#i do still have the entire list of all the characters i know shall be swapped for sure with certain lmk characters lmao

[emelinstriker]

Have all the current prototype design doodles I drew this past month-

Also bonus doodles of the very first prototype design doodles in celebration of the AU technically being a month old now- Or like a month old behind the scenes at least lmao-

[shyvien]

Here are 100 random quotes from Lucifer!

Sourced from the OM! Wiki, chats, devilgram, screenshots I found, etc. I made this list to help with studying to write the characters in character. (Not really proofread, sorry if there are mistakes. Also, there may be spoilers. If so, they’re minor spoilers)

✧༺⚜️༻✧

​​“Do you want my attention? Why don't we talk for a little then? I have enough energy for that. As your presence is so very soothing to me.“

​​“Heh, not afraid to get sassy with me anymore, are you?”

​​“Let's celebrate until you cannot stand anymore.“

​​“No need to rush. I won't be able to help you if you fall down in the middle of the street. Rather, I would probably enjoy the sight.”

​​“...Well? How do you like Demonus-flavored kisses?“

​​“I believe it's long been established that if anyone's going to be eating them, it will be me.“

​​“If you want me to keep you from running that mouth of yours, you need only ask.“

​​“Are you poking fun at me right now? I see you like to play with fire. Well, there's a punishment for getting cheeky with me like that. Come here, MC”

​​“I am exceedingly concerned…”

​​“Now Listen, and listen well. I will not be your possession. I won’t belong to you. You will belong to me.”

​​“You seem repentant, so I shall forgive you.”

​​“Are you still tired from last night? After all, I didn’t let you get much sleep.”

​​“I will watch over you. Until the day comes where we must part. And I promise... to love you until the end of your days and beyond.”

​​“You... Release me! Don't you dare try to put me to sleep like I'm not ten million years older than you!”

​​“All of you, out of the way...! I'm going to tear that human limb from limb…!”

​​"Are you trying to please me?"

​​"Do you need a goodnight kiss?"

​​"You are a strange human being."

​​"You want me to praise you for that? Very well… Good iob."

​​"Fine, I'll forgive you just this once."

​​"Do you need something?"

​​“It's as if you're saying that you need me in your life, and that's a wonderful feeling. Is it conceited of me to say that? Well, I am the Avatar of Pride, after all."

​​“Stab it with a fork or something. Anything sharp should do the trick.“

​​"I can't say I mind spending my time with you while Mammon's shrieks echo in the background either. Heh! And Diavolo's laughter is even louder than that."

​​“Well, there are worse demons it could have happened to... Probably.”

​​“Asmo, you stay right there. I'll go get my whip.“

​​“Hush now. Daddy's here to give you a hug.“

​​“NONONONONONO! I'm saying I DON'T want them to see that picture. So, if they ask you for it, I'd like you to tell them that no such photo exists. OK?”

​​“That won't be necessary. I went ahead and blew it up. The entire room.“

​​"If you want to get the better of me, that toy of yours isn't going to cut it. Perhaps try lethal poison from some horrific insect, aged a thousand years for maximum potency."

​​“I know, I know... But why don't we save the killing until after you've eaten your breakfast, hm?“

​​“Mmm, nothing's sweeter than listening to their screams of agony. Heheheh...”

​​“Bring him down to the living room. Use whatever means necessary…though I do want him alive.“

​​”I would never have imagined I would be kissed on the cheek by you. I don't dislike it when you take the initiative. But why on the cheek? You don't need to hesitate with me. Next time, do it on the lips. Understand?”

​​“Hell coffee becomes bitter when you prepare it for someone that you're fond of. It's a special property of the coffee beans. Naturally, I drank every last drop of your feelings.”

​​“Only those that haven't been involved in that dolt's childish antics are the truly happy ones.”

​​“When I get my hands on him, I'll have to be thorough with my discipline.”

​​“Tomorrow I will be handing Diavolo a report detailing how all of the exchange students are faring. I'll be sure to stress how excited you are to continue your education here at our prestigious academy.”

​​“How's the Celestial Realm? Unlike the Devildom, you don't have to worry about anyone grabbing you and eating you for lunch there, do you?”

​​“You've got Solomon with you as well, so you should relax and enjoy your time there.“

​​“If only my brothers were as obedient as you are. It is not every day that you get the chance to have me indebted to you. You can expect a one-hundred times return on the investment of your time, that I promise. In return, I expect that you won't let me down.”

​​“How naive. If you don't want me to have wasted my time by informing you, be sat in your seat at the table within the next sixty seconds. It will be just you and me. Let us enjoy the rare breakfast together before my brothers ruin the atmosphere.”

​​“Don't get cocky, MC.”

​​“One spoke at length about the clothing on the Diavolo sticker. It waxed lyrical about how exquisite the design choices were.”

​​“However, I discovered a slew of insults written in invisible ink on the page.“

​​“How could you tell? You really know me well, MC! Hehehe. I was drinking Demonus with Diavolo earlier. And you know, he kept saying all these nice things about you... Let me tell you, I'm also really happy you're down here with us.”

​​“…Who even came up with the idea that whoever empties their bottle first, wins...? Oh, right. I did... My bad. Ah, my head is spinning. Good night MC. Love you.”

​​“Ugh, you thickheaded fool of a demon! What's your skull made of? Granite?”

​​“That's a curse meant to make you stub your toe on the leg of a table… But if you actually do stub your toe, it hurts quite a bit.”

​​“MC. It has come to my attention that Mammon and Asmo took you out for a drive recently. Well, how was it? Enjoyable? …I'm glad to hear it. We all need breaks from the daily grind from time to time. l'd like you to join me for a drive next time. I'll give you a taste of euphoric freedom that those two could never dream of. Prepare for the time of your life.”

​​“If you'd like, we could take a shower together.”

​​“After all, I haven't managed to seduce you yet. I'm going to need more time.”

​​“The three highest-ranked demons in the realm, frolicking about in a frivolous pajama party? How absurd.”

​​“I didn't hear a word you just said. I know nothing about it, and I'm going to keep it that way.”

​​“I see. Then I should be allowed to take a similar photo of you, no? Come stay over in my room again tonight.”

​​“Don't be stupid. I will not allow myself to be clad in demon garb. I'm going to strip off every last piece of it this very instant and fling it as far away from me as I can.”

​​“You're a demon. I'm surprised someone like you is able to feed me lines like that with a straight face. You've got some nerve.”

​​ “Heheheh. Well, he is my brother, after all, so I thought I'd go easy on him. So, should I make this quick, or go slowly, bit by bit? Your choice.”

​​ “So, tell me. what's with the Little D.? The one looking at me with that moronic expression...”

​​“You think you stand a chance against me?! You think you could defeat Lucifer, Avatar of Pride?“

​​ “Well, aren't you persistent. I suppose you won't be happy until you've pummeled the door senseless?”

​​“...Just what were you hoping to accomplish by knocking me down like this, hm? Because doing something like that to me, right now… is making it much harder for me to control myself...!”

​​“Given that you were the one who pounced first, you can't complain when the tables are turned, can you? …I'm so thirsty, I can hardly think straight. I trust you understand what that means.”

​​ “To show my thanks, I suppose I'm not against giving you some special treatment. You'll have to come closer. I'll give you my lap until you're satisfied. ...You'll keep me company until then, won't you?”

​​"You deserve a thank you."

​​ "Sorry, this isn't exactly my cup of tea. I was hoping you'd know me better."

​​"It appears to me you know what pleases me."

​​"Are you really trying to tickle me? Heheheh, you'll have to do much better than that."

​​"Pff...if you think that tickles, you're wrong."

​​"Well, if you insist on touching me, then be my guest.”

​​"Well, hello. How are things?"

​​"You've got some nerve keeping me waiting. Well now, what are you going to do about it?"

​​"I'm back. Hm? ...Did you miss me?"

​​"*sigh* I've had a long day. But seeing you has a way of making me feel better."

​​"Sorry, I had some business to take care of. Well, well, you certainly seem happy to see me."

​​"Done? Let's continue this in my room."

​​"Good night... We'll meet again in our dreams."

​​ "I feel like we both have a nice day ahead of us."

​​ "I enjoyed our time together. Perhaps we should do this again."

​​“You do know what I'm capable of... don't you?"

​​ "Happy Easter. Will you accept it, my little bunny?"

​​"Once you're officially a sorcerer, I'd like you to become powerful enough to shut up Solomon for me."

“Very well. Here I go. Lucifer Kick!”

“Why should I be subjected to the indignation of a pat on the head from you?”

​​“After all, it's a bit like tossing a helpless lamb into the middle of a pack of hungry wolves, isn't it? But it's also important to understand just who it is you're eating, wouldn't you say?“

​​ “It means that I see you as prey, too. Just like the others. It goes without saying that I'm far stronger than you. If I were to pin you down right here and now, you wouldn't be able to do anything about it, now would you? How about we give it a try...?“

​​“You will soon enough.”

​​ “When a vampire feeds, it's not like his human prey feels only pain. Quite the opposite, actually. They're overcome with a feeling of unimaginable ecstasy. The truth is that you want this as well, don't you? You want to feel my arms around you, to give yourself up to me and offer up your blood... You're special. I won't drink you dry...no. I'm going to kiss you again and again, all over your body. Indulging in you just a bit each and every night. And I do mean every night. No other vampire will ever know the taste of your blood…”

​​“Do you have any idea how hard I had to struggle not to do this earlier...? It was all I could do to resist throwing my arms around you right in front of everyone at the party.”

​​ “MC… I missed you. I can tell just from the way you feel against me. I can sense what you're feeling.I'm sorry, MC. ...Sorry it took me so long to get to you. You should really stay with me tonight. We need to make up for all the time lost.“

​​ “You're drunk, you idiot. Oh well, I'll go along with you just for today. Bottoms up.”

​​“Me? Intoxicated? Preposterous. I'm my usual old self.”

​​“You are also fond of me, no?“

​​ “Then come over here. Are you holding back? Come closer. Prepare yourself. If I win, I get to do with you as I please.”

​​“You know there is no turning back after the first pillow is thrown, right?”

“As a demon, I've never cared when humans bred…”

​​“Stop unnecessarily stressing me out. You're shaving years off my life here.”

​​ “I don't mind. If I am not allowed to nag, then I can simply beat these rules into you.”

​​“Is this how you all amuse yourselves? By sending photos of your exposed body parts?”

​​ “Good grief. I need eyes everywhere to keep track of everyone.”

Extras! (It's hard to pick just 100 y'know?)

1. ​​“Leading unhealthy lifestyles, frittering away your time and money… The extent to which you all squander your lives away is quite intolerable to watch.”

2.​​ “Put two or more of you together, and you start getting ideas in your head. Bad ideas.”

3. “The next time one of you puts so much as a toe out of line… I'lI march you all up your beloved Mt. Imminent Death, and ensure that you NEVER return.”

4. “So as an extra bonus, I'll tickle you...”

5. “How nice that you're not letting our large underground gambling problem spoil your fun...”

✧༺⚜️༻✧

𝑀𝒶𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓁𝒾𝓈𝓉

𝒮𝒽𝓎 𝒲𝓇𝒾𝓉𝑒𝓇 ༝༚༝༚

[cimerran-714]

Well, as many people love to claim that Ron's not at fault for abandoning the Trio in Deathly Hallows (some Ron stans instead prefer to shift the blame to Harry instead by reading things out of context), I thought I'd analyze the entire scene here.

So, to start with, I really like Ron. But I do not think that you have to excuse everything a character does in order to like him. Now, Ron fans would probably just claim that I am lying about liking Ron, but I don't care about that.

Let's get started, shall we?

“So, would he have hidden the sword well away from Hogsmeade then? What d’you reckon, Ron? Ron?” Harry looked around. For one bewildered moment he thought that Ron had left the tent, then realized that Ron was lying in the shadow of a lower bunk, looking stony. “Oh, remembered me, have you?” he said.

Okay, so it begins with Harry looking for Ron, and he notices him lying next to a bunk "looking stony". He makes a comment asking whether Harry's remembered him.

Now, how does Harry respond to that?

"What?” Ron snorted as he started up at the underside of the upper bunk. “You two carry on. Don’t let me spoil your fun.” Perplexed, Harry looked to Hermione for help, but she shook her head, apparently as nonplussed as he was. “What’s the problem?” asked Harry.

Harry's understandably confused. He says "What?" and then exchanges a look with Hermione, who's similarly perplexed. And then, Harry asks him again what the problem was. He just says "What's the problem?" and nothing else.

“Problem? There’s no problem,” said Ron, still refusing to look at Harry. “Not according to you, anyway.” There were several plunks on the canvas over their heads. It had started to rain. “Well, you’ve obviously got a problem,” said Harry. “Spit it out, will you?

Ron refuses to elaborate & just says that according to Harry, there's no problem. Harry replies by asking him to "spit out". Well, that maybe he considered rude, but how would you even respond to it? They were discussing Horcruxes & Ron's talking about how the others "remembered" him now, that Harry shouldn't let him "spoil their fun", and that Harry doesn't think there's a problem.

Considering the context, it's a valid thing to say.

Ron swung his long legs off the bed and sat up. He looked mean, unlike himself. “All right, I’ll spit it out. Don’t expect me to skip up and down the tent because there’s some other damn thing we’ve got to find. Just add it to the list of stuff you don’t know.” “I don’t know?” repeated Harry. “I don’t know?”

Ron looks unlike his usual self as he then implies that he doesn't care about what they had found out, and that it's Harry's fault. That's why Harry repeated the same thing. He was just surprised and shocked.

Plunk, plunk, plunk. The rain was falling harder and heavier; it pattered on the leaf-strewn bank all around them and into the river chattering through the dark. Dread doused Harry’s jubilation. Ron was saying exactly what he had suspected and feared him to be thinking. “It’s not like I’m not having the time of my life here,” said Ron, “you know, with my arm mangled and nothing to eat and freezing my backside off every night. I just hoped, you know, after we’d been running round a few weeks, we’d have achieved something.

Ron talks about how the Horcrux hunting wasn't similar to his expectations.

Again, Harry responded calmly:

"I thought you knew what you’d signed up for,” said Harry. “Yeah, I thought I did too.” “So what part of it isn’t living up to expectations?” asked Harry. Anger was coming to his defense now. “Did you think we’d be staying in five-star hotels? Finding a Horcrux every other day? Did you think you’d be back to Mummy by Christmas?"

For Harry using the phrase "back to Mummy", remember that Ron agreed to come to help even though Harry said that they shouldn't, and now he's upset that it's not working out & is sulking. Anyone would have gotten angry. Seriously, Ron just makes it sound as if Harry forced him to come along.

"We thought you knew what you were doing!” shouted Ron, standing up, and his words pierced Harry like scalding knives. “We thought Dumbledore had told you what to do, we thought you had a real plan!” “Ron!” said Hermione, this time clearly audible over the rain thundering on the tent roof, but again, he ignored her. “Well, sorry to let you down,” said Harry, his voice quite calm even though he felt hollow, inadequate. “I’ve been straight with you from the start, I told you everything Dumbledore told me. And in case you haven’t noticed, we’ve found on Horcrux—”

Ron's words are scathing, but remarkably, Harry is STILL calm in his response. He's composing himself as he explains to Ron that he did tell them everything that he knew.

"Yeah, and we’re about as near getting rid of it as we are to finding the rest of them—nowhere effing near in other words.” “Take off the locket, Ron,” Hermione said, her voice unusually high. “Please take it off. You wouldn’t be talking like this if you hadn’t been wearing it all day.” “Yeah, he would,” said Harry, who did not want excuses made for Ron. “D’you think I haven’t noticed the two of you whispering behind my back? D’you think I didn’t guess you were thinking this stuff?"

Well, Hermione IS being unfair by blaming it on the locket. We do know that Ron left even after he removed the locket, and like Harry said, they were whispering behind his back.

Further on:

"Harry we weren’t—” “Don’t lie!” Ron hurled at her. “You said it too, you said you were disappointed, you said you’d thought he had a bit more to go on than—” “I didn’t say it like that—Harry, I didn’t!” she cried. The rain was pounding the tent, tears were pouring down Her- mione’s face, and the excitement of a few minutes before had van- ished as if it had never been, a short-lived firework that had flared and died, leaving everything dark, wet, and cold. The sword of Gryffindor was hidden they knew not where, and they were three teenagers in a tent whose only achievement was not, yet, to be dead. “So why are you still here?” Harry asked Ron. “Search me,” said Ron.

Read the last part. Harry asks him why he's still there and Ron replies by saying that he doesn't know. THAT is when Harry asks him to leave; Ron made it clear that he does not even want to remain there any more.

Remarkably, Harry is STILL replying calmly when he asks him to go home.

"Go home then,” said Harry. “Yeah, maybe I will!” shouted Ron, and he took several steps toward Harry, who did not back away. “Didn’t you hear what they said about my sister? But you don’t give a rat’s fart, do you, it’s only the Forbidden Forest, Harry I’ve-Faced-Worse Potter doesn’t care what happens to her in there—well, I do, all right, giant spider and mental stuff—”

Ron talks about how Harry doesn't care about what happens to Ginny.

And incredibly, Harry is STILL calm.

“I was only saying—she was with the others, they were with Hagrid—” “Yeah, I get it, you don’t care! And what about the rest of my family, the Weasleys don’t need another kid injured, did you hear that?” “Yeah, I—” “Not bothered what it meant, though?”

“Not bothered what it meant, though?” “Ron!” said Hermione, forcing her way between them. “I don’t think it means anything new has happened, anything we don’t know about: think, Ron, Bill’s already scarred; plenty of people must have seen that George has lost an ear by now, and you’re supposed to be on your deathbed with spattergroit, I’m sure that’s all he meant—” “Oh, you’re sure, are you? Right then, well, I won’t bother myself about them. It’s all right for you two, isn’t it, with your parents safely out of the way—” “My parents are dead !” Harry bellowed

There you go. Ron insults Harry's parents greatly by talking about how his parents are "safely out of the way". At this point, Harry, who has been remarkably calm overall, loses his temper.

Honestly, you know what happens after that. Harry responds to him by asking him to essentially fuck off, and Ron begins to escalate it physically and attack Harry (a fight was averted by Hermione's shield charm).

And then Ron left even AFTER having removed the locket. Don't blame it on the locket, it's a weak excuse.

So, to summarize:

Ron started the argument.

Harry replies in a mostly calm manner.

Ron insults Harry's dead parents upon which the latter finally loses his temper.

Ron leaves after removing the locket.

Yeah, sorry, I am still 100% going to blame Ron here.

[that1emowitch]

At the end of the world / Or the last thing I see / You are never coming home, never coming home

Prompt from @tuna-f-b: Do you still do request? If yes and angst is o.k: what would happend i all the bats died? Like how would the hero community react. The supers alone. Clark having to deal with losing his best friend(?) and the kids he basically co parented- as well as seeing his sons lose their best friends(?) Specially as ships that would be awesome angst

A/N: I'm not crying you're crying (Also, for those who don't know, Izzy is Duke's canon gf and one of the Robins from We Are Robin)

Words: 2504

TW: Mentions of blood, Major character death, Coping with loss, Self-blame, Mentions of relapse (drugs)

“If you’re watching this, I am either deceased or indefinitely unable to continue my duties as Batman. But the world still needs Batman. Gotham still needs Batman. My son Damian Wayne, if he is an adult, shall inherit my mantle— if not, Dick Grayson will take over until he is. In the event that he, too, is unavailable for any reason, the mantle goes to Tim Drake, after him, to Cassandra Cain, then Duke Thomas, then Stephanie Brown, then Jason Todd, should he accept it.”

In the video recording, Batman pauses, taking a deep breath.

“In the unfortunate event that the entire family is… deceased… I have a list of contingency plans on both the Bat-Computer and the Justice League’s primary databases. Oracle will help you access it, but in her… absence… the password is “a6ghr83kc02m”.”

Then video-Bruce takes off the cowl, his pale blue eyes looking straight into the camera.

“I know I was never the best with feelings. But I would like my children, my allies, and friends to know that I’m proud of you. And to my fellow Justice Leaguers… Diana and Clark, I am truly grateful for your companionship. I would never have made it this far without you. Barry, Arthur, Dinah, J’onn, you’ve all been good friends. Oliver, Hal… you’re not so bad either.”

Bruce turns around, and looks over his shoulder, the shadows of the Batcave making the scene even more dramatic.

“I wish you good luck.”

Then the clip ends.

A shuddering breath leaves Clark.

It’s real.

He’s really… They’re all…

He can’t do this anymore. He turns around and walks out the door, leaving the other core Justice Leaguers staring sombrely at the now-blank screen.

He doesn’t know when he started flying, when he started trying to escape. The walls of the Watchtower seem to be suffocating him, but he has enough sense not to just leave the airlock yet.

Instead he finds a corner by a window, far, far away from the others, where he can see a majestic view of Earth, the moon, and the Sun in perfect sync with each other.

He falls to his knees.

His breathing’s uneven, a tear rolls down his cheeks.

Then he feels a hand on his shoulder— soft, trembling, yet steady.

“Kal,” Diana whispers, sitting on the floor next to him. She doesn’t continue— she isn’t sure what to say.

“They’re all going to die, you know? We’re going to bury all of them. Everyone on Earth, everyone we know.” Clark’s voice trembles, in a way Superman’s never does. “It scares me so much.”

“Kal,” Diana says again, pulling Clark into a hug. “It’s okay. We’ve lost… We’ve lost so many of our friends. It’s okay to be scared. It’s okay to grieve.”

“How are you— how are you so—” Clark can’t form his words properly. He turns to Diana, to see her face tight with grief, eyes misty with unshed tears.

Her voice breaks slightly as she speaks. “I don’t want to believe they’re gone. But… we have to carry on. We’re the Justice League. Our people need us, Kal.”

“So we just go on and on? Forever?” Another tear runs down his cheek. “Ollie, Hal, Dinah, Lois, Jon, they’re all going to… they’re all going to die one day and we just have to… to go on?”

“I’m sorry, but it is the truth,” Diana whispers, her eyes stinging with hot tears. “We must find peace in the fact, right now, that Batman— Bruce, the Robins, they— they were so brave. Brave till the end. And they fell as warriors, defending our world. I’m sure they’ll all reach Elysium.”

“And Dickie, Damian, Jason, Tim, Cass, Duke—” Clark’s voice is hoarse. “They were so young, just kids… I… I know Dick, Jay, Tim, Cass… they were adults, but… they’re gone, they’re gone…”

“They were heroes, like you and me. Don’t forget that.”

“I… I know, I just—” Another shuddering breath escapes Clark. “I just— I…”

“It’s okay,” Her voice is forcefully steady, but with an undertone of heartbreak. “It’s okay…”

Dinah looks around the room, her heart heavy.

Clark has left, Diana’s gone after him— both of them need their space, she knows. They were close to Bruce and the other Bats in a way no one else in this room was.

Was.

The word still weighs down on her.

Hal speaks up finally, breaking the deafening silence. “I always thought he hated me.”

No one replies for a long moment.

“I miss the kids,” Barry says finally, his voice quiet. “They were just… Robin was only 14. The others, even Nightwing, they had… they had their whole lives ahead of them.”

More silence.

“Jason, when he was Robin— do y'all remember? Kid was always my favorite,” Ollie says finally. “Was always so sassy. Roy loves him.”

Loves. Dinah winces, but doesn’t correct him. It’s easier to believe they’re just gone for a little while.

“Bruce was a good man,” Arthur adds. “They all were.”

“Tim was, I believe, the smartest,” J’onn says, somber. “It was his plan that allowed us to save Earth.”

“Damian!” Dinah says suddenly, jumping from her seat. “His… his mother. She shouldn’t have to find out from someone else.”

Everyone freezes, faces tight.

Dinah sighs, looking down. “I’ll do it.”

Then she leaves the room, dragging what feels like a heavy weight tied to her soul. She has to do this.

Roy’s sitting in a corner of his apartment, hugging his knees. All he can think of is Jason.

He’s never coming back.

He can still feel the lingering ‘goodbye’ kiss Jason gave him not two days ago, he can still hear him say, “I’ll be back before you know it, babe.”

He never came back.

He’s dead. Dead— dead dead dead DEAD DEAD—

“Small Red not okay?” A booming voice snaps Roy out of his thoughts. He looks up to see Bizarro’s pale blue skin and cold eyes looming over him. He’s crying. “Red him coming back.”

It takes Roy a second to register that Bizarro speaks backwards. It takes everything in him to not punch him for saying that, for giving him false hope.

He feels something he hasn’t felt in years— feels that whisper in his mind— one hit and it’ll all feel better. Just one hit.

NO! He screams mentally. He feels like bashing his head open.

Instead he lifts his dead eyes to survey the rest of the room— Kori’s on the couch, staring into space. Artemis has a crying Lian in her arms, she’s showing her something— old photos of Jason. Talking, whispering in a broken voice.

No, no he should be the one comforting Lian—

What’s he gonna say?

That— That Jason— That her Papa’s gone forever? That he’s never— he’s never coming back?

No— Jay— Jay deserved so much better, he— he already died once before, he’s been through so much, things were supposed to be better now— not— no, he’s— 

Roy feels Bizarro sit beside him, gently patting his arm.

He snaps out of his thoughts again, turning to Jason’s former teammate, his eyes red-rimmed. His voice raw, he whispers, “Jay’s gone…”

Wally’s standing in the Hall of Heroes, staring up at the holographic projection of Dick— he looks so majestic, so mighty, staring ahead with nothing but hope and courage in his eyes.

Nothing like the cold, dead body that Wally held in his arms just two days ago.

He’s surrounded by his teammates, his friends— Kaldur, M’gann, Artemis, Zatanna, L’gann, Garth— yet he feels so alone.

He sees it again— Dick bleeding out it his arms, his wounds so fatal he died before help arrived. Wally’s the fastest man alive, damn it, yet he couldn’t even save his best friend— his boyfriend. He feels the moment when Dick’s breathing stopped, when his body went limp, when his grip on Wally’s hand loosened.

Everyone’s quiet. M’gann’s stress baking again, L’gann by her side. Artemis and Zatanna are sitting together, Garth’s lingering in a corner, and Kaldur’s standing right beside Wally— close enough for comfort but not so close he’s lurking. He’s shaking.

He can still hear it, hear Dick forcing out his last words, telling Wally it’s okay, that he loves him, that it’ll be fine.

It’s not fine. Not without you.

He wants to scream.

He wants to cry, yell, hit something, do anything.

But he can’t move.

So he just stands there, almost as still as the holographic projection of Dick before him.

Kon is left reeling.

Tim… Tim is…

Tim’s dead.

Tim’s really gone.

He thinks, for just a second, that this is how Tim and Cassie must have felt when he and Bart “died”.

Bart is sitting beside him on the couch, leaning on his side, Cassie’s got her head on his lap. Neither of them speak— Bart’s not even fidgeting— they’re all just trying to be there for each other.

The other Titans are up and about, but staying close for comfort. Jaime and Gar are making food for everyone in the kitchen, Raven and Vic have come back to the tower to make sure the others are okay, and he’s sure Karen’s around too, somewhere.

Yet he feels so empty.

Feels nothing at all.

How can he, when his best friend is dead?

Jon hasn’t spoken in a bit. Not when his Mom brought him his favorite soup, not when Grandma and Grandpa showed up to ‘help’ him and Dad through this, not when Krypto plopped down beside him to comfort him.

He hugs the dog close.

Krypto’s technically Kon’s, but Jon’s sure Kon wouldn’t mind if he stole Krypto for a day.

Another sob escapes him, and he buries his head in Krypto’s back. The dog whines, licking Jon’s hand.

He can’t believe Damian’s gone. 

Really gone.

And he didn’t know just how much he would miss his friend.

Dinah finds Talia Al Ghul on a building in Metropolis, overlooking the city. Her face is tight with sorrow, but she keeps herself in check, her back straight, head held high.

She already knows, Dinah deduces.

“I… I’m sorry,” Dinah starts, unsure of what to say. She knows, from her experience as a psychologist, that ‘sorry’ is the last thing a grieving person wants to hear, but she doesn’t have anything else to say.

Talia doesn’t reply for a long time. Then she says, her voice numb, “I should have known, when bringing Damian into this life, that I would also be bringing him amidst the dangers that come with.”

Dinah’s brows furrow. “It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have done anything at all.”

“I should have trained him better, I should have kept him close, I should—” Talia takes a shuddering breath. “I should have never brought him into this life.”

Dinah can’t argue with that— she knows how Damian had come to be, and it… wasn’t the best birth ever.

“Now leave, hero,” Talia says, her voice numb and cold. “Go back to protecting the world. Leave me be.”

Dinah wants to say something better, comfort the woman, but she can’t. So she just turns back, and leaves.

By the time Harper Row makes her way to the Clock Tower, there’s already quite a crowd there— Kate, Renee Montoya, Harley, Ivy, Silena, and Helena Bertinili— they’re crowding around Babs, comforting her. Luke Fox and Isabella Ortiz are at the computer, looking through something.

Harper tries to open her mouth to speak, but she can’t get the words out.

She makes her way over to Luke and Izzy, shoulders hunched.

Just three days ago she’d been hanging out with Duke and Izzy and Cass and Steph— they’d all been so carefree, so happy…

And now…

Once she gets close enough she realizes Izzy’s crying, and immediately wraps her arms around the shorter girl. Harper’s trying to hold back tears of her own, too. She feels Luke putting a hesitant hand on her shoulder, squeezing tight.

No one speaks for a long time, they just stand together, seeking comfort in each other.

Then Babs rolls her wheelchair to the center of the room, wiping at her bloodshot eyes. But when she speaks, she sounds surprisingly steady. She’s compartmentalizing, Harper realizes. Putting away Barbara and bringing Oracle back.

“Gotham needs her heroes, now more than ever,” Oracle says, head held high. “We must honor our friends by doing the one thing they’d have wanted— to keep fighting. Keep Gotham safe.”

She sighs, her face tight to fight away tears. “Luke. Batman’s contingency plan, in the Robins’ absence, was to pass you the mantle of Batman. Do you accept?”

Luke’s eyes grow wide slightly, but he straightens himself, looking away. “I… I accept. Dad isn’t going to be happy, but… Gotham needs Batman.”

“Thank you.” Oracle nods at him. “As per Bruce’s will, all Wayne assets, the Manor, and the Batcave are split between Kate, me, Alfred, and Lucius. I… Lucius and I are still figuring out who’s going to take over Wayne Enterprises, but on the vigilante side, I’ve got a plan.”

She turns to Ivy, Harley, Kate, Silena and Helena. “The Birds of Prey are needed here, now more than ever. Dinah— Black canary has offered to help us with Gotham, too.” 

Harley nods, sniffling. Beside her, Ivy speaks up, “The… Most Rogues aren’t happy about this. They’re not rampaging— Bane has fashioned his own version of the Batsuit, he’s going around ‘saving’ people, screaming that Batman never dies. The Joker’s searching for Lazarus Pits and Bruce’s body. Jervis Tetch and Nygma held a get-together yesterday, in the memory of the Bats. I… I think they might help us.”

Harper’s gotta admit, she’s quite surprised about this. Even Babs freezes, taking in this information.

“Gotham needs Robin as much as she needs Batman,” Izzy speaks up from beside her, her voice small but firm. “The Robins can come back, this time you can give us formal training so we can actually help.”

Oracle turns to Luke. “Taking on Robins is your decision, Batman.”

Luke winces at that title— it doesn’t feel like an honor to him, it just feels like an incessant reminder that he’s the last one left. Because his friends are dead. But he nods, anyway, not trusting himself to speak right now.

Then Oracle addresses Harper. “I… would you like to be Batgirl?”

Harper’s heart stops. Memories flash into her head— seeing Steph in the Batgirl costume, seeing Cass in the Batgirl suit, both of whom are now gone.

“N— No,” Harper stutters out, eyes tearful. “I can’t— I’m sorry, Babs. I appreciate the offer, but… Cass was Batgirl. I can’t take her place.”

“I understand.” Babs just nods, lips pursed, misty-eyed. “We will all need to work hand-in-hand until everything settles, we will need to be vigilant. Carry on Batman’s legacy, for as long as we may need to.”

No one speaks again.

They all just let it sink in, hearts heavy.

They’re going to have to do this alone now.

[13eyond13]

hello — do you have any death note fic recs that occur in the canon universe? they don’t necessarily need to be canon compliant, and i’d specifically prefer gen or lawlight. thank you so much :) your blog’s really fun to scroll through whilst putting off doing assignments

Aw, thank you anon! I quite like scrolling through my own blog too lol

And you got it, pal. I'd say it's about time I dust off my rusty fic recommending skills (I haven't been reading fanfiction regularly since probably about 2018, so these recs are not going to be the newest of the new, jsyk)...

Also, I'm ASSUMING this is the same anon who asked recently for fics a bit similar to

(X) Nights - youremyqueen [E, 400k+ words] L imprisons Light and then Light imprisons L and then L imprisons Light again. Sometimes they have sex, too.

? If not please forgive me, because I also used that as a guide when picking out these recs.

Also most of these recs are explicit and many of them are dark, so please check the tags and content warnings on the fics before reading them, just in case there's anything listed there that might be a dealbreaker for you! Should go without saying, but it's entirely on YOU if you end up reading something you're not comfortable with linked here, dear reader(s)...

--

CANON UNIVERSE + LAWLIGHT FIC RECS

SOME YOTSUBA ARC PWP ONE-SHOTS:

(X) Slap Fight - Shipaholic [E, 2k words] L makes a request. It gets out of hand. -(the girls are fiiiiighting...) (X) Love is an Open Door in My Ass - Shipaholic [E, 4k words] Matsuda gets very excited about an email forward. The task force despairs. -(technically meant to be taking place in the dramaverse, but you can easily imagine it as the anime/manga characters too. Rough sex but done with a lighter/softer tone) (X) Losing - Twyd [E, 2k words] L knows what losing feels like. -(depression!L is having a bit of a bad time... this writer makes L so quiet and sad and cute, and even though that's not often my cup of tea I still love everything they write) (X) Tresemme - Twyd [M, 2k words] L x Light slash. Set when they are handcuffed. Light just wishes L would dry his hair properly. He takes matters into his own hands. -(understated bittersweet fluff-smut) (X) Brilliant Bodies Disintegrate - Tartpants [E, 5k words] "L gives Light flesh made fact. L is the wayward flock for him to tend -- he’s Lucifer, the dawn-bringer, delivering light back to Light. Put bluntly, L’s the one who keeps shit interesting." -(L keeps being a big ho and making Light jealous on purpose to goad him into some rough sex-having, basically? Good if you liked that aspect of Nights...) (X)Trash Note - Tartpants [E, 3k words] "The character whose name is written in this note shall obey the writer’s every trash whim, no matter how out-of-character, preposterous, unsavory, carnal, humiliating, or cracktastic." -(if you ever want some goofy handcuffs smut that isn't taking itself too seriously at some point...)

SOME LONGER CANON UNIVERSE + LAWLIGHT FICS:

(X) Coexistence is Boredom - Sakurazukamori6 [M, 232k words] A new deathnote. A new plan for world sanctity. And an entirely misled Catholic clergy. Raito and L take their respective places on the sides of their own justice. A final battle waged in the Garden of Eden. -(This was my very fave Lawlight fic back in the 2000s, and a lot of it still holds up for me now and has a very special place in my heart even though it never actually got finished. I just love how L and Light and all the other characters are written in it, and appreciate that it can be angsty and suspenseful while still being funny and kinda lighter in tone for a canon universe Lawlight fic - it frequently makes me lol when I'm reading it. From what I remember it was the first fic that convinced me they'd potentially make a good couple beyond just unresolved sexual tension, too) (X) The Lies of Light Yagami - Kildeer [E, 38k words] “You’re pretty good Light, but I don’t see how you could hurt someone more with love than with death.” It was Light’s turn to smile as he leaned back in his chair. “Well then Ryuk, prepare yourself for a good show.” -(a bunch of missing scenes from the canon storyline, mostly smut. Very angsty and well done) (X) A Tithe to Hell - Aja [E, 34k words] Light has thirteen days to find out how it will feel--not just to kill, but to destroy. -(considered a fandom classic. I remember finding it intense and well-written, and that it also has a few interesting twists and turns) (X) Between the Black and White - Serria [M, 103k words] When L captures Light, he finds himself unwilling to relinquish his kindred spirit to the police, and instead has other plans to make Kira atone for his crimes. But the saga of Shinigami, genius intellect and old memories - BB - has only just begun. -(I haven't read it since it was new, and I don't think it ever got finished, but I remember this one being my fave of Serria's fics back in the day when I was a very fussy reader and only wanted to read fics set in the canon universe. Serria wrote a lot of great early Lawlight fics, and was my first friend in the fandom back in 2008 as well!) (X) A Cure for Love - halfpromise [M, 230k words] Light and L fall in love during the Yotsuba arc and Light's master plan is derailed when an assassin steals the Death Note. The threat of Kira is dwarfed when Kira's powers seem to have fallen into the hands of a terrorist organization known as Astraea and Light and L are united to find the culprit, but for how long... -(you've heard of the legendary Hinterland Doctrine fic series, now get ready for what I believe is halfpromise's very first fic? I don't think I actually read this whole thing so I don't know if it's finished, but I remember finding it fun to read her take on the canon characters too, and that what I did read had a pretty interesting plot and at times was quite funny as well)

[kckt88]

Take My Breath Away X.

Summary:

Vaeryna and Aemond come to an understanding and another babe is born.

Warning(s): Mini Time Skip, Language, Anger, Misunderstandings, Aegon's Inuendo, Child Birth.

Word Count: 3216

A.N - BIT OF A FILLER CHAPTER BEFORE A TIME SKIP!!

GREENS WIN - ENEMIES TO LOVERS.

Tag List - @a-beaverhausen, @ammo23, @immyowndefender, @watercolorskyy, @toodlesxcuddles

Smut scene from Dynasty has been reused.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the House of The Dragon or Fire & Blood characters nor do I claim to own them. I do not own any of the images used.

Comments, likes, and reblogs are very much appreciated.

It was glorious, an entire week spent with his wife and son.

The peace and serenity of Dragonstone had relaxed him beyond belief.

As well as making up for lost time with Rhaegar, Aemond never missed an opportunity to get between his wife’s soft thighs.

He was determined to make up for the time he'd lost and Vaeryna was more than happy to accept his efforts.

The time with Vaeryna and Rhaegar had made Aemond realise just how important his wife and son were and he vowed to make changes upon their return to Kings Landing.

Changes that began almost immediately after they had landed.

Aemond refused point blank to attend more council meetings than necessary and the ones he did attend, he insisted that they ended at an appropriate time.

When the other council members grumbled at his behaviour, he gently reminded them that he rode the largest dragon in the world and any such complaints could be made in her presence.

Needless to say, the complaints did eventually quieten down after that, but Aegon was still furious with Vaeryna for taking Rhaegar and running off, so she had to apologise, which she wasn’t very happy about, but in order to keep the peace she eventually conceded.

Of course, a few weeks after their return to the Red Keep, Vaeryna discovered that she was with child again and Aegon’s anger towards her was all but forgotten, the King was clearly excited by the prospect of another child, as was Alicent who smiled and congratulated them both.

There was a slight panic as Rhaegar hadn’t celebrated his first name day yet, but Aemond was on hand to assuage any fears his wife might have had, even though he harboured his own fears surrounding Vaeryna birthing their babe, given the complications she had when birthing Rhaegar.

But Aemond would never let those fears become known, he would keep them to himself and pray to the gods every night that his wife would be ok.

The one who was the most excited was Jaehaera, she spent hours lovingly sewing a blanket for her cousin.

“Do you think she’ll like it?” asked Jaehaera.

“I’m sure she’ll love it” replied Vaeryna.

“Uncle Aemy wants to call her Alissa, don’t let him” whispered Jaehaera.

“What shall I call her?” questioned Vaeryna as she stroked her slightly swollen stomach.

“Daenerys” said Jaehaera.

“That’s very pretty”.

“The boy in the snow will think so too” muttered Jaehaera.

“Do you know something?” asked Vaeryna looking around cautiously.

“Daenerys will be his way home” murmured Jaehaera.

“Such a thing is not possible” said Vaeryna.

“All things are possible auntie Ryna. Egg will return and Daenerys will help him”.

Vaeryna studied Jaehaera for a moment before nodding and resuming her reading, her niece had been right about Rhaegar, so could she be right about Aegon, was there a way for him to come back and if so, when?

“You’ll know” whispered Jaehaera.

“What?” exclaimed Vaeryna.

“When the time is right for Egg to come back, you just need to be patient” said Jaehaera.

Vaeryna nodded wordlessly and as she caught sight of Aemond approaching.

“The little fiend in there has the audacity to kick her father in the face” laughed Aemond as he rested his head against Vaeryna’s swollen stomach.

“Probably a warning for all the trouble she’ll cause in the future”.

“If she’s anything like her mother of course” said Aemond smiling.

“Hey, I’m not that bad am I” muttered Vaeryna pouting slightly.

“I suppose not, but at least you’ve ceased your relentless teasing about Alys” whispered Aemond.

“Not much left to tease you with, as I don’t think my father convincing her to seduce you-“

“What?” asked Aemond his singular eye boring into hers.

“Oh, I didn’t tell you about that did I?” said Vaeryna grimacing.

“No, you did not” retorted Aemond.

“Didn’t really seem all that important” said Vaeryna sheepishly.

“So, your saying everything I had with Alys was-“

“-A set up? Well, in the beginning it was, I don’t know-she could have developed genuine feelings for you eventually” said Vaeryna quickly.

“All that time I spent with her was fake” muttered Aemond.

“Look, don’t take it personally. Alys just did what she had to in order to survive. Granted I never liked the woman, but you have to admit she was good at what she did” replied Vaeryna.

“You almost sound like you admire her”.

“I admired her tenacity” replied Vaeryna softly.

“I don’t suppose it matters now that she’s dead”.

“-And if she wasn’t?” asked Vaeryna.

“I would kill her myself, she lied to me, seduced me and being involved with her only caused my own embarrassment” said Aemond.

“You’re a man, people generally tend to look the other way when it comes to men seeking the company of whores” said Vaeryna.

“Is that what you think?”

“It’s what I know, a woman cannot go and enjoy the pleasures of a man without being labelled. Look at my mother, she was forced into a marriage with Laenor to salvage the crowns relationship with the Velaryon’s after Viserys spurned Laena in favour of a marriage to your mother” replied Vaeryna.

“I just-“

“-My mother and Laenor did try to have children, but it was fruitless. She was expected to have more children, to further her line and as my father was across the narrow sea, her options were severely limited” replied Vaeryna.

“But her choice could have been better” muttered Aemond.

“Possibly, but who else would she have trusted with such a thing, Harwin was devoted to her and he loved her the way she deserved to be loved, mayhaps Viserys should have granted Daemon’s request-“

“-His request?” questioned Aemond.

“He once told me that he asked Viserys for my mother’s hand in marriage, but he was denied, of course he was still married to Rhea Royce at the time, but can you imagine how different things would have been” mused Vaeryna.

“We can imagine, but we will never truly know” replied Aemond as he ran a hand over Vaeryna’s round stomach.

“The incompetence of Kings” muttered Vaeryna.

Aemond closed his eye and pressed his face against the curve of his wife’s belly, he inhaled her sweet lavender scent and sighed, as he couldn’t ignore the feeling of uncertainty swirling in the pit of his stomach.

“Do you regret the choices we’ve made?”

“My choice led me to my children; I do not regret that” replied Vaeryna.

“Oh” whispered Aemond.

“-And even though there was a time where I thought you to be loathsome cunt, I do not regret you” said Vaeryna smiling.

As carefully as he could, Aemond surged forward and pressed his lips against hers.

Vaeryna sighed contentedly into the kiss and rested her forehead against Aemonds.

As fearsome as he was, there were times when Aemond seemed quite vulnerable and clingy, he would consistently seek her touch and he also had this inherent need to know that she loved him.

Which given his upbring was understandable, Vaeryna had grown up in a very loving and consistent environment, whereas Aemond hadn’t and that deeply saddened Vaeryna.

“Mamamama” squealed Rhaegar.

“Somebodies awake” laughed Vaeryna.

“Dadadada” shouted Rhaegar.

“You relax, I’ll get him” said Aemond.

“Gods this child is giving me a right kicking” exclaimed Vaeryna wincing as she placed a hand on her stomach.

“Babababa” shouted Rhaegar he jostled excitedly in his father’s arms.

“Settle down my sweet boy” muttered Vaeryna as Aemond placed a squirming Rhaegar on the bed.

“Rhaegar, listen to your mother” said Aemond sternly as he watched Rhaegar bounce on the bed.

“No dada” exclaimed Rhaegar frowning.

“Please Rhaegar-“ said Vaeryna as she suddenly lurched forward and threw up.

“-Gods Vaeryna are you ok?” asked Aemond.

“I just-oh not again-“ gasped Vaeryna as she threw up again.

“Mamamama” urged Rhaegar.

“I’m getting the Maester-Ser Arryk would you take Rhaegar to the nursery and watch over him until Marlena arrives”.

“Yes, My Prince-Come on little one” said Ser Arryk as he took Rhaegar by the hand and led him out of the room.

“I’ll get Munkun, just stay here until I get back” said Aemond softly.

“Not like I’ve got anywhere to go” muttered Vaeryna as she placed a hand on her head.

“Hm” muttered Aemond as he rushed out of the room and reappeared several minutes later with Maester Munkun and a maid.

“Apologise for the mess Ellen” said Vaeryna softly.

“Tis no trouble Princess” replied Ellen as she began to clean up.

“Aside from the sickness, do you have any other symptoms?” asked Maester Munkun.

“No” replied Vaeryna.

“The babe is very active indeed” muttered Munkun as he gently prodded and poked Vaeryna’s swollen stomach.

“No kidding” exclaimed Vaeryna her stomach lurching again.

“I think I see the issue, with the babe being so active, the regular movements are upsetting your stomach” said Munkun.

“Oh” muttered Vaeryna.

“Do you consume a lot of sugary food by any chance?”

“She eats a lot of honey cakes if that’s what you mean” said Aemond folding his arms across his chest.

“That might be what is causing the babe to be so active, as there is a lot of sugar in honey cakes” replied Munkun.

“But I have a craving for them Maester” gasped Vaeryna.

“Mayhaps you could limit the amount of honey cakes you consume” suggested Munkun.

“-Or mayhaps I should feed you to my dragon” muttered Vaeryna.

“Vaeryna” scolded Aemond.

“It’s quite alright my Prince, a mother heavy with child is more ferocious than any dragon”.

“But what am I to do if I cannot have my cakes, I can’t stop thinking about them and it unsettles me most nights” said Vaeryna, ignoring Aemond who looked bewildered.

“I merely suggest that you limit your intake of sugar Princess, I understand the cravings of mothers can be overwhelming, but we need to consider your health and not just the babe”.

“Yes Maester” muttered Vaeryna suddenly becoming very sullen.

“I shall make sure she adheres to your advice Maester” said Aemond sternly.

“I’m not suggesting she doesn’t have any cake at all, mayhaps limit the amount”.

Aemond’s eye narrowed as he spotted Vaeryna’s lip wobbling.

“Thank you Maester that will be all” said Aemond.

Once the Maester had left Aemond braced himself for the vitriol his wife was no doubt about to spew forth in his direction.

But when he turned around, he was aghast when he spotted the tears rolling down Vaeryna’s face.

“My love-“ said Aemond gently.

Vaeryna wiped the tears off her face and slowly climbed off the bed, she didn’t say a word as she walked past Aemond and left their chambers, ignoring her husband as he frantically called her name.

It was one of those rare moments where Aegon could enjoy the peace and quiet, being King didn’t afford him much privacy so he could only snatch brief moments here and there.

But as he sat in the garden, he heard the faint sound of crying, at first, he thought it was Jaehaera as she the propensity to hide away and cry for her mother from time to time, but it wasn’t his daughter that he came across, it was his good sister hiding in one of the bushes.

“What’s wrong?” asked Aegon as he sat on the ground next to Vaeryna.

“H-He thinks I’m a fat pig” wailed Vaeryna.

“Who does?”

“Aemond” sobbed Vaeryna as she pressed her face into Aegon’s shoulder.

“I’m sure he doesn’t” replied Aegon awkwardly as he patted Vaeryna on the head.

“T-The Maester said I eat too much cake and the sugar is making the babe too active and he-he said he would limit my cake- “ shrieked Vaeryna.

“-Your crying because of cake?” asked Aegon perplexed.

“Oh, so you think I’m a fat pig too” snapped Vaeryna.

“N-No I never said those words, I was just curious as to why you were crying and-oh gods I’m making a right mess of this aren’t I” replied Aegon.

“It’s his fault in the first place”.

“Who? Aemonds?” asked Aegon.

“Yes, he was the one who got me with child, damn him and his big cock”.

“I mean he is very gifted in that department, I’m rather envious of you” said Aegon.

“Wait. What?” exclaimed Vaeryna wiping the snot on her sleeve.

“Oh it’s not what you think my brother is far too much of a prude for that sort of thing, but-“

“-His involvement with Alys suggests otherwise” muttered Vaeryna.

“Sticking his cock in an old whores dusty cunny doesn’t mean shit, my brother has only fucked three women in his life, not exactly anything to brag about” said Aegon firmly.

“As opposed to the hundreds you’ve bedded” quipped Vaeryna.

“Those were the glory days, but yes I’ve experienced my fair share of pleasure with males and females” said Aegon.

“Does your pious mother know of your indulgences with men?” asked Vaeryna.

“Gods no, she’d likely have a heart attack if she knew”.

“-And your little crush on Aemond?” said Vaeryna smirking, her upset with her husband long forgotten.

“I wouldn’t call it a crush, more of a curiosity. I always wondered what it would be like to have my brother at my mercy”.

“Oh, it’s quite satisfactory, especially when he begs” replied Vaeryna smirking.

“Good sister do not spare any details. Tell me how you make my brother beg”.

Aegon was as giddy as a small child, practically foaming at the mouth wanting to hear all the juicy details.

"You only want me to tell you so you can tease him"

"Would I?" laughed Aegon.

"Yes you would, but then again I'm sure Aemond would spontaneously combust if he knew of your-curiosity".

"Oh he would either levy some insult upon me or skin me alive" replied Aegon shrugging.

"Would you fuck him if he allowed it?" asked Vaeryna.

"My brother would never allow such a thing to occur, but on the off chance he agreed, I wouldn't say no, but it would be him doing the fucking if I'm totally honest" said Aegon.

"Interesting" mused Vaeryna suddenly feeling warm and fuzzy at the thought of Aemond and Aegon together.

"Indeed, so tell me how does my brother beg?"

“He’s very fond of my mouth on his-“ muttered Vaeryna

“-Vaeryna” said Aemond.

“You’ve got to be kidding me” exclaimed Aegon.

“Maybe next time Your Grace” replied Vaeryna.

“Vaeryna, where are you?”

“Don’t you dare-“ quipped Vaeryna.

“-She’s here” said Aegon smirking.

“Traitor” snapped Vaeryna.

“Are you hiding in the bushes?” asked Aemond.

“Obviously” muttered Vaeryna.

Aemond’s eye narrowed when he caught sight of Vaeryna resting her head on Aegon’s shoulder.

“My doesn’t this look cozy”.

“Get your head out your arse, I was here first and Aegon found me” said Vaeryna.

“Tis true brother, your wife was upset, I was merely providing comfort” replied Aegon as he stood up and dusted himself off.

“Hm” muttered Aemond as he sat next to Vaeryna who scowled.

“I’ll leave you to it” said Aegon as he walked out of the gardens.

“Do you want to tell me why your hiding in the bushes?” asked Aemond.

“Go away” snapped Vaeryna.

“Not until you tell me why your so upset” replied Aemond.

“Get lost” muttered Vaeryna her eyes filling with tears again.

“Please my love” begged Aemond as he gently placed a hand on Vaeryna’s shoulder, only for her to shrug him off.

“You’re a horrid man Aemond Targaryen” snarled Vaeryna as she tried to get up but couldn’t.

“Do you need help?” asked Aemond trying to stifle a smirk.

“I can do it” said Vaeryna as she struggled.

“Just give me your hand” said Aemond as he stood up and held his hand out to Vaeryna who slapped it away.

“Leave me alone” said Vaeryna, tears of frustration running down her face.

“Just let me help you”.

“Fine” snarked Vaeryna as she took Aemond’s hand and allowed him to help her stand up.

“Now are you going to talk to me?”

“NO” shouted Vaeryna as she turned away from Aemond and furiously wiped away her tears.

“Why are you being so difficult?”

“It’s your fault” replied Vaeryna wincing slightly as a sharp pain throbbed across her stomach.

“What?”

“You think I’m a pig” snapped Vaeryna.

“No, I don’t” exclaimed Aemond.

“Yes you do, you think I eat too many cakes and-“

“Is that what all of this is about? My love please believe me when I say you are not a pig, you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen” replied Aemond softly.

“Your just saying that” breathed Vaeryna as another pain lanced across her stomach.

“Because it’s true, you are my heart and soul” muttered Aemond as he seized his chance and placed a gentle kiss on Vaeryna’s forehead.

“I-I’m sorry”.

“It’s ok my love; I understand things are a little delicate at the moment” said Aemond.

“I don’t even really like honey cakes” confessed Vaeryna as she wrapped her arms around Aemond’s waist.

Aemond let out a little chuckle as he placed a hand under Vaeryna’s chin and gently manoeuvred her face so his lips could meet hers.

As the kiss deepened Vaeryna gasped as she felt something warm and wet run down her legs.

“What’s wrong?” asked Aemond as he watched his wife frantically lifting her skirts and placing a hand between her legs.

“T-The babe is coming” exclaimed Vaeryna.

“That’s it Princess, keep pushing” encouraged Maester Munkun.

“AEMOND!” screamed Vaeryna.

“I’m here my sweet” replied Aemond.

“I-I can’t do this, it’s too soon” cried Vaeryna.

“Yes, you can” exclaimed Aemond as he climbed onto the bed at sat behind Vaeryna.

“W-What are you doing?” muttered Vaeryna.

“Lean against me and take my hands” urged Aemond as he sat Vaeryna between his open legs.

“A-Aemond” gasped Vaeryna.

“Now, you squeeze my hands as hard as you like” said Aemond.

Vaeryna was sweaty and exhausted, but she took a deep breath and as the next contraction ripped across her stomach, she pushed.

“FUCK!”

"Keep going my sweet you’re doing great" said Aemond.

"I'M GOING TO CUT YOUR COCK OFF!" screamed Vaeryna.

"Oh, my love, surely you don't mean that".

"I do. This is ALL your fault,” cried Vaeryna.

"I seem to recall that you were a willing participant in our love making, if not the instigator on several occasions my love" replied Aemond.

"Not even remotely funny" yelled Vaeryna.

"Another push Princess" 

“I swear if you say push one more time. I'll feed you too my Cannibal” snarled Vaeryna.

“The head is out Princess, but I need you to stop pushing. The cord is wrapped around the babe’s neck” exclaimed Maester Munkun.

“W-What” cried Vaeryna in alarm.

“It’s ok. Issa dōna ābrazȳrys. Just breathe” said Aemond (My sweet wife).

After a few moments, the Maester had managed to cut the cord from the babe’s neck and with a wet squelch the babe arrived.

A loud shrieking cry echoed around the room.

“A daughter, Princess” declared the Maester.

Vaeryna all but snatched the crying babe away from Maester Munkun and sobbed.

“T-Thank you Maester” breathed Vaeryna, the tears streaming down her face.

“Your welcome Princess” replied maester Munkun.

“I-Is she ok?” asked Vaeryna.

“She’s absolutely fine” said Maester Munkun smiling.

“S-She’s ok. Aemond, look” gasped Vaeryna.

Aemond who’s face had been buried in Vaeryna’s shoulder, let out a sob as he gazed at his crying daughter.

“My daughter” gasped Aemond.

“She’s beautiful” sobbed Vaeryna as she stroked her daughter’s head.

“What shall we call her?” asked Aemond.

“Daenerys” whispered Vaeryna.

“A perfect name. For a perfect little girl”

“So perfect” whispered Vaeryna.

“I’m so proud of you Issa prūmia” (my heart).

“I love you” muttered Vaeryna.

“-And I love you. My sweet perfect wife.” praised Aemond as he nuzzled Vaeryna’s neck.

“Would you like you hold your daughter?”

“Please” whispered Aemond as he manoeuvred himself away from Vaeryna and climbed off the bed.

Aemond cried openly when his wife placed their tiny babe in his arms.

“A-Are you ok?” asked Vaeryna her voice laced with concern.

Aemond nodded meekly as his gaze never leaving his precious daughter.

[masterjedilenawrites]

I have a request if you’re feeling up for it :)

I wanted to know what each clone’s S/O does to get them flustered? 🤔 like all blushy, stuttering, etc? Is it words from their S/O? Light touches?(ticklish,sensitive,etc) I was in a fluffy mood and you are a good writer. I shall pay you in llamas pls & thank u ✨🦙 🦙🦙🦙

Ooh hard to pass up a deal for llamas. But first I need to know, are they smelly? Do they get along with cats? And can they survive on a small apartment balcony?

Cody, Wolffe, and Wrecker melt over sweet and kind gestures. Gentle touches are a big one. It sends such pleasant tingles across their skin and they cannot comprehend how they could possibly deserve such softness. Another is being taken care of, such as their armor being cleaned or being cooked a nice meal. They won't be able to find the words to express how such acts make them feel. 

Tup, Dogma, and Thorn will be flushed, stuttering messes over just about anything. Seriously, any kind of attention goes straight to their hearts without a fight, and comes spilling over in the most frazzled and adorable of ways. We're talking compliments, being thanked, brushing arms as they move by, seeing their S/O blush... These three are immediately red as a tomato and utterly helpless.

Hardcase, Tech, and Mayday would need it laid on them real thick before they're even aware. Simple brushes of the hand won't do the trick, they need their head caressed in both hands. Sweet words or silly pet names? No, they need to be taken aside, looked in the eye, and told just how handsome or strong they are. Then they'll start stuttering and blushing.

Fox, Rex, and Echo will get worked into a tizzy any time their S/O shines the spotlight on them in public. Behind closed doors, they are totally fine hearing compliments, holding them close, being doted on. But around others, they cannot function with that attention. It's not even out of embarrassment or anything; the gestures just hit them that much deeper when they're on display.

Fives, Jesse, and Crosshair aren't too easily thrown off their game, but there is one simple thing that will make their brains short circuit: their S/O's smile. They dream about that smile. It is the single most dazzling, beautiful, perfect thing they have ever seen in their entire lives, and it will make them seize up and swoon, without fail, every single time. 

Kix, Hunter, and Gregor are more likely to be flustered over things that are... uh, less than innocent, shall we say. They don't bat an eye at the fluffy stuff. It's still enjoyable, don't get them wrong, but they won't be turning pink just by holding hands. No, their blushes only come out when touched teasingly elsewhere, or at suggestive turns of phrase, or even at flirty winks. 

Every Character Tag: @dangerousstrawberrypie, @justanothersadperson93, @arctrooper69, @sleepycreativewriter, @techie-bear, @theroguesully

Bois, Batch, and Other Clones Tag: @kaijusplotch, @rebel-finn, @lucyysthings, @marvel-starwars-nerd, @nekotaetae, @severalseashellsbytheseashore, @lackofhonor, @flowered-bicycles, @foodmoneyandcats, @nahoney22

✨Join A Tag List Here!✨

💋 Tender Loving Clones Master List | 🌙 Master List of Master Lists

[tavyliasin]

Call this one an experiment in a little something different, darlings~

We all have hard days, and some harder than most. So, perhaps a few words of comfort from some of our most beloved characters.

I may expand on these later to be fuller pieces of comfort, but only if that's something people feel they'd wish to see. So do let me know if it should go on my list, for more with these characters and additions of other favourites too~ I can probably so a short piece from anyone, given a little time to get under their skin and find their motivation/voice.

There's going to be some mild tw/cw for mental health, mention of scars, and subtle implications of pain/hurt/etc.

Astarion: "Darling, look into my eyes. That's right, keep your focus right here. Listen to my voice, breathe slowly. No more tears alone, love, you are a light in my endless night and I shall not let your flame burn low. You and I, we are more than the scars we never should have earned, and we are certainly far stronger than any blade or bow that has ever tried to take us down. You still do not believe it? You are here, living and breathing, despite all of your worst days.  Now, one day at a time, darling, one foot in front of the other. No stumble can erase how far you have come." 

---

Halsin: "I am here, my heart, what do you need? No shadow curse or vile beast can reach you from within my arms, no force of nature can tear you from them either. Take all the time you need, my love, I will not leave. Your tears are your strength, not your shame. Let me teach you of all I see within you, your boundless potential proving the acorn can become the oak. I see how you shelter others with your leaves, so let us - let me - hold you through the storm. Your boughs may bend but they will not break." 

---

Abdirak: "You endure your pain so well Dear One, but you must stop believing you deserve it. Pain is a gift, it can be loving, and deliver that love to Loviatar. But it must never break, it must not be delivered without purpose. Do not be so foolish as to believe your own hand is purpose enough. Let me show you the right pains, Dear One, the pain that can heal you. No others shall be permitted to taint the art that is you with sullied brushes." 

---

Raphael: "Little Mouse, you have set quite the trap for yourself, haven't you? Need I remind you exactly who you made a deal with? No. I shall not permit our agreement to be tainted, not by any insignificant insect that would dare to sting my prey. Do not look so forlorn, Little Mouse, your nickname is not an insult. You might be in the presence of a cat, and you would do well to remember that little fact, but a mouse can be swift, cunning, and survive against impossible odds. That is why I trust you, and no other, to bring me what I want most. It is why I offer you a deal that is almost entirely in your favour - no other could expect such generosity, Little Mouse, so keep that in mind. You are my favourite client, and I shall let none break you. Not even yourself."

---

Haarlep: "Ah my Little Thief, you wish to steal yourself away? No, I shall not have that. How bold you were to look me in the eye and to broker your own deal! I could have killed you the moment you stepped into my abode uninvited, but that, Little Thief, would have been such a terrible waste. You noticed, did you not? When I saw you, when I truly saw you, that I did not see just a body stood brazenly staring me down without a scrap of cloth to cover you. I saw potential, so very much delicious potential. Come now, lie back, tell your dear Haarlep what troubles you, and I shall erase every last one from your mind."

---

A bonus, from Tavylia Sin, to one and all.

Tavylia: "Hello, darling. I see you, I really do. I can see how tightly you hold on, how easily the little hope you cling to can slip through your fingers. I know you may never read this, I know you may never hear it, but perhaps someone else like you will read this instead and that will be enough. You are too unkind to yourself, even as you show endless understanding and patience to those around you. They love you, darling, they cherish you even when you don't hear it. I know you need to hear it , though, and I don't begrudge you the comfort of soft words. Just...remember them, love. Remember every moment you were heard, every time you were adored just the way you are, and know those feelings are still there. A heart of love is not emptied by a single moment of you not believing in yourself, your worth is not measured by what you provide. Your worth is within yourself. I see it, others do too. Take comfort, darling, you are never ever alone. I am with you, near or far, and my love for you will not fade. If you cannot believe in yourself for now, trust that we believe in you. Rest, love, the dawn brings a new day and you are always a pleasant part of mine."

[that-one-enby-ranger]

Hi, you reblogged a thing asking to ramble about the outsiders, and I remember reading that book like 2 years ago and loving it. I and my best friend would absolutely adore hearing you ramble about the outsiders, so, please dooo

Oh I will gladly ramble on about The Outsiders.

Firstly I'm just gonna start off with my order of favourites from the main seven.

Darry. He is my absolute love. I made a list of my top ten favourite fictional characters over all and he was number four. I would gladly marry him. I want to hug him. I will defend him until the day I die. Patrick Swayze is amazing too.

Sodapop. He used to be my favourite when I first read it, but then Darry went straight up to my favourite and now he is my number 2 and will probably be for the rest of time. I love him though, he's so sweet and amazing and handsome. I think when I first read it I felt I related to him because I'm the middle child as well and even though my sisters don't fight like Ponyboy and Darry do, I sometimes get left out of things like when they play Bendy or Little Nightmares.

Two-Bit. He's my little goofball. And I love thats there more to his character as well than just being a little goofball. Like how his father left, and he really cares about the rest of the gang like Pony and Johnny because he wants to look after them and was going to go to texas to find them. When writing The Outsiders fanfics he's fun to write for because he's a just a funny little guy. I love him. I want him as a friend. Or a husband. Either is fine.

Dally. I love him. I love characters who are fucked up with very high emotional walls who secrelty loves someone a lot and has a lot of trauma. The only thing I don't like about him, as that he kind of reminds me of my dickhead stoner cousin.

Johnny. I know he's low down, but I still love him a lot, and I want to look after him, and adopt him, and make him feel better, and kick his parents arses because they're little pieces of shit that deserve to go to hell. My sweet little lost puppy.

Steve. A lot of people don't like him, and I used to not really care about him, but I do now, because even though he's just a side character whose not in it much, he's still complex and got trauma, mainly from his dad. And he's Sodapop's best friend and I ship Stevepop. Plus he's played by Tom Cruise in the movie.

Ponyboy. I honestly don't really care about Ponyboy. He's just kind of there for me. Being realistic out of the entire gang he's probably the one I could relate to the most, and that I'm probably the most like especially since he likes to read and watch movies, but he's still kind of boring to me. I normally find the main characters boring. Sometimes.

Anyways now that the done. Darry. I love me Darry. A lot of this will probably be about Darrel Shayne Curtis Jr. because I love him so goddamn much. Words can't even describe how much I love him. He's just another complicated character. I don't care if he hit Ponyboy. I shall defened him. He loves his brothers he's just trying to look out for them. He probably shows more affection for his brothers than me and my sisters do. He literally calls them bub. I only do that with my best friend and it's because of him. She doesn't even realise it, she just thinks I randomly started calling her bub. I don't usually like guys with big muscles that you can see, but Darry is the biggest exception ever. I usally like twinks or people that are strong and have muscles but it doesn't really show that much until they do something, or have not as visible muscles but they are still visible, and still have really strong arms, like how I imagine Halt. And Patrick Swayze is gorrrrrrrrgeousssssssss. I love him so much.

JUST LOOK AT THIS MAN. HOW COULD YOU NOT FALL IN LOVE WITH HIM. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. WHEN MY FRIEND ASKS WHAT POLAROID PHOTO I WANT PRINTED FOR MY BIRTHDAY IM CHOOSING HIM. I WOULD CHOOSE BRIAN OR FREDDIE OR JOHN OR ROGER BUT I ALREADY HAVE MY ENTIRE ROOM DEDICATED TO HIM AND I HAVE NOTHING ON HIM EXCEPT FOR THE BOOK.

I swear to fuck when I read the book for the first time it changed my life and I instantly fell in love with it. My sister read it first for a novel study and she liked it, and then for my year 9 English class we had to read some books from a list that was given to us and the Outsiders was on it so I read it, and loved it very very much. I finished it before I had to return it so I just read it again immediately after finishing it. And then I watched the movie, then watched it again, then read the book again and again, and watched the movie, and bought the book and read it, and now I have lost track of how many times I have read and watched it. I read the book and watch the movie multiple times a year. When I first read it, I was reading in the car on the way to school and that was when I read the very sad death scenes. Did not expect to read a very serious plot point on a fifteen minute car ride to school. I remember thinking there's no way this ones gonna die, and then he did. I THOUGHT HE SURVIVED THE FUCKING FIRE. I had watched the movie with my sister before reading it but I wasn't really paying attention, the only thing I remember was the scene where Pony and Soda were hugging in bed, BUT I DIDN'T REMEMBER ANYONE DYING SO I THOUGHT WHEN I READ IT THAT EVERYTHING WAS GONNA BE OKAY. THEN I DEFINETELY DIDN'T EXPECT HIM TO DIE LITERALLY TWO FUCKING PAGES LATE. I am ashamed of my self that I have never cried over this. I'm surprised I have never cried while reading or watching. I may have cried over it once or twice, but it wasn't because of the deaths or how tragic it was, it was because I wanted to hug Darry and I couldn't.

The entire fucking cast is amazing. You've got Patrick Swayze, you've got Tom Cruise, you've got Rob Lowe, you've got Matt Dillon, you've got Ralph Macchio, you've got Emelio Estevez and you've got C. Thomas Howell who I don't really care about if I'm being honest. I also find it funny that pretty much the entire cast became famous apart from C. Thomas Howell, and he played Ponyboy who is literally the main character. But all the other cast became famous from different movies. Patrick from Dirty Dancing, Rob from probably St. Elmo's Fire or something, and the Outsiders too though, Matt from something else I don't know, Tom from like everything, Emelio from the Breakfast Club and Ralph from Karate Kid.

There's the Outsiders musicle now that I haven't watched yet and I don't know if I want to. I've heard its good, and people like the cast, but I'm too attached to the original movie cast, and I honestly don't know if I like it or not. I keep switching between being okay with watching and just refusing to watch it. And it's funny because when I heard there was going to be a musicle I was really excited but not I'm just meh. If it came to New Zealand to Wellington where I saw the Shrek musicle then I would probably see it if I had money. But at the moment I probably won't watch it. It's like the outsiders tv show they have, I probably won't watch that either. Also sidenote, I watched Shrek the Musicle in a haunted theatre called St. James Theatre. Why do I feel like i'm spelling musicle wrong.

I have another sideblog dedicated to The Outsiders as well called @ponyhasapepsiaddiction. I should make another sideblog entirely dedicated to loving Darry.

I feel like I definetely have more to say on them. But I've been writing for ages and it's 1:00pm for me now, and I'm hungry and want lunch. I know people may not be interested, but I do have some Outsiders fics, most of them have been recommened by other people.

Here's some random photos I also have saved to my computer:

That's not alll of them. There's defintely more.

Thanks for letting me ramble on about my babies. Out of all my favourite books this ones my second fav after Rangers, and out of all my favourie movies this ones my second fav after Bohemian Rhapsody so I kind of like it. Also thanks to anyone who actually read to the very end and put up with my bullshit.

Just putting it out there, if anyone would like to hear me yap about and ramble on about other things I like I will also gladly do Queen (that one will be the longest trust me), Rangers Apprentice obviously, Good Omen, Our Flag Means Death, ducks, Marvel, different fictional characters I like, different celebrities I like, or just OCs and Wips, like my novel.

[s-ephiroth]

not to start anything mean intended because i'm not that kind of person, but

i can't for the life of me understand people who claim to be sephiroth fans/have sephiroth based ships and go on and slap a capitalized "proship dni" somewhere in their bios/profiles

never understood this and never will, (for reasons i shall elaborate below) though i may get the potential reasons for it and just... it absolutely baffles me how misused the term proship is

that word literally means "in favor of shipping", that's what the "pro" part of the word is for. it doesn't mean you have to necessarily ship every ship that exists ever (that would be 1. insane and 2. not very feasible), just that you understand people will have different ships, you respect that others' preferences exist and mind your lane

it is basic fandom etiquette, it's literally old school "your kink is not my kink and that's ok". it's blocking folks with ships you dislike (notp) instead of trying to regulate what people do with narrative tools (characters) in a fictional space

sometimes other people are eating shrimp and you're allergic to shrimp. it doesn't mean the other people are immoral for eating shrimp

some people use proship to mean "problematic ship" (aka ships with dark thematics that wouldn't be ok irl) when 1. it doesn't mean that, and 2. you can dislike a thing without misusing a word

no, someone who's proshipper won't force you to ship their ship you may dislike, if you're wondering. that's not what the word implies at all

enter sephiroth

oh, you know him. sephiroth who took part in a genocide when young. sephiroth who took part in a war and very likely killed people. sephiroth who got betrayed by humanity so much that he chooses to torch down a small village and choose to become cosmic horror instead and haunt a twink

this is not a wholesome character!

like, i do believe that sephiroth has the potential to be cute/do good/work well as a slice of life protagonist if you frame him just right, but by canon definition, where he goes, someone dies

he's not fully good and not fully evil, he's a morally grey character reacting to the only life he knows and having multiple instances of terrible decisions. he's a victim as much as he's propagating evil

he's a very complex character and loving his character is understanding that not all that does or that happens to him is ideal. and that's ok, his very birth/conception alone is full of dark/taboo themes

and see, here's what i don't get: people who use "proship dni" in their bios, aside from the obvious performative flavor to that, (it's the internet! a sign won't stop people who are particularly mean!!) presumably don't want to interact with one or more of the following:

- people who ship anything in general (if going by the literal definition of the word)

- people who ship anything with dark/"problematic" thematics (by going by the misconception of the word meaning "problematic ship")

- people with a different ship that would be a notp or people who aren't into yumeshipping (oc/self insert x canon) (i'm not gonna get into my horror stories from twitter about this one but it exists, i was attacked once for trying to run a sc event)

if it's for the first reason, fair, but why only list one side of the discourse instead of just putting you're not into shipping? it feels like trying to bait people into a fight

the second is the one that baffles me the most. any ship you put sephiroth in has potential to have dark thematics, because sephiroth, as a shipping component, brings all these dark themes into it. unless you're redoing his whole life from scratch, he'll still have the history of having killed people, having fought a war, having been experimented on from pre-birth, etc. and if you have to redo this character's whole life to avoid dealing with his thematics entirely... do you even like him at all? are people who enjoy dark thematics forbidden from engaging with potentially wholesome thematics as well?

and the third is just hypocritical pettiness, really. you're not morally superior for shipping sephiroth with yourself or your oc or a different character that you prefer over some other character. sephiroth is still sephiroth, regardless of who he's with. he'll still do sephiroth things, whether positive or negative. you can dislike other ships without being morally performative about things. you can have notps!! you can dislike a ship for hitting you with the wrong vibes or because you like that other ship better

but in the end it all just boils down to it having the same vibes as antis using ao3: you're making use of the most proship thing out there is and saying proshippers shouldn't interact with you

i don't get it

[j1p2k]

MK1 Guest Character: Blizto

Thank you: Geeky4ever2016 and everyone that helped me with this.

Intro 1: When Blitzo pushes his opponent back, he spins around and pulls out his gun. Blitzo then smirks and waves his gun, as if saying “bring it on.”

Intro 2: When Blitzo is pushed back, he stops himself by clawing the floor. Looking up in anger, he gets up and pulls his gun out.

Outro: Blitzo using stolas grimoire to get home and as he jumps into the portal he flips off his opponent and by extension us.

Fatal Blow: Blitzo pulls out the My Dick bazooka and fires. It misses, but the explosion sends the opponent to Blizto, where he proceeds to stab them repeatedly.

Fatality 1 (Deep I.M.P.-side): Blitzo takes out the Grimoire and summons a portal on the ground, behind his opponent. Blitzo shoots them down into it, cutting them off at the legs.

The opponent looks up to see they are in I.M.P. headquarters, surrounded by Moxxie, Millie, and Loona, who brutally murders the opponent.

Fatality 2: Blitz uses his gun to shoot his victim’s arms and legs before shoving his gun down their throats and fire it inside.

Friendship: He reaches under his jacket (looks like he is reaching for his gun) when he pulls out a pony and sits down and starts playing with it

Quitality: Blitzo just turns around and wipes his hands. “Well… That was a surprise.” “Well… A payday is a payday.”

Intros:

Ashrah: Once I kill you, I shall be redeemed. Blitzo: And once I kill you, I shall be home sleeping.

Blitzo: Wait… The Princess was right? Ashrah: What are you talking about?

Blitzo: Fuck damn! I am hot. Blitzo: I'd totally fuck myself.

Blitz: Oh Satan, tell me I’m not fucking hallucinating again! Blitz: You and me both.

Blitzo: You’re with that whore? Blitzo: Do you insult my wife, Verosika?

Blitz: Everyone hates your guts too? Blitz: Yep, though it’s mostly mutual.

Baraka: I'm not afraid of dying, servant. Blizto: Oh good, an easy job this time.

Blizto: You ever shove those blades up someone’s ass. Baraka: No, but you can be the first.

Ermac: We are many. You are one. Blitzo: The one that’s going to kill you all.

Blitzo: Do you ever fuck yourself? Ermac: Why would we ever do that?

Geras: You can't kill me. Blitzo: Yeah, like I haven't heard that before.

Blitzo: So you shit sand? Geras: No. I am sand.

General Shao: A twig like you thinks he can hurt me? Blitzo: You know the last fucker on my list said that.

Blitzo: Well fuck! You won't believe how many people that want you dead. General Shao: They will be disappointed.

Havik: I want you to cause chaos throughout the realms! Blitz: Fine, only if you pay me too.

Blitzo: Wait, there’s an entire world of chaos? Havik: No rules. No limits. All possibilities.

Blitzo: I must say, you’re the most talked about “hero” in Hell. Homelander: Who? I’ll kill them!

Homelander: No one can stop me! No one! Blitzo Aw, you goanna throw a temper tantrum?

Homelander: I will rip out your spine, smash your brains, and eat your heart. Blitzo: You know, that seriously turns me on.

Johnny Cage: Haven’t I seen you somewhere before? Blitzo: Well… I was on TV once.

Johnny Cage: Your father was a piece of shit too? Blitzo: Just a piece? He was the whole fucking pile.

Johnny cage: You know you remind me of a character I played. Blitz: You’re that shitty actor in those fucking b list movies?!

Blitz: Sheesh here I thought I was bad at performing Johnny cage: Tell that to my Emmy awards.

Blitz: “Over 50 people in Hell are paying us to put a bullet through your brain.” Johnny Cage; “Katie? Priscilla? Belle! She hated me.”

Kenshi: I turned away from my life of crime. Blitzo: Tell that to the people that paid us.

Blitzo: How the Hell can you fight blind? Kenshi: Sento sees all.

Kitana: Quin Chi’s minions will not threaten Outworld. Blitzo: What the fuck are you talking about?

Blitzo: 10000 years, and still fucking hot? Kitana: And you don’t have a chance.

Kung Lao: You face the great Kung Lao. Blitzo: “Great” my ass.

Blitzo: Fuck! What is in that special tea? Kung Lao: Madame Bo’s secret recipe.

Blitzo: You got the ego bigger than a barn. Kung Lao: You will be crushed by it.

Blitzo: Is that a razor brimmed hat? Kung Lao: Ha ha! Yes, it is.

Blitzo: Yeah, fire doesn't really hurt me. Liu Kang: What about godly fire?

Liu Kang: Did Quan Chi send you? Blitzo: What is quan cheese?

Li Mei: You won’t get anywhere close to the royal family. Blitzo: Sure, what another dead body anyway.

Blitzo: Oh come on! What the fuck did I do? Li Mei: Do I have to list your crimes against Outworld?

Blitzo: You know, I’ve fucked uglier women then you. Mileena: And you will be the vilest thing I’ve killed.

Mileena: You are insufferable. Blitzo: My ex says the same thing.

Nitara: I will suck you dry. Blitzo: Let me get my pants off first.

Blitzo: Do you suck cock as well? Nitara: I will never degrade myself to that level.

Blitz: So your the fucker who tried killing his own kid Omni-man: I had no choice.

Omni-man: Who paid you to kill? Blitzo: No one! This one's on the house!

Peacemaker: Your killing spree ends here! Blitzo: Gee fucking a hypocrite much?

Blitzo: For someone who "loves peace," you sure kill a lot. Peacemaker: I kill anyone who treats peace.

Quan Chi: You and your servers will serve me. Blitzo: Sorry you crazy maniac but we don’t “serve” anyone.

Blitzo: We don’t work for free. Quan Chi: You will be rewarded ten times over.

Blitzo: You're one ugly fucker! Reptile: Some acid will make you uglier.

Blitz: Man it takes some bad luck for someone to fuck you. Reptile: After this battle the only unlucky one will be you.

Reptile: What do you want with the Saurians? Blitzo: Some new snakeskin boots.

Raiden: You face Earthrealm’s champion. Blitzo: Can I get an autograph before you die?

Blitzo: You know, my phone could use a recharge. Raiden: My lightning isn’t met for stuff like that.

Rain: I knew this day would come. Blitzo: People were beating down the doors to hire us.

Blitzo: A little Rain doesn’t scare me. Rain: It will cause a biblical flood.

Blitzo: I'm fireproof asshole! Scorpion: There's more to me then fire.

Scorpion: Bi-Han is my business, not yours. Blitzo: But we're running a special on family members.

Subzero: Hell will freeze, before you kill me Blitzo: Yeah, yeah, same line, different guy.

Subzero: Any last requests? Blitzo: Yeah, can I get a scotch on the rocks.

Blitzo: Someone in Hell wants to see you again. Subzero: Who is this person?

Shang Tsung: Even the forces of the Netherrealm come after me. Blitzo: You won’t believe the price on your head.

Blitzo: So many sinners want you dead. Shang Tsung: *laughs* I’m sure they do.

Sindel: Who sent you to kill me? Blizto: Someone with deep pockets.

Blizto: You know, my ex was a singer. Sindel: Sorry, I don’t do performances.

Blizto: Don’t you know smoking kills? Smoke: Yeah, you.

Blizto: Nice trick. Do you do children’s parties? Smoke: I’m not a magician.

Smoke: Quin Chi should have sent better minions. Blizto: Hey! I was just getting some drinks!

Blizto: You know, I could use you on my team. Takeda: You'll have to kill me first.

Takeda: The Red Dragons are my prey. Blizto: You're not the one under contract.

Blizto: Does your Empress eat you out? Tanya: You are disgusting.

Tanya: What demonic monstrosity spawned you? Blizto: Hey! No one talks about my mother that way!

Story Mode Final Boss

Liu Kang: And they call me the Chosen One. Blizto: Yeah… Well, I am pretty awesome. Liu Kang: You have done more than enough. Allow me to end this

Blizto’s MK Tower Ending Well… shit! First, we are hired to kill some shit face actor, leading us into “entering” fucked-up kung-fu tournament, then “landing” in some shitty war for the “fate of the universe.”

Oh well, at least we got a job from a “god” of all things, and he’s playing shit tons for us to track down and bring in these two sorcerers, some egoistic former general and his right-hand man, and others in alive.

Oh well, if we end up having to kill them. Tough luck.

[twistedtummies2]

Top 20 Lion King Songs

Today is a big day for Disney fans (and many a furry, for that matter): it marks the 30th Anniversary of one of Disney’s most successful movies, “The Lion King.” While the actual celebrations by Disney itself for the event have been…controversial, shall we say? It is worth pointing out that the movie is extremely worthy of commemoration: it was, and still is, one of the most successful animated films ever made, and many people I talk to have said it’s one of their favorite movies of all time. It’s not hard to see why, either: it’s grand and epic on a scale that seldom few Disney films before it quite reached, in terms of scope and human emotion…which is ironic, since there are no actual humans in the story. It also spawned no less than two animated TV shows, a couple of direct-to-video sequels, a (very bad) CGI remake, and one of the single biggest stage musicals of all time. Interestingly, both the movie and the musical were considered fool’s projects. Many people thought neither would work. So to see how successful they’ve been is certainly intriguing, if nothing else. 

One of the things that has made the Lion King, in nearly ALL its forms, so successful is undoubtedly the music. It’s very, very rare you’ll find someone who DOESN’T say the songs in the original film are among the greatest in any musical, movie or not…and the stage show and other spin-off pieces have only continued this tradition, introducing new songs all their own that are often equally fantastic, if not more so. Therefore, after some consideration, I decided to do a sort of deep-dive countdown of my favorite songs from the franchise’s history. Now, one important thing to note is that this list will NOT cover the Timon & Pumbaa TV series, the direct-to-video film “Lion King 1 ½,” and the aforementioned CGI remake. In all these cases, it’s because I can’t really remember too many original songs from any of them, and the ones I do recall I wouldn’t place on this countdown anywhere. That, however, still leaves us plenty of material: this list will cover the original movie, the stage musical, the sequel “Lion King II: Simba’s Pride,” and the TV series “The Lion Guard” - an entire sequel series that told the story of Simba’s son and his friends protecting the Pride Lands, taking place between “Simba’s Pride” and the original film. With that said…it’s time to praise the Circle of Life. These are My Top 20 Lion King Songs!

20. Beware of Poa.

Just a heads-up right off the bat: fifty percent of this whole countdown will be tunes from “The Lion Guard.” This is primarily due to the simple fact that, being a TV series with no less than 75 separate episodes, there’s a lot more music to be found there than either of the films or the stage show. And it all starts with our first choice: “Beware of Poa.” This song appears in the episode “Poa the Destroyer,” where one of the Guard members - a young hippo named Beshte - starts inadvertently causing trouble at the mystical Tree of Life. Beshte doesn’t mean any harm, but he apparently doesn’t know his own strength, and his size causes many a headache for those who live at the Tree. This culminates in the character Pinguino singing a song about the mysterious “Poa the Destroyer,” believing Beshte to be some sort of monster out to ruin the Tree of Life, and rallying other animals to his side. The song is visually delightful (which goes for most melodies on this countdown), and very catchy, but ultimately just isn’t as “important” as other songs on the list, in terms of story, character, and context. Still, it’s a lot of fun - one of my personal faves from the series as a whole - so I decided to give it a place.

19. I Just Can’t Wait to Be King.

Yeah, I know, placing this song so low in the ranks is tantamount to heresy for some people. One of the things I considered when both choosing and ranking songs, however, was a simple question: how often do I actually come back to the song? How often do I sing it, how often do I reference it, and how much do I look forward to it when watching the piece? And when considering all those facts, this number actually fell somewhat short compared to a lot of other tunes. Do not misconstrue this to mean I dislike it, however: not only is this song very fun - arguably the most outrageous song, visually, in the entire original movie, for a start - but it’s also rather important. This is the song that shows us where Simba’s journey as a character begins: he’s young, simple-minded, cocky, adventurous, and doesn’t fully understand the responsibilities that have yet to be heaped upon him. He’s a showboating spoiled brat at this point, and while we see the humor in what’s going on, that is a point worth noting: almost immediately after this song is when things start to go wrong in his life, and from that point on, he faces increasingly harder challenges he has to not only survive and endure, but learn from. In that sense, it’s a remarkably necessary tune…but I guess I prefer songs that are slightly less “kiddy,” on the whole. Speaking of which…

18. Hakuna Matata.

Depending on who you are, seeing this song so low in the ranks will either be the most heinous blasphemy known to man…or seeing it here AT ALL will be the same. “Hakuna Matata” seems to be a very polarizing number; I tend to find that most people loved it a lot as kids, but as we get older we gravitate more towards the other songs in the film. There are also some people who just love the song in general…and, one should add immediately, some who think the song is annoying and always have. I fall into the formermost category: I remember as a little kid singing this song and enjoying it a lot, but as a grown-up it’s probably one of the songs I skip over most with this franchise. And while it kind of has become its own unique phenomenon, it must be noted that the song serves an important purpose in the original film. First of all, it musically introduces us to the core philosophies of Timon & Pumbaa: letting go of the things that one can’t change or doesn’t like to think about and simply moving on with one’s life. Second of all, the philosophy itself is an important theme in the film, as Simba has to balance what to throw away and what to cling to from his identity and his past from this point on. Third and finally, it serves as the primary comic relief number of the movie…and to its credit, that comic relief is pretty sorely needed, since the scenes that preceded this song for the past ten to twenty minutes, at least, were pretty intense: among the most dramatic, dark, and adrenaline-inducing in the whole film. A bouncy little ditty that translates to “don’t worry, be happy,” is actually sort of important: it gives an audience hope, as well as levity. Overall, I still think it’s a tune worth some merit…but, just like “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King,” there are plenty of other songs I like more.

17. You Best Not Mess With Mama.

The villain songs throughout the Lion King franchise are pretty darn great, and if there’s anything one can take away from this countdown, that’s probably it: at least a quarter of this countdown - more if you count the Honorable Mentions - are beats from the baddies. The series, as a whole, has a talent for creating antagonists that are equal parts entertaining and utterly awful, like so many other fantastic Disney Villains, and their musical moments are a big part of what make them all so fun to watch. Case in point: Mama Binturong, one of the main villains from Season 3 of “The Lion Guard.” Mama is a cantankerous old crook who obsessively hoards tuliza plants - her favorite food (which may or may not be fictional) - and has an army of porcupines as her enforcers. Her song more or less just enforces her character, but what makes it great is the style: first of all, the visuals are done in monochrome - the only spot of color being the purple tuliza flowers - with aged film-scratches on the screen, giving it a unique look that none of the other songs ANYWHERE in the franchise have, as far as I can find. This and the sort of jazzy vibe of the music plays up Mama Binturong as a rather different villain. She feels almost like an old-timey gangster in binturong’s clothing, which helps her stand out. There’s not much else to this one, but just like “Poa the Destroyer,” it’s a lot of fun, and the aesthetics make it highly memorable.

16. My Own Way.

This is a case where I think the original singer is the primary reason this song works so beautifully. “My Own Way” is another case of a song from “The Lion Guard” that doesn’t really serve any long-lasting purpose, but more is just a stepping stone in the episode it’s a part of. The character in focus is Fuli the Cheetah, a member of the Guard. In the episode, “Fuli’s New Family,” her friends worry about how much time she spends on her own, and their attempts to give her more company get on her nerves. “My Own Way” is essentially Fuli cementing her outlook on life, while venting about her frustrations with the situation: it’s not that she dislikes her friends, but she values both her privacy and her own sense of independence. She’s not really lonely, nor is she antisocial. She simply enjoys her “me time” and the feeling of having no one else to worry about now and again. Fuli’s voice actor - as well as her singing voice - is performer Diamond White, whom some may know for the voice of Marvel’s Moon Girl, or as Frankie Greene from “Transformers: Rescue Bots.” And while this show had plenty of awesome singers - some unexpectedly so - I think White’s voice is the most singularly breathtaking of the entire cast. Anytime Fuli sings, it is BLISS on my ears. Her voice is so clear, with this beautiful blend of purity and power; it brings a lot of soul and spice to the character, and makes relatively simple songs like this one feel far more impactful. The song is good on its own terms, but I think it’s White’s vocals that really give it most of its punch. It’s my favorite solo tune from the character.

15. May There Be Peace.

This is the last sort of “one and done” song from “The Lion Guard” on the list: by which I mean, the song serves a purpose in the episode it hails from, but it doesn’t really impact the show or the characters as a whole. After this point on the list, the tunes featured from the show tend to have much more impact on the overarching plot of the series. With that said, there’s nothing wrong with “one and dones,” and this is a spellbinding example of that. This song serves as the centerpiece of the episode “The Ukumbusho Tradition,” which tells the story of the Guard and their families attending a holiday celebration. The event commemorates a peace treaty made between the lions and the elephants many years ago. It’s a cute episode, and the song itself is very sweet, with a tender message that pleas for not only peace between peoples, but also for people to do what they can to make that peace happen - a topical concept in just about any era of human history, I’d say. Overall, however, neither the episode nor the song do much to further the characters or the show on the whole, like I said…but as far as bits of fluff go, it’s a very, VERY nice one. Gentle, soothing, yet poignant.

14. When I Led the Guard.

Now things from “The Lion Guard” side of this list get interesting. In Season 2 of the series, Scar was resurrected by two of the main antagonists from Season 1 - Janja and Ushari - and thus began a long-running and elaborate scheme to gain revenge on Simba and destroy the Pride Lands. This scheme came to its climactic conclusion in the Season 3 premiere, “Battle for the Pride Lands.” That’s where this song comes in: “When I Led the Guard” tells the story of how Scar not only gained his namesake, but also began his descent into darkness. It also serves as important foreshadowing, since Scar plots to put Kion - the main character, Simba’s son - through the same tortuous trial. There is a LOT that makes this song great: the performance from Scar’s actor in the show (due to a decided lack of Jeremy Irons OR Jim Cummings), David Oyelowo, is genuinely stunning. The instrumentals give a lot of weight to the tune, as well. And of course, the foreshadowing of what’s to come is great. My only real problem with the song is the backstory itself: there are some issues with it I’ve addressed in the past that I just can’t overlook. Still, it is cool to SEE that backstory, and provides some interest comparison and contrast with what’s to come. It may not be on par with “Be Prepared,” but it’s still a great musical moment from the Lion King’s first and greatest villain in its own right.

13. A New Way to Go.

In the words of Rafiki, “change is good.” A recurring theme throughout the Lion King franchise is characters learning from their mistakes and changing for the better. Not every character learns, of course, and those characters usually end up being the villains…but sometimes, even a villain can learn to become something better. Case in point: Janja the Hyena. Janja is the main antagonist of the first season of the Lion Guard, and remains a major villain going into its second season, as one of the ones responsible for resurrecting Scar. He is, in essence, for the first two thirds of the series, the Guard’s arch-nemesis, even more than Scar: Janja has been a thorn in their sides literally since all of them were children. He seems one of the least likely characters to have a chance at redemption…but over the course of the show, we do start to see some soft sides pop up now and again with his character. Things reach a turning point when Jasiri - a rival hyena who is actually friends with Kion, and an ally of the Guard - saves Janja’s life. This leads into this song, which occurs (like our previous pick) during “Battle for the Pride Lands.” It’s revealed that being rescued by one of his enemies has caused Janja’s whole world view to turn upside-down: he suddenly finds himself wondering if bringing Scar back and serving him was really the best decision, and if joining Jasiri and making peace with Kion and the Pride Landers might be better for him and his clan. At the same time, however, he isn’t sure if he CAN turn over that new leaf: after everything he’s done, is redemption even possible for someone like him? The use of color throughout this sequence, as well as both visual and lyrical callbacks to earlier scenes and songs, make this moment of a villain questioning their morality and trying to decide whether it’s time to make a change or not all the more interesting to see and hear. Janja had many fun songs throughout the series, but I think this number really cemented him as possibly my favorite character in the show. What can I say? I love a good redemption arc.

12. Tree of Life.

In Season 1 of the Lion Guard, Janja was the main antagonist. In Season 2, it was Scar. So, with Scar (and Ushari) defeated for good at the beginning of the third and final season, and with Janja reformed in the same storyline…who was going to take over the reins of main villain in the episodes to come? Enter Makucha: a gluttonous leopard who appeared a couple times in the show prior, but had never really seemed to be THAT big a threat. He was a fun antagonist, but he only showed up in two or three episodes: compared to characters like the ones I’ve just mentioned, among others, he was more of a nuisance than a real menace. So I imagine it must have been quite the surprise for fans when he suddenly returned and became the main antagonist of the final season. As if to cement his new status as the next “big bad” of the franchise for the remainder of the show, he was given a villain song all his own…and one with a delightfully ironic title. “Tree of Life” is the point where Makucha changes from just an annoyance to a real danger: obsessed with the thought of finding the titular mystical hideaway, Makucha declares his plan to find a guide who can lead him and his fellow leopards to the Tree, for the sole purpose of devouring every single animal he can get his jaws around once there. This becomes the main antagonistic conflict of the Season, as Makucha tracks the Guard across their journey, gathering followers along the way, amassing an army that can conquer the Guard. The song isn’t as “intense” as many other villain songs in the show, but the irony of the title, the importance it has in the series - as well as for Makucha’s character - and the performance of the singer (veteran voice actor Steve Blum) makes it one of my favorite villain songs in the entire franchise.

11. We Are One.

FINALLY, we can move away from the Lion Guard for one gosh-danged minute! Instead, let’s talk about the ORIGINAL sequel to the Lion King, “Simba’s Pride.” This song focuses on Simba and his daughter, Kiara. The young princess - following an encounter with an Outsider named Kovu (more on him later) - feels some uncertainty about her status and her future. She often feels rather cooped-up by her role as princess, and isn’t sure whether she should follow her heart or stick with the traditions that have been established. Simba - wanting to comfort his daughter - sings this heartfelt but playful song about family, saying that while she may not know what to do now, she will know in the future. And as her father, he will do what he can to support and to help her. The song is sweet, but it’s also EXTREMELY ironic: to be blunt, Simba’s kind of one of the bad guys in this story, or at least I would argue as much. He’s not a villain, by ANY means, but he does make some decidedly non-heroic choices, and has been making them even before this point. He’s become obsessed with preserving the safety of his family and the Pride Lands, after everything that occurred in the first film. And sure enough, as the movie goes on, his choices become increasingly more questionable: it later is, funnily enough, Kiara standing up to him and going against his wishes that ultimately makes him realize his own folly, and how he’s been betraying the very ideal he tried to teach her as a cub. As a result, the song serves as a starting point for BOTH characters’ story arcs, as Kiara has to eventually choose between her own heart and her family, and Simba has to realize that “We Are One” does not only apply to those who share the same blood. It’s a lovely song on its own terms, but the context makes it all the more fascinating.

10. Kwetu ni Kwetu.

Aaaand we’re back to the Lion Guard. Don’t worry, we won’t be sticking with the show too much longer. XD This song appears in the the episode “The Hyena Resistance,” in which the aforementioned Jasiri and her clan have to decide whether to officially join forces with the Pride Landers and take a united stand against Scar and his cronies, or simply run and hide. Jasiri, as you may or may not suspect already, is not the “run and hide” kind of person. Tired of all the havoc Scar and his henchmen have been causing for her and her friends, she sings this song to convince the rest of her clan to join in the fight and take a risk to protect their homeland. I absolutely love Jasiri as a character: from minute one she was a lot of fun to see in action, and she only got more and more interesting as the series went on. This song is one of her crowning moments…and I say that with a double meaning. (If you’ve seen the series, you’ll get the reference there.) It’s fairly short - like most songs in the series, to be honest - but it does a great job with the time it has. It’s basically the Lion Guard’s version of “Do You Hear the People Sing?” A rallying cry that is fairly short, but very strong.

9. On the Last Night.

If “Kwetu ni Kwetu” was the Lion King universe’s version of “Do You Hear the People Sing?” then this is that same world’s version of “One Day More.” It’s also our last song from the oft-before-mentioned “Battle for the Pride Lands” on the list. The scene is kind of what it says on the tin: it’s the final evening before the titular battle, when the Pride Landers will have to face Scar’s army. The setup is both tense and yet serene: everything is peaceful. There’s no immediate danger occurring. It’s even quite a beautiful time. But over all this tranquility is the looming Sword of Damocles: the realization that, by morning, things will be different. There’s no telling who will win, who will lose, or what exactly will happen. The Guard members gather together to reassure one another and make a final, solemn vow to do all they can to win and stick to their ideals in the chaos to come. It’s…a surprisingly heavy moment, all things considered, and the song matches it perfectly. There’s a quality to the music and vocals that is both soothing and yet suspenseful. It is the lead up to the biggest, most dangerous moment in any of these characters’ lives so far, and even though they have great confidence, there’s still plenty of doubt and uncertainty. I get shivers - literal, genuine, I’m-not-exaggerating-at-all SHIVERS - almost every time I hear this one. It may not be from one of the films, nor the stage show, but it’s definitely on par with many of the more famous songs in this franchise. No question it belongs in my Top 10.

8. One of Us.

We now return to “Simba’s Pride”...which is ironic, because this is probably Simba’s lowest point in the story, as a character. For those who don’t know, the sequel film to “The Lion King” is essentially a Disney-ified rendition of “Romeo and Juliet.” Kiara, as you might guess, is Juliet…which leads us to our Romeo figure, Kovu. This young, dark lion is the adoptive son of Scar, and has been raised by Zira for the sole purpose of assassinating Simba and taking over the throne. However, Kovu falls in love with Kiara, and starts to realize how wrong all the things Zira taught him were. Simba starts off distrusting of the lion (not helped, likely, by the fact he bears an uncanny resemblance to his evil uncle), but eventually starts to open up…and this song occurs after everything goes to absolute Hell in a teapot. Zira, tired of waiting on Kovu, and worried he’ll back out of the plan, ambushes Simba with her followers, wounding the great King. Although Kovu renounces his allegiance to them shortly thereafter, Simba is not only unaware of this, but really wouldn’t care if he did: in his mind, Kovu has proven himself to be a traitor, and so he publicly denounces the young lion and banishes him. Now, the dark lion has nowhere to call home: both of the prides he once served have exiled him forever. “One of Us” is sung by the wrathful Pride Landers, as they basically chase the browbeaten Kovu out of their territory. This song isn’t exactly a villain song, but it’s certainly not a happy one: it’s a very tragic and depressing moment, as this character we’ve come to care about is left totally alone through really no fault of his own. In some ways, it’s one of the darkest songs in the Lion King catalogue…although I will say, the lyric “See ya later, Agitator!” is…honestly really freaking silly. Come on, guys, we know you could do better. XD

7. My Lullaby.

If “One of Us” is one of the darkest songs in the Lion King universe, I would honestly argue this one - also from “Simba’s Pride” -  IS the darkest. It is, if nothing else, the most viscerally brutal and downright sadistic song in the entire franchise. This is performed by Zira, the main antagonist of the sequel: a follower of Scar who plots revenge against Simba and the Pride Landers, after she and her fellow Outsiders were banished to the farthest reaches of the Outlands. Left to raise Kovu, whom Scar intended to be his heir, Zira plots to train him to be an assassin and find a way to use him to destroy Simba and his family. “My Lullaby” is essentially Zira reveling in her own bloodlust, as she fantasizes about the carnage and horror she has in mind for the future. She doesn’t just want Simba dead, she wants a BLOODBATH, and the lyrics - combined with Suzanne Pleshette’s snarly, vicious vocals - make that abundantly clear. The only thing that really keeps it out of the Top 5, for me, is that - for once - the visuals are a bit lacking for me. There’s some great moments, make no mistake, but a LOT of this song - especially visually - feels like “Diet Be Prepared,” which is a shame. Overall, however, the song itself definitely stands on its own feet…or, rather, paws (ba-dum-tss) as a marvelously malevolent melody.

6. Shadowland.

After a very, VERY long list already, we finally come to our first entry on the countdown native to the stage version of “The Lion King.” While most of the show’s songs originated in the animated film, there are a couple of numbers that are exclusive to the musical. One of the most notable is “Shadowland.” In the original film, despite being one of the major characters, Nala - Simba’s best friend and future love interest - never gets a song to herself in the movie. In fact, we don’t even see her as an adult until she’s already left the Pride Lands, in the final cut. While this does work for the film by making Nala’s return to the plot and appearance before Simba more of a surprise, the musical is able to give her some more focus, and show us how she, like Simba, has grown and changed. In this song, after facing unwelcome advances from Scar (awkward), Nala realizes that the only way the Pride Lands can be saved is if she finds help elsewhere. So, unsure of what will happen or when/if she’ll return to the home she’s always known, she flees and escapes into the Outlands, bidding farewell to her mother and the other lionesses on the way. The song is sad and spooky: Nala is going through a LOT of emotional turmoil here. On the one hand, the world she knew is decaying, dying, and doomed. There’s nothing left for her there, in more ways than one. But on the other hand, leaving means leaving the family and the values she’s always held dear. And while she does plan to return, it’s not clear what’s going to happen or what she’ll come back to. The song is set to one of the most touching melodies in the original score, only heightening the impact. It’s one of the few changes the musical makes to the plot, and it’s an effective alteration.

5. Can You Feel the Love Tonight?

It’s honestly hard to think of what to say about this romantic classic. I just…really love it. It has some personal connections to me, which is part of the reason why…but that IS only PART of the reason. The rest of it…I’m not sure. I simply think it’s a beautiful song that touches a chord, and I’m not even the romantic type! The song occurs in the original film (and the Broadway show) after Simba and Nala reunite as adults. After so many years apart, they start to feel things for each other they probably never felt before…but even as these new, romantic feelings flow through them, there’s uncertainty on both ends. The reunion is happy, but also unsteady: Nala isn’t sure why Simba disappeared so many years ago, and Simba is afraid to tell her the entire truth. The song is both jubilant and yet tremulous, as each flips between soaking in the atmosphere and discovering their emotions, and then pulling back as they realize things aren’t quite as perfect as they seem. It’s a sweet song, and it’s one I really enjoy…I just don’t have a lot to talk about with it. Don’t worry, the next one will give me PLENTY to ramble about. :P

4. We’re the Same (Sisi ni Sawa).

We’ve returned to “The Lion Guard” one final time, and I have to say it: this is quite possibly the single most important song in the entire show. It might even be one of the most important for the franchise as a whole. At first glance, and without full context, you’ll probably wonder why: this takes place in the episode “Never Judge a Hyena,” which is one of the earliest episodes in the show. It introduced Jasiri, and established her as a friendly hyena in contrast to Janja and the trio of Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed from the film. The tune is sung as a duet between herself and Kion, as the lion prince learns not to judge a proverbial book by its cover, and that he and the hyenas - as a whole - are not so very different. Good lesson, classic trope for a kids show…but what’s the big deal? The song isn’t bad, obviously, but what makes it so special? Well, simply put, this song involves all of the major themes in this franchise all at once. I mentioned that one major overarching theme in the series is growth and change, and this song - this scene, this episode - marks one of Kion’s major turning points in his story arc. But it also plays into two other themes, which are especially pronounced in the TV series: duality and tolerance. Throughout the whole franchise, and especially in this show, the protagonists and antagonists alike have to learn to work together with animals of different species and/or walks of life in order to achieve their goals. The thing that ultimately sets them apart is that the antagonists can never fully settle their differences, which is part of what leads to their downfalls. The protagonists are able to coexist harmoniously with other people. This covers tolerance, and as for duality…in this series alone, the catchphrase of this song comes up NUMEROUS times as the show goes on. It’s used as a way of showing that the villains and the heroes are never really all that different from each other: a lot of these characters, both good and bad, have common ground, and could easily have gone down a different path if circumstances and certain choices had been different. In short, “Sisi ni Sawa” basically sums up EVERYTHING that the Lion King is about, and does so in a cute, catchy, fun way. The more I see/hear it and the more I think about it, the better the song becomes in my mind; it easily earns a place in my Top 5.

3. Circle of Life.

While “Sisi ni Sawa” may well summarize all the major themes in this franchise (especially in retrospect), I think “Circle of Life” DEFINES what the themes and ideals of this franchise are - both in terms of its messages and its sense of scope and style. This song, purely and simply, is EPIC: from the opening, bold, almost shocking notes that herald the iconic sunrise, to the traditional African chants that fill it through the course of the number, to the way the music swells and crescendos once again…it is a song that brings you on a journey, and at the same time sucks you into this world. The music, on its own, promises something grand and almost operatic in its size and values, while at the same time delivering a message that is remarkably simple and clear: life moves on, change is constant, and we should respect everything that goes into that. It’s not a surprise that this tune both opens AND closes the story of the original movie; everything cycles back and around. It really tells us the message of the whole movie in a nutshell: life is full of doubt, tribulation, and big change. To survive, you must both hold true to who you are, and learn to adapt; do so, and you can - hypothetically - achieve great things. It’s just as poignant and impactful onstage as it is onscreen, and one of the most iconic songs and sequences not just in this franchise, nor even just in a Disney movie, but arguably from any film ever made. I’d say, for those reasons above all else, it deserves a place in the top three.

2. Be Prepared.

Look, I know Circle of Life is epic, but…come now. If you know me, it shouldn’t be even REMOTELY a surprise I feel this song tops it. “Be Prepared” is widely regarded as one of the greatest villain songs of all time; most people I know would easily name it among their Top 5 Disney Villain Songs, in particular, at the very least. For me, I’m not AS huge a fan of it as most people (you can blame Vincent Price and “The Nightmare Before Christmas” for that one), it’s still among my top ten Disney Villain musical numbers, and it’s easily the crowning glory for all of the villain songs in this franchise. The lyrics are mincing, the instrumentals have a great sense of weight to them, and the rhythm itself has a sort of twistedly playful quality to it; it’s both a funny and a threatening song, matching the villains involved as Scar and the Hyenas declare their intentions to kill Simba and Mufasa so they can take over the Pride Lands. (Mostly Scar, to be fair.) Something interesting about this number, though, is the context it takes place in during the story: this is really the last scene where I think the audience can genuinely say they unironically love Scar. Why? Because the very next sequence after this is Mufasa’s death: while Scar is still enjoyable after that point, the fact he actually succeeds in not only killing a protagonist, but all of the details that go INTO killing that protagonist, makes us see him in a different light. Only a couple minutes ago, we were enjoying the wild ride of wickedness with him, and now we’re afraid of what’s coming next, as we see that not only is he WILLING to go the distance…but, unlike many other Disney Villains, he’s SUCCEEDED in doing so. It honestly reminds me of Shakespeare’s Richard III (who I honestly think is more comparable to Scar than Claudius, despite the Hamlet influence): Richard starts off as a dastard, sure, but he’s also something of an underdog. Once he’s on top of the world, he only becomes an even worse monster, which makes the audience’s feelings about his character more complicated. “Be Prepared” is the story of where Scar starts off…making it the beginning of the end for so many good things the characters in the story value, and heralds our change in outlook on this antagonist. It is a master stroke.

1. He Lives in You.

I have to be honest, I was strongly, STRONGLY tempted to name “Be Prepared” as my number one choice. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized…no. As much as I love Be Prepared, THIS is the song that I think of first when I think of the Lion King franchise in general. Invented for the stage musical, the song later became even more famous when it was used as the opening number for “Simba’s Pride.” In its original context, the song first appears in the scene where Mufasa tells a young Simba about the Great Kings of the Past. It is famously reprised later, when Rafiki guides Simba to the place where he sees his father’s ghost, and Simba chooses to accept his role as the one true king and return to the Pride Lands. In “Simba’s Pride,” the context is obviously different; essentially, it serves the same purpose as “Circle of Life,” and evokes much of the same imagery, but it establishes that this isn’t the same story: “He Lives in You” has a more determined and yet comforting sound to it. It’s a song that indicates a story continuing, or a story changing, not a story beginning. For a sequel, this works brilliantly, indicating the same ideas as “Circle of Life” in a different manner. In the stage show, it works even better, as it powerfully delivers the messages Simba needs to hear most. Something about this song is so haunting, and yet so inspiring; it doesn’t get quite as many kudos as “Circle of Life,” but it really is one of the most powerful in the franchise. And for me, it’s one of the songs I listen to most from the whole thing. It’s kind of funny ending this list on a song that WASN’T from the original movie, but I guess that’s kind of poetic in its own way: over the course of three decades, “The Lion King” has evolved and stretched out. Things have changed, and as the movie itself points out, “change is good.” I have no problem whatsoever declaring “He Lives in You” to be My Favorite Lion King Song.

HONORABLE MENTIONS INCLUDE…

Long Live the Queen.

Lions Over All.

Outta the Way.

Chow Down.

[poorlittleyaoyao]

In a way, Qin Su's a lot like Lady Macduff. Lady Macduff also only exists for one brief scene before being viciously murdered for the sole purpose of harming her husband--both in-universe (Macbeth orders Macduff's family killed in retribution for Macduff rebelling against him) and narratively (guilt and grief over the loss of his family motivates Macduff to kill Macbeth). We know next to nothing about Lady Macduff, but she has so much PERSONALITY in those few minutes that she leaves an impact on the audience.

Qin Su also only exists for one brief scene, and also dies for the sole purpose of harming her husband both in-universe (Nie Huaisang may not have set out intending to kill her, but he sure didn't object to it) and narratively (Qin Su is but one entry in Jin Guangyao's List Of Crimes that doubles as a List Of Personal Tragedies), and also makes a lasting impact, except! Except.

Whereas we know more about Qin Su's backstory and her relationship with Jin Guangyao than we do about Lady Macduff's backstory and relationship with Macduff (Qin Su has her own name, for starters!), Lady Macduff's fridging pans out in the more traditional sense. Macduff's reaction to her death is the emotional centerpiece of the scene in which it occurs and is one of the most impactful moments of the entire play, even though the play is called Macbeth and Macduff himself appears in only two scenes beforehand. His handful of appearances after this moment are all about his now deeply personal hatred of Macbeth. ("If thou be'st slain and with no stroke of mine, my wife and children's ghosts shall haunt me still.")

Qin Su doesn't even get the dignity of that! The centerpiece of the scene in which she dies has nothing to do with her or even with her husband: it's Wangxian's grand romantic gesture on the stairs, followed by Wei Wuxian drawing Suibian. She stabs herself and she comes in THIRD. And forget about her having lasting impact! Lasting impact for female characters is reserved for Jiang Yanli and even she's on thin ice!

Just!!!!!! This is why it's important to me that Jin Guangyao weeping over her corpse is genuine and isn't just a Clever Ruse(TM) to dodge suspicion: though Jin Ling and Jiang Cheng certainly should have a response and fic authors who explore that are doing the Lord's work, Jin Guangyao is literally THE ONLY ONE who expresses any sort of emotion about Qin Su beyond "damn, that's crazy!", and I NEED FOR SOMEONE TO CARE.

[vampirepirates]

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THE LONG WINTER ( ... ) SANDOR CLEGANE .

Masterlist:

1/? ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀

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⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀" ⠀⠀ ⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀

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⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀𝔖andor Clegane saw clearer then than he ever had - Lyarra Stark, the lone wolf, would never last a day in the Lion's den. To hell with it, he couldn't help but think. He cared not about winter - nor the pack surviving. He cared not for the Starks to begin with. What he did care about, was making sure the all-encompasing light of Lyarra's eyes never went out. Not while he still lived. ⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

ORIGINAL CHARACTER - Lyarra Stark. Twin to Lyanna, sister of Eddard, Benjen, and Brandon.

Lyarra Stark of Winterfell would give her life for her family, while Sandor Clegane would do everything in his power to keep her from doing so. ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀

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— ⠀⠀INTRODUCING ⠀THE CAST OF ⠀⠀'THE LONG WINTER'

( any other characters not listed simply are casted with their usual faceclaim, or whatever comes to mind! these are just the /main/ characters . )

LYARRA ⠀STARK ⠀— ⠀THE ⠀LONE ⠀WOLF .

Played by Katie Mcgrath ( ... )

" You cannot ask me to stay — not when my wolf lays trapped in the jaws of a Lion .. "

SANDOR ⠀CLEGANE ⠀— ⠀THE HOUND ⠀.

Played by Rory McCann ( ... )

" Praying to your Gods, Little Wolf? Good, you're going to need them .. "

REYNE⠀ 'STARK' ⠀— ⠀THE ⠀LOST ⠀GIRL ⠀.

Played by Alicia Agneson⠀ ( ... )

" I will never allow my fear to overcome my love. Not while I still live .. "

GOGNI ⠀⠀— ⠀⠀THE ⠀⠀FREE ⠀⠀MAN   .

Played by Travis Fimmel  ( ... )

" I never knew a wolf to accept her cage as willingly as you have .. "

PETYR ⠀BAELISH ⠀— ⠀⠀LITTLEFINGER .

Played by Aidan Gillen ( ... )

" Trust no one — and yet make sure that everyone can trust you. Loyalty kills more men than fealty .. "

LYANNA ⠀STARK ⠀— ⠀⠀THE ⠀LOVED   .

Played by Kaya Scodelario ( ... )

" Compassion came easy to her, Lyarra could recall. She had never met someone with more love in her heart, than her sister .. "

JON ⠀SNOW ⠀⠀— ⠀⠀THE ⠀BASTARD  .

Played by Kit Harrington ( ... )

" I have only known one mother, my entire life. And now I am meant to watch in silence, as she leaves .. "

TYRION ⠀LANNISTER ⠀— ⠀THE ⠀IMP   .

Played by Peter Dinklage ( ... )

" In my experience, it is a far easier feat to make a friend than an ally! So, let's drink, shall we? "

—               Hello! My name is Zevran! I'll try to keep this short for the sake of my sanity. This is my first official fanfic, so bear with me as I work through this. This fic randomly came to my mind a few weeks ago, and I have not been able to escape it. Some things to note before I start this; Lyarra is not perfect. There will be times where she makes brass decisions, says rude things, and very clearly sides with the wrong people. One example of this, is the nature of her friendship with Petyr Baelish. Petyr is not a good person, and I will never deny this! But he is someone that Lyarra cares for greatly, so I will portray their relationship the best I can. Also, I have never read the books. I just started the first one, but considering I am now writing this -- that will definitely be a slow process. My timeline may be messy, especially considering I am creating my own events and timelines. So if I mess anything up, feel free to let me know -- but know I may not change everything.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the fic -- and feel free to leave any kind of comment!

             Lover, Hunter, Friend, and Enemy — You

             Will always be every one of these.    Lover,

             Hunter, Friend, and Enemy .. You        will

             Always         be          every       one   of these .

             — Fleurie,                               Love and War .

[the-s1lly-corner]

Attention TADC fans!

I'm officially opening requests for characters! Below the cut will be my base list of rules in regards to requesting and that sort of thing!

To everyone who followed me for creepypasta, do not fret! Creepypasta is still this blogs default and I'm not going to stop writing it for the forseeable future, I will still be responding to creepypasta based asked in the meantime

oh also, im adding this right before i post this but i do have fluff alphabet requests open for creepypasta, but to my TADC fans, how do you guys feel about the possibility of me reposting that list and letting you guys ask for it? im still kinda itching to do alphabet stuff... let me know ! ill probably do it anyways but i want yalls input!

without further delay:

RULES:

please do not spam requests, i know it will be hard to enforce this on my end since i want to keep anon enabled since i know it can be intimidating to ask for stuff non-anonymously

since the main cast + caine only totals to 7 characters i will allow people to request the entire cast in any given request, WITH THE KNOWLEDGE that the more characters the shorter their list of hcs will be

please do not pester me to answer your request, i will very likely answer your initial ask. consistent breaking of this boundary will result in warning, and if further boundary breaking takes place, the request will be terminated

^SHOULD NOTE! sometimes tumblr eats the requests you guys send in so simply asking if your request made it through is 100% totally fine!! I'm specifically talking about people who try to pressure me to answer sooner, I want to make that clear because I do not want to discourage anyone from reaching out about that sort of thing

Reader is GN by default, you can request a specific gender but know it likely wont be important due to my writing style

WILL WRITE:

SFW, angst, comfort, hcs, short imagines and scenarios!

As mentioned I will do all characters, asides Bubble since I don't think there's much that can be done for them

Poly, LGBT, readers with disabilities and/or disorders (will let it be known here that i am in no way well versed in every disability/disorder, however i will attempt to do basic research for the request)

I am also comfortable with writing platonic requests and found family dynamics! I am not limiting myself and you guys to romantic stuff!

reader abstracting, while this may seem contradictory to some of the things in my will not write segment I have written about grief and loss before and I don't think it fully fits the category of what I won't write + death in general, so it shall get a pass

really there isnt much i will turn down that comes to mind, if something is breaching a line or making me uncomfortable i will let you know

reader inserts, ocs, and the like are all welcome here! im not too confident with oc x character stuff due to the simple fact that i fear i may interpret your oc wrong but i am still willing to try!

WILL NOT WRITE:

general problematic stuff is an immediate no

^so like, straight up abuse and abuse adjacent topics since as far as Im aware all the characters in TADC are adults (if I have that wrong please please correct me!!)

i am also iffy on yandere requests, this one is more on a case by case basis so please be sure to specify the intensity of it, since that will really be a make or break for whether or not if the request is accepted

NSFW, this blog is for the most part SFW. I occasionally vague certain aspects, however nothing is ever explicit. That's how far I'm willing to go with these things and I want to keep it that way

Full fledged fanfics; a lot of my scenarios/imagines tend to border on that just on a much shorter scale and in a slightly different format, but I am not totally confident in my ability to write proper fics :(

no graphic depictions of gore or self harm, and i ask that you keep that out of my inbox in general. topics like SH are allowed, however covering requests for the act of it as its happening is an automatic no (IE if you ask me to walk in on a character walking in during an act of self harm), the same applies to suicide

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

i have a nasty habit of not proofreading my stuff, so grammar and spelling mistakes are bound to happen unfortunately. this tends to be a worse issue when im posting on mobile (which i am doing less and less since i like typing on a keyboard more)

^ on top of that i struggle with writing, english is my first language but i have a hard time getting stuff out right on top of having dyslexia so please be patient

i typically tend to respond to requests fairly fast, typically within a day or two, though i do have some periods where it may take longer. (possible) same day delivery YAHOO!!

back to a forewarning, i have a habit of rambling and adding additional ideas and concepts into a request though for the most part i think i remain on topic (that just means you get a little extra content for your request ueueue)

[fateinthestars]

Man, has it really been two months since I did any Character Review/Rambling posts for a specific story/story set?

Well, let's rectify that now!

I could go back to the poll I did, but I'm really surprised to find that I don't appear to have covered the Divine Trip for Two sets yet. They should probably have been an option on the poll!

So let's cover those today. A Divine Trip for Two: Wishes and A Divine Trip for Two: Punishments

The Wishes set contains stories for: Leon, Teorus, Huedhaut, Karno

The Punishments set contains stories for: Scorpio, Dui, Ichthys, Zyglavis

Spoilers under cut

Before we get to the two separate sets, let's briefly cover the prologue which is the same for both.

I don't know what is more amusing here, the king getting them to summon MC who is in her night clothes, the god's reaction to that, or how Partheno and Tauxolouve manage to get themselves (along with Krioff and Aigonorus) out of doing anything for this latest game of the king's. 😂

Hue's 'Well done, you certainly got out of this quickly.' to Tauxolouve - I can't quite make up my mind whether he's irritated at Lou for managing to excuse himself or begrudgingly impressed.

That said: Much as I'm grinning at that exchange, I probably would have preferred for them to make it 12 items rather than 8 and then everyone could have had a story. But it feels like there are very few sets that have all of them - at least this is a four from each side one rather than three.

And yes this is absolutely a game of the king's - not an emergency at all. And Hue seems rather distressed that His Highness has been listening to MC's thoughts again. Just how often does this actually happen??? (Quite a lot knowing the king, but poor Hue).

Oh goodness and then there's how the king gets the others to agree to this... but I'll leave that as a surprise. 😆

Right, before I get way too spoilery about even just the prologue, let's get into the stories themselves shall we?

A DIVINE TRIP FOR TWO: WISHES

Leon: A Treasure Hunt in Singapore

Pfft, Leon always seems like he finds his job a massive chore and yet in other stories it's clear that Karno thinks that Leon makes a better Chief Minister than he ever would have. I'm not sure whether that's Karno's admiration for Leon speaking or his self-doubt pushing him down, or both - but it's interesting how here Leon takes the wishes list with him to do that work as well: He says to MC he's dealing with two 'nusiances' at once, but I'm sure some of the others would have seen it as a chance to avoid work entirely for a bit. That said: granting wishes isn't paperwork. No doubt that's the kind of work he is still ignoring. xD

Also here we have Leon's reaction to the lion head/fish tail statue that is also in one of Ichthys' stories: Leon is totally not amused no matter which option you pick. Ichthys was just completely confused.

What I vaguely recalled of this one was that it seemed somewhat blander than the others in these two sets, but I think that may be more just because these two sets are so strong.

Whilst Leon is still putting the front of not caring about the notion of other people's love it's actually clear from how this goes that he's grown beyond that, and just like one of his Christmas stories I'm still not buying that he's really doing it only for MC's benefit. The fact it makes her happy might be motivation as to why he bothers, but he clearly wanted to make sure this love wish was granted - even if it was, as he said, a lot of effort to go to for a single wish.

I'm 100% sure the king knew exactly what he was doing when he gave Leon this one. This almost feels like it was a further test to make sure the Chief Minister of Wishes really did understand love now.

Teorus: A Treasure Hunt in Germany

Okay I'm sure several of you are already looking worriedly at me so let me allay your fears straight off: This is my second favourite Teorus story. The only Teorus story I rate higher than this is his 'Secret Blessings from the Gods' story.

This story doesn't focus on his jealousy, or his obliviousness at other women crowding him, or his somewhat immature reactions he can have at times. What this story does focus on is his dislike of children. But here it's done equally - in his '12 Loves Light up a Holy Night' story it felt more like his reaction was purely because the children MC was talking to were male and it also bought out his overzealous over-possessiveness that I absolutely hate, whereas here? Here we have a young brother and sister, making a noise at the place MC and Teorus are sightseeing and initially that puts them off.

But then the reason for said children being there is revealed, and both Teorus and MC willingly help them.

And you know... I've just realised something. The kids in this story were trying to do something nice for their mother...

Teo doesn't know his and his father is an ass and oh, now I think I see more why even MC thought he was acting more mature in this one. OUCH. 😭

The ending of this one is just so sweet, and Teo grows a lot here.

Huedhaut: A Treasure Hunt in France

Oh Hue, you just had to leap straight to the teasing didn't you? 😆 But at the same time he's always really sweet. If you get MC to get him to decide what she should wear what he does is give her exactly what kind of thing she was wishing for (the same applies for if you ask for one of the two other options but then MC has said out loud what she's thinking). Other clothing scenes we have in the series always seem more to either be what the god wants or what the god thinks will wind another god up.

What's also interesting here is Hue's remark about this quest not being his usual style - I guess normally he'd make sure he had far more information than the king was willing to divulge here. (A painting of a lady in France indeed, your highness. Sheesh).

I adore Hue and MC's back and forth in this one. MC trying her hardest to outmatch Hue but as per usual it's not really working, but they just seem so perfectly in sync here.

THAT SAID: Hue, look, not everyone is as intelligent as you. I know you admitted afterwards that you were rather nervous due to sensing what you did, but even if you were uncertain about what was going on, don't you think it would have been a good idea to tell MC what was on your mind? What your theory was? Then maybe she wouldn't have even briefly thought that something was affecting you. (Mind you, I'm being hypocritical here, I probably would have acted the same as Hue did... 😅 )

This one is fun, loving, and heart-warming. Pretty much all the option responses here are great too. (Although one seems somewhat incomplete - it doesn't seem to make any sense).

Karno: A Treasure Hunt in Spain

Karno's story here is one of my absolute favourites for him. From protecting the MC from getting hurt and showing his rather scarier side for once, to him and MC working together to work out what to do about a problem regarding someone on both lists, to the solution being related to Karno's divine ability that he is so self-conscious about...

This is just absolutely wonderful and I guess it also shows that they could have done more stuff that focussed directly on the departments' work if they'd wanted to.

Okay now for my re-read thoughts rather than me just blurting out random thoughts before even reloading this one:

In Leon's story he doesn't use his powers to let MC understand the language until it's clear she doesn't know what someone near them is saying, in Teo's MC has to ask what someone is saying for him to make her understand though he does at least explain what he's doing, and in Hue's it never comes up because the one person they speak to is Japanese anyway. Here though? It's nearly as soon as they arrive that Karno makes it so that MC can understand the language and even tells her in advance. Ever reliable, Karno.

Well... I just called him ever reliable, but... um... Karno... did you really just ask someone if they were a 'local human?' that sounds really bizarre! I'm going to presume you were still rather panicked about MC nearly catching fire and angry enough at someone deliberately causing said fire that you didn't think through your wording cos otherwise...

But it is interesting how here we do get to see Karno genuinely angry. He won't stand for things that could get innocent people hurt, especially not when it nearly happened to MC. And yet once they've heard more and MC has calmed him down, we're back into Karno feeling like he can't do anything about the situation despite having all these powers available to him.

As I was saying in my initial thoughts about this one I really like the set up here: someone on both lists (Karno accidentally has the punishments list) and working out what they can do to resolve this when he can't touch anything on the list for the other department. There is a problem with one of the suggestions you can get MC to initially say here though - and the only reason it is a problem is because of the prologue excusing some of the other gods. For Karno's response to work, he really would need to not know where any of the Punishments' Gods are. But that's the fault of the setup before we even get to this story, and in the end that isn't what they need anyway.

*sigh* Karno really doesn't think he's of use does he? Even here it's MC who points out how his divine power might be able to help - at least for the first part. Later it is Karno who uses it of his own volition.

But yeah, I'm trying my hardest not to spoil this story here. It really is a gem, and a very interesting idea.

A DIVINE TRIP FOR TWO: PUNISHMENTS

Scorpio: A Treasure Hunt in Shanghai

Pfft oh Scorpio you really care far more than your irritated forced persona implies. From claiming that you just think walking around would be better than sitting in a stuffy hotel room, to watching MC's reaction to the pandas instead of the pandas yourself... you're being so sweet here.

Actually this whole thing is really touching. Scorpio's even being nice about the Department of Wishes for once!

I may not be that aware of the real life Earth astrology stories but I still like it when they come up here, and I especially like how Scorpio keeps disillusioning MC about other more minor gods. 😂

Like Leon's, the actual issue here might be a little less interesting than Hue's and Karno's, but it is still something important, and thinking on it it was kinda nice that this one had a punishment's god in it and it appeared to be heading in one direction when it really was not that at all.

Dui: A Treasure Hunt In England

Oh Dui 😭 *hugs him tightly* . I swear MC gets into actual physical danger far more when she's with Dui than when she's with anyone else. And this time it only happens because of how much fun she and Dui were having earlier.

Dui's another who actually uses his powers immediately to let MC understand the language. It's clear some thought about that more than others.

As someone from the UK I have to say it's kinda nice seeing these backgrounds of London in SCM 😅 Though it probably helps that Dui is so excited here! His happiness is infectious.

Despite the real danger MC is in in this one I really do like how this one turned out, and Dui? It wasn't your fault, I feel more like your luck is as bad as Hue's! I mean what the king sent you to find here... I think even he was trying to give you a break for once and instead this mess happens. 😭

Ichthys: A Treasure Hunt in Hawaii

Ichthys does actually make MC understand the language pretty quickly here too - once he's stopped being distracted by the sea and sea creatures that is.

But aside from the little fun at the beach at the start of this, this story is utterly heart-wrenching. The parallels between Ichthys and who he and MC are there to help. OUCH.

I think I'm struggling to put anything into words here because I may well have said before how much I relate to Ichthys and this kind of story really isn't helping with that.

This story is great but if you know what Ichthys' main path is like, this is him helping someone who is hiding pain like he used to.

I... I just...

😭

Zyglavis: A Treasure Hunt in New York

Okay let's move on from Ichthys' story before I choke up further, and lets head to Zig's.

Geez, Zig, thanks a lot. I got MC to answer your question diplomatically and this is your reaction. 😂 I adore Zig's snarkiness though. In fact I realised a while back: I seem to like people being sarcastic at me. 😅

Oh but there's sweet Zig immediately afterwards too... a dessert shop where he initially doesn't want anything and then MC points out they have Chocolate Ganache and now he's grappling with himself about it. 😆

Pfft: This reminds me of one of the differences between Huedhaut and Zyglavis actually. Hue is the one getting one up on MC and her grumbling to herself that she can't win with him, with Zig it's the other way around. Even though he has cutting snark it's MC that takes advantage of the situations around them and it's often Zig who thinks she can't win with her. I'm pretty sure if this food scene was in Hue's we would have ended up somewhere where even if others weren't doing it, Hue would have insisted on feeding MC, but here MC tricks Zig into letting her feed him due to where they are, and he's just so flustered and sweet.

Also, Zyglavis is somewhat ignoring the king's mission without MC fully realising it until he brings it up, rather than being vocally upfront like Dui was. I suppose it does make sense that he would go that route here, because it's one of the few times where he hasn't got to think about a million other things to do with work and the departments and the other Zodiac Gods. He might have a fetch quest from the king that he's supposed to be doing, but he also knows they won't be interrupted here. Which is probably why we're getting a more relaxed Zyglavis, even whilst walking about outside.

THAT SAID: I know you thought to let her understand the language after she bought that concern up, and you left your shadow with her so she wouldn't worry about splitting up, but - did you really just rattle off directions in a place MC has never been before so rapidly and then disappear without giving her a chance to even ask you to repeat what you said if necessary?! I know your shadow showed her the way in the end but that initial abruptness must have terrified her. Or at least it did me! (At least he does realise about this, and is part of the resolution later).

Unlike Karno's they actually remember that there are some still working in the heavens in this one, and that's a nice moment in MC's mind. I hope this really was Lou and Aigo's doing.

Overall, this is like a less upsetting version of Dui's. It's a way to get Zyglavis and MC not only to relax but to elucidate their feelings a little more.

It's a very sweet little story.

Okay then... ranking time? Hmm... let's see:

Karno

Huedhaut

Teorus

Ichthys

Zyglavis

Dui

Scorpio

Leon

That was actually really hard to order. Those top four have a lot of interesting moments and could probably be re-ordered or listed as equal first. Then Zig and Dui's are very close and I'm still not sure whether I've put them the right way round. Scorpio and Leon's are great too, but I think for me that probably is where both of those fall.