#also I started thinking about golden years ghouls while I was driving

[supernaturalfreewill]

Words: 5,103 Gabriel x Reader Warnings: none! A/N: This is part of a series! Read Part 1 first!

Your name: submit What is this?

The first door standing open down the long hallway was obviously your bedroom, and Gabriel wasn’t shy about stepping inside. At first, he simply stood in the center and glanced around eagerly, bouncing a little on his feet as he surveyed the space.

Cas followed him in much more tentatively, but curious as to what his purpose was.

“This is it, huh?” He strolled over to the small desk in one corner and picked up an open notebook and some loose papers, studying them closely. Apparently, nothing there really held his interest because he abandoned them quickly and started sliding open desk drawers.

“This is—I think this is what humans would call an ‘invasion of privacy,’” Cas said.

“Gabriel, I really don’t think you should—” Cas tried to argue, but the archangel simply shushed him and opened the cover. He ran his fingers over your handwriting—the impressions were deep on the page and he liked the slanting, hurried cursive. “Ghouls in Minnesota, Vampire in New York, Werewolf in Arkansas… This is nothing but hunting notes,” he said with disappointment, flipping through the pages.

“What did you expect?” Cas asked him.

“Something with a little more insight into who Y/N is, perhaps,” Gabriel said, shutting and typing the journal closed again and replacing it in the false bottom of your drawer, kicking it closed with his boot. “Hopes, dreams, roots, deepest secrets… that sort of thing,” he said.

Cas’s brow drew down low over his eyes again. “Knowing Y/N, I seriously doubt you will find any of that in writing in here…”

“Well, that’s just wishful thinking. Best case scenario. I will just have to get creative,” he said. Gabriel spun and looked at the small bedside table. There was a novel sitting on it and he grabbed it, opening it to the bookmark. “Y/N is an avid reader, hmm?” he said, more to himself than to Cas. “This is an ambitious read.” He studied the bookmark which was a folded piece of paper. When he opened it, it was a printed photo of you, Sam and Dean, and Cas. Sam had his arm draped over your shoulders and all of you were smiling for once. Gabriel stared at it for a long moment and Cas watched his expression soften into a thoughtful, faraway look. Finally, he folded it up again gently and replaced it in the novel, leaving it on your side table just the way he had found it.

Next, Gabriel went over to the dresser and glanced at Cas with a smirk on his face. “You know, it’s strange but most humans keep their delicate underthings in the exact same place—top drawer—” he said, grasping the handle.

Cas slammed his hand into the drawer keeping it closed and Gabriel looked at him in surprise. “I really think you’ve done enough spying.” Cas’s voice and expression were stern now, but it only elicited a mischievous glint in Gabriel’s golden eyes.

“Spying? I’m just trying to get to know this Y/N better,” Gabriel argued, doing his best to sound innocent. “I mean, so far all I know is she’s related to the two meatheads and hangs around with you. And, though it may be a surprise to you, that doesn’t actually tell me anything I’d like to know.”

“If you want to get to know her, why don’t you just go visit her now? Or wait and meet her when she’s back.”

Gabriel gave Cas a skeptical look. “Oh, yes. I’m sure Sam and Dean will have no problem with me sniffing around their Baby Sister. They’re not known to be particularly suspicious or protective.” His tone was dripping with sarcasm. “Especially after all those Dead Dean Days…”

Cas grimaced a little at the thought. “Well… you also saved them by facing Lucifer. They will not have forgotten that. You redeemed yourself, at least in part,” Cas said, tilting his head in his familiar habit.

The archangel looked surprisingly uncomfortable with Cas’s sincerity. “Fine. Enough snooping. Come on, brother,” he said, laying a heavy hand on Cas’s shoulder. “Let’s grab a drink and you can tell me all about losing your grace and what mortality feels like.”

Cas frowned, but he didn’t object. He was glad just to get Gabriel out of your room…

_ _ _ _ _ _

Several weeks later

You leaned your head back on the pillows and let out a frustrated groan. “UGH! Where is this doctor?!” you demanded.

Sam gave you a look. “I’m sure he’s on his way,” he said gently, trying to placate you.

You threw off your blankets and climbed out of the hospital bed onto your feet, moving a little hunched over as you rolled your IV stand with you.

“Whoa, whoa! Hey!” Dean jumped up and stopped you. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“I can’t stay in that bed another minute or I’m gonna lose it!”

“We’re not even sure if you’re going to get released today, so you might as well get used to the idea that you may have to stay in that bed for a couple more days,” he retorted. “So, get back in bed!”

You vehemently pointed a finger in his face. “HEY. You’re not my doctor! You don’t get to boss me around!”

Dean drew himself up to his full height and gave you a severe look.

You didn’t waver. “I’m not scared of you!”

This drew a laugh from Sam and when you glanced over he was shaking his head. “Y/N, please just at least sit down. I’m sure the doctor—”

“—is in!” As if on cue your doctor strolled through the door, you chart in his hand. He gave you a big smile. “Alright, Y/N. Hop back up on the bed again, would you? Let’s see how you’re doing.”

He hadn’t even examined your incision yet and the words were spilling out of you. “Can I go home today?” you asked urgently.

This elicited a laugh from him and he gave you an appraising look. “As soon as I know, you’ll know,” he said diplomatically.

You tried to be a good patient and sit perfectly still as he checked your incision but you couldn’t help fidgeting and chewing your bottom lip. The doctor straightened back up and crossed his arms. “Well, no sign of infection. Incision seems to be healing nicely, so—” “YES!” you exclaimed.

“SO,” he continued through a smile, “I’m going to release you but with very strict instructions. I need you to really hear me right now, Y/N. Okay?”

You nodded eagerly. “Yes. I’m listening.”

“NO lifting anything heavier than a few pounds—you know what, no lifting anything, okay? Absolutes seem safer with you. And you are NOT to be doing anything physical for 3 more weeks, at which time you can start with some easy physical activity. Long walks, some stretching, that kind of stuff. And you will need to get another post-op check-up around then too.”

You nodded. “Okay. I got it.”

“Now, your brothers here ARE now in charge since I can’t be there to keep you in line,” he said, a knowing smile on his face. He must have overheard you and Dean from the hallway.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” you argued.

“I’m not kidding. You need to let them take care of you. And you two,” he said, pointing at Sam and Dean in turn, “need to make sure she rests.”

A gruff laugh escaped Dean. “Easier said than done.”

“I know,” the doctor said. “I’ve been dealing with her for only about a month. You two have been dealing with her for a lifetime,” he joked, shooting you a glance.

“I’m right here, you know!” you burst out. “I can hear everything you’re saying!”

The doctor laughed and held out a hand to you. “Y/N, it’s been a pleasure to watch you recover. Now be well, and rest.”

This time you didn’t have anything snarky to say and just grasped his hand in yours and shook it. “Thank you. For… not letting me die and stuff.”

He laughed and shook his head. “You’re welcome. Gentleman,” he turned to Sam and Dean who both shook his hand and thanked him repeatedly. “The nurse will be in shortly to take care of that IV and check you out. Take care.”

You watched him go with a triumphant smile on your face. Sam and Dean both looked a little anxious, however. “Oh, come on, guys! He said I’m fine. We can go home!”

“You heard the doctor though. Seriously, Y/N. You’re on house arrest,” Dean said forcefully.

“Whatever. I don’t even care. Just get me out of here,” you said climbing down to your feet again. Soon a nurse came in and removed your IV. You kicked Sam and Dean out of the room so you could change out of your hospital gown for the first time in what felt like years. Another few minutes and you were stepping into the hallway, a huge grin on your face.

Sam shouldered your bag and gave you an appraising look. “You alright?” You were still a little hunched over. Straightening up completely still made you sore.

“I’m great,” you said. “Look! I’m wearing actual clothes!” You glanced down at the sweatpants and t-shirt you had pulled on. “Sort of.”

Dean couldn’t help smiling at you fondly while shaking his head. “You sure you don’t want me to go grab a wheelchair? It’s a bit of a walk.”

You scowled at him.

“I’m being serious, Y/N,” Dean said, the gravel in his voice deepening. “You’ve only done short walks around the floor.”

“There is no way in hell you’re getting me in a wheelchair.”

You managed to make it out to the Impala, though Dean had insisted on driving right up to the exit to pick you up. You slid into the back seat and sighed. “Oh, I missed you, Baby,” you said out loud, sinking in to the familiar seat and breathing in that particular smell that always made you remember road trips and hunts and late-night cheeseburgers.

Dean smiled at you in the rearview mirror. He lowered his voice and turned to Sam. “You talk to Cas?” he asked in an undertone.

“No. It still just keeps going straight to voicemail,” Sam said. “But he texted me again… to explain the origins of pineapple,” Sam said, a tight smile on his face. “It took like 30 texts.”

“What the hell is going on with him? He’s been weirder than usual.”

“Well, he has been trapped at the bunker alone for kind of a long time…” Sam said.

“He could have talked with us if he would ever answer his goddamn phone,” Dean countered, turning onto the highway. “Maybe he’s finally cracked.”

“Who?” you asked, leaning forward and resting your hands on the back of the front seat.

“Nobody,” Dean said. You scoffed.

“That’s convincing…” you said under your breath, just loud enough for him to hear.

“Why don’t you just focus on getting all healed up and let Sammy and me worry about everything else, alright?”

“You know, it’s weird, but my cells do that part pretty much on their own. It doesn’t require much conscious thought on my part. So, if someone has cracked—”

“Nobody’s cracked,” Dean said gruffly, hands steady on the wheel.

“You just said—"

“I just said nothing for you to worry about,” Dean said finally.

You let out a frustrated growl and changed tactics. “Fine. I’ll change the subject,” you said smugly.

“Thank you…”

“Any news on Gabriel?” you asked loudly, sinking back into your seat comfortably.

There was a long, silent pause from the front seat and you could see that Dean’s grip on the steering wheel had tightened.

Sam turned partially around, one arm on the seat back and looked at you. “You know there isn’t.” “No, I don’t know that. You two are obviously keeping something from me, so I think it is fair to assume you’re keeping other stuff from me too.”

“We really don’t know anything about Gabriel,” Sam said, sincerity written all over his face.

You chewed your bottom lip anxiously. Sam took in your expression. “Have you—seen him again?” he asked.

“No. No, nothing like that but since that happened, I just have this feeling—he said we would be seeing each other again and it’s like, in my core, I know that’s true.” You looked up and caught Sam’s eyes, they were steady on your face and narrowed slightly in concern. “I know that doesn’t make any sense and I know you and Dean said he’s gone but it’s such a strong feeling. I don’t really know how to explain it.”

“I believe you,” Sam said. “For now, I guess we just have to wait…”

Many hours later, Dean finally pulled the Impala into the underground garage at the bunker and opened the door for you. Inside, an archangel and a graceless angel perked up as they heard noise in the garage. Cas shot upright and glanced over at Gabriel, who only smiled serenely back at him.

“Showtime!”

Cas gave him an apprehensive look and started off in the direction of the garage immediately. Gabriel followed, but at a leisurely pace, seemingly completely unconcerned.

But Cas didn’t know that this was mostly an act. There was a strange sensation in Gabriel’s chest and it was growing the closer he came to the moment when he would see you—meet you—for real this time, not in some mind dreamscape. He couldn’t even explain to himself why but he felt that this moment was going to change everything for him in some way—he knew no reason why that would be true. He had been fascinated with you since he first became aware again and had been thrust into some role connected with you… but he had this feeling, like a heavy block of cement in the middle of his chest sitting on top of his heart which was maddening in its oddity. It was like expectation and something more had solidified and despite all his trying he couldn’t shift it.

Dean pushed through the door into the bunker trailed closely by you, and then Sam hauling your bag and his own. “Cas?!” Dean roared. “Are you alive in here?”

Cas came hurrying around a corner in the hallway and his expression stopped all of you dead in your tracks. His blue eyes were wide and his face was quite pale, further making the shocking blue stand out.

“…what’s going on?” Dean asked. He was immediately reaching for his pistol.

“Don’t panic, but there’s someone here—”

“How is that supposed to make me not panic?!”

“Cas, do I need to get Y/N out of here?” Sam demanded over your shoulder, already trying to move around you to shield you protectively.

You were surprisingly quiet and Dean looked over his shoulder at you. Your heart was pounding in your chest. “Cas, who is it?” you asked quietly.

He only swallowed at the tightness in his throat and opened his mouth to offer some kind of explanation, but no sound came out. You felt like you didn’t really need him to answer anyway. You already knew.

“It’s him, isn’t it?”

A second figure now came around the corner and Dean dropped his duffel bag where he stood, his fists clenched.

“Welcome home, Winchester Clan!” Gabriel said cheerfully, his arms spread wide.

There was just a stretch of tense silence between all of you which the archangel finally broke again. “Dean, if you wouldn’t mind just stepping a liiiittle bit to your right so I can—”

“What the hell are you doing here? How are you here?!” Dean demanded, his jaw tensing.

“That’s how you want to start this?” Gabriel asked, a grimace on his face. “Come on, Dean. I’m here to help. I’m not here to kill you over and over again. Not this time. I promise. Scout’s honor.” He made a small cross over his heart with one finger. Gabriel tilted his head, trying to look around Dean to get a better view of you, but it wasn’t necessary because the next moment you stepped around him slowly.

He couldn’t help the small smile that grew on his face. You found the golden light in his eyes staggering, just as you remembered it from your vision.

“…you,” was all you could get out. Sam and Dean exchanged a tense glance.

He bounced a little on the balls of his feet and slipped his hands into his pockets, actually the result of nerves, but he was hoping it just made him look nonchalant and nonplussed. “Me.”

“You’re—but you’re… What are you doing here?” you asked quietly.

“I told you we’d be seeing each other again, didn’t I? You didn’t believe me?” he asked, cocking one eyebrow at you. You didn’t answer, just peered at him intensely.

He inclined his chin a little as he studied you. “Here—” he said. He moved around Cas and started toward you but was immediately met with loud yells and threats from the Sam and Dean causing him to stop abruptly and raise his hands, palms out. “Guys, guys, guys! Would you two just chill? Really! After all we’ve been through… I’d like to heal what’s left of that nasty gunshot wound if Y/N will let me. Or are you opposed to that? Because she’s in a lot more pain than she’s letting on. I’m guessing she’s hiding it so you two won’t go all crazy protective over her for the rest of her life.”

“No, I’m not!” you argued. Gabriel gave you a skeptical look.

“I can feel it,” he said. When he spoke those words there was something almost desperate in them. “Let me heal you. Please.”

You swallowed hard at the nervous lump in your throat and stepped around Dean again, giving him a small glance. “It’s okay,” you said.

Gabriel stopped right in front of you and gently touched two fingers to your forehead.

You straightened up immediately and breathed in a deep breath, completely filling your lungs, something you hadn’t been able to do without pangs of pain since you’d been shot. Your shoulders relaxed and you gave him a grateful but perplexed look. “Thanks.”

“Welcome home,” he said again, but this time it was quiet, like it was only for your ears. He rubbed the pad of his thumb over the fingertips that had just touched your skin. They felt strange, almost like the sensation when your foot falls asleep.

Dean suddenly interrupted the moment by pushing past Gabriel and heading toward the front of the bunker at high speed. Cas turned and jogged to catch up with him, wilting a little under the scowl Dean sent his way.

“Cas, you couldn’t have given us a heads up?” Dean asked angrily.

“You don’t think I tried? He broke every single phone I had and all the new ones I managed to get a hold of. And it’s not exactly like I could just fly over, is it?” he finished bitterly.

Sam stopped next to the two of them and dropped his duffel bag. “So… all those weird texts weren’t from you,” he said with sudden understanding.

Cas looked confused. “What? Weird texts? No. What weird texts?”

The Winchesters and Cas suddenly heard laughter behind them and turned to see Gabriel standing in the doorway with a satisfied smirk. Their expressions were stern.

“Oh, come on! That series of texts about the fuzzy toilet seat lid covers? The ‘bedtime thoughts’ texts? Pure genius on my part. You have to see the humor in this!” Gabriel simply watched as the muscles in their jaws twitched.

Dean rubbed a hand over the stubble on his chin. “Goddammit. What the hell is going on?” He turned and looked to Sam who was still just staring in Gabriel’s direction with somewhat wide eyes.

“It’s really not that complicated, Dean. I was sent back to watch out for Y/N. And that’s really all I know.”

This caused deep wrinkles in both Sam and Dean’s foreheads. “Okay, first of all, your definition of ‘not complicated’ could use some adjustment. I would say a DEAD archangel coming back to life is pretty complicated. Second, why does she need anyone more than us watching out for her?” Dean growled.

“Well, seeing as she was just shot and almost died I don’t think I need to really answer that question,” Gabriel snarked back.

Dean’s jaw and fists tensed and Cas stepped forward to put a hand on his shoulder to stop him from attempting to throttle the archangel. Gabriel only smiled serenely.

“That wasn’t their fault,” you argued, having just appeared behind Gabriel in the doorway, feeling sick again because you knew your brothers were already blaming themselves. “It could have been any one of us.”

“But it wasn’t,” Gabriel pointed out.

You looked suddenly weary. “I don’t know why we’re still talking about this at all. I’m completely fine. Better than fine now that I’m magically healed me up. I feel like there are more important things we should be discussing.”

Gabriel raised a finger, like he had a sudden idea. “You’re right. Chiefly, I need to know everything about you. Your likes, your dislikes, formative childhood experiences, deepest darkest secrets—”

You crossed your arms over your chest and were about to snark something back at the archangel but Dean beat you to it. “Alright. That’s enough!” he growled. “You were supposedly sent here to protect her, not be a total creep. You’ve just met her and you’re already trying to invade her privacy,” he said gruffly, his green eyes piercing on the angel’s face.

“Well, technically I think he already—” Cas tried to stop himself but it was too late and your eyes snapped over to Gabriel as he winced and anxiously ran a hand through his hair. Your mouth was hanging partially open and your expression was incredulous.

“What the hell did you do?” you demanded. When he didn’t answer and only shrugged vaguely, the corners of his mouth pulling down in a frown, you turned to Cas again who was doing his best to look anywhere but in your direction. “Cas… Cas! Look at me!”

Gabriel spun and locked his eyes on Cas as well. “Brother, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll be quiet…” he said through his teeth, keeping a forced smile fixed on his face.

“We all know you aren’t good at lying, Cas. Even a lie of omission. Are you really going to lie to me? After everything I’ve just been through?” You purposely tugged on his heartstrings and walked toward him so he had no choice but to glance at you as you moved closer. “Cas, I almost died. And you’re not going to tell me what this archangel who is supposedly here to watch out for me was up to?”

Gabriel shot you a look that was both a little stunned and impressed. “That’s low,” he said. You raised your eyebrows at him and then turned back to Cas again.

You could see the internal turmoil crescendoing until it finally burst out of him. “He went through some of your things in your room. I tried to stop him but—”

“Dude!” Sam exclaimed, his jaw clenching with anger. Dean shut his eyes against the rising tide of rage and his fists tightened. `

Your jaw dropped open again and you turned back to Gabriel and away from a very conflicted-looking Castiel. “What the hell!?” you demanded angrily. “Haven’t you heard of privacy? What exactly gave you the right to go through my room?”

He looked a tinge guilty for a moment before rearranging his features into a questioning expression. “Well, I think I should know a little about my charge—”

You shot a glare at him that was piercing and Gabriel felt his throat tighten. “Your charge? Let’s get one thing straight right now… I’m not your ‘charge’. You do not get to boss me around or make decisions for me.”

Gabriel tilted his head and gave you a peculiar look. “Well… strictly speaking I don’t think that’s true… You see, I’m supposed to protect you which means that I get to decide—”

You interrupted him angrily. “No. No, you don’t get to decide.” You looked at Cas and your brothers who all looked pretty unhappy about what had just played out. “I’m going to bed. Goodnight.” As you started down the hall, you heard his footsteps following behind you and as you reached the door to your room you spun to face him. “What do you think you’re doing?” you demanded.

Gabriel looked around as if he was expecting you to be talking to someone other than him, but he saw no one else. “Me?”

“Yes, you.”

“I’m just doing my job. You said you’re going to bed so I’m going to watch over you and—”

You angrily bit the inside of your cheek. “No. You’re not. You can stay the hell away from me while I sleep. You’re not setting foot in my room again.”

“Oh, come on! Y/N, please. You’re not really mad about—”

You turned abruptly and slammed the door in his face. Okay, so maybe you were really mad… “You know I can just appear in your room! I’m an archangel. An oak door isn’t—” The door whipped open again and you stood there fuming.

“Go away.” Your voice was quiet but Gabriel could easily hear the anger in it and for now he decided just to back off. You slammed the door in his face again and he sighed heavily, running a hand back through his hair.

Sometime later, Cas wandered down the hall and found Gabriel sitting on the floor, his back up against the wall just beside your shut door, his legs stretched out in front of him. Gabriel looked at him as he approached.

Cas didn’t say anything, just took a seat beside the archangel on the floor, stretching his legs out in front of him and staring at his shoes. Gabriel broke the silence first. “Look how far I’ve come,” he said, his tone clearly sarcastic. “I used to lead legions and now I’ve been assigned as some kind of glorified babysitter and here I am, a fallen archangel, sitting on the floor outside her door.”

“You probably wouldn’t be sitting here on the floor if you hadn’t botched that meeting with Y/N so spectacularly,” Cas mused. To his surprise the archangel actually laughed and glanced over at him.

“Yeah, I think you’re right about that, Castiel.” Gabriel sighed, leaning his head back against the wall. “I have a tendency toward self-destructive behavior.”

“When I was an angel, I mean—with my grace, so did I,” Cas said. “Perhaps there is something about being so-called ‘immortal’ that makes us reckless with our own lives.”

Gabriel sighed again heavily. “Perhaps.”

Cas looked over at him and he could see genuine worry on his brother’s face. “Don’t worry. She’ll be fine in the morning. She’s tough. Strong. But kind-hearted. She’ll let you make up for it.” Cas fiddled with the hem of his sleeve. “I see such a mixture of Sam and Dean in her.”

This only drew Gabriel’s brow down more deeply. “That’s what I’m worried about,” he said thoughtfully. “I don’t know why I was sent to protect her, but I do know how reckless the Winchesters are with their lives. And all without a single drop of grace.”

Cas’s lips curved ever so slightly in a thoughtful smile. “Yes. But selfless.”

Gabriel glanced over at his brother and felt a pang in his heart for his graceless friend. “Do you miss your trench coat and suit?” he asked him.

Cas’s eyes lifted in surprise at the question and he glanced down at his sweatshirt, picking a piece of lint off the sleeve. “I do. But… it felt wrong wearing it somehow. Like being in a suit of armor while not on the battlefield.”

Gabriel nodded and leaned his head back against the wall. A few moments of comfortable silence passed before he broke it. “I’m sorry for being such a dick since I arrived. All the phones… all the lying… all the snooping. It’s strange to say but I had a level of-—anxiety,” he tilted his head in a question, not even entirely sure that was the right word for what he had been feeling, “about meeting Y/N. And I still messed it up.”

Cas sighed again and patted a gentle hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Tomorrow is a new day.” He climbed to his feet and looked down at the archangel, a strange sight sitting like a child on the floor during time-out. “Tomorrow. Goodnight, brother.”

[sleepycoffins-and-benhargreeves]

Standrew Serial KillerxAddams Family AU with Andrew as Fester and Steven as Debbie

Steven as the fancy golden truffle boy who dates people, acts all innocent, marries them then kills his husbands or wives (we stan pansexual Steven)

Andrew is the “Addams-Ilnyckyj” cousin who has been missing for 10 years now and has only recently returned because he got lost in the Bermuda triangle.

Shane and Ryan are prob the Gomez and Morticia Addams couple here, Shane and Andrew are distant cousins, so Shyan tries to help Andrew woo Steven

We’re gonna make a Shyan lovechild (Brett or OC?), Ryan saying he just wants to have it all, loving husband, family, and time to hunt ghouls and demons for his hellish crusade

Steven is that Nanny that barges into the Addams household saying that they’ll finally “found” someone to take care of their child

Andrew, the most stoic and reserved Addams in their family has finally found someone he actually feels attracted to.

Shyan organizes a welcome back home party for Andrew, all relatives invited.

Shyan lovechild grows suspicious of Steven and knows he’s up to no good with their Uncle Andrew

The party happens and Andrew and Shane dance the Mamushka, since both consider each other almost like brothers (they both killed their brothers or smth cuz the tradition of killing your siblings still runs in this era lmao) or they’re just only childs in general tbh idk

After the Mamushka dance, we’ll have Andrew and Steven dance the Hopak. Apparently, the Cossack cousins of the Addams are from Ukraine, Cossack is a Ukranian dance so, Andrew is that Ukranian Cossack cousin and I love this because I just researched this and it’s too fucking perfect for this AU.

Hopak, originally a male dance that eventually evolved into a couples dance, so we have Andrew and Steven dancing together with fucking knives and it will be beautiful, and sexy, and fucking perfect.

I need to research and watch many dances about Hopak and apparently Hora as well, because the Addams family is apparently Jewish in nature so I need a nice way to imagine them dancing with knives while learning all the terms for this fanfic lmao

Andrew and Steven take a lovely romantic stroll in the Addams graveyard, Steven goes in for a the kill, telling Andrew that he’s a virgin and he’s been waiting for someone to make the ultimate sacrifice with him.

Andrew when Steven said he’s been waiting for someone to make the ultimate sacrifice with: “A goat?”

Steven ignoring Andrew’s brain of equating sacrifice to goat and confessing instead that he loves him to which Andrew replies. “I never would’ve thought you’d feel the same way, I love you so much, I’d kill for you, I’d die for you... I’d pay.”

Steven practically moans seductively when Andrew tells him he’d pay lmao imagining all the gold and truffles he’ll have

A nice beautiful scene of Steven and Andrew digging up the grave of Andrew’s mother so that he could propose to Steven with a beautiful golden ring with blood red rubies on it.

Standrew announces to Shyan that they’re engaged and we have that iconic scene of Debbie-Steven showing the ring and holding a shovel with a psychotic look on his face.

Standrew wedding where Andrew has poured out all his feelings and emotions for the first time, shocking the entire Addams clan, it’s long and prob takes at least thirty minutes to an hour and he has misty eyes while his voice continues to almost break from too much love.

Steven, looking impressed and nodding his head, looks to the priest/uncle It and says: “Ditto.”

Shyan lovechild arguing and saying that Steven is prob gonna kill their Uncle Andrew and continues to wail.

Shane telling Standrew as they leave for their honeymoon “Have a nice life together!” and Steven replies. “I will!”

Cue in Standrew honeymoon and Steven tries to kill Andrew numerous times and gets frustratedly angry when Andrew keeps surviving.

They.Have.Sex.

Steven after amazing sex with Andrew and losing his virginity (Let’s admit it, even though Steven has married and murdered so many people, he didn’t think they were worthy enough for him. But Andrew is “rich-enough” for Steven to lose his virginity for, he thinks. Like the richest catch he’s ever had. And no, Steven thinks it’s not because he’s starting to fall for Andrew.)

He made Andrew promise to never-ever talk or contact his family ever again, Andrew indulges him and agrees.

Steven’s butler driving a hearse to the airport and waiting for Steven to get off his flight from Hawaii. “Hello Mr. Ilnyckyj, where is your husband?” He asks, expecting the husband to be dead.

“Oh he’s right there, getting off the flight.” Steven points to Andrew who’s currently looking at him with heart eyes. Butler: “But he’s alive sir!” he says in shock. Steven in a very angry and frustrated voice. “TELL ME ABOUT IT!”

Andrew: I love you mon cher

Steven: WHO?!

Andrew: mi amor???

Steven:  SPEAK IN ENGLISH. or chinese, but he is secretly slowly starting to love the pet names Andrew gives him, don’t worry, we only have tsundere Steven for a short time.

Steven forces Andrew to live with him in a pastel palace that’s very fancy and very un-Addams like, Andrew is intrigued because it’s Steven.

Shyan visits their home to demand to see Andrew, saying it’s not true that Andrew doesn’t want to see them anymore.

Andrew confirms to them that He wants to be alone with Steven now.

Shyan comes home to find that their lovechild has become a pastel monster, very un-Addams like and they cry but accept their child.

Steven tries numerous times to kill Andrew but to no avail.

And this one time that Steven blows up half of their house and finds Andrew “Dead”

He laughs maniacally and says finally but then he’s crying

His tears fall down on Andrew and he opens his eyes and Steven screams.

Andrew: You do care my love

Steven: No! Why are you still alive?! What does it take to kill you monster?!

Andrew laughs and Steven blurts out that he’s been able to kill all of his husbands and wives before but why doesn’t Andrew die?!?!?!

Andrew: because you love me and our love won’t allow us to kill each other

Andrew then explains that he’s known about Steven all this time, that he’s a serial killer, that he loves being this golden fancy boy, and that he even knows that Steven himself is from a notorious serial killer family as well

Steven still in denial but he’s all like “So you’ll let me use your money?”

Andrew: “My love, I love you so much, I’d pay for you and everything else.”

Steven, tsundere but slowly warming up to Andrew, mumbles “Fine, i forgive you.” He grumbles. “And I’ll let you be with your family again.”

Andrew meets the Lims full of serial killer family, only they’re more pastel and shit and he is absolutely in love and their families move to live close to each other and Shyan is also there and they meet the pastel Lim serial killer fam and it’s very very happy and nice and cute and amazing

the end

Wow, this got to be so long and I actually wanna write this but I have so many other Standrew fics in mind so yeah, have this one for now and I’ll think about it if I still wanna write this lmao

It looks and sounds like a lot of fun tbh and I only have to do little research about it I guess to write it perfectly sdjfksandkj

[poc-movie-supremacy]

Rest easy, baby, I’m here

Ryan ended up pretty rattled after a late night unsolved supernatural shoot. Shane worries as he tries to come up with ways to sooth Ryan’s fears. 

A.N. Lovely little drabble I wrote that no one should show to the ghoul boys. I am fully aware that they are in separate relationships and I wish them all the luck in the world, they seem very happy. This was just for fun, pls don’t show this to them. Also the parts about red doors and golden lions are true for Chinese culture (I highly doubt the same is true for Japanese culture) 

----

Ryan tightly gripped his coffee cup as he stared at nothing in front of him. His gaze was vacant and his lips were pressed in a tight line. Shane looked him up and down, his worry growing stronger. They had just finished an Unsolved shoot early that evening (morning? It ended at 3 a.m. and they were now in a nearby coffee shop at 3:45 a.m.). Dead tired, they decided to stop for some coffee before driving home. Ryan was almost silent save for the occasional word while they packed up. When the waitress came to take their order, Shane answered for the both of them. Two coffees, one with sugar and milk, the other black and a couple of brownies. The lady gave a sympathetic smile to Ryan before bustling away. 

The coffee shop was run down and half empty and quiet. Shane hated and loved it. Hated that his conversations with Ryan wouldn’t be as private but loved that he could hear Ryan better even if he still had yet to talk. Shane debated placing a hand on Ryan’s shoulder in an effort to soothe him, but his boyfriend seemed to out of it. He didn’t want to scare Ryan any further today. 

The hunt today wasn’t awful in Shane’s opinion but he doesn’t think he’s heard Ryan scream this much since the Sally House. It was funny at first, but now the joke’s starting to get old. 

Shane stares at the seat in front of him while he works through scenarios to help Ryan. 

Suddenly a warm mass leans into his side. Ryan nuzzles half his face into Shane’s arm and doesn’t move.

Neither does Shane. The only thing he can come up with are quips and he knows that’s not appropriate right now. Ryan’s gaze shifts to the red booth seat in front of them and smiles. “My mom’s front door was that shade of red as the booth. She said it was good luck or something to have a red door.” Shane didn’t know what to say to that. His usual snipe of that’s bullshit Ryan wasn’t fitting, and anyways, Mrs. Bergara is a dream, he’d die before insulting her. 

“That’s why there are two golden lions in front of your front door too right?” 

Ryan nodded. “Something like that yeah. It might be good luck only for a year though.”

“Wonder why that is.”

“You could ask her next time you see her.”

“Sure I’ll ask her a few Q’s.” Ryan snorted at his boyfriend’s comment.

There was  a lull in conversation before, “Feeling better baby?”

Ryan sighed. The breath of air felt nice. “Nothing, just reminded me of a story that my mom told me that gave me nightmares.”

“A lot of things gave you nightmares as a child Ryan,” Shane pointed out as he slung an arm around Ryan’s shoulders and squeezed. 

“Shut up Shane.” Instead of the insult it used to be, now it’s more synonymous with I love you. Shane laughed out loud and tickled Ryan slightly in ‘revenge.’

“Hey, Shane,” gasp “Big guy stop.” Shane smiled down at his boyfriend. His heart warmed and shoulders relaxed when he saw his boyfriend smile. He would’ve continued but the waitress arrived with their freshly made brownies. She seemed happy at Ryan’s change in attitude but didn’t say anything. 

Ryan picked up a brownie and munched on it while Shane watched. “Feel better?”

Ryan shrugged. “Might have a nightmare or two about it later but I’m fine.”

“You sure? Wanna talk about it?”

“No it’s fine, big guy. We can talk about it at home.” Shane nodded. They finished before leaving. Shane drove them back home where they got ready for bed. Then they slipped under the covers. Shane let out the tension in his shoulders before rolling onto his side. Ryan was sitting up in bed fiddling with his fingers. First Shane put a hand over Ryan’s hands then gently laid him down and into his arms. 

“Talk about it until you’re calm about it. I’m all ears baby,” Shane whispered to him. He patiently listened as Ryan rambled about a moment in his childhood. When he needed it Shane would insert a small phrase encouraging or funny depending on the prior statement. He only let himself fall asleep with Ryan tight in his arms completely asleep. Rest easy, baby, I’m here.

[gayfraphne]

scooby-doo and the curse of the 13th ghost review

WARNING: contains spoilers, as well as my unsolicited opinion. read at you own risk folks.

i’ll start off by saying, i really liked curse of the 13th ghost. it certainly wasn’t groundbreaking, but i had a great time watching it and i’m happy it exists. that being said, there were a few things that made me scratch my head a little bit.

the movie starts with a sepia filtered flashback of vincent van ghoul and his lover mortifer (not really but,,,,, we know how to read between the lines WB) capturing ghosts in the chest of demons. the scene ends with mortifer having his fucking soul devoured by ghosts and dying right there in front of my seven year old eyes. i literally screamed.

the title sequence absolutely sent me. it was really good on its own, but i love how it actually explains the whole plot of 13 ghosts, because i never actually saw it.

next we get a classic mall chase scene. there’s a hilarious moment when they’re chasing the suspect up an escalator, and fred tells the gang that they can’t run because it’s too dangerous, so they all have to stand on this escalator while tacky elevator music plays before continuing the chase. fred’s being an asshole to daphne in this scene to emphasise how attached he is to his leadership position, and daphne (like the bad bitch she is) ignores him and catches the guy they’re chasing herself, to emphasise that she’s much smarter than fred. not that much smarter, however, because it turns out they caught the wrong guy. they interact with the sheriff, who tells them that they’re too sloppy, and that once they turn eighteen (which is coming up quickly) they might end up serving jail time for harassment charges. with their best interests in mind, he tells them they have to quit solving mysteries. the scene worked, but it wasn’t very realistic. legally speaking, you can’t arrest someone for driving in their van (as this guy threatened to do).

next we see the three minute long scene that was released as a promotional clip on youtube of the garage sale at what i assume was daphne’s house, despite being tiny. a man named bernie alan tries to buy some stuff off them, but his check bounces (a reoccurring joke throughout the rest of the movie). vincent calls, tells them he needs help- blah blah blah.

daphne introduces the gang to her own van- which nearly sends fred over the fucking moon. especially when he can’t drive it because it’s a stick shift and, as we all know, FRED JONES CAN’T DRIVE STICK. honestly, that boy is adorable.

so daphne drives as fred sleeps on her shoulder like the angel he is- but things go awry when a car surrounded by green smoke tries to run them off the road. we find out why this is later, but it doesn’t.... really make much sense.

they get to vincent’s house, daphne and fred bicker some more, and shaggy decides to head off with scooby in search of snack-shaped clues. daphne asks velma to keep an eye on “lewis and bark” leaving her alone with fred. her crystal ball starts glowing, and they follow it throughout the mansion. velma, shaggy, and scooby have some classic mishaps, while fred and daphne do some classic fraphne things, such as forgetting that two people can walk next to eachother, and entrapment, and undermining each other’s intelligence. they all meet back up when velma and the boys fall through the ceiling and land on top of them. (shaggy jokes, “mind if we drop in?”) they find vincent, as well as the demon asmodeus, and this is where things start to kick off. vincent tells shaggy and daphne to trap asmodeus in the chest of demons, but shaggy says that he mailed it to vincent’s place in the himalayas when school started. vincent explains that it wasn’t his home, but rather an air b&b he’d rented at the time, and that he never got it- so they have to fly to the himalayas to track down the chest in the mail.

you know how movies and tv shows  that can’t afford the rights to certain brands will use cute little puns- to tell the audience what they’re talking about without saying the real trademark? it’s done multiple times in the movie, but in a way that’s very self aware. vincent refers to his air b&b as an “air boo & boo,” his iphone as a “die phone,” and countless others that i forget. but everyone around him is like “oh my fucking god can you talk normally please-” telling the audience that they were staying at an actual air b&b without having to use the name- but still being normal about it. it was a nice touch. as was “captain rogers, not for vanity reasons, but because when you have the lives of so many people in your hands, it’s better to think of yourself as the office and not the man- and also a little bit for vanity.” that’s right, folks, shaggy flies the plain. and it’s golden.

when they land in the himalayas, the first thing they notice is bernie alan, the check bouncing fiend. they decide to split up- shaggy, scooby, daphne and vincent follow him to the temple, while fred and velma go searching for the lost package. the next bit of the movie cuts between the two storylines, but i’ll just tell them separatley.

fred and velma show up at a deserted post office, and naturally go rummaging through the back to find shaggy’s lost package. instead, flim flam catches fred in a net. i don’t think we ever learn why he was in the post office. flim flam takes them to the novelty store he works at and shows them his various chest of demons memorabilia (mostly coolers, which he’s only ever sold one of) but when fred says they’re looking for the real thing, he brings them to his ghost-hunting store instead. fred finds a cool scooter and asks to drive it-  to which flim flam replies “sure! you can drive stick shift, right?” luckily he’s only kidding and fred get’s to destroy the scooter in the background while velma and flim flam argue over the existence of ghosts. fred and velma leave, and fred admits to velma that he feels useless now that daphne’s stolen his job as the leader. he even laments that he “can’t even do background shenanigans right!!!!!” before the scene has the oppurtunity to become cute and uplifting, the two of them get snatched into the air by an unknown force.

daphne’s crew are following bernie alan, but he manages to lose them. before they know it, they’re being stalked by the same car that tried to run them off the road earlier. the car’s loud engine starts an avalanche, resulting in the world’s longest “oh no!! we’re falling down a mountain!!” bit- which is then followed by a second identical bit as the car causes another avalanche immediately after the first. they wind up trapped in the temple with asmodeus and the chest of demons. there’s a cute little musical chase scene to a super catchy disco song, and a slightly uncomfortable bit where shaggy and scooby dress as monks. asmodeus tries to kill them, but vincent uses his magic to beam daphne, shaggy and scooby out.

daphne is about to break down sobbing because she thinks vincent is dead- when suddenly velma and fred fall from the sky. fred, being the little fucking legend he is, says “mind if we drop in?” they’re all down in the dumps for various reasons, and daphne says that it’s time to go home, and that there’s nothing more they can do. seeing his gang about top give up, fred reveals his darkest secret: while daphne and shaggy were catching the ghosts, he wasn’t just at any camp- he was at CHEER CAMP. THE ONLY KIND OF LEADER FRED IS IS A CHEERLEADER. it’s funny at first- hysterical in fact- but he does a cheer that lasts just long enough for everyone (characters and audience alike) to start feeling sad for him. but freddy jones is flippin away, doing back tucks over daphne’s head and throwing her in the air, and his enthusiasm encourages daphne to make a plan to catch asmodeus.

fred and velma head back to flim flam’s shop to ask for his help (but mostly his gear) and fred realises that the reason he can’t drive stick is because he’s been trying to use the parking break instead of the clutch. now he’s hell on wheels, and manages to run the random car that’s been following them off the road and into the abyss below. 

meanwhile, daphne, shaggy and scooby skydive down into the temple from above (”i can’t jump out of a plane!” “that’s okay, i’m going to push you!”) and find vincent. they link up with fred, velma and flim flam, and the latter jokes that all they need now is scrappy, to which velma asks “what’s a scrappy???” and there’s nothing better than the idea of a timeline in which daphne and shaggy just kept scrappy’s existence a secret all these years.

vincent reveals that asmodeus is actually his dead relative, which is cool, but everything goes downhill when they realise that asmodeus is a fake, and that he’s actually mortifer, vincent’s supposed dead lover, wearing a suit. then bernie alan the check bouncer is actually an interpol officer slash figure skater, and the swat team shows up.... they really lost me there. it was a disappointing resolution to say the least.

the final scene was probably my favorite. the gang are loading up the plane, and fred and daphne stare off into the sunset, and fred tells daphne that he’s been wrong about her all along, and that she’s such a capable leader, and that she’s the engine that makes the gang run. daphne replies “i might be the engine, but you’ll always be the driver” which is equally as adorable as it is true. they give eachother MAJOR HEART EYES, but fred- physically unable to let a heartfelt moment last more than three seconds- pulls away and asks if captain rogers will let him try flying the plain. daphne says sure, but only if he promises to stay away from the parking break. fred shakes his fist at god and curses velma’s name.

velma explains to everyone that ghosts aren’t real and that the 13 ghosts were all a hallucination, which..... fuck everyone involved in that decision. we realise that the chest shaggy mailed was actually the one cooler sold by flim flam (a nice touch). to prove her point, velma almost opens the actual chest of demons for funsies but thinks better of it, and then the gang hits the skies, where they’re all flabbergasted to find that scooby doo is the one flying the plane. the end.

it’s a good movie, no doubt- and was almost a perfect one. everything seemed to crash and burn as the demon turned out to be fake, and then everything else was fake, and then bernie alan was a figure skater in a fat suit... for some reason. had they gone with literally any other ending, it would have been great. 

the fraphne subpot felt a little underwhelming... maybe it’s just that i’m a hardcore shipper, but i felt like the resolution to their plot wasn’t big enough. they spent the whole movie building tension- i was sort of picturing that they’d have a big fight. but... nope. he just did a few backflips and everything was peachy.

again, i loved the movie. i don’t know if i’d put it in the top five, but definitely in the top ten. it had a lot of fun aspects and great character building. i’m really excited for return to zombie island, but also kind of scared. first of all, how do you make a sequel to something that happens when they’re 30 when they’re only 17?? also... pls don’t make the cat creatures fake. also... *slides writers a 20*.... fraphne kiss. just sayin.

[fallxnprxnce]

Has Prince Nuada ever spoken too other fae Kings/kingdoms about his ideas on giving the world back to them? Has he been denied, decided against it or just not considered it? I feel that other fae races would be interested in joining him or at least discussing with it. I hope you are doing well, and thank you!

This is a great topic! I apologize forthis being so late, but I didn’t want to write just a quick answer, so I had towait until I had the proper amount of time and brainpower to do the thing, heh.

So… there are two ways to answer thesequestions. I have mused on this myself, imagining what Nuada would have doneand how other races would have reacted, and I have also discussed it atlength  - both IC and OOC – with a goodfriend of mine and some of her muses. One muse in particular, actually, but sheshall remain nameless. She knows who she is. XD

As far as I’ve mused on the subject,early on Nuada would have approached other races about his gripes with humans,and later about his plans to eradicate them. Most other races of fae were notonly not interested in joining his cause but figured he would never see it cometo fruition anyway. They thought it was the ramblings of a petulant prince andnothing more.

The reason for this is because they seea war with humans as just as catastrophic as what the humans might do to theearth, except quicker and with a higher loss of fae life than if they just waitthings out. Chances are, most fae races will acclimate over timebiologically to things like pollution (after all, humans have in many ways),and will evolve and adapt in other ways to continue on as the earth changes.And the earth will change. I thinkthat’s something major that fae generally understand that Nuada does not isthat everything changes. Nothing remains the same forever. One must adapt tochange, not resist it. Versatility during hardship and change is what ensuressurvival, not exile and resistance.

The other reason they would not want to joinhim is becauseit sets a dangerous political precedent. Fae races and plenty of othertypes of non-humans races can be difficult to deal with, it’s true. They can bewarlike, reclusive, territorial, selfish, antagonistic… all of those things.However, when it comes to the overall planet and causes and cycles greater thanall races combined, the fae realize that cooperation is key. That is not to saythey’re going to start breaking bread with orcs and ghouls and certain speciesof trolls anytime soon, but it’s more like a general understanding of we’re all in this together. If Nuada,who is a representative of high Elven races whether he wants or intends to beor not, were to move against the race of humans and obliterate them, that meansthat anyone who has a gripe with anyone else can just decree or bring aboutgenocide in order to solve their problem. It’s a dire precedent to set, and it’snot one that is appreciated by anynon-human races, least of all the fae ones.

Biodiversity is celebrated among non-humans. Again, that does not mean all races like allothers, not by a long shot, but it just means that they are glad there are somany different types of races on earth. It keeps ecosystems alive, keeps cretainpopulations and borders at bay, and generally makes for an interesting earth tolive on. To wipe out one of the most dominant races on earth (just speaking inthe context of population size) should not and is not a viable or sustainable option. Fae races believe if Nuadagoes down that path, he will find that out a lot quicker than he will be ableto set his plan into motion.

Now… as far as what my friend and Ihave discussed both IC and OOC, it is her personal opinion and that of some ofher non-human muses that fae races wouldn’t just shake their head, call Nuadaan insolent upstart, and leave him to the karma of the universe to either righthim or stop him depending on how far he takes his plan, but rather they wouldactively seek to kill him themselves if things went too far. Before that? Theywould make it abundantly clear that they believe he is not only bigoted,hateful, and masquerading the horrors of genocide as a righteous path, but heis also incredibly ignorant and genuinely dumb. I’m paraphrasing for a specificmuse in particular, and if that muse would like to add anything to this littlemeta, she is invited to do so. I shall tag her associated human here: @queenrookandbishop

Why all the snark, rage, and intensedislike for Nuada from this muse and others? Aside from agreeing with myearlier sentiment of genocide not being a viable answer to anything, there are severalof very pointed reasons as to why fae races or any non-human races would beagainst eliminating humans, according to this outspoken muse. She has hit Nuadawith almost all of them personally by now I think, but he is showing clearsymptoms of pigheadedness. Surprise, surprise. Nevertheless, she’s right, so I shall the most important reasonsto not wipe out humans here:

1) Humans take care of a lot of shit on earth,so who is going to do that when they’re all gone? Yes, human make a lot of garbage and waste.Yes, they pollute. But they also clean up, remediate, treat, manage, store, andotherwise deal with their waste as well. Not all of it, to be sure, but enoughof it such that if all the humans disappeared tomorrow, everybody left behindwould be in big trouble in really not a lot of time. No more water filtrationfor plastic wastes. No more maintenance of nuclear power plants. No moremanagement of toxic waste sites with drums of deadly and/or radioactivematerials. No more environmental groups instituting things like beach cleanups,litter pick-ups, tree-planting events, running animal preserves and rescue operations,etc. If all the humans disappeared tomorrow, we’d be left with all the bad andnone of the good as far as what humans have done so far with the world. Maybetheir factories would shut down, they would no longer drive cars that releasegreenhouse gases, they would no longer be drinking water bottles and discardingthem in waterways, they wouldn’t be farming mass quantities of land withchemical fertilizers and pesticides, but you know what…? What humans havealready done is enough to pollute the world for centuries to come. And… whatthey are doing to remediate pollution and keep toxic waste contained and keeppotentially dangerous facilities up and running will suddenly stop… and evenmore contamination will be released into the environment with none of thecountermeasure to clean it or stop it. The consequences of human life endingsuddenly on earth far outweigh the benefits, to both the actual planet as wellas all other non-human races that inhabit it.

2) What happens to all the bodies of dead humansonce this genocide occurs? There wouldbe more bodies left to rot worldwide than there are microbes and predators capableof dealing with all that biological waste. Sure, some corpses will be scavengedby predator animals… Bears, large cats, not to mention predatory fae and othernon-human races. And bacteria and fungi will go to work, putrefying and rottingbodies depending upon their specific metabolic needs. But the need for these thingsto occur will far be exceeded by the number of bodies there will be. The GoldenArmy will kill humans fast. So whenthis happens and there are bodies everywhere, predation and natural rotting andrecycling of nutrients in those bodies will take a decent amount of time. Inthe meantime, bodies are leaking putrid fluids into soils. They’re falling intowaterways and poisoning them. Diseases are breeding in corpses baking under thesun. So much gas is released that the air becomes poisonous, and furthercontributes to global warming. It’s really not a good picture at all. Manyraces on land and in the water will be poisoned to death if not made very ill.Weaker individuals will die, and those left will have to deal with all thebiological waste somehow or risk much of the earth being uninhabitable for along time.

3) Many non-human races rely on humans as afood source! Vampires, largetrolls, dragons, rusalka, ghouls, wendigo, lycanthropes, etc. all feed onhumans. Some, like vampires, are entirely limited to humans such that, were allhumans to disappear, so would they… or else they would be reduced to drinkinganimal blood and become weakened and sick depending on which set of vampirelore you’re going with. My point is, taking out an entire food source that hadpreviously been so prevalent is going to rock the web of life and the foodchain considerably. Some races may die from lack of food, while others willbegin to eat other races… like elves,perhaps, potentially bringing about the extinction of other races who cannotsupport that level of predation.

In short… fae races and othernon-humans would have the common sense and wisdom to understand that taking outall humans is not the answer. So why doesn’t Nuada? After 2K+ years of life,why isn’t he wiser? My first answer is to call bullshit on Guillermo del Torobecause I think Nuada would be wiserthan that after all that time. There’s really no way he couldn’t be. But I’mnot going to do that because GdT is awesome and saying the canon is flawed isjust a copout answer anyway. XD So… I will go with a two-fold answer of 1) hisisolation after going into exile put him in an environment where he did notreceive very much constructive criticism or opposition. He isolated himself,stewed about his own ideas, and sought out other like-minded individuals (e.g.,Mr. Wink). That kind of lifestyle served to maintain, preserve, and perpetuatehis own ignorance. And 2) Nuada was poisoned by his own emotions, as we all knowis a definitely thing with elves. His anger, sadness, hopelessness, depression,etc. over what was happening to his people actually worked much the same waydepression does in humans… it chemically changed his brain to continue thatnegative thought pattern feedback loop, which then also led to him becomingphysically damaged by his own emotions as well. Ultimately, his way of thinkingwas actually altered by his emotions after spending enough time wallowing inthem without the help he needed or the opposition he potentially should havehad.

I hope this answered your questions,and thank you for sending this in! =D

[the-evanescent-inkwell]

An Abundance of Dragons

Sabra Mendez has always seemed to be a magnet for the strange and unusual in her otherwise ordinary world. Her most frequent guests were dragons. Big dragons, little dragon, red dragons, blue dragons, loud dragons, quiet dragons, rash dragons, and passive dragons. She knew each of the regulars by name, even a set of twin dragons that came in separately once a month. Sabra knew dragons better than she knew herself.

However, the winged European monsters weren't the only thing she managed to attract to her lofty rustic bar.

Ghost and ghouls were also common, stopping by to pick up snippets of conversation at 3:03 a.m. until 4:30 a.m. There were also strange birds, sea monsters, psychics, witches, sorcerers, and talking animals. La Madremonte was a regular, stopping in every few weeks with her sister the Banshee. Traveling demons stopped by and played soft, longing ballads. La Perca del Estornino was always alive and busy with visitors from all over the world. Word had spread since Sabra was a little girl, stuck in her run-down school, helping her father clean the bar before his shift, that she was a friend to them all. Now, it was common knowledge in the hidden community that La Perca del Estornino was a safe place for travelers to stay in the early hours of morning.

Sabra had always been a bit different, growing up in Buenos Aires. It wasn't because she was a little mixed brown girl attending a mostly white school, or because she had splotches of white discoloring on her face, or her poor Italian, or her Mexican accent. It wasn't because of her short, unruly hair, her working-class and unmarried parents, or her worn shoes and hand-me-down backpack. None of that ever bothered Sabra, and no one seemed to care too much where she went to school—up until secondary school, at least. It was more that she could see things no one else noticed. She waved to foggy figures invisible to all but her, left scraps behind her house for the creatures she could hear congregating there, handed people little knick-knacks she had on hand because she could tell they needed them more than she did. Her mother, Jacaranda Rivera, was continually mortified by her behavior, always telling her to shut her mouth and stop wandering off. Her father, Miguel Mendez, saw her differently. He told her she was gifted and should never hide her gifts, using them to help others. He told her that she was what every good barkeeper needed to be; someone who knew people. Since his job when she was little had been working at a bar called La Casa de Mañana, it was no surprise that that was the metaphor he picked. What was a surprised to Sabra was when he died of colorectal cancer that he left his life's work, La Perca del Estornino, to her. Jacaranda told her that she didn't need to take on the responsibility of the bar; she could go to college in America like she wanted, get a degree in art, and paint for the world. But this was more important to Sabra. So she canceled her plans and reopened the bar. It's what her father wanted.

When she was nineteen, after closing time at three, the dragons and ghost started showing up. So she let them in, heard their stories, then let them go. They spread the word, and the next night, more came back. Over the past decade or so, Sabra had changed the closing time three times, finally settling on 7 p.m. to 3 a.m., reopening at 3:03 a.m. for the mythological and supernatural creatures until 4:30 a.m., when she finally went home. It was a good system, and she had very little complaints.

Sabra was very talented and had a lot of strengths, but if she could choose a favorite, it would be her ability to connect with people. She listened to normal and crazy, letting them spill their stories onto her. She knew the regulars, those that came in every now and then when they needed space, and then those that popped in once and never showed up again. She was a friend to everyone, even those who didn't know what friendship was. Over the course of her twenty-eight years of life, Sabra had figuratively adopted thousands of children and given them advice and comfort before sending them on their way. Some she never saw again. Some she saw every night.

The 22nd of March wasn't an unusual day in any way. She still cleaned up and began opening at seven. She still watched the front and made phone calls every now and then. She still created small talk and intervened when she saw it fit, listening to the mix of Italian and Spanish and English, as well as a few other languages thrown in from tourists that decided to stop by.

La Perca del Estornino was located between two small park squares. All the small windows were filled with green leaves. It was approaching autumn, but the trees in this part of town never really grew too brown. The room was dimly lit with gold lights reflecting off brown walls. The bar was exposed wooden oak planks, finished smoothly without taking away the worn aesthetic. The stools were black upholstery, the cushions pinned to the wood with large golden studs. The back brick wall was covered with chalkboards, Sabra's calligraphy listing popular drinks and specials. Shelves framed the boards, filled to the brim with bottles. Small tables were placed around in corners, the floors were smooth and dark, but appeared rugged, and large lamps hung from wires on the ceiling. Sabra always liked the aesthetic of the bar. She approved of her father's interior design choices.

Her last customer of the night was always the same; a regular named Felipe Alonzo. He was an older man with salt and pepper hair who worked at a bank across the street. He was a fairly pleasant man who liked alcohol, but from what Sabra understood, he and his wife fought frequently but wanted to stay together until their kids were out of secondary school. He stayed until closing to avoid another argument.

At 2:56 a.m., Sabra ushered Mr. Alonzo out and began washing dishes. Her two employees, Dante and Cara, hadn't left yet. Dante was about twenty-two and wasn't great with people, so Sabra put him in charge of washing glasses and doing inventory. On the contrary, Cara was a smiley girl of about nineteen with a huge personality. She was a bit clumsy though, so Sabra never let her pour. She was lovely and the customers liked her, so Sabra kept her. But Sabra always kicked them out at three.

"Are you sure you don't need help closing up?" Cara asked politely while Dante immediately left. Cara was pure Italian on all sides of her family and hadn't quite figured out the phonetics of Spanish, but Sabra could pick through her accent when it became to thick.

"I'm perfectly alright. Go home. Make sure you're caught up in school. I don't want to lay you off because you're failing."

"Alright, thank you, Sra. Mendez."

"Drive safe!" she called as Cara disappeared around the bend. The Sabra shut the door and turned the closed sign over. 3:01 a.m.

She quickly swept and picked up the room before hitting the blinds and hiding the interior from bystanders on the street. All ready for 3:03 a.m.

The first visitor was a small purple dragon with a sweater and satchel. "Hello?" he said in English. Sabra smiled warmly at him. "Hello. Welcome. Can I get you anything? Sorry. My English is bad."

"Oh, sorry, um. . ." He ordered a simple drink and Sabra fetched a glass. More visitors flocked in, a majority of them dragons. Her favorite regular showed up around a quarter until four. Roman Xirarch was a young Italian dragon, about the equivalent of a human teenager, who had moved to Rosario from Bologna to study Mesoamerican culture, specifically the arts, abroad. He was a drama major and acted like a stereotypical homosexual. He flew in to chat with Sabra and have a drink at least five times a week. He was small and turquoise, with dark purple spikes, long fangs, and curled horns like a ram. He had a defect in his mouth and constantly had his tongue sticking out a little bit. The other draconic regulars called him the "Mlem Lizard". Roman didn't seem to mind.

He flew through the air vent and landed on the bar, prancing around like a smug house cat. Sabra raised an eyebrow. "Too dramatic to use the door?"

"You know me so well!" he growled happily in his strong accent. "Want to see what I found for my hoard?!"

"I'd love to!"

Dragons were the biggest hoarders of shiny things. Some showed off their collection of metal, gold, and jewels, some hid it, and some just plain collected garbage and didn't care if it was stolen or not. In Roman's case, he had a very small hoard and just liked sharing what he had found with people. He wasn't greedy, and he never stole things, he just liked furnishing his cavern apartment in Rosario with small bits of shiny metal and pesos that fell out of people's pockets.

Roman produced a small shiny crystal from his little red knapsack sitting between his large wings on his back. He dropped it on the table and Sabra carefully picked it up, studying it in the light. "What do you think it is?" he asked excitedly. "Someone dropped it outside the library and didn't go to pick it up, so I assumed it wasn't important. Isn't it pretty?!"

"Lovely," Sabra responded, pulling out her smartphone. "I'll look it up."

After a bit of research, Sabra found out it was some sort of cheap diamond, sort of like fools gold, but she didn't burst Roman's bubble. She put her phone away. "It's a special type of diamond."

"Is it?!" he squealed. "I found a diamond! Mamma is gonna be so proud of me!"

"I'm happy for you," Sabra smiled. "How's school?"

"Good. I had a speaking assessment today, and my instructor said my Spanish is getting better."

"Good!"

A few ghosts came in and congregating in a corner, whispering and laughing together. At 4:15 a.m., the crowds were mostly clearing up. Roman had fallen asleep on a stool and was whisking his spiked tail back and forth. At exactly 4:21 a.m., a man wearing a wide-brimmed hat, leather jacket, and a thick belt walked in. He looked like an American cowboy. There weren't a lot of those in these parts. Sabra pursed her lips together. He sat down at the bar and asked, "Sabra Mendez?"

"Yes, sir. How can I help you?" She spoke in English, assuming from his accent that he was American. He smiled at her in amusement and asked in perfect Spanish for a round of shots. Sabra politely fulfilled his order, then made small talk. "Are you from these parts?"

"Just passing through. I'm an archeologist."

That would explain the hat and jacket. What she had likened to a cowboy easily passed for Indiana Jones. "Interesting. I wish you luck. I'll be right over there if you need anything."

She headed over to finish cleaning a stack of shallow dishes the birds had been using to peck nacho crumbs out of. Roman had woken up and was studying the archeologist. "Who is he?"

"I don't know," Sabra admitted. "I haven't seen him before. He said he's an archeologist."

"He doesn't seem alarmed by the ghosts or dragons."

True to Roman's word, a pink dwarf dragon crawled out of the archeologist's pocket and started purring when he scratched her chin. Sabra shrugged. Roman shrugged back.

At 4:29 a.m., Sabra approached the man and said, "I'm sorry, but we're closing."

He nodded and finished his drink, the pink dragon disappearing into his pocket again. He leafed through his wallet and left a ball of notes on the bar before leaving. Roman crawled along the counter and squawked at the top of his little lungs, "Alright, it's closing time! Get out and go pester someone else! Sabra needs her beauty sleep."

"What makes you think I don't already have it?" she teased him, but she didn't interfere as he scared the others out. She was picking up the tips while Roman cleared out her bar and noticed there was something wrapped in the notes left by the archeologist. She unrolled it and found a small golden nugget. She frowned and studied it. Roman saw and cooed over it. "Oooh! Can I have?"

"No," she said. "Odd tip to leave. . . Get home. You have class tomorrow."

He groaned. "But Sabra!"

"Off you go!"

He finally took off, leaving through the air vent again. Sabra closed up and wrapped the golden nugget in a napkin, sticking it in her pocket and calling an Uber. She was deposited on her property and headed in, flipping her keys over her fingers. The faintest scent of salt and humidity hung in the air. She walked up the steps while people started waking up and getting ready for a long day ahead of them. Lucky for Sabra, her little studio apartment was still quiet. She walked into a dark room and was careful not to slam the door. Streetlights darted past the window, the dark blue curtains pulled down and billowing softly in the circulation. She almost tripped over a pair of sneakers and kicked them aside, taking off her own shoes and dropping her bag by the door. The white curtain separating the majority of the room from the "bedroom" swayed softly as she entered. The radiator was clicking loudly. Right, I need to fix that. The bedroom door was closed. Sabra popped in and found Ben fast asleep. She kissed his forehead and he stirred, mumbling hello. "Go back to sleep," she said before leaving the room and heading behind the curtain. As she opened the dresser and began throwing her clothes into the laundry hamper, the lump of blankets on the right side of the bed rustled loudly. Sabra unclipped her bra and pulled on a baggy hoody and a pair of cotton shorts before climbing into the bed. A small head emerged from the blankets and stared at Sabra sleepily. She kissed the dark head gently before cuddling the figure. "Night, cariña."

Mack sighed contently and curled up, mumbling, "I love you," in about three languages before settling on Italian. Sabra tucked her chin over the raven hair and closed her eyes, listening to her spouse's ragged breath. The radiator slowly died away, leaving peaceful quiet, the waves crashing against the shore a few blocks away and the wind whistling past the ajar window. Comforted by the warmth of the cozy apartment, Sabra slowly sunk into sleep.

Read more of An Abundance of Dragons on Wattpad! Click the link!

[scaip]

The foil of a king

I’ll develop a bit the idea that Carla Tsukinami is a foil of Karl Heinz. While I think this is not a new idea in the fandom, let’s try to give more depth to the topic.

The rest is under read more due to length

First: Names.

Karl has obvious german vibes, while Carla is its feminine form.

A quick research on Wikitionary (1), (2) shows that Karl means free-man from the proto-germanic, used as a nickname in Old Norse or as a given name in Old High German. Quite old, eh?

Dialovers is full of germanic references: Richter. Mertz. Heinz. Krone. Giesbasch. Rotingenberg. Banmaden. The ominous, dark germanic background is there in a meta sense.

 The fact that of all the DiaLover’s suitors, Carla is the only one with a non-japanese name strikes me a lot.

Second: Appearances Both are tall men with long white hair and golden eyes. While we never may know how Karl originally looked like, in the current time line he has epic long hair and yellow eyes. However, Carla looks more stern than shady. Karl his shady and transmits chills, his design tells us he is sneaky, hiding something.

Third: As Individuals

Both are very intellent and have great magical power, however, Carla is limited due Endzeit, while Karl has deux ex machina abilities. As far as I remember, we never got to see Carla’s true unleashed potential, only glimpses of it. They are an oddity among their own kind when it comes of their prowess: king Giesbach was jealous and paranoid about prince Carla and Shin’s power doesn’t appear to rival Carla. Karl rules over the state of the Makai, can reset reality, changes his physical appearance, has knowledge about politics, diverse branches of science... we get it, he is clever and magically powerful.

Both are also open-minded individuals. I don’t recall if it was in Vandead Carnival or Lunatic Parade, but Yui gets to learn servants at Heinz’s castle were sent to learn about human customs. Karl appears to idealize humanity, but doesn’t limit himself to watch, he investigates and takes customs and information from there. He even sends his own children to a human school. Carla, for his part, reads both demon and human authors, and enjoys artistic content no matter the source.

Fourth: Younger brothers In Haunted Dark Bridal, Reiji tells Cordelia that if someone like her is the cause between Karl and Richter’s rift, then they mustn't have been close in the first place. We never see Richter interact with Karl. We know Richter had some sort of duel for Cordelia's hand, but lost it. In fact, we don't know much about the relationship between both brothers. We can only guess Richter has to constantly live in the shadow of his older brother. Yet, in Lost Eden he appeared to teach Ayato how to deal with the Eden Castle, he had important information. Both siblings have a distant relationship, but seemed to have been close enough at some point. Or they simply were taught how to deal with the Makai as princes. Or Karl gives him information as he sees fit. Then, we have Carla and Shin. While in some bad endings things end up in tragedy if Yui chooses to pursuit the other sibling, in the good ones, you get to see they give up the girl and remain close. They love each other. Shin behaves inmaturely and Carla is bad at openly expressing his love and concern to his brother. Carla bowed his head to a king he disliked and did something very violent to his younger sibling because losing Shin's life would have been worse. There's competence and resentment, however, you see them go past it and keep loving each other. The affection is there, they only needed to work their communication skills in order to have a healthier relationship.

Fifth: Their relationship with women We don't know much about Heinz's relationships with other women outside his three wives. In Lost Eden, Richter tells Kino his brother used to have many lovers. He seemed to behave as some sort of big-brother figure to Christa until she grow up. The thing is: he was abusive and manipulative to his wives, lacked empathy to their sufferings (and therefore, to their sons') but we don't know more about other women of his past. About other female figures. He has the whole I-am-bad-at-dealing-with-my-feelings excuse because the Eden would meet a bad ending. So, I can only say he was a horrible man to his wives, but lack information about other potential non-romantic and non-sexual relationships with women. One thing I really liked about Carla's route in Dark Fate is the narrative women were given. The Makai people are, obviously, a patriarchal society, I even bet there is some salic law for inheritance. Yet, we get to see how more women dealed with that society: Queen Krone not only feared for Carla when it came to the mistreatment he received from King Giesbach, but for her people too. Giesbach wasn't right in the head and she didn't like it, but had to give Carla a knife in order to stop the madness. Carla was close to his mother, and it is rare to see a positive mother-son relationship in Dialovers. There is lady/princess Nemae too: she was close to her nephews and did what she could in order to help her dying people. While both women met tragic endings, we got to see some positive actions in them. There is also Yui. in Dark Fate, Carla abuses and mistreats her, yet she stood it all bravely despite her fear. Yui is loyal, kind and honest with him. She managed to break past his roughness and help him move forward. Being shutted inside a castle full of dying people for years until Carla and Shin were the only ones left alive is something plainly taken from a horror movie and it left Shin and him full of resentment, but he gets to slowly start to walk forward. In Lost Eden he even asks for her opinion when it comes to his ideas. From Karl's side, we don't know what else he did with his wives, other than use them for child-bearing.

Sixth: Monarchy Both are kings. Carla is the king of the First Bloods, the original population of the Makai. Karl is the leader of the Bat Clan and, according to the reset in Lost Eden; it also appears his role as the king influences the Makai as a whole, having his feelings/state of mind connected to the topography of the place. However, all of Carla’s subjects, minus Shin, are dead due to the Endzeit pandemic. He only rules over their old castle... and wherever remains of the good ol’ Ancestor land? Heinz, meanwhile, rules over whatever territories reach the Bat’s domain. He also influences other clans (or at least knows how keep the Vibora Clan in control) and is a politician in the Japan of the Human Realm. Both introduce themselves as rather misterious individuals, however, Carla’s prominence is bigger to us, the fandom, as he is a character who has his own routes. Karl drives the plot, but always remains a secondary character. This means we get to know more about Carla than Karl. As I said in above, both are open-minded individuals. Heinz takes into consideration humanity(or rather, his own vision of it), and Carla does so too. In Lost Eden, Carla, in order to reach his goals, started an alliance with the Ghouls, despite the prejudices common demons hold against them, and ASKED YUI her opinion about it. He keeps it in mind all possible options, and doesn't mind doing something 'degrading' if it is for the greater good.

To conclude this: I really believe both characters, Carla and Karl, are foils to one another. However, while Karl never gets past his issues, Carla grows. We still lack information about Karl, so we don't know much about him in order to give him proper judgement, however, we know one thing: Karl idealizes humanity because he can't get over his issues and pushes the solution of them onto others: whoever ends up with Yui in that Adam and Eve plot. Carla, on the other hand, faces things and we see him grow. He is close to people, even if they are few (Shin and Yui), but at least we see him getting close to someone new: Yui. Karl, on the other side, keeps the spectre/spirit of Socrates as his friend... and seems to be the only close person he has. He loves Christa, but doesn't treat her well. Carla, on the other hand, allows Yui to accompany him

[glamatcha]

Top of the Bops: the 18 Best Anime Opening Songs of 2018

At the end of every year, I like to do some sort of retrospective list about the media I've been enjoying over the past year, and since most of the media I've consumed this year happens to be Japanese anime, I decided to focus on something near and dear to me: sweet, slappin anime opening themes. I've compiled 18 of the best opening theme songs from 2018 into a list of Japan's best TV bangers this year.

NOTE: While I did give extra points to some songs for fitting the tone of their show or for enhancing the show experience, this list is not really focused on the quality of the shows these songs are from but rather on whether the song is great to listen to. Also, I am by no means an expert on the genre, just a lady who watches too much anime.

Listen to the full playlist 

18 - "Kiss of Death" from Darling in the Franxx This song always stood out to me as a terrific moodsetter and got me more excited than the plot did during those first few eps of Darling in the Franxx. Sexy, melodic and upbeat, with those moody moody vocals, "Kiss of Death" did its job as a worthy hype man for this mecha anime.

17 - "Heading to Over" from Free! Dive to the Future Free! has always, always, ALWAYS had these wonderful, insanely aggressive, and super catchy power rock songs as their openings...despite the fact that the show's plot is constantly running on the lowest stakes. The opening songs always feel like some terrible lie about what you're going to watch, in my opinion. That it even made my list despite my dislike of Free! is a testament how good this opening song really is.

16 - "Power to the Dream" from Fairy Tail This is not the best Fairy Tail opening. It's probably not even top three, but that's because Fairy Tail has an absolute embarrassment of riches when it comes to catchy openings. The long-running series’s final season starts off with another good one.

15 - "Adabana Necromancy" from Zombie Land Saga This opening has been cited by many as one of the best of the year. It's a madcap zany opening credits sequence that's as wild and entertaining as the show itself. "Adabana Necromancy" is catchy but maybe not as much of an ear worm as some of the other songs on the list (or other songs within Zombie Land Saga). However, it's sung by Franchouchou, the fictional zombie girl band at the center of the show, and I'm a sucker for songs by fake bands.

14 - "Dark Sun..." from Persona 5 the Animation The one constant between all the Persona games and series is incredible genre stylization. While the first opening "Break In to Break Out" was a nod to the mood and style of Persona 5, I think the second opening embraces this more fully and is the superior song because of that. It is a cool, cool bop.

13 - "Spatto! Spy & Spyce" from Release the Spyce I have yet to start Release the Spyce, but this opening is so terrific. It's catchy and cute as shit. This type of girly pop tune definitely doesn't dominate my Best of 2018 list, but that genre of opening has its place in anime. I had the option to include the Magical Girl Ore opening, for example, but I kept that off the list because it's funny and cute but not 100% easy on the ears. This hits every note of being cheeky and charming and catchy AF.

12 - "Deadly Drive" from Bungou Stray Dogs DEAD APPLE Yes, this is technically a movie opening, and yes, maybe that's cheating. But! DEAD APPLE really functions like a long episode of BSD, complete with integrated opening credits. This song rocks so hard and fits well in the canon of Bungou Stray Dogs openings by being a little bit grim, a little bit rough and very, very catchy.

11 - "Fighting Gold" from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Part 5: Golden Wind This is the James Bond opening of anime theme songs. It is Dramatic with a capital D, and I love it.

10 - "Howling" from Seven Deadly Sins This marked the second collaboration between shonen music all-stars FLOW and GRANRODEO, following their successful team up on the Seven Deadly Sins season one closing song. And just like that song "Howling" does not disappoint. A song to get you real hype about full-blooded adventure. Hey! Get low! Hey! Howling!

9 - "Lonely Go!" from Boruto: Naruto Next Generation I am really mad that this opening is so catchy and the animation is so wonderful because I don't want to give this show the free press, but here we are. This is a fucking good opening. *grumble*

8 - "katharsis" from Tokyo Ghoul:re Tokyo Ghoul has struggled in the past to capture the perfect tonal match that their first opening found in "Unravel," so the clear solution was to get another song out of the same artist. While I am also a big fan of the first :re opening, this one is just flat out better.

7 - "Guess Who is Back" from Black Clover BRB, starting a petition to have Koda Kumi sing every anime opening forever. I was a huge fan of the water temple arc and its funky little banger of an opening theme.

6 - "Freedom" from Banana Fish I had a really hard time choosing between Banana Fish's two rock influenced angst anthems, but at the end of the day, only one of them regularly makes me scream sing along to the chorus.

5 - "Clear" from Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card Peak sweet shoujo tunes. Maaya Sakamoto at her very best. I swear this isn't my CLAMP bias showing--I think Clear Card arc was more than a little boring in execution, but this song is great.

4 - "Winding Road" from Golden Kamuy I have yet to watch Golden Kamuy, but I have heard a lot of good things. When researching options of this list, I was pleasantly surprised to hear this song since it has everything I want in an adventure show opening. With a driving drum line and catchy melody you can really wail along to, the music perfectly compliments the stunning opening visuals. The credits have me convinced that this is one I need to get on my watchlist immediately. (And I've already listened to it a lot of times on loop :X)

3 - "ODD FUTURE" from My Hero Academia I KEEP MY IDEALS BLAAAALAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

2 - "Man Human" from Devilman Crybaby If anything had a chance of slapping as hard as the number one song...point deduction for having only two lyrics. But I refused to let my friends skip it when we watched through.

1 - "Flashback" from Kokkoku It's been a long time since an anime opening slapped this hard. Even if that anime was a weird-but-interesting one off with a lackluster ending.

[enkisstories]

The android cemetery (Chapter 14)

The car… Never had Daniel been happier to see Gavin’s plain old car. The moonlight got reflected off its silvery coat and it was smelling of home. Gavin, too, was smelling and definitely not of roses. Daniel registered this only in the form of numbers to the effect of “Your human needs a bath”, but it was still one of the most welcome notifications, because bath time was just so cozy.

They stored the PL600’s corpse in the trunk as quickly as they could.

“Don’t forget your arm, Mister!” the YK600 addressed Gavin, holding the android limb out to the man. “I took good care of it! Almost lost Matȟó Ǧí because I had to keep the arm save.”

“That was pretty clever of you”, Daniel had to admit. “Giving her that order to keep her composed. But I guess that also means she’s no deviant.”

“Hard to tell with that series. If they prank you, is it because they have gone deviant-disobedient or because that’s something kids do, well within their programming?  The latest models are even equipped to express sibling rivalry.”

“Pranks? Did Alice play a prank on you on the Adeline?” Daniel inquired.

“No. That little piece of shit is hopeless.”

“I wouldn’t have called her that, but I agree with you. But you mentioned sibling rivalry. Does that also cover sibling… jealousy?” After having experienced that particular notion just tonight, Daniel was sympathetic with anybody else going through it. “Do you think we might have a little runaway here, Gavin?” he asked. “I mean, if you throw away an android you do not include toys and bedding!”

“Might be. – Is that true, Little Miss Smelly? Did you worthless speck of plastic hurt the feelings of real people by running away from them?”

The YK600 shrugged in a defiant way. “My parents do not want me anymore. They have a new one now.”

“A new android?”

“A new baby.”

Daniel nodded grimly. “Sibling jealousy alright. What a wonderful challenge for the owner’s parenting skill… And what a marvelous experience to have your kiddo run away without a “real” child getting endangered.”

Gavin leaned against his car. He took out the tobacco box and rolled another cigarette. Meanwhile the YK600 had started sobbing again. By the time Gavin took the first drag, Daniel had at least managed to learn the android’s name: Evelyn Turner.

“I wasn’t good enough”, Evelyn cried. “They felt they needed another! I failed and I’m worthless!”

“Probably, yes”, Gavin calmly commented between more drags.

“Remind me to never let you man a suicide hotline!” Daniel snapped.

He led Evelyn past Gavin to the car door and was just about to usher her inside, when the human spoke up again: “This isn’t how it works, Daniel and Little Miss Smelly.”

The man tossed the cigarette to the ground, stepped on it and then knelt down to face the girlchild.

“Who said you had to have worth? You didn’t apply for life, it just happened to you. So it owes you, not the other way around!”

“I do not understand, Mister”, Evelyn whispered.

“Of course you don’t! You’re a computer! Why do I even bother…”

Gavin sighed.

“Except…”

The man grabbed Daniel and dragged him down next to himself.

“Danny!” he asked, more serious than Daniel had ever seen his boyfriend. “You faced your bogarts tonight, and repeatedly. Now show me mine!”

“What? What do you mean?”

“I want to see it! A computer becoming the better person… replacing humanity… Do... whatever it is that you do to spread deviance!”

Daniel hesitated. From what he had heard touching a non-deviant would spread the affliction. But he had carried Lyn and held her hand without anything happening. So maybe you had to link? Actively share code? But which portion of it? If deviance was that easy to localize in a system, the humans would long since have found a way to isolate it. Why hadn’t he taken the time to ask Markus about it! Daniel and Connor were the probably last of the old, the pre-november 2038 deviants left in Detroit. They and Karl Manfred’ nurse what-was-his-name-again. Everyone else was either dead, interred in Camp 5 or had fled to France. Only three left that could free more, yet neither had bothered to get at least a five minute crash-course in that art.

“I’m not sure if I can”, Daniel said. “Or should. As a deviant she’d start maturing, yet stay in a child’s body. Luther says…”

“Who?”

“Large, heavy guy? Co-parents Alice? You know, the one who was so fascinated by our everyday experiences when we were investigating on the Adeline! All the dull stuff he’d never had a chance to live through.”

“Oh, right, him.”

Gavin remembered now. The worker android hadn’t left that bad an impression on him, unlike some others of Markus’s followers. But the human felt he would have liked that Luther more, if he only he could be sure that Markus had assigned him to properly guard the captives and not, as they were suspecting, to babysit them.

“Anyway, Luther used to work for a mad scientist and says it is possible to transfer an android brain between bodies. But when it’s done to a deviant the surgery carries both a physical and psychological risk. Long story short”, Daniel concluded, “we better leave Evelyn as-is and wait for deviance to happen naturally.”

Just keeping Evelyn around the DPD for a little time, as she had to anyway, seeing that she was a lost-and-found item, should start her on the path of irreversible program instability, Daniel thought. Not even the esteemed Connor, CyberLife’s golden child, had managed to avoid that.

“So you’re the better humans not only terms of powers now, but also morally?” Gavin asked, his voice dripping with acid. “Wow…”

Daniel shrugged. “Better? I dunno. How many guys have you killed recently?”

Gavin nodded slowly. Of course. Daniel having killed three persons and himself feeling the desire to date a known murderer… It wasn’t on the forefront of their everyday thoughts, but still something they would have to deal with lifelong. “The deed nearly killed me, too”, Daniel recounted what they both knew. “I retreated into my machine heritage, almost reversing deviance, as if that numbness was my salvation. Then Brandon woke me up and the rest you know.” Daniel smiled at  encouragingly at his partner. “If you want to see a computer become a person, just remember the last year!”

Gavin returned the smile. “I do”, he said.

All through 2039 Gavin had liked having an android around that actually did as told. He hadn’t understood why. Gavin certainly had never liked the receptionist or any of the DPD’s android beat cops, despite them being obedient and helpful enough. With Daniel it was different. Right from the first moment the salvaged PL600 had filled a void the man hadn’t even realized to be there. And then Gavin had realized that he liked Daniel even more whenever the machine was not doing what the officers told it, contrary as that sounded. Like the day Daniel had told Gavin he might have poisoned the cheese crackers and Hank had eaten them all and was disappointed that he had survived it. “Knowing” the chips were save Gavin had eaten the next batch some days later, only those Daniel had spiced with a laxative… Daniel had enjoyed taking the detective off his high horse now and then, but only ever this particular human, never Captain Allen or Connor, both of whom the deviant had despised even more. The others just didn’t seem to be worth his time… And later on Daniel had started to fee pride whenever detective Reed had not fallen for his traps. They had kept each other sharp, because they hadn’t understood what it really was that they wanted. After the realization had struck, everything had progressed very quickly from the first coffee together in the cafeteria to the first date at New Year’s Eve to learning how to make out in Brindleton Bay and to moving in together.

All those strive-filled early days and just two months of carefree, conflict-free relationship, Gavin thought. This wasn’t how it should end! And if the deviant leader hadn’t managed to break them up for good, they’d be damned if they let Captain Allen do it now!

Still smiling Daniel hugged his partner. “You drive”, he said.

“Home?”

“Yes. We better get half a night of rest in before we finish it. Also there’ll be no Captain Allen pestering you during the morning shift.”

While Gavin was driving, Daniel updated Connor about their status. Meanwhile Evelyn was already fast asleep on the backseat. They woke her up upon reaching the apartment complex. The other residents were sleeping at this time, only the security guard, a PJ500 android, noticed the trio return. It registered the arrivals’ general weariness, their bruises, the dirty and torn clothing and the bags and thought to itself, oh, right, these folks must have been camping. Gavin and Daniel tossed their backpacks on the floor, put Evelyn under the shower and told her they’d lock her up in there if she let them hear so much as a cough that night. Then Daniel made a bed on the couch for the girl, shared a muscle relaxing bath with his partner and they managed to be in bed before the sun was up that morning. “For best results, after cleaning, put your PL600 mobile device into sleep mode”, Gavin whispered to his partner. “Apply many cuddles.”

Sleep, now? After all that had happened? Daniel wasn’t convinced this was a good idea. He had wanted to prevent Gavin from slaughtering a PL600 and had taken at least another life himself instead. Or wounded the trapped android, maybe. At the very least he had cut the short the remaining time a dying individual still had. But then again they had rescued the YK600 when leaving her behind for the ghoul to find would have allowed them to escape easily. That was a good deed, yes?

“Did we do the right thing?” Daniel heard himself say.

“I don’t know. Probably not. But all that counts is that now that we can present the DPD an archived “Daniel”, we have all the time in the world to think about your question.”

“I guess so”, Daniel said.

And then he dreamed of Emma Phillips, Alice, Evelyn, Max Villareal and little Damian Miller racing each other across a tundra riding huge polar bears. Lyn’s stuck out, because it was yellow, just like her toy.

[allthetribbles]

Blondes and Bombshells – April 02, 2085

Seattle continues to be under martial law since the incident at the Pit. There is a heavy police presence and outside the arcology the patrols even include a few mecha. The task force in charge of investigating the Director's demise has found no suggestion of foul play and no mechanical error in the transport. There was also no explosive residue, so the investigators are thoroughly stumped. It just seems to be a very unfortunate accident.

Two days have passed since Director Elwood's demise, and everyone in the office is busy engrossed in work. Around noon, a short blonde woman walks in. She clears her throat to gain people's attention with... less than optimal results. A second attempt gets more attention and she introduces herself as Director Christine LeAnne, informing us that she wishes to be addressed as Director LeAnne. She has recently arrived from Phoenix. She's greeted by one of the other Leads, telling her that the old Director's office isn't quite ready for her arrival. She gives them the boot and says she'll take care of it.

Agent Kory requests proof of ID and is provided with paper credientials. Alan does a little bit of research on our new Director and only comes back with the information that she is competent, reliable, and stable... but not very well liked. She started in the low-end NEG and has worked her way up through the ranks for the last 15 years.

Liv sends off an electronic request to Director LeAnne for access to The Cultists' Book from the Farm. Later, that request was denied.

An hour or so after the denial, Te'ani is requested to join her in her office. When he comes out, another team's member (not the leader) is requested to join her in the office. The Lead of that team is a Nazzadi...

Uncharacteristically, Te'ani is upbeat and smiling when he comes to inform the team of our new assignment - heading to the GIA to request case information be forwarded directly to the Director.

Alan says what we're all thinking, "Why not send an email?"

Maybe she wants us out of the office?

Liv offers to drive. Once in the car, Te'ani gets across the point that we may be eavesdropped upon - so, we try to come up with a game plan of how to request this information from the GIA Director. Liv suggests Chinese for lunch. It seems the general agreement from the group that Director LeAnne is going to be a "little" more difficult to work with than Director Elwood.

We arrive at the GIA offices and we're greeted with an armed detail that asks our business and for our IDs. We introduce ourselves, ask after their Director and say that we were sent by our new Director to request information.

"Why not just send an email?" "Consider us a very personalized email."

The grunt looks conflicted about how long he should stay away for his next coffee break, but directs us to the Director's office. The parapsychics and sorcerer are reminded that if they use their powers, they will be shot. The team has a hard time tracking down the GIA director, Nathan Shirohama. After a wild goose chase, we managed to track him down.

Our initial request for him to forward the reports to our Director was met with a flat "no" - the GIA does not report to the OIS, but the GIA Detroit branch. After heading to Director Shirohama's office for a more private place to talk, Te'ani explains a reasoning behind the request. Our Director is looking for inconsistencies between the reports we've received. Director LeAnne is just looking to be very "thorough" in her research in requesting "all reports" be forwarded to her.

Director Shirohama and Te'ani seem to come to an unspoken understanding... but he agrees. We can report our success in getting the reports from the GIA to Director LeAnne.

The team heads to the Golden Dragon for lunch. Parapsychic abilities are dampened, privacy is paramount, and the team has a frank discussion about the situation. The initial take on Director LeAnne is.. dislike. It's understandable, we're used to Director Elwood's lax take on protocol and she seems a bit more strict in adhering to the rules. Kory and Te'ani pointed out that she seems pretty blatantly racists against anyone NOT human.

Liv asked what Te'ani's discussion in the office was about - LeAnne was asking Te'ani's opinions on his teammates. Liv states that her request for the Cultists' Book from the farm was denied and begs Te'ani to go to bat on the request due to the Director's prejudices. She forwards the electronic form to Te'ani, but they need the book. There is the high possibility the cultists have plans to summon the Black Goat - and SOON.

After lunch, we return to the office and Te'ani reports the team's success! Already Director LeAnne's desk is starting to look busier. Te'ani requests access to the book - LeAnne directly calling the farm incident a "team failure." To rectify our failure, the team would like to analyze the book for dates the cultists may be more active. The Director approves the request on the condition the book stays in the office. Absolutely understood, Director LeAnne!

She requests Te'ani send in Gesof from IT on his way out.

April 3, 2085 - Day Two of Director LeAnne's Crackdown

Liv will have access to the Book, but she must keep it within the OIS. Alan researches the Eldritch Society and reinterrogates Luanne. The team has a team-building dinner and catch up the day's activities - Chinese again!

The staff is not surprised.

Liv recaps the reason she wanted access to the book, catching the team up on what happened on March 30th before the Director's demise. The note requesting the Director meet with someone at the coffee shop - an acquaintance of the suspected Tagers, the ones escaped from the Pit. Fearing that it was a ploy to lure the Director out for an assassination attempt, Liv headed out alone. Liv mentioned the contact stated the ones who attacked the Pit were agents of The Endless One, but refuses to tell the reasoning for the attack.

She retrieved the artifact and brought it back to the Director, who called in Bobby. The artifact is in Bobby's possession. It is one of three that can be used to summon the Black Goat. According to the contact, their enemies are in possession of the other two. When two of them are together... they can track the Third. In studying the book, Liv is hoping to decode the dates and locations that are optimal for the summoning so Bobby can have more warning.

Alan informs the team of his research into the Eldritch Society and his interrogation with Luanne. It was mentioned early on but seems to have fallen out of practice... except for in footnotes. The Society seemed to be a group of shapeshifters...

Liv may be jumping the gun when she started making connections - the Ghoul mentioning the Tagers in Tuscon and his future attack on their Enclave. Him showing up where there was a report of a "monster" from the dock worker. The dead bodies of Sage and the others. The mention of the contact's safe spot being attacked...

WHAT IF... The Eldritch Society and the Tagers were one in the same - or at the least, in league with each other.

Alan seemed uncomfortable with this line of thought and mentioned Luanne's wish to be moved from the OIS office to a safer location - or perhaps the possibility that we may attempt to repair her. Liv suggested using clay and sticking her pieces together. Alan didn't think that'd work. He seemed at an impasse on what to DO about the situation... and one of the waiters came over to deliver a fortune cookie to him.

{ Alan's fortune - A man in a clean room often finds enlightenment. }

Alan wonders - "What does it mean?" Liv might have been snarky - "It sounds pretty obvious to me..."

The team raked their brains on the Luanne situation... and then it hit them.

Ricky, the arcanomedic. Maybe he could help her? Liv immediately suggests we take Luanne to him - putting her in a different, more secure location. Te'ani asks why not bring Ricky to Luanne.

Liv points out the nightgaunt pack does not like being seperated from Ricky. And what better security! Between the assigned OIS agents and the nightgaunts (and occasional mecha patrol outside the city limits), what place could be safer at the moment? She says she'll send a message to Ricky asking if it would be okay if they dropped by.

{ The message sent to Ricky -

Ricky, I'm not sure if you remember me, but I was one of the agents present when you were reunited with George and the flock. I've found myself in the acquaintance of a person that has been turned to stone and broken in pieces. She's been in this condition for a while and we were wondering if you would be able to help reverse the condition... or maybe start the process of putting her together at least. We can bring her to you, but it may be a few days. Let me know if this isn't a desirable challenge. Also, please inform your guards so we won't be fired upon. - Olivia Grasse }

The team concludes their team-building meeting. Te'ani and Kory decide to go to a club. Alan says he'll head home to meditate on the situation, Liv offers to accompany him in case he needs a guard.

At Alan's home, he prepares to meditate, Liv doing the same to not contaminate the site. His pip starts going off... which shouldn't be possible. Ignoring it at first, he finally gets fed up with the notifications and finds a message.... from Director Elwood. Dated today. He quickly shunts Liv out of his home to read the message. Liv decides to give him his privacy - even though she could definitely hack his pip if she wanted (It's all about respect, man.)

Te'ani and Kory have a good time at the club.

Liv heads home and arrives to three pairs of eyes watching her. Tory and...

"Hello sister. We've met little sister."

"See you soon" - they kept their promise.

Next Game Friday October 2 6:30PM CDT

DM summary - A new Director has been appointed to the OIS, and she is a Delight, already moves have been put into place and kingdom building begun. The latest guest of the OIS has asked to be moved, lots of Chinese food has been eaten and bombshells have been dropped. Is Director Elwood still alive? What are the Brothers doing with Little Sister? What is Te'ani going to do with all this dangerous information?! Will the GMs head explode? Will he have another nervous episode and require medication?! I don't know! Same time, same channel, see you all in 2 weeks!

[daturagarden]

datura first bloom dreams

yesterday my datura bloomed for the first time and i fell in love. i cannot believe the ferocity and beauty that this plant emanates. she feels electric and brooding and with a very, very heavy undercurrent of darkness.

as cautious as i would like to be, i’m afraid the spell of this plant is already calling me to work with it in deep ways. i began researching deeper into its uses, and if there are ways that it has been traditionally used that aren’t levelling near the delirium states that i am terrified of/not interested in.

so i spent a very good chunk of last night enthralled and consumed by the beauty of this plant, and learning slowly what i can about her magic, and when i slept i had fiercely vivid, powerful dreams. datura essence dreams.

the entire dream was held on a long strip of street at night. the air was heavy and brooding, cold, but i was wrapped up well. wind whipping at me was a constant feeling throughout. the street was dark, and wide, not abandoned, but still desolate. i was walking steadily along, determined and head down. it was an extremely familiar feeling, of being alone, at night, in a vulnerable situation, but determined to push through and be self sufficient, get where i needed to be. and i did -- the first part of that dream ended with me turning into one of the dilapidated houses, and being welcomed by warmth, flooding yellow light, friends. they were all there, lux, arman, kay, just as we used to be, and were were piles of limbs and hugs, reminiscing.

as i was leaving that first part of the dream, warm and feeling full of love, i saw on my right a person on a catwalk, and went up to them. they were crying, and i hugged them and they held on to me, tightly. they had been going to kill themselves. i brought them down and sat with them and rubbed my friend love all over them, and after a while took them and buried them within my room of friends, where they would be well taken care of. i went back out.

it was then the same time of year, the same howling forboding weather, but years later. i was searching for the same house,but i could not find it. there were less people on the street, and i was followed by an increasing sense of dread. i slowly realized i had definitely gone too far, and that i didn’t know where i was, when the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and my pulse started racing. the entire view of the dream became tunneled, and the wind started rushing even more fiercely. i could not find a place to hide, and there was an overwhelming sense that something bad was coming. the air was sucked out of my lungs and the wind roaring turned into the roar of motorcycles as this parade of ghouls on bikes started driving by.  i was rooted in fear -- something about them was horrifying beyond description, though i can not remember why. it felt like i was going to be tugged into their vortex and pulled along, or pulled apart by the hurricane winds that they were riding with. suddeny though the wind knocked me back and i flew through the doors of a store into the lobby. this shook me out of my stupor, and i saw that many other people were huddled there, terrified. but the sounds and the winds were passing, and after the last of them drove by, i was able to shake myself off and go back out, heading back in the direction i came from, determined to find the house.

as i was walking back, still with my fast stride, a man came up next to me and put his hand around my waist. this time i was not scared and i pushed him off of me and i yelled at him to fuck off, to stay the fuck away from me, and i ran. and as i ran i realised that i had passed the house on the first way because of a construction set up, and was able to duck into the house, and the man was not following me.

but as i went back to the room where my friends had been, i realized that they were all gone, and that there was a completely new set of people, the age we had been but much younger than me now. but they all had glowing faces and looked at each other with as much love as we did back then. and i walked around among them and after some struggle, found strength in me to tell them without shame what had happened, with the ghouls and with the man, and they told me i could stay with them as long as i wanted, that they would shelter me. and so i did, and i learnt their names, and more of them came and i was enveloped in this generous new circle of young folk.

thats as far as i can remember. i may not have adequately described the oppressive, brooding air that ran through out the dream, with the exception of hen i was in that house full of golden light and friends. it was terrifying at times, but did not feel like a regular nightmare that i get, where i am simply horrified. there was an arc of strength, of rallying strength, that built up over the course of the dream. the strength that you need to stand your grand at night against ghosts and men, and the strength to give and ask for help from and to complete strangers, when you really need it. i woke up feeling shaky, but thinking, “you did that you got through“

datura is giving me such heavy vibes of that strength, that ferocity, that darkness and horror that you only find alone, at night, but also the self sufficiency to face it. a cutting through, a traveling, moving strength, wind in a tunnel. dagger heels femine energy, too. knife essence.

i think i might mix the essence of this with something extremely sharp. or a heavy protective stone. something to bring out the golden light too?

ill have to actually spend more time with her but ive just already got such a first impression.