#i have to catch them all. WHY IS IT SO HARD SERA??

[grapecaseschoices]

me: i dont like the idea of CHOOSING the bffery for twc book 3, i want it EARNED

me: *when i can't get a du mortain as a bff for one of my mcs no matter how i try* choices make the world go 'round.

[yan-lorkai]

why doesn't anyone ask for something with Yandere Seras victoria x reader dear? If you can do something, please, please! I want to read something where Seras becomes obsessed with a beloved s/o and maybe Alucard supports her twisted love or believes that Seras' love is not healthy and only scares her lover, if you have time to write something like that, I will thank you very much, Otherwise ignore my request.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ A/N: Seras is an interesting character for me, she's so sweet and innocent, and when twisted she can be really scary. I tried to explore this without going on too long or making this fic too boring to read. I think it worked out well. I hope you like, darling! :3

In the vast and shadowy halls of Hellsing Manor, you begin to notice that there's something different about Seras, though you can’t quite put your finger on what it is. You’ve always thought of Seras as the same sweet, strong girl, you known for so long: overprotective, affectionate, always at your side.

But lately, you’ve felt her presence a little more keenly. There’s something in the way her eyes follow your every move, her gaze tracking you with an intensity that’s hard to ignore. You tried to dismiss it as nothing more than Seras being Seras.

Still, you can’t shake the feeling that there’s something more behind her actions. It’s subtle, almost imperceptible, but you start to notice the little things. Seras seems to know what you need before you do, appearing with a cup of tea just as you’re about to get up, finishing your sentences as if she’s reading your mind. It’s comforting, in a way, to have someone so attuned to your needs but there’s a part of you that wonders how she knows so much, so quickly.

She swore she would never use her powers in anyone who isn't a vampire or a ghoul. So you choose to trust her and just brushed it off as just a sign of how well Seras knows you. But as the days turn into weeks, you start to see other changes. Her presence is constant now, from the moment you woke up to the moment you're retiring to your room, she can found nearby, almost as if she's waiting. And the other Hellsing soldiers don't approach you without a good reason, not even your friends.

It’s easy to overlook these small things, to dismiss them as nothing more than Seras being silly and enjoying to scare you. But slowly, they begin to pile up, the weight of them pressing down on you. You start to feel a chill whenever she’s near, a sense of unease that you can’t quite explain. You don’t want to believe it, don’t want to think that anything could be wrong with your beloved friend.

And there’s something in her eyes — something dark, something almost predatory. You used to see this same glow on her master's eye whenever he killed, the glee to hunt, to kill, you fear it. You catch glimpses of it when you meet her gaze. It’s there, just for a moment, before she smiles that bright, innocent smile of hers, and you tell yourself you must have imagined it.

You have imagined, right? Seras isn't capable of hurting anyone, right...?

And yet, there’s a part of you that can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t right.

Alucard watches you both from the shadows, his crimson eyes seeing what you see but cannot believe. He noticed the change in Seras, the way her aura has darkened, the way her presence has become more… persistent. He’s amused by it, in his own way, entertained by the shift in his fledgling. But he also knows the dangers of a love that turns into obsession, of a heart consumed by darkness, for he is the king of everything that is dark.

He speaks to Seras in those moments when you’re not around, when the moon is high and all good humans are sleeping, his voice a low rumble that echoes through the halls. “Do you understand what you’re feeling, Seras?” He asks, his tone a simple warning.

You’re unaware of these conversations, unaware of the tension that’s slowly building between them. Seras hesitates when he speaks to her, unsure of how to explain the hunger that has taken root in her soul, how she wants, yearns to claim you in more ways than just one. And she is left with a mix of feelings.

“I… I love them, master!” She whispers back, her voice trembling with the intensity of her emotions. Alucard’s eyes narrow, a smile tugging at his lips.

“Love, is it? Or is it something more… primal?”

Seras’ thoughts have taken a darker turn. She begins to dream of you — not the sweet, innocent dreams she used to have where she make flower crowns to you and you both share passionate kisses. Instead, she dreams of dark, twisted fantasies that leave her breathless and terrified in equal measure. She imagine what it would be like to have you to herself, to hold you so close that you couldn’t escape, to taste your fear, your love, your very essence.

You don’t see the danger, don’t feel the threat that Seras has become. To you, she’s still the bright light in the dark halls of Hellsing Manor, still the person you trust with all your heart, even if you're skittish around her.

Alucard sees the path she’s on, but he says nothing, content to watch as Seras spirals further into her own desires. Perhaps, he thinks, this is how it should be. After all, love is a powerful thing, but when twisted by darkness, it can become something even more potent. And in the world you live in, sometimes darkness is the only thing that can survive.

But one thing is certain: Seras’ love is no longer pure, no longer innocent. It’s something primal, something that could destroy everything you hold dear. Even you, if you were to reject her.

[cakerybakery]

Lying in the rubble of the hotel, Adam tried to catch his breath as Lucifer cuddled into his side.

He was already feeling sore. He wasn’t young anymore. When was the last time he was bent over in such a way? Centuries if not longer.

“Fuck, man.”

“Hmm.”

“This is exactly why you’re not supposed to show up to the exterminations.”

“You tried to kill my daughter.” Lucifer ran his hand through Adam’s chest hair, tugging a little on a couple of the hairs purposely. “What was I supposed to do?”

Adam winced, “yeah, yeah. I really just wanted to scare her off from this stupid idea. She’s making waves, Lucifer. You know how heaven feels about waves.”

“I think she might be onto something.” Lucifer’s hands soothed the skin where he had tugged to punish Adam. “I’m not sure it’ll work how she thinks…”

“But?”

Lucifer sighed and sat up. “But, if the exterminations were good, why are they hidden from heaven? Maybe trying to redeem souls is the answer.”

“Waves, Lucifer. It’s how you ended up down here. Why couldn’t you two just do what you were supposed to?” Adam groped for his robe.

It was the same argument they had been having for eons. It never changed.

They never changed.

Lucifer pulled on his shirt and Adam tried not to look at pissed off look that was always on Lucifer’s face when this topic came up.

“I’m not going to apologize for-“

“Trying something new! I fucking know!” Adam pulled his pants on and spared a brief glance to watch Lucifer’s white ass disappear behind his pants. “I know what you wanted to do. We have this argument every fucking time. She’s making waves and Sera wants it dealt with. So you either need to make a real case and have some real proof or someone worse than me is going to show up and do a lot worse.”

“Sera can suck my dick.”

“I can think of worse things to suck.” Adam said before his brain had a chance to stop him.

Lucifer paused putting his vest on and snorted. “I know we don’t agree on much-“

“That, we can agree on.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes, “But, we both know this isn’t going to end well for someone. And I don’t want that someone to be my kid. She’s all I have left. If something happens to her, I am going to FUCK heaven.”

Adam pull Lucifer’s jacket from the chuck of rebar it had been flung on and tossed it at Lucifer. “You mean you’re going to fuck up heaven.”

“No. What I’ll do to heaven is the equivalent of sticking my dick in it and screwing it so hard it’ll never walk straight again. I am going to fuck heaven if anything happens to my daughter.” Lucifer finished buttoning his jacket and straightened his hat. “I know every sensitive part of heaven and every one of my angelic siblings weaknesses. And I can play them like a god fucking damned fiddle. I did it every time I wanted something they tried to deny me.”

Lucifer easily climbed a seemingly sheer wall of rubble, his boots in hand, to be eye level with Adam. He pulled Adam into a quick, bruising kiss then let him go.

“I chose to protect Lilith instead of fighting back. And back then I could have taken out a few of them on the way down. Heaven is right that souls equal power. But it’s not just pure numbers in a war. Every soul in this god forsaken place, sinner or hell-born, is tied to me.” Lucifer straighten out Adam’s robe from where he had gripped him. “Even those you kill, their souls remain mine. And reside inside of me.”

His head tried to add up how many souls were in hell currently and had been in hell before being slaughtered, but math wasn’t his strength so the total he came up with was a fuck ton.

“They’ll be wondering where we are. Be smart, Adam. Take your angels and go before I do something only I’ll live to regret.”

Lucifer kissed him again and his mouth burned against Adam’s. A show of the power at Lucifer’s command. Adam’s knees nearly buckled under the weight of the souls fuelling Lucifer’s angelic core.

He could feel their screams as they burned. The claws along his jaw as Lucifer held his face. The tongue that tasted his soul, tempting it to joined the others within Lucifer.

Adam wretched away with a gasp and stumbled back.

It was easy to forget under that silly hat and outfit was the king of hell, a fallen angel that had once sat by God’s side, someone heaven could only just contain not destroy. Someone who was obviously humouring heaven’s containment for his own reasons.

Lucifer stood atop the broken wall looking down at Adam with a sharp smile. Fear rocked Adam’s core. Adam had let himself be lulled into forgetting that behind that goofy silly man Lucifer acted like was a demon of incredible power.

“Run, Adam. Run before I decide to keep you.” Lucifer’s voice was bitter, as though he wanted to keep Adam anyways.

Adam scrambled to his feet, to his wings. He shot up from the depth of the rubble and surveyed the battle. His girls were loosing, badly.

Calling for a retreat, he waited by the portal for everyone to limp through.

Lucifer watched him, perched from the broken sign, a look of longing etched in his demonic face.

It messed with Adam’s head and he was tempted to turn back. It was a reminder he couldn’t trust the devil. He fled through the portal and closed it securely behind him.

Watching Adam go was hard. But heaven was coming after his kid. Heaven needed a reminder that he didn’t so much fall as leave.

This would likely be the last time he ever got to be with Adam. He wished it last longer, that he had savoured their last time more.

He had always been fond of Adam. But his kid needed protection, she needed him. Charlie was his priority.

If he had to give up Adam to get heaven to take Charlie’s ideas seriously, to put heaven back in their place by him, then he would do it.

Lucifer’s heart ached.

He didn’t like it, but he would do it.

[vikkirosko]

Hello!

Can I request a sequel to Phosphophylite reader and the hazbin hotel crew ?

In the case of Charlie and Vaggie, reader comes with them to heaven. She meets Sera, Emily, Adam, and Lute. The angels are surprised to see a gem here, because the angels created a special place on earth for them, safe and away from humanity. During the trial, reader tries to help Charlie, but is so angry at the angels that she breaks her leg by stomping too hard and fall, breaking an arm and cracking her head.

For Angel Dust, reader comes to the Vees tower with Charlie to ask Valentino to let Angel come back to the hotel. Reader being a gem without any reproductive system, she doesn't understand Angel's work and Valentino's pervert comments. Reader is furious when she sees how Valentino treats Angel and when she goes for Valentino, she trips over cables and falls from some stairs. Breaking her body in huge parts. Angel is panicked and instinctively try to put her back together.

In Alastor case, she meets Vox with him. Vox and Alastor are insulting each other until Vox loses it and screams so hard that he makes a powerful sound wave. Breaking reader apart. It's the first time Alastor sees reader breaks.

Thanks!

Partially platonic headcanons Smashed to pieces

🌈 Charlie Morningstar x fem!Reader 🎶

When Charlie was able to convince her father to visit Heaven, she wanted Vaggie and you to go with her. She was sure that with your support she could handle everything. However, when you were in Heaven, the princess felt that Sera often looked at you, but she did not understand the reason for this. It was only thanks to Emily that she found out the reason for this

She told her that people like you, gems, were created by angels and hidden in a safe place away from humans. That's why the fact that you somehow ended up in Hell surprised Sera so much. However, neither Charlie nor Emily knew the true reason for Sera's concern

During the trial, you were silent for a long time, but looking at the hypocritical words that Sera said, you got angry. Charlie has never seen you like this. You hurried to come forward, shouting about injustice. You were filled with rage, so strong that you stamped your foot with all your might, which caused your leg to shatter into pieces. Charlie hurried to help you, but didn't have time to catch you. You fell and your arm and head broke

Charlie was trying to pick up your pieces. She managed to see the horror on Sera's face, and Emily hurried to help her. The princess knew that you could be collected, but the fact that Sera, even knowing who you are, did not help you. It made her angry. She was angry at her hypocrisy and the fact that you got hurt because of it. But right now it was more important for her to help you

❌ Vaggie x fem!Reader 🎀

When Charlie asked you to go with her and Vaggie to meet the angels, Vaggie couldn't stop worrying. She knew how fragile you were, literally, and was afraid that you might get hurt, but you assured her that everything would be fine and that you wouldn't put yourself in danger

In Heaven, you really tried to be careful, but there were a lot of eyes on you. Neither you nor Vaggie knew how angry Adam was that you came. He knew about people like you. About the gems that the angels created and hid in a safe place far from humanity, but he has never seen anyone like you personally. But the fact that you supported the crazy ideas of the princess angered both him and Lute

Adam said a lot of cruel words during the trial, and Lute supported him. However, they didn't expect you to be so angry. No one expected this. You were shouting and Adam wasn't going to be silent. He didn't care who you were. Vaggie tried to calm you down, but she couldn't do it. In a fit of emotion, you stomped your foot hard and your leg shattered. Because of the lack of a leg, you fell and, following the leg, your arm and your head broke

Vaggie hastened to help you. She tried not to lose a single piece. She felt Adam's shocked gaze and felt angry. She knew how violent he was, but she wasn't going to let it go unpunished. Maybe not now, but she wanted to give them back the pain that you suffered

🕷 Angel Dust x fem!Reader 💖

Angel didn't want his friends to run into Valentino. He knew how dangerous overlord was and didn't want to put others in danger. That's why when Charlie and you came to the studio to talk to Valentino, he was very worried. He wanted you to leave as soon as possible, but it was too late

Valentino managed to say a few perverted phrases to both of you, but if there was a hidden disgust on the princess's face, then you clearly didn't even understand what exactly he meant. Because you were a gem, Angel wasn't sure if you even knew what his boss was talking about. But you definitely realized that he was being cruel to your friend

You didn't stay silent for long. You were in a real rage and wanted to attack him with your fists, but you tripped over the wires scattered on the floor and fell. At that moment, it was as if all sounds had disappeared. You fell to the floor and your body broke into many pieces. Valentino looked at it with mild incomprehension, and Charlie couldn't move from the shock. Angel was the first one who took off and hurried to try to pick up your pieces

He felt a lot of panic because you were broken. Valentino saw how Angel reacted to this, so he was in no hurry to do anything, but Angel could not allow this to happen again. He knew you could be restored, but that didn't mean he wanted his friend to suffer at the Valentino's hands

📻 Alastor x fem!Reader 🎙

Alastor was the one who often looked out for you. He knew you were fragile, so he made sure you weren't hurt. Sometimes he would invite you for a walk and thanks to him you would get to know Hell better. However, during one of your walks, Alastor attracted unwanted attention. Vox noticed it and couldn't just ignore it

The conflict between them has started again. You stayed away. Vox didn't pay attention to you, but Alastor made him very angry. Strong enough for Vox to start making very loud sound waves. Alastor did not pay attention to this, but when he turned his head in your direction, he saw how cracks appeared on you and a second later you began to crumble into fragments

This is the first time Alastor has seen you break into pieces. He reacted instantly. His shadows caught your fragments, not missing a single one. Alastor didn't know what would happen if at least one of your fragments was lost, but he knew exactly what to heal an ordinary wound. Therefore, he had to be as attentive as possible and return to the hotel to collect you again, or entrust it to others

He returned to the hotel much faster than planned. Although he remained calm outwardly, he was really worried. Alastor knew you were fragile, but he didn't think you were that fragile. The sight of your body falling apart destroyed his peace of mind and he didn't want you to get hurt so badly again

[fangirlingpuggle]

Half asleep dumb Hellsing Yumikel (and part Andercard) AU/fic prompt where before Walter can Kill Yumie Alucard steps in and stops the stings like 'no, Nope you are living'

Alucard basically telling Heinkel and Yumie to get out of there they're offended but then Alucard is like 'You are the students of my nemesis the best enemy I've fought, you two were his students you are his legacy you have potential I am not having you two die here in the crossfire of some traitor, go and get stronger'. The two are very thrown off but don't argue (Though they do refuse to go home and instead and go with Integra and Seras to take down the captain and major).

So Yumie and Heinkel are both alive and end up being the main go to for the iscariots as Seras becomes for Hellsing and they end up meeting up a lot only it's less death fights more chill talking, occasional sparring and mostly getting coffee and talking about their mentors (and maybe some magic and other ways to get them back)

The vampires they're exterminating are so confused when the three enemies tearing them apart are doing it all while having chill small talk like friends catching up over tea.

Seras keeps calling their coffee meet ups and such double dates arguing that pips there to so it counts.

They also keep cover for each other like Seras is like 'Oh nooo looks like I created a barrier around this fight zone and you won't be able to interfere in this fight looks like you're going to have to wait 5... is 5 hours enough'

'Yes that's good thanks'

'Great 5 hours before you can check i've killed all these vampires, guess you'll have to go wait at that nice fancy restaurant 5 streets away'

Their sides keep trying to call them on it (well the iscariots do Integra just rolls with it) but they just keep denying.

'Why ever would we work with that vampire?'

'... That vampire is sitting right next you!'

'what vampire I see nothing, I think you must be working to hard father, perhaps you should go get some rest'

Alucard comes back and instantly roped into helping them figure out how to bring Anderson back. He is completely on board.

When Anderson is brought back he is very very confused...

[faithintheunknownsblog]

How do pip and alucard (seperately ) deal with a reader who is oblivious to them liking her?fluff plz

A/N: I'm so sorry, I promise I didn't forget- I've just been trying to get more chapters

Alucard

Alucard would just get tired of it, blankly staring at you and plainly asking you, “are you stupid or something?” 

“What?” You ask, taken aback by the rudeness.

“Are you stupid or something,” Alucard asks again in a serious tone that still has a sprinkle of annoyance mixed in since he had to repeat himself.

You shake your head, “no, I heard what you said. I’m just wondering what the actual fuck makes you think you can talk to me like that.”

“Well, clearly you are too dumb to realize I’ve made multiple advances in attempts to court you.” Alucard says plainly. This old geezer still thinks ‘courting’ is a thing.

“Did you offer the plumpest goat in the whole village to my father as well?” You ask sarcastically, “the Hell are you talking about ‘making advances’?”

“I have been doing like what they do in those movies-” Alucard has been watching cheesy rom coms in attempts to learn how to flirt, “-trying to woo you, but you just haven’t caught on.”

You couldn’t keep yourself from laughing, “that’s why you’ve been acting weird?!”

Alucard stays silent.

When you finally stop laughing and catch your breath you rhetorically ask, “Alucard, you do understand that life doesn’t work like that, right? All of those people are actors and the whole thing is scripted.”

Alucard grumbles, “Seras should’ve just let me give you the letter.”

“Letter?” Your curiosity immediately peaks, “you wrote me a letter?”

“Yes,” Alucard pulls the letter out from his jacket and hands it to you. Though he does not show it, he’s nervous as he watches you delicately unfold the paper and your eyes skin across it.

“Huh,” you keep your look unwavering as you look back up at him. Knowing that your unimpressed demeanor has him sweating bullets, then you fold up the paper and with a smirk say, “I could get used to these types of letters.”

“So that means you’ll let me court you?” Alucard asks.

You chuckle, “it’s called dating now, but yes, I’ll let you ‘court’ me.”

Alucard gets the biggest smile, “I told Seras the letter would work.”

“Yeah, you shouldn’t take dating advice from her anymore,” you laugh.

“Well I shouldn’t need to, now  that we’re together,” Alucard says happily.

You just roll your eyes and wave your hand to shoo him away, “alright, now go, I have to finish my work!”

“As you wish,” Alucard tips his head and leaves, now a very happy man to be courted with you.

Pip Bernadotte 

You and Pip are laughing and joking around like usual, but out of nowhere with absolutely no context he says “you make it very hard for me, you know?”

You and him tend to joke around, making lewd jokes, so you assume that’s what he’s doing now, “yes, I know. I wouldn’t be surprised if you had a picture of me you wank off to every night.”

Pip shakes his head, “no, not that way. Well, not all ze time, but zat’s not what I’m talkin’ about now.”

“What are you talking about then?” You ask Pip.

“Not to kiss you, I think about it all ze time,” Pip’s attitude is no longer playful. He constantly thinks about what it’d be like to hold you tight as he gives your soft lips tender kisses. You make him so happy and you’re all he thinks about. 

You go back to not taking him seriously and thinking this is a joke. So you decide to test him like you’ve done before and playfully say, “do it then.”

Pip is tired of all the joking, he leans in and kisses you so passionately, the world fades away. At this moment the rest of the world fades, it’s only you and him as it should be, always and forever.

When you two break apart, you're both breathing heavily, the kiss stole all the air out of both of your lungs and after a long pause Pip finally breaks the silence, “zat what I meant.”

You couldn’t help but chuckle, “I’ve already figured that out by now.” “Just makin’ sure-” Pip smiles, “-because it took you zis long.”

You roll your eyes and Pip steals another kiss, which he will be doing with every chance he gets from now on.

[monstersandgirls-webtoons]

i love how you explore different types of relationships, not just romantic ones, and i was curious if there's any dynamics between the cast that you love to work on aside from Sera and Lili? or which one you struggle to translate onto the page since relationships can be difficult to explain sometimes?

I'd say favorite relationship i like to work on besides Sera and Lili would probably be Luvart and Powers. I just love how Luvart is a genuinely cruel and vicious person but when she's around Powers she just turns into the over the top cartoonish bully because she's basically trying to impress Powers while demean her.

It's hard to portray on Powers side but it's also the same for her, but a bit more subtle. you'll notice Powers typically jumps to "attack, ask questions later" with other demons but with Luvart she enjoys taunting her and putting her down because its so easy to get under Luvart's rocky skin.

Difficult to translate would honestly be Sera and Powers? Which funnily enough people have stated to be the most confusing because they don't really understand their dynamic. Their relationship is meant to be intentionally hard to pin down (hence why i beg people not to put it into a box like sibling or mother/daughter, nor do i want them to be read as ex lovers) but the big problem is that for a relationship as complex as theirs, its really hard to put it all into 4 panels. The only other example would be Powers and Prince (and yes i havent introduced prince yet so this might be confusing) but Prince is meant to be Powers sort of rival, sort of ally, but there's a noticeable bit of tension between them. but know once people catch on to that, it'll be immediately read as romantic and that i'll turn them into a couple, which isnt my intention.

[unrestrained-balderdash-art-blog]

Going on a Riddler fanart break

I'm having a break from posting Riddler fanart to Tumblr. The backlog will still be posted on Cara and Instagram (both @ tbalderdash), and if the break is long enough for it to catch up I will post things made during the break on there before Tumblr. I will still be posting bird art here. I will still post fanart for other fandoms here if I make any (I am currently undecided about non-Riddler DC). The break will be for at least a month. I will probably come back when the OCD medication has kicked in for a bit. Thank you for all of the support on the last post. I don't want to take a break, but I have to for my mental health.

"Organised" ramble about reasoning (this is heavily influenced by neurodivergence/mental illness and I am not trying to sound like an entitled/ungrateful twat. I don't want to guilt trip anyone, please don't feel guilty):

The Timezone Curse: Tumblr has a reverse-chronological dashboard. I am British. I live earlier than the majority of the userbase. I have no idea what time to post things so they don't get buried. Recently I've tried to stop waiting for the exact right minute to post things, as it doesn't stop them from flopping.

Likes vs Reblogs, (and OCD?): I will preface this and say: a lot of this is my brain's fault. Since Likes don't do anything to spread things, my brain gets upset when things keep getting Liked without Reblogged. Unless it is from a bird fan on the fanart, better artist, or irl friend, Likes mean nothing to me. I know this is silly and irrational, but I can't help it and this is the main reason why my brain is suffering posting fanart. I hope medication will fix my feelings. Additionally, OCD brain keeps trying to find a reason: Am I dislikable? Is my art bad? Does it have no appeal? Is it aphobia? Did I do something cancellable without knowing and now everyone hates me? I (think I) know the answer is people just don't use this website that way, but my brain is never sure. This is why I don't have the problem on the other websites, every like helps the algorithm and actually means something in my brain

The combination of the Timezone Curse and lack of reblogs means my art often gets barely any reach (or reach my brain deems meaningful). I desperately want to feel like part of the Riddler fandom community. Unfortunately, due to Tumblr making me suffer (overwhelmed by compulsive need to scroll entire dash, repulsed aroace, and simple posts being able to make me ruminate unpleasantly for a long time) I find it very hard to follow new blogs or connect with people on this site. I love birds, but I need Riddler interaction. I can't look at much fandom on other sites, as they have barely any/no tag filtering, which means I will suffer if I look for him.

Why it's just fanart and not birds affected by this: I started off as a fanartist with no expectation to get big with birds, so I had a que sera sera attitude and I post them whenever they're ready, I didn't expect to get big. I am more fulfilled when it comes to the bird interest (more community interaction + every day can have different birds out there + people in my real life are interested in birds). Additionally, the bird art spreads a lot more (due to bird blogs reblogging). Bird art is my "job" art (it is where I plan to make money from) whereas Riddler is where my passion lies the most (I still love the birds but I have many other ways of interacting with them without needing art). This means I get more emotionally invested in the Riddler art than the bird art

Is art becoming a compulsion? This applies to the birds as well, but since they're "job art" it doesn't matter too much. I keep being worried about not posting enough Riddler art, and feelings of social media sometimes overshadow the joy of creating - I keep thinking about posting, rather than doing. I get too anxious to make art that is "unpostable" (eg: self-insert and him hugging), especially due to the fact I'm trying to get more professional. I feel like there's more I want to expand on this but it's been too long and I'm tired. This break might help me do more high-quality art instead of having to churn it out out of fear of everyone forgetting me.

Sorry for all the text. I don't know if I've explained everything very well but it's been an hour and usually if I post something after 8 it fails, which I don't usually want to worry about but it's a bit important for an announcement like this

[heyiwrotesomethings]

hiii i came across your page a few months ago, and i really love the way you write these characters!

i was thinking, maybe a part 2 of “scholarships, mary saotome x she/her reader” where it basically goes into the plot of kakegurui twin and the beginning of the canon-verse?

i could imagine the reader and mary becoming friends, though a slight slow burn romance that forms along the way.

Scholarships Prt II

Mary Saotome x She/Her Reader

A/N: PrtI It’s finally done! You’d think revisiting five chapters of manga wouldn’t be that draining, but it took quite a bit of back and forth to get the important bits. Sorry for the wait, hope you enjoy : ) Word Count: 3,371

“What the hell is this?” Mary deadpanned, looking around the heavily crowded room.

From day one of getting into this school it felt like she slipped out of the frying pan and right into the fire. It took everything she had just to stay out of owing someone an insane amount of money. From gambling Kokoro, to joining the Literary Club, and now being mixed up in Student Council and Full Bloom Society affairs. It felt like they could never catch a break, and if they did, it certainly never lasted. Which was what brought them to where they were now, a speed dating, coupling party gamble.

“Coupling…?” Tsuzura placed a hand over her mouth.

“You got to be kidding me!” Yukimi gawked, “How can you go out with a guy you don’t even know?!”

“Right? Is it too late to back out?” (Y/n) asked, even though she already knew the answer.

“Of course we can’t back out.” Mary groaned. “What the hell did Aoi get us into?”

“Hello.”

“Gah!”

Mary put a hand to her heart, (Y/n) put a hand on her back to help steady her.

“Mikura? What are you doing here?” Mary asked.

“Looking for a boyfriend?” (Y/n) guessed.

“Ugh, no. Gross.” Mikura shuddered, “I’m here on school business. This is Juraku-sama’s event.”

“Of course it is,” (Y/n) sighed, “Can’t escape the council for a minute.”

“Anyway,” Mikura looked down at her clipboard, “there are only four of you, correct? I’ll have to introduce you to a fifth. It looks like Chitose would be an easy addition.”

“Hi, that would be me!”

The Literary Club peered around Mikura to the new addition to their group, a girl with a pin-straight bob. She looked friendly enough at least.

“I’ll leave you to get acquainted. The game will begin shortly.” Mikura took her leave and Chitose took the floor.

“Is this all your first time at this event?”

“Yeah, how does this work exactly?” Yukimi asked.

Chitose explained the premise excitedly. Basically, if they matched with a boy, they would have to pay out. If they didn’t match, the boys would have to pay out. Seemed simple enough.

“So, are you guys playing for love, or money?” Chitose asked excitedly.

“The money.” All four girls replied in near perfect unison, causing Chitose’s shoulders to slump.

“Fine…” she sighed, “Let’s get this over with.”

Chitose lead them to the group of boys they had been paired with for the game and the MC for the event a announced the start of the chat period.

Kuonji, Sera, Kochi, Musubi and Kibashira introduced themselves, soon giving the floor to the girls to do the same. Chitose really hammed up her introduction, so much so it was hard to tell if she was acting or not.

Mary decided to talk about running the Literary Club’s gambling den, a safe option, she figured.

“That’s gotta be tough,” Kibashiba acknowledged with a low whistle, “You must like quick-witted guys then, huh?”

“No, not really…”

“Oh, then what kind of guy do you like?”

“Um…” Mary was going to bullshit the boy, say something shallow, but she happened to notice (Y/n) move in her periphery, sifting her position a little, probably in an attempt to be a bit more comfortable during this awkward game. As her thoughts were drawn to (Y/n), her answer morphed.

“Maybe someone honest?” Her face warmed. Why did I tell him the truth?! She fretted internally as Musubi jumped in to ask Tsuzura questions, swooning over the girl’s ability to cook and sew.

“And what about you, (Y/n)-san?” Kochi piped in, “What do you like in a guy?”

Mary’s ears perked and she glanced at (Y/n) through her periphery.

“Well,” (Y/n) rubbed the back of her neck, “I guess I’d like someone who doesn’t leave the people that care about them behind. Someone loyal.”

Mary wasn’t completely aware of it, but her heart skipped a beat. A small, almost victorious-looking smile appeared on her face.

The chat session wrapped up soon after Yukimi’s introduction and the two groups parted ways momentarily for the group discussion period.

“So, about the rules…” Mary began once they were in their own little corner of the room, “A wager wasn’t mentioned, so how does that work exactly?”

“It was on the entry form, didn’t you read it?” Chitose asked.

“We got a separate invite.” Mary explained.

“Ah, well, it’s a million yen per bet.”

The group stiffened. A million yen?! For speed dating?! Aoi was throwing them out to the deep end with this gamble.

“We’ll have to use the dine out discount.” Yukimi said after doing a bit of quick mental math. “It’ll be just enough to cover the cost.”

“What if we just went straight for the sleepover?” Tsuzura asked much too casually.

“Huh?!?!”

“Tsuzura?!”

“What?!”

“It’ll help us save money, right? And if we’re all in the same room, won’t that be super fun?” She gushed, “I haven’t had a sleepover since elementary school!”

“Are you for real right now?” Mary sighed, resting her face against her open palm.

“Oh my sweet summer child…” (Y/n) said sympathetically, not really wanting to burst Tsuzura’s bubble.

Yukimi couldn’t sit by and let the poor girl live in ignorance and whispered what the wager would really mean. (Y/n) and Mary watched in real time as Tsuzura’s face morph from cheerful to frazzled embarrassment in a matter of seconds.

“She really had no idea, huh?” Mary shook her head.

“Poor girl.” (Y/n) concurred.

“Anyway…” Mary cleared her throat, “I think it’ll be in our best interest to avoid making couples in order to make the most money we can. So that means we should all pick different guys to keep the matches down to a minimum. We can do a random draw to decide who “confesses” to who, but I think it’ll be best to make sure Tsuzura doesn’t get matched with Musubi.”

“Yeah, he definitely has a thing for her.” Yukimi chuckled awkwardly while (Y/n) was still trying to calm the girl down after the whole “sleepover” misunderstanding.

“Any other ideas?” Mary asked.

Chitose eagerly rose her hand, hoping to be paired with Kuonji and getting all blush and lovestruck just thinking about the prospect.

Mary shared a look with (Y/n) who shrugged her shoulders.

“Uh… yeah, sure.” Mary jolted the note down and then turned the paper around, showing how the “confessions” should work out. “Anyone got a problem with this set-up?”

“Nope.” The rest agreed.

As they began walking back to their table, Mary pinched the fabric of (Y/n)‘s jacket to keep her back.

“(Y/n),” she spoke in a low tone, “the two of us will switch confession targets.”

“Huh, why?”

“There is one flaw with this plan, that being spreading out like this could lead to trouble if there is a mole in our group.”

“A mole?” (Y/n) repeated in a harsh whisper. “You think someone could be working with the guys?”

“Exactly.”

“Then it would clearly be Chitose, wouldn’t it? Shouldn’t we let Tsuzura and Yuikimi-senpai in on the plan too?”

Mary shook her head, “I don’t trust Yuikimi-san yet and I don’t want to stress Tsuzura out.”

“I don’t think it’s necessary to exclude her. She can handle it.“ (Y/n) tried to dissuade.

“We can’t hesitate now. If we want to win, we have to consider every possibility.” Mary stuck to her guns, getting closer and resting a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “We’re going to come out on top, we’re going to be the winners! We’re going to show these rich bastards what for, right?” She gave her a confident smile that made (Y/n)’s heart speed up.

“Right!” (Y/n) nodded resolutely, matching Mary’s competitive smile.

“Then let’s win this so we can rub it in Aoi’s face.”

The duo rejoined their group and all circled their agreed upon targets on the submission forms, except for Mary and (Y/n) of course who switched their targets, making Mary’s target Kibashira and (Y/n)’s Sera. After everything was squared away, they all sat across the table from the boys, each offering up a dinning out bonus to meet the betting requirements. They each confessed to their targets and there was a bit of an upset when Yuikimi and Tsuzura heard that Mary and (Y/n) switched targets, but that was nothing compared to the upset that occurred when it was the boys’ turn to reciprocate or reject… that’s when things started to get messy.

One after the other, instead of falling through, the couplings were perfect matches. Though unfortunate, it was exactly what Mary had anticipated. What she hadn’t anticipated however, was for her and (Y/n)’s targets to match them as well.

“No…” (Y/n) sunk in her chair, joining Yuikimi and Tsuzura’s anxious expressions. “It’s impossible. Everyone?”

“Congratulations.” Mikura drawled, “Five couples have been formed.”

“Bullshit!” Mary stood, slamming her palms against the table, “This is all a fraud! We couldn’t have all coupled by chance! Even if one of us was tipping the guys off, (Y/n) and I switched to avoid just this scenario!” She yelled at Miruka. “You rigged it! Wouldn’t be the first time—“

“Is there a problem, Mary?”

Juraku Sachiko sidled up to the table, compelling Mary to grind her teeth together, eyes blazing with fury.

“Of course there is! You rigged this game!”

“Such baseless accusations.” Sachiko smirked. “We aren’t rigging anything. I can guarantee you that.”

“Do you really think I’d believe that!” Mary sneered.

In a second, Sachiko was looking over her with a devilish smile.

“Oh Mary, there is a far more simpler possibility, don’t you think? Surely you aren’t that incompetent?”

Another… possibility… Mary’s mind whirred with possibilities. The student council, Aoi and the Full Bloom Society… but then her eye caught (Y/n) helping Tsuzura dry her tears and her chest tightened.

No… was (Y/n) the traitor? Couldn’t be… they were fellow scholarship students united in their second class status to the high society high rollers, more than that, they were friends. They had triumphed and lost together time after time they always had each other’s backs. They had made plans to be winners, to be respected… but had those boys offered (Y/n) something better? Something so good that she would send Mary and the others floating down the river without blinking?

Her heart physically hurt, she had pegged (Y/n) as a honest person, someone to confide in. She was the only person she had trusted with this plan so logically… it had to be her. Mary clenched her fists. (Y/n) was the mole!

Meanwhile, (Y/n) was having her own similar crisis, believing that Mary had cut her own deal. Mary had left her behind… she wasn’t loyal at all! She could feel angry and disappointed tears stung at her own eyes, but she kept them at bay and continued tending to Tsuzura.

“Round two is fast approaching ladies, what will you do?” Sachiko smirked, tapping her chin. “You already blew the money Aoi gave you. If you don’t think of something quick, you’ll all be house pets.”

Mary paled. “But 2 million yen…” They didn’t have that kind of money just laying around… suddenly they were approached by someone in the crowd who introduced herself as Kurumi.

“I don’t mind spotting you all 200,000 yen, but as for the rest… if you bet on the sleepover that should cover it.” She smirked.

“That should work just fine.” Sachiko purred.

“Mary?” Tsuzura sniffled. “What should we do?”

(Y/n) looked a Mary with an impassive expression that further irked and pained Mary. Likewise, the hot fury Mary aimed (Y/n)’s way made her feel even more numb. Though divided, they shared the exact same thought.

Who were they supposed to believe in?

“Mary?” Tsuzura pulled Mary from her thoughts with a cautious calling of her name, “We’re doing round two, right? Applications are closing soon, so we should hurry.”

“I need a minute to think.” Mary murmured distantly.

“But we’re out of money, so we’ll have to join, right? I’ll sign us both up—“

“I told you to wait!” Mary yelled, causing Tsuzura to flinch.

“Hey, you can’t talk to her like that!” (Y/n) yelled back.

“As if you care about any of our feelings!” Mary hissed, striding closer to (Y/n) with a sneer, “how about you do me a favor and stop pretending that you’re on my side!”

“Oh, that’s really rich coming from you! You’re really going to keep up this charade until you believe it too? I hope your guilty conscious eats you alive!”

“Guys… what’s going on?” Tsuzura whimpered, not sure who to go to.

“I’m not joining the second round.” Mary coldly informed. “Don’t try to rely on me anymore.” She started to walk away, but (Y/n) called after her.

“That’s it? Now that we’re all in danger of being house pets, you’re going to walk away?” (Y/n) felt even more convinced of Mary’s betrayal now.

“I thought we were all going to be winners together.” Tsuzura said softly, clutching her hands to her chest.

“What will happen to our gambling room?” Yukimi added.

“Figure it out yourselves.”

“I can’t believe you!” (Y/n) spoke through gritted teeth.

“The Mary I know wouldn’t give up just because she thought a friend betrayed her.” Tsuzura sniffled. “You’re strong and dedicated and never give up. You always win in the end, so please, don’t give up!”

“Don’t waste your breath, Tsuzura.” (Y/n) wrapped an arm around her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her whilst glaring at Mary. “We can figure it out on our own. It’ll be easier without her betraying us.”

Something about the dead serious delivery and the pure disgust in (Y/n)’s eyes caused Mary to have an epiphany. Another possibility… she wasn’t committed to trusting them again just yet. As far as she was concerned, the only person she could trust was herself. That didn’t mean she couldn’t manipulate them to play the roles she needed them to play.

“Fine, I’ll play.”

“Mary!” Tsuzura looked relieved until Mary stared them down.

“I won’t lose just because one of you stabbed me in the back. I’ll teach you all a lesson you’ll never forget.”

“Right back at you!” (Y/n) shot back.

Mary ended up taking the lead of the group and left (Y/n) on the outs, though it didn’t seem she was letting anyone else in on everything she was planning either. As mad as (Y/n) was at Mary however, it still hurt when she lead the group away from her to discuss turn order and confession targets.

(Y/n) motioned Yuikimi and Tsuzura to join Mary and Chitose, assuring them that she’d be fine on her own. She trusted them to find a way to tell her if something went awry. She took a deep breath, and brainstormed her own course of action.

Before long, they were all seated at the table again, each offering up the sleepover option to cover their lost wagers. (Y/n) and Mary studiously ignored each other as the set up occurred, but when the last person was seated, Mary spoke up, leaning over so she could look at (Y/n) who sat on the other side of Tsuzura and Yukimi.

“Hey,” she said gruffly, “I just want to say, I don’t care what you do. Just know that we are going to be the winners, got it?”

(Y/n) wanted to say something snarky in return, but something about the way Mary’s inflection changed slightly when she said ‘we’ gave (Y/n) pause.

“Only one way to find out.” She grumbled. “Let’s get this over with.”

Chitose confessed first, matching with Sera. Then it was (Y/n)’s turn. Really it was a one in five shot that she picked wrong. She assumed Mary still wanted everyone to stick to one target to minimize matches. So if there was a mole, she shouldn’t have to worry about multiple guys targeting her.

“Here goes nothing,” she audibly exhaled, “I’ll confess to Musubi-san.”

The boys looked disappointed, but didn’t seem too heartbroken, like they expected it wouldn’t be likely that they would have a match with her, but then it was Yukimi’s turn and when she said she would be confessing to Kibashira, it caused an uproar as if they expected a different answer. Then Tsuzura upset the boy’s expectations even further by also confessing to Musubi. Then finally, it was Mary’s turn.

“Musubi-san,” she smirked, “you’re getting rather popular, huh? That makes me a little jealous because,” she presented her paper for all to see, “I picked you too.”

“There is only one successful coupling.” Miruka observed. “Congratulations, Sera-san and Inui-san.”

(Y/n) took a breath of relief and after a moment, Mary started snickering.

“You guys are so dumb, you know that?” She asked pointedly to the boys and Chitose. “I knew you were the mole, Inui-san. Once I took the time to actually think about it, it was the only thing that made sense.”

Sh got up from her seat and walked over to (Y/n), placing a hand on her shoulder.

“I should have realized right away. (Y/n) wouldn’t betray me like that and I owe her a big apology. I was being a narrow-minded idiot.”

“Mary…” (Y/n)’s hand moved to rest atop Mary’s, “I’m sorry too. You’ve never turned your back on us before, so why start now? We were both being dumb.”

“We were… but we managed to course correct and it’s thanks to these idiots,” she sweeps her hand over to the boys and Chitose still looking angry and shocked, “that we just made a damn fortune! Thanks sooo much!” She teased.

“Enough jeering.” Miruka sighed, “The second round has concluded. All arrangements of wagers will be dealt with promptly.”

Once everything was squared away, the four friends left the event hall, exhausted but satisfied that they had won out in the end.

“Hey guys…” Mary stopped walking, making the other three turn around, “I just wanted to apologize for how I acted today. I suspected you all in one way or another even though you guys have never given me a reason to doubt you in the past.” She bowed at the waist, “I’m really sorry.”

“Hey, it’s alright. I probably would have though the same thing.” Yukimi said.

“Mary!” Tsuzura hugged her, “I was so afraid! I thought you had given up on us!”

“It was pretty rough, but I think we’re a much stronger team now.” (Y/n) simpered.

“I promise I’ll never doubt you guys again.”

“Alright, give me some room, Tsuzura. I want in on this too.” (Y/n) worked her way into the hug, making Mary blush.

“Hey! What are you doing?”

“You never give out hugs. Have to take advantage when I can!” (Y/n) teased, hugging Mary tighter and enjoying every second of it. “Right, Tsuzura?”

“Mhm! Yukimi, come join!”

“Alright!” Yukimi joined in on the hug, making Mary more exasperated.

“Hey! You guys! Come on!” Mary flustered, “You guys?!”

***

The only sound was the clatter and clink of silverware.

Though they had won when it mattered most, they still owed the boys a dinner date. No one was particularly excited, but free food was free food to Mary and (Y/n).

“Alright, well, I’m full.” Mary stood once she finished her plate.

“Me too, thanks for the meal.” (Y/n) stood as well, followed shortly by Yukimi and Tsuzura.

Tired from the intense gamble the day before, it was pretty much a given that they would all go to their respective homes to rest and enjoy the rest of their weekend without any other obligations. (Y/n) and Mary waved goodbye to the others as their bus pulled away from the curb.

“Hey,” Mary spoke once the bus started rolling down the street, “want to see a movie or something?”

(Y/n) felt her heart flutter a bit. “Sounds fun. We should have asked Yukimi-senpai and Tsuzura if they wanted to come.”

“They can tag along another time. We don’t have to do everything together all the time.” She rolled her eyes and looked out the window. “So, what movie do you want to see?” She mumbled.

(Y/n) leaned her shoulder against Mary’s. “I don’t know,” she smiled, “we’ll have to see what’s playing when we get there.”

[whatiswritteninthestars]

TWD: Daryl Dixon “Paris sera toujours Paris” Review

☕️Beware of Spoilers☕️

Last week we finally learned how Laurent was brought into the world and we now reach the third leg of the journey for Daryl Dixon and the location this time is Paris. Before Isabelle and Daryl reach the city they come across the town of Angers to one of Isabelle’s allies who has a radio, or so she leads Daryl to believe. Sylvie and Laurent stay behind armed and ready. I’m not sure if this was the brightest move on their part leaving them out in the open but Daryl and Isabelle venture into the theater to her contact and he’s one strange musician.

Of course, we reach the never-ending saga of French radios that do not work, which is becoming way too predictable at this point. Daryl remains more than irritated that the radio has been used for nothing more than to feed this man’s musical obsession. Instead of trying to help, the man leads them to his stage of zombies in an orchestra. The bodyless head playing the strings was a nice touch but this was undoubtedly one of the strangest scenes in The Walking Dead and one giant waste of time as the crazed man was no help at all. And just as predicted the kids got in over their heads with walkers coming their way. Daryl must save the day and he has had enough of Isabelle’s leadership. It’s time to do things his way now. Though I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing given his track record so far in France.

Soon the group reaches Paris and it’s a homecoming for Isabelle. From afar Laurent admires the Eiffel Tower for the first time, much like Daryl did upon his arrival. But Paris brings back a lot of memories Isabelle would rather not relive. It’s the very reason why she spent the last decade avoiding it.

As they march on Isabelle shows Laurent some of her mother’s old stomping grounds. It’s not quite clear if Laurent knows Isabelle is his aunt. She has been lying about so much already so that wouldn’t be surprising. She then tells Daryl about the “pourvoir” movement. During the outbreak in desperate times, people think to order..”Yeah or God.” Daryl remarks back. That line makes it evident that Daryl doesn’t believe in either side of the fight in France. It makes it really hard to fight for something you don’t believe in.

The group stumbles upon the grave of American Rock star Jim Morrison after Laurent tells another story that nobody asked for about the fortitude of a weary woodsman. How death came for him and he had a change of heart. It is nice to know Laurent has so much “useful information” but I’m not sure that it adds any value to the story. Laurent assures Daryl that he will not face the same Morrison fate and die in France. Unclear if he thinks he’s a psychic or trying to ease Daryl’s fear but I think we all know Daryl Dixon is untouchable and not going to perish anytime soon.

Another ally comes along just in time, Fallou. He has heard the story of Laurent but not seen it with his own eyes and he is mesmerized by the child as are all his people. They’d been waiting a long time to meet the miracle boy. It is a small community of 64 members and Sylvie quickly catches the eyes of a young man.

And on come the homing pigeons. They are used for messaging because they always find their way back home. Daryl thinks this idea is crazy and to get a message to America, it would just take too long. What came next was the most interesting part of the show. Carol is alluded to throughout this episode but this was the moment that screamed her name. While the trainer is holding one of the pigeons to be released he looks at the small creature and says “Maybe he has a girlfriend..we all have a person who waits for us somewhere.” And as Daryl listens he drops his head in both sadness and guilt. He’s dying to get to a radio to send word back and the further they keep going the more walls he is running into. I do however think the girlfriend line is very interesting. They didn’t have to throw that line in if they were trying to stick to the platonic soulmate trope.

Another fun fact is when pigeons mate they mate for life. Which is how Norman Reedus always saw the character of Daryl. No matter where they go they can always find their way back home to their mate.

At this point, Daryl is over the games. These people are no use to him if they aren’t living up to their end of the deal. Daryl knows that Fallou can get them to The Nest the rest of the way and if there is no radio then she can’t help him. Fallou lets him know there are people in Paris that trade for all kinds of things but he will need currency. He’s ready to steal so he can make a trade to get back home but Isabelle said she will get what he needs. After all, it is the least she could do after the amount of times Daryl has saved them.

Now here lies two major problems in this spinoff:

1. The lying to Laurent, these are supposed to be people of God and Laurent's life is nothing but one big lie. I felt for the kid last week in “Aloutte” when he told children all the lies he’d been told about his past. They only knew him for 5 seconds and knew it was fabricated. They are putting a lot of hope and pressure on Laurent when he doesn’t even know he’s the face of humanity in France. Daryl thinks they should be honest with him. Laurent has strong empathic abilities to read people but I don’t think he’s a miracle child by any means. Everyone is given a gift.

2. Isabelle believes Daryl was sent to her by God to deliver Laurent to revive humanity. However, she seems pretty capable of handling bad people on her own. She’s been out there a long time growing the Union of Hope. The “killer nuns” know how to defend themselves so I don’t see why they needed to use Daryl as a man who can escort them. It seems very outdated. On the other hand, Isabelle does a horrendous job at fighting walkers even if she can kill humans like it’s nobody’s business. At this stage of the game she should be experienced in that area.

Codron is still after Daryl and he’s not going to rest until revenge is served. He comes to Genet with information and Genet hires him to find the American. Strange experiments are going on with walkers/burners and I get the vibe these are not being done to free the world of tyranny. I believe there is a dark purpose behind it all. If you look back on the burner walkers that is not something that just naturally happens.

Now we have reached the infamous Demimonde underground nightclub club which Quinn of all people owns. There are acrobats, a drag queen, and performers of all kinds. A lounge-type singer named Anna has a miraculous voice and seems to be somewhat of an item to Quinn.

Eventually, they get to Isabelle’s to gather some things to trade. There is a line from Isabelle that just clarifies how much Isabelle doesn’t know Daryl..” you seem like someone who’s always thinking” She is glad the two of them crossed paths she tells him but he refuses to share the same sentiment. He isn’t happy to be there but in the same turn, he doesn’t hate her for it. She’s not the reason he ended up here. He must play nice for now to garner a ticket back home.

Isabelle is admiring some artwork on the wall. A piece by Monet called “The Water Lilies.” She tells Daryl she used to go visit the museum every weekend and admire it. It was like a port in the storm for her. “It kind of reminds me of home,” Daryl replied to her. Upon those words, Isabelle looks like him with a hint of remorse for even pointing it out to him. There’s a tinge of jealousy every time Daryl talks about going home. But there are two very interesting things regarding this scene that are written subtly in the script. “A port in the storm.” We know that Daryl and Carol are each other’s safe harbor. Carol has always anchored Daryl. “The Water Lilies” also reflects home making him think back to Carol and the Cherokee roses by the water. She is his home and just as Isabelle walks away to speak to Quinn Daryl takes one last look back at the painting missing the happiness he was so close to having.

Quinn lets Daryl know it’s not impossible to get to America. He’s heard things and they travel to his office to talk about it in a deeper capacity. He offers champagne to which they decline. Quinn starts to lay into Isabelle that she should have told him about Lily and the baby. Isabelle is not sure why she would because he didn’t even want to help Lily back in the day. Then it is revealed that Quinn is the father of Laurent leaving Isabelle in an alarmingly shocked state. It was Quinn who saved Isabelle’s life before when she tried to take it and Quinn never lets her forget it. Daryl doesn’t like the way this is heading and tells her he doesn’t need a boat from them this badly. He can find another way. She is irritated with Daryl at this point because she’d come all this way to help him to help him keep his promise. “That’s all you care about isn’t it?” She asks him and Daryl doesn’t deny it. Well of course not his plans are not going to be changed over a group of strangers he just met. Isabelle’s constant annoyance with Daryl wanting to get back to his family and fulfill a promise is very peculiar. What else would she expect? “Oh since you said so I must be a messenger of god and I’ll stay with you forever and do everything you ask?” Come on now.

On a side note I don’t think it’s a huge deal Daryl was not prepared to have Isabelle go through pain to get a boat. Daryl has always been a good judge of character. There’s nothing shippy about him not wanting to be a jerk to get what he wants. Isabelle doesn’t exactly exude the same energy though.

Just as Daryl is about to leave for the second time this episode he tells Isabelle she should stop lying to Laurent. Quinn being his father will just be added to the mountain of lies. I love seeing the old Daryl shine in this episode especially when he tells her Laurent deserves to know who he is. Maybe that’s something she needs to believe, that he’s a gift from God. He can still be a miracle and not be the messiah he tells hers just as hell broke loose. Laurent overhears them and gets furious with them both while Codron has tracked him down regardless of the deal Genet and Quinn had to steer clear of each other's territory. Daryl goes on the run and it becomes another glorious beta vs. Daryl battle before he falls through the floor in a cliffhanger. My favorite part of this scene was Daryl dropping his knife that resembles Carol’s. The camera really panned in on it which purposeful symbolism.

My takeaways:

Too much inconsistency with Daryl. He’s a hero one minute then seems incompetent on his own at other times. The amount of times he says “I’m better off on my own” and it’s proven otherwise is countless.

Isabelle is often the same, she comes across as a strong and capable woman but then acts as if she needs a man to get her from point A to point B. I don’t think she needs Daryl at all so it does beg the question as to why is she trying to hold onto him and control him? However, I do understand the script had to be written a certain way to prolong Daryl’s stay in France to give Carol time to arrive. It would be devastating if he left when Carol arrived.

There is no chemistry between Isabelle and Daryl. I know that’s what some of you are worried about. With any Daryl/Norman Reedus ship they are going to try and point fans in that direction for drama and attention but I just don’t see it. Especially not with Carol returning. This is not Daryl’s happy ending…a happy ending is not something that you have to be forced or guilted into. A happy ending is not an obligation because you get stuck in a place you don’t belong. I think deep down it feels good for Daryl to help people but he wants to carry on paying it forward. He’s not looking for a place to hang up his hat just yet. Though we all do wish he would hang up that scarf.

We have not seen the last of Quinn. He still has feelings for Isabelle. Isabelle has shut that part of herself off. But I do think it’s a little hypocritical of her to judge Quinn’s lifestyle when she used to be the same. She was the one who wanted to give Daryl the benefit of the doubt and compassion even if he didn’t believe in God. It is pretty clear she’s a master manipulator and does exactly what she needs to get her way. Whether that is towards Daryl to get him to babysit them all across France or to her ex, Quinn to get what’s needed to secure a boat. For me, it all looks like a game to Isabelle. I’m not sure how much she wants to get a boat for Daryl but as a Christian, it is her duty to be a woman of her word.

Now call me crazy but I thought Nuns were supposed to be as honest as possible. Isabelle lies to Daryl from the start to manipulate him into helping them get to The Nest(and you will see how in a later episode.)She has not only lied to Laurent about who he is and where he came from but also created stories about a pseudo-father. Laurent doesn’t know she’s his aunt or that he is going to revive all of the humanity of France. All she tells him is that he’s special. Meanwhile, everyone they cross looks at Laurent like the angels are singing when he walks.

Fallou did say the radio hasn’t worked in a long time. That had to be information Isabelle was privy to. Much like how she led Daryl on at the Abbey about their radio only to tell him it doesn’t work. I don’t think Isabelle is a villain but she does too many selfish acts for me to like her. It doesn’t matter if she’s a nun now it’s like this selfish manipulative side was something engrained in her from before that’s never gone away, not even with the cloth.

The best takeaway from this episode is Daryl’s heart and his willingness to get word back home. He can only imagine what is going through Carol’s mind right now. Daryl always checks in with her and he does seem frantic about getting to a radio. Every hurdle he jumps over to get radio access comes to a screeching halt so now his best bet is to find a boat to travel back home. From there he can radio out to her.

“SAY HER NAME”

The Carol writing is all over the wall but it’s not definitive enough for my liking. Anybody who knows how to follow a narrative is going to know the safe harbor, home, the promise, and sadness that washes over him is because of Carol. And just as The Walking Dead usually does with the most popular ship of the show they don’t make it obvious enough. There is always that wiggle room. I do understand the poeticness of it but we need both Carol and Daryl to lay their hearts on the line once and for all. But I do however love all the symbolism. Famous french paintings that remind him of Carol, the pigeons, the girlfriend call back, and the knife.

I hope you enjoyed the Caryl hints in this episode. I know I did. There’s a scene coming up in Episode 4 that will completely warm your heart and I believe is another nod to Caryl and their future! Feel free to ask me questions to dive in deeper. Xoxo

[starcrossedspirit]

✧. ┊    angst drabble one ! pairings: reno x fem!oc original characters:  seraphine tag warnings: n/a - it’s just a lil bit of angst  song: who are you by bad omens

Reno could never have her, that was the reality of it.

No matter how many times he would find her in his arms, no matter how many times he would hear the words of love escape her lips, no matter how much he had wanted her- she was to never know that he loved her back.

Instead nights like these would play out all the same; Sera would return back into their care after slipping out to dance and she would always find his arms. She was different when she would drink, all the more outspoken and touchy-feely, perhaps even a time or two she would cry about things that he didn’t quite understand. Things about the planet, the experiments Hojo would conduct, but most of all how she felt alone. The only time it would make sense is when she would try to kiss him but he would put her to bed- it was his duty and nothing could break that honor.

The first time it happened it almost got the better of him, he almost spilled his heart out to her but he stopped himself from saying anything and instead ate that courage. He loved her and loved all that she was, good or bad, but that was just something he would lock away.

Nights like these were no different from the rest. They would find her at the club, dancing and drinking but never resisting returning with them when they’d arrive. They’d would whisk her away from upon the dance floor and into the back of the car. All of them would be quiet on the ride home, Reno perhaps even deep in thought with furrowed brows but would catch quick looks at her through the mirrors. Rude would never question it nor would he ever- it was just a silent understanding of something neither would talk about.

But when they would arrive back to headquarters and after finding their places, hands in hands as they guided her upstairs, Rude would leave it in Reno’s care to see her to her room. He’d have to stand guard to make sure she wouldn’t go out but they all knew that she wouldn’t, but it wouldn’t stop him from staying around anyway. He would hold her hand and when Rude would leave that’s when it would start- at the door of her room, she would turn around and ask for a hug, something he would oblige in with a soft but careful grasp.

“Don’t leave me, Reno,” she would say, it was always something about him staying. “I’m afraid of hearing the whispers again, they never leave me alone.”

Things like that made his heart hurt for her. He could take the physical pain away, sure, but that? How could he make something like that go away?

“I ain’t leaving you, I promise.” he would say and holding her tighter, his lips buried into the long strands of snow-white hair.

“Then why do I wake up alone in the morning? You never stay with me.” she asked, her breath slow as her lips lingered at his neck. He closed his eyes and held her closer for a moment as he was unsure of what to actually say or do, instead taking in the moment as a whole.

Sera kept her arms around his neck and the two held one another close- this was the way they were allowed to express their love for one another.

You could say that Reno, for all of his brashness and perhaps even in spite of his ego, was everything that Sera would want in a lover. There was a fierceness in the way he would tend to her, a hard undying loyalty that never faltered even when she would have her bad days, and for all of the things that Shinra had done to her he would love her all the same no matter how much it would terrify someone else. Even without approval from Tseng it would be him who would go after her and they would all let it happen, a silent affirmation from those that surrounded them that their love was acknowledged.

For Sera it was his love that would keep her going, even when at times she couldn’t bear another day at being Shinra’s failed experiment. It hadn’t been so bad since Sephiroth’s death, Hojo having deemed her as mostly useless which allowed for more times to be alone. But when she was alone it would eat at her, the way the sounds and the whispers would get worse. When she went dancing it would disappear with the hum of the music but the drinks made her long for Reno- no matter where she went her heart would want his.

“Tell me that you love me,” she whispered then, this time the sadness causing her voice to quiver. “Tell me that you will always love me no matter where I go or what happens to me.”

His eyes opened and his grasp around her tightened, this time more determined than afraid.

“Nothing will happen to you,” he whispered as he felt the tears start to fall down her cheeks, something he answered with him placing his cheek to her head to both comfort her and to speak properly. “I won’t let anything happen to you, Sera, not here or anywhere, I promise.”

Her tears however were bittersweet and she only cried more. “You never tell me that you love me, even when I tell you that I do. No matter how many times I say it.”

Reno’s brows furrowed together but he wasn’t angry at her, he was angry at himself. Professionalism was his first and foremost thought, he did things he didn’t want to do and then didn’t do the things that he wanted. It was like a blight upon his heart at times but what else could be done?

“There are things that can’t be said, Sera, and I think it’s time you go to bed.” He insisted then in spite of it all. But Sera said no words, she just wept as he picked her up and carried her to the bed. It made his heart hurt but he had to do it this way.

Moments passed as he tucked her in and ignored the tears that fell. He was quick to make sure that she was safe and out of harms way before turning to the doorway but not before soft words carried out in the silence.

“I love you, Reno, and I am afraid.”

Pausing for a moment at the door he turned slightly to look at her past his shoulder. The things he wanted to say were not allowed by his duty to do so, something he would later come to regret.

Instead he said. “You’ll be fine, I promise.”

He would promise a lot of things to her, but the words would never reassure her the way that she had actually wanted him to. Instead Sera would weep from upon her bed and he would stand on the other side of the door longing for a girl who he had loved, both untouchable in their own rights as Shinra’s pawn and bodyguard.

[itsbubbleteataro]

If your requests are open, would you mind writing a fallen!reader (4 wings) x Chaggie (platonic, of course). Like maybe reader knew Vaggie in Heaven and after ep 6 and the finale, reader starts questioning and pushing Sera for answers (though they tell Emily to not follow what she does) and Sera casts them out as a result?? Then Vaggie or Charlie finds them beaten and broken in Hell, and they get brought to the hotel and just a lot of hurt/comfort and fluff please??

I left reader up to your interpretation for gender!

Hope you enjoy! Sorry it took so long!

What I know Now

The pearly gates, a staple in heaven. The pastel covered buildings, stretching higher than some folks can fly, the clouds beneath people’s feet, something you were proud to call home. You died many many years ago. Arriving in heaven thanks to using your limited medical knowledge to help those in need, often operating out of churches.  

The whole place was buzzing, having heard the news that Charlie Morningstar, the daughter of THE Lucifer Morningstar, notorious for being cast out of heaven, would be arriving for some sort of meeting. Naturally, being curious you decided to fly to the courtroom.

Being the same rank of angel as Sera and Emily made it easier for you to gain access, even if you were not needed that day. Your hair was covered by a nun-like veil, wearing a dress very similar to Emily, your halo matching the two of them. Court was already in session as you stayed on the ground level and peaked your head around the corner, white fluffy wings pressed to your back.  

Vaggie looked back at you, gasping softly. You gave a shy wave, one she returned. You had never thought Charlie Morningstar’s girlfriend would have been an angel, you thought it was cute. Keeping quiet you watched as the two parties started to sing to each other, something you were not unfamiliar with. Seems no argument is safe from the grapes of musical theater both in heaven and in hell. 

Your eyes widened, the multiple eyes you kept hidden opening wide as well when Adam revealed that Sera was in on the extermination, even allowing them out of nothing but fear. It was awful. You left the courtroom, mentally siding with Emily. You wanted to bring it up to her, you really did, but you heard the stories of Lucifer. You did not want to fall or be cast out like he was. So you stayed silent. 

An entire extermination took place as you sat having tea with Emily and Sera. You nearly spat out your tea as this blinding flash of light beamed up this snake looking former sinner. He looked around, before waving shyly at Emily, who squealed out of happiness while Sera looked horrified. This was it, this is the perfect time to bring up what you saw at the trial. You stood up abruptly, placing your teacup down on the saucer. 

“Sera! It works! Call off the exterminations. Sinners can be redeemed”

“(y/n) watch your tone with your elders”

“Sera, this is about innocent souls. We were wrong. It's time to make things right. Sinners can be changed, redeemed, so why bother killing any more innocent souls?!” 

You kept questioning why Sera even did the exterminations in the first place, resulting in her snapping, all of her eyes opening as she glared at you.

“It was to protect you and Emily!” she snapped.

“Sera! We don't need protection. We are in heaven! This is something to be shared! Not kept to ourselves” 

That seemed to be her last straw, as with a flick of her wrist, she opened a portal to hell. Emily and the snake-like sinner stood still, eyes wide and in shock. 

“If you think they are so safe, go live with them”

With that, Sera pushed you through the portal, all of your eyes open, four wings open in an attempt to catch your fall, hands trying to grasp to anything to keep you in heaven. You hit the pavement so hard you blacked out. 

You woke up an unknown time later, whimpering in pain as you sat up, looking around. You stood up and walked with a limp, you could tell you had hurt your wings in some manner, as it hurt to even move them. You hobbled over to a window to get a look at yourself and look for possible injuries. You gasped.

The crown all Seraphims have changed, becoming a shade of orange, the eye in the middle permanently open, the whites of the eye a red and the pupil yellow, reflecting the rest of your eyes. The fourth and final eye was on your chest, spanning from shoulder to shoulder, the lashes long. Your wings looked awful, turning black, feathers matted and no doubt about it, you had broken one of them. The veil over your hair was gone, your own hair shining through. The rest of your outfit changed as well, your dress turned gold in color with black accents, still held its modest shape. However instead of flaring out and being poofy, it hung straight down, huffing the curves of your hips before relaxing. Your thoughts whirled in your head, only being broken out when a certain gray skinned woman placed a hand on your shoulder. 

You turned around, all four of your eyes widening in fear, only relaxing after seeing it was only Charlie's girlfriend. The eye on your chest closed. 

“Um, hello? Seraphim angel, i-im Vaggie and I think I saw you at the trial? Um, you're hurt, let me give you a hand?”

“Yes! Thank you Vaggie! I honestly was hoping to run into you. Please, drop the formalities. Im (y/n)”

“Your welcome, come, I know a place, we just finished rebuilding as well”

You nodded and eagerly followed Vaggie to the Hazbin Hotel. The building is tall and wide, with many rooms. Two towers are on either side, one shaped like a radio tower, the other like a large apple. She led you inside, sitting you down as she went to go get Charlie. Your eyes scanned the lobby, settling on the large portrait of the same snake-like sinner in a neopliniatic era military uniform. The place underneath held the name, Sir Pentious. It clicked, that was the sinner who was redeemed! How exciting. You stood up before wincing. 

Vaggie returned with a whole crowd of people who seemed various degrees of excitement. 

“(Y/N), this is Charlie”

Charlie waved and took a seat next to you as Vaggie started to administer first aid. She looked at your wings, unsure how to properly treat as a man in a red pinstripe suit sat across from you all, watching. 

“Hi! You must be (Y/N)! Oh I have so many questions! Oh! Right, I should introduce everyone! This is Angel Dust, Nifty, Husk, that one just watching is Alastor pay him no mind, Oh! And that’s my dad!” 

Everyone she spoke of waved, albeit Lucifer seemed to be the most shy. The man was eyeing your wings, then at Vaggie. It clicked, the short man who looked like he was a ring master was Lucifer Morningstar. You wanted to move, to get up and bow but your injuries prevented you from doing so. 

“Lucifer Morningstar! P-pleasure to meet you sir! Oh Charlie! I have news! Oh right how I ended up here would be the best way to start things off. W-well” You started as you faced Vaggie, Lucifer and Charlie, “Sera kicked me out. Charlie, your hotel works! I saw him! I saw Sir Pentious up in heaven! He was sent to the room where Sera, Emily and I were having tea. I confronted Sera, told her the exterminations were wrong and we are just harming innocent souls. She cast me out for that” 

You rubbed your arm as Charlie placed her hands on your shoulders, eyes sparkling with joy. Lucifer rounded the back of where you were sitting, starting to care for your broken wing as if you were just some bird who had a bad fall. 

“Oh My God! It works! It really works! FUCK YEAH! Oh wait I mean not to your fall, no that's really bad we gotta get you back into heaven but Oh my god guys the hotel works!” Charlie squealed as Vaggie sighed. The residents of the hotel minus Alastor looked relieved. Alastor only cocked an eyebrow, more curious than anything. Lucifer just about dropped the roll of bandages in his hands as he heard the news. You  just smiled, finding her excitement charming at least. 

Charlie  pulled you to your feet, and enveloped you in a hug, one you returned. 

“Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel (Y/N)! Let's get you a room so you can have some proper rest and heal! You are going to love it here!”

FIN

[justdalek]

Okay, this might just be me not digging deep enough, but I feel like people complain about the musical numbers in Hazbin Hotel coming across as “jarring” without diagnosing the reason why the music is jarring to the viewer.

I have been rewatching the episodes quite a bit, until the realization hit me in episode 6:

There’s no true transitions from background music, to vamps, to the actual song for most of the songs in the series thus far.  And in some instances, there’s no vamps at all.

Let me explain.

A vamp (in terms of musicals) is when there is music that leads up to the musical number that is about to be performed.  For example, in Disney’s 1989 The Little Mermaid, the sequence right before the song “Under the Sea” has the beginning melody of the song play underneath Sebastian’s dialogue of him telling Ariel that going to the surface is a bad idea.  That little music diddly evolves into Under the Sea naturally without hitting the audience from out of left field.  This was popularized by Howard Ashman, who was a pioneer for the revival of Disney and its movie musicals with the Renaissance Era.  The point of the vamps is to introduce the motif of the song fixing to be song, as well as helping to aid in the character’s mounting emotions that lead them into singing.

To quote Ashman, “You have so much emotion that you have to sing it.  Then you have even more emotion that you must dance.”

Keep in mind that Hazbin Hotel is basing its format off of traditional Broadway musicals.  Each 20-minute episode has two songs in it, usually being sung by the protagonists, or occasionally the antagonists.  The songs move the plot along, as well as provide exposition or a tension for the plot of the episode and the overarching plot of the season.

Here’s the song list (up to episode 6):

Episode 1: Happy Day in Hell (Charlie and Citizens of Hell) and Hell is Forever (Adam and Lute)

Episode 2: Stayed Gone (Vox and Alastor) and It Starts with Sorry (Charlie, Sir Pentious, Vaggie, Angel Dust)

Episode 3: Respectless (Carmilla, Velvette,  Zestial) and Whatever It Takes (Zestial, Carmilla, Vaggie)

Episode 4: Poison (Angel Dust) and Loser, Baby (Husker and Angel Dust)

Episode 5: Hell’s Greatest Dad (Lucifer and Alastor) and More Than Anything (Lucifer and Charlie)

Episode 6: Welcome to Heaven (Heaven Ensemble) and You Didn’t Know (Emily, Charlie, Sera, Adam, Lute)

Let’s dissect each number in terms of its introduction (I can make whole posts on all the numbers, but that’s a post for another day unless you guys want me to talk about it more).

Happy Day in Hell

Man, this song makes sense but also no sense with its introduction.  If you wind the episode back 10 seconds before the song starts, you will notice that the background music completely stops as Vaggie says something about the extermination while Charlie is catching her breath.  Then, Charlie immediately starts her song.

If the background music continued to swell through under Vaggie’s dialogue and morphed into the motif of Happy Day, then the musical number would’ve not have been so weirdly started.

Hell is Forever

This song has an interesting vamp in that it starts with higher instruments detailing Charlie’s hops as she lays down her plans to show Adam and Lute.  My issue with this particular vamp is that the background music right before it is (again) hard cut with a couple seconds of pure silence before we are immediately thrusted into the vamp.  This comes off as a very weird choice as I think that the music should’ve continued through without breaking it apart like that.  It would’ve made the quickness of the reprise of Happy Day in Hell seem more natural in comparison to the dialogue, as well as not throw the viewer off the rails with a slowish background song then an immediate whiplash into the musical number with no real transition.

Stayed Gone

This is one of the few songs that I think works perfectly (it's also my favorite but shhhh).  The vamp and emotion from Vox is on point, and I really wish that most of the songs would take from this song’s set up.

It Starts with Sorry

This one is kinda a weird one for me, and it’s very specific.  The transition from the background music to the vamp is wonderful, but then the transition from the vamp to the actual song has this almost abrupt cut.  The vamp has strings, but then it’s barely a fade into the glockenspiel of the actual song.  It causes this very weird sound drop that makes it not sound right at all.  If the strings would’ve stayed, but at a much quieter level with a resolution chord for the song, you can still have the same effect of the beginning measure of Sorry without that weird track change (Don’t worry, I’ll talk about the audio editing later).

Respectless

I dunno why I had it in my head originally that there was no background music before the song began, but honestly if this particular song didn’t have the background music, it would’ve been perfect actually.  This style of song is like an argument, so it would’ve made sense for it to come out of left field because Velvette (and the audience by extension) was not expecting Carmilla to defend Zestial.  However, there’s this weird choice of having tensions with the strings, then immediately having a guitar strum over it that doesn’t gel well with it at all before the background music gets cut off abruptly.  For this one, it’s not even a musical choice, this is almost a weird editing choice that I am not sure how to feel about.

Whatever It Takes

(This is my least favorite song for a number of reasons.  Bare with me on this one)

I think this song is the biggest beef I have in terms of how it’s introduced.  The mood is somber, and the vamp towards the song is quiet, but then the song is immediately loud, almost like it’s shouting.  I had my headphones all the way up to listen to the background and the vamp, and I almost threw off my headphones when the first notes of the song and that Zestial sing started playing (no shade to either).  I’m not sure what the hell was going on in the audio mixing department, but the songs are not doing well at all in the context of the episode (outside of it, they’re both great).

Poison

I love the vamp into the song for this one, personally one of my favorites of that mount musical volume before Angel starts to sing.  My one issue with it is the background music right before it.  It’s only a couple of seconds, but it shouldn’t be there at all.  I understand that it’s part of the Vee’s “menace theme”, but it should’ve just stayed out and kept the silence.  It would’ve made the vamp into Poison so much more effective.

Loser, Baby

This one is an odd one.  No vamp, just pure silence before Husk breaks into song.  I feel like the silence could’ve been prolonged just a touch more, then Husk starts to sing without the piano.  I feel like the beginning piano lick ruins that silence between Husk and Angel’s confessions to each other, and makes the song feel jarring to the lines right before it.

Hell’s Greatest Dad

Hrmm, I’m… perplexed.

There isn’t a musical problem this go around, but there is a set problem.  The chandelier that falls from the ceiling is meant to signify to Lucifer that his daughter does in fact need his help, but that chandelier has (at least to my recollection) never appeared once in the show, let alone the episode.  It’s the falling set piece that makes this song outright jarring because the setup doesn’t work at all.  Music-wise, it’s fine, no complaints from me.

More Than Anything

Listening to all these scenes back to back made me realize a problem that this song is the biggest sufferer of: volume change.  Just like with Whatever It Takes, the sudden volume change from the background music into the vamp is simply jarring.  I understand that it’s two different tracks that are put next to each other, but you can lower the volume of the vamp to make its transition so much more natural.  I’m not sure if this style for the musical numbers is an oversight or a deliberate decision at this point, but I honestly think that the audio volume is perhaps a bigger culprit than the music transitions.

Welcome to Heaven 

This feels like two scenes Frankensteined together.  You have Emily introducing herself, as well as (probably) her motif playing in the background, then out of left field, St. Peter starts to sing the song. 

Full stop. 

You cannot cut from one shot to the next as a musical transition from speech to song.  It would’ve made much more sense to have Emily and Charlie walking towards the gates, then St. Peter and Emily say “Welcome to heaven” as the music starts to play for the number.

You Didn’t Know

The music transition is a bit smoother (volume still needs adjustment, but not nearly as much as More Than Anything), but the tension in the score isn’t really there, which I feel like is the culprit for this song.  If there was tension in the music while Sera was talking and Emily was looking at the list, it would’ve made more sense to have Emily sing instead of talk.  In all honesty, if Emily would’ve spoken, “But she was right,” then Sera says, “What?” then Emily sings, “But she was right, Sera,” I think that would’ve made this transition work almost perfectly.

This is no shade at anybody working on Hazbin Hotel, this was just something I noticed nobody talking about.  The team is doing a wonderful job on the show, and I absolutely love it all!  I’m just wanting to give my two cents on a topic that no one was really delving into.

Lemme know if you guys want me to talk in more detail about any of the songs, I am more than happy to do so!

[cakerybakery]

Childish Behaviour AU part 8

Getting to go to Eden for his lessons was so much better than staying in heaven for them. And on days like today, Adam and Lilith got to join the lessons too!

“Hurry along, Adam. We shouldn’t dilly dally.” Micheal called out cheerfully.

Lucifer slowed and let Adam catch up. He took Adam’s hand and Adam looked surprised but brightened and picked up his pace until they weren’t far behind Micheal and Lilith.

She held Micheal’s hand and asked a million questions. All of which Micheal answered regardless of how little Lilith actually understood of the answer.

It was funny seeing her stay clean. Lilith hadn’t broken away once, not even to jump in a big mud puddle they passed by.

She seemed to like having Micheal as a guardian but Adam was sulky a lot.

Lucifer stuck his thumb in his mouth. He wanted to make Adam happy but didn’t know how. Sera said he had to be patient with Adam. It didn’t seem fair that Adam never had to be patient for him.

“You’re sucking your thumb again.” Adam grumbled but he didn’t call Lucifer a baby. “Why do you do that?”

He pulled it out of his mouth, “I don’t know. I feel better when I do.”

“Oh.”

“Sera says I’ll grow out of it.” He didn’t tell Adam that she said to try and be mindful of it and to do something else if he realized he was doing it cause it was bad for his teeth. “And I don’t do it as much as I used to.”

“Did something scare you?”

Lucifer shook his head, “no. Sort of. I guess. Not scared scared, but thinking about something that makes me feel kinda scared but about something.”

Adam nodded solemnly, “I think about water and get scared. Lilith too. Micheal says it’s okay to feel scared and talk about what makes us scared. That it means we’re being brave.”

He almost stuck his thumb back in his mouth but resisted. Lucifer wanted to be brave too.

“I think about how you seem sad a lot now and I’m not sure how to make you happy.”

“I’m happy when I’m with you! I like holding hands!” Adam gripped him a little tighter.

Lucifer squeezed back. It was nice to hold hands.

“Come along, boys. We’re almost there.”

Micheal had them sit in front of him and started to lecture them on how plants work.

Adam kept holding Lucifer hand but this was the most attention Lucifer had ever seen Adam give to a grownup.

From the corner of his eye he noticed Lilith looking at them and then looking away when she was caught. She drew her knees up to her chin and started plucking out grass from the ground.

Now Lilith was sad. Why did one of them always have to be sad? He was only one angel! Lucifer couldn’t be with both at the same time if they wouldn’t play together.

He couldn’t play with Lilith right now anyways so he tried to focus on the lesson. Later he’d talk to her. Maybe the three of them could play something together. He could think of a new game!

It was hard to focus on what Michael was saying as a new game formed in his mind.

Lucifer wiggled his toes and kicked his feet. It was getting so hard to sit still!

“Okay, I can see we need a break.” Michael smiled at Lucifer. “How about everyone gets up and you can play for a bit while I get you some mangos for a snack?”

Adam started to go after Michael but Lucifer grabbed his hand. “I thought of a new game. Did you want to play?”

“Umm, okay. What is it?”

“A chasing game. You and Lilith run away and I try to touch you. If I do get someone then that person has to chase the others.”

Lilith looked up at them when Lucifer said her name. “I can play too?”

“Yeah. It’ll be way more fun with three of us.”

Adam hesitated, “okay. I guess.”

“Okay. I’ll count to three and start chasing you guys.” Lucifer couldn’t wait to start going.

“Wait!” Lilith yelled. “No flying, Lucifer!”

“Oh, oh! And no shapeshifting either!” Adam added.

Pouting, Lucifer whined, “why nooooot?”

Lilith argued he could just fly out of reach and Adam yelled that he could turn into an animal like a rabbit and be too fast to catch. “It’s not fair!” They yelled together.

“Fine. But no climb trees or hiding!”

They managed to play their new game for what felt like forever. They’d all been the chaser at least three times before getting tired of it.

“I’m hungry.” Lilith grumbled, curling her knees up to her chin and wrapping her arms around herself. “You think Michael’s okay?”

Adam stood up and tried to look into the trees where Michael had flown off to. “He should be back by now. The mango trees weren’t far.”

They exchanged a look and Adam went to sit closer to Lilith. Lilith let out a little whimper and Lucifer’s feet needed to move. He needed to do something. They were getting sad!

“Let’s play cubs!”

Lilith sniffled and rubbed a tear out of her eye. “What’s cubs?”

“We pretend to be wolf cubs! Won’t that be fun? Watch me!” He got down on his hands and knees and started to bark and run but tripped over his robe.

Adam and Lilith giggled so Lucifer joined in.

He liked pretending he was a duck in the tub but if they were scared of water then they couldn’t play that pretend game. But everyone likes wolf cubs!

Lilith yipped and giggled. Adam howled, joining in.

Together they ran around in circles on all fours. Lucifer tripped a lot until he took off his robe. They were in howling lessons with Adam pretending to be teaching them to howl when Michael and Sera flew down.

They shared a bemused but happy look before Michael apologized for being late and Sera asked what they were doing.

“We’re cubs! Yip yip!” Lilith giggled and did her best bark.

“Oh?” Sera teased kneeling beside Lucifer, “and what kind of cubs are you? Bear cubs?”

“Nooo!” Adam rolled his eyes, “wolf cubs! And I’m the wolf teacher! I’m teaching them to howl. I’m really good at it. Michael! Listen to me howl!” Adam gave his best howl and Lucifer and Lilith clapped.

Michael ruffled Adam’s hair, “good job! That was a great howl! Are the wolf cubs hungry? We brought back a couple different fruits and vegetables for you guys.”

Lucifer got up to join Lilith and Adam to get something to eat but Sera grabbed him. “Hey! Put me down! I want to eat too!”

“Robe first, Lucifer.” Sera pulled the robe over his head and he tried to wriggle out of her grasp as he got to watch his friends dig into their snack.

He kicked and squirmed, demanding to be let go.

“Just, hold still. Come on pull your arm through.”

“No! I wanna eat! I wanna eat!”

Despite his protests and fussing, he was set down fully dressed again and scampered off to eat.

Sitting with the others, Adam asked through a bite of food. “Is Sera your mommy?”

Lucifer nearly choked on his fruit. “No! Angels don’t have mommies or daddies. We live in heaven. Only people and animals on Earth have mommies and daddies.”

“We don’t.” Lilith said. She looked at her plum instead of eating it. “Miriam looked after me but she wasn’t my mom. She didn’t like me eating plums and mangos cause then I’d get sticky and dirty, and she’d give me a bath.” She put the plum down. “I don’t want a bath.”

Adam picked it up and handed it back to her. “Michael made water flow from his hands when he said I needed to clean my hands the other day. If you get sticky you can just wash your hands.”

“No bath?”

Shaking his head, Adam smiled at Lilith, “no bath.”

Hurt stabbed in Lucifer’s heart. Since when did Adam smile at Lilith?! His apple tasted bitter all of a sudden.

Adam took Lucifer’s hand again. “Want to play mommies and daddies later?”

Lucifer squeezed Adam’s hand excitedly, “yeah! But I want to do more than just get food and bring it back, okay? Can I play with the baby too?”

“Okay!” Adam grinned.

“I want to play too! It’s not fair! You never play with meeeee!”

Lucifer thought for a moment, “you can be our older daughter! I can teach you how to find food for your baby sister and mommy.”

Lilith nodded. “Okay. I wish I had a real sister though. It would be nice to have another girl to play with. I want to hold hands too.”

Another girl would be nice. Then everyone always had someone to play with. He would ask Sera to make Lilith a sister later.

[johaerys-writes]

A World With You | Dorian Pavus/ Trevelyan | E | Ch. 57: Secret Memories

Read on AO3 | Read from the beginning

Whatever was going on in the Royal Wing was very, very wrong.

Tristan could tell the moment the key clicked in the lock and he set foot in the dimly lit hallway. His skin prickled, and a deep unease settled within him. There was an eerie sort of silence that permeated the space, yet the deeper they ventured into the dark halls, he thought he could catch faint whispers, just at the edge of hearing.

“The Veil… is thin here,” Tristan murmured. The Mark buzzed restlessly beneath his glove.

“Oh, goody,” Sera said with a roll of her eyes. “Where the heck is it not?”

“I’d be surprised if it wasn’t, frankly,” Dorian said. “There are so many horrors around here, both in and out of the Fade— and I can’t quite decide who’s better dressed.”

“Somebody, help me!”

The cry that pierced the unnatural and whisper-filled silence made Tristan jump, his blood running cold. They all sprinted towards where the cry came from, the door at the far end of the corridor. Tristan kicked open the door, only to see an elf crouched on the ground in an effort to avoid the assassin that was viciously attacking her.

“Please,” the girl cried, “save me!”

Tristan’s knives were out of their scabbards before the elf had finished her sentence. He slashed at the assassin’s wrist, rendering her grip on her dagger useless; then, he kicked her hard in the stomach, sending her plummeting out of the window.

“Are you alright?” He offered the girl his hand, who took it and gratefully let him haul her upright.

“I… I don’t think I’m hurt,” she panted, shaking all over. “Thank you. She would surely have killed me had you not shown up.”

“What happened to wanting to keep one of the assassins alive for questioning?” Dorian asked, hinging his staff over his back.

“Oh. That.” Tristan bit his lip. In his haste to save the girl, he hadn’t spared any thought to that. Not that it would have made much of a difference; he didn’t doubt this assassin would rather poison herself rather than speak to him, like her predecessor had.

But he did have one of Briala’s agents.

A few moments of questioning the elven girl didn’t yield much fruit. She didn’t know anything about why she was there, or what she had been sent there to do. One of Briala’s coded messages had led her to this place, but for what purpose, she could not say.

“I shouldn’t have trusted Briala,” she said, and by the way her voice trembled as she spat the words, it was plain to see that her leader’s betrayal weighed heavily on her. “I should never have come here.”

“How did you even get in here?” Tristan asked. “This wing is sealed.”

“There are secret passageways beneath the palace… many of them only known to Briala, and some members of the Royal family. Briala’s been watching the Grand Duke all night; no doubt she wanted me to search his sister’s room.”

Tristan and Dorian exchanged a meaningful glance. Perhaps Briala had reason to suspect Florianne as well— if it was truly Briala that had issued the order.

“I should have known this was a setup. The message said nothing of what I was supposed to find here, or that there might be assassins I’d need to look out for. She sent me here to die.” She took a deep, shaky breath, colour returning slowly to her cheeks. “I knew Briala. Before. When she was just Celene’s pet. Now she wants to play revolution— but I remember. Many of us do. She was sleeping with the Empress who burned our alienage.” She glanced timidly up at Tristan, hugging herself tightly. “If… if the Inquisition will protect me, I’ll tell you everything I know about our ‘Ambassador’. Everything.”

“Most Orlesians would think this is Celene’s scandal,” Cassandra murmured, crossing her arms before her chest. “Not Briala’s. I don’t see who a confession like this would benefit.”

Tristan pondered this a moment. He wasn’t convinced of Briala’s guilt just yet, from what the girl had said, but it never hurt to have options.

“Go to the ballroom,” he told her. “Find Commander Cullen. He’ll keep you safe.”

The elf nodded, relief evident on her features, then quietly padded away from them and out of the room. Tristan glanced around him after she was gone, at the room that had belonged to Grand Duchess Florianne since she was a child.

What could Briala be looking for here?

Celene’s former lover had nothing to gain from having one of her agents killed, by a Venatori no less. Unless she was working with them… but no. It didn’t make sense.  Why would they have killed a third of her people if she was one of theirs? That couldn’t be it. There was something else at play. There had to be.

“Perhaps Briala is suspicious of Florianne, and is looking for whatever she can use as leverage against her by searching her room,” Vivienne offered, when Tristan explained his thoughts to the team. “Or—and this is where things get interesting—Briala didn’t send the girl at all. Someone else did, someone who wanted to incriminate Briala and get her out of the picture. Briala’s coded messages aren’t as sophisticated as she’d like to think—a child could put two and two together and decrypt them.”

“Gaspard springs to mind. Or Celene. Or Florianne herself. Or— ugh, this is getting way too complicated. Find me one person in this whole damn palace that isn’t trying to kill or incriminate someone else.” Tristan turned around, striding out of the room. “We won’t find any answers standing here, that’s for sure. Let’s keep looking.”

Read the rest on Ao3!

[blarrghe]

Jumping on the angst train with "Half conscious characters dimly aware of someone calling their name. The sensation of rising and then the tug of someone guiding limp arms around that someone’s neck" for Dorian and Taren please and thank <3

This is because I told you about the torture angst ideas isn't it.

anyway yeah sure we can write the rescue part first

@dadrunkwriting

--

"He's here!" someone was shouting. Shouting very urgently. "Maker's breath, he's in here!"

The Commander? That couldn't be right. He wasn't one of the red ones.

"Oh, shite, Inkybits --" not Sera. They couldn't have Sera. "Oi! Get your sparkly mage-arse in here! He's --"

Fading. The noises - shouts, urgent commands of the people he used to work with - were fading. Taren felt his arms strain against his slumping body, but he lacked the energy to aggravate the chains. No use, anyway. He'd tried that.

He'd tried a lot of things, he reminded himself. Probably everything. He'd tried rattling the chains, tried firing up the mark, tried firing up any magic at all. He'd tried muttering spells until they'd bound his mouth too. Then he'd tried shouting through that, biting down on it until he choked. He'd tried willing a spirit to find him, Cole or anyone like him. Tried struggling and dropping clues when they'd moved him. Coat buttons, that ring he'd now never get back. He'd tried resisting pain and fending off death for... days, now. Had to be days and days.

Enough days that this couldn't be anything but hallucination. A pleasant dream. His head rolled back, and it hurt his neck just as much as it did rolling forward, but maybe he could fall into this one, and maybe it'd be the last.

"Herald!" A relieved woman's voice shouted. He'd dreamed of rescue before, but this was vivid. He liked this one. He kept his eyes closed.

Maybe it was demons, but maybe there were worse things.

"Inquisitor!" which voice was that supposed to be? He tried to fit it a face in his wandering imagination. Maybe Solas, brows knit in contemplative concern. He wouldn't usually dream of Solas, but maybe for this last one they could all be here.

"Get him out of this!"

"Dorian?" He had a guilty habit of imagining that voice. He didn't try to imagine it so angry - hadn't tried. Had to be demons, this dream.

"I'm here. Yes, I'm here. Thank the bloody Maker --"

Hm, that was better. It even came with the very vivid sensation of touch. Someone was touching him again, around the wrists, examining the marked hand again. It felt gentler this time, maybe if he willed himself into the dream hard enough it wouldn't hurt at all.

"But you're still awake," said Cole. "Solas, he thinks we aren't us."

"Get him to open his eyes, then."

"Get him out of this or I will freeze and break it myself."

"There are many reasons why that would be a terrible -" " -I don't care about reasons! Get him out!"

Taren almost chuckled. They were bickering again. Why should he open his eyes? He could already see them, Solas and Dorian and Cole - maybe Cole really had found him, dreaming. He could stay, eyes shut, mind failing, talk to Cole until it ended. There were worse things.

"You can talk to me when you wake."

"Taren," Dorian's voice, a breath in his ear. His heart ached with the relief of that sound.

And then his arms fell slack. His body slumped forward and just kept falling, falling into a solid catch. Falling into a solid body. Falling into arms.

"Dorian?"

"Taren, you're alright. We found you."

"Demons, dreaming, dread, then Dorian. It's too familiar. Tell him again."

"Taren, I'm here."

"We're not demons," insisted Cole.

"Dorian," he hummed, eyes still closed, his cheek smushed against cool leather. "Not demons." Taren smiled to himself. Cole had to be right. Demons wouldn't know how to feel like this. "Knew you'd come."

"Taren, I'm here." Again. He repeated it in hushed tones, again and again.

Taren's arms ached, but they ached less draped over the cool leather and solid shoulders of this body. Dorian's body.

"I'm here."

"Ma vhenan."

"Hush now, I'm terribly upset with you."

Yes, that was Dorian.