#same with mummy issues ghost

[s0fter-sin]

i can’t believe how proud i am of my ghost judgement of solomon ficlet and now it’s up on ao3!

[princessofghosts-posts]

My hyper fixation (I have a lot of those-) on Monster High is back. So now I think how fitting Nico would be with the Monster High Universe and how he and Cleo de Nile would have the same position.

Cleo is an Egyptian princess,and while she is super rich and use her leverage as a princess for herself and her friends,at school she is just another ghoul that is popular for her position as capitan of the fearleading's squad. She is treated pretty normal,like another student,by everyone even with her family. Nico would be the same. A prince that use his privilege as leverage,to help the people he cares for,and even tho he wouldn't be really popular,everyone would know him. He is also pretty,kind and quite,so I can totally see him vibing in one of the art classes with Rochelle or Draculaura.

Also,C.A. Cupid and Nico are technically related,since she is the adoptive daughter of Eros,Aphrodite's child. And with Nico history with Cupid himself I can totally see him being awkward with her,trying to have a good relationship with her because it's not her fault that her adoptive father outed him. It's the god's fault. And Cupid would be both angry at her dad for this,because he forced something that has its time,and also trying to reconnect with Nico because she doesn't want her cousin to feel bad about it or alone. She also would gossip so hard with Nico when it came to his crush on Will and how their relationship came to be.

Cleo is the daughter of the Mummy,so her family is linked to egyptian mythology. Cleo herself often use ancient artifacts to her advantage. I can totally see Nico and her talking about the various difference in their own pantenones during some political meetings when Nico plays the role of Ambassador of Pluto (and as a prince himself too).

There are ghost students that I know will vibe with him and follow him around,since he is both Hades's kid and the Ghost King. They will probably find his presence comforting and talk to him about everything,asking for advice and going to his room any time they need it. Nico welcome them with hot chocolate and marshmellow and listen to them when they speak. Spectra is his favorite. Porter pissed him off with his painting most of the time,but he's still fond of him. Hunted High students would have a stroke seeing him.

As Dracula's adoptive daughter,Draculaura has a deep connection with creatures of the night (bats for example) and the death. She and Nico would proprably take night walk in the forest,talking about how they both embrace that part of life and how similar their dads are. They have similar daddy issues (Dracula and Hades care about them but sometimes they are shitty about it).

Lagoona Blue is a sea monster. Can totally see how she and Nico would talk about Percy,if one of them had some news about him. She would try to make him go for a swim,but Nico would refuse because that's his uncle's domain. Even with Lagoona you can't never know if you are going to die in it.

Deuce is a gorgon,son of Medusa (and also Cleo's boyfriend). The awkwardness that Nico would have interacting with him,would be high in the sky. "Sorry,my cousin killed your mom,and your aunties too,but I'm sure they are already reforming in Tartarus and will come back." And Deuce would either be cool with it,or just look at him speechless.

Twyla is the Boogieman daughter. She and Nico would hide in the shadows together when they don't want to socialize with others ghouls,and have deep talk about their connections to it. They can understand each other pretty well and are quite similar. They are totally bestie.

Now I need a fanfic about it-

Fuck my brain.

[a-m-w-worlds]

Monster High G1 and G3 Analysis: Heath Burns Problems and Fixes

Heath has been one of the oddest characters in the Monster High roster since the beginning and I want to talk about why I think that is and what I would have done to fix it.

So, let's start with Generation One:

The first weird thing about Heath is his design and how (ironically) underbaked it feels. His design feels much more in line with the backgrounders than the main cast. I have no proof of this, but I suspect he wasn't originally intended to be a real character, like there were just a few times early in the cartoon that a speaking part was needed and it was randomly assigned to Fire Boy™️. I think they assigned Heath a speaking part once or twice and then got in the habit of giving all the oddball bit parts to him until he was accidentally bit-parted into becoming an actual member of the cast.

There's nothing wrong with an incidental character naturally developing into a more substantial role, honestly, that's a really cool thing to happen! The only problem is that Monster High is known for consistently creating interesting and unique designs, a standard that Heath simply doesn't live up to. He feels unintentional. Ideally, he probably should have gotten the Iris treatment, receiving a more detailed redesign once the Monster High team realized he would be sticking around, but sadly, that didn't happen.

Now, for the second part of the Heath problem; his monster type.

Heath is a fire elemental. This is an oddly abstract type of monster in comparison to the werewolves, vampires, mummies, ghosts, etc, that comprise most of the cast. Again, this makes Heath feel more like a backgrounder, since most of the backgrounders are less clearly defined types of monsters, ala teen Voldemort and fish-head (if you know, you know). I'm not saying there aren't any other abstract types of monsters in the cast. Operetta and Jane Boolittle are good examples, but most of the time even if their monster type is debatable, they at least have well-known parents. Again, Heath doesn't. Someone who's never watched the show would probably be scratching their head at why the son of a fire elemental is on the same shelf as the children of iconic monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, and Medusa.

So, now that we've gone through some of the biggest problems with G1 Heath, how do we fix it?

Glad you asked! We make him a phoenix!

Hear me out!

Phoenixes are some of the most iconic, widely known mythical creatures in history, fixing the abstract monster issue, and allowing everything that makes Heath Heath to stay intact. His name, fire powers, and seemingly endless slew of fire-based puns would all be completely unaffected by this change! It would also open the door for a much more detailed design! He could have feather details in his body sculpt similar to characters with scales like Jinafire and Viperine, his hair could be the same color and style but made to look like feathers instead of hair, he could have wings (can you imagine the chaos of Heath with wings!?!), and his lower legs and feet could be scaly and taloned like a birds. This would also add more imagery to draw from when designing his clothes and accessories such as feathers, talons, and birds in general.

(Fun aside I just thought of while writing this: phoenixes don't die permanently, they just reincarnate. Between clumsiness and overwhelming need to touch everything that he's told not to touch it's a miracle Heath's still alive. If he was a phoenix, he could just full on die every time he does something stupid and rematerialize, good as new a few seconds later and shout "I'M OKAY!". Him dying and it not sticking could be an entire running joke in the series, he could be like a sanitized version of Kieffer from Tales from the Gas Station (if anyone here gets that reference)! He could be THE canary in the coal mine character!

Someone: "Do we think those lasers are deadly?" Heath: "Let's find out!" *charges in, gets vaporized, (insert Jumanji respawn sound). Heath, happy as a clam: "Yes they are!"

Is this thought funny or morbid? I can't tell the difference anymore!/lh)

To summarize my G1 thoughts: Heath should have been a phoenix, that would fix everything, case closed, thank you for reading!

Now, onto G3!

Design-wise he suffers most of the same problems as G1, but I'm more interested in talking about his family situation.

I really like the storyline with Heath and his dad in the Nickelodeon series, but, as many others have pointed out, his dad is two different characters at once. Heath's dad, referred to as Hades, is an amalgamation of, well, Hades, the Greek god of the Underworld, and the Christian Devil. The Hades/Devil, Underworld/Hell conflation is common, notably in Disney's Hercules and the original Percy Jackson and the Olympians movie adaptation and honestly could be its own post. How does this conflation manifest in Monster High though?

Hades is the CEO of the Underworld and mentions being eaten by his father, Cronus. All of this aligns with Greek mythology. However, he also has fire powers and motifs (traditionally associated with the devil, not Hades), has been called the devil by Frankie and attributed with the creation of many of the world's evils (such as pimples and 24-hour news channels), and has made a point to Heath to always practice his fiddle, which is a reference to the song The Devil Went Down to Georgia. (I was not expecting that joke in Monster High and admit to laughing a little too hard at it!/gen)

Heath's scaritage in G3 is a bit of a mess, so here's what I would have done instead!

I would have made Heath's dad be Hephaestus!

Once again, hear me out!

Hephaestus is the Greek god of fire, volcanoes, and all things craftsmanship (blacksmithing, carpentry, stonemasonry, etc) and I think he would be a perfect stand-in for Hades in G3! Him having fire powers and a fire elemental son would be more logical, and Heath's main storyline could play out largely the same as it does in canon, if not make even more sense.

Let's play with the possible scenarios!

Hephaestus is an inventor, and probably a shut in. Heath can easily feel neglected by his dad who spends all of his time tinkering away in his workshop. Hephaestus is the owner of (we'll say) Vulcan Inc, the company that mass produces his inventions, but he's not very interested in the business side of things, so he delegates all of that to the CEO, a greedy businessman character more like Hades in canon. The CEO will do anything for a profit and cuts corners any chance he gets, including choosing harmful and unsustainable means of production and ensuring Vulcan Inc products are made from the cheapest materials available, meaning they break easily and need to be replaced often.

Heath, being an environmentalist and having a strong understanding of the negative impact of corporations on the planet, is disgusted by the CEO's business practices and is desperate to get his dad to fire him. Firing the CEO however would mean Hephaestus would have to take responsibility for his own company, which would mean less time to invent. Hephaestus has never really heard out Heath's concerns and generally thinks his son is catastrophizing. Over the course of the series though, Hephaestus will be forced to see firsthand the damage being caused by Vulcan Inc and realize that Heath is right. This will end in the CEO being fired and Hephaestus vowing to be more conscientious about how his inventions impact the world and even being more open to listening to Heath's ideas on how to make more eco-friendly products.

So, those are my thoughts and fixes for the biggest problems with Heath Burns in G1 and G3. I hope you enjoyed reading them and will share your thoughts!/gen Thanks for making it this far!

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

As someone who watched the show first and then got into the comics later, I do understand some of the gripes people had with the show.

One that I see a lot is making the Mr. Knight suit just Steven's version of the costume. I really love the concept of the suit changing to fit each alter but at the same time Mr. Knight in the comics is really fucking cool as a concept. I'm fine with them co-existing but if the MCU does more with Moon Knight, I'd be cool to have MCU Steven getting to do some detective work as Mr. Knight or talking with clients in an MCU version of the midnight mission.

I also see a lot of people complaining that the villain is named after a one-off villain from the weird era when he has an ankh chest symbol instead of a moon, but I think there would have been more outrage if they used a villain that people like because then they would be complaining about how different and worse the TV version is. I mostly find it funny because comics Arthur Harrow didn't even meet Moon Knight face to face. They really made an OC and then slapped a Harrow's name on it lol

So the Mr. Knight suit was first created by Shelby in the Ellis Shelby run. …Which isn't 100% accurate. You CAN find little background tidbits of Moon Knight going in groups with the Avengers dressed in a first iteration white suit… But Ellis and Shelby are the first to actully make use of the suit and create the Mr. Knight character.

What is intersting about it is that Moon Knight had just come off of a haitus after a disasterous run by BENDIS that ended in 2012 and Ellis picked it up in 2014. At this point, Moon Knight was a joke and they really needed to get Moon Knight away from what Bendis did. (not nearly the worst writer, but the one with the least amount of comprehension on how to handle Moon Knight).

Ellis is known for a certain style of writing and he had long wanted to team up with Shelby. Their Moon Knight run let them team up and also run off together to Image to write a beautiful comic (that they didn't fucking finish).

While the Ellis run had issues, it really gifted us with the Mr. Knight character. At that time, Marc was far from the man we known and knew. Jake and Steven were nothing more than memories, and Moon Knight was more or less a ghost. Mr. Knight felt like a dissociative episode with very little substance. It fit.

In the MCU show, Marc was originally supposed to have the Mr. Knight suit. All the promotions of Mr. Knight with his sleeves rolled up to show off those sexy forearms are in the Marc Spector role. An interesting concept and I wonder what their original plan was for the actual Moon Knight suit…

I suppose if you look at it in a certain way, it makes sense. Moon Knight looks like a mummy in ancient Egyptian garb and so on. Steven in the actual Egyptian style suit DOES make sense.

But Steven won out on the suit trying to look suave and cool and proper.

I would love to see MCU Steven doing more as Mr. Knight. I'm not going to hold my breath, but I can see him getting along fantastically as a detective.

As for the villain thing. It isn't uncommon for Marvel to do that sort of thing. The number of times they have taken a one off name drop and brought it back to make it into a big deal is sorta rediculous. They DID have Mogart and it makes me incredibly sad for many reasons. Mogart was a major villain in the OG comics and one might argue that he was the first reoccurring major villain for Moon Knight.

Sadly, the actor that played Mogart died in a tragic accident and all plans for him left the table. I think he could have made an excellent villain for future episodes/seasons.

I did very much like Harrow in the MCU. It played a fantastic other side to Marc's ideology about guilt and his issues with Khonshu. Not to mention his soothing smooth talk as a cult leader that Steven could instantly see through. It really was a fanstic way to highlight Steven's strengths. We can thank Ethan Hawk for such a great performance and for adding his own ideas to the character.

I agree with your assertion that using a beloved Moon Knight villain would have really divided the comic fans further from the show fans. You can't make everyone happy and people would certainly have complained.

I wonder if the original intent was to bring Comics Harrow back like they did with Agatha Harkness in the comics thanks to the show? It seems their Moon Knight plans were kind of all over the place and many of them didn't pan out. I wonder why…

[starswhispere]

@any-n-everything Here's why i think Sam and Tucker needed some more thorough development. I mean it's not that they were terrible, and I think the majority of my problems with them suffer from the writing and it being a kids show who's primary goal was to teach kids moral lessons. But Sam had several moments where she disregard what Danny wanted and pushed her own agendas no matter how that affected him and Tucker. Such as the gorilla project (yes it was for Danny's grade but the poor kid got no sleep that night and clearly didn't want to be there), or the one that gets me the most is season 2 episode 1 when she wished Danny and her had never met and then instead of trying to solve the problem in any other way (she already knew at this point that it was the wishing ghost attacking) Like going to get help from any of the other ghost hunter or dealing with the ghost herself which she was shown very capable of doing (and we needed more of because honestly that was a cool aspect of her character) she decided to put her friend, who she supposedly cares about, through the most traumatic experience of his life a second time. She killed him, twice. Because she was the one who egged him on to go in the portal the first time despite him warning her about safety issues, and then she just shoved him in the second time. But then the show wants to convince me she likes him romantically. That's crazy. Not to mention the one time with the trucks that Danny and Tucker liked and she wanted him to use his ghost powers to her advantage despite having in several other episodes berated him for doing the same thing. And (last example I promise) in the show finale when he gave up his ghost powers to protect his family and go back to a normal life because he's been struggling with this for so long, she gets upset! (They all do, I'm not excluding Jazz and Tucker from this, this is just my Sam paragraph). She tells him that she feels she lost a friend and that he's wrong to give up superpowers because now he's not unique or special and she wants friends who are unique and special. Like damn, Sam. Low blow. It's like when a friend only wants to hang out with you to play on your x box and when you don't have the x box they disappear and hate you.

As for Tucker, he's not quite as bad and again I think his character just suffers from the Tv-Y7 rating, but there are a few times where he just straight up disrespects Danny. The only two times we're shown that they get in a fight, Tucker completely does a 180 and makes Danny out to be the bad guy. In the episode where he wishes he has ghost powers he just blames Danny for taking the spotlight and showing off how much better he is, when Danny never did any of that (at that point in the show). Even if Tucker felt that way because of jealousy, he was still really rude with how he spoke to Danny and quite literally put a citizen's life in danger just to upstage Danny. He does it again in the one for where he runs against Dash for class president. (I know that in both of these he was under a ghost influence, but all of the problems started before the ghosts got involved, they just enhanced what he was already feeling.) (And I know Danny and Sam weren't listening to him but that's wildly out of character for Danny and I feel the writers just conformed his personality to the plot to teach the listen to your friends narrative) but he also took that scepter willingly from the mummy ghost. He has like a weird superiority complex that he takes out on people at the most random times. Then in the episode with Nocturne, his best dream is him being all rich and making Danny his janitor! That's not how you think of your best friend! That shows just how much better he thinks he is compared to Danny. Then in the episode where the G.I.W. buys Danny's house and Danny is freaking out, Tucker is like hey man, you have a lot of money now, act like it and enjoy it and calm down. Then gets mad at him when he acts like it and enjoys it! And also he did the same thing as Sam in the finale.

Sorry for the chaotic jumbled mess of thoughts, I have more to say I just can't remember any more specific examples off the top of my head at the moment. But again, he could have worse, I just think they also deserve their own growing and learning moments.

[theizzifromosaka]

I'm Back

Remember when I made those monster categories and said I'd test them out? I went out and looked for some monsters from various sources to try and categorize, and my system mostly holds up.

Here's that post btw, TL:DR the categories were Natural, Extraterrestrial, Paranormal, Artificial and Deific

Reporting my findings, source by source:

Pokemon are mostly what you'd expect. Mostly Natural, a few Paranormal, extraterrestrial and Artificial and a handful of Deific.

There were a few interesting cases I found all in the same vein, where the Pokemon appears artificial or supernatural but is organic

Digimon isn't all that complicated past the initial concept, they're interdimensional beings who can only exist in digital form outside of their home dimension, so they're all Extraterrestrial.

Classic Movie Monsters are once again pretty simple for the most part, but things unexpectedly started to get a bit complicated here.

Dracula, The Wolf Man and The Mummy are all paranormal, Frankenstein adds Artificial to that and the Gill-Man is completely Natural. Surprisingly it was the Invisible Man that threw a wrench into the works, his story is he developed a chemical that rendered him permanently invisible, which I initially made a judgement call on and placed into Supernatural.

Toho is where my earlier judgement call would have to be made again, and where I initially considered making a new category. A lot of weird monsters come from here.

First, a few of the easy ones. Mothra has some vague details in her backstory but it's pretty clear she's either Paranormal or Deific. Jet Jaguar is a human made robot so he's Artificial and Mechagodzilla is a robot of extraterrestrial origin so he's Extraterrestrial/Artificial and many others such as Gigan are simply aliens.

The guy Goji himself, as well as several other monsters such as Biollante and Orga, however, brought up the same issue as The Invisible Man. My phrasing of Paranormal in my previous post was simply "things that should not exist", which ends up encompassing these monsters in a way I didn't really expect.

Godzilla and Orga are monsters who started off much more ordinairy before being mutated in differnt ways, and Biollante and The Invisible Man were intentionally mutated. As a result, I'm considering adding a new category for creatures like this:

Mutant

An otherwise normal creature that has been altered in a significant way, usually ending up as something completely unique

I'm still not sure about this as a category, and I may also change the description to exclude Cyborgs, or the name to better include them, which the description I wrote is vague enough to encompass.

Yu-Gi-Oh also introduces a new complication, though this one's pretty easy to sort out. Specifically, many of its monsters exist in many states which vary the monster's categorization.

The first stage that includes just about every Yu-Gi-Oh monster is the in universe and IRL card games, in which the monster's categorization heavily relies on the card's flavor text if it's present, and must be intuited if not.

The second stage which includes very few monsters is the in universe origins of the monsters depicted on the cards, which don't vary as much as they work very similarly to Jojo stands or Personas from the Persona series. They're mostly supernatural, with exceptions including the Egyptian Gods, who would be Deific.

The same separation concept exists in Scooby-Doo funnily enough (maybe it's a hyphen thing), where there's the perceived nature of the monster, for instance Space Kook being an alien or The Phantom being a ghost, and the creature's true nature as a regular human, which I guess would put them under the Natural category.

Scooby-Doo will occasionally subvert this trope by having the monster being real, such as Charlie the Robot being an actual robot or the Zombies in Zombie Island being real. There are many examples, though the series has been going on for so long it's still relatively underutilized. Other than that it's usually straightforward.

I still need to see if "Mutant" is even necessary, and if it is it needs to be reworked, but my system held up surprisingly well.

[casualevan]

So... Pariah Nexus

I found it to be a swinging pendulum of quality. Back and fourth between badass and just kinda bad.

The action and animation are astounding and there are some fantastic bits of dialogue discussing faith and fanatasism. All great stuff.. buuuuut my biggest issues are with the tone and the plot.

It's the issue a LOT of Games Workshop stories suffer from. They want to be Dune meets All Quiet On The Western Front but also G.I. JOE meets Masters Of The Universe. A Grim Dark brutal depressing war story.... but a toy commercial at the same time. SPOILERS

The plot is set well after the end of a war for this one planet the Sisters of Battle, (Nuns with Guns in SPACE) Space Marines, (Marines IN SPACE) and the Imperial Guard (Starship Trooper normal humans with laser rifles.... IN SPACE) were defending against the Necron. (Alien mummy robots FROM SPACE!) The humans lost and now it is all over but the crying. A Sister, a Space Marine and a Guard are stuck behind enemy lines with a handful of civilian survivors and must fight their way past the remaining Necron and their nanomachine human zombies to get to safety.

The SIster and the Guard have some GREAT moments of debate on the nature of faith and duty showing the Sister's fanaticism and the cracks in her faith when contrasted with the Guard's more grounded and practical view of their shared religion. This all reminds the audience that Warhammer 40K is a nightmare distopia hellscape and the Imperium of Man is BAD. At least until the Space Marine shows up and "OH WOW HE IS SO COOL AND SO NICE AND HE LOVES DEFENDING CIVILIANS! PLEASE DO NOT READ MORE LORE AND LEARN THAT THE SPACE MARINES ARE ALSO BAD AND COMMIT WAR CRIMES! BUY OUR TOYS BUY OUR TOYS!!"

The closest thing to a character arc in the story is the Sister of Battle going from having disdain for the civilians, believing their lack of faith lost the war for the planet, to finally being convinced to not be such a starch ass and defend the literal women and children from killer robots...

...

...

and then she is imediatly shot by a robot sniper. YEAH. "I will now decide to NOT be a total jerk and help these people!" *BLAM* "...ouch... nevermind I guess?" She doesn't get a last desperate second wind action surge to kill the sniper and save the civilians, she just dies. As for that Guard she was debating with the entire time? She wasn't real. She was just a ghost in her head cuz battlefield trauma is a hell of a drug. The big heroic Space Marine (who's just such a great guy) agrees to stay behind and fight the evil killer space robot and tells the civilians to keep running. He survives and tells the Big Bad Super Robot that he and his fellow humans of the Imperium will keep fighting FOR THE IMPERIUM AND THE EMPEROR BLA BLA BLA BUY OUR TOYS!!!!! Then there is an epilogue of the last surviving civilian making it to a troop of other Guard... ... ... and then getting shot because they thought the literal child was infected with the Necron Zombie Nanomachine plague. So yeah.... everyone (except the cool Space Marine) died for nothing. We don't even get to see the Space Marine's reaction to the news. The story just ENDS. He lost an arm trying to keep these people safe and the story won't even tell us if he is sad or mad or just mildly annoyed. "EVERYONE DIES CUZ WAR IS BAD AND WRONG!!!! Please buy our toys and play our games." I'm NOT saying the story should have been sunshine and rainbows but at least have all that buildup and character death MEAN something besides pizza cutter all edge no point grimdark. Have the Sister die FIGHTING and saving someone. Show the Space Marine REACTING to the news that none of the civilians survived. OR if you still want to be grim and dark, have that lone survivor kid get DRAFTED BUY THE GUARD and sent back to fight. Show his face go from "oh boy I'm saved" to "oh no I'm going BACK?!"

all in all I can't recomend Paraiah Nexus. Three episodes behind a Warhammer+ subscription paywall all for story/tone whiplash. Go watch the Hellsreach fan animation instead.

[scooby-review]

The New Scooby Doo Movies Villain Ranking

Perfect!; Great!; Good!; Okay!; Meh!; Bad! 

53. The Ghost of Injun Joe [2202] 52. Native American [2107] 51. Geronimo [2101] 50. Ghost [2203] 49. Wolfman [2107] 48. Vulture [2103] 47. Sheik [2107] 46. The Ghost of Redbeard (and Crew) [2112] 45. Possessed Davy Crocket Mannequin [2114]

44. Possessed Viking Mannequin [2114] 43. Creepy Man [2205] 42. Frankenstein's Monster [2205] 41. Abdullah [2203] 40. The Ghost of Captain Scavenger [2202] 39. Green Globs [2207] 38. Ghost [2107] 37. Giant [2109]

36. Pirate [2107] 35. Mummy [2107] 34. Ghost of Bigfoot [2110] 33. Hooded Men [2206] 32. Hooded Man [2102] 31. Living Skeletons [2102] 30. Ghostly Strongman [2208] 29. Jadall [2203] 28. Mr Hyde [2205] 27. The Ghost of Fireball McFain [2204] 26. Mr Hyde [2107] 25. Gunslinger [2101] 24. The Scarecrow [2104] 23. Bear [2107] 22. Brontosaurus [2109] 21. Dragon [2107] 20. Phantoms [2106] 19. Gargoyle [2106] 18. Ghost of Captain Moody [2105] 17. Sea Monster [2205] 16. Skeleton Man [2109]

15. Haunted Island Ghosts [2201] 14. Minuteman, Red Coat and Paul Revere Ghosts [2116] 13. Loch Ness Monster [2116] 12. Troll [2115] 11. Dryad [2115] 10. The Ghost of the Red Baron [2111] 9. Headless Horsemen of Sleepy Hollow [2109] 8. Lady Ghost [2109] 7. Bird Creature [2205] 6. Cat Creature [2205] 5. 3 Eyed Spook [2109] 4. Skeleton Stage Driver [2109] 3. Shark Men [2108]

2. Moat Monster [2113]

1.Haunted Horseman [2113]

I think the villains and monsters in The New Scooby Doo Movies are a large step down from Scooby Doo: Where are You's. So many of these characters feel uninspired, with some of the worst of this iterations cast being recolours of villains from the prior series. It's just so lazy to me! I believe the much later series "What's Cool Scooby Doo" also reuses villains, but there is an incredibly large difference between the shameless recolours of this series in contrast to the retellings and reworking of prior villains in that series.

Often these episodes will encounter two villain related issues. The first is that they simply aren't given enough screentime to leave an impression. There are quite a few episodes that feel like the villain is there as a formality (this is less so the case in season two) but as such, they feel bland and uninspired, not aided by the consistently bland and uninspired feeling designs.

The second issue is the opposite - there are too many monsters in an episode that it grows difficult to care for any. An episode like The Spooky Fog of Juneberry is one of the best uses of this, it feels like a haunted town aided by some of the series best designs! Yet, while they aid in building a powerful and haunting atmosphere, they aren't great villains beyond their design, because they have no personality whatsoever. I will say that I think the episodes that do use a large array of villains often do so for a good reason (a haunted village, a film set...) but maybe the most egregious is Mystery of Haunted Island, which feels like a far worse version of Juneberry given that most the designs here suck! Meanwhile an episode like The Haunted Carnival has so many sudden and bland designs that it's sometimes difficult to tell who counts as a villain.

Most of the best of this series comes down to who has the best design. It's why I still think the Juneberry ghosts are good even if they are under utilised and ultimately lacking any personality. It's also why I love the Moat Monster and Haunted Horseman so much, they have such a demanding presence over the episode, you get to know them, they're enjoyable to see and you get to see enough of them to keep me satisfied.

Simply, I think this series has a design philosophy that focuses on churning out quick designs. It's especially apparent when they use recolours rather than creating new models for the same archetype they want to use.

Next Review: Every The New Scooby Doo Movies Episode Ranked (Coming Soon!)

Previous Review: The New Scooby Doo Movies S2 E5-8

[jkl-fff]

You're a counselor and a ghost and a zombie have walked into you for a double therapy session, the thing here is that they're the same person: the body became the zombie while the soul a ghost.

They want you to either help them be one together or find a way to help them cope with their new lifestyle.

Which route do you take and why?

My recommendation is to take the latter option.

I've never heard of a ghost repossessing their former body, though I suppose it's theoretically possible as a general form of possession. But I doubt that would bring either of them longterm fulfillment--I doubt that would be truly sustainable as a solution to their current dilemma. Besides, it's best to try to accept change and move forward from it, rather than trying to recapture a past that is gone.

For the Ghost, if amenable, I'd try to help them process the grief and stress of losing corporeality. Part of that would be coming to terms with the fact that the body is no longer them and no longer theirs. Likewise for the Zombie, save they'd be processing the fear and stress of adapting to what seems ... kinda comparable to a different neurotype, maybe? They likely don't have the same drive the same direction (the same spirit?) anymore, almost like they suffered a brain injury or developped chronic depression? Both will have body issues to address, as well, since the Ghost doesn't have one anymore, and the Zombie is presumably going to be undergoing decomposition until they're only a walking skeleton ... or possibly embalming to become something like a walking mummy? Either way, these would be part of individual sessions.

Ergo, part of their treatment would be focused on developing separate identities by spending some time each day apart. Pursuing their own interests, developing their own relationships, etc. However, since they seem to be bonded (understandably), I'd also try to work with them on forming a new relationship as equal partners who help each other negotiate their difficulties (for as long as both want that, at least). The Ghost might be more articulate and have clearer abstract thinking skills, the Zombie more mobile and physically able to handle tasks. That would be the basis of moving forward together, negotiating their new needs and boundaries.

Honestly, I could totally see myself making a career in this. Thanks!

[s0fter-sin]

criminal minds/call of duty crossover where a serial killer is targeting sets of brothers. the bau think it’s ghost after finding out he’s on leave and looking into him and finding out about his abusive childhood. they think being military, getting held by the cartel and his family’s murder made him snap and he’s trying to recreate a perfect childhood with perfect brothers but they’re never perfect enough

he’s arrested when he can’t provide an alibi for the nights of the murders. the interrogation is rough, even with his resistance training. he can’t fight back, he can’t wait out the clock until price rescues him bc it’s not ghost being interrogated, it’s simon. getting his family and childhood thrown in his face, being questioned about his time with the cartel, forced to remember everything he went through and the entire time he can’t hide behind his mask bc they took it the second they brought him in

he’s being moved from interrogation to a cell when soap bursts in, screaming and swearing at them, how dare they think ghost would ever hurt those boys, after everything he’s survived, all the people he’s saved, do they really think he would ever do something like that, what the fuck is wrong with them!!

he sees how rough ghost looks, sees they took his mask and is two seconds from throwing hands with morgan. ghost’s just been quietly saying his name as he rants, trying to get through to him before he gets himself arrested too until he finally barks, “sergeant mactavish!” and soap instinctively freezes and falls to attention. he tries to make him leave but soap tells the team that ghost was with him on the nights the boys were killed and he had security footage of him coming and leaving his apartment, as well as pictures from throughout the night

the team don’t believe him, asking why ghost would lie to them, he could be charged with murder if it went far enough, why hide his alibi? he stays quiet until soap finally says, “he was protecting me. it doesn’t look to good to be gay in the military. or to seduce your superior officer.”

“you didn’t seduce shit, johnny,” ghost argues back and the team realises they were trying to dodge a dishonourable discharge not hide a murder habit and releases him. they end up stealth helping them solve the case bc even if he didn’t do it, seeing all of these boys, these brothers getting killed was getting to ghost in a bad way

[opinated-user]

Isn't it a rule of basic storytelling that conflict drives the plot?

Which Lily should know given she talks about storytelling on her social media, writes her own fan fiction and allegedly is a ghost writer?

Even in fluffy romance stories, there is always a conflict. I.E a person's Ex comes into the picture, one of pair gets a job offer in another country, they are from very different social classes, the family disapproves of their relationship,

I could go on.

It adds tension and stakes to the story and if often the selling point of the narrative. It forces the audience to ask themselves if the couple will work though their problems and if so how? Will it change their dynamic?

But Lily's idea of romantic storytelling is one person is awesome and amazing and their partner is ...just... there...to give kisses and hugs. Because only one person matters in the relationship.

In short: Conflict creates stories and Lily doesn't understand basic storytelling principles.

you can actually create stories without conflict. it is possible. the issue is that those stories will more likely be boring and not engaging at all... which is how all the "less conflict" story pitches of LO sound like, including her idea of how to fix The princess and the frog or the mummy. all her ideas for stories i have seen have this same issue. "so and so character are together and did X. that's it, that's the whole story". there's nothing interesting about those kind of ideas. if there is, LO is not the kind of writer to make it interesting either.

[natoncesaid]

How I think I would react to every song played live for a ghost concert (2023 re-impera tour setlist used) I have sensory issues and I am autistic so I react differently to some things...

Imperium and kaisarion (I haven't heard it I can't give an informed guess to this)

Rats: headbanging and dancing in my converse

Faith: probably the same as rats

Spillways: wobbling

Cirice: I would cry, especially if somehow I got chosen...

Jesus he knows me: headbanging and wobbling

Watcher in the sky: (haven't heard that one either)

Year zero: singing along to the point where my dad is slightly concerned

Mary on a cross: I would cry so much it's so beautiful

Mummy dust: giggling over Copia and also trying not to be overstimulated because I would be tired by then

Kiss the go goat: I would cry, wobble and giggle.

Dance macabre: dance and just exist

Square hammer: air drum/guitar with it and be sad that it's over.

[theroleplayclassifieds]

Greetings, beautiful online people! My name is JJ, but I go by many nicknames and I'm open to new ones—just please ask for permission first. I'm an 18-year-old who joined the RP community in 2023, and I'm an avid writer with a passion for authentic art, fascinating characters, and awesome worldbuilding.

I'm a creative and introspective person who possesses strong emotional intelligence and a thirst for knowledge. While I’m usually patient, I don’t appreciate being ghosted or ignored for long periods. I prefer to stay informed about what’s happening; otherwise, I tend to overthink and worry that I’ve done something wrong or start to have negative thoughts about you and our current situation.

I do have a bit of an impulsive streak and can be somewhat moody at times, especially when I’m groggy, experiencing self-doubt, feeling a strong urge to do something, having a rough day or if someone does something I find off-putting (e.g. being playfully teased or rudely told off). I'm not the most talkative person, and I sometimes struggle to passionately discuss the things I like and work on. However, I do my best to signal that I'm paying attention and engaged, and I try to share my ideas and interests. My motivation fluctuates at times, and I do have a life to attend to, but I’ll do my best to communicate before taking a break.

Before continuing, I’d like to mention that when I take a break, I sometimes use that time to focus on private roleplays, but it largely depends on my motivation.

I'm looking for semi-literate and advanced literate 18+ roleplayers who are fairly active and open to discussing things OOC. I appreciate partners who love to ask questions and explore various ideas, including dark and suggestive themes. It'd be great if my new RP buddies are fandom-friendly, flexible with storytelling, and curious about my specific interests. I would appreciate it if my RP buddies are understanding and don’t pressure me to respond. I'm hoping to find people interested in RPs that start off angsty and gradually turn wholesome as well as those that incorporate smut with a genuine plot.

I'm open to various roleplays, including SFW and NSFW. However, I'm not particularly fond of full-blown wholesome roleplays, especially if they come across as too cutesy or uninteresting. The same thing goes for extreme angst and smut. I'm very multifandom-friendly and willing to learn new things, but please don't expect me to be fully invested in the fandoms you're in or to be media-literate about them. Additionally, I would appreciate it if you refrain from recommending media you enjoy that you think I should consume because that’s a significant pet peeve of mine. You're welcome to rant about your interests to me, but please don't expect me to be super talkative.

Currently, I'm primarily working on an AU for a somewhat obscure game franchise called Metal Slug. I'm quite knowledgeable about the series and have two informative posts that you're welcome to check out, including a master post for my AU, which is called Iron Eclipse (edgy name I know). Just let me know, and I'll share them with you! In my roleplays, I use both OCs and AU versions of pre-existing characters from the franchise that I've chosen to incorporate into Iron Eclipse. While the AU is still under construction, a significant portion of it is complete.

The best way to describe the world of Metal Slug (and by extension, Iron Eclipse) is that it’s set in the real world with some futuristic, dieselpunk technology. Crime and war are prevalent issues, and the setting features cyborgs, extraterrestrials, deific entities, mutated creatures, zombies, mummies, Sasquatches, and an ancient lost civilization.

Since most of my characters are in the military, I’d prefer them to interact with other military-esque characters. It would also be interesting to see them engage with criminals, cultists, government officials, scientists, living science experiments, and extraterrestrials. However, I'm open to a wide variety of characters, including bartenders and rockstars. I'm completely flexible about placing them in a different universe via portals, but I would prefer the setting to be sorta similar to their home universe.

Don't hesitate to reach out to me if you're interested! I promise I don't bite! I'm looking forward to interacting with you and starting our RP journey together.

Contacts!

Tumblr: beautyinafruitfulworld (you can find my RP rules and the link to my know-about-me intro post here)

Discord: cypriathus

⭐️

[thehousepatron]

BG3 OCs and Lore (for later reference)

Vesz (Monk/Barbarian) (He/It)

Hoo boy he’s a heavy hitter and prefers to lash out with his bare hands. He’s resisting the dark urge but satisfies it through using his body in battle; clawing, biting, punching. During his turns, if he doesn’t get to rip something apart, his bloodlust can cause him to attack the nearest person (to begin with, he’s pretty dumb and doesn’t have a very good grasp on controlling himself).

As a Lolthsworn drow, he was raised in Arach Tinilith by the priestesses, who would NOT let him outside because mother superior kinda knew what he was. Male drow should definitely not be that big, and he’s got ambiguous genitalia, which gave him a leg up in the drow’s eyes. He got his top surgery in Melee Magthere because his tits were getting in the way, and (again because he’s a bhaalspawn) he had it done with little to no numbing, and got a taste for the pain. He’s heavily pierced and scarred, mainly decoratively - he has prayers to Lolth and her symbols scarified into his skin. In Arach Tinilith, he was trained as a monk, though due to his being mentally and partially physically male, he was not permitted to become a cleric of Lolth. It was through the loophole of him having partially female genitals that he was allowed to become a monk. He was kept at Arach Tinilith because mother superior saw him as an incredibly powerful asset, and he was only permitted to venture out of the upper tier and through Menzoberranzan on Bhaal’s business (ie, to see Ketheric and Gortash), but was never EVER given free reign. Think of him as Quasimodo, and mother superior as Frollo.

He has severe mummy issues, and doesn’t know what Orin’s problem is. He’s got the hots for Nere, but also develops quite a strong bond with Shadowheart (for their acolyte backgrounds, association with drow, memory loss and ties to the Underdark). Their M/M/F ship name is HolyMeatFailure.

He’s dirty af, messy af, and can’t tell his arse from his elbow (-2 INT).

Romancing Shadowheart.

Tam’lin Baenre (Gloomstalker Ranger) (He/Him)

Another drow of the Baenre family, and Minthara’s cousin, Tam’lin is an FTM Szarkai who was trained in Melee Magthere in Menzoberranzan. Despite being AFAB and a Szarkai, he was an illegitimate child, and was therefore treated quite harshly by the other Baenres. During his training at Melee Magthere, he formed a strong friendship with a young Kar’niss, whom he grew romantically attached to.

When Kar’niss mysteriously disappeared, it was around the same time that Tam’lin was ‘deployed’ on the surface to ‘infiltrate and eradicate’, however, having long abandoned Lolth, he legged it at the first opportunity, and became instead a folk hero known as the ‘Nightwatchman’, using the coin he made slaying monsters and fulfilling contracts to travel from place to place, searching for the lost Kar’niss, until he was taken from Baldur’s Gate by the Nautiloid. He isn’t romancing anyone, too consumed by his love for Kar’niss and grief for the fate that had befallen him.

He’s secretive and moody, though tender at heart. However during the end of act 1 / beginning of act 2, the second he reaches the underdark he reverts to his old self: the Ghost of Menzoberranzan - a cruel assassin of Melee Magthere, a true Szarkai. The environment forces him into a dissociative state of mind.

Angh’wyn (Warlock of the Twilight Court and Void Reaver) (He/Him)

An elf of the Shadar-Kai, Angh’wyn resided in the Shadowfell in the service of the Raven Queen. As a warlock, his patron is the Raven Queen herself, and he seeks to fulfil her needs, venturing into other planes to harvest the memories and emotions of those who suffer. As a void reaver, he also does the same; like an interdimensional pirate, he travels between worlds, ambushing and raiding for the Raven Queen.

Jealous of his success, when he opens a portal to Faerûn, a rival warlock seals his portal behind him, trapping him in the city of Baldur’s Gate. Initially, his goal is to return to the shadowfell and wreak bloody revenge on the one who sabotaged him, however the more time he spends among humans, elves and drow, the more invested in their lives and experiences he becomes, becoming passionate about helping the Seldarine drow escape the Lolthsworn and aiding their goddess Eilistraee. He starts to use his gifts for good, though still adheres to the Raven Queen’s tenets, harvesting emotions and memories, only he harvests them from his enemies instead of innocents, now.

He deals mainly psychic and psionic damage (something he learnt as a void reaver on the Astral Plane). He despises the Lolthsworn and abusers, and so builds up a strong rapport with Astarion, Gale, Karlach and Shadowheart. Whilst highly analytical and ‘robotic’ (he loses points with Karlach due to being unpredictable and kind of morally grey at times), Angh’wyn is also deeply curious and thirsts for knowledge and understanding (this is where he loses points with Shart for his endless questioning, but gains points with Gale).

Romancing Gale.

Yazdaer Mizzrym (Hexblade Warlock / Rogue Nightingale) (He/She/They)

Descendant of Pharaun Mizzrym, he trained at Sorcere and was, for all intents and purposes, a straight A student, until he grew smart enough to see straight through Lolth. He kept up appearances, though turned to Shar and began secretly working with the Zhentarim, entering the surface world through Waukeen’s Rest.

As both nightingale and hexblade, it’s clear who his patron is - Shar. Assassin, Thief and Arcane Trickster rolled into one, he changes his face as easily as he changes his clothes, walks in shadow, and thus his crimes are pretty much untraceable. He sees Shadowheart as a sister and Astarion as a brother, and is probably going to romance Wyll, though they’re not going to see eye to eye on a lot of things.

He’s a bit of a bastard, a burnt out gifted kid, HIGHLY secretive, and is too smart for his own good. He doesn’t trust easily.

He’s romancing Wyll.

Malhounnet Do’Urden (Circle of Spores Druid) (She/Her)

One of the last surviving descendants of House Do’Urden, Malhounnet is AMAB, and struggled in drow society, and not just because of the body she was born in; the fall of the Do’Urdens played a role in how she was seen, too - disgraced among Lolthsworn. She fled Menzoberranzan to avoid being captured and killed, and sought refuge in a Myconid Colony.

Her dream guardian, and view this how you wish, is Drizzt Do’Urden. Having heard stories of him, and also having idolised both Drizzt and Zaknafein, though wanting the body of Malice, her lineage is important to her, and she is proud to be a Do’Urden. It was because of Drizzt that she developed a love of nature, and longed to visit the surface. She wields two magic daggers, which she has even named Drizzt and Zaknafein.

Having lived with Myconids, though, she has also cultivated a deep knowledge of mycology, and is a dab hand at Alchemy and the art of mycomancy. She’s seen as a bit of an oddball, even among myconids, due to her ‘project’ - cruel as it may seem, because she was brought up in Menzoberranzan - she sought to attempt to fuse myconid spores with the bodies of still living duergar prisoners in an attempt to see if they would be able to communicate with one another like Myconids: since brains and mycelium are similar things, she attempted to genetically enhance the duergar - if it was a success, she would try it on herself.

However she was nabbed by the nautiloid and tadpoled, so now her interests have shifted towards examining psionic transference. She is less afraid of the tadpole, and more fascinated by everything it does.

Due to this, she’s romancing the Emperor.

Nathurra Agelenidae (Blood Sorcerer / Barbarian) (She/It)

Another Bhaalspawn, with even less control over their instincts. Like Vesz, she also has ambiguous genitalia, is much larger than the average drow, and has unnatural peepers. Without a family name, she was an urchin in Menzoberranzan, simply spawned there and abandoned. She evaded Arach Tinilith, and developed a taste for blood at a very young age. A feral child, who grew into a more or less feral adult.

She can’t speak very well, and tends to get angry when others can’t understand her, leading to a bloody aftermath. She has massive memory loss, but knows that she HATES her sister, Orin, more than anything else in the world. On the other hand, even though she doesn’t remember him after the nautiloid, she built up a relationship with Gortash, because he was patient with her. It was Gortash who taught her how to speak properly.

She’s a complete loose cannon and can’t be predicted. She refuses to be contained and has a HUGE problem with authority figures. That being said, she appreciates being reined in from time to time. Due to her approval with being given rain checks and her hatred of Orin, she gravitates towards Minthara like a moth to a flame.

Like Vesz, she’s also filthy and messy, but way worse. Her hair is always tangled, her skin caked with dirt and blood, and girlie is SWEATY. Her dishes get rancid, her bedroll smells like death and her clothes are torn and stained. Astarion and Gale have to drag her kicking and screaming to get bathed. Astarion gives up, but Gale perseveres - trying to give Nathurra a bath is very much like trying to wash a cat. Gale keeps his face out of her reach and makes sure he’s wearing gloves and layers of clothing. Every time this happens he prays to Mystra that Nathurra doesn’t try to drown him. He usually gets back in her good graces by cooking large and yummy dinners.

She’s based on the hobo spider (as my somewhat murder hobo). As a blood sorcerer, she does revere the give and take, spilling her own blood to spill even more of her enemy’s. She likes to make as much mess as possible and sees total destruction as her signature. Part of her wants for do good, but it’s often overwhelmed by her poor impulse control and explosive anger when she feels misunderstood.

Romancing Minthara.

Fenelzi’ir (Forceblade / Venomancer) (He/They)

Fenelzi’ir is a githgagran (Underdark Gith) who has a symbiotic relationship with the Matriarch of a noble drowic house in Menzoberranzan. She offers him safety in the city, food and shelter, and in return, he keeps Illithids away, hunting them. He is skilled in both psionic attacks and utilising /brewing poisons. He’s based on a poison dart frog.

He ended up on the nautiloid purely by accident, having opened a portal to the Astral Plane, but it rerouted as he was travelling, spawning him directly onto the ship. He carved his way through a handful of mindflayers before he was overwhelmed and captured, forced into a pod and tadpoled.

Considering all this, he’s exceptionally calm and even nonchalant at times. He understands that his mind is his greatest weapon and that his blades are mere extensions, accessories, and as such, he deems it imperative to remain calm at all times. Also due to needing patience to brew the most deadly poisons, he does NOT appreciate being rushed with anything, so even though his tadpole distresses him, the companions constantly urging him to act quickly and the onslaught of people offering him solutions pisses him off. He can and will figure it out by himself, if given enough time, and - after assessing his symptoms - he deems that he does, in fact, have time to sit and think, much to the annoyance of everybody else.

Romancing Halsin for the peace and quiet.

Iorveth (Crypt Stalker Ranger) (He/Him)

An outlander of the wild woods, Iorveth started his profession as a crypt stalker after undead from the cities began encroaching on the territory of his wood elven clan. Not particularly fond of humans or half elves, he is a shrewd huntsman, and tends to charge more coin for his services in human dominated areas.

He worships Kelemvor, lord of the dead, and has strange feelings about Withers and Jergal.

He generally leans towards being good aligned, however he does side with Kagha, sympathising with her wanting to protect her own, just as he did when his forests were under attack. He can be cruel at times, though usually does so for a good reason - he engages the man in the goblin camp in torture… but only to get rid of the goblins and keep up appearances.

He’s quite moody and aloof, though is a romantic at heart. His relationship with Astarion is complex - though he has sworn to hunt undead, viewing them as abominations, he’s never actually taken the time to get to know an undead and learn their story. When Astarion reveals his vampiric nature, every bone in Iorveth’s body tells him to stake Astarion, or hand him over to the gur, but he cannot bring himself to, having grown fond of him. He decides to give Astarion the benefit of the doubt, instead, and asks Kelemvor to forgive him for what he is about to do when Astarion feeds on him.

He’s definitely romancing Astarion.

[percontaion-points]

Delicious Monsters chapters 43 & 44

Today's review might be difficult for some; reader discretion is advised

Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions

Click here for the rest of the series!

Chapter 43

“My mom stayed here once. When you first opened.”

 “I know,” she says with a smile. “I’ve read her book.” 

“Oh? What did you think of it?” 

She tilts her head to the side as if thinking. “She kind of reminds me of my mom.” Grace stares into my eyes.

Once again highlighting the fact that rather than to be a better mother to Daisy, Grace instead turned around and did the same kind of abusive shit her own mother did. On top of the supernatural ghost bullshit. 

Like yes, Grace was abused by her own mum. But that doesn’t give her a right to abuse her own daughter. 

I stand there for a few moments before opening my phone and making a call. She doesn’t answer as usual. But this time, I leave a voicemail.

Chapter 43 summary: Brittany gets the first ticket back to Toronto, since she’s decided that her career is over. However, as she’s sitting in an airport restaurant, Jayden shows up. He explains to her that he’d been trying to get in touch with Grace so that he could do an independent documentary about her. His opinion on Grace isn’t half as much as what Brittany had originally thought, but the fact that he couldn’t tell her about this kind of hurts.

Jayden also said that he’d been trying to stop Torte from getting Brittany’s own mum for an episode. That he’d even threatened legal action. Seems like the thought of a juicy episode would be more than worth the costs of a harassment lawsuit… and the potential of Brittany and Jayden walking away. 

They decide to suck it up and continue on, so the next day, they go to the house. Grace has turned even the Airbnb check-in into this entire fancy thing. Grace greets them by the dock in order to ferry them over, and then shows them around the house. Towards the end of the tour, Brittany mentions the book her mum wrote, and Grace says that Brittany’s mum reminds her of her own mum. Brittany says that she thinks her mum is full of shit, and that amuses Grace. Brittany isn’t sure why she decided to come clean to Grace about what she thinks of her mum… This is the first time Brittany has ever said anything like that before. 

Brittany wakes up in the middle of the night, and decides to go exploring on her own. Despite knowing that she should probably take a camera, she only takes her phone. In the hall, she runs into a girl, who shows her…??? The conservatory room? I don’t know, and I don’t think it matters. In there, the girl is like “Mummy issues? Yeah, I got those too.” Brittany then calls her mum and leaves a voicemail message. 

Chapter 44

“It’s time to cut our losses with this house. If I were a better mom, I would have done this a long time ago.”

Full offence, but if you were a better mum, you wouldn’t have even thought about going back to the house. Ever. 

You would have gone to therapy to talk through about how your brother-in-law molested you constantly when you were a child. 

Branches full of thorns shot from inside the house and wrapped themselves around Mom’s body. She only had enough time to shoot me a panicked look before she was ripped from the ground and tugged inside the house.

The problem with the suspense of this is that the book itself gave away that Grace is alive and well ten years from now. Not only that but she’s still running the Airbnb from the house

So whatever is going to happen, it can’t possibly have been that bad. 

I think we could have been friends for a lot longer, me and King, if we’d had enough time. But we didn’t.

Chapter 44 summary: Daisy obviously feels a lot of immediate relief upon ejecting Ivy from her body. She knows that Ivy isn’t gone-gone, and probably slunk back to the house. 

Grace says that they should leave this house behind, but Daisy says that it’s too late. The house has become a monster now… because of them. Mainly Grace, but Daisy also had a role to play in this as well. Instead, they decide to pack up some things and stay with Helga for a little bit. 

However, upon leaving the guest house, they find that the main house is now overgrown with thorns; butcherbirds are hopping all around the vines. 

As they go to leave, vines shoot out and pull Grace inside. Daisy tries to get inside, but the thorns are too much and she hurts herself. King shows up with a shotgun and blasts a hole through the vines and door, but the house immediately heals itself

Daisy tells him that there isn’t enough time for him to shoot and then jump through, so she’ll have to be the one who goes in. He begs her not to go, and Daisy understands that this is what he’d been trying to protect her against. That the futures he keeps seeing aren’t exactly great. Daisy doesn’t know what to do, but decides that she can’t stand around and let her mum be tortured. So she tells King to blast through the door, and when it breaks apart, she goes inside, leaving King standing outside. 

[bruhstories]

flinch

summary: the hero gets the girl, only the girl is an mi13 agent with abandonment issues, and the hero is the shell of a man, his alter and a moon god OR how marc, steven and khonshu learn to work together while you more or less babysit them

pairing: marc spector x fem!reader x steven grant

warnings and content: heavily canon-divergent, swearing, alcohol consumption, mentions of self harm, angst, some fluff, violence? (people fight lol, both reader and marc are a tad too violent), fem!bodied reader

wc: ~5.8k

a/n: pete, eric, brian and dane are actual comic book characters, pete is the head of mi13, the others are blade, captain britain and black knight respectively. this is a self-indulgent mess, please forgive me.

blue for khonshu, green for steven.

The coins attached to your belt dangle and jingle with each undulating movement of your hips — left, right, up, down. You've always been fascinated by belly dancing, and it wasn't until you actually tried it that you realised just how incredibly difficult it is. Now you've got more respect for those in the dancing industry.

Still, the mission was simple — infiltrate the Cairo black market by posing as a dancer, obtain information about Ammit's tomb, arrest Arthur Harrow and save the world.

Oh, but it turns out to be far from simple.

There's a big crowd of men ogling at you tonight, and you scan the masses looking for suspicious people. But you nearly trip and fall when you see a huge shadow towering over a man wearing a baseball hat and a grey jacket. If that's not suspicious, you don't know what is.

You decide to get off the stage and dance through the crowd, your fingers gently ghosting over men's shoulders and chests. With each step, your hips lift and drop, you smile and laugh, and hypnotise everyone with the way your body moves.

As you get closer to the target, the silhouette becomes more of a mummy and less of a shadow. There's a bird skull instead of a head, and it holds a moon-shaped sceptre, and for a moment, the man catches you looking up and not at him. You quickly shift your eyes away from the humanoid, and your irises meet his — brown and full of rage.

You want to talk to him, want to ask him a million questions. But you can't do that unless you blow your cover, so you go to someone else before dancing your way back to the stage. The song ends, and fortunately, so does your performance, and you dash to the changing room to remove your bedlah, face veil and accessories. You don't have the time to take off your makeup, but change into more comfortable clothes, tie your hair up and exit through the back door.

The humanoid is gone, and you think the man is gone too, but you spot the black baseball hat and move through the crowd towards him. When you gently touch his shoulder and he turns around, you're disappointed to see that it's not the same man you're looking for. With a scoff, you leave and focus on your mission. It's only then when your phone vibrates, and you get a message from your boss.

Marc Spector. Find him and you'll find the tomb.

Attached is a picture of the very man you're looking for, so you text your boss back.

I just missed him. Any other lead?

You order yourself a drink — you can't deal with the paranormal sober — and wait for a text which comes quicker than you hoped. It's a picture of five dodgy looking men, all wearing the same shade of burgundy.

Harrow's men. Beat the information out of them.

Finally, some action.

You down your drink and exit the bar, asking people left and right if they've seen any of the men, and luck has it that someone knows them. Not wasting any time, you go to the market, and through the hundreds of people, you spot the five men. They look much bigger than in the picture, and you know for a fact they'll put up a fight, so you have your knife and gun close by.

As you rush through the masses, so is Marc Spector, and you catch a glimpse of him before he disappears in an alleyway. The thugs follow him, and you follow them, quiet as a mouse. Back leaning on the wall, you listen to the conversation.

"Where's Harrow?"

"Fuck you." You hear one of the men spit.

"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

You decide to use a knife, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention to your location, but you hear a grunt and a groan, and you can't let Marc get his ass kicked. Emerging from behind the wall with your knife in its holster, you're surprised to see that it's not Marc who's getting his ass kicked, but one of the men. Still, five on one is unfair.

"Fellas, let's even the playing field." You distract them and Marc lands a powerful punch.

As one of the men runs towards you, you step aside and grab his arm, spinning him and throwing him into a wall before a second one grabs you from behind, rendering you unable to use your arms. So you use your legs instead, using the narrow alleyway to your advantage. You drag the man close enough to the wall and push yourself up, kicking your legs into a wall until you do a backflip, and the only thing the man can do is let go of you. He yells a beautiful 'fuck this bitch' in Arabic — thank god for the language lessons during your training — and leaps at you again.

Marc has his fair share of fighting, three on one is still bad, and the two of you end up cornered, back-to-back.

What a predicament. You hear a deep, mystical voice, and you look around to find its source. But you're the only one who looks around.

"Split up and meet me back here?" You suggest a tad too eager for action. These were the kinds of missions you wanted. The thrill, the chase, the satisfaction of getting every drop of information, through any means.

Marc nods, and with his approval, you kick one of the men in the chest and as he goes back flying, you avoid the punches from the other one, slipping through his fingers.

"Catch me if you can!" You taunt them and dash out of the alleyway and back into the marketplace. Luckily, they do chase you, and you're so grateful they do, because Marc couldn't have handled all five of them.

You run through the people and inside a building, and they follow close behind as you get to the rooftop. One of them pulls out a knife, and you pull out yours. He looks ridiculous, like he's trying to impress you with his knife skills, so you throw yours into his chest. He falls like a log and you look at the other one, having the audacity to shrug, as if you didn't mean for this to happen.

"So, where's Harrow?" You ask him, and he charges at you, but his movement is unpredictable, and he ends up slamming you into a wall. "Ow, motherfucker!" You headbutt him and as he goes back, snatches your sleeve and rips it. "Aw, man, I really liked this jacket."

You pull your gun out, because fuck this, you don't have time to play around, and aim it at the man.

"For the last time, where's Harrow?" You ask him, and he only sneers at you.

"Praised be Ammit." Is the only answer you get before he slits his own throat, blood gushing on your face and chest.

You don't even flinch. It's not the first time this happens.

*

You sit on a crate and wait for Marc, but you're fidgeting and tapping your hand on your knee impatiently. What if he got killed? What if you can't find Harrow and he releases Ammit?

The afternoon sun is blinding and scorching hot, but you can't take the coat you stole off of you because people might freak out when they see you covered in blood. You already did a poor job trying to wipe it off your face, specks of the red liquid dry and crusty on your cheeks and forehead. If anyone were to describe you now, they'd say you looked like a Picasso painting, but if Picasso was high and a mass murderer.

What if he doesn't want to meet you?

The intrusive thought drills into your brain with so much force you get up from the crate and pace up and down the alleyway.

You considered yourself an approachable person, although your coworkers might disagree, especially Eric and Brian, and new guy, Dane. Hell, maybe they're right, maybe your resting bitch face keeps people away. Maybe this is why you can't get a date. Not the fact that you work for the government's bloody paranormal department, definitely not.

Now is not the time to be thinking about your love life. You're done waiting, and you turn on your heels only to be met by Marc. And the mummy-thing. You practically stare at it, until Marc waves a hand in front of you.

"What are you looking at?"

"Nothing." You lie through your teeth.

She can see me.

Marc glances behind him for a moment and you assure him that you're only checking to see if he's been followed. That seems to please both the man and his... demon?

"Right, who the hell are you?" He demands.

"Oh, pff, where are my manners? Y/N Y/L/N, MI13." You scramble to find your badge and show it to Marc.

"MI13?" He's puzzled, and it's understandable.

"UK's paranormal division. You must be Marc Spector." You extend your hand but he doesn't shake it.

"The government's involved in this?"

"I mean, I don't suppose you want Ammit to get out and wreak havoc. Speaking of which, did you get anything out of them?"

"No, they died before saying a word." Marc sighs.

"Bollocks!" You kick the crate you once sat on, breaking it, and Marc flinches. Is this what Layla saw whenever he got angry? "Son of a fucking bitch!" You punch the wall right next to his head, knuckles cracking and turning white. Is this how Layla felt? "Piece of shit human being!" Your final punch goes through the window of the abandoned building next to you, and as the tiny pieces of broken glass break the skin of your fist, Steven takes a step back. Is this how Layla reacted?

It doesn't matter anymore, Marc signed the divorce papers a long time ago. She moved on, and so did he, in his own way.

"Right," You inhale as much air as you can, "this is fine, everything's fine. Chillax, Y/N, it's not like the world is coming to an end. Again." You laugh a bit too hysterically, and Marc is seriously wondering if he's the crazy one.

I like this one.

"Thanks." You reply without a thought behind your eyes, and quickly put your hand over your mouth. Marc's eyes widen, something like this has never happened before.

"Wait, you can hear him?"

You sigh, hitting your back against the wall and slowly sliding down, until you can rest your chin on your knees.

"MI13 deals with everything supernatural. I can interact with things most people can't even see, that's why they recruited me."

So why the long face?

"Um, because it's all kinds of fucked up? Ghosts are real, you know? And they aren't pretty, ethereal and transparent." You explain as Marc sits down next to you, resting his elbow on his bent knee. "They’re corporeal, and sometimes horrifying. Stuff of nightmares."

"Right, but Khonshu isn't a ghost, he's a god."

"Should I bow?" You snort at your own joke, Khonshu doesn't find it amusing. "If it's not human, nor extraterrestrial, I can see it. Witches, werewolves, fuck it, once I saw a leprechaun."

He laughs. For the first time in a painstakingly long time, Marc Spector laughs. Maybe because he didn't expect to hear it, maybe it's the way you said it, but the fact of the matter is, he laughs.

"I'm bloody serious, mate." You don't abstain from chuckling. "Proper leprechaun, green suit and a pot of gold!"

Marc is physically wiping a tear from his eyes, his abdominal muscles hurting from all the laughter.

"Jesus, I don't remember the last time I laughed like this." He rests his back against the wall. When was the last time he even smiled? Because he's pretty sure he didn't smile at his own damn wedding.

"I'd love to give you a personal comedy show, but I gotta tell my boss I fucked up."

You both did.

"Excuse you? We both tried out best, thank you very much." You quip back at the god, but you don't really mean it. Khonshu knows. He likes you more than he'll admit. Once is enough.

You text Pete and let him know what happened. Khonshu watches you curiously. He's always been fascinated by human technology, and he already has a plan.

She's trouble.

"I know." Marc says and you turn to look at him.

"Sorry?"

"Nothing." His smile fades and is replaced by the scowl you are now familiar with.

You rip a piece of cloth from the cotton jacket and pick the shiny pieces of glasses from your knuckles. Thankfully, the cuts aren't deep, so the blood seeping from your wounds isn't flowing heavily. You're disappointed by the outcome of your chase, but you should've seen it coming — Harrow is literally leading a cult.

But then, your supernatural awareness becomes stronger, more intense, and after wrapping the cloth around your hand, you look up you see Khonshu waving his sceptre. He explains that where he's taking Marc, you cannot come. And then it all becomes dark, a full eclipse.

"Alright, 's alright. Just, be safe. Don't do anything reckless." You chew on your lower lip as some sort of stone entrance materialises in front of you.

"Me or him?" Marc scoffs as he approaches the entrance.

"Both." You shrug and wait. Again.

*

Time seems to move slower, like you're counting each speck of sand that falls in an hourglass, only the sand never stops, and the glass is opaque.

Part of you is glad that you didn't go with them, you deal with enough paranormal shit on a daily basis, and you didn't want to be meddling with the affairs of gods, not when they can literally smite you.

But part of you is desperate for action, especially after you've just gotten a taste of it with that chase. And you can't trust Marc to tell you everything that happen at that meeting — you're missing out on important details and it's frustrating.

Pete's not answering either, you stare at your phone with impatience and eagerness, but those two feelings drastically change when your intrusive thoughts appear in your mind again.

They don't need you.

Not true.

They don't want you.

Not true?

You're useless.

It's not true, none of those things are, but the pit in your stomach tells you otherwise, and the dam breaks, and the tears pooling at your eyes stream down your face. The people walking down the alleyway don't exactly bother to check up on you, and you don't expect them to, you're covered in blood, sweat and dirt.

You bawl your eyes out, weeping uncontrollably as your fear of abandonment only increases in your mind and soul, and you dig your fingernails into the flesh of your cheeks until you leave a trail of crescent moon-shaped wounds.

Pete knew about your mental faculties when he hired you — you underwent a few psychological tests — which is why he allowed you to befriend fellow agents , and offered you weekly therapy sessions, which you gladly accepted. How could he not hire you? You can literally talk to ghosts (and gods, apparently), and your supernatural awareness is exactly what he needed from you. But he never expected your powers to take such a toll on you, nor will you ever tell him. You cannot lose this job, and you cannot let Harrow win.

The wounds you inflicted to yourself begin to fade — you wouldn't have drawn blood — and your phone vibrates. Pete's text tells you of a billionaire who owns what might help you find Ammit's tomb.

I want to bring Marc with me.

You text back, and Pete agrees, arranging a meeting with the billionaire tonight. The ground shakes, the eclipse disappears, and in front of your very eyes, the same entrance as before materialises. Marc and Khonshu step out of it, and you eagerly get up from the ground.

"You're back!" You tell him them, voice going up an octave and if you were a dog, your tail would be wagging.

"You look like shit." Marc deadpans, immediately noticing your puffy red eyes.

"Periods, am I right?" You lie. "Anyway, we have a new lead!" You perk up and your face lights up. "Anton Mogart, billionaire, probably an art thief. Man's got a mini Cairo in his backyard." You show Marc the picture on your phone. "Pete says owns–"

Senfu's sarcophagus.

"Oh, I'm so glad I met you!" You flash Khonshu your best smile.

"So, what, do we go in there and steal it?" Marc catches a glimpse of Steven in the broken window on the ground.

It's a bloody sarcophagus, mate, where are you going to put it? Up your-

"Shut it."

"I didn't say anything?" You study Marc with a raised brow. This isn't the first time he says random words, and Khonshu didn't say anything either. So, whatever is going on, it's not supernatural, you can rule that one out. "Oh, shit, I'm still bleeding!" You completely forgot about your knuckles until now, when you notice how bloody the cloth around your hand is.

It's funny how much Marc can relate to you. In fact, he hasn't found anyone in the world who is so similar to him, yet so different. But he can't allow himself to develop feelings, not even platonic. He's got a debt to pay, and he just wants to go back home and drink.

Yet despite only meeting you now, he enjoys your company, enjoys your voice and your personality, he enjoys, well, you.

You tell Marc the plan, and you offer to bring him to your hotel to take a shower, but he refuses, promising to meet you at the docks instead. He is not one bit surprised when he sees you covered in blood under the coat, but he is surprised to see just how unfazed you are by it.

Just like him.

*

One thing your MI13 training couldn't get rid of was your fear of large bodies of water. You know how to swim, you need to, but whenever you ride a boat or a canoe, you nearly piss your pants. It's a beautiful view, truly, the way the sky reflects in the gentle waves, the fairy lights dangling above you as you hold onto the bench for dear life.

Talk to her.

Marc groans. It feels like a reply to something, but you don't know to what.

"Do you want to get over our story again?" You offer, and he nods.

"We're a married couple of archaeologists, we want to replicate Senfu's sarcophagus and bring the copy to the British Museum. I'm Rufino Estrada, you're Margaret Atwell."

"Perfect!" You smile. You've lived so many lives through this job, and you wouldn't have it any other way. Not now. Especially not now. You've only known him for half a day, but Marc awakens something in you, something you thought long gone, something you thought you lost.

"How well do you know Egyptian mythology?" The question catches him off guard. He wants to tell you that Steven knows a lot, but he's not entirely sure how to say it. He's not entirely sure of what's happening.

"I barely scratch the surface." Marc decides to answer. "You?"

"I didn't know Khonshu was the Egyptian moon god. No offence. But we're supposed to be archaeologists, we don't know shit about it." You laugh at how ridiculous this situation is.

He won't admit it, not even to himself, but Marc is mesmerised by how pretty you are, especially now, without the blood, dirt and smeared makeup on your face. And if he didn't know any better, he would think you're some kind of angel, when you're really the devil — tempting, cunning and oh, so beautiful.

"We'll figure something out."

*

Of course, things don't go according to plan. They never do, but you don't expect Harrow of all people to arrive at Mogart's estate and turn him against you so quickly. All the planning and pretending gone, in a matter of seconds. A battle ensues, and that's when you see what's really going on with Marc.

He summons a suit, clearly a gift from Khonshu, but at some point, it changes, it's different, like a completely new man, and it distracts you from taking the burnt map in the sarcophagus. It's only until the other suit comes back that you remember your goal, you snatch the map and exit the glass pyramid, only to be met by one of the guards who's putting up a fight.

Marc, on the other hand, has no problem beating half a dozen of Mogart's men, his prowess and strength increased by the suit. You get kicked in the abdomen and end up rolling on the grass, vulnerable and exposed to gunshots, so Marc swiftly comes to your aid, sheltering you from the bullets with his cloak.

It's magical, it's enchanting, and you would love to sit back and watch him fight, but you pull out your gun when the guards stop shooting, and skilfully shoot some of them as Marc covers you. He takes out the rest of the men with his moon-shaped knives, and lands one final blow to Mogart.

*

"Sooo, are we going to talk about what just happened? When your suit changed?" You squint at the pieces of cloth, trying to piece them back together.

Marc sighs, hands gripping the steering wheel tighter and tighter. Of course you had to notice that, you're a damn government agent. But what exactly can he say? That there's a little man living in his head, and he has his own life, his own thoughts, his own feelings?

"That was Steven." He replies, and it doesn't faze you a bit.

"Your alter?" You don't look at him when you ask, too frustrated with the map.

The question hits him like a train. You're not stupid, he figured that much out. You have done research, and encountered shit Marc can't even begin to imagine, so this is child's play for you.

"I guess." Marc parks the car on the side of the road. There's nothing but sand and a gust of wind surrounding the two of you, and a sky so beautiful that it takes your breath away.

You take the map, sellotape and your phone, and place them on the hood of the car, and he joins you to try and figure it out. It's an impossible task, and Marc grows visibly frustrated, hateful, even. When he punches the metal hood and leaves an indentation in it, you don't flinch, you just keep trying.

"Fuck!" He shouts, not at you, not at anyone, but you don't flinch.

When he kicks the rubber wheel of the car so hard it slightly moves, you don't flinch.

"Marc?" Your voice is saccharine, and he hasn't heard you speak so gently before. "How good is Steven with puzzles?"

No. He doesn't want to let him take control of the body. He's going to fuck everything up and get himself killed.

"Good." Marc admits. "But I can't let him out. I don't know if I can take the body back."

"It's worth a shot. Please, I can't go through another apocalypse." You beg, and your pleading seems to move him, because he rips the side mirror of the car, takes the map and sellotape and walks away.

I summon the suit, you summon the worm.

You look at Khonshu, wondering what the hell he's talking about, then look back at Marc. It's the same body, but different. He doesn't sit straight, he lacks confidence, he's shaking, but he's doing something. Slowly, you walk towards him, trying not to scare the man, because you don't know him and how he might react, so you just whisper his name as you crouch next to him.

"Oh, hi, hello, I'm Steven with a V." His smile is sweet, genuine.

"Hi, Steven with a V. I'm Y/N." You smile back, and you can't remember the last time your voice was this... calm. "It's alright if you can't do it, but I appreciate the help."

What the fuck are you doing? You're never this mild. You don't ask, you demand, you don't speak, you shout. You don't thank, you take. So, why is it that when Steven appeared, you changed, too? Is it because you're trying not to scare him? Do you just adapt to your surroundings like that?

"Done." Steven shows you the map, held together by the tape, and you're speechless. He did it!

"Holy shit, Steven, that's amazing!" You squeeze his arm, your other hand grazing over the map. You don't notice the blush that takes over his cheeks when you praise and hold him, so he just explains that it's an astronomical map, and that if you follow the constellations, it should get you to Ammit's tomb.

"The only problem is, well, the sky changed from 2.000 years ago, so unless we find someone who lived back then, we cannot track the location." Steven sighs.

I remember that night. I remember every night.

Khonshu walks up a hill, taking in the night sky, the moon and the stars, and Marc follows behind. You, on the other hand, take out your phone and start googling. It doesn't take long for you to find a website that replicates the ancient sky, and after some tapping and and swiping, you finally find the coordinates you were looking for.

"Alright, I found it." You tell them, and they turn on their heels to look at you.

Found what?

"The location." You shrug. "How else were we supposed to see the sky 2.000 years ago?"

Perhaps the two of you aren't so useless after all.

"Hey, you said you like me." You argue with an ancient god. Mark that one off your bucket list. "You alright, Steven?"

He nods, dipping his hands in the sand. He looks so fragile, so innocent, with the sand slipping through his fingers.

"I've always wanted to visit Egypt. But not like this." Steven's smile is bittersweet, and you can't help but feel bad for him being dragged in this mess.

"Hey, after we save the world maybe we can go for an ice-cream and visit the pyramids." You try to comfort him.

"I'd like that." He dusts the sand off his palms and heads to the car. "I suppose there's no chance for things to go back the way they were."

You shake your head.

"If it helps you feel any better, I thought the same thing when I started seeing ghosts. I guess I just got used to it." You get in the car, but this time you're driving.

"Marc mentioned that. What's it like?"

"Scary." You give him an honest answer, and again you wonder what is going on. Normally you'd play it cool, you'd joke about. Marc, or Steven, or whoever this man is, is trouble. It's like each of them brings out a different side of you. "I remember every single one." You start the engine and grip the steering wheel.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Steven is so genuine, it awakens something else, some kind of instinct, like you want to cherish and protect him.

"It's alright. Like I said, I'm used to it. Look, I don't want you to think I'm an asshole, but when we get to Ammit's tomb, I'm going to need Marc back." You admit.

Steven nods. He knows he's not as skilful as Marc, he can’t even kill in self-defence. Sure, he packed a punch in the suit, but he can't save the damn world.

"We'll do it together." You tell him, as if reading his mind. "All four of us. Try to get some sleep maybe?"

"No, Marc usually gets the body when I sleep. I'd like to stay like this until we get there, if it's alright with you."

"Yeah! Yeah, of course."

*

You've never questioned destiny before, just went with the flow, rolled with it, improvised. But meeting Marc and Steven feels natural, like you were always meant to meet them. The entire drive to Harrow's location he told you facts about Egypt, stories from work, how he discovered Khonshu and Marc, and made you laugh. You told him all kinds of crazy shit you encountered that made him feel much better, told him about MI13 and your friends there, even tried to recruit him.

You don't want the ride to end, you don't want to fight — which is surprising. You just want to stay in the car and talk to Steven, so it pains you when you ask him to bring Marc back. But Steven is a lot more rational than he shows, so he switches.

"What's the plan?" You ask Marc.

"Not dying." He gets out of the car and summons the suit, and it almost looks like it's shining in the full moonlight.

"Fair enough." You reach in the back seat and pull out a bag filled with guns and ammunition before exiting the car.

"I'll go uphill, you stay here." The hood and bandages on his face disappear, and he gives you a very condescending look.

"Ha, no the fuck I won't." You snort and watch him walk to your side of the car.

"Listen, they're dangerous-"

"I know, okay? It's my mission as much as it is yours." You scoff and clasp the holster belts around your waist, hips and thighs.

"You can't heal." Marc still argues with you.

"Yeah, no shit. It's in my job description that I may die." You check the guns for bullets and shove them in the holsters. Should you take knives? You never know.

"Fine. I'll go high, you go low." He gives up on trying to convince you. "Try not to die."

"A kiss for good luck?" You joke after arming yourself from head to toe. He's not laughing, and it's not like you expected him to.

Instead, Marc grabs your waist and pulls you closer to him before crushing his lips onto yours. It's a sloppy kiss, imperfect and ferocious, but it's absolutely electric, like molten lava coursing through your veins.

He never had any hopes of catching feelings, not when the fate of millions of people is at stake, but you hopped in his life like a fucking jackhammer and completely demolished all the thick and heavy walls he built.

The kiss softens, becomes gentle and delicate, and you breathe Steven into his lips, his nod only confirming your hunch.

You kiss him back without hesitation, and you're wondering if this broken man, if his severed personality, is what you've needed your whole life. Marc, to keep you alive, and Steven, to keep you sane.

Steven pulls away, and you notice the formal suit he's wearing, a chuckle escaping your lips.

"This is strange. I don't think any of us meant to switch." Is Steven's apology, but you press your index finger onto his lips.

"Ice-cream later, murder now."

"Right, of course." He nods, and Marc is back. "Can this get any weirder?"

"We'll have to survive to find out." You grin.

*

It was a long night and a long fight. Harrow had an army of followers shooting left, right and centre, and he nearly unsealed Ammit, but Khonshu stepped in, and so did other gods. You called Pete to arrest Harrow and his followers, which didn't stand well with the Moon God, but he reluctantly agreed, as long as Arthur couldn't be pardoned.

Tens of MI13 and MI6 agents drove to the dig site, arresting them and sending them to their respective countries for prosecution, and Pete allowed you to have the day off before going back to the UK, so, as promised, you took Steven out for an ice-cream. And a coffee. God, you need a coffee.

"Oh my goodness, this is delicious!" The scoops of lemon and raspberry ice-cream melt together in one orange-pinkish mess that trickles down Steven's fingers.

"It's the least I can do." You enjoy your two scoops of bubblegum and your cappuccino. "Thank you for everything, Steven, the map, the company, the kick in that guy's balls." He watches you like a puppy. "The kiss."

His cheeks burn, and it's not the noon sun.

"I really didn't mean to interfere."

"I like you. Both of you." You hide your smile behind the ice-cream cone, but Steven catches it and smiles back. "I know we've just met, but I don't know, you're an interesting man."

Ahem.

"You're not too bad either, old man." You laugh. "But I prefer my men human."

"Thanks for saving the day." Steven licks the ice-cream off his fingers. It's an innocent gesture, but it has your mind running wild.

"Like I said, you played an important part in this. Take the damn compliment." You urge him and he nods. "Hey, when we go back, do you think I can take you out on a date?"

Steven nearly chokes on his dessert. He missed a date because of Marc, and it took him a lot of time and patience to build his self-confidence back up, but here you are, asking him on a date.

"Me or Marc?" He pouts, his own intrusive thoughts getting the better of him.

"You. I expect Marc to ask me out himself." You tell him nonchalantly as you casually stir your drink.

It's strange, like some sort of polyamorous relationship, and he never once thought he'd find himself in this situation, but it works. It's natural.

"Yeah, alright. It's a date." Steven grins from ear to ear. "Oh, he wants to talk to you."

You nod and wait for Marc to take over the body, and there he is, scowl and all. He's not saying anything, just staring at the melting ice-cream. He doesn't want to eat it, he knows Steven likes it too much.

"Doesn't this weird you out?" Marc eventually asks.

"Should it?" You finish your dessert and wipe your hands with a tissue. "If you're fine with this, then I don't see a problem."

"I-" He's speechless, for the first time in a long time. Not because you're so open minded, but because he hasn't thought of Layla since he met you, since he saw you dancing on that stage, even if he couldn't see your face, he could see your eyes. And something about you had him hooked like a drug.

"Cat got your tongue?" You poke your tongue out at him and he just wants to ruin your mouth. It probably still tastes like bubblegum, and even if he hates that flavour, he hates you less.

"Fuck it. You like Chinese food?"