#and some sort of victory to do with flying

[msmk11]

Hii! First : happy birthday!! 21 is such a lovely age!

Also omg.. I’m not one for gossiping but.. I saw Sirius black taking a shot earlier and he kept babbling nonsense! I learn it had 24% alcohol! Crazy I know.. right after he tried to quit drinking too!

(🍾)

24. Getting pinned down while a training session/sports practice

OMG?! No way???? Genuinely soooooo crazy.....

Playing Dirty

Sirius Black x gn!reader

WC: 1.1k

CW: smutty allusions but no smut; fluff; running (ew)

Summary: Cheaters never prosper (not related to relationship cheating but cheating at a game)

You know you’re supposed to be taking this seriously, and you know that James will probably give you more laps for goofing off, but you can’t find it in yourself to care. Sirius really can’t either, it seems. The thing is, there’s nothing you hate more than running laps. Despite your protests that you’re on a broom- so why do you need to run- Captain James Potter insists upon it. He says it makes everyone stronger, mentally and physically. You think he just likes personally torturing each and every one of his teammates now that he’s in charge. 

Although Sirius doesn’t really mind the running- not ever since he became a dog animagus at least- he’s sympathetic to your complaints. He’ll return your pouts with gentle coos and kisses to your forehead in hopes of easing your distress. It helps, but some days you need a little extra motivation. Today is one of those days. Sirius’ solution? A race. Your boyfriend knows you well, because the thrill of a competition, of getting to beat him and gloat about it for the rest of the day, is incredibly alluring to you. Whoever finishes the laps first is the winner, you decide, and they’ll get a reward of their choosing. Your mind is already brimming with ideas. 

It’s why you’re now sprinting around the quidditch field faster than you’ve ever gone before- heart racing and blood pumping as you will your body to maintain its pace and keep the slight lead you have on your boyfriend. The endorphins pumping through your veins are exhilarating, but they have nothing to do with the exercise. Instead, your body is alight with the thrill of winning, giggles trapped in your throat at the thought of victory. It’s a childlike and youthful sensation, one spurned on when you catch a flash of raven hair in your peripheral. You nearly gasp when you spot Sirius taking the lead, toned legs, slightly longer than yours, carrying him down the field. You’d known he wasn’t going to just let you win, but you’d been suspicious at the way he’d been lagging right behind you the whole race. Now that his motives are clear, you curse yourself for not seeing it sooner. He was pacing himself- saving up some of his energy for a last minute burst that would propel him to the finish line right before you. It’s maddening and you push your feet into the turf even harder, willing your legs to move faster, faster, faster. 

Sirius, the bastard, looks over his shoulder and winks, “do try to keep up, sweetheart.”

You huff through your pants and laser in on his back as he nears what you’ve both deemed the finish line. It’s not likely you can pass him in time, but perhaps you can slow him down…or stop him. Your legs scream from the exertion but you push through, channeling the last of your energy into revenge. You inch closer to your boyfriend until BAM, you slam into the back of him, sending him tumbling down onto the turf. Unfortunately for you, you get caught up in his flying limbs and go straight down with him, hitting the ground with a loud oomf. 

The grass scratches against your skin as you land half on top of your boyfriend and he groans. 

“You little minx,” Sirius curses, voice sort of muffled by the earth.

“Whoops, was an accident,” you murmur sweetly, rolling off of him. You attempt to scramble up but don’t get far.

“Nuh uh!” your boyfriend protests, grabbing your ankle and promptly pulling you back down, “you’re not going anywhere.”

You yelp and fall on top of him as his strong arms wrap around your waist, pulling you against him. Your faces are inches apart and you can feel his warm breath fanning across your face, “you, my love, are a big, fat cheater.”

“Me? A cheater? Never? How could you accuse me of such a thing? I just tripped and fell onto you.”

He raises an eyebrow, entirely unamused and unconvinced, “right, and Prongs is secretly a Slytherin spy. You were just mad I was going to win so you decided to play dirty.”

“This is blasphemy, Sirius!” You attempt to wiggle free from his grasp but he fights you, trying to keep you in a hold.

“So stubborn!”

The raven-haired boy sighs and flips the two of you over, your back landing against the ground. He straddles your hips and goes for your wrists. You flail about unflatteringly in an attempt to escape his grasp. It doesn’t help much because moments later he has you pinned beneath him with a cruel, cocky smirk on his smug, handsome face. 

“That’s more like it,” he drawls, his voice carrying that tone he knows makes your knees weak. 

“You wanna play dirty, sweetheart? I can play dirty too. Maybe even dirtier.”

Your breath hitches and Sirius hears it, his smirk growing impossibly wider. Fuck your boyfriend and his seductive sorcery. It was unfair, really, how he could turn you to goo with a few intentioned words and a grin. He leans in closer and your nose is filled with his scent- his favorite cologne, a hint of his shampoo, and the, surprisingly, not unpleasant smell of sweat. It sends a shiver down your spine and his grey eyes darken, “just accept defeat, sweetheart.”

“But I-” you trail off dumbly, all fight leaving your body.

“There you go, baby. Good job,” he murmurs against your lips, before closing the gap. 

The kiss, to put it simply, is hot. It’s messy and rough and sends heat right to your core. You whimper into his mouth despite the audience you most certainly have and Sirius chuckles lowly, the vibrations sending another shiver through your body. Your boyfriend presses one more searing kiss to your lips and then in a flash he’s up and gone, the heat of his body unfortunately absent from your skin. 

You blink slowly, brain not caught up to what’s just happened. Faintly, you hear Sirius cheer, and you curse. The bastard really does know how to play dirty. You squeeze your eyes shut and take a few deep breaths, trying to calm your pounding heart, heaving chest, and the sparks of need flickering between your legs. 

You sense a shadow overcome you and you open your eyes, glowering at a smug looking James Potter. He offers his hand with a cheeky, “cheaters never prosper,” and you smack it away, growling softly. This only makes James laugh more and you kick his shin, reveling in the small hiss he lets out at the attack. 

“I can give you five more laps for that,” your captain calls out as you stalk away.

“No need, Potter. I’ll be getting in my cardio another way today,” you call back, grabbing Sirius by the wrist and dragging him back towards the castle.

[onekindredspirit]

In the essay 'Morphology of the Hit' (The Empathy Exams 2014), Leslie Jamison discusses Vladimir Propp and his book Morphology of the Folktale. Vladimir Propp proposed a system of classification and structure that could be used as a map for all storytelling. His research was based on Russian folktales. There are 31 functions of storytelling arranged in ascending order. So, like life, one thing follows another but not necessarily all things follow another or happen at all. And so ...

"You can find a program on the internet called Digital Propp. I guess you'd call it a game. You click on the site and it says: "You have reached the Proppian Fairytale Generator." ... You check off the functions you want and it gives you a story. I check: absentation, interdiction, violation, villainy, branding, exposure. I pause, go back, check off: lack. I don't check: counteraction, recognition, wedding. I click the little button called "generate". The site spits back a story: something about a forbidden pear, and then some fight with a bird, some victory having to do with flying. I'm seeing signs of all kinds of functions I didn't ask for: struggle, challenge, victory. There is some fighting and finally some winning: "The soil on my skin turned to sprinkles of gold dust. The people proclaimed me some kind of god." Leslie Jamison *The Empathy Exams* Polaroid - One Kindred Spirit

[m00nkeiki]

First Hug from the Monster Trio

As part of the "First Hugs" Series Featuring: Luffy, Zoro, Sanji Content Warning: Mentions of blood/injuries in Zoro’s section

Luffy

Luffy is a bundle of sunshine, a beacon of hope and joy who sees his friends as the greatest thing in the world! Of course he’d love to give hugs! Whether it is from a victorious celebration after an hour of determination or winning a silly little team game, Luffy’s hugs were full of delight.

His best hugs are surprises. One day, you could be walking down a street with some minute bustle of people around as you expect an ordinary day to follow.

A brush of wind comes about and is followed by silence, and then the loud call of your name. You recognize that voice: it’s and excitable, booming, and thrilling shout of glee.

You turn around and your beaming face is welcomed at the sight of Luffy launching himself at you, his rubber arms stretching wider than the horizons as you prepare for impact.

Like a landing plane, Luffy slows down to wrap coils of arms and legs around your body, bringing you into a snug, rubbery embrace. His infectious laughter plants seeds in your lungs, and you too begin to bloom with laughter as you exclaim his name in this joyful reunion. 

Luffy doesn't let go for another minute, so once he withdraws his embrace, he would not stop laughing and giggling. It’s as if seeing you and hugging you for the first time is the best thing that ever happened to him.

“Nishishi, So glad to see you here!”

Zoro

It's easy to think Zoro seems too stoic for this, right? Well, Zoro can still has moments of vulnerability where he would drop his usual cool attitude for the ones he cares about.

It happened after a hard fought battle, when Zoro was so close to losing you. 

There were scratches and bruises from where you lost a few drops of blood. Here you were, panting, breathing, but with the bandages wrapped around your injuries as you were on the path of healing, you knew you were going to be okay.

Zoro sights you: his usually hardened face softens into relief, a glint in his eyes apparent as he sees you in this less than ideal condition.

Sitting next to you, you notice how he’s trying to shuffle towards you. The great Straw Hat Swordsman, Zoro, has difficulty putting his affections in words. At worst, it’ll make him look like a mumbling idiot, but you know he’s sincere even if his low voice seems to undercut it.

“Crap… how do I say this… I’m glad you’re okay.”

The low rumble of his voice forms a glow of warmth in you. You then notice he’s trying to wrap his arm around you: it’s stiff and awkward, and unbecoming of someone who has slashed his enemies with no mercy. But the moment you gently palm his face, shooting him a reassuring smile, Zoro squeezes what little tears he tried to erase as he turns you to him and hugs you firmly. 

Sanji

 If charm and service were encapsulated as a person, that’s Sanji. He always gives all sorts of attention to women, showering them with compliments and praises as hearts fly around his head.

But actual affection? To hug someone? It feels foreign to him. It’s not that he is averse to them, but the other way round—he craves to embrace someone he could love and cherish with his whole heart. 

He does reserve that sort of intimacy though, despite being the resident womanizer of the crew. Sanji yearns to build a relationship with someone he could call home, even if it chips down his philandering habits. Being a gentle lover, he wants you to be okay with all of his touches, even little things like nuzzling your neck, hands cascading down your arm… 

The hug happened on a quiet kitchen night, as you helped Sanji wash the dishes after he fed the crew a whole meal. He checks in with you, to ensure the chore did not tire you out as he was ready to pounce on you with a sweet treat.

You shake your head and reassure him though it is clear you could fall down and sleep on the floor. Sanji did not want you to say good night to him like this; with blue eyes that plead, he puts his hand on your shoulder before bringing you into a hug, the kind that feels like a prelude to a slow dance.

“My love, my darling… you are truly my candle in the darkness, my divine angel from heaven… Let me take care of you.”

More in the series: (Ace + Sabo + Law)

[spinningwebsandtales]

Imagine Dante Patching You Up After A Tough Mission

Dante X FemReader

Rating: M

Warnings: Blood, Injury, flirting, steam, suggestive themes, violence, stitching, angst, fluff, some nudity

Word Count: 2.3k

Part 2: here

(A/N:) What was supposed to be a short imagine suddenly exploded into this whopper of a story. I had a little too much fun but I enjoy hurt/comfort so much. And I adore Dante so yeah I had a little too much fun. I went ahead and made this mature as my inner vampire came out. So enjoy the chaos that is being unleashed from my mind! Until next time happy reading! ~Countess

Dante held you tightly, blood dripping down your fingers to drip on the ground. The gash in your shoulder burned and every little jostle had you hissing in pain. The mission had been tough, tougher than you were expecting. But to come out alive was a huge victory. Dante kept taking quick glances at you as he worried about the injuries. You had been sent flying by a larger demon. Dante knew he heard a loud crack when you hit the wall, but you refused to let yourself be pampered too much. You argued about Dante carrying you so now he was helping you by his arm around your waist and your arm over his shoulder while he helped you walk.

"I'm taking you to the hospital," Dante lugged you harder towards the van.

"No hospitals," you gritted your teeth, willing your feet to keep moving forward.

"You're bleeding out babe," Dante argued, carrying you inside the door.

"I haven't lost that much blood."

"You're bleeding more than the demon I just made into a pin cushion," he retorted. "You're going. I'm sure something else is busted inside you too."

"Ribs," you replied. "They're cracked. They won't do anything for cracked ribs Dante."

"We can at least get you a blood transfusion. I can't lose you sweetheart."

"You're not going to lose me Dante. You're going to stitch me and I'm going to heal. Demon Hunter's promise okay."

Dante cursed but started the van anyway and respected your wishes, even though he didn't like them or agree. Your head rolled against the van couch's cushion and Dante was getting worried. A small puddle of blood grew at your feet and he could feel panic nipping at his heels. The van had a med kit, not as extensive as a hospital but good enough to take care of all sorts of wounds his human team members needed cared for. He called your name and you responded with a hum.

You were still conscious so that was good but he needed to get your flayed open shoulder taken care of soon or you wouldn't be much longer. A motel sign, sun bleached and worn rose in the distance and while he rather get you back to the shop, this would have to do. Pulling over Dante parked the van in the pot holed parking lot of a two story motel. The yellow walls chipping and the door numbers falling off, but it would have to do. He grabbed a wad of cash out of the stash that he kept in the glove compartment and kissed your forehead as he passed by.

"I'll be right back just stay with me," he whispered.

"I ain't going anywhere Dante," you winced.

"Still don't want to go to the hospital?"

"No I don't! How do you explain to the nurses that my injures were caused by being back handed by a flying demon arm," you snorted before groaning in pain.

"They'll just think you're drunk or tweaking out on drugs," he chuckled.

"Oh I wish I was drunk right now," you moaned.

"Just hang on I'll get you taken care of," he kissed you again and left out the side door.

With a room key in hand, Dante scooped you up despite your protest and pained yelps and carried you into the dusty room he rented for a couple nights. He checked the bed carefully and laid you on the side with the less stains. Blood trickled from your lips and he wiped it away with his thumb.

"I'm going to have to remove your shirt to check your shoulder," Dante cleared off the bedside table to set the van's medical kit close by.

"Take me to dinner first before you start stripping me," you hissed.

"Don't worry," Dante scrounged around for a cup to put warm water in and grabbed several motel towels and washcloths, "you can keep your pants on. It's less fun that way but I'll still show you a good time."

"Oh thank you," you rolled your eyes and fought the laugh bubbling up.

"Actually forget moving you to get your shirt off I'm going to have to cut it off you." Dante didn't want to move you. The less he did the better it would be on your cracked ribs.

"You barbarian," you teased. "This is the only one I have though. The last thing I want is to get arrested for public indecency. You're indecent enough for both of us."

Dante chuckled already ripping your shirt carefully so he wouldn't jostle you, "You can wear mine."

"Gross yours is dirty too and covered in demon guts," you made a face. Dante finished getting your shirt out of the way leaving you in your bra. You felt a little bit embarrassed but you were the one who decided you didn't want to go to the hospital and Dante wouldn't hold anything against you. Despite acting like a womanizer at times with his inappropriate jokes, he was more respectable towards you and other women than anyone who didn't know him realized.

"I carry extra clean ones. And don't worry you're still a beauty to me blood and all."

"That's not what I'm worried about," you rolled your eyes.

"I'm looking respectfully," Dante laughed. "My mind is on pure thoughts."

"You have no pure thoughts Dante."

"True."

"Sew me up already before I decide decking you will be worth the pain," you snarled.

"Mmm I like a feisty woman," he waggled his brows while stroking your cheek.

"Dante!"

"Okay fine," he huffed.

"I'm still bleeding."

"I'll remedy that."

"Hurry up!"

"Yes ma'am!"

Dante filled up two coffee mugs with warm water and squirted a little bit of soap from the complimentary bottle of hand soap into one. He used the soap water on one of the rags to wipe away as much blood from your skin and the edge of the wound. You hissed and snarled at his touch but you didn't move much. He knew that you knew the stitching was going to hurt worse. He would offer you a drink or two if he had a bottle but he hadn't bought booze in a long time. Pizza was his downfall now but he would be there for you. Taking his time and being as gentle as possible. Using the regular warm water he cleaned the few suds away and then used a towel to wipe your skin dry. He loves you so much and he can't bear to see the bruises already blossoming on your sides and a few other places you were hit. His blood boiled in anger at the thought of the rogue demon doing this to you. His inner devil snarling, making his hands tremble.

You noticed Dante struggling and he quietly growled in his throat. You reached out clasping his wrist and stabilizing his shaking hand. His blue gaze catching yours, you nodded giving him a gentle squeeze as a reminder.

"I'm okay," you soothed. "I'm right here Dante. I'm not going to leave you any time soon."

"I'm pretty sure I'm the one who is supposed to be soothing you," he retorted but visibly relaxed. His inner devil quieting down immediately at your voice. He went back to cleaning you up as best as he could.

"Then get your head out of your butt and focus on getting me closed up. I don't like open wounds on sheets I don't know what the stains are from."

"I have a pretty good idea," his side eye made you want to gouge out his eyes.

"For the love of! Dante please shut up," you whined in exasperation.

Dante finished cleaning up as much blood as possible then he focused on finding the stitch kit with some antiseptic, he prepped himself to listen to more of your breathless complaints. Threading the needle and grabbing the holder, Dante pinched your skin together. You jerked at the pain of him holding the tear of your skin together but then cried out when he poked the needle through your skin.

"Oh what I wouldn't give to have your healing ability," you sobbed.

"I'd give it to you baby in a heartbeat if I could," Dante choked, quickly finishing the first stitch before going for the other one. Pinch, poke, tie, cut. Pinch, poke, tie, cut. He moved quickly and effortlessly as tears streaked your cheeks. Then in mere moments Dante finished the last stitch and wiped away the stray blood droplets that leaked while he had worked. You eased back, shaking from the adrenaline shooting through your body. And while Dante felt guilty for putting you through so much already there was more to be done. With sorrowful eyes and gave you his next task.

"I'm sorry babe but I'm going to have to sit you up so I can bandage you as best as I can." Dante dreaded this moment. But the stitches weren't enough protection and he wanted to get your ribs wrapped as well. Any sort of relief he could give you he wanted to.

"I'm a big girl I can take it," you gritted your teeth. Willing yourself not to scream. You didn't want the other motel patrons to call the cops due to the noises you were making.

"That's my girl," he smoothed your hair back before kissing the top of your hair.

With gentle movement he raised you up, making you catch your scream but still whines and whimpers pushing past your lips. Dante's heart clenched before shattering at every sound that escaped your mouth. You rested your cheek against Dante's clothed abdomen. Trying to catch your breath but not breathe too deeply due to your ribs. His warm skin heated your cheek you clung to his coat as he widened his stance to fit your legs between his.

"I got you sweetheart just rest," Dante cooed, reaching for a padded gauze and bandage wrap and tape. You nodded, still trying to stop the room from spinning from the pain. He wrapped your ribs first, wanting to get the most painful out of the way since you were still reeling from him lifting you into a sitting position. You focused on the nearness of Dante, his arms moving carefully and surely as he encircled you. His scent and presence did more than anything. You sucked in a breath as he taped the bandage secure and moved towards your shoulder. His fingers brushed your skin, sending a jolt of electricity and before Dante could pull away, you grabbed his hand. Still clinging to his coat and your head still pressed to his abdomen, you placed the back of his hand against your cheek.

"Thank you," you whispered, exhaustion finally taking a hold.

"Always," Dante replied with conviction. He eased you back down carefully, the wraps helping your ribs from jostling more than usual. He fished some pain killers from the kit and took a bottle of water from the counter. You swallowed them and shut your eyes.

"Rest," Dante ordered and you didn't argue.

Once he knew that you wouldn't need him, Dante went back to the van grabbing himself a change of clothes and a set of his boxers and shirt for you later. You couldn't shower just yet with all your bandages but he'd help you get clean as much as possible when you were ready. Right now rest was what you needed most, but Dante wanted to get clean. Your blood had dried to his skin and it was mixed with the devil's blood. He couldn't stand the scent of you mingled with the filth of evil.

Checking on you again, Dante started the shower. The rusty showerhead didn't have much pressure but he didn't complain. Tossing his dirty clothes to the floor he entered the hot water spray and watched the red stain the bottom of the tub and go down the drain. His forehead pressed against the wall and he shuddered. The agony of the day catching up as the fear of almost losing you gripped him. He choked back his tears, slamming his fist in the plastic shower wall. He wanted to scream but he made due with cursing under his breath. Taking a deep breath, Dante steadied himself and focused on cleaning up.

Shutting off the water and toweling himself off with the remaining towel. Dante dressed in a clean pair of boxers and a shirt, but he laid the pants on one of the motel chairs. He wanted to lay by your side and rest for a moment. He needed to be close to you for awhile. He would focus on getting more supplies in the morning. His focus right now was you and keeping himself calm before he could lose it any more than he already had in the shower. He shook his head trying to dry his hair as much as possible before he laid next to you on the bed. It was smaller than the one he had back home but it was perfect to him. Your body was close to his and he took your hand threading your fingers together while he pressed as close as he thought safe to. You mumbled in your sleep, but he was happy that you were in a deep sleep. Rest would help you heal. He never wanted to admit how fast you wormed your way into his heart. But the thought of losing you ripped him to shreds. He lost his dad, mom, and pretty much his brother in this life. Surely it wouldn't take you too. A man could only lose so much. He breathed you in deeply, calming himself, and your sleepy breathing lulling him to sleep. You were the last thing he saw before he drifted off to sleep and he looked forward to you being the first thing he saw when he woke up.

[lurkinginnernarrator]

Cang Qiong's rumor mill has a new topic.

Peak Lord Shen hasn't been seen in two weeks. The last time he was seen was flying back from An Ding, where he purportedly commandeered some unknown objects from An Ding's storerooms after a hasty discussion with Peak Lord Shang. He entered the Bamboo house and hasn't emerged since.

The most popular theory is Peak Lord Shen is conducting some sort of toeing-the-line-of-taboo ritual.

Eventually, someone convinces Mu Qingfang to do a wellness check.

The Qing Jing disciples greet their Mu-shishu respectfully, the disciple escorting him to the Bamboo House inquiring as to the nature of his visit, seeing as 'Shizun wasn't expecting shishu today.'

"This master is merely here to visit your Shizun."

The disciple bows after announcing Mu Qingfang's arrival.

Mu Qingfang opens the door.

"Shen-shixiong?"

"Mu-shidi? To what do I owe the pleA—FUCK get BACK HERE YOU ARE NOT"��the sounds of struggle reach Mu Qingfang's ears and he leaps to action, striding in to take stock of the situatio...n.

Shen-shixiong is flat on his stomach; outstretched hands tightly grasping a precocious ball of fluff. His eyes gleam in victory, the scene casting it in a more crazed light. There is a heaviness to Shen Qingqiu's eyes that cultivation cannot banish and miscellaneous stains on his person. And, looking around, the Bamboo House is a disaster. Books, brushes, scrolls, inkwells and fans are scattered around, many haphazardly dropped on the floor. There is. Also. Hay?

Mu Qingfang freezes in the doorway. Ball of fluff and Shen Qingqiu also freeze.

"Is... Shixiong alright?"

This seems to snap Shen Qingqiu into action. He scrambles up firmly but with care, cradling the fluffball. Shen Qingqiu gets himself in order as best he can with both his hands occupied and clears his throat.

"Ah...Yes. this master is fine. To what do I owe the pleasure?..."

The fluffball twitches, wriggling until Shen Qingqiu loses his grip on it. It hops to the floor. A juvenile Whitecrested Snowrabbit of Agility stares up at Mu Qingfang.

"This. Shidi could come back at a more opportune time?"

The bunny starts chewing on a scroll.

"I believe that would be best."

Mu Qingfang backs out of the doorway.

He does send tea to help with Shen-Shixiong's fatigue and a subspecies of carrot that Whitecrested Snowrabbits are supposed to favour though.

I wonder what the next topic of Cang Qiong's rumor mill will be?

[caffeinewitchcraft]

The Hero and Hope (Part 2/5)

(part 1) (part 3)

The next time you go hunting, the Bahrs go with you.

“It’s really fine,” you protest. It’s early enough in the morning that the air carries a bite. With any luck, they’ll think the redness in your cheeks comes from the chill rather than embarrassment. “I’m not even going far in. It’s Hera’s birthday coming up and she likes squirrel…”

“You’re going to catch a squirrel without a blade?” Mr. Bahr – Ivan – asks. He tightens the strap on Mrs. Bahr’s back, making sure the quiver of arrows is snug along her spine. He pats her shoulder when he finishes and beams at you. “Are you very fast?”

Yes, you are. You’ve noticed that you’re even faster lately as your 15th birthday marches closer and closer. You purse your lips. “I set traps.”

“Don’t mind him, Isla,” Mrs. Bahr -Marie -  says. She fondly shoves Ivan off the porch of the orphanage so she can get down. “He’s always joking.”

“What sort of traps?” Ivan asks. He runs a critical eye over your coat and pack. “Will that be warm enough?”

You’re not sure if your coat is warm enough for the weather or not. Another rising power: you’re nearly impervious to the cold. You shrug. “I’ll be fine. And just simple snares and stuff.”

“We can’t wait to see,” Ivan declares. He gestures towards the road. “Lead the way.”

You bite your lip. It’s clear that they knew you were going hunting today by their garb. Both are in sturdy, worn leather with swords on their hips and bows along their backs. They probably heard from Director Sarah and came specifically to make sure you kept your promise not to hunt alone. But… “The other kids will be sorry they missed you.”

“We’ll see them when we return victorious with birthday squirrels,” Ivan says.

“What a sentence,” Marie says dryly.

You aren’t going to convince them to let you go alone. You silently lead the way towards the orchard. Or, rather, as silently as you can. Ivan talks the whole time, asking questions about the apple trees and pointing to ducks flying overhead. You answer the questions you know the answer to and hum whenever you don’t. You wish you knew more about the vegetation, but the most you can tell Ivan is whether or not something is poisonous.

“Those ones,” you say, nodding to the low, circular leaves Mr. Bahr is pointing to, “are tricky. The real ones taste kind of sweet. The other kind that looks like that makes your stomach cramp for three days straight.”

“How can you tell the difference?” Ivan asks.

You shrug. “You can’t. I just tell the younger kids to bring it to me before eating it. Usually, I trade it for something actually edible.”

Marie, trailing behind you both, makes a noise of interest. “Usually?”

You feel your ears go hot. “Sometimes I’ll try it for them just to see if they can eat it. I’ve had enough of the bad one that it doesn’t affect me so much.”

“You try it?” Marie’s voice is sharp. “Isla, there has to be a better way.”

“Not really,” you say. You scratch the back of your head and quicken your step. You’re almost to the tree line of the woods. “The kids like sweet things. If I didn’t give in occasionally, they’d try it themselves. At least this way they check in with me first.”

“I still don’t think—”

“Sounds like Marie and I’ll be bringing some sweets along with us next time,” Ivan interrupts cheerfully. He points past the last apple tree about a dozen feet ahead. “Looks like the path ends there?”

“There’s an animal track about ten feet into the woods,” you say. You’re uncomfortable with Marie’s reaction. You know it’s not smart to eat poisonous plants, but what else were you supposed to do? Your worst fear is that the kids will one day get hungry enough to eat them without caring about the pain. Your shoulders round. “We’ll need to be quiet once we’re there.”

“I’m the best at being quiet,” Ivan says. He elbows Marie. “Right, Marie?”

“Right,” Marie says. Her voice is still a little strained, but you can tell she’s trying to hide it. “That’s why I married you.”

“That’s a lie,” Ivan says. He stage-whispers to you, “She married me for my amazingly dashing good looks.”

Marie huffs a laugh but doesn’t say anything else. You’ve entered the forest.

You were worried on the way that you’d need to tell Ivan that he needs to be quiet in the forest. You needn’t have been concerned. Both adults are silent and walk with quiet steps, their dark eyes alert on their surroundings. They move through the undergrowth gracefully, their years of experience showing in every step. You try to copy Marie’s soft footfalls as best you can and are pleased when your steps get a little quieter.

The Bahrs watch as you pick places for your traps. Ivan silently points to one of your knots, eyebrow raised. Guessing what he’s asking, you undo the knot and then redo it slowly. He nods in satisfaction and then gestures for you to give him the rope. Curiously, you do. Ivan completes the same knot, fingers steady through each step. When he’s done, he presents it to you proudly as if to say, See? I did it!

It makes you do something you very rarely do in the woods. You smile.

After setting the traps you take the Bahrs to your favorite resting spot. The clearing lies just by the edge of the shallow part of the river. About a mile downstream the banks widen and the North River joins this one, making it a dangerous place of rapids. Here, however, the water moves slowly and is shallow enough to be warmed by the sun.

Finally, you speak. “Shouldn’t be too long. Maybe an hour or two and then we can go check on them.”

“Is this where you found the horned rabbit?” Marie asks. You sit on a large, flat rock by the river, but she stays standing. Her eyes carefully scan the perimeter of the clearing.

“Not quite. That was near the hills.” You point. “Fifteen minutes that way.”

“That’s close,” Ivan says. He frowns, concerned. “Was that the first demon you’ve seen here?”

“No.” When the Bahrs turn to you in alarm, you shrug. “Not all the time, but demons come here. They’re usually not interested in me though.”

“But the horned rabbit was?” Marie asks.

Interested is an understatement. You’re not an idiot. You know that demons are dangerous. That’s why you usually avoid them when you spot them. Normally they’re content to let you pass by, but not the horned rabbit. It followed you nearly all the way back to the orchard before you realized you needed to do something before it attacked you. “Yeah.”

“What other types of demons do you see here?” Ivan asks. His voice is light, but he’s looking at you with a very serious expression. “Maybe howling bats?”

“I hear them sometimes,” you say, “but I don’t stick around after dark.” Ivan and Marie exchange dark looks. You fidget on the rock. “What?”

“This is protected land, Isla,” Marie says. She purses her lips. “No demons should be south of those hills.”

“What other types have you seen?” Ivan asks again. He comes to squat by you so he can look you in the eyes. “And when?”

“Just horned rabbits.”

“Are you sure?” Marie asks. She runs a hand over her hair, slicking back the fly aways. “Horned rabbits aren’t usually sighted alone.”

You hesitate. It’s true that the horned rabbits are the only demons you’ve seen, but… “There have been some signs lately, but I don’t know if they’re demons.”

Ivan’s eyes sharpen. “What?”

“Wolves,” you say. Both Bahrs stiffen, hands going to their swords. You speak quickly. “But I’ve never seen them! They might be regular wolves. I found the tracks at the base of the hill, and some bones, but they were a week old probably.”

“We’ll need to ask the Lord to investigate,” Marie tells Ivan. She looks deeply unhappy. “The patrol doesn’t cover this far south.”

“An oversight,” Ivan says grimly. He reaches out absently and ruffles your hair. It startles you, but it feels nice. Ivan makes an effort to smile at you. “Good eyes, Isla. Is there anything else you’ve noticed changing in the forest lately? Even something not demon related?”

Something funny is happening in your chest. Good eyes, Isla. You wrack your brain for anything else. “I haven’t seen any other tracks or anything and there’s only been four or five horned rabbits this season.”

Marie makes a small noise in her throat. When you turn to look at her, she hides whatever expression she’d been making. “That’s a lot. Did you need to use your sharp stick on all of them?”

Ivan startles. “Sharp stick?”

You rub the back of you neck. “Just two.” You look up at the sky. You only had a sharp stick that day, but there are times when you’ve come out here with a knife. Knife days are for when you’re looking for bigger game.  “I’ve been pretty lucky hunting lately, now that I think about it. There’s been more deer and regular rabbits south of the river.”

“What do you mean ‘lately?’”

“The past month.”

Ivan and Marie exchange another long look. Before you can ask them what’s wrong, Ivan turns to you with another smile.

“Say,” he says, “what do you think about trying to bag something bigger than a squirrel today? You ever fire a bow before?”

Your eyes widen. “No.”

“You can use mine,” Marie says, pulling it from her shoulder. She holds it out to you. “We’re nearly the same height. The draw may be a bit heavy for you—or not.”

Embarrassed by the shock in her voice, you release the string. “I’m, uh, stronger than I look.”

“Good,” Ivan says. “That’ll make it easier to actually catch something today.”

The next few hours are the most fun you’ve ever had in the woods. Marie and Ivan go over every part of the bow with you, explaining the weight of it, the flexibility, the length. Marie and Ivan carry several different types of arrows with different tips, all good for different types of shooting. They let you practice on a tree across the river and each time you’re closer to hitting the center of it, they compliment how fast you’re learning, how accurate your eye, how steady and consistent your draw.

By the time they let you hunt with it, you feel like you’re walking on clouds.

The feeling lasts even after you return to the orphanage, a deer slung over Marie’s shoulders and your hands full of squirrel. There’s a pleasant ache in your back and arms from practicing with the bow. You can’t stop smiling. Everything Ivan says is out of the blue and Marie’s tired responses make it all funny.

At one point you’re walking behind them, watching their shoulders brush when the path gets a little too narrow. They’re smiling at each other and talking softly and for a wild, wonderful, awful moment, you imagine that you can keep this. You aren’t sure what this is. Their attention and their companionship, their gentle guidance and the way they speak to you like you’re an adult?

After Hera’s birthday dinner, the Bahrs stay extra late to help clean up and to spend time with the younger kids. You are still feeling a sort of bone deep happiness you’ve never felt before. Everyone is full and sleepy-eyed from the amount of food you were able to put on the table. The kids gather around their slates in the common area, learning a new type of drawing game from Ivan and Marie.

Hera comes up to where you’re leaning on the doorway. Quietly, she slips her hand into yours. You squeeze it.

“Thanks for the squirrel,” she says quietly.

You lean down and press a kiss to the top of her head. “Happy Birthday.”

She hums and watches the fun in the living room for a long moment. She’s eleven now, three years older than you were that Winter. She’s the second oldest in the orphanage and, for the first time, you wonder if she feels the same sort of responsibility as you.

“I’m happy for you, you know,” Hera says.

You make a low questioning noise in your throat.

“The Bahrs will be good to you,” Hera says. She looks up at you evenly, a small smile tucked into the corner of her mouth. “You deserve that, Isla.”

Every muscle in your chest locks, chasing away the pleasant languidness you’d been feeling. “That’s not—they’re not—”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Hera says. She stands on tiptoe so she can throw her arms around your shoulders, hugging you like she did when she was five. She whispers in your ear, “But I would be happy if they did.”

She lets go of you before you can tell her she’s being ridiculous, skipping into the room to join the drawing game.

You feel out of sorts for the rest of the night.

-----------------------.

(part 1) (part 3)

Thanks for reading! The full story is already posted on my Patreon (X)! If you'd like to support me, please consider checking out my page!

This month will be seeing two main things update on Patreon first: Dandelion (x) and my Cinderella story (masterpost coming soon!) updates for both coming later this week!

[ch3rrybbie]

Messy (part 2 of please please please)

Summary: he’s back like a cat with a dead bird.

Warnings: smut, p in v, no protection, oral fem rec. , dead body, blood, ominous end?

Note from the author: based it off the song by Lola young (loosely) mainly bc he is too messy but when he relates to the song it’s bc he’s pathetic yet dangerous lol idk if that makes sense.

———

Gore, blood and sweat enveloped him.

He heaves out heavy breaths, eyes unrelenting from yours.

Unconsciously your feet carried you back from him.

Had he looked this way at whoever’s blood was on him?

“Come. Here” he punctuated. The emblematic flag of freedom swinging behind him like a grotesque red flag.

Eyes scanning his face for danger, you relent tenderly walking towards him.

His gloves creak as they stretch to soothe your fearful face.

You’d seen the posts come through live on social media, Vought news smothering all reports of his rampage.

“I had to do that baby” he whispers nodding in self assurance.

When your expression didn’t soften from your apprehension he started to do his typical ranting.

A string of false preaching to bring you to his side.

“I mean they were going to take you away from me when I told then what you wanted and i will never let that happen. I would’ve done that a thousand times over, I will do it a thousand times over”. he’s left grasping at breath passion makes his eyes wild his hair is drooping into his face.

He looks villainous.

You cant help but reach up and smooth it back, “what have you done?” a voice drips out shaky and unrecognisable.

Cold breeze breaks your attention as the soft cotton curtains beckon you. Moving to grasp them you are breathless at the sight before you.

Dumped on the balcony is Stormfront, eyes gone with ragged laser marks across her face and body.

His body is marble behind you when you step back in shock. Toned hard planes keeping you upright. Kissing your cheek sweetly he grips your hand and guides you out, eventually dragging you over the threshold into the biting air.

It was his idea of some sick sort of wedding gift, an I am yours for ever and ever gift, a fate sealing bauble. And like a cat that got the cream he beams at you, face nuzzling into your beating neck.

“I love you” he sighs.

In the distance a sirens race towards the destruction he’d left. A promotion board with him and stormfront is almost unrecognisable, stormfronts picture is hanging above the shocked civilians.

His image grins down proud.

———

You’d been unable to speak and he barely batted an eyelid.

Shuffling around making you food and coffee. Keeping you no further than his eyesight. He was finally yours.

But did you want that?

He was even still covered in her blood. You couldn’t hold it in any longer. Fat hot tears slip down your face in whispers and he rushes from the stove to grasp you like you’d disappear.

Confused he pleads, “what’s wrong tell me i’ll sort it baby”.

Still in shock you finally let your looping thoughts fly free at him.

“You killed her”.

He sours.

“No,no,no” his finger wags in your face

“You asked me to kill her my love”

You breathe in sharply, you did ask him. He obeyed you, and not so deep down you wanted that.

Needed that proof of loyalty.

Once trembling and begging before you he now stands over you.

Worshipper victorious. He had sacrificed for you, he would always sacrifice for you.

“Let me take care of you baby” he smooths at you slick as silk, he kisses you softly but you knew hunger bludgeoned in him.

———

Food forgotten and probably burning he pulls you into the bathroom. Gently pulling clothes from you he smoothes his hands over your soft skin. Looking at you like you’re a marvel. A mere mortal that swayed his heart, perhaps you were a marvel.

You settled under the warmth of the shower attempting to breathe through the images of stormfronts ragdolled body on your balcony.

His sudden heavy presence behind you brings you back and you lean in to him letting him ground you. His skin is hot under the burning water. Steam perfumes the space between you and you feel his hardened cock bob and nudge into you. He grips your hips to him, but you couldn’t fuck him covered in blood.

Covered in your commands, your vicious dog. Turning to look up at him you begin to wash the blood off him, an iron tang hits your senses. He smirks down at you knowingly.

Arousal and blood.

You can’t help but let him kiss you, all teeth and tongue. Blood be dammed.

He kneels devoted, parts you legs desperate to taste you, he is unrelenting and messy when he kisses your aching pussy. You drip with desire, a string of wanton moans music to his ears and he begins to moan back into you. Drawing back he looks up at you, bloodied face, mused hair and swollen lips. He relishes in your shocked face as he pushes two of his fingers in, knuckle deep. His hair is gripped in a silent command for more and you wrench him back up to you.

Fervent desire sets your senses alight the salty water spray and copper tang of his bloodied lips envelop you. He pushes into you and the burn is delicious. A wet cacophony of thwacks and groans accompany his pursuit of your pleasure. Suddenly you are up against the cold tiled wall and you nipples pebble at the temperature change. The new angle means his relentless fucking into your sopping cunt hits the most perfect spots and the sheer size of him brings a pleasurable pain.

He is stoic. Looking down through wet hair and bloodied trails he grins and reaches down to harshly rub your clit. Letting your nails dig into his taught back you release around him. Fingers and toes curling and tingling you are out of your body as you violently clench down on his twitching cock, pulling him in. He comes in hot spurts lining your spasming walls.

You are satiated. For now.

He gently lowers you and peppers you with kisses, pushing your hair from your face.

“I love you” he asserts

“I know” is all you can return.

He finishes washing you and escorts you to bed, all thoughts of the burnt food and stormfronts corpse vanquished.

You can’t help but think about how calm and quiet he seems as you drift off to sleep in his arms.

You don’t see him rise and clear away the burnt food and stormfronts corpse.

You don’t see him slip back into bed and whisper promises of your new life together.

You didn’t see the messages from Ashley about the missing compound V and his foolish plan.

———

TAG LIST: @melody-deathnote

[asmogorna]

Ok so for the last couple days ive been ill in the head about The Black Parade as mcr's alter ego/characters and i wanted to share some thoughts i had so far :3

It doesnt align with the canon lore that we have (i didnt really use it for reference at least) so it can be viewed as some sort of an au

I dont know if im gonna give them new names that just sound similar to the names of mcr themselves, so for now i will be referring to them by the names of the band members

So far I've been thinking about the typical "chosen by fate" scenario, where the characters lives lead them through a path for a specific cause

So

Post WW2 England

5 kids under their own circumstances witness a big parade (I will be doing some research and see if it could be some kind of victory celebration parade? It's just that I'm not sure if England had those. Not that I'm aiming for historical accuracy atp it's simple curiosity)

The kids get heavily impacted by that event and carry on (ha) that memory throughout their life

Now to the specifics of the characters cus by God they all gave me a headache

Heads up: they're all british orphans lol

Frank and Bob are students/residents in a Christian orphan school, and later on in life are priests in the town church

The reason why is that they both have badges on their uniform with crosses that could be associated with christianity

(I couldn't find any info about what exactly certain design details could be referencing, so ig it's up to interpretation)

The military theme in Gerard and Mikey's costumes will be explored on later (Mikey's medal could be either The Victoria Cross or The Distinguished Flying Cross, and the symbol on Gerard's shoulder is most likely the Order Of The Garter star)

And I couldn't figure out what to do w Ray, because I'm not sure if his uniform design details reference anything specific 🤷🏾🤷🏾🤷🏾

Now, Gerard and Mikey lost their father to war, and their mother passed away when they were both very young

And after that they ended up in the same orphanage as Ray, befriending him and finding out about their shared passion for music

This doodle was made abt that specifically <3

Later on in early adulthood they decide to start a cabaret band, in which Frank and Bob both join them later, deciding to leave their priest lives behind (partially because iirc both of them kinda fanboyed their way into the band irl lol)

After receiving little recognition, the band decides to take a train to America, to try their luck there. With a lot of hope and determination

That, sadly, doesn't last for long, for the train crushes with no survivors on board

The group crawls out of the collapsed train in their no longer physical forms. Yet, even after their death, they still have a desire to move forward. And that desire, though thoughtlessly, forces them to go forward. The souls of all the other people who lost their lives to the train accident follow them, through the landscape that no longer feels like earth

They then reach the end

Walking in one by one people disappear, finding their own peace and meeting their own finish line

After it's done, The Black Parade now have officially made themselves into what they're supposed to be. Gaining a new purpose and a new sort of life

I got too poetic for my own good here I fear .. anyway

Their job now is to lead the lost and the forgotten to the afterlife

They could be referred to as some kind of a grim reaper, I guess

I'm still thinking about adding more to the story, and maybe I will change some things, but so far this is all I can share really !! I hope if you've read this far you found this entertaining .. this is all for the satisfaction of my urges so I might or might not have too much fun w it in the future :3

The story was mainly inspired by this specific post from Gerard himself, because i liked the concept a lot ..

Also

She's gonna be here as a separate character too probably...... Cus I'm self indulgent and I love the ideas bubbling in my brain

[hollowdeath]

I LOVEEEEE YOUR HARRY FICSSSS 😭😭🙏🙏 I literally cannot get enough, your harry fics are amazing ❤️

I was wondering if you'd be willing to do an enemies to lovers type thing with dark!harry, similar to the one you did with "the dark side" fic, but maybe they're rivals due to quittich, yet they both just have tension they don't know gow to handle, so one day they just kind of get so worked up in an argument they start making out. (P.S. I loved the thing you did where harry came from y/n saying he hated him 😫😫 also the part where harry gets turned on from y/n scolding him. If possible, could you incorporate that in there? Thank you smm ❤️❤️) I hope it's not too much trouble ❤️❤️❤️

thank you so much for requesting this, i hope you enjoy!!!

pairing: slytherin!harry james potter x gryffindor!fem!reader (18+)

summary: you and harry have been quidditch rivals ever since you've become captain of the gryffindor team. the tension between you two rises until one of you needs bandaged up by the other, leading to you making a discovery about the school's bad boy that leaves you baffled and insanely curious.

cw: smut!!! angst, mentions of blood, degradation kink, sub!harry x dom!reader, dry humping

word count: 7k

it was your final year at hogwarts and, more importantly to you, it was your last year as the gryffindor quidditch captain. you took major pride in your status as captain, and dedicated a majority of your time outside of class to leading practice, coming up with new plays, and making sure that annoyingly good slytherin captain kept his distance from you and your team.

harry potter was well known at hogwarts years before he even came through. the boy who lived, or whatever. you had never paid him much mind to begin with because you knew he reveled in his own notoriety.

see, potter wasn't just the slytherin quidditch captain. he was the most vile, egotistical, disrespectful wizard you'd ever had the misfortune of interacting with. on top of thinking he was some kind of miracle that blessed everyone's presence wherever he went, he specifically treated you worse than the mud on his shoes. not just because of your status as gryffindor captain, but because you were the only student who wasn't afraid to stand your ground with him. had it not been for quidditch practice 4 times a week and games every friday, you would've done everything you could to keep your distance. however, things didn't work out that way, and you ended up forming a sort of rivalry with the boy that the student body found all too exciting.

it started last year when potter and his friends made a dumb poster and hung it up in every boys bathroom: a drawing of someone falling off their broom with your face printed out and glued to it, along with harry's whose drawing had just knocked you off victoriously. they had put "[y/l/n] vs potter: this friday at 6" at the top like it was some kind of promotional advert. and, as much as you hated it, it actually somewhat worked.

from that game on, the other kids began picking sides every week to see who would win. the crowd turnout became the largest it had been in your entire time at hogwarts. some came in support of potter or were otherwise afraid of what would happen if they didn't, while a good amount of students started to become your biggest supporters the more you showed your skills in the game.

see, you didn't just become captain by having a recognizable last name unlike some other people; you had been playing quidditch since you could fly from a young age, and made the team every single year before finally being nominated for the position by your own teammates. you made a promise to them that day that slytherin would no longer be known as the winning house, and that they finally had some competition to sweat over.

and sweat they did. your first game as captain was an easy win, and so were the next 3. it wasn't until the slytherin players learned they actually had to try in order to win now that they began winning every other game as well. that's where harry stepped in.

harry was someone you always tried to avoid during your years at hogwarts. you didn't socialize with many slytherins to begin with as you found some of them to be rather grating and obnoxious, but especially not with slytherins like potter. it was students like him that gave the entire house a bad name. everyone thought he was so charming besides his cocky attitude, but you saw through his act right away. you think that's partially why he singled you out of anyone as his target.

once he set his sights on you, it was impossible to avoid him. it's like he had some sort of tracker on you the way he always managed to pop up in the most random of places simply to upset you. not that you'd be surprised, as along with harry's sickening bravado came his disregard for moral ethics. if there was a way to cheat, lie, or steal your way into getting what you wanted, potter was already on it. he knew no bounds when it came to his little schemes either. from stealing your game plays and sharing them with his teammates to spreading rumors about your players to playing clearly illegal moves during the game only for nobody to notice but you, potter seemed to revel in the rivalry everyone pushed onto you.

you hated giving him the satisfaction of breaking your cold demeanor, but sometimes his antics pushed you too far. he knows how protective you've become over your teammates, so he'll target them when he can't get to you, especially the younger ones. this is where you've blown your cover quite a few times as you can't stand seeing your first years cower in fear anytime they see potter. yelling, spitting, nearly getting physical with him on several occasions when he ignores your threats to leave the kids alone or else. it's as if he rather enjoys getting such a rise out of you, and not just to fuel the public rivalry.

today was your last day of practice before the last, biggest game of the semester. your team knew to meet at the field at 5 pm ready to go as you had plenty of plays you wanted to perfect before playing against the slytherins tomorrow night. practice had only just started with a few flyers in the air before you heard a commotion of voices coming from behind you.

you turned and saw harry leading his team onto the field, laughing obnoxiously and pointing at your teammates in mockery. you swear you felt steam coming from your ears when you told your team to wait and let you handle this.

you stormed up to potter with an accusatory pointed finger. "you. get the hell off my field now before i call mcgonagall out here, potter." you spit at him before pushing his chest. harry takes the push and just laughs, shaking his head at you.

"[y/l/n], i'm not sure how many professors have to tell you that this field isn't yours before you let us use it for practice as well," he said with a smirk, changing his grip on his broomstick and letting it rest on his shoulder. you narrow your eyes at him and cross your arms over your chest. "you know damn well we practice here every week at this time, and yet you're never able to find a time outside of that to spend with your own team. curious, isn't it?" you ask him sarcastically, your tone biting.

harry's smirk drops slightly. "are you suggesting that i'm trying to sabotage your chance at winning the season tomorrow? because i'd never do such a thing, [y/l/n], and it hurts that you think of me in that way." he responds just as sarcastically. a few of his players snicker and laugh just behind him, earning a nasty glare from you that has them shut up quickly.

you look back at harry who's waiting for a clever comeback from you, nearly on the edge of his seat to see what you have to say this time. you hate how much he thrives off getting you upset.

"fine. practice, then. you'll need it." you tell harry with a cold tone, giving him a disgusted look up and down. you take a step forward and point your finger back into harry's chest, your faces less than a foot away from each other. "but if you mess with any of my players, even as a joke, i will gut you like a fucking fish." you tell him in a hushed tone. you think you see his pupils dilate slightly, but you were probably mistaken. "got it?"

harry's smirk only grows as he starts backing away slowly. "got it, princess." he laughs, turning to his little group of followers for approval before they run off to the other goal post opposite from your team. the nickname is new, and for some reason it made your stomach drop and heart race like crazy. that potter kid just knew exactly how to get under your skin.

you tried to focus on your own team's plays for the rest of practice, but you could clearly hear harry and his friends saying your name and laughing too often for your comfort. anytime you happened to make eye contact with harry, you made sure to scowl at him and promptly turn your attention away. just his sheer presence made your blood boil and skin crawl.

for the most part there were no issues in the sky, the slytherins mostly kept to their side besides the few times harry's friends were messing around and ended up coming close to a few of your teammates. you scolded them each time, but they would only laugh at you and fly off to tell harry about your outbursts. other than that, you ended up getting a lot accomplished in order to be prepared for the game the next day.

however, towards the end of practice, your teammates were having some difficulty with a new technique you taught them, so you took the time to demonstrate it with another player in the sky. you were just about to start instructing when your teammates started calling out to you frantically. you didn't have enough time to process what they were warning you about before you felt someone fly into you from behind, nearly causing you to fall off your broomstick.

you could feel yourself falling to the ground, but your grip on your broomstick remained tight enough to quickly get it under you just in time to somewhat break your landing. you tumbled to the ground with a pained groan, and heard someone else fall just to your left. you could feel the wind get knocked out of you in the air, so it took a moment for you to properly breathe as you tried to sit up.

your teammates got to you in seconds, asking if you were okay and trying to help you up. that's when the pain set in. standing up-right you could feel your rib cage aching and your shoulder throbbing. "i'm fine, i'm fine," you told everyone, brushing off the grass stains on your clothes. you turned to see who had fallen next to you, and who else would be lying there but harry potter as his slytherin teammates rushed to his aid as well.

they're helping him stand up and you can feel the rage building inside you. you break away from your teammates' grasps and march up to harry as he's wiping the grass stains off his own clothes as well.

"you did that on purpose, you pest." you snap at him. harry looks at you incredulously as he fixes his practice jersey. "are you mad? it was an accident, i wasn't looking where i was going, drama queen." he snaps back, giving you a dirty look up and down. you can feel your jaw clenching and fists balling at your sides. "oh yeah, sure, you just so happened to run into me of all people in the sky. you know, you're such a…"

you pause in your anger noticing a gash on the side of harry's face with blood starting to drip down his cheekbone. harry notices your concern and gives you a confused look. you sigh and instinctively pull down the sleeve of your sweatshirt to hold it against his wound. "now you have a giant cut on your face, for fuck's sake," you tell him, your voice a mix of panic and exasperation. harry winces at your hand making contact with his face, but his eyes grow with concern hearing your panic.

you turn to your team and start guiding harry towards the school. "practice is over, do not be late tomorrow." you announce to them hurriedly, trying to keep your sleeve against harry's injury as you rush him off the field.

harry actually manages to stay quiet on the way to the infirmary despite your anticipation to shush him the entire way for making crude jokes. instead he remains silent and lets you urgently guide him through the empty halls.

once you arrive at the infirmary wing, you notice the entire room is full of people. every bed is taken, ans every nurse is running around frantically from patient to patient. you and harry share a confused look before you roll your eyes and find a nurse between beds. "excuse me, ma'am, i'm sorry to bother but um, potter here was being an idiot and got a cut on his face that just needs to be bandaged quickly." you motion towards harry and feel him give you a nasty look out of your peripheral for calling him an idiot.

the nurse, completely exhausted, sighs and motions towards a room to the side of the check-in station. "look, we are swamped with a potion experiment gone wrong here. if it's just a cut that doesn't need stitches there's a first aid kit in the little room over that way." she tells you quickly before being called away to another patient. you try to intervene but she's already jogging away, leaving you with a bloody harry in your hands. literally.

you sigh, clearly annoyed, and turn to examine harry's cut again. pulling your blood-soaked sleeve away, you see the blood flow still hasn't slowed and decide to just bite your tongue and help harry despite your hatred for him only growing in this situation.

you drag harry towards the little room, opening the door and turning on the lights to reveal the smallest examination room you'd ever seen. you had no idea this was even here, but it only contained a sink, a cot, a locked medicine cabinet, and a first aid kit. you closed the door behind harry and locked it. you grab a few paper towels from next to the sink and walk harry over to the cot. "sit," you command him, practically pushing him with your other hand to sit down.

harry looks up at you softly, way softer than he's ever looked at you. it makes your heart skip a beat but you ignore the feeling quickly. "here," you tell him coldly, handing over the paper towels. "just apply pressure on it while i get the first aid kit."

harry does as he's told and you slowly pull away your sleeve, making a disgusted face at the stains left on the cuff. you sigh and pull your arm back through the sleeve, starting to take off the hoodie altogether. "well, that's ruined," you complain, throwing it to the floor, leaving you in a tiny tank top and workout shorts.

harry's watching you intently, adjusting his glasses and shifting his weight in his seat. you walk to the sink and thoroughly wash your hands in case any blood happened to get on you as well.

opening the first aid kit up you find a tiny bottle of isopropyl alcohol, cotton rounds, and bandages. pouring alcohol on the cotton, you turn to harry and still find him watching you.

you give him a look. "what?" you ask with pinched brows. harry, for once, looks flustered as he turns his eyes away from you, instead staring at the floor below his feet. you just roll your eyes and set down the alcohol, walking towards harry and pulling away his hand from his cheek.

"here," you say, moving his jaw to look up towards you. "this is gonna hurt a little," you tell him before gently cleaning the cut with the cotton round. harry winces, but his eyes never leave your face. you try to ignore his gaze but it becomes even more intense the longer you take to stop the bleeding. you can practically feel his stare burning holes into your skin, and you start to feel that familiar annoyance rise in your stomach.

"i know i'm pretty, potter, but can't you look anywhere else?" you complain, giving him a cold look before returning your attention to his cheek. harry's eyes drop again, but end up falling on your chest this time. you back away and scoff, throwing the cotton pad into the trash next to the cot. "perv," you mutter under your breath.

just as you're preparing the bandage on the counter next to the sink, you hear harry say something from behind you. "you're gonna have to speak up, kid," you chuckle, throwing away some wrapping in the trash. "your, um, your back," you hear him stutter.

you turn to give him a confused look. "what?" you ask. harry motions towards your back, and you turn to look at yourself in the mirror above the sink. you look at your back and pull up your tank top slightly to see a massive bruise forming on your ribcage. you gasp at the size and color, immediately turning your anger towards harry.

he already looks prepared for your rage before you can even start to say anything. "you bloody prick, i know you did this on purpose. do you seriously want to win so badly you'd nearly break a rib to get there?" you snap at him, pulling your shirt back down and angrily marching towards him still sitting on the cot.

"i told you, [y/n], it was an accident." he says. you pause. he's never called you by your first name, at least not to your face. you were actually surprised he knew what it was in the first place.

harry looks up at you innocently, his eyes soft and brows raised. this just angers you again. you take another step towards him, your legs practically between his as harry tilts his head up to keep looking at you.

his glasses are crooked, his hair is a mess, and the cut on his cheek is still raw. and still, for some reason, your heart skips a beat looking down at him. you've never been so close to his face. you've never noticed his freckles before.

"you should just be glad i haven't targeted you the way you've targeted me all these years, potter. you're lucky i'm a nice person and don't believe in revenge, or else you'd be the one with nearly broken bones and a bruise the size of your lungs." you spit in his face, your tone razor sharp.

harry's expression hardly changes at your words. if anything his eyes only soften more watching you become filled with anger.

"and wipe that innocent look off your face before i do it for you. you should be thanking me for patching up this cut and not making it worse." you continue to vent at him as you step away to grab the bandage from the counter.

you're just starting to press down on the adhesive of the bandage around harry's injury when his eyes meet yours again. "thank you." he says, his voice broken and whiny. something about the way he says it makes your stomach drop to the floor. harry's usual annoying temperament was completely gone, no longer making mocking jokes or insults towards you, instead only speaking softly and looking into your eyes even softer.

confused and feeling a strange mix of emotions, you finish applying the bandage on harry's face without a word.

you start to put away the first aid kit, taking one last look at your bruise in the mirror with a sigh.

"i'm sorry." you hear harry say quietly. you look at him, his expression empathetic and almost concerned for you. it was then you started to believe the incident really was an accident. why would harry ever be apologetic for something he'd usually take loads of pride in, like knocking you off your broomstick?

you swallow nervously and look away from him, fixing your shirt. "you should be," you try to remain cold, but your voice is breaking. "i'm just glad you also hurt yourself in the process. you deserve to feel some of the pain too." you say in a deadpan voice.

you pick up your sweatshirt off the floor and start soaking the sleeve in some hot water to at least try and get some of the stains out.

"you're right." harry says behind you, his voice somber. you roll your eyes at his pathetic attempt to seem remorseful, turning to him curtly. "i know i'm right. and you know what else? you're just a loser who picks on people to feel better about yourself because you're insecure." you insult him.

you expect at least some kind of reaction from harry, but he just continues to watch the ground with a sullen expression. "i know." he says quietly.

you groan and turn to shut the sink faucet off, walking towards harry with the same accusatory pointing finger from before. "and you can stop with this whole act you're putting on 'cause it's pissing me right off," you nearly yell at harry, getting in his face. he just looks up at you with those big blue eyes again, biting his lip harshly.

you went to scold him again when you noticed a rather large bulge in his pants from where you were standing above him. you thought you were just assuming, but once you took a step back, you knew exactly what was happening with a smirk growing on your face.

harry nervously looked down at his crotch before quickly attempting to hide his obvious erection. he adjusted his pants and tried to use his shirt to cover it, but you were already laughing at him. "this cannot be real, this has got to be a setup. there's no way you just got turned on by me insulting you for 10 minutes straight." you could hardly get the words out from laughing so hard.

clearly embarrassed, harry looks between you and his erection with fear in his eyes. it only makes the situation that much better for you as you continue to humiliate your own bully.

"u-uh, this isn't, um–" "don't try and tell me this isn't what it looks like, potter. i know exactly what's going on here." you interrupt him and cross your arms. "you're such a loser that the only way you can get off is by having girls hate you. y'know, most guys get erections from making out with a girl, not getting threatened by them." you mock him, still a hint of anger laced in your voice.

harry's looking at you with that same innocent expression, but there's something else in his eyes that makes you pause. he's not just embarrassed, he's actually enjoying what you're saying to him. you can see his pupils dilate just looking at you, his bulge only becoming more obvious the longer you mock him.

you want to be disgusted at this situation. you want to hate the way harry's looking at you and leave the room with a huff to tell everyone about his little kink. you want to call him a disgusting creep and slap him across the face for ever thinking of you in such a way. but, you don't. because you can't.

you should be disgusted. you should be creeped out. but, for some reason, you're just not. you should be filled with rage ready to tell him off again, but, instead, you find yourself full of curiosity and…flattery?

of course it's never flattering for a guy to get an erection thinking about you being upset with him, if anything it's quite morbid. however, with you and harry, everything finally started to make sense. this is why he was always pushing your buttons just to get a rise out of you, or why he seemed to thrive off of your heated interactions. because he did. he found pleasure in your anger.

again, you should be fuming, but you're just not. your heart is racing and so is your mind. you're completely flustered at this point, possibly even more than harry is. you can feel the blush on your neck and cheeks and can't tell if the embarrassment you're feeling is secondhand or not.

still looking up at you, harry attempts to cover his erection up again with his pants. you just laugh at him again as there's no real point, you're more than well aware of his predicament at the moment. his blush is so severe he's nearly completely red, and you can see his hair start to stick to his forehead from the sweat. while you'd usually feel nothing but contempt looking down at harry's innocent expression, this time you feel a bit different. he almost looks younger now, his eyes soft and lips slightly hung open.

you notice the bandage around his scar starts to lift a bit around his eye, so you sigh and place a hand on his bandage to help reattach it. again, harry almost winces at your movement, and you can see his erection twitch under his pants. god, he really does get off on this.

while fixing it, harry's still watching you intently. "i'm sorry," his voice is soft but deep, making your blood run cold. you pause to look him in the eyes. "and what are you sorry for?" you lead him on.

harry's brows furrow together slightly. "for…well, y'know," he trails off, offering a fake, awkward chuckle. you smirk as you look back at his bandage. "no, i don't know. so why don't you tell me, potter?" you ask teasingly.

without fail, harry shifts in his seat uncomfortably and tries to subtly hide his erection again. your smirk only grows at his predictability.

"u-uh, well, i-i'm sorry for…for, um, getting turned on by you…" his stuttering is only making you enjoy the moment more. maybe part of you likes seeing him squirm like this under your hand. "by me…?" you lead him on again, taking a step away to examine his bandage. harry swallowed nervously watching you. "by you…being mean to me." he says meekly, his voice small and embarrassed.

you smirk at him again and decide to test the waters. "good boy."

harry's face absolutely drains of color. you can practically see his heart thumping out of his chest. and, if you weren't wrong, his hands actually started shaking in his lap.

you start laughing again at his reaction, hardly able to hold back from how funny this situation was to you. harry potter, the school's bad boy, the top slytherin student, the quidditch captain, your biggest rival, has a literal kink for being degraded. and he had the nerve to ever try and call you a loser.

"sorry, it's just so funny to me," you tell him between laughs, wiping tears from your eyes. "actually, no, i'm not sorry. i think you deserve to be laughed at for this. what guy actually gets horny from girls being mean to him?" you ask rhetorically, crossing your arms again and examining harry in front of you.

he's completely disheveled and getting sweatier by the minute. he breaks eye contact after your question, nervously scratching the back of his neck to waste time. "uh…" he starts off, clearly not knowing what to say to that. you just continue smirking, watching him struggle. "i mean, is it every time a girl is mean to you this happens? i'd imagine with your attitude that would be pretty often." you joke, partially curious but mostly just trying to make him squirm more.

harry shakes his head, both of his hands rubbing at his face and wiping the sweat from his hairline. "n-no, it's, uh…" he starts again, eventually trailing off with a sigh. you start tapping your foot impatiently. "i'm waiting." you say in a mocking tone.

harry tenses again, still not looking back up at you just yet. his body language is clearly uncomfortable and defensive. "it's not…all girls, okay? it's just…you." he finally spits out, clearly struggling to put his thoughts into words. "this only happens with you, i swear. a-and it's only started this year, and i don't know why." he rambles, speaking with his hands, his eyes still fixated on the floor.

for once, you're speechless. you weren't expecting that confession from him, and you certainly didn't know how to react to it in the moment. i mean, this potter kid has had it out for you since day one, he's practically made you two enemies on the field and off, and now he wants to tell you all this? it's a bit confusing, to say the least.

harry sighs, resting his face in his hands once again. "look, i'm sorry about all of this, okay? all of it, not just today, but everything. i shouldn't have been so rude to you all this time, especially not for the reasons i have…" you can practically hear harry wincing at his own words. he uncovers his face but continues to look down. "just…please, please, don't tell anyone. i know that's asking for a lot considering all i've done to you, but…please, [y/n]." he's nearly begging.

you just watch him carefully, trying to figure out how to respond to all of this. on one hand you're inclined to feel insulted, disrespected, and downright disgusted at this information, but in reality…you're just obscenely curious. i mean, how often does a guy get turned on by you being mean to him? and not just you, but specifically, only you. does that mean he actually likes you? or is it only a sexual thing? and how would that even work?

as your mind continues to raise more and more questions, you feel yourself speaking before you even decide what to say.

"fine, i won't tell anyone. if," you take a slow step towards harry. he looks up at you with flushed cheeks and wide eyes. your heart leaps at the sight of him so vulnerable beneath you. it's as if you can see him thinking anything, anything for you.

you're not sure what's possessing you in this moment, but you can't stop yourself from pushing the limits further between you and harry. again, your mouth starts speaking for you.

"if…you let me help." you say with a smirk, closing the gap between you and harry and standing between his legs once again. he's looking up at you in complete shock, his eyes examining every inch of you in front of him. he's trying to speak but his mouth just keeps opening and closing, gasping for air and nervously chuckling.

arms still crossed, you wait for harry to say something and enjoy seeing him be the speechless one this time.

he eventually looks back up at you, biting his lip again and leaning back slightly. "help…me?" he asks, confused. you laugh at him, shaking your head. "yes, potter. help you. can't have you leaving here with that," you motion down to his pants with your head. "can we?" you ask seductively.

again, you're not sure what's making you act like this right now, but you honestly didn't mind it. you already got a kick out of insulting harry anyway, why not watch him struggle a bit harder under your thumb in this tiny exam room?

harry's completely frozen. you smile at him this time, the most genuine one you could muster in the moment. "if you want to, of course," you say quietly, softening your gaze at him and fixing his messy hair. harry makes a soft sound and leans into your touch, his eyes closing. you giggle to yourself, he just looks so innocent resting in your hand.

the moment didn't last long as you tighten your grip on the hair on the back of harry's head, pulling it so he's looking right at you. his eyes open and a soft whine escapes his lips. "i'll take that as a yes?" you ask smugly, leaning down until your faces were nearly touching. harry does his best to nod his head, swallowing nervously and glancing at your lips.

you smile at him again. something just felt so right when you were in control, seeing harry's front disappear as he became a mess in your hands. you felt powerful, confident, and, to your dismay, insanely turned on from the entire situation. your feelings of hate and desire for harry drove you mad, yet he seemed more than willing to be the recipient of both.

so, you lean forward, and you kiss him.

it's soft at first, slow, shy, you feel like harry's barely breathing. eventually he catches up, nearly moaning into your mouth as you feel your stomach fluttering. you put your other hand on his cheek and sit on harry's lap, your knees resting on the cot around harry's hips. you feel his hands tread carefully up your thighs and under your shorts, his fingers digging into your skin roughly.

this time you can't hold back your moans, causing harry to melt even more into you. his lips were soft, careful, but so eager. it's like he was starving and yet still took his time with you.

you pull away slightly, your breath heavy and forehead resting on harry's. "lay down," you command him, climbing off his lap. harry quickly lies back on the cot, kicking off his shoes in the process. you do the same before crawling back on top of him, carefully resting your ass directly on his erection.

harry openly groans, his hands reaching for your hips and squeezing the skin roughly. you bite your lip to hold back another moan. you slightly adjust your position and cause harry's head to roll back against the cot. "[y/n]..." is all he manages to say in his broken voice.

he's already such a mess and all you've done is sit in his lap. who would've known all this time his teasing you was just a cover up for this?

"this'll be easy. you're already practically falling apart on me, potter." you tease him, your cold fingers finding their way under his jersey. harry's body shivers, his hands moving from your hips to your waist. his fingers crawl under your shirt as well and cause your skin to break out in goosebumps.

he slightly smirks at this reaction, but you don't let him have his moment for long. "and don't get cocky," you warn him before you start grinding on his erection. his head rolls back in pleasure again, his mouth hanging open and fingers digging into your skin. you smirk to yourself. "don't forget you're the loser who likes to be insulted here." you remind him harshly, your hands running along his chest under his jersey.

harry's noises are completely pathetic, his hips bucking into yours for even the slightest bit more friction. you stop grinding into him and he lets out a shaky breath, looking at you with needy eyes. he looks so worked up already and you've barely done a thing.

"shirt off," you tell him, pulling at the material. harry, again, doesn't hesitate to follow instructions. he removes his hands from your waist and quickly takes off his jersey, throwing it to the floor.

your breath hitches in your throat looking at harry's soft, sweaty skin in the dim fluorescent lighting of the exam room. you never realized just how toned his shoulders and chest were, or how many scars and bruises he seemed to have, both new and fading.

you look back up at harry, his eyes nervously watching your every move. you lean in to kiss him again, messier, needier. his hands return to your hips and practically force you to start grinding on him again. you would've intervened if you weren't just as desperate to continue rolling your hips into harry's hard erection.

a soft moan comes from your lips as you grind into him harder, your hands resting on his chest for support. harry groans, his brows furrowing. "shit," he mutters, only encouraging you to go faster.

you could feel how wet you were through your panties. your stomach was tightening already, making you feel a bit embarrassed of your own desperation. seeing harry be so willing to please you only had you wanting him more.

just as you start to feel yourself blush at your lack of self control, you notice harry's panicked expression, his grip on your skin guaranteed to leave bruises. "what's wrong?" you ask, somewhat sarcastically and also concerned.

he struggles to get a sound out. "hmph, gonna, fuck, please, don't," he's stumbling through his words, barely able to keep his eyes focused on you. his hands try to stop your hips, but his grip his weak.

"stop what?" you ask curiously, slowing your hips slightly but rolling into him harder. harry moans, his hand covering his mouth hearing how loud it echoed through the tiny room. you just laugh at him and pull his hand away, guiding it to your chest. harry's eyes widen, trying to pull his hand away.

"stop, gonna…cum, if you don't," harry whimpers, squirming under your weight as his legs try to escape. you take your opportunity and pick up your pace, giving harry an evil smile.

"aw, already?" you ask, forcing his hand back to your chest. you guide his fingers along the curves of your breasts through your thin tank top, causing him to breathe even heavier. "you haven't even gotten to see these, and you're already about to cum? i was right, you're such a fucking loser, potter." you tell him, guiding his hand back under your shirt.

you can feel him struggling under you even more, his torso only getting sweatier. you just grab for his other hand and guide it under your shirt as well. he watches as intently as he can, his eyes still rolling back in pleasure at the pressure in his lap.

you help him lift his hands higher and higher until he's cupping your tits under your shirt, your breathing becoming hitched at the feeling of his rough fingers running across your sensitive nipples.

"fuck," you say under your breath, loud enough for harry to moan and grope you rougher, lifting your shirt above your tits. you gasp at the feeling and look back down at him, a sweaty mess with eyes barely open.

"please, please," harry starts begging, his hips still trying to squirm away from you. you place your hands on his sides and push him down, continuing to chase your high. "just stay still, harry," you nearly whimper. you realize you've never called him by his first name either.

that's when he comes completely unraveled beneath you. he's practically crying out in pleasure and desperation, his hands roughly squeezing the soft skin of your tits as his head is thrown back against the cot. just watching him fall apart like this has you shaking on top of him, feeling the warm wetness of your panties leaving a mark on harry's jeans.

it takes a few moments for both of you to come back to earth. harry's hands eventually loosen their grip on you before quickly pulling away, his eyes wide and panicked again. "sorry," he says quickly, his cheeks completely flushed.

you just shake your head and laugh, climbing off of harry's lap and adjusting your shirt. harry sits up and runs his hands through his hair, trying to catch his breath still.

the room is a bit awkward, but you eventually start to chuckle and push harry's shoulder lightly. "so…" you lead him on. harry chuckles as well, hanging his head low. "so…" he repeats, his voice still soft.

"so…is it wrong of me to assume you might actually like me?" you ask, picking up harry's jersey and handing it to him. he offers you a shy smile and puts it back on, shaking his head. "y'know, i'm not sure there's a way i could've made it more obvious." he admits half heartedly.

you laugh again, feeling a blush crawl up your cheeks. you turn away from him and grab your sweatshirt from the sink, the sleeve still completely stained.

"i really am sorry about that, i have a few you could borrow if you'd like." he says with a smirk, pointing towards your sweatshirt. you roll your eyes. "well, good to know your cockiness hasn't gone anywhere." you respond, suppressing a smile.

he chuckles. "never will." he says confidently. you give him a look and take a step towards him, causing him to swallow nervously.

you laugh at him again. "yeah, okay, pretty boy." you tease him, stepping away and towards the door. he follows behind you, still blushing like crazy.

leaving the exam room you notice all the nurses are still running around like lunatics, having no idea what's just happened only a few feet away from them. you and harry share a knowing look before running off together, laughing as you reach the halls.

"y'know," harry says between laughs, looking over at you with nothing but love in his eyes as you continue walking the empty halls. "don't think i'll go easy on you tomorrow just because of…that." he says, motioning behind him with a shy smile. you smile back at him and offer your hand. harry looks a bit hesitant, but shakes it anyway. "wouldn't want it any other way, potter."

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[deathcries]

Latin from The Witcher books translated

This took a bit longer than I expected, but I finished them :] Keep in mind that I've only been studying Latin for 3 years and that I've had to translate these into Finnish first (all my Latin dictionaries are in Finnish) so there might be some slight mistakes. I've sorted these by book and marked the page number (which might be slightly off due to translations and editions of the books). A few of the phrases are used multiple times in the books, I've only included the first page where the phrase was used for the first time in the book. Some of these have the translation right next to them in the books, but I've also included them here. Also some of these have multiple translations, but I've chosen the one that best fits the context in my opinion.

Blood of Elves

p. 209, ad valorem - according to value p. 309, casus belli - cause for war

Time of Contempt

p. 254, victoria - victory

Baptism of Fire

p. 34, persona non grata - person not welcome p. 35, quod attinet - which is related (to) p. 36, justitia fundamentum regnorum - justice is the foundation of kingdoms p. 36, crimen horribilis non potest non esse punible - a horrible crime can not be without punishment p. 36, lapis super lapidem - a stone on top of a stone p. 37, fundamentum regnorum - the foundation of kingdoms p. 37, primo - firstly p. 37, secundo - secondly p. 37, memoria fragilis est - (the) memory is fragile p. 37, raptus puellae - abduction of a girl p. 38, sempiternum meam* - forever mine p. 179, perpetuum mobile - perpetual motion machine (lit. perpetual motion) p. 186, vagina dentata - toothed vagina p. 344, summa cum laude - with highest praise

The Tower of the Swallow

p. 15, vulnus incivisum - incision wound p. 18, rubor, calor, tumor & dolor - redness, fever, swelling & pain p. 115, crimen - crime p. 204, delirium tremens - alcohol-induced delirium (lit. mental disturbance with shaking) p. 217, per fas et nefas - by right and wrong p. 230, cui bono? - to whose advantage? p. 340, de non preiudicando - without prejudgement p. 349, casus belli - cause for war p. 356, pacta sunt servanda - agreements must be kept p. 408, de profundis - from the depths p. 409, propria manu - with one's own hand p. 461, societas leonine - partnership with a lion

The Lady of the Lake

p. 27, ad usum delphini - for the use of Dauphin / for the use of the heir p. 27, summa summarum - all in all p. 77, pericolosus - dangerous p. 171, omnia mea mecum porto - I carry all my possessions with me p. 378, exitus - passed away p. 496, post factum - after the fact p. 497, per acclamationem - by acclamation p. 498, persona turpis - ugly/disgraceful person p. 502, ad futuram rei memoriam - for future reference p. 502, nihil ad rem - nothing to do with the matter p. 502, status quo - existing state (or just 'status quo') p. 503, pro publico bono - for the public good p. 503, salus publica lex suprema est - the health of the people is the supreme law p. 504, verba volant - words fly p. 504, non possumus - we can not p. 505, ad referendum - for referral p. 506, ultimus familiae - last of the family p. 537, vivant - long live p. 537, digitus infamis - infamous finger p. 539, perpetuum mobile - perpetual motion machine (lit. perpetual motion) p. 577, et cetera - and so forth (or just 'et cetera')

Season of Storms

p. 15, status quo - existing state (or just 'status quo') p. 16, ipso facto - by the fact itself p. 35, primo - firstly p. 35, secundo - secondly p. 35, tertio - thirdly p. 37, notitia criminis - notice of a crime p. 38, probatio de relato - proof concerning the telling of events p. 39, praeiudicium - prejudgement p. 39, Testimonium unius non valet. Testis unus, testis nullus. - One testimony is not strong. One witness is a worthless witness. p. 39, ergo - therefore p. 39, praesumptio - presumption p. 39, in dubio pro reo - in doubt, on behalf of the accused -> in doubt, favour the accused p. 42, cautio pro expensis - security for expenses p. 81, nil admirari - don't be surprised / let nothing surprise you p. 102, summa cum laude - with highest praise p. 102, quadrivium - 2nd group of 7 liberal arts (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music) p. 102, Sphera Mundi subdividitur - The sphere of the world is subdivided p. 102, aer - air p. 102, aether - aether/sky p. 102, firmamentum - support p. 102, erratica sydera** - roving stars p. 102, fixa sydera** - fixed stars p. 102, sydera cadens** - falling stars p. 103, quod erat demonstrandum - which had to be proved p. 109, causa finita - (the) case ended p. 125, unguentum ortolani*** - ortolan ointment p. 133, sine ira et studio - without anger and enthusiasm p. 137, bene vale - be well -> goodbye p. 172, fulmen sphaericus, sagitta aurea - lightning ball, golden arrow p. 193, ad rem - to the matter p. 196, tapetum lucidum - a layer of tissue in the eye (lit. bright tapestry) p. 238, post Resurrectionem**** - after the Resurrection p. 309, Illustrissimus et Reverendissimus - Most illustrious and Most venerable p. 309, Magnus Magister - Great Teacher/Master p. 309, Honoratissime - Most honored p. 309, anno currente - during this year p. 310, non compos mentis, eo ipso - not in control of his mind / not of sound mind, thereby p. 310, impune est admittendum quod per furorem alicuius accidit***** - it must be admitted with impunity that something happened out of anger p. 310, ad interim - temporarily p. 311, item - also p. 311, non sufficit - not enough p. 312, bene valere optamus - I wish you good health p. 312, semper fidelis vestrarum bona amica - always faithful to you, good friend p. 312, manu propria - with one's own hand p. 345, ad libitum - to please p. 351, deus ex machina - god from the machine p. 359, crescite et multiplinicamini****** - increase and multiply p. 393, quarto - fourthly p. 393, quinto - fifthly p. 394, persona non grata - person not welcome

Latin that I can’t find the page for or isn't in my books (trans. Tapani Kärkkäinen), but are in other versions

Baptism of Fire, incognito - unknown

Bonus

Regis - genitive singular of rex, regis m.: king

-

*I have no idea how this fits into the context **I have no idea what Sydera is, since astrum, astri n. is 'star' in Latin ***ortolani might be a latinisation of ortolan, not sure though ****probably talking about the conjunction of the spheres and not a resurrection *****I spent so long trying to crack this one, but I'm not sure the translation I decided to go with is correct (I might ask my Latin teacher about this sentence) ******should be crescite et multiplicamini

I might've missed a few, if so, do tell me!! I'll gladly discuss and read your thoughts about these, especially if you have differing translations!! :]

[buildgrist]

I wrote this last year on Twitter, but since Empty Spaces has sort of abandoned ship, I'll post it here too:

"Funeral"

A woman's whole life changes the first time she sees a combat doll.

First-person, combat doll setting by Twitter user mars_phobos_L1

CW: Harassment, violence, military context, blood, personality changes, conditioning, surgery, unreliable memory

Story below cut:

1.

I washed out of combat training almost immediately, but it wasn’t enough to get me off the hook. I’m sure you all know how it goes – just because you can’t fight doesn’t mean you can’t support the ones who do. If you can’t carry a gun, you can fix a gun, if you can’t fly a plane, you can fuel a plane.

Nothing wrong with that, of course! It’s simply efficient use of resources, and I’m certainly in no place to criticize that, especially not given my current status, so to speak. But even then I wasn’t exactly bothered by it -- I would have rather not been conscripted at all, but maintenance would be safe and interesting and I was already pretty good at it.

2.

The first time I ever saw a combat doll was when I was at the range, trying to get in enough practice to pass my pistol qualifications. I didn’t even know she was there, at first - there was no fuss, no fanfare - but as soon as her handler started barking those sharp, staccato orders I realized what was going on.

I looked over, of course. I know, we’ve all been taught not to make eye contact with the dolls because they might take it as aggression, but how could I not be curious? Can any of you say you wouldn’t be tempted to take a peek?

I hadn’t expected her to not be wearing her mask. All the publicity photos, all the technical diagrams, all the battlefield footage always shows dolls with their masks on, so I assumed that was just their usual state – but no, I was wrong. That was her natural face, with her implant jacks and her surgical scars and her delicate-looking skin. I truly hadn’t expected her to be so pretty…

She caught me looking, of course. Dolls are the apex predators of the battlefield, and noticing a maintenance trainee staring at her was trivial in comparison. She met my eyes before I could look away, and then I couldn’t look away. I knew nothing except her eyes and my heart pounding in my ears, and I had no idea what was coming next… and then she grinned at me.

That grin did something to me, something strange and frightening and wonderful. It felt like lightning running down my spine, like watching a sunrise after being blind my whole life, like finding my way out of a forest I’d been lost in since birth. I was never the same again.

3.

I needed to know who she was, of course. She could pick off targets faster than my eyes could follow, with a perfect bullseye every time. Her handler ran her through everything in our arsenal, and more besides - pistols, rifles, machine guns, throwing knives, on and on - and she was perfect every time. How could I have not wanted to know more after watching a display like that?

Well, apparently, that made me the weird one in the battalion. Everyone I asked about her just shrugged or gave me sidelong glances. Why would they want to keep track of which doll was which, they asked? They were all equally frightening, after all. What did it matter what the shark swimming next to you was named?

It took more than a week - and a couple cases of beer - for me to find out who I’d seen. My buddy on the security team had seen the handler’s name and done some quick research, and he was willing to pass on that information… for the right price, of course.

Victoria. Her name was Victoria, and the next thing he said to me was “be fuckin’ careful around that one,” which didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me at the time. We’re taught to use caution around all dolls, combat or not, why the extra warning?

Because, he told me, there were stories about the Victory-class dolls. They weren’t the fastest dolls or the most powerful dolls, but they were notoriously unpredictable, and dangerous even to their allies. I won’t get into the details right now, that’s not what I’m here to do - but some of your classmates went pale the moment I said her name, so ask them about it later.

But what did that have to do with Victoria? I had to ask, because I used to be a little slow on the uptake sometimes. In case any of you haven’t put all the pieces together: Victoria is the first Victory-class, the flagship, the template upon which all others were modeled – and that meant if there was some fault with the Victory-class dolls, some flaw in their design or their conditioning, Victoria would definitely have it.

4.

Even with all he’d told me, and all I’d learned on my own afterwards, I still couldn’t get her off my mind. Not that I was thinking about her every second, or even every day, but that moment never quite left my mind. I’d lay down and try to sleep, close my eyes, and behind my eyelids I’d see that bare face, that grin, and my heart would start pounding all over again.

By the time we were given our assignments, I knew what I was going to do. I knew what I had to do. I got the cushiest possible position – 8th Supply Battalion, well away from any combat zones, where the greatest danger would be a private driving a forklift drunk. The perfect position to serve out three years of compulsory service and go back to my old life, right?

Except I didn’t want it. I hadn’t wanted it since the moment I’d seen her.

As soon as we were dismissed, I went straight to the commander’s office and asked for a transfer – which they don’t usually do, of course, but he was willing to hear me out anyway, so I told him I needed to be on Victoria’s maintenance crew. Once he was done laughing he asked me what I was really there to ask for, and I repeated my request. I explained to him that I was serious, that I wanted, needed more than anything else, to be assigned to maintenance for Victoria.

He didn’t understand – which is no surprise, because I don’t think any of you do either. Why would I have wanted to be transferred to the only role that had higher casualty rates than front-line infantry, right? Truth be told, I didn’t understand either, and I still don’t. There’s nothing I can point to, no specific reason, just this surety that I belonged there and nowhere else.

Someone needed to do maintenance on the dolls, right? Why shouldn’t it be someone enthusiastic about it, someone fully committed to their role? I don’t know if my argument won him over or if he was just tired of listening to me, but in the end he just shrugged and wrote out my transfer orders: maintenance crew, Victory-class combat doll “Victoria”.

I still remember what he said when he handed me the orders:

“It’s your funeral.”

5.

Just because I’d volunteered for the position didn’t mean I was any less nervous when I first reported for duty! The rest of the crew had already been giving me a hard time - I was the squeaky-clean new girl, fresh out of training - but honestly, they weren’t why I was nervous. That was just some laughs and some hazing, nothing I wasn’t used to by that point.

No, I was nervous because of the six-plus feet of exquisite purpose-built killing machine standing in the middle of the maintenance bay.

The thing is, though.. the reasonable thing would have been to worry that Victoria was going to kill me, right? That’s what you’d be afraid of, that’s what any sensible person would be afraid of! But it wasn’t what I was afraid of.

I’d done my research, I knew the numbers, and I was certain - beyond the slightest shadow of a doubt - that I wasn’t going to survive three years in her maintenance crew. I’d made my peace with that before I ever even walked into the commander’s office.

I was worried that Victoria wasn’t going to like me.

6.

I know that probably sounds bizarre to you - after all, nobody worries about whether their tank likes them, right? - but trust me, it was absolutely the biggest thing on my mind. So much so, in fact, that I decided to introduce myself to her immediately! Why hang around hiding behind the rest of the maintenance crew when I could just walk right up to her and make a good first impression instead?

So that’s exactly what I did. Right into the maintenance bay, right past the rest of the crew, right across those painted lines on the floor… one foot in front of the other, listening to the pounding of my heart until I was within arm’s length of an active combat doll.

I took one more deep breath, accepted that it could have been my last, and gave her the usual introduction: name, rank, and role. She just stared at me, with those intense eyes I remembered so well, and I offered a little bit of extra politeness – just a simple little “I look forward to working with you, ma’am.”

7.

The moment the words were out of my mouth, she grabbed me by the collar and dragged me in, my body pressed up against hers, and as I stared up at her in shock and fear and excitement, I heard her voice for the first time.

“You’re cute,” she said.

There were teeth in my neck before I could even make sense of her words - combat-specced teeth, the kind that can slice through bone - and it was unbearably painful… but also something about it felt right. I was helpless in her grip, completely powerless, and I realized that I’d wanted that all along.

I saw her true face for the first time, then. That flat, blank non-expression she’d been wearing when I walked up to her had simply been another mask, another disguise… and she’d let it fall away. As she licked my blood from her lips, I understood – she was a hunter, a predator, hungry for more and strong enough to take whatever she wanted… and I was her prey.

I suspect your instructor would kick me out of this class immediately if I described what she did next, so I’ll just say ‘she had her way with me and I had no desire to stop her.’ You’ll have to use your imaginations for the rest… or come find me sometime and I’ll be happy to tell you all about it!

8.

Anyway, even though it seemed like I’d made an excellent impression on Victoria, the rest of the maintenance crew was pretty clear that I’d made a pretty poor impression on them. As soon as we were off-duty and the dolls had all been escorted back to their bunker, they made their feelings known in a very direct fashion.

I got off easy, they told me, pointing out maintenance staff for other dolls. One man had a bloody bandage where his ear had been, and another was completely unresponsive – just blankly staring at a wall. In comparison to things like that, a bite and some fucking was downright gentle for a Victory-class doll!

The crew insisted that I’d better not expect special treatment from Victoria to mean they’d give me special treatment too – I protested that I’d never once expected that, but I don’t think they were listening to me by that point. From all the shouts and cursing, it seemed like they were upset that I, the death-wish rookie who walked right up to a combat doll and introduced herself, had been treated more gently than maintenance staff who simply wanted to carry out their duties safely.

I tried to answer them, I tried to explain that all I’d done was to be friendly and polite, that I’d just wanted to treat Victoria with the respect she deserved. They didn’t like that answer.

Nobody told me about this, so I’ll pass it on as a warning to you just in case: maintenance crews aren’t just wary of their dolls, they’re downright resentful of them. From their perspective, the dolls are the thing that stands between them and getting home safely, and they’re not particularly fond of people who see the situation differently.

I, not knowing this, made some helpful comments about the dolls not being our enemy, about our purpose being to support the dolls so they can carry out their Purpose. Shortly thereafter, in a totally unrelated event, I slipped and fell down a staircase – completely by accident, of course.

I’d been hoping that the maintenance crew - and the staircase - had gotten all the vitriol out of their system by then, but it only got worse. Someone had found out that I’d volunteered for the maintenance crew, while they’d all been unwillingly forced into that position, and it was all over. That was all the proof they needed to decide I wasn’t like them in some indescribable way. They might not have been able to explain how, exactly, I was different from them, but they all agreed that I was, and they all wanted to make that my problem.

9.

I next saw Victoria for post-mission diagnostics two days later. The procedures would be routine, and yet the crew was far more anxious than they had been for our previous visit to the maintenance bay. A doll just back from an operation, having spent only a few minutes being gentled by its handler before being sent off to maintenance, was the most dangerous kind of doll as far as the maintenance staff was concerned: all keyed up on adrenaline and battle stimulants and potentially unsure as to whether or not it was actually safe or still on the battlefield.

The crew all talked like they were off to the firing squad, and I had no idea what to expect as we all walked down to the hall… especially when they all hung back, in ones and twos and threes, lagging behind me while I walked up to the maintenance bay first.

I was the tribute, the offering, the fresh meat tossed to Victoria to sate her hunger - and oh, did she ever take the bait. She ran to me, snatched me right off the ground, and sprinted back to her designated zone as if to convince everyone she’d never left.. except now she had me clutched in her arms, her deadly teeth tracing up and down my neck, that beautiful voice giggling in my ear.

The maintenance team had to conduct their diagnostics around me, in the end. Victoria simply didn’t want to give me up, no matter how they tried to convince her -- and I had absolutely no desire to argue with that. Where could I possibly have wanted to be more than her arms?

In fact, I didn’t want to leave her arms. Even once our duty shift was done and she’d turned me loose, bloody and weary and deeply content, I lingered in the maintenance bay as the others fled for the mess. I knew what was waiting for me there - the same thing that had been waiting for me since I first met Victoria - and I wanted to avoid it for as long as possible.

10.

I hadn’t expected her to notice me hanging around - surely I was unworthy of her attention, right? - and yet, as I lingered behind, she spoke to me for the second time. “Not joining them?”

“No ma’am,” I told her, quietly enough for nobody else to hear. I hadn’t meant to say anything else, but the prospect of having a sympathetic ear was just too much, and the words just tumbled out of me. As she stared down at me with that blank expression, I explained how the crew had decided I didn’t belong, and how they’d been treating me since – the punches, the kicks, the fish in my bunk, the thousand other little reminders that they’d decided to hate me.

Eventually I ran out of words and found myself simply staring up at Victoria. She hadn’t said a single thing the entire time, and her expression was the same unreadable blankness that I’d seen before. While I tried to figure out whether she was sympathetic or simply bored, I suddenly realized that she’d met my gaze, staring into my eyes as if she was looking for something. I couldn’t imagine what she was looking for - and, truth be told, I still don’t know what it was - but I stared back up at her and let her look for it.

I guess she found what she was looking for - or perhaps found an absence of the wrong things - because she simply grabbed me by the arm and practically dragged me right out of the maintenance bay. What was she doing? Where was she going? She ignored my questions, of course, so I stopped asking them and simply walked along with her in silence.

You probably haven’t seen a doll bunker yet, but they’re extremely sturdy – downright overengineered, even. They’re even more heavily reinforced than munitions bunkers, and the only route in and out is through an extremely sturdy-looking steel door. It’s the sort of thing that makes the vault doors in heist movies look like tissue paper… and that was the door Victoria had led me to.

Even though I’d walked to the bunker with her willingly, I couldn’t help but protest a little as she swung the bunker door open. I had been told, upon my assignment, that only handlers and commanders were permitted to enter the doll bunker – all support staff were required to stay out in order to avoid ‘unnecessary manpower shortages’. Not that that stopped Victoria, of course! She simply picked me up by the back of my uniform like an uncooperative pet and tossed me right through the door.

11.

Have you ever walked into a room and found eight combat dolls staring directly at you? Sixteen eyes fixed on you, unblinking, like cats that have just spotted a mouse? Presumably not, but if you’re very lucky - or very unlucky - you might get to someday.

That’s where I found myself as the bunker door slammed shut behind me – gracelessly picking myself up off the floor under the hungry gaze of eight combat dolls. They waited a moment, graciously permitting me to get back to my feet, and then… well, I guess the best way to describe it is to say each one started trying, in her own way, to draw me away from my host.

Not a word was spoken, but carnal offers were made, and one or two dolls began to creep toward me as if stalking prey – and then suddenly they all froze at once. I couldn’t receive dollchat yet, so I didn’t know what Victoria said to them - and even now she just giggles when I ask! - but whatever it was, it was enough to convince the other eight dolls not to steal her guest away.

I spent that night in her bunk. I didn't do a lot of actual sleeping, of course, but the moments I did get... having a combat doll holding me close and murmuring sweet reassurances in my ear was maybe the safest I'd ever felt in my whole life. To be told I'm safe now, that the squad will look out for me, that I'm theirs forever…

12.

I hardly ever left the bunker after that. I would have never left, if I’d had the option, but there were still two things I was expected to handle: work and food.

I was still a member of Victoria’s maintenance crew, expected to be present for those duties, and since the necessary hardware was in the maintenance bay, that was where I had to be too. My first duty shift after being taken to the bunker, I’d hesitated – I was even more uncertain about showing my face around the rest of the crew now, after all! Victoria had just returned from a mission, so she would be waiting for me there, but I still had to get from the bunker to the maintenance bay on my own…

Before I figured it out myself, one of the other dolls took pity on me. She took my hand in hers, as if I was a child, and led me to the maintenance bay herself. It was permitted - after all, she was being escorted by maintenance staff - and nobody dared to say she couldn’t stand by while we Victoria received her post- mission diagnostics and I received an entirely different kind of post-mission attention.

I’m not sure if the crew ever appreciated just how much lighter on them she was when I was around, you know? I don’t know if they even noticed, or if they were too busy hating me. It didn’t matter, though – when we were done, Victoria and the other doll walked me back to the bunker, hand in hand, as if they were concerned I’d stray – or flee, perhaps, but there was already no chance of that.

If any of you ever get invited to a bunker, be aware: there’s nothing for you to eat. There is food for the dolls, although it’s terribly bland, but those meals are measured out to the last bite. Even once the whole squad had fully accepted me as their own, they still didn’t have anything to give me – every bite of food for me was one less for them, and dolls are always hungry.

The only way for me to get food would be to get it from the kitchens myself. I’d have to brave the hallways solo, avoiding any other staff, and throw myself on the cook’s mercy in the hopes that they’d be willing to let me take something back with them – and I’d have to do it two or three times a day! It’d be absolutely miserable, right?

As it turned out, that was practically a nonissue. The kitchen staff recognized me on sight - word spreads quickly, especially when you’re escorted to the bunker by two dolls! - and realized that we could solve each other’s problems: I needed food, and they didn’t want to interact with the dolls. If I could come out of the bunker to receive each day’s rations, rather than the staff needing to hand-deliver it directly to the dolls, they’d be more than happy to throw in each day’s worth of meals for me! Teamwork and problem-solving, that’s what we’re trained for, right?

13.

With food resolved and my duties sorted out… well, one day started to blur into the next. There are no windows in a doll bunker, after all -- there’s no sense of time unless you’ve got a chronometer built in, and I sure didn’t. I slept when they let me, I did as I was told, and every time the rations were delivered I felt a little more like I was walking through a dream.

The kitchen staff stopped looking straight at me, eventually. It wasn’t that they were afraid of me - I was no doll, no battlefield predator - but something about me unsettled them. Maybe my body language had changed – after all, I’d been spending more time around dolls than humans, even I could tell that I was picking up their mannerisms, that I was absorbing the way they spoke and moved and held their bodies.

Or maybe it was something else. Maybe there was something in my eyes. I had prostrated myself before the squad and worshipped them for the goddesses they were. I had licked blood from a doll’s body without ever stopping to wonder who it had belonged to. I had given myself to them over and over, even after my stamina was exhausted and I could do little more than accept their desires.

They had made me theirs - with pleasure and pain, with fear and adoration - but they decided I was ready for more.

14.

I’d tell you it was a day like any other, but I don’t even know if it was a day. It was just another moment in the bunker, a moment of laying on a bare concrete floor, my limbs tangled with giggling dolls who simply couldn’t bear to let their plaything go… and then it wasn’t.

They hauled me up off the floor and pushed my back against the wall, one on each side of me, and the rest of the squad parted as Victoria approached, as the doll who’d claimed me first stood over me once more.

“You’ve been fun,” she told me, “but you can be better. We want you to be better. Don’t you want to be better for us?”

Even after all the time I’d spent with them, I still hesitated. I knew what they meant, and I had learned exactly what it entailed. The surgery, the conditioning, the experience of not being human anymore – but wasn’t I already seen as no longer human?

Victoria saw that hesitation, she saw the fear in my eyes, and stroked my head like a pet. She promised me she’d stay by my side the whole time… and she promised to do my conditioning herself.

How could I say no to that?

15.

The surgeons broke me. There’s no way to sugarcoat that. Even without all the modifications combat dolls get, having an arrhythmia control device implanted in your chest without any anesthetic is simply more than any human can bear and stay sane – so I didn’t. I screamed, I struggled and I let myself fall apart.

Victoria put me back together. She reminded me how much I liked being helpful, and how much I enjoyed being useful. She dug up my memories of how much I loved each and every member of the squad, and she made those memories into the core of my personality so I could never, ever forget again. As for the rest of my memories… well, I told you this whole story, didn't I? But everything before the dolls took me in feels distant, removed from me, as if they're someone else's memories instead of my own. It's better that way – I have a whole new life and a whole new family to love.

Speaking of which, Victoria had a surprise for me once I'd recovered, a way of celebrating me as the newest part of their family. One at a time, each doll got up on one of the bunks like it was a makeshift stage and delivered maudlin, overdramatic speeches about the person they imagined I had been before, and we all giggled along together.

In the end, it was my funeral after all.

16.

There you have it, that's the whole story. That's how I went from being just like you to being who I am now. Your instructor wanted me to share it as a warning, a cautionary tale, and I'm sure for most of you it is. But for one or two of you, if it appeals–

Yes, sir?

Understood, sir.

Thank you for your time, everyone! May fate preserve us! Good luck on your quals!

[astra-ryuusei]

it's so fun to rotate my mecha AU skystar in my brain because the way I imagine Human!Starscream/Ulchtar in this is like…almost a similar vibe to Reigen from MP100??? with some extra angst sprinkled in there for flavor

He wasn't as bad to Skyfire as the people who'd pulled him apart and experimented on him while he was in his coma, but that's a really low bar, and he was still using him as a specimen for study. This isn't something he properly starts to unpack until after he reactivates Sky in a moment of desperation and they make their escape.

So he starts out dancing on this big ol' web of lies and half-truths because he’s (quite reasonably) afraid telling the whole truth to the Giant Fucking Robot Following Him Around will get him killed. He promises to help Sky recover his lost memories and learn to use his powers for good and all that stuff, except he does this almost entirely out of self-interest (and spite for his former employers) because he really needs at least one person on his side right now. Then he gets bamboozled when Sky takes this to heart and starts ACTUALLY using his abilities to help others, inadvertently dragging Starscream into it.

Sky is simultaneously the only rock Star has to hold onto and also a force of absolute chaos in his life because he's just...kind of a walking (flying?) magnet for Weird Shit™ even before he starts actively seeking out trouble. And between the two of them they have roughly one brain cell, which means that half the time their shared goals are achieved purely by accident and Starscream just happens to be in a position to pretend it was intentional. He’s in so far over his head and he has no earthly clue how he hasn’t drowned yet.

While this is all happening Star tries very hard to ignore the fact that he’s rapidly getting attached to Sky and also starting to feel something that might be called guilt for his role in Sky’s suffering. This works for a while until...Wait. Is. Is that something vaguely resembling a conscience that’s starting to grow in the back of his mind? No! Nooooo! Anything but thaaaaat!

TLDR: Human!Starscream is the feral, spite-fueled master of Bullshitting His Way To Victory, Skyfire unwittingly drags him kicking and screaming into being sort of a decent person (they’re still working on the “decent person” part), and neither of these two science dorks have any clue what they're doing

[frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe]

good morning!! it's @henderdads' birthday!!!! happy happy happy birthday to youuuu cass!!!

The minute Eddie Munson turned 18, he could see it; the only color he would see until he and his soulmate kissed for the first time.

Yellow.

Rays and rays of warm yellow sunshine, the middle light (and middle light only) of the one stoplight in town, one half of their school colors, the dandelions spotted agross the grass between the trailers, the stubborn daffodils that keep reappearing in Ms. Wilson’s garden though she’s long since passed…

The half-toned things he’s told are green, half yellow, half blue, and that he got lucky his soulmate’s favorite color wasn’t black or gray (then he felt glad he’d settled on a different color than either of those by time he was older, he didn’t want to subject his soulmate to more black and white..

After Steve Harrington turns 18, he can see the color of the lipstick his mom wore in their last family portrait, the color of the punch that gets spilled all over Nancy’s shirt at Tina’s halloween party, the stripes and piping on his godforsaken Scoops uniform, the red of his own blood rushing down the drain beneath his feet.

The dark tone puddled beneath Eddie’s limp body in the Upside Down.

The same color splashed onto Dustin’s arms and legs.

Pressing his hands into it to stop it from spreading, to start it flowing again, Steve presses his lips to Eddie’s once…he hasn’t done CPR since he worked at the pool….twice…”C’mon man, don’t leave him like this.”....

The third time is when it happens.

The feeble beat of Eddie’s heart starting again, the push of breath into his lungs, the sudden flood of cool, dark colors around them. 

“Eddie? Eddie! C’mon man, stay with me.”

It looks like it takes a herculean effort to do so, but Eddie’s eyes open. “H–hey, Harrington. Wh–”

“I’m going to pick you up now, Ed,” Steve says, doing just that, tucking Eddie into his chest and starting for the trailer. “El is keeping the gate open for us but we gotta hurry.”

The four of them manage to get him out through the gate and into the RV, this time with Nancy behind the wheel. 

Having to let him go at the doors to the ER is one of the hardest things he’s ever had to do, but he manages, Robin telling him over and over again that she’d already called Eddie’s Uncle and that he’d be safe.

While they’re waiting, filthy and exhausted but victorious nonetheless, Nancy says to him: “It’s blue, by the way. The…everything down there has some sort of blue tinge to it.”

Steve doesn’t ask how she knew, just appreciates that he can look at something and she’ll tell him the name of the color. 

The pattern of the chairs is orange and purple, the plant in the corner is green (“All plants are some shade of it for the most part.”), the wallpaper is his favorite though.

“It’s yellow.”

“I guess I know what color Eddie’s been seeing the past few years..” It’s the first and last thing he says until Wayne Munson comes to get them.

“You three need’ta be looked at too. Not jus’ Henderson.”

He leads them back to a room, and Steve recognizes Dr. Owens there waiting for them.

They get looked over, they get cleaned up, and Steve gets a shot of something that’s supposed to help stave off anything those flying rats may have given him.

And for the next week, he stays. 

He and Wayne maintain a constant vigil at Eddie’s bedside. Wayne leaves for his shifts when he has to, Steve is allowed to stay because of his soulmate status, and Eddie wakes up a little more than a week later.

Wayne had left a couple hours ago, so Steve will have to call him at the plant but first: “Steve?” Eddie manages to croak out when his eyes crack open the first time.

“Hey Eds, welcome back to the world of the living.”

Eddie shuts his eyes and huffs a laugh, then cringes, “Still painful as always, I see.”

“Oh yeah? What else do you see?”

Steve watches his brow furrow as he tries to make sense of the question, watches as he opens his eyes again, a bit further this time, and when they widen in amazement as they travel around the room.

“What–? What the hell..?” The heightened beeping of his heart monitor makes Steve feel almost giddy, getting to watch him see this for the first time. “What nurse kissed me while I was out?” He pauses, staring down a painting of colorful wildflowers on the opposite wall before turning back to Steve. “And can they come back so I can get more pain meds?”

Steve chuckles as he stands stiffly from the hospital chair he’d been all but glued to for the last week, reaching over Eddie’s head to press the call button.

“What’s so funny?”

“You, of course.”

“Thank you, I try, but what’d I do this time?”

“It wasn’t a nurse, Eds.”

Eddie blinks at him for a moment, confused, “I don’t quite have the brainpower for riddles, Stevie.”

Steve’s stomach flips at the nickname, “It wasn’t a nurse, it was when we were still in the—down there.” he pauses, feeling suddenly embarrassed. Did Eddie want it to be him? His first assumption was one of the nurses… “Someone had to give you CPR.”

He watches as Eddie scrolls through what he can only assume is a roster of their “Team Vecna”; Nancy? It’s been known that she’s been able to see in full color since she and Jonathan got together. Dustin? Yeah..no. Ro–

“And it wasn’t Robin.” Steve says when he sees Eddie’s lips curl into an ‘R’.

“Then who—”

It dawns on him at the same time the summoned nurse arrives with a new shot of whatever it is he needs.

She leaves with an excited “We’ll call Wayne!”, and Eddie drops his head back to his pillow.

Steve’s stomach twists anxiously. “Eddie?”

“So you’re telling me that the one and only Steve Harrington gave me the kiss of life and also the gift of colorvision, and I wasn’t conscious enough to experience it properly?”

Steve ducks his head, scratching behind his ear nervously. “Uh…yeah…? Sorry Eddi–”

“Can you do it again?”

His head snaps up again, “Huh?”

“And preferably before I lose the battle for my consciousness?”

Eddie’s face is soft and open, a smile quirking the pink of his lips and crinkling those dark eyes of his…Who is Steve to tell him no?

He smiles softly in return and stands.

Leaning forward with his weight braced to one side of Eddie’s head, the other hand coming up to cup his uninjured cheek, Steve kisses him properly for the first time.

The first of many many many more to come.

eeee i hope you liked this little thing!!! i've never written anything w soulmates before!! 🥹 i hope you have the most bestest day today, friend!! 🫶🫶

[sorinethemastermind]

For the cuddle dialogue! How about Rayla and Callum with 7 and 13?? <3

Callum opened his eyes, the familiar ceiling of his room at the Moon Nexus coming into focus above him. He pulled an arm out from under the covers and rolled over, draping it over Rayla, still sleeping beside him. This, he thought, is an improvement over the last time we were here.

He watched the slow rise and fall of her chest as she slept, listening to the whisper of her breathing. She was perfect. This morning was perfect.

The sunlight filtering through the high, arched windows slanted across her face and she yawned, moving instinctively away from the light and burrowing into Callum's chest. Some part of him still couldn't believe that this was real. Why hadn't they been doing this from the start?

Well, he knew why. But still.

He let her wake up slowly, enjoying every quiet moment of their first peaceful morning in... well, it sort of felt like forever. The world was saved. They were saved. Every day could be like this. From now until forever. That was a better kind for forever, Callum thought.

"Callum?" Rayla asked, groggily. "Why are you lookin' at me like that?"

"Oh, nothing." Callum replied dreamily.

"Stop it." she laughed, batting him away.

"Never!" he teased, wrapping his arms around her again. "I think someone needs a good cuddle."

"Callum!" she squealed, laughing. Her silver hair was in his face, and he planted a big kiss on top of her head. But his victory didn't last long, because then there was a pillow flying into his face and he fell backwards, nearly toppling off the bed.

"I told you these were dangerous weapons." Rayla said, standing over him with her pillows raised defensively.

"Only in the right hands."

She threw another pillow at him. "Quit being all soppy."

"Can't help it." Callum said, tossing the pillow right back. Then he dove forward, pinning her to the bed again. She let out a small shriek of surprise.

"You're only winning cause I just woke up!"

"Mhm." Callum replied, quickly snatching the pillow away before she could reach it. "I'm not letting go, so you can stop fighting it."

She sighed, relaxing into his arms and resting her head on his shoulder. Her hair, still unruly from sleep, tickled his face.

"Hm. Fine. I do like cuddlin'."

"So do I win then-"

They were interrupted by the door opening, both of their faces tinging bright pink as Runaan stuck his head in.

"Lujanne wanted me to inform you that breakfast-" he broke off, eyes roving over the scene before he let out a long sigh. "Nevermind. You're clearly busy."

He withdrew his head and closed the door before either of them could say anything. Which was probably good, because all they seemed to be able to do afterwards was giggle.

[shy-urban-hobbit]

“I mean, you’ve got to feel a little sorry for them really haven’t you?” Jaskier said from where he was mopping up the last of the evidence of the half dead rat Roach had thoughtfully decided to gift them (the first time it happened he’d shrieked in surprise before Geralt put it out of its misery with a matter of fact “Welcome to country living, city boy”). Geralt gave a non committal hum from where he was warming milk up for Ciri on the stove. The little girl sat colouring at the large kitchen table - too large for two, but that would change when Geralt’s brothers and any guests they decided to bring descended on them.

“I mean they’re just minding their own business like, Oh I’m a hungry rat. Please don’t kill me.” Here Jaskier put on a slightly squeaky voice and held up his hands in imitation of paws, still holding onto the mop, “And then wham one of the last things they see is Roach’s teeth coming towards them. So many teeth.” He gave the resident farm cat a critical stare and received a dismissive tail flick in response.

Ciri giggled at his antics which caused him to grin back at her in return. It always felt like a special sort of personal victory when he managed to coax a laugh out of the little girl.

Despite being together for six months, he was still being introduced to her as her father’s ‘friend’ (which was true enough, they wouldn’t be dating if they didn’t get along) and Jaskier was happy to go along with it. Geralt had explained without revealing too much that the little one had been let down by too many adults in her life already, himself included, and ‘boyfriend’ was maybe just a little too official sounding for the time being (and if he said his heart hadn’t broken a little for the five year old smiling at him from Geralt’s phone, he’d by lying), especially after the shit that had gone down with his ex. Geralt hadn’t gone into detail but from what Jaskier had gathered, the woman had had a hidden agenda in wanting to get back with Geralt and Ciri had almost gotten seriously hurt as a result. Geralt had blamed himself for jumping back into the relationship too quickly and so, any potential partners now had to pass what Jaskier had dubbed ‘The Ciri test’.  

He liked to think he’d passed the first portion with flying colours, the tiny blonde seeming perfectly comfortable with him in public places. Now they were dipping their toes into Jaskier staying in their home for longer periods, with Jaskier having graduated from the guest bedroom to sharing with Geralt the previous visit (the brunette wanting the ground to swallow him up when she happily informed her Uncle Eskel of ‘Daddy’s sleepover’ when the man had dropped by unexpectedly the following morning. Geralt had just shrugged and told him to be thankful it hadn’t been Lambert; who could and would, happily take the piss forever).

“Alright Ciri, put your things away and then go get your bedtime book. I’ll be in in a minute.” Geralt said, pouring the warm milk into a plastic My Little Pony cup.

“I want Jask.” Ciri declared form where she was trying to force the crayons back into their box by the (relatively small) handful, Causing both adults to stop what they’d been doing and stare at one another. This was new.

“You sure you don’t want daddy?” Jaskier asked, looking to Geralt for some sign as to what he should do.

“You do better funny voices. Daddy’s all sound the same.”

It took everything Jaskier had not to burst out laughing at that as he took in the minute eye twitch from the other man at that statement, “Geralt?”

Geralt nodded, “Mind if I stay and listen? You know how much I love The Gruffalo.”

Jaskier snorted and felt a surge of fondness. The lies we tell for our children.

It ended up being a joint effort, with Geralt guest starring as The Gruffalo “On account of you being so, well...gruff.” and admitting to a slightly too smug looking Jaskier and a mostly asleep Ciri that “Yes, Jaskier does better voices for everyone else. Especially Mouse.”

"Everything ok? You’ve gone all quiet on me.” Jaskier said from where he had his head in Geralt’s lap as they watched some mindless Netflix show. “I didn’t overstep did I?” He was suddenly frantic, his anxieties bubbling back up to the surface now that he didn’t have a performance and an audience to focus on, “I know you probably just said yes so things wouldn’t be awkward. I probably should have told her no and come up with an excuse but how can anybody say no to that face-“

“Jaskier. It’s fine, honestly.” Geralt said, rubbing his hands up and down Jaskier’s arm in a way he knew calmed him, “I’ve built up something of an immunity to Ciri’s puppy eyes. I would’ve said no if I had a problem with it. I’m just thinking.”

“About?”

“About how I might have a question for Ciri.”

The next morning saw Jaskier seeing both of them off with a hug (also accompanied by fishing a stray cheerio out of Ciri’s hair which he had been too tired to question) before heading back to his city apartment and his job as a music tutor.

“Ciri?” Geralt asked, putting her school backpack by the door as he knelt down to help her button up her coat, “You know how Aiden is Uncle Lambert’s boyfriend?"

It had slowly been killing Jaskier not to check his phone as soon as the text notification came through but he was nothing if not professional and he would not check his phone when he was in the middle of a lesson. Thank the Gods he did wait as he was prettu sure he gave his retreating student a minor heart attack with the squeal he let out at Geralt’s message:

‘Ciri has been proudly announcing to her classmates this morning that Jaskier is her daddy’s boyfriend. Much disappointment from the single mums.’

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 02x19 - The Composite Beast, Chimeramon / An Old Enemy Returns

Previously on Digimon Adventure: Koushiro and Iori found the Digimon Kaiser's base, but it got up and ran away when they weren't looking. Miyako shouted "AHA" and ran facefirst into the brick wall of her own enthusiasm. However, on the other side of that brick wall was the base so it was a net victory all the same.

What sort of unimaginable horror has the Digimon Kaiser been working on all this time? Find out... right now if you read the title card. Though he did basically spell it out last episode.

The Narrator opens this episode by assuring us that the boys did make it back last night. Which is good 'cause it was kinda late when Miyako and Hikari spotted the base and there was no sign of them.

Narrator: After the Kaiser's fortress left, Daisuke's group linked back up with Hikari's group. Then, the following morning....

Miyako, Hikari, and Daisuke sleep in, with an implied division between the boys' and girls' sleeping bags; Miyako and Hikari's bags are put together while Daisuke's is separated from Hikari's by a few feet.

Hawkmon, Tailmon, and V-mon are all wide awake. They watch as Takeru and Pegasmon disappear into the sky, accompanied by Tentomon. The boys fly out along a river, joined by Iori and Submarimon down below.

Submarimon: Daisuke won't be happy about this-dagyaa. Iori: Probably not. Tentomon: Why didn't we ask Daisuke-han to come with us? Takeru: We couldn't just leave Hikari and the others by themselves, could we?

I mean. You didn't have a problem with it last episode. Weird thing to suddenly get sexist about. What happened last night? Did you have too much Daisuke exposure for one trip? Didn't realize what you were signing up for with this mission?

There is actually a valid reason for leaving Daisuke behind and it's that he'd be dead weight. Raidramon can't actually fly; Only run fast and leap far. It hasn't been an issue before, but Daisuke does not have an effective mode of transportation for combing the ocean.

But Takeru doesn't say that, so I don't know what's up here. They also don't discuss why Hikari and Miyako are being left behind again at all. Those two stayed behind for a reason earlier and they already took care of that.

Whatever the case, Takeru and Iori keep going, following a straight line of Dark Towers leading out into the ocean.

For the dub, the role of the narrator today is filled by the sound of Davis snoring.

Gatomon: Does Davis always snore like that? Veemon: Every night. Gatomon: How do you sleep!? Veemon: I don't.... (T.K. flies away on Pegasusmon) Veemon: Where are those guys going? (Down below, Submarimon and Cody joins them) Submarimon: I still think we should have told the others before we left. Tentomon: It may be none of my beeswax but why didn't you ask Davis to come with us? T.K.: I didn't want to leave Kari and Yolei alone anymore. Don't worry, he'll understand. Tentomon: I'm just glad I'm not going to be the one to tell him.

Dry as the narrator's exposition usually is, it bridges the gap between the end of the last scene and the beginning of this one and sets the stage for where we are now. As with some of the changes last episode, losing it makes this one feel more isolated.

But it's not much of a loss; The boys already made plans to come back after sunset if they didn't find the base. So if you're paying that much attention to the continuity between episodes, you can easily assume they did just that.

The only thing they have to replace it with, however, is yet more dunking on Davis. This opening is going to dunk on Daisuke though so unlike last episode, it's well-timed.

Meanwhile, they also tweak T.K.'s line to add the word "anymore". That way, he at least acknowledges that this decision contradicts him making that very choice and being fine with it yesterday.

Back at camp, the girls wake up. While Hawkmon munches on a rice ball, Hikari reads off an email Iori left them on her D-Terminal.

Hikari: They know where the Kaiser's fortress is headed. Miyako: (intrigued) Ooh, where!?

You might notice a terminology shift here. Last episode, we were calling it the Kaiser's 基地 kichi, which means a base. It can be a military base or an expedition base or what have you; All we know about it is that it is the base of operations for the Digimon Kaiser.

Now the girls have spotted the full base and not just what was sticking out of the ground earlier. Thus, the terminology has been updated to the Kaiser's 要塞 yosai, which means his stronghold or fortress.

We cut to the row of Dark Towers leading out to sea as if to answer Miyako's question, and then back to Daisuke whining to himself. Next to him, V-mon munches on a chicken drumstick.

Daisuke: (dismal) They really left me behind.... V-mon: (concerned) Don't let it get to you, Daisuke.

Meanwhile, inside his command center, the Kaiser inspects his new creation - though we can't see the screen very well so it's not easy to make out.

Wormmon: What about the final piece? Kaiser: Huhuhuhu... Relax. We'll have it soon enough.

With a smug grin, he takes a drink from a steaming cup of tea. We can't see if he's holding a saucer but I imagine he is for the added pretentiousness.

In the dub:

Kari: The email says they've figured out which way the Digimon Emperor is heading. Yolei: Let's see. (Shot of Control Spires going into ocean) Davis: WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THEY LEFT WITHOUT ME!?!? (Cut to Davis pouting) Davis: How come nobody wants to go anywhere with me? Veemon: Well, Davis, it could be your snoring. (Cut to Wormmon and Emperor) Wormmon: Is it finished yet, Master? Emperor: Not quite. I still have a few minor details. Should he have four arms or six? Decisions, decisions....

He then loudly slurps his tea like an absolute monster.

The Kaiser has a clear plan in place for his creation. We don't know all the details, but he said last episode that he's found the Dark Whirlpool and this episode Wormmon asks about the final piece. It has been conveyed that there is one last piece remaining and the Kaiser intends to retrieve it from this Dark Whirlpool place.

As with Kabuterimon last episode, the Kaiser needs to directly encounter a particular kind of Digimon so that his Digivice can record its data and he can use it for his creation. That's why the fortress is taking him out to sea.

The dub cut the mention of the Dark Whirlpool and now depicts the Emperor still making basic outline choices. No idea why we're going to the ocean, then.

Camping with Hiroaki, Taichi and Yamato gather around Koushiro's laptop to read Iori's email too. It's addressed to "Everyone" and reads simply, "We're pursuing the Kaiser's fortress."

"Everyone" is not a valid email address so that's probably an email group. Which probably means that Sora, Jou, and Mimi just got this email with zero context. Popping open their D-Terminals like, "Oh. Huh. Okay, good for them."

But while the boys are playing on the laptop, Hiroaki cleans the cookpot by himself.

Hiroaki: Oh, why me...?

He is not having a good time on this trip. Brought these boys all the way out here to play on the computer. There were computers back home! He knows! They just made him buy one!

Speaking of people who aren't having a good time, Jun's back in the city and has continued with her stalking mission.

Jun: If I knew yesterday they were going to Yamanakako, I could have followed them right then and there!

山中湖 Yamanakako is one of the Five Fuji Lakes. As the name implies, they're a set of lakes around the base of Mt. Fuji. They're popular outdoor destinations for hiking, camping, fishing, etc. due to the gorgeous view of the mountain they provide.

Yamanakako or, literally, "The Mountain Lake" has the distinction being both the largest of the five lakes and the highest in elevation. It's about 1-2 hours drive west-southwest of Tokyo.

Unfortunately for Jun, she cannot drive nor does she have a convenient adult in her life to whom she can explain her Very Good Reasons for going to Yamanakako. And the bus just left the station. Jun breaks into a sprint after it, shouting:

Jun: HEY, DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT ME!!!

That's okay, Jun. Your brother isn't any better off. Back in the Digital World, Hikari and Miyako follow the trail of Dark Towers out to sea on the backs of Nefertimon and Horusmon.

Daisuke, left behind for a second time, comes running to the water's edge on Raidramon's back much too late.

Daisuke: No way! Hikari-chan and the others too!?

Raidramon can't fly, so Daisuke's screwed. This is a bad time to be a Motomiya. Daisuke and Jun are both 2 for 2 on being left behind now.

As usual, the dub rewrites the email to be in English. In the process deleting the To: and From: and Subject: lines and then not bothering to replace them.

They also changed the sender. The message reads, "We know where the Digimon Emperor is headed. -Kari." So apparently the first email only went to the girls, and then Kari took a moment to pass it on to Tai and the others before leaving. This is equally plausible.

Izzy: I'm getting an update from Kari. Hiroaki: Do any of you know how to catch a fish? ...I wish I had a TV dinner. (Cut to Jun in Tokyo) Jun: Alright, all I have to do is take the bus to the campsite and Matt-- (Bus loudly honks and takes off) Jun: WAIT, DON'T GO, I WANT TO GET ON!!! (Cut to Hikari and Yolei following the Control Spire trail) Yolei: Should we tell Davis we're leaving? Kari: (apathetic) Nah. He'll understand. (Davis trails behind) Davis: Why's everyone leaving!? Is it my snoring!?

XD Okay the repeat of "Davis will understand" in a flat and uncaring monotone got me.

The dub continues the trend from the first anime of removing references to specific Japanese locations. Yamanakako is now simply "the campsite".

As an aside, if you're wondering why there's a trail of Dark Towers/Control Spires leading to the Kaiser/Emperor's base, remember that those things are just conduits for the Dark Digivice's power. The Dark Digivice is a single point of failure for his entire network.

Those Towers/Spires are probably functioning as power lines to keep his entire empire supplied with dark energy while he goes out on this jaunt. If he broke contact, he'd lose his whole empire in an afternoon. You'd be able to hear Evil Rings snapping off 'round the globe.

...you know, we should probably knock some down while we're here.

Up ahead, Takeru and Pegasmon fly with Tentomon over the ocean, but all they see is open water and some of those classic "Single Palm Tree" deserted islands.

Pegasmon: I can't see shadow nor shape of it. Takeru: Do you think Iori-kun found anything?

影も形も Kage mo katachi mo, literally "shadow or shape", is a Japanese idiom that means the same as our English "hide nor hair".

Down in the ocean, Iori and Submarimon search. Iori has his D-Terminal popped upon and resting against a raised bit of Submarimon's dashboard.

Submarimon: What is it-dagyaa? Iori: They say they can't see anything from up there.

No more luck down here; All that's in front of them is a huge stone wall.

Submarimon: Same here-dagyaa. Iori: Yeah, I'll let them know.

As they're talking, they notice a huge metal dome jutting out of the stone wall up ahead.

Iori: (gasp)

Submarimon does a quick 180 and backs off to get a better look at the structure. Sure enough, that "stone wall" actually was a massive structure all along. And one they've seen before.

Submarimon: It's the Kaiser's base-dagyaa! Iori: I must inform Takeru-san-- Huh?

At that moment, Iori spots a passageway leading into the structure near the bottom that doesn't have a big metal dome over it.

In the dub:

Pegasusmon: We've been flying for hours and haven't seen a thing. T.K.: I'll check with Cody and see if he's seen anything. (Down below) Submarimon: What did T.K. say? Cody: They haven't spotted anything from up above. Submarimon: Well, we haven't seen much of anything either except seaweed. Maybe we should turn back. (Dome comes into view) Cody: Huh? What... is that thing!? Submarimon: Let's dig a little further. (They back off to get a better look) Submarimon: This thing is enormous! It makes Texas look like Rhode Island! It has to be the Digimon Emperor's base! Cody: I'll let T.K. know that we found it--Huh?

Cody's "What... is that thing!?" bugs me a little bit because they specifically came down here to find a that-thing-shaped object. Iori and Submarimon were momentarily caught off-guard because they were too close and underestimated its size. They also expected it'd be moving in the distance, and instead it's just sitting here. Waiting for something.

Cody and Submarimon are reacting like they've never seen the base before at all.

Up above, Takeru receives Iori's message on his D-Terminal. We get to see that message too, but also he reads it word for word.

Takeru: It says "We found the base! We're going to sneak in through a cave." Tentomon: Are they going to be okay? Takeru: I'll tell them not to push themselves too hard.

While Takeru's typing, the water below begins to swirl.

Pegasmon: Takeru, look! Takeru: Huh?

Watching from their vantage above, the boys see a huge chunk of the ocean fall away into a massive whirlpool.

Takeru: A whirlpool?

Down in the Kaiser's control room, a swirl icon appears on a white grid on his screen.

Kaiser: Hmph. Seems like it's finally shown itself. Wormmon: (frightened) What is that, Ken-chan? Kaiser: You could call this the entrance to a source for the power of Darkness. There should be data on Darkness-type Digimon in there. Once I have that, my Original Digimon will be complete. Wormmon: ...

Wormmon, for the moment, is silent while the words of the Kaiser sink in.

We haven't really seen much in the way of Dark Digimon thus far. We've seen plenty of Viruses under the Kaiser's control, to be sure. We also have seen a Devidramon and we've seen some Bakemon, so they haven't been completely unrepresented.

But truly malevolent creatures like Devimon or Vamdemon have been absent from the Kaiser's collection of controlled Digimon. Darkness, the kind of Darkness that once sought to control the Digital World through Apocalymon's reality distortions, hasn't really collided with the Kaiser yet.

Note that when the Kaiser calls this place the 原 minamoto, the source... that's an ambiguous statement. He could mean it in the sense that this is the source, the origin point for all Dark Power, or that it's simply a source, a resource he can harvest for Dark Power.

A lot about the Dark Whirlpool is open to interpretation.

In the dub, Cody's email is rewritten to read, "Found base. Will sneak in through underwater cave. ~Cody." Basically the same but with shittier grammar, which mildly bugs me because I feel like Cody would type full sentences.

T.K.: It's from Cody. They found the base and are going to try and sneak in through an underwater cave. Tentomon: That sounds kind of dangerous! Maybe they should wait! (Whirlpool begins to swirl) Pegasusmon: T.K., look! T.K.: Huh? (Whirlpool appears) T.K.: A whirlpool...? Tentomon: Oh no! They'll get sucked right into it!

To give Tentomon space to deliver that line and make a cliffhanger out of this, the dub splices in a clearer shot of Takeru and Tentomon flying over the fully developed Dark Whirlpool from later in the episode. Then they take their first commercial break.

On return, we join the Emperor in his control room.

Emperor: Hmm, looks like it's finally here. Wormmon: What is that, Master? A new way to hypnotize your slaves? Emperor: No, you fool. You might call it a gateway to the source of the powers of Darkness. But for simplicity's sake, let's just call it the Dark Pool. I think it's caused by an evil Digimon, and if I can tap into its power then I'll have everything I need to complete my very own Digimon!

Ahh, the evil counterpart of Deadpool. I gotcha.

I don't know why they cut the "Whirl" out of it.

The Kaiser also adds the detail that an evil Digimon is creating "the source of the powers of Darkness". Which... may or may not be true. Again, heavily open to interpretation.

After hearing the Kaiser's plans, Wormmon hesitates for about three seconds. But then he can't bring himself to be silent anymore.

Wormmon: You have to stop, Ken-chan! Kaiser: What did you just say to me? Wormmon: I can feel it... I can't really put words to it very well. There's something terrifying inside that whirlpool. I'm scared!

As usual, the Kaiser doesn't give a shit about what Wormmon thinks. He gets up and walks away, dismissively uttering:

Kaiser: What a coward....

Wormmon desperately scurries after the Kaiser, screeching:

Wormmon: NO!!! YOU CAN'T GO, KEN-CHAN-- Kaiser: I DON'T TAKE ORDERS FROM YOU!!!

Ken turns and aggressively kicks Wormmon across the room. Wormmon bounces once on his head, then hits the ground on his belly and slides to a stop.

In the dub, the Emperor's dialogue is longer so Wormmon doesn't have any time to hesitate before responding.

Wormmon: Please, Master, don't do it. Emperor: What are you talking about? Of course I'll do it. Wormmon: But it feels like evil itself is coming from that Dark Pool. You can't feel it because you're not a Digimon. Emperor: Don't be ridiculous. I'm not going to stop my master plan because of a silly feeling of yours! Wormmon: But on an evil scale of 1 to 10, that Dark Pool is really evil. Emperor: Ehe! Fine. Then you stay away from it. In the meantime, I've got things to do. (Emperor gets up and walks away) Wormmon: Please don't ignore me. Emperor: Oh, I'm sorry. HOW'S THIS!?!?

We don't see the Kaiser's foot make contact; We just see him twist his body, hear the impact, and see Wormmon sent flying. So the dub doesn't have to censor it for the Emperor, though they do use a comical bonk sound to try and lighten it.

The Kaiser is, as usual, above the opinions of his Partner while the Emperor actually bothers to stop and argue.

The original does not specify that only Digimon can feel what's in there, and both versions will in fact contradict that later. Though it does strongly suggest that Digimon are more sensitive to it, so they're half-right here.

The dub is, again, really hyping up what's down there. "Evil itself" is waiting for us. An evil Digimon creating the source of all Dark Power, who is "really evil on a scale of 1 to 10". Again, in the original, all that's been said is that it's the source of Dark Power, it is fucking scary, and the Kaiser hopes to harvest some Dark Digimon data from it.

Up topside, we catch up with Hikari and Miyako.

Nefertimon: A giant whirlpool!? If that's the case, we need to tell Armadimon and Iori since they're infiltrating the base! Hikari: That's right!

I agree too. I also think it's weird that Takeru thought the girls needed to know and not Iori. We don't see the message Hikari sends back, but it was clearly "WTF Takeru".

Takeru: I know that, but I lost contact with them a while ago. Tentomon: In any case, we need to do something fast! Pegasmon: Yeah. This is going to get ugly. Takeru: Yeah... On that note, what has you guys spooked all of a sudden? Tentomon: Of course we're freaking out! Just look at that whirlpool.... Pegasmon: Takeru, can you not feel that?

Takeru stares down into the whirlpool for a moment. Deep down in its depths, he can sense a dark, unearthly high-pitched wailing as the water melds into a grotesque, eldritch gray backdrop.

Takeru: I-I feel it! What is that!?

Darkness, Takeru. That's Darkness, is what that is.

In the dub:

Nefertimon: A huge whirlpool? And Cody and Submarimon are inside the base? We've got to warn them. Kari: Try to contact them with the D-3. (Cut to T.K.) T.K.: Don't you think I've tried that already!? Something seems to be blocking the transmission.... Tentomon: We can't just hover here! We've got to do something! Pegasusmon: Tentomon's right! We're running out of time! T.K.: Yeah... Are you guys feeling okay? Tentomon: Well, I think I might be getting a bug but other than that, I'm fine! Pegasusmon: I am feeling a little strange. How about you, T.K.? T.K.: I'm not really sure.... (T.K. senses something deep below) T.K.: I... I feel... kinda weird....

The D-3 cannot be used to contact people. Only to track the signal from their own D-3 or Digivice. The D-Terminal is what is used to contact people.

A moment ago, the dub established independent of the original script that only Digimon can sense what's in the Whirlpool. Now, one scene later, T.K. is the one who senses it while Tentomon has no idea what he's talking about.

Down in the base, Iori and Armadimon climb a very long flight of metal stairs. They come to a window looking into a pinkish reddish chamber.

Inside the chamber is a massive reactor looking like something out of Star Wars with four walkways leading to it from each direction.

Iori: This might be the power room. Armadimon: Let's smash it-dagyaa! Iori: Hang on, we should look around more first. Armadimon: Understood-dagyaa. By the way, Iori, aren't you cold-dagyaa? Iori: No? Armadimon: That's weird. I've been getting chills for a while now....

Putting Wormmon, Tentomon, Pegasmon, and Armadimon's reactions together, we can see that the Digimon are all very sensitive to the power in the Dark Whirlpool. The humans aren't, but they can feel it if they make the effort like Takeru did.

Cut to the front of the fortress. A panel lowers, revealing an observation deck embedded in the stone exterior. Inside, Wormmon is still pleading with the Kaiser to turn back.

Wormmon: I'm begging you to stop! Just this once! Or else we won't be able to turn back! KEN-CHAN!!! Kaiser: ... Wormmon: ... Kaiser: Take us in.

At the Kaiser's command, the fortress begins moving once more. It forges ahead through the water towards the Dark Whirlpool.

Watching from above, Takeru's group can see the massive structure beneath the waves.

Tentomon: Ack! It's started moving! Pegasmon: And it's heading for the whirlpool! Takeru: ...Iori....

The Kaiser is marching straight into harm's way and unknowingly taking Iori with him.

In the dub, Armadillomon gets an extra line to complain while they're climbing the stairs.

Armadillomon: I'm tired. Don't they have an escalator in this place?

Valid complaint. This staircase was clearly built for an athlete.

(Cody finds the power room) Cody: Whoa! Armadillomon: My thoughts exactly. Cody: This has to be the engine room. Armadillomon: I say we destroy this place once and for all. Cody: We will, but let's take a look around first. Armadillomon: Alright, if you say so. Hey, you think it's kinda cold in here? Cody: Not especially. Armadillomon: That's weird. 'Cause I just can't seem to warm myself up. The chill of evil's in the air.... Cody: Don't be so dramatic.

I love that "chill of evil" line. 10/10, understood the assignment.

They also give the Emperor an early quip just before the panel opens.

Emperor: You know what this place needs? More window space. (Panel opens) Emperor: There! Wormmon: Master, I know you hardly ever listen to me. Okay, you never listen to me. But please, just this once, do what I ask. Don't do it. Emperor: Hmm... I'm sorry, I wasn't listening. Did you say something? (Fortress begins moving forward) Tentomon: Look! It's on the move! Pegasusmon: And heading for the whirlpool! T.K.: Cody!

Wormmon's last desperate plea for reason falling on deaf ears is played as a laugh line.

Back inside the base, Iori and Armadimon have found their way into a dungeon lined with barred cells.

Armadimon: We've started moving! Iori: This place....

Iori's more interested in the cells than the motion. Lot of familiar faces behind those bars. One cell has an Elecmon and a Delumon in it. The next contains a Floramon and a Mushmon. All Child Digimon except for the Perfect Delumon.

Iori: These are all Digimon that the Kaiser's captured. Armadimon: What should we do-dagyaa? Iori: This has to come before the power room. Armor Evolve and break them out of these cells. Armadimon: Makes sense to me-dagyaa. Iori: Alright. DIGIMENTAL--huh?

Suddenly, Iori notices a... screen in the ceiling of a cell showing an aerial view of the Dark Whirlpool. I have no idea what that is or why it would be there.

Iori: What... is that...?

Armadimon doesn't have an answer, but he continues rubbing his arms from the eerie chills he's getting.

Back on the observation deck, the Kaiser watches as the Dark Whirlpool draws nearer.

Kaiser: Now... Enter the Whirlpool.

The base keeps on going, getting closer and closer to the worst mistake of the Kaiser's life.

In the dub:

Armadillomon: Hey, we're moving.... Cody: Armadillomon, look! This place is like a prison. It must be where the Digimon Emperor keeps all of his captured slaves. I guess you guys didn't have a very good lawyer! Armadillomon: So what are we gonna do about it? Cody: This is more important than the engine room. You'd better Armor Digivolve and break the bars open. Armadillomon: Now that's a good idea. Cody: DIGI-ARMOR--Huh? (Dark Whirlpool screen on the ceiling for some reason) Cody: What is that thing!? Armadillomon: ... (silently rubs arms from chills) Cody: My thoughts precisely. (Cut to observation deck) Emperor: Huhuhuhu... Now, enter the Dark Whirlpool! Huhuhuhu AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Oh, it's not that funny.

Cody fucking makes a flippant joke to the faces of imprisoned slaves. Thanks, I hate it.

What I do like is the way Armadillomon getting chills serves, in and of itself, as the answer to Cody's question. Harkening back to that "chill of evil in the air" moment.

The dub suddenly starts referring to it as Dark Whirlpool here despite renaming it Dark Pool previously.

Cut to Jun standing in the middle of a busy street. She demonstrates her own particular hitchhiking style by being a public menace recklessly endangering herself.

Jun: WHY WON'T YOU STOP!?!?

I need to gush about what a beautiful segue this is. The Kaiser gives the command to enter the Whirlpool, then a shot of Wormmon's silent but concerned face, and then the fortress moves forward while Jun screams "WHY WON'T YOU STOP!?!?" as if speaking directly from Wormmon's anguished heart.

While, in her context, a blue car whips past uncaring of her hitchhiking only to get stopped by traffic a short ways ahead. An ugly metaphor for what's about to come for the Kaiser? Perhaps.

A red sports car pulls up shortly after, honking for Jun to get in.

Jun: Hooray!

Jun hops in the backseat and lets an elderly couple, Mary and Kenny, take her away. Yes, those are their names in the Japanese version.

Mary: She's going camping, Kenny! Oh, it must be nice to be young. Kenny: Mary, you and I were young too once.

They are not, however, young anymore. They're passed on the highway by several cars whipping by much faster than them and one moped. Jun lets out a sigh, resting her head on her hand and settling in for a long drive.

The dub ruins the meaningful juxtaposition of "WHY WON'T YOU STOP". In addition to tying the preceding bit up with the Emperor being goofy instead of silent drama, they cut the opening to this scene to avoid showing Jun hitchhiking. We go straight to her in the back of Mary and Kenny's car.

They also rearrange the shots to have the cars and moped passing the sports car first, then the interior shot of the vehicle.

Jun: Thanks for the lift, Grandpa. I can't believe they left without taking me. Grandma: So, you're going camping? That's nice. We used to do lots of camping, didn't we, dear? Grandpa: Yeah. Until that time I used poison ivy instead of toilet paper! Jun: Huh? (sigh)

Also to avoid letting the characters hitchhike, Mary and Kenny have been rewritten to be Jun's grandparents who she called for a ride.

As Jun settles in for a long car ride, we transition over to Daisuke centered in the same spot and pose as her. This episode's really playing up the parallel between the Motomiya siblings.

Daisuke's at the edge of the landmass, contemplating a palm tree.

V-mon: What are you thinking, Daisuke? Daisuke: What if we knock down this tree and carve it into a dugout? V-mon: Aha! That's a great idea! Daisuke: As long as we're on the same page!

A dugout is a type of canoe made from hollowing out the trunk of a single tree.

Since V-mon agrees, Daisuke moves forward with his plan. He steps forward and presses on the tree trunk, trying to shove it over by brute strength alone. Shockingly, it works. The trunk shifts forward with no effort at all, like a lever being thrown. Daisuke stumbles back in shock.

Daisuke: DAH!!!

Steered by the palm tree, the patch of land they're standing on drives forth out onto the water, departing from the greater continent.

V-mon: What's going on here? Daisuke: What the heck...?

The boys take a moment to adjust to the realization that all these single-palm-tree deserted islands are, in fact, boats. But they are. So that means....

Daisuke: Oh well! We can catch up to the others now. V-mon: YAHOO!!!

A startling discovery but not an unwelcome one. Sometimes, in a dire situation, the fucking weirdness of the Digital World delivers!

The dub maintains the mirror shots of Jun and Davis through the transition.

Davis: Hmm.... Veemon: Davis, what are you doing? Davis: I'm thinking about how we can make a canoe out of this tree. Veemon: Great! How are we gonna do it? Davis: First, we push this tree down! (Davis pushes the tree and it moves like a lever) Davis: AGH!!! (Island starts moving) Veemon: A little too hard. Davis: Beats a canoe! Ahh... Smell that salt air! Veemon: Hey, Davis? How come we're on land and I'm getting seasick?

Valid question and an actually good place for a laugh line.

Back at the Dark Whirlpool, the Kaiser's fortress breaches through the side of the whirlpool and enters its eye. From above, Takeru's team lays eyes on it for the first time.

Tentomon: WHOA, THAT THING'S HUGE!!! Takeru: There should be a cave somewhere on it that Iori-kun went in through. We'll infiltrate from there as well. Pegasmon: Understood.

Together, the three of them descend towards the structure. As they enter the whirlpool, ghastly spirits swirl in the waters behind them.

Takeru: What are these? Ghosts? They're giving me chills.... Pegasmon: What's giving me chills is that pitch-black space in the open maw down below.

Takeru turns his attention to the darkness at the bottom of the whirlpool. His eyes are drawn down the darkening waters to the place unseeable at the very--

Pegasmon: Don't look at it! Takeru: Ah!

Takeru suddenly blinks, like he's snapping out of a daze.

Tentomon: You have to be careful or it will devour you.

Finding the cave, the boys head inside the Kaiser's fortress and away from... whatever that is down below.

In the dub:

Tentomon: That's the biggest mobile home I've ever seen! It must be impossible to find parking. T.K.: Come on, guys! We gotta find the cave that Cody and Armadillomon used to get inside! Hurry up, they might be in trouble! (The boys descend into the whirlpool and pass the ghosts) T.K.: This place feels... evil. What are those things!? Pegasusmon: Don't pay any attention to them. They're just trying to scare you. They live in the Dark Whirlpool and feed off fear. (T.K. looks down at the bottom) Pegasusmon: Don't look at it! T.K.: Ah! Tentomon: (freaked out) Ooogh, can I sit up here with you guys? Pegasusmon: Look! T.K.: This has to be the cave!

The dub explains the ghosts as lifeforms that dwell inside the Dark Whirlpool and feed on fear. Harmless Monsters Inc. critters trying to give T.K. a good spook. It does not address the bottom of the whirlpool except to say "Don't look at it".

This sudden context jump makes it a bit confusing as to what T.K. isn't supposed to look at. Is it the spookers? Was he looking at the spookers?

Inside the observation deck, guess which dipshit is staring straight down into the black maw.

Kaiser: ... Wormmon: Ken-chan? Kaiser: Ah!

Like Takeru, the Kaiser seems to suddenly snap out of some sort of daze.

Wormmon: Are you okay? Kaiser: (rattled) It's nothing. (commanding) COMMENCE THE COLLECTION!!!

Beneath the observation deck, a hangar opens. Three Mekanorimon descend into the whirlpool. As they descend, the ghastly spirits leave the waters, drifting through the air now around them.

Suddenly, something seizes the lowest Mekanorimon. The Digimon lets out a scream as it's suddenly wrenched around in the air, and then pulled down below.

Kaiser: What happened!?

He doesn't get an answer, as the other two Mekanorimon follow soon after. They plunge screaming into the swirling abyss, dragged down by an unseen force.

Kaiser: ANSWER ME!!! WHAT IS GOING ON!?!?

Still no answer. They're gone.

Kaiser: (disturbed) What the hell is happening...? Wormmon: I knew this wouldn't be possible to collect. Let's stop here, Ken-chan.

Brushing Wormmon off, the Kaiser turns and walks away from the glass.

Wormmon: Where are you going? Kaiser: If that's how it's going to be, then I'll go collect it myself.

On that ominous very good idea note, the original takes its commercial break here.

In the dub:

Emperor: Hmm.... Wormmon: Master? Emperor: Hm? Wormmon: Are you alright? Emperor: Never been better! INITIATE THE ATTACK!!! (Mekanorimon descend; First Mekanorimon plunges screaming into abyss) Emperor: What's going on!? (Second and third follow) Emperor: (furious) They're gone! HOW'D THAT HAPPEN!?!? (No answer) Emperor: Sector A, report! Sector B, come in! Sector C! Where is everybody!? Wormmon: They were never very good at spelling. Emperor: RRGH!!! (Emperor storms off) Wormmon: Where are you going? Emperor: If you want something done right, do it yourself!

The dub foregoes commercial here. The original's about a minute and a half early on their commercial, so kicking it out a ways makes sense.

The Kaiser shows a couple chinks in his armor here. Like Takeru, he briefly gets mesmerized by the thing at the bottom. And a couple times in this scene, he honestly seems scared. Brief moments where his arrogance cracks and, just for a second, a voice of reason in the back of his head starts asking if this is really a good idea.

In addition to Wormmon who has bluntly been asking that question since they got here.

The Emperor just loses his temper. No inkling of caution or reason from him.

Also, I don't know why the Mekanorimon are named Sector A, B, and C. That's a weird terminology choice. Those are names for areas, not units.

Returning from commercial, we find Digmon hard at work meticulously drilling off the bars from each cell.

As the latest set of bars falls, the Floramon and Mushmon inside the cell happily emerge into freedom.

Takeru, Patamon, and Tentomon approach from behind.

Takeru: Iori-kun! Iori: Ah, Takeru-san! We're releasing all the captured Digimon. Tentomon: Gotcha! I'll lend a hand. PETIT THUNDER!!!

While Digmon drills, Tentomon zaps the spot he's drilling with electricity. How exactly this helps is unclear. Iori supervises them, but Takeru notices the inexplicable screen in the ceiling of a cell showing an exterior shot of the Dark Whirlpool.

Takeru: (contemplative) That Kaiser... What is he up to?

I don't know what information he thinks he's going to glean from this feed.

A note about the animation: When Digmon drills the bars, there's a delay between when Digmon stops drilling and when they actually fall off. The dub riffs on that.

Digmon: This one's stuck! (Bars fall off) Digmon: Whoops. T.K.: Cody! Cody: Hi, guys! I'm glad you're here. We were just setting these captive Digimon free. Tentomon: Oh, why didn't you say so? That's my specialty! SUPER SHOCKER!!! (Everyone works on the bars while T.K. notices the screen) T.K.: I can just tell... There's something out there....

At this point, everyone knows there's something out there, T.K. Except Cody. We still have not informed Cody.

Takeru ponders what the Kaiser is planning and as he does, we cut to the Kaiser to see his bad idea to fruition.

Piloting a Mekanorimon himself, the Kaiser descends into the whirlpool's depths.

Wormmon: (radio) Ken-chan, you don't have to do this. Kaiser: Quiet!

Suddenly, he spots something! The upper body of a half-finished Devimon. This is what he was looking for.

The inexplicable jail cell screen now displays the feed from the Kaiser's descent as well.

Takeru: Devimon!?

The Kaiser extends some kind of suction device which begins siphoning away Devimon's data. The half-finished Dark Digimon begins to disintegrate into pixels, sucked into the device.

Kaiser: With this, my Original Digimon will be complete! Voice: (skeptical) Are you truly so capable of mastering the power of Darkness? Kaiser: (startled) W-Who's there!? Voice: (amused) You underestimate the power of Darkness. Huhuhuhu.... Kaiser: ...am I just hearing things?

The Kaiser tries to reassert his confidence. But it's clear that he's scared. He's sweating pretty hard for someone who's allegedly in control of the situation.

Kaiser: Hmph! Either way, it's speaking nonsense. As the king of the Digital World, is there anything I can't do? Huhuhu... HAHAHAHA!!!

This is where the whirlpool being open to interpretation really comes into focus. What is this? What is happening here? Is that the Devimon? The one from File Island? Is Devimon the thing at the bottom of the Whirlpool, or is this half-complete Digimon just a manifestation of the Darkness's power?

In the dub:

Wormmon: (radio) Master, please come back. You don't know what's out there. Emperor: Quiet! (Emperor finds Devimon) T.K.: Devimon!? Devimon: Huhuhuhuhu....

Here, the dub takes its second commercial break. Upon return, they replay T.K. watching Devimon be discovered but this time Devimon doesn't laugh.

T.K.: Impossible.... (Emperor extracts Devimon data) Emperor: I'll take what I need from this Digimon, then my Digimon will be completed! Voice: Are you sure? Emperor: Huh? Voice: Do you really believe you can control the powers of Darkness? Emperor: Alright, who are you!? Voice: I am here to warn you. Beware the Darkness! Huhuhuhu.... Emperor: Beware the Darkness? ...ha! I'm the Digimon Emperor. I rule this world and some voice comes out of nowhere and tells me to beware the Darkness!? Who does he think he's kidding!? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

The dub stakes its position pretty unambiguously. This is the Devimon from File Island, and the Dark Whirlpool is the manifestation of his power.

Episode title "An Old Enemy Returns"

"An evil Digimon at the bottom of the whirlpool is responsible for creating the Source of Dark Power."

Devimon laughs going into the commercial break, indicating that this is a conscious and living Digimon and not just an assembly of data.

The source of the Dark Whirlpool is our old nemesis Devimon, and he's the one directly talking to and mocking the Emperor. Which... may or may not also be what's happening in the original.

...it's super odd that the voice says "I'm here to warn you to beware the Darkness". No, it's not. It's here to ridicule him. Why would Devimon himself be warning him away from Devimon?

In any case, Ken included, the new generation haven't had to deal with the kind of traumatic shit that the veterans went through. They get to experience a Digital World created by the veterans' triumph over things like Devimon. Ken's been playing on Easy Mode, doesn't realize it, and is about to unleash a true nightmare.

However, there is one person who does recognize the mistake that the Kaiser is mistaking. In the dungeon, Takeru watches the Kaiser collect Devimon's data through the screen.

Narrator: Takeru still remembered that moment. Three years ago, Angemon gave his own life to seal away Devimon's dark power.

Flashback to Angemon's sacrifice on that day. A young Takeru watches helplessly while his Partner pulls the Holy Light of all seven Digivices into himself, overloading himself to channel the power he needs to strike Devimon down.

Takeru (V.O.): Back then, I desperately wished that I could turn back time. But time only flows one way. Even when we don't want to, we have to face our reality. Drowning in endless despair, I cursed my fate.

The truth of the Dark Whirlpool's power has triggered something in Takeru.

An interesting translation note here is that the Narrator describes Devimon's dark power as 封じた fuujita, which means "sealed away" or "blocked off". This is news to me; I was of the understanding that Angemon had just killed him.

Like I said, this is all wildly subject to interpretation. But my best understanding is that the Devimon inside the Dark Whirlpool is the sealed away power that Angemon carved away from Devimon. He killed Devimon but all that Darkness had to go somewhere and so it was sank into the bottom of the ocean.

All those Black Gears that Devimon took inside himself to become insanely super ultra powerful, all that Dark Power he absorbed to ascend to his kaiju form, is the roiling mass of Darkness now at the bottom of the Dark Whirlpool.

That's the source that the Kaiser is harvesting now, imprinted with Devimon's image and persona which is what was then taunting the Kaiser. Ken is ignorantly taking all that Darkness for himself, assured that he can control it, it's fine.

That is what I think is happening here. But it's equally plausible that the half-finished Devimon is merely a small sample of the greater Dark power at the bottom of the Whirlpool, and something else is speaking to him.

In any case, we return from Takeru's PTSD flashback on a hardened pair of eyes quivering with moisture. He pulls the hat from the top of his head.

Takeru: He doesn't know anything. He doesn't understand anything. He's OUT OF HIS GODDAMN MIND!!!

Takeru crushes his hat and furiously throws it to the ground.

Iori: Ah? Takeru-san?

Takeru drops his backpack too.

Takeru: No more. I'm not doing this with him anymore. I'M SETTLING THIS!!!

Takeru storms away to go kick the shit out of the Digimon Kaiser.

Iori: Ah! Where are you going!? Patamon: Takeru, wait!

Patamon flies after Takeru, but doesn't stop him. Iori remains with Digmon and Tentomon.

Digmon: What was that about-dagyaa?

Iori takes a step to follow after Takeru, but stops when he hears Tentomon calling after him.

Tentomon: Let Patamon look after Takeru while we work on freeing the prisoners. Iori: Oh... Yeah.

Honestly, Iori can probably go after Takeru. It's fine. He's not really contributing anything to the bar-cutting.

In the dub:

T.K.: Of all the Digimon that are out there, why did it have to be Devimon!? (Flashback) T.K. (V.O.): I'll never forget our battle four years ago. Angemon faced Devimon one-on-one! It was our last chance to defeat Devimon once and for all! T.K.: Angemon! Angemon: I'll get him. T.K. (V.O.): Angemon knew what he had to do. T.K.: Be careful! Devimon: COME HERE, PRETTY BOY!!! T.K. (V.O.) The only way to completely destroy Devimon's evil powers was for Angemon to sacrifice himself. I begged him not to do it but we both knew there was no choice. I always felt that it was my fault. That maybe I could have done something! But it was too late.

The dub describes Angemon's sacrifice as "completely destroying" Devimon's powers, which was what seemed to have happened before. But. Uh. If that's the case then what the hell is happening here?

Is this just an unrelated half-Devimon in a non-specific pit of evil? That is also possible.

T.K.: I was too young back then to know how to handle it. Too young to understand. Well, that was then. (T.K. throws hat) T.K.: AND THIS IS NOW!!! Cody: Huh? You okay, T.K.? T.K.: Cody, I've got some unfinished business to take care of. Time to get to work. (T.K. storms off) Cody: T.K., wait a minute! Patamon: T.K.!!! (Patamon flies after him) Digmon: Where's he off to? Maybe we should follow him. (Cody goes to follow) Cody: Mmm.... Tentomon: Don't worry! Patamon will take care of T.K. We need to keep working to free these Digimon. Cody: You're right.

Takeru is completely and utterly melting down. He's erupting with rage and it's all gunning straight for the Kaiser. This is personal now. The Kaiser (probably) just reawakened the thing that traumatized him so badly before.

Now Takeru, demonstrating what he learned from Taichi, wants to punch his trauma away. He wants to hit the Kaiser until it doesn't hurt anymore.

The Kaiser has no idea what he's awakened in Devimon. But he also has no idea what he's awakened in Takeru.

T.K. also gets mad and storms off, but he's more focused and heroic about it. He wants to prove to himself that he's become strong enough to prevent another tragedy like what befell Angemon from ever occurring again.

The Kaiser returns triumphant to his fortress. Entering his control room, he notices an alarm going off and a red dot blinking on a map of the base.

Kaiser: They're invading the base? Right under my nose? ...whatever, I don't have time for that right now.

Sitting down at the controls, the Kaiser raises his fortress from the Dark Whirlpool and departs. Then he turns his attention to his design. A pair of Devimon arms appear on the creature's shoulders.

Kaiser: A perfect fit! My Original Digimon is finally complete!

But while the Kaiser's celebrating, we cut briefly to Wormmon with trembling, frightened eyes. This is going to get bad.

In the dub, the Emperor's still fuming over that encounter.

Emperor: How could he not know who I am? I've told everybody.

In the original, we don't hear the alarm beeping until the Kaiser approaches his console but it's just beeping in sequence. The implication is that it's been beeping for a while now, but he hasn't been up here to notice. The dub has the effect of a screen suddenly turning on, indicating that the alarm is only now starting to go off.

Emperor: Huh? Well, what do you know. I have visitors and it's those kids. I don't have time to deal with those annoying brats right now! Wormmon: You sure have changed, Master. You used to love trying to destroy the DigiDestined. It was your favorite thing to do, next to putting coal in children's Christmas stockings. Emperor: Bah! Humbug! (Emperor adds the Devimon arms to his creation) Emperor: Now for the final touch. There! My masterpiece is finally completed! Nothing can stop me now!

Weird Christmas aside there. The dub came out in mid-November so it was sort of "Christmas lasts for fucking ever" Christmassy but wasn't really "Now is the time for airing Christmas specials" Christmassy.

A brief cut to Jun shows her asleep in the car, slowly making its way along the highway. A wider shot of the car on the highway shows Mt. Fuji in the background, so they're getting there.

Daisuke and V-mon are still making their way out to sea by palm tree island boat.

V-mon: Looks like they went really far. Daisuke: Yeah, and we need to hurry up and get there too. But we're... GODDAMMIT!!!

They are at the mercy of a vehicle with only one speed.

And so, a world apart, the Motomiyas ever so slowly trudge onward to rejoin parties that left them behind.

The dub adds Jun loudly snoring and her grandparents commenting on it, similar to Davis's snoring from the start of the episode.

Grandma: She sure can snore! Grandpa: No louder than you.... (Meanwhile in the Digital World) Veemon: Gee, Davis, the rest of the guys must be way ahead of us. Davis: Yeah! We're just gonna have to go faster! Agh, I still can't believe Kari did this to me!

Loud snoring is apparently a Motomiya family trait.

Hikari and Miyako are still in flight to the Dark Whirlpool.

Hikari: Hey, do you think Daisuke-kun is mad at us? Miyako: There was nothing we could do. Huh!? Look!

Miyako turns to answer Hikari's question, but when she looks ahead again, she spots the Kaiser's fortress coming the opposite direction.

Horusmon: It's coming right for us! Nefertimon: Careful, everyone!

Too late for caution. In his control room, the Kaiser's already spotted the girls and has them up on his screen.

Kaiser: What a perfect opportunity to test out my Original Digimon. GO... Chimeramon!

A hatch opens in the roof of the base. A lift raises Chimeramon up into the fresh air. Silently, they take flight and set out on their mission.

Somehow, the Kaiser has completely forgotten about the fact that there is an active insurgency taking place inside his lair.

In the dub:

Kari: Yolei, do you think Davis is really mad at us? Yolei: Nah, he's a pretty good sport. HEY!!! LOOK AT THAT!!! (Emperor's base coming back their way) Halsemon: It's headed right for us! Nefertimon: Alright, everyone, get ready. (Control room) Emperor: If I had known I was having visiting guests, I would have catered. Ooh! I can still give them a party favor. Go get 'em. (Fortress releases Chimeramon)

The Emperor has completely forgotten too but also he isn't salivating over the chance to use the Digimon he put all this work into the way the Kaiser is. He talks like this is any old deployment of an enslaved Digimon to fight.

Miyako: Something's coming this way.

Miyako adjusts her glasses to see better. We finally get a good look at the Kaiser's creation. And so does she.

Miyako: WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?!?

Chimeramon is a Perfect-stage Data-attribute Composite Digimon. They originally debuted in the Wonderswan V-Pet before going on to feature kind of prominently in the Tamers video games released during the airing of the Adventure shows.

These games followed protagonist Ryo Akiyama as he's thrust again and against into conflict with Millenniummon which, to my understanding, is a Jogress between a Chimeramon and a Mugendramon. He also runs into the Chosen Children of the anime sometimes? IDK.

The games are considered canon, with Ryo even making a cameo appearance in Our War Game. The second game, Tag Tamers, was released at around the same time as this Kaiser arc finale was airing and serves as a prequel. Ken and Ryo team up to take down Millenniummon with their respective Partners Wormmon and V-mon. It explores who Ichijouji Ken was before he was the Kaiser and how he came to be like that. Which the anime will also talk about in time.

But exactly what connection, if any, Ken's Chimeramon has with Millenniummon is a question for people who've actually played the games. The show is pretty explicit that Chimeramon is Ken's Original Creation Do Not Steal and has never, ever existed before now. So it's kind of hard for there to also be another Chimeramon that became Millenniummon before 02 ever began? It's weird.

Narrator: Chimeramon! A Composite Digimon created by the Digimon Kaiser by combining parts from various Digimon. They have a ferocious fighting instinct and immense destructive power. Their special attack is a deadly heat ray called Heat Viper.

They should be able to use special attacks from all of their component parts, but that's just me.

Through the inexplicable ceiling screen, Iori's group watches Chimeramon's deployment too.

Digmon: I've never seen nor heard of a Digimon like that before-dagyaa! Tentomon: We need to go fast! While Nefertimon and Horusmon are keeping that thing busy, we can free the rest of the prisoners! Iori: Got it!

Iori's team double-times it to finish up.

In the dub:

Yolei: Do you see what I see? (It's Kimeramon!) Yolei: What is that thing!? Emperor: (rundown) Hahaha! Kimeramon is my ultimate creation! I combined the most powerful parts of other Digimon to form this unstoppable fighting creature! His Heat Viper attack will melt my enemies into oblivion! (Cody and the others watch from the dungeon) Digmon: I've never heard of a Digimon like that before, and I get all the news from the underground! Tentomon: Listen, Cody. While those guys do battle with him, we can free the prisoners! Cody: Let's go!

Yeah, the official English spelling is "Kimeramon". I suspect this is another Horusmon/Halsemon case where they didn't know what that word meant. The Japanese spelling of chimera is キメラ kimera, because you can't use チ chi to make that hard 'k' sound, and the dub translated that straight across.

The girls fly into battle with Chimeramon.

Horusmon: RED SUN!!!

Horusmon takes the first shot, but his eye beams glance harmlessly off of Chimeramon's horn.

Kaiser: That won't work against Kabuterimon's metallic head. Nefertimon: CURSE OF QUEEN!!!

Chimeramon backs off, dodging Nefertimon's shots. Chimeramon then swoops around behind the girls, catching them off-guard with superior aerial maneuverability.

Kaiser: With Angemon's and Airdramon's wings, they're swift in the air.

Kaiser: Now it's my turn.

As Chimeramon descends from behind, Horusmon and Nefertimon split up. Chimeramon turns to follow Nefertimon, but smacks Horusmon out of the air with their tail.

Kaiser: Garurumon's legs and Monochromon's tail!

Chimeramon swipes at Hikari. Nefertimon dodges the Kuwagamon arm and then the SkullGreymon arm, but one of the two Devimon arms catches her from behind and smacks her down.

Kaiser: Arms from Kuwagamon, SkullGreymon, and Devimon! The body of Greymon and the hair of MetalGreymon! Well? Isn't the Digimon I created amazing?

Before he and Miyako can hit the water, Horusmon recovers. He rights himself and soars above the water's surface.

Miyako: What the hell is that thing!?

The hair.

The hair of MetalGreymon.

...okay but why though? Kaiser really had to stretch to try and fit a third Agumon form into his Fanfic Digimon. Notice me, Taichi-senpai.

In the dub:

Halsemon: TEMPEST WING!!! (No effect) Emperor: That's why I picked Kabuterimon's head. They don't come any more hard-headed. Nefertimon: CAT'S EYE BEAM!!! (Kimeramon dodges, then swoops around) Emperor: And he's fast with Airdramon and Angemon's wings! Playtime's over. Now it's my turn!

A white flash censors the point of impact when Kimeramon tail smacks Halsemon.

Emperor: Throw in Garurumon's legs as well as Monochromon's tail.

Another white flash censors the point of impact when Kimeramon swats Nefertimon.

Emperor: I added Kuwagamon's, SkullGreymon's, and Devimon's arms. His body is Greymon's and I topped him off with MetalGreymon's hair. He's perfect! Hahahahaha!

The dub takes its third commercial break here, which is surprisingly early for it. But also it makes sense because there is some shit about to come.

However, we come back right into the next scene, so Horusmon recovering from his fall and Miyako's final line end up cut. I guess they hit the water in this version.

Back in his control room, the Kaiser gloats about his creation.

Kaiser: Huhuhuhu...HAHAHAHAHA!!! This is exactly what I was expecting! Perfectly suited in every way to be my Partner Digimon.

Suddenly he turns and glares at poor little Wormmon. The Kaiser's eyes burn with contempt.

Kaiser: Unlike you.

There was an implication in the Agumon arc that the Kaiser was trying to replace Wormmon entirely and take Taichi's Agumon for his Partner Digimon. Now that he's made a new Agumon with extra bells and whistles, the Kaiser says the quiet part out loud. Chimeramon is to be his Partner going forward, not Wormmon.

While he's hyperfocused on that, the insurgency he ignored has reached its completion. The jailbroken Digimon descend a rope from the hidden cave onto one of those mobile islands while Iori, Digmon, and Tentomon supervise from the tunnel.

Nine Elecmon, four Mushmon, four Floramon, and four Delumon in total. Four very slappable Delumon because these birds are Perfect level and allowed themselves to be caged anyway.

Tentomon: That's the last one. Now it's our turn to get out of here. Iori: But what about Takeru-san? Tentomon: He can take care of himself. Come on, let's go!

Digmon picks up Iori with his scoopy hands and bounds down to the island. Only Takeru and Patamon remain within the fortress.

In the dub:

Emperor: Hahahahahaha! Where's my VCR? Ooh, I wish I was taping this! Take a good look at him, Wormmon. Now that's what a Partner should look like! (Emperor turns and scowls at Wormmon) Wormmon: Hmph! Not a scrawny runt like you. (Meanwhile, Cody frees the remaining prisoners) Tentomon: Okay, that's the last one! Come on! It's time we got out of here too! Cody: We can't leave without T.K. Tentomon: He'll be fine. We've got to get these Digimon to safety! Let's go!

The Emperor horribly dates this episode by knowing what a VCR is. XD If this were today, "Digimon Emperor DESTROYS Fake Nerd Girls" would already be up on YouTube and Tiktok.

In any case, this bit is pretty much perfect. No notes.

Still inside the Kaiser's base, Takeru storms down the hall while Patamon pleads with him to withdraw.

Patamon: Takeru! Can't we settle this later? We have bigger priorities right now.

Takeru doesn't even answer him. He keeps right on marching until a shadow emerges from a doorway up ahead, followed by the Digimon Kaiser. Who I guess has finally remembered about the intruders.

Kaiser: (playful) You have some nerve.... Sneaking inside the fortress of the Digimon Kaiser, who commands the power of Darkness! Huhuhu....

Takeru tries to keep a straight face. But after stifling his laughter for a moment, he loses the struggle and lets it out. That reaction catches the Kaiser offguard.

Takeru: Tehe! Kaiser: W-What!?

Takeru recovers and, with a confident smirk on his face, fixes a cold, hard gaze on the Kaiser.

Takeru: Ichijouji-san. How long have you been pretending to conquer the world? Are you having fun? Ken: ... Takeru: And now you're talking about the power of Darkness. But do you even know what that means? Ken: ... Takeru: You have no idea, do you? You won't get away with a simple injury. Isn't it time for you to grow up?

Takeru's words cut Ken down to his bone. This is not Daisuke. Takeru is not his bitter archnemesis, here to face the Kaiser in another exciting round of Heroes and Villains. He isn't speaking to the Digimon Kaiser at all. He's speaking to Ken-chan.

Ken is a petulant child playing with forces he cannot comprehend, and Takeru has no intention of giving him any more dignity than that.

In the dub:

Patamon: T.K., can't you do this later? We gotta get out of here while we can. Don't be so stubborn! T.K.: ...hm? (Emperor emerges) Emperor: I don't remember sending you an invitation. I must admit, you have a lot of nerve... Sneaking into the base of the most powerful being in the Digital World! Huhuhuhuhu.... (T.K. tries to keep a straight face and fails) T.K.: Ahahaha! Emperor: What's so funny!? T.K.: Let me ask you something, Ichijouji. Don't you think it's time that you gave up on this little charade? It's getting old. Ken: ... T.K.: You say you're the most powerful being in the Digital World and yet you have no idea about the powers that are here! Ken: ... T.K.: You're a pretender. You're like that story, "The Emperor's New Clothes".

This is pretty close. The original hits harder, though. It's the attitude. T.K. is angry and accusatory in his delivery, while Takeru is aloof and condescending. "It's getting old!" vs. "Are you having fun?"

This is what cuts Ken so deeply in the original. He doesn't just tell Ken to eat shit. He talks as if all of this Digimon Kaiser nonsense is beneath him.

Because compared to what he and his team went through three years ago? It is.

Ken takes a moment, struggling to even come up with a retort. But in the end, the only thing he can spew from his mouth is frothing anger.

Ken: You worm! YOU WORM!!! WORM, WORM, WORM!!! Takeru: Is that all you have to say? Ken: SH-SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!

Before he knows what he's doing, Ken lashes Takeru with his whip. He lands a direct hit to the left side of Takeru's face. Takeru doesn't even flinch as the whip strikes him, then falls ineffectually to the ground. Even Ken seems surprised by what he just did.

Ken: ...oogh.... Patamon: (gasp)

Takeru calmly reaches up, feeling the bloody wound on the side of his face. Then he pulls his hand away and inspects it for blood.

Takeru: You can't get your way with words, so you resort to violence, huh? Ken: (stunned) N-No.... Takeru: Hm? Am I wrong? Well, I guess it doesn't matter. Are you finished? Ken: ... Takeru: Guess so. Now it's my turn.

Ken has just enough time to let out a gasp before Takeru crosses the hall and decks him. A right haymaker takes Ken off his feet, laying him out on the hallway floor. He drops his whip as he goes down; It falls to the floor where he'd been standing.

In the dub:

Ken: YOU'RE NOBODY!!! NOT LIKE ME!!! You will bow down before me! T.K.: Sorry, the floor's kind of dirty. Ken: YOU WILL LISTEN TO ME!!!

They censor the moment of impact for the whiplash with a white flash but, to my surprise, they do leave it in there.

Ken: Agh! Patamon: (gasp)

They also leave in the bloody wound T.K. gets from it.

T.K.: Hm... When you can't think of anything to say, do you always resort to fighting? Ken: ...I guess? T.K.: That's your problem. You don't know when to talk and when to fight. Now's a good time to talk. Ken: ... T.K.: On the other hand, IT'S ALSO A GOOD TIME TO FIGHT!!!

T.K. punching Ken in the face is also retained, with a white flash obscuring the moment of impact. They seem to have judged this fistfight too important to mess with, and they are correct.

Again, the dub covers the material pretty well but you can feel the tonal difference. Takeru's condescending behavior has Ken completely on the backfoot. Even Ken's shocked when he cracks the whip; It just kind of happens out of pure desperation to make Takeru stop talking down to him.

(Takeruing down to him?)

By contrast, T.K. and Ken seem like they're on the same level. Dub Ken hasn't utterly lost control of this conversation the way his original counterpart has, and T.K.'s dialogue comes off as more reasonable pre-fight banter.

Outside, the battle with Chimeramon remains ongoing.

Tentomon dodges and swerves to avoid rays of what I assume are Heat Viper. One shot kicks up a massive explosion of water.

Nefertimon and Horusmon drop off Hikari and Miyako on Iori's island, then return to the fray. The girls call after them.

Hikari: Be careful out there, Nefertimon! Horusmon!

Chimeramon emerges from the water spray and charges up another shot in their mouth. They fire on Tentomon once again. Tentomon nimbly flips upwards in the air to avoid the shot, which continues on and strikes the Kaiser's fortress.

In the dub:

Kari: Nefertimon! Halsemon! You guys be careful, okay? Kimeramon: HEAT VIPER!!!

The only difference is that Kimeramon calls their attack.

Inside the base, Takeru is on top of Ken and pummeling him in the face.

The sudden impact jostles Takeru just enough that Ken's able to push him off. Ken scrambles for his whip, snatching it from the floor and lashing it at Takeru.

Takeru catches the goddamn whip out of the air.

Ken: WHAT!?!?

Takeru throws it to the floor and lunges, tackling the Kaiser and taking him back off his feet.

Outside, Horusmon spins up his tornado attack.

Horusmon: TEMPEST WING!!! Nefertimon: ROSETTA STONE!!!

Both attacks slam uselessly into Chimeramon, who doesn't even seem to notice. Worse, Tempest Wing brings Horusmon straight into melee distance.

Horusmon: What can we do!?

Horusmon tries to back off, but one of the Devimon hands smacks him out of the air. He lands hard on his shoulder, skidding across the fortress's roof. Chimeramon closes in to capitalize on his momentary vulnerability.

In the dub:

(T.K. catches the whip) Ken: HEY!!! (T.K. tackles him; Meanwhile, outside) Halsemon: TEMPEST WING!!! Nefertimon: ROSETTA STONE!!! (No effect) Halsemon: They had no effect! (Chimeramon smacks him down)

Solid.

Seeing how badly Ken's being beaten, Wormmon tries to intervene.

Wormmon: NEBANEBA NET!!!

ネバネバ Nebaneba means sticky or gooey. This is another rare attack to be named at least partly in Japanese, rather than using English.

The attack is a conical web that Wormmon sprays from his mouth. Patamon's quick to counter it.

Patamon: AIR SHOT!!!

Patamon's Air Shot goes straight down the cone and beans Wormmon in the face, knocking him across the floor. Patamon flies in close to challenge him.

Patamon: You wanna fight? Wormmon: You're hurting Ken-chan!

Wormmon's spirit is willing, but Patamon's going to dribble him like a basketball. Just like PicoDevimon.

In the dub:

Wormmon: Oh no. STICKY NET!!! Patamon: BOOM BUBBLE!!! (Patamon knocks Wormmon around) Patamon: Wanna fight!? Wormmon: Actually, I'd prefer a staring contest.

The scene ends with closeups of Patamon and Wormmon staring each other down, building anticipation for their battle. Which the dub riffs on with that last line from Wormmon.

Topside, Nefertimon flies in at the last second to save Horusmon.

Nefertimon: HORUSMON!!!

She pushes him off the roof just before Chimeramon fires off another shot of Heat Viper. The beam blows straight through the base, ripping through the walls above where Takeru is....

At this point, it's not even a fight anymore. Ken's on his back and not even trying to defend himself anymore. He is thoroughly and utterly whipped.

But when that shot blows through, Takeru stops and looks up.

Takeru: Ah! What the--!?

Through the gaping hole in the wall, he finally lays eyes on Chimeramon outside.

Ken: That's Chimeramon, the Digimon I created. Isn't it incredible? Even if you all fight together, you still won't be a match for them.

Takeru has Ken in the palm of his hands. But now he has a decision to make.

In the dub:

Nefertimon: HALSEMON, LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!!! (Nefertimon saves Halsemon; Kimeramon silently fires) T.K.: What's that thing!? (T.K. sees Kimeramon through the hole in the wall) Ken: Didn't I tell you? I have a new pet. Kimeramon! My secret weapon that's not a secret anymore. Don't worry if you didn't get a good look; You'll see him up close and personal real soon!

Takeru reacts to the sudden energy beam exploding through the wall, while T.K. reacts to Kimeramon himself before laying eyes on him.

Dub Ken rambles a bit. "My secret weapon that's not a secret anymore" is a Mojo Jojo-ass line. He also refers to Kimeramon as "my new pet" which again understates the relationship Ken thinks he has with this particular Digimon.

Chimeramon isn't just some mind-controlled minion; They're Ken's new Partner Digimon, the replacement for Wormmon. Dub Ken doesn't seem to have any particular reverence for Kimeramon whatsoever; Just another Digimon to add to the collection. Nothing special or meaningful in any way.

Outside, the fight is over. Chimeramon's got Nefertimon in their SkullGreymon hand and Horusmon in their Kuwagamon hand, and is crushing the life from both of them.

Patamon: Takeru! Takeru: Yeah. DIGIMENTAL UP!!!

Priorities. Without hesitation, Takeru gets up off of Ken and Armor Evolves Patamon to go join the fight.

Takeru: Ichijouji! Next time, we finish this!

With Takeru gone, Wormmon approaches Ken.

Wormmon: Ken-chan?

Battered and wincing in pain, Ken slowly sits up.

Ken: (weakly) Don't look at me.... Wormmon: Ken-chan....

Ken stands up and slowly withdraws into the depths of his base.

Outside, Pegasmon joins the fight. Between now and the last time we saw them, Horusmon and Nefertimon have been moved to Chimeramon's Devimon hands. Unclear if this is a consistency error or intentional decision on Chimeramon's part.

Pegasmon: SILVER BLAZE!!!

Pegasmon fires off two shots, hitting each of Chimeramon's wrists and forcing them to release Nefertimon and Horusmon. The pair join him in the air.

Nefertimon: Thank you, Takeru! Pegasmon! Takeru: Chimeramon isn't moving! Now's our chance to retreat!

At that, the team withdraws from the Kaiser's fortress.

In the dub:

Patamon: T.K.? T.K.: Mhm. DIGI-ARMOR ENERGIZE!!! (Pegasusmon evolves) T.K.: Hey, Ken! Remind me where we left off the next time I'm pummeling you into oblivion! Wormmon: Master? (Ken weakly sits up) Ken: ...I guess I'm not as cool as I think I am. Wormmon: Off day. Ken: Time for me to regroup and come back stronger than ever. (Up top, Pegasusmon frees Nefertimon and Halsemon) Pegasusmon: EQUUS BEAM!!! (The two join Pegasusmon in the air) Halsemon: Thanks, Pegasusmon. Pegasusmon: It was just a little... horseplay. T.K.: Kimeramon stopped moving! Let's take this opportunity to get out of here!

As usual, Dub Ken's a lot more willing to open up and engage with Wormmon. He even admits weakness to Wormmon. Original Ken basically tells Wormmon to fuck off and withdraws both physically and emotionally into the depths of his lair. He doesn't want to be seen in this state, battered and bruised after horribly losing a fight.

The team withdraws to the mobile island with the rescued prisoners. Which has, at some point, been joined by Daisuke's mobile island. Driving the islands back to land, they regroup.

Iori hands Takeru back his hat, which Iori apparently picked up off the ground after Takeru stormed off.

Iori: Here you go, Takeru-san. Takeru: Oh! Thank you. Daisuke: After all that... Dammit! V-mon: If only I could fly.... Daisuke: Don't say that! You and I have our own way to fight. V-mon: Yeah!

Took Yamato a whole character arc to come around to "Maybe you have your own unique strengths and don't have to be good at what someone else does" but Daisuke effortlessly cuts right through to it.

Daisuke: In any case, we'll rest for now and then we go after the Kaiser! Group: YEAH!!!

This isn't over yet.

And speaking of things that aren't over, Jun finally makes it to the lake! So... why does she seem so unhappy about it?

Jun: Uh... This place.... Mary: It's Hamanako! Jun: But I said Yamanakako! YAMATO-KUUUUUUN!!!

Hamanako is a lagoon about 3-4 hours' drive southwest of Odaiba. It didn't just take all day because of how slow Kenny drives, but also because they left her intended destination behind halfway down the highway.

In the dub:

Cody: Here's your hat back, T.K. I didn't want anyone to step on it. T.K.: That's okay, Cody. I have six others just like it. One for each day of the week! Davis: I'm ready to fight and all the action's over with! I wish we'd gotten here sooner! Veemon: The other Digimon can fly. Why can't I? Davis: Come on... You've got your own fighting skills. Like, that head of yours is as hard as mine! Veemon: Right! Davis: Anyway, let's hear it for T.S.! He really let Ken have it! Group: YEAH!!! T.K.: Uh, that's T.K.....

Lot of gags to lighten the mood after that brawl just now. Daisuke's promise that we aren't done here and are going to hit the Kaiser again tomorrow doesn't make it in. I feel like these episodes are trying really hard to make each piece seem like an isolated adventure rather than a multi-parter. This episode and the previous one cut a lot of cross-episode continuity.

Jun: Are we at the right campsite? Grandma: Guess they told you the wrong place. Jun: Why wouldn't Matt give me the right information? Could it be that he doesn't want me around? Grandpa: Ah, she's just as sharp as Davis. Narrator: What is the next step in the battle for control over the Digi-World? Tune in to the next Digimon: Digital Monsters!

Matt didn't give her any information. We saw their conversation and at no point, in either version, did he provide her with details of his destination. Jun had to find out either by forcing it out of Daisuke/Davis offscreen or exercising stalker fu.

Probably stalker fu.

In any case, they can't make the Hamanako/Yamanakako bit work here so someone lying to Jun and providing her incorrect details makes sense as a replacement gag. It just can't really be Matt directly.

Assessment: Takeru beating the shit out of Ken is one of the moments I've been eagerly anticipating, and it did not disappoint. Ken activated Takeru's Child Soldier mode and had regrets. He pushed the trauma button and then paid for it in teeth.

It's not just the physical beating, but the devastating verbal evisceration of the "Digimon Kaiser" as a concept. Ken's been thwarted and defeated and vanquished in battles before. But here, he was just beaten in a way he's never been beaten before.

A fitting way to herald the beginning of the end for the Digimon Kaiser.

And Wormmon. God, Wormmon. Ken-chan told him to his face that he's obsolete and he still tries with what meager strength he has to protect Ken from Takeru. Wormmon's loyalty and devotion even in the face of so much physical and emotional abuse is downright tragic.

Also, gotta give a shout out to Iori. Not just for prioritizing saving Digimon over blowing up the base, but also the hat. Despite the dub's flippancy about it, Iori picking up Takeru's hat and holding onto it for him is a small gesture that speaks to how considerate and thoughtful he is. Takeru throws his hat down in a fit of rage and Iori's reaction is, "He doesn't mean it. He's gonna want this back."