#very very original and thoughtful name i know i know

[last-words-ofashootingstar]

Will we get to see any NSFW stuff with Mommy!Hwa?🥺

I totally understand if not but I just know he would go feral while pleasing his Baby😩

➯a/n: yes. yes. YES. OH MY GAWD YEA LFHSKQ I ABOUT COMBUSTED WHEN I SAW SOMEONE ASKED FOR THIS 😭i was so excited that i kept losing my train of thought and had to rant about how mommy hwa is in bed to calm down bahaha

Mess

Baby Series !

❥Yandere Park Seonghwa x fem reader

♡'･ᴗ･'♡genre: yandere, smut

✫彡wordcount: 4.5k

♫ "It feels good, girl, it feels good to be alone with you." Hozier, To Be Alone♫

♫Baby Playlist♫

ಠ_ಠwarning/content: not proof read, ddlg themes (NO age regression), dubcon (because of stockholm syndrome), hwa is a PERVERT, messy and rough sex, cunnilingus, fingering, spit, squirting, overstim, extreme dacryphilia, creampie, big dick hwa, reassurance, unbelievable amount of praise and pet names, embarrassment, accidental piss kink discovery (LMAO DONT LOOK AT MEEEE)

♡ateez masterlist !♡

➯disclaimer: this is a work of fiction and does NOT represent a healthy relationship of any kind. ➯disclaimer2: as i've said before it is VERY important to always keep age regression and age play SEPARATE, and ive also said that seonghwa never touches baby while she's in little space MANY times. baby is not "baby mode" when they are being intimate, and i will never write that. baby is ALWAYS going to be in "adult space" (kkkk i can't think of a better word) when sexual things are happening, even if she acts cutesy and stuff

MINORS DO NOT TOUCH MY BLOG

❝you're my baby, say it to me❞ ✧ ೃ༄ ｡

"Here you go," Seonghwa whispers as he tosses your shirt to a far off corner of the room; completely forgotten about as he slowly slides his hands up your sides, "let me see my girl."

"Don't be a tease, Mommy," you pant softly, already worked up beyond belief as your eyes flick up and down his naked torso.

You had joined him in going a few hours away from home for a photo shoot — of course you did, it's not like he would ever leave you behind. You watched with his manager, which was probably a mistake considering how hot and bothered it made you. You hadn't felt like slipping into your little space all day long, probably because you were so busy gawking at your 'boyfriend'.

Because it was so far away, there was a hotel room waiting for you when he was done. And he wasn't blind, he saw the way you were looking at him. He knows you like he knows the back of his hand — even better, actually.

So this room is going to get a lot more use than originally expected.

"But you're so cute when you're flustered," he smirks, cupping your chest gently as he leans down and pecks your lips. "Does my pretty baby want to play?"

You nod quickly, fisting the blanket with anticipation bubbling up. Remember your manners, "oh- oh, yes! Yes, please, I want to..."

    You hadn't been intimate together since you had a tantrum and yelled at him, almost a month ago now. That probably partly why you were so needy — if he isn't the one making you cum, it's not happening at all.

He doesn't need more convincing than that. He straddles your hips and cups your face like he doesn't have a second to waste, his kiss is different than it usually is. It's hungry and passionate and soul consuming.

He can't help himself. He doesn't have any restraint when it comes to pleasing you. Anything you want, save for your freedom, is yours the second he can do something about it.

And he won't admit it out loud, but he's just as needy as you are.

His inconvenient hard-ons have been more frequent and frustrating. He's lucky you haven't noticed the way his eyes have been lingering when he helps you change. He's sexually frustrated, sure — but he keeps to his promise and he almost always waits for you to come to him.

No matter how badly he wants you, he wants you to want him more. He needs you to.

     He starts peppering kisses along your skin; traveling lower and giving attention to your chest. As your fingers tangle up in his hair, he's moaning like he's the one having their body worshipped. He steadies himself by grabbing your waist, fingers digging in.

A broken moan bubbles up your throat as he wraps his lips around your nipple, "a-ah! Mommy, I need more..."

Oh, he might explode here and now. You call him that every single day — but not like this. Not with your voice filled with lust. Begging him to touch you.

     That little tremble in the way you call his name is reserved for times like this.

    He takes in a deep breath before he speaks, "tell Mommy what you need." He leans back over your face, hovering with stars in his eyes. Any hint of tiredness from the day is gone. Only passion remains.

"I...w-" Even when you're not in little space, you're so light headed around him. He just has that effect on you, especially after so long.

"C'mon, Baby," he coaxes you gently, giving a single roll of his hips that leaves your jaw dropped with the flood of dopamine that it gives you. "You know I won't judge you, tell me how to make you feel good."

"Please," you look away shyly, like you aren't about to ask something so vulgar. "I need you to make me cum..."

The quickness with which he yanks off your skirt and panties makes you yelp in surprise, but the sound is quickly cut off by a lewd moan as he slips down and gives a slow lick up your slit. All in one fluid movement: he's rid you of the fabric, slid down the bed, and got you on his tongue.

You slap your hand over your mouth as he spreads your thighs, your eyes nearly rolling back at the feeling of his pointed tongue. As he draws a slow circle around your clit, you nearly cum then and there. You've forgotten how skilled he is.

"God, I've missed you," his mumbles are lost on you because next thing you know; he's eating you out like a man starved. Flicking and swirling and lapping and sucking. If your mind could form any semblance of a thought, you might wonder how in the world he's doing all those things at once. And the answer is simple. He was born to please you. At least, that's what he claims.

Your other hand is wrapped in his hair like a lifeline, and the slight stinging with each movement of his head doesn't stop him from licking your clit like a mad man — it only stirs him on.

He's messy as always, slobbering all over your heat without a care in the world.

    He gives one last rough suck before he pulls back a bit, panting as he looks up at you. "Baby-ya," he calls as he slides a hand down your thigh and towards your heat. He locks eyes with you as he purses his lips and lets his spit dribble down onto you.

    "Mommy-ya," you moan back, grinding up into his hand as it brushes against your epicenter. His middle finger slips in, drawing out a loud "oh~!" from you before you can stop it.

He's never practiced so much self restraint in his life. Even just feeling your hot walls around his finger has him twitching. If he wasn't so dedicated to pleasing you first and foremost, he'd already be buried inside of you. But, his Baby comes first.

"That's a good girl," his praise makes you clench around his digit, your head tossing to the side. It feels like it's been so long. Even just his finger feels like it's hitting all of the wonderful spots inside of you as he slowly starts thrusting it. You can barely imagine what it will feel like when he's inside you again —

"Mommy, please," you groan, swirling your hips until he rests his forearm across your pelvis and holds you down to continue his devilishly slow teasing. "More!"

"I know, Baby, you want me to fuck you so bad, huh?" He nips your thigh as he adds another finger. "Mommy has to stretch you out first~"

"Hurryyyy," you pout as you try to arch your back, trying to suck his fingers in deeper, "I need you."

You don't have to tell him twice, that is for sure. The soft way you cry for him to hurry and fuck you has his brain turning into a feral mush.

You let out your loudest moan yet as his fingers, previously going at a leisurely pace, are now diving in and out of you with near reckless abandon. You can't move your hips, still held down by his arm and forced to take the onslaught of pleasure.

You slam both of your hands over your mouth as you slump back.

He doesn't like that one bit. He reaches up and yanks your hands away; and all while still curling his deliciously long fingers, he speaks, "let me hear you. Be as loud as you want, Baby. We can be as loud as we want, you don't have to be shy."

"Ah, I f-forgot," you whine, your eyebrows pressing together as his fingertips graze against something inside of you that makes you gush around his fingers with more messy arousal.

"It's okay, angel," he laces his fingers with yours, squeezing your hand as he pushes a third finger inside of you. "You can scream. Let Mommy hear how good you feel."

The stretch and the angle and his voice — "don't stop!"

He wouldn't dare. He's watching every twitch of your brow and every jolt your body makes as he searches for something inside of you. When your jaw drops and your eyes roll back, he knows he's found it. He's on a mission. He needs to make you squirt. He needs to make a mess of you.

"Ohhh," he coos deeply, "right there, Baby?"

"R-right there, Mommy!" You don't care about your volume anymore. His reassurance and the way he's practically assaulting your g-spot while holding your hand makes it impossible to care about anything.

"Riiiiight there~" He smirks as you roll your hips clumsily to push his digits deeper; even when his palm is already hitting your clit with every thrust of his fingers. "That's it, pretty girl," he leans over you and drives his fingers in at a whole new angle; pressing harder against the spot that's making you dizzy, "give me a kiss."

Shakily, and quickly, you toss your arm over his neck and yank him down. Your lips on his like you need him more than you need air: and he returns the passion ten fold, he always will.

Your moans are swallowed up by him as he sends you closer to the edge. Closer and closer and closer and straight over. Your release splashes against his lower stomach, the warmth of it makes him send moans right back to you. Your hand is still held tightly in his and he's starting to lose color in his fingers from how tightly you squeeze them.

He lays on top of you to stop your convulsing, a dark satisfaction settling in his bones as you whimper; forced to take the overstimulation as he curls his fingers. It fills the room with lewd squelches that make his neglected member twitch.

A string of saliva keeps you connected as he finally moves away from your lips. He watches it closely as it snaps, falling onto your chin. And you don't even notice it as you have your eyes closed, panting, in the throes of bliss.

He leans and licks it up softly while he slowly withdraws his fingers, making you whine and chase after them with your hips. "Shhh, none of that, Baby." He hums as he rubs down your arm gently, "you ready for me now?"

"Oh, yes," you nod quickly, you almost forgot that's where this was leading. Now, you're ecstatic at the promise of him being even deeper inside of you, "please, Mommy."

God, if you keep saying it like that he won't be able to hold himself back. He knows he'll end up being rough with you — both of you do. But he likes to take it slow at first so he doesn't hurt you.

    He bites his lip, quickly pressing his forehead to your shoulder so that you won't see the wild look in his eyes. The look that says he's about to lose control.

"So polite," he pants softly, smiling down at you after he forces himself to calm down. "I'll give my angel what she wants~"

     His pants are gone in a second flat, and he's pulling you further down the bed by your thighs until your hips hang on the edge. "Hold your legs for me, Baby," he hums as he pushes your knees together.

While you're wrapping your arms under your knees and hugging them tightly to prepare yourself, effectively exposing yourself to him — he's gathering up the wetness from his skin and lathering himself with it, jerking off slowly to the sight of you.

All worked up and gushing for him; giving him a nice, unobstructed view as you hold your legs as close to your chest as you can. Your eyes a bit fuzzy as you watch him eagerly. Your socked feet fidgeting in the air, white frills catching his eyes. Your breathing still uneven from your first peak of the night.

The first of what will be many, because Seonghwa is an overachiever when it comes to you.

He kisses your leg gently, smiling innocently as he bends down and lines himself with your weeping hole. "My good girl," he mutters softly, "that's what you are. My perfect little angel."

The praise goes straight to your cunt, fluttering around nothing before his tip is suddenly entering you with an almost audible pop. Your eyes slam shut, a gasp caught in your throat. Three fingers and a squirting orgasm suddenly didn't seem like enough prep for Seonghwa's impressive girth.

"Fuck," he groans, hands planted on the back of your thighs to ground himself; digging his fingers into your plush flesh. He leans his head against the side of your legs, gazing down at you with nothing but love and lust. "You gotta relax, Baby-"

"You're too big," you shake your head, eyes still squeezed shut.

He bites his lip in a combination of effort to conceal his chuckle and to hold himself back. He takes a breath, rubbing the back of your thighs softly as you continue to clench around his bulbous tip — it feels like you're already trying to milk him for all his worth. The warmth of your gummy walls is trying to enchant him, trying to make him sink deeper, faster. He needs to bury his whole shaft in you or he's going to lose what's left of his mind.

"Have some faith in yourself, baby-doll," his nickname makes you twitch around him. He did that on purpose, no doubt about it. "You've taken it before, right? Mhm~" He nods with you, reaching to trace your heated cheek with his knuckles as you peek your eyes open. "You can take it, can't you~?"

It's not a question, even if it's formatted as one, rolling off his tongue with a soft inquisitive tone.

It's a reassurance and a statement. You can and you will take it, just like you have so many times before. "Yes, Mommy-"

You should have chosen your words more carefully, because the second 'Mommy' leaves your lips — all whiny and sweet — he's sinking into you.

"Ah-" He almost whines, "that's it, my star~ Let Mommy fill you up."

No matter how much you relax, no matter how pliable you make yourself; he's still having to make his own path through your gooey channel. He's still carving you to the shape of his cock to fit like a custom sleeve. And it feels too fucking good — "Please!" You yelp, nails digging into your legs as you continue to hug them as tightly as possible, "please, I want you to take me already!"

You can't take another second of his slow march forward — but that's too bad, Baby.

He likes to take his sweet, sweet time to really feel your searing cavity as it encases him. "Shhh, Baby, don't you worry," he places another kiss on your leg, smirking as you quiver around him, "you know I'll give you what you want, right?"

He leans over further, crushing your thighs all the way against your chest and making your legs rest over one of his shoulders. "Right, Baby?" He moans as he finally, finally bottoms out.

"Y-yes," you pout up at him beggingly, your entire being set ablaze as he settles inside of you.

For someone built so slim, his cock is thicker than you feel it should be — but you are not complaining as he stretches you from the inside out so nicely.

"What did you say you wanted, hm?" He teases you playfully, withdrawing just an inch before sliding back in.

It's maddening, he does it again; the tiniest bit further this time. "T-aaah!" You kick your feet lightly when one of his hands snakes between you and begins rubbing your clit. "Take me! Go faster, please! Please, plea- oh my good g-aaaah!!" You wail unabashedly as he starts slamming his hips into you: rough, fast, and calculated all while toying with your bundle of nerves.

      "Of course, My Baby~"

His words are so sweet while he absolutely ruins you for anyone other than himself. Not even you could make your body fill with the pleasure that you're feeling as he rubs his thumb across your cheek affectionately while drilling into you. "Look at my gorgeous doll, taking me so well."

All you can respond with is a slurred 'mhmmfff', your brain already sufficiently scrambled and overheated from his inhuman pace with his in-and-out, in-and-out; the pad of his finger never leaving your buzzing clit.

"Aww, it feels good?"

You nod quickly, leaning into his cupped hand while you gulp down the build up of saliva in your mouth. His eyes are trained on you like a hawk, every single twitch in your face committed to memory.

"Yeah, it does~" He grins devilishly while giving you a particularly rough slam when he catches your lips parting — making a loud and lewd yip-like moan tumble out. 

    "Mommy, c-" You choke on your words, arms trembling as you clutch your legs as a lifeline.

    "Cumming~?" He hums, pressing his fingers harder to your clit and making you squeal. "Go ahead, Baby, make a mess on Mommy's cock," he licks up your neck and the warm feeling of it passing your jugular makes the burning ball of arousal in your gut spread through your entire body.

    Once again, he's holding you down with the weight of his body as you tremble, your jaw dropped in a soundless scream while you release with a wave of cream onto his member; a milky white ring forming around his base while he fucks you through it.

     You let your legs go with a whine, letting him gently maneuver them and lay you on your side while he whispers soft praises that barely reach your muddled mind. "N'break..." You slur out through your breaths, melting under his soft touch on your legs.

     "A break?" He smiles while rubbing up and down your legs. His cock, still lodged deep inside of you, is throbbing — basically yelling at him not to give you what you ask for. "Just a little one, starlight." Because he isn't done wrecking you yet.

     "Thank goodness." Your little sigh makes him chuckle as he forces himself to pull out; doing so slowwwwly to make your sensitive walls tremble and beg him to stay.  "...fuck."

    The only time you ever dare curse infront of him is when you're like this. And the sound of the filthy words on your precious lips almost makes him take back his promise of a break.

     He leans back and stands fully, his heart pounding in his chest even harder as he gets a good look at you.

    In nothing but your cute little socks, you're already in a sheen of sweat from the violent thrumming of your own heart after two intense orgasms. There's already two wet spots on the hotel bed, the source between your legs glimmering in the dim lamp light. Your poor pussy lips are already a bit swollen from his stretching and pounding, your legs twitching every so often in the aftershocks of pleasure.

     He needs to make a much bigger mess of you before he's satisfied. Some deep, dirty part of his brain demands it. He has to make a mess of you, he just has to — and you've barely cried! That will not do. He needs to ruin you completely and place you back together with his saccharine words. He needs to. 

  He maneuvers you like a doll, smirking to himself at the trust you have in him to let him move you into whatever position he sees fit.

     He kisses your shoulder softly as he lays you on your stomach, crawling over you. "Are you ready for more, Baby?"

    "Mhm," you nod, having caught as much as your breath as you could.

   "Close your legs for me."

    You look back at him with a questioning gaze, "close them? Isn't it the opposite, Mommy?"

    "Not today, Baby," he grins as he soothes your messy hair, "you want me to show you what I'm thinking?"

    You hesitate for a second before you nod, turning back to face the blanket shyly as he locks his eyes on yours while sliding back inside of you. He breathes a laugh, straddling you from behind and already stretching you to the limit when —

    He starts pushing your legs together with his own, making you clamp down on him.

     "Oh my g-good fuck!"

      "Tight, isn't it~?"

    You nod quickly, shivering as he puts almost his full weight on you — and, by extension, on his cock inside of you. By the time he's got your legs fully pressed together, it feels like he's filled you up so much that he's in your guts. And when he starts thrusting? You have no brains left in your head.

    "Ahh, yes!"

    Your yell stirs him on, making his pace pick up almost immediately and he's back to pounding you like you owe him money; no mercy at all for his precious Baby. The slap of his skin on yours echoing and making his stomach flutter. The way you can't even hold back a single noise, every hit of his pelvis to your hips making a small yelp or moan tremble out of your lips. This is his new favorite position. His only complaint is that he can't see the cute little faces you have to be making right now.

    You certainly don't have any complaints. He feels like a fucking giant as he pounds the life out of you but his arms are gentle as he wraps them around your shoulders — all of his weight on you besides what he uses to slam into you. A shattered gasp leaves you as you feel his cock prod you so rough and deep that it presses into the mattress through you.

    He feels it too, and heaven help you; because now he's never changing his angle. Groaning and praising right in your ear as he continues to relentlessly fuck you into the mattress — quite literally. "Oh, My Baby," he moans deeply, "Mommy is fucking you so deep~ And you're taking it like such a good girl. F-fuck..."

   He's pressing every spot inside of you that there is. Even one that you've never felt before — no, that's not right. You have felt that pressure before. But not when you're having sex.

     He's fucking you so deep that he's putting pressure on your bladder.

    You gasp loudly, clenching around him, "Mommy! Wa-" Clenching was a mistake. Usually, it helps you hold it. Not this time. It pulls him closer. You grab at the blanket, fisting it tightly. Fuck, this is embarrassing. Well, you'd rather just say it so he can stop and you can relieve yourself.

     "Mommy, st-op! M'gonna pee myself!"

     Only... Seonghwa doesn't stop.

     His hips stutter for a moment as he takes in your words — then he's plunging into you impossibly rougher. Like he wants you to. Because he does.

     He knows that makes his an unbelievably perverted person; wanting you to piss on his cock. But he can't help it. He couldn't stop right now even if he had to.

     He can't put it into coherent thoughts right now, only thinking 'harder, fuck her stupid, make her cry, harder, make her pee, make her break...' But when he eventually can organize his thoughts; he'll realize why he couldn't even speak because he was so focused on fucking the literal piss out of you.

     Why? He is the only one on the entire planet that can fuck you so good that you lose control of your bladder. He is the only one to see you so vulnerable. He gets to be filthy with you.

    "Mommy!! P-please! I have t'go!"

    Bless your heart. You still think he might let you get up and go to the bathroom to relieve your abused bladder.

    He wraps his arms around your shoulders tighter, panting and growling like a damn animal in your ear. He's never sounded so dangerous, so feral. He's not even acknowledging your words with any of his own. Only digging his fingers into you and holding your legs shut with his as you try to spread them and get a bit of pressure taken off.

    "Please! P- uh!!" You're crying fast, fat tears now, and Seonghwa can hear them in your voice. Not just because of your embarrassing predicament, but because it feels like pure ecstasy in your very being despite it. "Mm, fuck!" You whine loudly, still feeling his tip press against the bed through you every time he bottoms out. "M-mommy, se-riously! M'gonna pee!"

     "So do it." His words make you wail, shaking your head as vigorously as possible and instinctively clenching again even though it does nothing to help your situation. He presses somehow deeper as he leans his head up and looks over your shoulder at you.

    His cock throbs inside of you, making you gasp, as he watches the tears flow down your heated face. Now he's getting somewhere.

     "It's okay, Baby-ya," he hums, his chest vibrating against your back as he crushes you to the bed, "do it. For- for me."

    "Tha-that's dirty!" You hiccup, kicking your legs until he places his over them.

    "You're already l-leaking everywhere, angel~ You're already creaming all over me. Do it."

   "Nmf-" You bite your lip roughly, a defeated squeak in your throat as a spurt comes out with his thrust. You try to hold the rest in. You really try. Despite his encouragement, you're still mortified.

    His next few thrusts earn him the same thing, a lewd splash against the bed. It's so fucking warm. He's digging his nails into you by the time you finally stop holding it back.

      The relief is almost as good as the orgasm that slams into you like a tsunami.

     You're a complete mess below him. Sobbing, kicking your feet, gripping the blanket so tightly your hands are shaking — all of you is shaking. Trembling like leaf in the wind as relief and pleasure overwhelm your humiliation and creates a feeling you've never dealt with before.

And Seonghwa isn't far behind you. He thinks his body must know not to make him cum while he's watching the absolute work of art he's made of you, not until you finally slump below him. Then, though — he's slamming one last time until your soaking cunt and staying as deep as humanly possible while he cums, holding you so tightly that you might have heard something pop if not for your absolute fried brain and his guttural moan drowning it out.

Yeah. This is his favorite position now, for sure.

❝MESS❞ ✧ ೃ༄ ｡

[thewebcomicsreview]

I know you've consigned sinfest to the dustbin of irrelevance but the latest arc is so mask off about his feelings regarding porn and woman. It's weird. It's so open and out there about his whole madonna/whore issues but he doesn't attempt to even address it. His whole ass is on display and i don't know if he's even aware.

I suppose I appreciate that he’s taking a break from the racist caricatures, even if the Wojak Popemen are tremendously lazy an-

Is that the Nostalgia Critic?

Anyway, while this story is stupid and offensive it’s at least Tats’ own bizarre hangups again and not warmed over /pol/ memes. I guess he needed his own brand of insanity to fill the gap of 4chan going down, but that makes this storyline useful in that it’s maybe the clearest window into what’s left of Tat’s mind.

So, Snow White is tricked into eating an apple. This makes her “love the stranger” and not be hateful, which is presented as a bad thing.

Specifically because she’s kind to “creepy” animals, which the name of the strip makes clear are a metaphor for nonwhite people. There was a long time where I thought “Tatsuya Ishida” was a pen name and he was a white dude IRL, like marvel contemporary “Akira Yoshida”. Some research revealed that he was using the name Tatsuya Ishida for his college strips so I figured that was his real name because no way was he that committed to the bit. But there are times when I wonder, man.

But anyway, Snow White is a Pure White Wahmen who’s been converted to being liberal/leftist by an evil queen. Who is a trans woman. Which you might go “Obviously” over except remember that Tats hates Jews now and considers them in charge of everyone else he doesn’t like. But here with Snow White trans women are back as the main Thing Tats Hates, which is certainly interesting.

Prince Charming sets out to rescue her and is constantly distracted by various racist things happening by. Also Tats hates Trump this week.

Or, sorry, Drumpf, which is a nickname resist libs gave Trump in 2017 that’s so tired that the guy who came up with it publicly apologized. I’ve seen /pol/ types refer to Trump as “Drumpf” when mocking liberals (as in “This’ll get Drumpf for sure guys” sarcasm) so it’s’ kind of bizarre that Tats is using it unironically as an insulting nickname here.

Charming finds that Snow White is a lib now and calls her a slut for it.

Which makes this Snake imagery very Eyes Emoji, but moving on

Prince Charming saves Snow White from being an eGirl, and a bunch of other women are like “Hey we are also being sexually oppressed help a bitch out?” and he heroically refuses because he can care about exactly his women and zero others. Given how Sinfest’s descent started with him become a Radical Feminist who hated porn (and that was his only feminist belief), this is kind of a wild shift.

But on the way home the Prince suddenly gets horny for a second. Religion shows up so that Tats can be mad about them for a bit.

Then the prince escapes through a vagina-shaped portal (symbolism protip: A man literally entering a vagina is possibly a metaphor for sex!), but when he gets back Snow White is still and eGirl and he’s still horny for her. He tries to stop being horny, but that is also bad apparently.

Not quite aligning the top and bottom text of your meme? Veeeery naughty!

Finally, they collapse into failure, surrounded by snakes which, remember, are penises here.

So, what can we divine from this? First off that Tat’s worldview is incredibly bleak. That’s not news, really, but I’m increasingly worried he’s going to shoot someone for real. This is such a dark place to be in, mentally.

It’s also, perhaps, as close as we’ll get to an origin story for Tat’s weird turns. It’s been speculated for years that Tats had a girlfriend who got him into the radfem stuff, and there’s been all sorts of wild speculation that she left him for a trans woman or something but I think this is the actual story, albeit through Tat’s warped and self-serving retelling. Here’s my theory:

Tatsuya Ishida had a girlfriend. She was very left-wing, and also didn’t like pornography. Tats glommed onto the porn connection since that was a long-standing bugaboo of his own, and made that his personality for a few years. Then Tats started getting really right-wing and the girlfriend didn’t like it and they broke up (this might be before the anti-trans turn in 2019) and he never got over it and then Covid happened and he was a conservative old dude in a bad mental place during Covid and went down the same facebook rabbit hole all our collective dads did. He tried to fill the hole in his heart with right-wing boomer 4chan memes and the spark of joy that gave him is burning out and the comic’s becoming more aimless (to the extent “hate” is an aim). Wouldn’t be shocked if he made another weird-ass political shift soon that seems left-field but in retrospect is obvious. Maybe he’ll be a “wellness” crank next and start tanning his balls.

[pollkien]

TÚRIN PROPAGANDA:

Incredibly cursed. Doomed by the Narrative (the narrative aka Morgoth). Nothing he do ever goes right and that’s incredibly hot of him

37287483 different names and one of them is NEITHAN

Has an entire chapter named after and dedicated to him. You can’t say that about many other characters

Apparently on TG he is notable for “impulsive pride” and “suicide”, among others

Also called Glaurung’s Bane which is very cool

“He was dark-haired as his mother and promised to be like her in mood also; for he was not merry and spoke little, though he learned to speak early and ever seemed older than his years. Túrin was slow to forget injustice or mockery, but his father's fire was also in him, and he could be sudden and fierce. Yet he was quick to pity, and the hurts or sadness of living things might move him to tears.” He is so soggy and wet

Commityed accidental manslaughter! Yay!

Beleg’s bestie. Even wrote a song about Beleg after accidentally murdering him

Built a bridge

Had grey eyes and black hair and was super hot and pretty I think??? I don’t remember where this was said but I’m pretty sure this is canon

Stole many bitches from many heartbroken husbands

Dor-Cúarthol was named after him and Beleg :) #Besties4ever #UntiliAccidentallyKilledHim

Finduilas found him so sexy that she fell in love with him on first sight. Nevermind being betrothed to Gwindor! Fuck that guy!

Should NOT have called himself Turambar actually

Had a sick ass sword

There is way too much to say about him just know he’s really hot and cursed and tragic and stuff

CￍRDAN PROPAGANDA:

One of the few elves with a beard

Actually I thought he was really cute in Rings of Power ngl. Like that actor was perfect for him

Lord of the first shipmakers and mariners in Middle-earth!

Kinsman of Thingol and Olwë, related to Voronwë’s mother

His eyes are keen as stars 🥺

One of the wisest and most foresighted elves <3

The original bearer of Narya

His greatest desire was to see the light of Valinor but he was DENIED THAT by THINGOL’S STUPID BULLSHIT. AND HE EVEN SOUGHT FOR THINGOL LONGER AND HARDER THAN ANYONE ELSE. WHY

Saved by Celegorm during that one time when the Falas were besieged. By the way. Fun fact. Abour Celegorm.

Swore friendship and alliance with Finrod and other Noldor :)

then proceeded to snitch on the kinslayers. I mean this is a good thing but also… snitches get stitches

Gave shelter to many during the Nirnaeth good for him

Not propaganda but he just seems gay to me

A messenger on the Valar. Sadly Orodreth was too stupid to listen to Ulmo’s warning so there goes Nargothrond

Fathered baby Gil-galad, and was also friends with baby Eärendil

Abstained from going to valinor AGAIN AFTER THE WAR OF WRATH LET RHIS GUY LIVE

Too much to say about him and the rest is LOTR stuff. So propaganda ends here

[specialized-rexan]

(none of the following is me criticising you @ op, and of course you're not obligated to read or respond to this. it's. a lot. this reblog is mainly me rambling aloud for myself. seriously, when i say "i find this post funny," it's more along the lines of "i'm entertained at myself and my own fandom / character design tastes."

also @sir-subpar, you're tagged because i very much appreciate your comments and screenshotted them. they're just. near the very end of this long post XD)

i find this post funny because it came out about a year before the show, and, huh, i didn't realize how much Vivzie had already said about Lucifer as early as 2022. mainly i find it funny because the two characters who i was obsessed with before Hazbin Lucifer / Hazbin Hotel are even MORE ''boring'' than Lucifer

they're almost basically him but without hair. e.g. Black Hat from the show Villainous:

(the screenshots i picked are from a sort of "later" design of him, about a year and a half i got into the show, but i'm okay with that because it turned out a lot of what i'd first seen was probably fanart anyway, although i hadn't been aware of that)

the other character is a fandom-created ''opposite'' version named White Hat. (design varies by creator, but usually White Hat is essentially Black Hat but with a different outfit color lol)

(character design rambles on why Black Hat's design might "work" while Lucifer's "doesn't" under the cut. ...sort of. also me yapping about me a bit lol. but yeah Black Hat's definitely of the aforementioned "tumblr sexyman design" category, no arguments there)

despite Black Hat's design being even more "boring" than Lucifer's, my first impression of him right off the bat was he was some ''big bad boss'' character right off the bat. ...and i'd thought he was a Hazbin Hotel character (lol). (i found Villainous in early 2019 before the Hazbin pilot but was casually following the pilot's progress just enough to know if it ever got canceled or anything)

so what's FASCINATING about all this is that the main difference in visual communication between ''boring'' Lucifer and ''even more boring (but not actually)'' Black Hat is probably shape language

Lucifer is (often because his design's not consistent lol) round and short while Black Hat is angular and tall. i don't feel like recapping shape language lessons (INCREDIBLY BASIC gist for this post's context can be "round" = approachable, "angular and sharp" = villain), and most people are already aware of height stereotypes when it comes to leadership positions

(there's a lot of triangles on the Lucifer screenshot i picked with the epaulettes and his wings out, but he still has his round face, round hair, round puffy pant legs, his hat brim is rounder than Black Hat's, and even his chest and eyes are is rounder rather than sharp. better look at Black Hat's eye in the previous screenshot)

(i also find it fascinating that, despite Lucifer's design being far more busy than Black Hat's -- the stripes on his shirt, chains on his coat, the cheek circles, all the items on his hat -- he's described as "boring" in a way that makes sense for this post's context: blending in with the other Hellaverse characters)

i'm just going ''huh'' and also ''lol''* at the original post because the only difference seems to be shape language, and the choice to make Lucifer rounder seems to be a purposeful one since he's supposed to be a "goofy" angelic character

(*again not going "lol" at the original poster. i actually agree with the point that Lucifer maybe doesn't stand out enough among the cast. and i only say ''maybe'' about him not standing out "enough" because of ''writer/designer intention'' / ''whatever you want to MAKE the intention because Vivzie's intentions change often lol'')

(*and my ''lol'' at the overall post is more about how my reasons for getting obsessed with Lucifer aren't related to his design at--OH HOLD ON. OKAY, TAKING THIS RAMBLE OUT OF TAGS AND MOVING IT TO THE BODY OF THE POST NOW HA (and editing punctuation and such as necessary to make it into a functional post body, e.g. image of Black Hat rather than just giving a search to look up :p)

(and now adding random Lucifer screenshots every once in a while because walls of non-story text without images, especially ones written by me lol, murder me)

SO. OKAY. YES. MOVING MY RAMBLE FROM TAGS TO THE ACTUAL POST

(OH MY GOSH LOL I'M ADDING THESE EXTRA IMAGES AFTER TYPING EVERYTHING UP, AND HAVING SUCH A HYPED IMAGE FOR "YES MOVING TO THE ACTUAL POST" IS UNINTENTIONALLY HILARIOUS SO I'M KEEPING IT)

BECAUSE, WHILE I THINK THE WRITING IN BOTH VILLAINOUS AND HAZBIN LEAVE A LOT TO BE DESIRED (and they also both hilariously have the problem of characters disappearing into the background, except in Villainous's case it's "villains with dark uniforms unintentionally disappearing into dark backgrounds." you can see that issue even in the second screenshot i chose for this post), LUCIFER SNUCK BY AND ACTUALLY GOT ME OBSESSED WITH HIM DESPITE HIS CHARACTER DESIGN

I GOT OBSESSED WITH VILLAINOUS ALMOST SOLELY BECAUSE OF THEIR CHARACTER DESIGNS. (i also very much enjoy the designs of the other three main characters, Dr. Flug, Demencia, and 5.0.5.) I GOT OBSESSED WITH LUCIFER BECAUSE OF HIS WRITING. YET THE WAY I MOST OFTEN DESCRIBE HAZBIN TO PEOPLE IS "I ENJOY IT/LIKE IT A LOT/LOVE IT, BUT IT'S NOT GOOD (BECAUSE ITS WRITING ISN'T GOOD)"

okay, saying i got obsessed with Lucifer "despite" his character design isn't FULLY accurate. i don't think it's terrible. but i was neutral toward his design. just this week i literally posted more than a few thousand words on why i like Lucifer, but it mainly sums up to "he's INCREDIBLY relatable and entertaining."

so.

huh.

(i'm almost certain i had this ''HOLD UP'' moment with one of my friends months ago XD because my going "OH MY GOSH THE WRITING" about Hazbin ep 5 [Lucifer's intro] feels very familiar. except my ramble at the time iirc was more about "i had incredibly rare CERTAINTY in my first messages while watching ep 5 that i wouldn't watch it as many times as the other episodes because of the superficial aspect of how bad its animation comparatively is. yet i've, very surprisingly, watched it FAR more than the others because i love Lucifer so much."

comparing Lucifer's roundness to Black Hat's sharpness also feels like something i've pointed out to said friend before, because "HAH Lucifer could almost be a White Hat")

the overall pacing of the episode is crammed and odd, but it's enjoyable. and Lucifer is there. big bonus points for that last part.)

(i emphasized "incredibly rare CERTAINTY" about how i wouldn't rewatch ep 5 as many times as the other eps because i almost always--HA. EXAMPLE RIGHT THERE--say things like "i'm almost sure" or "it seems likely" rather than just stating things firmly, just in case i turn out to be wrong lol. but ep 5's animation was SO BAD to me that i was certain i wouldn't be able to look past it on Hazbin rewatches. yet i was still wrong)

topic jump, some great comments because they work with the concept Vivzie had in the first place but give alternatives for how her concept could have been used for Lucifer's design:

OH DANG AND ONE LAST POINT I ALMOST FORGOT TO MENTION BUT ALSO HAD ME GOING "HUH" AND "LOL" BEFORE I STARTED RAMBLING (well, i kinda said this earlier, but not so clearly):

Black Hat, even with my thinking he was from Hazbin Hotel and even with him hitting all of the criteria for what makes Vivzie's designs bad and repetitive, still stood out as a notable design for the Hazbin universe. (and i don't think i've ever seen a single person criticize his design.) he still seemed like a leader character. (which probably comes down to shape language and his design being "tall"-coded)

(i actually thought his design had been teased like, "oooo look at this Hazbin Hotel character you have to look forward to oooooo" because i suspect some of the first images i saw of him were behind the scenes not-colored-in images from the studio, and i didn't save them because i was avoiding Hazbin spoilers.

i earlier said "a lot of what i'd first seen was probably fanart" because this is the first DEFINITE image of Black Hat i saved, which is fanart and also not colored. and also seems to very much belong in an adult cartoon lol [it's not nsfw or raunchy in any way. it's just. thirst posting XD] )

tl;dr:

Lucifer is a short and rounder Black Hat;

Black Hat and Lucifer's designs have diametric shape language (sort of but i'm cutting down on wordiness lol);

Black Hat still could potentially stand out as a Hazbin character despite having a "plain" design that matches common descriptions of Vivzie's designs;

and, even tho i don't think the writing in either Hazbin or Villainous are as strong as they could be, i only got obsessed with Villainous because of the character designs, but i got obsessed with Lucifer because of his writing

okay the end i had my fun lol

Ganna go back to answering the questions in my inbox soon, but for now I’d like to say my thoughts on the Lucifer design backlash. Like Lemon-critiques has said, this whole ordeal is just freaking hilarious and enjoyable to watch, I’m literally scarfing down popcorn while watching people tear this design apart while fans or others get pissy. Here are my personal thoughts. This is me being nitpciky, but while Lucifer’s design isn’t….BAD I would say, it’s just….boring. Like I said before, I don’t mind the ringleader motif, the idea of Lucifer seeing hell as a circus to him isn’t a pretty bad idea, however like most people have been saying, he’s just your generic Vivziepop male character, a skinny twig with a fancy suit, bow tie, beedy eyes, and a sharp toothy smile. Mainly for me, I can understand this backlash because yes, I am one of those critique blogs who thinks all of Viv’s characters look the same, and the features I listed above are exactly why. Characters like Alastor, Valentino, Vox, Seviathan, Sir Pen, even Angel Dust, they all have that sharp generic smile and eyes while of course wearing a suit and being the size of a pencil, and it’s a trend that really is a turnoff for me when it comes to Vivzie’s character designs. It’s so funny because as much as I tear into Helluva Boss, literally THOSE character designs are more distinct and have more variety compared to the character designs in Hazbin, and that’s a problem, especially since said designs in Helluva Boss are more detailed and crazy compared to its spin off counterpart.

So yeah, not only do all of Vivziepop’s male characters look exactly the same and have the EXACT same boring body type, but the design of Lucifer himself is just…..meh. It’s not really something I’d get pissed at or rip into unlike Alastor lol, but I think my biggest issue with Lucifer is that he’s literally the devil, the king of hell himself, and yet he does not in any way shape or form stand out from the rest of the cast. If you were to show me his design and told me this was Lucifer, I would have just said he just looks like some regular dude in this world of Hell, because that’s just it. He looks like your generic standard Vivziepop male character, just like everyone else.

I’m nitpicking again yes….but yeah this design is just….generic. I wouldn’t really be saying this had the rest of the Hazbin cast look different compared to this but….they don’t so lol. I do remember Vivzie once saying along the lines that she was going for a “pretty” look for him, since Lucifer was once a beautiful fallen Angel. THAT I can understand, but to me her version of Lucifer looks more goofy than angelically beautiful, and like I said, he just isn’t intimidating, and there are many ways to make Angel’s look scary, though it doesn’t help that the crew describes him as a goofball. Honestly all I can say is that Viv could have just branched him out more, made him more unique compared to the rest of the cast, instead of the same generic look all of her other male characters have. The concept of a ringleader-circus motif isn’t the issue for me, nor is it that he’s “not accurate” since this is Vivzie’s adaptation, it’s just….not creative and uninspiring. I agree with what Lemon said, I think the reason why this design is getting so much backlash is because they just…flat out revealed one of the most important characters in the show with no buildup or anything. Wether it be people who haven’t heard of Hazbin or have, Lucifer was revealed in the pilot in a background portrait, however I think they should have saved his design for the show, instead of just dropping him now. To be fair however, if they HAD build him up only to reveal this, it probably would have ended in huge disappointment lol. With that, that’s about all I can say. I definitely agree with the people saying how her characters look the same and that he doesn’t stand out….because he doesn’t. I’m honestly glad more people are recognizing the flaws and issues with Viv’s designs however, it’s nice to see people critique her stuff more openly, even if it causes a whole twitter fest of people arguing lol. Mostly people keep bringing up how this is a poor attempt at a “tumblr sexyman”, but for me, that ain’t the issue with his design. Also like…of course it seems tumblr sexyman-ish, it’s literally Vivziepop lol.

[ravangie]

ALL MOST OF THE TULIA AND MIGUELLA LORE SO FAR

All the art can be found under this tag

Ok. I have to start with the craziest concept in order for all of it to make sense, so I hope you're sitting down. Here I go:

Tulia and Miguella are ethereal immortal lesbian Goddesses of the Sun and the Moon who from time to time get reincarnated on this earth to find each other all over again.

Did that sink in? Ok, let's continue.

Tulia is the Goddess of the Moon, and Miguella is the Goddess of the Sun, as you might have guessed. Say hi to them next time you look up at the sky! In contrast to the usual confrontation of light and dark, Tulia and Miguella exist together as one. These two extremes are not mutually exclusive, quite the opposite actually, they are complementary to each other.

They've been around long before us and they will be here long after us. The ancient civilizations actually witnessed them as they are and kept them in their beliefs.

The two have been getting reincarnated on Earth since forever now. There were countless lifetimes of them already and there are countless lifetimes ahead of them. I might explore some of them in the future. For now I got focused on two of their lifetimes: the 16th and the 19th century. Let's explore them, shall we?

The 16th century.

The closest you can get to the canon story of The Road to El Dorado. Let's start with their backstories.

Unfortunately for Tulia and Miguella, they don't exist in Lesbianland, they have to deal with harsh realities of the real world and the conditions that are given to them by the centuries in which they live.

Tulia doesn't know where she's coming from. And I'd like to keep us in the same darkness about her origins for her sake. At least for now. She didn't have a family and grew up a nobody first and a thief second. She had a tough life from the get go and grew up to be just as tough.

The poor woman doesn't even know her birthday. Apparently in medieval times people used to celebrate the days of the saints after whom they were named instead of their Birthdays. But there ain't no saint after whom Tulia was named. So she celebrates on All Saints Day, when everyone who doesn't have a birthday during the year can celebrate. It's on November 1.

Miguella, on the other hand, does know when to celebrate her birthday. She's been named after Saint Michael, so she celebrates on September 29 with her whole family, consisting of her mother, her father and her older sister named Agata.

Now picture this. One day, when Miguella was in town, she unsuccessfully stumbled into a scheme of a beautiful woman, and because of her wrong move the woman had been caught redhanded. To her own surprise, when the stranger started running away from the furious crowd, Miguella started following her, making herself look guilty in the people's eyes as well. The strange woman was Tulia and she did NOT appreciate this little sissy getting involved with her. She helped them both get away, but was very adamant that she does NOT take responsibility for Miguella.

They talked for a bit after the fact and Miguella confessed that she heard that some women in town have been getting jobs in workshops and she wanted to try her luck too, that's why she came into town. See, she DESPERATELY needs a job. And she doesn't understand why she couldn't get any, even thought she has all the skills needed.

Tulia chuckles at her naivety but still carefully explains that it's not because of Miguella's lack of skills, but rather the way the society is set up. Yeah right, thinks Miguella, that's exactly what I was trying to avoid by getting a job. Tulia then says she has to go and pack her stuff. She can't stay in this town any longer, since she's been caught because of SOMEONE. So she hopes to catch a ride early morning, before the wanted posters start to show up. She wishes Miguella good luck, thinking this is the last time she sees her, and leaves.

And what do you know. The first person she sees next morning? Miguella, of course. She's right there, waiting for a ride as well, hoping to go with Tulia. Of course Tulia says No. She says No very angrily, very adamantly. No. She will not take Miguella with her. No amount of begging is going to change her mind. Until Miguella says "Fine. It doesn't matter whether or not YOU take me with you. There's no way I'm going back ..there"

Tulia understands the implications behind these words perfectly, so she has to go though all stages of denial, then pull this move

take a deep breath and hesitantly take Miguella with her.

She didn't plan on sticking around with her for long. She just wanted to get Miguella to the closest safe location and be done with her. But along the way, the unexpected partnership started to bloom.

Tulia has been stealing to survive from the cradle, quite often being unscrupulous in her methods. And she has always put herself first. That was the only way to survive for her. But when Miguella comes along, she starts to impose her moral beliefs onto Tulia. Tulia was very angry with her at first. Who does this little booger think she is, having the audacity not only to tag along, but also to argue with her. Tulia doesn't plan on starving herself just because this spoiled by the possibility of choice lady doesn't like her ways.

Eventually though she comes around. Migella has the magical ability to persuade Tulia to do anything with her puppy eyes. The contributes to Tulia's schemes and finds dozens of new fun ways to cheat people. She brings her mandolin and her singing into it. Miguella believed that if they gave the crowd a show first, taking their money was their payment for it. And Tulia believed that if the crowd was stupid enough to fall for their tricks, it was their own damn fault.

The duo won two pairs of gold earrings together at their first successfull "performance" and since then always wear them for good luck. In desperate moments they use them as bait and bet everything on them. But as you can see, both ladies still have their earring with them.

The two would spend countless evenings coming up with the most ridiculous plans, constantly interrupting each other and giggling hysterically. They didn't stick around in one place for too long to avoid being caught, so they travelled a lot and tried on many roles, such as: Tulia as the mysterious foreign fortune teller; Migella as a lively and charming villancico performer; Tulia and Miguella as two very successful card games players (because they are cheaters).

Eventually romantic feelings start to blossom towards each other as well. Tulia is hesitant to express them, since she feels responsibility for taking Miguella with her, and she doesn't want to seem as if she's taking advantage of her. But not to worry, Miguella feels the same way and she, being her open-hearted self, makes the first move.

Before meeting Tulia, Miguella was running out of options on how to escape the societal fate that was in store for her. Every method failed and trying to reach deep into the soul of this stranger was her last desperate attempt. And to both of their surprises, it worked. Something in both of them told them to go with it.

And before meeting Miguella, Tulia was already done with life, she didn't want much out of it. just enough cash to live carefree. But when Miguella comes along, everything changes. To Miguella, this criminal life on the road is very exciting and new and fun. And her excitement is contageous. She shares her fun with Tulia, shows her that there's beauty to be found in the simplest things. And maybe, there is something to hold on for a bit longer. Even without the cash.

And so we come to the point where we meet the protagonists of the movie. Blah-blah loaded dice, boat, horse, all that jazz, you know it you love it, EL DORADO.

When Tulia and Miguella get to El Dorado, they stumble upon a civilization, that actually remembers them as the Goddessess that they are. The people of El Dorado have been separated and hidden from the outside world, so there was noone to scew their beliefs.

Still, there were corrupt people, using power to their advantage, so the conflict with Tzekel Kan still remains.

Chel is still her chipper self. She still joins the duo on their scheme and tries to get her way by flirting. That doesn't work though. Here's the big difference that my ladies have with the original: there is no romance plot-line with Chel. The two are too precious to each other, I fear, to be cheating. The whole cheating plot-line felt forced and unnececcary in the movie anyway, the conflict of interests and the moral of the story would be conveyed just as well without it. Plus because of it one party ended up winning much more than the other in the end. That doesn't seem fair to me. So I got rid of it :) They duo helped Chel run away, travelled with her until she found a place or a person she was happy to call home and that was that.

Also here's a fun fact for ya: out of curiosity I googled some Mayan Goddesses and I came across:

A Goddess called Ixchel, also known as Lady Rainbow, often depicted as a beautiful young woman with long dark hair sitting on a rainbow;

And a Goddess called Chen or Chin, a Goddess of corn, who apparently introduced homosexuality to Mayans (of course Miguella would be the one to do it).

So. Ya know :)

The 19th century.

Tulia and Miguella of the 19th century meet in America.

Miguella has been in America for as long as she can remember. When the cattle business in America bloomed and the demand for skilled cowboys rose up, the whole family packed and moved there. The father was a classic vaquero and worked with horses, while the mom of the family handled the business-y side of things. Two sisters - older sister Agata and younger sister Miguella - grew up on the ranch and learned all the skills of the family business while working alongside their parents. By the time they were adults, both were first class cowgirls.

As for Tulia... She went to America as a grown and skilled thief already, because a little birdie told her that there's gold waiting to be discovered there. She never reached the actual mines, but she sure did reach other people's pockets.

The two met because Miguella saw a fellow spanish-speaking woman in pants in town and wanted to help her out. Who would have thought that she's wanted for robbery?? Tulia didn't believe in Miguella's good intentions though and tried to interrogate her on why the hell she's trying to be nice to her: if she wants her gold, she's not getting any! Miguella tried to tell her that she doesn't know what she's talking about, but it was too late, the two were spotted together because of the racket they caused, and now EVERYONE thought that they were partners in crime.

Needless to say both were outraged and offended. Miguella was offended because she literally didn't do ANYTHING, never saw any gold and was only trying to do a good deed. And Tulia was offended because how dare these people think that she wouldn't be able to pull off a robbery alone!!

That same day Miguella demanded Tulia take her with her. Not begging this time, demanding. She argued that Tulia has pulled her into this mess in the first place and now she has to take responsibility. Tulia understood, that a person who was content with their life wouldn't just just drop everything and run away with an outlaw. They would try to fight for it, they would use their connections and good name to prove their innocence. Miguella didn't try any of that.

So yet again Tulia can't resist Miguella's charm, takes a deep breath and takes her along.

By this time Tulia already has a list of convictions, and at first Miguella was considered merely an accomplace. But the more shenanigans these women caused, the more mischief they did, and the more crime they commited together, the more people started to recognize them as a criminal duo. And frankly, the weight of their crimes, or even the fact whether or not they were actually successfull didn't matter, since they were women. In pants! Tulia and Miguella became a local legend in no time.

Let's talk about the differences between Tulia and Miguella in 16th century and Tulia and Miguella in 19th century.

By the time they meet in the 19th century, both women are older than they were in the 16th century. Both of them are much more mature and confident in themselves and their skills, so they argue A LOT more, trying to make things happen their way.

I know for a fact that Miguella makes fun of Tulia's horseback riding style. Tulia never even intended to have a horse in the first place, she just happened to steal this one and she kind of... stuck around. So she truly doesn't know what to do with her. Miguella helps her and teaches her, after she's had enough laughs, of course.

And I know for a fact that Miguella, living on the ranch, got educated. As a "good woman" she knows how to embroider, just like she did in the 16th century, and embroiders a lot of her and later Tulia's clothes. But she also learned how to read and write on the ranch. Tulia never got the chance to get educated. Miguella doesn't make fun of her for that. She reads for Tulia out loud.

Tulia from 16th century tries to lay low and do her deeds quetly, not wanting any more trouble, but Tulia from the 19th century has a new and exciting advantage: guns! She still tries to find a diplomatic approach, but if that doesn't work, she takes out her revolvers without hesitation. Miguella is very hot-headed, she skips the whole diplomatic part and is ready to fight anyone at any point. That's why Tulia doesn't trust her with guns. No worries though, Miguella knows how to use her lasso flawlessly and uses it all the time to help them in their crimes.

One other thing I'd like to point out is how by the time 19th century rolls around, all the famous Spanish dances that we know and love today become common. I LOVE imagining Tulia and Miguella performing flamenco for the unassuming audience and pickpocketing them at the same time.

The relationship dynamic is pretty much the same as it is in the 16th century. The two have a lot of time to bond with each other on the road and between all the bickering they do just that. Tulia is the type of woman who is used to suppressing her feeling and hiding her emotions due to the tough conditions of her life. But when Miguella tags along, suppressing her emotions forever becomes impossible, since they are always together. Miguella on the other hand has been living with an older sister her whole life, she knows that this tough exterior is just that - exterior. So she patiently stumbles through Tulia's walls time and time again until she manages to earn her trust. And when the moment comes for Tulia to finally break down her walls and be vulnerable in front of another person, she's right there, quietly supporting her. I think they both saved each other in their own ways.

Ok. I'll have to cut it here. There is still so much more I have to talk about. Miguella's sister Agata, for example, I know you all are wondering about her. Or the Bounty Hunter of the West, who tries to hunt down Tulia and Miguella. Sounds pretty exciting, eh? But I'll have to keep their stories to myself until I formally introduce you all to them. This post is already WAY too long.

I will mention one more thing before I go to the closing thoughts, however. About the wrong spelling of Miguella's name. Yes. I am very much aware that the double L in the name would give it a soft sound by the spanish rules, and that's not how her name is pronounced. I have an explanation for it though!

Picture this: Miguella finding her wanted poster and being pissed off that these damn english speakers spelled her name wrong!! But the posters were famous and everywhere, and so her name went down in history with an american spelling..

So there it is.

One person asked me what I see in their future and I think it's bright. The brightest it can be. After finding each other they get to live the longest and happiest lives. And I know that no matter what they end up doing, they never lose sight of each other.

It's very convenient for my heart that Tulia and Miguella are immortal and will forever be here. Do you understand? The Sun and The Moon themselves are lesbians! They've always been around and they will continue to be around long after us! Doesn't that fill you with hope?

I'm sure there were lifetimes on Earth when they couldn't find each other until late into their years. And maybe there were even lifetimes when they weren't lucky enough to find each other at all. But I hope that doesn't sadden you, but instead gives you hope. Because even despite the odds and the despite the harsh reality that they have to face, they still keep on going and keep on trying again and again, cause in the end it's all worth it.

So I hope next time you look up at the sky and you see the sun and the moon being there at the same time, you'll think of Tulia and Miguella having a date and that will cheer you up.

P.S. If you saw any grammar mistakes: good for you. English is my second language.

[judgeanon]

Don't Look Back in Anger - BATGIRL #7 Review

For the first issue after the opening arc of their new BATGIRL series, Tate Brombal has recruited Isaac Goodhart for a mission. The objective: to tell the definitive Lady Shiva origin story.

Here's a recap and my own lengthy-ass thoughts on this first half of it, transplanted from the other hellsite that shall not be named:

The issue begins with Cass taking a train to the West with a mysterious envelope in her hands. Inside the train, she gets a little flashback to the events of a few issues ago, and it's extremely nice to see that Goodhart is following Miyazawa's lead and drawing Shiva with visible age lines and such. I really love that look for her, even if Spicer mixed up the coloring of her coat.

Cass' surprise gift turns out to be a book with two cranes on its cover and a walkman, of all things, which contains a tape recorded by Lady Shiva, who explains that the book is her "life story." Awful nice of her to include an audio book version for Cass, although Shiva's self-pitying "dead, perhaps even for the better" and her talk of legacy already rub me the wrong way.

Although Puckett heavily implied that Shiva had grown tired of her violent life back during his Batgirl run, and Gabrych explicitly had her say that she had Cass at least partly so that someone would be strong enough to kill her if she ever became a monster, I'm just not a fan of that kind of Shiva. I find the whole remorseful assassin looking for a way out thing more than a little cliche, and more importantly, I don't think it fits her Taoist inspirations, her spirit of living purely in the moment, without attachments to the past.

But whatever, I'm sure this will be the only thing I disagree with in this issue. Right?

The meat of the story begins with a flashback to Shiva's childhood with her sister and their parents, nomads travelling the Himalayas. Shiva's narration mentions "blue moons" and "hidden worlds" in the stories her mother told her, maybe suggesting a connection to the Unburied.

Just as importantly, it introduces her sister, who Shiva describes as being her other half.

Violence arrives in the form of an army of red ninjas straight outta GI Joe who butcher the girls' parents and stain young Shiva's face in their blood, planting the first seeds of revenge. And alone but together, the sisters reach the door of a monastery, where one quick timeskip later, we see how that has gone for them.

Shiva, who we now learn was called Ming-Yue, is training with the monastery monks while listening to a very interesting lecture by the abbot. Particularly notable are the two middle panels of the page, which seem to foreshadow Shiva's eventual role as a challenge, an "agent of suffering" meant to help others find and overcome their obstacles. And some always welcome multi-armed imagery to boot.

It's a pair of panels that'll make any longtime Shiva fan smirk knowingly, and it's very cool to see some actual Hinduism slipped into her new backstory, but I think it only tells half the story. Shiva is not just a destroyer, but can and has given life back to those she chooses to help. I know Brombal is aware of that, so I hope he includes it later.

The next scene shows a bit of the sisters' life in the village surrounding the temple, and this is where I started to notice what Brombal and Goodhart are doing. Compare the first panel of that page:

... with the opening panel of BATGIRL #73, which was the last time someone tried to do a comprehensive origin of Shiva:

One of the greatest strengths of this issue, to me, is how Brombal & Goodhart have taken a handful of panels from a few pages of an issue that's almost 20 years old by now and extrapolated an entire personality for Mei out of that. Whereas Carolyn barely had hints of a personality, those hints are here full blown elements of her character. The cute smiles Pop Mhan gave her are now a bubbly, cheerful demeanor that carries on through almost the entire issue.

And that is something that this issue does a lot: it takes what Brombal has certainly identified as the key elements of Sandra and Carolyn's story, the parts that he considers important and worth keeping around, and removed all the specific details to build a new origin around them. More on that later.

For now, we have the introduction of some familiar bad guys: a mob of bandits called the Blood, which are obviously meant to be connected to that neatly-dressed Wu Lin fellow from the previous arc. And we get to see what a GREAT time Goodhart is having drawing kung fu badassery.

After the fight, there's a nice page that pours some water on that seed of revenge from earlier, while also planting a new one: Shiva's drive to be perfect. It's a perfectionism that we know she will pass on to Cass, but here, is tied to her sister, born from a deep love for her.

The next centerpiece scene is another of those connections that Brombal makes with BATGIRL #73, this time not with its art but with its writing. Gabrych in that issue described Sandra & Carolyn's fights as a "dance":

... and here Brombal & Goodhart make that fairytale metaphor real:

And although the setting of the scene is a callback to BATGIRL #73, the double page spread of the sisters dancing is also a callback to the last six issues of Brombal/Miyazawa's newest run, using the same double page spread structure they've used so far for fight scenes. But where Shiva & Cass' spreads were tableaus of violence and chaos, this one is a soft, flowy performance, all swooping motions full of strong character expression.

All the while, Shiva's narration gushes about her sister in a very sweet way that's also a bit poignant when you consider this is the world's greatest fighter talking about the person she herself once looked up to, not just because of how she fought but because of how she moved. It's a moment of understated vulnerability for Shiva, describing her sister like this, begging Cass to understand just how good she was. The use of movement as a descriptor in particular lands particularly well, considering that's how Cass would really get to understand a person.

But once again, an army of red ninjas shows up to crash the party, and the parallels with Shiva and Cass are made even more evident:

Where Shiva struggled to make her daughter even listen to her, she was perfectly able to communicate with Mei without even a word. And what hits about this particular callback is how it shows not only what Shiva has lost, but also maybe what she's trying to recover: a connection, someone she can communicate with as clearly as she used to be able to talk to her sister. And as we already read in previous issues, Shiva does see a lot of Mei in Cass.

The next pages quickly introduce a bit more of the Blood's backstory and powerset, but more importantly, their leader: a brawny shirtless fellow who turns out to be the sisters' uncle, who speaks of a forbidden love union and promises to grant them their birthright. If I had to bet, I'd bet a few bucks that Shiva's father was of the Blood, while her mother was a member of the Unburied, and they had a bit of a Shaw Bros Romeo & Juliet going on.

But here we get another of those little remixed moments, as our big baddie notes that Mei is holding Yue back, both physically and metaphorically. This is maybe the most overt reference to BATGIRL #73, and big bald ninja fellow is clearly echoing David Cain's intentions from back then.

Hell, it's probably not even intentional, but #73's narration made references to sparks and fanning flames, and this issue does have a village set on fire so...

Fortunately, the sisters are saved by their master and escape the burning village, putting an end to this first chapter of Shiva's new origin. So... what's good about it?

Goodhart's art is VERY good, for starters. I knew the man could draw from CHRISTOPHER CHAOS, but his work here is rock solid and full of beauty. The panels are gorgeous, the shadows are evocative, the action's delightfully dynamic and Spicer's coloring brings everything to life. Although speaking of colors, here's a small detour:

Throughout this issue, Mei's color is yellow, perhaps as a nod to her colors back in her first appearance in KUNG FU FIGHTER #2. But also, we've seen Shiva wear a yellow crane on her back. And the book that Cass is reading has two yellow cranes on the cover.

So it's not a stretch to assume that yellow is a color that Shiva still associates with her sister. And wearing different animals with that color on her clothes is her way to metaphorically carry Mei on her back at all times. It's a small touch that highlights how much of Mei still lives in Shiva's memory.

Writing-wise, I appreciate Brombal's approach. You can see which parts of BATGIRL #73 he thought were important, the parts that spoke to him and that he chose to build from, and it's neat to see him remix them, adding new settings & events but mostly going for a "Yes, and" strat. However, this new origin already runs straight into one of my big pet peeves about any Shiva backstory.

Whether it's being raised in a village of assassins or just being a child prodigy at karate, I've always found the idea of Yue/Sandra being raised to be a master fighter a little limp. On some level, it feels like a lack of confidence -- like nobody will believe a completely normal girl would be able to turn herself into an invincible fighter with just a few months of training. No, she has to have been raised to be Shiva, she has to have been special from birth, she has to have (apparently) ancient warrior clan blood that may or may not turn into swords.

She HAS to be DESTINED to become, at the very least, something like Lady Shiva. But I find the idea of Sandra being someone who had never raised a hand in anger before Carolyn died to be a thousand times more powerful than that.

It's not something that was ever explored in previous comics (and I'd argue it doesn't have to be), but Sandra turning her back on every single part of her being except her desire for revenge, then getting that revenge and finding herself unable to just become Sandra again, is the journey that gives her backstory weight in my opinion. It's the story of a woman deciding to turn herself into something else to achieve a goal and finding herself unable to return to who she was.

If Yue/Sandra was already special, if she was already halfway to becoming Lady Shiva when her sister dies, then she's not really turning her back on nearly as much than if they had been normal girls. There's less emptying of the self involved, less destruction of Sandra and less creation of Lady Shiva. And in a way, there's also less agency involved.

Sure, Sandra was very much tricked into trying to kill Richard Dragon back in her first origin, but turning herself into a jump-kicking death machine was very much her choice, as was to continue being Shiva once her revenge had been completed. Once you establish that she was always special from birth, then her decision to become Shiva carries less weight. Because it's no longer someone erasing their nature to create and embrace a new one, but someone whose nature was always there deciding to shake hands with it.

Which is not a bad story per se, but it feels less unique. Any attempt to make Shiva pre-Carolyn's death special, to me, always has the unintended effect of making her less special. That's my main beef with this issue, and maybe with the entire idea of writing a new Shiva origin. What I personally consider the key blocks of Shiva's origin are all post-Carolyn's death, while Gabrych and Brombal place them before that death. To me, the key is never so much Shiva's lust for revenge, but what she does with her life once she gets that revenge.

My secondary beef with this issue is the general atmosphere of Shiva still being haunted by Mei's memory. For the same reason I don't like a remorseful, self-loathing Shiva, I don't like a Shiva who's still tortured by the spectre of her sister. I think Shiva is far more interesting as someone who by all means should be haunted, should be burdened by this tragedy, but who has detached herself from so much of the material world that it's become a thing that happened, a thing that created her, but that no longer affects her. Shiva, to me, works best when she's living exclusively in the moment, closer to the Zen ideal of a life lived without regrets.

All that said, I do enjoy how much character Brombal gives to Mei. I'm aware of how I sound when I say that the most important part of Carolyn's character is dying, so I like that Brombal has taken these little hints of personality from the BATGIRL #73 flashback and crafted practically a whole new character out of them. And I'm especially excited to see her in the next issue, hanging out with Ben Turner and Richard Dragon.

Back in that original run, Carolyn was turned into a damsel in distress and a woman in a fridge with ghastly speed, so getting to see her actually being a character is bound to be cool, even knowing where it's gonna end.

To wrap things up, like the best parts of this run so far, I can see Brombal's vision, and I appreciate it, even when I disagree with the direction he's headed. I don't like this self-loathing, blood-destined, haunted by the past version of Shiva, and I probably never will, but I really value the craftsmanship and thought that's been put into this story.

I imagine #8 will be more of the same, with a few guest stars, but I'm interested in two things: First, just seeing what Brombal's going to do about the big white-haired elephant in the room he himself teased in the final page. And second, I'm interested in seeing if maybe, just maybe, having this definitive origin of Shiva around will help writers become less interested in her past and more in her present, and hopefully her future.

I'm really tired of Shiva only ever appearing in relation to Cass, and while this week has shown us how much of a colossal Monkey's Paw that can be, I'm hoping this will somehow provide a foundation that more people can feel comfortable building on. That's all, y'know, wishful thinking based on nothing.

It's entirely possible that this will just usher a whole new era of stories about Shiva's past or something equally pointless, but a fan can dream. Maybe someday, maybe soon, the "Book of Shiva" will be more than just the name of a mini-arc in her daughter's book.

[21wanderer]

Secrets (Part 1 of 4) - Prelude

Originally an excerpt made for a writing challenge, after some encouragement to expand it, I have completed the story and broken it into four parts.

Being the oldest in your class wasn’t noteworthy, at least not most of the time, if you didn’t know, you wouldn’t have guessed that I was the oldest in my class, I was small and skinny, tall, but not as tall as half of my classmates. But being the first to turn 18 gave me some attention all of a sudden… Especially when I was the first in my class with a driver’s license, then my usually non-existing popularity soared.

I could borrow one of my parents’ cars quite frequently, and it did make me quite coveted in my class, both the guys and the girls thought it was pretty cool, now I could drive them places… It was nice to get the attention, it was nice to feel unique and special… But again it probably wouldn’t last forever, after all, they were going to turn 18 soon enough, and then they could start doing the same, and I could fade back into obscurity.

“Are you coming to the party, Dam?” asked Alice, one of my classmates. “No,” I answered, “you know I don’t drink.” “You don’t have to, quite the opposite actually, Vicky and I were kinda hoping you could drive us home after… Maybe we could go through a drive-in along the way,” Alice said with a wink, “think about it, will you? It would be so great, if you did.”

My class was a party class to say the least, it felt like they were having a party or get-together every week, usually drinking way too much. It was far from the first time I had been invited to the parties, but I always declined, I don’t drink for starters, so I wouldn’t fit in, but Alice’s words got me thinking, although honestly they were both pretty thoughtful as they were inconsiderate. Now they wanted me at their party as their ‘designated driver’, so I could chauffeur them all home after they got wasted.

---

My father works at a hospital in the next town over, he’s a bit of a workaholic, even after an accident that caused him to break his right foot quite badly, he insisted on getting back to work as soon as possible. That meant my mother or I had to drive him to and from work, the plus side being, that I could get to drive more often and gain more experience.

One day, when I came to pick up my father at the hospital, I had a life-changing moment, well, sort of. He wasn’t at the parking garage, but that wasn’t unusual, if he wasn’t here, he was still working. So I entered the hospital, hoping to run into someone, who could guide me in the right direction.

“Hi,” I said to a doctor heading out the double doors to Section 4. “Oh hi Damien, are you here to pick up your father?” she asked. “Yes, have you seen him?” I said, usually it was hassle to locate my father, especially when he was working overtime, when he wasn’t on the parking lot, I had to try and find him in one of the hospital departments, and that wasn’t always an easy task. “Well, he’s doing some work, in the Dermatology department, the storage room, room 417,” she said. “Room 417,” I repeated, “thank you very much.” “You’re welcome,” the doctor said with a smile as she left.

Sure enough I found my father in room 417, a room filled with shelves containing who-knows-what. My father sat at the only computer in the room with his back turned away. “Hi da-” I began, but I almost stumbled over what looked like two large, incredibly visible paint-cans. “Watch where your going, Damien,” dad said as he turned towards me. “Sorry, I didn’t see them,” I said embarrassedly, embarrassed that I could stumble over something so obvious. “Why are those buckets right in front of the door?” I asked. “They need to be disposed of,” my father said. I read the label on the white paint cans, on a pink label with thick black letters, it said: BodyPlast.

It was an unusual name, and I was kinda curious. “What is it?” I asked my father, who resumed his work. “It’s an experimental substance, meant to be used on skin on burn victims and other people with dermatological conditions. It apparently can replicate the exact skin tones and even hair on the skin that it’s applied to, quite remarkable.” “Then why are throwing it out?” “Because the labelling is incorrect.”

“Really? Seems like a waste.”

“Maybe, but it’s a safety standard, a common hospital procedure, we cannot use something on a patient unless we’re 117% sure, we know, what it is. So if the labelling is wrong, we can’t use it.”

The computer monitor went black, and my father got up from his chair, and began gathering the papers on his desk in a stack, “and although it’s quite interesting,” he said, “I’m not quite sure how helpful it’ll be, because if it replicates the skin of those it’s applied to, then it would take the colour of their skin as it is now with burns, scar tissue and so forth, which means that people would have had to apply it before their skin was affected. Then all of a sudden, it doesn’t sound that useful.” He picked up the papers and got up from his chair. “Listen, I just need to hand these sheets over to my colleagues, and give them some instructions. Can you just go back to the car and drive it over to entrance D? and I’ll be there in 10 minutes.” “Ok,” I answered instinctively.

My curiosity was piqued, well more than piqued. This BodyPlast sounded unbelievable, I had a scar on my neck, that I’d like to cover, but there was so much more to it than that. If what my father said was true, I could replicate the skins of others, that prospect lit a fire in me. My father left and went down the hall, I could hear his footsteps, thanks to the boot he wore on his right foot. Not wasting any time, I picked up the buckets, between them was a little folder, which I assumed was the package leaflet, I quickly stuffed it in my pocket, hopefully it would tell me everything I needed to know about BodyPlast. I left the hospital carrying the buckets, nobody noticed, nobody said anything. Once I was at the car I put them in the trunk, and hit them under the blanket, that always stayed in the trunk. I picked up my father by the entrance, and we drove home. My heart was pounding, but I tried to conceal it. Once we were home, I just needed to get the buckets into my room and hide them there. ---

At night, I opened one of the cans with great expectation. It contained a thick, viscous, pink liquid. I dipped a paintbrush into it, then applied a coating to my left arm, just a little bit above the wrist. Then I waited. 15 minutes later the pink colour had faded completely, it was now the exact same colour as my skin, and it was almost unnoticeable. I found an edge, and peeled it off. It was remarkable. The material was incredibly stretchy too – I could stretch incredibly wide, but would resume its original form, when I stopped, still looking perfect. I had to try it again. This time I painted my entire left arm, all the way up to my shoulder, and then I waited again. I peeled it off like a glove, and it looked exactly like my skin, it felt like my skin, even the small hairs were replicated. This was incredible. I slid on the ‘glove’ again, it was surprisingly easy to put on, and the result was flawless. You couldn’t tell, I was wearing an extra layer of skin on my arm. Then it dawned on me, and it was like being hit by a bolt of lightning… With this stuff, I could do almost anything… Or at the very least become anyone. All of a sudden it did feel like a good idea to attend a party.

[fandomsmadness]

Late but

TBHX episode 4 rant

Okay if I had a nickel every time they ended an episode with Moon being shot in the head... we all know where I'm going and that's concerning. Two main thoughts about the cliffhanger:

THANK GOD EPISODE TWO WASN'T A FAKEOUT

I hate it, if only for the fact that it pulled our focus away from so many important things that happened in the chapter, hello??? I hate that our final takeaway is "Moon got shot again" instead of a number of other things

We start with the most important things first; last episode rant I was asking whether we should just resign ourselves to Lin Ling being unhappy as Nice for the rest of his life and lmao I have never been more happy to be given the most solid answer I could have hoped for.

However, important implication here; I believe this means trust value is a two way system. In order to work:

Trust must be given by people (fans believing in 'Nice'/Lin Ling)

Trust must be accepted by the other party (Lin Ling accepting that he wants to become/is 'Nice'/himself)

And this brings up a really fascinating question: "can multiples of the same hero exist?" The answer should be yes - we see in cases like The Johnnies that trust value can be given to a team as a whole instead of each individual component. Can the mantle of a hero also be split this way? Will that ease the burden?

And in that same vein, would any hero who decides they are no longer their moniker be able to step away from their burdens and expectations just as easily? If yes, which I believe it is, what happens to Lin Ling if he ever wants to go back to a regular life?

That being said I love the naming of this episode, absolute genius, and the way it was presented, absolute cinema. Personally I'm regarding this point as the conclusion of Lin Ling's current arc and I have to say, these last four episodes had us on a rollercoaster. Lin Ling realising he didn't actually want to be Nice, but a hero was peak and I love that he got to get to it on his own terms.

And while I love the introduction of Jeopardy (that song has no right being so badass) I found it interesting that in this particular scene when Lin Ling is finally defeating God Eye, it's Paragon that plays. He gave up being Nice. Why are we getting Nice's theme song here?

That's not all, we still have more questions: If Lin Ling is now 10, what rankings are the ones on the official website???

Why I'm not considering this part of the arc as of now is because it's unfinished, clearly there for cliffhanger value, and it's very likely that we will all change our minds about this later when more information is given because the whole thing is fishy. How does Moon recognize Lin Ling, who she's never seen before? Why is E-Soul or a lookalike there, and why are they positioned behind Moon while the shot came from the side? Was episode 1 a premonition, or was someone trying to warn Lin Ling? Time will tell.

And while I will be really mad if it turns out Moon is alive after that (AGAIN) part of me is hoping she is because give this girl a break man, wtf?? At least give her a proper vacation, or a death in dignity, as her own person, and not an accessory to a man!

Other (less important to me) things:

Blankster was an interesting study for several reasons, the biggest being how powers can evolve beyond their origin function, aka how strong punches evolved not just in strength but also in terms of memory loss. Given Blankster's boxer origins, this makes so much sense, and I thought it was a really clever way to reference concussions. Secondly, Treeman made it too easy for God Eye, come on! It also showed how corporate really doesn't give a shit about Moon as soon as she left; they just viewed her as a liability. From the episode's start, they didn't care about saving her.

It's also nice (haha, pun not intended) to finally have at least one name to these faces. So these are the hero agency heads. Interesting, and makes sense. Now we only need to figure out who the hooded figure is and the intro's main pain points will be less painful (not really).

And finally, God Eye. I can't help but feel he fell kinda flat. Last ep I had high hopes for him being set up as Lin Ling's nemesis, and he did to an extent, embody that with his "there are no real heroes in this era" talk but then along came Lin Ling shedding the Nice persona to prove him wrong. Where does that leave him? Was he only a gimmick for the Lin Ling arc? I feel there should be more.

After all, we still don't know whose fear is channelling God Eye, and how it came be taken away. By making him a laughing stock, perhaps?

I knew episodes 5-7 were going to be E-Soul centered, but I have to hand it to the team, this was one hell of a way to transition viewpoints.

[bartxnhood]

40s! bucky barnes headcanons

synopsis: a collection of 40s!bucky barnes bc he is very dear to me.

warnings: none really, mainly fluff, just a tad of angst at the end.

a/n: hiiii all!! this is the first installment of my headcanon series. i’ve never really done headcanons like this before but i thought it would help me find my groove of writing again. i do have another bucky fic in the works along with a bob one!!

not proofread

requests open

Copyright © 2025 bartxnhood. All rights reserved. This original work is not allowed to be reposted on any platform in any format.

︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵‿୨♡୧

40s!bucky who first met you in a medical clinic when he was getting medicine for whatever sickness he had conjured up this time. but, it was really an excuse to see you again.

40s!bucky who never believed in love at first sight, it was a lame fairy tale for kids to believe in. but on that fateful day and his eyes landed on you..oh he was absolutely smitten.

“i’m gon be marryin’ her, steve!” his dopey smile is something steve has never seen before, his eyes glittered with something steve wasn’t familiar with. only seeing that gleam in his eyes whenever your name came up in conversation. “does she know this, buck?”

“she’s about to!”

40s!bucky who showers you with anything your pretty little heart desires. new diamond earrings? done. flowers? done. that dress you’ve been eyeing in the boutique down the street across from your work? it’s lying in the break room for you at work.

“bucky, this all too much” you’d finally confront him as you stand in the living room of your apartment as he’s handing you a new gift.

“what do you mean, doll?” bucky hesitates, afraid he’s crossed over a line. his step towards you is light and gentle, he drops the box to the table. “did i overstep or cross a line?” he asks softly. “never” you say, smiling softly. “i just..i don’t feel like i deserve this”

40s!bucky who doesn’t understand why you think like that. to him you were the brightest star in the night sky, the light of his day, you were every good thing that bucky didn’t deserve.

40s!bucky who calls you a plethora of different nick names, ‘doll’ and ‘baby doll’ were his two favorite. you would always blush, the nicknames stirring up butterflies in your stomach.

40sbucky who is pretty affectionate, even in public. considering his past, he’s so proud to show you off. bucky feels like the luckiest man in the world knowing you’re with him.

40s!bucky who tells you he loves you multiple times a day. there’s not really a reason behind why he does it, he just feels the need to make sure you’re aware that you’re the only one for him.

40s!bucky who found out he was a jealous man because of you. not anything you’d do, of course. but when he took you out dancing one night he couldn’t help that burning sensation he felt in his chest as he saw a man across the room eying you.

40s!bucky who keeps a collection of records tucked away in his apartment just for you, knowing how much you love music.

40s!bucky who dances with you in the living room with nothing but a small lamp lighting up the room. the two of you swaying to the soft jazz that bucky picked.

40s!bucky who picked out the perfect ring only a year of dating. keeping his promise that he’d marry you, even when everyone around him told him he was insane.

40s!bucky who asked your family’s permission for your hand in marriage promising to give you the best life you deserve.

“this is awfully soon, james.” your father would say, sitting across from bucky. “understandable, sir. but i do not wish to be away from her. i will give her the best life possible.”

40s!bucky who told you to wear your best. there were over two dozen roses in his kitchen, all prepared for you.

40s!bucky who is surprisingly a wonderful cook and prepared a huge candlelit dinner to show how much he loves you.

40s!bucky who finally popped the question after dinner, standing on the fire escape of his apartment while drinking wine.

“i have never met anyone quite like you. from the moment i met you, i knew you were the one for me. you make my heart skip a beat and fill me with more joy than i ever thought possible. will you do me the honor of becoming mrs.barnes?"

you’d say yes of course.

40s!bucky who holds you close when he finally confessed that he was drafted. gushing your cries as you grip onto him for dear life. feeling your world crumble beneath you. terrified.

“don’t cry, doll..” he says into your hair. “i’ll be home. i’ll come back to you”

“you better, james. god dammit you better come home to me.” you sobbed.

40s!bucky barnes who writes you letters every day after he was drafted. long letters, you can feel the anguish and pain from the way he scribbles his words on the stained paper.

40s!bucky who always professes his love at the end of the letters. “my heart aches for you. my soul yearns for your touch. i love you baby doll. i’ll be home soon.”

40s!bucky who sent back his dog tags so you’d have a piece of him while he’s away.

40s!bucky who wears his wedding band around his neck every day. often finding himself fiddling with it absentmindedly. missing you more than anything else in the world.

40s!bucky who gives steve the rest of his letters and wedding ring and tells him to look after you. he didn’t know why he didn’t, maybe a hunch.

40s!bucky who never returned home. but steve made sure everything was sent to you.

40s!bucky who pledged his undying love for you in each word on the paper. thoughtful words you never expected him to conjure.

40s!bucky who now only lived in your heart with every beat.

[bucket-of-spiders]

I’m writing a good omens swap au now! No angst… for now. But seriously, this one is supposed to be silly. :)

Bad Omens: A Comedy of Errors Made by the Two Most Incompetent Celestial Beings Ever

Summary: A retelling of the story, but Aziraphale fell and Crowley didn’t.

CHAPTER 1: The Beginning

It was a nice day. All days so far had been nice, but there were dark storm clouds gathering ominously at the horizon. An angel named Crowley was regarding them nervously, quietly wondering if the sudden bad weather was his fault.

“Well,” He turned to the white haired demon standing next to him. “That went down like a lead balloon.”

“Sorry?” The demon said, giving a confused little frown. It was not adorable at all and Crowley would never think that.

“Said, that went down like a lead balloon,” Crowley repeated, glancing back up at the steadily approaching storm clouds.

“Ah. Yes, it did, rather,” The demon nodded. “It makes you wonder why they went and did that. Adam and Eve, that is.”

“Yes. Yes, I, uh… I guess it does,” Crowley shifted uncomfortably where he was standing.

“Wait…” The demon turned fully to face him, a wicked grin spreading across his face. “Did you…?”

“I… I might have… accidentally… uh…. Puttheideainherhead?” Crowley’s voice rose in pitch dramatically as the sentence continued. He hadn’t meant to, he was just saying how he didn’t understand why knowing the difference between good and evil was a bad thing, he wasn’t expecting Eve to actually go and take a bite of the fruit. In fact, he was horrified. The demon looked at him for a second, then burst out laughing, and did not stop for a long time.

“It was an accident!” Crowley cried. “A-and I was actually wondering if you’d be willing to take credit? The Original Sin would be a real feather in your wing.”

The demon considered this for a long moment, expression pensive, before grinning. “Yes, I do suppose it would. Deal. So long as you’re willing to overlook the fact that I gave them your sword.”

“Wait, you what?” Crowley raised his eyebrows in shocked offense. “Why? To- to tempt them to wrath? Because I sincerely doubt they’d hurt one another and-“

“I rather thought they’d need it to protect themselves,” The demon cut in. “It’s dangerous out there, and it’d be ever so boring if they just went and died right away.”

“Oh. I… I guess so,” Crowley conceded. “My name’s Crowley by the way.”

“Hm. Not to be rude, but it isn’t very… angelic,” The demon pointed out.

“All the good names were taken,” Crowley shrugged, then belatedly realized he should have taken offense, but then the demon was already speaking and he didn’t want to interrupt.

“Ah. Well, I’m Aziraphale,” The demon said. “Decided not to change the name. Seems I’m the only one.”

“Hm. Well, I… I like it,” Crowley offered hesitantly. He probably wasn’t supposed to be complementing a demon, but he was taught that everyone deserved kindness.

“Thank you,” Aziraphale smiled. “It’s funny, you know. It seems like I’ve done the good thing and you’ve done the bad one.”

“Not really,” Crowley cast a nervous glance up at the sky. “Not at all.”

“Hm. No, I suppose not,” Aziraphale looked up as well with a slight frown as cold droplets of rain began to fall from the heavens. There was then a quiet rustling sound, and suddenly a wing with ink dark feathers was extended over Crowley’s head. Crowley leaned a bit closer to the demon for a reason he couldn’t name, and together they watched the storm.

So there it is! If you liked it, stay tuned for chapter two!

[relicshamecircle]

My fics were plagiarized! A timeline and update

Hello Pilgrimage folks and non-Pilgrimage folks,

It's been less than week since I learned that someone plagiarized my Pilgrimage fanfics and published them as their own, but that's an eternity in Internet time and quite a lot has happened since Sunday, so I figured I should post an update of some sort.

How did you learn about this in the first place?

On Sunday, a very kind reader commented on my fic An Invitation to Happiness asking if I'd published it as an original novel, because, if not, an ebook they were reading, The Beauty and His Beast by Layla Moran, was extremely similar. I went to the ebook's Goodreads page, read the summary, and thought, "Well, there are similarities, but--" and then I scrolled down to look at the reviews and saw that people were describing exact scenes from my fic.

I went to Layla Moran's author page on Goodreads and immediately recognized two more titles, The Rancher's Mail-Order Husband and The Warrior and the Monk, as my two other multi-chapter Pilgrimage fics, Bluebells and Daylillies and Wild Roses Running Rampant, and how rich the earth, how bright the stars. My heart dropped--those three ebooks were some of her most recent "works" and they'd been published over the course of the last few months. The Warrior and the Monk was the first of mine she took; its publication date was listed as December 1, 2024.

What did you do next?

I panicked, and proceeded to tell my friends and fellow Pilgrimage fans what I'd found, and, while I floundered, they all immediately rallied around me. We started reporting the plagiarized works and stating that they were plagiarized in reviews. Someone found Layla Moran's Reddit username and posts that she made on the subreddit MM_RomanceBooks, which prompted me to start writing my own post with the thought that, whether or not we could get the ebooks removed, I could at least show readers in the community that her works were plagiarized so the word would get out and others would be dissuaded from buying them.

How did that work out?

Great, eventually. As stated in the eventual Reddit post, I don't have much social media at all. I write fic, I post it on AO3, and I'm here on Tumblr, mostly reblogging stuff but occasionally letting Pilgrimage fans know when I've posted another Pilgrimage fic. I tried to make a Reddit account and kept getting error messages, which only made me more frustrated and stressed. I was really certain that if I could just show a wider audience these example comparisons of Layla Moran's "books" to my fics, then things would be okay! My friend @pilgrimagesource, who had by that time already made a Tumblr post about the situation, also made a Reddit account so that she could share the post I'd written on my behalf.

Except that new Reddit users need a certain amount of karma before they can start creating posts of their own! More frustration and stress ensued! Pilgrimagesource proceeded to comment on any Layla Moran-related topic she could find and promptly got her comments deleted as spam because, well. It was the definition of spamming. But, the mods were extremely kind and had looked at the evidence and allowed her to finally make the post.

What happened next?

It gained a lot of traction very, very fast, and while I had been focused on my own works, people quickly realized that Layla Moran also published works under the name Rey Luca, and that nearly all of the ebooks from Layla Moran/Rey Luca were plagiarized from other fanfic authors from a wide variety of fandoms.

Other Pilgrimage folks informed their writing and fandom communities to spread the word. Another friend of mine created a spreadsheet to keep track of the ebooks, their corresponding fics and their real authors and fandoms, and whether or not the ebooks had been removed or not. The situation was extremely shitty, but I can honestly say I found it very heart-warming to see everyone working together to make sure that the real authors were identified and informed as well as leaving reviews and submitting reports.

And?

And that was my entire Sunday, essentially. I went to bed exhausted. The next morning I took a walk with a friend before heading to work--because writing is currently a hobby for me, and I don't make any money from it, and I have a full-time job to pay the bills! However, just before my shift started, I saw that books were disappearing from Layla Moran's Amazon and Goodreads pages, that the Reddit and Tumblr post had gotten huge, and that more people had found out their works had been stolen and were just as shocked and disheartened as I was. But it'd only been one day! Progress was being made!

Alright, so what now?

Now it's Friday and--well. I'm not really sure. On my end, Audible still has the audiobook for The Warrior and the Monk up for preorder (and it's set to be released on July 1), but I know that Tantor Media, the publisher, does not seem to have it listed on their site anymore. The page for the audiobook is now blank, and searching for Layla Moran's name on the site brings up no results. Her author bio page can still be found with some extra digging, but The Warrior and the Monk is not listed. The ebooks were all self-published on Kindle Unlimited; I suspect because the audiobook involved an actual publisher and involved a contract of some sort, it will take longer for everything to get taken down across all websites. I will be keeping an eye on it, though.

Currently, there are still some books on Layla Moran's Amazon page, perhaps because they were printed instead of just ebooks? I'm unsure how that works. On the other hand, Rey Luca's Amazon page seems to have been taken down, but there are quite a few more books still listed on the Goodreads page, though most of the reviews now state that they are based on stolen works and list the Reddit or Tumblr post or link the original fic.

What are you going to do about your own fics?

Nothing.

All of my fics were and are written for my own enjoyment, and for the enjoyment of those who read them. In the past few years there's been a lot of discussion about AI scraping and locking fics to prevent them from being used to train AI, but, from what it seems here, that doesn't stop someone from joining AO3, copy-pasting an entire work into a document, using the find/replace tool, and then using AI to rearrange some of words or add a few more paragraphs and then publishing it and passing it off as their own.

So, that sucks, and will always be in the back of my mind now. But at the same time, I think the reason I found all this out, and what might have been a factor in how those three initial ebooks were pulled so quickly, is because my fics are posted publicly for anyone to read. The evidence was really obvious when the ebooks were compared with my fics.

A lot of people commented that, at the very least, this proves that my writing could get published. That was also a sort of silver lining because--I think like many fic writers--one day I would like to be a published author. However, if I ever get something published it will be an original work. I will never edit and republish any of my long-form fics as novels because they weren't written with that goal in mind.

I write fics because I love the source material so much that I want to play around with the characters and the themes and create alternate universes and--just have fun. And I like sharing that with others; if someone reads one of my fics and likes it and it makes their day a little better, then I'm happy. And that's why my fics will continue to be available for anyone to read for free!

I have updated my AO3 profile to basically say all this, with the addition that I allow translations and podfics so long as you as ask and send me a link when you're finished.

And I think that covers everything so far! Thanks for reading, as always!

[koszmarnybudyn]

So this song fits them so very well right?

[thegalaxyinapaperbag2]

"When I was fourteen, I divorced them. I took them to court. I got paid maintenance 'till employment age and access every fourth weekend to the family dog."

[riversaremeanttobefollowed]

We all know that the reason why Bruce Wayne isn't religiously Jewish is because dc are cowards, but also because many of the community itself is cowards. I personally believe it comes from a lack of knowledge about what it even means to be religious because most of the community is Christian or culturally Christian. So as someone that would probably be considered not religious by Christians, but Religious by most other Jewish people, I think that Bruce Wayne fits in this section of being Jewish.

Bruce can't go to the Synagogue often because of the whole being Batman stuff, but he still goes on the high holidays when he can. He celebrates with the Kane family as well! And Kate would obviously understand if he couldn't come because she's Batwoman! Give me a Bruce Wayne says Yiddish curses. Give me a Batman that has a bunch of Chanukkiot that are just so pretty because they are rich and definitely have a ton. Give me Batfamily shabbat dinners when they are able to. Rest days on Saturday for the Jewish members when they are more members in the Batfam to make it work (and it being a mitzvah when he does have to be Batman on Shabbat because its a mitzvah to save a life). Give me Mezuzot on every entryway. Give me a Bruce Wayne who inherited his mother's seder plates and actually uses them. Give me a Bruce Wayne that says stuff like kein ayin hara before giving good news! Give me a confused Dick Grayson when Bruce insults him (its actually a compliment, but to ward against the evil eye you will say the opposite of what you mean) and then Bruce having to explain after he realizes that Dick has no idea why he just insulted him. Give me a Batman that follows Jewish values (more than he canonically does)

Just because someone ins't actively involved within a wider community of that Religion doesn't mean they aren't Religious! Or at least don't give me a culturally Jewish Bruce Wayne that doesn't do any of this. Thats just you stripping away all the Jewish parts of him.

Bruce Wayne is Jewish and you can't just ignore that

[the-sage-libriomancer]

Shigure's relationship with Kyo drives me crazy. he doesn't hate Kyo in the slightest - in fact, he pities Kyo, and not in the condescending "oh you poor little boy, cursed to be a horrible, disgusting monster" sort of way that everyone else does. Shigure pities Kyo for the reason he should be pitied: he's just a kid caught up in a system so inhumane it can't possibly be survived without some seriously unhealthy coping mechanisms.

and it drives me crazy because - listen, Shigure is the only zodiac member who's emotionally aware enough to see the other zodiac members as exactly what they are. he knows Yuki is a severely traumatized kid who projects all of his self-hatred on a single convenient target. he knows Akito is really a scared little girl with a raging god complex (literally) and no concept of a healthy relationship. and he knows Kyo is a regular-ass human being who doesn't deserve to be locked up for the rest of his life just because some arbitrary system says so. he KNOWS it's stupid. he KNOWS it's ridiculous and unfair. and he has to share a house with Kyo knowing that Kyo is living with a sword over his head, hating himself and hating others in perfect tandem because he has no other way of coping with the insane amounts of negativity he's had to deal with his entire life.

but the thing about Shigure is that he KNOWS all of this, and the same time he doesn't really CARE. he feels sorry for Kyo, but an apathetic sort of pity, a disinterested "this is how it is. such a shame." sort of pity. in some ways he's worse than the other zodiacs because he DOES see Kyo as a person, someone he likes being around even, but he still considers Kyo below his attention because all his focus is on Akito and breaking the curse. and sure, once the curse is broken Kyo will theoretically be set free with the rest of them, but that's more of a coincidental side effect than anything. despite being in a much more dangerous and precarious mental space AND comfortably in Shigure's reach, Kyo is about as much a priority for Shigure as Ritsu or Momiji.

and it drives me CRAZY because i think Shigure does start actively caring about Kyo as the series goes on, but it's hard to tell when that happens and to what extent. when Kazuma told Shigure he planned to reveal Kyo's true form and Shigure said he was going too far - whose sake was it for? was Shigure trying to protect Kyo, who would be hideously traumatized/emotionally scarred by such a cruel betrayal? was he trying to protect Kyo and Tohru's relationship, which was still formulating and might, under such severe testing, ultimately end up damaged beyond repair? was he only trying to protect Tohru, who wasn't ready to be burdened by such a horrible aspect of the curse so soon, or perhaps simply didn't deserve it? or was it all for the sake of himself, trying to protect his still-forming plans of using Tohru's positive effect on the Sohmas to break the curse?

Shigure cares about Kyo, but they're not close and Kyo clearly isn't a priority. he treats Kyo like a person - offering him genuine advice, teasing him like he teases anyone else, even speaking up on his behalf once or twice - and yet he's too entrenched in the long game to spare much active interest in Kyo. for a very long time, he doesn't care about Kyo the way he cares about Yuki or Tohru, and it's never made clear when exactly that changed. and the thing that gets me about this whole situation is that right from the start, Shigure is in a position where he can meet Kyo at his level - as equals, just one human being to another - but he doesn't, because Shigure is a chessmaster, Shigure is someone who observes and calculates, Shigure never steps in unless one of his chess pieces makes a wrong move and he absolutely has to.

it drives me crazy. Shigure drives me crazy. this series drives me so so crazy.

[greeenchrysanthemums]

Thus Always to Tyrants

Chapter 3: An Unwelcomed Guest?

Gem is the commander of the Wintertide royal army, Grian is the leader of a resistance hell bent on taking the crown down no matter the cost. It was only natural that they would become enemies.

Beginning -> previous -> next

Read on ao3 ❀ here ❀

CW: N/A

Words: 6,046

Pov: Gem

❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀

“Gem!” A voice called out to her from behind. She turned just in time to step back and avoid being barreled into by a short man holding a shovel.

“Bdubs? What’s wrong?” She asked, alarmed. Her hand instantly went to the sword secured around her waist, ready to fight and protect everyone nearby.

After a quick hour-long nap at the table, her morning had been completely occupied with overseeing the safety of those carrying out clean-up efforts in wake of the previous night's activities, so she had only just returned to the castle. It was nearing noon at that point, and she was in the process of making her way back to her office to plan out several new security measures, including an increase in knights patrolling everywhere possible without alarming the civilians and a thorough check of all possible entry points around the castle walls to ensure that they were one hundred percent impenetrable by outside forces. 

Had something slipped past her in that time? Was there an immediate threat inside of the castle?

Bdubs, the royal gardener, was hunched over at the waist in front of her, one hand clutching the handle of the shovel he dug into the ground to steady himself and the other planted firmly on his knee. His wide brimmed hat partially hid his red face, but it did nothing to conceal the sweat drenched tunic clinging to his torso. His hands and forearms, revealed by rolled up sleeves, were covered in a layer of muck and grime that similarly coated the ends of his trouser legs. He was missing his iconic, green cloak, so he must have come here in a hurry. Gem reached her hand out and settled it on his shoulder, politely ignoring the way it made her hand damp.

“I forgot to tell you somethin’ important!” Bdub’s said, standing up straight so suddenly that Gem startled back, retracting her hand.

“What is it?” She prompted impatiently and nervously.

“I saw someone sneak into the castle last night,” He said, eyes wide.

“What!?” She squealed, voice going high pitched. Her hands shot out and she grabbed him by both shoulders, her fingers digging into his muscles hard enough to dimple the fabric in the surrounding area. “When!?”

“It had to have been around midnight or so. I was in bed when I heard something outside of my window. I thought ‘hey that’s weird, we don’t even get very many animals out here, what could that be?’ so I peeked outside and there it was! A person walking by my window!” He exclaimed. She gripped him harder.

“Why did you not say something immediately?” She asked through gritted teeth. “What did you do after seeing them?” 

Bdub’s leveled her with a deadly serious look, “I went back to sleep.”

Gem stared at him. He stared at her. The knights behind Gem stared at both of them. There was silence.  

“You did what?” She asked slowly, unsure if she had heard him right.

“I went back to sleep,” Bdubs reiterated, “I’m not a fighter! I knew if I went out there in the dark all defenseless with nothing to fight with, whoever that was would kill me immediately! I’m not a fool!”

Gem wanted to argue otherwise, but he carried on.

“I tried waiting it out until someone came by to rescue me, but I’m not used to staying up that long. The ol' body just isn't used to it. I fell right back to sleep without even trying to. I thought the encounter was just a really bad dream I had brought on by all the drinkin' I did last night at dinner when I woke up this morning, but then I saw the footprints in the soil when I was doing the weeding, and I knew it was real!”

“Why did you not alert one of the guards stationed on the wall nearby? Logan was only a mere 20 feet away from your quarters!” She said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Then, her eyes snapped open as she fully registered his words. She cut off his loud, long-winded rant about how he couldn’t endanger himself to go alert someone, “Wait, Bdubs. Bdubs, hush up for a moment, would you? You said you found footprints?”

Bdubs paused to nod his head enthusiastically. “Yes!” 

“Show me immediately.” She said, expression firm. Bdubs nodded again and then motioned for her to follow after him as he took off towards the garden. She motioned for two soldiers to accompany them and then said to the rest, "I want you guys to remain here and keep an eye on the area. Report to me immediately if you see anything suspicious... Unlike a certain somebody."

She followed Bdubs through the expansive outside area, holding in her laughter whenever he would stumble on the loose rocks or trip over a well-groomed shrub with a colourful curse. You would be led to believe that someone who has dedicated their entire life to tending to a garden would know the area a little better, or at least well enough to avoid tripping as often as he did. They passed under the vine covered stone arch that served as the entrance to the grand royal garden, and she took a moment to admire the area, as well as scan it for anything that might be out of place. 

Meticulously cared for shrubs made the area into somewhat of a maze, forcing one to weave their way through the area and barring them from stepping on the beautiful grass. Flowering bushes with buds of a million colours mixed in with these shrubs, their vibrant colours somehow blending in perfectly despite the contrast. A few scattered fruit trees, whose spoils had already been harvested this year, stood tall and proud where they were placed in spots most convenient for providing shade throughout the garden. The same trees also lined the back wall, blocking the mossy stone from view almost entirely. 

A fountain carved in the shape of a mostly bare woman with a flowing cloth covering both her eyes and breasts stood in the center of it all, the water flowing from her outstretched, cupped palms, her face twisted into one of sorrow. Fake jewels and sparkling rocks glimmered at the bottom of the crystal clear pool, giving the water's surface the appearance of a sparkling jewel itself. 

Under her feet was a well cared for stone path free of the dirt and leaves one would expect to see but was sprouting with little flowers that crawled through the fine cracks in a way she couldn't help but find beautiful. In the very back of the garden, nestled between two of the tall fruit trees and barely noticeable among the gorgeous scenery, was a similarly well cared for shack that acted as both Bdubs’ sleeping quarters and storage for all of his gardening tools. 

Suddenly Bdubs stopped and she had to stumble to the side to avoid ramming right into his back. He pointed emphatically down at the dirt beneath a shrub he had presumably been weeding before he came to fetch her. The soft soil was slightly dug up off to the side, a few weeds laying on their sides around the shallow holes. There were a few small tools scattered about the area, as well as a pair of gloves and his mossy cloak laying abandoned on the stone path a little ways away. 

And then she saw it, a footstep in the soil just as he said there would be. It was long and slender with no discernable patterns within its print that would be easily identifiable. It could have belonged to anyone within the castle staff, anyone from town, that is how generic it was. However, it was not the only thing of intrigue that she spotted. Her eyes flickered up towards it as it caught her attention. A single red thread, right there on one of the branches of the bush, tangled around it and fluttered in the light breeze that flowed through the garden. She reached out to it and pulled it free with a firm tug. A loose cloak thread in the same shade as the garment that Grian wore. It appeared to have been ripped free when the wearer got caught on the sharp, recently trimmed branch.

She looked around the shrubbery, and just as she suspected, further inside of the foliage were branches that looked out of place, bent and unnatural in a way that indicated the bushes had been climbed through. Bdubs kept the garden immaculate, so it was very easy to spot even a single leaf out of place if you knew what to look for. And she really did have to look, her eyes intently focused on the bushes in a way that must have made her look a bit mad, because whoever had been here had done well to hide their tracks. Not well enough to hide from her though. They had left a trail that she could track, right through the garden.

“Cobble, I want you to stay here with Bdubs, Marabelle I need you to go find Kaya and tell her and her battalion on the wall to keep an eye on things outside just in case whoever was here last night tries to get back in, and that they should not rule out the idea that the intruder may still be on the premise. After that, I need you to find Scott and Impulse and inform them of the intruder. If you can, send them my way.” Gem instructed her knights. Marabelle saluted and then ran off to do as directed. Cobble shifted nervously, looking around the garden with a suspicious eye. Bdubs’ face slowly morphed into one of horror.

“Still on the premise?!” He exclaimed loudly, prompting Gem to flinch away from him with a sigh. He reached down and grabbed ahold of one of his sharper, more dangerous tools. He held it tightly to his chest as he glanced around his garden with paranoia shinning in his eyes.

“I highly doubt that whoever this was would be so stupid as to stick around, but it is not an option I can safely rule out, not after…” She trailed off, realizing Grian’s threat was not public knowledge, and it would do her well to not make it such. “Do not worry about it, just stay here with Cobble and you will be fine. I’ll handle this.”

With that she began her trek into the shrubbery, following the barely noticeable path the trespasser had unwittingly left behind for her. Bdubs momentarily broke out of his paranoid stupor to yell at her for going through them so carelessly, but one dirty look over her shoulder was enough to shut him up.

She cursed her foolishness as she followed the out of place branches. She had assumed that if Grian was planning something that night he would focus his attention on the festival, which was vulnerable and hard to protect due to the high density of people around. But the more she thought about it, it only made sense that he would advance on the castle when security was more lax and divided by the festivities. It was a fairly smart tactic, she had to admit. Keeping her on edge and busy while he snuck someone in? She would never deign herself to admit it out loud that she had been played well, but she had been.

She shuddered at the thought of what he and his people might have done inside while no one was looking. 

She looked around as she trudged through the garden, making an effort to not step on any of the flowers or ruin things too much, but not being overly careful either. Consider the work she was giving Bdubs punishment for being a fool. But as she walked, she noticed something. The trail she was walking was in one big a blind spot. None of the on duty knights would have been able to see the intruder even if they had looked down into the garden from the wall or peered in from any of the entrances. Nearly the whole path was blocked in some way, be it by tree or the fountain or something else, none of it was visible unless you knew where to look. That, coupled with the fact that there would have been little to no light, meant that it would have been alarmingly easy for them to get in entirely undetected.

It was scary to think about.

The trail led her all the way to the garden's East entrance, far right of the fountain and near the apple trees. In the mud at the base of said trees she found a second footprint similar to the last, but this one was smudged, imperfect, as if the intruder had slipped. It only made sense that she found the vines on the entrance's archway to be messed with. They had used the pillar to catch their fall.

If they had stepped in the mud then surely they had to have left more evidence behind, right?

The East Garden entrance led to stables and the couch house, which gave entrance to the ground floor of the castle. There was also the kitchen entrance further East, as well as a smaller, less noticeable entrance to the servant bathrooms, but she knew that both of them were out of the question for possible break-in points. The bathroom had no other entry points other than the one outside, and the kitchen was never not occupied so it would have been impossible for someone to sneak in through the busy area. At least one person would have noticed a face that did not fit in among them.

She made her way over to the coach house and inspected the door. There were no signs that it had been tampered with or forced open, but that didn’t mean anything. They may have simply been skilled enough, or smart enough, to not leave behind such traces. Then again, they had left her an entire trail here. She huffed and looked around. She titled her head up and caught sight of an open window on the second floor and wondered briefly if that was how they got inside, but she shook her head and scolded herself for the silly thought. Not only was that a nearly impossible climb to make, but the window also led to the servants' quarters. Someone, again, would have noticed. It was a bit hard to miss a person climbing in through their window.

She opened the door and made her way inside, giving the area a sharp once over. Nothing seemed out of place. All of the horse gear was in place and a survey of both the carriage and the trading carts told her they were not tampered with. Nothing was stolen, everything was accounted for. She looked over the room a second time and a third before she was satisfied. Well, she would not say satisfied. She was actually quite frustrated. There was nothing here.

She walked up the few stone steps that led to the inside of the castle and nothing in the halls looked out of place. There was no mud on the polished marble like she expected, no, hoped to find to tell her that this was the way they went. Everything looked as clean and pristine as she expected it to.

Her trail had gone cold. 

“What are you looking for, Commander?” A voice asked to her side, startling her. She did her best to school her reaction to not appear a fool as she turned to the person.

One of the young maids was looking at with a curious expression on their face and a bundle of linen in their arms. She raked her brain for their name but shamefully could not remember it. It started with a C, perhaps? They blinked at her, and their face turned a little worried before Gem realized she should probably give them an answer.

“Oh! Do not worry about it.” She said, giving them a reassuring smile. 

“Alright, then…” They said hesitantly. They turned to walk away but a thought occurred to Gem and she called out to them.

“Actually, you might be able to help me,” She said, taking a step forward. They turned back to look at her, shock and a bit of excitement on their face.

“Me? Really? You need my help?” They asked in awe.

“Yes, I do.” She said, “You clean around this area, correct?”

“Oh, no I don’t ma’am,” They said, deflating a little. Gem did as well. “I’m stationed up on the second floor. I was simply running these down to the laundry room since the chute has been damaged and it cannot be delivered that way.”

“The chute has been damaged?” Gem asked, perking up.

“Yes! We think something too large and heavy was thrown down it sometime last night and now it won’t open or close properly. We didn’t find whatever it was that caused the damages, but it left behind a massive mess in the laundry room! It took hours this morning to clean up all of the sheets and cloth spilled about the area.” They said as they shook their head. 

“This was on the second floor, yes?” Gem asked eagerly.

“I can show you where, if you need.” They said nervously, obviously wanting to be of more help.

“No, that’s alright,” She said. They seemed disappointed, but they nodded anyway, “Thank you very much, you don’t know how helpful this has been.”

They smiled at her and stuttered out, “O-of course! It was my pleasure.”

Gem nodded her head to them respectfully before taking off down the halls, heading for the main stairs to take her to the second story of the castle. She turned out of the smaller hallway and into the expansive main hall, where the ceiling was broad, curved, and painted in shades of white and gold. Sunlight filtered in from the windows in the front. The stairs, covered in plush red carpet, were tall and would quickly wind anyone who was not used to their great climb. Gem, however, was on the second floor in no time, having long gotten used to them.

She was greeted by many of the servants as she passed, and she did her best to politely return their greetings even though she was in a hurry. She knew this castle like the back of her hand, so she easily weaved her way through the halls until she came to the end of the servant's portion of the upstairs area, where the laundry chute was located. She grimaced as it came into view.

Usually, it blended in with the decor fairly well, and one could easily mistake it for an ornate design on the wall it they did not know what to look for. The only thing that really gave it away was the weathered handle used to pull it open. It was designed specifically with discretion in mind, was what she was told when she had first moved into the castle as a teenager. The only people meant to know where or what it was were the staff. 

Now, though, the hatch was crooked and not sitting in the wall quite right, the paper around it peeling and showing the damaged walling behind. If she had to guess, there had previously been debris on the ground, which had to have been cleaned up in the aftermath, because it looked as though some of the paper and the wall were chipped away and missing entirely.  A cold breeze came in from the dark hole that peaked out from the mangled remains of the poor chute.

It looked as though someone had either pulled it open with the power of twenty men all at once, or like they had attempted to kick it open from the side. Or.... like someone had forced it to take the weight of a human body.

She pulled on the handle and cringed when it came open far too easily, sending little bits of stone dust swirling down towards the carpet. She pondered it for a moment before concluding that if the person was slight enough, they just might be able to crawl inside of the small space, even if it was with a lot of difficulty and maneuvering. She suspected that someone had done just that, and the belief was only reinforced when she noticed a bit of what looked like dried mud on the back of the hatch.

But what in the nine hells was their little intruder doing going down the laundry chute? Not to mention that both the laundry chute and the laundry room itself were located in the southwest part of the castle, which was a long ways away from the garden. The laundry room wasn’t even accessible from the outside either. Just what had been their route? And what of their intentions? This was a very peculiar situation.

Even after venturing down into the laundry room, she couldn’t wrap her head around it. The only thing that had been amiss in the room (which smelt so strongly of soap and perfumes that it made her head spin) was the broken basket that was used to catch clothing sent down the chute. None of the servants in the laundry room even had any answers for her. No one had been in the room when whatever, or whoever, it was dropped down from above. 

There were no witnesses, no other clues, nothing for her to go off of. She had no idea how they got in, nor what they had done while inside. She knew even less about the way they took to get out.

It occurred to her then that perhaps she was overreacting. It could have been someone within the staff that caused the damages to the chute, and they were too embarrassed to come clean. It could have been anyone walking around in the garden last night. Bdubs couldn’t have been sure who it was that he saw, it was late and he had just woken up. Who was to say he hadn’t dreamt of it and those prints were from the knights she had patrolling early in the morning to quell the same paranoia that was consuming her right now?

She paused her walk back to the garden with a sigh. She groaned in frustration as she ran her hands down her face, fingers gripping the stray curls of ginger hair that hung down in front of it. She was falling right into Grian’s hands, she realized in defeat. She was letting her worry get to her after she said she wouldn’t do just that, and she was losing her straight head in the process.

What was she doing chasing around ghosts and playing detective at a time like this? She had patrol routes to be signing off on and training to be overseeing. She should have asked Impulse or Scott to look into it the second she saw the footprint. No, right when she heard of the potential intruder's existence.  She had let herself get too prideful, too eager to catch Grian and his people in the act all on her own that she’d rushed in headfirst with no plan and without even properly informing her right hands.  She was better than this.

“Curse you, bird.” She muttered bitterly under her breath.

She sighed again, this one longer and more drawn out than those previous. She better get back to her knights, find Scott and Impulse, and explain the situation to them in order to get a second opinion on the matter at hand before informing the king himself of the issue. Loath as she was to admit it, she couldn’t do this alone, especially if she wasn’t overthinking and someone truly had managed to bypass the castles security while her sights were focused elsewhere.

It hadn't even been a full 24 hours and this whole ordeal was already so stressful.

Several long hours later Gem trudged her way to the training yard. The sun was setting in the sky, and she was unbearably exhausted. After locating Scott and Impulse, they discussed what to do and decided that Scott, ever the social butterfly, would be the one to interview the staff and ask them what they had seen, if anything at all.  Impulse was to oversee the implementation of the rest of the new security measures under her orders and guidance. He also took over her evening training sessions with the newbies despite her protests. Bless her longtime friends for making sure she stayed sane.

She should be in her office writing up those routes and assigning people to them, but she needed a moment to clear her head. She needed to beat up some training dummies.

Thankfully the expansive area was empty by the time she made it there, training having ended an hour or so ago. Everyone should be preparing for dinner right around now. She stepped into the marked ring, the soft dirt shifting under her boots. She pulled one of the practice swords out of the barrel and then rounded on the dummy, her movements slow and precise.

Before coming here, she had also spoken to the king and informed him of the intruder. It had gone just as well as her warning about Grian’s initial threat had; badly. He dismissed her once again. Her! His own royal commander, who he had personally selected and appointed! You would think that he would have more faith in her after all she’s done and continues to do for this kingdom! Frustration built up inside of her as his words echoed in her head.

I’ll let you do as you please for now, but I believe you are making something out of nothing, Gem. This so called intruder is nothing but your mind and the gardener's wild imagination playing tricks on you after a stressful night. There is no use getting worked up over nothing. But how could he be so sure that this was 'nothing'?  There were lives at stake, a whole kingdom on the line, and he does not believe they should be just a little bit more cautious?

Channeling her emotions into energy, she lunged at last, the sword slashing across the dummies chest and leaving behind deep grooves in the already scarred surface. It teetered to the side but was steadied by a second slash to the opposite side. She rolled to the right and around to the dummies back before launching herself up with a graceful spinning motion, cutting in a large, broad motion across the wood.

She jumped back, imagining that there was a counterattack that she must dodge away from. She sidestepped around back to the front of the dummy, holding her sword close to her body. Anger bubbled up in her chest as the dummy's wooden face seemed to morph into that of Grian’s. She pictured his cheeky grin, his void-like, black eyes, his taunting words.

Something big is coming, Gem. The end might be closer than you think. He snickered inside her mind.

She sneered as she jabbed the tip of her sword into the dummies face with as much force as she could muster, chipping the wood and sending it toppling to the ground as the weapon was ripped free from her grip, now deeply imbedded in the things head. She stood there, breathing heavily through clenched teeth as she glared down at the fallen dummy. His hands were balled into painful fists, trembling at her side.

“That was pretty violent, no?” A familiar, bubbly voice asked to her left.

She whipped her head around to the source of the voice and there she found a woman sitting on one of the nearby barrels, one leg crossed over the other with her elbows planted on her knee while she rested her chin in her cupped palms. Long, lanky limbs, messy brown curls partially covered by a red hood, crystal blue eyes, a bright smile with a crooked fang showing proudly, a crescent moon shaped birthmark covering the left side of her face; all of these were the features that made up her very dearest friend.

“Pearl!” She exclaimed, her anger dissipating immediately to be replaced with a giddy joy. She bounded up to the woman, stopping right in front of her, their knees practically touching with the proximity. She put her hands on her hips and looked down at her with a tilted head.

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite menace.” She said, a painfully wide grin tugging at her cheeks. Pearl feigned offense, putting her hands up to her mouth with a dainty gasp.

“A menace? Me?” She asked, “Nonsense, you know me, I’m an angel.”

Gem belted out a hearty laugh at that, leaning back with her hands on her belly. Pearl giggled, a light blush on the tips of her ears as she unfolded her legs to kick Gem in the shin hard. Gem yelped and jumped away, wiping a tear away from her eye before straightening up. 

“What brings you here this fine night?” Gem finally asked.

She had known Pearl for nearly nine whole years now. They met in this very training yard on a warm summer day with the sun beating down on their skin. Pearl, who worked at the most popular bakery in the capital, had been delivering pastries to the kitchen when she decided to wander around the castle as her boss handled the exchange. She had gotten hopelessly lost and somehow made her way outside and to the training yard, where she found Gem doing her drills.

She was a bit embarrassed to admit that her first instinct had been to attack the other woman and restrain her when she caught her watching from behind a barrel a little ways away from the training circle. Lucky for her, Pearl had laughed it all off before introducing herself and praising Gem's form; their relationship naturally bloomed from there. They had been through a lot over the years, and she could safely say that the older woman was her very best friend.

“Bigb and I are here making a bread and pastry delivery. The festival pretty much cleared out the royal kitchen, so I’ve heard. B and the cook got to talking and it was real boring, so I decided to come and see how you are doing. But~ by the looks of that poor dummy and the sudden increase in knights pretty much everywhere, something tells me not too good, then?” Pearl asked, raising an eyebrow. Gem grimaced and scratched the back of her head.

“It’s nothing you should worry about; I’ll make sure you’re safe.” She promised.

“You’ll personally make sure I’m safe?” Pearl asked with a laugh. This time it was Gem’s turn for her ears and the tip of her nose to darken to a shade of pink.

“If I have to, yes,” She said seriously, if a little flustered, “You’re my best friend.”

“....” Pearl turned away from her with an unreadable expression. “You’re too good to me, Gem. I’ll make sure you’re safe too.”

Gem furrowed her brow. Pearl sounded almost…sad? No…that wasn’t quite it. She couldn’t tell what emotion the other woman was expressing. It didn’t matter though, because it was gone in an instant, replaced by her typical chipper self in the blink of an eye.

“Anywho, I'm too curious for my own good so you have no choice but to answer my questions. What is with the increase in security? Something happen that I don’t know about? As far as I remember the festival went just fine.” Pearl questioned once more. Gem contemplated for a moment before deciding that she could share this with her closest friend. It would not be the first time she had heard all about Grian, after all. Gem had long ago gotten into the habit of complaining about him to her, though it was never anything as serious as this.

“Grian found me at the festival yesterday and made some vague threats about ‘the end being near’. Most, including the king, don’t think it is anything to worry about, but I know his games. It is better to be safe rather than sorry should his threats come to pass, so I've been upping security.” Gem said. Pearl’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline.

“He said that?” She asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

“Yeah. It was really weird.” She sighed and dropped herself onto her butt next to the barrel that Pearl was sitting on, making sure to avoid touching her dirty boots. “He went on about how he wanted me to live and that I better prepare myself because he has something big planned.”

“How odd…” Pearl said absently. Gem glanced up at her. She was staring off into the distance, her brow furrowed as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth.

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” Gem said.. “Whatever it is that he has planned, I’m doing what I can to make sure that warning doesn’t go to waste. I’ll put a stop to it.”

Pearl’s eyes flickered down to her, that unreadable expression back on her face. It was quickly replaced by a shaky smile that looked like it might slip any moment.

“You shouldn’t underestimate him. You have no idea what he’s capable of. I-I mean, none of us really do, do we?” Pearl said nervously. 

“I’m not underestimating him, Pearl. I am taking his threat very seriously. Everything will be just fine, I promise.” Gem said reassuringly. Maybe it had been a bad idea to bring this up to her best friend, it seemed to have put the poor thing on edge. Of course it would, anyone would be at least a little disturbed by such ominous threats.

“Y-yeah…I’m sure everything will work out just fine.” Pearl said. There was a moment of silence between them before Pearl abruptly stood up, her knee knocking against Gem’s shoulder and her frayed cloak brushing against her face in the sudden movement. “I should be getting back, it is pretty late now, isn’t it? I wouldn't want to keep Bigb waiting too long.”

“Oh…Yes, it is quite late now,” Gem said as she stood as well, internally mourning the fact that she would now have to go do paperwork and work out those blasted patrol routes, paying extra attention to those blind spots in the garden. She should have liked to have shared a beer with Pearl, but a glance at the setting sun told her it was for the best they part ways now. “Let me see you in the kitchen then."

“No!” Pearl exclaimed, causing Gem to flinch away with her hand part way reaching out for Pearl’s shoulder. She immediately looked sheepish. “I mean, um, you don’t have to. I’d like a moment to think, if that’s alright.”

“Ah, I see… That’s perfectly alright. I’m terribly sorry if I’ve frightened you with the news I’ve shared.” She said sincerely. Pearl shook her head and gave her a softer, less shaky smile.

“You’re alright. I think that was just a little…jarring to hear. I’ll be alright.” She said.

“Of course… I will be seeing you again soon?” Gem questioned. Pearl nodded her head.

“Without a doubt. You’ll be seeing more of me very soon.” Pearl said, something twinkling in her eyes. 

They hugged, quick and light, before Pearl took her leave, strolling back in the direction of the kitchen she’d presumably gained access to the castle grounds through. Gem watched her go, unease and guilt eating away at her stomach. Gods, this day was really a train wreck right from the beginning to the very end. She hoped that fate would not make a fool of her, and that her promise to her friend would not turn out to be a lie.

Somewhere not too far away, a woman in red confronts an avian, her face twisted with rage as her hand grabs a fistful of his shirt.

"We need to talk"