#when i was little i used to humanize objects Just before they were thrown away and i think that sort of carried over in a weird way bfhsvgj

[keeps-ache]

once again i am on the playlist lol

[kizzer55555]

How to Kidnap a Corpse

So here’s a DP x spn crossover idea I have. So basically, something happens and the Winchester brothers come across infinite realm ghosts. Vlad specifically (could be just him, could be others.) and they get separated. They try everything they can think of but none of their tricks work on Vlad. He treats the holy water like normal water, can cross salt lines, unbothered by the numerous chants they’ve tried or sigils they write, and any of their actual weapons such as guns, silver, iron, holy metal or other, even a good old fist to the face, just pass right through him. They have NEVER encountered a creature like this before. They don’t even know what it is. But whatever it is has a myriad of powers they’ve never seen before and is pretty much invincible. And then they get separated. (Maybe in the ghost zone, maybe in some random location. Maybe they were trapped in Walker’s ghost prison for being ‘illegal humans’ and Vlad is acting Warden or wants an object from them? Who knows?) So Sam is running from this…creature and Danny ends up seeing this happen and decides to help out when it appears Vlad might kill him. And Sam has no idea why a clearly supernatural creature is helping him, especially since he thinks they might be the same species?? But he keeps running. And then at some point Sam is cornered again and Danny takes a hit meant for the guy (maybe at first Danny was just tackling Vlad and Sam thought it was some kind of territorial thing and while it was supicious the second creature kept putting itself between Sam and the first creature, he chalked it up to a coincidence because there was no reason for it to help him) and a strike was about to hit Sam but Danny, after being thrown down in the opposite direction, very clearly throws himself between Sam and the hit, taking it himself. And tells Sam to run. This changes the tide of battle as before they were kinda even but now Danny is injured. So Sam runs while the second humanoid creature distracts the first (a little bitter because it appeared to be a kid) and then practically crashed into Dean. And they have the chance to get away but Sam stops him and explains about the other creature who saved him. Saying they couldn’t just leave him there. Besides, it looked like a kid. And Obviously Dean is ready to leave. (If they did have an object Vlad wanted, it was lost long ago in the fight and not worth their lives. But maybe they just interrupted his business and he didn’t want witnesses.) So Dean is convincing his brother to leave when they hear a noise and both immediately hide and then look out to see the first hostile creature dragging the unconscious form of the second creature away and the second creature is clearly injured. And looks like a kid. Maybe 15 years old.

And then a green portal opens up that gives off the most ominous presence, enough to make a shiver go down their spines, and the first creature is dragging the injured, young second creature through and so Dean says fine and gives in but makes it clear he’s only helping so they can figure out what the fudge those things are. So they get Danny away from Vlad. Maybe they shoot Vlad and it actually works because Vlad wasn’t expecting it and didn’t phase through it, or maybe they hit him right when the portal closed and it distracted him, maybe it’s just an outright smoke bomb kidnapping and they just bolt? But basically, they do something and now Vlad is gone and they have an unconscious, glowing, bleeding teenager. So they just kinda…manhandle the body into the Impala and really, they should not have as much experience manhandling unconscious, corpse like bodies into their car, but they do. So now they have an unconscious and injured unknown creature who is likely a child of the unknown species and Dean figures that at the very least, if they are helping him they‘ll figure a few things out so as they are trying to use medical supplies to fix up the scratches and burns and stop the oozing, glowing green substance flowing from the kids wounds that they think is his blood. Dean is also doing research on what the heck they just fought. As well as poking the unconscious teen with various things. Now that he isn’t phasing through them. Iron? No. Silver? No. Holy water? Nah, just passes right over the skin like normal water. Salt? Nah. What about fire? “Dean!”

“What?”

And so the experiments/impromptu surgery happens and it’s not like they can take the kid to a normal hospital so they go to see Bobby. And he just sees the two brothers awkwardly trying to drag a glowing body out of the Impala that is covered in amateur bandaging and leaking a green substance over everything. If this is a point in the series where Cas is present, he shows up later (likely was also separated from the brothers during the fight and then reunited with them at the car as they are running to it while carrying the unconscious Danny. Or maybe shows up at the car after the battle, sees them, and is like, what is that?) and Cas can’t even identify what Danny is. Not a demon. He doesn’t sense a malevolent presence from him. But not fully human either. Too strong. And a connection to death? (Did Vlad or anyone se mention they were ghosts and the Winchester’s just didn’t believe them/thought the creature was messing with him?) uuhhhh…I’m not sure if he’s breathing but the blood hasn’t stopped flowing. Ghost? Zombie?

“He’s too….alive to be a zombie.”

“He’s too alive to be a ghost!”

Cas says he’s closer to an angel than anything but something’s still off. And he doesn’t have any grace.

“Wouldn’t a graceless angel just be a human?”

So when Danny finally wakes up it’s going to be ✨interesting✨. But basically, Danny stays in Phantom form and the Winchesters have no idea he’s part human. Even if Danny does change to his human form, they just think it’s some kind of shapeshifting ability. (Does Danny tell them and they don’t believe him? Does he keep it secret? Does he think they already know/figure if they accept his ghost side there’s no need to hide the human part and just, not bother hiding it but they don’t pick up context clues?). So they now have a baby…thing…join them.

Is this a bad Fenton parents universe and Danny ran away? Nasty burger incident and Danny was running from Vlad? Is this Danny on ‘vacation’ with his Godafther and prefers spending time with the Winchesters Until he has to go home rather than the fruitloop? Does Danny just disappear because he was injured/saved and his parents just haven’t realised it yet? Is Danny jumping between the Winchesters and Amity? Who knows!

[alilobsessive]

Hi!! Crypted reader has been in my head for days could we please see more of them

But of course! Admittedly, I don’t have much of an idea for a plot. So have some Justice Leaguers meeting Reader!

Superman had actually first met Reader as Clark Kent long before the Justice League was even a blip in the eyes of the trinity. You were a small child back then, hyperactive to the point it was maddening to most people, with an active imagination to boot. The small child had been talking to him nonstop, spouting out whatever came from your tiny mind. There wasn’t anything strange about what you were saying, until suddenly you said “Hey check out what I can do!” And Bruce Wayne, who was standing right behind him with a small smile as he listened to he child’s rambling, face contorted into that of horror. “Please we talked about this” he practically bagged, Clark mentally prepared himself for a child to innocently do something inappropriate. But instead what he got was a little unsettling. Something, shifted in the kids eyes, then stance, the child was clearly human, just mimicked something that wasn’t. They were damn good at it too, the kid didn’t even make a sound as they got on all fours and dashed off. “Not again!” Bruce yelped, running after the child.

Diana on the other hand didn’t even know Reader was Bruce's child when they first met. She was giving a museum tour and Reader was in it, the 11 year old was strange. Not strange in the way typical strange kids are, strange in every bone in her body was screaming this kid wasn’t human. They didn’t seem to be a threat, they never appeared to be at first. She kept a close eye on the child, watching them slink around with the rest of the group, tilting their head at odd angles as they looked at the artifacts on display. Whatever they are, they're bad at pretending they're human. It wasn’t uncommon for supernatural creatures to take the forms of humans for whatever reason, the form of a young child was no exception. Even after the child left, having not revealed their true form Diana stood on high alert. Even when they didn’t come back to steal, she was on edge for weeks.

Zatanna met Reader briefly, it was simple, do a magic sensing test for Batman. Just a simple favor, she was expecting a villain that he couldn’t tell if was using magic or just highly skilled. It happened from time to time. But instead it was a child, his child, and ya she got it. Kid had the exact same crypted tendencies as their Father. Admittedly if she didn’t know Batman better she would think he was a magical entity. Her dad made sure to snip that in the bud that’s for sure! But after a few quick tests it was confirmed that no there just like that. Yes Bruce, she did triple and quadruple checked each test to make sure they weren’t possessed, part magical creature, or any other magic related shenanigans going on with them. Kids just weird like their dear ol’ dad.

Flash had the shortest interaction with Reader, it only lasted a few minutes. It was during an invasion, everyone was fighting, “FLASH! CATCH” Nightwing screamed. He quickly turned to the other man and quickly caught what was thrown at him. Well more like who, a teenager started up at him unblinking. “Shit- okay- evacuation time-“ he said only to be hissed at and the teenager to start scratching his face. He ran anyway, wouldn’t be the first time, or the last that he’s attacked by a reluctant to leave civilian for one reason or another. Once they were a safe distance away Flash stopped and put them with the rest of the rescued civilians. Said civilian leaped out of his arms and hissed at him then ran into the crowd on all fours. Before he could even begin to understand what just happened, he had to run back to the fray. The strange incident completely out of his mind.

Booster Gold was just minding his own damn business in the watchtower one day, when Reader took one look at him and went “I’m gonna mess with that”. It started simple, moving objects from one spot to another when he wasn’t looking, pushing around furniture and knocking glasses off of tables. He felt eyes burning into his back with every step he took. Then Reader started letting him catch glimpses of them, of their shadow or of them turning a corner only to not be there. No one believed him when Booster tried to tell them about the strange spirit following him. Which is bullshit! They literally work with an actual goddamn ghost! The only one who did believe them was Blue Beetle, the second not the third. After almost a week of this Reader started to kind of feel bad for terrorizing this man. It was clearly making him anxious and a little paranoid, so they officially revealed themselves not just to him but to the rest of the justice league. Which was a shock to Batman because he did not know Reader was on the ship! How did they even get there??

[yourfatherlucifer]

Shark Bait (Hongjoong)

Shark Hybrid!Hongjoong x Mermaid!Reader

Summary: Living in a world full of different creatures and humans, some mixed together, creating hybrids. You were just a mermaid though, an ancient tale from the sea. He was something every human feared, even merfolk feared. But you fell in love, how could it be so forbidden?

Warnings: Talks of species violence

AU: Hybrid

Genre: Fluff

WC: 900+ (unfinished)

Rated: PG-13 for violence

Nets: not tagging because I didn’t finish this story and I just want to get it out of my drafts.

“Mom, look at this thing I found! It looks like it was from the pirate era!” You shoved a goblet in front of your mothers face, “Must be some kind of cup?”

You pulled it back to examine it further. Your mother shook her head.

“Y/N, we talked about this, I understand you like your scavenging, you’re an adult you can do as you’d like, but please, take it somewhere else.” She folded her arms.

“I don’t like those human objects. They just bring misfortune.” Her tail swayed behind her.

You had rolled your eyes at him before clutching the found object to your chest, “And what misfortune do you speak of mother? It’s a cup.”

You loved living in the ocean, though, you had no idea what land life was like anyway. Still, you loved the shiny sea life, the coral, the seaweed, the little treasures you’d find at the bottom of the ocean.

Some you’d even bring to your little siblings, they’d love the gifts. Sometimes they’d even wanna go on a journey with you, but you or your parents would never allow it. They were still very young and there were dangers that lurked in the waters.

Despite being friendly with the sea life, there were still some that didn’t like you. The sharks for example, especially the great whites. They loved to harass the merfolk.

So you had to be careful when investigating ship wrecks, making sure there were no bodies. You always felt bad for the humans who got lost at sea, so you’d guide them back. However, there were always the bad humans, the ones that would try to capture you for your body, to take you as a trophy or a ‘pet’.

That didn’t stop you from loving your life and exploring. Your parents considering you to be adventurous, they always worried about you, scared you’d get hunted by a shiver of sharks. You never did though, you were always careful.

Your mother scoffed at you, she was almost seething with anger, "It doesn't matter, Y/N! You are always going into the dangerous waters without thinking! Just to get your stupid trinkets, that we have no use of! What, what are we gonna do with a goblet!" Her arms thrown up.

You couldn't understand why your mother was being like this, you were always safe, nothing had happened, ever.

“Y/N, please. Just listen to me. Your step father and I care for you and are worried of your adventures,” you could feel the ‘air’ turning somber, “I’ve never told you what actually happened to your father.”

After so many years, she was finally going to give you answers? And for what? Just to stop you from having fun? It isn’t right. You never grieved your fathers death, because you never met the dude. So what does his death have to do with anything?

Your mother took the goblet from your hands and brought you inside your cove home, "Listen, your father was the same way, he loved his little adventures, just as you do. That's where you got it from," she took a deep breath, "He'd always bring me little presents when I was pregnant with you."

She smiled as she recalled those delightful memories.

"But one day he didn't return. He was with some buddies, on yet another adventure for me presents. He wanted to some stuff for you to have."

You could see her emotions unraveling but continued to listen, "When he didn't return for hours, I was so scared. Then his friends came here. Without him."

"They told me they were attacked by sharks. Your father was the only who didn't make it. Said he distracted the sharks so they could get away."

At this point your mother had tears streaming down her face, even if you couldn't tell with the water.

When she wiped her tears away, she stared at you once again, "That is why I don't like your adventures. These attacks on our people are getting too common. I don't want to lose you, Y/N, you're all I have left of your father. I hated those trinkets after he passed."

-

Even after the talk with her, I still didn't care, I didn't know him. I was always careful anyway, never once have I come across a shark, maybe a nurse shark but they're friendly. It was the great whites, goblin sharks, tiger sharks and other sharks that were aggressive.

I had found another shipwreck, ways from the last one I discovered earlier, this looked fairly new, couldn't know exactly when it sank though.

It was a smaller boat, looked like one those humans partied on, what did they call it? Yacht, I think? Wonder how it got sunk.

Humans could be idiots when it came to anything.

I wedged myself inside, careful not to catch my tail on anything. There were a few shiny things, a small rectangle about the size of my hand, I think the humans called these phones, not too sure. It was useless underwater, so I just placed it back where I found it.

While searching for miscellaneous objects, I didn't realize the boat had been swarmed by sharks. My predator.

Once I had stopped searching, I turned to make my way out, only to be met with huge jaws, razor sharp teeth, and pale gray skin. A great white shark. The King of the seas.

I swam back further into the boat and in response the shark mauled the small entrance with its mouth, trying to get to me. Oh my god, I should've listened to my mother, now I am going to die just as my father did.

I cried out in fear, I didn't want to die.

As the shark approached me, something pushed it out of the way, I could hear shouts, "Back off! Didn't I tell you to stop killing the mermaids!"

You poked your head out in confusion, what was going on?

The figure swam up to me, I could finally figure out its features. It was a boy..about my age. He’s beautiful. However, he adorned a fin on his back and razor sharp teeth.

He held his hand up to me but I slowly swam back into the boat, “Hey! Wait, it’s okay! I’m not going to hurt you.”

He smiled, “My name is Hongjoong, I’m a shark-hybrid. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna do anything, I just wanna be your friend.”

UNFINISHED

[cock-ainee]

I'm fairly surprised with how fast I wrote it (it's because it's short af lol)

The Night Guard

___________________________

Word count: 1607

Category: smut

• fingering • orgasm denial • mentions of blood (not in the sex part though) • slight violence • robot/human intercourse?? •

Characters: Springtrap x afab reader

Enjoy!

Dusty hallways, rusty vents, everything dirty and nasty. That's what the job YN accepted looked like. She didn't even have a clue why she agreed to that. Maybe because it was her only choice, and it was easy enough.

She walked down the corridor, that lead to the office she was supposed to spend 6 HOURS in. 6 motherfucking long, boring hours. At least nothing would happen, right? This place was abandoned, and it was night. Nobody would get there, aside from some kids that would try to act like some silly explorers, or something.

Could YN blame them though..? The place was pretty interesting, creepy even. It was her fault that she was just too eepy to even look at the advantages of working at such a place.

And she started hating it even more after the clock hit 2am.

Till then, she was just clicking random buttons on her tablet to fix the occuring errors, or was looking over the cameras.

Until she saw the shit that was lurking in one of the vents.

A fucking enormous, yellow rabbit, that looked like it has been thrown into a shredding machine.

And the thing moved just before her eyes. It pointed it's empty, dead gaze right at her, making her heart stop.

No, it wasn't any "romantic" moment. It was a moment of deep, breathtaking fear.

Afterall, all the animatronics were supposed to be shut, not moving the fuck around, especially not trough vents. Who the hell would've taught them that??!

YN immediately stood up, scanning the room for any possible weapon she could use against the animatronic. She spotted a baseball bat standing in the corner and decided to just note the fact in her brain, in case she would need it. For now, she intended just to see what the fuck was happening in there.

She went out on the corridor, with a flashlight in her slightly trembling hand. The ambiance in the hallway was dark and off-putting, YN felt a need to curl herself up in a ball and stay like this till 6am.

And when she turned around the corner, she let out a frightened shriek and dropped the flashlight, that broke, making YN get surrarounded in absorbent darkness.

- S-shit! -

She quickly picked the object up and tried to turn it on, to no avail. Now she started panicking. But she then just decided to look for some "off" button in the animatronic if such thing even existed. She took a few, fearful steps towards the animatronic, and let her hands wander over the torn, broken plastic plates of it's body, that felt a little furry under the pads of her fingers.

And then her hands landed on something.. unexpected. Unpleasant. SLIMY.

A yelp escaped past YN's lips, as she took a few steps away from it, falling down on her butt. And there she was, down on the ground in front of massive animatronic, that's eyes now lit up.

And it did something that made girl's heart die in her chest. It SPOKE.

- Oh, what's wrong? Did the remains of my flesh scare you off this much, young lady? -

He took a step ahead, the metal grumbling and whirring with each movement of his robotic legs.

YN quickly scrambled up from the floor and backed away, meeting the wall with her backside.

- No use in running. You can't escape me -

The creature took a few more steps towards the girl, paralyzed with fear. Hot breath fanned over YN's neck, warm, despite of the owner's cold demeanor. The girl could feel her whole body tense at the smell of the animatronic's breath - and it lowkey smelled like rotting flesh.

How could it even breathe-? It was a machine.

YN snapped back to reality and tried to think fast, wanting to find a way to protect her life and dignity. She looked at the animatronic and seeing that it wasn't in arm reach yet, she took her chance and sprinted down the hallway, back into her office. She locked herself in it, quickly shutting off all the cameras, not to scare herself even more.

But then a loud bangs came from the door. They were creaking as if they were just about to break down. And just when YN stepped away from them, they did. The wood broke, sending parts of it flying until they hit the floor too. YN gripped the baseball bat she found earlier, intending to protect herself with it. But one powerful swing of the animatronic's arm was enough to throw it out of her grasp, and making the girl fall to her knees. Springtrap rose her up by her chin, reaching his free hand out to smear her blood over his fingers. Only now did YN realise that there was a splinter stuck in her cheek.

- Tsk tsk. You're bleeding. What a silly little girl you are -

His voice was dark and enticing, and YN strangely found herself kind of.. responding to it.

- W-what are you? -

She asked fearfully, her eyes darting over the animatronic, looking like a prey who has just been caught by a predator.

- "What"? Oh dear, don't treat me like an animal -

He spoke and another dark chuckle left his.. mouth?

- Most call me.. Springtrap. You can call me however you'd like.. but it still doesn't change your situation -

YN gulped, feeling his plastic hand trail over her throat.

- Are you.. going to kill me? -

- Kill you? That would be too easy, don't you think? I'd rather use you.. the other way -

Girl's heart sank. What could he mean? She felt terror making it's way up her spine, sending chills over it. And then, she was thrown across the desk, on her back, as Springtrap towered above her. His big hands trailed over her waist, as the realisation slowly hit YN. This was his "other way".

- I haven't seen a woman for so long... Let alone a woman.. not to mention me having a touch of a woman -

- Please.. I'll do anything you wish, but just... Please not this -

Springtrap immediately shut her up, with a glare that seemed..alarmingly sharp.

- If not this.. i can simply kill you. Would you like that? -

Silence and a shudder from YN answered him.

- That's what i thought -

Moments later, YN's clothes were ripped and discarded to the floor. Girl's nipples stiffened from the cold air hitting them, and Springtrap just stayed silent, looking over at the girl's body. His cold fingers kneaded the flesh, soft and plushy under his touch.

- Fascinating.. -

He muttered, turning the girl onto her stomach, making her let out an unintended moan at the way her hardened buds rubbed over the desk. Springtrap chuckled.

- Don't worry.. soon enough, you'll be.. making these sounds louder -

YN felt plastic touch on her thighs and couldn't help but whine at the way the digits brushed over her pearl and sensitive folds. She felt embarrassed, because she wasn't supposed to be reacting to it this way.

Springtrap laughed as his finger circled over YN's entrance, finding out that she wasn't necessarily all dry.

- You're starting to like this, aren't you? That's such a shame -

The girl let out a yelp as suddenly Springtrap's finger pushed inside her, stretching her inner walls just with it. It was scary how much it filled her alone. The animatronic marveled over the female, taking in notes of her reactions. Every whimper, every moan, every squeeze of her velvety heat on his finger. And as her thighs started shuddering, he pulled his finger out, denying her an orgasm.

YN whined pretensionally, looking at him over her shoulder just to get her head pushed down forcefully.

- Don't you even dare think it's about you -

He grumbled, as he reached to the pad of his pelvis, and YN could hear a metal click before something more humanly, oddly warm pressed over the curve of her rear.

The female gasped, understanding flooding her senses as a shiver of fear and excitement got goosebumps forming on her skin.

Springtrap's cock slid down, to rub between her legs and collect her arousal on it.

And soon, he was pushing into her, tight heat, earning a muffled moan from her.

YN cursed herself for thinking he could ever have mercy with her. She whined pathetically as he picked up the pace immediately, hitting all the soft spots inside her repeatadly, with no care for YN of the way it could hurt her.

But it only got her core gushing and sweet sounds escaping her as she neared her end once. Springtrap could feel her climaxing on his cock once, tightenjng around him and spilling juices over his cock and plastic pelvis, making the coupling more fluid.

He was mostly quiet, only letting out grunts and little groans as he pounded into her relentlessly. And soon another intense, shaky orgasm ripped trough YN, as she fell limp on the desk, too exhausted to keep her head up.

After a few more minutes of the rough session Springtrap let out a primal growl, pinning the girl down with his weight, as he released thickly inside of her.

He then pulled out his member halfly out of her, as YN tried scrambling off the desk. Springtrap chuckled darkly and pinned her down agressively again.

- Where do you think you're going? It's barely 3am -

And that were going to be 3 more long, long hours...

_____________________________________

Sorry for any mistakes or for not using colorful language, but english is my second one, so.. yk.

Anyways thank you for reading and the likes too 😭😭

[talesofsonicasura]

Venomous Call

I decided to go more in depth with KN8/Venom crossover idea. There will be some comic elements but it's mostly based on the movie version of the Lethal Protector. For this part, I'll be going over the Kafka's early "Venom Days". Any questions can be asked on my main blog, @sonicasura. Let's get started. Part 2 here. Part 3 is here.

A 25 year old Kafka has life changed forever on one fateful night. He's trying to get his life together after having failed his last shot at the Defense Force. A task that proves very difficult when recruitment ads are plastered everywhere to remind him about his broken promise.

Could Kafka's life get any worse? Well being hit with a meteorite can officially be crossed off his bucket list as that's what happens. A 7 pound hunk of space rock piercing his right lung. Before Kafka loses consciousness due to blood and air loss, he sees something ooze from the meteorite.

The man wakes up back in his bed but he feels off. Like he isn't alone and fuller than usual. Kafka is completely oblivious about the news report where the bodies of the local Yakuza were found in a headless bloody pile.

Well until a growling voice comments how tasty the dead kaiju he's cutting up. Or that the black sludge which used to be his right arm had thrown away the saw and is eating at the corpse. Kafka's just glad no one else was next to him right now.

I will say the start for our himbo's partnership with Venom is less awkward than what Movie Eddie had to deal with. Kafka will question the symbiote about everything as he keeps any info in a notebook. He does puke when Venom tells him they ate a few humans(the Yakuza) earlier.

The man is much more adverse at the idea of cannibalism but he has barely any choice in the matter. Symbiotes sometimes need the required nutrients in their purest state which includes brains from living creatures. Humans have more phenylethylamine than small pest kaiju and the larger ones aren't present much.

Thus Kafka aims Venom's hunger at the criminal underworld. Like Eddie, he is very compatible with the symbiote although on a higher level so all his senses are tied to Vee's when they fully 'suit up'. Our himbo eventually grows numb to the taste of human flesh but it still mentally fucks him up sometimes.

Kafka's Venom form is quite different from the others. He is 10'9 in height, has two long horns similar to his kaiju form, a long bulky tail, rigged spikes going down his spine, white stripes on his arms, legs, neck, and tail. Venom will later add the Hoshina Clan Emblem for their chest symbol. (The symbiote thought it looked cool.)

Like the comic book adaptation, he uses natural webs to get around than just the tendrils the symbiote can provide. These abilities stem from Venom feeding on the kaiju corpses. Other comic related powers are: poisonous fangs, self-sustenance, flight(generating dragon wings), Morphomerge (bond with inanimate objects like vehicles to an extent), Energy Absorption and Transference.

There's a case of mistaken identity for a while. Venom kills No.7 and the Defense Force arrives on the scene before the Lethal Protector could leave. They assume he's the daikaiju, not the corpse. It takes a while before the Defense Force realizes that Kaiju No.7 had been neutralized and this is something else entirely.

Mina loathes Venom quite a bit. One being that the 'kaiju' likes to toy with her while calling the Captain "Pretty Lady". (Kafka is quietly dying on the inside whenever the symbiote does this.) The second reason being how Venom acts like a protector despite the fact he eats humans rather than just kaiju.

In short, Mina thinks he's a high and mighty monstrous hypocrite. Soshiro is a different case. He has a fun little 'rivalry' with Venom whenever he comes across them. Kafka obviously doesn't find being sliced and diced fun. Soshiro is quick to joke about the modified Hoshina emblem on the Lethal Protector's chest.

He finds the whole bit amusing even with Venom's man eating tendencies. They are labeled Capture Dead or Alive. He is one of the first cases where a kaiju not only has human level sapience and intelligence but a (twisted) moral compass too.

It didn't take to uncover Venom's weakness to fire. That opened up a bigger shitstorm as Mina witnesses some of Kafka's human form underneath the black ooze. She didn't see his face but it was enough to reveal the Lethal Protector needs a host to operate.

Venom obviously has a constantly updating file in the Defense Force archives. The major details are always highlighted such as his ability to adapt. Soshiro had accidentally bumped into the Lethal Protector gorging on a dragon Honju's corpse during a patrol.

Venom hadn't been in the mood to fight so our Vice Captain got front row seats to him sprouting wings that were heavily similar to the monster he had been eating. This was the first incident to raise him up the list of Defense Force priorities. Biggest is obviously the host bit.

That had gotten everyone in a tizzy as it means Venom was potentially lurking inside a human host. Many questions and theories were bounced around. 'Is the host aware of the entity in their body?' 'Are they even alive or just a corpse being puppeted?'

It made building a sensor to detect the Lethal Protector top priority amongst the Science Department. This includes smaller models as they now had to scan the civilian population for Venom's host. Everything only gets more difficult for Kafka when the DF discovers the symbiote's weakness to high frequency sounds.

It had been at a trafficking ring disguised as a rave den. One of Venom's prey accidentally turned up the stereos in fright when the Defense Force had busted down the door. The higher frequency made the Lethal Protector howl in pain before he destroyed the devices.

He obviously ran but it was too late to keep this weakness a secret. With these two major weak spots known, the Defense Force would soon concoct a plan to uncover Venom's true identity and apprehend him. I'm on the fence about Kafka escaping with his identity in tact or becoming a wanted man.

There's some very tasty angst with the latter as Mina is obviously part of this operation. Seeing her childhood friend underneath the monstrous black mass would already hurt. To see him choose the monster and the creature chastising her for abandoning him is the coup de grace.

Especially if the only thing Kafka could say is something like 'I'm sorry for being a worthless friend' before he flies off as Venom. He no doubt has negative feelings for his lost friendship with Mina. Plus symbiotes tend to bring such emotions closer to the surface in their hosts.

She is obviously gonna chase after Kafka. Those words pretty much addressed the part of her that Mina tries not to. How she essentially abandoned Kafka because he couldn't get into the Defense Force.

The regret that her purposely distancing herself from him led to the Captain's childhood friend to become Venom. And how much it ate away at him. Mina will want to fix this as Kafka is her responsibility in the end.

Even if it means putting the man inside a kaiju containment cell.

@discoknack @foolmariofest @noodlesbf-blog @mechazushi @scribblermerlin @giantgoblin @kafkahibinomybeloved @drmarune @renard-dartigue

[sassykattery]

Dollface Pt. 1

In a world where magical objects sometimes end up in places they shouldn't be, sometimes even the most careful end up in precarious situations. This fic is "Dollface," a story about a particular demon falling into one of those very situations.

CW: The main character is afab, uses she/her pronouns. This story is meant to be somewhat curvy/plus-sized reader insert, but the main character is given a physical description, but it's not crucial to the story or mentioned often after Part 1.

Themes: Romance. Magic. Adventure.

Characters: Main Character. Diavolo, mention Barbatos.

Minors and ageless blogs DNI

18+ only

Enjoy.

Masterlist

I suppose this is what I get for opening that cursed text, Diavolo thought. Barbatos is going to be quite cross with me when I get back... Whenever that will be at this rate.

While the Demon Lord, his butler, and the seven brothers were visiting the human world, Diavolo had heard of and found a magical artifact exhibit to see if there were any authentic pieces. Often times, when these exhibits took place, they were full of fakes. However, he still enjoyed looking through them nonetheless. He was intrigued by reading the tall tales that accompanied these items, amused by the stories humans would come up with. On occasion, there would be an authentic item left behind by a witch or careless demon that somehow ended up there, and he would work to bring it back to the Devildom.

However, he was distracted by a commotion down the hall, and when he accidentally touched this cursed book before inspecting it, opening it just slightly, he found himself motionless on the floor, staring up at the lights on the ceiling and unable to move.

Hm, now, how do I get out of this? Surely there's a way to undo it...

The prince then began to cite a spell in his mind but felt the buzzing sensation of being barred from completing it. This curse had locked his magic, leaving him unable to perform anything to help.

Damn, this is a strong curse. I wonder what I am–

"What an adorable doll! I think maybe a child or someone dropped this. We should take it to the front desk," a woman said, hovering over the prince.

A doll?

"Alright, but hurry up. We're going to be late if we don't leave in two minutes," a man said next to her.

The woman picked up Diavolo, her gentle hands holding onto his entire body. He merely watched as he took in her features as she peered down at him. She dropped him back down to her side and began walking away from where he was once standing.

Oh, I'm going to be sick. This is worse than some of the rides at Devil's Coast, he thought. Ah, I suppose I won't actually vomit now. Still, this is dizzying.

"Hi, I found this doll on the ground and wanted to know if a child was looking for it?" The woman said, stopping at the front desk of the exhibit.

"Not yet, but we can hang onto it just in case when the kid realizes it's gone," a man replied.

"Oh good, here," she said, handing the prince to the employee.

Diavolo looked to see a grouchy-looking older gentleman holding him now and was quickly thrown into a dark desk drawer with little decorum.

Well, now what?

---

This is definitely not good, Diavolo thought as he stared ahead at the envelope he was in.

About two weeks ago, he was taken to some adult woman's house, still unsure how he came to her possession, where he was given a tag around his back left leg, sealed in a plastic bag, and sat to wait in what seemed to be an office. He looked around at the other dolls, figures, and toys around him, wondering if they had met the same fate as him. It was unlikely, but at least he could look at a few of them, finding some entertainment in imagining what movies or games they were from.

Then, one day, the woman took him and placed him in what seemed to be a mailing envelope, along with a card he decided to read as entertainment while he spent two weeks being shipped to hell knew where. It was in another language, but some of it he could read, as it essentially said thank you for ordering this product.

Barbatos is going to kill me, he thought to himself at one point. It seems I have been purchased and being sent to someone else.

While he was loaded into airplanes, thrown into trucks, and passed from person to person in this envelope, he was coming up with ways to apologize to his butler and the brothers, no doubt thinking they were absolutely frantic looking for him. Surely, all eight of them will lock him up in his castle for an eternity to work on his paperwork for causing such a fiasco.

Finally, he had come to rest in one place for two days, and that's when he heard her voice for the first time.

"Hi there, I have a package I need to pick up. I'm not sure if you have it or if the postman took it," he heard a youthful feminine voice call out.

"Let me see... Yes, we have it! From out of the country– Japan, I see. How interesting," another older sounding feminine voice replied, picking up his envelope and carrying him a few feet before placing it on a surface.

"Yes! I'm very excited," she replied.

"Just sign here."

After a few moments, Diavolo was moving again as he heard a "Thank you so much!" in a highly cheerful voice.

As he was carried away, he could tell the envelope was being hugged tightly, as he wasn't moving too much and felt pressure around him, though he could tell they were walking. He heard what seemed like a car door unlock, and the two swung inside of it, the door shutting and an engine starting.

Suddenly, he could hear the envelope being torn open, and a hand reached in to carefully pull him in his plastic bag out. He was faced away from the person holding him, looking to see the black interior of the car he had been taken to, taking in the new scenery for the first time in weeks. The clear plastic wrap was peeled open, and he was carefully pulled out of it, seeing an ivory hand with black, sharp nails holding him. He was then turned around, and he saw for the first time who was now holding him, the first new face in weeks.

Oh.

"Hi there. You're so cute..." she murmured a greeting with a sweet smile on her lips. Her thumb ran across his body and hair.

Diavolo took her in as well. She was an adorable blonde with intricate makeup applied to her face. He saw her glittering purple lids with sharp black liner, beautiful lashes batting as she looked at him. He felt that he would be blushing if he actually could with how she inspected him so closely. Her eyes crinkled with adoration lacing her gaze, and he noticed her darling shadow blue eyes sparkling down at him. He also appreciated her full cheeks and round face. Her soft touch wasn't unnoticed either, how she gently caressed his form, even with her claw-like nails. Her lips held a soft shine to them, small in size but with a pouty lower lip and very muted pink in color, now curling into a charming smile.

Well, it could be worse.

"I'm so happy to have you..." she murmured again, holding his body gently in her palm as she continued to thumb over his hair. Her hand was warm, and her touch was careful, as if he was porcelain instead of a plush velvet doll. She turned him over a few times, carefully pulling on his garnet overcoat, before turning him to face her again.

Could be a lot worse. She seems nice, at least.

He was then placed on what seemed to be the seat next to her as she started buckling a seat belt and turning on some music in the car. It sounded like pop music, and from his seat in the car, he could easily see her, watching as she reversed the car and then drove off.

Their car ride lasted for a little while, and Diavolo had the privilege of listening to her sing to the radio and pick up what seemed to be her lunch.

This isn't so bad. She's a good driver, her voice is lovely, she seems sweet. Well, I guess this is better than the alternative while I wait for help.

When they reached their destination and the car stopped, he watched her eat a sandwich, switching radio stations to a orchestral one. After she was done, he saw her reach over to hold him again, and he was face to face with her once more.

"I'll just take you to class with me," she mumbled. "I don't want to leave you in the car."

Class?

After a few minutes, he was placed into what he saw to be a pink backpack, and he looked ahead to see a textbook, calculator, and some other items he didn't quite recognize. The zipper closed, and he felt them starting to walk again, followed by a car door shutting and a beep to lock it.

It was a few hours before she picked him up again. He sat through what sounded to be some physics and chemistry courses, and he was rather impressed with her. She answered questions like a pro, and he was rather curious to know more about her. He also overheard her conversations with others, like her professors and how friendly they were to each other. She was clearly studious and on top of things, sounding like a successful student, but he noticed how she always seemed uncertain, or rather, he realized, how anxious she seemed.

It was finally when they reached what he thought was her car again, that the bag was set down, and she opened it to pull him out. She seemed a little tired, some creases under her eyes now, but he was distracted when she put him in the front pocket of her jacket up high on her chest, facing out to see the world ahead.

Oh, this is lovely, I can finally see where we're going, he thought cheerfully.

She put on her seat belt, reversed out of the parking spot, and off they went again. He took in the scope of her world, watching the soccer fields, parks, buildings, and scenery that passed by. She started singing again, now listening to heavy metal, to his surprise.

An intriguing human. As sweet as she sounds and looks, she listens to music about rage and death, but still in her lilted and soft singing voice right in my ear. Now that I think about this, this is an excellent opportunity to learn more about humans.

After around fifteen minutes, Diavolo watched as they entered a residential neighborhood, small and large houses whirling by as she drove down the street. They pulled into an alley and then a driveway around the back of a house, the garage door opening as she straightened her car to pull in. After putting it in park, she got out and walked back to retrieve her backpack, close the garage door, and then walk inside the house.

He tried to take everything in as she walked inside the house. She walked down a dimly lit hallway, and then she made a turn to open the door. He looked out to see a turquoise room. There were black furnishings throughout, clothes strewn in a couple of places, and what seemed to be a vanity with makeup, lights, and mirrors on it.

The woman set her bag down on the floor near the door and started to take off her shoes and jacket, but not before taking the prince out of the pocket while she hung it up. She held him firmly but gently in her grasp as she walked around, and finally, she plopped down on her bed. Laying him on a pillow next to her head, he watched as she pulled out her phone and began scrolling through it.

Diavolo felt a little bad for looking, but he was at a point where he could easily see her phone, right next to her head, and he observed as she scrolled. He learned her name, figured out her age, a little bit about her interests, that she was a college student and caught a glimpse of what she was studying, and that she loved to write. It took him time to realize what she was doing as she opened an app and began typing quickly. From what he could read, she was a talented writer, clearly knowing how to illustrate feelings and showcase not only interesting but well thought out characters.

She suddenly yawned, clicking off her phone and rolling onto her side, facing him. Her eyes closed, and he looked at her in his peripheral.

She's even cute while she sleeps, he mused fondly. It's lovely to meet you.

After half an hour, she was up again, bringing her backpack over to the bed to pull out a laptop, tablet, and stylus. He watched her with interest as she played music from the laptop and began drawing.

Drawing, too? She has quite a few talents, it seems.

She looked over at the prince, tilting her head as if in thought.

"Maybe I should draw you sometime," she mused, turning back to what she was doing.

I'd like that.

---

Diavolo felt the human woman stir the next morning, and suddenly another light came on for about an hour, and she was out of sight for that long, until she came back and he realized she had put makeup on. He watched as she moved around, and suddenly, he was up in the air too, her small hand taking hold of him to place him in her pink backpack again. And thus began another day.

The prince listened to her music, her singing, the lectures she attended, which seemed vastly more challenging than the previous day with biochemistry and microbiology, and rode home once more. When they arrived home, they laid on her bed again while she scrolled through her phone.

She sure seems to lay in bed a lot.

"Ugh, my back," she groaned, rolling onto her side. From how he was laid up slightly against another pillow, he could fully look at her as she scrolled through her phone.

Well, that would explain it. Poor girl.

"Mm," she giggled wickedly, a naughty smile gracing her lips. Diavolo listened as she scrolled through many different videos over the next hour, her laughs and cackles like music to his ears. He watched her nearly cry with laughter, how her eyes and brows gave away so much of what she was thinking.

This was far better, he thought, than being locked away in some office or drawer, bored out of my mind.

Diavolo came to like this human woman. He enjoyed her company, even if she wasn't always directly talking to him. Her laugh and singing made him smile internally. The way she moved and spoke entranced him. They were somewhat like friends then, at least to him, as much as he was learning about her habits.

A friend. A human friend.

Though, it didn't take much to steer his thoughts away. He had been gone from the Devildom for quite some time, likely longest period yet without a way to contact everyone. Likely, Barbatos and the brothers were frantic to look for him, and here he was, a doll living with an adult woman who treated him like a beloved childhood toy, even after just a couple of days.

But maybe, just maybe, this wasn't so bad. He was learning so much about humans from this experience, and he could just relax while time ticked on. And if he had to spend this time with her until help arrived or the curse broke, then it wouldn't be so bad. She was sweet, good company, and rather loving. She was endearing. He was at the point where he wished he could talk back to her, desperately wanting to interact, to see how she would react to him in his full form.

Then it hit him. Would she like him? Would she be afraid of him? She was rather short, so maybe he would be too intimidating. He knew she was an anxious person, so what if he scared her? What if she wanted nothing to do with him?

Or would she enjoy him too? Would she let him get close? Could they touch? Would she like him gently caressing her as she had done to him? It felt a bit unfair how she could just hold, touch, or carry him as she pleased, when he wanted to do it and more to her as well. Would she want to kiss him? How would her lips feel? How do they taste? Maybe he was just curious about her, and his nature was getting the better of him. Or maybe, he could see himself getting to know her and finding there is more between them.

These thoughts and that many more plagued his mind as time passed, occupying him constantly.

Hear me, denizens of darkness, for this curse shall be broken in parts. First, the demon shall in perpetuity remain in motionlessness and silence until the beloved human shall retain affection for the doll and vice versa. For the love of a doll is to place one's emotions onto the doll. Once affection is reached and matained, may the effected demon be vocal in their returned affection. Second, should the effected demon hold these affections mutually, shall the two get closer. Let there be a forged fondness for one another. Only when the human may voice this fondness shall the doll be set free.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed.

Post made by sassykattery. Do not repost. Reblogs and comments appreciated.

Tags: @delphi-dreamin @itsmeninerz @flemmingbamse @attic-club-sandwich @bite-sized-devil @marvelous-maniac @themythicaldisaster

Next

[a-lovely-weirdo123]

Uh- this is for @snowe-zolynn-rogers helped me make an Eclipse angst prompt so-

Ye

HERE WE GO-

“You’re in charge while I’m gone.”

Warnings: near death, angst, human Eclipse, blood, child abuse, framing, abandonment.

———————————————————

Eclipse was tired, Bloodmoon could watch themselves for a bit.

He told his brother he would be taking a nap, and to wake him up before KC got back, he went to his room to get some well-deserved rest.

Bloodmoon giggled and went to their room, “Brother, let us play a prank!” He spoke, “hehe, yes, yes, it will be so much fun!”

The two brothers plotted for a while, then came up with a plan, they would frame Eclipse. Bloodmoon reached to the back of their head and turned off their pain receptors and just began absolutely tearing themself apart, going so far as to tearing one of their eyes out. Once they thought they were mangled enough, they hid under their bed and turned their pain receptors back on, and it /hurt/.

They waited for KC to come back.

They heard the door open and they immediately began to cry, footsteps were immediately heard running to their location. KC opened the door. “My children? What happened?” He asked, kneeling down. They ran to KC and hugged him, sobbing, “E-Eclipse hurt us! We didn’t even do anything!” He lied, KC growled as his eyes glowed a brighter red, then he picked Bloodmoon up and went to go give his other child a visit.

Eclipse was startled awake by being thrown into a wall, the force of it creating a dent in said wall.

He fell into a sitting position on the ground and looked up, alert.

KC was there.

And he was livid.

“You dare hurt my sons?!” Killcode asked, glaring at the frightened Eclipse. Eclipse was confused, he didn’t do anything!

He looked over at the twins who were mangled, but seemed to be smirking.

Those little bastards-!

He yelped as KC roughly grabbed his wrist and squeezed it tight, forcing him to stand up. He then felt a sharp pain on the side of his face as he fell back down.

He was then promptly kicked in the stomach and into the wall again, he scurried into the corner and curled up, he was still so tired, he was so weak, couldn’t fight back.

KC then grabbed his wrist again as tears dwelled in Eclipse’s orange eyes, he attempted to pull away but KC raised his hand and Eclipse flinched, KC then put his hand down and dragged his youngest eldest to the front door of the lab.

“You do not deserve a family, ungrateful brat!” He shouted, Eclipse just looked at the floor.

“Look at me when I talk to you.”

He didn’t, he didn’t want to-

“Eclipse.”

He didn’t want to, he didn’t want to-!

“ECLIPSE!”

Suddenly, his head was forced up by a harsh tug on his hair and he squeaked, being forced to look directly at KC.

He began to cry, this was too much, it hurt everywhere.

“Stupid child…” KC muttered, opening the lab door and straight up throwing Eclipse out, into the freezing cold rain with nothing but his worn orange hoodie and sweatpants.

It took a moment for Eclipse to process what had just happened, but he panicked and got up quickly, “no- no! Dad! Dad please!” He shouted, struggling to get up from all his wounds.

“I am not your dad anymore, do not refer to me as such, brat.” KC growled, before slamming the door right in Eclipse’s face.

Eclipse began to hysterically cry and slam his hands on the door, it was dark outside! The forest was terrifying! He wanted to go back, he didn’t want to be alone!

He was drenched and shivering, “Dad!” He cried out, “please, I’m sorry! I’m sorry- I’ll do anything you ask, please just let me back inside!”

There was no response, he sniffled and curled up by the door, he didn’t even have any of his comfort objects…

He curled up by the door, his ribs beginning to bruise from where KC kicked him and his face also beginning to bruise because KC had punched him. His back hurt, his face hurt, his ribs hurt, his legs hurt from having to be on his feet all the time.

KC had taken his childhood away.

And now his family too.

Sun and Moon definitely wouldn’t want him, they’d be disgusted.

He was cold, so cold, his feet were going numb, he couldn’t feel his fingers.

…maybe he deserved this.

But he didn’t want to die

Not all alone

Not like this

There were so many simple things he’d never experienced. He’d never enjoyed a nice cup of coffee, he’d never get to genuinely laugh and feel happy, he’d never get to fall in love, he’s never even had a hug before.

…a hug sounds really nice right now.

Even as he was freezing, the rain soaking his clothes, he wrapped his arms around himself in a sad mimic of a hug.

He sobbed and held himself together, he was hanging in by a thread.

Maybe death wouldn’t be so bad…

Maybe he could finally rest….

He let out a shaky breath and closed his eyes, letting himself fall unconscious.

…

Warmth…

Why did it feel so warm all of a sudden…?

Someone was shouting…

He slightly opened his eyes.

…Green…purple…yellow?

Then darkness again.

[myhatisblue]

Guh part 3 is done at least for now. Will likely go back to all the parts and do a serious edit job when I'm done them all.

This place, and this current trip has already screwed me up in countless ways. You’d figure after all my work getting to this point that I’d charge right into the water…  But for some reason though, I found myself stuck on a long list of priorities that were more immediately important. 

While my clothes were full of holes, and tearing at the seams, cleaning them seemed most important to me right then and there… There’s no doubt that I’ll be in that water for a very, very long time once I’m in.  Having them clean and drying before that was the right order of operations. There it was again…  Always thinking with plans in mind, methods to make other moves easier… A level of forethought that seemed… strange, maybe it was always there and I was just goddamn blind.

Another note of this mental list I had going was that my brain had to be suffering just like everything else, it’s so much easier to ignore the problems going on there. Likely I wouldn’t know how fucked up I’d truely gotten till after I escaped. A task that still seemed like it was miles off.  My gut told me that all this unrelated shit was gonna build up to a plan when it came time to escape.  After all, it's becoming easier and easier to mold this land to my will.  

Though using those new found skills to make a coat rack out of bone to dry my clothes on felt a little bit absurd when objectively looked at. I did finally get use out of the flags I’d been collecting! While they were small on their own bundled together they made a great rag for cleaning the blood off. So at the very least my clothes won’t instantly get dirty again while drying.

Finally everything was prepared, I could finally take that plunge into the cool water I’d dreamt of for so long. It was heaven perfect in every way except for one single issue.  I’d let myself get a tad lost in the excitement of the moment… And well… I happened to chug down a huge mouthful of water. Yeah, I still had some left from my supplies, sure, but I wanted to soak all of this in, It was the result of all my hard work after all… 

That was stupid as fuck, I can’t even pretend it wasn’t.  It tasted like blood that should have been obvious given what It originally was, but there was something else entirely that came after it...  See there’s only so many ways to call something disgusting, and none of those words were enough to capture how fucking foul it was.  Blech, rotten egg, cow shit, a fucking landfill, the taste was worse than these smells lead you the imagine. While somehow being sweet, sour and bitter all at the same time. I barely managed to reach the beach before my stomach forcefully ejected everything inside of it. 

What a once in a lifetime experience, a fucking groundbreaking first for humanity@  I’d regret this day as long as I’d live. Not even the black rot that came after I tried to off was like this.  It’s too overwhelming, it shouldn’t fucking exist! The brief memory of it was enough to end my mind spiraling. No matter how hard I tried to keep it together, I ended up collapsing on to the beach body simply not listening to anything I had to say. Completely overtaken by an experience not intended for human kind.

I had no idea how long I’d been out… When I finally woke up again my brain felt like it’d been thrown in a washing machine. That was bad enough as is but my sight also wasn’t focusing right no matter how many times I blinked. It sounded like Ken was saying something but it wasn’t coming through. 

If there was a positive, most of the physical pain from the past weeks seemed to have melted away. The marks on my body were still there, but the worst of it seems to have passed.  It didn’t make sense… Water alone shouldn’t have treated that so quickly, how fucking long was I out for?? Before I could put much more thought into it a sharp pain radiated throughout my skull.

Things were getting hazy again. I vaguely remember dragging myself back to the water and spending a fair amount of time just silently floating there. Eventually getting dressed and just sitting there on the sand staring at the ocean.  My eye struggling to stay open.

“I could make a lot of jokes, but you look so goddamn pathetic that I think I’d actually feel bad.” 

Kenneth looked almost… concerned.  Jesus I must look worse than I feel.

“It’s fucked… Everything is.. Everything is still meat or blood, even if it looks or acts different…  All I’m doing is putting a carpet over the dirty floors.”

“Yep, sad to say humanity won’t be solving world hunger thanks to you.”

“...Why would you even think about that..”

“You really never thought about taking a steak out of the floor and cooking it off at some point?”

“No… No, I can’t say that I did.  That mouthful of water alone was worse than eating Descry’s heart.”

“Huh weird. Figured the heart woulda been a hundred times worse… hmmm… Oh! It was probably too busy was fucking all of your senses at the same time to give a single one time in the spotlight.”

“Urghhhhh.”

I pulled my knees closer, and held them close to my chest, I wanted to shrink, and disappear for a while. Pray that it’d be enough to forget, and stop my head from spinning. This was even after spitting out what I could, I didn’t even want to think about what kind of mess actually eating it would cause.

Kenneth on the other had stood oblivious to my plight. Casually tapping the side of his face next to me while he contemplated. 

“Or maybe your brain couldn’t even begin to comprehend that flavor till after you ate the heart. Now it has a point of reference kinda like how normal people can’t see the monsters of the void till their third eye is opened.  That’s pretty neat!”

“Glad one of us is enjoying this…”

“I’m always have a great time watching you fuck up.  It’s one of my favorite pastimes.

By the way… I get your going through an existential hellscape right now and likely don’t want to think about it at all but you should probably actually eat and drink something.  You’ve been out for a few days at this point.”

“You're right, I don’t want to think about that.”

“Well then, how about we make a trade.”

“What could you possibly have to trade? You're a glorified imaginary friend at this point.”

“Friend!?  Wow Mills so I’m flattered I could al-”

“God, stop.”

He was actually fucking smiling… While it seemed like a pretty apt description,  that reaction made me immediately regret saying it. It’s the kinda thing I know he’s gonna save for later and bring out at the worst possible time.

“Ruining my fun already, and I’m actually being nice.”

“Get to the point.”

“I saw what happened while you were getting in your beauty sleep. It’ll really be worth the investment.”

“What is it?”

“I’ll tell you, if you get off your ass and get back to work.”

“Where’s the catch?”

“What, can’t believe that I even get bored? I might be a paragon of patience but even I’ve got my limits.”

“Fine, not like I’d planned on doing nothing forever.”

“Well then you missed a visitor.”

“Someone was here?”

“Yup, dressed in black, waterproof pants, a coat, gloves, rubber boots the whole works.   They also had a gas mask, and since everything was pretty baggy I couldn’t figure out if it was a guy or chick.”

“You're not kidding?”

“Not this time. They just walked up, gave you a once over, and made sure you were still breathing.  After that jabbed you with a few needles, took some blood, hair, and swabbed your mouth with a stick or something. Oh, they also poured a vial of blue liquid down your throat. I might have tried to stop that one but I could even make you twitch. That water really fucked you up.”

Blue liquid…? I think they made me down something like that before… Either that or one of the things he injected me with had to have been why things healed so quickly.  But wouldn’t that fall under ‘additional support’? 

“Seemed like they liked the beach and ocean you made. Cause they were staring at it a while before they filled some vials with sand and water and pocketed them.”

“Where’d they go?!”

“Ah well some weird shit appeared under his feet and started glowing then they just popped out of existence.”

“Can you be a little more descriptive than some ‘weird shit’?”

“Say please and thank you. I’m being real nice right now. I’ve earned that much.”

“Go fuck youself.”

I wanted to smack the smug grin right off his face, but the longer we stared at each other the quicker I cracked. I scratched at my head before I sighed and gave up.

“Fuck… Thanks for everything so far.  So please Ken tell me what exactly you saw.”

“Was that so hard?”

“Yes, excruciating.”

“I think it was a magic circle, it looked detailed enough at least. Someone outside must have pulled them out. Probably the same method they used to throw you in here. I don’t know much about that old people shit, so i’m pretty much throwing shit at the wall with guesses here. 

Suppose I should give you a little more substantial since you had such good manners and all. There were two supply drops a few hours after that.”

“You could have just said that if you wanted me to get up!”

He looked like he was gonna say something but a grim expression crossed his face instead.

“You're right… 

Hey Mills?”

“What's up?”

“No matter what happens don’t forget who's got a knife pressed against your throat… It’s a bad habit to get into…”

Kenneth rarely looks that serious, there was a lot more to that warning. Knowing him he was probably leaving out the details and that actually got him worried. Likely cause anything I’d do would just complicate things further... Wait a sec… That just makes me wonder how the hell he’s still able to see things even when I was out cold. I thought he was just a leech, but could he actually take control if I pass out?  Maybe I was selling him too short when I compared him to an imaginary friend.

Before I could ask another question or even think much harder about what he said he’d started to laugh.

“Haha.. I can’t just not bring it up man. It’s too fucking funny!  In case you forgot while your brain was mush.  You were naked the whole time during that guest’s little investigation. Got to see the whole package. Gotta say they seemed fairly interested in your chest, if thats related to that fucked up scar of yours or just enjoying the view I couldn’t say.”

“...”

There were so many things to actually worry about, yet being embarrassed and wanting to fucking die beat them all out.  Goddammit Ken had me going for a while there.  Here I thought we might be past him fucking with me and it comes back and smacks me in the face. 

I couldn’t help but look at that stupid scar myself, Ken getting a good chuckle in like he saw that coming from a mile away. It didn’t hurt, sure, but the black reds and purples that surrounded it didn’t seem like a good thing. There were also small glowing veins that seemed to randomly move around the area where the knife pierced my chest.  In a way it almost seemed like they were responding to my heartbeat. In general the scar felt wrong, yet equally precious and important.. It was a mark proving what I’d killed and how far I was willing to go and most importantly that all of it was real. It was something personal as fuck so the idea of some faceless rando staring at it seemed somehow more degrading then the rest of what they saw…  I know that I’d be an idiot to think it hadn’t already been poked and prodded to hell and back during all the tests they had me knocked out for…  but still, I didn’t really want to know that it actually happened.

God it felt like my face was burning red. I couldn’t just sit here, I needed some kind of distraction, anything at this point. Checking the supply drops Ken had mentioned was just the easiest answer. 

The first one was the standard food and water I’d be getting the whole time.  The other one was slightly larger and didn’t have a flag attached to it. Inside were a few sets of clothes.  Of course there was… The guest must have said something to somebody. Fuck… Okay so the clothes weren’t anything too fancy, just black waterproof scrubs. But this was more than enough to convey the simple request that I avoid running around in the nude. Great, wonderful really… Thanks guys, nice to know the observations are to this intent. I can’t wait to have to fucking explain why I talk to myself so much. That’s going to be great, and won’t at all land me in a padded fucking cell…

Focus!  Get back to work, or else you're  going to lose it… Right, right… Okay there were a few things I could figure out fairly quickly.  The sand was a nice proof of concept that the ground was as malleable as everything else. But I’d need some flat and stable land if I wanted to set up something permanent. 

It was hard to find a memory that resonated intensely enough to work as a base. What ended up doing it was one of the memories I had of cleaning up the after effects of one of the many murders that took place.  I’d spent so much time scrubbing the stone courtyard, and it never seemed to get clean enough. As if the sins committed were engraved into the concrete, and no amount of soap and water was ever going to cleanse those stains.  There was always an outline that stuck, as faded as it was, once you knew it was there you’d always see it. It had left me feeling particularly empty at the time. 

The concrete floor that I’d created was grey and fittingly covered in faded stains. Extending it was as easy as unrolling a carpet.  What was more difficult was changing it back into the flesh it’d been made out of. While not impossible, the pressure of doing so left my head spinning. 

I’d almost forgotten everything, and felt a sense of pride for turning this place into something more than just meat. But the red sky still loomed, just as the hellscape that extended past the area I’d claimed.  I’d been avoiding messing around with day and night.  The static appearance almost unaffected by light or darkness offered a consistent appearance no matter where you traveled, be it beneath the ground or above it was ideal for traveling and exploration.  The darkness night would bring would complicate everything making every step dangerous given the moving nature of everything. The trade off of making sleeping easier and a way of keeping track of time wasn’t worth the cost.. 

For now what was more important than all of that was making sure stuff I made stayed in place. Nothing was confined to a single shape in its raw form, sleeping had taught me that. The beach on the other hand was an oddity in that way, since I’d passed out for a significant amount of time and nothing changed. Proving I had some ground to stand on thinking that anything I specifically built would stay.  The beds I’d made in the past were still the same shape when I woke up, so it’s not a wholly unique occurance. Seeing if it would still last after a significant length of time out of sight though, that was something that still needed looking into.

So it was time for another trip, hopefully it would be the last I’d have to make for a while. While walking in no particular direction occasionally I’d pull a large spike of bone from the gore beneath my feet. Trying to make sure they were roughly my height,  and curved the ends enough to tie one of the many flags I’d been collecting to it. Unfortunately I didn’t stumble onto any of the places I’d set up to camp while I was walking to the ocean. That would have instantly answered my questions and let me go back. For now I figured I’d walk till my legs were too tired, set up another concrete platform, and sleep for a while before I headed back. That was my general way of gauging things anyways.

When I finally did stop while I was physically tired, but my brain hadn’t reached the same point of exhaustion. I was sitting on the edge of a concrete platform I’d made.  I’d found that the second time making one from scratch was far easier than the first. Just thinking about where I wanted it seemed to have been enough. Only the first time creating something seems to need all the mental strain put into it.  After that things just fell into place, like the very world already knew what to do. 

Eventually I found myself throwing a ball of meat into a bone hoop I’d made.  The challenging part was getting the ball to come back on its own afterwards.  The subtle movements of the ball alone were more difficult, thanks to its smaller… uhh… organs I guess? It required far more focus and thought. It actually seemed easier to move the ground beneath it. It wasn’t very accurate but it was also less thought on my part. More of an instinctual answer to what I wanted to see happen. Sloppy and almost uncontrollable but it eventually got to the desired result of the ball ending up in my hands. While my aim left a lot to be desired, the whole process did work to catch my brain up to how exhausted my body was.  

I just had one more thing to do before sleeping, I wanted to make a real bed. Closing my eyes and digging into the past for something strong enough to solidify the thoughts. Sure, I’d spent my fair share of days rotting away in one while trapped here the first time.  That just didn’t seem to be enough to form anything with structure. There was still one other time,  well a few times…  After It had been pretty much established that stuff went back to its state when no one was keeping an eye on it… that some… errr… well pretty stupid shit went down.  

It became kinda acceptable to just break the shit out of everything.  Normally out of respect you kept it to your own room, not cause of the mess, but because of how it tended to hurt overall morale. Seeing people losing it was a little… I don’t know but it left you aware of how fucked up things were, and the ability to ignore that was a powerful survival tool.  

Most of the time you’d end up in a worse state than furniture you were trying to break. The closest you could really get to a weapon was whatever you could tie to a broom or mop. This led to some creative outcomes, but even with them I still never managed to successfully break the bed. The frame was thick metal, and kinda ruined all attempts to destroy everything in the living quarters. Ken had gotten the closest but given he was some kinda monster thing back then It doesn’t really count.  Though it wouldn’t have surprised me if he actually did it without that. He made a good cover story by constantly trying to escape or permanently break things. Always seemed like he was having a good time doing it… No matter how degenerate his ideas got.

I guess I lost track of how human-like he got during that death sentence. I get hung up on how it ended and what came after that everything else falls to the side.  Important but harder to go back to after so long. 

When I eventually found myself out of memories to milk I opened my eyes and didn’t find the bed I was hoping for in the middle of my platform. Instead a little to the left of me. Contrasting against the fleshy red was a set of completely normal furniture. I was kinda staggering, and confusing given I was only aiming for a bed and ended up with a few chairs and a desk as well. They were all good things to know how to make so the outcome was fine, but was feeling a little light headed afterwards. 

Since the opportunity to learn something was there, I smashed one of the seemingly wooden chairs on the pavement. It was still a good stress relief but seeing how it acted was worth testing. While the cement was a pain to get rid of, what about something that’s a little more fragile?  It was pretty interesting, at first it seemed to break apart like wood would, normal aside from the unsettling cracking sound it made.  Until the shattered parts suddenly liquefied and splattered like blood. After that the remaining chunks seemed to bleed out for a while until eventually collapsed into itself. Leaving nothing behind but a stain of red.  While I felt like I’d just murdered something, it was interesting to see how close these replicated objects got to their originals.  Still shaking the general empty feeling I was left with was only getting more difficult the longer I was here. 

Maybe I was tired, but I still needed to move the bed onto the platform. With the ground working on my side pushing it on top was easy.  I crashed hard and fast once everything was in place though. 

I’d forgotten how nice a bed felt, it had been so long… but I still missed my own bed. Maybe I could even have made something more like it. I just wasn’t really sure I wanted to feed my real world memories to this place. I didn’t lose anything doing it, but it felt wrong like I might ruin something in my brain if I start going down that path. I’m getting closer to an answer, if memories change this place…  Maybe the answer lies in disconnecting somehow from the thoughts tied so tightly to the foundations of this place… Sure as hell not an easy thing to do given all the baggage buried here… 

Still that was getting ahead of myself, for now I needed to sleep.  Tomorrow I’ll head back and see the results of these tests. That should give the ones watching enough to chew on, and make sure I get out of this one intact… The more a figure out the easier this will get, it has too.

[ironychan]

A Little Human (as a Treat)

Part 1/? - Un Voluntario

Part 2/? - Un Escursione

Part 3/? - Una Complicazione

Part 4/? - Una Famiglia

Part 5/? - Una Aiutante

Part 6/? - Una Ricerca

Part 7/? - Un Confronto

Part 8/? - Un'Emergenza

Part 9/? - Una Speranza

Part 10/? - Una Sera

Part 11/? - Un'Interruzione

Part 12/? - Una Fuga (Prima Parte)

@dysphoria-sweatshirt @writer652 The kids head for the harbour, but there's an angry mob at their heels.

In San Giuseppe, another group also found themselves cornered. Signor Giglioli had belatedly locked the door, but too many other people had seen what Signorina Mulino saw when she, just trying to help, led them to where Perla and Flavia had said they were going. Soon there was a crowd gathering outside, rattling the door and shouting, and Signor Giglioli shooed everybody up the stairs.

Perla went first, immediately behind the confectioner. Her father and grandmother followed her, then Leonardo and Flavia, with Luca, Giulia, and Alberto bringing up the rear.

“Who was that guy with you in the jail?” asked Leonardo.

“That was Signor Maccarello,” said Luca, as they all crowded into the kitchen of Signor Giglioli's apartment upstairs. This was a very small room, stuffed to the gills with all sorts of interesting things that Luca would otherwise have loved to stay and examine: there were photographs, including one of Signor Giglioli and his long-dead wife on the wedding day, and one of him in a military uniform surrounded by companions. There were old army helmets and even a couple of guns, a trunk with the corner of a green uniform jacket hanging out of it, and on one wall, a frame around a large collection of medals. Luca hadn't known that Signor Giglioli had been in the war, and he wondered what sort of stories the man might have to tell about it.

Now wasn't the time, though. Not with an angry mob downstairs.

“Luca said Mario Maccarello from Portorosso had a cousin here,” Alberto added, “so he'd heard of us, and we asked him to help us find Flavia.”

“Because we needed to know the best places to get out of the water,” Giulia said.

“His wife Felicia is probably worried about him,” Luca realized. “I hope he gets home okay.”

Flavia perked up. “Her name is Felicia? She's looking for him?”

“I doubt it,” said Alberto. “She's scared of the surface and she thinks he is, too.”

“I think they'll be fine,” said Flavia. She looked over at Perla, and the two girls shared a snicker.

They climbed another flight of steps, and from the third floor they were able to look out the window at the crowd gathering on the street below. There were a couple of dozen people now gathered around the door of the candy shop, brandishing fishing poles and harpoons, pitchforks and nets. Somebody was hammering on the door, demanding that Giglioli let them in.

At the back of the crowd, a couple of metres away, were Felicia and Signorina Mulino. The pastry cook had an arm around her friend, trying to comfort her. Perla leaned out and waved to them, but they didn't seem to see.

Somebody else did, though. “Upstairs!” a man's voice shouted, and eyes rose. Perla waved harder, and managed to catch Felicia's eye before she had to duck back inside to avoid a barrage of thrown objects.

Behind the two women, unseen by anyone but Perla, three men crept out of the police station and hurried up the hill. The one in the middle had a big coat over his head and shoulders so that nobody could see his face.

“We're stranded!” Signora Pepitone lamented. “Where can we go?”

“Over the roofs!” said Perla.

“Perla!” Roberto exclaimed. “What have your mother and I told you about climbing over roofs? You're going to fall and get hurt!”

“Everybody does it!” Perla complained.

“We do it in Portorosso,” Giulia put in, “but Mamma won't let me in Genova.”

“See?” Roberto said. “Even the sea monsters know better!”

“Come on,” said Perla. “It'll be easy to get to the harbour that way. We just need a window that these people can't see.”

“This way,” Giglioli said.

“You're not going to encourage her!” Roberto protested.

“As long as you're careful, roofs are a perfectly good way to get somewhere,” said Signor Giglioli.

“For spies in wartime, maybe!” Roberto said. “Not for children!”

“He was a spy?” Alberto asked eagerly. “Really?”

“Absolutely,” Signor Giglioli said. “The next time you're in town I'll tell you all about it,” he promised, then frowned and looked out the window at the growing crowd. “Or maybe I'll come visit you. This way.”

He took them into the other bedroom, which he used for storage. There, a small window high up in the gable led out onto a roof. The children could fit through this opening with ease, and the adults could probably go one at a time with a little wriggling – all except Signor Giglioli himself, who was far too fat. He started waving the children through.

“You go, and I'll see if I can talk some sense into the people downstairs,” he said.

Luca didn't like that idea. “What if they're mad at you for helping us?”

“I did some hostage negotiation in my time, too,” Giglioli assured him. “If I can talk down soldiers with guns, I think I can handle some fishermen.”

Perla climbed out first, then helped her father and grandmother to do the same. The three sea monster children went after them – and that left Flavia.

Flavia hadn't wanted to say anything because she knew they didn't have any other way out of the house. If they had, Signor Giglioli would surely have taken it. This had to be done... but she was petrified. When she stuck her head out the window and looked down, even with the roof blocking part of the view she could tell it was awfully far to the ground, even further than it had been from Signora Pepitone's bedroom. The roof everybody was climbing out onto sloped, and she could just picture herself sliding down it and tumbling off the edge. Her head began to spin, and she had to duck back inside and sit down at the base of the wall, hugging her knees.

What was she going to do? She couldn't stay here, she had to go with her father and friends and get back to Portorosso. Yet she couldn't climb out that window. She just couldn't.

Leonardo crouched to talk to her. “What's wrong, Angelfish?”

“I can't,” she said miserably.

“I bet you can,” said Leonardo.

“No, I can't. When I look down I get dizzy.”

“Oh... vertigo,” Leonardo realized. “You're afraid of heights.” For a moment he was shocked and disappointed in himself that he hadn't known that... but of course he hadn't. Flavia had never been up high in a place where there wasn't water beneath her. Falling into water was one thing – falling onto the ground was very much another. “I think you can if you're brave. You're gonna have to try, because you're too big to carry.”

Giulia popped her head back in the window. “Is everything okay?” she asked.

“I can't go,” Flavia told her. “I'm sorry! I can't. I'm too... I'm too scared.”

“She had to close her eyes to climb down to the street from Nonna's window,” said Perla from outside.

“Can you do that here?” Leonardo asked. “No, that's not safe on the sloping roof. Okay, we're gonna have to find another way down.”

“I don't know how well that'll work,” Signor Giglioli warned. “I can hear people at the back door, too.”

Giulia climbed back in the window. “Shut your eyes,” she said, “and give me your hand. Alberto will take the other one, and we'll help you. We won't let you fall, I promise.”

Flavia raised her head, and saw Giulia's earnest smile. In the window, Alberto offered a hand. Could she trust them?

Yes, she could. They weren't like the kids back home who made fun of her and didn't want her around. They'd come back to look for her just as she'd known they would. If they said they wouldn't let her fall, then they wouldn't. She wiped her nose on the back of her hand and got up, then took a deep breath and shut her eyes. Giulia and Alberto each took a hand as promised, and helped her to climb out the window onto the roof. The tiles weren't as slippery as she feared, and with them holding her up, she was able to balance as long as she didn't think about the drop only a metre or so away. Leonardo climbed out after her, while Signor Giglioli went back downstairs to confront the townsfolk.

“This way,” said Perla. “Don't worry, Flavia, I won't go anywhere hard. Nothing steep. You can do it.”

Flavia, eyes still shut, nodded and went in the direction her friends were tugging her. She carefully felt ahead with her foot, making sure she was still standing on something solid. Perla led the way, then Alberto and Giulia with Flavia, and Luca behind them warning her about where she was standing, whether the roofs ahead were flat or sloped, or whether they had slippery leaves on them. Roberto and Leonardo brought up the rear and helped Signora Pepitone, who didn't like this much more than Flavia did.

“This is why we don't like you climbing, Perla!” she called ahead. “This is terribly dangerous. Anybody who falls is going to break an ankle, or worse!”

“Can you not say that?” asked Leonardo. “Flavia's frightened enough!”

“Oh, sorry,” said Signora Pepitone.

Although Perla tried to stay on the level as much as she could, like Portorosso San Giuseppe was built on a steep slope down to the Mediterranean. It wasn't quite as precipitous as the smaller town, which sometimes had stairs instead of streets, but parts were still treacherous. The worst was when they had to cross between two flat areas by crawling across the peak of a roof in between. The tiles here were loose and clinked as Flavia crossed them. She clung tightly to Alberto's belt as he crawled ahead of her, with Giulia right behind, helping her find places for her knees. At the far end, Perla held out a hand to help them up when they arrived.

Disaster nearly struck when a tile broke under Alberto's knee. He yelped as it slid out from under him to shatter on the cobblestone street below. Flavia screamed and grabbed him tightly, expecting all of them to plummet to the ground, but Alberto managed to Change and wrap his tail around a television antenna. This bent, but it held him. Perla took his hand and helped him up, and he and Giulia got Flavia, who was shaking badly, up onto the flat again.

“So... you guys just do that?” asked Roberto.

“Yep,” said Leonardo, who didn't feel like explaining and was just glad Roberto hadn't fainted again.

Unfortunately, they weren't entirely safe yet. Flavia's shriek and the sound of the terracotta tile smashing had attracted attention, and soon they could hear running footsteps and angry shouts.

In Portorosso there were houses right on the harbour, from which it would have been possible to jump directly into the sea. In San Giuseppe this was not the case. There was a road that followed the shoreline, with a fence on the far side to keep children from using it as a diving platform. In order to get to the water, they were going to have to cross at least a four-metre gap.

A four-metre gap with a dozen people in it, calling for reinforcements.

“Come on, we've got them trapped here!” somebody shouted.

“They've got Signora Pepitone,” another person pointed out. “Careful! They might hurt her if we upset them!”

The group gathered on the last roof near the water, that of a little seaside restaurant and gelateria, and considered their options. There were people on all sides. There was nowhere to get down... but they couldn't go back. That would only leave them further and further from the sea that was their only possible escape.

“Oh, dear,” Signora Pepitone lamented, “this is all my fault!”

“Sure is,” muttered Leonardo. If what she'd said to these people were half as bad as the way she'd described sea monsters on the phone to him, it was no wonder everybody was terrified.

“What do we do now?” Luca asked Perla, hoping she knew another route.

“I dunno. I didn't expect anyone to be here,” Perla replied. She looked around for ideas. Could they go further up the coast? But then they would get higher, and the drop to the water would be further, and Flavia wouldn't like that...

“I have to do something,” Signora Pepitone decided.

Everyone turned to look at her. “You?” Roberto asked.

“Yes! Help me down.” Signora Pepitone made her shaky way, crawling on all fours, to a window in the next building over. “I'm the one who started all this. If I tell them I was wrong, they'll have to believe me.”

“I'm not so sure about that,” Roberto said, but he took his mother's arm, and he and Leonardo helped her down to climb through the window. Robert himself followed her inside. “Stay where you are, Perla,” he told his daughter. “I've got to look after your Nonna. Don't try to climb down on your own.”

“Yes, Papà,” said Perla.

It took a couple of minutes, but they made their way down to the ground floor, where the rather disconcerted owner of the house opened the door and let Signora Pepitone out to face the mob.

“Signora!” somebody said. “Are you all right? Did they let you go?”

Signora Pepitone looked over her shoulder, then faced the crowd and took a deep breath. “Signori e Signore,” she said, and then cupped her hands around her mouth to shout as questions and conversations among the mob drowned her out. “Everybody! Ascoltare!”

People finally quieted, and she tried again.

“Everyone,” Signora Pepitone said, “I'm afraid I've made a terrible mistake. I've caused a lot of upset for no reason at all. These sea monsters, it seems they're not going to hurt anybody after all. They're quite safe, and they just want to get back to the ocean.”

This was greeted with a stunned silence.

“What do you mean, they're quite safe?” a woman asked suspiciously.

Roberto stepped out to his mother's side. “She means that they're... well, they're up there, aren't they?” He pointed to the roof, where the children and Leonardo were gathered, watching. Perla waved. “Do they look dangerous?”

Luca, Alberto, Giulia, and Flavia all took their turns to smile awkwardly and wave, trying to seem as harmless as possible.

“Everybody up there is a sea monster except our Perla,” said Signora Pepitone, “including the gentleman.”

Leonardo groaned as he raised his own hand. He'd hoped that wouldn't come up.

“I've seen them do that thing they do,” said Roberto, “and I don't think they can disguise themselves as anybody in particular. They just turn into the same person every time. They don't seem to want to hurt anybody.”

“I'm afraid when I saw them at the zoo I panicked,” Signora Pepitone added. “I've made a terrible mess and I'm trying to make it up to them. Can't you just let them get back in the water and leave?”

The crowd didn't know what to make of that. Some looks were exchanged as people tried to figure out what their neighbours thought and what sort of action they should take.

“First Giglioli and now you!” a man said. “Is this some kind of hypnosis?”

Alberto frowned. “What's that?” he whispered to Luca.

Luca didn't know either. He turned to Giulia.

“It's when you put somebody to sleep so they'll do anything you say,” she said.

“Is that real?” Alberto asked skeptically.

“I don't know, but it only matters if they believe it is,” Giulia pointed out.

“Hypnosis?” asked Signora Pepitone. “Surely not! We're wide awake!”

“It's just weird how everybody who talks to them ends up taking their side,” a tall man with a harpoon said.

“That's because they actually listen to us!” Alberto shouted down.

“I promise we'll never come back!” Luca added. He'd said that several times today and he hated doing so, but if that's what it took to escape, then they would do it.

“Don't promise that,” said Perla. “I want you to come back. You guys are the coolest!”

“There's another one!” a shorter, fatter man said, stepping up to stand next to the tall fellow with the harpoon. “Hypnotized!”

“Oh, for heaven's sake,” said Signora Pepitone. “Will all of you just listen...”

Then the fence fell down.

There were cries of surprise, and people turned and backed towards the building, turning their eyes and their weapons towards the fallen boards. In the gathering dark, a hulking shape with glowing red eyes and a lashing tail climbed out of the water and stood in the middle of the street. The humans gasped and murmured, backing up and forming into a sort of phalanx with the harpoon man in the front. Roberto Pepitone stepped in front of his mother, holding his arms out to protect her as the dripping monstrosity slowly advanced. Behind them, the house owner shut the door and several locks clicked into place.

“Uncle Massimo!” Alberto shouted out happily, at the same moment as Giulia cried, “Papà!”

The man with the harpoon looked over his shoulder. He could tell that the rest of the crowd expected him to do something, but while he'd felt very brave facing down creatures the size of children, six feet and six inches of shark-man was a very different proposition. He held the harpoon out and very cautiously prodded the menacing beast in the belly.

Massimo calmly took hold of the harpoon and snapped the point off it with one hand. He tossed it over his shoulder and looked around.

“Anybody else?” he asked.

The group took another collective step backwards.

At that point Massimo began to dry out and transform. He wasn't quite used to this yet, especially the part where his balance changed as his tail disappeared. He swayed a little before standing up straight, which the crowd interpreted as him drawing himself up to his full height – and human Massimo was not much less intimidating than the sea monster.

“Is everyone all right, Leonardo?” he called up to the captives on the roof.

“We're fine!” Leonardo replied.

“All good, Papà!” Giulia agreed. “We just need to get down.”

“Let's go, then.”

Massimo stood glaring at the assembled people as the kids and Leonardo climbed through the window into the house, descended the steps, and removed the pieces of furniture the inhabitants had pushed in front of the door to keep Massimo from coming inside. Perla's father and grandmother took her aside and held on to her, while the rest of them joined Massimo in heading down to the boat, tied up in the harbour where Leonardo had left it. Leonardo, Massimo, and Flavia climbed in, while Alberto, Luca, and Giulia got into the water. Massimo started the motor.

Throughout all of this, the humans gathered on the shore simply stood and watched, too scared to move.

As they began to leave, Luca remembered something. “Hey!” he shouted. “Our bicycles are still in the Piazza Centrale!”

“We'll bring them back to you tomorrow!” Perla promised. “Right, Papà?”

Roberto didn't answer. Luca ducked back under the water, figuring if all they'd lsot was their bicycles, it hadn't actually turned out that badly.

As the boat chugged away under the stars, Leonardo gave Flavia another hug. “I was worried about you all day, Angelfish,” he said. “I hope it wasn't too awful.”

“It wasn't,” said Flavia, shaking her head. She thought back onto all the things she'd done that day... and yes, it had been scary when she'd gotten lost, but she'd gotten to see and try a dozen things she never could have normally done. “We went to a museum with pirate treasure, that was cool. Look what Giulia and the boys bought me!” She pulled out her bag and opened it to show her father the snowglobe, which was perhaps miraculously intact after all she'd been through that day. “The lady said it will sink in the water, so we can take it home.”

“Oh, that is neat,” said Leonardo, examining the object.

“And we got candy from Signor Giglioli,” she added, pulling out more items. “He made gummy sea monsters!”

“When he found out that we are sea monsters,” Luca added, “he said he was honoured we brought Flavia to visit him out of everywhere in San Giuseppe.”

“This one is honey-flavoured, so now I know what that tastes like,” Flavia added, gathering enthusiasm as she described her day. “We saw people doing all kinds of things! There was a lady making lace, and people making furniture, and there was a man who made pizza and a place that had all these little yellow birds hopping around in a big cage singing! Signora Pepitone showed me how to feed the pigeons, too. Perla's dad has them that are all fancy, because he shows them like Signor Paguro shows his crabs, but I didn't get to see them today. Oh, and she said she knows where there's an owl's nest!”

Her delight was infection, and soon the other kids were joining in, chatting about the things they'd done during the part of the day before disaster had struck. It was only when they reached the end of that that they remembered something important.

“Oh, no!” said Luca. “Signor Maccarello! We left him behind in jail because Signor Giglioli didn't have time to make the hole bigger! Somebody was trying to break the door down.”

“That was me,” Leonardo admitted.

“I hope he's okay,” said Giulia. “We'll have to tell his cousin when we get home, and he can go look for him. Or maybe Signor Giglioli can help.” She tried to remember if Signor Giglioli had a telephone. Maybe they could call and remind him.

“I think he'll be okay,” said Flavia. “His wife is looking for him.” She yawned.

Leonardo put an arm around her. “You can sleep if you want, Angelfish,” he said. “It won't take long to get back to the town.”

Flavia nodded and leaned against him, letting her eyes drift shut. She wondered what it was like to sleep on land... if she nodded off on the way home, maybe they wouldn't wake her up to switch back with Ciccio. Maybe she'd find out.

-

After Massimo and the children left, the townsfolk stood around rather awkwardly for a few moments, then found themselves confronted by Officer Ippolito, who was optimistically hoping to break up the gathering. He looked at the hole in the fence and the wet footprints on the cobblestones, then at the twenty or so people who were milling around as if they weren't sure what to do next.

“What happened here?” he asked.

People shifted their weight from foot to foot uncomfortable, and a few of them mumbled something but nothing that offered real information until the man with the snapped-off harpoon decided to step back into his unofficial role as spokesman.

“Well, the, uh... the father sea monster came back for his young,” he said. “He was terrifying,” he added, trying to regain some of his lost dignity. “Tomorrow, I say we all get together and hunt him down! He'll look good stuffed in the pirate museum!”

“You'll do no such thing!” said Signora Pepitone. “I told you, they're not here to hurt us, we shouldn't hurt them!”

Ippolito stared at her. “You're the one who started all this,” he pointed out.

“Yes, and that was an awful mistake!” she said. “I wish I'd listened to Flavia, and then people wouldn't have gotten so worked up. Oh, dear, how am I ever going to make up for this?”

“By taking them their bicycles back?” Perla suggested.

“Yes, we can do that,” Roberto agreed. “In the Piazza Centrale, they said?”

“I think Signor Giglioli moved them,” a woman offered.

“We'll go talk to him again, then,” said Roberto. “You folks didn't... didn't do anything to him, did you?”

“We kinda shouted at him a lot,” another person admitted.

“They can't be allowed to hurt the father monster, though,” Signora Pepitone, added, coming to the front to talk directly to Ippolito. “He looked like the devil, I'll admit it, but all he did was take the children and leave. He could have killed the lot of you with a flick of his tail,” she added, glaring at the crowd over her shoulder, “but he didn't, because he didn't want to!”

Officer Ippolito held up his hands. “Okay, everybody – and that includes you, Madame – whatever the heck happened today, and I don't think any of us actually know, it seems to be over now. The sea monsters are gone, if they ever existed...”

“Of course they existed!” said Signora Pepitone. There was a chorus of agreement from the other people.

“Either way, I need everybody to go home!” Ippolito said. “I think... I think we'll all feel much clearer-headed about it after a good night's sleep.”

“Who do you think you are, our father?” the man with the harpoon asked.

Ippolito glared at him and pointed to his police badge. “I think I'm in charge of keeping the peace in this town, and there are a lot of people here who've been disturbing it! So unless you want to take your turn in that jail cell...”

That did the trick, and though there were some disgruntled mutterings, the group began to disperse. The Pepitone family headed back up the hill towards the Piazza Centrale, while others drifted away into their own homes and up side streets. Eventually there were just two people left, sitting on a wooden crate outside the shuttered restaurant. One was the dark-haired woman in the blue dress who'd been first to notice that Perla and her friend had gone out to sea. The other was the Frenchwoman who ran the gourmet pastry shop where Ippolito and his companions sometimes got treats and coffee for their card nights.

“Come on, ladies,” he said. “It's time to go.”

“I still haven't found Tony, though!” the one in blue protested.

Signorina Mulino patted her friend on the back. “Felicia has been looking for her husband half the night,” she explained. “I don't know if you'll be able to help, though. They don't live in town, and...”

Something tickled the back of Ippolito's memory. It wasn't possible, was it? “Felicia? Ah, forgive me, I'm probably wrong, but... Felicia Maccarello by any chance?”

The woman in blue raised her head sharply. “Yes! That's me! Wait... how do you know my name?”

“Antonio Maccarello is a friend of mine,” said Ippolito. “Er... he's at my place right now. Come on, I'll take you there.” He paused, licking his lips. “You're not a...” Ippolito took a quick look around to make sure he and the women really were the only ones left on the street. “You're not a sea monster too, by any chance, are you?”

“Of course I am!” Felicia scrambled to her feet. “You know Antonio? How?”

“He plays cards with us on Thursdays,” Ippolito replied. “You didn't know that?”

“Thursdays? He said he was visiting friends on Thursdays!” said Felicia. “That's why I told him Thursdays were the day I went to see my cousins, because I knew he was scared of the surface and wouldn't want me to... wait... he's been coming here the whole time?”

“Um. I suppose he has,” said Ippolito.

“Well, he's got some explaining to do!” Felicia exclaimed, and then seemed to re-think that. “Oh. Oh, dear. So do I!”

“This way, ladies,” Ippolito told them, although at this point he was really wondering what he'd fallen into. “Uh, it is nice to finally meet you, Signora Maccarello. I admit after I asked Tony to my wedding I was a little upset when he got married and didn't invite me... but I guess he really couldn't, could he? No, wait...” he realized, “you've been in the Patisserie some nights when we've stopped there for snacks! You've made me coffee!” His eyes went wide. “I've seen you there! Why didn't Antonio ever say anything?”

Felicia squirmed. “Well... him and I don't actually know what each other looks like out of the water.”

“I see,” said Ippolito. Everybody else might have gone home, but it looked like his stressful evening was only just beginning.

-

Massimo, Leonardo, and the children arrived back at Portorosso very late, but Luca's parents were awake and waiting for them. Daniela ran into waist-deep water to greet Luca, Alberto, and Giulia with hugs. Flavia had fallen asleep in her father's lap, but now sat up, yawning and rubbing her eyes.

“Where's Ciccio?” she asked. Signor Ottonello was standing outside his Foccaceria smoking a cigarette, but there was no sign of Ciccio himself. She suddenly felt more awake as she wondered if something had happened to him. What if something had? Would she be... just stuck, never able to go back in the water again? She'd wanted to see the land, but not that bad.

Signor Ottonello dropped his cigarette and stepped on it to put it out, then came to help Flavia and Leonardo out of the boat while Massimo tied it to the quay. “He had to find somewhere to stay the night,” he said. “He told Guido he would try the Donzella family, but I don't know where he ended up.” He looked out at the water, gently lapping at the shore, with a worried expression.

“The Donzellas are nice,” said Luca. “I'm sure they'd let him stay. It'll be fine.” He, too, was yawning. “We'll go see them in the morning.”

That was reassuring, but it did leave a problem. “Where are we gonna stay?” Flavia asked. She and Papa Leo were staying with the Paguro family, but she wouldn't be able to go there.

“You can borrow my bed,” said Giulia. “I've stayed over with Luca's family before, I can do that again. Is that okay, Papà?”

Massimo nodded, as did Daniela Paguro.

“Always happy to have you,” she told Giulia

“Thank you,” said Leonardo. “We'll see you tomorrow, then.”

“Sleep tight,” said Giulia. “You can borrow my Paperino, too, if you want.”

Paperino turned out to be a soft toy duck in a sailor suit. Flavia got into a set of Giulia's pajamas, and hugged the duck as Papa Leo tucked her into bed and gently stroked her hair. A land bed was very soft, so that she sank into it a little, and the covers were nice and warm. She shut her eyes, and after the exciting, exhausting day in San Giuseppe, she was asleep only moments later.

[silentstar423]

The Mercenary (Fanfic, a hazbin hotel story)

Chapter 1: A pretty fucked up morning

It was a sunny morning in Heaven, which seemed quiet and calm without any disturbances, but in a remote place, hidden among the huge angelic urbanization, was hidden among a pile of skyscrapers, the building of the Exorcist Army, where the most sadistic warriors of Heaven lived, Year after year, since the beginning of time, they were responsible for exterminating the sinners, who ended up paying their eternal punishment in Hell, until they were purified by an exorcist during the Day of Extermination, while one of those angels, an exorcist named Kirza, was sleeping in her small room while she slept,

While in the war room was the first human being and the leader of the exorcists Adam and Lute his lieutenant in his army of angelic assassins, who were making preparations for the day of extermination which was only one day away but this annual extermination would not be like any of the previous ones as this one was special, since Adam detested the princess Charlie Morningstar daughter of the fallen angel and king of hell Lucifer Morningstar, and when Charlie had proposed his idea of redemption about redeeming sinners she was threatening the life of Adam's unjustified killing spree and his army of female Exorcists, he threatened Charlie with destroying his dream down to the last piece that will be left standing and the life of Charlie herself and Vaggie his girlfriend who was an exorcist who turned her back on Heaven when she spared a sinner's life.

"Alright I think the whole plan is ready bitch, I think it's time for my band to get ready for a rehearsal before the big day so you know what to do" said Adam which gave an order to Lute which went to the barracks speaker microphone.

To all exorcists, it's time to get your pathetic asses out of bed and report to the training camp for the start of the war games! Lute ordered over the building's loudspeakers to all his Angels.

As the order echoed throughout the building the exorcists got ready and rushed out of their rooms as they headed to the training camp while Kirza was still fast asleep but her rest was interrupted when her sister Luna knocked on the door of her room to wake her up.

Kirza wake up quickly, "We've just been ordered to report to the training camp, don't be late or else you'll get into trouble," said Luna who hurried away so as not to be late for duty.

The sheet was thrown on the floor and Kirza with some laziness got up and sat on the edge of the bed,

"Why did there have to be war games so early in the morning, didn't Adam have anything better to do with all his eternal time, what a bummer," said Kirza.

She stood up and started to get dressed, then she took her dual katanas and put them away using her special Exorcist ability, (The exorcist could put away any kind of objects just by carrying them to her back, because when she made that movement that object or weapon would vanish until it disappeared completely and when they needed that object again they would only have to make the same movement to invoke it again) she finished putting on her boots and gave her wings a shake to get ready, She opened the window of her room from which she flew out quite confidently as she didn't really realize that she had forgotten her exorcist mask on the table in her room, while flying over the training field Kirza spotted her sisters in formation and immediately found Luna to get in formation next to her sister and for her good luck Adam or Lute had not yet arrived to give them the first orders, so she quickly landed with a thud next to Luna who quickly noticed that her sister had shown up but not in her full uniform as she had forgotten her exorcist mask and gave her a little pinch to talk to her.

"Again no Kirz you forgot your mask-" but Luna was interrupted by Adam who arrived making an entrance as if he was a rock star while Lute stood next to him.

"Ladies, today there will be war games and I want to see the most sadistic and merciless bitches that live inside you because tomorrow will be the day of extermination and we will have twice as much time to cause as much bloodshed of those pathetic sinners, I'm finally going to be able to get rid of that bitch and her redemption nonsense" said Adam as he walked in a straight line, going through each Angel in formation, but he stopped in front of Kirza, who noticed that one of his best and most careless soldiers had shown up without her mask making Adam upset.

Sexy legs, what the fuck! "You broke the dress code again, this is the eighth time you've made a mistake, you really don't look like a real angel, in all my fucking life I've never made a single mistake, but you are completely useless Kirza" Adam immediately looked for Lute, but when he didn't find danger tits he shouted his name.

Lute!

"Yes sir, here I am" said Lute as Adam freaked out since he didn't realize that she all that time was behind him.

"Fuck Lute you almost gave me a fucking heart attack damn it, anyway I have better things to do so I'm going to leave you in charge of giving this worthless one a well deserved punishment so she never makes a mistake like that again" said Adam as he flew away while Lute approached Kirza to talk to her

"Your punishment will be to do a thousand push-ups and I hope you finish when I get back otherwise you will get a more severe punishment a been made clear".

"Yes my lieutenant" said Kirza as he lowered his head and began to do his punishment.

"Wait, did I order you to start now as an additional punishment I want you to take my sword to the forge to repair the damage, oh I almost forgot you can start by cleaning my sword."

Lute said while unsheathing his sword quite battered and still covered with blood of the sinners he killed in the last extermination, which he wielded one of the sides of the sword blade on Kirza's chest, cleaning it from the sinner's blood and soiling Kirza's uniform, while she looked away when she felt the disgusting rotten blood staining her uniform.

"well you may begin, and the rest of you break ranks and head to the training field immediately move now!!!!! Shouted Lute as she and the army marched off leaving Kirza alone as she prepared for the arduous physical work ahead of her.

"Fucking bitch" said Kirza as she tried to wipe the blood off her uniform but only made it worse and ended up getting dirtier than she already was to begin with.

"Hey sis you really forgot your mask again" said Luna who came over to talk to Kirza who was trying to clean herself up.

Wait what did you say? - "That again you didn't put on your Exorcist mask" said Luna as she pointed her own mask at Kirza.

Kirza quickly brought her hands to her face to check and realized that she had indeed forgotten her Exorcist mask.

"Well Kirza that exercise isn't going to be on its own, so if I were you I would start at once before Lute comes back and finds out you haven't finished doing them and decides to give you a worse punishment than you already have, see you later kirz" Luna said saying goodbye to her sister and left for the training ground as well.

So reluctantly Kirza started to do the exercise set by Lute which she was doing most of the day until the lieutenant came back and found Kirza finishing the exercise being completely drenched in sweat from the physical effort being about to give up when she was two push-ups away from a thousand to fulfill her punishment.

"wow looks like the useless one was able to serve her punishment after all, well what did you expect my sword isn't going to fix itself so move" said Lute

"Yes my lieutenant" said Kirza who wanted with all her might to punch Lute in the face for being such a fucking bitch all the time and with no other options she took off in a hurry to the forge

Once she arrived at the forge she flew in through the big main door until she landed inside it but immediately due to exhaustion she lost her balance and fell face first to the ground.

"But look who it is, you're a complete mess this time the punishment was quite cruel to you girl" said a mysterious voice which approached Kirza who was already lying on the floor.

Kirza raised his arm to greet the mysterious angel and said "Hello to you too Az" said Kirza greeting Azrael himself the angel of death and the creator of every weapon wielded by every Exorcist that lived in Heaven.

"Come on girl stand up it couldn't have been that bad of a punishment today" said Azrael as he tried not to laugh at Kirza as he saw her lying on the floor of her forge

"I don't think I feel my wings" said Kirza.

"Stop complaining already come on let me help you" said Azrael as he helped Kirza and gave her a chair to rest"

"Well Kirza to what do I owe your visit to my forge".

"As usual Lute took advantage of me he sent me to bring his sword for you to repair" said Kirza as he took out Lute's sword and handed it to Azrael who looked at it carefully.

"Wow the last time she brought her sword she had broken it but it seems that this time she left it in terrible condition and that the Celestial Steel is indestructible fuck Lute should control his strength when handling the sword, this is a real disaster" said Azrael who took the sword to his anvil to get to work on repairing the sword of the lieutenant, at the same time Kirza stood up and leaned on one of the walls where he watched with pleasure Azrael working on the weapon,

while Kirza stood up and leaned on one of the walls of the forge while he watched with pleasure that angel working.

After a while the sound of the hammer tapping stopped and the work was finished.

"Ready I have finished," said Azrael who handed Lute's sword to Kirza who put it away,

"Thank you Az for repairing that fool's sword" said Kirza who was starting to leave the forge.

"Kirza wait a moment, let me see your katanas".

"Yes here they are but I don't think I damaged them" said Kirza confused she handed her weapons to Azrael who went to his personal work table, he put them on his table and with a slide of his hands over the katanas he made a modification to Kirza's weapons which improved them making them lighter and changing their original look to a more elegant one and with golden tones over the blades of the katanas.

"Ready girl here they are, I remembered what we talked about the other time about that video game that you liked about the protagonist's weapons and I decided that you are ready to give an improvement to your weapons with the look of that game, enjoy them" said Azrael who saw with pleasure Kirza's smile when she saw her new katanas.

"Thank you Azrael" said Kirza who jumped up and down to give a hug to the 6 feet tall angel who was taller than the exorcist to thank her for the gift she gave him.

"You're welcome girl but don't waste any more time and go home before you get scolded for being late" said Azrael who turned his back to Kirza to go back to his work.

Kirza left the celestial forge while Azrael turned to look at Kirza one last time as he left.

"Sera, you are an idiot, you should never have done that to Kirza" Said the angel of death to himself, knowing of the existence of a secret that dwelled within the exorcist.

After spending a long day Kirza returned to the exorcists' headquarters, humiliated and exhausted she walked through the area of her sisters' rooms to get to her room, but before arriving she saw Luna next to the door of her room who was waiting for her.

Wow you had a hard day sis, god you really smell awful you stink like you've been in the garbage" said Luna with a mocking tone.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha, very funny Luna, I can go in my room now I just want to take a bath and sleep I'm really tired" said Kirza.

"Of course, you stink and the shower claims your soul but all teasing aside, seriously Kirza be more responsible, as tomorrow we are in for a big kill but I really dislike that we have to fight with our fallen sister.

"Yes I miss Vaggie too, it's been a long time since that day, I don't want to fight against our sister either" said Kirza while lowering his eyes quite sad."

"Calm down Kirz if we manage to find her we have to help her and send this whole Exorcist army thing to hell it's time for things to change" said Luna which gave her a hug Kirza to comfort her, "well go inside and take a bath and rest see you tomorrow have a rest"

"You too get some rest Luna" said Kirza as she walked into her room and started to take off her dirty uniform. She took control of her custom stereo and put on Shepherd of Fire by Avenged Sevenfold, her favorite rock band, as she finished taking off her uniform.

She went into the bathroom and in front of the mirror an angel with a light pink skin tone and white hair was already contemplating her body. Kirza leaned against the sink and sighed, while thinking to herself, "An angel created for one purpose only, to exterminate sinners year after year so that, at the end of an extermination to be put away again as a tool that has fulfilled its purpose until it is required again."

Kirza began to feel an inner rage as he looked at his reflection, prompting him to clench his fist as he looked at himself in the mirror. In a second, she punched the mirror which shattered as her punch nearly punctured the bathroom wall, while small drops of golden blood began to drip from her fist from her bruised knuckles.

Kirza checked the wounds on his knuckles to see what damage was done.

"A tool just looking to do something different with his life" Kirza said as he saw his knuckles bleeding.

After taking a long relaxing bath while Bon Jovi's Runaway was playing, she came out of the bathroom wrapped in a warm towel and went to her closet. She grabbed a clean bra and panties, then changed into her pajamas. She grabbed a hair garter and pinned her hair up. Kirza sat on her bed and brought her hand to her back. Summoning from her inventory her smartphone and opened the gallery app. She looked at the photos from years ago with her sisters. He went through his gallery and saw his memories from when he had received his katanas to his first promotion. But one photo made her serene state change to a more melancholic and reflective one: a picture of her with Luna and Vaggie, taken before an extermination several years ago, from which Vaggie never returned and she knew why.

During this extermination, Kirza was flying over the cannibal quarter with her fellow Exorcists, but she was lagging behind. At one point she saw Lute and Adam landing near an alley in the cannibal quarter and she followed them closely to regroup, but immediately heard a piercing scream coming from that alley. Kirza quickly landed on the rooftop of one of the buildings surrounding the alley and there she saw Vaggie on the ground bleeding from one eye. She then saw Lute tearing off her wings and leaving her badly wounded in the alley, while Adam took Vaggie's halo and they both left the alley. Vaggie was cast out of Heaven forever

but Kirza wanting to go to help his sister Exorcist who was lying on the ground, received the order to retreat immediately by the communicator of his helmet at the same time he saw the portal open in the sky, he had no choice but to leave Vaggie in that alley to his fate feeling guilty for having made that decision, because when he returned to heaven, Adam cheered about the slaughter of that year for his troops. He then displayed Vaggie's halo as a war trophy.

"That bitch Vaggie, you turned your back on heaven saving the life of a pathetic demon I remind each of you that if this happens again, I will personally see to it that I eject your pathetic corpses straight to hell" Adam said as he made it quite clear to his troops what awaited them if they made that mistake again.

Kirza wiped the tears from her face and put her phone away. She lay back down on the bed and turned off the light. Everything was dark except for the faint starlight coming through the window. Kirza began to drift off to sleep, as one last thought haunted her head.

"I wish I could stop being an Exorcist angel."

As Kirza slept her hand that had suffered injuries because of her began to emanate an aura of a crimson color like a flame which covered her hand, and it began to heal her provoked injuries.

[currentlyfckingurmom]

Beneath the Wreckage (part 6)

series masterlist

A soft knock disrupted Arina’s empty, cold stare at the bare wall. Had she been sleeping, it undoubtedly would have woken her up, despite its quietude. But she wasn’t sleeping; instead, she was analyzing every crack that ran along the old wall, every chip that adorned the cold concrete. Picking apart the flaws of an inanimate object, desperate to push away her own formidable emotions and forged impassivity.

Arina mechanically rose from her place on the floor and schooled her expression into one of balanced neutrality—just enough to look remotely human, but not nearly enough to give anything away.

She opened the bedroom door, unsurprised to find Natasha standing on the other side. She didn’t move, didn’t offer to let Natasha inside. That would be too personal. She didn’t do personal. Not after experiencing so many raw emotions in so little time after years of nothing.

“You okay? You’ve been in here for hours,” Natasha asked with concern. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just needed a minute alone, that’s all,” Arina reassured her.

“Okay, well...the Widows are leaving soon.” Arina nodded and exited the bedroom, closing the door behind her. Natasha got the hint and began walking down the hall alongside the brunette.

“How many are staying to assist?” “Nineteen out of thirty-four. I put in a call to my friend Mason to help get the others situated somewhere safe.”

“Ah, yes. I’ve...encountered Mason before.”

“You mean he helped you do illegal shit?” Natasha asked with a smirk.

“Pretty much.”

“So what’s your take on this? Do you think we should go with the same game plan for the next group?”

“Probably, yes. And then after that, if enough Widows agree to help us, we can split up and do the last two groups at once in two different locations. But what if we’re overthinking this, Natasha?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we do have full control over these girls. And I witnessed it for enough years that I know they’ll do anything you command them to. So can’t we just make them surrender? Come to this location without weapons?”

“We can’t. Dreykov had the three of us marked as targets and I don’t know how to get around it,” Natasha said.

“Oh, come on. You’re kidding, right? You’re the freaking Black Widow! Don’t tell me you forgot your roots. You’re Natalia Alianova Romanova—remember that. You remember the time we hacked the security system so we could steal the good food for Yelena’s birthday? We were only twelve when we did that. This is no different.”

For the first time since they were seventeen, Arina allowed herself to reminisce on those heartfelt moments they shared in the darkest depths of their past. There was a glimmer in Arina’s eye, and Natasha couldn’t tell if it was nostalgia, joy, or something wholly different, but she liked the way it looked on her.

“I could never forget my roots, Aria. ‘Cause then I’d have to forget you, too, and that would be damn near impossible. If we’re doing this, you’re providing snacks.”

“You’ve got yourself a deal. Meet me in the lab in twenty minutes,” Arina said before turning and walking in the direction of the kitchen. Natasha smiled as she walked away. She began to think that Arina wasn’t doing as bad as she thought—that maybe her mind and heart had held together throughout the years. Natasha, of course, was wrong. But, like the world-class spy she is, Arina was damn good at hiding the wars waging in her mind, and Natasha wouldn’t realize the extent of the damage until it had already forced a breakdown—one that Arina wouldn’t be able to cover up.

⧗

Yelena’s light footsteps faltered when she walked by the lab, her attention drawn to a laugh coming from inside the large room. She poked her head around the doorframe and saw Natasha and Arina huddled over a computer screen. Natasha’s head was thrown back in boisterous laughter, and Arina was looking at the redhead with bright eyes and a small smile, completely oblivious to the blonde woman watching them.

Yelena thought about making a sarcastic comment, but ultimately decided against it and resumed her walk down the hall. Despite her usual outwardly satirical personality, she didn’t want to ruin their moment. She found herself rooting for the two of them, knowing damn well that they would need to overcome a million hindrances of the past before they could ever have any kind of future together.

Yelena continued on her way to the bunkroom to speak to the Widows, but she heard shuffling coming from a room on her left. She opened the door and stepped into the dimly lit room, tense and prepared to face any threat.

There was no threat to face, though. It was only one of the Widows, Valeriya. She was standing in front of a chaotic bulletin board, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Valeriya? What are you doing in here?” Yelena asked as she moved to look at the bulletin board.

“What is all this? Are you guys looking into Madame B?” Valeriya questioned.

“I have no idea. We aren’t looking for her, no. We shouldn’t be in here. Arina is a very private person.”

“Right, sorry,” Valeriya apologized, walking out of the room. Yelena shut off the light and followed her out, closing the door behind them.

“It’s fine. You didn’t know. Come with me to the bunkroom.”

When the two assassins entered the bunkroom, all heads turned to them and every conversation stopped. They weren’t intimidated by Yelena or Valeriya, but it was pure habit.

“I just want to give you guys an update,” Yelena began. “I know this has all been really difficult and we’re kind of flying blind here. But we do have a plan...of sorts. Natasha and Arina are working to eliminate the kill order on their heads, but Dreykov put a lot of restrictions and firewalls in place that they need to get through. If that doesn’t work out, then we’ll free the next two groups the same way we freed all of you. Any questions?”

“When is this all going to happen?” a Widow asked, her thick Russian accent shining through.

“That depends. I have no idea how long it will take them to change the Widows’ orders, if they can even do it. I don’t think it’ll be longer than a week before all the Widows are freed,” Yelena answered. “Is that all?” Nobody asked anything else, so Yelena nodded to herself and said, “We will have dinner ready at seven.”

She left the room and Valeriya stayed behind with the rest of the Widows. She meandered about the halls, repeatedly getting distracted by previously unexplored rooms. From dusty labs to heavily equipped armories, it was all ‘so cool’ and had her eyes wide with wonder. They were never allowed to roam free in the Red Room; they could never stray from their path or be anywhere they weren’t ordered to go, so she was taking her sweet time exploring the bunker.

Eventually, she once again stumbled upon the lab inside which Natasha and Arina were...celebrating?

“Why are you guys jumping about and smiling? Did you win a prize? You look like idiots,” she said dryly as she entered the room and slumped on a stool next to them.

“Yelena, you dumbass, we did it. The orders have been lifted,” Natasha said, the smile never dropping from her face.

“Wait, seriously? You did it? When are they coming?”

“We already sent out the order. They’re on their way. No weapons, no hostility. They’ll head straight here and wait outside the bunker. We’ll lead them into the radiation showers and expose them to the counteragent,” Arina said, her wide smile long gone and the stony expression back in its place.

“Radiation showers? You’re telling me this place has radiation showers?” “Yes, Lena. We need the radiation showers in case something goes wrong in the meth lab. Keep up,” Arina deadpanned, which Yelena ignored.

“That’s amazing. Except you probably would’ve gotten it sooner if you had stopped flirting for five seconds,” Yelena said, slipping off the stool and exiting the lab once again.

⧗

That night after dinner, Arina was on her way to who-knows-where when Valeriya jogged up behind her and tapped on her shoulder. Arina probably would’ve flipped her to the ground or snapped her neck in a split-second had she not heard the Widow coming. Not very discreet for a Red Room assassin, although that may have been Valeriya’s intention.

“Arina, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Uh, sure? I’m sorry, who are you?” Arina asked as Valeriya motioned for her to follow her into an empty conference room.

“I’m Valeriya. I was walking around earlier, and I found the room with the bulletin boards and stuff.” Arina tensed at that, but said nothing. “Are you trying to find Madame B?”

“So what if I am? Why do you need to know?” Arina questioned defensively.

“I’m not a threat, Arina. I just- I have some information that could help, if you’re looking for her.”

“Okay. Tell me.”

“Well, nobody knows for sure where she is. She’s a ghost. There have been rumored sightings all over the globe, but nothing concrete. Before the Red Room fell, though, I was called to Dreykov’s office. Madame B was in there, and he was giving her a file, a USB drive, and orders to ‘find her.’ I don't know who he was talking about. He had me escort her to her jet, and when I caught a glimpse of the flight manifest, the destination was listed as somewhere in France. I don’t remember the town.”

Arina clenched her jaw as her eyes flicked around the room, easily maintaining her cool composure despite the storm in her mind. “How long ago was this?”

“About a week before the Red Room collapsed. I’m sorry I don’t know more.”

“No, don’t– don’t apologize. This is very helpful. Thank you, Valeriya. And don’t tell anyone about this conversation,” Arina spoke hurriedly. She hastily exited the room without so much as a goodbye, her determination echoing with each of her steps.

She didn’t need Valeriya to tell her anything else. Arina knew exactly where Madame B had gone, and she knew exactly who Dreykov had ordered Madame B to find. And it sent her thoughts spiraling, her heart racing, and her memories playing in panicked flashes.

She threw open her bedroom door and slammed it shut behind her. Grabbing an empty duffel bag from the closet, she threw it on the bed and began stuffing clothes inside. Different styles for different aliases. Two combat suits. Weapons. Passports and driver’s licenses. Money.

Once everything was packed, she did something she’d never done before; she hesitated. She sank to the floor and held her head in her hands. She couldn’t just leave. It wasn’t just her anymore. She had to think about the Widows and Lena and Talia. She couldn’t just leave, could she?

⧗

When Natasha knocked on Arina’s door the next morning, there was no answer. She had opted to let Arina sleep in, knowing that Arina doesn’t get much sleep—another thing that hadn’t changed since they were kids. There was no time to sit around and wait for Arina to come out; the Widows were already outside the bunker.

She shook her head with a sigh and marched away from Arina’s door to meet Yelena by the entrance. She ignored the voice in the back of her head telling her that something was wrong. She resisted the feeling in her gut pulling her back toward Arina’s room. She had other priorities—a responsibility to those Widows who were still pinned under the thumb of a despicable man who was no longer alive.

Arina was still in her room, though. Still sitting on her floor. Mind still running so fast that every thought was nothing more than a blur. Still twiddling the silver N between her fingers, absentmindedly finding hope in the scrap of her favorite memory. Still staring at the chipped, cracked concrete.

Until she stopped.

Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt. Her fingers stopped moving. She came to a decision.

But she was still staring at the chipped, cracked concrete. Picking apart the simplicity of an inanimate object, desperate to forget the complexities of her own past.

[weaselle]

i really appreciate the information and intent here, but i do just have to say that specifically both dogs and chimpanzees have a lot more nuance to their smiles than what this post indicates.

Dogs literally evolved facial muscles that wolves don't have so they can communicate with humans better, and dogs do have a couple of happy smile expressions. The problem is, you have to really know what you're looking at to tell the difference

here is my dog smiling a happy smile

and here is one where his smile is even more relaxed and happy

Next, below, is a picture of my dog in high heat stress (i removed him from this situation about 20 seconds after i snapped this pic, we both fell asleep in a tent in the middle of the day and woke up being baked, he is way too hot here. I sent this picture to his other owner, who was working as a vet tech at that time, and she immediately texted back "too hot!" -- if you know dogs, and especially if you know the individual dog, the difference is very clear)

in the too hot picture you can see he's sort of smiling more like this

and here is something in between, where he is just a little tired and maaaybe a little hot from running around excitedly in the cool air, but also happy and satisfied and relaxed and low stress

in this next picture he has a 100% not stressed, real, wants-to-play smile

whereas the next pic is a low heat, but very high stress "smile"

in this pic we are practicing being calm around cats, who Badger does not like or trust, and which fill him with a mix of both fight and flight feelings (he's being a very good boy for me, but he is pretty stressed, and only maintaining his composure by refusing to look at the cats next to him. Sometimes i take him places there are cats, so this was a good training opportunity for us, but he is experiencing stress)

and finally here is a "please" smile where he really wants something (in this case, to go on a run)

similarly, rigorous studies of chimpanzee facial expressions show that they smile for a wide variety of reasons that yes, include fear and aggression, but also include things like appeasement or placation, and also play.

in this somewhat famous picture, for example

Many people were quick to say a lot of "inviting you to be drowned" and "they smile when they want to murder you" kind of comments, but if you look up the description of the event from the photographer, this bonobo is simply asking for the camera, which, though mysterious, is very obviously a fascinating and high-value object to the people, please hand it to me.

The apes that the photographer and accompanying ape behaviorists were recording (because voluntarily swimming and playing in water is another thing we thought these apes never did) were apparently very interested in his camera and they tried many times to entice him to hand it over. This is a "please share" smile, and according to the ape behaviorists, and is in no way threatening.

Chimpanzees and bonobos (and before you say anything about bonobos happy-smiling more because they are so happy and peaceful, you should know that bonobos actually fight each other MORE than chimps, it's just bonobos don't really ever fight to the point serious injury or death while chimps often do... but bonobos actually throw hands significantly more often than chimps, and do plenty of threat displays) both utilize smiles in ways science is only recently recognizing.

The truth is, like most things, animal communication is very nuanced.

Again, i don't want to take away from the main point of the post -- the number of videos and photos i see of "cute" or "happy" animals that are actually clearly in distress if you know what to look for is, frankly, tragic. I am very glad OP made their post about it.

I've even seen a "heroic" mother-chicken-defends-baby-chicks-from-hawk video where the hawk was very clearly either injured or ill or drugged or something, and was literally thrown into an enclosure with the chickens to film the also stressed out chickens attacking the poor hawk who was barely aware of what was happening. It looked like it was super over-heated, or maybe it had been hit in the head or something, it was a, basically an acutely disabled hawk, that somebody used badly to make some kind of stupid "inspirational" animal video.

So posts like this are important.

i just wanted to be accurate about the fact that dogs and chimpanzees do actually smile for smiling reasons, and just like with humans, a lot of knowing which is what is knowing the context... but you can also often tell just by looking closely at the expression if you really know what to look for (i don't know what to look for in apes, i just read a couple facial expression studies about it, but working professionally with dogs, i pay special attention to the tension around their eyes and the corners of their mouth, and what their tongue is doing, among other cues)

and of course i have my own dog's expressions dialed in. Sometimes he actually gets my attention and makes, like, an approximation of his too hot face at me when his water bowl is empty and he wants a drink.

And there are times he smiles a real smile

Alligator Body Language and You, or: How To Know When An Alligator On Social Media is Being Stressed for Views

Alligators are wild animals. Despite the idiotic claims of animal abusers like Jay Brewer, they cannot be domesticated, which means they are always going to react on the same natural instincts they've had for millions of years. Habituated, yes. Tamed, yes. Trained, definitely. Crocodilians can form bonds with people- they're social and quite intelligent. They can solve problems, use tools, and they're actually quite playful. Alligators are also really good at communicating how they're feeling, but to somebody who doesn't spend much time around them, their body language can be a bit mystifying. And it doesn't help when social media influencers are saying shit like this:

That is not what a happy gator looks like.

That's a terrified, furious gator who isn't attacking because the ogre handling her has her in a chokehold. She's doing everything she can to express her displeasure, and he's lying about it because he knows his audience doesn't even know how to think critically about what he's doing. He knows that because his audience doesn't know anything about these animals, he can get away with it. This I think is why I hate him so much- he deliberately miseducates his audience. He knows what he's doing is factually inaccurate, he just doesn't care because attention means more to him than anything else in the world.

Let's change that! Here are two really important lessons for understanding alligator body language on social media.

Lesson 1: Alligators Don't Smile (in fact, most animals don't)

So what's going on in this video? Jay Brewer is aggressively choking his white alligator Coconut while scrubbing algae off of her with a toothbrush. And make no mistake, he is digging into the creature's throat while she is visibly distressed. He claims she's happy- but she's not. He is willfully misrepresenting what this animal is feeling. That's a problem, because people... well, we actually kind of suck at reading other species' body language. The reason for this is that we tend to overlay our own responses on their physical cues, and that's a problem. For example, let's look at an animal with a really similar face to ours, the chimpanzee. Check out Ama's toothy grin!

Wait, no. That's not a happy smile. That's a threat display. When a chimpanzee "smiles," it's either terrified and doing a fear grimace, or it's showing you its teeth because it intends on using them in your face.

How about a dog? Look at my smiling, happy puppy!

Oh wait no, this is a picture of Ryder when he was super overwhelmed by noise and people during a holiday party. He'd hopped up in my sister's lap to get away from stuff that was happening on the floor and was panting quite heavily. See the tension in the corners of his mouth and his eyes? A lot of the time when a dog "smiles," the smile isn't happy. It's stress! Why Animals Do The Thing has a nice writeup about that, but the point is, our body language is not the same as other species. And for reptiles, body language is wildly different.

For instance, look at these two alligators. Pretty cute, right? Look at 'em, they're posing for a Christmas card or something! How do you think they're feeling?

Well, I'll tell you how the normal one is feeling. He's annoyed! Why is he annoyed? Because the albino just rolled up, pushed another gator off the platform, and is trying to push this guy, too. I know this because I actually saw it happen. It was pretty funny, not gonna lie. He's not gaping all the way, but he was hissing- you can actually see him getting annoyed in the sequence I took right before this shot. Look at him in this first shot here- he's just relaxing, and you can see he isn't gaping even a little bit.

By the end, he's expressing displeasure, but not enough to actually do anything about it. He's annoyed, but he's comfy and that's where one of the best basking areas is, so he'll put up with it.

Reptiles open their mouths wide for a lot of reasons, but never because they are actively enjoying a sensation. Unless they're eating. No reptile smiles- they can't. They don't even have moveable lips. If a reptile is gaping, it's doing so because:

It is doing a threat display.

It is making certain vocalizations, all of which are threats. Alligators are one of the rare reptiles that do regularly vocalize, but most of their calls aren't made with a wide open mouth.

It is about to bite something delicious or somebody stupid. Check out this video- virtually all of the gaping here is anticipatory because these trained gators know darn well that the bowl is full of delicious snacks. (I have some issues with Florida's Wildest, but the man knows how to train a gator AND he is honest about explaining what they're doing and why, and all of his animals are healthy and well-cared for, and he doesn't put the public or his staff at risk- just himself.)

It's too hot and it has opened its mouth to vent some of that heat and thermoregulate. This is the main reason why alligators will often have their mouths part of the way open, but sometimes they'll open all the way for thermoregulation. This is what a thermoregulatory gape looks like- usually it's not all the way open, kinda more like < rather than V, but you can't say that 100% of the time. Additionally, a thermoregulatory gape... typically happens when it's hot out. If they're inside, maybe they've been under their basking light for too long. Heat's the dominant factor, is what I'm getting at.

There is another reason that a captive crocodilian might be gaping, and that's because it's doing so on command. Some places have their gators trained to gape on cue, like St. Augustine Alligator Farm and other good zoos. They have the animals do this in presentations that are genuinely educational. They ask the animals to open their mouths so that they can show off their teeth and demonstrate how their tongues seal off the back of their mouth. They'll also do it as part of routine healthcare, because looking at their teeth is important.

In this case, the animals aren't gaping because they're stressed, they're gaping because they know they're gonna get a piece of chicken or fish if they do it. And what's more, they're doing it on cue. They have a specific command or signal that tells them to open wide. It's not an instinctive response to a situation. It's trained. If the animal provides the behavior after a cue, the situation is much less likely to be negatively impactful.

It's also important to remember that there's a difference between a partially open mouth and a gape! As discussed above, alligators will often have their mouths a little bit open just to maintain temperature homeostasis. It helps them stay comfy, temperature-wise. These guys are all doing thermoregulatory open-mouthed behavior- that slight open and relaxed body posture is a dead giveaway. (That and it's the hottest spot in the enclosure.)

Lesson 2: A Happy Gator Is A Chill Gator

So if alligators don't smile or have facial expressions other than the :V that typically signifies distress, how else can you tell how they're feeling? One way is stillness. See, alligators subscribe to the philosophy of if it sucks... hit da bricks.

Basically, if they hate it, they'll leave. Unless, y'know, somebody has their meaty claws digging into their throat or is otherwise restraining them. (Restraint isn't always bad, btw. Sometimes the animal is going through a medical thing or needs to be restrained for their safety- which a responsible educator will explain.)

Let's look at a very similar scenario, in which a captive alligator is getting his back scrubbed.

As you can see, it's quite different. First, he's not being restrained at all. Second, look at how relaxed he is! He's just chilling there vibing! He could simply get up and leave if he wanted to, because he's not being held. Towards the end of the video, as he lifts his head, you can see that his respiratory rate is very even as his throat flutters a bit. I'm not sure what this facility is, so I can't comment on care/general ethics, but like. In this specific case, this is an alligator enjoying being scrubbed! And you can tell because he's not doing anything. A happy gator is content to be doing what they're doing.

Why Should I Listen To You?

Now, you should ask yourself, why should you listen to me? Why should you trust me, who does not own an alligator, versus Jay Brewer, who owns several?

Well, first off, there's no profit for me in telling you that what you're seeing on social media is in fact not what you're being told you're seeing. I'm not getting paid to do this. That's the thing with people who make social media content. The big names aren't doing it just for fun. They're doing it for money. Whether that's profit through partnerships or sponsorships, or getting more people to visit their facilities, or ad revenue, you can't ignore the factor of money. And this is NOT a bad thing, because it allows educators to do what they're passionate about! People deserve to be paid for the work that they do!

But the problem starts when you chase the algorithm instead of actually educating. A "smiling" alligator gets the views, and if people don't know enough to know better, it keeps getting the views. People love unconventional animal stories and they want those animals to be happy- but the inability to even know where to start with critically evaluating these posts really hinders the ability to spread real information. Like, this post will probably get a couple hundred notes, but that video of Coconut being scrubbed had almost 400,000 likes when I took that screenshot. Think about how many eyeballs that's reached by now. What I'm saying here is that it's just... really important to think critically about who you're getting your information from. What do dissenters say in the comments? What do other professionals say? You won't find a single herpetologist that has anything good to say about Prehistoric Pets, I can tell you that right now.

Another reason you can trust me is that my sources are not "just trust me bro," or "years of experience pretending my pet shop where animals come to die is a real zoo." Instead, here are my primary sources for my information on alligator behavior:

Dragon Songs: Love and Adventure among Crocodiles, Alligators, and Other Dinosaur Relations- Vladimir Dinets

The Secret Social Lives of Reptiles- J. Sean Doody, Vladimir Dinets, Gordon M. Burghardt

Social Behavior Deficiencies in Captive American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis)- Z Walsh, H Olson, M Clendening, A Rycyk

Social Displays of the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)- Kent Vliet

Social Signals and Behaviors of Adult Alligators and Crocodiles- Leslie Garrick, Jeffery Lang

Never smile at a crocodile: Gaping behaviour in the Nile crocodile at Ndumo Game Reserve, South Africa- Cormac Price, Mohamed Ezat, Céline Hanzen, Colleen Downs (this one's Nile crocs, not American alligators, but it's really useful for modeling an understanding of gape behaviors and proximity)

Thermoregulatory Behavior of Captive American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis)- Cheryl S. Asa, Gary D. London, Ronald R. Goellner, Norman Haskell, Glenn Roberts, Crispen Wilson

Unprovoked Mouth Gaping Behavior in Extant Crocodylia- Noah J. Carl, Heather A. Stewart, Jenny S. Paul

Thank you for reading! Here's a very happy wild alligator from Sanibel for your trouble.

[mae-mae-me]

PLEASE CHECK THIS OUT

First half of chapter 1 under the cut;

Peter looked at me with wide eyes. He was breathing fast, jerkily, and by the time I processed what had happened, he was half-way to a full-blown panic attack. “April,” he gasped, breaths coming out sporadically, “April, what the fuck are we going to do?”

I was staring at my hands, eyes blank. They were flickering in and out of visibility, my mind and body apparently unable to decide if I should hide or not. The alleyway we were in - that we were deposited in - was dark, looming, and before I had realised it, my spider-sense had warned me of the person at the mouth of it. If I hadn’t been so out of it, if Peter hadn’t been occupied with his panic attack, we would’ve heard them long before they got there.

“Hey! Brats! Scram, get out of here! This is my turf and I’m not having you lot stay here!” He looked angry, and drunk, and ironically this is what got me out of my fugue state, what helped Peter calm down a little. Getting dropped into an unrecognisable alleyway had shaken us, but it seemed that drunk, angry people were always around, no matter what dimension you got dropped in.

That thought almost had me disassociating again, before I got a firm grip on myself. Get yourself into a place where you can panic properly first before you have a mental breakdown I thought.

A plan was what I needed, and even the bare bones of what I had calmed me down somewhat. I turned to Peter, who although had snapped out of his panic attack by virtue of the drunk, wasn’t faring well. “Peter. Hey, Pete. We need to move.” Grabbing his hands, I let just the bare bones of my strength leak through, helping to ground him in the moment.

I could imagine what he was thinking - what his mind must have conjured for him to look so broken. I cursed Dr. Strange for the hundredth time in my mind, if only for the fact that the magic that had thrown us here had us feeling like we had dematerialised into ash.

Yeah. I’m sure you know what memory Peter was reliving.  I hauled myself up, and still grabbing his hand, dragged him out of there.

We stumbled out of the alleyway, and into the main road - if you could call it that. It was dark, and the pollution was thick, but it couldn’t hide the gothic architecture or the grimy cityscape. The buildings loomed, dark shadows cast over the street. There were neon signs out every couple of buildings, but they flickered half-heartedly, the light dying intermittently. It was as though even the inanimate objects here were warning us to leave.

Peter was still shaking, his breaths uneven, and when I looked back at him he looked haunted. But I had the brief thought that at least he was moving - at least he wasn’t stuck in that seedy alley. More alert than I was before, my spider-sense tingled at the base of my head, a constant hum that never dimmed - warning me to not let down my guard.

My eyes flickered over the faces of people, their heads down. They walked like they were afraid of getting jumped, wary looks given to me before they hurried away. My thoughts were bitter as person after person looked at me, took a glance at Peter, and lowered their eyes before they walked off.

My faith in humanity died a little at that point.

I tightened my grip on Peter a little, trying to convey some semblance of reassurance. His tight hold on me tightened further, and I flashed him a quick smile when he looked at me. My smile was weak, fleeting, but it seemed to be enough to ground Peter a little more.

We kept walking, aimlessly, it felt but we needed to find somewhere to regroup. To think. It felt like hours, but was maybe only 45 minutes before Peter was tugging at me to stop.

“April, look.” I looked over to what he was pointing at - a small sign that was innocuous and easily passed over. ‘Narrows Shelter’ it read, and I looked over at the building. It looked - clean for a lack of description. It was by no means the Ritz, but it was a far cry better than what I’d seen so far in this depressing city. It wasn’t much but it was something.

I nodded at him, and we hurried over, hoping to find somewhere to sleep for the night. We walked through the doors, and the inside of the lobby matched the outside. The place was clean, and although it looked run-down, I knew that it was our best shot at the moment. Remembering the seedy bars that the neon signs advertised, I shivered a little and prayed that we got something right today.

The Universe owed us.

Wait.

That thought had me spiralling again, the thought that I was in a different dimension. A different UNIVERSE.

By the time I had checked back in, fingernail indents carved into my hands, I could hear the tail end of the conversation that Peter had with the receptionist.

“Room 3B. Keep your heads down and don’t cause trouble.” She sounded brusque, but not unkind.

I could feel a hysterical laugh bubble up at the back of my throat, threatening to come out. Us? Keep out of trouble?

Peter gave me a look, correctly identifying the look in my eye. I swallowed it down, thanked the lady, and we made our way to the back of the shelter. The room was small, with 2 small cots and a window that was so dirty it let in barely any light. But the room was clean, the beds looking not bad. It felt like a sanctuary compared to the streets outside.

Peter sank onto one of the cots, and I followed him, my hand still grasped firmly in his. “We’ll figure this out Pete. We always do.” I laid my head on his shoulder, and felt as he nodded above me.

“Yeah,” he sighed heavily, but I could hear some hesitation in his voice. “April what if we– what if we can’t find a way back?”

I stayed silent, doubt nagging at me. What platitudes could I say when that thought had been running in my mind?

I’d assumed that when I was able to find somewhere to rest – somewhere for my mind to shut down – that I’d have the panic attack I was pushing back. But I just … disassociated. I couldn’t compartmentalise what had happened and my body felt – floaty. I was in a haze, and I didn’t want to go back to the panic-filled haze that my mind had been in before.

I could just – relax. Let everything drop, if only for a minute, and if my hands were trembling, if my glassy eyes held tears, then I didn’t make note of it.

The shelter helped with that. It was quiet, the background sounds muted; footsteps, murmured conversations, the occasional cough. It was a lot louder to me than to the average person – and I think that was what had ultimately grounded me; the fact that my enhanced senses still worked in this hellhole, that I hadn’t lost my powers.

 I refused to think about what I could hear outside the shelter.

“We can think of a plan later, Pete,” I said eventually. I looked up at him, and I could see the exhaustion on him. “Let’s try to go to sleep first.”

He looked down at me, and his eyes softened with an emotion I couldn’t identify. “Ok April,” he said.

We settled into our respective cots, exhaustion laying us down like a heavy blanket. We lay there for a while, and drifted off after a bit. The last thing I could remember before I fell asleep was the dizzying relief I felt in the fact that Peter was with me. That the spell hadn’t careened out of order, and separated us.

[neko-riddles]

Japanese folktales inspiring fighting games

Yokai have been a key source of inspiration for characters in anime and manga for years. Some of the best known and popular series use Japanese folk tales and mythology as the basis of their plots. Even the most casual of anime fans have a passing knowledge of yokai – name an anime fan you know that hasn’t seen the Oscar award winning spirited away.

But it’s not just anime and manga that have dipped their toes into the world of jumping umbrellas and turtle men balancing dishes of water on their heads – kasa-obake and kappa respectively. Video games are well known for their love for Japanese folklore and the creeps.

One genre of games that have taken great inspiration from Yokai and Japanese folktales has been fighting games.

Bishamon: Darkstalkers series

It’s funny – despite the series drawing from mythology and horror creatures for its cast, the Capcom developed Darkstalkers series actually has little in ways representation of Japanese folklore and Yokai. That said, the walking set of samurai armour Bishamon makes up for this dearth in spades.

Bishamon is surrounded by floating blue flames called Hitodama (said to be the souls of the dead separated from their bodies) while the idea of a possessed set or armour is often compared with tsukumogami – tools or items that are inhabited by a spirit, or Yokai that have lived so long they’ve have since transformed into an object.

Bishamon wears his ghostly inspiration on his sleeves, with moves such as the oni kubi hineri summoning spectral hands to squeeze the opponent, while the tsurane giri conjures up a line of ghostly samurai to slice up your enemy.

Oni: Street Fighter series

Throughout Street Fighter’s history, the character Akuma (aka Gouki) has been gifted with a number of different forms and costumes the emphasise his place in the roster as the big bad, the final boss and major antagonist for main character Ryu.

The fourth mainline game in the series saw a number of revisions, each adding a handful of new characters to play with. The last update to the game, Ultra Street Fighter Four, added a new form for Akuma to cement his place as the main antagonist – Oni.

Oni have been a constant source of inspiration for a number of video game characters, often used as visual shorthand for the character’s rage, bestiality and sometimes, stupidity. In the broadest of terms, oni are known for their superhuman strength and have been associated with powers like thunder and lightning, along with their evil nature manifesting in their propensity for murder and cannibalism.

Having thrown away his humanity in the search for power, Akuma’s transformation into Oni also invokes other parts of Japanese mythology and religion. His design is evocative of beings such as Fūjin and Raijin, the Shinto gods of wind and thunder respectively.

Orochi: King of Fighters series

Another fighting game final boss and another character that draws inspiration from Japanese myths and legends. Deviating a little from the original tale told in the Nihon Shogi, Orochi is still a monstrous eight headed serpent with a penchant for evil.

Unlike his mythological counterpart, King of Fighter’s Orochi is described as the will of the planet that does anything to keep the planet safe from any perceived. As you can probably guess, the greatest threat to the planet is the deadliest animal of them all – man! Thus begins a campaign to wipe out the human race in a misguided attempt to go back to when things were better before they came along. They took er jerbs!

Orochi’s in game design doesn’t really scream ancient Japanese deity. In fact, the white trousers, bare chest with tattoo design is a little bare bones in a series renowned for stylish characters. Still, if anything I hope I’ve inspired you enough to learn more about the original story.

Hisako: Killer Instinct

Let’s take a quick detour away from the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’ to explore how Japanese folklore has been represented in the West and it’s fighting games. Rare’s Killer Instinct has drawn inspiration from many sources for its diverse cast of characters, but none wear their influence on their kimono sleeves than Hisako.

Hisako’s spooky visage is directly based on an Onryō or avenging ghost, a spectral being born from a person dying – often a woman – with hatred and resentment in their heart. These vengeful spirits go out into the world seeking to right the wrongs caused to them in live, often resulting is death and disaster wherever they roam.

Onryō in popular media often recognisable by their long, unkempt black hair and deathly pale faces – a holdover from their depiction in kabuki theatre. Hisako follows this visual shorthand, but adds a bit of visual flair with the inclusion of a beautiful red kimono and the use of a naginata as her signature weapon.

Sanpei: Blood Warrior

Meet Sanpei and there’s no other way of putting it other than he’s a kappa. Giant turtle man? Check. Little dish for water on his head? Check. Move set that takes heavy inspiration from tokusatsu legend and giant turtle monster Gamera? Check?

Sanpei made their debut in Shogun warriors where they were named Kappa (yeah, they really weren’t trying too hard with the green fella). They were swept up with a majority of the cast to join its sequel Blood Warrior, a poor man’s attempt at replicating Mortal Kombat’s success by having all the characters portrayed by digitised actors and shovelling in copious amounts of gore.

This results in a rather goofy turtle man portrayed by a poor actor in a Poundland Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles costume breathing blue flames on his enemies and darting around the screen in a rocket propelled fashion much like his big screen kaiju brother.

[kizzer55555]

So I don’t know if this counts but here’s a DP x spn crossover idea I have. So basically, something happens and the Winchester brothers come across infinite realm ghosts. Vlad specifically (could be just him, could be others.) and they get separated. They try everything they can think of but none of their tricks work on Vlad. He treats the holy water like normal water, can cross salt lines, unbothered by the numerous chants they’ve tried or sigils they write, and any of their actual weapons such as guns, silver, iron, holy metal or other, even a good old fist to the face, just pass right through him. They have NEVER encountered a creature like this before. They don’t even know what it is. But whatever it is has a myriad of powers they’ve never seen before and is pretty much invincible. And then they get separated. (Maybe in the ghost zone, maybe in some random location. Maybe they were trapped in Walker��s ghost prison for being ‘illegal humans’ and Vlad is acting Warden or wants an object from them? Who knows?) So Sam is running from this…creature and Danny ends up seeing this happen and decides to help out when it appears Vlad might kill him. And Sam has no idea why a clearly supernatural creature is helping him, especially since he thinks they might be the same species?? But he keeps running. And then at some point Sam is cornered again and Danny takes a hit meant for the guy (maybe at first Danny was just tackling Vlad and Sam thought it was some kind of territorial thing and while it was supicious the second creature kept putting itself between Sam and the first creature, he chalked it up to a coincidence because there was no reason for it to help him) and a strike was about to hit Sam but Danny, after being thrown down in the opposite direction, very clearly throws himself between Sam and the hit, taking it himself. And tells Sam to run. This changes the tide of battle as before they were kinda even but now Danny is injured. So Sam runs while the second humanoid creature distracts the first (a little bitter because it appeared to be a kid) and then practically crashed into Dean. And they have the chance to get away but Sam stops him and explains about the other creature who saved him. Saying they couldn’t just leave him there. Besides, it looked like a kid. And Obviously Dean is ready to leave. (If they did have an object Vlad wanted, it was lost long ago in the fight and not worth their lives. But maybe they just interrupted his business and he didn’t want witnesses.) So Dean is convincing his brother to leave when they hear a noise and both immediately hide and then look out to see the first hostile creature dragging the unconscious form of the second creature away and the second creature is clearly injured. And looks like a kid. Maybe 15 years old.

And then a green portal opens up that gives off the most ominous presence, enough to make a shiver go down their spines, and the first creature is dragging the injured, young second creature through and so Dean says fine and gives in but makes it clear he’s only helping so they can figure out what the fudge those things are. So they get Danny away from Vlad. Maybe they shoot Vlad and it actually works because Vlad wasn’t expecting it and didn’t phase through it, or maybe they hit him right when the portal closed and it distracted him, maybe it’s just an outright smoke bomb kidnapping and they just bolt? But basically, they do something and now Vlad is gone and they have an unconscious, glowing, bleeding teenager. So they just kinda…manhandle the body into the Impala and really, they should not have as much experience manhandling unconscious, corpse like bodies into their car, but they do. So now they have an unconscious and injured unknown creature who is likely a child of the unknown species and Dean figures that at the very least, if they are helping him they‘ll figure a few things out so as they are trying to use medical supplies to fix up the scratches and burns and stop the oozing, glowing green substance flowing from the kids wounds that they think is his blood. Dean is also doing research on what the heck they just fought. As well as poking the unconscious teen with various things. Now that he isn’t phasing through them. Iron? No. Silver? No. Holy water? Nah, just passes right over the skin like normal water. Salt? Nah. What about fire? “Dean!”

“What?”

And so the experiments/impromptu surgery happens and it’s not like they can take the kid to a normal hospital so they go to see Bobby. And he just sees the two brothers awkwardly trying to drag a glowing body out of the Impala that is covered in amateur bandaging and leaking a green substance over everything. If this is a point in the series where Cas is present, he shows up later (likely was also separated from the brothers during the fight and then reunited with them at the car as they are running to it while carrying the unconscious Danny. Or maybe shows up at the car after the battle, sees them, and is like, what is that?) and Cas can’t even identify what Danny is. Not a demon. He doesn’t sense a malevolent presence from him. But not fully human either. Too strong. And a connection to death? (Did Vlad or anyone se mention they were ghosts and the Winchester’s just didn’t believe them/thought the creature was messing with him?) uuhhhh…I’m not sure if he’s breathing but the blood hasn’t stopped flowing. Ghost? Zombie?

“He’s too….alive to be a zombie.”

“He’s too alive to be a ghost!”

Cas says he’s closer to an angel than anything but something’s still off. And he doesn’t have any grace.

“Wouldn’t a graceless angel just be a human?”

So when Danny finally wakes up it’s going to be ✨interesting✨. But basically, Danny stays in Phantom form and the Winchesters have no idea he’s part human. Even if Danny does change to his human form, they just think it’s some kind of shapeshifting ability. (Does Danny tell them and they don’t believe him? Does he keep it secret? Does he think they already know/figure if they accept his ghost side there’s no need to hide the human part and just, not bother hiding it but they don’t pick up context clues?). So they now have a baby…thing…join them.

Is this a bad Fenton parents universe and Danny ran away? Nasty burger incident and Danny was running from Vlad? Is this Danny on ‘vacation’ with his Godafther and prefers spending time with the Winchesters Until he has to go home rather than the fruitloop? Does Danny just disappear because he was injured/saved and his parents just haven’t realised it yet? Is Danny jumping between the Winchesters and Amity? Who knows!

Hhh

That’s right. It’s 2:46am and I’m ready to take on Supernatural. Have I finished the show? ✨no✨ have I watched it at all since middle school ✨no✨ . And yet here we are.

I feel like I draw Danny almost exclusively in a state of panic or despair. Anyway, most dpXspn crossovers start by answering those^^ questions, sometimes the brothers are friends of the Fenton family, sometimes they just kinda happen upon him or amity. And either don’t know abt his ghost half or uh try to kill him.. I mean I think they try to kill him either way,,

Which is why I love>>

ThiS^ the brothers show up to the bunker for the first time in a while and- What the SHit?? Is that a child??? Bobby has a knack for taking care of children of neglectful hunter parents. Bonus points if there’s something obviously off about that kid,,, Bobby,, Bobby, I’m pretty sure that’s eyeshine,, Bobby please he’s obviously not human.

Danny: “there’s a ghost near by”

Bobby: “thanks buddy”

Dean: “???????????”

Then again there’s ol’ reliable: summon Ghost King

For whatever reason, the boys summon Danno either by accident or bc they need the help of the famed Ghost King and confusion on both sides ensues.

✨friendship✨ Danny is a paradoxical migraine, a being both dead and alive Cas probably has to deal with him at some point..

Idk either way, no dp fic is really complete without

That’s right boys, you’ve just combined two heavy angst potential worlds, and is it your job to bare the weight of it all? Nope- it’s His. Put the misery of the world right on his little shoulders and watch him squirm . Are we really better than that of which we rend?

When given the Winchester brand flannel, Danny likes to tuck it in his pants, specifically bc it pisses them off.

There really aren’t enough DPXSPN fics out there, and maybe that’s for the best.

….but if you happen to have any recommendations *grabby hands**

I’m in love with the premise of Wayward Son by avearia on Ao3 ajhsjsksk k good night