#even in this sense her early relationship with hunter is more

[kelocitta]

i saw your post on how you were thinking about handling the Whole Artificer Thing and i say, let em be a villain! i think it would be fun

I don't have any qualms about Artificer being cruel or whatever; I just don't think that when working them into an anthro doing a 1-to-1 transfer of their behaviors and/or making them just flat out racist/genocidal is an interesting or accurate way to characterize them. (and I just have. Negative interest in working with that type of character) People can do whatever they want but ultimately I just find the idea that anything other making them aggressively genocidal is like, woobifying them, tiring.

Artificer is obviously not good in the context of the game. But the problem and focus of their actions is the scale and spiritual aspect of it, not the actions themselves. Other slugcats are perfectly capable of killing scavengers, most players likely will and many who don't are only held back by the consequences. Scavengers are also warriors, and Artificer's whole campaign is basically set up on the fact that scavengers are defensive and very much follow a 'shoot first' method of self preservation.

So why does Artificer have always be the one thats uniquely villainous in behavior (now with significantly more moral weight behind it than they had as an animal) when the other slugcats, and even the scavengers, get properly 'civilized' when people make them anthros? I just don't think its an interesting way to utilize them, and I won't fault people who do- but like- I feel like if Artificer is going to be Like That when they can walk and talk and do taxes or whatever than at bare minimum the other slugcats and scavengers' relationship with violence/murder/hunting should be touched on.

I'm not making Artificer a good person. I don't want them to be a good person, because I think the fact they are so bad that they have problems on a spiritual level to be the interesting part. Technically, the Artificer I do for anthro stuff has already done their 'Scav King' and found their 'closure'. They set out to do something awful and did it, they got their ending. So now theyre just old and tired and mean and miserable because getting what you want isnt a solution.

[jonathansthickthighs]

Yandere! Fushiguro Toji x Reader: Part Four

Description: You have a one night stand with Toji and now he won’t leave you alone.

Part 1 here

Part 2 here

Part 3 here

Trigger Warnings: nsfw, yandere, obsessive behavior, female reader, AFAB reader, toxic behavior, threats, jealousy, possessive behavior, desperate toji, smut, unprotected sex (wrap it up), daddy kink, alternative universe (no curses), age gap (reader is in her early 20’s, toji is in his mid 30’s), soft toji, toji has feelings, slight sub toji?

A/N: part five will the last one of this mini series. enjoy! :)

Not edited!

You sat by the window, as a deluge of thoughts flooded your mind. Absently, your fingers traced the delicate contours of the pearl necklace gifted to you by your boyfriend the evening before.

You had been dating for two months now and you couldn’t deny this was the pinnacle of emotional fulfillment you had ever experienced with a man. He treated you like no other, he was so soft and gentle with you, you never imagined a man being this good to you. His gestures of affection unfailingly making you swoon, gifting you flowers weekly, getting you whichever snacks you were craving, taking you new places, even buying expensive gifts like the one you had around your neck. You weren’t aware he could even afford such artifacts, ignorant to the fact that bounty hunters were so well off.

It had been a great couple of months, but you had to admit to yourself that you were terrified. You were scared of how things might turn out in the future. The subject of marriage and children has arisen in discussion with Toji several times, leaving you unsure of where you stood on your own desires. You hadn’t known each other long enough and up until now, your relationship may be all flowers and rainbows, but that didn’t guarantee your expectations would still be met in the future. After all, only two months have passed since you met Toji.

You weren’t against marriage at your age, but children, on the other hand, were a touchy subject to you. You wanted to enjoy your 20s to their fullest and you were aware that a child, while being a blessing, would also intake an enormous sense of responsibility that you weren’t ready for at this age. Toji had quite a few years on you and his desire for a family was evident. He had expressed his desire to having children before turning forty, leaving you around four more years to enjoy your stress free, youthful life.

You were broken out of your mental battle when you felt a pair of strong arms wrap around your waist from behind.

“You’ve been lost in thought an awful lot today, sweetheart. You’re not thinking about leaving me are you?” Toji joked as he nuzzled his face into your sensitive neck, eliciting a cascade of giggles from your lips.

“Of course not, Toji. I’d be a fool to throw away a cock like yours.” You quipped back, pivoting to encircle your arm around his shoulders in a tender embrace.

“Oh, so you’re just using me for my body? I’m hurt, baby.” Toji chuckled, closing the space between you as he pressed his lips to yours. He moved his lips against yours vigorously, squeezing your waist against his, rutting his hardening, clothed cock against your stomach. You immediately responded, kissing him with the same enthusiasm. You ran your hands through his narrow waist down to his bottom, giving him a playful squeeze, forcing a giggle out of him.

You cracked your eyes open, peaking at the clock on the wall behind Toji. As realization dawned, your eyes widened as you noticed the time, prompting you to swiftly detangle yourself from Toji’s embrace. “Shit, babe. I promised the girls I would meet them half an hour ago. I gotta go!” You exclaimed, making Toji tense up. As you began to depart, you were stopped by his firm grip on your arm, drawing you back against his chest.

“Come on, doll. Just a quicky, you’re already late anyways.” He insisted, trying to seem nonchalant about the situation. In reality, Toji fucking detested when you went out with your friends. The thought of men approaching you, trying to flirt with you, offering to pay for your drinks made him lose his mind. Hell, the mere thought of other men looking at you was enough to drive him over the edge. His darkest thoughts were screaming to lock you up in a place were he could be the only one to look at you; the only way those thoughts dissipated was with the image of you recoiling in horror at him. The thought made his chest tighten, your hatred was something he would never be able to live with.

Despite the infrequency of your meetups with your friends, his desire to wanting you all to himself was insatiable. Never had he imagined himself yearning so fervently for a woman’s attention; it had always been the other way around, but for you, he was willing to beg on his knees for an ounce of your attention.

“As much as I want to, I’ve already ditched my friends too many times to be with you. I promise I’ll make it up to you.” You answered apologetically pressing a kiss on his cheek. Toji tried to mask his disappointment, but this time he wasn’t as good at hiding his expression.

“Please, sweetheart. I want you so bad, can’t you feel it?” Toji begged with frustration evident in his voice, grabbing your hand to place it on top of his raging bulge. He began using your hand to rub himself, grunting at the pleasurable sensations you were bringing him with just your hand. “Please…” He pleaded weakly, desperation lacing his voice.

You groaned, feeling defeated as your panties started to dampened at the sight. You were quick to attach your lips into his parted ones, tongues fighting each other as you continued teasing his cock over his sweatpants. You separated your lips from his causing him to whine at the loss of your soft lips.

Once you decided you had teased his cock enough, you tugged his waistband down, freeing his aching cock. You bit your lip as you tentatively stroked his cock in slow motions, gaining a hiss from him. Running you thumb over the reddened tip, you gathered the oozing precum, spreading it over the rest of his shaft. You wanted him, badly.

“Tell me what you want, Toji.” You whispered, peppering open mouthed kissed all over his neck. He couldn’t bring himself to respond as he started thrusting his hips into your hand. Having you jerk him off with your hands was something else, he couldn’t have done it better himself. Your hands were so much softer than his, the velvety skin of your hand wrapping around him could almost make him finish then and there. “Answer me, Toji.” You demanded, squeezing his cock enough to catch his attention.

“I n-need to f-fuck you, sweetheart.” Toji managed to utter out.

Smirking, you responded. “Then beg for it.”

Toji groaned, throwing his head back as your painfully slow stroking continued. He would never admit it, but having you be this demanding was a huge turn on to him. Believing submission was characteristic of women only, he never let himself experience anything remotely close. All his life he had been the one in control, never letting his guard down for any woman. You unveiled facets of him he never imagined existed.

“Please. I n-need to feel your pussy!” Toji beseeched impatiently and you rewarded him with a radiant smile. You released his cock from your grip, guiding him towards the bed. Pushing him on the bed, you began to undress slowly, pulling the straps from you dress down to reveal your tits to him.

You grabbed your breasts, massaging them and playing with your nipples, putting on a show for Toji. He gawked at you lustfully as he reached for his cock to stroke himself as he watched you. Playfully, you slapped his hand away. “I didn’t give you permission to do that, you pervert.” You retorted, giving him a sly smile.

Toji’s mouth was agape in disbelief, bewildered at this side of you. “I am not a pervert, sweetheart!” He exclaimed, failing to suppress his laugh.

You giggled before responding. “Oh yeah? You’re stroking your cock to this defenseless girl standing in front of you. Does that not make you a pervert?”

“Well that defenseless girl is touching herself like a slut in front of me. I’m pretty sure she wants me to jerk off to her.” He replied, starting to tug on his cock once again.

You bit your lip, enjoying the way his gaze felt on you. “I think you might be right this time.” You admitted as you decided to finish undressing for him. It was impossible for Toji to get tired of looking at your delectable body. He could easily make himself come by merely admiring your nudity.

Once all your clothes were discarded, you climbed on top of him. Settling yourself on top of his shaft, you moaned at the contact your sensitive clit made with his cock. You began grinding your heat on his cock, making him groan. You were so wet for him, you couldn’t wait any longer to have him inside you.

“You want me to ride your cock, daddy?” You suggested seductively as you continued teasing the both of you.

“Fuck. Yes, baby, please.” He nodded, eager to feel your tight, warm snatch engulf him in its delightful glory.

You wasted no time grabbing his cock, pressing him against your wet entrance before lowering yourself carefully onto him, making the two of you moan. You still weren’t accustomed to his size, so you needed some time before you could move comfortably. Continuing to lower yourself until he was fully sheathed inside your heat, you placed your hands on his chest for support. Toji grabbed the fat your ass as he threw his head back onto the bed. He was certain he would never tire of this feeling, your pussy was simply made for him.

“Pussy’s s’good, baby.” Toji slurred, relishing how tightly your cunt wrapped around him. The sight of you riding his hard cock was breathtaking. He noticed you it had gotten comfortable once you started slowly moving. You rose your hips until only his tip was remaining before lowering yourself onto him to a halt, making him grunt at the sudden piquancy he felt. After that you proceeded to ride his cock in swift, steady motions, stroking his cock with your dripping pussy. He couldn’t help himself from feeling hypnotized by your stunning form as you rode him. Your eyes squeezed shut, mouth agape as your tits bounced with each stroke. The sight was was orgasmic.

“Your cock is so deep inside me, Toji!” The sweet moans and screams leaving your lips were like music to his ears. The way you said his name turned him on to the extent he would do absolutely anything to hear it come out of your mouth.

He groaned as you worked his cock, sliding his hands up from your bum, making his way through your waist until he finally reached your breasts. He kneaded them thoroughly, making you let out a moan. You sped up your pace, the squelching noise of your thrusts meeting, filling the room. Toji leaned forward taking one of your perky nipple into his warm mouth, suckling like he was starved.

You whimpered at the stimulation you were feeling, as Toji gave your other nipple the same treatment. Continuing to jump on his cock like a madwoman, you could feel your orgasm approaching. When Toji felt your walls starting to tighten around him he grabbed a hold of your waist, holding you still before he started thrusting his generous cock into your sopping heat.

“Oh my— fuck! I’m gonna come all over your cock, Toji!” You cried out, feeling your pussy clench around his pulsing cock.

“T-that’s it, sweetheart. Use me. M-make yourself come with my cock. Let me hear you.” Toji uttered out shakily as he continued to stimulate your sensitive nipples, grunting into them. The prominent noise in the room being the sound of the slapping of your skins and your moans and pants of satisfaction.

You moaned loudly when you felt your orgasm arrive. “Yes. Yes. Yes! Toji!” With that, you let it all out, throwing your head back, your dripping pussy clenching deliciously around his cock. His thrusts didn’t seize, continuing to drill your pussy with the need to reach his own release.

He called out your name as he felt his orgasm approaching. “I’m gonna fuckin’ come, sweetheart. Are you gonna take it, baby?” Toji announced as he watched your beautiful face, you were in a daze, your eyes half lidded looking at the man that was causing you such pleasure.

“I want all of it, gimme your cum, T-Toji.” You managed to slur out, using the last of your strength to hold yourself up on his chest. That was all it took for Toji to start thrusting up into your pussy erratically, your clenching pussy making him quiver out his orgasm.

“You’re fucking mine!” Toji growled, throwing his head back as your wet cunt milked his semen out of him, sending it deep into your womb. Get fucking pregnant! His intrusive thoughts made themselves present as his thrust began getting sloppy, his legs trembling in ecstasy.

“A-ah, I love you so much, sweetheart.” Toji stuttered out as he finished releasing inside of you.

Shocked, you looked at a drowsy looking Toji. “Did you just—?”

Toji parted his lips to speak, only to close them once more. Those words escaped him unwittingly, unleashing them from the depths of his pent up emotions, before he could muster the restraint to withhold them. Internally, he was having a battle with himself, trying to make it seem like an accident. He harbored uncertainty about how you would feel about him after only knowing him for two months. He had loved you since before you even knew of his existence and these feelings kept accumulating over time inside him; he couldn’t stand it any longer, so his body reacted for him.

“I love you.” He repeated without breaking eye contact with you. The shock on your face was evident, sending a tremor of apprehension through him. He was terrified of you never loving him back, he dreaded the prospect of your affection remaining beyond his grasp forever.

“I-I love you too, Toji.” Toji’s gaze widened in surprise, his eyes dilated at the unexpected revelation from you. His heart felt like it was going to burst and his cheeks were tinted pink. The happiness he felt surpassed anything he had ever deemed attainable. His mind was on a frenzy, he finally achieved what he wanted most in life. Incredulity washed over him, this must surely be a dream. She loves me back. She loves me back. She loves me back. She loves me.

Toji couldn’t suppress the smile creeping to his face. He didn’t thinking his heart could beat any faster until he watched you smile right back at him before breaking eye contact with him. You could even look at him straight in the eye and your face had gotten an angry shade of red from the mixture of the sex and the confession. Such a shy little thing. Even after two months of knowing each other you were still shy around him. He thought it was lovely.

“You have no idea how happy you make me, sweetheart. I was scared you wouldn’t love me back.” Toji admitted, reaching out to caress your soft cheek. His cock had been inside you through all of this, so he decided to slowly pull it out, making the two of you hiss from the overstimulation.

“I do, Toji. I’m deeply in love with you.” You revealed, leaving Toji astonished and with his heart dancing chaotically in his chest. You leaned into his touch, closing your eyes, enjoying the intimate moment. You never anticipated falling in love agains so soon, yet it unfolded before you as if ordained by faith. You thought meeting Toji was destiny. Climbing off of him, you snuggled to his side.

“Alright, alright, Toji. You’ve once again, managed convinced me to stay home with you.” Home. Toji loved the sound of that. He couldn’t wait to have his own little house with you, he had been taking up extra bounties to be able to afford one. As soon as you accepted his marriage proposal, he would buy a home for just the two of you. Although he was ready to have children with you right now, he knew you weren’t keen on the idea having children at your age. Toji’s not sure if he can honor your wishes, but he would try. Unless the situation called for other means.

Toji looked smug at your comment, fully aware that if you had decided to still go out, he would try to convince you to stay any other way. “You know you love staying in with me.” Toji replied, pulling you tighter into his chest causing you to let out a giggle.

You tried to detangle yourself from him, but his grip on you impeded it.

“I need to use the restroom, stop being clingy.” You quipped with a laugh, making him loosen his grip on you. Toji felt a little hurt. Were you really joking or did you truly think he was clingy? Insecurity flooded his mind as he watched you head to the restroom.

His thoughts were interrupted by some distant vibrations. Toji sat up from the bed to see your phone vibrating in the nightstand. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the caller ID. It was one of your friends, these were the people trying to steal you from him.

“Hey.” He answered coldly, the other line was silent for a second.

“Um, Toji?” The girl asked confused at not being greeted by her best friend as per usual.

“What do you want?” Toji questioned discourteously, not caring about feigning kindness with her this time. He was going to take any means necessary to drive you away from your friends. Your friends were but vermin, unworthy of the mere touch if your presence. Not an ounce of trust did he have for them. The thought of them trying to cloud your mind with doubts about your relationship ignited an indescribable fury within him. These women were going to taint your perception of him and he would not stand for that. Not to mention, most of them were single and he hated the image of them manipulating you into acting like you are as well.

He could tell your friend was taken a back by his bluntness, bewildered by his change in charisma. Every time they had met he always appeared so courteous and seemingly genuine, she did not expect this attitude from your boyfriend. “I-It’s just— we’ve been waiting for over an hour and a half and we got worried. Is she going to make it?”

Toji chuckled darkly before lowering his voice, assuring you didn’t hear him. “Listen here, you stupid bitch. Haven’t you gotten the clue she doesn’t want to see you anymore? She’s always cancelling your little outings and making up excuses to not see you. It’s been two months since you last saw her, get a fucking grip and accept it. She’s not your friend anymore.” He spat out harshly, earning a audible gasp from your friend.

“D-did she really tell you that?” Your friend stuttered in disbelief. It was unbeknownst to her you felt this way. Were you really truly willing to cast aside all these years of friendship? She had known you for so many years, it was hard to believe you felt this way.

Toji hummed in response. “Are you fucking dumb? I’m her boyfriend, she’s obviously going to confide everything in me. I’m just doing her a favor by letting you know, so stop waisting our time and stay out of our lives.” Toji replied, a threatening tone in his voice. Should this endeavor fail, he would be forced to resort to drastic measures, but hopefully the message was unequivocally conveyed. He could hear your friend sniffle on the other line, making him smirk maliciously.

“You asshole! Tell that bitch to never talk to me again!” Your friend sobbed hysterically before hanging up, making Toji chuckle in amusement. He didn’t appreciate the name-calling, but he opted to overlook it, comforted by the knowledge that he would never have to endure her presence ever again.

Toji returned your phone to its originally resting place before reclining back into the bed, allowing the comfort of the mattress to envelop him. He pondered to himself as he heard you starting to run a shower. He bore the weight of knowing that this would impact you deeply and he despised himself for causing you pain in this manner. Yet, he remained resolute, convincing himself it was necessary for the wellbeing of your relationship. How else were you supposed to tend for him and your children if your friends were always stealing your attention?

He observed you emerge from the bathroom, reaching to grab your phone. “I should call them to tell them I’m not going to make it again.” You spoke as you started to unlock you phone. Toji placed his hand on top of your screen and you stood there taken aback.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. Your friend called while you were in the bathroom and I let them know.” Toji responded with a smile, his gaze tender and affectionate as you reciprocated his smile.

“Thanks, Toji. You’re the sweetest.” You showed your gratitude by pressing a kiss to his cheek. He couldn’t help the guilt that took over him, he knew how much your friends meant to you.

“Shall we shower together?” Toji suggested playfully —attempting to keep his mind off what he had just done— grabbing your phone from your hand and placing it back on the nightstand. His eyes ranked through your still nude form, moistening his lips with the tip of his tongue, his cock rising back to life. Yeah, your pretty little body would make him forget in no time. You bit your lip, agreeing as he closed the gap between you, bestowing upon you a fervent kiss filled with longing.

Now that you had Toji you wouldn’t need anybody else.

[zoeykallus]

Hello! If your asks are open, I have a prompt: How do the batchers react to their brothers dating someone? Sometimes it's awkward to imagine your sibling kissing someone, or maybe you have a sense of relief ("finally, someone who really understands them!")?

Are the others shocked when Crosshair gets caught kissing his girl? Happy that Wrecker has someone to laugh with? Annoyed that Tech's significant other is just as chatty?!

I apologize if you've already answered something like this! I absolutely adore your writing btw! ❤️

Aloha! Interesting Question!

Let me think about this for a moment....

The Bad Batch (x Fem!Reader) HCs - The Girlfriend (Brotherly Love And Bickering)

Crosshair

Even if it takes him a while to come out with it or become noticeable, surprisingly, Crosshair tends to daydream a lot and be absent-minded. Of course, this is noticeable. Most people leave him alone, don't really tease him. But Wrecker has other ideas.

Whenever Crosshair's mind obviously drifts to you, Wrecker is there to annoy him. He throws Lula in his face and yells, "Surprise attack!"

Crosshair glares at Wrecker like he wants to barbecue him alive with his stare, but Wrecker isn't impressed. Wrecker regularly teases his brother affectionately, and is fascinated by how touchy Crosshair is when it comes to you.

But like the rest, Wrecker naturally doesn't begrudge him being with you, he is happy for Crosshair, having a beloved, trusted person by his side.

Hunter

Is also a daydreamer and very secretive. The others notice that something is different, but not really immediately what is going on. Sooner or later, Hunter tells his brothers as matter-of-factly as possible and introduces you.

Wrecker enjoys the fact that you also understand fun and join in his jokes, and Hunter is much too patient to be annoyed by little pranks and teasing comments. He is happy and comfortable enough in his relationship with you that nothing can upset him anytime soon.

His brothers are happy for him, only Crosshair is critical of the relationship between you and accuses Hunter of letting you distract him from more important things. A certain jealousy may well play a role in this.

Wrecker

He makes no secret of it, there is nothing to be caught. As soon as he falls in love, even before you are a couple, he talks about you all the time and gets on everyone's nerves. The guys are as lenient as possible, only Crosshair unabashedly leaves the room as soon as Wrecker starts talking about you. And Echo asks him to keep his mouth shut in a friendly but firm manner occasionally.

The Sniper doesn't begrudge his brother this happiness he feels, but he is so at odds with himself and unsettled that he is uncomfortable with Wrecker and your togetherness. It takes a long time, but that eventually settles, at the latest when he himself has found his better half.

Tech

He talks about you constantly from the moment he fell in love with you until you are a couple and beyond. He talks about you as if you were an absolute phenomenon that no one should be denied of knowing about, and often at inopportune moments. Tech is so engrossed in his thoughts of you that he can't read the room sometimes.

"Ask her out on a date! Please! So you can stop nagging us about it," Echo blurts out at one point.

Tech says downright indignantly, "Impossible! What if she says no?"

Crosshair growls, "Then you cry for a couple of nights, and hopefully you'll be a little quieter."

Tech looks at him, almost pouting.

"Rude," he says simply, looking at Hunter for help.

Hunter says, "Echo is right, if you don't ask her, it will always be dreams, and you'll never find out if she likes you too."

Of course you like him! And much to Crosshair's chagrin, Tech is even more talkative now, happily elated like a young cadet.

Echo

Is very introverted and keeps a low profile. He neither peddles his feelings to his brothers, nor does he introduce you too early. Echo wants to have you for himself first and above all his peace.

Of course, the others will inevitably find out sooner or later. But no matter how incredibly in love Echo is with you, the way he handles it is very unobtrusive and doesn't bother anyone, not even the 'grump-master' Crosshair himself.

In fact, the guys are a bit surprised when they unexpectedly meet you.

"Echo has a girlfriend?"

"Don't act so surprised," he says with a roll of his eyes, and retreats with you.

Ko-Fi (If you feel like giving me some coffee)

@rintheemolion

@andyoufollowyourheart @clone-whore-99

@brynhildrmimi @kaliel2310

@misogirl828 @tech-deck

@meshla-madalene

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[commanderfreddy]

Olin Anvilcontrolled, age eleven

went back to dwarf fortress classic last night and was rewarded, as i so often am by this game, with a truly vivid portrait of a character (long story under the cut, blood and violence as is typical for df)

Olin Anvilcontrolled arrived at the age of eleven at the Fortress of Savefountain with her mother (Ubbul) and her new stepfather (Sarvesh). Since she was so close to the dwarven age of adulthood, I kept an eye on her to see what kind of skills she developed and what kind of career she'd be suited to. While the rest of her family settled in though, Ubbul soon giving birth to Olin's half-brother, Oddom, Olin had more trouble adjusting. Rather than playing in the corridors of the residential wing or in the temples or taverns with other children, she preferred to follow the web-gatherers and cave-fishers down the long, slippery passage to the under cavern where she would play, alone, with her little glass boat.

The cavern is not exactly the world's most supervised playplace, and I was horrified the first time I received the "A dwarf child has cancelled "play with toy boat: interrupted by Giant Bat" alert. But I needn't have worried. With a value system that prioritised martial strength, power over others, force of will, and - literally, textually - "sadism", eleven-year-old Olin beat the shit out of that huge beast with her bare hands until her mother, a hunter, arrived to put the bloodied and broken thing out of its misery. Being unarmed, untrained and not yet old enough to see a marvel movie unaccompanied, Olin wasn't able to kill it herself, but she was able to hold her own enough to increase her fighting skill to Adequate.

And then to Skilled, when a few days later another Giant Bat came at her.

And then to Proficient when the Olm man came.

Olin kicked so much ass in her one specific corner of the caverns - not too far from the floodgates that led back up to civilisation, not close enough that anyone would bother her on their way to work - she beat enough blood from the underbeasts to form a pool of blood for her to float her little boat in.

She continued to play there even after her stepfather died in those same caverns. Echospittles the Larval Deep of Boils, a Forgotten Beast scuttling in the form of an enormous spider, used its venom and webs to cut a huge swathe of vacancies into my military.

Olin and Sarvesh weren't close, but they had a positive relationship. After his death, she began to very frequently "feel love upon remembering gaining a sibling". I wondered if she could see her stepfather's face in that of her baby brother. I wondered how she felt about the absence of her biological father, Edem Copperdragon, now a position noble elsewhere due to his ceaseless contributions to the war against Otir Toothportal, Necromancer.

Despite her penchant for sadism and violence, Olin did not seem like a very cruel child to me. She highly disdained scheming (poking through Legends reveals that Edem was corrupted by enemy agents multiple times in her early childhood), and openly admired and was genuinely friendly with the two human Monster Hunters who defended her home. I began to understand her as someone who had only ever known a world of violence and war, and was trying to find her place within it. Her avoidance of other children and her determination to return to the same cavern corner and face whatever blind, mad animal was waiting there took on a very sad tone. That of a child on the cusp of adulthood seeking out pain, having mistaken it for glory.

I felt a sense of responsibility for her. Her life as it was seemed like a grand prelude, like she was someone whose narrative belonged in her late years, when she would be 120 years old, Legendary Fighter, Grand Master Leader, and all this was but her backstory. I was determined to ensure I could make her into someone she would want to be. As soon as she was old enough to receive labour orders, I'd put her in a squad of dwarves who would like her - I'd custom build a squad based solely around personalities, just so she wouldn't be a lone again. One of my dwarves was taken by a strange mood, and gifted the resulting legendary helmet to our site government. I earmarked it for Olin, as soon as she was old enough.

Mere weeks before she came of age, the fortress of Safefountain was laid to siege by the forces of Otir Toothportal, Necromancer.

Having been hounded by Forgotten Beasts from below, I had focused the majority of our defences on the cavern entrance, leaving our topside entrance unable to be sealed off entirely just yet. I ordered the floodgates to the caverns sealed nonetheless, hoping to save whoever was down there in the ponds and webs and Olin's little gorespot, while the rest of our dwarves - including Ubbul, with baby Oddom strapped to her back - held the undead at bay.

But as my military inevitably failed and the zombies began to swarm down the gullet of the increasingly poorly named Safefountain, I realised that sealing off the caverns had been in vain. By sheer coincidence, no one had been down there at the time. Not even Olin.

For the first time in her time at Safefountain, Olin was playing in the corridors of the residency wing. With the other children. She, 1-year-old Obok, 10-year-olds Lor and Lobam, 5-year-old Asmel, and Mayor Tosid were the last dwarves left alive.

As the undead surrounded them and the strength of Safefountain was broken, Olin cried out,

"Our time in the Dimensions of Prophecy is so brief!... This does not frighten me."

[mdhwrites]

I feel part of the reason toh is hold in such high standart over series of the same demographic is how fast it abandons the episodic format in favor of a more serialized vibe. I have noticed lately that audiences have come to see episodic as the lesser form of storyteling in comparation to serial, and unlike series like amphibia that remain episodic the vast mayority of their runtime, toh feels very serial in his later half even if it still holds an episodic format for most of s2. People like that didn't bother them with 'silly & inconsecuental' episodic adventures more than other shows. There's a reason some people skip most of s1 of amphibia and a big part of that is how episodic it is.

Okay so this is going to get wild because I'm going to seem incredibly critical of filler but I want to make something clear here: Filler is flavor. As a writer, I'm actually happy that I personally think I've been adding MORE filler to my stories. There's a reason I have a good number of reviews on my early books commenting how surprised people were that I get a LOT done with a low word count after all.

But let's first define Filler. It actually refers to non-canon material in anime which... makes sense actually. The issue with filler arcs, even the good ones, in anime are that you have to reset to zero afterwards for the sake of being able to keep in line with whatever the mangaka creates eventually.

But how does that translate to Western animation where the director for a given show is effectively its mangaka? Well... It's complicated but many will position themselves as it being anything not critical to the plot, themes and core elements of the show. Put a pin in the phrasing I use there.

With that being the definition though, how much of TOH do you have to see to grasp its core narrative? Well...

A Lying Witch and a Warden simply to be introduced to the main three characters and for the setup.

The Intruder so as to learn about the curse.

Covention so as to learn about Lilith and Eda's relationship as well as the Coven system.

And then Agony of a Witch/Young Blood Old Souls to see resolution to the curse and the destruction of the portal door.

And if you're going "What about-"

What about anything else? Amity doesn't develop Luz's character in any way that changes her actions in the finale, though arguably at all in general. Gus and Willow appear in the finale and Covention but you don't need to be introduced to them. As far as the plot is concerned, "Luz's friends" is literally all you need to know and you don't need a full episode's introduction to that. Lilith and Eda's relationship starts catty and slightly childish and competitive and the last thing they do before the finale? Play a Grudgby Match that Eda would have probably tricked Lilith out of having to pay the consequences for if she'd lost... Literally just like back in Covention but less dramatic. Literally NONE of these elements matter to the story of TOH.

It gets WORSE for S2/3. Hunter's whole character payoff is in Belos' Backstory... Which doesn't matter. The Collector never matters. Going to Earth doesn't matter. Hell, the portal does so little to progress ANYTHING but Lumity, that it doesn't matter. The episodes that matter are:

Elsewhere Elsewhen because Luz is the main character so knowing the context for her angst arc is important, even if her angst arc goes literally nowhere. You might think this means Yesterday's Lie but the promise in that literally doesn't matter as her angst is unrelated and not about the promise. She wants to stay in the human realm for other reasons, rendering Yesterday's Lie and Vee pointless... Except this episode is pointless because the reveal of Belos as Philip is the only part that matters which-

Hollow Mind: Is done properly here to the cast as the one in Elsewhere Elsewhen only is to the audience and so demanded that it be done a second time, harming this one's reveal. You won't know as many specifics but as Luz claims the light glyph was part of her sin when we see literally no evidence of him knowing the light glyph matters... Yeah, the writers didn't care about the specifics either.

Edge of the World: I almost included Echoes of the Past because that introduces this issue but it's so different from how King is for 80% of S1 that really what you need to know is that King is the Titan's son. Not even that he himself as a Titan as King is not important to the story of TOH. Only the fact that he is related to the thing that will allow Luz to beat Belos matters to the story of TOH.

And then Watching and Dreaming for S3... Because Luz confronting Belos in King's Tide doesn't matter. It's not like it even weakens Belos in a substantial way and King releasing the Collector doesn't matter either. Moments like "I want to be understood!" in the first two parts of S3 don't matter to Luz's character because they actively make the dream sequence at the start of the finale worse because the show is still mining the same conflict for Luz that it has been since Hollow Mind. Luz's friends and Hexide are barely in the finale, you're only missing out on caring about them during the epilogue and despite skipping over Harpy Eda, Harpy Eda barely matters to Eda's character, same goes for Raine.

That's the thing with people claiming filler as much as they do online. They POSITION themselves to be about plot and narrative. About getting down to just what matters. If they were being honest, they'd admit that most of what they call filler is because it doesn't cover elements they care about. The Plantars are main characters of Amphibia but many who criticize filler in Amphibia explicitly don't give a shit about the frogs. A lot of them skipped S1 because it focused on the frogs and Anne was rougher...

But that's also why VERY little of S1 of Amphibia IS filler. I would argue it's more serialized, just in a more classic manner of making old elements eventually important, because the development of its characters and the push and pull the characters have about change versus who they are and how to handle change is important to the payoffs of the series overall. Hop Pop's Noir episode? Actively talking about things that will come up even in the FINALE of the series. Anne learning to ride Bessie? Teaches her about learning the quirks of others and the importance of doing something right instead of wanting instant gratification.

And instant gratification is what TOH is all about... Ruining its serialization. Like I pointed out with Lilith: Eda and hers relationship starts as sympathetic towards Eda and NEVER CHANGES. What if in Covention, Eda had to be saved and over the course of S1, we saw Lilith softening so the tragedy of Agony of a Witch hit harder as Lilith decided to go back to who she was. To do anything for the Coven... And thus make Belos' betrayal SO MUCH WORSE?

Luz starts as a genuinely good person. Hell, she regresses over the course of the series as in Young Blood, Old Souls, she chooses that sacrificing one life isn't worth her safety or her potentially not screwing up... And then condemns an entire world to death when she chooses not to go back in Thanks to Them. She doesn't learn and grow and her relationships are shaky at best. They also arguably do a poor job at pushing the themes of TOH because TOH struggles to keep consistent with its themes. If it's about community, why is the EC purely demonized instead of trying to be rallied so Hunter doesn't have to lose his community? If it's about self expression, why do both Hunter and Amity end up being clones of past generations where Amity is just her father, right down to being subservient to the girl who enchanted them in High School, and Hunter is just Caleb? If it's about individuality and creativity versus rigidity and order, why don't Amity, Gus or Willow ever actually pick up a second coven or just in general, why aren't the covens treated as the illegal thing they are instead of college? This is why I say TOH struggles with theme because it's all about wish fulfillment for Luz and how she's just the greatest person in existence who never had to change and grow which is a pretty shit theme.

BUT

With all of that said, TOH would be WAY worse without the filler... Because Filler is Flavor. Amity adds a lot of good to the show in S1. Hunter adds good flavor to S2. Raeda is neat. I honestly wish I had more good to say about Gus or Willow because their episodes are genuinely filler as they don't make the world more interesting, usually make it genuinely worse, and are kind of boring in general with their episodes. Or repetitive for that matter. Lilith and Eda though? I still like that Grudgby match they have, even if it's derivative because it's fun and it's neat to see different sides of these characters.

Honestly, I kind of wish My Adventures with Superman had MORE filler. Just more time to breathe and just enjoy these characters being kind of quirky or fun or just neat. Not everything needs to feel breakneck. If it's plot time all the time, an issue for S2D of TOH where after Hollow Mind everything is EXHAUSTING, then you never get a chance to breathe. Never get a chance to just enjoy the world and explore it.

I just wish there was more to explore with TOH but it's too busy not caring about its own elements or making an interesting world to explore anything. Not anything explore anything besides how clever it thinks it is. Just like how people think it's clever for claiming to be serialized when it really isn't.

After all: How much of green haired Amity do you really need to see in order to understand Purple Haired Amity? Like people kept pointing out: Would you believe these two are even the same character?

Does it even matter? For a serialized story, it should have and that's why TOH isn't serialized.

[put-me-out-of-my-destiny]

Family is an important theme in every DMC game. Dante and Vergil are always grappling with Sparda and Eva's legacy, and now Nero has to deal with Dante and Vergil's baggage. It seems DMC characters tend to have complicated relationships with their parents, and the supporting characters are no exception.

Lady is an obvious example. She became a devil hunter in DMC3 because her father, Arkham, murdered her mother in a bid for demonic power. Near the end of the game, Lady kills Arkham, which a line in DMC5 suggests has weighed heavily on her since. On the note of family, an ancestor of Lady's happened to be a priestess who aided Sparda in a ritual to seal away the demon world.

Side note, I've been told it's canon that this ritual killed her, but that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Sparda didn't have to give a lethal amount of blood for the sake of the ritual, and Lady didn't give a lethal amount of blood to break it. Neither did Dante or Vergil, for that matter. It means little either way, the sacrifice was almost certainly willing, and she'd be long dead by the present anyway, but it still bugs me a little.

Trish doesn't really have parents in the traditional sense, but she was created by someone: Mundus. But Mundus saw her as expendable, easily recreated, little more than a tool to lure Dante to his death. Ultimately, Trish aided Dante in defeating him, and she became a devil hunter herself.

Trish was also made in the image of Dante's mother, Eva. While Trish never met the woman, it's an undeniable fact that Trish wouldn't exist in the same capacity without her - one could also consider her to be a parent to Trish, or at least like some kind of magical sperm donor.

Wether you choose to look at it that way or not, Trish has definitely endured both Dante and Vergil (as V) projecting their feelings about Eva onto her, though the former seems to have gotten over that, and the latter hasn't interacted with her much at all. Despite this, Trish continues using Eva's face, even though she can change her appearance.

On the subject of Dante, one could assume that she was adopted into his family in some way, given that she was trusted to wield Sparda's sword and his pistols. She carries his legacy just as much as Dante does, even though she doesn't share his blood.

Lucia, like Trish, was artificially made, in her case by a human sorcerer named Arius. Mundus only remarked that he could easily recreate Trish, but Arius actually proved it - Lucia is one of many "secretary" demons, and a defective one at that. She was discarded by Arius, and adopted by Matier, who raised Lucia as her own daughter. Later, Matier directly states that Lucia being adopted doesn't diminish their relationship, and that shared history is more important than blood.

Learning of her true nature was disastrous for Lucia: believing she would eventually become a threat to innocent people, she attacked Dante and demanded that he kill her. She later volunteers for a suicide mission because she sees herself as "expendable". I'm not aware that she ever came to terms with these feelings, and I wonder what would become of her if she no longer had Matier to support her.

I suspect that Nero and Kyrie's dynamic - as it's been said, Nero wouldn't be so well-adjusted without her - would be relatable to Lucia.

Moving on from characters who've been playable (so far), Nico's parentage is extremely important. Her father is Agnus, a scientist who created many kinds of artificial demons for the Order of the Sword, even becoming one himself. Agnus abandoned Nico at an early age, and when her mother died, she was adopted by her uncle, Rock Goldstein, who happens to be the son of Nell Goldstein, the gunsmith who made Ebony and Ivory. Nico became a gunsmith herself, and later used her biological father's research for the benefit of a devil hunter, Nero.

Finally, Kyrie's parents were killed before the events of DMC4, so the only family she had left was her brother Credo. In that game, Credo turns out to have become a demon, and to be involved in a plot by her religious organization to open hell gates in Fortuna to draw out and destroy demons (or something). Once Kyrie is used as bait to capture Nero, Credo turns on his superiors, and is promptly killed for it. Suffice to say, Kyrie must have some very complicated feelings about her family, as well as her religion, but such feelings haven't been made known.

It's also worth noting that Kyrie, along with Nero, has taken in three children - Kyle, Carlo, and Julio - further continuing the theme of adopted family.

With the exception of Lady, all of the characters above have some relationship with an adopted or chosen family. With the exception of Lady and Kyrie, all of them have had apathetic father figures who abandoned, discarded, or used them.

So if we ever get that female-led spinoff game (and it's actually any good), then family should be a major theme. But unlike the main series, this entry should have an additional emphasis on chosen families. And whatever tangible threat the cast faces, it should be one that can be a vehicle to explore those themes.

[taizi]

Hi, not sure if you're still taking prompts, but I love your Human Splinter AU and was wondering how that would change his relationship with Raph. It seems like while he still has trauma, he doesn't have to deal with the dysphoria of suddenly having a rat body, and that make's parenting a little easier. Does that make things a little easier on Raph too?

x

There is a suspicious amount of giggling coming in the direction of the living room, when Yoshi is entirely positive all four turtles went down for their nap half an hour ago. 

He peeks into the room and finds Raphael, laying on his front, kicking his tiny feet in the air, pouring over the comic book Hala’s daughter gave him. He doesn’t seem to notice Yoshi in the hall, as absorbed as he is. 

His little turtles have keen senses. Yoshi thinks they’ll be incredible when they’re older. He also thinks he’ll treasure this—these early years, when everything is brand-new and precious, when his babies are clumsy and earnest and wide-eyed—when he can still creep up behind Raphael on silent feet and scoop him into his arms and surprise him into a squawk and then ringing peals of high, sweet laughter. 

“What is this? What could this be?” Yoshi says, sing-song. “A little turtle running amok? Evading naptime? Breaching our contract?”

“Papa,” Raphael says, smiling toothily. He was the last of the four to begin speaking and sometimes he still has nonverbal days. Every time he says anything it’s like winning a goddamn prize.  

Yoshi finds himself smiling back without making any conscious decision to. 

“What are you up to, apple pie?” he asks. “Must be big, exciting things. Loop me in.” 

Raphael waves his arms and declares gleefully, “Superheroes!”

Ah, yes. We’re still on that, Yoshi thinks, careful not to let Raphael see his expression of distaste as he stoops to pick up what turns out to be a Fantastic Four comic. 

It’s one thing for his boys to find an old Jupiter Jim movie on cable TV and run around the house shooting imaginary blasters at imaginary aliens for four consecutive days afterwards. This hero thing is something else.

And he knows just who to blame.

Grandpa Sho found out about his great-grandchildren the way the rest of the world did—through the tabloids. 

Apparently the pediatrician Yoshi had reached out to had decided the hefty NDA she’d signed was no more than a fancy piece of stationery, and the siren call of TMZ was too tempting to ignore. 

Yoshi set his lawyers upon the asshole’s practice in the manner of a hunter releasing a pack of particularly bloodthirsty foxhounds, but the damage was done. The secret was out.

Naturally, the media ate it all up. Hala was an order of magnitude more pissed off about it than the uselessly shell-shocked Yoshi was, because as much as she might pretend otherwise, those turtles were basically her nephews. Her daughter had become their honorary big sister within about five minutes of meeting them in the first place. Hala was fully prepared to take this whole thing personally. 

She told Yoshi not to read any articles, to stay off the Internet. It didn’t stop the barrage of e-mails and phone calls. It didn’t stop Yoshi from refusing to leave his house for an entire week because of the paparazzi parked outside. 

And it didn’t stop Grandpa Sho from showing up on his doorstep. Apparently that bridge hadn’t been as thoroughly burned as Yoshi believed. The first thing he thought, when he saw his grandpa, was you look so old. It settled with a pang in the pit of his stomach. 

The second thing—embarrassingly—was also what came out of his mouth. He hadn’t seen his grandpa in years, and the last time they spoke was in anger, but in some ways Yoshi was still his child. 

“How do you fix a cold?” he blurted, right there on the doorstep. “He’s all stuffy and miserable and he won’t stop crying and he hates everything.”

Sho would have been well within his rights to be passive-aggressive, or petty, or even outright angry. Yoshi certainly would have been in his shoes. But Sho was better at putting duty before his own feelings, so he only nodded, and let himself inside.

“You sound exactly like your mother did when you were a baby,” he said, as if it wasn’t painful to say. “Not to worry. I know all the tricks.”

He did do a bit of a double-take when he saw the shape of Yoshi’s distraught toddler, but the surprise faded from his face quickly. He had always believed in all that mystic mumbo-jumbo that Yoshi had only recently learned firsthand was actually not mumbo-jumbo, after all. He took in the green skin and half-shells gracefully and ordered the inconsolable Michelangelo a lukewarm bubble-bath. 

It became a whole thing, because the boys were as thick as thieves on a good day, and absolutely ready to fight god at the barest hint that they might be separated on a bad one. The bathroom ended up minorly flooded, but his kids were happy. They loved baths. They were swimming around each other in circles until even fussy Michelangelo was smiling. Sharing the moment with Sho—the two of them half-soaked and weary and bursting with affection for the rambunctious little monsters in their care—felt healing.

Grandpa Sho stayed for a few days. It was a relief to have him there, an extra set of hands. Someone Yoshi could trust, because despite everything else they had become to each other, they were still family. 

The turtles were curious about him, this familiar stranger in their midst. They started absorbing Japanese within the first hour of his visit, even though Yoshi largely spoke in English. It was—nice. It reminded Yoshi of being a child himself, trailing after his jiji like a duckling.

And then one night, he let Sho tuck the boys into bed while he washed the dishes from dinner. He wandered into the nursery in the middle of a familiar story. A story that had followed Yoshi through life like a ghost, that echoed in almost all of his trauma-fueled nightmares. 

The story of their clan and their duty. 

Yoshi must have blacked out. He thinks he might have had an out-of-body experience. He remembers ripping the turtles out of Sho’s arms and backing away to the other side of the room and the pained way Sho’s face folded—hurt, guilt, decades-old grief. 

“Don’t you dare,” Yoshi said, a whisper, because he was too furious and heartsick and terrified to speak any louder. He’d clutched his babies as tight as he could without hurting them, unreasonably afraid someone might reach out of thin air and snatch them away. 

“Anata wa hitori janai,” his mother had said, the last thing she ever said. It was important but it felt like such a lie. Yoshi was alone. He’d always been alone. His sons were already better off than he was—there were four of them. He would make it his life’s mission to ensure they got to keep each other. 

Then Grandpa Sho had surprised the hell out of him by saying, “I’m sorry.” He said it again in Japanese, full and formal, and Yoshi was shaken out of his stupor by sheer disbelief. “I only wanted—I only meant that they are Hamato. They are family. Whether or not you teach them what I have taught you, they will belong.”

He left not long after that, two weeks ago now. They haven’t spoken since.

And now Yoshi’s oldest son is full of half-formed ideas about heroics—concepts like ‘the greater good’ and ‘defeating evil’ that would go completely over his head, except that it’s the same sort of thing his favorite cartoon characters say. 

“Hiijiji said our family is made of heroes,” Raphael says brightly. “So I’ll be one, too! And I’ll protect Leo and Donnie and Mikey when the bad guy comes.”

Yoshi can’t even speak for a moment. He has to wrestle with the lump in his throat for long enough that Raphael gets distracted and starts pawing at his hair.

His kids are so good. He can’t get over it. They were created to be super-soldiers, but all Yoshi sees are little goofballs with colorful personalities and giant hearts made of solid gold. He’s begun teaching them ninjutsu, in effort to curb some of their inexhaustible energy, and they’ve taken to it like ducks (or turtles) to water. Their brains are developing faster than those of human children their age—Donatello has the makings of an outright genius, and Leonardo is clever enough to talk circles around Yoshi in his sleep. 

If they decided to become heroes, there isn’t a doubt in Yoshi’s mind that they could do it. And they’d be the best. 

Raphael is all of six years old and the only things he should be preoccupied with are his siblings stealing his toys and that new Jupiter Jim DVD April promised to bring over this weekend. He shouldn’t be worried about the bad guy. 

But now he’s got it into his head that he has this huge responsibility. He’s bigger and stronger than his siblings, so it falls on him to look after them. They clamber around on him like he’s their own personal jungle-gym, and he oversees bedtime rituals and boo-boos, and holds their hands when they reach out to him like it’s his job. 

He doesn’t seem to mind that there is no big brother to do the same for him but he’s six. He wants someone to hold his hand, too. 

Yoshi is keeping an eye on it. The last thing he wants is for Raphael to grow up too fast. 

You can depend on me, he wants to say. It’s not all on your tiny little shoulders. That’s my job. It’s what I’m here for. 

He doesn’t think Raphael is old enough to understand that in its entirety. So instead, when he’s sure he can speak without a wobble in his voice, Yoshi says, “There better be room for me in all these plans. I’m a hero, too, you know—you’ve seen me on TV!”

His son claps his hands together, brimming with delight. The turtles don’t really know what it means that their father is a famous actor, but they get so excited when they see Lou Jitsu on screen. They quote his movies a lot, it’s becoming a whole thing, and it’s so cute Yoshi might die. 

“You’ll help fight the bad guy?” Raphael asks, like it’s the absolute best idea he’s ever heard. 

“There’s not even gonna be any bad guy left for you, firebug,” Yoshi tells him. “I’m gonna beat him so quick you’ll barely see it. He’s just gonna be a big blur and you’ll wonder what the heck that was and then it’ll be over. And then we’ll go out for ice cream and forget all about it.”

He says it playfully and it makes Raphael giggle, but inwardly it takes the form of a prayer. 

If there has to be a war, let it be Yoshi’s. Let his children be children for as long as they can.

“And hiijiji can come, too!” Raphael adds. 

Yoshi is learning how to pick his battles. Maybe he doesn’t want to fight this battle anyway. Maybe he can begin to peel his fingers open from the fists he curled them into when he was a child. Maybe he can start to let it go. 

With Raphael gazing up at him like this, like Yoshi really is a superhero, Yoshi thinks he can do just about anything.

“Okay,” he says. It doesn’t even cost him to say it. “Jiji can come, too.”

[sytokun]

RWBY's characters are friggin hard to write properly

"People who make RWBY rewrites will never know the effort CRWBY goes through to make RWBY, they just say their work is better"

Rewriters, with 0 funding, 0 studio backing and niche fan support:

How do I write Ruby as a nuanced long-term protagonist who struggles with trying to carry on someone else's legacy (Summer) while becoming her own person as one of the youngest people in the cast? Between Ozpin cementing her Hunter career and Summer's death, how does she know how much of her dreams and goals are truly her own, and how much will her morals be tested as she finds out the actual sacrifices and difficult choices she will have to make as a Hunter, which goes far beyond her initial idealistic idea of Hunters as infallible heroes who are always on the right side?

How do I write Weiss' struggle and deal with the fact that Jacques is underwhelming as her personal antagonist, with his motivations as a businessman seemingly entirely divorced from Weiss' own goals of becoming a Hunter, and thus her own goals of becoming a Hunter runs contrary to the kind of journey she needs to become the SDC's heiress? How do I best convey her loneliness and her presentation between the trailer and the show, where her inner life is sullen and contemplative, but her outer personality manifests in being overly abrasive and competitive? How do I portray her struggling with her racist views while not making her an outright unlikeable lead, giving her moral journey the nuance it deserves and not just sweeping it under the rug and have her simply undergo a change of heart on a dime?

How do I write Blake, which means by extension I need to properly write the entirety of the White Fang? How should I contextualise her relationship with Adam, her undercover identity with Beacon and her conflict between wanting peace and coexistence vs. standing up for the right thing, as someone who is part of a disenfranchised people yet is now working for a majority human organisation and Kingdom? How do I write her as a Faunus and show her unique struggle as one in this fantasy world that seems familiar and relatable, but also believable for a people whose animal features grant them wildly more disparate biological differences from humans beyond just skin colour, even many of them being outright advantages over humans, thus not making them a straightforward 1-to-1 allegory for race in our world?

How do I write Yang, someone whose entire character rides a very delicate balance between a family-oriented, sentimental and protective sister and surrogate mother figure; and a thrill-seeking, reckless person willingly throwing herself into danger out of a distinct lack of purpose and concern for her own life, due to never having a proper childhood and growing up too early, so every day is spent like she's a brilliant star that's looking for every opportunity to burn herself out for the sake of others or giving her life some sense of purpose?

How do I write Jaune, who is infamously known for how much screentime he steals from the main cast, so I have to trim everything surrounding him to facilitate the main girls' development, while still giving him the same amount of substance fans come to expect from him due to his disproportionately large amount of prominence and screentime for the past 10 years? How do I rework his role as an audience surrogate and have him be inexperienced but also not inconsistently ignorant (like not knowing what Aura is despite being from a family of Hunters), knowing that after he's done learning, he still needs an actual characterisation to fall back on?

How do I write Ren and Nora, knowing that they've been treated as a 2-in-1 package from the start? How do I make them more distinct characters, knowing I may need to expand on them further down the line, but also making sure they fulfill their roles as supporting characters without taking too much time away from the main cast? What sort of traits do I give them that makes them more distinct from each other, while selling to the audience that they've known each other forever, making them believable as childhood partners while also being their own people with tangible personal lives beyond each other's company?

How do I write Pyrrha, someone who only got proper characterisation in the second half of the same Volume she dies, and properly pace it throughout the story, while also making sure she properly stands as her own person and not just a vehicle devoted for Jaune's development to the detriment of her relationships with everyone else, including her other teammates? How do I portray her complex inner turmoil, where she's torn between her destiny of becoming someone great after showing great promise and talent since a young age, but also seeks a normal, fulfilling life forming connections with people she can view as equals and not from atop a pedestal? How do I deal with her immensely polarising death, knowing that if I do so, I would be trading a great amount of potential for growth and unexplored avenues for her character in exchange for a story-defining loss that singlehandedly changed the story moving forward?

How do I write Penny, someone whose newfound humanity poses far-reaching questions for the nature of Aura and the soul in Remnant, whose friendship with Ruby needs to be given proper devotion and time to really sell their friendship, given she occupies a pretty notable role as Ruby's best friend who isn't from her team or JNPR, or even really associated with Beacon? How do I handle her death and possible return, knowing that her soul's malleable nature could lead to any number of possible ways she can come back to life, but not as herself - showing that while she may be, in a sense, immortal, there is still always a price to pay for reviving her; because simply bringing her back with no repercussions feels dramatically unsatisfying and cheapens the power and impact of her first death?

How do I write Ozpin, one of the most divisive and enigmatic figures in the show, whose fan perception of him ranges from "well-intentioned tragic hero" to "morally grey immortal pragmatist" to "manipulative head of shadow government"? How do I satisfyingly convey the extent of his powers and wisdom, as well as the moral mire of his actions, knowing I have to push and pull the view of the audience towards him - and by extension the views of Ruby and the other heroes - starting as a fairly trustworthy if shady mentor, slowly unraveling his past and calling him into question, and how that would divide the allegiances of the cast?

How do I write Raven, another mysterious figure who left her daughter and family behind for equally mysterious reasons? What could reasonably cause someone like her, a battle-hardened warrior and formerly a hero, to abandon her daughter? Why does her Semblance seem to contradict this, allowing her to instantly reach people she cares for, showing she may actually have cared all along, but was forced to distance herself for some reason?

How do I write Cinder, a widely-disliked villain who many consider to overstay her welcome and has a uninteresting personality, and considered one of the least compelling antagonists in the show, despite being one of the most prominent ones? What could I do to improve her place in the series to make her a more compelling villain, while still maintaining her more substantial traits, like how she seeks power and control, and uses a mix of intimidation and cunning to strip power away from Ozpin, while coordinating large-scale plans involving multiple accomplices and complex Semblances?

How do I write Adam, a character who elicits some of the most impassioned reactions from any side of the fandom, knowing that he is an oppressed Faunus in a group fighting to keep their own place in a world that violently wants to keep them down? How do I fairly represent him and the White Fang as a faction that causes large-scale conflict in Remnant and the plot, knowing I have to grapple with the uncomfortable situation that our heroes are fighting possibly the only group on Remnant willing to fight for the rights of the Faunus? Is it worth maintaining their canon portrayal as a once noble group with corrupted ideals (knowing the canon show's horrible history of villainising disenfranchised people in favour of an unjust but comfortable status quo) or should the portrayal of this group evolve to meet a better standard that better represents people opposing such blatant inequality and discrimination?

How do I weigh the options between keeping or removing Oscar, a character who is popular but also criticised for being an extraneous protagonist-type character, and do this knowing he is polarising enough that I would make one half of the fandom unhappy no matter what I choose - those who love Oscar and his inclusion in the show and the moral conflict he presents, as well as being a sort of moral contrast to Ozpin, vs. those who feel he is narratively unnecessary and under normal circumstances, he has very little reason to exist in the story?

What do I do with Salem, a character whose presence determines the entire direction and stakes of the show, whose early introduction led to large periods of inaction and passivity that diminishes her impact and legitimacy as a villain?

How do I write Ironwood, a greatly divisive character who some view as a misunderstood hero and potential ally who was turned into an unapologetic villain only through a mishandled narrative, while others view as an inevitable antagonist who was always destined to come to blows with the heroes? How do I balance his role as a strong but unstable ally of Ozpin, who is an open book who is quick to action while Ozpin is secretive and slow to act, and portray this uneasy tension well up until the Fall of Beacon, past Ozpin's death and all the way till Ironwood's tipping point in the fight against Salem and the Grimm?

And so on and so forth for every other character - not even including the setting and overarching plot.

We may have 20/20 hindsight by working with an existing work, but we also have to use every ounce of that hindsight to work with whatever shit that RWBY makes up - which is a far more herculean task than many give it credit for.

Our benefit of hindsight is countered by canon RWBY's benefit of foresight and the responsibility to create a cohesive narrative with the characters and setting they have. Our job is hardly easier; creation of any sort is a hard endeavour - it's just hard in a different way than making something from scratch. One is the freedom of a writer to create something new and then seeing it through; the other is the editor who must correct for mistakes and properly respect and best enhance the work that is on their table.

People who dismiss RWBY rewrites and fanfiction like to think RWBY is this perfectly tended garden, and we're just harmful pests coming to strip and infest it for no discernible reason, when the reality is closer to RWBY being a buggy, rushed game with exploitative monetization and near game-breaking glitches, and we are players and modders simultaneously trying clean up the mess it left behind and hash it together into something less prone to failure.

No one is denying that a lot of effort and work went into the game. Doesn't mean that the game isn't a buggy product on release and its creators could have done so, so much better. The recent Pokemon S&V game is a perfect example of how a piece of media can have a lot of fun things to enjoy and is widely-liked with a lot of great content - and also be intensely broken and criminally underdelivered, given the resources and underlying value of the property the company has access to.

[the-lazarator]

I warned you the rambles would come.

I have a very love/hate relationship with Monster Hunter Stories 2. I think it’s a good game but as a sequel to the first game it kind of fails to improve upon most of the original game’s faults and even backtracks on one of its coolest and most useful features. This is all stuff I may go into another time; but right now I just want to talk about what the hell were they on when deciding what attack preference some of these Monsties were going to be.

For those unaware of how MHS2 combat works, essentially it boils down to a rock paper scissors with Power, Technical and Speed attacks. There are elements, weapon types, and other stuff; but the most important loop and most crucial part of team building is this Power>Technical>Speed dynamic.

So why on earth is the balance of these 3 so all over the place and why do some monsties have an attack preference that makes way less sense than other preferences???

First of all there is an insane imbalance in speed monsties the entire game. With the system the way it is, there shouldn’t be an entire 3rd of the triangle that is a rare find, and yet for the early stages of the game most speed monsties are hard to come by or locked behind chapter ending boss fights before they can be obtained. Sure, your very first monstie is a speed monstie; but after that you cannot get another until Nargacuga. Yes, Nargacuga is strong, it’s popular and it’s a guaranteed egg; but if you didn’t accidentally stumble upon this nest before you’re intended to it’s placed pretty late into the second chapter of the game, just to get your second speed monstie. After that most speed monsties are just…bad. Like most of them are weak raptors and the rest are again either hidden away or very late game if not postgame monsties with few exceptions. In their place are a biggilion technical and power monsties of which a large portion could have been speed monsties.

But anyways, let’s talk specifics

-Great Jaggi is a technical monstie; but Great Baggi is speed??? I get they both use packs but you’d think the one with an actual status and a status based on strategy would make more sense as technical; and making Jaggi speed would give an actual option for a speed monstie between Velocidrome and Nargacuga.

-Yian Garuga is a technical Monstie??? The psychopathic, uses itself as a weapon, will rush down its foes with reckless abandon Yian Garuga is a technical monstie?!?!?!? And given at a point where you’re still short on power monsties and begging for speed!

-Rathian is a speed monstie?? You can’t get it until after completing the second chapter of the game, later than Nargacuga, and they finally give you a third speed option and it’s Rathian?? I get that she charges but she has never been fast, she’s always been slower than Rathalos. I don’t even know what would make more sense than speed if they wanted to make her different from Rathalos but considering some of the things that aren’t speed this one just feels wrong.

-Monoblos is power. Again considering the dearth of speed either the Diablos or Monoblos pair really should’ve been speed to separate the two groups from each other more, and seeing as both are known for rapid rushdowns its crazy the only one among any of them that got to be speed was Bloodbath Diablos.

-GYPCEROS is POWER?!? It’s whole thing is tricks and being tricky why the FUCK isn’t it technical!!?!

-Barroth is Speed…but Jade Barroth isn’t?? I get that they sometimes make the subspecies have different preferences to set them apart but you’re still killing for speed monsties by this point in the game (and I wanted to use Jade Barroth at that point, too D: )

-NONE of the fated four are speed, except soulseer but those are their deviant forms. Gammoth and Glavenus I get, but surely Mizutsune OR Astalos could’ve been speed instead of technical? The psychopath dragonfly wyvern who darts around and crashes into things or the bubbly, slippery kitsune leviathan?

-Uragaan, a Monster who rolls around to evade and attack and which lays traps with its powder stones is a power monstie. This one isn’t as egregious, Uragaan is massive and powerful; but I feel technical could’ve worked well too

-SEREGIOS. A MONSTER KNOWN FOR ITS INSANELY ACROBATIC FLYING AND AGILITY, WHOSE FIGHTING STYLE IS MOSTLY F A S T, AGRESSIVE ATTACKS, LITERALLY THE FASTEST MOVING AERIAL MONSTER IN THE SERIES THAT ISN’T AN ELDER DRAGON IS FUCKING TECHNICAL. ARE YOU FUCKING SHITTING ME.

-IT’S OKAY THOUGH, BECAUSE B A Z E L G E U S E IS A SPEED MONSTIE. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT. THE SLOWEST OF THE THREE ELDER-TIER INVADER MONSTERS IS S P E E D!?! Why not technical??!? It’s whole thing is laying traps with its explosive scales and ambushing from above! I get why they didn’t go power because the other 2 members of the invader elder-tier trio are already power monsties, but fucking speed? Oh yeah, this monster really needed to be speed because this thing only available at the literal end of the main story really solved the drought of speed monsties in the rest of the game, fucking brilliant. Hell, why not make each member of this trio a different attack type? Deviljho can stay power, Bazelgeuse becomes technical and Rajang can easily be speed because yeah, Rajang is strong; but it’s also lightning fast. It’s similar to Tigrex in the regard, known for its power but still makes sense as a speed monstie (which regular Tigrex is). Now, does this all really matter? YES, finding good speed monsties in the story is a pain in the ass and some of these choices legit make no sense. That, and both Speed AND Technical are heavily outnumbered. There are only 24 speed monsties in the game (29 if you count each extra version of the palamute), 27 technical monsties and 38 POWER. And while it’s less noticeable with technical due to the wide variety of monster types and power levels that have technical preference, pretty much all of the speed monsties in the game are weak, lower tier monsters or insanely strong post-game only creatures (or again, hidden away). Sure this problem therefore goes away once you’ve grinded your postgame; but god was it a frustrating story playthrough for me and I’d bet a good number of you too.

Depending on how this does I may go over my many other gripes with Stories 2 in the future but that’s enough for now.

[ellethespaceunicorn]

Bright Like The Moon: Chapter 4

Chapter 4: We Showed The World That We Exist

Rating: Explicit, 18+, Minors - DNI

Fandom: Night Hunter

Pairing: Walter Marshall x Black!OFC 

Word count: 5.1K

Summary: Kamaria Mansfield is hired at the Minnesota Police Department as an intern. Detective Walter Marshall is overworked and unsatisfied. Takes place post-film.

Chapter Summary: Kamaria and Walter play hooky to deal with unforeseen stressors.

Chapter warnings: panic attack (dissociation episode), oral sex (f receiving), finger fucking, therapy session, squirting 

A/N: Time jumps in this chapter. We’re only skipping a couple of days but it may be a little jarring. But Yada is back!! Un-beta’d, we die like people who tried their best.

Dividers: @firefly-graphics

Support/Reblog banner by me

Cover Art by me

Cross-posted on AO3

Series Masterlist

My Masterlist

Kamaria’s POV

Word has spread like wildfire around the office about me and Walter dating. It didn’t take long at all for news that the grumpy bear of a detective and the new intern are fucking. We actually aren’t even doing that, yet. It’s only been a few days but the rumor mill in the police station is like a damn high school hallway. And I have Nina and Sophie to thank for that.

I swear, no one listens to interns. Like, ever. Unless it is about gossip. And I made friends with the loudest, and the actual kindest, gossipmongers. I know they mean well, they’ve made it clear they are glad that Walter smiles more. I like being the cause of his change of mood, as well.

With everyone aware of our relationship, things are kind of weird. Like, weird around the ex, kind of weird. 

It’s not like Rachel and Walter were super friendly after they decided not to date. Sometimes, and I would never tell Walter this, I feel like he felt for Rachel because she saved his life. A case of transference, perhaps?

But, they at least seemed cordial towards each other. Rachel felt enough of a connection to reach for his hand, the thought still burns in my mind. But Walter and I did have our first kiss after that, so grain of salt, ya know?

Rachel just seems like someone pissed in her oatmeal every time she walks by me. She couldn’t possibly be jealous of me. I don’t get her, honestly. Is it an “if she can’t have him, no one can” thing? Because I wouldn’t have thought she would go for pettiness. Never underestimate a woman on a mission, though. 

Walter and I agree to get to work a bit early so we could hang out in his office until I have to start work. The man may be seen as prickly by most people in the office, but it is like night and day when it comes to me. He can be so thoughtful, and so in tune with my emotions that it can be like he’s reading my mind. Which is both cute and slightly annoying, because I can never hide what I’m feeling. 

Like this morning, for example. My mind has been racing. So many things to think about, from my work to Walter to Rachel to my anxiety about dating openly in the office to what I’m going to choose to talk about in therapy today. And I can’t seem to make it stop or slow down. Which is when I feel a hand on mine. 

I look up to see Walter crouching next to the chair I’m sitting in. I don’t remember sitting down. I barely remember walking into this office.

“There she is,” he says, brushing a hand over my confused brow, “you had me so worried back there.” I notice the fear in his eyes now.

“Sometimes, my anxiety takes over and I just check out,” I mutter, looking around the office, “I remember getting out of my car and kissing you and then nothing until just now.”

“Does this happen a lot?” I hear the tremble in his voice but I don’t mention it.

“Hasn’t happened in months. I can usually sense it before other people can, though. Sort of like a panic attack, but not really because I don’t panic, I just…move? It’s hard to explain,” I ramble on, trying to get my bearings.

“It sounds like your brain is working on autopilot due to stress. I’m no therapist, but I’ve seen how stress can affect people in different ways,” he suggests, holding my hand in his, “I hope I’m not overstepping here, but a new relationship becoming public can be quite stressful. Especially when it’s in a work setting where one person’s ex is also a coworker. It’s no wonder you’re feeling like this.”

“Well, when you put it like that, I can’t deny that it is a lot,” I concede, feeling all sorts of vulnerable.

“You have therapy today around 1, right?” he asks before I nod to confirm, “And where is your therapist’s office?”

“Well, I was going to do it virtually today. But she’s close-ish. Between here and my apartment,” I answer, wondering where this is going.

“I have a suggestion, which you are more than welcome to decline. But, in my head, it sounds like a good id-”

“Baby, you’re babbling,” I laugh, stopping his rant.

“I think you should ask to see your therapist in person. We can take the rest of the day off and I could drive you to the appointment if you’d like,” he urges, “Besides, it’s the weekend. They won’t mind if we skip out a bit early.”

“Skip out early? I didn’t even clock in yet,” I remind him, still thinking about work instead of my mental health. Very typical of me.

“Perfect, then. I still have personal time to use, and you told me you were given some personal time when you signed on, so that covers today. We’ll let your manager know you’re not feeling well on the way out,” he says, moving about his office and collecting his things before realizing I’m yet unmoving, “Fuck! Did I just plan your entire day?”

I smile up at him, adoration in my eyes. “You did, but with the best of intentions,” I comment, standing up from the chair, “You’re right, though. I kinda need the routine of going into the office today and I could use a day off even if it’s only my first week.”

“Look at you, already smiling. I count that as a win,” he hums, reaching for my hand, squeezing as our fingers interlace.

We head out of the station after a short talk with my boss. Tell a man you’re having ‘feminine trouble’ and he all but shoos you out of the building. Thank God for small favors.

Walter heads home after insisting I go home to change clothes and grab whatever I needed to feel comfortable for the rest of the day at his place. Arriving home, I immediately start to pack my overnight bag. I choose to ignore the nagging voice questioning my actions. I might want to stay over or change clothes again for some reason. So, take that, Nag-atha Christie!

I call my therapist’s office and request to come into the office today. I say that my schedule has changed and I would prefer to be seen in the office. The receptionist is super sweet and lets me know she will inform Yada of the change. I hope Yada doesn’t worry. I mean, I’m slightly worried about my little episode earlier but I feel at least a bit better now.

I change into some yoga pants, a loose-fitting top, a hoodie, and some comfy old sneakers. I spot Beary Allen sitting atop my bed and resign to bringing him over to Walter’s house as well. I usually can’t sleep without him so I don’t chastise myself too much for bringing along something for comfort. 

I check my overnight bag to make sure I have everything I need, and some stuff I don’t need but I want to have just in case. And if I reach into my nightstand and grab condoms, then that is my business until it is Walter and I’s business. Not that I plan on doing anything, but I like being prepared for multiple eventualities. In any case, I refuse to let myself feel anything but poised for success. I also refuse to define success, so there’s the end of that.

I hear Walter’s text tone going off in my pocket and pull out my phone.

Walter Marshall: Didn’t change your mind did you, Princess?

Me: Of course not!

Me: I was just making sure I have everything

Me: Including Beary Allen

Me: 😁

Walter Marshall: The…Flash? But like, a bear?

Me: I love that you get exactly what I meant

Me: And you haven’t even met Beary

Walter Marshall: I was right???

Me: You’ll meet him soon

Me: He’s my emotional support animal

Me: I’m leaving now to come to you

You have shared your location.

Me: Now, you can tell where I am at all times

Me: Just as a safety thing

Walter Marshall: Wow ok

Walter Marshall: Thank you for trusting me with this

Me: You’re welcome

Me: Try to act like you didn’t follow my location the entire time I was on my way to your place 😉

Walter Marshall: No promises

I’m already back in my car by the time his text comes through, I know he’s gonna follow me the whole way to his house. It’s honestly adorable. I can tell he misses me when I’m not around. He likes me, and I like him too. It doesn’t take me long to get to his house and he’s standing outside when I park in the driveway.

“You failed to play it cool, Detective,” I laugh, grabbing my overnight bag and Beary from the passenger seat before exiting my car.

“I never promised to play it cool,” he smiles, reaching out to take my overnight bag from me, “Hmm, planning on staying a bit?” 

“I figured it would be best to be prepared,” I propose, clutching onto Beary, secretly glad that Walter didn’t offer to take him as well. No one has ever touched Beary besides me.

“May I address Mr. Allen directly? Or does he only speak with you?” he poses the question completely seriously.

It takes every ounce of my resolve not to melt. “You may address him directly.”

“Mr. Allen, may I call you Beary?” he waits for a response, “I just want you to know I plan on taking care of Kam during her stay here, however long that may be…Yes, of course…I wouldn’t dream of it. So we have an understanding. Shake on it?” He reaches out and shakes Beary’s tiny paw, winking at me as he pulls his hand back. If he’s not careful, I will fall so fucking hard for this man.

Walter takes my hand, kisses it gently, and brings me inside. I start to lean down to remove my shoes, but he stops me and kneels to do it himself.

“You don’t have to-” I start, before being cut off.

“I know I don’t have to, Princess,” he agrees, placing my shoes next to his, “but I want to take care of you today, so allow me to do so, please?”

I open my mouth to protest, but a stern look from Walter makes me rethink that choice and only nod.

“Good girl,” he praises, standing up to hover over me, “I know it must be hard to let someone take care of you, but since I’ve taken on that role, I plan on not having you lift a finger if I can help it. Sorry, not sorry.”

“That’s some Prince Charming shit right there,” I blurt out, there goes my filter flying away in the wind again. Luckily, Walter just laughs at that and kisses my forehead. 

We end up hanging out around his house for a few hours, having far too many snacks and too much coffee. What can I say, we’re both caffeine addicts and snack goblins. The only reason I ignore the voice telling me I’ve had enough snacks is the fact that Walter is hand-feeding me pieces of fruit. He was not kidding about me not lifting a finger. I could get used to this.

Before long, Walter is helping me put my shoes on so that we can head to my therapist appointment. He opens his truck door for me and even buckles me in, shooing my hands away. Holding my hand as he drives, he allows me to pick the music we listen to. When I joke ‘but I thought the driver picks the music and shotgun shuts his cakehole’, he has no clue what I’m talking about. I explain it away as a tv show reference, making sure to force him to watch Supernatural with me at some point.

As The Amazing Devil’s ‘Two Minutes’ is ending, we are pulling up to Yada’s office. I don’t even try to reach for my door handle, waiting for Walter to come around to my side of the vehicle. He lifts me out of the truck and I try not to smile too wide at that. Holding my hand as we cross the parking lot, he steps in front of me to open the door, allowing me to walk in first. I check in with the receptionist and we sit in the lobby holding hands again. This man likes to hold my hand, and I am not complaining about it.

I hear Yada’s office door open and she steps out to greet me. She visibly registers my hand intertwined with the man to my left. I stand, pulling Walter up with me by accident. 

“Don’t worry, he’s gonna wait out here. Let’s go,” I sputter, moving past Yada and into the office. I notice Yada isn’t following me when I sit down. I hear introductions being exchanged and silently die inside. Why does it feel like my mom is meeting my boyfriend? Wait, is he my boyfriend? Oh my God, is he my boyfriend?

Yada comes back into the room and sits in her armchair, grabbing her notebook and writing quickly in it before addressing me. “So, let’s address the elephant in the room, or should I say the giraffe in my lobby. That man is tall as hell. And very pretty,” she jabbers on, smiling away at me, “Tell me all about him.”

I go on to tell her we met, or more correctly he saved my life, just before my last therapy appointment. I mention Faye and that we haven’t met yet. I talk about being in almost constant communication since I gave him my number on Monday. We discuss how he likes to take care of me, and that he did so after I told him about the whole Christopher thing. During this, she is taking notes in her book. When I bring up my episode this morning, she looks up at me.

“So, it sounds like Walter was able to ground you during a moment of dissociation. About how long did it last?” she asks.

“For just a few minutes. I remember getting out of my car, but from walking into the station to Walter effectively ‘waking me up’...it’s just like I was watching myself move but I wasn’t totally in control.” I murmur, finding my favorite spot on the rug.

“I see, can you remember this ever happening before?”

“The last time it happened was maybe five or six months ago after I had to quit the job at the prison infirmary. It was just too stressful. And I guess I have been kinda stressed the past couple of days. Everybody at work knows Walter and I are dating thanks to a couple of friends I made. Nina and Sophie are sweet but they have loose lips.”

“Either way, I am glad you made friends,” she smiles, taking a note, “Are there any other stressors besides a new public relationship?” 

“His ex works at the station too. She’s been kinda giving me the stink eye when we pass each other. She hasn’t said or done anything. But like, she obviously still feels something for him,” I admit, rolling my eyes, “But if that chicken thinks she’s getting anywhere near my coop, she has got another thing coming.”

“Calm down, we don’t need you to be unprofessional in the workplace, no matter how she acts toward you,” she reasons, even though I only half-listen, “Does Walter know about Rachel’s behavior?”

“No, because I don’t want to sound like I’m crazy. I feel crazy. She probably just has resting bitch face?” 

“I think you should tell him about the looks she has been giving you. Get his opinion on it before you discount your feelings completely. He might be able to shed some light on her behavior, or even better, he may be able to speak with her on terms she can understand. And that don’t involve you clubbing her like a seal and hiding the body behind the police station. But you didn’t hear that from me. That’s off the record, Your Honor.” she muses, winking at me before taking notes.

I agree to talk to Walter about Rachel and we decide this will be my homework for this week. Not difficult, but still awkward to start speaking about. I mean, how do you tell your significant other that their ex is problematic without seeming territorial or threatened? Rachel doesn’t strike me as the type to try and come in between Walter and me, but I will be keeping my eyes peeled.

“So are you and Walter using protection?” Out of nowhere, Yada hits me with that question.

“Yada! We haven’t even done anything yet? Jesus, woman,” I cover my face, happy again that my espresso skin doesn’t show the heat behind my cheeks.

“Yet being the optimal word. Got it. Well, use protection. You have every right to have sex and every right to protect yourself. So, don’t be coming round here saying ‘we got caught up in the moment’. Because so did Romeo and Juliet and look how that ended,” she deadpans, throwing her hands up.

“Did you just…never mind. We will use protection. When we get to that point. I’m in no rush and I can’t speak for him, but he at least respects my boundaries.”

“He sounds like a good egg. I like him already. He respects boundaries, he’s attractive, he’s got a stable income, and he liiiiiikes you,” she beams, rising from her armchair to go to her desk.

“I’m glad you approve because I like him and it just feels right with him. We connect so easily,” I say, noticing Yada is looking at me and shaking her head, “What now?”

“You are falling for him, girlfriend, don’t you see that?” she commented matter-of-factly. 

“Shut up, no I’m not,” I answer grumpily.

“Alright, but you are,” she states, tilting her head, “There is nothing wrong with that, by the way.”

“I know. I’m just afraid of moving too fast. That’s kind of my way of doing things, and I don’t hate it but I don’t necessarily like it much either.”

“Love it or hate it, it is a part of you. And you either have to learn to thrive despite it, or work toward changing the behavior. But you know this already, Kamaria.”

“You’re right about that, but I still like the option of just complaining about it,” I confess, shrugging my shoulders.

“Either way, it is your choice. You are still scheduled virtually for next week. You have your homework, as well. Anything else you wanna gab about before we end today’s session?”

“Nope,” I say, letting the ‘p’ make a pop sound.

“Well, then I will let you get back to your tall, dark, and handsome fella,” she smiles, getting up to walk me out. We exit her office and she smiles at Walter, addressing him directly. “She has homework and it involves you, so don’t let her forget.” How she gonna do me like that?!

“Thanks, Yada,” I groan.

Walter is enjoying this way too much because he decides it’s best to pat my shoulder while saying, “Don’t you worry, I won’t let her forget.” He just smiles when I give him a glare that rivals the fire of a thousand suns. He probably thinks it’s cute or something. He holds his arm out to let me exit before him and I’m happy for this because then he can’t see me cursing his very existence. I still let him open the door for me. I also let him open the truck door and buckle me in. By the time he gets into the vehicle, I’m reaching over to hold his hand.

“Done being mad at me, then?” he jokes, taking my hand and kissing the back of it.

“Feed me and we’ll see if I can’t be swayed,” I advise, winking at him.

We grab a quick late lunch and head back to his place. I take a nap for a couple of hours and am awoken by the hearty scent of tomato sauce. I’m pretty sure I fell asleep on the couch, but I’m waking up in a bedroom underneath a light blanket, Beary tucked into my side. Walter must have moved me in here so I wouldn’t be disturbed. He can be so sweet sometimes, I wonder how long he can keep this up.

I get up from the bed, leaving Beary behind and I walk out to the living room to see Walter hard at work in the kitchen. He doesn’t notice me so I sneak up behind him and goose him. He doesn’t react, as if he knew I was coming.

“What makes you think I didn’t hear you from the moment you opened my bedroom door?” he began, only turning slightly to wink at me before returning to slicing french bread for garlic toast, “I used to be S.W.A.T., Princess, so it takes a lot to get the jump on me.”

“So, you’re say-” 

“That is not an invitation for you to experiment on how to get the upper hand, love,” he stops me before I go down that useless train of thought.

“You got me, I’ll be on my best behavior, Sir,” I laugh, pulling myself up to sit on the counter near him.

“Would you like a piece of bread with some tomato sauce on it, Princess?”

“Yes, please,” I pipe up, excited to taste the aromatic sauce. I watch as he grabs a piece of bread, dipping it into the sauce before blowing on it a bit. He turns off the stove and comes to stand in front of me, placing the bite just out of reach. I look at him, confusion painted on my face.

“Tell me what your homework is and you can have your treat, Princess.”

I debate pouting but I know that won’t get me that saucy bread. “I have to talk to you about Rachel. She’s been weird around me, and it makes me uneasy,” I mumble, suddenly anxious.

“What exactly is she saying or doing?” he asks, allowing me to take a bite of the bread, still holding onto it himself.

“She hasn’t said anything to me, she just gives me this bitchy glare whenever we cross paths,” I speak around the bite of bread I was granted, “Honestly, baby, she freaks me out and I don’t like the idea of having to avoid your ex.”

“You shouldn’t have to actively avoid her,” he holds the last bite of bread out for me and places it in my awaiting mouth, “I’ll talk to her. I don’t want to scare her too much. But I do want her to know you mean a lot to me and if I’m lucky, you’ll be in my life for a long time to come. She needs to suck it up and get used to it.” 

“Fuck, that is so sexy to hear you say,” I disclose, reaching up to cup the back of his head, pulling him into a searing kiss. 

I clench my thighs together as I feel his tongue invade my mouth. Strong hands part my legs so that he can slide in between them. Our clothed sexes line up perfectly and I wrap my legs around his hips. A growl rumbles from his chest to my groin. We part to catch our breath, our foreheads resting together.

“Fuck, will you let me eat your pussy, baby?” he practically moans the question and it lights a fire up under my ass.

“Please, yes,” I gasp, wrapping my arms around his neck before he picks me up off the counter and walks us into his bedroom. He lays me down slowly. Kissing from my lips to my neck, nipping along the way. I gasp inwardly when I feel his hand ghost over my covered heat, my back arching at the touch.

“I’m going to take such good care of you, baby. You just relax and take what you need from me,” he whispers, moving down the bed as he hooks his fingers in my pants. He pulls them down, leaving me in my drenched panties. He kisses the fabric of my underwear before pulling those down as well.

He dives into my sodden snatch, using the flat of his tongue to lick a stripe from my entrance to my swollen nub before kissing it. My hands go from gripping the sheets to weaving through his curls when I feel him start to suck on my button.

“Fuuuuuck, Daddy, just like that,” I mewl, his growl vibrating through my clit. I feel his hands grip my thick thighs, pulling me closer to him as he eats greedily. I look down at him, his eyes are closed and he looks like he is in Heaven feasting on me. As if he could sense my stare, his eyes open and we share a heated mutual gaze. 

While still attending to my nub, he reaches up to my mouth and I suck two of his fingers, getting them nice and wet. When he’s satisfied, he leans back and licks his lips, entering my core with his spit-slicked digits and I cry out at the sensation.

“You’re so fucking tight, hot, and wet baby. Fucking perfect, I can’t wait to feel you wrapped around my cock,” he hummed, working his fingers in and out of me slowly until I arch my back to ride his fingers.

I pull him up to kiss me, tasting myself on his lips. His fingers find my inner bundle of nerves, massaging it as his thumb circles my clit. My breathing picks up as I feel the coil in my depths tightening until it snaps and I squeeze my eyes shut in anticipation.

“No, no, no. Look at me when I make you cum,” our eyes lock and I arch off the bed as my orgasm hits me full force. But this one feels different, so much more powerful than ever before. “Fuuuuuuuck, yes! Squirt all over me,” I faintly hear Walter groan those words before I realize my thighs are wet and sloshing noises are bouncing off the walls. Walter looks back up to my face and his pupils are blown wide. “You look so beautiful like this. All fucked out, tears flowing freely.” Did he say tears?

I reach up to my cheeks and feel wetness staining them, my eyes are blurry with unshed moisture. Then the emotion behind it all attacks and I begin to cry fully. I know they are happy tears but I can’t verbalize that to Walter yet and he starts to panic. 

“S’ok…so good…emotional,” I mutter, trying to let him know I’m alright. He seems to understand and nods, going to the attached bathroom and coming back with two towels. I feel wet warmth between my thighs as he cleans me, then dries me off with the other towel. He lays down next to me and covers me with the comforter and I close my eyes in contentment.

He peppers my face with slow kisses, from my eyelids to my nose to my cheeks to my lips. When I open my eyes again, Walter is looking at me with a look that definitely spells out his feelings for me. Instead of putting words to it, we just lay and bask in its radiance. I struggle to keep my eyes open and finally keep them closed.

I feel a kiss placed on my forehead and stir while I hear Walter’s soothing voice in my ears. “You did so good, Angel. Rest as long as you need to, and I’ll be here when you wake up.”

I awake some time later, and true to his word, Walter is still laying next to me. His soft snores are like music to my ears. I lean up and nuzzle our noses together until he stirs and opens his eyes and smiles down at me.

“Hey, baby,” he gives me a quick peck, “How do you feel?”  

“Well…so far, I feel refreshed. But I haven’t tried to walk yet,” I laugh, “That will be the true test. And I need to pee anyway.” At that, I sit up and stretch my arms over my head. I swing my legs out of the bed and stand up slowly. I take my first step and it’s wobbly as hell.

Walter gets up and helps me to the bathroom, because of course he does. He stays in the bathroom with me to make sure I don’t tip off the toilet or slip into the bathtub. I mean, at this point, I squirted all over his hand so I’m sure he can handle me peeing while he’s in the room. He even jokes that he can’t believe I have any liquids left in me. I playfully swat at him and he only grins at me.

We end up having dinner shortly after, the pasta was spectacular and the garlic toast was perfect. The rest of the night is spent introducing Walter to Supernatural. He likes how funny it is, and I feel obligated to tell him that this is one of the saddest shows to ever grace television screens. Once I say that, he vows to still watch the show because it means so much to me. 

We lay down in his bed for the night, talking about what we want to do this weekend. I mention that it would be nice to do absolutely nothing and just be lazy bums all weekend and he approves. Our weekend is spent finishing the first season of Supernatural and me answering all of Walter’s questions about the show. He is so cute getting all invested in one of my faves. And if we take breaks for him to test how many times he can make me cum in a weekend, then that’s our business.

He won’t allow me to return the favor, however. He says that this is all a part of him taking care of me this weekend. I try not to feel undeserving of so much positive attention, but I’m still a work in progress. And that is just fine for now because he is good at making me forget why I was anxious in the first place. My sweet Walter better count his days, because I am going to rock his world when I finally get the chance.

Chapter 5

**Tag List**

@enchantedbytomandhenry @astheskycries 

@geralts-yenn @deandoesthingstome @liveoncoffeeandflowersss @kebabgirl67 @foxyjwls007

Let me know if you wanna be added and for what plz! 😁

[rudikawhy]

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season Three

Just like I did with season two, I took some notes while watching season three.

There are spoilers, but since I've marked when a new episode starts, you could just skip those you haven't seen yet. If there are any.

(S03 E01) I feel you, Coulson. It's hard for me too to get used to calling her Daisy

"He looks big and intimidating. But inside, he's just a soft, little, fluffy little teddy bear."

It must be so tough, knowing you can't go back to your own life

I was waiting for them to mention that Simmons has been swallowed (15 minutes)

Glad that Bobbi's back at work tho.

What's your mission, Fitz!?

"One last thing" what does that mean!?

I loooove sassy Fitz. "Hey, wait. Ah. I want to see Yusef. You understand? Or is your English worse than you think?"

Why doesn't Hunter talk to Bobbi now?

How dare you touch Fitz!

Is it just me or does Iain sound here more scottish than in season two?

I would like to have Fitz as my hero

This "monster" that appears at the hospital looks pretty creepy

And now, Fitz can also read Hebrew. What can't he do?

I love that both Jemma and Elizabeth are from Sheffield

No, don't accept it yet! This is Marvel, of course Jemma isn't dead

Fitz continues to break my heart (DO SOMETHING!!)

What the hell is happening there? Wherever Jemma is

(S03 E02) "In all of history, no one has ever returned" well maybe it's time someone does. Jemma, would you be so kind?

Okay, that was close, pulling Fitz away from that thing

I really love soft Bobbi

"So you think the Rock is a portal?" "No. No, I'm proving that it's a portal." I like confident Fitz (I also like self-conscious Fitz. I like Fitz in general)

"... and a Sandwich would be nice" Mood

Fitz would do any- and everything for Jemma, wouldn't he?

I'm confused by Bobbi and Hunter's relationship

"Don't die out there" I love that they keep saying that

If Hunter is looking for Ward at Hydra and Ward built his own team, than Hunter won't find anything, will he?

Coulson doesn’t open the portal just for ONE life. It's Jemma's life

"A lot of speculation back at HQ as to why you went AWOL. Spiritual walkabout. Mid-life crisis. EARLY mid-life crisis" Saved last second, Hunter

What the HELL do you think you're doing, Fitz!!!?

Why does it hurt so much more when they are inaudible?

Also my heart started beating so loudly

Fitz smiles! For the first time in what? One season?

I absolutely LOVE Hunter's reaction "Fitz, you absolute beauty!"

First Hunter sleeping by Bobbi's bed, and now Fitz by Jemma's bed - I love them

(S03 E03)

Jemma doesn't look too good

I, too, would be creeped out if someone put a tracker on me

I like Hunter

Fitz taking Jemma's hand is just the beginning of cuteness I expect from them

"Besides, she knows I'm lying, so it's not even really a lie." What kind of logic is that?

Did I mention that I love Bobbi? The way she speaks to Fitz

Would you mind leaving Hunter alone? I mean I know he kinda signed up for this but still

How is it that even when Fitzsimmons get to go to the restaurant where Fitz was holding the reservation for MONTHS, they manage to hurt my heart?

Does Hunter really want to meet Ward in this condition?

Why would you have to go back there, Jemma?

(S03 E04) The guy in the first scene who died kinda looked like Lee from the Kissing Booth

I can't make really sense of Coulson, what's his plan with this "cooperation"

Hunter calling May first "love" and then "mum" is just brilliant

"It's tough when people keep things from you" is Fitz referring to the beginning of Season two or to the present when he doesn't know what Jemma plans with the folder?

"Sorry, this coming from the guy who shot his own girlfriend by mistake?" Sassy Hunter is cool Hunter

Sooo, I have a feeling May's gonna kill Hunter after what happened to Andrew.

"It's time I told you the truth about everything" is "Something happened to me, Fitz, on the other side" already the truth about everything or does she simply not tell US the truth?

(S03 E05) Why is Jemma running, though? She has no destination

Note for myself: always charge your phone. Just in case you get swallowed by a monolith and you need to update your file of research and take pictures

It looks so cold there

Her talking about the restaurant to herself is too cute

I don't want to know how clean that water is

Where did she get the bathing suit from?

Okay, I see now, it's not a bathing suit

"You're dinner, biatch" Fitz and her ARE really the same

"Everyone always said we could read each other's minds, Fitz. So I really need you to read mine right now."

You're telling me she only had one picture of Fitz on her phone?

"I know you won't give up, so I won't, either"

Whatever this magic phone battery is, I need it! One month and it still works (or maybe I just need a Fitz in my life, not only for the phone battery)

"You wouldn't happen to have any alcohol, would you, Will?" - "Yeah, I'll run down to the drugstore and get it for you." - "Would you, please? If it's not too much trouble." I don't know if Jemma doesn't understand his sarcasm or just replies with own sarcasm

Is this just going to be a whole episode of Jemma on that planet?

"His name is like your favorite word" you're not wrong

Oh, that's the scene from the end of S03 E01

And Will's the reason Jemma needs to get back. That makes so much sense

You said you wouldn't give up hope

I know it's not really cheating but still, JEMMA!?

What was I saying? Fitz would do really anything for Jemma, even get Will back

(S03 E06) Why take Hunter (who does it for revenge) off a task and put May (who does it also for revenge) on it?

I never would have thought that May couldn't think clear

"You're not gonna say the thing?" That's exactly what I thought that moment. 'We don't get a "Don't die out there" this time?'

But Hunter, it's more than just keeping Simmons warm with a fire. She honestly couldn't have survived without him.

What language does Bobbi Not speak?

I'm always impressed how good they all can improvise

May smiling is just wrong

"Now we use the new dwarf Fitz crafted. He doesn't think it's ready yet, but that's stupid because it's awesome, so I stole it" isn't that with most things Fitz crafts? That he thinks it's not finished but other think it's awesome

Finally some soft Fitzsimmons scenes

I haven't said it yet, so I'll say it now: I don't like Rosalind

Even when she (apparently) has good intentions, I don't like her

Badass Bobbi

I don't know, for some reason I saw that coming. That Andrew is Lash

(S03 E07) Now knowing that Andrew is Lash, it makes it so much worse when they talk about inhumans in his present

Why do agents tend to keep information they got to themselves?

I like Hunter/Bobbi scenes

Can we please also see Fitz listening to the other audios?

Thank you, wish fulfilled

"Do you remember when we first met? I do. You were so quiet and pasty, and... so incredibly smart, handsome... quite a strange feeling... isn't it? Never wanting to be without someone. You must have been so annoyed, me following you around all the time." - "No. Never." - "I imagine our dinner sometimes... where we'd go, what we'd eat. I wonder about us a lot, actually. There's this small cottage in Perthshire we drove by once when I was a girl, some... some... family holiday, and I don't know why but I... I found it so lovely. I still think about it... a place where you and I could have... But that's that, I suppose. I'm not sure how long this battery will last. I should save it, just in case, for more important things. But I'll still talk to you on my own, if that's all right. I'll always be with you, Fitz." I'm sorry, I just HAD to write this down.

It must have been so hard for May to shoot Andrew and put into that box

Soft Fitzsimmons incoming!!

"Didn't know you thought about setting down in Perthshire. That's in Scotland." - "I know where it is, Fitz." :D

Also: "So when you said all those things about... I mean, you were tired and dehydrated." - "I was as clearheaded then as I've ever been... when I said all those things.... What do you think we should do about it?" - "For now... let's just watch the sunrise."

"You should think on a grander scale." - "Oh, I'll be grand." Yes, cause he is already Grant (Ward)

(S03 E08) That escalated quickly

I like Lincoln's voice

Fuck Ward

Why can Lincoln just work with them from one moment to the other?

Hunter's "Damn the Yanks" Shirt 😅

Coulson and Price together is just urghh

That wasn't a nice thing to do, Ward

"Stop. Just stop trying to do all the right things. It's too much." But that's what we love about Fitz

Why is it so funny; Hunter typing on the computer with Daisy on comms

And of course Hunter can't be really serious (Username: God Save The Queen), and Daisy feels the need to clarify that that wasn't her idea

I love jealous Fitz

"And you dove through a hole in the universe for me!" Thank you for pointing that out

I didn't even realize at first that this was really the FIRST Fitzsimmons kiss, it felt so natural

I may or may not have squeaked

I never realized how long Iain's eyelashes are

No, Fitz, you're not cursed

Watch out, Bobbi, I still need you

"Our friend Mr Banks has just showed up, and I do not have a handkerchief to cover my face... and that would be weird, anyhow." Indeed that would be weird

I don't know if I like Lincoln

I love Bobbi/Hunter dynamic

Of course everything is connected

(S03 E09)

Why is this dinner so awkward?

I mean I didn't like Rosalind, but she didn't deserve that

Aaaaand of course it was Ward

This episode started off with so much, and so fast, I can't even put my thoughts into words and write them down

Kinda cool, the interrogation

Crazy how Coulson, who is normally one of those who can think clearest, is now acting fully emotionally.

First May, then Coulson, everyone is attacking Hunter

Okay, what is going on here? Always putting Fitzsimmons in danger, aren't we, writers of AoS?

You can't just simply separate Fitzsimmons!

Don't you touch Jemma

Ward, you bloody psychopath

I kinda like Thomas

How many phones does someone with anger issues buy each year if every time something inconvenient is said on the phone they throw it away?

Cable ties are really the worst to be bind to something

Oh Fitz, when I said you'd really do anything for Jemma, this isn't what I meant

I beg you pardon, Ward? S.H.I.E.L.D. killed Kara? I think you got there something really wrong. That was you, you shot her

"Fitz, please just let them kill me." Jemma, you know that that's never gonna happen. He would do anything in his power to keep you alive

"I lost you once. I can't lose you again. I'm just... I'm not strong enough to live in a world that doesn't have you in it"

She wants to hug him but she can't 😭😭

Okay, Coulson, that was crazy

They really could have given Fitz some better clothes

(S03 E10) That way, Fitz won't be able to figure out anything

"This is how S.H.I.E.L.D. works. You make a plan, plan turns to rubbish, you make a new plan." Well said

Oh god, oh god, what can I say? I'm literally shaking because of this Fitz/Will thing

I wasn't really able to pause the episode to write something down, so I don't really have any notes from this episode.

But, some things:

I feel bad for Jemma because she looked so guilty when May said that Lash killed all the inhumans, and she was the one who let Andrew free, just to save herself. I don't know, I just feel bad for her

Also, I feel bad for Fitz because he just wanted to bring Will back for Jemma and then Will turns out to be "it"

Also, the few seconds between Fitz shouting to Coulson that they have to hurry and them actually hurrying, when Coulson left his hand by Ward's side, that felt so much longer than it actually was.

Jemma standing by the container at the end, thinking that Fitz didn't make it, just hurt really

Also what was that last glance between Coulson and Fitz suppose to mean? That confused me

And because I feel like I haven't said it in a while: I really love Bobbi and Hunter

(S03 E11) What president is that supposed to be?

I love that Jemma still asks Fitz for his opinion, even when (it seems like) she doesn't really need it

This person with those super powers (who puts Mack in the car) is scary

What did Fitz do to Will, though? I thought Will really died saving Jemma and that, whatever it was, was just disguised as Will

Who could this person be who might know something about Malick?

Ah, van Strucker

This new "Ward" is really weird and scary

Bobbi's "Hey you" (rescuing Mack) made me unreasonable happy

When Coulson said "What about him?" to Lincoln, I thought he wanted to put him into this machine

Why is there almost no episode where no one is captured, hurt, knocked out, or anything like that? And why is it once again Bobbi and Hunter?

"Why are you really here?" is a pretty stupid question you can ask a person who you've kidnapped

Okay, now Elena's no longer scary, more cool

Also please keep Bobbi and Hunter save

"I miss you"

"You've been nothing less than extraordinary this whole time." Jemma's here to speak the truth

"Can we start over, back to where we began?" - "Sixteen and achingly shy" - "Two people, endlessly inquisitive, about to embark on a relationship that will change their lives, but they don't know where it will go. I'm Jemma Simmons, biochemist." - "Leopold Fitz, engineering." What are you planning with this?

Sometimes I feel like they just let Ward live (or something similar), so that Brett Dalton can continue to be a part of the series

(S03 E12)

"What are you?" - "What are we?" That was creepy

"No one would ever intentionally cut their hair like that" That's what I've been thinking about Talbot's hair cut for quite some time

Sometimes I wonder if Lincoln really doesn't follow orders because he doesn't want to or because he can't stop using his powers on command

I'm impressed by Brett Dalton's acting

How could anyone not want to be Hunter's friend? I mean, yes, sometimes he can be out of control and maybe he isn't ALWAYS the greatest friend, but deep down, I believe, he is a great friend and always there for you

Oh, I was wondering, why his right arm is in that sling, but that's actually a smart trick

Jemma calls him Dr. Fitz :)

Why does Hunter keep on doing his own thing?

And why is he always right? ("Oh, guns. Why does no one ever listen to me?")

And why do agents continue to read something or look for something with their backs to the room when they're in a room they're not supposed to be?

Oh, COME ON, Hunter

Well, that's kinda your own fault now, Hunter

Excuse me, Talbot!?

Each episode, my trust issues just get bigger. Like, who CAN I even trust anymore?

Also, why does Coulson always, literally always, look like he's smiling, even when he's not?

"I hate to be a buzzkill, but this is a gun free zone, so I'm gonna have to take that off you." I love you, Hunter

"I love you" same, Bobbi, same

How do the villains always manage to turn things to their advantage?

"Were we the only ones that got the "no weapons" memo?" Probably

"I'm bored of this." Only a selected few could say something like that in the middle of a shooting, and Bobbi is one of them

Don't you ever pull a stunt like that again, Bobbi

"Oh, damn" was my (and probably Hunter's) though, when he saw the red point on his hand

Talbot's "Where is my son?" reminded me very much of Hamilton's in Stay Alive (Reprise)

Grant Ward (or whoever you might be now), that's disgusting!

Hunter, Bobbi, don't die out there

(S03 E13)

Not me who simply said "Bobbi!" when I saw her sitting there

"I'd like a cheeseburger, medium, with cheddar cheese, ketchup, mayo, lettuce, and tomato. And some curly fries. Crispy." Queen Bobbi is here again

"There's no one else to help you here" what happened to Hunter?

That was nice, that Hunter and Bobbi, for once, had a conversation on their own

But of course it had to be interrupted

For a second there I forgot that Bobbi speaks a lot of languages, including Russian

"How's everyone's Russian?" - "My pronunciation's not fluent." - "And mine's nonexistent." - "I dated a Russian hacker once, but I only learned the dirty words." Why is this all so in character?

"Amadeus Ravenclaw Hunter" only Hunter could give that answer (OH WAIT, that is really his real name!? I thought it was just Hunter not taking anything seriously) (Or isn't it? I'm not following. Can anyone give me answers whether or not that's his real full name?)

Would any of them mind just leaving Bobbi and Hunter alone?

I love it so much when Hunter calls her "Bob"

"Wait, wait, hold on. The letter that looks like New Hampshire with legs, that's "D," right?"

A person who has a shadow even though they're not visible, that's creepy

"I have an idea, but it involves May hitting people" May's smirk

I'm sorry but it looked kind of pathetic, the way they were trying to beat the shadow

"As I was saying, don't panic, sir, but your life is in danger"

Fuck. The panic and fear in Bobbi's voice as she says "Hunter, are you OK? - Hunter, please answer me"

The forehead touch🥲🥹🥺

"It's a spy's goodbye" and I started crying, really hard, and didn't stop until the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo appeared

This can't be it. I can't accept it. Why would they let Bob and Hunter go? Why would they do that to me? To all of us?

I see it coming. I'm gonna rewatch season two and three just because of these two

At least they get to go together

I'm gonna miss them so much

The spy's goodbye was really beautiful, though

(S03 E14)

Why would you think that's awesome, brother-of-Mack?

I can't quite keep up

"No, I'm quite comfortable blaming myself, actually, for the lot of it. For all the miseries endured to rescue helpless little Agent Simmons. Will died trying to save me. And Fitz... Poor Fitz nearly got himself killed a number of times, and that's not even the worst of it." - "Andrew. What happened to those Inhumans... not your fault." - "No, I just let a known murderer loose to save my own skin. Traded all those... those lives for mine. Well, it won't happen again. And since I'm practically the only woman here, who can't kill with her bare hands..."

"OK, Fitz, you're with me." - "Uh... Am I?" That's so me

Sometimes I think Coulson is too hard on people, in this case Lincoln

Daisy, you're not supposed to get in a stranger's car

Fitz looks so shaky and kind of afraid when holding the gun against that guy in the car

Daisy can be charmingly dangerous

I'm not overly fond of Mack's brother. I mean I understand why he's angry for Mack constantly putting him off, but still

I hate it when people are somewhere they're not supposed to be

As I was saying, I'm not overly fond of Mack's brother

Oh please, not Fitz again

"Sooner or later, this bomb is gonna go off. And then... I'll implode. Which is gonna be messy." Fitz talks too casually about him imploding

Joss, Jed, Maurissa, would any of you mind not hurting or trying to kill Fitz anymore?

A shotgun axe!!

"Mini Mack"

I was totally expecting Ward to be in that car at the end

(S03 E15) Fitz didn't look too good in Daisy's vision

Why do people (/villains) always want to take over the world? Like, what would you get out of it?

Okay, it wasn't Fitz but Lincoln, still not looking too good

"And Fitz-Simmons will stay out of the damn snow." I mean I know it was part of the vision but why exactly is it so important to stay out of the damn snow?

"Ward" or whoever that is now is even crazier than the original Ward

That's actually a smart idea, them rehearing the fight

But it's also very funny

Ward's wayyy too crazy

Hurry up, hurry up, Daisy

I KNEW that their plan wouldn't work. When Coulson said that May would go in, no one else. That he'd stay away from guns until this is over. And that everyone else stays at HQ. And I can only assume that it's going to start snowing any second

"It's not snow." - "I think we're supposed to hold hands now.... Maybe some things are inevitable." They're too cute

Oh, right, I forgot that that plane explosion was already foreshadowed

I'm sorry for Charles

(S03 E16) I kinda feel sorry for Nathaniel

That transition of It wasn't necessary

Wait, so Nathaniel is It?

That sacrifice was disgusting

(S03 E17)

I was starting wondering what happened to Yo-Yo

And if I'm being honest I forgot about Joey

Daisy surely can jump out of a plane with style

"This seal gonna hold?" - "Hope so. It's chlorine gas. If not, we'll all go blind." And once again, Fitz talks too casually about them getting harmed

"Who needs space? 'Cause I've got something magnificent right here... A picture of space."

Finally, a wholesome Fitzsimmons scene

Also a beautiful, genuine laugh from Jemma

Oh fuck, I did not expect Daisy to be Hive's sway

Don't they have some kind of emergency alarm button in the quarantine room, so Lincoln could warn the others?

I'm confused. How can Daisy be stopped?

Can Daisy be stopped?

Daisy is probably the reason why people aren't allowed to walk under the wings of planes

(S03 E18) Fitz and Simmons are awfully formal, conspicuously inconspicuous

Fitz trying to talk without actually mentioning what he's talking about, and then there's Jemma with "You mean once we have sex"

Daisy, to me at least, looks suspicious the whole time when talking to Hive, but I'm not sure if she is aware that she is possessed

Fitz looks nice in a suit

"Happy to make the sacrifice" is the new "Happy to comply," isn't it?

"But she's the closest thing I have to a daughter."

I see it coming, the suitcase will be gone any moment

Or not

Fitz being confused by Jemma's actions is cute

Fitzsimmons tends to be separated and I am not happy about it

"I thought it would be cool if the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. had a shield. Fitz agreed, so..."

When did Jemma say, she'd go nowhere without Ward? (Or did he mean Will?)

Okay, he meant Will

Don't you dare choking Fitz like that

"You know how many times Bobbi and Hunter pulled the "my comms are broken" trick?"

When Mack knows Fitzsimmons better than Fitzsimmons knows themselves

I've been screaming so loudly internally when they kissed (again). I literally had to put my hands on my mouth, so it would stay internally

(S03 E19) What was done to Hive's ancestor looks pretty disgusting

"You didn't see Daisy. She acted like we were still best of pals all while threatening to murder me." - "No, you're right. I didn't see that. I was much too busy listening to the disgusting face of Grant Ward act like my dead boyfriend." - "That's true. That does sound worse." - "Right. If this was a competition, then I'd win. I had to shoot him three times just to shut him up." - "Bet that felt good." - "Yeah, it did. Though it would have felt better had he actually died, instead of just sort of oozing."

Okay, that was even more disgusting, Dr Radcliffe's attempt

I hope that they find a way to get Daisy out of there soon

Fitz talking about Milton, the absolute worst, is too funny

That was pretty stupid, Lincoln

Urghh, May smiled

Why are there suddenly so many nameless soldiers who say more than just "Yes sir"?

Also, I'm constantly expecting Hunter and/or Bobbi to appear on the screen

Hive Daisy's recklessness is scary

And now you've made Hive angry

(S03 E20) I didn't manage to write anything during the episode

But: I thought the lift from the bar to the HQ was really fancy

I was constantly angry at Lincoln for wanting to be with Daisy. So he fooled me too

I was definitely glad that he fooled me and didn't actually wanted to go to Daisy

I still don't like Talbot, even though he didn't really do anything for disliking him

I thought it was really cool that they tricked Hive and Daisy

I am still surprised that Lash doesn't harm Daisy, in contrary really. He was so careful when saving her and freeing her from Hive's sway

I am honestly not sure if I am glad that Lash died or not. Because, yes, he did kill a lot of innocent people, but he also saved Daisy, and maybe they need this power a few more times to free inhumans from Hive's sway

I did not really understand what bad news Fitzsimmons had in the end

(S03 E21) Fitz screamed like a monkey

I'm impressed that Fitz could keep up with that code

Fitz finally initiated a high-five and there's no one who's willing to give him one

Oh dammit, Coulson wants to put Daisy into that machine

Don't provoke Lincoln

Okay, he did

Brett Dalton is honestly a very good actor

Don't get too excited about catching Hive. There is always a hook

Fitz really is the romantic one

I told you, don't get too excited, Hive would find a way to escape

What the hell do you think you're doing, Daisy?

(S03 E22) some post-episode notes

That was... a lot

No, seriously, that was really thrilling

I can't recall particular thoughts or details I want to point out

But a few times I realized I'd clapped my hand over my mouth. I didn't know people really do that, I thought that's just something people in movies do

These new inhumans certainly are pretty creepy

When they were in the room where Jemma was hiding, I was so confused why they couldn't see her

Also Dr Radcliffe is too full of himself

Dammit, I knew Lincoln would die in this episode, but still- Whyyy? I was just stating to REALLY like him

Also Daisy didn't make it any easier not to cry

And that six-months-later scene wasn't what I was looking for. That Daisy left the team

And what the hell does Radcliffe plan to do?

Who is AIDA?

So many questions

But this also means that Fitzsimmons is now at least half a year together, which makes me happy

One of the few things in this episode that made me happy

So, this was me watching AoS season three within 11 days. That was... something. A lot to take in, to think about. I mean we finally got Fitzsimmons. Hive's dead. A lot of other good things happened. But sadly also a lot of bad and not-so-good things. I'm gonna miss Bobbi and Hunter like hell. I already do. (Well, not that I actually miss hell, but I'm gonna miss them really really much). But now to season four. Looking forward to it.

[sepublic]

The Cancelled S3 Storylines?

Apparently the writers finished writing 2A in summer 2020, and the choice to cut TOH was announced to the crew after Agony of a Witch aired (that I remember for sure from Dana herself). So everything up until 2B was probably the original plan, which fits with how the very first episode of 2B establishes the ending in sight, via the sudden reveal of the narrow deadline ahead; Our first indication of when the Day of Unity is approaching, besides the cryptic ‘soon’ from Agony of a Witch. 

This of course means that out of TOH as a whole, Season 2A was probably the closest and most true to Dana’s original vision; Season 1 was great, but as Dana herself explained, it wasn’t until Understanding Willow, halfway through Season 1B, that she felt TOH had finally begun to match that intended vision of hers. And we know there was executive meddling to give Hexside more of a role, even if the writers made it work surprisingly well. And it goes without saying that 2B and beyond was made in response to the show having to end earlier than planned...

Still, this makes me wonder about the originals plans for TOH, particularly Season 3; I don’t think it would’ve been about the Day of Unity’s aftermath, but rather the DOU would’ve happened at the end of S3. We know we would’ve had arcs including;

-The origins of the Owl House

-Hooty’s backstory

-Luz’s quincenera (still possible)

-Steve and Mattholomule’s relationship

We can also guess that we would’ve gotten more development on Alador’s redemption, as well as an arc involving the Looking Glass Graveyard being defended; Gus and Mattholomule are tasked as protectors, Steve implicitly chose to protect the graveyard by giving the map to his little brother (which that arc could’ve explored as part of the aforementioned relationship), as well as Adrian’s desire for the Galdorstones (more on that later this post). Episodes for the other coven heads is a given, and there’s also the beach episode that might just be a joke, but who knows?

I think there’s a good chance that the episode involving the Owl House’s origins would’ve also delved into Hooty’s backstory (as well as the nature of house demons, which live thousands of years according to Amity and go insane from that), since Dana cited both together as examples of canned arcs; And given Hooty’s association with the Owl House, it makes sense that its history would be an important chapter of his life! He was apparently once a kitten...? And Dell alluded to the tower the Owl House was built from being his own. 

I wouldn’t be surprised if this episode would’ve given us lore on the Clawthorne lineage, maybe gone into depth on the Owl mural on the ceiling as some type of family crest; If not outright exploring Wittebro’s connection to the Clawthornes, too! Which could then be an episode that involves Hunter bonding with the blood relatives he was estranged from, as both realize the hidden connection that went back centuries ago...

Also, I can see Mason, head of the Construction Coven, being involved; Because if we’re talking about the construction of houses and house demons, that just seems topical. Mason and his coven were introduced as early as Covention via a house being built within seconds, so maybe Mason would’ve played an antagonistic role, provided insight on house demons with perhaps one of his own as an ally, make commentary on the Owl House’s architecture, etc. Maybe Dell’s tower had something to do with him, maybe not.

And then as I mentioned before; Gus and Mattholomule would have to defend the Looking Glass Graveyard from Adrian, who’s gearing up for a rematch and might have a hidden true form. Since we know Steve gave the map to Mattholomule and yet the Emperor’s Coven didn’t find the ruins... The implication is that Steve was already rebelling in small ways and thus lowkey chose to protect the graveyard, even without the Keeper’s blessing. So we could’ve seen Mattholomule show potential distrust with Steve, only for his older brother to clarify their shared goals; And have the episode explore their relationship as a motive for Steve’s rebellion, choosing to give the map to Mattholomule, etc. 

And given the theory that Mason is at least one of their dads, perhaps this episode would’ve been his debut; Assuming he can’t appear multiple times of course. It’d also be an interesting bookends to the Looking Glass storyline; It begins with Gus and Mattholomule defending the graveyard from a low-level Construction student, and ends with them facing off against THE head of the Construction Coven itself! Which given its association with physical strength via Bria’s leadership and the power glyphs, seems to be the physically strongest of the covens; A perfect foil to go up against the ‘weak’ Illusions that lack substance. 

Gus and Mattholomule could be paralleled via a teamup of Adrian and Mason as well; Illusions combined with Construction, both more than the sum of their own parts! Gus and Matt would definitely notice and appreciate the benefits of mixing magic together, though I’m not so sure about Adrian and Mason. I could see Adrian, since he already DOES recognize and employ illusions with tangible actors, but we don’t know enough about Mason to say. Maybe their dynamic is a bully shoving the nerd into a locker, for lack of a better description.

That again leaves episodes further fleshing out Alador’s redemption against Odalia; The quincenera; The beach episode; And episodes for the remaining coven heads (Healing, Potions, Oracle). We possibly would’ve seen an arc of Odalia finding a new partner, and still might; It’d probably be an antagonistic Abomination witch, so maybe Hermonculus? He and Odalia are both people Willow would have a grudge on, who personally targeted and tormented her over weak magic, as did Boscha; Willow’s trauma boils down to these three, so Boscha may as well be involved for those thematic reasons... Or maybe Odalia’s partner is the Oracle Head, as his revealed backup. 

I’ve also speculated on Hunter having additional one-on-one adventures with other cast members, such King, Eda, and Lilith too; Perhaps the beach episode would’ve had Hunter and King hang out together due to their unique resistance to the boiling water, opening a conversation about their strange identities and similar trauma? Eda and Lilith could be their own episodes, such as Lilith and Hunter recognizing how the system pits people against one another and reconciling to unite against their true foe.

Lilith and/or Eda’s episode could’ve involved the Clawthorne lineage explored via the Owl House’s origins, as I mentioned earlier; Which could connect to the ruins where Eda found the Portal, and the idea of a previous Clawthorne homestead. I also like to think Emira would’ve had a dedicated B-plot with herself as the focus, to pair off with Edric; Probably a hypothetical, additional episode to flesh out Alador’s arc.

Since Reaching Out addressed Edric’s fear of loneliness and being a screw up by having him make new friends he can show his skills towards, perhaps we would’ve seen Emira explore the burden of taking care of her siblings and wanting to be free for a bit; Not stuck with them forever, left behind as support. Maybe Emira wanting to go off on her own for a bit, only to feel lonely and estranged from her two siblings, could parallel the A-plot; Since it’s likely we would’ve seen more backstory elaborating on Darius’ history with Alador and Odalia, him and Emira could’ve had parallels. And it’d be yet another example of the young generation overcoming the mistakes of the old.

I could also see there being an episode involving the Swampy Toes of the isles, since Gwen alluded to them, as did Lilith in her letter to Hooty during the 2022 charity stream. Swamps kinda give me potion vibes, so wishful thinking but maybe this would’ve had the Potions Head looking for ingredients and introduced them properly. Kikimora would’ve definitely had more exploration, probably involving her family and home in the desert of Palm Stings; We might’ve explored hand demons more, and the Oracle Head by extension as another one of them, a potential idol/rival to Kiki.

Gwen also mentioned the snowy rib cage, which shots of the isles show snow covering the Titan’s ribs; And we might’ve seen the coven headquarters paid for by pixie dust taxes, alluded to in Wing it like Witches. Perhaps they’re the structure located at the Titan’s crotch that we’ve seen since Season 1... For a while we speculated back in S1 that this city was Bonesborough, so maybe we’d finally get to see it. Then there’s likely more lore on the Bat Queen’s origins, but that might still happen, as well as the Trapper who killed the Boiling Isles; Also still a possibility.

Finally, I bet we would’ve had a lot of Luz focus in Season 3; That it would’ve been her season, with the codes alluding to her. This fits with Season 1 thematically being Eda’s and the code talking of her, and the same applying to Season 2 for King. They’re the main trifecta, so a trio of seasons dedicated to each of them, with it all ending with Luz, would be thematic! Again I speculated on more insight to her life back on earth, her trauma; And possible discussion of Luz being an unreliable narrator and how her RSD distorts her perception of events. Not to mention more Vee screentime and relevance!

[grandmother-goblin]

Field Study - Chapter 2

Ao3 - Masterlist

Chapter Summary: It was only after Cas allowed Astarion to drink her blood did he see the little wood elf in a new light. The more he learned about her, the more questions he had. And the more fascinated he became.

Relationships: Astarion x Female!Tav

Rating: Explicit (18+) for eventual smut.

Word Count: 4k

Chapter Tags: Heavy and obvious flirting, Astarion has a bit of an obsession with seeing his bite marks, eavesdropping

What transpired between Astarion and Cas in those early hours of the morning did not remain a secret long. The ground was still damp with morning dew when the others made thinly veiled threats regarding the implications of his nature. Like he was some monster incapable of keeping his condition in check. And like Cas was an utter fool for accepting him as he was.

On that point, Astarion was inclined to agree with them.

Yet the more their companions questioned Cas’s decision, the deeper she dug her heels into the dirt to defend it.

To defend him.

It was flattering in a weird way that he wasn’t familiar with. Though he had a feeling her stubbornness had less to do with him and more to do with her choices coming under question by the others. Again. Like every other decision she made since they started traveling together.

It took several assurances from Cas, but the rest of their little group reluctantly accepted the conclusion that was made. That she trusted him enough to let him stay.

That was worth something.

They went about the rest of the morning as usual. While Wyll brewed a pot of coffee, Gale tended to a pot of rabbit meat and root vegetables sizzling in reserved duck fat and fragrant herbs. Even though Astarion no longer needed to eat like the rest of them, the smells were comforting. Homey, even. A welcome change from the scent of wet stone, blood, and rot that permeated every corner of Cazador’s palace. It was strange how a certain smell could dredge up memories from the deepest recesses of the mind like a colander sifting muck and silt for a mere speck of gold.

It had been ages since Astarion experienced a whiff of coffee. It was a small thing, but one that his condition deprived him of nonetheless. For a creature who was no longer meant to greet the morning sun, it was easy to forget about some of the other simple pleasures that came with it. Back when he worked as magistrate, Astarion even had a favorite mug that he’d enjoy two or three cups from each morning. He wasn’t sure where it went, or when he had lost track of it for that matter. Hell, he couldn’t even remember what it looked like. White with some pattern maybe?

Just another of life’s niceties that was so easily forgotten.

“Coffee, Astarion?” Wyll said and offered a tin mug half filled with pitch black liquid, pulling him from his thoughts. “We don’t have any cream or sugar, but it’s not half bad if I say so myself.”

Astarion accepted the mug and thanked him. Though his sense of taste had changed drastically since his afflictions, the effects of foods and drinks stayed largely the same. Alcohol still managed to quiet his mind, so no doubt caffeine would help to wake it. Not that he needed any sort of pick-me-up that morning. Cas’s blood flowing through his veins was better than anything a cup of coffee could offer. Still, he did not want to turn down the novelty.

He swirled the steaming liquid before he sipped at the dark, bitter, brew. The flat taste on his tongue was a mere spark of what coffee should taste like. Blood was the only thing that tasted right, but his loss of taste was just another little gift from Cazador, he supposed. But he still continued to sip the coffee, in small mouthfuls, rolling the dulled flavor across his tongue absently as he watched some birds flit between the trees.

Then, he noticed Wyll was still staring at him.

“What?” Astarion leaned back slightly, as if to put space between him and the monster hunter.

Wyll simply shook his head and poured a cup of coffee for himself. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it,” he said. “Cas even brought it up with me and I told her she was being ridiculous. Hells, I still probably wouldn’t believe it if not for the bite mark on her neck.”

“Are you certain you're a monster hunter?”

Wyll brushed the jest aside with a chuckle and said, “Even the Blade could not have expected a vampire to be walking around in broad daylight.” With that, he went off to offer coffee to the others around camp.

The steam rising from the coffee dissipated in the crisp morning air as Astarion mulled over Wyll’s words. How long had Cas suspected him? Since they found the boar? Before that? Why did she suspect him at all when their resident monster hunter all but deemed it an impossibility? The questions lingered at the back of his mind as he finished his coffee.

Perhaps there was more to that ranger from Neverwinter than he initially thought. Whatever it was, Astarion resolved to find out.

—

The cool morning air gave way to intense late summer heat only after an hour on the road. The purpose of today’s expedition was just to get a lay of the land; find out where goblins are holed up, identify a path to the githyanki creche, and generally gather useful information about their surroundings. And keep an eye out for the devil Wyll was hunting.

So far, they had found a dog hanging around the corpse of his owner. Not the best way to start the day, but they just might have gotten a guard dog for the camp out of it. The dog, some sort of white shepherd called Scratch, trotted alongside Cas as if they had known each other for years.

Despite the two perfect little puncture marks bruising Cas’s neck, she seemed to be doing surprisingly well. Shadowheart had offered to heal the bite mark, but Cas insisted that she saved her spells for a ‘real problem’. So Astarion could only assume that she was feeling just fine. Of course, Astarion had asked Cas how she was feeling long before they set out for the day and she said she was fine. But saying something and acting accordingly were two different things entirely. It was a little reassuring that the two matched up when it came to Cas.

Perhaps she was as genuine as she appeared.

As for Astarion, he was feeling better than ‘fine’. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he felt so well. So alive, for a lack of a better word. The sunlight dripped between bright green summer leaves like droplets of honey, the songbirds sounded like a symphony more than a cacophony, and the sweet scent of orange blossoms with a hint of gardenia carried on a warm breeze. It all seemed just a little brighter, and that permanent weight in his chest just a bit lighter.

Was it just a particularly nice day, a good mood, or were his senses truly heightened from being a well fed vampire for the first time since he was cursed with the affliction? If it was the latter, no wonder Cazador forbade his spawn from proper meals: they might just feel almost normal for once. One by one, the chains that bound him to his condition and to Cazador snapped like cotton threads.

For the first time in centuries, Astarion felt that the world was finally a place he could experience rather than simply witness.

A couple meters behind him, Wyll and Shadowheart conversed quietly about their ideas surrounding this ‘Absolute’ character the goblins seemed to worship and who (or what) might be behind it. Astarion tuned them out. No point in filling his head with speculations. Not when there was already so much going on in his mind.

Instead he set his sight on the wood elf in front of him who, for whatever reason, seemed to make his mind a quieter place. Maybe it was the ease in which she moved through a world that was so unfamiliar to him, or maybe it was because she never once seemed troubled by all that happened to them. Perhaps it was simply because she had nothing going on in her mind at all and her worm kindly shared whatever background tavern music was running between her ears with his.

Astarion focused his attention on Cas walking ahead of him, noticing how the strap that holster her dagger to her thigh was just a little too tight and the subtle sway of her hips. He recalled the feel of her curves against him last night as he drank from her. Even though she had been essentially straddling him, it felt different. Not as sexual as he would have expected, in retrospect. Perhaps it was just because he didn’t have to lure her back to Cazador. He brushed the thoughts aside as he fell in step beside Cas, feeling the sudden urge to talk to her.

Cas acknowledged him with a small smile and they exchanged pleasantries. Bruises blossomed from the two puncture wounds on her neck like macabre magnolias with dark red centers. His morbid curiosity mixed with a sense of pride. It was odd. Why did he like seeing his bite mark on her neck? It should have filled him with disgust, her parading around the fact that she had been bitten by a vampire, but it didn’t.

Cas was different.

“I’ve been thinking,” Astarion started, keeping his tone casual. “And I can’t help but wonder if you’ve had any prior experience with other vampires.”

She tilted her head at him, but didn’t seem at all surprised by his statement. “Why do you ask?”

“Just curious.” Astarion shrugged, trying his best to look more indifferent than he felt.

It was the truth, but it only scratched the surface of every thought that writhed within that curiosity. Until a couple of hours ago, Astarion thought Cas was just an average elf and never put much thought beyond that.

That changed the moment he told her the truth about what he really was. There wasn’t an ounce of fear in her eyes. Then there was the vision the tadpole shared of the young man bleeding from bite wounds to his neck, someone she clearly cared for. Lastly, there was that odd comment about an ‘anticoagulant’ in his saliva, which was awkward at the moment but now it drew his suspicion. There was more to this backwoods elf than she was letting on. Not knowing exactly what that was, however, meant potentially walking right into a trap.

As if he didn’t have enough to worry about.

Cas brushed a lock of brown hair that escaped her ponytail behind her ear. “A very dear friend of mine is a vampire,” Cas explained simply, as if knowing a vampire (let alone calling one a friend) was as commonplace as knowing someone with a pet cat.

Vampires did not have friends. At least, not in the way most people had friends. They had tools, people they used and could benefit from, but not real friends. Friendship required some sort of give and take, and vampires were only good at one of those things.

“He sometimes needs an illustrator for his research, so I help out when I can,” Cas continued after a moment of silence. “Plus, he lets my brother and I stay at his place whenever we’re in town. Saves money on inns.”

Her words gave him pause. What sort of people would willingly share space with a vampire? And what sort of vampire would be open to mortal company without some sort of blood price?

Astarion’s fingers ghosted over the punctures in her neck, yet did not see a single wound except for his and that strange sense of pride welled in his chest again. He swallowed the feeling quickly: scars could easily vanish with the right magic. “I take it that you’ve had plenty of experience with this then.”

“That was a first, actually.” She gently brushed his hand away with a wince.

Right. Her neck was probably still pretty sore.

“The vampires I know wouldn’t bite me even if I offered,” she continued as if it were a perfectly normal subject to talk about. “But you needed blood so I offered. Plus, I was curious about what it felt like and if the texts I read matched up with reality.”

For some reason he did not quite understand, Astarion found himself smiling at her. Maybe it was the unspoken connection of being each other’s first. Or maybe it was just the little flush on her cheeks and crack in her voice as she admitted it.

Adorable, really.

“Was your curiosity satisfied?” he asked, his voice low enough for her ears alone.

Cas bit back a smile. “You could stand to satisfy me further,” she replied in a tone that was playful and flirtatious, but definitely not serious.

Interesting.

“Don’t tempt me, darling,” he whispered, matching her energy in a way that made her choke back a giggle. “I wouldn’t dare leave you wanting.”

With one hand, she gave his shoulder a good-natured shove as a brilliant grin spread across her face. “You’re ridiculous.”

A fluttering sensation bloomed within his chest, warm yet light, as Astarion took in her smile and how her cheeks darkened with laughter. It was strange. Uncomfortable, even. So he averted his focus to the road ahead and swallowed down the emotion.

There was no reason why Cas should make him feel like a damn teenager. She was just a pretty face. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been around beautiful people before. He had bedded more of them than he cared to remember, yet none of them made him feel… whatever the Hells that was.

Perhaps it was because Cas allowed him to drink her blood. Or because she was the first thinking creature to do so. Or, maybe, it was because she gave him the first sign that Cazador had lost control.

That was probably it.

Nothing more.

—

Scratch proved his worth almost immediately. On the outskirts of an abandoned village, Scratch stuck his little black nose up in the air, barked once, and practically herded them directly toward the devil Wyll had been hunting.

Who wasn’t a devil at all, but tiefling. A tiefling that could definitely snap Astarion in two if she felt so inclined, but just a sweet young woman who certainly didn’t run around killing innocents like Wyll had believed.

After it was determined absolutely no harm would come to Karlach, Cas hung back to speak to Wyll in private while they made their way back to camp. Astarion didn’t want to intrude, but he found himself slowing down a couple of times to catch snippets of their conversation. But only one part of it really stood out to him.

“It doesn’t matter who your source is,” Cas had said, sounding like a teacher giving a lecture. “Always do your due diligence. You’re responsible for who you hunt. No one else. Otherwise you’re no different than a mercenary.”

“I know,” Wyll had replied. “You don’t need to recite The Huntsman’s Handbook to me.”

A pregnant pause had permeated the air between. Two, three, seconds passed by. Then Cas changed the subject with all the grace of a newborn deer learning to stand, but Wyll seemed far too stressed to notice.

Interesting, to say the least. Perhaps Wyll’s response had embarrassed her. After all, who was she to be telling a famous monster hunter how to do his job?

When they got to camp, it didn’t take long for them to set up a tent for Karlach and make introductions. The moon was already high in the sky by the time they finished the supper Gale had prepared and took care of some various tasks to prepare for the next day. Yet, despite the excitement of a new traveling companion, Astarion found that his mind kept wandering back to Cas.

If not his mind, then his eyes.

It was something instinctual, like eyeing a plate full of baked goods on an empty stomach, but Astarion was far from starving. After dealing with a couple of fake paladins who were after Karlach, he had no need to feed that evening. Even if Cas tasted significantly better than any demon blood, it would be unwise to drink her blood two nights in a row. Gale gave him an unnecessarily long lecture about why that was the case, but Astarion barely paid attention. The bottom line was he could not drink from Cas any time soon. At least, not without her using some sort of magical healing that would be best saved for an emergency.

Given how Astarion had needed emergency healing a few times during their travels, he’d rather stay on the safe side. As disappointing as it was.

Since hunting took up most of his evenings, and he had no need for blood that night, he found himself with a bit more free time than he knew what to deal with. Gale and Lae’zel had volunteered to keep watch that night, so Astarion didn’t even have guard duty to occupy himself.

So to kill time, he took care of some basic maintenance on his equipment. His dagger was plenty sharp, but he still took some time to buff the blade and check that it was still firmly attached to the hilt. Then he started on his armor, checking a buckle here and fixing a broken strap there. All the while, he listened to the sounds around camp.

Tents weren’t great at blocking out noises, which was both a good thing and a bad thing.

On the upside, if there was any danger approaching they would have plenty of time to react to suspicious footsteps or the low growl of a predator. He could hear all the gossip and drama between his companions, which made for some decent entertainment.

On the downside, when he wanted a bit of peace and quiet, that could only be found in the depths of night when most were asleep.

And he wasn’t quite sure what he wanted at the moment. As much as he tried to brush it aside, his mind kept going back to his conversation with Cas and the funny feeling that came with it. It bothered him, but he couldn’t put his finger on exactly why.

Noise, both internal and external, tended to fade into the background so long as he kept himself busy. That was probably how he ended up fletching extra arrows. There was no need for them at the moment, but there would be. And it kept him distracted. While he was working on securing an arrowhead to a wooden shaft, Astarion heard his name on Gale’s lips.

“I know Astarion says all the right words, but I don’t think he means the right things,” he said, his voice hushed and secretive like a nobleman gossiping at a party. “We need to tread carefully with him.”

“I know what I’m doing,” Cas replied without matching Gale’s conspiratorial tone, brushing his concerns away like a gnat. “I wouldn’t have let Astarion bite me if I didn’t.”

Astarion shifted closer to the entrance of his tent, careful not to make a sound. From a narrow gap between the tent flaps he spotted Gale and Cas sitting around the dwindling campfire, Cas with her back to the flames and Gale seated on a halved log across from her.

“You let him?” Gale leaned forward in his seat, his voice lowering to a fraction above a whisper. “Here I was thinking he snuck up on you. Why in the Hells did you let him bite you if there’s a whole forest full of animals out there?”

Cas shrugged. “He asked.”

“So he charmed you?”

“No,” Cas said slowly, like she was using the word as a filler while she figured out what she was going to say next. “But making a vampire feed solely off of animals is like making a human live strictly on potatoes. You’ll live, but it’s not healthy.”

“Don’t tell me he told you that.” Gale drawled, failing spectacularly at hiding the judgment from his tone. Might as well outright call Cas an idiot; that was at least more direct. With a heavy sigh, Gale shook his head. “You need to be more careful with him in the future. He has a certain charm about him, I won’t deny that, but you can’t trust a vampire. Not completely, at least.”

“I trust Astarion.”

“We barely know him.”

Cas gestured to the entirety of the camp with sharp, sweeping, motion. “None of us really know each other,” she said, failing to hide a twinge of frustration. “We need some degree of trust to survive this situation. Just like I can trust you not to lose your mind and incinerate me, I can trust Astarion to keep his condition in check. He has so far.”

With another sigh that sounded more like a groan, Gale ran his hands through his hair. “It’s not the same thing, Cas,” he said. “He’s in control of his actions for now, but he might not always be down the road. We need to be prepared if that happens.”

“It won’t,” Cas said with naïve certainty, like a child claiming they could best a dragon with a paper sword.

He hated to admit it, but Gale had a point. Even if Astarion could break one of Cazador’s commandments, there was still a non-zero chance that Cazador could still control him. One way or another.

Gale dusted his hands off on his pant legs and stood. “Even so,” he said as he turned toward his tent, “please be careful.”

After Gale had vanished into his tent and a moment of silence passed, Cas tossed another log on the fire with more force than necessary. Muttering something under her breath, she stalked off towards the river and out of his line of sight.

Astarion’s fingers relaxed around the bundle of arrows still clutched in his hands. The arrows pooled haphazardly on the floor of his tent when he released his grip, forgotten as that weird feeling stirred in his gut once again.

Perhaps he was hungry after all.

As much as he wanted to deny it, something about Cas’s words slipped past that iron cage he kept around his heart. Not too far. Just enough to notice.

For a moment, he enjoyed the feeling for what it was. Warm. Pleasant even. And entirely too dangerous to let himself indulge in. It would only lead to more pain down the road.

But that trust Cas had in him…. He could use that. Trust was a powerful yet fragile thing. Something that could shatter in an instant if she had any inkling of him abusing it.

And he needed Cas to trust him. Needed her on his side. For his own protection, if nothing else.

No one else would have stuck up for him the way she had. It was genuine. Cas had no idea that he had heard any of that conversation. She had nothing to gain by standing up for him, especially when she didn’t think he was around to hear her.

However, Astarion realized with some bitterness, he didn’t know the first thing about trust. Sure, he knew how to exploit it for his advantage, to lure people to Cazador, but placing his own trust in another? That was a luxury that had been denied to him as long as he could remember.

Any time he placed his trust in another, it always came back to bite him.

Not only that, but centuries as Cazador’s puppet effectively denied him any sort of meaningful connections. They were always fleeting. Always for Cazador. As long as Cazador lived, Astarion couldn’t even trust himself. And as long as Cazador lived, as long as Astarion was beholden to his every whim, no one could trust him either.

Except for, apparently, Cas.

Perhaps she was more foolish than he originally thought. Vampires with the best intentions, even if they were free, still risked succumbing to their hunger or dark desires. Astarion had seen the light slowly fade away from each one of his siblings; love turned into a paralyzing prison, friendship twisted into rivalry, and trust became nothing more than a tool to be exploited.

When one’s life had to be shrouded in darkness and death in order to continue, it was easy to forget about the light.

As much as it scared him, and as new as it was, Astarion did not want to return to a world without the light.

---

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[aloev3rathings]

gosh there is just something so infinitely satisfying about hunter getting flustered around willow like

like here is this boy who established early on in the series as a threat, a prodigy, fairly competent with his job, and a skilled combatant who is initially pretty prickly with the people he meets

but willow pulls him out of the sky, convinces him to be part of her team, wrangles him into seeing that there is more to people that meets the eye, and basically shows him that there is more to life

like it makes sense he’s thrown by her presence in his life

like, real talk, even if we weren’t able to get canon confirmation that hunter and willow get together bc of the shortened season, I’d still be satisfied bc he is so obviously amazed by her, because obviously willow is great and amazing, but to have that seen by the obvious fan favorite angsty “bad boy” character who just goes so soft when he sees her, it’s just very heart warming, like he admires and respects her so much. and he’s gotten closer with luz and gus and darius and has gone through a bunch of changes, i can’t help but feel like his friendship with willow was a pretty big part of that.

i so so so wish we got more of the owl house bc it would’ve been nice to see more of that. especially since when he called himself “half a witch” in ASIAS bc I feel we would’ve gotten so much more bonding between them bc they’ve both felt that, and Willow’s face when he called himself that is just like; “oh, he’s like me. but he’s great! but he get’s it.”

that’s why I like huntlow so much, not just the romantic stuff which of course is cute and sweet and im a sucker for the trope of bad boy with good girl (sort of? more cinnamon roll who could kill you) and such, but bc of the potential of what we could’ve gotten from their developing relationship had the series continued. and I’m so happy that the fandom has taken it upon themselves to explore that, especially when so many of us relate to them in terms of experiencing child abuse and bullying. it’s just so nice to me.

i almost didn’t watch the owl house past the first episode, and im glad I kept with it. the lgbtq representation, the themes, the characters, all of it makes me so happy kids who watch it are able to see it now, and I wish I had gotten something similar when I was a child.

im gonna miss this series so much when it’s over.

[shimmerbeasts]

//Drow is interesting for Bhaal, as he was a mortal human man and seems to still like his old form a lot. Not that he can't, he is a god, but what would be the motivation for it? Does he have a reason to choose this specifically for Jinx? (Comment made by @steel-and-fire)

I hope you do not mind me posting your comment in a separate post as I have a bit to talk about, and that way, I have the advantage of no sudden word limits cutting me off.

First of all, people have to remember, that I am still fairly early in my playthrough, and while I know certain things already about the Dark Urge storyline, I only know bits and pieces. I do not yet have the full picture. However, even if I had the full picture, there may be a chance that I am doing this regardless. I like giving canonical characters and sometimes even the world or their relationships my own flavour. Seriously, look at my worldbuilding for Zaun and you get what I mean.

Anyhow, onto the whole drow and Bhaal stuff. To understand what my idea was here, you have to understand that when I chose to make Jinx's BG3 verse and designed her as my avatar for my playthrough, I tried to draw as much from who she is in Arcane. I did not even try to make Jinx look exactly like Arcane Jinx because that is just impossible.

As you can clearly see here, Jinx's original aesthetic would hardly map completely onto BG3's aesthetic. So, I decided that while I gave clear nods towards Jinx's appearance like her blue hair or her demonic purple and demonic blue eyes, what was more important was capturing the spirit of her character in her design. Ergo more, who is she as a person versus what does she look like.

This is for instance why Jinx is a thiefling instead of a human or elf. From what I heard of the race, they are outcast, but also associated with evil and trickery. And in my opinion, Jinx is an almost tragic spin on a trickster and malevolent character. Other things, I included are nods to the people, she canonically holds dear, wherever I could. Everybody with two working brain cells, who saw Arcane, can tell that Jinx's heterochromatic eyes are a nod towards Silco as is her tattoo, which in my brain is almost like Shimmer leaking out of her eyes. Her horn's red tips are a nod towards Vi.

Anyway, back to your question: How the heck does any of this tie to Bhaal appearing as a drow for Jinx instead of his apparent human shape?

The short answer is: I decided to give Jinx pre-brain damage and tadpole situation a dynamic with Bhaal which is very similar to Silco and her in canon. So I was like "If I go with the whole Silco = Bhaal analogy, why not go all out?" And well, if you look at Silco's appearance, I felt a drow would make the most sense for Bhaal's chosen form.

You see my point, right?

I also thought a lot about how Jinx interprets what "Father of Murder" means or more specifically what murder is. And well, if you look at the definition of the word murder, the topic of intention is very crucial to differentiate it from manslaughter. So, I felt that for Jinx, intention would be a very important element in how she unleashed her dark urge in the past. It is about setting up a kill and the whole chase element of it. Girly ain't a hound, in this case, she is a hunter.

And I was like Okay, what would be easier for a god. Trying to brute force her into a completely different path or you know, taking the path she already is on, and speeding it up. I chose to interpret Bhaal as taking the shape of a drow for Jinx as a nod to Silco, but also because she is very receptive to wanting to make a parental figure proud in her own unique ways. In a way, Bhaal is fitting himself around Jinx's interpretation of who he is. Is he still the quote-on-quote "Father of Murder"? Yes. Did Jinx choose to take that more literally? Also, yes. Does Bhaal choose to play into this because it enables him to control Jinx more easily? Yes.

In my eyes, Bhaal would be scarier if he could accommodate multiple interpretations of the word murder and not just one. And that is exactly what he is doing with Jinx.

[ghostjunksickness]

Here’s the Vahn breakdown!

Circumstance, Trauma and healing.

Vahns entire life is a series of things going terribly wrong and then continuing to live whether they like it or not.

What exactly Vahn was like right before the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Day is a big blank space, so they can only really be analyzed from the time they met Trigger and onwards (with the exception of a handful of early childhood flashbacks).

For all the messiness of the two hunters relationship, I do think that on the whole Trigger was probably the best person to have found Vahn. He was never the best at helping Vahn emotionally, but Trigger’s decision making inadvertently kept Vahn safe from Interstellar for Five Years.

At face value, Andrew seems like he would have been the best person to have picked up Vahn. He’s already familiar with Vahn and the rest of the Avalons would have been an incredible support network for the freshly traumatized teen. However . That’s not taking into account Vahns new powers coupled with a dangerously unstable mental state.

We saw in a flashback the first time Vahns arms extended, they were having some kind of emotional breakdown and attacking Trigger. If Vahn did that to a member of the Avalon family, it could have gone much worse than a minor concussion for just Vahn. Andrew is freshly traumatized himself at this point which adds another volatile element to the mix. Even if everything worked out about as well as it did with Trigger, the greatest difference is that Andrew would have almost certainly brought up Vahns tattoos and powers to outside parties. Well intentioned no doubt but with what we know of Interstellar and especially Dr. Yaromir, any whiff of Vahns powers would have had Fiachra and her people kidnapping Vahn within the week.

Hell, within 24 hours of Trigger semi abandoning them, Vahns tattoos were photographed and sent to Yaromir at a random bar, five YEARS after everything went down. And the more I think about it, the more I’m amazed Trigger managed to not only hide them for so long, but keep Vahn in relatively good health too. Trigger happened to have just the right collection of contacts and paranoia to get Vahn medicine, wrapped up and off the wrong radars long enough to survive to this point.

Which is all the more important considering Vahns amnesia. Vahn regularly gets mistaken for a kid and does exhibit many childish qualities, but when you take into account they’re working with all of five years worth of memories? Yeah makes sense why they’re skewing a bit lower. Vahn doesn’t have access to their formative years so it’s a bit like trying to understand a book that’s had the first dozen chapters ripped out.

Blocking out painful memories seems to be Vahns way of dealing with trauma as well. Selective memory is a legitimate way people can deal with extremely traumatic experiences.

It happens at least twice, the first being when Vahn first got their tattoos and the world almost ending. And then again after being halfway murdered and assaulted by Aiden. At least the second time Vahn only lost a week. But while losing memories helped protect Vahns mind the first time, it left them in an extremely vulnerable state where they needed to relearn how to be a person.

On the whole, Trigger was decent about avoiding Vahns triggers (pun intended). They didn’t push about their past unnecessarily. Respected Vahns wishes to stay away from hospitals. Triggers overprotective treatment certainly stifled Vahn in the long run, but in the early days, I don’t think Vahn had the emotional bandwidth to take care of themselves.

(What makes me curious as well is why Trigger let Vahn stay for so long. Sure it’s the right thing to do, but Trigger could have just dropped them off at the nearest crisis center with some spare clothes and flown away still having done right by, what was essentially, a stranger.)

By the time of the comic, Vahns dependence on Trigger has curdled into over-dependence. Up until Raw Schism. Vahn always defers to Triggers direction, even when they disagree with him. Two scenes in particular really cement this: when Trigger locks Vahn in the bathroom during Rotten Hand Brothers, and when Trigger and Vahn shoplifted. Both times Vahn is verbally disagreeing with Trigger but still physically follows his directions. Where as by Raw Schism, Vahn has learned first and second hand that Trigger Can Be Wrong. Which is HUGE for Vahn, since that now forces them into the uncomfortable position of having to make decisions for themselves.

One of the reasons I really love Poco A Poco is that it’s basically Vahn speed running what every college freshman goes through their first time moving out from home. Gotta do all your own cooking, cleaning, maintenance etc. Most importantly, Vahn had Erich there to teach them that independence is not isolation.

Vahn and Triggers relationship has been unhealthily codependent for a long time, and what was good for them at the start isn’t what either of them need right. You can’t leave a cast on forever.

When I think about the worst case scenario between Vahns memory loss and the target of their powers, there could have been a very unpleasant timeline where Vahn was kidnapped by Interstellar much earlier on. What kind of person would that have created? If the main influences on Vahn had been Fiachra and Yaromir instead of Trigger?

Time heals all wounds, but with the wrong kind of treatment, not all wounds heal back Right.

The roads Vahn has had to face have never been easy, that's for sure, oh boy;;; All paths seem to lead to some level of pain and there's some less so than others (and we'd say you've made some excellent deductions hoho) but you're absolutely right that Vahn's journey has always been about deciding whether or not it's worth bearing to see another day.

Thank you for another juicy analysis, we loved reading this so much!!! We're floored and absolutely humbled!! 🙏✨