard, you bit back the overwhelming urge to demand him for more and were rewarded with the gratifying sensation of his tongue across your nipple. Pain and pleasure coalesced into one as he mercilessly sucked and bit into your flesh, drawing louder and faster moans from your chest by the second. When he finally pulled off with a pop, your entire body felt the bombardment of endorphins.

“And who do you want to use you?”

Pride shone through his playful teasing as you attempted and failed to whimper his name multiple times, ruined over and over again with each pass over your clit.

“Hmm? I can’t seem to understand you. Who do you want to ruin you?”

Thighs shaking and heart pounding, you fought through the onslaught of pleasure coiling in your belly to gasp out, “You, Dark! Please, fuck- fuck me!”

It was too much, not enough: The ache in your throat, the rawness of your lips, the imprints of his teeth burned in your flesh, the throb of your cunt under his fingers.

When he finally slipped his fingers in your core, you cried out. Relief! It didn’t take more than a few seconds for his stretching and thrusting to put you right on the edge of no return. Unfortunately, he jerked away before you could fall and, before you could even complain, you were tossed over onto your stomach with a sharp slap to your right cheek.

“Perk that pretty ass up for me, pet,” he demanded, gently guiding your hips up.

As you came to rest on your knees, you let your face rest on the pillow and arched your back until you could feel his cock brush against your cunt. Instinctively you pushed back against him with a little moan and were immediately rewarded with fingers to your clit.

But… his hands were on your hips…

“How-?”

When you stilled in thought, he let out a husky chuckle behind you.

“I hope you don’t mind,” he crooned lowly, “Sometimes they just have a mind of their own.”

Lifting up just enough to peek under your body, you were both startled and aroused to find black shadow-like tentacles where you expected fingers to be, and in turn, his legs were now free of those pretty tattoos. Realization hit hard and a pathetic moan fled your lips as you buried your face in the pillow.

“Glad to see you approve, darling.”

In the next breath, he slammed forward and yanked you back simultaneously. You were immensely grateful that he had taken the time to prep you as he sunk in, inch by inch, stretching you open like none ever had before. A wicked thrill sent a tremor through your body as you realized you could feel each and every ridge as it pushed into you.

When his hips finally came to a stop against yours, the noise he let out had your hair standing on end. Animalistic, inhuman, primal. You wanted to hear it time and time again.

He finally started rocking his hips, taking his time with deliciously languid strokes, until you begged him for more. It was with a cruel laugh that he gave into your desires.

“Oh fuck!” you whined, fingers snarling in the blankets for balance.

There was no more hesitation in his movements, gentleness abandoned in exchange for all-out fucking you in a way that made your toes curl and tears fill your eyes.

“You are so fucking wet,” he snarled out between breaths, “Taking me so well.”

A noise of agreement escaped your lips as you arched back to meet his thrusts. You couldn’t form words even if you wanted to, too focused on the raging storm brewing in your core.

Pain blossomed through your hip as one of his hands squeezed tighter, his growls and panting growing in volume to rival your cries, while the other found your hair and yanked your head back. Your body reacted instinctively, clenching down hard around him and startling a moan from you both.

“You feel so good! You going to come for me, pet?”

Reaching back, your hand found his and your nails found purchase, returning a sliver of the savage pain he bestowed upon you. All the while you bounced back harder on his cock, chasing the edge that was just out of reach. The tendrils between your thighs suddenly came back to life once more, their cool touch contrasting so perfectly with the heat of your bodies as they swirled around your clit in time with his thrusts.

“A-Ah! Dark, yes, pleeaaasse! Fuck- Fuck!”

“That’s it. That’s my good girl. Come for me and let me claim you, pet.

As if mimicking the hold on your hip, another tendril slithered up your back and encircled your throat. The unexpected pressure elicited a tantalizing response, your body suddenly feeling both free and trapped in the best of ways as he bound you to him

“Mine. All mine. My filthy little slutty human whore.”

Something in your psyche broke at those words and ecstasy rushed forward like a tidal wave. Every inch of your body trembled with pleasure as you screamed his name, voice cracking under the duress of it all. You could feel the proof of your indulgence dripping down your inner thighs, the sounds of your debauched pleasure growing louder with every slap of his hips against yours.

“Fucking hell!” Dark bit out harshly, “Good girl. Good fucking slut. Who do you belong to?! Say it!”

“You! Only you, Dark! O-Ooh, f-ffu-fuck!”

With inhuman speed, he slammed into you, over and over until the smack of your bodies was almost continuous. His choked roar filtered through your senses but it was was easily washed away with your second climax teetering on the edge. There was a sudden torrential shift of energy, pulsing eerie screeches filling the room as his voice echoed off the walls when he finally buried himself as far as possible inside of you. Any pain was quickly washed away by the thunderous roll of pleasure brought on by the touch of his tendrils mixed with the throb of his cock releasing deep in your cunt. Claws trailed down your spine as he practically purred your name, leaving behind five raw lines that stung under the combined sweat of your bodies, and somehow you found yourself okay with it; loved it, in fact, knowing that his marks would be on you for quite some time.

Quaking with bliss and exhaustion, you collapsed to the bed the instant he slipped out of your core and let out a little delighted whimper. You reached out blindly for him and were appeased when he laid down beside you, pulling you against him so your face was resting on his chest.

“I didn’t realize how much I needed that,” you murmured, fingers tracing up and down the little scar in his abdomen, “It goes without saying but that was fucking phenomenal, so thank you.”

Your head bobbed up and down with his laughter and you couldn’t help the grin that turned up your lips in return.

“I have to say I’m in agreement, pet,” he hummed back, “It’s been far too long since I’ve been able to let go in such a way.”

With a hand on your bicep and the arm under your head, he pulled you up and shifted you over his hips until you were perched on quaking knees. You almost questioned him but were silenced when he leaned up and captured your lips in a stinging kiss. It started out rough and slowly devolved into a passionate tangle of tongues.

It wasn’t until he pulled back for a breath that the reality of what was to happen started to sink in; the serotonin in your veins being replaced with anxiety.

“So, does this mean I die now? You have to take my soul, right?” you asked softly, “Since I made my last wish?”

“Hmm? I never heard you make a wish, pet,” he replied as he stretched back languidly.

Eyebrows furrowing, you let your confused expression convey your thoughts as one of his hands began to travel down your curves.

“But I asked-”

Your words were cut off by your own gasp when you felt his cock rising between your thighs. Wide-eyed and warm-faced, you gaped at him in shock. Apparently, a very short cool down period was also a demon perk?!

He smirked at your awe as a thumb traced your lower lip seductively.

“You asked and I gave freely,” he explained, fingers dipping to trace sharp claws along your throat, “You still have one wish remaining. Although, I’d suggest you save it for later. I feel like we have much more important things to attend at the moment, darling.”

#dark/reader #demon!dark #female reader #smut #fanfiction #READ THE WARNINGS FOR ALL KINK TAGS #chapter 2

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kitsune-kaos · 2 years

Note

What's your favourite DND character that you've played? Tell us about them!

Ooo!!! 💖 So I started playing late last year, so I’ve only played 3 real thought out characters of my creation. On top of that tho, I’ve played 3 other one-off characters 😋 I’ve actually already typed out the story of my fave, Squeak, so I’m just gonna give a rundown of all the characters I’ve played, in order:

Marvel one-off:

Bobby/Iceman; Human(?) Tempest Sorcerer

(flavored to primarily use ice spells)

———

Halloween one-off:

Medli; Fairy Bard—College of Lore

(styled after a Majora’s Mask Lost Fairy with Navi’s personality)

———

Xmas one-off:

Sally; Drow Elf Cleric—Twilight Domain

(We were all coworkers in the party and I was HR)

———

First main campaign: Icespire

Pip (and his mouse, Squeak); Half-Orc Barbarian—Path of the Beast

A total sweetie; loved his friends more than anything. Died cause he really wanted that sword. #RipPip

———

Second main campaign: Ravnica

(I joined it in the middle; we probs won’t finish it)

Nyaniki; Tabaxi Monk—Way of the Drunken Fist + a dip into Rogue—Swashbuckler

(Not my official designs, but the only attempts I did)

He was a yakuza member who sought repentance only to accidentally meditate his way into Hell and the Abyss where he saw what his afterlife would be like. When he got back from the astral projection, he became an absolute drunk to forget what he experienced.

———

First main campaign (take 2): Icespire

Squeak; Mousefolk Druid—of Spores

(Used Goblin race stats/feats rather than making/finding a homebrew)

Here is a screenshot of my story of how Squeak the Druid came to be (rather than retyping it all haha)

Squeak is a lot of fun to play ☺️ he has -1 Charisma and a lot of strangers find him creepy, though those who get to know him find him cute and endearing…and odd lol.

He’s quite the tank (despite only being 2’ tall) going into this final battle, with an Armor Class of 19!! His scale armor grants him disadvantage on Stealth rolls, but he’s expert in Stealth anyways so it’s cool haha. His specialty is healing spells, AoE support (especially Entangle), and a few solid damage cantrips and spells (mainly Necrotic, Fire, and a little Poison and Radiant).

He doesn’t talk much to strangers, he just observes and wonders around. Though, he also loves to scamper around/behind the legs of his big friends. When one of his friends goes somewhere, he’s likely to follow out of pure curiosity, and just cause he enjoys following his friends.

———

(And as of yesterday, I finally figured out the class/background choice for my upcoming character!)

Third main campaign: Aedirn

(A 1-20 homebrew by my DM)

Samael/Azrael (name pending); Fallen Aasimar

Cleric—Order Domain + dip into Warlock—Hexblade

(I haven’t attempted drawing him, so here’s an edgy gouache self-portrait I did in high school haha)

He grew up as a Protector Aasimar wanting to join a group, known as The Inquisition, which hunts down and slays creatures labeled as “evil.” After a couple years, Sam/Ezra became a successful interrogator/torture specialist. His technique was to torture til the captive needed medical attention, then he’d patch them back up so that he could torture them more.

One day, out of nowhere, the Hexblade manifested and attached itself to Sam/Ezra. The dark energy from it infected Sam/Ezra, causing him to transform into a Fallen Aasimar. Between being Fallen and being the wielder of a/the Hexblade, Sam/Ezra became one of the top targets of The Inquisition, so he ran away and is now trying to hide and survive.

A big part of his journey will be relearning what “good” and “evil” mean, and how that differs from what The Inquisition preached. Also, as an Order Domain Cleric, he will have to rediscover what Order means to him.

We should be finishing Icespire this weekend, so ideally Samael/Azrael will make his debut next week 😁💕

#about me #D&D #my characters #asks #thanks for the asks! 💕#I enjoyed this a lot ☺️#anon ask

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tendaysofrain · 5 years

Text

Random Stuff #10: Daoist Elements and More in The Untamed/MDZS Part 2 - Weapons and Magical Objects

(Part 1 Here) (Super-long post ahead!)

Talismans/Charms/符箓/符咒

The talismans in both the live-action and animated shows originate from Daoist talismans, which in turn developed from early shamanistic traditions. Like what Lan Wangji tells Jiang Cheng in the show, real life Daoist talismans are usually made for beneficial purposes, one of which being to ward off evil spirits. Other purposes of such talismans include everything from curing illnesses to controlling floods to communicating with the gods. In order to call forth gods to accomplish these goals, writing/drawing on the talismans usually include “incantations” that start with “勅令”, or “command”, on the very top. The word can be traced back to 敕令, which refers to orders from an emperor, but since 敕 is traditionally reserved for the emperor, Daoists use 勅 on their talismans. The meaning is also slightly changed, as 敕 has 攵 on the right, implying the order is written; meanwhile 勅 has 力/force on the right, implying the order is executed by “force”.

The body of the talisman sometimes include complex combinations of Chinese characters (合体字/複文) that are more like visual symbols and do not have their own pronunciations. On a talisman these “combination characters” are usually arranged in a specific pattern. These combination characters aren’t exclusive to Daoism, however. Below is a well-known combination character created from the word 招財進寶 (lit: “gaining wealth and attracting riches”), commonly seen pasted on doors and windows around Chinese New Year for luck.

Other elements of a talisman are mostly made up of symbols such as the yinyang symbol, eight trigrams, and special strokes that also hold symbolic meaning.

A fun detail from the animated show: in the scene where Jiang Cheng shows the inverted evil-warding talisman to Lan Wangji, we can see that WWX’s addition in blood near the top turns the 人 part into 夷, as in 夷陵老祖/”Yiling Founder”, giving the viewer a solid hint as to who changed the talismans.

Sword (Jian)/剑

Jian sword refers specifically to pointed double-edged one-handed straight swords. The sword is important to religious Daoism, but its origin as a culturally-significant symbol lies in history.

The sword was an actual weapon used on the battlefield before Han dynasty (before 202 BC), and it was that time, long long ago, that the sword was associated with certain human qualities, such as an unyielding sense of justice. From there, the jian sword eventually became an ornamental item symbolizing high social status. Evidences of this can be found in the Book of Rites (《禮記》), a book detailing etiquettes and rituals for nobles of Zhou dynasty (1046-256 BC). For example, a chapter mentioned “when looking upon a gentleman’s attire, sword, and carriage horse, do not gossip about their value” (“觀君子之衣服，服劍，乘馬，弗賈”). One such decorative jian sword artifact even survived to this day:

Sword of Goujian, King of Yue (越王勾践剑), part of the collection of Hubei Provincial Museum. Note: the engraved “bird-worm seal script” (鳥蟲篆; basically a highly decorative font) text says “Goujian, King of Yue, made this sword for his personal use” (戉王鸠浅，自乍用鐱).

By the Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD), Daoism had established itself as a folk religion. Many of the customs and etiquettes passed down from pre-Qin dynasty times were mystified and given religious importance in the then newly-established Daoist belief system, including the aforementioned etiquettes involving the jian sword. People came to believe the jian sword as holding magical properties, a weapon gifted by heaven itself, allowing its wielder (usually a Daoist priest) to fight and triumph over demonic spirits. As the jian sword became more and more of a Daoist ceremonial item than an actual weapon, it also slowly changed to this familiar form today:

(Modern ceremonial Daoist jian swords. Fun fact: it is widely believed that jian swords made entirely of peach wood have better demon-banishing abilities than regular swords, since peach trees were said to have demon-warding effects.)

So, a sword that was worn to show respect, used to showcase social status AND have demon-warding powers? Does that sound familiar?

It was no accident that the day WWX refused to take his sword with him (since he gave his core to Jiang Cheng so Jiang Cheng could continue to use swords) was also the day the other sects/clans started to alienate him. The sword symbolized status, and WWX was only the son of a servant, a “lone genius” (一枝独秀/”a lone blooming branch”, in the words of Jiang Cheng) among all the young nobles, so it was fitting that WWX abandoned the “righteous” sword path to walk a new and unique path in order to reach his full potential.

“Fly whisk”/“duster”/fu chen/拂尘

Remember the funny-looking duster-like objects that Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen held in the live action series? Those are called fu chen, or “拂尘” in Chinese, and hold symbolic meaning in Daoism. To explore that meaning, let’s first explain the name “fu chen”. Fu chen literally means “brush dust”, so the Chinese meaning is really more like “duster” than the common English translation of “fly whisk”. But then what sort of “dust” is it really “brushing”?

The concept of “dust” (尘) in both Daoism and Chinese Buddhism refers to the normal secular human society, with all of its material objects and worldly wants and worries. Thus, the symbolic meaning of fu chen/“duster” is to clear these worries and wants--in other words, worldly attachments--from one’s mind, allowing one to exit the secular world. For this reason, in China, the process of abandoning one’s normal life in society for the life of a Daoist priest or Buddhist monk is called “出家” (lit. “exiting home”) or “出世” (lit. “exiting world”; world here meaning society).

Since both Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen are Daoist priests (they were both referred to as “道长”), and both wandered through the world banishing evil rather than settling down somewhere and integrating into society, it was a nice choice to have them each hold a fu chen.

"Stygian Tiger Seal" or “Yin Tiger Seal”/阴虎符

This one is a non-Daoist reference, but it’s still rooted in Chinese history, so here we go.

The fact that the Stygian Tiger seal is called a “tiger seal”/虎符 and has two halves that unleash powerful resentment energy when fitted together (this mechanism is present in both book and live-action but is absent in the animated show, where the two halves appear to be conjoined), points to the inspiration being the tiger amulet. In imperial China, tiger amulets/虎符 are metal tiger figurines that split into halves lengthwise, and serve the important purpose of approving military deployment. The imperial court would hold the right half, while the left half would be issued to military officials.

When army deployment is needed, the official would bring the left half of the figurine to the imperial court, and if it combines with the right half into a whole figurine, then the military deployment would be officially approved. Historically, tiger amulets are a security measure designed to give the imperial court control over the military.

Finally, some joke talismans I found on the web:

Translation: “No need to work overtime”; “hold the talisman and chant ‘PIKA PIKA’”, “will confuse your boss so you can get off work early”.

Translation: “passes exam without studying”, “bullshitting it”, “no need to study”. (I think I’ll need one of these lol................................)

#random stuff #mdzs #the untamed #daoism #chinese culture #taoism

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danny-chase · 4 years

Text

The Batfam as Tech Majors

AU where Alfred got tired of watching Bruce slap duct tape on the Batmobile and call it good, so he forced the children into college. He makes each of them complete an internship with Lucius in R and D so they have better knowledge of how the devices that their lives depend on work. Majors/minors/tropes under cut.

Dick:

Mechanical Engineering Major

He was in undeclared engineering for as long as possible

He settled on mechanical because it seemed the most broad

Plus he joined a car club, loved it, and there were a ton of MechE’s there

He ends up taking credit overloads most semesters because he always finds 1-3 random classes that he wants to take

Despite taking everything from advanced computer science classes (he somehow convinces even the most intense professors to let him into their classes) to hyper specific phycology classes, he doesn’t have any minors to show for it

He just gets bored with the subject after a couple classes

This gives him a bunch of random knowledge

When he talks to his younger siblings about classes, somehow he’s always managed to take at least one that they’re in, and offers advice.

He has the best RA stories. He most certainly did not need to be an RA. But the school was hurting for them and he thought it would be fun.

His residents loved him, but that didn’t stop them from playing beer pong in the common spaces at 3am.

He founds a circus arts club after his residents pull up information about his past and get overly excited about it

Specifically, he finds out they know about his past, because one of them decided it was a good idea to try and juggle knives, and because he’d prefer there not to be any additional bloodstains on the carpet he decides to start the club

He nearly graduated late because he forgot he needed to take specific classes for his major

Barbara:

Computer Science/Math duel Major

She’s a TA for Comp Sci 1, all the students fight to get her help because she’s amazing at spotting bugs and is super patient

Somehow she’s the president of 3 clubs and is on student senate

She’s the curve breaker

She gets homework assignments meant to take a week done the day they’re assigned

She and Dick went to a single party together, stayed for five minutes, decided it was too loud, and went to get ice cream

Along with her club, she’s in professional organizations, and is part of a women in STEM mentoring program

She started a petition to get more wheel chair ramps installed. Half the buildings are protected under some “historical grounds” bs that’s an excuse for not being accommodating

The petition didn’t go anywhere at first, but it was widely shared on social media and made the school look horrible, so they implemented some of her proposals

Jason:

Philosophy/Cognitive Science duel Major

He gets asked “There’s a philosophy major?” every time he has to do one of those stupid what’s your name and major icebreakers

Jason lives in the library

He’s fallen asleep in there at 3am after it gets locked up

He quotes philosophers at his siblings when they’re being annoying, and it effectively shuts them up, because he only quotes the most nonsensical arguments

He gets involved with the college’s community outreach program

He volunteers for a local robotics team

When people find out his majors, they’re genuinely confused, because he understands robotics really well

He lies his ass off about being really interested in it as a child

Dick convinced him to be an RA for a semester, and he almost had a heart attack

Someone choked in front of him on the first day

Despite seeming like a tough RA, he genuinely cared about his residents and had to quit because he was so stressed out that one of them would do something stupid and die

Cass:

Innovation/Design Major

She’s really observant, so she’s great at spotting flaws in infrastructure and coming up with ways to fix them

Spending time with Barbara made her realize the lack of systems designed with wheelchair users in mind

Her experience being illiterate and not knowing English has imprinted on her the need for signage that can be understood by anyone

She focuses on taking project based classes, where she can draw out her designs and build them, rather than figuring out the math behind them

She has patents for the inventions she created at WE

She was exempted from the “Alfred’s mandatory college degree program” but decided to go as a part time student for herself

It took her twice as long to graduate, and a lot of tutoring from her siblings, but she made it!

The family threw her an extra special party when she graduated - everyone else had minor celebratory dinners, but they went all out for Cass

There was not a dry eye at her graduation ceremony

Cass works part time with WE on and off as a designer after her first internship

She comes up with ideas during patrols, draws them and sends them to Lucius

Tim:

Computer Science Major with a minor in game design

He makes it to approximately 20% of his lectures

He nearly didn’t graduate on time because he put off his humanity courses for so long

He missed the actual ceremony, even though the family showed up

He starts all his assignments the day before they’re due

If at all possible he avoids groupwork and offers to do assignments by himself because he gives his teammates heart attacks when he starts his part the project at 3pm the day before it’s due

This leads to extremely frequent all-nighters

He always finds himself rewriting everyone else’s code to make it work more efficiently

This can, of course, cause some people to feel a little upset

Other students specifically seek him out as a teammate so they can half ass their parts

He participates in game jams when he has time, and got super into the hacking club

Against all odds, he joined a fraternity

Dick literally fell off a building when he found out

He makes up stories about partying for the heck of it, when in reality he and the guys just play Smash Bros together until 3am

He hasn’t seen anyone drink more than two beers, and he hasn’t tried alcohol there either

He joined on accident, he had just pulled an all-nighter and stumbled into a recruiting fair, he heard someone shouting about Mario Kart Double Dash, and bada bing bada boom, he agreed to rush because it involved being stuck in a room playing video games all weekend

Steph:

Civil Engineering Major with minors in Sustainability and STSS (Science, Technology, and Social Science)

She gets constantly shit on for being a civie

Every time she introduces herself someone mumbles “fake mechie” in the background

She and Jason complain about the disrespect together

She was genuinely shocked when Bruce offered to pay for her college tuition

She’d been planning on going and cutting costs any way possible

But Bruce took her aside when she was applying and offered to pay it all

She refused at first, but then money just appeared in her bank account, and what was she supposed to do, give it back?

She also participates in professional groups and is a member of SWE (Society of Women Engineers), and she mentors younger students

She ends up as class president by running a very successful social media meme campaign

She got and email saying she’d won and panicked because she had no idea what she was doing and was just having fun making memes

She ended up staying class president the entire time, and ended up getting really into it, and ended up with a pretty solid approval rating

She joined a sorority and had a blast

They worked with the local animal shelter, and she started bringing Damian along as well

Her sisters think he’s adorable and he secretly enjoys the attention

She gets her revenge on all the civil engineering haters by landing her dream job redesigning the poorer areas of Gotham to include more green spaces, increase affordable housing, and upgrading access to utilities

Duke:

Biochemisty Major with a minor in Neuroscience

Harper, Tim, Steph, and him are all in the same year

Tim convinces him to join the fraternity with him

He joins a variety of professional groups as well

He mentors other BIPOC, and joins NSBE (National Society of Black Engineers) and runs helps run professional development programs

But he’s also in like million other clubs that he does not put on his resume

He’s runs the college’s meme page club, is part of the Pokémon Go club, is on the competitive Overwatch team, consistently attends the anime club’s Dragon Ball Z watch parties, joins the Dance Dance Revolution club, and the list goes on and on

When Tim is awake, and Harper isn’t busy, they go with him, but both of them have too much inconsistencies in their schedule to join

He ends up meeting like half the campus

He unintentionally has become a god of networking

Unlike his siblings, he goes all the way for a doctorate

He researches Joker venom, determined to figure out a cure for his parents (in my HC, he eventually does)

He wins like every award imaginable for his groundbreaking research into venoms as he comes up with vaccines that save countless lives

He still works on the meme page, even after he graduates

Harper:

She somehow defies all odds and triple majors in Physics, Mechanical Engineering, and Electrical Engineering

She takes credit overload every semester, and gets credit for her internships at WE

She and Steph were roommates freshman year, and Steph swears that Harper never sleeps

She is the most wanted partner for every engineering project

She thrives in college, and lives off of coffee

She’s in the front row in every lecture

She doesn’t leave the lecture halls, she’s gotten locked in more than once after falling asleep

She had a heart attack the first time she saw students using the machine shop

Half the students weren’t wearing safety glasses, she counted three people wearing slides, the machines were rusted over, the soldering irons were all broken, and she nearly watched someone break their wrist using a power drill

She refuses to work there

Her secret to success is prioritizing - she absorbs the material like a sponge so if homework is only worth 5%, it isn’t getting done, and she’ll just cram before the exam

She almost joined Tim and Duke’s frat (it’s co-ed), but she didn’t have the time

They let her in without rushing senior year because Tim ended up as the boss, and he said so

Cullen:

I don’t know a ton about Cullen, but I feel like he would be a comp sci major

He comes in when Harper, Tim, Duke, and Steph are upperclassmen, and he joins all of Duke’s clubs

They have a million inside jokes

To the other siblings, it seems like the two have their own language

He also joins a club that mentors LGTBQ+ students at the local high school, and encourages them to pursue STEM careers if they’re interested

Jason recruits him as a mentor for the robotics team (he’s the lead mentor at this point) after some of the kids in his mentoring program mention him at a meeting and Jason is like O.O

He avoids parties at all costs, and ends up joining the frat as well

It’s all Duke’s fault he’s in a frat

He does however, meet some lovely boys in the frat

Damian:

Aerospace Engineering/Environmental Engineering dual Major with minors in sustainability and biology

He nearly riots when he’s presented with the college’s idea of a vegetarian/vegan meal

He manages to get out of the meal plan after that, and begins rallying students to push for better options that contain actual protein

He joins a community service club that works with the local animal shelter, and secretly joins the circus arts club (that’s thriving even without Dick there)

He learns how to sew blankets out of old clothes for the animals

He and Barbara are the only siblings to graduate with a 4.0, simply because they were the only one that took the time to actually do all the homework, and remembered to turn things in on time

He refuses to live in the dorms, and instead lives in one of their apartments nearby (once again somehow managing to complain to the college enough to get his housing waived)

He literally walked in once when visiting Duke, and immediately walked out, and resolved never to step near one again

He makes a total of three friends while at the school, both are in the animal shelter club

They exchange vegetarian/vegan recipes, and get together to cook

He decides to move off campus with them his junior year when they needed another roommate, and he won’t admit it to his siblings, but he had a ton of fun

He and his friend group may have joined an animal rights hacktivist group and may have helped orchestrate some major hacks

Poisson Ivy finds out and feeds him targets and information when they’re supposed to be fighting (she just walks back to Arkham if the others aren’t watching, and slips him a list at the end)

Bonus Bruce:

He cries at every graduation

He’s asked to make a speech at every graduation

He never does - it’s about his kids, not him

He single handedly is keeping the school from bankruptcy - not that any of his kids (other than probably Barbara) know

He sobbed for days after Cass graduated

He genuinely didn’t expect Dick or Tim to graduate

After Dick graduated, he wouldn’t let Bruce touch any of the equipment, and the rest of his kids followed suit

He isn’t actually bad at engineering, his education was just super informal, and hey duct tape works 95% of the time in his experience

The real reason Alfred was annoyed was because he refused to take the time to properly fix something if someone was in danger, and then he’d forget that he’d just used duct tape to patch something

But now since no one lets him touch anything, he’s genuinely lost a lot of the knowledge

But in a pinch, he can fix stuff

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