#greed is losing the monster to humanity

[sidsinning]

*Squints eyes* do I have a type

[intermundia]

my favorite thing about anakin as a character is the inherent nuance lucas wrote into his story, like he's neither an innocent victim nor an inherently evil monster, he's just some guy put in a series of Situations and ultimately failing the test of his humility and self-control. he was certainly flattered and shaped by the devil, spiraling into something unrecognizable, but he chose to take every step down the pathway to hell. lucas knew he would lose a certain demographic by making him basically a greedy pawn in the larger story, not a righteous betrayed macho badass, but he did it anyway. he made him an awkward romantic and a loyal friend, a generous boy and a brilliant teen. he made sure he had all the positive qualities that meant that he had potential to be so much more than vader, but it was clearly his choice to lie, murder, and fully squander that potential. there are no excuses for what he became, no acceptable reasons to commit mass slaughter. he became an unbelievably selfish and impatient man, reckless and wantonly violent. hayden captured that nuance so well, nobody can match the sweetness of his smile and the absolute horror of his scowl on mustafar. to view him through a single lens as either pure victim of manipulation and (canonically unsupported) emotional neglect, or a creepy evil villain, denies the heart of his story and the weight of his tragedy. he's neither an angel nor a demon, he's both and neither, he's deeply human, a classical tragic hero with a flaw of greed. lucas made a choice with the prequels to tell a story that not everyone wanted to hear, and the result was a character that i think is one of the best of modern pop culture, mostly because he feels to me so very, very ancient and eternal.

[greenglowinspooks]

(DCxDP) The obligations of a rogue versus those of a parent (Pt. 4)

—

Tw: descriptions of body horror, Dr. Crane has PTSD and Does Not Realize, Crane has an actual panic attack and just doesn’t care, the Riddler makes one (1) sex joke about Batman

Will be crossposted to AO3 eventually

(Pt. 1 here) (Prev here) - (Pt. 5 here)

(Masterlist here)

—

Dr. Jonathan Crane is in his lab, the acrid scent of chemicals filling the air, and his hands are shaking.

Danny’s health, for the first week that he had him, had been steadily improving at an extremely quick rate. However, his healing had begun to stagnate. Danny said that it was because his body had run out of ectoplasm, and that while there was a lot of ambient ectoplasm in Gotham, he needed a stronger type in order to heal.

And so, that led Dr. Crane here.

He had stolen the research notes from the Penguin years ago regarding his experimentation on him.

(He quite vividly remembers the sound of bone creaking and groaning as it twisted, lengthened. The squelching of shifting tendons and muscles, the strange fabric-like tightening of skin. The feeling of going from man to monster, of losing all claim to his humanity.)

Danny had called him Liminal, part ghost. He had said that he was transformed by, among other things, a kind of synthetic ectoplasm.

Danny needed ectoplasm.

Crane had the research notes. He had every ingredient necessary. And yet, attempt after attempt failed.

The chemical smell burns his nose. His hands tremble.

Dr. Crane is not afraid.

He doesn’t feel fear anymore. He’s tried to, many, many times, but nothing has worked. And yet, his hands are shaking still.

(The horrifying sensation of vertebrae pop-pop-popping along his spine, growing and lengthening. The unbearable itching beneath his skin as toxin glands begin to form. The feeling of his teeth sharpening and elongating, of his skull growing, of his vision changing and brightening. The awful stench of chemicals. The awful stench of ectoplasm.)

Jonathan takes careful note of his shaking hands, his blurring vision, his accelerated heart-rate and shallow breathing.

(Human hands. Human vision. Human heart and lungs and organs.)

He takes note of them, but he does not let that distract him from the task at hand. Danny is not a chemist, but Jonathan is.

The boy knows enough about chemistry in theory, but he won’t go anywhere near Crane’s equipment. He seems to have some sort of intense fear of laboratory settings, probably developed during his stay with the GiW, and Crane is willing to respect that, if only because he cannot afford to lose him.

As such, Crane is the only one qualified to do this. And, unfortunately, if he isn’t successful the boy may very well die.

He heats the chemicals to precisely the right temperatures, adding each one to its correct container.

Dr. Crane thinks of the Scarebeast, that creature born of cruelty and greed and a sense of superiority. That creature which he tries to ignore is a part of him, that can never be removed. A damage which cannot be undone.

He pours the contents of a small beaker into a larger flask, watching the liquids swirl together. The stench in the air is becoming closer and closer to the one burned into his memory.

Crane’s whole body is wracked with unpleasant sensations. It’s truly unfortunate, he thinks, that despite his mind’s lack of fear, his body still reacts so harshly.

Jonathan’s eyes wander, eventually settling on a purple and green card sitting innocently on the corner of the table.

Right.

Even if they wiped out the GiW tomorrow, and even if Danny could survive without ectoplasm, he would still be in danger.

Crane has to get him back to good health. It’s the only way he can be sure that the boy can defend himself properly.

The solution in the flask begins to foam, and Jonathan does not hesitate as he adds the final ingredient. He pours the mixture into a new container, capping it and placing it into a freezer set to -40 degrees.

Hopefully this time he got the timing right.

Jonathan tries to relax, the ventilation in the room slowly but surely clearing the familiar smell from the air.

He thinks of the letter.

Surely, he thinks, that man can come up with some better material for his jokes. Or, at least something new.

Same old threats, same old attempted poisoning.

Aiming his threats at Danny, though, that was new. New and utterly unacceptable.

Scarecrow did what he had to.

He doubted that his solution would last forever, of course, as with that man it never did. As such, he would prepare both himself and Danny for the inevitable moment that his choices came back to bite them.

However, for the moment, they were safe. Danny could rest and recover, and Jonathan could figure out a plan to minimize possible damages.

Jonathan is no longer shaking.

He’s exhausted. This is his fifth attempt today, and each one leaves an unfortunate strain on his mind and body.

With a sigh, he settles himself into his seat at a nearby desk, opening up his computer and logging his most recent attempt. He still has to wait for it to chill to know if it was successful, but he can always update the logs later.

Once he’s done, he stretches, joints popping loudly as he walks to the freezer.

When he sees the results of his tireless work, the ghost of a smile flits across his face.

Success.

Jonathan picks up the jug of ectoplasm and leaves the lab, which is in all actuality the basement of the new apartment that he moved himself and Danny into after receiving the note. The scrappy old woman who was his landlord had told him that as long as he paid her five hundred dollars up front, she would let him set up in the basement without any questions or cop calls.

And so, the most expensive apartment in the Narrows was his.

At least, he thought, the distance between the basement and the apartment was short enough that Danny didn’t have to sit in while he was doing his labwork.

Jonathan knew that he didn’t exactly have a strong grasp on the concept of ‘lab safety,’ proven by his built-up immunity to almost every toxic chemical he’d ever encountered, and he doubted that Danny should be around such an environment.

He was back to the apartment quickly, not bothering to hide the self-satisfied smile on his face. Danny is sitting in his armchair, trying to read one of his books. Danny looks up, ready to greet him, when he sees the jug in his hands and pauses.

“Is that..?”

“Synthetic ectoplasm,” Jonathan says proudly, “I found the Penguin’s research notes and decided to recreate it, since you said that you needed it to heal properly. I’m not sure if it’ll work the same as what you usually have, but I hope it’s helpful all the same.”

Danny is standing, now, and looking at Jonathan with a strange look in his eyes. He looks, Jon thinks, like he’s about to cry.

Then Danny is rushing forward and wrapping his arms around Jonathan, his scrawny form shaking.

Jonathan is, for a moment, horrified. Did he do something wrong somehow? Why is this child, who’s so afraid of touch, hugging him?

And then he hears Danny’s voice, and he knows that it was all worth it.

“Thank you,” he’s mumbling, over and over, “thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you so much.”

“Of course,” Jonathan says softly, because what else can he say?

The boy cries in his arms for a while, and Jonathan briefly wonders what his life must have been like before, if a person like him can be seen as a comforting figure.

Then, Danny pours himself a small glass of the synthetic ectoplasm, putting the rest into the small fridge which had come with the apartment, and he settles back down, sitting in the armchair once again.

Jonathan sits opposite of him, and they chat with one another as Danny drinks.

Danny talks to him about the stars and tells him about different spaceships, and Jonathan makes sure to pay attention and ask the boy questions.

He doesn’t miss the way that Danny lights up every time he asks him something about his interests. He’s so passionate, so smart, a trait that he seldom sees outside of his fellow rogues, and Jonathan wants to encourage that.

It’s…nice. Peaceful, almost.

And then the front door flies open, because Jonathan isn’t allowed to have nice things.

“Jon,” a familiar voice rings out, “what the hell?!”

Danny is frozen in place, clearly terrified.

Jonathan heaves a sigh, turning to face the nuisance who’s entered his apartment.

“Eddie,” he drawls, “to what do I owe the pleasure?”

Edward’s face is red with anger as he invades Jonathan’s apartment.

“Oh, I don’t know! Maybe it’s the fact that you sent a bunch of rogues a cryptic message and then dropped off the face of the earth for two weeks! I was worried, Jon!”

Jonathan hums in acknowledgement.

“I didn’t think it was that cryptic,” he says, picking up a book in order to pointedly ignore the Riddler.

“Oh, of course you didn’t, you straw-stuffed hickory dickory dickhead. I swear, you’re always—” he pauses, finally having noticed Danny sitting opposite of Jonathan, “—who is this?”

“My apprentice,” Jonathan replies, dreading the upcoming headache he was no doubt going to develop from Edward’s company, “he’s helping me hunt down the GiW. His name is Danny.”

Edward gasps dramatically.

“You—an apprentice?! And you’re letting him sit in the old man chair?! You don’t even let me sit in the old man chair,” he wails, draping himself over the headrest of the couch with a flourish, “Jonathan, I thought I knew you!”

“Edward,” Jonathan says, “get out of my apartment.”

“Oh my goodness, this is incredible. You’re becoming the bat!”

“I am not becoming the bat, Eddie, now get out.”

Edward has a shit-eating grin on his face as he waltzes over to Danny. Danny, who seemed terrified when he first appeared, is now looking at him with obvious amusement written all over his face.

“I mean, look at him! The hair, the eyes, the scrappy build. If you put him in one of those traffic light vigilante costumes, he could easily pass as a Robin!”

“I’m not doing this with you today, Eddie.”

“Riddle me this, Jon: I am a treasure hidden inside of a chest. You can break me, or steal me, or give me a rest. I can flutter, or pound, or attack, or drop, but if you don’t have me, you’re certainly fucked. What am I?”

Jonathan pauses for a moment before he groans, dropping his head into his hands.

“Eddie.”

Danny sits still, a confused look on his face as he repeats the riddle silently. Then, his face lights up in delight.

“A heart!”

“Jon, I like this one,” Edward says with a smile, ruffling Danny’s hair, “you are correct! A heart, something that I wasn’t aware that our dear Jonathan had!”

“Eddie, stop.”

“No, no,” Edward says, “I was worried about you, you deserve this. I mean, you even missed girls night! You never miss girls night!”

“Girls night?” Danny asks, absolutely delighted.

“Oh, of course,” Edward says, sprawling over on the couch, dangerously close to just laying in Jonathan’s lap, “we have it once a week. I’m invited because of Selina and Jon’s invited because Harley likes him.”

“And what does girls night entail, exactly?”

“Eddie,” Jonathan groans, “please.”

“Well,” Edward hums, “we usually paint our nails, or watch a movie, or gossip about the other rogues, and occasionally, we tell each other about any ‘encounters’ we have with Batman,” he says, raising his eyebrows up and down.

Danny’s jaw drops.

“Edward, shut up,” Jonathan says, an irritated tone in his voice that wasn’t there before.

“No way,” Danny says, “I thought that Batman, like, hated you guys or something. You mean he actually..?”

“Oh, the Bat is much like a bottle of liquor or a cheap cigarette, in that he was made to be passed around.”

Danny chokes on air.

“Edward Nygma,” Jonathan hisses, getting out of his seat and looming over the man, “get the hell out.”

Edward pales.

“Leaving, leaving!” Edward says, dashing away from Jonathan. He pauses, turning to flash Danny a quick smile.

“Remember Danny, I’m your favorite uncle! Not any of the other rogues, me!”

With that, he leaves, the room falling completely silent.

And, as per usual, that silence does not last.

“You full-named him?” Danny asks gleefully, “and it worked?”

Jonathan just sighs, sitting down on the couch and rubbing at his temples.

“Please, don’t take anything Eddie says seriously. He’s a moron.”

“Dr. Crane, please let me come to girls night with you,” Danny pleads, his eyes sparkling, “I promise I won’t embarrass you.”

Jonathan groans.

“Of course you won’t, Eddie will do it for you.”

“Come on, please?”

“I think we’re a bit busy with the GiW at the moment,” Jonathan snaps. He pauses as he notices the crestfallen expression on Danny’s face.

This boy is going to be the death of him.

“Perhaps, though, when all that is taken care of…”

Danny cheers, grinning wildly, and Jonathan is not at all relieved to see him happy again. Certainly not.

The rest of the day is relatively normal.

Danny works on trying to get information from the GiW database while Crane refines his his fear toxin, both preparing for a raid on the GiW base they located in Gotham.

It was only a temporary base, nothing of note, but there was a chance of discovering more bases through it, and that wasn’t something either of them were willing to give up.

Still, something like this would take time. Rushing would only lead to failure.

…

Late in the night, long after Danny is fast asleep in his room, Jonathan pauses.

The GiW are not the only threat out there. They aren’t the only threat to him or to Danny. Perhaps it could be helpful to reach out to someone with greater resources than himself.

He sends a quick message to Red Hood.

Hopefully, he thinks, everything will go smoothly.

—

[ruhorih4ra]

Hello fellas 🧙🏻‍♂️ long time no see... Heheh

Get out of my way: the new exchange student!

She was doomed from the beginning. Since the first time her body appeared in that grim room, surrounded by demons. Demons! The one and only Lucifer, fallen angel and king of hell. Except he wasn’t the King of Hell and instead of being an horrendous monster he was a good looking jerk with an old-fashioned uniform. At the time he was kind and respectful, but she knew it, when she saw the demon’s eyes, those eyes that spoke for themselves, she was sure that Lucifer knew.

She is extremely capable to do her job, so she remained calm. When Asmodeus touched her body and exclaimed with a very sweet and fake voice that she was beautiful and how he couldn’t help but want to feel her skin, she knew he was merely doing a security check. That implied that Asmodeus aka The Avatar of Lust, also knew her secret.

Initially, Beelzebub was left in charge of her, The Avatar of Gluttony and King of flies looking after a human? She did her best to remain unfazed by his stature and stern features, but really appreciated when Mammon stepped in and demanded to be in charge. That was until he pinched her forearm so bad she felt a drop of blood slide down her arm, “Don’t try anything funny, human.” So, The Avatar of Greed knew too.

She did a quick report. Real demons, all have different eccentric traits, some have functional wings, others have tails, all of them are taller than the average human. They have unusual features and seem to speak English fluently. All of them knew her now not-so-secret secret.

She tried to look for the famous exchange student, the human who had been kidnapped. Sc only saw you for a split second before her vision was blocked by the prince of the Devildom. “Welcome to the Devildom, Sc.” He smiled and it was so honest and open that he could have fooled her. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

When Diavolo finally introduced you, she felt relieved. You seemed to be a nice, kind person. So she assumed her reports were correct and you had developed Stockholm syndrome after being captured for a whole year. “Nice to meet you, Mc.”

“Nice to meet you too, Sc. Don’t worry, you’ll have a good time here.” You replied, your eyes were kind and you seemed genuine. Sc felt sorry, she knew right there that you were the only one who wasn’t aware of her intentions.

However, that was the first and one of the few times she could actually talk with you. Sc knew they would try to avoid leaving the two alone, but they were more stubborn than she had thought, always putting you in opposite directions.

She had received a particularly harsh reprimand one day after “helping” you with council work. She wasn’t trying to be sly, but you offered her information for free so why not? Lucifer seemed furious, Sc didn’t know what made him angrier the fact that Mammon wasn’t there and thus you had been alone or the possibility of an information leak. Mammon arrived before she could say anything relevant, but Lucifer probably knew that already.

However, that day he offered a free waltz class. She accepted, what else could she have done? “I told you to stay away from them, human. I know who you are and your reasons to be here, don’t bring Mc into this.”

Sc didn’t lose her temper and kept smiling, dancing as well as an expert. “Why? Are you afraid of losing them?” She was so sure that Lucifer wouldn’t try anything while you were under the same roof that she let down her guard. “Is that a threat?” Lucifer asked, staying calm too, leading the dance with the same softness of his voice. “You brought them here without their consent, forcing them to coexist with you and your brothers.”

Lucifer raised an eyebrow and Sc took it as an invitation to continue. “You put them in danger and manipulated them to love you. That’s not love, that’s codependency.” Lucifer’s grip tightened, squeezing the new exchange student’s hand more and more. “I see you have been thinking about it quite a lot, human. You can think whatever suits you best as long as you stay away from Mc.”

“That’s enough, Lucifer.” Sc felt his hand being slowly crushed under an unstoppable force. “If you try to hurt them I’ll break every single one of your bones with my own hands.” Lucifer smiled and tilted his head. “Almost as good as a cursed record, don’t you think?” Sc couldn’t reply, the pain of having her hand completely crushed was too much, her skin was pale, if she didn’t fall was because Lucifer’s hold on her waist. Before she fainted, Sc took Lucifer from the shirt collar. “They’ll realize what kind of monster you are and we’ll leave together.”

She couldn’t remember a thing after that, she woke up in her bed with her hand completely fine. However, after that the brothers reinforced their security, there wasn’t a moment in which one of them was not watching her and thus she couldn’t get close to you. Always playing with Leviathan, reading with Satan, sleeping with the twins, shopping with Asmo. It was torture.

“Mc love this game.” “This is Mc’s favorite book.” “Don’t touch Mc’s pillow.” “I remember that time with Mc when…”

Why? Sc wanted to pull out her hair in desperation. Since she arrived her mission had been impossible, she couldn’t get any information of the Three-Legged Crow Group and their recent growth in the human world, Sc knows that the prince is closely related but that’s all.

Oh, but in comparison, she knows lots of things about Mc’s whole routine, what they like and dislike. They were like puppies wagging their tails at the mention of your name, no, maybe it would be better to call them worshipers. They didn’t act like demons, not unless they thought she was up to something against their beloved human.

That’s when she decided to take action. Her contacts told her about a certain creep in a local market that was always ready to offer solutions. She asked Beel to take her there with the excuse of wanting to know more about the devildom’s cuisine and then… Beelzebub had been glued to her the entire time.

Sc hadn't completely overcome her fear of Beelzebub, but she had to admit that looking the gigantic demon cry over pudding had been a great help. Still, Beelzebub is a demon capable of swallowing her within seconds if he wanted and that’s something she couldn’t ignore. “No turning back now, not without Mc.”

“My lord, do you know that I am a spy who was sent to the Devildom to gather information about Lord Diavolo?” Sc spoke in her best professional voice. As expected, Beelzebub face remained neutral, nodding slightly. “Lord Diavolo tried to kill a human, they were at an amusement park.”

“That human shot Belphie, Lord Diavolo showed mercy, I would have shown him my fangs.” Beelzebub said with a mouth full of fries. “Following that logic, Lord Belphegor killed Mc, right? what should we humans do?”

Beelzebub stopped, he didn't look angry or threatening, he looked embarrassed. “Mc didn't die.”

“They died, in a sense. You know that, right? Why are they still here? Are you threatening them? Why?” Sc stood in front of Beelzebub, her heart violently shaking her whole body. “Mc is nice and understanding, they forgave us. I don't know why and no, we're not threatening them.” Beelzebub had stopped eating, he stood in the middle of the busy sidewalk, earning curious glances from passing demons.

“Are they nice and understanding or they have to be? How much of their love is just well-masked fear, my lord?” The woman knew that Beelzebub had been an angel, when he speaks about you she can even see some of that light in the demon's eyes.

Beelzebub wasn't a fan of overthinking, although he was an expert on the matter. The fact is that he didn't have time to do it while you were in his arms, feeding him his favorite desserts or sitting on his back sharing your day while he did push-ups. He had wondered those things too, but he had pushed them to the far corner of his mind. What if Sc was correct? What if they weren't protecting you?

Beel felt the sudden need to see your face and so he turned around. “We should go back to the house of lamentation.” he didn't wait for Sc, just walked along the crowd with stiff steps and a gloomy face. “Mc can leave if they want, they're strong and capable. They even confronted Lucifer more than once, protecting Luke and me and... don't tell Lucifer I told you this.” He stopped, not many demons were around anymore, the stalls and enthusiasm of the market had disappeared. “They don't need us as much as we need them. It must look twisted from the outside but I don’t want them to leave.” The red-haired demon stopped as a certain question forced its way through all of his troublesome thoughts. “How do you know what Belphie did?”

Beelzebub turned to see Sc, but he just found an empty street, that and the horrible silence that settles before the painful realization that he had been fooled.

Sc was taught to be discreet and silent, her steps didn't make a sound, losing Beelzebub had been easy once the demon's mind had wandered far from there. It was only when she was in front of the shady place that she started questioning her plan. It didn't even look like a shop and, if that wasn't enough, it was quite far from the local market too.

But she entered nonetheless, the classic sound of a small bell ringing was heard when she opened the door and peeked inside. Two white eyes that resembled a pair of marbles and were the only perceptible thing in the dark room met her eyes and left a sensation that ran down her spine and shook her nerves.

She thought of backing off, but she saw Beelzebub looking for her and quickly stepped inside.

“I need something to neutralize demons.” She walked towards the pair of eyes that laughed with a quiet delight. “Now.” She held the demon's gaze and cursed when someone knocked at the main door. The demon put a bird cage on the table. “10,000 Grimm.”

“What the fuck is this?! Those idiots are at least 6’0 tall, this crap is the size of a rat!” Sc hissed but the bell rang again and her muscles acted on its own, taking the cage and leaving the Grimm.

“What are you doing? What is that?” She had never seen the avatar of gluttony so angry and threatening. “I need it for my classes.” Sc said with the last shred of will she had left, feeling a pang of shame when she heard her own voice sound like a little girl on the verge of crying. Beelzebub inspected the cage first and then the seller, trying to choose the best way to proceed. “Fine, but you'll show it to Lucifer later.”

Beel dragged her carelessly through the Devildom's streets. She could hardly hold the cage and follow the demon's footsteps, before she could even think in the possibility, the cage slipped from her hand and rolled open on the floor. “Wait, lord Beelzebub!”

Beel stopped and picked up the cage in less than a second, handing it to Sc and resuming his previous race, but Sc’s movements were even more clumsy than before as she couldn't stop looking at a little black cloud swirling around Beelzebub's head.

“My lord, you have something on your head.” Sc murmured, stopping Beelzebub again from his hasty walk. The demon just looked around, the murderous scowl that had formed on his face gave way to one of curiosity. “I don't see anything.” He gave Sc a look that meant he wouldn’t stop again and promptly turned around and once again took her wrist to continue walking.

Lucifer found nothing out of the ordinary with the cage, he merely raised an eyebrow and sighed in annoyance, “I suggest something bigger.” He said as his only comment. Eventually she thought that everything had been a scam, surely the seller had seen a good opportunity to fool her and that was the end of her little feat.

That was until your blood stained the House of Lamentation and she saw for the first time since her arrival the fear painfully painted on the faces of all the brothers, from the youngest to the oldest. They had rushed to your room while she stood there, looking stupidly at the dried blood as a lump formed in her throat.

Perversely, and much to her shame, she realized that for the very first time since she set foot in hell she was alone. Nobody was watching her, she could wander around with no one to stop her.

Finally, she could do her job.

So she remained silent, even when she saw two little demons bothering you at the dining table. She kept quiet, even when a little demon (who didn't look so little anymore) threw a book at her head when she tried to catch him. She didn't say a word, not even when you fought with Lucifer and left everyone feeling miserable.

She could remember Satan's madness, the raw emotion, the demon had radiated, drowning Sc in a sea of anxiety and fear. But even then she remained calm, because surely you would forgive them, surely you would forgive her too, right?

She didn't mutter a single word because it was working. She had been forgotten even by the prince and his terrifying butler. She convinced herself that this was for the best and that you would thank her once you were both in the human world.

However, that changed one night, when Mammon arrived to the library and roughly tied up her wrists. “How did you know I was here?!” Sc struggled in an attempt to free herself from the rope. “I have eyes everywhere.” Mammon winked at her and forced her to walk ahead of him. “Where are we going? Where is Mc?”

Mammon stopped, but his hands stopped Sc from turning around. “Why are you askin’, human?” Sc felt the pointy nails of the greed demon caressing her neck. “They seem off, I’m worried. That’s all.” And wasn’t that true after all? You were different, ever since the fight you have been more rude and violent. Even she has retreated behind Lucifer’s back when you pass by.

“Someone attacked them.” The avatar of greed’s voice was cold and composed. “Those idiots dared to hurt them.” Sc felt Mammon´s nail pressing on her neck, exactly on the carotid arteries. “Do you know something about it, witch?”

“No, I don’t. Are they oka-!” The young woman couldn’t say anything else as the demon pushed her to the floor. “Ya wanna know somethin’ human? Truth is Mc’s not a bad liar, ya know? They had lied to me looking straight to my face without batting an eye.” Sc’s groaned when Mammon took her by the hair and forced her to stay still while he spoke just inches away from her face. “It’s unfair, you see, because we are demons, I can hear your heart screaming the truth, it’s so loud it hurts my fuckin’ ears.”

“Please, I ddon’t knnow anything.” Sc said in short breaths. “Are they okay?” Sc asked again. Mammon tightened his grip on the woman’s hair before releasing her. “Yes they are. I’ll take you to the attic and you’ll stay there until Satan beats the truth out of you.”

Luckily, she wasn’t held hostage for long and nobody ripped the truth out of her, no wonder why. They looked miserable, awful, lost. Sc had found what had happened, from the attack and the fact that the attackers remained unknown, to your decision to stay in purgatory hall.

Every time she saw you, you were surrounded by little demons. No, they weren’t little anymore, they were real copycats of the brothers. They were your guardian demons, spinning around your head like nasty flies. She knew it was her fault, after all, they had appeared after she bought that cage.

At one point she had decided that the mission wasn’t as important as you and that she should do something but then again, things were much better now that the brothers weren’t there all the time but bloody hell, things were worse now that you were alone with those pests.

She got out of her classes to take a break and that’s when she saw you sitting alone at an old and almost crumbling table. She counted them, there were 6 demons already, one more than the last time.

Sc looked at her hands, only one report left and you could leave the devildom. She only needed a little more time, then she could save you and show the world the truth. Almost unconsciously, her eyes landed on you again, sleeping peacefully in that lonely place.

Part 22?

She swallowed hard before going back to her business. Not even 5 seconds passed when she heard a loud sound coming from the place you were at before, she ran as fast as possible but when she arrived you had disappeared and the table you were in was now reduced to a pile of rocks.

I know I don't update this (or anything, actually :3) often, so feel free to tell me if you want to be removed from this humble taglist hahshaha.♡

Taglist: @yuumaofc @asmolover1234 @gallantys @prefesro @urminebutidontwantyou @fiveofspades @exrellian @kaiserkisser @cutestpatoootie @fandumshippr @frenchmess23yo @reject-queen @completelyshatteredbrokenmschf

[the-modern-typewriter]

Do you have any advice on writing a truly scary villain?? How do I make them genuinely terrifying but also still realistically human y’know?

The short answer is 'be specific', think about all the ways that humans can be scary, and show how the villain is scary/human by the story stakes/other character's reactions to them.

The longer, more rambling, answer is...

Whenever I think about villains, and a lot of the study that goes into villains/monsters, I think about the idea of either the Self or the Other.

Villain as Self:

The self is the us, in 'us vs them'. It is what we recognise within ourselves when we look at and explore villains.

This often comes with a realistically human motivation. For example, it could be that the villain is motivated by greed, recognition or desire for power or control (flaws that many of us have) or fear, desire to protect ourselves/our loved ones (good qualities that many of us have that become warped) and all these motivations ultimately lead the villain to do awful thing. We don't think we'd do the bad thing ourselves, but there is an uneasy terror in recognising that actually we might.

Alternatively, it is the villain who is well-respected and loved. The person we trust. The person we feel safe with. Except, we're not safe. And we can't tell, because we think they're just like us, and in many ways they are, and that's horrifying.

This kind of villain is always the dark side of our own society, our own assumptions and ideologies and belief systems. They are very popular at the moment.

We as a people are deeply uneasy with our own monstrosity.

Villain as Other

The 'other' is the 'them'. It's the fear that many of us still have with what is different to us, or what we don't understand or know.

This is the villain that is the random stranger, not secretly your best friend. It's, historically speaking looking at literary canon, the cannibal savages in different cultures. It's aliens. It's monsters where the scary thing is that they have no humanity, nothing we can reason with, a morality that is completely different to ours etc.

We as a people are still deeply uneasy about what we don't understand, even if many of us are trying to be better about it.

Some villains are a mixture of the two, but broadly speaking, you're considering the Villain as Self vibe of villain. I mention both because I find it interesting, and because our ideas of otherness are so often tied with our ideas of monstrosity that I can't not!

Scary nowadays often looks very much like someone persecuting what is considered 'other' or 'different'.

What is actually scary?

The first part of writing a genuinely scary villain is tapping into something that is genuinely scary.

While the vague can work, when it comes to villains that are realistically human, specificity is your friend. We understand these people, or at the very least we know and recognise them. And it's not a broad threat of 'end of the world' that tends to scare us most, it's much more personal.

We don't want to get hurt. We don't want to lose someone we love. We are scared when we realise we completely misjudged a person we trusted. We are scared when we see someone do something terrible and have a gut lurching feeling that, in their circumstances, we might do the same thing because we absolutely recognise the feeling and the motivation. We are scared when we see villains who persecute people just like us, because we know there's an uncomfortable sliver of truth to it.

Story stakes

All the above bit is all to do with your character understanding and construction. The internal bit. The premise of your character.

Story stakes is external and how you apply your character in your story. In short - if there is clearly no chance of your villain ever winning, and nothing bad ever happens and you just tell people that they are scary, the reader has no reason to believe you.

Have other characters react in terror to your villain. Have the villain's actions and goals have consequences in the story. They must be a genuine threat within the story world, even if they lose in the end. I hope this helps!

[chibi-celesti]

Metafalica anw GRANDEE=LILIA_VANROUGE (The Song of Hope of Lilia Vanrouge)

Summary: In honour of one Fae’s Journey to fulfill his princess’ last wish to save her son, the newborn Prince of Briar Valley.

Heavy Spoilers to Book 07 of Twisted Wonderland. You have been WARNED! And to all the Lilia Lovers out there (yes that includes you, @hanafubukki), this is for you! Hope I did him justice!

Hymmnos Lyrics inspired by this lovely cover of METAFALICA.

~xE rre lasye rYEfrEmU sasye ess Asphaela_urgn/.~

~xA rre lasye fwArn Amerfa_sasye, ag hYAppA za r.w. sasye/.~

~xA harr en herr kAvnLYA v.a. 1 varda rre cie aNuOk zz sarsa/.~

~xA rre arhou sAlLYEeh yYAzLYAtAeh dn vege manac rhaplanca en maoh~

They lost…

Briar Country, once heralded as a Land dominated by the Fae, is now a remnant of what it once was…

Their Princess…slain by the humans who demonized them for their existence. All because of the greed of one egotistical man.

All that was left of her was her son. Still only an egg, but also a star of hope for the people of Briar Valley.

And yet he, too, was taken away from his arms. Not by death, but by those who viewed the broken-hearted war general, who could do nothing but weep for the death of his beloved Meleanor, a failure.

As the days began to pass, the people of Briar Valley hoped and prayed for the young prince to hatch. While nurtured from afar with his grandmother giving him her magic, the prince heard Lilia's vow to one day find a solution that will awaken him.

And so, he traveled the changing world of humans. Looking for the key that would save the egg.

During his journey, he would stumble upon people, asking if anyone knew how to hatch a dragon's egg. But all he got in turn was disdain and hatred by most people who only saw him as a monster.

Even with the malice of human perspective and apathy wanting to make him give up, Lilia persevered and continued his journey.

All for Malleus's sake.

While he may not have made any progress, Lilia could only offer stories to the young prince when he met him time and time again. His voice was a balm to the little one, subconsciously becoming a Hymn of Hope to young Malleus. 

The stories Lilia told were that of an ever changing world beyond Briar Valley's borders. How much humanity has changed; some still superstitious and distrusting while others were more open and compassionate. He spoke of how he hopes to show Malleus the world once he's older.

The days passed with no signs of the egg shell showing any cracks to indicate his hatching. The people of Briar Valley feared that their Prince would soon join his parents in the Stars. That they would lose their symbol of hope to death.

However, even as those around him and Queen Maleficia despaired for the worst, Lilia kept moving forward. Kept going despite the gear gnawing at his heart and mind.

“I made a promise to your mother that you will one day hatch and become a Prince she would be proud of.”

And Lilia's vow grew into determination and hope. A hope that for one day Malleus could forge a bond with the outside world. From that hope gave birth to a power that is befitting for someone him; Protector of Cradles. Such a blessing allowed him to save the young prince when he began to reject his Grandmother’s magic and cry out to his true guardian and father.

Giving it his all, from his love, his magic and life force, Lilia had given it all to Briar Valley’s Hope. To young Malleus.

Lilia Vanrouge was proud to give up everything to give his Prince that hope.

[schizoid-radical]

Pluto, Astro Boy, and the nuclear arms race

here's a few rough paragraphs I wrote analyzing how Pluto, as well as the Astro Boy arc it is based off of, contain a critique of the global nuclear arms race (I might fix it up a bit over time). Although many will notice the Iraq war inspiration in Pluto, there is a lot more to it than that which I would like to highlight for others. There will be spoilers for both Pluto as well as the "Greatest Robot on Earth" and "Blue Knight" arcs of Astro Boy. Click below the jump to read if you don't mind seeing that. Pictures from the "Greatest Robot on Earth" arc are also included.

An important detail about Astro Boy is that Osamu Tezuka originally had him and I believe the other robots contain electronic brains that were nuclear-powered. This was intended as an expression of Tezuka's hopes that nuclear power could be used for peace, in spite of the bombings of Japan during WWII. "Atom" is even his name in Japan for this reason, for atomic power.

"The Greatest Robot on Earth" arc has standard cartoon villain stuff. An evil king, the Sultan, who was dethroned and exiled by his people for his greed and oppression, commissions the mysterious scientist Dr. Abullah to build him a powerful fighting robot, Pluto. Pluto is ordered to take out the seven greatest robots in the world so he can prove himself the greatest, giving the Sultan his chance to rule the world. But Pluto himself is not evil and is shown to be capable of compassion and kindness even towards the robots he is tasked with defeating. He was made to fight by humans and carries out his orders.

After Pluto emerges badly damaged but victorious from his fight with Brando, he gets rescued and spared by Astro Boy, the Sultan has Dr. Abullah place a bomb inside Pluto that will have him self-destruct in the event he is defeated. Astro Boy wants to be upgraded to 1,000,000 horsepower so he can beat Pluto, something Dr. Ochanomizu disapproves of, thinking Astro cannot handle it and that it is unnecessary. After Dr. Ochanomizu is kidnapped and held hostage, the ethically questionable Dr. Tenma comes in to upgrade Astro Boy. When Astro Boy heads off towards Pluto's location, passersby who recognize him think that he has become a monster, a statement that upsets him. Astro Boy loses his first fight with Pluto, but Pluto spares him to repay the favour Astro previously gave him. Meanwhile, another masked scientist, Dr. Goji, introduces himself to the Sultan and has a robot even more powerful than Pluto called Bora. Dr. Goji is eventually revealed to be Dr. Abullah in a different guise. In the grand climax, Pluto and Astro fighting causes or coincides with a volcanic eruption that the two have to team up to control and prevent it from harming the nearby city and villages. Afterwards Pluto starts to defy the Sultan's orders to fight Astro Boy, but Bora attacks and defeats Pluto, causing Pluto to self-destruct and taking Bora out with him. Astro Boy is the only great robot left standing. In the end, Goji / Abullah reveals that he was really a robot servant of the Sultan in disguise. He wanted to help the Sultan at first but upon learning his intentions to have Pluto destroy other robots he built Bora to stop him. The robot servant vows to never build a robot like Pluto or Bora again, and takes off with the Sultan, who was sobbing over his loss and defeat. Astro Boy and Dr. Ochanomizu ponder why robots have to fight each other and hope for a future in which robots can live in peace, while visions of the great robots who were defeated appear in the sky.

The Sultan's effort to be the greatest on earth through the pursuit of power and violence was an exercise in futility. All of his efforts were in vain, it destroyed several great robots and put human lives at risk, and he even lost his own great creation Pluto. Even if you can be the strongest, there's still the possibility someone stronger like Bora may emerge, so it is only a temporary satisfaction that results in an endless anxiety to maintain that status. In the manga, even the do-gooder Astro Boy did not get an outcome he could desire by becoming a "monster" with 1,000,000 horsepower, an ability he struggled to control. Dr. Ochanomizu, the moral conscience of the story, says at separate points to Astro Boy and the Sultan that it makes no sense to compare robots by their strength. When speaking to Astro Boy, he uses an analogy to say that if the strongest people were the greatest then wrestlers would be the most important people in the world. The greatest robot in the world is then not the strongest, but the one who is intelligent, does what is right, and works with others towards peace. It is a simple moral story for children, a commentary on global politics, and a sci-fi tragedy all rolled into one.

Although a lot of the story is changed for Pluto, Naoki Urasawa remains faithful to Tezuka's message and expands upon it. Tezuka wrote the Greatest Robot on Earth during the Cold War, when the Vietnam / Indochina war had been underway and was heading for its highest point. Urasawa wrote in a different time, but incorporates clear analogies to the Iraq war and the war on terror. The seven great robots are directly called "weapons (or robots capable) of mass destruction." Production of these robots became restricted by an international treaty advocated by the United States of Thracia, a country that is not part of the world's version of an international criminal court. After the treaty was enacted, the Kingdom of Persia was accused by Thracia of producing a robot capable of mass destruction under the mysterious Bora project. The Bora Survey Group was sent in to investigate the allegations. While it could not verify the allegations, the Survey Group did uncover a dispensary of destroyed and disposed robots, analogous to a mass grave. After the Bora Survey Group withdrew from the Kingdom of Persia, United States of Thracia led a multinational force invading the Kingdom of Persia, changing its regime to a democracy. After Darius XIV falls, the peacekeeping forces arrive and become as occupiers. Both the invading forces and peacekeepers include these robots of mass destruction (all seven great robots), so it is seen as the strong nations picking on the weak. Near the the cusp of defeat, Darius XIV and Abullah plot to get revenge by eliminating the strongest robots, members of the Bora Survey Group and against Thracia. The Bora project, which initially started as an effort to make Persia's dry deserts flourish, is now used for something more sinister now that its director has become consumed by hatred and the desire for revenge.

There are additional clues to the nuclear analogy too. Most obvious is Epsilon's photon energy, which is capable of turning people and robots to ashes, but is also being researched for peaceful purposes. The seven great robots are viewed as keeping the world in balance, like some kind of nuclear equilibrium of mutually assured destruction. The United States of Thracia does not possess one of these, unlike the real USA which has the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world. Elimination of the seven great robots is seen as altering the balance of world power. In the background, Thracia is revealed to have a highly intelligent supercomputer, personified by the teddy bear Roosevelt, that has been calculating behind the scenes. Thracia's president, who is given partial information, believes that the robots being eliminated will be Thracia's opportunity to become a great and powerful nation. It seems this may have been the intention of both the 39th Central Asian war as well as the international treaty forbidding new robots of mass destruction. What the President is not told is that there is still Bora, who is capable of setting off a bomb that can destroy most human life on earth. While the President is assured survival, it is on the condition that he becomes a slave to the supercomputer Roosevelt. Like the Sultan in Tezuka's story, his pursuit for greatness by means of power and warfare failed, and made him become entrapped in an inescapable and lethal struggle.

Where Pluto starts to deviate from this nuclear theme is when it becomes a story about advanced artificial intelligence. Rather than Atom / Astro getting upgraded to become more physically powerful, he gains the human-like capacity to hate and kill, much like Gesicht and BRAU-1589. While Gesicht is given more depth than Tezuka's Gerhardt (the robot detective character after which he is based on, who only got eight pages), BRAU-1589 was not originally a character in this arc at all. I've seen readers of the manga online note a similarity between BRAU-1589 and the Blue Knight, a villain from another Astro Boy arc, and after reading it I would agree that it is likely based off of him. In this story the Blue Knight started as a robot character whose robot sister married a human that loved her for her beauty. But the man was abusive, cruel to other robots and ultimately killed her. This angered the Blue Knight who developed hatred and began to disavow humans, leading a robot rebellion to build a robot paradise free from human persecution (interestingly, compared to Israel) where he demonstrates a capacity to kill people. I will not go over the story too much, but humans begin to fear and persecute robots even further, even Astro Boy gets caught up in the rebellion or "cycle of hate," and it goes on for a few chronologically succeeding arcs that explore Astro Boy's nature that Pluto likely lifted from. Most tellingly of all, The Blue Knight arc ends when Blue Knight's weapon, a spear or lance, is taken by an enemy and thrown back through his chest, just like the one BRAU-1589 has in his.

[grimescum]

the magnus archives dungeon meshi au anyone? anyone? the magnus archives dungeon meshi au? the

laios – head archivist, the hunt

each party is its own archival institute,, rather than one really big important one i'm imagining that there are several smaller ones located in different areas. laios' has probably gotten the most done in terms of research

idk qhen this would take place i havent thought about that yet lol !

not everyone would be an avatar in this au, the assignments are mostly for fun or as a what if

i'm an anime only + i have knowledge of a few spoilers so im not that confident in these... for hte love of god do not be a bitch if i got something wrong or misconstrued something just correct me in the notes pleaks

chilchuck – the buried

i dont think i really have to explain this. by hunting monsters he is technically both predator and prey. also, with him being percieved as dumb or weird by a lot of people, i can imagine being seen as something lesser than human could contribute. also ALSO the guy is literally compared to a dog several times

outside of vibes i dont think he'd be that affected by the hunt. maybe the occasional bout of animalistic aggression or it being triggered by being hungry. kinda like how jon has a decent hold on his powers from the eye

marcille – the stranger

being trapped in a marriage he doesn't want to/can't leave (assuming hes still with his wife in this au), financial issues, being an emotionally constipated little shit and unable to express it

falin – the spiral

i dont fully understand marcille yet but if nothing else i think this fits with her fear of change/the unknown

senshi – the desolation

clashes with his inherent desire to help in a way that i think is fun. also from his trauma, watching all of his team lose themselves in their greed and then die

briefly taken into the spiral's domain, found, and then taken again by thistle

shuro – head archivist, the corruption -or- the lonely

instead of turning into a chimera, she could turn into an avatar of multiple fears at once via thistle basically using her as bait.

in thistle's case i think he'd be a former archival assistant before getting fed to the spiral, like michael shelley

kabru – head archivist, the eye

the loneliness he might feel from not having someone he's truly close with would leave him especially suseptible i think. his infestation began internally before it ate him from the inside out. i dont think he'd have worms either,, maybe something native to japan

forces himself to work as the head archivist until hes too far gone. maizuru has to help a lot

because of his beautiful blue eyes (/j). this one is going mainly off of vibes because i dont fully get his character yet, but with how easily he's able to read people I'd say its a good fit

[lonelylonelyghost]

Re-watch of The Spirealm. Episode 37

Wu Qi, the bestest bff ever. Everyone needs some Wu Qi in their lives! Wu Qi needs some Wu Qi in his life

"Even you want me to send Ruan Nanzhu to his death?"

"Lingling, you have to figure it out. If you don't enter the Door, he'll die. But if you go, he might survive.

It's obvious. The game can't be fixed without Ruan Nanzhu. He must go, no matter what, even if he is doomed. But if you go, with your strength, you two might have a chance to come back. You can make a choice between all the players and him. But he has no choice. He has to sacrifice himself to save others."

"I understand why I was given up and why he hid the truth from me, but I just don't want to accept it. I feel like I'm a fool who can only accept the consequences and understand him."

So what are you afraid of? Losing Ruan Nanzhu? Let me tell you. I'm not afraid of losing you. Because I know that it's the beginning for you to be yourself. That's the point of being your friend, isn't it? I'm going to lose you at the end of this road, I'll still take this farewell trip as a journey. I can accompany you on your last journey, just like what you can do for Ruan Nanzhu. It's a friend's duty, right?"

"I... I'm not sure if I can make it."

"You can. You can do it. Haven't you always wanted to use your game designer skills to change the world? This is the right time. You're saving the world, Lin Qiushi."

I had to take frequent breaks during these last few episodes, to watch those multi-hour long youtube videos talking about terrible straight romance books, because this shit is literally breaking me.

On a brighter note, I love that Yan Balang's situation is becoming worse for him, reflected by how his surroundings become shabbier and shabbier.

He started from owning a whole building to him ending up in a shitty crowded apartment, with debt collectors banging on his door. The interesting thing about him is that he's extremely intelligent and cunning (as we've seen in the 10th Door), but his hubris and greed destroyed everything that he has built before.

He deserves this misery and no glory

🖕

And Xia Jie being in love with that loser. Appropriate punishment, but honestly pretty sad. I might feel bad, but I don't actually

🖕

🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕

They managed to make everyone here despicable to such an impressive degree

"I'm leaving."

"I have no choice. I didn't have a chance to say goodbye to Zaozao and Qianli. But I have enough time to say goodbye to you. I don't want to miss it. So I'll say goodbye to you ahead of time. No matter what, I won't forget you."

😖😖😖😖

Here's Johnny!

Art that kills

Nooo, our favourite fluffy gangster is back!!!

🥹🥹🥹🥹

"Be careful. Not everyone you meet at night is a friend. They could be monsters. Destroy the game. Good luck."

😭😭😭😭

YEY!! I will cheer for his death every time I see it

My girl!!! 🥹🥹🥹🥹

And her stricken face when Nanzhu and Qiushi told her that they couldn't stay for long 😭

But the last we see her, she's still smiling

I hate this show

"This is the place where we first met!"

"Welcome to the world of the Doors."

Bondage-Don't-Stop-Murdering

Our kind gays bring all the coolest Door Gods to the yard!

And I like how all three of them are a different type of menacing. Zuozi is a cute girl straight up from a Japanese horror movie, Lady in the Rain is a refined gothic beauty, while Xiao Jiu behaves in this not-exactly-human way (the way she stares here is uncanny), because she's half-beast (I think???). I would both kill and die for them all

Our best boyyyy 🥹🥹🥹🥹

God, what an absolutely incredible thing they did aaaaaa

Sitcom. 2000 episodes. Just them hanging around, discussing home remedies, new fluffy tights, and going to each other's Doors for some hairstyle and fashion advice, killing bad NPCs in the meantime.

I never knew I needed this in my life. I want it. Now.

PLEEEASE🙏🙏🙏🙏

And the way Xiao Jiu chokes on her own hair like a cat lmao

Also her hands are AWESOME

[aspoonofsugar]

What are your thoughts on the yorkshin arc? My main issue is the arc never really lingered on Kurapika's feelings that much. I honestly didn't feel much for it. We were shown how angry and vengeful he was, but we never really got to see or feel just how hurt Kurapika was over losing his family, friends and home.

Maybe it's my own perception problem. This may sound mean but Kurapika just seem to be this badass arrogant cold-blooded chain bastard. After killing Uvo, he remained stone-cold. He wasnt bothered. He doesnt feel guilty at all. Was he supposed to be like this in the manga?

I still like it overall but i kinda wish it was more emotionally compelling just as Chimera Ant Arc. Chimera arc was super long so it has it's highs and lows. But I would say the highs of Chimera ant are higher than Yorknew.

Hello anon!

I love the York Shin arc tbh :)

I think it is not fair to compare it to the CAA, though, because imo its role in the narrative is more similar to the Zoldyck short arc for Killua, the Celestial Arena's arc for Nen, Greed Island for Gon and the Election Arc for Leorio. These are all set up arcs, where you are not expected to see all the conflicts solved.

The zoldyck arc introduces the main family members and dynamics, but it does not solve them

The Celestial Arena introduces nen, but it doesn't show its most interesting powers or applications

Greed Island sets up Gon's flaws, but it does not really deconstruct them

The Election Arc sets up Leorio's arc and potential as a politician, but it ends with Leorio losing the elections

Similarly, York Shin doesn't solve Kurapika's arc, but simply introduces its major themes together with the Spiders. It is the current arc (the Succession War Arc), that is supposed to give Kurapika and the Spiders the major characters development. Exactly like the CAA does for Gon and Killua. Notice, for example, that it ends in an anti-climax (like many HXH arcs that postpone conflicts). There is no final showdown between Kurapika and Chrollo, really.

That said, I disagree with with your reading of Kurapika as stone-cold. I would say the arc actually makes clear he is going through a huge emotional turmoil. Here are some examples:

Kurapika gets angry at Uvo and Pakunoda because they refuse to betray their comrades. That is because they go against Kurapika's ideas of the spiders as inhuman monsters. Senritsu even comments on this by saying how deep down Kurapika is starting to have doubts about his revenge, as he sees the spiders as humans.

He completely loses its cool and basically runs after them recklessly in a way that makes him easy to find. He is 100% ready to give in to his anger and to foolishly die in a 1 vs 3 fight. The only reason he survives is that Gon and Killua let themselves get caught.

In general, Kurapika is shown clearly suicidal, as he feels that without the Spiders he has no real reason to live. He even says so, which is why Gon telling him to look for his comrades' eyes helps him.

In the end, he temporally gives up his revenge to save Gon and Killua because he realizes that saving his friends that are still alive is better than avenging his dead ones. We even get a little foreshadowing of Pairo there.

Finally, Kurapika is so consumed by everything he literally sleeps for days and everyone is worried sick for him

So, his behavior is not really something I would call cold. Quite the opposite really. He is angry and desperate and at the same time the person he hates the most is really himself. So, he is sacrificing his life and his sense of self in a revenge, which will only lead to his death. I have written more about his arc here, if you are interested.

In short, I understand you expecting a more emotional narrative, but York Shin is not a climatic arc and in general Togashi's style tends to show in subtext much more than saying :) I am expecting more emotional outburst in the current arc, though, even if so far it is incredibly complex and a lot of time is given to explaining everyone's strategy.

Thank you for the ask!

[borathae]

↳ Index [Day 25 - Rough Sex]

Pairing: Domish!Jimin x f.Reader

Kinks: sex in nature (by a river), rough!! sex, Bratty Switching, hair pulling, scratching, muscle kink, strength kink, he rips her clothes, degradation, dirty talk, some spanking, clothed pussy rubbing, standing doggy against some rocks, creampies, orgasm denial, overstimulation, multiple orgasms (m.receiving), squirting, cuddly aftercare, this is also make up sex btw

Wordcount: 5.1k

a/n: so uhm surprise besties hahahah this is a zombie apocalypse story. listen, i don’t know why this request inspired this setting but it did. i'm having so much fun exploring different aus which i wasn’t really brave enough to post about on here yet and a zombie apocalypse story has been on my mind since the dawn of day. have fun besties jfadsjf ❤

“Hey.”

Jungkook turns upon hearing your voice. He sharpened his axe before, but stops when he sees you.

“Hey”, he answers you, watching you stand over him.

“You uhm”, you clear your throat, “did you see where he went?”

“Yeah, he went down to the river to train”, Jungkook answers you.

“Thanks. I’ll uhm, try to talk to him.”

“Yeah do that”, Jungkook says and gives you a little smile.

“Mhm”, you acknowledge him, turning to leave.

“And boss?”

“Yeah?” you stop, looking over your shoulder.

“You were right. Last night I mean. You were right.”

You give him a smile, “thank you Kook, that means a lot.”

Jungkook gives you a nod of his head and finally continues sharpening his axe. You turn to leave for the river.

Ten years ago, you all lived a different life. You and Jimin were planning to get married. Your shared best friend Jungkook was an upcoming singer, while your other friends Namjoon and Yoongi already produced music. Seokjin was planning to start a career in acting while Taehyung already was a very popular actor. And Hoseok was quite busy choreographing dances for the biggest stars in the world. Stuff like stars, celebrities and normal everyday life long stopped existing after an incurable outbreak of what is known as “The Zombie Disease” these days. Very creative name, yes yes we all know, but it at least gets straight to the point.

The virus infects the brain and turns whatever living organism it latched onto into a flesh-hungry, braindead and rotting zombie. Animals and humans alike. The humans fought the monsters at first, but soon the fighting began between them as well. Food became scarce, different morals came up and greed for power rose in a few heads.

You and your friends were lucky, escaping the big cities before the military bombed them in an attempt to stop the civil wars. It resulted in two thirds of the still healthy population dying in fires and explosions and for the military to lose its last spark of respect. They are hunted these days. By everyone. 

You lived in the forests since two winters, hidden from remaining civilization and avoiding the hoards of zombies in your tree house fortresses with fifty other survivors. The eight of you were the real deal however, the ones who've been through it all. The leaders of the whole pack so to speak. You’ve been here since day one and will always be here until something out there kills you. 

You were the leader of your little group. You weren’t the oldest and maybe also not the strongest, but you were a survivor. Your left arm still carried the marks of where you had to burn off bite marks an especially friendly zombie family left just three days into the outbreak. Your right eye still saw worse after a showdown with five heavily armed soldiers. And your nights were still plagued by nightmares of when you had to shoot your own brother in the head after zombies got him right in the throat. You knew what was out there. You actually knew. And that’s why you were their leader. Why they listen to you, follow your guidance and respect your decisions. Everyone except your stubborn partner of course.

Contrary to what Jungkook told you, the training spot next to the reeds is empty. You look around for a moment. There are footsteps in the fine gravel, they look fresh, the depth and length of them fit perfectly to Jimin’s bare feet. You follow them with your eyes. They are leading over to the high rocks just twenty feet to your left. That’s where your washing spot was. So Jimin must be cleaning himself right now.

You walk to the hidden spot. Soon the splashing of water and a clear singing voice can be heard. You stop. It’s been ages since you last heard him sing. He sounds beautiful. This song. You recognize the melody. It’s Your Song. The song you always listened to when the world was still okay.

You gulp, biting the inside of your cheek in order not to get emotional. God, you stupid woman. You feel awful for last night.

You and Jimin had a pretty big fight last night over whether or not you should expand your lands or not. You said that it would be beneficial for growing more crops, while Jimin insisted that extending the borders would ask for too much trouble. The others were present during your fight, trying to diffuse the situation as best as possible, but you still ended up going to bed angry at each other.

The rocks are shielding most of his singing, making it appear quiet to your ears. You want to hear more of it. You need to see him.

You cross the corner. There he is. Standing in the stream and with his back turned to you and his naked butt on full display. You are too immersed in staring at his behind that you don’t notice the stick lying on the ground right in front of your feet. You take a step. 

Crack. 

Jimin snaps around, instantly getting into position to fight despite his naked state. His eyes are dark, filled with the desire to kill. His clenched fists shield his face, his strong feet standing broad on the gravel ground. 

You stop, tensing up yourself, ready to defend yourself should Jimin in his shock decide to jump you. To your luck however, he relaxes again, lowering his fists and releasing the tension in his muscles. He studies you from head to toe, eyes filled with both sad yearning and slight annoyance.

“You know not to sneak up on me. I could have punched you”, he says, sliding his hand down to cover his exposed dick, “what are you even doing here? Are you watching me bathe? That’s creepy”, he raises one of his eyebrows in judgment. 

You snort, “first of all, I’ve seen your dick a million times before and second of all, no I didn’t, I was actually trying to look for you. I didn’t expect you to be naked.”

“That’s our washing spot. What else did you expect me to do here? Squats?” he asks and cracks up at his own joke.

“Very funny”, you roll your eyes at him, trying your hardest not to snicker at his stupid joke. You sneak a glance at his dick again.

Jimin notices, lips curling into a little smirk.

“So you did want to watch me. Damn, I even didn’t know that you had a thing for voyeurism”, he teases, relaxing his hands around his dick just to show it off. 

“Oh shut up, you know exactly that I do”, you throw back, eyes focused on his crotch.

His hands are opening further and further, exciting you more and more. 

“I know you do” his left hand slips away, “besides, I think we both know that there is still some making-up to do”, his right hand slips away, exposing him completely. 

“Jimin, what are you insinuating?” you ask, staring at his fingers around his cock. 

“An apology. Isn’t that obvious?” he states nonchalantly, before he takes a step forward, closer to you. 

“An apology?"

“Yeah”, he nods his head, “you were right. We should think about how we can feed ourselves. Especially now that Charley and Kate are pregnant and we got those five new recruits. Our encampment is growing and we need more space for crops and ultimatively for housing too. You were right.”

“Yes, but I can see your point too. Growing our borders is risky and we need to make sure the areas we claim are clean. We lost too many guys last July trying to claim this fucking sawmill. I get that you’re weary.”

Jimin nods his head.

“I just”, he steps closer, “I just don’t wanna fucking lose you. You know?”

“Lose me? Why me?” you ask in a laugh.

“Because you’re reckless, that’s why. And I know that you would be dumb enough to throw yourself into danger for the sake of the others and I can’t fucking let you do that”, he says, placing his hand on your arm right where your burn scar stretches. You took those bites in Jimin’s stead ten years ago and then ordered him to use a blowtorch to burn them off. Jimin can still hear your screams at night.

You feel every ounce of anger you still had left for him crumble like a cookie. You smile fondly, reaching out to poke his tummy.

“You old sap”, you say.

Jimin laughs, eyes crinkling up and cheeks puffing out.

“So? I’m an old sap and I’m proud of it.”

“Yeah”, you chuckle, “and I love you for it.”

“I love you too, you know?” he says.

“Yeah, I know”, you assure him, sneaking a glance down at his body, “I can’t believe you had this whole conversation with your dick out”, you say in a chuckle.

“I know”, he grins, “do you like the view?” he taunts, wiggling his hips a little.

“Jimin, behave.”

“No”, he throws back, wiggling even more.

“What if someone sees us?” 

Jimin chuckles, inching closer to you. He is a mere step away from touching you. Your skin tingles in anticipation, your stomach tightens in excitement. 

“As if you would mind”, he rasps. 

You clench your jaw in a last attempt to stop yourself from giving in to your urges. You look up from his crotch to stare into his eyes instead. They are glimmering in arousal, watching you through hooded lids. 

“So? Do you wanna accept my apology and let me fuck it okay again?” he asks, giving you sweet puppy eyes.

You gulp, hands landing on his pecs and body drawing closer. He smirks triumphantly, knowing already that he had won you over. He just needed to take that last step separating the two of you. Just one more step and you would be his’.

“Come closer and find out”, you challenge, accepting your fate. Not that it was hard to accept of course. Oh how you want him. Fighting with him always makes you crave him especially hard.

“Yeah? How hard do you want it?”

“As hard as you can give it to me, baby.”

“Fuck baby…”

Having your consent, Jimin charges forward. He grabs your face, pulling you onto his mouth. His kiss is rough, all teeth and tongue. He sucks and bites your lower lip until desperate moans escape your throat. Your fingers are entangled in his wet hair, pulling at them in vigor. He groans, the pain of your rough handling spurring him on even more. You both need it, need to remind the other that you were a fucking team. It’s the hottest pain, leaving the both of you whining and moaning in despair, but it is all the more addicting, filling you up with the desire to fuck the other like a wild animal.

You pull away, a bundle of his hair sits securely in your fingers so you can tolt his head back.

His puffy lips part, releasing shaky breaths. His dark eyes watch you with cocky confidence glistening in them. 

“I fucking want you like nothing else”, you growl, pulling at his hair. 

He groans deeply, letting his head get pulled back. It exposes his thick neck. Oh  how you would love to bury your teeth in his skin, make him whine and squirm in your hands. 

“I want you more”, Jimin retorts, tightening his fingers on your jaw until it stings. 

You both fall silent, your heavy pants and the rushing of the river the only thing hanging in the air. You are staring at each other. Both of you are desperate, aching for the other’s touch, but your pride holds you back. You will not be the one losing today, not this time. 

“Stop lying”, you growl, traveling your free hand over his chest. 

It is cold under your touch, the water having cooled it down. Jimin takes a shaky inhale, eyelids fluttering in desperation. Your touch feels like fire on his skin, leaving him aching for more.

“I’m not lying. I want you more than you do me”, he insists, earning himself a twist of his hair. He moans, cock growing harder.

“Be quiet”, you grumble, dancing your hand further down his torso to trace every inch of his toned stomach. The years of fighting and training really paid of. His stomach is rock hard, his abs looking as if they were sculpted by gods. They must have been cruel gods, judging by the state they abandoned the world in.

“I’ll fuck you like a goddess”, he rasps, earning himself scratch marks down his happy trail.

“I’d like to see you try”, you challenge.

“Let go of my hair and I’ll show you”, he retorts. His voice sounds confident. One might think that your teasing touch doesn’t affect him if it weren’t for his ragged breathing and rapidly growing boner. 

“Jimin”, you breathe, making your voice sound pitying, “we both know that’s not possible”, you stop your hand on his hips right next to his hardened cock. You feel him tense up, his lips part and a shaky moan manages to escape his throat. 

You smirk triumphantly, relaxing the grip on his hair now that he had surrendered to you. Or so you thought. The moment his hair is free from your touch, Jimin launches forward, attaching his lips to your neck and sucking hard. It surprises you, making you nearly fall backwards, if it wasn’t for his strong arm holding you by the small of your back. 

“What, what are you? Jimin, fuck- let me, let me-”, you stutter in a last attempt to keep the upper hand, but to no avail. Jimin has won, “fuck baby, you sneaky bastard…” you sigh, tilting your head back gladly.

His arms are wrapped around your body tightly, holding you safely. His soft lips worship your neck with hungry kisses, painting spots of sensitivity all over your skin. Your eyes flutter shut, your knees nearly giving up on you. He makes you so goddamn weak.

Jimin doesn’t mind your loss in strength, using your wobbly feet to his advantage to pull you even closer to his body. 

His dick is pressed against our body, grinding over your clothed stomach. He moans, stopping his kisses for a moment to catch his breath. 

“Undress, I don’t wanna ruin your shirt”, he mumbles against your neck, pulling at the hem of your tanktop. 

“Do it yourself”, you challenge. He may have won, but this doesn’t mean you will obey his every word.

“You are making this so much worse for you. You do know that, don’t you?” he challenges, looking at you with warning eyes. He looks scary, having this distinct gleam in his eyes, which he only gets when he is either in the midst of killing someone or when someone dares to question his leadership. You know not to be scared of it, on the contrary, it turns you on like nothing else.

“You won’t hurt me”, you challenge, feeling up his sculpted pecs.

Jimin chuckles deeply. 

“No”, he states. He hooks his fingers in your shirt before he rips it at the front. You whine loudly, not having expected it, but loving the utter shit out of it. Your tits fall out of the ruined shirt, getting pressed against his chest. “but I can still make you whine like a little bitch”, he spits, turning your brain into a horny mess.

He leans closer to press a loving kiss to your nose before he makes it his task to suck on your tits. His hands grab both of them, massaging the flesh roughly. 

“Ah, shit”, you moan, holding onto his shoulders so you wouldn’t fall. His touch leaves you weak, needy, aching for more. You want him, crave him, need him. You need him to force you to the ground and fuck you until you are crying his name. Even if he doesn’t let you cum, you don’t care, you just need to feel him inside of you, “don’t stop, please don’t stop”, you beg, arching your back.

Jimin’s plumb lips wrap around your left nipple after having left a trail of bite marks all over your chest. He sucks hard, pinching your right nipple while he is at it.

You gasp, arching your back and digging your fingernails into his shoulders. You are sure they will leave marks, judging by the sounds it draws out of Jimin. 

“Baby”, the nickname you give each other every time you are intimate rolls of your tongue without regret.

He pulls you closer, flicking his tongue over your swollen nipple.

“Fucking fuck me”, you moan, shivering as just this moment his left hand grabbed your ass, squeezing it roughly. 

He stops, moving his head away from your chest. 

“Say it”, his voice is raspy and deep, making you to part your legs in reaction. 

“Say what?” 

He lifts his head to look at you. He squeezes your ass, before he slaps it so hard you fall forward into his chest with a quiet whimper leaving your lips. Fuck, you are dizzy.

“You know exactly what”, his hand travels further down your ass, closer to your clothed pussy. 

Your legs part even more. You can feel the arousal soaking your panties. It’s embarrassing really, how easily Jimin manages to make you wet. 

Of course you know what he wants to hear from you, this magical six-letter word which would mean your complete submission. Do you really want that? Is the humiliation of finally giving up worth the pleasure?

Jimin’s fingers brush over your pussy. Your body jolts into his touch, muscles tensing needily. Another touch, more confident than before. His finger glides over your clothed folds a few times before finally stopping at your clit. He doesn’t move, pressing it against your swollen bundle of nerves. Your legs are shaking, you feel dizzy, everything hurts. He needs to move or else you’ll lose it. 

“Plea-Please”, you whisper, instantly regretting it because of the evil smirk it causes to appear on his face.

“See? That wasn’t hard at all”, he taunts, cupping your cheek. He strokes his thumb over your skin, the touch is gentle and soft. If you didn’t know Jimin any better, you would have believed this is your reward for being so obedient. In some way it is, but more so it is your reminder that despite all the rough stuff he'll do to you now, he loves you. New arousal drips out of you, ruining your panties and soaking his fingers, which are still pressed against your pussy. 

His finger starts moving. The first wave of pleasure feels so intense that your knees give up on you. You almost fall down, clutching onto Jimin’s shoulders, his neck, his arm, anything your desperate hands can grasp. Your forehead is pressed against his sculpted chest, your eyes are shut tight. It feels so good, so fucking good.

“Someone’s eager to get fucked already���, Jimin chuckles, holding you by your waist and not once stopping his fingers from circling your clothed clit. 

“Jimin, baby, please”, you whimper, circling your hips to get more friction. 

“Mhm? What is it baby? You want me to stop?” he asks teasingly, stopping his movements. 

“No!” you blurt out, snapping your head up to look at him in panic, “don’t stop, please don’t stop I need you”, your eyes tear up, your lip trembling, “fucking undress me you bastard and fuck me.”

Jimin smiles, resting his hands on your hips. 

“You look so beautiful begging for me”, he breathes, dancing his hands to the front of your pants to unbutton them. He tugs them over your butt, letting you take over afterwards. You are stepped out of them instantly, looking at him with your body completely bared and your pussy covered in your juices.

“You’re so sexy”, he says, eyes lingering on your cunt. His eyes turn dark again afterwards, the soft expression from before gone, “on all fours now”, he points at the ground. 

“But the gravel. It will hurt”, you protest. 

“You want me to fuck you or not?” he sounds impatient, probably wanting to feel you just as much as you want him right now. 

“Yeah. But I’m not letting my knees get destroyed just because of some dick, you doofus”, you retort. The angry gleam glistening in Jimin’s eyes makes you swallow. You rub your legs together, the desire to get fucked feels even stronger than before. 

“Fine”, he says sighs dramatically, before he grabs your wrists and pulls you to the rocks. 

You follow happily, staring at his butt the entire time. 

He turns and grabs your shoulders, placing you right in front of them. With a strong push, he forces you to bend against them. One of his hands is on your back while the other is holding you by your hip. The stone feels warm on your skin. The sun must be getting stronger, now that midday nears. 

“Is that better?” he asks, giving your ass a soft slap afterwards.

“Yeah, it’s fucking hot”, you moan, chasing his touch.

“Good”, he says as he lets his hand slip between your legs to part them, “do you really want this?”

“Yes, I really do. You?”

“It’s all I’m thinking about, baby.”

Excitement fills your body. You hold your breath, parting your legs even more. You wiggle your butt for him, earning a content groan from him. He is enjoying this just as much as you are. Good. You sure hope he does.

“You have the prettiest pussy, baby”, he praises, dragging his heavy cock through your folds, “can’t wait to pound her.”

“Just do it already, will you?”

“Oh trust me, I will”, he says, pushing his cock into you without warning.

“Fuck yes”, you groan, throwing your head back, “fucking fill me up, that’s so fucking good.”

He is slipping right in, stretching you out inch by inch. It feels amazing, sparks of hot pleasure course through your veins, your walls swallow him hungrily. A moan escapes both of you when he finally bottoms out, followed by a shaky inhale. 

“You are so wet baby. Fuck, it’s driving me crazy”, Jimin moans, tightening the grip on your hips. 

“Jimin”, too overwhelmed with the feeling of him finally inside of you to say anything other than his sweet name. 

“Yes?” his voice is shaky, filled with desire. 

“Please”, you really want to say more, tell him to fuck you senseless, but it would be too much work. Your mind is too hazy, your body shaking in the desire to get fucked. 

Jimin understands, grasping your hips even tighter before he finally begins to move. He doesn’t give you time to adjust to his movements. There are no gentle rocks of his hips or soothing words, only the ruthless rutting of his hips against yours and animalistic grunts. 

You didn’t need them anyways, you craved this feeling like lungs crave air. The slight burn that comes with getting handled so roughly and the sinful noises coming from where your bodies meet, his strong grip and girthy cock plugging  your pussy. You want to feel it, want to get fucked until tears stream down your face. It’s what you deserve. Being leader is goddamn fucking hard and you deserve to get railed like an animal for it.

“Keep going! Yes! Fuck! So good!” you scream. Yes, you deserve this, you deserve to be fucked until you can’t talk anymore.

Jimin moans deeply, his movements falter for a moment before he finds his rhythm again. His arm snakes around your body, pulling you into his sweat covered chest. The new position drives his dick into you even deeper. He speeds up, grunting and groaning at the way your walls clench around him. Your head falls back against his chest, your fingernails digging into his forearm.

“You drive me fucking insane”, he growls, “your pussy’s my fucking drug.”

“Fuck Jimin, baby”, you squeal. You can feel the first tear roll down your cheek. It feels hot, collecting on your chin before falling onto your chest. That’s it, that’s exactly what you needed. The short outburst of hot pleasure every time his dick crazes against your g-spot, the shortage of breath his fast movements let you experience and the rough feeling of his thumb rubbing circles on your clit. 

Fuck. You didn’t even notice his hand traveling down to your pussy until you could feel his slick-covered fingers on your clit. You scream out his name in surprise, wanting to fall forwards if it weren’t for Jimin holding you close and pressing you right against those rocks. You reach behind yourself, grabbing a bundle of his dark hair just to pull him closer. He rests his chin on your shoulder, burying his face in the nape of your exposed neck. His lips are pressed up against your skin, his deep growls tickle you every time it you fuck them out of him. 

“Don’t stop please, please”, you sob, pulling at his hair and arching your body into his fuck. 

“Fuck baby, you are clenching so hard”, he growls, pressing a kiss to your neck afterwards. His movements falter for a moment, getting slower, “you’re making it so fucking hard. My cock’s so sensitive, baby. So fucking sensitive”, he moans, speeding up the movements of his thumb to make up for his slowed-down hips. 

“S-same”, you choke out, “cock’s so good. Y-your cock’s so…good.”

Your eyes are pressed shut, your breath held. Just a few more thrust of his hips and you will explode. So close you are so close, just a few more. Please. 

Jimin lets out a guttural moan all of a sudden, stilling all of his movements. He whimpers, his voice high-pitched and his arms tightening, “I’m cumming”, he squeaks out, trembling behind you.

You can feel the hot spurts of his cum shoot out of him. No, no, no this is not happening. You will not be left hanging, not when you were that close. Not when you are aching that much. 

“Please Jimin, please, please, please don’t. Please I want to cum please, please”, you beg desperately, pulling at his hair.

Tears are streaming down your face at this point, your breath comes out as panicked wheezes. 

Jimin lets out a shaky breath, loosening his arms around your waist. 

“Baby please, please touch me, please I want to cum, please”, you beg, holding his hand still pressed to your core so he wouldn’t be able to move it away. 

You circle your hips in an attempt to get some sort of friction. It’s faint, just a gentle touch against your aching pussy, but it’s enough to leave you sighing. 

“Baby it’s too much, ah fuck”, he whimpers, burying his face deeper in your neck. He is sensitive, wanting nothing more than to pull out of you and free his pulsating dick, but your clenching walls keep him trapped, forcing him to endure the torture that is you bringing yourself to orgasm. He should leave you hanging because he’s evil like that and he loves edging you just to completely annihilate you at night. But you have enchanted him. He wants to please you, wants to hear his name fall from your lips when you reach your high and wants you to force a second orgasm out of him. He knows he can cum again, he desires you so much, he wants to fill you up until you have enough. 

“Make me cum please make me cum”, you choke out, pulling at his hair. You need him to move his fingers again, the friction his palm provides is not enough. You want more. 

Jimin takes a shaky breath to brace himself before he starts moving again.

“You’ve got me fucking pussy high”, he lulls, pressing you so hard against the stones that you feel dizzy for a moment. He slams into you harshly, holding your trembling body while his fingers rub your throbbing clit.

A surprised yelp escapes your lips, your hand falling from his arm to instead scratch down the stone. 

“Fuck, oh fuck, Jimin, fuck, baby”, your desperate screams mix with Jimin’s high-pitched moans and you are sure the whole camp knows exactly what is up by now. Not that you give a shit about that. Let them hear who fucks you that good. You're proud of it. 

Your name falls from his lips like a mantra, it sounds addicting to your ears, bringing you closer and closer to your orgasm. The movements of his thumb are rough, spiked with desperation. It’s so hot, so so hot and exactly what you needed. You can feel the knot in your stomach tightening. It’s getting close to unbearable, your whole body tensing up and your legs shaking. 

“Close, so close”, you sob, pulling him closer by his hair. 

“Let go, I got you baby”, he grunts. His hips are faltering again, he must be close as well. 

With the encouragement you needed, your orgasm overtakes you. Warmth fills your entire body as mind numbing pleasure squirts out of your pussy. His name leaves your lips like your own personal prayer, sounding clear at first until it turn into grateful sobs.

“Yes fuck, squirt for me baby. Fucking squirt for me”, he growls, fucking you hard and rough to make sure you can feel your high as intensely as possible.

He doesn’t last long, your pulsating walls are enough to drive him over the edge a second time, even more intense than the first. For a good second, he swears that he might actually break you from how strongly he cradles you. This is the best apology sex ever, he thinks as he pumps you full of his hot cum only to for you to squirt it right out again.

You are holding each other once you come down, both panting heavily and feeling too tired to break away. Quite frankly, the only thing still keeping you standing is the rock against which Jimin presses you. Your skin glistens in sweat, sticking to each other and your fingers are entangled, not wanting to let the other go. 

“That was intense”, Jimin is the first one to speak. He chuckles breathily, kissing your shoulder afterwards, “fuck baby, you’re incredible.”

“It was, you are”, you murmur, turning your head so you would be able to look into his eyes. The faux anger from before is gone from his eyes, now nothing but the warmest fondness is burning in them. 

“Was I able to get you to forgive me?” he asks, sounding nervous.

“Of course you were, baby. Gosh you are adorable”, you say, craning your neck to kiss his lips.

Jimin sighs into the kiss, hugging you against him.

“Loveyou”, his confession is muffled by the kiss.

“Loveyoutoo”, you answer him just as muffled, giggling with him now that those feel good emotions are setting in.

[dr5amatic]

A REAPER ,

a sentence starter prompts list comprised of quotes from the novel a reaper at the gates by sabaa tahir. please be advised that this list may involve topics including, but not limited to, murder, death, and violence. change verbiage as needed.

pain is a choice. succumb to it and fail. or defy it and triumph.

you're all that holds back the darkness.

the cruelest anger comes from the deepest pain.

duty must reign over all else: desire, sadness, loneliness. love cannot live here.

he is cloaked in lies and shadow, like you. find him at your peril, child, for you will lose much, even as you save us all.

there is no joy in destroying a weak foe.

words as pretty as that smile.

at best, he's taking orders from a ghost. at worst, he's hallucinating.

strange how monsters can reach from beyond the grave, as potent in death as they were in life.

the memory is in the pain. the memory is where the hurt lies, the greatest anger.

you humans give your loyalty so willingly for just a little hope.

hope is stronger than fear. it is stronger than hate.

the past shall burn, and none will slow it.

to lead, you have to do ugly things.

we've all made mistakes in love. me most of all.

sometimes those we love are lost to us, as surely as if death himself had claimed them. all we can do is mourn the divergence of their path. if you try to walk it, you too will fall into darkness.

there is success and there is failure. the land in between is for those too weak to live.

war creates such opportunity for greedy, cowardly swindlers, does it not?

everyone believes that nothing concerns them until the monsters are knocking on their doors!

when you are weak, look to the battlefield. in battle, you will find your vigor. in battle, you will find your strength.

you will know victory or you will know death. there is nothing else.

first you will be unmade. first you will be broken.

the heavens live under the feet of the mother, so great is their sacrifice. and indeed no one suffers in war more than the mother. this war will be no different.

you wish to cause me pain, but already, my every breath is torture.

you cannot walk in the shadows as long as i have and not become one.

work with what you have, not what you want.

we're not gods. we can't save everyone.

what is it like to know that no matter what you do, nothing will stop the war that is coming?

there is a price for greed and violence. we do not always know who will pay it. but for good or ill, it will be paid.

the world must be broken before it can be remade or else the balance will never be restored.

the pain of what you have given up will fade. you have endured much in a short time, learned much in a short time. you cannot expect to be ready overnight.

those who ignited the blazer must suffer its wrath.

look into my eyes, you wretch. see the darkest moments of your future. witness the devastation i will unleash.

your dreams of the future only bloom if they have a firm hand to nurture them to life. otherwise, they wither before they ever take root.

forgive me, forgive me for failing you.

[riise-my-anngel]

Gonna go out on a limb and say that maybe forcing morals through the lens of how humans view things as an absolute judgment isn't a sure fire way to judge actions.

It's very clear demons do not have the same emotional control we do. That things they feel are immensely strong. Their inability to ignore their sins is a prime aspect.

We see Satan in Nightbringer, and we understand that he is not in control of his actions and therefore we don't look at him like an irredeemable monster. We see him lose complete control to the point where they have to restrain him so he both doesn't hurt them or himself. And then we see him in lesson 10, smiling at a napping cat and all is forgiven. Beel went on a destructive rampage and I don't see anyone commenting how humans don't act in such monstrous ways. We don't judge Mammons fuck ups because of his greed, we understand its something he doesn't have control over in the way a human does. Beacuse they're demons.

Belphie's actions weren't forgotten. In the end his only gift to us was a pact, because what else could he offer you that makes up for what he did. Something that gives you control over him.

Lucifer has now tried to actively kill us 3 times. Twice in season 1 and now in Nightbringer but he isn't given the same scrutiny for it. Belphie is.

Saying that humans don't react to trauma that way is pointless. He isn't a human, and he doesn't have the same emotional restraint a human does. He's traumatized, racked with survivors guilt and all of that is buried under the weight of transforming into a demon where he feels things more intensely then that of an angel.

If I don't look at Lucifer with such a critical eye, I won't do it to Belphie.

Demons are not going to feel and act in ways humans do. Thats the whole point.

[classicanalyzer]

Rings of Power Season 2 - Halls of Stone

"I was in a place like this, but shrouded in mist and darkness, and...I saw-- I-- At first, I thought it was the forge burning. But it wasn't. It was tall... and its skin was made of flames. It came toward me, breathing, reeking of death, and I saw... I-- I saw its eyes. Pitiless and eternal. I think it's been there. I think it's been here among us, all along!" Mirdania

This episode is the best of S2 so far! I really love how the Numenor and Dwarves' plotlines intersect and connect. We see two societies experiencing a major shift and the corruption it leads.

It's chilling how we see King Durin III go from using the Ring to help Khazad-dûm obtain sunlight once more...to demanding tribute from his own people and the other Dwarf Lords. We also have a reminder of how we're getting close to Durin's Bane being properly unleashed as King Durin III ignores his own warnings of digging too deep. Based on what we know of the future, the only "solace" is that while the Dwarf Lords who wear their Rings will have their greed grow, Sauron will not be able to control them as he would hoped.

I continue to love how Durin IV is the only one who notices that Annatar is not who he claims to be. Especially now he sees how his father is changing from a harsh but stern leader of the Dwarves to a more selfish, greedy ruler. He may have retaken the title of Prince but Durin IV is a changed person. Princess Disa has also seen how her support of the Rings may have been a mistake. Especially as she sees the earth shake and an ancient evil that lies deep beneath the mountain. The future for the Dwarves has never been more uncertain despite its apparent prosperity.

It was wholesome to see Celebrimbor proud of the unity between Elves and Dwarves including seeing the Doors of Durin. Narvi is really growing on me as one of the new major Dwarf characters. It's also good to see how Celebrimbor isn't as subservient as Annatar would like him to be.

God Mirdania's description of Sauron is beyond chilling. It truly shows how the forms that Sauron takes as of now are veils to hide the monster he is. His manipulations of Mirdania were also terrifying to see as he pins what she saw as Celebrimbor rather than him. He was also projecting so hard by claiming Mirdania reminded him of Galadriel.

Ar-Pharazôn continues to definitely win Father of the Year. He pushes his son to be an even more evil bastard by withholding information about his mother's thoughts on Kemen. I really love how the conversation is a dark twist of how Míriel talks about the Valar. We also see the true fears of Ar-Pharazôn: mortality. It is subtle but it's there. It also hints at his ill-fated attempted invasion of the Undying Lands. The irony of his rise to power is part of it came from the use of the Palantír...which last we see him, he will now use.

We start to see the beginning of the Faithful and the King's Men conflict. Eärien thinks she's doing this in her brother's memory but in reality if her brother knew what she's doing, he would be disappointed. She also loses her friend Valandil as it's clear which side she decides. I really love how the Faithful Sea Guard continues to refer to Elendil as their Captain. Speaking of Elendil, I really love how we see the hope of Numenor through him which Míriel realizes. However, the vision also might allude to the human sacrifices done by the King’s Men for Morgoth. Season 3 is going to really dark once we reached that Morgoth worship territory.

The Faithful at the oldest shrine putting the candles for the lost souls truly is a sight to see as Numenor's faith in the Elves endures...only to then see the King's Men planning to tear down the shrine for a new aqueduct. I love how Valandil recreated Galadriel's dodges when she taught him how to use a sword. If only Kemen wasn't the worst, he would've done more great things for Middle-Earth, may he find peace. At least Kemen got to know he isn't the real deal as he thought being outmatched by both Elendil and Valandil plus a broken arm. It will be satisfying if Ar-Pharazôn still thinks lowly of his son despite presumably doing what he asked.

ALSO FUCK KEMEN! I hope he drowns when Numenor is swallowed up by the sea. I really like this other karmic fate that his own father would use him as a sacrifice to Morgoth when Sauron comes to Numenor. More tragically (tho given her smug and unrepentant behavior even towards her own father, I wouldn’t say it would be tragic in the traditional sense), I think if Eärien dies, she might also be consumed by the sea...which would be a tragic poetic parallel to how their mother died. But seriously, seeing Valandil die really hits hard because I really liked his character, one of the major Faithful characters now gone. I hope Kemen gets the best kind of karma.

Seeing Gil-galad doubt the Rings shows how uncertain the Rings are. They show glimpses of a possible future. Some of it may be true. But what parts that are true are caused by the path they take? The actions of Gil-galad will determine the fate of Eregion.

It's also heartbreaking to see how despite Celebrimbor's attempt to resist Annatar's insistence for Nine Rings for mortal men. In the end, he gave into it believing they must atone for their slightest mistakes in creating the Seven Rings for the Dwarf Lords. And you can see how the stressful events are getting to Celebrimbor. Unfortunately, the Orc army of Adar has almost reached Eregion. Even the potential alliance between Galadriel and Adar seems to be unlikely as Sauron is ensuring the fall of Eregion once he's done with it. The Nampat and Sauron themes playing during the ending of the episode and end credits hit so hard.

[sleeplesssmoll]

The Poussiere: A town reclaimed by by Critters

There is a story in the stage descriptions. I summarized it and added the original text under "Keep reading." Note: the Dust mentioned in the story is this:

Once upon this time, there was a town that specialized in broom-making. The brooms were used to sweep away high concentrations of Dust and chase away Critters attracted to the Dust. However, everything changed when the youngest son of one of the workshops built a flying taxi out of scraps. He sold it and made a fortune. The town shifted its priorities. Over 253,000 vehicles were sold globally every year. However, because the town switched to manufacturing flying vehicles instead of brooms, Dust accumulated and the Critters returned. The town ignored them and focused their resources on making more profit. Eventually, the Critters grew strong enough to conquer the town. Now They live as royalty among the rubble. They took no interest in the finer things left behind and like to wear rubbish.

You can actually see the abandoned vehicles and a TRAIN trying to escape the wilds that reclaimed them.

I interpret this story as being led astray by greed and losing sight of the important things. Ignoring problems doesn't make them go away and money can't solve everything. Original text below.

LP 1 (stages are labeled LP for some reason)

This was a paradise for humans. I remember its glory was as dazzling as a sun that drops to the ground.

LP 2

A broom-making town. Brooms are made to sweep the high concentrations of Dust as well as the constant skirmishes from the critters attracted by the Dust.

LP 3

Changes always arrive out of the blue. The youngest son of the broom workshop's made a flying taxi with a pile of scraps and sold it for a whole bucket of gold coins.

LP 4

Over 253,000 vehicles leave this place every year for various destinations around the world without coming back.

LP 5

No one cares how those little monsters stuff their bellies with stolen Dust. You can see how common they are.

LP 6 (Final Stage)

Now it belongs to them. These filthy, crazy little things dropped the fancy dresses and jewelry and put on abandoned cans and tires. They are squeaking aloud, like a king and a queen.

[clownkiwi]

genuinely hate the way heaven and hell is set up in hazbin like. in all honesty. whats the point of using the dantes inferno layers of hell if you are only allowed to use the pride layer. for every sinner. why the fuck would that make sense. like. a serial killer would be in the like. idfk wrath or lust (bloodlust) layer. dantes inferno isnt even fucking canonical to the bible.

the angel designs are flat, their movements feel stilted to me, all the humans in heaven just have a color swapped monster design just like the sinners.

and no fucking shit people think alastar is fucking white, you only find out that he mixed race from somewhere else. i only found out through my friend that the guy is half black because he saw a video or something of her drawing alaster in his human form (this sounds aggressive, but i am not doing that towards you this is in total agreement wirh you)

also i think adam as an angel is stupid as shit from like the standpoint of someone who is interested in the bible in the way greek myth isnt "canonical"/is separate from greek gods

the designs look like theyre still a fucking pain to animate, and i do genuinely like a lot of the designs, i think angel dust is iconic and uh. the bat cat guy looks pretty cool, i think theyre more for like. comic books.

story feels flat and rushed, and very much like i'm watching a childrens show for adults, and i fucking hate adult shows that think putting sex, seears, blood and gore in their product is soooooo fucking mature and cool of them and its just boring and samey and it fucking sucks. if hazbin was nade by someone else i'm sufe the peoduct wouldve been handled so much better and treated the audience like adults

LITERALLY THIS THIS THIS!!!!

for the first part, of the lore. the lore gets so much more fucking confusing and lamer if you watch the spinoff helluva boss. they go into more detail & spend more time in the other layers for each episode, but theyre all so lame and predictable. the lust layer is pink and full of clubs & bars because. romance??? the greed layer is green and pretty much chicago, especially with the demon mobs (demon mobs Should sound more fun). the wrath ring is red/orange and like The Middle Western Desert that literally takes place during the Wild West from USAmerica. LIKE they made dantes inferno LAME!!! wheres the imagination??? was the best you could come up with for greed "chicago" and wrath "the wild west"???? come on

and the way heaven and hell are addressed is so much more confusing. like. the angels have a Moral code Not To Kill, even if theyre demons (in the episode the angel opposite of IMP are focused on, they lose their jobs when they indirectly kill a guy they weren't supposed to kill), which comes into direct conflict with what the angels Were ALREADY DOING IN HAZBIN???

itd be one thing if they were taking place apart from each other in the timeline, and we don't really know that ATM, but they're supposed to take place in the same universe, so they never really seem to make up their minds on what they wanna do with that???

AND LIKE the core concept of hazbin hotel is broken from the very worldbuilding the show is built on. no demon would ever wanna work on redeeming themselves by just going to a hotel, and even in cases when they do, its really just to sabotage each other, before they solve their problems like. my fucking little pony. i cant believe this was a show made for the same target group as bojack horseman or moral orel, it makes me sick

and this idea isnt broken either!!! it can work!!! the good place worked and improved on this idea In Strides and did it with much more maturity and respect for its audience than vivziepop could even do for two of her shows

like hazbin hotel & helluva boss could be improved upon, they just need Better Writers and a Stronger Vision for where the story could go. im not even being a hater Just Because (altho i am), i'm just really upset that this was the direction the show is seemingly going to with no stop. ive seen people that have looked up to vivziepop as inspiration and felt deeply betrayed when the story was shit, when the writing was horrible, its really disappointing to see. i think the only people left watching this are people who think what vivziepop is doing is good, even if she spends more than half her time online looking up her shows to try to fight back against any and all criticism