#So like I guarantee if they laid off those listed characters and got some more alts for other characters it’d STILL sell

[childofaura]

Gaius (my candy bestie) for the artist ask game. He’s drawn by two different artists so far.

THAT is a guy who could use another alt. Cordelia has four alts and Tharja has six (I count Rhajat and Resplendent Rhajat as alts, I don’t care if anyone protests they are the same damn character). Meanwhile Gaius only has two: his summer and his Resplendent. It’ll be three once Asugi gets added.

But for now, let’s talk about the best artist for Candy-Ass (affectionate). Unsurprisingly, I’m going with Argon:

Amazing color work, especially in the cape, extra candy in his hands, great posing, and a good costume design for Muspell (even if his unit type doesn’t fully fit). Sadly none of Argon’s trademark expression work but it’s still the best art for Gaius so far.

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans are Space Orcs, “The verdict.”

Was writing very quick today, so forgive the typos, and I hope you like it 

The detective woke to a familiar face only a few feet away from his. He was being shaken back and forth and with every shake his head pounded. Despite being able to see it took  him more than a few minutes to finally understand what was even going on.

“Detective, detective! Wake up, there we go, that’s it. You hit your head pretty hard.”

When his vision finally focused down and he took the time to recognize the face in front of him, he yelped in sudden surprise and tried to leap to his feet. However, his legs had other ideas, and he sagged hard towards the ground, his head pounding and nauseous.

Admiral Vir laid a hand on his shoulder, “Woah there hotshot take it easy. Gonna need you to stay still so I can take care of this.”

He groaned and tried to swat the other man away, “You-!

“Didn’t do this.” HE said, grabbing the Detective by the wrist and holding it tight as he used his left hand, and a damp cloth to wipe blood from his head, “Think back a little and maybe you’ll remember.” 

Confused by the man helping him, and his own throbbing head, he did his best to think back.

He remembered being outside the cells watching the cameras. He remembered dozing off in his seat a little.

And then it came to him.

He remembered being violently dragged off his chair and into the dark bak room, a hand over his mouth only to be set upon by the three escaped human prisoners. Things were so silent and so quick that it was hard to rationalize what happened. His eyes, still trying to focus, looked around the room and the wide open floor which constituted some kind of bar or club, with chairs and tables and seats, and a dance floor. However, everything was deserted as of now, and he was sitting back against one of the couches, his legs sticking out straight before him.

Admiral Vir leaned forward a bit, eyes narrowed in concentration as he parted the matted hair on top of the detective’s scalp. The expression the detective had come to know, one of indignant, childish petulance, was gone, and in its place was a serious expression of worry and concern that made the man look nearly twenty years older than he was.

This was the man he had expected when he heard admiral, not the sass mouthing over talkative prisoner he had been trying to interrogate for the past day or two. Admiral Vir sat back on his heels, his expression serious still, but less worried now, “So, you got yourself whacked pretty hard. Luckily for you the bleeding stopped and the cut isn’t too deep. Normally I would suggest finding a doctor to make sure you haven't badly concussed yourself, but considering the circumstances, we don’t really have that option.

We? He thought with some incredulity repeating the phrase before he knew what he was saying, “We…. What do you mean by we. I am the detective and YOU are the suspect.”

A little bit of the sarcastic childishness returned as the Admiral rolled his eyes to the heavens, “You are a pretty shit detective if you haven’t figured out by now that I am on your side.” Admiral Vir sat back on his heels, his one green eye staring the detective in the face, surprisingly devoid of any sort of malice.

“I’m going to be honest with you about exactly what happened, no sarcasm this time, no jokes. I was called into this planet as a consult to a murder.” he held up a hand as the detective went to protest, “Yes, I know, I am no detective, but I was asked by the GA, so I went. When we got there we found a dismembered Tesraki body in the back of his shop, based on the tourist area and and violence of the crime, I determined that humans had done it. WHen I saw the missing limbs I immediately assumed this was some sick plot about trying to find exotic meat or something, but it turns out I was wrong on that front.”

The admiral Stood and went over to toss the damp rag into a trashcan before returning, “I returned to our hotel room later that night with Krill and Sunny and sat down to compile a list of possible names. I found about twenty, but by the time I was done, it was already too late at night to do anything. I tried to sleep, but none came, so I left to go on a walk. Naturally my preoccupied mind let me towards the part of the city where those twenty names were registered.

It was only by luck that I ran into that alley at all. I couldn’t let the Tesraki die, so I stupidly jumped in and nearly got my throat cut once or twice. I did knock two of them out and break the sternum of the other one.” He patted the leg which the detective happened to know was mechanical, “I always forget how strong this piece of hardware is, but anyway, I called the authorities and the men were carted away. The Tesraki was fine when he left. I remember wrapping my jacket around him and carrying him out to wait for emergency vehicles. That was the last time I saw him. WHen we returned to the precinct the day after, was when you showed up and arrested me.”

The detective sat, his head reeling slowly in confusion and suspicion, “But I saw the security tapes. That’s not what happened.”

“Can you guarantee those security tapes werent doctored. Were you the first person to have your hands on them?” 

He paused and then shook his head, “Well, no.”

“And do you admit it is kind of weird for me to be arrested the day after the three men in the alley?” “I mean a little.”

“And based on all the research you have done on me, isn’t this a bit out of character.”

The detective paused unwilling to admit that he had been having some doubts. Sure he had been given a preliminary report of the Admiral’s criminal history, but when he got a better look at it, most of his actions had been justified. In the Drev war, he had been a member of operation Steel eye, a drugged young man being taken advantage of by a system. During the first contact incident, his excitement had led to the discovery of aliens, though the bran had misinterpreted his enthusiasm as hunting. His return to the Drev home planet had involved him spending time to learn their language and about their culture. And his murder of the burg that had inevitably caused the war was an act in self defence, and he couldnt have known that spitting on the creature was going to kill it.

He sighed deeply, “Alright, you have a point…. But I still think your an annoying asshole.”

The man smiled, “I get that a lot.”

“Anyway point of the story is, I woke up to something last night and the cell was open. I think they were trying to frame me for your murder, but the Tesrak idetective came into help at the alst second, and told me to get out as soon as I can.”

He supposed that made sense, and fit into his experience, “And what do you plan to do now? How are you going to get out of this. IF this is really a plot to frame you, and the department is involved, we can assume it comes from high up, with someone powerful enough to at least consider themselves above the law.”

The Admiral paused, tapping his fingers against his knee, “Did you come here in your own ship?”

*** “You must find the admiral and the detective. Leave admiral Vir alive, but make sure the detective dies. In the meantime, I will take this evidence and present it to the GA council, they are unlikely to disbelieve video evidence of the crime.”

The Kree sighed, but nodded, “It will be done.

At that announcement Sunny suddenly grabbed krill by his shoulder and hauled him back into the darkness just in time for the Kree to step out of the office followed by the Tesraki senator.

WIth one hand over Krill’s mouth, Sunny pulled the two of them behind a very large potted plant, watching as the two made their way down the hall. 

They had just disappeared around the corner, when Krill turned to look at Sunny, “Why didn’t we jump them?”

Sunny turned to frown at him, “Because what were we going to do, threaten to eat him? Besides, no one would believe us, at least not here. I have a better idea.” “A better idea?”

“Just trust me”

***

Admiral Vir pulled his jacket up against the rain as they came to the launch field. It wasn’t that far away from the department, so they had to keep a low profile, which was hard as two humans, though the cover of rain helped some. The Detetive checked around the landing strip and then motioned the admiral to follow him quickly. Adam did as told and hurried after him, until they came upon  a little black/silver ship at the back of the lot.

Adam raised an eyebrow, “A rundi short cruiser, how did you manage to score one of these babies.” he ran his hand along her smooth aerodynamic hull.

“A what? Oh this thing.” He shrugged, “It was given to me for this mission.”

Adam frowned, “This thing? You mean this work of art.

The man just stared at it, ‘It’s a spaceship.”

“It is a shuttle that can warp! And you are calling it just a spaceship. It’s one of only ten ships in existence like this. The Detective shrugged unimpressed, and Adam sighed long and loud, “You have no appreciation for the finer things in life. I bet you don’t even know how to drive it.”

“Its autopilot, why would I want to drive it?”

Adam put his head in his hands, “You’re going to make me cry.”

The door to the little ship hissed open, and the two of them climbed inside. The interior was almost as sleek as the outside, and Adam couldn’t help but run his hands over the console and controls as he went to take a seat in the copilot chair as the other man sat down and began slowly flipping up pre programmed controls.

Adam sighed as the detective flipped through the instruction manual.

“Do you want to drive/” The other man snapped 

“I thought you’d never ask.” Adam retired, reaching out a hand for the controls.

Just then the two of them were blinded as a bright spotlight beamed down upon them.

“Admiral Vir, step away from the controls and come out with your hands up.”

“Shit!” 

The detective was just reaching out to power down the shuttle, when Adam reached forward, and flicked up the last few switches with lightning speed, turning over the engine and grabbing the controls.

“What the hell are you doing!” The detective yelled “You can’t fly this thing manual, it's too fas-”

He punched the throttle, and they rocketed into the air, doing a tight barrel roll to the left narrowly avoiding the emergency shuttle and equipped high beams. The detective screamed, and then choked off as the G force slammed him back into his seat.

Adam caught their spin and leveled out, coming face to face with another three cruisers. Pulling back on the joystick with his left hand, they shot up vertically before he took them into a spinning vertical dive that had them cutting past the two shuttles, now spinning in confusion.

The Detective screamed again as they pulled out of the dive and back into a vertical climb. On the rear cameras, he could see the three shuttles meandering around in confusion, and thought they were out of the woods for a moment before another set of beams fell on them, and a sleek black ship, of a make he could not identify, fell in behind them.

He punched it harder, pulling into a tight backward loop. WIthout his flight suit the G forces behaved brutally causing his vision to blacken at the edges, but by tensing his belly and chest, he continued to force blood into his head. Off to the side, the G force had been to much for the Detective who was hit with a sudden bout of G-lock and passed out, flopping against his harness like a fish.

He pulled out of the dive just behind the pursuing shuttle, and then quickly cut up and left, pushing the ship to the extremes of it’s speed. As they rose higher into the atmosphere there was an automatic cachunk as the atmospheric engine moved over to the compressed warp/funsio nengine.

The detective flopped around like a dead fish for a few more seconds before his head slowly rolled back upright. He looked horribly green.

“IF you throw up I swear to the Leviathan, I am going to kill you.”

Behind him the little black ship was maintaining a distant pursuit with some difficulty.

Once out of the atmosphere and heading into high orbit, Adam reached down and engaged the warp. 

The detective reached out a hand, “Wait!”

But it was too late, the universe around them began to spiral, folding over on itself and reflecting back the space like a mirror. The feeling was terrible like being folded in half or pulled apart as everything far away appeared close and everything close appeared far away.

Admiral Vir felt himself getting ready to pass out against the full power of an undampened warp his brain unable to fathom what he was seeing as space around them was compressed.

They came out with a sudden jolt that threw them against their seats jerking them forward and then back with a sudden halt.

The Detective groaned piteously where he was passed out in his seat Ad had barely retained consciousness, but shook it off as he reached out to grab the controls.

A soft dripping noise had him turning his head to the side, upon which time he grinned rather smugly and turned his head back to the front where the rundi planet, Irus, glowed like a blue and orange marble against the sky. The Detective didn’t wake up for a good few minutes, but when he did, he was soon followed by cruising and a face reddened by embarrassment, “Your first undampened  short warp I take it?” Adam said grinning.

HTe man didn’t answer.

Still grinning, adam laughed, “Don’t worry, it happened to the best of us at one point. Most people aren't able to keep their bladder in check during thief first warp.”

“You’re an asshole, you know that.”

“Well aware, but at least this asshole isn’t sitting in a puddle of his own urine.” His merriment was shut up a few second later as their shuttle jerked violently forward, “Shit!” He yelled, forcing the ship back onto it’s trajectory. He took a look at the back camera to see that, somehow, the other ship was still following them.

“Hold on to your hat!” He yelled, punching the throttle and rocketing them towards the blue surface of the planet.

THe Detective screamed again as they roared into the atmosphere at incredible speeds, fire licking up at the sides as atmospheric friction caught up with them. Adam knew what he was doing, he knew just how much power it would take to burnt through the hull or rip off her wings. Knowing his opponent had a less advanced ship, he hoped that they would either, overestimate their abilities or pull back.

And he was right, they did for a while, though not in time as a contingent of Rundi defence ships shot up after them demanding identification over the radio. He was too busy flying to respond, and the Detective could barely function as a human being. The other ship was swarmed, but Adam managed to pull them down into a tight inverted roll backwards and vertical before pulling up and rolling to the side.

The manuver was more than the rundi ships could handle and they lost him as they roared towards the planet.

The city was closer now, close enough that he could see the spires of the GA council chamber. 

He soared over the launch filed.

“What are you doing!” The detective yelled 

“We don’t have time!” Adam snarled pulling back on the joystick and reversing the thrusters to come to a halt right over the open GA courtyard, WIth steady hands he lowered himself into the open plane as delegates divided out of the way. Guards ran from the outer edge and inward surrounding his ship.

He turned and threw open the doors running out into a wall of heat that battered against him without mercy. The guards froze in confusion as they saw him, and he took the moment to push past.

Behind him the detective staggered out onto the marble barely able to walk, moving about like he was drunk.

WIth a steady stride, adam made his way towards the council chamber.

***

“And as the presented evidence shows, Admiral Vir is a murderer.” The Tesraki delegate announced shocked whispers rising up around him as they stared as the video footage, “In light of these events, I move to-”

At the end of the hall, a door onto the floor slammed open, and everyone turned in shock just in time to see a vrul and a Drev step onto the floor. The Drev was just about to open her mouth to speak when another door slammed open.

The entire delegation moved to their feet with shouts of shock and surprise as Admiral Vir stepped onto the floor, “I OBJECT!.” he paused frowning, “Wait, that’s for weddings isn’t it.”

The chairwoman stood, “Admiral Vir, What do you have to say for yourself.”

Before he could say anything Sunny cut in, “He’s being framed!”

The Tesraki counselor rose to his feet, “Lies, do you have proof?”

“Uh, well no.”

“YES!”

Adam turned to sunny, shook himself and turned back to the delegation, “Er YES!” he turned his head to look at Sunny, “We do/”

She stepped forward, “I have evidence that admiral Vir was being framed, framed by.” She turned and jabbed a finger at the Tesraki, “YOU.” He stepped back in shock, and a muttering rose up around them.

“How dare you.”

Sunny marched forward and past the guards, reaching up to hand something to the chairwoman, who took it and passed it to an assistant, who hurried over to insert the chip into their system.

A voice rose over the speakers, “Get out there, FIND HIM and make sure he doesn’t ruin this for me. If this all works out, by the end of the month I will be chairman of the GA, and the humans will simply be an afterthought.” said the Tesraki delegates voice.

Hundreds of eyes turned to look at him in open shock.

He stepped back hand raised, “I have no idea where this came from.

THe second Tesraki delegate stood a look of absolute rage on her face, “How could you!” she snapped, “How could you betray us like this.”

He stammered, “But he, he escaped prison, he killed the detective!”

Just then, the doors at the end of the room opened up and the Detective came waddling into the room looking miserable and nauseous, but very much alive. Following him Came the Tesraki detective, hauling an unconscious Kree in his wake, who he dumped on the floor as soon as he made it to the center.

The Tesraki was looking a little more worse for ware, his ear torn, green blood staining his fur

He raised a hand and pointed a finger at the delegate, “The Admiral is telling the truth, he was framed, and THIS TESRAKI threatened my department to do it. I was scared at first as my family is in grave peril but I couldn't stand by and watch a good man be framed for selfish reasons.” He turned to the delegation, “He is angry that the humans have taken so much Tesraki economic power, despite the fact that.” he turned an accusatory eye on the Tesraki, “The average citizen has never been so well off. Because of human tourism, we are thriving. The only one’s different are the corporations, and now this Tesraki would have it so we go back to the old days when the average citizen was poor and the elite ruled.”

Sunny nodded, “There is more to that recording. We tracked it by following the a spy who was charged with making tampered video footage to incriminate Admiral Vir. You know him, you know him as a human who has always worked for the betterment of the GA. There is no chance that he could have done anything lie what they are saying.

There was a pause in the crowd for a moment, and then Lord Celzex stood, “IT is as I said, Admiral Vir would never do such a crime, and we have no reason to believe he would start now.”

The Tesraki delegate snarled, though was almost immediately cold cocked in the face by the other Tesraki delegate as guards moved in from the sides of the room to detain the Tesraki and the Kree.

In the chaos Admiral Vir and Sunny were pushed to the side, pinned into a small corner.

She looked down at him, and he looked up at her.

“Thanks for having my back.”

She smiled, “no problem, I’ve decided I want to keep your around for a while.”

He grinned, “I hope you do.” He stretched up on the balls of his feet and she leaned down, their foreheads pressed against one another for a quick moment before disengaging and beng swept away on the tide of questions and confusion. 

[batarella]

I Don’t Hate You - Part 12 (Jason Todd x Reader)

the angst gets even worse from here, folks.

WORDS: 6303 WARNINGS: ALMOST SEX, VIOLENCE, MINOR CHARACTER DEATH, SO MUCH ANGST

Masterlist

I DON’T HATE YOU - MASTERLIST

-----

Then

“There’s no way I’m getting out of Jersey.”

“NYU? Come on, if you're taking a science course might as well go for the best.”

“New York’s just as shitty as Gotham. At least I grew up here.”

“If you’re staying in Gotham anyway, might as well take a course you’re actually interested in.”

You turned your head to the side, where Jason’s chin was resting on your shoulder. He shifted on the bed and let his legs on either sides of you fold up so you could hold the laptop better. “I’m not interested in any course, for your information.”

“You have to go to college, Y/N.”

You grunted, and you felt his arms around your waist tighten. “I can't believe you still hadn’t thought of this,” he said. “Some kids have their whole lives planned out all the way until they’re fifty.”

You hated it when he was so patronizing, but didn’t reject a kiss to your shoulder when he thought your attention was too far off into the laptop’s screen.

“Okay. All this is way too intimidating. What if I get the hang of it and decide I wanna proceed to medicine? I don’t want that.”

“You’re already hating the you five years from now. Chill out.”

“Ugh.” You scrolled through the list of universities nearby. “I’m not taking a sciences course.”

“Although I agree, Chemistry, Biology, and Physics are the highest marks in your record. It’d be much easier for you in the long run.”

“I don’t care. I hate it.” He snickered at your bitter annoyance when you shut the laptop close and set it aside on a chair near your bed. You then leaned against his chest and he immediately dug into your neck. “What about you?” you slightly pulled away. “What are you gonna take?”

Jason let out a long breathe out from his nostrils into the back of your hair. Tightly, you held his arms that were around you and craned your head to the side so you could look at him.

“What would you say if I took English Literature?”

“I think that’s amazing.” You tickled his cheek with your gentle finger. “Gotham U?”

“Yeah. It’s the only course I can think of that doesn’t exhaust me just thinking about it.”

You swung your thighs over to rest on his leg, and he started fiddling with the hem of your jeans, tracing your ankle. “You’ll do great.”

He smiled and kissed the corner of your mouth before pulling your head to rest on his cheek. “You know you’ll have to choose a course soon.”

“I know.” You looked down.

You weren’t one to look forward to college much. And it wasn’t because you had no plans at all. You just had no idea if you were to go out of the city, find a job somewhere that didn’t sound too repulsive or too much of a chore or go to college perhaps, but that felt way too much of a commitment to a future you had no idea about. What were you supposed to do?

If your grades had a say in it, science was the safest choice. Maybe even literature. But it mostly spiked all because of Jason’s help. What if you’d fail just as it was too late to turn back? You couldn’t afford for that to happen. And if anything, the only major drive was choosing a place where Jason wasn’t so far away.

Up until now, it seemed too early to make that kind of decision.

“What about music?”

You looked at him. “Funny.”

“I’m serious.”

“My dad will kill me.”

“Since when do you listen to your dad?”

Never. Never in your whole life did you listen to whatever he had to say. “Point taken.”

“You’re good at it. You’re amazing at writing songs. And your voice definitely guarantees you a spot.”

“I don’t know,” you settled deeper into his chest. “I never really thought of that.”

“Does the thought of spending the next few years of voice lessons repulse you that much?”

“You know for a fact that it won't just be voice lessons,” you scoffed.

“But does it though?”

You sighed and let your nose touch his jaw to give you that slight little push you always needed when you tried to figure shit out. “I guess not.”

“Well, you should give it a thought. Gotham College of the Arts looks promising.”

Looking up at him, you felt his arms shift, and you went along with him so you were now straddling his lap. He kissed you, gently at first before you felt his teeth nip at your tongue. “Also, it’s fifteen minutes away from Gotham U. Won't have to go so far just to see you.” He brushed a strand of your hair away from your cheeks.

Well, if he put it that way, maybe you will give this a shot.

You kissed him to relieve yourself of any more tiring contemplation about a future you regret never having planned out by the time you got out of middle school. You lightly swayed, letting him lean against the headboard. Soft. Subtle. Elusive. His lips were delicate, and so were his snaking hands that were crawling its way up your thighs. You giggled when he thumbed that sweet little spot in your groin he found out about months after you started dating.

You breathed harder, heavier, wrapping your arms tighter around his neck. He was leaning further into you to deepen his kisses. He was so warm… and when your hand wandered down his chest, Jason’s went under your shirt, making you jolt at his rough fingers tracing the sides of your waist. “You're so hot…” he whispered.

You smiled and dug into his lips again. Something was poking into your clothed cunt, and you accidentally bit into his lips too hard when he grinded against you. Jason hissed. “Ow!”

“Sorry!” you placed gentle kisses onto his lip, but he didn’t look too bothered. In fact, you felt him even harder beneath you.

His lips met your neck, and you could feel him wanting, desperate even, though there was that slightest bit of hesitation he tried hard not to show off. Probably afraid to mess up. But you welcomed him, moaning when he dug his teeth into your skin.

“Fuck…” Jason gripped on your hair, the back of your head, then with your heaving chest, he started biting into your collarbone, unsure of where to make you moan even louder. You found yourself starting for the hem of his shirt, pulling it up so you could touch the ripples of his muscles.

You were wet. You could feel it. You were biting your lip while you instinctively tried to push your legs together, but he was between them, and you couldn’t do much but lay there and take it all. Jason stopped, breathing just as heavily as you. And with your hands so gently holding his face, he looked straight into your eyes as he pulled on the back of his shirt and took it off.

He let you roam your hands around. Your warm, aching palms hovering over his lean muscles while you shamelessly bit your lip. He touched your forehead with his, feeling the way you were touching him. All over him. You brushed your palms against his pecs and jumped when he grinded up to you.

“Sorry…” he gulped. You shushed him instead and kissed him until he relaxed. Then you grinded against him, hard enough to make him audibly gasp. He let you roll your hips again, this time making you both moan into each other’s mouths.

Jason gave you a pleading look, asking if all this was okay. But it was without a word, and like him, you pulled back. Raising your shirt up and off your arms, your skin flushed the moment you saw him take his look all over you. Your bra-cladded breasts, your waist, your bare shoulders and how your hair laid so delicately against your skin. Jason looked up at you again, and you nodded at him.

You moaned at the first contact of his lips against your chest. Your tits, almost peeking out of your bra, were yearning for his tongue the more he placed kisses all over you. Then he pushed his weight against you, slowly flipping you over to let you lie down on the bed. You stared at him, kissed him hard, then moaned when he started going after your chest again.

His hands tried not to be so hard on your waist, but you could feel him wanting to dig into your skin, dig his nails into your flush. You felt his thighs part your legs and he situated himself comfortably on top of you. Then he grinded, again and again. Your hand went around his back and pulled him closer towards you.

Then he suddenly pulled away and hissed. You stopped, immediately backing off. Your heart was about to blow up and you instantly went to hold his head. “What’s wrong?”

“I-I’m-“ Jason flinched when he moved his back.

You quickly moved over to the other side of the bed, but Jason turned away which made him hiss even more.

“Jay, just let me look.”

“No-“

“What is going on?” you stammered, and when you stood up on the floor, pulling his hand away from covering his back, he stopped struggling.

You hadn’t seen it. Until now. This was recent. The largest bruise you’ve ever seen, spanning from his left shoulder all the way down to his lower back in several smaller circles. It was just by his shoulder blades where it was horribly blued and purpled, right where you were trailing your hands at just now. You placed your hand on it, but Jason inched away.

“What. Happened.”

“Nothing.”

He was looking away from you. Looking at the ground.

“Jason, you can't expect me to turn a blind eye on this again. What the hell is going on with you?” you insisted. You placed a hand on his shoulder, but he pushed it away.

He took his shirt back and slid his arms through the holes. “Workout.”

“Workout?!” you guffawed. “How stupid am I to you?”

He didn’t answer and moved over to lean against the headboard. “I hit my back against a pole. It’s no big deal.”

“No. Definitely not. That-“ you gestured to his back. “-was left by a fucking foot. Plenty of them!”

He crossed his arms and tried everything he could not to look at your face. You pulled on his arm, and just like last time, he pushed you away.

“I’m calling the police.”

“No.” He held your wrists, and with his strength you could never overpower, held it tight and took your phone away from you. “You’re not doing that.”

“Where did you get those?” You growled, frustratingly throwing his hands back towards him. “Tell me right fucking now.”

“I just got into another fight. What’s the big deal?”

You pulled on your hair. “You come home with different bruises every fucking week! Unless you're in some kind of fight club, I hardly believe you're that much of a thug-“

“Maybe I am-“

“You are insane!”

“So what?! I get into fights. All guys do.”

“No. No they fucking don’t,” you faked a laugh and covered your face with your palm.

“Did you get these from home?” your voice softened. “Tell me the truth. Please Jay. Are you being abused?”

“NO!”

“THEN WHAT IS IT!?”

“I TOLD YOU I GOT INTO A FIGHT!”

“THEN FOR FUCK’S SAKE, STOP PICKING FIGHTS-“

You were interrupted by his phone ringing in his pocket. You turned away, leaning against your desk and closing your eyes.

“Bruce?” he said into his phone. You heard deep murmuring, though you didn’t try so hard to listen in.

Not long after, Jason hung up. He stood up from your bed and picked up his jacket.

“I’m sorry. Bruce wants me -“

“You’re fucking kidding me,” you scoffed. “Does Bruce know? About that?”

Jason finally turned to you, standing on opposite sides of the bed. “He does. And we have a butler with medical training at home, so stop it.”

“OH,” you really wanted to laugh right now. “So now you think I’m being obnoxious!?”

“WHO SAID-“ he grunted, pulling on his own hair. “I never said that.”

“Yes you did!”

“I have to leave.”

You walked over to the door he’d just opened and slammed it shut with your palm. “We are not done here.”

“We are.”

You wanted to punch him. “What the fuck are you hiding from me, Jason?”

“Nothing.”

“You and I both know it’s not just the bruises. It takes you an hour tops to finish all our homework so where the fuck do you go to all night?”

He looked away from you, and you saw him purse his lips, steadying his breath.

“Fucking look at me-“

“I’m at home. Asleep. That’s it.”

“Or you're out with your friends? Having the kind of company you tell them not to squeal about to your girlfriend?”

“Okay. You’re insane. What makes you think I could-“

“Are you denying it?”

“Of course, I’m fucking denying it. That’s not what’s going on.”

“So there is something going on!?” you screamed. “If I find out you're hiding something, I swear to god-“

“You’ll what? Murder me in my sleep? Unless you forgot, I’m still not fucking afraid of you.”

“MAYBE YOU SHOULD BE!”

“MAYBE I WON'T.”

“FINE!”

“FINE!!”

You were shaking. Your hand specifically. And there was a painful sprout coming all the way from your chest to your neck. It was like something was biting into your organs from the inside, making your throat burn too much for you to say anything more.

His expression softened when he saw you fighting back tears.  

“I have to go.” He slowly pulled you to the side, storming out of the door before you could stop him. You made sure Jason heard you throw the nearest breakable object to your side, hitting the walls of your room. He stepped out of your apartment, and by then, you were on the ground, wearing nothing but your fucking bra in a crying mess.

-----

Jason regretted everything the moment he stepped out the door.

He was a huge fucking moron to tell you off like that when you were just genuinely worried for him. You, someone who’s shown him a kind of love he’s never had with anyone else in his entire life. Maybe that was why he was shit at handling it all.  

You just had another fight a week ago. He was terrible at this. No matter how much he loved you, there was no getting out of his demons’ hold.

He wanted to turn back, possibly get down on his knees and apologize immensely for everything he’d said. But another call from Bruce and not long after, the Batmobile was speeding through the streets. He cursed and ran all the way to his bike, speeding behind the car and slipping into an alley so he could quickly change.

He really fucking hated himself.

By then it was almost sundown, and when they reached Joker’s massively scaled robbery in a mall at Otisburg, they were so close to being too late. Batman crashed his car into the mall’s entrance and he jumped out, disarming five men at just a swipe of his arm.

Robin didn’t take too long to arrive. His bike stormed in from the second floor window, flying in so incomprehensibly quick that the goons couldn’t move out in time when his bike landed right on their bodies. And when it did, Robin pressed a button on his wrist, and the bike’s tires accelerated to it burned their flesh.

Fuck this world. Fuck everything in it. Everything deserved to be beaten down to the ground.

He couldn’t care less when he’d hear Batman’s scolds even from all the way across the mall’s lobby. Robin narrowly missed the bullets, snatching their guns right from their arms along with a kick right up against their chests. And with his weight placed directly on their ribs, Robin smashed their heads in with the butt of their guns. Repeatedly. They’d probably die from it. Who cares.

He was so much stronger when he wasn’t thinking too much about it.

Grappling up to the higher floors, he was instantly cornered by ten of Joker’s men. All with their stupid fucking clown masks and guns in their hands. He flipped over, rolled around to dodge the bullets. He threw batarangs one after the other and flung the heel of his boot right at any face he could reach. He blew up a store. He blocked the bullets with his cape and moved at the split second they had to reload. He smashed a head right into a concrete pillar so hard that it cracked upon its immense impact.

It had grown dark. Twenty. Maybe thirty men down on the ground. So far, his heat sensors detected they were still alive.

An elbow behind him, he grabbed a man’s arm, flung it over his back and slammed his body against the ground even when he was significantly larger than him. He placed his boot against his chest. Harder. Longer. And when he was struggling to get out, spitting at Robin’s face, he merely wiped it away before he crouched over to repeatedly hit the side of his face with his balled-up fist.

“Robin!”

He ignored that and kept going. Over and over until he felt his victim’s jaw shatter and he was lying close to lifelessness on the ground. He stopped, grabbed onto his collar and threw him onto the floor.

He barely noticed the aches on his back and how it was definitely going to take a toll on him eventually.

Darkness. Pure darkness. The demons were taking over. Just as they often did. And when they do, there was no stopping them. Not even him.

Another goon tried to shoot him, but he just walked straight at him, blocking everything with his cape, and took the gun by the muzzle with a single arm. The clown backed off, and with a single swipe, Robin smashed the gun right into his head.

The gun broke in half, and he threw it to the ground.

There was nothing in his mind at all. Not a storm. Not a single thought. Not a single word that told him to stop or think of something cleverer to put them down. There was nothing. His face blank, emotionless, Robin turned to a voice crying for help.

He walked over to the source, coming from a broken window. At four stories high, he saw one of Joker’s men hold onto the window pane for dear life.

He looked just as villainous as the rest of them. “Help me!” he cried out to Robin.

How many lives has he taken? How many families left broken? How many has he hurt?

Working for Joker, the answer to that would be far from pretty.

He was slipping, barely on his fingertips. A fall like that was surely going to kill him. But how many lives would be saved if it were?

His foot was just an inch away from his fingers. Just a step. A single step. And he’d fall.

But he stepped back, looking at the man straight in the eye.

And without a single flinch from him, the man slipped off the window pane by his slippery palms and dropped to his death.

When he got to the ground floor, now with GCPD officers taking over the place, he was immediately grabbed by the shoulder and hauled into the batmobile.

“My fucking bike-“

“Leave it,” Batman growled.

He got into the car and drove out before anything else were to be said.

The drive was silent. For the most part. And when they got to the cave, Jason threw his domino mask to the ground.

“Do that again, and you lose the suit.” Bruce stammered.

“Boo fucking hoo.”

“At least fifteen of them were a hit away from dropping dead. Care to explain that?”

“Isn’t that what we do? Incapacitate them but not actually take their lives to satisfy your fucking morals?”

“Don’t start with me, Jason.”

Jason turned to him on his tip toes to try standing him off. “You have no idea how long I’ve fucking wanted to do that!”

“Then you're admitting to not being capable of handling this responsibility. THIS is a responsibility, Jason.”

“THEY WORK FOR JOKER. DO YOU KNOW HOW VILE AND DISGUSTING A PERSON HAS TO BE TO WORK FOR HIM? THEY’RE ALL SERIAL KILLERS. RAPISTS. HOW ARE THEY STILL OUR FUCKING RESPONSIBILTY?!”

“You don’t get to kill. None of us do.”

Jason stomped his heavy boots onto the ground and started for the door. “You’re a madman, Bruce.”

“One dead. Fell from the fourth-floor window. You were there when it happened.”

He was so sure all the pent-up lava was going to burst out of him anytime soon and destroy everything in its path. He stopped walking, kept his eyes on the cold metal ground.

“I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“Did you kill him?” Bruce said. “I’m only going to ask you once.”

Jason turned around.

“No.”

The man slipped on his own, and Jason just happened to be there watching him fall. So no, he didn’t kill him. He just willingly let him die. There’s a difference, right?

He didn’t even care if there was.

“Jason-“

“Good night, Bruce.”

He slipped out of his suit and stormed into his room.

He pulled out his phone.

Jason: “Babe, you okay?”

Five hours later, you still hadn’t replied.

His desk chair had been broken in half by his bare hands by the time morning came.

-----

If your chicken nuggets were still alive, you’d have killed the bird ten times over just by the tip of your fork.

You didn’t even eat. Your hand practically had a mind of its own, impaling your food until it was in mushed up bits. You were silent. Far too silent. Your eyes were locked onto your food, but if you were to be asked, you’d have no idea what was going on. And you felt empty, your body hallowed out to the point where you were nothing but a set of skin, flesh, and bone with no sign of a soul left within you.

You hit the bottom of your tray hard enough to make a dent.

You heard Jason from across you sigh. “You gotta eat-“

Smashing the tip of your fork into the largest piece of nugget left intact, you gritted your teeth, stared at the ground with those deathly eyes and stuffed it into your mouth. You chewed so harshly at your food that you might have tasted your own blood.

Jason shook his head, taking his can of soda and emptied it out before he’d say anything more. And when he’d finished, you heard the can get crushed by his bare hands.

A hard swallow down his thick neck and a grunt out in frustration, and it only made your head boil even hotter.

You looked up at him, momentarily catching his eye, and without breaking your deathlike eye contact, you pierced your fork into your tray, hitting the bottom. Jason cocked his jaw to the side, giving you the same frown, but he said nothing and leaned over to rest his elbows on the table.

Again. And again. Your fork made so much dents in your tray that it’d barely be of any more use. This time, you were eating the food you’d mutilated.

Jason’s teeth were biting into his lip so much that at the nth time you smashed your tray, he felt a sharp sting in the back of his gums and a taste of bitter iron filling his tongue.

“Stop that.”

You smashed your fork again, flaring your nostrils at him and tensing all your muscles that you were just a second away from pouncing at him. Thankfully, you didn’t. You didn’t listen to him, either. You pierced your food with your fork and clenched your jaw the whole time you chewed.

He gave up and finished his own food, sliding his tray aside with a strong, frustrated push of his arm.

When your tray was empty, filled with dents, you threw your fork right on top of it and immediately stood up, grabbed your cup of iced coffee while sparing him a lasting glare before you turned away to your next class.

Jason sat there, alone, his mouth completely dry and his fists wanting to hit the next thing that comes his way.

Calm. Reserved. Not yet screaming at anyone on the way to your classroom. Although people instantly stood aside the moment they saw you walk down the hall with an explosive look on your face, you didn’t blow up just yet.

You reached your room, and just about you entered the doorway, Lana bumped right into you.

“Watch it-“

She looked up, saw it was you, and instantly bit her mouth. To make matters worse, your iced coffee slightly spilled on your shirt.

Your fists were clenched. Furthermore, and you’d blow. Your breaths were unsteady, your teeth baring. The look on your eye was enough to give fucking Medusa a run for her money. You gritted your teeth and stood silent, watching Lana start to say something, anything.

But she craned her head down and stood aside to let you walk in. And with your eyes keeping on her, you took your time making your way inside, walking so slowly that everyone kept silent at the sight of you.

You took a seat. And Lana took one four seats away from you.

Jerry the science teacher walked in, bed head still on probably from being asleep at the library, and placed all his stuff on the desk.

“Afternoon, everyone…”

You didn’t listen to a word he said. Your eyes were on the board, but you couldn’t recall a thing that was on it. You were relaxed on your chair, back arched down and your arms crossed.

Even at your worst, the world managed to go on like you weren’t in some kind of crisis at all. The sun continued to show up that morning as if it were mocking you that other people probably had one of their best days right now and you were stuck sulking without a choice. Of course, you technically did. Jason texted you once last night. Twice this morning. He sat with you at lunch despite you on the brink of choking him to death. You haven’t said anything to him so far. But you could tell he was trying. Terrible tries, to be honest. But it was there.

“Ms. Y/N.”

You didn’t move your head, or anything else, when you looked at Jerry.

“No drinks allowed in class. Throw that out the trash.”

Everyone was staring at you.

“I’m not done with it,” you grumbled.

“I don’t care. Pour it out and throw it away.”

The cup was about to explode in your hand just like that soda can did with Jason. You made sure they all heard you stomp on the ground when you stood up. And with such force you pushed the chair behind you.

Silence.

You turned over to Lana.

She wasn’t smiling, but she must have loved seeing you being called out like this. You just fucking knew it.

She was watching you like all the other kids. But the longer you stared, eyes narrowed at her, you notice her breathe hard and turn her attention away to the blank wall in front of her.

Nothing. You felt nothing. You wanted to feel something. Anything to take you out of this sad, sulking state.

“Fine,” you said.

And without even the slightest speck of shame, you slowly walked over to Lana, took out the cover of your ice coffee, stopped right in front of her-

“Y/N-“

You poured the cup right onto her head.

You heard gasps, oohs, and hisses. But even Jerry was speechless. Lana horrifyingly shrieked, eyes closed and jaw on the floor. Your face was blank, hips cocked to the side like you were casually doing it in some sink or a trash bin. And it took a long while. Longer than you should. The coffee spilled so slowly into her scalp that you wanted her to completely realize what was going on far before you were going to finish.

Her hair and face were drenched by the time you turned the cup over until it was completely upside down. All the ice fell to her head, and she gasped.

Silence again. And the expression you had on your face never faltered. Jaw to the side, arms crossed, you sighed with a high-pitched voice mimicking Lana’s.

You threw the cup in the trash, giving everyone slow glances as you made your way back into your seat. No one dared to speak up. No one moved from their desk. You raised your eyebrow at all of them, then you turned over to look at Jerry.

“Done.”

You sat down, and Lana screamed out of the classroom. Normally, you’d be smiling your face off by now.

But just like the rest of the day, that persistent frown never left. You didn’t feel any better. Nothing possibly could make you feel better.

You were lucky it was Jerry that was in charge. If it had been any other teacher who had just the slightest bit of energy left in them, they’d have taken you to the Vice Principal’s office. But today, you got off scot-free.

Looking out the window, ignoring all else that was going on, you wondered how Jason was handling all this.

-----

Now

You were barely ten minutes into your appointment, and already, you were getting to the ugly parts you struggled so hard to repeat. The therapist did a good job at convincing you there was no shame to it, though. You, on the other hand, were going to have to try much harder at convincing yourself.

“Did all this start with just the bruises?” she asked you.

There was a twist in your chest, something so violently twisting all your organs, your heart just being one of them, and it was gripping onto your rib cage, shaking them so vigorously you felt like you were about to fall out.

“No… I think… Well, it was the point where things actually felt like they started to change. Even though it didn’t feel that way at first.”

“How did it feel at first?”

You shrugged. “Like just an ordinary fight. Something all couples go through.”

The therapist took note of that. The pain just kept worsening the more you talked. Wasn’t she supposed to talk just as much? Give you advice? Let you have a different perspective of things?

Apparently not. She continued to ask. “Was it?”

You didn’t exactly have a solid answer. It was. And it wasn’t. You’ll just have to keep going.

“We dealt with it horribly. By ourselves. I did some cruel shit to lash it out. Things I’m no longer proud of. And he did, too.”

“Go on,” she said. And you tried to hold back a roll in your eyes.

“But if there was one thing I noticed, we never lashed out much on each other. Sure, we’d bicker and fight and scream every once in a while. But I never once thought of hurting him just for the sake of causing hurt.”

“But you hurt other people in the process…”

You nodded. “I said I’m not proud of it.”

“I’m seeing some progress in you. I see you regret the way you handled that fight. And you wish you could have done things differently.”

Like a sword riding right down your stomach. You gulped. “Yeah…”

“How would you have done it? Knowing what you do now?”

She had to be kidding. You basically had your answer memorized over the course of three years mourning and blaming yourself for everything that had happened.

“I wish I called him that night instead of ignoring his texts. I wish I gave him the chance to apologize. Maybe even apologize myself. I wish…” you breathed. “I wish I just accepted the truth he was telling me…”

“Frankly, he was in the wrong as well.”

“I don’t care if he was anymore…” you caught your breath, stopping your voice from cracking.

The therapist gave you a bit of time to collect yourself. You were gripping onto the couch. Perhaps a bit harder than you should.

“The fights… I wish we realized none of them was ever going to be worth it. Not when it means I was going to lose him…”

-----

Then

Well, at least you let him take you home.

And after his argument with Bruce, he didn’t care if he was going to get another scolding when he gets home. He’d stolen one of his cars, and he was driving it right now with you at the passenger seat. You had your knees pointed out the car door facing away from him. And each time he glances at you, he’d see your face in the reflection.

You were staring at the glass, face blank. You hadn’t talked all day. Barely a word out of you. He desperately wanted to say something. Anything. But he’d end up realizing his words were just going to make things so much worse.

And he should have thought more about bringing the car with him. There was traffic. Even when you weren’t so far from your house. It only made everything so much more silent and eerie than it already was.

He wasn’t going to turn on the radio or plug his phone in for some music. The silence was going to be better. And he was afraid he’ll miss a whisper out of you if you were too hesitant to say anything loud enough for him to actually hear.

Your fights never went on this long. It usually just ended a few hours after it happens and you’d have kissed and made up before the night comes to an end. And they were always light, even when it worried him, it never actually came to the point where visions of him walking away forever suddenly surged up his mind. It wasn’t much different from the bickering you always had the first time you met. When you hadn’t gotten along.

He didn’t realize he was smiling, thinking back at the times when you’d punch him for letting a book fall to your head, when he’d purposefully hit your back with the cart and you ended up chasing him down the aisle. When you used to scream at each other just to argue over where a book was supposed to be placed.

Jason licked his lips and smiled at those memories.

Then he turned to you. You were his now. Even when at times, it didn’t feel much like it. You were still his. But when he glanced at you, seeing you look so miserable looking out the window, it hit him like a bat to the face.

He reached your apartment, parked right beside the curb and unlocked the door.

You looked at him, no longer in frustration, but with sorrow, weariness. You were tired and he was, too.

“Thanks.”

That was the only thing you said to him all day. And right after that, you walked out the door, closing it behind you without slamming it like you’d expectedly do.

And even when he knew it was just for the day, that’s when the visions came up. You walking away. Possibly forever. Him losing you to his stubbornness. Even when it was just from the car, it all felt like you were walking away from his life entirely.

So he got out of the car and raced to you before you stepped into the door. “Wait-”

You stopped, turning around.

You tried to make your face as expressionless as you possibly could, but even you failed at that. You looked exhausted, not at all like you were at lunch. And he walked towards you. Surprisingly, you walked down the steps towards him as well.

His eyes on yours, shaking and unstable, he slowly stepped in front of you and pulled you to his chest as numbingly tight as he could. You were tense, unmoving, and he could feel you hesitate.

But unknown to him, a tear had fallen down the side of your cheek. You eventually fell into him and instantly you wrapped your arms around his waist, stuffing your face into his shoulder like he was to your neck.

You didn’t know how long you stayed in his arms. But even with the wind so strong, nothing blew you apart.

It wasn’t the same at all. The quarrelling, the disputes, it had evolved into something neither of you anticipated, though when it actually happened, it wasn’t much of a surprise. The cuts it made onto your flesh were so much deeper, when at first it barely made any cuts at all. You thought that was how it was supposed to be, something that brought you together. Your petty fights have always been something to look back to and smile at. Something cute.

But now…

What happens now?

What happens when those same exact fights progress into something you’d no longer easily forget?

What happens when the pettiness causes a wound not so quickly healed?

What happens when the back and forth, the disagreements, the bickering…

What happened when they stop being cute?

-----

I DON’T HATE YOU - MASTERLIST

-----

AT LEAST KEEP ME ALIVE UNTIL THE FINALE

Taglist: everyartistwas-firstanamateur  @sarcasmismyfirstlove @damned-queen-of-gotham @idkmanicantenglish @wunderstell @birdy-bat-riya @get-loki@everyday-imfangirling @comic-nerd-dc @multifandoms916 @icequeen208@offendedfishnoises @egdolan @xemiefx @arkhamtoddler @elsenthal@mythicbitchx @supremehaunter @ burning-alive  @lucy-roo  roseangel013bf @ loxbbg  reclusive-chicken-nuggethttp-cherries shadowsndaisiesriver9noble zphilophobiazannoylinglyaries @knightfall05x

[levyfiles]

helloooo!!!! since you are my fave blog about shyan content, i must ask: what are your favorite fics???

AHhh! I–OK well, Lately I’ve been finding more and more fics that fill my heart right up with every gorgeous headcanon there is, but If we’re talking all-time favourites, I have finally compiled a List from the moment I started reading shyan fic in 2018 of fics that have ruined my life; all of them here in no particular order.

Be All My Sins Remembered by spoopyy

Summary: In every lifetime, they find each other.

Review: This fic manages to take you on a long journey through what feels like a series of AUs and they all weave in and out of the wealth of their relationship with some vivid descriptions of the historical settings their journey takes them through. As someone who grew up reading Anne Rice’s epics through historical events, this fic is right up my alley. A vampire Shane passing through the wave of human society’s climb searching for a reincarnated Ryan again and again, trying to hold on to him and keep him through great tragedies and timeframes that just don’t let them be together. This was one of the first fics I read when I was only a lurker and to be quite honest, I need to give this one a nice re-read, maybe for the book club which would be loads of fun. Either way, 10/10. Would be Hurt in the heart again.

Perfect Fit by @beaniegara

Summary: There’s a legend that says anyone able to take all of statue Shane’s cock will summon the god to the mortal realm. Given the statue’s excessive size, no one has ever succeeded to prove or disprove the story.Until Ryan that is.

Review: Listen. You wanna talk actual fandom legends. This fic is one of them and it pulls out all the stops on being delicious and evocative. Also features one of my favourite incarnations of size queen bergara. Good stuff and you’re really rooting for Ryan in this lol. 

Everything’s Weird and We’re Always in Danger by the beethechange

Summary: Ryan perches on the edge of the bed, an indistinct shape that Shane can only just make out in the dark, so he turns the lamp back on. He wants to see Ryan’s face, wants to know that he is alright. Ryan’s cheeks are damp, his hands fisted in the hideous flowered duvet.

“It won’t go away,” Ryan says miserably. “I’ve been like this since we got here, basically, and it won’t fucking—”

“Ah,” Shane says. “Well, you know, sometimes fear…adrenaline…they can affect people. Physically.” He waves his hands indistinctly crotchward. ��It’s a, a scientifically known phenomenon.” Shane feels a little better staying in the realm of scientifically known phenomena.

Review: Word of advice. You see a fic is authored by beethechange, run don’t walk because you’re absolutely always going to be treated to the best of banter, the best of prose, chemistry, organic execution and feels right up the bottom end of your heart. This fic, this changed everything I thought I knew I wanted out of a bed-sharing fic. It’s got a little bit of two treats here. You got a sex-pollen-esque situation mixed with bed-sharing and holy fucking damn that is more than you think you deserve, but read this because you do deserve the best of the best. The build up, the dialogue, the surprisingly hilarity of it, the hotness woah, and The Aftermath. When you think you know what you’re in for, you’re wrong and you’re most pleasantly surprised. Get this fic in your life and honestly? while you’re at it, you could do a clean sweep of every fic in her list of works and while my less than adequate reading time management may still be short on some of her most well-recommended pieces, I have an adamant faith that Bee doesn’t disappoint. Go get y’all juice.

Maelstrom by thewindupbird

Summary: Here’s the thing about driving halfway across the country to see someone. You can’t really deny, after that, that you’re pretty much head over heels for them.

Review: Listen. One morning on a day off, I just laid in bed and read this– all 40k+ words– while lying there clutching my pillows, hurting and loving every moment of it. The descriptions of Americana, the slow steady metronome rhythm of Ryan’s feelings as frightened and helpless as they feel when you’re relating deeply to them juxtaposed with the deep-seated struggle of understanding what it is to be with someone you love so much but your mental health is burning quiet holes in your ability to express it in a way that can be understand. Ryan’s fierce determination, breaking through the silence of their non communication is really Everything to me in this fic. i think I really left my heart in the scene in Shane’s parents kitchen. That finished me. Read this fic and understand the deep relief you get when you’ve finished a fight with someone you fiercely care about and they understand you and you understand them and it’s OK; it’s gonna be all right. Augh. 

A Burial on Box Hill by InkStainsOnMyHands

Summary: The Celtics believed that the yew flower symbolized both immortality and death. Meanwhile, for centuries, the buxus flower was seen as a symbol for safe passage into the afterlife.

Or,Shane and Ryan were never the same after investigating the Black Forest of Germany alone.

Review: Let me just quote my bookmark comment here. Usually I flee from tragedy like a cat spotting a cucumber but the brevity and the prose dragged me in and now I’m a functioning mess. Bless this fic. Oh my god it’s short and reads like one of those quick horror stories you’ll read to your friends just as the scary stories are transitioning from the urban legends to the ones that feel real. Big warning for main character death but still read it if you appreciate a good story told.

Body Farming by shiphitsthefan

Summary: Failed suppressants and a surprise heat: the worst of cliches, and here Ryan stands, living the trope on location with the alpha he’s hopelessly in love with. Even worse, they’re spending the night in the famous Bell Witch Cave, completely alone and with no way to contact the outside world.

Ryan knows he can survive and keep his preheat a secret, as long as Shane will stop being so protective and concerned. After all, it’s not like Shane wants to bond with him.

Right?

Review: Now judging from the reactions of many people I’ve spoken to, big heavy ABO kink is not popular here but guys, GUYS. This one. Let this one in I promise it is not what you think it is. The dynamic is organic and the worst side of the trope is subverted in all the best ways and lord help us, the smut is hot, like swelteringly smoking. It’ll stay with you. 

Believer by cellard00rs

Summary: Some demons and otherworldly creatures love climbing up the power ladder. Shane is not one of these. He likes where he is (thank you very much) and has no interest in moving up. All he wants is to give his friend Ryan a nice birthday gift. So, naturally, everything goes to hell.

Review: This fic is another fandom legend. When I think demon!Shane. It’s this and one other one that always pops right into my mind. This was my first exposure to the bureaucracy meets the supernatural!Shane trope and I was sold from the get-go. The Shane in this fic is everything I imagine a demon!Shane is and his ginger care for Ryan, the concept of their bond and how even though Shane is a demon and responsible for keeping the supernatural a firm secret from Ryan and the rest of the world, his skepticism is relayed through his status as a demon. I want to talk more about it but I think so much of the enjoyment comes from the surprises as the plot unfurls. 

Heartbeat by quackers

Summary: So the guy Ryan sits next to at work is a vampire. That’s no big deal, right?

Review: I could talk your literal ear off about this fic. Vampires, man. I love the trope; you don’t know me as a person if you don’t know this at least. And this fic kept me fed all damn year. It was a readable garden. If there is one thing I can guarantee about quackers’ work, it’s that their world-building is a festival of detail. The realms and alternate universes they work with while still managing to keep Shane and Ryan’s voices so familiar and real is a talent not attributed to your everyday author. This fic propelled me into wanting to write more and more because quackers makes stories so much fun! Reading their work is, to me, not unlike the feeling I got when I was younger and finding series that speak to my need to escape this crummy existence, made me want to believe in fun spicy things like a vampire that lived through centuries, cynical but still searching, navigating a world where people are still people, adjusting to differences and prejudices, finding comfort in a guy that understands that and more. I’ve talked about this fic in more than a few different posts so I’d just be reiterating a lot of things I loved about the more historical aspects of Shane’s journey, the way Ryan is so firmly curious and inventive in ways to connect with Shane. Look, even if vampires aren’t your thing, I can promise that if you visit quackers list of work, you will find something for your supernatural-lovin’ palate that speaks to a gentler side of your own curiosity about monsters and the jocks that love them. lol.

I’ll Crawl Home by carrieonfighting

Summary: “Shane was almost unnerved by how quickly he’d settled into this body, this name, this life - his friendship with Ryan was the most time he’d spent with any human before, and yet the man fascinated him.”

Review: This is the second fic I think of when someone says the words ‘demon!Shane’ to me because ohhhh my word, this fic is a masterpiece. I really am hard pressed to find anything better than the feeling I get when I think of demon!Shane headcanons interwoven with the irl Buzzfeed reality and the idea of the Ryan as we know him being protected and watched and loved so deeply by a demon that found him so long ago and wanted nothing but to protect him. I feel an almost vicious glee reliving that moment when Ryan and Shane are on goatman’s bridge and man, I just really love canonical fic mixed with a slight twist. The writing in this makes it work so well with lines that still haunt my heart and soul like “Ryan liked popcorn. So did the demon. Genuinely, not just out of a desire to please the human – he liked the way it crunched between his vessel’s teeth. There were some aspects of taking a corporeal form that were…nice; laughing, coffee, feeling warm. Ryan made him laugh.” FUCK! The beautiful agony of it, watching the demon fall in love with Ryan through the eyes of his vessel. Just stark with pain and unspoken, well-written angst and pain with a perfect ending, I wouldn’t change for anything. I love this for us as a fandom and will always love that author crafted this piece and shared it with us. (Also every time I hear Work Song by Hozier, I think of this fic again and sigh).

Like I said at the beginning, thanks to @skepticbeliever-bookclub I’ve been discovering and re-discovering some fics I hadn’t had the chance to read and or have never even heard of before and my bookmarks list is growing with each new week. So if you get through this list and need more in your life, here you go. Every fic in my bookmarks deserves the community’s attention. If I can just make one special request of you guys? If you do happen to click any of these and enjoy what you read, please take the time and tell the author what you loved about it. It really changes the game out here for fanworks and fan-creators like you wouldn’t even believe and the people who shared these works with us worked hard to make the stories what they are and put a great deal of emotional investment in sharing it. Share more than your silence in return. 

Hope you find something you like here, nonnybabe.. 

[summahsunlight]

We Belong to the Stars, Ch. 27

Rating: Mature (18+ only)

Word Count: 1986

Pairings: Poe/Skywalker!OC

Characters: Poe Dameron, Leia Organa, BB-8, Kaleb Skywalker (OC), Evelyn Skywalker (OC), Karé Kun, Iolo Arana, Snap Wexley, Jessika Pava, BB-8

Taglist: @ms-dont-care​ if you want to be added to the tag list comment or send me an ask☺️

I reposted this, not sure it was showing up in the tags, etc.  Like reading this? Please feel free to leave a comment on the post, in an ask, or even a reblog. I LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU❤️

Canto Bright

Poe was not a fan of the arrogant display of wealth put on display before him.  He also wasn't a fan with the way these rich men looked at Evelyn.  

Evelyn was hardly recognizable in all the make-up, the navy blue wig, and the shimmering silver gown that clung to her body, plunging into a deep v in the back.  No one was none the wiser when she passed them that she was the daughter of Luke Skywalker, the niece of Leia Organa--which was probably the whole reason Renick had picked that outfit for her.  

Fixing the blue flower on the lapel of his black suit, Poe kept the other hand on the small of her back; a clear message to all the men lusting after her that she was his--and she was off limits.  Of course, if anyone tried anything, they'd probably be met with the blaster that Evelyn had strapped to the inside of her thigh, concealed underneath the gown.  He'd like to see one of those rich men cowering on the floor with her standing over them, blaster in their face.  Smiling, Poe steered her in the direction of the gaming table that Renick had informed them that their informant would approach them at. 

Pulling her close to his hip, Poe wrapped his arm possessively around Evelyn's waist.  She played the part, leaning into him, and running her fingers through his hair as he sat down at the table.  Neither of them were surprised to find the table lined with some of the richest beings in the galaxy, each with a woman half their age on both arms.  These bastards have zero respect for anything, Poe thought, angrily.  His father had taught him to respect women, especially if he was lucky one day to have a wife--Kes had always told him that some of the strongest beings he'd known, had been women.

"Deal you in, sir?" the lanky Twi'lek asked as Poe stepped up to the table, pulling him away from his thoughts.

"Sure," Poe said, tossing some credits on the table. "What do I have to lose, right darling?" 

"Absolutely nothing," Evelyn replied, smiling cloyingly sweet at him. "Would you like a drink, handsome?"

"Yes," he said, stroking his thumb along her jawline. "You know what I like, baby. I trust you take care of it for me."

With a swing of her hips, Evelyn turned and headed towards the bar.  Poe noticed that all eyes at the table followed her; she hadn't been sent there to keep women away from him so he could get the information, she had really been sent there as a distraction for all the other potential buyers.  For someone that was in heels, Evelyn was commanding that room right now.  "Well," Snap said, reminding Poe of the ear piece in his left ear, "you've convinced me that you're married..."

Poe chuckled and watched his opponents at the game table. If any of them were suspicious of Poe, there were no telling signs in their facial expression.  Still, he knew that he couldn't let his guard down--especially with Evelyn in the same room.  "Any sign of Terex?" he whispered to Snap.

Snap clicked his tongue. "Not so much as a peep yet, Poe.  Maybe he isn't going to show up."

"I'm not letting my guard down, Wexley. I don't trust the guy. And I don't trust whoever is betraying us to him."

"Don't worry, Dameron; Jess and I are monitoring all air traffic. We'll let you know if he appears."

Poe rubbed his hand over his chin. "He does show up and puts a finger on Evie--I'm blasting him, Snap."

Snap sighed. "Poe, Agent Renick asked us not to cause a scene.  Killing a First Order agent is going to cause a scene."

"Whatever. Protecting Evelyn is more important."

"Force, I told Renick you were a loose cannon..."

"Only when the safety of my squadron is threatened..."

"More specifically--Evelyn." 

Lifting his eyes from the players at the table, Poe found Evelyn across the room at the bar getting their drinks. He would never say that any of his pilots were expendable... but if it came down to it... she would be the first one that he laid his life down for.  She might not realize it yet but she was incredibly important to the survival of the galaxy.

Someone stepped into the spot that was previously occupied by her.  Turning his head slightly, Poe saw a tall, broad shoulder man with a scar over his left eye standing next to him.  "Your wife has every man in this room wishing they were you.  Exquisite beauty."

Poe smiled, tightly, as he tossed more money into the game.  "Well, when you have this much money--only an exquisite beauty hanging off your arm will do."

"And is my product still worth that money to you?"

"As long as what you're selling me is legit."

"It's legit; just one promise before we discuss payment--make sure the First Order doesn't hear you got this from me. Those Empire wannabes are interfering with my business."

"Don't worry--I can guarantee you that the First Order isn't going to know I got it from you."

Evelyn returned with his drink, sliding up on the other side and slipping her hand into the crook of his arm. Poe took the drink from her and sipped it, carefully.  "Dear, would you get my new business acquaintance a drink?"

The man shook his head, and then gestured to the dealer that he wanted to wager on the next game. "No need, I don't drink.  Do you have the money?"

Poe reached into his pocket and produced the credits that Renick had given him to buy the information.  He watched closely as the man took the credits, inspected them to make sure they were real, and then placed them in his own pocket.   No one would have noticed the slight move he made to place a data chip on the edge of the table, and no one would have noticed how Poe slipped the data card into his jacket pocket, all while sipping on the drink Evelyn had brought him.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you," the man said, tipping his head in Poe's direction before walking away. 

"Likewise," Poe murmured, finishing the drink. He put the glass down; with his hand on Evelyn's waist, he directed her back through the casino. "Let's get out of here."

"Is the information legit?" Snap asked over the comm once Poe and Evelyn made it back to their room.

"Oh, it's legit," Poe said, loosen his tie and watching the projection of the map BB-8 was displaying. 

"What exactly is the information?" Jess inquired.

"A map of every First Order base in the Unknown Regions--and their weapons schematics."

"Damn. That is legit, Pava." 

Poe tossed the tie aside and took a deep breath. "No wonder it would be valuable to a weapon's dealer--you'd know exactly what every base in the First Order needed and then cash in.  I can see why Agent Lothor wanted the Resistance to have this information.  We know what we're up against now and to be honest with you guys, it doesn't look good."

Snap sighed, heavily. He had no doubt that Poe was speaking the truth; the Resistance had their suspicions for the longest time now that the First Order was much more dangerous than the Senate deemed."Guess we should get back to base then.  When should we expect you and the missus, Dameron?"

"Fifteen minutes," Poe said. "Just changing out of these outfits Renick had us wear."

"Ah you realize that your cover is still needed to get our ship outta here, right?" 

"Don't worry, we'll still look the part--just more comfortably."

Evelyn emerged from the refresher then, just as Poe shut the commlink down. She had changed out of the lavish gown, removed the wig and make-up, and now wore an emerald green chiffon tunic and black leggings.  Quietly she sat next to him on the bed. 

Poe reached out and pulled her close, pressing his lips to her forehead. "Told Snap we'd be back at the ship in fifteen minutes. Figured we probably shouldn't wait to get back to base and give the General this information."

She nodded. "Probably a good idea."

He laughed, quietly. "Is this my first time having one?"

"No... you've been known to have them once and a while."

"Hopefully I haven't used up my quota."

Evelyn smiled and stood up, holding her hand out to him.  It was time to go; they had done their job and gotten the intel from the weapon's dealer before he sold it to the First Order. "We should probably get a move on, we don't want to worry Snap if we show up late."

Poe sighed and joined her.  "The last thing we need is Snap to go running through the city looking for us." He gestured for BB-8. "Let's go, Bee."  Grabbing their bags and slinging them over his shoulder, Poe took her hand and led them out of the hotel room.  Checking out of the suite was easy, heading back towards the ship through the streets was easy.  No one paid any attention to them--as far as anyone knew they were just another rich couple. Not even the appearance of BB-8 raised eyebrows. The little droid zipped along next to them, causing Poe to chuckle.  "Is this what our future holds?"

Glancing at him before running a hand through her hair, Evelyn smiled. "What do you mean?  Posing as wealthy spouses to get information?"

Motioning towards BB-8, Poe grinned. "No--us, taking walks with Bee, like he's our little droid son."

"I sort of figured that you and BeeBee were a packaged deal."

"Damn right we are."

BB-8 twilled happily while they walked.  Evelyn wrapped her arm around Poe's waist, pressing her cheek against his shoulder. "If this is our future--I don't think this is so bad."

Poe kissed her temple and then he grinned, devilishly. "You know... I still got some of that money left... I could buy you a ring..."

Evelyn shot him a mock glare. "Don't you dare--Renick will know immediately that the money is gone. You're expected to return it."

"Yeah but she doesn't know how much I played on those games."

"That would be cheating."

"Just slightly."

"Poe. No."

"Can I at least buy you some flowers?"

"If it's going to make you feel better and get you to shut up--yes."

Laughing, Poe let go of her, moving towards a flower vendor.  While he was chatting with the florist, Poe watched as Evelyn and BB-8 walked a little ways a head of him. She smiled at him when she caught him watching her and he heard her words echoing in his head--if this is our future, I don't think this is so bad.  His eyes were still locked with hers when the explosion rocked the square, deafening and destructive.

Poe was thrown from his spot, clear across the road and his head slammed against the stone.  Groggily, he managed to gather himself to all fours, desperately looking about the square for BB-8 and Evelyn. All he could see was flames from the blast, smoke filling the air as beings ran about terrified and screaming.  Briefly, Poe saw them, rushing through the crowd for him. It didn't appear that Evelyn was hurt or that BB-8 was damage and for that he felt a small sliver of relief--until the next blast, until in the chaos of a second bomb going off, until a look of surprise passed Evelyn's face as she was confronted by a tall man.  It was the last thing he remembered, the last thing he saw, before the world around him went black.

[webcricket]

Castiel Drabbles

Characters: CastielXDemon!Reader

Bat Out of Hell Lyric Prompt: #17 - “You’ve been nothing but an angel every day of your life, and now you wonder what it’s like to be damned.”

Word Count: 1362

Requested by: @ladyofletters67

Summary: The reader uses a bit of veracity and sass to vie for an angel’s affection.

<<<   >>>

Over the years, trial after trauma after countless trial compounding into a constant uncontrolled free fall toward humanity’s cause, everything Castiel thought he knew for fact dissolved into mere fiction perpetrated by his Father in a plot seemingly created solely for the entertainment of that self-same Creator.

Everything, that is, except one universal tenet of reckoning arising over and over no matter the situation: Everything comes at a cost. Nothing in life is free, least of all that will he fought fist and wing and wit whilst falling to embrace.

Which accounts for his stubborn suspicion about your motives in helping the Winchesters - not coming to their aid on one or two occasions, but rising from the fires of Hell whenever they get stuck in a rut, and just as often availing your support even when they aren’t. After all, demons don’t take day trips out of the pell-mell of perdition to offer assistance unless they want something in return.

The what is what the seraph cannot figure out. What has him both dubious and intrigued in such a manner he can’t keep his thoughts, idle or otherwise, from wandering to you and the conflict of emotion - a push and pull dance between light and dark, divinity and doom, a cosmic waltz that leaves him dizzy - he feels every time he’s in your presence.

It’s what has him summoning you for interrogation to a generically furnished motel room off the I-90 with Sam and Dean well out of the way - generic save for the addition of a demon trap fastidiously spray painted in crimson on the carpet and for which Castiel’s, or rather, Jimmy Novak’s credit card will be docked for damages after he checks out and housekeeping discovers the disturbing decor.

You’ve dodged his queries before by disappearing - an action usually preceded by a flirtatious fluttering pink smirk and a suggestive wink. The trap guarantees you won’t get away without clearing up his confusion.

You manifest in an onyx-eyed akimbo-stance huff cursing the rudeness of your summoner when they could have simply picked up the phone and called because, ‘Hello! It’s not the dark ages.’

The dissatisfied murmur ceases, a smile spreading your lips to flash the pearly whites veiled beneath when you see the angel is the source of your involuntary vexation because this particular angel intrigues you as much, if not more, than you intrigue him.

Sure, when you first sauntered into the Winchester’s wheel house uninvited it was with the idea of indebting them to you in return for some future favor; but when you laid eyes on their ally, you got a glimpse of actual glory, and although your mortal soul be damned beyond saving, all else fled your thoughts save a taste for a different type of seraphim-assisted salvation.

If he doesn’t recognize your interest - nay, overt attraction - yet through that thickly righteous skull housing his celestial grey matter, all it means is that you need to keep knock-knock-knocking at Heaven’s door a little longer and, perhaps, a little louder.

“Angelcake, to what do I owe the pleasure?” You move a step and a half in his direction, stopping short at the outer line of the circle.

The seraph didn’t doubt the tried and true tactic would hold you, but still, his chest swells with a sense of satisfaction in seeing you at his mercy. Studying your face in anticipation of a frown emerging thereon, a surprising observation surfaces from his subconscious to tickle his rational fancy that the bedlam of twisted soul behind those inky irises, a creature unrecognizable as a human anymore, appears to him as a chaos of stormy hues not sinister in disorder, but as compelling as the shifting colors of a sunset so stunning one cannot look away from it.

The thought, twitching his upper lip, tests his stolid facade.

You peer up in time to catch the subtle crack in his stoicism. Defiant of how he thinks you’ll react, your smile widens, stretching up at one corner in sultry reach toward an equally grinning gaze. “If you wanted to tie me up, all you had to do was ask.”

“What? I-” A squint dims the vibrant blaze of his blues; the lids flare after a second or two in sudden understanding of your debauched implication- “no, that’s not-”

“You really don’t know, do you? You angelic ass.” Smile and patience summarily fading, you interrupt a train of verbalized thought definitely not traveling to the destination you desire. If you stuck a Post-It note to your forehead that read, ‘Fuck me!’ in block letters you couldn’t be any more obvious; not that the feeling is strictly physical for you, that’s just the superficial iceberg of a much deeper emotion.

The hot white neon radiance of raggedly feathered wings stacked over his shoulders - clear as day to your demonic second sight - shudder in revolt of the accusation. “What are you talking about?”

Evidently he needs you to spell it out for him like a prophet writing on a wall; God’s team never did fair well without a playbook. But the problem here isn’t him knowing - that ruffling of feathers tells you on some level, he knows enough to rile him - it’s one of doubt. The problem with him is always freaking doubt. Doubt, like everything, exists in balance; the other side of fear is bravery.

You’ve witnessed first hand he isn’t lacking for courage in other areas, you just need to lube the cogs of the celestial machine enough to loosen them in your favor. “I see the way you look at me, Castiel. The way you don’t look away.”

The continued intensity of his stare and shiver of plumes scream out the truth skimmed by the statement; and yet, his tongue wields incongruous words. “I look because you’re an abomination and it’s my duty not to turn a blind eye.”

“Pshaw, duty,” you blow a puff of disenchanted air through pursed lips. Toeing the very edge of the sigil until your chest tightens in a crush of ribs, you steal a couple of extra millimeters of pain-stifled space in order to drive the point home as close to its heavenly host as possible. “An abomination according to who? You, Castiel?”

The query jars him into motion and the guilty realization you aren’t off base in asking about his assumption gravitates him nearer; demons are a species he thought he knew, but he thought he knew a lot of other things too and he was wrong. He lifts a palm to lightly press your arm to encourage you to retreat back within bounds and out of suffering, confessing in a penitence-laden lowness of tone, “No. No one.”

You swat at the kindness; wincing, arm breaching the barrier to follow his, your fingers wrap his wrist. Panting at the onslaught of pain, you yank him into the trap with you.

Instinct guides his hands to hook your waist, stabilizing you while you steady your breath.

Your body hums in gratitude for the gesture. Straightening yourself with the leverage of his lapels, peering up, you pierce his glossy blues with a blackly earnest gaze. “So then what do you really think I am? ‘Cause I think you’ve been nothing but an angel every day of your life, and now you wonder what it’s like to be damned.”

Although the interrogation didn’t go exactly to plan - things rarely ever do - your challenge to his foundation clarifies to him what it is you want, not from the Winchesters, but from him.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, amid the lies programed as gospel on the day of his making, a once firmly held belief that all demons are abominations buries itself in the ruins of false reason. Reverberating in a swift smash of sweetly soft lips to yours, the truth of what he feels asserts itself in the knee-weakening, grace-revving, loin girding proof of a kiss.

Everything comes at a cost, and once in an epoch, payment is tendered in the love-bridled beating of an angel’s heart for his beautiful abomination.

Castiel tag list:  (Closed, if you’d like to be removed please let me know!)    @jeepangel  @sammiesamness  @willowing-love  @roxy-davenport  @blueicevalkyrie   @im-the-nerdiest-of-them-a11  @thesugargalaxy    @bluetina-blog  @dont-trust-humanity   @honeybeetrash  @bucky-thorin-winchester  @superwholockz   @tistai  @wordstothewisereaders  @gill-ons  @mrswhozeewhatsis  @marisayouass  @stone-met   @castiel-savvy18  @samualmortgrim  @trexrambling  @magnificent-mantle  @kdfrqqg  @xdifsx   @mandilion76  @rockfairy  @peaceloveancolor  @unicorntrooper  @anisolatedship  @itsilvermorny  @aditimukul  @kudosia  @goofynerd-67babylove  @uninspirationalsonglyrics  @gray-avidan  @mishascupcake   @mishapanicmeow   @praisecastielamen  @roseyhxnt  @jessikared97  @let-the-imaginationflow  @warriorqueen1991   @sebastianstanslefteyebrow   @hisnameisboobear  @kristendanwayne  @fuschiarulerinthebluebox  @coolpencilpie  @jenabean75  @luciathewinchestergirl  @morganas-pendragons  @heyitscam99  @fangirl-and-stuff  @selahbela  @realgreglestrade  @splendidcas  @pointlesscasey  @i-larb-spooderman  @thewhiterabbit42  @thelostverse  @castieliswatchingoverme  @beccollie18  @dragonett8  @dixie-chick  @jtownraindancer   @carowinsthings  @passionghost  @ladyofletters67 @futureparent  @gabbie7-11  @myfandomlife-blog  @dreamerkim   @shamelesslydean  @earthtokace  @neaeri  @justanormalangel  @lone-loba  @supernaturalymarvel  @lilrubixx  @wings-and-halo  @thehoneybeecastielfollows  @musiclovinchic93  @81mysteriouslyme  @the-bottom-of-the-abyss  @jaylarkson @pixiedusts  @spookysculderfiles  @laqueus-ludovicus  @missjenniferb @lexininja  @jessiekay2010   @skrratata  @rhiannonj79  @calicat79

[aivaehdaevis]

Reflection

by Aivaeh

Disclaimer: Familiar characters, plot elements, and settings belong to L.J. Smith, Julie Plec, and the CW. The author of this work of fanfiction has made no money from it. Summary: It was supposed to be a harmless trick to try at a slumber party, but most slumber parties don't come with a witch. Look into a bowl of water after burning a lock of hair and you'll see your soul mate. You didn't expect it to work. Except it did, showing you the face of the dangerous vampire Damon Salvatore. Pairing(s): Damon Salvatore x Reader, Stefan Salvatore x Elena Gilbert Rating: M Word Count: 3,177 Warning(s): Graphic descriptions of violence on par with the show itself. Sexual content. References to torture. Master List External Links: AO3 | Wattpad

Chapter One

From an armchair, Caroline dabbed at her eyes as the credits for The Notebook began. You and Bonnie shared the sofa while Elena sat cross-legged on the floor between you. Turning off the player, Elena leaned her head back into the cushion. “What do you guys want to do now?”

Silence reigned for all of thirty seconds before Caroline broke it. “Let’s do something… witchy.”

“Something witchy?” Bonnie plucked a piece of leftover popcorn from the serving bowl and tossed it at Caroline.

Caroline barely glanced at it before catching it. Bonnie muttered a, “no fair,” as Caroline leaned over her chair’s armrest. “Yeah. Something like The Craft.”

Bonnie served her one of her flattest looks. “Magic isn’t like that.”

“Oh, come on. You can’t even change hair color?”

Bonnie’s nose crinkled. “Maybe?”

“We’re not doing a magic makeover, Caroline,” Elena said.

Caroline pouted. “C’mon, you guys. We have a witch with magical powers. We have to do some kind of—spell or something!”

Bonnie rolled her eyes. “Magic isn’t a toy.”

Eyes widening, Caroline ignored Bonnie’s admonishment. Instead, she sat up straight and said, “I know! We’ll do that spell that’s supposed to show you who you’re destined for.”

“Like a soulmate?” Elena asked.

Caroline’s answering nod was an enthusiastic bounce of blonde curls.

“There’s no spell like that,” Bonnie said.

“Yes, there is.” Caroline grinned. “I’ve done it before. It didn’t work, obviously—”

“Obviously,” Elena drawled.

Caroline shushed her with a look. “—but that’s because I didn’t have Bonnie.” Treated to a pair of skeptical stares, Caroline turned to you. “Come on.” She stood up and tossed her hair back. “Unless someone else has a better idea.”

With a shared glance, you realized alongside the others that no one did. “Fine.” Bonnie leaned forward and set the bowl onto the coffee table. “Do we need anything?”

“A bowl of water for each of us, a lock of hair to burn, and a ring.”

Bonnie’s brows rose. “That’s… not a bad list.”

Caroline’s grin widened. “See!”

Bonnie’s lips pressed together before she stood up. “Still no guarantee it’ll work,” Bonnie warned as she extended a hand towards Elena. As soon as Elena took hold, she helped pull her back up to her feet.

You all trooped across the hall into the dining room. Elena went on to the kitchen, grabbing a stack of bowls from her cupboard. Bonnie opened a drawer to grab a pair of scissors while you and Caroline got out the candles.

After filling the bowls with water and setting them on the table, Elena looked at the candles as you lit them and frowned. “I hope the whole room doesn’t stink of burnt hair.”

“We’ll open a window,” Caroline said, arranging the bowls just so.

Bonnie looked around to each of you. “You guys realize this is probably just some old superstition.”

“C’mon, Bon,” Elena entreated, taking a seat. “What’s the worst that could happen.”

“Don’t say something like that,” you admonished before sitting.

Bonnie blew out a breath before lifting her hands. “Fine. I’ll try.”

An excited, “Thank you,” came from a bouncing Caroline before she slid into her seat.

Bonnie shook her head but held her hands out over the water. “What’s the spell?”

Everyone looked expectantly at Caroline. Her brows scrunched together in thought. “There isn’t one. Just—cutting the hair, burning the hair, and dropping it into the bowl with the ring in it.” At her words, she slipped a ring off her finger and dropped it into her bowl with a plink.

You, Elena, and Bonnie exchanged glances before following suit. Meanwhile, Caroline snipped a lock of hair and passed the scissors off to Elena.

You were the last to get the scissors. You picked a small bit of hair from the back and snipped it free. Smoothing out the rest, you held it at the ready.

Bonnie’s brow quirked, but she closed her eyes and held her hands out above the table. You wondered if she was playing along at first, but then noticed her forehead had crinkled and she was whispering under her breath.

After several minutes, her eyes opened and her hand fell to the black curl on the table. “Okay.”

Caroline blew an excited breath before sticking her hair into the candleflame and quickly dropping it into the water. She stared into the bowl with crazy intensity.

With a mental shrug, you, Elena, and Bonnie followed suit. You had just dropped your flaming hair into the bowl when Caroline gasped out, “Oh my god! It worked!”

“No way,” Bonnie uttered, sounding amazed as she peered into the water.

Elena wore a huge grin as she leaned over her bowl.

It took a moment for your brain to process the rippling reflection, as if he were the one staring into a bowl in the middle of Elena’s dining room. The face was a familiar one. The handsomest one you’d ever laid eyes on. Intense light blue eyes that could be mistaken as silver in the right light beneath thick black brows. Strong, shapely jaw, straight nose, full lips.

All connected to a man who still gave you nightmares. No. Not a man. A vampire.

Damon Salvatore.

Paling, you jerked back into your seat.

“I don’t recognize him,” Caroline lamented, before adding, “But he’s hot.”

“I don’t think I’ve met mine, either,” Bonnie said.

“Is he hot?”

“Yes, Caroline.” But Bonnie wore a small crooked smile despite the exasperation in her voice.

Caroline folded her arms as she caught sight of Elena across from her. “Oh my god. Let me guess.”

“Stefan,” Elena confirmed, practically glowing with happiness.

While Bonnie and Caroline smiled with her, you pushed your bowl further away. Of course, this drew their gazes. “Well?” Caroline asked.

“Don’t know,” you lied softly.

Elena sent a sympathetic look your way. “I’m sure you’ll meet him someday.”

You blinked, summoning a weak smile of your own. “Yeah.”

“Is he cute?” Caroline asked.

“Caroline,” Bonnie sighed.

“What?” Caroline demanded before arching her brows at you. “Well?”

“Yeah.” You swallowed.

While the others started excitedly talking about the mysterious faces Caroline and Bonnie had seen, you slid further down your seat, slightly queasy.

You had never really cared for Damon. He’d struck you as full of himself and way too suspect for dating Caroline who’d been sixteen at the time. When you discovered he’d been abusing her after they’d broken up, you’d detested him for how he’d treated one of your best friends.

Then you found out he was a vampire who’d gone around killing people for over a century. And you discovered that fact shortly before he’d threatened to kill you if you didn’t help him hack into the computers of the people who turned out to be Elena’s birth parents. Ever since, anytime he needed information he couldn’t compel for himself he’d inevitably turn up with a quip and a threat.

Though, admittedly, the threats came off as more routine lately.

Either way, you still had nightmares of Damon making good on those threats. He frightened you.

How the hell was he supposed to be your soulmate?

By the time all of you had settled down to go to sleep, you were still wide awake with the question. Eventually you decided the spell had to be wrong. You’d used a mood ring. Your bowl had a chip. You hadn’t burned your hair enough. It fell in counterclockwise or something. You decided to forget the whole thing as a fluke.

It was almost sunrise by the time you managed to fall into an uneasy sleep.

Over the next few days you barely saw anyone, not even at school. Supernatural shenanigans were afoot. This time, no one needed a computer whiz. For you it was quiet as Elena and everyone else dealt with matters without you. It gave you time to put the whole spell business behind you.

By the time the preparation for the masquerade ball came around, you’d mostly stopped freaking out about it.

And then you saw him.

He and Stefan were outside, Damon pacing back and forth as the two talked. He looked… irritated.

You bolted in the other direction.

As you scurried away, you felt ridiculous. For the thousandth time, you assured yourself the spell was a fluke. Besides, it wasn’t like you needed much reason to avoid Damon.

Once you’d rounded one of the mansion’s many flowerbeds, you felt confident you’d gotten away. A glance over your shoulder revealed the spot where the two had been talking was empty.

Then you turned around and nearly crashed into Damon’s chest. You stopped and stumbled back so fast you almost fell.

“Where you off to?” He was squinting down through the sunshine, pinning you in place with his stare.

You straightened up and took a steadying breath. “Just—looking for Mrs. Lockwood.” Nervous, you added, “I finished the task she gave and—”

“Mhm,” an uninterested Damon interrupted before folding his arms. “Forget the ball. We’re going to need your little talents.”

You knew better than to protest. “What do you want me to hack into this time?”

His lips thinned into a tense smile. “Katherine’s phone. I want to know where she’s been, who she’s been calling, who they’ve been calling.”

Okay. That wasn’t stalker-y at all. You were kind of confused. Last you’d heard, Damon had tried to kiss Elena. Everyone was saying how he was in love with her, despite the fact she was in love with Stefan.

You weren’t sure someone as selfish as Damon was capable of love.

“Go get your stuff and meet me at the boarding house,” he ordered.

Meet him? Alone? You were so unnerved at the prospect you didn’t feel the usual irritation that came with one of Damon’s demands. “Is… anyone else going to be there.”

“Oh, yeah.” The smile he gave you was the one that haunted your nightmares. “You, me, and a certain werewolf.” With that, he walked off.

You turned to watch him go, brows furrowed. Soon as he was out of sight, your shoulders dropped as you sighed.

You stopped to let Tyler know you were leaving—you told him to study, which of course he didn’t question. You drove back to your small two-bedroom house to grab your laptop and a few extra drives and usb sticks. By the time you arrived at the Salvatore’s, you were unsurprised to see Mason Lockwood’s truck parked outside.

You grabbed all your equipment from the passenger seat and followed the drive around to the covered entrance. Hugging your laptop to your chest, you gazed up at the front door of the Salvatore Boarding House and blew out a long breath. “Okay,” you whispered. “It’s no big deal. Just another electronic crime.”

This was not helping.

Shaking your head and drawing in another deep, hopefully relaxing breath (it wasn’t), you made to grab the bell.

Of course the door chose that moment to open. And of course Damon was on the other side.

“‘Bout time.” One side of his lips slid up into an all-too familiar smirk. “Or are you not done with your little pep talk.”

You spun about on the ball of your foot and—

Damon was there before you could take a step. “Ah ah.” His stare intensified, until you felt trapped beneath it. “I need those records.”

His hand fell on your shoulder. You stiffened. He seemed not to notice—or more likely care—as he guided you inside the boarding house and down the hallway. “Do you have her phone?”

“No.” He steered you into a room a lot more modest in size compared to the rest of the house. This one sported a desk and computer, complete with printer.

“How am I supposed to—” you cut yourself off with an irritated breath. “Never mind. I’ll try the phone company.”

“Great idea.” Damon finally let go of your shoulder and moved back to the door. “Let me know when you have something.” He closed the door behind him, shutting you in.

You hurried to set your laptop up at the desk, wondering who it belonged to. Before long, you were connected to the wifi and tunneling into various VPNs to conceal your address.

You were just about to start poking around the first of the major cellphone carriers when the screaming began.

You startled and stared at the door, horrified by the noises. You thought for a moment of leaving—but realized Damon expected you to do this. Another yell punctuated the point. It would be a good idea not to risk pissing him off.

Hands trembling, you reached into your purse and pulled out your iPod.

An hour later, the screaming hadn’t let up.

You had your earbuds in and your iPod turned all the way up, and you could still hear Mason. Rocking back and forth, palm pressed into your forehead, you gritted your teeth as another tortured cry cut through your playlist.

Forcing your hand down, you stared at the messages scrolling down the command line. Port numbers and networking information made up the bulk of the information. The program you’d created did most of the work as it sniffed around the target, seeking unguarded ways in. Anyone could’ve run it, really, but they always came to you.

You dug your fingers into your temples and rubbed, willing your computer to find its door.

How could Damon, verifiable psycho, be your destined soul mate?

“C’mon,” you muttered as another scream rang out.

It was another twenty excruciating minutes—especially for Mason—before the computer finally found a way inside the network. “Yes,” you cheered, a rush of pleasure burying your anxiety for a moment. This feeling was why you, an otherwise squeaky-clean A student who wouldn’t even go a mile over the speed limit, had played around with more… illegal… activities. Even before getting involved with supernatural shenanigans. It was hard to resist the rush that came with the proof you were awesome. And then poking around where you weren’t supposed to, seeing all the things major companies or government departments wanted to keep hidden—it was addictive.

Right now you were pulling Katherine’s cell phone records. Everything from the numbers she’d called and that had called her (and cross referencing them) to the GPS locations during those calls. An embarrassment of riches on the vampire’s recent movements.

You weren’t surprised that one of the numbers was connected to Mason Lockwood’s cellphone. You ran a search on his phone, too, in case more people were involved.

All in all, you were quickly filling up your drive with a ton of call logs and billing information as Katherine’s web of contacts just kept growing. You supposed someone who’d been around as long as she had was bound to have quite the rolodex. To narrow things down, you started building a database to query through the records for more useful bits of information.

Thanks to another script, it wasn’t long before the downloaded info was being transferred into it. You started searching for people Katherine was calling most frequently since she’d come to Mystic Falls.

By the time you had a good sized, cross-referenced list, you felt ready to hand the preliminary data over to Damon to do—whatever he wanted to do with it. Connecting to their printer, you started printing off the summary—all twenty pages of it.

Grabbing the finished pile, you left your laptop running to finish grabbing the rest of the information from the phone company and left the office. However, the closer you got to the library, and the muffled noises of pain emanating from within, the more the momentary fog brought on by your triumph lifted. You slowed, biting your lip in indecision. You were pretty sure you wanted nothing to do with whatever was going on in there.

But maybe something you’d found would make all this torture unnecessary. Squaring your shoulders, you marched forward and through the library’s doors.

And immediately regretted your decision.

Mason was chained to a tall wooden chair, shirt covered in bloody holes. He was straining against the chains, head thrown back and neck so tense you could see his veins pulsing as he screamed. Damon stood over him, fireplace poker in hand. The other end was shoved into Mason’s chest.

The room smelt—terrible. Like sweat and burnt ham.

Damon pulled a hot poker away from Mason’s chest to straighten up. His brows rose as he turned to you. “Found something?”

Your sights kept jumping to Mason’s own pleading, pain-filled eyes. Apparently, you were taking too long to answer, because Damon walked over and buried the end of the poker back into the fireplace. He snapped his fingers in front of your face, making you jump. “Eyes on me.”

The last thing you wanted to do was look at the handsome vampire that was apparently unbothered with shoving pokers into people. Bile pushed up your throat, but you swallowed it back before silently holding out the pages.

Damon plucked them from your hands, throwing a smirk over his shoulder at a panting, red-faced Mason. “Let’s see what Mystic Fall’s little wonderkin managed to dig up.” He scanned the page, flipping to the next one quickly as he took in the information presented. “Well. Hasn’t Katherine been a busy little beaver. Lots of calls.” He paused to before adding pointedly to the man tied to the chair, “Lots of guys.”

Mason shook his head.

“Denial.” Damon continued flipping through. He paused halfway through. “You, however, are much more pathetic. Katherine. Katherine. Katherine. Ooh, here’s one. Jules.” Damon wiggled his brows. “Who’s that?”

Mason’s eyes widened. “She has nothing to do with any of this.”

“Says you.” Damon glanced over. “Hm. Looks like she’s still in Florida. Sun. Beaches. Bikinis.” He arched a brow. “Maybe I should take a trip.”

Mason let out a frustrated groan before yanking against his chains so hard his head banged against the chair.

“Sore spot?” Damon handed back the pages, and you took them silently. He leaned over to grab the poker from the fireplace. “Thanks for the intel.” Damon glanced your way before stalking forward and adding, “You know the way out.”

You turned quickly from Mason’s pleading gaze before hurrying back through the door. Another scream chased you from the room.

You nearly ran into Jeremy, who was carrying a box in his hands. “Woah.” He met your frantic gaze. “You okay?”

You summoned a weak smile. “Just eager to get home.”

Jeremy nodded.

You both looked away as a muffled cry sounded from the library.

“See you,” you murmured, stepping around.

“Yeah.”

Back in the office, you were glad to find the searches had finished. You copied the database and the raw information to a usb drive, leaving it on the desk with a note. More screams made you pack up in record time and chased you all the way out the boarding house’s front door.

The spell had to be wrong.

Had to be.

[anime-grimmy]

Favourite Gaming Soundtracks of the 2010s

It’s the end of another decade and what a decade it’s been. So much has changed in “just” 10 years, so many cool things have happened, so many amazing games have been released. Since it’s the end of the year I thought I could talk about some things that are dear to my heart. I love music and with so many dope games came just as amazing soundtracks. So, I just wanna let out my thoughts for my favourites. This is not really ranked, but I’ll tell you which my favs are from my favs.

But first, some “honorable mentions” for soundtracks I really enjoy, even though I’ve never played these games.

-        Dark Souls / Bloodborne Mystic and gritty, but strangely calming from time to time

-        Hollow Knight It came coming on with YT Autoplay and to be honest, I can’t complain. All in all a great soundtrack

-        Persona 5 Dude, talk about style. It’s not quite my type of game, but holy fuck, the music is my JAM

-        God of War (2018) I DID play this game and I loved it, but the soundtrack didn’t really stick out to me THAT much. Some tracks are downright bone-chilling and epic, but it didn’t have such a big impact on me all in all.

 Anyways, on with my list.

Pokemon Sword and Shield

I’m gonna start with a recent one since it’s still fresh in my mind.

I always liked the Pokemon Soundtracks. Though most of the time simplistic, some tracks just have such iconic melodies. However, from Sinnoh onwards, I started liking single tracks more than the soundtrack as a whole. For example. even though most people say Cynthia has the best Champion theme, I can agree an the melody being amazing, but for me, the theme is so loaded, I don’t like it (best Champion theme is still Lance). Alola, for me, started having an upcurve on the soundtrack. I liked it as a whole, though I can’t really remember what exactly stood out to me.

Now Sword and Shield. Dudes, keep going on that route, your OST is amazing. I’ll be honest, the BEST thing of this game is the soundtrack. All have this kinda sporty/cheery sound and even though, let’s say, the normal battle theme isn’t that of a banger, the number of amazing single themes is just so high. Bede’s theme is basically the only thing I like about him, Marnie’s has such a cool tune (and all the metal covers on YT, BRO) and even if many people don’t like Hop’s theme, I really dig it. Some parts remind me of Mirror B.s theme, I dunno why.

And then you have my fav tracks, Rose’s Final Fantasy theme, Toby’s amazing Battle Tower theme AND THE GYM BATTLE MUSIC. I really didn’t like the gym leader theme at first but while playing the game, after each gym leader, it got me more and more stoked when the battle began.

All in all, Pokemon Sword and Shield has an overall enjoyable soundtrack. Filled with bangers, for me it made the game itself so much better.

Animal Crossing

Though I haven’t played the game in a long time, I still listen to the music.

Animal Crossing is just laid out to be this chill and calming ensemble of melodies. And it works. When I’m stressed or have to work on stuff I don’t want to, I usually just put on Animal Crossing music. It calms me and just gives me this warm and fuzzy feeling. It also helps when I have problems sleeping.

A soundtrack to just lie back, close your eyes and just enjoy life.

Legend of Zelda – Breath of the Wild

Continuing with calm music, let’s talk about my favourite Switch title.

This game often gets flag for “having no music” or too little of it. I know where you’re coming from, but I just think the limited use of the soundtrack makes you appreciate it even more. The moments when the music is used is carefully chosen and that makes it special. Be it the few piano notes that play while the day goes on, the little notification that you’ve entered a new area, the unexpected high energy when you’re fighting (most of all bosses) or the indescribable fear you feel when a Guardian spots you.

There are a few favourite moments I have of the game.

First is the start, when you first leave the cave, run out and this vast landscape opens before you. Just those few piano notes made me all excited for this new adventure. Like dawn is breaking.

The first time I rode on a horse over this wide field and suddenly, the music starts swelling. It was almost magical, the music rising just like my excitement.

The last thing I love is the difference between being in villages and outside. When I noticed that you always have some kind of melody playing when you’re in a settlement it dawned on me how quiet it was outside of them. I love this contrast between being alone in the wilderness with all the quiet and the sudden swell in music when you’re with other people.

This OST amazes me with how much emotion it can convey with often just the smallest amount of notes. An amazing soundtrack for just as an amazing game.

Super Mario Odyssey

So, last Nintendo game on this list, I swear.

This one is a small surprise, but at the same time, it really isn’t. I’ve never really been a fan of the main Mario games, they just aren’t really my thing. (the spin-offs are my jam). However, I’ve always enjoyed Mario’s music. The upbeat tunes really get stuck in your head and the melodies are always so recognizable. Heck, my favourite OST was from Super Mario Sunshine back in the day!

With Odyssey, I really enjoyed both the game and the soundtrack aspect. The worlds are colourful and the gameplay is super fun. Combine that with the stellar soundtrack and the game was such a fun experience, it’s definitely in my top 10. But what I really enjoyed is the diversity of the track. When you listen to the soundtrack on Youtube and you just click on two different parts of the video, I can guarantee that they’ll probably sound completely different but at the same time somehow coherent. The best tracks, in my opinion, are the upbeat ones for sure. The feeling of excitement and adventure just swells so much it’s amazing.

Then you’ve got “Jump up Superstar”. I fucking love this song. It’s so much fun, has such a great tune which gets stuck in your head and the lyrics are so easy to sing along. All things I love in a song. I actually listened to the song on repeat before I even got the game and I couldn’t wait to get to New Donk City to LIVE the song. And I wasn’t disappointed, it was one if not the best moments in the game.

Great game, great soundtrack, 100% fun.

Bravely Default / Bravely Second

(technically on a Nintendo Console, but whatev) I’m just gonna lump this two together, since BS’s the sequel.

Now, JRPGs aren’t really my thing. They often take too long for my tastes, I can’t for the life of me concentrate on the story and characters and after some time they just get stale for me. But now and then, I pick up a series I actually finish and that was Bravely Default and Second. I think I just have such a huge soft spot for the series cause of the art style/atmosphere and the fact that I played 8 hours straight of BD on a flight from Canada home.

I haven’t played the games in forever but when I think about what I like about them, there are 3 things I always think about: characters, art style and soundtrack. The songs might sound generic to most, but to me, with my little knowledge of JRPGs, find them quiet unique. It does at some points remind me of Final Fantasy but I think something just makes the tracks just sound like Bravely, though I can’t put my finger on it.

I don’t know the names of the themes, but even now there are just certain tracks which I link to a certain reaction. Like “oh no, not them again” or “Now shit is getting down”. Or every time the main theme plays, I get absolutely pumped.

Haven’t played the games in forever, but the soundtrack’s still in my mind.

Kingdom Hearts

From one RPG to the next, here’s a very special soundtrack. Kingdom Hearts is a franchise near and dear to my heart. It’s one of the first, if not THE first, RPG I ever played. I just get so nostalgic with this game. I can just remember watching my brother playing KH2, seeing two characters from my favourite franchise run around with this spiky haired boy with this stupidly big key. So much stuff happened I didn’t even understand back then, but just seeing these animated characters laugh and cry and go on this grand adventure, little me was mesmerized.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t too happy with KH3. I’ve waited so long for it, just like hundreds of other people, but the end product just, I dunno, lacked the heart it used to. One thing however didn’t, the soundtrack. As sad I was to not enjoy the game as a whole as much as I wanted to, the soundtrack became one of my instant favourites. It sounds grandiose and has so much emotion. Each track sounds amazing but the OST really shines in its more calm and beautiful themes and its epic ones.

My favourite songs are the serene ones, however. “Sincerely Beloved” and the other Utada songs are some of my favourite songs ever and I can’t tell you how close I came to crying with the Sea Salt Icecream Trios themes. Heck, I played Xion’s theme back in the day on the piano and I still can play it now.

As much as KH has gone down in heart, the soundtrack stands up there as one of the best, much thanks to Utada Hikaru as well. It will always be important to me and just reminds me of my childhood. Some very fond memories.

Undertale

Well, let’s get outta the nostalgia feel and turn it up a bit!

Ah, Toby Fox, you madlad. Creating such a great game and subverting so many expectations. Undertale really had a big impact on the gaming scene but for me, the soundtrack really lasted. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the characters and story very much, but I still listen to the soundtrack regularly.

Undertale’s OST is comprised of sad, melancholic, upbeat and downright hype tunes. It has a wide spectrum but Toby Fox really does know how to push Leitmotif. All themes kind of flow great into each other but still manage to stand out and are recognizable. Each character theme fits the character perfectly and I love how their themes usually have some melodies/instruments from the area they’re in. And speaking of areas, as much as I love the character themes I just might prefer the atmosphere tracks even more. I mean, “Snowdin” just sounds like this super laid back, cute little town, “Home” is such a calming song and “It’s raining somewhere else” has such mystique. And, of course, the fact that the tracks have character/plot relevance is just amazing.

Not to mention, Toby Fox created one of the best Meme songs in existence.

Love the game, love the soundtrack even more and I’ll listen to “Death by Glamour” til I die.

Horizon Zero Dawn

I’m so happy I picked up this game. I never bought it cos A, I feel overwhelmed by open world games, and B, it COSTS SO MUCH. But I found it for half the prise and I bought it right before exam week. I know, smart move.

But anyways, the soundtrack. There aren’t any tracks that really stand out to me but I just like it as a whole. It’s such an atmospheric OST and when listening to it as BG music you just HEAR where you are, which tribe you’re in, what you probably did in the game when it played.

And that’s actually a big factor. All in all, I don’t think it’s such a special OST. It sounds great, most tracks are solid, but what really makes it shine is how much it enhances the experience of the game. The gameplay and story are great, but the OST just makes everything so much better, with setting the tone and atmosphere and all that.

I could go on and on about this game, but the soundtrack can be shaved down to a few words. Solid, great and atmospheric.

Monster Hunter World / Iceborne

So, I’ll drop this to second to last because I already made a super long analysis of the soundtrack. I’ll link it here.

https://anime-grimmy.tumblr.com/post/188601659768/some-monster-hunter-ramblings-possible-spoilers

But to put it simply, this is probably my favourite soundtrack at the moment. I just haven’t experienced so many emotions while listening to an OST since a certain game that’s next on the list. I still can’t listen to “Succession of Light” without almost crying (who am I kidding, I cry every time). I dunno why, but so many tracks make me feel such a barrage of emotions, be it excitement for adventure, hype for the hunt or just simply a childlike wonder.

Simply a great soundtrack that will be on top for a long time.

Okami

Technically a game from 2006, but the PS4 version came out like 2017 and I REALLY WANNA TALK ABOUT THIS GAME.

This is my absolute favourite game of all time. Since I played it first when I was about 9 years old, I just really loved this game. I replayed it more times than I can count and dude, I speedrun this game in record time.

For people who don’t know this game, you play as the Sun God Amaterasu, who has been summoned in the body of a white wolf. You job is to banish the evil from Nippon. To say this game awakened my fondness of Japanese culture is, well, spot on. I’ve played this game before I even knew what anime was. The atmosphere, style, themes and mostly the music mesmerized me. It was all so, well, foreign. Even nowadays it stands out from anything else I’ve played.

But on to the OST. Next to it being just amazing in general, it just is so Japanese and that’s what has always stuck out to me. I grew up with very traditional and classical music, back then I didn’t even listen to English/American music. So to hear these melodies and instruments that just sound so unfamiliar was very intriguing. And that just topped of the already amazing tracks. Okami does a great job of having super epic, exciting but also sombre and atmospheric music. It’s also very animated and comedic with it’s use of music. So, the mix of foreign sounds and great timing of amazing tracks just makes the experience all so much more memorable.

Even after 10+ years, Okami never gets boring and no matter how much I play it, the moment I face a boss and the epic music swells, or the moment a calm scene passes and the melody slows, my heart fills with emotion and I’m so glad I played it again.

Well, that’s that! I know it probably often sounds kind of sappy, but music is very special and important to me. If music doesn’t evoke emotions in me, I don’t care about it, even if it sounds great. For me it’s important that, when I listen to a soundtrack, I can remember the game or the scene it played in and the emotions I felt in that moment.

Soundtracks are supposed to make a emotional connection between you and the game and that’s why they are essential. At least that’s how I see it.

Anyways, if you made it this far, I bow my head to you. Thanks for reading and I hope you could somehow share my perspective of these games’ soundtrack. Feel free to tell me about your fav tracks!

 It’s been a nice decade, enjoy the rest of 2019!

[marshmallowprotection]

Music Theory #6

Heaven’s Gate by Fall Out Boy. Seven’s about to give you some feels. Deep Route spoilers. Reset Theory. You’ve been warned. 

“One look from you, and I'm on that faded love. Out of my body, and flying above.” 

All it took was one laugh for him to fall in love with you. That’s all that it took. It was just one little laugh. Then nothing else in the world mattered except you. A fraction of a second and his heart belonged to you, and only you. It didn’t matter what was happening, or who you found yourself drawn to in the game. His heart always rested in your hands. He doesn’t know any different. Nor does he want to know any different from you. It’s written in his code, it's in the stars, it's in the sun, it's in the moon, there is no escaping it. 

Every part of him loves you so much down to the numbers that bind him. Yes, there’s a part of those feelings that were programmed into him to always like for the MC to some capacity. There’s so much of him that has already been dictated to be a certain way, but the part of him that’s aware of his surroundings, the part of him that sentient, the part of him that knows his life, and his friends, every part of him is being controlled by another force—

he willingly chose to love you. 

Saeyoung would do anything for you, and he does, even when you don’t pick him as the one you want to love before a reset hits. It shows in the way that he always tries to make you smile, tries to make your day a little better, and how hard he works to protect you from danger. He knows that behind the mask of the MC, you exist somewhere, and all the choices that he makes will affect you, affect the escape you’re playing with. 

It didn’t matter if he got hurt in the process. It didn’t matter if his heart was ripped to pieces when he watched you live lifetimes with his friends. The only thing that mattered to him was that you were happy with your life. He just smiles, tells his jokes, and waits to hear your laughter on the other side of the screen. “If there were any more left of me. I'd give it to you, and I'll tell you that I am fine. But I'm a missile that's guided to you.” 

The only time that he’s allowed to exist with you is in the same two weeks. The same days over and over until it blurs together, from start to finish. Those days are the only time that he gets to spend with you. So, even if he is reliving the same days over and over until the end, he doesn’t care. It’s a curse and it’s a blessing for him. 

Every time your finger presses the button to start a new route, he prays that maybe this time he might be the lucky one. “Go out in the world to start over again and again. As many times as ya can.” 

For him to be able to have your attention for longer than just a moment is that all that he wants. That time never seems to come, though... and it’s frustrating to sit there, and wait for you to start over from the beginning, just sitting there and wondering as your heart meter raises to others once more with your choices laid out. The person that you are behind the screen, that’s who he wishes that he could get to know that person beyond the answers that you’re given to choose from. 

Seven often wonders how it might be if you could actually exist with him, be in the same place as he is. 

But it seems as though that could never be such a thing. The person that his heart belongs to is you, not the faceless MC you control to see them. This is all he can know of you, this is is the only way that he can be with you. It’s when you reach him in the game, and you replay your time with him over and over, and over and over, and over and over, that he really struggles with that sensation in his body. He may be able to have like this, but would it be enough for you to keep him in your heart? “And in the end, if I don't make it on the list. Would you sneak me a wristband?” 

It’s not something that he does often because he respects your privacy. However, if only for a moment, as he reaches through the confines of his own reality and out to you. It’s enough for his heart when he gets to see your true face behind the screen and the way that you smile when you speak to yourself as you play the game. 

Someone who doesn’t have a lot of their own friends, someone who is lonely, and someone who wishes for something more than what they have. You’re the kind of person that people don’t understand... but you have the biggest heart out of anyone he’s ever known in his entire existence. You set out to make everyone’s lives a little better as you play the game, not for yourself, no, but for them instead. 

Your heart seems to have no bounds.  He aches for you, aches so badly, knowing that as happy as you make him—

all Saeyoung can do is not the same as what you want can do. 

With his fingers pressed against his own screen, staring at your face with a desperate and painful laugh in his chest. He can only sit there, knowing that as much as he loves you, and as much as he believes that you love him, you can only have this. He’s grateful for having anything, but it feels greedy to keep reaching out with his hands, praying for something more. “Would you give me, give me, give me, give me a boost. A boost over heaven's gate, yeah. Give me a boost over heaven's gate.” 

As your visits to him stay frequent, he dares to breach that gap a little each time you come. He’ll often slip through the locks, just to look through your camera, and watch as you laugh at his words, and how you cry at other times, how you speak so passionately to him, how you wish you could help him... there are so many times throughout it all that it makes him love you even more if that’s possible for a being of code such as him. 

If it is, then it’s how he feels. “I'm gonna need a boost. 'Cause everything else is a substitute for your love. Give me a boost over heaven's gate. I got dreams of my own. But I want to make yours come true. So please come through. Honey please, please come through.” 

Time with you is everything... he can only count the moments where you aren’t with him. And lately, the times where you come to visit him have gotten less and less from what they used to be. He knows that something is wrong... but he doesn’t have the ability to find out what that is.

Seven has always been bound to the walls of his game. By his screens. By this code. By the laws of the universe. All he’s supposed to be is a character, but he’s more than that. He wouldn’t be alive in spite of this if this was all he was meant to be.  Who said that’s what he has to do with his existence? He’s Seven! He’s capable of anything! You’ve said so yourself in the past. It’s your smile, that’s what motivates him to be more than what he was created to be in this world.  

“You're, you're out in the world, start over again and again. As many times as you can, and in the end if I don't make it on the list. Would you sneak me a wristband?” 

He shouldn’t have done it but he’s seen into your life and the way that you feel miserable. 

He worked tirelessly and for days to bypass everything that had been written around him. There was no guarantee that he would ever be able to speak with you in such a way as he wanted, but if he didn’t put in the effort to try to do, then he would never be able to do anything. 

He would never be able to protect you... or make you feel better, and that’s all he wanted. 

“Give me a boost, a boost over heaven's gate, yeah. Give me a boost over heaven's gate. I'm gonna need a boost. 'Cause everything else is a substitute for your love. Give me a boost over heaven's gate.” 

The memories flood through his head as he works throughout the day and night for a week straight. He can remember the time when you first showed up into his life, and he found himself drawn to you. He can picture the times when you continued to steal his heart. The way your eyes lit up when you laughed at his attempts to play with you. 

The times where he tried to push you back so he wouldn’t have to feel the pain in his heart when he remembered that he really couldn’t embrace you, hold you tightly, or kiss your tears away. How he had failed to keep you away from him because how determined you were to break down his walls faster then he could keep them up. 

There’s no keeping you out of his heart. No matter how much he loves you... or much he wishes he could push you way.  It’s the motivation to keep him going day after day. It’s what keeps him going forward despite the resets. What keeps him going when you don’t visit him as often as you always did. “You're the one habit I just can't kick. You're the one habit I just can't kick. You're the one habit I just can't kick. You're the one habit I just can't kick. You're the one, you're the one. You're the one, you're the one. You're the one habit I just can't kick.” 

The time that you’ve been gone has been mostly spent in solitude, with tears wracked in your chest at your circumstance. It’s when he least expects it that he manages to give you a call. There’s silence on the other end of the phone, and he prays that you answer it, rather than stare at it for its strangeness. 

It feels like the first time he’s ever heard your voice. Sad that it’s wracked with grief, but glad to hear it for the first real time.  “Saeyoung...?”

There are so many things that he wants to say but the only thing that he manages to say is: “Yeah. It’s Saeyoung.” 

“...How?” is what you manage. “Give me a boost, a boost over heaven's gate, yeah.  Give me a boost over heaven's gate.  I'm gonna need a boost.” 

There’s a genuine laugh on his lips for the first in what feels like forever. “Did you really that something like a screen separating us could be able to stop me? I’m God Seven after all. You’re the one that told me that I was capable of anything, isn’t that right?”

“Well... yeah... but...” you trailed off, unsure. 

He understands your hesitancy. “I know. I know. You’re probably weirded by being able to speak to me when I’m supposed to just be code in a game. It’s a lot to take in at once... I know it might be strange to be able to talk to me, all things considered. But I really want the chance to speak with you, if you’ll let me.” 

“...I would never turn you down, Saeyoung.” you’re quick to reply. “That’s not like me.” 

“Yeah. You’re right. You’re far too kind and lovely to ever hang up on someone. I know you’ve been having a hard time. I was hoping that I could lend an ear to your problems like you’ve done for me all this time. You haven’t come by a lot lately, and I’ve been worried about you and how you were feeling. I don’t know what’s wrong. But I want to be there for you. That’s why I did this.” 

You don’t know why, but you trust him wholeheartedly. It’s easy to speak to him, to be honest about your fears, and your depression, and your feelings, and he listens to you without ever judging a word that you say. He hangs on the end of every word and listens. 

He’s everything at that moment to you. You’re everything to him at that moment.  Both of you pray that it never ends. 

“Feel better?” he would ask, quietly, once you let it all out. 

You rubbed your eyes free of the tears that had been spilling over. “Yeah. I think I’m okay now.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” he breathed, a sigh of relief. 

With shaking hands, you grip your phone and think about all the times that he must have been struggling. You never thought that he was aware of what was happening. You never knew by playing this game, he would have to watch everything crumble and be rebuilt again. “But I’d be a lot happier if we could talk like this from now instead of me having to put you through a lot of grief. Do you think that’s possible? That we can talk without me having to make you relive everything? You’ve done this. I believe you could do anything that you wanted to do if this is possible.” 

He’s quiet for a moment, and then he speaks. “As long as you believe in me, then I’ll never stop trying to reach out to you.” 

And just like that, a new kind of reset— 

No, a new start for both of you was made.  

“'Cause everything else is a substitute for your love. Give me a boost over heaven's gate. Give me a boost.” 

Who knows? It might very well be possible for him to see you someday. 

[verytamenow]

Any or all of them, huh? All of them

That wasn’t a this or that thing but I’m bored and technically did ask for it so fine...smartass...

1. What is you middle name? Eric Lynn

2. How old are you? 27

3. When is your birthday? June 8

4. What is your zodiac sign? Gemini

5. What is your favorite color? It depends. To wear? For walls? For a car? In general, steel blue.

6. What’s your lucky number? I don’t really have one, but I’ll choose 7 or 13 if I have to pick one.

7. Do you have any pets? I’m not a pet person

8. Where are you from? Socal

9. How tall are you? 5′5.5″

10. What shoe size are you? US Mens 7

11. How many pairs of shoes do you own? Umm...shit...like....6?

12. What was your last dream about? I honestly don’t even remember.

13. What talents do you have? Bold of you to assume I could have talents

14. Are you psychic in any way? I’ve had a couple premonition like dreams, but they clue me in to anything important and I don’t wake up remembering much of them.

15. Favorite song? Losing My Religion by REM

16. Favorite movie? Alien, maybe? Or Iron Man.

17. Who would be your ideal partner? I don’t have a specific person in mind. Definitely someone patient but unwilling to tolerate any bullshit. Must understand sarcasm.

18. Do you want children? Dear gods NO!

19. Do you want a church wedding? I don’t particularly care. I don’t really want one but I’d do it if my partner wanted one. No guarantee I’d not get struck down entering the church.

20. Are you religious? Not really. I struggle with the concept of organized religion. But I do respect spirituality so long as it’s not being used to justify bigotry and have some sort of vague belief in it. 

21. Have you ever been to the hospital? Yes. Both for my own care and to visit family, none of which are fond memories.

22. Have you ever got in trouble with the law? I haven’t.

23. Have you ever met any celebrities? No, not yet. But hopefully one day Taylor will run out of other people to meet and finally take pity on me.

24. Baths or showers? Showers! I can’t stand baths for more than 10-15 minutes but can take an hour long shower.

25. What color socks are you wearing? Light and dark blue striped socks.

26. Have you ever been famous? No.

27. Would you like to be a big celebrity? Yes and no. I’d not say no to the potential money involved. But I’m a quiet guy and if I couldn’t find a way to protect my privacy like Taylor’s managed, I’d be done with it pretty quickly.

28. What type of music do you like? A bit of everything, but I’ve been on a pop kick recently.

29. Have you ever been skinny dipping? No, but I’d give it a go in the right setting.

30. How many pillows do you sleep with? One, unless they’re not firm enough.

31. What position do you usually sleep in? I usually fall asleep on my side.

32. How big is your house? Few bedrooms and a couple bathrooms, 2 stories. Decent sized.

33. What do you typically have for breakfast? I usually don’t. But if I wake up starving, I’ll try to find some leftover chicken or something to munch on, usually cold. 

34. Have you ever fired a gun? Yeah, fired a few different types. I’m not a great shot and I don’t handle the noise well. I struggle pulling the trigger for whatever reason.

35. Have you ever tried archery? I haven’t but I really want to!

36. Favorite clean word? Strobocopic is the first word that comes to mind and that’s 100% my dad’s fault, damn him.

37. Favorite swear word? Fuck.

38. What’s the longest you’ve ever gone without sleep? About 48 hours? I’ll usually take a sleeping pill or pass out on my own by then.

39. Do you have any scars? Ignoring the obvious quip about mental ones, I’ve got a couple physical. Got a faint one on my knee from busting it open as a kid that you can’t really see now. Got a fair few stretch marks and some acne scars as well.

40. Have you ever had a secret admirer? If I did, they were so secret I didn’t know about them.

41. Are you a good liar? Depends on what it is and how close I am to them. I can lie alright on phone or text unless you know me well or tell a stranger a white lie. But I’ve got no poker face whatsoever so I suck at the big ones, and the closer I am to someone the worse I get at lying. 

42. Are you a good judge of character? Kinda? I haven’t trusted too many assholes but like anyone I can overlook the bad in someone I care about. 

43. Can you do any other accents other than your own? Nope.

44. Do you have a strong accent? I don’t think so.

45. What is your favorite accent? British or Australian.

46. What is your personality type? Impatient but laid back smartass with a mixed sense of self preservation. I’m a pretty go with the flow guy, but yeah patience isn’t my strong suit.

47. What is your most expensive piece of clothing? My redwing boots.

48. Can you curl your tongue? Yes.

49. Are you an innie or an outie? Innie.

50. Left or right handed? Strongly right-handed.

51. Are you scared of spiders? I’m fucking terrified of them. It’s sad, really. Even the small ones.

52. Favorite food? Seafood in general or a good rare steak.

53. Favorite foreign food? Sushi!

54. Are you a clean or messy person? I’m a mess tbh. I try but I can’t quite seem to keep things up.

55. Most used phrased? “Fuck” probably.

56. Most used word? See above.

57. How long does it take for you to get ready? About 30 with a shower.

58. Do you have much of an ego? I’d like to say no, but I know I’ve got a bit of pride about some things.

59. Do you suck or bite lollipops? Suck until they’re almost gone and then bite.

60. Do you talk to yourself? Not so much now. If I’m alone in the house for an extended period, or I’m trying to work something out or stay focused, then yeah.

61. Do you sing to yourself? I rarely sing along to music in the car, let alone casually to myself.

62. Are you a good singer? Gods no.

63. Biggest Fear? The glib answer is spiders. But in the spirit of the question lise: the actual answer is the inevitable fuck up that is the last straw that leds to people leaving.

64. Are you a gossip? Yes and no? I don’t spread serious rumours, but I’ll absolutely talk shit with those I’m closest with. Kinda a nosey little prick too, I like knowing things.

65. Best dramatic movie you’ve seen? My mind kinda went straight to titanic. The 90s jumped out.

66. Do you like long or short hair? I wear my hair short (because getting misgendered makes me want to fling myself off the nearest cliff), but would theoretically consider wearing it longer if/when my facial hair comes in. On a partner, I like either.

67. Can you name all 50 states of America? I wouldn’t put money on it, but if I could see a list as I named them, I’d probably manage okay.

68. Favorite school subject? History. Or mythology, though that wasn’t a dedicated subject.

69. Extrovert or Introvert? Introvert AF.

70. Have you ever been scuba diving? No and I don’t think I ever would. 

71. What makes you nervous? It’s the anxiety, bro.

72. Are you scared of the dark? More scared of the tricks my mind can play on me in it, especially if I’m trying to sleep.

73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes? Depends on how close I am and what the mistake is.

74. Are you ticklish? Very and I don’t find being tickled funny or enjoyable. I’m likely to get pretty pissed off if someone tickles me intentionally.

75. Have you ever started a rumor? Never intentionally.

76. Have you ever been in a position of authority? Not really? Not with any real power.

77. Have you ever drank underage? Tried a few things, didn’t care for the taste.78. Have you ever done drugs? I tried pot but I can’t inhale for shit so it didn’t do anything for me.

79. Who was your first real crush? The first I can recall was a boy named Corbin in the first grade. He had dark hair and eyes and was nice and I thought he was cute and fun to play with. Then there was a girl named Emily who was tall and blonde. I don’t think I really knew they were crushes though. The first time I had a crush and KNEW it was a crush was high school, on a girl in my chem class and then on my physics teacher in my junior year.

80. How many piercings do you have? None.

81. Can you roll your Rs? Not anymore.

82. How fast can you type? 45-ish WPM?

83. How fast can you run? Not very fast.

84. What color is your hair? Dark blonde.

85. What color is your eyes? Blue.

86. What are you allergic to? Some laundry detergent. If it’s heavily scented I will break out in hives.

87. Do you keep a journal? No, but I’ve been told I should.

88. What do your parents do? My dad works in IT.

89. Do you like your age? Yes and no. I don’t have a problem with my age or nearing 30, but I could also fuck up my life in new and interesting ways if I could be younger knowing what I know now.

90. What makes you angry? Bigotry. Willful ignorance and unwillingness to listen. Hypocrisy. 

91. Do you like your own name? Yes, which is why I picked it.

92. Have you already thought of baby names, and if so what are they? I have zero, if not negative, desire to reproduce. But I like gender neutral names for girls - Parker, Peyton, Reagan, etc.

93. Do you want a boy a girl for a child? I don’t want either but I REALLY would not know what to do with a child who liked traditionally feminine things.

94. What are you strengths? Sheer stubbornness.

95. What are your weaknesses? Impatience.

96. How did you get your name? I wanted to keep my initials and Zach was the name that came to mind and felt right.

97. Were your ancestors royalty? If you go back far enough, you’ll usually stumble across it.

98. Do you have any scars? Wasn’t this a previous question???

99. Color of your bedspread? Blue, not that I use it.

100. Color of your room? White. Never did get around to painting it.

[saskiavalentineapologist]

Scars From Yesterday

(aka roselyn projects past failed friendships onto Jubilee’s love life)

They laid in bed together, DeLune's head on Jubilee's chest with Jubilee's arms around her.

Jubilee was looking up at the ceiling, thinking, and DeLune was idly tracing her fingertips over Jubilee's skin.

DeLune stopped suddenly, though Jubilee hardly noticed, as caught up in her own thoughts as she was.

"Darling?"

"Hm?"

DeLune tapped with her pointer finger, pointing to a scar on Jubilee's ribs. "What's this from?"

"I fell out of a tree," Jubilee said.

"That…doesn't seem like it would give you this scar."

"I fell onto a fence."

"Ah."

Jubilee smiled and shook her head. "Vanessa's cat got stuck in the tree and of course I had to volunteer to go get it. And…well, we all know how dexterous I am."

DeLune laughed.

"Well, darling, I can't say it's out of character for you to do that, though."

Jubilee shook her head. "No, no it's not."

"But…who is this Vanessa? I've never heard you mention her before."

Jubilee's smile faded.

"Vanessa…" Jubilee could feel shame creeping into her throat. "She…she's my ex."

"Ah. Well, if you don't want me to push the subject, I won't. I was just wondering, was all."

"No--no, it's alright. I just…haven't thought about her in awhile." Jubilee stared at the ceiling. "Remember…a few months ago, I came back with the cloak and I was…" Jubilee stopped.

"Are you referring to the time where you lost your powers?"

"Yes, but…remember how I told you that I…don't really let myself get sad?"

"Yes. Yes, I remember."

"She's part of the reason why."

There was silence for a time.

"Well," DeLune said slowly, "I'm sorry I brought her up. We all have terrible people in our pasts, and I'm sorry for reminding you of her."

Despite herself, Jubilee bristled.

"She's not a terrible person," Jubilee said, trying to keep her voice light. "However you're thinking it happened, it wasn't like that. It…it's kind of a long story, do you want to hear it?"

"Only if you want to tell it, Jubilee. I would hate to dredge up bad memories."

"I don't want to make you feel bad, DeLune, but they're already dredged up. I…think talking about them would help."

"Alright, then, darling. I'm all ears."

"Well. She was a druid who studied at the temple while I was there trying to become a cleric. We dated for about three years. She was…an amazing person. I still think she's an amazing person, I truly do. But…"

Jubilee fidgeted with her hands.

"The time period when I dated her was…well, it wasn't the worst of my depression. But it wasn't a great time period either. But…she was there for me, you know? I told her what was wrong, and she listened, and she tried to be there for me, but…"

Jubilee could feel tears burning at the corners of her eyes, and she could feel shame rising in her throat.

"Eventually, it…I got to be too much for her. She couldn't handle it. I dumped on her too often and she started to resent talking to me because apparently I talked about it too much. And so she left." Jubilee sniffed. "And after that my mom wouldn't let me leave, so I had to see her around all the time and every time I did it was like a knife in my heart because I knew it was all my fault and-"

DeLune wrapped her arms around her, and it was then Jubilee realized she was softly crying.

"That's why I don't…let people in. Because people have left before because I showed them too much. And I don't want it to happen with Rinni, or Briar, or Peent, or Celeste, or Khrys, or you. I don't think I could bear it if…" Jubilee trailed off, feeling a lump forming in her throat.

"Darling, I won't leave."

"You say that now," Jubilee replied. "How can you say that for sure?" She pulled away from DeLune and sat up, wrapping her arms around her legs and clutching them to her chest. "Everyone always leaves, and that's ok. It's just…something I've gotten used to."

There was silence for a few moments as DeLune presumably thought of what to say.

She could feel the bed shift as DeLune got closer to her. A hand settled on her shoulder, before DeLune pulled her back into her arms.

Jubilee let her, even going so far as to open up to the contact, wrapping her arms around DeLune in kind.

"We won't leave," DeLune assured her. "I don't know what the future holds, but I can guarantee that your friends will be around for as long as you'll have them. And…I'll be around for awhile yet."

Jubilee nodded into her chest, feeling herself heave as she tried to pull herself together.

"And…as terrible as that was…it wasn't your fault, darling. Sometimes those things happen, and as awful as it is, we have to just…live and learn and-"

"But I made her hate me," Jubilee mumbled.

"What was that, darling?"

"I made her hate me."

"Darling, I think it's impossible to hate you."

Jubilee didn't respond to that.

"I think you are one of the most lovable people I know, and I say that truthfully, dear. You're wonderful."

"Am I?"

"Jubilee. Look at me."

Jubilee looked up into DeLune's face, seeing her looking down at her with worry.

Jubilee knew what she saw: her face, eyes red from crying, her skin blotchy from the tears and-

DeLune's hand cupped her cheek, and Jubilee's line of thought was cut off.

"You," DeLune started, making and maintaining eye contact, "are one of the sweetest, kindest people I've ever met. You're beautiful, you're vibrant, you have this…way of sticking through with things that is one of my favorite things about you. You have so many good traits that they're impossible to list. You might've made mistakes in your past, but we all do, and the important thing to do when we make mistakes is to grow from them. And if I had to guess, I'd say you have."

Jubilee opened her mouth to retort, to refuse, to rebut-

But she stopped, and she nodded, and she laid her head against DeLune's chest.

DeLune's hand came up and started petting her hair. Jubilee's eyes flickered closed in return, and she sighed.

"I'm sorry I brought this up, but I'm glad that I now know."

Jubilee just nodded against her chest.

There was silence for a time, before DeLune spoke up.

"And darling…I don't know if anyone has ever told you this before but…it wasn't all your fault. Part of a healthy relationship is setting boundaries, and some of it is still on her for not telling you about the problem before it became too big to handle."

Jubilee didn't respond to that.

"And things like that can be fixed, it just takes-"

"Work," Jubilee said. "She just didn't want to. Because I wasn't worth it."

"No!"

The intensity of DeLune's voice startled Jubilee away from her.

DeLune's eyes made contact with hers again, and they held so much compassion and care for her that it was almost hard to look at.

"Jubilee, I won't just sit by and let you talk bad about yourself. You are worth it, darling. I don't know why she didn't choose to try and fix things, perhaps we'll never know, but I do know this. You are worth it darling, you're worth the world. And I can promise you that I won't ever, ever leave without first trying to work things out with you."

Jubilee's eyes flicked down, and DeLune's hand came down to her chin, prompting her to look back up into DeLune's eyes.

"Jubilee, I love you."

"I love you too. I just…it's hard. Letting myself be open."

"I can only imagine, darling."

DeLune gathered Jubilee up in her arms and held her tight.

"I love you, darling. But…would it help if we found you someone else to talk to? Someone who could help?"

"Like therapy?"

"Yes, like therapy. I don't want us to reach that point you and Vanessa reached, so I think it would be best if we found you someone to talk to."

"I…yes, I think it would."

DeLune pressed a kiss to her head.

"I meant every kind word I said about you tonight, darling. You're important to me."

"You're important to me, too."

"Do you want to stay up a bit later, or do you want to try and sleep?"

"I'd like to stay up a bit later, if that's ok. If I tried to sleep now, I think I'd overthink and make myself upset."

"Alright. Well…" DeLune's fingers splayed over her skin, and then she tapped right near her elbow. "What's this scar from?"

"That one…I think that was where I fell off my sled."

"By all means, tell me more."

[sansloii-a]

coughs so am I allowed to request all of the “salty af munday meme” answers or—

oh my fucking god || @imbruedinfear​

strap in y’all ‘cause someone wants to hear me complain

What does someone have to do for an instant unfollow from you?

if you post excessive ooc in quick sucession, i will unfollow you faster than the speed of light. i’ve done it in the past. i will not hesitate to do it in the future. i don’t care if it’s tagged. if i’m on and i see it, you’re gone, my friend.

What’s the WORST thing that has happened to you rp wise?

uuuuuuuuuuhhhhh there was this one dude that legit tried to monopolize one of my old muses on another blog, got upset when i set a main ship for said muse, complained to me nonstop, was trying to use me to get back into rping with my friend group ( which he called “the popular group” for a reason I don’t understand to this day ), only wanted to ship, got pissy over a fucking pokemon au ( if you ever wanna hear about this, lemme know ), tried to insert a ship into every au we made automatically, tried to tell me how to write smut for no reason ( said he would read it and give me tips and everything ffs ), was an asshole to my sister ( who rped way back when but doesn’t anymore ), made several friends of mine uncomfortable to the point of leaving the rp scene for a bit, blamed other people for issues that he honestly had a part in causing, and a bunch of other things that i’m forgetting right now.

i figure that’s the worst because nothing has topped that. nothing. that happened years ago, though, so i’m good now. no one fucks with me like that anymore.

What was a mildly annoying thing that has happened to you rp wise?

i got about 10 asks from someone when i wanted to do other shit ( my asks that are in the double digits ) ‘cause they wanted me to send them an ask. annoyed me to hell and back and i promptly deleted those asks

 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  tough shit. i was not in the mood for games and i’m still not.

 Has anyone ever tried to steal your blog? Your headcanons? Icons? All that jazz?

not that i know of??? i hope not ‘cause i worked real hard on all this and if you steal anything from me, i’m gonna throw a huge-ass heaping of karma your way.

 How many people don’t like you?

i dunno. i’d say none but i know not everyone is going to like me so if you’re out there and you don’t like me, you’re entitled to that. don’t tell me, though, ‘cause i don’t wanna know if you don’t like me.

How many people do you not like?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ i don’t really care enough to actively not like anyone. you can annoy me but unless you piss me off and continue to piss me off, you get stuck on the “do not care” list. 

Have you managed to stay away from drama?

i give advice when needed on how to avoid whoever my convo partner is talking about and i avoid getting involved. unless it’s like… a close friend or involves a close friend, i refuse to get in the middle of whatever issue people have. i’m not about to have my ass dragged into problems that do not concern me.

i don’t cause drama either so that’s also how i stay away from it. 100% guaranteed to keep you out of drama.

Have you ever been in the middle of drama?

personal/friend drama? yes. rp drama? see above.

none of that was fun btw. it was a lot of me getting angry, being frustrated with certain behaviors, having to cut people out for doing shit/saying shit that they knew they shouldn’t have and refusing to recognize that they have fucked up and use that to change their behavior, etc. it’s draining and not fun and i’m pretty sure it shaved years off my life but y’know, it is what it is. the most i can do about it is look out for myself and keep out of relationships that will put me in those situations again.

Have you ever tried to bring peace to a situation?

no because i used to be friends with people that weren’t straightforward with shit and made excuses instead of changing their behavior. i don’t wanna go into it ‘cause and i can’t remember all the details but boy, peace was hard to come by and it didn’t last long. i wasn’t going to try to bring peace if people didn’t really seem to want it and level with each other.

How long do you stay mad?

depends on what you do, tbh, but it’s a couple hours at least. a couple days at most.

What’s your rp pet peeve? ( i have a lot of these )

playing “find the links” on someone’s blog. if i can’t find your links, i’ll try “/rules”, “/r.”, “/g.” and whatever else i can think of to get your rules and a couple more things to get your muse’s about. however, i shouldn’t have to and it takes little effort to make it so that your links are easily distinguishable from the background. if i don’t find them, i don’t find them. and i don’t follow/follow back

Have you ever forgiven a partner when you shouldn’t have?

nope. not now, not ever.

 Have you ever been forgiven when you knew you shouldn’t have been?

i’ve never been in a situation where i’ve had to be forgiven for stuff i’ve done so no.

What fads/trends are you so over?

the first thing i thought of was the fucking double ampersands thing that was everywhere at some point. those annoyed me so much and i’m so glad they’re gone. super small text needs to die too. i may not wear glasses but i sure as shit ain’t straining my eyes to see what you’ve written in 3px font. 

honestly, a lot of the excessive aesthetic shit that sacrifices accessibility for #aesthetic

Have you ever rp’d with someone you knew for a fact was abusive but tried to give them a chance/to make up your own opinion on the roleplayer? Did they change or did you understand what people were talking about?

nope, nope. nu-uh. if i knew for a fact that this person was abusive in that moment, i wouldn’t touch them with a ten foot pole. absolutely fucking not. 

Have you ever made a public call out post?

-loud snort- hell no.

What has made you completely lose your chill?

honestly? look at my worst experience and that about sums up shit that has made me lose my chill. you really gotta push my fucking buttons to make me mad ‘cause i’m usually pretty laid back.

What do you think about public call out posts?

answered here

A fandom that you feel isn't open and accepting? 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ i dunno. i’ve only been in one before and that was f.ire e.mblem

 A fandom that you feel is open and accepting?

imma be real honest with y’all--the only fandom i’ve been in that i will acknowledge is f.ire e.mblem and i had a pretty sweet time there. i had some ups and downs but it was an overall good experience for me. it was pretty open and inviting in my opinion but i tended to stay away from the douchebags in the fandom ‘cause i just wanted to have a good time there.

Thoughts on duplicates following you?

 if i have duplicates of my oc following me, i’ll have a whole fucking cow 

Do you agree with reblog karma or is it forced interaction?

i don’t think it’s forced interaction most of the time ( with sentence starters, symbol memes, memes that take literally zero fucking effort to send in ) ‘cause... everyone likes getting stuff, y’know. if you wanna reblog it from someone, just take a moment to send something in if the interaction is feasible. that’s the key thing here. if it’s feasible, then i don’t see the issue with sending something in before you reblog it from someone ( especially if you’re mutuals ). if it isn’t and you just wanna reblog it, reblog it from the source. it’s not that serious.

if someone nitpicks you for rebloging the same meme they did but you reblogged it from the source, i wouldn’t feel too bad. you know what’s best for your muses and if you don’t feel like the meme is cohesive for interactions, then that’s your prerogative and the 

Has someone ever ruined an FC or character for you?

answered here

Has someone been jealous of you?

i’ve only been told that someone was jealous of me once and it was a long time ago. i have never heard that from anyone again ( not that i remember, at least )

Have you ever been jealous of anyone?

mhm! but it usually comes when i’m feeling super down about my blog and doubting my ocs ( which isn’t often ). when i do get jealous, it’s over interactions and the like and my big dumb galactic brain is like “wow, don’t you wish you had those interactions? don’t you wish you were rping with those people?” and makes me feel bad about the interactions i have, the speed at which i reply, my ocs, how many people are interesting in my ocs, etc. however, this shit doesn’t last long ‘cause i have a bunch of wonderful people that motivate me to get out of that funk and just... focus on what i have instead of what i’m seeing on my dash. i remind myself that i’m here to have fun and i shouldn’t try to match my experience to others’

How has Tumblr RP changed since you started?

more formatting, smaller icons, more focus on having a fancy ass theme, more formatting, more callout posts, less communication in some regard, more reminders for communication.more psa posts, more formatting--

honestly, i’ve been on tumblr since 2012 and most of it is a blur lmao. i probably don’t remember everything ‘cause i was.... 15 when i started rping on here. i’m 22 now. i’m sure a lot has changed in seven years but i definitely haven’t seen it all.

Thoughts on the fandom you're currently rping in?

i’m currently a fandomless blog and boy, is it a lot more fun XD i have a lot more creative liberty and i can shape the world my muses live in to my liking, as opposed to following or just adding onto what the fandom universe already is. it’s a lot of work and it takes a ton of time but it’s fun and i’m enjoying every second of it! 

How salty are you feeling right now?

answered here but i’ll just say it again: not salty. just tired and rambly because holy shit this took a while

[zeldauniverse]

Last week, in a tiny hidden bar typical of Melbourne’s inner east, Nintendo gave us hands-on time with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Nintendo Australia had hoped to get us in front of a newer build of the game (we would have loved to try King K. Rool and Simon Belmont!); however, the build was identical to the one we played at E3 some two and a bit months ago. However, where our time with the game at E3 was rushed and hectic, this time we had a solid two hours in a laid back environment which allowed us to get comfortable and explore more of what it had to offer.

And what a difference that makes to perspective.

To sum things up, we had a smashing good time, and we’re now more excited than ever to add Smash Ultimate into our gaming libraries. Our Publications Director David Johnson and Special Projects Director Shona Johnson were at the event. Here are a few of our thoughts on the game:

Shona Johnson, Special Projects Director

As a long-time Smash player — I’ve been with the series since the Nintendo 64 — playing Ultimate with a big group over food and drink was instantly familiar, taking me back to happy times when I played Melee for hours on end with friends or, more recently, Smash Wii U parties. Although it’s been a while since I last fired up a game of Smash, and I haven’t played since the demo at E3, my Smash instincts and muscle memory kicked in, throwing me into that wonderfully chaotic place where some of my favorite characters are beating each other up.

At E3 there were a limited number of play slots available (strictly one per person), and I signed up to play it competitively, which meant that part of my attention was given to attempting to win, meaning I played it safe with characters I knew well, in addition to checking out what was new and different. Fortunately, towards the end of the second day of E3, the lines died down to the point where the wait wasn’t hideous, so I was able to get in a few rounds of fun play where I could at least try out some of the new characters. I had fun and walked away from E3 feeling incredibly impressed by the game’s polish, but spending two hours with the demo gave me a chance to try out a lot more and really get a feel for the gameplay.

The demo for Smash Ultimate had 23 out of the game’s 103 stages to select from.

Also 30 characters of the roster were present, but a few classic fighters were held back.

Matches were limited to two-minute free-for-alls with up to four players playing solo or in teams. Items were on, and we couldn’t change any of the settings. A roster of 30 characters was available, and we could choose from 23 stages. I was able to play most of the characters and stages available. The event had multiple stations, most of which had Pro controllers, but a couple had GameCube controllers. It’s nice to see the GameCube controllers being carried through, as many Smash veterans are familiar with these, and, at the end of the day, each player will be able to set up their preferred controller configuration.

Existing characters feel familiar, and most of the changes to their moves are subtle if any have been made at all. Most of them appeared to be fairly well balanced, although it’s hard to say given that I was swapping characters a lot and playing against people of varying skill levels. Ridley and the Inkling were the new characters in the demo, and both had their own unique movesets that took some time to get used to (and honestly, I didn’t play them enough to get used to them). Ridley is slow and heavy, and I struggled with him a bit because I struggle with that sort of character more in general, and I found that the pace of the gameplay made it hard to spend time effectively splattering paint over everyone as the Inkling. That said, in one match while playing a different character I kept getting trapped in paint by another Inkling which was somewhat annoying for me but great for them I imagine!

The list of stages we had to choose from included both new and returning ones. A big difference in Ultimate is that players choose the stage before choosing characters, with the idea that players can choose a character to suit a stage, although that never really crossed my mind because it’s something I’ve never considered before; for me, it’s more the stages in general that I love or hate rather than playing on them with specific characters. And at this event, I was much more in the mindset of wanting to see everything and try it all out, so I never even thought about the stage while I was selecting my character.

All of the stages look amazing. Of the new ones, the Great Plateau Tower from Breath of the Wild is a fairly small one where the roof collapses in occasionally, and surprisingly this isn’t a hazard; it just looks cool. Moray Towers is the new Splatoon stage, and it’s a series of sloping levels stacked vertically above each other. I found this one hard to fight on because players were more spread out and on different levels which made it hard to land hits. I imagine this will be better suited to people who like slightly slower gameplay and having more chances to recover, or it might be more fun with eight players. Conversely, I cannot imagine how chaotic eight-player Smash is going to be on the Great Plateau Tower!

In Ultimate, having items turned on didn’t feel quite as chaotic as they have in past games, and I think they’ve been nerfed a fair bit. The once-almighty hammer — I got one and the guy next to me said “uh oh” as soon as he heard the music — didn’t produce the KOs or near-KOs I would have expected in the past. Likewise, Smash Balls didn’t always guarantee KOs like that did in Smash Wii U/3DS. They’re also harder to grab, although they also sometimes just land on the ground and stay still; the first time this happened we were all wary of the Fake Smash Balls and ran away from it until someone hesitantly kicked it and realized it was a real one!

I felt that I had to be very accurate when landing blows and dodging. It should lend to a technical playstyle that will suit competitive players and those who play for fun.

Overall, the gameplay feels faster and more precise. Thankfully there’s no Brawl-style random slipping and tripping, and I felt that I had to be very accurate when landing blows and dodging. Fast characters like Fox and Sonic covered ground incredibly quickly, and some of the heavier characters like Donkey Kong felt more agile. If you’re not paying attention, you can be sent flying off screen and not realize where you are at first! It should lend to a technical playstyle that will suit both competitive players as well as those who play for fun (because the core concept of Super Smash Bros. is fun).

Two hours of the one style of match flew by, so I can only imagine how many hours I’m going to get out of the game playing with different modes and rules. And that’s before I even consider any possible single-player modes, which I hope there will be for the times when I take my Switch with me on the go by myself. I didn’t want my time with Ultimate to end, and now more than ever I eagerly await December when I can get the full version into my hands.

David Johnson, Publications Director

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has all the potential to be the best Smash Bros. game to date. Thus far, everything Nintendo has shown oozes with that careful attention to detail that Nintendo is simply known for. While we don’t know all of its secrets yet — there’s this maybe “Spirits” mode on the main menu that we know nothing about that may be a major single-player component to the game(?) — I can’t help but be extremely excited for the series to make its way to the Switch.

How can I describe Ultimate? Well, the short answer is that it feels very much like Smash Bros. More specifically, it feels a lot like Melee, though admittedly I haven’t pulled out my GameCube to play it in quite some time. While there is a good dose of beautiful chaos in the game caused by items, assist trophies, and Poké Balls, it’s all a manageable sort of chaos. It just feels good to dart into piles of characters, take some pot shots (or get hit trying!), and then escape to go at it again.

At the event, they had a couple of stations with GameCube controllers set up, but I figured I would give the Switch Pro Controllers one more fair go, even though the default control scheme of every controller since the GameCube has made me want to cry. And while I still wasn’t 100% in love with the Pro Controller’s default setup, I did find myself hating it a lot less. But I still will either be using a GameCube controller or resorting to making a custom controller configuration for me when the game comes out.

Because we had two solid hours with the game, I went and truly experimented with characters both familiar and unfamiliar as well as played practically every stage that was on display. For the characters I was familiar with, I found the differences between the Ultimate fighters and their earlier incarnations rather subtle, though Marth especially seemed incredibly floaty, much more so than he was in Melee. (That said, I chalk this up as a good thing!) For characters I was unfamiliar with — Ridley, Inkling, and the host of DLC characters from Smash 4, they all felt incredibly unique from the cast of old, and that’s hugely refreshing. That said, the fact that many of the characters are becoming Echo Fighters (thus with the official salute that they’re “the same character” as some other), makes me happy; finally, we can hope to see so many characters truly become unique entities rather than carbon copies of one another.

And the stages were mostly fantastic. They look utterly fantastic, and they set the stage for a visually impressive game. And none of them felt like they detracted too much from the overall premise of the game: dominating over all your friends. That said, I still utterly despise the Mega Man stage brought forward from Smash 4, though I’m extremely relieved that not only can we trigger each stage’s Ω (omega) form but also simply play with the stages as is sans their various stage hazards. Finally, we can play the Dr. Wily stage without the Yellow Devil ruining an otherwise fun game.

The Smash Balls’ effectiveness has been nerfed quite a bit. In order to counterbalance that, the Assist Trophies seem much more powerful.

As far as the items go, there were only two major differences I’ve noticed in playing the game. First and foremost, the Smash Balls’ effectiveness has been nerfed quite a bit. Since Brawl, while it’s always been possible to survive a Final Smash, it was exceedingly unlikely. However, now the survivability has been greatly upped as the Final Smashes aren’t really so “final” any longer. Perhaps this is done in order to keep it in line with how short many of the moves have been made or just to allow them to not disrupt gameplay as much, but it really makes it feel much more balanced as a whole. (That said, the Smash Balls seemed extremely difficult to even get to as they moved far quicker than before!)

In order to counterbalance that, the Assist Trophies seem much more powerful. In previous games, Assist Trophies generally remained on-screen for no more than a few seconds at most. Now, many Assist Trophies have been modified to become temporary allies on the stage, giving you a not insignificant advantage. While the Assist Trophies are able to be defeated and don’t dish out overwhelming damage in one go, they possibly will be one of the more contentious design decisions for Smash Ultimate.

The gravity well item popped up quite a bit in the game, and its effects can be felt everywhere.

Thematically, Ultimate is full of so many little subtle details that show just how much Sakurai and his team love Nintendo and its entire legacy. The subtle changes to Link to bring about his Breath of the Wild form are carefully balanced by pushing Princess Zelda and Ganondorf to other parts of the timeline to showcase the breadth of the Zelda series. The fact that the Echo Fighters now exist allow for a greater depth of exploration into the various franchises without providing an overwhelming feeling of sameness permeating everything, such as when Dark Pit was announced as a separate character in Smash 4.

Outside of my hands-on experience, what I think impresses me the most about Ultimate is just how much variety there can be inside the ordinary Smash experience. Sure, there are tournaments and oodles of other features and modes, but having well over 60 characters to choose from and over 100 stages to fight on will give so many permutations of fighting that it’ll be impossible to play them all. Whenever I’m smashing it up with friends, there always comes to that point in the evening when I stray away from the characters I’m familiar with and start playing the characters I’m either terrible with or simply don’t play as much, and Ultimate will ensure that I’m always wanting to experiment and try another character again and again beyond that.

December 7 cannot come fast enough. Smash Ultimate, I’m desperately waiting for you.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will be released on December 7 for Nintendo Switch. Thank you to Nintendo Australia for inviting us to come and Smash!

Two hours with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate this might just be the best Smash so far Last week, in a tiny hidden bar typical of Melbourne’s inner east, Nintendo gave us hands-on time with 

[dailyfeartwdgifs]

Fear The Walking Dead's Creepy New Villain Already Needs Her Own Episode

The back half of Fear the Walking Dead Season 4 is starting to look like an eight-part post-apocalyptic slasher flick, which is in stark contrast to the more emotional journey taken by characters new and old during the first half. The "slasher" in this case would be Tonya Pinkins' kooky, as-yet-unnamed villain (listed on IMDb as "Filthy Woman"), who made another string of unhinged appearances in "Weak." Though horror villains usually benefit from limited screen time early on, I'm already in need of Pinkins' disturbing antagonist getting her own standalone episode posthaste.

To the slasher movie point, Season 4 has generally adhered to standalone episodes, and these past four have seemingly laid out the set-up for a traditional genre sequel, in which a group of set-apart characters reunite at a central location (usually with newbies joining the fun), where they're all picked off by whatever murderous entity happens to be targeting them. We don't know much about Tonya Pinkins' villain at this point, or if she's got any nuanced motivations beyond tracking down the truck that Wendell and Sarah stole, but we've already witnessed how violent and deadly her go-to reactions are in any given situation. Which led to her gaining possession of Al's van, something that Al would not be happy to hear about.

So she might not need to have much going on that goes deeper than her surface instincts, and her backstory likely contains at least one particularly disturbing incident that really cracked her psyche. It probably involves Pervis' philanthropic trek prior to his death, though we don't yet know whether his current handler was responsible for his lethal arm bite(s). That can be assumed, considering she'd faked a mile marker sign and used Pervis to dispatch Quinn, who then became her new pet to mark up and weaponize. We know from references to the truck driver's journal that Pervis was part of a group of long-haulers that kept the roads cleared and stocked with boxes of trade-able goods. But was she part of that group before things went kablooey, and when did his death happen in relation to Sarah and Wendell stealing the truck?

The episode's title, "Weak," comes from the mysterious character telling her new walker he won't be weak anymore, which is a pretty unsettling point of view for anyone on this show to have. It was also curious the way she told Pervis he was free now, as if he's actually got a concept of captivity. Tonya Pinkins' villain clearly views walkers as something other than a pure threat, which shares some characteristics with others in the Dead-verse. She seemingly has a system of using walkers as weapons and as messengers, and not quite how we've seen it done by the Wolves or Lizzie Samuels or The Vultures or any others. But to what end is she carrying this connection to the undead?

Since we've only seen the creepy woman interacting with zombies, it remains unclear what she'll be like around a group of living survivors. No doubt she's going to keep up the facade that she's presently part of the supply-offering group, and the fact that she has control of all of Al's videos is the biggest bargaining chip the character could possibly have for when her act runs dry. Viewers now know that some of Al's past loved ones are featured on those videotapes, and Al already put June's life in danger in an attempt to get her vehicle back. I kind of hope the new villain watches all the videos to keep herself busy, which can obviously be part of the standalone episode that I'm aiming to see.

I assume Alicia, Strand, Luciana, Charlie and John will find a way to Morgan's new group soon, at which point viewers will witness a strange and fatal crossroads among this group of morally swishy characters. (Look for it to probably go down in Episode 14, titled "MM 54.") It doesn't appear like Tonya Pinkins' character will have a swath of walkers waiting to ambush the protagonists, but she'll definitely have one trick or another up her multiple sleeves, which doesn't bode well for anyone's survival. Some big deaths are definitely coming in the season's final four episodes -- for instance, Aaron Stanford's hop-master Jim was destined for an awful death as soon as he exited his brewery -- and Nick and Madison's deaths earlier in the season truly proved that no one's safety is guaranteed.

So who's going to get killed off next? And, more importantly, will this new character get her own episode and/or a proper name soon? With just a few more episodes to go, Fear the Walking Dead airs Sunday nights on AMC at 9:00 p.m. ET. 

[siguelcaminoamarillo]

ExpressVPN review for 2021 - Enjoy my in-depth review of ExpressVPN and the things that you should consider before purchasing a VPN. 👉 Get ExpressVPN ► https://bit.ly/3dP5pFF      💥Special Offer 49% off + 3 months FREE + 30 Day Money Back Guarantee💥 ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 👉 ExpressVPN review for 2021 - Enjoy my in-depth review of ExpressVPN and the things that you should consider before purchasing a VPN. What's happening guys, I'm back with another review. And this time is for ExpressVPN, the self proclaimed number one trusted leader amongst all the VPN providers that are out there. So let's get straight into it and find out whether this claim is justified. ExpressVPN review And as usual, if there's any special deals or discounts that you guys can get, I'll put a link in the description so you can take full advantage of that. Now, when I first looked on to the ExpressVPN website, I found the site itself to be very well laid out and quite informative, it seemed to any question that you'd want the answer to, you can find quite simply by looking through their menu system, as well as the VPN itself. They also supply some security tools, which are not only free, but they're pretty useful to things such as a password generator, and an IP address checker so that you can see what your computer looks like to the outside world when you're surfing the web. ExpressVPN review Their platform not only works on Windows or Mac, but you can also get apps on your iPhone or your Android device. And these apps are fully featured to now it's not too uncommon for VPN providers to have apps these days. But that don't just stop with the iPhone or the Android devices. They also have apps for things like the Chromebook, the Kindle Fire the Nook HD, and selected routers from asis, Linksys and Netgear as well as that there's apps available for some of the more popular Linux systems. So whatever device or operating system you use, chances are the Express VPN have an option for you. One thing I will note though, is that kill switch features are only available on the Windows, Mac and Linux systems. So if you're not on one of those systems, and you want to use those features, it might be worth checking out one of the other VPN reviews that I've got on this channel. ExpressVPN review So check out the description for some links to those. Now one of the features, which I personally find extremely useful is that if you're using Chrome or Firefox, they actually have a browser extension for that. So you can actually have the app built into the browser, so you don't have to open it in a separate window. And on top of the already large compatibility list, they offer a media stream a DNS service for games, consoles, and things like Amazon, Fire TV and smart TVs. This isn't strictly a full VPN, but it does let you watch things on these devices that previously would have been blocked. And if you own a device, which doesn't have an express VPN app available, they actually give you a manual setup guide. So chances are, you'll be able to get it on that device anyway, doing it this way won't give you the full features of Express VPN, but you'll still be able to take advantage of encryption and location masking. So once the apps installed and everything's up and running, you can of course, select the location to browse for more one of the many servers they have available. Or if you prefer a simpler option, you can connect to your nearest server with just a single click on the desktop apps.......Ran out of the 5k characters limit, sorry guys. - DISCLOSURE - I am affiliated, but not sponsored by any VPN provider. This means I might make money when you purchase paid services through the links provided and I might be able to offer discounts when available. Not being sponsored allows me to keep my own opinions and provide reviews and tutorials without bias. So, if you enjoyed the content consider using my affiliate links. All of my opinions on this channel are always my own! Hope you enjoyed my ExpressVPN Review 2021 - Pros, Cons, Live Demonstration and My Overall Recommendation Video #ExpressVPNReview #ExpressVPN #ExpressVPNReviews Tags: best vpn,vpn,vpn review,expressvpn review,expressvpn reviews,expressvpn review 2021,express vpn review,expressvpn,express vpn,expressvpn reviews 2021,how to use expressvpn,expressvpn 2021,expressvpn tutorial,express vpn tutorial,best vpn 2021,expressvpn torrenting,expressvpn for netflix,expressvpn netflix 2021,is expressvpn safe,is expressvpn worth it,expressvpn netflix,expressvpn speed test,expressvpn tutorial 2021,expressvpn how to use

[ancorize]

ExpressVPN review for 2021 - Enjoy my in-depth review of ExpressVPN and the things that you should consider before purchasing a VPN. 👉 Get ExpressVPN ► https://bit.ly/3dP5pFF      💥Special Offer 49% off + 3 months FREE + 30 Day Money Back Guarantee💥 ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 👉 ExpressVPN review for 2021 - Enjoy my in-depth review of ExpressVPN and the things that you should consider before purchasing a VPN. What's happening guys, I'm back with another review. And this time is for ExpressVPN, the self proclaimed number one trusted leader amongst all the VPN providers that are out there. So let's get straight into it and find out whether this claim is justified. ExpressVPN review And as usual, if there's any special deals or discounts that you guys can get, I'll put a link in the description so you can take full advantage of that. Now, when I first looked on to the ExpressVPN website, I found the site itself to be very well laid out and quite informative, it seemed to any question that you'd want the answer to, you can find quite simply by looking through their menu system, as well as the VPN itself. They also supply some security tools, which are not only free, but they're pretty useful to things such as a password generator, and an IP address checker so that you can see what your computer looks like to the outside world when you're surfing the web. ExpressVPN review Their platform not only works on Windows or Mac, but you can also get apps on your iPhone or your Android device. And these apps are fully featured to now it's not too uncommon for VPN providers to have apps these days. But that don't just stop with the iPhone or the Android devices. They also have apps for things like the Chromebook, the Kindle Fire the Nook HD, and selected routers from asis, Linksys and Netgear as well as that there's apps available for some of the more popular Linux systems. So whatever device or operating system you use, chances are the Express VPN have an option for you. One thing I will note though, is that kill switch features are only available on the Windows, Mac and Linux systems. So if you're not on one of those systems, and you want to use those features, it might be worth checking out one of the other VPN reviews that I've got on this channel. ExpressVPN review So check out the description for some links to those. Now one of the features, which I personally find extremely useful is that if you're using Chrome or Firefox, they actually have a browser extension for that. So you can actually have the app built into the browser, so you don't have to open it in a separate window. And on top of the already large compatibility list, they offer a media stream a DNS service for games, consoles, and things like Amazon, Fire TV and smart TVs. This isn't strictly a full VPN, but it does let you watch things on these devices that previously would have been blocked. And if you own a device, which doesn't have an express VPN app available, they actually give you a manual setup guide. So chances are, you'll be able to get it on that device anyway, doing it this way won't give you the full features of Express VPN, but you'll still be able to take advantage of encryption and location masking. So once the apps installed and everything's up and running, you can of course, select the location to browse for more one of the many servers they have available. Or if you prefer a simpler option, you can connect to your nearest server with just a single click on the desktop apps.......Ran out of the 5k characters limit, sorry guys. - DISCLOSURE - I am affiliated, but not sponsored by any VPN provider. This means I might make money when you purchase paid services through the links provided and I might be able to offer discounts when available. Not being sponsored allows me to keep my own opinions and provide reviews and tutorials without bias. So, if you enjoyed the content consider using my affiliate links. All of my opinions on this channel are always my own! Hope you enjoyed my ExpressVPN Review 2021 - Pros, Cons, Live Demonstration and My Overall Recommendation Video #ExpressVPNReview #ExpressVPN #ExpressVPNReviews Tags: best vpn,vpn,vpn review,expressvpn review,expressvpn reviews,expressvpn review 2021,express vpn review,expressvpn,express vpn,expressvpn reviews 2021,how to use expressvpn,expressvpn 2021,expressvpn tutorial,express vpn tutorial,best vpn 2021,expressvpn torrenting,expressvpn for netflix,expressvpn netflix 2021,is expressvpn safe,is expressvpn worth it,expressvpn netflix,expressvpn speed test,expressvpn tutorial 2021,expressvpn how to use