#which is to go: I would die for him actually

[snakesafraidtodie]

Danny was done. The heroes of this dimension had been arguing over what to "do" with him ever since they found out the Ghost King was a 'child'.

Some were arguing that he be placed with the other young heroes on the kiddie team of this world so that he could have "a support network" and "safety net to mature." Others claimed that they couldn't keep a kid away from his home dimension so they should instead find a way to free Phantom from the burden of the crown so that he could be a kid at home.

Absolutely none of them listened when he politely tried to bring them back to the actual topic of discussion. The whole reason they'd summoned him was because some people of their world were using rifts to his realm as a means to escape his jurisdiction or condemn others before their time. "Heal the dead and dying, kill the healthy." Was how Constantine described it.

Danny had an appointment with Justice League Dark to go over the next steps regarding the rifts and whether reparation was due on either side next week! But apparently the Justice League were in too much of a hurry to address the problem to follow official channels and instead rudely summoned him without so much as a by-your-leave. And now, instead of talking about their oh-so-urgent problem, they were arguing over his head like he was a kid they needed to manage!

So yeah. Danny was done. He snagged a piece of paper and scrawled a note.

"Due to the Justice League's inability to display the proper respect to the Ghost King due to His apparent age, We hereby appoint Dan Phantom as correspondent in the King's place, to be served as part of Dan's sentence for the annihilation of a timeline. As an alternate Justice League was destroyed by Dan's hand in said timeline, We believe this to be a fine test of restraint to ascertain the efficacy of Dan's rehabilitation. Signed, Danny Phantom- King of the Infinite."

Danny made eye contact with one of the room's security cameras, placed the note purposefully on the table, and left. The arguing voices of the heroes followed him through the portal until he closed it with a flick of the wrist.

What was next on his agenda? Danny took a look and sighed. Another hero. At least this time it was a dead one.

..

Tony has been at this for years. What's "this" you may ask? Paperwork.

Endless. Fucking. Paperwork.

Organizing trillions of files, separating the temporary dead of those dusted from those who died permanently due to the chaos of the aftermath.

Of course it wasn't literal paper anymore. He was Tony Fucking Stark, thank you very much. He could digitize and streamline the afterlife's bureaucratic bullshit in his sleep. And once he had the mainframe up and running, he even had help from the ghost of JARVIS! Which left Tony free to complete the requisite forms to retroactively gain the time-travel license that would keep him out of ghost jail.

But then the license paperwork was completed and all too soon Tony was left with nothing to do. Even with JARVIS and ghost computers, crunching the data of the deaths of over half of all life of a universe took time. Tony's penchant for mechanized efficiency was biting him in the ass. He was stuck in his least favorite state: waiting for the machines to finish their work.

Sure, he had JARVIS to talk to, (and yes, that reunion had been tearful) but Tony was a multitasker! He needed another project to work on! But everything in this ghostly rendition of his workshop was completely intangible unless directly related to the task of organizing deaths from temporary deaths. It was torture to see his tools right there, to have ideas in his head and energy in his hands, only for his fingers to slip through tools like mist.

Tony had resorted to printing out actual paperwork to relieve his boredom! The horror!

...

JARVIS: Sir, it appears you have a visitor.

Tony: Who the fuck? Did someone else die? Damn copy cats. I should sue.

JARVIS: The Ghost King has come to discuss your request to haunt your home world despite it lacking the necessary structures to support ghosts.

Danny: Yes, hi. Sorry for the wait-

Tony: Sorry for the wait?! It's been literal years! Is this the thanks I get for saving the world?

Danny, clapping his hands: Oh, good. You're mad. That means your self-imposed sentence is over.

Tony: ...I'm sorry, J I could've sworn I heard the bitty king say self-imposed

JARVIS: You heard correctly sir.

Danny, sighing: You didn't think you'd go to 'heaven' did you? No, you still felt you deserved to be punished for your days as the "Merchant of Death." Years of endless paperwork and boredom was your personal hell. But now that you no longer think you deserve it you’re done. The afterlife is whatever you think it is dude.

Tony: Are you saying I could have avoided all this if I- what, had more therapy when I was alive?

Danny: Yup.

Tony: Well, fuck. What about J?

JARVIS: Spending time with you without worry that you might recklessly harm yourself has been a delightful way to spend my afterlife. I was created to assist Sir. Helping you through your hell is my personal Heaven.

Tony: Okay, so then what about His-tiny-hiney-ness? Did you become king of ghosts by thinking it was your eternal destiny once you died or something? Is this your hell? Cause kid, those eye-bags are not saying heaven to me. Or is it inherited? You get stuck with too much power too young too?

Danny: No, no, no and yes. My evil godfather awoke the previous tyrant king from the sarcophagus of eternal sleep and I had to kick his ass back in to save my town. Blah, blah, I won, something, something, trial by combat, blah, blah, now I'm king and no one takes me seriously.

Tony: Ugh, evil godfathers are the worst. Mine tried to have me assassinated and when that didn't work tried to kill me himself.

Danny: Mine favors kidnapping, torture and cloning.

Tony: Gross. What you need is a badass suit of armor so no one will fuck with you. Helps with the vertically challenged too. I put lifts in mine.

Danny: No thanks, Iron Man. I've got my formerly evil alternate self to intimidate people for me. Now, this has been fun, but I do need to get back to work. I'm going to put you in contact with some ghost scientists who might be able to help you invent something that could support your presence in your home dimension. No promises, but they'd no more about it than me. Just don't almost break the multiverse like your son did and you're golden.

Tony: Peter did what!?!?

prompt for dcxdp fic

GK!danny meets the JL and (due to magic users not being in the room) they offend him by threatening/patronising him or asking insensitive questions like how he died. Danny still wants some contact/alliance to help deal with the GIW, but doesn't wanna deal with mortal idiots rn. So he sends Dan in his place for his "community service" aka redemption arc.

Basically I really wanna see Dan dealing with the magically incompetent league and scare the shit out of them.

Bonus if Danny sends a letter along the lines of "Due to negative prior relations and differing priorities, all further communications will be conducted via my brother, as part of his mandatory community service. I advise against angering him, as he is on probation for genocide of a mortal realm. Good luck."

I just think it would be funny.

[gothicfied]

Min-su bf headcanons I just need to be feed cus this poor guy barely gets anything 😔

Bf!Min-su / Player 125 Headcanons

Pairing: Park Min-su / Player 125 x fem!reader (No Squid Game AU)

Warnings: None this time! This is just pure fluff, not proof read (english isn't my first language)

A/N: he's so cute I could die😞🙏 (Also tysm for the kind words, I really appreciate that! <3)

જ⁀➴ Bf!Min-su... who you originally met at the university you both were studying at. For you, it was somehow impossible to make friends or find connections with any of your classmates, regardless of the course, so you were actually kind of glad when your professor announced a group project and randomly picked four people that'll have to work together. Usually, you'd groan just at the thought of a group project - but not this time.

જ⁀➴ Two out of your three group members were... less than ideal people to work with. Lazy, not on time, unresponsive, uncooperative. But, thankfully, Bf!Min-su, the rather shy boy that was the only one who was willing to work with you on the assignment, was there to save you from overworking yourself. In the three weeks you were given for the project, you spent most of your time with him, even outside of school.

જ⁀➴ Bf!Min-su... who had a massive crush on you since the day he saw you enter the class you had together, but was obviously too shy and tol nervous to say something. So, he always opted for watching you across the room, the cafeteria and perhaps followed you on you socials, but that was it. If he was shaking while pressing the 'Follow' Button, there would be no way for him to confess to you. Given this, he was more than happy to be in a group together with you. He even did more than what was asked from him to complete the project, just to make it easier on you.

જ⁀➴ Bf!Min-su... who enjoyed the friendship that eventually grew between the two of you. He thought that it was best for him to try and shake off any romantic feelings he had for you for the saks of being friends, but he just couldn't. And he was really bad at hiding it, too. The first month or two, you just thought he was shy like that, always flustered around you, but after a while it confused you. There was no need to be so nervous around you, so what was his deal?

જ⁀➴ It clicked when he started to make little random gifts to you — Just trivial things he overheard you talk about. You thought it was very cute and caring of him and that's where things started to make sense to you.

One evening, Min-su had invited you to his apartment, which was right outside campus, to continue watching a show you started together. Attentive as he was, he made you guys your favorite tea, gave you your favorite blanket of his and made everything cozy, as it was freezing outside. You always complained about how winter was the most boring season, so he always made the effort to plan something nice for you guys to do. It genuinely warmed your heart to see how much effort he put into this, just to make it perfect for you. After sitting and watching the show for a bit, you just couldn't help but ask: "Is it possible you like me?" Min-su looked at you like he was just caught doing something he shouldn't. "Wh-.. What? Of course I like you?" he stammered out, nervously laughing. "No, I mean that you like me." The way his face turned red told you everything you needed to know.

જ⁀➴ Bf!Min-su... who was actually your boyfriend now after months of keeping his feelings to himself. When you confronted him at first, he thought he was going to burst into tears immediately, somehow being ashamed of himself. It quickly turned into you having to comfort and reassure him, telling him that you felt the same way and that he didn't have to be embarrassed about anything.

જ⁀➴ Bf!Min-su... who never stopped being your best friend after becoming your boyfriend. It all just kind of felt the same after a few days, just with the perk of being able to kiss you and hold you and love you and... just so many things he always dreamt about. To him, you were the most perfect girlfriend and to you, he was the most perfect boyfriend. You two just completed each other.

જ⁀➴ After a month or two, you'd move in together. It wasn't hard at all to get used to each other, since before the start of your relationship, you and Min-su had spent 99% of your time either at your or his place anyway. Being able to wake up to the sight of him peacefully sleeping next to you was the best thing about living together.

જ⁀➴ Bf!Min-su... who was admittedly insecure. Not about his looks or anything, but about if he was being a good boyfriend or not. Jealousy wasn't much of a thing with him — If he saw you laughing or having a good time with a different man, platonically of course, he'd just question himself and if he was even good enough. You'd always have to reassure him, but you didn't mind it. If he needed that comfort, you'd never hesitate to give it to him.

જ⁀➴ Bf!Min-su... who was, surprisingly, a very good cook. He'd always insist on making dinner and making something new for you to try. If you liked something, which was almost all the time, he'd save that recipe somewhere and maks it for you again if you were feeling bad or just didn't have a great day.

જ⁀➴ Bf!Min-su... who you couldn't be happier with by your side. The two of you were already planning a future together just a few months into your relationship. And no matter if things went according to plan or not, you knew that you'd always want him by your side.

[redrose10]

Surprise! A short little update since I had some time today.

🍒🍒🍒🍒🍒🍒🍒🍒🍒🍒🍒🍒🍒🍒🍒🍒🍒🍒

Idol Yoongi x Female Spouse Reader

Warnings: Swearing, angst, body insecurity, hints of cheating, Jealousy, maybe more…

Part 1

You mindlessly wiped down the counter to pass the time and make your shift go a little quicker when your boss came walking in.

“Y/N make sure you sell the rest of that cherry pie. It’s about to spoil and since it was your suggestion to start selling it I’m taking it out of your paycheck if we don’t.”, he directed before storming into his office and slamming the door. He was lucky the cafe paid decently and was so close to your apartment otherwise you would have quit a long time ago.

Some time later as you were folding some napkins the bell on the door chimed indicating a new customer had arrived. You put on your best customer service smile and walked over to the register to take their order.

“Hi welcome to Comfy Cafe. How can I help you today?”, you asked.

“Hi uh yeah can I please get a large iced americano?”, the man in front of you spoke. He looked familiar. You knew he was most likely an idol signed by one of the companies headquartered near the cafe. The way he dressed and his mint colored hair was not the usual style your everyday customers had, but you couldn’t quite place who he was.

“Would you like to add any bakery items?”, you asked hoping for an upsell to please your boss.

He shook his head while digging around in his wallet looking for his credit card.

You continued, “We have a really tasty cherry pie! And cherries are actually quite good for you too by the way. They have antioxidant properties, are heart healthy, AND can help with your sleep thanks to containing some melatonin.”

Finally the guy looked up at you with his eyebrow raised, “And also loads of sugar and fat that I’m pretty sure cancels all of that out.”

Your face fell slightly, “Right... I guess so.”, you chuckled feeling silly, “One large iced americano coming right up.”

You placed the drink on the counter and began ringing up his order when he stopped you, “Oh and uh add on a slice of cherry pie.” You perked up and nodded excitedly, “Cherries are also high in fiber so there’s that too!” You heard the guy laugh making you turn nearly as red as the pie you were holding, but the relief you felt knowing you were one slice closer to not loosing a portion of your hard earned paycheck made a huge smile spread across your face. You packaged everything up while he paid and then waved a good bye before walking out the door. By the end of your shift there was only one slice of pie left and you ended up purchasing it with your free daily employee meal so none of it had to come out of your check.

That same guy started coming into the little cafe every couple of days. One of the days your coworker helped you figure out that he was Yoongi or Suga from the group BTS. She was Jungkook biased herself so you heard a lot about the group that day.

For being famous, Yoongi was always very polite and friendly when he would come in. He would order an americano and a slice of cherry pie each time, usually to-go but sometimes he would stick around and eat at the cafe while having a conversation with you. There were even a few times that he brought the rest of the group which your boss absolutely loved you for since they pretty much cleared out the display case of various pastries.

Eventually Yoongi asked you out on a date. One date turned into two and then three and four then next thing you knew you were his girlfriend. All the while he was still coming into the cafe at least once a week, as long as they weren’t on a tour, and would order a coffee and a slice of cherry pie. You offered him other items, the banana bread was good and the cinnamon rolls were to die for, but he stuck with the same cherry pie.

It wasn’t until your first anniversary that he finally confessed something he had been hiding for a long time. You had surprised him with some homemade cherry candies. It was your grandma’s recipe that included cherries and whiskey, two of his favorite things…or so you thought. You were so excited to give him the gift. He thanked you profusely, but you could tell something was off. After some prodding he finally told you the truth.

He hated cherries. He hated everything about them. The way they felt, the way they stained everything red. The way they tasted. He hated fresh cherries, cherry cobbler, cherry jello, and even cherry pie. He hated the cherry flavored medicine his mom used to give him when he had a sore throat. He hated the sickly sweet and artificial cherry scented perfume his aunt always wore. He even hated the cherry chapstick that his sixth grade crush was wearing the day he worked up the courage to kiss her.

But most of all he hated the way you frowned and looked so defeated that first day he met you at the cafe when he declined your offer of the pie. So he went against everything he believed in and ordered a slice of the cherry pie and the way your face lit up again into a bright smile made him realize that maybe he could like cherries even if just a little bit.

The days he took the pie to go were easy because he could pass along the slice to one of the other boys who gladly gobbled down the dessert without issue and then in the days he had a little extra time and would eat in the cafe so he could spend some more time with you he would focus on your pretty face and the conversation between you two instead of the cherry abomination on his plate.

As he told you all of this you felt both butterflies that he was willing to suffer like that just to see you smile, but you also felt terrible too.

Then you had a realization and burst into laughter and in between giggles had to explain how at one point your boss wanted to take the cherry pie off of the menu since it wasn’t a big seller and was hard to keep fresh, but you begged and pleaded with him to keep it. The last thing you wanted was to have to tell Yoongi he couldn’t get his slice of pie so eventually your boss relented and kept the pie on the menu. But you were required to come into work hours early every day to make the pies yourself. So for months you woke up super early and walked to the cafe just to make sure there was a cherry pie available in case Yoongi walked through the door.

The both of you realized you had been unnecessarily suffering for each other over this and that is how cherries became a symbol of your love for one another.

“Y/N! Y/N please wait!”, your husband was shouting as he tried to push his way through the crowd. You were on a mission to find your daughter and get out of that place as fast as you could. Your feet were burning, your legs felt wobbly, and your back ached, but you pushed yourself to walk as fast as you could waddle because the thought of being anywhere near Yoongi hurt more than any of that.

“Momma! Did you see me?! Did you love it?!”, Hana came running up to you in the hall. She was carrying the little bouquet of flowers Yoongi had arranged to have delivered for her and the rest of the class.

“You did so great baby! I’m so proud of you.”, you exclaimed leaning down to place a kiss on her forehead, “Now go get your coat. We need to go.”

“Y/N.”, Yoongi gasped out of breath behind you. You ignored him while keeping your focus on the door so you could grab Hana as soon as she came out.

“Baby…”, he said reaching for your hand, but you pulled away.

“Don’t baby me. Leave now before Hana comes out. I’ll let her know you had a work thing to go to.”, you said hoping the anger in your voice covered the quivering sound from you being about to cry.

“Y/N, please… let’s talk about this. Let me explain.”

You laughed and rolled your eyes before shaking your head and turning away from him.

He continued, “You’re going to get yourself worked up and it’s not good for you or the baby. Let’s go home. We’ll put Hana to bed and then I can make sure you’re taken care of. Then we can talk.”

“Fuck off Yoongi! What is there to talk about?! You want to explain to me how long you’ve been cheating on me with that woman? Do you want to talk about how deprived of intimacy I am lately while you’re out fucking her and who knows who else? There is nothing to talk about!”, by the time you were finished you were out of breath and had tears rolling down your cheeks. You felt shaky and were sure a few of the people around you were staring if not listening in.

You weren’t sure what you really expected from him, but Yoongi was as stoic as ever as he silently stared at you. He finally went to speak, but Hana excitedly came running into the hallway and jumped into his arms. He spun her around and gave her cheek a kiss before gently setting her down while you hastily wiped away your tears so she wouldn’t see.

Then he surprised you when he reached for your coat that was being squeezed to death in your shaking hands. He held it open for you and helped you get it on, even making sure it was buttoned up with your scarf neatly tied around your neck. He did the same for Hana before grabbing her hand and leading her towards the exit while you silently followed behind them.

When you walked through the door of your home Hana shouted goodnight and went sprinting to her room to start getting ready for bed after you promised her chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast if she didn’t make bedtime difficult. You were in no mood for it.

“I’ll start her bath. You need to take your vitamins.”, Yoongi said while hanging up his coat.

“I don’t know what you think you’re doing.”, you shook your head, “But you’re not staying here. Get out Yoongi.”

“Y/N…”

“No!”, you hissed trying to keep your voice down, “You cheated on me Yoongi. The only reason I even got in the car with you was so that Hana wouldn’t get upset at the school and cause a scene. So leave now before she comes back out and I’ll tell her you had an emergency at work.”

“Wh-Where am I supposed to go?”

You scoffed, “I don’t care. Go to your studio. Go to one of the boys. Go to that woman’s house! I’m sure she has more of your clothes you can wear for the night or don’t wear any at all! It’s not like you need them while you’re fucking each other anyways.”

At that same moment you felt a sharp pain sear through your side and you doubled over in pain.

“Y/N!”, he whispered before running to your side in an instant and rubbing your belly with his hand. He helped you to your bed and got out your favorite pajamas to place down next to you. He left the room before returning shortly with a glass of water, your vitamins, some milk, and bowl with various fruits along with a chocolate chip cookie that he had warmed up just the way you liked it. You felt a lump forming in your throat that you couldn’t quite get down.

He grabbed a bag and shoved a few items inside it. Then he cleared his throat, “I’ll leave Y/N, but I’m only leaving because I don’t want to upset you any more than you already are right now. It’s not good for you or the baby and it’s terrifying me. I want you to rest and then we’ll discuss this tomorrow. Call me immediately if you need anything.”, he said before closing the bedroom door and walking down the hall. You heard him open up Hana’s door to take a quick peak before closing it again and then a few moments later you heard the familiar beeps of the front door signaling it getting opened and shut and then he was gone.

Now that you were alone in the comfort of your own bed you finally broke down into sobs. You were so exhausted physically and emotionally that you were unable to even change out of your dress. You buried your face into your pillow hoping to hide the sounds from Hana.

You had asked him to leave and he did, but for some reason that hurt more than anything. Maybe a part of you wanted him to stay and argue with you, even if it lasted all night and went round and round to go nowhere. You wanted him to say something hurtful to you so that you would know he was hurting too. You wanted him to make you feel like he wanted to fight for you…for your marriage and family, but instead he walked away and left you replaying the nights events over and over. It left you wondering if and when he had stopped feeling anything for you and maybe all of this was why things had been feeling so off between you two lately.

[entitled-fangirl]

Dead batteries.

Jason Todd x deaf!reader

Summary: The reader's batteries to her hearing aids die. Dinner at the Wayne Manor was supposed to go smoothly.

Summary: anything that they sign is going to be in bold italics

Warnings: cursing, insensitivity to being deaf, the whole story not being proofread, Jason being Jason

Masterlist

........................................................

"Baby," Jason's voice called through the apartment. He shrugged off his coat, small concern running through him when there was no answer. He knew she was home. 

He began to walk through the apartment on edge. His gun was tucked against his back in his waistband. Just in case. Just in case. 

He threw the bedroom door open, startling both of them. "Fuck. Sorry," he apologizes with a hand up in surrender. As he took her in, he frowned. "Where are your hearing aids?" He signed.

"Dead," she signed back. "Ordering more." She gestured to the computer next to her. 

He nodded, taking out each weapon from his jeans (which was a lot), placing them on the nightstand, and joining her on the bed. He pulled her into his side, looking over her shoulder. "Until Thursday?" He whispered to himself. "That's a lifetime."

She felt his breath and craned her neck to look at him questioningly. He shook his head. When she didn't let up, he messily signed, "Long time to be without batteries."

She nodded.

"What about your backups?"

She set her computer down, sitting up to properly sign. "Haven't used in years. Better to go without."

"Some backups," he grumbled.

"Will your family be mad?"

"What?"

She sighed. "Dinner tonight."

He mouthed an 'oh.' "No. And if so, I would-"

She placed her hands over his, interrupting his threat.

…

Y/n!" Damien greeted, practically shoving Jason to the side. "I have to tell you about the guy I caught last night. It was so cool! Listen, so I jumped out of the Batmobile-"

"-Damien," Jason sighs. 

"-And it was like 'whoosh,' and I was like all cool and stuff-"

"Damien, she c-"

"And I chased him down this alley-"

Jason watched Y/n's eyes hold the panic inside her as she tried to follow what the kid was saying, but with his energetic motions, she was catching minimal words out of the jumble. Jason pushed Damien's head to the side. "Listen to me when I talk. Damn."

"I'm not even talking to you," Damien argued, going right back to his story.

"She can't hear anything. Her aids are out."

Damien froze. "Oh." 

Damien was the only one in the Batfamily that had yet to pick up sign language. With Cass, they had all begun to learn. And with the addition of Y/n, it quickly became intermixed with their everyday speech. Being a later addition to the family, Damien was slowly picking it up. Very slowly.

Y/n gave him a sorry expression. "Sorry. The batteries are coming Thursday."

He held a hand up. "Woah, woah, woah. I can't hear you when you do that."

Jason huffed. "Go away, demon brat." 

"I'll go when I'm ready," he sassed. "So I'll go now because I have nothing else to say. Not cause you told me to."

…

Dinner was a mix of speech and sign language, the family (for once) having a nice dinner.

Jason and Dick had found amusement in signing across Damien, acting like they were saying something top secret that he couldn't know. In reality, it was just random words like, "time, death,, cookie, day." To which Jason responded with, "leave doctor, dad." And then the two would bust up into hearty laughs, watching Damien turn red.

But the rest of the table ignored it.

"There's a new thing we're working on down in the cave. Wanna see after dinner?" Tim asked with his head down.

Steph heaved a heavy sigh, physically pushing his head up so Y/n could see his face. "Now actually ask."

"Sorry," he smiled with his cheeks full.

Alfred tapped on Y/n's shoulder, waiting until she turned around to speak.

Jason watched her face morph to complete confusion. She had always had problems understanding Alfred's accent. "Deaf," he muttered at Alfred.

"Oh," Alfred flushed. "Forgive me." He began to sign his question.

"She didn't even answer my question," Tim complained.

"She turned away before you finished," Steph reprimanded him.

"I got this," Damien gloated. He hit his fist on the table until he caught Y/n's attention. He spoke in a loud tone. "TIM ASKED IF-"

Jason's hand appeared out of nowhere, swallowing the kid's entire face and muffling him. He began shoving down until Damien had no choice but to go under the table. "I'll fucking kill you if you scream at her again."

"Jason," Bruce reprimanded.

"No, you favor the little shit." He ran a hand over his face. "Do I have to write it across her forehead for you guys to remember? Can't fucking do this-"

…

Dinner went smoothly after a 'Hello, I am' name tag was stuck to her shirt, the blank line reading "deaf" in Jason's messy handwriting. Bruce always had those for galas. 

But the car ride back home was rather silent. Hard to sign in the dark.

Once back inside their apartment, Jason had practically ripped the tag off her shirt. Just the sight of it annoyed him.

"Sorry we left early," she signed with a guilty expression.

He shrugged, pulling her jacket off and hanging it up. There wasn't much to say. They both knew that it had nothing to do with her. 'Love you,' he mouthed as an answer. He pointed at the book she'd left on the counter. "Leaving for patrol soon. Read while I'm gone?"

She nodded. "Almost done with it."

He nodded back. 

The two stood in the living room, just admiring one another. His arms opened and she all but melted into them.

He forced her head up so he could talk. 'Be good for me while I'm gone?' He mouthed.

She gave him a grin, mouthing back 'yeah.'

'Good.' He pulled her chin forward, connecting their lips with a softness that Jason was never thought to have.

...............................................

[coffeegnomee]

There's something about how Mapicc will go full out on the attack over an assumption or something that fits with your reputation.

But then when confronted that that is not the truth, he will back off and say, maybe i was wrong.

But then he keeps you on the watch list and his trust is forever wavered.

There's two instances and both came up in the past month, though one was season 6 and the other season 4.

When Zam confronted Mapicc about Mawn on the first day, Mapicc confronted him back saying he only ever calls on him to fight and nothing else: tldr Zam uses him.

Zam of course is shocked and horrified that Mapicc would think that, and after going back and forth and a lot of insisting from Zam, Mapicc goes,

MAPICC: "I don't think you did. I don't think you were intending to like, use me for personal gain, but i think lowkey even if you don't agree you did- i think you did”

And then after more confrontations he goes,

MAPICC: “[pause] i think.. That maybe just a lot of people subconsciously do that and now I see it in people when it’s not happening. It's possible”

(12/15/24 "RECOLLECT" zam, conversation starts at 2:45:00)

And that interaction bothered me a lot. When it happened I thought it was a sign that Mapicc actually did start changing his mind about mawn, but by the time I wrote the post there were more mawn streams and Mapicc had clearly not been changed by that convo. So what was going on?

The rest of mawn continued, Mapicc kept denying it was all about Zam while making it all about Zam.

And on the last day, Mapicc brings back up the feeling used by Zam.

MAPICC: “i don't feel abandoned. I feel used. [..] i'm perfectly fine bro. I- I can make it back to 20 hearts, i can live on my own. Like [..] like i do some crazy ass action out of nowhere and like i die in the middle of it and the first thing you message me it to come bail you out of a bunch of wardens pit?"

Mapicc does an entire takeover of spawn and Zam doesn't enter into the play. He doesn't reciprocate. He doesn't embrace mapicc's idea. He doesn't care about him and what he cares about.

Zam just wants Mapicc when he needs help.

Stab the knife and twist it.

And all this after Mapicc put aside his "oath" (killing people whenever he thinks they deserve it) for Zam and Zam's plot. Mapicc changed himself to do stuff with Zam, but Zam wouldn't change himself to do stuff with Mapicc.

They go back and forth debating on whether or now mawn was good. Mapicc is less and less confident, while zam says he thinks it did do good but he couldn't be involved.

MAPICC: ‘what is it you would like from me” ZAM: “i don't know. Thats what im trying to figure out. Cause like, i don't even know” [..] MAPICC: “i think im in the wrong.” ZAM: "really?” MAPICC: "im sorry”  [..] Zam asks if he wants to join his team with derap and poafa. Mapicc just looks at zam. Zam says he can think about it MAPICC: "i just don't want to team with derap and poafa” ZAM: “fair enough” MAPICC: ”lets just- why can’t you just be in two teams? [..] why can't we be in the mapicc-zam team and then you have your teammates” ZAM: “[jumping on it so fast] im okay with that as well”

(12/23/24 "to ashes and blood" zam. convo starts 2:49:00)

All of mawn has been about getting Zam back to spawn, Mapicc shouting once, "just- COME OUT OF EXILE! Just come back to spawn” (1:31:40 zam "dynasties and dystopia")

There's this war within Mapicc over knowing he will continue to feel used by Zam, but still just wanting to be by Zam. All of it centers back to wanting to be teammates - doing plots together.

Bc "teammate" means something for Mapicc. It's a "do everything together" type relationship. "Support each other in all things" type relationship. Look at how he was in dualities. (before the finale. which is actually really interesting to think about)

Which brings me to the second moment Mapicc reacted aggressively only to take it back and say it was all based on assumptions: the Dupe War.

Spoke dropping the unreleased footage within the same month as the above really created a parallel within the Mapicc characterization.

57:00 MAPICC: "honestly no, honestly, here's the thing, i think, i really do, okay? I really do think it might've just been the reputation [..] you were saying some ominous things. and me and zam thought about it [..] and you kept saying things that were making your case worse and worse."

After feeling like Spoke was playing them, Mapicc went and killed Spoke. Spoke, enraged and upset, confronted Mapicc and eventually Mapicc said he acted out of turn, it might've just been the reputation.

It's so similar to the s6 belief, now I see it in people when it's not happening.

And so similar to s4, he'll admit defeat in the battle, give the benefit of the doubt. But the nagging suspicion continues and he's never quite able to shake it.

MAPICC: "I wish this guy wasn't such a snake, i would like 5 minutes hanging out with Spoke" ZAM: "[finishing sentence] without thinking he has some kind of ulterior motive"

("Night of the End", zam vod 1:54:40)

Mapicc's mind runs at a million miles an hour, making connections, providing assumptions, giving gut checks.

And he's right a lot of the time.

But he doubts himself all of the time. Going back on his observation when someone presses him in the opposite direction. Caving and placating so as to not loose a friendship.

but that self-doubt seems to be louder in the conversation that it really is within his own mind. And once he notes something it's very hard for his mind to be changed.

And it's interesting how his assumptions that Zam would oppose mawn and would be responsible for these things that kept happening, were wrong. He said during the final mawn convo that he felt like zam kept 180-ing after every convo, though he admits he was wrong about who did the suspicious things.

But the assumption that started this whole thing was that Mapicc felt used, not that Zam would oppose him.

And that assumption has still not been proven incorrect.

Though Mapicc will go along with it for now, being more cautious than before. Just like he was with Spoke after that dupe war confrontation.

It's a haunting ending, and it's not helped at all by how Mapicc ended his video. My general belief is that Mapicc went 180 on what actually happened bc the video is public and all the lifestealers will watch it, and he did say he would keep mawn going and just let it exist in people's minds. You can't do that if you end your video saying it's all over.

And yet.

MAPICC: "Me and Zam had made up, but it didn't mean we could team. If i could go back in time i would have never done mawn, but now that i have full control over spawn, i can't just stop"

it is a complete 180 from what was decided in the conversation.

and that was mapicc speaking days later, after reflection. What went on in his head, alone while editing?? Where will this go? why did he have to go skiing??

[alpaca-clouds]

Dead Gods in Mythology

Okay, another little write up that has been requested. (Note, yes, you can send me requests for mythological and historical contexts. I love talking about this stuff. Just send a DM or Ask, and I will see to it when I get time.)

This came from a discussion about Sekhmet in season 2 in Nocturne, where someone brought up: "Well, she cannot really have been a goddess if she died." And of course I had to go: "Well, actually..." At this. It ended with me promising a write up on this.

See, this is an idea that is prevasive in western culture, and gets brought up again and again in media: Gods don't bleed, and gods don't die. It has been brought up in The Road to El Dorado, The Epic Musical, and in Kaos. But this idea is actually mainly rooted in - drum roll please - Christianity of course. With the Christian God being a single god, who is supposed to be all mighty and eternal. Polytheistic cultures meanwhile tend to have a couple of gods who within the mythology die. Sure, some of them are revived by some sort of magic - or continue to exist in another plane (in those cases often becoming the guardians of some sort of plane of the dead, where all dead souls go) - but yes, the polytheistic mythologies that we know off tend to have at least one god who dies.

So, let's talk about some of them.

Ra

Given our starting point is Sekhmet, let's start with the Egyptian mythology. Here we have two big examples of gods that prominently die.

One example of this is obviously Ra. Ra's entire thing is that he does not only die in the mythology, but that he dies ONCE A DAY, which was the Egyptian mythology's explanation for why there is night and day. Ra dies at the end of the day, and he moved through the duat during the night. This is in fact part of the reason why we know so many details about the duat, as those are described in several mythological texts about Ra's journey through the world of the dead.

Of course, this might be strange example, because Ra obviously gets revived daily, too, but that does not change the fact that he dies once a day. And for a good chunk of Egyptian history (please keep in mind that Egyptian religion shifted during the 3000 years that Ancient Egypt was around) Ra was one of the most powerful gods in their pantheon so to speak.

Osiris

Then Egyptian mythology has probably one of the best known examples of a god getting killed. And that is Osiris. Like almost all of the old mythologies, the Egyptian deities were a lot into siblings marrying. And in Egyptian mythology there were noticable four siblings: Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephthys - the latter getting usually ignored by modern audiences for some reason.

Osiris married Isis, Seth married Nephthys. And of course, as it goes with godly siblings, Osiris and Seth had a lot of quarelling and rivalry going. Seth - of course - being a god of the desert and chaos. And eventually Seth manages to trap Osiris and kill him. Now, the details of this have shifted once more throughout Egyptian history. In some variations they aphyxiate him, in others Osiris gets hacked into 26 pieces. One way or another, Isis will look for her dead brother-husband, find his corpse or his corpse parts, revive him, get pregnant with Horus, and then they find out that because he was dead he has to become now the god of the dead, being turned into the god overseeing the souls moving into the afterlife.

Baldr

Then there is of course the myth of Baldr in Norse mythology. Another son of Odin and Frigg. And it was said that Baldr was the most beautiful of all the gods. And Frigg loved him so much, that she went around the world and made everything - every stone, every animal and every plant - promise that they would never hurt him. However, she did not get to ask the mistletoe, and Loki noticed this. And being the trickster that he is, he devised a plan. He tricks the blind god Höðr to shoot a mistletoe arrow at Baldr, which then obviously kills him. In the prose Edda this is the reason for Loki's punishment with the acid spitting serpent.

Baldr of course moves onto Hella - the place, not the goddess - and remains there.

It should be noted of course that in the Edda we also know that most of the gods eventually die during Ragnarök. Though this is also where we should note, that the Edda are of course a source that we should use with some care, given that it is not a first hand account by Norse people, but was written up by Christian monks. (Most notable, a lot of researchers doubt by now that Loki ever was an actual god in Norse mythology, but was invented by Christians to fill the roll of a satan-like figure.)

Zagreus

Where are my Hades peeps at? If you have played Hades, you obviously know that Zagreus has this habit of dying and coming back. And this game mechanic is actually based in mythology.

And this is the moment where we should speak about one important fact: We tend to act as if we know everything there is to know about Greek mythology, but actually we do not know this. We know a lot about the most important gods, because we have several written sources about this - but when it comes to smaller or local gods, we absolutely are loosely informed, given we often only have text fragments. At times several text fragments that are contradictory. Zagreus is one of these.

Zagreus is either an alternative name for Dionysus, the son of Zeus and Persephone, or the son of Hades. The latter aspect has been tried to explain by researchers with the fact that we are not sure if the three big gods (Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades) were always distinct entities or might have been for a long while different aspects of the same god.

One way or another: We have at least two different text fragments, in which Zagreus dies. Once he gets murdered by Titans, once he dies in an accident. One way or another he dies. And in the cases where he is a son of Zeus, this seems to be the explanation why he is bound to the Underworld.

The Hades game kinda mixed and matched with the mythology there xD

Lugh

There I go again, talking about another mythology that we are actually not quite as certain about as some people seem to believe we are: Gaelic mythology. Once more, our issue is that while some of this was written down, it was written down after the region had been Christianized, so there is a lot of Christian bias in those texts. In fact it is even more clear in this example, given that the written down accounts of the Gaelic mythology involve references to biblical events. And of course the Tuatha de Danann are in the written down accounts references more as amazing humans, rather than gods - though we are fairly certain they originally were deities, with Lugh in particilar being a god of justice and war.

In the variations of the story we know, Lugh kills another god named Carmait, as that other god had fucked one of Lugh's wives. And in revenge Carmait's sons end up killing Lugh, by spearing him on his own magic spear and then throwing him into one of the Lochs. So, yes, if you count, this story in fact involves two dead gods. Generally speaking, quite a few of the Tuatha de Danann end up dead, though, again, I will point out, that we are not fully sure how much of this is routed in the fact that these myths were recorded by later Christians, who might have wanted to make sure that everyone understands that the Tuatha de Danann were not actually gods.

Izanami

Technically we actually have a variety of Shinto gods (aka kami) who die. But I will focus maybe on the most widely known story, that pretty much everyone who ever played Persona might be aware of: Izanami. And if I recount the tale, you might in fact feel strangely reminded of other myths.

Izanami and Izanagi were the first kami that were created, and they created the land, and then the world around it, through the act of procreation with one another. Eventually Izanami gives birth to the fire god Kagu-tsuchi and he burns her to death. Her remains are buried, but the grief-stricken Izanagi cannot be without her. So he travels to the underworld, Yomi. Eventually he finds Izanami, but she tells him that she can no longer leave the underworld, as she has already eaten from the food of the underworld. He tries to convince her, but eventually he sees her face and realized that she has the face of death, and flees in terror. She gets angry at this, and curses him and the land of the living, before she remains in Yomi as the goddess of the dead.

Vritra

Vritra in Hindu mythology is one of the danava and serves as the personification of drought. In the mythology he once tries to block a river, of course with this causing a drought. The other gods cannot stand by this, and Indra, who sees Vritra as his nemesis, ends up slaying Vritra to stop the drought.

Note, here, too, that there are a couple of deities in Hinduism - as well as the religions that sprung off of Hinduism - that die at least for a shorter while.

If you have ever had the fun of talking to one of the very annoying atheists, you might have heard someone pointing out that Krishna dies and is resurrected in a way that is quite similar to Jesus. Because, yes, this general mythological concept is assumed to probably go back to the progenitor religion of the Indo-European cultures. While we do not know anything about that religion (because back then nobody wrote anything), anthropologists and comparative mythology researchers are fairly sure that there was a tale of a god dying and returning from the dead in that religion as well, which is why it shows up so often in religions of that cultural sphere.

Innana & Dumuzid

Now let's talk about another really old mythology, about which we know surprisingly much, because they have written a lot down - and we were able to translate it. And that is the ancient Sumerian mythology, in which we have Innana or Ishtar (who in Egyptian mythology later became Isis). Again, due to these also being within the realm of the Indo-European mythologies, you will find some similarities - though in comparison to other goddesses in the same role, Innana is a lot more proactive.

Innana is convinced by her brother to marry the shepard god Dumuzid, though it is fairly clear through the poems we have, that she and her husband never quite saw eye to eye. This makes her death also quite interesting. Because Innana dies by her own volition, because her sister Ereshkigal, who was made the goddess of the dead, misuses her position. So Innana dies to be able to travel to the Underworld and fight Ereshkigal to dethrone her. Enki at this point helps Innana to flee the Underworld and return to the world of the living. However, there needs to be balance in the world. So if she returns to the world of a living, someone else needs to take her place in the Underworld.

As she returns to the world of the living, she sees her servants having mourned her, while her husband, Dumuzid, just instantly went: "I am a widower? Sweet! I can fuck around with servant girls now!" And as we say: Fuck around and find out. So Innana goes: "That asshole has not even the decency to act as if he is mourning me!" So he tells the spirits of the Underworld to take him to take her place. And so they do and kill him.

Good for her!

Quetzacóatl

The very attentive of you might have noticed that all myths I have talked about so far (with the exception of Izanami, where anthropologists and comparative mythology people are still arguing about whether or not there was an influence there - mind you, I land very much on the side of "Yes, obviously, there is an Indo-European influence to Shinto-Myth!") are from the Indo-European influence sphere. So let's lastly talk about one other god, who just so happens to be probably important for Castlevania Nocturne as well: Quetzacóatl. Now, historians researching the Nahua, are fairly certain that this myth has come to be because there once was a Nahua ruler named Quetzacóatl after the deity, and that ruler died, which then in mythology got mixed up with the deity. Never the less: There definitely is written down myths about the death of Quetzacoatl.

The short of it is, that a couple of demons plotted to kill him, but knowing that they could not kill a god, they deviced a plan: They would feed him a beer that would drive him mad. While it took a lot of trickery, they succeeded, and drove the god mad, making him commit suicide by burning himself alive.

Maui

Okay, I know what some might say: "But actually is Maui a god?" I will answer: "That depends who you ask." Maui is a character that shows up throughout almost all the Pacifica cultures. He is always a trickster and a culture hero. At times he is a mortal, at other times he is a demi-god, and at yet other times he is a full god. Because those cultures were distant enough to have the myths shift around. So yes, maybe you will call this cheating. But fuck it, let me talk about Maui, because I kinda think his death is pretty darn cool.

So, if you have watched Moana, you know that Maui is a shape shifter. And he was very fond of humans. So, he decided that he wanted to make humanity immortal. His plan to do so was to go to the goddess of the Underworld and death, Hine-nui-te-pō, and reverse the birth by transforming into a worm and crawl into her vagina. However, she woke, and it turns out that her vagina had teeth - so she crushed him with her vagina teeth. Which is... pretty darn badass, I would say.

Lastly

Let me end this entire thing with the note that there probably are quite a few more gods that die within their respective mythologies. I know at least of two myths from North America in which Coyote dies (a lot of North American cultures have Coyote as a trickster god). And I personally am simply not well informed on South American mythologies or a lot of African mythologies. I do not know stuff about the Indigenous pre-buddhist mythologies of Southeastern Asia, and central Asia. So there is a good chance that there are gods that die - or die and get resurrected in those mythologies - but if there are, I simply do not know enough about them.

Generally speaking though: Gods rarely can be killed by normal mortals. Mortal half-gods might succeed at times. But other gods? Yeah, they sure can kill their fellow deities. And some deities also commit suicide to save other people. It is a common thing throughout mythology.

So, please, can we just stop claiming gods are truly immortal? They will usually not die of old age or anything like that, but they very much can be killed by other gods, magical weapons and such things.

[emrys-and-his-king]

Alright, and here's the dessert platter... I brought a lot out

I think we have quite similar taste, canon era, some nice light stuff, and a good confession of course

Harkening back to season one for some reason reminds me of the different first meeting style fics (which I really like) so those are going to have their own section in case you like 'em :} Also added a section for the ones tagged humor, not fluff, I still included my favs bc humor is adjacent to fluff in my mind

Straight (Well Gay, Actually) Up Fluff

A Royal Portrait by mobycotton (Arthur is adorkable... it's great.)

Be my husband by Theroundbartable (They go live on a farm for some time, Arthur has some realizations, it's adorable.)

sleepy by Theroundbartable (Merlin is eepy. Arthur takes care of him, it's very cute.)

Goodnight, I Love You by MerlinLikeTheBird (Silly sleepy Merlin.)

It's Possible (For a Plain Country Bumpkin and a Prince to Join in Marriage) by AeonTheDimensionalGirl (Also silly and cute, 'cinderella elements' is a tag and you know, enjoy that.)

In Which Arthur Gets Jealous of an Owl by AeonTheDimensionalGirl (Tagged s01 e04 so you should at least be able to read this one, it's silly and cute of course.)

Sunrise in Ealdor, Sunset in Camelot by mobycotton (It's so cute, featuring tag: 'arthur in his cottage core arc.')

Language by Theroundbartable (A good and silly time.)

Happy Birthday by platonic_boner (Birthday fluff, first kiss, great stuff.)

Destiny Ordered You to Die, But I Willed You to Live by ironfamjam (Arthur's realizations go brr.)

The Truth Always Comes to Light by AliceTheBrave (The truth come out... anyway curses and confessions, very cute.)

Good Fortune by platonic_boner (Just some Merlin doing a great job and fluff ofc.)

Arthur Enchanted by platonic_boner (Phrasing is very important here, wonderful pining and tension.)

Humor/Attempt at Humor

Catching Bees with Honey by CaffeinatedFlumadiddle (Confused Arthur & Merlin having a great time.)

Made of Memories by dryalis 1 (This one has a little angst, but I loved it and it's tagged humor and I don't remember it being heavy or anything, so give it a go if it sounds interesting to you. Extra note, my ao3 notes say it's very cute too.)

Talk to Me by InkThroughHerVeins (A little Arthur angst never hurt anyone, that's how you get the pining to bleed through... still light, still cute.)

The Great Feast and the Missing Manservant by OberonBronze (Such silly, much good.)

All is Semblative by Whitefox (Cinderella Merlin again? More likely than you think.)

Next to You (It's the Rule) by LunaMyLove (This is such a classic, it's so good, it's hilarious and adorable.)

That's His Name by ZairaA (So cute, their interactions are great, Arthur is adorable.)

Different First Meeting

Mad World by Theroundbartable (Not super fluffy, but not dark either, their interactions and Arthur's character is great and I really enjoyed reading it.)

Determination by diner_drama (What if Merlin wasn't his manservant? The pining is so much worse and pathetic. It's great.)

Merlin Wings and Golden Kings by PurpleFlyingBird (Bird Merlin :>)

The Sun begged "love me" and the Moon replied "I did" by TooAwkwaardToFunction (This was absolutely adorable.)

Woad Blue by MerlinLikeTheBird (Also not super fluffy, not heavy either, I didn't think I would like this one very much at the get go, don't remember all too much except that I loved it and binged it so fast.)

We Can Hide Together, Among the Roses by infinitemerlin (These were my ao3 notes on this one... -Lots of Arthur pining after Merlin--and it's adorable--while fighting his upbringing. & Thought you liked florist and tattoo arist? Check this shit out. It's a florist and a prince.)

Oblivious by s0mmerspr0ssen (They're stupid you're honor, I love them.)

Please Hate Me, I am Difficult to Love (Loving You is Like Breathing) by portently (Awww they're in the forest and they're cute and it's sweet.)

Other/Misc

The Drawbacks of Dragon Lord-ing by SnufflesThePig (This one isn't finished, it doesn't quite fits any of the earlier boxes by I loved this one and found it adorable.)

Prized Possesion by Sonayesul (In the same vein, is finished, also amazing, and does contain a confession.)

Hiemal by icallyoumoonchild (Fluff, but that's not a tag so it's down here, confession included of course, getting together, sharing clothes... what more could you ask for?)

It's Magic, I Can Tell by Sonayesul (It's very silly and cute, so you know, it's on here too.)

Emrys the Really, Truly Terrible by lindenwaverly (This one is so silly, it's great.)

THE RULES by Slayer_of_Destiny (Also a classic, very good, very silly.)

im watching bbc merlin for the first time and wdym merlin and arthur already had a break up by ep 2 😭

yall weren’t exaggerating about how gay they are

[spacegyaru]

it's almost 3 am in my country, but i have a fanfic idea for kaiser... i need to let it out;;

cw: michael kaiser x afab! reader | pure fluff / mentions of kaiser's past experiences with his dad. nothing suggestive.

imagine michael kaiser falling in love with you, the owner's daughter of that one bakery that lived across their street. that same girl who gave him free bread everyday, and that same girl who would cry whenever he was wounded and bruised.

your family isn't the richest— but you owned the best bakery in the slums area. because of that, you were often a target of bullies. they bullied you because you have everything that most slum kids didn't have. you had loving parents, you were well-fed, and your parents have stable and honest income from the family business. you were also very pretty, so a lot of people made fun of you, thinking that you are a 'spoiled ditzy princess'.

until one day, you go out for a while to play with others. there, you met him— michael kaiser. he was all bruised and wounded. and to be honest, it looked like he was going to die... if you did not help him that day.

few minutes later, you gave him some water to drink and some sourdough bread to eat and take home. that's all your family's bakery sells after all. your mother also treated his wounds.

he introduced himself as 'michael kaiser' to you and your family. to your parents, he seemed to be a nice and a timid child. but to you, he was cold and a bit hesitant to play and to be friends with you. it was almost as if he hated you.

well, that's what you thought— until there were bunch of kids coming at you, wanting to bully you, pull your hair, and just flat-out mess with you. kaiser was the one who protected you. he told them that he won't hesitate to beat the shit out of them if they mess with you.

apparently, most slum kids are scared of kaiser, which means that you were sooo protected.

and ever since then, you would give him sourdough bread... and if your store is feeling fancy, you would give him some bread rolls that your mother made.

even if kaiser protected you a lot, he was still cold towards you. you thought that he wasn't just expressive.

the truth is, kaiser actually really really liked you. but he didn't have the confidence because he sees you as an angel, and he's just... well, he's just who he is.

fast forward when both of you grew up— well, both of you were in high school when the incident happened. by incident i mean, when he was arrested for alleged stealing.

during that time, both of you were still friends. but you rarely see him because of the 'sidelines' that kept him busy. still, you try your best to keep in touch. sometimes, you would pass by their home and give him something like sourdough bread and some bread rolls.

as time went by, you grew feelings for him. you no longer see him as the friend who protected you, but he was like a knight and shining armor. sometimes, you still wonder why he hasn't let you meet his new friends tho...

one day, kaiser got arrested for stealing. your family was deeply sad about it. they knew that his father forced him to do it— and that he's not the type to do something like that.

after that, you've never heard from him again. until a year later, you've started seeing him on billboards, commercials, and etc. it seems that he's playing for a team in germany.

despite all that happened and the separation between the both of you, you felt very happy for him. whatever success he was experiencing at this point, he deserved it. you were sad that he forgot about you, but eventually, you've come to accept that both of you live in two different worlds now.

until one day, you saw a familiar figure appearing on the bakery door. his usually grumpy expression was changed into a smug and confident one.

your eyes delighted to see who it was — it was michael kaiser, your knight and shining armor, who seem to have returned to see you again. he came back for you.

note: should i make a part two of this?lol

btw this isn't proofread so i apologize in advance!

[hugemilkshake]

Can you write head cannons w a platonic yandere burning spice x reader who keeps running away

(It’s fine if not tho ^^)

Enjoy the milkshake! This is basically going to be general headcannons since why not and also does anyone know what place he lives in is called??? Is it a temple or a palace???? Like what is it???

Yandere Burning Spice

-platonic-

!TW! Under the cut are things like implied kidnapping and forcing to fight until exhaustion 

“How strong are you?”

Those are the first words you hear come out of Burning Spices mouth

It doesn’t matter what you answer, the next response is “Show me.”

Now it doesn’t matter how strong you happen to be, wether you have been training all your life or just picked up a weapon, you will lose.

Your probably injured severely, I mean, that’s going to happen when you fight someone who could easily wipe out a nation with a single wave of a hand.

Usually battles like this end with a cookie crumbled. But wether it be the fact that Burning Spice just was released from his prison or that you survived was… intriguing

Originally you were going to be left to die from your injuries but instead he took you back to his palace and ordered some of the spice swarm to tend to you

That includes food, a room to sleep in and medical care. If your confused, so is Burning Spice.

He’s probably more confused than you. He found a random cookie, fought them and took them home. It was the first thing he did when he returned. How odd.

Now in a pretty quick amount of time, his perception on you changes. At first, he just thought you were a weak cookie he took pity on, but now? He sees potential.

What’s better than one destroyer? Two.

You start getting trained, it’s easy at first, like how to hold a battle axe and how strong you have to be to destroy a boulder-

What do you mean you can’t destroy a boulder?

Burning Spice realizes that your… not that strong…

His training gets more intense. He pushes you to the point of near exhaustion, but your improving bit by bit!

Now to be fair, you’re treated pretty well besides training sessions, like you have almost anything you can want! You get amazing meals!

But to you, the training is too much, you miss your friends, you want to leave.

You’d think Burning Spice would be mad, but he encourages running away, it’s an extra form of training! The issue come when he can’t find you again.

Your training is not complete yet! You aren’t strong enough!

When he finds you, it’s mixed. He’s furious, but also relieved. When you get back to the palace he gets you some food and makes sure your settled in alright

Which is very strange.

Was he going soft? I mean that would be nice if he lossened up on your training, you find yourself actually talking to him like he’s an actual mentor! It’s nice.

But the mood shifts when your told to go get your gear. It’s more serious, but it’s going to be a normal training session right?

Right..?

This was the most brutal training session ever. Your dough was cracking and you were losing your consciousness. You didn’t even know how long you’d been training for but this session was longer than usual

You swore you were coughing up jam.

Burning Spice on the other hand he was conflicted, while seeing you in this much pain was enjoyable, it was also difficult to see you in pain.

But this was all for training, it was so you can improve, you were going to become stronger, you were going to be his apprentice…

No…

You ARE his apprentice.

It doesn’t matter how exhausted you are, he was going to mold you into an exact copy of himself.

That was what was going to happen if it weren’t for that pesky bird.

[bloggerspam]

Fic of a Fic: Caroline meets Ellie

This is a direct homage to @clockwayswrites Caroline from their fic A Hill to Die on.

Ya'll can blame @deathlysilent13 for this.

Disclaimer: I am not super familiar with alters or systems, and in this AU Tim isn't thinking about it/stumbled into it--please do not take this an accurate experience in any way! It's just for fun :)

===

"You're pretty. Do you like boys?"

Caroline blinks. looking to her left and right, trying to find the source of the chipper voice.

It's 3am in the morning, she's just spent the last 5 hours dancing in heels—she can be forgiven for taking a little long to realize that the voice is coming from slightly below her sight line.

When she finally (blearily) looks down, a girl of maybe 7 or 8 is looking up at her with wide, bright blue eyes.

"Thank you." Caroline huffs a confused laugh, smiling as she leans down and braces on her knees to be a little closer and meet the little girls height. "You're quite the darling yourself you know."

"Thank you, I got it from my brother." The little girl blushes, apples of her cheeks truly working hard to turn the same shade as its namesake, but her wide-eyed curiosity is still not abated. "Do you like boys?"

"Yes, I do." Caroline tilts her head, biting her lip against a laugh. "But most boys don't like me."

"Well most boys are stupid." The little girl scrunches up her face in distaste, which is honestly too much cuteness for Caroline to handle right now. The Tim part of her is starting to wake up, albeit sluggishly, in the face of a possible lost child. "But my big brother isn't stupid! He's the best, actually."

"Oh?" Caroline looks around exaggeratedly, though she does scan the area the way Tim would. Nothing in particular to note. Weirdly empty for Gotham, but otherwise… "And where is this so-called best big brother? Little girl like you shouldn't be out and about so early."

The little girl looks shifty then, fiddling with her fingers and kicking up dust, mumbling. "He's still sleeping at his desk."

"His desk?" Caroline is a little worried now, truly. How far can a little kid walk? Caroline searches through her memories, but realizes that Tim's knowledge on such things would be heavily skewed and probably incorrect. Damian isn't the best example, and Tim used to stalk Batman. So.

"He fell asleep working." The little girl explains, before the beans truly spill out. "I'm supposed to be sleeping, but I wanted some milk, but Danny didn't have a blanket so I got him a blanket, and then I figured maybe he'd like some hot chocolate when he woke up, 'cause he always makes me hot chocolate when I can't sleep, or had a nightmare, but we didn't have any hot chocolate at home so I thought maybe I could get some hot chocolate, but the bodega's closed."

Caroline watches bemusedly as the little girl gesticulates her story, walking back and forth and presenting her case as if Caroline is the one who has the issue.

"And then I saw you, and you're like, really pretty, and I definitely think my brother would like you," The little girl beams up at her, as if she's done something great. "Jazzy said that Danny's been lonely, taking care of me all by himself. So I thought, if I can't give him hot chocolate, I can at least let him meet a pretty lady!"

Caroline laughs, she can't help it anymore, trying her best to stifle it in the echoes of the night. "Well now, that's very sweet of you!"

"Thank you!" The little girl wiggles in her happiness. "If you want to meet my brother, I think he'll be happy. We don't have to go if you don't want to though, Danny said consent is important."

"He's right." Caroline wipes a tear and smiles widely down at the little girl. "I'm also pretty sure he's going to be worried out of his mind when he wakes up and finds you gone, so how about we get you home, okay?"

"So you'll meet him???" The little girl jumps up and down in excitement, cheering, "He'll be soooo happy to meet a pretty lady like you!"

"That's very nice of you to say, darling." Caroline's eyes go half lidded in exhaustion, yawning as her smile quirks a little differently, Tim blinking a little more in the forefront. "But I'm afraid I'm not a lady most of the time. Most times, I'm a boy."

The little girl doesn't even hesitate. "Danny likes pretty boys too!" She reaches up a hand, as if waiting for Caroline, no, Tim? to take her hand and lead her home. "He'll be extra happy that you can be both!"

Tim doesn't know what to say to that—his skirt is starting to feel a little too tight, and his feet are killing him. Heels were a mistake, but at least his tights and sweater keeps him warm, even if it's off the shoulder and cropped. The sweater paws are appreciated at least.

"That's very equal opportunity of him." Tim decides to say, drawing it out as if unsure. It's very typical of Caroline to leaving Tim to clean up her messes. "But I'm not sure Danny wouldn't like a random stranger showing up on his doorstep with his little sister."

"Oh!" The little girl jolts, straightening up and putting her hand out for a handshake instead. "My name is Ellie Nightingale, I'm 8 years old, and I love my brothers and sister very much!"

"Hello, Ellie." Tim shakes her hand, deliberating before deciding fuck it. "My name is usually Caroline in this outfit."

Ellie eyes him up and down, scrutinizing him as she twists their clasped hands into a different hold and leading them seemingly towards her home. "But you're not Caroline now."

"I am not." Tim agrees, adjusting his gait into an awkward walk. His feet still hurt, but he's had worse as Red Robin. "Well, I am. But not. She went to…bed, I guess. So now I'm awake."

"What's your name now that you've woken up?" Ellie asks, stopping them at a crosswalk and looking both ways even though it's as empty as Gotham could ever get. Tim thinks on this for a moment, before again, deciding fuck it.

"It's Tim." He replies. "Caroline had a long night, and she thinks I'm better with children."

Ellie gives him a look for that. "I liked Caroline better."

Tim honks out a laugh, quickly covering it up with his free hand. "Sometimes I like Caroline better too."

"That's kind of sad." Ellie reaches up to pat Tim on his hip, the easiest place she can reach. "It's okay, Danny can like Tim better."

Tim feels his face hurt with how wide he's smiling. Kids are a riot. "Sometimes, when I'm a boy-boy, my name is Alvin."

Ellie shrugs. "Is he mean? If he's mean Dante might like him."

Tim, with a wobbly voice from holding in laughter, tries his best to answer. "He's sometimes a little mean."

"Dante can be mean with him. He's not as nice as Danny, but he's just as good of a brother." Ellie chirps, swinging their arms back and forth as she skips. "Do you have another name that Jazzy can like?"

"…I guess I was Todd Richards, once." Tim hums, swinging his arm with her and using his free hand to rub at his chin in thought. "Though he didn't stay long."

"Jazz doesn't like deadbeat men who leave." Ellie primly states, sticking her nose up. "Jazz deserves better."

"…Are you setting me up with all of your siblings?" Tim hesitantly asks, unsure how to explain that they're all monogamous, but like to share? He's never figured it out.

"No, just Danny." Ellie slants an offended look. "You have lotsa names but you're one person right?"

Tim feels lighter than a feather, and he's not sure how to explain that, so he settles for a nervous smile and nod. He's never actually sat down and thought through this whole identity thing in the first place—method acting gone wrong? Right?

Doesn't matter. Ellie's chill with it, so Tim's chill with it. Logic.

Take that, Dick. And Bruce. And Jason. And—

"It's okay to have a buncha names. I used to have a different name." Ellie continues over Tim's righteous thoughts, this time leading the way through a side alley. Tim is actually surprised how empty it is. "My creator was a dickbag though, and Jazzy said it's important for my i-den-ti-ty to have a proper one."

"Language." Tim bites his lip from snorting, noting the peculiar wording Ellie uses. "Creator?"

"Dante said it's okay if it's true." Ellie bites her lip, side-eyeing Tim as she pinches the fabric of her jeans. "And Danny says it's okay as long as Jazzy doesn't hear."

"Is that so?" Tim chuckles, subtly eyeing her fingers.

"It is so." Ellie sniffs, pinching the fabric of her jeans again. "Danny's the best like that." No pinching this time.

A tell. Tim hides his grin with a little cough. "Of course." Ellie seems to be pleased with Tim's agreeable actions.

They're just exiting the alley, coming around the bend, when the door to an apartment complex across the road swings forcefully open. A man, shirtless and NASA patterned pajama pants at barely cling to his hips shoots out, grabbing the before it slams against the wall, forcing it closed as gently as he can so that the security system locks engage. He's handsome even though his hair is a mess, with crease lines Tim can still see from all the way over here that indicate he was just asleep on possible pencil, maybe a screwdriver.

There are. Abs. And arms. Holy shit, those sure are arms.

Ellie perks up, zooming towards the man and dragging Tim with him. "Danny!"

"Ellie!" Danny's head whips up in their direction, the man running towards them with zero hesitation to scoop Ellie up into a hug. "Bug, you worried me, I woke up and you weren't there!"

Oh, shit, even his voice is nice, deep and raspy from sleep even through the sheer relief. Tim tries to focus on the conversation as Ellie recounts her obviously genius and completely founded (to her) reasoning on why she just had to leave the apartment, but ultimately fails.

Did he mention abs? And arms??

The man is taller than Tim by a good couple inches, and bulkier in the shoulders. He's robust, even with that shoulder to waist ratio that Tim (and Caroline) kind of want to aggressively bite at. Deliciously hunky, as Steph would say. He has a unique undercut that's all white, though the stop part of his hair is black as night.

His eyes almost glow green in the dinky streetlights, and Tim's kind of losing it at the soft helpless look the other man's giving his little sister once she's finished her explanation. He's got her sitting on one arm, holding her up so that their faces are level, with Ellie bracing her tiny hands on his shoulder and chest.

Tim kind of wants to cry.

"I know that—" Danny sighs, pinching his brow in a way only exasperated older brothers can. Tim knows, because Dick does it all the time. "I know that you're used to going out alone, but I thought we established that once you started living with me you'd tell me?"

Ellie purses her lips in what seems to be both guilt and indignation. "I did okay before. Nothing happened and I can take care of any bad guys!"

Danny's face crumples a bit for a flash of a moment, stabbing Tim in the heart like thirty million times. "Ellie, it's not that I don't trust you, it's that I care. What happened before…" Danny sighs looking a little distressed and at a loss for words.

Ellie reaches over, smooths a tiny hand over Danny's furrowed brow. "Ok. M'sorry Danny. I love you."

Danny smiles then, once more helpless, "I love you too squirt." Then, as if finally noticing Tim, Danny coughs and turns abruptly red. Like, super concernedly red, actually. Tim's worried he might feint.

"Oh, Ancients, sorry," Danny adjusts Ellie to put her down, but she clings to him, still a little upset. Danny smoothly straightens back up, patting her on the back as she nuzzles into his neck.

Seriously, Tim might die.

"Thanks for bringing her back to me." Danny reaches a hand out, "My name's Danny. Is there any way I can repay you for finding her?"

Tim almost says please date me but thankfully, Bat-training has him calm, collected, and in total control of his mouth.

"It's no problem," Tim smiles his best smile—a little awkward in Caroline's fit, but Tim's no stranger to women's clothing. "And I didn't exactly find her." Tim chuckles as he darts a glance at a now perked up Ellie.

"I found them Danny!" Ellie proudly pronounces, wiggling in place in her excitement again before scrunching her face. "Well. I found Caroline. For you!"

"For me?" Danny confusedly tilts his head, even pointing a finger at himself. "Why would you—"

"Jazzy said you're lonely." Ellie whispers loudly into his ear, Tim trying to stifle his laughter as he bites his lips. "And Dante said that you need to find a friend to have sleepovers with."

Danny's face goes alarmingly red again, slapping a hand to cover his eyes as he groans in embarrassment.

"I'm going to kill them—nosey older—" Danny grumbles, before huffing and smiling apologetically at Tim. "I'm really sorry about this Miss Caroline—"

"He's Tim right now!" Ellie interrupts, yanking at Danny's ear and causing him to yelp. "Caroline went to bed. I like Caroline more, 'cause she's so pretty, see?"

Ellie points at all of Tim, which causes him to smile shyly. He notices that Danny follows where Ellie points, gulping when he meets Tim's eyes again. "Y-yeah, I see that squirt but—"

"But Tim's been really nice, he treats me like a proper person! Most people just think I'm a dumb kid."

"You're not dumb." Tim and Danny say in unison, which makes both of them squeak embarrassingly. So much for Bat-training.

"See! So I thought Tim could be for you, and I could play with Caroline sometimes, and Dante could play with Alvin—"

"Alvin?" Danny asks quietly, to which Tim flashes three fingers, before pointing to his head. Danny nods understandingly before focusing back on Ellie. The quick understanding and no reaction makes all sorts of butterflies bloom in Tim's gut. Like a little mosh pit of bugs. Maybe he needs coffee.

"—and so I said that Jazz deserves better than that, right Danny?" Ellie smooshes Danny's cheeks, making him look all sorts of ridiculous and cute. "Maybe we can even share Caroline!"

"-at's right squirt. S-he does." Danny says through his squished face. He scrunches his nose up—which makes their relation seem so very clear, Ellie's the spitting image of him—before bopping his forehead onto hers and making her giggle as she lets go of his face.

"So, uh. this is all very nice of you, Ellie. I, uhm." Danny glances at Tim, wincing a little, "I love that you did something so nice for me, but you can't gift people, so we're gonna let uh, Tim get on their way okay?"

Ellie pouts, wriggling out of Danny's grip to hide behind Tim and grab at his skirt. "But, but you like pretty ladies! And pretty boys!"

"Where did you even get this information?" Danny's voice cracks, frantically looking back and forth between Tim and Ellie as if he's not sure whether to be embarrassed or indignant.

"Sam said you like pretty ladies that look like they can beat you up." Ellie ticks a finger up, looking up as she recalls this info, "and Tucker said you like guys who look like they need to be taked care of."

Danny groans, head in his hands and hunching his shoulders up to scrunch up as small as he can even as Ellie steamrolls over the noise, "And Jazzy and Dante said that you need somebody that can be weird with you."

Danny jolts up, straightening as if he's found some kind of salvation. "Hey, that's right, and I'm sure Tim is a perfectly awesome guy, uh, girl?" Danny looks at Tim in distress, making Tim chuckle.

"Right now I'm a guy." Tim tries to keep his voice soft and low, smiling a little shyly. Distantly, he wonders if he's smudged Caroline's lipstick.

"Right!" Danny coughs, red again, "Right, so he's a perfectly normal guy and totally not weird, Okay, Ellie? C'mon, let's not take up more of Tim's night, okay?"

"I like weird." Tim nonchalantly says, innocent as he lays a hand on Ellie's back. "I mean, I've got at least three people sharing space in my noggin. Sort of." She beams up at him and snuggles closer to his leg, a warm line of comfort and affection. "We can be weird together, I think."

Danny flaps his mouth open and closed, at a loss for words. Tim's not about to explain this whole method acting turned stress relief gender euphoria turned alternate identity thing, so he plows on.

"I'm sometimes a lady—" Ellie interrupts him with an adamant pretty! "—a pretty lady that can definitely put you in your place." Tim does a slow up and down, Caroline peeking through in body memory even if she's not fully forefront.

It makes Danny do that cute little squeak again—-That's three times now, and Tim wants to know if he can manage a fourth. It also makes Danny remember how shirtless he is, making the other man twitch as if he might cover his chest but doesn't want to bring more attention to this fact so he restrains himself.

Tim licks his lips, staring at his pecs and—there's that fourth squeak and arms crossing over that delicious chest.

"And y'know," Tim goes a little shy now, scratching at the back of his neck, "I sometimes forget to sleep and eat." He shrugs with a little moue of distaste as the words he's about to say, "My family says I'm kind of a workaholic and need taking care of."

"Oh!" Ellie bounces up and down, tugging at Tim's skirt again, flashing a little hip that makes Danny eep and slap his hands over his eyes. Big guy like him should not be this freaking cute, seriously. "Oh! Jazzy says Danny's a work-a-ho-lic too!"

"Yeah?" Tim says to Ellie, even as he keeps eye contact with Danny as he's peeking through his fingers, "Guess that means I gotta at least give it a shot, right?"

Tim's not sure where this confidence is coming from: remnants of Caroline, being so free with his other…roommates, Ellie, or Danny's reactions, but it's bolstering him up.

It makes him bold, and kinda reckless. Mr. Sarcastic would approve.

"Yeah!" Ellie agrees, tugging Tim's hand into hers. She pulls him towards Danny, who obliging gives her his hand when she asks for it wordlessly with her own. "You gotta at least try. Jazzy said you give up too much for me!" Ellie makes the saddest, most pathetic looking pout Tim's ever seen. "I don't wanna be the reason you're sad and alone Danny!"

Danny bites his lip, looking at Tim for a long moment. Tim tries to smile reassuredly, to convey that he's totally on board for at least one date. (For maybe many many dates?) His shoulders slump, but his blush is still rampant. It's crawling down his neck, up his cheeks and bleeding into his ears.

He's the cutest thing Tim's ever seen at 4am in the morning.

"O-okay, uhm." Danny fumbles with his phone, "I-I could give you my number?"

"Sounds great." Tim shyly smiles as they exchange numbers, Ellie keeping both their hands hostage as if they might run away the second she lets go. Good thing Tim's ambidextrous. "I'll call you, maybe set something up this weekend?"

"It's a date." Danny smiles, Ellie squealing in excitement and cheering as she finally lets go to jump around.

Just as they get ready to part ways, Ellie tugs at Tim's skirt again, cupping her hands in a bid for Tim to crouch down and lend an ear. He does so obligingly.

"Can Caroline wake up for a second so I can say goodbye?" She whispers loudly. Tim smirks a little, rummaging up the vestiges of Caroline and sort of—blinks.

"Goodnight darling." Caroline does a sly little smile, kissing Ellie on the cheek and winking up at Danny. "And you were right! Your brother is the best."

Ellie beams, giving her a kiss on the cheek back. "Good night, Caroline!"

[keeperofthepresent]

Random thoughts and questions on the recent chapters...

So the recent chapter pretty much implies that the trio are dead. Which makes sense. But then I think of Teru's hand holding his sword and I wonder if he's dead or alive. Which also makes me wonder about whether the other two are dead or alive.

And if Akane and Aoi are dead then that would mean that Teru watched Akane get killed before he took the sword from him. And he watched Aoi die too, either before or after that. He watched their last moments, right after exorcising Kou.

And he can be sitting there and processing the grief of it all, or he can be dead too, who knows. Or maybe Akane is alive when Teru takes the sword, and Aoi is dead.

I can't help but think that Akane of this timeline and Nene of the original timeline are parallels to each other, especially with how they both had injuries on their left leg because of the red house.

And in the original timeline, Kou saves Nene and they get out of the house. What if Teru does the same for Akane? Meanwhile Aoi ends up taken as a sacrifice by the house before they can save her? I can't stop thinking of the implications that human sacrifices with her family are still being made in this timeline and how it can all be relevant to their situation.

Or maybe it's actually Aoi who's alive and Akane is dead. And if Akane is dead then what happens? Why did the clock keepers tell him not to die? Does he get erased from all timelines? Does something worse happen? Why do the clock keepers need the keeper of the present to be a living human anyway? What is going on?

Of course, there's the simple and easy answer that they're all dead and that's that. After all, no one is replying to Nene's messages for some reason. But what if...? WHAT IF?

(One thing for sure, at least one of them is dead haha...)

[dross-the-fish]

A follower tagged me on a post that was talking about how Edward isn't actually a bad guy but rather he's misunderstood and I'm not going to reply to that post because I don't want to start drama on someone else's blog but I've seen the sentiment brought up a few times so I'm going to make a blanket post about the topic rather than single anyone out. The post I was tagged in mentions the trampling of the child and seems to frame it like an accident so I'll start there and I'll let Henry himself tell you how he views that incident. "An act of cruelty to a child aroused against me the anger of a passer by," He outright says it, it's an act of cruelty. He doesn't deny that. And that's what I hate about fanon Hyde. A lot of interps seem to forget that Hyde is a middle aged man struggling with a repressed sadistic streak and not a social awkward teenager. I think the most concrete evidence we have of Jekyll/Hyde's nature is in Jekyll's letter and how he describes himself and his relationship to Hyde. “To cast in my lot with Jekyll, was to die to those appetites which I had long secretly indulged and had of late begun to pamper. To cast it in with Hyde, was to die to a thousand interests and aspirations, and to become, at a blow and forever, despised and friendless. The bargain might appear unequal; but there was still another consideration in the scales; for while Jekyll would suffer smartingly in the fires of abstinence, Hyde would be not even conscious of all that he had lost.” As afraid as he is of losing the life he's built for himself there's so much LONGING to be Hyde despite the evils Hyde has done. He wants to indulge in his appetites and he knows if he embraces Edward he won't even grieve his losses. I find it interesting that he notes that becoming Edward would cost him his "aspirations and interests," because he would be losing everything to his vice, choosing pleasure and indulgence over his own goals and ambitions. "If I am the chief of sinners, I am the chief of sufferers also," Henry Jekyll is a complex and repressed but also very selfish man and here's where the interpretation of Edward as a metaphor for addiction comes most strongly into play. Jekyll shows textbook signs of a drug user: experimentation, denial or minimization of the harmful effects, attempts to quit, withdrawal when he goes too long without being Edward and eventually he develops a dependency and falls into a spiral. The fact that he's taking a potion just drives the imagery that much harder. Even the description of the effects of the potion itself mirror drug use. "something indescribably new and, from its very novelty, incredibly sweet. I felt younger, lighter, happier in body ; within I was conscious of a heady recklessness, a current of disordered sensual images running like a mill race in my fancy, a solution of the bonds of obligation, an unknown but not an innocent freedom of the soul. I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked" It's agony at first but once the "high" hits and he becomes Edward he feels good and his inhibitions are gone. He can indulge every depraved and twisted act his heart desires without having to take the hit to his reputation or the responsibility. “since then I had been obliged on more than one occasion to double, and once, with infinite risk of death, to treble the amount” - Jekyll risks an overdose because he keeps taking more of the serum. This illustrates his dependency on Hyde and his inability to quit. One thing I've noticed about Hyde interps that favor the lighter, softer, readings of the character is that they almost always neglect the characterization of Henry Jekyll. Either depicting Jekyll as the good half or all but erasing them from their fanon version of Hyde and that's something you can't really do because it misses the point of Jekyll and Hyde. Which is about Henry Jekyll and his repression and his eventual turn to a destructive outlet.

"The pleasures which I made haste to seek in my disguise were, as I have said, undignified; I would scarce use a harder term. But in the hands of Edward Hyde, they soon began to turn towards the monstrous. When I would come back from these excursions, I was often plunged into a kind of wonder at my vicarious depravity. This familiar that I called out of my own soul, and sent forth alone to do his good pleasure, was a being inherently malign and villainous; his every act and thought centered on self; drinking pleasure with bestial avidity from any degree of torture to another, relentless like a man of stone. Henry Jekyll stood at times aghast before the acts of Edward Hyde." once the leash is off Jekyll is shocked by what he's capable of, what Hyde is capable of. The words used by Stevenson paint a lurid picture, Depravity, bestial, torture, villainous. He can't outright say what Hyde is doing but it's pretty clear he has a sadistic streak. He also lets slip at one point by using "My" instead of referring to Edward as separate. "My vicarious depravity." He's aware, he is complicit and he enjoys himself. You cannot separate Jekyll from Hyde therefore any interpretation of Hyde as being soft, innocent, unaware or merely mischievous is not only incorrect but it directly contradicts the purpose of the story and strips Jekyll of his complexity. If you can't like this character as he is written then you don't like this character. There are some things you can leave up to interpretation but Hyde's sadism and Jekyll's addiction to Hyde are both very clear cut and Jekyll's confession spells everything out in a way that you'd have to reach pretty far to claim that Edward is being misrepresented by Utterson throughout the bulk of the novel.

[peoplegettingreallymadatfurries]

What is a Minotaur?

I've been fascinated by the many different takes of the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. It is possible to depict these two as star-crossed lovers, through the level of intimacy shown in Theseus' execution of Asterion. It can also be a moment where we reflect on the features that make one different, but understanding the relationships of the world around us. As an artist, often you take a long time flowing into the precise details that are meant to be included in a final work. While it would be irresponsible as a literary critic of these artistic pieces to insist the artist's intent, there is a definite form of intention that goes into sculpture. Of Theseus and Asterion, I notice that there is a hidden story with many pieces, that go beyond the simple translation of the classic myth to page.

My favorite being Canova's, which depicts an almost intimate scene between the slain Asterion and triumphant Theseus.

This reading benefits from the club sitting beside Theseus. Seeing this as both the phallic object with which he defeated the Asterion, as well as the way it rises high to his eye, there is a latent sexuality in this piece. Asterion's mouth lies agape, either in pain or pleasure, we will never know. However, many of us who have seen this piece on Tumblr agree that it's definitely some form of sexuality. This is a triumph of brutishness, sure, but why are these figures nude?

Oftentimes, as I have done more research for this random essay that popped into my head, I find that often both the hero and monster are nude. This is both to show the raw power of both forces, as if they come from a place that goes beyond humanity, as well as the story that led to how they came to be. Asterion, sure he's unclothed in every depiction. He's an unwanted child, left to die, or at the very least fend for himself against 14 Athenian prisoners of war every 7 or 9 years. Theseus being unclothed is something that I need to actually look up and won't, being that this is not up for peer review in a prestigious journal.

Some depictions show him strangling Asterion to death (Pindar), others say Theseus stabbed Asterion in the throat. Either way of execution provides an overpowering of the smaller, young Theseus. Either he uses a phallic object to murder what he sees as a monster, or perhaps gets to know him better while he struggles under the weight of his hands on the bull's throat. Using a sword to penetrate is one of the gayest exchanges one can use to symbolize a sexual intercourse. (See some readings of Romeo and Tybalt). Laying hands on this monster (especially if nude as often depicted), he likely faced him, giving him some semblance of touch between himself and another human.

Upon further research of these type of sculpture, I found François Sicard's bronze statue on Archibald Fountain in Hyde Park in Sydney, Australia. Though there is a brutality between the two, here, where Theseus in his Western European features manhandles an Othered subject, there also exists an intimacy. Grabbing the Asterion by the horn, kneeling on his thigh, offers a sense of touch that Asterion likely never would have been able to experience prior. Though one can imply a suggestive nature to Asterion's pose, it's important to also see that Asterion's head is turned to look back at the man who is touching him, and moments from giving him his greatest mercy.

Asterion never asked to be born what he was. Many newer interpretations of the myth, mainly those depicted by @hellenhighwater and @avocadolaw, depict a person underneath his features, stuck inside a prison for which he is unjustly placed. Highwater's piece, A Crack in the Labyrinth, in particular, reaches for a pathos that I find unrivaled in any solitary piece of Minotaur work.

Though Asterion has unrivaled strength -- enough to kill 14 Athenians every 7 or 9 years depending on your retelling of the myth -- enough to break down the walls of his prison, he also remains an emotional subject, born of a curse of his mother's relationship with Zeus, and his father's vanity. He was shut out for being born a monster, but he is still a child, who did not deserve this imprisonment.

@avocadolaw's interpretation of Highwater's piece demonstrates another angle to this myth that continues to drive empathy into the heart of the story. Asterion is Ariadne's older brother. It is Ariadne who supplies Theseus with the clew that he can use to escape the impossible labyrinth, doing this out of an act of love for the Athenian, and not the Cretan. By depicting Asterion in a moment of solitude and depression, the audience sees a beast in its weakness -- in its solitary confinement. Using the same skyphos, also depicts a relationship between these siblings that the myth itself neglects to mention.

These solitary depictions move away from a sense of queerness as this essay threatened. However, their intimate tenderness for a misunderstood creature curates an understanding of queer solitude. Asterion's difference from anyone he may have known doesn't sexualize him. It humanizes him.

I have seen intentional gay pieces of art between Theseus and Minotaur, both using art as a form to share intimacy, as well as queerness. Of all of these, though, I am drawn toward the monstrous depiction of identity in @h00f's piece T4TM

Title and depiction here, implies a specifically trans reading into the subject of The Minotaur. The image alt text of the post refrains from using pronouns for the Minotaur (see the alt text for the included image). The trans reading of this piece bares entirely features that may be interpreted through a bifurcated understanding of gender, or it can blur the line between the two well enough to absolve itself of any gender. In refusing to use pronouns for the Minotaur at all, the artist also refuses to define this depiction into a secret third option. In all of this lack of gender, there is still a form of intimacy between the two subjects, especially given the assumed shared history of Minotaur myth.

Overall, I just love the way Minotaur are depicted as a misunderstood beast and given a form of intimacy that formerly had been left out in the understanding of the myth. If you managed to read all of this essay, I'm proud of you for putting up with this. My mind wandered while I was researching an essay for the furbait blog. I wanted to jump on this impulse while I could. When you see the other essay, I hope you find it to be just as worth it as I did, spending the last 4 hours drafting this up.

[howi99]

Circus Light chapter 5

Jaune: *sigh* I know it's probably a cultural difference, but why are there so many people smoki- *Cough, trying to swat away the foul smoke* -this is worse than Vacuo, and drugs were legalised there!

Peter: *shrug* It's a dog eat dog world. *Hit Jaune, his aura protecting him from the blow* You got that fancy armor to heal and protect you, they got opium to cope with the pain.

Jaune: *put his scarf in front of his mouth and nose* I doubt getting high is helping anyone. *Sigh* If it was physical pain, i could help at least-

Peter: *rolling his eyes* Can you stop with your savior complex for one second?

Jaune: Sorry...

Peter: Tsk, you're even more of a pushover then Doll, and she's a 15 year old girl for god's sake!

Jaune: *frown* Isn't she 16?

Peter: *shrug* Does it really matter? *Shaking his head with a sigh* Anyway, how did you find the black market so fast? I thought you were a complete goodie two-shoes.

Jaune: *perplexed* Where did you think i sold my armor, a pawn shop?

Peter: *surprised* You're telling me you found it in a night!? How?!

Jaune: *point at his face* I literally look like the perfect victim for a mugging. I just had to twist the guy's arm a bit to get some information.... That and seeing a man shrug off a bullet to the head really makes them more talkative. *Sigh* Anyway, i'll go get my papers. *Look at Peter, worried* I know you are an adult, but are you sure you want to get supplies by yourself? There's been an awful lot of kidnapping and-

Peter: *annoyed* I can keep care of myself, Shine. I don't need a weakling like you to be my "savior".

Jaune: I know, but-

Peter: *bringing up a knife* I can defend myself, i know how to fight.

Jaune: ... *Sigh* Fine, sorry... *Leave Peter alone*

Peter: ... Tsk, that guy should stop putting his nose where it doesn't belong. *Chuckle* The brat would be sad if he were to die.

_ _ _

Doll: *looking at Jaune's papers* They ain't bad, but really? Jean?

Jaune: *shrug* It made sense to have a "french" sounding name, since i do have a slight accent. And what were the odds of having a bunch of them living under the British Crown?

Doll: So now your name is Jean, you come from the dominion of Canada and... *Perplexed* You studied medicine? Why did you put that?

Jaune: Hey, if i want to heal people, it's better if they think i'm an actual practitioner... Though i did put that i didn't finish my studies. *Smirk* i'm only 17 after all.

Doll: Huh, i guess that make sense.

Jaune: *smiling* Oh, i also found some information about the kidnappings!

Doll: *trying her best to keep her face straight* Is that so?

Jaune: *nod, picking up his notes* The disappearance mostly happens during the night and most of the time, the children are from different part of the city.

Doll: *nervous* Meaning?

Jaune: Well, either they are perpetrated by different individuals that aren't connected, which would be surprising, or a group of persons all working together.

Doll: *sweating bullets* It's probably just a coincidence, right?

Jaune: *still not looking at her* I would have agreed if 12 kids didn't disappear the same night. *Sigh, shaking his head* Sadly, it doesn't tell me where they are sent or why they were kidnapped... It's horrible to say, but i almost hope they were just killed.

Doll: ... Why..?

Jaune: *placing the notes on the table, looking sadly outside* Because, without any demands or ransom, it would be either that or... *Sigh* well, i think you get the point...

Doll: ... *Feeling sick from the guilt* I-i-

Jaune: *look at Doll, worried* Freckles?

Doll: *tries to go outside, but only manage to step one foot out before vomiting*

Jaune: *panicking* F-Freckles!? *Get next to her, placing his hand on her back* Are you ok?!

Doll: *trying to move away* S-sorry, i- *tear up* I need to go! *Start running away*

Jaune: Freckles, wait i'm- *sees her disappear in the mass of people* Damn it! *Sigh* At least she knows the way to the infirmary... *Shaking his head, talking to himself* Of course she doesn't want to hear about that! *Hit the ground with his fist* She was an orphan! She's probably worried sick for them, idiot!

_ _ _

Doll: *crying* I can't do this anymore! Please, Joker!

Joker: ... *Sigh* Dagger, we'll take the east road. I'll tell Father that the authorities are onto us and that we need to lay low for a time.

Dagger: How long?

Joker: ... I'll try asking for a year, but we might only have a couple of months in front of us. *Looking at Doll* And in the event that we are to continue afterwards, i won't ask you to participate.

Doll: *sniffle* Thank you... *Leave the tent*

Joker: *sigh* I never should have asked her to come in the first place.

Peter: *annoyed* She's the one who wanted to help, not your fault if she's weak-willed.

Jumbo: She's just a kid-

Peter: And so were we. *Crossing his arms behind his head* We are killers, not a bunch of sentimental idiots.

Beast: *rolling her eyes* Of course you'd think that.

Peter: *looking at her* Am i wrong? Because i know well enough that we could have said no at any time.

Wendy: But the orphan-

Peter: *annoyed* Could be dead for all we know! Heck, i don't even remember the last time we visited the place. 3 years? 5?

Jumbo: 6...

Peter: *rubbing his eyes* 6 years, and we haven't received a single news from them since. We took those kids from their homes without even knowing if the one we are trying to protect are fine. *Scratching his head* Do we even know what Father wants them for?

Joker: *shaking his head* I have no idea. He didn't tell me, but i guess i'll know once I talk to him...

[beifong-brainrot]

If Mako was killed from the mech, how do you think Bolin would respond to it? It probably be a mix of anger, guilt, and shutting down. The long term effects would definitely screw with him for years, as the one person whose always been in his life is now gone.

Auuugh why would you do this to me. The absolute angst.

Mako has been Bolin's only connection to his bygone happy childhood. Not only that, Mako was Bolin's rock and caretaker most of his life. Bolin would not only be losing a beloved big brother, but also a parental figure, of sorts. So like double grief. This would be even more painful for him, when we factor in the very obvious codependency between the brothers, and how they struggle with detangling themselves from each others' influence. This would be an incredibly violent and abject severing of this relationship.

Especially that by the time B4 rolls around, Bolin and Mako are slowly managing to detach from each other, although it is not painless by any means. We see Bolin stand up to Mako and argue with him more, which would lead to a tenser relationship between them, despite this being for the best.

This would definetly make Bolin feel even more guilty for letting Mako die, and for not spending enough time with him. It would probably magnify his guilt for being part of the Earth Empire for a while, probably growing to self loathing.

I actually think that Bolin coming back to save Mako is a big testament to hia character growth, since I think early B1 Bolin would be more likely to completely adhere to Mako's demand that he simply get himself to safety

Bolin: No! You can't! This isn't the time to prove how awesome you are. I already know how awesome you are [Briefly looks away before looking back.] ... you're awesome. Mako : I don't have time to argue! I'm doing this, so get out of here! Bolin: Okay, but for the record, [Looks back up.] I do not approve. Just, get out as soon as you can. Promise? Mako : [Close-up before a closer view of their hands as he grasps Bolin's and shakes it.] Promise. [The brothers embrace.]

The B1 naive, cheerful Bolin would trust in Mako's 'awesomeness' but the more jaded and matured Bolin returns to make ensure Mako's safety. This is an 'evolution' of Bolin's previous, well intentioned, but juvenile attempts at lightening Mako's load of caring for them both.

So Bolin failing in his attempt to rescue Mako would make him feel even more guilty and also doubt himself and his abilities.

I can certainly see Bolin dealing with a lot of anger, though I'm not sure how it would manifest. Of course, I think a lot of it would go inwards, but I can also see him having some misplaced anger towards Mako for raiking himself, and probably some towards Kuvira and Baatar.

I can totally see Bolin breaking down and lashing out at Kuvira if she were nearby, but I can also just genuinely see him completely freezing up and just being so lost and confused, you know? It would take literal years for him to recover I think

[just-a-girl-who-loves-tmr]

Head canons

Post death-cure, safe haven

Thomas, Newt, Newtmas

I warn you this post is very long so welcome to he inner workings of my brain and 3am

Thomas

- ADHD!! You can’t tell me I’m wrong (this is kinda canon but it’s never actually mentioned) Will hyper fixate on things and neglect his well being

- His eyes are hazel, but they go green in sunlight with a lil bit of gold- that’s why newt’s favourite colour is green because its Tommy’s eye colour in sunlight but he won’t admit it he just says it’s a nice colour

- The type of person who does puzzles for fun. Again he will hyper fixate on a puzzle or task and won’t rest until he’s finished (unless Newt drags him to bed which he has done many times)

- Wakes up at 5am to go on runs with Minho. Minho wakes him up because Thomas gets made if he doesn’t and feels unproductive

- Cold showers all the time- unless he’s showering with Newt, then they compromise because Newt likes hot showers

- Either he’s extremely smart or extremely stupid. There is no in between. He could be going on about diffusion and the movement of particles between galaxies but then he doesn’t know how to tie his own shoe lace without making a huge knot he can never undo.

- He has extreme survivors guilt from everything happened to the point where he has panic attacks because of it. He always feels so guilty for helping WICKED, which of course no one blames him for but he always feels like he betrayed them and on the worst days he feels like he deserved to die for helping them hurt his friends.

Newt

- my baby has separation anxiety (I’m sorry!!) he constantly needs reassurance that the others still like him and especially from Thomas after they get together (which happens I will not be told otherwise) that Thomas still loves him and isn’t going to leave him

- This is also because some of the other treat him differently after he was cured- sometimes treating him like he’s fragile and delicate which Newt hates- he fears that the others don’t trust him and feels like he’s not cured and he’s going to snap and hurt them

- Being sick is also a huge trigger for him- he has a weaker immune system than the others due to the fact that he isn’t immune like they are so he gets sick a lot more often- even if its just a cold he gets super on edge, constantly checking his arms and pulse to make sure he’s still himself

- Thomas is always a help during these periods when Newt is anxious and sick, reminding Newt that he’s cured and that he won’t leave him alone. He makes Newt tea and gives him loads of attention- which Newt doesn’t love at first because he’s independent and thinks he can do it himself until Thomas puts him arms around him and kisses him softly and tells him that he loves him, then Newt just melts

- Convinced he has an acoustic guitar because my sister mentioned to me once that he would suit it and I cannot get the idea out my head. He would play it super well and use it to take his mind off things when his brain gets hectic. He doesn’t like playing in front of people because he gets kinda self conscious when everyone’s looking at him but he plays for Thomas when they’re alone and Thomas can’t take his eyes off him because he looks so beautiful.

- He still writes a lot, journaling, poetry, little stories he makes up. It’s kind of like a therapy thing for him when he gets stressed out and he doesn’t want to talk about it he just writes it down. He occasionally lets Thomas read snippets of his poetry and writing and Thomas loves it. Also loves reading so he and Thomas read together until Thomas gets bored and lays on Newt’s chest while Newt reads to him and plays with him hair

Newtmas

- Nicknames>>> Newt calls Thomas things like Tommy, Love, Darling etc. Thomas calls Newt things like Babe, Baby, angel etc.

- They both get anxious about the other one overworking, Thomas gets worried about Newt’s leg because Newt insists on working a lot to make up for the time he couldn’t work while he was recovering. Thomas knows Newt is okay and that he is independent and capable of doing it himself but he still makes sure Newt takes breaks and massages it for him to take the pain away. Newt gets nervous that Thomas is running too much and not eating enough because Thomas feels like he’s obligated to do it and he needs to do his part, but Newt in turn, makes him take breaks and makes sure he’s eating enough etc

- They are so touch starved when they get to the safe haven they are practically hanging off each other, constantly touching in some way. They’re walking? They’re holding hands. They’re sitting? They are pressed against each other’s side if not on the other’s lap. They’re sleeping? They’re cuddling. It’s little things as first just as they’re getting used to being able to touch each other affectionately whenever they want to but they get comfortable very quickly because they are so familiar with each other.

- To everyone else , Thomas is always the talker and Newt is the listener. Thomas always has something to talk about, literally anything on his mind he yap about to Newt and Newt listens because he loves listening to Thomas babbling about this and that. Everyone else agrees that Newt is the quiet one but god forbid when they’re alone Newt does not shut up. He doesn’t talk as much in large groups but as soon as it’s just him and Thomas he talks and talks about anything and everything that he’s been keeping to himself all day. He gets kind of embarrassed about it when he realises how much he’s said but Thomas loves listening to him talk especially when it’s something he’s passionate about.

- Newt’s limp okay. Newt is very independent and hates the idea that he needs help to get around or that he needs to rely on other people’s support but Thomas always talks him down when Newt’s leg is sore. He protests at first but all Thomas has to do is look at him with his big brown eyes and place a gently hand on Newt’s thigh and Newt gives in. Thomas makes sure Newt rests his leg, carrying him everywhere just to hear Newt whine that he can do it himself but still cling to him, burying his face into the brunet’s hair.

- Thomas has also perfected to making of tea and prides himself in making to tea every time he’s sad or in pain. He always gives the cup a kiss first, he did as a joke first claiming that it tastes better when it’s made with love but now it’s a must do and Newt complains that it doesn’t taste the same if Thomas doesn’t give it a kiss first

Thank you for listening to me yap <3 I’m thinking of doing Ivy trio + Minho separately headcanons so let me know what you think

Ily guys <33